236 THEOPHILUS G. PINCHES, ESQ., LL.D., M.K.A.S., ON 



pages, and the volume containing them should be issued within 

 six months. The writers of papers were to have the right of 

 printing them in full in any publication which seemed good to 

 them. 



It was at once seen by many, however, that this might be tlie 

 death-blow to Congresses. A number of people subscribe to 

 them without having any intention whatever of being present, 

 their only desire being to receive the publication which it is the 

 custom to issue. It is needless to say that their money is a 

 very welcome addition to the funds of the Congress, and the 

 people who ' stop away ought to be encouraged to add to the 

 number of subscriptions received. There is also the possibility 

 to be taken into consideration, that many of the people who 

 are accustomed to attend Congresses may decide to refrain in 

 consequence of the absence of transactions. To all appearance, 

 however, it was only the small minority which realized these 

 disadvantages, and this being the case, the proposed more than 

 doubtful reform was carried by an overwhelming majority. 



Under this new rule, the abstracts of the papers ought by 

 now to be in our hands, but when they will app»ear, no one 

 knows. This, indeed, was foreseen at the outset, and one 

 speaker upon the subject went so far as to say, that it was very 

 doubtful whether the promised abstracts of papers would appear 

 at all. Witli a view to clear up this question, I wrote to the 

 Secretary of tlie Hamburg Congress, Dr. Sieveking, and received 

 in reply the assurance that the volume would not only appear, 

 but was actually in the hands of the printer. This was 

 reassuring news, but it will be very much behindhand, I fear. 

 Some of the contributors of papers may have received their 

 proofs, but nothing of that nature has as yet reached my hands, 

 and to all appearance tv/o months more must elapse ere the 

 volume reaches the members. The Congress of Eome surpassed 

 that of Hamburg greatly in this respect, for full reports were 

 issued to the members every day, enabling its progress to be 

 easily followed, and how full they were may be judged from the 

 fact, that in their reissued form, the daily bulletins total 

 273 pages of closely-printed matter. One hardly wants any- 

 thing more than this, and if the Hamburg Congress had issued 

 something even half as extensive, one could have put up with 

 the delay in issuing the volume of abstracts, and might even 

 reconcile one's self to the abandonment of the issue of 

 Transactions. 



