Wood.] 23Q [June. 



whole number of deaths, reported by him as they became known, 

 scarcely falling short of one hundred. 



Another service had reference to the proceedings of the Society. 

 Except as regarded the papers published in the Transactions, these 

 proceedings were formerly almost barren of useful results outside 

 of the comparatively small number of attending members who par- 

 ticipated in them. At the meeting of May 18th, 1838, a committee 

 was appointed upon the motion of Dr. Bache, of which he was chair- 

 man, to consider the propriety of publishing an abstract of the pro- 

 ceedings; and at the next meeting, upon the favorable report of the 

 committee, the proposed measure was adopted, and the Secretaries 

 were instructed to appoint one of their number as Reporter. Dr. 

 Bache was accordingly appointed to this office, and at the meeting in 

 August following, the first two numbers of the printed Proceedings 

 were laid on the table. Having completed the Report for the year 

 1838, he resigned the post in favor of one of the other Secretaries, 

 but in 1842 was again appointed, and served for another year. 



The arrangement of the Franklin papers is another result which 

 may be fairly ascribed to him. As they came into the possession of 

 the Society, these papers were in a chaotic state, which rendered them 

 almost useless for reference. In November, 1849, Dr. Bache intro- 

 duced the subject to the notice of the Society; and at the following 

 meeting in December, was made chairman of a committee, with in- 

 structions to have the papers arranged in chronological order, and 

 divided into volumes of a convenient size for binding. A little ex- 

 amination sufficed to convince the committee of the almost Hercu- 

 lean character of the task confided to them; and, on their recommen- 

 dation, it was determined that the labor should be intrusted to some 

 competent person, to be duly compensated. It was estimated that 

 the papers would form at least sixty respectable folio volumes; and 

 as ten dollars per volume was deemed but a moderate recompense for 

 the requisite labor, the sum of six hundred dollars wqs appropriated 

 to defray the cost. The task was undertaken by our Treasurer, Mr. 

 Trego; but so complicated and tedious did it prove, that, though he 

 devoted to it most of the time he could spare from other avocations, 

 it was completed only a short time before the decease of Dr. Bache. 

 I have been told that one of the last acts of our departed friend was 

 to appoint a meeting, with a qualified person, in order to make ar- 

 rangements for the binding of these volumes; but he was prevented 

 by his illness from fulfilling the appointment, and the work still re- 

 mains to be done. 



