THE SEMI-CENTENNIAL ANNIVERSARY 95 



son, who had appointed diem on the commission, and who was 

 then President; Michaux's Botanical Journal; Muhlenberg's 

 Botany of Pennsylvania; Priestley's ingenious dissertation on 

 Phlogistin, dated 1873; Franklin's Electrical Machine, and 

 other treasures, which time does not permit me to mention. We 

 have always had a very pleasant and close relation of member- 

 ship, especially with this National Academy of Sciences. Going 

 over the list of the fifty original members I find that forty-one 

 of them were already members of the American Philosophical 

 Society, and only nine were non-members. The present member- 

 ship of the society is very largely a duplicate of the membership 

 of the Philosophical Society. Many of you, who are fresh from 

 our general meeting last week, I am sure will agree with me that 

 we have not lost our youthful vigor, though we are approaching 

 the end of our second century, and that we bid fair to outlive not 

 only the second but, I trust, a third and more centuries after- 

 wards. 



Our two co-ordinate societies move on, hand in hand and 

 heart to heart, in loyal co-operation, for science knows no bound- 

 aries, geographical, political or linguistic. Its devotees are 

 diligent in Arctic cold and tropic heat; they flourish under 

 kaisers and kings and presidents. We gather the precious harvest 

 from all peoples, realms and races. We gather not only our 

 harvest, but we scatter abroad the precious seed for the benefit of 

 entire mankind. (Applause.) 



Dr. Woodward: Lest we should forget, in listening to these 

 delightful and instructive reminiscences of our friends Dr. 

 Mitchell and Dr. Keen, from Philadelphia, I wish to remind 

 the society and those here assembled, that there is a very impor- 

 tant function of the Academy, defined by legal enactment. The 

 Academy is in a sense the confidential adviser of the United 

 States with regard to matters scientific. We have with us here 

 a distinguished statesman who, if the scope of our organization 

 were less narrow, could easily become a member of the Academy. 

 I refer to Honorable Theodore E. Burton, and will ask him to 

 speak to us concerning legislation and the National Academy of 

 Sciences. 



