| 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 James Allman; Benjamin Collins Brodie; George Busk; Robert Bellamy Clifton; James Fergusson; Thomas Archer Hirst; Joseph Dalton Hooker; Thomas Henry Huxley; William Hallowes Miller; Joseph Prestwich; Rear-Admiral George Henry Richards; Philip Lutley Sclater; William Sharpey; Francis Sibson; William Spottiswoode; George Gabriel Stokes; Major-General Richard Strachey; Isaac Todhunter; Sir Charles Wheatstone; the President, Sir George Biddell Airy, in the chair.
Among matters discussed or noted: minutes of the last meeting read and approved. New members of Council made and subscribed to the declaration in lieu of the oath. Reappointment of the Library Committee, the House Committee, and the Government Grant Committee, with lists of members and terms of reference. £250 placed at the disposal of the Library Committee to meet expenses of the Catalogue of Scientific Papers. A donation of 2 guineas granted to the parochial schools of Mablethorpe. Appointment of a Fairchild Lecturer was considered, with Council to take a legal opinion concerning their obligations to the Fairchild Trust and the means of divesting it, should Council so decide. The Treasurer reported on developments in the purchase of land at Acton by the North and South Western Junction Railway Company, the sale to be in abeyance as the company applied to Parliament for additional powers, and the Society's objection to a 5-foot cutting in its land. A letter from the Rector of Acton referred to the Treasurer. Letter from Mr. Galloway applying for a grant in aid of research into the causes of explosions in coal mines, £12 allocated from the Donation Fund. Letter from Professor Wyville Thomson applying for copies of minutes of Council and of the Circumnavigation Committee relating to the Challenger Expedition: copies of minutes of Council acceded to. A gift of four parts of the Philosophical Transactions for use of the Challenger Expedition. Copies of Proceedings and a back issue of Philosophical Transactions granted to the Standards Office Library, and the Warden of Standards. Five applications of arrears of Philosophical Transactions granted. New prefix to the proofs of Proceedings sent to authors, approved. The President announced his withdrawal from the office, the consequences of which would be considered by Council at the next meeting. Bill for payment for printing of Proceedings. |