BIBLIOGRAPHY 



BY HENRY CARRINGTON BOLTON 



lecturer on the History of Chemistry and Professor of Bibliography, 

 Columbian University 



ORD RAYLEIGH, in his presidential address 

 at the Montreal meeting of the British Asso- 

 ciation held in 1884, said: 



" By a fiction as remarkable as any to be 

 found in law, what has once been published, 

 even though it be in the Russian language, is usually spoken 

 of as 'known/ and it is often forgotten that the re-discovery 

 in the library may be a more difficult and uncertain process 

 than the first discovery in the laboratory." 



This well formulated truth, coming from so high an author- 

 ity, emphasizes very strongly the immense importance of 

 bibliographical publications, a fact which has always been 

 appreciated by the Smithsonian Institution. Having been 

 especially established to promote " the increase and diffusion 

 of knowledge among men," its officers have always regarded 

 as peculiarly within its province the means for making the 

 vast stores of learning in print available to students of science. 

 This feature was an object of particular interest to the first 

 Secretary, Joseph Henry, and in his " Programme of Organi- 

 zation," he recommended that the library should contain, 



785 



