| 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: Dr. Shelford Bidwell; George Albert Boulenger; Francis Darwin (Foreign Secretary); Frank Watson Dyson; Percy Faraday Frankland; Sir Archibald Geikie (Secretary); Francis Gotch; Dr. Ernest William Hobson; Alfred Bray Kempe (Treasurer); John Newport Langley; Joseph Larmor (Secretary); Dr. John Edward Marr; Sir William Davidson Niven; William Henry Perkin junior; John Perry; Adam Sedgwick; Dr. William Napier Shaw; William Augustus Tilden; the President, Sir William Huggins, in the chair. The Assistant Secretary [Robert Harrison] attended.
Among matters discussed or noted:
1. Minutes of the previous meeting were read and signed as correct.
2. Deaths of Mr. G.B. Buckton, Sir William Wharton and Baron Ferdinand von Richthofen reported: Captain Field to write an Obituary Notice of Sir William Wharton and Sir Archibald Geikie to write Baron Richthofen's.
3. Professor Perry re-elected as representative to the Joint Scholarships' Board.
4. Applications for grants received from Professor Chrystal, £5 10s 5d., as a supplement to his previous award, and from Professor W.A. Haswell for £125 for dredging investigations in the Tasman Sea: Professor Chrystal's application granted from the Reserve Fund of the Government Grant and Professor Haswell's referred to the Chairman of Government Grant Board F.
5. Revised Statutes discussed, amended and put to the vote: the draft to be read at a subsequent meeting and the repeal of superseded Statutes to be proposed.
6. List of retiring members of Council and lists drawn up for the replacement 10 new members.
7. No additional names were proposed in the adjudication of medals, further discussion deferred until the next meeting.
8. Report on the Inter-State Astronomical and Meteorological Conference in Adelaide laid before Council: a letter to be addressed to the Agent-General for South Australia, expressing the hope that a meteorological organisation might be brought into being in Australia, in line with other countries.
9. Circular letter from the Liverpool Institute of Tropical Medicine requesting 500 to 2,000 copies of papers communicated to the Royal Society by Institute staff: Council declines to depart from usual practice.
10. Treasurer reported the receipt from H.M. Treasury of £5,000 for the National Physical Laboratory buildings and equipment, £2,750 as the second installment of its maintenance grant; with £2,000 as a second instalment of the Government Grant for Scientific Investigation and a £500 instalment of the Publications Grant.
11. Treasurer reported the receipt of £1,000 from Mrs. Tyndall, according ot the wishes of John Tyndall, to be used for the general purposes of the Royal Society.
12. The first International Convention of the International Catalogue of Scientific Literature met at the Royal Society on 25-26 July, with an accompanying report.
13. Captain Scott of the Discovery had re-opened discussions on Mr. Bernacchi's position in reducing his Antarctic observations: a retainer of £50 to be paid to him for information required in reducing the magnetic results and for reducing the gravity results in concert with Dr. Chree.
14. Telegraph reports from the solar eclipse observation parties were received and communicated to the Press: a joint meeting of the Royal and Royal Astronomical Societies to be held on 19 October to communicate the results of observations.
15. The President noted letters of condolence sent to Mrs. Buckton and to Lady Carbutt, with a telegram to Sir David Gill expressing sorrow at the death of Sir William Wharton; reprentatives of the Royal Society to attend the funeral.
16. List of dates for Council meetings in the session 1905-1906.
17. Treasurer reported the receipt of a letter from Messrs. Few and Company, askign iof the Society would be willing to lend between £24,000 and £25,000 on mortgage interest; the reply to be that the Society was not in a position to lend such a sum.
18. A copy of a medal commemorating Sir Marc Isambard Brunel donated by Sir Joseph Hooker was tabled.
19. Professor T. Clifford Allbutt represented the Royal Society at the Tuberculosis Congress held in Paris on 2-7 October.
20. Leave granted to the Egyptian Exploration Fund to use the Society's rooms for a meeting on 10 November.
21. Draft annual report of Council to the Fellowship was tabled and directed to be circulated for comment.
22. Leave granted for reproduction of illustrations.
23. List of bills for payment for printing, engraving, and for other expenses. |