[Mr.Herschel, speaking of a paper of Fresnel's, observes--"This memoir was read to the Institute, 7th of October, 1816; a supplement was received, 19th of January, 1818; M.Arago's report on it was read, 4th of June, 1821: and while every optical philosopher in Europe has been impatiently expecting its appearance for seven years, it lies as yet unpublished, and is only known to us by meagre notices in a periodical journal." MR HERSCHEL'S TREATISE ON LIGHT, p.

533 .-- ENCYCLOPAEDIA METROPOLITANA.] One of the inconveniences arising from having no historical portion in the volumes of the Royal Society is, that not only the public, but our own members are almost entirely ignorant of all its affairs.

With a means of giving considerable publicity (by the circulation of above 800 copies of the Transactions) to whatever we wish to have made known to our members or to the world, will it be credited, that no notice was taken in our volume for 1826, of the foundation of two Royal medals, nor of the conditions under which they were to be distributed.

[That the Council refrained from having their first award of those medals thus communicated, is rather creditable to them, and proves that they had a becoming feeling respecting their former errors.] That in 1828, when a new fund, called the donation fund, was established, and through the liberality of Dr.Wollaston and Mr.Davies Gilbert, it was endowed by them with the respective sums of 2,000L.

and 1,000L.