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made of more general interest, they would serve the purpose, as Dr. Stone 

 has just intimated, of developing the scientific spirit, and then let the 

 different societies meet and discuss the technical papers they may have 

 to offer. I merely offer this as a suggestion, and do not know whether it 

 would be practical. 



There is another suggestion which possibly might be worked out. The 

 American Institute of Electrical Engineers has tried a somewhat similar 

 plan, that is, to have scholars from the various colleges where more or 

 less graduate work is being done, attend meetings, and thus give them an 

 enthusiasm which contact alone will bring, and publish their papers, if 

 worthy, and interest them in the work of the Academy later on. 



These are some of the practical points that come to my mind in con- 

 nection with the future plans of this Academy. I believe the danger is 

 now that, unless the character of the activity of the society is somewhat 

 changed, we will become a sort of body which exists upon paper and 

 in lists of membership, rather than in active work. 



Mr. W. A. Cogshall (Bloomington) : I have been very niuch inter- 

 ested in the statements during the last two days of the early work of the 

 Academy — its early organization and membership, and in the large num- 

 ber of suggestions that have been made for the future of the Academy. I 

 think most of these are good. It only remains to adopt some definite 

 plans by which these suggestions can be put into something tangible. I 

 do not know whether such plans can be worked out in the immediate 

 future or not. 



It seems to me the aim of this Academy is first to encourage scientific 

 work among a good many who without the Academy would not do any 

 such work. It does that to a certain extent. We have every year a long 

 list of papers from men who do not belong to other scientific societies, and 

 it is a good thing for them and a good thing for the State at large that 

 these papers should be prepared and printed. 



The other aim of the Academy, and which I believe to be the main 

 one, is the bringing together of the scientific men of the State— not neces- 

 sarily to hear the papers, as was very well said last night. I do not know 

 that I should put the papers in quite so insignificant a place as was indi- 

 cated, but we could well have the program the real excuse for meeting, 

 and make that the frame-work of the whole thing. But I think a good 



