138 LECTURES. 



namely, by bringing at once and on the same sbeet before the eyes 

 of the inspector nearly all that he can require. 



If he wishes to enter more deeply into the subject, if neither the 

 examination of the map alone, nor the comparison of it with prece- 

 dent and subsequent maps, nor our notes should satisfy him, then we 

 must refer him to our library; for anything beyond this he must, of 

 course, look to the treasures of science at large, to the great libraries 

 and scientific depots of the learned world. A collection like ours 

 has fulfilled its duty, and sufficiently asserted its right to exist, when 

 it brings to some degree of concentration and perfection a well defined 

 class of documents for the elucidation of the history of the Ameri- 

 can continent. 



XV. — EXTERIOR ARRANGEMENT. 



As the interior organization, so also the exterior arrangement, of 

 such a comprehensive collection of documents as we propose, has 

 its difficulties, particularly because it will be a changing, progressive, 

 and growing collection, and we must be prepared for a perpetual and 

 rapid increase. 



The principal law of such a collection ought therefore to be,_ that, 

 although it is necessary at once to classify and organize, (for without 

 this, our little collection could not be rendered immediately useful,) 

 yet we should not make too permanent and unalterable preparations. 

 FliaUUty must he the x^rincipal quality of our arrangements. 



The first consequence dictated by this law would therefore be that 

 the rooms assigned for our collection should be a little more spacious 

 than would be necessary for the number of maps which may be de- 

 posited there at first. Yet they need not and ought not to be very 

 lofty, because the receptacles for the maps should not be so. 



These latter should not be higher than a man, so that the maps 

 could be reached easily, and handed down with one short move- 

 ment to the tables of exhibition, which in all cases should be near 

 the respective depots. The use of ladders, staircases, &c., should l>e 

 altogether dispensed with. 



The repositories of the maps should, therefore, along their whole 

 range be accompanied by a series of broad tables on which to exhibit 

 the maps. The space between these ranges of repositories and tables 

 must be a little broader than is usual in libraries, in which the objects 

 to be exhibited are generally smaller. A particular attention should 

 be given to light, and this point is with us even more important than 

 in libraries, because maps olfer often very minute objects, slender lines, 

 and fine handwriting. In a word, well lighted, spacious, and not 

 very lofty rooms, would meet all the necessities of such a collection as 

 ■we propose. 



In some chartographical depots the system has been adopted of 

 making every map into a roll, fastened with strings. These rolls are 

 labeled on one end, and on the label is written in brief the title and 

 number of the map. The rolls in every class or division of the collec- 



