ANNALS OF THE ACADEMY 87 
sentative of the Royal Society of London. To aid the Royal 
Society in advising the British Government, he desired to be 
informed of the views of the National Academy, and the other 
constituent academies of the Association, as to whether it was 
deemed desirable to promote the project of the international 
seismological conference held in Strassburg in April, 1go1, for 
the formation of an international seismological association. The 
object of this association was to be the solution of the various 
problems of seismology through the establishment of seismo- 
logical stations in various parts of the world.” 
The matter was referred to the Council of the National 
Academy, which appointed a committee to consider it. The 
committee reported in November, 1905. In the meantime, meet- 
ings of the International Association of Academies were held in 
1903 and 1904, and at the latter seismology was a prominent 
subject of discussion. The report which the committee of the 
National Academy brought in in 1905 was, however, unfavorable 
as regards the establishment of seismological stations, on the 
ground that the theoretical basis of the science was very imper- 
fect. ‘“Seismometry ” the committee remarked, “ is open to im- 
provement in two directions. On the one hand, some able mathe- 
matical physicist should be commissioned to elaborate the theory 
of vibrations in a sphere in which elastic properties and density 
vary with the radius; and on the other hand, experimental 
physicists should make strenuous efforts to devise a seismometer 
capable of recording the vertical components of small shocks.” 
The report ended with a recommendation that the matter be 
brought to the attention of the Carnegie Institution of Wash- 
ington, and the Home Secretary was instructed by the Academy 
to send a copy of the report to that institution. 
At the April meeting, 1904, a committee was appointed to 
consider the preparation of general plans for international work 
in solar research and to enter into communication with other 
™ See Rep. Nat. Acad. Sci. for 1902, pp. 17-19, where the letter and the plan of the 
seismological conference are given in full. 
Rep. Nat. Acad. Sci., for 1905, p. 16. 
