156 



this charge ; and have no doubt that he will accomplish it to the full 

 satisfaction of the Fellows of the Society at large, to whom the pos- 

 session of such a classed Catalogue as the one proposed, will be ad- 

 vantageous in many ways, independently of its direct utility in refer- 

 ence to the employment of the library. 



The whole of the sum at which the Arundel Manuscripts which 

 have been exchanged for books, were valued, has now been received 

 from the Trustees of the British Museum, and the account with them 

 is thereby closed. 



The Council have also directed the printing of an edition of the 

 Abstracts made by the Secretaries and entered op the Journal Book of 

 the Society, of such papers as have been read to the Society and 

 ordered for publication in their Transactions, from the year 1 800 

 inclusive, to the present time. They conceive that a collection of 

 these Abstracts, which possess in themselves much intrinsic value, 

 will form an useful sequel to the Abridgement of the Philosophical 

 Transactions of which the public is already in possession, but which 

 does not extend to a later period than the end of the last century. 

 This work will form two thick octavo volumes, one of which is now 

 completed and ready for delivery to subscribers. The proof sheets, 

 at the desire of the Council, were read over by Mr. Lubbock and Mr. 

 Children, and no alterations were made except for the correction of 

 errors obviously arising from inaccurate transcription. The Council 

 have also directed a general Index to be made of the contents of the 

 Transactions from the year 1821 to 1830 inclusive. 



Documents relating to the periods and heights of the Tides having 

 been furnished to the Society, at the request of the Council, by favour 

 of the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty, who have obligingly 

 ordered these returns to be made from the principal sea-ports of En- 

 gland, a Committee has been appointed for the purpose of examining 

 and digesting them, and for printing such of the observations or 

 results as they may deem useful. 



The Committee for conducting the Meteorological Observations 

 have been anxious to arrange a plan for insuring their accuracy, and 

 increasing their utility. They find that standard instruments are 

 much wanted for furnishing correct data in this department of science. 

 This deficiency they are endeavouring to supply ; and have in par- 

 ticular been promised the kind assistance of Mr. Daniell and Dr. 

 Prout in superintending the construction of a standard barometer of 

 superior accuracy, on the indications of which they expect that the 

 utmost reliance may be placed. 



The telescope, which the Council, with the advice of a Committee, 

 had requested Mr. Barlow to construct as an experiment, on the 

 principles stated by him in his paper in the Philosophical Transac- 

 tions, is now completed, and will soon be ready for trial. 



The Council have awarded one of the Copley Medals to Mr. 

 Faraday, for his discovery of Magneto-Electricity, as explained by 

 him in his Experimental Researches in Electricity, published in the 

 Philosophical Transactions for the present year. 



Oersted's important discovery of the influence of voltaic electricity 



