| Description | Printed minutes containing matters laid before Council, the Royal Society's governing body of Fellows, with records of decisions taken.
Commencing with a list of Council members present: Thomas Bell; William Thomas Brande; Dr. Richard Bright; Samuel Hunter Christie; John Frederick Daniell; Dr. William Henry Fitton; Sir John William Lubbock; Reverend Dr. George Peacock; Richard Phillips; Reverend Baden Powell; Peter Mark Roget; Major Edward Sabine; Lieutenant-Colonel William Henry Sykes; the President, Spencer Joshua Alwyn Compton, 2nd Marquess of Northampton, in the chair.
Among matters discussed or noted: minutes of the last meeting were read and confirmed. New Members of Council made and subscribed to the declaration in lieu of the oath. The President announced the appointment of Vice-Presidents. In consequence of a letter from the Secretary of the East India Company, it was resolved that instruments at Aden should be transferred to Bombay [Mumbai] for magnetic observations. Letter from John Caldecott, Cadiz (en route to India), 26 November 1840, to President and Council of the Royal Socety, full text entered into the minutes: requesting to be placed on the list for Greenwich Observations, as Director of the new Observatory at Trevandrum, request granted. Letter from Granville Leveson-Gower, Lord Leveson, Foreign Office, 30 November 1840, to the Marquis of Northampton, full text entered into the minutes: directed by Lord Palmerston that he would submit the resolution of the Committee for Physics to the Belgian Government, to obtain the co-operation of the Brussels Observatory in making magnetic and meteorological observations. Letter from Sir John Barrow, Admiralty, 10 December 1840, to Peter Mark Roget, full text entered into the minutes: sending a memorial from James Sweetman Eiffe claiming a reward for his chronometers, with a similar request from Robert Molyneaux, asking that they be referred to a committee for assessment. Letter from Mr. Rigg requesting that experiments be made to prove that carbon is a vegetable product, declined. Re-appointment of committees with membership and terms of reference: list of Library Committee and seven subject-based standing committees. Addresses to Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, full text entered into the minutes: on the birth of their first child, the Princess Victoria. Resolved that the slips of non-scientific books to be printed alphabetically to form a catalogue according with an estimate by R. Taylor. Letter from Charles Few, Henrietta Street, Covent Garden, 15 December 1840, to Sir John William Lubbock, full text entered into the minutes: relaying a counter-proposal by the Secretary of the Foundling Hospital, which Few does not recommend to be adopted. Letter from Mr. Vanheythusan, 25 November 1840, to Charles Few, full text entered into the minutes: declining the Royal Society's terms in the case of the Royal Society vs. Loxcombe, preferring to wait for the court's award, or £200 clear of deductions; Few authorised to decline this counter-proposal. Letter from William Newton, Norwich, 12 December 1840, to Sir John William Lubbock, full text entered into the minutes: he has viewed the Mablethorpe Estate, estimating the letting value as £145 per annum; he has also seen the Acton Estate, which is intermingled with other lands and the Society's boundary posts have been left to decay, but he estimates the let at £70 per annum and he recommends an enclosure, as it woudl be desirable building land. Resolved that Newton should take steps to raise the Mablethorpe rent to £145 per annum. Resolved that the magnetic term observations from Milan and Prague be sent to Professor Lloyd then returned to the Society. |