OVotes a n d Records (Jhe IZoya I cSov iefcy ILoruwrv Volume 14 1959 London The Royal Society i960 Published by The Royal Society, Burlington House, Piccadilly, London, W.i Issued November i960 PRINTED IN GREAT BRITAIN BY HEADLEY BROTHERS LTD 109 KINGSWAY LONDON W C 2 AND ASHFORD KENT CONTENTS Volume 14 No. 1. June PAGE Editorial ......... 1 Anniversary Dinner 1958 . .2 Some unpublished letters of Charles Darwin ( 1) . 1 2 Edited by Sir Gavin de Beer, F.R.S. Alfred Russel Wallace, F.R.S., and his Essays of 1858 and 1855 . 67 By C. F. A. Pantin, F.R.S. ( Plate2) Erasmus Darwin, F.R.S. (1731-1802) [Plate3) . 8 5 By N ora Barlow Thomas Robert Malthus, F.R.S. (1766-1834) ( . -9 9 By H. J. Habakkuk Joseph Dalton Hooker, F.R.S. (1817-1911) (Plate5) . 109 By W. B. T urrill, F.R.S. Charles Lyell, F.R.S. (1797-1875) (Plate 6). 121 By Sir Edward Bailey, F.R.S. Epilogue ......... 139 By Sir Edward Salisbury, F.R.S. Society’s Notes (Plate 7) . 142 Bibliography of recent books and articles dealing with the history of the Royal Society or its Fellows . 147 CONTENTS V olume 14 No. 2. November PAGE Anniversary Dinner 1959 . 151 Visit of His Excellency The Soviet Ambassador, 19 November 1959 160 Reminiscences of my early years ( Plates 1 6 3 By the late C. T. R. W ilson The accompt of William Balle from 28 November 1660 to 11 September 1663 174 By R. E. W. M addison William Nicolson, F.R.S., and the runes of the Bewcastle Cross ( 11 to 14) 184 By R. I. Page Robert Boyle at Eton ....... 191 By R. B irley Society’s Notes [Plate 15) . 192 Bibliography of recent books and articles dealing with the history of the Royal Society or its Fellows ..... 196 Index 199 NOTES AND RECORDS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF LONDON V ol. 14. No. i June 1959 ED ITO RIA L 1 I 'HE main purpose of this number of Notes and , apart from _L the speeches at the Anniversary dinner, is to celebrate the centenary of the publication of the Origin of species. It contains a collection of unpublished letters of Charles Darwin and an article on Alfred Russel Wallace drawing attention inter alia to his essay of 1855 which seems to have escaped notice in last year’s celebrations. There are, in addition, biographical sketches of the four men who probably had the most influence on Darwin—Erasmus Darwin, Lyell, Hooker and Malthus. The last named was also responsible for awakening in the mind of Wallace the idea of Natural Selection. The major interest and excitement of the historical studies in Notes and Records, lie, I suggest, in trying to fathom the circumstances which have led up to the seminal ideas that have changed the course of scientific progress, whether they have been the outcome of experiments, of mathematical analysis or have come in a momentary flash of imagination like Planck’s quantum theory. In Natural Selection we are face to face with the birth of a new idea which was perhaps the most far-reaching break-through that the human intellect has accomplished. Professor Habakkuk has given us a fascinating study of the writings of Malthus for which he was elected into the Royal Society in 1818 and of his influence on economic thought. He com­ ments that it is curious that Darwin should have needed this clue which Malthus provided, but it is surely one of the most interesting episodes in the history of science that at one of its great turning points the break-through should have come independently both to Darwin and Wallace from reading An essay on the principle of population. This is the first time that a number of Notes and Records has been devoted to a specific topic. Next year there will be a tercentenary number devoted to the origins of the Royal Society and to sketches of its founder members. I should be grateful to Fellows if they have any suggestions for other topics of historical interest related to the Royal Society which might form the central theme for later numbers of Notes and Records. H arold H artley Vol. 14. 1959- 1.