1880.] 1^1 [Brinton. 



the Minister of Finance had authorized a new transcription 

 on the books of the office at Paris. 



Mr, Briggs addressed the Society, urging some action for 

 applying the Magellanic funds to the rewarding of discov- 

 erers and inventors who did not apply for the premium. 



Mr. Fralcy thereupon gave a short history of the original 

 bequest, the accumulation of the extra fund, the legal opinion 

 of Mr. Horace Binney respecting its use, its application by 

 the Society to publication, the establishment of the extra- 

 Magellanic premium, the publication of other i^reraiums, 

 and the appointment of a committee on premiums at large. 



On motion it was 



Resolved, That the Board of Officers and Members in Council be re- 

 quested to take into consideration the present regulations in regard to the 

 award of the Magellanic Premium, and to report, if they may deem any 

 change expedient, such modifications as may lead to the awarding of said 

 Premium for objects of scientific discovery mentioned in the original dona- 

 tion. 



And the meeting was adjourned. 



Obituary Notice of Dr. John Neill. By Dr. Brinton. 

 {Bead before the American Philosophical Society, JSfov. 5, 1880. ) 



Among the numerous surgeons of distinction who have given lustre to 

 medical science in Philadelphia, the late Dr. Neill deservedly stood in ihe 

 front rank. He came of a race of physicians, his father and both his pa- 

 ternal and maternal grandfathers having been members of that profession. 

 He was born in Philadelphia, July 9th, 1819, and received both his aca- 

 demic and medical degrees from the University of Pennsylvania, the latter in 

 1837. The whole of his subsequent life was passed in this city, where he 

 soon acquired large surgical and general practice. At various periods he 

 occupied prominent positions in relationship to his profession. It will be 

 sufficient to mention the leading ones of these. As early as 1845 lie was 

 appointed Demonstrator of Anatomy in the University of Pennsylvania, 

 and thirty years later, Professor of Clinical Surgery in the same institu- 

 tion. For several years after 1864, he was Professor of General Surgery in the 

 medical department of Pennsylvania College, an educational organization 

 not now in existence. At various epochs he was surgeon to the Pennsyl- 

 vania Hospital, to the Philadelphia Hospital, to Wills Hospital, and Con- 

 sulting Surgeon to the Presbyterian Hospital. 



During the war of the Rebellion, especially in its earlier years, he was 

 actively engaged in rendering professional services to the wounded soldiery. 



PROC. AMER. PHXLOS. SOC. XIX. 107. U. PRINTED NOVEMBER 27, 1880. 



