372 SCIENCE. 
handling of the whole current physiological 
literature by this method of codperative au- 
thors would hardly be practical for the rea- 
sons already hinted ; because a proper ac- 
count of many a research cannot be given 
in the space of one library card, and an im- 
perfect account wrongs the author and de- 
ceives the reader; and because it would 
be far from easy to persuade each year more 
than a thousand authors tosend in suitable 
‘copy’ with sufficient promptness; cer- 
tainly many authors would refuse, and thus 
a considerable number of the cards would 
after all be written by the editor, who could 
not have first-hand knowledge of all the 
subjects of which he wrote. 
These same objections apply also to the 
third method mentioned above, that of a 
card written by a cataloguer. The lack of 
space and the impossibility of really expert 
knowledge of all chapters in so wide a sci- 
ence are fatal to the best results. 
These difficulties led me naturally to the 
idea of a Centralblatt printed on cards. In 
a properly organized centralblatt, the ab- 
stracts are as long as may be necessary to 
do justice to the author’s results, and each 
abstract is written by an expert in the field 
in which the original investigation lies. 
The advantage of having such abstracts 
printed on library cards is plain. The 
original set, arranged alphabetically by 
authors’ names and chronologically under 
each author, would give the principal 
results of each investigator throughout 
his whole career. Duplicates arranged ac- 
cording to cross-references printed in the 
upper and lower margin of each card would 
furnish not only a chronological list of the 
investigations on any particular subject, 
for example, on the chemical reaction of 
the gastric juice, but would without further 
search set forth the fruits of the studies men- 
tioned. Certainly none of the methods 
already described approaches this one in 
usefulness, and its wide adoption should 
[N. S. Vou. X. No. 246. 
follow quickly on the demonstration of its 
practicability. This demonstration was fur- 
nished in the proposition made by me to 
the Trustees of the Boston Public Library. 
By this proposition the Library would 
print on cards a Centralblatt of Physiology 
to be issued under the direction of a pro- 
fessional physiologist. The actual cost of 
printing is guaranteed. Thus the Library, 
secured from loss, would allow the manu- 
facture on its premises of an apparatus de- 
vised to make knowledge more accessible— 
the end for which the Library itself was 
created. This permission would be valu- 
able, because the Boston Public Library is 
at present better equipped for such an under- 
taking than any other library,* here or 
abroad, and because the cost of manufacture 
by such an institution includes neither com- 
mercial risk nor commercial profit. 
It is agreed that this card Centralblatt 
shall contain abstracts of original com- 
munications in physiology, including phys- 
iological chemistry, invertebrate physiology 
and the physiological action of drugs. 
Each abstract is to be written by a physi- 
ologist specially learned in the field in 
which the original belongs. Wherever pos- 
sible the abstract is to be the work of the 
author himself, following the admirable 
suggestion of Dr. Bowditch. Abstracts are 
to be mailed to subscribers about three 
weeks after the appearance of the original 
in this country, and in six weeks in the 
case of communications published abroad. 
Taking an average of the abstracts in a 
volume of the Centralblatt fiir Physiologie 
and the Jahresbreicht uber die Fortschritte der 
Physiologie as a guide, it is expected that 
1,500 to 1,700 abstracts, requiring in all 
*The most valuable part of this equipment is the 
skill of Mr. Francis Watts Lee, the accomplished head 
of the Printing Department. I am indebted to Mr. 
Lee for much practical information. 
+The cost of issue by a commercial house not 
specially equipped for such work would be between 
$3,200 and $3,500. 
