JO 



SCIENCE. 



[N.S. Vol. XVII. No. 419. 



.lessly expended. Now that the Congres- 

 sional Library is at last in working order, 

 it seems to me that it ought to be possible 

 to undertake a work in this direction that 

 would be not only an unspeakable boon to 

 .all who are engaged in systematic investi- 

 .gation, but also to the scientific public at 

 large; for nothing that I can think of 

 would go so far towards reducing the per- 

 nicious activity of the maker of synonyms 

 to a minimum as a methodical and ex- 

 haustive publication of bibliographies in 

 connection with which synonyms* would 

 be promptly 'spotted' and reported at once 

 to the scientific world. 



Our Congressional Library is worthy of 

 .a nation's pride. Having had occasion to 

 work there myself, I can say that nowhere 

 can better service or more helpful courtesy 

 be found than is accorded one who desires 

 "to do serious work within its walls. One 

 must use it before he can form any just 

 idea of the wonderful change that has been 

 "brought about since the present building 

 vas completed. Here is undoubtedly the 

 "best place in America to do bibliographic 

 work, and here could be undertaken a pub- 

 lie service that would be second to none 

 in helpfulness to the naturalist, the sys- 

 lematie publication of bibliographies, per- 

 haps following the general lines of the 

 Concilium Bibliographicum, which has al- 

 ready rendered invaluable service, so far 

 :as current publications are concerned. 



The Concilium Bibliographicum, how- 

 •ever, can furnish but little help regarding 

 publications of other than comparatively 

 recent date, and this is the most pressing 

 need of the systematist. This task, colos- 

 sal as it is, could be accomplished if at- 

 tacked systematically by a sufficiently large 

 force of competent workers. It would not 

 Tdc necessary to complete the work in any 



* The word synonym is here used in its more 

 ■general sense, including both autonyms and 

 •synonvnis in a strict sense. 



group before the results could be available 

 for general use. By a periodical mailing 

 of cards some relief could very shortly be 

 extended to all those who are known to 

 be interested in any group, and as the his- 

 tory of our science covers less than a cen- 

 tury and a half, a vigorous prosecution of 

 the Avork would enable us to have authentic 

 and reasonably complete bibliographies 

 brought up to date within a very few 

 years. 



Such work need not, indeed should not, 

 be confined to bibliographies of publica- 

 tions, but should include bibliographies of 

 specific names. Every reference to a spe- 

 cies should be given a separate card. 

 These could be arranged both alphabetic- 

 ally and chronologically, and when such a 

 bibliography is completed up to date a 

 synonym can be detected with unerring ac- 

 curacy. I speak from some little experi- 

 ence when I say that such an arrangement 

 of cards is the greatest possible assistance 

 and time-saver, as I have myself made a 

 card bibliography of a single order of ani- 

 mals with which I am working. It in- 

 cludes some six thousand cards, and in- 

 volves a card catalogue of authors, with 

 their publications, of families, of genera 

 and of species. 



Of course such a plan as has been indi- 

 cated could only be carried out by a corps 

 of specialists, each having immediate 

 charge of the work pertaining to some 

 limited group, and the whole should be 

 under the supervision of some public sci- 

 entific organization such as the Smith- 

 sonian Institution, or possibly the Wash- 

 ingion Academy of Science; such bodies 

 being particularly available on account of 

 their being situated in Washington, where 

 most of the actual work would be done. 



But what answer shall we give to our 

 friends who plaintively implore lis to 'deal 

 gently with established genera'? It is in 

 connection with this question that we are 



