LIBRARIAN'S REPORT. xvii 



The cost of distributing the above 752 copies of our Transactions to 

 institutions in all parts of the world had been $29.32, the possibility 

 of securing so widespread a distribution at so small a cost being due to 

 the courtesy of the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, Washington, 

 in extending to the Institute the privileges of the Institution's Bureau 

 of International Exchanges. 



During the year, 113 volumes, for the most part English publications, 

 had been put into the binder's hands. Including these, the Library 

 now contained 1,326 volumes bound in cloth or leather, besides 67 

 volumes in boards with paper or cloth backs, in all 1,393 bound volumes. 

 It contained besides, 271 volumes of sufficiently large size for separate 

 binding, but at present simply stitched together in paper covers, as 

 received, and a large number of volumes, at least 1,000 in Parts. The 

 labour of looking into the completeness of these volumes in separate 

 Parts, getting them completed when necessary, preparing them for the 

 binder, and so on, is very great, and consequently in the case of many 

 publications had not yet been undertaken. The Institute, as soon as funds 

 will permit, should give the Librarian a paid assistant to do such work. 



The Library had now been completely removed to the room at 

 Dalhousie College, courteously offered free of rent by the Governors of 

 that college. It had also been arranged in such a way that a visitor 

 would have no difficulty in finding any work which the Library con- 

 tained. The books are arranged under countries, labels and placards 

 indicating the cases in which the publications of the various countries 

 are to be found. In the division occupied by each country they are 

 arranged under the cities which are the seats of the societies, museums, 

 i^c., from which they come, the cities being in alphabetical order. In 

 the case of all publications in English, the shelves devoted to the various 

 cities are indicated by labels giving the name of the city and the name 

 of the society or other publishing body. The same system of labelling 

 is to be extended to the publications in foreign languages at an early 

 date. In any case in which the publications received from a society 

 are too bulky for the shelf on which they would otherwise be placed, 

 they are placed on the lowest shelf of the same division of shelving and 

 the fact is indicated by a label on the shelf on which they would 

 first be looked for, containing the name of the city and society and an 

 arrow-head pointed downwards. It is hoped that with this system of 

 arrangement members may find themselves able to get such books as 

 they may desire without difficulty even in the absence of the Librarian. 

 PROC. & TRANS. N. S. INST. Sci., VOL. X. PROC B. 



