XIV 

 SOME CRANKS AND THEIR CROTCHETS 



" Now, by two-headed Janus, 

 Nature hath framed strange fellows in her time ! " 



Merchant of Venice, I. i. 



ABOUT five-and-twenty years ago, when I was 

 assistant librarian at Harvard University, much cf 

 my time was occupied in revising and bringing 

 toward completion the gigantic pair of twin cata- 

 logues of authors and subjects which my pre- 

 decessor, Dr. Ezra Abbot, had started in 1861. 

 Twins they were in simultaneity of birth, but not 

 in likeness of growth. Naturally, the classified 

 catalogue was much bigger than its brother, filled 

 more drawers, cost more money, and made a vast 

 deal more trouble. For while some books were 

 easy enough to classify, others were not at all easy, 

 and sometimes curious questions would arise. 



One day, for example, I happened to be looking 

 at a pamphlet on the value of Pi ; and, should any 

 of my readers ask what that might mean, I should 

 answer that Pi (TT) is the Greek letter which geo- 



