228 Memorial of George Disown Goode. 



and tlieir temporary labels, catalogue numbers, and registers are easily 

 brought into relation with those of the permanent museum series. Pri- 

 vate collectors, no matter how small their field of activity, are in duty 

 bound to follow the same methods of record. 



12. The principles crudely stated above may require modification, but 

 the fundamental ideas are applicable to collections of every kind, public 

 and private ; and the owner of any interesting object, be it picture, manu- 

 script, decorative object, or heirloom, should be urged to label his 

 possessions for the benefit and protection of posterity. 



13. What is inscribed upon the specimen is properly a " mark; " what 

 is attached to it upon a card or its equivalent is properly a ' ' label. ' ' 

 The term ' ' etiquette," used in France, Germany, and upon the Continent 

 generally is equivalent to our ' ' label. ' ' But neither the term ' ' etiquette ' ' 

 nor its equivalent ' ' ticket, ' ' though the last is allowable in the same sense 

 as " label," is often used by those who speak English. 



In practice it is convenient to speak of the inscription which serves to 

 identify an individual specimen, whether inscribed upon it or attached to 

 it, as its " label." Thus the individual or " specimen label " should be 

 clearly distinguished from the "exhibition label," which has quite a 

 different function and which ought to have a more distinctive name. 



VIII.— RECORDS, CATALOGUES, AND SPECIMEN 



LABELS. 



A. — MUSEUM RECORDS. 



1 . The value of a collection depends in the highest degree upon the 

 accuracy and fullness of the records of the history of the objects which 

 it contains. 



2. A museum specimen without a history is practically without value, 

 and had much better be destroyed than preserved. 



Comment. — There will be many legitimate exceptions to this rule, but it can do 

 no harm to state it forcibly, since the museum curator is more likely to err on the 

 side of saving too much. 



B. — CATAI^OGUES OR REGISTERS. 



1 . A museum catalogue is a numerical list or register in which each 

 specimen is recorded, under a separate number, in connection with which 

 are entered all the facts known in regard to its history. 



2. The catalogtie should be sitpplemented by a file case, in which 

 should be preserved notes, letters, or papers relating to each specimen 

 classified under the catalogue number. 



3. The numerical register may advantageously be supplemented by 

 card catalogues systematically arranged. 



4. In a large museum, or one of a varied character, it is desirable that 

 there should be separate catalogues or registers for the several depart- 

 ments, each with a separate series of numbers. 



