February 15, 1895.] 



SCIENCE. 



185 



author, or both if desired, and additional 

 cards should be issued whenever tlie char- 

 acter of the title necessitates cross refer- 

 ences. A card when printed would present 

 somewhat the following appearance: * 



Calderwood, Henry. Evolution and Man's 

 Place in Nature. Macinillan & Co., London and 

 New York. 1893. pp. 349. sm. 8°. 



Summary: 



Gourlay, F. Tlie I'loteids of the Tliyroid and 

 the Spleen. Journal of Physiology. 1894. Vol. 

 xri. p. 23-33. Plate II. 



Summary : 



The dimensions and texture of the card 

 should be determined by careful comparison 

 of the cards already in use in the principal 

 libraries of the world. 



Si>ace should be left at the top of the 

 card for writing such words as may be de- 

 sired for cross references. This could best 

 he done by each person for himself, as there 

 would necessarily be much difference of 

 opinion as to the number and character of 

 the cro.ss references desired. Furthermore, 

 subscribers of different nationalities would 

 wish to catalogue the same subject under 

 diflferent headings, e. </., an article on the 

 spleen would be ciitalogued by a French- 

 man uiuler rate and by a German under MHz. 



* Tlie size is here re<hiced. 



If thought desirable, the tj'pe used in 

 printing the cards could be kept set up till 

 the end of the year, and then, by arranging 

 the material according to subjects, an an- 

 nual report in book form could readily be 

 published. 



A central bureau charged with the work 

 above outlined could verj' properly be es- 

 tablished under the auspices of the Royal 

 Society. In this central office subscriptions 

 could be received from libraries and indi- 

 viduals for tlie cards relating to the articles 

 published in certain journals, or to the 

 literature of certain departments of science, 

 and the subscriber would thus receive, in 

 weekly instalments, a complete card cata- 

 logue of all the literature in his own line of 

 work. The cards thus i-eceived could be 

 arranged by each subscriber so as to form 

 the sort of card catalogue best adapted to 

 his own needs. 



Although in this scheme the greater part 

 of the work, including the printing of the 

 cards, would be done in a central office, j'et 

 the cooperation of the pulilishers could not 

 well be dispensed with, for from tliem must 

 be obtained the summaries prepared by the 

 authors, wliich form an essential feature of 

 the scheme. No difficulty need be antici- 

 pated in obtaining such summaries ; for it 

 would be the interest of the writers to fur- 

 nish them, and no one could prepare them 

 so easity and correctly as the writers them- 

 selves. 



A central office with this function would 

 readily secure the cooperation of lil)raries 

 and learned societies throughout tin; M'orld ; 

 and to an undertaking thus endorsed the 

 publishers of scientific literature would 

 doubtless lend their aid, since they would 

 find in it a means of advertising their V>usi- 

 ness. The support of such an office could 

 be provided for at the outset by international 

 subscription ; but it would doubtless in a 

 short time l)econie self-supporting, since por- 

 tions of the total catalogue would l)e needed 



