1817 Sir T. Makdougal I Brisbane; C. D. E. Konig 25 i 



Another of the President's guests was Sir Thomas Mak- 

 dougall Brisbane, a distinguished soldier, who after serving 

 in the West Indies, in the Peninsula, under Wellington, 

 and in Canada, was in 1821 appointed Governor of New 

 South Wales an office which he held with advantage 

 to the Colony for four years. The memorial of his Aus- 

 tralian residence is perpetuated in the name of the Brisbane 

 River, which was discovered under his auspices, and in that 

 of the town of Brisbane, the capital of Queensland, where 

 he planted a penal station. Being a keen astronomer he 

 took advantage of the clear Australian skies to erect an 

 observatory where he catalogued no less than 7385 stars. 

 On his return to Scotland he built an observatory at 

 Makerston in Roxburghshire, and eventually equipped it 

 for magnetic and meteorological as well as astronomical 

 work. The valuable detailed magnetic observations there 

 made have been published. Sir Thomas took a keen 

 interest in the welfare of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, 

 of which, in succession to Sir Walter Scott, he was President 

 from 1833 to his death in 1860. He was elected into the 

 Royal Society in 1810. 



At the end of the year Sir Humphry Davy introduced 

 Charles D. E. Konig, a native of Brunswick, who in 1800 

 had been invited to this country in order to arrange Queen 

 Charlotte's mineral collection. Thereafter he was employed 

 for some years under Dryander, Sir Joseph Banks' librarian, 

 until, probably with Sir Joseph's active support, he was 

 appointed assistant-keeper of the natural-history collections 

 of the British Museum, and eventually had charge of the 

 mineralogical portion. He was elected into the Royal Society 

 in January 1810. 



1817. At the Annual General Meeting on July 3rd 1817 

 there were present twenty-three members, and the President 

 took the chair. As reported by the Treasurer the receipts for 

 the past year amounted to 145 us. 4d. and the expenses 

 to 140 us., leaving in his hands a balance of 5 os. 4d. 

 Thus the tavern bills amounted to more than five times 

 what they had been twelve years before. As the balance 



