JULT 31, 1914] 



SCIENCE 



153 



CHEMICAL WOBLD LIBEAEY 



A Library of the Entire Literature of 

 Chemistry 



I offer as a foundation for this library 

 my private library of some 7,000 volumes 

 and 12,000 pamphlets (dissertations). It 

 contains the most important chemic and 

 physic journals in complete or nearly com- 

 plete series, as well as several thousand 

 single volumes covering all fields of chemic 

 science. 



The expansion of this library which must 

 have as its aim the possession of every book 

 on any chemic subject, will take place 

 partly through purchase, mainly through 

 donations. Such gifts will often be made 

 us by public-spirited chemists who many 

 times are glad to get rid of duplicates, and 

 books for which they have no use. Further, 

 we anticipate that all chemists will give 

 copies of their newly published work to the 

 library, that publishers of periodicals, sci- 

 entific societies and all other institutions, 

 for the propagation of chemic literature, 

 will place copies of their publications at 

 the service of the institute free of cost. In 

 this way the library can be maintained at 

 a very slight cost. ^ The presence of a new 

 book in the library of the institute, instead 

 of hindering its sale to private parties, will 

 prove the best possible advertisement for 

 publishers. 



INDEX OF CHEMIC SUBSTANCES 



This library will furnish the working ma- 

 terial for two or three other departments. 



First of all a card index of all chemicals 

 will be prepared, according to the well- 

 known principles of card-indexing. This 

 will contain citations to aU the literature 

 on these substances. It will form auto- 

 matically the foundation for a complete 

 history of the study of chemical substances. 

 This will do away with the necessity of 

 those historic introductions with which 



chemic literature, particularly the disserta- 

 tions, are so senselessly burdened, because 

 every one will know that he can obtain a 

 complete historic survey from the card 

 catalogue of the institute. This depart- 

 ment will furnish compilations of the en- 

 tire literature on any chemic substance to 

 any member of the institute, or any in- 

 quirer, for the cost of copying or gratis. 

 How greatly this will facilitate scientific 

 work wiU be appreciated by any one who 

 has tried to collect the whole literature on 

 some chemic subject. There is always the 

 chance that something will be found of 

 vital importance, which has been hitherto 

 overlooked because there has been no syste- 

 matic organization of all chemic literature. 



INDEX OF TEEMS 



As a supplement to the card catalogue of 

 chemic substances, there will be prepared a 

 similar catalogue of all chemic terms. The 

 terms, as well as the substances will first 

 undergo a process of crystallization and 

 purification. The history of the develop- 

 ment of chemic terms is no less important 

 than the history of the substances them- 

 selves. 



INDEX OF PEESONS 



The third and final collection will be an 

 index of all chemists, dead as well as living. 

 An exhaustive compilation will be made of 

 the entire literature of each investigator 

 who has taken or is taking part in the de- 

 velopment of chemic science. 



This will form automatically a directory 

 of all chemists of the world who have pub- 

 lished. Eventually it will be enlarged to 

 embrace not only the chemists who have 

 come in contact with printer's ink, but all 

 who have in any way been connected with 

 chemistry, pure or applied. The lists of 

 members of all chemic societies, as they ap- 

 pear each year, will serve as foundation for 

 this directory. So in the future it will be 



