I77 8 Attendance at the Club 141 



President ran a kind of neck-and-neck race in regard to 

 the number of their weekly attendances, but Cavendish 

 always kept slightly ahead. During this year the President 

 was present at 48 meetings, Cavendish at 49. It should 

 also be noted that some of the older, and even two of the 

 original members were remarkably assiduous in their duty 

 to the Club. Thus the average annual attendance of Sir 

 James Burrow for five years from 1773 to 1777 was 26 

 and that of Dr. William Watson for the same period was 22. 



The foreign guests of the Club this year included no names 

 of great note. Most of them appear to have been Scandi- 

 navian friends of Solander. One of these, Mr. Alstrcemer, 

 may have been the Swedish botanist of that name, a pupil 

 of Linnaeus, who named after him a Peruvian plant (Alstrce- 

 meria), the seeds of which he had been able to send to the 

 great naturalist. John Alstrcemer was elected into the Royal 

 Society on 24th December in 1778. M. de la Chapelle, in- 

 vited by the President, may possibly have been the French 

 mathematician Jean Baptiste de la Chapelle who was made 

 F.R.S. as far back as 1747 and who would now be not far 

 short of 70 years of age. 



Of the English visitors many have already been noticed 

 in the records of previous years. The President brought his 

 friend and Berwickshire neighbour, Sir James Hall, three 

 times to dinner. Sir William Hamilton of the Campi 

 Phlegrczi again appeared twice in the winter months. 

 General Paoli, the exile, was hospitably entertained several 

 times. The new names do not include any that call for 

 special notice. 



1778. The yearly General Meeting, held in 1778 on 3oth 

 July, was attended by seventeen members, Sir John Pringle, 

 Bart., in the Chair. It was announced that since the last 

 anniversary there had been no death of any member nor 

 had anyone forfeited his place by non-attendance, but the 

 Fund was once more depleted and a debt of upwards of 

 6 was due to the Treasurer. It was accordingly resolved 

 that a contribution of 55. should be made by each member. 

 Sir John Pringle was continued as President, but in the 



