62 THE SHORTER SCIENTIFIC PAPERS 



lent arrangement is that of having all specimens from the 

 county in which the collection is located, catalogued on 

 white cards; all specimens from the state excluding the 

 county, catalogued on buff colored cards while other 

 specimens from localities outside of the state would be 

 catalogued on salmon^ colored cards. In the larger mu- 

 seums where collections are made up of specimens from 

 different parts of the world, certain colors can be used to 

 represent various regions, (nearctic, neotropical, palas- 

 arctic, etc.). Types, cotypes, etc., could be catalogued 

 on cards having the right half red, the left half in ac- 

 cordance with the color representing the particular geo- 

 graphical distribution. 



Department number. — A single department number 

 will cover a series of specimens of the same species, which 

 have been obtained at the same time in a particular local- 

 ity. This method is more satisfactory than assigning a 

 number to each individual specimen inasmuch as time 

 would be lost by such a method and no particular benefits 

 result. Should the occasion arise at a later period, a sep- 

 arate number may be assigned to any specimen. 



Accession mimber. — This should be indicated on the 

 card, in order that general information regarding the col- 

 lection may be obtained at any time. The accession num- 

 ber and department number may be indicated in connec- 

 tion with the specimens as a fraction {e. g. ^^%96) whose 

 numerator represents the accession number, and denomi- 

 nator the department number, or as a decimal (294.896), 

 or the accession number may be entirely omitted from 

 the specimens, since a reference to the department card 

 will furnish it when desired. 



Original nmnber. — This is the number which a speci- 

 men may possess on its arrival. Often times it will be the 

 field number placed on it at the time when it was collected 

 or it may refer to a number assigned in a previous collec- 

 tion. 



Number of Specimens. — This is essential in order to 

 know the amount of material in any collection. When 



■"^These colors are suggested inasmuch as the majority of manufacturers of cards 

 in the United States make them in four standard colors, white, buff, salmon, and blue. 



