grant the title “Royal Society,” so that “this country might follow the precedents which had been established in other parts of his Dominions.” The Royal Society Act of December 6th, 1933, makes all the active branches of the old New Zealand Institute “member-bodies” (a horrid instance of word-coining) of the Royal Society of New Zealand, which now has a membership of nearly twelve hundred, though less than seven hundred of these contribute to the cost of publishing its Transactions. May I recapitulate? Each of the societies we have been considering started as a small company of men interested in science. Each was active for some years before it was christened “Royal”; the London society having reached its late ‘teens, while that of New Zealand had actually attained the fairly mature age of sixty-six. Each demanded a subscription from its members, and the amount so subscribed was used chiefly in publishing Transactions in which were recorded the results of scientific research. Each (by ballot following nomination) elected a number of Fellows, but, while for many years past the Royal Society of London (if we except its four Royal Fellows) has consisted entirely of Fellows and Foreign Members elected for the value of their scientific work, the membership of the Royal Society of New Zealand is open to all who are willing to behave themselves and pay the small sum of twenty-one shillings each year; and the number of its Fellows is at present limited to forty. These New Zealand Fellows form the nucleus of what will no doubt ultimately be a considerably larger body, and enjoy their position without being called upon for any extra subscription, while their more illustrious brothers of London are required to pay an admission fee of ten pounds, and annually, in advance, the sum of five pounds. The Royal Society of London is a limited republic whose citizens are all numbered amongst the aristocrats of science, and is governed by an elected President and Council. The Royal Society of New Zealand is a federation of several small republics each with its own President and Council, though subject in matters of general policy, and paying a small portion (considerably less than one quarter) of its revenue to the general Council of the federation. The Royal Society of London, born under royalty in a country which was already both old and rich, is extremely wealthy, and is entirely free from political control.