Decbmbee 25, 1914] 



SCIENCE 



911 



be needed in the future for its work of re- 

 search. It has therefore been compelled 

 from the outset to decline many offers of 

 books, and thus a large and valuable collec- 

 tion, comprising publications offered by 

 many of the great academies, laboratories 

 and observatories of the world, has been 

 lost.'' 



It is difficult to overestimate the value of 

 a suitable building in commanding public 

 appreciation and support for any institu- 

 tion. Visible evidence of the Academy's 

 existence is a matter of no small impor- 

 tance, when it is remembered that the 

 average American citizen, though well- 

 acquainted with the name of the Paris 

 Academy through press reports of dis- 

 coveries announced there, has never heard 

 of our own national organization. But 

 a building used as a storehouse and occu- 

 pied but once a year is not enough. The 

 Academy must be known as a living and 

 active body, which recognizes and fulfills 

 its many duties to science and the public. 

 If its headquarters were constantly em- 

 ployed for such purposes as are enumerated 

 later, the Academy would soon be looked 

 upon as the natural source of information 

 regarding the latest developments of sci- 

 ence, and more generally recognized as the 

 national representative of American re- 

 search. 



niPOETANCE OF PXIBLISHINGf PROCEEDINGS 



As explained in a previous paper, the 

 name of the National Academy has never 

 been associated with the work of its mem- 

 bers, since the papers read at its meetings 

 have not been published by the Academy. 

 Thus it has not been sufficiently identified 

 with the progress of American research, 

 and the chief source of the reputation of 



5 The Academy has accepted some gifts of 

 books, which are packed away (unbound) in the 

 etoTBTooms of the Smithsonian Institution. 



the Paris Academy and the Royal Society 

 has been lacking. But though the Academy 

 would become more widely known by the 

 publication of Proceedings, it would be 

 foolish to take such a step merely to accom- 

 plish this purpose. The establishment of 

 a new journal, in these days when the litera- 

 ture of science has become exceedingly com- 

 plex, should never be undertaken without 

 serious consideration of its probable use- 

 fulness. If it fulfills no good and lasting 

 purpose, its life will be deservedly short. 

 Hence we may not imitate the example of 

 societies which established their publica- 

 tions before the special journals had taken> 

 the field. We must recognize, on the an& 

 hand, that the various journals devoted to 

 particular branches of science meet a 

 clearly defined need and should not be 

 rivaled, even to the apparent advantage of 

 the Academy. On the other hand, we must 

 also remember that the members of the 

 Academy have adopted a regular plan of 

 publication, the interruption of which 

 might interfere with the accessibility of 

 their papers. Thus, if Proceedings are to 

 be established, they should be so planned 

 as to serve a useful scientific end and be 

 distinctly advantageous, not merely to the 

 Academy itself, but to all of its members. 

 I am strongly of the opinion that no 

 step which can be taken at the present time 

 would be so beneficial to the National Acad- 

 emy as the publication of Proceedings con- 

 taining the first announcements of impor- 

 tant advances and the chief results of 

 American research. I believe, further- 

 more, that this can be done in such a 

 way as to benefit the members and con- 

 tribute to the advancement of science. In 

 many departments of the Academy's worir 

 papers published in the special American 

 journals of limited foreign circulation do 

 not reach a sufficiently large group of 

 European readers. I am told that this is 



