PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON. 31 



assurance of his desire and earnest efforts to fill the office accept- 

 ably, and to aid in rendering its meetings interesting and in- 

 structive. 



The Chair announced the appointment of a Committee on Com- 

 munications, viz : Mr. C. E. Dutton and Mr. Garrick Mallery. 



Mr. J. C. Welling then presented, pursuant to a resolution of 

 the Society passed at its 186th meeting, the following preamble and 

 resolution relative to the decease of an honored fellow member, 

 viz., the late General Albert J. Myer : 



Whereas in the death of Brigadier General Albert J. Myer, 

 late Chief Signal Officer of the Army, this Society has been called 

 upon to mourn the loss of one of its founders as well as one of its 

 most distinguished members, therefore, be it 



Resolved, That in testifying our deep regret at the sudden termi- 

 nation of the useful life of General Myer, while as yet he was ap- 

 parently in the mid-career of his activity, we, at the same time, 

 would record our admiration of those energetic qualities which he 

 brought to every sphere of duty he was called to fill, and by virtue 

 of which he was able, on the one hand, to organize a system of 

 military signaling highly valuable to the Government in the late 

 war, and, on the other hand, to develop a wide field of usefulness 

 by directing the whole energy of the signal service to the study and 

 the practical applications of the science of meteorology, in both 

 which provinces he displayed a remarkable talent for control and 

 great liberality of public spirit. 



Resolved, That these proceedings be entered upon the minutes of 

 the Society. 



The first communication of the evening was by Mr. John Jay 

 Knox, entitled 



THE DISTRIBUTION OF LOANS IN THE BANK OF FRANCE, THE 

 NATIONAL BANKS OF THE UNITED STATES, AND THE IMPERIAL 

 BANK OF GERMANY. 



Mr. Knox first gave a brief outline of the operations of the 

 Bank of France during and since the late Franco-Prussian war. 

 While it appears that the bank deals in very large amounts of 

 money, particular attention was drawn to the fact that it also dis- 

 tributes among the people smaller amounts than the smallest banks 

 in this country, and, in its annual reports of its transactions, prides 

 itself upon the fact that it has rendered services to so many of the 

 humblest citizens. After reciting the amount of commercial paper 

 discounted, the amount of advances on collateral securities, and 



