[211] 8 



the consent of the persons named in the fourth section of the act to es- 

 tabUsh the Smithsonian Institution for the increase and diffusion of know- 

 ledge among men be obtained thereto; and that upon such consent being 

 obtained indue form, the Secretary is liereby instructed to cause the said 

 ground so selected to be set out by proper metes and bounds. 

 All which is submitted by 



G, M. DALLAS, Chairman. 



WM. J. HOUGH. 



ROBERT DALE OWEN. 



JOS. G. TOTTEN. 



W. W. SEATON. 

 Washington, November 30, 1846. 



It remains to state that the committee of five appointed to " obtain 

 plans for the erection of buildings," &c., unanimously selected, out of 

 thirteen that were submitted to them by some of the principal architects 

 throughout the country, two by Mr. James Renwick, jr., of New York 

 city, the architect of Grace Church, the Church of the Puritans, Calvary 

 Church, and other structures in and near New York ; and they recom- 

 mended to the board for adoption one of these, being a design in the later 

 Norman, or, as it may with more strict propriety be called, the Lombard 

 style, as it prevailed in Germany, Normandy, and in southern Europe, in 

 the twelfth century. The design comprises a centre building, with two 

 wings, connected with the main building by low ranges and a cloister. 

 The entire front is 421 feet, and the extreme depth in the centre, inclu- 

 ding the carriage porch, 153 feet. The height of the principal tower is 

 145 feet, and that of the main building, to the summit of the battlement, 

 58 feet. The design includes all the accommodations demanded by the 

 charter, to wit: a museum, 200 feet by 50 ; a library, 90 feet by 50; a 

 gallery of art, in the form of a T, 125 feet long; two lecture rooms, one 

 of which is capable of containing from 800 to 1,000 persons, and the 

 other is connected with the chemical laboratory; a committee roonr for 

 the Board of Regents ; a Secretary's room ; a room for the effects of Mr. 

 Smithson ; a Janitor's room,&.c. 



The contracts are not yet made; but the building committee hope to 

 complete the structure, and to fit up and furnish the same, not only with- 

 out encroachment on the capital of the institution, which by the act or- 

 ganizing the institution is expressly forbidden, but so as to leave a con- 

 siderable portion of the amount specially set apart by that act for build- 

 ing unexpended. 



The material for the exterior of the building has not yet been selected. 

 The board has authorized the publication, by the building committee, of 

 a small volume, which will give to the public the design of the building, 

 and all important particulars regarding materials, &c. 



The resolution accompanying the report was taken up for considera-' 

 tion ; and pending the question on the adoption thereof, 



The board adjourned until to morrow, at 12 o'clock, meridian. 



TUESDAY, December 1, 1846. 



Mr. Evans, one of the regents, appeared. 



The Chancellor laid before the board the following letter from Chief 

 Justice Taney, a regent of the institution : 



