I 



NOTES ON HISTORY OF THE STATUTES 165 



in London might be on the Home List if they paid contributions. It would 

 appear, therefore, that although no mention of the matter was made in 1 

 from an early period a distinction was recognized between Fellows who were 

 Foreigners and others, and that the Fellows who were Foreigner- dil not, of 

 necessity, pay contributions to the Society. In the Register <>t l-Vll<m N how- 

 ever, at this date no distinction of any kind is made. 



It was apparently soon felt that the Foreign Members were too numerous 

 and in some cases not of sufficient distinction ; for in 1761 (March 19) the 

 Council, in order to ensure that ' no persons residing in Foreign parts, not being 

 subjects of the Crown of Great Britain, be elected Fellows unless their Quali- 

 fications be very well known as well abroad as at home \ enacted a Statute 

 providing that in the case of such persons the certificate should be signed by 

 at least ' three Foreign Fellows ', as well as at least ' by three Fellows named in 

 the Home List'. And in 1765 (December 19) on a proposal 'to restrain the 

 number of Foreign Members ', it was resolved ' that no Foreigner be proposed 

 for election that is not known to the learned world, by some publication or 

 invention which may enable the Society to form a judgment of his merit, and 

 that till the number of Foreign Members be reduced to eighty, not more than 

 two shall be admitted in one year. 1 A special mode of procedure in the election 

 f Foreigners as Fellows was, at the same time, resolved upon, providing for an 

 ection of two a year ; and a subsequent resolution (December 26) provides 

 ,t Foreign Members paying contributions shall ' have their names printed 

 an alphabetical List next after that of the Home Members, as Foreign 

 embers 1 contributing towards the expenses of the Society 1 , and so distinct 

 m 'other Foreign Members 1 ' who do not contribute 1 . On January 16 of 

 next year the limitation to eighty was withdrawn, and the above resolutions 

 ere then embodied in the form of Statutes. These at the same time provided 

 the new regulation should not extend to Foreign Princes or their sons, 

 gave permission to Foreigners resident in Great Britain to become Fellows 

 the usual way, which permission was extended on January 26, 1769, to 

 'oreigners who had been resident in Great Britain for the space of six months, 

 n after, namely on June 10, 1773, the word 'Foreigner 1 appears in the 

 Register 1 for the first time, being placed after the names of Stehelin, Le Roy, 

 and De Luc ; thenceforward it is used frequently. 



In the Edition of 1776 these regulations, in a somewhat modified form, are 

 traduced as part of Stat. viii of Cap. I ; the limitation to the election of two 

 year is omitted, and the certificates, signed by at least three Fellows upon 

 Foreign List, and at least by three Fellows on the Home List, are directed 

 be suspended from the 30th November until the weekly Meeting on, or 

 xt after, the 30th May. Some years afterwards, however (March 8, 1787), 

 s part of Stat. viii was repealed, and a new Sec. 9 was added which provides 



1 It may be remarked that in the early records of the Society the words ' Member ' ami 

 ' fellow ' appear to be used indiscriminately. 



