No. 384.] THE CONCILIUM BIBLIOGRAPHICUM. 927 
If one is desirous of knowing what has been published in 
regard to Faunz, one has only to look in the index to see that 
they are dealt with in section No. 19. If one is interested in 
the Celebees one can find them at division 19 (912). People 
talk of these numbers as if we expected them to be learned by 
heart, or.as if they were intended to convey information by a 
sort of symbolism. They are not one iota more complicated 
than the page references in any book index, after one has 
learned that the numbers are read successively from left to right, 
so that all numbers beginning with 1 (19, for instance) come 
before 2, etc. Personally I see no reason for regarding section 
No. 78, in which we have Anura, as in any sense more compli- 
cated as a number than section 435, where they stand in Leunis. 
Neither does it seem to me too mathematical even for zoolo- 
gists having an “aversion to numbers.” The system is a purely 
practical device and is not affected by idle talk about the theo- 
retical unsoundness of classifying by groups of tens. Equally 
irrelevant is the remark that our classification is not scientific. 
We know it is not, and we often regret that it is not less 
scientific. I am well aware that the system we use follows the 
scientific separation of Reptiles from Batrachians ; bibliographi- 
cally, this is of doubtful advantage, and the practical bibliographer 
often wishes he had some common ground where he could place 
Herpetology, before entering in upon works dealing with each 
group by itself. Not until people cease being specialists in 
regard to both Amphibians and Reptiles will the need for a 
common division also disappear. 
For purposes of subscription almost any conceivable topic 
will be received, no matter how restricted it may be, the price 
varying from one-fifth of a cent to one cent a card, according 
to the size of the order. Innumerable sets cost from ten to 
twenty cents. Such prices have been fixed in order to establish 
relations, if possible, with the whole body of zoologists. It 
seems as if under such conditions 500 subscribers ought to be 
possible in the United States alone. 
The complete series are designed rather for libraries, muse- 
ums, and laboratories. In our opinion every scientific center 
should have at least one such set. In the United States, how- 
