REPORT OF THE PRESIDENT, 1905. 27 



One of the most pressing demands that fell to the President immedi- 

 ately after assuming the duties of his office was 

 Distribution. *" tn at of devising a mode of distribution of the 

 publications of the Institution. Accordingly, at 

 the meeting of the Executive Committee held January 9, 1905, the 

 following tentative rules were submitted and adopted : 



1. That, unless otherwise ordered by the Executive Committee, the edition 

 of the publications of the Carnegie Institution of Washington be 1,000. 



2. That, unless otherwise ordered by the Executive Committee, the publica- 

 tions be distributed as follows: (a) to the Founder and Trustees of the Insti- 

 tution ; (6) to the leading public libraries of the world ; (c) to a few of the 

 principal journals which give space to critical reviews of current scientific 

 progress. 



3. That, subject to approval by the President, authors of publications of the 

 Institution be permitted to designate a list of 100 persons to whom copies of said 

 publications may be sent free of charge. 



4. That authors be furnished free of charge with 25 copies of their contribu- 

 tions published by the Institution. 



5. That the President have authority to distribute not to exceed 100 copies of 

 each publication of the Institution, if in his discretion it may seem advantageous 

 to do so. 



6. That copies of publications not otherwise provided for be offered for sale 

 at a price sufficient to cover the cost of presswork, paper, and binding, plus an 

 addition of 10 per cent. * 



Soon after the adoption of this basis for action, a list of the prin- 

 cipal libraries and institutions of the world contemplated under rule 2 

 was compiled, and having been approved by the Executive Commit- 

 tee the work of distribution rapidly followed. 



The plan thus adopted has worked without serious embarrass- 

 ment up to date, but it promises to become inadequate to meet the 

 demands for gratuitous distribution to the less important libraries 

 and to the great number of individuals who may be designated as 

 bibliophiles rather than as users of books. Concerning this matter, 

 some suggestions will be found in a later section of this report. 



Great pains have been taken to secure a high quality of paper and 

 first-class presswork for the publications of the Institution. This 

 has proved no easy task, since it has been essential to deal with many 

 authors and firms whose desires, standards, and judgments are often 

 found in conflict with what appears to be for the best interests of 

 the work from the Institution's point of view. Thus some lack of 

 obviously desirable uniformity in paper, presswork, and binding has 

 resulted. Certain of these defects have been unavoidable, owing to 

 the fact that some publications had been intrusted wholly to grantees 

 or authors. It is hoped, however, that arrangements will soon be 



