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SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. IX. No. 224. 



SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 

 THE SCIENTIFIC ALLIANCE OF NEW YOEK. 



A DINNER, arranged by the Scientific Alli- 

 ance of New York, took place at the Hotel 

 Savoy on the evening of April 5th. Mr. Cox 

 presided and made an address emphasizing es- 

 pecially the need of bringing scientific work to 

 the attention of those who are not special stu- 

 dents of science. Other addresses were made by 

 Professor Van Amringe, Professor Osborn and 

 Mr. Leipziger, and these were followed by 

 shorter speeches by Professor Dodge, Professor 

 Cattell, Dr. McMurtrie, Professor Lloyd, Pro- 

 fessor Dean, Professor Pees and Professor Hal- 

 lock. At the conclusion Professor Britton, the 

 Secretary, gave an account of the history of the 

 Alliance in the following words : 



The Scientific Alliance of New York was 

 founded at a conference of delegates from the 

 several societies held at the Museum of Natural 

 History, March 11, 1891, pursuant to a sugges- 

 tion made to the societies by the Council of the 

 New York Academy of Sciences. These dele- 

 gates were at first termed a Joint Commission, 

 following the lead of the earlier established 

 Alliance of the scientific bodies of the city of 

 Washington. On May 19, 1891, a Constitution 

 was adopted in which the term Council was 

 first employed. At this time the issuing of an 

 Annual Directory was provided for, and the 

 first one printed was distributed in June of that 

 year, containing the names and addresses of 

 the 498 members of the Alliance comprised in 

 the sis original societies. The publication of 

 the monthly Bulletin, announcing the titles of 

 communications to be made to the societies and 

 other matters of interest was authorized Sep- 

 tember 28, 1891. Both the Directory and the 

 Bulletin have since been continued, with minor 

 modifications, in the form thus inaugurated, 

 eight numbers of the Directory and sixty-three 

 numbers of the Bulletin having been published. 



The New York Section of the American 

 Chemical Society was admitted as a part of the 

 Alliance in May, 1892. The second Annual 

 Directory, issued in July of that year, shows 

 that the membership was then 633 ; on Novem- 

 ber 15, 1892, the first joint meeting of the so- 

 cieties was held at the Museum of Natural His- 



tory, and a number of addresses bearing on 

 the progress and the needs of science in New 

 York were delivered ; these were subsequently 

 printed in pamphlet form and widely distrib- 

 uted. At a meeting held November 25, 1892, 

 a Finance Committee was appointed ; this Com- 

 mittee secured by subscription a considerable 

 sum of money, subsequently termed the Gen- 

 eral Fund of the Council, as distinguished from 

 the sums annually contributed by the societies 

 for the publication of the Directory and Bul- 

 letins, known as the Societies' Fund. The Gen- 

 eral Fund has been of the greatest value and 

 importance in the work of the Council ; it has 

 been used in arranging joint meetings and 

 printing proceedings of them ; in supplement- 

 ing the Societies' Fund ; in printing circulars, 

 and in other ways as has proved desirable ; 

 it has twice been augmented by subscription, 

 and it is well that it should be somewhat 

 further increased. 



The second joint meeting was held March 

 27, 1893, also at the Museum of Natural His- 

 tory, in honor of the late Professor John Strong 

 Newberry ; addresses were delivered, and the 

 proceedings were published. On April 28, 

 1893, the Council resolved to establish by sub- 

 scription a fund to be known as the John Strong 

 Newberry Fund for Original Research, which 

 now amounts to about $1,200. Grants for the 

 aid of original investigation from accrued inter- 

 est on the Fund have been made to Dr. Arthur 

 Hollick in Geology; to Mr. Gilbert Van Ingen 

 in Paleontology, and a third grant has been 

 recently authorized in Botany or Zoology. The 

 Third Annual Directory, issued in August, 1893, 

 shows that the membership had increased to 

 724. 



The New York Entomological Society was 

 admitted into the Alliance in March, 1894. 

 The Fourth Annual Directory, issued in July of 

 that year, shows an increase in membership to 

 818. 



After approval by all the Societies and by 

 the Council, an Act of Incorporation of the 

 Council was introduced into the New York 

 Legislature in 1895, and became a law on June 

 5th. Pursuant to this law, a new Constitution 

 was adopted September 17, 1895. The 5th 

 Annual Directory, July, 1895, contains the 



