SEC. 2. Special meetings may be held by resolution of the society at its stated meetings, and at such other times as the President shall appoint.

SEC. 3. None but professional or literary subjects shall be considered at special meetings.

ARTICLE VIII.

ELECTIVE OFFICERS.

SEC. 1. The elective officers of this society shall consist of a President, Senior and Junior Vice Presidents, Recording and Corresponding Secretary, Treasurer, Librarian, and a Committee of Publication, of three members; all of whom shall be chosen by ballot at each annual meeting, and shall continue in office for twelve months, or until another election. The election shall be held on the second day of the session, after reading the record of proceedings of the preceding day.

SEC. 2. In conducting the annual election, should more than two members be ballotted for for any office, the member having the smallest number of votes on the second or any subsequent ballot, shall not again be voted for for the same office.

SEC. 3. A majority of the suffrages of the members present shall be necessary to an election.

ARTICLE IX.

DUTIES OF OFFICERS.

SEC. 1. It shall be the duty of the PRESIDENT to preside at all meetings of the society, to preserve order, and to regulate the debates according to the most approved rules of parliamentary proceeding, provided any member may appeal to the society from the President's decision on points of order. The presiding officer shall appoint the chairman of all committees (except the committee of publication,) unless otherwise ordered by the society-each chairman having the right to select two members to assist him in the discharge of the duties assigned the committee.

SEC. 2. In the absence of the President, the Vice Presidents, according to seniority, shall perform all duties appertaining to the chair; but if neither be present, the society shall elect a President pro tem.

SEC. 3. The RECORDING SECRETARY shall keep a correct list of all the members of the Society, arranging the names of those now present alphabetically, and hereafter according to their admission. He shall keep accurate minutes of all the proceedings of the society, including the names of members present, and, from time to time, transcribe them into the record book in a fair and legible hand. He shall keep regular accounts with each member of the society, receive all moneys due to it, and pay them to the Treasurer, taking his receipt for the same upon his record book. Such papers of the society as are not necessarily recorded he shall preserve in distinct and regular files, holding them always accessible to the inspection of members. Whenever any chairman of a committee is appointed, the Recording Secretary shall furnish him with a copy of the minute of appointment, together with any document that may be essentially connected with the

duties of the committee. Before entering upon the discharge of his duties, the Recording Secretary shall enter into a bond for the transfer to the Treasurer of all moneys that may come into his hands. The society shall fix the amount of the bond, which shall be made payable to the society, and deposited in the hands of the Librarian.

SEC. 4. The CORRESPONDING SECRETARY shall notify all members and officers of their election; he shall write and answer letters in behalf of the society, and in general manage their distant correspondence as particular exigencies or the resolutions of the society may require. He shall read to the society all communications and answers which he may have made or received during each recess, and then deliver them to the Recording Secretary or the Librarian, according to their several characters.

SEC. 5. The TREASURER shall receive all moneys from the Recording Secretary, agreeably to Section 3rd, of this Article, and shall pay the same to the order of the society, certified by the President and attested by the Recording Secretary. On the first day of each annual meeting, and oftener if required by the society, he shall render a detailed statement of the business of his department, and shall deliver up to his successor the books, papers, money, or other property of the society, remaining in his hands. For the faithful performance of his duties, the Treasurer, before entering thereon, shall execute and deposite in the hands of the Librarian a bond made payable to the society, in such amount as the society may direct.

SEC. 6. The LIBRARIAN shall have under his custody the bonds of the Secretary and Treasurer, and it shall be his duty to take special charge of all the books, essays, and whatever may constitute any part of the scientific or literary stock of the society. No manuscript shall be moved from his possession without an order from the society, except by the members of the Committee of Publication.

SEC. 7. It shall be the duty of the COMMITTEE OF PUBLICATION, to select from the essays of the members, and other communications made to the society, such as they may think worthy of being published. Such selections as may be made by the committee, shall, when ordered by the society, be published with the minutes of the annual meeting, under the title of Transactions of the Kentucky State Medical Society. After the publication of each number or volume of the Transactions, the committee shall return to the Librarian all papers belonging to the society.

ARTICLE X.

STANDING COMMITTEES.

The following standing committees shall be appointed annually, viz: A CoмMITTEE OF ARRANGEMENTS; on MEDICAL ETHICS; on PUBLIC HYGIENE; on VITAL STATISTICS; ON EPIDEMICS; on OBSTETRICS; on IMPROVEMENTS IN PRACTICAL MEDICINE; ON IMPROVEMENTS IN SURGERY; on IMPROVEMENTS IN PHARMACY; on INDIGENOUS BOTANY; on FINANCE; on PUBLICATION.

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ARTICLE XI.

AMENDING THE CONSTITUTION.

Every proposition to amend this Constitution shall be made in writing, and shall be audibly read by the Recording Secretary on two different days: when, if there be no dissenting voice, it shall be declared adopted; but if there be one or more negatives, or if the amendment be offered on the last day of the session, it shall be placed on file to be read at the next annual meeting; when, if there be a concurrence of three-fourths of the members present, it shall be incorporated as a part of the Constitution.

Medical ethics, as a branch of general ethics, must rest on the basis of religion and morality. They comprise not only the duties, but, also, the rights of a physician: and, in this sense, they are identical with Medical Deontology-a term introduced by a late writer, who has taken a most comprehensive view of the subject. In framing a code on this basis, we have the inestimable advantage of deducing its rules from the conduct of the many eminent physicians who have adorned the profession by their learning and their piety. From the age of Hippocrates to the present time, the annals of every civilized people contain abundant evidences of the devotedness of medical men to the relief of their fellow-creatures from pain and disease, regardless of the privation and danger, and not seldom obloquy, encountered in return; a sense of ethical obligations rising superior, in their minds, to considerations of personal advancement. Well and truly was it said by one of the most learned men of the last century: that the duties of a physician were never more beautifully exemplified than in the conduct of Hippocrates, nor more eloquently described than in his writings.

We may here remark, that, if a state of probation be intended for moral discipline, there is, assuredly, much in the daily life of a physician to impart this salutary training, and to insure continuance in a course of self-denial, and, at the same time, of zealous and methodical efforts for the relief of the suffering and unfortunate, irrespective of rank or fortune, or of fortuitous elevation of any kind.

A few considerations on the legitimate range of medical ethics will serve as an appropriate introduction to the requisite rules for our guidance in the complex re. lations of professional life.