JOURNAL OF THE WASHINGTON ACADEMY OF SCIENCES VOL. 11, NO. 4 



One can easily calculate that to read aloud at reasonable speed 

 the publications of the American Chemical Society for 1920 would 

 require about 514 hours, or 64 full working days of 8 hours each — 

 over two months. After seeing these facts it is not difficult to believe 

 the statement that no one individual can be fully informed as to the 

 progress of chemistry in all its branches. 



After thus getting a realizing sense of the overwhelming bulk of 

 the Chemical Society's publications, let us recall that numerous other 

 agencies also are publishing chemical information. Then add to 

 this the volume of reading matter put forth by physicists, engineers, 

 geologists, astronomers, and biological scientists of every variety, 

 through the medium of publication agencies numbering in the scores 

 for this country alone, and the "futility of publication" of which I 

 gave an illustration at the beginning of this address becomes readily 

 understandable. 



Like all the other media of distribution which we have considered, 

 this type must be divided into two classes, the philanthropic and the 

 profitable. 



In the philanthropic class belong the journals and proceedings of 

 the scientific and technical societies, and the current bulletins of 

 Federal and State bureaus, university laboratories, and museums. As a 

 group the philanthropic periodicals are characterized by two features 

 both of which are inimical to effective distribution : subdivision into a 

 large number of independent units, and small circulation of each 

 unit. There were listed'' in the United States in 1920 about 240 

 strictly scientific and technological publications, not including such 

 as might be more properly called "trade journals," of which there 

 were about as many more. About 100 of those which I have classed 

 as "scientific and technological" were medical periodicals. Appar- 

 ently about one-fourth of the remainder (those devoted to "science 

 and engineering" as ordinarily understood) were published for profit. 

 The circulation of the philanthropic class varied from 75,000 for the 

 Journal oj the American Medical Association down to 175 for the 

 Journal of Entomology and Zoology of Claremont, California, but 

 the greater part of the scientific and technological group had a 

 circulation of the order of magnitude of 500 to 800. 



The Federal bureaus in Wash ngton publish about 75 different series 

 of publications of a scientific or technological character, not counting 



' Ayer's American newspaper annual and directory. (Philadelphia, 1921.) Evidently 

 the list is far from complete. Probably no list approaching completeness is in existence, 

 although one is now in course of compilation at the Smithsonian Institution. 



