1804 Play fair ; Webb Seymour ; Jameson 217 



been so long an active member of the Club, was likewise 

 entertained. Other new guests were William Lax, Loundes 

 Professor of Astronomy and Geometry at Cambridge ; 

 Richard Chenevix, chemist and mineralogist, who had been 

 elected into the Royal Society two years before ; and Vis- 

 count Castlereagh, who had been made F.R.S. in the previous 

 year. Captain Philip d'Auvergne, now Due de Bouillon, 

 took his place as a member on 28th July. Dr. Wollaston 

 dined several times with the Club, once on the invitation 

 of Cavendish. Professor Playfair of Edinburgh reappeared 

 at a succession of dinners in August and September and his 

 intimate friend Lord Webb Seymour came twice a little 

 earlier in the year. A " Mr. Jameson " appears twice on 

 the dinner lists, but there is no certain evidence that this 

 was the redoubted pupil of Werner who had returned from 

 Freiberg to preach the Neptunist creed of his master in 

 opposition to the Vulcanist views of Hutton, Playfair and 

 Hall. He had by this time published his " Mineralogy of 

 the Scottish Isles/' wherein he threw down the gauntlet to 

 the Scottish school, and in the following year he was 

 appointed to the chair of natural history in the University 

 of Edinburgh. 



1804. The Annual General Meeting in 1804 was held on 

 28th June, and was attended by twenty members, Sir Joseph 

 Banks in the chair. The Treasurer's financial forecast last 

 year proved correct. His expenses were -26 i6s. gd. and 

 he still had an unexpended balance of 17 195. id. The 

 balance remaining in the Fund, though much less than 

 last year, was considered to be sufficient to warrant that no 

 call should be made on the members for a contribution. 

 One vacancy on the list of membership was caused by the 

 death of John Topham, but as there was no candidate on 

 the list, no new election took place. William Marsden 

 intimated that the pressure of his official duties would 

 prevent him from continuing to fill the office of Treasurer. 

 Matthew Raper was requested to undertake the duties of 

 the office, and the thanks of the members were tendered 

 to the retiring Treasurer for his care of their accounts 



