216 EDITORIAL 
to its best advantage when lying open, flat, and unwrinkled. 
But the single page plates of the quartos can easily, in many 
cases, be folded across the middle and tipped in, without in the 
least diminishing their value to those who use the books. | In 
other cases, of small fossils, for example, plates can just as well 
be made of smaller size. The gain by decrease in the size of 
the volume far outweighs any inconvenience arising from the fold- 
ing of maps or plates. 
2. When printed on good paper the leaves open properly, 
while in the octavos they are too rigid. 
We reply that it is no serious matter to find flexible thin 
paper on which good printing can be done. 
3. Books to be taken into the field can be cut apart so that 
-the parts wanted can be carried without inconvenience. 
We reply. The suggestion that one cut up his book comes 
from those who have as many copies as they may need at their 
disposal. The private individual who has to pay for the books 
and maps, or who has much difficulty in getting them, rarely 
feels like tearing out maps or a dozen pages from his volume 
because it is wanted in the field on a certain trip. He will 
either take the whole book along or leave it behind. 
4. Big books look better than little ones. 
We are not disposed to discuss the looks of books. The 
question with which we are concerned at present is one of serv- 
ice to geologists and to tnose who look to us for help. Books 
made for display—‘‘editions de looks,” as Lowell might say, 
more especially when the form interferes with their usefulness — 
are not for the serious minded geologist. We do not mean to 
imply that the appearance of geological books should be alto- 
gether disregarded, but simply that their utility should not be 
sacrificed to the vanity of authors, or to the book’s solemn 
ottum cum dignitate. 
But we go further: We maintain that big books are incon- 
venient in the library, on account of the room they occupy 
both upon the shelf and when in use upon the table, and on 
account of their coming to pieces after a little use. Every 
