6 NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES 



IN THE HOUSE. 



March 3, 1863. " Mr. Thomas, of Massachusetts. I ask the unanimous 

 consent of the House for leave to take up Senate bill No. 555, to incorporate a 

 National Academy of Science. 



" There was no objection, and the bill was taken up, read three times, and 

 passed. 



" Mr. Thomas, of Massachusetts, moved to reconsider the vote by which the 

 bill was passed ; and also moved that the motion to reconsider be laid on the table. 



" The latter motion was agreed to." 8 



The bill, having been passed by both Houses, was signed by 

 the President on the same day, Tuesday, March 3, 1863. 



Upon examining the list of names of persons at the meeting 

 held at the house of Professor Bache on February 19, to arrange 

 the plan of incorporation, it will be noted that Joseph Henry is 

 not mentioned. One might suppose that his name was acciden- 

 tally omitted by Admiral Davis, but from remarks made later by 

 Henry it appears certain that he did not attend the meeting. In 

 his report as President of the Academy, for the year 1867, he 

 speaks as follows: 



" I feel myself more at liberty to urge the claims of the Academy, inasmuch as 

 its members generally, including myself, took no step toward its establishment. 

 Indeed, I must confess that I had no idea that the national legislature, amid 

 the absorbing and responsible duties connected with an intestine war, which 

 threatened the very existence of the Union, would pause in its deliberations to 

 consider such a proposition." 9 



Whether other motives than the mere doubt of the feasibility 

 of the plan for incorporating the Academy influenced Henry in 

 refraining from attending the meeting of February 19, can, 

 perhaps, not be discovered after the lapse of so many years. As 

 soon as the Academy had been established, he took an active 

 part in its proceedings, becoming chairman of the first com- 

 mittee appointed in 1863, and a member of two others appointed 

 in 1863 and 1864. He also read a paper at the first scientific 

 session of the Academy, in January, 1864, " On Materials of 

 Combustion for Lamps in Light-houses." His name does not, 



8 Loc. /., p. 1540. 



9 Rep. Nat. Acad. Sci. for 1867. Sen. Misc. Doc. no. 106, 4oth Congress, 2d Session, 1868. 

 p. 5. 



