628 MASTERMAN, STILLMAN. 



ening their road beds, and in other improve- 

 ments. 



Among the reports presented to the Legisla- 

 ture of 1863, was one containing the census re- 

 turns of 1860, and a synopsis of every other 

 census that has been taken in the State. From 

 this it appears that the increase" in the popula- 

 tion of the State, from 1850 to 1860, was 23.70 

 per cent. The largest county increase was in 

 Norfolk, being no less than 38.36 per cent 

 The largest town or city increase was in Som- 

 erville, being 126.67 per cent. Six towns, 

 Somerville, Lawrence, Brookline, Marlborough, 

 Melrose, and Natick, exhibit an increase of 100 

 per cent. Massachusetts ranks as the thirtieth 

 State in the Union in respect to its area, but 

 ranks as the first in the number of inhabitants 

 to the square mile, first in the absolute increase 

 of population per square mile from 1790 to 

 1860, and also first in the same from 1850 to 

 1860. While there is a large percentage of 

 excess of males over females in all the Western 

 States, the females outnumber the males in 

 Massachusetts by more than 37,000 ; a fact of 

 great importance in determining the causes 

 which have made recruiting more active in the 

 Eastern than in the Western States. 



MASTERMAN, STILLMAN, an American phy- 

 sicist, born in Weld, Franklin county, Maine, 

 January 28th, 1831, died in that town July 

 19th, 1863. -His early opportunities of educa- 

 tion were very scanty, but from childhood he 

 manifested an intense interest in physical sci- 

 ence, and spent every leisure moment from the 

 severe toil of a farmer's boy in the study of 

 whatever could aid him in forming an ac- 

 quaintance with it. At the age of twenty he 

 had managed to collect a number of scientific 

 and classical works, and had thus become fa- 

 miliar with the elements of physics and chem- 

 istry ; making such apparatus as the materials 

 at hand would permit, grinding and polishing 

 small lenses, and constructing prisms for ex- 

 periments on fluid media. He had also taught 

 himself Latin enough to read with some ease, 

 and had become familiar with algebra, geom- 

 etry, and trigonometry. He removed, in 1851, 

 to Minnesota, but returned after a little more 

 than a year, with his health greatly impaired 

 by the influence of that climate. His first pub- 

 lication was a paper in the Smithsonian Ee- 

 ports for 1865, entitled " Observations on Thun- 

 der and Lightning," in which he gave the re- 

 sults of three hundred and four observations 

 on thunder storms occurring from 1850 to 1854, 

 in relation to the character, duration of the 

 thunder peal, and interval between the flash 

 and report, with other curious allied data. 

 From this time he became a frequent contribu- 

 tor to scientific journals, and nearly twenty 

 papers from his pen, on astronomy, meteorol- 

 <>-ry, and physical science, appeared in the 

 Smithsonian Reports, " The American Journal 

 of Science," and the "Astronomical Journal." 

 Though generally without instruments, his ob- 

 servations were remarkable for their accuracy 



METHODISTS. 



and faithfulness. During the last two years 

 of his life, and until his disease (pulmonary 

 consumption) compelled him to desist from all 

 labor, he was engaged in the reduction of the 

 observation^made at the Washington Observa- 

 tory during the fifteen years previous to Su- 

 perintendent Maury's departure, which that 

 official had left unreduced. 



METHODISTS. The most numerous body 

 of American Methodists, the Methodist Episco- 

 pal Church, suffered during the past year a 

 considerable decrease of membership, the num- 

 ber of members and probationers being reduced 

 from 942,906, in 1862, to 923,394, in 1863. This 

 loss was chiefly caused by the omission, in the 

 Baltimore Conference, to report the statistics 

 of the membership of the Virginia congre- 

 gations. In fact, the temporary loss thus suf- 

 fered by the Baltimore Conference (21,065) ex- 

 ceeds the total loss of the Church, thus leaving 

 for the remainder of the conferences a small 

 gain. Heavy losses were also sustained by the 

 Cincinnati (3,000), Southern Illinois (2,747), 

 and Western Virginia (2,229) Conferences; 

 while the greatest gains were recorded in 

 Northwest Indiana (2,555), Missouri and Ar- 

 kansas (2,230), East Genesee (1,741), Ver- 

 mont (1,317), and Foreign German (1,194). 



In 1862 the members were divided between 

 the States and Territories as follows : 



The Church, at the end of 1863, had 6 bish- 

 ops Morris, elected 1836 ; Janes, 1844; Scott, 

 Simpson, Baker, and Ames, all elected in 1852. 

 The number of effective travelling preachers was 

 5,885; of superannuated, 903 total, 6,788; 

 the number of local preachers, 8,156. The 

 contributions to the great Societies were re- 

 ported as follows : Missionary Society, $391,- 

 073; Sunday-school Union, $11,633; Tract 

 Society, $12,634. The Church had two bibli- 

 cal institutes, 22 colleges, 96 seminaries, female 

 colleges, and academies. The Book Concern 

 of the Church publishes, at New York, a 

 Quarterly Review, "The Christian Advocate 

 and Journal" (weekly); the "Sunday-School 

 Advocate " (circulation 228,400 copies) ; " Sun- 

 day-School Teachers' Journal (15,000); "Good 

 News" (50,000 copies) ; the "Missionary Ad- 



* Those totals include the statistics of the Mission Confer- 

 ence in Germany, and the Liberia Conference in Afrir.i. The 

 membership of the former increased from 2,1 "M. in ljC'2. to 

 8,875, in 1S68, being a gain of 1,194. The statistics of tho 

 Liberia Conference were not received In time for the publi- 

 cation of general minutes ; tho membership iu 1SG2, was 1,369. 



