August 16, 1895.] 



SCIENCE. 



171 



Professor Emile Duclaux, of the French 

 Institute, Paris, France : ' Sur I'actino- 

 metrie atmospherique et sur la constitution 

 • actinique de Patmosphere.' 



Professor Doctor Gieseler, of Bonn, Ger- 

 many: ' Mittlere Tagestemperaturen von 

 Bonn, 1848-88.' 



Doctor Ludwig Ilosvay von N"agy Iloosva, 

 Professor in the Eoyal Joseph Polyteclmic 

 School, Budapest, Hungary: ' Ueber den 

 unmittelbar oxydireuden Bestaudtheil der 

 Luft.' 



Doctor A. Magelssen, of Christiania, ISTor- 

 way: ' Ueber den Zusamnienhang und die 

 Verwandschaft der biologischen, meteoro- 

 logischen und kosmischen Erscheinungen. ' 



Doctor A. Marcuse, of the Royal Obser- 

 vatory, Berlin, Germany: 'Die atmosphai'- 

 ische Luft.' 



Professor C. I^Tees, of the Polytechnic 

 School, Copenhagen, Denmark : ' The use 

 of kites and chained air-balloons for observ- 

 ing the velocity of winds, etc' 



Surgeon Charles Smart, U. S. A., of 

 Washington: ' An Essay on the Properties, 

 Constitution and Impurities of Atmospheric 

 Air, in relation to the promotion of Health 

 and Longevity.' 



Doctor F. Viault, of the Faculty of Medi- 

 cine, Bordeaux, France : ' Decouverte d'uue 

 nouvelle et importante propriete physio- 

 logique de I'Air atmospherique (action 

 hematogene de I'air rarefle).' 



(Signed) S. P. Langley, 



G. Broavn Goode, 

 J. S. Billings, 



M. W. Haerington. 

 August 9, 1895. 



THE HISTORY, AI3IS A^D IMPORTANCE OF 



THE A3IEIUCAN ASSOCIATION FOB THE 



ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE. 



The year 1839 was one of great scientific 

 activity in this country, and in the older 

 States regulai'ly organized geological and 

 zoological surveys were in progress which 



had called into the field nearly all the 

 scientific men in the country in various 

 capacities. Many of our earlier scientists 

 owe their fame to the opportunities then 

 oifered for solving the great problems in 

 science which were met at every step. At 

 that time science was still in its infancy, 

 and the oflBcers of the several State Surveys 

 felt the necessity of comparing notes and 

 discussing results. As a consequence it 

 was agreed upon among them to form an 

 Association of Geologists and Naturalists 

 which should meet every year and discuss 

 the facts and theories which every man was 

 working out in his own State. 



The first meeting of this Association was 

 in Philadelphia in April, 1840, under the 

 presidency of Edward Hitchcock, the head 

 of the Geological Survey of Massachusetts. 

 The second meeting was also held in Phila- 

 delphia, the year following, with the emi- 

 nent chemist, Benjamin Silliman, Sr., of 

 New Haven, as President. This was fol- 

 lowed by annual meetings in Boston, 

 Albany, Washington, New Haven, New 

 York, and again in Boston in 1847, under 

 the succession of Presidents : S. J. Morton, 

 Henry B. Rogers, John Lock, William B. 

 Rogers, C. T. Jackson and William B. 

 Rogers for a second time, all of whom were 

 prominent in their respective lines of re- 

 search and each of whom has left an hon- 

 ored mark on the annals of American 

 science. 



At the meeting of 1847 in Boston it was 

 found that during the seven years of the 

 existence of the Association the kindred 

 sciences of mathematics, astronomy, phys- 

 ics, chemistry,- geographj' and ethnology 

 had gained many devotees in this country. 

 Such advances had been made in these sci- 

 ences as to show the necessity of broader 

 views and more general cooperation among 

 the workers in all departments of science. 

 It was therefore resolved to enlarge the 

 scope of the existing association and to 



