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APPENDIX Constitnlion and By-Laws of the
CPREAMBLE
National Academy of Sciences,
Adopted January 1864
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. ~ 863, the
National Academy of Sciences do enact the following Constitution and
By-Laws:
ARTICLE I.~f Members.
SECTION I. 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,
606
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Appendix C / 607.
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; I, Mathematics. a, Physics. 3, Astronomy,
Geography and Geodesy. 4, Mechanics. 5, Chemistry.
Class B. Natural History; Sections; I, Mineralogy and Geology. 2, Zoology.
3, Botany. 4, Anatomy and Physiology. 5, Ethnology.
But the Academy retains the power of transferring a member from on
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.
ARTI C LE I I . if the Off icers.
SECTION I. 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 mem-
bers of the Academy.
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608 / Appendix C
SECT. 5. The Foreign and Home Secretaries shall conduct the corres-
spondence 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 Secretary 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 t`' 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. the Meetings.
SECT. ~ . 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.~)f Elections, Regulations and Expulsions.
SECT. I. All elections shall be by ballot, unless otherwise ordered by this
Constitution; and each election shall be held separately.
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Appendix C / 609
SECT. A. 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 be presented in the order of
their preference, to the Academy; from these three the Academy shall elect
by a majority of the members present. The member elect shall be assigned to
the section in which he has been proposed. The Academy may nominate
candidates in any section which fails to propose them for itself.
SECT. 5. Every member elect shall accept his membership personally or in
writing, before the close of the next stated session after the date of his
election. Otherwise, on proof that the Secretary has formally notified him of
his election, his name shall not be entered on the roll of members
SECT. 6. Elections of Foreign Associates shall be conducted as follows:
Each Section shall report to its Class, nominating a candidate whose special
researches need not belong within the province of the section, but must be
comprised within the range of the Class.
From these candidates each class shall select one name to be presented to
the Academy, and from these two names the Academy, after full discussion,
shall make the election, at such time as it may have previously appointed for
the purpose.
SECT. 7. A diploma, with the corporate seal of the Academy and the
signatures of the officers, shall be sent by the appropriate Secretary to each
member on his acceptance of his membership.
SECT. 8. Resignations shall be addressed to the President and acted on by
the Academy. No resignation of membership shall be accepted unless all dues
have been paid.
SECT. 9. Members resigning in good standing will retain an honorary
membership; being admitted to the meetings of the Academy, but without
taking part in the business. Honorary members will not be liable to assess-
ment.
SECT. 10. If any member be absent from four consecutive stated meetings
of the Academy, without communicating to the Academy a valid reason for
his absence, his name shall be stricken from the roll of members.
SECT. ~ ~ . Members and officers habitually neglecting their duties shall be
impeached by the Council, and at once notified thereof in writing by the
Home Secretary.
SECT. ~ 2. Impeachments of members or officers shall first be tried before
the Council; which may be convened specially for such purpose. If it decides
that the impeachment is proper, such impeachment shall be tried in private
session before the Academy at its next stated meeting.
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610 / Appendix C
SECT. 13. The expulsion of a member shall be formally and publicly
announced by the President at the stated session during which such expulsion
shall take place.
ARTICLE V.~f Scientific Communications, Publications and Reports.
SECT. I. Papers on scientific subjects may be read at the meetings of the
Academy or of the Classes or Sections to which the subject belongs.
SECT.2. Any member of the Academy may read a paper from a person who
is not a member; and shall not be considered responsible for the facts or
opinions expressed by the author, but shall be held responsible for the
propriety of the paper.
SECT. 3. The Academy shall provide for the publication, under the
direction of the Council, of Proceedings, Memoirs, and Reports.
SECT. 4. Propositions for investigations or reports shall originate with the
Classes to which the subjects belong, and be, by them, submitted to the
Academy for approval; except requests from the Government of the United
States, which shall be acted on by the President, who will in such cases, report,
if necessary, at once to the Government, and to the Academy at its next stated
meeting.
SECT. 5. The judgment of the Academy shall be at all times at the
disposition of the Government, upon any matter of Science or Art within the
limits of the subjects embraced by it.
SECT.6. An Annual Report to be presented to Congress, shall be prepared
by the President, and before its presentation submitted by him, first to the
Council, and afterwards to the Academy at its January meeting.
SECT.7. Medals and Prizes may be established, and the means of bestowing
them accepted, by the Academy, upon the recommendation of the Council;
by whom all the necessary arrangements for their establishment and award
shall be made.
ARTICLE VI.~f the Property of the Academy.
SECT I. All investments shall be made by the Treasurer in the corporate
name of the Academy, in stocks of the United States.
SECT. O. No contract shall be binding upon the Academy, which has not
been first approved by the Council.
~ 1
SECT.3. The assessments required for the support of the Academy, shall be
fixed by the Academy on the recommendation of the Council.
ARTICLE VII. Additions and Amendments.
Additions and Amendments to the Constitution shall be made only at a
stated session of the Academy. Notice of a proposition for such a change may
be given at any stated session, and shall be referred to the Council, which may
amend the proposition, and shall report thereon to the Academy at its next
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Appendix C / 611
stated session, with a recommendation that it be accepted or rejected. Its
report shall be considered by the Academy in Committee of the Whole, and
immediately thereafter acted on. If the addition or amendment receive
two-thirds of the votes present, it shall be declared adopted, and shall have
the same force as the original law.
BY-LAWS
OF THE OFFICERS.
I. In the absence of the Chairman or Secretary of a Class, a member shall be
chosen to perform his duties temporarily, by a plurality of the viva voce votes,
. .
upon open nomination.
II. The accounts of the Treasurer shall be referred to an Auditing
Committee of three members, to be appointed by the Academy at the meeting
at which the accounts are presented; which committee shall report before the
close of that session, and shall then be discharged.
OF THE MEETINGS.
III. A Committee of Arrangements, for each stated session of the Academy,
of five members, shall be appointed by the President, the Class Secretaries to
be ex-officio two of the members of the Committee. This Committee shall
meet not less than two weeks previous to each meeting. It shall be in session
during the meetings, to make arrangements for the reception of the mem-
bers; to arrange the business of each day; to receive the titles of papers,
reports, &c.; and to arrange the order of reading, and in general to attend to
all business and scientific arrangements.
IV. At the meetings the order of business shall be as follows:
1. Chair taken by the President, or, in his absence, the Vice-President.
2. Roll of members called by Home Secretary.
3. Report by Treasurer of members entitled to vote.
4. Minutes of the preceding meeting read and approved.
5. Stated business.
6. Reports of President, Secretaries, Treasurer, Classes and Committees.
7. Business from Council.
8. Other business.
9. Communications from members.
10. Communications from persons not members.
11. Announcements of the death of members. Biographical notices read.
12. Rough minutes read for correction.
V. The rules of order of the Academy shall be those of the Senate of the
United States, unless otherwise directed.
VI. It shall be in order for twelve members to require that any matter of
business be discussed in Committee of the Whole, for amendment: the vote
upon amendments to be taken in the whole Academy; and the amended
proposition or propositions to be similarly voted on.
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612 1 Appendix C
VII. The scientific meetings shall be convened at twelve o'clock M., in
order to allow time for the business meetings of the Academy, and for the
meetings of Classes, Sections, and Committees.
OF ELECTIONS AND OBITUARIES.
VIII. No more than ten Foreign Associates shall be elected at any one
stated session.
IX. The death of members shall be announced by the President on the last
day of each stated session, when a member shall be selected by the Academy
to furnish a biographical notice of the deceased at the next stated session. If
such notice be not then furnished, another member shall be selected by the
Academy in place of the first, and so on until the duty is performed.
X. The deaths of such eminent scientific men of the country as have taken
place since the last session of the Academy shall be announced by the
President. The names shall be selected by the Council.
OF SCIENTIFIC COMMUNICATIONS, PUBLICATIONS
AND REPORTS.
XI. An analysis of the memoirs and reports read in the meeting of the
Classes shall be given by the Secretaries of the Classes to the Home
Secretary, for publication in the proceedings of the Academy. For any
failure in this duty, the delinquent officer shall be impeached by the Home
Secretary.
XII. The Secretaries shall receive memoirs at any time, and report the
date of their reception at the next session. But no memoir shall be published
unless it has been read before the Academy, Class or Section, and ordered to
be published by the Academy. Papers shall be published in the order in
which they were registered, but papers which have not been sent to the
Secretary within a month from the time of their reading, shall not be
published without a special vote of the Academy.
XIII. Memoirs shall date in the records of the Academy from the day of
their presentation to the Academy, and this order of their presentation shall
be that in which they were registered, unless changed by consent of the
author.
XIV. The publication of any communication to which remonstrance is
made by the Section to which the subject belongs, shall be suspended until a
second time authorized by a vote of the Academy.
XV. Papers from persons not members, read before the Academy, Classes
or Sections, and intended for publication, shall be referred at the meeting at
which they are read, to a Committee of members competent to judge
whether the paper is worthy of publication. Such Committees shall report to
the Academy as early as practicable, and not later than the next stated
session. If they do not then report, they shall be discharged, and the paper
referred to another Committee.
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Appendix C / 613
XVI. Abstracts of papers published in the transactions of other Societies
or in journals, may be communicated orally to the Academy, and if on
submitting any such communication to a committee its publication be ap-
proved, it may be ordered for publication on a vote of the Academy.
XVII. Short communications or abstracts of memoirs may be sent by any
member to the Home Secretary, who shall, if requested by the author,
without delay circulate them among the members.
XVIII. An Annual of the Academy shall be prepared by the Secretaries,
and published on the first day of each year.
XIX. The printing of the Academy shall be under the charge of the
Secretaries and the Treasurer, as a Committee of Publication, who shall
report in relation thereto at each January meeting of the Academy.
XX. The Annual Report of the Academy may be accompanied by a
memorial to Congress, in regard to such investigations and other subjects
as may be deemed advisable, recommending appropriations therefor when
necessary.
XXI. The Home Secretary shall present to the Council estimates for books
and stationery, binding, &c., required for the use of the Academy.
OF THE PROPERTY OF THE ACADEMY.
XXII. The proper Secretary shall acknowledge all donations, made to the
Academy, and shall report them at the next stated session.
XXIII. The books, apparatus, archives, and other property of the
Academy shall be deposited in some safe place in the City of Washington. A
list of the articles deposited shall be kept by the Home Secretary, who is
authorized to employ a clerk to take charge of them.
XXIV. A stamp corresponding to the corporate seal of the Academy shall
be kept by the Secretaries, who shall be responsible for the due marking of
all books and other objects to which it is applicable.
Labels or other proper marks, of similar device shall be placed upon
objects not admitting of the stamp.
OF CHANGES IN THE BY-LAWS.
XXV. Any By-Law of the Academy may be amended or repealed on the
written motion of any two members, signed by them, and presented at a
stated session of the Academy; provided the same shall be approved by a
majority of the members present at the next stated session.
Representative terms from entire chapter:
home secretary
