"It is due in part to the rise in the prices of materials and labor, but principally to the execution of many improvements which were not originally contemplated, but which it was thought best to make during the prosecution of the work. These improvements were the sewers for drainage; the cisterns for supplying water; the substitution of stone for iron stairs; the making of new sashes for many of the windows; the strengthening and in part reconstruction of the roof of the main building; putting in copper gutters and leaders on the towers, besides other alterations and additions tending to swell the cost of the work." So many changes had been made in the plan of finishing the interior, and such different materials had been employed, that it was impossible to be guided by the original bid of the contractor, and therefore the committee were obliged to be governed entirely by the estimate of the architect. They, however, took the precaution to submit his award to Capt. Meigs, superintendent of the Capitol extension, who, under the circumstances of the case, expressed his approval of it. Though the building is finished, an annual appropriation will be required for repairs and the substitution on parts of the roofs of the ranges and wings, of copper in place of tin. Respectfully submitted: RICHARD RUSH, Building Committee. JOURNAL OF PROCEEDINGS OF THE BOARD OF REGENTS OF THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION. TENTH ANNUAL SESSION. WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 2, 1856. 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 at 12 o'clock m. Mr. Rush was requested to take the chair. The Secretary stated that, owing to the House of Representatives not having elected a speaker, no Regents had yet been appointed to fill the vacancies in the Board from that body. There being no quorum present, the Board adjourned to meet on Saturday, January 12th, at 12 m. SATURDAY, JANUARY 12, 1856. A meeting of the Board was held this day at 12 o'clock. Present: Messrs. Mason, Rush, Totten, Bache; Seaton, Treasurer, and the Secretary. There being no quorum present, the new Regents not yet having been appointed, the Board adjourned to meet on Saturday, January 26th. SATURDAY, JANUARY 26, 1856. A meeting of the Board was held this day at 12 m. Present: Messrs. Pearce, Mason, Rush, Totten, and the Secretary. There being no quorum, the Board adjourned to meet at the call of the Secretary, as soon as the vacancies should be filled by Congress. SATURDAY, MARCH 1, 1856. An adjourned meeting of the Board was held this day at 12 m. Present: Messrs. Pearce, Mason, English, Warner, Totten; Seaton, Treasurer, and the Secretary. Mr. Pearce was called to the chair. The Secretary announced the election, by joint resolution of the Senate and House of Representatives, of the Hon. GEORGE E. BADGER, of North Carolina, and Professor CORNELIUS C. FELTON, of Massachusetts, as Regents to fill the vacancies occasioned by the death of the Hon. JOHN MACPHERSON BERRIEN, and the resignation of the Hon. RUFUS CHOATE. Also, the appointment, by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, of the Hon. W. H. ENGLISH, of Indiana, Hon. H. WARNER, of Georgia, and the Hon. B. STANTON, of Ohio, as Regents on the part of the House. Mr. Seaton, Treasurer, presented the statement of receipts and expenditures for the year 1855, which was referred to the Executive Committee. The Secretary presented and read his report of the condition and operations of the Institution for the past year, which was accepted. It being announced by the Secretary that the Hon. J. MACPHERSON BERRIEN, one of the Regents, had departed this life since the last annual session of the Board, Mr. Mason offered the following resolutions, accompanying them with remarks suitable to the occasion: Resolved, That the Regents of the Smithsonian Institution have heard, with deep and sincere regret, that since their last annual meeting, the Hon. J. MACPHERSON BERRIEN, late one of their associates, has departed this life. Resolved, That whilst deploring the severance of so enlightened and able a coadjutor from the trust committed to the Regents of the Institution, they sympathize with the country in the loss it has sustained by the death of an eminent and virtuous citizen. Resolved, That, in testimony of their high respect for the memory of their late associate, the members of this Board will wear the customary 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 family of the deceased. The Board then adjourned till Saturday, March 8th, at 11 o'clock a. m. SATURDAY, MARCH 8, 1856. The Board of Regents met at 11 o'clock a. m. Present: The Chancellor, Hon. R. B. Taney, and Messrs. Pearce, English, Warner, Totten, and the Secretary. The minutes of the last meeting were read and adopted. Mr. English presented the report of the Building Committee for the year 1855; which was read and adopted. Mr. Pearce presented the annual report of the Executive Committee, containing an account of the finances, the receipts and expenditures during the year 1855, the estimates for appropriations for 1856, &c.; which was read and adopted. On motion of Mr. Pearce, the following resolution was adopted: Resolved, That, in order to give sufficient time to make up the accounts for the year, the annual meeting of the Board shall hereafter be held on the third Wednesday of January, instead of the first. The Secretary presented a letter from Joseph H. Patton, esq., of New York, relative to the Wynn estate; which, after several documents relating to the subject had been read, was referred to Mr. Mason, to whom former communications on this business had been submitted. It was stated by the Secretary that Messrs. Corcoran & Riggs were not desirous to retain in their hands the extra funds of the Institution; whereupon, after remarks as to the proper disposition of the money, on motion of Mr. Warner, it was Resolved, That the committee appointed on the 24th of February, 1855, be directed to inquire and report upon the propriety and manner of permanently investing the money of the Institution now in the hands of Messrs. Corcoran & Riggs. The Secretary read a communication from Frederick Gotteri, of Malta, received through the Department of State, relative to the establishment of a school for the instruction of persons in this country in silk culture and manufactures. On motion, the letter was referred to the Commissioner of Patents. A communication from John Phillips, esq., assistant general secretary of the British Association for the Advancement of Science, was read, containing the following extract from the proceedings of that body: A communication from Professor Henry, of Washington, having been read, containing a proposal for the publication of a catalogue of philosophical memoirs scattered throughout the Transactions of societies in Europe and America, with the offer of co-operation on the part of the Smithsonian Institution, to the extent of preparing and publishing, in accordance with the general plan which might be adopted by the British Association, a catalogue of all the American memoirs on physical science, the committee approve of the suggestion, and recommend that Mr. Cayley, Mr. Grant, and Professor Stokes, be appointed a committee to consider the best system of arrangement, and to report thereon to the council." The Secretary having stated to the Board that a number of the steamship and railroad companies had granted special facilities to the Institution, in forwarding its packages free of cost, and particularly in granting a free passage to its agent sent to California to make collections in natural history, &c., On motion of General Totten, the following resolution was adopted: Resolved, That the Secretary, on the part of the Regents of the Smithsonian Institution, return thanks to the United States Mail Steamship Company, M. O. Roberts, president; Pacific Mail Steamship Company, W. H. Aspinwall, president; South American Mail Steamship Company, Don Juan Matheson, president; Mexican Gulf Steamship Company, Harris & Morgan, agents; and the Panama Railroad Company, David Hoagley, president, for their liberality and generous offices in relation to the transportation, without charge, of articles connected with the operations of the Institution. The Secretary read the following letter: HAMILTON COLLEGE, CLINTON, Oneida County, N. Y., February 2, 1856. To the Regents of the Smithsonian Institution: The trustees of Hamilton College, in the State of New York, made, on the 22d day of July, 1854, a contract with Messrs. C. A. Spencer & Co., of Canastota, in the same State, for the construction of an "equatorial telescope of the first class, with all the mountings and other incidents necessary and usual thereto." There is a provision in this agreement, that "when the telescope and work are finished and put up in the observatory, the whole is to be submitted to the examination of three men of science, to be agreed upon by the parties, and their judgment and decision as to the character of the telescope and the whole work, and whether the contract has been fully performed on the part of the builders, shall be final and conclusive." The instrument is now nearly completed. The diameter of the object-glass is thirteen and one-half inches. The undersigned, as a committee in behalf of the College, request that the above-named examining board of scientific men may be appointed by your body. They ask this for the following reasons: First. This telescope is the largest ever constructed in this countryconstructed in the face of many obstacles, with an adverse public opinion. If it be equal to instruments made in Europe, its construction is a triumph of American genius in a hitherto untried field. The contractors, if successful, deserve that their success should be made known through some medium whose judgment shall be rigid and impartial, and shall have a character to be respected abroad as well as at home. Again. The funds for the construction of this instrument, and the observatory to which it is attached, were contributed in various sums by many persons interested in the advancement of science, and scattered throughout the State of New York. To these persons our institution pledged itself to secure a first-class instrument. The college corporation desires to satisfy them by an announcement from an authoritative quarter that it has faithfully fulfilled the trust, and that the contractors have produced the exact instrument provided for in the specifications of the contract. Furthermore, as persons interested in the advancement of science, and desirous that telescopes hereafter built in this country may be thoroughly and satisfactorily tested, the undersigned, in behalf of the college, would be glad to establish a precedent, which might lead the purchasers of other astronomical instruments to submit the question of their proper construction to your body, as being an institution central in its position and national in its character. We are authorized to state that the contractors join with the corporation in this application. Should this proposition be accepted by you, we would like to receive |