ESTABLISHMENT OF A NATIONAL BOTANIC GARDEN. 141 



As a result of correspondence between the president of the institute 

 and the Committee of Congress on the District of Columbia, the fol- 

 lowing bill was passed bv Congress and received the approval of the 

 President on May 8, 1820 : 



[Statute I, Chap. LXXXI. — An act for the benefit of the Columbian Institute, estab- 

 lished for the promotion of arts and sciences in the city of Washington.] 



Be it enacted, etc.. That there be granted, during - the pleasure of Congress, 

 ro the Columbian Institute, for the promotion of arts and sciences, the use and. 

 improvement of a tract of public land in the city of Washington not, exceeding; 

 5 acres, to be located under the direction of the President of the United: 

 Stares, for the purpose of enabling the said Columbian Institute to effect the 

 object of their incorporation: Provided, That whenever the said institute shall 

 be dissolved, or cease to exist, or to employ the said tract of land for the pur- 

 poses aforesaid, all right, title, and interest hereby granted to the same shah 

 revert to and vest in the United States as completely as if such grant had never 

 been made. (16th Cong., 1st sess. From Private' Stat. L., United States of 

 America, 1789-1845, vol. 6. ) 



The conditions of this grant were accepted by the institute on May 

 23, and on the same date the committee to select the site recom- 

 mended as, in their opinion, the most eligible, as it was the most 

 central, the square inclosed between Seventh and Ninth and F and G 

 Streets NW., containing 4-J acres, subsequently used for the building 

 of the Patent Office. It was here that the greenhouses for the living 

 plants brought home by the United States exploring expedition in 

 1812 were first located, but for some reason, not recorded in the 

 minutes, the attention of the institute was almost immediately turned 

 from the Patent Office site to the extreme eastern end of the Mall, 

 and on May 29, 1820, the agreement of the President of the United 

 States to this selection was reported to the society. On the plat of 

 the measured ground, signed by J. Elgar, surveyor of Washington 

 City, it is said to have been laid out August 12, 1820, but this infor- 

 mation appears not to have been officially communicated to the insti- 

 tute until October 11, when Mr. Elgar states in a letter that he is 

 ready to show the metes and bounds. It was, moreover, not until 

 April 10. 1821. that a certificate confirmng the location was signed by 

 the President ; and as late as September 1, 1821, a resolution was 

 passed by the institute calling upon the commissioner of public build- 

 ings to put the institute in full and complete possession of the ground. 

 Certain steps looking to the improvement of the site seem, however, 

 to have been taken during the latter part of 1820, though apparently 

 it was not until the summer of 1821 that activities in this direction 

 were actually begun. 



In the certificate by the President, which conforms with the plat, 

 the grounds being part of public reservation No. 2, were described 

 as follows : 



Beginning at a point in the south line of Pennsylvania Avenue, where said 

 line intersects the circular road west of the Capitol, and running thence west- 

 wardly bounding on said line. 627 feet 8 inches ; then due south, 578 feet 104 

 inches, to the north line of Maryland Avenue; then bordering on said line east- 

 wardly. 627 feet 8 inches, to the circular road aforesaid ; then bounding on said 

 road, to the first beginning, containing 5 acres of ground. 



The Capitol Grounds at that time were much less extensive than 

 at present, and were bordered near the base of the steep slope on the 

 west of the Capitol by the circular road above mentioned, to which 

 both Pennsylvania and Maryland Avenues extended. The place of 



