CHAPTER 
THE ANNALS OF THE ACADEMY 
N chronicling the history of the Academy it has seemed de- 
| sirable to divide the half century into periods of ten years 
each, although in some instances, for the sake of clearness, 
the whole story of a transaction is given in one place without 
regard to years. 
1863-1867 
The first meeting of the Academy held in New York on 
April 22, 1863, was a meeting for organization. It was devoted, 
as already shown, to the consideration of a constitution and 
by-laws, the election of officers and a council, and the appoint- 
ment of certain committees. In accordance with the provisions 
of the constitution, the members arranged themselves in two 
classes, (a) mathematics and physics, and (b) natural history; 
and a chairman and secretary were elected for each class. Five 
sections were included under each class. The assignment. of 
members to these sections seems not to have been thoroughly 
carried out until the meeting of August, 1864, and even at that 
date the names of several members do not appear under any 
section. The names of the sections and the number of members 
enrolled under each, which are matters of considerable interest, 
are shown in the following table: 
Crass oF MATHEMATICS AND PHysiIcs Number of 
Sectclem Mathematicsts ssterarat cr) siccrsie see cistoretotors roses 6 
Sects Deeb MySiGo pres Serre vorcterey crave. suave, svaisv tis Breen tyre Sao 6 
Sect. 3. Astronomy, Geography and Geodesy........... 9 
SectarqmlVlechanicer cies ct tcidte oe a nie needs ted amen es 6 
lati Gy (Gee in dao mao h Mea Ane aay nh Seen hae 3 
