Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 86.djvu/194

190 Table II. gives the designation of each society, the country it represents, the year of its foundation, the number of resident members, the number of foreign members and the number of members represented in Table I. The latter sometimes exceeds the present number of foreign associates, owing to deaths and the election of resident members. The care taken by each society in electing members is shown in the last four columns. They give the number first elected by each society, the number first elected of the members of the seven societies, the number last elected of the members of seven societies, and the number not yet elected of the members of six societies. When a member is elected in two societies in the same year, both are included.

Table II Societies

The Lincei is the oldest of the societies, and the Institute of France has the largest number of foreign associates. The Royal Society, the next oldest, has much the largest number of resident members, in fact nearly as many as all the others put together. If any rigid system were adopted for the election of members, each would evidently be elected first into the Institute of France, then into the Lincei, and so on, in the order of numbers. The skill shown by the Russian Academy and the Lincei in selecting members is indicated by the large number of first elections. It was a great triumph for each of them to have elected five men who were not members of either of the other societies, and then to be followed by all of the others. The small number elected by the National Academy is not justified by the number of foreign associates. On the other hand, it is not creditable to a society to have been the last to elect, or to have failed to elect those whose ability had already secured their memberships in the other six societies. Judged by this standard, Austria has overlooked 13 men, the United States 7 and Germany 5. Of the 13, Austria has overlooked 5 astronomers, 3 physicists and 2 mathematicians.

The results of a grouping according to countries are contained in Table III. The name of the country is given in the first column, followed by the number of memberships of 7, 6, 5, 4, 3 and 2, by the total number, the total number of societies, and the number of societies per