INTRODUCTION. 19 registered in England. Notice of the establish ment of new branches, and copies of their rules, when necessary, are to he given to the Registrar; and the rules of a branch may be altered in the same manner as the rules of an independent society: 34. On the other hand, the special powers of the Registrar to appoint, with the consent of the Treasury, inspectors to examine into the affairs of a society,and to call special meetings of a society upon application of a certain number of the members, do not apply to a society with branches, without the consent of the central body of the society; and the power to pass special resolutions for the purposes enumerated in section 24, does not apply to branches. The provisions of section 25 also relating to the dissolution of registered societies, do not apply to a society having branches, unless with the consent of its central body. 35. The general effect of these provisions seems to be to enable the governing body of an affiliated order to maintain the compact upon which their union is based more thoroughly than they could formerly do. When every branch was ia law a separate society, it could easily sever its connec tion with the general body. The result was that secessions from these affiliated bodies frequently took place, new orders being formed, themselves liable in their turn to experience the influence of disaffection in a similar manner. A branch was m that respect in a situation analogous to that of an individual member, who could withdraw at his pleasure.