Correspondence—Mr. C. Davies Sherborn. 93 
Captain Dutton, althcugh originally inclined to refer the lava- 
fields of the Western Territories of the United States to << fissure- 
eruptions,” has, since his visit to Mauna Loa, and his study of the 
floods of basalt that have flowed from that volcano, very candidly 
confessed that, in view of these later observations, he is no longer 
prepared to maintain his original position. 
If the effusive action taking place at many volcanoes be rightly 
understood and appreciated—and the recent very interesting re-’ 
searches of Prof. J. D. Dana in the Sandwich Islands have thrown 
much new and important light on this subject—the theory of 
«« fissure-eruption ” will be found to be as unnecessary as it is vague. 
At some volcanic centres there is a preponderance of explosive 
action; at others the main result consists in the extrusion of lava- 
currents ; while in most cases we find a combination of both kinds 
of action, The Tertiary volcanoes of Scotland, like the existing 
voleanoes of Iceland, are interesting as exhibiting evidence of both 
the effusive and the explosive action on the very grandest scale. 
CORRESPONDENCE. 
 __ ° 
UNIFORMITY IN SCIENTIFIC BIBLIOGRAPHY. 
Sir,—Mr. Davison’s suggestion in the GroLocican MaGazine for 
January, that the British Association should appoint a committee 
for securing a uniform and intelligible system of quotation of 
scientific serials is a very good one. Experience, however, shows 
us that many compilers, from carelessness or conceit, do not trouble 
to use those intelligible abbreviations which are employed in Biblio- 
graphic lists already published, and therefore, not seeing the necessity 
of making their references clear to those outside their subject, they 
possibly may not take any notice of another list, even though it 
receive the authority of the British Association. 
Mr. Davison proposes a rearrangement of titles of serials, which is 
decidedly open to very serious objections. The experience of those 
who have had to deal with large libraries and bibliographic work 
finds that it is misleading and disadvantageous to alter the plan of 
the title or use any other than that on the title-page of the volume. 
If once the rearrangement of titles be permitted, individual idiosyn- 
_erasies would come into play, and we should have the same serial in 
two, three, or more disguises. 
Nor can we take the place of meeting as a guide for library refer- 
ence; but the systematist must take the place of publication, this 
being the method at all large libraries and in all the best catalogues. 
The best plan in making references is to give the title of a serial 
in the perfect sequence in which it is printed on the title-page of the 
identical volume referred to, abbreviating the necessary words only, 
so as to be perfectly intelligible to one unacquainted with the serial, 
and give the name of the place of meeting in full (or if, as is often 
the case, no place is mentioned, it is as well to insert it in paren- 
thesis), add the place of publication at the end of the quotation, and 
