﻿Miscellaneous 
  Intelligence. 
  185 
  

  

  SCIENTIFIC 
  INTELLIGENCE. 
  

  

  I. 
  Miscellaneous 
  Scientific 
  Intelligence. 
  

  

  ]. 
  A 
  History 
  of 
  the 
  first 
  Half- 
  Century 
  of 
  the 
  National 
  

   Academy 
  of 
  Sciences, 
  1863-1913. 
  Pp. 
  xi, 
  399 
  ; 
  with 
  8 
  portraits 
  

   and 
  4 
  plates. 
  Washington, 
  1913. 
  — 
  The 
  Committee, 
  with 
  Dr. 
  

   Arnold 
  Hague, 
  recording 
  secretary 
  of 
  the 
  National 
  Academy, 
  as 
  

   chairman, 
  which 
  was 
  charged 
  four 
  years 
  ago 
  with 
  the 
  prepara- 
  

   tion 
  of 
  the 
  semi-centennial 
  volume 
  here 
  noticed, 
  is 
  to 
  be 
  con- 
  

   gratulated 
  on 
  the 
  promptness 
  with 
  which 
  . 
  its 
  work 
  has 
  been 
  

   completed, 
  on 
  the 
  handsome 
  form 
  of 
  the 
  printed 
  volume, 
  on 
  the 
  

   careful 
  and 
  studious 
  arrangement 
  of 
  its 
  contents, 
  and 
  hence 
  

   especially 
  on 
  the 
  appointment 
  of 
  Mr. 
  F. 
  W. 
  True, 
  assistant 
  secre- 
  

   tary 
  of 
  the 
  Smithsonian 
  Institution, 
  as 
  author 
  and 
  editor. 
  It 
  is 
  a 
  

   good 
  thing 
  thus 
  to 
  place 
  on 
  record 
  in 
  concise 
  and 
  consecutive 
  

   form 
  an 
  account 
  of 
  so 
  dignified 
  an 
  organization 
  as 
  the 
  National 
  

   Academy 
  of 
  Sciences, 
  regarding 
  which 
  many 
  American 
  scientists 
  

   knoAV 
  so 
  little. 
  

  

  The 
  opening 
  chapter 
  (pp. 
  1-24), 
  on 
  the 
  founding 
  of 
  the 
  Acad- 
  

   emy, 
  contains 
  some 
  interesting 
  reminiscences 
  about 
  the 
  prelimi- 
  

   nary 
  discussions 
  in 
  which 
  Secretary 
  Henry, 
  Superintendent 
  Bache, 
  

   Admiral 
  Davis 
  and 
  Professors 
  Louis 
  Agassiz 
  and 
  Benjamin 
  

   Pierce 
  of 
  Harvard 
  appear 
  to 
  have 
  been 
  particularly 
  active, 
  and 
  

   which 
  led 
  to 
  the 
  incorporation 
  of 
  the 
  Academy 
  by 
  Act 
  of 
  

   Congress 
  and 
  its 
  formal 
  organization 
  in 
  the 
  spring 
  of 
  1863. 
  As 
  

   is 
  often 
  the 
  case 
  in 
  such 
  matters, 
  no 
  full 
  account 
  of 
  the 
  steps 
  

   then 
  taken 
  has 
  been 
  preserved 
  ; 
  what 
  is 
  now 
  presented 
  has 
  been 
  

   industriously 
  gleaned 
  from 
  various 
  sources. 
  

  

  The 
  second 
  chapter 
  (pp. 
  25-102) 
  presents 
  a 
  running 
  account 
  of 
  

   the 
  peripatetic 
  meetings 
  in 
  the 
  autumn 
  and 
  of 
  the 
  Washington 
  

   meetings 
  in 
  the 
  spring, 
  from 
  which 
  one 
  may 
  gather 
  a 
  good 
  

   impression 
  of 
  the 
  characteristic 
  activities 
  and 
  interests 
  of 
  the 
  

   assembled 
  members, 
  and 
  of 
  the 
  subjects 
  which 
  have 
  most 
  

   attracted 
  their 
  attention 
  ; 
  but 
  as 
  is 
  proper 
  enough 
  in 
  a 
  volume 
  

   such 
  as 
  this, 
  no 
  indication 
  is 
  given 
  of 
  the 
  greater 
  attention 
  shown 
  

   by 
  members 
  in 
  the 
  business 
  sessions 
  for 
  the 
  election 
  of 
  new 
  col- 
  

   leagues 
  than 
  in 
  the 
  scientific 
  sessions 
  for 
  the 
  presentation 
  and 
  

   discussion 
  of 
  learned 
  papers. 
  It 
  was 
  hoped 
  that 
  a 
  list 
  of 
  the 
  two 
  

   thousand 
  communications 
  thus 
  far 
  presented 
  might 
  have 
  been 
  

   appended, 
  but 
  this 
  was 
  found 
  impossible. 
  One 
  of 
  the 
  most 
  

   important 
  records 
  concerns 
  the 
  growth 
  of 
  bequests 
  and 
  trust 
  

   funds 
  committed 
  to 
  the 
  care 
  of 
  the 
  Academy, 
  chiefly 
  for 
  the 
  

   support 
  of 
  scientific 
  research, 
  and 
  now 
  exceeding 
  $200,000 
  ; 
  but 
  

   the 
  chief 
  moral 
  of 
  this 
  record 
  is 
  the 
  surprising 
  one 
  that 
  so 
  dis- 
  

   tinguished 
  a 
  body 
  of 
  scientists 
  should 
  have 
  been 
  so 
  seldom 
  

   selected 
  by 
  generous 
  testators 
  as 
  administrators 
  of 
  their 
  scientific 
  

   benefactions 
  in 
  a 
  country 
  as 
  rich 
  as 
  ours. 
  

  

  