[Reprinted from No. 7, February 15, 1895.'] SCIENCE. Editorial Committee : S. Newcomb, Mathematics; R. S. Woodward, Mechanics; E. C. Pickering, As- tronomy ; T. C. Mendenhall, Physics; R. H. Thurston, Engineering; Ira Remsen, Chemistry ; Joseph Le Conte, Geology; W. M. Davis, Physiography; O. C. Marsh, Paleontology; W. K. Brooks, Invertebrate Zoology ; C. Hart Merriam, Vertebrate Zoology ; N. L. Britton, Botany ; Henry F. Osborn, General Biology ; H. P. Bowditch, Physiology ; J. S. Billings, Hygiene ; J. McKeen Cattell, Psychology ; Daniel G. Brinton, J. W. Powell, Anthropology. CORRESPONDENCE. A CARD CATALOGUE OF SCIENTIFIC LITERA- TURE. tific literature ' as used in the above recom- mendation ought to receive a very broad interpretation." Editor of Science, Dear Sir: The efforts which students of the Natural Sciences are constantly making to provide themselves with more complete summaries of the literature of their various departments all testify to the existence of a wide-spread feeling of dissatisfaction with the existing methods of cataloguing scientific papers and reporting upon the results of scientific re- search. That this dissatisfaction is felt by none more keenly than by those engaged in the work is shown by the appeal made last spring by the Royal Society to various universities and learned societies for advice as to the feasibility of maintaining by in- ternational cooperation a complete catalogue of current scientific literature. The following circular of the Society, to- gether with the reply of Harvard Univer- sity to the same, will doubtless be of inter- est to your readers, and by opening the col- umns of your journal to a discussion of the subject you will not fail to elicit valuable suggestions with regard to the details of the plan. In adopting the recommendations of the committee as printed below, the University Council voted " that the Secretary of the Council be instructed to transmit to the Royal Society a letter stating the opinion of this Council, that the expression 1 scien- Yours very truly, H. P. Bowditch. LETTER FROM THE SECRETARIES OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY. The Royal Society, Burlington House, March 22, 1894. Sir : The Royal Society of London, as you are probably aware, has published nine quarto volumes of1 The Catalogue of Scien- tific Papers,' the first volume of the decade 1874-83 having been issued last year. This Catalogue is limited to periodical scientific literature, i. e., to papers published in the Transactions, etc., of Societies, and in Journals; it takes no account whatever of monographs and independent books, how- ever important. The titles, moreover, are arranged solely according to authors' names; and though the Society has long had under consideration the preparation of, and it is hoped may eventually issue, as a key to the volumes already published, a list in which the titles are arranged according to subject- matter, the Catalogue is still being prepared according to authors' names. Further, though the Society has endeavored to in- clude the titles of all the scientific papers published in periodicals of acknowledged standing, the Catalogue is, even as regards periodical literature, confessedly incom- 2 SCIENCE. plete, owing to the omission of the titles of papers published in periodicals of little im- portance, or not easy of access. Owing to the great development of scien- tific literature, the task of the Society in continuing the Catalogue, even in its pres- ent form, is rapidly increasing in difficulty. At the same time it is clear that the pro- gress of science would be greatly helped by, indeed, almost demands, the compilation of a Catalogue which should aim at complete- ness, and should contain the titles of scien- tific publications, whether appearing in peri- odicals or independently. In such a Cata- logue the titles should be arranged not only according to authors' names, but also ac- cording to subject-matter, the text of each paper and not the title only being consulted for the latter purpose. And the value of the Catalogue would be greatly enhanced by a rapid periodical issue, and by publica- tion in such a form that the portion which pertains to any particular branch of science might be obtained separately. It is needless to say that the preparation and publication of such a complete Cata- logue is far beyond the power and means of any single society. Led by the above considerations, the Pres- ident and Council of the Royal Society have appointed a committee to enquire into and report upon the feasibility of such a Cata- logue being compiled through international cooperation. The committee are not as yet in a posi- tion to formulate any distinct plan by which such international cooperation might be brought about; but it may be useful even at the outset to make the following prelimi- nary suggestions:- The Catalogue should commence with papers published on or after January 1, 1900. A central office or bureau should be estab- lished in some place to be hereafter chosen, and should be maintained by international contributions, either directly, that is by an- nual or other subsidies, or indirectly, that is by the guarantee to purchase a certain number of copies of the Catalogue. This office should be regularly supplied with all the information necessary for the construction of the Catalogue. This might be done either by all periodicals, mono- graphs, etc., being sent direct to the office to be catalogued there, or by various insti- tutions undertaking to send in portions of the Catalogue already prepared, or by both methods combined. At such an office arrangements might be made by which, in addition to preparing the Catalogue, scientific data might be tabulated as they came to hand in the papers supplied. The first step, however, is to ascertain whether any scheme of international coop- eration is feasible and desirable. The com- mittee accordingly is desirous of learning the views upon this subject of scientific bodies and of scientific men. We, therefore, venture to express the hope that you will be so good as, at soiu^ early opportunity, to bring the matter before the Harvard University and to make known to us, for the use of the committee, the con- clusions arrived at concerning it. Should the decision you report be in any way favorable to the scheme, may we fur- ther ask you to communicate to us, for the use of the committee, any suggestions which you may think it desirable to make; as to the best methods of inaugurating a scheme; as to the constitution and means of main- tenance of the Central Office; as to the exact character of the work to be carried on there ; as to the language or languages in which the Catalogue should be published, and the like? We are, your obedient servants, (Signed) M. Foster, Secretary R. S. Rayleigh, Secretary R. S. J. Lister, Foreign Sec. R. S. SCIENCE. 3 REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE OF THE UNIVER- SITY COUNCIL APPOINTED TO CONSIDER THE COMMUNICATION OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY RELATING TO A CATALOGUE OF SCIEN- TIFIC PAPERS TO BE MADE BY IN- TERNATIONAL COOPERATION. 1. It should appear promptly-if possi- ble, simultaneously with the book or article catalogued. 2. It should furnish an accurate descrip- tion of the purport of the book or article. 3. It should be readily accessible to all persons interested in the literature cata- logued. It seems probable that these requirements may best be met by the cooperation of a central bureau with the various publishers and editors of scientific literature in issuing with each book and with each number of every periodical a set of cards of standard size and type, each card to exhibit for a book, or for a single article in a periodical:- 1. The name of the author. 2. The title of the book or article. 3. The date, place, and house of publica- tion of the book, or the title, volume, and page of the periodical in which the article appears. 4. A brief statement, not to exceed eight or ten lines, to be prepared by the author himself, setting forth the general purport of the book or article, so as to furnish the necessary data for cross references. Each card should be in duplicate to per- mit of arrangement according to subject or author, or both if desired, and additional cards should be issued whenever the char- acter of the title necessitates cross refer- ences. A card when printed would present somewhat the following appearance: * To the University Council of Harvard University: The committee of the University Coun- cil, to whom was referred the accompany- ing circular of the Royal Society, respect- fully submits the following report: The committee finds itself fully in sym- pathy with the desire of the Royal Society to improve the methods of cataloguing scien- tific literature, and is distinctly of the opinion that the establishment of such a catalogue, to be compiled through international co- operation, is both desirable and practicable. To determine in what way this result can be best attained, it will be well to consider what are the defects of existing methods, and what are the requirements which an improved system may be reasonably ex- pected to fill. Bibliographical catalogues and indexes are generally defective in one or two ways. Either they present simply a list of titles which often convey an inadequate, and sometimes a misleading idea of the contents of the articles catalogued, or they appear, like the various annual reports, so long af- ter the publication of the articles which are reported upon that they lose a great part of their value as guides to current literature. A third defect is common to all existing catalogues, viz., that of necessitating a ref- erence to a number of separate volumes whenever the literature of several years is to be sought for. It is evident that some form of card cata- logue can alone remedy these defects, so that the practical question is: How can a card catalogue of current scientific litera- ture be best established and maintained? The requirements of such a catalogue may be stated as follows :- Calderwood, Henry. Evolution and Man's Place in Nature. Macmillan & Co., London and New York. 1893. pp. 349. sm. 8°. Summary .• * The size is here reduced. 4 SCIENCE. Gourlay, F. The Proteids of the Thyroid and the Spleen. Journal of Physiology. 1894. Vol. xvi. p. 23-33. Plate II. arranged by each subscriber so as to form the sort of card catalogue best adapted to his own needs. Although in this scheme the greater part of the work, including the printing of the cards, would be done in a central office, yet the cooperation of the publishers could not well be dispensed with, for from them must be obtained the summaries prepared by the authors, which form an essential feature of the scheme. No difficulty need be antici- pated in obtaining such summaries ; for it would be the interest of the writers to fur- nish them, and no one could prepare them so easily and correctly as the writers them- selves. A central office with this function would readily secure the cooperation of libraries and learned societies throughout the world ; and to an undertaking thus endorsed the publishers of scientific literature would doubtless lend their aid, since they would find in it a means of advertising their busi- ness. The support of such an office could be provided for at the outset by international subscription; but it would doubtless in a short time become self-supporting, since por- tions of the total catalogue would be needed not only in every public library, but on the study table of every serious student in every department of science. The above report is submitted not as an elaborated plan, but as a suggestion of the end to which effort should be directed. Your committee would further express the hope that some plan may be put into oper- ation at an earlier date than the year 1900, the time suggested in the circular of the Royal Society. In accordance with the views above set forth the committee respectfully recom- mends the adoption by the University Council of the following votes:- 1. That, in the opinion of the University Council, the establishment of a catalogue of scientific literature to be maintained Summary:. The dimensions and texture of the card should be determined by careful comparison of the cards already in use in the principal libraries of the world. Space should be left at the top of the card for writing such words as may be de- sired for cross references. This could best be done by each person for himself, as there would necessarily be much difference of opinion as to the number and character of the cross references desired. Furthermore, subscribers of different nationalities would wish to catalogue the same subject under different headings, e. g., an article on the spleen would be catalogued by a French- man under rate and by a German under Milz. If thought desirable, the type used in printing the cards could be kept set up till the end of the year, and then, by arranging the material according to subjects, an an- nual report in book form could readily be published. A central bureau charged with the work above outlined could very properly be es- tablished under the auspices of the Royal Society. In this central office subscriptions could be received from libraries and indi- viduals for the cards relating to the articles published in certain journals, or to the literature of certain departments of science, and the subscriber would thus receive, in weekly instalments, a complete card cata- logue of all the literature in his own line of work. The cards thus received could be SCIENCE. 5 through international cooperation is both desirable and practicable. 2. That a copy of this report be trans- mitted to the Royal Society as the sugges- tion of a way in which this plan may be successfully carried out. 3. That the Corporation be requested to contribute a suitable sum toward the carrying-out of this enterprise, provided the plan finally adopted by the Royal Society shall appear to the University Council to be practicable. Nathaniel S. Shaler, Professor of Geology. Edward C. Pickering, Paine Professor of Practical Astronomy. .John Trowbridge, Rumford Professor and Lecturer on the Application of Science to the Useful Arts. William G. Farlow, Professor of Cryptogamic Bo- tany. Henry B. Hill, Professor of Chemistry. Edward L. Mark, Hersey Professor of Anatomy. William T. Councilman, Shattuck Professor of Path- ological Anatomy. Ira N. Hollis, Professor of Engineering. Hugo Munsterberg, Professor of Experimental Psy- chology. William F. Osgood, Assistant Professor of Mathe- matics. June, 1894. Henry P. Bowditch, Professor of Physiology, Chairman. Frederick W. Putnam, Peabody Professor of Amer- ican Archeeology and Ethnology.