PROCEEDINGS OF THE SOCIETY. 421 



residue, with the object of makmg the collection available to Fellows. 

 Mr. Hopkinson has unfortunately been unable to take any part in the 

 work, and the following report represents the work and views of the 

 other two members only. 



2. The Society's collection was found to consist of about 10,000 

 slides. With the exception of the " Suffolk " and " Beck " Collections, 

 which have been contained in special cabinets, the whole of the slides are 

 stored in a large cabinet. The origin and history of this cabinet is 

 unknown to us, but it may be described as hopelessly unsuitable for its 

 purpose owing to its construction. Each drawer holds 104 slides 

 arranged in two layers, and it is impossible to get at a slide in the lower 

 layer without removing the drawer from the cabinet, and lifting out a 

 removable tray which holds the top layer of 52 slides. 



3. The slides in the large cabinet were arranged on a chronological 

 system, according to the date of their acquisition, and this has resulted 

 in an entire absence of systematic classification. The earliest acquisition 

 bears date March, 1857, and is catalogued as"O.C. 1" (= Old 

 Collection, No. 1). From that date until April, 1897 all slides as 

 acquired were entered under consecutive numbers in the old register, 

 the number being 7,250, although this includes the " Beck " Collection 

 of Bone Sections already alluded to, which bear an O.C. number, though 

 kept in a special cabinet in accordance with the terms of the bequest. 



4. In April, 1897, the new register was commenced, and the con- 

 secutive numbering of the slides ceased. From this date a system was 

 adopted under which each block of slides acquired was registered under 

 the date of acquisition plus a serial number. The new register begins 

 with a collection of 424 Molluscan Radulas, mounted by the Rev. H. M. 

 Gwatkin, and presented by Mr. Rousselet. These are registered as 

 97.4. 30, Nos. 1-424, the 30th April, 1897, being the date of their 

 acquisition. The register entry also shows the drawer of the cabinet in 

 which each slide is to be found. This was unnecessary under the old 

 system, as the drawers were marked with the numbers they contained. 



5. About 1725 slides have been acquired since the new register was 

 started, and these also are devoid of any classification. Indeed, from 

 the very commencement of the cabinet the only arrangement noticeable 

 is that certain collections already classified by the previous owners have 

 been absorbed en bloc. 



6. We are unable to see that the new register system constituted 

 any advance on the old. In the absence of a subject-index it was 

 impossible to locate any particular slide without laborious search through 

 the registers, or even to say whether the Society possessed one or twenty 

 specimens of a particular subject. 



7. Two efforts to remedy this defect have been made. The old 

 register contains several pages showing the cabinet numbers of slides 

 belonging to many prominent groups. This was only a makeshift for 

 the benefit of the Curator. 



8. The late Mr. Suffolk, when Curator, made a card-index of the 

 slides, exclusive of the diatoms. The cards are sorted under a very 

 elaborate system in a cabinet. The system is, however, faulty ; it was 

 more or less incomplete at the author's death, and was then abandoned, 

 so that at present it has no value. We are of opinion that it could now 



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