REMARKS OF E. O. HOVEY, RETIRING SECRETARY 79 



of America are secured b}^ these societies through exchange of voting rep- 

 resentatives on the respective Councils. In 1920 a third society, the 

 Society of Economic Geologists, came into being as one of our affiliates, 

 the affiliation being recognized by an exchange of non-voting delegates 

 between the two Councils. The formation of these branch societies is an 

 important step in the history of geological science m our country, and it 

 should be guided so as not to injure the parent society. 



The publication of the Bulletin has kept on its sturdy way under the 

 hand of the same able editor, Joseph Stanley-Brown, who gave it such 

 prestige as to form an excellent appearance under Secretary Fairchild. 

 May he continue long in the editorship ! The papers submitted for pub- 

 lication have come first to the Secretary, and all the scientific contribu- 

 tions except the jDresidential addresses have been sent out to censors 

 selected by or through the Council for consideration as toi acceptability 

 for publication by the Society. This handling of the subject-matter of 

 the Bulletin forms no small part of the Secretary's duties, and I wisli 

 here to commend the thoroughness and justness with which the numerous 

 censors have performed their anonymous tasks through love for the 

 Society. The censoring of the papers has contributed largely to the higli 

 standard of our Bulletin. 



The sales of the Bulletin have been an important source of income to 

 the Society. Up to the close of 1906 the sum of $9,602.34 had been de- 

 rived from this source, and in the sixteen years which followed (to No- 

 vember, 1922) the sales amounted to $22,955.21, an average of $1,434.70 

 per year. In the year 1906 the receipts from sales were $736.25, whereas 

 in the year ending November 30, 1922, they were $2,004.60. In the 

 three weeks of December which have elapsed since the fiscal year closed, 

 two complete sets of the Bulletin have been disposed of, and the total 

 sales have been increased some $600. In 1908 all the American exchano-es 

 were ehminated from our list of distribution and the price of the Bulletin 

 to libraries was placed at $7.50 per volume. In 1920 a further increase 

 to $9 per volume was made necessary by the high cost of printing and 

 paper. We now have some 158 regular subscribers to our Bulletin and 

 58 foreign exchanges. These statements give some intimation of the 

 growth of the purely clerical work connected with the Secretary's office 

 during the past decade and a half. 



We have been sailing very close to the financial wind during the past 

 few years by reason of the rise in the costs of publication and clerical 

 assistance, but by the strictest economy on the part of the officers of the 

 Society we have thus far avoided any increase in our annual dues. These 



