The Croonian Lecture - The biology of epidemics

Abstract

Some, at least, among those who have shared with me the honour of being invited to deliver the Croonian Lecture must have shared also an uneasy feeling that they were under an obligation to refer, directly or indirectly, to some aspect of muscular motion, in accordance both with precedent and with the supposed intentions of the Founder. Uncertain of the facts, I consulted the Society’s records, and found I need have no qualms. The Lecture was founded, not by Dr Croone, but by his widow, who, after his decease, married Sir Edwin Sadleir. It was founded by her for the Advancement of Natural Knowledge on Local Motion, or (conditionally) on such other subject as, in the opinion of the President for the time being, should be most useful for promoting the objects for which the Royal Society was instituted. A Report on the Croonian Lecture, issued by the Society in 1834, states the position clearly and concisely. The relevant passage reads: