214 
NATIONAL GEOGRAPIITC SOCIETY: 
lars plays havoc in all its relations. The efficient and respected Chief 
of the Bureau, who has in so many different ways added to the scope and 
value of these publications, makes a strong appeal to Congress for addi- 
tional clerical assistance, the number of persons employed in the Bureau 
not luiving been increased during a period of nearly thirty }’ears. Al- 
though the compilation of so enormous a mass of figures involves an 
amount of labor of wdiich the average Congressman has not the slightest 
conception, it is not too much to hope that more adecpiate provision will 
hereafter be made for the work of this most important Bureau. The per- 
fect indifference with which statistical inaccuracies are regarded is truly 
deplorable. Our legislators themselves are <-onstant and serious offenders, 
numerical statements in tlie daily press are rarely to be relied u}wn, and 
even our most pretentious works of reference are not free from errors that 
are absolutely inexcusable. In the article on agi'iculture, for example, in 
one of our best known cyclo])edias, an eminent college professor is re- 
s])onsible for the statement, among others equally erroneous, that the 
United States contains nearly a billion horses, or'over fifty times the num- 
ber it actually does or ever did contain. It is useless to take refuge in the 
plea of non-infallibility. No publication, whether official or non-official, 
can afford to make misstatements that are more than mere elusive, typo- 
graphical errors. J. Hydk. 
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC 
SOCIETY, SESSION i 895-’96 
Sj'iecud Meeting, March 27, Vice-President Ogden in the chair. 
Hon. James II. Eckels, Comptroller of the Currency, addressed the 
Society on the Geographic History of Cnrrency. 
Special Meeting, March 30, 189G. — Fifth IMonday afternoon lecture. ]\Ir 
W J McGee in the chair. Prof Harry Fielding Reid described and illus- 
trated the Glaciers of Alaska, exhibiting many original views by means 
of the lantern. 
Regular Meeting, April 3, Vice-President Gannett in the chair. 
IMr Robert T. Hill read a paper on the Greer County Case. 
Specutl Meeting, April 6, 1896. — Sixth Monday afternoon lecture. Presi- 
dent Hubbard in tbe chair. The President announced that Prof Wm. H. 
Dali, who was to have addressed the Society, was prevented from doing 
so by illness, and that Mr IMarcus Baker had kindly consented to take his 
])lace. IMr Baker then described the voyage from Sitka westward to Attn 
island, with lantern-slide illustrations. 
Special Meeting, April 10, 1896. — President Hubbard in the chair. Mr 
Wm. F. Mannix addressed the Society on Cuba as Seen by a War Corre- 
spondent, with lantern-slide illustrations. 
Special Meeting, April 13, —Seventh Monday afternoon lecture. 
President Hubbard in tbe chair. Prof. I. C. Russell described his visit 
