( 229) 
REPORT OF THE LIBRARIAN. 
To THE DrIRECTOR-IN-CHIEF. 
Str: I have the honor to submit the following report on 
the Library, covering the period from January 1, 1903, to 
January I, 1904. 
A census of the library was taken on December 28, and 
the number of bound volumes was then found to be 14,591, 
showing an increase for the year of 1,656 volumes. Of 
these, 513 volumes were purchased by the special book fund, 
278 volumes were purchased by the library appropriation, 
493 volumes were presented to the Garden and 17 volumes 
were deposited by Columbia University, the remainder being 
acquired through subscription or exchange. 
During the year 985 volumes have been bound, of which 
148 volumes were serials and pamphlets deposited at the 
Garden by Columbia University. 
The card-catalogue has been kept up to date; about 5,000 
written cards have been added to it. Besides the set of 
cards of the Zudex to recent literature relating to American 
éotany, published by the Torrey Botanical Club, that is 
sorted into the general card index, the Library also main- 
tains a complete set of this index in a separate series. This 
is also the case with the Card-index of genera, species 
and varieties of plants published since 1885, compiled by 
Josephine A. Clark, and the Judex botanique universel 
published by the Herbier Boissier. The overcrowding of 
the cards in the case used heretofore necessitated the con- 
struction of a special card-index case against one of the piers 
in the reading room, and this new case was put in place by 
the Library Bureau early in the year and the cards moved 
into it. The subject catalogue has been notably increased. 
During the year the book-cases built into the reading room 
in 1902 have been filled, this necessitating the rearranging 
and moving of a number of books, which was deferred till 
the early part of the year, when steel shelving for nearly one 
