November 28, 1902.] 



SCIENCE. 



875 



to the high authority of the source from 

 whence it came, and to the labor gratuitously 

 given by members of the Royal Society for 

 its production.' This arrangement, however, 

 came to an end after the publication of the 

 first eight volumes. The treasury in 1889 

 informed the society that the catalogue could 

 no longer be printed and published by the 

 Stationery Ofiice. The unsold volumes were, 

 however, handed over to the society, and Par- 

 liament voted a sum of £1,000 to assist the 

 society in continuing the printing and publi- 

 cation. The four subsequent volumes have 

 been printed and published by the Cambridge 

 University Press, which has received subsidies 

 from the society for this purpose, and receives 

 the sums arising from sales. 



The total sum expended by the society upon 

 the catalogue down to the end of June last 

 has been £14,790 5s. 5d. Towards this ex- 

 penditure a donation of £2,000 was made by 

 Dr. Ludwig Mond in 1892. ' Sums amounting 

 to £524 lis. 9d. have been received as the 

 proceeds of sales of the volumes handed over 

 to the Royal Society by the Stationery Office, 

 and, as already stated, £1,000 has been re- 

 ceived from the treasury. The council has 

 also hitherto devoted the income of the Hand- 

 ley fund (which they have power to apply as 

 they may deem best for the advancement of 

 science) towards defraying the cost of pro- 

 ducing the catalogue. The total sum re- 

 ceived from this source has been £2,394 lis. 

 lOd. A sum of £341 lis., arising from money 

 invested until actually required, has also been 

 available for the same purpose. These pe- 

 cuniary aids amount in all to £6,260 14s. Yd. 

 As will be seen, they have not been nearly 

 sufficient to meet the whole cost, and the 

 society has been compelled to make up the 

 balance of £8,529 10s. lOd. out of its own gen- 

 eral income. 



As it became obvious that to permanently 

 continue to prepare and publish catalogues 

 of the ever-increasing stream of scientific 

 literature was wholly beyond the means of the 

 society, the council took steps to obtain inter- 

 national cooperation in this great work. Such 

 cooperation has happily been secured, and the 

 cataloguing of the scientific literature of the 



present century is now in the hands of an 

 international council. The Royal Society has, 

 however, incurred large special responsibili- 

 ties in connection with the matter, having 

 undertaken, inter alia, to act as the publishers 

 of the catalogue, and also to advance the 

 capital required to start the enterprise. 



The International Catalogue is concerned 

 only with the scientific literature appearing 

 after the commencement of the present cen- 

 tury. The Royal Society's Catalogue, as 

 already stated, is at present carried down to 

 the end of the year 1883 only, and the subject 

 index for that period is but partially dealt 

 with. The foreign delegates, assembled to 

 consider the establishment of the Interna- 

 tional Council, expressed their sense of the 

 great importance of the Royal Society's Cata- 

 logue, and of the obligations which men of 

 science in all countries were under to the 

 society for having undertaken it. They also 

 expressed the hope that the society would 

 complete the catalogue up to the close of the 

 last century, so as to bring it into line with 

 the International Catalogue. Indeed, it may 

 be said that the International Council is pro- 

 ceeding on the assumption that this will be 

 done. 



In order to complete the catalogue, it will 

 be necessary to prepare and publish a cata- 

 logue of authors for the seventeen years 1883- 

 1900, and to complete and publish the subject 

 index for the whole of the past century. The 

 council of the Royal Society are satisfied that 

 this work must be done, and have not felt 

 justified in refusing to undertake it. They 

 have accordingly commenced operations, and 

 it is hoped that the copy may be produced 

 ready for the press in about five years. Owing 

 to the enormous increase in the number of 

 scientific publications at the close of the last 

 century, it is estimated that to complete the 

 catalogue, and to subsidize a publisher for 

 undertaking the printing and publication, 

 he retaining the proceeds of the sale, will cost 

 at least £12,000. 



The question now arises whether the funds 

 of the Royal Society ought to continue to be 

 burdened with any part of this expense. The 

 activity and responsibilities of the society 



