ZOOLOGY AND BOTANY, MICROSCOPY, ETC. 



925 



knowledge of the entire history of a preparation that one is able to 

 judge with certainty of the comparative excellence of methods, and 

 thus be able to discard or improve those which are defective. The 

 teacher, as well as the investigator, should have this infoi-mation in 

 an accessible form, so that not only he but his students can obtain at 

 any time all necessary information concerning the preparations which 

 serve him as illustrations and them as examples. 



After consulting all the authorities at my disposal, and after pro- 

 fiting by the suggestions of as many investigators and teachers as 

 possible, and after a careful practical test of five years in the ana- 

 tomical laboratory of Cornell University, the following formula for 

 cataloguing and labelling microscopical preparations is offered, 

 hoping that others may find aid in the suggestions, and in return 

 help the author to eliminate what is needless and correct what is 

 defective : — 



Formula for Cataloguing Micro- 

 scopical Preparations : — 



1. The general name. 



2. The number and date of the 

 preparation and the name of the pre- 

 parator. 



3. The special name of the prepara- 

 tion; the common and scientific name 

 of the object from which it is derived. 



4. The special object of the prepa- 

 ration. 



5. The method of hardening, disso- 

 ciating, &c. 



6. The special method of prepara- 

 tion for the Microscope, viz. cut into 

 sections, spread, &c. 



7. The staining agent and the time 

 required for staining. 



8. The clearing agent and the 

 mounting medium. 



9. The objectives to use in studying 

 the preparation. 



10. Kemarks, including references 

 to good figures and descriptions. 



Formula for Labelling Microsco- 

 pical Preparations : — 



1. The number and date of the pre- 

 paration (No. 2 of catalogue). 



2. The general name (No. 1 of 

 catalogue). 



3. The name of the object from 

 which the preparation is derived. 



An actual Catalogue Card written 

 according to the Formula : — 



1. Nerve fibres. 



2. No. 31 (Drr. 11), March 21, 

 1880 ; S. H. G. preparator. 



3. Isolated medullated nerve-fibres 

 from the sciatic of the cat {FeKs domes- 

 tica). 



4. This preparation shows well the 

 axis-cylinder and the nodes of Kanvier. 



5. Dissociated 24 hours in 25 per 

 cent, alcohol. 



6. Teased or dissociated on the slide 

 with needles. 



7. Stained over-night in picro-car- 

 mtne. 



8. Cleared with turpentine and car- 

 bolic acid; mounted in chloroform 

 balsam. 



9. Use 3-4ths and higher objectives 

 (X 50). 



10. See for figures and descriptions 

 Quain's Anatomy, vol. ii. p. 141, and 

 Kanvier, ' Traite' d'Histologie,' p. 723. 



Label written according to the 

 Formula : — 



1. No. 96; 1880. 



2. Nerve-fibres. 



3. Cat. 



A very practical question arises immediately whether this cata- 

 logue shall be kept in a manuscript book or in some other form. The 

 card form of catalogue, like that employed by Prof. Wilder for ana- 

 tomical and zoological specimens, has been adopted and used during 



