CHAPTER XXVII 



LABELING AND CATALOGING PREPARATIONS 



THE LABEL 



We should say that the first thing to write upon a label is the 

 genus and species of the plant; the next thing would be the name of 

 the organ or tissue, and then might be added the date of collection; 

 e.g., Marchantia polymorpha, young archegonia, January 10, 1915. 

 The date of making the preparation is of no value unless the student 

 is testing the permanence of stains or something of that sort. It 

 is hardly worth while to write upon the label the names of the stains 

 used, for the student will soon learn to recognize the principal stains. 

 A hasty sketch on the label will often indicate any exceptionally 

 interesting feature in the preparation. To facilitate finding such a 

 feature, it is a good plan to mark the particular section or sections with 

 ink, the marking being always on the under side of the slide so as 

 not to cause any inconvenience if an immersion lens should be used. 



CATALOGING PREPARATIONS 



As a collection grows, the student will need some device for 

 locating readily any particular preparation. Some have their slides 

 numbered and cataloged, but all devices of this sort are too cumbrous 

 and slow for the practical worker in the laboratory. After twenty 

 years' experience with a collection which now numbers more than 

 twenty-five thousand preparations, we recommend the following- 

 system : 



Four wooden slide boxes of the usual type will do for a beginning; 

 they should be labeled: THALLOPHYTES, BRYOPHYTES, PTERIDO- 

 PHYTES, and SPERMATOPHYTES. As the collection grows and new 

 boxes are needed, the classification can be made more definite; e.g., 

 there should be a box labeled BRYOPHYTES Hepaticae and one labeled 

 BRYOPHYTES Musci. As the liverwort collection grows, three boxes 

 will be necessary, and should be labeled BRYOPHYTES Hepaticae 



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