324 



SCIENCE. 



[Vol. I., No. 12. 



Watson, the sum of about fourteen thousand 

 dollars had been placed in his hands. When 

 the estate is finallj- closed, a further sum will 

 be paid over to the academy'. The iucome of 

 the Watson fund is to be used, under the di- 

 rection of three trustees, — Messrs. J. E. Hil- 

 gard, S. Newcomb, and J. H. C. Cofflu, — for 

 the purpose of aiding astronomical researches. 

 In accordance with the recommendation of the 

 trustees, the academy granted five hundred 

 dollars from this fund, towards defraj'ing the 

 expenses involved in observations of the total 

 solar eclipse of Ma^^ 6, 1883. 



Later in the meeting, Professor Simon New- 

 comb of Washington was elected vice-presi- 

 dent, and Professor Asaph Hall of Washing- 

 ton, home secretary'. Five new members were 

 elected : Professor A. Graham Bell of Wash- 

 ington ; Dr. J. S. Billings, U.S.A., of the U.S. 

 arraj' medical museum, Washington ; G. K. 

 Gilbert, of the U. S. geological survej' ; H. B. 

 Hill and C. L. Jackson, professors of chemis- 

 try in Harvard college. The whole number of 

 members is now ninety-five. 



On the afternoon of Thursday the academy 

 adjourned to take part, bj- invitation, in the 

 ceremonies attending the unveiling of the statue 

 of Professor Ilenry in the grounds of the 

 Smithsonian institution. The time for these 

 ceremonies was purposely fixed to coincide 

 with that of the spring meeting of the acade- 

 my. Henry was pre-eminently- a scientific 

 man, and, at the time of his death, president 

 of the academy ; and y&t the members of the 

 academj' were placed far down the line in 

 the procession, — after the commissioners of 

 the District of Columbia, and after officers 

 of the army and nav3^ This fact must be re- 

 garded as evidence of a lack of appreciation 

 of the relations existing between Henry and 

 the academy, and of the true worth and dignity 

 of science. 



The exercises, which were in good taste, 

 began with a short address bj^ Chief-justice 

 AVaite. After this, at a signal, the covering 

 was quickly drawn aside, instantlj' revealing 

 the entire statue. Loud applause followed, 

 those who were seated rose to their feet, and 



all hats were, removed. The scene was highly 

 impressive ; and when the philharmonic society, 

 accompanied by the full marine band; burst 

 forth^with H.iydn's grand chorus, 'The heav- 

 ens are telling,' the heart must have been a 

 hardened one which did not experience a feel- 

 ing of exaltation. 



In the opinion of all, the statue is dignified 

 and pleasing, and vividlj' calls to mind the 

 honored original. President Porter's oration, 

 which was the principal event of the after- 

 noon, was listened to with much interest. It 

 dealt with the plain facts of the life of Henry, 

 and was all that his best friends could have 

 desired. 



Among the pleasantest social features of the 

 meeting was a reception given to the members 

 of the academy on Thursdaj- evening bj' Prof. 

 A. Graham Bell. There were present man}' 

 well-known gentlemen, among them, Gen. 

 Sherman, Chief-justice Waite, Senator Sher- 

 man, ex-Secretary Blaine, and the Japanese, 

 Swedish, and Belgian ambassadors. 



THE DECAY OF ROCKS GEOLOGICALLY 

 CONSIDERED.^ 



The author, in this jjaper, presented in a con- 

 nected form the principal facts in the history 

 of the decay both of crystalline silicated i-ocks, 

 and of limestones or carbonated rocks, by at- 

 mosplieric agencies. Having first discussed 

 the chemistry of the process, he noticed the 

 production of spheroidal masses, or so-called 

 bowlders of decomposition, bj' the decay and 

 exfoliation of massive rocks. He then pro- 

 ceeded to show that the process of decay is 

 not, as some have supposed, a rapid or a local 

 one, dependent on modern conditions of cli- 

 mate, but that, on the contrary, it is universal, 

 . and of great antiquity, going back into very 

 early geological periods. These conclusions 

 were supported by details of many obser-\-ations 

 among paleozoic stratified and eruptive rocks 

 in the St. Lawrence valley, as well as among 

 eozoic rocks in the Atlantic belt, as seen in 

 Hoosac Mountain, in- the South Mountain, and 

 in the Blue Ridge. In connection with the 

 latter he described the decay, not only of the 

 crystalline strata, but of their enclosed masses 

 of pyritons ores, and the attendant phenom- 



' Abstract of a papor rend by T. Stekby Hunt, LL.D., 

 F.R.S., before the NatiDnal academy of sciences at its meeting 

 in Wasbington, April, 1883. 



