75U 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XXI. No. 541. 



own time; but the groups first done could be 

 published, without waiting for the others. 

 The publication of the lists would be rather 

 expensive, and would have to be undertaken 

 by some institution. Whether the work itself 

 could be done by volunteers, I do not know; 

 but if any money could be obtained in pay- 

 ment for it, it would probably be easier to 

 find workers. 



2. At present new species of animals are de- 

 scribed in all sorts of publications, in conse- 

 quence of which it often becomes expensive or 

 difficult to obtain the descriptions relating to 

 any one group. It might be a very good plan 

 if all descriptions of new species and varieties 

 of North American animals were published 

 (or republished) in a single series, on leaflets 

 somewhat like those issued by the Biological 

 Society of Washington. It might be so ar- 

 ranged that each leaflet should include only a 

 single species or variety, or perhaps only those 

 of a single genus, and each might be sold at 

 a stated price. One could then subscribe for 

 all the new descriptions pertaining to a cer- 

 tain genus, family or order, and receive them 

 immediately upon publication. They could be 

 bound up, when numerous enough, in any way 

 that proved convenient; e. g., all the new ani- 

 mals from Colorado, or all the new mammals 

 from Xorth America. The descriptions 

 should, of course, be published promptly, and 

 strictly in the order of their receipt at the 

 editorial office. All descriptions of reputable 

 authors should be accepted, but it would be 

 appropriate to make certain rules, applicable 

 to all; thus it might be required that the de- 

 scriptions should be reasonably complete, or 

 not conspicuously incomplete; that the exact 

 locality and collector's name should be given, 

 if ascertainable; and that comparison should 

 be made with allied species. The same plan 

 would be equally applicable to plants, of 

 course. A special series of leaflets, issued 

 with the others, might be devoted to the pro- 

 posal of synonymy, or of new combinations. 

 How much financial support such a plan would 

 require I do not know; perhaps it would pay 

 for itself, or nearly. It would probably not 

 be necessary to take any special steps to per- 

 suade authors to send their new descriptions 



for publication in the leaflets; the majority 

 would doubtless soon do so as a matter of 

 course, while those who did otherwise would 

 find their descriptions reprinted in the regular 

 series. T. D. A. Cockerell. 



BouLDEE, Colorado. 



SPECIAL ARTICLES. 



X CARD IXDEX STOCK LIST FOR USE IX UNIVERSITY 

 DEPARTMENTS OF ORGANIC CHEMISTRY. 



One of the administrative difficulties con- 

 fronting the head of a university department 

 of organic chemistry is the proper listing of 

 the great variety of chemicals carried in stock, 

 and constantly accumulating year by year as 

 the result of the various investigations con- 

 ducted in the laboratory. The troubles of the 

 organic chemist in this respect are much 

 greater than those of his inorganic colleague, 

 for he must carry in stock not only about all 

 the chemicals required by the inorganic chem- 

 ist, but his own innumerable organic chem- 

 icals as well. In the larger universities, this 

 accumulation of stock in the departments of 

 organic chemistry amounts to many thousand 

 lots, generally distributed in various rooms — 

 the general stock rooms and closets, the main 

 laboratory, the research rooms, the rooms of 

 the officers of the department, the chemical 

 museum, and elsewhere; in all kinds of con- 

 tainers, large and small, boxes, crocks, bottles, 

 specimen tubes, and the like. To classify and 

 list this mass of scattered material in such a 

 way that an instructor can tell in a few mo- 

 ments whether a certain chemical is available 

 in the depax'tment, and if so, in what amount 

 and quality, and, further, to keep such a list 

 constantly up to date, in spite of daily removal 

 of stock and addition of new material, is not 

 a simple task, as I think most of my colleagues 

 will admit. And yet, without such a list more 

 or less confusion is likely to result, and much 

 valuable time will be wasted in pawing over 

 a lot of bottles or specimen tubes in a vain 

 search for a compound which is not in stock 

 at all or can not be found, or, in other cases, 

 for substances which, when found, prove to be 

 too impure or too small in amount to be of 

 any use. In this country, the failure to keep 



