440 



Anniversary Address by Sir A. Geikie. 



[Nov. 30, 



of painful suspense Dr. Glazebrook slowly began to recover, and is now 

 happily on the high road to convalescence. But it may be some months 

 before he can again attend to the work of the Institution over which he 

 presides with such constant assiduity and skill. 



The ' Catalogue of Scientific Literature for the Nineteenth Century,' on 

 which the Committee of the Eoyal Society has now been engaged for over 

 fifty years, is speedily approaching completion. The material for the final 

 part (1883 — 1900) of the General Catalogue, which is classified under 

 authors' names, has been collected and sorted, and is nearly ready to pass 

 through the press. Of the subject-indexes of scientific papers for the 

 nineteenth century, two volumes, Pure Mathematics and Mechanics, have 

 been published ; and the Index for Physics, in two volumes, is well under 

 way. While the Committee do not claim perfection in detail for the 

 classification of the subject-matter of those sciences, and while they are 

 aware that the arrangement of so great a mass of material, which must be 

 condensed into small space, will always be liable to technical criticism in 

 details, they nevertheless believe that it may be confidently claimed that no 

 person who in future shall set about a general investigation or an historical 

 survey. in any department of one of these sciences can afford to neglect 

 consultation of this index. It was felt to be worth while by so great a man 

 as Thomas Young, a hundred years ago, to devote a large amount of time to 

 the compilation of a classified index of the literature of Natural Philosophy 

 up to that date, when the achievement was just within the range of private 

 enterprise. The immense volume of the scientific literature of the last 

 century could have been digested only by some corporate organisation ; and 

 the whole scientific world have signified in advance their obligation to the 

 Committee of the Society and to the generous benefactors who have assisted 

 the Society in the work when its own funds had been depleted, by under- 

 taking the continuation of the same work in the twentieth century as the 

 ' International Catalogue of Scientific Literature.' 



Having gone to so much trouble and expense in the preparation of the 

 materials for these subject-indexes, the Society is naturally desirous to see 

 that the results become accessible to the scientific public, for whose use the 

 volumes are intended. All the funds which the Eoyal Society can possibly 

 devote to this work are necessary for its completion ; thus there can be no 

 question of free exchange, as was the case with the earlier volumes, however 

 much the Eoyal Society might desire it. But, as the Fellows are already 

 aware, the Cambridge University Press have consented to undertake the 

 entire risk of printing and publication, and have agreed to sell the volumes 

 at a very moderate price. We are informed that the volumes of the Index 



