| 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: Frederick Currey; Warren de La Rue; Sir Philip de Malpas Grey-Egerton; William Henry Flower; William Huggins; John Gwyn Jeffreys; John Marshall; Augustus Matthiessen; William Allen Miller; William Hallowes Miller; Captain George Henry Richards; William Sharpey; Charles William Siemens; John Simon; Archibald Smith; Henry John Stephen Smith; George Gabriel Stokes; John Tyndall; Alexander William Williamson; the President, General Sir Edward Sabine, in the chair.
Among matters discussed or noted: minutes of the last meeting read and approved. Principal Dawson of Montreal appointed Bakerian Lecturer. Dr. Augustus Waller appointed Croonian Lecturer. Report of the Committee appointed to consider Dr. Carpenter's proposal for deep sea exploration, full text entered into the minutes: the committee hopes that the vessel Porcupine might be spared for service, exploring the depths from 400 to 800 fathoms, parallel to the coasts of France, Spain and Portugal to the Straits of Gibraltar and then surveying as much of the Mediterranean as time permits; Mr. Gwyn Jeffreys would be prepared to take charge of the scientific work of the first part, with Dr. Carpenter the second, and Mr. Lindahl of Lund would be an unpaid assistant naturalist; apparatus by Mr. Siemens and Dr. Frankland might be used; the report received and adopted with the committee requested to continue their meetings. Draft letter, William Sharpey, to the Secretary of the Admiralty, full text entered into the minutes: recommending the proposed deep sea exploration to the Admiralty. Letter from Charles W. Knyvett, stating that he has misunderstood the intentions of the possessor of the collection of autograph letter tabled at the last Council meeting, they were to be assessed for value, not donated: the letters to be returned to Mr. Knyvett. Application to the Donation Fund on behalf of the Kew Committee for £120 to make six prints from negatives of Sun pictures taken at Kew Observatory 1862-72, to present copies to various academies, approved as two payments. Death of Heinrich Gustav Magnus. Selection of candidates for Fellowship considered and adjourned. List of bills for payment, for legacy duty, printing and for other expenses. |