large number of societies now active in the promotion of special
branches of science.
From the time of its royal founder onwards the Royal Society has constantly been appealed to by the government for advice in connexion with scientific undertakings of national importance. The following are some of the principal matters of this character upon which the society has been consulted by, or which it has successfully urged upon the attention of, the government: the improvement and equipment of the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, in 1710, when it was placed in the sole charge of the society; the change of the calendar in 1752; ventilation of prisons; protection of buildings and ships from lightning; measurement olp a degree of latitude; determination of the length of a pendulum vibratin-g seconds; comparison of the British and French standards of length; the Geodetic Survey in 1784, and the General Trigonometrical Survey begun in 1791; expeditions to observe the transits of Venus in 1761, 1769 (commanded b Captain Cook), 1877 and 1882; the Antarctic expeditions of 1772 (imder Captain Cook, whose voyage extended to the circumnavigation of the globe), of 1839 (under Ross), and 1900; observations for determining the density of the earth; Arctic expeditions of 1817 (in search of the North-West Passage), of 1819 (under Parry), of 1827 (Parry and Ross), of 1845 (Franklin), of 1874 (under Nares); numerous expeditions for observing eclipses of the sun; 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 calculating machine; lightning-conductors for vessels of war; 1825, supervision of gas-works; 1832, tidal observations; 1835, instruments and tables for testing the strength of spirits; magnetic observatories in the colonies; 1862, the great Melbourne telegraph; 1865, pendulum observations in India; 1866, reorganization of the meteorological department; 1868, deepsea research; 1872, “Challenger” expedition; 1879, prevention of accidents in mines; 1881, pendulum observations; cruise of the “ Triton " in Faroe Channel; 1883, borings in delta of Nile; 1884, Bureau des Poids et Mesures; international conference on a prime meridian; 1888, inquiry into lighthouse illuminant's; 1890, the investigation of colour-blindness; 1895, examination of the structure of a coral reef by boring; 1896, inquiry into cylinders for compressed gases; the establishment of an International Geodetic Bureau; 1897, determination of the relations between the metric and imperial units of weights and measures; and, more recently, an inquiry into the volcanic eruptions in the West Indies; international seismological investigation; international exploration of the upper atmosphere; measurement of an arc of the meridian across Africa. In recent years also the society, acting at the request of the government, has taken the leading part in investigations, in the course of which important discoveries have been made, in relation to various tropical diseases, beginning with the tsetse-ily disease of cattle in Africa, followed by investigations into malaria, Mediterranean fever and sleeping sickness. The society has standing committees which advise the Indian government on matters connected with scientific inquiry in India and on the observatories of India. The society has taken a leading part in the promotion of the International Catalogue of Scientijic Literature from 1900, and of the International Association of Academies, which is composed of all the principal scientific academies of the world, meeting regularly to promote international action in questions of scientific interest. In addition to the occasional services enumerated above, the Royal Society has exercised, and still exercises, a variety of important public functions of a more permanent nature. It still provides seven of the board of visitors of the Royal Observatory at Greenwich. From 1877 until the reconstitution of the Meteorological Office in 1906 the society nominated the meteorological council, which had the control of that office. The society has the custody of standard copies of the imperial standard yard and pound. The president and council have the control of the National Physical Laboratory, an institution established in 1899 in pursuance of the recommendations of a treasury committee appointed by H.M. government in response to representations from the Royal Society. The society had previously for many years had control of the Kew Observatory, now incorporated with the National Physical Laboratory, and still remains trustee of the Gassiot Fund, a fund established for the maintenance of the observatory. The society elects four of the nine members of the managing committee of the Lawes Agricultural Trust, and is officially re resented on the governing bodies of a number of important scientific and educational institutions and of the principal public schools. One of the most important duties which the Royal Society performs on behalf of the government is the administration 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 purposes was granted, and the two funds of £IOO0 and £4000 were administered concurrently until 1881, in which year the two were combined in a single annual grant of £4000 under new regulations. Since 1896 parliament has also voted annually a grant of £1000 to be administered by the Royal Society in aid of scientific publications, not only those issued by itself, but also scientific matter published through other channels. One of the most useful of the s0ciety's publications is the great catalogue of scientific papers-an index now in twelve 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 1883. The work was prepared under the direction of the Royal Society. A continuation carrying the catalogue up to the end of the 19th century, and a subject index to the whole catalogue, have also been compiled.
A statement of the trust funds administered by the Royal Society will be found in the Year Book published annually, and the origin and history of these funds will be found in the Record of the Royal Society (2nd ed. 1901). 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. The balance sheet and an account of the estates and property are published in the Year Book. Five medals (the Copley, two Royal, the Davy and the Hughes) are awarded by the society every year; the Rumford and the Darwin medals biennially, the Sylvester triennially and the Buchanan quinquennially. 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 published 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% 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 Mr 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 and the conditions of the awards are published in the I/'ear Book. The society also has the award of three research studentships, one founded in 1890 in memory of ]. P. ]0ule, and the others created out of a bequest to the society by Sir William Mackinnon in 1897.
Under the existing statutes of the Royal Society every candidate for election into the society 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 the names so selected are submitted to the society for election by ballot. Princes of the blood, however, and not more than two persons selected by the council on special grounds once in two years, may be elected by a more summary procedure. Foreign members, not exceeding fifty, may be selected by the council from among men of the greatest scientific eminence abroad, and proposed to the society for election. Every Fellow of the society is liable to an admission fee of £10 and an annual payment of £4; but, by aid of a fund established in 1878 for the purpose, the admission fees and £1 of the annual contribution of all the Fellows elected since that date have been remitted. 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 ]u'ne; the ordinary meetings are held on Thursdays 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 committees appointed for the purpose. The papers so selected are published either in the Philosophical Transactions (4to) or the Proceedings of the Royal Society (8v6), 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.
The text of the charters of the Royal Society is given in the Record, and in the same work will be found lists of the presidents, treasurers, secretaries and assistant-secretaries from the foundation to the ear 1900. The same work gives a chronological list of all the Fellows, with dates of election, and an alphabetical index. Other histories are Thomson's History of the Royal Society (1812); Weld's History of the Royal Society; Bishop Sprat's (1667), which consists largely of a defence of the society against the attacks of a priori philosophers; and Dr 'Birch's (1756), which treats mainly of the society's scientific work. (R. W. F H.)
