Record. xxxi 



country which can present a more creditable record of published work. 

 Even during the civil war, when almost every educational interest suffered, 

 a few working investigators aided by others who gave such support as they 

 could give, continued to produce before this body their contributions to 

 knowledge, and to publish them to the world in the Transactions of the 

 Academy. 



During all of this time these pioneers have been hoping to see this day. 

 Year after year the President's annual report has called attention to the 

 vital necessity of a fixed abiding place which we could own and control. 

 Without this we could never hope to establish a public museum of Science, 

 or to avail ourselves of our precious library. 



And now the first great advance has been made. This gift to the cause 

 we have been striving to uphold, could not have been more opportune. 

 These enlightened patrons of higher learning have seen their opportunity, 

 and they have volunteered their aid. The manner in which they have be- 

 stowed their bounty makes it doubly valuable and effective. They have 

 made it impossible for us to honor them by any act within our power. 

 They have become one with us in the cause which we have all labored to 

 advance. May we not hope that they will permit us to enroll their names 

 in our membership as Patrons of the Academy? 



And this gift brings with it new obligations for us. We should now 

 seek to establish an endowment fund, which will enable us to make our 

 valuable collection of books and specimens fully available to the public. 

 During the World's Fair we shall be under examination. Learned men 

 from this and other lands will come among us. The great public will be 

 here. The location of our new home is such that we cannot fail to attract 

 the attention of vast numbers of our visitors. We should not only have a 

 museum and library which will be an honor to our city, but it should be 

 open to all. We wish to show that we have here, among the permanent 

 institutions of our city, an Academy of Science w lich is dedicated to the 

 advancement of human learning, and to the diffusion of knowledge among 

 men. In this way we shall fittingly carry out the work which Mrs. William 

 McMillan and her son, Mr. William Northrop McMillan, have so nobly 

 begun. 



The following resolutions, introduced by Professor Nipher 

 and seconded by Dr. Ewing, were unanimously adopted, and 

 the Secretary was instructed to communicate a copy of them 

 to Mrs. McMillan and Mr. McMillan: — 



Resolved, That the members of The Academy of Science of St. Louis 

 most gratefully accept from Mrs. Eliza McMillan and Mr. William N. 

 McMillan the gift of a permanent home for the Academy. We feel that 

 this generous donation will infuse new life into the institution, and will 

 insure its future usefulness. We pledge ourselves to use every effort to 

 make it worthy of the confidence thus shown by the donors and to maintain 

 the object of its founders, as expressed in the Act of Incorporation — 

 " the advancement of science and the establishment in St. Louis of a 

 museum and library for the illustration and study of its various 

 branches." 



