698 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1909. 
them at first hand, to make myself thoroughly familiar with them, 
and to put on memoranda. My memoranda, written out in braille 
were divided, properly speaking, into two catagories. On those 
of the first group were written all the ideas which were expressed in 
the essays. On those of the second group, all the images, character- 
istic expressions, and figures—in a word, all the peculiarities of style. 
For the last group were reserved the historical examples, the anec- 
dotes, and narratives of all kinds which swarm throughout the essays. 
Then, the three lots of memoranda were classified, each separately, 
in alphabetical order, and placed in a large box, which for many 
years remained constantly within reach of my hand. 
All these memoranda were written out in relief in braille char- 
acters. The characteristic word of each of them, that which served 
to give it its place in the alphabetical classification, was written at 
the bottom. Thus, all being placed upside down on a slightly in- 
clined plane it was only necessary for me to run my fingers rapidly 
over the edge which they presented toward me in order to imme- 
diately discover in these rather high piles the memorandum which 
I needed. The search did not take any more time, I believe, than 
would have been demanded of a practiced eye. Seated before my 
boxes, I had only to read over again the books with which Montaigne 
might have been acquainted. Every time that I was struck by an 
idea, an image, or an example which I had encountered in the essays, 
I extended my hand toward the memorandum on which this par- 
ticular was written. This having been found, referred me to the 
exact page of Montaigne and permitted me to verify my recollection. 
If, as I supposed, there was a citation or allusion, I wrote my dis- 
covery, always in braille, on the memorandum, where several lines 
had been reserved for the purpose. 
T should have read also, in order that my inquiry should be fruitful, 
nearly everything that had chanced to interest Montaigne—and his 
mind was one of insatiable curiosity. In his time Latin and Greek 
literature were almost entirely vulgarized, and his education inclined 
him particularly to borrow from the ancients. In addition, he read 
many French and Italian books. It was necessary for me, therefore, 
to pursue my inquiries in the Greek, Latin, French, and Italian works 
then published. The first point was to discover their titles by means 
of bibliographical aids which I had collected. The second was to 
search in the public libraries for books which might interest me, for 
these books were often very rare. Many of them have not been re- 
printed since the sixteenth century. For those which have been, it 
was necessary to have recourse to editions of that time, which some- 
times differ materially from those which have been put out since. 
It is not necessary to remark that all these were not transcribed in 
braille. I was not able, therefore, to read these works, but had 
