EEPORT OF THE SECRETARY. Ill 



Owing to the financial difficulty which has involved the Inter- 

 national Catalogue since war began, the Royal Society, which since 

 the beginning of the undertaking has been the financial sponsor of 

 the Catalogue, has issued invitations to scientific academies and 

 institutions to send delegates to a special conference to open on Sep- 

 temper 28, 1920, in London to discuss the future of the International 

 Catalogue. As the need for a catalogue of scientific literature is 

 universally acknowledged, and as the present organization of the 

 International Catalogue up to the time of the beginning of the war 

 was meeting this demand in a more satisfactory manner than ever 

 before, and as the present organization has behind it the official sup- 

 port of all of the principal countries of the world, it appears obvious 

 that every effort should be made to continue and improve the work 

 rather than abandon it simply on account of temporary financial 

 troubles and later have to reestablish the organization to cover the 

 same ground. Many projects are now being promoted to publish 

 abstracts, indexes, and catalogues of scientific publications, but the 

 question of finance seems to be a common paramount difficulty, and 

 it will certainly require less money to assure the success of the present 

 organization than it would to organize and finance a new project. 



Very respectfully, yours, 



Leonard C. Gunnell, 



Assistant in Chwqe. 

 Dr. Charles D. Walcott, 



Secretary, Smithsonian Institution. 



