ROYAL SOCIETY 'S ANNIVERSARY.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1332, 9 January 1912, Page 6

ROYAL SOCIETY 'S ANNIVERSARY.

THE CELEBRATIONS NEXT JULY. Sir Archibald Geikie, President of the Royal Society, delivered the address on November 30 at the anniversary meeting of tho Koyal Society, and described- the steps that the society-is taking to celebrate the two hundred and fiftieth anniversary of its foundation. The president ftnd.the : Council of the Society are inviting the chief -universities, academies, scientific societies, and. other institutions in this country, iu the oversea Dominions, and abroad to send, delegates. -The first reception of the guests will bo in the rooms of, the society, but in view of the early association' of the. society with Gresham College and the City it is hoped that some opportunity will be given; of renewing that intercourse and that the banquet which is proposed will bo held in a large hall lent for the purpose.' Arrangements are?being made for the visitors to see the public buildings, museums, libraries, and other objects of interest, and the. deleg{ites'.may not improbably be ,invited to visit the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge. As a permanent memento of the occasion tho pages of the Charter-book, containing the signatures of the fellows from that of the founder, Charles 11, down to the present day are to be reproduced and a new edition of the society's "Record" will be issued.

In. commenting on the report of the council, Sir Archibald Ueikie again this year drew attention to the seismological work of Dr. Milue. Though no important advance had been mado towards placing 'Dr. Milne's service on n. more permanent footing, at least one usefulstep had been taken in the more complete equipment of Eskdaleniuir Observatory as a seismological station. Moreover, tho Royal Society had granted a sum of for supplying an additional observer for a period of two years. He referred to tho new commission, that the society was sending out, at the request of the Colonial Office, to study what might be the relation of the native fauna of Nyasaland and other parts of Africa to'the spread of trypanosomiasis and What try'panosome disease might affect the domestic animals of the region. As regards tho "Catalogue of Scientific Literature for the Nineteenth Century," on which the Committee of the Royal. Society has been engaged for over nfty years, Sir Archibald Geikie announced that it was speedily approaching completion. Financial difficulties made it impossible to distribute the later volumes bv treo exchange as had been done with tho earlier ones, and he drew the attention of tho Fellows to the approaching completion of the work, because tile volumes already issued had not attracted the attention among universities and public libraries that had been confidently expected inn l me i ai ™"' €(l b i' the society for 1911 have been allocated as follow:—The Copley Medal is awarded to Sir George Howard. Darwin "for his long series of researches on tidal theory, including its bearing on tho physical constitution of tho earth, and on problems of evolution in the planetary system." The president referred to the simplified methods ho had invented for ascertaining tho tidal constants of a port by harmonic analysis of the tides, to his "now celebrated hypothesis that the moon originated by fission from the earth when in a molten state, to his detailed study of the classical problem ns to the possible figures of equilibrium of a rotating mass of liquid, and their respective stabilities, and to such, other work as his papers on the history of meteoric swarms and on periodic orbits.

The Royal Me'dal on the physical side was assigned to Professor George Chrystal "on account of his contributions of mathematical and physical science especially of ■ late years to the study of seiche's on lakes." After appraising the work of the late Professor, the president explained that the award of the medal had been made . before Professor ChrysfaFs death, and that it had been felt that the award should not be-cancelled, but that the medal should be : transmitted to his family as a visible token of tho admiration with which the society regarded his life-work. The King, te explained, had approved of the proposal, and had added an expression of condolence.

The Boyal Medal on the biological side is awarded to Dr. William Haddock Bayliss. Tho part taken by Dr. Bayliss during the last twenty-five years in the advancement of physiology had been unequalled by any other physiologist in this country. The Davy Medal is given to Professor Henry Edward Armstrong "on account of his researches in organic and in general chemistry."-

' The Hughes llcdal is awarded to Sir. Charles Thomson Rees Wilson "in recognition of the value of his contributions to our knowledge of the nuclei produced in dust-free gases, and of his investiga-' tions upon the nature and properties of ions-in gases