348 Presidentship of Marquess of Northampton 1847 



Colonel Sabine's guest on February 25th, Captain Young- 

 husband of the Royal Artillery, became a member of 

 the Club in 1857. Admiral Sir John Acworth Ommanney, 

 introduced by Sir George Staunton, had seen much active 

 service at sea towards the end of the eighteenth century 

 and in the early decades of the nineteenth. He took a 

 prominent part at the battle of Navarino, and was made 

 K.C.B. in 1838. Dr. Whewell, who had been " discontinued " 

 in 1844 for having attended no meetings of the Club for 

 the space of three years, dined again with the Club on Decem- 

 ber i6th on the invitation of Professor Wheatstone. There 

 were not many foreign visitors this year. A few were 

 gathered at the dinner on June 3rd under the President's 

 chairmanship. Sir R. I. Murchison introduced Captain 

 Lentkoffsky, Robert Brown brought Captain Korniloff, 

 and the Treasurer brought Mons. Grimm. 



For some time previous to this year considerable dissatis- 

 faction manifested itself among the Fellows in regard to 

 the conduct of the business of the Royal Society, and more 

 particularly respecting the manner in which the choice and 

 election of Fellows were carried out. There was a general 

 feeling among at least the more actively scientific members 

 that many candidates were elected whose claims in regard 

 to scientific attainment were slender, and that the Society as 

 a body had no sufficient control over their election. Some- 

 times as many as forty or fifty new Fellows were added in 

 the course of a year, and the elections were distributed over 

 all the months in which the Society was in session. The 

 attendance at a meeting might be small, and representative 

 of a mere fraction of the whole body of Fellows, yet it had 

 the power of electing any candidate whose certificate was 

 presented in proper form. Thus the friends of a candidate 

 who had notice of the date fixed for his election might 

 muster as many Fellows as they could gather together, 

 and unless there happened to be any active opposition, 

 they could without difficulty secure the success of the 

 applicant whom they supported. Unquestionably the 

 officials of the Society, and the Fellows whose avocations 



