314 NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES 
The same day he appointed the following committee to inves- 
tigate and report upon the matter: H. A. Rowland (chair- 
man), T. C. Mendenhall, H. L. Abbot, G. F. Barker, J. Trow- 
bridge, C. S. Hastings, and C. Barus. Professor Mendenhall 
declined appointment and was replaced by Professor A. A. 
Michelson. A special meeting was held in New York on 
February 9, 1895, to consider the report of the committee, in 
which detailed specifications were given for the practical appli- 
cation of the ampere and volt, which were prepared to meet the 
requirements of the law and were also in accordance with the 
international agreement. ‘The specifications are quoted in full 
in the report of the Academy for 1895 (pp. 9-13), with notes 
and illustrations. ‘The Academy then by a unanimous vote 
adopted the specifications and prescribed them in accordance 
with the Act of Congress. “ It was also voted unanimously that 
these specifications be published by the sending, by the president, 
of a copy of the same to each House of Congress and to the Sec- 
retary of State, with the request to the latter that they be issued by 
the State Department; and, further, by the printing by the home 
secretary of the Academy of a suitable number of copies for 
public distribution.” *** 
COMMITTEE ON THE INAUGURATION OF A RATIONAL 
FOREST POLICY FOR THE FORESTED LANDS OF THE 
UNITED STATES. 1896 
At an early date, the Government of the United States 
adopted the policy of purchasing or setting aside from the public 
domain certain limited areas of forested land from which to 
obtain timber for the use of the Navy, but it was not until the 
repeal of the so-called timber-culture laws in 1891 that the 
President was authorized to make extensive forest reservations 
without reference to any special economic value which they 
might possess. Asa result of executive action in accordance with 
*8 See Rep. Nat. Acad. Sci. for 1894, pp. 17, 39-42; for 1895, pp. 7-13. The report of the 
committee constitutes Sen. Misc. Doc. no. 115, 53d Congr. 3d Sess. Order printed Feb. 19, 
1895. 
