176 



Anniversary Meeting. 



[Nov. 30, 



surrounded by the splendid works of Rathke, Bischoff, Kemak, Coste, and 

 others, primus inter pares. 



It is to Von Baer that we owe the great generalization that all develop- 

 ment is a progress from the general to the special — a law which has its ap- 

 plication in wide regions not contemplated by its author. It is to him that 

 we are indebted for the truth that zoological affinity is the expression of 

 similarity of development, and that the different great types of animal 

 structure are the result of different modes of development. 



The authorship of the * Entwickelungsgeschichte der Thiere/ and of the 

 * Beitriige zur Kenntniss der niederen Thiere ' (1824-26), would have suffi- 

 ciently justified the award of the Copley Medal to Von Baer had he not 

 been the discoverer of the mammalian ovum. 



Besides these labours of primary importance, the energy, versatility, and 

 wide learning of Von Baer have been shown in multitudinous other direc- 

 tions — in numerous memoirs on Comparative Anatomy, Systematic Zoology, 

 and Zoological Distribution, in most valuable and original essays on An- 

 thropology and Ethnology, and in scientific expeditions to different parts of 

 the widespread Russian Empire, from Nowaja Zemlja to the Caspian. 



Von Baer was born in Esthonia in the year 1 792. His father was a gentle- 

 man of landed property and Ritterschafts-Hauptman " of Esthonia. Two 

 years ago, on the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of the venerable Academi- 

 cian's Doctorate, the nobility of Esthonia, headed by their present Ritter- 

 schafts-Hauptman, the Baron von der Pahlen, formed themselves into an as- 

 sociation for the purpose of celebrating the occasion ; and as a memento of 

 proceedings honourable alike to their eminent countryman and to themselves, 

 published the autobiography which he v/rote at their request with all the ac- 

 cessories of typographic luxury. Thirty-six years ago the Academic des 

 Sciences of Paris, at the instance of Humboldt, and on the report of Cuvier, 

 awarded Von Baer a medal. In 1854 he was chosen a Foreign Member of 

 the Royal Society. 



We may rejoice that it is not yet too late to offer the highest honour at 

 the disposal of the Royal Society of London to a man who has so long been 

 recognized on the continent as one of the great lights of biological science, 

 who will take his place hereafter beside Cuvier, Wolff, and Harvey. 



Professor Miller, 

 I will request you, on the part of the Society, to transmit this Medal to 

 our venerated colleague. Dr. vonBaer, and to express to him our hope that 

 this testimonial of the very high esteem in which the labours of his life are 

 held in England will be a welcome and valued addition to the honours which 

 fitly crown his latter years. 



The Council have awarded a Royal Medal to Messrs. John Bennet Lawes 

 and Joseph Henry Gilbert for their researches in Agricultural Chemistry. 



Messrs. Lawes Gilbert have been engaged for the last twenty-four 



