IONAL ACADEMY A HISTORY OF THE FIRST HALF-CENTURY OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES 1863-1913 A HISTORY OF THE FIRST HALF-CENTURY OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES 1863-1913 WASHINGTON 1913 JSorb (gftfcttnore (p«ee BALTIMORE, MD., IT. S. A. COMMITTEE ON THE PREPARATION OF THE SEMI-CENTENNIAL VOLUME ARNOLD HAGUE, CHAIRMAN RUSSELL H. CHITTENDEN WILLIAM TRELEASE WILLIAM T. COUNCILMAN CHARLES D. WALCOTT PREPARED AND EDITED BY FREDERICK W. TRUE Assistant Secretary, Smithsonian Institution 264133 PREFACE MANY of the members of the National Academy of Sciences, especially those elected in recent years, have frequently expressed the wish to become acquainted with its early history, particularly that of the formative period of the organization, and also with the work it has done in behalf of the Government. As the information on these subjects which can be gathered from the early publications of the Academy is neither in connected form nor very extensive, it was decided in 1909 to have prepared for publication, in connection with the semi-cen- tennial celebration of the Academy, a volume containing as com- plete an historical summary as could be brought together in the time available. A committee was appointed to take charge of the matter, and in the summer of 1910 the services of Dr. Frederick W. True were secured as editor. Besides consulting the early records of the Academy, it was necessary to seek information from outside sources. The work of preparing this history, which has been arduous, is highly appreci- ated by the members of the committee in charge, who have realized the varied and baffling nature of the undertaking and desire to express their approval of its accomplishment. It is be- lieved that the information assembled in this volume will afford a good insight into the nature of the activities of the Academy. The bibliographical references which it contains will enable those who desire more detailed knowledge to find it in the original documents. As the Academy has established a series of publications known as the Biographical Memoirs, containing records of the lives and works of its members, it has not been thought necessary to attempt the preparation of new biographical sketches, but the volume con- tains brief notices of the lives of the incorporators, or original viii PREFACE members, drawn chiefly from those included in the series men- tioned. It was hoped that a list of the scientific communications pre- sented to the Academy during the half century, some two thou- sand in number, with references to the places of publications, might be added to the volume, but it was found impossible in the time available to compile the necessary data. The comple- tion of this undertaking is therefore necessarily deferred until a later date. ARNOLD HAGUE, Chairman of Committee. JANUARY 10, 1913. TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS xi CHAPTER I ERRATUM Page 86, after "Report on the Awarding of the Henry Draper Medal to George Ellery Hale " insert " The Henry Draper Gold Medal, awarded to W. W. Campbell, of Lick Observatory, Mount Hamilton, California, during the meeting of the National Academy of Sciences, held in Washington, April 16-18, 1906." ERRATUM Page 341 under " Deceased Members", after Brown-Sequard insert BRUSH, GEORGE JARVIS, elected 1868, died February 6, 1912. IX viii PREFACE members, drawn chiefly from those included in the series men- tioned. It was hoped that a list of the scientific communications pre- sented to the Academy during the half century, some two thou- sand in number, with references to the places of publications, might be added to the volume, but it was found impossible in the time available to compile the necessary data. The comple- tion of this undertaking is therefore necessarily deferred until a later date. ARNOLD HAOTTF.. TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. . xi CHAPTER I THE FOUNDING OF THE ACADEMY i CHAPTER II THE ANNALS OF THE ACADEMY 25 CHAPTER III BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF THE INCORPORATORS 103 CHAPTER IV THE ACADEMY AS THE SCIENTIFIC ADVISER OF THE GOVERNMENT. . . 201 APPENDICES I. LIST OF OFFICERS 335 II. LIST OF MEMBERS AND FOREIGN ASSOCIATES 337 III. LIST OF MEDALISTS 346 IV. LIST OF REPORTS OF COMMITTEES APPOINTED ON BEHALF OF THE GOVERNMENT 348 V. ACT OF INCORPORATION, CONSTITUTION, AMENDMENTS AND RULES 351 VI. TEXT OF BEQUESTS AND TRUSTS 361 VII. LIST OF PUBLICATIONS 374 VIII. LIST OF MEETINGS 385 IX LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS FACING PAGE HENRY WILSON, Senator from Massachusetts, and afterwards, Vice-President of the United States, who introduced the bill incorporating the Academy 16 PRESIDENTS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES ALEXANDER DALLAS BACHE (1863-1867) 32 JOSEPH HENRY (1868-1878) 48 WILLIAM BARTON ROGERS (1879-1882) 80 OTHNIEL CHARLES MARSH (1883-1895) 208 WOLCOTT GIBBS (1895-1900) 224 ALEXANDER AGASSIZ (1901-1907) 240 IRA REMSEN (1907-1913) 256 HENRY DRAPER MEDAL 272 LAWRENCE SMITH MEDAL 288 WATSON MEDAL 302 DIPLOMA OF THE ACADEMY , 320 HISTORY OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES 1863-1913 CHAPTER I THE FOUNDING OF THE ACADEMY THE National Academy of Sciences owes its origin as an organization, in an indirect manner, to the need of the Government for technical scientific advice in con- nection with the conduct of the Civil War. In February, 1863, the Secretary of the Navy, Gideon Welles, appointed a " Per- manent Commission," consisting of Joseph Henry, Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, Alexander Dallas Bache, Superin- tendent of the Coast Survey, and Charles H. Davis, Chief of the Bureau of Navigation, Navy Department, to report on various " matters of science and art," but chiefly of a practical import and relating to the physical sciences. These experts considered numerous subjects, and gave their opinion regarding them. The letter of appointment, which is preserved in the archives of the Navy Department, is as follows: " NAVY DEPARTMENT, " February n, 1863. " SIR: The Department proposes to organize upon the following programme a permanent commission to which all subjects of a scientific character on which the Government may require information may be referred. " Propositions relative to a permanent scientific commission : " 1st. There shall be constituted a permanent commission consisting of, for the present, Commodore Davis, Professor Henry, and Professor Bache, to which shall be referred questions of science and art upon which the Department may require information. " 2d. This commission shall have authority to call in associates to aid in their investigations and inquiries. " 3d. The members and associates of the Commission shall receive no compen- sation for their services. " You are directed to act as a member of the Commission in conjunction with Professor Henry and Professor Bache. 2 NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES " Such matters as are presented to the Department will be referred to you for examination and report by the Commission. " I am respectfully, etc., " GIDEON WELLES, " Sec'y of Navy. " COMMODORE CHARLES H. DAVIS, " Chief of Bureau of Navigation." 1 Captain C. H. Davis, who published a life of his father, Rear- Admiral Charles H. Davis, in 1899, wrote as follows regarding the labors of this Commission : " This commission was no sinecure, and was constantly in session, for it was at this time that mechanical and scientific ingenuity was beginning to be felt in application to naval construction and equipment, and to this commission were referred the innumerable plans and proposals for new inventions and devices with which the government at Washington was flooded. This commission is inter- esting because it led to the establishment of the National Academy of Sciences." 2 From the designation " Permanent Commission," it might nat- urally be inferred that this body was preceded by an organiza- tion or board of a temporary character, but such appears not to have been the fact. There was, apparently, but one Commission, which owed its rather peculiar name to an endeavor on the part of Admiral Davis to find a designation corresponding to the term " Select Commission " sometimes employed by the British Government.8 Admiral Davis was appointed Chief of the Bureau of Naviga- tion in the Navy Department in July, 1862, and resided in Wash- ington from November of that year until April, 1865. During that time, according to Captain Davis, " he wrote home almost every day." Among the published letters of this period are four which throw a strong light on the steps which led to the organiza- tion of the Permanent Commission and the Academy. They 1 Letters to Heads of Bureaus (manuscript), vol. 4, July 10, 1861, to December 17, 1868, P- 153- 2 Davis, C. H. Life of Charles Henry Davis, Rear-Admiral, 1807-1877, by his son, Captain Charles H. Davis. New York, 1899, p. 286. Captain Davis later reached the rank of Rear-Admiral, but to distinguish him from his father, he is referred to below as Captain Davis. See also G. Brown Goode, "The Smithsonian Institution, 1846-1896," p. 152. 8 See Admiral Davis' letter of February 24, 1863, quoted on p. 3. FOUNDING OF THE ACADEMY 3 reveal the fact that the two organizations were closely associated in the minds of their originators, and also that they came into existence almost at the same time. It seems best, on this account, to consider them in connection with each other rather than to attempt to trace the beginnings of each organization separately. The four letters referred to, as they appear in Captain Davis' book, are as follows : "February 2, 1863. How much have I told you, if anything, about a Per- manent Commission or Academy? Bache, Henry, and myself are very busy on this topic, and have made a move which will no doubt result in the Permanent Commission. The Academy is more doubtful " (p. 289). " February 20. Inclosed is a copy of the order creating the Permanent Com- mission. But the Academy is to be introduced into Congress by Mr. Wilson [Senator from Massachusetts]. The whole plan of it was arranged last night between Mr. Wilson, Agassiz, Bache and Ben [Professor Peirce]. It was my plan amplified and improved " (p. 289). " February 24. I told you a word about the Academy in one of my notes, but only a word, being in a hurry. The appointment of a Permanent Commission was suggested to me by one of my letters, which quoted a passage from the British War Office which spoke of a Select Commission; and when I mentioned it to Bache and Henry they acquiesced, and the latter presented the plan to the department. You saw, by the copy of the Secretary's letter to me, that our plan was accepted without any change whatever. We had hardly got through this thing before the idea flashed upon my mind that the whole plan, so long entertained, of the Academy could be successfully carried out if an act of incorporation were boldly asked for in the name of some of the leading men of science from different parts of the country. This I submitted to Bache and Henry with details, but the view was not immediately adopted. The next step was Agassiz coming to Washington as one of the regents of the Smithsonian Institution. Then followed a visit to Agassiz by Senator Wilson, who had nominated him to the regency. At this meeting, which took place at Bache's, Ben, Bache, and Dr. Gould were present; and it was there that the mode of proceeding was devised. Mr. Wilson intro- duced the bill last Saturday " . . . . (p. 289). " February 27 I am looking for Agassiz to come here and be intro- duced to Admiral Foote, and then to go with me to the Capitol to see Mr. Grimes about the Academy bill. I go to the President's once more, and I hope for the last time, this morning. " The dinner at Bache's was particularly pleasant, even for the chief's enter- tainments, which never fail to be agreeable. Judge Loring, Mr. Hosford, and Mr. Hilgard were there . ..." (p. 291). 4 NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES " March 7 If the plan we first pitched upon had been followed, that of creating the Academy with a dozen or twenty members, and allowing them to organize and fill up the whole number by usual system of ballot, then the odium of exclusion would have been divided and distributed You will perceive at once that, on the plan I proposed, not only would the odium (if any) of exclusion be numerously shared, but a wider and broader opinion and control would have been brought to bear on selection, which would then have become election. And this was due to the interests of the government and to the claims of men of science " (p. 292). In these letters the chronological order of the events narrated is largely inverted, and, on the first perusal of them, the actual sequence is not readily comprehended. They inform us that Admiral Davis, having come to Washington in November, 1862, heard and participated in various discussions among his scientific associates of the need of a national scientific organization. Hav- ing served as a member of various advisory boards, the idea occurred to him not long before February 2, 1863, that the organization might take the form of a Permanent Commission. He at once broached the subject to Bache and Henry who agreed that the plan was meritorious, while at the same time clinging to the idea of founding an academy. Henry was so favorably impressed with the commission plan that he immediately pre- sented it to the Navy Department. This plan received the prompt attention of the Secretary of the Navy, who issued an order on February n, creating the Permanent Commission. While awaiting the result of the Navy Department's con- sideration of the plan to establish a scientific commission, the idea occurred to Admiral Davis that an academy might be organized by the simple process of asking Congress for its incor- poration " in the name of some of the leading men of science from different parts of the country." This idea was also pre- sented to Bache and Henry, who, however, were not immediately convinced of its merits. About this time Louis Agassiz, having been nominated by Senator Henry Wilson, of Massachusetts, a regent of the Smithsonian Institution, came to Washington and met him on February 19, at the house of Professor Bache, where were also assembled Professor Peirce, Dr. B. A. Gould FOUNDING OF THE ACADEMY 5 and we may presume, Admiral Davis. The plan of incorporat- ing an academy was discussed, and it was decided that Senator Wilson should introduce a bill of incorporation, which he did on Saturday, February 21. Admiral Davis asserts that the plan of action adopted on this occasion was his own, " amplified and improved." While there is no reason to doubt the accuracy of the state- ments regarding the organization of the Academy contained in these letters, which were written while the events were taking place, it is interesting to find that many of them are corroborated by other documents. That Louis Agassiz was nominated by Senator Wilson as a regent of the Smithsonian Institution at the time mentioned by Davis is verified by the record of the proceedings of the 37th Congress contained in the Congressional Globe. From this journal we learn that his name was proposed in the Senate by Senator Wilson, of Massachusetts, on February 6, 1863, and that the joint resolution providing for his appointment (Senate no. 126) was passed on that date; that this resolution passed the House on February 19, 1863 ; and that it was signed by President Lincoln on February 21.* The date of the introduction by Senator Wilson of the bill incorporating the Academy is also found to be correctly given in Davis' letter. The Globe contains the following regarding it: IN THE SENATE. Friday, February 20, 1863. — " Mr. Wilson, of Massachusetts, gave notice of his intention to ask leave to introduce a bill to incorporate a national academy of sciences." 5 Saturday, February 21, 1863. — " Mr. Wilson, of Massachusetts, in pursuance of previous notice, asked and obtained leave to introduce a bill (S. No. 555) to incorporate the National Academy of Sciences ; which was read twice by its title, and ordered to lie on the table, and be printed." e The bill was passed by the Senate on March 3, 1863, without discussion.7 4 Congressional Globe, tfth Congress, 30! Session, pp. 762, 1121, 1181. 5 Loc. cit., p. 1131. 8 Loc. cit., p. 1155. T Loc. cit., pp. 1500, 1501. There was no report on this bill. 6 NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES IN THE HOUSE. March 3, 1863. — " Mr. Thomas, of Massachusetts. I ask the unanimous consent of the House for leave to take up Senate bill No. 555, to incorporate a National Academy of Science. " There was no objection, and the bill was taken up, read three times, and passed. " Mr. Thomas, of Massachusetts, moved to reconsider the vote by which the bill was passed ; and also moved that the motion to reconsider be laid on the table. " The latter motion was agreed to." 8 The bill, having been passed by both Houses, was signed by the President on the same day, Tuesday, March 3, 1863. Upon examining the list of names of persons at the meeting held at the house of Professor Bache on February 19, to arrange the plan of incorporation, it will be noted that Joseph Henry is not mentioned. One might suppose that his name was acciden- tally omitted by Admiral Davis, but from remarks made later by Henry it appears certain that he did not attend the meeting. In his report as President of the Academy, for the year 1867, he speaks as follows: " I feel myself more at liberty to urge the claims of the Academy, inasmuch as its members generally, including myself, took no step toward its establishment. Indeed, I must confess that I had no idea that the national legislature, amid the absorbing and responsible duties connected with an intestine war, which threatened the very existence of the Union, would pause in its deliberations to consider such a proposition." 9 Whether other motives than the mere doubt of the feasibility of the plan for incorporating the Academy influenced Henry in refraining from attending the meeting of February 19, can, perhaps, not be discovered after the lapse of so many years. As soon as the Academy had been established, he took an active part in its proceedings, becoming chairman of the first com- mittee appointed in 1863, and a member of two others appointed in 1863 and 1864. He also read a paper at the first scientific session of the Academy, in January, 1864, " On Materials of Combustion for Lamps in Light-houses." His name does not, 8 Loc. «/., p. 1540. 9 Rep. Nat. Acad. Sci. for 1867. Sen. Misc. Doc. no. 106, 4oth Congress, 2d Session, 1868. p. 5. however, appear in the first list of officers of the Academy, nor of the members of the Council. While, as has been seen, many of the statements in Admiral Davis' letters regarding the initial steps in the formation of the Academy are substantiated by other records, the most important one has yet to be considered. This is his claim that the practical plan for bringing the organization into existence was his own, though " amplified and improved," as he remarks, by the sug- gestions of others. It is not to be supposed that Davis intended to claim having originated the idea of a national scientific association or academy. This thought, as Goode has shown,10 was in the minds of Wash- ington, Jefferson, Barlow, and other early American statesmen and publicists, and led to practical results of large importance through the activities of Franklin, John Adams and Poinsett. Bache dwelt on the need of a national scientific organization in his address as retiring President of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, at Albany, in 1851, on which occasion he said: " But first a few observations on the ordinary modes of promoting science ; in connexion with which, I would throw out for your consideration some reasons which induce me to believe that an institution of science, supplementary to existing ones, is much needed in our country, to guide public action in reference to scientific matters " It is, I believe, a common mistake to associate the idea of academical insti- tutions with monarchial institutions. We show in this, as in many other things, the prejudice of our descent. We have among us the two extremes of exaggerated nationality and of excessive imitation; let us modify each by the other, and be wise. A national institute is not necessary to Great Britain, with her rich and powerful universities. Republican France has cherished her Institute, seeking rather to extend than to curtail its proportions Nor does the idea of a necessary connexion between centralization and an institution strike me as a valid one. Suppose an institute of which the members belong in turn to each of our widely scattered states, working at their places of residence and reporting their results; meeting only at particular times, and for special purposes; engaged in researches self-directed, or desired by the body, called for by Congress or by the 10 Goode, G. Brown, The Origin of the National Scientific and Educational Institutions of the United States. Ann. Rep. Amer. Hist. Assoc. for 1889, pp. 53-161. 1890. 8 NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES Executive, who furnish the means for the inquiries. The detail of such an organization could be marked out so as to secure efficiency without centralization, and constant labor with its appropriate results. The public treasury would be saved many times the support of such a council, by the sound advice which it would give in regard to the various projects which are constantly forced upon their notice, and in regard to which they are now compelled to decide without the knowledge which alone can ensure a wise conclusion. The men of science who are at the seat of government either constantly or temporarily, are too much occupied in the special work which belongs to their official occupations to answer such a purpose; besides, the additional responsibility which, if they were called together, they must necessarily bear, would prove too great a burthen, considering the fervid zeal, and I might almost say fierceness, with which questions of interest are pursued and the very extraordinary means resorted to to bring about a successful conclusion " Our country is making such rapid progress in material improvements, that it is impossible for either the legislative or executive departments of our Government to avoid incidentally, if not directly, being involved in the decision of such questions. Without specification, it is easy to see that there are few applications of science which do not bear on the interests of commerce and navigation, naval or military concerns, the customs, the light-houses, the public lands, post-offices and post-roads, either directly or remotely. If all examination is refused, the good is confounded with the bad, and the Government may lose a most important advantage. If a decision is left to influence, or to imperfect knowledge, the worst consequences follow. " Such a body would supply a place not occupied by existing institutions, and which our own is, from its temporary and voluntary character, not able to supply." " This declaration, which foreshadows so much of the program of the National Academy organized twelve years later, must have been well known to Admiral (then Lieutenant) Davis. Indeed, it is probable that he listened to Professor Bache's ad- dress when delivered in Albany, as he was present at the meeting and read a paper himself on the solar eclipse of July 28, 1851. The claim of Davis, therefore, was not that he was the first to detect the need of a national academy of science, or to outline its proper character and scope, but that he first hit on a practical plan for bringing it into existence and for securing the initial membership. uProc. Amer. Assoc. Advanc. Sci., 6th Meeting, 1851 (1852), pp. xlvii-Ii. FOUNDING OF THE ACADEMY 9 The more interesting question as to what scientific men were the chief promoters of the Academy movement is not easy of solution. Not only has the little coterie which is mentioned by Davis as having arranged the plan of incorporation passed away, but all the group of fifty incorporators. Of some of these men no published biographies exist, and for others we have only brief sketches and fragments of correspondence. Piecing together the scraps and shreds of information scattered through many volumes leads to no very satisfactory result. We may confidently believe that, as Davis informs us, Bache, Peirce, Henry, Davis and B. A. Gould were strongly imbued with the idea that some form of national scientific organization, created by and bearing at least a quasi-official relation to the Federal Government would be of importance both to American science and to the Government. It is more difficult to be assured as to others. The name of Louis Agassiz should probably be added to the list, although the idea seems tenable that his activities in behalf of the Academy were prompted chiefly by a desire to aid his scientific associates and friends. Marcou states that Agassiz " may be called one of the founders, but not the ' prime mover ' " and intimates that he took part in the plans for incorporation mainly to satisfy Bache.12 However this may be, he was sufficiently interested in the Academy to accept the position of foreign secretary, to which he was elected at the first meeting in 1863, and also to take an active part in shaping the constitution and by-laws.13 Among those who have been mentioned as early promoters of the Academy is J. Peter Lesley. In a biographical sketch of his life read before the American Institute of Mining Engineers in 1903, Benjamin S. Lyman remarks: "About 1862 he [Lesley] and several of his scientific friends earnestly dis- cussed the desirableness of forming a National Academy of Science, that should ^Marcou, Jules. Life, letters and works of Louis Agassiz, vol. 2, 1895, p. 157. Many of Marcou's statements are erroneous, as, for example, that Henry Wilson was Vice- President of the United States at the time of the incorporation of the Academy. They can hardly be accepted unless corroborated by other testimony. 13 See Ames, Mary Lesley, Life and letters of Peter and Susan Lesley, vol. i, 1909, p. 419, where there is an amusing account of the meeting for organization. 10 NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES be limited in number and more select than the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and should have its meetings less encumbered with unsatisfactory communications. He was decidedly in favor of the enterprise, thinking that the exclusive character, and what might possibly be considered the aristocratic appearance or desires of such an organization, would not be distasteful to Americans, nor really inconsistent with their democratic principles. The Academy was incorporated by the United States Congress in 1863, and he was one of the original members, and continued to be a member throughout his life." " The foregoing assertion of Lesley's early interest in the forma- tion of an academy bears the impress of accuracy, but is some- what at variance with a published letter of Mrs. Lesley, dated March 8, 1863, as follows: " Yesterday came an official letter from the Honorable Henry Wilson, naming him [Lesley] as one of the corporators of the new National Academy of Sciences, and asking his attendance at the first meeting in New York. This was a very great surprise to Peter [Lesley], a thing entirely unsought and unsolicited, and gives him pleasure." 15 It is quite in harmony with Lesley's unselfish and unassuming character that his interest in the Academy should be entirely impersonal. There are some indications besides that contained in Lyman's address, just quoted, that the question of forming an academy was more or less widely discussed in 1862. In a biographical sketch of Professor Benjamin A. Gould, written by A. McF. Davis and published in 1897, the following remark is made: " In 1862, he was appointed to reduce and compute the astronomical observa- tions made at the Washington Observatory, and he was active both that year and the next in promoting the establishment of the National Academy of Sciences, of which he was an original member." 16 Doctor George W. Hill, in a letter addressed to Doctor Arnold Hague, remarks of Admiral Davis and Professor Peirce : "Ames, Mary Lesley. Life and letters of Peter and Susan Lesley, vol. 2, 1909, p. 469. (Appendix D. Biographical sketch of J. Peter Lesley, by Benjamin Smith Lyman, Phila- delphia, Pa. (New York Meeting, American Institute of Mining Engineers, October, 1903.).) (Published originally in Trans. Amer. Inst. Mining Engineers.) 15 Op. cit., vol. i, p. 419. "Davis, A. McF. Benjamin Apthorp Gould. Proc. Amer. Antiq. Soc., April, 1897, p. 7. (Also separate.) FOUNDING OF THE ACADEMY II " My impression is that these two men originated the idea of having a general scientific society for the whole country which, as far as our democratic institutions would allow, in imitation of those of Europe, should be under the patronage of the government. This idea was probably broached as early as 1862. Of course two men by themselves could not originate an academy and soon others were drawn into the project. Bache, Henry, B. A. Gould and Agassiz were invited to take part. It was decided that 50 should be the number of the members of the new scientific body." Others besides those already mentioned should be perhaps included among the founders of the Academy, but it is certain that not all who were named as incorporators participated in the movement. We know that in several instances persons so named were unaware that they had been designated until they had re- ceived a letter from Senator Wilson advising them that they were included in the list. One of the incorporators declined membership in the Academy. It appears from the letters of Davis that the list was made up at the preliminary meeting held at the house of Professor Bache on February 19, 1863, or soon afterwards, and caused some dissatisfaction when published in the bill of incorporation. It is perhaps an unnecessary task to endeavor to determine who should be considered the head and front of the Academy movement, but judging from contemporary evidence, this dis- tinction probably belongs to Professor Bache. Arnold Guyot speaks of him as " the enlightened and far-seeing head of the Coast Survey " and " the founder of this Academy." " E. S. Morse remarks: "Agassiz, Bache and Henry were the leading spirits in originating the National Academy of Sciences." The address delivered by Professor Bache at Albany in 1851, a portion of which is quoted above (p. 7), con- tains the first definite plan for the particular kind of academy which was organized twelve years later. Doubtless many of its features had been suggested by Bache's associates and friends, and we know, indeed, that it was a frequent subject of discussion among the scientific men of America for many years. Bache himself remarked in 1863 that the need of such a body as the "Biogr. Mem. Nat. Acad. Sci., vol. 2, 1886, p. 70. "Pop. Sci. Monthly, vol. 71, 1907, p. 548. 12 NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES National Academy of Sciences had " long been felt by the patriotic scientific men of the United States." Yet it was Bache who first gave the project a definite form and published it to the world. His plan cannot be said to have been copied from those which were formulated by Franklin before the Revolu- tion, or by Barlow, Adams or others in the early years of the Republic, although, as a matter of course, they have some things in common. The earlier projects related especially to the founding of a national university, to initiating research in branches of sciences which had not been cultivated in America, or to aiding the Government in the exploitation and develop- ment of the national domain, and were also concerned with the study of political science, morals, literature and art.19 At "The nearest approach to the Academy plan to be found in connection with the earlier organizations is, perhaps, the proposition put forward by a committee of the National Institute for the Promotion of Science in 1842. At a meeting of the National Institute, held on August 8, 1842, the following report was made by a special committee, proposing to establish an annual scientific convention at Washington: " They proposed that a meeting of the learned men of our country, distinguished for their attainments in the different sciences, particularly in those termed physical, should be held annually at the seat of the General Government, at some early period of the session of Congress, under the auspices of the [National] Institute, to communicate the results of their inquiries, to compare their observations, and to promote the general interests of science. It has seemed to the committee that this Institute affords an opportunity, which ought not to be neglected, of concentrating the genius and learning of our country at a common center, from which the beams of intelligence will radiate to gladden and bless the land." (Proc. Nat. Institute, sd Bull., j). 335.) "At the meeting of September 12, 1842, Mr. Poinsett, the president, proposed a series of resolutions intended to put the recommendation of the report into effect. All of these resolutions and reports .... were without avail." (Goode G. B. The Genesis of the U. S. National Museum, in Rep. U. S. Nat. Mus. for 1891, p. 294. 1893. See also Proc. Nat. Institute, 3d Bull., p. 336.) The purposes of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences are set forth in its charter, from which the following is an extract: "That the end and design of the institution of the said Academy is, to promote and encourage the knowledge of the antiquities of America, and of the national history of the country, and to determine the uses to which the various national productions of the country may be applied to promote and encourage medical discoveries, mathematical dis- quisitions, philosophical enquiries and experiments; astronomical, meteorological and geo- graphical observations; and improvements in agriculture, arts, manufactures and commerce; and, in fine, to cultivate every art and science, which may tend to advance the interest, honor, dignity and happiness of a free, independent and victorious people." Charter granted May 4, 1780. (Memoirs of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, vol. i, 1785, p. vii.) FOUNDING OF THE ACADEMY 13 the time when the idea of a national academy first began to take root, these needs had been more or less adequately met. Colleges had been established in most of the States of the Union and were in a prosperous condition, research had been prose- cuted in nearly every branch of science, and commerce and the development of the country had been encouraged by exten- sive surveys and other activities of the Government. The objects which the founders of the National Academy of Sciences had in view were of a somewhat different character. What they were can best be learned from those who were leaders in the movement. In the third section of the act of incorporation it is provided, that " The Academy shall, whenever called upon by any department of the Government, investigate, examine, ex- periment, and report upon any subject of science or art." In the first report of the Academy to Congress, dated March 28, 1864, Professor Bache, the first President, remarked: " The want of an institution by which the scientific strength of the country may be brought, from time to time, to the aid of the government in guiding action by the knowledge of scientific principles and experiments, has long been felt by the patriotic scientific men of the United States. No government of Europe has been willing to dispense with a body, under some name, capable of rendering such aid to the government, and in turn of illustrating the country by scientific discovery and by literary culture." 20 In the report for 1867, Joseph Henry, then President of the Academy, refers to the objects of the Academy in the following terms: " The objects of this association are principally to advance abstract science, and ^ to examine, investigate, and experiment upon subjects on which information is desired by the government. " It was implied in the organization of such a body that it should be exclusively composed of men distinguished for original research, and that to be chosen one of its members would be considered a high honor, and consequently a stimulus to scientific labor, and that no one would be elected into it who had not earned the distinction by actual discoveries enlarging the field of human knowledge. " The names of the fifty original members were included in the act of organi- zation and were chosen from among those of the principal cultivators of science in this country. For the appointment of these members the academy itself is not 20 Rep. Nat. Acad. Sci. for 1863 (1864), p. i. 3 14 NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES responsible. It is, however, responsible for those who have since been and are still to be elected ; and I am happy to say that in filling the large number of vacancies which have been occasioned by death and resignation since the original organi- zation, the principle before mentioned has been strictly observed, and no one has been admitted except after a full discussion of his claims and a satisfactory answer to the question, ' What has he done to advance science in the line of research which he has especially prosecuted ? ' " The organization of this academy may be hailed as marking an epoch in the history of philosophical opinions in our country. It is the first recognition by our government of the importance of abstract science as an essential element of mental and material progress." 21 It is obvious from the foregoing statements of Bache and Henry, that two principal objects were uppermost in the minds of the founders — to afford recognition to those men of science who had done original work of real importance and thereby to stimulate them and others to further endeavors; and to aid the Government in the solution of technical scientific problems having a practical bearing on the conduct of public business. The idea that election to membership in a scientific associa- tion incorporated by the Congress of the United States might be regarded as a badge of distinction conferred by our Government, similar to the honors bestowed by the monarchical govern- ments of Europe, seems to have provoked more or less discus- sion. By some, the bestowal of any such recognition was thought to be inconsistent with democratic principles. Professor Henry, however, was of the contrary opinion. In his report for 1867, already quoted, he remarks: " It is not enough for our government to offer encouragement to the direct promotion of the useful arts through the more or less fortunate efforts of inventors; it is absolutely necessary, if we would advance or even preserve our reputation for true intelligence, that encouragement and facilities should be afforded for devotion to original research in the various branches of human knowl- edge. In the other countries scientific discovery is stimulated by pensions, by titles of honor, and by various social and official distinctions. The French academicians receive an annual salary and are decorated with the insignia of the legion of honor. Similar marks of distinction are conferred on the members of the 21 Rep. Nat. Acad. Sci. for 1867 (1868), pp. i, 2. Sen. Misc. Doc. no. 106, 4oth Congress, ad Session. FOUNDING OF THE ACADEMY 15 academy of Berlin and that of St. Petersburg. These modes of stimulation or encouragement may be considered inconsistent with our social ideas and perhaps with our forms of government. There are honors, nevertheless, which in an intelligent democracy have been and may be justly awarded to those who enlarge the field of human thought and human power. Heretofore, but two principal means of distinction have been recognized in this country, viz: the acquisition of wealth and the possession of political power. The war seems to have offered a third, in bestowing position and renown for successful military achievement. The establishment of this Academy may be perhaps regarded as having opened a fourth avenue for the aspirations of a laudable ambition, which interferes neither with our national prejudices nor our political principles, and which only requires the fostering care of government to become of essential benefit and importance not only to this, but all the civilized countries of the world." 22 Whatever the merit of the views enunciated by Professor Henry, no tangible evidence of distinction has been attached to membership in the Academy, such as is connected with high military, political or judicial station. The members of the early American Geological Society were accustomed to append the letters " M. A. G. S." to their names, corresponding to the familiar " F. R. S." " F. L. S.," etc., of the Royal Society and the Linnean Society of London, and other English associations, but the practice has not obtained in connection with the National Academy of Sciences.23 To be the scientific adviser of the Government was second among the principal objects of the Academy, as laid down in the act of incorporation in 1863. The country was then in the throes of the Civil War, and the Government needed, as never before, sound advice on technical scientific subjects, especially such as had a bearing on naval and military affairs. Numerous commissions were appointed, including the Permanent Com- mission, already mentioned, and it was quite in harmony with the purpose of these organizations that one of the chief duties of the new academy should be to aid the Government wherever scientific truths could be serviceable. It has been intimated 22 Rep. Nat. Acad. Sci. for 1867 (1868), pp. 3, 4. Sen. Misc. Doc. no. 106, 4oth Congress, 2d Session. 23 Goode, G. B. The origin of the National Scientific and Educational Institutions of the United States. Ann. Rep. Amer. Hist. Assoc. for 1889 (1890), p. 68. 1 6 NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES by one writer that this provision was included in the bill of incorporation mainly to secure the passage of the bill, by convinc- ing Congress of the practical utility of the Academy. This may be in part true, but it does not explain the fact that the executive branch of the Government immediately took counsel of the Academy on a variety of subjects and has continued to do so up to the present time. In this connection, it is interesting to note the attitude of President Lincoln and his Secretary of State, Seward, toward the Academy, as shown by the following letter which was ad- dressed to Professor Bache a few months after its organization : " DEPARTMENT OF STATE, "WASHINGTON, January 8, 1864. " SIR : I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your note of the 7th instant, tendering to this department the aid of the Academy of Sciences in any investigations that it may be thought proper to institute with a view to the great reform of producing an uniformity of weights and measures among com- mercial nations. Be pleased to express to the academy my sincere thanks for this enlightened and patriotic proceeding, and assure them that, with the authority of the President, I shall be happy to avail myself of the assistance thus tendered to me, and to that end I shall at all times be happy to receive the suggestions of the academy, or of any committee that may be named by it, in conformity with the spirit of the note you have addressed to me. " I am, Sir, your obedient servant, " WILLIAM H. SEWARD. " PROFESSOR A. D. BACHE, "President of the National Academy of Sciences." 2* That the founders of the Academy felt that it owed a duty to the Government is shown by the rather singular provision which was incorporated in the constitution, that each member should upon his admission " take the oath of allegiance prescribed by the Senate of the United States for its own members." This matter of an oath of allegiance was by no means regarded as one of slight importance, as is indicated by the animated discussion to which it gave rise when the report of the committee on the consti- tution was brought before the Academy at the first meeting.25 24 Rep. Nat. Acad. Sci. for 1863, p. xi. 25 See Ames, Mary L. Life of Peter and Susan Lesley, vol. i, p. 419. FOUNDING OF THE ACADEMY IJ In a letter dated April 23, 1863, Lesley writes : " Some one argued that we would lose government patronage, unless we bid for it with the oath ; I suspect it was only an unfortunate way of stating a higher truth, that we are the children of the government, and the Academy is the creation of the government, and owes it the oath of allegiance as its first duty." 20 In view of this evidence and the fact that several of the original members of the Academy were conspicuous for their services to the Government in connection with the War, it can hardly be maintained that the offer of aid was merely a form of words inserted in the bill of incorporation for the purpose of inducing Congress to pass the measure. This governmental relationship is one of the chief peculiar- ities of the National Academy. Other scientific organizations were founded whose membership was drawn from all parts of the country, whose scope covered all branches of scientific re- search, and whose transactions reflected credit on their member- ship and on American science, but none could claim recognition as the scientific adviser to the Government. While to-day many scientific bureaus under the national Government are in existence, the conditions were quite different in 1863, when the Academy was organized. At that time the only governmental organizations of this class were the Coast Survey, the agricultural divisions of the Patent Office, and the Naval Observatory. To-day technical information on a wide range of subjects is available within the limits of the civil service. Nevertheless, the legislative and executive branches of the Government still continue to refer scientific matters of impor- tance to the Academy year by year for information and advice. On March 5, 1863, two days after the passage of the bill incorporating the Academy, Senator Wilson addressed letters to the fifty men of science whose names were mentioned therein, advising them of their designation as incorporators, and re- questing them to fix on a day when it would be most convenient to meet in New York City for the purpose of organization. This letter is printed in the first Annual of the Academy.27 28 Lor. cit., p. 420. "Ann. Nat. Acad. Sci. for 1863-4 (1865), p. 10. 1 8 NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES More than three-fifths of the incorporators replied to this re- quest, and on March 18, 1863, Senator Wilson, having given consideration to the various dates suggested, selected April 22 as the day, and the chapel of the University of the City of New York (now New York University) as the place for the meet- ing.28 This meeting was called to order at 1 1 o'clock by Senator Wilson who delivered the following address : 29 ADDRESS OF THE HON. HENRY WILSON Delivered at the opening of the first session of the Academy, April 22, 1863. " GENTLEMEN : I hold in my hand the Act, passed in the closing hours of the Thirty-seventh Congress, ' To incorporate the National Academy of Sciences,' In compliance with many kind requests I am here to call the corporators to order. In rising to perform this agreeable task, I crave for a moment your indulgence. " This Act, under which you have met to organize, incorporates in America, and for America, a National Institution, whose objects, ranging over the illimitable fields of science, are limited only by the wondrous capacities of the human intellect. Such an institution has been for years in the thought and on the tongue of the devotees of science, but its attainment seemed far in the future. Now it is an achieved fact. Our country has spoken it into being, in this ' dark and troubled night ' of its history, and commissioned you, gentlemen, to mould and fashion its organization, to infuse into it that vital and animating spirit that shall win in the boundless domains of science the glittering prizes of achievement that will gleam forever on the brow of the nation. " When, a few months ago, a gentleman whose name is known and honored in both hemispheres, expressed to me the desire that an Academy of Physical Sciences should be founded in America, and that I would at least make the effort to obtain such an act of incorporation for the scientific men of the United States, I replied, that it seemed more fitting that some statesman of ripe scholarship should take the lead in securing such a measure, but that I felt confident I could prepare, introduce, and carry through Congress a measure so eminently calculated to advance the cause of science, and to reflect honor upon our country. I promptly assumed the responsibility, and with such aid and suggestions as I could obtain, I prepared, introduced, and by personal effort with members of both Houses of Congress, carried through this act of incorporation without even a division in either House. 28 Op. clt., p. IT. New York University at that time occupied a large building of light- colored stone on the east side of Washington Square. The chapel was in this building. 29 Op. cit., pp. 12-15. FOUNDING OF THE ACADEMY 19 " The suggestion was sometimes made that the nation is engaged in a fearful struggle for existence, and the moment was not well chosen to press such a measure. But I thought otherwise. I thought it just the fitting time to act. I wanted the savans of the old world, as they turn their eyes hitherward, to see that amid the fire and blood of the most gigantic civil war in the annals of nations, the statesmen and people of the United States, in the calm confidence of assured power, are fostering the elevating, purifying, and consolidating institutions of religion and benevolence, literature, art and sciencfe. I wanted the men of Europe, who profess to see in America the failure of republican institutions, to realize that the people of the United States, while eliminating from their system that ever-disturbing element of discord, bequeathed to them by the colonial and commercial policy of England, are cherishing the institutions that elevate man and ennoble nations. The land resounds with the tread of armies, its bright waters are crimsoned, and its fields reddened with fraternal blood. Patriotism surely demands that we strive to make this now discordant, torn, and bleeding nation one and indivisible. The National Academy of Sciences will, I feel sure, be now and hereafter another element of power to keep in their orbits, around the great central sun of the Union, this constellation of sovereign commonwealths. " This act of incorporation may not be, is not, perfect. The task has been one of difficulty and delicacy. The number of members must be limited, while the most eminent men of science must be recognized, and sectional claims harmonized. If unintentional injustice has been done to any one, if msitakes have been made, time will, I trust, correct the injustice and the mistakes. Changes will surely come. ' Death is in the world,' and this original list of honored names will not remain long unbroken. If men of merit have been forgotten in this act of incor- poration, the Academy should seize the first and every occasion to right the seeming wrong. " This Academy is destined, I trust, to live as long as the republic shall endure, and to bear upon its rolls the names of the savans of coming generations. Let it then advance high its standard. Let it be as inflexible as justice, and as uncom- promising as truth. Let it speak with the authority of knowledge, that pretension may shrink abashed before it, and merit everywhere turn to it confident of recognition. " In the Providence of God, the Thirty-seventh Congress was summoned to the consideration of measures of transcendent magnitude. It enacted measures, empow- ering the government to raise hundreds of millions of dollars and millions of men, to protect the menaced life of the nation and preserve the vital spirit of freedom. It dealt with great questions of revenue and of finance. It obliterated an abhor- rent system from the national capital, and engraved freedom upon every rood of the national territory. It consecrated the public domain to homesteads for the homeless and landless, and authorized the construction of a railway to unite the Atlantic and the Pacific seas. The enactment of this act to incorporate the 20 NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES Academy of Sciences, was not the least in the long list of acts the Thirty-seventh Congress gave to the country, which will leave their impress upon the nation for ages yet to come. It was my fortune to take a humble part in these great measures of legislation. It is a source of profound gratification to me, that, amid the pres- sure of public affairs, I have been enabled to contribute something to found this Academy for the advancement of the physical sciences in America. It will ever be among my most cherished recollections, that I have been permitted through your courtesy to unite with you in organizing this National Academy, which, we fondly hope, will gather around it, in the centuries yet to come, the illustrious sons of genius and of learning, whose researches will enrich the sciences, and reflect unfading lustre upon the republic." The official records of the Academy do not contain an account of this first meeting or a list of the members who attended it. The New York Commercial Advertiser of April 23, 1863, how- ever, contains a list of the names and states that Professor Henry was elected President pro tern., and Professor Caswell, temporary secretary. The notice is as follows: " THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCE. " The last Congress incorporated a National Academy of Science, in pursuance of which the following thirty-one corporators of the institution assembled in the chapel of the New York University for the purpose of organizing: — Prof. Agassiz, Stephen Alexander, A. D. Bache, F. [A.] P. Barnard, J. T. [G.] Barnard, U. S. A.; W. H. C. Bartlett, U. S. M. C.; Profs. Caswell, Coffin, Dana, C. H. Davis, U. S. N.; Profs. Wazer [Frazer~\, Wolcott Gibbs, J. W. [Tkf.] Gilless [GiV/fw], U. S. A. [17. 5. N.] ; B. A. Gould, Prof. Guyot, James Hall, Joseph Henry, Hilyard [J. E. Hilgard], Hubbard, U. S. N. O.; Profs. Leidy, Lesley, Newberry, Newton, Peirce, Vauman Rogers \Fairman Rogers], R. E. Rogers, W. B. Rogers, L. M. Rutherford \_Rutherf urd~\, Joseph Saxton, B. Silliman, Jr., Joseph Winlock, U. S. Nautical Almanac Office. The number of corporators is restricted to fifty. The meeting was called to order by Senator Wilson. Pro- fessor Henry of the Smithsonian Institute \_sic~\ was chosen president pro tern., and Professor Caswell, temporary secretary. The proceedings were conducted with closed doors." This account is probably correct, except for slight errors in the spelling of names, etc. We know that the number of incorporators was 50. Senator Wilson stated that more than three-fifths responded to his letter regarding the meeting, and the number 31 in the newspaper article is therefore, quite prob- FOUNDING OF THE ACADEMY 21 ably correct. Lesley informs us that Professor Henry was in the chair, and mentions as being present also, Agassiz, Alex- ander, Bache, Barnard, Caswell " the secretary," Frazer, Gould, Leidy, Lesley, R. E. Rogers and W. B. Rogers, all of whom are included in the Advertiser list. The New York Daily Tribune of April 23, 1863, informs us that Senator Wilson's address was followed by a brief statement by Professor Agassiz of " the fundamental principles upon which a permanent edifice of science should be based," also, that a committee of nine was appointed to draft a form of organiza- tion. The members of this committee, according to the New York World of the same date were as follows: Caswell, Bache, Rodgers, Gibbs, Frazer, Silliman, Jr., Gould, Peirce and Agassiz. The Herald of that date states that the committee met at the Brevoort House in secret session, and substitutes the names of Henry and Winlock for Caswell and Gibbs. It also includes Rogers, instead of Rodgers, which, as will be shown presently, was correct. Corroborating these newspaper items regarding the committee on the constitution is a remark in Lesley's letter of April 23, 1863. "Yesterday I went down to the eight o'clock evening session [of the Academy], at which we heard and began to vote upon the constitution and by-laws, as reported by the committee of nine appointed in the morning." 30 Further corroboration, together with other interesting details, is found in a letter of William B. Rogers, dated April 28, 1863, from which the follow- ing is an extract: " Of the fifty corporators named in the bill, thirty-two were present the first day, and twenty-seven during the rest of the session. A committee of organization was first appointed, consisting of nine, Bache being chairman, supported by Ben- jamin Gould, Agassiz, Peirce, Benjamin Silliman, Frazer, etc., and to which I also was admitted. The Constitution and Rules, most elaborately prepared, were read from the MS. by Bache. There was no dissent on any important point, unless when I made objection. One of the provisions made the tenure of the offices of president, vice-president and secretary, for life. To this no one objected, and I let it pass without voting until, the morning's task being closed, Bache was 80 Life of Lesley, vol. x, p. 419. 22 NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES about shutting up his book. Then I rose, and calmly called their attention to this clause, told them that to exact that would be to blast every hope of success, and so impressed them with the responsibility of such a course that they voted the term of six years instead of for life." 31 The article of the constitution which seems to have provoked the most animated discussion was, as already mentioned, that which provided that the members of the Academy should take an oath of allegiance to the Government. This is not surprising, when one recalls the condition of the country at the time. The article was adopted, however, and the whole business of the meeting was completed, including the adoption of the constitu- tion and by-laws, and the election of officers in a session of three days, ending on the afternoon of April 24.32 Lesley, in his cautious spirit, remarks on " the splendid success of the organization as it appears," and continues " Time will show how much reality underlies this show. We have laid down the base of a pyramid for the ages." Hubbard was more enthusiastic. " A better three days for science were never spent," he writes to his brother, " The inauguration of this Academy marks the most important epoch ever witnessed by science in America." The account of this first meeting, as given by Professor Bache in his report as President of the Academy, is as follows : " In pursuance of the provisions of that Act [of incorporation], the members of the National Academy met in New York on the 22d of April, 1863, and com- pleted their organization, renewing by their loyal oath their obligations to serve their country and its constituted authorities to the best of their abilities and knowledge, on such subjects as were embraced in their charter, and upon which they might be consulted, and adopting a Constitution and Laws which they sup- posed would enable them to carry on successfully the plans of Congress as sketched in the charter. " Providing for the full and deliberate consideration and arrangement of their laws by a Committee selected for their capability in such a task, the Academy 31 Life and Letters of William Barton Rogers, edited by his wife, vol. 2, p. 161, 1896. 32 Although President Bache in his first report states that the constitution and by-laws were adopted at this meeting, it seems probable that the action was informal, as they are mentioned later in the same report, as having been "finally passed" on January 6, 1864. (See p. 8.) 88 B. A. Gould, Eulogy on Joseph S. Hubbard. Ann. Nat. Acad. Sci. for 1863-4 (1865), p. 72. FOUNDING OF THE ACADEMY 23 adopted the laws presented to their discussion, divided into Classes and Sections for the consideration of matters of science, elected officers, and adjourned to a stated day, the 4th of January, and to Washington, the National Capital, with which they were henceforth to be connected in their membership of the National Academy of Sciences." 3i The organization for the year 1863 was as follows: President, ALEXANDER DALLAS BACHE. Vice-President, JAMES DWIGHT DANA. Foreign Secretary, Louis AGASSIZ. Home Secretary, WOLCOTT GIBBS. Treasurer, FAIRMAN ROGERS. CLASS OF MATHEMATICS AND PHYSICS Chairman, BENJAMIN PEIRCE. Secretary, BENJAMIN A. GOULD. CLASS OF NATURAL HISTORY Chairman, BENJAMIN SILLIMAN, SR. Secretary, J. S. NEWBERRY. Council: CHARLES HENRY DAVIS, JOHN TORREY, LEWIS M. RUTHER- FURD, J. PETER LESLEY, and the officers and chairmen of classes ex officio. In addition to considering the constitution and by-laws and electing officers, the Academy at this first meeting appointed a committee on the form of a diploma, on a corporate seal, and on a stamp for books and other property, and also a committee on the mode of electing foreign associates. The latter committee did not report until January, 1864, and the former appears not to have presented any formal report. "Ann. Nat. Acad. Sci. for 1863-4 (1865), pp. 48, 49. CHAPTER II THE ANNALS OF THE ACADEMY IN chronicling the history of the Academy it has seemed de- sirable to divide the half century into periods of ten years each, although in some instances, for the sake of clearness, the whole story of a transaction is given in one place without regard to years. 1863-1867 The first meeting of the Academy held in New York on April 22, 1863, was a meeting for organization. It was devoted, as already shown, to the consideration of a constitution and by-laws, the election of officers and a council, and the appoint- ment of certain committees. In accordance with the provisions of the constitution, the members arranged themselves in two classes, (a) mathematics and physics, and (b) natural history; and a chairman and secretary were elected for each class. Five sections were included under each class. The assignment of members to these sections seems not to have been thoroughly carried out until the meeting of August, 1864, and even at that date the names of several members do not appear under any section. The names of the sections and the number of members enrolled under each, which are matters of considerable interest, are shown in the following table : CLASS OF MATHEMATICS AND PHYSICS Number of Members Sect. i. Mathematics 6 Sect. 2. Physics 6 Sect. 3. Astronomy, Geography and Geodesy 9 Sect. 4. Mechanics 6 Sect. 5. Chemistry 3 — 30 25 26 NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES CLASS OF NATURAL HISTORY Number of Members Sect. I. Mineralogy and Geology 6 Sect. 2. Zoology 5 Sect. 3. Botany I Sect. 4. Anatomy and Physiology 2 Sect. 5. Ethnology o — 14 Total 44 It will be seen from the foregoing figures that the number of members who joined the sections concerned with the physical sciences was twice as large as the number which joined those concerned with the natural sciences. This was due to the fact that the Academy movement was promoted by the physicists rather than the naturalists. As indicated by certain remarks of Professor Bache and Senator Wilson, the original plan seems to have contemplated the formation of an academy of physical sciences. It is interesting to notice that the paleontologists aligned them- selves with geology rather than zoology. The section of botany had but one member, and that of ethnology, none. Half the membership, in so far as it was assigned to sections, assembled in the first three physical sections, — mathematics, physics, and astronomy (with geography and geology) . The first scientific session of the Academy, following the meeting for organization, was held in Washington on January 4 to 9, 1864, in the Capitol, in the rooms of the Pacific Rail- road Committee of the Senate which were placed at the disposal of the Academy. In the interval between these two meetings, however, six committees on technical subjects had been ap- pointed. These reported at the January meeting, and in three cases the reports were adopted and the committees discharged, while in the other three the committees were continued. Four additional committees were appointed before the close of 1864. The work of these committees and of others appointed sub- sequently forms the subject of a later chapter. The importance of the scientific committees was felt by President Bache, who ANNALS OF THE ACADEMY 27 considered that it was largely through their activities that the Academy was to fulfil its functions. In his report for 1863 he remarks: " The first trial of the working of the Academy was to be made, and the first effort was to be through the action of a Committee on Weights and Measures, for the appointment of which, to consider the subject of the ' Uniformity of Weights, Measures and Coins, considered in relation to domestic and inter- national commerce,' the Academy had been addressed before its adjournment by the Hon. Secretary of the Treasury, S. P. Chase. " It was obvious that the only effective and prompt mode of action by members scattered over the United States, as were the fifty named in the charter, must be through committees. Action must originate with committees, and be perfected by discussion in the general meetings of the Academy, or in the classes or sections. Decisions to be finally pronounced by the entire body." 1 For the first time, the Academy listened to the reading of scientific papers by its members. In the program were in- cluded the names of Agassiz, Alexander, Bache, F. A. P. Barnard, J. G. Barnard, B. A. Gould, Henry, Peirce, Ruther- furd and Strong. The subjects of the 16 papers that were pre- sented were all connected with the physical sciences, except three by Professor Agassiz (two of which related to fishes and one to individuality among animals), and one by Stephen Alexander on the forms of icebergs. The preponderance of physical subjects is not surprising, when it is recalled that two- thirds of the membership at this time were enrolled in the class of mathematics and physics. The papers were referred to the Committee on Publication, which was instructed to " take order " for their publication, while the Council was directed to provide the means. The Academy was at this time without funds, except the amounts received from members as dues, and the orders could not, there- fore, be carried out immediately. It was not until 1866 that the first volume of the Memoirs of the Academy was issued, and this contained but two of the 16 papers read at the first scientific meeting in 1864. It was proposed in 1866 to collect and pub- 1 Annual Report of the President for 1863. Ann. Nat. Acad. Sci. for 1863-4 (J865), p. 4.9. cue 28 NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES lish the minor papers in the Proceedings of the Academy, but this action was never taken, the first issue of the Proceedings having been devoted to the reports and minutes. Besides formally adopting a constitution and by-laws, acting on reports of scientific committees, and listening to scientific communication, the Academy transacted other important busi- ness at the meeting of January, 1864. It elected the first foreign members, or " Foreign Associates," as they were styled in the constitution. The by-laws provided that not more than ten Foreign Associates might be elected at any one meeting, and the Academy proceeded at once to elect this number. This first list comprised Sir Wm. Rowan Hamilton, Karl Ernst Von Baer, Michael Faraday, J. B. Elie de Beaumont, Sir David Brewster, G. A. A. Plana, Robert Bunsen, F. W. A. Argelander, Michel Chasles and Henri Milne-Edwards. The Academy had not been in existence six months when it lost one of its original members, Professor Hubbard, one of the youngest of the incorporators, who died on August 16, 1863, at the age of 46 years. The event was reported at the meeting of January, 1864, and in accordance with the by-laws, Dr. B. A. Gould was appointed to prepare a biographical notice. This notice, the first of the series of biographical sketches published by the Academy, was read at the New Haven meeting, August 5, 1864, and printed in the first Annual.2 In accordance with the by-laws, the death of three eminent scientific men of the country not members of the Academy was announced at the meeting of January, 1864, and three members were appointed to prepare biographical sketches. Only two of the sketches appear to have been presented, however, and the practice was not continued in subsequent years, doubtless on account of the burden which it imposed on the membership, and the lack of funds for printing. Of the second session of the Academy for the year 1864, which was held in New Haven on the 5th and 6th of August, little has been recorded, beyond the fact that ten papers were 2 PP. 71-112. 29 read, including the two biographical sketches of non-members already mentioned. Of the remaining eight papers, all but one related to the physical sciences. The Academy lost three more of its original members dur- ing the year 1864, Edward Hitchcock, who died on February 27, Joseph Gilbert Totten, who died on April 22, and Benjamin Silliman, Sr., who died on November 24. Biographical notices of them were published in the Annual. The year 1865 was signalized by the publication of the first Annual, a pamphlet of 112 pages in duodecimo form, which appeared between January i, and February 13. It contained the Act of Incorporation, the constitution and by-laws, a list of officers, members, foreign associates and committees, the first report of the President, and a eulogy of J. S. Hubbard, one of the incorporators. As the Academy was without funds, the expense of printing was met by contributions of individual members, and in accordance with a vote of the Academy it was distributed to members of both houses of Congress, and to the heads of departments of the Government.3 Although the eighteenth by-law of the Academy provided that the Annual should be published on the first day of each year, this first number did not appear until the Academy had been in existence nearly two years, and only two additional numbers were issued, dated, respectively, 1866 and 1867. The by-law, or rule, as it was afterwards called, remained in force, however, until 1896, when it was finally stricken out.4 The year 1865 was further characterized by the fact that no requests for the investigation of scientific matters were re- ceived from the Government and no new scientific committees appointed. Thirty-four papers were read at the scientific sessions of this year, or somewhat more than were presented in 1864. The pro- gram covered a much wider scope than that of the preceding year. While astronomy, physics and mathematics were well repre- sProc. Nat. Acad. Sci., vol. i, 1877, p. 43. * Rep. Nat. Acad. Sci. for 1896, p. 10. 30 NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES sented, ten papers on geological subjects were presented, four papers on zoology, two papers relating to anthropology, etc. The Academy lost one of its original members this year, James Melville Gilliss, who died on February 9, 1865. It was also unfortunate as regards the presiding officers, President Bache having been in ill health, and the Vice-President, James Dwight Dana, having been forced to resign on August 23, from the same cause.5 The report to Congress on the operations of the Academy during 1865 was submitted by Professor Henry. As in the preceding year, the Washington meeting of the Academy was held in the Capitol. The August meeting was held at Northampton, Massachusetts. Few details have been recorded regarding either of these meetings. From Lesley's letters we learn that the Northampton session opened with 13 members present, which number increased to 20 on the follow- ing day. This session opened on August 23, and closed on the afternoon of the 26th. The division of the membership between the two classes " Mathematics and Physics " and " Natural History " under- went few changes in 1865, but the section of " Ethnology " came into actual existence through the assignment of one member thereto. Advantage was also taken in several sections of a provision of the constitution whereby members assigned to the 8 Professor Dana's reasons for resigning are mentioned in letters written by him to Pro- fessor Baird and Professor Guyot. On December 10, 1864, he wrote to Professor Baird: "As the time for our January (1865) meeting of the National Academy approaches, I become more and more convinced that I ought not to encounter the labor and fatigue of the occasion. Had I no duties but those of a private in the Academy I should have less fear. But with the cares of President, which involve meetings of council, as well as all business meetings, at least, of the Academy, and much more of an outside nature, I am sure I should be unwise to risk attendance I should much prefer now to throw up the position ; for besides my incapabilities from imperfect health, I should enjoy myself far more if I could have my time and strength to mingle socially with the members present." (The Life of James Dwight Dana, by D. C. Oilman, 1899, pp. 362, 363.) To Professor Guyot he wrote on February 14, 1865: "I wish most heartily I were out of the office of Vice-President, and I think I shall take an early opportunity to abdicate. It makes the meetings, now that Bache is unwell, times of great fatigue for me, and of no satisfactory intercourse with friends on the ground. I dislike the duty, and care nothing for the honor of it. You will not be surprised, therefore, if my resignation is handed in not long hence." (Op. cit., p. 329.) . 31 various sections could be elected honorary members of others. Thus, a member of the section of chemistry was elected to the section of botany, a member of the section of mathematics to the section of astronomy, etc. The year 1866 found the Academy without presiding officers. The first President, Professor Bache, continued in ill-health and was unable to attend the meetings, and the Vice-President, J. D. Dana, as already mentioned, resigned in August, 1865, from the same cause. The Academy being thus without presid- ing officers, proceeded on January 25, 1866, to elect Joseph Henry as Vice-President. " On taking the chair, Mr. Henry stated that while he was highly honored by the election, he felt much hesitation in accepting the office, since his duties in con- nection with the Smithsonian Institution were more than sufficient to occupy his attention, and that he could only accept the responsible position with the understanding that he would be permitted to retire as soon as the president should be able to resume his duties, or his place could be filled by another." As the event proved, however, Henry did not retire, but re- mained at the head of the Academy for twelve years. The Academy lost another of its original members, Augustus A. Gould, who died on September 15, 1866. This year again the Government sought the advice of the Academy on technical scientific matters and two committees were appointed, one on the improvement of the harbor of San Juan del Norte, or Greytown, in Nicaragua, and the other on proving and gauging spirits subjected to duty. Both committees presented reports, which were published in the annual report of the Academy, that relating to the gauging of spirits being voluminous and detailed. Thirty-eight papers were presented for discussion at the two scientific sessions held in 1866, or a few more than were included in the programs of the preceding year.7 The subjects covered a wider range than those of the preceding year. The greatest "Rep. Nat. Acad. Sci. for 1866, p. i. Sen. Misc. Doc. no. 44, 4oth Congress, ist Session. T Including three biographical sketches. 32 NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES number of papers were on astronomy, followed by zoology, physics and geography. The Academy this year for the first time voiced its interest in scientific activities outside its own sphere by passing resolu- tions expressing satisfaction at the action of the Government in authorizing the employment of metric weights and measures, and recommending that the metric system be taught in the public schools, and be made a subject of examination for admis- sion to colleges and universities ; and also " that the Academy considered it highly desirable that the discretionary power granted by Congress to the Postmaster-General to use the metrical weights in the post-offices be exercised at the earliest convenient day." Another resolution was adopted, commending the generosity of Nathaniel Thayer, of Boston, in fitting out an expedition to South America under the conduct of Professor Agassiz. The summer meeting was again held at Northampton, Massa- chusetts. Few details regarding it have been recorded, but it was referred to by one who was present as " a brilliant meeting." An important event of the year 1866 was the publication of the first volume of the Memoirs of the Academy. It was in quarto form and comprised 342 pages. The volume contained five articles, three on astronomical subjects, one on the distri- bution of certain diseases in the United States and another on rifled guns. It was distributed through the Smithsonian Insti- tution to 34 libraries in the United States and 24 in other countries. A second number of the Annual was also published. The events of 1867 were numerous and important. At the opening of the year, in February, the Academy lost its first President, Professor Bache. In his report as Vice-President, Professor Henry remarked: " During the past year the Acad- emy has been called upon to mourn the loss of its distinguished president, Alexander Dallas Bache. This eminent savant de- voted his life industriously to the advance of science, and may be said to have fallen a martyr to the cause of his country in the hour of its peril." Bache was one of the principal leaders, if ANNALS OF THE ACADEMY 33 not the prime mover, in the formation of the Academy, and his deep interest in its work is indicated by the fact that he bequeathed his estate to the Academy as a fund for the promotion of researches in the natural and physical sciences. His original intention was to place the fund under the control of a board, or, in case the board failed to act, that the trustees of the estate should apply the funds to the purposes specified, under the direction of the American Philosophical Society. Soon after the organization of the National Academy, however, on July 15, 1863, he added a codicil to his will which reads as follows: " ITEM: My will is that, upon the death of my wife, all the rest and residue of my estate 8 shall be paid over to and vest in the corporation of the National Academy of Sciences, incorporated by act of Congress, passed the 3d day of March, A. D. 1863, whom I hereby appoint trustees in the place of my said executors under the fourth clause of my said will, to apply the income, according to the directions in the said clause contained, to the prosecution of researches in physical and natural science by assisting experimentalists and observers in such manner and in such sums as shall be agreed upon by the board of direction in the said clause named." 9 Mrs. Bache died in February, 1870, and in 1871 the treasurer, Fairman Rogers, reported that the amount handed over to him by the executors of the estate of Professor Bache was $40,515.07, " together with an annual ground rent of $102, and some lands in Missouri not now [then] available." 10 In 1879, this amount was increased by $4650, on the death of Henry Wood Bache, a nephew of Professor Bache, who was a beneficiary under the will of Mrs. Bache.11 The income of the original fund amounted in 1872 to about $2500. The first allotment for scientific research was made in 1871 by the board having the fund in charge, the chairman of which was Joseph Henry. The amount of the grant was $500, and was the first of a series made to Professor J. E. Hilgard in connection with the mag- netic survey of the United States. 8 The property excepted was a house in Washington, which he gave to his sister, but with the provision that after her death and that of his wife it should also pass to the Academy. 9 Rep. Nat. Acad. Sci. for 1867, p. n. Sen. Misc. Doc. no. 106, 4oth Congress, zd Session. 10Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci., vol. i, p. 81. 11 Loc. cit., p. 156. 34 NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES Through this bequest, the Academy was put in possession of an important instrumentality for the promotion of scientific research, and nearly every year, for forty years, the Academy has granted one or more allotments for investigations in various branches of science, but chiefly in physics and astronomy. By 1889 the number of allotments had risen to 79, amounting in all to more than $38,000." Professor Bache's generous action has not only been of direct benefit to American science, but has sug- gested other bequests and donations to the Academy, through which research has been stimulated and aided. Besides the death of Professor Bache, other important changes had taken place in the membership of the Academy between 1863 and 1867. Of the fifty incorporate rs eight had died, namely, Hubbard, Totten, Hitchcock, Benj. Silliman (senior), Gilliss, A. A. Gould, Bache and Alexander. Eleven members had resigned, and in accordance with the provisions of the consti- tution, two were constituted honorary members on account of age or remoteness from the places of meeting. The January meeting for 1867 was held as usual in Washing- ton and 17 members were present. Only seven papers were read at this meeting, the smallest number presented at any meeting since the organization of the Academy. Resolutions were again passed recommending that the metric system of weights and measures be taught in the public schools and higher institu- tions of learning; and, in addition, registering the opinion that it was highly desirable to employ metric weights in the post- offices " at the earliest convenient day." At the August meeting of 1867 a resolution signed by eight members was offered, requesting that Congress should be asked to amend the act incorporating the Academy so that the member- ship could be increased beyond fifty. The resolution was dis- cussed at this meeting and referred to the Council. At the next session, on recommendation of the Council, it was rejected. The matter did not rest here, however, for at the meeting of April, 1870, it was brought forward again, and this time unanimously adopted by the Academy. "Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci., vol. i, p. 317. ANNALS OF THE ACADEMY 35 At the summer session the Committee on Weights and Measures was authorized and directed " to communicate with individuals and corporations representing the various trades throughout the country tendering advice and assistance in any efforts they may be disposed to make in regard to the introduc- tion of the metric weights and measures." The summer session this year was held in New Haven, 17 members being in attendance. A singular feature of the scien- tific program was that of the 29 papers read, 10 were by Professor Agassiz and related chiefly to fishes. The remaining papers, with two exceptions related to the physical sciences. A third number of the Annual of the Academy was published in 1867, after which it was discontinued. 1868-1872 Professor Henry continued during 1867 to preside over the meetings of the Academy in the capacity of Vice-President, but in January, 1868, he was elected President, and held that posi- tion for 1 1 years. At the same time, Wm. Chauvenet was elected Vice-President. The resolution to increase the membership was brought up again at this time, but was rejected. The feel- ing appears to have prevailed, however, that a larger attendance was desirable, and action was taken authorizing the President to invite as many persons not belonging to the Academy as he might think proper, while each member was privileged to invite a number not to exceed five. The time of the first session was by resolution changed from January to the second week in April, while that of the second session was changed from summer to fall, usually October or November. This new arrangement of meetings was put into effect in 1869 and has continued in force to the present. Not content with passing resolutions regarding the use of the metric system of weights and measures, the Academy in 1868 appointed a committee to wait upon the Postmaster-Gen- eral and urge their adoption in the post-offices. It appears from the records that the communication of the committee was 36 NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES listened to with attention, but no action was taken by the Govern- ment at that time. The Committee on Weights and Measures was also requested to consider certain changes in the coinage that had been pro- posed, and was authorized to communicate its views to Con- gress. A committee was appointed by the Academy in 1868 in con- nection with the total eclipse of the sun which was to occur the following year and would be visible in the United States. The observations on this important eclipse, during which the presence of the new element, coronium, was discovered in the sun's corona, led to the presentation of four papers relating thereto at the following session of the Academy, held at Northampton from August 31 to September 3, 1869. In the year 1868 the number of asteroids discovered by astron- omers had reached 101, and the Academy appointed a committee to give names to those bearing the numbers 100 and 101. The name Hecate was chosen for the former, and Helena for the latter. The Academy lost another of its original members in 1869, Theodore Strong, and two others, Frazer and Caswell, resigned and were placed on the list of honorary members. As showing its continued interest in astronomical investigation, the Acactemy this year appointed a committee to consider the completion and publication of Gilliss' observations of zones of stars around the South Pole. A committee was also appointed to determine whether the magnetic observations made by Harkness while on board the monitor Monadnock were suitable for publication. The latter observations were made by Professor William Harkness under an order of Rear-Admiral John Rodgers, U. S. N., during a cruise of the Monadnock from Philadelphia to San Francisco, by way of the Straits of Magellan, beginning in October, 1865. This detail was made by the Navy Depart- ment upon the recommendation of so-called " Compass Com- mittee " of the Academy, which was concerned with questions of magnetic deviations in iron vessels. " The investigation was ANNALS OF THE ACADEMY 37 undertaken because the vessel was heavily armored and the voyage extended far into both hemispheres, thus affording a favorable opportunity of submitting Poisson's theory of the deviations of compasses on iron ships to the test of rigorous observations, which had never been done before." The obser- vations were published in the Smithsonian Contributions to Knowledge,™ with the following prefatory note by Joseph Henry: " This paper was originally an official report presented to the Navy Department by Professor Harkness; but, as that department made no use of it, the National Academy of Sciences, in August, 1867, passed a resolution asking for the manu- script. This request was complied with; and, an abstract of the paper having been read to the Academy in April, 1869, it was referred to a commission consisting of the President of the Academy, Professors J. H. C. Coffin, and F. Rogers, in accordance with whose recommendation it is now published by the Smithsonian Institution." 14 About 40 papers were read at the two sessions of 1869 and an equal number the preceding year. They covered a very wide range of topics, but the majority related to the physical sciences. Although in 1868 the Academy rejected the proposition to have the restriction on the number of members removed, the subject was revived in 1870 and met with favorable considera- tion. A resolution was unanimously passed providing that " a memorial be addressed by the President of the Academy to the Congress of the United States, asking for the amendment of its charter in such manner as to remove the restrictions to the number of its members." The matter was presented to Congress on May 4, 1870, by Senator Henry Wilson, and the amend- ment asked for was granted in an act approved on July 15, 13 Vol. 18, 1873. The paper was accepted for publication on September 18, 1871. The signatures are dated from December, 1871, to January, 1873. 14 The resolution asking for the manuscript will be found in the Report of the National Academy of Sciences for 1867, page 9 (4oth Congress, 2d Session. Sen. Misc. Doc. no. 106). The preface above quoted is not in accord with the Proceedings, which, on page 73, state that the committee was appointed in April, 1869, also (page 75) that Professor Harkness read a paper on magnetic deviations in iron ships, in April, 1870, and not in April, 1869. In both the Proceedings and the Report, the vessel is incorrectly referred to as the Miantonomah. 38 NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES iSyo.15 The amendment was accepted by the Academy on the following year and in 1872, upon the adoption of an amended constitution, 25 new members were elected, having been selected from a list of 29 names submitted by the Class of Mathematics and Physics, and 18 names submitted by the Class of Natural History. A resolution was adopted, however, that after 1872 only five members should be elected at any one session of the Academy. The year 1870 was further marked by the important cir- cumstance, already mentioned above, that the Bache Fund be- came available. The first allotment from the income which it afforded was made in the following year, in connection with the magnetic survey of the United States. A committee was appointed this year to consider measures to secure the successful observation of the short transit of Venus of 1874. The Academy also expressed, in a resolution, its gratification at the appointment by the Government of the Argentine Republic of Dr. B. A. Gould, one of the original members of the Academy, as the director of the new national astronomical observatory at Cordoba. The second Vice-President of the Academy, William Chau- venet, died in December, 1870, and the office remained vacant until 1872, when Wolcott Gibbs was elected to succeed him. A committee to revise the constitution and the by-laws of the Academy in accordance with the act of Congress, approved July 14, 1870, amending the original act of incorporation, re- ported in 1871. This report was referred to the Council which in 1872 brought it again before the Academy. The constitution and rules, as amended, were unanimously adopted on April "July u, 1870. "On motion of Mr. Wilson, the Senate, as in Committee of the Whole, proceeded to consider the bill (S. No. 881) to amend the act to incorporate the National Academy of Sciences. It directs that the act to incorporate the National Academy of Sciences, approved March 3, 1863, be, and the same is hereby, so amended as to remove the limitation of the number of ordinary members of the Academy as provided in the act. " The bill was reported to the Senate without amendment, ordered to be engrossed for a third reading, read the third time, and passed." (Congressional Globe, 4ist Congress, 2d Session, part 6, p. 5437.) The bill passed the House without objection on July 14, 1870, and was approved July 15, 1870. ANNALS OF THE ACADEMY 39 17 of that year. While many of the changes introduced modified the organization of the Academy, they did not affect its char- acter or scope. The whole system of classes and sections was abolished, members were no longer required to take an oath of allegiance to the Government, and the provisions for impeach- ing and expelling members were omitted. The limitation in the number of members was removed, in accordance with the amended act of incorporation, and various changes were made in the manner of electing members. The time of meeting in Washington was changed from the third day of January to the third Tuesday in April. Persons not members were permitted to read papers upon invitation of the Academy. A clause was added to the constitution providing that " bequests and trusts having for their object the advancement of science may be accepted and administered by the Academy." As already mentioned, immediately upon the adoption of the revised constitution in April, 1872, twenty- five new members were elected. In a letter to the President of the Senate, dated February 23, 1873, Joseph Henry, President of the Academy, remarked on this action as follows: " The enlargement of the Academy has already had a most beneficial effect in stimulating the zeal of the younger men in the country who are devoted to scien- tific pursuits. A large number of the most valuable papers were contributed by the younger members at the recent session in Cambridge [November, 1872], and it is evident that the usefulness of the Academy is largely increased by being brought into closer sympathy with all the cultivators of science in the country." 18 For lack of communications, or for some other reason, no scientific session was held in the fall of 1870 or 1871, and at that of April, 1872, only six papers were presented, one of them being a biographical memoir. It appears probable that the enlargement of the membership of the Academy was intended, in part, at least, to offset the waning interest in the meetings, and Professor Henry's gratification at the strengthened programs which followed this action can be well understood. Through the solicitation of Captain Chas. F. Hall, who had undertaken two voyages into the Arctic regions, and a number of 18 Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci., vol. i, pp. 100, 101. 40 NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES his friends, Congress in the winter of 1869-70 passed an act authorizing the organization of an expedition toward the North Pole, which was later known as Hall's Third Arctic Expedition, or the voyage of the Polaris, from the name of the vessel com- missioned for the undertaking. The Act of Congress was as follows : " SEC. 9. And be it further enacted, That the President of the United States be authorized to organize and send out one or more expeditions toward the North Pole, and to appoint such person or persons as he may deem most fitted to the command thereof; to detail any officer of the public service to take part in the same, and to use any public vessel that may be suitable for the purpose; the scientific operations of the expedition to be prescribed in accordance with the advice of the National Academy of Sciences; and that the sum of fifty thousand dollars, or such part thereof as may be necessary, be hereby appropriated, out of any moneys in the treasury not otherwise appropriated, to be expended under the direction of the President." Approved, July 12, 1870." Captain Hall was appointed leader of the expedition, and in accordance with the Act of Congress the Secretary issued instructions to him, in which were included those of a committee of the National Academy of Sciences. The instructions were embodied in a pamphlet, which was published under the title: " Instructions for the Expedition toward the North Pole from Hon. Geo. M. Robeson, Secretary of the Navy. With an appendix from the National Academy of Sciences. 1871." On page 4 the following reference is made to the Academy: " You [Chas. F. Hall] will render Dr. Bessels and his assistants all such facilities and aids as may be in your power to carry into effect the said further advice, as given in the instructions herewith furnished in a communication from the president of the National Academy of Sciences. It is, however, important that objects of natural history, ethnology, etc., etc., which may be collected by any person attached to the expedition, shall be delivered to the chief of the scientific department, to be cared for by him, under your direction, and considered the property of the government; and every person be strictly prohibited from keeping any such object." The instructions and appendix are also contained in the Re- port of the Secretary of the Navy for 1871, pp. 238-260. 17 Stat. at Large, vol. 16, 1871, p. 251, 4ist Congress, 2d Session, chap. 251, sec. 9. ANNALS OF THE ACADEMY 41 The scientific instructions on astronomy were prepared by Simon Newcomb, and J. E. Hilgard; on magnetism, force of gravity, ocean physics and meteorology, by J. E. Hilgard; on natural history, by S. F. Baird; on geology by F. B. Meek; on glaciers, by Louis Agassiz. In a letter addressed to the Secretary of the Navy, June 9, 1871, and printed in the pamphlet mentioned above, Professor Henry remarked: " . . . . The expedition, except in its relation to geographical discovery, is not of a scientific character, and to connect with it a full corps of scientific observers, whose duty it should be to make minute investigations relative to the physics of the globe, and to afford them such facilities with regard to time and position as would be necessary to the full success of the object of their organization, would mate- rially interfere with the views entertained by Captain Hall, and the purpose for which the appropriation was evidently intended by Congress. " Although the special objects and peculiar organization of this expedition are not primarily of a scientific character, yet many phenomena may be observed and specimens of natural history be incidentally collected, particularly during the long winter periods in which the vessel must necessarily remain stationary; and therefore, in order that the opportunity of obtaining such results might not be lost, a committee of the National Academy of Sciences was appointed to prepare a series of instructions on the different branches of physics and natural history, and to render assistance in procuring the scientific outfit." 18 This expedition, as is well known, ended in disaster. Having reached the latitude 82° 11' N. on August 29, 1871, the highest attained by any explorer up to that time, Hall was soon after- ward taken suddenly ill at Thank God Harbor, Greenland, and died there on November 8, i87i.19 18 Instructions for Expedition toward North Pole from Hon. Geo. M. Robeson. Appendix, pp. 7, 8. "In 1871 six members of the Academy, Messrs. Meigs, Peirce, Hilgard, Baird, Henry and Barnard (F. A. P.), addressed a letter to the Hon. William M. Stewart, chairman of the Senate Committee on Mines and Mining, recommending that means be provided for testing the economic value of Western coals. The letter was printed as Senate Miscellaneous Docu- ment no. 74, 4ist Congress, 3d Session. In 1875 the Academy adopted the following resolution on the subject: "Resolved, That the National Academy recommends that an appro- priation be made by Congress for completing and extending to all known American coals the series of experiments now to be made by the Navy Department under an appropriation of Congress, and published in the report of W. R. Johnson on American Coals." (See Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci., vol. i, p. in.) The following year the Academy again adopted the 42 NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES 1873-1877 In 1872 the Academy lost another of its original members, John F. Frazer, and in 1873 three more, — Louis Agassiz (who was one of the most prominent leaders in the establishment of the Academy, and who held the office of Foreign Secretary for eleven years), Joseph Saxton and John Torrey. The latter year seems to have been otherwise uneventful. Following its policy of promoting astronomical science, a com- mittee was appointed in 1873 " to take into consideration the need of more Accurate Investigation, and Tables of the Celestial Movements, and to devise such measures as may seem best adapted to improve the Accuracy of Astronomical Tables." Joseph Henry this year expressed his intention of resigning the presidency, which he had held for six years, the term fixed by the constitution. A letter " numerously signed by members of the Academy " was, however, presented at the first session of 1874, and Henry thereupon decided to withhold his resignation, and continue to serve as President, which he did until his death in 1878. The interest felt by the members of the Academy in the metric system of weights and measures was newly manifested in 1875. As is well-known, an international conference on new metric standards was held in Paris in 1870, but its deliberations were interrupted by the opening of the Franco-Prussian War. It convened again in 1872 and soon afterward the proposition was advanced that an international bureau of weights and measures be established. At the April meeting of 1875 the Academy passed resolutions soliciting the President of the same resolution, on motion of General Meigs, in slightly different form, thus: "Resolved, That the President and Council of the National Academy be requested to prepare and present to Congress in the name of the Academy a memorial advising that the course of Experiments upon American Coals, made under direction of Congress by the Navy Depart- ment and reported in Johnson's Report on American Coals, be resumed and continued so as to include all the coals now used in the United States in sufficient quantities to be of value in the arts, and in manufactures, and in commerce." (Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci., vol. i, pp. 115, 116.) The records of the Academy do not contain any information as to the reasons which prompted this action, or the results which followed from it. ANNALS OF THE ACADEMY 43 United States " to ratify the assent which is understood to have been provisionally given by his diplomatic representative in Paris, to the creation of such a bureau, and to recommend to Congress to make the necessary provision to defray such portion of the expense attending its maintenance as may probably fall to our share." *° The International Bureau was established on May 20, 1875, the United States being the first country to sign the convention. At this time plans were well advanced for holding a great international exposition in Philadelphia, the Centennial Ex- hibition of 1876, to mark the one hundredth anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. It had been pro- posed in the Academy that invitations should be issued to promi- nent men of science abroad to attend the exposition and a committee was appointed to report upon the plan. After con- sideration, however, the committee reported unfavorably and the scheme was abandoned. The Government exhibits at this exposition were extensive and diversified, and were, for the time, extremely well installed. The autumn meeting of the Academy was held in Philadelphia in the year of the exposition and the members were so favor- ably impressed by the display made by the several departments and bureaus of the Government, the Smithsonian Institution and other organizations, that they were induced to pass resolu- tions urging the transfer of these exhibits in their entirety for permanent exhibition in Washington. The resolutions were as follows: October, 1876. " Whereas, The members of the National Academy of Sciences have been greatly impressed by the extent, variety, and richness of the truly national collec- tion contained in the Government Building at the Centennial Exhibition, and considering the great importance and the lasting interest with which the people of the United States regard this collection, therefore : — "Resolved, That in the opinion of the Academy, the Government Collection as a whole should be transferred to Washington and there preserved in an appro- priate building for perpetual exhibition. *Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci., vol. x, p. no. 44 NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES " Resolved, That the Academy entertain the hope that the President of the United States will favor the foregoing proposition, that he will delay the dis- persion of the exhibit from the several Executive Departments until Congress has assembled, and that he will recommend to that body to provide for the transfer of the Government Exhibit to the City of Washington, and for its subsequent permanent support." 21 The autumn meeting of 1872 was held in Cambridge, Massa- chusetts, that of 1873 in New York City, and those of 1874, 1875 and 1876 in Philadelphia. In the latter year the Academy having been asked by the British Minister to suggest names of persons considered eligible to receive the Albert Medal of the Society of Arts for " distinguished merit in promoting arts, manufacture, or commerce," suggested the name of Joseph Henry " as most worthy of all living Americans to receive that recogni- tion." 22 The original constitution of the Academy provided for four series of publications, reports, memoirs, annals and proceedings. While the reports and annals began to be issued soon after the organization of the Academy, the memoirs were delayed three years from lack of funds, and the first part of the first volume of Proceedings did not appear until 1877. This part comprised 1 20 pages and contained the constitution and by-laws, a sum- mary of the important business operations of the Academy, resolutions relating to scientific matters, the programs of the scientific sessions, reports of committees and other miscellaneous information. Though more or less fragmentary and incomplete, it is valuable as a continuous record of the proceedings of the Academy during the first 14 years of its existence. A second part carried the record to 1884, and a third to 1895. No further parts have been issued. Another publication which first appeared in 1877 was the Biographical Memoirs. The first volume, in octavo form, con- tained memoirs of fifteen deceased members. Some of these sketches had already appeared in the Annual, and the series, for aProc. Nat. Acad. Sci., vol. i, p. 118. 22 Loc. cit., p. 114. ANNALS OF THE ACADEMY 45 which there was no definite provision in the constitution, may perhaps be considered as a continuation of that publication. Although in 1875 the diplomatic representative of the Govern- ment had signed the convention for the establishment of an inter- national bureau of weights and measures, that action required ratification by the Senate to be binding on the United States. On recommendation of the Committee on Weights, Measures and Coinage, the Academy in 1877 addressed a memorial to Congress in which the members " respectfully urge that the Senate ratify said convention, and that Congress make the requisite appropriation to carry the same into effect." The treasurer reported in October, 1876, that the principal of the Bache Fund amounted to $43,300, of which $42,300 was invested in United States certificates, and $1000 in certificates of the city of Davenport, Iowa. In addition, the Academy had received from the Bache estate 160 acres of land situated in the State of Missouri, and a house and lot in the city of Washington, No. 723 Twentieth Street, S. W. In connection with the various allotments made from the fund for scientific researches, some pieces of apparatus had been purchased, and in 1877 the Academy directed that all such apparatus when no longer needed for the purposes of the investigations undertaken should be turned over to the Home Secretary, and be at all times subject to the disposal of the Academy. Jeffries Wyman, one of the original members of the Academy, died in 1874, and another, Joseph Winlock, in 1875. In 1877 two others died, Alexis Caswell and Rear-Admiral Charles H. Davis, the latter, as shown by this history, probably the first to conceive a practical plan for the formation of the Academy. In 1877 the practice was established of having important in- ventions based on scientific principles exhibited before the Academy. In that year an exhibition was made in the chemical laboratory of Columbia College, of the Jablokoff electric candle, a form of arc light which caused a revival of interest in the problems of electric lighting. 46 NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES 1878-1882 At the April session of the following year, Mr. Thomas A. Edison exhibited to the Academy the phonograph, which was invented by him in 1877, and also his " carbon telephone." The record contains the following statement regarding this exhi- bition: April, 1878. " During the session Mr. Thomas A. Edison exhibited to the Academy his Phonograph and Carbon Telephone, communicating with the latter through one of the Western Union Telegraph wires with the Central Office of that Com- pany in Philadelphia, and members of the Academy holding conversation with Mr. Henry Bentley of that city." 23 Toward the close of the year 1877 the health of the second President of the Academy, Joseph Henry, suffered a severe decline, and at the April session of 1878 an address was read in his behalf, in which he called attention to his long term of ser- vice, and renewed the request which he had made some six years previously, that he be allowed to resign his office. In closing his address he remarked, " I retain the office six months longer in the hope that I may be restored to such a condition of health as to be able to prepare some suggestions, which may be of importance for the future of the Academy." 2* The appreciation of Henry's services was such that the follow- ing resolution was adopted unanimously: " Resolved, That with every sentiment of sympathy and regard for Professor Henry, the Academy most respectfully declines to entertain any proposition looking to his retirement from the office of President." 25 His infirmities, however, increased with such rapidity that he was obliged to hasten his valedictory address, and at the end of the same session his farewell was delivered in the following words : " GENTLEMEN : I have been much interested in the proceedings of the present meeting of the National Academy. Although I have been unable to be present, ^Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci., vol. i, p. 130. 24 Loc. clt., p. 132. 25 Loc. cit., p. 132. 9 ANNALS OF THE ACADEMY 47 except during a small part of the session, yet I have been made acquainted with everything that has occurred. " Whatever might have been thought as to the success of the Academy, when first proposed by the late Prof. Louis Agassiz, the present meeting conclusively proves that it has become a power of great efficiency in the promotion of science in this country. To sustain this effect, however, much caution is required to maintain the purity of its character and the propriety of its decisions. " For this purpose great care must be exercised in the selection of its members. It must not be forgotten for a moment that the basis of selection is actual scientific labor in the way of original research ; that is, in making positive additions to the sum of human knowledge, connected with unimpeachable moral character. " It is not social position, popularity, extended authorship, or success as an instructor in science, which entitles to membership, but actual new discoveries; nor are these sufficient if the reputation of the candidate is in the slightest degree tainted with injustice or want of truth. Indeed, I think that immorality and great mental power actually exercised in the discovery of scientific truths are incom- patible with each other, and that more error is introduced from defect in moral sense than from want of intellectual capacity. " Please accept my warmest thanks for the kind expressions of sympathy you have extended to me during this period of my illness, and in refusing to accept my resignation as President of the Academy. I shall be thankful if a beneficent Providence extends my life during another year, and grants me the privilege of greeting you again in a twelve-month from this time as successful laborers in the fields of science. " I can truly say that I entertain for each member of the Academy a fraternal sympathy, and rejoice at every step he makes in the development of new truths. " With my best wishes for your safe return to your homes, and for a rich harvest of scientific results in the ensuing year, I now bid you an affectionate farewell." 26 He died on May 13, 1878. In the address of the Acting Presi- dent, Professor O. C. Marsh, at the April session of 1879 we find the following words relative to Henry's services to the Academy: " It is fitting to this occasion, that I should allude, at least, to Professor Henry's great services to the Academy as its presiding officer during the last ten years. " After the death of the first President of the Academy, Professor Alexander Dallas Bache, in 1867, Professor Henry was elected his successor at the next meeting, in January, 1868. From that time until he left the chair at the last Annual Meeting, in April, 1878, it had been his constant thought to advance the ^Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci., vol. i, pp. 132-133. 40 NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES best interests of the Academy. How zealously he guarded its good name; how impartially and wisely he guided its deliberations; and how earnestly he strove to maintain for it a high standard in Science, we can all bear ample testimony." 27 Shortly before his death, in 1878, a number of personal friends established a fund " as an expression of the donors' respect and esteem for Professor Joseph Henry's personal virtues, their sense of his life's great devotion to science with its results of im- portant discoveries, and of his constant labors to increase and diffuse knowledge and promote the welfare of mankind." This fund, which amounted to $40,000, was deposited with a trust company, with the provision that the income derived from it should be paid over to Professor Henry during his lifetime, and afterward to his wife and daughters; and that after the death of the last survivor it should be delivered to the Academy " to be thenceforward forever held in trust under the name and title of the ' Joseph Henry Fund,' the principal to be forever held intact, and the income to be from time to time applied by the said National Academy of Sciences in its sole discretion to assist meritorious investigators, especially in the direction of original research." On June 30, 1878, Congress passed an act requiring the Academy to consider the methods and expenditures of the several surveys carried on under Government auspices, and to report a plan for conducting them to the best advantage as re- gards cost and results, and for the publication and distribution of reports, maps, etc. The views of the Academy on this sub- ject, which was one of much importance, will be considered in the chapter devoted to the work of the Academy as the scientific adviser of the Government. After the death of Professor Henry, the Vice-President, Professor Marsh, was Acting President until April, 1879, when Professor Wm. B. Rogers was elected President. The term of office under the constitution was six years, but Professor Rogers died in May, 1882, and Professor Marsh again became Acting President until April, 1883, when Professor Wolcott Gibbs 27 Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci., vol. x, p. 149. ANNALS OF THE ACADEMY 49 was elected to the presidency. Professor Gibbs was, however, unable to serve and Professor Marsh was thereupon elected President. In a work entitled " Investigation of the Distance of the Sun,"28 published in 1867, Professor Simon Newcomb called attention to the desirability of further experiments in relation to the velocity of light. At the spring session of 1878, he presented a communication explaining the methods employed by the French physicists, Foucault and Fizeau, for measuring the velocity of light, and pointing out the discrepancies in the results obtained by them. He outlined a modification of Foucault's method which he had worked out and another which had been devised by Ensign Albert A. Michelson, U. S. N., and asked the Academy's con- sideration of the question whether the Government should not be asked to provide the means for carrying on experiments in accordance with the improved methods. A resolution was passed at the same session, providing for the appointment of a committee to consider the matter and report to the President and Council who should have power to act. The committee reported favorably on the project, and its report was sent to the Secretary of the Navy, Hon. R. W. Thompson, through whose interest an appropriation of $5000 was made by Congress, to be expended under the direction of the Secretary. Professor Newcomb was appointed by the Secretary of the Navy to conduct the experi- ments, and immediately took steps to procure the necessary appa- ratus. The experiments proved more laborious than had been expected and it was not until November 15, 1881, that Professor Newcomb was able to report definite results. These were not as satisfactory as had been hoped, on account of certain defects in the apparatus used, which were not detected until a late date. At the time of reporting in 1881, the sum of $2,000 was still needed to complete the experiments. The defects in the instruments having been remedied the experiments were taken up again July 24, 1882, and continued until September 5, 1882. 28 Washington Observations, 1865. Appendix 2. 50 NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES On account of the discrepancy between the results obtained by Professor Michelson in 1879 and those by Professor Newcomb in his first series of observations, the former undertook the repetition of his experiments in 1882 by means of a grant from the Bache Fund of the National Academy, and in 1883 some cognate experiments on the velocity of differently colored rays of light through various refracting media. The results of Pro- fessor Newcomb's experiments and the subsequent ones of Professor Michelson were published under the Navy Depart- ment in i885.29 By an act, approved March 3, 1879, Congress established a National Board of Health to consist of one surgeon of the Army, one surgeon of the Navy, a medical officer of the Marine Hos- pital Service, an officer of the Department of Justice, and seven physicians from civil life. By the provisions of this act, the Academy was requested and directed to cooperate with the board and to report to Congress. A committee of nine members was appointed the same year and assisted the board in the preparation of its first annual report. Regarding the work of this committee, the President of the Academy reported in 1880, as follows: " A communication was received from the president of the National Board of Health, dated April 14, 1880, expressing the high appreciation of the Board, of the aid and co-operation rendered by the Committee of the Academy in the prepa- ration of its annual report in accordance with the constituting act approved March 3, 1879, and requesting, in view of the importance of the subjects under its charge, that the Committee be continued or a new one appointed. " The committee of the Academy to co-operate with the National Board of Health was accordingly continued." 30 In view of this appreciation and request the committee was re- appointed annually until 1883. ^n *886 tne chairman reported that four years had elapsed since the Board of Health had re- quested assistance and the committee was, therefore, discharged. ^Astronomical Papers prepared for the use of the American Ephemeris and Nautical Almanac, vol. 2, parts 3-4. Velocity of Light in Air and Refracting Media. 4°. Washing- ton: Bureau of Navigation, Navy Department, 1885. ""Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci., vol. i, p. 174. ANNALS OF THE ACADEMY 5 1 In 1 88 1, when the Academy had been in existence for eighteen years, the number of papers which had been read at the scien- tific sessions was no less than 649. Of these papers only five had been published by the Academy, and the President, Professor Rogers, felt that it had not received the recognition by the scientific world which it would have received if the papers of each year had been issued promptly in a journal or some other publication of the Academy. He, therefore, proposed that they should be brought together annually and transmitted with the report to Congress. Though the appeal for the support of the membership in this plan was urgent and was repeated several times, it seems not to have been generally responded to, and the reports continued as before to be made up of only an outline of the proceedings. It can be readily understood that in an organi- zation like the Academy, whose members are for the most part connected with educational or governmental institutions, and are engaged in extended investigations along more or less definite lines, it would be difficult to obtain a series of papers each year for publication. Many communications are necessarily of a preliminary or extemporaneous character, while, on the other hand, such completed papers as are available for publication by the Academy are often so comprehensive, and require so large an amount of illustration that they are unsuitable for an annual report. At the spring session of 1880 the Academy took notice in its Proceedings of two astronomical happenings of importance. Dr. B. A. Gould, a member of the Academy, who since 1870 had been director of the Argentine National Observatory at Cordoba, completed his " Uranometria Argentina " and atlas of the southern heavens, and upon receipt of a copy of that work the Academy passed this resolution: " Resolved, That the Academy .... desires to express its high appreciation of the great and permanent value of that magnificent work, the fruit of the labors of our colleague during many years of absence from his country and home, and which reflects the highest credit on the wise liberality of the statesmen who have 52 NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES promoted the establishment of their national observatory and have sustained its progress." 31 The second resolution related to the determination of longi- tudes telegraphically, in accordance with a method perfected by Dr. Gould while connected with the United States Coast Sur- vey. Having listened to a paper by Lieutenant-Commander F. M. Green on the results obtained in the Hydrographic Office of the Navy Department on foreign coasts of the Atlantic Ocean, the Academy, in a resolution, expressed its hope that the work might be extended to the Pacific and Indian Oceans, which resolution was communicated to the Secretary of the Navy. Fairman Rogers, who had served as treasurer of the Academy for a period of 18 years, beginning with its organization, re- signed in April, 1881, and Mr. J. H. C. Coffin was elected to succeed him.82 In this year and the two years following, the Academy was much occupied with matters relating to trust funds. The director of the Washburn Observatory at the University of Wisconsin, James C. Watson, who was a member of the Academy, died on November 23, 1880, and bequeathed the residue of his estate, after certain bequests to relatives and friends had been satisfied, to the Academy for establishing a medal, " to be awarded, with a further gratuity of one hundred dollars, from time to time to the person in any country who shall make any astronomical discovery or produce any astronomical work worthy of special reward and contributing to our science " ; and also " for preparing and publishing tables of the motion of all the planets which have been discovered by me [J. C. Watson] as soon as it may be practicable to do so." The estate was found to be in an involved condition, and it was not until July 5, 1882, that the claims against it were settled. On that date the following decree of court was handed down : 81 Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci., vol. i, pp. 175, 176. 82 This year a committee, of which Professor J. E. Hilgard was the chairman, was appointed to consider and report on means for obtaining a legal value for the degrees of the Baume hydrometer. The committee reported progress in 1882, but appears to have reached no practical conclusion. (See Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci., vol. i, pp. 199, 208.) ANNALS OF THE ACADEMY 53 " That all the rest, residue and remainder of said personal estate, consisting of the sum of five thousand and fifty-seven dollars and twenty-five cents in cash, one hundred and seventy-four shares of said stock of the Michigan Mutual Life Insurance Company, and the undivided two-thirds of said miscellaneous books, and all and singular the said books and scientific papers as delivered by said executor to it, be, and the same are hereby, assigned and set over to the said National Academy of Sciences, its successors and assignees." 33 Nine years later, in 1891, the stock of the insurance company was sold for the sum of $10,720 and the whole amount of the fund was then $18,666.88. The first grant from the income of the fund was made in 1883 for search for an intra-mercurial planet. In 1886 the Watson Gold Medal was awarded for the first time to Dr. Benjamin Apthorp Gould " for his valuable labors for nearly forty years in promoting the progress in astro- nomical science, and especially for his successful establishment of the National Observatory of the Argentine Republic, as mani- fested in the six volumes of observations recently prepared and published by him." This medal was presented at the spring session of 1887, a special evening meeting being held on April 20 in the lecture- room of the National Museum for that purpose. The President of the Academy, Professor Marsh, in a presentation address remarked as follows: " Dr. Gould's great works are: " i. The Uranometria Argentina, one volume, with large atlas. This work comprises a catalogue and map of all the stars down to the seventh magnitude, from the south pole to 10 degrees north declination, the position and magnitude of each being given. It is not a mere catalogue, but embodies an exhaustive study of the distribution of stars of different magnitudes and their relations to the Milky Way. " 2. The Argentine General Catalogue, one volume, 410, contains the places of nearly 33,000 (32,448) stars, determined with the highest accuracy with the meridian circle. Three determinations of each star were generally made. The catalogue is followed by a list of the stars contained in some of the most noted clusters. " 3- The Cordoba Zone Catalogues, seven volumes, give the places of 73,160 stars down to the tenth magnitude. Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci., vol. i, p. 227. 54 NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES " Many variable stars were discovered during these investigations, and two whose proper motion is about 6" annually are equaled by only one other, so far as is known. " Eleven hundred photographs of southern star clusters, taken during the years 1872-1883, have been preserved and are now undergoing measurement. " Five volumes of meteorological observations have been published from stations established in all parts of the Argentine territory, giving the climate rela- tions of the southern half of the continent and establishing the isothermal lines. " The observatory and a national meteorological office were left in full organi- zation and activity. " This vast and comprehensive work is embraced in thirteen quarto volumes already published, and six are now prepared for publication, making nineteen in all." 34 At the Congress of Electricians held in Paris in 1881 a resolu- tion was adopted requesting the French Government to invite other governments to an international congress for the deter- mination of electrical units. Various governments, including that of the United States, accepted the invitation and appointed delegates. The American delegates were Professor John Trow- bridge and Professor H. A. Rowland, both of whom were mem- bers of the National Academy of Sciences. At the meeting of November, 1881, the following resolution was adopted by the Academy: " Resolved, That the National Academy of Sciences cordially approves of the formation of an international commission on electrical units, as suggested by the Paris Electrical Congress, and earnestly hopes that the necessary appropriation may be made by the Congress of the United States to enable the members of this Academy already appointed on this commission, through the Department of State, to carry out the needed experimental determinations with credit to the " 35 country. This resolution was favorably considered by Congress and we find in the Sundry Civil Act for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1883, an item under the State Department providing the sum of $3,000 for " the payment of the actual and necessary expenses of the two civilian experts as delegates of the United States to an 84 Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci., vol. i, p. 290. ** Loc. cit., p. 199. ANNALS OF THE ACADEMY 55 International Commission for the Establishment of Electrical Units." 36 The international conference opened in Paris on October 16, 1882, but the delegates of the United States were not able to attend until the second meeting which was held on October 26, 1 882." The work of this session was chiefly preliminary. The dele- gates were not present at the second session, which was held in 1884, the United States being represented by Mr. Vignaud, sec- retary of the American Legation, who presented several com- munications on their behalf.38 At this conference the " legal," or " congress " ohm, ampere, and volt were established. 1883-1887 Dr. Henry Draper, an astronomer of note, and a member of the National Academy, died on November 20, 1882. At the spring session of the following year the President announced that Mrs. Mary Anna Palmer Draper, his widow, had presented to the Academy the sum of $6000 for the purpose of establishing a gold medal to be called the " Henry Draper Medal," and to be awarded to " any person in the United States of America or elsewhere who shall make an original investigation in Astro- nomical Physics, the results of which shall be made known to the public, such results being, in the opinion of the said National Academy of Sciences, of sufficient importance and benefit to science to merit such recognition." The first Henry Draper Medal was awarded in 1885 to Pro- fessor S. P. Langley. In making this award the committee remarked, " The committee bases this recommendation upon the numerous investigations of a high order of merit which have been made by Professor Langley within the past few years in solar physics, and especially in the domain of radiant energy." ** Stat. at Large, vol. 22, 1883, p. 302, 47th Congress, ist Session, chap. 433. " Ministere des Affaires Etrangeres. Conference Internationale pour la Determination des Unite Electriques. 16 Octobre, 26 Octobre, 1882. Proces-verbaux. Paris, 1882, pp. 8, 154. 88 Idem, 2d Session, 1884, pp. 6, 13, 37, 67, 80. 56 NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES The committee cited 21 papers published between 1874 and 1884, and gave a brief summary of each, remarking in con- clusion: "Professor Langley has published numerous other papers upon subjects connected with solar or astral physics, but it is believed that those which have now been mentioned will fully justify the recommendation of the committee." About 1883 the Academy began the practice of sending delegates to other learned societies and to universities, both in America and in Europe, and in the minutes of the meeting of April of that year we read that on recommendation of the Council it was voted " that the Secretary be directed to acknowl- edge, with thanks, the invitation extended to the Academy by the Royal Society of Canada to send delegates to the meeting to be held at Ottawa, May 22, 1883, and the President be author- ized to appoint delegates to attend the said meeting." Dr. T. Sterry Hunt was appointed delegate on this occasion. In 1887, Professor C. H. F. Peters, of Hamilton College, was appointed, at the request of the Academic des Sciences, Paris, to represent the Academy at an international conference held in Paris on April 16 of that year to consider a plan for making a chart of the heavens by photography. At this important con- gress, which extended from April 16 to 25, 1887, fifty-six astronomers, representing sixteen different nationalities, were present. The objects to be attained and the methods to be em- ployed were set forth in the following resolutions, passed at the first session of the congress: " i. The progress made in astronomical photography demands that the astron- omers of our time undertake in common the description of the heavens by astro- photographical means. " 2. This work is to be done at stations to be selected, with instruments that, in their essential points, ought to be identical. " 3. The aim is (a) to make a general photographical chart of the heavens for the present epoch, and to obtain the data which shall permit fixing the posi- tions and the magnitudes of all the stars down to a certain class with the greatest possible precision; (b) to provide the best means for utilizing, for the present epoch as well as for the future, the data furnished by the photographical process." 89 'Rep. Nat. Acad. Sci. for 1887, p. 49. ANNALS OF THE ACADEMY 57 Upon the recommendation of a " technical committee," the congress agreed that refracting telescopes should be used in photographing the stars, that stars from the first to the fourteenth magnitude, inclusive, (probably some 2,000,000 in all), should be photographed, and that the telescopes used should have objec- tives with an aperture of 0.33 meters and a focal distance of 3.43 meters. The congress then divided into two sections each of which submitted a series of resolutions relative to the conduct of the proposed undertaking. It was found that the directors of six observatories were prepared to agree at once to participate in the work, and in the end 18 observatories assumed a share in it. None of the observatories of the United States, however, joined in the enterprise, which was completed in 1912. It was originally estimated that it would be necessary to make 60,000 negatives, but the number was afterwards reduced to about 20,000. The expense involved was estimated to exceed $2, 000,000. 40 The next invitation accepted was from the University of Bologna, which celebrated its Sooth anniversary in June, 1888. Dr. S. Weir Mitchell was appointed to represent the Academy on this occasion. In May, 1891, the Academy again sent a delegate to the Royal Society of Canada, which held its tenth meeting in Montreal on the twenty-seventh of that month. The delegate appointed was the Vice-President, Mr. Francis A. Walker. The President, Professor Marsh, was selected by the Academy as its representative at the tercentenary of the University of Dublin, held in July, 1892. Two years later, in 1894, Dr. I- S. Billings was appointed the delegate of the Academy to the eighth International Congress of Hygiene and Demography, held at Budapest in September of that year. The subject of trust funds again became prominent in 1884. Professor J. Lawrence Smith, a member of the Academy, and well known as a chemist, and student and collector of meteorites, died in October of the preceding year. His very large collec- tion of meteoric stones was acquired by Harvard University for 40 See Rep. Nat. Acad. Sci. for 1887, pp. 48-53. 58 NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES the sum of $8000, and this amount his widow placed at the disposal of the National Academy as a fund " to promote the study of meteoric bodies." As indicated by the discussion of the subject in an earlier year, the-Academy was in doubt as to its power under the Act of Incorporation to accept and administer trust funds. Although a clause had been added to the constitu- tion in 1872 to the effect that "bequests and trusts having for their object the advancement of science may be accepted and administered by the Academy," the organic act still contained no distinct provision of this character. A committee of six was appointed in 1878 " to procure from Congress an addition to the Act of Incorporation of the Academy, which will enable it to accept and administer trust funds." No progress appears to have been made in this matter, how- ever, until 1884, when, as the result of a special effort, the neces- sary amendment was secured in the following form : " An act to authorize the National Academy of Sciences to receive and hold trust funds for the promotion of science, and for other purposes. " Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the National Academy of Sciences, incorporated by the act of Congress approved March third, eighteen hundred and sixty-three, and its several supplements, be, and the same is hereby, authorized and empowered to receive bequests and donations, and hold the same in trust, to be applied by the said Academy in aid of scientific investigations and according to the will of the donors. " Approved, June 20, 1884." 42 The deed of trust transferring Mrs. Smith's donation to the Academy for the establishment of the J. Lawrence Smith Fund was signed on May 6, 1884. In his report for that year the President remarked: " The object of this memorial gift was to ^Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci., vol. i, p. 136. a Stat. at Large, vol. 23, 1885, chap. 107, p. 50, 48th Congress, ist Session. The bill was introduced in the House by Mr. Cox of New York, on May 9, 1884, referred to the Committee on the Library, and ordered printed. The committee reported favorably on May 20, and the report was ordered printed. The bill was brought up in the House by Mr. Singleton on June 7, and passed without discussion. In the Senate the same bill was referred to the Committee on the Library on June 9. It was brought up by Senator Sherman on June n and passed without discussion. ANNALS OF THE ACADEMY 59 promote the study of meteoric bodies, a branch of science which Dr. Smith had pursued with much success, and, in accordance with the wishes of the donor, it was decided that a gold medal, to be given as a reward for original investigations, would be most appropriate." The expense for preparing the die for this medal which was to be called the " Lawrence Smith Medal," was met by Mrs. Smith. It was designed by Chaplain of Paris, and the first award was made to Professor Hubert A. Newton in 1888, as will be noted on a later page. In the summer of 1881 Prof. S. P. Langley spent some weeks on the summit of Mt. Whitney in the Sierra Nevada of Cali- fornia, under the official direction of the Chief Signal Officer of the Army, in making astrophysical observations.43 He was so much impressed with the suitability of that place as a permanent station for scientific observations, that on his return, with the assent of the Chief Signal Officer of the Army, he laid before the National Academy of Sciences a proposition to have the moun- tain peak set apart as a reservation for scientific uses. The moun- tain was described by Prof. Langley in a letter addressed to the Acting Chief Signal Officer of the Army, and dated June 14, 1 882, in the following manner : " Mt. Whitney is a barren peak in the Sierras of southern California, reputed to be the highest in the State. It is a mass of granite, extremely abrupt on the Eastern slope, which overlooks the Inyo desert, and is, except for scientific pur- poses, believed to be valueless, as with the exception of the unmarketable pine trees on the lower slopes, there is .no vegetation, and no gold has ever been found in its vicinity. " This very barrenness, as the indication of exceptional dryness, fits it as a station for special meteorological investigations, as do also its extremely pre- cipitous character, and consequent abrupt rise from the plain." .... In a previous letter to the Chief Signal Officer, dated February 13, 1882, Prof. Langley remarked: " In case a Signal Service Station be erected on Mt. Whitney, I would respectfully suggest to the Chief Signal Officer that it should contain not only pro- vision for the regular meteorological observations, but also for the temporary accommodation of other scientific observers who ** See Prof. Papers of Signal Service, No. 15, 1884, p. 9. 60 NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES may be desirous of obtaining his permission to enjoy the advan- tages of a site unsurpassed, in my opinion, in the world, among those equally accessible. There is the greatest abundance of stone on the peak, but construction will be slow, owing to the difficulty of labor at that altitude, and the difficulty of supplies until the mule trail is completed. " With the contemplated trail, mules could go in one day from the projected railroad in Owen's River Valley to the very summit of what is believed to be the highest mountain in the United States. Though the mere fact that it is probably the highest point, may attach one kind of interest to this site, it is not merely on that account that I have already spoken so strongly in its favor. The dryness of the air, the altogether exceptional purity of the sky, the altitude, the remarkable differences of level of adjacent points (Mt. Whitney is 11,000 feet above a station in sight, and but 15 miles away) together with its accessibility, make this in my opinion a site especially deserving of occupation." The matter was laid before the Academy in April, 1882, when the following resolution was adopted: " Resolved, That the Academy suggest to the Honorable the Secretary of the Interior that a reservation be set apart for scientific purposes in the Sierra Nevada, California, of not less than ten miles square, and to include the summit called, by the State Geological Survey, Mount Whitney, and another peak lying south- ward, which has sometimes been confounded with Mount Whitney, and which is locally known as " Sheep Mountain." *4 The President of the Academy appointed S. P. Langley, W. H. Brewer and J. W. Powell as a committee to have charge of the matter. As the reservation was to be a military one, a letter was ad- dressed to the Secretary of the Interior, on July 28, 1883, by Secretary of War, Robert T. Lincoln, in which he remarked : " I beg that you will please advise this Department whether there exists any objection to the setting apart for military purposes of the land in question, and that if no objection thereto exists the land be temporarily withheld from sale or entry until the orders of the President declaring and setting it apart as a military reser- 44 Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci., vol. i, p. 207. ANNALS OF THE ACADEMY 6 1 vation can be obtained." No objection appears to have been made, and on October 4, 1883, the Acting Chief Signal Officer of the Army announced to the committee of the Academy that President Garfield had, on September 20, 1883, proclaimed Mt. Whitney to be a military reservation. The fact was announced to the Academy in April, 1884, as appears from the report for that year, in which the following statement is made : " It was reported that the reservation of public lands on and near Mount Whitney, California, for scientific purposes, had been established, and the committee was continued, with the view to securing and utilizing the reservation for the said scientific purposes." 45 It was not until fourteen years later that definite steps were taken for the utilization of the mountain summit. In the Smith- sonian Report for 1909 we find the following account of the circumstances under which it was brought about: " Mount Whitney Expeditions. " In August, 1908, with Director Campbell, of the Lick Observatory, Mr. Abbot spent about twenty-four hours on the summit of Mount Whitney (14,502 feet). This mountain, which was the objective point of the famous expedition of Mr. Langley in 1881, was recommended by him to be reserved by the Government and used as the site for an observatory. The reservation was in fact, made, but no observatory has been established there. Mr. Abbot carried with him to Mount Whitney a pyrheliometer and wet and dry thermometers, and made observations on the summit both in the afternoon and morning hours. Both he and Mr. Campbell were favorably impressed with the advantages of the place for observing, and with the relative convenience of ascending the mountain, considering its great altitude. Fine building stone, sand, and water were found at the summit. Messrs. Campbell and Abbot, therefore, recommended to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution that a grant from the Hodgkins fund should be made for the purpose of erecting on the summit of Mount Whitney a stone and steel house to shelter observers who might apply to the Institution for the use of the house to promote investigations in any branch of science. This recommendation was approved, and the house is now in course of construction (July, 1909)." « In the years 1882 and 1883 tne Academy lost four of its original members, besides the President, Professor Wm. B. "Rep. Nat. Acad. Sci. for 1884, p. u. " Smithsonian Report for 1909, pp. 65, 66. 62 NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES Rogers. These were Professor Stephen Alexander (died June 25, 1883), Major-General J. G. Barnard, U. S. A. (died May 14, 1882), Dr. John L. LeConte, entomologist (died November 15, 1883), and Admiral John Rodgers, Superintendent of the U. S. Naval Observatory (died May 5, 1882). Of the incorporators twenty others had died prior to 1883, and thus twenty years after its organization the Academy had lost one-half of its original membership.47 The second volume of the Memoirs of the Academy, contain- ing four papers, was transmitted to Congress with the report for 1883, and was published in 1884. With the report for 1884 was transmitted the first part of the third volume of the Memoirs, containing eight papers. The second part of this volume was printed in 1886, but many of the plates belonging to it were burned, and the distribution was delayed. It was not issued until July, 1887. The completed volume contains seventeen papers. Commenting on the fact that the first part of the third volume of Memoirs had been ordered printed by Congress, the President of the Academy remarked in his report for i " I congratulate the Academy that the precedent for the publication by the Government of both the annual report and an accompanying volume of memoirs is now fairly established, and it alone remains for the members of the Academy to do their part in presenting their memoirs ready for publication each year in time to accompany the report to Congress." 48 A total eclipse of the sun occurred on May 6, 1883, and was visible in the South Pacific Ocean. It was of special interest to 47 Two of the fifty incorporators withdrew from membership soon after the Academy was organized. One of these was Rear-Admiral John A. Dahlgren. The following extracts from his published diaries relate to the incident: "March 10 [1863]. — I omitted to mention that Congress had incorporated 'a National Academy of Science,' with fifty Corporators, of which I was one. This measure, from which should proceed a great institution, is due solely to Mr. Wilson, Senator from Massa- chusetts "May 14 [1863]. — I sent my resignation as a member of the National Academy of Sciences to Professor Bache, who had been elected President of the Academy. Next day he replied, requesting me not to insist, that I would be excused from the service, &c. " But on the i8th May I wrote to him adhering to my determination." (Memoir of John A. Dahlgren, by Madeleine V. Dahlgren, 1882, pp. 389, 394.) "Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci., vol. i, p. 255. ANNALS OF THE ACADEMY 63 astronomers on account of the relatively long period of totality, which afforded an unusual opportunity for a search for intra- mercurial planets. A paper on this eclipse was read by Pro- fessor C. A. Young at the meeting of November, 1882, at the suggestion of Mr. Charles H. Rockwell, of Tarrytown, New York,49 and the matter having thus been brought to the attention of the Academy, was referred to the Council which reported the following resolution: " The Council of the National Academy of Sciences, appreciating the impor- tance of astronomical and physical observations of the total eclipse of the sun, May 6, 1883, the long duration of which is especially favorable for observations for the search of intra-mercurial planets and the study of solar physics, approves the project of an expedition to some suitably situated island in the Pacific Ocean, and recommends the appointment of a committee to commend it to persons interested in the advancement of science, and to the Navy Department of the United States, for such aid and facilities for the purpose as can be best afforded." B0 This resolution was adopted by the Academy, and a com- mittee consisting of Professor C. A. Young (chairman). Pro- fessor J. H. C. Coffin, Dr. Henry Draper, Professor Asaph Hall, Professor J. E. Hilgard, Professor Simon Newcomb, and Professor H. A. Newton, was appointed to take charge of the matter. Subsequently, on the death of Dr. Draper, Professor S. P. Langley was appointed in his place, and Professor C. S. Peirce was added to the committee. Mr. C. H. Rockwell was also invited to join the committee " as having been the real originator of the project." An endeavor to obtain funds for the expedition by private subscription having proved unsuccessful, the committee determined to appeal to the Government. Its representations to the Secretary of the Navy were very favorably received, the naval vessel Hartford, Captain Car- penter commanding, was placed at the disposal of the observing party, and all necessary arrangements made to secure the success of the expedition. '"Mr. Rockwell had presented a communication on the subject before the American Association for the Advancement of Science in August of the same year. 50 Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci., vol. i, p. 211. 64 NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES A memorial asking for an appropriation of $5,000 to defray the expenses of the observing party was presented to Congress and having the support of the Secretary of the Navy was favor- ably considered. The Sundry Civil Act for the fiscal year end- ing June 30, 1884, contained the following item: 1 .... To enable the National Academy of Sciences to make observations of the eclipse of the sun on the sixth of May next, at an island in the Pacific Ocean, five thousand dollars, the expenditures to be accounted for by the Superintendent of the Coast and Geodetic Survey under the rules that govern that work; to be immediately available." 51 As the act was not approved until March 3, 1883, however, the money was not available in time to serve the purposes of the expedition and the sum of $3,500 was, therefore, advanced by the trustees of the Bache Fund. At the same time a grant of $500 was made by the Academy from the Watson Fund in aid of the search for intra-mercurial planets. The observing party consisted of Professor E. S. Holden (chief), Professor Charles S. Hastings, Mr. C. H. Rockwell, Mr. E. D. Preston, Mr. Winslow Upton and Ensign S. J. Brown, U. S. N. Four officers of the Hartford also joined the party as voluntary observers, and two English observers, sent out by the Royal Society, were likewise included. The objective point of the expedition was Caroline Island, a small island in the South Pacific, which had been suggested by Mr. Rockwell as most suitable for an observing station. The party remained on the island from April 21 to May 9, and returning reached San Francisco on June n. The expedition was successful as a whole, though the search for an intra-mer- curial planet, which was undertaken personally by Professor E. S. Holden, the leader of the American party, gave a negative result. The committee and observers made a report to the Academy at the meeting of November, 1883, which report was by resolu- 11 Stat. at Large, vol. 22, 1883, p. 611, 47th Congress, 2d Session, chap. 143. Act approved March 3, 1883. ANNALS OF THE ACADEMY 65 tion ordered to be included with the report of the President for that year. It was not published there, however, but in the Memoirs of the Academy.52 A resolution was also adopted by the Academy thanking the Secretary of the Navy for the aid rendered by the Navy Department, and also Captain Carpenter and the other officers of the Hartford for " the energy and personal interest with which they co-operated in the work." We read in the annual report of the Secretary of the Navy for 1883 that "the Hartford, before she became the flagship [of the Pacific Station], made a cruise to Caroline Island, carry- ing a party of observers of the solar eclipse, sent by the National Academy of Sciences "; 53 also the following: "Hartford: Arrived at Callao from the United States January n, 1883. Proceeded to Caroline Island with a party of observers of solar eclipse in May last. Returned to Callao via Honolulu; arrived at Callao August i8."54 Through the death of Joseph Henry in 1878, the National Academy of Sciences became concerned with the Tyndall trust fund. This fund, which amounted to about $13,0x30, was estab- lished by John Tyndall from the proceeds of his lectures in America in 1872 and 1873. Having been invited by friends to lecture in this country, he decided to do so, with the idea of bringing pecuniary aid to the city of Chicago which, as is well known, was devastated by fire in the fall of 1871. On arriving in America, however, he found that the city had already received such great contributions of money that the amount he could com- mand would be insignificant in that connection. He turned his donation, therefore, in the direction of establishing a trust fund to enable American students of physics to study at the German universities. He designated Professor Joseph Henry, Dr. E. L. Youmans, and General Hector Tyndale, a kinsman, as trustees of the fund, with the proviso that vacancies on the board oc- curring through death or otherwise should be filled by the "Vol. 2, 1883, pp. 1-146. MRep. Seer. Navy for 1883, vol. i (1883), p. 20. 54 Op. at., p. 170. 66 NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES President of the National Academy of Sciences. After the death of Joseph Henry, the President in 1880 appointed President Barnard of Columbia College as his successor. In spite of the conscientious efforts of the trustees to apply the income of the fund to the purposes intended by Professor Tyndall, certain practical difficulties defeated their efforts,55 and in the course of a number of years the principal and accumulated interest together amounted to about $32,000. The circumstances were communicated to Professor Tyndall who thereupon modified his donation and established three graduate fellowships, each with a fund of about $11,000, in the department of physics in Harvard College, Columbia College and the University of Pennsylvania for the stimulation of original research, and the advancement of physical science in the United States. 1888-1892 The first Lawrence Smith Medal was awarded in 1888 to Professor Hubert A. Newton, Professor of Mathematics at Yale University, " in recognition of his eminent services in the investigations of the orbits of meteors." The presentation was made on the evening of April 18, 1888, in the lecture- room of the National Museum, the President of the Academy, Pro- fessor O. C. Marsh, presiding. The first and last paragraphs of the report of the committee on the award, which is printed in full in volume one of the Proceedings of the Academy.58 are as follows: " Professor Newton's study of the subject extends over a long series of years, and has led to results of very great popular interest as well as scientific impor- tance. Meteors in the sense in which the word is now used have from the remotest ages attracted the attention of mankind. Observations of greater or less value have long been accumulating. Chemistry had shown that meteoric bodies which fall upon the earth contain no element not already known as a con- stituent of the crust of the earth, but astronomy had not yet brought the wanderers of the heavens into a system and shown that they are moving in definite orbits and MSee Smithsonian Report for 1885, part i, pp. 25, 26. MProc. Nat. Acad. Sci., vol. i, p. 308. ANNALS OF THE ACADEMY 67 are not distributed by chance in the celestial spaces. Professor Newton's first paper was published in 1860, and was succeeded by a number of others, the last having been read to the National Academy in April of the present year [1888]. " In the judgment of the committee these researches are of a very high order of merit and of interest." The meeting of the evening of April 18, 1888, was made further memorable by the presentation of the second Henry Draper Medal to Professor Edward C. Pickering, Director of the Harvard Observatory " for his work in astronomical pho- tometry and photography." The report of the committee on this award is also printed in full in the Proceedings?1 but it will be of interest to quote a few paragraphs from it, as follows: " The Committee on the Henry Draper Medal begs leave herewith to report that it has carefully considered the investigations which have been made in astro- nomical physics since the award of this medal in 1885, and that, as a result of such consideration, the said committee desires to recommend that the Academy award this medal for the year 1887 to our fellow-member, Prof. Edward C. Pickering, the Director of the Harvard College Observatory, for his recent work in astronomical photometry and photography. " Professor Pickering was appointed to the position which he now holds in February, 1877. An examination of the annual reports which he has presented to the visiting committee of the observatory will show the great amount and the great variety of the work which has been done there under his direction Most of it is in the department of astronomical physics, and this it is to which the committee desires to direct attention. " The work in astronomical physics, which has been done in the observatory of Harvard College under Professor Pickering's immediate supervision, seems readily divisible into three classes: First, stellar photometry; second, stellar pho- tography; and third, stellar spectrum photography " In the opinion of the committee, Professor Pickering has displayed in these researches a skill, ingenuity, and vigor which entitle him to an honorable place among the scientific men of our own or of any previous age." The committees charged with the consideration of awards of the Lawrence Smith and Henry Draper medals found their action hampered by a clause in the deeds of gift of the funds on which the medals were based, requiring that awards in each case should be for investigations made, or publications completed " since the time of the last preceding award and presentation of 37 Op. «/., p. 300. 68 NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES the said medal." A recommendation was therefore adopted that the donors of these medals should be asked to cancel the clause. The second award of the Watson Medal was also made in 1888 to Professor Edward Schonfeld, director of the observ- atory at the University of Bonn, Germany, " for his services in cataloguing and mapping the stars visible in our latitudes, and especially for his recently published Southern Durchmusterung." " As Professor Schonfeld was not present at this meeting, the Foreign Secretary was instructed to forward the medal and one hundred dollars in gold to him through the German Embassy at Washington." B8 A committee appointed by the Academy reported in 1890" in favor of the re-adoption of the plan of classifying the mem- bership. The constitution of the Academy, in the form in which it was originally adopted in January, 1864, provided that the membership should be divided into two classes, namely, (a) Mathematics and Physics, and (b) Natural History, and that the members should arrange themselves in sections, according to the subjects which they represented. The organization was then, as follows : CLASS A CLASS B MATHEMATICS AND PHYSICS NATURAL HISTORY Sections Sections 1. Mathematics. I. Mineralogy and Geology. 2. Physics. 2. Zoology. 3. Astronomy, Geography, and Geodesy. 3. Botany. 4. Mechanics. 4. Anatomy and Physiology. 5. Chemistry. 5. Ethnology. This arrangement continued in force until 1872, when the whole system of classes was abolished. The matter came up MProc. Nat. Acad. Sci., vol. i, p. 323. ""This year a committee, consisting of Professor S. P. Langley (chairman), Professor T. C. Mendenhall, and Professor E. C. Pickering, was appointed, at the suggestion of the chairman, " to secure such uniformity of measures in physical apparatus as will promote interchangeability of their parts." The committee appears not to have reported. (See Rep. Nat. Acad. Sci. for 1890, p. 13.) ANNALS OF THE ACADEMY 69 again for consideration in 1885, when it was proposed to divide the membership into four sections, but this proposition was re- jected.60 Notwithstanding this decision, the subject was brought forward anew and, as already mentioned, was referred to a committee which, in 1890, reported in favor of the re-adoption of a classification of the membership, on the ground that it would bring into closer relationships members pursuing the same branches of science, would afford better facilities for the discussion of special technical subjects, and would provide a number of groups of experts to whom subjects of inquiry could be referred by the Academy. As to the method of classification, the committee remarked as follows: " As regards the method of classification, the task of fixing upon this is far more difficult now than it was when the National Academy was founded, nearly thirty years ago. In fact, it appears well nigh impossible to establish one so that it shall be both strictly scientific, according to present ideas, and at the same time practical. Your committee therefore propose a classification closely similar to that originally established, and believe that, however liable to technical criticism, it is essentially such as is least likely to meet with difficulties in its practical working." 61 This report was referred to the Council, and the subject continued under discussion for nine years longer before a new decision was reached. In April, 1892, the Academy adopted a resolution declaring that a reorganization into sections was desirable,62 and in November of the same year a committee on amendments to the constitution reported in favor of the following classification of the membership : 1. Mathematics, including Astronomy and Geodesy. 2. Physics. 3. Engineering, including Civil, Mechanical, Electrical, Hydraulic, etc. 4. Chemistry, including Applied Chemistry. 5. Geology, including Mineralogy, Paleontology, etc. ^ 6. Biology. 7. Anthropology, including Sociology, Economic Science, etc. * Proc Nat. Acad. Sci., vol. i, p. 264. 41 Loc. cit., p. 338. K Loc. cit., p. 368. 70 NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES The committee remarks: " The plan of dividing the member- ship into classes according to the various branches of science represented, essentially that of the French Academy, is appar- ently looked upon with favor by many members as offering a means of securing a more judicious selection and a fairer distri- bution of the honors of membership among the different classes of scientific workers." 63 This report was referred to the Council and was printed and distributed to the members of the Academy. In 1894 tne Council reported in favor of still another classifi- cation, as follows: CLASS A. Mathematics and Astronomy. CLASS B. Physics and Engineering. CLASS C. Chemistry and Mineralogy. CLASS D. Geology and Paleontology. CLASS E. Biology. CLASS F. Miscellaneous. This report was considered in a committee of the whole and held under advisement until 1899, when an amendment to the constitution was adopted providing for the division of the Academy into six standing committees, instead of classes. The committees, which are quite similar to the classes proposed in 1894, are as follows: 1. Mathematics and Astronomy. 2. Physics and Engineering. 3. Chemistry. 4. Geology and Paleontology. 5. Biology. 6. Anthropology. This classification was amended in 1911, the committees on Biology and Anthropology being replaced by four separate com- mittees, as follows: (a) Botany, (b) Zoology and Animal Morphology, (c) Physiology and Pathology, and (d) Anthro- pology and Psychology.64 The third Henry Draper Medal was awarded in 1890 to Professor H. A. Rowland for his researches on the solar spec- ^Loc. cit., pp. 373, 374. 84 Rep. Nat. Acad. Sci. for 1911, p. 14. ANNALS OF THE ACADEMY 71 trum, and was presented at a public session held in the National Museum on the evening of April 16. The President, in a presentation address, mentioned the following memoirs as being those for which, in particular, the award was made: A mathe- matical paper on the Theory of Concave Diffraction Gratings; a memoir upon the Practical Construction of a Screw of a Linear Dividing- Engine; a Research upon the Solar Spectrum, "in- cluding the magnificent charts which accompanied it, produced by photography " ; investigation upon the Absolute Wave- Lengths of the Lines in the Solar Spectrum; investigations upon the Spectra of the Elements, and particularly of the Spectra of Iron and Carbon. In November of the same year the third Watson Medal was awarded to Dr. Arthur Auwers, of Berlin, " for his contribu- tions to stellar astronomy, including his superintendency of the zone observations of the Astronomische Gesellschaft, his re- searches on variable proper motions, and his re-discussion of Bradley's observations." The award was made effective in April, 1891, when the medal and one hundred dollars in gold were transmitted to Dr. Auwers through the German Embassy in Washington. In reporting on the award, the committee made special reference to Dr. Auwer's investigations of the proper motion of Sirius and Procyon, his determination of a fundamental system of declinations to which all catalogues of stars should be reduced, his work on the parallaxes of the fixed stars, and also to his new reduction of Bradley's epoch — making observations, which was characterized as his greatest work. President F. A. P. Barnard, of Columbia College, one of the incorporate rs of the Academy, who died on April 27, 1889, provided in his will for a gold medal which should be awarded every five years to the person making " such discovery in physi- cal or astronomical science, or such novel application of science to purposes beneficial to the human race, as, in the judgment of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States shall be esteemed most worthy of such honor." This medal, which was to be styled "The Barnard Medal for Meritorious Services to 72 NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES Science," was to be awarded by the trustees of Columbia College upon the nomination of the Academy. At the meeting of November, 1891, the Academy voted to accept the obligation to make nominations and appointed a committee to take charge of the matter. The first nomination was made at the annual meeting of the Academy in April, 1895, at which time the committee reported, in part, as follows: " Acting upon all the suggestions received from members of the Academy and such other information as the members of the committee could secure, and acting in strict conformity to the specific conditions of the bequest, the committee here- with unanimously presents the name of Lord Rayleigh for the first award of the Barnard medal for his brilliant discovery of argon, which illustrates so com- pletely the value of exact scientific methods in the investigation of the physical properties of matter." 65 The Academy was again, in 1892, made the trustee of a fund for the encouragement of chemical research. This fund was one presented to Wolcott Gibbs, an incorporator of the Academy, by his friends, upon the occasion of his attaining the age of seventy years. Professor Gibbs expressed his appreciation of this token of regard and his desire to place it in the hands of the Academy for the promotion of science, in an affecting letter from which the following sentences are extracted : 6C " MY DEAR PROFESSORS JACKSON AND LOEB : May I beg you to present to those from whom I received, a few days since, so signal a mark of friendship and good-will my heartiest, most earnest, and most grateful acknowledgment? The address which I received on my seventieth birthday, signed by more than one hun- dred friends, pupils, and assistants, brings back my youth in recalling the names of those who now join to offer me more than mere good wishes to cheer my advanc- ing age. Their active friendship has taken the form which was most acceptable to me — that of an endowment to assist research in my own branch of science ; so that I can feel that in a certain sense my power to work will not terminate with my life. As the generosity of my friends permits me also to dispose of the manner in which the endowment shall be administered, I submit to them, through you, the plan which seems to me best adapted to carry out their wishes — a plan which has been fully tested in somewhat similar cases and found to work well in practice. "Rep. Nat. Acad. Sci. for 1895, pp. 29, 30. "The letter is given in full in Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci., vol. i, pp. 365, 366. The amount of the fund was $2,600. Professor Gibbs was subsequently President of the Academy. ANNALS OF THE ACADEMY 73 " I therefore propose that the fund raised for endowment shall be given to the National Academy of Sciences, to hold the same in trust and to invest and reinvest as may be necessary or advisable. The income or interest of the fund shall be administered by a board of directors consisting of three persons, of whom at least two shall be members of the Academy " Sincerely yours, " WOLCOTT GIBBS. "NEWPORT, March i, 1892." It will be recalled that the number of members of the Academy was originally restricted to 50, and that in 1870, by an unanimous vote, Congress was petitioned to amend the charter and remove this restriction. Favorable action was taken by Con- gress, and the limitation was removed by an Act approved July 14, 1870. In 1892 Professor B. A. Gould wrote a letter to the Presi- dent of the Academy informing him that a fund which would yield an annual income of $1,500 could be procured for the Academy, provided the membership should be reduced to 50, or at most to 70, the idea of the person offering to present the fund being that the income should be used to defray a part of the expenses of members attending the meetings of the Academy. The matter was referred to the Council, apparently without discussion, and seems never to have been further acted upon, but at the November meeting of the same year the committee on amendments to the constitution reported : " There is divided opinion upon the desirability of decrease in membership, with a preponderance of belief on the whole that the present limit, which is practically one hundred, is about right." 6T While no reduction was regularly recommended, the committee proposed a plan of election which in its opinion, would " satisfy the de- mands of those who are desirous of placing greater restrictions around admission to membership in the Academy, as well as those who believe that the limiting number of members cannot be placed below one hundred without doing injustice to many scien- tific men who by reason of their accomplishments are fairly 67 Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci., vol. i, p. 373. 74 NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES entitled to the honor of an election." 68 This plan was not adopted, but though various changes in the method of electing members were introduced subsequently, the number of members has remained about one hundred. The Home Secretary reported in 1890 that the fourth volume of the Memoirs of the Academy had been completed " after long delays." The first part of this volume was printed in 1889, but only 177 copies were distributed that year owing to a difficulty in obtaining the plates for the whole edition. The 5th and 6th volumes were printed and distributed in 1892 and i893-69 The delays in publication during these years caused much dissatisfaction. The committee on amendments to the consti- tution which reported in November, 1892, took occasion to com- ment in quite emphatic language on the subject. They remarked with much truth: " A scientific society usually is esteemed, both at home and abroad, in propor- tion to the number and value of its publications. " Under existing conditions few members of the Academy use it as a medium for reaching the public. Life is too short. Yet it is evident that it cannot rank with similar societies in other countries until its publications represent the best work of its members." 70 The suggestion was made that a semi-annual publication issued soon after each meeting of the Academy, and containing at least abstracts of the various papers presented, might serve to make the work of the Academy known to the scientific world, but this idea has never been followed out. 1893-1897 Awards of the Draper and Watson medals were again made in 1893 and 1894, d16 fourth Draper Medal being awarded to 68 Loc. cit., p. 375. 69 In his report for 1894, the Home Secretary remarked, "The bill providing for the printing of all reports and memoirs of the Academy passed the House last year, and is now (April 17, 1894) in the hands of the Senate." (Rep. Nat. Acad. Sci. for 1894, p. 7.) The Act of Congress, approved January 12, 1895, providing for the public printing and binding and the distribution of public documents contains the following item: "Of the Memoirs of the National Academy of Sciences, two thousand five hundred copies: five hun- dred for the Senate, one thousand for the House, and one thousand for distribution by the Academy of Sciences." (Stat. at Large, vol. 28, p. 616, 53d Congress, 3d Session, chap. 23.) 70 See Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci., vol. i, pp. 375, 377, where the report is given in full. ANNALS OF THE ACADEMY 75 Professor H. K. Vogel of Potsdam, Germany, and the fourth Watson Medal to Dr. Seth C. Chandler for his researches on the variation of latitude. The report of the trustees of the Watson Fund, which is printed in full in the Annual Report for 1895, contains the following paragraphs relative to the award to Dr. Chandler: " On the recommendation of the board of trustees of the Watson fund the Academy last year unanimously awarded the Watson medal to Seth C. Chandler, of Cambridge, Mass., for his investigations relative to variable stars, for his dis- covery of the period of variation of terrestrial latitudes, and for his researches on the laws of that variation " Although not mentioned as forming any part of the grounds for the award of this medal, Dr. Chandler's important labors for many years upon cometary orbits are well known to astronomers " The trustees of the Watson fund feel that this brilliant series of investiga- tions is preeminently deserving of the highest recognition which can be given by the National Academy, and have therefore not hesitated in recommending the award of the medal to Dr. Chandler." 71 It will be recalled that " the Barnard Medal for Meritorious Services to Science " was established by President F. A. P. Barnard of Columbia College (now Columbia University) July 17, 1889, with the provision that it should be awarded every five years after that date, by the trustees of Columbia College, upon the recommendation of the National Academy of Sciences. The first award was made in 1895 to Lord Rayleigh " for his brilliant discovery of argon, which illustrates so completely the value of exact scientific methods in the investigation of the physical properties of matter." 72 In the decade between 1884 and 1894 tne Academy lost twelve of the incorporators, or original members, President F. A. P. Barnard of Columbia College (died in 1889), the as- tronomer and educator who was the second Foreign Secretary of the Academy and served in that capacity from 1874 to 1880; Bartlett, the physicist (1893) 5 the botanists, Engelmann (1884) 71 Rep. Nat. Acad. Sci. for 1895, pp. 24-29. 72 Loc. cit., pp. 29, 30. 76 NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES and Gray (1888) ; Guyot, the geographer (1884) ; Hilgard, the mathematician and physicist (1891) ; Leidy, the anatomist and paleontologist (1891); Longstreth, the astronomer (1891); Robert E. Rogers, the chemist (1884) ; the paleontologist, New- berry (1892); Rutherfurd, the astronomer (1892); and Ben- jamin Silliman, junior, the chemist (1885), who was also a member of the committee which drafted the first constitution. On the first of January, 1894, onty eight of the 48 original members remained,73 J. D. Dana, Wolcott Gibbs, B. A. Gould, James Hall, J. P. Lesley, H. A. Newton, Fairman Rogers, J. D. Whitney. The year 1895 was notable in the history of the Academy from the fact that four sessions were held, — a special session at New York, on February 9, to carry out the Act of Congress relative to the application of the definitions of the units of electrical measure; the regular annual meeting, held at Washington from April 16 to 19; a second special session, held in Philadelphia, October 30; and a scientific session held in Philadelphia, October 31. The proceedings of the important meeting for the application of electrical units are given in full in the report for the year, and will be mentioned again in the chapter on the work of the Academy as the adviser of the Government. The annual report for the year 1895 contains an interesting detailed statement by the Treasurer regarding the trust funds of the Academy, all of which showed substantial increases. The Bache Fund, which was originally $40,515, had increased to $50,998; the Watson Fund, originally about $13,757, had in- creased to $18,667, together with invested income amounting to $4,427; the Draper Fund, originally $6,000, was raised to $6,604, together with invested income amounting to $1,300; the Law- rence Smith Fund of $8,000, increased to $8,235 with invested income of $597. The Wolcott Gibbs Fund remained at $2,673. In all, the trust funds at the disposal of the Academy amounted at this time to $94,000. Ti It will be recalled that two of the incorporators, Dahlgren and Boyden, declined membership in the Academy, or resigned within a few months. ANNALS OF THE ACADEMY 77 The fourth President of the Academy, Professor O. C. Marsh, who had held that office since 1883, declined re-election in 1895, and the Academy passed the following resolution unanimously: " That the thanks of the Academy be tendered to the retiring president for the zeal and ability with which he has admin- istered in succession the offices of vice-president and president of the Academy during a period of seventeen years." 74 Pro- fessor Marsh was succeeded by Professor Wolcott Gibbs who held the office of President until April, 1900, when he resigned. He was succeeded in 1901 by Dr. Alexander Agassiz. In this same year, 1895, which we have been considering, the Academy expressed its gratification at the completion, under the direction of two of its members, of extensive publications calculated to be of great benefit to science and to the people. These were the reports on the geology of Pennsylvania and the catalogue of the library of the Surgeon-General's Office. The resolution was as follows : "Whereas, since 1874, Prof. J. P. Lesley, as the director of the second geological survey of Pennsylvania, has, with the cooperation of a band of assist- ants, published 127 octavo volumes of reports, which will remain a monument of his scientific and literary activity: " Resolved, That the National Academy of Sciences, at a session held in Phila- delphia on the 3Oth of October, 1895, while expressing their regret at the absence of their fellow-member, J. P. Lesley, wish at the same time to congratulate him on the successful completion of his reports on the geological survey of Pennsylvania, and further to express their appreciation of the services he has rendered to science in devoting his life to the interest of the survey, a task to which he has brought an unsurpassed knowledge of the geology of the State. " 2. The Academy congratulate their fellow-member, Dr. John S. Billings, on the completion of his Catalogue of the Army Medical Library, and on the issue of the final^sixteenth volume of this unequaled gift to the medical scholars of the world." 75 In 1896, when a bill was pending in the Senate calling for the restriction of experiments on the lower animals in the District of Columbia (Senate no. 1552), a letter was addressed to Sen- ator Jacob H. Gallinger by the Chief of the Bureau of Animal "Rep. Nat. Acad. Sci. for 1895, P- 23. ™ Loc. dt., p. 31. 78 NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES Industry, U. S. Department of Agriculture, the Surgeon-Gen- eral of the Navy, the Surgeon-General of the Army and the Surgeon-General of the Marine-Hospital Service, in which it was requested that the Academy be asked to express an opinion on the probable effect of such restriction on the progress of biological science. The letter was forwarded by Senator Gallinger to the Academy, with a request for suggestions or a report on the sub- ject. The Academy took the rather unusual course of reporting directly and not by means of a committee. The report consisted of a letter signed by Wolcott Gibbs, the President of the Acad- emy, in which it was asserted that experiments in animals have resulted in " incalculable benefits to the human race." It was admitted that abuses might occasionally arise, but the fact was pointed out that no claims were made by those interested in obtaining restrictive legislation that abuses existed in the District of Columbia to which the pending bill had reference.76 Senator Gallinger remarked on the floor of the Senate on May 26, 1896, regarding this bill: " I desire to state that this is the bill known as the vivisection bill, concerning which there is a great deal of controversy and a very marked difference of opinion, both on the part of physicians and the general public It is proper I should state in this connection so as to correct a misapprehension that is being very industriously circulated, that it does not propose to prohibit vivisection, but that it proposes to restrict and regulate it according to law, and that is all." 77 The third International Zoological Congress was held in Leiden in 1895 an^ on mat occasion a commission was appointed to examine the codes of nomenclature adopted in various con- nections, with a view to determining whether the international code should be amended to agree with the provisions of any of them. The commission was to report at the next succeeding congress to be held in London in 1898." The American member 79 This letter, which was dated April 24, 1896, is published in full in the Report of the Academy for that year, pages 18 to 20. "Congressional Record, vol. 28, part 6, p. 5709, 54th Congress, ist Session, 1896. The caption of the bill was: "For the further prevention of cruelty to animals in the District of Columbia." (See Senate Report 1049, 54th Congress, ist Session, on Senate Bill 1552.) 78 Rep. Nat. Acad. Sci. for 1896, p. 12. ANNALS OF THE ACADEMY 79 of the Commission, Dr. Charles Wardell Stiles, upon his re- turn to this country, addressed a letter, dated April 21, 1896, to the President of the Academy, requesting that one of its members be appointed to serve on an advisory board to which he could submit propositions which he intended to present to the Congress of 1898. The President appointed Dr. Theodore N. Gill as the representative of the Academy. To the five trust funds for the promotion of science, already administered by the Academy, a sixth was added in 1897, when Alice Bache Gould presented the sum of $20,000, to create a fund in honor of her father, Benjamin Apthorp Gould, " for the prosecution of researches in astronomy." In a letter addressed to the Academy and dated November 17, 1897, Miss Gould explained the objects which she had chiefly in mind in estab- lishing this fund. In this letter she writes : " My object in creating the fund is two fold — on the one hand to advance the science of astronomy, and on the other to honor my father's memory and to insure that his power to accomplish scientific work shall not end with his life. " Throughout my father's lifetime his patriotic feeling and scientific ambition were closely associated, and I wish, therefore, that a fund bearing his name should be used, primarily, for the benefit of investigators in his own country or of his own nationality. I recognize, however, that sometimes the best possible service to American science is the maintenance of close communion between the scientific men of Europe and of America, and that, therefore, even while acting in the spirit of the above restriction, it may occasionally be best to apply the money to the aid of a foreign investigator working abroad. " In this connection I must also refer to the strong interest felt by my father in the National Academy of Sciences,79 and to his belief in the importance of creating and maintaining a single national scientific body, whose preeminence should be unquestionable and of concentrating power in its hands " I wish that in all cases work in the astronomy of precision should be distinctly preferred to any work in astrophysics, both because of my father's personal pref- erence and because of the present existence of generous endowments for astro- physics." so This fund was accepted by the Academy by a unanimous vote, and three trustees were appointed to take charge of it. 79 Dr. Gould was one of the incorporators of the Academy. 80 The letter is given in full, together with the deed of trust, in the Annual Report for 1897, pp. 14-16. 8o NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES 1898-1902 The Academy became connected in 1899 w*m a movement having for its purpose the association of the scientific academies of Europe and America for the furtherance of enterprises of international scope and importance. It first came to the notice of the National Academy through a letter addressed to its Presi- dent by Lord Lister, President of the Royal Society of London. This letter, which was dated April 14, 1899, is as follows : 81 " THE ROYAL SOCIETY, BURLINGTON HOUSE, " London, W ., April 14, 1899. " SIR: The Royal Society has frequently had occasion to take action in respect to scientific undertakings calling for the cooperation of several countries, and undertakings of this nature show a tendency to increase. The experience of the society has led to the belief that it would be very advantageous to the interests of science generally if some machinery could be devised by means of which sug- gestions made for international cooperation in scientific inquiries could be thor- oughly discussed by the leading men of science, from a purely scientific point of view, before definite proposals are made with a view to official action by the Governments of the countries concerned. " With this view the Royal Society has communicated with the leading scientific academies of Europe, whose replies give much encouragement to the idea that it may be possible to establish an organization under which formal and regular meetings of representatives of all leading scientific academies may be held for the purpose of discussing scientific matters calling for international cooperation, and by this means preparing the way for international action. The Council of the Royal Society regards this question as one of great importance, and I am to request you to bring it before your Academy, and to ask whether that body would be prepared to join such an organization if established, and to cooperate in arranging the details for inaugurating it upon a practical working basis. " I have the honor to be, very faithfully, yours, " LISTER, " President Royal Society." The letter was followed in June of the same year by an invita- tion from the German academies, transmitted by the Royal Prussian Academy of Sciences in Berlin, to send delegates to a conference at Wiesbaden on the 9th and loth of October for the purpose of organizing an international association of learned 81 Rep. Nat. Acad. Sci. for 1899, pp. 14-15. ANNALS OF THE ACADEMY 8 1 societies. The object of the organization, as expressed in this letter, was to be " to support scientific undertakings which have been begun or recommended either by the assemblage of the united scientific bodies, or by a group of them, or by a single one of them, and to render mutually intelligible arrangements to facilitate scientific intercourse." Such an invitation could scarcely be declined, and the Presi- dent of the Academy, after consultation with the members of the Council, appointed as delegates to the Wiesbaden conference Messrs. Billings, Bowditch, Newcomb, Remsen and Bell. Only Messrs. Bowditch, Newcomb and Remsen were, however, able to attend the meeting. At the November meeting of the Academy (1899) resolutions were adopted ratifying the action of the President in appointing delegates to the Wiesbaden conference, and authorizing him to appoint delegates to the International Association from time to time as might be desirable; also, approving the plan of organi- zation adopted at Wiesbaden,* accepting membership in the International Association, and recommending the appointment by the Association of special international committees.82 The general committee of the Association met in Paris on July 31, 1900, the delegates from the National Academy on that occasion being Messrs. H. L. Abbot, J. M. Crafts and A. Graham Bell.83 The first meeting of the Association was held in Paris in 1901, the Academy being represented by Professor George L. Goodale.84 Two medals within the gift of the Academy were awarded again in 1899, the Henry Draper Medal to Professor James E. Keeler, Director of the Lick Observatory, for his researches in 82 The letters from the Royal Society of London and the Royal Prussian Academy of Sciences, together with plans of organization and a list of academies and delegates are given in the Annual Report of the National Academy of Sciences for 1899, pp. 14-18. 88 A report of this meeting and a brief notice of the earlier proceedings, by J. M. Crafts, are printed in the Annual Report of the Academy for 1900, pp. 14-16. 84 On account of illness, Professor Goodale was unable to attend this meeting. All the other academics forming the Association, seventeen in number, were represented. Some of the more important matters discussed are mentioned in the Annual Report of the Academy for 1901, p. 17. 8 2 NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES spectroscopic astronomy, and the Watson Medal to Sir David Gill, Her Majesty's Astronomer at the Cape of Good Hope, " for his work in perfecting the application of the heliometer to astronomical measurements, which has resulted in an important advance in astronomy of precision, especially in the determina- tion of parallaxes of the sun and stars and of the position of the planets." 8B The fourth President of the Academy, Professor O. C. Marsh died on March 18, 1899. He had been Acting President in 1878 and 1882, and President from 1883 to 1895. He bequeathed to the Academy the sum of $10,000 " for promoting original research in the natural sciences." 86 The time having arrived once more in 1900 for an award of the Barnard Medal, the committee appointed by the Academy unanimously recommended Professor Rontgen for that honor, in the following letter: " The committee appointed to select one or more names of persons who are best entitled to receive the Barnard medal from Columbia University respect- fully report that, after careful consideration of the subject, the name of Prof. Wilhelm Conrad Rontgen is presented as being that of the person who has within the five years beginning July 17, 1894, rnade the discovery which is most worthy of this honor, under the terms of the will of President Barnard. " Professor Rontgen announced his discovery of what he called the X-rays, now commonly known as Rontgen rays, in December, 1895. These rays exhibit many peculiar properties, and have been applied to various practical uses, the most important of which thus far have been in surgery. They are at the present time one of the most interesting and important subjects of research in physical science, and the discovery may be properly termed an epoch-making one." 87 In the ensuing year the Henry Draper Medal was awarded to Sir William Huggins for his investigations in astronomical physics. The report of the committee, though somewhat long for quotation in this connection, is so very interesting that it seems desirable that it should be given in full. It is as follows: " It is not an easy matter to concentrate into a few pages the results attained by an active worker during a period of nearly half a century. Fortunately, in the 85 Rep. Nat. Acad. Sci. for 1899, p. 10. 99 See Rep. Nat. Acad. Sci. for 1910, p. 15. wRep. Nat. Acad. Sci. for 1900, p. n. ANNALS OF THE ACADEMY 83 present case, this labor has been greatly simplified by the recent publication by Sir William and Lady Huggins, of an Atlas of Representative Spectra from wave length 4,870 to 3,300, together with a discussion of the evolutional order of the stars, and the interpretation of their spectra, preceded by a short history of the Observatory and its work. This monumental volume not only furnishes a state- ment of the various publications of the authors, but exhibits the relation of the various investigations undertaken much better than could readily be done by another. From this it appears that the work began in 1856 with a 5-inch Dolland equatorial, which was replaced two years later by an excellent 8-inch Clark tele- scope. In 1870 this was again replaced by a 1 5-inch achromatic and an 1 8-inch reflector. In 1858 Sir William, then Mr. Huggins, undertook with Dr. Miller the visual study of stellar spectra. This work was continued until 1864, and the results were communicated to the Royal Society. Soon after this, on August 29, 1864, Sir William made one of the great discoveries in astrophysics. He found that the spectrum of the planetary nebula in Draco, N. G. C. 6543, had a mono- chromatic spectrum. " It has heretofore been supposed that all nebulae might consist of distant stars and could be resolved into their components by a telescope of sufficient power. This theory was at once disposed of, and it appeared that of 60 of the brighter nebulas and clusters about one-third were of this gaseous character. In 1866 the observations of the new star in Corona gave the first clew to the cause of these remarkable objects. In 1868 Sir William was able to announce the first step in an investigation which in recent years has become one of the most impor- tant in astrophysics. The hydrogen lines in the brightest stars showed a slight displacement, from which the motion of these bodies in the line of sight may be determined. The accurate measurement of this quantity is now occupying a large part of the time of the greatest telescopes in the world. It is leading to unexpected results, which throw important light on the formation of the universe. The fact that these displacements are wholly independent of the distance of the source of light gives an opportunity to study problems for which ordinary visual methods fail entirely. About this time, also, a study of comets showed that their spectra closely resembled that of olefiant gas. A proposal of great scientific importance was a method of observing the solar protuberances in the uneclipsed sun. This method was devised independently by Mr. Lockyer. It is now claimed that these remarkable phenomena can be better seen any clear day at a fixed observatory than with portable instruments during a total solar eclipse. In 1876 the study of the spectra of the stars by means of photography, which had been attempted without attaining satisfactory results in 1863, was undertaken. Among the results published four years later, one of the most important was the discovery of the wonderful series of lines due to hydrogen. Similar series of lines are now found to exist in the spectra of many other terrestrial elements, and form the basis of the spectroscopic relation of these substances with one another. 84 NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES " During the last quarter of a century Sir William and Lady Huggins have worked together in developing this most powerful method of research. Applying it to one object after another, a theory of the universe has been evolved, which is described in full in the work mentioned above. It is probable that this method must, in general, be followed in all attempts to study the chemical relation of stars to one another. " We thus see that Sir William Muggins's activity has extended over nearly half a century. During this time discoveries of the greatest importance have been made, on which advances in astrophysics largely depend. Besides this, laborious investi- gations have been undertaken, extending over many years, by which the methods discovered have been developed and applied. For this remarkable record of scientific activity and perseverance the undersigned recommend the award by the Academy of the Henry Draper medal to Sir William Huggins." 88 The President of the Academy, Wolcott Gibbs, resigned in the spring of 1900 and the office remained vacant until April, 1901, when Alexander Agassiz was elected to succeed him. Dr. Agassiz remained at the head of the Academy throughout the term of six years prescribed by the constitution. He was suc- ceeded in 1907 by Dr. Ira Remsen. The years 1901 to 1903 were notable in the history of the Academy on account of the number of celebrations of important events in the learned world in which it participated through delegates appointed by the President. At the celebration of the 45oth anniversary of the founding of the University of Glasgow, June 12 to 14, 1901, the Academy was represented by Professor William G. Farlow and Dr. Theodore N. Gill. Professor Farlow also represented the Academy at the meeting of the International Association of Botanists held at Geneva, in August, 1901, and of the International Association of Academies at Paris, April 1 6, 1901. At the bicentennial celebration of Yale Univer- sity in October, 1901, the Academy was represented by Dr. Ira Remsen. Professor Edward S. Morse was appointed a member of the general committee of the International Congress of Americanists held in New York in 1902. At the installation of Dr. Edmund J. James as president of the Northwestern Univer- sity, on October 19 to 21, 1902, the Academy had as its delegates 88 Rep. Nat. Acad. Sci., for 1901, pp. 10, n. ANNALS OF THE ACADEMY 8$ Professors C. R. Van Hise and E. H. Moore; and at the instal- lation of Dr. Joseph Swain as president of Swarthmore College, on November 15, 1902, the Academy's delegate was Professor Edgar F. Smith. The centenary celebration of the birth of the Norwegian mathematician Abel was held at Christiania on September 5, 1902, on which occasion Professor Simon New- comb was the delegate of the Academy. He was also delegated to attend the meeting of the Council of the International Associa- tion of Academies in London, June 4, 1903. The eighth volume of the Memoirs, containing seven articles, was completed and published in 1902. 1903-1907 At the end of the third decade in its history, the number of original members of the Academy who still remained was, as already noted, but eight. At the end of the fourth decade, Janu- ary i, 1904, all of these had died, save one. They comprised the naturalist, James D. Dana, who was the first Vice-President of the Academy (died in 1895) > Benjamin A. Gould, the astron- omer (1896) ; James Hall, the paleontologist (1898) ; J. Peter Lesley, the geologist (1903); H. A. Newton, the astronomer (1896); J. D. Whitney, the geologist (1896); and Fairman Rogers, who was the first Treasurer of the Academy, and served in that capacity for sixteen years ( 1900) . The Henry Draper Medal was presented on April 20, 1904, to Professor George E. Hale, Director of the Yerkes Observatory, for his important services to astronomy. The report of the committee, which made the award contains the following state- ments regarding his labors: " The work of Professor Hale may be divided into four classes: Investigations of solar phenomena, studies of stellar spectra, editing the Astrophysical Journal, and the executive work involved in the direction of the Yerkes Observatory. In 1868, it was shown by Janssen and Lockyer, independently, that solar protuberances might be observed when the sun was not eclipsed. The method employed was to allow an image of the edge of the sun's disk to fall upon the slit of a spectroscope, and thus obtain the spectrum of this region only. If the image 86 NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES of a protuberance fell upon the slit, so large a portion of its light was monochro- matic that the hydrogen line C appeared as a bright line in the corresponding portion of the spectrum. If now the slit was widened, the form of the protuber- ance became visible. By placing a second slit so as to cut off all portions of the spectrum except that of the line to be studied, replacing the eyepiece by a photo- graphic plate, and giving similar motions to the latter and to the image of the sun on the slit we have the spectroheliograph. The principal credit must be given to Professor Hale for the independent invention of this instrument, for excellence in the plans of its mechanical construction, for skill in its use, and for the final results obtained with it, although as almost always happens, a portion of the credit must be given to other astronomers who were pursuing the same line of work " Professor Hale has shown the same skill in invention, construction, and application in the other portions of his work. The problem of photographing the spectra of the stars of the third and fourth types is one of unusual difficulty. .... By the great light-collecting power of the 4O-inch refractor, and the use of isochromatic plates, Professor Hale succeeded in photographing the spectra of these stars with a large dispersion "During the years 1893, 1894, and 1895, Professor Hale edited the astro- physical portion of Astronomy and Metaphysics. In January, 1896, he estab- lished the Astrophysical Journal, associating with him the leading astrophysicists of the world as assistant editors " The manifold duties of the director of a great observatory may not be appre- ciated by one who sees only the results. To attain success good judgment, patience, skill, and knowledge of a great variety of subjects are required. For the establishment, erection of buildings, construction of instruments, selection of officers, general plan of work, and assignment of duties, a vast amount of time and energy is required before the actual scientific work begins " The reasons enumerated above show why the Henry Draper medal has been awarded to Prof. George Ellery Hale." 89 As would naturally be anticipated, the adhesion of the National Academy to the project for an International Associa- tion of Academies in 1899 soon involved it in the consideration of scientific enterprises of world-wide scope. The first of these was a movement for the organization of an international seismo- logical association, which was brought to its attention by Sir Michael Foster in 1902, in his capacity as chairman of the inter- national council of the Association of Academies and as repre- 88 For the full report, see Rep. Nat. Acad. Sci. for 1904, pp. 14-15. ANNALS OF THE ACADEMY 87 sentative of the Royal Society of London. To aid the Royal Society in advising the British Government, he desired to be informed of the views of the National Academy, and the other constituent academies of the Association, as to whether it was deemed desirable to promote the project of the international seismological conference held in Strassburg in April, 1901, for the formation of an international seismological association. The object of this association was to be the solution of the various problems of seismology through the establishment of seismo- logical stations in various parts of the world.90 The matter was referred to the Council of the National Academy, which appointed a committee to consider it. The committee reported in November, 1905. In the meantime, meet- ings of the International Association of Academies were held in 1903 and 1904, and at the latter seismology was a prominent subject of discussion. The report which the committee of the National Academy brought in in 1905 was, however, unfavorable as regards the establishment of seismological stations, on the ground that the theoretical basis of the science was very imper- fect. " Seismometry " the committee remarked, " is open to im- provement in two directions. On the one hand, some able mathe- matical physicist should be commissioned to elaborate the theory of vibrations in a sphere in which elastic properties and density vary with the radius; and on the other hand, experimental physicists should make strenuous efforts to devise a seismometer capable of recording the vertical components of small shocks." 91 The report ended with a recommendation that the matter be brought to the attention of the Carnegie Institution of Wash- ington, and the Home Secretary was instructed by the Academy to send a copy of the report to that institution. At the April meeting, 1904, a committee was appointed to consider the preparation of general plans for international work in solar research and to enter into communication with other 90 See Rep. Nat. Acad. Sci. for 1902, pp. 17-19, where the letter and the plan of the seismological conference are given in full. 91 Rep. Nat. Acad. Sci., for 1905, p. 16. 88 NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES organizations for the purpose of securing their cooperation in the undertaking. The Louisiana Purchase Exposition, an expo- sition of universal scope, was held in St. Louis that year, and in connection therewith was assembled an International Con- gress of Arts and Sciences. As a large number of prominent men of science from all parts of the world were likely to attend the Congress, it was deemed an auspicious occasion on which to hold a conference on solar research. Accordingly, invitations to such a conference were sent to scientific organizations in Europe and America that were likely to be interested in the proposed undertaking. The conference was attended by delegates from 12 academies and astronomical, astrophysical, and physical societies. The International Meteorological Committee was also represented. The conference was opened by Professor George E. Hale, chairman of the committee of the National Academy of Sciences, who explained the purpose of the pro- posed organization, " emphasized the importance of encour- aging individual initiative, and urged that no less attention be paid to such encouragement than to the accomplishment of large pieces of routine work through cooperative effort." In the form of resolutions, the conference expressed its views regarding the form of cooperative research which was desirable, the desirability of obtaining the approval and patronage of the International Association of Academies, and the cooperation of the International Meteorological Committee and the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, and the formation of an international committee and a committee on program. After discussing various aspects of the work of the solar research, the conference adjourned to meet at Oxford in 1905. The Oxford meeting, at which the organization was denominated the International Union for Cooperation in Solar Research, was largely attended and was followed by a meeting at Meudon, near Paris in May, 1907. The Union commenced the publication of a series of Transactions, a copy of the first volume of which was pre- sented to the Academy at the April meeting, 1907, by the chair- man of the committee of the Academy. The fourth meeting ANNALS OF THE ACADEMY 89 of the Solar Union, as it is informally designated, was held on Mount Wilson, California, in 1910. At this time it comprised committees representing eight academies, three astrophysical societies, five physical societies, and four other organizations, including the International Meteorological Committee. The chairman of the committee of the National Academy remarked as follows, regarding the work: " The chief work of the union is undoubtedly the stimulation of interest in solar research and the encouragement of workers in the field. It has brought together astronomers and physicists on common ground, thus contributing toward the solu- tion of problems lying on the borderland between these subjects. The influence of the union seems to be apparent in the marked activity which has resulted in many recent additions to our knowledge of the sun. But it has also accomplished much in other ways. The establishment of a new system of wave lengths, based on Michelson's determinations of the absolute wave length of the green cadmium line, and the measurements of standard lines already made by Fabry and Buisson, Eversheim, and Pfund, will be of lasting benefit to exact science. The daily pho- tography of the sun, with spectroheliographs in Sicily, France, Spain, Germany, England, Mexico, the United States, and India, will soon be supplemented, it is hoped, by stations in Australia and China, and possibly in Japan. In this way the changing phenomena of the solar atmosphere are recorded from hour to hour. A program for the co-operative study of sun-spot spectra, adopted at Paris, will now be revised to adapt it to the new conditions presented by recent discoveries. The chief progress in the study of the intensity of the solar radiation has come through the work of the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, but the use in Italy, France, and India of standard pyrheliometers sent out by Abbot should soon result in the initiation of a general scheme of cooperation. Adams's discovery that the law of the solar rotation varies at different altitudes in the sun's atmosphere has been confirmed by Perot, and others are entering this important field. Cooperation in eclipse observations and in other departments of solar research has also been initiated by the union." 92 The ninth volume of the Memoirs was published in 1905. The time for the award of the Barnard Medal having arrived once more in 1905, the committee of the Academy recommended that Professor Henri Becquerel be the recipient of this honor. The report made at the April meeting of that year was as follows : "Rep. Nat. Acad. Sci. for 1910, p. 18. 90 NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES " The committee on the Barnard medal respectfully recommend that Prof. Henri Becquerel, of Paris, member of the Institute, be recommended by the National Academy of Sciences to the trustees of Columbia University as the proper recipient of the Barnard medal to be awarded next June. In making this recommendation the committee has borne in mind not only the important dis- coveries in the field of radio-activity made by Professor Becquerel during the last five years, but also the fact that he was the original discoverer of the so-called dark rays from uranium, which discovery has been the basis of subsequent research into and of our present knowledge of the laws of radio-activity." 93 Since the formation of the International Association of Academies, of which the National Academy became a member, the interest in the national and international cooperation in research work has greatly increased, and the Academy has participated in many undertakings of broad scope which have been beneficial in the promotion of science. Mention has al- ready been made of the work of the International Seismological Association and the International Union for Cooperation in Solar Research. In 1906, a proposal was made to the Academy that it should lend its aid and patronage to a scheme for national cooperation in chemical research. The primary object of the plan was to arouse interest in and to provide means for a syste- matic attack on the problem of the free-energy changes which accompany chemical reactions. " The principle of the second law of energetics," remarked the promoter of this enterprise in 1906, " that any change in the state of a system, whether physical or chemical, is capable of producing under the most favorable conditions a definite quantity of work is one whose importance has been extensively recognized within the last few years. This importance arises not only from the direct significance from a scientific and technical standpoint of this maximum quantity of work obtainable from any physical change or chemical reaction, but also from the fact that from its value alone can be directly computed the equilibrium conditions of the chemical reaction in question, the direction in which under specified conditions it will take place, and the electromotive force of any voltaic cell in which the reaction goes on reversibly." 94 "Rep. Nat. Acad. Sci. for 1905, p. 13. MRep. Nat. Acad. Sci. for 1906, p. 19. ANNALS OF THE ACADEMY 91 Not only was the importance of the investigation per se in- sisted upon, but it was considered that it would stimulate an interest in chemical research among the rising generation of students of that branch of science, particularly, because it offered a wide field for individual ingenuity and initiative, while at the same time it did not demand the most costly and extensive facilities, or the most finished training. The scheme was re- ferred by the Academy to a committee which reported favorably upon it, and the report was adopted by the Academy. The committee was continued, and in accordance with the approval of the Academy, associated with itself Dr. G. N. Lewis of Boston, who had given much attention personally to the problems of chemical reactions. At the November meeting, 1907, this committee reported that it had prepared a circular letter to heads of departments and to research workers in educa- tional establishments, outlining the plan of research, and asked the Academy to approve its distribution. This was granted and the letter was accordingly circulated. Besides stating the problem and asking cooperation in its solution, the letter men- tioned three pamphlets bearing on the subject which had been prepared, by the committee containing a summary of the problem, the best means of attacking it and a resume of the condition of knowledge regarding it. These were entitled respectively, " The Maximum Work Producible by Chemical Reactions," " The Principles of Energetics and their Application to Chemical and Physico-chemical Changes," and " The Free Energy of Chemical Compounds." The list of trust funds of the Academy, already a long one, received an important addition in November, 1907, when Gen- eral Cyrus B. Comstock, Director of the Geodetic Survey of the Northern and Northwestern Lakes and President of the Mississippi River Commission, presented the sum of $10,000 " to advance knowledge in electricity, magnetism, and radiant energy, by the giving of money prizes for important investi- gations or discoveries in those subjects." It was General Com- stock's wish that the principal of the fund should be maintained 92 NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES at the market value of $10,000. After providing a plan for in- creasing the capital fund to $15,000, the deed of trust requires that once in every five years, about two-thirds of the accumulated interest shall be awarded as a prize, to be known as the " Corn- stock Prize," " to the bona fide resident of North America, who, not less than one year nor more than six years before the award- ing of the prize, shall have made in the judgment of the trustee the most important discovery or investigation in electricity or magnetism or radiant energy." In case no such discovery or in- vestigation is deemed worthy of the prize the trustee is permitted, under certain conditions, to allot the prize-money in aiding research. The " Comstock Prize " has not as yet been awarded.95 During the period under consideration, 1903 to 1907, the following delegates were appointed to represent the Academy at meetings of various international associations, or celebrations at universities: Professor Simon Newcomb was delegated to attend a meeting of the Council of the International Association of Academies in London, June 4, 1903. The same year Dr. S. F. Emmons, President Van Hise and Dr. Geo. F. Becker, represented the Academy at the International Geological Con- gress held at Vienna on August 27. On the occasion of the 5Oth anniversary of the founding of the University of Wisconsin, in 1904, Professor Grove K. Gilbert and Dr. Geo. E. Hale were the representatives of the Academy, and at the meeting of the International Association of Academies held in London on May 25, 1904, the Academy was represented by its Foreign Associates, Sir Archibald Geikie and Sir E. Ray Lankester. The following year Dr. William Trelease was designated to attend the Inter- national Botanical Congress held in Vienna, June n to 18, 1905, while Dr. George E. Hale and Professor W. W. Campbell were the representatives on the Committee on Solar Research which met at Oxford in September, 1905. In 1906 Dr. Arnold Hague represented the Academy at the quaternary celebration of the University of Aberdeen. The following year Professor T. C. Chamberlin was the delegate of the Academy at the celebration "For the deed of trust and other documents, see Rep. Nat. Acad. Sci. for 1907, pp. 13-15. ANNALS OF THE ACADEMY 93 of the 5oth anniversary of the founding of the Michigan Agricul- tural College, May 28 to 31 ; Dr. Alexander Agassiz represented the Academy at the Seventh International Zoological Congress held in Boston, August 19 to 23; Dr. Arnold Hague, at the centenary celebration of the Geological Society of London, Sep- tember 26 to 28 ; Dr. George E. Hale, at the meeting of the Inter- national Association of Academies, and at the third meeting of the Union for Cooperation in Solar Research, in Paris, in May; Professor W. C. Brogger, at the bicentenary celebration of the birth of Linnaeus at Upsala, May 23 and 24; and Professor Henry F. Osborn at a similar celebration in New York. 1908-1912 The proceedings of the Academy in 1908 and the events of that year were important from many points of view. The last of the incorporators of the Academy, Professor Wolcott Gibbs, died on December 9. He was Vice-President of the Academy from 1 872 to 1878 and President from 1895 to 1901. He had also been the first Home Secretary, serving in that capacity from 1863 to 1872. In a brief sketch of his life published in 1908, it is remarked: " His long life was devoted to the cause of research in the field of pure science, and his influence was always on the side of the highest ideals." He was succeeded in the presidency by Alex- ander Agassiz. The subject of the preservation of the forests of the United States had become one of strong public interest in the country in 1908, and the Academy again voiced its opinion regarding this matter in so far as it related to the forests of the White Mountains and the Appalachians in the following resolutions of the Council which were transmitted to the Senate and House of Representatives: " Whereas under the present drain upon the forest timber supply of the entire United States will be exhausted within twenty years, while in the Eastern States, where no adequate means have been employed to protect the forest, the end of the supply is even nearer ; 8 94 NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES " Whereas the headwaters of all important navigable streams to the west of the Mississippi River are now protected by national forests, while the Appa- lachian Mountains, which form the waterheads of many navigable streams of great importance, are entirely unprotected and are being damaged to a menacing extent by the wasteful cutting of the forest, unrestricted fires, and injudicious clearing ; "Resolved, That the council of the National Academy of Sciences heartily favors the extension of the national forest system to the Appalachian Mountains for their protection and permanent utilization. " Resolved, That we urge upon Congress the passage at the present session of a bill to acquire in the southern Appalachian Mountains and the White Mountains such forest lands as are necessary to protect the navigable streams which have their sources therein and to make permanent the timber supply of the eastern part of the Unietd States." 96 The important results obtained through cooperative methods of research led the Academy in 1908 to appoint additional com- mittees for the promotion of such activities. One of these, the Committee on International Cooperation in Research, was to serve as the adviser of the Academy in its relations with the International Association of Academies. Its duties were " to keep in close touch with the work of the International Associa- tion of Academies, and to assist in securing suitable representa- tion of the Academy at the council and general meetings of the Association"; and also "to consider plans for cooperation in research, and to recommend from time to time the initiation of such cooperative investigations as may warrant the support of the Academy." In 1909, this committee submitted a very interesting report, which, as it briefly summarizes the activities of the Academy in this connection, seems to demand quotation in full. It is as follows : 9T " The committee on cooperation in research met in Boston on April 5. Reports of progress were received from the committees on solar research, on chemical research, on paleontologic correlation, and on brain research. " The International Union for Cooperation in Solar Research has held three meetings, a preliminary one at St. Louis, and largely attended meetings at Oxford and Paris. The second volume of Transactions has recently been published. Arrangements are now being made for the next meeting, which is to be held at "Rep. Nat. Acad. Sci. for 1908, p. 20. 97 Rep. Nat. Acad. Sci. for 1909, p. 13. ANNALS OF THE ACADEMY 95 Pasadena and Mount Wilson in 1910. A large amount of cooperative work is in progress under the auspices of the union. " The committee on chemical research has prepared a circular letter to investigators, inviting their cooperation, and the work will be developed rapidly as soon as Doctor Noyes is relieved from his present duties as acting president of the Institute of Technology (in a few weeks). " The committee recognized the importance of cooperative investigations in this country, as well as those of international scope, and decided to encourage promis- ing opportunities in either field. " The chairman was authorized to invite several other members of the academy (selected by the committee) to join the committee, namely, Messrs. Mall, Moore, Chittenden, Chamberlin, Davis, and Wilson. " The importance of providing for adequate means of publication of short papers, as well as complete volumes of transactions, was recognized by the com- mittee, and it was decided to request you to bring this matter to the attention of the council. " It was announced that the academy would be represented by one of the mem- bers of the committee (George E. Hale) at the council meeting of the Inter- national Association of Academies, to be held in Rome June 1-3 next. The appointment of Professor Hale was made by President Remsen. " SIMON NEWCOMB, " A. A. NOYES, " C. S. MINOT, " H. F. OSBORN, " GEORGE E. HALE, Chairman. 11 Communicated by " HENRY F. OSBORN." The second cooperative committee appointed in 1908 was one on International Paleontological Correlation. The committee on this important subject divided itself into a Vertebrate Section and an Invertebrate Section. The Vertebrate Section submitted a report in 1909, which was published in the Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, under the title of " Geologic Correlation Through Vertebrate Paleontology by International Cooperation." 98 The Academy published this year a comprehensive report on the trust funds of the Academy, comprising transcripts of wills "Annals N. Y. Acad. Sci., vol. xix, no. 2, part i, pp. 41-44, April 20, 1909, "Correlation Bulletin, no. i, Plan and Scope." 96 NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES and deeds of trusts, lists of donors, subscribers, trustees, com- mittees, etc., data regarding the amount of the principal of the several funds, the amount of the income, the amount and object of expenditures, and a summary of the action of the Academy relative to the funds from year to year. As already mentioned, the trust funds of the Academy in 1895 were six in number, the combined principal of which amounted to $94,000. In 1908 two funds had been added, and the total amount of the capital aggre- gated $170,359.17." From these funds, between the years 1871 and 1908, 175 grants were made, ranging in amount from $25 to $2500 each. The majority were from the Bache Fund and from the Gould Fund. In addition, the income of the Wolcott Gibbs Fund was regularly alloted, and gold medals were presented from the funds which provided for them. The grants from the Bache Fund between 1871 and 1908 amounted to about $76,000, distributed in the following manner:100 Astronomy and Astrophysics $25,650 Physics 14,634 Magnetic Surveys 8,260 Physiology and Pathology 6,600 Miscellaneous 101 5,35O Chemistry 5, 150 Zoology 5,050 Botany 3, 100 Paleontology 1 ,200 Psychology 600 Meteorology 550 Seismology 100 Total $76,244 The grants from the Gould Fund between 1899 and 1908 were all for astronomical investigations and amounted to $9,430. w Of this sum, $40,000 is not yet available. 100 The classification is not entirely exact, as the object of the grants is not always definitely stated. 101 Some of the items under this heading are probably chargeable to astronomy. ANNALS OF THE ACADEMY 97 Grants from other funds for astronomical purposes amounted to $7,645. The total for astronomical and astrophysical investiga- tions was about $42,725 or nearly one-half the amount of all grants made between 1871 and 1908, the sum total of which was about $94,ooo.102 In 1909, a first installment of the bequest of Professor O. C. Marsh, was sent to the Academy by the executor of his estate, with the following letter: "NEW HAVEN, CONN., November 17, 1909. " PROFESSOR S. F. EMMONS, Treasurer of the National Academy of Sciences, " Washington, D. C. "DEAR SIR: I think you are perhaps already aware that the late Prof. O. C. Marsh left a bequest to the National Academy of Sciences. The seventh clause of his will is as follows: ' I give, devise, and bequeath to the corporation known as the National Academy of Sciences, in Washington, D. C., the sum of $10,000 as a trust fund, the income to be used and expended by it for promoting original research in the natural sciences.' " When Prof. Marsh died he was somewhat in debt, and we have just succeeded in paying the last of his notes, and have a small balance over, so are sending you with this a check for $1,250 as a first payment of the above legacy. We hope later to be able to pay the whole amount, as we receive from time to time certain moneys from the George Peabody estate, as certain trusts fall back into that estate, and it is probable that the amount still to be received from that source will be enough to do this. Will you kindly acknowledge the receipt of this payment, and at a later date send us the acceptance of the academy of the above trust? " With great respect, I am, sir, " Very truly yours, " WM. W. FARNAM, " Executor Estate of O. C. Marsh" The Academy, upon recommendation of the Council, ac- cepted this bequest and directed that it be accumulated until it should amount to the sum of $10,000 before any grants were made from it. The income of the Watson Fund since 1901, which was also devoted to astronomical researches, and some minor items of a miscellaneous character, are not included in the foregoing figures. 9« NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES In 1910 the Henry Draper Medal was awarded to Mr. Charles Greeley Abbot, Director of the Smithsonian Astrophys- ical Observatory " for his researches on the infra-red region of the solar spectrum and his accurate measurements, by im- proved devices, of the solar ( constant ' of radiation." 103 The medal was presented to Mr. Abbot at the annual dinner, April 19, 1911. Five years having elapsed since the last award of the Barnard Medal, a committee of the Academy recommended that it be given in 1910 to Dr. Ernest Rutherford, Langworthy Professor of Physics and Director of the Physical Laboratory in the University of Manchester, for his investigations on the phenomena of radio-activity. The committee remarked, in part, as follows: " Prof. Rutherford has been identified with this branch of physical science since its inception by the discovery of the so-called X-rays in 1895. His researches, published in numerous communications to current journals, appear to have contributed more than those of any contemporary to the establishment of the salient properties of radio-active substances. Not content with the experi- mental determination and verification of these properties, he has recently gone further and pointed out the convincing evidence they afford of the correctness of the ancient doctrine of the atomic structure of matter. In addition to his con- tributions in this field of investigation of many original, ingenious, and pene- trating methods of observation and measurement, he has also furnished the best general account of its origin, development, and present status in his book on Radio-active Transformations (published in 1906) and in his presidential address read before the section of mathematics and physics of the British Association for the Advancement of Science, in August, 1909." 104 The medal was awarded to Professor Rutherford, in accord- ance with the recommendation of the committee. The Academy was represented at the meeting of the council of the International Association of Academies held in Rome in June, 1909, by the chairman of the Committee on International Cooper- ation in Research, Professor George E. Hale, who was also the delegate to the Darwin Celebration at the University of Cam- bridge, June 22 to 24, 1909. The committee recommended that the Academy should vote in favor of admitting the Swiss Society 10*Rep. Nat. Acad. Sci. for 1910, p. 12. *"* Loc. cit., p. 14. ANNALS OF THE ACADEMY 99 of Natural Sciences to membership in the Association and also in favor of publishing annually a volume of physical and chemical tables in accordance with a plan presented to the Association. These tables were to be compiled from current periodicals, and to be classified under five general heads : general physics, heat, electricity and magnetism, light and sound, physi- cal chemistry. It was expected that they would be useful to students, investigators and those concerned with the practical applications of physics and chemistry, as they would bring together in convenient form a variety of tables that might other- wise be overlooked or difficult of access. The first volume of tables was published in 191 a.105 The Academy was invited in 1910 by the American Philo- sophical Society to consider the question of the establishment of a seismological laboratory. The project was favorably recom- mended by the Council and at the meeting of April, 1910, the Academy adopted the following resolution : "Resolved, That the academy strongly approves the establishment of the pro- posed Seismological Laboratory, and its organization under the direction of the Smithsonian Institution." 106 Two delegates were appointed in 1910 to represent the Academy at international conventions held during that year. At the International Association of Academies held at Rome in May, and at the International Zoological Congress, held at Gratz, in August, the Academy was represented by Mr. E. G. Conklin; at the International Geological Congress, held in Stockholm in the latter month, by Mr. S. F. Emmons. Dr. Arnold Hague represented the Academy on the occasion of the celebration of the room anniversary of the University of Berlin, October 10 to 12, 1910. The sixth President of the Academy, Alexander Agassiz died on March 27, 1910. He held the presidency from 1901 to 1907, and was also Foreign Secretary from 1891 to 1901. Professor Mayer remarked of him : " His remarkable energy and exec- 105 For the full plan see Rep. Nat. Acad. Sci. for 1910, pp. 16, 17. ""Rep. Nat. Acad. Sci. for 1910, p. 20. 100 NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES utive ability fitted him in an eminent degree to be the leader of scientific expeditions. Each exploring trip was planned to a day even to its minute details, every course charted, distances measured and every station decided upon, before he left his desk in the Harvard Museum, so that all of its achievements were actually prearranged. ... It is due chiefly to his forethought that in more than 100,000 miles of wandering over tropical seas he never met with a serious accident. . . . Among scientific men be became the greatest patron of zoology our country has known. In 1910, at the time of his death, the fifty-fourth volume of the Bulletins, and the fortieth volume of the Memoirs of the Museum of Comparative Zoology were appearing. These pub- lications had been started in 1863 and 1864, and in the number of important and beautifully illustrated papers they contain they have been excelled by only a few of the most active scientific societies of the world; yet the expense of producing them has largely been borne by one man — Alexander Agassiz." 107 He bequeathed the sum of $50,000 " for the general use of the Academy." 108 The International Union for Cooperation in Solar Research in which the Academy is represented held its fourth conference at the Mount Wilson Solar Observatory from August 31 to September 2, 1910. At this meeting, which was attended by 37 delegates from foreign countries and 47 from the United States, the scope of the Union was extended to include all branches of astrophysics. " The resolutions adopted called for the continua- tion of the series of daily photographs of the calcium flocculi with spectroheliographs used by cooperating observatories in various parts of the world; the addition of a series of daily pho- tographs of the hydrogen flocculi; the inclusion in the list of cooperating institutions of the observatories at Tacubaya, Mexico, and Madrid, Spain; the adoption of definite inter- national standards of wave-lengths of the second order, based on interferometer determinations made at three laboratories; 107 Pop. Sci. Monthly, November, 1910, pp. 425, 430. 108 This sum was paid into the treasury on February i, 1911. ANNALS OF THE ACADEMY IOI the use of barium lines in the neighborhood of a 5800, where sharp iron lines are not sufficiently numerous for standards; the extension of the system of standards of the second order to shorter and longer wave-lengths; the measurement of standards of the third order by concave gratings at various cooperating institutions; the use of the name International Angstrom (I. A.) for the unit on which the system of standards of the international system is based; the publications of the report of the sun-spot spectrum committee and of the cooperating observers in the next volume of the Transactions of the Solar Union; the con- tinuation of visual observations of spot spectra in accordance with a revised and extended scheme; the preparation of a gen- eral catalogue of the lines in the photographic spectra of sun- spots; the preparation of a new photographic map of the sun- spot spectrum on a scale of 5 mm. to the Angstrom; and the general adoption of the plan of measuring position angles around the sun's limb from the north to the east." 109 The last article of the tenth volume of the Memoirs was published in 191 1. A new trust fund was placed under the control of the Acad- emy in 1911 when Sir John Murray presented the sum of $6,000 to establish a gold medal to be known as the " Alexander Agassiz Medal," and to be awarded " to scientific men in any part of the world for original contributions to the science of oceanography." The following year the Academy, upon recommendation of a special committee, accepted a design for the medal prepared by Mr. Theodore Spicer-Simpson.110 The vertebrate section of the committee on paleontologic correlation submitted a second and final report in 1912 from which it is learned that with the aid of grants from the Bache Fund, amounting to $1,000, it had prepared and published three " correlation bulletins," entitled respectively " Plan and Scope," " Fossil Vertebrates of Belgium," and " Patagonia and the Pampas Cenozoic." Lists of North American fossil vertebrates were also prepared, and matter relating to correlation was also 109 Rep. Nat. Acad. Sci. for 1912, p. 14. 110 Loc. cit., p. 14. 102 NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES published in Professor H. F. Osborn's book entitled " Age of Mammals " and an article by him entitled " Correlation and Palaeogeography." Upon recommendation the section of the committee was discharged.111 The Academy sent Dr. George F. Becker as its delegate to the meeting of the American Philosophical Society held on April 1 8, 19 and 20, 1912. At the 2$oth anniversary of the Royal Society of London, which was celebrated on July 16-18, 1912, the Academy had as its delegate Dr. Arnold Hague, Home Sec- retary. The President of the Academy was its representative at the inauguration of President Hibben at Princeton University on May 12, 1912. The will of Morris Loeb, who died on October 8, 1912, con- tained the following item, adding to the trust funds of the Academy: " I give and bequeath to the National Academy of Sciences in Washington, in the District of Columbia, the sum of two thousand five hundred dollars as a contribution toward the Wolcott Gibbs Fund, founded in 1892." 111 Rep. Nat. Acad. Sci. for 1912, p. 13. CHAPTER III BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF THE INCORPORATORS THE tumultuous days of a great war would hardly seem a propitious time for the formation of an association to promote the arts of peace. Men of science, like men from every other department of life, were engaged directly or indirectly in the struggle, and it seems unlikely that any of them, and especially those in prominent positions, would find the leisure, or be in a mood, to consider the qualifications of their confreres for membership in an academy. The peculiar circum- stances of the time must have greatly increased the difficulties of this delicate task. It has been suggested that the exigencies of the day account for the large number of men connected with the military and naval branches of the Government that were included among the incorporators. This may be true, as the founders of the Academy undoubtedly had the idea that it would be a help to the Government, but a more just view is, perhaps, that so many men of high scientific attainments were connected with the Army and Navy that the choice naturally lay in that direction. It would be interesting to know how the selection of incor- porators was guided, but no records at present available reveal the facts. A clew is, perhaps, to be found by a study of the mem- bership of scientific organizations already in existence when the Academy was founded. There were three general societies, the American Philosophical Society, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the American Association for the Ad- vancement of Science. From a comparison of the lists of those who were members between 1860 and 1863*, it appears that from two-thirds to nearly three-fourths of the incorporators of the 1The meetings of the American Association for the Advancement of Science were sus- pended during the Civil War. 103 104 NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES National Academy were connected with one or the other of these societies, and that of the whole number of incorporators only four were not members of any of them. It would seem almost certain that the little group of men that guided the Academy movement had these lists before them when engaged in the selection of incorporators. Doubtless there were good reasons why the fifty original members, or some of them, were not notified of their inclusion in the list in advance of the passage of the Act of Incorporation, but it is significant that only two declined membership, or resigned in the months immediately following that event. The Academy has published sketches of the lives of nearly all the incorporators in the series known as the Biographical Memoirs, of which seven volumes have been issued. It has not seemed necessary or desirable to gather the same information again from original sources, but an attempt has been made to summarize, in the pages which follow, the principal events in the lives of the original members. The matter has been derived in the majority of cases from the Biographical Memoirs, and in each instance the authority is cited. The original list of incorporators as it appears in the Act of 1863 is as follows: Louis AGASSIZ, Massachusetts. J. D. DANA, Connecticut. J. H. ALEXANDER, Maryland. CHARLES H. DAVIS, United States S. ALEXANDER, New Jersey. Navy, Massachusetts. A. D. BACHE, at large. GEORGE ENGELMANN, St. Louis, Mis- F. A. P. BARNARD, at large. souri. J. G. BARNARD, United States Army, J. F. FRAZER, Pennsylvania. Massachusetts. WOLCOTT GIBBS, New York. W. H. C. BARTLETT, United States J. M. GILLISS, United States Navy, Military Academy, Missouri. Kentucky. U. A. BOYDEN, Massachusetts. A. A. GOULD, Massachusetts. ALEXIS CASWELL, Rhode Island. B. A. GOULD, Massachusetts. WILLIAM CHAUVENET, Missouri. ASA GRAY, Massachusetts. J. H. C. COFFIN, United States Naval ARNOLD GUYOT, New Jersey. Academy, Maine. JAMES HALL, New York. J. A. DAHLGREN, United States Navy, JOSEPH HENRY, at large. Pennsylvania. J. E. HILGARD, at large, Illinois. THE INCORPORATORS 105 EDWARD HITCHCOCK, Massachusetts. FAIRMAN ROGERS, Pennsylvania. J. S. HUBBARD, United States Naval R. E. ROGERS, Pennsylvania. Observatory, Connecticut. W. B. ROGERS, Massachusetts. A. A. HUMPHREYS, United States L. M. RUTHERFURD, New York. Army, Pennsylvania. JOSEPH SAXTON, at large. J. L. LE CONTE, United States Army, BENJAMIN SILLIMAN, Connecticut. Pennsylvania. BENJAMIN SILLIMAN, JR., Connec- J. LEIDY, Pennsylvania. ticut. J. P. LESLEY, Pennsylvania. THEODORE STRONG, New Jersey. M. F. LONGSTRETH, Pennsylvania. JOHN TORREY, New York. D. H. MAHAN, United States Mili- J. G. TOTTEN, United States Army, tary Academy, Virginia. Connecticut. J. S. NEWBERRY, Ohio. JOSEPH WINLOCK, United States Nau- H. A. NEWTON, Connecticut. tical Almanac, Kentucky. BENJAMIN PEIRCE, Massachusetts. JEFFRIES WYMAN, Massachusetts. JOHN RODGERS, United States Navy, J. D. WHITNEY, California. Indiana. LOUIS AGASSIZ Born, May 28, 1807; died, December 14, 1873 Arnold Guyot remarked of Agassiz in 1878 : " Agassiz, in more senses than one, is a unique figure in the history of the scientific progress of our day. In Europe he already occupied among men of science a position in some manner exceptional, I may say privileged, which no other scientific man of equal or even superior merit has enjoyed. In this country, during the last quarter of a century, he has been in the popular mind, more than any other man, the representative of the faithful, unflinching devotee of natural science. " In both hemispheres he found crowds of enthusiastic admirers; in both he became the center of a marvelous scientific activity, the guide of numerous fol- lowers in the investigation of the mysteries of nature. Such facts reveal an individuality of uncommon power which deserves our special attention." Louis Agassiz was born at Metier, in the Swiss Canton ot Vaud, on May 28, 1807. He was the son of the pastor of the village church, and was descended from French Huguenots. His father accepted a call to the town of Orbe, at the foot of the Jura, and young Agassiz's boyhood was spent among those impressive surroundings, which doubtless first served to arouse in him an interest in the study of nature. He returned hither in 106 NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES later years to verify his geological deductions and to find mate- rials for his work on echinoderms. At the age of n, Agassiz engaged in classical studies at the College of Bienne, and afterwards was a student for two years at the Academy of Lausanne. In 1824 he entered the Medical School of Zurich where two additional years were spent. Hav- ing been encouraged in his natural history studies by the zoologist Schinz, according to the custom of the time he left Zurich and entered the University of Heidelberg, where he studied physiology and anatomy under Tiedeman, zoology under Leuckart, and botany under Bischoff. At this time Alexander Braun was studying at Heidelberg, and an intimate friendship was formed between the two young men, Braun inviting Agassiz to his home during the summer vacations. To this charming home, most delightfully situated at Carlsruhe, many naturalists and other men of learning were attracted, and by the intimate intercourse with those who like himself were engaged in the study of nature, and by comparison of investigations made, Agassiz broadened his own views, and laid the foundations for his future work. With Braun and Schimper, Agassiz spent the years from 1827 to 1830 at the University of Munich, continuing his medical studies and mainly occupied with zoological investi- gations. These three men formed the nucleus of a company of young scientists who organized a society called the " Little Academy of Sciences," where each gave lectures on his favorite topic. In these years were finished those preliminary studies which formed the basis of his life work. With Oken he dis- cussed classification; with Dollinger, embryology; Von Martius instructed him in the geographical distribution of plants; and Schelling in philosophy. He published his first work at this time and prepared two others. Owing to the death of Spix, Agassiz was chosen by Von Martius, the Brazilian explorer, to describe the fishes collected during his expedition. So well was this done by Agassiz, then but twenty-one years of age, that it gave him rank among the best naturalists of the time. THE INCORPORATORS 107 Previous to the accomplishment of this work, Agassiz had taken the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at the University of Erlangen in 1829, and Doctor of Medicine at Munich in 1830. While continuing his preparations for the publication of a natural history of the fresh-water fishes of Europe and a treatise on fossil fishes, Agassiz visited Vienna and Paris, where he examined the collections in the museums, and received help from various sources, as well as offers of attractive positions. He became acquainted with Fitzinger in Vienna and in Paris Humboldt introduced him to Cuvier, who generously placed in his hands the whole of the material which he himself had in- tended to use as the basis of a work on fossil fishes. By the advice of Humboldt, Agassiz refused the various offers of positions that were made to him, but at last in the autumn of 1832 was appointed to the recently-established chair of natural history in the College of Neuchatel, where for 14 years he labored assiduously and published extensively. His " Recherches sur les Poissons Fossiles," and his " Systeme Glaciaire," " those of his works which have made the deepest impress on progressing science," were written during this period. Always enthusiastic, he carried out his ideals in the publication of his books, and though often in pecuniary difficulties, aid came to him from many sources on account of his reputation for accurate scholar- ship and faithful devotion to research. Other important works published by Agassiz while at Neu- chatel were a prodromus of the echinoderms and a treatise on the fossil echinoderms of Switzerland, Critical studies of fossil Mollusks, " Iconography of the tertiary shells believed to be identical with living ones," the " Nomenclator Zoologicus," and the " Bibliotheca Zoologica et Geologica." In 1836 Agassiz's attention was directed to the subject of glaciers by his friend Jean de Charpentier, and he spent some months with him at Bex, near the mouth of the Rhone. As a result of his studies and reflections, he conceived the idea of an universal glacial epoch at the end of the Tertiary Age. He pre- sented this before the Helvetic Society of Natural Science at I08 NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES Neuchatel in 1837 and produced a sensation throughout the scien- tific world. It was combated and ridiculed, but in course of time it has found universal acceptance, though in a modified form. Agassiz never lost interest in the subject, and made extensive and important contributions to it in later years. He intended to publish a comprehensive work on the results obtained through the researches of himself and his associates, but the enterprise was frustrated by the revolution of 1848, after the publication of the first volume. " If to Venetz and Charpentier belongs the honor of having first proved the transportation of the Swiss erratic boulders by the agency of ice, and the existence o PP- 7'13- The report of the committee constitutes Sen. Misc. Doc. no. 115, $$d Congr. 3d Sess. Order printed Feb. 19, 1895. COMMITTEES ON BEHALF OF THE GOVERNMENT 315 this provision of law, the reserved forest lands in 1896 comprised no less than eighteen million acres, for which there was no definite system of management. Moved apparently by this cir- cumstance,169 under date of February 15, 1896, the Secretary of the Interior, Hoke Smith, addressed the following letter to the President of the Academy: 17° " DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, "WASHINGTON, February 15, 1896. " SIR: I have the honor, as the head of the Department charged with the administration of the public domain, to request an investigation and report of your honorable body, as is provided in the act incorporating the National Academy, and by article 5, section 5, of its constitution, upon the inauguration of a rational forest policy for the forested lands of the United States. " Being convinced of the necessity for a radical change in the existing policy with reference to the disposal and preservation of the forests upon the public domain, I particularly desire an official expression from your body upon the fol- lowing points : " I. Is it desirable and practicable to preserve from fire and to maintain perma- nently as forested lands those portions of the public domain now bearing wood growth for the supply of timber? " 2. How far does the influence of forest upon climate, soil, and water condi- tions make desirable a policy of forest conservation in regions where the public domain is principally situated ? " 3. What specific legislation should be enacted to remedy the evils now con- fessedly existing? " My predecessors in office for the last twenty years have vainly called attention to the inadequacy and confusion of existing laws relating to the public timber lands, and consequent absence of an intelligent policy in their administration, resulting in such conditions as may, if not speedily stopped, prevent a proper development of a large portion of our country; and because the evil grows more and more as the years go by, I am impelled to emphasize the importance of the question by calling upon you for the opinion and advice of that body of scientists which is officially empowered to act in such cases as this. " I also beg to refer you to the proposed legislation which has been introduced into Congress for several years past at the instance of the American Forestry Association, supported by memorials of private citizens and scientific bodies, and more especially the memorials presented by the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 1873, which led to desirable legislation, and again in 1890, 1892, and in 1894. 189 See Yearbook U. S. Dep. Agric., 1899, p. 13. 170 Rep. Nat. Acad. Sci. for 1896, p. 13. 316 NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES " As I believe that a speedy change in the existing policy is urgent, I request that you will give an early consideration to this matter, and favor me with such statements and recommendations as may be laid before Congress for action during this session. " I have the honor to be, your obedient servant, " HOKE SMITH, " Secretary." The President of the Academy at once appointed the follow- ing committee to consider and report on the subject in question: Charles S. Sargent (chairman), Henry L. Abbot, Alexander Agassiz, Wm. H. Brewer, Arnold Hague, and Gifford Pinchot. The President was also, ex officio, a member of the committee. It was obvious at the outset that no report of value could be made without a personal inspection by the committee of the forested areas of the public domain and the forest reservations, and on the representations of President Wolcott Gibbs, the sum of $25,000 was appropriated by Congress in the Sundry Civil Act, approved June n, 1896, to enable the Secretary of the Interior to meet the expenses of an investigation and report by the Academy. The committee already mentioned being ac- ceptable to the Secretary of the Interior, was authorized to visit the various forested areas and reservations at the expense of the Government. The members of the committee, with the excep- tion of the President, Wolcott Gibbs (whose condition of health forbade his going into the field) and Professor Agassiz, travelled westward on July 2, 1896, and spent three months in laborious study and inspection of the forests. They traversed large areas of unreserved forest, and visited all the reservations established prior to 1897, except six, which were either of limited extent or well-known to the members of the committee. The conditions which they found were truly lamentable. Except in the national parks, which were effectively guarded by detachments of the Army, vast sections of the forest reserves were being destroyed annually by fires started by careless or ignorant campers and hunters, or by sparks from locomotives. In some instances they were started by shepherds or by mining COMMITTEES ON BEHALF OF THE GOVERNMENT 317 prospectors for the purpose of clearing the ground. " Nearly every summer their smoke obscured for months the sight of the sun over hundreds of square miles." To this destruction by fire was added a widespread devastation caused by wandering herds of sheep, which ranged about the borders of the forests, stripping the ground bare of seedling trees and growing shrubs, trampling the tender plants, and dislodging the soil on steep mountain slopes. On the unreserved lands, the theft of timber by settlers, mining prospectors, railroad contractors and others had assumed enormous proportions. The Department of the Interior which was charged with the custody of these lands was powerless to stop this plunder of the public domain, owing mainly to defec- tive and conflicting laws and the sentiment of the people in the States and Territories in which the forests are located that they belonged to them and not to the people of the United States as a whole. Upon its return from the West, the committee on February i, 1897, presented a preliminary report to the Secretary of the Interior, in which it recommended the establishment of thirteen new forest reservations, covering somewhat more than twenty- one million acres, to be added to the seventeen reserves already existing, which comprised seventeen and one-half million acres. This report was forwarded to the President on February 6, 1897, by the Secretary of the Interior, David R. Francis, with a favorable recommendation, and on February 22, the i65th anniversary of the birth of Washington, President Cleveland promulgated proclamations establishing the reserves. About two months later, on May i, 1897, the committee sub- mitted its complete report on the inauguration of a forest policy, which was transmitted on the same date by President Wolcott Gibbs to the Secretary of the Interior and printed at the Govern- ment Printing Office.171 This report, which covers 45 printed pages, is comprehensive in scope and contains definite recom- mendations for the establishment of a national forestry service. 171 See p. 383 ; also Rep. Nat. Acad. Sci. for 1897, pp. 29-73, where the report is printed in full. 22 31 8 NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES It begins with a review of Gustav Wex's researches on the rela- tion of stream-flow to forests in Central Europe, and sets forth the reasons why attention should be given to the preservation of the forests of the United States. It then gives a brief account of the history of forest administration in Europe and of the organi- zation of the forestry service in France, Germany, India, and Canada. This is followed by a chapter on the destructive effects of fires, sheep husbandry and illegal timber cutting in the forest reserves of the United States, and on the condition of the several reserves. The committee then proceeds to outline a definite system of national forest administration, including both tempo- rary measures and a permanent organization. The disastrous results of defective and conflicting forest laws are then com- mented upon, and attention called to the desirability of establish- ing additional national parks. A summary of the conclusions and recommendations closes the report. The form of organization for the national forestry service recommended by the committee was patterned after that of Ger- many. It contemplated the formation of a separate forest bureau in the Department of the Interior, the principal officers of which were to be a director, an assistant director, and four inspectors. These officers were to form an advisory board which would pass on general matters relating to the forests. The actual care of the forests was to be intrusted to a corps of foresters, assistants, and rangers. The forest areas of the West were to be grouped in four departments, each to be in charge of an inspector. All the officers above the grade of rangers were to be ap- pointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate, were to hold office during good behavior, but to be subject to retirement at the age of 64 years. Until a permanent corps could be organized, it was proposed to form a temporary corps recruited mainly from graduates from West Point. A portion of these officers were to be sent to Europe to study in the forestry schools of France and Germany, and it should be their duty on returning to America to organize a forestry school in the United States for the instruction of the COMMITTEES ON BEHALF OF THE GOVERNMENT 319 forest corps. This part of the program was not regarded by the committee, or at least by some of its members, as of primary importance. Stress was, however, laid on the desirability of offering relatively high rates of compensation and providing for retirement, in order to attract men of integrity who would render intelligent and conscientious service. To provide for the proper establishment of new forest re- serves, the committee recommended that a board of forest lands should be created, composed of an officer of the Engineer Corps of the Army, an officer of the Geological Survey, an officer of the Coast Survey and two persons not connected with the Government service, whose duty should be to fix the boun- daries of such reserves. These and other recommendations were summarized by the committee in its report which closes as follows : " " i. That the Secretary of War, upon the request of the Secretary of the Interior, shall be authorized and directed to make the necessary details of troops to protect the forests, timber, and undergrowth on the public reservations, and in the national parks not otherwise protected under existing laws, until a perma- nent forest bureau in the Department of the Interior has been authorized and thoroughly organized. (See bill No. I.) " 2. That the Secretary of the Interior shall be authorized and directed to issue the necessary rules and regulations for the protection, growth, and improvement of the forests on the forest reserves of the United States ; for the sale from them of timber, firewood, and fencing of actual settlers on and adjacent to such reserves, and to the owners of mines legally located in them for use in such mines; for allowing actual settlers who have no timber on their own claims to take from the reserves firewood, posts, poles, and fencing material necessary for their immediate personal use ; for allowing the public to enter and cross the reserves ; for granting to county commissioners rights of way for wagon roads in and across the reserves ; for granting rights of way for irrigating ditches, flumes, and pipes, and for reservoir sites; and for permitting prospectors to enter the reserves in search of valuable minerals ; for opening the reserves to the location of mining claims under the general mineral laws; and for allowing the owners of unperfected claims or patents, and the land-grant railroads with lands located in the reserves, to exchange them under equitable conditions for unreserved lands. (See bill No. 2, sees. 2-4.) 172 Rep. Nat. Acad. Sci. for 1897, pp. 64, 65. 320 NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES " 3. That a bureau of public forests shall be established in the Department of the Interior, composed of officers specially selected with reference to their char- acter and attainments, holding office during effciency and good behavior and liber- ally paid and pensioned. (See bill No. 2, sees. 5-11.) " 4. That a board of forest lands shall be appointed by the President to determine from actual topographical surveys to be made by the Director of the Geological Survey what portions of the public domain should be reserved per- manently as forest lands and what portions, being more valuable for agriculture or mining, should be open to sale and settlement. (See bill No. 2, sec. 15, and bill No. 3, sec. 6.) "5. That all public lands of the United States more valuable for the pro- duction of timber than for agriculture or mining shall be withdrawn from sale, settlement, and other disposition and held for the growth and sale of timber. (See bill No. 3.) " 6. That certain portions of the Rainier Forest Reserve in Washington and of the Grand Canyon Forest Reserve in Arizona shall be set aside and governed as national parks. (See bills, Nos. 4 and 5.) " Yours, respectfully, " CHARLES S. SARGENT, " HENRY L. ABBOT, " A. AGASSIZ, " WM. H. BREWER, " ARNOLD HAGUE, " GlFFORD PlNCHOT, " WOLCOTT GIBBS. " To the President of the National Academy of Sciences." To aid Congress in enacting laws in accordance with its recom- mendations, the committee drafted five bills, which are given in full in the appendix to its report. The work of the committee has had far-reaching conse- quences, although the Government did not adopt the system of forest administration proposed. The proclamation of new forest reserves, in accordance with the recommendations contained in the preliminary report of the committee, led to an animated discussion in Congress, in the course of which the views and action of President Cleveland and of the committee of the Academy were vigorously attacked. It resulted therefrom that the reservations were ordered suspended for a year. They were subsequently reaffirmed and made effective, however, by Presi- dent McKinley. w COMMITTEES ON BEHALF OF THE GOVERNMENT 321 The final report of the committee was to a certain extent fore- stalled by the action of Congress which in the Sundry Civil Act for 1898, passed June 4, 1897, made the following provision: " The Secretary of the Interior shall make provisions for the protection against destruction by fire and depredations upon the public forests and forest reservations which may have been set aside or which may be hereafter set aside under the said Act of March third, eighteen hundred and ninety-one, and which may be continued; and he may make such rules and regulations and establish such service as will insure the objects of such reservations, namely, to regulate their occupancy and use and to preserve the forests thereon from destruction, etc." 173 In the Sundry Civil Act for 1899, $110,000 was appro- priated " to meet the expenses of protecting timber on the public lands," and for other similar purposes, and $75,000 " for the care and administration of the forest reserves, to meet the expenses of forest inspectors and assistants, and for the employ- ment of foresters and other emergency help in the prevention and extinguishment of forest fires, and for advertising dead and matured trees for sale within such reservations." 174 These amounts were to be expended under the Department of the Interior. The control of the public forests thus remained with the Interior Department without the formation of a separate bureau, as recommended by the committee of the Academy. In the meantime the Government had in the Division of Forestry in the Department of Agriculture another organiza- tion concerned with questions of forest management and preser- vation. The activities of this division increased rapidly year by year, and finally on February i, 1905, the management of the public forests was transferred to it from the Department of the Interior. A special Act of Congress, approved on that date, provides " that the Secretary of the Department of Agriculture shall, from and after the passage of this Act, execute or cause to be executed all laws affecting public lands heretofore or here- after reserved under the provisions of section twenty-four of the 173 Stat. at Large, vol. 30, p. 35, 55th Congress, ist Session, chap. 2, 1897. 114 Op. clt., p. 618, ssth Congress, 2d Session, chap. 546, 1898. 322 NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES Act entitled ' An Act to repeal the timber-culture laws, and for other purposes,' approved March third, eighteen hundred and ninety-one, and Acts supplemental to and amendatory thereof, after such lands have been so reserved, excepting such laws as affect the surveying, prospecting, locating, appropriating, enter- ing, relinquishing, reconveying, certifying, or patenting of any of such lands." 175 At the beginning of the fiscal year this bureau, known as the Forest Service, had in its employ 821 persons, of whom 153 were professionally trained foresters. In 1908 the force comprised 1779 persons, consisting of 29 inspectors, 98 forest supervisors, 61 deputies, 33 forest assistants, 8 planting assistants, 941 rangers, 521 guards and 88 clerks.176 The scope and magnitude of the activities of the Service have increased year by year since that date. Thus, after the lapse of fifteen years since the committee of the Academy made its recommendations, the Government has provided an effective organization for the protection of the public forests — one which may be fairly said to possess the principal features, though not the exact form, which the com- mittee considered desirable. Instead of a bureau of forests in the Department of the Interior we have the Forest Service in the Department of Agriculture. Instead of a " director " and " assistant director," we have a " chief forester " and " associate forester " ; instead of " head foresters " and " foresters " we have " forest supervisors " and " deputies." The division into depart- ments has been adopted. The formation of a special " board of forest lands " has not been carried into effect, the locating and surveying of forest lands and kindred duties remaining in charge of the General Land Office of the Department of the Interior. The plan of recruiting officers from West Point and providing for retirement for age has not been adopted, while the forest schools connected with universities and colleges have supplied the means of educating young men in the principles of forestry 175 Stat. at Large, vol. 33, part i, p. 628, s8th Congress, 3d Session, chap. 288, sec. i, 1905. 178 Rep. Dep. Agric. for 1908, p. 417. COMMITTEES ON BEHALF OF THE GOVERNMENT 323 and the organization of a forestry school by the Government has not been necessary. Regarding the importance of the work of the committee of the Academy in the promotion of the forestry interests of the United States, Mr. Gifford Pinchot, who was a member of the committee, and has also been the most conspicuous advocate of scientific forestry in America, wrote in 1905: " The work of the committee of the National Academy of Sciences, while it failed of much that it might have accomplished, nevertheless was the spring from which the present activity in forest matters was derived. The proclamation of the reserves which it recommended drew the attention of the country as nothing else had ever done to the question of forestry. Vigorous discussion of forest matters by the public press led to a widespread interest, and that in turn to a keen appreciation of the value of forests in the economy of each State, and to a willing- ness to take measures to protect them. It may fairly be assumed that, as one of the results of this awakened interest, the policy of making Government forest reserves is now established beyond the reach of further question." 17T The following data were culled from the report of Secretary Wilson for 1912: In the midsummer of 1912 the Forest Service employed a total of 4097 persons and had an appropriation of over $5,000,000 for the current year. This bureau employed only thirteen persons sixteen years ago. Its administrative and pro- tective duties alone are discharged in thirty-four States and in Alaska. Besides having charge of the national forests, this bureau offers to provide owners of woodlands an opportunity to obtain practical advice and assistance looking toward the introduction of forest management ori their holdings. Grazing of the forest lands, which was formerly done destructively, is now permitted under control of this Department. Grazing permits are issued, and in 1912 over 26,000 permits were issued for the grazing of 1,400,000 cattle, 95,000 horses, and nearly 7,500,000 sheep. In the care of the national forests much timber is sold, and in 1912 the timber sales numbered nearly 5800 and embraced 800,000,000 board feet, from which the receipts were over $1,000,000. The area of the national forests, June 30, 1912, was over 187,000,000 acres. COMMITTEE ON THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A NATIONAL RESERVE IN THE SOUTHERN APPALACHIANS. 1902 In 1902 the Academy received a letter from the chairman of the Senate Committee on Forest Reservations and the Protection of Game relative to the establishment of a reservation in the 177 Yearbook of the Dep. Agric., 1899, p. 297. 324 NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES Appalachian Mountains. This letter and the report of the com- mittee of the Academy appointed to consider the matter are given in full in the Report for the year mentioned. As they are self-explanatory, they are quoted in full in this place. " UNITED STATES SENATE " COMMITTEE ON FOREST RESERVATIONS AND THE PROTECTION OF GAME, "April 1 6, 1902. " PROF. ALEX. AGASSIZ, " President National Academy of Sciences, Washington, D. C. " DEAR SIR : There is now before Congress a bill looking to the establishment of a national forest reserve to include the higher and larger masses of mountains in the Southern Appalachian region. " This measure is to be considered at an early date by the Senate Committee on Forest Reservations, and in order that the best interests of the country may be served in this connection I will be greatly pleased if the Committee on Forest Reservations may have the benefit of the Academy's advice. " Yours very truly, " J. R. BURTON." " BOSTON, April 30, 1902. " ALEXANDER AGASSIZ, ESQ., " President National Academy of Sciences. " SIR: The committee of the Academy to whom you have referred the request of the chairman of the Committee on Forestry of the Senate of the United States for an opinion on the advisability of establishing an Appalachian forest reserve, have examined Senate Document No. 84, Fifty-seventh Congress, first session, being the message from the President of the United States transmitting a report of the Secretary of Agriculture in relation to the forests, rivers, and mountains of the Southern Appalachian region (without the accompanying illustrations), and a copy of Senate bill 5228, for the purchase of a national forest reserve in the Southern Appalachian Mountain region, to be known as the ' National Appalachian Forest Reserve,' and beg to state that they are in full sympathy with the principle of forest reservations intended to preserve the gradual distribution of rainfall in the flow of rivers heading therein. " They do not feel, however, without a personal examination of the region in question, qualified to give an opinion as to whether the recent disastrous floods in various rivers flowing from the Appalachian Mountains, recounted in the reports transmitted by the Bureau of Forestry and by the Geological Survey and con- tained in Document No. 84, resulted from the actual destruction of the forests, and as to whether their repetition could be prevented by a restoration of the COMMITTEES ON BEHALF OF THE GOVERNMENT 325 forest growth. No data or records are presented to show that floods equally large did not occur in older times. " To make a proper report would require a certain time, as well as an appro- priation to meet the expenses incurred by the committee of the academy. " As regards the provisions of the bill, it appears to the committee to be abso- lutely essential that the Government shall have full ownership and control of all reserved lands, and that these shall be in large continuous blocks. To limit such ownership to detached lots, surrounded by areas held by private parties upon whose concurrence success must depend, would seem to be entering on a dangerous copartnership likely to result in large expenditures and litigation. " C. S. SARGENT, " HENRY L. ABBOT, "WM. H. BREWER, " Committee." COMMITTEE ON SCIENTIFIC EXPLORATIONS OF THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS. 1902 Near the close of the year 1902, President Roosevelt sent the following letter to Professor Alexander Agassiz."8 "WHITE HOUSE, " WASHINGTON, December 26, 1902. " MY DEAR MR. AGASSIZ : I should like much a report from the National Academy of Sciences on the desirability of instituting scientific explorations of the Philippine Islands and on the scope proper to such an undertaking. The National Academy is the official scientific adviser of the Government, and I would like its cooperation in planning a comprehensive investigation of the natural resources and natural history of the islands. It will of course rest with Congress to decide the extent to which such a plan can be carried through ; but I should like, at any rate, to have a plan formulated and to do what I can to have it adopted. " Sincerely yours, " THEODORE ROOSEVELT. " PROF. ALEXANDER AGASSIZ, " President of the National Academy, Cambridge, Mass" Professor Agassiz was absent in Europe when this letter reached Cambridge, and it was placed in the hands of the Vice- President, Asaph Hall, who, after consulting with members of 178 Rep. Nat. Acad. Sci. for 1904, p. 22. 326 NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES the council residing in Baltimore and Washington, appointed the following committee to formulate a plan of explorations in accordance with the President's wishes: William H. Brewer (chairman), George F. Becker, C. Hart Merriam, F. W. Put- man, and R. S. Woodward. The committee completed and adopted its report on February 7, 1903. The plan proposed covered the following subjects which the committee recom- mended should receive attention in the order here given pro- vided they could not all be taken up at the same time: Coast and geodetic surveying and marine hydrography, land topog- raphy, including surveys and classification of public lands, geology and mineral resources, botany, systematic forestry (or forestry problems), zoology, anthropology. In order to properly coordinate the work, the committee proposed that it should be in charge of a board of scientific experts, to be selected from the various scientific bureaus of the Government. The board was to be assisted by a scientific council, to consist of the chief field officers of the several bureaus engaged in the work and presided over by a member of the Philippine Commission. The council was to have an officer of the Engineer Corps of the Army and a naval officer associated with it. This report was transmitted to President Roosevelt on Feb- ruary 12, 1903. On March 9, 1903, about a month after the committee of the Academy had presented its report, President Roosevelt appointed a board, called the Board of Scientific Surveys of the Philippine Islands, for the purpose of developing the plans out- lined by the Academy. " WHITE HOUSE, " WASHINGTON, March 9, 1903. " MY DEAR SIR: At my request, the National Academy of Sciences has outlined a comprehensive plan for scientific explorations of the Philippine Islands in a report, a copy of which I transmit herewith for your information. " A plan of exploration so broad and systematic has never hitherto been pre- pared for any region, and if it can be carried into effect, it will add to human COMMITTEES ON BEHALF OF THE GOVERNMENT 327 knowledge a contribution of great importance, highly commendable to the United States. " Before taking any further steps in this matter, I desire to have estimates of the cost of such explorations prepared, assuming that the work is to be completed in ten years, and that the various branches of the scientific surveys cooperate with one another systematically and heartily. " I therefore appoint the following Board of Scientific Surveys to prepare such estimates and to make such suggestions as may appear to it pertinent in the cir- cumstances, viz: " MR. CHARLES D. WALCOTT, Chairman. " MR. FREDERICK C. COVILLE " MR. BARTON W. EVERMANN " MR. W. H. HOLMES " MR. C. HART MERRIAM " MR. GlFFORD PlNCHOT " MR. OTTO H. TITTMANN. " Sincerely yours, " THEODORE ROOSEVELT." The board held five meetings in March, May and June, 1903, appointed a committee on plans and organization, prepared estimates of expenditures, drafted a bill for the consideration of Congress, drew up various memoranda, and transacted other business. After that the matter was held in abeyance for two years, but on February 7, 1905, President Roosevelt sent the report of the committee of the Academy to Congress, with the following message: " WHITE HOUSE, " February 7, 1905. " To the Senate and House of Representatives: " Circumstances have placed under the control of this Government the Philip- pine Archipelago. The islands of that group present as many interesting and novel questions with respect to their ethnology, their fauna and flora, and their geology and mineral resources as any region of the world. At my request the National Academy of Sciences appointed a committee to consider and report upon the desirability of instituting scientific explorations of the Philippine Islands. The report of this committee, together with the report of the Board of Scientific Surveys of the Philippine Islands, including draft of a bill providing for surveys of the Philippine Islands, which board was appointed by me, after receiving the report of the committee appointed by the National Academy of Sciences, with 328 NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES instructions to prepare such estimates and make such suggestions as might appear to it pertinent in the circumstances, accompanies this message. " The scientific surveys which should be undertaken go far beyond any surveys or explorations which the government of the Philippine Islands, however com- pletely self-supporting, could be expected to make. The surveys, while of course beneficial to the people of the Philippine Islands, should be undertaken as a national work for the information not merely of the people of the Philippine Islands, but of the people of this country and of the world. Only preliminary explorations have yet been made in the archipelago, and it should be a matter of pride to the Government of the United States fully to investigate and to describe the entire region. So far as may be convenient and practical, the work of this survey should be conducted in harmony with that of the proper bureaus of the government of the Philippines; but it should not be under the control of the authorities of the Philippine Islands, for it should be undertaken as a national work and subject to a board appointed by Congress or the President. The plan transmitted recommends simultaneous surveys in different branches of research, organized on a co-operative system. This would tend to completeness, avoid duplication, and render work more economical than if the exploration were under- taken piecemeal. No such organized surveys have ever yet been attempted any- where ; but the idea is in harmony with modern, scientific, and industrial methods. " I recommend, therefore, that provision be made for the appointment of a board of surveys to superintend the national surveys and explorations to be made in the Philippine Islands, and that appropriations be made from time to time to meet the necessary expenses of such investigation. It is not probable that the survey would be completed in a less period than that of eight or ten years, but it is well that it should be begun in the near future. The Philippine Commission, and those responsible for the Philippine government are properly anxious that this sur- vey should not be considered as an expense of that government, but should be carried on and treated as a national duty in the interests of science. " THEODORE ROOSEVELT." 179 The papers of the President's board were transmitted to Con- gress with the report of the committee of the Academy, and printed in the same document. The plan proposed by the board conforms in all its essential features to that recommended by the Academy, except that no provision is made for an advisory council consisting of the heads, or chief field agents, of the various surveys. The message, with the accompanying documents, was referred to the Committee on the Philippines and ordered to be printed,18' 179 Congr. Record, vol. 39, part 2, pp. 2052, 2057. 180 It forms Sen. Doc. no. 145, $8th Congress, 3d Session, February 7, 1905. COMMITTEES ON BEHALF OF THE GOVERNMENT 329 but was not reported back, and the projected surveys were, there- fore, never undertaken. They appear to have failed to obtain sup- port mainly on account of the opposition of the late Dr. Paul C. Freer, who thought that they would interfere with the scientific work in the Philippines which was under his jurisdiction as head of the Government laboratories in Manila. Senator Lodge gave notice on February 10, 1905, of an amendment which he intended to propose to the Sundry Civil bill for the fiscal year 1906, con- sisting of an item for the expenses of the board (^Sth Congress, 3d session) , but on March 2 he wrote : " I went before the Com- mittee on Appropriations in regard to the amendment and said all I could for it, but, I am sorry to say, they refused to put it in." Scientific explorations and investigations were, however, carried on under the Philippine Commission. Nearly three years before President Roosevelt addressed his letter to the Academy, the Philippine Commission had already begun to establish scientific bureaus to investigate the natural resources of the islands, and for other similar purposes. A Bureau of Forestry and a Bureau of Mines were established in 1900. The following year a Health Bureau, an Agricultural Bureau, a Bureau of Government Laboratories, an Ethnological Survey (first called a bureau of Non-Christian Tribes), a Weather Bureau, and a Bureau of Coast and Geodetic Surveys were estab- lished. These have all continued to the present time, but in 1906 the Bureau of Government Laboratories and the Bureau of Mines were combined under the designation of the Bureau of Sciences, while the Ethnological Survey was incorporated in the Bureau of Education in 1905, and also the Agricultural Bureau in 1910. The Bureau of Education had in the meantime become the Department of Public Instruction. The coast survey and geodetic work has been carried on jointly by the Philippine government and the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey. All these organizations have issued numerous reports, scientific papers and other publications relating to the Islands. 330 NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES COMMITTEE ON THE METHODS AND EXPENSES OF CON- DUCTING SCIENTIFIC WORK UNDER THE GOVERN- MENT. 1908 The Sundry Civil Act for 1908-1909, approved May 27, 1908, contained the following section: " SECT. 8. The National Academy of Sciences is required, at their next meeting, to take into consideration the methods and expenses of conducting all surveys of a scientific character, and all chemical, testing, and experimental laboratories and to report to Congress as soon thereafter as may be practicable a plan for consoli- dating such surveys, chemical, testing, and experimental laboratories so as to effectually prevent duplication of work and reduce expenditures without detri- ment to the public service. " It is the judgment of Congress that any person who holds employment under the United States or who is employed by or receives a regular salary from any scientific bureau or institution that is required to report to Congress should refrain from participation in the deliberations of said National Academy of Science on this subject and from voting on or joining in any recommendation hereunder." 181 Immediately upon the passage of this Act, President Remsen appointed a committee consisting of R. S. Woodward, W. W. Campbell, Edward L. Nichols, Arthur A. Noyes, and Charles R. Van Hise to consider and report on the subject in question. The committee submitted its report to the Council on January 9, 1909, and President Remsen on January 16, addressed it to the Speaker of the House of Representatives. It was transmitted to Congress by President Roosevelt on January 18 and referred to the Committee on Appropriations of the House and ordered to be printed.182 The principal conclusions of the committee are embodied in the following paragraphs: " From a general survey of the field of work under consideration three facts appear to be clearly established, namely: "First. That the amount of actual duplication of work now carried on by the government bureaus is relatively unimportant; but that the duplication of organizations and of plants for the conduct of such work is so considerable as to need careful attention from Congress in the future. 181 Stat. at Large, vol. 35, part i, p. 387, 6oth Congress, ist Session, chap. 200. 182 It constitutes House Doc. no. 1337, 6oth Congress, 2d Session. COMMITTEES ON BEHALF OF THE GOVERNMENT 331 " Second. That while the consolidation of some of the branches of work now carried on in several organizations is probably advisable, specific recommendations in reference to such consolidation can be made wisely only after a careful con- sideration of all the facts by the board hereinafter suggested or by some similarly competent body. " Third. That there has never been hitherto and there is not at present any- thing like a rational correlation of allied branches of scientific work carried on by the Government. " This last fact appears to your committee by far the most important one pre- sented for consideration." 183 It was suggested by the committee that the permanent board referred to above should consist of the heads of the various scien- tific bureaus, two delegates from each house of Congress, and " five to seven eminent men of science not connected with the government service." The recommendations of the Academy have not as yet been adopted by Congress.184 183 Op. cit., pp. 3, 4- 184 In the foregoing account of the committees appointed by the Academy at the request of the several branches of the Government, no mention is made of the following, whose work was either of minor importance, or of such a character that its history is not accessible : On National currency, 1863 (Confidential). On prevention of counterfeiting, 1865 (Confidential). On the preservation of army knapsacks, 1868. (Correspondence in the files of the Academy indicates that this committee never reported. The question was one of restoring knapsacks valued at a million dollars, the paint on which had become soft and sticky.) On silk culture in the United States, 1870. (See Proc., vol. i, pp. 75, 77, Rep. for 1879, p. n.) On the exploration of the Yellowstone region by General Stanley, 1873. On distinguishing calf's hair goods from woolen goods, 1875 (Confidential). On building stone for the custom house at Chicago, 1878. On triangulation connecting the Atlantic and Pacific coasts, 1882. The Academy had some correspondence with the Department of the Interior in 1893 relative to the appointment of a committee on a conventional standard of color. The committee, however, was not appointed. (See Rep. Nat. Acad. Sci. for 1893, pp. 43-46; also for 1894, p. 7.) APPENDICES APPENDIX I LIST OF OFFICERS PRESIDENT From To ALEXANDER DALLAS BACHE 1863 February 14, 1867 1 JOSEPH HENRY (acting) January 25, 1866 January 26, 1868 JOSEPH HENRY January 26, 1868 May 13, 1878 * O. C. MARSH (acting) May 13, 1878 April 16, 1879 WILLIAM B. ROGERS April 16, 1879 May 30, 1882 x O. C. MARSH (acting) May 30, 1882 April 20, 1883 O. C. MARSH April 20, 1883 April 19, 1895 WOLCOTT GIBBS April 19, 1895 April 19, 1900 2 ASAPH HALL (acting) April 19, 1900 April 18, 1901 ALEXANDER AGASSIZ April 18, 1901 April 18, 1907 IRA REMSEN April 18, 1907 VICE-PRESIDENT From To JAMES D. DANA 1863 August 23, 1865 2 JOSEPH HENRY January 25, 1866 January 26, 1868 WILLIAM CHAUVENET January 26, 1868 December 13, 1870 * WOLCOTT GIBBS April 19, 1872 April 16, 1878 O. C. MARSH April 16, 1878 April 20, 1883 SIMON NEWCOMB April 20, 1883 April 17, 1889 S. P. LANGLEY April 17, 1889 April 24, 1891 2 F. A. WALKER April 24, 1891 January 5, 1897 * ASAPH HALL April 22, 1897 April 23, 1903 IRA REMSEN April 23, 1903 April 18, 1907 CHARLES D. WALCOTT April 18, 1907 'Date of death. 2 Date of resignation. 335 336 APPENDICES HOME SECRETARY From To WOLCOTT GIBBS 1863 April 19, 1872 2 J. E. HILGARD April 19, 1872 April 16, 1878 J. H. C. COFFIN April 16,1878 April 22, 1881 2 SIMON NEWCOMB April 22, 1881 April 20, 1883 ASAPH HALL April 20, 1883 April 22, 1897 IRA REMSEN April 22, 1897 April 18, 1901 ARNOLD HAGUE April 18, 1901 FOREIGN SECRETARY From To Louis AGASSIZ 1863 December 14, 1873 x F. A. P. BARNARD April 25, 1874 April 16, 1880 ALEXANDER AGASSIZ April 16, 1880 April 23, 1886 WOLCOTT GIBBS April 23, 1886 April 19, 1895 ALEXANDER AGASSIZ April 19, 1895 April 18, 1901 IRA REMSEN April 18, 1901 April 23, 1903 SIMON NEWCOMB April 23, 1903 April 22, 1909 ALEXANDER AGASSIZ April 22, 1909 March 27, 1910 x GEORGE E. HALE April 21, 1910 TREASURER From To FAIRMAN ROGERS 1863 April 22, 1881 2 J. H. C. COFFIN April 22, 1881 April 22, 1887 J. S. BILLINGS April 22, 1887 April 22, 1898 CHARLES D. WALCOTT April 22, 1898 April 17, 1902 2 S. F. EMMONS April 17, 1902 March 28, 1911 l WHITMAN CROSS (acting) March 28, 1911 April 20, 1911 WHITMAN CROSS April 20, 191 1 1 Date of death. 2 Date of resignation. APPENDIX II LIST OF MEMBERS AND FOREIGN ASSOCIATES MEMBERS ~ ,„. . Date of Election ABBE, CLEVELAND U. S. Weather Bureau, Washington, D. C. 1879 ABBOT, HENRY L., U. S. A 23 Berkeley St., Cambridge, Mass. 1872 ABEL, JOHN JACOB Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Md. 1912 ALLEN, J. ASAPH. . .American Museum of Natural History, N. Y. City. 1876 AMES, JOSEPH S Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Md. 1909 BARNARD, E. E Yerkes Observatory, Williams Bay, Wis. 1911 BARUS, CARL Brown University, Providence, R. I. 1892 BECKER, GEORGE F U. S. Geological Survey, Washington, D. C. 1901 BELL, A. GRAHAM 1331 Connecticut Ave., Washington, D. C. 1883 BILLINGS, JOHN S., U. S. A.1 32 E. Thirty-first St., New York City. 1883 BOAS, FRANZ Franklin Ave., Grantwood, N. J. 1900 BOCHER, MAXIME Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass. 1909 BOLTWOOD, B. B Yale University, New Haven, Conn. 191 1 BOLZA, OSKAR Marienstrasse 7, Freiburg, Germany. 1909 BRANNER, JOHN C Stanford University, California. 1905 CAMPBELL, D. H Stanford University, California. 1910 CAMPBELL, WILLIAM W Lick Observatory, Mount Hamilton, Calif. 1902 CATTELL, JAMES McK Garrison, N. Y. 1901 CHAMBERLIN, THOMAS C University of Chicago, Chicago, 111. 1903 CHANDLER, CHARLES F Columbia University, New York City. 1874 CHANDLER, SETH C Box 216, Wellesley Hills, Mass. 1888 CHITTENDEN, RUSSELL H.. Sheffield Scientific School, New Haven, Conn. 1890 CLARK, W. B Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Md. 1908 CLARKE, F. W U. S. Geological Survey, Washington, D. C. 1909 CLARKE, J. M State Hall, Albany, N. Y. 1909 COMSTOCK, GEORGE C Washburn Observatory, Madison, Wis. 1899 CONKLIN, E. G Princeton, N. J. 1908 COULTER, J. M University of Chicago, Chicago, 111. 1909 COUNCILMAN, WM. T Harvard Medical School, Boston, Mass. 1904 CRAFTS, JAMES M 59 Marlborough St., Boston, Mass. 1872 CREW, HENRY Northwestern University, Evanston, 111. 1909 CROSS, WHITMAN U. S. Geological Survey, Washington, D. C. 1908 1 Died March 10, 1913. 337 338 APPENDICES Date of Election DALL, WILLIAM H Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D. C. 1897 DANA, EDWARD S Yale University, New Haven, Conn. 1884 DAVENPORT, CHARLES B Cold Spring Harbor, N. Y. 1912 DAVIS, WILLIAM MORRIS 17 Francis Ave., Cambridge, Mass. 1904 DAY, ARTHUR L Geophysical Laboratory, Washington, D. C. 1911 DEWEY, JOHN Columbia University, New York City. 1910 ELKIN, WILLIAM L Yale University Observatory, New Haven, Conn. 1895 FARLOW, W. G Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass. 1879 FLEXNER, SIMON Rockefeller Institute, New York City. 1908 FROST, EDWIN B Yerkes Observatory, Williams Bay, Wis. 1908 GILBERT, GROVE K U. S. Geological Survey, Washington, D. C. 1883 GILL, THEODORE N Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D. C. 1873 GOOCH, FRANK A Yale University, New Haven, Conn. 1897 GOODALE, GEORGE L Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass. 1890 HAGUE, ARNOLD U. S. Geological Survey, Washington, D. C. 1885 HALE, GEORGE E Solar Observatory Office, Pasadena, Calif. 1902 HALL, EDWIN H Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass. 1911 HARPER, R. A Columbia University, New York City. 191 1 HASTINGS, CHARLES S Yale University, New Haven, Conn. 1889 HAYFORD, JOHN F Northwestern University, Evanston, 111. 1911 HILGARD, EUGENE W University of California, Berkeley, Calif. 1872 HILL, GEORGE W West Nyack, N. Y. 1874 HILLEBRAND, WILLIAM F Bureau of Standards, Washington, D. C. 1908 HOLDEN, EDWARD S U. S. Military Academy, West Point, N. Y. 1885 HOLMES, WILLIAM H U. S. National Museum, Washington, D. C. 1905 HOWELL, WILLIAM H Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Md. 1905 IDDINGS, JOSEPH P Brinklow, Md. 1907 JACKSON, CHARLES L 6 Boylston Hall, Cambridge, Mass. 1883 KEMP, JAMES F Columbia University, New York City. 191 1 LINDGREN, WALDEMAR U. S. Geological Survey, Washington, D. C. 1909 LOEB, JACQUES Rockefeller Institute, New York City. 1910 MALL, FRANKLIN P Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Md. 1907 MARK, EDWARD L 109 Irving St., Cambridge, Mass. 1903 MELTZER, SAMUEL JAMES Rockefeller Institute, New York City. 1912 MENDENHALL, THOMAS C 329 North Chestnut St., Ravenna, Ohio. 1887 MERRIAM, C. HART 1919 Sixteenth St., Washington, D. C. 1902 MICHAEL, ARTHUR 219 Parker St., Newton Center, Mass. 1889 MICHELSON, ALBERT A University of Chicago, Chicago, 111. 1888 MINOT, CHARLES S Harvard Medical School, Boston, Mass. 1897 MITCHELL, S. WEIR 1524 Walnut St., Philadelphia, Pa. 1865 MOORE, ELIAKIM H University of Chicago, Chicago, 111. 1901 APPENDICES 339 Date of Election MORGAN, T. H Columbia University, New York City. 1909 MORLEY, EDWARD W West Hartford, Conn. 1897 MORSE, EDWARD S Salem, Mass. 1876 MORSE, HARMON N Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Md. 1907 MOULTON, F. R University of Chicago, Chicago, 111. 1910 NEF, JOHN ULRIC University of Chicago, Chicago, 111. 1904 NICHOLS, EDWARD L Cornell University, Ithaca, N. Y. 1901 NICHOLS, ERNEST F Dartmouth College, Hanover, N. H. 1908 NOYES, ARTHUR A. . Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Boston, Mass. 1905 NOYES, WILLIAM A University of Illinois, Urbana, 111. 1-910 OSBORN, H. F. . .American Museum of Natural History, New York City. 1900 OSBORNE, T. B Agr. Exp. Station, New Haven, Conn. 1910 OSGOOD, WILLIAM FOGG Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass. 1904 PEIRCE, BENJAMIN O Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass. 1906 PEIRCE, CHARLES S Milford, Pa. 1876 PICKERING, EDWARD C. .Harvard College Observatory, Cambridge, Mass. 1873 PRUDDEN, T. MITCHELL Columbia University, New York City. 1901 PUMPELLY, RAPHAEL Gibbs Ave., Newport, R. I. 1872 PUPIN, MICHAEL I Columbia University, New York City. 1905 PUTNAM, FREDERICK W Peabody Museum, Cambridge, Mass. 1885 REID, H. FIELDING Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Md. 1912 REMSEN, IRA Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Md. 1882 RICHARDS, THEODORE W Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass. 1899 ROYCE, JOSIAH Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass. 1906 SARGENT, CHARLES S Arnold Arboretum, Jamaica Plain, Mass. 1895 SCHUCHERT, CHARLES Yale University, New Haven, Conn. 1910 SCOTT, WILLIAM B Princeton University, Princeton, N. J. 1906 SMITH, EDGAR F University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pa. 1899 SMITH, THEOBALD Harvard Medical School, Boston, Mass. 1908 STIEGLITZ, J. O University of Chicago, Chicago, 111. 191 1 STORY, WILLIAM E Clark University, Worcester, Mass. 1908 THAXTER, ROLAND Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass. 1912 THOMSON, ELIHU Swampscott, Mass. 1907 TRELEASE, WM Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis, Mo. 1902 TROWBRIDGE, JOHN Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass. 1878 VAN HISE, C. R University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wis. 1902 VAN VLECK, E. B University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wis. 1911 VERRILL, A. E Yale University, New Haven, Conn. 1872 WALCOTT, CHARLES D Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D. C. 1896 WEBSTER, ARTHUR G Clark University, Worcester, Mass. 1903 WELCH, WILLIAM H 807 St. Paul St., Baltimore, Md. 1895 340 APPENDICES Date of Election WELLS, HORACE L Yale University, New Haven, Conn. 1903 WHEELER, HENRY L Sheffield Scientific School, New Haven, Conn. 1909 WHEELER, WILLIAM M Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass. 1912 WHITE, DAVID U. S. Geological Survey, Washington, D. C. 1912 WILSON, EDMUND B Columbia University, New York City. 1899 WOOD, HORATIO C 4107 Chester Ave., Philadelphia, Pa. 1879 WOOD, ROBERT W Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Md. 1912 WOODWARD, ROBERT S Carnegie Institution, Washington, D. C. 1896 WRIGHT, ARTHUR W Yale University, New Haven, Conn. 1881 HONORARY MEMBER SMITH, SIDNEY I Yale University, New Haven, Conn. 1884 FOREIGN ASSOCIATES ARRHENIUS, S. A Nobel Institute, Stockholm. 1908 AUWERS, G. F. J. ARTHUR. . .Konigl. Akad. der Wissenschaften, Berlin. 1883 BACKLUND, OSKAR Astron. Sternwarte, Pulkowa. 1903 BAEYER, ADOLPH RITTER VON University of Munich. 1898 BARROIS, CHARLES University of Lille. 1908 BR0GGER, W. C University of Christiania. 1903 DEWAR, SIR JAMES University of Cambridge. 1907 EHRLICH, PAUL. . .Konigl. Inst. fur Exper. Therapie, Frankfurt a. Main. 1904 FISCHER, EMIL Chem. Inst., University of Berlin. 1904 FORSYTH, A. R Trinity College, Cambridge. 1907 GEIKIE, SIR ARCHIBALD Haslemere, Surrey. 1901 GILL, SIR DAVID Royal Observatory, Cape Town. 1898 GROTH, PAUL VON University of Munich. 1905 HILBERT, DAVID University of Gottingen. 1907 KAPTEYN, JOHN C University of Groningen. 1907 KLEIN, FELIX University of Gottingen. 1898 KRONECKER, HUGO University of Berne. 1901 LANKESTER, SIR E. RAY South Kensington, London. 1903 LARMOR, SIR JOSEPH St. Johns College, Cambridge. 1908 LORENTZ, HENDRIK ANTON University of Leyden. 1906 MURRAY, SIR JOHN Edinburgh. 1912 OSTWALD, WILHELM Grossbothen, bei Leipsic. 1906 PAVLOV, IVAN PETROVITCH Imp. Inst. for Exper. Med., St. Petersburg. 1908 PENCK, ALBRECHT University of Berlin. 1909 PFEFFER, WILHELM Botanical Institute of the University of Leipsic. 1903 PICARD, CHARLES EMILE University of Paris. 1903 APPENDICES 341 Date of Election RAMSAY, SIR WILLIAM University College, London. 1904 RAYLEIGH, LORD University of Cambridge. 1898 RETZIUS, GUSTAV University, Stockholm. 1909 ROSENBUSCH, H University of Heidelberg. 1904 RUTHERFORD, ERNEST University of Manchester. 191 1 SEELIGER, HUGO RITTER VON University of Munich. 1908 SUESS, EDOUARD University of Vienna. 1898 THOMSON, SIR JOSEPH J University of Cambridge. 1903 VOLTERRA, VITO University of Rome. 1911 VRIES, HUGO DE University of Amsterdam. 1904 WALDEYER, WILHELM University of Berlin. 1909 WUNDT, WILHELM University of Leipsic. 1909 DECEASED MEMBERS Date of Election Date of Death AGASSIZ, ALEXANDER 1866 Mar. 27, 1910 AGASSIZ, Louis (2) Dec. 14, 1873 ALEXANDER, J. H (2) Mar. 2, 1867 ALEXANDER, STEPHEN (2) June 25, 1883 BACHE, ALEXANDER DALLAS (2) Feb. 17, 1867 BAIRD, SPENCER F 1864 Aug. 19, 1887 BARKER, GEORGE F 1876 May 24, 1910 BARNARD, F. A. P (2) Apr. 27, 1889 BARNARD, J. G (2) May 14, 1882 BARTLETT, W. H. C (2) Feb. 11,1893 BEECHER, CHARLES EMERSON 1899 Feb. 14, 1904 Boss, LEWIS 1889 Oct. 5, 1912 BOWDITCH, HENRY P 1887 Mar. 13, 1911 BREWER, WILLIAM H 1880 Nov. 2, 1910 BROOKS, WILLIAM KEITH 1884 Nov. 12, 1908 BROWN-SEQUARD, CHARLES E 1868 Apr. 2, 1894 CASEY, THOMAS L 1890 Mar. 25, 1896 CASWELL, ALEXIS (2) Jan. 8, 1877 CHAUVENET, WILLIAM (2) Dec. 13, 1870 CLARKE, HENRY JAMES 1872 July i, 1873 COFFIN, JAMES 1869 Jan. 6, 1873 COFFIN, J. H. C (2) Jan. 8, 1890 COMSTOCK, CYRUS B 1884 May 29, 1910 COOK, GEORGE H 1887 Sept. 22, 1889 COOKE, JOSIAH P 1872 Sept. 3, 1894 ' Incorporators. 342 APPENDICES Date of Election Date of Death COPE, EDWARD D 1872 Apr. 12, 1897 COUES, ELLIOTT 1877 Dec. 25, 1899 DAHLGREN, J. A. B (2) Resigned DALTON, J. C 1864 Feb. 2, 1889 DANA, JAMES D (2) Apr. 14, 1895 DAVIDSON, GEORGE 1874 Dec. 2, 1911 DAVIS, CHARLES H (2) Feb. 18, 1877 DRAPER, HENRY 1877 Nov. 20, 1882 DRAPER, JOHN W 1877 Jan. 4, 1882 DUTTON, C. E 1884 Jan. 4, 1912 EADS, JAMES B 1872 Mar. 8, 1887 EMMONS, SAMUEL F 1892 Mar. 28, 191 1 ENGELMANN, GEORGE (2) Feb. 4, 1884 FERREL, WILLIAM 1868 Sept. 18, 1891 FRAZER, JOHN FRIES (2) Oct. 12, 1872 GABB, WILLIAM M 1876 May 30, 1878 GENTH, F. A 1872 Feb. 2, 1893 GIBBS, JOSIAH WILLARD 1879 Apr. 28, 1903 GIBBS, WOLCOTT (2) Dec. 9 , 1908 GILLISS, JAMES MELVILLE (2) Feb. 9, 1865 GOODE, G. BROWN 1888 Sept. 6, 1896 GOULD, AUGUSTUS A (2) Sept. 15, 1866 GOULD, BENJAMIN A (2) Nov. 26, 1896 GRAY, ASA (2) Jan. 30, 1888 GUYOT, ARNOLD (2) Feb. 8, 1884 HADLEY, JAMES 1864 Aug. i, 1872 HALDEMAN, S. S 1876 Sept. 20, 1880 HALL, ASAPH 1875 Nov. 22, 1907 HALL, JAMES (2) Aug. 7, 1898 HAYDEN, F. V 1873 Dec. 22, 1887 HENRY, JOSEPH (2) May 13, 1878 HILGARD, JULIUS E (2) May 8, 1890 HILL, HENRY B 1883 Apr. 6, 1903 HITCHCOCK, EDWARD (2) Feb. 27, 1864 HOLBROOK, J. E 1868 Sept. 8, 1871 HUBBARD, J. S (2) Aug. 16, 1863 HUMPHREYS, A. A (2) Dec. 27,1883 HUNT, T. STERRY 1873 Feb. 12, 1892 HYATT, ALPHEUS 1875 Jan. 16, 1902 JAMES, WILLIAM 1903 Resigned 3 Incorporators. APPENDICES 343 Date of Election JOHNSON, S. W 1866 KEELER, J. E 1900 KING, CLARENCE 1 876 KIRKLAND, JARED P 1865 LANE, J. HOMER 1872 LANGLEY, SAMUEL P 1876 LEA, MATTHEW CAREY 1892 LE CONTE, JOHN 1878 LE CONTE, JOHN L (2) LE CONTE, JOSEPH 1875 LEIDY, JOSEPH (2) LESLEY, J. PETER (2) LESQUEREUX, LEO 1864 LONGSTRETH, MlERS F (2) LOOMIS, ELIAS 1873 LOVERING, JOSEPH 1873 LYMAN, THEODORE 1872 MAHAN, D. H (2) MARSH, G. P 1866 MARSH, O. C 1874 MAYER, ALFRED M 1872 MAYO-SMITH, RICHMOND 1890 MEEK, F. B 1869 MEIGS, M. C 1865 MITCHELL, HENRY 1885 MORGAN, LEWIS H 1875 MORTON, HENRY 1874 NEWBERRY, J. S (2) NEWCOMB, SIMON 1869 NEWTON, H. A (2) NEWTON, JOHN 1876 NORTON, WILLIAM A 1873 OLIVER, JAMES E 1 872 PACKARD, A. S 1872 PEIRCE, BENJAMIN (2) PENFIELD, SAMUEL L 1900 PETERS, C. H. F 1876 POURTALES, L. F 1 873 POWELL, JOHN W 1 880 RODGERS, JOHN (2) Date of Death July 21, 1909 Aug. 12, 1900 Dec. 24, 1901 Dec. 10, 1877 May 3, 1880 Feb. 27, 1906 Mar. 15, 1897 Apr. 29, 1891 Nov. 15, 1883 July 6, 1901 Apr. 30, 1891 June i, 1903 Oct. 25, 1889 Dec. 27, 1891 Aug. 1 6, 1889 Jan. 1 8, 1892 Sept. 10, 1897 Sept. 1 6, 1871 July 23, 1882 Mar. 1 8, 1899 July 13, 1897 Nov. n, 1901 Dec. 21, 1877 Jan. 2, 1892 Dec. i, 1902 Dec. 14, 1 88 1 May 9, 1902 Dec. 7, 1892 July u, 1909 Aug. 12, 1896 May i, 1895 Sept. 21, 1883 Mar. 27, 1895 Feb. 14, 1905 Resigned Aug. 13, 1906 July 1 8, 1890 July 19, 1880 Sept. 23, 1902 May 5, 1882 Incorporators. 344 APPENDICES Date of Election ROGERS, FAIRMAN (2) ROGERS, ROBERT E (2) ROGERS, WM. A 1885 ROGERS, WM. B (2) ROOD, OGDEN N 1 885 ROWLAND, HENRY A 1881 RUTHERFURD, LEWIS M (2) SAXTON, JOSEPH (2) SCHOTT, CHARLES A 1872 SCUDDER, SAMUEL H 1877 SELLERS, WILLIAM 1873 SILLIMAN, BENJ., SR (2) SILLIMAN, BENJ., JR (2) SMITH, J. LAWRENCE 1872 STIMPSON, WILLIAM 1868 STRONG, THEODORE (2) SULLIVANT, W. S 1873 TORREY, JOHN (2) TOTTEN, J. G (2) TROWBRIDGE, WILLIAM P 1872 TRUMBULL, JAMES H 1872 TUCKERMAN, EDWARD 1 868 WALKER, FRANCIS A 1 878 WARREN, G. K 1876 WATSON, JAMES C 1868 WATSON, SERENO 1889 WHITE, CHARLES A 1889 WHITMAN, CO 1895 WHITNEY, JOSIAH D (2) WHITNEY, WILLIAM DWIGHT 1866 WINLOCK, JOSEPH (2) WOODWARD, J. J 1873 WORTHEN, A. H 1872 WYMAN, JEFFRIES (2) YOUNG, CHARLES A 1872 Date of Death Aug. 22, I9OO Sept. 6, 1884 Mar. i, 1898 May 30, 1882 Nov. 12, 1902 Apr. 1 6, 1901 May 30, 1892 Oct. 26, 1873 July 31, 1901 May 17, 1911 Jan. 24, 1905 Nov. 24, 1864 Jan. 14, 1885 Oct. 12, 1883 May 26, 1873 Feb. i, 1869 Apr. 30, 1882 Mar. 10, 1873 Apr. 22, 1864 Aug. 12, 1892 Aug. 5, 1897 Mar. 15, 1886 Jan. 5, 1897 Aug. 8, 1882 Nov. 23, 1880 Mar. 9, 1892 June 29, 1910 Dec. 6, 1910 Resigned Resigned June 11, 1875 Aug. 17, 1884 May 6, 1888 Sept. 4, 1874 Jan. 3, 1908 2 Incorporators. APPENDICES 345 ADAMS, J. C. AIRY, SIR GEORGE B. ARGELANDER, F. W. A. BAER, KARL ERNEST VON. BARRANDE, JOACHIM. BEAUMONT, L. ELIE DE. BECQUEREL, HENRI. BERTHELOT, M. P. E. BERTRAND, J. L. F. BOLTZMANN, LuDWIG. BORNET, EDOUARD. BOUSSINGAULT, J. B. J. D. BRAUN, ALEXANDER. BREWSTER, SIR DAVID. BUNSEN, ROBERT W. BURMEISTER, C. H. C. CANDOLLE, ALPHONSE DE. CAYLEY, ARTHUR. CHASLES, MICHEL. CHEVREUL, M. E. CLAUSIUS, RUDOLPH. CORNU, ALFRED. DARWIN, SIR GEORGE HOWARD. DOVE, H. W. DUMAS, J. B. FARADAY, MICHAEL. GEGENBAUR, KARL. GYLDEN, HUGO. HAMILTON, SIR WILLIAM ROWAN. HELMHOLTZ, BARON H. VON. HOFF, J. H. VAN'T. HOFMANN, A. W. HOOKER, SIR JOSEPH D. HUGGINS, SIR WILLIAM. HUXLEY, T. H. IBANEZ, CARLOS. JANSSEN, J. JOULE, JAMES P. KEKULE, AUGUST. KELVIN, LORD. KIRCHOFF, G. R. DECEASED FOREIGN ASSOCIATES KOCH, ROBERT. KOHLRAUSCH, FRIEDRICH. KOLLIKER, ALBERT VON. LACAZE-DUTHIERS, HENRI DE. LEUCKART, RUDOLPH. LIE, SOPHUS. LIEBIG, JUSTUS VON. LISTER, LORD. LOEWY, MAURICE. LUDWIG, K. F. W. MAREY, E. J. MENDELEEFF, D. I. MILNE-EDWARDS, HENRI. MOISSAN, HENRI. MURCHISON, SIR RODERICK I. OPPOLZER, THEODORE VON. OWEN, SIR RICHARD. PASTEUR, Louis. PETERS, C. A. F. PLANA, G. A. A. POINCARE, JULES HENRI. RAMMELSBERG, C. F. REGNAULT, VICTOR. REYMOND, EMIL Du Bois. RlCHTHOFEN, F. VON. SACHS, JULIUS VON. SCHIAPARELLI, GlOVANNI. STAS, JEAN SERVAIS. STOKES, SIR GEORGE G. STRASBURGER, EDOUARD. STRUVE, OTTO VON. SYLVESTER, J. J. TISSERAND, F. F. VIRCHOW, RUDOLPH VON. VOGEL, H. C. WEIERSTRASS, KARL. WOHLER, FRIEDRICH. WURTZ, ADOLPH. ZIRKEL, FERDINAND. ZITTEL, K. A. R. VON. APPENDIX III LIST OF MEDALISTS ALEXANDER AGASSIZ MEDAL [Founded in 1911, by Sir John Murray, for original contributions to the science of oceanography.] HENRY DRAPER MEDAL [Founded in 1885, by Mrs. Henry Draper, for investigations in astronomical physics.] 1886. SAMUEL PIERPONT LANGLEY. For researches and discoveries in relation to solar radiation. 1888. EDWARD CHARLES PICKERING. For recent work in astronomical photometry and photography. 1890. HENRY AUGUSTUS ROWLAND. For researches on the solar spectrum. 1893. HERMAN KARL VOGEL. For spectroscopic observations upon the motion of stars in the line of sight. 1899. JAMES EDWARD KEELER. For researches in spectroscopic astronomy. 1901. SIR WILLIAM HUGGINS. For investigations in astronomical physics. 1904. GEORGE ELLERY HALE. For investigations in astronomical physics. 1911. CHARLES GREELEY ABBOT. For his researches on the infra-red region of the solar spectrum and his accurate measurements, by improved devices of the solar " constant " of radiation. J. LAWRENCE SMITH MEDAL [Founded in 1885 for the investigation of meteoric bodies.] 1888. H. A. NEWTON. For investigation of the orbits of meteors. 346 APPENDICES 347 WATSON MEDAL [Founded in 1883, by James C. Watson, for the promotion of astronomical research.] 1887. BENJAMIN APTHORP GOULD. For valuable labors in promoting the progress in astronomical science, and especially for his establishment of the National Observatory of the Argentine Republic. 1889. ED. SCHONFELD. For services in cataloguing and mapping the stars visible in our latitudes, and especially for his [then] recently published southern " Durch- musterung." (The medal and gold were forwarded through the German embassy at Washington.) 1891. ARTHUR AUWERS. For his contributions to stellar astronomy. (The medal and gold were forwarded through the German embassy at Washington.) 1894. SETH CARLO CHANDLER. For researches on the variation of latitude. 1 899. SIR DAVID GILL. For work in perfecting the application of the heliometer to astronomical measurements. APPENDIX IV LIST OF REPORTS OF COMMITTEES APPOINTED ON BEHALF OF THE GOVERNMENT Report of the committee on weights, measures, and coinage.* Ann. Rep. for 1863, pp. 11-21. Report on the protection of bottoms of iron vessels from corrosion, etc. Ann. Rep. for 1863, pp. 21-23. Report of the chairman of the compass committee to the National Academy of Sciences, January, 1864. Ann. Rep. for 1863, pp. 23-96, 7 pis. Report of the committee on Saxton's alcoholometer. Ann. Rep. for 1863, pp. 96-97. Report of the committee of the National Academy of Sciences appointed to examine the " Wind and Current Charts " and " Sailing Directions " issued from the Naval Observatory. Ann. Rep. for 1863, pp. 98-112. Report of the committee on tests for purity of whiskey. Ann. Rep. for 1864, p. 5. Report on the operations of the joint commission on the expansion of steam. Ann. Rep. for 1864, pp. 5-7. Report of the committee appointed to test the suitableness of aluminum bronze for coinage and other purposes. Ann. Rep. for 1864, pp. 7-10. Report on the explosion of a boiler on the United States gunboat Chenango. Ann. Rep. for 1864, pp. 1014. Report of the committee on Greytown Harbor, Nicaragua. Ann. Rep. for 1866, pp. 4-16, I chart. [Report on coating iron head-blocks with zinc.] Ann. Rep. for 1866, pp. 17-18. Report of the cdmmittee on methods of inspecting and assessing tax on dis- tilled spirits. Ann. Rep. for 1866, pp. 18-38. * For convenience of reference, the wording of the titles follows as closely as practicable that given in the reports cited. 348 APPENDICES 349 Report of the committee on methods of inspecting distilled spirits subject to duty. Ann. Rep. for 1867, pp. 12-44. [Report on the question of the value of the water-proofing process employed in the manufacture of the fractional currency.] In House Misc. Doc. no. 163, part 2, 44th Congress, ist Session, pp. 22-28, Apr. 3, 1876. Report on surveys of the Territories. Ann. Rep. for 1878, pp. 19-22; also House Misc. Doc. no. 5, 45th Congress, 3d Session, pp. 1-27, Dec. 3, 1878. Report on the sorghum sugar industry. Sen. Misc. Doc. no. 51, 47th Congress, 2d Session. 8°, pp. 1-152. Washington, 1883. Report on methylated spirits. Ann. Rep. for 1883, pp. 57-63. Report on glucose. Ann. Rep. for 1883, PP- 65-143; also separate. Report on the national surveys and signal service. Ann. Rep. for 1884, pp. 33-63; also in Sen. Misc. Doc. no. 82, 49th Congress, ist Session, pp. i*-37*. 1886. Report on customs duty on philosophical and scientific apparatus. Ann. Rep. for 1884, pp. 65-67. Report on the astronomical day, the eclipse of the sun in 1886, and the erection of a new Naval Observatory. Ann. Rep. for 1885, pp. 35-79; also Sen. Exec. Doc. no. 67, 49th Con- gress, ist Session, February 10, 1886. Report on tariff classification of wool. Ann. Rep. for 1885, pp. 81-99; also Treas. Dep. Doc. 805, 1886. Report on opium. Ann. Rep. for 1886, pp. 39-40. Report on opium, 1887. Ann. Rep. for 1887, pp. 31-35. Report on sugar determinations. Ann. Rep. for 1887, pp. 37-45. Preliminary report on the investigation of the north magnetic pole. Ann. Rep. for 1890, pp. 33-35. A conventional standard of color. (Preliminary correspondence.) Ann. Rep. for 1893, pp. 43-46. [Report on specifications for the practical application of the definitions of the ampere and volt.] Ann. Rep. for 1895, pp. 9-13; also Sen. Misc. Doc. no. 115, 53d Con- gress, 3d Session, February 19, 1895; see also Ann. Rep. for 1894, pp. 39-42. 24 350 APPENDICES Report of the commission appointed by the National Academy of Sciences upon a forest policy for the forested lands of the United States. Ann. Rep. for 1897, PP- 29~735 als°> separate, Washington, Government Printing Office, 1897. 8°, pp. 1-47. [Report on the question of establishing a forest reserve on the Southern Appa- lachian region.] Ann. Rep. for 1902, p. 16. [Report on the Declaration of Independence.] Ann. Rep. for 1903, pp. 13-15. Report on scientific surveys of the Philippine Islands. Ann. Rep. for 1904, pp. 21-33; also Sen. Doc. no. 145, 58th Congress, 3d Session, February 7, 1905. 8°, pp. 1-22. Report on the conduct of scientific work under the United States Government. Ann. Rep. for 1908, pp. 27-31; also House Doc. no. 1337, 6oth Con- gress, 2d Session, January 18, 1909. 8°, pp. 1-5. APPENDIX V ACT OF INCORPORATION, CONSTITUTION, AMENDMENTS AND RULES ACT OF INCORPORATION AN ACT To incorporate the National Academy of Sciences. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That Louis Agassiz, Massachusetts; J. H. Alexander, Maryland ; S. Alexander, New Jersey ; A. D. Bache, at large ; F. A. P. Barnard, at large; J. G. Barnard, United States Army, Massachusetts; W. H. C. Bartlett, United States Military Academy, Missouri ; U. A. Boyden, Massachu- setts; Alexis Caswell, Rhode Island; William Chauvenet, Missouri; J. H. C. Coffin, United States Naval Academy, Maine; J. A. Dahlgren, United States Navy, Pennsylvania ; J. D. Dana, Connecticut ; Charles H. Davis, United States Navy, Massachusetts ; George Engelmann, Saint Louis, Mo. ; J. F. Frazer, Penn- sylvania; Wolcott Gibbs, New York; J. M. Gilliss, United States Navy, District of Columbia; A. A. Gould, Massachusetts; B. A. Gould, Massachusetts; Asa Gray, Massachusetts; A. Guyot, New Jersey; James Hall, New York; Joseph Henry, at large; J. E. Hilgard, at large, Illinois; Edward Hitchcock, Massa- chusetts; J. S. Hubbard, United States Naval Observatory, Connecticut; A. A. Humphreys, United States Army, Pennsylvania; J. L. Le Conte, United States Army, Pennsylvania ; J. Leidy, Pennsylvania ; J. P. Lesley, Pennsylvania ; M. F. Longstreth, Pennsylvania; D. H. Mahan, United States Military Academy, Vir- ginia; J. S. Newberry, Ohio; H. A. Newton, Connecticut; Benjamin Peirce, Massachusetts; John Rodgers, United States Navy, Indiana; Fairman Rogers, Pennsylvania; R. E. Rogers, Pennsylvania; W. B. Rogers, Massachusetts; L. M. Rutherfurd, New York; Joseph Saxton, at large; Benjamin Silliman, Connecti- cut; Benjamin Silliman, junior, Connecticut; Theodore Strong, New Jersey; John Torrey, New York; J. G. Totten, United States Army, Connecticut; Joseph Winlock, United States Nautical Almanac, Kentucky; Jeffries Wyman, Massachusetts; J. D. Whitney, California; their associates and successors duly chosen, are hereby incorporated, constituted, and declared to be a body corporate, by the name of the National Academy of Sciences. SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That the National Academy of Sciences shall consist of not more than fifty ordinary members, and the said corporation hereby constituted shall have power to make its own organization, including its con- stitution, by-laws, and rules and regulations ; to fill all vacancies created by death, 352 APPENDICES resignation, or otherwise; to provide for the election of foreign and domestic members, the division into classes, and all other matters needful or usual in such institution, and to report the same to Congress. SEC. 3. And be it further enacted, That the National Academy of Sciences shall hold an annual meeting at such place in the United States as may be desig- nated, and the Academy shall, whenever called upon by any Department of the Government, investigate, examine, experiment, and report upon any subject of science or art, the actual expense of such investigations, examinations, experi- ments, and reports to be paid from appropriations which may be made for the purpose, but the Academy shall receive no compensation whatever for any serv- ices to the Government of the United States. Approved, March 3, 1863. AMENDMENTS AN ACT To amend the act to incorporate the National Academy of Sciences. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the act to incorporate the National Academy of Sciences, approved March third, eighteen hundred and sixty-three, be, and the same is hereby, so amended as to remove the limitation of the number of ordinary members of said academy as provided in said act. Approved, July 14, 1870. AN ACT To authorize the National Academy of Sciences to receive and hold trust funds Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the National Academy of Sciences, incor- porated by the act of Congress approved March third, eighteen hundred and sixty-three, and its several supplements, be, and the same is hereby, authorized and empowered to receive bequests and donations and hold the same in trust, to be applied by the said academy in aid of scientific investigations according to the will of the donors. Approved, June 20, 1884. CONSTITUTION OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY As amended and adopted April 17, 1872, and further amended April 20, 1875; April 21, 1881; April 19, 1882; April 18, 1883; April 19, 1888; April 18, 1895; April 20, 1899; April 17, 1902; April r8, 1906; November 20, 1906; April 17, 1907; November 20, 1907; April 20, 19x1; April 16, 1912. PREAMBLE Empowered by the act of incorporation enacted by Congress, and approved by the President of the United States on the 3d day of March, A. D. 1863, and in conformity with the amendment to said act, approved July 14, 1870, the National Academy of Sciences adopts the following amended constitution and rules : APPENDICES 353 ARTICLE I. OF MEMBERS SEC. I. The academy shall consist of members, honorary members, and foreign associates. Members must be citizens of the United States. SEC. 2. Members who, from age or inability to attend the meetings of the academy, wish to resign the duties of active membership, may, at their own request, be transferred to the roll of honorary members by a vote of the academy. SEC. 3. The academy may elect 50 foreign associates. SEC. 4. Honorary members and foreign associates shall have the privilege of attending the meetings and of reading and communicating papers to the academy, but shall take no part in its business, shall not be subject to its assessments, and shall be entitled to a copy of the publications of the academy. ARTICLE II. OF THE OFFICERS SEC. I. The officers of the academy shall be a president, a vice president, a foreign secretary, a home secretary, and a treasurer, all of whom shall be elected for a term of six years, by a majority of votes present, at the first stated meeting after the expiration of the current terms, provided that existing officers retain their places until their successors are elected. In case of a vacancy, the election for six years shall be held in the same manner at the meeting when such vacancy occurs, or at the next stated meeting thereafter, as the academy may direct. A vacancy in the office of treasurer or home secretary may, however, be filled by appointment of the president of the academy until the next stated meeting of the academy. SEC. 2. The officers of the academy, together with six members to be elected by the academy, shall constitute a council for the transaction of such business as may be assigned to them by the constitution or the academy. SEC. 3. The president of the academy, or, in case of his absence or inability to act, the vice president, shall preside at the meetings of the academy and of the council; shall name all committees except such as are otherwise especially pro- vided for; shall refer investigations required by the Government of the United States to members especially conversant with the subjects and report thereon to the academy at its meeting next ensuing; and, with the council, shall direct the general business of the academy. It shall be competent for the president, in special cases, to call in the aid, upon committees, of experts or men of special attainments not members of the academy. SEC. 4. The foreign and home secretaries shall conduct the correspondence proper to their respective departments, advising with the president and council in cases of doubt, and reporting their action to the academy at one of the stated meetings in each year. It shall be the duty of the home secretary to give notice to the members of the place and time of all meetings, of all nominations for membership, and of all pro- posed amendments to the constitution. 354 APPENDICES The minutes of each meeting shall be duly engrossed before the next stated meeting under the direction of the home secretary. SEC. 5. The treasurer shall attend to all receipts and disbursements of the academy, giving such bond and furnishing such vouchers as the council may require. He shall collect all dues from members, and keep a set of books showing a full account of receipts and disbursements. He shall present a general report at the annual meeting. He shall be the custodian of the corporate seal of the academy. ARTICLE III. OF THE MEETINGS SEC. I. The academy shall hold one stated meeting in each year, called the annual meeting, in the city of Washington, beginning on the third Tuesday in April, and another, called the autumn meeting, may be held at such place and time as the council shall determine. Special business meetings of the academy may be called, by order of eight members of the council, at such place and time as may be designated in the call. Special scientific meetings of the academy may be held at times and places to be designated by a majority of the council. SEC. 2. The names of the members present at each session of a meeting shall be recorded in the minutes, and the members present at any session shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business. SEC. 3. Scientific sessions of the academy, unless otherwise ordered by a majority of the members present, shall be open to the public; sessions for the transaction of business shall be closed. SEC. 4. Stated meetings of the council shall be held during the stated or special meetings of the academy. Special meetings of the council may be convened at the call of the president and two members of the council, or of four members of the council. SEC. 5. No member who has not paid his dues shall take part in the business of the academy. ARTICLE IV. OF ELECTIONS AND RESIGNATIONS SEC. I. All elections shall be by ballot, and each election shall be held sepa- rately unless otherwise ordered by this constitution. SEC. 2. The time for holding an election of officers shall be fixed by the academy at least one day before the election is held. SEC. 3. The election of the six members of the council shall be as follows: At the annual meeting in April, 1907, six members of the council to be elected, of whom two shall serve for three years, two for two years, and two for one year, their respective terms to be determined by lot. Each year thereafter the terms of two members shall expire, and their successors, to serve for three years, shall be elected at the annual meeting in each year. APPENDICES 355 SEC. 4. The academy shall be divided by the council into standing committees representing the principal branches of scientific research. A member may be assigned to more than one of these committees. The president of the academy shall appoint, subject to the approval of the council, a member of each committee as its chairman, who shall be responsible for the work of the committee. Nominations to membership in the academy shall be made in writing, approved by a majority of the members of the committee on the branch of research in which the person nominated is eminent, or by a majority of the council in case there is no committee on the subject. The nominations shall be sent to the home secretary by the chairman of the committee before January i of the year in which the election is to be held, and each nomination shall be accompanied by a list of the principal contributions of the nominee to science. This list shall be printed by the home secretary for distribution among the members of the academy. SEC. 5. Election of members shall be held at the annual meeting in Wash- ington in the following manner : There shall be two ballots — a preference ballot, which may be prepared either before or at the annual meeting and must be trans- mitted to the home secretary, and a final ballot to be taken at the meeting. Preference ballot. — Each member may inscribe on a ballot not more than 10 names of nominees selected from the submitted list. A list of the nominees shall then be prepared, on which the names shall be entered in the order of the number of votes received by each. In case two or more nominees should have the same number of votes on this preference list, the order in which they shall be placed on the list shall be determined by a majority vote of those present. Final ballot. — A vote shall first be taken on the nominee who appears first on the preference list, and he shall be declared elected if he receive two-thirds of the votes cast and not less than 2O votes in all, provided that the number of members of the academy be not 150 or over, in which case to be declared elected he mast receive four-fifths of the votes cast and not less than 25 votes in all. A vote shall then be taken in similar manner on the nominee standing second on the prefer- ence list, and so on until all the nominees on the preference list shall have been acted on, or until 10 nominees shall have been elected. Not more than 10 members shall be elected at one annual meeting. Before and during elections a discussion of the merits of nominees will be in order. The election of members may be suspended at any time by a majority vote of the members present. SEC. 6. Every member elect shall accept his membership, personally or in writing, before the close of the next stated meeting after the date of his election. Otherwise, on proof that the secretary has formally notified him of his election, his name shall not be entered on the roll of members. 356 APPENDICES SEC. 7. The election of foreign associates shall be in the following manner : Foreign associates may be nominated by the council and may be elected at the annual meeting by a two-thirds vote of the members present. Each member shall indicate on a ballot those names for which he votes, and those nominees whose names appear on two-thirds of the votes cast shall be declared elected. A list of those nominated shall be sent to all members of the academy with the notice of the meeting at which the election is to be held. SEC. 8. A diploma, with the corporate seal of the academy and the signatures of the officers, shall be sent by the appropriate secretary to each member on his acceptance of his membership and to foreign associates on their election. SEC. 9. Resignations shall be addressed to the president and acted on by the academy. SEC. 10. Whenever a member has not paid his dues for four successive years, the treasurer shall report the fact to the council, which may report the case to the academy with the recommendation that the person thus in arrears be declared to have forfeited his membership. If this recommendation be approved by two- thirds of the members present, the said person shall no longer be a member of the academy and his name shall be dropped from the roll. ARTICLE V. OF SCIENTIFIC COMMUNICATIONS, PUBLICATIONS, AND REPORTS SEC. I. Communications on scientific subjects shall be read at scientific sessions of the academy, and papers by any member may be read by the author or by any other member, notice of the same having been previously given to the secretary. SEC. 2. Any member of the academy may read a paper from a person who is not a member, and shall not be considered responsible for the facts or opinions expressed by the author, but shall be held responsible for the propriety of the paper. Persons who are not members may read papers on invitation of the council or of the committee of arrangements. SEC. 3. The academy may provide for the publication, under the direction of the council, of proceedings, memoirs, and reports. SEC. 4. Propositions for investigations or reports by the academy shall be submitted to the council for approval, except those requested by the Government of the United States, which shall be acted on by the president, who will in such cases report their results to the Government as soon as obtained and to the academy at its next following stated meeting. SEC. 5. The advice of the academy shall be at all times at the disposition of the Government upon any matter of science or art within its scope. SEC. 6. An annual report to be presented to Congress shall be prepared by the president, and before its presentation submitted by him, first to the council and afterwards to the academy, at one of the stated meetings. APPENDICES 357 SEC. 7. Medals and prizes may be established, and the means of bestowing them accepted by the academy upon the recommendation of the council, by whom all the necessary arrangements for their establishment and award shall be made. Bequests and trusts having for their object the advancement of science may also be accepted and administered by the academy. ARTICLE VI. OF THE PROPERTY OF THE ACADEMY SEC. I . All investments shall be made by the treasurer in the corporate name of the academy with the approval of a finance committee of three members, to be appointed annually by the president, of which the treasurer shall be one. Invest- ments shall be made in bonds of the United States, in state bonds, or bonds or notes secured by first mortgages on real estate, in investments legal for savings banks under the laws of Massachusetts or New York, or in other bonds recom- mended to the treasurer by the fiscal advisers of the academy. The council shall, at its annual meeting in each year, designate one bank or trust company in Washington, D. C., and one in New York city, to act, when requested by the treasurer, as the fiscal advisers of the academy. The treasurer shall have the authority, with the approval of the finance com- mittee, to change any investment held by him in the corporate name of the academy. SEC. 2. No contract shall be binding upon the academy which has not been first approved by the council. SEC. 3. The assessments required for the support of the academy shall be fixed by the academy on the recommendation of the council. ARTICLE VII. OF ADDITIONS AND AMENDMENTS Additions and amendments to the constitution shall be made only at a stated meeting of the academy. Notice of a proposition for such a change must be given at a stated meeting, and shall be referred to the council, which may amend the proposition, and shall report thereon to the academy. Its report shall be con- sidered by the academy in committee of the whole for amendment. The proposition as amended, if adopted in committee of the whole, shall be voted on at the next stated meeting, and if it receives two-thirds of the votes cast it shall be declared adopted. Absent members may send their votes on pending changes in the constitution to the home secretary in writing, and such votes shall be counted as if the members were present. RULES I. In the absence of any officer a member shall be chosen to perform his duties temporarily, by a plurality of viva voce votes, upon open nominations. II. On the first day of each stated session, immediately after calling the roll of members, a recording secretary shall be elected, by a plurality of members pres- ent, to assist the home secretary in keeping the records of the session. 358 APPENDICES III. The accounts of the treasurer shall, between January I and January 15 of each year, be audited by a committee of three members to be appointed by the president at the autumn meeting of the academy. The auditing committee may employ an expert accountant to examine the books of the treasurer. This com- mittee shall inspect and verify the bonds, securities, and other property in the custody of the treasurer and shall compare the expenditures with the vouchers therefor. The annual report of the treasurer shall be published with that of the president to Congress. The reports of the treasurer and auditing committee shall be presented to the academy at the annual meeting. IV. A committee of arrangements, consisting of five members shall be appointed by the president for each stated session of the academy. This com- mittee shall meet not less than two weeks previous to each session. It shall be in session during the meetings to make arrangements for the reception of the members, to arrange the business of each day, and, in general, to attend to all business and scientific arrangements. It shall be the duty of the committee of arrangements to ascertain the length of time required for reading the several memoirs presented, and, when it appears advisable, to recommend a limit of time to be occupied in their discussion. V. At the meetings the order of business shall be as follows: 1. Chair taken by the president, or, in his absence, by the vice president. 2. Roll of members called by home secretary. 3. Minutes of the preceding meeting read and approved. 4. Stated business. 5. Reports of president, secretaries, treasurer, and committees. 6. Business from council. 7. Other business. 8. On the last day of the session the rough minutes of that day's proceedings are to be read for correction. VI. The rules of order of the academy shall be those of the Senate of the United States, unless suspended by unanimous consent. VII. Unless otherwise ordered by the academy, the scientific meetings at the April session shall be held in the afternoon, the mornings being reserved for business. VIII. At each meeting the president shall announce the death of any members who may have died since the preceding meeting. As soon as practicable thereafter he shall designate a member to write — or with the approval of the president to secure from some other source — a biographical notice of each deceased member. IX. The secretaries will receive memoirs at any time, and report the date of their reception at the next session ; but no memoir shall be published unless it has been read or presented by title before the academy. Before publication all memoirs must be referred to the committee on publica- tion, who may, if they deem best, refer any memoir to a special committee APPENDICES 359 appointed by the president to determine whether the same should be published by the academy. X. Memoirs shall date, in the records of the academy, from the date of their presentation to the academy, and the order of their presentation shall be so arranged by the secretary that, so far as may be convenient, those upon kindred topics shall follow one another. XI. Papers from persons not members read before the academy and intended for publication shall be referred at the meeting at which they are read to a com- mittee of members competent to judge whether the paper is worthy of publication. Such committee shall report to the academy as early as practicable, and not later than the next stated session. XII. The annual report of the academy may be accompanied by a memorial to Congress in regard to such investigations and other subjects as may be deemed advisable, recommending appropriations therefor when necessary. XIII. The proper secretary shall acknowledge all donations made to the academy, and shall report them at the next stated session. XIV. The books, apparatus, archives, and other collections of the academy shall be deposited in some safe place in the city of Washington. A list of the articles so deposited shall be kept by the home secretary, who is authorized to employ a clerk to take charge of them. XV. A stamp corresponding to the corporate seal of the academy shall be kept by the secretaries, who shall be responsible for the due marking of all books and other objects to which it is applicable. Labels or other proper marks of similar device shall be placed upon objects not admitting of the stamp. XVI. The treasurer is authorized to defray, when approved by the president, all the proper expenses of committees appointed to make scientific investigations at the request of departments of the Government, and in each case to look to the department requesting the investigation for reimbursement to the academy. XVII. Nominations for membership should state the full name, residence, the official position, and the special scientific studies of the candidate. A form of nomination shall be prepared by the home secretary. XVIII. Ballots for election of members may be sent by sealing them up in a blank envelope, and inclosing this in another, across the back of which is written the name of the sender, and which is addressed to the home secretary; such envelopes will be opened only by the tellers. XIX. All discussions as to the claims and qualifications of nominees at meet- ings of the academy will be held strictly confidential, and remarks and criticisms then made may be communicated to no person who was not a member of the academy at the time of the discussion. XX. Any rule of the academy may be amended, suspended, or repealed on the written motion of any two members, signed by them, and presented at a stated 360 APPENDICES session of the academy, provided the same shall be approved by a majority of the members present. XXI. The fiscal year of the academy shall end on December 31 of each year. XXII. The annual reports of the committees on research funds shall, so far as the academy has authority to determine their form, give a current number to each award, stating the name, position, and address of the recipient, the subject of research for which the award is made, and the sum awarded; and in later annual reports the status of the work accomplished under each award previously made shall be announced, until the research is completed, when announcement of its completion and, if published, the title and place of publication shall be stated, and the record of the award shall be reported as closed. By a resolution adopted January 12, 1864, the president is ex officio a member of all government committees of the academy. APPENDIX VI TEXT OF BEQUESTS AND TRUSTS THE ALEXANDER AGASSIZ FUND The will of Professor Agassiz contains the following clause : I give to the National Academy of Sciences at Washington the sum of Fifty Thousand Dollars ($50,000) for the general use of the said Academy. THE A. D. BACHE FUND The will of Alexander Dallas Bache, dated March 18, 1862, contains the fol- lowing provisions: Item. — As to all the rest and residue of my Estate, including the sum of Five thousand dollars placed at the disposal of my wife in case she should not desire to make any dis- position of the same, I direct my executors hereinafter named to apply the income thereof after the death of my wife according to and under the directions of Joseph Henry of Washington, Louis Agassiz and Benjamin Peirce of Harvard College, Massachusetts, to the prosecution of researches in Physical and Natural Science by assisting experimentalists and observers in such manner and in such sums as shall be agreed upon by the three above- named gentlemen, or any two of them, whom I constitute a Board of Direction for the application of the income of my residuary estate for the above objects, after the death of my said wife. The class of subjects to be selected by this Board, and the results of such observations and experiments, to be published at the expense of my Trust Estate under their direction out of the income thereof but without encroaching on the principal. In case of the death or inability to act of all or any of the three gentlemen I have named in my wife's lifetime, My will is that she shall supply their places in the Board of Direction by an Instrument of writing either testamentary or otherwise, desiring that in the selection of the persons, to administer the income of the trust funds hereby created, she will have regard to the selection of persons whose attention has been directed to the same branches of science as those I have named and so that each of the Departments of Physics, Mathematics, and Natural History shall be represented in the Board. In case of any vacancy occurring in the Board of Direction after its organization and after the death of my wife, by reason of the death inability or refusal to act or resignation of any of its mem- bers, my will is that the surviving or remaining member or members for the time being shall have power to fill vacancies so occurring in the Board by the selection of other person or persons to fill such vacancies and so on from time to time as vacancies shall occur. My intention being that the Board of Direction shall have power to continue its existence and to filling all vacancies occurring in their body from time to time I direct that a minute of their proceedings be kept, and that the appointment of any member by the Board shall be notified in writing to the trustees for the time being of my residuary estate. In the event of any failure of the Board for the time being to direct the application of the income of my said residuary estate, or to continue its existence by filling vacancies occurring in their 36l 362 APPENDICES body, my will is that the application of the income thereof for the purposes and objects declared in this clause of my Will, shall be made by the Trustees, under the direction of The American Philosophical Society of Philadelphia. ********#*-*#* Item. — I hereby nominate and appoint my friends, Peter McCall, Esq., and Morton P. Henry, Esq., of the City of Philadelphia, and the survivor of them, to be the executors of and trustees under this my last will and Testament. CODICIL, JULY 15, 1863. Item. — I give and devise to my sister Sally Franklin Wainwright the house purchased by me situated No. 396 West Twentieth Street, in the City of Washington, between G and H Streets to be held and enjoyed by her during the term of her natural life. After her death I direct the said house shall pass with the residue of my Estate (subject to a life estate of my wife Nancy Clarke Bache therein in case she should survive my sister) to The National Academy of Sciences, upon the Trusts set forth as to the said residue of my estate. #***»***#»##« Item. — My will is that upon the death of my wife all the rest and residue of my Estate shall be paid over to and vest in the corporation of The National Academy of Sciences incorporated by Act of Congress, passed the Third day of March, A. D. 1863, whom I hereby appoint Trustees in the place of my said Executors under the Fourth clause of my said will to apply the income according to the directions in the said clause contained to the prosecution of researches in Physical and Natural Science by assisting experimentalists and observers in such manner and in such sums as shall be agreed upon by the Board of Direction in the said clause named. My will further is that in case of any failure of the Board for the time being to direct the application of the income of my residuary estate or to continue its existence by filling vacancies occurring in their body, the application of the income thereof for the purposes and objects declared in the said clause shall be made under the Direction of The National Academy of Sciences instead of The American Philosophical Society of Philadelphia. In all other respects the said application of the income to the purposes aforesaid to be made by the same persons and under the same rules as I have pre- scribed in the said clause of my will. Duly sworn to before Saml. Lloyd, February 27, 1867, in the city and county of Phila- delphia. The last will and testament of Nancy Clarke Bache is as follows: I hereby, in pursuance and exercise of the power of appointment contained in the last will and testament of my husband, Alexander Dallas Bache, devise, bequeath, and appoint the sum of five thousand dollars of the principal of the estate of my said husband, over which I have a power of appointment by his will, to be paid by his executors, or by such person or persons as shall hold the principal of the estate at my death, to my nephew, Henry Wood Bache, absolutely; and I hereby request my nephew, in case he should die unmarried and without issue, to make such a disposition of this amount by will as will secure it to be paid at his death to the National Academy of Sciences, at Washington, to be held by that corporation upon the same trusts and for the same purposes as are declared by my husband in his will as to the residue of his estate after my death. I expressly desire, however, that it shall be understood that this request shall not be construed into any direction which would interfere with his full control of the principal, which is to be paid into his hands directly. APPENDICES 363 Second. I hereby direct the house, No. 1624 Chestnut street, in which I now reside, to be sold by my executor, hereinafter named, within a reasonable time after my death, either at public or private sale, and after deducting from the purchase money any debts or expenses connected with the sale and the administration of my estate, which, with the cash on hand or other property which I may own or possess at my death, shall be sufficient to satisfy, I direct my executor to pay over the net proceeds to the National Academy of Sciences, at Washington, to be held by that corporation as trustees in trust to apply the income thereof to the prosecution of researches in physical and natural science, according to the directions contained in the last will and testament of my husband as to the residue of his estate after my death in the same manner as if all the directions contained in the last will and testament of my husband and in the codicil thereto were herein repeated at length; my object being to make precisely the same disposition of the proceeds of this house as was made by my husband of his residuary estate after my death. Third. I direct all the medals and diplomas of my husband, and the large photograph of him now in my possession, to be deposited and remain with the National Academy of Sciences. I have made a memorandum of the disposition of certain other articles, which I desire shall be carried into effect as if contained in this will. I appoint Morton P. Henry, of Philadelphia, executor of this my last will and testament CODICIL, APRIL 19, 1869. Item. — I hereby direct my executor to pay out of the proceeds of the sale of my said house, No. 1624 Chestnut street, Philadelphia, which I have directed to be sold, the sum of five hundred dollars to my nephew, Henry Wood Bache, for his own use and benefit. I further direct my executor to invest five thousand dollars of the proceeds of sale of said house in his own name as trustee in such securities as he may think proper, and to pay the income thereof to my nephew, Henry Wood Bache, during his natural life. After the death of my nephew, I direct that the principal of the said sum of five thousand dollars shall go to the National Academy of Sciences, at Washington, in trust for the same uses and purposes as are declared as to the proceeds of sale of said house by my said will. I expressly declare that the above bequests to Henry Wood Bache are in addition to the five thousand dollars I have appointed to him out of my husband's estate. Item. — I hereby declare that the balance of the proceeds of the sale of my said house shall go, after paying and providing for the above legacies, as is set forth and declared in my said will, which in all other respects I hereby republish and declare as my last will and testament. Sworn and subscribed before John Campbell, deputy register, in the city and county of Philadelphia, January 20, 1870. THE CYRUS B. COMSTOCK FUND Know all men by these presents, that I, Cyrus B. Comstock, of the City of New York, to advance knowledge in electricity, magnetism and radiant energy, by the giving of money prizes for important investigations or discoveries in those subjects, have given, assigned, transferred and set over, and do by these presents give, assign, transfer and set over unto the National Academy of Sciences, incorporated by the Act of Congress approved March 3rd, 1863, and its several supplements, and hereinafter designated as the Trustee, and unto its successor or successors, ten (10) Union Pacific Railroad Company Registered First Mortgage and Land Grant Four Per Cent Gold Bonds, Numbers B 588, B 663, B 993, B 994, B 1106, B 1204, B 1282, B 1290, B 1309, B 1369, each for $1,000, and my check for Four hundred Dollars ($400.00), bearing even date herewith and payable to the order of the National Academy of Sciences. 364 APPENDICES To have and to hold the same unto the said National Academy of Sciences, its successor or successors in trust and upon the following conditions, to wit: First. The Trustee shall keep said sum of Four hundred Dollars ($400.00), and said bonds, or the proceeds thereof and all additions thereto, as a separate fund, to be known as the " Cyrus B. Comstock Fund." Second. The Trustee shall have power at any time in its discretion to sell said bonds or any of them and execute a proper assignment thereof to the purchaser or purchasers, and shall invest the proceeds thereof and all moneys forming a part of said fund, and keep the same invested in such securities and in such manner as its constitution shall provide for the investment of its property or as shall be authorized by law for the investment of trust funds. Third. The Trustee shall collect the income arising from said fund and apply the same as follows: (1) The market value of the fund shall be maintained at not less than Ten thousand Dollars ($10,000), and any and all depreciation therein shall be made up out of the income of the fund before any part of such income shall be applied as hereinafter provided. But when, by the additions hereinafter authorized and directed, the principal of the fund shall have been increased in the amount of Five thousand Dollars ($5,000.), then and thereafter the market value of the fund shall be maintained in the manner aforesaid at not less than Fifteen thousand Dollars ($15,000.). (2) The balance of the income of said fund shall be set aside and accumulated, and out of such accumulations the Trustee shall award once for every five years a prize in money to the bona fide resident of North America, who, not less than one year nor more than six years before the awarding of the prize, shall have made in the judgment of the Trustee the most important discovery or investigation in electricity or magnetism or radiant energy. Such prize shall be known and designated as the " Comstock Prize," and shall be in an amount equal to about two-thirds of said balance of the income of said fund for the five years for which the award shall be made, and shall be paid to the person to whom the prize shall have been awarded at such time as may be convenient to the Trustee, but the awarding thereof shall be entirely and in all respects in the discretion of the Trustee. If no such discovery or investigation shall be deemed by the Trustee to be worthy of the prize, or if for any other reason the prize shall not be awarded for any period of five years, then and in that event the money which might have been awarded shall be added to the principal of the fund and become a part thereof; but the Trustee may in its discretion use the whole or any part of the amount unawarded for any five years in aiding such investi- gation or investigations as the Trustee shall deem worthy in electricity, magnetism or radiant energy to be made by a bona fide resident or residents of North America ; Provided, however, that the prize shall not be diverted to give such aid oftener than once in fifteen years. (3) The balance of the income so accumulated, less the amount to be awarded as a prize, as provided in the preceding section, shall be added to the principal of the fund and become a part thereof and subject to the terms and conditions herein contained, as though such additions had been part of the original donation; Provided, however, that when the market value of said fund shall have been increased to Fifteen thousand Dollars ($15,000.), the amount of the prize may be increased in the discretion of the Trustee to more than two- thirds of the net income as above provided. Fourth. Upon the failure or inability of the Trustee, its successor or successors, to carry out the said trust upon the terms and conditions above set forth, said fund together with all accumulations and unexpended income shall revert to me, the said Cyrus B. Comstock, if then living; if dead, to my heirs-at-law who shall then be living, per stirpes and not per capita. APPENDICES 365 In witness whereof, I, the said Cyrus B. Comstock, have hereunto and unto a duplicate hereof, set my hand and seal this twenty-seventh day of November, one thousand nine hundred and seven. CYRUS B. COMSTOCK. Sworn and subscribed before Monchure March, notary public, in the city and county of New York, November 27, 1907. Know all men by these presents that the National Academy of Sciences, the Trustee named in the foregoing instrument, hereby acknowledges the receipt from the said Cyrus B. Comstock of said ten (10) Union Pacific Railroad Company Registered First Mortgage Railroad and Land Grant Four Per Cent Gold Bonds, Numbers B 588, B 663, B 993, B 994, Buo6, 61204, 61282, 61290, 61309, 61369 each for $1,000, duly assigned to the said National Academy of Sciences as Trustee under the foregoing instrument, and his check for Four hundred Dollars ($400.00), payable to the order of the National Academy of Sciences; and that, by authority of its Council, the said Trustee hereby accepts and agrees to hold the same in trust and upon the terms and conditions above set forth. And the said National Academy of Sciences hereby constitutes and appoints Ira Remsen its true and lawful attorney, for it and in its name to acknowledge this instrument, and a duplicate hereof, to be its act before any person having authority to take such acknowledgment. In witness whereof, the said the National Academy of Sciences has caused its corporate seal to be hereunto and unto a duplicate hereof affixed, and these presents, and a duplicate hereof, to be signed in its name by its President and Treasurer this thirtieth day of November, one thousand nine hundred and seven. NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES. By IRA REMSEN, President. S. F. EMMONS, Treasurer. Sworn and subscribed before John R. Hooper, notary public, in the city of Baltimore, State of Maryland, December 4, 1907. THE HENRY DRAPER FUND The text of the deed of gift is as follows: Know all men by these presents that I, Mary Anna Palmer Draper of the City, County and State of New York, in consideration of the premises, and of the acceptance of the within trust by the National Academy of Sciences and also in consideration of divers other good and valuable considerations, we, the said Mary Anna Palmer Draper hereto moving, have given, granted, assigned, transferred and set over and by these presents do give, grant, assign, transfer and set over unto the said National Academy of Sciences and to their successors forever, a certain fund or sum of Six thousand dollars with the interest and income thereof To have and to hold the same in trust nevertheless upon the special trusts and for the uses and purposes following, to wit: First. In trust to invest and to reinvest the said sum of Six thousand dollars and to keep the same invested in good and safe securities, or in such other manner as shall be, in their opinion, best for the preservation and maintenance of said fund. Second. In trust to use the interest, and income thereof for the purpose of striking a gold medal which shall be called the " Henry Draper Medal," shall be of the value of Two hundred dollars, and shall be struck in a die to be selected and presented to said National Academy of Sciences by me, the said Mary Anna Palmer Draper. And the said medal shall be awarded and presented, from time to time, by the said National Academy of Sciences, to any person in the United States of America or elsewhere who shall make an original investi- 25 366 APPENDICES gation in astronomical physics the results of which shall be made known to the public, such results being in the opinion of the said National Academy of Sciences of sufficient impor- tance and benefit to science to merit such recognition, provided however that said medal shall not be presented or awarded more frequently than once in two years, and provided also that the investigation for which it is awarded or the completed publication thereof shall have been made since the time of the last preceding award and presentation of said medal. Third. In trust that if discoveries of equal importance shall be made in astronomical physics at or about the same time in the United States of America and also in some other part of the world, each of which discoveries might in the opinion of said Academy entitle the discoverer to be considered as a competitor for said medal, preference shall be given in the awarding thereof to discoveries made by a citizen of the said United States of America. Fourth. In trust that if the said die shall at any time be lost, destroyed, broken, or in any manner rendered unfit for the purpose of striking the said medal, a new die shall be pro- cured exactly similar to the one so selected and presented as aforesaid, and shall be paid for out of the interest and income of said fund ; and such sum or sums of money as shall at any time or times be necessary for the proper care, custody and protection of the said die or of the said fund hereby given, shall also be taken from and out of the interest and income of the said fund whenever the same shall be deemed necessary by the said National Academy of Sciences. Fifth. In trust that, if at any time or times the interest or income of the said trust fund of Six thousand dollars shall exceed the amount necessary for the striking of said medal, and the care of the said die and of the fund, such surplus over or above the sum or sums so rquired for the purposes of the trust as hereinbefore recited and set forth shall be used in such manner as shall be selected by said National Academy of Sciences in aid of investiga- tions and work in astronomical physics to be made and carried on by a citizen or citizens of the United States of America. And the said National Academy of Sciences doth signify its acceptance of the said fund of Six thousand dollars, and doth engage to hold and manage the same upon the trusts and for the uses and purposes herein mentioned and set forth. In Witness whereof, I, the said Mary Anna Palmer Draper have hereunto set my hand and seal, and the said National Academy of Sciences hath hereunto caused its corporate seal to be affixed and these presents to be subscribed by its President, this thirteenth day of April, in the year eighteen hundred and eighty-three. MARY ANNA PALMER DRAPER, [SEAL.] O. C. MARSH, [SEAL N. A. s.] President National Academy of Sciences. Sealed and delivered in presence of Edward H. Dixon, Mornay Williams, as to Mary Anna Palmer Draper. Witnesses to signature of President Marsh: J. H. C. Coffin, Asaph Hall, Saml. H. Walker. Executed and acknowledged before Mornay Williams, Notary Public, New York Co. Acknowledgment of officer of the Academy before Saml. H. Walker, Notary Public, Diit. of Columbia. THE WOLCOTT GIBBS FUND MY DEAR PROFESSORS JACKSON AND LOEB: May I beg you to present to those from whom I received, a few days since, so signal a mark of friendship and good will my heartiest, most earnest, and most grateful acknowl- edgment? The address which I received on my seventieth birthday, signed by more than zoo friends, pupils, and assistants, brings back my youth in recalling the names of those who now join to offer me more than mere good wishes to cheer my advancing age. Their APPENDICES 367 active friendship has taken the form which was most acceptable to me — that of an endow- ment to assist research in my own branch of science; so that I can feel that in a certain sense my power to work will not terminate with my life. As the generosity of my friends permits me also to dispose of the manner in which the endowment shall be administered, I submit to them, through you, the plan which seems to me best adapted to carry out their wishes — a plan which has been fully tested in somewhat similar cases and found to work well in practice. I therefore propose that the fund raised for endowment shall be given to the National Academy of Sciences, to hold the same in trust and to invest and reinvest as may be necessary or advisable. The income or interest of the fund shall be administered by a board of directors consisting of three persons, of whom at least two shall be members of the academy. The first board shall consist of Charles Loring Jackson, Thomas M. Drown, and Ira Remsen, and the directors shall have power to fill vacancies in their own number, notifying the academy of their action without delay. In case of the deaths of all the mem- bers of the board, their places shall be filled by persons holding professorships of chemistry, to be appointed by a vote of the academy. The directors shall make an annual report to the academy, stating the condition of the fund and the appropriations made during the year. They shall have absolute and entire control of the disposition of the income of the fund, employing it in such manner as they may deem for the best interest of chemical science. It is my belief that the above or a similar arrangement is the best which can be made — that is to say, the one which is most likely to be of permanent benefit to science. I trust that it will meet with the approbation of those who have honored me with their confidence and their regard. Sincerely, yours, WOLCOTT GIBBS. NEWPORT, March i, 1892. THE BENJAMIN APTHORP GOULD FUND Know all men by these presents that I Alice Bache Gould of the City of Boston and County of Suffolk, State of Massachusetts, in consideration of the acceptance of the within Trust by the National Academy of Sciences and also in consideration of divers other good and valuable considerations have given granted assigned transferred and set over and by these presents do give grant assign transfer and set over unto the said National Academy of Sciences and its successors forever a certain fund or sum of twenty thousand (20,000) dollars with the interest and income thereof to have and to hold the same in trust neverthe- less upon the special trusts and for the uses and purposes following, to wit: First. In trust, to invest and reinvest the said sum of twenty thousand dollars ($20,000.) and to keep the same invested under the ordinary rules governing trustees in good and safe securities in such manner as shall be deemed best for the preservation and main- tenance of such fund, which shall be known as the "Benjamin Apthorp Gould Fund," in memory of my father, the late Benjamin Apthorp Gould, of Cambridge, Massachusetts. Second. In trust to use the net interest and income thereof according to and under the direction of Lewis Boss of Albany New York Seth C. Chandler of Cambridge Massachusetts and Asaph Hall of Washington D. C. whom I hereby constitute a Board of Directors for the application of the income of the said Benjamin Apthorp Gould Fund, for the prosecution of researches in astronomy, by assisting such observers and investigators in such manner and in such sums as shall be agreed upon by the three above-mentioned persons or their successors or by a majority of the then Board. The Board of Directors however instead of expending all the income of the Fund for the purposes aforesaid may from time to time vote that such portions thereof as they may prescribe shall be added to the principal of the said Fund, and such portion shall then be so added by the Trustees and all such sums once so added shall remain part of the principal. 368 APPENDICES The Board of Directors shall make an annual report to the National Academy of Sciences giving such information concerning the Fund as shall be desired by the said Academy. In case of any vacancy occurring in the Board of Directors by reason of the death, inability or refusal to act or resignation of any of its members, then the surviving or remaining members or member for the time being shall have power to fill any vacancy so occurring in the Board by the selection of another person or persons to fill the same, and so on from time to time as vacancies shall occur provided however that at least two of the three directors shall always be members of the National Academy of Sciences. But if at any time the three Directorships of the Board shall simultaneously be vacant, then the National Academy of Sciences shall have power to fill these vacancies and the new Board of Directors in this as in all other cases shall succeed to all the rights duties and privileges of the former board. Provided however that if at any time the said Academy from any cause whatever shall cease to exist or in case at any time any modification of its rights or powers shall be made by any action other than that of the said Academy itself and such modification shall be fol- lowed within six months thereafter by a vote of the then Board of Directors approving the passing and transfer hereinafter mentioned, then and in all of such cases the said Fund together with all accumulations and unexpended income thereof shall pass and be trans- ferred to the said Board of Directors who shall thereafter exercise the functions of both Directors and Trustees, and the said National Academy shall no longer thereafter act as Trustee, and shall have no power of appointing Directors and none of the Directors need be members of the said National Academy ; and furthermore after such transfer and passing the said Directors may at any time appoint any other persons or corporation as Trustees, reserving to themselves their powers and duties as Directors, and the Fund shall thereupon pass to such new Trustees to be held upon the same trusts upon which it is hereby given to the National Academy of Sciences, the principal with its accumulations to be always held intact and the income applied as shall be best for the advancement of astronomy and for the honor of my father's memory. And the said National Academy of Sciences doth hereby signify its acceptance of the said Fund of twenty thousand dollars ($20,000.) and doth engage to hold the same upon the trusts and conditions, and for the uses and purposes herein mentioned and set forth. In witness whereof I the said Alice Bache Gould have hereto set my hand and seal and the said National Academy of Sciences has caused its corporate name and seal to be hereto affixed by Wolcott Gibbs its President thereunto duly authorized this seventeenth (xyth) day of November in the year eighteen hundred and ninety seven (1897). ALICE BACHE GOULD. [SEAL.] WOLCOTT GIBBS. President of the National Academy of Sciences. W. W. Vaughan, witness to Alice Bache Gould. O. C. Marsh, witness to Wolcott Gibbs. J. M. Crafts, witness to Wolcott Gibbs. C. B. Comstock, witness to Wolcott Gibbs. To THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF THE BENJAMIN APTHORP GOULD FUND. GENTLEMEN: Believing that elaborate legal restrictions upon the uses of a perpetual fund may often under changing circumstances hinder the accomplishment of the general intention of the donor, I have in the deed creating the Benjamin Apthorp Gould Fund defined its uses as briefly as possible, namely, as " for the prosecution of researches in astronomy." Nevertheless I wish hereby to record with you some personal preferences, based upon what I believe would have been my father's opinions regarding the best use of such a Fund, APPENDICES 369 expressly stating however that this letter is not intended to restrict the action of the Board of Directors more than shall in their judgment be expedient and fitting. First. My object in creating the Fund is two- fold; on the one hand to advance the science of astronomy, and on the other to honor my father's memory and to insure that his power to accomplish scientific work shall not end with his own life. Second. Throughout my father's lifetime his patriotic feeling and scientific ambition were closely associated, and I wish therefore that a fund bearing his name should be used primarily for the benefit of investigators in his own country or of his own nationality. I recognize however that sometimes the best possible service to American science is the maintenance of close communion between the scientific men of Europe and of America and that therefore even while acting in the spirit of the above restriction it may occasionally be best to apply this money to the aid of a foreign investigator working abroad. In connection with this I must refer to the strong interest felt by my father in the National Academy of Sciences, and to his belief in the importance of creating and maintain- ing a single national scientific body whose preeminence should be unquestionable, and of concentrating power in its hands. I wish to recommend that all three Directors shall be members of the Academy, although I have made this legally necessary for only two of the three, and to record the desire to serve the Academy so far as I am able as one of my minor motives in creating the Trust. Third. I have copied many of the provisions of the Bache Fund, and it is my hope that the Boards of Direction of the two Funds may always act in friendly unison, as befits the long and intimate friendship of the men whose work they perpetuate. I trust that the new Fund may relieve the Bache Directors of many astronomical expenses, and thus enable them to devote the same amounts of money to other branches of science. And I recommend the adoption of a custom now followed by the Bache Board of Directors, by which each Director upon his own election names to his colleagues the person whom he believes most fit to succeed him. Fourth. I wish that in all cases work in the Astronomy of Precision should be distinctly preferred to any work in Astrophysics, both because of my father's personal preference and because of the present existence of generous endowments for Astrophysics. Fifth. The Astronomical Journal long conducted by my father has in my belief exerted a powerful influence in raising the standard of American astronomy; and in case at some future time its existence should be imperiled by lack of funds, I wish to recommend it to the attention of the then Board of Directors. As however I believe that the granting to any scientific journal of definite rights over such a Fund would be a dangerous precedent, I here repeat that the Directors are not to consider themselves bound by these my present wishes further than they deem appropriate in connection with a journal associated with my father's name. Sixth. The Benjamin Apthorp Gould fund is intended for the advancement and not for the diffusion of scientific knowledge. Moreover I prefer that it should be used to defray the actual expenses of an investigation rather than for the personal support of the investi- gator during the time of his researches. I do not wish absolutely to exclude the latter im- portant use, but such an employment of funds seems to me more appropriately the function of a university than of the National Academy, and I hope therefore that before granting money for such a purpose the Directors will consider the existing university endowments and other sources of pecuniary aid for able workers in science. Finally I wish to express my entire faith in the wise judgment of the first Board of Directors and my sense of my own good fortune in being able to intrust a memorial of my father to the hands of men who have been both his scientific associates and his intimate personal friends. . „ ~ ALICE BACHE GOULD. BOSTON, November 17, 1897. 370 APPENDICES THE JOSEPH HENRY FUND The " Joseph Henry fund " of $40,000 was contributed by " Fairman Rogers, Joseph Patterson, George W. Childs, A. J. Drexel, F. A. Drexel, Charles H. Rogers, J. G. Fell, Isaac Lea, Asa Packer, John Welsh, William Blanchard, James Lenox, The Executors of the Estate of John C. Green, Mrs. John C. Green, Robert L. Stuart, Miss C. L. Wolfe, William Libbey, E. N. Dickerson, Cyrus W. Field, Thomas A. Scott, Wm. W. Corcoran, George P. Wetmore, Thomas H. Powers, J. S. Morgan, J. Pierpont Morgan, I. V. Williamson, John W. Garrett, Charles S. Coxe, Cyrus H. McCormick, J. E. Caldwell, Wm. Weightman, Alexr. Brown, Henry C. Gibson, J. Donald Cameron, Samuel M. Felton, Henry H. Houston, Nathaniel Thayer, John L. Cadwalader, and J. F. Navarro " — as an expression of the donors' respect and esteem for Prof. Joseph Henry's personal virtues, their sense of his life's great devotion to science with its results of important discoveries, and of his constant labors to increase and diffuse knowledge and promote the welfare of mankind. This sum of $40,000 the contributors caused to be invested in certain securities, and to be deposited with and held by the Pennsylvania Company for Insurance of Lives and Granting Annuities in Trust, which company was required to collect the income thereon from time to time, and to pay over the same to Prof. Joseph Henry during his natural life, and after his death, to his wife and daughters, and after the death of the last survivor " to deliver the said fund and the securities in which it shall then be invested to the National Academy of Sciences, to be thenceforward forever held in trust by the National Academy of Sciences under the name and title of ' the Joseph Henry fund,' the principal to be forever held intact and the income to be from time to time applied by the said National Academy of Sciences in its sole discretion to assist meritorious investigators especially in the direction of original research." THE JOHN L. LECONTE FUND The will of Professor Le Conte contains the following clause : In case all my said children shall die before my said wife without lawful issue, then I direct the whole income to be paid to her during her natural life and upon her death or in case my said children shall all die after my said wife without lawful issue and intestate, the whole of my said Estate shall be distributed as follows: I give and bequeath unto * * * the National Academy of Sciences incorporated by Act of Congress of the United States of America the sum of Twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000). THE MORRIS LOEB BEQUEST The will of Morris Loeb, signed January u, 1912, contains the following clause : " SEVENTEENTH : I give and bequeath to the National Academy of Sciences in Wash- ington, in the District of Columbia, the sum of Two thousand five hundred Dollars as a contribution toward the Wolcott Gibbs Fund, founded in 1892." APPENDICES 371 THE O. C. MARSH FUND The will of Professor Marsh contains the following clause : " I give, devise, and bequeath to the corporation known as the National Academy of Sciences, in Washington, D. C., the sum of $10,000, as a trust fund, the income to be used and expended by it for promoting original research in the natural sciences." THE JOHN MURRAY FUND This fund came to the Academy in the form of a personal letter to the Home Secretary, as follows: To ARNOLD HAGUE, ESQ., Secretary of the National Academy, Washington, D. C., U. S. A. MY DEAR HAGUE : I enclose you a cheque for $6000 (=,£1233) which sum I trust the National Academy will accept from me, for the purpose of founding an Alexander Agassiz gold Medal, to be awarded for original contributions in the Science of Oceanography to scientific men in any part of the world, whenever and as often as the President and Council may deem desirable. Yours very sincerely, (Signed) JOHN MURRAY. THE BELLEVUE-STRATFORD, Philadelphia, 22 April, 1911. THE J. LAWRENCE SMITH FUND Know all men by these presents, that I, Sarah Julia Smith, of the City of Louisville, and County of Jefferson, State of Kentucky, in consideration of the premises and of the acceptance of the within trust by the National Academy of Sciences, and, also, in consid- eration of divers other good and valuable considerations, I, the said Sarah Julia Smith, hereto moving, have given, granted, assigned, transferred, and set over, and by these presents do give, grant, assign, transfer, and set over unto the said National Academy of Sciences and to their successors forever, a certain fund or sum of Eight thousand dollars with the interest and income thereof, to have and to hold the same in trust nevertheless — upon the special trusts and for the uses and purposes following, to wit: First. In trust to invest and to reinvest the said sum of Eight thousand dollars, and to keep the same invested in good and safe securities, or in such other manner as shall be in their opinion best for the preservation and maintenance of such fund. Second. In trust to use the interest and income thereof for the purpose of striking a gold medal which shall be called the " Lawrence Smith Medal," shall be of the value of Two hundred dollars in gold, and shall be struck in a die to be selected and presented to the said National Academy of Sciences, by me, the said Sarah Julia Smith. And the said medal shall be awarded and presented from time to time, by the said National Academy of Sciences, to any person in the United States of America or elsewhere who shall make an original investigation of meteoric bodies the results of which shall be made known to the public, such results being in the opinion of the said National Academy of Sciences of suffi- cient importance and benefit to science to merit such recognition, provided, however, that said medal shall not be presented or awarded more frequently than once in two years, and pro- vided, also, that the investigation for which it is awarded or the completed publication thereof shall have been made since the time of the last preceding award and presentation of said medal. 372 APPENDICES Third. In trust that if investigations of equal importance shall be made in regard to meteoric bodies at or about the same time in the United States of America and, also, in some other part of the world, each of which investigations might in the opinion of said Academy entitle the investigator to be considered as a competitor for said medal, preference shall be given in the awarding thereof to investigations made by a citizen of the said United States of America. Fourth. In trust, that if the said die shall at any time be lost, destroyed, broken, or in any manner rendered unfit for the purpose of striking the said medal, a new die shall be procured exactly similar to the one so selected and presented as aforesaid, and shall be paid for out of the interest and income of the said fund ; and such sum or sums of money as shall at any time or times be necessary for the care, custody and protection of the said die or of the said fund hereby given, shall also be taken from and out of the interest and income of the said fund whenever the same shall be deemed necessary by the said National Academy of Sciences. Fifth. In trust that, if at any time or times the interest and income of said trust fund of Eight thousand dollars shall exceed the amount necessary for the striking of said medal and the care of the said die and of the fund, such surplus over and above the sum or sums so required for the purposes of the trust as hereinbefore recited and set forth shall be used in such manner as shall be selected by the National Academy of Sciences in aid of investi- gations of meteoric bodies to be made and carried on by a citizen or citizens of the United States of America. And the said National Academy of Sciences doth signify its acceptance of the said fund of Eight thousand dollars and doth engage to hold and manage the same upon the trusts and for the uses and purposes herein mentioned and set forth. In witness whereof, I, the said Sarah Julia Smith, have hereunto set my hand and seal, and the said National Academy of Sciences hath hereunto caused its corporate seal to be affixed and these presents to be subscribed by its President, this sixth day of May, in the year one thousand eight hundred and eighty-four. SARAH JULIA SMITH, [SEAL.] O. C. MARSH, [SEAL N. A. s.] President of the National Academy of Sciences. Sealed and delivered in presence of Annie C. Norton, J. H. Caperton as to Sarah Julia Smith. Witnesses to signature of President Marsh: George J. Brush, E. S. Dana. THE J. C. WATSON FUND The will of Mr. James C. Watson, dated July n, 1874, contains the following provisions : Fifth. I give and devise subject to conditions and legacies hereinbefore and hereafter mentioned all the rest, residue and remainder of my real and personal estate to the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, of which I am a member, which said Academy was incorporated by Act of Congress, approved March third, A. D., 1863, to be aggregated, kept and invested as a perpetual fund the income from which shall be expended by said Academy for the promotion of Astronomical Science. * * * * I direct that all other [other than those specifically bequeathed otherwise] stocks bonds and securities owned by me be converted into money on the most advantageous terms possible and as soon as it may be advantageous to do so and paid over to the Treasurer of said National Academy of Sciences. I direct that any other personal property belonging to me, as well as any real estate of which I may die possessed, except my books and scientific papers, be sold and dis- APPENDICES 373 posed of as soon as may possibly be done advantageously to the interests of ray estate and that the proceeds thereof be paid over to the Treasurer of said National Academy of Sciences. I direct that my books and scientific papers be transferred to said National Academy of Sciences, to become a part of the library of said Academy. In order to carry out the wish hereinbefore expressed as to the disposal of the income from the fund resulting from my estate hereby devised to said National Academy of Sciences, I do hereby direct that the designation of the particular objects and works which may be aided by this fund shall be determined, subject to approval by a vote of the Academy, by a Board of Trustees, three in number, who shall be members of the Academy and elected, after the first herein named, by said Academy whenever a vacancy may occur by death or otherwise. The trustees so appointed shall hold said office, unless voluntarily relinquished by them, during the period of their membership in the said National Academy of Sciences, and I do hereby appoint and constitute Julius E. Hilgard of the United States Coast Survey and Simon Newcomb and J. H. C. Coffin, Professors of Mathematics U. S. Navy, all of Washington in the District of Columbia, to be the first Board of Trustees for the purposes herein named. It is my wish that the Academy may if it shall seem proper provide for a gold medal of the value of one hundred dollars to be awarded with a further gratuity of one hundred dollars, from time to time to the person in any country who shall make any astronomical discovery or produce any astronomical work worthy of special reward as contributing to our science. It is my further wish that provision be made for preparing and publishing tables of the motion of all the planets which have been discovered by me, as soon as it may be practicable to do so and I desire that in all cases the trustees and the Academy shall act in harmony to obtain results of the greatest possible aid to our Science from the income fund resulting from my estate. I desire that results so obtained shall be published as speedily as possible in such manner as may be provided by the Academy. I direct that the said National Academy of Sciences take all necessary and proper measures to invest the funds resulting from the property hereby devised where they may be safe and yield the largest income possible consistent with safety. APPENDIX VII LIST OF PUBLICATIONS ANNUALS Annual of the National Academy of Sciences for 1863-1864. Cambridge, 1865. 12°. Pp. 1-112. Annual of the National Academy of Sciences for 1865. Cambridge, 1866. 12°. Pp. 1-130. Annual of the National Academy of Sciences for 1866. Cambridge, 1867. 12°. Pp. 1-154. « « « « « « It « It « It it « (I ANNUAL REPORTS Date of Publication For the year 1863 1864 For the year 1864 1865 1865 1866 1866 1867 1867 1868 1872 1873 1878 1879 1879 1880 Report of Proceedings of the National Academy of .Sciences from November 16, 1880, to the close of the year 1881 . . . 1882 For the year 1882 1883 " " " 1883 1884 " " " 1884 1885 1885 1886 1886 1887 1887 1888 1888 1890 1889 1891 1890 1891 1891 1892 Date of Publication <« « « « <( « it « « « « « 1892 1893 1893 l895 1895 1896 1896 1897 1897 1898 1898 1899 1899 , 1900 1900 , 1901 1901 , 1902 1902 , 1903 1903 1904 1904 1905 1905 1906 1906 1907 1907 1908 1908 1909 1909 1910 1910 1911 1911 1912 1912 I9U 374 APPENDICES 375 BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS VOLUME i. 1877. 8°. PP. i-vi, 1-343 PAGES JOSEPH STILLMAN HUBBARD By B. A. Gould i- 34 JOSEPH GILBERT TOTTEN By J. G. Barnard 35- 97 BENJAMIN SILLIMAN, SR By Alexis Caswell 99-112 EDWARD HITCHCOCK By J. P. Lesley 113-134 JAMES MELVILLE GILLISS By B. A. Gould 135-179 ALEXANDER DALLAS BACHE By Joseph Henry i8i-2i2d JOHN H. ALEXANDER By J. E. Hilgard 213-226 WILLIAM CHAUVENET By J. H. C. Coffin 227-244 JOHN FRIES FRAZER By John L. Le Conte 245-256 JAMES HENRY COFFIN By A. Guyot 257-264 JOHN TORREY By Asa Gray 265-276 WILLIAM STARLING SULLIVANT By Asa Gray 277-285 JOSEPH SAXTON By Joseph Henry 287-316 HENRY JAMES CLARK By A. S. Packard, Jr 317-328 JOSEPH WINLOCK By Joseph Levering 329-343 VOLUME 2. 1886. 8°. PP. i-iv, 1-388 PAGES THEODORE STRONG By Joseph P. Bradley 1-28 DENNIS HART MAHAN By Henry L. Abbot 29-37 Louis AGASSIZ By Arnold Guyot 39- 73 JEFFRIES WYMAN By A. S. Packard 75-126 JARED POTTER KIRTLAND By J. S. Newberry 127-138 SAMUEL STEDMAN HALDEMAN By J. P. Lesley 139-172 GOUVERNEUR KEMBLE WARREN By Henry L. Abbot 173-188 WILLIAM A. NORTON By W. P. Trowbridge 189-199 ANDREW ATKINSON HUMPHREYS. . . .By Henry L. Abbot 201-215 JOHN LAWRENCE SMITH By Benjamin Silliman 217-248 STEPHEN ALEXANDER By C. A. Young 249-259 JOHN LAWRENCE LE CONTE By Samuel H. Scudder 261-293 JOSEPH JANVIER WOODWARD By J. S. Billings 295-307 ARNOLD GUYOT By James D. Dana 309-347 JOHN WILLIAM DRAPER By George F. Barker 349-388 376 APPENDICES VOLUME 3. 1895. 8°. PP. f-iv, 1-441 PAGES WILLIAM BARTON ROGERS By Francis A. Walker 1-13 EDWARD TUCKERMAN By W. G. Farlow 15-28 EDWARD B. HUNT By F. A. P. Barnard 29-41 JAMES CRAIG WATSON By George C. Comstock 43- 57 JAMES BUCHANAN EADS By William Sellers 59- 79 HENRY DRAPER By George F. Barker 81-139 SPENCER FULLERTON BAIRD By John S. Billings 141-160 ASA GRAY By W. G. Farlow 161-175 JOHN CALL DALTON By S. Weir Mitchell 177-185 LEO LESQUEREUX By J. P. Lesley 187-212 ELIAS LOOMIS By H. A. Newton 213-252 JONATHAN HOMER LANE By Cleveland Abbe 253-264 WILLIAM FERREL By Cleveland Abbe 265-309 MONTGOMERY C. MEIGS By Henry L. Abbot 311-326 JULIUS ERASMUS HILGARD By E. W. Hilgard 327-338 AMOS HENRY WORTHEN By Charles A. White 339-362 WILLIAM P. TROWBRIDGE By C. B. Comstock 363-367 JOHN LE CONTE By Joseph Le Conte 369-393 FERDINAND VANDIVEER HAYDEN By Charles A. White 395-413* LEWIS MORRIS RUTHERFURD By B. A. Gould 415-441 VOLUME 4. 1902. 8°. PP. i-iv. 1-240 PAGES GEORGE ENGELMANN By Charles A. White 1-21 CHARLES HENRY DAVIS By C. H. Davis 23-55 JAMES EDWARD OLIVER By G. W. Hill 57- 74 FIELDING BRADFORD MEEK By Charles A. White 75-91 CHARLES EDOUARD BRowN-SEQUARD.By H. P. Bowditch 93- 97 HUBERT ANSON NEWTON By J. Willard Gibbs 99-124 THOMAS LINCOLN CASEY By Henry L. Abbot 125-134 GEORGE HAMMELL COOK By G. K. Gilbert 135-144 GEORGE BROWN GOODE By S. P. Langley 145-174 JOSIAH PARSONS COOKE By Charles L. Jackson 175-183 WILLIAM AUGUSTUS ROGERS By Edward W. Morley 185-199 FREDERICK AUGUSTUS GENTH By George F. Barker 201-231* JOHN NEWTON By Cyrus B. Comstock 233-240 *With portrait. APPENDICES 377 VOLUME 5. 1905. 8°. PP. i-vi, 1-309 pAGjjs JOSEPH HENRY By Simon Newcomb I- 45* JOHN EDWARDS HOLBROOK By Theodore Gill 47- 77* Louis FRANCOIS DEPOURTALES By Alexander Agassiz 79- 89* AUGUSTUS ADDISON GOULD By Jeffries Wyman and W. H. Dall 91-113* HENRY AUGUSTUS ROWLAND By Thomas C. Mendenhall. . 115-140* THEODORE LYMAN By H. P. Bowditch 141-153* MATTHEW GARY LEA By George F. Barker 155-208* FRANCIS AMASA WALKER By John S. Billings 209-218* JOHN GROSS BARNARD By Henry L. Abbot 219-229* JAMES EDWARD KEELER By Charles S. Hastings 231-246* JAMES HADLEY By Arthur Twining Hadley . . 247-254* HENRY BARKER HILL By Charles Loring Jackson. .255-266* SERENO WATSON By William H. Brewer 267-290* ROBERT EMPIE ROGERS By Edgar Fahs Smith 291-309* VOLUME 6. 1909. 8°. PP. i-vi, 1-472 pAGES JOHN STRONG NEWBERRY By Charles A. White i- 24* CLARENCE KING By Samuel Franklin Emmons. 25- 55* CHARLES EMERSON BEECHER By William Healey Dall. . . . 57- 70* GEORGE PERKINS MARSH By William M. Davis 71- 80* JOHN RODGERS By Asaph Hall 81- 92* FAIRMAN ROGERS By Edgar F. Smith 93-107* WILLIAM A. ROGERS ( Pt. 2) By Arthur Searle 109-1 17* SAMUEL LEWIS PENFIELD By Horace L. Wells 119-146* JOSEPH LE CONTE By Eugene W. Hilgard 147-218* LEWIS HENRY MORGAN By W. H. Holmes 219-239* ASAPH HALL By George William Hill. . . .241-309* ALPHEUS HYATT By William Keith Brooks. . .311-325* JOSEPH LOVERING By B. Osgood Peirce 327-344* WILLIAM MORE GABB By William H. Dall 345~36i* ALEXIS CASWELL By Joseph Lovering 363-372* JOSIAH WILLARD GIBBS By Charles S. Hastings 373-393* ELLIOTT COUES By J. A. Allen 395-446* OGDEN NICHOLAS ROOD By Edward L. Nichols 447-472* •With portrait. APPENDICES VOLUME 7 PAGES WOLCOTT GIBBS By F. W. Clarke, 1910 i- 22* WILLIAM KEITH BROOKS By Edwin G. Conklin 23- 88* CHARLES AUGUSTUS YOUNG By Edwin B. Frost 89-114* BENJAMIN SILLIMAN By Arthur W. Wright 115-141* JAMES HAMMOND TRUMBULL By Arthur W. Wright 143-169* WILLIAM C. H. BARTLETT By Edward S. Holden 171-193* CYRUS BALLOU COMSTOCK By Henry L. Abbot 195-201* SAMUEL WILLIAM JOHNSON By Thomas B. Osborne 203-222* CHARLES ABIATHAR WHITE By William H. Dall 223-243* SAMUEL PIERPONT LANGLEY By Charles D. Walcott 245-268* CHARLES OTIS WHITMAN By Edward S. Morse 269-288* ALEXANDER AGASSIZ By George L. Goodale 289-305* SAMUEL FRANKLIN EMMONS By Arnold Hague 307-334* JOSEPH LEIDY By Henry F. Osborn 335-394 CONSTITUTION AND BY-LAWS 1864, [1872]. CONSTITUTION AND MEMBERSHIP 1876, 1879, 1882, 1883, 1884, 1885, 1886, 1887, 1888, 1890, 1891, 1892, 1893, 1895. LIST OF OFFICERS AND MEMBERS 1910, I9II, 1912. MEMOIRS VOLUME i. 1866. 4°. PP. i-iv, 1-343 1. Reduction of the Observations of the Fixed Stars made by JOSEPH LEPAUTE D'AGELET, at Paris, during the years 1783-1785, with a Catalogue of the corresponding Mean Places referred to the Equinox 1 800.0. By B. A. GOULD. Pp. 1-261. 2. On the Saturnian System. By BENJAMIN PEIRCE. Pp. 263-286. 3. On Shooting Stars. By H. A. NEWTON. Pp. 291-312. 4. On the Distribution of Certain Important Diseases in the United States. By AUGUSTUS A. GOULD. Pp. 287-290. 5. On Rifled Guns. By W. H. C. BARTLETT. Pp. 313-343. * With portrait. APPENDICES 379 VOLUME 2. 1884. 4°. PP. 1-262 1. Report of the Eclipse Expedition to Caroline Island, May, 1883. Pp. 5-146. 2. Experimental Determination of Wave-lengths in the Invisible Prismatic Spec- trum. By PROF. S. P. LANGLEY. Pp. 147-162, 4 pis. 3. On the Subsidence of Particles in Liquids. By W. H. BREWER. Pp. 163-175. 4. On the Formation of a Deaf Variety of the Human Race. By A. GRAHAM BELL. Pp. 177-262. VOLUME 3. 1885-6. 4°. PP. i-uo, 1-169 PART i. 1885 1. The Sufficiency of Terrestrial Rotation for the Deflection of Streams. By G. K. GILBERT. Pp. 7-10. 2. On the Temperature of the Surface of the Moon. By PROF. S. P. LANGLEY. Pp. 11-42, pis. 1-6. 3. On a Method of Precisely Measuring the Vibratory Periods of Tuning-forks, and the Determination of the Laws of the Vibrations of Forks; with Special Reference of these Facts and Laws to the Action of a Simple Chronoscope. By PROF. ALFRED M. MAYER. Pp. 43-59, 4 pis. 4. The Baume Hydrometers. By PROF. C. F. CHANDLER. Pp. 61-71. 5. On Small Differences of Sensation. By PROF. C. S. PEIRCE and J. JASTROW. Pp. 73-83. 6. Description of an Articulate of Doubtful Relationship, from the Tertiary Beds of Florissant, Colorado. By DR. S. H. SCUDDER. Pp. 85-90. 7. On Structure of the Columella Auris in the Pelycosauria. By PROF. E. D. COPE. Pp. 91-95. 8. On the Structure of the Brain of the Sessile-eyed Crustacea, i. The Brain of Asellus and the Eyeless Form Cecidotaa. By PROF. A. S. PACKARD. Pp. 97-110, pis. 1-5. PART 2. 1886 9. Contribution to Meteorology. By ELIAS LOOMIS. Pp. 1-66, pis. 1-16. 10. On Flamsteed's Star, " Observed, but not Existing." By C. H. F. PETERS. Pp. 69-83. 11. Corrigenda in Various Star Catalogues. By C. H. F. PETERS. Pp. 87-97. 12. Ratio of Meter to Yard. By C. B. COMSTOCK. Pp. 101-103. 13. On Composite Photography as Applied to Craniology, by J. S. BILLINGS; and on Measuring the Cubic Capacity of Skulls, by WASHINGTON MAT- THEWS. Pp. 105-116, 20 pis. 14. On a New Craniophore for Use in Making Composite Photographs of Skulls. By J. S. BILLINGS and WASHINGTON MATTHEWS. Pp. 119- 120, 4 pis. 380 APPENDICES 15. (i) On the Syncarida, a Hitherto Undescribed Synthetic Group of Extinct Malacostracous Crustacea. (2) On the Gampsonychidae, an Undescribed Family of Fossil Schizopod Crustacea. (3) On the Anthracaridae, a Family of Carboniferous Macrurous Decapod Crustacea. By A. S. PACKARD. Pp. 123-139, pis. 1-4. 1 6. On the Carboniferous Xiphosurous Fauna of North America. By A. S. PACKARD. Pp. 143-157, pis. 5-7. 17. On Two New Forms of Polyodont and Gonorhynchid Fishes from the Eocene of the Rocky Mountains. By E. D. COPE. Pp. 161-165, i pi. Note on the Third Memoir, page 45, part i. By ALFRED M. MAYER. Pp. 167-169. VOLUME 4. 1888-1889. 4°. PP. 1-270, 1-223 PART i. 1888. PP. 1-270 1. The Cave Fauna of North America, with remarks on the Anatomy of the Brain and Origin of the Blind Species. By A. S. PACKARD. Pp. 3-156, pis. 1-27. 2. The Solar and Lunar Spectrum. By S. P. LANGLEY. Pp. 159-170, 5 diagrams. 3. On the Reduction of Photographic Observations, with a Determination of the Position of the Pleiades, from Photographs by Mr. Rutherfurd. By B. A. GOULD. Pp. 173-190. 4. Reduction of Photgraphic Observations of the Praesepe. By B. A. GOULD. Pp. 193-199. 5. Balance for Determining Specific Gravity by Inspection. By F. A. P. BARNARD. Pp. 203-205. 6. Theory of Magic Squares and of Magic Cubes. By F. A. P. BARNARD. Pp. 209-270. PART 2. 1889. PP. 1-223 7. Contributions to Meteorology. By ELIAS LOOMIS. Pp. 7-77, pis. 17-32. 8. On the Determination of Elliptic Orbits from three Observations. By J. WILLARD GIBBS. Pp. 79-104. 9. The Temperature of the Moon. By S. P. LANGLEY. Pp. 105-212, pis. 1-26. 10. On the Lucayan Indians. By W. K. BROOKS. Pp. 213-223, pis. 1-12. VOLUME 5. 1891. 4°. PP. 1-590 [i.] Energy and Vision. By S. P. LANGLEY. Pp. 5-18. [2.] Contributions to Meteorology. By ELIAS LOOMIS. Pp. 21-109, pis. 33-51. [3.] Report of Studies of Atmospheric Electricity. By T. C. MENDENHALL. Pp. 111-318. APPENDICES 381 [4.] The Embryology and Metamorphosis of the Macroura. By W. K. BROOKS and F. H. HERRICK. Pp. 319-576, pis. i-57- [5.] On the Application of Interference Methods to Astronomical Measure- ments. By A. A. MICHELSON. Pp. 577-59O, 7 Pls- VOLUME 6. 1893. 4°. PP. 1-331 1. On the Capture of Comets by Planets, especially their Capture by Jupiter. By H. A. NEWTON. Pp. 5-23. 2. Atmospheric Electricity. By ROBERT CATLIN, U. S. A. Pp. 25-33, 7 pis. 3. On Certain new Methods and Results in Optics. By CHARLES S. HASTINGS. Pp. 35-47- 4. The Proteids or Albuminoids of the Oat Kernel. By THOMAS B. OSBORNE. Pp. 49-87. 5. A Comparison of Antipodal Faunas. By THEODORE GILL. Pp. 89-124. 6. Families and Sub-Families of Fishes. By THEODORE GILL. Pp. 125-138. 7. Human Bones of the Hemenway Collection in the United States Army Medical Museum. By WASHINGTON MATTHEWS, Surgeon, U. S. Army ; DR. J. L. WORTMAN, and DR. JOHN S. BILLINGS, Surgeon, U. S. Army; Pp. 139-286, pis. 1-59. 8. Further Studies of the Brain of Limulus Polyphemus, with notes on its Embryology. By ALPHEUS S. PACKARD. Pp. 287-331, pis. 1-36. VOLUME 7. 1895. 4°. PP. 1-484 1. Monograph of the Bombycine Moths of America, North of Mexico, including their Transformations and Origin of the Larval Markings and Armature. By PROF. ALPHEUS S. PACKARD. Pp. 3-291 (explanation of plates, 293- 390), pis. 1-49, maps i-io. 2. On Reaction-Times and the Velocity of the Nervous Impulse. By PROF. J. McKEEN CATTELL and DR. CHARLES S. DOLLEY. Pp. 391-415. 3. The Bacteria of River Waters. By JOHN S. BILLINGS. Pp. 417-484, pis. 1-5, diagrams 1-5. VOLUME 8. 1902. 4°. PP. i-iv, 1-648 1. Notes on the Bacteriological Examination of the Soil of Philadelphia. By M. P. RAVENEL. Pp. 1-41, 3 pis. 2. A Contribution to the Study of the Effect of the Venom of Crotalus Ada- manteus upon the Blood of Man and Animals. By S. W. MITCHELL and ALONZO H. STEWART. Pp. [43-56], pis. 1-6. 3. General Perturbations of Minerva (93), by Jupiter, including Terms only of the First Order with Respect to the Mass, together with a Correction of Elements. By W. S. EICHELBERGER. Pp. 57-77. 26 382 APPENDICES 4. Ophlura Brevispina. By W. K. BROOKS and CAS WELL GRAVE. Pp. 79-100, pis. 1-3. 5. Anatomy of Nautilus Pompilius. By LAWRENCE E. GRIFFIN. Pp. 101-197 (explanation of plates, 198-230), pis. 1-17. 6. An Experimental Inquiry Regarding the Nutritive Value of Alcohol. By W. O. ATWATER and F. G. BENEDICT. Pp. 231-397. 7. West Indian Madreporarian Polyps. By J. E. DUERDEN. Pp. 399-599 (explanation of plates, 600-648), pis. 1-25. VOLUME 9. 1905. 4°. PP. 1-149 Monograph of the Bombycine Moths of North America, including their Trans- formations and Origin of the Larval Markings and Armature. Part II. Family Ceratocampidae, sub-family Ceratocampinae. By ALPHEUS SPRING PACKARD. Pp. 1-149 (explanation of plates, 151-272), pis. 1-61. VOLUME 10. 1911. 4°. PP. i-vi, 1-377 1. The Absolute Value of the Acceleration of Gravity determined by the Ring- pendulum Method. By CHARLES E. MENDENHALL. Pp. 1-23, pis. 1-3. 1905. 2. Claytonia Gronov. A Morphological and Anatomical Study. By THEODORE HOLM. Pp. 25-37, pis- J'2- 1905. 3. A Research upon the Action of Alcohol upon the Circulation. By HORATIO C. WOOD and DANIEL M. HOYT. Pp. 39-70, pis. 1-3. 1905. 4. Phoronis architecta: Its Life History, Anatomy, and Breeding Habits. By WILLIAM KEITH BROOKS and RHEINART PARKER COWLES. Pp. 71- 113 (explanation of plates, 115-148), pis. 1-17. 1905. 5. The Affinities of the Pelagic Tunicates, No. I : On a new Pyrosoma. By WILLIAM KEITH BROOKS. Pp. 149-156, pis. 1-2. 1906. 6. Commelinaceas. Morphological and Anatomical Studies of the Vegetative Organs of some North and Central American Species. By THEODORE HOLM. Pp. 157-192, pis. 1-8. 1906. 7. Tables of Minor Planets discovered by James C. Watson, Part I : Tables of (93) Minerva, (101) Helena, (103) Hera, (105) Artemis, (115) Thyra. (119) Althaea, (128) Nemesis, (133) Gyrene, (139) Juewa, (161) Athor, (174) Phaedra, and (179) Klytaemnestra. By ARMIN O. LEUSCHNER. Pp. 193-374. 1910. VOLUME n. 1913. 4°. PP. 1-298 i. Agave in the West Indies. By WILLIAM TRELEASE. Pp. 1-298, pis. A-E, 1-116. 1913. APPENDICES 383 PROCEEDINGS VOLUME i. 1896. 8°. Pp. 1-406 PART i. Pp. 1-120. Published 1877. PART 2. Pp. 121-240. Published 1886. PART 3. Pp. 241-406. Published 1896. REPORTS OF COMMITTEES [Report on the question of the value of the water-proofing process employed in the manufacture of the fractional currency.] In House Misc. Doc. no. 163, part 2, 44th Congress, ist Session, pp. 22-28. April 3, 1876. Forty-fifth Congress, 3d Session, House of Representatives Misc. Doc. no. 5. Surveys of the Territories. Letter from the Acting President of the National Academy of Sciences, transmitting a report on the surveys of the Territories. Ordered printed, December 3, 1878. 8°. Pp. 1-27. Forty-seventh Congress, 2d Session. Senate Misc. Doc. no. 51. National Academy of Sciences. Investigation of the scientific and economic relations of the sorghum sugar industry, being a report made in response to a request from the Hon. George B. Loring, U. S. Commissioner of Agriculture, by a committee of the National Academy of Sciences. November, 1882. Washington: Govern- ment Printing Office. 1883. 8°. Pp. 1-152. United States Internal Revenue. — Report on glucose, prepared by the National Academy of Sciences, in response to a request made by the Commissioner of Internal Revenue. Washington: Government Printing Office. 1884. 8°. Pp. 1-108. Report of committee of National Academy of Sciences concerning classification of Donskoi wool, Jan. 30, 1886. 1886. Treasury Department Doc. no. 805. Forty-ninth Congress, ist Session. Senate, Ex. Doc. no. 67. Letter from the Secretary of the Navy, transmitting, in compliance with the Senate resolution, February 2, 1886, report of National Academy of Sciences upon the proposed new Naval Observatory. Ordered printed, February 10, 1886. [Report on the organization of the National Surveys and the Signal Service.] In Senate Misc. Doc. no. 82, 49th Congress, ist Session. Pp. i*-37*. Ordered printed, March 16, 1886. 1886. National Academy of Sciences. Standards for Electrical Measure, February 20, 1895. Printed for the Academy. Washington: Judd & Detweiler, Printers. 1895. 8°. Pp. 1-9. Fifty-third Congress, 3d Session. Senate, Misc. Doc. no. 115. Report of the National Academy of Sciences, made in compliance with a requirement of the law (H. R. 6500) entitled " an act to define and establish the units of electrical measure," approved July 12, 1894. Ordered printed, February 19, 1895. 384 APPENDICES Report of the committee appointed by the National Academy of Sciences upon the inauguration of a forest policy for the forested lands of the United States to the Secretary of the Interior, May I, 1897. Washington: Government Printing Office. 1897. 8°. Pp. 1-47. Fifty-eighth Congress, 3d Session. Senate Doc. no. 145. Report by committee appointed by Academy to consider desirability of instituting scientific explorations of Philippine Islands. Pp. 1-22. 8°. Ordered printed, February 7, 1905. Sixtieth Congress, 2d Session. House of Representatives, Doc. no. 1337. Conduct of scientific work under United States Government. Message from the President of the United States, transmitting report of the National Academy of Sciences relating to the conduct of the scientific work under the United States Government. Pp. 1-5. 8°. Ordered printed, January 18, 1909. APPENDIX VIII LIST OF MEETINGS 1863, April 1864, January August 1865, January August 1866, January August 1867, January August 1868, January August 1869, April August 31 1870, April 1871, April 1872, April November 1873, April October 1874, April November 1875, April November 1876, April October 1877, April October 1878, April November 1879, April October 1880, April November 22. New York City. Chapel of the University of the City of New York (Organization). 4-9. Washington (Capitol). 4-6. New Haven, Connecticut. 3-7. Washington. 23-26. Northampton, Massachusetts. 24-27. Washington. 7-12. Northampton, Massachusetts. 23-27. Washington. 13-16. Hartford, Connecticut (State House). 22-25. Washington (Capitol). 25-29. Northampton, Massachusetts. 13-17. Washington. -September 3. Northampton, Massachusetts. 14-17. Washington. 18-23. Washington. 16-19. Washington. 2O-22. Cambridge, Massachusetts. 15-19. Washington. 28-30. New York City. 21-25. Washington. 3-6. Philadelphia. 20-23. Washington. 2-5. Philadelphia. 18-22. Washington. 17-19. Philadelphia. 1 7-20. Washington. 23-25. New York City. 16-19. Washington. 5-8. New York City. 15-18. Washington. 25-30. New York City. 20-23. Washington. 16-19. New York City ( Columbia College ) . 385 386 APPENDICES 1 88 1, April 19-22. November 15-17. 1882, April 1 8-2 1. November 14-17. 1883, April 17-21. November 13-16. 1884, April 15-18. April 17, Evening. Washington (All Souls' Church). Philadelphia. Washington. New York City. Washington. New Haven, Connecticut. Washington (U. S. National Museum). Memorial Service (U. S. National Museum). 1885, October 14-17. October 15. April 21-24. November 10-13. 1866, April 20-23. November 9-11. 1887, April 19-22. November 8-u. 1888, April 17-20. November 13-15. Newport, Rhode Island (Court House). Special business session. Washington (U. S. National Museum). Albany, New York (Assembly Parlor at the Capitol). Washington (U. S. National Museum). Boston (Massachusetts Institute of Technology). Washington (U. S. National Museum). New York City (Columbia College). Washington (U. S. National Museum). New Haven, Connecticut (North Sheffield Hall, Yale University). Washington (U. S. National Museum). Philadelphia (University of Pennsylvania). Washington (U. S. National Museum). Boston (Boston Society of Natural History). Washington (U. S. National Museum). New York City (Columbia College). Washington (U. S. National Museum). Baltimore (Johns Hopkins University). Washington (U. S. National Museum). Albany, New York (Capitol). Washington (U. S. National Museum). October 3O-November i. New Haven, Connecticut (North Sheffield Hall, Yale University). 1895, February 9 (Special). New York City (Columbia College). April 16-19. Washington (U. S. National Museum). October 3O-November I. Philadelphia (University of Pennsylvania Department of Hygiene). Washington (U. S. National Museum). New York City (Columbia University). Washington (U. S. National Museum). Boston (Massachusetts Institute of Technology). Washington (Congressional Library). New Haven, Connecticut (Sheffield Scientific School). 1889, April 16-19. November 12-14. 1890, April 15-18. November 11-13. 1891, April 21-24. November 10-12. 1892, April 19-22. November 1-3. 1893, April 1 8-2 1. November 7-9. 1894, April 17-20. 1896, April 21-24. November 17-18. 1897, April 20-22. November 16-18. 1898, April 19-22. November 15-17. APPENDICES 387 1899, April 18-20. November 14-16. 1900, April 17-19. November 13-14. 1901, April 1 6- 1 8. November 12-14. 1902, April 15-17. November 11-12. 1903, April 21-23. November 17-18. 1904, April 19-21. November 15-16. 1905, April 18-20. November 14-15. 1906, April 1 6- 1 8. November 20-22. 1907, April 1 6- 1 8. November 19-20. 1908, April 21-23. November 17-18. 1909, April 20-22. November 16-18. 1910, April 19-21. November 8-10. 1911, April 18-20. November 21-22. 1912, April 16-18. November 12-13. Washington (Columbian University). New York City (Columbia University). Washington (Columbian University). Providence, Rhode Island (Brown University). Washington (U. S. National Museum). Philadelphia (Houston Hall, University of Pennsyl- vania). Washington (U. S. National Museum). Baltimore (Physical Laboratory, Johns Hopkins Uni- versity). Washington (U. S. National Museum). Chicago (Haskell Oriental Museum, University of Chicago). Washington (U. S. National Museum). New York City (Havemeyer Hall, Columbia Uni- versity). Washington (U. S. National Museum). New Haven, Connecticut (Sheffield Scientific School, Yale University). Washington (U. S. National Museum). Boston (Harvard Medical School). Washington (Smithsonian Institution and U. S. National Museum). New York City ( Schermerhorn Hall, Columbia Uni- versity) . Washington (Smithsonian Institution). Baltimore (Johns Hopkins University). Washington (Smithsonian Institution). Princeton, New Jersey (Guyot Hall, Princeton Uni- versity). Washington (Smithsonian Institution). St. Louis (Missouri Botanical Garden). Washington (U. S. National Museum). New York City (New York Public Library). Washington (U. S. National Museum). New Haven, Connecticut (Sloane Physical Labora- tory, Yale University). INDEX Abbot, Charles G., 61. awarded Henry Draper Medal, 98. Abbot, Henry L., 81, 312, 314, 316, 320, 325. Abel, Professor, 85. Academic des Sciences, Paris, 56. Adams, John, 7, 12. Adams, John Quincy, 280, 284. Agassiz, Alexander, 84, 93, 100, 272, 281, 316, 320, 324, 325. death of, 99. elected President of the Academy, 77. remarks of Professor Mayer on, 99. Agassiz Fund. (See Alexander Agassiz Fund.) Agassiz, Louis, 4, 5, 9, u, 21, 23, 27, 35, 41, 42. becomes regent of Smithsonian Institu- tion, 5. expedition of to South America, 32. Agassiz Medal. (See Alexander Agassiz Medal.) Airy, Sir G. B., 217. Albert Medal, Society of Arts, 44. Alcoholometer, committee on Saxton's, 218. Alexander Agassiz Fund, 361. Alexander Agassiz Medal, 101. Alexander, J. H., 206, 207, 223, 225. biographical sketch of, 109. Alexander, Stephen, 21, 27, 34, 62. biographical sketch of, 112. Allen, A. H., 282. Allen, Horatio, 226, 227. Allison, Wm. B., 295, 299. American Academy of Arts and Sciences, 103. objects of, 12. American Association for the Advancement of Science, 103. American coals, resolution on, by Academy, 41, 42. American Ephemeris, committee on proposed changes in, 267. American Geological Society, 15. American Philosophical Society, 33, 99, 102, 103. Americanists, International Congress of, 84. Ammen, Daniel, 258. Ampere and volt, committee on application of definitions of, 313. Annual of the Academy, 17, 28, 29, 32, 35, 44, 219, 226, 227. first, publication of, 29. second, publication of, 32. Appalachian forest reserve, 324. Apparatus, philosophical and scientific, com- mittee on, 302. Argelander, F. W. A., 28. Army knapsacks, committee on the preser- vation of, 331. Associates, foreign, list of, 337. Association of Academies, International, 80, 81, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88, 90, 92, 93, 94, 95, 98, 99- Asteroids, discovery of new, 36. Astronomical day, the, 304. committee on the, 303. Astronomical physics, Pickering's work on, 67. Astronomical Tables, committee on, 42. Astronomische gesellschaft, 71. Auwers, Arthur, awarded the Watson Medal, 71. Bache, Alexander Dallas, i, 9, n, 12, 16, 21, 23, 26, 30, 31, 34, 47, 62, 113, 201, 202, 206, 207, 215, 217, 218, 227, 239, 240. account of first meeting of Academy, by, 22. address of, 7. death of, 32. estate of, 33. first President of the Academy, 23. meeting at house of, to arrange plan of incorporation, 6. remarks of, on committees, 27. remarks of, on need of national scientific organization, 7. remarks of, on objects of Academy, 13. will of, 33. Bache Fund, 34, 38, 45, 64, 76, 101, 361. grants from, 33, 96. Bache, Henry Wood, 33. Bache, Mrs. A. D., death of, 33. Baird, Spencer F., 30, 41, 302. Barker, G. F., 293, 302, 310, 314. Barlow, Joel, 7, 12. 389 390 INDEX Barnard, F. A. P., 21, 27, 41, 71, 75, 207, 218, 223, 226, 227, 240, 241, 257, 304. biographical sketch of, 116. death of, 71. will of, 71. Barnard, J. G., 27, 62. biographical sketch of, 117. Barnard Medal, 71, 72, 75, 89, 90, 98. awarded to Ernest Rutherford, 98. awarded to Henri Becquerel, 89. awarded to Professor Rontgen, 82. committee on, 82. establishment of, 71. first award of, 72. Bartlett, J. R., 225. Bartlett, W. H. C., 75. biographical sketch of, 119. Barus, C., 314. Batcheller, Geo. S., 312. Baume, hydrometer, committee on, 52. Beaumont, J. B. Elie de, 28. Becker, George F., 92, 102, 326. Becquerel, Henri, awarded Barnard Medal, 89. Bell, A. Graham, 81, 304. Benjamin Apthorp Gould Fund, 79, 96, 367. Bentley, Henry, 46. Bequests, question of Academy administer- ing, 58. Bequests and trusts, text of, 361. Billings, J. S., 57, 77, 81, 282, 283. Biographical Memoirs, 104. publication of first volume of, 28, 44. Bologna, University of, 57. Botanical Congress, International, 92. Botanists, International Association of, 84. Bourgois, M., 223. Bowditch, H. P., 81. Bradley, James, 71. Brewer, Wm. H., 60, 286, 296, 307, 316, 320, 325, 326. Brewster, Sir David, 28, Bristow, B. H., 262. Brogger, W. C., 93. Brown, S. J., 64. Brush, Geo. J., 302. Building-stone, committee on, 204, 331. Bunsen, Robert, 28. Burton, J. R., letter of, regarding a national Appalachian forest reserve, 324. Calf's hair goods, committee on distinguish- ing from woolen goods, 204, 331. Campbell, W. W., 61, 92, 330. Capitol, meeting of Academy held in, 30. Carnegie Institution of Washington, 87. Caroline Island, eclipse expedition to, 64. report on, 64. Carpenter, Captain, 63, 65. Carpmael, Charles, 312. Caswell, Alexis, 20, 21, 36, 45, 75, 223. biographical sketch of, 120. Cent coins, committee on materials for the manufacture of, 227. Centennial Exhibition, Government collec- tions at, 43. Central American Transit Company, 249, 250. Chamberlin, T. C., 92, 95. Chandler, Charles F., 262, 263, 280, 282, 286, 291, 293, 307, 310. letter regarding the Declaration of Inde- pendence, 283. Chandler, Ralph, 259. Chandler, Seth C., 75. awarded Watson Medal, 75. Chaplain, M., 59. Chart of the Heavens, resolutions on, 56. Chase, Salmon P., 27, 206, 227. Chasles, Michel, 28. Chauvenet, Wm., 35, 38, 206, 218, 223. biographical sketch of, 121. Chemical research, plan for national co- operation in, 90. Chemical tables, plan to publish, 99. Chemicals on revenue stamp, committee on the effect of, 254. Chenango, U. S. S., 231, 232. committee on explosion on the, 230. Chittenden, R. H., 95. Circassian, U. S. S., 216. Classes of Academy, 30, 68. Classification of membership, committee on, 68, 69. Cleveland, President, 317, 320. Coal mines, committee on protection of, 253. Coast and Geodetic Survey, committee on, 295. Coffin, J. H. C., 37, 52, 63, 223, 233, 257, 258, 267. biographical sketch of, 122. elected Treasurer of Academy, 52. Coinage, consideration of changes in, 36. Coinage, weights and measures, bill on, 210. Collier, Peter, 285, 286. Color, conventional standard of, corre- spondence relating to, 331. Combs, H. Wheeler, 307. Commercial Advertiser, the, 20. Commission, Permanent, i, 2, 4, 15. Select, 2. on electrical units, resolution on, 54. INDEX 391 Committee on award of Barnard Medal, report of, 82, 90, 98. Committee on award of Henry Draper Medal, report of, 55, 67, 82, 85. Committee on award of Lawrence Smith Medal, report of, 66. Committee on chemical research, 91. Committee on experiments on velocity of light, 49. Committee on first Henry Draper Medal, 55. Committee on Gilliss' observations on zones of stars around the South Pole, 36. Committee on Harkness' magnetic observa- tions, 36. Committee on paleontologic correlation, 101. Committee on revision of constitution of the Academy, 38. Committee on solar eclipse of 1883, 63. Committee on tables of celestial movements, 42. Committee on transit of Venus of 1874, 38. Committee on weights, measures and coin- age, 36, 45- Committee to cooperate with National Board of Health, 50. Committees, appointment of first, 26. remarks of Bache on, 27. Committees on behalf of the Government, list of, 203. list of reports of, 348. " Compass committee," 36, 215. Comstock, Cyrus B., 207, 271, 276, 296. Comstock Fund, 91, 363. Comstock Prize, 91, 92. Congress of Electricians, 54. Conklin, E. G., 99. Conness, Senator, 235. Constitution, amendment to, 58. committee on amendment to, 73, 74. Constitution of the National Academy of Sciences, 352. Counterfeiting, committee on the preven- tion of, 331. Coville, F. V., 327. Cox, S. S., 58. Cox and Murphy, meter of, 244. Crafts, J. M., 81. Craig, B. F., 240, 241. Customhouse at Chicago, committee on building stone for, 331. Dahlgren, John A. B., 62. biographical sketch of, 123. Daly, Chief Justice, of N. Y., 312. Dana, Edward S., 309. Dana, James D., 23, 30, 31, 76, 85, 223, 272, 279, 3°4- biographical sketch of, 125. reasons of, for resignation, 30. Davis, A. McF., 10. Davis, Charles H., Admiral, i, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, n, 23, 45, 213, 215, 216, 219, 222, 226, 250, 256, 258, 259, 306. appointed chief of Bureau of Naviga- tion, 2. biographical sketch of, 127. letter of, to Bache, 222. letter of, to Gideon Welles, 222. letters of, on organization of Academy, 3. relation of, to organization of Academy, 8. Davis, Charles H., Captain, 2. Davis, W. M., 95. Dean, G. W., 217. Declaration of Independence, committees on restoration of, 279. first report of committee on, 281. Delegates, appointment of, 56, 57, 81, 84, «S, 92, 95, 98, 99- practice of appointing, inaugurated by Academy, 56. Demarara sugars, committee on, 264. Dietrich's method of analysis, 311. Diploma of the Academy, committee on, 23. Distilled spirits, committee on proving and gauging, 239. Douglass, J. W., letter of, regarding revenue stamps, 255. Draper Fund. (See Henry Draper Fund.) Draper, Henry, 55, 63, 207, 259, 260. Draper, Mrs. Henry, establishment of Draper Medal by, 55. Draper Medal. (See Henry Draper Medal.) Dublin, University of, 57. Durchmusterung, Southern, 68. Eckfeldt, J. R., 229. Eclipse of sun, 1869, committee on, 36. May 6, 1883, committee on, 62, 63. Edison, Thomas A., 46. Electrical units, committee on application of definitions of, 313. commission on, 54. Electricians, congress of, 54. Emmons, S. F., 92, 99. Engelmann, George, 75. biographical sketch of, 129. Evermann, B. W., 327. Experiments on animals, bill relating to, 77. remarks of Senator Gallinger on, 78. 392 INDEX Fairchild, C. S., 308, 309. letter of, on sugar determinations, 308. Faraday, Michael, 28. Farlow, Wm. G., 84. Farnam, Wm. W., letter of, 97. Ferguson, Professor, 306. Ferrel, William, 253, 290. Fillebrown, Lieut., 231. First organization of Academy, 25. Fizeau, M., 49. Folsom, C. W., 238. Foreign associates of Academy, first list of, 28. Forest policy, committee on the inaugura- tion of a, 314. recommendations of committee on, 319. Forest reserve, report of committee on National Appalachian, 324. Forests of White Mts. and Appalachians, resolutions on, 93. Foster, Sir Michael, 86. Foucault, J. B. L., 49. Fractional currency, committee on water- proofing, 261. Francis, D. R., 317. Franklin, Benjamin, 7, 12. Franklin Institute, 226. Franklin, Sir John, 311. Frazer, J. F., 21, 36, 42, 218, 223, 231. biographical sketch of, 132. Freer, P. C., 329. French, H. F., 302. Frye, A. D., 217. Fua, Mr., 253, 254. Gallinger, Jacob H., 77, 78. Garfield, President, 61. Gay Lussac, J. L., 219. Geikie, Sir Archibald, 92. Genth, F. A., 265. Geological Congress, International, 92, 99. Geological Society of London, 93. Geological Survey, committee on, 295. Geological Survey of Pennsylvania, reports of, resolution relating to, 77. Gibbs Fund. (See Wolcott Gibbs Fund.) Gibbs, Wolcott, 21, 23, 38, 48, 49, 72, 73, 76, 77, 78, 84, 93, 206, 207, 213, 215, 227, 255, 280, 290, 302, 316, 317, 320. biographical sketch of, 133. death of, 93. elected President of the Academy, 48, 77. elected Vice-President of Academy, 38. resignation of as President of the Academy, 84. Gilbert, Grove K., 92. Gilder, W. H., 311, 312. Gill, Sir David, awarded Watson Medal, 82. Gill, Theodore N., 79, 84. Gilliss, James M., 30, 34, 36, 221, 260. biographical sketch of, 135. Glucose, committee on, 293. Goessman, C. A., 286. Goodale, George L., 81. Goode, G. Brown, 7. Gould, A. A., 31, 34, 51, 52. biographical sketch of, 137. Gould, Alice Bache, letter of, establishing Gould Fund, 79. Gould, Benjamin Apthorp, 4, 9, 10, 23, 27, 28, 38, 53, 73, 76, 79, 85, 207, 253. astronomical works of, 53. biographical sketch of, 138. first Watson Medal awarded to, 53. Gould Fund (see Benjamin Apthorp Gould Fund), 79, 96. Government collections at the Centennial Exhibition, resolution on, 43. Government, scientific work under the, com- mittee on, 330. list of reports of committees on behalf of, 348. Gray, Asa, 76. biographical sketch of, 140. Greeley, A. W., 312. Green, F. M., 52. Grey, Wilbur M., 282. Greytown Harbor, Nicaragua, committee on the improvement of, 31, 247. Guyot, Arnold, ir, 30, 206, 223. biographical sketch of, 142. Hague, Arnold, 10, 92, 93, 99, 102, 316, 320. Hale, Eugene, 295, 299. Hale, George E., 85, 88, 92, 93, 95, 98. awarded Henry Draper Medal, 85. Hall, Asaph, 63, 267, 306, 325. Hall, Chas. F., 39, 40, 41. Hall, James, 76, 85. biographical sketch of, 145. Hall's Third Arctic Expedition, instructions for, 40. remarks on, by Henry, 41. Hamilton, Sir Wm. Rowan, 28. Harkness, William, 36, 37, 258, 260. Hartford, U. S. S., 63, 64, 65. Hastings, Chas. S., 64, 309, 314. Hay, John, letters from, regarding Declara- tion of Independence, 281, 283. Hayden, F. V., 269, 273. INDEX 393 Hazelton, J. H., 280. Hazen, Wm. B., 290. Headstones, committee on galvanic action in iron, 232. discussion on, in Senate, 235. report of committee on, 233. Hecate, asteriod, 36. Helena, asteroid, 36. Henry Draper Fund, 76, 365. Henry Draper Medal, 55, 67, 70, 74, 81, 82, 85, 98. awarded to C. G. Abbot, 98. awarded to E. C. Pickering, 67. awarded to George E. Hale, 85. awarded to H. A. Rowland, 70. awarded to H. K. Vogel, 74. awarded to J. E. Keeler, 81. awarded to Sir Wm. Huggins, 82. awarded to S. P. Langley, 55. report of committee on award of, 67, 82. restrictions on award of, 67. Henry Fund. (See Joseph Henry Fund.) Henry, Joseph, i, 4, 9, n, 14, 15, 20, 21, 27, 3°, 32, 37, 39, 4i, 42, 4-8, 65, 66, 206, 207, 215, 227, 228, 229, 233, 240, 242, 243, 244, 245, 249, 255, 262, 263, 265, 3i3- biographical sketch of, 147. death of, 47. elected President of Academy, 31, 35. farewell address of, 46. letter of, regarding Nicaragua, 250. letter of, to Hugh McCulloch, 208. letter of, to the President, 212. letter to, from E. M. Stanton, 237. recommended to receive Albert Medal, 44. remarks of, on incorporation of Academy, 6. remarks of, on objects of Academy, 13. remarks of Professor Marsh on the services of, 47. resolution on the services of, 46. Herald, the New York, 21. Herbert, Hilary A., 295, 299, 301. Hibben, President, 102. Hilgard, J. E., 33, 41, 52, 63, 76, 207, 223, 240, 242, 243, 244, 245, 249, 250, 251, 262, 263, 267, 280. biographical sketch of, 150. Hill, George W., 10, 258. letter of, regarding origin of Academy, n. Hitchcock, Edward, 29, 34. biographical sketch of, 151. Hjort, Johan, 221. Hodgkins Fund, 61. Holden, E. S., 64, 305, 306. Holmes, W. H., 327. Honorary members of Academy, 36. Hubbard, J. S., 22, 28, 29, 34. biographical sketch of, 153. death of, 28. Huggins, Sir Wm., awarded Henry Draper Medal, 82. Humphreys, A. A., 250, 272, 275, 276. biographical sketch of, 154. Hungarian Academy of Sciences, 88. Hunt, T. Sterry, 56. Hydrographic office, committee on the, 295. Hydrometer, Baume, 52. Gay Lussac's, 219. Tralles', 219, 240. Hygiene and demography, International Congress of, 57. Incorporation, Act of, 351. bill of, in House, 6. in Senate, 5. Incorporators, death of, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 34, 36, 38, 42, 45, 47, 75, »5, 93- list of, 104. International Association of Academies, 80, 81, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88, 90, 92, 93, 94, 95, 98, 99- delegates to, 81, 84, 85, 92, 93, 95, 98, 99. International Association of Botanists, 84. International Botanical Congress, 92. International Bureau of Weights and Meas- ures, 42, 45, 212. International conference on metric stand- ards, 42. International Congress of Americanists, 84. International Congress of Arts and Sciences, 88. International Congress of Hygiene and Demography, 57. International Congress on Electrical Units, 54, 55- American delegates to, 54. International cooperation in research, Com- mittee on, 94, 98. International Geological Congress, 92, 99. resolution of Academy relative to, 54. International Meteorological Committee, 88, 89. International paleontological correlation, 95- International Seismological Association, 87, 90. International Statistical Congress, 206. International Union for Cooperation in Solar Research, 88, 90, 94, 100. 394 INDEX International Zoological Congress, 78, 93, 99- Inventions, exhibition of before Academy, 45-_ Iron ships, committee on magnetic deviation in, 215. Iron vessels, committee on protecting the bottoms of, 213. Isherwood, B. F., 226. J. C. Watson Fund, 64, 75, 76, 97, 372. J. Lawrence Smith Fund, 58, 76, 271. Jablokoff electric candle, 45. James, Edmund J., 84. Jeannette, S. S., 311. Jefferson, Thomas, 7. John L. LeConte Fund, 370. John Murray Fund, 371. Johnson, Samuel W., 255, 286. Johnson, W. R., 41. Jones, Captain, 249. Joseph Henry Fund, 48, 370. Kastle, I. H., 310. Keeler, J. E., awarded Henry Draper Medal, 81. King, Clarence, 278. Langley, S. P., 56, 59, 60, 61, 63, 290, 296, 304, 3*2. awarded Henry Draper Medal, 55. Lankester, Sir E. Ray, 92. Lartigue, M., 223. Lawrence Smith Fund. (See J. Lawrence Smith Fund.) Lawrence Smith Medal, 59. awarded to H. A. Newton, 66. restrictions on award of, 67. Le Conte Fund. (See John L. Le Conte Fund.) Le Conte, John L., 62, 225. biographical sketch of, 156. Leidy, Joseph, 21, 76. biographical sketch of, 158. Lesley, [J]* Peter, 9, 10, 17, 21, 22, 23, 30, _76, 77, 223. biographical sketch of, 160. early promoter of Academy movement, 9. remarks of, on oath of allegiance, 17. Lesley, Mrs., 10. Lewis, G. N., 91. Lincoln, President, 5, 16. Lincoln, Robert T., letter of regarding Mt. Whitney, 60. Linnasus, Carolus, 93. List of members at first meeting, 20. Lister, Lord, letter of, relating to associa- tion of academies, 80. Lodge, Senator Henry C., 329. Loeb bequest. (See Morris Loeb bequest.) Loeb, Morris, 102. Longitude, determination of telegraphically, resolution relating to, 52. Longstreth, M. F., 76, 162. biographical sketch of, 162. Loomis, Elias, 290. Loring, G. B., 286, 287. Louisiana Purchase Exposition, 88. Lovering, Joseph, 207. Lowry, Robert, 295, 299. Lull, E. P., 252. Lyman, Benjamin S., 9, 10. Lyman, Theodore, 295, 296, 304. McCrary, G. W., 275. McCulloch, Hugh, 208, 240. McKinley, President, 320. Magnetic north pole, committee on a system- atic search for, 311. Mahan, D. H., 163. biographical sketch of, 163. Mall, F. P., 95. Manning, Daniel, 307. Marcou, Jules, 9. Marsh Fund. (See O. C. Marsh Fund.) Marsh, O. C., 47, 48, 49, 53, 57, 66, 77, 97, 291, 296, 302, 303, 310, 312. acting President of the Academy, 48. death of, 82. elected President of the Academy, 49. Maury, M. F., 219, 220, 221, 223, 224. Maximilian, Emperor, 221. Mayer, A. M., 99, 312. remarks of, on Alexander Agassiz, 99. Medalists, list of, 346. Meek, F. B., 41. Meetings, list of, 385. Meigs, M. C., 41, 42, 207, 232, 237, 238, 240, 242, 245, 296. Members of the Academy, honorary, 36. list of, 337. original, death of, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 34, 36, 38, 42, 45, 47. •The letter J was added by Lesley to his name when he came of age, to distinguish his signature from that of his father. INDEX 395 Membership of the Academy, classification of, in 1864, 68. in 1892, 69. in 1894, 70. in 1911, 70. question of increase of, 34, 37, 39. restriction on increase of removed, 73. Memoirs of the Academy, 27, 32, 62, 65, 74, 85, 89, 101. publication of first volume of, 32. publication of second and third volumes of, 62. publication of fourth volume of, 74. publication of fifth volume of, 74. publication of sixth volume of, 74. publication of seventh volume of, 381. publication of eighth volume of, 85. publication of ninth volume of, 89. publication of tenth volume of, 101. Mendenhall, T. C., 207, 311, 312, 314. Merriam, C. Hart, 326, 327. Merrick, J. V., 226. Meteorological Committee, International, 88, 89. Meteorological science and its applications, committee on, 290. Meteors, Newton's study of, 66. Methyl, or wood spirits, committee on separation of, from ethyl alcohol, 291, 292. Metric standards, for the States, 211. international conference on, 42. Metric system, resolutions relating to, 34, 35. endorsed by Academy, 32. Metric weights and measures, bills relating to, 210. committee on, 206. letter of Henry on, 209. remarks of Bache on, 207. report of committee on, 208, 209. use of in post-offices, 211. Miantonomah, U. S. S., 37. Michelson, Albert A., 49, 50, 207, 314. Michigan Agricultural College, soth anni- versary of, 93. Milne-Edwards, Henri, 28. Mitchell, H. M., 251. Mitchell, S. Weir, 57. Molina, Don Luis, 249, 251. Monadnock, U. S. S., 217. magnetic observations on, 36. Moore, E. H., 85, 95. Moore, Gideon E., 286. Moreau, G., 228. Morgan, John T., 296, 299, 301. Morley, E. W., 207. Morris, Francis, 249. Morris Loeb bequest, 370. Morse, Edward S., n, 84. remarks of, on founders of Academy, n. Morton, Henry, 262, 263, 307. Mt. Whitney, committee on, 60. description of, 59. Langley's observations on, 59. reservation on, 60. shelter for observers on, 61. Murray Fund. (See John Murray Fund.) Murray, Sir John, 101, 221. National Academy of Sciences, act of in- corporation of, 6, 351. annals of, 25. Annual of, 17, 28, 29, 32, 35, 44. bill of incorporation of, 5, 6. biographical memoir, first, 28, 44. Biographical Memoirs of, 375. classification of members of, 25, 30. classes of, 39. committee on diploma of, 23. committee on experiments on velocity of light, 49. committee on organization of, 21. committee on seal, 23. constitution of, 352. constitution of, amendment to, 58. constitution and by-laws, adoption of, 28. constitution of, committee on revision of, St. Davis' letters relating to, 3, 4. discussion regarding in 1862, 10. first meeting of, 20, 22, 25. first scientific session of, 26, 27. foreign associates, first list of, 28. foreign associates of, list of, 337. founding of the, i. governmental relations of, 17. honorary members of, 36. incorporators of, list of, 104. medalists of, list of, 346. meetings of, date of changed, 39. membership of, question of increase in, 34, 37, 39- members of, list of, 337. Memoirs of, 27, 32, 62, 65, 85, 89, 101. metric system endorsed by, 32. oath administered to members of, 16, 22. objects of, 13, 15. officers of, list of, 335. organization of, for 1863, 23 original members of, death of, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 34, 36, 38, 42, 45, 47, 61, 75, 78, 93- 396 INDEX National Academy of Sciences — Continued. plan of incorporating, 4. principal promoters of, 9. Proceedings of, 28, 37, 44, 51, 66, 67. Proceedings of, publication of first volume of, 44. second session of in 1864, 28. sections of, 39. National Board of Health, committee to cooperate with, 50. National cemeteries, iron headstones in, 232. National cooperation in chemical research, plan for, 90. National currency, committee on, 204, 331. National forest reserve in Southern Appa- lachians, committee on establishment of a, 323- National Institute, annual scientific conven- tion of, 12. Naval Observatory, 305. committee on the erection of a, 303. Newberry, J. S., 23, 76, 272. biographical sketch of, 164. Newcomb, Simon, 41, 49, 50, 63, 81, 85, 92, 207, 256, 257, 258, 260, 261, 267, 268, 272, 290, 296, 302, 305, 306. Newton, H. A., 59, 63, 76, 85, 166, 207, 290. awarded Lawrence Smith Medal, 66. biographical sketch of, 166. Nicaragua, 251. Nicaragua, Compania de Transito de, 248. Nicaraguan Transit Company, 249. Nichols, E. L., 330. Northampton, Mass., meeting of Academy in, 30, 32. Northwestern University, 84. Noyes, A. A., 95, 330. O. C. Marsh Fund, 97, 371. Officers, list of, 335. Onondaga, U. S. S., 231. Opium, committees on the morphine con- tent of, 309. Ordway, John M., 263. Organization of the Academy for 1863, 23. Osborn, Henry F., 93, 95, 102. Paleontological correlation, international, 95. Passaic, the monitor, 217. Patterson, C. P., 276. Peirce, Benjamin, 4, 9, 10, 21, 23, 27, 168, 215, 223, 256. biographical sketch of, 168. Peirce, C. S., 63, 207. Pendleton, Geo. H., 295, 296. Permanent Commission, letter of appoint- ment, i. Peters, C. H. F., 56, 267. Philippine Islands, committee on scientific explorations of the, 325. Phonograph, exhibition of, 46. Physical tables, plan to publish annually, 99. Pickering, Edward C., 67, 296, 304. Henry Draper Medal awarded to, 67. Pinchot, Gifford, 316, 320, 323, 327. Plana, G. A. A., 28. Poinsett, J. R., 7. Polaris, voyage of the, 40. scientific instructions for expedition of, 40. Polariscope to determine the value of sugars, committee on, 264. Pollock, James, 229, 230. Powell, J. W., 60, 269, 273, 277. Preston, E. D., 64. Princeton University, 102. Proceedings of the Academy, 28, 37, 44, 51, 66, 67. publication of first volume of, 44. Procyon, proper motion of, 71. Prussian Academy of Sciences, 80, 81. Publication, committee on, 27. Publications of the Academy, list of, 374. Putnam, F. W., 326. Ramsay, Senator Alexander, 235. Raum, Green B., 291. letter of, concerning methyl alcohol, 291. Rayleigh, Lord, 72, 75. awarded Barnard Medal, 72, 75. Remsen, Ira, 81, 84, 282, 283, 291, 293, 310, 33°. elected President of the Academy, 84. Reports of committees on behalf of the Government, list of, 348. Road, O. N., 290. Roanoke, the iron-clad, 217. Robeson, George M., 40, 256, 259. Rockwell, C. H., 63, 64. Rodgers, John, 21, 36, 62, 171, 206. biographical sketch of, 171. Rodgers, U. S. S., 311. Rogers, Fairman, 23, 33, 37, 52, 76, 85, 173, 206, 215, 217, 226, 231. biographical sketch of, 173. resigns as treasurer of Academy, 52. Rogers, Joseph A., 260. Rogers, Robert E., 21, 76, 174, 225, 280. biographical sketch of, 174. Rogers, William B., 21, 61, 176, 272, 280, 286, 293. biographical sketch of, 176. elected President of the Academy, 48. letter of, on meeting for organization, 21. INDEX 397 Rollins, E. A., 243. Rontgen, W. C., awarded Barnard Medal, 82. Roosevelt, President, 326, 327, 329. letter of, regarding Philippine Islands, 325, 326, 327. Rowland, H. A., 54, 314. awarded Henry Draper Medal, 70. Royal Prussian Academy of Sciences, 80, 81. Royal Society of Canada, 56, 57. Royal Society, 15, 64, 87, 102. letter from, 80, 81. Rucker, D. H., 237. letter of, regarding headstones, 233. Ruggles, Samuel B., 206, 209. Rules of the National Academy, 357. Rutherford, Ernest, awarded Barnard Medal, 98. Rutherfurd, L. M., 23, 27, 76, 178, 206, 232, 245, 257. biographical sketch of, 178. Saccharimeters for sugar determinations, committee on quartz plates used in, 308. Sands, B. F., 256, 257, 258. San Juan, Nicaragua, improvement of harbor of, 31. Sargent, Chas. S., 316, 320, 325. Saxton, Joseph, 42, 180, 207, 218, 219, 226, 228, 233. biographical sketch of, 180. Saxton's alcoholometer, committee on, 218. Schonfeld, Edward, award of Watson Medal to, 68. Schott, Charles A., 217, 267, 290, 311, 312. Schriver, Ed., 238. Schurz, Carl, 280. Schwatka, Lieut., 312. Scientific papers, publication of by Academy, 5i- Scientific work under the government, com- mittee on methods and expenses of, 330. Scudder, S. H., 302. Seismological Association, International, 90. Seismological laboratory, plan to establish a, 99- Seismometry, committee on, 87. Sellers, Wm., 207, 262, 263. Seward, William H., letter of, regarding Nicaragua, 250. letter from, to Bache, 16. Shannon, H. M. S., 249. Sherman, Senator John, 58. Ship-canal company, Atlantic and Pacific, 248. Signal Service of the army, committee on, 295. Silk culture in the United States, committee on, 331. Silliman, Benjamin, Jr., 21, 76, 185, 206, 213, 225, 285, 286. biographical sketch of, 185. Silliman, Benjamin, Sr., 23, 29, 34, 183, 213. biographical sketch of, 183. Singleton, Representative, 58. Sirius, proper motion of, 71. Smith, Edgar F., 85. Smith Fund. (See J. Lawrence Smith Fund.) Smith, Hoke, 315. letter of regarding a rational forest policy, 315. Smith, J. Lawrence, 57, 59, 280, 286. death of, 57. Smith, Mrs. J. Lawrence, 58, 59. fund established by, 58. Smithsonian Contributions to Knowledge, 37- Smithsonian Institution, i, 4, 5, 32, 43, 99. Solar eclipse of August, 1886, committee on, 3°3. 304- Solar research, International Union for, 88, 90, 93» 94) ioo. Solar Union, report on the work of the, 89. Sorghum sugar, committee on, 284. Spicer-Simpson, Theodore, 101. Stanton, E. M., letter of, regarding head- stones, 237. Statistical Congress, International, 206. Steam, expansion of, committee on experi- ments on the, 226. Stewart, Wm. M., 41. Stiles, C. W., 79. StillwelPs method of analysis, 311. Strong, Theodore, 27, 36. biographical sketch of, t86. Sugars, committee on artificial coloring of, 204, 264. Sugar determinations, saccharimeters for use in, 308. Sumner, Senator Charles, 211. Sun, total eclipse of, committee on, in 1868, 36. committee on, in 1883, 62. act of Congress relating to, 64. committee on, 63. resolution relating to, 63. Surgeon-General's Office, library of, resolu- tions on catalogue of, 77. 398 INDEX Surveying the Territories, committee on a plan for, 268. Surveys under the Government, views of the Academy regarding, 48. Swain, Joseph, 85. Swarthmore College, 85. Swiss Society of Natural Sciences, 98. Tagliabue, Wm. G., 241, 242. Tariff classification of wools, committee on, 306. Telephone, carbon, exhibition of, 46. Territories of United States, committee on a plan for surveying the, 268. Thayer, Nathaniel, 32. Thompson, R. W., 49. Tice, I. P., 244, 245, 246. Ticonderoga, U. S. S., 217. Tilghman, R. A., 226. Tittmann, O. H., 327. Torrey, John, 23, 42, 188, 206, 225, 227, 240, 255. biographical sketch of, 188. Totten, J. G., 29, 190, 218. biographical sketch of, 190. Totten, John, 34. Towne, J. H., 226. Transit of Venus, committee on, 256. Trelease, William, 92. Triangulation connecting the Atlantic and Pacific coasts, committee on, 331. Tribune, the New York, 21. Trowbridge, John, 54, 314. Trowbridge, W. P., 207, 215, 272, 296, 312. Trust funds, act authorizing Academy to receive and hold, 58. amounts of, 76. Trusts, question of Academy administering, 58. text of bequests and, 361. Tyndale, Hector, 65. Tyndall, John, 65, 66. Tyndall trust fund, 65. Union for Cooperation in Solar Research, 93- University of Aberdeen, quaternary cele- bration of, 92. University of Berlin, looth anniversary of, 99. University of Bologna, 8ooth anniversary of, 57. University of City of New York, 18. University of Dublin, 57. University of Glasgow, 84. Upton, Winslow, 64. " Uranometria Argentina " of B. A. Gould, resolution relating to, 51. Vanderbilt, Cornelius, 248. Van Hise, C. R., 85, 92, 330. Velocity of light, committee on experiments on, 49. Vignaud, Henry, 55. Vincennes, U. S. S., 219, 220. Vivisection bill, 78. Vogel, H. K., awarded Henry Draper Medal, 74. Von Baer, Karl Ernst, 28. Wade, Senator B. F., 235. Walcott, Charles D., 327. Walker, episode in Nicaragua, 248. Walker, Francis A., 57, 296. Walker, Professor, 306. Washington, George, 7. Water-meter, Worthington's, 244. Watson Fund. (See J. C. Watson Fund.) Watson, James C., 257, 267. bequest of, 52. Watson Medal, 53, 68, 71, 74, 75, 82. awarded to Arthur Auwers, 71. awarded to Edward Schonfeld, 68. awarded to Seth C. Chandler, 75. awarded to Sir David Gill, 82. first award of, to B. A. Gould, 53. recommendations of board of trustees on award of, 75. Webb, W. H., 249. Webster, Arthur G., 207. Weights, Measures, and Coinage, com- mittee on, 27, 35, 36, 45, 206. Weights and Measures, International Bu- reau of, 42, 212. Welles, Gideon, i, 226. letter of, 2. West, Preston C. F., 249, 250. Wex, Gustav, 318. Whiskey, committee on the question of tests for the purity of, 225. White Mountains, forests of, resolutions on, 93- Whitney, J. D., 76, 85, 271, 276. biographical sketch of, 193. Whitney, W. C., letter from, regarding the astronomical day, 303. Wiesbaden, conference at, 81. delegates to, 81. Williams, Henry, 213, 214. Wilson, E. B., 95. Wilson, Senator Henry, 4, 5, 10, n, 17, 20, 26, 37, 38, 62, 235. address of, at first meeting of Academy, 18. INDEX 399 Wilson, James, 323. Wind and Current Charts and Sailing Directions, committee on, 219. Winlock, Joseph, 21, 45, 195, 223. biographical sketch of, 197. Wolcott Gibbs Fund, 72, 76, 96, 102, 366. establishment of, 72. Woodward, A. S., 207, 326, 330. Wools, committee on tariff classification of, 306. World, the New York, 21. Worthington's water-meter, 244. Wright, Arthur W., 309. Wright, H. G., 275. Wyman, Jeffries, 45, 197. biographical sketch of, 195. Yale University, 84. Yellowstone region, committee on the ex- ploration of, by General Stanley, 205, 33i- Youmans, E. L., 65. Young, C. A., 63, 207, 267, 290, 296, 304. 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