100 Record of the Royal Society. 



A NOTE ON THE HISTORY OF THE STATUTES OF THE 



SOCIETY.* 



THE FIRST STATUTES. 



The second Charter, amending the first granted in 1662, 

 having been granted April 22nd, 1663, the Statutes were 



drawn up in that year. A copy of them is published in Weld's 



* History of the Royal Society.' 



THE STATUTES TROM 1663 TO 1752. 



During the succeeding ninety years changes were from time to 

 time made in the Statutes ; but no new version of the Statutes 

 appears to have been drawn up until the year 1752.1 



" The laws of the Royal Society, like those of other communities, 

 were altered from time to time, until they appeared sufficient to 

 embrace every contingency that might occur, while they held their 

 meetings in Grresham College, which they continued to do for near 

 the space of fifty years. But the arrangement of the Society's affairs 

 being somewhat altered upon possessing a house of their own, it 

 became necessary to make different establishments in many particu- 

 lars and to alter and augment some of their Statutes. However, the 

 greater part of them was still left in the original form, suited to the 

 situation of the Society at Gresham College." (Preface to Statutes, 

 Edition of 1776.) 



Between 1663 and 1752, the following seem to have been the most 

 important changes. 



The Election of Fellows. 



In the original Statutes, Cap. VI, " Of the Election and 

 Admission of Fellows." Sec. 1 provides that candidates 

 be propounded at one meeting, and put to the vote at some other 

 meeting at which twenty-one fellows (as prescribed by Charter) are 

 present; but that every one of his Majesty's subjects having the title 

 and place of Baron, or any higher title and place, and every one of his 



* Eeprinted with additions from ' Proceedings of the Royal Society,' vol. 50, 

 p. 501. 



t The British. Museum contains a small 8vo edition, dated 1728, but this 

 appears to be a verbatim copy of the Statutes of 1663, except that Cap. VI, Sec. 7, 

 begins with the words "The admission of," instead of "The election and 

 admission of." 



