588 Mathezvs Plan for 'American Biological Society [July 



Jacob Reighard, Univ. of Mich. I take it that each American 

 biologist is now paying for the Journals to which he subscribes as 

 much as he can afford. Most of my friends have as many Journals 

 as they would like. Their libraries contrast unfavorably in this 

 respect with those of their European colleagues. I do not doubt 

 that any plan that would give them more for the same money or 

 for less money would be welcome. On the other band I do not 

 know of many men who would consider the whole list of thirteen 

 Journals of use to them. If there were opportunity for them to get 

 the Journals they now get at less price than they now pay, they 

 would tend to take advantage of it, — and the income of the Society 

 would be reduced by so much. 



There is one argument not touched upon by Prof. Mathews 

 which rnight have great weight in starting the movement. Every 

 biologist pays out a good deal annually for reprints. If nearly every 

 biologist received the Journals in his field, there would be little use 

 in distributing reprints. Those furnished him by the Journals with- 

 out cost might meet his needs for exchange with foreign corre- 

 spondents. He might thus save a great deal more than he now 

 pays out for subscriptions. 



I am not convinced of the wisdom of central control for all bio- 

 logical Journals, and should prefer to see Journals left under their 

 present control. I fear that here, as elsewhere, central control is 

 likely to inhibit individual initiative. The interests of the chemists 

 seem to me less diverse than those of the biologists and therefore 

 more likely to be adequately served by a central Organization. 



I am, then, in favor of Prof. Mathews' plan, with the elimina- 

 tion of the feature of central control. I believe that the advantages 

 of the plan to the individual Journals are such as to insure their 

 permanency without central control. 



Change of action and interest are the secrets of recreation, as 

 the spirit of Service is the spirit of happiness. — Creelman. 



The medical facts that have been elicited and elucidated in 



laboratories during the past fifty years have done 



more to revolutionize medical practise than the 



bedside observations of the past two thousand years. — Janeway. 



