216 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 
19, 1863, to act, by request of the Secretary of the Navy, “asa 
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 21, 1863, 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 difficult 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, 1863, 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 
