| 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: Major-General John Theophilus Boileau; Edward Cardwell, Viscount Cardwell; Warren De La Rue; Albert Gunther; Thomas Henry Huxley; Joseph Norman Lockyer; Reverend Robert Main; William Pole; Bartholomew Price; Warington Wilkinson Smyth; George Gabriel Stokes; Alexander William Williamson; the Treasurer, William Spottiswoode, in the chair.
Among matters discussed or noted: minutes of the last meeting read and approved. The report of the Committee for drafting a reply to the Treasury Committee on the subject of the Meteorological Office was considered and a reply adopted, full text entered into the minutes: six points of notice are given, including the importance of investigations into the winds, currents, and temperatures of the oceans, the importance of wireless telegraphy in weather forecasting and storm signalling, and the diffusion of knowledge to the wider population through weather charts; various recommendations are made, including the continuation of the Meterorological Office, publishing results via the Hydrographic Department of the Admiralty, collecting data from H.M. ships at sea, the continuation of daily weather charts, providing average temperatures for agriculturalists, and the continuation of observatories; the most practical method of advancing meteorology is by research and experiment done by scientific men and if the Government is not disposed to make the Meteorological Office a Government Department, the current arrangement should continue, with alterations and recommendations on payments to the Chairman and Committee members. Report of the House Committee was read, with estimates for the construction of a fire-proof room: this to be built for not more than £100 under the supervision of the Treasurer and Mr. De La Rue. Letter from Joseph Dalton Hooker, the Royal Society, 19 June 1876, to the First Lord of the Treasury, full text entered into the minutes: on the Bill for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals going beyond the recommendation of the Royal Commission, noting the importance of experiments in physiology and arguing that although the bill aims to regulate experiments upon animals, its effect would be to prohibit them. Letter from Robert Hall, Admiralty, 14 June 1876, to the Secretary of the Royal Society, full text entered into the minutes: forwarding copies of letters, by Wyville Thomson and the Admiralty, on the helpful and satisfactory performance of the officers and crew of H.M.S. Challenger. Report from the advisors on Mr. Mallet's letter: resolved that an application be made to the Secretary of State for India on the advisability of making seismic observations at one or two stations in India for one year, using instruments constructed in England under the superintendence of Mr. Mallet and Colonel Robinson. Letter from T.J.P. Jodrell, Holly Lodge, Holmwood, Dorking, 11 July 1876, to Joseph Dalton Hooker, full text entered into the minutes: objecting to the proposed use of a donation according to the scheme of the Royal Society committee and proposing to find another destination for the money; he suggests that the funds remain invested as a temporary measure until he is able to consult with his scientific friends; Council resolved that the original letter of 31 January be regarded as withdrawn, the committee suspended and the Treasurer to invest the £1,000 currently on deposit in Exchequer bills. Mr Lockyer stated that he had completed experiments on the Huygens object glass, which had been placed with the Society's other Huygens lenses in the Loan Exhibition at the South Kensington Museum. Professor Carey Foster requested the loan of blocks and plates to aid in the publication of a selection of Sir Charles Wheatstone's papers, the loan granted. Drawings illustrating papers by Spencer Bate and Urban Pritchard to be retrurned to the author at their request. Leave granted to Dr. Ferrier to have electrotypes of woodblocks from his Croonian Lecture. List of bills for payment, for binding, lithography, and other expenses. |