19 [211] 



S6i;ond. It requires that there be provided in the buildings of the insti- 

 tution a hall, or halls, suitable for a museum capable of containing, on a 

 liberal scale, collections of natural history, including geology and miner- 

 alogy, and objects of foreign and curious research ; the large collection 

 now in the Patent Office being transferred to the institution. 



Third. It requires that there be included in said building a chemical 

 laboratory. 



Fourth. The building is to contain, also, " the necessary lecture 

 rooms." And, 



Fifth. A gallery of art. 



These items, with the exception, perhaps, of the laboratory, relate to 

 the diffusion of knowledge only. They render necessary an annual ap- 

 propriation to collect and support a library ; another to maintain a muse- 

 um ; and indicate an intention that a portion of the annual interest should 

 be applied to the advancement of physical science and the arts, in part, 

 by lectures. 



But, after enumerating these items, the framers of the charter added a 

 clause of plenary powers authorizing the board, as to all funds not re- 

 quired for the above special purposes, to make of them" such disposal as 

 they shall deem best suited for the promotion of the purpose of the 

 testator." 



In obedience to the requirements of the charter, which leaves little dis- 

 cretion in regard to the extent of accommadations to be provided, your 

 committee recommend that there be included in the building a museum 

 of liberal size, fitted up to receive the collections destined for the institu- 

 tion ; and that library room sufficient for a hundred thousand volumes be 

 provided. They further recommend that the lecture rooms required by 

 the act shall not exceed two in number, of which one of a small size 

 should adjoin the laboratory, and another might be large enough to re- 

 ceive an audience of a thousand persons. 



As important as the cabinets of natural history by the charter required 

 to be included in the museum, your committee regard its ethnological 

 portion, including all collections that may supply items in the physical 

 history of our species, and illustrate the manners, customs, religions, 

 and progressive advance, of the various nations of the world ; as, for ex- 

 ample, collections of skulls, skeletons, portraits, dresses, implements, wea- 

 pons, idols, antiquities, of the various races of men. 



In the accumulation of these collections, the institution has at com- 

 mand great facilities. The collections of the exploring expedition, which 

 already belong to its museum, furnish an ample commencement, espe- 

 cially as regards Polynesia. Through the Commissioner of Indian 

 Affairs, and the various agencies under his control, the North American 

 race can be reached ; and at small expense the collection of Indian curi- 

 osities, already begun at the Patent Office, may be rapidly extended. So, 

 through our army and navy officers, and our consuls in foreign nations, 

 European and South American collections (the latter so recently enriched 

 by modern discovery) might be gradually brought together. 



In this connexion, your committee recommend the passage of resolu- 

 tions askir?^ the co-operation of certain public functionaries, and of the 

 public generally, in furtherance of the above objects. 



Your committee are further of opinion that in the museum, if the 

 funds of the institution permit, might judiciously be included various series 



