IOWA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES. 17 



some months occupied the chair of zoology in the University 

 of Ohio; Professor Hall occupies the chair of mathematics in 

 the University of Kansas City: others are in still more distant 

 states; one whose name is on our program is with the army 

 of occupation in Cuba; and one, be it softly spoken, as is fit- 

 ting, has gone on to his reward eternal. The sods of this, his 

 newly adopted state, rest lightly yet above his fresh made 

 grave. Charles Ashmead Shaeffer died September 23d. It is 

 most proper that in the midst of our felicitations, in the glad- 

 ness of our reunion, we should for a moment pause to lay upon 

 that grave the wreath of grateful memory. Though, by his 

 unceasing labors for the institution he so nobly served, he was 

 in large measure deterred from actual participation in the 

 work of this Academy as such, nevertheless, we always knew 

 we had in him a sympathetic friend, and his constant attend- 

 ance at our sessions was an inspiration to us all. Dearest 

 to those who knew him best, the members of this Academy 

 will mourn his untimely departure and grieve over their 

 irreparable loss. 



The report of the secretary and treasurer shows that the 

 finances of the Academy are in satisfactory condition. Indeed, 

 since the state has assumed the cost of publishing our proceed- 

 ings, our expenses as a society are limited largely to the out- 

 lay incident to our sessions; printing, postage and matters of 

 an incidental nature. However, the result is that while not a 

 royal society, not under the patronage of the king nor of any- 

 body in particular, we are, nevertheless, as suggested here 

 last year, not quite independent; we are under obligation; we 

 are in a sense bounden to the people of Iowa and it has seemed 

 to me that it might be worth while for us to consider for a 

 little time this evening the kind and amount of return which 

 the people of the state may reasonably expect for their 

 investment. 



In the first place, the very existence and activity of such a 

 body as this Academy is a factor of no small moment in the 

 intellectual life of the community. Great universities in some 

 parts of the world may exist, glow along for centuries, side by 

 side with the greatest penury, superstition and intellectual 

 night; within a mile of the University of Bonn I have seen a 

 man ploughing with the family cow, while his wife and chil- 

 dren, hard by, made hand-made brick in the open field. But 

 such a situation fortunately is not possible, we may believe, in 



