502 Journal of Applied Microscopy. 



jotted down there is a place for it under A, B, C, etc. And one subsequently 

 hunts for such a note just as he would look up a word in the dictionary. 



It is truly a system which is always complete, but never done. In order to 

 have a portable card catalogue for field work, the writer had a small box made 

 of double-strength tin, properly japanned and fitted with leather sling, which 

 proves to be a very great convenience. It is small enough to drop into the 

 corner of one's grip, yet large enough to carry the working notes of a state. 

 When congested, there is an overflow set of drawers. Such notes are always in 

 alphabetical order, and, besides, closely related notes under A, B, C may be 

 grouped together, for which purpose regular folders are furnished by the bureaus. 

 The varied and limitless possibilities of the card catalogue system must be told 

 by the professional librarian ; the writer must be content to write as an amateur 

 to amateurs. But this much is certain, anyone can begin, and can soon grow 

 into the system, and can modify it in a great variety of ways to meet his indi- 

 vidual wants. For example, clippings may be dropped into envelopes of the 

 same size as the cards, and arranged with them in alphabetical order. Invoice 

 and order blanks are printed upon them in every university, and as a result 

 one's invoice is always written up to date. One's mailing list and exchange list 

 should be kept in the same way, for the little cards act as a tickler to remind 

 one of his debits and credits. At another time the writer hopes to draw upon 

 his tin box for certain notes on the fossiliferous rocks and deposits in the state, 

 and the sectioning and microscopic work which the students are doing in 



connection with them. 



Erwin H. Barbour. 

 The University of Nebraska. 



A Microscope for Micro-chemical Analysis. 



It is rather remarkable how slow American chemists have been in realizing 

 the importance of the microscope as an adjunct to every chemical laboratory. 

 This is, perhaps, largely due to the fact that few of our students in chemistry 

 become familiar with the construction and manipulation of this instrument, just 

 as few of them become sufficiently familiar with the spectroscope and its mani- 

 fold uses ; and doubtless also because of the prevailing impression that a micro- 

 scope is primarily an instrument for the biologist and is of necessity a most 

 expensive luxury. The fact is, however, that this instrument is now far from 

 being a luxury to the chemist, and the time is not far distant when it will be 

 conceded to be as much a necessity in every analytical laboratory as is the 

 balance. 



Nor is the apprenticeship to its use in chemical work long nor intricate. 



Micro-chemical analysis should appeal to every chemist because of its neat- 

 ness, wonderful delicacy, in which it is not excelled even by the spectroscope, 

 and the expedition with which an analysis can be made. A complete analysis, 

 intricate though it may be, is a matter of a few minutes rather than of a few 

 hours. 



While there is no good reason to believe, as do some enthusiasts, that this new 



