18 
Sir  Ihnnphri)  Davp,  Bart.,  P.E.S. 
The  new  President  was  anxious  to  throw  new  life  into  the 
action  of  the  Society,  tlie  vitality  of  which  had  been  somewhat 
weakened  during  Banks’s  overlong  reign  of  forty-two  A'ears. 
Davy  had  exalted  views  as  to  the  pre-eminence  of  the  Royal 
Society  in  all  scientific  politics  to  be  carried  out  by  means  of 
a more  intimate  relation  with  the  State.  Dr.  Davy  writes  : 
“ It  was  his  wish  to  have  seen  the  Royal  Society  an  efficient 
establishment  for  all  the  great  ])ractical  ])urposes  of  science, 
similar  to  the  College  contemplated  by  Lord  Bacon,  and 
sketched  in  his  yew  Atlantis,  having  subordinate  to  it  the 
Royal  Observatory  at  Greenwich  for  Astronomy  ; the  British 
Museum  for  Natural  History  in  its  most  extensive  acceptation  ; 
and  a laboratory  founded  for  chemical  investigation,  amply 
provided  with  all  means  requisite  for  original  inquiry,  and 
extending  the  boundaries  and  the  resources  of  this  most 
important  national  science.”  ’ 
With  so  wide  a scheme,  considering  how  Governments  are 
composed,  he  was  bound  to  be  disa)>pointed ; but  he  did  much, 
and  an  idea  of  some  of  the  inn)rovements  he  made  may  be 
gathered  from  the  interesting  series  of  discourses  delivered  at 
the  annual  meetings,  which  were  ])rinted  in  a quarto  volume, 
and  reprinted  in  the  collected  edition  of  his  works.  He  was 
the  first  President  to  notice  in  his  annual  addresses  the  list  of 
deceased  fellows,  and  briefly  describe  their  characters  and 
merits  in  the  sympathetic  manner  so  natural  to  himself. 
He  continued  the  practice  of  taking  the  chair  in  full  court 
dress,  as  seen  in  his  portrait  by  Jackson,  and  Dr.  Davy  adds 
that  he  sat  covered.  It  is  not  generally  known  that  in 
accordance  with  the  terms  of  the  Statutes  it  is  the  privilege 
of  the  President  to  sit  with  his  hat  on.  The  President  of  the 
Society  of  Antiquaries  has  a similar  privilege,  and  although 
this  is  not  taken  advantage  of,  the  old  cocked  hat  is  put  upon 
the  table,  and  takes  the  place  of  the  mace  on  the  table  of  the 
Royal  Society.  This  is  a custom  more  honoured  in  the  breach 
than  the  observance,  and  it  may  be  presumed  that  while 
putting  on  the  hat  for  form’s  sake,  he  took  it  off  almost  at 
once. 
In  the  latter  part  of  the  year  1828,  the  Admiralty,  having 
in  vain  attempted  to  obviate  the  evil  of  the  corrosion  and  decay 
of  the  co])per  on  the  bottom  of  shij)s  (which  was  first  used  in 
17 til),  requested  the  advice  of  the  President  and  Council 
of  the  Royal  Society  as  to  the  best  mode  of  manufacturing 
’ Davy’s  Life,  pp.  271,  272. 
