12 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXVIII. No. 705 



been, since the beginning of the undertaking, 

 acting as the regional bureau for the United 

 States and is, through the aid of a small 

 governmental grant, collecting, indexing and 

 classifying the scientific works published in 

 this country. At the present time about 

 thirty thousand classified references are being 

 sent by the Smithsonian Institution each year 

 to the London Central Bureau, and as the 

 small congressional allotment only justifies 

 the employment of a limited force to carry on 

 the work this number represents practically 

 the limit of the output of the bureau as at 

 present constituted. The literature of each 

 year since 1901 is gradually being filled in 

 and when done wiU constitute a complete and 

 permanent record of scientific work. That no 

 paper of any importance might be omitted a 

 most systematic routine is carried on of which 

 a complete and permanent record is kept. 

 For the regularly appearing periodicals a list 

 of titles is kept and as soon as a number or 

 part is indexed records are made of the fact, 

 first under the title of the publication, then 

 in an author's record, together with a com- 

 plete copy of all data abstracted. By regu- 

 larly going over these records any omission 

 in a volume or part of a volume is apparent 

 and the omission made good. For collecting 

 books, pamphlets and separately appearing 

 publications a variety of methods are resorted 

 to; all the principal bibliographical lists are 

 consulted, the Publishers' Weekly is regu- 

 larly checked up, as are the following works: 

 The Catalogue of Public Documents, proof 

 sheets of the Library of Congress catalogue 

 cards, the Experiment Station Record and 

 various list of publications, such as those of 

 the Carnegie Institution, the various colleges, 

 the bureaus of the United States government. 

 The Smithsonian Institution is supposed to 

 receive all scientific periodicals published in 

 this country and its daily mail furnishes a 

 great part of the material indexed. By means 

 of these methods every published paper, com- 

 ing within the scope of the catalogue, is 

 almost certain at some time to come to the 

 notice of the indexers for the catalogue. As 

 similar or equivalent systems are used in the 



other regional bureaus in dealing with foreign 

 scientific literature, it would appear diificult 

 for any paper worthy of notice to escape this 

 international drag-net now so systematically 

 used to provide for the needs of the modem 

 scientific investigator. 



Leonard C. Gunnell, 

 Smithsonian Institution, 

 Washinoton, D. C, 

 June 11, 1908 



TEE INDIAN INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE^ 

 After negotiations and preparations extend- 

 ing over several years, the Indian Institute of 

 Science is about to come into existence. In- 

 telligence received by the last Indian mail 

 states that Lord Minto, as patron of the in- 

 stitute, has appointed a provisional committee 

 to conduct its ailairs until the properties with 

 which the institute is endowed can be vested 

 in the constituted authorities. The com- 

 mittee has already met, and the construction 

 of the institute buildings is to be commenced 

 at once. 



The institute owes its inception to the muni- 

 ficence of the late Mr. Jamsetji Nusserwanji 

 Tata, a Parsi merchant and mill-owner of 

 Bombay, who did much for the development of 

 various Indian industries and started the 

 scheme for the great iron and steel works now 

 in course of erection at Sini. He wished to 

 encourage the pursuit of science among young 

 Indians, with special reference to the utiliza- 

 tion of the country's resources, and thought 

 the best plan would be the establishment of a 

 large and well-equipped institution for post- 

 graduate work. To this end he decided to allot 

 a considerable portion of his ample fortune, in 

 the shape of property at first calculated to pro- 

 duce Es.125,000 (about £8,333) annually, 

 though it is believed to have since appreciated 

 in value. Unexpected difficulties were, how- 

 ever, experienced at the outset. Institutions 

 of the kind in various parts of the world were 

 first studied by special representatives, and it 

 was sought to adapt their principal features 

 to Indian requirements. Then the selection 

 of a suitable site was a matter that took years 



' From the London Times. 



