Notes. 289
are many others as important as the
'Serpent' which need
attention at once to preserve
them."
A member of the Society writes: "We
must do some-
thing before the centennial celebration
for their purchase and
protection, or be disgraced." Every
member of the Society
should use his influence to interest the
members of the Leg-
islature in the matter, in order that
the State may fitly add
to the glory of its centennial by the
purchase of the more
important of the works of its
prehistoric inhabitants.
THE AMERICAN HISTORICAL
ASSOCIATION.-This Associa-
tion, now numbering 431 members, among
whom are the
foremost statesmen, historians, and
teachers of history in
the United States, will hold its next
annual meeting in
Columbus, in September 1888. The
association has never
met in the West, and comes now upon
invitation of the State
authorities, the State Archaeological
and Historical Society,
and Ohio State University. The important
historical events
to be commemorated here next year
doubtless determined the
Society in its choice. The meetings will
be full of interest
to all students of history. Western and
Northwestern his-
tory will receive special attention, and
it is probable that at
least one session will be devoted
exclusively to those sub-
jects. A recent communication of the
Secretary of the
Association says: "The meeting of
the Association, at
Columbus, in September, will be quite
distinct from any local
celebration in that city, but special
attention will be given to
Western History, in his opening address,
by Dr. William F.
Poole, of the Newberry Library, Chicago,
who is now the
President of the Association."
Not only ought the members of our
Society to take advan-
tage of the historical treat certain to
be afforded by the papers
presented at this meeting, but a large
number of them ought
also to be enrolled among the members of
the American
Association. At the meetings of the
Association many
papers of great value are presented, of
which full printed
abstracts are sent to every member, and,
in addition, several
monographs are published each year for
distribution among
290
Ohio Archaeological and Historical Quarterly.
the members. The aims and ideas of the
Association are
fairly set forth in the following
statement:
"The constitutional object of the
organization is the pro-
motion of historical studies. The
primary motive for member-
ship is therefore scientific. The
Association has accomplished
results that can not be estimated by any
pecuniary standard
of value. It has encouraged original
research by its meetings
and publications; it has brought
historical students and spe-
cialists together; it has caused a more
frequent exchange of
ideas among them, and it has awakened
greater public inter-
est in historical studies. The present
enthusiasm for history,
not only in American colleges and
universities, but in the
States at large, is in no small degree
the fruit of the American
Historical Association."
What our Society has been striving amid
great difficulties
to do for Ohio history and its study,
the American Historical
Association is doing in a wider field.
It is to be hoped that
both will continue to grow in membership
and in usefulness.
THE ANNUAL AND MONTHLY MEETINGS.-The
next annual
meeting of the Ohio Archaeological and
Historical Society,
instead of occurring at the regular time
in February, will be
held at Marietta, in April, in
connection with the Centennial
celebration. The Society will present no
special program of
its own, but will join in the exercises
commemorative of the
centennial of the settlement of the
Northwest Territory. The
full program of these exercises will
appear in the March
QUARTERLY.
The monthly meetings of the Society at
Columbus will be
resumed early in the New Year, and
addresses will be deliv-
ered during the winter by Professor
Cyrus Thomas, Professor
F. W. Putnam, Dr. B. A. Hinsdale and
others. These
papers will be printed full or in
abstract in the QUARTERLY,
thus enabling all members of the Society
who cannot attend
the meetings to know the main features
of the addresses.
In view of the peculiar interest
attaching to the coming cel-
ebrations of 1888, it is expected that
these meetings and
addresses will be unusually attractive.