| 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: George Burrows; Heinrich Debus; Peter Martin Duncan; Sir Philip de Malpas Grey-Egerton; George Carey Foster; Francis Galton; John Peter Gassiot; Joseph Dalton Hooker; William Huggins; John Gwyn Jeffreys; Sir John Lubbock; William Hallowes Miller; William Sharpey; Charles William Siemens; Henry John Stephen Smith; George Gabriel Stokes; John Tyndall; Alexander William Williamson; the Treasurer and Vice-President, William Spottiswoode, in the chair.
Among matters discussed or noted: minutes of the last meeting read and approved. Following the opinion expressed at last Council, the expense of soirees should not be defrayed by future Presidents: the Treasurer noted that there would be no difficulty in providing the means required for that purpose. Leave granted to various applicants to reproduce illustrations. The Treasurer reported that Mrs Lyall had given notice to quit the Mablethorpe estate: he had instructed the Society's surveyors to report on the land and enquire abut Mr. William Kelk, the proposed new tenant. Report by D. Smith, Son and Oakley, 10 Waterloo Place, Pall Mall, 15 March 1871, on the estate at Mablethorpe, Lincolnshire, property of the Royal Society, full text entered into the minutes: resolved that the tenancy shoud be agreed with William Kelk, if the Treasurer is satisfied as to his competency. The intention of the current President to retire, with George Biddell Airy requested to be nominated by Council for election as President. Mr. Gassiot brought forward the question of standing scientific committees, withdrawing his motion following discussion. Letter from Mr. Gassiot offering the immediate gift of securities producing an annual income of £250 on condition that the Society take on management of Kew Observatory, with letters from several Fellows and from Gassiot's solicitors: the whole correspondence to be referred to the committee created to consider the future of the observatory and the letters ordered to be printed in the minutes. Letter from Balfour Stewart, Owen's College, 8 November 1870, to John Peter Gassiot, full text entered into the minutes. Letter from George Biddell Airy, Royal Observatory, Greenwich, 13 February 1871, to John Peter Gassiot, full text entered into the minutes. Letter from Humphrey Lloyd, Provost's House, Trinity College, Dublin, 14 February 1871, to John Peter Gassiot, full text entered into the minutes. Letter from William Henry Sykes, 47 Albion Street, Hyde Park, 14 February 1871, to John Peter Gassiot, full text entered into the minutes. Letter from Thomas Romney Robinson, Observatory, Armagh, 14 February 1871, to John Peter Gassiot, full text entered into the minutes. Letter from Sir John Frederick William Herschel, Collingwood, 17 February 1871, to John Peter Gassiot, full text entered into the minutes. Draft of an indenture between the Royal Society and William Huggins setting out the terms by which the recently constructed reflecting telescope is to be lent to Huggins, approved: a deed to be prepared by the Society's solicitor. |