378 Presidentship of Lord Wrottesley 1858 



Royal Society elected him one of its Fellows in 1857 and 

 the following year he was chosen into the Club. 



Count Paul Edmund de Strzelecki, of a noble Polish 

 family, dedicated himself in 1838 to the scientific exploration 

 of the interior of Australia, and spent several years in 

 this enterprise. He published in 1845 a " Physical Descrip- 

 tion of New South Wales." He was elected into the Royal 

 Society in 1853. 



William Fergusson, one of the leading surgeons of his day, 

 received his medical training at Edinburgh University, and 

 practised in Scotland until in 1840 he was appointed 

 Professor of Surgery at King's College, London. His im- 

 portant " System of Practical Surgery " appeared in 1842. 

 In 1848 he was elected F.R.S. Created a baronet in 1866 

 he was in the following year appointed sergeant-surgeon 

 to Queen Victoria. In 1870 he was chosen President of 

 the Royal College of Surgeons. 



Warington Wilkinson Smyth has been already referred to 

 as a visitor in 1847. He was appointed by De la Beche 

 to teach Mining and Mineralogy at the School of Mines 

 which was opened in 1851 in Jermyn Street. He became 

 the highest authority in this country on the scientific search 

 for minerals and methods of mining them. He was this 

 year elected into the Royal Society. As Mineral Surveyor 

 to the Duchy of Cornwall he exercised a powerful and useful 

 influence on mining enterprise in that district when it was 

 in full activity. In recognition of his public services he 

 received in 1887 the honour of knighthood. He proved to 

 be one of the most kindly, agreeable and entertaining 

 members of the Club, and was greatly regretted when he 

 died in 1890 at the age of 73. 



On St. Andrew's Day this year Lord Wrottesley retired 

 from the Presidential Chair of the Royal Society and Sir 

 Benjamin Collins Brodie (p. 360) was chosen to succeed him. 

 The new President was also elected Chairman of the Club. 



1859. The Anniversary Meeting in 1859, held on June 

 24th, was attended by twenty-six members, and Sir Benjamin 

 Brodie, as the new President, took the chair. The Treasurers 



