349 



" By an arrangement made with the Trustees of the British Mu- 

 seum, a sum of 165/. has been placed at the disposal of the Library 

 Committee for the purchase of books, in consideration of a grant by 

 the Society to the British Museum of fifty-five volumes of Oriental 

 Manuscripts. 



" For the purpose of affording ready access to the upper book- 

 shelves in the Library, the Council have directed a gallery to be con- 

 structed, which completely answers the desired object. 



" The printing of the classed Catalogue, under the direction of 

 Mr. Panizzi, is in great forwardness, and will soon be completed. 



" Some inconvenience having been experienced from a great num- 

 ber of ballots for the election of Candidates for admission into the 

 Society taking place during the same evening, when the times of elec- 

 tion were limited to four meetings in the year, the Council have now 

 removed that limitation, and restored the former practice of allowing 

 elections to take place at any of the ordinary meetings of the Society. 



" The Council have the satisfaction of reporting, that the Com- 

 mittee appointed, in compliance with the wishes of the Lords Com- 

 missioners of His Majesty's Treasury, and of the Honourable Board 

 of Excise, for the purpose of giving their opinion on the construction 

 of instruments and tables for ascertaining the strength of spirits, in 

 reference to the charge of duty thereon, have nearly completed their 

 labours, and will very shortly be ready with their Report. 



" The Copley Medal for the present year has been awarded to 

 William Snow Harris, Esq., for his 'Experimental Investigations of 

 the Forces of Electricity of high Intensity,' contained in his paper 

 published in the Philosophical Transactions for the year 1834 

 (p. 213; Proceedings, p. 277. No. 16.) 



" One of the Royal Medals for the present year has been awarded 

 to Michael Faraday, Esq., for his investigations and discoveries con- 

 tained in the series of ' Experimental Researches in Electricity,' pub- 

 lished in the Philosophical Transactions, and more particularly for the 

 Seventh Series, relating to the definite nature of Electro-chemical Ac- 

 tion. (Phil. Trans, for 1834, p. 77; and Proceedings, p. 261, No. 15.) 



" The other Royal Medal for the present year has been awarded 

 to Sir William Rowan Hamilton, Andrews Professor of Astronomy 

 in the University of Dublin, for the papers published by him in the 

 1 6th and 1 7th volumes of the Transactions of the Royal Irish Aca- 

 demy, entitled ' Supplement to an Essay on the Theory of Systems 

 of Rays,' and more particularly for those investigations at the con- 

 clusion of the third and last Supplement, which relate to the disco- 

 very of Conical Refraction. 



" The Council propose, in the year 1838, to give one of the Royal 

 Medals to the most important unpublished paper on Chemistry, and 

 the other Medal to the most important unpublished paper on Mathe- 

 matics, which shall have been communicated to the Royal Society 

 for publication in its Transactions, after the present date and prior 

 to the month of June 1838. 



" The City of London have required a portion of the premises be- 

 longing to the Society in Coleman- street, under the Act of Parlia- 



