762 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. IX. No. 231. 



ence, and report thereon to the governments 

 concerned." It was also left to the Com- 

 mittee " to suggest such details as will ren- 

 der the Catalogue of the greatest possible 

 use to those unfamiliar with English." 



la accordance with the terms of these 

 resolutions, the Eoyal Society appointed, in 

 November, 1896, a Committee, with Profes- 

 sor Henry E. Armstrong as Chairman, 

 which presented a report on March 30, 

 1898. This report consisted of a series of 

 proposed regulations for the conduct of the 

 Catalogue, a provisional financial statement, 

 and schedules of the various sciences. Inas- 

 mucli as this report formed, in a large meas- 

 ure, the basis of the discussion and resolu- 

 tions of the second Conference, it seems de- 

 sirable to present an outline of its contents. 



Schedules of Classification. Authorized 

 schedules are to be prepared for the several 

 branches of science included in the Cata- 

 logue ; each of these to be indicated by a 

 Roman capital letter known as the Regis- 

 tration letter ; the division in each sched- 

 ule to be indicated by numerical symbols 

 called Registration numbers; when desi- 

 rable, an alphabetical index of the several 

 headings be appended to each schedule. 



Card Catalogue. For each communica- 

 tion to be indexed at least one slip called 

 Primary slip shall be prepared containing 

 title entry, subject entry, registration sym- 

 bols and significant words. These slips are 

 to be prepared by the bureaus established 

 in the various countries (regional bureaus), 

 which will transmit them to the Central 

 Bureau as rapidly as possible. When a 

 primary slip bears more than one subject 

 entry or registration number copies of 

 secondary slips shall be prepared. Slips of 

 standard size, stoutness and color are to be 

 printed for issue to subscribers, each slip to 

 be revised by an expert official of the Central 

 Bureau. 



Booh Catalogue. At determined regular 

 -intervals the Central Bureau shall issue, in 



book form, an author's and subject index of 

 the literature published within that period. 

 This Book Catalogue shall be obtainable in 

 parts corresponding to the several sciences 

 or in divisions of such parts. After the 

 first issue of the Book Catalogue the Com- 

 mittee of Referees are to be consulted as to 

 the desirability of making changes in the 

 classification. 



International Council. This shall be con- 

 stituted hy one representative of each Re- 

 gional Bureau and shall be the governing 

 body of the Catalogue. It shall appoint its 

 own Chairman and Secretary, and shall 

 meet in London at least once in three years ; 

 this Council is to be the supreme authority 

 for all matters belonging to the Central 

 Bureau, and is to report its doings to the 

 Regional Bureaus. 



International Committee of Referees. The 

 International Council shall appoint, for each 

 science included in the Catalogue, five per- 

 sons skilled in that science to form an In- 

 ternational Committee of Referees. The 

 members shall be appointed in such a way 

 that one retires each year. These commit- 

 tees shall be consulted by the Director of 

 the Central Bureau on all questions of 

 classification not provided for by the regu- 

 lations. 



The Central Bureau is to be composed of 

 a paid staff, consisting of (1) a General 

 Director, (2) for each branch of science a 

 skilled assistant, (3) clerks. There is also 

 to be a Consultation Committee, consisting 

 of persons representing the several sciences 

 and residing in or near London. 



The next portion of the report is explana- 

 tory of the schedules of classification. It is 

 expressly stated that the schedules are put 

 forward as illustrations of feasible methods 

 of classifying the several sciences and not as 

 final or authoritative. A detailed account 

 of the method of the work of the Central 

 Bureau is given, which need not be entered 

 upon here. 



