Minutes of the Permanent Commission of the Navy, Meeting XXXV (May 28, 1863), May 28, 1863, Smithsonian Archives - History Div, Minutes of the Permanent Commission of the Navy's Meeting XXXV, held at the Smithsonian Institution Building, or "Castle," on May 28, 1863. In the minutes, the members of the commission report of various proposed inventions and weapons. They report that T. Taylor's proposal of a "smoking shell" and "punching ram" should be dismissed., In February 1863 Joseph Henry, first Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, was appointed to the newly-established Permanent Commission of the Navy Department. This three-member board was charged with reviewing proposals sent to the Navy for warship designs, signalling systems, torpedoes, underwater guns, and other ordnance. The commission met more than 100 times and up to three times a week over the next two years, often at the Smithsonian Institution Building, or "Castle." They evaluated more than 300 inventions and proposals and issued more than 250 reports..