Apeil 12, 1895.] 



SCIENCE. 



407 



A large number of investigators and writers 

 would be glad to have their work done for 

 them by some automatic or mechanical 

 means, as far as possible, up to a point just 

 sliort of the conclusions or results. These, 

 of coui-se, they prefer to prepare and state 

 themselves. Those who like literary re- 

 search would be pleased to have cooperative 

 laboratories established in which, for a 

 moderate annual subscription, they could 

 have any experiments made which they 

 might suggest, the results to be reported to 

 them for their use. Others would prefer to 

 do the experimenting themselves, and have 

 some one else tell them everything that other 

 people have done and written about the 

 matter. And if each party is able and will- 

 ing to pay for the assistance he requires, 

 and can find persons competent to give that 

 a.ssistance and willing to do the work merely 

 for the paj- ofl'ered, every one will agree 

 that it is a good thing, and will furnish new 

 channels of employment and remuneration 

 for experts, for which channels the need is 

 steadilj- increasing. 



It is, however, not clear that the benefits 

 to science and to humanitj-, which would 

 result from a complete ca^-d index of science 

 up to date and available for every one who 

 would like to consult it, would be so great 

 as to make it the duty of any existing scien- 

 tific body or institution to incur the great 

 expense of taking charge of the matter or to 

 contribute largely to its support. 



Physicians meet with some cases for 

 which it is desirable that the food should 

 be carefully minced and partially digested 

 before it is given, and sometimes it is ne- 

 ce.ssarj' to push this food far back on the 

 tongue to make sure that it will be swal- 

 lowed, or even to forcibly inject it, but in 

 most cases this benefits no one but the pa- 

 tient. 



There is a very considerable number of 

 men now engaged in preparing abstracts 

 and summaries of what is known in various 



branches of science, and publishing them as 

 monographs, monthly reviews, year books, 

 etc.; and in medicine, at all events, the 

 supply of this kind of material is quite 

 equal to the paying demand for it. 



Moreover, it is not certain that the inves- 

 tigator who wishes to know everything that 

 has been suggested with regard to the sub- 

 ject which he has under consideration will 

 be much happier when he gets his card in- 

 dex up to date, if he has not made it him- 

 self. He will find references to articles by 

 Smith, and Schmidt, and Smitovich; but 

 where are the books containing these 

 articles? Very probably, after a week's 

 hunt and correspondence, he finds that 

 there are one or two of them that are not 

 in an J' librarj' accessible to him, and then 

 he is decidedly worse off than he would be 

 if he did not know that they existed. 



It is probable that such complete card 

 catalogues with abstracts would be the 

 means of adding largely to the bulk of 

 scientific literature, as the Index Catalogue 

 of the National Medical Library and the 

 Index Medicus have done to the literature 

 of medicine. The bibliography and the 

 abstracts will be published over and over 

 again in successive papers by difierent 

 writers. 



The expediency of having such card in- 

 dexes prepared depends upon the cost, and 

 upon whether the money could be used to 

 better advantage in promoting the increase 

 and diffusion of knowledge in other ways. 

 I should suppose that $25,000 a year would 

 be a moderate estimate for providing 25 

 copies of such a card index for all branches 

 of science, and to bring the cost within this 

 limit would reciuire careful selection. 



If each author were to make his own ab- 

 stract, and every article thus abstracted is 

 to be indexed, probably 850,000 a year would 

 be required. Much might be done for the 

 advancement of science with a fund of S25,- 

 000 per annum. 



