REPORT OF THE SECRETARY. 



13 



the Secretarv. giving ;ui uci'ouiit ol" thv year's woi-k, aiul a general 

 appendix. Its appendix, liowin'er, forms a distinct and popular part 

 of the Avoriv and is oiw of the principal methods em])loyed l)y the 

 Institution in the (/i^ffnsJon of knowledge. In the ap})cndi\ are pub- 

 lished a large num))er — sometim(\s as many as oO — pa})(n-s of pid)lic 

 interest. 



The Secretary has said elsewhere: "Tiiese papers have a purpose 



-linct from any others published by the Institution. They ari> only 



casionally original contributior.s to science. They are not for the 



rofessional reader only, orcxcn chictly. I»ut they are addressed to that 



irge body of the public which has a general interest in scientiHc mat 



;-s without special knowledge. \Vhile it is always a reconnucndation 



it they should have been written by recognized authorities, vet this is 



minor im})ortance if the articles are soiuid expositions of ihc sub- 



t. The essential thing is that they should be not only sound and 



tructive, l)ut timely and interesting to the nonprofessional reader, 



id in that good sense popular. If thev ai'e accompanied by illustra- 



ms, all the better. As they are intended to serve as a kind of 



jular survey of the whole tield of the sciences, both physical and 



. jlogical, for the current year, it is, as a rule, impracticable to ])rint 



lore than one paper on any })articular subject.'' 



A portion of the edition of the report is distributed in the form of 

 ^»amphlets of individual papers, and wdiere any of these are of 

 particular interest additional copies are printed at the expense of the 

 Institution. Of the 19<)1 report 2o,Tr)0 co|)i('s of separat»» pa[)ers have 

 thus been ordered for special distribution. 



It is impossible to meet the great demand from individuals for the 

 reports, more than 5,000 copies being required to sup})ly a selected list 

 of libraries and institutions of learning, to w hich tlu' work has bc^en 

 regularly sent for many years. Th(> total distribution of Nolumes or 

 se})arate ])arts of i-(>ports during the ])ast liscal year aggregated 

 40.1>1»S." 



This ])ublication. then, is distril>ul(Ml not oidy to a large number of 

 li))raries throughout the world, but it is also addressed to as manv as 

 possible of the hundreds of individual a})plicants of all classes who 

 seem eager to learn of the world's advance in the se\(>i"al branches of 



" Sent. to- 

 Domestic libraries 



Foreign libraries 



Domestic periodicals 



Foreign periodicals 



Domestic individuals 



Foreign individuals 



Total 



