GENERAL MEETINGS. 
29 
.308th Meeting. November 26, 1887. 
The President in the Chair. 
Fifty members and guests present. 
A circular letter from the New York Academy of Sciences, re¬ 
questing co-operation in erecting a monument to the memory of the 
ornithologist Audubon, was laid before the Society by the Secretary. 
Mr. G. K. Gilbert presented a communication entitled 
STATISTICS OF THE PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY FROM ITS 
FOUNDATION. 
[Abstract.] 
The following data, except when otherwise noted, are compiled 
from the published records of the Society.* 
The Society, was organized March 13, 1871, with a membership 
of 44, and this was increased during the same year by the election 
of 17. In each succeeding year new members were elected, the 
smallest number being 8, in 1876, and the largest 35, in 1884. 
From time to time members have been dropped from the list for 
non-payment of dues, others have died, and others resigned. The 
average annual number of new members has been 18. The total 
number of resignations has been 24. The membership has always 
been classified as resident and non-resident, or “active” and 
“ absent.” From time to time a list of the members has been pub¬ 
lished in the Bulletin, and since 1879 these lists have been annual. 
The following table shows the number of active members at each of 
the indicated dates. It also shows the gross annual accession to 
membership, and likewise the average attendance at ordinary meet¬ 
ings for each year, beginning with 1875, previous to which time the 
attendance is not noted in the published minutes. The year 1882 
had the minimum attendance, 34, and 1887 the maximum, 49. The 
general average of attendance at meetings for the reading of papers 
is 40 ; at meetings for the election of officers, 36. 
*The paper, as read, did not include the statistics for 1887, which were 
necessarily imperfect at that time. The abstract for printing was brought 
down to December 21, 1887, the date of the annual meeting. Certain indi¬ 
cated data on membership were brought only to December 1, 1887. 
