472 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 



tory, including a geological and mineralogical cabinet; also a chemical 

 laboratory, a library, a gallery of art, and the necessary lecture 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 Regents, and shall take 

 sufficient security for the building and finishing the same according to the 

 said plan, and in the time stipulated in such contract ; and may so locate 

 said building, if they shall deem it proper, as in appearance to form a wing 

 to the Patent Office building, and may so connect the same with the present 

 hall of said Patent Office building, containing the National Cabinet of 

 Curiosities, as to constitute the said hall, in whole or in part, the deposit 

 for the cabinet of said Institution, if they deem it expedient to do so ; pro- 

 vided said building shall be located upon said Patent Office lot in the man- 

 ner aforesaid : Provided, however, That the whole expense of building and 



enclosures aforesaid shall not exceed the amount of ; which sum is 



hereby appropriated, payable out of money in the Treasury not otherwise 

 appropriated ; together with such sum or sums out of the annual interest 

 accruing to the Institution, as may, in any year remain unexpended, after 

 paying the current expenses of the Institution. And duplicates of all such 

 contracts as may be made by the said Board of Regents shall be deposited 

 with the Treasurer of the United States ; and all claims on any contract 

 made as aforesaid shall be allowed and certified by the Board of Regents, or 

 the Executive Committee thereof, as the case may be, and, being signed by 

 the Chancellor and Secretary of the Board, shall be H sufficient voucher for 

 settlement and payment at the Treasury of the United States. And the 

 Board of Regents shall be authorized to employ such persons as they may 

 deem necessary to superintend the erection of the buildings and fitting up 

 the rooms of the Institution. And all laws for the protection of public 

 property in the city of Washington, shall apply to, and be in force for, the 

 protection of the lands, buildings, and other property of said Institution. 

 And all moneys recovered by, or accruing to, the institution shall be paid 

 into the Treasury of the United States to the credit of the Smithsonian 

 bequest, and separately accounted for, as provided in the act approved .Inly 

 first, eighteen hundred and thirty-six, accepting said bequest. 



SEC. 6. And be it further enacted, That, in proportion as suitable arrange- 

 ments can be made for their reception, all objects of art and of foreign 

 and curious research, and all objects of natural history, plants, and geolog- 

 ical 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 Regents 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 building so as aforesaid to be erected for the Institution ; 

 and the Regents of said Institution shall afterwards, as new specimens in 

 natural history, geology, or mineralogy, 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 

 Government of the United States, and are now placed in the Department of 

 State, shall be removed to said Institution, and shall be preserved separate 

 and apart from the other property of the Institution. 



SEC. 7. And be it further enacted, That the Secretary of the Board of 

 Regents shall take charge of the building and property of said Institution, 

 and shall, under their direction, make a fair and accurate record of all their 

 proceedings, to be preserved in said Institution ; and the said Secretary shall 

 also discharge the duties of librarian and of keeper of the museum, and 

 may, with the consent of the Board of Regents, employ assistants; and the 

 said officers shall receive for their services such sum as may be allowed by 



