248 J. W. GROVES, 



On Arranging and Cataloguing Microscopic Speci- 

 mens. By J. W. Groves, F.R.M.S., Hon. Sec. to the 

 Medical Micro. Soc. 



This subject seems to be one of some difficulty, from the 

 fact that most authors who have written upon it, and most 

 people who possess collections, follow different methods 

 Avithout being altogether satisfied with any of them ; more- 

 over, it is a question of importance, for upon the arrangement 

 adopted, and the convenience of the catalogue, depends the 

 space gained or wasted in the cabinet, and the comparative 

 ease or difficulty of finding any given preparation. 



Manifestly, the system to be recommended must depend 

 upon whether the collection be large or small, and also 

 whether miscellaneous or only of certain classes of specimens. 

 For small collections I am inclined to advocate an absence of 

 classification in the cabinet ; because, if a small collection be 

 miscellaneous — and it generally is — such arrangement would 

 only involve a great waste of space, without the slightest ad- 

 vantage being derived therefrom, provided only such a cata- 

 logue be adopted as the one I am about to propose. 



For large collections a systematic arrangement of the 

 specimens becomes necessary, and also, I think, more sys- 

 tematic catalogues than such as are generally written. 



In large collections — for instance, that in the Hunterian 

 Museum of the Royal College of Surgeons (the arrangement 

 of which is so well described by Dr. J. Murie in vols. I and 

 VITI of the ' Monthly Microscopical Journal,' in his excel- 

 lent article " On the Classification and Arrangement of 

 Microscopic Objects ") — I would have a separate catalogue 

 for every series or subseries in the classification of the speci- 

 mens, while for small collections one catalogue will generally 

 suffice. 



By the method ordinarily adopted, if one does not happen 

 to know the slide required by its general appearance, it is 

 necessary to examine several under the microscope, or at any 

 rate to read the labels of several, before it is found, and con- 

 sequently much loss of time is involved : whereas, by my 

 method, which is of universal application and very simple, 

 one has only to refer to the proper heading in the catalogue 

 or index, and so to pick out the very preparation wanted 

 without further trouble. Thus it is evident that my method 

 is of extreme use to those who, like myself, frequently have 

 to demonstrate certain points of structure to a class. 



As my own collection is comparatively small, miscellaneous. 



