26 REPORT ON NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1886. 



and scientific serials. A systematic effort is being made with the co- 

 operation of the Smithsonian Institution to fill up incomplete files and 

 add new periodicals by means of exchange. 



A slight change has been made in the method of keeping the record 

 of books lent and returned. The " ledger by borrowers" has been 

 discontinued, and, in place of it, the receipts or " call-cards," signed by 

 the borrowers, are carefully filed, thus serving to show what books each 

 borrower has in his possession. On the return of a book, the card is 

 returned to the borrower, and the entry on the " ledger of books issued" 

 is cancelled. This plan has been found more efficacious than the old 

 system, since by substituting two entries for three, one possible source 

 of error is eliminated. The number of books borrowed during the year 

 was 3,8G7. 



The card catalogue, by authors, has been continued as in previous 

 years. The total number of books catalogued during the year was 

 2,923, of which 553 were volumes of more than one hundred pages, and 

 the remainder pamphlets. 



The library is especially rich in scientific pamphlets, particularly 

 authors' "extras" of their publications in scientific periodicals j and it 

 is particularly important that this collection should be extended. 



The work of putting the pamphlets into covers was begun in March; 

 and at the end of the year, 1,706 pamphlets had been thus bound. 



The library is still in great need of money for the purchase of the 

 latest editions of books of reference. Its most pressing necessity, how- 

 ever, is more room for the large and constantly increasing number of 

 periodicals. 



Exchanges and Distribution of Duplicates. 



The customary distribution of duplicate specimens has been continued 

 during the year. The importance of this work was well character- 

 ized by Professor Baird in his report to the Secretary of the Institution 

 in 1861: " When it is considered that all these [specimens] have been 

 named and labelled by naturalists admitted to be of the highest authority 

 in their respective departments, and that all have thereby the character 

 and value of types, many of them belonging to species first described 

 from Smithsonian specimens, or serving as the materials of elaborate 

 monographs, it will be readily understood how much their systematic 

 and judicious distribution by the Institution all over the world must 

 conduce to the advancement of science." 



The extent of the work is shown by the table here presented. Of the 

 118 distributions included in the table, 41 were to foreign institutions 

 and individuals. 



