THE ROYAL DUBLIN SOCIETY 373 



pied, and the teaching of science and other practical 

 subjects in Irish schools is no longer neglected. 



Prior to the Act of 1899 there were only six 

 secondary schools in Ireland with laboratories for the 

 teaching of experimental science. In the financial year 

 1 901-2, 154 schools possessed the necessary equip- 

 ment ; these schools were giving practical instruction 

 in science to 6615 pupils, and receiving grants in aid 

 amounting to £7577. The latest return (19 12-13) 

 shows that the practical teaching of science was being 

 carried on in 274 schools, with 12,772 pupils, receiving 

 grants in aid amounting to £21,129. 



The Boyle Medal 



In June 1895 the Committee of Science and its 

 industrial applications, on the suggestion of Professor 

 D. J. Cunningham, f.r.s. (then one of the honorary 

 secretaries), recommended the Council to institute two 

 gold medals, " to be awarded from time to time with a 

 view of encouraging worth in the different branches of 

 science. 7 ' The proposal eventually took the form of 

 a single medal, to which the name of Robert Boyle 

 was attached. The reasons which influenced the 

 Society in selecting the name of Boyle cannot be better 

 expressed than in the words of Professor John Joly, 

 f.r.s., who had succeeded Professor Cunningham as 

 secretary when the medal was first awarded. Speaking 

 at the evening scientific meeting of March the 22nd, 

 1899, Professor Joly said : 



"In former years it is on record that the Royal 

 Dublin Society occasionally presented medals to men 

 distinguished in science. But the Society never at 

 any time possessed a medal specially instituted for the 

 purpose — a medal dedicated to the memory of a great 



