Decembek 1, 1922] 



SCIENCE 



633 



zoology at the University of Eedlands, Cali- 

 fornia. 



Dr. J. R. CuEEiE, a senior medical officer of 

 the Scottish Board of Health, has been ap- 

 pointed to the chair of preventive medicine in 

 Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario. 



Dr. H. iStanlet Allen, of the University of 

 Edinburgh, has been appointed to the chair 

 of natural philosophy in the United College, 

 St. Andrews, whieh has become vacant by the 

 retirement of Professor Butler. 



DISCUSSION AND CORRESPOND- 

 ENCE 

 FINANCIAL SUPPORT OF TECHNICAL 

 JOURNALS 



It is la mot uncommon practice for members 

 of the faculties of our colleges, universities, 

 and other schools to enrich the libraiies of these 

 insti'tutions by donating copies of technical 

 journals received by ithe individual either by 

 subseriptioii or by virtue of membership in 

 some scientific society. This loyalty to ithe local 

 institutio-n is natural and laudable fixjm the 

 standpoint of the instiitution, but it may, per- 

 haps, not be realized thalt if every one of our 

 colleges and universities were to depend upon 

 such gifts for their files of scientific periodicals 

 liliere would shortly, in the case of many such 

 publications, not be any journal to donaite, so 

 inadequate is the financial support of scientifle 

 publdeations. 



With the exception of those journals, such, 

 for example, as the chemical journals, which 

 have a large and financially profitable circula- 

 tion among practical workers outside of li- 

 braries and faculties, many of our journals de- 

 voteid to pure science are barely, or not at all, 

 able ito exist except for generous subsidies. 

 Outside of members of societies of whieh the 

 publications may be the official organ, paid 

 subscriptions may be expected only from a 

 very few individuals not members, from a very 

 small number of pulblic libraries in our larger 

 cities, and from educational institutions. 



It is a matter of record that many of our 

 journals devoted to publishing the results of 

 research do not have subscriptions from more 

 than a small fraction of American institutions 



maintaining a depanfemenlt in the given science, 

 and in many cases ifchis results because some 

 member of the departmental staff contributes 

 his personal copy to the library. 



One of our biological journals recently faced 

 the necessity of either securing a generous ad- 

 ditional subsidy, or of increasing its subscrip- 

 tion rate by one dollar a year, or of suspend- 

 ing publication. The sulbsidy was not forth- 

 coming and so the subscription price was ad- 

 vanced. Notice to this effefit was followed by 

 cancellation of subscription, not by one of our 

 private, struggling, small colleges, but by one 

 of the largest of our state universities. The 

 letter of cancellation stated that the institution 

 would hereafter depend upon a donated copy. 



The existence of all of the journals of the 

 class referred to is a matter of vital impoi*ance 

 to the colleges and universities. None of them 

 is maintained for its own sake as a business 

 veniture. Praotioally all of thean were estab- 

 lished because of the impossibility of securing 

 the publioaition of the results of research with 

 any degree of promptness — often not within a 

 year or eighteen months, or even longer, after 

 the completion of the manuscript. 



Our colleges and universities should regard 

 ■praetioally all of these journals as esitalblished 

 primarily for their advantage, and the journals 

 in turn are justified in expecting support from 

 these institutions to the extent of at least one 

 subscription. The donation of personal copies 

 by professors to the library of their institution 

 may help the library to the extent of a few 

 dollars, but the present extent of this practice 

 is depriving journals, indispensable to donor 

 and benefactor alike, of hundreds of dollars 

 each of support annually. 



It is an initeresting but regrettable fact itihat, 

 while it is comparatively easy to obtain money 

 for research, nothing is much more difficult to 

 secure funds for than the publication of the 

 results of research. 



C. Stuaet Gagee 



ACOUSTICAL RESEARCH 

 The quotation from the London Times on 

 the subject of Acoustical Research (November 

 3, 1922) conveys an impression which seems 

 to need correction. 



