November 3, 1922] 



SCIENCE 



497 



originals — wtiich would not at the same time 

 yield the much desired abstracts, indispensable 

 for current and reference use. It seems logical, 

 therefore, to prepare the aibstracts, and from 

 them the indexes. Annual indexes furnish 

 periodic reference sources "which may be cumu- 

 lated from time to time, as desired, to furnish 

 the cumulative reference sources. 



If we are correct that the most useful instru- 

 ment in general is the abstract journal, how are 

 we to produce it completely, thoroughly, 

 promptly, continuously and sufficiently cheaply 

 to answer tihe requirements? Obviously the 

 task requires funds. 



At present there are a great many abstract- 

 ing journals in biology, not to mention scores 

 of research journals that make more or less 

 abortive attempts at abstracting. The sub- 

 scription list of each is small, as most of them 

 serve small groups. We have set up a great 

 many special abstracting journals — in bacteri- 

 ology, physiology, entomology, endocrinology, 

 systematies, phytopathology, etc., etc., — in most 

 eases without correlation, with the result that 

 each can claim only a small list of subscribers 

 and is forced to charge a high subscription 

 rate. It is a fact too often lost sight of that 

 composition, or type-setting, is expensive and 

 that its cost per page is the same whether one 

 or one hundred thousand copies are printed. 

 The fewer the sutiscribers, the larger the share 

 of composition charge each must bear. With 

 a large subscription list, the amount borne by 

 each becomes negligible amd a copy costs little 

 more than the paper, press work, binding, and 

 distribution. An abstracting journal with a 

 subscription list of one thousand or fifteen hun- 

 dred, as is the case with most of them at 

 present, can not hope to yield a surplus suffi- 

 cient to carry on the large amount of exacting 

 routine necessary in a good abstracting journal. 

 Little wonder, then, that almost all our special 

 biological services are embarrassed financially 

 and unable to carry their work forward as it 

 should be carried. 



Let us at this juncture examine what has 

 been and is being accomplished by another 

 science group going at the problem in another 

 way. I refer to the chemists, who are probably 

 handling the proposition more successfully 



than any other group. Instead of abstracts of 

 industrial chemistry, organic chemistry, phar- 

 maceutical chemistry, analytical chemistry, 

 inorganic chemistry, etc., etc., they have one 

 chemical abstracts. They have made it one of 

 the official organs of the American Chemical 

 Society and thus insured a minimum circula- 

 tion of well over 13,000. The following are 

 the remarkable facts in this undertaking: 

 Chemical Abstracts publishes annually approx- 

 imately 5,000 pages of prdbaJbly the best ab- 

 stracts and indexes produced anywhere; it 

 maintains an editorial office, consisting of an 

 editor-in-chief, two associate editors and a 

 clerical staff:, and pays its abstractors at a per 

 page rate, at an annual «ost of approximately 

 $26,000; but even so, the journal is produced 

 at an annual cost of about $6.80 per member, 

 this including entire cost of manufacture and 

 distribution, support of the editorial office and 

 compensation of abstractors. 



Consider for a moment another journal, 

 Botanical Abstracts, with which I happen to 

 be familiar. It prints about 1,200 pages of 

 abstracts annually at a cost of $12.00 to each 

 of its 1,100 subscribers, and has not only 

 yielded no income for editorial purposes or for 

 compensating abstractors, hut instead has been 

 accumulating a deficit. In other words. Chem- 

 ical Abstracts publishes four times as much 

 material at less than half the price and is able 

 to carry its work forward continuously and 

 efficiently and be relatively free from serious 

 financial embarrassment. Most of our special 

 abstracting journals are being carried on by a 

 few enthusiasts willing to devote much time 

 and energy without compensation. But, how- 

 ever willing these individuals may be, such or- 

 ganizations are subject to frequent partial or 

 complete breakdowns. Their continuity and 

 uniform quality have no reasonable guarantees. 



Is it possible for the biologists to profit by 

 the experience of the flhemists and achieve 

 something equally good or better in the way of 

 this important accessory mechanism? At once 

 we realize that the biologists lack an organiza- 

 tion sufficiently comprehensive and strong to 

 grapple with so large and difficult a problem. 

 There are in this country fifteen to twenty soci- 

 eties of biologists with an aggregate member- 



