700 Wisconsin Academy of Sciences , Arts , and Letters. 
Soon after the founding of the Academy, the great movement to¬ 
ward a higher order of things in agricultural science and practice 
began and at first was most definitely represented by the chemical 
work of Professor W. W. Daniells. The developments in Agirculture 
were more closely connected with the State Agricultural Society and 
particularly with the State University than with the Academy, but the 
Academy claims some little merit for this most signal development. 
About the same time also Major Nicodemus and Captain Nader took 
the lead in developing interest in engineering themes by notable and 
stimulating discussions. 
There has been occasion to lay emphasis on the type of study of 
plants and animals most familiarly known as Natural History, which 
prevailed at the founding of the Academy and in the preceding pioneer 
stage. The career of the Academy was scarcely more than under 
way before this began to give place to modern biological inquiries and 
this led on to those important ecological and other studies that char¬ 
acterized the later official surveys and that mean so much to the in¬ 
tellectual and material welfare of the people of the state. This was 
perhaps the most notable change of trend in the intimate work of 
the Academy. It was led by a young man who came to the state in 
the fifth year of the Academy, and who has given the Academy one 
of its most prolonged and valued series of papers. Then a young man, 
we now delight to honor and revere him as President at once of the 
Academy and of our State University, President Birge. The syste¬ 
matic and ecological phases of this modern departure were a little 
later admirably illustrated by the important contributions of Profes¬ 
sor and Mrs. Peckham. 
By the end of the first decade of the Academy’s life, it had under¬ 
gone further changes and had taken on much more distinct diver¬ 
sity. It thus began the better to represent the varied intellectual 
development which the state was rapidly coming to enjoy, and which 
it has more fully realized in these later years. 
By the end of the second decade the divergencies toward the later 
phases of the Academy became still more marked. The distinctions 
of departments, that were rather formally defined at the outset, be¬ 
gan to fade away, though the departments themselves grew more di¬ 
vergent. A more cosmopolitan spirit arose which made less of sub¬ 
jects and more of method and real intellectual advance. The forma¬ 
tive period was being merged into what now seems to a founder 
“the Golden Era” of the Academy. Doubtless intrinsically, it was no 
better than later stages—perhaps not so good—but these are the days 
of relativity and to one who felt the struggle and the weakness of 
the start, it seemed golden. 
With it there came rapid changes in the personnel. The veteran 
naturalists passed away and other losses were many and grave. But 
the chief changes came from two other sources. The educational in¬ 
stitutions of the state were rapidly developing in research lines and 
there came to the state many able men, well equipped and productive. 
It would be easy to begin the list—for there was Trelease and the 
