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Rh ROYAL SOCIETY 39 to the purchase of scientific books. These MSS. are still kept in the museum as a separate collection. Under date December 21, 1671, the journal-book records that "the lord bishop of Sarum proposed for candidate Mr Isaac Newton, professor of the mathematicks at Cam- bridge." Newton was elected a fellow January 11, 1671-2, and in 1703 he was appointed president, a post which he held till his death in 1727. During his pre- sidency the society moved to Crane Court, their first meeting in the new quarters being held November 8, 1710. In the same year they were appointed visitors and directors of the Royal Observatory at Greenwich, a func- tion which they continued to perform until the accession of William IV., when by the new warrant then issued the president and six of the fellows of the Royal Astrono- mical Society were added to the list of visitors. In 1780, under the presidency of Sir Joseph Banks, the Royal Society removed from Crane Court to the apart- ments assigned to them by the Government in the new Somerset House, where they remained until they removed to Burlington House in 1857. The policy of Sir Joseph Banks was to render the fellowship more difficult of attainment than it had been, and the measures which he took for this purpose, combined with other circum- stances, led to the rise of a faction headed by Dr Horsley. Throughout the years 1783 and 1784 feeling ran exceed- ingly high, but in the end the president was supported by the majority of the society. An account of the contro- versy will be found in a tract entitled An Authentic Narra- tive of the Dissensions and Debates in the Royal Society. In connexion with this policy of Sir Joseph Banks may be mentioned a further step in the same direction taken in the year 1847, when the number of candidates recom- mended for election by the council was limited to fifteen, and the election was made annual. Concurrently, how- ever, with this gradual narrowing of the Royal Society's boundaries was the successive establishment of other scientific bodies. The founding of the Linnean Society in 1788 under the auspices of several fellows of the Royal Society was the first instance of the establishment of a distinct scientific association under royal charter. The Geological Society followed in 1807, and the Royal Astronomical Society in 1820. The Chemical, the Royal Geographical, and the Entomological are the remaining chartered scientific societies existing in London at the present time. The Royal Society continues, however, to hold the foremost place among the scientific bodies of England, not only from the number of eminent men in- cluded in its fellowship, but also from its close official con- nexion with the Government. The following will serve as some indication of the variety and importance of the scientific matters upon which they have been consulted by or have memorialized the Government during the last seventy years: 1816, standard measures of length; 1817, expedition in search of North- West Passage ; 1822, use of coal-tar in vessels of war ; best manner of measuring tonnage of ships ; 1823, corrosion of copper sheathing by sea- water ; Babbage's cal- culating-machine ; lightning-conductors for vessels of war; 1825, supervision of gas-works ; 1826, Parry's North Polar expedition ; 1832, tidal observations ; 1835, instruments and tables for testing the strength of spirits ; 1839, Antarctic expedition ; magnetic observatories in the colonies ; 1845, Franklin's Arctic expedition ; 1849-55, Government grant for scientific research ; 1862, the great Melbourne telescope ; 1865, pendulum observations in India ; 1866, reorganization of the meteorological department ; 1868, deep sea research; 1872, "Challenger" expedition; 1874, Arctic expedi- tion ; 1875, eclipse expedition ; 1876, Vivisection Bill ; 1877, transit of Venus expedition ; 1879, prevention of accidents in mines ; 1881, pendulum observations ; 1882, transit of Venus ; cruise of the " Triton " in Faroe Channel ; 1883, borings in delta of Nile ; 1884, Bureau des Poids et Mesures ; prime meridian confer- ence, &c. One of the most important duties which the Royal Society performs on behalf of the Government is the administra- tion of the annual grant of 4000 for the promotion of scientific research. This grant originated in a proposal by Lord John Russell in 1849 that at the close of the year the president and council should point out to the first lord of the treasury a limited number of persons to whom the grant of a reward or of a sum to defray the cost of experiments might be of essential service. This grant of 1000 afterwards became annual, and was continued until 1876. In that year an additional sum of 4000 for similar pur- poses was granted, and the two funds of 1000 and 4000 were administered concurrently until 1881, in which year the two were combined in a single annual grant of 4000 under new regulations. One of the most useful of the society's undertakings of late years is the great catalogue of scientific papers, an index, in eight quarto volumes, under authors' names, of all the memoirs of importance in the chief English and foreign scientific serials from the year 1800 to the year 1873. The work was prepared under the direc- tion and at the expense of the Royal Society, and was printed by H. M. Stationery Office. A statement of the trust funds administered by the Royal Society will be found in their published Proceedings under date November 30th of each year, and the origin and' history of these funds will be found in Weld's History of tJie Royal Society, and in the late William Spottiswoode's " Anniversary Address for 1874" (Proc., Roy. Soc., xxiii. p. 49). The income of the society is derived from the annual contributions and composition fees of the fellows, from rents, and from interest on various investments. Thp balance-sheet and an account of the estates and property are pub- lished in the Proceedings at each anniversary. Four medals (a Copley, two Royal, and a Davy) are awarded by the society every year, and the Rumford medal in alternate years. The first of these originated in a bequest by Sir Godfrey Copley (1709), and is awarded "to the living author of such philosophical research, either pub- lished or communicated to the society, as may appear to the council to be deserving of that honour" ; the author may be an Englishman or a foreigner. The Rumford medal originated in a gift from Count Rumford in 1796 of 1000 3 per cent, consols, for the most important discoveries in heat or light made during the preceding two years. The Royal medals were instituted by George IV., and are awarded annually for the two most important contributions to science published in the British dominions not more than ten years nor less than one year from the date of the award. The Davy medal was founded by the will of Dr John Davy, F.R.S., the brother of Sir Humphry Davy, and is given annually for the most important discovery in chemistry made in Europe or Anglo-America. An enumeration of the awards of each of the medals will be found at the end of the list of fellows which is published annually by the society. Under the existing statutes of the Royal Society every candidate for election must be recommended by a certificate in writing signed by six or more fellows, of whom three at least must sign from personal knowledge. From the candidates so recommended the council annually select fifteen by ballot, and on the first Thursday in June the names so selected are submitted to the society in the form of a printed balloting-sheet with space left for erasure and substitution of names. Princes of the blood may, however, be proposed at any ordinary meeting and put to the vote on the same day, and any member of H. SI. privy council may be balloted for on' the third ordinary meeting from the day upon which his certificate is read. Foreign members, not exceeding fifty, may be selected by the council from among men of the greatest scientific eminence, and proposed to the society for election. Every member of the privileged class is liable to an admission fee of 10 and an annual payment of 4 ; other fellows pay 3 per annum. The composition for annual payments is 60. The anniversary meeting for the election of the council and officers is held on St Andrew's Day. The council for the ensuing year, out of which are chosen the president, treasurer, principal secretaries, and foreign secretary, must consist of eleven members of the existing council and ten fellows who are not members of the existing council. These are nominated by the president and council previously to the anniversary meeting. The session of the society is from November to June ; the ordinary meetings are held every Thursday during the session, at 4.30 P.M. The selection for publication from the papers read before the society is made by the "Committee of Papers," which consists of the members of the council for the time being aided by referees. The papers so selected are published either in the Philosophical Transactions (4to) or the Proceedings of the Royal Society (8vo), and one copy of each of these publications is presented gratis to every fellow of the society and to the chief scientific societies throughout the world. The making and repealing of laws is vested in the council, and in every case the question must be put to the vote on two several days of their meeting. Tlie text of the charters of the Royal Society is Riven in the appendix to Weld's birth, election, admission, and death, and an alphabetical index to the same,