Trans, Ni Acs Se. 150 ADE 33 
April 3, 1882. 
REGULAR Business MEETING. 
The President, Dr. J. S. NEWBERRY, in the Chair. 
There was a large attendance, occupying the new lecture hall. 
The report of the Council was read, recommending the election 
of the following persons as Resident Members : 
GEORGE GREGORY, GEORGE F. STEVENS ; 
and they were thereupon unanimously elected. 
The Council also recommended, and the Academy voted, the 
change in the subscription price of the Annals, suggested by the 
Publication Committee, viz., from $2.00 a year to the following 
rates : 
To resident and honorary members, two dollars a year, as_be- 
fore. 
To others, non-residents of New York City, three dollars. 
To residents of the city who are not members of the Academy, 
five dollars. 
Dr. GEorGE M. BearD presented the paper of the evening, 
entitled : 
A PSYCHOLOGICAL EXPLANATION OF THE SALEM WITCHCRAFT EXCITE- 
MENT, AND THE PRACTICAL LESSONS TO BE DERIVED THERE- 
FROM. 
(Abstract.) 
Dr. BEARD sketched briefly the facts of the celebrated ‘‘ Salem witch- 
craft,” and referred to the views now generally held, which have re- 
garded it as a combination of deception, delusion, superstition and 
bigotry. He ciaimed that much in these views ought to be modified 
in the light of modern scientific research, and also of historical justice. 
He had sought to study the matter impartially, from the standpoint of 
scientific psychology ; and after reaching conclusions which gave to his 
own mind a much clearer understanding of the whole phenomenon, he 
had visited Salem and gone over the ground as carefully as possible, 
only to find his conclusions more firmly established. In his view, many 
of the facts, alleged upon the trials of accused persons at Salem, find 
their explanation—now for the first time—in well-marked symptoms of 
the trance state, then wholly uncomprehended, and even now but little 
known save to specialists in that department. The men who tried and 
condemned the unfortunate victims of this melancholy affair were neither 
fools nor wanton persecutors ; they were among the most cultivated 
