53 INTRODUCTION. 



119. Origin of the Slip-system. It is probable that the slip-system 

 lias been devised independently by many individuals, and we are informed 

 that Mr. Folsom, the Librarian of the Boston Athenaeum, proposed the use 

 of slips in Card Catalogues at the Librarian's Convention in New York in 

 1852. As a means of recording and arranging scientific information, how- 

 ever, the first published notice known to us is the following by the senior 

 author (17), communicated to the Boston Society of Natural History, 

 May 15, 1867 : 



120. "It consists in the brief statement of facts T ideas, or references 

 to books, written upon one side of a slip of paper equal to the sixth part of 

 a sheet of note paper. 



" A few of these blanks are carried in the pocket, and advantage is th ns taken of op- 

 portunities for recording and preserving information which the time, place, or state of 

 mind would not permit to be written out in full, or which might be forgotten before a 

 fitting opportunity should occur. 



" These slips are distributed at leisure into envelopes bearing the title of the subject. 



"By keeping the slips separate, it is evident that an indefinite subdivision of each 

 general subject can be made by simply increasing the number of envelopes and redistri- 

 buting the slips. 



" The slips may be used either for simple reference, or, if in preparation of a lecture 

 or communication, by arranging them on the table in any desired order, and transcribing 

 parts of them in the form of notes ; while for a written paper they serve to indicate the 

 general order of discussing a subject. 



" The method proposed makes sure of the essential fact or idea in a brief form, and 

 the slips, being kept separate and of uniform size, may easily be arranged, carried and 

 arranged, or rearranged in any order at any time/' 



This plan was presented in a lecture at the session of the Anderson School of Natural 

 History on Penikese Island, in July 1873, and, according to a report in the N. T. Tribune, 

 " was almost universally and immediately adopted." 



121. The Use of Slips in Scientific Correspondence. The 



following is from a note by the senior author in " Science," v., p. 44, Jan. 

 16, 1885 : 



During last summer I began to use slips in another way, suggested, perhaps, by the 

 fact that postal-cards referring to a single point were frequently filed with the slip-notes 

 on the same subject. 



As compared with a letter in the usual form, such correspondence- slips present the 

 following advantages : 1. Each point may be attended to by the sender or the receiver 

 independently of others which may require more delay ; 2. Without transcription, the 

 slips may be filed with others on the same subject ; 3. The same slip, with or without 

 attachments, may be sent back and forth, or to other correspondents, for comment or in- 

 quiry ; 4. The date of each writing may be affixed by hand or by the use of Perkins' rub- 

 ber stamps or other mechanical device ; 5. If written closely or with the type-writer 

 there is usually ample space, not only for the original note, but for an answer to it, 

 if it was an inquiry; a second slip is attached if necessary; 6. It is convenient to 



