52 The Smithsonian Institution 



perior board of officers, composed of the President of the 

 United States and the members of his Cabinet. It had also 

 a board of directors, which inchided in its membership dele- 

 gates from the Senate and House of Representatives, corre- 

 sponding in function to. the Smithsonian Board of Regents, 

 In other respects, still more markedly than in the constitution 

 of its governing board, the Smithsonian seems to have been 

 organized with the plan of the National Institute in view. 



The objects, as defined in the Congressional act of estab- 

 lishment,^ correspond very closely to those announced in the 

 early publications of the National Institute, which at its foun- 

 dation divided its members into eight classes, as follows: (i) 

 Astronomy, Geography, and Natural Philosophy ; (2) Nat- 

 ural History; (3) Geology and Mineralogy; (4) Chemistry; 

 (5) The application of same to useful arts ; (6) Agriculture ; 

 (7) American History and Antiquities ; (8) Fine Arts. 



The term "manager" to designate a member of the gov- 

 erning board, and which was derived from the organization 

 of the National Institute, was employed in every bill except 

 in the substitute proposed only a few hours before final action, 

 when it was replaced by the term " regent," which was doubt- 

 less suggested by Mr. William J. Hough, the mover of the 

 substitute, a representative of the State of New York, and 

 familiar with the organization of the University of the State 

 of New York, which was under the control of a board of 

 regents. 



Ten years after the announcement of the bequest, and 

 eight years after the beginning of the contest as to its dis- 

 position, the bill to incorporate the Smithsonian Institution 

 received the approval of Congress and the President. The 

 charter in its final form did not represent the views of any 

 one party, except in some degree that which favored the 



1 Sections 5 and 6. 



