ANNALS OF THE ACADEMY 8l 



societies. The object of the organization, as expressed in this 

 letter, was to be " to support scientific undertakings which have 

 been begun or recommended either by the assemblage of the 

 united scientific bodies, or by a group of them, or by a single one 

 of them, and to render mutually intelligible arrangements to 

 facilitate scientific intercourse." 



Such an invitation could scarcely be declined, and the Presi- 

 dent of the Academy, after consultation with the members of 

 the Council, appointed as delegates to the Wiesbaden conference 

 Messrs. Billings, Bowditch, Newcomb, Remsen and Bell. Only 

 Messrs. Bowditch, Newcomb and Remsen were, however, able 

 to attend the meeting. 



At the November meeting of the Academy (1899) resolutions 

 were adopted ratifying the action of the President in appointing 

 delegates to the Wiesbaden conference, and authorizing him 

 to appoint delegates to the International Association from time 

 to time as might be desirable; also, approving the plan of organi- 

 zation adopted at Wiesbaden, accepting membership in the 

 International Association, and recommending the appointment 

 by the Association of special international committees.*" The 

 general committee of the Association met in Paris on July 31, 

 1900, the delegates from the National Academy on that occasion 

 being Messrs. H. L. Abbot, J. M. Crafts and A. Graham Bell.'' 

 The first meeting of the Association was held in Paris in 1901, 

 the Academy being represented by Professor George L. 

 Goodale." 



Two medals within the gift of the Academy were awarded 

 again in 1899, the Henry Draper Medal to Professor James E. 

 Keeler, Director of the Lick Observatory, for his researches in 



^ The letters from the Royal Society of London and the Royal Prussian Academy of 

 Sciences, together with plans of organization and a list of academies and delegates are 

 given in the Annual Report of the National Academy of Sciences for 1899, pp. 14-18. 



"^A r-eport of this meeting and a brief notice of the earlier proceedings, by J. M. Crafts, 

 are printed in the Annual Report of the Academy for 1900, pp. 14-16. 



" On account of illness. Professor Goodale was unable to attend this meeting. All the 

 other academies forming the Association, seventeen in number, were represented. Some of 

 the more important matters discussed are mentioned in the Annual Report of the Academy 

 for 1901, p. 17. 



