AN ACT FOR THE INCORPORATION OF The College of Physicians of Philadelphia.
WHEREAS the Physicians of Philadelphia, influenced by a conviction of the many advantages which have arisen from literary institutions, have associated themselves under the name and title of The College of Physicians of Philadelphia.
AND WHEREAS, the objects of this College are to advance the science of medicine, and thereby to lessen human misery, by investigating the diseases and remedies which are peculiar to this country; by observing the effects of different seasons, climates and situations upon the human body; by recording the changes which are produced in diseases, by the progress of agriculture, arts, population and manners; by searching for medicines in the American woods, waters, and in the bowels of the earth; by enlarging the avenues to knowledge from the discoveries and publications of foreign countries; and by cultivating order and uniformity in the practice of physic.
AND WHEREAS, the said College of Physicians have prayed us, the Representatives of the Freemen of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, that they may be created a body politic and corporate, for ever, with such powers, privileges and immunities as may best [Page 4] answer the laudable purposes which the members thereof have in view; wherefore to assist and encourage the said College of Physicians in the prosecution and advancement of useful knowledge, for the benefit of their country and of mankind:
Be it enacted, and it is hereby enacted, by the Representatives of the Freemen of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, in General Assembly met, and by the authority of the same, That the members of the said College of Physicians, that is to say, John Redman, John Jones, William Shippen, junior, Adam Kuhn, John Morgan, Benjamin Rush, Samuel Duffield, Gerardus Clarkson, George Glentworth, Thomas Parke, James Hutchinson, Robert Harris, John Carson, Benjamin Duffield, William W. Smith, John Foulke, Samuel Powel Griffitts, William Clarkson, William Currie, Benjamin Say, Andrew Ross, John Morris, Nathan Dorsey, James Cuningham, Caspar Wistar, junior, Michael Leib, and John H. Gibbons, be, and the same persons are, and shall be a body corporate and politic in deed and in name, by the name and stile of "THE COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS OF PHILADELPHIA," and by the same name, they and their successors, are hereby constituted and confirmed one body corporate and politic in law, to have perpetual succession, and to be able and capable to have, hold and enjoy, any goods and chattels, lands, tenements, rents, hereditaments, gifts, and bequests, of what nature soever, in fee simple, or for term of years, life or lives, or otherwise; and also to grant, sell, alien, assign, or let the same lands, tenements, hereditaments and premises, according to the nature of the respective grants and bequests made to the said corporation, and of the estate of the said corporation therein, provided that the amount of the clear yearly value of such real estate exceed not the sum of five hundred pounds lawful money of this commonwealth.
[Page 5] And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That the said corporation be, and shall be forever hereafter, able and capable in law, to sue and be sued, plead and be impleaded, answer and be answered unto, defend and be defended in all or any courts of justice and other places in all manner of suits, actions, complaints, pleas, causes and matters of what nature or kind soever; and that it shall and may be lawful to and for the said corporation forever hereafter, to have and use a common seal, and the same seal, at the will and pleasure of the said corporation, to break, change, alter and renew.
And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That for the well ordering of the said corporation and its affairs, there shall be, at all times hereafter, the following officers of the same, that is to say, one President, one Vice-President, four Censors, a Secretary and a Treasurer, who shall be chosen annually from amongst the fellows of the said College of Physicians, on the first Tuesday in the month of July forever hereafter, or within one kalendar month after the same day, in any year; and that John Redman, be the present President of the said College; John Jones, the present Vice-President; William Shippen, junior, Adam Kuhn, Benjamin Rush and Samuel Duffield, the present Censors; Samuel Powel Griffitts, the present Secretary, and that Gerardus Clarkson be the present Treasurer of the said College, and shall be and remain the President, Vice-President, Censors, Secretary and Treasurer, respectively, of the said College, until they be superseded by a new election to be made by the fellows of the said College as aforesaid, and all vacancies by death, resignation or otherwise, which shall at any time hereafter happen in any of the said offices, may be filled by a special election, to be holden so often as occasion shall require.
[Page 6] And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That the authorities and duties of the officers of the said corporation, who are herein before mentioned, and of any others which the said corporation shall see fit to appoint, the times of meeting of the said corporation, the admission of members, and the other concerns of the said corporation, shall be regulated by the bye laws and ordinances of the said corporation heretofore made or to be made, touching the premises.
Provided always, and be it enacted by the authority aforesaid, That no bye laws nor ordinances of the said corporation hereafter made, shall be binding upon the officers or members thereof, unless the same shall be proposed at one regular meeting of the said corporation, and enacted and received at another, after the intervention of at least thirty days. And that no sale or alienation, or lease for above three years, of any part of the real estate of the said corporation, shall be valid, unless the terms and nature of such sale or lease be proposed at a previous meeting of the said corporation.
CONSTITUTION OF The College of Physicians of Philadelphia, AS REVISED AND AGREED UPON, THE FIRST OF APRIL, MDCCLXXXVIII.
THE Physicians of Philadelphia, influenced by a conviction of the many advantages that have arisen in every country from literary institutions, have associated themselves under the name and title of "The College of Physicians of Philadelphia."
THE objects of this College are, to advance the science of medicine, and thereby to lessen human misery, by investigating the diseases and remedies which are peculiar to our country, by observing the effects of different seasons, climates and situations upon the human body; by recording the changes that are produced in diseases, by the progress of agriculture, arts, population and manners; by searching for medicines in our woods, waters and the bowels of the earth; by enlarging our avenues to knowledge, from the discoveries and publications of foreign countries; by appointing stated times for literary intercourse and communications; and by cultivating order and uniformity in the practice of physic.
FOR the purpose of obtaining these objects, the following rules have been adopted.
[Page 8]I. THE College shall consist of fellows and associates.
II. THE fellows shall consist of practitioners of Physic, of character in their profession, who reside in the city, or district of Southwark, or Liberties of Philadelphia, and are not under twenty-four years of age.
III. THE associates shall consist of persons of merit in the profession of medicine, who do not live within the limits above described.
IV. THREE-FOURTHS of the whole number of fellows met, shall concur in the admission of a fellow or associate.
V. THE officers of the College shall consist of a President, Vice-President, four Censors, a Treasurer and Secretary, who shall be chosen annually, from amongst the fellows, on the first Tuesday in July.
VI. THE stated meetings of the College shall be on the first Tuesday in every month; besides these meetings, the President, or, in case of his absence or indisposition, the Vice-President, shall have power to call extraordinary meetings, whenever important or unexpected business shall require, of which he shall be the judge. It shall likewise be in the power of any six fellows of the College, who concur in their desires for a meeting, to authorise the President, or, in case of his absence or indisposition, the Vice-President, to call it.
VII. THE business of the Censors shall be to inspect the records, and examine the accounts and expenditures of the College, and report thereon. And all communications made to the society, after being read at one of their stated meetings, shall be referred to the Censors, and such other members of the College as shall be nominated for the purpose, to examine and report thereon to the College, who shall determine by a vote, taken by ballot, on the propriety of publishing them in their transactions.
[Page 9]VIII. THE business of the Secretary shall be to keep minutes of all the meetings and transactions of the society, and to record them in a book provided for that purpose. Likewise to receive and preserve all books and papers belonging, and letters addressed, to the College.
IX. THE business of the Treasurer shall be to receive all the monies of the College, and to pay them to the order of the President or Vice-President only: which order shall be the voucher for his expenditures.
X. EVERY member of the College shall have a certificate of his election, with the seal of the College affixed thereto, signed by the President and Vice-President, and countersigned by the Censors and Secretary. The style of certificates, and of all addresses from the College, shall be as follows: The President, or, The Vice-President, and College of Physicians of Philadelphia.
XI. NO associate, who comes to reside within the limits mentioned in the second rule, shall be admitted to a fellowship in the College, without being elected in the manner prescribed for the admission of fellows— no new member shall be chosen who has not been proposed at a previous stated meeting.
XII. NO law nor regulation shall be adopted, that has not been proposed at a previous stated meeting; nor shall any part of the constitution be altered, without being proposed for consideration, for three months —The President, or Vice-President, when he takes the chair, shall have no vote, except on questions where there is an equal division of voices. Seven fellows shall be a quorum for all ordinary business; but for the expenditure of money, the making of laws, or altering the constitution, eleven fellows shall be a quorum.
[Page 10]XIII. EVERY fellow, upon his admission, shall subscribe to the above rules, as a testimony of his consenting to be bound by them—he shall, at the same time, pay into the hands of the Treasurer, the sum of eight dollars, towards establishing a fund for the use of the College; he shall likewise pay two dollars, annually, for the same purpose.
THE following Physicians are the present members of the College.
- John Redman, President.
- John Jones, Vice-President.
- Censors.
- William Shippen, junior,
- Benjamin Rush,
- Adam Kuhn,
- Thomas Parke,
- Gerardus Clarkson, Treasurer.
- Samuel Powel Griffitts, Secretary.
- Samuel Duffield,
- George Glentworth,
- James Hutchinson,
- Robert Harris,
- Benjamin Duffield,
- John Foulke,
- Andrew Ross,
- William Currie,
- John Carson,
- William W. Smith,
- William Clarkson,
- Benjamin Say,
- Charles Moore,
- Caspar Wistar,
- James Cuningham,
- Nathan Dorsey,
- Michael Leib,
- John H. Gibbons,
- Nicholas B. Waters,
- Benjamin S. Barton.
BYE LAWS OF THE COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS.
- Section I. Ordinary Meetings.
- II. Publications.
- III. Mode of admitting Members.
- IV. Annual Contributions.
- V. New Laws.
- VI. Regulations to promote Order.
- VII. Library.
I. Meetings.
ORDINARY Meetings shall be held punctually at four o'clock, P. M. on the first Tuesday in every month, from October until March, inclusive; and at five o'clock from April until September, inclusive: at which time, precisely, the President is to take the chair; after which, business is to proceed in the following manner:
I. MINUTES of the preceding meeting are to be read.
[Page 12]II. CONSTITUTION is to be signed by new members, their subscriptions paid, and certificates of fellowship delivered.
III. NEW fellows ballotted for.
IV. REPORTS of committees received.
V. MOTIONS and observations respecting the private business of the College.
ALL the private business shall now be transacted and not resumed during the same evening.
VI. FOREIGN communications shall then be read.
VII. COMMUNICATIONS from the members.
VIII. MISCELLANEOUS public business.
NO member shall divulge the private transactions of the College.
II. Publications.
ALL Papers communicated to the College for publication, shall be referred to a printing committee, which is to consist of the Presidents and Censors, and a number of other members to be nominated when each memoir is referred to the committee; after which, the consideration of the paper is to be conducted according to the seventh article of the constitution.
THE Secretary may lend any of the communications made to the College, to the members thereof for their perusal; and the members shall hold themselves bound to return the same to the Secretary, within three days, without taking any copies of them.
III. Admission of Members.
EVERY Candidate for a fellowship shall make written application for that purpose.
AT the next stated meeting after such application has been regularly made, the sense of the College respecting it shall be taken by ballotting into a covered box; provided, that in the mean time, the application be subscribed or indorsed by three members as a mark of their recommendation.
- I. THE number of associates shall not exceed forty, except when fellows remove beyond the limits prescribed by the constitution, in which case they shall be considered as associates without an election. Ten of the associates shall be foreigners.
- II. THE associates shall consist only of persons above thirty years of age, who are of well known and established character in medicine.
- III. THE same forms shall be observed in electing associates as in electing fellows of the College, except that they shall be proposed by a fellow instead of making a written application. Every associate shall be furnished with a certificate from the College, signed in the same manner as those which are given to the fellows.
- IV. THE associates, when in this city, shall have the privilege of attending the meetings of the College, but without taking any part in the private business thereof.
IV. Annual Contributions.
AT the first meeting in July every year, the Treasurer shall attend to receive the annual contributions, and at each subsequent meeting shall read over the names of those who have omitted to contribute.
ANY fellow who shall decline the payment of his contribution for two successive years, shall no longer be considered as a member.
V. New Laws.
ALL motions for the alteration of old, or the introduction of new laws, shall be delivered in writing and subscribed by five members.
VI. Regulations to promote Order.
I. TO promote order and uniformity in the practice of medicine, it is agreed by the fellows of this College, that they will not attend or prescribe for any patient who hath previously employed another fellow of the College in the same illness, unless it be in consultation with the first Physician, or in case of sudden emergency, when the said Physician cannot be found.
II. IN all such cases of emergency, when any fellow of this College is called to a family, because the Family Physician is not at hand, the fellow thus called in shall resign the patient to the Family Physician if he afterwards attend, unless the Physician or family desire his assistance in consultation.
[Page 15]III. IN cases of consultation, neither of the Physicians shall offer any opinion, or give any directions respecting the patient, until they have retired to a private place, and the Physician who was first in attendance shall communicate their directions to the patient or attendants.
VII. Library.
I. THE business of collecting books from the members by way of donation to the library, of procuring a suitable place for keeping them, and a person to attend at stated times for lending them to the members, shall be committed to the Censors and Secretary, who are to consult the College respecting the time and manner of lending them.
II. ON the first Tuesday of July of every year, as soon as the Treasurer has made his annual report of the ballance remaining in his hands, the College shall grant such sums as they may think proper for the service of the library for the ensuing year.