722 



SUMMARY OF CURRENT RESEARCHES RELATING TO 



A cabinet of this sort, constructed to hold about 7000 preparations, 

 consists of a double tier of small drawers, and three larger ones, 

 intended for the accessories of the collection, such as catalogues, 

 drawings, &c. Each drawer is divided into four compartments by 



Fig. 150. 



Fig. 151. 



Fig. 152. 



0,45 ffl 



thin strips of wood, fig. 150. The floor of each compartment is black 

 with a white stripe running down the middle, fig. 151. This colour 

 arrangement facilitates reference, for the slides are marked with a 

 diamond point, no labels being used. Thus the black band shows up 

 the inscription, the white the specimen. The drawer labels, written 

 on card or Bristol board, are slipped into a groove let into the front 

 of the drawer, fig. 152. Thus the contents of a drawer may be re- 

 labelled with the greatest ease. 



The depth of the drawers is calculated to allow for cell-slides. 



Improved Method of Constructing Slide Cabinets.* — Mr. H. E. 

 Summers' aim in making this cabinet, was to combine the advantages 

 of the different existing cabinets, and at the same time to so simplify 

 the construction that it could be made cheaply and by an ordinary 

 carpenter, with the tools usually at his command. The advantages 

 are: — 1. Each slide should have a separate compartment. 2. The 

 slides should be easily removable. 3. They should not rest upon the 

 support immediately beneath the object. 4. They should lie flat 

 while the cabinet is in its ordinary position. 5. They should be so 

 held that the object cannot be injured if the cabinet is overturned in 

 transportation. 



The cabinet was intended for slides of the ordinary length, 3 in., 

 but of two widths, 1 in. and 2 in. The drawers are made up of strips 

 or mouldings of two forms. These are shown in section in fig. 153 

 in the relative position they occupy when joined. A slide c is also 

 shown in place. The strips a a and b b run from the front to the 

 back of the drawer. The slide c rests on the two ridges g g of the 

 strip a. Between the ridges the strip a is slightly hollowed, to 

 prevent contact of the slide beneath the object, and consequent 

 soiling. From the ridges to the edges, the strip a is levelled, so that 

 one end of the slide may be tipped up by pressure upon the opposite end, 



* Proc. Araer. Soc. Micr., 8th Ann. Meeting, 1885, pp. 108-9 (1 fig.). 



