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SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. II. No. 31. 



however, out of another, namely, the Asso- 

 ciation of American Geologists and Natural- 

 ists, which had preceded it by a few years. 

 From that year up to the present, with the 

 exception of a period during the Civil War, 

 regular annual sessions have been held, and, 

 indeed, for a time two meetings a year were 

 thought necessarj' to enable the Society to 

 do its work. 



At the meeting at jSTewport, in 1860, it 

 was agreed that the next meeting, that of 

 1861, should be held at Nashville, Tenn. 

 However, the course of events, not only as 

 relating to this organization, but to all 

 others, was subjected to extreme modifica- 

 tion by the breaking out of the Civil War 

 in the spring of 1861, resulting in the sus- 

 pension of the meetings of the Association 

 until 1866, when it again resumed its work, 

 holding its first session of the new series in 

 Buffalo, N. Y. The number of members 

 has grown constantly from the beginning, 

 until for several years it has considerably 

 exceeded two thousand. 



It is also unnecessary to refer at length 

 to the great importance of the existence of 

 this Association to the scientific interests of 

 the country. Through it students of the 

 various departments of science have been 

 annually brought together, resulting not 

 only in the increase and diffusion of knowl- 

 edge, but in the cultivation of a fraternal 

 spirit among men working along the same 

 lines, that has had much to do with the 

 great advances that have taken place dur- 

 ing the past quarter of a century. 



The Societj' has been from the beginning- 

 very largely popular in its character. It 

 has not attempted to restrict its member- 

 ship by the establishment of conditions 



as to professional attainments or knowledge, 

 but, on the contrary, has been fairly open 

 to all who have any desire to be actively in- 

 terested in the advancement of science. 

 The wisdom of this course Cannot be denied, 

 and it has been followed, as is well known, 

 in other countries with equally satisfactory 

 results. It is true that the Society has been 

 at times bj^ some persons rather severely 

 criticised for the liberality with which it wel- 

 comes all who desii'e to become members,and 

 especially for the rather liberal way in which 

 contributions in the way of papers have 

 been received and treated by its controlling 

 committees ; but it is believed that a more 

 careful examination of the actual results of 

 this course will prove that, on the whole, 

 it has been a wise one. Scientific men some- 

 times forget that it is necessarj^ for them to 

 have a constituency, without which it would 

 be impossible for even the most accomp- 

 lished to enjoy the opportunities and facili- 

 ties which are necessarj^ for the successful 

 prosecution of their work. It is not even 

 necessary that this constituency should in 

 all cases understand the nature of the work 

 on which the scientific man is engaged, but 

 it is necessary that, in some way, it should 

 be interested in that work and that it should 

 be convinced that, although not understood, 

 it is of value to the human race, either 

 present or prospective. There are Societies 

 in this countrj^, as well as elsewhere, which 

 are organized solely for the benefit of those 

 who are engaged in scientific investigation 

 and research. They have little in their 

 transactions of interest to the general intel- 

 ligent public, and it is entirely proper that 

 they should exist for the purpose of encour- 

 aging and discriminating among those who 



