[ 211 ] 18 



Mr. Seaton offered the following resolution, which was read and agreed 

 to: 



Resolved^ That all the architects who have presented plans for the con- 

 sideration of the building committee be informed that the Board of Re- 

 gents will hear any explanations they may desire to make in relation to 

 their respective designs, to-morrow at 10 o'clock, a. m. 



The board adjourned until to-morrow, at 10 o'clock, a. m. 



THURSDAY, January 21, 1S47. 



Mr. Evans offered the following resolutions, accompanying theiii with 

 remarks suitable to the occasion : 



Resolved^ l^hsx the regents of the Smithsonian Institution have learned 

 with profound sensibility that since their last meeting, the Honorable 

 Isaac S. Pennybacker, late a member of this board, has departed this life. 



Resolved^ That in testimony of their high respect for the memory of 

 their late associate, the members of this board will wear the custonjary 

 badge of mourning for the period of thirty days. 



Resolved^ That these resolutions be entered upon the journal, and a 

 copy of them be transmitted to the widow of the deceased. 



The resolutions being read, were agreed to unanimously. 



The board adjourned until to-morrow, at 10 o'clock, a. m. 



FRIDAY, January 22, 1S47. 



The sitting this and the following day was occupied in hearing the 

 explanations of Messrs. Arnot, Notman, Haviland, Rogers, Mills, Ren- 

 wick, and Archer, of their respective plans. 



MONDAY, January 25, 1847. 



The Committee on Organ izati'bn, to which was recommitted, on the 21st 

 December last, the report made by Mr. Owen on the 1st December last, 

 together with the resolutions accon^panying the same, which had not 

 been agreed to by the board, reported back the same in an amended 

 form, accompanied by sundry resolutions ; which report and resolutions 

 were laid upon the table. 



The said report is as follows : 



"For the increase and diffusion of knowledge among men," were the 

 •words of Smithson's will — words used by a man accustomed to the strict 

 nomenclature of exact science. They inform us that a plan of organi- 

 zation, to carry into effect the intention of the testator, must embrace two 

 objects : one, the calling forth of new knowledge by original research ; 

 and the other, the dissemination of knowledge already in existence. 



Smithson's words, liberal and comprehensive, exclude no branch of 

 human knowledge ; nor is there any restrictive clause in the charter un- 

 der which we act. That charter indicates a few items chiefly relating to 

 one of the above objects, and leaves the rest of the plan, under the gen- 

 eral provision of the bequest, to the discretion of the board. 



First. It sets forth, as one of the objects of the institution, a library, 

 that shall contain valuable works in all departments of human know- 

 ledge. 



