and papers weighted toward laboratory research increased." Through 
its first twenty-five years, the Academy served as a critical transmitter 
of knowledge between the frontier and the East. When the frontier 
vanished, that role ended. Nevertheless, St. Louis remained a center 
for science, and the Academy continued to play a major part, particularly 
in the publication of research. 
One of the most distinguished professional scientists who helped 
govern the Academy between 1881 and 1903 was Francis E. Nipher, 
a member of Washington University’s faculty. Nipher wrote articles 
on many subjects, including ‘‘animal mechanics,’’ the human memory, 
and meteorology. His primary interest, however, was physics. He was, 
in fact, one of only 200 Americans practicing the discipline of physics 
by the early 1890s. Moreover, he numbered among the one-fifth of the 
profession that regularly published research in heat, light, electricity, 
and magnetism. !? His contributions to the Transactions included ‘‘On 
temperatures in gaseous nebulae’’ (1899), ‘‘The law of minimum devia- 
tion of light by a prism’’ (1895), ‘‘On the electrical capacity of bodies, 
and the energy of an electrical charge’ (1895), and ‘‘On a rotational 
motion of the cathode disc in the Crookes tube’’ (1896). Nipher served 
as Academy President from 1885 until 1901. 
Although the Academy was largely under the direction of profes- 
sional scientists such as Nipher in the 1890s, the organization still ap- 
ed to amateurs who contributed to contemporary knowledge in mean- 
ingful ways. One member, Julius Hurter, illustrates the point. Julius 
Hurter, Sr., was born in Switzerland in 1842. He trained as a millwright 
and mechanical engineer in Europe. He came to St. Louis in 1866 to 
work as chief draftsman at the Fulton Iron Works, a position he held 
until 1906. 
Hurter, like those other immigrants Engelmann and Wislizenus, 
harbored a passion for nature. When he first came to St. Louis he spent 
his leisure hours collecting birds in the fields and woods near the city. 
His collection grew to contain almost 300 specimens. !? 
The young engineer began collecting reptiles and batrachians in 
1884 and became a respected amateur herpetologist, publishing four 
scholarly articles in the Transactions.'* His herpetology collection, 
which at the time of his death in 1917 contained over 3,500 specimens, 
was bequeathed to the National Museum of Natural History.'° 
Both professional and amateur scientists belonging to the Academy 
remained concerned over the homeless state of the organization. Since 
the beginning in 1856, the lack of a real, permanent abode for the 
Academy plagued the members. Even before the disastrous fire that 
demolished the O’Fallon Dispensary in 1869, the Academy had at- 
tempted to find a suitable facility to call its own. After the fire, the 
31 
