A Librarian's Work. 337 



into dire confusion ; sometimes two or three sheets 

 are left out, and sometimes, where a work in ten 

 volumes is bound in five, you will find that the 

 first of these contains two duplicate copies of Vol. 

 I., while for any signs of a Vol. II. you may seek 

 in vain. In all bungling of this kind the Ger- 

 mans are worse than the French ; but both are 

 bad enough when contrasted with the English, 

 either of the Old World or of the New. 



This work of collating is in general of lower 

 grade than the work of cataloguing, and can be 

 entrusted to the less experienced or less accom- 

 plished assistants ; but to some extent it is shared 

 by all, and where difficulties arise, or where some 

 book with Arabic or Sanskrit numbering turns 

 up, an appeal to headquarters becomes necessary. 

 When a book has been collated, the date of its 

 reception and the name of the fund to which it 

 has been charged are written in pencil on the 

 back of the title-page, and at the bottom of the 

 title-page, to the left of the imprint, is written 

 some modification of the letter C, C', C, C 1 , etc., 

 which is equivalent to the signature of the assist- 

 ant who has done the collating and is responsible 

 for its accuracy. 



After this is all over, the books, still remaining 

 grouped according to their " funds," are ready to 

 22 



