922 
two committees formulated and submitted 
a plan of agreement, which was approved 
by the board of managers of the Washing- 
ton Academy on February 26, 1901, and by 
the board of trustees of the Memorial 
Association on March 13, 1901. This plan 
provided for the founding in the city of 
Washington of an institution to be known 
as the Washington Memorial Institution. 
The objects of the George Washington 
Memorial Association are, first, as implied 
in its name, the creation of a memorial to 
George Washington; and second, as stated 
in its amended act of incorporation, the in- 
crease in the city of Washington of oppor- 
tunities and facilities for higher education, 
as recommended by George Washington in 
his various annual messages to Congress, 
notably the first—i. e., ‘the promotion of 
science and literature’ substantially as set 
forth in his last will, and by and through 
such other plans and methods as may be 
necessary or suitable. The object of the 
Washington Academy of Sciences, the 
federated head of the scientific societies of 
Washington, is the promotion of science, 
the term ‘science’ being used in its 
general sense —‘ knowledge ; comprehen- 
sion of facts and principles.’ 
The two organizations agreed, first, that 
although American universities have so de- 
veloped since George Washington’s time 
that they fulfill many of the objects of the 
national university outlined by him as 
desirable for the youth of the United 
States, there is still need of an organiza- 
tion in the city of Washington which shall 
facilitate the utilization of the various 
scientific and other resources of the Gov- 
ernment for purposes of research, thus co- 
operating with all universities, colleges 
and individuals in giving men and women 
the practical post-graduate training which 
cannot be obtained elsewhere in the United 
States and which is now available only to 
a limited degree in the city of Washing- 
SCIENCE. 
[N. 8S. Vou. XIII. No. 337. 
ton; and second, that the best method of 
securing the objects for which both organi- 
zations stand is the establishment, within 
the District selected by Washington as a 
site for the permanent seat of government 
of the United States, of an institution 
whose object shall be the realization of 
Washington’s repeatedly expressed wish 
and recommendation that provision be made 
for the promotion of science and literature. 
In the further carrying out of cooper- 
ation, it was agreed that the George Wash- 
ington Memorial Association would under- 
take to secure a suitable site and erect 
thereon a substantial, dignified building 
sacred to the memory of George Washing- 
ton ; and that the Washington Academy of 
Sciences would undertake to provide for the 
maintenance and conduct of the institu- 
tution in the interest of science and 
literature; and that there may be joined 
with it in this work the National Edu- 
cational Association, the Association of 
American Universities, and the Association 
of Agricultural Colleges and Experiment 
Stations. 
The Washington Academy at once un- 
dertook to secure the passage of a law au- 
thorizing the utilization of the resources of 
the Government Departments for post- 
graduate study and research. Such an 
act of Congress was approved March 3, 
1901, and reads as follows: 
That facilities for study and research in the Gov- 
ernment Departments, the Library of Congress, the 
National Museum, the Zoological Park, the Bureau 
of Ethnology, the Fish Commission, the Botanic 
Gardens, and similar institutions hereafter estab- 
lished shall be afforded to scientific investigators and 
to duly qualified individuals, students, and graduates 
of institutions of learning in the several States and 
Territories, as well as in the District of Columbia, 
under such rules and restrictions as the heads of the 
Departments and Bureaus mentioned may prescribe. 
The plan of organization next agreed 
upon by the two committees was essen- 
tially as follows: 
