50 
must be had, there will be little difficulty in effecting meet- 
ings; 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 com- 
pensation 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 of subjects in which that knowl- 
edge 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 centre. 
Since the organization of the National Academy of Sci- 
ences in April last, six committees have been appointed 
under the authority of Article II., Section 4, — two by ap- 
plication from the Treasury Department, one from the Office 
of United States Weights and Measures, of the same Depart- 
ment, and three by application from the N avy Department, 
or, under its authority, from the Bureau of Navigation. 
These applications, referring to physical, chemical, and 
mathematical subjects generally, have been committed to 
members of the Physical Class of the Academy, with a 
few special exceptions only. These subjects are assuredly 
of eminent practical value; and if the Academy, by the 
reports of its committees, or by their own discussions, shall 
