The Agassiz Association SIXTY-FOURTH REPORT.

A Final Word About the Badge.

Since Mr. Hayward went out of business, Mr. N. M. Shepard, 85 Nassau street, N. Y., has consented to succeed him as our badge-manufacturer.

He is quite enthusiastic in the matter, and has designed some very pretty badges, which seem to us a decided improvement upon the styles shown in the hand-book. The scarf-pin and lace-pin are most attractive, because least noticeable,—which is a paradox.

For further information communicate with Mr. Shepard, whose address is given above.

A Friendly Word From Prince Krapotkine.

It is a pleasant thought that even those men whose personal experience of sorrow has led them to take dark views of life in general can find in our Association something worthy their commendation—something to be built up, rather than destroyed. Would that we could extend our brotherly influence as widely as Prince Krapotkine suggests in the following extract from his article, “What Geography Ought To Be,” published in “The Nineteenth Century” for December, 1885:

“Another feature to be introduced in our schools ought to be mentioned here. I mean the exchange, between schools, of correspondence on geographical subjects and of their natural science collections. This feature, already introduced in several schools of the United States by the ‘Agassiz Association,’ can not be too warmly advocated. It is not enough to collect specimens of rocks, plants, and animals from its own limited regions. Each village school ought to have collections from everywhere; not only from all parts of its own country, but from Australia and Java, Siberia and the Argentine Republic. It can not purchase them, but it may have them—it can have them in exchange for its own collections, from schools scattered everywhere on the surface of the globe.

“Such is the great idea which presided at the creation of the ‘Agassiz Association’—an organization which has already seven thousand members and six hundred ‘Chapters,’ or sections.[5] The members of this Association are accustomed to study natural sciences in the field, amid nature itself; but they do not keep their treasures to themselves. They write to other branches of the Association; they exchange with them their observations, their ideas, their specimens of minerals, plants, and animals. They write about the scenery of Canada to friends in Texas. Their Swiss friends (for something similar exists also in Switzerland) send them the Edelweiss of the Alps, and their English friends instruct them in the geology of England. Shall I add that in proportion as the existence of the Association becomes known, specialists, professors, and amateur-naturalists hasten to offer their services to their young friends for lecturing before them, for determining their specimens, or for climbing with them on the hills in geological and botanical excursions?... Is it necessary to insist on the benefits of the ‘Agassiz Association,’ or to show how it ought to be extended? The greatness of the idea of establishing a lively connection between all schools of the Earth is too clear. Everybody knows that it is sufficient to have a friend in a foreign country—be it Moscow or Java—to begin to take some interest in that country. A newspaper paragraph entitled ‘Moscow’ or ‘Java’ will thereafter attract his attention,—the more so if he is in a lively intercourse with his friend, if both pursue the same work and communicate to one another the results of their studies and explorations. More than that: Let English children be in a continuous exchange of correspondence, collections, and thoughts with Russian children, and you may be sure that after some time neither English nor Russians will so readily grasp at guns for settling their misunderstandings. The ‘Agassiz Association’ has a brilliant future; similar ones will surely extend all over the world.”

Delayed Reports.

455, Bedford, Pa. Each member has his own cabinet. Our time has not been wasted by any means. It will not be long before we recommence our collecting expeditions and picnics.—W. C. Langdon, Jr., Sec.

447, Chittenango, N.Y. We have a very good collection, including rare insects. We intend soon to visit the Indian mound near Manlius, where we hope to make various additions to our collection. We shall raise 1000 silk-worms for study this summer.—C. A. Jenkins, Sec.

490, New York (N). The year has been the most successful of our existence. We stand to-day strong in numbers, interest, and enthusiasm. We have held meetings steadily twice a month, and these have been enthusiastic and well attended. Our good friend, Professor J. D. Hyatt, has lectured for us, illustrating each lecture by blackboard diagrams and also by his powerful microscope. We have started a library, and a number of interesting and valuable books have been presented to us. We have issued a little paper called the “Naturalist’s Journal.” Our cabinet is assuming gigantic proportions, and embraces specimens in all lines of natural history, properly arranged and classified. We have a tabulated list of subjects and speakers for our meetings arranged for the next three months. These are nicely printed, together with names of officers, time of meeting, rules, and constitution, so that each member can have a copy for his own reference, and also to distribute to his friends. We have also made arrangements for excursions and field-meetings. We are encouraged and inspired by the past, and enter upon the future with bright anticipations for still greater success. May that success crown the efforts of all our Chapters!—Cephas B. Fox, Secretary.

Reports from the Sixth Century.

527, San Francisco (G). One of our young men has made an excellent induction-coil and other apparatus which we find useful in experimenting. Our work, as members of the A. A., has been very satisfactory and instructive.—Henry Rhine, Secretary.

539, Philadelphia (P). We started in October, ’83, with ten members, and we now have thirty-two. We have held 100 regular and two special meetings. Six lectures have been delivered to the Chapter by as many lecturers. Our present plan of working is this: The Chapter is divided into three classes, zoölogy, botany, and mineralogy and geology. A member may join all the classes if he chooses, but must join at least one. Each class elects its own chairman. At four successive meetings, zoölogy is studied. The next four meetings are botanical. We conduct a journal, not printed, but written in a book, and read by the editor. Each member, in turn, is appointed to contribute an article to this journal. Our finances are in good condition, and in our next report I hope you will find an account of a permanent meeting-place (with an engraved charter, and picture of Professor Agassiz on the wall), containing a large library, a new cabinet, and a splendid microscope.—Louis L. Calvert, Sec.

549, Linlithgow, Scotland. The work of our Chapter has gone on very successfully. The members of the A. A. are also members of a local association, and the work of the latter is generally considered to be also that for the former. All the members have to acknowledge with pleasure the numerous offers to exchange made to them by American friends, advantage of which has been greatly taken. The Secretary has greatly enriched his herbarium by the additions to it of American plants. The out-of-door work—always the most pleasant—proved all last year to be most pleasurable and profitable, and it may be interesting to other members to know that all the members here are ’cyclists and find their wheels of the greatest service.

The subjects taken up have been botany, geology, entomology, ornithology, conchology, oölogy, and to a certain extent also zoölogy. Meetings have been held and papers read, and many excursions taken, and the members hope that, in spite of the claims made on them by their daily avocations, they will still be able to continue the study of nature.—Wm. Wardrop, Secretary.

544, Philadelphia (Q). Our meetings are well attended and very interesting. Our debates are excellent, and show preparation on the part of the participants. During the coming year we promise to push things to a higher point than ever.—Joseph L. Hammer, Sec.

555, Olympia, W. T. We have held weekly meetings continuously, and have made constant additions to our cabinets. In botany we have a pretty good collection of phanerogams; about five hundred species determined; and in microscopy we have a good collection of diatoms. We have a good series of Puget Sound clamshells.—For the Secretary, Robt. Blankenship.

556, Phila., (R). Many specimens have been gained, but our cabinet does not fairly represent the Chapter, because each member is an enthusiastic collector in his own department, and, with a selfishness that perhaps can not be blamed, reserves his “finds” to increase his “working capital.” Our library has been more fortunate.

Our correspondence is a very pleasant feature. Mr. H. G. White writes us valuable letters on the bird life of Eastern Massachusetts, and W. H. Steckel keeps us informed on the plant life of Bucks County, Pennsylvania.

Another department of our Chapter is the biological section. Objects are exhibited under the microscope, and specimens, dissections, and preparations are handed around and freely discussed. Sometimes we meet informally, and spend an evening in dissections and general study. One will take a cicada pupa, one a locust or an earth-worm, and so on; before adjourning, each reports on his evening’s work.

Our MS. paper, “Monthly Notes,” has fallen into the hands of a most able and vigorous editor, and is flourishing vigorously. To conclude, we all feel that we are engaged in a good work, and each one, inspiring and being inspired by the example of the others, agrees that the Agassiz Association is the most worthy object of his loyalty and love. A question frequently asked by outsiders is, “Does it pay?” We promptly and heartily answer, “Yes!”—Wm. E. McHenry, sec.

564, Santa Rosa, Cal. The interest and attendance for the past six months have been larger than ever before. We gave a reception one Saturday evening, for the purpose of awaking an interest, and introducing our society to the public. The programme was:

1. Address, “History of the S. R. Chapter of the A. A.,” Pres. G. Lowell, 2. Select Reading, “The Cat,” Louis King. 3. Essay, “Nature,” Wilber M. Swett. 4. Select Reading, “Poem of Agassiz,” Geo. Butt. 5. “Biographical Sketch of Agassiz,” Geo. Shaffer. 6. “Microscopical Exhibition.”

The members loaned their private collections. There were four microscopes at hand, and numerous slides, all of which had been prepared by members. We hope by our perseverance to raise the S. R. A. A. to rank “one,” as a working Chapter.—Wilber M. Swett, Sec.

565, Waseca, Minn., is in the field to stay. Since our last report we have accomplished a great deal in the way of adding to our collections. We consider one good working member worth a hundred drones. The Secretary and Vice-President hope to be at Davenport in August. We report forty-six mounted birds, and seventeen skins of birds, all of our country; three mammals, forty-five osteological specimens, etc.; three skeletons, fifteen alcoholic specimens, and 200 eggs in sets, all named and numbered. Also some 1200 mineral specimens. We also devote some time to the study of ethnology, as up to as late as 1863, the ground on which Waseca now stands was frequented by tribes of Indians; and as a consequence of that study we have a box of bones, dug up from a mound, about two hundred arrow points, stone axes, and a curiously carved stone head. Please consider Chapter 565 as one of the Chapters that will be heard and felt in the years to come.—J. F. Murphy, Sec.

569, Ludington, Mich. We have a faithful club. Have not lost a member since we started two years ago last November. Have not failed of a meeting each week since last September. Have fourteen boys between ages of thirteen and fifteen.

Have been studying Winchell’s geological excursions, and one of the members said he thought that Prof. Winchell had written the book purposely for him. It has explained to us the higher geologies, and by it we have been enabled to name nearly all the rock specimens found in Michigan.

We gave a public meeting to our parents and friends, and entertained them with music, and essays, etc., prepared on the subjects previously studied. We also had a blackboard illustration, showing the causes of wells and springs, drawn and explained by one of our boys.

Again we invited the young ladies’ club to hold a meeting at our rooms, and after listening to their programme of essays, music, etc., we invited them to a banquet, cooked, arranged, and served wholly by our boys. All pronounced it a fine success. We have had various excursions, examining gravel banks, gullies, cañons (small ones), etc. We have had experiments in chemistry, and have used the various acids, to the full satisfaction of the owner of the club-room. In order to fix in the minds the description of the different rocks, two of our young members have invented games of mineralogy,—one to be played like “Authors,” and the other like the geography game. The members like to try the latter on their adult friends, to see how much they know of the hardness, streak, chemical composition, forms of crystals, and uses of the common rocks.—L. B. Elsworth, Cor. Sec.

571, Grand Rapids, Mich. We organized our club in the first part of January, 1883, with about fifteen members; but we have grown, and now we have twenty-five members. We meet for one hour every Monday evening. One plan has been to call for items of interest from each of the members, and of these items we are forming a scrap-book. We have often had short talks from gentlemen upon various subjects, such as gunpowder and the care taken of it; light, and sound, and electricity with experiments. Our meetings are well attended, and the interest rather increases than otherwise.—Ed. Avery, Sec.

578, Osceola, Iowa. Our Chapter has a membership of twenty. We meet every Wednesday evening in a room fitted for that purpose. We have a cabinet containing a fine collection of ores, fossils, etc. Our Chapter was organized over two years ago. Since then our membership has gradually increased, and with it the interest of the members. The condition of the society is in every way promising.—Lee Burns, Sec., Box 744.

587, Concord, N. H. We think we have made more progress during the past year than in any other since our Chapter was formed. We have received many good specimens in exchange, among them some coal-fossils, in which we were greatly interested; a piece of iron ore from the Isle of Elba, and a quantity of shells from all points of the compass. So now our cabinet contains some 500 minerals, besides the shells and other curiosities. We have not read scientific books as much this winter as we did last year, but have given our time to practical work in botany and mineralogy. Five young ladies come in every Monday for the study of botany, taking up house-plants as a preparation for other work next summer. Also, we took advantage of Professor Crosby’s offer, and have much enjoyed the work in mineralogy under his direction. We found blow-pipe analysis very fascinating.—Lunette E. Lamprey, Sec.

590, Pomfret Centre, Conn. An average of four members of our Chapter have met once a week through the winter. We have carefully examined two herbariums collected by members, besides looking over nearly one hundred species of flowers and ferns sent to me from California. During the year we have examined 300 species of flowers and ferns growing in this vicinity. We have made one excursion this month, and we have upon our list since April 7, 1886, twenty-five plants. The first, Houstonia, was found on April 13. Our members are more enthusiastic than ever before, and we are looking forward to a very profitable season.—S. P. Oakes Marsh, Sec.

595, Oneonta, N. Y. One of our members is taking the course of lessons in mineralogy, and enjoys it very much. Another is making a collection of the violets, and writing out descriptions of all the plants she finds. When we go to the woods we always take a basket and stout knife; then when we find a plant which we do not know, and is not in bloom, we transplant it to our little wild garden; then when it blossoms, we analyze it: if it is pretty and desirable, we let it grow; if not, we pull it up; but when we meet it again, we know it.—Jessie E. Jenks, Sec.

600, Galveston (A). Since date of last report (September 16, 1885), we have held fifteen meetings, at which were read six essays and eleven selected readings. There were reported seventy-six notes on natural objects, and specimens found, to the number of one hundred and fifty-one.

Among the many curious notes reported was one on the nest of a mud-wasp, found within the rind of a ripe orange, the skin of which had burst from rapid growth.

Exchanges.

Galena, gold ore, silver ore, fluorspar, etc. I will hereafter give all inquirers for exchange my closest attention.—Ernest L. Roberts, Sec. 262, Denver, Col.

Infusorial earth from Virginia for specimens from other States.—Chapter 248, 109 East Grace street, Richmond, Va.

Minerals for same. Lists exchanged. Silicified wood a specialty.—Miss Allie Cole, Sec. Ch. 700, Mt. Pleasant, Iowa.

Cactus and petrified wood.—Emma E. Pirie, San Antonio, Texas.

Collections of twenty-five native California plants each, for books and pamphlets relating to botany and ornithology.—P. M. Hoit, Santa Barbara, California.

Holly, mistletoe, balls of sweet gum-tree, and “cross-vine,” for mounted sea-weed, star-fish, and other marine specimens.—Frank J. Engel, Montvale Springs, Tennessee.

Well identified bird-skins for same. Send for lists.—L. M. Davies, 203 Newell street, Cleveland, Ohio.

Petrified wood.—Wilber M. Swett, Santa Rosa, Cal.

New and Reorganized Chapters.

No. Name. No. of Members. Address.

967 Menominee, Mich. (A) 2 Guy Milbury.

779 Chicago, Ill. (Y) 4 Miss Alice I. Halsey, 3027½ S. Park Ave.

45 Shelbyville, Ky. (A) 6 Ross Neel.

791 St. Louis, Mo. (F) 5 Mrs. E. K. Jones, 713 Channing Ave.

347 Baltimore, Md. (C) 6 Miss Affa Gray, 428 N. Mount St.

719 Phila., Pa. (A’) 7 Herbert L. Evans, 4414 Sansom St.

557 Phila., Pa. (S) 7 Chas. Nason, 2116 Percy St.

968 Montvale Sp’gs, Tenn (A) 9 Frank J. Engel, Blount Co.

969 Cromwell, Ct. (A) 9 H. H. Barrows.

970 Stanbridge Quebec (A) 8 A. F. Sargent.

971 Mendham, N. J. (A) 11 Alvah Quimby.

110 Marshalltown, Iowa (A) 4 C. C. Trine.

13 Madison, N. J. (A) 9 Lillian H. Springer.

107 Newburyport, Mass. (A) 6 Geo. A. Noyes.

168 Buffalo, N. Y. (C) 5 Henry S. Gatley, 205 Swan St.

Disbanded.

841 Fairview, N. J. Mrs. C. W. Asbury.

506 Port Henry, N. J. John M. Thomas.

462 New Haven, Conn. (A) J. H. Haydon.

Secretaries of Chapters 601-700 will kindly send in their annual reports by August 25, if possible.

All are invited to join the Agassiz Association, old and young.

Address all communications for this department to

Mr. Harlan H. Ballard, Lenox, Mass.