NATIONAL INSTITUTION FOR THE PROMOTION OF SCIENCE, WASHINGTON. The National Institution was organised at the seat of Government on the 15th May, 1840, by the adoption of a Constitution, and a declaration of the objects of the Institution: which are to promote Science and the Useful Arts, and to establish a National Museum of Natural History, &c. &c. The following Officers were appointed, to continue until the annual meeting in January, 1841: DIRECTORS. Hon. JOEL R. POINSETT, Secretary of War. COUNCILLORS. Hon. JOHN Q. ADAMS, House of Representatives. Dr. ALEXANDER MCWILLIAMS. A. O. DAYTON, Fourth Auditor. TREASURER. WILLIAM I. STONE SECRETARIES. FRANCIS MARKOE, JR., Corresponding Secretary. PISHEY THOMPSON, Recording Secretary. The first stated meeting of the Institution was held at the rooms of the Institution on the second Monday in June. Hon. JOEL R. POINSETT, First Director, in the Chair. By-Laws were presented by the committee appointed to prepare them, and approved by the meeting. The members formed themselves in classes under the Departments specified in the By-Laws, and the Departments were directed to organize, and report at the next meeting. The following donation was received: Fossil vegetable remains, from the deep cut of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, near Harper's Ferry.-From M. Krebbs. Special Meeting, June 26, 1840. Hon. JOEL R. POINSETT in the Chair. Present, fifteen members. A committee of three members, consisting of the Hon. W. CRANCH, Judge of the Circuit Court, Hon. H. D. GILPIN, Attorney General of the United States, and T. H. CRAWFORD, Esq., Superintendent of Indian Affairs, was appointed to inquire into the expediency of petitioning Congress for an act of incorporation. The Constitution was directed to be engrossed, for the signatures of the members at the stated meeting in July, and ordered to be printed with the By-Laws, for distribution. Stated Meeting, July 13, 1840. Present twenty members. Hon. JOEL R. POINSETT in the Chair. The committee appointed on the 26th ultimo, reported that it was not expedient to apply to Congress at the present session for a Charter. The following Departments reported their organization. Department of Natural History. Hon. LEVI WOODBURY, Secretary of the Treasury, Col. Jos. G. TOTTEN, Vice Chairman. Col. G. TALCOTT, Secretary. Department of American History and Antiquities. PETER FORCE, President, THOMAS HARTLEY CRAWFORD, Vice President. ALEXANDER DIMITRY, Librarian. Department of Agriculture. ROBERT BARNARD, Chairman. A. DIMITRY, Secretary. Mr. George Flower, of Illinois, read a communication on the Cottage, or Domestic cultivation of the beet root.* Dr. H. King, of Missouri, communicated information respecting the discovery of Fossil bones in Missouri. Stated Meeting, August, 10, 1840. Present, thirty-one members. Hon. JOEL R. POINSETT in the Chair. The following donations were received: A collection of Fossil shells, and a specimen of Selenite, from St. Mary's river, Maryland.-From Pishey Thompson. Specimens of Zinc and Copper ores from Missouri.-From Governor Miller, of Missouri. 'Farmer's Letters,' printed in 1744, by John Dickinson, of Philadelphia.- From Peter Force. The following Departments reported their organization : Department of Geology and Mineralogy. Col. J. J. ABERT, Chairman. Dr. THOS. P. JONES, Vice Chairman, Department of Chemistry. Dr. THOS. P. JONES, Chairman. Department of the Application of Science to the Arts. H. C. WILLIAMS, Secretary. Department of Literature and the Fine Arts. ALEX. MACOMB, Maj. Gen., U. S. A., Chairman. Dr. H. King, of Missouri, presented a paper containing " Directions for making collections in Natural History." Ordered to be printed. The following circulars were read: From Mr. Poinsett to the officers of the Army, at distant posts, asking their aid, and pointing out the manner in which they might be useful, in carrying out the objects of the Institution; And, from the Corresponding Secretary, notifying Corresponding Members of their election, and soliciting their co-operation. The Department of Geology and Mineralogy was requested to make a Geological and Mineralogical survey of the District of Columbia; to cause a Geological Map to be executed, and a suite of Specimens to be prepared for the Institution. The Department of Natural History was requested to prepare catalogues of the Animals and Vegetables of the District of Columbia, and to collect specimens. Stated Meeting, September 14, 1840. Present, twenty-three members. Hon. JOEL R. POINSETT in the Chair. The following donations were received: A specimen of Fucoides Alleghaniensis,' from the Gap in Wills' Mountain, near Cumberland, Maryland.-From J. H. Causten, jr. Iron and Copper ores from West Stockbridge, Massachusetts.From Hon. Gouverneur Kemble. Selenite, Marl, Fossils, &c. from St. Mary's river; Argillaceous oxide of Iron, from Piney Point, Maryland; and a Bottle, incrusted with Balani, from the bed of the Potomac, 70 miles below Washington.-From Pishey Thompson. Two publications on the Daguerreotype, by J. Monticello, of Naples. From the Author. Geological Survey of Virginia, 1839. By Professor W. B. Rogers. From the Author. MS. Collection of one hundred papers and documents, consisting of a series of Proclamations, Correspondence, Addresses, Garrison and Police orders, &c., illustrating the History of South Carolina, from the capitulation of Charleston, |