506 Appendix. 



" Of the Payments by the Fellows to the Society," the admission-money 

 is fixed at forty shillings, and indeed, in the Edition of 1762, the 

 same sum of forty shilling's is retained in this Chapter, the error 

 apparently escaping notice. The change from forty shillings to forty- 

 two shillings (two guineas) seems to have taken place at some time in 

 the interval. 



THE STATUTES FROM 1752 TO 1776. 



In 1774 and 1775, the Council were engaged in considering the 

 Statutes, and in 1776 published a new Edition, containing several 

 important changes. An interesting preface to this Edition (from which 

 a quotation is given above), explains that in spite of large changes in 

 the practices of the Society, the Statutes had been kept as far as 

 possible in their original form; and, indeed, the Statutes of 1752 differ 

 from those of 1663 chiefly in the additions described above. In 1776, 

 however, the Council determined to bring the Statutes into more strict 

 conformity with the practice of the Society, and in consequence the 

 Edition of 1776 differs widely from the two earlier versions. 



Five whole chapters are omitted, viz., Y, Of Experiments, and the 

 Reports thereof; XI, Of Curators by Office; XIII, Of the Printer 

 to the Society ; XIV, Of Operators to the Society ; XVII, Of Benefactors ; 

 the 21 chapters of 1752 being thus reduced to 16. The preface 

 explains how the changes in the Society had long rendered these 

 Statutes unnecessary. 



The order of the several chapters is largely altered, the new arrange- 

 ment adopted being that which has on the whole been followed in 

 subsequent editions, and is still maintained. 



The Election of Fellows. 



The regulations for the election of Fellows remain on the 

 whole the same, save that it is precisely stated that twenty- 

 one is " the competent number " for making an election, a majority 

 of two-thirds being necessary, and in the Statute relating to what 

 we now call the " privileged class," the words " Foreign Prince or 

 Ambassador " are replaced by the words " Foreign Sovereign Prince, 

 or the son of a Sovereign Prince, or an Ambassador to the Court of 

 Great Britain." 



Composition Fee. 



In the Edition of 1752, as stated above, no mention is made of 

 any "bond" or "composition fee," but in the next year, 1753 

 (June 7), the Statute, Cap. VI., Sec. 8, concerning Foreign- 

 ers and persons residing more than forty miles from London, 

 was repealed, and the following substituted : 



