REPORT OF THE SECRETARY. 13 



trated the catliolicity of liis plan by citing tlie experiments of Franklin 

 in atmospheric electricity, and the work of the late Panl Bert npon 

 the relations of the atmosphere to life, as subjects for research, which, 

 in his own view, might bo properly considered in this relationship. 



While the wide range of the subjects which the founder's purpose 

 makes admissible can not be too clearly stated, it is equally important 

 to emphasize the fact that the prizes in the different classes can be 

 awarded only in recognition of distinguished merit. 



S. P. Langley, 



Secretary 



Numerous applications, which are referred to the advisory committee 

 for consideration, have already been made for grants from the fund to 

 aid original investigations upon the nature of atmospheric air and its 

 properties. Two have been approv^ed, a grant of $500 having been 

 made to I)r. O. Lummer and Dr. E. Pringsheim, members of the Phy- 

 sical Institute of the Berlin University, for researches on the deter- 

 mination of an exact measure of the cooling of gases while expanding, 

 with a view to revising the value of that most important constant which 

 is technically termed the " gamma" function. Drs. Lummer and Pring- 

 sheim were recommended for this work by the eminent Professor Dr. H. 

 von Ilelmholtz, of Berlin. 



A second grant of |1,000 has been made to Dr. J . S. Billings, U. S. A., 

 Army Medical Museum, Washington, and to Dr. Weir Mitchell, of 

 I'hiladelphia, for an investigation into the nature of the peculiar sub- 

 stances of organic origin contained in the air expired by human beings, 

 with a specific reference to the practical application of the results 

 obtained to the problem of ventilation for inhabited rooms. 



It is the intention that all applications for special grants shall be 

 thoroughly weighed by the committee first appointed, one of whose 

 functions it is to advise upon matters of this nature. They will then 

 be referred to the second, or committee of adjudication, for final action, 

 which shall be reached only after a comparative estimate of the value 

 of the researches proposed, and their relation to the object for which 

 the Hodgkins fund was established. 



Numerous papers have already been submitted in competition for the 

 prizes, all of which will be carefully examined and passed upon by the 

 committees before a final decision as to their merit can be reached. 



The Secretary has under advisement the designs for the medal estab- 

 lished in connection with the Hodgkins competition, and which it has 

 been determined to award annually or biennially. 



The death of Mr. Hodgkins occurred on the 25th of November, 1892, 

 when he had reached the age of nearly 90 years. In this event the 

 Institution lost not only a generous benefactor but a friend whose 

 counsel was rendered valuable by the breadth of his views no less 

 than by the earnestness of his purpose to enlarge the domain of prac- 

 tical science in its relation to the welfare of man. 



