198 
18. That the catalogue shall comprise all published 
original contributions to the branches of science here- 
inafter mentioned, whether appearing in periodicals 
or in the publications of societies or as independent 
pamphlets, memoirs, or books. 
20. That in each country the system of collecting 
and preparing material for the catalogue shall be 
subject to the approval of the International Council. 
21. That in judging whether a publication is to be 
considered asa contribution to science suitable for 
entry in the catalogue, regard shall be had to its 
contents, irrespective of the channel through which 
it is published. 
22. That the Central Bureau shall issue the cata- 
logue in the form of ‘slips’ or ‘cards,’ the details of 
the cards to be hereafter determined, and the issue 
to take place as promptly as possible. Cards corre- 
sponding to any one or more branches of science, or 
to sections of such sciences, shall be supplied sepa- 
rately and under the direction of the Central Bureau. 
23. That the Central Bureau shall also issue the 
catalogue in book form from time to time, the entries 
being classified according to the rules to be hereafter 
determined. 
That the issue in the book form shall be in parts 
corresponding to the several branches of science, the 
several parts being supplied separately, at the discre- 
tion and under the direction of the Central Bureau. 
24. That the Central Bureau be located in London. 
The resolution was seconded by M. Darboux, sup- 
ported by Messrs. Mobius, Heller, Weiss, Simon, 
Newcomb, Otlet, Duka, Bourcart, Dahlgreen and 
Korteweg, and accepted by acclamation. 
25. That a contribution to science for the purpose 
of the catalogue be considered to mean a contribution 
to the mathematical, physical, or natural sciences, 
such as, for example, mathematics, astronomy, 
physics, chemistry, mineralogy, geology, botany, 
mathematical and physical geography, zoology, 
anatomy, physiology, general and experimental 
pathology, experimental psychology and anthro- 
pology, to the exclusion of what are sometimes called 
the applied sciences—the limits of the several sciences 
to be determined hereafter. 
26. That the Royal Society be requested to form a 
committee to study all questions relating to the cata- 
logue referred to it by the Conference, or remaining 
undecided at the close of the present sittings of the 
Conference, and report thereon to the governments 
concerned. 
27. Since it is probable that, if organizations be 
established in accordance with Resolution 16, the 
Guarantee Fund required for the Central Bureau can 
be supplied by voluntary subscriptions in various 
countries, this Conference does not think it necessary 
SCIENCE. 
[N.S. Vou. VI. No. 136. 
at present to appeal to any of the governments repre- 
sented at the Conference for financial aid for the 
Central Bureau. 
28. The Conference being unable to accept any of 
the systems of classification recently proposed, remits 
the study of classifications to the Committee of 
Organization. 
29. That English be the language of the two cata- 
logues, authors’ names and titles being given only in 
the original languages except when these belong to a 
category to be determined by the International 
Council. 
30. That it be left to the Committee (of the Royal 
Society) to suggest such details as will render the 
catalogue of the greatest possible use to those un- 
familiar with English. 
31. That it is desirable that the Royal Society 
should be informed, at a date not later than January 
1, 1898, what steps (if any) are being taken, or are 
likely to be taken, in the countries whose govern- 
ments are represented at the Conference, towards 
establishing organizations for the purpose of securing 
the end had in view in Resolution 16. 
32. That the delegates in reporting to their respec- 
tive governments the proceedings of the Conference 
should call immediate attention to Resolutions 16 
and 31. 
33. That January 1, 1900, be fixed as the date of 
the beginning of the catalogue. 
34. That the Royal Society be requested to under- 
take the editing, publication and distribution of a 
verbatim report of the Proceedings of the Conference. 
35. That the proces verbal of the Conference be 
signed by the President and Secretaries. 
Letter from the Secretary of State, transmitting with the 
draft of a proposed joint resolution and inclosures from 
the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, recom- 
mendations for an appropriation to enable the United 
States to participate in the work of making an Interna- 
tional Catalogue of Scientific Works. 
DEPARTMENT OF STATE, 
Washington, December 17, 1896. 
Sir: Ihave the honor to transmit, herewith, the 
report of Professor Simon Newcomb and Dr. John S$. 
Billings, delegates from this country to the Interna- 
tional Conference on a Catalogue of Scientific Litera- 
ture, held in London in July last by request of the 
Royal Society, and having for its object an interna- 
tional agreement as to the steps necessary to the 
preparation, editing and continuous publication of 
the current scientific literature of all countries. 
It will be seen that by the thirty-second resolution 
‘ formulated by the Conference the delegates were es- 
pecially requested to bring the following two resolu- 
