HAND-BOOK OF WASHINGTON. 68 empowered to elect a Chancellor, a Secretary and an Executive Committee. The Institution is situated on the Mall below the Capitol, and though the edifice is yet in an unfinished state, it presents a noble appearance, and is unquestionably one of the great attractions of the Metropolis. The style of the Architecture is the Romanesque, the material a reddish free stone of fine grain, its extreme length is four hundred and fifty feet, its width one hundred and forty feet, and it has nine towers varying in height from seventy-five to one hundred and fifty feet. The grounds which surround it are very extensive, and are now in progress of being beautified by Mr. Downing. The Secretary of the Institution is Professor Joseph Henry, who has the reputation of being one of the most accomplished scientific men of the age, and the property of the Institution and its general operations are in his charge, and among his assistants are several gentlemen of high scien tific and literary acquirements. To describe minutely the interior economy of this important establishment is not our intention in this place. We can only say that its beneficial influence upon the world at large has already been felt; it has already printed and circulated a