CHAPTER II 

 THE ANNALS OF THE ACADEMY 



IN chronicling the history of the Academy it has seemed de- 

 sirable to divide the half century into periods of ten years 

 each, although in some instances, for the sake of clearness, 

 the whole story of a transaction is given in one place without 

 regard to years. 



1863-1867 



The first meeting of the Academy held in New York on 

 April 22, 1863, was a meeting for organization. It was devoted, 

 as already shown, to the consideration of a constitution and 

 by-laws, the election of officers and a council, and the appoint- 

 ment of certain committees. In accordance with the provisions 

 of the constitution, the members arranged themselves in two 

 classes, (a) mathematics and physics, and (b) natural history; 

 and a chairman and secretary were elected for each class. Five 

 sections were included under each class. The assignment of 

 members to these sections seems not to have been thoroughly 

 carried out until the meeting of August, 1864, and even at that 

 date the names of several members do not appear under any 

 section. The names of the sections and the number of members 

 enrolled under each, which are matters of considerable interest, 

 are shown in the following table : 



CLASS OF MATHEMATICS AND PHYSICS Number of 



Members 



Sect. i. Mathematics 6 



Sect. 2. Physics 6 



Sect. 3. Astronomy, Geography and Geodesy 9 



Sect. 4. Mechanics 6 



Sect. 5. Chemistry 3 



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