| 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: George Burrows; Heinrich Debus; Peter Martin Duncan; George Carey Foster; Francis Galton; John Peter Gassiot; Joseph Dalton Hooker; William Huggins; George Murray Humphry; John Gwyn Jeffreys; Sir John Lubbock; William Hallowes Miller; William Sharpey; George Gabriel Stokes; John Tyndall; Alexander William Williamson; the Treasurer and Vice-President, William Spottiswoode, in the chair.
Among matters discussed or noted: minutes of the last meeting read and approved. Report of the Library Committee, on grants of Royal Society journals with recommendations for distributing the Catalogue of Scientific Papers and the new Catalogue of Periodicals held in the Society's Library. Report of the Government Grant Committee in the form of minutes of the meeting of 9 February 1871, full text entered into the minutes: list of applications for grants and recommendations for awards to the total value of £1,200; with a letter from Professor Owen noting that his description of fossils collected by Mr, Beckles at Purbeck would be published by the Palaeontographical Society. Warren de La Rue and Mr. Grove added to the Committee on Kew Observatory. Discussion of the motion of Dr. Hooker on nominations to the Presidency, Dr. Humphry gave notice of a motion to limit the insertion of the same name in the house list for President for no more than two years: a Special Meeting to be convened to consider this and the creation of standing scientific committees. Mr. Gwyn Jones requested that 100 copies each of the report of the Porcupine expedition be allowed for himself and Dr. Carpenter, agreed. Ordered that authors should be allowed 50 free copies of Proceedings papers and 25 copies of an abstract. Captain Davis of the Admiralty applied for 750 or 1,000 copies of tables and diagrams from Sir William Thomson's Proceedings paper on a ship's place for the Nautical Magazine, granted. Leave granted to the Editor of Nature to have electrotype copies of the Porcupine expedition woodcuts. Messrs. Grubb's account for the telescope lent to William Huggins was presented: the balance of £1,225 to be paid and £550 to be borowed for the purpose. List of bills for payment for books and for a new furnace boiler. |