122 proceedings: academy of sciences 



been founded in 1660, and King Charles II, in fact, approved of its 

 organization in December of that year. A Charter of Incorporation, 

 however, passed the Great Seal July 15, 1662, and it appears that King 

 Charles gave the newly founded society a small grant at that time, 

 which, however, and sad to relate, he was forced to withdraw before the 

 conclusion of his reign. The first Transactions appeared March 6, 

 1664-65. The headquarters of the Society at the start were in Gresham 

 College, but after the great fire of 1666 meetings were held in Arundel 

 House, at the invitation of Henry Howard of Norfolk. 



Isaac Newton was elected a fellow in 1671, and in 1703 was made 

 President, retaining the office until his death in 1727. During his 

 term the Society moved to Crane Court, and in 1780, under the presi- 

 dency of Sir Joseph Banks, it again removed to apartments set aside 

 in Somerset House, where it stayed until 1857, when it removed to 

 Burlington House, Piccadilly, where it has remained ever since. 



In the entire course of its history the Royal Society has been constantly 

 consulted by the government for advice on scientific matters of national 

 importance. Thus the Royal Observatory at Greenwich was in 1810 

 placed under the sole charge of the Society, and this policy has been 

 continued down to the recent investigations of sleeping sickness and 

 other diseases, conducted under the auspices of this organization. 



The Society administers large sums for the promotion of scientific 

 research, possessing an annual grant exceeding twenty thousand dol- 

 lars for this purpose. Five medals (the Copley, two Royals, the Davey 

 and the Hughes) are awarded every year. The Rumford and Darwin 

 medals are awarded every two years, the latter having been awarded 

 the present j^ear to Dr. Francis Darwin, a son of Charles Darwin, in 

 whose honor the medal was struck. The Silvester medal is awarded 

 triennially, and the Buchanan medal every four years. It is worthy of 

 note that the Buchanan medal this year was awarded to Col. William 

 C. Gorgas, sanitary officer in charge of sanitation of the Panama Canal. 



Fellows are elected strictly in accordance with their scientific attain- 

 ments, except of course in the case of royalty. The admission fee is 

 fifty dollars, and the annual dues twenty dollars, but, by the operation 

 of a fund established in 1878, the admission fee and five dollars of the 

 annual dues have been remitted since that time. 



In making preparations for the celebration of this two hundred and 

 fiftieth anniversary, judging by results only, since I am not informed as 

 to the steps which were taken, considerable care was exercised in the 

 selection of the organizations which were invited to send delegates. 

 Apparently only the principal academies of science and the principal 

 universities of the world were invited. At all events, less than three 

 hundred delegates, including those from Great Britain, were in attend- 

 ance, and among these the United States of America had the largest 

 number. It may be interesting to mention the American delegates 



