314 NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES 



The same day he appointed the following committee to inves- 

 tigate and report upon the matter: H. A. Rowland (chair- 

 man), T. C. Mendenhall, H. L. Abbot, G. F. Barker, J. Trow- 

 bridge, C. S. Hastings, and C. Barus. Professor Mendenhall 

 declined appointment and was replaced by Professor A. A. 

 Michelson. A special meeting was held in New York on 

 February 9, 1895, to consider the report of the committee, in 

 which detailed specifications were given for the practical appli- 

 cation of the ampere and volt, which were prepared to meet the 

 requirements of the law and were also in accordance with the 

 international agreement. The specifications are quoted in full 

 in the report of the Academy for 1895 (pp. 9-13), with notes 

 and illustrations. The Academy then by a unanimous vote 

 adopted the specifications and prescribed them in accordance 

 with the Act of Congress. " It was also voted unanimously that 

 these specifications be published by the sending, by the president, 

 of a copy of the same to each House of Congress and to the Sec- 

 retary of State, with the request to the latter that they be issued by 

 the State Department; and, further', by the printing by the home 

 secretary of the Academy of a suitable number of copies for 

 public distribution." "' 



COMMITTEE ON THE INAUGURATION OF A RATIONAL 

 FOREST POLICY FOR THE FORESTED LANDS OF THE 

 UNITED STATES. 1896 



At an early date, the Government of the United States 

 adopted the policy of purchasing or setting aside from the public 

 domain certain limited areas of forested land from which to 

 obtain timber for the use of the Navy, but it was not until the 

 repeal of the so-called timber-culture laws in 1891 that the 

 President was authorized to make extensive forest reservations 

 without reference to any special economic value which they 

 might possess. As a result of executive action in accordance with 



""See Rep. Nat. Acad. Sci. for 1894, pp. 17, 39-42; for 1895, pp. 7-13. The report of the 

 committee constitutes Sen. Misc. Doc. no. 115, 53d Congr. 3d Sess. Order printed Feb. 19, 

 1895. 



