Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 53.djvu/867

Rh progress. The attendance was unusually large, including, along with many distinguished names, members from nearly all parts of the United States and Canada. A good many papers were read possessing, as a rule, a high order of merit, while, fortunately, not a few of them were couched in language that could be readily understood by an intelligent listener, and thus gave added interest to the proceedings.

The association was welcomed by Governor Wolcott in behalf of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Mayor Quincy representing the city of Boston, and President Crafts, of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where the sessions were held. Though brief, the addresses were in each instance thoughtful and impressive and were heard with keen appreciation by the large audience present at the opening session. A marked feature of all of them was the emphasis with which the speakers dwelt upon the value of science as an agency in education, and the great services it had rendered and was yet to render to the community at large in the improvement of the material conditions of life and the elevation of the intellectual and moral tone of society.

The citizens of Boston, as is their wont, received the association with open arms, sparing nothing in the way of hospitality and good feeling to make the occasion an enjoyable and profitable one to the nine hundred members who were present at the meeting. Wherever the latter appeared, whether in street car, hotel, or at special reception, all were made to feel that they were the honored guests of the city, meeting with a courtesy and consideration that alone would have been a fair return for the trouble and expense their pilgrimage had cost them.

The opportunities provided for social intercourse and recreation were numerous and varied. One day it was a steamboat excursion down the harbor, which could not have been better timed, as it did much to mitigate the effects of the extreme heat which afflicted the city. Another day the entire association was taken to Salem, where, after being bounteously dined, the members were shown the many places of interest, historic and scientific, for which that old city is celebrated. As the guests of Harvard University a day was also given to a visit to Cambridge. Here, under the guidance of members of the faculty, the laboratories, museums, and other features of scientific and educational interest belonging to the university were thrown open for observation. Lunch and tea were served in the great Memorial Hall, and the occasion was fittingly closed with an able address by President Eliot, delivered in Sanders Theater in the evening. Receptions given by Governor Wolcott, Mrs. J. C. Phillips, Mrs. William B. Rogers, the trustees of the Museum of Fine Arts, and the officers of the Boston Public Library were another form of contribution to the enjoyment of the members which was much appreciated. These, with a dinner given by Mayor Quincy to the principal officers of the association and foreign guests, and numerous minor excursions to various points of interest in the neighborhood of Boston, represent but incompletely the hearty and abounding hospitality with which the association was entertained. The kindly and cordial attentions that were everywhere showered upon them could not fail of their effect on the spirits of the visitors. This was seen in their beaming countenances, the uniform jollity that prevailed in spite of the excessive heat, and the felicitations that were heard on every