52 Anniversary Meeting. [Nov. 30, 



of a co-ordinating centre in the bulb, but of a cortical area in physio- 

 logical relation with the respiratory and phonatory movements of the 

 larynx ; in the other, in conjunction with Professor Gotch, he investi- 

 gated the electrical changes in the spinal cord which are associated 

 with excitation of the cortex and internal capsule, and showed how 

 the observation of these facts can be made available for tracing 

 channels of conduction in the cord. 



As regards the thyroid gland, Professor Horsley's inquiries relating 

 to functions of that organ were, like those relating to the nervous 

 system, begun ten years ago, though the results were not communi- 

 cated to the Royal Society until three years later. Their purpose 

 was to ascertain the nature of the very marked influence which the 

 thyroid was known to exercise on the nutritive functions of the 

 organism, and to show that this influence is constant and definite. 

 In this field, Professor Horsley has not only the merit of having been 

 one of the earliest workers, but of having at this early period arrived 

 at results which the numerous investigations of subsequent writers 

 have in all essential particulars confirmed. 



DAVY MEDAL. 

 Professor Peter Theodor Cleve. 



The Davy Medal is awarded to Peter Theodor Cleve, Professor of 

 Chemistry in the University of Upsala, for his services to chemical 

 science during the last thirty years, and in particular for his long- 

 continued and valuable researches on the chemistry of the rare earths. 



This field of inquiry is pre-eminently Scandinavian. By the 

 manner in which he has cultivated it, Professor Cleve has shown 

 himself a worthy successor of such forerunners as Gadolin, Berzelius, 

 and Mosander, and by sound and patient investigation he has faith- 

 fully upheld the traditions inseparably associated with these names. 

 All chemists are agreed that no department of their science demands 

 greater insight or more analytical skill than this particular section. 

 Many of the minerals which furnish the starting point for investiga- 

 tion are extremely rare, and the amounts of the several earths which 

 they contain are frequently very small. Moreover, the substances 

 themselves are most difficult of isolation, and their characters are so 

 nearly allied that the greatest care and judgment are required in 

 order to determine their individuality. 



A remarkable example of Professor Cleve's power in overcoming 

 these difficulties is seen in his masterly inquiry into the affinities and 

 relations of the element scandium, discovered by Wilson. This, one 

 of the rarest of the metals, is found only in gadolinite to the extent 

 of O'OOS per cent., and in yttrotitanite to the extent of about 0'005 

 per cent. The whole amount of the material, as oxide, at Cleve's 



