1 866 THE NEILL MEDAL AND DOCTORATE OF LAWS 285 



its colour and character there ? Macculloch says the 

 stone is calcareous, and so it is. I am going to write 

 a short report for the Dean, so please let me know 

 soon.' 



On the 2nd April 1866 the Royal Society of Edin- 

 burgh awarded to Ramsay the Neill prize ' for his 

 various works and memoirs published during the last 

 five years, in which he had applied the large experi- 

 ence acquired by him in the direction of the arduous 

 work of the Geological Survey of Great Britain to the 

 elucidation of important questions bearing on geolo- 

 gical science.' The presentation was made by the 

 venerable President, Sir David Brewster, and Ramsay 

 attended in person to receive it. The ceremony was 

 fixed to take place at the same time as the visit of 

 Thomas Carlyle to Edinburgh as Rector of the 

 University, when he delivered his memorable address, 

 and when the degree of LL.D. was conferred on three 

 distinguished teachers of the Jermyn Street School 

 Tyndall, Ramsay, and Huxley. One of the features 

 of this visit, which Ramsay remembered with special 

 pleasure, was the dinner of the Royal Society Club. 

 The Royal Society of Edinburgh, like its sister societies 

 in other parts of the United Kingdom, has its dining 

 club, limited in number of members, who comprise 

 the leading resident fellows. But the distinguishing 

 feature of the northern fraternity is that, while it per- 

 mits few toasts and no speeches, its proceedings are 

 always enlivened with songs, often written for the 

 occasion. For many years it has boasted a succession 

 of song-writers, one or two of them gifted with great 

 humour, some of whose songs are known far and wide 

 beyond the limits of the Club. The post -prandial 

 efforts of Lord Neaves, unmelodious but infinitely 



