| 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; John Thomas Graves; Dr. Gideon Algernon Mantell; William Hallows Miller; George Rennie; Peter Mark Roget; Charles Wheatstone; 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. Letter from Sir John William Frederick Herschel, Collingwood, 21 June 1843, to the Secretary, full text entered into the minutes: drawing the attention of Council to deficiencies in the Cape Observatory, including in the observation of the Great Comet of March 1843; Herschel describes the present arrangement of the observatory and the inadequacy of its instruments, including the dilapidation of his father's 14-foot Newtonian reflector and he gives suggestions on remedying this situation; Council in agreement resolved to communicate with the Admiralty on re-equipping the observatory. Resolved that all books should be returned to the Library before 29 July and the Library to be closed for August. Mr. Roberton to have leave of absence in August, the Librarian in July. The Duke of Norfolk requested that the period for his admission to the Fellowship be extended, granted. Sir William Molesworth asked permission to copy manuscript letters for an edition of Hobbes, granted. Charles Wheatstone applied for 100 copies of his paper, on instruments for determining constants in a voltaic circuit granted: the paper selected as the Bakerian Lecture. Dr. Evans applied to copy his paper on the spleen, permission granted. Mr. Roberton reported that the third book printed on vellum said to have been lost was located. Dr. Roget reported that the Editor of the Quarterly Review had been sent the contents of Shuckard's letter witt a request to withdraw mis-statements: he had received back a short note only, with a list of the three books printed on vellum, attempting to justify the error. |