NOVKMBEB 4, 1898.] 



SCIENCE. 



623 



(4) " That it is desirable to express the 

 subject of one's paper in its title, while 

 keeping the title as concise as possible." 



It is satisfactory to find no objections 

 raised to this recommendation, since there 

 is no doubt that there is room for much im- 

 provement in this direction. Such phrases 

 as ' Further contributions towards our 

 knowledge of the * * * * ,' or 'Einige Beo- 

 bachtungen liber ****,' or ' Essai d'une 

 monographie du genre * * * * ' might well 

 be dispensed with as superfluous. The 

 ornithologist who, in 1895, published a book 

 with a title of ninety-one words would seem 

 to have forgotten the functions of a preface. 



On the other hand, it is pointed out that 

 certain periodicals, such as the Bulletin de 

 la Soeiete Entomologique de France and the 

 Sitzungsberiehte der Gesellschaft naturjorschender 

 Freunde zu Berlin, publish communications 

 without any title, to the constant confusion 

 of naturalists. The Committee begs to urge 

 the reform of this practice, in which it can 

 see no advantage. 



(5) "That new species should be properly 

 diagnosed, and figured when possible." 



The only comment on this is the proposed 

 omission of the words ' when possible.' 

 Witb this the Committee sympathizes, but 

 wishes to avoid all appearance of lay- 

 ing down a law that would constantly be 

 broken. 



(6) " That new names should not be pro- 

 posed in irrelevant footnotes or anonymous 

 paragraphs." 



Naturally nobody supports such actions 

 as are here objected to, but since some have 

 doubted the possibility of the latter, it is as 

 well to state that the suggestion was based 

 on an actual case occurring in the Report 

 of a well-known International Congress. 

 The proposal of a new name, without 

 diagnosis, in a footnote to a student's text- 

 book, or in a short review of a work by 

 another author, is by no means a rare oc- 

 . currence. The Committee believes that 



such practices are calculated to throw 

 nomenclature into confusion rather than to 

 advance science. 



(7) " That references to previous publi- 

 cations should be made fully and correctly 

 if possible, in accordance with one of the 

 recognized sets of rules for quotation, such 

 as that recently adopted by the French. 

 Zoological Society." 



Dr. Paul Mayer, of Naples, writes : "Most 

 authors are extremely idle in making good 

 lists of literature themselves, and even op- 

 posed my correcting them according to our 

 rules. There ought to be some training in 

 this at our universities." This is confirmed 

 by one or two other editors, but not all have 

 the energy of Dr. Mayer. Some, indeed, 

 oppose the word ' fully ' on the ground that 

 it leads to waste of time and space. The 

 Committee would explain that the reference 

 to a particular set of rules was intended 

 merely as a guide to those who have not 

 had the training that Dr. Mayer would like 

 to see ; they would also point out, in the 

 words of the editor of the Cincinnati Society 

 of Natural Histoi-y, that ' what may be in- 

 telligible to the specialist is very puzzling to 

 the general student.' Nowadays, when so 

 many zoologists work with the aid of au- 

 thors' separate copies, it is an enormous con- 

 venience to them to have the title of the 

 paper at least indicated, and not merely the 

 volume, date and pagination given. The 

 Committee, therefore, cannot agree that this 

 suggestion involves a waste of tin^e. 



ASTRONOMICAL NOTES. 

 SECTION A AT THE BOSTON MEETING, A. A. A. S. 



It might be thought that the meetings of 

 the Astronomical Conference and of the 

 Mathematical Society, which preceded that 

 of the American Association and were pro- 

 longed so as to interfere somewhat with it, 

 would have detracted from the interest in 

 Section A. While this may have been true 

 in part, it did not reduce the number of the 



