REPORT OF THE SECRETARY 



Prksexted at the Annual Meetinc, 



c;E the 



Southern California Academy of Sciences, 



May 19, 1915. 



During the last year, have been held Three Meetii'igs of 

 the Board of Directors and Five General Meetings of the 

 Academy, at which a wide diversity of subjects has been con- 

 sidered, to-wit : 



1. 



The Biological and Geological Works taught in our Public 



Schools. 



2. 



The Trend of Modern Thought in Europe. 



3. 

 Soil Hygiene, what soils are and how to keep them in good 

 physical condition. 



4. 

 The Expedition to Algeria for measurement of Solar Ra- 

 diation. 



5. 

 Sedimentary Rocks and their Erosion. 



These meetings have been enlivened by general discussions 

 and musical presentations. 



A ])leasant occasion was the Banquet of October 17, 1914, 

 attended by several of the Founders and Incorporators of this 

 Academy, whose reminiscences of the early struggles for exist- 

 ence, and the final triumph demonstrated the truth of the now 

 accepted dogma of "The Survival of the Fittest." 



The Executive work of the Academy has been rather exact- 

 ing: 



The gentlemen of the Committee on Programme have been 

 strenuous in obtaining lecturers of repute and ability in their 

 several fields of activity. 



Mr. Benton, the President, has devoted much valuable time 

 to our interests, taken from a very taxing profession, and prob- 

 ably no one knows as well as I. the careful attention given by 

 Mr. Keese to our finances, which has carried us through the 

 year without leaving us in debt at this date. Most certainly this 

 Academy of Sciences owes to Mr. Keese a hearty vote of thanks 

 for his faithful and successful services. 



On November 11, 1914, "t I os Angeles, died Bancroft Etz 

 Beeman, a member and a former Director of this Academy, 

 and we were most profoundly impressed with his interest in our 

 work, as we read from his last Will and Testament the follow- 

 ing paragraph, to-wit : 



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