equipment, the CBCC has organized the columns of the IBM punched card into significant categories. 

 (Refer to the Illustration of the IBM punched card in the Appendix. ) Thus, to cite an example, of the 

 total 80 IBM punched card columns available, the CBCC established that one column (Column II) was 

 to be reserved for only one category of Information, the solvent of the test compound. Since nothing 

 else might be recorded at that position on the card, any symbol being punched in that column must 

 refer to a solvent and can not represent a taxonomy phylum or organ system, nor have any other 

 meaning. 



Each of these categories Is referred to as a coding "field", being restricted to a single desig- 

 nated ("fixed") area or field of the IBM punched card. Each field bears a strict definition of the cate- 

 gory of information that can be coded in it. (In a few fields, the CBCC codes two categories of 

 information when one or both categories has so few items that no coding interference occurs. Examples 

 are Fields A, B, F, K, O, P, and W. ) The division of the total Biology Code Into fields is discussed 

 in the following section. The alphabetical designations of the fields has no significance except as a 

 convenient reference. These designations were made after the various categories had been arranged in 

 what seemed a convenient sequence for reading the information. Whether the sequence seems equally 

 convenient to everyone is perhaps no more important than whether the position of keys on a typewriter 

 suits everyone's fancy; the significant fact is that they are fixed and the coder and interpreter soon 

 learn their positions. Throughout the Code and Key, the fields are referred to by their alphabetical 

 designations except when it has seemed clearer to refer to them by naming the information category. 



It may be understood, then, that the total Biology Code is really a composite of many independ- 

 ent codes. Field A represents a code for physical states of chemicals, Field H is a code for gross 

 anatomical structures. Field T-2 is a code for biological states, qualities, or processes which can 

 be caused or affected by chemicals, etc. 



Many of these codes (i. e. , independent fields of the CBCC Biology Code) could be used 

 independently and for purposes other than indexing chemical-biological test Information. The Taxonomy 

 Code (Field E) might be used for terms of a card index of organisms or information on organisms; the 

 Tumor Code (also Field E), the code for organs (Field H), the code for tissues (Field I), etc. , each 

 might be used independently. On the other hand, certain of the Biology Code fields would be of dubious 

 value extracted from the Code; for example, the code for the action of the test compound (Field T-1) 

 has little meaning except when used with an item of Field T-2 indicating the biological state, quality, 

 or process acted on. 



The purpose of the CBCC Biology Code (to refer to the several codes or "fields" collectively 

 again) is not cryptogrammic, but documentary; its objective is the indexing of information from chemical- 

 biological tests, using the specially adapted language of symbols. Therefore, each of the coding 

 fields should be regarded as an indexing criterion for storage of information ("documentation"). For 

 example, all chemical-biological tests must involve a biological system, either an organism or a tumor 

 or pathology of an organism; by the use of symbols of Field E, all information recorded by the CBCC is 

 indexed according to the organism, the tumor, or the pathology. 



If all information related to a specified organism were wanted and if the arrangement of the file 

 had no relationship to organisms, the only means of sorting out the information desired without dis- 

 rupting the established order of the file (arranged according to chemicals, e. g. ) would be by examining 

 each card for the organism name. To do this manually becomes impractical, if the file is of any size 

 and if such a search is to be made repeatedly. Two alternatives exist, (1) duplicating the cards of 

 the initial file and establishing a second file in which the cards are arranged according to a test 

 organism classification or (2) marking the cards in the original file so that organisms' identities are 

 "recognized" by a mechanical apparatus such as an IBM sorter. The second of these alternatives, 

 made practical by speed of machines, is actually equivalent to the first alternative; in other words, 

 both represent a file of information indexed by organisms . An advantage of the latter is that the two 

 Indexes ([1] the index according to which the cards are arranged in the file and [2] the organism index) 

 are contained in a single set of cards, representing conservation of storage space. In addition, in- 

 formation might be wanted related to specified anatomical parts, biological responses, routes of 

 administration, dose size, etc. , as well as organism and chemical identities. In the case of each of 

 these, the information could be efficiently sorted from the information collection only by a special 

 file indexed by that criterion (anatomical part, biological response, etc. ) and, as in the case of the 

 organism index described above, each can be established within a single file of cards by marking the 

 anatomical part, the biological response, etc. on each card so that it can be recognized and sorted 

 by a mechanical apparatus. 



