TWENTY-SIXTH CONGRESS, 1839-41. 227 



ary and July, to the treasurer of the board of trustees of the Smithsonian 

 fund, to be applied to the purposes of the fund, conformably to the laws, 

 and subject to the revision and regulations of the board of trustees. 



SEC. 4. And be it further enacted, That no part of the said Smithsonian 

 fund, principal or interest, shall be applied to any school, college, univer- 

 sity, institute of education, or ecclesiastical establishment. 



SEC. 5. And be it further enacted, That the appropriations to be made 

 from time to time by Congress, to the purposes of the Smithsonian Institu- 

 tion, as declared by the testator, shall be exclusively from the accruing 

 interest, and not from the principal, of the said fund : Provided, That Con- 

 gress shall retain the power of investing, at their discretion, the principal 

 of said fund in any other manner, so as to secure not less than a yearly 

 interest of six per cent. 



SEC. 6. And be it further enacted, That the sum of thirty thousand dol- 

 lars, part of the first year's interest accruing on the same Smithsonian fund, 

 be, and the same is hereby, appropriated towards the erection and establish- 

 ment, at the city of Washington, of an astronomical observatory, adapted 

 to the most effective and continual observations of the phenomena of the 

 heavens ; to be provided with the necessary, best, and most perfect instru- 

 ments and books, for the periodical publication of the said observations, 

 and for the annual composition and publication of a nautical almanac. 



SEC. 7. And be it further enacted, That the said observatory shall be 

 erected under the direction of the Secretary of the Treasury, subject to the 

 approbation of the President of the United States. And the site for the 

 same shall be selected upon land, in the city of Washington, belonging to 

 the United States ; and the land necessary for the same, and for any other 

 buildings proper to be connected with the said observatory and the appur- 

 tenances thereof, is hereby granted, and shall be duly conveyed, as a deed 

 of gift, to the trustees of the Smithsonian fund, and to their successors for- 

 ever, in aid of the purposes of the said Institution. 



SEC. 8. And be it further enacted, That all expenditures made by the said 

 board shall be subject to the approval of the President of the United States ; 

 and all the accounts thereof shall be reported to the Secretary of the Treas- 

 ury, and audited, under his direction, by the proper officers of the Treasury 

 Department ; and the said board shall report to Congress, at every session 

 thereof, the state of the Smithsonian fund, and a full statement of their 

 receipts and expenditures during the preceding year. 



SEC. 9. And be it further enacted, That the first meeting of the trustees 

 of the Smithsonian fund shall be held at the city of Washington on the third 



of next ; and that, in the mean time, the custody of the said 



fund, and the expenditures under the appropriation herein made, shall be 

 held and authorized by the Secretary of the Treasury, subject to the appro- 

 bation of the President of the United States. 



SEC. 10. And be it further enacted, That there shall be a board of visitors, 

 to be annually appointed, consisting of nine members ; two of whom to be 

 commissioned officers of the army, to be appointed by the Secretary of 

 War ; two commissioned officers of the navy, to be appointed by the Sec- 

 retary of the Navy ; the mayors for the time being of the cities of Alex- 

 andria and of Georgetown, within the District of Columbia; and one citi- 

 zen of each of the cities of Washington, and Alexandria, and Georgetown, 

 to be appointed by the President of the United States ; who shall meet on 

 the first Monday of February, at eleven o'clock, before noon, at the said 

 astronomical observatory, and visit and inspect the condition of the said 

 observatory, and of the Smithsonian Institution generally. They shall 

 choose among themselves a chairman, and shall make report to the Presi- 

 dent of the United States of the said condition of the institution ; specifi- 

 cally indicating in what respect the institution has, during the preceding 

 year, contributed to the purpose of the founder the increase and diffusion 

 of knowledge among men. To this board the astronomical observator shall 

 make a report to the same effect, so far as regards the astronomical branch 



