110 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XVI. No. 394. 



at the foundation of modern civilization. 

 We are glad to see the homes of men who 

 are the munificent benefactors of our li- 

 braries and of our scientific institutions. 

 We shall be interested in visiting the gi-eat 

 shops where you convert the products of 

 a generous nature into articles for our 

 daily use. 



Our Association was founded for the en- 

 couragement and diffusion of scientific 

 learning. Its ereei is very simple. It re- 

 quires in the novice only will and devotion. 

 It is our business to study the works of 

 nature by observation and experiment, and 

 it is our duty to conform our conduct to 

 her laws. We invite all to join us in this 

 work, for we believe that along this line 

 of investigation lies the true road of 

 progress for the human family. But we 

 are free. We do not wish to impose our 

 ideas on others, but prefer to leave them 

 to the operations of reason and judgment. 

 If a brother goes astray, and tries to square 

 the circle, there is no trial for heresy. We 

 let him alone, feeling sure that time, the 

 implacable enemy of error, will lead him 

 back to the truth. Cicero tells us that time 

 overthrows the opinions of men, and con- 

 firms the decisions of nature. With full 

 confidence in this sentiment we go on in 

 our work, 'without haste, and without 

 rest. ' 



REPORT OF THE PERMANENT SECRE- 

 TARY.* 



The fifty-second annual meeting of the 

 American Association for the Advancement 

 of Science, now drawing to its close, will 

 be known as the first Pittsburgh meeting. 

 In many respects it has been one of the 

 most successful meetings which the Asso- 

 ciation has ever held. The attendance, 

 wliile not very large, has been composed of 

 members of the active working class, many 

 of them being fellows, and the meeting 



* Presented at the closing session. 



may be safely characterized as a working 

 meeting. The registration has shown four 

 hundred and thirty-five members in attend- 

 ance. This ranks the Pittsburgh meeting 

 as the twelfth in size of the fifty-two meet- 

 ings which have been held. It is the fourth 

 in size of the meetings held during the past 

 ten years. The geographic distribution of 

 members in attendance is especially inter- 

 esting, and those who have had the inter- 

 est or curiosity to follow this matter of 

 geographic distribution during recent years 

 will notice that this year there is a larger 

 attendance from the South than in any 

 previous year. The exact representation by 

 States has been as follows: Pennsylvania 

 naturally heads the list with 178; New 

 York, 59 ; Ohio, 49 ; District of Columbia, 

 45; Massachusetts, 23; Illinois, 21; Michi- 

 gan, 10; Indiana, 10; New Jersey and 

 Maryland, 8 each; Missouri, Minnesota, 

 Kansas, New Hampshire, North Carolina, 

 and West Virginia, 6 each; Texas and Ne- 

 braska, 5 each; Arkansas and Connecticut, 

 4 each ; Alabama, Delaware, Virginia, Cali- 

 fornia, Kentucky, and Canada, 3 each; 

 Montana, 2; South Carolina, Georgia, 

 Louisiana, South Dakota, North Dakota, 

 Mississippi, Iowa, Colorado, and Maine, 1 

 each. 



It must be remembered as usual that the 

 number registered, namely, 435, includes 

 only the active members and associates of 

 the Association, and that as a matter of 

 fact there are always a few members in 

 attendance who are so characteristically 

 forgetful of all things except scientific mat- 

 ters that they entirely fail to register. The 

 number registered is only an indication of 

 the size of the meeting. For example, 

 eleven affiliated societies of a national 

 scope have met with us and have swelled 

 the gathering of scientific men in Pitts- 

 burgh during the past week to approxi- 

 mately 750 individuals. The meeting has, 



