388 
PROCEEDINGS OF 
[1845. 
CHARTER OF INCORPORATION. 
AN ACT to incorporate a Society in the District of Columbia, by the name of the 
National Institute for the Promotion of Science. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States 
of America in Congress assembled , That Peter Force, Francis Markoe, Jr., Gar¬ 
rett R. Barry, William J. Stone, Daniel Webster, Walter Forward, John C. Spen¬ 
cer, Abel P. Upshur, Charles A. Wickliffe, Hugh S. Legare, John Q. Adams, 
William C. Preston, John J. Abert, Joseph G. Totten, Aaron O. Dayton, Lewis 
Warrington, and all others now members of the Society in the District of Colum¬ 
bia known by the name of “The National Institution for the Promotion of 
Science,” and their successors and associates, duly elected in the manner provided 
for in their constitution, hereinafter mentioned, as it now exists, or as it may be 
hereafter altered and amended by the Society herein and hereby incorporated, shall 
be, and they are hereby, incorporated, constituted, and declared to be a body politic 
and corporate, by the name of “ The National Institute for the Promotion of 
Science 
Sec. 2. And be it further enacted , That all and singular the goods, chattels, 
property, and effects, heretofore given, granted, devised, or bequeathed to the said 
Society, or that may have been purchased for its use, or which are, or may be held 
in trust for it, shall be, and the same are hereby, vested in and confirmed to the said 
corporation hereby created ; and the said corporation is hereby authorized and em¬ 
powered to take or receive any sum or sums of money, or any goods, chattels, pro¬ 
perty, or effects of any kind or nature whatsoever, which shall or may hereafter be 
given, granted, devised or bequeathed to the said corporation, or in trust for the 
said corporation, by any person or persons, body politic or corporate, capable of 
making such gift, bequest, or devise : Provided always , That such money, goods, 
chattels, property, or effects, be laid out or disposed of, for the use or benefit of the 
said corporation, according to the intention of the donors or devisors. 
Sec. 3. And be it further enacted , That all obligations, agreements, and con¬ 
tracts, heretofore entered into, by or with the said Society, or any of its duly 
authorized agents, shall be as valid and obligatory upon the respective parties, and 
upon the corporation hereby created, as if the said Society had been incorporated 
and existed as a corporation at the time and times of entering into such obligations, 
agreements, and contracts. And the said corporation shall be liable, to all persons 
and bodies politic and corporate, for all goods, chattels, and effects, heretofore spe¬ 
cially deposited with the said Society for safe keeping or exhibition, or which may 
be hereafter so deposited with the said corporation, according to the terms of the 
deposit. And all the property of the said corporation, at the time of the expira¬ 
tion or dissolution of its charter, shall belong to and devolve upon the United 
States; and the President of the United States for the time being shall appoint a 
person or persons to take possession of, and keep and preserve the same, unless and 
until Congress shall otherwise dispose of the same. 
Sec. 4. And be it further enacted , That the constitution heretofore adopted by 
the said Society, and as it now exists, and as it may hereafter, from time to time, 
be altered and amended in the manner therein provided for, shall be valid and bind¬ 
ing upon the members of the said corporation. 
Sec. 5. And be it further enacted , That the corporation hereby created shall 
have power to sue and be sued in its corporate name ; and to appear, prosecute, and 
defend, to final judgment and execution, in all courts in the District of Columbia 
and elsewhere ; to have and use a common seal, and the same to break, alter, and 
renew, at will; to elect, according to their said constitution and by-laws, as the 
same may from time to time exist, all such officers as they may deem necessary and 
proper, and ascertain their duties and compensation; to make, from time to time, 
by-laws and regulations (not inconsistent with the laws of the United States in 
force in the District of Columbia) for their government, and for the due and orderly 
conducting of their affairs, and the management of their property, and to enforce 
the same by penalties not exceeding twenty dollars for any one offence, to be reco¬ 
vered before a justice of the peace, in the same manner as other small debts are 
recovered: Provided , That it shall not be lawful for the corporation to deal or 
trade in the manner of a bank, nor to issue any note in the nature of a bank 
note. 
