34 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXXVI. No. 915 



ties of the scope of ours, are of compara- 

 tively recent origin, so that the achieve- 

 ments of the quarter century of activity 

 and growth are well worthy of recognition. 

 Such societies have their antecedents in the 

 local academies formed by groups of scien- 

 tific workers in various cities or limited 

 communities, which again may doubtless be 

 considered as an introduction from the old 

 world, where academies of science under 

 various names have been in active operation 

 for a much longer period of time. Among 

 the first and most notable which were or- 

 ganized in this country are the American 

 Philosophical Society and the Academy of 

 Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, the 

 Brooklyn Academy of Arts and Sciences, 

 the American Academy and the Boston 

 Society of Natural History of Boston, and 

 the St. Louis Academy of Science. 



Such local societies were established for 

 the association of scientific workers in cen- 

 ters containing a sufficient number to serve 

 as a stimulus for such work and for a time 

 at which ready communication between 

 distant cities was not so convenient as at 

 the present time. The organization of the 

 state academies, however, seems to have oc- 

 curred particularly in the central-western 

 country and may be looked upon as result- 

 ing from the condition of scientific workers 

 within the boundaries of these common- 

 wealths. The scope of these academies has, 

 however, taken on a somewhat different 

 range, at least for many of them, since they 

 have in many cases served as scientific ad- 

 visers to the states in which they exist. 

 This particular function of course makes 

 the state boundary of special significance 

 and is perhaps in itself a sufficient basis 

 for the organization of such societies in 

 every state. That very much can be ac- 

 complished by such a connection may be 

 seen from the many different scientific 

 activities which have been encouraged or 



stimulated by the societies or by the indi- 

 vidual members under the incentive of asso- 

 ciated work. For instance, the geological 

 surveys, biological surveys, topographical 

 surveys, and other enterprises dependent 

 upon state support have in many cases had 

 their origin and in many other cases re- 

 ceived their support and encouragement 

 from the state academies. 



State academies exist in "Wisconsin, Kan- 

 sas, Iowa, Indiana, Minnesota, Nebraska, 

 California, Ohio, Illinois, Michigan, Colo- 

 rado, Utah, Oklahoma, Maryland and Ten- 

 nessee. In some degree they measure the 

 scientific activity of the states, naturally 

 they should flourish in states of large area 

 and less population where the isolation of 

 scientific workers has been a special incen- 

 tive to their organization. One of the first 

 of these to be organized was the California 

 Academy of Science, followed by the Mary- 

 land Academy and the Wisconsin Acad- 

 emy of Arts and Sciences, which latter 

 seems to have been organized with distinct 

 state faculties and state support from the 

 start and with a remarkably full and val- 

 uable series of publications to its credit. 

 While its scope is somewhat broader than 

 some of the others so as to include historic 

 and literary productions, so large a part of 

 its work has centered on scientific problems 

 of the state that it is to be counted one of 

 the most fruitful of the state academies 

 devoted to science. 



The Kansas Academy of Science, organ- 

 ized in 1867, has been a very active society 

 through all its career, and its reports pub- 

 lished by the state constitute a most cred- 

 itable contribution to the scientific papers 

 of the state. 



The Indiana Academy, organized 1885, 

 and which celebrated its quarter-centennial 

 with a notable meeting two years ago, has 

 shown great activity, especially with refer- 

 ence to the problems of the state. 



