396 



NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES. 



Moors were convinced that the aim of the French 

 was to push westward to the Atlantic at the 

 back of the Atlas range and to occupy all the 

 doubtful territory on the frontier between Algeria 

 and Morocco, the territory that was reserved by 

 the delimitation treaty of 1845 for future agree- 

 ment. A note was dispatched to the French Gov- 

 ernment on July 9, formally demanding European 

 arbitration of the dispute arising from the French 

 occupation of the oases of Tuat, Tidikelt, and 

 Gurara and the district of Igli. Hadji Mohammed 

 el Torres,, the Sultan's representative at Tangier 

 for foreign affairs, had previously, on June 20, 

 addressed a communication to the powers protest- 

 ing in the name of the Sultan against the French 

 encroachments upon Tuat and Igli, a region re- 

 served for future settlement if not actually recog- 

 nized as belonging to Morocco in the French fron- 

 tier treaty. None of the powers were inclined 

 to take the part of Morocco in the controversy. 

 Great Britain had already given France a free 

 hand in these regions by the African agreement of 

 1890. The Moorish claim was based upon an arti- 

 cle of the treaty of 1845, stating that the ancient 

 boundary that existed between Morocco and Tur- 

 key previous to the French conquest of Algeria 

 was retained as the boundary between Morocco 

 and Algeria, and stipulating that no boundary 

 stones should be erected by either party until this 

 ancient boundary was delimited by mutual agree- 

 ment. The Moorish Government offered to sub- 

 mit documents proving that the Deys of Algiers 

 recognized Tuat as forming part of Morocco, and 

 to prove furthermore that both before and after 

 the conquest of Algeria by the French all the 

 kadis, kaids, and sheikhs in the disputed country 

 had been and that they still were regularly ap- 

 pointed by the Government of the Sultan. On 

 Aug. 20 the Moorish Government sent another 

 circular to the powers protesting against the fur- 

 ther encroachments of the French in the Tuat re- 

 gion and other territories, asking the powers for 

 their assistance. The excitement caused in Fez by 

 the French advance was attended by the killing 

 of the manager of a French business house, Marcos 



Essagin, who was an American citizen. The Jew- 

 ish ghetto was next attacked by the mob, and in 

 consequence the British, supported by other for- 

 eign representatives in Tangier, made serious 

 representations to the Moorish Government. Both 

 as a Jew and as a representative of French inter- 

 ests he incurred the hostility of the fanatical 

 Moors by engaging in a controversy with one of 

 their religious chiefs, whose mule he knocked 

 against while riding on horseback through a nar- 

 row street. The actions of the crowd became so 

 threatening that he fired his revolver, wounding 

 a native, upon which he was immediately cut down 

 by his assailants. The American Government pre- 

 sented a claim upon the Moorish Government for 

 an indemnity for the murdered man's family. 

 The demand of the representatives of the powers 

 for right of access to the Sultan's court at all 

 times and their attempt to treat directly with the 

 Government prompted Hadji Mohammed el Torres 

 at Tangier to inform them that correspondence 

 with the Moorish Government must be addressed 

 to him. They replied in a collective note that 

 their governments could not accede to. such a 

 proposition unless he was fully empowered to 

 settle all questions. After the death of Ahmed 

 ben Mussa the Sultan began to take an active 

 part in the direction of public affairs, although 

 he did not ostracize the family of the masterful 

 and avaricious Vizier who had made many ene- 

 mies, since he appointed a brother and a cousin 

 of the deceased statesman to posts in the ministry. 

 When the new Government was in running order 

 Spain pressed a demand for the transfer and the 

 delimitation of Santa Cruz de Mar Pequeiia. a 

 seaport and district on the Atlantic coast. Morocco 

 ceded this territory to Spain by the treaty of 

 Wad Ras in 1860, but disputed the cession later. 

 The harvest in 1900 was a remarkably good one, 

 and this fact tended to avert disturbances that 

 might have resulted from the French military 

 operations in the disputed Saharan territory coin- 

 ciding with the death of the man who has been 

 the real ruler of Morocco since the present Sultan 

 came to the throne. 



N 



NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES. 



The officers of the Academy in 1900 were: Presi- 

 dent, Wolcott Gibbs; Vice-President, Asaph Hall; 

 Foreign Secretary, Alexander Agassiz; Home Sec- 

 retary, Ira Remsen, Johns Hopkins University, 

 Baltimore, Md. ; Treasurer, Charles D. Walcott. 

 Two meetings were held in 1900. The first or 

 stated meeting was held in Washington, April 

 17-19. On that occasion the following papers were 

 read: The Cruise of the United States Fish Com- 

 mission Steamer Albatross in South Seas, August, 

 1899, to March, 1900, by Alexander Agassiz; Sec- 

 ondary Enrichment of Sulphides in Ore Deposits, 

 by Samuel F. Emmons; On the Zoogeographical 

 Relationships of Africa, by Theodore Gill ; Report 

 of the Watson Trustees on the Award of the 

 Watson Medal to David Gill, by Simon Newcomb; 

 and A Human Bone from the Glacial Deposit at 

 Trenton, N. J., by Frederic W. Putnam. The fol- 

 lowing papers were read by scientists not members 

 of the Academy: West Indian Madreporarian 

 Polyps, by J. E. Duerden, introduced by William 

 K. Brooks; The Anatomy of y<intiln>s i>i>ini>iliiix. 

 by L. E. Griffin, introduced by William K. Brooks; 

 On the Use of Electric Motors, of the Shunt Type, 

 for Solving Linear Differential Equations of any 

 Order with Variable Coefficients, and On the Pre- 



diction of the Physical Properties of the Pure 

 Metals, by Reginald A. Fessenden, introduced by 

 Cleveland Abbe; and A Partial Explanation of 

 Some of the Principal Ocean Tides, by Rollin A. 

 Harris (by permission of Henry S. Pritchett). in- 

 troduced by Cleveland Abbe. The meetings wore 

 held in the hall of Columbian University. Tin- 

 public business included the award of the Barnard 

 medal to William Conrad Roentgen for his dis- 

 covery of the X rays. This medal is given but 

 once in five years, and then to the person who 

 has made the most important contribution to 

 physical science in that period. An important 

 piece of business was the offer of Dr. Agassi/, to 

 give $5,000 to the National Academy as the be- 

 ginning of a building fund to erect a suitable home 

 in Washington for the use of the Washington 

 Academy of Sciences and local or affiliated soci- 

 eties, on condition that the land needed for such 

 a building be either given by the Government or 

 obtained from oilier sources; and, furthermore. 

 that at least $100.000 be raised for that purpose, 

 the National Academy to have such privilege-; 

 granted them as they might need in the way 

 use of the hall at the proper time for their ma 

 iiiys. and of suitable smaller rooms to be used In 

 offices. Dr. Agassiz also offered to give $1,000 



