The Philosophical Club was established in 1847 by a group of existing members of the Royal Society who had become dissatisfied with the institution’s direction and organisation. Its members never numbered more than 47, and among them were Darwin, Faraday, Murchison, Lyell, Hooker, and other notable scientists of the period. A sometime member of the Philosophical Club, Bonney based the present volume on the minutes kept by Sir H. T. de la Beche and Sir W. R. Grove and produced a history in two parts. The first deals with the nature of the Society and its membership, and its role and progress as a Scientific body; the second offers notes from the discussions of scientific topics that were held at every meeting, noting on one occasion the communication delivered by Charles Darwin on his experiments with Drosera at Down.