iv PREFACE 



cyclopaedia Britannica are by specialists whose knowledge is at the stage which it takes 

 some years of general practice to keep up with. The names of the contributors of 

 the various articles might speak for themselves as regards the authority of the writers. 

 It may be added however that it sometimes happens that, the higher the authority, the 

 more incumbent it is, for official or national reasons, to preserve anonymity; and this 

 has been necessary in at least one instance in the present volume. It was not the object 

 of the Editor, in the case of the BRITANNICA YEAR-BOOK any more than in that of the 

 Encyclopaedia Britannica, merely to parade a number of eminent or fashionable authors, 

 but to provide the public with the best available knowledge from the most competent 

 sources, where a disinterested care for real enlightenment and candid criticism were 

 the abiding motives for publicity. 



In the preparation of the BRITANNICA YEAR-BOOK, the Editor desires to acknowledge 

 in particular, among the services of his staff, those of Mr. O. J. R. Howarth, especially 

 in the organisation of sections i and iii in Part II, Mr. C. C. Whinery, head of the New 

 York editorial staff, in the organisation of section ii of Part II, and Mrs. W. L. Courtney 

 (Janet E. Hogarth) in general editorial work and the compiling of the index. 



HUGH CHISHOLM. 



Febrttary, 



