of the Centenary of the Birth of Dr. Priestley. 387 



am convinced he would be present. There are many circumstances, 

 I think, connected with the name of Priestley, which must be very 

 gratifying to the members of the Royal Society. First, Dr. Priestley 

 was one of its Fellows ; and next, we have the satisfaction and the 

 great pride, that the Transactions of the Royal Society are the de- 

 positories of his discoveries. We have also the satisfaction of know- 

 ing that the Council of the Royal Society at that time were not 

 unmindful of the very great merit of his communications ; for in the 

 same year that his first paper on the Properties of Air was commu- 

 nicated, they gave to him the Copley Medal, which was the highest 

 honour they could bestow, and which is, in the words of Sir John 

 Pringle, who presented it to him, " the palm and laurel of our com- 

 munity." The paper for which the Copley Medal was given, was 

 not that which has been so much admired, on the discovery of oxygen 

 gas ; but that which contained the analysis of atmospheric air with 

 nitrous gas j and it contained also (which was not much considered 

 at the time,) the relation of his having received muriatic acid gas over 

 quicksilver, and introduced particles of water, showing that the gas 

 was immediately absorbed by the water. These and many other 

 papers he contributed to the Royal Society ; which show the great 

 use of the Society at that time, when there were not so many So- 

 cieties as there are now, nor so many scientific journals. 



I am convinced there is no one present who does not wish pros- 

 perity to the Royal Society ; and I am sure, also, that although some 

 persons may have censured its proceedings, their censure has only 

 proceeded from a desire to render it more useful to the public. I 

 can truly say that this feeling exists nowhere so strongly as with His 

 Royal Highness the President, and with the Council. I hope the 

 Society will long endure, and that it will be the means of recording 

 even more brilliant discoveries than have ever yet been given to the 

 world. 



I may take the opportunity of remarking, that too much has been 

 said of the decline of science in this country. It is not for me to 

 dwell on discoveries which have been made in chemistry ; but I may 

 refer to one which must strike us all, I mean that of Mr. Faraday 

 with respect to the magnetic spark, which is recorded in the Trans- 

 actions of the Royal Society of last year. Geology is not on the 

 decline ; and there are now astronomers and mathematicians whose 

 names do honour to this country, papers by some of whom are to be 

 found in our Transactions. We have had a paper by Mr. Ivory 

 extending the expressions of Mr. Jacobi in the theory of elliptic 

 transcendants, and, more recently, a paper by Professor Airy on a 

 new Inequality of Venus. I have ventured to introduce these in- 

 stances, because they show that science, even in these branches, is 

 not altogether neglected. 



. The President having proposed the health of Charles Hatchett, 

 Esq., F.R.S., as greatly distinguished by the industry and talent with 

 which he had prosecuted chemical researches, that gentleman returned 

 thanks, addressing the company to the following effect: — 



3D2 



