92 



DISCOVERY 



the Royal MedaJs, and bore on the obverse the effigy 

 of the King, and on the reverse the statue of Newton 

 in Trinity College Chapel, Cambridge ; they are still 

 awarded annually, the names of the proposed recipients 

 being submitted to the Sovereign for approval before 

 they are finally awarded. 



On the death of George IV in 1830, his brother, 

 the Duke of Clarence, succeeded to the throne as 

 King William IV, and to him the Society forthwith 

 tendered its loyal address. The new King immedi- 

 ately consented to become the Patron of the Society, 

 and, having signed the Charter Book on a page especi- 

 allj' illuminated for him, declared that " he would 

 be proud to take every opportunity of promoting the 

 interests of an Institution, whose great object is the 

 cultivation of science and the discovery of truth." 

 In 1S33 the King signified his intention of restoring 

 the foundation of the Royal Medals, which had been 

 in abeyance during the three preceding years, and 

 for this purpose he sent the Society a set of revised 

 regulations governing the award of these medals. For 

 a period of eight years just coveang the reign of 

 WilUam IV the Society had the great honour of a verj' 

 close connection with the Throne, its deliberations being 

 presided over by a Prince of the Blood Royal. At 

 the Anniversary Meeting in 1830, H.R.H. The Duke 

 of Sussex, sixth son of King George III, was elected 

 President, and continued to hold this office until 1838. 

 Throughout this time the Duke guided the proceedings 

 of the Society with an energy and zeal fully cliaracter- 

 istic of the generous interest which had always been 

 shown towards scientific matters by his House. 



On the death of her uncle. Queen Victoria graciously 

 signified her intention of becoming the Patron of the 

 Society, and approved the continuation of the annual 

 grant of the Royal Medals. The Prince Consort was 

 elected a Fellow in 1840, and Edward, Prince of Wales, 

 in 1863 ; the latter became Patron of the Society on 

 his accession in 1901. His present Majesty was 

 elected when Duke of York in 1893, and was formally 

 admitted in 1902, when Prince of Wales. He alsoTt 

 his accession graciously consented to become Patron 

 of the Society. 



Other Royal Fellows of recent years include H.R.H. 

 The Duke of Connaught, elected in 1906, and his son 

 Prince Arthur, who became a Fellow in that most 

 momentous year of the Empire's history, anno belli 

 1914. 



The Royal Society has a membership at present of 

 about four hundred and sixty members. Each year 

 in May fifteen new Fellows are elected from about a 

 hundred candidates. Fellowship of the Royal Society 

 is one of the highest honours that can be given to a 

 scientist. 



Reviews of Books 



The Art oj the Greek Vase Painter: a Handbook 0) 

 Greek Vase Painting. By Mary A. B. Herford, 

 M.A. (Manchester University Press, 9s. 6d. net.) 



More patient research has perhaps been expended in 

 recent years on the fascinating study of Greek Vase 

 Painting than on any other branch of ancient archaeology ; 

 and so fruitful have these investigations proved, and so 

 positive in their results, that the time has come when 

 the student should no longer be obliged to collect his 

 information from articles scattered about in learned 

 periodicals or the descriptions of museum catalogues. 

 In Mr. H. B. Walters' History of Ancient Pottery we have, 

 it is true, an excellent manual of a wider scopie ; but a com- 

 pact handbook dealing with the narrower subject of 

 Greek \'ase Painting has been a desideratum both of the 

 archaeological student and of the general reader. 



It is to the former rather than to the latter that Miss 

 Herford's book will appeal. We are inclined to think 

 that the general reader, who approached the subject with 

 no previous knowledge of this or any other branch of 

 ancient art, would find too much discussion of technical 

 questions, and too little stress on the xsthetic and human 

 side. Miss Herford's interest is primarily in the technical 

 side, and her account of this is exactly what the student 

 has long required. 



Part I of the Handbook deals with the technique of the 

 Greek vase and the status of the potter (it is interesting 

 to note that after the Peloponnesian War the wages of 

 the craftsman were 100 per cent, higher than t)efore), 

 the shapes, and the use of vases. Part II (Historical) 

 deals with the evolution of the art of vase-painting in 

 Greek lands and Italy. The treatment of the eajlier 

 period appears to be more adequate than that of the 

 later, particularly of the South Italian wares. It may 

 be regretted that additional chapters were not devoted 

 to discussing the light thrown by Greek vase paintings on 

 contemporary life and literature and on mj-thology ; 

 also that the numerous references enclosed in brackets 

 in the text were not relegated to the bottom of tlie pages. 



The illustrations, which are necessarily restricted in 

 number, are well chosen and include a numt>er of inter- 

 esting vases which have never been published before. 

 It is obvious, however, that the student will require 

 frequently to refer to the catalogues of the great collec- 

 tions to which Miss Herford gives frequent references. 



Miss Herford's book is certainly one which adequately 

 fills a gap in the library of the archaeological student. 

 To all those who are interested in the progress of the 

 new Universities it must be a matter of gratification 

 that such a book as this should have been produced by 

 an arcliaeologist trained in the University of Manchester, 

 and the daughter of one of its most distinguished pro- 

 fessors. 



The form and printing of the volume are admirable. 



E. S. F. 



Russia in Rule and Misntle: a Short History. By 



Brig.-Gen. C. R. B.'U.l.xrd. (John Murray, 6s. 



net.) 



General Ballard has taken on a job similar to tliat of 



the Scottish probationer who announced from his pulpit, 



one Sunday morning, that he was going to preach on the 



subject. " God. Man. and the Universe," and would devote 



ten minutes of his time to each. The probationer was 



a trier, who believed in compression ; and very probably 



his sermon was an excellent one. 



