| 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 Augustus Abel; William Bowman; William Carruthers; Major-General Henry Clerk; William Crookes; John Evans; Augustus George Vernon Harcourt; Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker; Thomas Henry Huxley; Sir Henry Lefroy; Sir John Lubbock; Charles William Siemens; John Simon; George Gabriel Stokes; Allen Thomson; Alexander William Williamson; the President, William Spottiswoode, in the chair.
Among matters discussed or noted: minutes of the last meeting read and approved. Deaths of Sir James Matheson and the Marquis of Tweedale. Treasurer reported on stock investments for the Handley Fund and for the Fee Reduction Fund. 200 shares in the Whitworth Land Company Limited had been received from Sir Joseph Whitworth, with a list of Trustees. Treasurer authorised to sell sufficient of the Jodrell Fund for transfer of £1,000 to the Fee Reduction Fund. Treasurer authorised to purchase £2,000 more of London and North Western Railway stock. Repeal of Sections of Chapter III of the Statutes, and ful text of drafts of new Statutes, relating to the payment of Fellowship fees, entered into the minutes and voted upon. List of members of the Government Grant Committee sub-committees A-C listed, with chairmen, and directed to examine grant applications. Report of the Library Committee on progress with the Catalogue of Scientific Papers and on journal exchanges. Minutes of the Soiree Committee read, £100 authorised for soiree expenses, the event to take place on 30 April, with receptions on 12 March and 2 April, and 10 guineas to be placed at the President's disposal for the reception of guests at the Anniversary Dinner. Draft letter, George Gabriel Stokes, the Royal Society, 17 January 1879, to R.A. Cross, Secretary of State for the Home Department, full text entered into the minutes: relaying the Colliery Explosions Committee's views on likely areas of investigation to improve safety, including on mine lighting, atmospheric pressure and fire-damp, and the use of gunpowder; recommending the formation of a body composed of scientists and those with practical experience, to take enquiries further. Professor Stokes expressed his desire to resign from the governing body of Eton College. Letter from the Charity Commission hoping that the Royal Society would nominate a Chief Governor to Dulwich College, Council willing to do this when a new scheme for the College is established. Letter from Messrs. W. and J. Beadel, enquiring whether the Society would sell one acre of land at Acton as the site for a station, referred to the Estates Committee. Payment of bills for lithography. |