152 ORIGIN AND HISTORY OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF LONDON. 



their titles fill, on an average, two folio pages weekly during the session. 

 Certificates of candidates for election arc then read, and next such i)aper or pa- 

 pers as may have been communicated to the meeting. For these papers formal 

 thanks are returned, and they become thenceforth the property of the Society. 

 Discussion on the subject treated of in the paper follows, after which the meet- 

 ing is adjourned, and "the Fellows repair with their friends to the library where 

 they partake of tea, a custom introduced, it is stated, by Sir Humphrey Davy. 

 A conrcrsazione ensues, which lasts until about eleven o'clock. The council 

 meets monthly, or more frequently, if necessary. The scientific committees 

 assemble as occasion requires. Those annually appointed are : Mathematics, 

 astronomy, physics, chemistry, geology, botany, zoology, and animal physiology. 

 The number of members varies from fifteen to thirty, the latter number rcpre- 

 scntin"- that of physics which is the largest. The FMlosophical Transactions 

 are "-enerally pubfished in two parts, (June and November,) Avhich form a vol- 

 ume, though occasionally a third or even a fourth part appears. Besides the 

 Transactions, abstracts of the papers and minutes are published monthly, and 

 these, now extending to more than ten volumes, are entitled Proceedings of the 

 Royal Society. 



