6o The Smithsonian Institution 



time, selected eminent citizens of the United States to be hon- 

 orary members of the Institution, and to share with them the 

 responsibihties with which they are charged. The persons 

 thus honored^ have been Doctor Robert Hare, of Philadel- 

 phia ; the Honorable Albert Gallatin, of New York ; Professor 

 Benjamin Silliman, of Connecticut; Washington Irving, of 

 New York; Professor Parker Cleaveland, of Maine; Doctor 

 Augustus B. Longstreet, of Mississippi ; and the Honorable 

 Columbus Delano, of Ohio. 



The first meeting of the Establishment was held August i, 

 1849, in the newly completed eastern range of the Smith- 

 sonian building, Zachary Taylor, President of the United 

 States, occupying the chair. Eight meetings have since 

 been held, the last on May 5, 1877, adjourning to meet at the 

 call of the President. 



The Establishment, though exercising constant supervision 

 over the affairs of the Institution, being represented upon the 

 Board of Regents by two of its members, one of them the 

 Chancellor, as its presiding officer, has never deemed it nec- 

 essary to take any formal action at its meetings, save to 

 adopt, May 17, 1853, a code of by-laws,^ and to listen from 

 time to time to general statements by the Secretary in regard 

 to the condition and affairs of the Institution. 



The Regents of the Smithsonian Institution are charged 

 by the act of incorporation with the duty of conducting the 

 business of the Institution. Two members of the Establish- 

 ment, the Vice-President of the United States and the Chief 

 Justice, are, in virtue of their office, members of the Board of 

 Regents. There are also three members of the Senate, three 

 members of the House of Representatives, and six citizens, 

 no two of whom may be from the same State, though two 



1 The law as amended on March 12, 1894, no honorary member has been elected since 

 omits the phrase " such other persons as the year 1873. 

 they may elect honorary memljers," and 2 See "Smithsonian Report," 1853, page 98. 



