INTRODUCTION. 

 BY CHANCELLOR HENRY MITCHELL MACCRACKEN, 



PRESIDENT OF THE SOCIETY. 



T falls to me, as president of the Bronx Society of 

 Arts and Sciences, which has just entered upon its 

 fourth year of existence, to introduce the chair- 

 sa man of this centennial celebration of a great mas- 

 ter of the poetic and literary art. When this society adopted 

 its name, it intended to give each of the two words " arts " 

 and " sciences " the broadest meaning. We mean by " arts " 

 first the liberal arts, as that phrase is used when we speak of 

 a bachelor of arts or of a college of arts, and we mean also 

 the fine arts — architecture and sculpture and painting. By 

 "sciences" we mean both the pure and the applied sciences. 

 It is interesting to note that within our brief career of four 

 years we have established six committees, of which two are 

 devoted strictly to the sciences, namely: the Committee on 

 the Natural Science^ and the Committee on the Industries and 

 the Applied Sciences. The existence of the great botanical 

 and zoological gardens in our borough insure the society's 

 remembering the natural sciences, particularly when we have 

 as the chairman of our Executive Committee, Dr. Britton, 

 of the Botanical Garden, and when we have had given us for 

 our scientific and historical collections spacious room in the 

 Lorillard Mansion of Bronx Park. 



The remaining four committees belong rather to the realm 

 of the arts, namely: the Committee on the Fine Arts, the Com- 

 mittee on Music, the Committee on Literature and Books, and 

 finally, the Committee on Historic Sites and Relics. 



It is nearly three years since, on March 15, 1906, an appro- 

 priate committee was instructed to see what measures should 

 be taken to secure the preservation of the Foe Cottage — one 

 of the historic sites within our Borousrh of the Bronx. This 



