NOTES 
SMITHSON MorRTUARY CHAPEL 
An account of ‘‘ The Removal of the Remains of James Smithson,” 
by S. P. Langley, appeared in the Smithsonian Quarterly in April of 
last year.t As stated in the article, James Smithson, the founder of 
the Smithsonian Institution, died on January 27, 1829, at Genoa, 
Italy. He was buried in the little English cemetery on the heights 
of San Benigno, in a tomb which until recently bore no reference 
to him as the founder of the Institution which bears his name. 
When this cemetery was expropriated for municipal purposes by the 
Italian Government in 1903, the Regents determined to bring Smith- 
son’s remains to Washington. Doctor Alexander Graham Bell, the 
committee appointed for this purpose, was successful in his mission, 
and on January 25, 1904, formally gave the remains into the hands 
of the Regents. i 
The body, upon its arrival in Washington, was placed temporarily - 
in a room in the Smithsonian building containing the relics of Smith- 
son. While resting there, the remains were examined by medical 
experts and found to be in a remarkable state of preservation. Mean- 
while a small mortuary chapel was prepared for them on the im- 
mediate left of the north entrance of the Smithsonian building, and 
on March 6, 1905, the remains were brought to this chapel and, in 
the presence of the Regents, replaced in the original tomb, shown 
in the illustration, where they will rest until Congress makes adequate 
provision for their fitting interment. 
INTERNATIONAL ORIENTAL CONGRESS AT ALGIERS, 1905 
The following circular was distributed during the last week of Feb- 
ruary by the Institution : 
WaAsHINGTON, D. C., 
February 20, 1905. 
The Fourteenth International Congress of Orientalists will be held at 
Algiers, under the auspices of the Algerian Government, April 19-26, 1905. 
This Congress will be organized in seven sections: (1) Aryan (and other 
native languages of India), (2) Semitic (except Arabic), (3) Islamic 
(Arabic, Persian, Turkish), (4) Egyptian (African languages, including 
Madagascan), (5) The Far East, (6) Greece and the Orient, (7) African 
Archeology and Mohammedan Art. 
*“The Removal of the Remains of James Smithson,” by S. P. Langley, 
SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS (Quarterly Issue), Volume xtv, 
No. 1449, April 11, 1904. 
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