Associations For The Advancement Of Science. The British association for the advancement of science was formed in 1831, principally through the energy of Sir David Brewster, supported by Sir Humphry Davy, Sir John F. W. Herschel, Mr. Charles Babbage, Messrs. Forbes, Johnston, and Robison of Edinburgh, and Mr. Murchison of London. The main feature which distinguishes it is an annual gathering of its members, at which each one who has made what he supposes a real advance reads his paper for the criticism of laborers in the same department of science. The association also procures reports upon the state of each particular science, its progress, and its needs, as a guide to inquiry. The effect of the formation of this society upon the state of science in England has been very marked. The first meeting, in September, 1831, consisted of about 200 members; the second, June, 1832, numbered 700; the third, 900; and the fourth, in September, 1834,1,390. The transactions are annually published in octavo volumes of about 500 pages, and these contain a record of nearly every important step taken in British science during the past 40 years.

In the reports included in these transactions are also found the discoveries of continental and American men of science. - The American association for the advancement of science was formed in September, 1847, by the association of American geologists and naturalists. The first meeting of the new association was held in Philadelphia in September, 1848, and although the original association of geologists consisted of only 21 members, 461 names were enrolled in the first list of members of the new society, which now embraces nearly every scientific man in the United States. The 2d meeting was held at Cambridge in August, 1849; the 3d at Charleston, March, 1850; the 4th at New Haven, August, 1850; the 5th at Cincinnati, May, 1851; the 6th at Albany, August, 1851; the 7th at Cleveland, July, 1853; the 8th at Washington, April, 1854; the 9th at Providence, August, 1855; the 10th at Albany, August, 1856; the 11th at Montreal, August, 1857; the 12th at Baltimore, May, 1858; the 13th at Springfield, Mass., August, 1859; the 14th at Newport, R. I., August, 1861, at Nashville, Tenn., but was postponed in consequence of the civil war, and after an interval of several years was finally held at Buffalo in August, 1866. The 16th was held at Burlington, Vt., in August, 1867; the 17th at Chicago, August, 1868; the 18th at Salem, Mass., August, 1869; the 19th at Troy, N. Y., August, 1870; the 20th at Indianapolis, August, 1871; the 21st at Dubuque, Iowa (substituted for San Francisco), August, 1872. The objects and methods of the association are identical with those of the British society.

The proceedings of each meeting form an octavo volume of about 300 pages, and this series of volumes contains the most valuable results of American scientific inquiry during the last 25 years. The mathematical papers are not usually published in detail, but the titles of all papers offered at the meeting are published, and thus the volumes furnish at least a record of the growth of American science, a growth partly due, as it is well known, to the influence of this association. The usual number of members is about 700. 1860. The 15th was appointed for April 17,