| 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: Captain William de Wiveleslie Abney; Sir Benjamin Baker; Isaac Bayley Balfour; William Thomas Blanford; George Carey Foster; Michael Foster; Sir Archibald Geikie; Richard Tetley Glazebrook; Frederick Ducane Godman; John Hopkinson; Joseph Norman Lockyer; John Gray McKendrick; William Davidson Niven; William Henry Perkin; John William Strutt, Lord Rayleigh; Robert Arthur Talbot Gascoyne-Cecil, Marquis of Salisbury; Adam Sedgwick; William Augustus Tilden; the Treasurer, Sir John Evans; the President, William Thomson, Lord Kelvin, in the chair.
Among matters discussed or noted: minutes of the last meeting read and approved. Deaths of Thomas Hawksley, John Rae and Walter White (late Assistant Secretary). The Secretary requested to write a letter of condolence to Walter White's family. Letter from the Secretary of State for Home Affairs, acknowledging a congratulatory address on behalf of the Queen; and letters from the Prince and Princess of Wales, and from the Duke of York. Letters from the Admiralty and from the Foreign Office noting that messages of thanks for aiding the Eclipse Expedition had been forwarded. Seal of the Royal Society affixed to a power of attorney enabling Few & Company to receive Stevenson Bequest funds. Adjudication of Royal Society medals discussed and adjourned. List of retiring members of Council, election of new Council deferred to the next meeting. Letter from the International Congress of Applied Chemistry requesting a delegate for the Brussels meeting, postponed. Letter of thanks from the Lick Observatory for gifts of books and journals. Salary of Miss Walker increased by £10 to £90 per annum on the recommndation of the Catalogue Committee. Report of the House Alterations Committee recommending improvements with estimates of expediture. House and Soiree Committee recoommendation on numbers of guests for the Anniversary Dinner. Two sums of £25 from the Scientific Relief Fund to be placed with Dr. Woodward for the benefit of an applicant. Letter from Mr. Thiselton Dyer stating that £50 granted to him from the Donation Fund was partly unspent, requesting that the residue might be applied to Mr. Theodore Bent for plant collecting in Southern Arabia, agreed. £15 from the Donation Fund awarded to Professor McKendrick to aid Mr. Jack in research on muscular motion. £2,000 legacy from the Earl of Derby received and the Treasurer authorised to invest this in stocks. Report of the Meteorological Council tabled and directed to the Treasury. Extension of admission to the Fellowship granted to Dr. E. C. Stirling. Letter from the Registrar of the Royal College of Physicians, thanking the Society for action taken on 'paid opinions'. Letter of thanks from the Museums' Association. Leave granted for electrotypes. Bills for printing, engraving, books and for other expenses. |