Zoology 7 1 9 



establishment for a general museum. In the fourth annual 

 Report he recalled that, "by the law incorporating this In- 

 stitution, ' all objects of art and of foreign and curious re- 

 search, and all objects of natural history, plants, and geologi- 

 cal and mineralogical specimens belonging to 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.'" ^ Nevertheless, the Sec- 

 retary was loath to take advantage of this law, although, in 

 his own words, it "evidently gives to the Smithsonian Insti- 

 tution the museum in the Patent Office, the conservatory of 

 plants, and all specimens of nature and art to be found in the 

 several offices and departments of the government."^ It was 

 agreed that "the act, however, cannot be construed as ren- 

 dering it obligatory on the Regents to take charge of these 

 articles."^ It was considered that even "an annual appro- 

 priation for the support of the museum of the exploring ex- 

 pedition " would be "objectionable, since it would annually 

 bring the Institution before Congress as a supplicant for 

 governmental patronage";^ for the Secretary was "fully 

 convinced that the true policy of the Institution is to ask 

 nothing from Congress except the safe-keeping of its funds."" 

 The regents therefore "declined to accept this museum as a 

 gift," but "a few years "^ later they reconsidered their deter- 

 mination. It was found that "the cost of keeping the mu- 

 seum of the Exploring Expedition " then in the Patent Office 

 was "about $5000" a year, and for that sum the Institution 

 expressed a willingness to take charge of the natural history 

 collections in question. 



In the Report for 1858 the Secretary announced that 



1 "Smithsonian Report," 1849, page 20. "^Ibidem, page 21. 



3 Ibidem, 1856, page 22. 



