PROCEEDINGS OF THE 
Twenty-Sixth Annual Session of the 
Iowa Academy of Science 
REPORT OF THE SECRETARY. 
Fellows and Members of the Iowa Academy of Science: 
It appears to the secretary that the Iowa Academy of Science has made sub- 
stantial progress during the past year and that today its condition is the best 
at any time in its history of twenty-five years. 
Volumn XVIII of the proceedings is smaller than usual, probably due princi- 
pally to the statement of the secretary that the number of papers presented at 
the meeting in 1911 was so large that the limit of 300 pages allowed the Acad- 
emy by the state would be exceeded if all papers read should be printed in full. 
Too many of the authors responded to the suggestion and submitted abstracts. 
This year no suggestion will be made by the secretary unless it be to the 
effect that all papers recommended by the executive committee and by the 
executive council of the state be published even though the 300 page limit be 
exceeded. In the latter case the extra cost of printing of necessity would be 
borne by the Academy. 
In the report of the secretary last year attention was directed to the fact 
that the membership of the Academy has increased until it ^ will be necessary 
to increase the number of cloth bound copies of the Proceedings for distribu- 
tion among the members. The report of the committee on secretary’s report 
recommending that such provision be made was adopted, but effective action, 
upon it has not been taken by the Academy. There are now 228 names on the 
roll; some 82 applications are on file. The number of copies of the Proceedings 
that are bound in cloth is 200. This number must be increased or some 
members must content themselves with copies bound in boards. By the action 
of the Academy in adopting the report of the committee on Quarter Centennial, 
which calls for the printing of 300 extra copies, partial provision is made for 
the needs of the current year, but some action is imperative looking toward 
the immediate future. 
The mailing list for the distribution of the Proceedings to the members is 
made up from the treasurer’s receipt book. If members do not receive copies 
it may be due to oversight on the part of the secretary, or, perchance, it may 
be due to the non-payment of annual fees. 
During the past year, Miss Newman of the Geological Survey, who attends 
to mailing, has sent out over 200 letters to various libraries in the attempt 
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