66 



Java, in type area I. No. 5015 p shows that the specimen was collected at 

 an altitude of between 1,000 and 2,000 meters in the geographical region 

 of West Java in type area p. It is needless to state that these type areas 

 are most carefully localized geographically so that the citation of the 

 number and letter shows at once the exact geographical locality. 



For each of the twenty-seven type areas that have been studied in Java 

 a separate catalogue has been prepared. Each catalogue contains a sketch 

 map of the type area, a short description of the reserved plot, its exact 

 geographical location, exact altitudes of the more prominent geographical 

 features in the area, the numbers and data regarding all the trees re- 

 corded, etc. When the trees are originally numbered it very often hap- 

 pens that a specimen may have neither flower nor fruit, one or both of 

 which are generally essential for purposes of accurate identification, and 

 hence it is often necessary to visit the type area again in three or six 

 months to secure the necessary herbarium material. A competent native 

 collector can be used for this purpose, and .the original collection or "con- 

 trolling material" that was secured when the tree in question was num- 

 bered is an exact check on the accuracy of the second collection. 



In collecting botanical material at the time the trees in one of the type 

 areas are being numbered, it often happens that it is desirable to prepare 

 botanical specimens of a certain species, and at the same time it is not 

 advisable to number the specimen in question, especially with small 

 shrubs, herbaceous plants, grasses, etc. In this case the specimen re- 

 ceives a field number, but of a sequence not reserved for any of the type 

 areas, and the number of such a specimen is always followed by an as- 

 terisk, which shows at once that the herbarium specimen in question was 

 not secured from a numbered tree. 



With large and separately numbered collections from each of the twenty- 

 seven type areas that have been studied in Java, not to mention the 

 great amount of botanical material that has been collected outside of the 

 type areas, it is very evident that some special method of recording must 

 be devised. At Buitenzorg, when a collection is brought in from the 

 field, the field number is reserved on the original specimen and entered in 

 a special column in the museum catalogue. At the same time each spec- 

 imen receives a new number and letter, the permanent herbarium or mu- 

 seum number which is written on the label with red ink and which is en- 

 tirely independent of the field number. This permanent or herbarium 

 number is the one under which the specimen is permanently entered in 

 the herbarium catalogue, is the only number ever referred to in publica- 

 tions, and is the only number used in the distribution of duplicates, etc. 



