Twenty-five years of Institute history

In view of the fact that according to the printed records of the Institute, the first steps towards its formation were taken in April, 1884, it may seem premature for me to-night to talk even twenty-five minutes about twenty-five years. But we are on the verge of 1908, and the Institute was already in existence in the minds of its advocates and friends in 1883, long before we circulated for signature the “call to arms” now hanging on the walls of the headquarters in the beautiful new home on Thirty-ninth street, New York. I had the honor to assist Dr. N. S. Keith in the preparation of the famous April circular and to secure many of the notable signatures to it. It fell equally to my lot to prepare and issue the first volume of Transactions and to make the first secretarial report. I have never enjoyed the confidence of the Institute sufficiently to be trusted as its treasurer, but I have been elected to every other office in its gift and may therefore venture to discuss it, on your invitation, from the inside and its various other aspects.