ANNALS OF THE ACADEMY 45 
which there was no definite provision in the constitution, may 
perhaps be considered as a continuation of that publication. 
Although in 1875 the diplomatic representative of the Govern- 
ment had signed the convention for the establishment of an inter- 
national bureau of weights and measures, that action required 
ratification by the Senate to be binding on the United States. 
On recommendation of the Committee on Weights, Measures 
and Coinage, the Academy in 1877 addressed a memorial to 
Congress in which the members “ respectfully urge that the 
Senate ratify said convention, and that Congress make the 
requisite appropriation to carry the same into effect.” 
The treasurer reported in October, 1876, that the principal of 
the Bache Fund amounted to $43,300, of which $42,300 was 
invested in United States certificates, and $1000 in certificates 
of the city of Davenport, Iowa. In addition, the Academy had 
received from the Bache estate 160 acres of land situated in the 
State of Missouri, and a house and lot in the city of Washington, 
No. 723 Twentieth Street, S. W. In connection with the various 
allotments made from the fund for scientific researches, some 
pieces of apparatus had been purchased, and in 1877 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. 
Jeffries Wyman, one of the original members of the Academy, 
died in 1874, and another, Joseph Winlock, in 1875. In 1877 
two others died, Alexis Caswell and Rear-Admiral Charles H. 
Davis, the latter, as shown by this history, probably the first to 
conceive a practical plan for the formation of the Academy. 
In 1877 the practice was established of having important in- 
ventions based on scientific principles exhibited before the 
Academy. In that year an exhibition was made in the chemical 
laboratory of Columbia College, of the Jablokoff electric candle, 
a form of arc light which caused a revival of interest in the 
problems of electric lighting. 
5 
