TRANSACTIONS OF THE ACADEMY 

 Academy Meeting 



The first meeting of the Academy for the Season 1914-1915 was held 

 on Saturday evening, October 17, 1914, in the parlor of Christopher's 

 restaurant, President Benton in the chair. 



Mr. W. A. Spalding, ex-President, as toastmaster, most feelingly 

 related the acti\ities of the Academy since its inception and the 

 devoted labors of its founders, some of whom are yet with us, and, in 

 presenting Mr. B. R. Baumgardt, the speaker of the evening, he 

 referred to the National reputation achieved by that gentleman as an 

 investigator and lecturer, as an evolution from his studies and experi- 

 ence while performing the duties as the first Secretary of this Academy. 



Mr. Baumgardt gave a geographical and historical review of the 

 causes which, at this day, have involved in warfare the great Nations 

 of the eastern Continents, closing with a most interesting and instruc- 

 tive statement of the Trend of Modern Thought in Europe. 



A very pleasant episode of the evening was the presentation to the 

 Academy by Dr. A. Davidson of a Gavel, unique in that the hammer 

 is composed of a vertebra of the extinct Giant Ground Sloth, the 

 handle being of the wood McNab cypress, both having been taken 

 from the excavations of La Brea Rancho, where they had been pre- 

 served in their original condition of perfection by their air-tight 

 coffin since the quaternary age. 



Directors' Meeting 



A meeting of the Directors was held on December 3, 1914, in the 

 office of the President. 



Present: Benton, Collins, Davidson, Knight, Parsons, Spalding and 

 Watts. 



The record of the proceedings of the Directors on June 25 and of 

 the Academj' on October 17 was read and approved. 



The Committee on Program reported that lecturers had been secured 

 to address the Academy in December, and January, 1915, and that 

 proper arrangements would be made. 



The President and Secretary were appointed a committee to select 

 a design significant of the work of the Academy, to be used upon 

 printed matter and stationery. 



The death of Bancroft E. Bceman was announced and the Secretary 

 proposed the following memorial which was unanimousl}- adopted, 

 to-wit: 



Bancroft E. Beeman 



On the eleventh day of November, 1914, at the city of Los Angeles, 

 departed this life Bancroft E. Beeman. 



For many years he had been an active member of the Soutnern 

 California Academy of Sciences, and on I\Iay 4, 1908, he was elected 

 a Director for the ensuing year ending in June, 1909. 



During the period of his membership in this Academy his attention 

 was attracted to that phase of our work devoted to the free dissem- 

 ination of information relating to the later scientific discoveries for 

 the conservation of public health, especially in the more densely 

 populated districts, and our recommendations for rigid inspection and 

 enforcement of sanitary and antiseptic regulations in large municipal- 

 ities, and we have a most profound realization that this interest was 

 not ephemeral, but a lasting one, as we read from his last Will and 

 Testament: 



28 



