THE AMERICAN ASSOCIATION. 827 



celebrated United States Exploring Expedition under Captain 

 Wilkes, with young Dana as its naturalist, had extended interest into 

 the study of regions hitherto almost unknown or inaccessible. 



But some organization for personal intercourse and contact be- 

 tween the workers in varied fields and at widely separated points was 

 becoming plainly necessary. The societies and colleges and surveys 

 were doing good work and gathering about them able men; but they 

 were local and disconnected in their scope, and could accomplish far 

 less for the development of American science than would be possible 

 if a definite system of communication could be established among 

 them all. Such a work was that of the association; the early found- 

 ers saw the need, and planned well and wisely to meet it; and 

 for fifty years the organization has held on its way and fulfilled its 

 work in excellent measure. But it has had its vicissitudes and its 

 modifications; and it may be well to refer to some of these, and 

 to consider certain aspects in relation to its future usefulness and 

 power. 



At the first meeting there were recorded four hundred and sixty- 

 one members, sixty-one being from Boston and vicinity, and fifty-six 

 each from Philadelphia and ISTew York; the number actually present 

 is not on record. The original plan was to hold two meetings each 

 year, one in a Northern city in the summer, and one in the South or 

 West in the winter or spring; this plan was only carried out for 

 two years, 1850 (Charleston and l!»[ew Haven) and 1851 (Cincinnati 

 and Albany). In 1854 the association met in Washington, with 

 Prof. James D. Dana as its president, while the membership had 

 risen steadily to a total at that time of one thousand and four. It 

 then fell off to six hundred and five, but again rose year by year to 

 nearly a thousand in 1858, when Baltimore was the place and Prof. 

 Alexis Caswell the president. For two years it fell again, and then 

 came the civil war. The place chosen for 1861 was ISTashville, but 

 the meeting was given up on account of the condition of the coun- 

 try, and the association did not convene again until 1866. After 

 1867, when the membership was but little over four hundred, it 

 began again to increase by one or two hundred yearly, though irregu- 

 larly, until it again passed the thousand mark in 1ST9 (Saratoga 

 meeting. Prof. George F. Barker presiding), and then leaped to 

 fifteen hundred and fifty-five at the great Boston meeting of 1880. 

 From that time it has varied from sixteen hundred to two thousand 

 and over, the meetings at Minneapolis, 1883, Washington, 1891, and 

 Rochester, 1892, having recorded a total of 2,033, 2,054, and 2,037 

 respectively. 



The attendance at the meetings has varied even more than the 

 membership itself, very rarely reaching or surpassing one half or, in 



