152 HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE 



to E. D. Cope, and the second of fifty dollars to Benjamin G. Ferris, for their competitive 

 essays on "The Darwinian Question ; its bearing on the Development of Animal Life." 



In August of this year, the Council passed votes implying some action on the part of 

 members not entirely satisfactory, and at the same time defining limits for the future, viz. : 



All donations shall be submitted to the Committees of departments, before final depo- 

 sition. 



All work rooms in use by Committees are to be regarded as private and shall not be 

 exposed to intrusion except by members of the Council. 



In September, Prof. Shaler proposed that notices of each meeting be mailed to mem- 

 bers designating the subjects that would be brought before it, hoping this might lead to 

 better attendance. Before this time simple notice of other meetings had been published 

 in two daily papers. The suggestion of Prof Shaler was approved and adopted. 



In October, the Council, in view of the fact that the City Government did not furnish 

 regularly such police officers as were necessary on public days, passed the following vote : 



" That in consequence of injuries done the Society's building and collection by visitors, 

 the Museum will be closed to the public after October 19th, until measures can be taken to 

 properly protect the property ; and the Secretary is instructed to advertise the same in 

 six daily papers for one week." This determined action led to officers being furnished for 

 a while satisfactory to the Society. 



During the summer of the year, there had been three field excursions of the members 

 of the Entomological section, resulting in their obtaining a large collection of specimens. 

 The places visited were first Mattapan and vicinity, second Peabody, and third, Waltham 

 and Waverly. 



1873. The Museum of the Society was closed to the public on the first day of March, 

 because the police officers had ceased to attend. This led to an interview on the part of 

 the President, with the Mayor and Chief of Police, resulting in a promise on their part 

 that officers should be present on public days. 



At the annual meeting in May, in the absence of the Custodian abroad, the Secre- 

 tary, Mr. Burgess, presented the yearly Report upon the condition and operations of the 

 Society. From this is given the following abstract. 



During the year, two Honorary, one Corresponding, and twenty Resident Members had 

 been elected. 



There had been eighteen general meetings of the Society, six of the section of Ento- 

 mology, and six of the section of Microscopy. The average attendance at the general 

 meetings had been twenty-five, showing perhaps a diminished interest in them. 



There had been four courses of Lowell Lectures given under the direction of the Society, 

 and a fifth was in progress. The first was upon " The Principles of Zoology," by Prof 

 Edward S. Morse, and had an average audience of sixty persons ; the second upon " Min- 

 eralogy," by Mr. L. S. Burbank, and had an average audience of forty persons ; the third 

 upon " Evenings with the Microscope," by the Rev. E. C. Bolles, and had an average audi- 

 ence of two hundred and fifty, and the fourth on " Chemical and Physical Geology," by 

 Prof T. Sterry Hunt, and had an average attendance of one hundred and fifty. The fifth 

 course by Mr. B. Waterhouse Hawkins, upon " Comparative Anatomy," so far as they had 

 progressed, had had an average attendance of fifty. 



The Teachers' School of Science was necessarily suspended, much to the regret of a 

 great number who desired to avail themselves of its privileges. The publications had 



