| 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 Couch Adams; Major-General John Theophilus Boileau; Warren De La Rue; Captain Frederick John Owen Evans; Edward Frankland; Albert Gunther; Thomas Henry Huxley; Thomas Wharton Jones; Joseph Norman Lockyer; Reverend Robert Main; Daniel Oliver; Bartholomew Price; William Spottiswoode; George Gabriel Stokes; Alexander William Williamson; the President, Joseph Dalton Hooker, in the chair.
Among matters discussed or noted: minutes of the last meeting read and approved. Deaths of Charles Enderby, Sir Henry Percy Gordon, Sir John William Kaye, Dr. Francis Sibson, Dr. John Webster and Christian Gottfried Ehrenberg: the Foreign Secretary noted four vacancies for Foreign Members. The Treasurer reported that £1,000 of the Government Grant had been received. Letter from T.J.P. Jodrell, 26 October 1876, to [the Royal Society], full text entered into the minutes: since there is no definite object to which his donation can be applied without interfering with the Government Grant, he proposes to leave the investment at present, the interest to contribute to the Society's general funds; accepted with thanks by Council. Letter from J.D. Donnelly, Council on Education, Kensington Museum, Science and Art Department, London, 13 October 1876, to Joseph Dalton Hooker, full text entered into the minutes: acknowledging the receipt of a letter to Lord Standon and and to state that the Committee is ready to consider the Royal Society's proposals for the additional £4,000 Parliamentary expenditure; resolved that the members of the Government Grant Committee, with additional members proposed by the Lord President of Council, act as a committee in respect of the £4,000 and give their views to Council. Letter from B.R.W. Lingen, Treasury Chambers, 8 September 1876, to the President of the Royal Society, full text entered into the minutes: the Lords of the Treasury cannot interfere with the assessment of income tax on the rooms occupied by the Royal Society and apprehend that the same would be true of Somerset House, if the matter had not been overlooked at the time. Letter from Louis Mallet, India Office, 22 July 1876, to Thomas Henry Huxley, full text entered into the minutes: accepting the Society's oriental manuscripts and undertaking to rebind them and compile a catalogue. Read a letter from the Registrar of the University of London, expressing readiness to receive a full set of the Philosophical Transactions. Correspondence on the Challenger collections and publications, full text entered into the minutes in each case: letter from Vernon Lushington, Admiralty, 23 August 1876, to the Secretary of the Royal Society; letter from William Law, Treasury Chambers, 21 July 1876, to the Secretary of the Admiralty; letter from J. Winter Jones, British Museum, 12 July 1876, to the Lords Commissioners of the Treasury; report by Richard Owen, Departments of Natural History, 7 June 1876, to the Trustees of the British Museum; memorandum by Albert Gunther, British Museum, Zoological Department, 6 June 1876, to Richard Owen; letter from Albert Gunther, Zoological Department, 21 June 1876, to J. Winter Jones; letter from Vernon Lushington, Admiralty, 23 August 1876, to the Secretary of the Treasury; letter from William Law, Treasury Chambers, 29 September 1876, to the President of the Royal Society; letter from William Law, Treasury Chambers, 29 September 1876, to Sir Charles W. Thomson, Bonnytown, Linlithgow; letter from Robert Hall, Admiralty, 3 December 1872, to Professor Thompson, University of Edinburgh; letter from Robert Hall, Admiralty, 14 July 1875, to Captain Thompson, H.M.S. Challenger, Valparaiso; Charles Wyville Thompson, H.M.S. Challenger, Valparaiso, to Captain Frank T. Thompson, H.M.S. Challenger. The Treasurer reported that William Kelk, the Society's tenant at Mablethorpe, had given notice to quit. Letter from Mr. Chisholm stating that the time had arrived for the comparison of Parliamentary weights and measures and requesting that the Society's be delivered to the Standards Office, request granted. Leave granted to various individuals to copy illustrations from the Society's publications. Adjudication of Royal Society medals was discussed and adjourned. Nominations of Fellows to serve on Council was considered with a list of retiring Council Members, adjourned to the next meeting. List of bills for payment, for printing, lithography and other services. The Treasurer drew attention to the cost of printing and the matter was referred to the Library Committee for a report to Council. |