| 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: John Evans; Daniel Hanbury; Thomas Henry Huxley; Nevil Story Maskelyne; James Clerk Maxwell; Charles Watkins Merrifield; Rear-Admiral George Henry Richards; George Rolleston; 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. Professor Rolleston made and subscribed to the declaration in lieu of the oath. Deaths of Neil Arnott, the Reverend J.W. Bellamy, and Dr. Livingstone; withdrawal of Charles Piazzi Smyth. Letter from the Treasury, refusing to sanction any further expenditure on account of the scientific staff appointed to Rodriguez and Kerguelen's Island; with a reply from the President pointing out that without the expense of transport to the Cape of Good Hope and Mauritius, the objects of the expeditions would be frustrated. Letter from Joseph Dalton Hooker, Royal Society, Burlington House, 12 March 1874, to Sir Stafford Northcote, full text entered into the minutes: on insurance for the new Burlington House apartments, citing precedents from Somerset House and the old Burlington House rooms, that the Society should not be expected to insure the apartments; the Chancellor of the Exchequer promised to consider the matter further. The Report of the Privileged Classes Committee was considered and approved, with exception to one paragraph: a new Statute was proposed for a future meeting, full text entered into the minutes. Professor Allman accepted the position of the Royal Society's delegate at the International Horticultural and Botanical Congress of Italy: the President to write to John Ball and Professor W.C. Williamson to nominate them to the same position. The correspondence between the President and Charles Piazzi Smyth was read. Letter from Professor James Clerk Maxwell requesting that the electro-dynamometer and resistance coils constructed for the Electrical Standards Committee be deposited at the Cavendish Laboratory, agreed. £50 from the Donation Fund granted to Messrs. Miller and Skertchly, if not accorded by the Government Grant Committee. Letter from Joseph Prestwich and the question of the distribution of specimens from Brixham Cave referred to a committee appointed for the purpose. Letters read from Baron d'Omalius d'Halloy and R.H. Scott. Captain Evans added to the Kew Committee. Leave granted to B.D. Jackson to make notes from the Sherard manuscripts. Letter from Few and Company, 2 Henrietta Street, Covent Garden, 23 Fenruary 1874, to Walter White, full text entered into the minutes: regarding the Bishop of LIncoln vs. Haywood. The Secretary reported that the Boole manuscripts had been received. Letter from the Meteorological Society. A committee appointed to consider the purposes of the Davy bequest. Bill for furniture ordered to be paid.
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