▁bi ological ▁sciences ▁respectively . ▁In ▁ 1 8 9 7 , ▁the ▁model ▁of ▁collect ive ▁responsibility ▁for ▁the ▁editing ▁of ▁the ▁Trans actions ▁was ▁emphas ized ▁by ▁the ▁re - est ab lish ment ▁of ▁the ▁Section al ▁Comm itte es . ▁The ▁six ▁section al ▁comm itte es ▁covered ▁mathematics , ▁bot any , ▁zo ology , ▁phys i ology , ▁ge ology , ▁and ▁( t ogether ) ▁chem istry ▁and ▁physics , ▁and ▁were ▁composed ▁of ▁F ell ows ▁of ▁the ▁Society ▁with ▁relevant ▁expert ise . ▁The ▁Section al ▁Comm itte es ▁took ▁on ▁the ▁task ▁of ▁man aging ▁the ▁ref ere eing ▁process ▁after ▁papers ▁had ▁been ▁read ▁before ▁the ▁Society . ▁Ref ere es ▁were ▁usually ▁F ell ows , ▁except ▁in ▁a ▁small ▁number ▁of ▁cases ▁where ▁the ▁topic ▁was ▁beyond ▁the ▁knowledge ▁of ▁the ▁fellow ship ▁( or ▁at ▁least , ▁of ▁those ▁willing ▁to ▁ref eree ). ▁The ▁Section al ▁Comm itte es ▁communic ated ▁ref eree ▁reports ▁to ▁authors ; ▁and ▁sent ▁reports ▁to ▁the ▁Committee ▁of ▁Pap ers ▁for ▁final ▁san ction . ▁The ▁Section al ▁Comm itte es ▁were ▁intended ▁to ▁reduce ▁the ▁bur den ▁on ▁the ▁Secret aries ▁and ▁Council . ▁Con sequently , ▁the ▁Secretary ▁in ▁the ▁ 1 8 9 0 s , ▁Arthur ▁R ucker , ▁no ▁longer ▁coordin ated ▁the ▁ref ere eing ▁of ▁papers , ▁nor ▁did ▁he ▁generally ▁correspond ▁extens ively ▁with ▁authors ▁about ▁their ▁papers ▁as ▁Sto kes ▁had ▁done .