1906.] on International Science. 345 



The catalogue begins with the year 1901, but some countries send 

 in their slips rather earlier than others, so that the time interval 

 covered by the investigations to which the tal)le refers is not quite 

 the same for all. Nevertheless, the numbers shown in the table 

 possess a certain interest. I have given in the last two columns the 

 number of journals which different countries take into account, and 

 the ratio of the numlier of slips to the number of publications. Here 

 again it is difficult to estimate accurately how much value is to be 

 attached to the figures, as there is no uniformity of selection as to 

 what should, and what should not be included in the catalogue. 

 Journals which may only very seldom contain any paper which is to be 

 included, may unduly diminish the numbers in the last column, which 

 are also affected by the interpretation given as to what is purely techni- 

 cal, and therefore to ]3e excluded. Nevertheless, the comparison between 

 the United Kingdom and France gives the somewhat striking result 

 that while France is slightly ahead in the number of separate entries 

 it contriluites to the catalogue, it takes account of nearly double the 

 number of journals, and the ratio sho^ving the number of entries per 

 journal is therefore very small. In the case of Belgium and Canada, 

 we find also a large numVier of publications as compared with the slips 

 ret.'eived. 



riegard must, however, be had to the fact that in the subject cata- 

 logue the same paper may furnish several entries. Especially is this 

 the case in biological subjects where several species may be de- 

 scribed, for each of which a separate shp must be written out. Hence, 

 in any country active cliiefly in the discovery of new species the ratio 

 given in the last column of the table would be abnormally large. 

 This is probably the explanation of the figures given for New Zealand. 

 In the opinion of the Director of the Central Bureau, the standards 

 adopted by different countries are drawing nearer together as the work 

 proceeds, and before long we may therefore expect to obtain valuable 

 statistical information on the scientific activity in different countries. 

 But this is only an incidental result of the undertaking. It may 

 reasonably be argued that the scientific investigator ought not, before 

 he begins a research, to trouble too much about what may have been 

 done by others in the same direction, but there is no doul)t that 

 before publication he should have made himself acquainted with the 

 literature of his subject. A well arranged catalogue then becomes a 

 necessity, though its value as a means of helping students differs con- 

 siderably in different subjects. 



The governing body of the catalogue is an international council 

 composed of one representative from each of the countries taking part 

 in the scheme. This council has appointed an executive committee, 

 of which Professor Armstrong is the chairman. 



The Central Bureau for the publication of the Catalogue is in 

 London under the direction of Dr. Henrv Forster Morlev, who has a 



