THE SEMI-CENTENNIAL ANNIVERSARY 85 



But we have with us tonight one who marks a very noteworthy 

 exception to that rule, a man who, long before some of us were 

 born, had acquired distinction in science. 



I refer, as you well know, by this time, to our eminent col- 

 league, Dr. Silas Weir Mitchell, the oldest living member of the 

 Academy, but who is still so young that he is the most suggestive 

 member of the Academy in regard to new things and new proj- 

 ects for observation and experiment. But, in addition to these 

 numerous fields with which he is acquainted, and in which he 

 is an expert, he has long delighted us with his graceful fancies 

 and his historical instruction, produced in his works of fiction, 

 so-called. 



I am going to call upon Dr. Mitchell to tell us something of 

 the reminiscences of the Academy, which he can do better than 

 any other member of the Academy. (Applause.) 



