CONSTITUTION AND BY-LAWS OF THE MEDICAL SOCIETY OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, WITH THE ACT OF INCORPORATION ANI) 31, I S T OF MEMBERS, Chartered February 16, 1819* Washington; d. c.: PRINTED BY W. H. MOORE, 511 ELEVENTH STREET. 1882. CONSTITUTION AND BY-LAWS OF THE « MEDICAL SOCIETY OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, WITH THE ACT OF INCORPORATION AND 3L.XST OF MEMBERS. Chartered February 16, 1819. WASHINGTON, D. C.: PRINTED BY W. H. MOORE, 511 ELEVENTH STREET 1882. A tot Jj[fifaai FOR THE YEAR 1882. F. A. ASHFORD, M. D., President. C. H. A. KLEINSCHMIDT, M. D., W. H. TAYLOR, M. D., V ice-Presidents. J. M. MACKALL, M. D., Corresponding Secretary. T. E. McARDLE, M. D., Recording Secretary. • C. W. FRANZONI, M. D., Treasurer. A. PATZE, M. D., Librarian. BOARD OF EXAMINERS.. J. T. JOHNSON, M. D., FRANK HYATT, M.D., G. L. MAGRUDER, M. D., D. C. PATTERSON. M. D., T. E. McARDLE, M. D. BO ABB OF CEMSOBO. J. W. BULKLEY, M. D., S. O. RICHEY, M. D., G. P. FENWICK, M. D. ACT OF INCORPORATION. AN ACT to revive, with amendments, An Act to incorporate the Medical Society of the District of Columbia. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That Frederick May, M. D., Alexander McWill- iams, M. D., Henry Huntt, M. D., N. P. Causin, M. D., W. Jones, M. D., Rich- mond Johnson, M- D., Thomas Sewall, M. D., George W. May, M. D., Nicho- las W. Worthington, M. D., Joshua Reily, M. D., James S. Gunnell, M. D., Harvey Lindsly, M. D., James C. Hall, M. D., Thomas Miller, M. D., Joseph Borrows, M. D., Alexander McD. Davis, M. D., Benjamin King, M. D., Noble Young, M. D., H. F. Condict, M. D , W. B. Magruder, M. D., Peregrine Warfield, M. D., J. B. Blake, M. D., and such other persons as they may from time to time elect, and their successors, are hereby declared to be a community, corpora- tion, and body politic, forever, or until Congress shall by law direct this charter to cease and determine, by and under the name and title of the Med- ical Society of the District of Columbia; and by and under the same name and title they shall be able and capable in law to purchase, take, have, and enjoy, to them and their successors, in fee or for lease, estate or estates, any land, tenements, rents, annuities, chattels, bank stock, registered debts, or other public securities within the District, by the gift, bargain, sale, demise, or of any person or persons, bodies politic or corporate, capable to make the same, and the same, at their pleasure, to alien, sell, transfer, or lease and apply, to such purposes as they may adjudge most conducive to the pro- moting and disseminating medical and surgical knowledge, and for no other purpose whatever: Provided, nevertheless, That the said Society or body politic shall not, at any one time, hold or possess property, real, personal, or mixed, exceeding in total value the sum of six thousand dollars per annum. Sec. 2. And be it further enacted, That the members of the said Society above designated shall hold, in the City of Washingtou, two stated meetings in every year, viz: on the first Monday in January and July; the officers of the Society to consist of a President, two Vice Presidents, one Corresponding Secretary, one Recording Secretary, one Treasurer, and one Librarian, who shall be appointed on the first Monday in July, one thousand eight hundred and thirty-eight, and on the annual meeting in January forever thereafter, and who shall hold their offices for one year, and until others are chosen in their stead, (not less than seven members being present at such meeting;) and the Society may make a common seal, and may elect into their body such medical and chirurgical practitioners, within the District of Columbia, as they may deem qualified to become members of the Society, it being un- derstood that the officers of the Society now elected are to remain in office until the next election after the passage of this act. Sec. 3. And be it further enacted, That it shall and may be lawful for the said Medical Society, or any number of them attending, (not less than seven,) to elect by ballot five persons, residents of the District of Columbia, whose duty it shall be to grant licenses to such medical and chirurgical gentlemen as thev may, upon a full examination, judge qualified to practice the medical and chirurgical arts, or as may produce a diploma from some respectable medical college or society, each person so obtaining a certificate to pay a sum, not exceeding ten dollars, to be fixed on or ascertained by the Society. Sec. 4. And be it further enacted, That any three of the examiners shall constitute a board for examining such candidates as may apply, and shall subscribe their names to each certificate by them granted, which certificate shall also be countersigned by the President of the Society, and have the seal of the Society affixed thereto by the Secretary, upon paying into the hands of the Treasurer the sum of money to be ascertained as above by the Society; and any one of the said examiners may grant a license to practice until a board in conformity to this act can be held: Provided, That nothing 4 herein contained shall authorize the said corporation in anywise to regulate the practice of medical or chirurgical attendance on such persons as may need those services, nor to establish or fix a tariff of charges or fees for med- ical attendance or advice, or to interfere in any way with charges or fees for medical attendance or advice. Sec. 5. And be it further enacted, That after the appointment of the afore- said medical board no person, not heretofore a practitioner of medicine or surgery within the District of Columbia, shall be allowed to practice within the said District, in either of said branches, without first having obtained a license, testified as by this law directed, or the production of a diploma from a respectable medical college or a board of examiners established by law: Provided, That the professors in such college, or the examiners in such board, be men regularly instructed in medicine and surgery, and the collateral branches of medical education, anatomy, chemistry, under the penalty of fifty dollars for each offense, to be recovered in the county court where he may reside, by bill of presentment and indictment, one-half for the use of the Society, and the other for that of the informer. Sec. 6. And be it further enacted, That every person who upon application shall be elected a member of the Medical Society, shall pay a sum not ex- ceeding ten dollars, to be ascertained by the Society. Sec. 7. And be it further enacted, That the Medical Society be, and they are hereby, empowered, from time to time, to make such by-laws, rules, and reg- ulations as they may find requisite; which by-laws, rules, and regulations shall, in their application and operation, be exclusively confined to said So- ciety, as a Society or body corporate, and not to its members individually, when not acting in a corporate character ; to break or alter their common seal ; to fix the times and places for the meetings of the boards of examiners; filling up vacancies in the medical board; and to do and perform such other things as may be requisite for carrying this act into execution, and which may not be repugnant to the Constitution and laws of the United States : Provided, always, That it shall and may be lawful for any person, resident as aforesaid, and not prohibited as aforesaid, when specially sent for, to come into any part of this District and administer or prescribe medicine, or per- form any operation for the relief of such, to whose assistance he may be sent for: And provided also, That nothing in this act contained shall be so con- strued as to prevent any person, living within or without said District, from administering medicine, or performing any surgical operation, with the con- sent of the person or the attendants of the person to whom such medicine is administered, or upon whom such surgical operation is performed, without fee or reward; nor to prevent the giving advice or assistance in any way to the sick or afflicted, upon charity and kindness ; nor to prevent the receipt of reward for the same, if voluntarily tendered or made; nor to extend to midwifery by females ; and any person so administering medicine or perform- ing any surgical operation, not authorized to practice physic and surgery agreeably to the provisions of this act, shall be prohibited from collecting any fee or reward for the same by any process at law: And be it further pro- vided, That no person shall be admitted to an examination until he shall produce satisfactory evidence that he has studied physic and surgery three years, including one full course of medical lectures, as usually taught at medical schools, or four years without such a course of lectures. Sec. 8. And be it further enacted, That Congress may at any time alter, amend, or annul this act of incorporation of said Society at pleasure. JAMES K. POLK, Speaker of the House of Representatives. RD. M. JOHNSON, Vice-President of the United States and President of the Senate. M. VAN BUREN. Approved July 7, 1838. CONSTITUTION. ARTICLE I. This Society shall be called the Medical Society of the District of Columbia. ARTICLE II. The objects of this Society shall be the granting of licenses agreeably to the provisions of the charter, and the consideration and promotion of all subjects connected with medicine and the collateral branches of the science. ARTICLE III. Sec. 1. There shall be two sessions of this Society annually— the first beginning with the Stated Meeting fixed by the charter on the first Monday in January, and the second beginning with the Stated Meeting on the first Monday in July. Sec. 2. Special meetings shall be called by the President, or one of the Vice-Presidents, on application being made in writing by three of the members. The Stated Meetings shall be advertised by the Recording Secretary at least three times, and all special meetings at least once, in one or more newspapers of this District. Sec. 3. During each session the Society may hold Regular Meetings for the promotion and dissemination of medical science. ARTICLE IV. Sec. 1. There shall be the following Officers of this Society, viz: one President, two Vice-Presidents, one Corresponding Sec- retary, one Recording Secretary, one Treasurer, and one Librarian. Sec. 2. The Officers of the Medical Society, the Board of Ex- aminers, and the Delegates to the American Medical Association shall be chosen from the resident members, as follows : The Offi- cers and Board of Examiners by ballot of a majority of the mem- bers present at the Annual Meeting in January; the Delegates by a ballot of a majority of the members present at a Regular Meet- ing in April. Sec. 3. There shall also be a Board of Censors, consisting of three members, to be elected in the same manner as the officers. 6 Sec. 4. In case of the death, resignation, or removal of any officer or member of either Board, an election may be held at any Regular Meeting to fill the vacancy. ARTICLE V. Sec. 1. The Society shall consist of honorary and resident members. Sec. 2. Any person not residing in the District of Columbia, who has obtained a degree in medicine, or is eminent in the prac- tice of physic, or any of the branches thereof, or any resident medi- cal man not engaged in practice, or who has grown old in the profes- sion and retired from practice, may be proposed as an honorary member. He shall be proposed by two members, at one of the Stated Meetings, and may be balloted for at the next Stated Meeting, and a concurrence of three-fourths of the members present shall be necessary for his admission. Sec. 3. Members by invitation: Surgeons in the U. S. Army, Navy and Marine Hospital Service, temporarily residing in the District of Columbia, and not engaged in private practice, may upon the nomination in writing by two members, at any Regular Meeting be elected members by invitation. Such members by in- vitation shall have the privilege of attending all the meetings of the Society, of reading papers, presenting pathological specimens, and of participating in all the discussions before the Society on medical or scientific subjects, but shall not vote or hold office. No nomination shall be voted upon until it shall have been read at three successive Regular Meetings, and no physician shall be elected except by a two-thirds vote of the members voting. Sec. 4. Resident members shall consist of medical practitioners residing in the District of Columbia, and for their admission it shall be necessary that they shall have received a license from the Board of Examiners of the Society. Candidates for membership shall be proposed to the Medical Society upon the written request of the applicants, and only at the Stated Meetings in January and July; shall be recommended by the Board of Censors, and shall have been licentiates under the charter for the period of one year, at least, next preceding their election. They may be balloted for only at the first Regular Meeting in the ensuing April or October after their nomination, when it shall require the concurrence of three-fourths of the members present for their admission ; and 7 every practitioner so elected shall have previously paid to the Treasurer of the Society a fee of one dollar, and shall be received as a member on signing the Constitution and Laws of the Society. Sec. 5. None but Resident Members shall be entitled to attend the Stated Meetings, to hold office, or to vote upon any subject connected with the management of the Society, or in any of the elections. Honorary Members shall have the privilege of attend- ing all Regular Meetings of this Society held for the discussion of medical subjects and of participating in such discussion. ARTICLE VI. If any member be desirous of leaving the Society, he shall signify it in a written communication', which, being read, shall lie over till the ensuing meeting; when, with the consent of the Society, his resignation shall be accepted ; but he shall not be permitted to resign until he has discharged the arrears due from him to the Society. Se