PERIODICAL PUBLICATIONS 239 



appears iu very different situations; and would thus be saved 

 much of the unnecessary trouble which every systematic worker 

 has experienced. 



I am curious to know what value is to be attached to the dates 

 printed at the foot of each sheet or part of a sheet in Prof. E. L. 

 Greene's Fittonia. This magazine is issued in parts in the ordinary 

 way, but the dating is remarkable. For example, vol. iv. part 20, 

 "January-April, 1899," is thus allocated at the foot of the pages : 

 Pages 1-8, 5 Jan. 1899. Pages 25-40, 17 March, 1899. 

 „ 9-16, 31 Jan. „ „ 41-52, 11 April, „ 



„ 17-24, 7 Feb. „ 

 The breaks mostly occur in the middle of a genus — " A fascicle of 

 New Violets," for example, is thus divided, and so is Anteunaria. 

 Are these dates to be accepted as vaUd for citation ? They are 

 recognized as such by American botanists, and what is known as 

 the " Check-list " was issued in sheets, each bearing a date. It 

 would seem to me that the distribution of such fragments ranks 

 with the sending out of "advance copies" of a paper or monograph, 

 and that the true date of pubUcation is that at which the work is 

 obtainable by the public. 



It would, I think, tend to convenience if every plate published 

 in a periodical bore the name of the periodical, as well as the 

 volume and date : only in this way can plates be traced which have 

 become separated from the accompanymg text. The name of the 

 Botanical Magazine appears neither on plate nor letterpress; nor 

 does the name of the plant figured appear on the plate. Each 

 folio of the text is, however, dated ; but Hooker't! Icones Plantarnm 

 has not even this aid to identification, and neither text nor plates 

 bear the faintest indication of the method of their publication. The 

 date of the issue of each part is given on the title-page of the 

 volumes. 



Indexing. 



The Bidletm of Miscellaneous Information is now adequately, 

 almost lavishly, indexed. For example, in 1891— the period at 

 which " it was found necessary to publish it monthly "—an index 

 to the first five volumes was issued, followed five years later by 

 another general index, which included the preceding and the subse- 

 quent five volumes. It may be well to note that these two mdexes 

 are made on different principles, so that the entries in the 1891 

 index do not necessarily appear in the one issued in 1896. Should 

 a third be issued later, embracing the two former, the compiler 

 would do well to rearrange the material ; the entries under " Africa," 

 for example, seem to be in three alphabets, besides a fourth under 

 "African"; the whole, indeed, needs the revision which it will 

 doubtless receive. Meanwhile each volume is fully indexed, not 

 without the kind of cross-reference dear to cataloguers, e.<j, : — 

 " Library Association, visit to Kew, 200 



[see Kew) " : 



when we follow the latter instruction, all that rewards us is 

 " Kew, visit of Library Association, 200," 



