TWENTY-EIGHTH CONGRESS, 1843-45. 303 



muiy 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 

 for horticultural and agricultural experiments, which ground may be taken 

 and appropriated out of that part of the public ground in the city of Wash- 

 ington called the Mall, lying west of Seventh street; 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 pur- 

 pose, and signed by said managers, or so many of them as may be con- 

 vened on said first Monday of July ; 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 appropri- 

 ated to said institution. 



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 or halls for the reception and arrangement, upon a liberal scale, of 

 objects of natural history, a geological and mineralogical cabinet, a library, 

 a chemical laboratory, and a 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 se- 

 curity to the Treasurer of the United States for the building and finishing 

 the same according to the 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 bonrd 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, the 

 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 

 workmanship and materials, to be without unnecessary ornament, as may 

 be wanted : Provided, however, That the whole expense of building and fur- 

 nishing- 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 seventy-eight thousand six hundred and four dollars, is hereby appropria- 

 ted, payable 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 de- 

 posited 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 



