17-j REC01U) OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY 



On May 31, 1838, k Scientific Committees 1 to assist the Council were 

 hut these were found not to work satisfactorily, and on 

 '. were abolished. 



that part of Statute- iv of Chapter I which provided for the elec- 

 tion at anv time of Privy Councillors was repealed, and a new Statute, now 

 (ha, u te xiii, was passed which provided that in cases in which the 



;1 ii ,,f opinion that in the interests of the Advancement of Natural 

 Knov ia dc.sirable to do so, they may, once in every two years recom- 



nu-iK! on not more than two persons who ' either have rendered con- 



>picuou> MTYUV to tlu- cause of science, or are such that their election would 

 be of signal benefit to the Society'. This change was accompanied by some 

 small alterations in the order of the Statutes of Chapter I. 



In 11K)3 new Statutes were substituted for those Statutes of Chapter I which 



ated the date of election of Ordinary Fellows. They provided that the 



of candidates for election should be read out at the first ordinary meet- 



ietv in January, instead of in March as theretofore; and that 



the election should take place on the first Thursday in May instead of the first 



Thursday in June. 



VIII. THE STATUTES OF 1905. 



In 1 ( .)0:J, a Committee appointed to consider the duties of the Assistant 



ary, and the organization of the Society, recommended that the whole 



body of Statutes >hould be revised. In 1905 a Committee was appointed to 



consider the question ; and, in accordance with their recommendations, exten- 



ilterations were effected by the Council on November 2nd, 1905. These 



i.. eluded the removal from the Statute-book of a number of Statutes, on the 



-round that they dealt with matters of detail which would be more suitably 



ited by Standing Orders, some rearrangement of the order of the Statutes, 



and a number of necessary verbal amendments. 



There \\eiv. however, also several alterations of substance, viz. : 

 ( 1 ) The majority in the Council required to empower the recommendation 

 of privileged per-ons for election as Fellows was altered, from four-fifths of 

 the member* present, to two-thirds of the whole Council (Statute xiii of 

 Chapter I). 



pecilically enacted that the Council should appoint the Chair- 

 men of Committees other than the Committee of Papers (Chapter VII, 

 ' ;itr iii). 



ide in the Statutes specifying the duties of the Treasurer 

 pter VIII), and of the Secretaries (Chapter IX). The changes with regard 



itated mainly by the fact that 



( 1) Tin Statute-, ai to tin A s.sjs.t ant Secretary were recast, and it was ordered 

 In- should attend at meetings of the Council and take the minutes 

 (Chapter XI). 



