In France, among the academicians and other men of science and letters, I was frequently entertained with inquiries concerning the Philosophical Society of Philadelphia, and with eulogiums on the wisdom of that institution and encomiums on some publications in their Transactions. These conversations suggested to me the idea of such an establishment at Boston, where I knew there was as much love of science and as many gentlemen who were capable of pursuing it as in any other city of its size. After his return to America in 1779 Adams was present at a dinner given by the corporation of Harvard College in honor of the Chevalier de La Luzerne, the French ambassador to the United States, and chanced to sit next to the Rev. Dr. Samuel Cooper, an eminent patriot, who was long pastor of Brattle Street Church, in Boston, and a leading member of the corporation of Harvard. I entertained him, Adams continues during the whole of the time we were together, with an account of Arnold's collections, the collection I had seen in Europe, the compliments I had heard in France upon the Philosophical Society of Philadelphia, and concluded with proposing that the future legislature of Massachusetts should institute an academy of arts and science. To this proposition Dr. Cooper objected, partly because it would be difficult to find men to attend such a society, but chiefly because it was setting up a sort of rival to Harvard College, and might draw off to a certain extent the attentions and affections of the public from it. But these objections were explained away. The doctor at length appeared better satisfied, and I entreated him to propagate the idea and the plan as far and as soon as his discretion would justify. The doctor accordingly did diffuse the project so judiciously and effectually that the first legislature under the new constitution adopted and established it by law. (Works of John Adams, IV, 259-261.) The next oldest society, and the oldest of its particular class, is the Massachusetts Historical Society, which was organized in 1791 and incorporated three years later. Then comes the Connecticut Academy of Arts and Sciences, organized and incorporated in 1799. This academy, although restricted as far as the name goes, took for its model the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, defined its sphere of activity in substantially the same words, and, like it, publishes Memoirs instead of Transactions. Other institutions were organized in the United States in the eighteenth century, but soon perished. A scientific society was organized at Williamsburg during the Revolution, but it soon failed. The most ambitious of these attempts was l'Académie des États-Unis de l'Amérique, proposed by the Chevalier Quesnay de Beaurepaire in 1788. It is said that the plan for this academy was submitted to Louis XVI, to the Royal Academy of Science, and to the Royal Academy of Paintings and Sculpture, and received the approval of each. It was to be modeled after the French Academy of Sciences, and was to be located in Rich mond, Va. A large sum was subscribed by the planters of Virginia and by the citizens of Richmond; a building was erected; one profes sor was appointed, who was commissioned mineralogist in chief and instructed to make natural history collections in Europe and America. The academy was to be national and international, for branches were o be established in Baltimore, Philadelphia, and New York; the acad emy was to be affiliated with the royal societies of London, Paris, and Brussels, and with other learned bodies in Europe. It was to be com posed of a president, a vice-president, 6 counselors, a treasurer-general, a secretary, a recorder, an agent for taking European subscriptions, French professors, masters, artists in chief attached to the academy, 25 resident and 175 nonresident associates. It promised to communicate a knowledge of the natural products of North America to the Old World and to enrich its collections with specimens of the fauna and flora of the New. It also promised to publish an almanac yearly from its own press in Paris. But the population of Virginia was too scattering for such a project, and the proposed academy died almost before it was born. The French Revolution crushed also any hopes that its promoters might have had of getting aid from France. The building in Richmond was used as a meeting place for the Virginia convention of 1788 and became, at a later period, a theater. From the beginning of the century to the time of the civil war there was a slow but steady increase in the number of societies that were founded and lived through the period of infancy. It will be noted that the proportion of these that were national in their design is relatively larger than of the State societies. Among the national societies founded during this period are the American Antiquarian Society, founded in 1812; the National Academy of Design, 1826; the American Statistical Association, 1839; the American Ethnological Society, 1842; the Amer ican Oriental Society, 1813; the American Medical Association, 1847; the American Association for the Advancement of Science, 1848; the Amer ican Geographical Society, and the American Society of Civil Engineers, both founded in 1852. There were, however, a few State societies older than any of the above. Sources of information: Encyclopædia Britannica, article, Academy, Societies, and Royal Society; American Cyclopædia, article, Academy, Societies; John Addington Symonds, The Renaissance in Italy; Bureau of Education, Report on Public Libraries in the United States; Odd Phases of Literature, article in Irish Quarterly, 6: 439, 647; English Scientific Societies, article by W. Winwood Reade in Galaxy, 3: 732; Scientific Societies, in British Quarterly, 39:86; Works of John Adams; Works of Benjamin Franklin; G. Brown Goode, Origin of Scientific Institutions, in Report of American Historical Association for 1889. [The Commissioner of Education expresses his thanks to Mr. Appleton Morgan, President of the New York Shakespeare Society, who called his attention to the importance and value of a review of the work of learned and educational societies and collected much of the material found in the following list.] I. GENERAL SCIENCE. [Societies occupying themselves with several branches of science, or with science and literature jointly.] NATIONAL. AMERICAN ACADEMY OF ARTS AND SCIENCES. BOSTON, MASS. First meeting, May 30, 1780; chartered May 3, 1780. Object.-"To promote and encourage the knowledge of the antiquities of America and of the natural history of the country, and to determine the uses to which the various natural productions of the country may be applied; to promote and encourage medical discoveries, mathematical disquisitions, philosophical inquiries and experiments; astronomical, meteorological, and geographical observations, and improvements in agriculture, arts, manufactures, and commerce, and, in fine, to cultivate every art and science which may tend to advance the interest, honor, dignity, and happiness of a free, independent, and virtuous people." The founders were 62 persons, including the following officers: James Bowdoin, president; Samuel Cooper, vice-president; Joseph Willard, corresponding secretary; Caleb Gannett, recording secretary; Ebenezer Storer, treasurer; Stephen Sewall, vice-treasurer; James Winthrop, cabinet keeper; councillors: Thomas Cushing, Henry Gardner, John Hancock, Samuel Langdon, John Lowell, Robert Treat Paine, Phillips Payson, James Warren, Edward Wigglesworth, Samuel Williams. Officers for 1894–95.—Alexander Agassiz, president; Augustus Lowell, vice-president; Charles L. Jackson, corresponding secretary; William Watson, recording secretary; Eliot C. Clarke, treasurer; Henry W. Haynes, librarian. Councillors: William R. Livermore, Benjamin O. Peirce, Benjamin A. Gould, of Class I; Henry P. Walcott, Benjamin L. Robinson, Henry W. Williams, of Class II; Andrew M. Davis, Thomas W. Higginson, James B. Thayer, of Class III. Member of the committee of finance: Augustus Lowell. Rumford committee: John Trowbridge, Erasmus D. Leavitt, Benjamin O. Peirce, Edward C. Pickering, Charles R. Cross, Amos E. Dolbear, Benjamin A. Gould. C. M. Warren committee: Francis H. Storer, Thomas M. Drown, Charles L. Jackson, Samuel Cabot, Henry B. Hill, Leonard P. Kinnicutt, Arthur M. Comey. Committee of publication: Charles L. Jackson, William G. Farlow, Charles G. Loring. Committee on the library: Henry P. Bowditch, Amos E. Dolbear, William R. Livermore. Auditing committee: Henry G. Deuny, John C. Ropes. PUBLICATIONS. Memoirs, Vols. I-IV, 4 vols., Boston [Charleston, Cambridge], 1785-1821. 4to. -, new series, Vols. I-XII, No. 1, Cambridge and Boston, 1833-1893. 4to. Proceedings, Vols. I-VIII, 8 vols., Boston and Cambridge, 1818-1873. 8vo. new series, Vols. I-XXI, Boston, 1874-1894. 8vo. Complete works of Count Rumford, 4 vols., Boston, 1870-1875. 8vo. Memoir of Sir Benjamin Thompson, Count Rumford, with notices of his daughter, by George E. Ellis. Published in connection with an edition of Rumford's complete works. Boston, 1871. 8vo. AMERICAN ASSOCIATION FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE. SALEM, MASS. First meeting held in Philadelphia, September 20, 1818; incorporated under the laws of Massachusetts, April 3, 1874. "The objects of the association are, by periodical and migratory meetings, to promote intercourse between those who are cultivating science in different parts of America, to give a stronger and more general impulse and more systematic direction to scientific research, and to procure for the labors of scientific men increased facilities and a wider usefulness." (Constitution.) Incorporators, 1874.-Joseph Henry, of Washington; Benjamin Pierce, of Cambridge; James D. Dana, of New Haven; James Hall, of Albany; Alexis Caswell, of Providence; Stephen Alexander, of Princeton; Isaac Lea, of Philadelphia; F. A. P. Barnard, of New York; John S. Newberry, of Cleveland; B. A. Gould, of Cambridge; T. Sterry Hunt, of Boston; Asa Gray, of Cambridge; J. Lawrence Smith, of Louisville; Joseph Lovering, of Cambridge, and John Le Conte, of Philadelphia. First officers, 1848.-President, W. C. Redfield; Walter R. Johnson, secretary; Jeffries Wyman, treasurer. Officers for 1895.-President: E. W. Morley, Cleveland, Ohio. Vice-presidents: A. Mathematics and astronomy-E. S. Holden, Mount Hamilton, Cal.; B. Physics-W. Le Conte Stevens, Troy, N. Y.; C. Chemistry-William McMurtrie, Brooklyn, N. Y.; D. Mechanical science and engineering-William Kent, Passaic, N. J.; E. Geology and geography-Jed. Hotchkiss, Staunton, Va.; F. Zoology-D. S. Jordan, Palo Alto, Cal.; G. Botany-J. C. Arthur, Lafayette, Ind.; H. Anthropology-F. H. Cushing, Washington, D. C.; I. Economic science and statistics-B. E. Fernow, Washington, D. C. Permanent secretary: F. W. Putnam, Cambridge, Mass. General secretary: Jas. Lewis Howe, Louisville, Ky. Secretary of the council: Charles R. Barnes, Madison, Wis. Secretaries of the sections: A. Mathematics and astronomyE. H. Moore, Chicago, Ill.; B. Physics-E. Merritt, Ithaca, N. Y.; C. Chemis try-W. P. Mason, Troy, N. Y.; D. Mechanical science and engineering-H. S. Jacoby, Ithaca, N. Y.; E. Geology and geography-J. Perrin Smith, Palo Alto, Cal.; F. Zoology-S. A. Forbes, Champaign, Ill.; G. Botany-B. T. Galloway, Washington, D. C.; H. Anthropology-Anita Newcomb McGee, Washington, D. C.; I. Economic science and statistics-E. A. Ross, Palo Alto, Cal. Treasurer: R. S. Woodward, New York, N. Y. PUBLICATIONS. Transactions of the Association of American Geologists and Naturalists, first, second 4to. No. 1, Report of the Committee on Zoological Nomenclature. 8vo, pp. 56. Nashville THE AMERICAN PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY HELD AT PHILADELPHIA FOR PROMOTING USEFUL KNOWLEDGE. PHILADELPHIA, PA. Organized 1743; incorporated 1780. Object. For the advancement of useful knowledge. First officers.-Thomas Hopkinson, president; William Coleman, treasurer; Benjamin Franklin, secretary. Officers, 1894.-Frederick Fraley, president; vice-presidents, E. Otis Kendall, W. S. W. Ruschenberger, J. P. Lesley; secretaries, George F. Barker, Daniel G. Brinton, Henry Phillips, George H. Horn; curators, Patterson Du Bois, J. Cheston Morris, Richard Meade Bache; treasurer, J. Sergeant Price. Transactions, Vols. I-VI, 1759-1809. PUBLICATIONS. new series, Vols. I-XVII, 1818-1893. Vol. XVIII, Proceedings, Vols. I-XXXII, 1838-1894, issued in 143 numbers, or parts. AMERICAN PSYCHOLOGICAL ASSOCIATION. COLUMBIA COLLEGE, New York, N. Y. Organized July 8, 1892. Object.—To advance the science of psychology. First officers.-President, Dr. G. Stanley Hall; vice-president, Prof. Geo. T. Ladd; secretary and treasurer, Prof. Joseph Jastrow. Officers, 1896.—President, Prof. G. S. Fullerton; secretary and treasurer, Dr. Livingston Farrand. Proceedings. 8vo. PUBLICATIONS. NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES. WASHINGTON, D. C. Incorporated by act of Congress March 3, 1863. Object.-To promote the cause of science. Incorporators.-Louis Agassiz, Massachusetts; J. H. Alexander, Maryland; S. Alexander, New Jersey; A. D. Bache, at large; F. B. Barnard, at large; J. G. Barnard, United States Army, Massachusetts; W. H. C. Bartlett, United States Military Academy, Missouri; U. A. Boyden, Massachusetts; Alexis Caswell, Rhode Island; William Chauvenet, Missouri; J. H. C. Coffin, United States Naval Academy, Maine; J. A. Dahlgren, United States Navy, Pennsylvania; J. D. Dana, Connecticut; Charles H. Davis, United States Navy, Massachusetts; George Engelmann, St. Louis, Mo.; J. F. Frazer, Pennsylvania; Wolcott Gibbs, New York; J. M. Gilless, United States Navy, District of Columbia; A. A. Gould, Massachusetts; B. A. Gould, Massachusetts; Asa Gray, Massachusetts; A. Guyot, New Jersey; James Hall, New York; Joseph Henry, at large; J. E. Hilgard, at large, Illinois; Edward Hitchcock, Massachusetts; J. S. Hubbard, United States Naval Observatory, Connecticut; A. A. Humphreys, United States Army, Pennsylvania; J. L. Le Conte, United States Army, Pennsylvania; J. Leidy, Pennsylvania; J. P. Lesley, Pennsylvania; M. F. Longstreth, Pennsylvania; D. H. Mahan, United States Military Academy, Virginia; J. S. Newberry, Ohio; H. A. Newton, Connecticut; Benjamin Pierce, Massachusetts; John Rodgers, United States Navy, Indiana; Fairman Rogers, Pennsylvania; R. E. Rogers, Pennsylvania; W B. Rogers, Massachusetts; L. M. Rutherford, New York; Joseph Saxton, at large; Benjamin Silliman, Connecticut; Benjamin Silliman, jr., Connecticut; Theodore Strong, New Jersey; John Torrey, New York; J. G. Totten, United States Army, Connecticut; Joseph Winlock, United States Nautical Almanac, Kentucky; Jeffries Wyman, Massachusetts; J. D. Whitney, California. Officers, 1894-95.-O. Ć. Marsh, president; F. A. Walker, vice-president; Wolcott Gibbs, foreign secretary; A. Hall, home secretary; John S. Billings, treasurer. Additional members of council: G. J. Brush, B. A. Gould, S. P. Langley, T. C. Mendenhall, S. Newcomb, Ira Remsen. PUBLICATIONS. Memoirs, 4to, issued by United States Government. Vol. VI was published in 1893. THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION. WASHINGTON, D. C. The Smithsonian Institution, with its dependencies and affiliations, is unique and unparalleled in its relatious to the Government. It corresponds more closely at the present time to Barlow's proposed "National Institution" than any organization existing elsewhere in the world. Its history is a remarkable one. James Lewis Macie, afterwards called Smithson, was a natural son of Hugh Smithson, Duke of Northumberland. He was a graduate of the University of Oxford, a fellow of the Royal Society, a chemist and mineralogist of well-recognized position. He was the friend and associate of many of the leading scientific men in England, but found it advisable to spend most of his life on the Continent. He died in 1829, and left in trust to the United States property amounting on September 1, 1838, to $515,169, to establish in Washington "an institution for the increase and diffusion of knowledge among men." The institution was organized under a law passed in August, 1846, which vested the management in a Board of Regents, to be composed of the Vice-President of the United States, the Chief Justice, [the governor of Washington], 3 members of the Senate, 3 Members of the House of Representatives, and 6 other persons. This Board elects one of its number as presiding officer, and he is styled chancellor. It also elects the secretary of the Institution. In December, 1846, it chose Prof. Joseph Henry, then of Princeton College, as secretary. He served until his death in 1878, when he was succeeded by Prof. Spencer Fullerton Baird, who had been assistant secretary since 1850. He died in 1887, and Prof. Samuel Pierpont Langley became the third secretary. Prof. George Brown Goode is the assistant secretary. The programme of organization submitted by Professor Henry still constitutes the basis of management. He insisted that it ought to be a rule of the Institution to do nothing which could be equally well done by any organization or instrumentality already in action; but that men of talent and learning should be afforded means for conducting and publishing their researches. In the matter of research the countenance and aid of the Institution has been given to matters of widest influence and benefit to the race. It issues three series of publications: (1) The Smithsonian Contributions to Knowledge, 4to, consisting of original scientific investigations, in many cases expensively illustrated; (2) The Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections, 8vo, comprising meteorological and physical tables, treatises on subjects of practical or scientific interest, manuals for the collection and preservation of objects of natural history, methods of various physical observations, etc.; (3) Annual Reports, 8vo, containing reports of proceedings, summaries of progress, bibliographies, and papers on scientific subjects, usually reprints. The Institution also conducts a system of international exchange, and in this way has become the exclusive means of communication between the literary and scientific |