12 
Proceedings of the Royal Society 
not precise equality in the extent of the published contributions 
devoted to literature and to science. The balance will even pre- 
ponderate on the literary side, if we include the elegant biographies 
of deceased Fellows drawn up by accomplished authors. About 
1793 — only ten years from the origin of the Society — the activity 
of the Literary Class had already become materially impaired. But 
indeed at no period could the literary papers bear comparison in 
point of merit, as a whole, with those on science. The great men 
of letters, who lent the weight of their names to the institution, 
hardly maintained its reputation by their pens. The Kobertsons, 
the Eeids, the David Humes, the Fergusons, and the Adam Smiths, 
hardly contributed to the pages of the Transactions. 
It appears from the minutes of the Physical and Literary Classes 
which are now before me, that towards the end of last century the 
meetings of the Literary Class became rare — not averaging three in 
a year — in consequence of the deficiency of communications. In 
1807, when, owing to the interest excited by the geological discus- 
sions of the period, in which Sir James Hall, Professor Playfair, 
Lord A¥ebb Seymour, Professor Jameson, Dr Thomas Thomson, Mr 
Thomas Allan, and Mr Macknight took active parts, the business of 
the Physical Class literally overflowed into the Literary Class, the 
evenings appropriated to the latter, and not taken up by literary 
papers, being devoted to science. In the following year the minute- 
book of the Literary Class ceases altogether, and the separate 
meetings appear to have been discontinued from that date (1808). 
Afterwards a few literary papers were received at the ordinary 
meetings, without any attempt at separation. It was, however, 
only in 1827 that the distinction of the two classes was finally 
abandoned in the annual election of office-bearers, and that^ not 
from any disinclination on the part of the Society to afford honour- 
able room to literary papers, but simply from the cessation of such 
communications. It is perfectly understood that a renewal of these 
would be considered to be a credit to the Society, and I hope that 
our literary friends will be induced to give us the benefit of their 
support and their contributions. 
With the exception of the Literary Class, the Proceedings of the 
Society were at no time marked by more energy and importance 
than during the first twelve or fifteen years of the present century. 
