| 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: Thomas George Bonney; Sir Richard Assheton Cross; Alexander John Ellis; John Evans (Treasurer); Thomas Archer Hirst; William Huggins; Thomas Henry Huxley; John Marshall; Alfred Newton; William Odling; Daniel Oliver; Henry Tibbats Stainton; George Gabriel Stokes; Lieutenant-General Richard Strachey; 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 the Reverend Humphrey Lloyd and Dr. John Stenhouse. Sir Richard Cross made and subscribed to the declaration in lieu of the oath, as a new Member of Council. Names of candidates for four vacancies in Foreign Members to be discussed at next Council. Authority given to the Soiree Committee to proceed with soirees and receptions, with £100 to defray expenses. Loan of the manuscript of the Natural History of Wiltshire, by John Aubrey, to Mr. Britten, approved. Captain Abney appointed to the Kew Committee. Lyon Playfair appointed a member of the governing body of Westminster School. Two letters from A. Auwers, Academy of Sciences, Berlin, 2 January 1881 and 15 July 1880, to William Spottiswoode, full text entered into the minutes: on documents by Newton and Leibnitz. Letter from Robert Hall, Admiralty, 13 January 1881, to the President of the Royal Society, full text entered into the minutes: regretting that no vessels could be placed at the disposal of Sir Wyville Thomson at this time, since there are unusual demands for the services of small vessels; to be acknowledgeed with the hope that Thomson's wishes could be accommodated at another time. Letter from G.O. Trevelyan, Admiralty, 10 January 1881, to the Secretary, H.M. Treasury, full text entered into the minutes: on arangements to observe the Transit of Venus and the desirability of an expedition in 1882. Letter from R.R.W. Lingen, Treasury Chambers, 18 January 1881, to the Secretary of the Royal Society, Burlington House, full text entered into the minutes: requestign the Society to form a committee to conseider the correspondence with the Admiralty and to oversee Transit of Venus matters. List of committee members to advise the Admiralty and Treasury on the Transit of Venus. The President noted a letter and printed form from M. Berger on the Exposition Internationale d'Electricite in Paris. List of members of the Government Fund Sub-Committees of Recommendations, A-C, with Chairmen appointed. List of bills for payment for cleaning and coals. |