406 CORRESPONDING SOCIETIES. 



LIST OF PAPERS 



BE.4RING UPON THE ZoOLOGY, BOTANY, AND PREHISTORIC ARCHEOLOGY 



OF THE British Isles, issued during June-December, 1919.* 

 Compiled by T. Sheppard, M.Sc, F.G.S., The Museum, Hull. 



At a recent meeting of the Corresponding Societies' Committee held at Burlington 

 House, London, at which some of the General Officers of the British Association were 

 present, the question of the continuance of the annual lists of publications received 

 was discussed, and the present writer was asked to jjrepare a report on the subject, 

 and to continue the preparation of the lists in a modified form. Subsequently the 

 following report was submitted : — 



' In the past the bibliography issued by the British Association has been limited 

 to papers appearing Ln those publications forwarded by the Corresponding Societies, 

 it has embraced practically all the sciences, related to any part of the earth (or the 

 heavens), and it has ended each year on May 31. In this way the lists were incomplete, 

 and contained much that was useless. For instance, of the fifty-eight papers relating 

 to Mathematical and Physical Science, in the bibliography issued in our last report, 

 thirty-three were published by the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada, five by 

 the Royal Society of South Africa, leaving twenty titles to represent a year's work 

 of British mathematicians and physicists. Similarly, in Chemistry, there are eight 

 entries, five of which relate to South Africa, thus leaving three to represent the work 

 of the British chemists — two of these pajiers being printed by the Mining Engineers, 

 and one by the Cotteswold Club. 



' True, as a catalogue of the publications sent to our library, the list is complete, 

 l)ut in its present scrappy form it is of little use scientifically, as indicated by the fact 

 that the publications in the rooms of the British Association are seldom consulted. 



' I would suggest that in future the bibliography be confined to papers and 

 memoirs bearing upon the fauna, flora and prehistoric archseology of the British 

 Isles, and include all published, whether sent to the Association or not, and that the 

 lists close each year on December 31. This can be accomjjlished by printing the 

 items June 1 to December 31, 1919, in our Report for 1920, each subsequent volume 

 to contain the complete bibliography for the preceding year. 



' It is not desirable to duplicate work already being accomplished by special 

 societies. For example. Astronomy, Chemistry, Geography, Statistics, Electricity, 

 Physiology, Agriculture and Engineering are already well catered for by the journals 

 or other official organs issued by the supporters of those sciences. The lists of 

 geological literature issued by the Geological Society of London, which have been 

 in abeyance during the war, are, I understand, to be continued and completed, and 

 if, in future, that Society could be prevailed upon to include all papers on British 

 Geology, whether in its library or not (very few additional entries would enable this 

 to be accomplished), the necessity for publishing geological items in the British 

 Association's bibliography would be dispensed with. 



' This would practically leave the Sciences of Zoology, Botany, and Prehistoric 

 Archaeology, in their various ramifications, to be dealt with in our lists. 



' In addition to the papers on these subjects apjjearing in the publications of the 

 various societies in the British Isles, and those relating to these islands which are 

 published abroad, the contents of the weekly, monthly, and quarterly scientific 

 magazines dealing with specific portions of the British Isles should be included. 

 Similarly, suitable papers bearing upon the three sciences mentioned, appearing in 

 any of the engineering, agricultural, geological or other publications, would, of course, 

 be noted. 



' With these suggested alterations, omissions and additions, the bibliography 

 might be kept within reasonable limits and be of distinct value to British science. 



' I may add that I have the list for June 1 to December 31, 1919, well in hand, 

 and I do not anticipate any serious difficulty in the compilation of the lists for 

 future years. 



'T. Sheppaed.' 



* The last list compiled by the late H. C. Stewardson included the months January 

 to May 1919, but, as was stated, included only titles of papers in publications actually 

 sent to the Corresponding Societies' Committee. 



