282 MARYLAND MEDICAL JOURNAL. 
MARYLAND MEDICAL JOURNAL 
A SEMI-MONTHLY JOURNA L OF 
MEDICINE & SURGERY, 
T. A. ASHBY, M. D., Editor. 
Subscription $3.00 Per Annum, in Advance. 
!^”Contributions, from practitioners in g-ood 
standing invited ; and advertisements, from reliable 
houses solicited. 
Address all business communications to 
J. W. BORST & CO.. Publishers, 
No. 9 S. Charles Street. 
BALTIMORE, OCTOBER 15, 1880. 
EDITORIAL. 
The Library of the Surgeon 
General’s Office.— This Library, lo- 
cated on loth street, between E and F, 
Washington, D. C., is a vast store house 
of medical knowledge. With consum- 
mate skill and management, over one 
hundred thousand volumes of medical 
and scientific works have been collected 
and filed in this library. These volumes 
are arranged with such perfect order and 
system, that within a few moments any 
one may be secured by the librarian, 
and is made ready for immediate use. 
No time is lost in searching through 
dusty shelves for any information desired, 
but by a few moments reference to a 
catalogue, provided by the librarian, the 
title of a book, its date of publication, 
number and volume are given. Re- 
cently an Index Catalogue has been 
issued by the War Department, com- 
piled under the direction of Dr. J. S. 
Billings. This catalogue will be complete 
in about ten volumes. The magnitude 
of this work may be appreciated when 
it is understood that volume I, of some 
nine hundred pages, includes only the 
letter A. to Berlinski. Congress appro- 
priated $20,000 for the preparation of the 
first two volumes; but this appropria- 
tion is entirely inadequate to complete 
the work, and additional aid must be 
rendered by the Government. This In- 
dex Catalogue includes not only the 
names of authors, but titles of original 
articles in books, medical journals and 
transactions contained in the library. It 
will thus appear that its value is immense 
to every student of medical sciences who 
may have occasion to make use of the 
library. Only a limited number of the 
Index Catalogue \\2iS been published, but 
is understood that copies maybe obtained 
from the Government printing office by 
enclosing two dollars for each volume. 
It frequently happens that the writer of 
an original article has occasion to refer 
to authorities which can only be found in 
the library of the Surgeon General’s 
office. It becomes a matter of necessity 
to visit Washington to secure the infor- 
mation desired, unless this catalogue is at 
his command. By reference to the cata- 
logue it may be ascertained whether a 
desired volume can be found in the libra- 
ry, and also the character of the various 
publications bearing upon a given sub- 
ject. By a most admirable arrangement 
at the library access to books desired 
for temporary reference may be obtained 
under a reasonable guarantee of their 
return by the reader, by the following 
handy method: A letter should be 
addressed to the librarian, giving the 
titles of books and authors, and a guar- 
antee of their return. The books desig- 
nated — if not otherwise in use — will be 
forwarded and deposited in some adja- 
cent library, where they can be examined. 
It will be observed that this plan will 
only work in cities containing large pub- 
lic libraries, where books are carefully 
guarded. However, it will often prove 
of great convenience to writers living 
at a distance from Washington. When- 
ever it is possible to visit the library in 
person, it will be found provided with 
conveniences for writing, and with ac- 
comodating and intelligent officers wil- 
ling to render any reasonable assistance. 
The great growth of medical literature, 
past and present, makes a library of 
this character an absolute necessity. 
The Government has liberally provided 
for its support; but it should be the 
pleasure and duty of every physician 
to contribute books, periodicals and 
transactions to an institution which guards 
with jealous care every donation made 
to it. The management of this library 
should be a model for the government of 
similar institutions throughout the coun- 
try. Every city, and even many small 
villages, can boast of one or more libra- 
ries containing a few hundred, or per- 
haps a few' thousand, volumes ; but as a 
rule, these books are kept with such indifi 
Botanical 
cm copyright reserved c a r 
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