

commenced to build, and the arrangement in it of the collections 

 now belonging to the institution, will be as palpable evidence of 

 educational progress, in one department of the exact sciences, as 

 can be presented ; and it will be so estimated by those who may 

 come here from abroad, in the summer of 1876, to determine our 

 intellectual advancement during the hundred }^ears of our national 

 existence. 



The object of the societ} r is to acquire exact knowledge of all 

 created things, within the narrow limits of man's capability to in- 

 vestigate, and to give freely to the whole world the knowledge 

 which may result from its labors. Its constant effort is to remove 

 the veil which conceals from us the facts of the Creation in order 

 that all may perceive and recognize their wonderful wisdom and 

 beauty. Attainment of precise truth is the extremely difficult 

 task assumed by this, and every society formed for the cultivation 

 of the natural sciences. Yet, under an erroneous and wide-spread 

 notion that the pursuit of truth on this line is in some indefinite 

 manner detrimental to society, it has been and is still opposed by 

 very many intelligent people. 



Truth is a unity, vastly multiple in constitution, but no one of 

 its parts is inconsistent with another. Every absolutely estab- 

 lished truth, be it great or small, must be in perfect accord with 

 all that has been or ever will be ascertained by man. The crite- 

 rion of truth in natural science is its harmony with all that is 

 absolutely known. Every scientific assumption which is not true, 

 however plausible it may appear on presentation, will prove to be 

 discordant. In God's creation there is no conflict or contradic- 

 tion of parts. When accurately interpreted the perfect harmony 

 of their relations will be manifest. The book of nature is entirely 

 free from error; it contains no misstatement of airy kind. Surely 

 such a book may be studied without perverting the mind from 

 truth or establishing a preference for what is not reality. 



Seeking the truths of nature demands an extensive workshop, 

 in which to collect and arrange conveniently for use the numerous 

 implements employed in the work. The implements consist in 

 collections of all those natural objects which have been described 

 properly classified and labelled, ready for study and comparison 

 with those supposed to be new that is, not previously described 

 and also an extensive collection of books in which are recorded the 

 results of investigations made by naturalists in all parts of the 



