proceedings: academy of sciences 125 



were Robert Boyle and John Wilkins, it before long welcomed Isaac 

 Newton into its ranks, published his immortal " Principia," and annually 

 elected him as its President for nearly a quarter of a century. He called 

 attention to the fact that the physical sciences had all along been 

 strongly represented in the Society. It seemed but yesterday, he said, 

 that James Clerk Maxwell's voice was heard in those rooms and that 

 Stokes and Kelvin sat in the presidential chair; that the succession of 

 leaders was still well maintained, he called attention to the presence that 

 day of Lord Rayleigh, Sir William Crooks, Sir Joseph Thomson, Sir 

 Joseph Larmor, and any others. Nor had the biological sciences 

 been less prominent in the work of the Society. From the early days 

 of John Ray down to those of Charles Darwin, Hooker, Huxley and 

 Lister, every branch of biology has been illustrated and advanced by 

 the fellows of the Society. 



The ceremony of presenting addresses of congratulation followed. 

 Aside from the formal addresses there were speeches of complimentary 

 character from a representative of each country. For America, Prof. 

 W. B. Scott, of Princeton, as Vice-President of the American Philo- 

 sophical Society, was selected. A notable incident of this function was 

 the presentation to the Society by the German academies and societies 

 of a large bronze tablet commemorative of the work of the Royal Society 

 and of the admiration held for it in Germany. This tablet is to be set 

 into the walls of the Library at Burlington House. 



At night on Tuesday a banquet took place at the Guildhall. The 

 delegates were all present, and hundreds of men prominent in most walks 

 of life in England graced the function by their presence. A glance over 

 the table list shows many familiar names, from which are culled here 

 and there a few which may be of especial interest to members of the 

 Washington Academy: Lord AUerton, Lord Alverstone, the Arch- 

 bishop of Canterbury, the Archbishop of York, Mr. Asquith the Premier 

 of England, Mr. Balfour, Cardinal Bourne, Mr. Francis Darwin, Sir 

 George H. Darwin, the Dean of Saint Pauls, the Dean of Westminster, 

 Prince Ahmed Fouad Pacha, Prince Boris Galitzin, Sir Archibald 

 Geikie, Lord George Hamilton, Mr. Rudyard Kipling, Lord Morley, 

 the Duke of Northumberland, Sir William Osier, Sir William Ramsay, 

 Lord Rayleigh, Lord Reay, Hon. Walter Rothschild, Professor Schaefer 

 President of the British Association for the Advancement of Science, 

 Lord Strathcona, Lord Sudeley, Lord Tennyson, Sir William Thisleton- 

 Dyer, Sir J. J. Thomson, and Sir. J. I. Thornycroft. 



Wherever one glanced around the assemblage his eye fell upon some 

 man of world-wide fame. 



At the conclusion of the dinner there was an extraordinary list of 

 toasts and responses. The word "toast-master" in England at a func- 

 tion of this kind has a different significance from the term as applied 

 in this country. There the toast-master is literally an announcer of 

 toasts. On this occasion he was a very large man "with a very large 

 voice, who announced in stentorian tones at the request of the presiding 

 officer the toasts which were to be drunk, invariably beginning "My lords 

 and gentlemen." 



