NATURE 



145 



THURSDAY, DECEMBER 15, 1892. 



CRITICISM OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY. 

 A " Criticism of the Royal Society" which appeared in 

 ■^^ the Times of December 1st, is so obviously the 

 work of a writer unacquainted with the inner hfe of the 

 Society, that it might well have been left to " waste its 

 sweetness on the desert air," had it not been taken 

 seriously in an editorial article of the same issue of the 

 leading journal. In fact/the relations of the " Criticism " 

 to the editorial leader suggest that the discharge of these 

 bombs into the scientific camp was carefully arranged ; 

 the writer of the criticism having managed to persuade 

 the editor of the Times that the Society is in a bad way. 

 That really is a serious matter, and justifies a brief but 

 careful critique of the" Criticism." 



The "Criticism" says:— "The Royal Society is officially 

 and statutorily described as the ' Royal Society for im- 

 proving natural knowledge,' that is to say for promoting 

 and rewarding original investigation." 



The first half of this statement is quite correct, but the 

 second is as completely erroneous. From its earliest 

 days the Royal Society has conferred its Fellowship on 

 persons who had nothing to do, directly, with original 

 investigation, but were promoters of the " improvement of 

 natural knowledge " in other ways. And so very loosely 

 were the conditions of admission construed, half a century 

 ago, that the Society was in danger of sinking into a 

 mere club. From this fate it was rescued by the reform 

 effected by the vigorous efforts of Sir W. Grove and the 

 late Mr. Leonard Horner, which restricted the number 

 of new fellows to be annually j^lected (not elected) by 

 the Council to fifteen. These fifteen names are presented 

 to a General Meeting which may, if it pleases, reject any 

 or all of them and substitute more or fewer other names. 

 The control of the Society at large is absolute. Neverthe- 

 less, in the five and forty years during which this arrange- 

 ment has e.xisted, we can call to mind only one occasion 

 in which a decision of the Council was seriously chal- 

 lenged in the General Meeting and a name omitted by 

 the Council added to the list. On the face of it, this does 

 not look as if the Council had abused its power of 

 selection. 



The " Criticism" proceeds:—" It will hardly be contended 

 by any one at all conversant with the matter that fifteen 

 elections per annum are inadequate for the due recogni- 

 tion of really original work. On the contrary, it is only 

 by a loose and wide interpretation of the governing 

 clause in its constitution that the Royal Society can fill 

 up, year by year, the full number of its permitted 

 elections." 



Yet every one "at all conversant with the matter" is 

 perfectly well aware that sundry persons of just weight 

 and authority in the Society have, for some time, been of 

 opinion that the fifteen elections are inadequate even for 

 the purpose of recognizing original work ; and that, for a 

 number of years, this view has been pressed now and 

 again on the Council. It is said that if fifteen were 

 considered barely enough forty-five years ago, the 

 prodigious increase of scientific workers, especially in 

 Great Britain and the Colonies, during that time, must 

 NO. I 207, VOL. 47] 



have rendered that number insufficient for the present 

 day ; and that, seeing the necessity of allotting a fair 

 share of the elections to each of the representatives of 

 the many different branches of Science in a list o 

 candidates whose number averages about sixty, the election 

 of men who ought to come in is, every year, necessarily 

 postponed. We offer no opinion on this difificult question ; 

 but that the facts are as we state them is notorious to 

 every one who has served upon the Council. However, it 

 is easy to submit the selective work of the Council to an 

 effectual test. In the last twenty years 300 Fellows have 

 been elected. Let any competent judges go over the 

 names of these gentlemen, with the view of picking out 

 ten whose right to be there admits even of being fairly 

 questioned. We are confident that he will not succeed 

 in finding that number, nor the half of it. No body of 

 men ever has been, or ever will be, unaffected, to some 

 degree, by personal influences, or prejudices, or errors 

 of judgment ; even ecclesiastical preferment is said not 

 always to follow in the track of the purely spiritual gifts 

 and graces. But a Council which can defy all hostile 

 criticism of 295 out of 300 of its selections, and fairly 

 defend the rest, may cheerfully meet its enemies in the 

 gate. 



The "Criticism" exhibits a no less curious ignorance 

 of the actual facts in dealing with the relations of the 

 officers to the Council. The critic knows nothing of the 

 curious revolt that took place a score of years ago, aided 

 and abetted by the majority of the officers of that time, 

 for the purpose of rendering themselves powerless in face 

 of the rest of the Council. He does not know that, subse- 

 quently, officers of the Society have over and over again 

 urged that prolongation of the term of service of the rest 

 of the members of the Council which can alone enable 

 them to take the share they ought to take in the govern- 

 ment of the Society. Few persons are aware of the great 

 amount of business — some of it of a very troublesome and 

 responsible character — which comes before the Council of 

 the Royal Society, In his first year of office, a new 

 councillor is a learner ; at the end of the second year, 

 just when he is becoming useful, he goes off, by a rule 

 which the general body of the Fellows object to alter. 

 Formerly the President's term of office was unlimited ; 

 now it has practically reduced itself to five years. Unless 

 the other officers — and particularly the principal secre- 

 taries — retained their offices for a longer time, the affairs 

 of the Society would soon either be reduced to chaos, or 

 be carried on, somehow' or other, by the one permanent 

 official — the Assistant Secretary. The Society could not 

 have a better Assistant Secretary than it possesses, but he 

 has no seat in the Council ; and even if it were desirable to 

 reduce the secretaries to nullities, the situation would 

 become impossible. Under these circumstances, it is 

 clear that the officers must know more about the 

 business of the Society than ordinary members of 

 the Council ; that, therefore, willy-nilly, they must exer- 

 cise a preponderating influence ; and, finally, that it 

 is desirable that they should do so. 



Again, the insinuation that this influence is exerted un- 

 fairly, in favour of a particular academical institution 

 could not have been made by any one acquainted with 

 the actual government of the Society. Of the officers 

 two are members of Scottish Universities, one of these' 



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