a. | FS 
399 
‘“* The subject of members in arrear has come under the consi- 
deration of the Council, and, in pursuance of the measures adopted 
by the Council of the preceding year, they have recommended to 
the Academy a slight alteration in the By-laws relating to de- 
faulters, the operation of which will be, that, henceforward, there 
will be no members more than two years in arrear, such persons 
ceasing, ipso facto, to be members of the Academy. This modi- 
fication of the By-law (which is in conformity with the spirit of the 
original) has been adopted by the Academy; and it will have the 
effect of removing an apparent opposition between their rules and 
usages, besides tending to insure, in future, greater regularity of 
payment, 
“Some objection having been raised to the course recently 
adopted by the Academy in reference to the election of new mem- 
bers, the Council have prepared an enlarged formula of certificate 
for candidates, which, it is hoped, will remove all difficulties, and, 
at the same time, convey the required information with regard to - 
the eligibility of the candidate. 
«It has also been recommended by the Council, and resolved 
by the Academy, that the conditions required previous to the ballot 
for new members, be all complied with at least one week before 
such ballot. 
‘‘ A charter-book, with the usual obligation engrossed, has 
been prepared to receive the signatures of new members on admis- 
sion. The Council request that members, who have already 
signed in another roll, will write their names also in this book, so 
as to render it, as far as possible, a complete record of the history 
| of the Academy. 
. «« The miscellaneous property of the Academy consists of their 
library (including their collection of MSS.) and their (as yet) small 
collection of antiquities. 
“ On the subject of the library the Council have to state, that a 
Book Committee was appointed at the commencement of the year, 
to examine the state of the library generally, and to report thereon 
to the Council. The additions made to the library, during the 
past year, have been confined chiefly to the regular periodicals. 
The collection of MSS. has been enriched by a copy of the Book 
