144 REPORTS ON THE STATE OF SCIENCE.—1912. 
and the results of the researches of many workers have been embodied 
in a paper by Sherborn and Prout in the ‘Annals and Magazine of 
Natural History’ for January 1918. All the books of Fallén and 
Fabricius have been indexed, as also those of Fischer von Waldheim 
and John Fleming, with many others. Increased cabinet accommoda- 
tion has been necessary, and this has been, as before, provided at the 
Natural History Museum by the Keeper of the Geological Department. 
As regards the continuation of the work, the Committee has great 
pleasure in reporting that the Trustees of the British Museum have 
included the compilation of the ‘ Index Animalium’ in the General 
Library Service of the British Museum (Natural History). It has thus 
become an official undertaking, and Mr. Sherborn will rank as ‘ Special 
Assistant ’ on the staff. This is most gratifying to all parties con- 
cerned, for it ensures the safety and completion of the manuscripts 
which have accumulated during the past twenty-two years. There are 
now some 664,000 slips, representing 332,000 entries in duplicate, and 
a great mass of manuscript notes on the dates of books which have 
passed or will pass through the compiler’s hands. Much of this has 
been printed separately or been included in the official catalogue of the 
libraries of the British Museum (Natural History). 
All manuscripts and documents connected with the work have been 
handed over by the Committee to the Trustees of the British Museum 
for preservation in the Natural History Museum, where they may be 
seen, on application during official hours, by those interested. 
In making this final report the Committee desires to express its 
own and Mr. Sherborn’s sincere thanks, not only to the Trustees of the 
British Museum for their past and present help but also to those 
Societies that have from time to time aided. the work with pecuniary 
grants—namely, the Royal Society and the Zoological Society of 
London. Above all, those thanks are due to the British Association for 
the consistent way in which it has supported the undertaking for the 
past twenty years, support which alone made possible the successful 
termination of the first part (1758-1800). The Association will doubt- 
less join the Committee in renewing its thanks to the Syndics of the 
Cambridge University Press for their generosity in printing and pub- 
lishing this part. It was issued in October 1902 as a handsome octavo 
volume of 1,255 pages, containing 61,600 entries, at the price of 25s. 
On the value of that volume to the zoologist there is no need to insist 
here; it has spoken for itself to everyone who has taken the trouble to 
consult it. The manuscript of the second part (1801-50) is well 
advanced and will now proceed safely towards completion under new 
auspices. 
Your Committee cannot cease its connection with this important 
work without an expression of gratitude to Mr. Davies Sherborn for his 
devoted labours in the past, and of confidence in his energy to carry to 
a conclusion the second part of the ‘ Index Animalium.’ 
