THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF ENGLAND. 235 



tant observations which have raade the Observatory of Green- 

 wich the most famous in the world. When, in 1698, Peter the 

 Great visited England, he showed his great natural love for all 

 that bore upon navigation by spending considerable time in the 

 observatory and among the Fellows of the Royal Society. His 

 quick mind evidently saw the advantages of such a society and 

 observatory, for later in his life he established the Academy of 

 Sciences and the National Observatory at St. Petersburg. 



In 1695 Dr. Woodward, Fellow, brought forward his " Essay 

 towards a Natural History of the Earth," which secured consid- 

 erable notice from the great knowledge displayed upon geological 

 subjects. He founded the professorship of Geology at Cambridge, 

 and bequeathed his geological museum to the university at his 

 death. In 1710 he managed to insult Sir Hans Sloane, then presi- 

 dent of the society, for which the society demanded an apology. 

 This he refused to give, and was expelled. He appealed to law 

 for reinstatement, but failed. So ended the first quarrel in the 

 history of the society. Woodward must have had a testy temper, 

 for he had a quarrel with Dr. Mead over some medical topic about 

 which they disagreed, and which resulted in a duel under the gate 

 of Gresham College. During the duel Woodward's foot slipped 

 and he fell. " Take your life ! " exclaimed Dr. Mead. " Anything 

 but your physic," replied Woodward. 



1709 is the date of the death of Sir Godfrey Copley, Fellow, 

 and the foundation by his will of the medal of that name, which 

 has been so pertinently styled by Sir Humphry Davy " the ancient 

 olive crown of the Royal Society." This medal is awarded yearly 

 "to the living author (native or foreign) of such philosophical 

 research, either published or communicated to the society, as may 

 appear to the council to be deserving that honor," and many of 

 the brightest men of science throughout the world have been re- 

 cipients of this medal. 



In 1752 England officially changed the calendar, the Royal So- 

 ciety, as would be supposed, being chiefly instrumental in the 

 change. The bill was drawn up by president of the society Folkes, 

 the secretary, Duval, and Astronomer Royal Bradley. 



The Julian calendar, as instituted by Julius Caesar, was so 

 perfect that it was universally used until the sixteenth century. 

 But as time ran on it was seen that the Julian year was eleven 

 minutes longer than it should be, so that by 1582 there was a dis- 

 crepancy of ten days. This resulted in great confusion in the 

 Church, respecting the proper dating of Easter and all other mova- 

 ble feasts. Pope Gregory XIII set to work to correct this, and, by 

 the recommendation of Lilius, a Neapolitan astronomer, proposed 

 the Gregorian Calendar or New Style, in which he corrected the 

 excessive ten days by declaring that the day following the 5th of 



