October 4, 1895.] 



SCIENCE. 



441 



classifying and grouping the data, and 

 show the advantages and disadvantages of 

 the chronological, the ftnthor-alphabetical 

 and the topical arrangements. Quite eai-ly 

 in the instruction the teacher should direct 

 the attention of the students to the neces- 

 sity of discrimination between catalogues, 

 bibliographies and indexes, for these words 

 are too often used either as synonyms or 

 indifferently. He should inform the stu- 

 dents that a catalogue is a list of books on 

 all subjects in a certain collection or lo- 

 cality ; that a bibliography is a list of the 

 books on a given subject without regard to 

 their position ; and that an index is a sys- 

 tematically arranged list of the papers and 

 researches on a definite topic contained in 

 books and serials, with references to the 

 same. The teacher might warn the stu- 

 dents against regarding the compilation of 

 indexes as drudgery, claiming on the con- 

 trary that the task involves an agreeable 

 pursuit similar in its fascination to that of 

 the hunter. 



The best methods for securing intelligent 

 work in bibliography may well be left to 

 the judgment of those having charge of in- 

 struction. I merely suggest that some insti- 

 tutions find it feasible to require of can- 

 didates for the higher degrees in science 

 {B. S., S. D. and Ph. D.) chemical disser- 

 tations accompanied by special indexes to 

 the literature of the subjects under discus- 

 sion. This is a part of the prescribed work 

 for applicants for the degree of Ph. D. at 

 the Corcoran Scientific School of The Co- 

 lumbian University, Washington, a distinc- 

 tion of which the Dean may be justly proud. 

 The preparation of Indexes to Chemical 

 Literature is also required of undergradu- 

 ates at the University of Michigan by the 

 professor in charge, who is himself a mem- 

 ber of the committee of the American Asso- 

 ciation for the Advancement of Science, al- 

 ready referred to. As a specimen of the 

 excellent work done under Professor Pres- 



cott's direction, I maj^ mention the ' Bibliog- 

 raphy of Aceto- Acetic Ester,' by Paul H. 

 Seymour, which has l">een honored by pub- 

 lication in the Miscellaneous Collections of 

 the Smithsonian Institution. (ISTo. 970, 

 Washington, 1894, 148 pp., 8°.) A similar 

 requirement is in force in the chemical de- 

 partments of Cornell University and of the 

 University of Cincinnati. 



The amount and kind of bibliographical 

 work to be required of students will un- 

 avoidably vary greatly in different institu- 

 tions, and must depend in part on the ex- 

 tent of the libraries to which the students 

 have access and in part on their linguistic 

 capacities. In many cases it might be well 

 to limit the requirements to works in the 

 English language, or even to the publica- 

 tions of American chemists, but if thus re- 

 stricted, completeness within these limits 

 should be insisted upon. 



The problem of getting these undergrad- 

 uate indexes into print is a somewhat difli- 

 cult one; obviously manjr would of neces- 

 sity remain in MS. on the shelves of the 

 college library and become available to a 

 very small number. Some of the more 

 carefully prepared indexes to topics of 

 pi'ime importance would always find chan- 

 nels of publication either in the serials is- 

 sued by learned societies, in periodicals 

 devoted to analogous subjects, or through 

 the higher medium of the Smithsonian In- 

 stitution. This difficulty vanishes, how- 

 ever, with respect to those universities that 

 require candidates for higher degrees to 

 print their dissertations, as is the custom in 

 most countries of Europe. The U. S. Bu- 

 reau of Education has furnished me with 

 the following: 



^List of Universities and Colleges which re- 

 quire Printed Dissertations before (or after') con- 

 ferring the degree of Ph. D.: Clark University, 

 Worcester, Mass.; College of New Jersey, 



* Additions and corrections are earnestly desired 

 by the writer. 



