TWENTY-NINTH CONGRESS, 1845-1847. 325 



be made for their reception, all objects of foreign and curious research, and all objects 

 of natural history, plants, and geological and mineralogical specimens belonging or 

 hereafter to belong 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 in such 

 order, and so classed, as best to facilitate the examination and study of them, in the 

 buildings 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 miner- 

 alogy 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 donation, which they may receive, or otherwise, 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 Govern- 

 ment 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. 6. 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 librarian and of keeper of the museum, and may, with the consent of the 

 board of managers, employ an assistant; and the said managers shall appoint a pro- 

 fessor of agriculture, horticulture, and rural economy, and the said professor may 

 hire, from time to time, so many gardeners, practical agriculturists, and laborers as 

 may be necessary to cultivate the ground and keep in repair the buildings of said 

 Institution; and he shall make experiments to determine the utility and advantage 

 of new modes and instruments of culture, to determine whether new fruits, plants, 

 and vegetables may be cultivated to advantage in the United States; and all such 

 fruits, plants, seeds, and vegetables as shall be found useful, and adapted to any of 

 our soils and climates, shall be distributed among the people of the Union; and the 

 said officers shall receive for their 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 officers, and all other officers of the Institution, shall be removable by 

 the board of managers whenever, in their judgment, the interests of the Institution 

 require any of the said officers to be changed. 



SEC. 7. And whereas the most effectual mode of promoting the general diffusion of 

 knowledge is by judiciously conducted common schools, to the establishment of 

 which throughout the Union much aid will be afforded by improving and perfecting 

 the common school system of the country, and by elevating the standard of qualifi- 

 cation for common school teachers; and whereas knowledge may be essentially 

 increased among men by instituting scientific researches, and, generally, by spreading 

 among the people a taste for science and the arts 



Be it further enacted, That the board of managers shall establish a normal branch 

 of the Institution, by appointing some suitable person as professor of common school 

 instruction, with such other professors, chiefly of the more useful sciences and arts, 

 as may be necessary for such a thorough, scientific, and liberal course of instruction 

 as may be adapted to qualify young persons as teachers of common schools, 

 and to give to others a knowledge of an improved common school system, and 

 also, when desired, to qualify students as teachers or professors of the more impor- 

 tant branches of natural science. And the board of managers may authorize the 

 professors of the Institution to grant to such of its students as may desire it, after 

 suitable examination, certificates of qualification as common school teachers, and 



