PROCEEDmOS OF THE BOARD OF REGENTS. 99 



Avery estate. — The Institution is still in possession of four parcels 

 of real estate, to which it received title by the bequest of the late 

 Robert Stanton Avery. The recent improvements in their vicinity 

 have greatly enhanced the value of these properties. 



SpragxiG and Reid hequests. — As has been previously reported to the 

 board, the residual legacies to the Institution under the terms of the 

 Sprague and Reid bequests are subject to the death of certain enu- 

 merated legatees, and it is probable that the Institution will not derive 

 any actual income from these estates for some years to come. 



J. B. Henderson, 

 Chairman Permaneni Committee., 

 Board of Regents.^ Smithsonian Institution. 

 On motion, the report was accepted. 



ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF BRITISH CONSUL-GENERAL AT GENOA. 



The secretary brought before the board a letter from the British 

 consul-general at Genoa, conveying the thanks of the British cemetery 

 authorities for the action of the board taken at the meeting of Decem- 

 ber 3, 1907, in placing the sum of $147 at their disposal for the pur- 

 poses of the cemetery. 



SECRETARY'S STATEMENT. 



Committee on National Gallery of Art.— '"''Yw. accordance with the 

 view discussed at the meeting on December 3, 1907, and as the result 

 of various conferences held in Washington and New York, I have 

 come to the conclusion that at the outset it is advisable to create an 

 advisory committee for the National Gallery of Art, composed of five 

 persons, two of whom shall be nominated b}^ the Institution and the 

 other three shall be chosen by the National Academy of Design, the 

 National Sculpture Society, and the Fine Arts Federation, respec- 

 tively. This last organization is itself a representative body com- 

 posed of delegates from all of the art societies in New York. Of the 

 two members named by the Institution, one, I think, should be resi- 

 dent in Washington and the other should be an appointment at large, 

 as it were, a man who represents all art interests and is acceptable 

 to all. 



"It is my opinion that this committee should not be a permanent 

 one; that the members should hold their appointments for a period of 

 three j'^ears, and possibly not be eligible to immediate reappointment, 

 and that it should be so arranged that, say, no more than two would 

 leave the committee in any one year. 



" 1 am satisfied that as a result of the conferences valuable advice 

 can be secured from the most eminent persons in this country, and 

 that this scheme will acceptably bridge over the time until a proper 



