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

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CHAPTER IV THE ACADEMY AS THE SCIENTIFIC ADVISER OF THE GOVERNMENT THE Academy started out in the stormy days of the Civil War with the idea and the intention of helping the Government. It has helped the Government. Its re- ports have been accepted, its recommendations have been adopted, and the Government has shaped its course in several matters of importance in the light of the course! which it received from the Academy. If it has not sought that course! as frequently and as eagerly as the founders hoped and expected, the defection has been due rather to the changes which time has wrought in the public service, than to any lack of confidence in the counsellors. In an earlier chapter we have shown that the idea of helping the Government was prominent in the minds of some of the founders of the Academy, that it was incorporated in the charter and constitution, and that Professor B ache and others thought that in this direction lay a very important if not the most im- portant, function of the Academy. It remains now to consider more in detail to what extent and on what subjects the advice of the Academy has been sought by the Government, how far its recommendations have. been adopted, and what results have followed. It will be readily understood that with the increase of large scientific organizations in the country, the growth of public opinion relative to scientific matters of more or less practical importance, and the development of the scientific bureaus of the Government, it has happened less frequently that the Academy has stood alone in its recommendations. Even at the outset some of the committees appointed to consider questions of public policy were joint committees of the Academy and of other kindred organizations, or had among their members 201 ;

202 NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES officers of the Government, who were detailed to assist in the deliberations. It is well to note also that from the beginning the membership of the Academy included many officers of the Government and that these were frequently selected to serve on committees of the Academy. On one occasion at least this led to some embarrassment, for the reason that through this double relationship it was thought that the views of subordinate officers might control the action of those higher in authority. As might be expected, there has been no regularity in the number of committees appointed on behalf of the Government from year to year. As marry as seven have been appointed in a single year, while, on the other hand, two periods of five years each passed in which no calls were received from Congress or the Executive Departments. The records show, however, that of the whole number of committees more than one-third were appointed in the first five years. After this the number fell off in a marked manner, but increased again during the decade be- ginning with ~878. Between that year and ~8, twenty com- mittees were appointed. In the twenty-four years that have elapsed since ~ 888, only seven committees have been appointed. The subjects brought to the attention of the Academy by the Government have covered a wide range, but among them, matters in which physics, astronomy and chemistry were con- cerned have predominated. It should be remarked, however, that some of the most important questions which the Academy has been asked to consider, have not related to any particular branch of science, but rather to matters of public policy. On the general subject of committees appointed at the request of the Government, Professor B ache ire his first report as Presi- dent of the Academy remarked as follows: " 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. " To avoid delay in reports which might be desired by the government to be promptly furnished, the President of the Academy was authorized to transmit

COMMITTEES ON BEHALF OF THE GOVERNMENT 203 such reports on their reception. It has not appeared to me, except, perhaps, in one case, and in that the conclusions of the Committee had not reached me, that there was occasion to present the reports until they had been discussed in the Academy itself, and the views had been adopted; especially as this was, as I have said before, a first trial of the working of our organization. One of the committees thus acting has been able to' meet so often, and with so many members at a meeting, as to show that in important cases, where consultation and discussion must be had, there will be little difficulty in effecting meetings; while in most cases correspondence amply suffices for the settlement of the questions involved, and to bring out the results in the form of a report with suggestions. " It will be seen by the spirit and words of our laws, enacted by the authority of the charter, that the members of the National Academy put their time and talents at the disposal of the country in no small or stinted measure, freely, fully, by the binding authority of an oath; asking no compensation therefor but the consciousness of contributing to judicious action by the government on matters of science. The more the wealth of such men can be drawn out from the treasury of their knowledge, the richer will the nation be; and I for one do not fear that even the suggestions which may be made to Congress on subjects in which that knowledge may be most profitably employed for our country and times, will be subject to any supposed taint of self-seeking as to power or influence. Subject to the taint of supposed desire for remuneration it cannot be, by our charter, and all our laws look away from such a center." ~ COMMITTEES APPOINTED BY THE ACADEMY ON BEHALF OF THE GOVERNMENT T. Committees appointed in accordance with Acts of Congress. ~87~. On the Transit of Venus (p. 256) . ~872. On Preparing Instructions for the Polaris Expedition (p. 40~. ~878. On a Plan for Surveying and Mapping the Territories of the United States ~ p. 268 ~ . ~879. On a National Board of Health (p. 50~. ~894. To Prescribe and Publish Specifications for the Practical Appli- cation of the Definitions of the Ampere and Volt (p. 3~3~. ~908. On the Methods and Expenses of Conducting Scientific Work Under the Government ~ p. 330) . a. Committees appointed at the request of Joint Commissions and Committees of Congress. ~884. On the Signal Service of the Army, the Geological Survey, the Coast and Geodetic Survey, and the Hydrographic Once of the Navy Department (p. Egg. 1 Ann. Nat. Acad. Sci., ~863-6, pp. 49, 50. For an annotated list of committees to ~879, see Rep. Nat. Acad. Sci. for z879, pp. 7-~3. . l

204 NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES ~902. On the Establishment of a National Forest Reserve in He South- ern Appalachians (p.323). a. Committees appointed at the request of the President of the United States. ~870. On the Protection of Coal Mines from Explosion by Means of Electricity (p. 253 ~ . agog. On Scientific Explorations in the Philippines (p. 325~. 4. Committees appointed at the request of the Treasury Depart- ment. 863. On the National Currency ~ Confidential ~ . ~863. On Weights, Measures, and Coinage (p. 206) . ~ 863. On Saxton's Alcoholometer (p. 2~ 8 ~ . ~-- ~86~. On Materials for the Manufacture of Cent Coins (p. 227~. ~866. On the Prevention of Counterfeiting (p. 33~. ~866. On Spirit Meters (p. 239~. ~866. On Proving and Gauging Distilled Spirits and Preventing Fraud (p. 239~. ~866. On Metric Standards for the States (p. 2~. ~870. On the EEect of Chemicals on Internal Revenue Stamps (p. 254~. ~87-3. On an International Bureau of Weights and Measures (p. 2~2~. i875. On Water-proofing the Fractional Currency (p. 26~ ). ~875. On Means of Distinguishing Calf's Hair from Woolen Goods Confidential) . ~876. On Artificial Coloring of Sugars to Simulate a Lower Grade According to the Standard on which Duties are Levied Confidential) . ~876. On the Use of Polarized Light to Determine the Values of Sugars (p. 264~. ~877. On Demerara Sugars (p. 264) . ~878. On Building Stone to be used for the Custom House at _ it, Chicago. ~ No report. ~ ~882. On the Separation of 3/lethyl Alcohol, or Wood Spirits, from Ethyl Alcohol (p. 29~ ). ~882. On 7882. On Glucose tp. 293) . Triangulation Connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Coasts. (No report.) ~884. On Philosophical and Scientific Apparatus (p. 3021. ~885. On the Tariff Classification of Wools (p. 306~.

COMMITTEES ON BEHALF OF THE GOVERNMENT 205 886 and ~ 887. On the Morphine Content of Opium ~ p. 309 ~ . ~887. On Quartz Plates used in Saccharimeters for Sugar Determi- nations ~ p. 308 ~ . ~890. To' Formulate a Plan for a Systematic Search for the North Magnetic Pole (p. 3~. 5. Committees appointed at the request of the Navy Depart- ment. ~863. On Protecting the Bottoms of Iron Vessels (p. ala ~ . i863. On Magnetic Deviation in Iron Ships (p. 2~5~. ~863. On Wind and Current Charts and Sailing Directions (p. 2~91. ~864. On the Explosion on the United States Steamer Che~za?2go (P. 230~. ~864. On Experiments on the Expansion of Steam (p. 226~. ~877. On Proposed Changes in the American Ephemeris (p. 267~. 88 I. On the Transit of Venus ( p. 256 ~ . ~885. On the Astronomical Day, the Solar Eclipse of ~886, and the Erection of a New Naval Observatory (p. 303~. 6. Committees appointed at the request of the War Department. ~864. On the Question of Tests for the Purity of Whiskey (p. 225~. 866. On the Preservation of Paint on Army Knapsacks. ~ No report. ~ ~867. On Galvanic Action from Association of Zinc and Iron (p. 232~. 873. On the Exploration of the Yellowstone. ~ No report. ~ ~88~. On Questions of Meteorological Science and Its Applications (p. 290~. 7. Committees appointed at the request of the Department of State. ~ ~866. On the Improvement of Greytown Harbor, Nicaragua (p. z47~. ~903. On the Restoration of the Declaration of Independence (p. 279~. 8. Committees appointed at the request of the Department of Agriculture. Woo. On Silk Culture in the United States (p. 33~. ~88~. On Sorghum Sugar ¢p. 284) . 9. Committees appointed at the request of the Department of the Interior. ~880. On the Restoration of the Declaration of Independence (p. 279~. ~896. On the Inauguration of a Rational Forest Policy for the Forested Lands of the United States (p. 3~4~. IS

206 NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES COMMITTEE ON WEIGHTS, MEASURES, AND COINAGE. 1863 Five committees were appointed at the request of the Govern- ment within a month after the organization of the Academy. The first of these, which was known as Committee No. I, was appointed at the solicitation of the Secretary of the Treasury, Salmon P. Chase, on May 4, ~863, not to consider any question relating to the conduct of the Civil War, but on the subject of the " Uniformity of weights, measures and coins, considered in rela- tion to domestic and international commerce." Secretary Chase had previously referred to this matter in his annual report for 86~, p. 28' as follows: " The Secretary desires to avail himself of this opportunity to invite the atten- tion of Congress to the importance of a uniform system and a uniform nomencla- ture of weights and measures, and coins to the commerce of the world, in which the United States already so largely shares. The wisest of our statesmen have regarded the attainment of this end, so desirable in itself, as by no means impos- sible. The combination of the decimal system with appropriate denominations in a scheme of weights, measures, and coins for the international uses of commerce, leaving, If need be, the separate systems of the nations untouched, is certainly not beyond the reach of the daring genius and patient endeavor which gave the steam engine and the telegraph to the service of mankind." 2 The committee was originally one of eight members, namely, Joseph Henry (chairman), J. H. Alexander' Fairman Rogers Wolcott Gibbs, Arnold Guyot, Benjamin Silliman, Jr., Wm. Chauvenet, John Torrey. To these members were added A. D. B ache, by resolution of the Academy, John Rodgers, Ll. M. Rutherfurd and Samuel B. Ruggles. Ruggles was not a member of the Academy, but was designated in accordance with a pro- vision of the constitution which permitted the President " to call in the aid, upon committees, of experts, or men of remarkable attainments, not members of the Academy." (Act a, sect. it.) He was the delegate of the United States to the International Statistical Congress held in Berlin in ~86~. The original committee was discharged in ~ 866, but the following year another committee was appointed under the same 2 Rep. Seer. Treas. for Adz, p. z8.

COMMITTEES ON BEHALF OF THE GOVERNMENT 207 name. It became a standing committee, and, although rated as a committee on business of the Academy, it has reported a num- ber of times on matters referred to the Academy by the Govern- ment. During the forty-six years that have elapsed since ~867, twenty-two members of the Academy have served on this com- mittee, including three who belonged to the original Committee No. I. These are J. H. Alexander, F. A. P. Barnard, C. B. Com- stock, Henry Draper, Wolcott Gibbs, B. A. Gould, Henry, Hilgard, Covering, Meigs, Mendenhall, Michelson, Morley, Newcomb, H. A. Newton, C. S. Peirce, Saxton, Sellers, W. P. Trowbridge, Webster, R. S. Woodward, Young. In regard to the sub ject-matter which the original Committee No. ~ was to consider, Professor Bache remarked in his first report as President of the Academy (~863), as follows: " It is not a little strange in our country, where the decimal system of coinage proved at once acceptable, notwithstanding the capital errors committed in, for a long time, keeping in use foreign coins of no convenient relation to the decimal system, that nothing of the kind was effected for weights and measures, and still more strange that the antiquated and cumbrous variety of tables by which articles of different classes were bought and sold should have been retained, that even in our preparation of a national system intended for practical use neither the deci- malization of the weights and measures nor the simplicity of one weight of one name should have been adopted. The influence of great names can alone probably explain this, without justifying it." 3 The proceedings of the committee were not reported in full, but Professor B ache informs us that " the discussions in the body of this committee were strongly in favor of the adoption of the French metrical system, but more strongly, in fact unanimously, in favor of the effort to arrive at a thorough international system a universal system of weights, measures' and coins, available for the general acceptance of all nations." 4 It will readily be understood that the committee was not pre- pared to submit at once a general report on so comprehensive and important a matter. They adopted the plan of dividing into subcommittees, each of which should inquire into the system of weights and measures employed by one or more countries. Hav- 3 Rep. Nat. Acad. Sci. for ~ 8 63, p. 4. 4 [OC. Cit.

208 NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES ing made known this arrangement to the Academy on January 9, ~864, the committee was continued, with power to act. Two years later, on January 27, ~866, the committee submitted its first definite report in the following terms: " Report of the Committee on Weights, Measures, and Coinage, to: the National Academy of Sciences, January, ~866. " The Committee are in favor of adopting, ultimately, a decimal system; and, in their opinion, the metrical system of weights and measures, though not without defects, is, all things considered, the best in use. The Committee therefore suggest that the Academy recommend to Congress to authorize and encourage by law the introduction and use of the metrical system of weights and measures; and that with a view to familiarize the people with the system, the academy recommend that provision be made by law for the immediate manufacture and distribution to the custom-houses and States of metrical standards of weights and measures; to introduce the system into the post offices by making a single letter weigh fifteen grammes instead of fourteen and seventeen hundredths or half an ounce; and to cause the new cent and two-cent pieces to be so coined that they shall weigh, respectively, five and ten grarnmes, and that their diameters shall be made to bear a determinate and simple ratio to the metrical unit of length." 5 This report was considered by the Academy and was trans- mitted to the Secretary of the Treasury! Hugh McCulloch, with a letter, signed by Joseph Henry, Vice-President of the Academy, giving the views of the majority and minority on the general question under consideration. This very interesting communication was as follows: 6 SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, WASHINGTON, D. C., " February ~7, ~866. " SIR: I have the honor herewith to transmit a report of the National Academy of Sciences on weights, measures, and coinage, adopted at its late meeting in January, after considerable discussion, but not with entire unanimity. " The subject is one of much perplexity. While, on the one hand, it is evident that a reform of our present system of weights and measures is exceedingly desirable, on the other, the difficulty of adopting the best system and of introducing it in opposition to the prejudice and usages of the people is also apparent. " The entire adoption of the French metrical system involved the necessity of discarding our present standard of weights and measure~the foot, the pound, the bushel, the gallon—and the introduction in their place of standards of unfamiliar magnitudes and names. 5 Rep. Nat. Acad. Sci. for ~865, p. 5. ~Loc.cit.,p.4.

COMMITTEES ON BEHALF OF THE GOVERNMENT 209 " Such a change, in my opinion, can only be, in a government like ours, the work of time and through the education of the rising generation, for this purpose, should the resolution now before Congress to establish a bureau of education be adopted, the French metrical system might be taught under the sanction of the government in all the common schools of the country. " The system, however, is not considered by many as well adapted to the Anglo- Saxon mind as one which might be devised, and it was therefore the opinion of a minority of the academy, that, could England and the United States agree upon a system for adoption, it would in all probability in time become universal. " The argument in favor of the French metrical system is, however, that it has been already adopted in whole or in part in several nations. " I have the honor to be, your obedient servant, JOSEPH HENRY, " Vice President of the National Academy of Sciences. " HON. H. MCCULLOCH, " Secretary of the Treasury." The recommendations of the Academy reached Congress either through the President or the Secretary of the Treasury, and were printed in the report of the House Committee of the 38th Congress on Coinage, Weights and Measures on the bills relating to the metric system then pending. as follows: This report begins " In considering the general subject of a uniform system of coinage, weights and measures, your committee had before them- " First. That part of the message of the President and accompanying docu- ments relating to these subjects. " Second. The report of the National Academy of Sciences, embracing their resolutions approving the metric decimal system of weights and measures. " Third. The report of the United States commissioner to the statistical con- gress at Berlin.7 " Fourth. Various memorials of universities and colleges of the United States, urging a uniform system of weights and measures, also invariably commending the metric decimal system. " Fifth. The petition of the mayor, judges, and citizens of Baltimore praying for the adoption of the metric system of weights and measures. " Sixth. Several memorials of citizens in different parts of the United States in behalf of the same object. " Seventh. The bill H. R. no. 25z, referred to them, and proposing the com- pulsory and exclusive use after a limited period, of the metric system..... 7 Hon. Samuel B. Ruggles.

RIO NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES " .... They also received the assistance of those distinguished members of the National Academy of Sciences who constitute the special committee of that learned society having charge of these subjects, and particularly Professor Newton, of that committee, whose efforts in aid of their purposes have been patient and persevering." 8 After this follows a resume of the history of the coinage, weights and measures of the United States, Great Britain and France, and a comparison of the existing weights and measures with the metric system. Finally, on page no of the report of the House Committee it is said " Your committee unanimously recommend the passage of the bills and the joint resolutions appended to this report. They were not prepared to go, at this time, beyond this stage of progress in the proposed reform." The reasons are then given and the report concludes with a list of the bills recommended. These are as follows: " A bill making it lawful to use the metric system. " A joint resolution directing the Secretary of the Treasury to furnish metric standards to the States. " A bill to authorize the use in the post offices of weights of the denomination of grams.9 " A joint resolution to authorize the President to appoint a special commissioner to facilitate the adoption of a uniform coinage between the United States and foreign countries." The bills legalizing the use of the metric system, directing the Secretary of the Treasury to furnish metric standards to the States, and authorizing the use in post-offices of weights of the Denomination or grams passed the mouse on Play I7' IbOt), with- · ~ out c lscusslon. . . .. , . .. ** ~ ~ in,, 8 House of Representatives, 38th Congress, fist Session. Report no. 62. Coinage, Weights and Measures. (To accompany bills House Res. nos. 596 and 597, and House Res. no. ~4~.) May ~7, ~866. Ordered to be printed. p. I. 9 The text of this bill is as follows: "Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives, etc., That the Postmaster General be, and he is hereby, authorized and directed to furnish to the post offices exehang- ing mails with foreign countries, and to such other offices as shall think expedient, postal balances denominated in grams of the metric system, and until otherwise provided by law, one-half ounce avoirdupois shall be deemed and taken for postal purposes as the equivalent of fifteen grams of the metric weights, and so adopted in progression; and the rates of postage shall be applied aeeordingly."

COMMITTEES ON BEHALF OF THE GOVERNMENT 2r I They were brought up in the Senate on July by, 1866, by Senator Sumner, who made a speech on their merits, and were passed on that day without discussion. The last two above mentioned were approved on the same day, July z7, ~866, and the first on July 28, ~866. Thus, it appears that in this instance the recommendations of the Academy were received and accepted by Congress, and that the action taken was in accord therewith. It is clearly a case in which the Academy helped the Government. At the same time at which the use of metric measures was legalized, Congress enacted a law enabling the Secretary of the Treasury to supply a set of the standards to each of the States of the Union. The Secretary requested the National Academy to advise him as to the kind and form of standards that should be furnished, the material of which they should be made, and the proper means of verifying them. The request was referred to the Committee on Weights and Measures which reported to the Academy at the meeting of August, ~867. The report was transmitted to the Treasury Department and the recommenda- tions which it contained were adopted.~° Congress passed a third act at the same time with the other two, as we have seen, authorizing the use in post-offices of weights of the denomination of grams. The Academy appears not to have been directly concerned in the passage of this measure, but at the annual meeting of the following year ~ ~867) a resolution was adopted to the effect that the Academy considered it " highly desirable that the discretionary power granted by Congress to the Postmaster-General to use the metrical Freights in the post offices (should) be exercised at the earliest convenient day." As we have noted in a previous chapter, a committee was appointed in ~868 to urge upon the Postmaster-General the importance of adopting the action mentioned in this resolution, but no results followed at that time. The interest of the National Academy in metric measures did not end with these proceedings. It will be recalled that two 10 Rep. Nat. Acad. Sci. for ~879, p- x3. t'

2I2 NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES international conferences were held in Paris to consider the question of preparing new metric standards, one in ~870 and the second in ~872. In this connection a proposition was put for- ward for the establishment of an international bureau of weights and measures, and the matter was submitted to various govern- ments including that of the United States for consideration. It was brought by the Secretary of the Treasury on March 7, ~873, to the attention of the Academy which in turn referred it to the Committee on Weights and Measures. On June ~ ~ of that year a report was transmitted to the Treasury Department. Two years later, in ~875, the metric convention at Paris voted for the establishment of an international metric bureau and in April of that year, as was noted in an earlier chapter, the Academy adopted resolutions proclaiming its belief in the use- fuIness of such a bureau, and its " solicitude that the Govern- ment of the United States should ratify the convention prepared to that effect." tt A copy of the resolutions was transmitted to the President, with a request for his favorable consideration. This letter was as follows: 22 NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES, " To the President. WASHINGTON, May 3, I 875. " SIR: I have the honor to transmit to you herewith, in conformity with a resolution of the National Academy of Sciences, the expression of their opinion of the usefulness of an International Bureau of Weights and Measures, which is now the subject of a diplomatic conference at Paris, and of their solicitude that this Government should ratify the convention which has been prepared to that effect, and to ask your favorable consideration of the same. " Very respectfully, your obedient servant, JOSEPH H ENRY, "President National Academy of Sciences. " Upon this recommendation the convention was ratified by the United States Senate." 13 It was signed at Paris, May 20' 1875, the United States being the first to sign ~4 — 1lRep. Nat. Acad. Sci. for ~879, p. ~3. Apron Nat. Acad. Sci., vol. I, p. alp. 3 Rep. Nat. Acad. Sci. for z879, p. z3. Encvcl. Amer., vol. lo, egos, article Metric System.

COMMITTEES ON BEHALF OF THE GOVERNMENT 2 I 3 Further action in regard to the metric system was taken by the Academy in ~879, besides that mentioned on the preceding pages. This was in the form of resolutions urging that instruction in the principles of the metric system be introduced into the schools and colleges, that laws be enacted by Congress requiring the use of metric weights in the domestic mad! service, and that the weights of coins be expressed in grams and milligrams rather than in grains and fractions of grains. COMMITTEE ON PROTECTING THE BOTTOMS OF IRON VESSELS. 1863 The second committee appointed during the Civil War had for its task the consideration of means for protecting the bottoms of iron ships from injury by salt water. It was appointed May 9, ~863, at the request of the Navy Department, communicated by Admiral Davis May 8, ~863. This was a short-lived com- mittee. It made a brief report on January 9, ~864, and was dis- charged. The substance of the report was that, though many plans for protecting the hulls of iron ships had been devised, no one of them had proved sufficiently effective to justify the committee in recommending it for use in the Navy. It was suggested that experiments should be tried by the com- mittee of the Academy in case means were provided. No means being forthcoming, however, the investigations were never undertaken by the Academy, although the laboratory of the Smithsonian Institution was placed at its disposal. It may seem strange that the committee, which included among the members the Sillimans and Wolcott Gibbs, should have been unable to make any suggestions in the line of the inquiry with which it was concerned, but it appears that the com- position of paints, and the effectiveness or non-effectiveness of different mixtures against corrosion and the fouling of ships has only recently been the subject of scientific investigations. We learn from the writings of Naval Constructor Henry Williams that it has only been within the last five or ten years that the 1 .,

2I4 NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES United States Navy has conducted experiments with paints. Prior to that time commercial brands of paints were adopted, and when a vessel was painted with a particular kind that kind was ever afterwards used for the same vessel. This practice proved both inconvenient and expensive, and in ~906 the Navy Department began a series of experiments to determine what mixtures were most effective to prevent corrosion and fouling. The experiments resulted in the adoption of a paint, known in the service as the " Norfolk paint," for practically all vessels of tile navy, two formulas being used, one for an anticorrosive paint and the other for an antifouling paint. Mr. Williams remarks: " Estimates made in Go of the cost of paint for the bottoms of all vessels on the navy list, using the kinds of proprietary brands of paint that were purchased usually prior to ~908 and distributed among the ships in the proportions of each brand then customary and at the prices then current, show that the cost of paint for a single painting of the bottoms of all vessels of the navy, not including coal barges, etc., under the conditions noted, would have been somewhat more than $~oo,ooo. The cost of an equal amount of the Norfolk ship's bottom paint at the r~revailina cost of manufacture would be less than $33,ooo. As a majority of the vessels of the navy are painted twice a year, it will be seen that the annual saving to the government by this means at the present time is probably not less than $~oo,ooo annually. It should be noted, however, that largely as a result of the government entering the Held with its own paint the prices asked for ship's bottom paint by various firms previously supplying the navy has been so reduced that if, for expediency or for some other reason, the Navy Department decided in the future to purchase all or a portion of its ship's bottom paint, there still would remain an appreciable saving to be credited to the Norfolk paint." \5 He further remarks on this subject: " The question of protecting the underwater bodies of sea-going ships always has been vital, and since the use of steel for hulls has become general, a suitable paint for this purpose has been in demand. Various manufacturers offer com- merically, generally under proprietary names, so-called ship's bottom paints or compositions, which are designed to effect the double purpose of protecting the bottom plating from the corrosive action of sea-water and, also, of preventing the attaching of the various marine growths, such as grass, barnacles, hydroids, etc. The necessity for the periodic docking of ships, often at intervals of less than 15 Engineering News, voI. 66, no. s, August 3, ages, p. ~38.

COMMITTEES ON BEHALF OF THE GOVERNMENT 2 I 5 6 months, bears witness to the fact that so far no satisfactory ship's bottom paint has been produced; those in general use represent the best available, but all leave much to be desired." \6 The foregoing comments on the subject of ships' paint' which are from an authoritative source, and of very recent date, serve to make it clear why the committee of the Academy was unable to recommend definite compositions, or mixtures, and to justify it in proposing that experiments be made to determine the rel- ative effectiveness of different substances. If the subject of ships' paints is still open to investigation, it is obvious that its condition a half century ago must have been much more unsatis- factory. COMMITTEE ON MAGNETIC DEVIATION IN IRON SHIPS. 1863 The committee known as Committee No. 3, or " the Compass Committee," was appointed on May 20' ~863, at the request of the Navy Department, communicated by Rear-Admiral Davis on May 8, ~ 863, and had a direct bearing on the operations of the Navy during the Civil War. It grew out of a commission appointed by the Secretary of the Navy in accordance with an Act of Congress " to make experiments for the correction of local attraction in vessels built wholly or partly of iron," approved March 3, ~863, the same day as that on which the Act of Incor- poration of the Academy was approved. When the Academy had been organized, the Secretary of the Navy turned the matter over to it, requesting that it would " investigate and report upon the subject of magnetic deviation in iron ships." The similarity of the personnel of the two bodies the commission and the com- mittee is of strong interest in connection with the present his- tory. We learn from Professor B ache that the Commission of the Navy Department consisted of himself as chairman, Joseph Henry, Wolcott Gibbs, Benjamin Peirce, and W. P. Trowbridge. The committee of the Academy was the same, with the addition of Charles H. Davis and Fairman Rogers. This transformation 10Engineerin`7 Neqvs, vol. 66, no. s, August 3, ogle, p. z36.

2I6 NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES goes far to convince us of the truth of Admiral Davis' assertion that the practical plan for the organization of an Academy was suggested by the Commission of the Navy Department. There appear to have been several such commissions and the one under consideration performed other duties besides the particular one for which it was established. It met in New York on March ~9, ~863, to act, by request of the Secretary of the Navy, " as a scientific committee to superintend the placing of the standard compass on board the United States steamer circassian, and to examine the correction and register of its deviations." Its second meeting while acting in this capacity was held in New York, April at, ~863, the day before that on which the Academy met for organization, and on which a committee drafted the constitution. Not only so, but the committee met in the same place as the Naval Commission the Brevoort House and three of the members of the committee were also members of the Commission. These coincidences and relationships reveal to us how close was the interaction between the Naval Commis- sion and the leading spirits in the founding of the Academy. This committee performed an extraordinary amount of work and prepared a detailed report which covers 73 printed pages. It is Circuit to understand how men charged with many onerous duties could devote so much energy to a special investigation, until one considers the condition of the times. Not only were many of the ordinary activities of life suspended or retarded by war, but every loyal citizen, and especially every officer of the Government, felt that he had a patriotic duty to perform in aid- ing, as far as in him lay, to sustain the cause of the Union. The Civil War happened at a time when iron ships were fast superseding wooden ones. The Navy had in commission or under construction in May, ~863, some 88 vessels, the majority of which had wooden hulls protected above the water-line by plates of iron. These were known as iron-clads. The vessels with iron hulls were mainly prizes. They were built in England and employed as blockade-runners. The rigging of some vessels

COMAIIOEES ON BEHALF OF THE GOVERNMENT 2 I 7 was all of rope, of others part iron and part rope, and still others, all iron. The decks of wooden vessels were also often of iron. Vessels at this time appear to have carried several compasses which were sometimes arranged in pairs, and were placed in what were thought to be the most convenient locations. The presence of large masses of iron, often within a few feet of the compasses caused a large and variable amount of deviation on which account navigation was at times extremely precarious. Various plans had been proposed from time to time for overcom- ing the local attraction, some of which seem strange indeed, such as setting the compasses in iron pots four inches thick, placing them in zinc cases packed with charcoal, etc. The method which seems to have been most effective was the one invented by the English astronomer Airy, which consists in counteracting the local attraction by means of bar magnets placed in suitable loca- tions. The committee of the Academy adopted this method for the war vessels which they inspected, making use of the services of an expert, A. D. Frye, of New York, to carry it into practical effect. They supervised the correction of the compasses on zy vessels of all kinds, including sloops, monitors, gunboats, pro- pellers, side-wheel steamers, tugs and transports, and were occupied in the task from March until late in September. Some of the vessels were at New York, others at Boston, Philadelphia, and Hampton Roads. At Philadelphia a compass station had not been established, and at the request of the Bureau of Naviga- tion, one member of the committee, Fairman Rogers, gave personal attention to the ship Ticon~leroga, which was lying there, and made a special report to the committee. In addition, Charles A. Schott and G. W. Dean, assistants in the U. S. Coast Survey, made, by direction of Professor Bache, an extended series of magnetic observations on the first-rate iron- clad Roanoke and the monitor Passaic at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, and also some experiments in the iron-clad Monadrzock at the CharIestown Navy Yard.

l 2I8 NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES COMMITTEE ON SAXTON'S ALCOHOLOMETER. 1863 While the purpose of this committee was to advise the Govern- ment, it was peculiar in that it was appointed at the request of a member of the Academy to examine the invention of another member. The request came from Professor B ache who was at once President of the Academy and Superintendent of the United States Weights and Measures, while Saxton, whose in- vention was to be reported upon, was a member of the Academy. The committee, which was appointed May 25, ~863, consisted of John F. Frazer, Joseph G. Totten, F. A. P. Barnard, and William Chauvenet. The hydrometer which the committee was to examine was patented by Saxton, who, however, took occasion to address a letter to the President of the Academy to the follow- ing effect: " In taking out a patent for the hydrometer ~ do not intend to interfere with its free use by the government. My object in patenting it is to have control of its manufacture in private establishments only." 27 Saxton was a man of unusual inventive genius and had devised many curious and useful mechanisms. Among them was this novel form of hydrometer which he believed superior to that used by the Treasury Department. It consisted of a glass bulb of spheroidal form, to which was attached a chain of one hun- dred links, which were smaller in proportion as they were nearer the lower end of the chain. The instrument was so constructed that when placed in pure water the bulb and the whole of the chain were suspended, while if placed in absolute alcohol the bulb alone remained suspended and the chain of one hundred links lay in the bottom of the vessel containing the fluid. The percentage of alcohol in any given mixture of alcohol and water could be determined by counting the number of links that remained suspended in the liquid. This instrument was readily portable and was so small that it could be placed in a box three- quarters of an inch in diameter and one inch high.29 17 Rep. Nat. Aca6. Sci. for ~863, p. 97. 33Loc. cit., p. 96. 19Loc. cit., p. 6.

COMMITTEES ON BEHALF OF THE GOVERNMENT 219 At the time this new instrument was under consideration, the Bureau of Internal Revenue, which was organized the preceding year, was employing Tralles' hydrometer, which, as is well known, is a special form of Gay Lussac's hydrometer. It was not entirely satisfactory, as the committee pointed out, for the reason that the scale was not easily read, and because it was difficult to make the proper allowance for capillary attraction. The committee, which reported on January 7, ~864, reco~m- mended in favor of the adoption of Saxton's alcoholometer by the Government on the ground that it was more portable than Tralles', less easily broken, and less difficult to read, although the opinion was expressed that it would be reliable only in careful hands. COMMITTEE ON WIND AND CURRENT CHARTS AND SAILING DIRECTIONS. 1863 This committee was the fifth among those appointed in T863. The explanatory note regarding it contained in the Annual of the Academy for the year is as follows: " Appointed May 2sth, ~863, at the request of the Navy Department, conveyed through Rear-Admiral C. H. Davis, May 23(1, ~863, asking for an investi- gation and report on the subject of discontinuing the publication, in the present form, of the Wind and Current Charts and Sailing Directions." The history of these publications, the circumstances that brought them to the attention of the Academy. the character of ~ , ~ the committee that passed on them, and the verdict of science regarding them are all matters of more than ordinary interest. They were devised by Matthew Fontaine Maury, whose singular career may be summarized for the benefit of those not ~ Maury who was a Virginian by already acquainted WltH it. birth, entered the Navy in ~825 and a few years later was detailed to join the United States Exploring Expedition. As an officer of the ship Fincennes, he circumnavigated the globe. In ~836 he reached the grade of lieutenant and became astronomer to the expedition. Three years later he met with an accident

220 NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES which caused him to be permanently lame. He became in- terested during his cruise with the Fincer~rzes and on subsequent voyages in studying the winds and other phenomena of the ocean. Rendered incapacitated for active service by the accident which he encountered, he was placed in charge of the Depot of Charts and Instruments, in the Navy Department. Out of this office a little later grew the Hydrographic Office and the United States Naval Observatory. Maury became the head of both these establishments. After it had become impossible for him to make meteorological observations himself he inaugurated a system of distributing specially prepared {og-books to captains of vessels in which they might keep a daily record of winds and other phenomena of different parts of the ocean. The data thus obtained were intended to lighten the labors of navigators, and it was expected that by the study of them sailing captains would be enabled to determine upon the best course in different latitudes and would be informed regarding the character of the storms and winds which they might encounter. The data were published by the Government in a series of charts and books which are described as follows in the report of the committee: " The publications submitted to the committee consist of seventy-six charts of large dimensions, measuring generally twenty-four inches by thirty-five or six within the borders, and classified into six distinct series, distinguished by the letters a to F. These classes are entitled severally, 'Track Charts,' 'Trade Wind Charts,' ' Pilot Charts,' 'Thermal Charts,' ' Storm and Rain Charts,' and ' Whale Charts.' Besides these there are two thick quarto volumes of letter press, embracing pp. xxxxi, 383, and viii, 874, respectively. The first of these volumes is illustrated by sixty-three engraved plates, some of them colored, and the second by six. Supplementary to these are three thin tracts, also in quarto, entitled, ' Nautical Monographs,' and embracing in all pp. 48 and five plates." 20 In addition, Maury, as is well known, published a treatise entitled " The Physical Geography of the Sea," and several other works. The publication of the meteorological data led to the organization of an international congress in ~853, and later, when 20 Rep. Nat. Acad. Sci. for ~863, p. 98. 4i l

CO~IMI=EES ON BEHALF OF THE GOVERNMENT 22 I the British Meteorological Office was established, Maury's log- books were adopted. In recognition of his services to navigation and meteorology, Maury received many medals and decorations from European societies and Governments. Regarding the value of Maury's work Sir John Murray and Dr. Johan Hjort recently remarked as follows: · — " Maury's work had important consequences, for ship-masters following his directions shortened the voyage between North America and England by ten days, that from New York to California by about forty-five days, and that from Eng- land to Australia and back by more than sixty days. The profit derived from the use of Maury's charts by British ship-owners on the East India route alone amounted to lo million dollars yearly. " On Maury's suggestion it was deaded, at an international congress at Brussels in ~853, that numbers of log-books should be sent out with captains of ships for the purpose of entering observations of wind and weather, of currents, and of temperatures at the sea-surface. This plan has been followed ever since, the notes being as a rule entered once every watch, so that a formidable pile of material has now been amassed. Up to ~904 the Meteorological Office in London had collected 7 millions of these notes, the Deutsche Seewarte in Ham- burg more than cod millions, the Dutch Meteorological Institute in DeBilt 3i millions, the Hydrographical Bureau at Washington 51 millions, and so on." 2t Upon the outbreak of the Civil War, Maury resigned his office under the United States Government and threw in his fortunes with his native State. Being unfit for active service, he went to England to reside and later became commissioner of immigra- tion for Emperor Maximilian of Mexico. On returning to England in ~866 he was given a banquet in honor of his services as a hydrographer, which was attended by many eminent naval officers and scientific men of England and other parts of Europe. On this occasion he was presented with a purse of hobo guineas, collected by popular subscription. His last years were spent as Professor of Physics at the University of Virginia. When Maury left the Naval Observatory on April ~5, ~86~, his meteorological data, records and papers fell into the hands of James Melville Gilliss, who two days later was appointed to succeed him as the head of the Naval Observatory. 23 Depths of the Ocean, by Sir John Murray and Dr. Johan Hjort, London, I9I2, pp. 214, HI 5. I6

222 NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES In September of the following year the Navy Department was reorganized and the Observatory was included in the new Bureau of Navigation of which Admiral Charles H. Davis became the head. It appears that the publication of the charts and sailing directions was unfinished, and the question arose in the Department whether it should be continued. This question was, on the suggestion of Admiral Davis, referred to the recently- organized Academy of Sciences.22 The Academy appears to have considered the question one of special difficulty and importance, as is evidenced by the size and character of the committee appointed to report on it. This was a committee of twelve members, ten of whom were ap- ~The correspondence, as given in the Report of the Academy for ~863, pp. 6, 7, is as follows: " BUREAU OF NAVIGATION, NAVY DEPARTMENTS, " Washington, May 2T, 1863. " Sir: I have the honor to inform the department that the charts and sailing directions published by the late superintendent of the Observatory, at the expense of the government, are regarded by hydrographers and scientific men as being prolix and faulty, both in matter and arrangement, to such an extent as to render the limited amount of original information which they actually contain costly and inaccessible " I am prepared to recommend the discontinuance of the publication of these charts and sailing directions. But in order that this question of discontinuance may be decided with deliberation, I have to request permission to refer it to the National Academy of Sciences, for investigation, and report to this department. " I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant, " CHARLES H. DAVIS, " Chief of the Bureau. " HON. GIDEON WELLES, " Secretary of the Nary." " BUREAU OF NAVIGATION, NAVY DEPARTMENT, " Washington, May 23, ~863. " Sir: I transmit herewith a copy of a letter addressed by me to the Hon. Secretary of the Navy, on the subject of discontinuing the publication, in the present form, of the ' Wind and Current Charts,' and ' Sailing Directions,' accompanying them; and now, with the approval of the department, I have the honor to refer the same subject to the National Academy of Sciences, for investigation and report, requesting that, on account of the expense and the public interest, it may receive early attention. " Very respectfully, your obedient servant, " PROFESSOR A. D. BACHE, " President National Academy of Sciences." " CHARLES H. DAVIS, " Chief of the Bureau.

COMMITTEES ON BEHALF OF THE GOVERNMENT 223 pointed on May z5, and the remaining two a little later. The personnel was as follows: F. A. P. Barnard (chairman), J. H. Alexander, Wm. Chauvenet, J. F. Frazer, J. E. Hilgard, Joseph Winiock, Alexis Caswell, J. H. C. Coffin, Arnold Guyot, Ben- jamin Peirce, l. P. Lesley, l. D. Dana. The report of the committee, which was handed in on January 9, ~864, more than seven months after its appointment, occupies fifteen pages, and treats of the different aspects of the publication of the charts and sailing directions considerably in detail. It begins with a brief account of the size, number and character of the publications which were examined, and then discusses the purposes which they appeared to have been intended to seine. it points out that up to the year ~858 more than 200,000 copies of the " Wind and Current Charts " and zo,ooo copies of the " Sailing Directions " had been distributed, from which it resulted that the publications and their compiler, Maury, had become widely known. After showing that although the publications were primarily intended to serve practical ends they had, nevertheless, been regarded in part as containing the results of scientific investiga- tion, the committee discusses them from both points of view. Its opinion regarding both the scientific and the practical merits of the publications was unfavorable. On the scientific side, the opinion of the committee' which was fortified by quota- tions from the French writers Bourgois and Lartigue, was that the generalizations contained in the Sailing Directions did not follow from the data collected, that many of the data were left out of consideration, and that the principles enumerated were not correctly based. On the practical side, the opinion of the committee was that while the data presented were valuable, the form in which they appeared was such as to confuse rather than aid and inform the navigator. The committee sums up as follows: " The original idea of these publications was a good one; it is the manner of its execution that is faulty. It was fitting that the laborious analysis of ships' records

224 NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES which has been carried on at the Naval Observatory should be made. It is great!,, desirable that it should be continued, and extended to every point of interest in meteorological science and research. It is desirable that the collected and classified results should be compared and studied, and that abstracts of them should be exchanged with institutions and individuals engaged in similar investigations else- where, in our own or in other lands. But it is by no means desirable that the immense mass of facts thus collected should be embodied in an indigested or half digested state, into publications designed to be scattered broadcast over land and sea. Out of their careful study may be deducted principles which may form the basis of instructions to navigators worthy to be called ' Sailing Directions,' and such instructions in any suitable form may very fitly be published by the govern- ment and circulated among seamen. " The committee, therefore, with entire unanimity, recommend the adoption of the following resolutions: " ' Resolved by the National Academy of Sciences, That, in the opinion of this academy, the volumes entitled ' Sailing Directions,' heretofore issued to navi- gators from the Naval Observatory, and the ' Wind and Current Charts,' which they are designed to illustrate and explain, embrace much which is unsound in philosophy, and little that is practically useful; and that therefore these publica- tions ought no longer to be issued in their present form. " ' Resolved, That the records of meteorological phenomena and of other impor- tant facts connected with terrestrial physics, which, under the direction of the Navy Department, have been accumulated at the Observatory, are capable of being turned to valuable account, and that it is eminently desirable that such information should continue to be collected and subjected to careful discussion. " ' Resolved, That the president of the academy be authorized and requested to communicate to the Secretary of the Navy a copy of the foregoing resolutions, and of this report, as a response to the inquiry addressed to the academy upon this subject by that officer.' ,' 23 Considering the circumstances under which this report was drawn up, it must be conceded that it is moderate in tone and not unappreciative of the labors of M aury. The criticisms of the committee were directed against the form in which the data were published and ~ ~ than against the data themselves. . . . . the deductions drawn from them, rather As a result of the committee's report the publication was suspended. After the Hydrographic Office was regularly organized in ~866, however, the plates from which the charts were made were turned over to it' and in ~873 efforts were renewed to obtain additional meteorological data ~Rep. Nat. Acad. Sci. for ~863, p. ~2. 1

COMMITTEES ON BEHALF OF THE GOVERNMENT 225 from merchant vessels for a new edition. In ~884 the hydrog- rapher reported that sufficient data from this source and from the naval vessels had been collected to form the basis of a new set of charts for the North Pacific.24 Commander J. R. Bartlett, the head of the Hydrographic Office remarked: " The province of the meteorological division is to furnish blank meteorological journals to the masters of merchant vessels who are willing to post them, the masters receiving in return a set of charts covering the route to be traversed. The data obtained from these journals and from the log-books of ships of war are con- densed for use in the construction of new editions of Maury's Wind and Current Charts." 25 COMMITTEE ON THE QUESTION OF TESTS FOR THE PURITY OF WHISKEY. 1864 This committee, appointed to consider a subject which within the last few years has been repeatedly forced on the attention of the Government, was appointed on January ~4, ~864, at the request of the Acting Surgeon General of the Army received on the fifth of that month, and consisted of Benjamin Silliman, fir. (chairman), John Torrey, R. E. Rogers, J. Lo. L~eConte and J. H. Alexander. On March id, the committee asked for and obtained the use of the sum of $~,500 to be used in experimentation, but later decided that no expenditure of money was necessary. A brief report was presented on January 6, ~865, as follows: " In the absence of the chairman of the committee on the question of tests for the purity of whiskey, the members who are present beg leave to report, that after giving the subject their earnest consideration, they have come to the conclusion that in the present condition of chemical science no tests can be employed for deter- mining the age of whiskey and other spirituous liquors. The common adulter- ations are readily detected. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~~ , ~ . It is not difficult, however, to obtain alcohol that is tree from all deleterious admixture. They therefore recommend, for use in the military hospitals in the United States, pure alcohol, medicated with such additions as will qualify it for the particular object for which it is prescribed. 24 Rep. Nat. Acad. Sci. for z884, p. so. 25Loc. cit., p. 6~.

226 NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENGES " No portion of the appropriation granted by the Secretary of War has been expended by the committee." 26 This report appears at first somewhat enigmatic, because the inference from it would be that the purity of whiskey depended on its age. In one sense, however, this is true because, as is well known, some of the poisonous components of the: complex dis- tillate break up in the lapse of time into less harmful ethers, esters and higher alcohols. It follows, therefore, that the older the whiskey, the less harmful its ingredients, and in this sense it is purer. The practice of prescribing alcohol instead of whiskey as a stimulant, as recommended by the committee, is sometimes adopted in hospitals and has the sanction of physicians. COMMITTEE ON EXPERIMENTS ON THE EXPANSION OF STEAM. 1864 It is recorded in the first Annual of the Academy that on February 29, ~864, " the Hon. Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy, invited the appointment of a committee of three members of the Academy to act jointly with three members named by the Department and with three members of the Franklin Institute of Pennsylvania, for the promotion of the Mechanic Arts, to conduct, witness, and report upon experiments which may be agreed upon by the Commission on the expansion of Steam. The experiments are to be reported as early as practicable to the Department, and to be submitted also to the National Academy of Sciences for its judgment and suggestions." 27 The investigation was undertaken by authority of Congress. The Academy appointed as its committee Fairman Rogers, F. A. P. Barnard and Joseph Saxton. The Navy Department appointees were Horatio Allen, Chas. H. Davis (a member of the Academy) and B. F. Isherwood, and those of the Franklin Institute, J. H. Towne, l. V. Merrick, and R. A. Tilghman. 25 Rep. Nat. Acad. Sci. for ~864, p. 5. Only Torrey and ~eConte signed the report. The other members were absent. 27 Ann. Nat. Acad. Sci. for z863-64, p. 39.

COMMITTEES ON BEHALF OF THE GOVERNMENT 227 Whether any results were reached by this commission is doubt- ful. A preliminary report was made to the Academy on January 5, ~865, and another report of progress on January 26, ~866, but in taco we learn that " owing to the lack of appropriations these investigations have not yet been concluded." 28 In the meantime two members of the commission had died, and perhaps others. In view of this circumstance and the fact that fifteen years after the experiments were begun they were still unfinished, it is improbable that they were ever brought to a conclusion. The most that can be learned is that the object in view was to deter- mine the measure of expansion that would give the best results in practice, that a program for the experiments was considered at a meeting held in New York on June 29, ~864, at the Novelty Iron Works, of which Horatio Allen was the president, that the apparatus proposed by him was approved by the commission, that after delay this apparatus was made ready for use, and that experiments were conducted by five assistant engineers detailed by the Navy Department one of whom had general charge, while the other four kept regular watch of operations.29 ~ ~ O- - A COMMITTEE ON MATERIALS FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF CENT COINS. 1864 This committee, which was misnamed in the reports of the Academy, was appointed on April At, ~864, at the request of the Secretary of the Treasury, Salmon P. Chase, " to examine and report upon aluminum bronze, and other materials for the manu- facture of cent coins." 30 It consisted of John Torrey (chairman), Joseph Henry Wolcott Gibbs, F. A. P. Barnard and the Presi- dent, -A. D. Bache, who was added by request of the Treasury Department. The phrase from the first Annual of the Academy, quoted above, defining the duties of the committee, though occurring in substantially the same form in the report of the ~Rep. Nat. Acad. Sci. for z864, pp. 2 and 5-7; also for ~866, p. 3, and for z879, p. 9. resee Rep. Seer. Navy, ~864, pp. xxix, DUG, and togs, zog6, House E'cec. Doc. no. I, 38th Congress, ad Session; also Isherwood's "Experimental Researches in Steam Engineer- ing," vol. 2, ~865, p. xxxi. 30 Ann. Nat. Acad. Sci. for ~863-64, p. 40.

228 NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES President of the Academy, appears not to be quite accurate. If it be so, it may indicate that the views of the Secretary of the Treasury and the Director of the Mint were not entirely in accord regarding the cent coinage. The latter in his report for ~864 remarks: " During the past year some interesting experi- ments were made with aluminum as an alloy for coins; not with a view to displace the bronze coinage, but to propose a system of tokens for five and ten cents." 3t It is not surprising that the Director of the Mint should not have contemplated a change in the bronze coinage at that date, as the Government had just adopted bronze one cent and two cent pieces, more than 42,000,000 of the former and about 2,000,000 of the latter having been coined in ~86~. It would seem that the idea was not at all to displace these new and popular coins, but rather to determine the properties of aluminum bronzes, particularly with a view of employing them for other forms of currency. The experi- ments were suggested by certain claims put forward in France that a small percentage of aluminum added to silver would prevent the latter from tarnishing when exposed to fumes con- taining suiphur, while at the same time forming an alloy of con- siderable hardness. While the committee had the subject under consideration an article on aluminum bronzes was published by Moreau,32 and it was found that he had fully covered all the points regarding the characteristics of those alloys which the committee was to investi- gate. The proceedings were on this account confined simply to preparing a bar of aluminum bronze, anal having coins struck from it at the mint in order to ascertain to what extent the alloy was suitable for coinage. The bar was prepared by Joseph Saxton, a member of the Academy, and transmitted by Joseph Henry to the Director of the Mint, who in turn placed it in the 8lRep. Dir. of the Mint in Rep. Seer. Treas. for ~864, p. 2~4. House Exec. Doc. no. 3, 38th Congress, zd Session. 32 Moreau, G. Ueber die Eigenschaften der Aluminiumbronze. (Aus Armengaud's Genie industrial, December, z863, S. 29~; durch das polytechnische Centralblatt, ~864, S. 3~2.) Polytechr~isches Journal, Herausgegeben van Dr. Emil Maximilian Dingler, vol. z7z, ~864, pp. 434-442

COMMITTEES ON BEHALF OF THE GOVERNMENT 229 hands of the assayer, l. R. Eckfel~t. The report of the Director of the Mint, fames Pollock. contains a statement regarding ~ ~ . ~ . ~ O cat the nature ot the experiments Which were made with this bar, the results obtained, and the conclusions derived therefrom. He first remarks that experiments had been made two years pre- viously to determine whether aluminum bronzes could be used for medals, that they had resulted negatively, and that then the use of such alloys for coins had been suggested. He continues: " A further series of experiments was therefore undertaken here, at the desire of the Secretary of the Treasury and a committee of scientific gentlemen. The latter forwarded to the mint a bar for this purpose, which, by assay, was found to contain the proportion of nine parts copper to one of aluminum. Their directions were closely followed and the principal results may be briefly stated as follows: " The aluminum bronze, in the proportion just stated, is very rigid under the rolls, requiring many annealings, and liable to crack and break into plates of oblique fracture This hardness gives it a great advantage in wear. Coins of the cent size were made of this alloy, of legal bronze, and pure copper. The three varieties placed in boxes and rapidly shaken for a long time,33 treated equally in all respects, lost by attrition in the following ratio: Assuming the aluminum bronze as the standard of comparison, the legal bronze lost about three times, and the copper about six times as much. This property, however, is of no great conse- quence in coins of little value. " A point of much greater consideration is the avoidance or mitigation of the tendency to change color and become foul from the usual causes, viz., the action of oily and saline excretions of the hand; the chemical agencies which are met with in market-stalls, and the slops of drinking saloons, and the mere exposure to air and moisture. If any metal or alloy could be found that would look well, and keep clean with the usage to which our small coins are generally subjected, it would be deservedly popular. This can scarcely be expected. A silver coin can be deprived of its original beauty and become of such a hue as to have its genuineness called into question. Pure aluminum, white at first, assumes a bluish tint by atmospheric action; and aluminum bronze, although closely resembling gold at first, was ~ ~ ~ · ~ ~ . ~ ~ 1 ~ found, after being held in the sweaty hand for a few hours, to have received an ugly tarnish which destroyed the last argument for employing it in currency. " After these experiments were concluded others were started, in the hope of finding a binary or ternary alloy which would answer the required conditions, especially as to ductility and keeping color for coins of a grade a little above the cent and two cent pieces. After some progress had been made, it became evident, 33This~experiment was suggested by Joseph Henry. ;

23o NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES from the fact that cents were hoarded to such an extent as to keep them out of circulation, that in the present state of the currency it would be futile to attempt to carry out the project. More than this: we believe the end of our nation's troubles is nigh, and that peace will soon bless our country. With peace we may confidently expect an influx of silver, always more acceptable than any substitute, which will supply every want and furnish a currency of ' small coins ' equal to any demand. 34 Pollock's prophecy as to the return of peace and the return of fractional silver currency into circulation were both fulfilled, and further experiments with aluminum alloys became unneces- sary. The work of this committee of the Academy, which was indeed limited in extent, led, therefore, to no practical results. COMMITTEE ON THE EXPLOSION ON THE UNITED STATES STEAMER CHENANGO. 1864 During the Civil War the Government ordered the construc- tion of z7 light-draft side-wheel steamers, intended for use as gun-boats. Among these was the Chenar~go. These vessels were known as " double-enders," or " double-bowed," from the circumstance that they were fitted with a bow and rudder at each end. The Chenango was built at a private shipyard in New York. The boilers were constructed at the Morgan Iron Works 34 Rep. Seer. Treas. for ~864, pp. z~4-~5. The report of the assayer to the committee of the Academy, which contains many interesting details, is given in full in the Annual Report of the Academy for z864, pp. to-do. (House Exec. Doc. no. 66, 38th Congress, ad Session.) 35 The experiments mentioned above seem not to have become generally known. We read in Richard's "Aluminum: Its History, Occurrence," etc., the following: " Aluminum has often been proposed as a material for coinage, but the only recommenda- tion it ever possessed for this purpose was its high price It is said that the United States Government made experiments, in ~865, in making aluminum coins, but that the results were not sufficiently successful to induce its adoption. What the difficulties were I cannot find out, but they were—aside from the uncertain value probably the fact of the great power required to stamp the coins, which is stated to be several times that needed for silver unless the metal is of exceptional purity. The problem of hardening it by adding a little silver or nickel did not probably stand in the way of its adoption. However, as an alloy in ordinary silver coins to replace copper, aluminum can be successfully used, since 5 per cent of aluminum added to silver makes an alloy as durable as ordinary silver coin with to per cent of copper, without giving it the yellow color of coin silver." Aluminum: Its History, Occurrence, Properties, Metallurgy and Applications, including its Alloys. By Joseph W. Richards, M. A., A. C. ad ed. 8°. Philadelphia, ~890, p. 370.

COMMITTEES ON BEHALF OF THE GOVERNMENT 23 I and were of a kind known as the Martin boiler, which had verti- cal tubes. A large number of vessels in the Navy were fitted with boilers of this type, while others had boilers with horizontal tubes, opinion being divided as to the relative merits of the two forms. The Chenango was delivered at the Brooklyn Navy Yard early in ~864 and placed in command of Lieutenant Fillebrown. On the afternoon of April ~5 the vessel left the Navy Yard for Sandy Hook to join the Onondaga for blockade service. She steamed slowly past Governor's Island and entered the Narrows, when one of her boilers exploded, scalding thirty-two of the crew of whom twenty-eight died.38 This terrible accident " appalled the whole country," and an inquest was immediately held in New York to ascertain if pos- sible the circumstances under which it occurred. A very large number of witnesses were examined, and the testimony given occupies ~4~ printed pages.37 The jury was unable to agree and two verdicts were rendered, the majority holding that the ac- cident resulted from " the bursting of one of the boilers, which was caused by a greater tension exerted on the boiler than it could bear, the result of the unproper bracing," while the minority asserted that the boiler " exploded from low water and superheated steam." The specifications for the boilers were prepared by the Navy Department, while the boilers themselves, as already men- It is o r .' 1 ·~ . . , , . ~ . tioned, were built at private Iron works In flew York. probable that the majority verdict was unacceptable to the Navy Department because it could be interpreted as implying that the specifications were faulty. Doubtless on this account the Department, on April 30, ~864, through its Assistant Secretary, authorized the President of the Academy to appoint a com- mittee to make an independent investigation of the cause of the accident. He appointed J. F. Frazer, Fairman Rogers and 36 See the New York Herald for April z6 and ~7, ~864. 37 See "The Boiler Explosion of the Martin boiler on board the U. S. 'Double-ender' Chenango. The Coroner's Inquest. A full report of the testimony, the charge of Dr. Norris to the jury and the verdicts." New York, ~864. 8°. · — l

232 NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES L. M. Rutherfurd on May 2, 1864, as the committee. The com- mittee visited the Brooklyn Napery Yard and made a painstaking examination of the boilers, " one of the committee having entered the boilers and made a minute and thorough examination of their internal condition." The detailed report submitted on August 5, 1864, contains the following conclusion; " The com- mittee are unanimously of opinion that the rupture of the shell of the boiler of the Chenango was caused by the insufficiency of the vertical stays, by which the top of the boiler was fastened to the tube-boxes to withstand the pressure for which the boiler was intended, and that these stays were both deficient in number and injudiciously arranged," and again " the committee are of opinion that the boiler was not braced in accordance with the specifications, and that this difference was the cause of the dis- aster." 38 This report clearly throws the main responsibility for the accident on the private constructors rather than on the engineers of the Navy Department, though it would seem that the Government inspectors were not entirely absolved thereby. As a slight concession to the makers of the boilers, the committee in closing points out a certain fault in the specifications which they had corrected. COMMITTEE ON GALVANIC ACTION FROM ASSOCIATION OF ZINC AND IRON. 1867 At the close of the Civil War and for some years afterwards the headstones which marked the graves of soldiers in the national military cemeteries consisted for the most part of wooden blocks, painted white, with the names of the soldiers, the numbers of the regiments to which they belonged, and other data in black lettering. It was felt both by the Government and by the general public that these perishable marks should be re- placed by others of an enduring character before the records which they bore should become obliterated. It was determined by the War Department, probably on the recommendation of General Meigs, Quartermaster-General, 38 Rep. Nat. Acad. Sci. for ~864, p. ~3.

COMMITTEES ON BEHALF OF THE GOVERNMENT 233 that the permanent marks should take the form of cast-iron Blocks coated with zinc. It was suggested to the Secretary of ~War, however, that these blocks might be injured or destroyed as a result of galvanic action between the two metals. He, there- fore, requested through the Acting Quartermaster-General that a committee of the Academy be appointed to advise him as to the probability of such action in the metal headstones. The letter was as follows: 39 QUARTERMASTER GENERAL S OFFICE, " [l~ashi7zgton, D. C., January 8, ~867. " Sly: It having been suggested to the War Department that the coating with zinc of the iron head-blocks, with which it is proposed to mark soldiers' graves, will produce galvanic action that will tend to a destruction of the iron blocks, the Secretary of War has directed me to submit the subject to the Academy of Sciences here, with a view to obtain an intelligent opinion on it, and to ascertain if there be any good ground for the apprehension. " In obedience to this direction, I respectfully submit the subject to you with a request that you will present it to the Academy of Sciences and advise me of their opinion thereon, that I may make report thereof to the Secretary of War. " I am, very respectfully, your obedient servant, D. H. RUCKER, ,` acting Quartermaster General, Brevet Major General. The PRESIDENT OF THE ACADEMY OF SCIENCES, Washington, D. C. A committee consisting of Joseph Henry, l. H. C. Coffin and Joseph Saxton was appointed by the President on the same day. :It reported on January ~7, as follows: NATIONAI ACADEMY OF SCIENCES, " Washington, January ~7, i867. " SIR: In compliance with your request, the undersigned, a committee of the National Academy, appointed to examine the proposed cast-iron head-blocks for soldiers' graves, and state whether, in their opinion, the coating of zinc will tend to produce a galvanic action destructive to the iron, respectfully report as follows " The head-block submitted to the committee is a hollow truncated pyramid of cast iron, on one side of which, in raised figures, is the No. ~,646, and on the top, also in raised letters, the name of a soldier, his regiment, and a date, probably that of his death. This block is entirely covered inside and out with 39 Rep. Nat. Acad. Sci. for ~866, p. ~7. Sen. Misc. Doc. no. 44, 40th Congress, fist Session.

234 NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES a coating of zinc, of greater thickness on the surface containing the letters and figures. " From well-established principles of galvanism, and from the direct experi- ments of the committee, it is certain that while the zinc coating covers every part of the surface of the iron, no other galvanic action will take place than that exhibited in the ordinary corroding of a single metal, but that as soon as the smallest portion of the iron is exposed to the liquid precipitation from the atmos- phere, a galvanic current will be established passing through the liquid from the zinc to the iron, that the former will be more rapidly corroded than it was previous to the exposure of the iron, and that this action will go on until all the zinc is dissolved. The iron, during the process, will be protected from the action of the atmosphere at the expense of the zinc. After all the zinc has been dis- solved, the iron, being unprotected, will then be corroded in the usual manner. " From this statement it is evident that the coating of zinc will tend to prolong the existence of the iron in its metallic state, though it will not afford a perpetual protection such as may be given by a coating of enamel like that used in covering the basins of iron sinks, kettles, etc. " The experiment made by the committee consisted in attaching to one end of the wire of a galvanometer a plate of zinc and to the other end a plate of iron. These two plunged in a vessel of water slightly acidulated by sulphuric acid, gave rise to a powerful current of galvanism from the zinc to the iron. While the zinc was rapidly corroded the iron remained unaffected. By substituting for the zinc a plate of copper, a still more powerful current was produced in the opposite direction. The iron in this case was violently acted upon, while the copper retained its brightness. r ~ e - ~ he committee may state, as a general rule, that when two different metals are placed in metallic contact, the one most readily acted on by an acid will be dissolved, while the other will be protected, and that the action on the metal dis- solved will be increased in intensity by the association. Thus, iron in association with zinc is protected, while the same metal in connection with copper is more rapidly corroded than it is without such connection. " Respectfully submitted, GENERAL D. H. RUCKER, U. S. A., " Acting Quartermaster General." JOSEPH HENRY, J. H. C. COFFIN, JOSEPH SAXTON. It will be observed that this report refers exclusively to the metals composing the headstones and that the opinion expressed was that iron blocks would not endure perpetually. While the report was pending, a discussion of another character regarding

COMMITTEES ON BEHALF OF THE GOVERNMENT 235 these headstones took place in the Senate. The House of Repre- sentatives had passed a bill (House Res. no. 788) for the mark- ing of soldiers' graves in the National Cemeteries, and this bill was reported from the Committee on Military Affairs to the Senate on January ~ 8, ~ 867. It was in charge of Senator Wilson of Massachusetts, who, it will be remembered, introduced the bill for the incorporation of the Academy in 1863. The follow- ing discussion ensued: NATIONAL CEMETERIES. " ~ Senate, January ~ 8, ~ 867. " MR. WILSON. I arr1 directed by the Committee on Military Affairs and the Militia to report back without amendment the bill (H. R. No. 788) to establish and protect national cemeteries; and I ask for its present consideration. " By unanimous consent, the Senate, as in Committee of the Whole, pro- ceeded to consider the bill..... " The second section provides that each grave shall be marked with a small marble or cast-iron headstone, with the number of the grave thereon corresponding with the number opposite to the name of the party inscribed on the monu- ment. " MR. WADE. I have seen some of these iron monuments provided for by this bill, and I think it is not creditable to the country to have such monuments over the graves of our soldiers. They are small cast-iron slabs, not more, perhaps, than eighteen inches high. MR. RAMSAY. Not over twelve inches. " MR. WADE. Perhaps that is it; I did not measure them. They look more like a tin kettle than anything else, and are liable to be kicked on and kicked about and changed from one grave to another by any mischievous person. I think the Committee on Military Affairs cannot have seen a specimen of them. They seem to me to be totally inadequate for the purpose contemplated, and it is dis- creditable to the country to erect such things as monuments for its soldiers. " MR. CONNESS. A kind of solemn toy ! " MR. WADE. Yes, a solemn toy, or whatever you please. It is a burlesque rather than a monument. If we cannot do any better than that, I would much rather that nothing should be done. I think it is discreditable to us, and must be a means of wounding the feelings of the relations of the soldiers who may have occasion to visit the cemeteries where their remains are deposited. " I hope the bill will not pass in this form. I think it had better lie over, and let the Committee on Military Affairs inspect these monuments and see if some better model cannot be adopted. I was assured by persons in charge of some of -

236 NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES the cemeteries that they were entirely opposed to the adoption of any such plan or style of monument, and I agree with them most heartily. I think if the Military Committee will look into the subject they Still come to the same conclusion that I have arrived at. There are other gentlemen here who inspected some of these cemeteries at the same time that I did, and who as I understand came to the same conclusion. " MR. WILSON. BY existing law the War Department was authorized to prepare these monuments, and I am told they have agreed upon this plan. I have no particular reason for pressing this bill now if the Senate does not wish to act upon it at present. I am willing to take time to make further inquiries. The main feature of the bill, however, and the great object is to get possession of the land necessary for the sites of these cemeteries. " MR. RAMSAY. I think if the chairman of the Committee on Military Affairs would inquire of the Quartermaster's Department in this city he would End a large number of pretests there from all those who have charge of these national cemeteries in the South against the adoption of this plan, which seems to have met the approbation of the Department, of iron tombstones, so called. They almost universally object, and there are many representations on file upon the subject. I think the committee should take some steps immediately to check the further execution of the contract if it has already been entered into. It is unquestionably wrong. " MR. WILSON. I have no objection to the bill lying over, and I shall call it up after I have made the necessary inquiries. The PRESIDENT pro [empore. " MR. WILSON. I do. The PRESIDENT pro tempore. Of this bill be postponed. " The motion was agreed to." 40 Does the Senator make that motion? It is moved that the further consideration On February 9, ~867, the bill was recommitted to the same committee and was reported back on February ~3, ~867. On February r4, ~867, it was taken up for discussion and the fist and 26 sections amended and consolidated so as to direct the Secretary of War merely " to cause each grave to be marked with a small headstone, or block, with the number of the grave inscribed thereon," etc., without specifying the material. The bill was then passed.4~ Congressional Globe, January IS, ~0667, pp. s3s, s4o. t Opt cdl., pp. ~8, loos.

COMMITTEES ON BEHALF OF THE GOVER1!\TMENT 237 The Secretary of War had, in the meantime, received the report of the Academy, which he acknowledged in the following letter: 42 WAR DEPARTMENT, WASHINGTON, D. C., " January 23, ~ 867. " PROF. HENRY, ETC., ERIC. " DEAR SIR: The report made at my request by the National Academy, rela- tive to the subject of galvanic action on the iron head-blocks proposed for marking soldiers' graves, has been submitted to this department, and I over my thanks to the Committee for the valuable information it contains. I beg now to refer the case back again for report whether there is anything known to the Academy of a nature which would be more suitable on account of its durability, and at the same time not so expensive as to forbid its use for the purpose, than the combination of materials already submitted to your Committee for their opinion; and would be glad to have an opinion as to the fitness of these materials for the purpose designated. " Very respectfully, dear sir, your obedient servant, EDWIN M. STANTON, " Secretary of [Yar." There is no evidence in the records of the Academy that this second request was complied with, though in view of sub- sequent proceedings it is not unlikely that it was. As indicated by the discussion in Congress, opinion in the War Department was divided on the subject of the headstones, some officials favoring the iron blocks and others regarding them as unsuitable. Quartermaster-General Meigs was absent from duty on account of illness during the year ~867 and a part of ~868 also, and on December ~9, ~867, the acting officer, General Rucker, made a number of recommendations to the Secretary of War relative to the National Cemeteries, among which was the following: " That proposals be speedily invited by the Quartermaster-General for cast- iron (zinked) head-blocks of the pattern enclosed, in quantities sufficient to mark all the graves not now supplied with proper wooden head-boards; and that the contract for them be let, and the blocks erected without delay (provided it shall be deemed too expensive to erect stone blocks, after definitely ascertaining the true cost of the same). " 43 4"Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci., vol. I, pp. 6~, 62. 43 Rep. Seer. War for 1868, vol. 3, part I, p. 908. E2`ec. Doc. no. I, 40th Congress, ad Session. I7

238 NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES The paper was returned on January 3, I 868, with the follow- ing endorsement: " Erect the fences and lodges, but do nothing about the headstones. By order of the Secretary of War. Signed) Ed. Schriver, Inspector General." 44 Later, when General Meigs returned to duty, he submitted a report, dated October no, 1868, in which he remarked: ON HEADSTONES IN NATIONAL CEMETERIES. " NO progress has been made in erecting, as required by law, permanent blocks at each grave. " I am still of the opinion that the best monument for this purpose yet con- trived is the small rectangular block of cast iron, galvanized to protect it from rust, and filled with earth or cement. " This planted at the grave will last for many years. It is not costly, is easily transported, and not an object of plunder. " With the wages of stone-cutters at $;5 a day, the cost of 320,000 headstones properly lettered would be a very great charge upon the treasury. " The wooden head-boards are now rapidly decaying, and to replace them is expensive. " For the action of the department in this matter I refer to the detailed report of Colonel tC. W.] Folsom herewith." 45 No further action appears to have been taken in the matter until Age, when Congress amended the Act of ~867, so that the Secretary of War was directed merely to " cause each grave to be marked by a small headstone, with the name of the soldier and the name of the State inscribed thereon." 46 The question of material, which is here omitted, as it was from the Act of ~867, was finally settled the following year, when Congress directed that, " the headstones . . . . shall be of durable stone, and of such design and weight as shall keep them in place when set, and the Secretary of War shall first determine for the various cemeteries the size and mode! for such headstones, and the standards of quality and color of the stone to be used." 47 44 Loc. cit. 43 Rep. Gen. M. C. Meigs, Quartermaster General, in Rep. Seer. War for z868, p. 8~8. Colonel Folsom's report occurs in the same document, pp. 894-9~6. 46 Stat. at Large, vol. ~7, ~873, p. 345, 42d Congress, ad Session, chap. 368. Act approved June 8, zig. 47 Stat. at Large, vol. ~7, z873, pp. 545, 546, 42d Congress, ad Session, chap. 229. Act approved March 3, ~873.

COMMITTEES ON BEHALF OF THE GOVERNMENT 239 Thus, after the lapse of more than six years the Government was committed to a course of action which was in harmony with the advice of the Academy, though it is probable that esthetic and sentimental considerations had more weight than that of permanence. COMMITTEE ON PROVING AND GAUGING DISTILLED SPIRITS AND PREVENTING FRAUD. 1866 1 In the early history of the United States excises or internal revenue taxes were extremely unnonular on account of their --r - r -- association in the minds of the people with the despotism and extortions of colonial times. Nevertheless, the Government found it necessary to lay such a tax in ~79~, which led to resist- ance and the well-known Whiskey Insurrection of ~794. In iefferson's administration all internal revenue taxes were abo1- ished, but it was found necessary to revive them again in connection with the War of ~8~. After that war they were once more discarded and no excises were collected subsequently until the outbreak of the Civil War. The enormous demands then made on the treasury necessitated the establishment of a vast series of internal revenue taxes, which were levied on property and activities of every description, Nothing was too great or too small to be pressed into service and the revenue collected in this way in the year ~866 amounted to more than $300,000,000. Among the articles subjected to taxation at this time were distilled spirits manufactured in the United States. At an earlier date only imported spirits were taxed and a simple system of inspection sufficed, but the collection of a high internal revenue tax on all domestic spirits necessitated much greater vigilance, a better form of proving instruments and a more elaborate system of inspection. By a singular coincidence the system of inspection employed for fifteen years prior to the Civil War was based on the recommendations of Professor Alexander Dallas B ache, the first President of the Academy. This system had now to be modified to adapt it to the new conditions.

24o NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES On February Is, 1866, the Secretary of the Treasury Hugh McCulloch addressed a letter to Joseph Henry, then acting President of the Academy, requesting that a committee be appointed to report to the department on the best method of proving and gauging alcoholic liquors, with a view to the estab- lishment of such rules and regulations as would insure a uniform system of inspection of spirits subject to duties.4S Professor Henry accordingly appointed a committee to consider the sub- ject, assuming the chairmanship himself and designating as his associates J. E. Hilgard and M. C. Meigs. At the same time, F. A. P. Barnard, John Torrey and B. F. Craig were requested to prepare tables of standard mixtures of alcohol and water. Dr. Craig was not a member of the Academy. the chief difficulty regarding the system recommended by Professor Bache in ~848 was that the Tralles hydrometer, which was the one then proposed, gave percentage in alcohol, instead of percentages in " proof spirit," or a mixture of 50 per cent alcohol and 50 per cent water, upon which all commercial negotiations were based. While the former could readily be con- verted into the latter in most cases, it would lighten the labors of the inspectors if their hydrometers gave readings in proof spirits. Tralies' hydrometer, furthermore, was not adapted for quick observations within one per cent, which it was necessary should be recorded, on account of high duty; or for gauging large quantities of spirits out-of-doors in inclement weather, or under other unfavorable circumstances. It was also found that the tables used by the Treasury Department were not entirely correct. In view of these circumstances, the committee set itself the laborious task of finding a more convenient hydrometer, and of preparing new tables. Its report was submitted on July ~I, 1866. The recommendations were that following the custom of the trade, the strength of distilled spirits should be estimated accord- ing to their equivalent in proof spirits, and be expressed in terms of percentage of proof spirits rather than by the use of the IS Rep. Nat. Acad. Sci. for ~866, p. As.

COMMITS EES ON BEHALF OF THE GOVERNMENT 24I terms " above proof " and " below proof "; that a special form of hydrometer designed by Wm. G. Tagliabue of New York, be used instead of the ordinary Tralles instrument, and that the Government should test these hydrometers and issue them to the inspectors free of expense. The hydrometers, which were figured in the report of the committee, were to be made in series of five each. so graduated as to cover all percentages from pure alcohol to pure water. The tables which accompanied the report cover 25 pages. They give real and apparent specific gravities and percentages for all mixtures of alcohol and water at different temperatures from zero to ~oo° Fahrenheit, together with other data of similar character. In addition, the report has appended to it a " Manual for inspectors of spirits," consisting of tables showing the true percentage of proof spirits for and indication of the hydrometer at temperature between o° and loon F., and instructions for their use. This part of the report covers thirty- four pages. The committee was not content to restrict its tables to the temperature limits of the earlier ones, but carried on an elaborate series of experiments to ascertain the proper readings of hydrom- eters at temperatures as low as zero Fahrenheit. This was neces- sitated by the fact that spirits were sometimes received at ware- houses in the Northern States in winter time at temperatures far below freezing and often approaching the zero of the Fahrenheit scale. These experiments were carried on, by request of the Treasury Department, at the laboratory of the Suraeon-Gen- eral's Office. and were conducted bv Dr. B. F. Craig. The committee also considered various forms of hydrometers and decided to recommend one which, in its opinion, was best adapted for the revenue service. Dr. John Torrey and Dr. F. A. P. Barnard made especially accurate mixtures of water and alcohol and prepared and marked a series of delicate floats which were afterwards used by Tagliabue in graduating the hydrometers which he manufactured for the Treasury Depart- ment.

242 NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES The whole report, covering 39 printed pages, was, as already mentioned, submitted to the Secretary of the Treasury on July or, ~866. In the Annual Report of the Academy for ~866 Joseph Henry said regarding the work of the committee: " .... The duty devolved upon the members of the committee was one of much labor and responsibility. The tables accompanying the report are of much value, and will be referred to by all persons engaged in pursuits requiring a knowledge of specific gravity and volume, at various temperatures, of alcoholic spirits of different strength; they are not only indispensable to the distiller, rectifier and gauger of spirits, but will prove extremely useful in the laboratory of the chemist, and in many processes of manufacture involving the use of alcohol." 49 At an earlier date, however, on April I9, ~866, the committee recommended to the Treasury Department the adoption of a definition of " proof spirit," and this definition was incorporated ~ .. . . .. in the internal revenue law,50 together with the provision that the Secretary of the Treasury should procure suitable hydrom- eters and other instruments. At the beginning of the fiscal year ~866-67, therefore, the Treasury Department was in possession of the information necessary for the establishment of a new system of proving and gauging spirits and the authority for carrying it into effect. In his report for ~867 the Commissioner of Internal Revenue remarks on this subject as follows: · ~ · ~ ~ " For several years there had been frequent complaints of a lack of uniformity in the inspection of distilled spirits in different sections of the country. The accounts of revenue officers were disturbed, and the interest of shippers prejudiced by diffi- culty in procuring their proper allowance for leakage. The Treasury, too, was fre- quently, it is presumed, unfavorably affected by an excess of such allowance. To secure, therefore, a uniform and correct system of inspection and gauging of spirits subject to tax throughout the United States, the Secretary of the Treasury, in Feb- ruary last, adopted the hydrometer of Mr. Tagliabue, of New York. This hydrom- eter was approved by a committee of the National Academy of Sciences, consisting of Professor Henry, General Meigs, and Professor Hilgard, and has been fur- nished, with an accompanying manual prepared and printed for that purpose, to collectors of the Internal Revenue for the use of duly appointed inspectors in their several districts. The caliper and head-rod system of gauging has been 49 Rep. Nat. Acad. Sci. for ~866, p. 3. 50 See Stat. at Large, vol. ~4, ~868, p. ~57, 38th Congress, fist Session, chap. z84, sec. 33, and Rep. Nat. Acad. Sci. for ~866, p. 2~. l

COMMITTEES ON BEHALF OF THE GOVERNMENT 243 adopted likewise, and a manual of instructions in their use furnished revenue officers. The hydrometers are furnished by the manufacturer in sets of five, at a charge of eighteen dollars per set, and in sets of three at thirteen dollars. Seven hundred and thirty-four sets have been received from the manufacturer at a cost of $~ ~,826.50, and about five hundred sets have been distributed to officers. Inspectors supply themselves at their own charge with the necessary gauging instruments." 5\ Thus the work of the committee relative to the proving and gauging of spirits was completed, but the question of the preven- tion of fraud still remained for consideration. There was a widespread belief at the time, based on the strongest evidence, that the Government was being deprived of a vast amount of its revenue through frauds practiced on an enormous scale, either by the distillers separately or in collusion with the inspectors, and many thought that these could be stopped by making the capacity of the distilleries the basis of the tax. The Commissioner of Internal Revenue, E. A. Rollins, was con- vinced that this idea was erroneous, but he was of the opinion that measurement of the output by means of meters attached to the stills would aid the inspectors in detecting gross misstate- ments of the amount of spirits manufactured, besides having incidental advantages. He remarks in his report for ~86; re- garding the law as follows: " It does not undertake to levy the tax in accordance with any real or estimated capacity, for this has always been regarded as impracticable; but it does endeavor to give to revenue officers information from which the possible product may be approximately estimated, so that fraud may well be presumed if the product returned is unreasonably small Could the production of distilleries be ascertained for the purpose of taxation by some mechanical means, and were it impracticable for distillers to deceive officers or to collude with them, it is evident that much of the cost of supervision would be avoided, while efforts to discover illicit spirits after they have left their place of production would no longer tend to embarrass and discourage honest dealers. It was for this reason that the Depart- ment was persuaded nearly two years ago to invite the co-operation of the National Academy of Sciences, and a committee of the Academy, consisting of Professors Joseph Henry and l. E. Hilgard, gentlemen of eminent ability and wide reputa- tion, has given the subject the full consideration which its importance deserves." 52 · · ~ ~ ~ 51 Rep. Comm. of Int. Rev. for 1868, p. XXXiii. 52 Rep. Comm. Int. Rev. for 1867, pp. ~Vii, ~Viii.

NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES The committee, on its part, believed that an instrument could be devised that would measure the output of the stills. In its report of July ~ i, ~ 866, the committee remarks : . " The committee confidently believe that a spirit meter can be constructed which will register the quantity of spirits passing from a still, and afford a reliable check on the distiller and inspector. " They recommend that an instrument based upon the principle of Worthing- ton's water-meter be constructed and submitted to trial. " Of various inventions submitted for measuring and registering the quantity of spirits passing from a still, the only one which has commended itself for sim- plicity and certainty of action, is that of Cox & Murphy, of Montreal, which the committee likewise recommend to be submitted to actual trial in a distillery, for several months, under the supervision of an officer of the revenue." 53 And in the report for I 867: " The desire of the Internal Revenue Department to possess a reliable spirit- meter having become generally known through its officers and agents, a large number of inventions were brought forward, from time to time, between dune, ~866, and January, ~868, and referred to this committee. The examination of the various plans and models, and the correspondence incident thereto, involved the expenditure of much time and labor, the constant aim being to develop any promising plans by pointing out defects, and making suggestions of improvement when practicable." 54 . The committee examined in all some ~8 different meters and submitted written reports on most of them. This work occupied a year and a half, the last report being submitted on January a, ~868. The meter of Con and Murphy did not, in the end, prove satisfactory, and the committee finally turned to that of I. P. Tice, of New York, which was recommended to the Treasury Department for adoption on April 3, ~867. On August I, ~867, Joseph Henry and J. E. Hilgard read before the Secretary of the Treasury and the Commissioner and Deputy Commissioner of Internal Revenue a statement relative to modes of defeating the operation of spirits meters.55 On October 9, ~867, they sub- misted rules for the use of the Tice meter, and by the end of that year ~9 such meters had been attached to distilleries in 53 Rep. Nat. Acad. Sci. for ~866, p. 56. 34 Rep. Nat. AcaL Sci. for ~867, p. 12. 55 roe. Cit., p. 24-

/ - COMMITTEES ON BEHALF OF THE GOVERNMENT 245 New York. Early in ~867 General Meigs was obliged to with- draw from the committee on account of ill health. He was re- placed by L. M. Rutherfurd, who in turn was prevented by sick- ness from taking an active part in the work of the committee. The labors of ~867 fell, therefore, entirely upon Henry and Hilgard. No sooner had the adoption of the Tice spirit meter been decided upon than difficulties began to arise regarding it. The manufacturer, through sickness and unforeseen mechanical difficulties, failed to deliver the meters as promptly as agreed upon, and he also claimed that on account of the small number ordered the cost of manufacturing them was necessarily greater. The Treasury Department thereupon increased the order to loo meters. As already mentioned, a number of these instruments were attached to distilleries in New York late in ~867 and early in ~ 868. They had scarcely been put into operation than a storm of opposition arose from the distillers, and on February 3, ~868, a joint resolution of Congress was approved appointing a com- mission of five persons who, in connection with the committee of the Academy, should again immediately examine all meters presented to them for consideration and report to Congress in detail the results of their examination, together with such recom- mendations as would in their opinion promote the interests of the Government. The resolution also directed that all work on the construction of meters under direction of the Treasury De- partment should be suspended until the report was submitted, and that no further contract for such instruments should be made under the act of March 2, 1867.56 The introduction of this resolution led to an extended and acrimonies discussion in both houses of Congress, a discussion which took a wide range and even involved the question of the integrity of the highest officers of the Government. Those who opposed the measure did so on the ground that no form of meter would protect the Government from fraud, or that scientific men were not qualified to pronounce on the practical utility of . · ~ 50 See Stat. at Large, vol. ~5, z869, pp. 246, 247, 40th Congress, ad Session, Res. no. 9. .i . All

246 NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES such instruments as applied to distilleries, or that the new com- mittee would merely renew the recommendation of the com- mittee of the Academy, or that to enact the second section of the resolution, which prohibited the Treasury Department from attaching any more meters to distilleries until the Commission reported, would open the door to greater frauds. Those who favored the resolution pointed out that the Tice meter had proved effective as far as tried, but that other devices had been brought forward after the adoption of the former had been decided upon, which while operating on the same principle, might give more accurate results, or operating on other prin- ciples might give a better indication of the amount of spirits produced or producible. They considered that the inventors of these Reprices were entitled to a hearing and that the distillers should not be compelled to pay for the Tice meters while it was still uncertain whether they might not be soon discarded for more effective ones. In the end the resolution prevailed and was approved. Upon the passage of this resolution, the manufacturer whose meters had been adopted by the Treasury Department, I. P. Tice, discharged his employees and closed his manufactory. lo. . . .. . . he report or tne new commission was submitted in March! ~868, and was again favorable to the Tice meter, which the com- mittee of the Academy had already recommended. No action was taken thereon, however, until July 20, ~868, when the Com- missioner of Internal Revenue was authorized to adopt and pre- scribe for use such meters as he should deem necessary. He once more adopted the Tice meter, and Mr. Tice was persuaded to reopen his manufactory and construct the instruments required. Though he employed some ~25 workmen to construct the meters and others to attach them to the distilleries, only eleven were so equipped in November, ~868. The (listillers resisted the use of the meters as far as possible, and some closed their distilleries to prevent the application of the instruments.57 The matter had progressed thus far when the Commissioner of Internal Revenue began to entertain suspicions as to the 57 Rep. Comm. Int. Rev. for HIS, pp. A, ~xi. l

COMMITTEES ON BEHALF OF THE GOVERNMENT 247 real utility of the meter and to resolve his doubts he, accordingly, appointed an expert commission to make a series of practical tests regarding it in order to ascertain whether its use should be continued.58 Who these experts were, or what was the nature of their find- ing is not disclosed in the reports of the Commissioner of Internal Revenue, but it is evident that the latter was unfavorable to the use of the meter, for we read in the report for I87~ that " the period within which distillers were required to procure meters was extended from time to time until the 8th day of June, I 871, when Circular No. q6 was issued discontinuing their use." 59 Thus, at the end of nearly five years' agitation of the subject the Government abandoned its project of utilizing meters to gauge the capacity of distilleries, but found itself in possession of improved instruments for proving spirits. Of the latter, which were recommended by the committee of the Academy the Commissioner of Internal Revenue said in 1871, "These instruments distributed under the present system of inspection, seem to give general satisfaction, and their accuracy and uni- formity have relieved the trade of the embarrassments resulting from errors in gauging." 60 COMMITTEE ON THE IMPROVEMENT OF GREYTOWN HARBOR, NICARAGUA. 1866 For one brief period the Academy was concerned with a question connected with the great problem of an isthmian canal which had occupied so many minds since the discovery of America. In the middle of the lath century attention was being concentrated more and more on Nicaragua as the region which offered the greatest natural advantages for the construction of this important artificial waterway, and diplomatic contests were i being waged unceasingly by capitalists and by the principal com- mercial nations of the world to gain or maintain control over the AS Rep. Comm. Int. Rev. for ~869, pp. xvi, xvii. 59 Rep. Comm. Int. Rev. for ~87~, p. vi. 60 op. city., p. vi;.

248 NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES enterprise. Companies were organized which obtained valuable concessions from the existing Nicaraguan government, only to have them withdrawn in a few months by a succeeding govern- ment; undertakings commenced with great enthusiasm and a liberal outlay soon languished for lack of financial support, or terminated abruptly in consequence of the expiration of charters; adventurers appeared who misled the Nicaraguan legislatures by claiming the support of European powers, but were soon repudiated by their governments and forced to withdraw. Such kaleidoscopic changes went on continuously down to the time when the French Panama Canal Company decided to offer its holdings to the United States at a price which the latter was willing to consider, and attention turned suddenly from Nicara- gua to Panama. Among the American companies which undertook to build the Nicaraguan canal and obtained concessions from the government was one organized in ~849 and called the " Com- pania de Transito (le Nicaragua." This was soon merged in the larger " Atiantic and Pacific Ship-Canal Company" con- trolled by Cornelius Vanderbilt and other American capitalists. As the ship-canal was likely to be long in building, a subsidiary company was formed in ~85~, which opened a passenger route from Greytown up the San Juan River and across Lake Nicara- gua by boat, and thence down to the Pacific coast by a stage road. This route had been in operation but a few years when the American adventurer Walker appeared in Nicaragua and hav- ing been successful in overturning the existing government pro- ceeded to have the charter of the canal company revoked and its property confiscated in retaliation for an action unfavorable to his ambitions which was taken by the United States. While the company was endeavoring to recover its rights, a French ad- venturer persuaded the Nicaraguan government to turn over the canal concession to him, claiming that he was supported in his enterprise by France. The French government, however, repudiated him, and the Nicaraguans being now in a friendly mood toward the United States granted the rights of the steam t

COMMITTEES ON BEHALF OF THE GOVERNMENT 249 navigation within her territories and the construction of an interocean canal to a new American organization, known as the Central American Transit Company of which Francis Morris was the president.6i It was this company which invoked the aid of the National Academy of Sciences in solving the problem of improving the harbor of Greytown on San Juan de! Torte, that was to be the Atlantic terminus of the canal. At the beginning of the lath century the harbor was one of the most important on that coast. In ~832 it was reported that its width at the mouth was one and three-quarters miles, with a channel depth of 30 feet. Afterwards it became rapidly choked by sand, and in ~86~ the width of the entrance was only 300 feet, while in ~865 Captain Jones of H. M. S. Shannon reported that it had a bar across it after a storm from the North, though in continued fine weather the river scoured out a channel of eight or ten feet. The chart made by the American engineer Preston C. F. West shows but 8 feet at the entrance at low water on February 4, ~865, while on May 25 of the same year this entrance was closed and a new one was opened through the sand spit farther to the East. The idea that the National Academy of Sciences should in- vestigate the condition of the harbor and if possible recommend means for improving it appears to have originated with J. E. Hilgard, who was the Acting Superintendent of the U. S. Coast Survey in ~866, and corresponded with the Nicaraguan minister on the subject. The minister, Don Lluis Molina, repeated the suggestion in a letter addressed to Secretary Seward and re- quested that a committee of the Academy be appointed to carry it into effect. Seward in turn presented the matter to Joseph Henry, then Acting President of the Acaclemv. with the request .. . ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ i/ 7 ~ that ne would comply with the wishes of the Nicaraguan min- ister, and a committee was duly appointed. O The correspond- 61There were two of these transit companies, the relations between which are not clear. One called the " Nicaraguan Transit Company" had as its president W. H. Webb, while the other, as noted, was called the " Central American Transit Company," and had Francis Morris as president. ;

250 NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES ence, which has been printed in the report of the Academy, is as follows: 62 DEPA;RTMENT OF STATE, WASHINGTON, July I 2, I 866. " SIR: The department has received a communication from the minister of the republic of Nicaragua containing a note addressed to him by Mr. l. E. Hil- gard, in charge of the United States Coast Survey office, recommending the appointment of a board to consist of the members of the Academy of Sciences, of which you are the vice-president, for the purpose of investigating and reporting upon the practicability and best means of improving the navigation of the Lower San Juan river, and reclaiming the harbor of San Juan del Norte, in Nicaragua, which recommendation is fully approved by the minister in his communication to this department. He recommends in addition that Mr. Hilgard form a member of the board, whom he represents as possessing the necessary charts and reports, and as being well advised on the difficult subject to be investigated. " It may not be unnecessary to mention the fact that by a contract entered into between the government of Nicaragua and the Central American Transit Com- pany on the both of November, ~863, the latter undertakes to effect a good interoceanic transit through the republic of Nicaragua. " I would thank you if you would act upon the suggestion of the minister of the republic of Nicaragua; and, in the event of the organization of the board, I will beg of you to instruct the same, that should a good interoceanic transit be found impracticable under the limitations contained in the contract of the Central American Transit Company, above referred to, to inquire into the expediency of effecting such transit way within the region surveyed by Captain West. " I have the honor to be, sir, your obedient servant, WILLIAM H. SEWARD. ' PROFESSOR JOSEPH HENRY, &C., &C., &C., Washington. SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, " September 20, ~866. " SIR: I have the honor to inform you that in compliance with your request of July lath, ~866, the subject of the improvement of the river and harbor of San Juan del Norte, in Nicaragua, was referred to a committee of the National Academy of Sciences, and that this committee has made the investigation required, and now through me presents the accompanying report. "The committee, which was chosen with reference to special fitness from previous study and experience for the investigation, consisted of the following members of the Academy: A. A. Humphreys, major general and Chief Engineer United States Army; C. H. Davis, rear-admiral United States navy and Super- ~ ~ , julep. Nat. Acad. Sci. for ~866, pp. 4, 5.

COMMITTEES ON BEHALF OF THE GOVERNME1!`TT 25 I intendent National Observatory; J. E. Hilgard, assistant United States Coast Survey, acting Superintendent. " In accordance with article II, section 4, of the act of incorporation of the Academy, Mr. Henry M. Mitchell, of the United States Coast Survey, (not a member of the Academy), was appointed to assist in the investigation. " The committee, after a careful study of all the materials furnished by Don Luis Molina, and those obtained from other sources, has arrived at conclusions and are enabled to give suggestions, which, it is hoped, may be found of value to the government of Nicaragua, and of importance in the commerce of the world. The report of the committee points out the causes and progress of the deterioration of the harbor of Greytown; considers the question of its partial restoration, and the means to be adopted to attain this end. It also considers the problem of increasing the depth and volume of water in the river as an essential condition of the improvement of the entrance of the harbor, and presents a definite opinion as to the results which may be expected when the works which are indicated have been completed. It discusses the availability of the Colorado pass, and closes with a recapitulation of all the conclusions. " I have the honor to remain, very truly, your obedient servant, JOSEPH HENRY, " Fice-Preside~zt of the National Academy. HON. WILLIAM H. SEWARD, "Secretary of State." There is little to add to Henry's summary of the report of the committee, which report was published in full in ~867 as an appendix of the Annual Report for the preceding year and gives a good general idea of the operations of the committee.63 The committee did not visit Nicaragua, but formed its con- clusions entirely from the documents and maps laid before it by Molina. Its principal recommendation for the improvement of the San Juan River and the harbor of Greytown will be readily understood when the conformation of the lower portion of the river is explained. At a point about ~5 miles from the coast it divides into two branches one of which retains the name of San Juan, while the other is known as the Colorado. The latter has by far the greater flow of water, is comparatively unobstructed, and is- open to navigation by steamboats at all seasons of the year. The recommendation of the committee 63 Rep. Nat. Acad. Sci. for z866, pp. 4-~6, with one chart.

252 NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES was that a weir should be placed at the point of bifurcation of the two streams so as to direct about one-half of the water of the Colorado River to the San Juan, the idea being that the increased flow in the latter which would result would probably deepen its channel, while at the same time increasing the supply of water in the harbor. It is obvious, however, that the committee regarded the con- dition of the harbor as practically hopeless, and that it was far ~ . . trom nelng convinced that the adoption of its suggestions would produce satisfactory results. This will appear from the follow- ing excerpts from the report: " The deepening that we have advised in the lower San Juan, in the neighbor- hood of the weir, may prove sufficient to improve the whole stream, since the great proportion of water added at the dry season and the considerable increase of the wet season discharge must act powerfully upon the bed of the stream, and increase its depth wherever a yielding bottom is found. It may, however, well be feared that this scour, induced along the bed clef the stream, will sweep into the harbor-basin masses of material not so easily removed from the deeper water of the anchorage-ground as from their present positions. " It appears possible that the fate of Greytown harbor might have been averted by timely efforts to arrest the sand and cut off their supply We have pros posed improvements, but these must fall very short of a renovation of the noble har- bor that once welcomed to an ample and secure anchorage the largest ships that crossed the Caribbean Sea The original bight of Greytown cannot be restored. The only hope of improvement rests upon the possibility of maintaining a navigable outlet from the present lagoon by increasing the outflow of the lower San Juan and arresting the drifting sand of the coast The basin in Grey- town, where ships formerly lay at anchor, has been largely reduced in size and depth by the advance of the river delta upon one side and the drifting in of sand on the other. The time is not very distant at which the river will debauch directly upon the sea. " It will be necessary to maintain a sufficient anchorage basin by means of dredging.~'64 It is a matter for conjecture how far the committee would have modified its recommendations if it had visited Nicaragua and made an examination into the conditions actually existing there. Commander E. P. LJUII, U. S. Navy-, who made a survey 64 Rep. Nat. Acad. Sci. for ~866, pp. ~4, z5. i

COMMITTEES ON BEHALF OF THE GOVERNMENT 253 of the San Juan River in 1873' was not at all hopeful that the suggestions of the committee could be carried into effect. He remarks in his report: "A committee of the National Academy of Sciences in ~867 proposed, as a partial remedy for the decay of the river and harbor, the dredging out of the channel of the Lower San Juan and the construction of a weir from Leaf's Island to Concepcion Island. The latter of these is in the main river, near its right bank, and above the forks. The former has now become joined to the angle or point of the mainland between the two branches. Concepcion Island is 2,000 feet from the point. The strongest part of the current runs between the two. The island is constantly cutting away at one place and forming at another, being composed entirely of silt banked around drift-logs which have lodged in the shoal water. " The weir, if indeed it could be constructed at all with such a combination of unfavorable conditions, viz., the depth and strength of the water, and the yielding character of the bottom, would be quite as likely to fail in as to effect, the object in view, i. e., the turning of the current into the Lower San Juan, unless the latter was dredged out to a sufficient width and depth to prevent, by drawing it away, the water from cutting around the dam. This would have to be done for a dis- tance of thirteen miles. I confess myself to have been very much discouraged when these facts and convictions impressed themselves on my mind." 65 On account of these conditions, he proposed to eliminate the Lower San Juan and carry the traffic in a canal which should leave the river at a point about 4z miles from the coast. Recent maps indicate that this plan, with various modifications, was generally accepted down to the time when the interest in an interoceanic canal shifted from Nicaragua to Panama. COMMITTEE ON THE PROTECTION OF COAL MINES FROM EXPLOSION BY MEANS OF ELECTRICITY. 1870 In the Proceedings of the Academy mention of this committee is ma(le under date of April, ~870, in the following terms: " Mr. Gould reported in behalf of himself and Mr. Ferret, the Committee on the letter of Fir. Fua, of Padua, addressed to the President of the United States, in reference to the protection of Coal Hines from explosion by electricity, and referred by him to the Academy, ' That the same communication has been made to 63 Report of Explorations and Surveys for a Ship Canal through Nicaragua, 1872-73, p. 6~. Sen. Exec. Doc. no. 57, 43d Congress, ISt Session. IS

254 NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES the academies of Paris and Berlin, by Mr. Fua, and published by them, and since the methods involve no new principle or mode of application, no action on the part of the President or Government seems to be needful.' " The report was accepted and the Committee discharged." 66 On turning to the Comptes Rendus of the Academic des Sciences, Paris, one finds this statement regarding the matter in question: " M. Fua soumet au jugement de l'Academie quelques details relatifs a un precede qu'il croft propre a prevenir les accidentes causes par les explosions du grisou. Ce precede consiste essentiellement dans l'emploi de spirals de platine rendus incandescentes, a certains intervalles, par le passage d'un courant electrique; ces spirales mettraient le fen a des meches de colon soufre, trempees dans une pate gommee de phosphore et de chlorate de potasse." 67 COMMITTEE ON THE EFFECT OF CHEMICALS ON INTERNAL REVENUE STAMPS. 1870 Prior to ~870 it was the practice of the Government to print internal revenue stamps on ordinary paper in ink of a single color. It resulted from this that by skilful manipulation the cancellation marks could be removed and the stamps used a second time to avoid the payment of revenue. The Government thus suffered serious loss, and was under the necessity of devising means of preventing the continuance of the nefarious practice. The Com- missioner of Internal Revenue, therefore, introduced radical changes as regards the kind of paper used for the stamps and the ink with which they were printed. Instead of employing ordinary paper, a special kind of paper was adopted, which was manu- factured under the supervision of the Government. At the same time it was made unlawful, as in the case of paper for bank-notes, to make any of it, to sell it or to have it in one's possession. In- stead of printing with one kind and color of ink, the stamps were printed in two or more colors, and the printing was divided between private contractors and the Government, the former printing certain tints on them, and delivering them to the Bureau 66Proc. Nat Acad. Sci., vol. I, pp. 76-77. 67 Comptes Rendus, vol. 68, p. 805. ~869.

COMMITTEES ON BEHALF OF THE GOVERNMENT 255 of Engraving and Printing which completed them and delivered them to the office of the Commissioner of Internal Revenue to be issued. In order to ascertain whether these changes were likely to be effective, the Acting Commissioner of Internal Revenue on April ~3, ~870, sent some specimens of the stamps to the Academy with the request that they be examined by it, with regard to their sensitiveness to the action of chemicals. This request was contained in the following letter 68 addressed to Joseph Henry, President of the Academy: TREASURY DEPARTMENT, OFFICE OF INTERNAL REVENUE, WASHINGTON, April 13, 1870. " SIR: In accordance with the third Section of the Act of Congress incor- porating the National Academy of Sciences, I have the honor to submit herewith specimens of proposed Internal Revenue Stamps for examination and report with reference to their sensitiveness to chemical agencies applied for the purpose of removing ink, cancellation marks, and their durability under ordinary usage. " NTery respectfully, J. W. DOUGLASS, " Acting Commissioner. PROF. JOSEPH HENRY, " President National HI cademy of Sciences, ~ashingto7:, D. C." A committee consisting of Wolcott Gibbs' Samuel W. John- son and John Torrey was at once appointed to consider the subject. The records of the Academy do not contain the report of the committee but we may infer that it was to the effect that the changes introduced would prevent fraud, as the Commis- sioner remarked in the following year: " It is believed that the stamps now being furnished under the contracts alluded to, cannot be tampered with. Especially is this thought to be the case with the adhesive, and tobacco, snu*, and cigar stamps printed on chameleon paper. This paper so effectually changes its color upon the application of chemical agents employed for the restoring of stamps for re-use, as to render restoration to its original state impossible." 6a 68Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci., vol. I, p. 76. 69 Rep. Comm. Int. Rev. for ~870-7z, p. xiv.

256 NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES COMMITTEE ON THE TRANSIT OF VENUS. 1871 AND 1881 Two transits of Venus across the sun's disc have occurred since the foundation of the Academy fifty years ago. These took place in ~874 and in ~882. No more will occur until the year 2002. As early as ~870, or even before that date, plans began to be formulated for observing these rare celestial phe- nomena. At the session of the Academy held in Washington in April, ~870, Simon Newcomb read a paper, " On the coming , -, ~ ~7- 1 , ~ ~ ~ ~ · . ~ transits ot venue and the mode of observing them," in which he said: " . . . Although the next transit does not occur for four years, the pre- liminary arrangements for its observation are already being made by the govern- ments and scientific organizations of Europe. It is not likely that our govern- ment will be backward in furnishing the means to enable its astronomers to take part in this work. The principal dangers are, I apprehend, those of setting out with insufficient preparation, with unmatured plans of observation, and without a good system of cooperation among the several parties. For this reason I beg leave to call the attention of the Academy to a discussion of the measures by which we may hope for an accurate result." After explaining the methods which it was necessary to employ, he remarked: ! `` .... I have endeavored to show that no valuable result is to be expected from hastily-organized and hurriedly-equipped expeditions; that every step in planning the observations requires careful consideration, and that in all the pre- paratory arrangements we should make haste very slowly. I make this presenta- tion with the hope that the Academy will take such action on the matter as may seem proper and desirable." 7° At the same session a committee was appointed by the Presi- dent of the Academy to secure the successful observation of the transit. It consisted of Benjamin Peirce, Superintendent of the Coast Survey, Rear-Admiral Charles H. Davis, at that tinge in charge of the Naval Station at Norfolk, and Commodore B. F. Sands, Superintendent of the Naval Observatory. In his report for the year ~870, the Secretary of the Navy, George M. Robeson, remarked: Calmer. Jo2`rn. Sci., ser. 2, vol. 50, ~870, pp. 74-83. On the mode of observing the coming Transits of Venus. By Simon Newcomb. Read before the National Academy of Sciences, April ~3, ~870.

COMMITS EES ON BEHALF OF TIRE GOVERNMENT 257 " The arrangements necessary to secure the successful observation of the transit of Venus, which will occur on December 8, ~874, have begun to receive the atten- tion of the observatory. " It is essential to the complete success of these observations that the various parties which may be sent out by the Government should make their observations on a uniform and carefully prepared plan. " The Superintendent of the Observatory has been invited to become a member of a committee of the National Academy of Sciences, appointed to devise such a plan. The functions of the Academy being purely advisory, and it being expected that the cooperation and assistance of the ablest astronomers of the country would be secured by this committee, the invitation was accepted. " Although this committee has not yet met, certain experiments and trials with the apparatus and instruments of observation are necessary in any case. As many experiments and many alterations of apparatus, all requiring time and careful consideration, may be necessary, the small appropriation of $3,ooo, for instruments and apparatus, is called for." 7t In the Sundry Civil Act for the fiscal year 1872' approved March 3, I87I, Congress made an initial appropriation for the expenses of observing the transit hilt rerl,~r'~1 the emend care_ c~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ·^ ~ _ ~ · ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ · · ~ ~ ~ posed by the Secretary to $2,ooo.72 ~ ~ · ~ . - r-- ror some reason which IS not apparent the committee of the Academy was increased in April, ~87~, by the addition of five new members, namely, L`. M. Rutherfurd, J. C. Watson, Simon Newcomb, I. H. C. Cohn, and F. A. P. Barnard. The following year (~72) Rear-Admiral Sands, Superin- tendent of the Naval Observatory, reported thus: " At the last session of Congress an appropriation was made for the purchase of instruments for the proper observation of the transit of Venus in ~874, to be expended under the direction of a commission, to be composed of the Superin- tendent and two Professors of the Naval Observatory, the President of the National Academy of Sciences, and the Superintendent of the United States Coast It Rep. Seer. Navy for ~870, p. 46. 72 The item in the Sundry Civil Act is as follows: "For preparing instruments for observation of transit of Venus, two thousand dollars; Provided, That this and all other appropriations made for the observations of the transits of Venus shall be expended, subject to the approval of the Secretary of the Navy, under the direction of a commission to be composed of the superintendent and two of the professors of mathematics of the navy attached to the Naval Observatory, the president of the National Academy of Sciences, and the superintendent of the coast survey, for which services they shall not receive any compensation." Stat. at Large, vol. z6, Or, p. 529, List Congress, ad Session, chap. any, ~87~.

258 NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES Survey. Professor Simon Newcomb, United States Navy, and William Hark- ness, United States Navy, were detailed as the two Professors of the Observatory, and, at a meeting of the commission,73 the Naval Observatory was authorized to take charge of the details of the Transit of Venus expedition. Experiments are being made and preparations are now in hand for completing contracts for the manufacture of the necessary instruments and planning the proper temporary observatories for the several stations to be occupied. This necessarily takes much of the time of the Professors, but as legitimate work of such an institution it is cheerfully and zealously performed." 74 In the meantime, in the Sundry Civil Act for 1873' approved June IO, I 872, Congress had made a second appropriation for the purchase and preparation of instruments, amounting to $50,0~0, to be expended, like the first, under the direction of the Commission.75 The time of the transit was now approaching and the Chief of the Bureau of Navigation, Daniel Ammen, reported at the close of that fiscal year ~ ~ 873 ~ , that the preparations were practically complete.76 Admiral Sands also remarked, "The work progresses favorably, and the expeditions are expected to leave their stations early next June." 77 Congress made a third appropriation for the fiscal year ~874, amounting this time to $~oo,ooo, to enable the Secretary of the Navy to organize parties to observe the transit, and in conjunc- tion therewith authorized him to detail two vessels to convey them to their several stations. Early in ~874 Admiral Charles H. Davis became Superin- tendent of the Natural Observatory and in that capacity took part 73 The first meeting of the Commission was held July 22, z872. 74 Rep. Secr. Navy for ~872, p. 94. Prof. J. H. C. Coflin, Superintendent of the Nautical Almanac Office, reported the same year. " As one of the preparations for the transit of Venus, in December, z874, maps and tables to facilitate predictions of the several phases of that phenomenon have been con- structed by Mr. G. W. Hill, of this Office. Their publication has been assumed by this com- mission on this transit appointed by Congress, as one of their series of valuable papers relating to it." Op. cat., p. 96. 75 Stat. at Large, vol. ~7, z873, p. 367, 42d Congress, ad Session, chap. HIS. 76 Rep. Secr. Navy for z873, p. 79. 77 Op. cit., p. 94 79 Stat. at Large, vol. ~7, z873, p. 5~4, 42d Congress, ad Session, chap. 227, z873. Sundry Civil Act for the fiscal year ending June 30, z874, approved March 3, z873.

COMMITTEES ON BEHALF OF THE GOVERNMENT 259 as chairman of the Transit of Venus Commission in the opera- tions then in progressed the Navy contain an admirable summary of the undertaking up to June 30, It374. " It has been a part of the duty of this Department, under provisions of laws passed by Congress at its last three sessions, to organize expeditions for observing the transit of Venus, which occurs on December 8 of the present year. A plan of observation was very carefully matured by the commission created by Congress for that purpose in ~87~, and the organization and arrangement of the parties were made to accord with that plan. The entire scientific corps of the expedition, num- bering forty-two persons in all, spent several weeks at the Naval Observatory last spring in preliminary practice with the same instruments they were to use at the stations, thus becoming familiar with the difficult and delicate operations involved in the final observations. The Eve parties designed for the southern stations His report and that of the Secretary of The Secretary, George M. Robeson, writes: were embarked on the ship Swatara, Capt. Ralph Chandler, and sailed from New York June 8. at the selected stations, with the single exception of that on the Crozet Islands. Here there is no anchorage, and the constant stormy weather which prevailed during the period which it was prudent for the ship to delay, prevented a landing. The possibility of this failure had been anticipated by the commission, and the Swatara had been directed to land the party at or near Melbourne, in the event of failure to land at the station first selected. " The three northern parties were sent by the regular course of commercial conveyance to Nagasaki, which had been selected as one of the stations. The parties designed for Wladiwostok and Peking were taken thither from Nagasaki by naval ships. " It not being prudent to attempt the return of all the southern parties by the Swatara, the Monongahela was sent out from the Brazilian station to convey the party from Kerguelan Island to Rio de Janeiro, whence they can return by regular lines of travel." 80 Admiral Davis adds some interesting information regarding the photographic work connected with the observations: . So far as yet known the parties were all successfully landed " Under the specific action and direction of this commission, from time to time the requisite instruments have been selected and made; the parties have been constituted, the station adopted, and the work of preparation and instruction has been carefully matured and strictly executed. " At the meeting of the gth of February, ~874, it was decided to invite Dr. Henry Draper, of New York, to take charge of the work of putting into suc- 73 See Life of Charles H. Davis, p. 33~. 80 Rep. Seer. Navy for z874, p. z6. ~1

260 NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES cessful execution the various operations necessary for photographing the transit of Venus by the methods decided upon by the commission, and of instructing the parties in those operations. Dr. Draper accepted this arduous duty, and per- formed it in a manner which commands the gratitude and respect of the com- mission. Dr. Draper declined to receive any compensation or reimbursement for his invaluable services and for his unavoidable personal expenses while traveling and residing in Washington, on the service of the commission. " The system of practice was fully carried out, and the several parties destined for the observation of the transit of Venus in both hemispheres, left the United States fully qualified in all respects to perform their duties. " Instructions for conducting the scientific operations of the parties were pre- pared by Professor Newcomb, printed, and freely distributed." 8\ The Transit of Venus Commission of ~874, which was con- sidered as having continued in existence, took charge of the arrangements for the observations of the transit of ~882 and prepared instructions to the observers that were printed by authority of the Secretary of the Navy.82 The Secretary remarks as follows in his report for the fiscal year ending June 30, ~882: TRANSIT OF VENUS " Professor Harkness has been principally occupied in fitting out the parties for observing the approaching Transit of Venus, and in reducing the zone observations made in Chili during the years ~850, ~85~, and ~852, by the astronomical expe- dition to the southern hemisphere, under the late Capt. lames M. Gilliss..... " Everything relating to the organization of the Transit of Venus parties is confided by law to the Transit of Venus Commission; but as most of the executive work has been done at the Observatory, it may be proper to refer to it here. " The instruments used for the last Transit have been examined and repaired; all necessary changes have been made in them, and some new instruments have been purchased. " At a very early stage of its deliberations the Commission decided to rely mainly upon the photographic method of observing, and, to ascertain the most suitable kind of emulsion, an extensive series of experiments was made by Fir. Joseph A. Rogers, who has also prepared all the emulsion needed for the various parties. s1 Rep. Secr. Navy for z874, pp. 68-69. 82 Instructions for observing the Transit of Venus, December 6, ~882, prepared by the Commission authorized by Congress, and printed for the use of the observing parties by authority of the Hon. Secretary of the Navy. Washington, ~882. 4°. Pp. to-do, with 4 charts.

i COMMITTEES ON BEHALF OF THE GOVERNMENT 26 ~ " The number of parties organized is the same as at the last Transit, namely, eight, of which four will remain in the United States, and the other four have already departed for the southern hemisphere." 83 The following additional information also appears in the same report: TRANSIT OF VENUS " The preparations for observing the coming transit of Venus have occupied the attention of the Transit of Venus Commission, of which the Superintendent of the Naval Observatory is the chairman. " The method selected for the observation will be similar to that used in ~874, viz., by photography. A party will occupy each of the following stations: Cape of Good Hope; Santa Cruz, Patagonia; Santiago de Chile; New Zealand; San Antonio, Tex.; Cedar Keys, Fla.; Fort Selden, N. Mex.; and Washington, D C"84 The results of the observations of ~ 8852 have not been published in detail, and perhaps will not be, but a report from each station is included in Newcomb's "Astronomical Constants " in the ~ ~ . supplement to the American Ephemeris of 1887' pages 7I to 77. COMMITTEE ON WATER-PROOFING THE FRACTIONAL CURRENCY. 1875 Government was making use of a secret, In ~ 875 the ~ . patented process for water-proofing the paper on which the fractional currency and funded-Ioan bonds were printed. The principal feature of the process was that the paper was sized after having been printed upon. During the first session of the With Congress, the committee of the House of Representa- tives on Expenditures in the Treasury Department requested the Secretary of the Treasury to submit answers to a series of ques- tions relating to the printing of the securities of the United States. The last two questions in the series, which numbered twenty-two in all, were as follows: " 2~. Does the amount given in answer to the fifteenth question, include the expense of labor in the use of the water-proofing process, and also the amount of royalty paid for its use? 83 Rep. Seer. Navy for z882, vol. I, p. ~7. 64 Loc. cit., p. ~zo.

262 NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES " zip. State if any commission, and composed of what persons, by name, has examined the value of the water-proofing process, as recommended in the report of the Committee on Banking and Currency, made February ~6, ~875; and, if so, please annex a copy of their report, if any has been made. If no report has been made to you in writing, has any and what oral report been made to you? And have you urged the parties having the matter in charge to make report to you." 80 These detailed inquiries were directed primarily at a com- mittee of the Academy. l:n replying to them, on March 3~, ~876, the Secretary of the Treasury, B. H. Bristow, remarked that no royalty was paid on the water-proofing material, which was purchased by the gallon, and that on July 30, ~875, he had requested the President of the Academy, Professor Henry, to appoint a committee to examine into the merits of the water- proofing process. He remarked that Professors J. E. Hilgard, C. F. Chandler, Henry Morton and William Sellers had been appointed, and continued as follows: " On the 30th of August last t~875] I requested those gentlemen to con~- mence their investigations, and at the same time I instructed the Chief of the Bureau of Engraving and Printing to afford them every facility therefor in his power. " I am advised that they called and examined the machinery for applying the ' water-prooRng ' to the paper, and the manner in which it was done, and that they were furnished with a sample of the material and with specimens of blank and printed paper, water-proofed and not water-proofed. Every facility to con- duct their investigation was afforded them, and they were furnished with all the information possible upon the subject. " During the autumn Professor Hilgard, chairman of the commission, called on me and submitted for my inspection a memorandum in writing of the principal points of his proposed report, which were deduced from his examination. He stated, as the result of his examination and tests, that he was convinced that the process in question was of great advantage and of great utility both as to dura- bility and security, and that he would recommend that the Government should purchase the invention from the proprietor, with a view to a more economical application of the process. "The general tenor of the report having been thus foreshadowed by the chairman of the commission, I saw no reason, at that time, and have had no cause 83 House Misc. Doc. no. ~63, 44th Congress, Ask Session, pp. 2, 3; ordered printed, April 3, 876.

COMMITTEES ON BEHALF OF THE GOVERNMENT 263 since, to question the usefulness of the process, and I therefore continued its use until the Bureau was closed and work on the fractional currency stopped. " Professor Henry has recently procured additional sheets of water-proofed and not water-proofed paper for the purpose of further testing the matter. " On the first instant t March I, ~ 876] I requested him, by letter, to have the report of the commission made as soon as practicable, it having already been delayed a considerable time." 86 The committee of the House of Representatives was not satisfied with these answers and on May a, ~876, called for all the papers in the case, the real state of which then became mani- fest. The report of the committee of the Academy had been finished and sent to the Secretary of the Treasury on April 29, ~6, who transmitted it with the other papers.87 Professor Hilgard's memorandum was also included. From these papers it appears that Professor Willard had . ~ .. . . . ~ ~ . changed hits opinion regarding the water-proofing process on account of the results of certain experiments made by Pro- fessor Morton, and had affixed his signature to a report deny- ing the value of the process instead of affirming it, as he had done in his memorandum. In the meantime, Professor Henry had made certain experiments, as indicated above, and had reached the conclusion that the committee had not proved that the process was worthless. He therefore returned the report with the request that the committee would reconsider its decision. This the committee found itself unable to do and Professor Henry then transmitted the report to the Secretary of the Treasury, but attached a note to it expressing his own convictions in the matter. The Secretary of the Treasury had secured an independent favorable opinion from Prof. John M. Ordway. It followed therefore, that Hilgard, Morton, Chandler, and Sellers were not in favor of the continuance of the use of the process, while Henry and Ordway regarded it as valuable, or at least were not con- vinced of its worthlessness. 88Loc. cit., p. ~4 87 It forms part of House Misc. Doc. no. ~63, part 2, pp. 22-28, 44th Congress, fist Session. ! ; ' i

264 NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES COMMITTEES ON THE ARTIFICIAL COLORING OF SUGARS, ON THE USE OF THE POLARISCOPE TO DETERMINE THE VALUE OF SUGARS, AND ON DEMAND SUGARS. 187~1878 These three committees were appointed in 1876, 1877, and 1878 at the request of the Treasury Department, and were con- cerned with the question of the valuation of sugars in connec- tion with customs duties. For many years the duties on different grades of sugars were levied in accordance with their color, or what was known as the Dutch standard. After a time, however, the Government began to suspect that certain sugars were artificially colored, whereby the higher grades were made to assume the appearance of the lower grades,89 and were in consequence assessed at a lower rate than that which was prop- erly chargeable. In a test case which was tried in Baltimore in ~878, the court decided that the fact of the artificial coloring of the sugars concerned for the purpose of defrauding the revenue was proven but held that no penalty could be enforced because it was not demonstrated that the importer had a guilty knowledge that the coloring was done for the purpose of escaping the higher duty.90 Thus, while the fact that certain sugars were artificially colored was no {onger-in question, the position of the Govern- ment as regards the collection of duties was no better than before. Acting on the opinion of the court, however, the Treasury De- partment temporarily ordered that wherever the color of sugar was mentioned in the law it should be interpreted as meaning the color which it would naturally have as a result of the partic- ular process by which it had been produced, or at the particular stage to which the process of clarification had been carried. Whenever there was reason to suspect that sugar had been artificially colored, its saccharine strength was to be determined and duty levied in accordance with the color which it would normally have when of that strength. The strength was deter- mined by the use of the polariscope, and the Customs Office had SSProc. Nat. Acad. Sci., vol. I, p. ~33. Rep. Nat. Acad. Sci. for z879, p. As. SO Rep. Secr. Treas. for z877, pp. xxvi, xxvii. 9° Rep. Secr. Treas. for ~878, p. xxvii. Prep. Secr. Treas. for ~879, pp. xxiv, xxv. 1

COMMITTEES ON BEHALF OF THE GOVERNMENT 265 a corps of employees, known as examiners, whose duty it was to test samples of sugar by means of the polariscope and report their findings to the chemist in charge. This system continued in practice for a few years, but always against protest of the importers, and in 1882 the Supreme Court decided that the customs officers were bound under the law to accept the color as it appeared and levy duties accordingly, although they might be entirely certain that the coloration was artificial.92 It is not quite clear from the records of the Academy at what point in the development of the matter its advice was sought by the Government, or what the exact relationships were between the different committees, but apparently the main questions re- lated to the natural colors of different grades of sugar, and the use of the polariscope in determining saccharine strength. The first committees were probably appointed in ~876 but their membership is not a matter of record. They were styled in the Annual Report of ~ 879 committees on " Artificial coloring of sugars designed to simulate a lower grade according to the standard on which duties are levied " and in the same place the remark is made: " This subject was repeatedly considered by committees of the academy in ~876 and ~877, and reports were made to the ~Treasury] department, which for obvious reasons have not been published." 93 From various statements contained in the reports of the Secretary of the Treasury it seems allowable to suppose that the Academy suggested the use of the polariscope, or even made experiments demonstrating that certain sugars were artificially colored, and that the fact could be determined by means of that instrument. The President of the Academy, Joseph Henry, acted as a separate committee on the use of the polariscope or polarimeter, for determining the value of sugars, and reported in ~8~7. In the same year a third committee, Frederick A. Genth, reported to the Treasury Department on " Demarara sugars," but the nature of his report is not a matter of record. 02 Rep. Secr. Treas. for z88z, pp. xxii, xxiii. 93 Rep. Nat. Acad. Sci. for ~879, p. At.

266 NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES As already mentioned, the Treasury Department, about the year ~878, introduced the use of the polariscope in determining the saccharine strength of certain sugars suspected of being artificially colored, but in ~88z the Supreme Court ruled that the Department was obliged under the law to accept the color as it appeared. This unsatisfactory condition of affairs was brought to the attention of Congress the same year by the Secretary of the - ~ treasury wno remarked in his report: " The Supreme Court, in a recent decision, has interpreted the existing law to be, that customs officers may not look beyond the apparent color, and must classify the invoices thereby, though satisfied that the color is artificial and made to get a lower rate of duty. That standard [the Dutch standard] was adopted, doubt- less, believing that color showed value. The intention was to put upon sugar, duties in effect ad valorem. As it has come about, however, the grades of sugar highest in value, when thus artificially colored, come in at the lowest rate of duty. The purpose of Congress in adopting the Dutch standard is measurably defeated. Provision should be made for just classification. This may be done by putting on an ad valorem duty, by a specific duty, or by authorizing some standard other than that of apparent color. Now, domestic producers do not get the incidental pro- tection meant to be given them. Importers, too, are subject to embarrassment in fixing the rate of duty on their goods, and otherwise," 94 On this representation Congress, in 1883' enacted the folIow- ing law, authorizing the use of the polariscope in certain instances: " An act to reduce internal-revenue taxation, and for other purposes. " Be it enacted ~ etc. ), . . . . ~ p. 488 ~ . " SEC. 6. That on and after the first day of July, eighteen hundred and eighty- three, the following sections shall constitute and be three of the Revised Statutes of the United States: TITLE XXXIII ~ _ a substitute for Title thirtv- DUTIES UPON IMPORTS (P. 489) to ,l~ SCHEDULE E. SUGAR " All sugars not above No. IS Dutch standard in color shall pay duty on their polariscopic test as follows, viz: " All sugars not above No. IS Dutch standard in color, all tank bottoms, sirups of cane juice or of beet juice, melada, concentrated melada, concrete and con- 94 Rep. Seer. Treas. for z882, pp. xxii, xxiii.

COMMITTEES ON BEHALF OF THE GOVERNMENT 267 centrated molasses, testing by the polariscope not above seventy-five degrees, shall pay a duty of one and forty-hundredths cent per pound, and for every additional degree or fraction of a degree shown by the polariscopic test, they shall pay four- hundredths of a cent per pound additional. " All sugars above No. ~3 Dutch standard in color shall be classified by the Dutch standard of color, and pay duty as follows, namely: " .... (p. 502~.95 Thus, the use of the polariscope in levying duties on certain grades of sugar, recommended, as we may believe, by the National Academy, was finally legalized, and the executive branch of the Government was aided, for a time, at least, in its efforts to collect the proper revenue from this commodity. COMMITTEE ON PROPOSED CHANGES IN THE AMERICAN EPHEMERIS. 1877 This committee was appointed at the request of the Secretary of the Navy who, in December, ~877, expressed the desire that the Academy would advise him as to changes in the Nautical Almanac which would render that publication more useful to navigators and others. The members of the committee were J. E. Hilgard, J. H. C. Coffin, Asaph Hall, Charles A. Schott, Charles A. Young, James C. Watson and C. H. F. Peters. It reported at the end of the year ~877 or early in ~878, but the report appears not to have been published. From the report of Prof. Simon Newcomb as Superintendent of the Nautical Almanac for the fiscal year ~877-78, however, we learn the nature of the changes proposed by the Academy. Under date of October 26, ~878, he writes: 96 " .... In December, ~877, on recommendation of the once, the honorable Secretary of the Navy referred to the National Academy of Sciences the question, what changes were required in the Ephemeris to make it more serviceable to those who use it. A committee of the Academy recommended several extensive changes, involving the omission of matter of which some was not regarded as necessary, and some could be readily derived from data in other parts of the work. The space thus left was Wiled by the addition of matter considered useful. The chiefs of several government surveys desired a large increase in the list of fixed stars contained in the Ephemeris, in order to facilitate the determination of geographical 95 Stat. at Large, vol. 22, z883, pp. 488, 489, 502, 47th Congress, Ed Session, ~883, chap. !21. ~Rep. Seer. Navy for ~878, pp. ]62-~64.

268 NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES positions. The changes next in importance consisted in the presentation of more complete data, maps, and diagrams for the eclipses of the sun and the satellites of the planets. The changes were so adjusted that the size and cost of the work should not be materially altered. They commence with the Ephemeris of ~88z, now in press." In the preface to the Nautical Almanac for the year ~882 we find the changes adopted mentioned in the following specific terms: 97 " The contents of the present volume of the American Ephemeris, though sub- stantially unchanged in their general character, have, in some parts, undergone material alterations in their form and arrangement." ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ -I ~ By- ~ ~ ~ ~ " PART I, Ephemeris for the Meridian of Greenwich .... The principal change made in it has been the transfer of the sun's coordinates and of the geo- centric ephemerides of Mercury, Uranus, and Neptune from Part II, and the addition of accurate heliocentric positions of all the planets. " PART II, Ephemeris for the Meridian of Washington: .... The list of mean places of fixed stars has been greatly enlarged, for the convenience of field- astronomers. " PART III, Phenomena .... The additions comprise more complete data for eclipses of the sun, diagrams showing the configurations of the satellites of Jupiter, data respecting the disks of Mercury and Venus for the reduction of meridian and photometric observations, and diagrams, with tables, for identifying any known satellites of other planets. SIMON NEWCOMB, " Prof essor U. S. Navy, S2lperintenderl t. WASHINGTON, " September 3, ~879." COMMITTEE ON A PLAN FOR SURVEYING AND MAPPING THE TERRITORIES OF THE UNITED STATES. 1878 In the decade following the close of the Civil War the re- curring discussion of the relative merits of military and civil control of public enterprises centered around the management of the surveys of the public domain. We learn that as early as ~869, at the meeting of the National Academy, " one of the most eminent geologists and geographers in the country made a ~7 American Ephemeris and Nautical Almanac for T882, use ea., z879. Preface, p. iii. i

COMMITTEES ON BEHALF OF TILE GOVERNMENT 269 sharp attack upon the system of army explorations and its fruits; and he was met by the military members of the Academy with the plea that army officers had done all that, under the circum- stances, and considering their education to another business, could fairly be expected of them, and that for this they deserved gratitude rather than blame." 98 By ~874 the discussion as regards the surveys had become more animated and more widespread. It intruded itself upon the attention of Congress and found its way into the columns of various magazines and reviews. At this time there were in existence six distinct surveys or systems of surveys of western portions of the United States. The United States Geological Exploration of the Fortieth Parallel, nominally under the direc- tion of the Engineer Corps of the Army, but conducted by a civilian, Clarence King; the United States Geological and Geographical Survey of the Territories under the direction of the Department of the Interior and conducted by Dr. F. V. Hay- den; the Geographical and Geological Explorations and Sur- veys West of the One Hunderdth Meridian, commonly called " \N7heeler's Survey," under the Engineer Corps of the Army and conducted by L`ieut. Wheeler; the U. S. Geographical and Geological Survey of the Rocky Mountain Region, under the Department of the Interior and conducted by Major l. W. Powell; the land-parcelling survey carried on by the General Land Office of the Department of the Interior; and finally, the U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey, under the Treasury Depart- ment. These various surveys differed in their history, their objects, and their methods. Their work was not coordinated and to a certain extent the territories in which they operated overlapped. Referring to the rivalry between civil and military directors of these surreys the Nation, in the article from which quotation has already been made, remarked in ~ 874: " It appears that the War Department looks with something of jealousy—-a natural jealousy, perhaps, at which we ought not to be surprised at this inter- ference of civilians with what had once been its exclusive province; and its dis- 95 The Nation, May 2~, ~874, p. 328. I9

270 NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES satisfaction, long expressed freely in private, has now taken shape in a demand brought recently before Congress and strongly urged, that all national scientific surveys be placed under the control of the Engineering Bureau of that Depart- ment and directed by army officers. It is in view of this demand that we have undertaken a general review of the merits of the case, if perchance we may con- tribute something toward its settlement. To the educated science of the country, the movement seems a most unreasonable one. The feeling and opinion of scientific need are, we venture to say, well-nigh or altogether unanimous against it. A strong remonstrance has been sent to Washington from some of the leading educational institutions Yale, Harvard, and others signed by all their scientific professors; and more and stronger will be likely to follow, if there shall seem to be anv dancer that' so invidious a selection of the graduates of one school. and that c, .... . . . -O ~ , a military one, to take charge of the public scientific interests of the country, chill be decreed by Congress." 99 The subject was discussed in the first session of the ~~d Con- gress (~8~) but led to no immediate results. The House Com- mittee on Public Lands in their report on the resolution of April ~5, ~874, inquiring whether it was not practicable to con- solidate the surveys under one department, remarked as follows: " The committee believe that at present it would not be of public benefit to place the whole of the surveys under one Department. " The time is approaching, however, when it may be proper so to consolidate them, with a view to the making of a grand geographical, geological, and topo- graphical map of the Territories worthy of the nation because of its accuracy and minuteness of detail; and the committee believe that they would be conducted most to the public interest by being placed under the control and guidance of the Interior Department..... " In thus keeping separate, for the present, the surveys now making under the War and Interior Departments, a generous rivalry will be maintained among the good men therein. and a stimulus will be given to each to do the best work possible, and a resulting benefit will ensue in more accurate surveys and more extensive and valuable maps and reports..... " The conclusions, therefore, to which the committee have come are, that the surveys under the War Department, so far as the same are necessary for military purposes, should be continued; that all other surveys for geographical, geological, topographic, and scientific purposes should be continued under the direction of the Department of the Interior, and that suitable appropriations should be made by Congress to accomplish these results." 2°° Havoc. Cit., p. 328. '°° House Report no. 6~2, 43d Congress, fist Session, ~874, pp. ~6-~8. r l

COMMIlYtEES ON BEHALF OF THE GOVERNMENT 27 I Professor J. D. Whitney, in an article in the North American Review, remarked: " The matter has already been up before a committee of Congress, and a very unpleasant altercation had between the officers and employees of the War Depart- ment on one side and of the Interior on the other No good has been accomplished by the Congressional investigation; the work is still going on exactly as before. Instead of a careful and systematic consolidation of all the United States geographical and geological work in the Far West, under one supervision, in one department, there is just that method employed which leads to bad results and great waste of money. Congress is at this moment paying to have the sane work done, on the same ground, by two, if not three, different parties, and in two different departments Liberal appropriations were made for both classes Military and civil] by Congress, this year as well as the last, and how long this condition of things will be allowed to contiue no one can foresee." tot The criticisms of the various surveys contained in the article just quoted were not acceptable to the War Department, Gen- eral Comstock, the director of the survey of the Great Lakes, claiming that since the question of cost had not been considered they were " worthless and misleading." 202 The matter remained in controversy for some three years longer. Finally, in ~878, the Appropriations Committee of the House announced its determination not to recommend further appropriations for the surveys until some plan of consolidation had been determined upon. On March 8, ~878, a demand was made on the War Department and the Department of the Interior for a statement as to the cost of all the surveys carried on by those departments, and the extent to which their fields of operation overlapped. The Sundry Civil Act for the fiscal year ending June 30, ~879,~°3 contained the following provision: "And the National Academy of Sciences is hereby required, at their next meeting, to take into consideration the methods and expenses of conducting all surveys of a scientific character under the War or Interior Department and the 1o1 J D. Whitney. Geographical and Geological Surveys, Norik American Review, vol. I2l, ~875, pp. 83-84. See also House Report no. 612, and Senate Report no. Liz, 43d Congress, fist Session; and House Exec. Doc. no. 240, 43d Congress, fist Session. 102 Sen. Exec. Doc. no. 2!, 4sth Congress, ad Session, p. lo. 103 Approved June 20, z878 . I

272 NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES surveys of the Land Office, and to report to Congress, as soon thereafter as may be practicable, a plan for surveying and mapping the territories of the United States on such general system as will, in their judgment, secure the best results at the least possible cost; and also to recommend to Congress a suitable plan for the publication and distribution of the reports, maps, and documents and other results of said surveys." When this Act was approved on June 20' 1878, the President of the Academy was in Europe. Upon his return in August and after consulting members of the Council and others, he ap- pointed a special committee to consider the subject. This com- mittee, as he stated in his annual report, consisted of " Professor James D. Dana, whose long experience as geologist and natur- alist of the Wilkes Exploring Expedition, and subsequent res- idence in Washington, while preparing his reports, had especi- ally fitted him to advise on Government work; Professor William B. Rogers, the Nestor of American geology, who had had long and varied experience with geographical and geological surveys; Professor J. S. Newberry, the State Geologist of Ohio, who had spent several years in the West on Government exploring expeditions under the War Department; Professor W. P. Trow- bridge, a graduate of West Point, who, while a member of the Corps of Engineers, served for several years on the Coast Sur- vey; Professor Simon Newcomb, whose knowledge of mathe- matics and astronomy rendered his advice most valuable; and Professor Alexander Agassiz, whose experience both in mining engineering and biology made him a fit representative of those departments." ,04 As will be noted, no member of any of the Government surveys then existing was included in the com- mittee, the President holding that it would be inappropriate to designate anyone representing those organizations whose conten- tions were reported to have caused Congress to consider their reorganization. This led to a protest by General Humphreys, Chief of Engineers, who asserted that " a properly constituted committee should have had among its members those officers in the Government service whose duties consisted in part or in whole in making geodetic, topographic, or other scientific sur- , . 104 Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci., vol. I, p. use.

i COMMITTEES ON BEHALF OF THE GOVERNMENT 273 veys in the different departments of the government." \05 He considered that however proficient the members of the com- mittee might be in their several professions, with one exception, they were not sufficiently familiar with survey work to form an · · — opinion as to its requirements. The committee deliberated some three months, inviting and considering the views of the directors of the surveys of the territories, the Acting Chief of Engineers and other officers of the Army, the Commissioner of the General Land Office and others interested. We learn from the documents which accompany the Academy's report that the War Department thought that its topographic and geodetic surveys should be continued and that they might advantageously be made the basis of the land-par- celling surveys of the General Land Office, and that the scale and topography of its maps might be such that they could be used for plotting the geological data collected by the geological surveys. The General Land Office was of the opinion that " combining a geological and geographical survey with the survey of the public lands might be most beneficial and economical:" Dr. Hayden, representing the Geological and Geographical Survey of the Territories, questioned the practicability of a comprehensive plan of surveys which should include all the scientific organiza- tions of the Government engaged in such work. He considered that the combination of the geological and geographical surveys with the land-parcelling surveys would be fatal to both, and that the separation of topography and geology would be unwise. Major Powell representing the Geographical and Geological Survey of the Rocky Mountain Region, reiterated the opinion expressed in an earlier report, that such surveys " should be unified and a common system adopted"; and considered that they should embrace a geographical department, including " all methods of mensuration in latitudes, longitudes and altitudes, absolute and relative "; and a geological department, including " all purely scientific sub jects relating to geological structure and distribution, and practical subjects relating to mining and 105 Sen. Exec. Doc. no. 2I, 4sth Congress, ad Session, p. 3.

274 agricultural industries." NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES a He also advanced the view that the land-parcelling survey should be part of the same organization. He stated that the transcontinental triangulation of the Coast Survey and the barometric observations of the Signal Service could and should be made the basis of further work, but did not indicate how this was to be done. On November 6, the committee submitted a unanimous report to the Academy. The report was considered at a special meeting held in New York and after three hours' discussion was adopted with but a single dissenting vote.~°6 The President of the Acad- emy thereupon acquainted the principal executive officers of the Government with the recommendations contained in the report, which were favorably received by the President, the General of the Army, the Secretary of the Interior, the Secretary of the Treasury and the Superintendent of the Coast Survey. The Chief of Engineers of the Army opposed the plan. On the open- ing of Congress in December the report was transmitted to both houses and bv them ordered printed. The committee in this report confined its attention to six scientific surveys of the public domain which were then in operation. These were the surveys west of the tooth meridian, under the War Department; the U. S. Geological and Geograph- ical Survey of the Territories and the U. S. Geographical and Geological Survey of the Rocky Mountain Region, under the Department of the Interior; the U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey, under the Treasury Department; and the Land Office Surveys, under the Interior Department. It pointed out that the work of these organizations could be summed up under two headings, " i. Surveys of mensuration, 2. Surveys of geology and economic resources of the soil," and its recommendation was that they be recombined to form three distinct organizations. These were to be as follows: " ~ ~ ~ The Coast and Interior Sur- prey, whose function will embrace all questions of position and mensuration; (2) the United States Geological Survey, whose function will be the determination of all questions relating to 106 Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci., vol. I, p. ]52.

COMMITTEES ON BEHALF OF THE GOVERNMENT 275 the geological structure and national resources of the public domain; (3) the Land Office, controlling the disposition and sale of the public lands, including all question of title and record. The Land Office was to get its surveys and measurements from the Coast and Interior Survey, and its information regarding the value and classification of lands from the Geological Survey. The latter organization was to call on the Coast and Interior Survey for all mensuration data, but would be " authorized to execute local topographical surveys for special purposes." All three organizations were to be~in the Department of the Interior. The committee also recommended that a commission be formed to codify the laws relating to the survey and disposition of public lands and propose a classification and graduation of them and a system of surveys for land-parcelling. Other recom- mendations related to the form of publications and the disposi- tion of collections of natural history and other specimens made during the prosecution of the surveys.~07 This report, as already mentioned, was transmitted to Con- gress in December, ~878. It was no sooner printed than the \Var Department, through the Secretary of War, George W. McCrary, and the Chief of Engineers, General Humphreys, entered a protest against the adoption of its provisions. Sec- retary McCrary adopted the argument made before the Com- mittee of the Academy by H. G. Wright, Acting Chief of Engineers, that in view of the fact that the War Department had been long engaged in survey work, that its experience in such work was extensive and diversified, that it had devised and perfected instruments and methods of work, and that it main- tained an effective system of safeguarding expenditures, it was for the best interests of the Government that the work should continue under its direction.~°8 General Humphreys' objections to the Academy's plan were of a somewhat different character. As already mentioned, he 107 For the full report, see Rep. Nat. Acad. Sci. for z878, pp. ~9-~. House Misc. Doc no. 7, 46th Congress, fist Session. 1os Sen. Exec. Doc. no. 2T, 4sth Congress, 3d Session, p. I.

276 NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES first asserted that the committee was not properly constituted. He then pointed out that the committee had prescribed no methods of work and had made no estimate of expense, and claimed that it had exceeded its functions in taking the work of the Coast Survey into consideration. He argued that the geo- detic work of that organization was not necessary to the proper surveying of the coasts of the United States and that it was not as well equipped as the War Department to do the work of mensuration for all the surveys, as proposed in the Academy's plan, and that, in any case, the War Department could perform the necessary work at a much smaller expense. After reviewing the history of the survey of the Great Lakes, he made the claim that the kind of land survey of the United States at large recom- mended by the Academy was unnecessarily refined and would entail enormous expenses, and, by a very full comparison of costs, endeavored to show that if really demanded by Congress, it would be carried out at a much less expense by the War De- partment than by the Coast Survey. General Humphreys appended to his letter a communication from General Comstock, the officer in charge of the survey of the Northern and Northwestern lakes and the St. Lawrence and Mississippi rivers, dated October 25, ~875, and entitled " Considerations of the objects and methods of a natural topo- graphical survey," in which the methods, cost and uses of difier- ent kinds of surveys are concisely summarized. General Com- stock criticised Professor Whitney for omitting the question of cost from his review of the surveys, already mentioned, and remarks that on this account " his conclusions as to the value of the results derived from the funds supplied are worthless or misleading." On the publication of General Humphreys' letter, the Super- intendent of the Coast Survey, C. P. Patterson, addressed a com- munication on January ~8, ~879, to the Secretary of the Treasury suggesting that there had been a misapprehension on the part of the former relative to the cost of the Coast Survey work. This was transmitted to General Humphreys! who thereupon pre-

COMMITTEES ON BEHALF OF THE GOVERNMENT 277 pared for the use of Congress another statement in which the estimates of cost per square mile are considerably reduced. In closing he remarked: "To take this work from an organization like the Engineer Department, superior to all officers employed on its surveys, and exercising a careful super- vision over them, and adopt the plan of the National Academy of Sciences, would, in my judgment, be in opposition to economy, and, if a general survey should be undertaken, would result in expenses amounting to scores of millions of dollars." ~°9 As a reply to the contentions of the War Department, the Secretary of the Interior on February 7, ~879, sent to the House of Representatives a letter by Major J. W. Powell on the cost of the various government surveys.~° This document is In reality a defence of the Academy's plan. It enumerates the different kinds of surveys, and explains their objects, gives the cost of different surveys per square mile, states the amount of land belonging to the public domain which is unsurveyed and the cost of surveying it, shows that different systems of geodesy and topography are employed by the several existing organizations, and finally gives the reasons why the work should be consoli- dated under the Interior Department. In regard to the letters cited above, Major Powell's closing paragraph contains this reference to the Academy's report: "The wisdom and integrity of the committee of the National Academy of Sciences needs no other vindication than that contained in its report to the hon- orable body that finally endorsed it and transmitted it to Congress. The report is comprehensive and explicit, and embraces both an administrative plan and a scientific system for the conduct of surveys." 22~ The report had already been commended by the Nation, which in an editorial published on January 9, ~879, after describing the conditions existing in the several surveys and the changes proposed by the Academy, remarked: " No opposition prompted by good motives or supported by solid reasons can be offered to these admirable recommendations. Any objections from the 389 Sen. Ex. Doc. no. 2T, part 2, 4sth Congress, ad Session, p. 3. " Letter from the Secretary of NAlar, communicating further information in relation to a survey of the terri- tory west of the Mississippi River, as proposed by the National Academy of Sciences." House Exec. Doc. no. 72, 4sth Congress, ad Session. " Cost of Geographical Surveys." Op. cdl., p. 6.

278 NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES Engineer Corps of the Army will, we are persuaded, give way on reflection to considerations of the public good. No chief of the civilian surveys will be likely to, declare himself indispensable, and his pet plan the embodiment by patent right of all science." \~2 The committee on Appropriations of the House of Repre- sentatives incorporated the whole plan of the Academy in a bill (House Res. 6~40) which was duly reported to Congress. When the matter came to issue, however, the portion of the plan relating to the establishment of a single geological survey under the Department of the anterior and the appointment of a com- mission to consider the codification of laws relating to the survey and disposition of the public domain and other matters was approved, while that providing for the consolidation of all mensuration work under the Coast Survey was not. The law, which forms part of the Sundry Civil Act for the fiscal year end- ing June 30, taco, which was approved March 3, ~879, is as follows: " For the salary of the Director of the Geological Survey, which once is hereby established, under the Interior Department, who shall be appointed by the Presi- dent by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, six thousand dollars: Provided, That this officer shall have the direction of the Geological Survey, and the classification of the public lands and examination of the Geological Structure, mineral resources and products of the national domain And the Geo- logical and Geographical Survey of the Territories, and the Geographical and Geological Survey of the Rocky Mountain Region, under the Department of the Interior, and the Geographical Surveys West of the One Hundredth Meridian, under the War Department, are hereby discontinued, to take eHect on the thirtieth day of Tune, eighteen hundred and seventy-nine. " For the expenses of a commission on the codification ot existing laws relating to the survey and disposition of the public domain, and for other purposes, twenty thousand dollars; Provided, That the Commission shall consist of the Commis- sioner of the General Land Office, the Director of the United States Geological Survey, and three civilians, to be appointed by the President." .... t]3 · · · · . ~ . 112 The Nation, vol. 28, p. 29, January 9, ~879. " The proposed reforms in our land and scientific surveys" (pp. 27-29). 113 Stat. at Large, vol. 20, p. 394, 4sth Congress, ad Session, chap. z82, ~879. See remarks on the debate in Congress, quoted from the Philadelphia Bulletin. in comer. Nat., vol. As, PP. ~8~-~83. Clarence King, the first director, was nominated by the President about March ~4, z879; was confirmed by the Senate on April 3, z879, and took the oath of office on May z4.

COMMITTEES ON BEHALF OF THE GOVERNMENT 279 Thus the earlier geological and geographical surveys were put out of existence and the new United States Geological Sur- vey, recommended by the ~ca(lemy, took their place. A pro- ~rision was, however, made by Congress for the completion of the reports of the former. Professor Dana remarked in the American Journal of Science in December, I 879: " The failure of Congress to act favorably with reference to the establishment of ' Mensuration Surveys,' recommended in the Report of the Committee of the Academy, is thought to be a deferring of the subject for the time, and not rejection of the scheme." tiff This opinion has not been confirmed by any action of Con- gress up to the present time. The later history of the Geological Survey, especially, as regards the extension of its work to the States is one of much interest, but cannot be considered here.~5 COMMITTEES ON THE RESTORATION OF' THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. 1880 AND 1903 On July I 9, I 776, Congress passed the following resolution: " Resolved, That the Declaration tof Independence] passed on the 4th be fairly engrossed on parchment with the title and stile tsic] of ' The unanimous declara- tion of the thirteen united states tsic] of America' & that the same when engrossed be signed by every member of Congress." ~6 On August 2 the Journal of Congress informs us " The Decia- ration of independence r · ~ ~ __ ~ A_ table was signed." ]~7 Hick being engrossed ~ compared at the While the majority ot members signed on this date, the signa- tures of a few were not affixed until some months later. This parchment copy of the Declaration has passed through many vicissitudes. It appears to have been in Baltimore when Congress was sitting there in ~777, but its history between that 4Amer. Journ. Sci., ser. 3, voL z8, p.49~. =5 those interested should consult the Amer. Journ. Sci., ser. 3, vol. ~8, ~879, pp. 492- 496 ; vol. ~9, ~880, pp. 78-8~. Amer. Naturalist, vol. ~3, ~879, pp. 343-345, 535-536 ; vol. z4, ~880, pp. 68-70. Age See Hazelton, J. H. The Declaration of Independence Its History, z906, p. 208. 1l7Loc. cit.

280 NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES date and ~8r4 is uncertain. Hazelton is of the opinion that it was transferred to Washington in ~800 when that city became the seat of government. In ~8~4, during the war with the British, it appears to have been carried into Virginia for safety. In ~823, a copperplate facsimile was made by order of John Quincy Adams, then Secretary of State, from which 200 copies were struck off and distributed in accordance with a resolution of Congress. In a letter to the Senate (which received it on January 2, r 824) Secretary Adams remarked: " An exact facsimile, engraved in copperplate, has been made by direction of this department, of the original copy of the Declaration of Independence, engrossed on parchment Two hundred copies have been struck off from this plate, and are now at the once of this department, subject to the disposal of Congress." ~8 From ~824 to ~840 the Declaration on parchment seems to have been kept at the Department of State, but in ~84~ it was transferred to the new building of the Patent Once. Here it remained until ~877 when it was returned to the Department of State and preserved in the War, State and Navy building, then just completed. It has remained there until the present time. At the end of a century the Government and the people awoke to the fact that the precious parchment had deteriorated as a result of the vicissitudes to which it had been subjected, and was apparently in danger of destruction. In ~880 Congress passed an Act calling on the Secretary of the Interior and the National Academy of Sciences to make an examination of it, with a view to determining what steps should be taken to prevent its further deterioration, or, if possible, to restore it to its original condition. In May of that year Car! Schurz, Secretary of the Interior, requested that a committee be named by the President of the Academy. President Wm. B. Rogers thereupon ap- pointed Wolcott Gibbs, l. E. Hilgard, C. F. Chandler, R. E. Rogers and l. Lawrence Smith. This committee submitted a brief report on January ~8, ~~, as follows: 1~8 Annals of Congress. See Hazelton, op. cit., p. 289.

COMMITTEES ON BEHALF OF THE GOVERNMENT 28 I PROFESSOR WM. B. ROGERS, " President of the National Academy of Sciences. " SIR: The Committee of the National Academy of Sciences, to which was referred the question of the restoration of the faded writing of the original manuscript of the Declaration of Independence, respectfully reports: " That, in the judgment of the Committee, it is not expedient to attempt to restore the manuscript by chemical means, partly because such methods of restora- tion are at best imperfect and uncertain in their results, and partly because the Committee believes that the injury to the document in question is due, not merely to the fading of the ink employed, but also and in a large measure to the fact that press copies have been taken from the original, so that a part of the ink has been removed from the parchment. " The Committee is therefore of the opinion that it will be best, either to cover the present receptacle of the manuscript with an opaque lid or to remove the manuscript from its frame and place it in a portfolio, where it may be protected from the action of light; and, furthermore, that no press copies of any part of it should in future be permitted." ii~ is.' ... . ALEXANDER AGASSIZ, ESQ., As a result of this report the receptacle containing the parch- ment was provided with wooden doors. It was removed from exhibition in ~893, sealed between glass plates and placed in a steel safe, where it was no longer exposed to light and was secure from careless handling. It continued thus until agog when John Hay, Secretary of State, entertaining suspicions that the document was still deteriorating, requested that it be ex- amined again by a committee of the Academy. Under date of April ~4, ~903, he addressed the following letter 220 to President Agassiz: DEPARTMENT OF STATE, WASHINGTON, April I 4, I 903. " President of the National Academy of Sciences, Cambridge, Mass. " SIR: In accordance with the provisions of section 3 of the act of incorporating the National Academy of Sciences, I desire to invite the attention of the National Academy of Sciences to the condition of the Declaration of Independence, and to suggest that a committee be appointed to examine it in the library of this Depart- ment, and that such recommendations as may seem practicable be made to me touching its preservation. It is now kept out of the light, sealed between two :~9Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci., vol. I, pp. ~80, ~8~. ~Rep. Nat. Acad. Sci. for got, p. ~3. \ t

282 NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES sheets of glass, presumably proof against air, and locked in a steel safe. I am unable to say, however, that, in spite of these precautions, observed for the past ten years, the text is not continuing to fade and the parchment to wrinkle and perhaps to break. " I am, sir, your obedient servant, JOHN HAY. The President thereupon appointed C. F. Chandler, J. S. Billings and bra Remsen to consider the question a second time. The report of this committee 'A is of such general interest that it seems desirable to quote it in full, together with the letter of acknowledgment written by the Secretary of State upon its receipt. " HON. JOHN HAY, Secretary of State. NEW YORK, April 24, I 903. " DEAR SIR: In response to a communication received from you, a committee was appointed by President Agassiz, of the National Academy of Sciences, to con- {er with you with regard to the present condition of the Declaration of Independ- ence, and to make such recommendations as should seem desirable to insure the preservation of this precious instrument. The committee was also requested to send their report to you directly, in order to avoid the delay which might result from reporting in the usual manner to the officers of the Academy. The members of the committee are John S. Billings, Ira Remsen, and Charles F. Chandler. " After conferring with you, the committee was given an opportunity to make a careful examination of the instrument, with the assistance of Mr. A. H. Allen, Chief of the Bureau of Rolls and Library, and with the assistance of Dr. Wilbur 3iI. Grey, of the Army Medical Museum. " The instrument has suffered very seriously from the very harsh treatment to which it was exposed in the earlier years of the Republic. Folding and rolling have creased and broken the parchment. The wet press-copying operation, to which it was exposed about 1820, for the purpose of producing a facsimile copy, removed a large portion of the ink. Subsequent exposure to the action of light for more than thirty years, while the instrument was placed on exhibition, has resulted in the fading of the ink, particularly in the signatures. The present method of caring for the instrument seems to be the best that can be suggested. ~ This report was reprinted by the Department of State in the form of a circular, and the following remarks were added to it: " The Secretary of State has directed that the recommendations of the committee as set forth in the foregoing report be observed. The Department of State has no copies of the Declaration of Independence in any form for distribution."

COMMITTEES ON BEHALF OF THE GOVERNMENT 283 " The committee is pleased to find that no evidence of mold or other disinte- grating agents can be discovered upon the parchment by careful microscopic examination, nor any evidence that disintegration is now in progress. " The investigation has been facilitated by the photograph that was taken in ~883, two years after the previous examination by a committee of the Academy, and we would suggest the desirability of taking another photograph of about the same size, at the present time, and from time to time in the future, as an aid to ~ ~ e e future Investigation. " The committee does not consider it wise to apply any chemicals with a view to restoring the original color of the ink, because such application could be but par- tially successful, as a considerable percentage of the original ink was removed in making the copy about ~820, and also because such application might result in serious discoloration of the parchment; nor does the committee consider it necessary or advisable to apply any solution, such as collodion, paragon, etc., with a view to strengthening the parchment or making it moisture proof. " The committee is of the opinion that the present method of protecting the instrument should be continued; that it should be kept in the dark, and as dry as possible, and never placed on exhibition. " Very respectfully, yours, CHARLES F. CHANDLER, " Chairman of the Committee." }22 Secretary Hay replied to this letter as follows: PROF. C. F. CHANDLER, DEPARTMENT OF STATE, WASHINGTON, APri1 27, ~ 903. " Chairman Committee of the National Academy of Sciences to examine the present condition of the Declaration of Ir~depender~ce. " SIR: I have received your letter of April 24 instant, conveying the report of the committee appointed by President Agassiz of the National Academy of Sciences to confer with me respecting the present condition of the Declaration of Independence, and I beg you to accept for yourself and your colleagues of the committee President Remsen, of the Johns Hopkins University, and Dr. Bil- lings, of the New York Public Library—my thanks for the promptness and thor- oughness of the examination made by the committee, among the results of which is the gratifying assurance that no evidence of mold or other disintegrating agents were discovered upon the parchment under the microscope. I am gratified also to learn that the present method of caring for the instrument meets the concurrence of the committee. " The suggestions and recommendations made by yourself and your colleagues will be attentively observed by the Department, and I have already caused your ~Rep. Nat. Acad. Sci. for got, pp. -.

284 NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES advice to be followed by securing a photograph for comparison with that of 1883, and with others to be taken hereafter, from time to time, as aids to future · · . Investigations. " The conclusions of the committee, that the application of any chemicals with the view of restoring the original color of the ink would be unwise, and that the application of any solution, such as collodion, paraffin, etc., is neither necessary nor advisable for the purpose of strengthening the parchment or making it moisture proof, are welcome as avoiding experimental treatment of a document so precious and historic. " Again thanking the committee for their attention and care, " I am, sir, your obedient servant, JOHN HAY ', }23 It appears from the foregoing correspondence that the second committee agreed with the first as to the principal causes of the deterioration observable in the document and as to the best means of preventing further damage. The press copying mentioned is no doubt that which took place when the copperplate fac- simile was made by direction of John Quincy Adams in Age. It will be observed that a photograph of the document was made in ~83 and again in ~903, but since that latter date no more appear to have been taken. The safe containing it has been opened but once during the last decade, namely, in May, Egg. COMMITTEE ON SORGHUM SUGAR. 1881 The varieties of sorghum which are available as sources of sugar have been cultivated for a long period in China and Africa. Seed was first imported into the United States from the former country by way of France, and from Natal about the year ~855. The sorghum plant is far more hardy than sugar- cane, and was successfully cultivated over a wide area, especially in the western and northwestern parts of the United States. The outbreak of the Civil War caused a scarcity of sugar-cane throughout the country, and the saccharine products of sorghum were greatly in demand to supply the deficiency. These products, however, did not take the form of sugar, but of syrup. In ~860, nearly 7,ooo,ooo gallons of sorghum syrup were manu- ~Rep. Nat. Acad. Sci. for egos, pp. ~4, ~5.

COMMITTEES ON BEHALF ()F THE GOVERNMENT z85 factored, and in 1870, three years after the close of the war, the production had risen to 16,000,000 gallons. It increased from year to year during the next decade, and was about at its maxi- mum in ~ 880, when the output was more than 28,ooo,ooo gallons. Although beginning as early as ~863 some sorghum sugar was made in the United States every year, it was not until near the time when sorghum syrup production was at its height that the attention of the Government was turned toward the promotion of the manufacture of this kind of sugar. In ~878, before the agricultural bureau of the Government had developed into the Department of Agriculture, and while Dr. Peter Collier was the chemist of the bureau, experiments were commenced under his direction which were intended to test the possibility of producing sugar from sorghum on a large scale and at a low cost. The investigation was entered upon with great enthusiasm and be- came a matter of wide interest throughout the country. Farmers and manufacturers cooperated with the Government in pro- moting the undertaking and large amounts of capital were in- vested in machinery and appliances for the conversion of sorghum juices into sugar. The press of the country kept the subject prominently before the people and it was for some years a common topic of conversation. The experiments of the Government were carried on for three or four years, but resulted unfavorably. The Commissioner of Agriculture remarked that " the business of manufacturing sugar from sorghum at the department failed in ~~, having furnished discouragement rather than information to those en- gaged in it." The same year Dr. Collier, at the invitation of the Academy, read a paper at its November session in Philadelphia on " Facts regarding Sorghum, and some conclusions as to its value as a source of sugar." Professor Silliman, who had intro- duced Dr. Collier, then presented the following resolution which was approved by the Council: "Resolved, That the subject of sorghum sugar, the experimental results on which, obtained during the three or four years last past by Dr. Peter Collier, of the Agricultural Department, submitted in brief, by invitation, to the academy at 20

286 NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES . , , its Philadelphia session in November, ~88~, is, in the opinion of the academy, of sufficient importance to be referred to a committee of chemists, members of this academy, with the request that they give Dr. Collier's results and methods a careful consideration, and report at their early convenience the conclusions to which they come." \24 The President, William B. Rogers, appointed as the com- mittee Benj. Silliman, Samuel W. Johnson, Charles F. Chandler and I. :Lawrence Smith. Not long after the session closed, the attention of the Commissioner of Agriculture, George B. Loring, was called by the President to the fact that the Academy had the sorghum experiments under consideration, and Mr. Loring thereupon transmitted certain documents for the use of the com- m~ttee, with the remark that " if this reference involves a scien- tific investigation of the sorghum question he will be greatIy- obliged for the report." At the same tinge, the committee was enlarged by the appointment of Wm. H. Brewer, C. A. Goess- man and Gideon E. Moore as additional members. The last two were not members of the Academy. At the April session of the succeeding year, ~882, an abstract of the report of the committee was read before the Academy, and the first draft of the report itself was also submitted. The complete report was transmitted to the Commissioner of A~ri- culture in the following November. Mr. Loring refers to the document in his report for r88z in the following terms: "At the request of the chemist of the department, I submitted the sorghum analyses and work of his division to the National Academy of Sciences on the 30th of January last for investigation by that body. A committee appointed for that purpose entered upon their work with great zeal and energy, and their report, which was laid before me, was, on July at, withdrawn formally by the secretary of the academy ' for such action as the academy may deem neces- sary.' On the lath of November current, the president of the academy presented to me the final report of that institution, a long and elaborate document, contain- ing a review of the history of the sorghum industry for twenty-five ~rears, a state- ment of the scientific investigations made in this country and in Europe into the quality of sorghum and maize as sugar producing plants, a careful examination of 124 Rep. Nat. Acad. Sci. for ~88z, p. ~9. This paper will be found on pages 64 and 65 of the report of the committee of the Academy on sorghum. For the full title of the latter see the footnote on page z87. !

COMMITTEES ON BEHALF OF THE GOVERNMENT egg the chemical work of the department, a large volume of testimony received from sugar manufacturers, and certain suggestions with regard to future investigations and the work of the department. The report is evidently the result of infinite care, and has been subjected to careful revision, and I trust it will be found a valuable text-book for those engaged in the sorghum sugar industry. As a review of the successes and failures which have attended this industry, it is invaluable. As a guide to those who are engaged in it, it contains all the important results that have thus far been obtained by the chemist in his laboratory and the manufacturer in his mill. This report, together with a most voluminous appendix, making an interesting mass of matter far too large to be inclosed in the annual volume of the department for this year, will be issued at an early day as a special publica- tion." 225 Although it appears to have been the intention of the Depart- ment of Agriculture to publish the report, it was not issued as a departmental document. On July 6, ~882, the Senate adopted a resolution calling on the Commissioner to transmit it to Con- gress for the use of that body, and it was published as Senate Miscellaneous Document no. 5l, 47th Congress, 26 session.226 At did not leave the hands of the Commissioner until January lo, ~83, however, and was not published until June of that year. It was the most voluminous report prepared by any committee of the Academy and covered i52 printed pages.~27 Though conservative in their attitude, the committee speak in favorable terms of the outlook of the sorghum sugar industry, and express their faith in its future development. " As a work of national importance," they remark, " calculated directly to benefit widely separated sections of the country, it is one that has been wisely undertaken and encouraged by the Department 5 Rep. Comm. Agric., ~882, p. 680. 0 The resolution was as follows: Senate, July 6, ~882. " Mr. Windom submitted the following resolution; which was considered by unanimous consent and agreed to: Resolved, That the Commissioner of Agriculture be directed to furnish for the use of the Senate a copy of the report of the Committee of the National Academy of Sciences upon the subject of sorghum sugar," Congressional Record, vol. ~3, part 6, p. 5669, 47th Congress, fist Session. 127 Forty-seventh Congress, ad Session, Sen. Misc. Doc. no. 5~. National Academy of Sciences. Investigation of the Scientific and Economic relations of the Sorghum sugar Industry, being a report made in response to a request from the Hon. George B. Loring, U. S. Commissioner of Agriculture, by a committee of the National Academy of Sciences. November, z882. Washington: Government Printing Office. ~883. 8°. Pp. I-152.

288 NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES of Agriculture, and is deserving of every aid that Congress may be willing to grant for its encouragement and prosecution." (p. 24.) Again: " The spirit of scientific investigation which has led the Department of Agri- culture through its chemical and agronomic researches to results of such impor- tance towards developing a new industry of national value has been liberally fos- tered by the General Government, and to some extent also by certain of the States. The fruits of this policy are already beginning to show themselves in the decided success which has attended the production of sugar from sorghum on ~ commercial scale in the few cases in which the rules of good practice, evolved especially by the researches made at the laboratory of the Department of Agriculture, have been intelligently followed. Sufficiently full returns from the crop of ~882 have already come to hand to convince us that the Industry is probably destined to be a commercial success " ~ p. 53 ~ . The expectations of the committee, though doubtless justified by the knowledge available at the time at which they were formed. were not destined to be fulfilled owing to a combination . Congress con- tinued to anoronriate money for sorghum investigations for a , - - O of circumstances which could not be foreseen --rr--r ~ J ~ ~ - - - O number of years and the Department of Agriculture carried on experiments with great industry and earnestness, but the scope of these activities gradually narrowed as the real nature of the problem began to be perceived, and finally in TS93, they were discontinued. In the same year in which the committee of the Academy reported (~882) the actual manufacture of sugar at the Depart- ment of Agriculture was found unprofitable and was abandoned. Attention was then concentrated on increasing the sugar-content and other desirable qualities of the sorghum plant and on finding a process for the manufacture of sugar at a low cost. It was finally determined that the only ready methods of causing the sugar to crystallize in large quantities and of freeing it from the starch and gummy substances with which it was associated in- volved the use of large quantities of alcohol. The high tax on al- coho! made its use prohibitive and the industry thus encountered an obstacle which it has never been able to surmount. Although

COMMITTEES ON BEHALF OF THE GOVERNMENT 28g for many years before and after the Government entered on its investigations a million or more pounds of sugar were manu- factured annually in the United States from sorghum, the in- dustry was always a precarious one, and quite as likely to entail a loss as to yield a profit. At the critical time in its history a number of circumstances besides the difficulty regarding the use of alcohol militated against its development. Among these the most important was that the price of sugar was unusually low, a condition brought about largely by the growth of the beet- sugar industry which proved remunerative and engrossed the attention of agriculturists in those very sections of the country in which it was expected that the cultivation of sorghum sugar would prove a benefit. In ~893 Congress discontinued appro- nriations for sorghum investigations, the Secretarv of Ao~rir,,] ture~having remarked in his report for that year: J 5 " The experiments in sorghum sugar may, it is believed, be discontinued, the results of experiments already made leaving apparently nothing more for the :Federal Government to undertake. A stage is now reached when individual enterprise can and should take advantage of what the Department has accom- plished." \28 Thus the activities of the Government terminated without producing the result which the committee of the Academy expected. The potentialities of sorghum as a source of sugar were demonstrated, however, and the time may yet come when new agricultural and commercial conditions arid the progress of inven- tion may bring it into actual use as one of the principal sugar- producing plants. In the meantime, the money and thought expended in investigations were not wasted, as sorghum has proved to be very valuable as a source of table syrups and as a fodder-plant for cattle. ~Rep. Seer. Agric. for ~893, Nov. 20, ~893, pp. 33, 34 (J. Sterling Morton, Secretary). See also p. ~89 of the same report. =9 See H. W. Wiley. The relation of chemistry to the progress of agriculture. Yearbook IJ. S. Dep. Agric. for ~899, pp. 242, 243.

290 NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES COMMITTEE ON QUESTIONS OF METEOROLOGICAL SCIENCE AND ITS APPLICATIONS. 1881 · This committee was appointed in ~88~ at the request of the Chief Signal Officer of the Army. The Proceedings of the Academy contain the following information regarding it: " A communication was laid before the Academy from General William B. Hazen, Chief Signal Officer, United States Army, under date of April 4, ~88~, asking that a permanent committee be appointed with whom the Signal Officer might confer from time to time as to the best means of advancing the science of meteorology and its applications to the benefit of agriculture and commerce. " The following-named members were thereupon appointed by the President a Committee on Meteorology to confer and cooperate with the Chief Signal Officer: Mr. Newcomb, chairman, and Messrs. Loomis, Gibbs (W.), Newton (H. A.), Ferret, Schott, and Langley. " Messrs. Rood and Young were subsequently added to the Committee." 230 In his report for ~88~, General Hazen comments on the appointment of the committee in the following terms: " The weather service of the United States has been without a rival in the practical advantages derived from its labors, but the day has now come when it should take the stand among the foremost, in the scientific study and investigation of the higher branches of theoretical meteorology, and it is upon such investiga- tions intelligently pursued that the hope for greater benefits must mainly rest. I have endeavored to bring this service into active sympathy and co-operation with the ablest scientific intellects of the country. In this direction and in response to my request, the National Academy of Sciences has appointed an advisory com- mittee of consulting specialists with which I may confer as occasion demands. I take pleasure in acknowledging this courtesy as showing the establishment of more intimate relations between the scientific interests of the United States and the Signal Service." 23t The committee appears not to have presented any formal re- ports but was continued until ~884, when it was discharged. At this time the Academy had been requested by a Joint Commis- sion of Congress to. express its opinion as to the meteorological work carried on under the Signal Service. 330 Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci., vol. I, pp. fez, ~82. ~Rep. Chief Signal Officer of the Army, p. 3 (~88~) (Wm. B. Hazen).

COMMITTEES ON BEHALF OF THE GOVERNMENT 29 I COMMITTEE ON THE SEPARATION OF METHYL, OR WOOD SPIRITS, FROM ETHYL ALCOHOL. 1882 The reasons for which the advice of the Academy was desired on this subject are very clearly and fully stated in a letter which the Commissioner of Internal Revenue, Green B. Raum, ad- dressed to the President on April r2, ~882. He writes: " There is now pending before Congress a bill ~ H. R. 5082 ~ ' To authorize the withdrawal from distillery warehouse, without tax, of alcohol and other spirits to be used in industrial pursuits,' which bill provides that ' such spirits shall either first have been mixed with one-ninth of their bulk of methyl, or wood alcohol, of equal proof strength, or that such spirits shall be withdrawn for use in tobacco factories, or such other industrial pursuits as shall entail their complete destruction so that they cannot be recovered by any process of distillation.' " It is therefore deemed important to the interests of the revenue that a careful and thorough investigation be made, having for its object the determination of O O ~ ~ the fact whether the methyl, or wood spirits may be entirely, or approximately, separated by distillation, or in any other economical manner from the ethyl alco- hol, or spirits of wine, upon which the tax is imposed. " In other words, the information sought is as to whether the science of chem- istry now enables the possessor of the methylated spirits to separate the ethyl alcohol from such mixture in such a state of purity, and at such a probable cost as might enable the holder to sell it in the market at a less price than those persons who withdraw spirits from bond upon payment of the tax at the rate of ninety cents per proof gallon. " I have therefore to respectfully request that a committee of the National Academy of Sciences be appointed to undertake this investigation, and to inform this office of the result at the earliest moment practicable. " I desire particularly to be advised as to the relative vaporizing Doint of purified wood-naphtha as compared · O , - with distilled spirits of the same specific gravity, and such other information on the subject as may assist this Office in reach- ing a conclusion as to whether or not the bill referred to would be liable to abuse if it should become a law. " I have to ask if it is the pleasure of the academy to undertake this investiga- tion, and if so to be informed as to the nature and quantity of alcohol, wood- naphtha, and other materials which will be needed in the prosecution of this inquiry.~, 132 The Acting President, Prof. O. C. Marsh, appointed a com- mittee consisting of Ira Remsen, G. F. Barker and C. F. Chand- ler which reported on September ~8, ~882. The report covered 132 Rep. Nat. Acad. Sci. for ~883, pp. 57, 58.

292 NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES various aspects of the question at issue. It began by pointing out that in both England and Germany the law had for a number of years permitted the use of methylated spirits in the arts, and gave a resume of the reports of the committees on which the legislation was based. ~ . ~ ~ ~ It then defined the several liquids know as ethyl alcohol, methyl alcohol, crude wood-naphtha, and refined wood-naphtha or wood spirits, and described a number of experi- ments made by the committee with mixtures of ethyl alcohol and refined wood-naphtha. The committee summed up its report as follows: " The final conclusion to which we are led is this: That by treating the mixt- ures of ethyl alcohol and wood spirits (in the proportion proposed in the bill now before Congress) with bone-black, filtering, adding a caustic alkali" as, for ~ , . in, _ ~ - . 1 ~ .1 1~ ,~11~ ·,1_ ~1 _- 1 _£ AIL_ TO_ ~ 1 ^__L_ At_ example, caustic potash and then distilling with the aid or the Temper tune, one principal product obtained is nearly free from methyl alcohol, and that the odor and taste of this product are not very marked. At the same time, even in the best product thus obtained, the odor and taste characteristic of wood-naphtha can be detected, though only with difficulty, by those who are unskilled in such matters. We believe that the method employed by us which gave the best product could be applied economically on the large scale, and a product fully as good as our best, if not better than it, might thus be obtained. "As regards the question whether the product obtained could be used for drinking purposes, that is difficult for the committee to answer satisfactorily. We have submitted our best specimens to some well-known dealers in alcohol and alco- holic beverages, and we learn that the purified product might easily be used in the manufacture of low-grade whiskies and rum, though all the gentlemen whom we have consulted on this point have unhesitatingly recognized the presence of the wood-naphtha in the best specimens. " It would appear from this that, while after the addition of the wood-naphtha to alcohol, it is extremely difficult, if not impossible, to separate the two perfectly and thus regenerate the pure alcohol, it is quite possible to get from the mixture a product which might be used in the manufacture of alcoholic beverages of lower order. " It is plain from the foregoing that, considering our experiments as final, it is impossible to purify the mixture containing wood-naphtha to a sufficient extent to make it palatable without the aid of distillation. Hence, apparently, it would be as difficult to carry on the process of purification on the large scale as to carry on the illegitimate manufacture of alcohol. This fact, in itself, might be a suffi- cient protection against fraud, though the committee does not feel competent to express a decided opinion on this point." ]33 ~83 Rep. Nat. Acad. Sci. for ~883, pp. 62, 63.

COMMITTEES OUT BEHALF OF THE GOVERNMENT 293 COMMITTEE ON GLUCOSE. 1882 The request for the appointment of a committee of the Academy on the vexed question of glucose was received from the Commissioner of Internal Revenue a few days after the request for a committee on methyl alcohol. In a {ester addressed to President Rogers, dated April by, ~ 882, the Commissioner remarks: " There is now pending before Congress a bill ~ H. R. 3~70) ' to tax and regu- late the manufacture and sale of glucose,' which bill proposes to so amend the internal-revenue laws as to impose a special tax upon the manufacturers of, and dealers in, glucose, and to levy a tax on the article in its solid, liquid, and semi- liquid form. " In view of this, I have respectfully to request the appointment of a committee of the Academy to examine as to the composition, nature, and properties of the article commercially known as glucose, or grape sugar. " This office desires to be informed as to the saccharine quality of this product as compared with cane sugar or molasses, and also especially as to its deleterious effects when used as an article of food or drink, or as a constituent element of such articles. " Numerous specimens of the article in question are in the possession of this, once which will be placed at the disposal of the Academy. " Any expense necessarily incurred in conducting this inquiry will be paid upon the presentation of a properly prepared bill for that purpose." '34 In accordance with the request contained in this letter the President, Wm. B. Rogers, appointed the following committee to consider the question at issue: Tra Remsen, C. F. Chandler, G. F`. Barker. The committee reported on September ~8, ~882. The magnitude of the starch-sugar industry in the United States will be appreciated from the consideration of some statistics taken from the report of the committee of the Academy and from other sources. In ~88z there were 32 glucose and starch-sugar factories in the country with an estimated capacity of 43,ooo bushels of corn a day. In ~884 there were 29 factories capable of utilizing 40,000 bushels a day. In Atop the factories had been reduced by combination to five which, however, used ~7s,ooo bushels of corn a day. The combined capital of four of 334 Rep. Nat. Acad. Sci. for ~883, p. 66 ., f

2~94 NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES these companies amounted to $80,ooo,ooo. At the beginning of the present century the domestic consumption of corn syrup and corn sugar amounted to woo million pounds annually. The exports for the decade ~8g3-~go3 amounted to more than ~700 million pounds, valued at $28,ooo,ooo. The report of the committee was one of the most extensive made during the first half century of the Academy and covered ;; prirlted pages. It contained, besides a general introduction, a summary of the history of the starch-sugar industry, an account of the several varieties of glucose and starch-sugar, and of their chemical composition, an inquiry into the healthfulness of glucose as a food, analyses of commercial samples of glucose and starch-sugar with special reference to adulteration, and. a list of factories. To this were added fourteen pages of extracts from literature relating to starch-su~ar. a biblio~ranhv covering ~8 pages, and a list of patents. ~ , ~ Amp- ~ ~ ~ en-—r--~ ~ ~ —- The results of the work of the committee are summarized in eight paragraphs referring to the following sub jects: The his- tory of starch-sugar, the process of manufacture, the extent of the industry, the utilization of the products, the relation of ~ · ~ ~ . starch-sugar to other sugars, the organic constitutents, the health- fulness of glucose as a food. The conclusions were as follows: " In conclusion, then, the following facts appear as the result of the present Investigation: fist. That the manufacture of sugar from starch is a long-estab- lished industry, scientifically valuable and commercially important. ~d. That the processes which it employs at the present time are unobjectionable in their char- acter, and leave the product uncontaminated. 3d. That the starch sugar thus made and sent into commerce is of exceptional purity and uniformity of composition, and contains no injurious substances. And, 4th, that though having at best only about three-fifths the sweetening power of cane sugar, yet starch sugar is in no way inferior to cane sugar in healthfulness, there being no evidence before the committee that maize starch sugar, either in its normal condition or fermented, has any deleterious eEect upon the system, even when taken in large quantities." }35 ~35 Rep. Nat. Acad. Sci. for ~883, p. 88.

COMMIlVl'EES ON BEHALF OF THE GOVERNMENT 295 COMMITTEE ON THE SIGNAL SERVICE OF THE ARMY, THE GEOLOGICAL SURVEY, THE COAST AND GEODETIC SURVEY, AND THE HYDROGRAPHIC OFFICE OF THE NAW DEPART- MENT. 1884 In the Sundry Civil Act approved July 7, 1884, Congress directed the appointment of a joint commission of the Senate and House to consider and report on the organization of the Signal Service of the Army, the Geological Survey, the Coast and Geodetic Survey, and the Hydrographic Office of the Navy Department "with the view to secure greater efficiency and economy of administration of the public service in said bureaus." It would appear that the demand for this inquiry had a double origin. In Congress and in the country generally it was thought that the weather service, which was organized under the Signal Service of the Army, would be improved and extended if it were taken out from under the control of the War Department and placed in charge of civilians. A separate inquiry into this matter was at first proposed, but subsequently it was merged with an inquiry into the relationships of the several national surveys. Regarding the latter the joint Commission remarked in its report: " It has been frequently stated in the course of debates in Congress that the several scientific Bureaus named were engaged in unnecessary work, so far as prac- tical results were concerned, and also that there was a duplication of work, two or more Bureaus being engaged in substantially the same character of investigation and in the execution of the same work. It was claimed, especially, that the Geological Survey and the Coast and Geodetic Survey were duplicating their work; and it was also claimed that the work of the Coast Survey proper could be more economically performed under the direction of the Navy Department by use of the force and the organization in that Department known as the Hydrographic Office, and that that work should be transferred from the Treasury to the Navy." \36 As originally organized. the Toint (~nmmission consister1 of ~ , war '~ ~ ,1. Senators vvm. as. Wilson (chairman), Eugene Hale, and Geo. H. Pendleton, and Representatives Robert Lowry, Hilary A. Herbert and Theodore :Lyman (secretary). The Commission 13a House Reports, 48th Congress, Use Session, Rep. no. 2740, pp. T-2.

296 NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES was unable to report in December, 1884, as the law demanded, i and the time was extended to December, 1885, `` or as soon there- after as may be." Representative Lyman had retired from Conaress. and were . . .. ~ . . In the meanwhile Senator Pendieton and replaced on the Commission by Senator John T. Morgan and Representative John T. Wait. The report was finally submitted on June lo, ~886.237 The testimony taken before the Commission had already been published. It forms a thick volume of more than a thousand pages.~3S Feeling that it should receive the advice of the National Academy of Sciences, the Commission, through its secretary, Hon. Theodore Lyman, requested that a committee of the Academy be appointed to consider the subject in question. The committee appointed by President Marsh consisted of M. C. Meigs, Wm. H. Brewer, Cyrus B. Comstock, S. P. Langley, Simon Newcomb, E. C. Pickering, W. P. Trowbridge, F. A. Walker, and C. A. Young. All accepted appointment, but sub- sequently Prof. Newcomb and Gen. Comstock resigned by order of the Secretary of the Navy and the Secretary of War, respec- tively. These orders were issued on the ground that it was not proper for the two members who were active officers of the De- partments mentioned to be concerned in giving advice to Con- gress, which might result in action which would embarrass the heads of those Departments in carrying out their policies.239 On the other hand, President Marsh held that the Academy should not be deprived of the services of the two members in formulating advice asked for by the legislative branch of the Government. He declined, therefore, to accept their resigna- tions, and laid the matter before the Academy. The Academy appears, however, to have taken no action regarding it. 137 House Rep. no. z740, 48th Congress, fist Session. Senate Misc. Doc. no. 8,, 48th Congress, fist Session, ~886. 139 This view did not affect the appointment of General Meigs, apparently for the reason that he was a retired officer. He was requested by the Secretary of War to withdraw, but upon his submitting a protest the matter was dropped.

COM\IIT1'EES ON BEHALF OF THE GOVERNMENT 25?7 The questions which the committee was requested to consider were as follows: "First. What is the organization of the government surveys, and of the signal service, in the chief countries of Europe, and could any part of this organi- zation be advantageously adopted in this country? " Secondly. In what way can the scientific branches above referred to be best co-ordinated ? " Thirdly. What changes in, or additions to, these branches are desirable ? " \40 The report of the committee was submitted on September At, ~84, and with the appendices, covers 3c pages. To the first inquiry propounded by the Joint Commission the committee replied that in its opinion the efficiency of the surveys of the United States would not be increased by adopting any form of organization existing in Europe, but that a more extended use of photography and zincography might prove economical in the production of maps and charts. It then called attention to a previous recommendation of the Academy that the Coast Survey be transferred to the Department of the Interior and that its work be extended to include topographic land surveys. The committee recommended that the Weather Bureau be separated from the Signal Service of the War Department and placed un- der the control of a scientific commission. T\To immediate change in the scope of the Hydrographic Once was recommended, but it was suggested that when the original survey of the coast should be finished, the work of re-sounding, re-examining, etc., might perhaps be advantageously committed to the Navy De- partment. Having given attention to these particulars, the com- mittee then pronounced its conviction that a proper coordination of the scientific work of the Government would be most satis- 8 ~ . ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ rig =---r --A factorily effected by the establishment of a Department of Science. It was proposed that this Department should include the Coast and Geodetic Survey under the name of the Coast and Interior Survey; the Geological Survey, unchanged; a Meteor- ological Bureau, to which should be transferred the main portion of the meteorological work of the Signal Service; and a physical 240 Rep. Nat. Acad. Sci. for ~84, p. as.

298 NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES observatory, " to investigate the laws of solar and terrestrial radiation and their application to meteorology, with such other investigations in exact science as the Government might assign to it." Attention was also called to the desirability of having in this department a bureau of standards, which might include the Bureau of Weights and Measures. Should Congress consider it inadvisable to establish a new Department of Science, the committee suggested that all the scientific bureaus be assembled under some one of the Depart- ments then existing. In case either action was taken, the Com- mittee recommended that a permanent scientific commission be created to direct the policy of the several bureaus, this com- mission to consist of the Secretary of the Department of Science, or other Department to which the bureaus should be assigned (who should be president ex officio), the President of the National Academy of Sciences, the Secretary of the Smith- sonian Institution, `' two civilians of high scientific reputation," an officer of the Engineer Corps of the Army, a professor of mathematics in the Navy, the Superintendent of the Coast and Geodetic Survey, the Director of the Geological Survey, the head of the meteorological bureau. This report was sent to the Government Commission on October ~6, ~884, together with certain letters of the heads of the several scientific bureaus concerned. The more comprehensive recommendations of the committee of the Academy have not been adopted by Congress up to the present time. Neither a Department of Science nor a general scientific commission has been established, but several of the changes proposed have been made. The meteorological service, formerly combined with the Signal Service of the Army, has become a separate bureau under the Department of Agricul- ture.~4~ A Bureau of Standards has been established in the Department of Commerce and Labor to which has been trans- ferred the work of the former Bureau of Weights and Measures. 14lThe Department of Agriculture became an executive department on February 9, ~889, and the Weather Service was transferred to it on October I, ~890.

COMMITTEES ON BEHALF OF THE GOVERNMENT 299 An Astrophysical Observatory has been organized under the Smithsonian Institution corresponding to the observatory pro- posed by the committee of the Academy. To this extent, the views of the committee have found favor with Congress. Whether the larger plans will eventually be adopted time alone will reveal. The report of the committee of the Academy was printed in the introduction to the volume of testimony given before the Joint Commission. Many high officials were called upon by the Commission to express their views or to make statistical or other statements relative to the matter under investigation, in- cluding the Lieutenant-General of the Army, the Secretaries of War and of the Nary, the heads of the several scientific bureaus concerned and many subordinate officers. The discussion took a wide range but returned repeatedly to the recommendations of the committee of the Academy which formed the text for many remarks. The report of the Joint Commission in reality comprises three separate reports. Allison, Hale and Lowry agreed as to the various questions at issue, and Wait also sided with them, except in so far as the Signal Service divas concerned. Morgan, Herbert and Wait submitted a separate series of recommenda- tions regarding the latter, while Herbert and Morgan presented a minority report relative to the Coast and Geodetic Survey and the Geological Survey. The conclusion of the majority of the Commission regarding the Coast and Geodetic Survey was as follows: " .... A majority of the commission concur with the view expressed by the Academy of Sciences, that when the original survey shall have been completed it will be time enough to raise the question whether or not the hydrographic work involved in these resurveys may not then be transferred to the Navy Department; but until that time the undersigned believe that question should not be seriously considered. . . . ,' 142 " There is nothing in the testimony to indicate that the work now performed by the Survey can be more efficiently performed if transfer is made, nor is it shown 142 House Report no. 2740, 48th Congress, Use Session, p. 6. ,

3oo NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES that the Navy can more economically execute the work, so there is no reason either on the score of efficiency or economy for making the change. It is suggested that a new method might be adopted, which would result in a considerable saving of expenditure, but the commission does not regard itself competent to decide upon the methods to be adopted in a survey so highly scientific in its character and objects, much less does it feel competent to recommend a chance of method which ~ 1 ~ · ~ has received the sanction of the scientists of our country, and has the sanction of more than two generations of experience and criticism " }43 Regarding the Weather Service, the report remarked: " A proposition made to establish a weather service as a civilian organization failed in the commission, three of the commission favoring such transfer, and three opposing it. Those favoring the transfer submit separately their views on the subject, which are appended hereto " \44 The conclusion regarding the Hv~ro~ranhic Office vvas as follows: O O , O ~ " The commission unanimously recommend that this once be maintained by appropriations from year to year in its present state of efficiency." \46 Concerning the suggestions of the Academy that a commission be established to direct the work of the scientific bureaus, or that a department of science be created, the report remarks: " .... The commission considered with care the many suggestions respecting a change of existing law looking to the selection of a supervisory commission, which should from time to time, and at least once in each year, consider what work should properly be done by the several bureaus under examination, and supervise the methods of executing the work committed to them severally. They regard this as impracticable as long as these bureaus are distributed as now among several Departments of the Government. They believe it wiser to leave this general direc- tion and control to each head of Department for the bureau under his supervision. It would be impracticable to give such Commission power to overrule the head of a Department, and if this were not done its powers would only be advisory. " Nor is the Commission prepared to recommend the establishment of a scientific department of the Government to take charge of all these bureaus. There is no such duplication of work or necessary connection of these bureaus with each other as make such establishment essential to their efficiency, as in cases where one bureau Ends it necessary to utilize the work of another, a request for information and data is always complied with." t46 1" Op. cite., p. ~3. 144 Op. Cit., p. 26. 45 Op. Cit.,p.28. " op. cit., pp. s3, so.

COMMITS EES ON BEHALF OF THE GOVERNMENT 30 I Messrs. Morgan, Herbert and Wait, reported on the Weather Service as follows: 1~7 " As the result of their investigation of the Signal Service Bureau, the under- signed respectfully submit to Congress the following bill, and recommend its passage: " ' A bill to establish a Weather Bureau in the War Department, and for other purposes. "'Be it enacted by the Senate arid House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That on the first day of July, eighteen hundred and eighty-six, the Signal Service Bureau shall be abolished, and a Bureau to be styled the Weather Bureau shall be established, to which shall be transferred the records and property of every kind now in charge of the Signal Service, except arms and other military equipments and stores, all of which shall be turned over to the proper officers of the Army. " ' SEC. 2. That the Weather Bureau shall be organized as a civil establish- ment to promote meteorological investigations, and shall be under the direction of the Secretary of War.' JOHN T. MORGAN, HILARY A. HERBERT, JOHN T. WAIT. Regarding the Coast and Geodetic Survey, Messrs. Herbert and Morgan made the following minority report: " The undersigned favor the transfer of the Coast Survey proper to the Hydro- graphic Once of the Navy Department. We mean to include not only the hydrography, that is, soundings, etc., now done by naval officers under the direction of the civilian head of the Coast Survey, but all topography upon nautical charts, including such triangulation as is incident thereto. We believe the Navy would execute this work more economically and speedily, and therefore more effectively, than it is now being done." i48 " So far as a further survey of our coast is concerned, there seems to be a propriety in transferring that work to the Navy Department. The other duties now in charge of this establishment, if they cannot be profitably attached to some existing Department or other Bureau, should be prosecuted under a law exactly deigning their scope and purpose, and with a careful discrimination between the scientific inquiries which may properly be assumed by the Government and those which should be undertaken by State authority or by individual enterprise." i49 17Op.cit., pp.63-64 14S op. cif., p- 66. ,49 Report, p. 80. HI

302 NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES COMMITTEE ON PHILOSOPHICAL AND SCIENTIFIC APPARATUS. 1884 The tariff act approved March 3, 1883, contained the expres- sion " philosophical and scientific apparatus, instruments, and preparations," and upon the claim being put forward by some importers that certain articles which they wished to bring in were " philosophical " instruments the Treasury Department found itself unable to decide whether they were really such, or how they differed from " scientific " instruments. The Acting Sec- retary of the Treasury, H. F. French, thereupon addressed a letter to Prof. Spencer F. Baird, Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, asking that the Institution prepare a list of philo- sophical instruments for the use of the collectors of customs. Pro- fessor Baird having suggested that the Academy might prepare such a list, Secretary French wrote to the President under date of September ~3, ~884, stating that the Department-would be The President, O. C. I, ~ obliged if he would furnish the list. Marsh, thereupon appointed a committee consisting of George I. Brush, Wolcott Gibbs, S. H. Scudder, Simon Newcomb and George F. Barker, to report on the subject in question. The committee reported later in the year, explaining the reasons which made it impracticable to prepare a list of instruments, and explaining the meaning of the expression " philosophical instruments " as follows: 250 " Although the term ' philosophical ' as applied to instruments has long ceased to be employed in scientific language, it has a well defined signification in ordinary use. It has come down from a time when nearly all our knowledge of inanimate nature was comprehended under the general term ' natural philosophy,' and the instruments and apparatus necessary for acquiring and illustrating that knowledge were termed ' philosophical.' The obvious intent of Congress in specially desig- nating philosophical instruments was to cover the case of institutions and indi- viduals who might import the instruments aIld apparatus for the purpose of improving natural knowledge. It therefore appears to us that the terms ' philo- sophical apparatus and instruments ' in both clauses quoted should be held to cover all such instruments and apparatus imported for this purpose. 150 The correspondence and the report of the committee are in the Annual Report of the Academy for ~884, pp. 65-67.

COMMI1Y EES ON BEHALF OF THE GOVERNME1!`TT 303 " It does not appear to your committee that the addition of the word ' scientific ' in the last clause of the law quoted comprehends any objects other than those which may be included under the term ' philosophical ' as hereinbefore defined. We regard the addition of this word as merely intended to render the meaning of Congress more explicit." \5\ COMMITTEE ON THE ASTRONOMICAL DAY, THE SOLAR ECLIPSE OF AUGUST, 1886, AND THE ERECTION OF A NEW NAVAL OBSERVATORY. 1885 As indicated by the heading, this committee was concerned with three different matters of astronomical importance. It was appointed at the request of the Secretary of the Navy, W. C. Whitney, who, on April 22, ~85, addressed the following {ester to the President of the Academy: 252 . . . NAVY DEPARTMENT, PROFESSOR 0. C. MARSH, WASHINGTON, D. C., APri1 ~2, 1885. " President of the National Academy of Sciences. " SIR: I have the honor to submit enclosed a copy of Senate Executive DOCU- ment No. 78, 48th Congress, 2nd Session, containing a letter from the Secretary of the Navy, dated February ~7th, ~885, transmitting communications concerning the proposed change in the time for beginning the astronomical day, as recom- mended by the recent Meridian Conference. " I would respectfully request that the National Academy of Sciences take into consideration the question of adopting He proposed change in the American Ephemeris and Nautical Almanac, and other astronomical publications, and advise this Department of its views and recommendations on the subject. " I have also the honor to submit for your consideration and recommendation the following questions: " fist. As to the advisability of asking Congress to make an appropriation for the observation of the eclipse of the sun in August, ~886, to be expended by the Superintendent of the Naval Observatory under direction of the Navy Depart- ment. " 2nd. As to the advisability of proceeding promptly with the erection of a new Naval Observatory upon the site purchased in 1880. " Very respectfully, W. C. WHITNEY, " Secretary of the Navy." Rep. Nat. Acad. Sci. for ~884, p. 67. 52 Rep. Nat. Acad. Sci. for z885, pp. 35-36.

3O4 NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES i The committee consisted of F. A. P. Barnard (chairman), A. Graham Bell, J. D. Dana, S. P. Langley, Theodore Lyman, E. C. Pickering, and C. A. Young. Of the three subjects presented for its consideration, the com- mittee gave its attention principally to the question of the erec- tion of a new observatory building. THE ASTRONOMICAL DAY AS regards the change in the astronomical day proposed by the International Meridian Conference, to make it conform to the civil day, the committee recommended that it be carried into effect as soon as there should be a general agreement among astronomers and astronomical establishments to adopt it, and preferably in ~890 or in Moo. It is well known that from the earliest times astronomers have been accustomed to reckon the day as beginning when the sun is on the meridian, or in other words, at noon; while for ordinary purposes among modern na- tions the day begins at midnight. In the case of a phenomenon re- ported as occurring on a certain day between noon and midnight there is, therefore, room for uncertainty as to the real date, unless the kind of day be specified. If the astronomical day should be made to conform to the civil day, this uncertainty would dis- appear but, on the other hand, there would be a lack of uni- formity between ancient and recent astronomical records. The committee considered these difficulties and decided that the advantage of having a single system of reckoning time over- balanced the inconvenience of a discrepancy among astronomical records. This view has not, however, prevailed up to the present time, and, with few exceptions, astronomers have continued to regard the day as beginning at noon. THE SOLAR ECLIPSE OF AUGUST 29, ~ 886 This eclipse was visible in the tropics and the committee, after looking into the matter, concluded that it would be observed to the best advantage in Benguela, West Africa, but as a consider

COMMITTEES ON BEHALF OF THE GOVERNMENT 305 able time would be required for making the necessary prepara- tions, and it was improbable that any money that might be appropriated would be available until late in the spring of 1886' the committee did not recommend that Congress be asked to take action regarding it. The eclipse was, however, observed in the West Indies by astronomers from private American observatories. THE U. S. NAVAL OBSERVATORY An act of Congress approved February 4, taco, provided for the purchase of a new site for the Naval Observatory in Wash- ington,253 which since ~844 had been located on a low eminence near the Potomac River, known as " observatory hill," situated between Had and Beth streets. The affairs of the observatory form the main theme of the committee's report. For some years the old site had been generally regarded as very unhealthy, the building was somewhat dilapidated and had become inad- equate for the needs of the observatory, the equipment had be- come more or less antiquated, and the grounds were regarded as too limited. The committee invited expressions of opinion as to the advisability of mooring from astronomers who had been attached to the observatory for a long term of years, including Professor Holden and Professor Newcomb, and also from various physicians of Washington as to the wholesomeness of the old site. While opinions differed widely as to the effects of the malarial surroundings of the observatory caused by river-fogs, the committee reached the conclusion that a change of location was desirable. Accordingly, an item was included by the Sec- retary of the Navy in the estimates for ~887, for beginning the erection of a new building on the site on the heights back of Georgetown, and in the act making appropriations for the naval service for the fiscal year ending June So, ~87, approved July 26, ~ S86, Congress gave the necessary authorization, in the following terms: " For commencing the erection of the new Naval Observatory on the site purchased under the act of Congress approved February fourth, eighteen hundred 153 Stat. at Large, vol. as, p. 64, 46th Congress, zd Session, chap. ~9.

306 NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES and eighty, fifty thousand dollars: Provided, That the construction of no building shall be commenced except an observatory proper, with necessary offices for observers and computers." 254 The new observatory was completed in 1893. While the committee recognized the importance of a suit- able site, and adequate equipment and buildings, it was far more concerned regarding the organization of the observatory. The main body of its report relates to this subject. It argued that while astronomers who were naval officers, and especially James M. Gilliss and Charles H. Davis (both members of the Academy) had contributed to the reputation of the Observatory, as an important scientific establishment, that reputation was derived mainly from the labors of its civilian professors, Walker, Ferguson, Hall, Holden, Newcomb and others. It, therefore, recommended that the Observatory be reorganized under a civilian administration, and that its name be changed from United States Naval Observatory to the National Observatory of the United States, which latter designation it bore at a certain early period in its history.255 COMMITTEE ON THE TARIFF CLASSIFICATION OF WOOLS. 1885 In the various tariff laws enacted by Congress in the course of the last forty years, different rates of duties are imposed for wool in the natural condition of the fleece, and for woo! that has been washed or scoured. Washing is yenned as cleansing the fleece while still on the sheep's back by washing it in cold water, while scouring is defined as a more effective cleansing of the woo! by means of hot water, or alkalies and other chemicals. The rate for washed woo! is twice, and that for scoured woo! three times the rate for woo! in the natural condition. For some time the appraisers appear to have overlooked the distinc- tion and much woo! was admitted at a less rate than it should 154 Stat. at Large, vol. 24, p. ~56, 48th Congress, fist Session, chap. 78~, ~886. 155 The report of the committee constitutes Sen. Exec. Doc., no. 67, 48th Congr., fist Sess. Ordered printed Feb. to, z886. See also Sen. Exec. Doc. no. 78, 48th Congr. Ad Sess. z885.

COMMITTEES ON BEHALF OF THE GOVERNMENT 307 have paid under the law. In the report of H. Wheeler Combs, general appraiser at the port of New York, dated October 30, 85, we read: " We had also made inquiry into the discrepancies between the large ports in the matter of the value and classification of foreign wools particularly those known as ' Donskoi wools '—and were in communication with the officials and reputable importers at the large ports on this subject. We have learned enough to convince us that gross undervaluations at all the ports have existed for years, through a misapprehension on the part of the customs officials of the true value of the cur- rency on which the traffic is actually based. " These wools are entered as ' washed wools,' valued at less than ~z cents per pound. A chemical analysis was made at the laboratory connected with the appraiser's once, and the chemist reports that they are ' scoured wools.' This subject is now being carefully investigated by the appraiser of this port." t56 On December 3, 1885, the Secretary of the Treasury, Daniel Manning, addressed a letter to the President of the Academy, in which he stated that an appeal had been taken from the decision of the Collector of Customs at the port of New York in a case involving the classification of a certain consignment of woo! for tariff purposes, and requested that the Academy would advise him as to its proper classification. The President appointed a committee to examine the sample of woo! which accompanied the letter and determine its real character. This committee, which consisted of C. F. Chandler, W. H. Brewer and Henry Morton, reported on January ~6, ~86, giving its opinion as to the character of the wool and at the same time offering some detailed information of a very interesting character as to the qualities of different kinds of wool. This included a transla- tion of Chindsinsky's article on the composition of the fleece of merino and coarse-woofed breeds of sheep. To this were added analyses of various samples of wools procured by the committee, including the one received from the Treasury Department, and a summary of analyses made by other investigations. The com- mittee then presented the following conclusions: " From the preceding facts, we see that wool comes into the trade in a very great variety of purity, some with not over lo or ~5 per cent. of actual wool 156 Report of H. Wheeler Combs, General Appraiser, B. H. Hinds, C. H. Lapp, Special Agents, New York, October 30, ~885. Rep. Secr. Treas., ~885, p. ~26.

308 NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES fiber, others with 80 or 85 per cent., and that some of the contaminations are soluble in cold water, others requiring hot water and soap, or other chemicals, and still others, mechanical, and requiring special machinery for their removal. " From all this it will be seen that any classification of wools for tariff, founded on any of the physical characters named, or on the alleged treatment, as ' unwashed,' ' washed,' or ' scoured,' must of necessity be entirely arbitrary, and in very many cases uncertain and unsatisfactory, since each character is variable in itself, and by its combinations allows of an infinite number of gradings and sorts, so that, however classified, according to these characters there will be many samples which will lie so near the assumed border lines that their actual place will be a matter of opinion rather than of demonstration. " A classification may, however, be founded on chemical characters determined by the amount of actual wool fiber, which may be used as the fixed quantity for rating a specific tariff. The actual wool fiber may be readily and accurately determined by chemical methods, beyond any reasonable question. " Inasmuch as the commercial values depend greatly on the fineness of the wools, and any tariff classification founded on the weight of actual wool substance would bear most heavily on the coarser and cheaper sorts, the ad valorem element may be combined with the fixed element suggested, in order to meet any special ends other than that of mere revenue." ]57 Up to the present time, Congress has not adopted the sug- gestion of the committee in regard to the classification of wools, but has continued to impose special rates on " washed " wool and " scoured " wool. COMMITTEE ON QUARTZ PLATES USED IN SACCHARIMETERS FOR SUGAR DETERMINATIONS. 1887 After the polariscope method had been used for some years by the Government in determining the saccharine strength of sugars on which customs duties were levied, the Treasury Department appealed to the Academy to test certain quartz plates used in the saccharimeters. The following letter was addressed to the Academy by the Secretary of the Treasury, C. S. Fairchild: TREASURY DEPARTMENT, WASHINGTON, D. C., June ~ 7, ~ 887. " GENTLEMEN: Certain questions connected with the classification of imported sugars are now under consideration by this Department. It becomes necessary that three standard quartz plates used by appraisers in determining the saccharine 157 Rep. Nat. Acad. Sci. for TESS, p. 99.

COMMITTEES ON BEHALF OF THE GOVERNMENT 309 strength of sugars whereby its classification for duty is made, be tested with a view to ascertain their exact measurement, angle, and ray. I will thank you to inform me if the necessary test can be made by your Academy, and, if so, upon receipt of your reply, the plates will be forwarded to such address as you may indicate. " Respectfully, yours, C. S. FAIRCHILD, " Secretary.~58 " The National Academy of Sciences, Washington, D. C." The President appointed as a committee, Arthur W. Wright, Edward S. Dana and Charles S. Hastings, requesting them not only to examine the plates but " to bring out the scientific prin- ciples involved, as a basis for future work." Three plates were received for examination from the Treasury Department in June, ~87, and three more in September of the same year. The report of the committee, which was submitted on December 29, ~87, contains, in addition to a technical statement regarding the methods pursued, and the quality and value of each plate examined, a brief summary of the principles on which the saccharimeter is based.259 COMMITTEES ON THE MORPHINE CONTENT OF OPIUM. 1SS6 AND 1887 It seems rather singular that the Treasury Department should have thought it fitting to send samples of opium to the Academy for the simple purpose of ascertaining what percentage of morphine they contained. Nevertheless, this was done on two occasions; first in ~86 and again in ~87. The Acting Sec- retary, C. S. Fairchild, seems to have given a literal interpreta- tion to the section of the charter of the Academy which provides that it shall examine or investigate any subject of science or art when called upon by the Government to do so. The opium in question was part of two lots seized on account of having been smuggled into the country. The first request for an analysis was received from the Acting Secretary of the 58 Rep. Nat. Acad. Sci. for z887, P. 37 159 For the full report and correspondence, see Rep. Nat. Acad. Sci. for ~887, pp. 37-45. !

3IO NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES Treasury under date of April 7, 1886. The President of the Academy, Professor Marsh, appointed a committee, consisting of Ira Remsen and George F. Barker who reported on June I4? 1886. As various methods had been employed for determining the percentage of morphine in opium, the committee at first proposed to ascertain which of them was calculated to give the most accurate results, but having learned that the Treasury Department would be satisfied with a less thorough investigation, it confined itself to a single method. By employing Fluckiger's process, as modified by Squibb, it was determined that the percentage of morphine in the syrupy liquid opium was ~9.53, and in the same when reduced to a dry powder, 25.~8 per cent. A year later, in ~887, a second request was received from the Acting Secretary of the Treasury for the same information regarding another sample of smuggled opium. The President seems not to have been entirely satisfied to have the Academy called upon to answer these comparatively unimportant inquiries. Notwithstanding, he requested the same two chemists to serve a second time, and appointed Professor Charles F. Chandler as the third member of the committee. In a letter addressed to the chairman of the committee, however, under date of May 4, ~87, he remarked: " The province of the Academy is not to conduct a technical examination merely, but especially to bring out the scientific principles involved in the investigation, and in this spirit ~ wish the work to be undertaken." \6t Having in view this injunction of the President, the committee returned to its original plan of first testing the various methods of analysis to ascertain which of them gave the most uniform results, and then applying this particular method to the problem at issue. Accordingly, the committee engaged the services of Mr. I. H. KastIe of Johns Hopkins University to make the necessary experiments. Five methods were investigated, namely, that of the United States Pharmacopoeia, Fluckiger's method, 60 Rep. Nat Acad. Sci. for ~86, p. 40. Rep. Nat. Acad. Sci. for ~887, p. 32 . ~

COMMITTEES ON BEHALF OF THE GOVERNMENT 3 I I the same as modified by Squibb, Stillwell's modification of the Fluckiger-Squibb method, and the so-called " Helfenberg Method " devised by Dietrich. Each of these methods is de- scribed in the report of the committee, and afterwards the results obtained from two or more analyses of the sample of opium received from the Treasury Department by the use of each method. The conclusion reached was that the Pharmacopoeia method was far from accurate, while Stillwell's method was in every way the most satisfactory. A modification of the latter was devised which shortened the time required for making the estimations. The opium, which was a thick, black, semi-liquid mass was found to contain an average amount of i2.~6 per cent of morphine. The report was submitted on August ~6, ~ 887, and was transmitted to the Secretary of the Treasury two days later. COMMITTEE TO FORMULATE A PLAN FOR A SYSTEMATIC SEARCH FOR THE MAGNETIC NORTH POLE. 1890 The idea of organizing an expedition to search for the Mag- netic North Pole originated with Colonel W. H. Gilder, United States Army. Col. Gilder was a member of the expedition sent ~ . ~ . ~ . . - out by the American ~eographlca1 Society In 1879 to search for ~ ~ ~ · T ~ ~ 1 ~ - tlle papers ot Or Jonn Franklin. In I88I he was a volunteer on the ship Rodgers, which was sent out by the Government to search for the Barrette. -His suggestion of the desirability of sending out an expedition for the purpose of locating the Magnetic North Pole was made in i85'o to Professor T. C. Mendenhall, then Superintendent of the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey, who put him into communication with Professor C. A. Schott.263 On May 28 of the same year Professor Mendenhall addressed a letter to the Secretary of the Treasury in which he expressed the opinion that any properly-organized expedition for the purpose ought to receive the encouragement of the Government, and suggested Rep. Nat. Acad. Sci. for 1887, pp. 31-35. 3 See Jour. Amer. Geogr. Soc., vol. 24, pp. 2IS-26I.

3I2 NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES that the National Academy of Sciences be asked to formulate a plan. On May 22' 1890' the Acting Secretary of the Treasury, Geo. S. Batcheller, requested the President of the Academy to appoint a committee to report on the subject. The President, Pro- fessor Marsh, appointed S. P. Langley (chairman), Henry Lo. Abbot, W. P. Trowbridge, A. M. Mayer, Chas. A. Schott, John Trowb ridge and Charles Carpmael. This committee submitted a preliminary report on November I2' 1890, in which it stated that in its opinion a knowledge of the exact position of the Mag- netic North Pole was not so important " as a study of the changes in the magnetic elements to be obtained from a cordon of stations, stretching from Alaska to Newfoundland, supplemented also by stations in Siberia." It suggested that a cordon of stations should be established near the line of dip of 89O, and that the observations should be taken simultaneously at all the stations.264 Here the matter seems to have rested until Play 2' 1892, when a general discussion took place before the American Geograph- ical Society, Chief Justice Daly of New York presiding. The preliminary report of the Academy was read, together with letters from Professor Mendenhall and Professor Marsh, after which addresses were delivered by Professor Wm. P. Trow- bridge, Professor Mayer, General GreeleyT and Colonel Gilder. Professor Trowbridge read a letter from Professor Schott con- taining a detailed plan for a survey of the region immediately surrounding the pole. Although the meeting was an enthusiastic one, the expedition was never organized. It seems to have been intended that Col. Gilder should be the leader, and that Lieut. Schwatha should accompany him. Lieut. Schwatka died on November 2' 1892~65 and this circumstance appears to have interfered with the suc- cess of the enterprise. 164 Rep. Nat. Acad. Sci. for ~890, p. 35. 165 Journal. Amer. Geogr. Soc., vol. 24, p. 6~8.

COMMITTEES ON BEHALF OF THE GOVERNMENT 3 I 3 COMMITTEE TO PRESCRIBE AND PUBLISH SPECIFICATIONS FOR THE PRACTICAL APPLICATION OF THE DEFINITIONS OF THE AMPERE AND VOLT. lS94 It will be recalled that the Academy sent delegates in ~88~ to the International Congress of Electricians at Paris. At this congress the " legal ohm " or " congress ohm " was established, having for its determination the resistance of a column of mercury ~o6 centimeters long. It was considered both at that time and subsequently that this length was not the proper one and for the further consideration of this and other matters connected with electrical units an international electrical congress was held in Chicago in ~ 893. On this occasion the ohm known as the " international ohm" was determined upon, having as its basis the resistance of a column of mercury ~o6.~ centimeters long. The " volt," " ampere," " henry " and other units were also fixed. In the year following an act was passed by the Congress of the United States, defining the various units in accordance with the decisions of the electrical congress. These comprised the ohm, the ampere, the volt, the coulomb, the farad, the joule, the watt and the henry; the last, as is well known, named in honor of Joseph Henry, the first Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution and second President of the National Academy of Sciences. The act referred to, which was approved on July 12, i8947~66 contained the following provision: " Sec. 2. That it shall be the duty of the National Academy of Sciences to prescribe and publish, as soon as possible after the passage of this Act, such specifications of details as shall be necessary for the practical application of the definitions of the ampere and volt hereinbefore given, and such specifications shall be the standard specifications herein mentioned." For some reason which is not apparent, the Act did not come to the attention of the President until the last day of October. On November 6, he applied to the Secretary of State for an authentic copy, and received the same on November 9. 166 Stat et large, vol. as, p. dot, sad Congress, ad Session, chap. ~3~. See also Rep. Nat. Acad. Sci. for ~894, p. 39; also for ~895, p. 7. 167 See Rep. Nat. Acad. Sci. for ~894, p. 40. 9

3I4 NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES The same day he appointed the following committee to inves- tigate and report upon the matter: H. A. Rowland (chair- man), T. C. \lendenhall, H. L. Abbot, G. F. Barker, J. Trow- bridge, C. S. Hastings, and C. Barus. Professor Mendenhall declined appointment and was replaced by Professor A. A. Michelson. A special meeting was held in New York on February 9, ~895, to consider the report of the committee, in which detailed specifications were given for the practical appli- cation of the ampere and volt, which were prepared to meet the requirements of the law and were also in accordance with the international agreement. The specifications are quoted in full in the report of the Academy for ~895 (pp. 9-~3), with notes The Academy then by a unanimous vote adopted the specifications and prescribed them in accordance with the Act of Congress. " It was also voted unanimously that these specifications be published by the sending, by the president, of a copy of the same to each House of Congress and to the Sec- retarv of State. with the request to the latter that they be issued by and illustrations. · ~ . _~ . , r the State Department; and' further, by the printing by the home secretary of the Academy of a suitable number of copies for public distribution.~, 168 COMMITTEE ON THE INAUGURATION OF A RATIONAL FOREST POLICY FOR THE FORESTED LANDS OF THE UNITED STATES. 1896 At an early date, the Government of the United States adopted the policy of purchasing or setting aside from the public domain certain limited areas of forested land from which to obtain timber for the use of the Navy, but it was not until the repeal of the so-called timber-culture laws in ~89~ that the President was authorized to make extensive forest reservations without reference to any special economic value which they might possess. As a result of executive action in accordance with 168 See Rep. Nat. Acad. Sci. for ~894~ pp. z7, 39-42; for z895, pp. 7-~3. The report of the committee constitutes Sen. Misc. Doc. no. ~5, sad Congr. ad Sess. Order printed Feb. z9, z895.

COMMITTEES ON BEHAI,F OF THE GOVERNMENT 3 IS this provision of law, the reserved forest lands in 1896 comprised no less than eighteen million acres, for which there was no definite system of management. Moved apparently by this cir- cumstance,~69 under date of February r5, 1896, the Secretary of the Interior, Hoke Smith, addressed the following letter to the President of the Academy: 270 DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, WASHINGTON, February ~ 5, ~ 896. " SIR: I have the honor, as the head of the Department charged with the administration of the public domain, to request an investigation and report of your honorable body, as is provided in the act incorporating the National Academy, and by article 5, section 5, of its constitution, upon the inauguration of a rational forest policy for the forested lands of the United States. " Being convinced of the necessity for a radical change in the existing policy with reference to the disposal and preservation of the forests upon the public domain, I particularly desire an official expression from your body upon the fol- lowing points: " I. Is it desirable and practicable to preserve from Ere and to maintain perma- nently as forested lands those portions of the public domain now bearing wood growth for the supply of timber? " a. How far does the influence of forest upon climate, soil, and water condi- tions make desirable a policy of forest conservation in regions where the public domain is principally situated ? " 3. What specific legislation should be enacted to remedy the evils now con- fessedly existing? " My predecessors in once for the last t:w-enty years hat e vainly called attention to the inadequacy and confusion of existing laws relating to the public timber lands, and consequent absence of an intelligent policy in their administration, resulting in such conditions as may, if not speedily stopped, prevent a proper development of a large portion of our country; and because the evil grows more and more as the years go by, I am impelled to emphasize the importance of the question by calling upon you for the opinion and advice of that body of scientists which is officially empowered to act in such cases as this. " I also beg to refer you to the proposed legislation which has been introduced into Congress for several years past at the instance of the American Forestry -Association, supported by memorials of private citizens and scientific bodies, and more especially the memorials presented by the American Association for the Advancement of Science in ~873, which led to desirable legislation, and again in 1890, 1892, and in 1894. ace See Yearbook U. S. Dep. Agric., ~899, p. ~3. 370 Rep. Nat. Acad. Sci. for z896, p. ~3.

3I6 NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES " As I believe that a speedy change in the existing policy is urgent, I request that you will give an early consideration to this matter, and favor me with such statements and recommendations as may be laid before Congress for action during . · . this session. " I have the honor to be, your obedient servant, HOKE SMITH, " Secretary.)' The President of the Academy at once appointed the follow- ing committee to consider and report on the subject in question: Charles S. Sargent (chairman), Henry L. Abbot, Alexander Agassiz, Wm. H. Brewer, Arnold Hague, and Gifford Pinchot. The President was also, ex officio, a member of the committee. It was obvious at the outset that no report of value could be made without a personal inspection by the committee of the forested areas of the public domain and the forest reservations, and on the representations of President Wolcott Gibbs, the sum of $2s,000 was appropriated by Congress in the Sundry Civil Act, approved June At, ~896, to enable the Secretary of the Interior to meet the expenses of an investigation and report by the Academy. The committee already mentioned being ac- ceptable to the Secretary of the Interior, was authorized to visit the various forested areas and reservations at the expense of the Government. The members of the committee, with the excep- tion of the President, Wolcott Gibbs (whose condition of health forbade his going into the field) and Professor Aaassiz. travelled O O , O , . . ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ · ~ ~ ~ westward on July 2' I69b, and spent three months in laborious study and inspection of the forests. They traversed large areas of unreserved forest, and visited all the reservations established prior to 1897, except six, which were either of limited extent or well-known to the members of the committee. The conditions which they found were truly lamentable. Except in the national parks, which were effectively guarded by detachments of the Army, vast sections of the forest reserves were being destroyed annually by fires started by careless or ignorant campers and hunters, or by sparks from locomotives. In some instances they were started by shepherds or by mining ,

COMMITTEES ON BEHALF OF THE GOVERNMENT 3 I7 prospectors for the purpose of clearing the ground. " Nearly every summer their smoke obscured for months the sight of the sun over hundreds of square miles." To this destruction by fire was added a widespread devastation caused by wandering herds of sheep, which ranged about the borders of the forests, stripping the ground bare of seedling trees and growing shrubs, trampling the tender plants, and dislodging the soil on steep mountain slopes. On the unreserved lands, the theft of timber by settlers, mining prospectors, railroad contractors and others had assumed enormous proportions. The Department of the Interior which was charged with the' custody of these lands was powerless to stop this plunder of the public domain, owing mainly to defec- tive and conflicting laws and the sentiment of the neonle in the lo, , ~ en · · · ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ _ 1 ~ States and l err~tor~es In WhiCh the forests are located that they belonged to them and not to the people of the United States as a whole. Upon its return from the West, the committee on February I, ~897, presented a preliminary report to the Secretary of the Interior, in which it recommended the establishment of thirteen new forest reservations, covering somewhat more than twenty- one million acres, to be added to the seventeen reserves already existing, which comprised seventeen and one-half million acres. This report was forwarded to the President on February 6, ~897, by the Secretary of the Interior, David R. Francis, with a favorable recommendation, and on February 22, the Moth anniversary of the birth of Washington, President Cleveland promulgated proclamations establishing the reserves. About two months later, on May I, ~897, the committee sub- mitted its complete report on the inauguration of a forest policy, . O ~ ~ ~ which was transmitted on the same date by President Wolcott Gibbs to the Secretary of the Interior and printed at the Govern- ment Printing Office.17l This report. which covers ¢c printed ~ ~ e ~ ~ e, I J ~ pages, is comprehensive In scope and contains detente recom- mendations for the establishment of a national forestry service. 1n See p. 383; also Rep. Nat. Acad. Sci. for ~897, pp. z9-73, where the report is printed in full. 22

3I8 NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES It begins with a review of Gustav Wex's researches on the rela- tion of stream-flow to forests in Central Europe, and sets forth the reasons why attention should be given to the preservation of the forests of the United States. ~ ~ e ~ ,. ~ ~ · e It then gives a brief account of one n~srory or forest acm~n~strat~on in Europe and of the organi- zation of the forestry service in France, Germany, India, and Canada. This is followed by a chapter on the destructive effects of fires, sheep husbandry and illegal timber cutting in the forest ~ . ~ AT · . ~ ~ . ~ - - ~ reserves or the united States, and on the condition of the several reserves. The committee then proceeds to outline a definite system of national forest administration, including both tempo- rary measures and a permanent organization. The disastrous results of defective and conflicting forest laws are then com- mented upon, and attention called to the desirability of establish- ing additional national parks. A summary of the conclusions and recommendations closes the report. The form of organization for the national forestry service recommended by the committee was patterned after that of Ger- many. It contemplated the formation of a separate forest bureau in the Department of the Interior, the principal officers of which were to be a director, an assistant director? and four inspectors. These officers were to form an advisory board which would pass on general matters relating to the forests. The actual care of the forests was to be intrusted to a corps of foresters, assistants, and rangers. in four departments each to be in charge of an inspector. The forest areas of the West were to be grouped All the officers above the grade of rangers were to be ap- pointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate, were to hold office during good behavior, but to be subject to retirement at the age of 6~ years. Until a permanent corps could be organized, it was proposed to form a temporary corps recruited mainly from graduates from West Point. A portion of these officers were to be sent to Europe to study in the forestry schools of France and Germany, and it should be their duty on returning to America to organize a forestry school in the United States for the instruction of the

COMMITTEES ON BEHALF OF THE GOVERNMENT 3 I 9 forest corps. This part of the program was not regarded by the committee, or at least by some of its members, as of primary importance. Stress was, however, laid on the desirability of offering relatively high rates of compensation and providing for retirement, in order to attract men of integrity who would render intelligent and conscientious service. To provide for the proper establishment of new forest re- serves, the committee recommended that a board of forest lands should be created, composed of an officer of the Engineer Corps of the Army, an officer of the Geological Survey, an officer of the Coast Survey and two persons not connected with the Government service, whose duty should be to fix the boun- daries of such reserves. These and other recommendations were summarized by the committee in its report which closes as follows: 272 " I. That the Secretary of War, upon the request of the Secretary of the Interior, shall be authorized and directed to make the necessary details of troops to protect the forests, timber, and undergrowth on the public reservations, and. in the national parks not otherwise protected under existing laws, until a perma- nent forest bureau in the Department of the Interior has been authorized and thoroughly organized. (See bill No. I.) " z. That the Secretary of the Interior shall be authorized and directed to issue the necessary rules and regulations for the protection, growth, and improvement of the forests on the forest reserves of the United States; for the sale from them of timber, firewood, and fencing of actual settlers on and adjacent to such reserves, and to the owners of mines legally located in them for use in such mines; for allowing actual settlers who have no timber on their own claims to take from the reserves firewood, posts, poles, and fencing material necessary for their immediate personal use; for allowing the public to enter and cross the reserves; for granting to county commissioners rights of way for wagon roads in and across the reserves; for granting rights of way for irrigating ditches, flumes, and pipes, and for reservoir sites; and for permitting prospectors to enter the reserves in search of valuable minerals; for opening the reserves to the location of mining claims under the general mineral laws; and for allowing the owners of unperfected claims or patents, and the land-grant railroads with lands located in the reserves, to exchange them under equitable conditions for unreserved lands. (See bill No. 2, sees. 2-4.) ,72 Rep. Nat. Acad. Sci. for 1897, pp. 64, 65.

320 NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES " 3. That a bureau of public forests shall be established in the Department of the Interior, composed of officers specially selected with reference to their char- acter and attainments, holding office during efficiency and good behavior and liber- ally paid and pensioned. (See bill No. 2, sees. 5-~.) "a. That a board of forest lands shall be appointed by the President to determine from actual topographical surveys to be made by the Director of the Geological Survey what portions of the public domain should be reserved per- manently as forest lands and what portions, being more valuable for agriculture or mining, should be open to sale and settlement. (See bill No. 2, sec. ~5, and bill No. 3, sec. 6.) " 5. That all public lands of the United States more valuable for the pro- duction of timber than for agriculture or mining shall be withdrawn from sale, settlement, and other disposition and held for the growth and sale of timber. (See bill No. 3.) " 6. That certain portions of the Rainier Forest Reserve in Washington and of the Grand Canyon Forest Reserve in Arizona shall be set aside and governed as national parks. (See bills, Nos. 4 and 5.) " Yours, respectfully, " To the President of the National Academy of Sciences." (CHARLES S. SARGENT, HENRY L. ABBOT, A. AGASSIZ, WM. H. BREWER, ARNOLD HAGUE, GIFFORD PINCHOT, WOI COrr GIBBS. To aid Congress in enacting laws in accordance with its recom- mendations, the committee drafted five bills, which are given in full in the appendix to its report. The work of the committee has had far-reaching conse- quences, although the Government did not adopt the system of forest administration proposed. The proclamation of new forest reserves, in accordance with the recommendations contained in the preliminary report of the committee, led to an animated discussion in Congress, in the course of which the views and action of President Cleveland and of the committee of the Academy were vigorously attacked. It resulted therefrom that the reservations were ordered suspended for a year. They were subsequently reaffirmed and made effective, however, by Presi- dent McKinley.

COMMITTEES ON BEHALF OF THE GOVERNMENT 32 I The final report of the committee was to a certain extent fore- stalled by the action of Congress which in the Sundry Civil Act for T898, passed June 4, Ti397, made the following provision: " The Secretary of the Interior shall make provisions for the protection against destruction by fire and depredations upon the public forests and forest reservations which may have been set aside or which may be hereafter set aside under the said Act of March third, eighteen hundred and ninety-one, and which may be continued; and he may make such rules and regulations and establish such service as will insure the objects of such reservations, namely, to regulate their occupancy and use and to preserve the forests thereon from destruction, etc ,, 273 In the Sundry Civil Act for Ig99, $I IO,OOO was appro- priated " to meet the expenses of protecting timber on the public lands," and for other similar purposes, and $7s,ooo " for the care and administration of the forest reserves, to meet the expenses of forest inspectors and assistants, and for the employ- ment of foresters and other emergency help in the prevention and extinguishment of forest fires, and for advertising dead and matured trees for sale within such reservations." t74 These amounts were to be expended under the Department of the Interior. The control of the public forests thus remained with the Interior Department without the formation of a separate bureau, as recommended by the committee of the Academy. In the meantime the Government had in the Division of Forestry in the Department of Agriculture another organiza- tion concerned with questions of forest management and preser- vation. The activities of this division increased rapidly year by year, and finally on February I, ~905, the management of the public forests was transferred to it from the Department of the Interior. A special Act of Congress, approved on that date, provides " that the Secretary of the Department of Agriculture shall, from and after the passage of this Act, execute or cause to be executed all laws affecting public lands heretofore or here- after reserved under the provisions of section twenty-four of the 173 Stat. at Large, vol. 30, p. 35, Seth Congress, fist Session, chap. 2, z897. '176 Op. cit., p. 6~8, Seth Congress, zd Session, chap. 546, ~898.

322 NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES Act entitled 'An Act to repeal the timber-culture laws, and for other purposes,' approved March third, eighteen hundred and ninety-one, and Acts supplemental to and amendatory thereof, after such lands have been so reserved, excepting such laws as affect the surveying, prospecting, locating, appropriating, enter- ing, relinquishing, reconveying, certifying, or patenting of any of such lands." 275 At the beginning of the fiscal year this bureau, known as the Forest Service, had in its employ 82~ persons of whom ~53 were professionally trained foresters. In ~908 the force comprised ~779 persons, consisting of 29 inspectors, 98 forest supervisors, 6~ deputies, 33 forest assistants, 8 planting assistants, 94~ rangers, 52~ guards and 88 clerks.~76 The scope and magnitude of the activities of the Service have increased year by year since that date. Thus, after the lapse of fifteen years since the committee of the Academy made its recommendations, the Government has provided an effective organization for the protection of the public forests one which may be fairly said to possess the principal features, though not the exact form, which the com- mittee considered desirable. Instead of a bureau of forests in the Department of the Interior we have the Forest Service in the Department of Agriculture. Instead of a " director " and " assistant director," we have a " chief forester " and " associate forester "; instead of " head foresters " and " foresters " we have " forest supervisors " and " deputies." The division into depart- ments has been adopted. The formation of a special " board of forest lands " has not been carried into effect, the locating and surveying of forest lands and kindred duties remaining in charge of the General Land Office of the Department of the Interior. The plan of recruiting officers from West Point and providing for retirement for age has not been adopted, while the forest schools connected with universities and colleges have supplied the means of educating young men in the principles of forestry 175 Stat at Large, vol. 33, part I, p. 628, s8th Congress, ad Session, chap. 288, sec. I, egos. 76 Rep Dep. Agric. for egos, P- 4~7

COMMITTEES ON BEHALF OF THE GOVERNMENT 3 23 and the organization of a forestry school by the Government has not been necessary. Regarding the importance of the work of the committee of the Academy in the promotion of the forestry interests of the United States, Mr. Gifford Pinchot, who was a member of the committee, and has also been the most conspicuous advocate of scientific forestry in America, wrote in 1905: " The work of the committee of the National Academy of Sciences, while it failed of much that it might have accomplished, nevertheless was the spring from which the present activity in forest matters was derived. The proclamation of the reserves which it recommended drew the attention of the country as nothing else had ever done to the question of forestry. Vigorous discussion of forest matters by the public press led to a widespread interest, and that in turn to a keen appreciation of the value of forests in the economy of each State, and to a willing- ness to take measures to protect them. It may fairly be assumed that, as one of the results of this awakened interest, the policy of making Government forest reserves is now established beyond the reach of further question." 277 rr me. . ~ . . ~ . ~ . . . . The following data were culled from the report of Secretary Wilson for ~ 9 ~ 2: In the midsummer of ~9~2 the Forest Service employed a total of 4O97 persons and had an appropriation of over $5,ooo,ooo for the current year. This bureau employed only thirteen persons sixteen years ago. Its administrative and pro- tective duties alone are discharged in thirty-four States and in Alaska. Besides having charge of the national forests, this bureau offers to provide owners of woodlands an opportunity to obtain practical advice and assistance looking toward the introduction of forest management on their holdings. Grazing of the forest lands, which was formerly done destructively, is now permitted under control of this Department. Grazing permits are issued, and in ~9~ over 26,ooo permits were issued for the grazing of ~,4OO,OOO cattle, g5,ooo horses, and nearly 7,5OO,OOO sheep. In the care of the national forests much timber is sold, and in ~9~2 the timber sales numbered nearly Too and embraced 800,000,000 board feet, from which the receipts were over $~,ooo,ooo. The area of the national forests, June SO, ~ 9 ~ 2, was over ~ 87,ooo,ooo acres. COMMITTEE ON THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A NATIONAL RESERVE IN THE SOUTHERN APPALACHIANS. 1902 In 1902 the Academy received a letter from the chairman of the Senate Committee on Forest Reservations and the Protection of Game relative to the establishment of a reservation in the Yearbook of the Dep. Agric., ~899, p. 297. 1

3 24 NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES Appalachian Mountains. This letter and the report of the com- mittee of the Academy appointed to consider the matter are given in full in the Report for the year mentioned. As they are self-explanatory, they are quoted in full in this place. UNITED STATES SENATE COMMITTEE ON FOREST RESERVATIONS AND THE PROTECTION OF GAME, "April ~6, ~902. " PROF. ALEX. AGASSIZ, "President National Academy of Sciences, Washirz~ton, D. C. " DEAR SIR: There is now before Congress a bill looking to the establishment of a national forest reserve to include the higher and larger masses of mountains in the Southern Appalachian region. " This measure is to be considered at an early date by the Senate Committee on Forest Reservations, and in order that the best interests of the country may be served in this connection I will be greatly pleased if the Committee on Forest Reservations may have the benefit of the Academy's advice. " Yours very truly, J. R. BURTON. BOSTON, April 30, 1902. ALEXANDER AGASSIZ, ESQ., " President National HI cademy of Sciences. " SIR: The committee of the Academy to whom you have referred the request of the chairman of the Committee on Forestry of the Senate of the United States for an opinion on the advisability of establishing an Appalachian forest reserve, have examined Senate Document No. 84, Fifty-seventh Congress, first session, being the message from the President of the United States transmitting a report of the Secretary of Agriculture in relation to the forests, rivers, and mountains of the Southern Appalachian region (without the accompanying illustrations), and a copy of Senate bill 5228, for the purchase of a national forest reserve in the Southern Appalachian Mountain region, to be known as the ' National Appalachian Forest Reserve,' and beg to state that they are in full sympathy with the principle of forest reservations intended to preserve the gradual distribution of rainfall in the flow of rivers heading therein. " They do not feel, however, without a personal examination of the region in question, qualified to give an opinion as to whether the recent disastrous floods in various rivers flowing from the Appalachian Mountains, recounted in the reports transmitted by the Bureau of Forestry and by the Geological Survey and con- tained in Document No. 84, resulted from the actual destruction of the forests, and as to whether their repetition could be prevented by a restoration of the r ~ ~ · r I' `_

COMMITTEES ONT BEHAI,F OF THE GOVERNMENT 325 forest growth. No data or records are presented to show that floods equally large did not occur in older times. " To make a proper report would require a certain time, as well as an appro- priation to meet the expenses incurred by the committee of the academy. " As regards the provisions of the bill, it appears to the committee to be abso- lutely essential that the Government shall have full ownership and control of all reserved lands, and that these shall be in large continuous blocks. To limit such ownership to detached lots, surrounded by areas held by private parties upon whose concurrence success must depend, would seem to be entering on a dangerous copartnership likely to result in large expenditures and litigation. C. S. SARGENT, HENRY L. ABBOT, WM. H. BREWER, " Committee." COMMITTEE ON SCIENTIFIC EXPLORATIONS OF THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS. 1902 Near the close of the year agog, President Roosevelt sent the following letter to Professor Alexander Agassiz.~78 WHITE HOUSE, WASHINGTON, December 26, 1902. " MY DEAR MR. AGASSIZ: I should like much a report from the National Academy of Sciences on the desirability of instituting scientific explorations of the Philippine Islands and on the scope proper to such ad undertaking. The National Academy is the official scientific adviser of the Government, and I would like its cooperation in planning a comprehensive investigation of the natural resources and natural history of the islands. It will of course rest with Congress to decide the extent to which such a plan can be carried through; but I should like, at any rate, to have a plan formulated and to do what I can to have it adopted. " Sincerely yours, " PROF. ALEXANDER AGASSIZ, " President of the National HI cademy, Cambridge, Mass." Professor Agassiz was absent in Europe when this letter reached Cambridge, and it was placed in the hands of the Vice- President, Asaph Hall, who, after consulting with members of THEODORE ROOSEVEI,T. 378 Rep. Nat. Acad. Sci. for z904, p. 22. l

326 NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES the council residing in Baltimore and Washington, appointed the following committee to formulate a plan of explorations in accordance with the President's wishes: William H. Brewer (chairman), George F. Becker, C. Hart Merriam, F. W. Put- man, and R. S. Woodward. The committee completed and adopted its report on February 7, ~903. The plan proposed covered the following subjects which the committee recom- mended should receive attention in the order here given pro- vided they could not all be taken up at the same time: Coast and geodetic surveying and marine hydrography, land topog- raphy, including surveys and classification of public lands, geology and mineral resources, botany, systematic forestry (or forestry problems), zoology, anthropology. In order to properly coordinate the work, the committee proposed that it should be in charge of a board of scientific experts, to be selected from the various scientific bureaus of the fly a sclentlnc council, to consist or one crew newt officers or tne several bureaus engaged in the work and presided over by a member of the n~lpplne Commission. ~ ne council was to have an officer of the Engineer Corps of the Army and a naval officer associated with it. Government. 'l'he board was to be assisted . , , , , ~ . . , ~ . . ~ , . . TV_ · 1 · · ~ · ' ~1 This report was transmitted to President Roosevelt on Feb- ruary 12, ~903. On March g, ~903, about a month after'the committee of the Academy had presented its report, President Roosevelt appointed a board, called the Board of Scientific Surveys of the Philippine Islands, for the purpose of developing the plans out- lined by the Academy. CC 11 '_ ~ A . WHITE HOUSE, CC WASHINGTON' March 9, 1903. lVlY DEAR SIR: At my request, the National Academy of Sciences has outlined a comprehensive plan for scientific explorations of the Philippine Islands in a report, a copy of which I transmit herewith for your information. " A plan of exploration so broad and systematic has never hitherto been pre- pared for any region, and if it can be carried into effect, it will add to human

COMMITTEES ON BEHALF OF THE GOVERNMENT 3 27 knowledge a contribution of great importance, highly commendable to the United States. " Before taking any further steps in this matter, I desire to have estimates of the cost of such explorations prepared, assuming that the work is to be completed in ten years, and that the various branches of the scientific surveys cooperate with one another systematically and heartily. " I therefore appoint the following Board of Scientific Surveys to prepare such estimates and to make such suggestions as may appear to it pertinent in the cir- cumstances, viz: MR. CHARLES D. WALCOrr, Chairman. MR. FREDERICK C. COVILLE MR. BARTON W. EVERMANN MR. W. H. HOLMES MR. C. HART MERRIAM MR. GIFFORD PINCHOT MR. OTTO H. TIrrMANN. " Sincerely yours, ,, ~ 1 " To the Senate arid House of Representatives: -1 HEODORE ROOSEVELT. The board held five meetings in March, May and June' 1903, appointed a committee on plans and organization. nrenare] estimates of expenditures, drafted a bill for the consideration of Congress, drew up various memoranda, and transacted other business. After that the matter was held in abeyance for two years, but on February 7, ~905, President Roosevelt sent the report of the committee of the Academy to Congress, with the following message: -em -I r--r-~ WHITE HOUSE, " February 7, 1905. " Circumstances have placed under the control of this Government the Philip- pine Archipelago. The islands of that group present as many interesting and novel questions with respect to their ethnology, their fauna and flora, and their geology and mineral resources as any region of the world. At my request the National Academy of Sciences appointed a committee to consider and report upon the desirability of instituting scientific explorations of the Philippine Islands. The report of this committee, together with the report of the Board of Scientific Surveys of the Philippine Islands, including draft of a bill providing for surveys of the Philippine Islands, which board was appointed by me, after receiving the report of the committee appointed by the National Academy of Sciences, with l

328 l NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES instructions to prepare such estimates and make such suggestions as might appear to it pertinent in the circumstances, accompanies this message. " The scientific surveys which should be undertaken go far beyond any surveys or explorations which the government of the Philippine Islands, however com- pletely self-supporting, could be expected to make. The surveys, while of course beneficial to the people of the Philippine Islands, should be undertaken as a national work for the information not merely of the people of the Philippine Islands, but of the people of this country and of the world. Only preliminary explorations have yet been made in the archipelago, and it should be a matter of pride to the Government of the United States fully to investigate and to describe the entire region. So far as may be convenient and practical, the work of this survey should be conducted in harmony with that of the proper bureaus of the government of the Philippines; but it should not be under the control of the authorities of the Philippine Islands, for it should be undertaken as a national work and subject to a board appointed by Congress or the President. The plan transmitted recommends simultaneous surveys in different branches of research, organized on a co-operative system. This would tend to completeness, avoid duplication, and render work more economical than if the exploration were under- taken piecemeal. No such organized surveys have ever yet been attempted any- where; but the idea is in harmony with modern, scientific, and industrial methods. " I recommend, therefore, that provision be made for the appointment of a board of surveys to superintend the national surveys and explorations to be made in the Philippine Islands, and that appropriations be made from time to time to meet the necessary expenses of such investigation. It is not probable that the survey would be completed in a less period than that of eight or ten years, but it is well that it should be begun in the near future. The Philippine Commission, and those responsible for the Philippine government are properly anxious that this sur- vey should not be considered as an expense of that government, but should be carried on and treated as a national duty in the interests of science. ' THEODORE ROOSEVELT. 1Ta The papers of the President's board were transmitted to Con- gress with the report of the committee of the Academy, and printed in the same document. The plan proposed by the board conforms in all its essential features to that recommended by the Academy, except that no provision is made for an advisory council consisting of the heads, or chief field agents, of the various surveys. The message, with the accompanying documents, was referred to the Committee on the Philippines and ordered to be printed, 79 Congr. Record, vol. 39, part 2, pp. 2052, 2057. 80 It forms Sen. Doc. no. 145, Seth Congress, ad Session, February 7, I90S.

COMMITTEES ON BEHALF OF THE GOVERNMENT 3 29 but was not reported back, and the projected surveys were, there- fore, never undertaken. They appear to have failed to obtain sup- port mainly on account of the opposition of the late Dr. Paul C. Freer, who thought that they would interfere with the scientific work in the Philippines which was under his jurisdiction as head - of the Government laboratories in Manila. Senator Lodge gave notice on February lo, loos, of an amendment which he intended to propose to the Sundry Levi! bill for the fiscal vear look. con- sisting of an item for the expenses ot tne noaro Sun Congress, ad session), but on March ~ he wrote: " ~ went before the Com- mittee on Appropriations in regard to the amendment and said all ~ could for it, but, ~ am sorry to say, they refused to put it in." Scientific explorations and investigations were, however, carried on under the Philippine Commission. Nearly three years before President Roosevelt addressed his letter to the Academy, the Philippine Commission had already begun to establish scientific bureaus to investigate the natural resources of the islands, and for other similar purposes. A Bureau of Forestry and a Bureau of Mines were established in Croci. The following year a Health Bureau, an Agricultural Bureau, a Bureau of Government Laboratories, an Ethnological Survey (first called a bureau of Non-Christian Tribes), a Weather Bureau, and a Bureau of Coast and Geodetic Surveys were estab- lished. These have all continued to the present time, but in ~~o6 the Bureau of Government Laboratories and the Bureau of Mines were combined under the designation of the Bureau of Sciences, while the Ethnological Survey was incorporated in the Bureau of Education in ~905, and also the Agricultural Bureau in Also. The Bureau of Education had in the meantime become the Department of Public Instruction. The coast survey and geodetic work has been carried on jointly by the Philippine government and the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey. All these organizations have issued numerous reports, scientific papers and other publications relating to the Islands. - ~ .' ~ ~ ~ ^.' ~ ~ — 7

33o NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES COMMITTEE ON THE METHODS AND EXPENSES OF CON- DUCTING SCIENTIFIC WORK UNDER THE GOVERN- MENT. 1908 The Sundry Civil Act for I908-I909' approved May 27, 1908' contained the following section: " SECT. 8. The National Academy of Sciences is required, at their next meeting, to take into consideration the methods and expenses of conducting all surveys of a scientific character, and all chemical, testing, and experimental laboratories and to report to Congress as soon thereafter as may be practicable a plan for consoli- dating such surveys, chemical, testing, and experimental laboratories so as to effectually prevent duplication of work and reduce expenditures without detri- ment to the public service. " It is the judgment of Congress that any person who holds employment under the United States or who is employed by or receives a regular salary from any scientific bureau or institution that is required to report to Congress should refrain from participation in the deliberations of said National Academy of Science on this subject and from voting on or joining in any recommendation hereunder." 28t Immediately upon the passage of this Act, President Remsen appointed a committee consisting of R. S. Woodward, W. W. Campbell, Edward :~. Nichols, Arthur A. Noyes, and Charles R. Van Hise to consider and report on the subject in question. The committee submitted its report to the Council on January 9, ~909, and President Remsen on January ~6, addressed it to the Speaker of the House of Representatives. It was transmitted to Congress by President Roosevelt on January ~8 and referred to the Committee on Appropriations of the House and orderer! to be printed. The principal conclusions of the committee are embodied in the following paragraphs: " From a general survey of the field of work under consideration three facts appear to be clearly established, namely: "First. That the amount of actual duplication of work now carried on by the government bureaus is relatively unimportant; but that the duplication of organizations and of plants for the conduct of such work is so considerable as to need careful attention from Congress in the future. 181 Stat. at Large, vol. 35, part I, p. 387, 60th Congress, Use Session, chap. 200. 182 It constitutes House Doc. no. ~337, 60th Congress, Ed Session.

COMMII~I'EES ON BEHALF OF THE GOVERNMENT 33 I " Second. That while the consolidation of some of the branches of work now carried on in several organizations is probably advisable, specific recommendations in reference to such consolidation can be made wisely only after a careful con- sideration of all the facts by the board hereinafter suggested or by some similarly competent body. " Third. That there has never been hitherto and there is not at present any- thing like a rational correlation of allied branches of scientific work carried on by the Government. " This last fact appears to your committee by far the most important one pre- sented for consideration." i83 It was suggested by the committee that the permanent board referred to above should consist of the heads of the various scien- tific bureaus, two delegates from each house of Congress, and " five to seven eminent men of science not connected with the government service." The recommendations of the Academy have not as yet been adopted by Congress.~84 1S3 Op. Cil., pp. 3, 4. 1S4 In the foregoing account of the committees appointed by the Academy at the request of the several branches of the Government, no mention is made of the following, whose work was either of minor importance, or of such a character that its history is not accessible: On National currency, z863 (Confidential). On prevention of counterfeiting, ~865 (Confidential). On the preservation of army knapsacks, ~ 868. ( Correspondence in the files of the Academy indicates that this committee never reported. The question was one of restoring knapsacks valued at a million dollars, the paint on which had become soft and sticky.) On silk culture in the United States, ~870. (See Proc., vol. I, pp. 75, 77, Rep. for z879, p. II.) On the exploration of the Yellowstone region by General Stanley, z873. On distinguishing calf's hair goods from woolen goods, ~ 875 ~ Confidential ) . On building stone for the custom house at Chicago, z878. On triangulation connecting the Atlantic and Pacific coasts, z882. The Academy had some correspondence with the Department of the Interior in z893 relative to the appointment of a committee on a conventional standard of color. The committee, however, was not appointed. (See Rep. Nat. Acad. Sci. for '893, pp. 43-46; also for z894, p. 7.)