PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTISTS 



The 4 words of Bacon, given in strong and unsparing 

 terms of censure and condemnation, but nevertheless 

 with perfect justification, soon bore fruit. As early 

 as the year 1645 a small company of scientists had 

 been in the habit of meeting at some place in London 

 to discuss philosophical and scientific subjects for men- 

 tal advancement. In 1648, owing to the political dis- 

 turbances of the time, some of the members of these 

 meetings removed to Oxford, among them Boyle, 

 Wallis, and Wren, where the meetings were continued, 

 as were also the meetings of those left in London. 

 In 1662, however, when the political situation had 

 become more settled, these two bodies of men were 

 united under a charter from Charles II., and Bacon's 

 ideas were practically expressed in that learned body, 

 the Royal Society of London. And it matters little 

 that in some respects Bacon's views were not followed 

 in the practical workings of the society, or that the 

 division of labor in the early stages was somewhat 

 different than at present. The aim of the society has 

 always been one for the advancement of learning ; and 

 if Bacon himself could look over its records, he would 

 surely have little fault to find with the aid it has 

 given in carrying out his ideas for the promulgation 

 of useful knowledge. 



Ten years after the charter was granted to the Royal 

 Society of London, Lord Bacon's words took practical 

 effect in Germany, with the result that the Academia 

 Naturae Curiosorum was founded, under the leader- 

 ship of Professor J. C. Sturm. The early labors of this 

 society were devoted to a repetition of the most notable 

 experiments of the time, and the work of the embryo 



201 



