| 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: William Grylls Adams; John Ball; Thomas Lauder Brunton; Heinrich Debus; John Evans (Treasurer); Michael Foster; Francis Galton; Olaus Henrici; Thomas Henry Huxley; Edwin Ray Lankester; Joseph Prestwich; Osborne Reynolds; Osbert Salvin; Warington Wilkinson Smyth; George Gabriel Stokes; Edward James Stone; 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 Robert Hudson and Henry John Stephen Smith. Letter from Robert H. Scott, Meteorological Office, 116 Victoria Street, London, 14 February 1883, to the President, the Royal Society, full text entered into the minutes: noting the death of the Chairman, Henry Smith, and conducting duties unti the appointment of a new Chair; with an extract from the minutes of a meeting of the Meteorological Council, 14 February 1883, nominating General Strachey as the temporary office-holder. Letter from the Treasury, approving personal grants recommended by the Government Grants Committee. Letter from William Spottiswoode, Royal Society, Burlington House, 2 February 1883, to H.M. Treasury, full text entered into the minutes: on arangements to photograph the total solar eclipse using two trained observers from last year's Egypt Expedition, accompanying the American Expedition setting off from Callao; two telescopes from the Transit of Venus expedition will be available and it is thought that a grant of £500 from the Treasury, with a supplemental Government Grant contribution from the Royal Society would make this possible. Letter from Leonard Courtney, Treasury Chambers, 14 February 1883, to the President of the Royal Society, full text entered into the minutes: the grant of £500 for the Solar Eclipse Expedition will appear in the 1883-1884 estimates and he hopes that the Society will not be inconvenienced by the payment being deferred. The Treasurer authorised to advance £500 for the eclipse expedition, to be reimbursed by the Treasury. Lettre from Mr. Janssen offering a place with the French eclipse expedition, a reply to explain the new arrangements. Letters from the Science and Art Department announcing an International Horticultural Exhibition and Congress to be held in St. Petersburg, and an International Electrical Exhibition in Vienna. Letter from Warren de La Rue, 73 Portland Place, 29 January 1883, to George Gabriel Stokes, full text entered into the minutes: he has handed to Mr. White the area reductions of solar photographs taken at Kew Observatory, giving details, and noting the costs incurred in versions suppressed because of errors; he notes the instigation of the project by Sir John Herschel and his own work with the photoheliograph at Cranford, Kew and in Spain; the manuscripts he sends require abstracting and arranging which he leaves in the hands of the Society, enclosing a statement of his expenditure. Letter from Mr. T. Burt M.P., inviting the nomination of an adjudicator for a miners' safety lamp prize, Professor Clifton nominated. Letter from General Cooke explaining that the measurements he had proposed to make of the Great Pyramids of Egypt had already been done, he has learned, and therfore no further steps should be taken. On the motion of Professor Huxley, borings to be taken across the centre of the Delta of Egypt, £100 allocated. Letter from G.M. Whipple, Kew Observatory, Richmond, Surrey, 30 January 1833, to Michael Foster, full text entered into the minutes: on the adddress of Kew Observatory and precaustions taken to avoid postal errors with Kew Gardens; the Secretary to forward a copy of the letter to Sir Joseph Hooker, expressing regret that they cannot carry out his wishes. Letter from Dr. Lothar Meyer expressing thanks for the Davy Medal award. Permission given to Dr. Carnelley to copy his paper on solid state and melting points and to Professor Yeo to borrow for another month his curves on muscle contraction. Minutes of the Soiree Committee read and the committee empowered to send invitations, with dates for soiree and receptions. £50 placed in the hands of Professor Rupert Jones and £50 to Professor J.C.Adams for the benefit of applicants to the Scientific Relief Fund. The Treasurer stated that the purchase of fifteen Wharton Road houses was complete and the vendor had two more houses adjacent, which the Society agreed to purchase for £561. List of bills for payment for printing, lithography and for other expenses. |