TWENTY-SEVENTH CONGRESS, 1841-43. 



ithe same is hereby, appropriated towards the erection and establishment, 

 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 instruments 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 board of trustees, on a site in'the city of 

 Washington, to be selected by them; and, should the same be on land be- 

 longing to the United States, so much thereof as, in the opinion of the 

 trustees, shall be necessary for the purpose, shall be conveyed to them, in 

 consideration of the sum of ten thousand dollars, taken from that fund by 

 the general appropriation act of third March, eighteen hundred and thirty- 

 nine : Provided, That if no such suitable site can be found on the public 

 lands, that then a selection of a site on private property may be made, at a 

 price not exceeding one-half cent per square foot ; to be paid out of the 

 appropriation in the immediately preceding section of this act. 



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

 board of trustees shall be subject to the approval of the President of the 

 United States ; and all the accounts thereof shall be reported to the Secre- 

 tary of the Treasury, 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 



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



fund, and the expenditures under the appropriations 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, 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 

 of the institution ; which report shall be annexed to that of the board to 

 the President of the United States, who shall communicate the said reports 

 to Congress. The services of the members of the said board shall be gra- 

 tuitous. 



SEC. 11. And be it further enacted, That there is reserved to Congress 

 the right of altering, amending, adding to, or repealing, any of the provi- 

 sions of this act, which shall be found inconvenient upon experience : Pro- 

 vided, That no contract or individual right, made or acquired under such 

 provisions, shall thereby be impaired or divested. 



SEC. 12. And be it further enacted, That the sum of sixty thousand dol- 

 lars of the interest accrued, and now invested in bonds of the State of 



Arkansas and , bearing an interest at the rate of six per cent, a year, 



be, and it is hereby, constituted a fund, from the yearly interest of which 



