Appropriation for fiscal year ending June 30, Balance unexpended... $20,000 00 12, 011 38 For fitting up halls for Government collections. Balance unexpended of appropriation for fiscal Expenditure on this account in 1874. (Museum $5,550 92 5,550 92 For steam-heating apparatus for Museum. $7,988 62 Nothing. 3, 462 03 Expenditure on this account in 1874. (Museum 3, 462 03 Balance. Nothing. For fitting up and completing cases for collections. Appropriation for fiscal year ending June 30, 10, 000 00 10, 000 00 Nothing. Balance From the above statement it appears that of the congressional appropriations for the National Museum, the only amount unexpended and now available for the collections is $7,982.62. The estimates submitted by the Institution to Congress for the fiscal year ending 30th June, 1876, were as follows: For the preservation of the collections.. Total amount required.. $25,000 00 $35, 000 00 We have no reason to doubt that this sum, or the greater part of it, will be appropriated by Congress during the present session. All the payments on account of the National Museum have been made during the past year, directly by the disbursing officer of the Department of the Interior, on the presentation of vouchers approved by the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution. The executive committee have examined five hundred and seventeen receipted vouchers for payments made from the Smithson income during the year 1874, and four hundred and seventy similar vouchers for payments made from the congressional appropriations for the National Museum, making a total number of vouchers of nine hundred and eighty-seven. All of the vouchers have the approval of the Secretary of the Institu tion, and a certificate setting forth that the materials and property and services rendered were for the Institution, and to be applied to the purposes specified. As authorized by a resolution of the board 26th May, 1874, the committee have also examined the account-books of the National Museum and find the balance of $7,988.62 to the credit of the appropriation for the "preservation of the collections" remaining on the 11th January, 1875, to correspond with the certificate of the disbursing clerk of the Department of the Interior. The quarterly accounts current, bank-book, check-book, and ledger, have also been examined and found to be correct, showing a balance in the care of the Treasurer of the United States 15th January, 1875, of $15,909.99. Respectfully submitted. PETER PARKER, Executive Committee. WASHINGTON, January 23, 1875. JOURNAL OF PROCEEDINGS OF THE BOARD OF REGENTS OF THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION. WASHINGTON, D. C., January 20, 1875. In accordance with a resolution of the Board of Regents, fixing the third Wednesday of January as the time for the commencement of the annual session, a meeting of the Board of Regents was held on Wednes day, 20th of January, 1875, at 7 o'clock p. m., at the Smithsonian Institution. Present, the Chancellor, Chief Justice Waite; Hon. Henry Wilson, Vice-President of the United States; Senators H. Hamlin and A. A. Sargent; Representive Hon. E. R. Hoar; Hon. Peter Parker, Prof. Asa Gray, L. L. D., Prof. H. Coppée, L. L. D., Hon. George Bancroft, and Professor Henry, the Secretary. The minutes of the last meeting were read and approved. Excuses for non-attendance were received from Prof. Dana, Doctor Maclean, Hon. Mr. Stevenson, and Hon. Mr. Cox. The Secretary presented the following letter from General Sherman, which was read: HEADQUARTERS ARMY OF THE UNITED STATES, Saint Louis, Mo., November 12, 1874. MY DEAR PROFESSOR: Having removed my headquarters and resi dence from Washington to Saint Louis, it is proper that I should resign the post I have held for a few years as a Regent of your most honored Institution. I beg, therefore, that you will construe this letter as a tender of my resignation to the Board of Regents, or to such official as can accept the same. In thus severing my official connection with the Smithsonian, I beg leave to express to you and your associates my sense of the noble task in which you are engaged, and of my earnest prayer that the Institution under your management will continue to fulfil its magnificent design. A knowledge of science, that is of the laws of nature, is so intimately connected with the advance of higher civilization, that Mr. Smithson displayed unusual wisdom in so endowing his institution that it should give its principal labor to the increase of knowledge, to accumulating and securing new knowledge to be added to the old, which should be a special province of the universities of the whole earth. I therefore coincide with you perfectly in your special construction of the will, and hope that the Regents will continue to construe it literally, as a legacy sacred in its nature and beneficial in the highest degree. I beg you will assure your associates that among the many causes of regret at leaving Washington, none impresses me more than that which forces me to sever my relations with the Regents of the Smithsonian Institution. With great respect, your friend and servant, Prof. JOSEPH HENRY, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D. C. On motion of Dr. Parker, it was General. Resolved, That the Secretary of the Institution acknowledge the receipt of the letter from General Sherman, and express to him the high appreciation of the members of the board of his services as a Regent, and their regret at the termination of his official connection with the Institution. The Secretary stated that Congress had passed a joint resolution electing Hon. George Bancroft, who had recently become a permanent resident of Washington, as Regent to fill the vacancy occasioned by the resignation of General Sherman. On motion of Mr. Wilson, it was Resolved, That the vacancy in the EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE, occasioned by the resignation of General Sherman, be filled by the appointment of Hon. GEORGE BANCROFT. The Secretary presented his annual report of the operations and condition of the Institution, which was read in part. He also presented exhibits of the finances, which were referred to the Executive Committee. The Secretary stated that the annual accounts had been made up to the 15th of January, the date at which the semi-annual interest was received from the Treasury Department. Dr. Parker, from the Executive Committee, presented a preliminary report on the condition of the Smithson fund, and the receipts and expenditures for the past year, and stated that all the vouchers for payments had been carefully examined by the committee, who would submit a full report at the next meeting. The Secretary explained several features of the appropriations and expenditures of the year, the deposits made with the Corcoran Art Gallery, Army Museum, Department of Agriculture, &c. A statement of the circumstances attending a theft of $154.50 from the office of the Secretary of the Institution, was made by Prof. Henry, and, on motion of Mr. Sargent, it was Resolved, That the amount of the loss ($154.50) be charged in the account to "incidental expenses." The reading of the report of the Secretary was then resumed. At the suggestion of the Secretary, it was Resolved, That a committee, consisting of Professors Gray and Coppée, be appointed to examine and report on the present condition of the museum, especially the ethnological department. The board then adjourned to meet on Saturday evening, January 23, at 7 o'clock. WASHINGTON, January 23, 1875. A meeting of the Board of Regents was held this day, at 7 o'clock p. m. Present, the Chancellor, Chief-Justice Waite, Senators H. Hamlin, J. W. Stevenson, and A. A. Sargent; Representatives S. S. Cox, E. R. Hoar, G. W. Hazelton; Hon. Peter Parker, Prof. Asa Gray, Prof. H. Coppée, Hon. George Bancroft, and the Secretary, Professor Henry. The minutes of the last meeting were approved. Dr. Parker presented the annual report of the Executive Committee, which was, read and, on motion of Mr. Hamlin, adopted. Dr. Gray, from the special committee to examine the museum, presented the following report, which, on motion of Mr. Sargent, was accepted and ordered to be printed in the proceedings of the board: REPORT OF SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON THE MUSEUM. Your committee appointed to examine the museum has devoted as much time to the examination as the members of it could secure during the past two or three days, and would respectfully offer a few remarks upon its condition. It is not supposed that any full or detailed report is expected. We will confine our observations to the ethnological museum, the only one we have found time to inspect with any care. At the previous session of the board, about nine months ago, the large upper hall had barely been made ready to receive the ethnological and archæological collections, and a portion of the wall-cases only were in place. The progress that has been made in the interval is very gratifying. The hall, although not filled, bas been well supplied with glazed cases, for the most part excellent in plan and construction; and the very large and varied collection of objects is arranged in them and displayed to public view. There is still much to be done in perfecting the the arrangement and the labeling, and there are recent accessions to be added. But even now, it is a great pleasure to see how well cared for and how important this museum is, and how much it interests a numerous throng of visitors. In this respect it seems likely to be even more attractive than the museum of natural history underneath. It is only when an ethnological collection is brought together upon a comprehensive scale, and is well arranged upon some intelligible principle, that any one realizes its interest and importance. The arrangement which is, as we may say, technological rather than geographical, appears to be the one best adapted for such a museum— most useful to the serious student as well as most instructive and curious to the general visitor. Objects of the same class or subservient |