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The Indiana Academy or Science. 



By J. T. ScGvell. 



Professional men engaged in almost every kind of scientific work united 

 to form the Indiana Academy of Science. 



These people hoped to be benefited by the Association ; they believed 

 that it would promote scientific research and aid in the diffusion of knowl- 

 edge concerning scientific affairs. The people who formed the Academy 

 and aided in its development hoped that as the years rolled by it would 

 so stimulate and encourage scientific work as to make it an important ad- 

 junct to the educational system of the State. 



From the first, in addition to professional work, it has been the policy 

 to encourage students and amateurs to prepare papers which in effect are 

 reports of work done along some line of scientific investigation. The work 

 may be new to science or it may not, but is new to the writer. The stu- 

 dent gets the benefit of the work done and of the friendly criticism of the 

 Academy. 



Many valuable papers have been prepared on many different phases 

 of scientific work. Considerable work has been done by the Academy on 

 the flora of the State. Some of the best work that has been done on the 

 botany of the State has been done by members of the Academy. The con- 

 servation of forests the study of streams and of climate and all sorts of 

 geological questions have been discussed in the Academy. There have been 

 reports on the reptiles of the State and on the fish that abound in the 

 streams. And several papers have been presented on the insects of the 

 State. One could not discuss any of these subjects fully without consult- 

 ing the reports of the Academy. Several papers that were presented to the 

 Academy appear in a Geographical Study of Indiana, and several Academy 

 papers appear in the geological reports of Indiana. 



Similar work has been done in Chemistry, Physics, Mechanics, Mathe- 

 matics and in other subjects. 



The Academy affords an opportunity for social converse among scien- 

 tific men, for exchange of ideas and the stimulus of association. 



