200 
a species is identified the name is written in a space left at the top of 
the note, and the note is transferred to its place (m alphabetical order) 
in the group to which it belongs. The name of the authority for the 
identification of the species should appear in square brackets after the 
name of the nomenclator, thus, in the note sent: Monedula pulchella, 
Or. [Fox]. 
Not rarely it is necessary to use large sheets of paper for extended 
notes, and especially drawings. These should be preserved separately 
and indexed by notes of the usual kind placed in the regular series. 
Had this method been pursued in the past we might have been able 
to consult in one series, in a public museum or library, the notes of 
Say, Harris, Fitch, Leconte, and many others. Imagine the value and 
interest of such a collection ! Imagine the numerous little facts, hints, 
and suggestions they might have left us which are nowhere to be found 
in their published writings ! And if the notes contained nothing that 
was not published, how great the advantage of a complete index to 
their voluminous writings ! Such a collection of slip-records would be 
one of the most valuable possessions of a public library or museum, 
and care would have to be taken that it was used with discretion and 
preserved intact. 
I have alluded to this method as offering a means of preserving con- 
veniently the manuscripts of those who die ; but it has great value during 
the lifetime of the recorder. I had such a slip-index in Jamaica, and found 
it so useful that I would never now be without one. I left it in the 
Jamaica Museum for my successor, and have commenced a new series 
for the New Mexico Agricultural College. 
Further, it permits the ready tranference of records. I often receive 
(and, I trust, send) valuable bits of information in letters. All this I 
have to copy out on slips; but what a saving of labor to all parties if 
it was sent on slips, which could be incorporated in the series just as 
received ! Moreover, suppose an author of repute is preparing a mon- 
ograph. We are all delighted to help him by transmitting our obser- 
vations on his group, but often the labor of* copying them out is very 
great. By the slip method, we could just send him our slips; he could 
put them in his series until the monograph was done, and then, if 
desired, return them to their owners. Therefore, 1 commend this mat- 
ter of slip-records to your consideration, and urge you to decide what 
should be done about it. 
Mr. Hopkins, in the discussion following this paper, said he used the 
system advocated in the paper; that he kept a box of the slips con- 
stantly on his table, but that he preferred a larger slip as holding more 
and as affording room for sketches. 
Mr. Summers suggested the standard library card as preferable to 
that used by Mr. Cockerell. 
