The second session was held at the Arlington hotel on Wednesday evening, February 19th. At the invitation of the Council, Prof. T. C. Mendenhall, Superintendent of the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey, gave an interesting account of the new international standards of length and mass, and exhibited fac-similes of the standard meter and kilogramme recently deposited with the Coast Survey. (See page 716 of this volume.)

The following papers were read :

Crystalline Magnetite in the Port Henry, New York, Mines, by John Birkinbine, Philadelphia, Pa.

Electricity and Haulage, by F. A. Pocock, Scranton, Pa.

President Pearce then read the presidential address, on The Association of Gold with other Metals in the West. (See page 447 in this volume.)

The following paper was read by the author, and illustrated with lantern-views:

Stripping Ore-Deposits, by F. H. McDowell, New York City.

The third session was held at the Arlington on Friday morning, February 21st, when the following papers were read:

The Properties of Aluminum, with Some Information Relating to the Metal, by Alfred E. Hunt, John W. Langley, and Charles N. Hall, Pittsburgh, Pa.

Aluminum in Search of a Nickname, by Oberlin Smith, Bridgeton, N. J.

Aluminum in the Drawing-Press, by Oberlin Smith, Bridgeton, N. J.

Note on the Use of Aluminum in the Construction of Instruments of Precision, by Prof. W. P. Blake, New Haven, Conn. The Secretary then read the

ANNUAL REPORT OF THE COUNCIL.

In accordance with the Rules, the Council makes the following report to the Institute:

The financial statement of the Secretary and Treasurer, duly audited, shows receipts for the year from all sources, including the balance at the beginning of the year, of $29,223.99, and expenditures of $18,714.11, leaving a surplus of $10,509.88. In addition to this, the Treasurer holds United States bonds, belonging to the Institute, as per last annual report, of the par value of $7300, making the total amount of cash on hand and securities at par $17,809.88.

Since the balance from the last statement was $5880.28, the actual receipts of the year were greater by $4629.60 than the expenditures. The surplus above stated includes the fund composed of the dues paid by life members, of whom there are now 68.

The detailed statement is as follows:

Statement of the Secretary and Treasurer, of Receipts and Disbursements, from February 1st, 1889, to January 31st, 1890.

Balance from statement, February 1st, 1889, .
Received for dues from members and associates,

$5,880.28

$18,187.41
1,300.00

1,569.85

The statement made in the last annual report concerning the value placed upon the back-volumes of the Transactions is confirmed by

the foregoing figures, which show that $1642.09 was received during the year from this source. This total includes also the amount paid for copies of single papers in pamphlet form, which constitutes, however, but a trifling part of the whole. There is still a supply of complete sets of the Transactions; but members desiring to own all the volumes would do well to purchase such as they lack before certain numbers (more particularly Volumes IX., X. and XVII.) are exhausted.

Three meetings have been held during the year: the nineteenth annual meeting (being the fifty-third of the Institute) at New York, in February; a June meeting at Denver and Aspen, Colorado, and an October meeting at Ottawa, Canada. They were as pleasant and as profitable as the meetings of the Institute have always been-what more could be said? Those who have enjoyed the privilege of attending our periodical reunions need no further proof of their peculiar charm, while for those who have not been enlightened by this experience, any other evidence could not take its place.

As is usually the case in years when meetings are held in the far West, the publication of Volume XVII. of the Transactions was somewhat later than usual; and Volume XVIII. is likely to be similarly delayed unless the authors of papers will give more prompt co-operation to the efforts of the Secretary to hasten publication.

Changes in membership have taken place during the year as follows: 205 members and 20 associates have been elected; 11 associates have become members; 11 members have been 'reinstated on payment of arrears; 1 honorary member, 11 members and 1 associate have died; 29 members and 6 associates have resigned; and 44 members and 6 associates have been dropped from the list for nonpayment of dues.

These changes are tabulated as follows:

The list of deaths comprises the names of John Percy, honorary member; C. A. Ashburner, Edward Bailey, Joshua E. Clayton, George H. Cook, F. S. Craven, H. S. Craven, Daniel Hillman, W. R. Jones, J. J. O'Farrell, W. H. Scranton, N. S. Stockwell, members; and F. B. Gowen, associate.

An interesting event of the year was the excursion to Great Britain and the continent of Europe, organized primarily by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, and joined individually by many of the members of the Institute. An account of this trip, prepared for the Council by Mr. A. E. Hunt, a Vice-President, and Mr. Charles Kirchhoff, Jr., a Manager of the Institute, will be published as an appendix to this report, in order to place on record in the Transactions a suitable recognition of the distinguished and abundant courtesy extended by our professional brethren in other countries to the representatives of American engineering.

Since the return of the visiting party, a copy of the following address, beautifully engraved and illuminated, has been sent to the Council of the Institute:

TO THE PRESIDENTS OF THE AMERICAN SOCIETIES OF CIVIL, Mining, MeCHANICAL AND ELECTRICAL ENGINEERS: We, the President, Past Presidents, Vice-Presidents, Council, and members of the Institution of Civil Engineers, acting on this occasion both for ourselves and the various bodies of engineers of the United Kingdom, hereby tender to you, as representatives of the members of the several engineering societies of America, a sincere and cordial welcome to this country, and gladly avail ourselves of the opportunity of publicly acknowledging, and as far as possible reciprocating, the manifold courtesies which for many years past have been lavished on British engineers visiting the Great Republic.

It is a source of peculiar satisfaction to receive you within this building, because we are here in the home of the parent of all the duly constituted engineering societies of this kingdom.

The association of engineers in England into one body, for their common advantage, originated with Smeaton, one of the fathers of the profession; it was not, however, until twenty-five years after his death, viz., in 1817-well-nigh three-quarters of a century ago—that the present Institution was actually formed.

Telford became its President in 1820, and in 1828 it received the Royal Charter, under which it has ever since flourished. In regard to magnitude, it is sufficient to state that our institution now comprises (including the class of students) upwards of 5700 members, and is largely adding to its numbers every year.

Although the civil engineers act as hosts in your reception, the several engineering bodies of the country are associated with us; and others outside our profession join in the welcome, and have rendered valuable aid in our endeavors to secure your comfort and gratification.

Foremost of all must be mentioned the special permission given by Her Most Gracious Majesty the Queen, for you to visit and inspect her royal palaces and domains at Windsor and in the metropolis. Nor must we omit to place on record the very exceptional and gratifying fact that the Lord Mayor, aldermen and Com

mon Council of the City of London have been pleased to place at the disposal of the Reception Committee the use of their ancient and noble Guildhall in order that we may entertain you, in accordance with old English custom at a festival dinner therein.

The leading railway, dock, gas and water companies have vied with each other in exercising hospitality, nor have private individuals been lacking in the earnest desire to add to your gratification whilst in our midst.

It would be superfluous and presumptuous to enlarge on the professional merits of American engineers. Their great works and clever inventions have passed far beyond the sphere of mere technical appreciation, and have become of world-wide celebrity. We feel justified in regarding the influence of you and your predecessors as one of the principal factors which have raised, with unexampled rapidity, the modest republic of George Washington to one of the foremost nations on earth. The problem of dealing with great difficulties presented by Nature, and, until recently, with comparatively limited means and limited appliances, has been solved by the American engineer, and the solution has left its mark upon the character of the nation.

With a population about double our own, and a territory stretching between ocean and ocean, more than 3000 miles from east to west, not to speak of its extent from north to south, distances have been conquered by your vast system of railways on a scale of magnitude of which we have no experience.

We trust that all the arrangements made for your visits to some of the most important public works in this kingdom will be successful and acceptable, and we hope you may carry back pleasant recollections of your visit to this country. Witness our hands and seal at Westminster this 13th day of June, 1889.

JOHN COODE, President.
JAMES FORREST, Secretary.

This graceful compliment has been suitably acknowledged on behalf of the Institute; but the debt of thanks still owing to our foreign brethren cannot be paid in words. It is with great pleasure, therefore, that the Council looks forward to an early opportunity of co-operating in a more substantial recognition and return of hospitalities. This opportunity is furnished by the acceptance, on the part of the Iron and Steel Institute of Great Britain, of the invitation extended by this Council, to hold its annual meeting this year in the United States. While this Institute has thus taken the formal initiative, it has been cordially supported by sister societies, and by the American iron and steel trade generally; and the arrangements for receiving and entertaining our distinguished guests will be made by a general committee, representing all interests and associations concerned. It is sufficient to say at this time, that the Council has decided to hold an autumn meeting of this Institute in connection with the meeting of the British society-probably immediately afterwards; and that, in order to give ample time and leisure for all preparations, it has been decided to hold no spring or summer meet