THE PROGRESS OF SCIENCE 



617 



not new; it had, for example, been ad- 

 vocated by Bache in his presidential 

 address before the American Associa- 

 tion for the Advancement of Science in 

 1851. Such academies existed in each 

 of the great foreign nations and had 

 been important factors in the advance- 

 ment of science, through their relation 

 to the government and in other direc- 

 tions. The Koyal Society of London 

 celebrated last year its two hundred 

 and fiftieth anniversary; the Academy 

 of Sciences of Paris was established at 

 about the same time; even earlier there 



were academies in Italy. The members 

 of the continental academies receive 

 salaries; the British government at 

 least provides the Royal Society with a 

 house. In this country the American 

 Philosophical Society, modeled by 

 Franklin on the Royal Society, and the 

 American Academy of Arts and Sci- 

 ences, modeled by Adams on the Paris 

 Academy, have long histories. If Phil- 

 adelphia had remained the seat of gov- 

 ernment, the American Philosophical 

 Society would doubtless have performed 

 the functions of a national academy. 



MV^^iU* 



VOL. LXXXII.— 42. 



