RESEARCH IN THE EXACT SCIENCES. 191 



The efforts which have been made to remedy this recognized diffi- 

 culty by the publication of abstracts have, in my opinion, proved 

 failures. To write efficiently an abstract which would give the pith 

 of a paper in a form that can be utilized requires a very intimate 

 knowledge of the subject. In a subject requiring special skill and 

 training this can not be expected from those who at present under- 

 take work of this kind, nor is the frame of mind of the reader who 

 takes up one of these journals of abstracts and endeavors to assimi- 

 late in half an hour the ideas of one hundred and fifty different 

 workers on one hundred and fifty different subjects such as to make 

 it likely that his thoughts will be usefully fertilized. A much more 

 useful plan would be to have periodical reports dealing with the 

 progress of the subject ; but here again all will depend on how far 

 it would be possible to get men who thoroughly understand the sub- 

 ject to write these reports. 



It is doubtful to my mind whether the best results ever can be 

 obtained by an observer who has not full grasp of what his observa- 

 tions will be used for ; but, dealing with the question from a practical 

 point of view, we must recognize that there are many men who can 

 take excellent observations without any special power of discussing 

 them, and it would be a pity not to make use of such men, provided 

 we can convince them of the limitation of their powers. 



III. An institute or bureau of exact science, according to Pro- 

 fessor Newcomb's scheme, would, in my opinion, prove useful, as 

 it might in each subject find the best methods of coordinating facts 

 and reducing observations ; but the organization of the bureau 

 would have to adapt itself to the different requirements of the differ- 

 ent subjects, these requirements probably varying from time to 

 time. In particular stages of a subject publication of a list of papers 

 may be what is required, and in every case we must guard against 

 stereotyping any one particular method of procedure. The abstracts 

 which, as above mentioned, I found useless in my own subject might 

 be very effective in others. 



It would be, as Professor Turner points out, a very material gain 

 if there were a body of men whose special duty consisted in discuss- 

 ing observations and drawing attention to those matters where ob- 

 servation is most required. I consider thf subjects included in 

 Professor Newcomb's third "field" as requiring most attention at 

 the present moment. 



The bureau should, in my opinion, not only have power to initiate 

 reductions, but should also be able to assist other workers in cases 

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