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CONSTITUTION 



Art. I. This Society shall be named " The Sa 



tianal Inititutionfor the Promotion of Science," 



Art. II. It shall hold iu meetings at the City 

 of Washing;ton. 



Art. III. It shall be eompowd of Resident, 

 Corresponding, and Honorary Members. 



Art. IV. The Kesident members shall be per- 

 sons residing in the District of Columbia ; Corres- 

 ponding members shall be persons residing out of 

 the District of Columbia, who wish to slid the In- 

 stitution by their contributions or communications ; 

 and the claai of Honorary members shall be com- 

 posed of eminent men residing out of the District 

 of Columbia. 



Art. V. Resident members removing from tlie 

 District of Columbia shall, on request, be transfer- 

 red to the list of corresponding members, and vice 

 vena. But corpesjronding members may, at their 

 option, be recorded and considered as resident 

 members. 



Art. VI. The Officers of tJie Institution shall 

 consist of a President, Vice President, Twelve Di- 

 rectors, a Treasurer, a Corresponding, and a Re- 

 cording Secretary ; provided, that no member shall 

 hold more tlinn one of the offices created by this 

 article at the same time, but that an acceptance of 

 one shall be considered as a refusal of all others. 



Art. VII. The Officers shall constitute a Board 

 of .Management of tlie fiscal concerns of the Insti- 

 tution ; and any five members of the Board shall 

 be a qaonim for the transaction of ordinary busi- 

 ness. 



Art, VIII. The Secreuries of the Departments 

 of State, Treasury, War, and Sary, and the At- 

 torney General, and Postmaster General of the 

 United States, for the lime being, shall, with tlieir 

 consent, be Directors of the Inslitution ; but upon 

 the refusal of one or more of them to accede to the 

 request of the Institution, such Director or Oireo- 

 ton shall be chosen in the same manner as is here- 

 in provided for the appointment of other officers. 

 The officer* shall be elected for the term of one 

 year, or until their successors shall be appointed, 

 fhira among the resident members of the Institu- 

 tion. This election shall take place at the Annua' 

 Meeting ; and each member, who is duly qv!;;^,™, 

 and shall be present at luch meeting, shall hare a 

 vote in said electioiu 



Art. IX. The Annual Meeting shall beheld on 

 the firrt Monday in each year, or as soon thereafter 

 as may b<- convenient ; the stated meetings on the 

 second Monday in each month ; and special meet- 

 ing* whmerer five resident membeti shall concur 

 in a recant to that eflV-ct. 



Art. X. 1\t President, Vice President, nr, in 



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their alxeiice, one of the Directors, in order of |i been given and reeonled at a pmiilino wr 

 •rniorily, as named in Article VIII, shall preside '' meeting. No alttraiiont or amendni' 



ed for at the neitt regular meeting ; and if there be 

 more candidates than one, they slmll be balloted 

 for separately. 



Art. XII. This Constitution shall be signed by 

 all persons present at its adoption, who are de- 

 sirous of becoming members of the Institution ; 

 which signature shall be proof of their membership. 

 Resident members subsequently admitted shall 

 subscribe the same on their admission; and ne- 

 glect to do 80 for two months after their election 

 shall render such election void. Each resident 

 member shall pay to the Treasurer five dollars on 

 his admission; and five dollars on the first Monday 

 of January in every year thereafter, to aid in de- 

 fraying necessary expenses, and for such other pu> 

 poses as the Board of Management may direct. 



Art. XIII, No resident member shall vote at 

 any stated or other meeting of the Institution, on 

 any question whatever, who Las not paid his sub- 

 scription and annual dues, or vi^uo shall not have 

 attended a meeting of the Institution wiUjin ori' 

 year previous to such meeting. 



Art, XIV. The Inslitution shall have power to 

 appoint Curators and others for tlie preservation 

 and arrangement of its collections. The resident 

 and corresiKMidiug memlx'r» shall exert themselves 

 to procure specimens of natural history, &c. ; and 

 the said specimens shall be placed in tlie Cabinet, 

 under tlie superintendence of a Curator or Cura- 

 tors, so appointed. .\ll such specimens, Jcc, unless 

 deposited s|>ecia1ly, shall remain in the Cabinet, 

 and, in case of the dissolution of the Institution, 

 shall become the property of tlie ynited States. 



Art. XV. The resident members of ilie Institu- 

 tion shall be divided into such Departments as may 

 hereafter be determined upon. The members com- 

 posing each ilepartment shall especially be charged ' 

 with the subjects embraced therein, and commu- j 

 nicate to the Institution tlie result of their inquiries; 

 but every member shall have the privilege of ma- [ 

 king such camiiiu>i=^6ons ••• he may think pro- . 

 per on any suljw^ .uiuiec. d with the designs of ' 

 the Institution. i 



Art XVI, The various collections of the Insti- j 

 shall be placed in the apartments n hicb may i 

 he designated fur that purpose by a minority of the 

 Directors. 



Art, XVII. This Coiutitution, with the excep- 

 tions of Articles 6, 8, 10, 14, and IS, or so much 

 thereof as relates to the office of directors, their 

 duties, privileges, or powers, or the purposes or 

 place of keeping of the collections of the Institu- 

 tion, shall be suliject to alterations and additions at 

 any meeting of the Institution, provided notice of 

 a motion for such alteration or addition shall have 



lur 

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n- 



at all nwning* of tlie Institution, or if neither of 

 them shall be pretmt, the meeting shall elect its 

 thai. man. 



An. XI, The election of members shall be by 

 balTnt ; nriii an affimiutivf vntt* of iv^o-tbinls of the 

 "' . be nrccMary 



t" ' I lie nnniiiiated 



to tiK InsUlution at ■ regular meeting, and Iwltot- 



be nude in the articles above excepti.il, j . Jie 



consent of a majority of the Directors. 



Art, XVIII. A code of by-laws fur ilie rpiriila. 

 tion of the business of the Board of ^ it, 



and the annual and other meetings (il I. .:u^ 



tion, and fur matters rehiting to non-attendance, 

 privileges, duties of officers, S;c., shall be prepared 

 by a committre to b<- npjKiinted for that purpose. 



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