504 



NATURE 



[September 22, 1892 



A CENTURY OF SCIENTIFIC WORK. 



T7 VERYONE interested in science is aware that the " Societe 

 •*— ' de Physique et d'Histoire Naturelle de Geneve" has won 

 for itself an honoured place among the learned Societies of the 

 -Continent. Work of the highest interest and importance has 

 been done by many of its ordinary members, and the list of its 

 honorary members includes a very large number of the investi- 

 gators who, in different parts of Europe, have contributed most 

 effectually to scientific progress. Some time ago this excellent 

 Society celebrated the hundredth anniversary of its foundation, 

 and an interesting supplementary volume has now been issued 

 in memory of the occasion. To this volume Dr. A. H. Wart- 

 mann contributes a sketch of the Society's history, and it may be 

 worth while to note some of the facts he has recorded. 



Nominally, the Society was founded in 1 790. That is, several 

 men of science in Geneva agreed in that year to unite in forming 

 it. As a matter of fact, however, the first official meeting was 

 -not held until 1791. The Society was called at first the " So- 

 ciete des NaturalistesGenevois," and there were eight members, 

 who met in each other's houses on the second and fourth 

 Thursday of every month. The President was M. Gosse. A 

 secretary and a treasurer were appointed ; the annual subscrip- 

 tion was fixed at two crowns ; and an effort was made to obtain 

 copies of the scientific journals of the time. It was felt that 

 there ought to be more than eight members, so the honour of 

 membership was offered to several men of science, by the ma- 

 jority of whom it was accepted. Foreign men of science who 

 happened to be passing through Geneva were invited by the 

 President to attend the meetings, and some of them were made 

 honorary members. In the course of the first year M. Jurine 

 made a present of his herbarium to the Society ; this was the 

 origin of its collections. One of the first objects of the Society 

 was the creation of a botanic garden, and a site was chosen 

 which has ever since been retained. M. Micheli presented a 

 hot-house ; exotic plants and seeds were obtained ; and courses 

 of instruction in botany were given under the Society's auspices 

 by MM. Micheli and de Saussure. 



The most eminent representative of science in Geneva at this 

 •time was Charles Bonnet. He was asked to become the patron 

 or Honorary President of the new Society. He would have 

 preferred the position of confrere, but ended by complying with 

 the request._ He died in 1793, bequeathing to the Society 300 

 crowns, which provided for the maintenance of a gardener and 

 other necessary expenses in the botanic garden. 



The activity of the young Society was shown in a series of 

 labours in the physical and natural sciences — labours of which 

 an account has been given by Vaucher, one of the founders. 

 The question of a diploma of reception was raised, and, after 

 much consideration, a seal was prepared. This was abandoned 

 in 1819 in favour of a seal engraved by Bovy. 



In 1792 the Society changed its name to " Societe Genevoise 

 ■d'Histoire Naturelle." Shortly afterwards the name by which 

 the Society is still known was adopted. 



Under an impulse due to M. d' Albert Henri Gosse, two 

 other scientific Societies were founded in Geneva. One, created 

 in 1803, went back to the name of " Societe des Naturalistes." 

 In 1829 it was merged in the " Societe de Physique et d'Histoire 

 Naturelle," in whose archives its papers are preserved. Many 

 of these, according to M. Wartmann, are of some importance. 

 The other Society was the "Societe Helvetique des Sciences 

 Naturelles," founded in 1815. Of this Society, which has con- 

 tinued to flourish, the " Societe de Physique" may be regarded 

 as the Genevese section. . When it met at Geneva, in 1866, the 

 two Societies united in the ceremony at the unveiling of a 

 monument to M. Gosse. 



When the number of members increased, a fixed place of 

 meeting became necessary. They met for some years at the 

 Societe des Arts, then (from 1826) at the Academic Museum, 

 and afterwards (from 1872) in the hall of the Societe des Arts. 

 The times of meeting were changed from the second and fourth 

 to the first and third Thursday of every month ; and in 1834 it 

 was decided that a meeting should be held only on the first 

 Thursday of the month. 



The President holds office for a year. A Vice-President is 

 also appointed. From 1858 to 1879 the President entered upon 

 his duties in July, and in the following June he was succeeded 

 by the Vice-President. Now the President and Vice-President 

 assume office at the beginning of the year. 



The Society consists of active members, emeritus members, 



and honorary members. The former — limited in 1822 to forty, 

 in 1863 to fift)', in 1878 to sixty— reside in the canton. The 

 emeritus members are members who have ceased to take an 

 active part in the Society's work. The honorary members — 

 limited in 1859 to seventy, in 1878 to sixty — are chosen from 

 among men of science in Switzerland or any other part of the 

 world. There are also "associes libres," who cannot be 

 appointed before the age of twenty-five. 



Although women do not habitually attend the meetings, 

 there is nothing to prevent them from being connected with the 

 Society. Mrs. Somerville was an honorary member from 1834 

 to 1873. 



Very many communications submitted to the Society have 

 marked important stages in the development of science. At 

 first some of the communications used to appear in foreign 

 periodicals or in the Bibliothique Britannique, which afterwards 

 became the Bibliothique Universelle. In 1820 it was decided 

 that a collection of Memoirs should be issued, and that the 

 task of selecting the papers should be intrusted to a Committee 

 of Publication. This Committee still exists, its secretary being 

 known as the corresponding secretary. The first volume, con- 

 sisting of two numbers, appeared in 1821 and 1822, and in 

 1890 appeared the second part of the thirtieth volume. The 

 publication of the Memoirs, many of which are accompanied 

 with plates, is very costly, but sometimes the writers bear the 

 whole or a part of the expense. A Bulletin, presenting a 

 resume oi the proceedings, has been issued regularly since 1884, 

 and an account has also been given since 1883 in the Archives 

 des Sciences Physiques et Naturelles. 



The funds of the Society are derived from subscriptions, 

 gifts, and bequests. At first the amount of the annual sub- 

 scription varied in accordance with the Society's needs, but in 

 i860 it was fixed at twenty francs. From 1829 to 1854 the 

 Society was officially recognized by the State as the "Societe 

 Cantonale de Physique et d'Histoire Naturelle," and received an 

 annual subsidy ; but during the last thirty-eight years there has 

 been no relation of this kind between the Society and the 

 Government, A sum of 1200 francs is paid annually by the 

 Administrative Council for the books and memoirs with which 

 the Society enriches the public library of Geneva. 



The various collections possessed by the Society have been 

 given partly to the Museum of Natural History, partly to the 

 Botanic "Conservatoire." A prize of 500 francs is offered 

 every five years for the best essay on a genus or family of plants. 

 The sum of 2400 francs which enables this prize to be offered 

 was left to the Society for the purpose in 1841 by A. P. de 

 Candolle, Since 1886 the Society has reserved for itself, at a 

 cost of 600 francs per annum, a place at the Zoological Labora- 

 tory of Villefranche, and the person who is to be allowed to 

 take advantage of it is chosen in accordance with a fixed set of 

 rules. 



The Society now includes fifty-four ordinary members, four 

 emeritus members, fifty honorary members, and thirty-one 

 associes libres. Among the honorary members are many of 

 the most eminent men of science in Europe and America. 



NO. II 95, VOL. 46] 



THE TRANSMISSION OF ACQUIRED 

 CHARACTERS THROUGH HEREDITY. 



nPHE bearing of insects upon this subject is very clearly 

 -*■ brought out by Prof. C. V. Riley in a recently published 

 paper on "Some Interrelations of Plants and Insects" read 

 before the Biological Society of Washington. After dealing 

 with the facts connected with the ifsects associated with the 

 interesting plants of the genus Yucca and the pollination of their 

 flowers by the Yucca Moth, and touching briefly upon certain 

 aspects of fig-caprification, he makes the following remarks : — 

 " Now, when it comes to the bearing which the history of 

 these little moths has upon some of the larger questions that are 

 now concerning naturalists (for instance, the transmission of 

 acquired characters, or the origin, development, and nature of 

 the intelligence displayed by the lower animals), broad fields of 

 interesting opinion and conclusion open up before us — fields 

 that cannot possibly be explored without trenching too much 

 upon your time. I will close, therefore, with a few summary 

 expressions of individual opinion, without attempting to 

 elaborate the reasons in detail, and with the object of eliciting 

 further discussion, which is one of the objects of the paper. My 

 first conviction is that insect life and development give no 



