xlii Trans. Acad. Sci. of St. Louis. 



Incorporation previously granted by the Legislature of Mis- 

 souri. The object of the Academy as therein stated is " the 

 advancement of science, and the establishment in said city of 

 a Museum and Library for the illustration and study of its 

 various branches." 



Section 3 of the charter is of sufficient interest to claim our 

 attention for a moment. It provides that " all property 

 owned or held by this corporation shall be exempt from taxa- 

 tion so long as the same shall continue to be held and used in 

 good faith for the objects and purposes aforesaid ; but when- 

 ever any real estate of the corporation shall be leased to any 

 other person or persons, the leasehold interest therein shall 

 be taxable to the lessee or lessees thereof, as in other cases." 



It is evident that these gentlemen intended to lay a broad 

 foundation. The constitution which they adopted atthehrst 

 meeting provides that the following subjects should be em- 

 braced in its field of work : Zoology, Botany, Geology, Miner- 

 alogy, Palaeontology, Ethnology (especially that of the 

 aboriginal tribes of North America), Chemistry, Physics, 

 Mathematics, Meteorology, and Comparative Anatomy and 

 Physiology. The field of work here laid out was broad 

 enough to justify the name which they adopted. 



At present the oldest member of the Academy is Dr. Enno 

 Sander. He is still a young man [applause]. I don't like 

 to ask him to tell just how old he is, but I think he is over 

 eighty. He was elected a member during the first year of the 

 existence of the Academy, only a few months after the organi- 

 zation. I have always been sorry Dr. Sander was not one of 

 the original incorporators. In 1861, Dr. Sander was made 

 Recording Secretary of the Academy, and the following year, 

 '62, he became Treasurer, which position he has continuously 

 held until this day. 



The first list of members published contained eighty-seven 

 names; that was in Volume II of the Transactions, and of 

 those names, we still have five upon our rolls. Nearly all of 

 those men are dead. The five who are still with us are. Dr. 

 G. Baumgarten, Dr. John Green, Dr. Enno Sander, Dr. Wm. 



