Celebration of the Fiftieth Anniversary. xxix 



adopted. Provision was made for a non-office-holding nomi- 

 nating committee. The Council was given increased responsi- 

 bilities. It was decided to present only previously announced 

 communications at the meetings. Alternate meetings were 

 set apart for popular science of interest to the laymen. The 

 plan, as adopted in 1893, is the one now followed. 



There never has been a time when the Academy was not 

 obliged to husband its resources. Private subscriptions have 

 often been necessary to meet the expense of publication. 

 Notable collections for the museum have been purchased only 

 by individual aid. But the Academy has safely passed through 

 war, famine and fire and is hearty and happy in a home of its 

 own on this, the occasion of its golden jubilee. 



The Future of the Academy. Any one can read the records 

 of the past but it requires the gift of a seer to write history 

 before it is made. The future of the St. Louis Academy of 

 Science is a matter of much concern to the many who love it 

 well. When we cast an eye in retrospect we are astonished 

 to find mankind so ignorant of what was immediately in 

 advance of them. If I should make a single prediction, it 

 would be that the Academy will find some way of exercising 

 the portion of the constitution providing for sections of the 

 Academy devoted to special subjects. 



We have in St. Louis a number of small scientific bodies of 

 an exclusive nature whose members would enjoy and profit by 

 affiliation with the Academy. I will mention the Biological 

 Society, the Botanical Club, the Naturalists' Club, the Medical 

 Science Club, the Medical History Club and other non-clinical 

 medical organizations. May the day come when they are all 

 members affiliated with the St. Louis Academy of Science 

 family ! 



Bibliography. "Act of Incorporation, Constitution and 

 By-laws of the Western Academy of Natural Sciences at St. 

 Louis. St. Louis, Mo. Printedby William Weber, 1837," is 

 a sixteen page pamphlet to be found in a few libraries. 



" The Academy of Science of St. Louis," is the title of a 

 nineteen page illustrated article by Frederick Starr in Apple- 

 ton's Popular Science Monthly for March, 1898. 



