334 NATURAL SCIENCE. Nov.. 



*' Mente et Malleo." 



It has often been laid down that the importance of any inter- 

 national congress of scientific workers depends, not on the novelty of 

 the facts or ideas brought forward by individual members^ — for such 

 are really more accessible if published in one of the recognised 

 periodicals — but on the methods inaugurated for facilitating inter- 

 national communication and co-operation, and for assisting the 

 students and investigators of the science in question, wherever on this 

 earth they may be working. Rules of nomenclature, the organisation of 

 research, the publication of bibliographies : such are the subjects 

 that a great world-congress can worthily and usefully occupy itself with. 

 But since members are but men, and since a congress must assemble 

 in some definite place, it often happens that friendly intercourse, 

 widening of sympathies, increase of knowledge, and the dispelling of 

 ill-founded prejudice are among the most valuable results of such a 

 gathering. But these latter results are subsidiary to the main 

 functions of a congress, and they are by no means inevitable ; the 

 worth of a congress that summons its members from the ends of the 

 earth has therefore to be estimated not so much by these accessories 

 as by the solid work that is accomplished for the advance of science 

 and to the benefit of those members who, though they pay their 

 subscriptions, may be unable to attend in person. It is by this 

 standard that we must judge the sixth triennial International 

 Congress of Geologists that was held at Ziirich a few weeks ago. 



One of the most important tasks that this Congress has under- 

 taken is the preparation of a geological map of Europe on the scale of 

 1 : 1,500,000, and contained in 49 sheets. The objects of this map 

 are to summarise and correlate the facts accumulated by the various 

 surveys, societies, and individuals, and to represent them on a system 

 that shall, if possible, serve as a pattern for the geologists of the 

 Y/orld. It was therefore with gratitude that we heard that six sheets 

 of this map were at last ready for publication, and that ten more 

 would be issued within a year's time. As the subscription price of 

 the entire map is only ;^4, which may be paid in instalments, the first 

 part being los., it is to be hoped that many will send their orders to 

 Dietrich Reimer of Berlin, which they should do before the end of 

 December. 



Another useful bit of work that will soon be completed and dis- 

 tributed to members both of this and of the previous Congress, is the 

 " Catalogue of Geological Bibliographies." We understand that this 

 compilation has far exceeded the bounds originally determined for it^ 

 and it remains to be seen how far it has been improved, or damaged, 

 by this unusual zeal. 



The committees started by the present Congress are two. The 

 nomenclature of rocks has been getting into as sad a state as the 

 nomenclature of animals. Consequently, at the suggestion of Michel- 

 Levy, who himself spoke admirably on the subject, a committee has 



