Report of the Recording Secretary. XXlil 
arctic explorer, home this summer, at the close of his season’s 
work in northern Greenland, rather than leave him there to 
endure the useless delay and hardship of another arctic winter. 
Our Board of Managers, as a slight recognition of interest in and 
approval of the plan, voted to appropriate a sum sufficient to 
pay the expenses of a lecture by Mrs Peary and to give her the 
gross receipts, and in this way, thanks largely to her own energ 
and the interest of the public in her fascinating story of arctic 
life, the Society was enabled, at comparatively small expense, to 
add $400 to the fund—a result especially gratifying by reason of 
the fact that Lieutenant Peary is one of ourown members. This 
incident furnishes in itself a good example of the practical effect- 
iveness of our organization in aiding actual geographic research, 
as well as in increasing and diffusing geographic knowledge. 
Strong support has been given during past years by our Board 
of Managers to the project of uniting into a closer union the 
various scientific societies of this city, and during the past sea- 
son this object has been consummated in a way that is gratifying 
to its earnest supporters and at the same time satisfactory to the 
more conservative. The present organization and powers of the 
Joint Commission seem to be worthy of strong support and ap- 
proval, and there is every reason to believe that its practical 
results will be satisfactory and mutually advantageous to the 
societies represented. 
The meeting this summer in London of the Sixth Interna- 
tional Geographical Congress promises to mark an epoch in the 
history of geographic progress, and this Society will be repre- 
sented by a delegation which, by authority of the Board of 
Managers, will extend a cordial invitation to the Congress to 
hold its next meeting in this city. It is hoped that this eminent 
and influential body will soon honor this country with its pres- 
ence, and our Society can then justly claim to have aided very 
greatly in the advance of geographic knowledge in the United 
States, as the far-reaching influence of such a meeting can hardly 
be overestimated. 
The library of the Society has received, in addition to the 
regular exchanges, a large number of valuable gifts, notable 
amongst Which have been complete sets of Wheeler’s and Ives’ 
Reports, through the courtesy of the Chief of Engineers, U.S. 
Army; several very handsome volumes from His Imperial 
Highness the Archduke Ludwig Salvator, of Austria; and a 
