Historical Sketch of Minnesota Academy of Science 431 



In this address of 30 pages the author found it "impossible, in one 

 or a hundred discourses, to present all the evidence that impels us 

 to the belief of the law hypothesis, to the belief that the methods of 

 God are secondary in the control of the universe." The first scien- 

 tific report was an oral one from Professor Winchell "of his observa- 

 tions of the Drift, presenting the various theories on the subject, to- 

 gether with his own views," Two months later "the Drift was again 

 discussed at considerable length by Messrs. Winchell, J. B. Clough, 

 Ames, Gale and Johnson;" when a query by Dr. Stoneman regarding 

 the identity of matter and force elicited considerable discussion, 

 engaged in to a greater or less extent by all present. The fact that 

 "the question was left undecided, no one being able to see clarly 

 the identity of the two agents or substances" evidently led Dr. John- 

 son to present a paper two meetings later on "Matter and Force." 

 The last meeting of its first year shows a remarkably virorous Acad 

 emy, judged from the following minutes. "Dr. Ames read a com 

 munication from Professor Leidy concerning a vertebra found by 

 Dr. Ames in the Red River country, assigning it to the Bison antiquus 

 A report on the Mammalia of the state was read by Dr. Ames (print 

 ed in the second number of the Bulletin). A report of the Archae 

 ology of the state was read by Dr. Leonard. Mr. Cheney referred 

 to some recent experiments on the effect of vapor of water in equaliz 

 ing the temperature of a room, which was followed by discussion 

 A report on the Ornithology of the state was partly read by Dr 

 Hatch (the balance being read at he next meeting and all printed 

 in the second bulletin.) A paper was read by Dr. Simpson on "Pre 

 requisites to a Proper Study of Science," and was published later 

 After an extra supplementary meeting, at which the remainder 

 of Dr. Hatch's report was read and Dr. Johnson read a paper on the 

 "Timbers of the State," the second year of the Academy was begun 

 with a remarkable and valuable paped by Dr. Johnson, designed as 

 his retiring address as President, but really proving to be a new in- 

 augural on the "Geological and Archaeological Evidences of the An- 

 tiquity of Man" and filling forty pages of the second bulletin. The 

 rest of this bulletin is occupied by a most interesting paper by Pro- 

 fessor Winchell on "Geological Notes from Early Explorers in the 

 Minnesota Valley," and by an ingenious paper by Geo. W. Tinsley 

 on "Astronomy — Scientific and Unscientific." The unpublished papers 

 and discussions of this second year should also be recorded here as 

 stimulating evidence of the intellectual activity of the original Acad- 

 emy members. Mr. Tinsley had a paper "On the Cooling of the 

 Earth and Its Relation to the Drift," Dr. Johnson a paper on "Evolu- 

 tion," followed two months later by one from Dr. Ames, who found- 

 ed his principal argument against the theory on the fact of the ex- 

 istence of the lower forms of life at the present day. The paper 

 drew out a great deal of discussion and revealed the fact that each 

 man held views peculiar to himself." This evolution was again fol- 

 lowed by Rev. E. C. Mitchell, who "considered that the two import- 

 ant factors in the origin of species were natural birth and extra- 

 ordinary generation." Dr. Johnson's indefatigable enthusiasm pro- 

 duced three more papers in the fall of this year: one on "Entom- 

 ology," one "describing some explorations and discoveries at Palmer 



