| 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: F Maitland Balfour; Sir Risdon Bennett; Thomas George Bonney; John Evans (Treasurer); Alexander John Ellis; Michael Foster; Thomas Archer Hirst; William Huggins; Joseph Lister; Daniel Oliver; Warington Wilkinson Smyth; Henry Tibbats Stainton; George Gabriel Stokes; Edward James Stone; the President, William Spottiswoode, in the chair.
Among matters discussed or noted: minutes of the last meeting read and approved. Death of Colonel John T. Smith. Letter from L.F. Menabrea, Italian Ambassador, 35 Queen's Gate, 1 May 1882, to William Spottiswoode, full text entered into the minutes [in French]: a letter of condolence on the death of Charles Darwin, from students and Professor Canestrini at the University of Padua. Letter from J.B. Dumas, Paris, 1881, to the President of the Royal Society, full text entered into the minutes [in French]: on a subscription for a medal to Louis Pasteur; the Society to reply that it had no funds for this purpose, but it would be made known to Fellows at an Ordinary Meeting. Letter from Colonel Donnelly enclosing papers on electro-technical experiments to be made at Munich; the reply to be that the Society would be informed. Letter from the Kew Committee soliciting funds for a proposed observatory at the Cape of Good Hope, the letter to be laid before the Government Grant Committee. Letter from A.B. Mitford, Office of Works, 24 May 1882, to the Secretary, the Royal Society, Burlington House, full text entered into the minutes: H.M the Queen's sanction had been obtained for the continued occupancy of Kew Observatory by the Royal Society, with conditions; accepted with a copy being sent to the Kew Committee. Read correspondence between the Duke of Richmond and Gordon and the President, on a Royal Society representative to the Scottish Meteorological Society charged with the proposed observatory on Ben Nevis, Sir William Thomson invited to act in that capacity. Statement by the Secretary on the publication of Challenger Reports, forwarded to the Treasury. Thanks given to Mr. A. Legros for a copy of his medallion of Charles Darwin. Leave granted to Dr. Tyndall for electrotypes of illustrations. A paper by Mr. W.H. Gaskell on the rhythm of the heart of a frog and the vagus nerve to be the Croonian Lecture. Report of the Estates Committee on the sale of the Acton Estate with recommendations on the purchase of stock from the proceeds, approved. report of the House Committee on cleaning, repainting and other issues approved on Mr. Ruddle's estimate of £160, with the Treasurer authorised to buy new carpets. Letter from R.R.W. Lingen, Treasury Chambers, 18 May 1882, to the Secretary of the Royal Society, full text entered into the minutes: on the Society's acceptance of the Circumpolar Expedition work and the appointment of a committee. Report of the Government Grant Committee in the form of full text of the minutes of the meeting of 5 May 1882: on appointments of representatives to the Committee, with lists of applications received by sub-committees A-C and their recommendations for awards from sub-committees A-D; final appropriatons approved after mediation; and resolutions on the conduct of the committee and sub-committees. List of suggested candidates for the award of Royal Society Medals, to be adjudicated at a subsequent meeting. List of bills for payment, for legal expenses, printing, paper and lithography, and for Kew Committee instruments supplied for the Circumpolar Committee. |