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JOURNAL, R.A.S. (CEYLON). [VOL. XVI. 



APPENDIX. 



The Royal Society's Scheme for an International Catalogue 

 of Scientific Literature. 



By the Honorary Secretary of the Committee of Control, Regional 

 Bureau for India and Ceylon. 



I. — Origin and Outline of the Scheme. 



At an International Conference organized by the Royal Society, 

 and held in London during July, 1896, it was considered " desirable to 

 compile and publish, by means of some international organization, a 

 complete catalogue of scientific literature, arranged according both to 

 subject-matter and to authors' names," in order that scientific investi- 

 gators, by means of the catalogue, may be able readily to find out 

 what has been published concerning any particular subject of inquiry. 



In the following November a Committee was appointed by the 

 Royal Society of London to study all the questions involved, and to 

 frame a scheme for the work. The report of this Committee was 

 issued on March 30, 1898, and during the following October a 

 second International Conference was held in London to discuss the 

 proposals of the Committee. This Conference, which included 

 delegates from Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Hungary, Japan, 

 Mexico, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, 

 United States, Cape Colony, India, Natal, New Zealand, and Queens- 

 land, confirmed the general principle of the previous Committee, that 

 a catalogue be published in the form of separate cards for each paper« 

 as well as periodically classified in book form. It was decided to 

 provide schedules for the internal classification of each of the follow- 

 ing seventeen sciences : — 



Mathematics. 

 Astronomy. 

 Meteorology. 

 Physics. 



Crystallography. 



Chemistry. 



Mineralogy. 



Geology (including Petrology). 

 Geography— Mathematical and 

 Physical. 



Palaeontology. 

 Anatomy. 

 Zoology. 

 Botany. 



Physiology (including Pharmaco- 

 logy and Experimental Patho- 

 logy). 



Bacteriology. 



Psychology. 



Anthropology. 



Each of these subjects will be distinguished by a separate registration 

 letter, and the subdivisions indicated in the schedules by registration 

 numbers designed purely for the guidance of the Central Bureau in 

 arranging the cards in order for the compilation of a book-subject 

 catalogue. 



Card Catalogue. — The basis of the catalogue is the card or slip. 

 For every communication containing scientific statements worthy of 

 being indexed, whether appearing in a periodical or any other form of 

 independent publication, at least one separate slip is to be prepared. 

 These will be issued regularly to subscribers, and will enable them net 

 only to keep themselves informed as to the progress of a science, but 

 also easily to keep an " account current" of such 1 progress. 



