988 The American Naturalist. [October, 
sons why there should be a final report before disbanding. 1 am 
writing now only to say that no one except yourself has had any 
authority to sign my name to any paper of any kind whatever.” 
The present state of things suggests an inquiry into the American 
committee **gf"' and ‘‘on"’ the International Congress of Geologists. 
In tracing out the history of a body like the American committee 
it is essential to bear in mind that the conditions which accompanied 
its birth in the A, A. A. S, are not those under which a formal delib- 
erative body gestates and nourishes its offspring. 
If such a body be on the point of doing some inconsistent act, it has 
usually many sons skilled in precedent, parliamentary rule, and the 
history of the particular case to restrain it. The executive acts of the 
American Association for the Advancement of Science are generally 
crowded into a short time, and must be settled by a large and hetero- 
geneous crowd of persons, many of whom understand but vaguely what 
is proposed or why it is proposed. It must also be admitted that the 
multifarious duties of the permanent secretary, and his invariable con- 
dition of overwork during meetings render it impossible for him to guide 
the actions of the large organization, with its many motions relating 
to minute details of its work, clear of inconsistencies. 
The general secretary is changed annually, and the incoming officer 
rarely if ever can keep track of the business of the last year, still less of 
two or three years back, without which intelligent action is impossible. 
The result of this is inevitable confusion and inaccuracy in the 
printed records of the association, abundantly illustrated in the history 
of this committee, as I have to some extent pointed out in the preface 
to the reports for the London session. 
What has happened with regard to this committee is as follows: 
At the Buffalo meeting of the A. A. A. S. ‚held in 1876, a committee 
was appointed “to consider the propriety af holding an International 
Congress of Geologists at Paris during the International Exhibition 
of 1878.” 
This committee, consisting of W. B. Rogers, James Hall, J. S. 
Newberry, T. S. Hunt, C. H. Hitchcock, and R. Pumpelly, elected 
Prof. Hall, aiden Dr. Hunt, secretary ; added to its number Prof. 
Huxley, Dr. Otto Torrell, and Dr. E. S. Van Baumhauer; not only 
considered but decided upon the propriety of having such a congress, 
and went straight ahead to secure it. 
is committee, in reporting at the Nashville meeting, calls itself 
“a committee to arrange for an International Geological Exhibition 
