78 THE RETROSPECT OF THE YEAR. 



PRESIDENT : 

 EDMUND B. WILLSON. 



VICE PRESIDENTS : 

 Abner C. Goodell, Jr., Edward S. Morse. 



Daniel B. Hagar, Robert S. Rantoul. 



SECRETARY : TREASURER : 



Henry M. Brooks. William 0. Chapman. 



AUDITOR : LIBRARI AN : 



Henry M. Batchelder. Chas. S. Osgood. 



COUNCIL : 



William H. Gove, Geo. D. Phippen, 



Thomas F. Hunt, David Pingree, 



Francis H. Lee, Frederic W. Putnam, 



Richard C. Manning, Geokge M. Whipple, 



S. Endicott Peabody, Alden P. White. 



Report of the Secretary. 



I suppose it will generally be conceded that the report 

 of a society or corporation is not expected to be very inter- 

 esting to the hearers. 



What inspiration can any one und in the process of 

 preparing a report — the gathering together of a number 

 of dry statistics, which the writer well knows will go into 

 one ear of the listener and out the other. 



A railroad report, upon the supposition that you could 

 understand it, is not very entertaining reading, even to 

 a shareholder. Who, for instance, can enjoy the reading 

 of the Atchinson, or the Union Pacific Railroad report? 

 We have a great many reports of societies and corpora- 

 tions presented to the Institute, butthey are almost always 

 uncut showing that they have not been read. No wonder 



