of the by-laws which specifies that any permanent member who shall fail to pay his annual dues for three successive years shall be dropped from the roll of permanent members.' Section 6 of the Plan of Organization of the Association, as well as the bylaws, expressly states that the contribution of each member is an annual assessment or due-that is, a due annually paid. In apparent conflict with this is the by-law just referred to, by which a member is allowed to pay his dues but once in three years, and still retain his membership. This was certainly intended as an accommodation to those who might be prevented by unavoidable circumstances from complying with the annual requirements as to dues, and by such is deservedly appreciated. The experience of the Treasurer, however, during another year of practical observation of the financial working of the Association, and the frequently expressed sentiments of members on this very point, convince him that this liberal action is too often interpreted-he thinks unfairly-as a means to evade the regular payment of annual dues. It has become, indeed, the habit of too many of the members knowingly to regard it as a triennial instead of an annual assessment, under which they are still able to retain their place on the list of members of the Association.”

The following copy of a letter received by the Treasurer will serve as a sample of the working of this rule:

-, September 12, 1880.

Dr. R. J. DUNGLISON: My Dear Sir-Find five dollars enclosed: for which send me the Transactions when published.

The rule of our Society requiring the payment of $5 every year, whether the member attends or not, is too rigid, and one that I will not comply with. I am willing to pay the fee when I am a participant, and once in three years if not; and I see by the italics that it has been changed.

Let us now take again the testimony of the Treasurer as to the actual income of the Association from its membership:

PHILADELPHIA, January 22, 1881.

Dr. J. H. PACKARD, Chairman of Committee on President's Address: Dear Doctor-In reply to your letter of inquiry as to "cost of the present method of publishing the Transactions of the American Medical Association," and also as to the changes in the membership

of that body, I gladly give you all the information in my power. On the latter point you desire to learn "how many members pay continuously every year, and how far there is a change from one year to another according to place of meeting," etc. You also ask, "Can it be said that the Association has anything approaching to a fixed income, to be relied on for publishing purposes?" It had been my intention to refer to some of these points in my own annual report, as matters which the Association itself ought to know, and which the Treasurer's books could alone supply. Your inquiries afford me, however, an equally desirable opportunity of communicating such

statement.

I find upon a careful analysis of the triennial list of the members of the Association, published in the volume of Transactions for 1878, some suggestive statistics, from which may be deduced the practical information you seek as to the changes in membership. This list includes the names of those who had become connected with the Association between 1875 and 1878, and those of the older members who had not forfeited their membership by inattention or neglect of payment of their annual dues for three successive years. To this list I add the figures derived from the Treasurer's accounts, covering additional receipts for the years from 1876 to 1879, inclusive. I do not embrace the year 1880 in this estimate, as I presume some of the members still intend to pay their dues for that year. My experience as Treasurer has been that a certain number always wait at least a year or more after the date of the previous annual meeting before forwarding their dues.

Omitting from the estimate those who have since died and those older members who have not continued their membership in the Association, I find a total of 2108. Of these, 710 became members before the year 1875; and 1398 during the years 1875, '6, '7, '8, and '9.

Of the 710 older members just referred to, 408 (or 57 per cent.) paid their dues regularly and consecutively up to 1879, inclusive, and the remaining 302 did so more or less irregularly, many of them only once in three years, thus retaining their membership under the rule of the Association which provides that a member shall not be dropped from the rolls until he shall have failed for three consecutive years to pay his dues.

In the statement I am now about to make of annual changes of membership, I mention under each year the name of the place of meeting, to aid you in drawing any conclusions of a geographical nature from the statistics thus furnished.

In 1875, the meeting was held at Louisville, Kentucky. Of 223 delegates present at that meeting, for the first time, 110 (or about 50 per cent.) paid their dues for that year only, never took any after in

terest in the Association, and forfeited their membership for non-payment of annual dues; 52 members (or 23 per cent.) have continued to pay their dues regularly every year to 1879, inclusive; while 61 (or 27 per cent.) have paid more or less irregularly-by which I mean that they have paid a year or two at broken intervals, or have saved themselves from the fate of forfeiture of membership by paying once in three years. Of the 223 members who joined the Association at this meeting, 114 (or 51 per cent.) are no longer members of that body. This number will be gradually increased by forfeiture of membership. A small proportion of this loss is doubtless due to death, but the non-payment of dues from lack of continued interest is, as already stated, the chief cause of the defection in this and every other year now under study and analysis.

The meeting in 1876 was held at Philadelphia. Of the 411 new members present at that time, 150 (or 36.5 per cent.) paid their dues for that year only, and never repeated the performance of that annual duty. As I stated in my Report for 1879, many of these were Centennial visitors, who attended the meeting of that year with laudable, but not wholly professional, motives-members of but a single year, whose interest in the Association was not permanent, and who were connected with it by no binding affinities. Of the 411 new members of 1876, 104 (or rather more than 25 per cent.) have paid their dues punctually ever since; while 157 (or more than 38 per cent.) have paid their dues irregularly, as already stated of the members for 1875. Of the 411, 254 (or 62 per cent.) now remain on the rolls of membership of the Association—a larger percentage than for the other years cited.

The annual meeting for 1877 was held at Chicago; 313 new delegates were present. Of these, 151 (or rather more than 48 per cent.) paid their dues but once, and forfeited their membership. Only 89 (or 28 per cent.) have continued to pay their dues punctually; 73 members (constituting more than 23 per cent.) have been able to retain their footing in the Association by occasional payments. Of those who joined that body in this year (1877), 161 (or 51 per cent.) still remain upon the list of membership.

The annual meeting of 1878 was held at Buffalo, N. Y. Of the 269 new names appearing at this time, 102 (or 38 per cent.) paid their dues that year for the first and only time, and subsequently lost their membership; 130 (or 48 per cent.) have continued to pay their dues regularly every year, and 37 (or 14 per cent.) have paid irregularly, but still retain their membership. As the payments for 1880 are not yet complete, I can deduce no statistics as to the number of members of 1878 still on the rolls, as the three privileged years for non-payers have not yet expired.

VOL. XXXII.-31

The meeting of 1879 was held at Atlanta, Ga. It is perhaps too early to draw any conclusions from the statistics of that year, as occasional payments are still made for 1879 by those who desire to complete their sets of the volumes of Transactions. As the figures at present stand, however, out of 182 new delegates to the Association at that meeting, 122 (or 67 per cent.) have not since paid their annual dues.

The very valuable list prepared by Dr. J. M. Toner, and published in Volume XXXI. of the Transactions for 1880, giving the names of all the members who have been connected with the Association since its organization, up to and including 1880, probably embraced, at a rough estimate on my part, about 6000 names of members who attended the annual meetings previous to 1875, not including members by invitation. I exclude for the moment all those who joined the Associa tion from 1875 to 1879, inclusive (already considered), so that I may give you a proper idea of the retention of membership by the older members.

Of this large number of older members, approximating 6000 in all, only 408 have continued to pay their dues in an unbroken series up to the end of 1879; while 302 have paid irregularly, and in some cases forfeited their membership, during the past few years; 679 names of these older members, in different degress of pecuniary standing on the Treasurer's list, are all that remain of the large number who were connected with the Association at various times within the twentyeight years which elapsed from the organization of that body in 1847 up to and including the year 1874.

For convenience of reference, I include the principal facts already given you in regard to the later members (1875-79) in a tabular

In regard to your inquiry, Whether the Association has anything like a fixed income? I would say that the annual receipts of the Treasurer vary greatly, as the figures I have already given, showing the fluctuations in membership, abundantly testify. When the Asso

1878.
Buffalo, N. Y.

1879.

Atlanta, Georgia.

General Average, 1873 to 1879 (in

clusive).

ciation meets in the larger cities, accessible to a mass of members and delegates, the funds are, of course, correspondingly augmented. There is no fixed amount upon which the Association can rely, as everything depends upon the nature of the attendance at the meetings, and upon the wish of those who are not present to possess the annual volume. I have already shown how fluctuating both of these elements are. In examining the Treasurer's accounts for the fifteen years between 1865 and 1879, inclusive, I find the following statements of the condition of the Treasury recorded:—

During the following years, including the meeting at each place named, the receipts of the Treasurer aggregated $5000 or more: 1872, Philadelphia; 1876, Philadelphia; 1877, Chicago; 1878, Buffalo. Nearly $3000 of the latter year, however, were paid by those who did not attend the meeting.

During the following years the receipts were over $4000: 1873, St. Louis; 1874, Detroit; 1875, Louisville.

During the following years the receipts were over $3000: 1868, Washington; 1869, New Orleans; 1870, Washington; 1879, Atlanta.

During the following years the receipts were less than $3000, but in no year less than $2000: 1865, Boston; 1866, Baltimore; 1867, Cincinnati; 1871, San Francisco.

The amount paid at the time of registration at the annual meetings. has averaged, during the past fifteen years, $2194.91 annually; to which must be added the amount received from the payment of dues by the permanent members and small sums derived from the sale of back volumes, by the former Treasurer especially. These have averaged annually the sum of $1785.96. The average annual income has, therefore, been $3980.67. The actual receipts have not been less than this amount for eight years past (1872 to 1879, inclusive), with but one slight exception, and in five of these years they have exceeded $5000, but have never reached $6000.

Should you desire any other information which it may be in my power to give you, I hope you will not hesitate to call upon me.

Yours, very truly,

RICHARD J. DUNGLISON, Treasurer.

We suggest that it would be essential to make the membership, once assumed, a permanent obligation, in order that the revenues available for meeting the expenses of the periodical might be definitely known. Towards this end, it need scarcely be said, the furnishing of such a quid pro quo would afford a most powerful and effective means.

We would suggest another change in regard to the member