COMMITTEES ON BEHALF OF THE GOVERNMENT 203 



such reports on their reception. It has not appeared to me, except, perhaps, in 

 one case, and in that the conclusions of the Committee had not reached me, that 

 there was occasion to present the reports until they had been discussed in the 

 Academy itself, and the views had been adopted ; especially as this was, as I have 

 said before, a first trial of the working of our organization. One of the committees 

 thus acting has been able to meet so often, and with so many members at a 

 meeting, as to show that in important cases, where consultation and discussion 

 must be had, there will be little difficulty in effecting meetings; while in most 

 cases correspondence amply suffices for the settlement of the questions involved, 

 and to bring out the results in the form of a report with suggestions. 



" It will be seen by the spirit and words of our laws, enacted by the authority 

 of the charter, that the members of the National Academy put their time and 

 talents at the disposal of the country in no small or stinted measure, freely, fully, 

 by the binding authority of an oath; asking no compensation therefor but the 

 consciousness of contributing to judicious action by the government on matters 

 of science. The more the wealth of such men can be drawn out from the 

 treasury of their knowledge, the richer will the nation be; and I for one do not 

 fear that even the suggestions which may be made to Congress on subjects in which 

 that knowledge may be most profitably employed for our country and times, will 

 be subject to any supposed taint of self-seeking as to power or influence. Subject 

 to the taint of supposed desire for remuneration it cannot be, by our charter, and 

 all our laws look away from such a center." x 



COMMITTEES APPOINTED BY THE ACADEMY ON BEHALF 

 OF THE GOVERNMENT 



1. Committees appointed in accordance with Acts of Congress. 



1871. On the Transit of Venus (p. 256). 



1872. On Preparing Instructions for the Polaris Expedition (p. 40). 



1878. On a Plan for Surveying and Mapping the Territories of the 



United States (p. 268). 



1879. On a National Board of Health (p. 50). 



1894. To Prescribe and Publish Specifications for the Practical Appli- 

 cation of the Definitions of the Ampere and Volt (p. 313). 



1908. On the Methods and Expenses of Conducting Scientific Work 

 Under the Government (p. 330). 



2. Committees appointed at the request of Joint Commissions 



and Committees of Congress. 



1884. On the Signal Service of the Army, the Geological Survey, the 

 Coast and Geodetic Survey, and the Hydrographic Office of 

 the Navy Department (p. 295). 



1 Ann. Nat. Acad. Sci., 1863-6, pp. 49, 50. For an annotated list of committees to 1879, see 

 Rep. Nat. Acad. Sci. for 1879, pp. 7-13. 



