TWENTY-EIGHTH CONGRESS, 1843-1845. 277 



annum interest, from the third day of December, in the year 1838, when the same 

 \va. received into the said Treasury; and that so much of the interest as may have 

 accrued on said sum on the first day of July next, which will amount to the sum of 

 $209,103, be, and the same is hereby, appropriated for the erection of suitable build- 

 ings, the inclosing of suitable grounds, and for the purchase of books and instruments 

 for the Smithsonian Institution established by this act; and that six per cent interest 

 on the said trust fund, it being the said amount of $508,318, received into the United 

 States Treasury, third of December, 1838, payable, in half-yearly payments, on 

 the first of January and July in each year, be, and the same is hereby, appropri- 

 ated for the perpetual maintenance and support of said institution: Provided, That 

 the books to be purchased for said institution shall consist of works on science and 

 the arts, especially such as relate to the ordinary business of life, and to the various 

 mechanical and other improvements and discoveries which may be made. 



SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That the business of said institution shall be con- 

 ducted by a board of managers, to consist of twelve, no two of whom shall be citizens 

 of the same State or Territory; that the persons first appointed on the board of 

 managers shall meet in the city of Washington, on the first Monday of July next 

 after the passage of this act, and, when met, shall divide themselves, by lot, into 

 three sections, one of which shall serve two years, one four, and the other six years; 

 and whenever a vacancy occurs in said board, the same shall be filled by such per- 

 son as may be appointed by a joint resolution of Congress; that all those who may 

 be appointed to fill vacancies occasioned by death, resignation, or removal out of the 

 United States, shall serve the residue of the term, and all those who may be 

 appointed to fill vacancies which occur by lapse of time shall serve for the term of 

 six years; that after said board shall have met and become organized by appointing 

 one of their own body president of said board, it shall be their duty to proceed to 

 select a suitable site for such building as may be, in their judgment, necessary for the 

 institution, and suitable ground for horticultural and agricultural experiments, 

 which ground may be taken and appropriated out of that part of the public ground 

 in the city of Washington called the Mall, lying west of Seventh street; and the 

 ground so selected shall be set out by proper metes and bounds, and a description of 

 the same shall be made and recorded in a book to be provided for that purpose, and 

 signed by said managers, or so many of them as may be convened on said first Mon- 

 day of July; and such record, or a copy thereof, certified by the president of the 

 board of managers, shall be received as evidence in all courts of the extent and 

 boundaries of the lands appropriated to said institution. 



SEC. 3. And be it further enacted, That so soon as the board of managers shall have 

 selected the site for the buildings of the institution, they shall cause to be erected a 

 suitable building, of plain and durable materials and structure, without Unnecessary 

 ornament, and of sufficient size, and with suitable rooms or halls for the reception 

 and arrangement, upon a liberal scale, of objects of natural history, a geological and 

 mineralogical cabinet, a library, a chemical laboratory, and a lecture 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 sufficient security to the 

 Treasurer of the United States for the building and finishing the same according to 

 the 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 Treasury 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 appropriated for such building and 

 enclosure, to be paid out of any moneys in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated; 



