On motion, Chas. Sternberg was elected life member, on payment of the balance of dues up to twenty dollars. Paper No. 28 was read by the author, J. M. McWharf. On motion, the Academy adjourned, to meet at nine A. M. to-morrow. FRIDAY, November 29-nine A. M. The Academy met at the appointed hour, and the minutes of last meeting were read, and approved. All members were asked to report to the committee on necrology if they know of any members of the Academy who have died during the past year. It was voted that the secretary wire to Doctor Snow, who is prevented by illness from being with us, the greetings of the Academy. The following message was accordingly sent: The Kansas Academy of Science, by unanimous vote, sends greetings to Doctor Snow, and expresses earnest wishes for his early restoration to health, and its appreciation of his valuable contributions to science. The committee on program reported the following papers ready for reading: Nos. 12, 13, 14, 30, 40, 53, and 45. They were read as follows: No. 12, read by author, C. H. Sternberg. No. 13, presented by J. T. Lovewell. No. 14, read by author, L. L. Dyche, and discussed by Bailey, Bushong, and Mead. No. 30, read by author, W. F. Hoyt. No. 40, read by author, L. L. Dyche; discussed by Mead. No. 45, read by author, E. H. S. Bailey. No. 53, read by author, E. O. Deere. Voted to take a recess till two P. M. The Academy resumed session according to vote. Prof. B. B. Smyth moved the following resolutions: That copies of the Transactions be sent to all members of the Academy whose initiation fees are paid, and who are not in arrears for dues more than one year. After discussion the resolution was adopted. Reading of papers continued. No. 22, read by author, Mrs. B. B. Smyth. Nos. 16 and 17, read by author, Warren Knaus. No. 15, read by author, Grace Meeker. Illustrated by speci mens. No. 7, read by author, Dr. C. F. Menninger; discussed by Bailey and Dyche. No. 8, read by author, F. B. Dains. No. 54, read by author, E. H. S. Bailey; discussed by Smyth and Sayre. No. 2, read by author, F. W. Bushong. No. 47, read by H. H. Braucher, in absence of author, E. S. Tucker. No. 3, read by author, L. E. Sayre. No. 31, read by J. R. Mead, in absence of author, T. L. Eyerly. No. 39, read by author, J. T. Lovewell; discussed by Mrs. Smyth, Bailey, and others. No. 26, read by title, at request of author, L. C. Wooster. The committee on nominations reported the following candidates for officers of the Academy for the ensuing year: For president, E. Haworth, Lawrence. For vice-presidents, F. B. Dains, Topeka, and J. M. McWharf, Ottawa. For treasurer, Alva J. Smith, Emporia. For secretary, J. T. Lovewell, Topeka. On motion, the rules were suspended by unanimous consent, and the secretary directed to cast the vote of the Academy for the officers named. This was done and they were declared duly elected as officers of the Academy for 1908. On invitation of the president of the Normal School, the Academy adjourned to the parlors of the First Christian Church, to partake of a banquet tendered to the Academy by local members and by the Normal faculty. This proved to be a very enjoyable occasion, and after doing full justice to the bountiful and charmingly served repast, the toast-master, T. M. Iden, in a few well-chosen remarks introduced the speakers of the evening. The first speaker was Hon. William Allen White, who made a graceful speech, and was followed by Mrs. B. B. Smyth, and Dr. L. E. Sayre, with remarks equally felicitous and witty. Returning to Norton Science Hall, the Academy listened to the address of the retiring president, J. A. Yates, on the subject, "The Value of the Work of Science to Humanity." The Academy, after this address, voted to take a recess till to-morrow, Saturday, at nine A. M. SATURDAY, November 30-nine A. M. The minutes of the two previous sessions were read and approved, and this was followed by an address and paper on "Tuberculosis," by Dr. B. R. Rogers, who gave a full discussion of this vitally interesting theme, and brought out a plan whereby he thought the dreaded and deadly "white plague" might be exterminated. No. 38, read by author, C. H. Withington. No. 23, read by author, Mrs. L. R. Smyth. Papers Nos. 6, 9, 10, 11, 24, 25, 29, 33, 34, 36, 37, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 49, 50 and 51, in absence of authors, were read by title. The secretary called attention to the importance of having all papers typewritten and placed in hands of the publication committee as early as December 15. The committee on resolutions reported: Resolved, That the thanks of the Academy be extended to the members of the State Normal faculty, and to the local members, for the sumptuous banquet and the pleasant réception which they extended to the visiting members. Resolved, That we thank the faculty and the management of the State Normal for the facilities offered us in holding our meetings. The committee on time and place of meeting recommended Topeka as the place, and Thanksgiving week the time, subject to change by the executive committee. Report adopted. On motion, the fortieth annual meeting was adjourned sine die. HISTORICAL SKETCH. THE HE organization of a Kansas association of scientific men at an early date was due to the efforts of Rev. Johns D. Parker and Prof. B. F. Mudge, who, in July, 1868, issued a call signed by seventeen men for a meeting of all persons in the state interested in natural sciences to meet in Topeka. The first meeting was held in September of that year, in Lincoln College (now Washburn), and the Kansas Natural History Society was organized and officers elected. The object, as stated in the original draft of the constitution, "shall be to increase and diffuse a knowledge of the natural sciences, particularly in relation to the state of Kansas." At the fourth annual meeting, held in Leavenworth, in 1871, the name was changed to the Kansas Academy of Science. In 1873 the Academy became a coordinate department of the State Board of Agriculture by the terms of the following act of the legislature: "The Academy of Science shall be a coordinate department of the State Board of Agriculture, with their office in the agricultural rooms, where they shall place and keep for public inspection the geological, botanical and other specimens, the same to be under the direction and control of the officers of the said Academy of Science. An annual report of the Transactions of said Academy of Science shall be made on or before the 15th day of November of each year, to the State Board of Agriculture, for publication in the annual Transac tions of said board." The Academy has increased in membership from the original small body of scientists to over 200. It has held forty annual meetings, of which nineteen have been held in Topeka, six in Lawrence, four in Manhattan, two in Leavenworth, three in Emporia, and one each in Atchison, Baldwin, Iola, McPherson, Ottawa, and Wichita. Twenty-two volumes of the Transactions have been published, varying in size from a few pages in the early numbers to 350 pages in the later volumes. These publications contain many papers of recognized scientific value. The exchange list includes over 500 names of societies and libraries. The Academy is now installed in the north wing of the capitol building, at Topeka, in rooms on the fourth floor. It has two connecting rooms, used for office and library, and the museum is in the adjacent corridor. The museum has been greatly increased by the gift of the state mineral display erected at the St. Louis Exposition, and given suitable cases to hold this large amount of material. It thus has the finest economic collection of the Kansas mineral industries in the state-an exhibit which received two gold medals, twenty-two silver medals, and fourteen bronze medals. |