64 THE SHORTER SCIENTIFIC PAPERS 



Character of specimen. — The nature of a specimen, 

 whether a skeleton, an anatomical preparation, a mounted 

 skin, etc., should be given. If preserved in a special man- 

 ner it is well to indicate the formula, e. g. 5% formalin; 

 70% alcohol; killed and hardened in chromosmic 3 hours, 

 preserved in 95% alcohol, etc. Explicit notes here will 

 in the end well repay the time spent in making them. The 

 back of the card will afford additional space, if needed. 



Remarks. — This space is only to be filled out when there 

 is something of particular importance to be noted con- 

 cerning the specimen, and of a nature which cannot be 

 covered under the other records. 



General suggestions. — The data, as well as their arrange- 

 ment on the cards, are naturally subject to various changes, 

 in order to conform to the requirements in different mu- 

 seums. It is well to have a blank space for each item of 

 information concerning the specimen, although often un- 

 necessary, or even inadvisable, provided there is reason to 

 doubt its accuracy, to fill it out. As in the Accession 

 Catalogue numerical guides should be placed at intervals 

 of one hundred cards, while 'side locking cards' are rec- 

 ommended. 



C. REFERENCE CATALOGUE 



The Reference Catalogue may with equal propriety be 

 termed a finding list, since its purpose is that of indicating 

 the location of each specimen which belongs to the par- 

 ticular department in the museum. The cards are ar- 

 ranged in alphabetical order, both the scientific name 

 (generic followed by specific name in the case of biological 

 specimens) , and the common name having a place on sep- 

 arate cards, the latter, however, referring to the former, 

 (e. g., opossum, see Didelphys). Furthermore, the refer- 

 ence card indicates the number of specimens of each 

 species on exhibition, or in storage, giving the number of 

 the case or storage drawer in which they are to be found. 



A single card will usually contain the data concerning 

 all material belonging to a particular species, consequently 

 the time involved in maintaining a Reference Catalogue 



