May 20, 1904.] 



SCIENCE. 



803 



CONCILIUM BIBLIOGRAPHICUM (ZURICH, SWITZER- 

 LAND). GENERAL STATEMENT FOR 1903. 



The present year has been a memorable one 

 in the annals of the concilium. Tor the first 

 time since the foundation of the work, the 

 director has been able t'o renew personal rela- 

 tions with the great body of American zoolo- 

 gists and librarians. In Washington, Balti- 

 more, Philadelphia, Princeton, New York, 

 Woods Hole and Boston, an endeavor was made 

 to gather suggestions and impressions from all 

 possible sources; technical methods and de- 

 vices were studied, and the firm conviction was 

 obtained that the concilium may count on the 

 support of American men of science. jSTot a 

 trace of adverse criticism came to our ears, 

 nothing but unqualified approval. It was 

 particularly gratifying to see the many un- 

 foreseen applications of our classificatory sys- 

 tem in zoological institutes and in libraries, 

 large and small. In short, in this land, where 

 the readiness to accept all innovations that 

 are really practical is proverbial, we met an 

 unexpected warmth of approval. Through a 

 communication made in the Library Congress, 

 and through numerous visits, the opinions of 

 the leading librarians and bibliographers were 

 also gathered. Here again there was una- 

 nimity, or rather, to be exact, unanimity less 

 one dissenting voice. 



The most noteworthy testimonial encoun- 

 tered in America was the offer of the Amer- 

 ican Museum of Natural History to patronize 

 the work. This institution purchases the 

 most complete set of cards obtainable, in- 

 cluding the card catalogue of new species, etc. 

 In addition, a complete collection of the main 

 bibliography will be deposited in its library 

 for distribution to those desiring to receive 

 references to any special topic. Whenever 

 information is desired, the cards may be ob- 

 tained from the museum at the same terms as 

 from Ziirich and the cards thus withdrawn 

 will be replenished as soon as possible. 



Another important step taken in 1903 has 

 been the reunion of the card catalogue with 

 the Zoolog. Anzeiger. The concilium is thus 

 called upon to continue a bibliography which 

 forms an unbroken sequence since the year 

 1700. This circumstance gives to the con- 



cilium a unique position among the biblio- 

 graphical enterprises of the world and makes 

 it doubly the duty of biologists to aid the in- 

 stitution in its work. 



The circumstances attending the transfer of 

 the editorship of the bibliography of the 

 Zoolog. Anzeiger to our hands were unfor- 

 tunate in the extreme. We had no means of 

 knowing what had been done and what re- 

 mained to be done. Old illegible manuscript 

 had to be utilized and a new organization 

 created in the absence of the director of the 

 conciliimi. The product was most unsatis- 

 factory, and yet the time spent on the work 

 was such as to hamper our entire activity and 

 occasion serious financial loss. Now, how- 

 ever, the principal difficulties are removed and 

 the work promises scientific success even 

 though the arrangement be of little financial 

 benefit to the concilium. 



The report for 1903 would be incomplete 

 without a tribute to the memory of Professor 

 J. Victor Carus, late editor of the Zoolog. An- 

 zeiger. A zoologist of the old school familiar 

 with the science in all its ramifications, he 

 also brought to the work profound classical 

 learning, a rare knowledge of languages, a 

 fine sense of order and proportions and a 

 passion for hard work, which seemed almost 

 incredible. Prevented by ill health from fol- 

 lowing an active career, he devoted his life to 

 bibliography. Even in the last years, this 

 feeble octogenarian sat whole days at his desk 

 and prepared in his fine cramped handwriting 

 the 10,000 titles that were sent yearly to press. 

 No one who has never tried it can know what 

 that means. To have done this for a lifetime 

 seems beyond the powers of human endurance. 

 But in spite of all this routine, it is to the 

 added credit of Professor Carus that his mind 

 was ever open to new ideas. Just as in his 

 scientific career he became an ardent convert 

 to Darwinism and took foremost place in 

 making the works of Darwin accessible to his 

 countrymen, so in later years he seized with 

 avidity the new ideas in bibliography which 

 the founding of the concilium made promi- 

 nent and began the transformation of his 

 bibliography in accordance with them. 



With equal vigor, the old master of bibli- 



