 His departure did not affect the Albany Institute, which recorded over a thousand members the next year.For other reasons, this would nonetheless be a peak year for the Institute as it was in the early 19th century.Between 1834 and 1837, attendance declined at meetings due to the excessive output of the Institute's chief meteorologist, Matthew Henry Webster, who took enthusiastically to the duty of coordinating the state weather surveys for the Board of Regents.