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SCIENCE 



[Vol. LVI, No. 1443 



encounter such a series of accidents in publica- 

 tion as this of Wilkes— but as a class they 

 present a most difficult problem. They are 

 alike hard to get when issued, slow to appear, 

 slower to be finished, costly and even (occa- 

 sionally) not sold at all, but only given to a 

 select few. Later, years later, the task is much 

 harder. If I were given a round sum and told 

 to get in three years all the important scien- 

 tific expedition publications of the past hun- 

 dred years — I should decline to promise suc- 

 cess in that time — perhaps even in five years. 

 But I can think of but few efforts so well 

 worth attempting. 



If expeditions present difficulties alike to 

 the librarian and the scientist, what shall we 

 say of international congresses? That they 

 mark the progress of research in many lines 

 is a truism. They are absolutely needed — but 

 they too are very hard to get. In the first 

 place, there is no good list of them — even the 

 brief list issued about a year ago is most in- 

 complete. Then, the congresses seldom have 

 permanent offices and officers. They are held 

 at irregular intei-vals, generally in a different 

 place each time they meet. If one attend, he 

 generally gets the proceedings. But very sel- 

 dom does any library get a notice of the meet- 

 ing in advance. Usually the papers and pro- 

 ceedings are puiblished in the place where the 

 congress meets — at Madrid one year, three 

 years later at Washington or Moscow or 

 Stockholm, or where you please. The pub- 

 lisher of course varies with each move of the 

 congress. An attempt to place an order for 

 subsequent issues usually fails of execution. 

 Three or five years is a long time for any sec- 

 retary to carry an order. So if some profes- 

 sor from Michigan goes to the geological con- 

 gress at Brussels this summer, we may get on 

 tihe mailing list — but otherwise we probably 

 shan't — despite our efforts. The difficulty is 

 vastly increased by the habit of European gov- 

 ernments of giving subvention to private pub- 

 lishers to aid in printing reports of congresses 

 instead of issuing them through the govern- 

 mental printing office. So they may appear in 

 the publisher's list as his own publications — 

 or they may never be listed anywhere. It can 

 not be denied that the hunting down of inter- 

 national congresses adds zest to the librarian's 



life — but when you are held accountable by 

 science for the results of your hunting it 

 ceases to be sport. Then, too, local societies 

 and savants have a pleasing habit of offering 

 volumes to the congress as a sort of testimony 

 alike of their interest and of their own ac- 

 tivities. These are almost never to be con- 

 fused with the Report of the Congress itself — 

 except in the minds of booksellers who man- 

 age to introduce no end of confusion into 

 orders as a consequence. You may imagine, 

 therefore, that international congresses are a 

 bug-bear to library folk — a sore topic. You 

 may also imagine my own delight in securing 

 over one hundred and fifty reports of various 

 international congresses on my book-buying 

 trip last fall. Few acquisitions have given me 

 more solid satisfaction. And yet, I suppose 

 I have simply created more trouble for my- 

 self — every department will now demand that 

 these reports Ibe made absolutely complete ! In 

 the language of the street, "I can see my fin- 

 ish !" Partial success always brings its own 

 penalty. 



Who originated the idea of the "Academy"? 

 Whoever he was, whether Plato in the groves 

 of Academe, or some Renaissance imitator, or 

 even the gentleman who conceived the Royal 

 Society, he let loose on mankind an institution 

 making for publication— if we appraise it in 

 no higher terms. And particularly in the 

 nineteenth century did the academy flourish 

 in print. Here again Europe has an advan- 

 tage over America, and advantage more of age 

 than of enterprise, of geographical smallness 

 as contrasted with continental sweep and range. 

 Most scientists in Europe toave easy access to 

 flies of academic publications, files which have 

 been slowly accumulated with the passing 

 years. Here we have had to work hard in the 

 past two decades to establish half a dozen 

 centers in which fairly complete series may be 

 found, a process still going on and proving 

 increasingly costly each year. But we must 

 continue and complete it. The interests of 

 American scholarship simply require it of us. 

 The greater academies are now well repre- 

 sented at Michigan, with here and there a gap, 

 it is true, but still with full ranks for the most 

 part. What to do about the minor acadeanies 

 and societies from the whole world? That is a 



