A History of the First Half-Century of the National Academy of Sciences 1863-1913 (1913) / Chapter Skim
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II. The Annals of the Academy
II. The Annals of the Academy
Pages 25-102
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From page 25... ...
and (b) natural history; and a chairman and secretary were elected tor each class.
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. I4 44 It will be seen from the foregoing figures that the number of members who joined the sections concerned with the physical sciences was twice as large as the number which joined those concerned with the natural sciences.
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The subjects of the ~6 papers that were presented were all connected with the physical sciences, except three by Professor Agassiz (two of which related to fishes and one to individuality among animals3, and one by Stephen Alexander on the forms of icebergs. The preponderance of physical subjects is not surprising, when it is recalled that twothirds of the membership at this time were enrolled in the class of mathematics and physics.
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It elected the first foreign members, or " Foreign Associates," as they were styled in the constitution. The by-laws provided that not more than ten Foreign Associates might be elected at any one meeting, and the Academy proceeded at once to elect this number.
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The Academy lost three more of its original members during the year ~864, Edward Hitchcock? who died on February 27, Joseph Gilbert Totten, who died on April 22, and Ben jamin Silliman, Sr., who died on November 24.
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It was also unfortunate as regards the presiding officers, President B ache having been in ill health, and the Vice-President, James Dwight Dana, having been forced to resign on August 23, from the same cause.5 The report to Congress on the operations of the Academy during 1865 was submitted by Professor Henry. As in the preceding year, the Washington meeting of the Academy was held in the Capitol.
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From page 31... ...
Henry stated that while he was highly honored by the election, he felt much hesitation in accepting the office, since his duties in connection with the Smithsonian Institution were more than sufficient to occupy his attention, and that he could only accept the responsible position with the understanding that he would be permitted to retire as soon as the president should be able to resume his duties, or his place could be filled by another." 6 As the event proved, however, Henry did not retire, but remained at the head of the Academy for twelve years. The Academy lost another of its original members, Augustus A
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From page 32... ...
At the opening of the year, in February, the Academy lost its first ,'_ _ ~ _, 1 ~ , ~ 71 ~ ~ r President, Professor B ache. In his report as Vice-President, Professor Henry remarked: " During the past year the Academy has been called upon to mourn the loss of its distinguished president, Alexander Dallas Bache.
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From page 33... ...
The first allotment for scientific research alas made in I87I by the board having the fund in charge, the chairman of which was Joseph Henry. The amount of the grant was $500' and was the first of a series made to Professor l.
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From page 34... ...
Only seven papers were read at this meeting, the smallest number presented at any meeting since the organization of the Academy. Resolutions were again passed recommending that the metric system of weights and measures be taught in the public schools and higher institutions of learning; and, in addition, registering the opinion that it was highly desirable to employ metric weights in the postoffices " at the earliest convenient day." At the August meeting of ~867 a resolution signed by eight members was offered, requesting that Congress should be asked to amend the act incorporating the Academy so that the membership could be increased beyond fifty.
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From page 35... ...
. I868-I872 Professor Henry continued during 1867 to preside over the meetings of the Academy in the capacity of Vice-President, but in January, 1868, he was elected President, and held that position for ~ ~ years.
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The Academy lost another of its original members in ~869, Theodore Strong, and two others, Frazer and Caswell, resigned and were placed on the list of honorary members. As showing its continued interest in astronomical investigation, the Academy this year appointed a committee to consider the completion and publication of Gilliss' observations of zones of stars around the South Pole.
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From page 37... ...
Rogers, in accordance with whose recommendation it is now published by the Smithsonian Institution." \4 About 40 papers were read at the two sessions of 1869 and an equal number the preceding year. They covered a very wide range of topics, but the majority related to the physical sciences.
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From page 38... ...
The second Vice-President of the Academy, William Chauvenet, died in December, ~870, and the office remained vacant until Adz, when Wolcott Gibbs was elected to succeed him. A committee to revise the constitution and the by-laws of the Academy in accordance with the act of Congress, approved July ~4, ~870, amending the original act of incorporation, reported in ~87~.
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From page 39... ...
A clause was added to the constitution providing that " bequests and trusts having for their object the advancement of science may be accepted and administered by the Academy." As already mentioned, immediately upon the adoption of the revised constitution in April, ~872, twenty-five new members revere elected. In a letter to the President of the Senate, dated February 23, ~873, Joseph Henry, President of the Academy, remarked on this action as follows: " The enlargement of the Academy has already had a most beneficial eject in stimulating the zeal of the younger men in the country who are devoted to scientific pursuits.
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Bessels and his assistants all such facilities and aids as may be in your power to carry into effect the said further advice, as given in the instructions herewith furnished in a communication from the president of the National Academy of Sciences. It is, however, important that objects of natural history, ethnology, etc., etc., which may be collected by any person attached to the expedition, shall be delivered to the chief of the scientific department, to be cared for by him, under your direction, and considered the property of the government; and every person be strictly prohibited from keeping any such object." The instructions and appendix are also contained in the Report of the Secretary of the Navy for fear, pp.
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From page 41... ...
In ~875 the Academy adopted the following resolution on the subject: "Resolved, That the National Academy recommends that an appropriation be made by Congress for completing and extending to all known American coals the series of experiments now to be made by the Navy Department under an appropriation of Congress, and published in the report of W
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From page 42... ...
It convened again in ~87z and soon afterward the proposition was advanced that an international bureau of weights and measures be established. At the April meeting of ~875 the Academy passed resolutions soliciting the President of- the same resolution, on motion of General Meigs, in slightly different form, thus: "Resolved, That the President and Council of the National Academy be requested to prepare and present to Congress in the name of the Academy a memorial advising that the course of Experiments upon American Coals, made under direction of Congress by the Navy Department and reported in Johnson's Report on American Coals, be resumed and continued so as to include all the coals now used in the United States in sufficient quantities to be of value in the arts, and in manufactures, and in commerce." (Proc.
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It had been proposed in the Academy that invitations should be issued to prominent men of science abroad to attend the exposition and a committee was appointed to report upon the plan. After consideration, however, the committee reported unfavorably and the scheme was abandoned.
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From page 44... ...
This part comprised loo pages and contained the constitution and by-laws, a sum mary of the important business operations of the Academy, resolutions relating to scientific matters, the programs of the scientific sessions, reports of committees and other miscellaneous information. Though more or less fragmentary and incomplete, it is valuable as a continuous record of the proceedings of the Academy during the first ~~ years of its existence.
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From page 45... ...
NV. In connection with the various allotments made from the fund for scientific researches, some pieces of apparatus had been purchased, and in ~ 877 the Academy directed that all such apparatus when no longer needed for the purposes of the investigations undertaken should be turned over to the Home Secretary, and be at all times subject to the disposal of the Academy.
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From page 46... ...
Henry Bentley of that city." 23 Toward the close of the year ~877 the health of the second President of the Academy, Joseph Henry, suffered a severe (recline, and at the April session of ~878 an address was read in his behalf, in which he called attention to his long term of service, and renewed the request which he had made some six years previously, that he be allowed to resign his office. In closing his address he remarked, " ~ retain the office six months longer in the hope that ~ may be restored to such a condition of health as to be able to prepare some suggestions, which may be of importance for the future of the Academy." 24 The appreciation of Henry's services was such that the followin.g resolution was adopted unanimously: " Resolved, That with every sentiment of sympathy and regard for Professor Henry, the Academy most respectfully declines to entertain any proposition looking to his retirement from the office of President." 25 His infirmities, however, increased with such rapidity that he was obliged to hasten his valedictory address, and at the end of the same session his farewell was delivered in the following words: " GENTLEMEN: I have been much interested in the proceedings of the present meeting of the National Academy.
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From page 47... ...
" After the death of the first President of the Academy, Professor Alexander Dallas Bache, in ~867, Professor Henry was elected his successor at the next meeting, in January, ~868. :From that time until he left the chair at the last Annual Meeting, in April, ~878, it had been his constant thought to advance the 26Proc.
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The term of office under the constitution was six years, but Professor Rogers died in May, rg82, and Professor Marsh again became Acting President until April, rg83, when Professor Wolcott Gibbs 27 Proc.
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In a work entitled " Investigation of the Distance of the Sun,"28 published in ~867, Professor Simon Newcomb called attention to the desirability of further experiments in relation to the velocity of light.
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Regarding the work of this committee, the President of the Academy reported in taco, as follows: " A communication was received from the president of the National Board of Health, dated April ~4, ~880, expressing the high appreciation of the Board, of the aid and co-operation rendered by the Committee of the Academy in the preparation of its annual report in accordance with the constituting act approved March 3, ~879, and requesting, in view of the importance of the subjects under its charge, that the Committee be continued or a new one appointed. " The committee of the Academy to co-operate with the National Board of Health was accordingly continued." 30 In view of this appreciation and request the committee was reappointed annually until ~~.
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A Gould, a member of the Academy, who since ~870 had been director of the Argentine National Observatory at Cordoba, completed his " Uranometria Argentina " and atlas of the southern heavens, and upon receipt of a copy of that work the Academy passed this resolution: " Resolved, That the Academy ....
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C Coffin was elected to succeed him.32 In this year and the two years following, the Academy was much occupied with matters relating to trust funds.
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In 1886 the Watson Gold Medal was awarded for the first time to Dr. Benjamin Apthorp Gould " for his valuable labors for nearly forty years in promoting the progress in astronomical science, and especially for his successful establishment of the National Observatory of the Argentine Republic, as manifested in the six volumes of observations recently prepared and published by him." This medal was presented at the spring session of ~87, a special evening meeting being held on April no in the lectureroom of the National Museum for that purpose.
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From page 54... ...
At the meeting of November, ~88~, the following resolution was adopted by the Academy: " Resolved, That the National Academy of Sciences cordially approves of the formation of an international commission on electrical units, as suggested by the Paris Electrical Congress, and earnestly hopes that the necessary appropriation may be made by the Congress of the United States to enable the members of this Academy already appointed on this commission, through the Department of State, to carry out the needed experimental determinations with credit to the country." 35 This resolution was favorably considered by Congress and we find in the Sundry Civil Act for the fiscal year ending June 30, ~883, an item under the State Department providing the sum of $3,ooo for " the payment of the actual and necessary expenses of the two civilian experts as delegates of the United States to an 36 Proc.
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From page 55... ...
At the spring session of the following year the President announced that Mrs. Mary Anna Palmer Draper, his widow, had presented to the Academy the sum of $6000 for the purpose of establishing a gold medal to be called the " Henry Draper Medal," and to be awarded to " any person in the United States of America or elsewhere who shall make an original investigation in Astronomical Physics, the results of which shall be made known to the public, such results being, in the opinion of the said National Academy of Sciences, of sufficient importance and benefit to science to merit such recognition." The first Henrv Draner Medal was awarded ~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~-~r -- ~ in ~85 to Professor S
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From page 56... ...
~ ne objects to ne attained and the methods to be employed were set forth in the following resolutions, passed at the first session of the congress: I The progress made in astronomical photography demands that the astronomers of our time undertake in common the description of the heavens by astrophotographical means.
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The subject of trust funds again became prominent in ~884. Professor I
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From page 58... ...
A committee of six was appointed in I878~-~ to procure from Congress an addition to the Act of Incorporation of the Academy, which will enable it to accept and administer trust funds." 4\ No progress appears to have been ma(le in this matter, however, until ~884, when, as the result of a special effort, the necessary amendment was secured in the following form: " An act to authorize the National Academy of Sciences to receive and hold trust funds for the promotion of science, and for other purposes. "Be-it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the National Academy of Sciences, incorporated by the act of Congress approved March third, eighteen hundred and sixty-three, and its several supplements, be, and the same is hereby, authorized and empowered to receive bequests and donations, and hold the same in trust, to be applied by the said Academy in aid of scientific investigations and according to the will of the donors.
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From page 59... ...
Langley in a letter addressed to the Acting Chief Signal Officer of the Army, and dated June ~4, ~ 882, in the following manner: " Mt. Whitney is a barren peak in the Sierras of southern California, reputed to be the highest in the State.
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From page 60... ...
together with its accessibility, make this in my opinion a site especially deserving of occupation." The matter was laid before the Academy in April, ~ 882, when the following resolution was adopted: " Resolvedt, That the Academy suggest to the Honorable the Secretary of the Interior that a reservation be set apart for scientific purposes in the Sierra Nevada, California, of not less than ten miles square, and to include the summit called, by the State Geological Survey, Mount Whitney, and another peak lying southward, which has sometimes been confounded with Mount Whitney, and which is locally known as " Sheep Mountain." 44 The President of the `Aca(lemy appointed S
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From page 61... ...
Campbell and Abbot, therefore, recommended to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution that a grant from the Hodgkins fund should be made for the purpose of erecting on the summit of Mount Whitney a stone and steel house to shelter observers who might apply to the Institution for the use of the house to promote investigations in any branch of science. This recommendation was approved, and the house is now in course of construction (July, 9.46 In the years r882 and r883 the Academy lost four of its original members, besides the President, Professor Wm.
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From page 62... ...
The completed volume contains seventeen papers. Commenting on the fact that the first part of the third volume of Memoirs had been ordered printed by Congress, the President of the Academy remarked in his report for ~884: " I congratulate the Academy that the precedent for the publication by the Government of both the annual report and an accompanying volume of memoirs is now fairly established, and it alone remains for the members of the Academy to do their part in presenting their memoirs ready for publication each year in time to accompany the report to Congress." 4S A total eclipse of the sun occurred on May 6' 1883, and was visible in the South Pacific Ocean.
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From page 63... ...
Charles H Rockwell, of Tarrytown, New York,49 and the matter having thus been brought to the attention of the Academy, was referred to the Council which reported the following resolution: " The Council of the National Academy of Sciences, appreciating the importance of astronomical and physical observations of the total eclipse of the sun, May 6, ~883, the long duration of which is especially favorable for observations for the search of intra-mercurial planets and the study of solar physics, approves the project of an expedition to some suitably situated island in the Pacific Ocean, and recommends the appointment of a committee to commer~d it to persons interested in the advancement of science, and to the Navy Department of the United States, for such aid and facilities for the purpose as can be best afforded." 50 This resolution was adopted by the Academy, and a committee consisting of Professor C
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From page 64... ...
To enable the National Academy of Sciences to make observations of the eclipse of the sun on the sixth of May next, at an island in the Pacific Ocean, five thousand dollars, the expenditures to be accounted for by the Superintendent of the Coast and Geodetic Survey under the rules that govern that work; to be immediately available." 5t As the act was not approved until March 3' It383, however, the money was not available in time to serve the purposes of the expedition and the sum of $3~500 was, therefore, advanced by the trustees of the B ache Fund. At the same time a grant of $500 was made by the Academy from the Watson Fund in aid of the search for intra-mercurial planets.
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From page 65... ...
Returned to Callao via Honolulu; arrived at Callao August ~8." 54 Through the death of Joseph Henry in 1878, the National Academy of Sciences became concerned with the Tyndall trust fund. This fund, which amounted to about $~,ooo, was established by John Tyndall from the proceeds of his lectures in America in ~872 and ~873.
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From page 66... ...
In spite of the conscientious efforts of the trustees to apply the income of the fund to the purposes intended by Professor Tyrldall, certain practical difficulties defeated their efforts,55 and in the course of a number of years the principal and accumulated interest together amounted to about $3z,ooo. The circumstances were communicated to Professor Tyndall who thereupon modified his donation and established three graduate fellowships, each with a fund of about $~,ooo, in the department of physics in Harvard College, Columbia College and the University of Pennsylvania for the stimulation of original research, and the advancement of physical science in the United States.
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From page 67... ...
~ ~ . Of interest to quote a few paragraphs trom it, as follows: " The Committee on the Henry Draper Medal begs leave herewith to report that it has carefully considered the investigations which have been made in astronomical physics since the award of this medal in ~885, and that, as a result of such consideration, the said committee desires to recommend that the Academy award this medal for the year ~887 to our fellow-member, Prof.
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From page 68... ...
Chemistry. CLASS B NATURAL HISTORY Sections I
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From page 69... ...
Your committee therefore propose a classification closely similar to that originally established, and believe that, however liable to technical criticism, it is essentially such as is least likely to meet with difficulties in its practical working." 6' This report was referred to the Council, and the subject continued under discussion for nine years longer before a new decision was reached. In April, ~892, the Academy adopted a resolution declaring that a reorganization into sections was desirable,62 and in November of the same year a committee on amendments to the constitution reported in favor of the following classification of the membership: I
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Physiology and Pathology, and (d) Anthropology and Psychology.64 The third Henry Draper Medal was awarded in ~890 to Professor H
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From page 71... ...
P Barnard, of Columbia College, one of the incorporators of the Academy, who died on April 27, ~889, provided in his will for a gold medal which should be awarded every five years to the person making " such discovery in physical or astronomical science, or such novel application of science to purposes beneficial to the human race, as, in the judgment of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States shall be esteemed most worthy of such honor." This medal, which was to be styled "The Barnard Medal for Meritorious Services to f
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From page 72... ...
The first nomination was made at the annual meeting of the Academy in April, ~895, at which time the committee reported, in part, as follows: " Acting upon all the suggestions received from members of the Academy and such other information as the members of the committee could secure, and acting in strict conformity to the specific conditions of the bequest, the committee herewith unanimously presents the name of Lord Rayleigh for the first award of the Barnard medal for his brilliant discovery of argon, which illustrates so completely the value of exact scientific methods in the investigation of the physical properties of matter." 65 The Academy was again, in ~892, made the trustee of a fund for the encouragement of chemical research. This fund was one presented to Wolcott Gibbs, an incorporator of the Academy, by his friends, upon the occasion of his attaining the age of Professor Gibbs expressed his appreciation of this token ot regard and his desire to place it in the hands of the Academy for the promotion of science, in an affecting letter from which the following sentences are extracted: 6a seventy years.
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NEWPORT, March I' I 892. Sincerely yours' Cal WOLCOTT GIBBS.
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From page 74... ...
Yet it is evident that it cannot rank with similar societies in other countries until its publications represent the best work of its members." 70 The suggestion was made that a semi-annual publication issued soon after each meeting of the Academy, and containing at least abstracts of the various papers presented, might serve to make the work of the Academy known to the scientific world, but this idea has never been followed out. ~ 893-~ 897 Awards of the Draper and Watson medals were again made in ~893 and ~894, the fourth Draper Medal being awarded to 68lOc.
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From page 75... ...
July ~7, Age, with the provision that it should be awarded every five years after that date, by the trustees of Columbia College, upon the recommendation of the National Academy of Sciences. The first award was made in ~895 to Lord Rayleigh " for his brilliant discovery of argon, which illustrates so completely the statue of exact scientific methods in the investigation of the physical properties of matter." 72 In the decade between ~ S84 and ~ 894 the Academy lost twelve of the incorporators, or original members, President F
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From page 76... ...
The arlnual report for the year 1895 contains an interesting detailed statement by the Treasurer regarding the trust funds of the Academy, all of which showed substantial increases. The Bache Fund, which was originally $40,5~5, had increased to $50,998; the Watson Fund, originally about $13,757, had increased to $~8,667, together with invested income amounting to $4,427; the Draper Fund, originally $6,ooo, was raised to $6,604, together with invested income amounting to $~,~oo; the Lawrence Smith Fund of $8,ooo, increased to $8,235 with invested income of $597.
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From page 77... ...
C Marsh, who had held that office since ~883, declined reselection in ~895, and the Academy passed the following resolution unanimously: " That the thanks of the Academy be tendered to the retiring president for the zeal and ability with which he has administered in succession the offices of vice-president and president of the Academy during a period of seventeen years." 74 Professor Marsh was succeeded by Professor Wolcott Gibbs who held the office of President until April, Too, when he resigned.
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From page 78... ...
The report consisted of a letter signed by Wolcott Gibbs, the President of the Academy, in which it was asserted that experiments in animals have resulted in " incalculable benefits to the human race." It was admitted that abuses might occasionally arise, but the fact was pointed out that no claims were made by those interested in obtaining restrictive legislation that abuses existed in the District of Columbia to which the pending bill had reference.76 Senator Gallinger remarked on the floor of the Senate on May 26, ~896, regarding this bill: " I desire to state that this is the hill known as the vivisection bill, concerning which there is a great deal of controversy and a very marked difference of opinion.
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From page 79... ...
Gill as the representative of the Academy. To the five trust funds for the promotion of science, already administered by the Academy, a sixth was added in ~897, when Alice B ache Gould presented the sum of $zo,ooo, to create a fund in honor of her father, Benjamin Apthorp Gould, " for the prosecution of researches in astronomy." In a letter addressed to the Academy and dated November ~7, ~897, Miss Gould explained the objects which she had chiefly in mind in establishing this fund.
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From page 80... ...
The experience of the society has led to the belief that it would be very advantageous to the interests of science generally if some machinery could be devised by means of which suggestions made for international cooperation in scientific inquiries could be thoroughly discussed by the leading men of science, from a purely scientific point of view, before definite proposals are made with a view to official action by the Governments of the countries concerned. "With this view the Royal Society has communicated with the leading scientific academies of Europe, whose replies give much encouragement to the idea that it may be possible to establish an organization under which formal and regular meetings of representatives of all leading scientific academies may be held for the purpose of discussing scientific matters calling for international cooperation, and by this means preparing the way for international action.
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From page 81... ...
Keeler, Director of the Lick Observatory, for his researches in 82 The letters from the Royal Society of London and the Royal Prussian Academy of Sciences, together with plans of organization and a list of academies and delegates are given in the Annual Report of the National Academy of Sciences for z899, pp.
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From page 82... ...
He had been Acting President in ~878 and ~882, and President from ~883 to ~895. He bequeathed to the Academy the sum of $~o,ooo " for promoting original research in the natural sciences." 86 The time having arrived once more in ~900 for an award of the Barnard Medal, the committee appointed by the Academy unanimously recommended Professor Rontgen for that honor, in the following letter: " The committee appointed to select one or more names of persons who are best entitled to receive the Barnard medal from Columbia University respectfully report that, after careful consideration of the subject, the name of Prof.
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From page 83... ...
and the results were communicated to the Roval Society. Soon after this, on August 29, ~864, Sir William made one of the great discoveries in astrophysics.
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From page 84... ...
For this remarkable record of scientific activity and perseverance the undersigned recommend the award by the Academy of the Henry Draper medal to Sir William Huggins." 88 The President of the Academy, Wolcott Gibbs, resigned in the spring of Moo and the office remained vacant until April, ~90~, when Alexander Agassiz was elected to succeed him.
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From page 85... ...
The Henry Draper Medal was presented on April no, ~904, to Professor George E Hale, Director of the Yerkes Observatory, for his important services to astronomy.
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From page 86... ...
For the establishment, erection of buildings, construction of instruments, selection of officers, general plan of work, and assignment of duties, a vast amount of time and energy is required before the actual scientific work begins..... " The reasons enumerated above show why the Henry Draper medal has been awarded to Prof.
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From page 87... ...
At the April meeting, T904, a committee was appointed to consider the preparation of general plans for international work in solar research and to enter into communication with other ~ See Rep.
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From page 88... ...
Hale, chairman of the committee of the rotational Academy of Sciences, who explained the purpose of the proposed organization, " emphasized the importance of encouraging individual initiative, and urged that no less attention be paid to such encouragement than to the accomplishment of large pieces of routine work through cooperative effort." In the form of resolutions, the conference expressed its views regarding the form of cooperative research which was desirable, the desirability of obtaining the approval and patronage of the International Association of Academies, and the cooperation of the International Meteorological Committee and the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, and the formation of an international committee and a committee on program. After discussing various aspects of the work of the solar research, the conference adjourned to meet at Oxford in ~905.
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From page 89... ...
The chairman of the committee of the National Academy remarked as follows, regarding the work: " The chief work of the union is undoubtedly the stimulation of interest in solar research and the encouragement of workers in the held. It has brought together astronomers and physicists on common ~round, thus contributing toward the solu _ , _ talon of problems lying on the borderland between these subjects.
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From page 90... ...
In making this recommendation the committee has borne in mind not only the important discoveries in the field of radioactivity made by Professor Becquerel during the last five years, but also the fact that he was the original discoverer of the so-called dark rays from uranium, which discovery has been the basis of subsequent research into and of our present knowledge of the laws of radio-activity." 93 Since the formation of the International Association of Academies, of which the National Academy became a member, the interest in the national and international cooperation in research work has greatly increased, and the Academy has participated in many undertakings of broad scone which have been benedc~al In the promotion ot science. Mention has already been made of the work of the International Seismological Association and the International Union for Cooperation in Solar Research.
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From page 91... ...
Besides stating the problem and asking cooperation in its solution, the letter mentioned three pamphlets bearing on the subject which had been prepared, by the committee containing a summary of the problem, the best means of attacking it and a resume of the condition of knowledge regarding it. These were entitled respectively, " The Maximum Work Producible by Chemical Reactions," " The Principles of Energetics and their Application to Chemical and Physico-chemical Changes," and "The Free Energy of Chemical Compounds." The list of trust funds of the Academy, already a long one, received an important addition in November, ~907, when Genera]
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From page 92... ...
W Campbell were the representatives on the Committee on Solar Research which met at Oxford in September, 1905.
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From page 93... ...
The last of the incorporators of the Academy, Professor Wolcott Gibbs, died on December 9. He was Vice-Presirlent of the Academv from ~ 872 ~ , to 1878 and President from IYgs to I90I.
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From page 94... ...
Reports of progress were received from the committees on solar research, on chemical research, on paleontologic correlation, and on brain research. " The International Union for Cooperation in Solar Research has held three meetings, a preliminary one at St.
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From page 95... ...
The committee on this important subject divided itself into a Vertebrate Section and an Invertebrate Section. The Vertebrate Section submitted a report in 1909, which was published in the Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, under the title of " Geologic Correlation Through Vertebrate Paleontology by International Cooperation." 98 The Academy published this year a comprehensive report on the trust funds of the Academy, comprising transcripts of wills Annals N
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From page 96... ...
The majority were from the B ache Fund and from the Gould Fund. In addition, the income of the Wolcott Gibbs Fund was regularly alloted, and gold medals were presented from the funds which provided for them.
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From page 97... ...
The seventh clause of his will is as follows: " ' I give, devise, and bequeath to the corporation known as the National Academy of Sciences, in Washington, D C., the sum of $~o,ooo as a trust fund, the income to be used and expended by it for promoting original research in the natural sciences.' " When Prof.
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From page 98... ...
The Academy was represented at the meeting of the council of the International Association of Academies held in Rome in June, ~909, by the chairman of the Committee on International Cooperation in Research, Professor George E Hale, who was also the delegate to the Darwin Celebration at the University of Cambridge, June 22 to 24' ~909.
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From page 99... ...
The project was favorably recommended by the Council and at the meeting of April, 19io, the Academy adopted the following resolution: " Resolved, That the academy strongly approves the establishment of the proposed Seismological Laboratory, and its organization under the direction of the Smithsonian Institution." 206 Two delegates were appointed in I9IO to represent the Academy at international conventions held during that year. At the International Association of Academies held at Rome in May, and at the International Zoological Congress, held at Gratz, in August, the Academy was represented by Mr.
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From page 100... ...
07 He bequeathed the sum of $so,ooo " for the general use of the Academy. The International Union for Cooperation in Solar Research in which the Academy is represented held its fourth conference at the Mount Wilson Solar Observatory from August 3~ to September 2, two.
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From page 101... ...
Theodore Spicer-Simpson.~° The vertebrate section of the committee on paleontologic correlation submitted a second and final report in ~~z from which it is learned that with the aid of grants from the Bache Fund, amounting to $~,ooo, it had prepared and published three " correlation bulletins," entitled respectively " Plan and Scope," " Fossil Vertebrates of Belgium," and " Patagonia and the Pampas Cenozoic." Lists of North American fossil vertebrates were also prepared, and matter relating to correlation was also 09 Rep.
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From page 102... ...
The will of Morris L`oeb, who died on October 8, 1912' contained the following item, adding to the trust funds of the Academy: " ~ give and bequeath to the National Academy of Sciences in Washington, in the District of Columbia, the sum of two thousand five hundred dollars as a contribution toward the Wolcott Gibbs Fund, founded in 1892.~' 1llRep.
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