GEMM. C. MENG.
1230 VERMONT AVENUE
NEW YORK

WASHINGTON,

11th.June, 1884.—

Professor O.O.Marsh,

President of the

National Academy of Sciences,

My dear Sir;

I have to report that the Bill, House of Representatives No. 6933, which passed the House of Representatives unanimously on the 7th instant on motion of Mr. Singleton, this afternoon was passed without objection by the Senate upon motion of Senator Sherman, Chairman of the Joint Committee on the Library.

I think it would be a graceful act and one which would be appreciated by the Honorable gentlemen, Senator Sherman¹ and Representatives Singleton of Mississippi and Cox of New York, to whose initiative the Academy owes this success for the President of the Academy to write to them several times thanking them for their effectual action in the premises.—

Very truly
Your friend and servant,

48TH CONGRESS,
1st Session.

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.

{ REPORT
No. 1656. }

NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES.

MAY 20, 1884.—Referred to the House Calendar and ordered to be printed.

Mr. SINGLETON, from the Committee on the Library, submitted the
following

REPORT:

[To accompany bill H. R. 6933.]

The Committee on the Library, to whom was referred the bill (H. R. 6933) to authorize the National Academy of Sciences to receive and hold trust funds for the promotion of science, and for other purposes, submit the following report:

The single object of the proposed bill is to assure the right and power of the National Academy of Sciences to accept and hold trusts to be employed in prosecuting scientific investigations. Some doubt has been raised as to the legal power to hold such trusts under the charter of 1863, and it has already received various bequests, mostly from deceased members, who chose to leave some of their money to the Academy as trustee, in order to prosecute the studies and researches to which they had devoted their lives, and to preserve their memories by such contributions as the "Bache fund," the "Draper fund," the "Watson fund," &c. The trusts thus given to the Academy already amount to a considerable sum.

The members of the Academy serve without compensation, except the honor of being members of a scientific body, incorporated by the United States. They pay all the expenses of the Academy by their own annual contributions, and they make such investigations and reports as may be called for by various Executive Departments of the Government, without compensation for the service of the member who may be charged with the labor of the investigation.

In order to preserve the funds already contributed to the Academy, and to provide a safeguard for its members from private suits at law, and to receive income of funds which under deeds of trust have been appropriated for medals and for scientific researches and experiments, it is very important to the Academy that its power to receive and administer such trusts be placed beyond doubt.

The committee recommend the passage of bill H. R. 6933.

SCIENCE.

FRIDAY, JULY 18, 1884.

COMMENT AND CRITICISM.

In a previous number of *Science* we have alluded to several items of scientific interest in the sundry civil bill. All these items, except that relating to the naval observatory, have passed in a satisfactory form. The electrical commission, which is to prosecute its labors during the Franklin institute exhibition next autumn, is to be appointed by the president. No special number of commissioners is prescribed, so that the composition of the commission is entirely in the hands of the authorities. The most difficult question connected with the make-up of the commission will be that of admitting into its ranks those who are interested in the various electric-light companies, or who are employees of such companies. There is no doubt whatever, that, if any such interested parties are appointed on the commission, care should be taken that the leading companies be equally and fairly represented. That this could be done in a satisfactory manner does not seem at all likely; and we must therefore look forward to a disinterested commission, before which all parties interested shall have a fair hearing. The amount appropriated for expenses is seventy-five hundred dollars.

An appropriation of five thousand dollars has been made for the expenses of the meridian conference called by our government. Provision has been made for two additional conferees on the part of our government, thus conforming to the views expressed in a recent number of *Science*. That course seems to have been suggested independently by the government, and was, no doubt, prompted by the evident desirability of having astronomical science well represented in our discussion of the question.

The question of the organization of the signal-service, coast and geodetic survey, geologi-

cal survey, and hydrographic office, is to be considered by a congressional commission of three senators and three representatives. The senators are Messrs. Allison, Hale, and Pendleton; the representatives, Messrs. Lowry of Indiana, Herbert of Alabama, and Lyman of Massachusetts. The selection of Mr. Lyman is understood to be due to his membership of the National academy, which designed the organization of the geological survey five years ago.

The proposition authorizing the appointment of a scientific commission to inquire into the organization of the naval observatory, under direction of the secretary of the navy, was rejected by the senate after passing the house. The significance of the rejection hardly needs to be commented upon, further than to remark, that it is well understood to be due to naval influence, and may be taken as an index of the willingness of naval officers to have their management inquired into.

No. 76.—1884.

2

GEN.M.C.ME(GS),
1230 VERMONT AVENUE

them, if they perish or no, go, and freeze, and starve, and toil, and come back maimed, crippled, or with dyspepsia, or consumption, and live short and un serviceable lives, or they perish on the ice, and their families suffer for loss of their beloved, and for want of their labor to support those dependent upon them.

I am sick of the whole thing. We have one hundred years of magnetic, thermometer, barometric, dip, variation and such observations, in the art, and what good have they done the world? Who reads discussions, and deduces results, from all this mass of undigested observations?

Faithfully

Your friend and servant,

GEN. M. C. MEIGS,
1339 VERMONT AVENUE

WASHINGTON

20th. September, 1884.—

Professor O.C.Marsh,

New Haven,

Conn.—

Dear Sir;

We held a meeting covering two days, the 19th. and the 20th., and made I think great progress. We have agreed upon a Commission and upon its powers, which I hope may be acceptable and useful.

Its powers are not as direct and complete as I thought desirable and there are some features which I fear may impede the whole project. But it is the best that the Committee would agree to and with so many men of divers training and experience, professors and soldiers too who are by their trades in the habit of speaking ex cathedra giving their orders and not consulting or yielding opinion to others, I am rather surprised that we were able to come so near an agreement.—

I am to endeavor to put the notes into form of a report and if I think I succeed, then to send it around by mail for signature. If I do not succeed then to call another meeting in this city for 30th October.—

Very respectfully, your obedient servant;

WASHINGTON;

8th.October, 1884.—

Prof.O.C.Marsh,

President of the

National Academy of Sciences;

New Haven, Conn.—

Dear Sir;

Your telegram of this date has been received.—

There is no letter of transmission. The report itself is addressed to you and is its own letter of transmission. I see no occasion for another letter. It will be well for you as President of the National Academy of Sciences to write a letter transmitting it to the Joint Commission, if you approve it.

I wrote a letter to Professor Trowbridge when I sent the original report to him, requesting him to let that letter explanatory of the course of signature, go with the report by mail to the several members of the Committee who had not expressed their wish to with-draw from it.

I hold that resignation of a member of a committee appointed by the President of the Academy is not possible, as it is not possible on legislative committees of Senate and House of Representatives to make Requests to be excused can however be granted I presume by the Pres-

President. But this is of little consequence.

I will send you a package of documents, but as some of them received from Mr. Hilgard and from General Hazen are very bulky and heavy, books, rolls of maps, pamphlets, or blank forms of reports, nobody will read them. I think that these had better be kept here until the Joint Commission comes here, or at least until they indicate the place to which the box, about 2 feet by 2 feet by 8 inches, shall be sent by express.

I send now by express the following, which are not too bulky and which the Joint Commission may find it worth their while to examine in detail.

March 2nd. 1885.—

The Clerk of the House Joint Committee on
Printing, informs me that the Senate joint
resolution to print National Academy
Memoirs, passed the House of Representative
last Friday or Saturday, and that the authority
to print the Memoirs was with the
Public Printer. That it may be a month or
more before they were printed.

March 23, 1885.

Dear Sir,

All rights reserved.