THE LAWS

OF THE

AMERICAN PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY.

CHAPTER I.

OF THE MEMBERS, AND MANNER OF THEIR ELECTION.

SECTION 1. The election of new members shall be by ballot; and that only at the stated meeting on the first Friday of January in each year.

2. A member may at any meeting nominate in writing a candidate for membership, and the nomination so made may, in like manner, be seconded by another member;

3. But no person shall be balloted for, unless his name, together with the name of the member who nominated him, shall have been fixed up by the secretaries for the view of the society at the three meetings preceding the time of election:

4. Nor shall any person be deemed duly chosen, unless three-fourths of the qualified members present have voted in his favour.

5. Before entering upon an election for members, the president shall announce the names of the several candidates; and any member may then, for the information of the society, speak to their character and qualifications for membership.

6. The names of the candidates and their places of abode shall be designated on the ballot-boxes, and the names of the members qualified to vote shall be called by one of the secretaries. The members as they arc named shall then ballot for the several candidates in succession; a white ball being considered in favour of the candidate.

7. The balloting being gone through, the boxes shall be opened, and the state of the poll declared by the presiding member; but not till all the other business of the meeting shall have been disposed of.

8. The members are mutually pledged not to mention out of the society the name of any candidate proposed, nor of any unsuccessful candidate, and the papers containing the names of the candidates balloted for shall be destroyed immediately after the election.

9. Every new member upon his introduction into the society shall be presented to the presiding officer and shall then subscribe the laws.

10. Such members as reside within ten miles of the Hall of the society, and such others as desire to vote at the meetings and elections, shall pay an admission fee of ten dollars, and annually thereafter, on the first Friday of January, a contribution of five dollars.

11. Members elect, residing within ten miles of the Hall, shall lose the right of membership unless they subscribe the laws within one year after their election.

12. The members residing in the United States, shall, on their introduction into the society, class themselves in one or more of the following committees:-1. A committee on exact science.-2. A committee on mechanical and physical science.-3. A committee on medical and surgical science.-4. A committee on natural history.-5. A committee on moral and political science.-6. A committee on historical science and

general literature.-7. A committee on the useful and liberal arts.-These committees shall meet on their own adjournments, and at such other times as the society shall appoint, for the consideration of any matters referred to them; and shall have power to choose their own chairman: but no committee, as such, shall take up any new business of the society.

13. On the society being informed of the death of a member, the fact shall be entered on the records, and a member may be appointed to prepare an obituary notice of the deceased.

14. The obituary notices of members shall be read to the society, and they shall be bound together whenever they are sufficiently numerous to form a volume.

15. The catalogue of all the members shall be read over at the meeting on the third Friday of January, for the purpose of ascertaining whether any omissions have occurred in the record of the death of members.

CHAPTER II.

OF THE OFFICERS, AND MANNER OF THEIR ELECTION.

SECTION 1. The officers shall be, a patron,—a president, three vice presidents,-four secretaries,-three curators, a treasurer,-and twelve counsellors.

2. The Governor of the State of Pennsylvania shall be ex officio the patron of the society.

3. On the first Friday of January in every year, between the hours of two and five in the afternoon, as many of the members as shall have paid up their arrears due to the society, and shall declare their willingness to conform to the laws, regulations, and ordinances

of the society, then duly in force, by subscribing the same, and who shall attend in the Hall, or place of meeting of the society, within the time aforesaid, shall choose by ballot, one president, three vice-presidents, four secretaries, three curators, and one treasurer; and at the same time and place, the members met and qualified as aforesaid, shall in like manner choose four members for the council, to hold their offices for three years.

4. No person residing within the United States shall be capable of being president, vice president, secretary, treasurer, or member of the council, or of electing to any of the said offices, who is not capable of electing and being elected to civil offices within the state in which he resides. Provided, that nothing herein contained, shall be considered as intended to exclude any of the officers or counsellors, whose times shall be expired, from being re-elected, according to the pleasure of the society.

5. No one shall be esteemed a qualified voter at the election, who has not subscribed the laws and paid the admission fee, or who is in arrears to the society, or has failed to attend the meetings during a whole year next preceding the election.

6. Of the day, hour, and place of election, notice shall be given by the secretaries or some one of them, at least one week before the day of election, in such one or more of the public newspapers of the state of Pennsylvania, as the society shall order.

7. Before opening the election, the company that shall be met at half an hour after two, shall appoint three members of the society as judges of the election, and also two clerks or secretaries, for taking down the names of the voters.

8. In case of an equality of votes for any officer, after casting up the ballots, the decision shall be by lots, to be drawn by one of the judges.