122 BULLETIN OF THE 



The last communication was by Mr. E. S, Holden, consisting of 

 a review of Prof. B. A. Gould's Uranometria Argentina. This was 

 the substance of a paper published by Mr. Holden in the Inter- 

 national Review for April, 1880. 



At the conclusion of Mr. Holden's remarks, the Society ad- 

 journed. 



181sT Meeting. May 8th, 1880. 



Vice President J. E. Hilqard in the chair. 

 Thirty-four members present. 



The presiding officer stated to the Society that it was his sad 

 duty to announce the death of an honored and beloved fellow-mem- 

 ber Mr. Jonathan Homer Lane, who died in this city. May 3d, 

 1880. Having been intimately associated with him for the last ten 

 years, and having an acquaintance with the facts of his career for 

 the last thirty years, Mr. Hilgard felt it incumbent upon himself 

 to take the initiative in commemoi'ating his character before the 

 Society. Mr. Lane was not personally known to many persons ex- 

 cept his intimate friends. He was very diffident in manner and 

 possessed little faculty of speech, though when he spoke, he spoke 

 with a rare logic which carried conviction. He was born over 

 sixty years ago in the northern part of New Hampshire. His 

 father was a farmer, who, though he possessed little wealth, was yet 

 able to give his sons such education as the neighborhood could 

 afford. Our lamented associate, through his rare natural gifts, 

 was able to prepare himself for Yale College, where he graduated 

 with honor. He obtained the means of subsistence by teaching. 

 While in college he was noted for the same clear-minded and logical 

 qualities which distinguished him in after life, and Mr. Hilgard^ 

 had heard his fellow-students testify to the obligations they were 

 under for the assistance which he had rendered them in their studies? 

 especially in those involving mathematics and natural science. On 

 leaving college he became attached to the Coast Survey, where he 

 rendered valuable service, and soon made his mark by displaying 

 originality and discriminating judgment. 



When the enlargement of the scope and working force of the 

 Patent Office took place in the year 1846, he was, through the 

 recommendation of Prof Joseph Henry, appointed to a position. 



