608 



scimcE. 



[N. S. Vol. V. No. 120. 



than three thousand people. The first 

 evening was devoted to a reception to the 

 members of the Academy and a few invited 

 guests, and was more or less social in its 

 nature. On the afternoon of the second 

 day the visitors included many from the 

 public and private schools of city who were 

 especially invited. On the second evening 

 the reception was to members of the Scien- 

 tific Alliance and other friends, and the oc- 

 casion was more informal and public than 

 on the previous evening. 



Besides the Exhibition, the committee had 

 planned a program of considerable inter- 

 est, for the second evening, including a short 

 informal talk by Dr. Nicola Tesla on ' The 

 Streams of Lenard and Rontgen.' Dr. 

 Tesla gave a short synopsis of some of his 

 more recent discoveries and exhibited 

 several pieces of apparatus for producing 

 high power, electrical currents with simple 

 machines. This talk was preceded by a 

 short review of the scientific results of the 

 year by Professor J. J. Stevenson, President 

 of the Academy, and an address of welcome 

 by Mr. Morris K. Jesup, President of the 

 Museum, to whose courtesy and hospitality 

 much of the success of the occasion was 

 due. 



In every way the success of the Exhibi- 

 tion was very great and very encouraging to 

 workers in science, for the manifest interest 

 of the large numbers of people attending was 

 a striking sign of the times. Interest, and 

 not popular curiosity, attracted the greater 

 number of visitors. The attention that the 

 Exhibition was given both by people of New 

 York and the newspapers showed that this 

 annual feature of the Academy is fast be- 

 coming one of the occasions of the year to 

 which many people look forward with very 

 great anticipation. 



The reception was in charge of a com- 

 mittee of Professor Henry F. Osborn, Mr. 

 Charles F. Cox and Professor Richard E. 

 Dodge. They were assisted in the plan- 



ning of the details and in the execution 

 thereof by a committee of one from each 

 department represented, of which a list fol- 

 lows : Anatomy, Professor George S. Hunt- 

 ington ; Astronomy, Professor J. K. Rees ; 

 Botany, Professor L. M. Underwood; 

 Chemistry, Professor Chas. A. Doremus; 

 Electricity, Mr. George F. Sever ; Ethnol- 

 ogy and Archaeology, Mr. Franz Boas and 

 Mr. M. H. Saville ; Experimental Psychol- 

 ogy, Professor J. McK. Cattell ; Geology, 

 Professor J. F. Kemp ; Mineralogy, Mr. 

 George F. Kunz; Paleontology, Mr. Gil- 

 bert van Ingen ; Photography, Professor 

 William Stratford ; Physics, Professor Wil- 

 liam Hallock and Professor J. F. WoodhuU; 

 Physiography, Professor R. E. Dodge \ 

 Zoology, Professor C. L. Bristol and Mr. 

 Bashford Dean. 



The exhibits that received the most at- 

 tention were naturally those concerning 

 which there has been the most said publicly 

 within the last year. The electric furnaces, 

 including the one used by Dr. Henri Mois- 

 san in his lectures before the Academy ; the 

 outfits for illustrating the uses and effects 

 of the Rontgen rays, and the instruments 

 of fatigue in experimental psychology were 

 continually surrounded by a large number 

 of interested listeners and spectators. 



Inasmuch as the Exhibition was arranged 

 to show progress during the last year only,^ 

 there were few duplications of former ex- 

 hibits in any department. Everything 

 shown was in a way new and received at- 

 tention in proportion to its importance. The 

 chairmen of the departments were in at- 

 tendance during most of the time and 

 gladly answered questions and explained 

 particular points of interest. In this way 

 the visitors felt that they were guests rather 

 than sightseers. Nothing of an advertis- 

 ing character was allowed, and hence the air 

 of the whole Exhibition was serious and 

 truly scientific. 



Besides the exhibits that were mentioned 



