6 GILpBERT 



The new Commission continued the issue of the Joint Direc- 

 tory. In 1896 it tried the experiment of issuing monthly ad- 

 vance notices of the meetings of all the societies, giving the 

 titles of communications to be expected ; but the experiment was 

 not regarded as successful and the notices were discontinued. 

 It conducted the Saturday lectures in 1896 and 1897. It con- 

 ducted fourteen union meetings of the component societies, 

 twelve on the occasions of the annual addresses of retiring Presi- 

 dents, a memorial meeting in memory of Dana, Huxley, Pas- 

 teur, and Von Helmholz, and a memorial meeting in memory 

 of G. Brown Goode. 



The Commission also considered and took action on two mat- 

 ters of public policy affecting the interests of the general body 

 of scientific men. It formally expressed approval of the request 

 to Congress by the Secretary of Agriculture that provision be 

 made for a permanent ' Director-in-chief of Scientific Bureaus 

 and Investigations ' in the Agricultural Department ; and, through 

 resolutions, correspondence, and the personal efforts of a com- 

 mittee, it antagonized a bill pending in the United States Senate 

 for the restriction of vivisection. 



While the motives and opinions leading to these two measures 

 were shared by nearly all members of the Commission, there 

 was serious doubt as to the propriety of permitting a Commis- 

 sion organized primarily for business purposes to attempt to rep- 

 resent the scientific body of Washington on questions of such 

 breadth and importance. The functions specifically contem- 

 plated in the organization of the Commission were somewhat 

 routine in their nature, and the officers chosen to execute them 

 were selected with special reference to business qualifications. 

 It was thought by some that the powers of the Commission should 

 be restricted, and by others that large powers were desirable 

 but that the body exercising them should be chosen with less at- 

 tention to business qualifications and more regard to scientific 

 attainments. An agitation followed in which the Geological 

 Society took the initiative, preparing a historical statement which 

 was printed and distributed for the information of members of 

 all the societies, and which, I may add in passing, has been 

 freely used in the preparation of this report. 



