EDITORIAL. 
383 
contains,  will,  it  is  hoped,  compensate  in  some  degree  for  the  unavoidable  de- 
lay that  has  occurred  in  supplying  it  to  the  subscribers. 
The  Council  are  unable  to  hold  out  the  prospect  of  any  other  volume  being 
supplied  for  1859,  and  must  refer  to  the  statement  made  in  the  last  Report  for 
an  explanation  of  the  causes  which  have  contributed  to  limit  the  issue  of  books 
during  the  last  two  or  three  years. 
The  propositions,  originating  from  several  sources,  which  have  been  made 
with  reference  to  works  thought  to  be  suitable  for  publication  by  the  Society, 
and  some  of  which  were  referred  to  in  the  last  Annual  Report,  have  received  the 
attention  of  the  Council,  and  have  been  fully  discussed  on  repeated  occasions. 
The  conclusion  to  which  the  Council  have  arrived,  after  mature  consideration, 
accords  with  the  opinion  expressed  in  the  Report  of  last  year,  which  is,  that  the 
whole  of  the  resources  of  the  Society  should  be  concentrated  upon  the  com- 
pletion of  the  few  remaining  volumes  of  Gmelin's  Chemistry  before  any  other 
work  is  undertaken.  This  opinion,  they  have  reason  to  believe,  is  also  in  ac- 
cordance with  that  of  the  majority  of  the  members  of  the  Society.  In  the  pres- 
ent state  of  the  Society,  the  attempt  to  bring  out  any  other  work  in  conjunction 
with  the  Handbook  of  Chemistry would  necessarily  retard  the  completion  of  the 
latter,  as  the  means  at  the  disposal  of  the  Council  are  insufficient  for  the  pro- 
duction of  more  than  one  large  volume  a  year,  while  an  apparently  insur- 
mountable obstacle  is  presented  to  the  extension  of  the  number  of  subscribers  by 
the  necessity  imposed  on  new  members  to  provide  a  large  number  of  the  preced- 
ing volumes  of  the  work  now  in  progress,  in  order  to  make  their  sets  complete. 
Attempts  have  been  made  to  overcome  this  difficulty,  but  without  success ;  and 
even  if,  in  other  respects,  it  were  possible,  the  small  stock  of  the  early  vol- 
umes left  on  hand,  would  so  far  limit  the  power  of  enlarging  the  Society  in  that 
way  that  no  sufficient  increase  could  be  derived  to  justify  any  material  augmen- 
tation in  the  expenses  of  publication. 
The  present  income  of  the  Society,  if  maintained,  will  be  sufficient  to  enable 
the  Council  to  bring  out  what  remains  to  complete  the  works  of  Leopold  Gme- 
lin  as  fast  as  it  is  produced  by  the  German  editors  ;  and  at  the  same  time  to  add, 
in  the  form  of  an  appendix,  all  new  matters  relating  to  those  parts  of  organic 
chemistry  treated  of  in  the  preceding  volumes.  The  matter  thus  added  to  the 
volume  now  in  course  of  distribution  occupies  two  hundred  pages.  These  ad- 
ditions, which  are  made  to  each  succeeding  volume  of  the  work,  may  be  re- 
garded as  "  Annual  Abstracts  of  Papers  on  Chemical  Science,"  which  some  of 
the  members  of  the  Society  suggested  to  the  Council,  in  a  communication 
noticed  in  the  last  Report,  as  suitable  for  publication.  The  Council  are  glad  to 
be  enabled  thus  far  to  meet  the  wishes  expressed  by  members,  without  retard- 
ing the  progress  of  the  work  which  all  seem  desirous  to  expedite,  or  involving 
the  Society  in  liabilities  beyond  the  current  means. 
A  new  part  of  the  German  edition  of  the  Handbook  has  just  appeared,  the 
translation  of  which  will  at  once  be  proceeded  with,  and  there  is  every  reason 
to  believe  that  the  supply  of  matter  will  be  kept  up,  so  as  to  admit  of  the  publi- 
cation of  a  volume,  with  the  usual  additions,  or  abstracts  of  papers,  every  year, 
until  the  completion  of  the  work. 
The  preparation  of  an  index  to  the  whole  of  the  volumes  is  now  occupying 
the  attention  of  the  Council. 
When  Gmelin's  work  has  been  brought  to  a  conclusion,  a  suitable  opportu- 
nity will  be  presented  for  considering  the  course  to  be  pursued  with  reference 
to  the  future.  The  obstacle  to  the  extension  of  the  Society,  to  which  allusion 
has  been  made,  will  then  cease  to  exist.  New  works  may  be  undertaken  for 
the  selection  of  which  ample  time  will  have  been  afforded.  These  may  resem- 
ble in  character  the  works  previously  produced,  or  it  may  be  thought  desirable 
to  undertake  works  of  a  different  description,  which  would  attract  a  new  class 
of  members,  and  the  extension  or  reconstruction  of  the  Cavendish  Society  would 
be  the  probable  result. 
The  Council  feel,  however,  that  they  cannot  too  strongly  impress  upon  the 
members  the  importance  of  retaining  the  support  of  all  the  present  subscribers 
