| 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: Lionel Smith Beale; Commander Frederick John Owen Evans; Edward Frankland; John Hall Gladstone; William Huggins; Thomas Henry Huxley; William Lassell; William Allen Miller; William Hallows Miller; Andrew Crombie Ramsay; William Sharpey; Colonel William James Smythe; William Spottiswoode; George Gabriel Stokes; Thomas Thomson; the President, Lieutenant-General Edward Sabine, in the Chair.
Among matters discussed or noted: minutes of the last meeting read and approved. Further report from the Committee appointed to consider the letter of Mr. Hennessey, full text entered into the minutes: reporting that two sets of instruments had been procured to be sent to India, to be placed in the hands of officers of the Great Trigonometrical Survey; the report received and adopted. Letter from George Gabriel Stokes, Royal Society, Burlington House, 31 October 1867, to the Under Secretary of State for India, full text entered into the minutes: noting the two sets of instruments being sent to India and explaining the role of Mr. Hennessey, with letter enclosures; the first set of instruments is being conveyed by Lieutenant Herschel next month, who will also make observations during the total solar eclipse next year, and a paper has been drawn up to guide such observations. Letter from Colonel J.C. Walker, Dehra Doon, via Bombay, 17 August 1867, to Edward Sabine, full text entered into the minutes: acknowledging the committee's response to Mr. Hennessey's letter and expressing satisfaction at the decision to purchase an equatorially mounted telescope with a clock movement and star spectroscope; noting Lieutenant Herschel's role, promising his instruction and offering to assist in other ways; with a list of the two sets of instruments, one for the use of Mr. Hennessey and a second set for observations of the total solar eclipse of 1868. Instructions respecting certain observations to be made in India on the occasion of the total solar eclipse of 1868, by means of instruments sent out by the Royal Society, full text entered into the minutes. Letter from Lieutenant John Herschel, Collingwood, 29 October 1867, to the President and Council of the Royal Society, full text entered into the minutes: apologising for not being able to be present at the Council meeting, giving his reasons. Adjudication of Royal Society Medals: no additional names were added to the list, adjourned until the next meeting. Report of the Library Committee on progress with the printing of the Catalogue of Scientific Papers, £300 placed at the committee's disposal for expenses. The President stated that he had given permission for the use of the Meeting Room to the Civil Service Commissioners for examinations. An application from the President of the Society of Engineers to use the Meeting Room, declined. Letter from Sir David Brewster, Allerly, Melrose, 10 October 1867, to Edward Sabine, full text entered into the minutes: on protecting the character of Sir Isaac Newton, following the publication of papers in Compte Rendus on the Pascal-Newton letters. Letter from Edward Sabine, the Royal Society, Burlington House, 25 October 1867, to Sir David Brewster, full text entered into the minutes: noting the 'obvious want of authenticity' in the Pascal-Newton documents and stating that, as a result, the Royal Society would take no action; but once the question was closed, a history of the controversy should be recorded. Application from the London Committee of the Cambridge Local Examinations to use the Meeting Room for examinations, acceded to. Philosophical Transactions and Proceedings granted to the University of Coimbra in exchange for works by various professors of the University. £50 from the Donation Fund granted to the Reverend George Gordon for the purposes of opening out the upper Elgin sandstone. List of bills for payment, for printing, paper and for other expenses. |