582 TRANSACTIONS OF THE 



Dr. Smith spoke of the very small number of persons at any 

 time assembled in scientific societies, and the high importance of 

 the press in publishing their results. 



Mr. Meigs said that the Royal Society of London, and the Na- 

 tional Institute, whose transactions embraced the world, held their 

 meetings in spaces no greater than this room, and Faraday, whose 

 name is known wherever lightning is seen and thunder heard ! gave 

 his late lectures at the British Institute, in the heart of that Lon- 

 don, to an audience that would not half fill this room. Sir, the 

 Republic of Letters is exceedingly aristocratic, and John Baptist 

 Say, one of the best writers on political economy, made the re- 

 mark that his beloved France boasted of her science as being at 

 the head of the world j and yet all that science is due in any age 

 to so very small and select a body of men that the j^ could all 

 assemble comfortably in any one of the smallest rooms in Paris. 

 But the power of the press reaches wherever lightning flashes 

 or steam "whirls the rapid car" or urges the monster steamer. 



Subject for next meeting — " General construction of steam 

 boilers.'' 



Adjourned to January 28th, at 7| o'clock p. m. 



H. MEIGS, Secretary, 



January 28, 1857. 



Present — Messrs. Leonard, Larned, Butler, Storms, Roosevelt, 

 Hawley and others — 25 members in all. 



The regular chairman Mr. Haswell being absent. 



James K. Fisher in the chair. Henry Meigs, Secretary. 



The Secretary said that since the last meeting of this Club, the 

 Institute has received several important works from Europe. 

 Russian .Mineralogy, translated from the Russian language into 

 German, by H. A. G. Von Pott; the latest numbers of the Jour- 

 nal of the London Society of Arts, published weekly and contain- 

 ing select articles of general usefulness in arts and sciences; also 

 the monthly numbers of several societies of learned and industri- 

 ous men in France and elsewhere, patronised by the Emperor. 

 He had selected some for the Farmers' Club, and others for this. 



We moreover have the pleasure to say that these highly valua- 

 ble works come to our table gratis from Europe, and we have the 

 pleasure of returning to them copies of our volumes of Transac- 

 tions on the same liberal enlightened plan. For the Republic of 

 Letters embraces all nations and times, and their learning should 

 circulate every where as free goods 1 



