578 



NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES. 



makes the most important discovery in astro- 

 nomical physics, the value of the medal to be 

 $200. The first award was to Samuel P. Langley, 

 in 1886, and the second, in 1888, to Edward C. 

 Pickering. The sum of $8,000 was placed at the 

 disposal of the Academy by the widow of J. Law- 

 rence Smith as a memorial fund to promote the 

 study of meteoric bodies. A medal was secured 

 from this sum, and in 1888 the first award was 

 made to Hubert A. Newton. 



Papers. At each of the meetings papers are 

 read descriptive of some investigation or discov- 

 ery made by the author. A notice of such a 

 communication must first be given to the secre- 

 tary, and the Academy, while holding itself re- 

 sponsible for the pi-op riety of the paper, dis- 

 claims any responsibility for the facts or opinions 

 expressed. There have been 1,036 papers pre- 

 sented to the Academy since 1864, of which a 

 full list of 777 titles appears in the annual re- 

 port of 1883. Besides the memoirs by the mem- 

 bers, there are also papers giving the researches 

 of other scientists who have been specially in- 

 vited to attend the sessions. 



Publications. These are of three kinds 

 annual reports, memoirs, and biographical mem- 

 oirs. The first are transmitted each year to 

 the President of the United States Senate, and 

 are published as octavo pamphlets containing 

 the proceedings of the meetings held, list of 

 papers read; and an appendix giving the special 

 reports of the committees appointed to consider 



OTHNIEL C. MARSH, 



President of N. A. S. since 1882. 



subjects referred to the Academy by the Govern- 

 ment. The memoirs are a series of quarto vol- 

 umes, containing valuable contributions to 

 science made by the members and originally 

 presented to the Academy in the form of papers 

 that were read at its sessions. Four volumes have 

 been issued, and the fifth is ready for printing. 

 The biographical memoirs consist of separate 

 monographs of the members as they die, and 

 contain usually a full history of the work and 

 bibliography. Two volumes of these, including 

 fifteen sketches each, have been published. 



Officers. The officers are chosen for a term 

 of six years, and the first president was Alexan- 

 der D. Bache. He was succeeded on his death in 

 1868 by Joseph Henry, who then held office until 

 1878. William B. Rogers followed, and on his 

 death, in 1882, Othniel C. Marsh became presi- 

 dent. The other officers at present are Samuel 

 P. Langley, vice-president ; Wolcott Gibbs, for- 



eign secretary ; Asaph Hall, home secretary ; and 

 John S. Billings, treasurer. 



Proceeding's. The stated session was held, 

 during April, in Washington, under the presi- 

 dency of Othniel C. Marsh. The following pa- 

 pers were read: "Effects of the Inhalation of 

 Nitrogen, Nitrous Oxide, Oxygen, and Carbonic 

 Acid upon the Circulation, with Special Refer- 

 ence to the Nitrous Oxides, Anesthesia, and As- 

 phyxia," by Horatio C. Wood ; " Application of 

 Interference Methods to Astronomical Measure- 

 ments," by Albert A. Michelson ; " Physiognomy 

 of American Tertiary Hemiptera," by Samuel H. 

 Scudder ; " Totality of the Eclipse of 1889, De- 

 cember 22," by David P. Todd ; " The Budding 

 of Salpa considered in Relation to the Question 

 of the Inheritance of Acquired Characters," by 

 William K. Brooks ; " Recent Advances toward 

 a Knowledge of the Fishes of the Great Oceanic 

 Depths," by George B. Goode and Tarleton H. 

 Bean ; " A System ot. Classification of Variable 

 Stars," by Seth C. Chandler ; " On the Spectrum 

 of Metals," by Henry A. Rowland ; " On the 

 Cheapest Light," by Samuel P. Langley ; " Rela- 

 tion of Secular Disintegration to Certain Crys- 

 talline and Transitional Schists" and "Structure 

 of the Green Mountains," by Raphael Pumpelly ; 

 " Researches in the Double Halides " and " Re- 

 searches in the Sulphinides," by Ira Remsen. At 

 this session four new members were elected, as 

 follows : Gen. Thomas L. Casey, Prol Russell H. 

 Chittenden, Prof. George L. Goodale, and Prof. 

 Richmond M. Smith. 



The scientific session was held during Novem- 

 ber, in Boston, when the following papers were 

 presented : " On the Primary Cleavage Products 

 formed in the Digestion of the Albuminoid, Gela- 

 tin," by Russell H. Chittenden ; " On the Classi- 

 fication and Distribution of Stellar Spectra," by 

 Edward C. Pickering ; " On the Relation of At- 

 mospheric Electricity, Magnetic Storms, and 

 Weather Elements to a Case of Traumatic Neu- 

 ralgia," by R. Catlin ; " On the Growth of Chil- 

 dren studied by Gallon's Method of Percentile 

 Grades," by Henry P. Bowditch ; " On Electrical 

 Oscillations in Air, together with Spectroscopic 

 Study of the Motions of Molecules in Electrical 

 Discharges," by John Trowbridge ; " Some Con- 

 siderations regarding Helmholtz's Theory of Dis- 

 sonance," by Charles R. Cross ;." A Critical Study 

 of a Combined Metre and Yard upon a Surface 

 of Gold, the Metre having Subdivisions to Two 

 Millimetres and the Yard to Tenths of Inches," 

 and " On Evaporation as a Disturbing Element 

 in the Determination of Temperatures," by Will- 

 iam A. Rogers ; " On the Use of the Phonograph 

 in the Study of the Languages of the American 

 Indians." by J. Walter Fewkes : " On the Prob- 

 able Loss in the Enumeration of the Colored 

 People of the United States at the Census of 

 1870," by Francis A. Walker ; " On the Capture 

 of Periodic Comets by Jupiter," by Hubert A. 

 Newton ; " On the Proteids of the Oat Kernel," 

 by Thomas B. Osborne ; " On the Present Aspect 

 of the Problems concerning Lexell's Comet," by 

 Seth C. Chandler ; " The Great Falls Coal Field. 

 Montana its Geological Age and Relations," by 

 John S. Newberry ; " Notes on the Separation of 

 the Oxides in Cerite, Samarskite, and Gadolinite," 

 by Wolcott Gibbs ; " On the Relationships of the 

 Cyclopteroidea," by Theodore Gill ; and " On the 



