Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1910-01-21

I the race 1t has commanded the active
| cooperation Of nearly every civilized
government, and is the product of the
leading scientific minds of the globe.
The task of it's preparation is divided
into three sections. First comes the
gathering of the material This is done
by each nation which supports the cata-
logue, through what is known as the re-
gional bureau The Smithsonian Institu-
ton has charge of the bureau for this
country Nearly every scientific publica-
ton in the United States is sent to the
Smithsonian, and everything that comes
there is indexed. Then recourse is had
to every index published I'm this country.
Every stone of literature that may cover
some scientific truth is turned in the pa
tient search for new matter. Five eX-
perts are busly engaged throughout the
year, and they can scent an article that
ought to be indexed as accurately as
bloodhound can scent the hunted GRIM
inal. When New Year comes they are
ready to offer a reward for the article
they have missed
When the index for the United States
is finished it is sent to London, where 1t
| meets the indexes made in similar way
! by other nations. The central bureau
there, following prescribed rules, then
proceeds to consolidate all of the con-
| tributions into one. This is a great labor,
! and largely accounts for the delay in the
| appearance of the volumes of the finished
index. AS there are hundreds of thou
sands of entries to be classified properly,
and a great deal of careful editing to be
done the wonder is that the printed vol
| umes are not even more tardy in their APP
| pearance. Furthermore. some of the
regional bureaus are inclined to be slow
| in getting up their indexes, which Sc
riously delays the central bureau in its
! work.
The third task is the printing. To pub
| lish II volumes a year, containing 12,OOO
pages OF matter where accuracy is the
| first essential, is a task worthy of the
| best printer. 1t Is slow and tedious work.
Made up so much of symbols, in which
one sign is not a guide to the one that
| follows, the printer and proof reader
! must be all attention. When the work is
published the price is $S5 per set. IN
| fortunately the scientists who are ever
adding TO the worlds wealth seldom ac-
cumulate much money for themselves.
and many of them find the price pro-
hibitive. The sponsors of the catalogue
have been anxious to lower the price, but
they have not succeeded in doing so up
to this time. However, they are still
hoping and praying that some philan-
thropic person will endow the work, so
that the catalogue may be more widely
distributed and hence of more general
use.
The catalogue has been running since
1900. The regional bureaus are provided
for by governmental appropriation Some
of the nations, among them our own, are
inclined to be penurious when providing
for their bureaus. To conduct the work
properly the Smithsonian authorities es-
innate that they should have an appro-
priation of $4,000 a year. Yet congress,
readily giving a $4,000 appropriation to
make Shallow Bottom creek navigable,
makes a wry face when it gives only
Sc, 900 to the support of the United States
regional bureau. But for volunteer work
by patriotic scientists America would be
unable to make a creditable showing.
The failure Of the project through inn
proper financial support would be farther
reaching than the catalogue itself. The
eyes of the photographic world are upon
it, and If it succeeds other interests may
be heartened to undertake similar cata-
logues Historians are yearning for
world-catalogue of history, literary au-
thorities desire an international catalogue
of literature, and social scientists are
eager to possess a catalogue digest OF all
the uplift literature in existence. Fall
ure of the International Catalogue OF
Scientific Literature would serve to
shrivel the hopes of those who would ap-
ply it's principles elsewhere.
While the catalogue was estaonsneo III
London, through English influence and
the call of Queen Victoria, it was in 1880
that the Smithsonian institution first sug-
gested that some such work ought to be
, published Later the Royal Society or
England took up the matter, and COM
piled a catalogue of the literature on
scientific subjects up to 1888 The grow
ing volume of current literature made 1t
impossible for one organization to con-
tinue the work. and the Royal Society,
through the English government con-
voked a convention of photographers to
consider the advisability of international
cooperation in continuing the project
This convention was followed by two
others, held in London in 1898 and 1900,
when the present scheme was thoroughly
planned and formally launched.
The plan of governing the preparation
and issuance of the catalogue is most
carAf,,Ilv uvrou0ht The governing body