JUNE30, 192 l] 



NATURE 



551 



geology, as well as the common land of general 

 ,periodical literature. The index of advances in physics 

 required by a geologist will differ materially from 

 •that which meets the needs of a physicist. 



John W. Evans. 

 Imperial College, South Kensington, June 12. 



In the very interesting and important leader of your 

 issue of June 9, dealing with the co-operative index- 

 ing of periodical literature, attention is mainly con- 

 fined to the natural sciences, but whatever is said as 

 to the necessity for some new co-operative effort 

 there in order to rendfer more accessible the contribu- 

 tions in what you call the non-homogeneous class of 

 :periodicals, the need is even greater in another field 

 of knowledge. May I venture to point out that in the 

 -field of one of the political sciences, if history and its 

 allied subjects can be included in such a term, co- 

 operation is even more urgently needed, and may be 

 -profitably undertaken along similar lines and in close 

 ■concert? In very few fields of historical investigation 

 -do workers possess the advantages that are affordled 

 by comprehensive bibliographies of recent publications, 

 and practically nowhere are there to be found abstracts 

 such as are familiar to their colleagues in chemistry, 

 physics, and other natural sciences. The " Lists 

 of \yritings on American History " that have been 

 published since 1902 under the auspices of the 

 -American Historical Association, and the bibliography 

 •of "Publications relating to the History of Canada," 

 published at Toronto, show that it is entirely practic- 

 able to undertake such work with success. At the 

 approaching conference of Anglo-American Historians, 

 to be held in the University of London on July 11-16, 

 various schemes for co-operative effort are to be 

 considered, and among them may possibly be pro- 

 jects for co-operative lists of periodical publications. 

 It is hoped by many of those who are taking part 

 in the conference that some concrete results will arise 

 from these discussions. May I, therefore, suggest 

 that when any steps are taken to summon a con- 

 ference such as you propose for the extension of the 

 bibliographical equipment of the sciences opportuni- 

 ties should be afforded to the historians to take part? 

 It would be an inestimable boon if the principle of 

 •iXX)-op>erative and co-ordinated action on common lines 

 ■could be extended as widely as possible In the fields 

 •where the scientific method can be profitably employed. 

 Arthur Percival Newton*. 

 University of London, King's College, 

 June 18. 



I HAVE read with great interest the leading article 

 <on 'Co-operative Indexing of Periodical Literature" 

 in Nature of June 9. 



I have never been concerned with any work in- 

 volving indexing of scientific periodicals, and those 

 which have been my business, dealing with the 

 classics. Oriental subjects, and bibliography, are 

 essentially of the "watertight" character which pre- 

 sent a much less serious problem to the student. 



I think, however, there is one class of pub- 

 lication to which I should direct attention in con- 

 nection with the subject of indexing for the use of 

 present and future students, namely, official publica- 

 tions (Parliamentary papers. Stationery Office pub- 

 lications, reports of committees, etc.), which contain 

 a great quantity of material which must necessarily 

 be of value to investigators in various lines of re- 

 search, and the lack of a clue to them is serious, 

 specially as they are, from their quasi-anonymous 



NO. 2696, VOL. 107] 



nature, difficult to discover in the ordinary Tibrarv 

 catalogue. ■' •'■ 



If any conference such as that suggested in vour 

 article were called, I hope it would consider' the 

 mdexmg of these as well as of periodicals in the 

 strict sense of the word. I do not think that any 

 endowment will be forthcoming from public funds, 

 but librarians in Government Departments and other 

 Uivil Servants with bibliographical interests would 

 probably be willing to help in the work of compila- 

 tion. I should certainly be prepared to make myself 

 responsible for slips analysing the papers laid before 

 Parliament by the Foreign Office. 



J""^ "• Stephen Gaselee. 



W. Warde Fowler: A Personal Appreciation. 



All who know his "Tales of the Birds" will 

 deplore the loss of this gifted observer and writer. 

 My review— three and a half pages long!— of his 

 charming booklet, "An Oxford Correspondence of 

 1903, under the title "Oxford on the Up Grade " 

 in Nature June 16, 1904, was the beginning of an 

 all too infrequent correspondence. He was good 

 enough to write that I had entered into the spirit of 

 his views more than any other critic. They certainly 

 appealed to me at the time; and to-day, when mere 

 memorising and over-examination— including psycho- 

 analysis—are becoming more and more of a curse 

 and subversive of all mental progress, they merit 

 the most careful consideration. Warde Fowler had 

 cast off the blinkers worn usually by the literary 

 man^and could see widely. He could console his 

 pupils father for the son's, failure in the ICS 

 examination by saying, "Never mind; he wiil do 

 good work in life as soon as he recovers from the 

 effects of his education." 



In a postscript to his last letter to Jim Holmes 

 his young correspondent, he remarks :— 



I agree with what you said in your last letter 

 about Greats. We had better grow our own plants 

 instead of introducing exotics ; but we must take 

 care_ that our own plants get a real chance of 

 coming to perfection. 



Here the Oxford positidh is stated in a sentence; 

 but the newer Universities are still more open to the 

 implied criticism— as in all of them far too many 

 things are attempted and the plants consequently are 

 of stunted growth. In the interval, there has been 

 advance at Oxford but not on an even grade; and 

 the beer-point of enthusiasm (see my review) is not 

 yet reached. So ineffective is the influence of its 

 environment, that a professor, who over a long 

 period had shut up the instruments of research in 

 glass cases, into whose lap a great fortune had been 

 dropped, could die recently without benefit to the 

 University. 



Take, too, his interesting quotation from Roger 

 Ascham's " Scholemaster " : — 



"All soch Authors as be fullest of good matter 

 and right judgement in doctrine be likewise always 

 most proper in wordes, most apte in sentence, 

 most plain and pure in uttering the same." 

 On this he makes the comment : — 



If I am not mistaken, this would have delighted 

 Darwin. 



This is not only a just recognition of Darwin's 

 literary gift but should serve to confound Sir A. Quiller 

 Couch and all those who presume to scoff at the 

 literary shortcomings of scientific workers — without 

 recognising how few literary men can be plain or 

 pure in their utterance and how few either have 



