| 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: Francis Baily; William Thomas Brande; Samuel Hunter Christie; John Frederic Daniell; William Henry Fitton; Sir William Jackson Hooker; William Haseldine Pepys; Peter Mark Roget; Lieutenant-Colonel William Henry Sykes; Charles Wheatstone; Reverend Robert Willis; the Treasurer, Sir John William Lubbock, in the chair.
Among matters discussed or noted: minutes of the last meeting were read and confirmed. Report of a sub-committee of the Committee on Physics (Sir John Frederick William Herschel, Charles Wheatstone and Edward Sabine) to consider the scientific purposes of the Kew Observatory building, full text entered into the minutes: outlining the potential uses of the building, including as a repository for instruments, as an occasional observing station, and as a station for the trial of instruments and comparison of standards; with comments on the cost of upkeep and the present state of the building and its fittings. The Treasurer noted that Mr. W. Cripps, who has care of Kew Observatory, has a current salary of £35 per annum plus coals and candles. Resolved that four candidates for Foreign Membership be selected by ballot: Professor Ohm, Professor Poncelet, Henry Rose and Professor Link. The motion on certificates of candidature was withdrawn. Resolutions of the Committee of Physics and Meteorology on continuing magnetic observations and the printing of minutes: Council to communicate with H.M. Goverment on the former, and the printing of minutes was authorised. Gideon Mantell applied to borrow Ehrenberg's work on Infusoria, granted. |