TWENTY-NINTH CONGRESS, 1845-47. 363 



the Treasury of the United States, to the credit of the Smithsonian bequest, 

 and separately accounted for, as provided in the act approved July 1, 1836, 

 accepting said bequest. 



Sec. 5. And be it furiher enacted, That, in proportion as suitable arrange- 

 ments can be made for tlieir reception, all objects of art and of foreign and 

 curious research, and all objects of natural history, plants, and geological 

 and mineralogical specimens belonging or hereafter to belong to the United 

 States, which may be in the city of Washington, in whosesoever custody 

 the same may be, shall be delivered to such persons as may be authorized 

 by the board of managers to receive them, and shall be arranged in such 

 order, and so classed, as best to facilitate the examination and study of 

 them, in the buildings so as aforesaid to be erected for the institution ; and 

 the managers of said institution shall afterwards, as new specimens in natu- 

 ral history, geologj^, or mineralogy may be obtained for the museum of the 

 institution, by exchanges of duplicate specimens belonging to the institu- 

 tion, (which they are hereby authorized to make,) or by donation, which 

 they may receive, or otherwise, cause such new specimens to be also appro- 

 priately classed and arranged. And the minerals, books, manuscripts, and 

 other property of James Smithson, which have been received by the Gov- 

 ernment of the United States, and are now placed in the Department of 

 State, shall be removed to said institution, and shall be preserved separate 

 and apart from the other property of the institution. 



Sec. 6. And be it further enacted, That the managers of said institution 

 shall appoint a superintendent, whose duty it shall be to take charge of the 

 ground, buildings, and property belonging to the institution, and carefully 

 preserve the same from injury ; and such superintendent shall be the secre- 

 tary of the board of managers, and shall, under their direction, make a fair 

 and accurate record of all their proceedings, to be preserved in said institu- 

 tion ; and the said superintendent shall also discharge the duties of librarian 

 and of keeper of the museum, and may, with the consent of the board of 

 managers, employ assistants ; and the said managers shall appoint a profes- 

 sor of agriculture, horticulture, and rural economy ; and the said professor 

 may hire, from time to time, so many gardeners, practical agriculturists, and 

 laborers as may be necessary to cultivate the ground and maintain a botani- 

 cal garden ; and he shall make, under the supervision of the board of man- 

 agement, such experiments as may be of general utility throughout the 

 United States, to determine the utility and advantage of new modes and 

 instruments of culture, to determine whether new fruits, plants, and vege- 

 tables may be cultivated to advantage in the United States ; and the said 

 officers shall receive for their services such sum as may be allowed by the 

 board of managers, to be paid semi-annually on the first day of January 

 and July ; and the said officers, and all other officers of the institution, shall 

 be removable by the board of managers, whenever, in their judgment, the 

 interests of the institution require any of the said officers to be changed. 



Sec. 7. And whereas the most effectual mode of promoting the general 

 diffusion of knowledge is by judiciously conducted common schools, to the 

 establishment of which throughout the Union much aid will be afforded by 

 improving and perfecting the common school sj'stem of the country, and by 

 elevating the standard of qualification for common school teachers : And 

 whereas knowledge may be essentially increased among men by instituting 

 scientific researches, and, generally, by spreading among the people a taste 

 for science and the arts — 



Be it further enacted, That the board of managers shall establish a nor- 

 mal branch of the institution, by appointing some suitable person as profes- 

 sor of common school instruction, with such other professors, chiefly of the 

 more useful sciences and arts, as may be necessary for such a thorough, 

 scientific, and liberal course of instruction as may be adapted to qualify 

 young persons as teachers of common schools, and to give to others a knowl- 

 edge of an improved common school system ; and also, when desired, to 

 qualify students as teachers or professors of the more important branches of 



