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A History of the First Half-Century of the National Academy of Sciences: 1863-1913 (1913)

Chapter: CHAPTER II THE ANNALS OF THE ACADEMY

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Suggested Citation:"CHAPTER II THE ANNALS OF THE ACADEMY." National Research Council. 1913. A History of the First Half-Century of the National Academy of Sciences: 1863-1913. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
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Suggested Citation:"CHAPTER II THE ANNALS OF THE ACADEMY." National Research Council. 1913. A History of the First Half-Century of the National Academy of Sciences: 1863-1913. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
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Suggested Citation:"CHAPTER II THE ANNALS OF THE ACADEMY." National Research Council. 1913. A History of the First Half-Century of the National Academy of Sciences: 1863-1913. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
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Suggested Citation:"CHAPTER II THE ANNALS OF THE ACADEMY." National Research Council. 1913. A History of the First Half-Century of the National Academy of Sciences: 1863-1913. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
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Suggested Citation:"CHAPTER II THE ANNALS OF THE ACADEMY." National Research Council. 1913. A History of the First Half-Century of the National Academy of Sciences: 1863-1913. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
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Suggested Citation:"CHAPTER II THE ANNALS OF THE ACADEMY." National Research Council. 1913. A History of the First Half-Century of the National Academy of Sciences: 1863-1913. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
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Suggested Citation:"CHAPTER II THE ANNALS OF THE ACADEMY." National Research Council. 1913. A History of the First Half-Century of the National Academy of Sciences: 1863-1913. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
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Suggested Citation:"CHAPTER II THE ANNALS OF THE ACADEMY." National Research Council. 1913. A History of the First Half-Century of the National Academy of Sciences: 1863-1913. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
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Suggested Citation:"CHAPTER II THE ANNALS OF THE ACADEMY." National Research Council. 1913. A History of the First Half-Century of the National Academy of Sciences: 1863-1913. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
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Suggested Citation:"CHAPTER II THE ANNALS OF THE ACADEMY." National Research Council. 1913. A History of the First Half-Century of the National Academy of Sciences: 1863-1913. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
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Suggested Citation:"CHAPTER II THE ANNALS OF THE ACADEMY." National Research Council. 1913. A History of the First Half-Century of the National Academy of Sciences: 1863-1913. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
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Suggested Citation:"CHAPTER II THE ANNALS OF THE ACADEMY." National Research Council. 1913. A History of the First Half-Century of the National Academy of Sciences: 1863-1913. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
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Suggested Citation:"CHAPTER II THE ANNALS OF THE ACADEMY." National Research Council. 1913. A History of the First Half-Century of the National Academy of Sciences: 1863-1913. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
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Suggested Citation:"CHAPTER II THE ANNALS OF THE ACADEMY." National Research Council. 1913. A History of the First Half-Century of the National Academy of Sciences: 1863-1913. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
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Suggested Citation:"CHAPTER II THE ANNALS OF THE ACADEMY." National Research Council. 1913. A History of the First Half-Century of the National Academy of Sciences: 1863-1913. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
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Suggested Citation:"CHAPTER II THE ANNALS OF THE ACADEMY." National Research Council. 1913. A History of the First Half-Century of the National Academy of Sciences: 1863-1913. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
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Suggested Citation:"CHAPTER II THE ANNALS OF THE ACADEMY." National Research Council. 1913. A History of the First Half-Century of the National Academy of Sciences: 1863-1913. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
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Suggested Citation:"CHAPTER II THE ANNALS OF THE ACADEMY." National Research Council. 1913. A History of the First Half-Century of the National Academy of Sciences: 1863-1913. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
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Suggested Citation:"CHAPTER II THE ANNALS OF THE ACADEMY." National Research Council. 1913. A History of the First Half-Century of the National Academy of Sciences: 1863-1913. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
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Suggested Citation:"CHAPTER II THE ANNALS OF THE ACADEMY." National Research Council. 1913. A History of the First Half-Century of the National Academy of Sciences: 1863-1913. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
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Suggested Citation:"CHAPTER II THE ANNALS OF THE ACADEMY." National Research Council. 1913. A History of the First Half-Century of the National Academy of Sciences: 1863-1913. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
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Suggested Citation:"CHAPTER II THE ANNALS OF THE ACADEMY." National Research Council. 1913. A History of the First Half-Century of the National Academy of Sciences: 1863-1913. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
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Suggested Citation:"CHAPTER II THE ANNALS OF THE ACADEMY." National Research Council. 1913. A History of the First Half-Century of the National Academy of Sciences: 1863-1913. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
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Suggested Citation:"CHAPTER II THE ANNALS OF THE ACADEMY." National Research Council. 1913. A History of the First Half-Century of the National Academy of Sciences: 1863-1913. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
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Suggested Citation:"CHAPTER II THE ANNALS OF THE ACADEMY." National Research Council. 1913. A History of the First Half-Century of the National Academy of Sciences: 1863-1913. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
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Suggested Citation:"CHAPTER II THE ANNALS OF THE ACADEMY." National Research Council. 1913. A History of the First Half-Century of the National Academy of Sciences: 1863-1913. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
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Suggested Citation:"CHAPTER II THE ANNALS OF THE ACADEMY." National Research Council. 1913. A History of the First Half-Century of the National Academy of Sciences: 1863-1913. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
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Suggested Citation:"CHAPTER II THE ANNALS OF THE ACADEMY." National Research Council. 1913. A History of the First Half-Century of the National Academy of Sciences: 1863-1913. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
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Suggested Citation:"CHAPTER II THE ANNALS OF THE ACADEMY." National Research Council. 1913. A History of the First Half-Century of the National Academy of Sciences: 1863-1913. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
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Suggested Citation:"CHAPTER II THE ANNALS OF THE ACADEMY." National Research Council. 1913. A History of the First Half-Century of the National Academy of Sciences: 1863-1913. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
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Suggested Citation:"CHAPTER II THE ANNALS OF THE ACADEMY." National Research Council. 1913. A History of the First Half-Century of the National Academy of Sciences: 1863-1913. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
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Suggested Citation:"CHAPTER II THE ANNALS OF THE ACADEMY." National Research Council. 1913. A History of the First Half-Century of the National Academy of Sciences: 1863-1913. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
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Suggested Citation:"CHAPTER II THE ANNALS OF THE ACADEMY." National Research Council. 1913. A History of the First Half-Century of the National Academy of Sciences: 1863-1913. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
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Suggested Citation:"CHAPTER II THE ANNALS OF THE ACADEMY." National Research Council. 1913. A History of the First Half-Century of the National Academy of Sciences: 1863-1913. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
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Suggested Citation:"CHAPTER II THE ANNALS OF THE ACADEMY." National Research Council. 1913. A History of the First Half-Century of the National Academy of Sciences: 1863-1913. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
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Suggested Citation:"CHAPTER II THE ANNALS OF THE ACADEMY." National Research Council. 1913. A History of the First Half-Century of the National Academy of Sciences: 1863-1913. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
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Suggested Citation:"CHAPTER II THE ANNALS OF THE ACADEMY." National Research Council. 1913. A History of the First Half-Century of the National Academy of Sciences: 1863-1913. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
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Suggested Citation:"CHAPTER II THE ANNALS OF THE ACADEMY." National Research Council. 1913. A History of the First Half-Century of the National Academy of Sciences: 1863-1913. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
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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. I863-~867 The first meeting of the Academy held in New York on April 22, ~863, was a meeting for organization. It was devoted, ~ · ~ · ~ as already shown, to the consideration ot 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 1~PC (~N m~[h~n1~;~R and nhV8iCS. and (b) natural history; and a chairman and secretary were elected tor each class. Five TV_ V/ ^~ ~ r-~J~~~~~ ~ v-, , ~ it- - _'A ~ ~ ~ ——— —— J sections were included under each class. l he assignment ot members to these sections seems not to have been thoroughly carried out until the meeting of August, ~864, and eveh 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 6 . . 6 · · 9 6 Sect. I. Mathematics ............. Sect. 2. Physics e ~ Sect. 3. Astronomy, Geography and Geodesy.. Sect. 4. Mechanics Sect. 5. Chemistry i So i

~6 NATIONAL ACADENIY OF SCIENCES CLASS OF NATURAL HISTORY Number of M embers Sect. I. Mineralogy and Geology 6 Sect. 2. Zoology 5 Sect. 3. Botany I Sect. 4. Anatomy and Physiology ~ Sect. 5. Ethnology 0 Total . . . I4 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 B ache 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, ~864, in the Capitol, in the rooms of the Pacific Rail- road Committee of the Senate which were placed at the disposal -A ~ ~ ngures that O , ~ .1 ~ 1 T ,1 ' , 1 1~ 1~ of the Academy. In the interval between tnese two meetings. — — ——— — _ _ _ _ __ J ~ · · . . . 1 · 1 1 · , 1 1 1 _ however, SIX committees on technical suo~ects nag Deen 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 ~864. The work of these committees and of others appointed sub- sequently forms the sub ject 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 ~86~ 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." ~ ~ . _ ~ ~ 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. A. Barnard, B. A. Gould, Henry, Peirce, Ruther- furd and Strong. The subjects of the ~6 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 animals3, 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 ~866 that the first volume of the Memoirs of the Academy was issued, and this contained but two of the ~6 papers read at the first scientific meeting in ~864. It was proposed in ~866 to collect and pub- Annual Report of the President for 1863. Ann. Nat. Acad. Sci. for 1863-4 (I865), p.49. I

28 NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES fish 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, ~864. 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, Miche! ChasTes and Henri Miine-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 ~6, ~863, at the age of 46 years. The event was reported at the meeting of January, ~864, 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, ~864, and printed in the first annuai.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, ~864, 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 ~864, which was held in New Haven on the sth and 6th of August, little has been recorded, beyond the fact that ten papers were PP- 71-I I2.

ANNALS OF THE ACADEMY 29 read, including the two biographical sketches of non-members airea(ly 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 ~864, Edward Hitchcock? who died on February 27, Joseph Gilbert Totten, who died on April 22, and Ben jamin Silliman, Sr., who died on November 24. Biographical notices of them were published in the Annual. The year ~865 was signalized by the publication of the first Annual, a pamphlet of ~12 pages in duodecimo form, which appeared between January I, and February ~3. 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 Iowan 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, ~866 and ~867. The by-law, or rule, as it was afterwards called, remained in force, however, until ~ 896, when it was finally stricken out.4 The year ~865 was further characterized by the fact that no requests for the investigation of scientific matters were re- cei~red 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 ~86~. The pro- gram covered a much wider scope than that of the preceding year. While astronomy, physics and mathematics were well repre- 3Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci., vol. I, z877, p. 43. 4 Rep. Nat. Acad. Sci. for ~896, p. to. 4

So NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES sensed, 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 B ache 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 Llesley's letters we learn that the Northampton session opened with ~~ members present, which number increased to no 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 ~ 865, 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 5 Professor Dana's reasons for resigning are mentioned in letters written by him to Pro- fessor Baird and Professor Guyot. On December to, z864, he wrote to Professor Baird. "As the time for our January (~865) 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 of chants h" 1lnwicP ten r;olr a+~^nr7an^- ~, I. no. .... 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. Gilman, 1899, pp. 362, 363.) To Professor Guyot he wrote on February ~4, ~865: " 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.)

ANNALS OF TINE ACADEMY 3I 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 ~866"'found the Academy without presiding officers. The first President, Professor B ache, continued in ill-health and was unable to attend the meetings, and the Vice-President, J. D. Dana, as already mentioned, resigned in August, ~865, from the same cause. The Academy being thus without presid- ing officers, proceeded on January ~5, ~866, 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." 6 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 ~5, 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 de! Norte, or Greytown, in Nicaragua, and the other on proving and gauging spirits sub jected 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 trio scientific sessions held in ~866, or a few more than were included in the programs of the preceding yearn The subjects covered a wider range than those of the preceding year. The greatest 6 Rep. Nat. Acad. Sci. for z866, p. I. Sen. Misc. Doc. no. 44, 40th Congress, fist Session. 7 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-o~ces be exercised at the earliest convenient day." Another resolution was adopted, commending the generosity of Nathaniel Th aye r, of Boston, in fitting out an expedition to South America under the conduct of Professor Agassiz. stat . — r · ~ ~ 1 . `m .' . ~ ~ a _ 1 ne summer meeting was again held at 1\1 orthampton, 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 Ache vear ~866 was the publication of tne first volume ot the lVlemo~rs 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 ~~ libraries in the United States and z~ in other countries. A second number of the Annual was also published. The events of ~867 were numerous and important. At the opening of the year, in February, the Academy lost its first ,'_ _ ~ _, 1 ~ , ~ 71 ~ ~ r President, Professor B ache. 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 De saga to nave fallen a martyr to the cause of his country in the hour of its peril." B ache was one of the principal leaders, if ~ · 1 . 1 ~ .' . . ..

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, un(ler the direction of the American Philosophical Society. Soon after the organization of the National Academy, however? on July ~5, ~863, 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 ~ 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. ~863, 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 Darned." 9 Mrs. B ache died in February, It370, and in I87I the treasurer, Fairman Rogers, reported that the amount handed over to him by the executors of the estate of Professor B ache was $40~5I5.07' " together with an annual ground rent of Cot, and some lands in Missouri not now ~then] available." 2° In 1879' this amount was increased by $4650, on the death of Henry Stood B ache, a nephew of Professor Bache, who was a beneficiary under the will of Mrs. Bach. The income of the original fund amounted in 1872 to about $2500. The first allotment for scientific research alas made in I87I 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 l. E. Hilgard in connection with the ma~- 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. ~Rep. Nat. Acad. Sci. for 1867, p. II. Sen. Misc. Doc. no. 106, 40th Congress, ad Session. 30 Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci., vol. I, p. 8I. 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 ~89 the number of allotments had risen to 79, amounting in all to more than $38,ooo.22 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 arid aided. Besides the death of Professor B ache, other important changes had taken place in the membership of the Academy between ~ 863 and ~ 867. Of the fifty incorporators 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 ~867 was held as usual in Washing- ton and ~; 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 ~867 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. 3~7.

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, ~; members being in attendance. A singular feature of the scien- tific program was that of the 29 papers read, lo 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 ~ 867, after which it was discontinued. . I868-I872 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 ~ ~ 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 O ~ ~ 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 ~869 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 ~868 appointed a committee to wait upon the Postmaster-Gen- eral and urge their adoption in the post-odices. 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 T868 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 3 ~ to September 3, ~ 869. In the year ~868 the number of asteroids discovered by astron- omers had reached cot, and the Academy appointed a committee to give names to those bearing the numbers loo and cot. The name Hecate was chosen for the former, and Helena for the latter. The Academy lost another of its original members in ~869, 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 Academy 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-Admirat John Rodgers, U. S. N., during a cruise of the Monadnock from Philadelphia to San Francisco, by way of the Straits of MagelIan, beginning in October, ~865. This detail was made by the Navel 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 1 l

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 Forte before." The obser- vations were published in the Smithsonian Contributions to Krloqe)led~ge,23 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, ~867, 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, ~869, it was referred to a commission consisting of the President of the Academy, Professors J. H. C. Colon, and F. Rogers, in accordance with whose recommendation it is now published by the Smithsonian Institution." \4 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 18;o 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, ~870, by Senator Henry Wilson, and the amen(l- ment asked for was granted in an act approved on July ~5, 13 Vol. ~8, ~873. The paper was accepted for publication on September ~8, z87~. The signatures are dated from December, z87z, to January, ~873. 1`The resolution asking for the manuscript will be found in the Report of the National Academy of Sciences for ~867, page 9 (40th Congress, ad Session. Sen. Misc. Doc. no. bob). The preface above quoted is not in accord with the Proceedings, which, on page 73, state that the committee was appointed in April, ~869, also (page 75) that Professor Harkness read a paper on magnetic deviations in iron ships, in April, z870, and not in April, z869. In both the Proceedings and the Report, the vessel is incorrectly referred to as the Miantonomah. i

38 NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES 1870.15 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 ~8 names submitted by the Class of Natural History. A resolution was adopted, however, that after ~872 only five members should be elected at any one session of the Academy. The year ~870 was further marked by the important cir- cumstance, already mentioned above, that the B ache 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 ~~. The Academy also expresse~l, 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, ~870, and the office remained vacant until Adz, 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 ~4, ~870, amending the original act of incorporation, re- ported in ~87~. This report was referred to the Council which in ~872 brought it again before the Academy. The constitution and rules, as amended, were unanimously adopted on April 15 T'~lv IT Tang (` In motion of Mr Wilson the Reunite n~ in ~Omm;ttP.- of the ,~ _ _ ~ _ _ ~ _ _ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ^ ~ ~ ~ ~ ^ ^ _ Whole, proceeded to consider the bill (S. No. 88z ) 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, ~863, 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, Lest Congress, ad Session, part 6, p. 5437.) The bill passed the House without objection on July ~4, ~870, and was approved July z5, ~870.

ANNALS OF THE ACADEMY T7 of that vear. 39 , 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, ~872, twenty-five new members revere elected. In a letter to the President of the Senate, dated February 23, ~873, Joseph Henry, President of the Academy, remarked on this action as follows: " The enlargement of the Academy has already had a most beneficial eject 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, ~872], 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." t For lack of communications, or for some other reason, no scientific session was held in the fall of ~870 or ~87~, and at that of April, ~872, 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 ~ , 16 PEoC. Nat. Acad. Sci., vol. I, pp. TOO, IOI. -

TO NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES his friends, Congress in the winter of ~gUg-;o 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 ~2, ~870.27 ~ · ~ Captain Gail 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 vvere embodied in a pamphlet, which was published under the title: ~ ~ T ~ ~ , 1 ~ 1 ·, - 1nstructlons tor the Expedition toward the North Pole from Hon. Geo. M. Robeson, Secretary of the Navy. With an appendix from the National Academy of Sciences. ~87~." On page 4 the following reference is made to the Academy: "You tChas. 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 fear, pp. 238-~60. 17 Stat. at Large, vol. z6, ~87~, p. 25T, List Congress, Ed Session, chap. 25T, sec. 9.

ANNALS OF THE ACADEMY 4I 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, ~87~, 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." t8 This expedition, as is well known, ended in disaster. Having reached the latitude 82° As' N. on August 29, ~87~, 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, ~87~.29 ~ . ~ ~ ,8 Instructions for Expedition toward North Pole from Hon. Geo. M. Robeson. Appendix, PP. 7, 8. 19 In I87I 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, List Congress, ad Session. In ~875 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. carol I, p. ala.) 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 once 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 " divas, however, presented at the first session of ~874, and Henry thereupon decided to withhold his resignation, and continue to serve as President, which he did until his death in ~878. The interest felt by the members of the Academy in the metric system of weights and measures was newly manifested in ~875. As is welI-known, an international conference on new metric standards was held in Paris in ~870, but its deliberations were interrupted by the opening of the Franco-Prussian War. It convened again in ~87z and soon afterward the proposition was advanced that an international bureau of weights and measures be established. At the April meeting of ~875 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. ads, 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." 20 The International Bureau was established on May 20' ~875, 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 ~876, 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, ~876. " 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 nennle of the United States regard this collection. therefore:- · ~ ~ O , " 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. 20Proc. Nat Acad. Sci., vol. I, p. loo.

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." 2\ The autumn meeting of ~87z was held in Cambridge, Massa- chusetts, that of ~873 in New York City, and those of ~874, ~875 and ~876 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 filbert 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 Proceedlirlys did not appear unfit ~877. This part comprised loo 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 ~~ years of its existence. A second part carried the record to ~ 88~, and a third to ~ 895. No further parts have been issued. Another publication which first appeared in ~877 was the Biographical Memoirs. The first volume, in octave form, con- tained memoirs of fifteen deceased members. Some of these sketches had already appeared in the Annual, and the series, for Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci., vol. I, p. I I 8. Loc. cit., p. I I4.

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 ~875 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 ~877 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, ~876, that the principal of the B ache Fund amounted to $43,300, of which $42,300 was invested in United States certificates, and $~ooo in certificates of the city of Davenport, Iowa. In addition, the Academy had received from the Bache estate ~60 acres of land situated in the State of Missouri, and a house and lot in the city of Washington, No. 7~ Twentieth Street, S. NV. In connection with the various allotments made from the fund for scientific researches, some pieces of apparatus had been purchased, and in ~ 877 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. iefiries Wyman, one of the original members of the Academy, died in ~874, and another, Joseph WinIock, in ~875. In ~877 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 ~877 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. s

46 NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES I 878—I 882 At the April session of the following year, Mr. Thomas A. Edison exhibited to the Academy the phonograph, which was invented by him in ~ 877, and also his " carbon telephone." The record contains the following statement regarding this exhi- · ~ action: April, I 878. " 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 U nion Telegraph wires with the Central Once 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 ~877 the health of the second President of the Academy, Joseph Henry, suffered a severe (recline, and at the April session of ~878 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, " ~ retain the office six months longer in the hope that ~ 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." 24 The appreciation of Henry's services was such that the follow- in.g 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, 23Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci., vol. I, p. z3o. 24 Loc. cat., p. z32. 25Loc.cit.,p.~32.

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 I3' 1878. In the address of the Acting Presi- dent, Professor 0. C. Marsh, at the April session of ~879 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 ~867, Professor Henry was elected his successor at the next meeting, in January, ~868. :From that time until he left the chair at the last Annual Meeting, in April, ~878, it had been his constant thought to advance the 26Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci., vol. I, pp. ~32-~33.

48 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 ~878, 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 diduse 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, ~ 878, 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, ~879, when Professor Wm. B. Rogers was elected President. The term of office under the constitution was six years, but Professor Rogers died in May, rg82, and Professor Marsh again became Acting President until April, rg83, when Professor Wolcott Gibbs 27 Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci., vol. I, p. ~49. 1 1 l

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 ~867, 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. 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 ~5, ~88~, that Professor ewcomb 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 ~88~, 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, ~882, and continued until September 5, ~882. · . . A resolution was 28 Washington Observations, ~ 8 65. Appendix 2. . \

So NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES On account of the discrepancy between the results obtained by Professor Michelson in ~879 and those by Professor Newcomb in his first series of observations, the former undertook the repetition of his experiments in ~882 by means of a grant from the B ache Fund of the National Academy, and in ~883 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 i~8S.29 By an act, approved March 3, ~879, 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 taco, as follows: " A communication was received from the president of the National Board of Health, dated April ~4, ~880, 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, ~879, 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 ~~. In ~0 the chairman reported that four years had elapsed since the Board of Health had re- quested assistance and the committee was, therefore, discharged. Gastronomical 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°. Wa,shing- ton: Bureau of Navigation, Navy Department, ~885. 30Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci., vol. I, p. ~74.

ANNALS OF THE ACADEMY SI In I88I, 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 ~880 the Academy took notice in its Proceedings of two astronomical happenings of importance. Dr. B. A. Gould, a member of the Academy, who since ~870 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. Hi. 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 ~8 years, beginning with its organization, re- signed in April, ~88~, and Mr. J. H. C. Coffin was elected to succeed him.32 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, ~880, 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 ~) C. Watson] as soon as it may be practicable to do so." The estate was found to be in an involved condition, and it divas not until July 5, ~882, that the claims against it were settled. On that date the following decree of court was handed down: ~ Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci., vol. I, pp. ~75, z76. 32 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 ~ 882, but appears to have reached no practical conclusion. (See Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci., vol. I, pp. ~99, 208.)

ANNALS OF THE ACADEMY " 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 iodine years later, in Ig9I, the stock of the insurance company was sold for the sum of $IO'720 and the whole amount of the fund was then $I8~666.~38. 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 ~87, a special evening meeting being held on April no 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 lo degrees north declination, the position and magnitude of each being seven. It is not a mere catalop;ue, but embodies an exhaustive study ~ id, ~ . ~ , _ . _ . .. . ~ , . - ~~ · . ~ ~ . ~ · ~ . - . . 1 of the distribution of stars ot deferent magnitudes and their relations to one Milky Way. " 2. The Argentine General Catalogue, one volume, 4to, contains the places of nearly 33,ooo (3z,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,~60 stars down to the tenth magnitude. 38Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci., vol. I, p. ~7. i l

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 ~872-~883, have been preserved and are now undergoing measurement. " Five volumes of n~eteorological 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 once 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 ~88~ 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, ~88~, 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 country." 35 This resolution was favorably considered by Congress and we find in the Sundry Civil Act for the fiscal year ending June 30, ~883, an item under the State Department providing the sum of $3,ooo for " the payment of the actual and necessary expenses of the two civilian experts as delegates of the United States to an 36 Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci., vol. I, p. ago. 35Loc. cit., p. ~99.

ANNALS OF THE ACADEMY 55 International Commission for the Establishment of Electrical Units." 36 The international conference opened in Paris on October ~6, ~882, but the delegates of the United States were not able to attend until the second meeting which was held on October z6, 882.37 The work of this session was chiefly preliminary. The dele- gates were not present at the second session, which was held in ~884, the United States being represented by Mr. Vignaud, sec- retary of the American Legation, who presented several com- munications on their behalf.3S At this conference the " legal," or " congress " ohm, ampere, and volt were established. ~ 883-~ 887 Dr. Henry Draper, an astronomer of note, and a member of the National Academy, died on November 20, ~882. 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 Henrv Draner Medal was awarded ~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~-~r-- ~ in ~85 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 ener~v." OF as Stat. at Large, vol. 22, 1883, p. 302, 47th Congress, ISt Session, chap. 433. 87 Ministere des Affaires Etrangeres. Conference Internationale pour la Determination des Unite Electriques. I6 Octobre, 26 Octobre, 1882. Proces-verbaux. Paris, 1882, pp. 8, I 54. 3 Idem, Ed Session, 1884, pp. 6, I3, 37, 67, 80. 1

56 NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES The committee cited 2 r papers published between ~ 874 and ~884, 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 r 883 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 acknowI- 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' ~83, 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 ~87, 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 ~6 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 ~6 to 25, ~887, fifty-six astronomers, representing sixteen different nationalities were _ , ~1 1 · . . ~ . · ~ ~ . present. ~ ne objects to ne 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." 39 39 Rep. Nat. Acad. Sci. for ~887, 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 ~.4~ meters. The congress then divided into two sections each _ ~ ~ O ~ . . . ~ . . . . . . . . 01 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 ~8 observatories assumed a share in it. None of the observatories of the United States, however, joined in the enterprise, which was completed in ~9~2. It was originally estimated that it would be necessary to make 60,ooo negatives but the number alas afterwards reduced to about ~ , , ~o,ooo. The expense involved was estimated to exceed AL &n $2,000,000- The next invitation accepted was from the University of Bologna, which celebrated its Sooth anniversary in June, ~~. Dr. S. Weir Mitchell was appointed to represent the Academy on this occasion. In May, ~89~, 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-Presider~t, 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, i892. Two years later, in i894, Dr. .T. s. Billings was appointed the delegate of the Academy to the eighth International Congress of Hvaiene and Demo~ranEv held nt ~ J ~ ~ =---r--J ~ Budapest in September of that year. The subject of trust funds again became prominent in ~884. Professor I. 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 ~87, pp. 48-s3.

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 ~872 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 I878~-~ to procure from Congress an addition to the Act of Incorporation of the Academy, which will enable it to accept and administer trust funds." 4\ No progress appears to have been ma(le in this matter, how- ever, until ~884, 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, fune 20, ~ 884." 42 The deed of trust transferring Mrs. Smith2s donation to the Academy for the establishment of the l. 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. z36. ~2 Stat. at Large, vol. 23, ~885, chap. zo7, p. 50, 48th Congress, fist Session. The bill was introduced in the House by Mr. Con of New York, on May 9, ~884, referred to the Committee on the Library, and ordered printed. The committee reported favorably on May zo, 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 ~~ 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 8, as will be noted on a later page. In the summer of ~~ 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 obser~ations.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 ~4, ~ 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 · · · e e 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 tile Chief Signal Officer, dated February ~3, li382' Prof. Langley remarked: " In case a Signal Service Station be erected on Mt. Whitney, ~ 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 43 See Prof. Papers of Signal Service, No. ~5, z884, p. 9.

60 NATIONAL ACADEMY 0F SCIENCES may be desirous of obtaining his permission to enjoy the advan' sages 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 pro jected 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 ~ 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 (~It. Whitney is r ~,ooo feet above a station in sight, and but ~~ 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, ~ 882, when the following resolution was adopted: " Resolvedt, 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." 44 The President of the `Aca(lemy 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, Ads, by Secretary of War, Robert T. Lincoln. in which he remarked: " ~ 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. i

ANNALS OF THE ACADEMY 6I vation can be obtained." No objection appears to have been made, and on October 4, r883, the Acting Chief Signal Officer of the Army announced to the committee of the Academy that President Garfield had, on September 20, r883, proclaimed Mt. Whitney to be a military reservation. The fact was announced to the Academy in April, r884, 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 divas 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 r909 we find the following account of the circumstances under which it was brought about: " Mount Whitney Expeditions. " In August, ~908, with Director Campbell, of the Lick Observatory, Mr. Abbot spent about twenty-four hours on the summit of Mount Whitney (~4,50z feet). This mountain, which was the objective point of the famous expedition of Mr. Langley in ~88~, 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, 9.46 In the years r882 and r883 the Academy lost four of its original members, besides the President, Professor Wm. B. 45 Rep. Nat. Acad. Sci. for ~884, p. At. d. Smithsonian Report for Log, pp. 65, 66. 6

62 NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES Rogers. These were Professor Stephen Alexander (died June z5, ~g83), Major-General J. G. Barnard, IJ. S. A. (died Clay I4' It3~32~' Dr. John L`. L.eConte, entomologist (died November ~5, ~883), and Admiral John Rodgers, Superintendent of the U. S. Naval Observatory (died May 5, ~882~. Of the incorporators twenty others had died prior to ~883, 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 ~883, and was published in ~884. With the report for ~884 alas transmitted the first part of the third volume of the Memoirs, containing eight papers. The second part of this volume was printed in ~886, but many of the plates belonging to it were burned, and the distribution was delayed. It was not issued until July, ~887. 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 ~884: " 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." 4S 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 to tz863]. 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- ehusetts. " May ~4 [~8633. 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 Beth May I wrote to him adhering to my determination." (Memoir of John A. Dahlgren, by Madeleine V. Dahlgren, ~882, pp. 389, 394.) 48 Proe. 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, ~88z, 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, ~883, 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 commer~d 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." 50 This resolution was adopted by the Academy, and a com- mittee consisting of Professor C. A. Young (chairman), Pro- fessor l. H. C. Cohn, 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 clisposal of the observing party, and all necessary arrangements made to secure the success of the expedition. 49 Mr. Rockwell had presented a communication on the subject before the American Association for the Advancement of Science in August of the same year. 50Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci., vol. I, p. 211. 1

64 NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES A memorial asking for an appropriation of $5,ooo 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- · T ^^ sing June to. ~~. contained the following item: c' ~ , ,, .... 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." 5t As the act was not approved until March 3' It383, 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 B ache 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, NIr. 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 At. 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, ~83, which report was by resolu- 51 Stat. at Large, vol. 22, ~883, p. 6~, 47th Congress, ad Session, chap. ~43. Act approved March 3, ~883. i i

ANNALS OF THE ACADEMY 65 lion 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 Hartfora' 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 r883 that " the Hartford, before she became the flagship tof 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 arm +~ `^~^'~';~- alov L11~ 1 Q1 1Q W 111~ "Hartford: Arrived at Callao from the United States January As, ~883. Proceeded to Caroline Island with a party of observers of solar eclipse in May last. Returned to Callao via Honolulu; arrived at Callao August ~8." 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 $~,ooo, was estab- lished by John Tyndall from the proceeds of his lectures in America in ~872 and ~873. 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 r87r. 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, z883, pp. ~-~46. 58 Rep. Seer. Navy for ~883, vol. ~ (~883), p. 20. 54 Op. (it., p. ~70. J . .. . _ . .

i 66 NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES President of the National Academy of Sciences. After the death of Joseph Henry, the President in taco 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 Tyrldall, 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 $3z,ooo. The circumstances were communicated to Professor Tyndall who thereupon modified his donation and established three graduate fellowships, each with a fund of about $~,ooo, 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. ~~88-~89z The first Lawrence Smith Medal was awarded in ~888 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 ~8, ~888, in the lecture-room of the National Museum, the President of the Academy, Pro- fessor 0. 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.56 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 65 See Smithsonian Report for begs, part I, pp. 25, 26. 58Proc. 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 ~860, and was succeeded by a number of others, the last having been read to the National Academy in April of the present year [~8883. " 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 Is, 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 Proceedinas.57 but it will be . ~ . ~ · . ~ ~ . Of interest to quote a few paragraphs trom 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 ~885, and that, as a result of such consideration, the said committee desires to recommend that the Academy award this medal for the year ~887 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, ~877. 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 57Op.Cit., p. 3~. f ;

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 ~888 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.'' A committee appointed by the Academy reported in ~89059 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, ~864, 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 MATHEMATICS AND PHYSICS Sections I. Mathematics. Physics. Astronomy, Geography, and Geodesy. 4. Mechanics. Chemistry. CLASS B NATURAL HISTORY Sections I. Mineralogy and Geology. 2. Zoology. 3. Botany. 4. Anatomy and Physiology. 5. Ethnology. This arrangement continued in force until ~8~2, when the whole system of classes was abolished. The matter came up chairman, "to secure such uniformity of 58Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci., vol. I, p. 323. 59 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 measures in physical apparatus as will promote interchangeability of their parts." The committee appears not to have reported. (See Rep. Nat. Acad. Sci. for Ago, p. z3.)

ANNALS OF THE ACADEMY 69 again for consideration in ~885, 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 ~890, 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." 6' 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, ~892, 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: I. Mathematics, including Astronomy and Geodesy. z. 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. 6° Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci., vol. I, p. 264. 6' Loc. cit., p. 338. 62Loc. cit., p. 368. 1

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 ~89~ the Council reported in favor of still another cIassifi- 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 ~899, 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 894, are as follows: I. Mathematics and Astronomy. 2. Physics and Engineering. 3. Chemistry. 4. Geology and Paleontology. 5. Biology. 6. Anthropology. This classification was amended in ~~, the committees on Biology and Anthropology being replaces! 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 ~890 to Professor H. A. Rowland for his researches on the solar spec- 63 Loc. cit., pp. 373, 374 64 Rep. Nat. Acad. Sci. for Adz, p. z4.

ANNALS OF THE ACADEMY 7I bum, and was presented at a public session held in the National Museum on the evening of April ~6. The President, in a presentation address, mentioned the following memoirs as being those for which, in particular, the award was made: A mathe- matical caner on the Theory of Concave Diffraction Gratings; - r -r ~ ~ ~ - Cal ~ 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 ~stronomische Geselischaft, his re- searches on variable proper motions, and his re-discussion of Bradley's observations." The award was made elective in April, ~89~, 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 paralIaxes 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 incorporators of the Academy, who died on April 27, ~889, 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 f

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, ~89~, 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, ~895, 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 ~892, 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 Professor Gibbs expressed his appreciation of this token ot 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: 6a seventy years. MY DEAR PROFESSORS lACKSON 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 hack 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 practices 65 Rep. Nat. Acad. Sci. for ~895, pp. 29, 30. 66 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..... NEWPORT, March I' I 892. Sincerely yours' Cal WOLCOTT GIBBS. It will be recalled that the number of members of the Academy was originally restricted to 50, and that in ~870, 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 i4, ~870. In ~892 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 $~,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." 67 While no reduction was regularly recommended, the committee proposed a plan of election which in its opinion, would " satisfy the (le- 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 in justice to many scien- tific men who by reason of their accomplishments are fairly ¢7 Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci., carol. I, p. 373.

74 NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES entitled to the honor of an election." 6S 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 ~890 that the fourth volume of the Memoirs of the Academy had been completed " after long delays." The first Dart of this volume was Printed in ~~. . . ~ .. n~ ~ .~ OUt Only I77 copies were distributed that year oaring to a difficulty in obtaining the plates for the whole edition. The sth and 6th volumes were printed and distributed in ~892 and ~893.69 The delays in publication during these years caused much dissatisfaction. The committee on amendments to the consti- · ~ · ~ ~ · ~ ~ ~ ~ . tenon which reported In 1~ ovember, Ace, 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. ~ 893-~ 897 Awards of the Draper and Watson medals were again made in ~893 and ~894, the fourth Draper Medal being awarded to 68lOc. cit., P. 375 69 In his report for ~894, 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 ~7, ~894) in the hands of the Senate." (Rep. Nat. Acad. Sci. for z894, p. 7.) The Act of-Congress, approved January In, z895, 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. 6~6, sad Congress, ad Session, chap. 23.) 7° See Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci., vol. x, pp. 375, 377, where the report is given in full. l

i 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 ~895, 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." 7] 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 ~7, Age, 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 ~895 to Lord Rayleigh " for his brilliant discovery of argon, which illustrates so completely the statue of exact scientific methods in the investigation of the physical properties of matter." 72 In the decade between ~ S84 and ~ 894 the Academy lost twelve of the incorporators, or original members, President F. A. P. Barnard of Columbia College (died in ~889), the as- tronomer and educator who was the second Foreign Secretary of the Academy and served in that capacity from ~874 to ~880; Bartlett, the physicist (~893); the botanists, Engelmann (1884) TlRep. Nat. Acad. Sci. for 1895, pp. 24-29. 72 Loc. cit., pp. 29, 30.

76 NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES and Gray (I888); Guyot, the geographer (I884); Hilgard, the mathematician and physicist (I89I); Leidy, the anatomist and paleontologist (I89I); Longstreth, the astronomer (I89I); Robert E. Rogers, the chemist ( 1884) ; the paleontologist, New- berry (1892); Rutherfurd, the astronomer (I892); and Ben- jamin Silliman, junior, the chemist (1885)' who was also a member of the committee which drafted the first constitution. ()n the first of January, 1894' only eight of the 48 original members remained,73 I. D. Dana, Wolcott Gibbs, B. A. Gould, James Hall, J. P. Wesley, 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 I6 to ~9; a second special session, held in Philadelphia, October Jo; and a scientific session held in Philadelphia, October As. 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 arlnual 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 $40,5~5, had increased to $50,998; the Watson Fund, originally about $13,757, had in- creased to $~8,667, together with invested income amounting to $4,427; the Draper Fund, originally $6,ooo, was raised to $6,604, together with invested income amounting to $~,~oo; the Law- rence Smith Fund of $8,ooo, 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 $g4,ooo. 73 It will be recalled that two of the incorporators, Dahlgren and Boyden, declined membership in the Academy, or resigned within a few months. i

ANNALS OF THE ACADEMY 77 The fourth President of the Academy, Professor O. C. Marsh, who had held that office since ~883, declined reselection in ~895, 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, Too, when he resigned. He was succeeded in blot by Dr. Alexander Agassiz. In this same year, ~895, 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 ~874, Prof. l. P. Lesley, as the director of the second geological survey of Pennsylvania, has, with the cooperation of a band of assist- ants, published ~27 octave 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 30th of October, ~895, 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 ~896, 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. ~55~), a letter was addressed to Sen- ator Jacob H. Gallinger by the Chief of the Bureau of Animal 74 Rep. Nat. Acad. Sci. for ~895, p. 23. 75 Loc. cit., p. 3~. 7 f

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, ~896, regarding this bill: " I desire to state that this is the hill known as the vivisection bill, concerning which there is a great deal of controversy and a very marked difference of opinion. L_^L __ ALA ~^ ~` ~.~:~:~^ ~1 - ~^ ~1 Hal; V()lll OI1 t11~ p~1 L Q1 plly~tall~ Ally Ally ~11~1~. ~~- · · · · 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 nronoses to restrict and regulate it according to law, and that is all." 77 ~ _ _ ~ _ _ ~ - __. . . ~ l he third International Zoological Congress was held in :Leiden in ~ 895 and on that 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 ~898.78 The American member 76 This letter, which was dated April 24, z896, is published in full in the Report of the Academy for that year, pages ~8 to 20. 77 Congressional Record, vol. 28, part 6, p. 5709, s4th Congress, fist Session, ~896. The caption of the bill was: " For the further prevention of cruelty to animals in the District of Columbia." (See Senate Report Long, s4th Congress, fist Session, on Senate Bill ~552.) 78 Rep. Nat. Acad. Sci. for ~896, p. zz. l

ANNALS OF THE ACADEMY 79 of the Commission, Dr. Charles Wardell Stiles, upon his re- turn to this country, addressed a letter, dated April 2T, ~896, 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 ~898. 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 ~897, when Alice B ache Gould presented the sum of $zo,ooo, 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 ~7, ~897, 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 taco 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 annointed to take charge of it. ~ ~ or 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 897, PP- ~4-~ 6. l

80 NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES I 898—I 902 The Academy became connected in 1899 with 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 ~4, 1899, iS as follows: 8t THE ROYAL SOCIETY, BURLINGTON HOUSE, " London, TV., April 74, ~899. " 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 pith and both of October for the purpose of organizing an international association of learned SlRep. Nat. Acad. Sci. for z899, pp. ~4-~5. 1

ANNALS OF THE ACADEMY 8I 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 (~899) 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.S2 The general committee of the Association met in Paris on July 3~, 1900, the delegates from the National Academy on that occasion being Messrs. H. L. Abbot, J. M. Crafts and A. Graham Belly The first meeting of the Association was held in Paris in poor the Academy being Goodale.84 represented by Professor G'enr~e L. · c~ Two medals within the gift of the Academy were awarded again in ~899, 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 z899, pp. ~4-~8. 83A 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 Moo, pp. ~4-~6. 84 On account of illness, Professor Goodale was unable to attend this meeting. All the other academies 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 egos, P. ~7.

82 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 ot precision, especially in the determina- tion of parallaxes of the sun and stars and of the position of the planets." S5 The fourth President of the Academy, Professor 0. C. Marsh died on March ~8, ~899. He had been Acting President in ~878 and ~882, and President from ~883 to ~895. He bequeathed to the Academy the sum of $~o,ooo " for promoting original research in the natural sciences." 86 The time having arrived once more in ~900 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 ~7, ~894, made 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, ~895. 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. Tt 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 z899, p. To. off See Rep. Nat. Acad. Sci. for Anglo, p. z5. 87 Rep. Nat. Acad. Sci. for Moo, p. zz.

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 ~856 with a 5-inch Dolland equatorial, which was replaced two clears later by an excellent 8-inch Clark tele- scope. In ~870 this was again replaced by a 5-inch achromatic and an 8-inch reflector. In ~858 Sir William, then Air. Huggins, undertook with Dr. Miller the visual study of stellar spectra. This work was continued until ~86~. and the results were communicated to the Roval Society. Soon after this, on August 29, ~864, 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 nebula and clusters about one-third were of this gaseous character. In ~866 the observations of the new star in Corona gave the first clew to the cause of these remarkable objects. In ~868 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. ~ ~ 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 ~876 the study of the spectra of the stars by means of photography, which had been attempted without attaining satisfactory results in ~863, 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. The hvdrozen lines in the brightest stars showed a slight -

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 Huggins'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 Moo and the office remained vacant until April, ~90~, 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 ~907 by Dr. Tra Remsen. The years ~90~ to agog 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 Moth anniversary of the founding of the University of Glasaos~r June 12 tO ~4, ~90~, the Academy was represented by Professor William G. FarIow and Dr. Theodore N. Gill. Professor FarIow also represented the Academy at the meeting of the International Association of Botanists held at Geneva in August, ~90~, and of the International Association of Academies at Paris, April ~6, ~90~. At the bicentennial celebration of Yale Univer- sity in October, ~90~, the Academy was represented by Dr. Tra Remsen. Professor Edward S. Morse was appointed a member of the general committee of the International Congress of Americanists held in New York in ~902. At the installation of Dr. Edmund l. James as president of the Northwestern Univer- sity, on October ~9 to At, ~902, the Academy had as its delegates ~Rep. Nat. Acad. Sci., for egos, pp. to, At. .

ANNALS OF THE ACADEMY 85 Professors C. R. Van Hise arid E. H. Moore; and at the instal- lation of Dr. Joseph Swain as president of Swarthmore College, on November ~5, bloc, 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, ~902, 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, ~903. The eighth volume of the Memoirs, containing seven articles, was completed and published in ~902. ~ 903-i 9°7 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, [anu- ary I, ~904, 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 ~895~; Benjamin A. Gould, the astron- omer (~896~; James Hall, the paleontologist (~898~; J. Peter Wesley, the geologist (~903~; H. A. Newton, the astronomer (~896~; J. D. Whitney, the geologist (~896~; and Fairman Rogers, who was the first Treasurer of the Academy, and served in that capacity for sixteen years ~ ~900~. The Henry Draper Medal was presented on April no, ~904, 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 ~ 868, 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 40-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 ~893, ~894, and ~895, Professor Hale edited the astro- physical portion of Astronomy and Metaphysics. In January, ~896, 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 ne anticipated, ~ ~ . ~ ~ t the adhesion of the National Academy to the project for an International Associa- tion of Academies in ~899 soon involved it in the consideration of scientific enterprises of worId-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 ~902, in his capacity as chairman of the inter- national council of the Association of Academies and as repre- 89 For the full report, see Rep. Nat. Acad. Sci. for z904, pp. ~4-~5.

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, egos, 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 worId.~° The matter was referred to the Council of the National Academy, which appointed a committee to consider it. The committee reported in Novembers ~905. In the meantime, meet- ings of the International Association of Academies were held in ~903 and ~904, and at the latter seismology was a prominent subject of discussion. The report which the committee of the National Academy brought in in ~905 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." 9t 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, T904, a committee was appointed to consider the preparation of general plans for international work in solar research and to enter into communication with other ~ See Rep. Nat. Acad. Sci. for ~902, pp. ~7-~9, where the letter and the plan of the seismological conference are given in full. 9lRep. Nat. Acad. Sci., for egos, p. ~6.

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 florid 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 ~ 2 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 rotational 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 ~905. 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, ~907. 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, ~907, 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 two. 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 held. It has brought together astronomers and physicists on common ~round, thus contributing toward the solu- _ , _ talon of problems lying on the borderland between these subjects. l he 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-ooerative study of sun-sont 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 ~ Ad_ , _ _ , _ _ _ _ _ ~ _ _ _ ~ , . . . . . ~ _ ~ _ ~ ~ _, . ~ . . The ninth volume of the Memoirs was published in ~905. The time for the award of the Barnard Medal having arrived once more in ~905, the committee of the Academy recommended that Professor Henri Becquere! be the recipient of this honor. The report made at the April meeting of that year was as follows: 82 Rep. Nat. Acad. Sci. for Anglo, p. z8.

9o NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES -' '' - -' that Prof. "The committee on the Barnard medal respectfully recommend Henri Becquerel, of Paris, member of the Institute, be recommended Dy one 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 radioactivity 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 scone which have been benedc~al In the promotion ot 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 Doe, 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 spot, " 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 98 Rep. Nat. Acad. Sci. for egos, p. z3. 94 Rep. Nat. Acad. Sci. for ~906, p. ~9. ~~ ~r ~ . . , 1 i

ANNALS OF THE ACADEMY 9I 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, ~907, 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, ~907, when Gen- era] Cvrus B. Comstock. Director of the Geodetic Survey of the N orthern and N orthwestern Lakes and President of the Mississippi River Commission, presented the sum of $IO,OOO " 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 _ ,! _ ~ .. 1

92 NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES at the market value of $~o,ooo. After providing a plan for in- creasing the capital fund to $~s,ooo, 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 " Com- stock Prize," " to the borza fee 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. ~ ~~ - ~ ~ ~~ ~ l he " (:omstock Prize has not as yet been awarded.95 During the period under consideration, ~903 to ~907, 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, ~903. 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 50th anniversary of the founding of the University of Wisconsin, in ~904, 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, ~904, 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 ~ ~ to ~8, 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 96 For the deed of trust and other documents, see Rep. Nat. Acad. Sci. for ~907, pp. ~3-~5.

:` ANNALS OF THE ACADEMY 93 of the both anniversary of the founding of the Michigan Agricul- tural College, May 28 to 3~; Dr. Alexander Agassiz represented the Academy at the Seventh International Zoological Congress held in Boston, August ~9 to 23; Dr. Arnold Hague, at the centenary celebration of the Geological Society of London, Sep- tember 26 to 2g; 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 Linn~us at Upsala, May 23 and 24; and Professor Henry F. Osborn at a similar celebration in Neal York. T 908 - ~ 9 ~ 2 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-Presirlent of the Academv from ~ 872 ~ , to 1878 and President from IYgs to I90I. 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 ~908, 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 agog 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 Cap, 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: 97 "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 96 Rep. Nat. Acad. Sci. for ~908, p. 20. 97 Rep. Nat. Acad. Sci. for Log, p. ~3.

ANNALS OF THE ACADEMY Pasadena and Mount Wilson in Anglo. in progress under the auspices of the union. 95 A large amount of cooperative work is _ " 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 ~-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. " Communicated by HENRY 1?. 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. 4~-44, April 20, ]909, `` Correlation Bulletin, no. I, Plan and Scope."

96 NATION AL AC ~ E M Y 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.I7~99 From these funds, between the years 1871 and 1908? I75 grants were made, ranging in amount from $25 to $2500 each. The majority were from the B ache 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 B ache Fund between I87I and 1908 amounted to about $76,ooo, distributed in the following manner: t°° Astronomy and Astrophysics- Physics . e ~ e · · e ~ e e · · · e e Magnetic Surveys Physiology and Pathology. Miscellaneous ~°~ ............. Chemistry . . . Zoology ................... Botany ..... Paleontology Psychology . . Meteorology Seismology . . . ..$25,650 ... ~4,634 .. 8,260 .. 6,600 ·~. 5,35° ............ 5,150 .. 5,05° .. 3,IOO .. 1,200 ·- 600 ·. 55° IOO Total $76,244 The grants from the Gould Fund between 1899 and 1908 were all for astronomical investigations and amounted to $9~430. 990f 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 ~87~ and ~908, the sum total of which was about $g4,ooo.~°2 In Clog, a first installment of the bequest of Professor 0. C. Marsh, was sent to the Academy by the executor of his estate, with the following letter: " PROFESSOR S. F. EMMONS, NEW HAVEN, CONN., November ~ 7, Tog. " Treasurer of the Natio7~1 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 $~o,ooo 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 $~,~50 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 0. 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 $~o,ooo before any grants there made from it. 102 The income of the Watson Fund since egos, which was also clerked to astronomical researches, and some minor items of a miscellaneous character, are not included in the foregoing figures. AIL

98 NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES In Go 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- pro~red devices, of the solar ' constant' of radiation." \03 The medal was presented to Mr. Abbot at the annual dinner, April ~9, ~9~ I. Five years having elapsed since the last award of the Barnard Medal, a committee of the Academy recommended that it be given in Go to Dr. Ernest Rutherford, L`angworthy Professor of Physics and Director of the Physical Laboratory in the University of Manchester for his investigations on the phenomena of radio-activity. as follows: , . _ The committee remarked, in part! " Prof. Rutherford has been identified with this branch of physical science since its inception by the discovery of the so-called X-rays in ~895. 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 ~906) and in his presidential address read before the section of mathematics and physics of the British Association for the Advancement of Science, in August, agog." 204 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, ~909, 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' ~909. The committee recommended that the Academy should vote in favor of admitting the Swiss Society 3 Rep. Nat. Acad. Sci. for Negro, p. z2. 04 Loc. cit., p. z4.

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 1912.~°5 The Academy was invited in Go 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, 19io, 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." 206 Two delegates were appointed in I9IO 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 tooth anniversary of the University of Berlin, October lo to 12' i9lO. The sixth President of the Academy, Alexander Agassiz died on March 27' I9IO. He held the presidency from I90I 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 Too, pp. ~6, ~7. 6 Rep. Nat. Acad. Sci. for Coo, p. 20. l i l

TOO utive ability · ., NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES fitted him in an eminent degree to be the leader of scenic 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 voodoo miles of wandering over tropical seas he n-`rPr miff with ~ Cf~rin~,c Strident 11~ 11~V~1 1ll~L V,lLll ~ ~~11~o AAmong scientific o men be became the greatest patron ot zoology our country has known. In Also, 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 ~ 863 and ~ 864, 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." ]07 He bequeathed the sum of $so,ooo " for the general use of the Academy. 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 3~ to September 2, two. At this meeting, which was attended by 37 delegates from foreign countries and ~7 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 :~lexlco, and aviary, Spain; the adoption of definite inter- national standards of wave-lengths of the second order, based on interferometer determinations made at three laboratories; i, . . 107 pop. Sci. Monthly, November, I9IO, pp. 425, 430. 308 This sum was paid into the treasury on February I, I9II.

ANNALS OF THE ACADEMY IOI the use of barium lines in the neighborhood of ~ 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 if. 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." t09 The last article of the tenth volume of the Memoirs was published in ~~ I. A new trust fund was placed under the control of the Acad- emy in ~9~ when Sir John Murray presented the sum of $6,ooo to establish a gold medal to be known as the " Alexander Aaassiz ~ An t ~ `` ~ ~ ~ 1 1' . · . · r lVleual,,, and to be awarded to sclentluc 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.~° The vertebrate section of the committee on paleontologic correlation submitted a second and final report in ~~z from which it is learned that with the aid of grants from the Bache Fund, amounting to $~,ooo, 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 09 Rep. Nat. Acad. Sci. for ~9~2, p. ~4. o Loc. cit., p. ~4.

I02 NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES published in Professor H. F. Osborn's book entitled " Age of Mammals " and an article by him entitled " Correlation and Pal~ogeography." Upon recommendation the section of the committee was discharged. The Academy sent Dr. George F. Becker as its delegate to the meeting of the American Philosophical Society held on April lit' 19 and 20' 1912. At the Roth anniversary of the Royal Society of London, which was celebrated on July ~6-~8, 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 L`oeb, who died on October 8, 1912' con- tained the following item, adding to the trust funds of the Academy: " ~ 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.~' 1llRep. Nat. Acad. Sci. for ~9~2' p. ~3

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A History of the First Half-Century of the National Academy of Sciences: 1863-1913 Get This Book
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The National Academy of Sciences is the third oldest American institution, being established after the Smithsonian Institute and the American Association for the Promotion of Science. The Academy dates back to 1863, right in the midst of the American Civil War. Fortunately for the time, the Academy was vital to the development of the war in favor of the Union through its establishment of much needed scientific advancements and insight tantamount to those of the academies in Great Britain and the rest of Europe despite the involvement of science's most primary men. Since then, the Academy has served as a scientific adviser to the government, an adviser greatly appreciated by the government. The Academy's recommendations have been adopted, its findings accepted, and its investigations used to better advance the nation as a whole.

A History of the First Half-Century of the National Academy of Sciences: 1863-1913 (1913) illustrates the Academy's history from its creation to the appointment of Woodrow Wilson as president. The book features a detailed look into the founding and forming of the Academy; the annals of the academy including the classifications of membership in 1892; lists of those involved with the Academy including officers and foreign associates; the Academy's publications, and more.

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