162 BULLETIN OF THE 



131sT Meeting. Kovember 24, 18t7. 



The President, Joseph Henry, in the Chair. 

 Thirty-six members and visitors present. 

 The President read his annual address, as follows: — 



Gentlemen, Members of the 



Philosophical Society of Washington. 



I BEG leave to tender yon ray sincere thanks ibr the honor you 

 have conferred upon me, and the good feeling you have mani- 

 fested towards me, by ray re-election as President of this Society. 

 I say the good feeling which you have manifested towards me, 

 because I know that there are many of your members who can 

 much more efficiently discharge the duties of the office than I can. 

 I may, perhaps, be allowed to say, without the charge of undue 

 egotism, that I have never occupied any position for which I 

 have been voluntarily a candidate. The several offices of honor 

 and responsibility which I now hold, no less than nine in number, 

 have all been pressed upon me without solicitation on my part, 

 and I now begin to feel that, in view of that peculiarity of human 

 nature so admirably exhibited in the character of the Archbishop 

 of Granada, that I ought to diminish the number of my responsi- 

 bilities, gradually leaving to others the honor and the toil of 

 office. It is, therefore, with no feigned hesitation that I again 

 accept the re-election to the position to which your kindness has 

 called me. 



I have, however, taken from the first a deep interest in the 

 Society, knowing that it is intimately connected with the intel- 

 lectual development of the City of Washington, and that it has a^ 

 reflex influence upon every part of the United States. It tends 

 to keep alive an active spirit of scientific advancement, not only 

 to diffuse a knowledge of the progress of discovery among its 

 members, but also to stimulate by friendly criticism and cordial 

 sympathy to new eflTorts in the way of explorations into the un- 

 known. 



While but comparatively few qualifications are necessary for 

 admittance, yet no person is elected who is not supposed to have 

 at least a high appreciation of science ; has some familiarity with 

 its principles, and is capable of doing something in the way of 

 promoting the objects of the Association. 



