On the Disappearance of Scientific Papers from the New Orleans Academy of Sciences in the Late Nineteenth Century

Karlem Reiss (Physics and Physical Sciences in New Orleans) notes in his discussion of various members of the Academy that a number of papers from that period have since disappeared "(Claudius W) Sears was elected to membership in the New Orleans Academy of Sciences in 1857. This indicates that he must have published at least three scientific papers, but no record exists of these today." (p. 171)  I wonder where this 'rule' is first referenced and whether this might have prompted J R Walker to publish under the humble title of 'R(ecording) S(ecretary)' rather than his real name.  Had he actually published enough scientific papers to be consider a full member?  In any event, this at least shows that we only have a fragment of the original number of published papers.  Add to this to the fact that we have very little information from the specific period of 1874 - 1875 maybe there is something to this article.  I don't know yet.