no 
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, from 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 are 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 
ofler. 
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 ol 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 from 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 ccelurn 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. By 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 
