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The dining club is now generally adapted as a concomitant of the 
learned association, and with very pleasant results. But the Boyal 
Society of London were so desirous to consider their dinners part and 
parcel of the Society itself, that it was one of their early rules to 
fine any member a guinea who called it a club. 
The Astronomical Society have long had a dining club in con- 
junction with their scientific meetings. From what connection or 
analogy with sidereal investigation I do not know, but one invariable 
dish at the astronomical dinners is black pudding. 
The dining club of the Boyal Society of London has evidently, 
then, been considered a very important appendage ; indeed, Admiral 
Smyth remarks : “ The hospitality of the Boyal Society Club has 
been of material utility to the well- working of the machine.” 
“ This is proved,” he goes on to state, <c by the number of men of 
note, both in ability and station, who have there congregated pre- 
viously to repairing to the evening meeting of the body at large ; 
and many a qualified person, who went thither a guest, has returned 
a candidate.” It has been a sound policy, therefore, as Admiral 
Smyth conceives, which so early in the history of the Boyal Society 
dictated the formation of a dining club in connection with the more 
scientific portion of the body. It introduced a bond of unity of a dif- 
ferent character from the scientific bond. Dr Johnson and other 
learned men have attached great importance to their dinner, and 
were not in humour for pursuing literary thoughts where it was 
wanting or where it was bad. When the discussions were going on 
about the propriety of having a cook attached to the French Insti- 
tute, an eminent Paris judge told La Place, as a reason for having 
a cook, that he considered the discovery of a new dish far more 
important than the discovery of a new planet, and added this reason 
for the opinion : We have already quite enough of planets, but we 
can never have too many good dishes. 
It soon became evident, as years rolled on, that a greater subdivision 
of scientific labour must follow upon the older societies, formed as they 
were for general scientific purposes. Enthusiastic cultivators of par- 
ticular branches of science wanted something more exclusive. The 
first actual movement in this direction was, I believe, the Linnean 
Society, founded in 1788 for promoting the study of zoology and 
botany, as these sciences had been organised and advanced by the im- 
mortal naturalist whose name gave the character to the association. 
