CHAPTER XX. 



RECAPITULATION AND CONCLUSION. 



WHAT, then, is the Agassiz Association as it appears 

 to-day ? And what claims has it upon the interest of 

 the public ? It is a union of local societies, each 

 numbering from 4 to 120 members, of all ages from 4 

 to 84. Our total membership is above ten thousand. 

 We are distributed in all the States and Territories 

 with very few exceptions, and have strong branch 

 societies and active members in Canada, England, 

 Ireland, Scotland, France, Chili, and Japan. 



The local societies are known as chapters. They 

 take their names from the towns where they are es- 

 tablished, and are further distinguished by the letters 

 of the alphabet. Thus the first chapter established 

 in New York City was called New York (A); the 

 second, New York (B), and so on. They also have 

 the privilege, if desired, of adopting such other dis- 

 tinctive names as they may choose, such as ' The Man- 

 hattan Chapter,' 'The Hyatt Chapter,' < The Cuvier 

 Chapter,' etc. 



The word ' association ' was chosen instead of 

 * society ' from an impression, perhaps not entirely 

 well founded, that that word could be taken to mean 

 ' a union of societies,' just as society means ' a union 

 of individuals.' And our first plan was to have these 

 local societies entirely independent of one another, 

 except in the general name and in the purpose of 

 studying nature. At that time no conventions were 

 thought of, assemblies were not in mind, courses of 

 study had not been contemplated, a badge was not 



