778 The American Naturalist. [September, 
are worth. Another service which we imagine science renders to the 
community is the example which it offers of the reward of labor. The 
scientific man loves to work not only for the sake of acquisition, but 
also because of the pleasure there is in work as an activity of the 
human organism. By it we learn that by work only can great results 
be accomplished, and the law of conservation and correlation or energy 
teaches that something cannot be made out of nothing. 
“Tn our educational function we hope by example to show that the 
mental life is as worth living and affords as much pleasure as the physi- 
cal life. This is a lesson on which it is necessary to continually insist, 
since mankind is constantly prone to imagine that mental activity and 
thought are uninteresting and dull. On the contrary they afford a 
high class of pleasures which are conservative of the entire organism. 
“ We also emphasize the desirability of free-thought on all subjects 
whatsoever, and the necessary corollary that the thought shall be care- 
ful and judicial. Thought so applied to our practical affairs must be 
in the highest degree beneficial in every direction both personal and 
national. We expressly repudiate two common types of thought. One 
of these attempts to prove by reasoning, if not by reason, a contention 
in which a person has an especial interest. It is to be feared that this 
habit of mind is too common, and it implies a lack of honesty of pur- 
pose which is entirely foreign to the scientific spirit. The other type 
of thinking to which we object is the acceptance of allegations concern- 
ing matters of fact or theory upon insufficient evidence, or upon 
authority only. Both of these methods lead to inaccurate results, and . 
from both the scientific method protects us. I do not hesitate to say, 
that the future of science will be greater than its past, and that it affords 
a career to those who are adapted for it which promises a high degree 
of happiness and benefit. I believe that in this country with our facili- 
ties in various directions, the pursuit of science will become a more 
conspicuous part of our national life than it is now, and I am sure that 
nothing is more desirable for our national life than that this should be 
the case. In the cultivation of science we see the cultivation of hon- 
esty, of industry and of truth, all qualities which are essential to the 
prosperity of a people. 
“ Fellow citizens of Buffalo we thank you for the very material aid 
which you are rendering us in the attempt to develop this enterprise.” 
The Nominating Committee recommended the names of Prof. Wolcott 
Gibbs, of Newport, for President, for 1897-8, and of Dr. Asaph Hall, 
Jr., of Washington, D. C., for General Secretary; who were elected. 
The committee also recommended that a formal meeting for organiza- 
