The Sun.
London, England, 1848-12-01 00:00:00

THE ROYAL SOCIETY

THE. RE:.-.T.-; NATION coZ '1 J
NORTHA Ml'

.1%. A 1; Q iiiS OF
A.S I.'R i-;11:11,..,N 1.

Yesterday being Sr. Andre-W's the tmniyersary
of this society was held,- for the purpon.e of electing a
council and officers for the ensuirf! ;.ear, at the apart-
ments of the society, at Somr,..,t-!.!:)uq,-.
There was a Very` nurecrau-3 ci,!ten,lance, caused by the
retirement of the argiii3 '7`Ti,loo:-Epton, who has
iled the proiiidentLl chair ~finer N,Netrib:?r, 1.939, when
F.neree9cd to that lionciur,ble di tins tioti on die re-
tirement of his late Royal Highness the Duke of Sussex;
and also the retirement of the respected secretary, Dr.
Peter Mark Roget, who has discharged the functions of
his office in the council for a period of twenty years.
At two o'clock the Fellows began to congregate, the
Nob!e Preddent being amongst the earliest arrivals; and
the Earl of Rosse, who was proposed as the Noble
Marquis's successor, was also present.
The following were elected Officers and Council
of the society for the ensuing }e.ir:—Pre!,idi iv, the
Earl of Rosso; treasurer and vice-pmsidenr, Mr. Goorco
Rennie; secietaries, :Messrs. S%ruuel
and Thernas Bell; foreign secretary, l,i. u!, mint, Coligiul
Edward Sabine, Peter M. Ro2et, M.D., the Mar-
nuts of \`ortltatnptuu, Ge orge Bids, it Ait (.y, M.A , Sir
James Clarlc, Bait., M.D., J. I'. Gus,iot, Thomas
Horner, Sir R,,bert L
ing„,
Bart. LL.D., John George Shew Dlev,e, M.A., Sic
Charles L) ell, M.A., A!len Mi!ler, M.D.,
Richard Owen, John Pi,illips, the Dean m.lVeitminkter,
-and Charles Wheittst.lne.

Oa the publication of this list great dissiitisfaction
was expressed by many of the Fellows that, although
Dr. ll° _et, who had resigned the secretaryship, war a
physiologist, and, as such, a repretentative of the-na--
tural history sciences, Mr. Grove, whom the c uncil
proposed to succeed him, was principally known tor his
researches in physical science. It was stated Ihtet the
proposed list would constitute the " executive officers of
the society entirely of cultivstors ot.physical science,
leaving the natural sciences without an officer capable of
abstracting an anatomical, physiological,,or natural his-
tory paper, or of giving an opinion on its merits." The
eissatisfaction thus expressed was inert aied when the
followirg tacts became known:— -

" At a meeting of the committee of zoology and-ani--
mal physiology of the Royal Society, held July 4, 1848,
the following resolution was moved by Professor Owen,
seconded by Mr. Gray, and unanimously agreed to:—
" That the committee taking into consideration the
large proportion of papers communicated to the Royal
Society on subjects of anatomy, physiology, and other
branches of natural history, and the loss which the so.
ciety is about to sustain by the retirement of a secretary
eminent for his acquaintance with those sciences, bed
respectfully to request the attention of the council to
the advantage and desirableness of having one of the
secretaries conversant with those branches of knowledge.
Resolved, That the secretary be instructed to communi-
cate the above resolution to the council."
" This resolution of the physiological committee hav-
ing been duly communicated to the council, it was pro:
posed in council by Sir Charles Lycll, and seconded by
Mr. Gassiot—' That Mr. Grove be rec inmended by the
council to the society for election as secretary at the
next anniversary;' on which an amendment was moved
by Mr. Brown, and seconded by Dr. Ro,;(4—` That Mr.
Thomas Bell be recommended as secretary,' which
amendment being negatived, the original motion was
then put and carried."
Under these circumstances a few of the Fellows formed
a committee for the purpose of securing, if possible, the
election of Mr. Thomas Bell to the vacant secretaryship.
In the " Statement of Facts" published by this commit-
tee, they also stated that they considered the election of
a naturalist to the vacant office the more necessary, as it
will be seen that in the new council as proposed by the
present one, there is a most unequal apportionment of the
members to the respective sciences which are supposed
to be represented in that body; there being eight mem-
bers to represent the physical sciences, five geologists,
and two chemists; while there is but one for compara-
tive anatomy, one for physiology, and one for zoology,
and not one representative of botany. Thus, of the
whole council of twenty-one members, three only repre-
sent the natural sciences. This state of things will ac-
count for the very large meeting of yesterday.
At four o'clock the Marquis of Northampton took the
chair, and called upon Professor Owen to read the re-
sult of the audit of the treasurer's accounts, when it ap-
peared that the income of the society daring the past
year, was 3,303/. 12s. 3d., including a balance of
6361. I Is. 3d. in the hands of the treasurer at the last
audit. Tho expenditure Lad been 2,8t81. 19s. 2d., leav-
ing in the treasurer's hands a balance of 4841. 13s Id.
Of the receipts, 1,122/. 16s. were for annual contribu-
tions, being a larger sum than has ever been previously
received by the society. The rest of the receipts is de-
rived from estates possessed by the society, and from
14,0001. Reduced Three per Cent. Annuities, and
18,4111. I Is. 9d. Consolidated Bank Annuities. Of
the expenditure, 825/. was spent in the purchase of
1,000/. Consols. After the statement of accounts had
been laid before the meeting, the Marquis of
Northampton delivered a short address, on the occa-
sion of his Presidency over the society for the last
time. He thanked the Fellows for the great kindness
and forbearance they had exhibited towards him us long
as he had occupied the chair. He felt that his scien-
tific merits were not equal to the position, but he would
yield to none—not even to the Noble Lcrd who was
about to succeed him—in the interest he had taken,
and should still continue to take, in the welfare of the
I society._

The PRESIDENT then proceeded to award the medals
of the society. The first royal medal was awarded to
Mr. Galloway, for his paper on the movements of the
physical universe in space; the st cond was awarded to
Professor Hargreaves, of University College, for his
paper on the solution of lineal differential equations.
The Copley medal was presented to Mr. Adams, for his
astronomical labours in connexion with the discovery of
the planet Neptune. The Rumford medal was received
by Colonel Sabine for Monsieur Reginault, for his la-
bours in connexion with the elasticity of vapours at dif-
ferent degrees of temperature.
The SECRETARY (Dr. Roget) read, instead of the
usual lengthened notice, merely a list of the Fellows who
had died during the past year. The number of deaths
was twenty-one, whilst the number of admissions was
sixteen. The total number of members in November,
1847, was 821 ; in November, 1848, but 814.
The PRESIDENT announced that in order to facilitate
the voting, balloting papers, containing the cross list,
proposed by Mr. Bell's friends, had been prepared. This
led to some discussion, in which Sir Henry de la Bache
and Mr. Leonard Homer took part.
Sir C. LYELL then rose to explain the circumstances
that led the council to fix on Mr. Grove as secretary.
They had first proposed that Professor Edward Forbes
or Professor Owen should take this office, on account of
their wish that it should be occupied by a naturalist;
but as these gentlemen could not take the office, it was
considered, on account of the known business habits of
Mr. Grove, his scientific position, and the zeal and
earnestness with which he had advocated the various re-
forms which had recently taken place in the society, that
he would be the most eligible candidate to put forward.
Sir Charles was proceeding to meet the objections raised
to Mr. Grove as secretary, when loud cries of " time"
and " the ballot" compelled him to desist.
Mr. WHARTON JONES observed that Mr. Bell was not
a physiologist, but a zoologist.
The PRESIDENT having appointed Dr. Royle and Mr.
John James Bennett scrutators, the collecting the ballot-
ing papers and examining them commenced.
During this process, Sir R. H. INcus proposed, and
Mr. BROUGHTON seconded, a vote of thanks to the Mar-
quis of Northampton, fur the manner in which he had
filled the chair of the society for a period of ten years.
Dr. PARIS, President of the College of Physicians, pro-
posed, and Mr. IV. TOORE seconded, a vote of thanks to
Dr. Roget, for his services as secretary during a period
of twenty years.
The examination of the balloting papers took an un-
usual length ofseven
that
t hthe o ccreurtia
acid
made their report,
time.
when it haiappearedfasi
council, proposed by the council, were elected, with the
exception of Mr. Grove, to be secretary, in whose place
Mr. Bell was elected. The votes for the three secreta-
ries were as follows:—For Mr. Christie, 215; for Mr.
Bell, 134; for Mr. Grove, 108.
Thanks having been moved to the scrutators, the meet-
ing adjourned.

established NATIONAL BENEVOLENT INSTITUTION.--Yesterday
morning a general meeting of
which
governorslteesta and
edsubin.
scribers to this institution,
worthy
1812 by the late P. Herve, for granting pensions
c what-
was dis-
tressed members of the middle class of society of o I
was held tthe to. aged
tutors, governesses, artists, and other
ever country or persuasion,
1
Tavern, Great Queen-street; the Right Hon.
Er eaerm al
vseoraus:
lam in the chair. The report for the present year-shows
the continued prosperity of the society, but pleads for
additional subscriptions on account theincreasing
number of applicants for its bounty. A. t Christmas
1847, the number of persons receivi pensions of 201.
and 30/. a 5 ear each Rai 234, of whom 16 were males
and 218 tenndes, their average age being upwards of 72
years. Since the foundation of the society 722 members
of the middle classes had been maintained, and the sum
of 114,5951 193. Id. had been disbursed in pensions. The
total receipts during the year ending 30th September
last, including a former balance, amounted to 9,343/.
3s. 10d., and the disbursements (comprising 5,0361. 161.
distributed in pensions, 2,074/. 19s. sd. in purchase of
funded property, and 8351. 15s. 4d. to general expenses)
to 7,9471. 10s. 9d., leaving a balance of 1,395/. 13s. Id.
On the motion of the Rev. Thomas Dale, of St. Pancras,
seconded by Mr. John Fish Pownall, the report was
unanimously adopted. Resolutions of thanks to the Royal
Family, nobility, and others for their support, having
been likewise agreed to, the meeting adjourned, and the
subscribers then proceeded to the election of 22 pen-
sioners upon the funds of the institution.
LONDON AND MIDDLESEX COMMITTEES IN FAVOUR,
OF Ma. DENlSON.—Yesterday a meeting of the members
of the bar favourable to Mr. Denison as candidate for the
representation of the West Riding of Yorkshire was
held in the Temple, when a committee of the gentlemen
present was formed to promote his election. The
greatest enthusiasm prevailed in favour of the lion.
Candidate, and among those who have taken the most
active part in this movement are several Learned Gen-
tlemen remarkable for their attachment to Whig prin-
ciples. It was stated, as the result of careful inquiry,
that out of about 180 gentlemen in the Temple possess-
ing the electoral qualification for the West Riding, up.
wards of 160 were decidedly in favour of Mr. Denison,
and had pledged themselves to vote for him on the der
of election. A committee to promote the election of
Mr. Denison is also in the course of formation for the:
of Middlesex, in which there are a large number:
of persons who have votes for the West Riding.
The early Saxons punished adultery by btlThinir
the female, erecting a gibbet over her ashes, and hang-
g thereon her. - paramour. Now-a-days the crime 'II'
only punishable by law—in money.