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SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XLI. No. 1066 



cliange lists of the Eoyal Society and other 

 similar bodies. Bibliographical bureaus, year- 

 books and journals giving special attention to 

 abstracts and reviews have been included in 

 the mailing list. Chief stress, however, has 

 been laid on placing the Proceedings in the 

 leading research centers, including university 

 departmental libraries when these are of suifi- 

 cient significance. In many cases it by no 

 means suffices to send the Proceedings to a 

 general university library; they must also be 

 readily accessible in the departments and 

 seminars where the work of research is mainly 

 done. 



Such a distribution will obviate the neces- 

 sity, felt by some American investigators, of 

 publishing their papers in foreign journals. 

 They may now secure the circulation they de- 

 sire by presenting their chief results in the 

 Proceedings and the details in an American 

 special journal. 



Publication in the Proceedings will also have 

 the advantage of bringing researches in one 

 department of science to the attention of 

 scholars in other departments, who would 

 otherwise fail to see them. In a period when 

 many of the greatest advances are being made 

 in the fields lying between the traditional 

 branches of science, and when the wide adap- 

 tability of various methods of research is being 

 repeatedly demonstrated, it is unnecessary to 

 dwell upon this point. It may only be men- 

 tioned by way of example that a well-known 

 physicist has recently spoken to me of the ad- 

 vantage of seeing in the Proceedings short 

 astronomical papers which he would not have 

 opportunity to read in their more extended 

 form. 



As readers in widely separated fields may be 

 expected, authors should make their papers as 

 clear and as readable as possible. The papers 

 should open with a statement of the purpose in 

 view and the broader bearing or antecedent 

 conditions of the investigation, and should 

 close with a summary of results. The papers 

 should be short, of two to six pages in length; 

 but they should not be mere abstracts, devoid 

 of interest except as a bare statement of facts, 

 but complete and well-rounded articles, ground- 

 ing their conclusions upon a substantial basis 



of calculations, observations or experiments, 

 though free from all unnecessary technicalities 

 and details and from extensive tabulations of 

 data. They should always appear in the Pro- 

 ceedings prior to their publication in special 

 journals. 



While serving the purposes already enumer- 

 ated, the Proceedings will attempt also to con- 

 tribute to the popularization of scientific re- 

 search. Nothing could be more injurious to 

 the public appreciation of science than its 

 current distortion by the newspapers. Mr. 

 Melville E. Stone, general manager of the 

 Associated Press, feels this no less keenly than 

 the men whose work is so often misrepresented 

 by reporters. He would heartily welcome 

 means of securing reliable statements of 

 progress in science, expressed in clear and un- 

 sensational form, for use by the Associated 

 Press. By an arrangement with him the 

 editors of the Proceedings will attempt to 

 supply suitable statements, based upon such 

 articles as are of sufficient general interest 

 and importance. Authors who prefer not to 

 have their articles used in this way may notify 

 the editors. Every effort will be made to se- 

 cure clear and dignified statements, expressed 

 whenever possible in the author's own lan- 

 guage. The experiment is not without its 

 difficulties; and success may not be attained 

 at once. It nevertheless seems important to 

 make the attempt, in order to counteract in 

 some measure the present unfortunate condi- 

 tion of affairs. 



Provision will also be made for a review 

 of the papers published in the Proceedings in 

 the widely circulated journals of general sci- 

 ence. Thus such a review will appear regularly 

 in the columns of Science; and an arrange- 

 ment has been made with the editor of Nature 

 for the publication of reports on the monthly 

 issues of the Proceedings. The Scientific 

 American, which is conducted in a very cred- 

 itable manner, will also, through an arrange- 

 ment made with its managing editor, Mr. 

 Waldemar Kaempfert, present accounts of the 

 articles of popular interest. 



In closing this paper, in which I have tried 

 to indicate how the Proceedings of the Na- 

 tional Academy may serve as a prompt and 



