August 9, 1895.] 



SCIENCE. 



155 



preparation, by internatioual cooperation, 

 of complete subject and authors' catalogues 

 of scientific literature. 



Subsequently, a di-aft circular letter was 

 prepared, which, on February 22, 1894, re- 

 ceived the approval of the President and 

 Council, who also authorized its issue. 



This letter was sent to 207 societies and 

 institutions selected from the exchange list 

 of the Eoyal Society, and to a few others. 

 It was also sent to the directors of a num- 

 ber of observatories and of government geo- 

 logical surveys, to the foreign members of 

 the Eoyal Society, as well as to those of 

 the following societies : Chemical, Geolog- 

 ical, Physical, Royal Astronomical, Linnoe- 

 an. Royal Microscopical, Entomological, Zo- 

 ological, Physiological and Mineralogical, 

 and of the Anthropological Institute. A 

 special letter was addressed to the Smith- 

 sonian Institution. 



More than a hundred replies to the letter 

 have been received ; several of these are 

 reports of committees specially appointed to 

 consider the suggestions put forward by the 

 Royal Societj^. A list of answers received 

 up to December, 1894, with brief excerpts 

 from the more suggestive, was issued to 

 members of the Committee earlj^ in this 

 year. It should, however, be added that 

 from some important institutions no answer 

 has as yet been received. 



It may be said at the outset that in no 

 single case is any doubt expressed as to the 

 extreme value of the work contemplated, 

 and that only two or three correspondents 

 question whether it be possible to carry oiit 

 such a work. It is, a great gratification to 

 the Committee that the matter has been 

 taken up in a most cordial manner by the 

 Smithsonian Institution, the Secretary of 

 which, in his reply, refers to the desirability 

 of a catalogTie of the kind suggested as be- 

 ing so obvious that the work commends 

 itself at once. The importance of having 

 complete subject catalogues, and not mere 



transcripts of titles, is also generally recog- 

 nised. 



Some bodies and individuals take the 

 matter up very warmly and urge that steps 

 be taken forthwith to put the scheme into 

 action, this being especially true of the re- 

 plies received from the United States ; 

 others, while giving a general approval, 

 dwell upon the difiiculties of carrying out 

 the suggestions put forward ; and others, 

 again, ask for more details before committing 

 themselves to any answer which may seem 

 to entail future responsibilitj^, especiallj^ of 

 a financial character. 



Incidentally it may be pointed out as 

 very noteworthy that over and over again 

 reference is made to the great value of the 

 Royal Society's ' Catalogue of Scientific 

 Papers.' There is abundant evidence that 

 considerable use is made of this on the con- 

 tinent of Europe. And it is clear that a 

 proposal to carry out a more comprehensive 

 scheme initially under the direction of the 

 Royal Society of London is likely to meet 

 with general approval, owing to the fact 

 that the Society is credited with having 

 already carried out the most comprehen- 

 sive work of the kind yet attempted. In- 

 deed, the Academy of Natural Sciences of 

 Philadelphia, U. S. A., directly advocates 

 the establishment of a central bureau under 

 the Eoyal Society ; and several others more 

 or less clearly imply that they would favor 

 such a course. 



Over and over again, it is stated that the 

 production, by international cooperation, of 

 a catalogue such as is contemplated is not 

 only desirable but practicable. The Amer- 

 icans, who, as already stated, are the most 

 enthusiastic sujiporters of the scheme, es- 

 pecially dwell on the importance of early 

 action being taken. Professor Bowditch, 

 of Harvard University, in particular, points 

 out that if the Royal Society of London 

 wish to guide the enterprise it ought to an- 

 nounce its views and put forward a compre- 



