| 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: Andrew Ainslie Common; William Crookes; Francis Darwin; Andrew Russell Forsyth; Michael Foster; Sir Douglas Galton; Alexander Henry Green; Sir John Kirk; Horace Lamb; Edwin Ray Lankester; Sir Joseph Lister; Alexander Macalister; John Henry Poynting; John William Strutt, Lord Rayleigh; Arthur William Rucker; Osbert Salvin; John Scott Burdon Sanderson; Thomas Edward Thorpe; the Treasurer, Sir John Evans; William Henry White; the President, William Thomson, Lord Kelvin, in the chair.
Among matters discussed or noted: minutes of the last meeting read and approved. New members of Council subscribed to the declaration in lieu of the oath. Appointment of Vice-Presidents. The President to take steps in the presentation of an address to the Queen, on the birth of an heir to the Duke of York. Re-appointment of committees, with lists of members: Library Committee; Soiree and House Committee; Catalogue of Scientific Papers Committee; Challenger Committee; Mountain Observatory Committee; Water Research Committee; Scientific Relief Committee; International Catalogue Committee; Instrument Room Committee; Joint Permanent Eclipse Committee. Letter from Francis Galton, Chairman of the Kew Committee, Kew Observatory, Richmond, 23 November 1894, to the Secretaries of the Royal Society, full text entered into the minutes; noting that any change of name of the Observatory would be prejudicial to its interests; further consideration deferred. Letter from Clements R. Markham, President of the Royal Geographical Society. 1 Saville Row, Burlington Gardens, 3 December 1894, to the Secretary of the Royal Society, full text entered into the minutes; encouraging efforts to promote an Antarctic Expedition, despite Admiralty reservations. Croonian Lecture to be delivered by T. W. Engelman of Utrecht, on the nature of muscular contraction. Seal of the Royal Society affixed to power of attorney for the sale of annuities, supporting the Scientific Relief Fund. Purchase of consols and stock for the Gassiot Trust, the Darwin Medal Fund and the Rumford Medal Fund. Professors Duner and Dewar and the executors of Professor Hertz to receive a gift of £50 from the Rumford Medal Fund. Agency for sale of separate papers of Philosophical Transactions agreed with Dulau & Company. Revision of regulation lengths of papers in response to the Treasurer's letter on the subject, approved, with the full text draft of a letter to referees to be consulted by the Committee of Papers. Letter from Mr. Fox of Falmouth Observatory, suggesting that instruments bought with Government Grant aid should be insured. Salary of Mr. Chapman, Office Assistant, to be increased by £5 to £115 per annum. Increases in salaries to staff of the Catalogue of Scientific Papers, and an offer from the Syndics of Cambridge University Press, referred to the Catalogue Committee. Thanks of Council given to Messrs. W. H. and C. Spottiswoode for the gift of a bust of their father, William Spottiswoode. Leave granted to Robert S. Ball to have drawings made of Newton relics. Leave granted for copying of illustration blocks. Bills from Johnson, Matthey & Company for medals, for engraving, lithography and fees. Meeting adjourned. |