1J2 
HISTORY OF THE 
[1870-80 
purpose, and Airy consequently wrote a letter to the Council on 
1872 January 12 informing them of this refusal and asking for 
financial help from the Society for his scheme. The Council 
resolved that the account should be published as a Memoir of the 
Society. This was eventually done, the preparation being confided 
to Mr. Ranyard, who at first worked under the direction of Sir George 
Airy. Later on, the entire work devolved upon him, and the scheme 
of the volume was enlarged. Consent was obtained from the 
British Association to include the results of the eclipse of 1871, 
and those of earlier eclipses were added, so that finally it became 
a record of all observed eclipses up to 1878. The volume was 
completed after a delay, which caused occasional remark, and 
was published in 1879. 
No medal was awarded in the year 1871, and the reasons for 
this are of interest. At the Council Meeting in 1870 November, 
it was proposed by Mr. Dunkin, Mr. De la Rue seconding, that 
Mr. Lockyer should receive the medal for his researches in Solar 
Physics. Other recipients were proposed, and lastly it was 
proposed by Mr. Browning, Professor Pritchard seconding, that 
Mr. Lockyer and Dr. Frankland should receive the medal for their 
joint researches in Solar Physics. 
At the Council Meeting in 1870 December the ballot was taken 
and Mr. Lockyer’s was the name chosen to be submitted for 
confirmation at the meeting in January. But at that meeting, 
after considerable discussion, the choice was not confirmed. At 
the Annual General Meeting in 1871 February the President stated, 
as may be read in the account of the meeting in the Monthly Notices, 
that the non-award was due to the fact that by the Bye-laws the 
Council had not the power to bestow a joint medal, and that the 
Council had “ found it impossible to select any individual so pre 
eminently distinguished by his own independent researches that they 
could recommend the Society to bestow its award upon him, with 
out danger of doing injustice to others.” But it is not difficult to 
infer from the discussions at the Council Meetings, and from sub 
sequent events, that there was a feeling inimical to Mr. Lockyer. 
At a Special General Meeting of the Society held on 1871 June 9, 
a new Bye-law w'as proposed by the Council and passed, to the 
effect that “ where two or more persons have been jointly concerned 
in the production of any scientific treatise, or the carrying out of 
any research work or discovery, or have been the simultaneous 
but independent authors of any such treatise, work, research, or 
discovery,” the Council have power to award a medal to each of 
such joint authors. It will be remembered that the medal had 
been awarded to Mr. Huggins and Professor Miller jointly in 1867. 
As to the award of the medal in 1872, at the meeting of the