JOURNAL OF THE 



ELISHA MITCHELL SCIENTIFIC SOCIETY 



PRESIDENT'S REPORT FOR 1884. 



F. p. VENABLE. 



The Mitchell Society has completed the first year of its existence 

 and it becomes the duty of the President to submit a report as to 

 the work accomplished and proposed, and the general well-being of 

 the Society. 



The formation of a Scientific Society was first proposed at a meet- 

 ing of several gentlemen, connected with the scientific department 

 of tlie University, held on September 24th, 1883. A call was then 

 issued to all who were thought to be interested in the development 

 ol the State or the progress of science, in order to see whether the 

 encouragement would be sufficient to justify a permanent organiza- 

 tion. The proposed aims of the Society were the arousing of an in- 

 creased interest in scientific work, the building up of a spirit of 

 research, the encotiraging of those already at work and the advan- 

 cing of our knowledge of the State and its resources. The plan or 

 system of work for the Society was to have the centre of the organ- 

 izition at the University with enough resident members there for the 

 transaction of business. Monthly meetings were to be held, at which 

 popular treatises on scientific subjects were to be read with the hope 

 of interesting and training up a number of. young scientific workers. 

 An annual Journal was to be published containing all papers on 

 original work or observations, contributed by members of the 

 Society. 



At a second meeting held October 1st. 1883, a regular constitution 

 was adopted and the first monthly meeting arranged for the second 

 Saturday in November. Many encouraging replies were received 

 from those to whom the call had been sent and the Society now has 

 upon its roll of members the names of 7 life members, 75 regular 

 members, and 74 associate members, or 156 in all, a most gratifying 

 showing for the first year. With so cordial a support, the Society 



