Aueust 6, 1897. ] 
shall be in parts corresponding to the sev- 
eral branches of science, the several parts 
being supplied separately, at the discretion 
and under the direction of the Central 
Bureau.” 
The President of the Conference next in- 
vited expressions of opinion as to where the 
Central Bureau should be situated. After 
a brief address, in which he referred to the 
fact that the International Bureau of 
Weights and Measures was established at 
Paris and the International Bureau of 
Geodesy at Potsdam, General Ferrero, rep- 
resenting Italy, proposed that the Central 
Bureau should be established at London. 
‘M. Darboux stated, on behalf of the French 
delegates, that they had been charged by 
their country to make the same proposition. 
Professor Mobius made a similar statement 
on behalf of the German delegates, and 
Professor Heller for Hungary, Professor 
Weiss for Austria, Professor Newcomb for 
the United States; and the representatives 
of Belgium, Switzerland, Denmark, Sweden 
and Netherlands agreeing, the resolution 
to have London as a central office was car- 
ried by acclamation. Professor Foster, Sec- 
retary of the Royal Society, acknowledged 
the extremely sympathetic manner in which 
this resolution had been proposed and car- 
ried. ? 
The President of the Conference ex- 
pressed his thanks on behalf of the British 
government for the unanimous action of 
the Conference, assuring them that nothing 
would be wanting in his country in the 
endeavor to make this international work 
a success. 
He then invited an expression of opinion 
as to the constitution of the Council. Pro- 
fessor Foster remarked that there were 
several ways of electing a council. One 
was that there should be an appointment 
of international committees corresponding 
with the various branches of science and 
that these international committees should 
SCIENCE. 
193 
nominate the council. Another plan was 
that each nation should nominate its mem- 
bers for the council directly. The German 
delegates stated that they had been direc- 
ted, by the bodies they represented, to 
refer back to them the choice of persons 
for the international bureau. Professor 
Schwalbe agreed to this view, asserting 
that the right should be reserved to each 
government to name the persons who 
would represent it in carrying on the enter- 
prise. Dr. Duka, representing Hungary, 
thought that this was a matter to be re- 
ferred to the respective governments. 
Various delegates followed this idea, sug- 
gesting a postponement of the whole sub- 
ject, but Professor Newcomb pointed out 
that inasmuch as this Conference had de- 
cided to appoint an international council 
it could not adjourn without indicating 
in some way the steps to be taken in the 
formation of the council. As a tentative 
proposition he, therefore, proposed the 
following resolution: ‘‘ The International 
Council shall consist, in the first place, of 
members, one of whom shall be appointed 
by the government of each country taking 
part in the preparation of the cata- 
logue. The Council as thus formed 
shall have power to choose such addi- 
tional members as it shall deem  nec- 
essary for the efficiency of its organi- 
zation.’’ Dr. Billings noted a difficulty in 
the use of the word government. He said 
it might very well happen in the United 
States that the government might have 
nothing to do with the preparation of the 
catalogue; that it might come under such 
bodies as the National Academy of Sciences 
or the Smithsonian Institution, which could 
not be said to be the government of the 
United States. General Ferrero agreed with 
the suggestion of Dr. Billings, thinking that 
it might be better for the enterprise if the 
choice of the delegates were left to some 
scientific body. M. Darboux thought that 
