ROYAL SOCIETY (LONDON), a so ciety for prosecuting research in general and_physico-mathematical science in par ticular, founded in 1660. Its first jour nal opened Nov. 28, 1660, and the members, in 1662, obtained a charter, and were incorporated as the Royal Society. The first number of the "Phil osophical Transactions," recording the work of the society, appeared on March 6, 1665. After 1750 the annual volume took the place of occasional numbers. In 1709 a bequest from Sir Godfrey Copley led to the establishment of the Copley gold medal, and a donation from Count Rumford in 1796 resulted in the foun dation of the Rumford gold and silver medals. Two more medals were estab lished by George IV. in 1825. The Lin nman Society branched off from it in 1788, the Geological Society in 1807, and the Royal Astronomical Society in 1820. For a considerable time the number of the members stood at 600; latterly, however, only 15 members have been annually elected, so that the number of fellows will in a few years be reduced below 500.
Many of the most important scientific achievements and discoveries have been due to its enlightened methods. It de servedly enjoys an influential and semi official position as the scientific adviser of the British Government, and not only administers the $20,000 annually voted by Parliament for scientific purposes, but has given suggestions and advice which have borne valuable fruit, from the voyage of Captain Cook in the "En deavor" in 1768 down to the present time. The roll of the Royal Society con tains practically all the great scientific names of its country since its founda tion. Among its presidents have been Lord-Chancellor Somers, Samuel Pepys, Sir Isaac Newton, Sir J. Banks, Sir Hans Sloane, and Sir Humphry Davy.