1818 Cuvier; Berzelius 259 



The effect of the " whip " for attendance continued to 

 be felt for the next few years, but with gradually decreasing 

 force. The numbers present during the autumn months 

 slowly fell back, until in the course of seven years they 

 became smaller than they had been before. 



Some eminent foreign men of science dined with the 

 Club this year. On June 4th the President introduced 

 the Baron George Cuvier the most illustrious comparative 

 anatomist of his day, and the most eloquent and appreci- 

 ative critic of the work of men of science. In 1806 his 

 honoured name had been placed in the list of Foreign 

 Members of the Royal Society, and advantage was taken 

 of his visit to London at this time to obtain his signature 

 in the Society's Charter-book, where it stands boldly in- 

 scribed on the page which contains the signatures of the 

 Fellows elected in 1818. 



Another notable guest brought by Sir Joseph Banks on 

 August 6th was Berzelius of Sweden, one of the founders of 

 modern inorganic chemistry, who achieved a series of dis- 

 coveries in the detection and isolation of elementary bodies 

 such as would have made the reputation of half a dozen 

 chemists of the first rank. Every mineralogist, too, who 

 has learnt to work with the blowpipe looks up to him 

 with reverence and gratitude. The Royal Society chose 

 him as one of its Foreign members in 1813 and awarded 

 him the Copley Medal in 1836. 



Arctic exploration, which was at this time engaging much 

 public attention and not a little activity at the board of 

 Admiralty, was well represented at the dinners of the 

 Royal Society Club, by three of the naval heroes who were 

 about to begin the career of investigation which has made 

 them famous. The vessels Isabella and Alexander were 

 being fitted out to sail under the command of Captain John 



number for whom commons were to be provided was twelve, and that 

 on August 2oth 1819 it was reduced by the Club to seven. The quotation 

 also suggests that Sir Everard Home was prominent among those who 

 wished to have the autumn dinners retained, and that the President, 

 his patient, contributed his help. 



