Minutes of a meeting of Council of the Royal Society 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: William Wivesley Abney; William Henry Mahoney Christie; George Howard Darwin; Warren De La Rue; Robert Etheridge; Sir Frederick John Owen Evans; William Henry Flower; Michael Foster; Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker; Henry Nottidge Moseley; Hugo Muller; Lieutenant-General Richard Strachey; James Joseph Sylvester; Alexander William Williamson; the Treasurer [Sir John Evans] in the chair. Among matters discussed or noted: declarations in lieu of the oath by new Council members and appointment of Vice-Presidents. The re-appointment of committees, including: the Library Committee, Soiree and House Committee, Challenger Committee, Circumpolar Committee, Mountain Observatory Committee, Krakatoa Committee and Delta Committee. A report is received from the Government Grant Committee, listing applicants for considerations of the sub-committees A-C, with recommendations and applications deferred. A Treasury letter states that the UK Government would make known to the Comite International des Poids et Mesures that the previously noted convention would be joined. Other letters considered: James Bateman on rejoining the Fellowship after non-payment of subscriptions, Edwin Ray Lankester acknowledging the Society's contribution to the Plymouth Marine Laboratory, the Astronomer Royal suggesting that the Society form a committee to supervise observatory reports from Bombay [Mumbai] and Madras [Chennai] in India. The report of the Solar Physics Letter Committee is revisited. The meeting concludes with a letter of resignation from Walter White, the Royal Society's Assistant Secretary, an appreciation of his services and the award of a retirement pension. 18 December 1884