PROCEEDINGS OF THE BOARD OF &EGEK I . 



shall be used for the purposes only for which said Smithsonian Institute was 

 created, said Lucy T. and George W. Poore fund to be kept separate from all 

 other funds, and the income from the same not to be used until the principal, 

 by accumulation of the income to be added to the principal from year to year, 

 shall have reached the sum of two hundred and fifty thousand dollars. I make 

 this gift not so much because of its amount as because I hope it will prove an 

 example for other Americans to follow, by supporting and encouraging so wise 

 and beneficent an institution as I believe the Smithsonian Institute to be, and 

 yet it has been neglected and overlooked by American citizens. 



"The secretary said: "At my request the Institution's interests in 

 the matter are being looked after by Mr. Choate. of the Board of 

 Regents, who has assured me that he will be glad to act as agent or 



attorney for the Institution without charge." 



The Paul J. Rainey expedition to Africa. — The secretary said 



that Mr. Paul J. Eainey. of Xew York City, recently called at the 

 Institution and stated that it was his intention to make a hunting 

 and collecting trip in Africa, and asked if a man could be sent with 

 him to prepare the specimens "which he wished to present to the 

 Institution. The route of travel was to be north of that of the recent 

 Smithsonian expedition, through the country lying between the 

 northern portion of British East Africa and the southern part of 

 Abyssinia. Mr. Eainey agreed to bear all expenses in connection 

 with the trip. 



It was thought desirable to accept this offer, as it was hoped to 

 add new material to the present collections; and Mr. Edmund 

 Heller, who was one of the field naturalists on the Smithsonian 

 expedition, and who was now engaged in working up that collection, 

 had been authorized to suspend work upon it temporarily, and de- 

 tailed to accompany Mr. Eainey. He expected to sail on February 

 18, and to be absent about eight months. 



Portrait of Wa.shhigton. — The secretary called attention to a por- 

 trait of Gen. Washington, which was hanging in the room in which 

 the board was then meeting. 



This portrait was part of the Lewis collection of TTashington 

 relics purchased by the Government in 137S and stored for a time 

 at the Patent Office. When the collection was transmitted to the 

 National Museum in 1SS3. the Commissioner of Patents retained 

 this picture, and it is only recently that the matter came up. with 

 the result that the portrait was sent to the Institution by the Secre- 

 tary of the Interior, Mr. Ballinger. 



The picture has been attributed to Gilbert Smart, but a careful 

 investigation fails to reveal anything to substantiate the claim, and 

 it is now recorded as having been painted by an unknown artist. 

 By some it is regarded as a copy of an original painting. Mrs. Lewis 

 had said that there was a tradition in the family that this was con- 

 sidered the best likeness of Washington ever painted. 



