xii.] A LIBRARIAN'S WORK. 259 



particles ; and the head-line is left blank, so that if the 

 author is ever discovered, his name may be inserted 

 there, enclosed within brackets. In former times it 

 was customary for the cataloguer to enter such works 

 under what he deemed to be the most important word 

 of the title, or the word most likely to be remem- 

 bered ; but in practice this rule has been found to 

 cause great confusion, since people are by no means 

 sure to agree as to the most important word. To 

 some it may seem absurd to enter an anonymous 

 Treatise on the Best Method of preparing Adhesive 

 Mucilage under the word " Treatise " rather than 

 under " Mucilage " ; but it should be remembered that 

 he who consults an alphabetical catalogue is supposed 

 to know the title for which he is looking ; and, in our 

 own library at least, any one who remembers only 

 the subject of the work he is seeking can always refer 

 to the catalogue of subjects. 



To treat more extensively of such points as these, 

 in which none but cataloguers are likely to feel a 

 strong interest, would not be consistent with the pur- 

 pose of this article. For those who wonder what a 

 librarian can find to do with his time, enough hints 

 have been given to show that the task of "just 

 cataloguing a book" is not, perhaps, quite so simple 

 as they may have supposed. These hints have 



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