TRANSACTIONS OF SECTION A. 769 



means of ascertaining what lines of physical inquiry were being pursued in foreign 

 countries — or, indeed, even in their own. And, so far from making it easier to 

 obtain this information, our countrymen have, I fear, until quite recently, been 

 guilty of increasing the difficulty. For every college, every technical school in 

 Great Britain — and their number will soon rival that of our villages — seems to 

 feel it incumbent on itself to start a scientific society. And in accordance with 

 the self-reliant character of our nation each of these societies must be maintained 

 in absolute independence of every other society, and its proceedings must be pub- 

 lished separately, and in an entirely distinct form from those of any similar body. To 

 keep abreast, then, with physical advance in our own country is distinctly difficult, 

 while the impossibility of maintainmg even a casual acquaintance with foreign 

 scientific literature lays us open to a charge of international rudeness. 



There is, of course, the German BeiblUtter ; but the Anglo-Saxon race, which 

 has spread itself over so vast a portion of the globe, is proverbially deficient in 

 linguistic power, and consequently, till quite recently, information that was 

 accessible to our friends on the Continent was closed to many workers in Great 

 Britain, America, and Australia. 



Influenced by these considerations, the Physical Society of London, in 1895, 

 embarked on the publication of abstracts from foreign papers on pure physics, and, 

 as it was found that this enterprise was much appreciated, the question arose at 

 the end of the following year whether, instead of limiting the journals from 

 which abstracts were made to those appearing in foreign countries, and the papers 

 abstracted to those dealing only with pure physics, the abstracts might not with 

 advantage be enlarged, so as to present a resume of all that was publish od in all 

 languages on physics and its applications. 



The first application of physics which it was thought should be included was 

 electrical engineering, and so negotiations were opened with the Institution of 

 Electrical Engineers. After much deliberation on the part of the representatives 

 of the two societies, it was finally decided to start a monthly joint publication, 

 under the management of a committee of seven, two of whom should represent the 

 Institution of Electrical Engineers, two the Physical Society, and three the two 

 societies jointly. 'Science Abstracts' was the name selected for the periodical, 

 and the first number appeared in January of this j'ear. 



A section is devoted to general physics, and a separate section to each of its 

 branches ; similarly, a section is devoted to general electrical engineering, and a 

 separate section to each of its more important sub-divisions. The value of ' Science 

 Abstracts ' is already recognised by the British Association as well as by the Insti- 

 tution of Civil Engineers, for those societies make a liberal contribution towards 

 the expenses of publication, for which the Physical Society and the Institution of 

 Electrical Engineers are responsible. 



At no distant date it is thought that other bodies may co-operate with us, and 

 we have hopes that finally the scheme may be supported by the scientific societies 

 of many Anglo-Saxon countries. For our aim is to produce, in a single journal, a 

 monthly record in English of the most important literature appearing in all 

 languages on physics and its many applications. This is the programme — a far 

 wider one, be it observed, than that of the Beibldtter — which we sanguinely hope 

 our young infant ' Science Abstracts ' will grow to carry out. 



The saving of time and trouble that will be eSected by the publication of such 

 a journal can hardly be over-estimated, and the relief experienced in turning to a 

 single periodical for knowledge that could hitherto be obtained solely by going 

 through innumerable scientific newspapers, in many diflferent languages, can only be 

 compared with the sensation of rousing from a distracting and entangled dream to 

 the peaceful order of wakeful reality. 



I therefore take this opportunity of urging on the members of the British 

 Association the importance of the service which they can individually render to 

 science by helping on an enterprise that has been started solely in its aid, and not 

 for commercial purposes. 



The greatness of the debt owed by industry to pure science is often impressed 

 1898. 3 D 



