544 
PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON. 
The annual report of the Secretaries was read as follows, and 
accepted: • 
ANNUAL REPORT OF THE SECRETARIES. 
Washington, D. C., December 21, 1889. 
To the Philosophical Society of Washington : 
We have the honor to present the following report, containing 
the usual statistics, for the year from December 22, 1888, to De¬ 
cember 21, 1889—that is, from the 327th to the 343d meeting 
(inclusive) of the Society. 
At the date of the last annual report, December 22,1888, there 
were 185 active members upon the rolls. This number has been 
increased by the addition of 10 new members and by the return 
of 1 absent member. It has been decreased by 3 who have been 
transferred to the absent list, 1 who has resigned, 2 who have 
been dropped for non-payment of dues, and 2 who have died, 
1 upon the active list and 1 absent. There has thus been a net 
increase of 4 in the active membership, which now numbers 189. 
Invitations to attend the meetings of the Society for a period 
of 3 months have been extended to 2 gentlemen. 
The roll of new members is : 
C. Willard Hayes. 
Cosmos Mindeleff. 
Victor Mindeleff. 
C. Whitman Cross. 
J. G. Hagen, S. J. 
J. E. Watkins. 
W. 0. Atwater. 
0. L. Fassig. 
G. W. Littlehales. 
J. F. Hayford. 
The deceased members are Jerome H. Kidder, who died April 
6, 1889, and Edward B. Lefavour, who died at Beverly, Massa¬ 
chusetts, May 18, 1889. Dr. Kidder was, at the time of his 
death, a member of the General Committee of the Society and 
a regular and interested attendant at its meetings. For two 
years he served with marked ability as general secretary. 
The Society has held 17 regular meetings; 15 of these have 
been devoted to the presentation and discussion of papers; one 
to the address of the retiring President, and one to the annual 
reports and the election of officers. The average attendance at 
the 15 meetings for the presentation of papers has been 40. 
Thirty-eight communications have been presented, 35 of which 
