48 INTRODUCTION. 



disproved to-morrow, or superseded by more accurate descriptions, more 

 perfect drawings, and more logical discussions. 



With the ordinary note-book, or Index Rerum, all these untruths, 

 half-truths, or truisms must forever remain where they were placed. Prom 

 being merely superfluous, they soon become burdensome, then confusing, and 

 finally a source of loss and exasperation. 



Not so the slip ; the instant its usefulness is at an end, into the waste- 

 basket it goes, making room for more desirable successors. 



§ 105. Arrangement and Storage of Notes. — After trying many 

 different plans, we make the following practical suggestions : — 

 . § 106. Slip- Portfolios,* — The slip^portfolio is for holding the notes 

 upon a given subject. 



It is made from a piece of stiff Manilla paper, 16 x 13 cm., and folded over 

 a pencil so that the folded edge is left rounded. The slips are introduced, 

 the title of the subject is written along the top, and the whole is bound 

 together by a rubber band 7 cm. long by 1 mm. thick, like N"o. 372 of the 

 Price-list of the R. and W. Ec. Co. 



Such a portfolio will hold 50 slips, but usually when there are more than 

 35 they should be subdivided. 



§ 107. Subdivision of Notes. — Let us suppose that the student is 

 collecting information respecting the heart of the cat. While his notes are 

 few, all may be contained in a single portfolio. As they multiply, they 

 naturally fall into four categories relating respectively to the structure of 

 the organ, its functions, its development, and the titles of works and papers 

 treating of it. As the notes increase under each of these heads, anatomical 

 notes may be divided naturally into sets relating respectively to the appear- 

 ances which are visible to the eye, those which require the aid of the micro- 

 scope, and those which involve special hinds of manipulation, as boiling, etc., 

 in order to display the arrangement of the fibers. The macroscopic anatomy 

 may refer to the auricles, the ventricles or the valves, and each of these 

 headings may be still further subdivided. 



We see, therefore, that without the subdivision of the notes upon five 

 quite extensive topics, the heart might require the use of a dozen separg,te 

 portfolios. Since all of these concern the heart, they may all be bound 

 together by a stronger band, say ISTo. 385, 8 cm. long and 3 mm. wide ; or, 

 they might be bound in two sets, the one including all the divisions of the 

 gross anatomy, and the other the rest. 



Such a plan of subdivision is not only convenient for reference, but 

 furnishes an exercise in Natural Classification ; see p. 49, § 108. 



§ 109. Distribution. — Since it is not always convenient to assign the 



* The employment of the portfolios was suggested to us by Wm. Nichols, M.D., of 

 Boston, Mass. 



