ABSTRACT OF MINUTES.
March 21, 1890. 37th meeting.
Meeting held in Assembly Hall of the Cosmos Club. President Hubbard in the chair. Attendance, 50.
Article V, paragraph one, of the By-laws was amended so as to read "The annual dues of active members shall be five dollars and of corresponding members two dollars, payable during the month of January, or, in the case of new members, within thirty days after election."
A discussion was then had on the subject of Geographic Nomenclature, participated in by Messrs. H. G. Ogden, Gustave Herrle, Marcus Baker and A. H. Thompson. Published in The National Geographic Magazine. 8°. Washington, D. C. August, 1890. Vol. 2, no. 4, pp. 261-278.
Mr. L. R. Klemm made some remarks on "A new method of developing geographic facts in teaching."
April 4, 1890. 38th meeting.
Meeting held in Assembly Hall of the Cosmos Club. Vice-President Hayden in the chair. Attendance, 25.
Mr. Robert Stein read a paper on "Turkish rule in Armenia," which was discussed by Mr. H. Garabed of Sis, Cilicia, Asia Minor, and by Mr. Kenaston. Not published.
April 11, 1890. Special meeting.
Meeting held in the Lecture Hall of the National Museum. Vice-President Hayden in the chair. Attendance, 850.
Ensign J. B. Bernadou, U. S. N., addressed the Society on "Korea and the Koreans." His lecture was illustrated by lantern slides. Revised and published in The National Geographic Magazine. 8°. Washington, D. C. August, 1890. Vol. 2, no. 4, pp. 231-242.
April 18, 1890. 39th meeting.
Meeting held in the Assembly Hall of the Cosmos Club. Vice-President Hayden in the chair. Attendance, 90.
Ensign Hugh Rodman, U. S. N., read a paper on "Icebergs and field ice in the North Atlantic." The communication was illustrated by lantern slides. Published by the U. S. Hydrographic Office with this title—No. 93. Report of ice and ice movements in the North Atlantic Ocean, by Ensign Hugh Rodman, U. S. N., under the direction of Capt. Henry F. Picking, U. S. N., Hydrographer. 8°. Washington, government printing office. 1890. 26 pp. 1 folder, 4 maps.
The paper was briefly discussed by Mr. Hayden.
May 2, 1890. 40th meeting.
Meeting held in the Lecture Hall of the National Museum. Vice-President Ogden in the chair. Attendance, 450.
Mr. W. W. Rockhill read a paper giving an account of "A journey through Mongolia, China and Thibet," made by him in 1888–1889. The communication was illustrated by lantern slides. The material embodied in this paper with much more on the same subject has been published in The Century. 8°. New York, 1890, Nov. Vol. 41, no. 1, pp. 1-17; Dec. no. 2, pp. 250-263; Jan. 1891, no. 3, pp. 350-361; Feb. no. 4, pp. 599-606; Mar. no. 5, pp. 720-730.
May 7, 1890. Special meeting.
Meeting held in the Assembly Hall of the Cosmos Club. President Hubbard in the chair. Attendance, 50.
This was a special meeting called to consider the following propositions.
First: Methods of increasing membership.
Second: The employment of a salaried assistant secretary.
Third: The establishment of a monthly periodical.
Fourth: The formation of sections, or auxiliary societies, throughout the country.
Messrs. Baker, Blodgett, Gilbert, Goodfellow, Hayden, Hornaday, J. B. Johnson, W. D. Johnson, Kenaston, McGee, Ogden, Gilbert Thompson, Weed and Welling took part in the discussion of these propositions. There was unanimity of sentiment as to the desirability of increasing the membership and employing a salaried assistant secretary and editor.
With regard to the third and fourth propositions sentiment was divided.
Action was taken by the adoption of the following:—
Resolved: That the members of the Society pledge themselves severally to use their best endeavors to obtain two new members each for the Society, within the next ten days and report their names to the Secretary of the Society.
Resolved: That a committee of five, of which the President shall be chairman, be appointed by the President for the purpose of devising plans and raising means for carrying out the purposes for which the Society is organized.
The President named as such committee,
Messrs. Gardiner G. Hubbard, Chairman,
Marcus Baker,
Henry Gannett,
A. W. Greely,
Everett Hayden.
May 16, 1890. 41st meeting.
Meeting held in the Assembly Hall of the Cosmos Club. Vice-President Hayden in the chair. Attendance, 50.
Mr. Josiah Pierce, Jr., read a paper on "The Ordnance Survey of Great Britain—its history and object," which was illustrated by numerous maps and drawings. The paper was discussed by Messrs. Baker, Bartle, Gannett, Gilbert, W. D. Johnson, Littlehales, Gilbert Thompson and the author. Published in The National Geographic Magazine. 8°. Washington, D. C. August, 1890. Vol. 2, no. 4, pp. 243-260.
—— SUMMER VACATION. ——
November 26, 1890. Special meeting.
Meeting held in Lincoln Music Hall. Hon. W. T. Harris presided. Attendance, 800.
Mr. I. C. Russell delivered an address on the results of the exploration made by him under the auspices of the National Geographic Society, last summer, in the vicinity of Mt. St. Elias, Alaska. The address was illustrated by wall maps and lantern slides. A full report of this exploration will be published in The National Geographic Magazine. An article on the subject is also expected to appear in The Century, April, 1890.
November 28, 1890. 42d meeting.
Meeting held in the Assembly Hall of the Cosmos Club. President Hubbard in the chair. Attendance, 90.
The chair announced the election to membership since the meeting of May 23, 1890, of 148 new members.
Mr. Mark B. Kerr read a paper on the results of his surveys last summer in company with Mr. I. C. Russell in the vicinity of Mt. St. Elias, Alaska. The paper was discussed by Messrs. Abbe, Baker, Dall, Gannett, Gilbert, Ogden and Woodward. Revised and published in Scribner's Magazine. 8°. New York, 1891, March, Vol. 9, no. 3, pp. 361-372.
Mr. I. C. Russell exhibited a painting of Taku Glacier, Alaska, made by Mr. Keith, of San Francisco, and made a few explanatory remarks thereon.
December 12, 1890. 43d meeting.
Meeting held in the Lecture Hall of the Columbian University. Vice-President Hayden in the chair. Attendance, 200.
Ensign J. M. Ellicott, U. S. N., delivered an address, illustrated by lantern slides, on "Surveys executed by the U. S. S. Ranger in Lower California." Not yet published.
December 19, 1890. Special meeting.
Meeting held in the Lecture Hall of the Columbian University. Vice-President Ogden in the chair. Attendance, 100.
The President, Gardiner G. Hubbard, delivered his annual address, on the subject "South America." Published in The National Geographic Magazine. 8°. Washington, D. C. March, 1891. Vol. 3, pp. 1-30.
December 26, 1890. 44th (3d annual) meeting.
Meeting held in the Assembly Hall of the Cosmos Club.
The annual report of the Secretaries was presented. Printed on pages 296-298.
The annual report of the Treasurer was presented and referred to an auditing committee consisting of Messrs. P. H. Christie, R. D. Cummin and S. A. Aplin, Jr. Printed on pages 299, 300.
The annual election of officers, for 1891, was then held with the following result:
President—Gardiner G. Hubbard.
Vice-Presidents—H. G. Ogden [land];
Everett Hayden [sea];
A. W. Greely [air];
C. Hart Merriam [life];
Henry Gannett [art].
Treasurer—Charles J. Bell.
Recording Secretary—Marcus Baker.
Corresponding Secretary—C. A. Kenaston.
Managers—Rogers Birnie, Jr.,
G. K. Gilbert,
G. Brown Goode,
W. D. Johnson,
W J McGee,
T. C. Mendenhall,
W. B. Powell,
B. H. Warder.
January 9, 1891. 45th meeting.
Meeting held in the Assembly Hall of the Cosmos Club. President Hubbard in the chair. Attendance, 30.
Report of the auditing committee appointed at the last meeting was presented and adopted. Printed on page 301.
Article IV of the By-laws was amended by striking out the following clause: "The Vice-Presidents, together with the two Secretaries, shall constitute a committee of the Board of Managers on Communications and Publications."
Vice-President Hayden, Department of the Sea, and Vice-President Merriam, Department of Life, presented their annual reports. Not yet published.
January 23, 1891. 46th meeting.
Meeting held in the Assembly Hall of the Cosmos Club. President Hubbard in the chair. Attendance, 35.
Vice-President Greely, Department of the Air, and Vice-President Ogden, Department of the Land, presented their annual reports. Not yet published.
February 6, 1891. 47th meeting.
Meeting held in the Assembly Hall of the Cosmos Club. President Hubbard in the chair. Attendance, 50.
The meeting was devoted to an account of the U. S. S. Pensacola expedition to the west coast of Africa.
Mr. Cleveland Abbe described the cruise in general terms and gave some account of the geodetic surveys executed in and the climate of South Africa.
Mr. Heli Chattelaine, of Switzerland, read a paper on the Dialects and Folk-Lore of the Portugese portion of West Africa.
Mr. Frank H. Bigelow read a paper on the island of Ascension.
February 13, 1891. Special meeting.
Meeting held in the Assembly Hall of the Cosmos Club. Vice-President Greely in the chair. Attendance, 225.
Hon. Geo. B. Loring, Ex-U. S. Minister to Portugal, delivered an address upon the "Kingdom of Portugal." Not published.
February 20, 1891. 48th meeting.
Meeting held in the Assembly Hall of the Cosmos Club. Vice-President Hayden in the chair. Attendance, 40.
Mr. F. H. Newell read a paper on "Natural Gas and Oil in the Eastern United States." This paper was discussed by Mr. W J McGee.
Mr. C. D. Walcott read a paper on "The North American Continent during the Cambrian." This paper was discussed by Messrs. Gilbert and McGee. It is planned to publish the paper in The National Geographic Magazine, Vol. 3.
February 27, 1891. Special meeting.
Meeting held in the Assembly Hall of the Cosmos Club. Vice-President Greely in the chair. Attendance, 225.
Major C. E. Dutton, U. S. A. delivered an address upon "The Hawaiian Islands: their scenery, volcanoes, people, and politics, with a few words about the reciprocity treaty with the United States."
Foregoing abstract prepared by the secretaries March 2, 1891.