656 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XLII. No. 1088 



The present writer has recently had an op- 

 portunity to examine in a traveling nmseum a 

 mounted 36-foot specimen of Oetorhinus max- 

 imus taken in Monterey Bay, California. This 

 had a thick and stout but very marked snout, 

 bluntly conical in shape, which projected at 

 least 15 inches in front of the upper jaw and 

 from 18-20 inches over the lower jaw. It is 

 interesting that such a marked structure should 

 have so long escaped notice, but on the other 

 hand opportunities to examine this giant shark 

 come very rarely to properly trained natural- 

 ists. However, it seems from the above data 

 that Jordan's name, elephant shark, is by no 

 means a misnomer. E. W. Gudgeh 



State Normal College, 

 Greensboro, N. C. 



labeling chemical specimens 

 Probably every teacher of chemistry makes 

 some use of samples of chemical elements and 

 compounds in his lectures. In some cases, the 

 set of specimens may have been purchased 

 complete, in uniform style containers, with 

 systematic and uniform labeling. Quite often, 

 however, the additions to a chemical museum 

 are made gradually, and as a result the col- 

 lection may consist of all sorts, sizes and 

 varieties of containers with an equally varied 

 assortment of labels. When a set of speci- 

 mens grows in this way, one can scarcely make 

 use of serial numbers alone. An expansible 

 system is necessary. The writer has used such 

 a system for several years, with increasing 

 satisfaction. 



This labeling system has so far been used 

 only for elements and inorganic compounds. 

 It corresponds in principle to the usual library 

 method of labeling books. A chemical catalogue 

 of a leading firm was used as the source of the 

 names. The list of chemicals being really 

 quite comprehensive, it was possible to give a 

 label number to the name of each substance 

 one would ever be likely to include in a col- 

 lection, writing these label numbers directly 

 into the catalogue. The list of the chemical 

 elements, in alphabetical order, was taken as 

 the starting point. Names of elements begin- 



ning with the same letter are given serial 

 numbers, as for example, magnesium is called 

 M 1 ; manganese, M 2 ; mercury, M 3 ; molyb- 

 denum, M 4 ; aluminium, A 1 ; and ammonium 

 compounds are placed under A 2. Specimens 

 of the elements are labeled thus : Aluminium, 

 A 1.0. When several kinds of samples of an 

 element are included they are labeled thus: 

 Aluminium, A 1.0 sh; aluminium, A 1.0 po; 

 aluminium, A 1.0 le ; the letters " sh," " po " 

 and " le " stand respectively for " sheet," 

 " powder " and " leaf." The method of label- 

 ing compounds may be illustrated by a few 

 from the sodium list : 



Sodium acetate, cryst S 6 a 



Sodium acetate, fused S 6 a 2 



Sodium acid carbonate S 6 ca 



Sodium carbonate, dry S 6 ca 4 



Sodium chlorate S 6 ch 



Sodium chloride S 6 chl 



Sodium cyanide S 6 cy 



Sodium iodate S 6 io 



Sodium iodide S 6 io 2 



Sodium acid sulphate, powd S 6 su 



Sodium acid sulphate, fused S 6 su 3 



Sodium sulphate, cryst S 6 su 4 



Sodium sulphate, powd S 6 su 5 



Sodium sulphide S 6 sul 



Sodium acid sulphite S 6 sul 3 



Sodium sulphite, cryst S 6 sul 4 



Sodium sulphite, powd S 6 sul 5 



Sodium sulphocyanate S 6 sul 6 



Sodium thiosulphate, cryst S 6 th 



Sodium thiosulphate, powd S 6 th 2 



Where omissions occur, as between " S 6 ca " 

 and " S 6 ca 4," it is understood that other 

 compounds or different forms of the same 

 compound are to be supplied. These are, of 

 course, to be found in the complete chemical 

 catalogue. 



From these examples it may be seen that 

 the bottles, marked in this way, can always be 

 kept in alphabetical order, and can scarcely 

 be misplaced if the labels are read as to letters 

 and numbers. Any sort of helper, who knows 

 his alphabet and can count, will be able to 

 take out specimens and replace them without 

 confusion. New samples can be easily inserted 

 anywhere, and given a label which shows ex- 

 actly where it belongs. 



