REPORT OF THE SECRETARY. 39 



It is interesting to mention that a plan for a work of this character 

 was proposed by the Smithsonian Institution as early as 1855, when 

 Secretary Henry, of the Smithsonian Institution, called the attention 

 of the British Association for the Advancement of Science to the 

 great need of an international catalogue of scientific works. In 

 1867 the Royal Society published its well-known " Catalog-ue of 

 Scientific Papers," and the Smithsonian Institution from time to 

 time has issued catalogues of the literature of special branches of 

 science. In 1894 the Royal Society invited the governments of the 

 world to send delegates to a conference to be held in London in 1896. 

 At this and the following conferences in 1898 and 1900 a plan was 

 formulated to start the work with a classified subject and author 

 catalogue of all original scientific literature, beginning with Januaiy 

 1, 1901. 



Respectfully submitted. 



Charles D. Walcott, Secretary. 



