THIRTY-THIED CONGRESS, 1853-1855. 507 



March 3, 1855 — House. 



I\Ir. AViLLiAM H. English. Mr. Speaker, what disposition was made 

 of the annual report of the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Insti- 

 tution? Was there an order to print? 



The Speaker (Mr. Linn Boyd). The report was laid upon the table 

 and ordered to be printed. 



Mr. English. Has there been a motion made to print the usual 

 number of extra copies ? 



The Speaker. There has not; but that motion is now in order, and 

 will go to the Committee on Printing. 



Mr. English. I submit that motion. 



The proposition for the printing of extra copies of the report was 

 referred to the Committee on Printing. 



Mr. Samuel Russell. I am instructed by the Committee on Print- 

 ing to offer the following resolution: 



Resolved, That there be printed six thousand extra copies of the annual report of 

 the Smithsonian Institution — four thousand for the use of members, and two thousand 

 for the Institution. 



Adopted. 



meteorology — JAMES P. ESPY. 

 July 25, 7854— House. 



The House having under consideration as in Committee of the 

 Whole the navy appropriation bill — 



Mr. S. G. Haven said: I offer the following amendment, not b}^ di- 

 rection of the committee, for I take it that the committee is against me: 



To enable the Secretary of the Navy to pay the salary of Professor James P. Espy 

 for the current fiscal year, ending thirtieth June, 1855, $2,000; payment to be made 

 in the same manner and under like control as former appropriations for meteorolog- 

 ical observations. 



Mr. J. S. Phelps. I rise to a question of order on the amendment. 



Mr. Haven. Let me state just why I think the amendment is in 

 order. Similar appropriations are to be found in the navy appropri- 

 ation bills for the last three or four years. You will find it referred 

 to in the report of the Secretary of the Nav}", President's message 

 and accompanying documents, page 302, On page 393 the committee 

 will find a letter from Professor Esp}^, from which I will read a short 

 extract. After detailing the duties which he has performed in refer- 

 ence to collecting and collating meteorological observations that have 

 been made at the military posts in the country, he uses the following- 

 language in his letter to the Secretary of the Navy: 



I have already finished collating the years 1849, 1850, and 1851, with the excep- 

 tion of the third quarter of 1849 and the third quarter of 1851. These quarters I 

 shall finish by the end of the present year, and if you so direct, the report for these 

 three years can be handed in to Congress. But I respectfully suggest that a report 

 on this subject would be greatly increased in value by even a small increase of time 



