LEARNED SOCIETIES' TITLES

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXI, 14 April 1928, Page 12

LEARNED SOCIETIES' TITLES

HOW A F.IUI.S. IS KI.KCTLD It, is nut (rue, as has been stilted recently, that anyone may become tt Fellow of tliu Royal Geographical Society on payment of ;i guinea," said Colonel Sir Charles Close, president of the society, at a meeting. "It lias ciiiiic to (lie notice of the council," he said, "that during a recent law suit t lie i|iicstiun was raised whether it was desirable that fellows of learned societies should place after 1 heir names the letters signifying their fellowship. A candidate for election to the society must be. proposed as suitable from personal knowledge by one •'!- ready in the society, and seconded by another. The election rests with the council, and is not a matter of form. On election a Fellow pays an entrance fee of .Co, and an annual subscription of .!•::. The council is satisfied that any Fellow is fully entitled to make use of the letters F.R.I J.N. lie would be quite justified, for instance, in using the letters in books of reference to show his scientific interests. The \u-i' of tliu letters in other circumstances must be guided by good taste. The title is not honorific: its purpose is not to convey a distinction, but to indicate a Fellowship in the oldestablished and customary sense of membership of a scientific society incorporated by Royal Charter.