Jun 6 Congressman Benjamin Tappan Reports Bill to Establish SI

US Congressman Benjamin Tappan of Ohio, from the Joint Library Committee, reports bill S. 188 to establish the Smithsonian Institution. This version provides for a twelve member Board of Managers from different States or Territories to conduct business; construction of a building which will house all objects of natural history received by the government, as well as a library, chemical laboratory, and lecture rooms; appointment of professors to lecture in natural history, chemistry and astronomy, and a professor of agriculture and horticulture to carry out experiments on cultivars new to the country. The bill is passed to a second reading, but does not become law.