46 



A nniversary Meeting. 



[Nov. 30, 



occasionally prevented men of great merit from having their names 

 brought forward as candidates, and they press heavily, especially upon 

 those who, with limited incomes, have other scientific societies to sub- 

 scribe to. Nor does it appear to me as otherwise than regrettable that 

 so high an honour as Fellowship of the Royal Society, the only one of 

 the kind in England that is limited as to the number annually elected, 

 and selective in principle, should be attainable only at a heavy 

 pecuniary expenditure. It is true that our Fellows receive annually 

 in return publications of great value to Science generally; but 

 these treat of so many branches of knowledge that it is but a fraction 

 of each that can materially benefit the recipient, while their bulk 

 entails an additional expenditure ; and now that the individual papers 

 published in the " Transactions " are separately obtainable, the advan- 

 tages of Fellowship are less than they were when to obtain a treatise on 

 his own subject a specialist had either to join the Society, or to pur- 

 chase a whole volume or a large part of it annually. 



It was not, however, till I had satisfied myself that the annual 

 income of the Society, though not ample, was sufficient for its ordinary 

 purposes, that its prospects in other points of view were good, and that 

 the expenditure upon publication was the main, if not the sole, obstacle 

 to a reduction of fees, that I consulted your Treasurer on the subject 

 of taking steps to attain this object. 



My first idea was to create, by contributions of small amount, a fund 

 the interest of which should be allowed to accumulate ; and when the 

 income of the accumulated capital reached a sufficient amount to 

 enable the Society to take the step without loss of income, to reduce 

 either the entrance fee or annual contribution ; and to which fund 

 Mr. Young's gift should be regarded as the first donation. 



This proposal was in so far entertained by your Council that they 

 resolved to establish a Publication Fund, and to place Mr. Young's 

 gift to the credit thereof ; and further, appointed a Committee to 

 consider and report upon the Statutes of the Society concerning the 

 fees. 



The movement once set on foot met with an unexpectedly enthu- 

 siastic reception, several Fellows with the best means of forming a 

 judgment, not only approved of it, but offered liberal aid, urging 

 that the reduction of fees should be the first and immediate object, 

 and that if such a course were thought desirable, the means of carrying 

 it out would surely be forthcoming. On this your Treasurer pre- 

 pared for my consideration a plan for raising £10,000, the sum re- 

 quired for effecting any material reduction ; and we resolved to ascer- 

 tain by private inquiry whether so large an amount could be ob- 

 tained. 



Here again our inquiries were responded to in a spirit of, I may say, 

 unexampled liberality : in a few weeks upwards of £8,000 was given 



