896 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXVI. No. 678 



fourteen others who wished to join the pro- 

 posed society. The first officers were A. 

 H. Worthen, of Springfield, president; T. 

 J. Burrill, of Urbana, and H. M. BannLster, 

 of Chicago, vice-presidents ; Homer N. Hib- 

 bard, of Chicago, treasurer; S. A. Forbes, 

 secretary, and Selim H. Peabody, of Cham- 

 paign, and Cyrus Thomas, of Carbondale, 

 additional members of the executive com- 

 mittee. By the close of the year sixty-six 

 members had paid their initiation fees of 

 three dollars each. 



This was the period of the return to 

 nature in the study of science, and annual 

 field meetings were provided for. The first 

 of these was held at Ottawa, July 10, 1879. 

 Dividing into three sections— geological, 

 botanical and zoological— under the leader- 

 ship of Worthen, Burrill and Forbes, re- 

 spectively, the society took to the woods 

 in the beautiful, prolific and historically 

 interesting valley extending along the Illi- 

 nois River eighteen miles from Ottawa to 

 Peru, and with Starved Rock, Deer Park, 

 Buffalo Rock and the site of the famous 

 Indian village at Utica within or near its 

 boundaries. 



Annual program meetings followed at 

 Bloomington, Springfield, Urbana, Spring- 

 field, Peoria and Jacksonville; and field 

 meetings at Lake George, Indiana, near 

 Chicago, where a Chicago sportsmen's club 

 placed their club-house, premises and 

 equipment at our disposal; at Fountain 

 Bluff and Grand Tower, on the Mississippi 

 in southern Illinois; at Warsaw, in Han- 

 cock County, the home of Mr. Worthen; 

 and at Peoria, where the Peoria Scientific 

 Association joined us in a steamer trip up 

 the Illinois River for aquatic work. These 

 field meetings were well attended, as a rule, 

 and were much enjoyed, although it must 

 be confessed that they were perhaps more 

 agreeable than permanently profitable to 

 us. The annual meetings also were inter- 

 esting to the participants, and did some- 



thing, no doubt, to stimulate the workers 

 among us, and something also to interest 

 and instruct the communities in which they 

 were held. Their average character may 

 be well enough illustrated by the program 

 of the Urbana meeting in 1882. 



The first session was devoted to an ad- 

 dress on "Pi'imitive Religion in America," 

 by Mr. McAdams, of Jerseyville, which was 

 substantially an account of the religion of 

 the Mound Builders as inferred from idols 

 and other implements of a religious char- 

 acter which had been collected by the 

 speaker. During the next session. Dr. Ed- 

 win Evans, of Streator, read a paper on 

 "The Rock System of the Northwest," 

 based mainly on the records of borings for 

 artesian wells, and illustrated by maps and 

 colored diagrams. This was followed by a 

 paper on "Recent Microscopy," by Pro- 

 fessor Burrill, of the university, giving a 

 historical account of the development of 

 the microscope and a description of its most 

 recent improvements and performances; 

 and this by a paper on "Prehistoric Re- 

 mains in Southeastern Missouri," by F. S. 

 Earle, of Cobden— essentially a classifica- 

 tion and general description of mounds 

 studied on a trip made for the Smithsonian 

 Institution. A lecture on "The Fossil 

 Tracks of the Connecticut Valley, ' ' by Don 

 . Carlos Taft, professor of geology in the 

 university; a paper on "The Army-worm 

 in 1881," by F. M. Webster, of Waterman; 

 and one on ' ' The Organs of the Sixth Sense 

 of Blind Fishes," by S. A. Forbes, com- 

 pleted the program of the first day, which 

 was followed by an evening reception to 

 the society by the faculty and students of 

 the university, and a microscope display 

 given jointly by the university and the 

 society. 



The program of the following day con- 

 tained a paper on "Sciences in the Public 

 Schools," by C. W. Rolfe, of the univer- 

 sity; one by Mr. McAdams on "The Great 



