78 



CHAKTER OF INCORPORATION. 



that they may sue and be sued in all actions, real, personal, and mixed, and prosecute and defend 

 the same unto final judgment and execution, by the name of the President and Fellows of the 

 American Academy of Arts and Sciences. 



And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid : That the Fellows of the said Academy may 

 from time to time elect such persons to be Fellows thereof as they shall judge proper; and that they 

 shall have full power and authority from time to time to suspend, expel, or disfranchise any Fellow 

 of the said Academy who shall by his conduct render himself unworthy of a place in that body, in 

 the* judgment of the Academy; and also to settle and establish the rules, forms, and conditions 

 of election, suspension, expulsion, and disfranchisement. Provided, That the number of the said 

 Academy who are inhabitants of this State shall not, at any one time, be more than two hundred, 

 nor less than forty. 



And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid: That the Fellows of the said Academy shall 

 have full power and authority from time to time to make and enact such reasonable rules, orders, 

 and by-laws, not repugnant to the laws of this State, as shall be necessary or convenient for the well- 

 ordering and good government of the said Academy ; and to annex reasonable pecuniary fines and 

 penalties to the breach of them, not exceeding the sum of twenty pounds , to be sued for and recovered 

 in any court of record within this State, in the name and for the use of the President and Fellows of 

 the said Academy ; and the same rules, orders, and by-laws to repeal at their pleasure ; and also to 

 settle and establish the times, places, and manner of convening the Fellows of the said Academy ; 

 and also to determine the number of Fellows which shall be present to constitute a meeting of the 

 said Academy. Provided, That the Fellows of the said Academy shall meet twice in a year at 



the least ; and that the place of their meeting shall never be more than thirty miles distant from 

 the town of Boston. 



And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid : That the Fellows of the said Academy may, 

 and shall forever hereafter be deemed capable in the law of having, holding, and taking in fee- 

 simple or any less estate, by gift, grant, devise, or otherwise, any lands, tenements, or other estate, real 

 and personal. Provided, That the annual income of the said real estate shall not exceed the sum of 

 five hundred pounds, and the annual income or interest of the said personal estate shall not exceed 

 the sum of two thousand pounds. All the sums aforementioned in this act to be valued in silver, at 

 the rate of six shillings and sixpence by the ounce. And the annual interest and income of the said 

 real and personal estate, together with the fines and penalties aforesaid, shall be appropriated for 

 premiums to encourage improvements and discoveries in agriculture, arts, and manufactures, or for 

 other purposes consistent with the end and design of the institution of the said Academy, as the 

 Fellows thereof shall determine. 



And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid: That the end and design of the institution of 

 the said Academy is, to promote and encourage the knowledge of the antiquities of America, and of 

 the natural history of the country, and to determine the uses to which the various natural produc- 

 tions of the country may be applied ; to promote and encourage medical discoveries, mathematical 

 disquisitions, philosophical inquiries and experiments ; astronomical, meteorological, and geographical 



