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SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXXTII. No. 960 



cess. In accordance with the wishes of the 

 donor it was decided that a gold medal to 

 be given as a reward for original investi- 

 gations would be most appropriate. Any 

 excess of income above what is necessary 

 for the striking of the medal ' ' shall be used 

 in such manner as shall be selected by the 

 National Academy of Sciences in aid of 

 investigations of meteoric bodies to be 

 made and carried on by a citizen or citizens 

 of the United States of America." Only 

 one J. Lawrence Smith medal has been 

 awarded. The recipient was H. A. New- 

 ton, "for the investigation of the orbits of 

 meteors." The income has otherwise been 

 used to aid investigations, especially those 

 of Professor Newton. 



6. The F. A. P. Barnard Medal— This 

 was provided for by the will of the late 

 F. A. P. Barnard, one of the incorporators 

 of the academy, and, at the time of his 

 death the president of Columbia College 

 (now Columbia University). The fund is 

 controlled by the trustees of Columbia Uni- 

 versity. They "shall cause to be struck, 

 with suitable devices, a medal of gold, nine 

 tenths fine, of the bullion value of not less 

 than two hundred dollars, to be styled ' The 

 Barnard Medal for Meritorious Services to 

 Science,' and shall publicly announce that 

 a copy of the same shall be awarded, at the 

 close of every quinquennial period ... to 

 such person, whether a citizen of the United 

 States or of any other country, as shall, 

 within the five years next preceding, have 

 made such discovery in physical or astro- 

 nomical science, or such novel application 

 of science to purposes beneficial to the 

 human race, as, in the judgment of the 

 National Academy of Sciences of the United 

 States, shall be esteemed most worthy of 

 such honor." In accordance with these 

 terms the academy has recommended to the 

 trustees of Columbia University the award 

 of the Barnard medal as follows: 



In 1895 to Lord Rayleigh and "William 

 Ramsay "for their brilliant discovery of 

 argon, a discovery which illustrates so com- 

 pletely the value of exact scientific methods 

 in the investigation of the physical prop- 

 erties of matter." 



In 1900 to Wilhelm Conrad Rontgen, 

 "for his discovery of the X-rays." 



In 1905 to Henri Becquerel "for his dis- 

 coveries in the field of radioactivity." 



In 1910 to Ernest Rutherford "for meri- 

 torious services to science resulting espe- 

 cially from his investigations of the phe- 

 nomena of radioactive materials." 



7. The Wolcott Gibbs Pund.—When 

 Wolcott Gibbs, who was one of the incor- 

 porators of the academy and at one time 

 its honored president, reached the age of 

 seventy in 1892 a number of friends pre- 

 sented him $2,600 to establish a fund bear- 

 ing his name, the income to be devoted to 

 aiding in the prosecution of chemical re- 

 search. Dr. Gibbs presented this fund to 

 the academy, the income to be administered 

 by a board of directors, who "shall have 

 absolute and entire control of the dis- 

 position of the income of the fund, employ- 

 ing it in such manner as they may deem 

 for the best interest of chemical science." 



8. The Benjamin Apthorp Gould Fund. 

 —In 1897 Miss Alice Bache Gould, daugh- 

 ter of the distinguished astronomer, Benja- 

 min Apthorp Gould, one of the incorpora- 

 tors of the academy, who died in 1896, pre- 

 sented to the academy the sum of $20,000 

 as a memorial of the life work of her father, 

 the income to be used "for the prosecution 

 of researches in astronomy." 



9. The Cyrus B. Comstock Fund.- — This 

 now amounts to something over $10,000 

 and is to be increased by accumulations of 

 income until it reaches $15,000. A part of 

 the income is to be used to provide "once 

 for every five years a prize in money to the 

 bona fide resident of North America, who. 



