134 Record of the Royal Society. 



graciously pleased to continue the grant of two Royal Medals 

 annually, under the annexed resolutions, proposed by the Council 

 and approved by Her Majesty : 



" That the Royal Medals be given for such Papers only as have 

 been presented to the Royal Society, and inserted in their ' Trans- 

 actions.' 



" That the triennial cycle of subjects be : 



"I. Astronomy; Physiology, including the Natural History of 



Organised Beings. 



" 2. Physics ; Geology, or Mineralogy. 

 " 3. Mathematics ; Chemistry. 



" That, in case no Paper coming within these stipulations should 

 be considered deserving of the Royal Medal, in any given year, the 

 Council have the power of awarding such medal to the author of any 

 other Paper on either of the several subjects forming the cycle, that 

 may have been presented to the Society and inserted in their * Trans- 

 actions ' ; preference being given to the subjects of the year imme- 

 diately preceding ; the award being, in such case, subject to the 

 approbation of Her Majesty." 



On June 13, 1850, it was resolved that these regulations " should 

 be altered, substituting for them regulations to the following effect: 

 That the Royal Medals in each year should be awarded for the two 

 most important contributions to the advancement of Natural Know- 

 ledge, published originally in Her Majesty's dominions within a 

 period of not more than ten years, and not less than one year of the 

 date of the award, subject, of course, to Her Majesty's approval." 



It was at the same meeting resolved " That it is desirable that, 

 in the award of the Royal Medals, one should be given in each year 

 to each of the two great divisions of Natural Knowledge." 



It is upon these lines that the Royal Medals are still awarded. 



