64 



Dr. G. B. Loring, of Salem, recalled some of the incidents in the 

 early history of this town, alluding to a session of the General Court 

 being held here, in order to settle the boundary question between Mas- 

 sachusetts and New Hampshire ; also to the famous "Essex Kesult" 

 signed by a citizen of Salisbury in the Revolutionary times, " Hon. Caleb 

 Cushing," a name that has been prominent in our annals to the pres- 

 ent day. He then alluded to this Meeting on the shore of the ocean, 

 and gave a very graphic account of the scenes witnessed by a drop 

 of water during its passage from the head of the Missouri, down the 

 Mississippi, through the Gulf of Mexico and the Gulf Stream into the 

 broad Atlantic, thence taken into the air by evaporation and borne 

 along to the land, and then to perform another voyage of like charac- 

 ter. 



Dr. James R. Nichols, of Haverhill, gave a very interesting ac- 

 count of the "Chemistry of the Sea," stating that the excessive saline 

 condition of the ocean is probably due to the existence of large bod- 

 ies of salt in close proximity, or somewhere within reach of streams 

 flowing into the ocean; and as chloride of sodium, or common salt, is 

 one of the most abundant of all the soluble substances found on our 

 earth, it consequently predominates in sea-water. But while it is the 

 most abundant, and perhaps the most useful, it is by no means the only 

 valuable substance carried into the sea. In quantity after salt come 

 certain combinations of magnesia, next salts of lime, the carbonate 

 held in solution by excess of carbonic acid, then small quantities of 

 potash and oxide of iron, and, lastly, a trace of a most remarkable 

 body, iodine. Dr. Nichols then gave an account of the manner in 

 which iodine, soda, and potash are obtained from sea-plants, and showed 

 how man was indebted to the Mollusks and the Polyps for lime and 

 marble. 



The remarks of Dr. Nichols were most instructive, and we call 

 attention to his paper on this subject published in the Boston Journal 

 of Chemistry and Pharmacy, of November 1, 1866, where the matter is 

 treated in detail. 



Major Moses Eaton, jr., of South Hampton, N. H., welcomed the 

 Institute, in behalf of the Corporation, of which he was the presiding 

 officer, and tendered the hospitalities of the place. 



W. H. B. Currier, Esq. of Salisbury, and editor of the "Villager," 

 expressed a great interest in the Institute, and called attention to the 

 importance of their meetings. 



On motion of Mr. E. N. Walton the following vote was passed : — 



Besolved, That the thanks of the Essex Institute be presented to 

 the Officers and Members of the Amesbury and Salisbury Horticultural 

 Society, and to W. C. Binney, Esq., Hon. Benjamin Evans, Wm. H. B. 

 Currier, Esq., W. W. Hues, Esq., of Amesbury and Salisbury ; to Major 



