Tratts. N. V. Ac. Set. 150 Apr. 3, 



April 3, 1882. 

 Regular Business Meeting. 

 The President, Dr. J. S. Newberry, in the Chair. 

 There was a large attendance, occupying the new lecture hall. 

 The report of the Council was read, recommending the election; 

 of the following persons as Resident Members : 



George Gregory, George F. Stevens ; 



and they were thereupon unanimously elected. 



The Council also recommended, and the Academy voted, the 

 change in the subscription price of the Annals, suggested by the 

 Pubhcation Committee, viz., from $2.00 a year to the following 



rates : 



To resident and honorary members, two dollars a year, as be- 

 fore. 



To others, non-residents of New York City, three dollars. 



To residents of the city who are not members of the Academy, 

 five dollars. 



Dr. George M. Beard presented the paper of the evening, 

 entitled : 



A PSYCHOLOGICAL EXPLANATION OF THE SALEM WITCHCRAFT EXCITE- 

 MENT, AND THE PRACTICAL LESSONS TO BE DERIVED THERE- 

 FROM. 



(Abstract.) 

 Dr. Beard sketched briefly the facts of the celebrated " Salem witch- 

 craft," and referred to the views now generally held, which have re- 

 garded it as a combination of deception, delusion, superstition and 

 bigotry. He claimed that much in these views ought to be modified 

 in the light of modern scientific research, and also of historical justice. 

 He had sought to study the matter impartially, from the standpoint of 

 scientific psychology ; and after reaching conclusions which gave to his 

 own mind a much clearer understanding of the whole phenomenon, he 

 had visited Salem and gone over the ground as carefully as possible, 

 only to find his conclusions more firmly established. In his view, many 

 of the facts, alleged upon the trials of accused persons at Salem, find 

 their explanation — now for the first time— in well-marked symptoms of 

 the trance state, then wholly uncomprehended, and even now but little 

 known save to specialists in that department. The men who tried and 

 condemned the unfortunate victims of this melancholy affair were neither 

 fools nor wanton persecutors ; they were among the most cultivated 



