August 25, 1922] 



SCIENCE 



209 



seienltists is that foi-med by the publication 

 of museums the world over. The catalogs and 

 series, the monographs and bulletins pub- 

 lished by important museums are in a very 

 real sense tlie foundation stones in many 

 branches of science. And it is not only the 

 great museums such as the British Museum, 

 the Berlin group, the National jMuseum at 

 Washington, the Peabody Museum at Cam- 

 bridge, which have issued vitally important 

 publications. The local and the special mu- 

 seums have issued puiblieations both serial and 

 monographic which become of vital impor- 

 tance tfhe minute a piece of work done here 

 demands them. You can never foretell when 

 one of these will seem to some professor ex- 

 actly the one book in the world whose ab- 

 sence from our shelves is fairly blocking his 

 studies. He could not tell you himself a week 

 before his need suddenly arises that he would 

 ever care for such a report or catalog. But 

 he can make his waats known without any 

 difficulty when the demand comes, I assure you. 

 What has seemed a fairly good library up to 

 this morning instantly changes to a very 

 mediocre establishment in the afternoon after 

 a consultation of the catalog! It is a great 

 pleasure to be able to report to you that for 

 five years past the income of the Octavia Bates 

 Bequest has been chiefly devoted to the pur- 

 chase of museum publications, beginning with 

 those of the British Museum. We could use 

 a permanent fund twice as large to very good 

 purpose in supplementing this work, whidh 

 up to tills time has only begun. 



Musemn publications are generally issued 

 in limited numbers and at high prices. It is 

 a serious task to secure them. But it is easy 

 compared to the job of getting the publica- 

 tions of expeditions. There is a peculiar fate 

 which attaches to the printing and editing of 

 the scientific results of expeditions of all sorts. 

 Usually some member publishes a popular nar- 

 rative which frequently sells rather well, par- 

 ticularly if any notoriety or celebrity attaches 

 to the expedition. This very quickly gets into 

 the libraries, as witness the host of popular 

 accounts of polar expeditions which you doubt- 

 less all know by name. Far different is the 

 fate of 'the publication of the scientific re- 

 sults. They are inevitably the work of dif- 



ferent men. The labor of preparation requires 

 vastly more time for some subjects than for 

 others. Parts of volumes appear from time 

 to time — members of the expedition go off on 

 other expeditions with their first work half- 

 done or half -published. Editors change, or die. 

 A fire in a store-room or a I'esidence destroys 

 another's notes — or even the specimens them- 

 selves. Years pass and the expedition's pub- 

 lications are still unfinished — perhaps they are 

 never finished. Volumes remain unbound be- 

 cause of a missing part never issued, but still 

 hoped for. Publishers fail and the stock is 

 sold for paper. Govermnents grow weary and 

 withdraw subventions — then vote them again. 

 Heaven blesses a few scientific expeditions with 

 capable members, vigilant editors, a govern- 

 ment's purse and completion of publication 

 within a few years. But they are few. I 

 could tell you tale after tale of heart-breaking 

 delays, inconsistencies, changes of forms, fail- 

 ures, deaths — and all involving untold trouble 

 for the librarian who must first get these 

 things and then take care of them. Altogether 

 a difficult and perhaps a useless job, you might 

 say. 



But then — remember the moimentous results 

 of some expeditions and voyages; — yes even 

 of some which have never been completely 

 published! One need only recall a few 

 names, La Perouse, The Challanger, the Beagle, 

 — need we go on? Take but one example — The 

 Wilkes Exploring Expedition. You recall its 

 history, the famous controversy over the Ant- 

 arctic Continent, the numerous narratives, the 

 slow appearance of the stately folios contain- 

 ing the scientific results. This was the first 

 scientific publication on a large scale of the 

 government of these United States, and an 

 entire evening could be spent in a most inter- 

 esting way in detailing its vicissitudes. I need 

 mention only one volume to show its impor- 

 tance — Dana's great work on the Zoophytes, a 

 book so important that seventy years after its 

 appearance it is still regarded as fundamental. 

 But how few libraries own a copy of the orig- 

 inal text and plates! Printed in only 200 

 copies, never sold, distributed solely by reso- 

 lution of Congress, what chance has there been 

 for the newer libraries to secure a copy for 

 tiheir clientele? To be sure, not all expeditions 



