54 NATIOXAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES 



" Many variable stars were discovered during these investigations, and two 

 whose proper motion is about 6" annually are equaled by only one other, so far 

 as is known. 



" Eleven hundred photographs of southern star clusters, taken during the years 

 1 872-1 883, have been preserved and are now undergoing measurement. 



" Five volumes of meteorological observations have been published from 

 stations established in all parts of the Argentine territory, giving the climate rela- 

 tions of the southern half of the continent and establishing the isothermal lines. 



" The observatory and a national meteorological office were left in full organi- 

 zation and activity. 



" This vast and comprehensive work is embraced in thirteen quarto volumes 

 already published, and six are now prepared for publication, making nineteen 

 in all."" 



At the Congress of Electricians held in Paris in 1881 a resolu- 

 tion was adopted requesting the French Government to invite 

 other governments to an international congress for the deter- 

 mination of electrical units. Various governments, including 

 that of the United States, accepted the invitation and appointed 

 delegates. The American delegates w^ere Professor John Trow- 

 bridge and Professor H. A. Rowland, both of whom were mem- 

 bers of the National Academy of Sciences. At the meeting of 

 November, 1881, the following resolution was adopted by the 

 Academy: 



" Resolved, That the National Academy of Sciences cordially approves of the 

 formation of an international commission on electrical units, as suggested by the 

 Paris Electrical Congress, and earnestly hopes that the necessary appropriation 

 may be made by the Congress of the United States to enable the members of 

 this Academy already appointed on this commission, through the Department of 

 State, to carry out the needed experimental determinations with credit to the 

 country." ^^ 



This resolution was favorably considered by Congress and we 

 find in the Sundry Civil Act for the fiscal year ending June 30, 

 1883, an item under the State Department providing the sum of 

 $3,000 for " the payment of the actual and necessary expenses of 

 the two civilian experts as delegates of the United States to an 



" Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci., vol. i, p. 290. 

 " Loc. cit., p. 199. 



