| 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: Sir Benjamin Collins Brodie; John Evans; Daniel Hanbury; Thomas Henry Huxley; Nevil Story Maskelyne; James Clerk Maxwell; Joseph Prestwich; Andrew Crombie Ramsay; Rear-Admiral George Henry Richards; John Scott Burdon Sanderson; William Sharpey; Francis Sibson; William Spottiswoode; George Gabriel Stokes; Major-General Richard Strachey; Alexander William Williamson; the President, Joseph Dalton Hooker, in the chair.
Among matters discussed or noted: minutes of the last meeting read and approved, with an amendement. The Treasurer reported on the completion of transfer of land at Acton. Report of the Government Grant Committee in the form of minutes of a meeting on 12 February 1874, full text entered into the minutes: list of applications for grants, discussed and provisonally voted upon; other business including a letter from Dr. Klein presenting 100 copies of his work on the lymphatic system and a statement of expenditure from Joseph Prestwich on a grant relating to Brixham Cave. Report of the Scientific Relief Committee, with grants awarded to three applicants. Report of the Library Committee, on grants of publications. Report of the Privileged Classes Committee, full text entered into the minutes: recommending that this class of Fellow should be limited to members of the British Royal Family ['Princes of the Blood Royal'] and members of the Privy Council, with procedures for election. Report of the Soiree Committee, full text entered into the minutes: on arrangements for 22 or 25 April; the former date agreed by Council. Letter from William Law, Treasury Chambers, 17 February 1874, to the President and Council of the Royal Society, full text entered into the minutes: on the representation by Professor Huxley for support towards observations of the Transit of Venus from Rodriguez and Kerguelen's Island; an additional £850 will be submitted for the Parliamentary vote. Letter from Robert Hall, Admiralty, 9 February 1874, to the Secretary of the Treasury, full text entered into the minutes: arrangements to transport scientiufic staff to Rodriguez and Kerguelen's Island, including via H.M.S. Shearwater; the Society to request free passage from England to Mauritius and back. Letter from George Russell, Secretary, H.M. Office of Works, 30 January 1874, to William Spottiswoode, Treasurer, Royal Society, Burlington House, full text entered into the minutes: concurring with the Treasury on the maintenance arrangements for Burlington House and transmitting rules for maintenance; Officers to report on the conditions of occupation of the Somerset House apartments and during the removal to Bulrington House. Letter from D.C. Richmond, Endowed Schools Commission, 2 Victoria Street, 14 February 1874, to the President of the Royal Society, full text entered into the minutes: on the scheme for Archdeacon Johnson's Hospitals and Schools, Oakham and Uppingham, with one member of the governing body to be appointed by the Royal Society. Letter from Mrs. Mary Boole, 54 York Terrace, Regent's Park, London, 22 January 1874, to the Secretary of the Royal Society, full text entered into the minutes: offering manuscript papers of George Boole to the Society, accepted with thanks. Letters of thanks from newly elected Foreign Members were read. Death of L.A.J. Quetelet announced, noting four Foreign Member vacancies. Professor Stokes presented photographs of the Kater pendulum in its bent state, to be preserved in the archives. Letters from Gilbert Scott, from the Director of the Meteorological Office, from Professor Parlatore and from Mr. C. Barry. E. Cardwell requested an extension of time for admission as a Fellow of the Society, granted. Letter from Mr. Carpenter, offering a portrait of Dr. Neil Arnott by Mrs. Carpenter, accepted with thanks. List of bills for payment, for printing, lithography, and for other expenses. |