460 



NATURE 



[Septembkr 12, 1895 



Among the members (no one knows how they were 

 iippointed) were Huyghens, Mariotte, Pecquet, Picard, 

 Robertval. The Academy of Sciences, the Academic 

 Fran(;aisc, and the Acadtfrnie des Inscriptions et Medailles 

 thus lived in harmony, each having its particular pursuits. 

 The historj" of these academies would take too much 

 space : it is enough to have shown how they originated. 

 They lived on till the Revolution, when they were 

 organised on a new basis, and the Institute came into 

 e.xistence. The whole constitution of France being 

 altered, that of the academies had also to be changed. 



The Institute was founded in 1795. Article 29S of the 

 Constitution du 5 Fnictidor, an iii. (August 22, 1795) 

 gave it the mission of " registering discoveries, and per- 

 fecting arts and sciences," while later laws provided for 

 the details of the scheme, that of the 3 Brumain; an iv., 

 i.e. October 25, 1795. According to this law, the Institut 

 National — a new name applied to, practically, an old thing 

 — was divided into three classes — scientific (10 sections) ; 

 moral and political (6 sections) ; literary- and artistic 

 (8 sections). Bonaparte (3 Plii7'iose, an xi., January 23, 

 1803) altered this plan, and added a fourth class, so that 

 the Institute comprised the class of mathematical and 

 physical sciences, with 1 1 sections ; that of French 

 language and literature (no sections) ; that of ancient 

 language and literature (no sections) ; and that of fine 

 arts (5 sections). In 1816, upon the return of monarchy, 

 the general plan was respected, but in 1832 a fifth class 

 was added : that of moral and political sciences, which 

 had disappeared in 1803. Those five classes still exist, 

 under the names of Academic Fran^aise, Academic des 

 Sciences, Academic des Beaux-.^rts, Academic des 

 Sciences Morales et Politiques, .Academic des Inscriptions 

 ct Belles Lettrcs. They still dwell in the Palais des 

 Quatre Nations on the Seine, where Bonaparte housed 

 them in 1805. 



At present, the Institute is a society of men of emin- 

 ence, divided into five distinct sub-societies, or academies, 

 each member being at the same time, and as a matter of 

 course, member of this or that particular academy, and 

 of the Institute as a whole. Each academy has its 

 definite purpose, and meets each week on fixed and 

 different days ; the Institute, as a whole, meets once a 

 year, in October. 



As a whole, the Institute is regulated by a committee 

 of delegates, elected by, and in, the five academics, while 

 each academy has its own president and secretary. 



Two points must be noticed in reference to the 

 academies. The one is that the Academic de Medicine 

 has nothing at all to do with the Institute ; it is a separate 

 society (of medical men onlyj quite distinct, without the 

 slightest relationship to any of the above-mentioned 

 academies, or to the Institute. The other is that there is 

 no connection whatever between the Institute or academies 

 which make up the Institute, and the title of Officier 

 d'Acaddmic. To be Officier d'Academie is to have re- 

 ceived from the Department of Public Instruction a 

 special decoration of the Palmes Aeadi'miques) which is, 

 theoretically at least, more specially destined to persons 

 who ser\c the cause of education and instruction. The 

 Offiriers d'Academie are thousands in number ; they 

 have nothing at all to do with the .Academies. 



Now, as to the membership of (he latter. 



New members are always elected by the members of 

 each academy. \ man ronsiders himself as eligible for 

 such or such academy ; all he has to do, when a vacancy 

 occurs in the academy or in the section to which he 

 should belong, considering his previous work, is to 

 declare himself a candidate by a letter addressed 

 to the president of the latter, and to prepare a 

 pamphlet in which he gives the list of his scientific or 

 literary titles, of his works, of his researches or dis- 

 lovcries. of the functions he has occupied. .Vr.: .mil ihis 



NO. 1350, VOL. 52] 



pamphlet he sends or can 10 to each of the members of 

 the academy. It is customar\' for every candidate to pay 

 a visit to each of the latter, and then he waits for the re- 

 sult ; in the meantime canvassing, in order to secure this 

 or that member's vote «hen things do not seem to run 

 smoothly. A verj- amusing book might be written of 

 [ the anecdotes which are current upon the devices sug- 

 , gestcd to the candidates by what is called the " green 

 fever," la Jih're verte, the fever which takes hold of a man 

 \ anxious to wear the green-laced uniform which the 

 ; members of the Institute wear upon official occasions. 

 But such a book could be published only after the death 

 of the author and of those concerned. ( icncrally speak- 

 ing, however, the Academic des Sciences would con- 

 tribute little to the making of this book. Each election 

 must be approved by the President of the Republic, 

 and is approved as a matter of course. Each member 

 recei\es a small indemnile of £(x) a year. 



Each academy has a limited number of members, but 

 in most academies there are different classes of member- 

 ship. The Academic Fran(;aisc, for literary men, com- 

 prises 40 immortals all told, one of whom is perpetual 

 (life) secretary'. It has no associates nor corresponding 

 members, and while the members have little or nothing 

 to do as members, save the preparation of a dictionary', 

 and examining works which compete for various prizes, it is 

 the custom for each new member to deliver a ver\' elabo- 

 rate speech concerning his predecessor, and one of the 

 members answers this discours de n'ception by a speech 

 concerning the works of the new-comer. 



The Academic des Inscriptions et Belles Lettres, for 

 men who deal specially with history, comprises 40 

 members (of whom one is life-secretary), 10 free members, 

 8 foreign associates, 30 foreign and 20 national corre- 

 sponding members. Among the foreign associates are 

 Prof. Max Miiller, Sir Hcnr)' Rawlinson, W. Stokes ; 

 among foreign corresponding members, Mr. R. .S. Poole, 

 j Sir J. Evans, M. .A. Neubauer, .Sir E. M. Thompson. 

 The .Academic des Beaux-.-\rts is divided into five 

 sections (painting, sculpture, architecture, engraving, 

 music), and comprises 41 members (one of whom is life- 

 secretary). There are besides 10 free members, 10 foreign 

 associates, and 50 correspondents. Among the associates 

 are Sir J. E. Millais, .Sir F. Leighton, Mr. Alma Tadema ; 

 among the corresponding members, Prof 11. llerkomer, 

 .Sir E. Murne-Iones, .Mr. Watcrhouse, Mr. R. W. Macbeth. 

 The .Academic des .Sciences Morales et Politiques is 

 divided into five sections (philosophy, morals, law, political 

 economy, history), and comprises 40 members (of whom 

 one is life-secretary), 16 free members, 6 foreign associates, 

 48 corresponding members. .Among the foreign associates 

 are Right Hon. \V. E. ("iladslone and Mr. Henry Reeve ; 

 Mr. Robert Flint, Right Hon. J. Brycc, Sir Frcdk. Pollock, 

 Right Hon. (■. J. ("lOschen, Bishop Stubbs, and Mr. 

 Lecky are corresponding members. 



Last, but by no means least, comes the Academic des 

 Sciences,which certainly exerts the largest influence, and 

 is the most highly considered in public opinion. Divided 

 into eleven sections, it comprises 68 members (of whom 

 two arc lifc-secrelaries), 10 free members, 8 foreign as- 

 sociates, 100 corresponding members. Lord Kelvin, Sir 

 Joseph Lister, and Dr. E. Frankland are among the asso- 

 ciates. The British Correspondants are as follows : — 

 Mathematical sciences — geometry : Prof J. J. Sylvester, 

 Rev. Prof Salmon : astronomy : Dr. J. R. Hind, Mr. 

 Norman Lockyer, Dr. W. Iluggins ; geography and 

 navigation : .Sir (ieorge Henry Richards ; general 

 physics : .Sir ('•. O. Stokes, Lord Rayleigh. Physical 

 sciences — chcmistiy : Prof A. W. Williamson, .Sir Henry 

 Roscoc, Prof W. Ramsay ; mineralogy : Dr. J. Prest- 

 wich, .Sir A. Oeikie ; botany: Sir Joseph I). Hooker, Dr. 

 Maxwell Masters ; rural economy : Sir J. B. Lawcs, Sir 

 J. H. (iilbert ; anatomy and zoology: Sir W. Flower; 



