| Description | Printed minutes containing matters laid before Council, the Royal Society's governing body of Fellows, with records of decisions taken. Individual minutes are numbered.
Commencing with a list of Council members present: William Grylls Adams; Thomas Clifford Allbutt; Sir Robert Stawell Ball; Thomas George Bonney; John Cleland; Robert Bellamy Clifton; Michael Foster; Alfred Bray Kempe; John Newport Langley; Joseph Larmor; Nevil Story Maskelyne; Raphael Meldola; Edward Bagnell Poulton; Arthur William Rucker; William James Russell; Dukinfield Henry Scott; the Treasurer, Sir John Evans; Walter Frank Raphael Weldon; the President, Lord Lister, in the chair.
Among matters discussed or noted:
1. New members of Council subscribed to the declaration in lieu of the oath.
2. Minutes of the last meeting read and approved.
3. Appointment of Vice-Presidents.
4-17. Lists of appointments of standing committees, with membership: Library Committee; House and Soiree Committee; Catalogue of Scientific Papers Committee; Challenger Committee; Gunning Fund Committee; Scientific Relief Committee; International Catalogue Committee; Joint Permanent Eclipse Committee; Coral Reef Committee; Delta Boring Committee; Tsetse Fly Committee; Evolution Committee; Government Grant Review Committee; and the Observatories Committee.
18. Lists of appointments to Sectional Committees in Mathematics, Physics and Chemistry, Geology, Botany, Zoology and Physiology.
19. President and Officers to be considered ex-officio members of commiittees, with exceptions; any committee members who are not Fellows to be considered 'accessory members'.
20. Lists of appointments of two members to each of the Government Grant Boards A-G, replacing retiring members.
21. Account of the Anniversary Meeting to be published in the Yearbook rather than in the Proceedings, with separate copies distributed to the Fellowship.
22. Statement on the progress of the Coral Reef Boring Expedition: a grant of £100 already promised from the Donation Fund to be made, supplemented by £250 from the Reserve Fund.
23. Application for £400 from the Government Grant Fund by Professor Haddon for an anthropological expedition to the Torres Strait; £250 granted from the Donation Fund, with an additional £120 from the Reserve Fund.
24. Legal advice on the estate of Sir William Mackinnon obtained; the Society could not give away personal effects to the family, but had written to Miss Mackinnon offering the articles at a nominal price.
25. Letter from Mr. Few, the solicitor, on the Society's responsibilities in the Mackinnon bequest; the bequest to be accepted by the Society.
26. Letter from the Board of Trade soliciting advice on a schedule of imperial and metric units; a committee appointed to confer with the Board.
27 The Astronomer Royal unable to undertake the duties of delegate to the International Geodetic Bureau; the Officers to select an alternative delegate.
28. Seal of the Royal Society affixed to Foreign Member diplomas.
29. Report of the Scientific Relief Fund: £10 to be placed with Mr. Carruthers, £50 with Dr. Gunther and £100 with Dr. Henry Woodward for the benefit of applicants.
30. Report of the Library Committee, including recommending a committee to be set up to examine the Boole manuscripts, with various gifts and exchanges. Professors Henrici, Pearson and Mr. Kempe to form a Boole Manuscripts Committee.
31. Grant of up to £55 awarded from the Publication Fund in aid of Mr. Warren's paper on variablity in the human skeleton, to be published in Philosophical Transactions.
32. Grant of £50 awarded from the Publication Fund in aid of E. A. Minchin's paper on the development of spicules on sponges, to be published in the Quaterly Journal of Microscopical Research.
33. Application of Dr. R. von Lendenfeld for a Publication Fund grant for a paper on Irish sponges, declined.
34. Letter from the Chairman of the Joint Eclipse Committee stating that they could not recommend allocating grants to individual observers; Dr. Copeland's application declined.
35. Dr. W. J. Russell re-appointed to the Joint Scholarships Board.
36. Discussion meeting to be held early in the new year on scientific results from a proposed Antarctic Expedition.
37. Offer from Mr. R. H. Scott to present the correspondence of Sir Edward Sabine, accepted.
38. An informal reception of Fellows to be held on 20 January 1898.
39. Officers approved the loan of two siderostats for use in India for solar eclipse observations, via the Solar Physics Committee.
40. £2,000 received by the Society's bankers on account of the Government Grant and £500 on account of the Publication Grant Fund, from the Paymaster-General.
41. Leave granted for re-publication of papers and copying of letters.
42. Bills for printing and other expenses.
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