178 HISTORY OF SCIENCE. 



for their object. The advantages which such unions offer to the 

 cultivators of science are almost too obvious to need mention. The 

 interchange of knowledge, the mutual aid, the stimulus supplied 

 by the sympathy arising from objects pursued in common, the 

 economy of resources, material and intellectual, the regular regis- 

 tration and publication of results, at once suggest themselves as 

 some of the desirable conditions which were secured by the associa- 

 tion of men of science into recognized bodies. Such associations 

 appear to have been first formed in Italy, where even in tke four- 

 teenth century there existed a philosophical society bearing the name 

 of '"THE HUMORISTS." Cesi, Marchese di Monticelli, formed the 

 plan of a scientific society in Rome, in the year 1603, which at first con- 

 sisted but of four members, and a few years later this was expanded 

 into the LYNCEAN SOCIETY, which Galileo was invited to join when 

 he first visited Rome. The regulations of this association declare that 

 it desires for its academicians " philosophers eager for real knowledge, 

 who will give themselves to the study of nature, and especially to mathe- 

 matics ; at the same time it will not neglect the ornaments of elegant 

 literature and philology, which, like a graceful garment, adorn the whole 

 body of science." 



In 1657 another scientific association which attained celebrity was 

 founded in Florence, and held its meetings in the palace of Leopold 

 di Medici. Its members were chiefly, if not entirely, pupils or friends 

 of Galileo, and its title was the ACADEMIA DEL CIMENTO, or EXPERI- 

 MENTAL ACADEMY. This society kept up a correspondence with the 

 chief men of science throughout Europe, and undertook to repeat 

 and extend the experiments of the illustrious philosopher of Pisa. 



The year 1645 witnessed the virtual foundation of a scientific asso- 

 ciation that, under the name by which it was some years afterwards 

 formally constituted, has attained* a fame unsurpassed by any similar 

 association. We allude to the ROYAL SOCIETY OF LONDON, the origin 

 of which is traceable to the weekly meetings which in 1645 a few men 

 of science began to hold once a week at Gresham College, for the dis- 

 cussion of subjects connected with mathematics and natural philo- 

 sophy. Similar meetings were instituted soon afterwards at Oxford, 

 where several members of the original society happened to receive 

 appointments in the university. On the 28th of November, 1660, 

 a score of gentlemen, assembled at one of the meetings in Gresham 

 College, agreed to constitute themselves into a society for the pro- 

 secution of all kinds of experiments. A set of regulations was drawn 

 up, by which the number of members was limited to fifty-five, who 

 each contributed one shilling per week to defray the expenses of the 

 experimental investigations. The number of members was afterwards 

 extended, and, at length every person who might be considered a 

 proper candidate was eligible for admission. One of the members 

 Avas appointed, at a fixed salary, to arrange for the performance of 



