V.

CONSTITUTION AND BY-LAWS

OF THE ACADEMY.

PREAMBLE.

EMPOWERED by the Act of Incorporation adopted by Congress, and approved by the President of the United States, on the 4th day of March, A. D. 1863, the National Academy of Sciences do enact the following Constitution and By-Laws:

ARTICLE I.
Of Members.

SECTION 1. The members of the Academy shall be designated as Members, Honorary Members, and Foreign Associates.

SECT. 2. The Academy shall consist of the fifty members named in the Act of Incorporation, and of such others, citizens of the United States, as shall from time to time be elected to fill vacancies, in the manner hereinafter provided.

SECT. 3. Every member shall, upon his admission, take the oath of allegiance prescribed by the Senate of the United States for its own members, and, in addition thereto, an oath faithfully to discharge the duties of a member of

the National Academy of Sciences to the best of his ability. He shall also subscribe the laws of the Academy.

SECT. 4. The members of the Academy shall be arranged in two Classes, according to their special studies, viz.: A, the Class of Mathematics and Physics, and B, the Class of Natural History. The corporate members may select the Class in which they desire to be arranged.

SECT. 5. The members of the Classes shall arrange themselves in Sections, by inscribing their names under one of the following heads: Class A. Mathematics and Physics. Sections:- 1. Mathematics; 2. Physics; 3. Astronomy, Geography, and Geodesy; 4. Mechanics; 5. Chemistry. Class B. Natural History. Sections:- 1. Mineralogy and Geology; 2. Zoology; 3. Botany; 4. Anatomy and Physiology; 5. Ethnology.

But the Academy retains the power of transferring a member from one Section to another.

SECT. 6. A member may be elected an honorary member of any Section by a vote of a majority of such Section.

SECT. 7. The Academy may elect fifty Foreign Associates, who shall have the privilege of attending the meetings of the Academy, and of reading and communicating papers to it, but shall take no part in its business, and shall not be subject to its assessments.

They shall be entitled to a copy of the publications of the Academy.

ARTICLE II.

Of the Officers.

SECT. 1. The officers of the Academy shall be a President, a Vice-President, a Foreign Secretary, a Home Secretary, and a Treasurer, all of whom shall be elected for

a term of six years, by a majority of votes present at the first stated session after the expiration of the current terms, provided that existing officers retain their places until their successors are elected. In case of a vacancy, the election for six years shall be held in the same manner, at the next stated session after the vacancy occurs.

SECT. 2. The officers of the Classes shall be a Chairman and a Secretary, who shall be elected at each January session. The nominations shall be open, and a majority of votes shall be necessary to elect.

SECT. 3. The officers of the Academy and the Chairmen of the Classes, together with four members, two from each Class, to be annually elected by the Academy, at the January session, by a plurality of the votes, shall constitute a Council for the transaction of such business as may be assigned to them by the Constitution or the Academy.

SECT. 4. The President of the Academy, or, in case of his absence or inability to act, the Vice-President, shall preside at the meetings of the Academy and of the Council; shall name all committees, except such as are otherwise especially provided for; refer investigations required by the Government of the United States to members specially conversant with the subject, and report thereon to the Academy at its next January session; and, with the Council, shall direct the general business of the Academy.

It shall be competent for the President, in special cases, to call in the aid, upon committees, of experts, or men of remarkable attainments, not members of the Academy.

SECT. 5. The Foreign and Home Secretaries shall conduct the correspondence proper to their respective departments, advising with the President and Council in cases of doubt, and reporting their action to the Academy at its January session. It shall be the duty of the Home Secre

tary to give notice to the members of the place and time of all meetings, and to make known to the Council all vacancies in the list of members.

The minutes of each session shall be duly engrossed before the next stated session, under the direction of the Home Secretary.

SECT. 6. The Treasurer shall attend to all receipts and disbursements of the Academy, giving such bond, and furnishing such vouchers, as the Council may require. He shall collect all dues from members, and keep a set of books, showing a full account of receipts and disbursements. He shall present at each stated session a list of the members entitled to vote, and a general report at the January session. He shall be the custodian of the corporate seal of the Academy.

ARTICLE III.

Of the Meetings.

SECT. 1. The Academy shall hold two stated sessions in each year, one in the city of Washington, on the 3d day of January (unless that day falls on Sunday, when the session shall be held on the succeeding Monday), and one in August, at such time and place as the Academy shall have determined upon, in private meeting, on the last day of the preceding January session.

SECT. 2. The names of the members present at each daily meeting shall be recorded in the minutes; and the members present at any meeting shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business.

SECT. 3. Scientific meetings of the Academy, unless otherwise ordered by a majority of the members present, shall be open to the public; those for the transaction of business closed.

SECT. 4. The Academy may divide into Classes for scientific or other business. In like manner, the Classes may divide into Sections.

SECT. 5. The Classes shall meet during such periods of the stated meetings of the Academy as may be fixed by the Academy. Special meetings of a Class may be called by the Council at the request of five members of the Class.

SECT. 6. The stated meetings of the Council shall be held at the times of the stated or special meetings of the Academy. Special meetings shall be convened at the call of the President and two members of the Council, or of four members of the Council.

SECT. 7. No member who has not paid his dues shall take part in the business of the Academy.

ARTICLE IV.

Of Elections, Regulations, and Expulsions.

SECT. 1. All elections shall be by ballot, unless otherwise ordered by this Constitution; and each election shall be held separately.

SECT. 2. Whenever any election is to be held, the presiding officer shall name a Committee to conduct it, to collect the votes, count them, and report the result to the Academy. The same law shall apply in the Classes.

SECT. 3. Nominations for officers shall be made at the close of the first daily meeting of a stated session; and no candidate shall be voted for unless thus nominated.

SECT. 4. For election of members, the Council shall first decide the Class in which the vacancy shall be filled. Each Section of that Class may then select one or more candidates, after a discussion of their qualifications, and present their claims to the Class, who shall select three to