THE SOCIETY.
153
The importance of the various improvements. suggested was different in the eyes of different members. The idea of rendering the Society so select as to make it an object of ambition to men of science to be elected into it, was by no means new, as the following extract from the Minutes of the Council will prove:—
"MINUTES OF COUNCIL.
August 27, 1674.
Present,
Sir W. Petty, Vice-President,
Sir John Lowther,
Sir John Cutler,
Sir Christopher Wren,
Mr. Oldenburgh,
Sir Paul Neile.
Sir John Lowther,
Sir John Cutler,
Sir Christopher Wren,
Mr. Oldenburgh,
Sir Paul Neile.
"It was considered by this Council, that to make the Society prosper, good experiments must be in the first place provided to make the weekly meetings considerable, and that the expenses for making these experiments must be secured by legal subscriptions for paying the contributors; which done, the Council might then with confidence proceed to the ejection of useless Fellows."
