6 INTRODUCTORY. 



In this Report of the Secretary General the chief effort has been to 

 make a simple and accurate record of what took place from the first 

 organization of the executive committee, following the first Pan Ameri- 

 can Scientific Congress, held in Santiago in 1908, until the adjournment 

 of this second congress in January, 191 6. The delay in the actual pub- 

 lication of this report and of the proceedings has been due to the neces- 

 sity of carefully comparing and editing all the data. It has been neces- 

 sary to send speeches and papers to delegates in far-off Latin American 

 countries and to have them corrected before they could be published. 

 Even with these precautions, however, some errors, mistakes, and over- 

 sights have been unavoidable. For these the secretary general and the 

 assistant secretary general ask the indulgence of persons who may dis- 

 cover them or feel that they have been overlooked or in the least degree 

 slighted. Omissions, mistakes, and errors, if found, are entirely acci- 

 dental and unintentional. When it is considered that the preparation 

 of the proceedings has required the reading in different languages of 

 several millions of words, the difficulties confronting the executive 

 officers can be appreciated. 



The delay, however, in the publication of this report and the pro- 

 ceedings has been compensated in a measure by the distribution of the 

 volume, entitled The Final Act and Interpretative Commentary Thereon, 

 which was prepared under the direction of Dr. James Brown Scott, 

 reporter general of the congress. This is a discussion of practical value 

 and should be read and studied by all those who wish to fully understand 

 and appreciate the work of the congress. It also contains useful and 

 valuable appendices and other data prepared under the direction of 

 Assistant Secretary General Swiggett. Copies of it can be obtained by 

 addressing the Director General of the Pan American Union. 



The full report of the proceedings, covering all nine sections of the 

 congress, is now being printed at the United States Government Printing 

 Office. It wall probably occupy eleven volumes, with all the pap)ers 

 presented at the congress in the language in which they were delivered. 

 Many of these papers will be appropriately illustrated. These proceed- 

 ings will be distributed, under certain restrictions, to the actual readers 

 and senders of papers, to a selected list of libraries, and to high Govern- 

 ment officials. They will be obtainable in due time and under certain 

 conditions from the Director General of the Pan American Union. 



The report of the Women's Auxiliary Conference, carefully prepared 

 by Mrs. Glen Levin Swiggett, is a comprehensive review of the proceed- 

 ings and papers of that conference which was organized under the initia- 

 tive of the executive committee in order to interest the women who 



