| 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; William Davidson Niven; William Henry Perkin; Bartholomew Price, 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. The Marquis of Salisbury subscribed to the declaration in lieu of the oath, as a new member of Council. Deaths of Henry Francis Blanford, Colonel Thomas William Fletcher and Dr. James Jago. Professor J. J. Thomson appointed to Government Grant Board B. The Senior Secretary had written to the Admiralty, pressing the case for a ship to convey the Senegambia Eclipse Expedition from Bathurst to Teneriffe; the expedition given leave to borrow instruments from the Royal Society. Request to the Foreign Office that the Brazil Eclipse Expedition be exempted from Customs examination and duties. Letters from the Royal Society of Edinburgh and the Royal Irish Academy accepting authority on cases for the Scientific Relief Committee. The death of Mr. Whipple has meant that no further action should be taken with the Kew Committee. £100 from the Scientific Relief Fund to be allocated for the benefit of Mr. Whipple''s widow and children. Suggestions in Mr. Galton's letter for appointing a successor to Whipple approved. £30 from the Scientific Relief Fund to be placed with Mr. Stone and £150 with Dr. Hugo Muller for the benefit of applicants. Report of the Soiree Committee on dates for the events and £140 for expenses, approved. Certificate of Incorporation for the Kew Committee received and to be forwarded to the Chair of the Committee. Request from Mr. Common, Royal Astronomical Society, to take copies of photographs for exhibition at Chicago, approved, Letter from Professor Seeley explaining that the Pareiasaurus fossil was purchased privately and not from the Government Grant Fund, this to be communicated to the British Museum (Natural History). Letter from Dr. H. Woodward on distribution of specimens from Malta caves, collected by Mr. J. H. Cooke; these were the property of the Government, but duplicates might be sent to the institutions suggested by Woodward. Letter requesting a contribution to a memorial to Professor J. S. Stas deferred. £30 from the Donation Fund granted to Professor W. C. Williamson for research on fossil plants and £200 granted to Professor Milne of Tokyo for seismographic research. Report of the Catalogue Committee, recommending that the Catalogue of Scientific Papers should not be divided into two parts, discussion deferred. Treasurer authorised to accept an estimate of £105 for an oak case for Royal Society manuscripts. Extension of admission to the Fellowship granted to John Morley. Thanks from the Owen Memorial Committee for the use of rooms. Requests for electrotypes of illustrations. Bills for printing, engraving and for other expenses. |