86 



SCIENCE 



[Vol. V., No. 104. 



eighteen inches may be too little; but here an assured 

 minimum of ten, or even eight inches, would rub 

 farming of all its terrors. 



S. E. MOFFETT. 

 Kingsburg, Fresno county, Cal., 

 Jan. 13. 



The use of slips in scientific correspondence 



To find that different workers have independently 

 reached the same conclusions, or that they have 

 adopted the same expedients to facilitate their work, 

 is an evidence of the justness of the conclusions, or 

 the excellence of the expedients. This reflection is 

 suggested by the perusal of Professor Wilder's note 

 of above title in Science of 16th inst , p. 44. At the 

 time (May 15, 1867) when Professor Wilder announced 

 to the Boston society of natural history his use of 

 slip-notes, I remarked that I bad used slips in a simi- 

 lar manner; and now I can say that my principal 

 colleague in the editorship of Psyche, Dr. George 

 Dimmock, has for a long time exchanged with me, 

 and probably with others, correspondence-slips for 

 purposes similar to those described by Professor Wil- 

 der, and that I have used the card-catalogue system 

 with profit for all the purposes mentioned by Profes- 

 sor Wilder and for others. 



The essential features of slip-systems for filing away 

 notes are the use of a standard or uniform size of 

 paper for all purposes, and the entry of but one sub- 

 ject on a slip. After many and various experiments 

 in the attempt to combine these features with others 

 which are desirable, I have found the following ar- 

 rangement the most convenient for all files which are 

 not kept as card-catalogues purely. I procure thin 

 manila sheets, 23 by 15 centimetres, or about 9 by 6 

 inches, which are perforated with a cutting-punch 

 near the left margin, at distances of 13.5 centimetres 

 from the right margin, and 2.5, 7.5, 16, and 21 centi- 

 metres from the lower edge. 1 Any number of these 

 can be bound together by shaking them into place, and 

 passing a twine or thread through the perforations, 

 which all correspond. Slips, of whatever size or 

 shape, not exceeding 23 by 13.5 centimetres in size, 

 can be lightly attached to the right-hand pages by mu- 

 cilage on two or more corners of the slip. These can 

 be extended, rewritten, or removed, without removing 

 the sheets to which they are attached. The whole of 

 the left-hand page serves for catch-words, cla^sifica- 

 tory headings and sub-headings, or whatever matter 

 of similar character may be desired, referring to the re- 

 verse of the page. New leaves can be inserted, or old 

 ones removed; in a short time, while at all times the 

 notes have the advantage of being in book form, and 

 free from the dangers of accidental displacement, as, 

 for instance, by a gust of wind, or by dropping the 

 package. For rapidity and ease of reference, I know 

 of no better system. The removal of slips from en- 

 velopes, and replacing them, take a great deal of 

 time; and the keeping of slips in card-catalogue form 

 prevents a rapid survey of the material in hand. If 

 it is desired to spread the whole material out on one 

 surface, the strings can be withdrawn from the leaves. 



The same manila sheets can be used for mounting 

 newspaper scraps for permanent preservation; and 

 pamphlets, circulars, etc., can be perforated with cor- 

 responding holes, so that all may be tied together in 

 any sequence desired, and temporary covers, simi- 

 larly perforated, may be placed on each brochure. * 



B. Pick man Mann. 



Washington, D.C., Jan. 19, 1885. 



1 For an article by me on standard boles for temporary bind- 

 ing, see Library journal, January, 1883, vol. viii. pp. 6, 7. 



THE DECADENCE OF SCIENCE ABOUT 

 BOSTON. 



A Bostonian, proud of the scientific fame 

 of his native place, and yet only too familiar 

 with empty benches at the ordinary scientific 

 assemblages, and to whom the election of new 

 members, ' postponed for want of a quorum/ 

 is a standard event, when he visits Baltimore 

 and Washington, begins to ask whether the 

 sceptre has not departed from Israel. He is 

 thereafter a little shy about inviting a brother 

 physicist from Baltimore to attend a meeting 

 of the academy, or taking a naturalist from 

 Washington into a session of the natural his- 

 tory societ}\ To a friend about to visit the 

 national capital, he unburdens himself with 

 sad forebodings of the decadence of science 

 at home ; but ' tell it not in Gath,' he whis- 

 pers as he parts. Nevertheless, it is an open 

 secret. 



The actual state of things is simply this, — 

 that the meetings of scientific societies at 

 Washington and at Baltimore are much more 

 numerous and more specialized than at Boston 

 and Cambridge, and present at nearly every ses- 

 sion a more varied and interesting assortment 

 of papers, which receive wider and freer dis- 

 cussion at the hands of much larger audiences. 

 So far as interest and attendance go, the meet- 

 ing in the southern city is what it formerly 

 was in the northern ; and it is a pleasant and 

 yet sad reminiscence of earlier and better days 

 for a scientific man from Massachusetts to 

 visit his confreres at the south. He sees again 

 the freshness and eagerness he was wont to 

 see at home. The audience does not sit 

 around the rear door, hat in hand. 



It is not eas}' to see the exact reason for all 

 this changed aspect of affairs in the north. 

 Assuredly, never was more expected of science 

 than at the present da} T . All men attend her 

 words. Is it that each specialist has become 

 so engrossed in the little corner of the universe 

 he cultivates that he can scarcelj* see beyond 

 that corner, and must needs keep to it even 

 when he shows its products ? Yet why should 

 one's mental horizon be narrower at Boston 



