that the Copley Medal shall be awarded to the living author of such philosophical research, either published or communicated to the Society, as may appear to the Council to be deserving of that honour. The particulars of the subject of the research are to be specified in the award, and there is to be no limitation as to the period when the research was made, or the country to which the author may belong.

Owing to the payments for the lecture and the medal being somewhat less than the dividends received, a balance has gradually accumulated in favour of the fund, amounting to over £100. This, however, is now being gradually reduced, for in the year 1881, Sir Joseph Copley, Bart., transferred to the Society a sum of £1666 13s. 4d. 3 per cent. Consols, "to provide in perpetuity a yearly bonus of £50, to be given to the recipient of the Copley Medal." So long as the interest was at 3 per cent., the income of £50 was produced, but now that it is reduced to 22 per cent., with the near prospect of falling to 22 per cent., it is insufficient for the gift. So long, however, as there has been a balance in hand in favour of the fund, the Council has thought well to fulfil Sir Joseph Copley's liberal

intention.

No. 5. THE KECK BEQUEST.

In the year 1719 a bequest of £500 was received from Mr. Robert Keck, who directed that the profits arising from it were "to be bestowed on some one of the Fellows, whom they shall appoint to carry on a foreign correspondence." For many years this bequest was merged in the general funds of the Society, and the proceeds applied towards the payment of the Foreign Secretary. In 1881 it was again made to appear as a separate trust fund, and £666 13s. 4d. Consols was allotted as the equivalent. This has, at the present time, been converted into £800 Midland Railway 3 per cent. Debenture Stock, and the proceeds are annually paid to the Foreign Secretary, who now receives no other honorarium.

No. 6. THE WINTRINGHAM FUND.

In 1794 a sum of £1200 Consols was bequeathed to the Society by Sir Clifton Wintringham, M.D., a Fellow, payable on the decease of his widow, and subject to certain conditions; the interest or dividends to be for the purchase of a silver cup, of £30 value, to be given to such person as should in ten months after advertisement present the most satisfactory experimental examination of one of three subjects chosen by vote of the Society. It was not, however, until 1842 that, after a tedious law suit, an amount of £1200 Consols was transferred

to the Society. It was then found that the conditions of the will were so stringent, and involved so much expense, that it was practically impossible to fulfil them, even when the rate of interest on Consols was 3 per cent. instead of, as at present, 22, or, as it will be shortly, 2 per cent., and there being a further provision that in case of failure on the part of the Society to fulfil the intentions of the testator, the income of the fund should be paid over to the Governors of the Foundling Hospital, that institution has in each year received the interest accruing from the fund. The subject has on several occasions been brought before the Council, and also before the legal advisers of the Society, but as yet no way out of the difficulty has been discovered.

No. 7. THE CROONIAN LECTURE FUND.

This is one of the earliest institutions connected with the Society, and, in name at least, carries us back to the days of its foundation. At the meeting held on November 28, 1660, when the design for founding the Society was discussed, Mr. Croone, though absent, was nominated as the Register, or as we should now call it Registrar, of the small band of learned men who met weekly at Gresham College. Dr. Croone, as he subsequently became, was from the beginning an active Fellow of the Society, and on his death, in 1684. left a scheme for two lectureships which he intended to found, one of which was for the Royal Society. In his will, however, he made no provision for this purpose, but his widow, who subsequently became Lady Sadleir, remedied the omission, and in her will, dated September 25, 1701, bequeathed to the Society one-fifth of the clear rent of the King's Head Tavern, in or near Old Fish Street, London, at the corner of Lambeth Hill, "for the support of a lecture and illustrative experiment for the advancement of natural knowledge on local motion, or (conditionally) on such other subject as, in the opinion of the President for the time being, should be most useful in promoting the objects for which the Royal Society was instituted," the remainder being paid to the Royal College of Physicians, also for the support of a lecture to be delivered before them; a decree in Chancery, in 1728, empowered the Society to devote the whole nett annual profits of the legacy to the payment for a single lecture and its attendant expenses. The proper subject for the lecture is the nature or laws of muscular motion, to be accompanied by some anatomical demonstration. The first Croonian Lecture was delivered in 1738 by Dr. Stuart, the subject being "The Motion of the Heart." From 1786 to 1885 the property was let for £15 per annum, so that the share of the Society was only about £3, but since 1885 the rent of the estate has been materially increased, and the Society now

receives a sum of about £52 yearly as its share, which is paid over by the Royal College of Physicians, which deals with the whole property. The whole of the available balance is in each year paid to the lecturer or for expenses.

No. 8. THE DAVY MEDAL FUND.

By the will of Dr. John Davy, F.R.S., the service of plate presented to Sir Humphry Davy for the invention of the safety lamp, was bequeathed to the Society, to be melted down and sold, in order to found a medal to be given annually for the most important discovery in chemistry. The amount received in 1869 was invested in the purchase of £660 Madras Railway Stock, producing about £33 per annum. Some little time elapsed before the dies could be prepared, and the first medal actually awarded was given, in duplicate, to Bunsen and Kirchhoff in 1877. It was also given in duplicate in 1878, 1882, 1883, and 1893.

No. 9. THE GASSIOT TRUST.

In the year 1871 the late Mr. John Peter Gassiot conveyed to the Society £10,000 Italian Irrigation Bonds, for the purpose of assisting in carrying on and continuing magnetical and meteorological observations with self-recording instruments, and any other physical investigations that may from time to time be practicable and desirable in the Kew Observatory, in the Old Deer Park, Richmond, Surrey. (See "Description of Kew Observatory," p. 138.)

The proceeds are paid over to the Kew Committee appointed in accordance with the trust deed. From time to time some of the Irrigation Bonds are drawn, and a profit has been made on reinvestment. These accumulated profits are now represented by a sum of £500 23 per cent. Consols, which forms a kind of reserve or insurance fund.

No. 10. THE HANDLEY FUND.

By the will of Mr. E. H. Handley, dated 1840, the reversion of his property was bequeathed to the Society after the death of his sister, the income to be applied as a reward for important inventions in art or discoveries in science, physical and metaphysical, or for assistance in the prosecution of any such invention or discovery, but with power to the President and Council to apply the income as they may deem best for the advancement of science.

Owing to the Statute of Mortmain, a considerable portion of the property did not pass by this will, but eventually, in 1876, the sum of £6378 19s. was received, which, after paying Legacy Duty at the rate of 10 per cent. and legal expenses, left sufficient to purchase £6047 7s. 9d. Reduced 3 per cents. When the rate of interest was threatened a few years ago, this was converted into £4798 Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway 4 per cent. Guaranteed Stock, producing about £192 per annum. Of iate years this has been applied towards the cost of preparing the Catalogue of Scientific Papers.

No. 11. THE JODRELL FUND.

The late Mr. T. J. Phillips Jodrell, in 1876, placed at the disposal of the Society the sum of £6000, at first with the intention of encouraging in this country original research in the physical sciences, but subsequently, in the same year, with directions to apply the proceeds as part of the ordinary revenue of the Society. In 1879 £1000 was, by Mr. Jodrell's directions, transferred to the Fee Reduction Fund, and the remaining £5000 is represented by the sum of £5182 14s. 10d. 23 per cent. Consols, which stand in the name of the fund.

On the death of Mr. Jodrell, in 1889, the proceeds of the fund, in accordance with a letter from him of April 5, 1878, devolved to and were incorporated with the Donation Fund. The income is at present about £140, but this will be reduced when the diminution in the interest of Consols takes place.

No. 12. FEE REDUCTION FUND.

This fund originated in 1878, the object being to relieve future Fellows of the Society of the £10 paid as an admission fee and of £1 out of the £4 annual subscription. These advantages, however, do not extend to the Privy Councillors and other privileged Fellows who join the Society. Most liberal sums were subscribed: Sir Joseph Whitworth contributing £2000, Sir William (now Lord) Armstrong and Mr. James Young £1000 each. The demand upon the fund keeps on, of course, increasing from year to year, but the excess of income over expenditure has been regularly invested, and the fund now consists of £5000 Metropolitan 3 per cent. Stock and £9333 London and North Western Railway 3 per cent. Debenture Stock, producing an income of about £450 per annum. The payments on account of Fellows amounted last year to £362, and inasmuch as in each year the payment in respect of the subscriptions of Fellows increases to the extent of £10 or £12, it is evident that, in the course of time, the question will have to be considered whether some modification in the amount of the reduction or some addition to the capital of the fund must not be made. There is, however, at present nearly £90 per annum left for investment; so that there is no immediate danger of the fund failing.

No. 13. THE DARWIN MEMORIAL FUND.

In 1885 the Committee of the International Darwin Memorial Fund resolved to transfer to the Royal Society the balance that remained in their hands, in trust, to devote the proceeds from time

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