278 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 



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, amounting to the sum of $78,604 is hereby appropriated, pay- 

 able 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 claiming 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 certified 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. 

 And the board of managers shall be authorized to employ such persons as they deem 

 necessary to superintend the erection of the building, and fitting up the rooms of the 

 institution. 



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

 reception, all objects of natural history and geological and mineralogical specimens 

 belonging to the United States which may be in the city of Washington, in whoseso- 

 ever custody the same may be, shall be delivered to such persons as may be author- 

 ized by the board of managers to receive them, and shall be arranged by the proper 

 professor 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, 

 geology, or mineralogy, may be obtained for the museum of the institution 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 speci- 

 mens 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, horticulture, and rural economy 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 cul- 

 tivate the ground and keep in repair the buildings of said institution; and the super- 

 intendent shall receive for his services such sum as may be allowed by the board of 

 managers, to be paid semiannually on the first day of January and July; and the 

 said superintendent shall be removable by the board of managers whenever, in their 

 judgment, the interest of the institution require the superintendent to be changed. 



SEC. 6. And be it further enacted, That at the first meeting of the board of man- 

 agers they shall fix on the times for regular meetings of the board, and on appli- 

 cation of any three of the managers to the superintendent of the institution, it 

 shall be his duty to appoint a time for a special meeting of the board, of which he 



