ANNALS OF THE ACADEMY 37 



undertaken because the vessel was heavily armored and the 

 voyage extended far into both hemispheres, thus affording a 

 favorable opportunity of submitting Poisson's theory of the 

 deviations of compasses on iron ships to the test of rigorous 

 observations, which had never been done before." The obser- 

 vations were published in the Smithsonian Contributions to 

 Knowledge, with the following prefatory note by Joseph 

 Henry: 



" This paper was originally an official report presented to the Navy Department 

 by Professor Harkness; but, as that department made no use of it, the National 

 Academy of Sciences, in August, 1867, passed a resolution asking for the manu- 

 script. This request was complied with; and, an abstract of the paper having 

 been read to the Academy in April, 1869, it was referred to a commission 

 consisting of the President of the Academy, Professors J. H. C. Coffin, and 

 F. Rogers, in accordance with whose recommendation it is now published by the 

 Smithsonian Institution." 14 



About 40 papers were read at the two sessions of 1869 and 

 an equal number the preceding year. They covered a very wide 

 range of topics, but the majority related to the physical sciences. 



Although in 1868 the Academy rejected the proposition to 

 have the restriction on the number of members removed, the 

 subject was revived in 1870 and met with favorable considera- 

 tion. A resolution was unanimously passed providing that 

 " a memorial be addressed by the President of the Academy to 

 the Congress of the United States, asking for the amendment of 

 its charter in such manner as to remove the restrictions to the 

 number of its members." The matter was presented to Congress 

 on May 4, 1870, by Senator Henry Wilson, and the amend- 

 ment asked for was granted in an act approved on July 15, 



13 Vol. 18, 1873. The paper was accepted for publication on September 18, 1871. The 

 signatures are dated from December, 1871, to January, 1873. 



14 The resolution asking for the manuscript will be found in the Report of the National 

 Academy of Sciences for 1867, page 9 (4oth Congress, 2d Session. Sen. Misc. Doc. no. 106). 

 The preface above quoted is not in accord with the Proceedings, which, on page 73, state 

 that the committee was appointed in April, 1869, also (page 75) that Professor Harkness 

 read a paper on magnetic deviations in iron ships, in April, 1870, and not in April, 1869. 

 In both the Proceedings and the Report, the vessel is incorrectly referred to as the 

 Miantonomah. 



