1889.] XEW YORK ACADEMY OF SCIENCES. 71 



December 16, 1889. 

 Lecture Evening. 

 Vice-President TROWfiRiDGE in the chair. 



Seventy-eight persons present. 



The second lecture of the Public Illustrated Course was de- 

 livered, entitled 



THE strategic FEATURES OF THE GULF OF MEXICO AND THE 

 CARIBBEAN SEA. 



BY CAPTAIN A. T. MAHAN, U. S. N. 



The lecture was illustrated with a very large and carefully- 

 prepared map of the entire region under consideration, and gave 

 an exhaustive discussion of the routes, distances, etc., for naval 

 and commercial operations in these waters, and the points of 

 strength and weakness, of exposure and defence, etc., that are 

 of importance to the United States, in connection with its 

 foreign relations and its Gulf ports, in case of possible future 

 complications, and with reference to the opening of one or more 

 trans-isthmian canal-routes. 



A unanimous vote of thanks was tendered to Capt. Mahak 

 for his very important and instructive lecture. 



December 23, 1889. 



Stated Meeting. 



The President, Dr. Newberry, in the chair. 



Twenty-eight persons present. 



Mr. J. Beaumont, of Colon, U. S. Colombia, was elected a 

 Corresponding Member. 



Dr. H. Carrington Bolton read a paper entitled 



contributions of alchemy to numismatics. 



(Abstract.) 



After briefly stating the doctrine of the alchemists as to the 

 transmutation of meials, the speaker remarked the universality 



