STATE OF OUR LEARNED SOCIETIES. 303 



can be bought for money, becomes, of course, an 

 intimation only of wealth, while its unlimited ex- 

 tension will soon render it insignificant. In pro- 

 portion to the largeness of the subscription, will be 

 the exclusion of those men whose names would add 

 dignity to the list ; for it has been truly observed, 

 that " very few, indeed, of the cultivators of science 

 rank amongst the wealthy classes;" while, in an 

 inverse ratio, will be the admission of the titled and 

 the untitled aristocracy. We cannot be persuaded 

 that these predictions are exaggerated; because 

 they are, from our personal knowledge, already in 

 operation. Were it necessary to prove this, we could 

 mention three or four names, whose fame has spread 

 over the civilised world; but who, for the very 

 reasons above mentioned, decline to become mem- 

 bers of these aristocratic societies. Professor Bab- 

 bage, in alluding to this subject, has given us a 

 table of the admission fees payable to thirteen of the 

 principal societies in Great Britain, with the ap- 

 pended letters, or " tail-pieces," attached to the names 

 of the purchasers. " Thus," he continues, " those 

 who are ambitious of scientific distinction, may, 

 according to their fancy, render their name a kind 

 of comet, carrying with it a tail of upwards of forty 

 letters, at the average cost of 10/. 9s. 9%d. per letter." 

 (210.) Let us not, however, be misunderstood 

 on this matter. It is far from our purpose, while 

 we venture to point out the defects of these asso- 

 ciations, to withhold the admission of their great 

 usefulness. If perfection cannot be attained by an 

 individual, how much less can it be expected in a 

 corporate body? The only truths we wish to im- 



