thy for one to do this. But there is no such inducement for one to devote 

 himself to the service of pure science, to become a pioneer in the advanced 

 guards of civilization. The value of his work is not understood even by 

 himself, and it cannot be paid for by the job. And yet all the great mate- 

 rial advances of modern times are based upon such work. 



I do not suppose it is profitable for us to quarrel with the situation, for 

 it is not likely that we can change it. If the tendency is a wrong one, it 

 is possible that it may right itself in time. The disposition of some of our 

 men of wealth to give largely to the higher schools is a most encouraging 

 one. In any case, our own duty is clear. It is ours to keep alive the 

 sacred fires in St. Louis. It may be that the results of our work will not 

 be all that we could wish ; it is enough if they are as great as the circum- 

 stances would permit. 



During the last year we have had seventeen meetings, with an average 

 attendance of twelve. At these meetings communications were made on 

 thirty-five different subjects, or on an average two subjects for each 

 evening. 



Thirteen associate members have been added during the year, as against 

 six during the preceding year, and four corresponding members were 

 added. 



During the year we have lost fwo of our oldest members, Mr. A. Todd 

 and Dr. I. Forbes, the latter having been a charter member. 



I also saw in November last, in a New York paper, a notice of the death 

 of Dr. Gustavus Seyffarth, who formerly did so much work in the direc- 

 tion of interpreting the Egyptian hieroglyphics. He was buried on the 

 19th of last November. 



The following report was submitted by the Corresponding 

 Secretary : 

 My. President a7id Getitlemen, — 



The work of the Corresponding Secretary during the past year has not 

 been very burdensome, owing to the fact that our "Transactions" had not 

 been ready for distribution. During the year we have added to our list of 

 foreign exchanges six (6) new Societies, and have lost two (2), both of 

 which have ceased to exist. This gives us 268 foreign exchanges. To our 

 home list we have added eight (8) Societies, making a total of 140. The 

 grand total of our exchanges numbers 40S Societies. To our list of cor- 

 responding members we have added four, namely: Prof. A. von Dankel- 

 man, of Berlin; Dr. Theo. S. Case, Kansas City; Prof. Angel Anguiano, 

 Mexico ; Marchese Antonio de Gregorio, Palermo. 



It is impossible to make out a complete list of the corresponding mem- 

 bers now living, as we are not always informed of the deaths. Among 

 the prominent members who have died this year maybe mentioned Dr. 

 Seyffarth, Prof. Thos. Davidson, and Gen. Geo. B. McClellan, the latter 

 of whom had been a corresponding member since 1857. 



