| 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; Reverend James Booth; Charles Brooke; Samuel Hunter Christie; John Peter Gassiot; Thomas Graham; Joseph Dalton Hooker; Henry Bence Jones; George Newport; Lieutenant-Colonel Joseph Ellison Portlock; Colonel Edward Sabine; William Sharpey; Admiral William Henry Smyth; William Spence; Nathaniel Wallich; the President, William Parsons, 3rd Earl of Rosse, in the chair.
Among matters discussed or noted: minutes of the last meeting were read and confirmed. Letter from John Tyndall, Royal Institution, Albermarle Street, 15 November 1853, to Samuel Hunter Christie, full text entered into the minutes: he has learned of the award to the Royal Medal by communications from several Members of Council and he has learned seperately that other Members of Council have expressed doubts about its wisdom; he releases Council from its decision and restores to them the liberty of making a better choice. Letter from John Tyndall, Royal Institution, 18 November 1853, to John Peter Gassiot, full text entered into the minutes: he wishes to remove an ambiguity which may have been in his letter to Christie; the Royal Medal was awarded to him for the discovery of a law which he believes to be all-pervading, but he is informed that some Members of Council have a different opinion, and therefore he asks that no attempt should be made to confirm the award. It was moved by Mr. Gassiot and seconded by Mr. Graham that the letter should be entered into the minutes. Resolved that the President should inform the proper authorities that a Royal Medal had been awarded to Charles Darwin. Report of the Committee appointed to enquire into the origin of bottles found on the shore of Nova Zembla [Novaya Zemlya], by Edward Sabine: the committee had availed itself of the help of Lloyds and their Norwegian agents to obtain specimens of bottles used by Norwegian fishermen; with statements from Mr. Duus of Krageroe, Mr. Ebbell of Christiana, Mr. Schyren from Trondheim and Messrs. Bjorn and Wiborg, all testifying to the origin of the bottles in Norway, used as fishing net-floats. Applications from Dr. Apjohn, Mr. Broun and Mr. Rankine, for extensions of time for their admission to the Fellowship, granted. Letter from Captain J.H. Lefroy, Woolwich, 27 October 1853, to the Secretary of the Royal Society, full text entered into the minutes: on granting the Philosophical Transactions and Proceedings to the Canadian Institute of Toronto, giving reasons; and suggesting that copies of the journals should be more widely distributed to incorporated scientific or literary societies in the British Colonies; Captain Lefroy to be referred to the Officers to report on to Council. The Societe Meteorologique de France applied for, and was granted, a copy of Proceedings. Colonel Sabine's paper on influence of the Moon on the magnetic direction at Toronto, St. Helena and Hobarton was to be the Bakerian Lecture for the year.
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