CONSTITUTION. 
Art. I. The Society shall be named “The National Institute for the Promotion of Science." 
Art. II. It shall hold its meetings in the City of Washington. 
Art. III. It shall be composed of Resident, Corresponding, and Honorary Members. 
Art. IV. The Resident members shall be persons residing in the District of Columbia ; Corresponding mem- 
bers shall be persons residing out of the District of Columbia, who wish to aid the Institute by their contribu- 
tions or communications; and the class of Honorary members shall be composed of eminent men residing out 
of the District of Columbia. 
Art. V. Resident members removing from the District of Columbia shall, on request, be transferred 
list of Corresponding members, and vice versa. But Corresponding members may, at their option, be recoided 
and considered as resident members. 
Art. VI. The Officers of the Institute shall consist of a President, a Vice President, twelve Directors, a 
Treasurer, a Corresponding, and a Recording Secretary; provided that no member shall hold more than one 
of the offices created by this article at the same time, but that an acceptance of one shall be consideied as a 
refusal of all others. 
Art. VII. The Officers shall constitute a Board of Management of the fiscal concerns of the Institute; and 
five members of the Board shall be a quorum for the transaction of ordinary business. 
Art. VIII. The Secretaries of the Departments of State, Treasury, War, and Navy, and the Attorney 
Genera], and Postmaster General of the United States, for the time being, shall, with their consent, be Directors 
of the Institute; but upon the refusal of one or more of them to accede to the request of the Institute, such Di- 
rector or Directors shall be chosen in the same manner as is herein provided for the appointment of. other offi- 
cers. The officers shall be elected for the term of one year, or until their successors shall be appointed, from 
among the resident members of the Institute. This election shall take place at the annual meeting , and each 
member, who is duly qualified, and shall be present at such meeting, shall have a vote in said election. 
Art. IX. The Annual Meeting shall be held on the first Monday in each year, or as soon thereafter as 
convenient; the stated meetings on the second Monday in each month; and special meetings whenevei five 
resident members shall concur in a request to that effect. 
Art. X. The President, Vice President, or, in their absence, one of the Directors, in order of seniority, as 
named in Article VIII. shall preside at all meetings of the Institute; or if neither of them be present, the meet- 
ing shall elect its chairman. 
Art. XI. The election of members shall be by ballot; and an affirmative vote of two-thirds of the members 
present at the meeting shall be necessary to the election. The candidate shall be nominated to the Institute 
at a regular meeting, and balloted for at the next regular meeting; and if there be more candidates than one, 
they shall be balloted for separately. 
Art. XII. This Constitution shall be signed by all persons present at its adoption, who are desirous of be- 
coming members of the Institute; which signature shall be proof of their membership. Resident members 
subsequently admitted shall subscribe the same on their admission; and neglect to do so for two months after 
their election shall render such election void. Each resident member shall pay to the Treasurer five dollars 
on his admission; and five dollars on the first Monday of January of each year thereafter, to aid in defraying 
necessary expenses, and for such other purposes as the Board of Management may direct. 
Art. XIII. No resident member shall vote at any stated meeting of the Institute, on any question whatever, 
who has not paid his subscription and annual dues, or who shall not have attended a meeting of the Institute 
within one year previous to such meeting. 
Art. XIV. The Institute shall have power to appoint Curators and others for the preservation and ar- 
rangement of its collections. The resident and corresponding members shall exert themselves to procure 
specimens of natural history, &c. ; and the said specimens shall be placed in the Cabinet, under the superin- 
tendence of a Curator or Curators, so appointed. All such specimens, &c., unless deposited specially, shall 
remain in the Cabinet, and, in case of the dissolution of the Institute, shall become the property of the Uni- 
ted States. 
Art. XV. The resident members of the Institute shall be divided into such Departments as may here- 
after be determined upon. The members composing each department shall especially be charged with the 
subjects embraced therein, and communicate to the Institute the result of their inquirhs; but every member 
shall have the privilege of making such communications as he may think proper on any subject connected 
with the designs of the Institute. 
Art. XVI. The various collections of the Institute shall be placed in the apartments which may be 
designated for that purpose by a majority of the Directors. 
Art. XU II. This Constitution, with the exceptions of Articles G,- 8, 10, 14, and 1G, or so much. thereof 
as relates to the office of Directors, their duties, privileges, or powers, or the purposes or place of keeping of 
the collections of the Institute, shall be subject to alterations and additions at any meeting of the Institute, 
provided notice of a motion for such alteration or addition shall have been given and recorded at a preceding 
regular meeting. No alterations or amendments shall ever be made in the articles above excepted, without 
the consent of a majority of the Directors. 
Art. XVIII. A code of by-laws for the regulation of the business of the Board of Management, and the 
annual and other meetings of the Institute, and for matters relating to non-attendance, privileges, duties of 
officers, &c., shall be prepared by a committee to be appointed for that purpose. 
BY-LAWS. 
ARTICLE I. 
Sec. 1. The Recording Secretary shall give at least two weeks notice, in two or more of the newspapers 
published in the City of Washington, of every annual meeting. 
Sec. 2. Stated and special meetings shall be called by or through the Recording Secretary. 
Sec. 2. A quorum to do business shall consist of at least ten resident members entitled to a vote. 
Sec. 4. A member introducing a stranger shall hand his name and place of residence, in writing, to the 
presiding officer. . 
Sec. 5. The order of business at stated meetings shall be as follows, viz: 1. Reading the minutes. 2. 
Nomination of candidates for membership. 3. Election of candidates. 4. Notice of contributions and depo- 
sites. 5. Reading reports and communications — I. From officers of the Board of Management. II. From 
Departments. III. From Committees. IV. From individual members — {a.) Honorary. ( b .) Corresponding, 
(c.) Resident. 6. Extraordinary business. 
Sec. 6 . At the annual meeting, the election of officers shall succeed to the reading of reports. 
Sec. 7. At special meetings, the object for which the meeting was called shall have precedence of all other 
matters, after the reading of the minutes. 
Sec. 8. A suspension of the regular order of business for a specific purpose may, at any time, be had, two- 
thirds of the resident members present, who are entitled to a vote, concurring therein. 
ARTICLE II .— Of Officers. 
Sec. 1. Before entering on his duties, the Treasurer shall give bond to the Trustees in such sum, and with 
such security, as the Board of Management may deem appropriate for the security of the funds of the Insti- 
tute, and the faithful discharge of his duties. 
Sec. 2. The Treasurer shall keep an account of the receipts and disbursements made by him, and make a 
report thereof to the Board of Management, at the stated meeting in December annually. His books and 
papers shall be always open to the inspection (at his office) of the said Board, or any committee that may be 
appointed by the Institute. 
Sec. 3. The Treasurer shall receive all dues, being authorized, hereby, to employ a collector thereof, and 
shall pay out the money of the Institute upon accounts passed at stated meetings, and not otherwise. 
Sec. 4. All money, books, papers, &c., appertaining to the office of the Treasurer, shall be transferred to his 
successor. 
Sec. 5 The Corresponding Secretary shall conduct the correspondence, under the direction of the Institute. 
All papers, letters, &c., appertaining to his duties shall be subject to the disposal of the Institute; and what 
may remain in his hands at the end of his term shall be transferred to his successor. 
Sec. 6 . The Recording Secretary shall keep a journal of the proceedings of the Institute, and also of the 
Board of Management; shall sign all orders made by either, in attestation of their correctness; call meetings, 
and, generally, perform such duties as attach to his office; and, at the end of his term, transfer all books, papers, 
&c., in his possession, belonging to the Institute, to his successor. 
Sec. 7. A report shall be made by the Board of Management to the annual meetings, of the general as 
well as fiscal concerns of the Institute. 
ARTICLE III .—Of Expenditures. 
Sec. 1. No expenditure shall be made for, or in the name of the Institute, without its direction. 
ARTICLE IV. 
Sec. 1. All elections shall be made by ballot, and a majority of all the members present entitled to vote 
shall be necessary for the election of officers. 
Sec. 2. Vacancies shall be filled by the Institute at the next meeting after their occurrence. 
ARTICLE V . — Of the Departments. 
Sec. 1. The Departments shall consist, for the present, of — 1. Chemistry. 2. Geology and Mineralogy. 
3. Geography, Astronomy, and Natural Philosophy. 4. Natural History. 5. The Application of Science to 
the Useful Arts. 6. American History and Antiquities. 7. Agriculture. 8. Literature and the Fine Arts. 
Sec. 2. The Institute, at any stated meeting, may add and organize any other department that its wants or 
condition may justify. 
Sec. 3. Every resident member shall join one or more of the departments. 
Sec. 4. Each department shall have power to organize and subdivide itself into sections, and make such 
regulations as may be necessary for its government, provided they do not conflict with the Constitution or 
laws of the Institute. _ . 
Sec. 5. Each department shall keep, or cause to be kept, full minutes of its proceedings, and submit the 
same, or such portion thereof as may promote the cause of Science, to the Institute, as often as it may deem 
proper or as called on to that effect. _ 
Sec. 6. Each department shall have the direction of the arrangement of that portion of the Cabinet, and 
the instruments appertaining to it, as relates to the branch of Science under the care of such department, sub- 
ject to the supervision of the United States’ Curators. 
Sec. 7. Each department shall make an annual report to the Board of Management at the stated meeting in 
December, embracing its condition, progress, and operations during the year, together with the suggestions 
for improving its usefulness for the ensuing year. 
ARTICLE VI .— Of the Cabinet. 
Sec. 1. Donations made to the Cabinet shall be marked with the name of the donor. # _ 
Sec. 2 Specimens may be placed in the Cabinet on special deposite, subject to removal by giving the Institute 
notice at some stated meeting. 
ARTICLE VII. 
Sec. 1. The Annual and Stated Meetings shall be held at such places as shall be determined upon by the 
Institute. , , , i , , • , 
Sec. 2. The place of holding a Special Meeting shall be designated by those by whom the said meeting 
shall be ordered. 
