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Three hundred and sixty-second meeting.

May 25, 1852.- ANNUAL MEETING.

The PRESIDENT in the chair.

Professor Lovering presented the annual report of the Treasurer, in his absence, for the past year, a part of which was read by the Recording Secretary. It was then accepted.

The annual report of the Committee on the Library was read by Dr. A. A. Gould, and accepted.

The annual report of the Committee of Publication was read by Professor Lovering, and accepted.

Professor A. Gray, in behalf of the committee to whom was referred the amendment of the third section of Chapter VII. of the Statutes of the Academy, proposed by Dr. B. A. Gould at the last statute meeting, recommended that it be adopted; namely, that the second clause of the third section. of Chapter VII. of the Statutes of the Academy be replaced by the following:

"The Council for Nomination shall consist of the President and the two Secretaries, together with three Fellows from each of the three Classes of the Academy, to be elected by ballot at the annual meeting. And it shall be the duty of the Council, in nominating Associates and Foreign Honorary Members, to consult the wishes of that section of the Academy to which the candidate, if elected, would belong."

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Dr. W. F. Channing exhibited several fine positive photographic pictures on paper, made by Mr. Whipple by simple superposition of the negatives taken on glass. Dr. Channing stated that this process was interesting as the beginning of a new and beautiful art; the original picture taken by the camera on glass being thus susceptible of indefinite multiplication on paper.

The Scrutineers reported that the following gentlemen were elected officers for the ensuing year, viz. :

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The following gentlemen were chosen Members of the Council for nominating Foreign Honorary Members, viz. :—

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LOUIS AGASSIZ,

CHARLES PICKERING,

JOHN B. S. JACKSON,

JAMES WALKER,

CORNELIUS C. FELTON,

NATHAN APPLETON,

of Class II.

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of Class III.

On motion of Professor Agassiz, it was

"Voted, That a committee, consisting of the Secretaries and the members of the Committee of Publication, be appointed to revise the arrangement of the list of members into sections, with a view to its permanent adoption."

On motion of Dr. W. F. Channing, it was

"Voted, That a committee be appointed to revise the language of Chapter VII. of the Statutes of the Academy."

Messrs. W. F. Channing, A. Gray, and B. A. Gould, Jr. were appointed that committee.

On motion of Dr. B. A. Gould, Jr., it was

"Voted, That in all future nominations of candidates for election to the Academy, the section to which the candidate, if elected, would belong shall be specified in writing."

President Hitchcock exhibited some fossil fruits and seeds from the lignite deposit associated with the iron ore at Brandon, in Vermont. He was of opinion that they belonged to the tertiary formation, but whether to the miocene or pliocene, he was doubtful.

On motion of Professor Lovering, it was

"Voted, That the thanks of the Academy be presented to Hon. Edward Everett, late Vice-President, to Dr. Augustus A. Gould, late Corresponding Secretary, to Mr. Joseph Hale Abbot, late Recording Secretary, to Mr. J. Ingersoll Bowditch, late Treasurer, and to Dr. Henry I. Bowditch, late Librarian, for the efficient and valuable services they have rendered to the Academy in their respective offices." On motion of Professor Peirce, it was

"Voted, That a monthly meeting be held on the second Tuesday of each month of the approaching summer, at eight o'clock, P. M., in the Academy's hall."

Three hundred and sixty-third meeting.

June 8, 1852..

ADJOURNED ANNUAL MEETING.

The PRESIDENT in the chair.

The Recording Secretary being necessarily absent, Professor Lovering was chosen Recording Secretary pro tem.

Professor Lovering, in behalf of the committee appointed at the last meeting to revise the classification of Fellows and Honorary Members of the Academy, presented a revised classification, together with the following report.

"1. That the word section be substituted for division, as the name of the subdivisions of the classes;

"2. That the second section of Class II., originally named the Division of Botany and Vegetable Physiology, be known as the Section of Botany;

"3. That the third section of Class II., originally named the Division of Zoology and Animal Physiology, be known as the Section of Zoology and Physiology;

"4. That the first section of Class III., originally named the Division of Moral and Intellectual Philosophy, be known as the Section of Philosophy and Jurisprudence;

"5. That the second section of Class III., originally named the Division of Philology and Ethnology, be known as the Section of Philology and Archæology;

"6. That the third section of Class III., originally named the Division of Politics, Political Economy, and Jurisprudence, be known as the Section of Political Economy and History;

"7. That the fourth section of Class III., originally named the Division of Esthetics, be known as the Section of Literature and the Fine Arts;

"8. That the revised classification of the Fellows, Associate Fellows, and Foreign Honorary Members of the Academy, herewith reported, be permanently adopted by the Academy."

The report of the committee was accepted, and the amendments recommended were adopted by the Academy. The classification recommended was laid upon the table until the next meeting, for examination by the Fellows of the Academy.

Hon. S. A. Eliot stated to the Academy, that the Corpora

tion of Harvard University had received letters from Professors Bache and Henry, urging upon their attention the claims of Gould's Astronomical Journal, and inquiring whether some appropriation for its support could not be made from the funds of the Observatory. The Corporation being of opinion that they could not act directly in the matter, and being at the same time anxious to promote to the extent of their power this honorable undertaking, had appointed the President and the Treasurer a committee to confer with any committee which the Academy might be disposed to appoint, as to the means best adapted to give a permanent support to this Journal.

Mr. Eliot moved that the Academy appoint such a committee of conference.

Professor Peirce made some remarks in regard to the great importance of the Journal for astronomers, and to the high esteem in which it was held in this country and in Europe. He stated that its circulation was as large as that of Schumacher's Astronomische Nachrichten, while, at the same time, it was impossible that this Journal, or any other one of a severe scientific character, should be sustained by its subscription list alone. He hoped that steps would be taken to put it upon a permanent basis, and therefore seconded the motion of Mr. Eliot.

The resolution was adopted. Messrs. N. Appleton and Peirce were appointed to act as a committee on behalf of the Academy.

Dr. O. W. Holmes exhibited a more nicely constructed model of the microscope recently described by him at a meeting of the Academy. He observed that the effects of oblique light were very brilliant in exhibiting certain objects, as, for example, the blood-globules; and that no difficulty was experienced from the position of his instrument, when fluids were used. He also exhibited the contrivance which he had substituted for the common method of graduating the aperture, so as to darken more or less the field of view.

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