Royal Institution
an institu- March 9, 1799, and incorporated Jan. 13, tion founded in London, England, by is designed to diffuse knowledge, to facil- March 9, 1799, and incorporated Jan. 13, ROYAL OBSERVATORY ical inventions, and teach by lectures and experiments the application of science to the common purposes of life. It has, as a rule, had for its lecturers some of the first scientific men of the age: e. g., Thomas Young, Davy, Brande, Faraday, Tyndall, Frankland, and Rayleigh. It maintains professors of natural philosophy, chemistry and physiology, and has laboratories (including, since 1896, the Davy-Faraday research laboratory presented by Dr. Ludwig Mond).