262 



SCIENGE. 



[N. S. Vol. VII. No. 165. 



Secretary of State invited my opinion as to 

 the propriety and feasibility of the United 

 States taking part in this work through the 

 Smithsonian Institution, and requested an 

 estimate of the probable expense attendant 

 thereto. To this I replied that I fully con- 

 curred in the view of the delegates as to the 

 great importance of a successful execution 

 of the conclusions of the conference and as 

 to the propriety of this government taking 

 its share of the proposed work by providing 

 for the cataloguing of the scientific publica. 

 tions of the United States. This opinion is 

 strengthened by the fact that the recommen- 

 dations made are due to results emanating 

 from an international conference, at which 

 the United States was oflQcially represented, 

 and by the further considerations that the 

 benefits to be derived from this undertaking 

 are not only great and far-reaching for the 

 scientific progress of America, but also of 

 universal value, and that all the great and 

 many of the smaller nations will take part 

 in the work. I recognized also the pro- 

 priety of the suggestion that the govern- 

 ment should employ the Smithsonian Insti- 

 tution as an agent in this matter, particu- 

 larly since the Institution first suggested 

 this subject in 1855, and since it has been 

 from its earliest organization interested in 

 scientific bibliography. 



I was, however, reluctant to commit the 

 Institution to the appearance of soliciting 

 Congress in this matter in any case, or to 

 the undertaking of the enterprise, however 

 worthy, unless provision could be made for 

 the necessary expenses of the work. After 

 considering the subject, it seemed to me 

 that the work, if assigned to the Smith- 

 sonian Institution, would require a person 

 of special qualifications to immediately as- 

 sist the Secretary, together with a number 

 of trained clerical assistants, and that the 

 salaries for these persons and the expenses 

 incident to the work would require an appro- 

 priation of not less than $10,000 per annum. 



In accordance with this recommenda- 

 tion. Secretary Olney transmitted this cor- 

 respondence to Congress. Although the 

 Catalogue will not begin until 1900, much 

 preliminary work will be necessary. I 

 have accordingly brought the matter to 

 the attention of Secretary Sherman, and the 

 Department of State has agreed to submit 

 an item for this purpose in its regular es- 

 timates for the year 1898-99. 



Although the new building for the Li- 

 brary of Congress was completed in Feb- 

 ruary, 1897, its occupancy had not begun 

 at the close of the fiscal year. The east 

 stack was provisionally assigned for the 

 Smithsonian collection of transactions. In 

 the past only this portion of the Smith- 

 sonian Library has been kept together, the 

 remainder of the collection being dis- 

 tributed throughout the Library of Con- 

 gress. I trust that in the new building, 

 with its ample space and largely increased 

 force, it will be found possible, in accord- 

 ance with the resolution of the Eegents in 

 1889, to assemble the entire collection in 

 one place. 



HARRISON ALLEN* 

 In Harrison Allen this Association has 

 lost one of its founders and most active 

 members and its second president ; science 

 has lost a devotee ; medicine has lost a 

 specialist of high rank ; the community has 

 lost a man of lofty character and broad cul- 

 ture ; there are doubtless others beside my- 

 self upon whom the announcement of his 

 death on the 14th of November fell with 

 the shock of personal bereavement, great 

 and irreparable. During the present week 

 Dr. Allen and his family were to have been 

 my guests. "What contrast could be greater 

 than between the joys anticipated and the 

 sad reality of the tribute which, at the re- 



* Bead before the Association of American Anat^ 

 omists at its Tenth Meeting, December 28, 1897. 



