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SCIENCE. 



the present year from the commencement of the association 

 in Great Britain till this time, I find the chair of the presi- 

 dency of that institution, as well as all the official charac- 

 ters connected with it, men who are or have been eminent 

 for their promotion of scientific truths. I trust to-day be- 

 fore we shall have closed our assembling there will be 

 transmitted by the cable a vote of greeting from the Ameri- 

 can Association of Science assembled here to the British 

 association now assembled at Swansea. 



Soon after this there came our American Association of 

 Materialists and Geologists. I look around me and I think 

 of the history of that active band of scientific workers, 

 when all our State surveys were in their earlier states, when 

 our geology, paleontology, our natural history in fact, in 

 general was in a comparatively unexplored condition, and 

 I feel saddened that I am the only member of the presi- 

 dents of that early institution except one who has been, so 

 far as intellectual laws are concerned, entirely removed 

 from all association with scientific men. In the year 1847, 

 during my presidency of this smaller institution, the plan 

 was organized for a more extended and comprehensive form 

 of social organization for the advancement of science ; and 

 in the year 1848, under the presidency of Mr. Redfield of 

 New York, the first meeting of this enlarged association 

 as it now exists was held in the city of Philadelphia. Since 

 that time, consecutively year by year, this Association has 

 assembled, save only during that dark period when, through 

 most sad necessities, unfortunate circumstances and dread- 

 ful commissions, this association was compelled to hold 

 its peace. But since 1865 the Association, with renewed 

 vigor, has been prosecuting its work, and now we are as- 

 sembled for the twenty-eighth time at an annual meeting to 

 carry on this active labor of scientific instruction. 



Now, what are the functions of such an Association ? Its 

 title tells. It is an association for the advancement of 

 science, and it is expected and required of all those who 

 become its members that they shall do whatever is in their 

 power to quicken scientific thought, to accumulate scientific 

 facts, to investigate scientific laws, or, in other words, to 

 advance the progress of science throughout the world. But 

 this term advancement necessarily implies diffusion, and 

 while it is an association for the advancement of science it is 

 no less an association for its diffusion, and this justifies in 

 the highest degree the comparatively popular character of 

 the meetings of the American Association. How can we 

 best advance science but by sowing the seeds of science as 

 widely as possible through the world, wakening up in all 

 quarters where the association assembles those latent 

 spirits, those unborn talents and tendencies which will 

 hereafter blossom and fructify in scientific results. 

 Thus it is, then, gentlemen, that we have our association 

 assemblies here, and while I would not compare it as yet 

 in point of numbers, in point of strength with the parent 

 association in Great Britain, I see here to-day and hear 

 from all quarters amongst those who are connected with 

 the working operations of this meeting the enormous in- 

 crease which is promised this association in its future 

 growth. Let us think for a moment. For the last twenty 

 years the British Association has had an average number 

 on its rolls of members of all classes of 3,500 ; it has had an 

 average attendance of nearly 2,500 ; it has had an average 

 income from its members of $12,500, having at the same 

 time 1,000 life members, and being able, practically and ac- 

 tively, to promote scientific research by the bestowal of 

 grants for different departments of inquiry of a sum amount- 

 ing of from $5,000 to $10,000 a year. Now, gentlemen of 

 the Association and citizens of Boston, here is something 

 for us to emulate. Here is a direction of progress in which 

 we can be sustained by the strong and hearty approval, nay, 

 the applause, of all scholarly and scientific men through- 

 out the world. And, lrom what I have learned to-day, 

 I do not doubt that the American Association of 

 Science is fairly in the way to overtake the great associa- 

 tion which is now assembled at Swansea, in regard to its 

 numbers and its resources. And, as to the character of the 

 works that arc presented, of course in all such exercises 

 the materials that are gathered together are of various qual- 

 ities as well as shapes and dimensions. Let us now make 

 it our special work to exclude from our annual reports all 

 detailed publications which are not of a character actually 

 to add to the stock of human knowledge, whether 



that knowledge be simply the gathering together of facts by 

 careful processes of discernment, or the development of 

 laws by careful mathematical investigation And, 

 therefore, let it be our work, as I trust it will be, and 

 has been already, in fact, suggested by our secretary, that 

 these prolonged discussions, which, however valuable in 

 the main they may be or not of the quality and character to 

 belong to the transactions of a great body like this, shall be 

 presented in small type and in abstract in the latter part of 

 the volume. 



I thank my friends for the patience with which they have 

 listened to one who does not like to call himself an old 

 man, but who still finds something of the sentiment of the 

 war-worn soldier who likes always, if he have a kindly au- 

 dience, to shoulder his crutch and fight his battles o'er 

 again. [Applause.] If I have taken too much of your time 

 I beg your pardon. As I have spoken in behalf of this 

 committee of the city of Boston, let me conclude with my 

 personal welcome in behalf of this institution, over which I 

 have the honor to preside, and to say to you that the cor- 

 poration and officers of the Institute of Technology are not 

 only glad but they are proud to welcome the American As- 

 sociation for the Advancement of Science into this hall and 

 to all the accommodations and comforts which it can 

 offer. 



The Mayor of Boston, the Hon. Frederick O. Prince, 

 then addressed a few words of welcome, and was followed 

 by His Excellency Governor Long, who delivered an addi- 

 tional address for the same purpose. 



The response of President Morgan, on behalf of the As- 

 sociation, was as follows : 



Mr. Chairman :— The Association has listened with 

 much pleasure to your address of welcome to the city of 

 Boston. In no other city of our land are better appreciated 

 the unity of the sciences and the brotherhood of scientific 

 men. These are central ideas of this Association, and when 

 we meet among a people whose hospitality is vitalized by 

 intelligent sympathy, a powerful impulse is given to the 

 work which it was designed to promote. I venture to pre- 

 dict, sir, that this meeting will become memorable in our 

 history. It may seem singular that this session of the As- 

 sociation should be the first one held in the good city of 

 Boston, during the long series of twenty-nine annual meet- 

 ings. It has, however, met at Cambridge, which in the 

 public eye is a part of Boston. We cannot and we ought 

 not to separate Cambridge, with its noble university and its 

 distinguished body of teachers, from Boston, in which the 

 roots of Cambridge are planted. They are " one and in- 

 separable " in association as in fame. Thus we are enabled 

 to say that this Association is indebted to Boston for a 

 peerless cluster of presidents : The illustrious and lamented 

 Agassiz, to whom American science is so deeply indebted ; 

 the learned and gentle Wyman, whose loss we still mourn ; 

 these have ceased trom among us, and their departure has 

 rounded and completed their fame. Rogers, Peirce, Gould, 

 Gray, Lovering yet remain with us, and, therefore, we can- 

 not on this occasion speak of them as their distinction de- 

 serves. " Seri in cesium redeatis" 



Mr. Mayor: — The American Association for the Ad- 

 vancement of Science is popular in its character, as it 

 should be. Investigators in all departments of science are 

 cordially welcomed to its membership, fty this free inter- 

 course of persons engaged in scientific pursuits, results of 

 the highest importance are constantly attained. When the 

 meetings of this Association become indifferent to the com- 

 munities among which they are held, its usefulness will be 

 near its end. There is a direct connection between the 

 work upon which its members are engaged and the mate- 

 rial prosperity of the country, in which all alike have an in- 

 terest. Scientific investigations ascertain and establish 

 principles which inventive genius then utilizes for the com- 

 mon benefit. We cannot have a great nation without a 

 great development of the industrial arts, and this, in its 

 turn, depends upon the results of scientific discovery as 

 necessary antecedents. Material development, therefore, 

 is intimately related to progress in science. 



Your Excellency, Governor of the Commonwealth of 

 Massachusetts: — Without intending to depart from the 

 proprieties of the occasion, it may be proper to say, that 



