PROCEEDINGS OF THE BOARD OF REGENTS 301 



time see fii to deposit, not exceeding, with the original bequest, the sum of 

 one million dollars ; and that the income which has accrued or which may 

 accrue from said residuary legacy be applied in the same manner as the interest 

 on the original bequest. 



The Chancellor appointed Messrs. Davis, Patterson, and Garfield as the com- 

 mittee. 



General Delafield, from the Building Committee, made a report relative to 

 the work done and the expenditures on the reconstruction of the building during 

 the past year. 



On motion of General Garfield, the report was accepted and the committee 

 continued. 



Professor Agassiz remarked that he had just read the report of the Librarian 

 of Congress, in which it was Btated that the addition of volumes from the Smith- 

 sonian Institution had increased the library of Congress one-third, and he wished 

 to call attention to the source of the accumulation of so large and valuable a 

 library as that of the Smithsonian, one of the best of the kind in the world. 

 He attributed it to the policy which had been proposed by the Secretary, and 

 so long sustained by the Regents, of publishing original contributions to sci- 

 ence, and sending these, with tbe greatest liberality, to every part of the world, 

 in return for which so many volumes of the transactions of learned societies 

 had been received, and without which system of publication and exchange 

 the present reputation of the Institution and such a library could not have been 

 acquired. 



The Secretary stated that, since the last meeting, the death had occurred of 

 Mr. W. W. Seaton, Treasurer "of the Institution and one of the original Re- 

 gents. 



Mr. Seaton was for many years mayor of the city of Washington, and in 

 several of his messages recommended the councils to urge Congress to take 

 measures for the organization of the Smithsonian Institution, and it was, finally, 

 through his personal influence and that of others interested in the cause of 

 science, that the law of 1846, authorizing its establishment, Avas passed. The 

 mayor of Washington is ex-ofncio, a Regent, a provision chiefly due to the 

 zealous interest which Mr. Seaton had manifested in the advocacy of the measure. 

 At the first session of the Board of Regents he was appointed Chairman of the 

 Executive Committee, a member of the Building Committee, and Disbursing 

 Officer. At the close of his term as Regent he was elected Treasurer, which 

 office he retained until his death, rendering gratuitous service during the whole 

 period. 



On motion of Mr. Wallach, the following resolutions were adopted : 



Resolved, That the Regents of the Smithsonian Institution have learned with 

 deep regret the decease of WILLIAM W. SEATON, late Treasurer of the In- 

 stitution, who has been connected with it from its organization, and was one of the 

 original members of the Board. His long and gratuitous services to the Insti- 

 tution entitled him to our thanks, and his los3, in common with the citizens 0/ 

 Washington and of the whole country, we deplore. 



