TWENTY -EIGHTH CONGRESS, 1843-1845. 267 



ture room or rooms; and the said board shall have authority, by themselves or by a 

 committee of three of their members, to contract for the completion of such building 

 upon such plan as may be directed by the board of managers, and shall take suffi- 

 cient security to the Treasurer of the United States for the building and finishing the 

 same according to said plan and in the time stipulated in such contract: Provided, 

 however, That the expense of said building shall not exceed the sum of $80,000, 

 which sum is hereby appropriated for that purpose out of any money in the Treas- 

 ury not otherwise appropriated; and the board of managers shall also cause the 

 grounds selected for horticultural and agricultural purposes to be enclosed and 

 secured, and a suitable building erected to preserve such plants as will not bear 

 exposure to the weather at all seasons; and the sum of $20,000 is hereby appro- 

 priated for such building and enclosure, to be paid out of any moneys in the 

 Treasury not otherwise appropriated; and so soon as it may be necessary for the 

 accommodation of the persons employed in said Institution, the said board of 

 managers may cause to be erected on the grounds of the Institution such dwelling 

 houses and other buildings, of plain and substantial workmanship and materials, to 

 be without unnecessary ornament, as may be wanted: Provided, however, That the 

 whole expense of building and furnishing as many such houses as may be required 

 shall not exceed the residue of said interest which will have accrued on the first day 

 of July next; and for the said expenditure the said residue of said interest, amount- 

 ing to the sum of $78,604, is hereby appropriated, payable out of any moneys in 

 the Treasury not otherwise appropriated; and all such contracts as may be made by 

 said board of managers shall be deposited with the Treasurer of the United States; 

 and all questions which may arise between the United States and any person claim- 

 ing under and by virtue of any such contract shall be heard and determined by said 

 board of managers, and such determination shall be final and conclusive upon all 

 parties; and all claims on any contract made as aforesaid shall be allowed and cer- 

 tified by the board of managers, or a committee thereof, as the case may be, and 

 being signed by the president of the board, shall be a sufficient voucher for settlement 

 and payment at the Treasury of the United States. 



SEC. 4. And be it further enacted, That so soon as buildings shall be erected for their 

 reception, all objects of natural history belonging 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 by the professor of natural history in such order and so classed as 

 best to facilitate the examination and study of them in the building so as aforesaid 

 to be erected for the institution ; and the managers of said institution shall afterwards, 

 as new specimens in natural history may be obtained for the museum of the institu- 

 tion by exchanges of duplicate specimens belonging to the institution ( which they 

 are hereby authorized to make) or by donations which they may receive, cause such 

 new specimens to be also appropriately classed and arranged. And the minerals, 

 books, manuscripts, and other property of James Smithson, which have been received 

 by the Government of the United States and are now placed in the Patent Office, 

 shall be removed to said institution and shall be preserved separate and apart from 

 the other property of the institution. 



SEC. 5. 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 secretary 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 institution; and the said superintendent shall also discharge the 

 duties of professor of agriculture and of horticulture in said institution, and in that 

 capacity may, with the approbation of the board of managers, employ from time to 

 time so many gardeners and other laborers as may be necessary to cultivate the ground 



