TWENTY-EIGHTH CONGRESS, 1843-45. 263 



as may have accrued on said sum on the first day of July next, which will 

 amount to the sum of one hundred and seventy-eight thousand six hundred 

 and four dollars, he, and the same is hereby, appropriated for the erection 

 of suitable buildings, and the enclosing of suitable grounds, for the Smith- 

 sonian Institution established by this act ; and that six per cent, interest on 

 the said trust fund, it being the said amount of five hundred and eight 

 thousand three hundred and eighteen dollars, received into the United States 

 Treasury, third of December, one thousand eight hundred and thirty-eight, 

 payable, in half yearly payments, on the first of January and July in each 

 year, be, and the same is hereby, appropriated for the perpetual mainte- 

 nance and support of said institution. 



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

 shall be conducted 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 September 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 person 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 

 not exceeding ten acres, 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 ; 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 

 Monday of September ; 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 in- 

 stitution. 



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 struct- 

 ure, without unnecessary ornament, and of sufficient size, and with suitable 

 rooms for the reception and arrangement of objects of natural history, a 

 library, a chemical laboratory, and 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 finish- 

 ing the same according to said plan, and in the time stipulated in such con- 

 tract : Provided, however, That the expense of said building shall not exceed, 

 the sum of eighty thousand dollars, 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 horti- 

 cultural 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 twenty thousand dollars is hereby 

 appropriated for such building and enclosure, to be paid out of any moneys 

 in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated ; and so soon as it may be neces- 

 sary for the accommodation of the persons employed in said institution, tho 

 said board of managers may cause to be erected on the grounds of the in- 

 stitution such dwelling houses and other buildings, of plain and substantial 



