44 FINAL ACT OF SECOND PAN AMERICAN SCIENTIFIC CONGRESS. 



States, its institutions of learning, its scientific associations, its scientists, 

 were not invited. This does not mean, in any sense of the word, that the 

 United "States was overlooked; its omission was due rather to the fact 

 that the Congresses above mentioned were meetings of Latin American 

 scholars; that they were in the nature of experiments, and that the 

 United States was not officially invited to participate until it was. seen 

 whether the experiments were likely to prove successful. The experience, 

 however, already had with the three Latin American Congresses convinced 

 the authorities of the participating Republics of the usefulness and of the 

 importance of such gatherings to the American continent. The United 

 States was therefore invited to attend the Congress in Chile and the Gov- 

 ernment thereof gladly accepted the invitation. 



The Second Pan American Scientific Congress, which met at Wash- 

 ington on the 27th of December, 1915, and adjourned on the 8th of 

 January, 1916, was an official as well as an unofficial body. From the 

 official standpoint it was a conference called by the Government of the 

 United States, and in which each of the twenty-one American Republics 

 was represented by delegates of its own selection. It will be observed 

 that the Final Act resulting from the labors of the Congress was signed 

 only by duly authorized official delegates, as it was only the 'latter 

 who represented and therefore could bind their Governments by their 

 signatures. The delegates, however, selected by the Governments were 

 chosen with a view to their fitness to participate in a scientific conference, 

 and they therefore represented, at one and the same time, not merely 

 their individual Governments but the broader domain of science. 



The leading universities, institutions, associations, societies, and scien- 

 tific bodies of all the Americas were asked to participate and many of 

 them sent distinguished representatives to take part in the proceedings 

 of the Congress ; * private persons of distinction in the Americas were also 

 invited, with the approval of their respective Governments; and, finally, 

 some Americans prominent in the field of science were invited to be 

 honorary members of the Congress. 2 



What was the purpose of this Congress, that Governments and insti- 

 tutions should be asked to send delegates and that men of light and learn- 

 ing should leave their homes in order to spend a day, as it were, in the 

 city of Washington ? The preamble states the purpose to be to bring 



into close and intimate contact the leaders of scientific thought and of 

 public opinion in the American Republics, to the end that by an exchange 

 of views results might be reached of service to the peoples of the American 

 Continent and that by personal intercourse foundations would be laid for 

 friendly and harmonious cooperation in the future. 



1 See Appendix V, p. 293. * See Appendix VII. p. 331. 



