GENERAL MEETINGS. 
33 
more of the selected classes have been entered in each, and such 
duplicate entries have been treated as integers and not as fractions. 
To an extent dependent on this treatment the deduced ratios are 
inaccurate. 
It should be observed that the selection of classes has depended 
largely on the nature of the material to classify. As the statistics 
grew out of the work of indexing the Bulletin, the selection was 
affected by the needs of the indexer, and as it w^as desired to learn 
the influence of the organization of other societies on the scope of our 
proceedings, the selection was aftected by the classification of sub¬ 
jects among the other societies. The following is the classification : 
Group 1, Mathematics ; Group 2, Astronomy, including calendars; 
Group 3, Physics, including molecular physics, electricity, acous¬ 
tics, optics, and microscopy, which last subject happens in the litera¬ 
ture of the Society to be almost entirely optical; Group 4, Chemis¬ 
try and mineralogy; Group 5, Meteorology and thermometry; Group 
6, Geology; Group 7, Geography, including physical geography, 
surveying, and travel and exploration; Gruup 8, Biology, includ¬ 
ing zoology, botany, and human anatomy and physiology; Group 
9, Anthropology, including ethnology, archaeology, psychology, an¬ 
thropometry, political economy, and social science and statistics; 
Group 10, Miscellaneous, chiefly technology, but including also 
biography and general philosophy. It will be seen that chemistry, 
biology, and anthropology are defined so as to include the scopes of 
the Chemical, Biological, and Anthropological Societies. 
For convenience of discussion, the period of 17 years covered by 
the statistics has been divided into five unequal parts, such that three 
of the lines of separation correspond with the epochs of commence¬ 
ment of the three sister societies. The time divisions begin oi^the 
years 1871,1875,1879,1881, and 1884, and contain, respectively, 4, 
4, 2, 3, and 4 years. At the end of the second the Anthropological 
Society was established, at the end of the third the Biological, at the 
end of the fourth the Chemical. The Mathematical Section was 
organized one year before the Chemical Society. For each time 
division the number of papers of each class was ascertained, and 
from these numbers were computed the percentages which appear in 
Table III. 
3 
