JOURNAL OP PROCEEDINGS. 239 



the Treasury the like sum of fifty dollars, in lieu of initiation fees and all 

 other dues for life ; and they shall be subject otherwise to the same regu- 

 lations and have the same privileges as the first section. 



The President read his Annual Report for the year 1863, 

 as follows : 



ANNUAL REPORT. 



On this, the eighth anniversary of our Academy's existence, it is my 

 duty to exhibit to the members and to an appreciative public a review of 

 the progress made during the past year, and of our present condition. 



In proportion to our limited pecuniary means (having to rely entirely 

 on the contributions of members, and not being endowed in any manner), 

 and to the small number of really active, laboring members, not one of 

 whom can devote more than a few leisure hours to the pursuit of science 

 and to the advancement of our Institution, we may well feel proud of 

 what we have accomplished in the eight years of our existence, and espe- 

 cially in the year just closed. 



We ourselves, and the public which takes an interest in our labors, are 

 fullj T aware that we cannot pretend to rival the old and celebrated Acad- 

 emies of other lands, nor those of the older parts of our country. Bnt let 

 not those who are unable to appreciate the difficulties in our path belittle 

 our activity and our results ; nor let us ourselves become discouraged 

 when we admire the giant results obtained by well endowed and older in- 

 stitutions, situated in cities where long years of mental culture, often aid- 

 ed by pecuniary independence, and by the liberality of Governments, 

 have produced a class of savans and amateurs, of which we, in our (com- 

 paratively speaking) infant community, cannot yet boast. 



Do not be discouraged. It was the patient and unpretending labor of 

 former times that has laid the foundation of those institutions which now 

 loom up before our vision as bright and almost unattainable examples. 

 Let us follow the leadership of those modest founders, and never tire, 

 and we may confidently expect that those who come after us will be able 

 to carry up our edifice to a height and proportions at once»fair and grand, 

 and make it such as the Academy of Science of St. Louis should be. 



That we do not labor in vain is testified to by the rich and varied col- 

 lections accumulating about us, by our library growing in importance, 

 and by the numbers of our Transactions thus far published ; and the same 

 is kindly acknowledged by two hundred institutions of science in all civil- 

 ized countries, which, with the liberal spirit of true science, bid us God 

 speed, sending us their friendly greeting, exchanging their valuable pub- 

 lications for our transactions, though (many of them) vastly superior in 

 intrinsic value as well as in volume. 



In May last, we had completed the first number of the second volume 

 of our Transactions, not inferior in interest and appearance to any previ- 

 ous number, and have sent it to those with whom we exchange, and to 

 our subscribers. 



The invaluable aid of the Smithsonian Institution, which, true to the 

 purposes of its founder, most liberally assists scientific pursuits through- 

 out the country, has enabled us to accomplish those exchanges ; through 

 them we have sent our publication to foreign countries, and have received 

 from 154 foreign academies, societies, and individuals, their works in re- 

 turn, almost free of cost to us. 



It is expected that another number of our Transactions can be published 

 during this coming year. The scientific material is in course of prepar- 

 ation, but the pecuniary point seems to offer obstacles, we hope, not insur- 

 mountable. Our debt to the printers — almost the ouly debt we have — 

 now amounts to about $600. Means will have to be found to cancel this 

 debt, so that we may be able to start afresh. It is hoped that the institu- 



