October 27, 1898] 



NATURE 



62 



THE INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON 



SCIENTIFIC LITERATURE. 



T^HE official report of the proceedings of the second 



-*• International Conference on Scientific Literature, 

 recently held in the rooms of the Society of Antiquaries, 

 the rooms of the Royal Society being under repair, is 

 given below. The names of the delegates who attended 

 the Conference have already been published in Nature 



(p. 579). 



ACTA. 



Opening Meeting, Tuesday, October ii. 

 (i) Prof. Darboux moved that Sir John E. Gorst be the 

 President of the Conference. The vote having been unanimously 

 accepted — 



(2) Sir John Gorst took the chair and welcomed the delegates. 

 It was then resolved — 



(3) That Prof. Armstrong be the Secretary for the English 

 language. 



That Prof. Korteweg be the Secretary for the German 

 language. 



That M. La Fontaine be the Secretary for the French 

 languacje. 



(4) That the Secretaries, with the help of shorthand reporters, 

 be responsible for the proct's verbal of the proceedings of the 

 Conference in their respective languages. 



(5) Prof. Foster read out the names of delegates appointed to 

 attend the Conference, and gave an account of the corre- 

 spondence relating to the non-representation of certain countries. 



The following resolutions were then agreed to : — 



(6) That the ordinary hours of meeting be II a.m. to i p.m., 

 and 2.30 to 4.30 p.m. 



(7) That each delegate shall have a vote in deciding all 

 questions brought before the Conference. 



(8) That English, French, and German be the official 

 languages of the Conference, but that it shall be open for any 

 delegate to address the Conference in any other language, pro- 

 vided that he supplies for the proch verbal oi the Conference a 

 written translation of his remarks into one or other of the official 



(9) Prof. Foster having formally presented the Report of the 

 Committee of the Royal Society, copies of which were for- 

 warded, in April last, to the several Governments represented 

 at the Conference, the discussion of the recommendations was 

 opened, and it was resolved — 



(10) That the Conference confirms the principle that the 

 Catalogue be published in the double form of cards and book. 



(11) That Schedules of Classification shall be authorised foe 

 the several branches of science which it is decided to include in 

 the Catalogue. 



(12) That geography be defined as limited to mathematical 

 and physical geography, and that political and general geography 

 be excluded. 



(13) That anatomy be entered on the list as a separate 

 subject. 



(14) That a separate schedule be provided for each of the 

 following branches of science. 



Mathematics. 

 Astronomy. 

 Meteorology. 

 Physics. 



Crystallography. 

 Chemistry. 

 Mineralogy. 



Geology (including Petrology). 

 Geography — Mathematical 

 and Physical. 



Palaeontology, 



Anatomy. 



Zoology. 



Botany. 



Physiology (including Phar- 

 macology and Experimental 

 Pathology). 



Bacteriology. 



Psychology. 



Anthropology. 



(15) That each of the sciences for which a separate schedule 

 is provided shall be indicated by a symbol. 



(16) Prof. Foster announced the reception of a letter from 

 the German Charge d'Affaires to the President of the Royal 

 Society, stating that Geiheimer Regierungs-Rath Professgr Dr. 

 Klein, of Goetiingen, had been appointed German Delegate to 

 the Conference. 



The regulations to be observed in the preparation of cards 

 or slips were then taken into consideration, and it was re- 

 solved — 



(17) That Italian should be added to the list of languages 

 not requiring translation. 



NO. 15 I 3, VOL. 58] 



(18) That for each communication to be indexed at least 

 one slip, to be called a Primary Slip, shall be prepared, on 

 which shall be either printed or type-written or legibly hand- 

 written in Roman script — 



(i.) Title-entries.— T\\Q author's name and the full title of 

 the communication, in the original language alone if 

 the language be either English, French, German, Italian, 

 or Latin. 



In the case of other languages, the title shall be trans- 

 lated into English or such other of the above five 

 languages as may be determined by the Collecting Bureau- 

 concerned ; but in such case the original title shall be 

 added, either in the original script, or transliterated into 

 Roman script. 



The title shall be followed by every necessary reference, 

 including the year of publication, and such other symbols 

 as may be determined. In the case of a separately pub- 

 lished book, the place and year of publication, and the 

 number of pages, &c. , shall be given, 

 (ii.) Subject-entries, indicating as briefly as possible the 

 principal subjects to which the communication refers. 

 Every effort shall be made to restrict the number of these 

 subject-entries. 



Such subject-entries shall be given only in the original 

 language of the communication if this be one of the five 

 previously referred to, but in other cases in English or in 

 such other language as has been used in translating the 

 title. 

 [The Belgian delegates stated that they abstained from voting 

 on the part of this resolution relating to subject-entries.] 



Second Meeting, Wednesday, October 12. 



(19) Prof. Korteweg having expressed the desire to be re- 

 lieved of his office, it was resolved that Prof. Weiss be appointed 

 Secretary for the German language. 



The following resolutions were adopted : — 



(20) That the registration symbols used in the Catalogue be 

 based on a convenient combined system of letters, numbers, or 

 other symbols, adapted in the case of each branch of science to 

 its individual needs, and in accordance, as far as possible, with 

 a general system of registration. 



(21) That the authoritative decision as to the Schedules be 

 entrusted to an International Committee, to be hereafter 

 nominated by this Conference. 



(22) That the Conference is of opinion that the Delegates 

 should be requested to take steps in their respective countries to 

 organise local committees charged with the study of all ques- 

 tions relating to the International Catalogue of Scientific 

 Literature, and to report within six months to the International 

 Committee. 



(23) That the International Committee (Resolution 22) be 

 instructed to frame a report, not later than July 31, 1899, which 

 shall be issued by the Royal Society, and incorporated in the- 

 decisions of the Conference. 



(24) That in all countries in which, or wherever, a Regional 

 Bureau is established, as contemplated in the i6th Resolution of 

 the International Conference of 1896, the Regional Bureau shall 

 be responsible for the preparation (in accordance with Reg. 7 of 

 the Royal Society's Report) of the slips requisite for indexing 

 all the scientific literature of the region, whatever be the 

 language in which that literature may appear. 



That each Regional Bureau shall transmit such slips to the 

 Central Bureau as rapidly and as frequently as may be found 

 convenient. 



That in the case of countries in which no Regional Bureau is- 

 established, the Central Bureau, failing other arrangements, 

 shall, upon special mandate, endeavour to undertake the work 

 of a Regional Bureau. 



[The Belgian delegates stated that they abstained from voting, 

 on this resolution.] 



(25) That the following recommendations of the Royal 

 Society relating to the preparation of the Book Catalogue be 

 referred to the International Committee for their favourable 

 consideration, viz. : — 



"At determined regular intervals, not necessarily the same 

 for all sciences, the Central Bureau shall compile from the slips 

 and issue in a book form both an authors' and a subject index of 

 the literature published within that period. 



This Book Catalogue shall be obtainable in parts correspond- 



