It was "intended to afford a medium for the presentation and analysis of any and all questions of interest or importance in pure and applied Mathematics, embracing especially all new and interesting discoveries in theoretical and practical astronomy, mechanical philosophy, and engineering".[2] It was published in Des Moines, Iowa, and was the earliest American mathematics journal to be published continuously for more than a year or two.[3] This incarnation of the journal ceased publication after its tenth year, in 1883, giving as an explanation Hendricks' declining health,[4] but Hendricks made arrangements to have it taken over by new management,[5] and it was continued from March 1884 as the Annals of Mathematics.[6] The new incarnation of the journal was edited by Ormond Stone (University of Virginia).