PROCEEDINGS

OF THE

BOARD OF REGENTS.

SEVENTH ANNUAL SESSION OF THE BOARD OF REGENTS.

[Continued from last Report.]

WASHINGTON, March 12, 1853.

The Board of Regents met this day at 10 o'clock, A. M. Present: Messrs. Colcock, Fitch, Mason, Maury, Totten, the Secretary, and W. W. Seaton, Treasurer.

The proceedings of the last meeting were read and approved.

The Secretary brought before the Board the subject of the disposition of the surplus fund, and stated that Messrs. Corcoran & Riggs had offered to allow interest at five per cent. if the deposit was continued with them.

Mr. Fitch offered the following resolution, which was adopted:

Resolved, That the surplus fund of $208,000 now on deposit with Corcoran & Riggs, be continued with them for twelve months, on their proposition to pay interest thereon at five per cent; provided, that a part thereof, not exceeding $58,000, may be withdrawn for building expenditures during the year, and that they deposit the same or equivalent securities to those now held therefor, to be approved by the Regents then in Washington and the Secretary.

Mr. Colcock offered the following resolution, which was adopted: Resolved, That during the year 1853 the sum of thirty thousand dollars ($30,000) out of the Smithsonian income be, and is hereby, appropriated, to be expended under the direction of the Secretary, and with the advice of the Executive Committee, to defray the expenses of the Institution, and to carry out the several parts of the programme.

The Secretary brought before the Board the question of a new division of the income of the Institution, rendered necessary by the increase of the general expenses, of the addition to the sum contemplated for finishing the centre building for the library and collections, and other

causes.

Mr. Fitch offered the following resolution, which was adopted:

Resolved, That the subject of the distribution of the income of the Institution in the manner contemplated by the original plan of organization, be referred to a Select Committee, to consist of Messrs. Pearce, Mason, Rush, Bache, Choate, Totten, and Maury, for a report at the next session of the Board of Regents of such changes, if any, as in their opinion are desirable; and that the same Committee be instructed to report fixed regulations relative to the reception of donations, &c.

General Totten offered the following resolution, which was adopted: Resolved, That the Building Committee, and the Executive Committee jointly, be instructed to take into consideration and decide upon the propriety of making such alterations in the east wing of the Smithsonian building, as to convert it into a suitable dwelling for the Secretary, and that the Building Committee carry into effect the decision of the Joint Committee.

The Board then, on motion, adjourned sine die.

EIGHTH ANNUAL SESSION OF THE BOARD OF REGENTS.

WASHINGTON, January 4, 1854.

In accordance with a resolution of the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution, fixing the time of the beginning of their annual meeting on the first Wednesday of January of each year, the Board met this day in the Regents' room.

Present: Messrs. English, Mason, Maury, Stuart, Totten, and the Secretary.

In the absence of the Chancellor, and on motion of Mr. Maury, Mr. Mason was called to the chair.

The Secretary informed the Board of the re-appointment of Mr. Meacham, of Vermont, and the appointment of Hon. Wm. H. English, of Indiana, and Hon. David Stuart, of Michigan, as Regents of the Smithsonian Institution on the part of the House of Representatives of the present Congress.

The Secretary stated that the accounts and reports of the Institution would be ready for presentation at the next meeting; whereupon, the Regents, after examining the building, adjourned to meet on Saturday, 14th January, at 10 o'clock, a. m.

WASHINGTON, January 14, 1854.

An adjourned meeting of the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution, was held in the Smithsonian building on Saturday, January 14, at 10 o'clock, a. m.

Present: Messrs. Bache, English, Mason, Maury, Meacham, Pearce, Stuart, Taney, Totten, the Secretary, and W. W. Seaton, Esq., Treas

urer.

The Chancellor, Hon. Roger B. Taney, took the chair.

The proceedings of the last meeting were read and approved.

The Secretary informed the Board that a meeting of the "Establishment" had been called by order of the President of the United States, in May last. The proceedings of the meeting were then read.

Mr. Maury, on the part of the Building Committee, submitted its report, which was read and adopted.

The Treasurer, W. W. Seaton, esq., presented the details of the expenditures during the year 1853; also a general statement of the

finances; which were, on motion, referred to the Executive Committee.

The Secretary called the attention of the Board to the fact that a resolution had been adopted by the House of Representatives, appointing a Committee of nine to inquire into the expediency of withdrawing the Smithsonian fund from the Treasury of the United States, and investing it in some safe stocks.

On motion of Mr. Mason, the consideration of the subject was postponed until the Secretary should be called upon by the Committee of the House for information, and his report was presented to the Board. The Secretary presented his report of the operations of the Institution for the year 1853, which was in part read.

On motion of Mr. Maury, it was

Resolved, That the vacancy existing in the Building Committee be filled by nomination of the Chair.

Whereupon, Mr. Wm. H. English was appointed.

The Board then adjourned to meet on Saturday, January 28, at 10 o'clock, a. m.

WASHINGTON, January 28, 1854.

An adjourned meeting of the Board of Regents was held on Saturday, January 28, 1854, at 10 o'clock, a. m. Present: Messrs. Bache, English, Maury, Meacham, Pearce, Stuart, Taney, Totten of the board, W. W. Seaton, esq., treasurer, and the Secretary:

The Chancellor took the chair.

The minutes of the last meeting were read and approved.

The Secretary stated to the board that honorable Joseph R. Chandler had offered to present to the House of Representatives, the petition of the board relative to funding the $150,000 of surplus income in the treasury of the United States, and to move that it might be referred to the committee which had been appointed by the House relative to the Smithsonian fund.

Whereupon, on motion of Mr. Pearce, the original memorial of the board to Congress was referred to the Executive Committee, with instructions to make such modifications in the wording of it as in their judgment might be rendered necessary by present circumstances.

A petition was presented from Gilbert Cameron, the contractor of the building, requesting the payment of the money due him, which had been kept back on account of a law suit between himself and one of the sub-contractors.

In reference to the same, Mr. Maury, on behalf of the Building Committee, presented a letter from J. M. Carlisle, esquire, attorney of the board, stating that the suit had been dismissed, and that the court had decided that the Board of Regents could not be sued. Mr. Maury also presented, on the part of the Building Committee, a letter from Joseph H. Bradley, esquire, requesting that the money be retained by the Board until the before mentioned law suit was finally decided.

On motion of Mr. Pearce, the subject was referred to a committee,

with power to order the money to be paid in whole or in part, if in their judgment it was thought proper.

The chair appointed Messrs. Mason, Meacham and Totten, as the

committee.

The Secretary laid before the board a bill from Henry Parish for a copy of Canina's work on architecture, purchased by James Renwick, junior, for the Institution in 1847, and now in the library, but which according to an accompanying letter from Mr. Renwick had never been paid.

On motion of Mr. Meacham, the Secretary was directed to settle the bill, provided on examining the accounts, no evidence could be found of its having been paid.

The Building Committee exhibited to the Board the drawings for the new lecture room.

The Secretary read the continuation of his report relative to the publications, correspondence, magnetism and meteorology.

A number of letters received since the last meeting, and the answers to them, were read to illustrate the character of the correspondence of the Institution.

Mr. Meacham offered the following resolution:

Resolved, That the Secretary and other officers of the Smithsonian Institution be directed to furnish the Board of Regents with estimates of appropriations necessary to be made in order to carry on the Institution the ensuing year, according to the laws for its organization.

After some discussion, the resolution was postponed for further discussion until the next meeting.

On motion, the board then adjourned to meet on Saturday, February 11, at 10 o'clock a. m.

WASHINGTON, February 11, 1854.

A quorum not being present, the board adjourned to meet on Saturday, February 18, at 10 o'clock a. m.

WASHINGTON, February 18, 1854. An adjourned meeting of the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution was held on Saturday, February 18, 1854, at 10 o'clock, a. Present: Messrs. Bache, English, Maury, Meacham, Pearce, Taney of the Board, and the Secretary:

m.

The Chancellor took the chair.

The minutes of the last meeting were read and approved.

A communication was read by the Secretary, in reference to the Wynn estate, which, on motion of Mr. Pearce, was referred to Mr. Mason, to whom prior communications on the same subject had been 'referred.

A memorial was presented from Dr. S. Spooner of New York, offering to present to the Institution the original copper-plates of the Musée Francais and the Musée Royal, on condition that it would publish under his superintendence an edition of these works.

On motion of Mr. Pearce, the Secretary was directed, on the part of the Institution, respectfully to decline the proposition of Dr. Spooner, the Regents not considering themselves authorized to engage in such an enterprize.

The Secretary stated to the Board that Professor Wilson, of the English Commission to the Exhibition of the Industry of All Nations at New York, had presented to the Smithsonian Institution a set of models, casts, and drawings, to be used in teaching the arts of design.

The Secretary proposed to lend these to the Metropolitan Mechanics' Institute, of this city, for the use of its School of Design; which proposition was agreed to by the Board.

The Secretary read the correspondence between the Smithsonian Institution and the California Academy of Natural Sciences, in which the latter authorize the former to purchase a full set of meteorological and magnetic instruments for the use of the society; the means of defraying the expense of the purchase having been generously provided by its President, Dr. A. Randall.

A memoir on the "Europo American Physical Man" was laid before the Regents, which had been submitted to the Institution for publication since the last meeting of the Board.

Professor Bache presented a specimen of the photographic register of the motions of the magnetic needle, taken at the magnetic observatory of the Smithsonian Institution.

The Secretary informed the Board that the annual meeting of the United States Agricultural Society would be held on the 22d instant, in the Smithsonian Institution, and read the following extract from the address of the President of that Society:

"Our location at the national capital gives us peculiar facilities for intercommunication and for intercourse with members of Congress, representing all parts of our widely extended country. We may also secure many benefits from the Smithsonian Institution, whose objects are the general increase of knowledge and the promotion of science, objects so analogous to those of this Association as to give importance to the question whether reciprocal benefits might not be expected from closer relations. By the courtesy of this Institution we have been permitted to occupy their commodious apartments, and an inquiry should be made by our Executive officers, or a special committee, to ascertain what room or rooms can be obtained for the future accommodation of this Society. We need a public building, or offices in some existing edifice, for our Corresponding Secretary and Treasurer, for the preservation of our records, and of the agricultural seeds and products which are now in our possession, or may be hereafter required, and also for an agricultural library, museum, and cabinet.”

On motion of Mr. Maury, the Secretary was authorized to offer such accommodations and facilities to the United States Agricultural Society as the Institution had at its disposal.

The continuation of the Secretary's report, relative to the Library, Museum, and Exchanges, was presented, but the reading was postponed till the next meeting.

The resolution offered by Mr. Meacham, at the last meeting of the Board, was then taken up for consideration.