CHAPTER XXVII 
LABELING AND CATALOGUING PREPARATIONS 
THE LABEL 
We should say that the first thing to write upon a label is the 
genus and species of the plant; the next thing would be the name of 
the organ or tissue, and then might be added the date of collection, 
e.g., Marchanita polymorpha , young archegonia, January 10, 1915. 
The date of making the preparation is of no value unless the student 
is testing the permanence of stains or something of that sort. It 
is hardly worth while to write upon the label the names of the stains 
used, for the student will soon learn to recognize the principal stains. 
A hasty sketch on the label will often indicate any exceptionally 
interesting feature in the preparation. To facilitate finding such a 
feature, it is a good plan to mark the particular section or sections with 
ink, the marking being always on the underside of the slide so as 
not to cause any inconvenience if an immersion lens should be used. 
CATALOGUING PREPARATIONS 
As a collection grows, the student will need some device for 
locating readily any particular preparation. Some have their slides 
numbered and catalogued, but all devices of this sort are too cumbrous 
and slow for the practical worker in the laboratory. After thirty 
years’ experience with a collection which now numbers more than 
thirty thousand preparations, we recommend the following system: 
Four wooden slide boxes of the usual type will do for a beginning; 
they should be labeled: Thallophytes, Bryophytes, Pterido- 
phytes, and Spermatophytes. As the collection grows and new 
boxes are needed, the classification can be made more definite, e.g., 
there should be a box labeled Bryophytes Hepaticae and one labeled 
Bryophytes Musci. As the liverwort collection grows, three boxes 
will be necessary, and should be labeled Bryophytes Hepaticae 
Marchantiales, Bryophytes Hepaticae Jungermanniales, and Bryo¬ 
phytes Hepaticae Anthocerotales. It will readily be seen that the 
process can be continued almost indefinitely, and that new slides 
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