A HISTORY OF SCIENCE 



their ears by following the lecture in a printed trans- 

 lation, copies of which, in proof, were to be secured at 

 the door. 



The subject of the lecture is "Artificial Immuniza- 

 tion from Disease." It is clear that the reader is fol- 

 lowed with interested attention, which now and again 

 gives rise to a subdued shuffle of applause. 



The fact that the lecturer is speaking German serves 

 perhaps to suggest even more vividly than might other- 

 wise occur to one the contrast between this meeting 

 and a meeting of the corresponding German society 

 the Royal Academy of Sciences at Berlin. Each is 

 held in an old building of palatial cast and dimensions, 

 of which Burlington House, here in Piccadilly, is much 

 the older dating from 1664 although its steam- 

 heating and electric-lighting apparatus, when con- 

 trasted with the tile stoves and candles of the other, 

 would not suggest this. For the rest, the rooms are 

 not very dissimilar in general appearance, except for 

 the platform and throne. But there the members of 

 the society are shut off from the audience both by the 

 physical barrier of the table and by the striking effect 

 of their appearance in full dress, while here the fellows 

 chiefly compose the audience, there being only a small 

 company of "strangers" present, and these in no way 

 to be distinguished by dress or location from the 

 fellows themselves. It may be added that the custom 

 of the French Academy of Sciences is intermediate 

 between these two. There the visitors occupy seats 

 apart, at the side of the beautiful hall, the main floor 

 being reserved for members. But the members them- 

 selves are not otherwise distinguishable, and they 



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