COLLECTION OF SPECIMENS 159 



tendency to increase far beyond what would, at one 

 time, have seemed to be the utmost possible limit. 

 Although, therefore, to the beginner the idea of 

 having a thousand mounted slides naturally seems 

 a most unlikely consummation, I would recom- 

 mend him, if he intends to accomplish anything 

 worth the doing, to make timely provision for 

 even such a number as this. The slides should be 

 placed flat in the drawers rather than on their 

 edges ; for though the latter position is naturally 

 the more economical in the matter of space occu- 

 pied, it has two distinct disadvantages, which, to 

 my mind, prohibit its adoption. In the first place, 

 the upright position, together with the slight jar 

 involved in placing the slides in the drawer, has a 

 tendency to gradually detach the cement from the 

 edges of the cells ; then, too, it is very difficult to 

 decipher even the numbers on the labels, let alone 

 the names of the plants and other details, while 

 the mount itself is, to all intents, hidden by the 

 neighbouring slide. If, however, the slides lie flat 

 in the draw r er they evidently occupy what may 

 be called the most restful position, and more- 

 over the eye can see at a glance all that is to be 

 gathered from the information on the labels ; while 

 the objects in the cells are open to view, and 

 may even be examined with a glass without the 

 necessity of removing them from the drawer. In 

 most cabinets a couple of small porcelain tablets 

 are affixed to the outside of each drawer, on which 



