Auaust 6, 1897. ] 
tions to the attention to their respective govern- 
ments: 
16. That any country which shall declare its will- 
ingness to undertake the task shall be entrusted with 
the duty of collecting, provisionally classifying, and 
transmitting to the Central Bureau, in accordance 
with rules laid down by the International Council, 
all the entries belonging to the scientific literature of 
that country. 
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, toward the 
establishing of organizations for the purpose of secur- 
ing the end had in view in Resolution 16. 
In the opinion of Professor Newcomb and Dr. Bill- 
ings, itis desirable that the government of the United 
States should take its part in the proposed work by 
providing for the continuous cataloguing of scientific 
papers published in the United States, and they sug- 
gest the propriety and feasibility of the work being 
undertaken by the Smithsonian Institution. 
Professor S. P. Langley, Secretary of that Institution, 
to whom I have submitted the report of the dele- 
gates, concurs in their view as to the great importance 
of a successful execution of the conclusions of the 
Conference, and as to the propriety of this govern- 
ment taking its share of the proposed work by pro- 
viding for the cataloguing of scientific publications of 
the United States. He recognizes the propriety also 
of the suggestion that this government should employ - 
the Smithsonian Institution as an agent in the mat- 
ter, but points out that the work if assigned to the 
Smithsonian would require a person of special quali- 
fications to immediately assist the Secretary, together 
with a number of trained clerical assistants, and that 
the salaries of these persons, and the expenses inci- 
dent to the work, would require an appropriation of 
not less than $10,000 per annum. I enclose a copy 
of Professor Langley’s letter on the subject. 
The most efficient means for the purpose would 
seem to be a joint resolution of both Houses of Con- 
gress, and I have the honor to suggest the inclosed 
draft as embodying Professor Langley’s views. 
I have the honor to be, sir, your obedient servant, 
RICHARD OLNEY. 
Hon. THOMAS B. REED, 
Speaker of the House of Representatives. 
WASHINGTON, D. C., October 15, 1896. 
Sir: The undersigned having been appointed by 
the Honorable the Secretary of State delegates to the 
International Conference on a Catalogue of Scientific 
Literature, held in London in July last by request of 
the Royal Society, and having performed the duty 
thus devolving upon them, have the honor to submit 
the following report on the subject : 
SCIENCE. 
199 
The object of the Conference was to reach an inter- 
national agreement as to the steps necessary to the 
preparation, editing and continuous publication of a 
catalogue of the current scientific literature of all 
countries. The need of such a catalogue has been felt 
from the time that the volume of published scientific 
researches began to assume its present colossal pro- 
portions. About 1860 the Royal Society undertook 
to supply this need by the preparation of a general 
catalogue of scientific papers. The first volume of 
this work appeared in 1867. In the preface it is 
stated that the undertaking originated in a com- 
munication from Dr. Joseph Henry, Secretary of the 
Smithsonian Institution, to the meeting of the 
British Association at Glasgow in 1855, suggesting 
the formation of a catalogue of philosophical memoirs. 
This work has been completed by the Royal So- 
ciety up to the year 1883. In the meantime, owing 
to the constant increase of the volume of published 
researches, the task of continuing the catalogue has 
become so heavy that the Royal Society should no 
longer be expected to bear the entire burden of its 
continuance. Moreover, in its present form, the 
catalogue is arranged solely according to authors’ 
names. In order that the work of the future should 
be entirely satisfactory it is necessary that the cata- 
logue should also be arranged according to subjects. 
Under these circumstances, the Royal Society last 
year moved the British government to make applica- 
tion to the governments of those countries most in- 
terested to send delegates to an international confer- 
ence on the subject, to be held in London in July, 
1896. At this meeting nearly all the leading coun- 
tries of the world were represented. From the be- 
ginning the views were found to be substantially 
harmonious so far as general conclusions were con- 
cerned, and the discussion turned rather upon the 
form than upon the substance of the proposition sub- 
mitted. The conclusions as finally formulated are 
embodied in the enclosed copy of the acta. 
It will be seen by the thirty-second resolution the 
delegates were especially requested to bring the fol- 
lowing two resolutions to the attention of their re- 
spective governments : 
16. That any country which shall declare its will- 
ingness to undertake the task shall be entrusted with 
the duty of collecting, provisionally classifying, and 
transmitting to the Central Bureau, in accordance 
with rules laid down by the International Council, 
all the entries belonging to the scientific literature of 
that country. 
31. That it is desirable that the Royal Society 
should be informed at a date not later than January 
1, 1896 (1897),* what steps, if any, are being taken, 
* The report of the Conference gives the date Janu- 
ary 1, 1898. 
