THE EVOLUTION OF SEEIALS PUBLISHED BY 
SCIENTIFIC SOCIETIES. 
BY 
W J McGee. 
[Read before the Society April 13, 1889.] 
CONTENTS. 
Page 
Introduction_ 221 
The Serials studied_*_ 224 
The Evolution of the Serials- 230 
The Causes of Evolution of the Serials__ 235 
Methods of fixing Responsibility and their Evolution-242 
Introduction. 
The study out of which this communication grew was 
undertaken, and the communication was written, as a basis 
for a plan for the publications of the Geological Society of 
America. 
The societies whose publications have been examined were 
selected upon various grounds: 
The American Society of Civil Engineers and the Ameri¬ 
can Institute of Mining Engineers were selected for study 
because these societies are active and energetic, because they 
comprise the best talent of the country in their specialties, 
and because, while each has a fixed abode, they stand toward 
their specialties and toward the country at large much as 
must the newly organized Geological Society. Moreover, 
both are comparatively young and may be assumed to have 
profited by the experience of the older societies in the develop¬ 
ment of their plans of publication. Another reason for the 
2G—Bull. Phil. Soc., Wash., Vol. 11. 
( 221 ) 
