30 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 76 



tory of the movement is said to be contained in the first volume of 

 this catalogue issued in 1867 by the Royal Society. The possibility 

 of preparing a complete index of scientific literature by international 

 cooperation was first taken into consideration by the Royal Society 

 about 1893. . An international conference for considering the matter 

 was held in London in 1896, at which there were present delegates 

 from Canada, Cape Colony, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, 

 Hungary, India, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Natal, the Netherlands, New 

 South Wales, New Zealand, Norway, Queensland, Sweden, Switzer- 

 land, the United Kingdom, and the United States. It is not neces- 

 sary to go into the details of the final arrangement other than to say 

 a " Regional Bureau " was established under the auspices of the In- 

 stitution, entrusted with the duty of indexing and classifying titles 

 of all scientific papers published in the United States, the same to 

 form a part of the International Catalogue issued by the central 

 bureau in London. 



V. CONCLUSION 



It is impossible to estimate either the value or cost of the numer- 

 ous and varied forms of cooperation mentioned above. The work 

 has become largely a matter of routine and cannot be considered 

 independently of other duties, often carried on at the same time. 

 " The most important service by far ivhich the Smithsonian Institu- 

 tion has rendered to the nation from year to year since 1846 — intan- 

 gible, but none the less appreciable — has been its constant cooperation 

 with the Government, public institutions, and individuals in every 

 enterprise, scientific or educational, zvhich needed advice, support, or 

 aid from its resources." This statement by Dr. G. Brown Goode ' 

 is felt to be fully borne out by the foregoing pages. While much 

 has been omitted that might properly have found place among the 

 enterprises here recorded, it is thought that sufficient instances have 

 been given to show the character and wide scope of the work. A 

 list of institutions or names of private individuals with whom the 

 Institution has cooperated would run into the thousands, and their 

 publication serve no useful purpose. Suffice it to say that the Insti- 

 tution's cooperative activities are continuous and world-wide in 

 distribution. 



Geo. p. Merrill, Chairman, 

 Committee on Cooperation. 



May 16, 1923. 



*Rep. Smithsonian Institution, 1897, Pt. 2, pp. 320-321. 



