Febeuaey 19, 1897.] 



SCIENCE. 



295 



AMERICAN 31ETR0L0GICAL SOCIETY. 



At the call of the Council the Society held 

 its annual meeting at Columbia University 

 on Monday, December 21, 1896, Professor 

 Egleston presiding. The Society was oifi- 

 cially informed by the Secretary, J. K. Rees, 

 of the deaths of their President, Dr. B. A. 

 Gould, of Cambridge, Mass., and of their 

 Oouncillor, Professor H. A. Newton of New 

 Haven. 



The following minutes were adopted and 

 ordered printed in the daily papers: 



The American Metrological Society has heard with 

 profound sorrow of the death of their honored Presi- 

 dent on November 26th. Dr. Gould was President of 

 the Society from 1889 to the time of his death, suc- 

 ceeding the late President, F. A. P. Barnard. By 

 his ability, learning and enthusiasm he did much to 

 further the objects of the Society, and as a member 

 of the National Academy of Sciences and of the Inter- 

 national Bureau of Weights and Measures his influ- 

 ence in metrology was world-wide. 



Of late years he was especially interested in throw- 

 iiig the whole strength of the Society in favor of the 

 «arly adoption of the metric system. It was his 

 earnest wish and hope that before he passed away he 

 ■would see the metric system adopted by the govern- 

 ment and the people of this country. 



Professor Hubert Anson Newton, of Yale College, 

 was a member of the American Metrological Society 

 from its organization to the day of his death, August 

 12th, and was for many years a Councillor. His in- 

 terest in the work of the Society was great and con- 

 tinuous. He was especially active and conspicuous 

 in the agitation of thirty years ago, which resulted in 

 the enactment of the law of 1866 legalizing the use of 

 the metric system. He prepared the table of metric 

 ■equivalents, of customary weights and measures, 

 which was incorporated in this act, and by which the 

 relation of fundamental units was defined. Professor 

 Newton's high rank as a man of science, his excellent 

 judgment, and his clear, practical insight in matters 

 relating to administration, made him an especially 

 valuable member of the Society. 



The Treasurer reported receipts tor the 



year 1896 $460.50 



Balance from 1895 686.54 



Total $1,147.04 



Expenditures for 1896 705.89 



Balance on hand $441.15 



The Secretary reported on the work of 



the year 1896. This report showed that 

 some 50,000 documents relating to the 

 metric system had been sent throughout 

 the United States. 



The latest paper issued by the Society 

 was Dr. T. C. Mendenhall's reply to Her- 

 bert Spencer. This reply was printed in 

 the Popular Science Monthly for October, 

 1896. The Society obtained 10,000 reprints. 

 5,000 copies of this reprint had been ordered 

 by the New Decimal Association of London. 



Professor Rees presented his resignation 

 as Secretary and Treasurer. He stated that 

 he could no longer spare the time for the 

 onerous duties connected with the two 

 offices. 



The following officers were then elected : 



President, T. C. Mendenhall, of Worcester, 

 Mass. Vice-Presidents, Wolcott Gibbs, of 

 Newport, E. I.; T. R. Pynchon, Hartford, 

 Conn.; A. A. Michelson, Chicago, 111.; T. 

 Egleston, New York City; H. A. Rowland, 

 Baltimore, Md.; J. H. Van Amringe, New 

 York City; J. K. Rees, New York City. 

 Treasurer and Recording Secretary, "W. Le 

 Conte Stevens, Troy, N. Y. Corresponding 

 Secretary, O. H. Tittmann, Washington, 

 D. C. Members of the Council, Cleveland 

 Abbe, Washington, D. C; R. H. Thurston, 

 Ithaca, N. Y.; A. M. Mayer, Hoboken, N. 

 J.; Henry Holt, New York City; Simon 

 Newcomb, Washington, D. C. ; W. F. Allen, 

 New York City; S. P. Langley, Washing- 

 ton, D. C. ; George Eastburn, Philadelphia, 

 Pa.; C. A. Schott, Washington, D. C; H. 

 Jacoby, New York City. 



On motion of Professor Van Amringe the 

 following minute was recorded: " In yield- 

 ing to the earnest request of Professor J. 

 K. Rees to be allowed to retire from the 

 offices of Treasurer and Recording Secre- 

 tary, the Society expresses its sincere regret 

 and its high appreciation of his laborious 

 and eff"ective services for fifteen years in 

 conducting its business and in furthering 

 the purposes for which it is organized." 



