716 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXXIII. No. 854 



terests replied that the Zoological Eecord 

 when published by the Zoological Society- 

 did not pay at all, for it had been prepared 

 by a few zealous specialists who were con- 

 tent with a very small remuneration and 

 the Zoological Society had been willing to 

 bear the expense. When the two works 

 were combined in 1905 the Zoological So- 

 ciety did not attempt to reduce the total 

 cost of the Record but in fact increased the 

 rate of pay to the compilers. He stated 

 that for many reasons it was quite neces- 

 sary that the fusion should take place, that 

 the combined volume was very much better 

 than the separate publications had been, 

 and that it would have been impossible to 

 keep the Record going but for the fusion 

 that had taken place. The advantage of 

 amalgamation lay rather in the concentra- 

 tion of effort than in financial saving. 

 Sir Archibald Geikie asked if there had 

 been any real difficulties in the combined 

 arrangement, thinking that the fusion was 

 an example of what might be done with 

 other societies. As Professor Armstrong 

 and Dr. Chalmers Mitchell had been the 

 means of bringing about the consolidation. 

 Dr. Chalmers Mitchell's answer is signifi- 

 cant. He said : 



The fusion has taken place, and Professor Arm- 

 strong I think will corroborate me in this; we 

 who know the immense difficulties at every stage, 

 know quite well that if the Zoological Becord 

 could be fused with the International Catalogue 

 Record, then it must be a very easy task to fuse 

 any two other records. 



The following resolution was then dis- 

 cussed and agreed to. 



Besolved, That in view of the success already 

 achieved by the International Catalogue of Scien- 

 tific Literature and the great importance of the 

 objects promoted by it, it is imperative to con- 

 tinue the publication of the Catalogue at least 

 during the period 1911-15 and on recommendation 

 of the International Council during the subsequent 

 five years 1916-20. 



Following this it was 



Besolved, That in view of the resolution arrived 

 at to continue the Catalogue for a further period 

 of five years the Eoyal Society of London be re- 

 quested to act as in the past as the publishing 

 body and to make the necessary contracts. 



Dr. Forster Morley was reappointed di- 

 rector of the catalogue and the interna- 

 tional convention was authorized to spend 

 annually the sum of .$10,000, in addition to 

 the director's salary, for the purpose of 

 carrying on the work of the central bureau. 



It was then unanimously voted "that it 

 is most desirable that a capital fund should 

 be obtained for the catalogue. " It is now 

 apparent that the lack of a capital fund 

 has been the stumbling-block of the under- 

 taking from the beginning. Not only has 

 it been necessary to borrow money on 

 which interest must be paid but lack of 

 sufficient income has rendered it impos- 

 sible to carry out several plans looking to 

 the general improvement of the work. 

 Had a capital fund been established in the 

 beginning of the enterprise it would not 

 have been necessary for the subscription 

 price to have been placed at such a high 

 figure, consequently, a larger subscription 

 list could have been expected and a larger 

 edition published at a lower rate to each 

 subscriber. No commercial enterprise can 

 exist without sufficient capital and the pub- 

 lication of a great work such as the Inter- 

 national Catalogue should not be consid- 

 ered in any other light than as a business 

 enterprise if it is to be regularly continued. 

 The subscription cost is $85 per year and 

 experience has shown that if the list could 

 be doubled the cost could be cut almost in 

 half, and if the number of subscribers 

 could be quadrupled a still further reduc- 

 tion in price would be possible. A rela- 

 tively small endowment yielding an annual 

 income of not more than ten thousand dol- 

 lars to be placed at the disposal of the cen- 



