BIBLIOGRAPHY, A STUDY OF RESOURCES. l6j 



Schmidt 's Jahrbucher will guide you to many articles of bio- 

 logical interest, which you are little likely to discover otherwise. 



It often happens that one cannot obtain a certain original 

 paper when needed, and in such cases an abstract of the paper 

 wanted may be found in one or several of the ten serials just 

 enumerated. You will notice that many of them are medical 

 journals, and yet they are sometimes indispensable to the 

 zoologists and morphologists. For example, articles on the 

 uterus and placenta, on growth, heredity, origin of sex, and 

 many other subjects are often to be discovered through medi- 

 cal publications, and through medical publications only. 



You have doubtless all been struck with the fact that nearly 

 all the titles I have quoted are in German or in Latin by Ger- 

 man authors, and have already reached the conclusion that the 

 work of the world in recording biological literature is mainly 

 the work of Germans. This conclusion is correct, and it is a 

 pleasure to make a public acknowledgement of our indebted- 

 ness. Hereafter, we hope that a systematic and thorough 

 record of zoological and anatomical literature will be kept by 

 the International Bureau organized at Zurich through the 

 efficient energy of our countryman Mr. H. H. Field. We 

 should each look upon it as a personal obligation to support 

 the work of this Bureau, both by cooperating with it and by 

 subscribing to its publications. 



To conclude : how is one to proceed if one wishes to find 

 the literature of a given zoological or morphological subject ? 

 I should answer : consult first the principal text-books at your 

 command, which will give you probably some of the chief 

 authorities, by turning to which you will obtain other refer- 

 ences; and from the papers thus traced yet other references 

 will be secured. Unless one is dealing with some minor or 

 detailed question, or some novel or unusual topic, one can 

 usually obtain acquaintance with a considerable body of inves- 

 tigations with comparative rapidity. Next, one must consult 

 the standard bibliographies (p. 1 56), and also both the various 

 Jahresberichte and the current bibliographies (especially of the 

 Zoologischer and of the Anatomischer Anzeiger). Third, con- 

 sult Milne-Edwards' Physiologic and Bronn's Thierreich ; or, if 



