Page:Science vol. 5.djvu/100

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��eiehtecii iiicliea may be Uxt littiP ; but here an assur mlnlmiiin of (eii, or even elgbi inches, would r lanniiig of all itj' terrors.

��The v

��> of Blips in ecientilic coireapondenoe

��To Bod that different workers iiave iiidepeiideiitly reaclieil Ihe same conoluslon!, or Itmt lliey have adopted the aame expedients to facilitate their work. 1b an evidence of the jiiatness of the conclusions, or the excellence of the expedients. This reflection is

��time (May 15, 1887) when Prufessor Witd«r announced to the Boston society of iinUiral history hi» uie of Blip-notes, I remarked that I had used slips in a slml-

��collesgue iu the editorehlp of Pitj/che, Dr. George Dimmock, has for a long Iline exchanged with mc, and probably with others, con'espoiidence-sllps for purpoBr'B 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.

��,__. ... ftsllp. 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 flies which are not kept as card -catalogues purely. I pivcure thin mauila 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 IS.-i centimetres from the right margin, and 2.5, 7.S, 10, luid ^1 centl-

��pauiiig a twine or thread Ihrouch the perforations, which all correspond. Slips, of whatever size or shape, not exei'eding 23 by 13.5 centimetres in sir.e, can be lightly attached to the right-hand pases by mu- cilage on two or more corners of the slip. These can be extended, rewritten, or removed, without removing the sheets to which Ihcy are attached. The whole of the left-hand page sei'ves for catch-words, clarsifica- tory headings and sub-he ad ing.H, or whatever matter (■fsimiiarcharaclermaybedesir^, referring to there- verse of the page. New leaves can be inserted, or old ones removed ; in a short time, while at all times the nol«8 have the advantage of being in book fonn, and free from the dangers of accidental displacement, as, for instance, by a gnsl of wind, or by dropping the package. For rapidity and ease of reference, I l;now 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

RreveniB a rapid survey of the material in band. If . is desired to spread the whole material nut on nue surface, the strings can be withdrawn from the leaves. The same manlla sheets can Ik) used fur mounllng newspaper scraps for pcrniaueut preservation: anil pamphlets, circulars, etc., can be perforated with cor- responding holes, so that all may be tieil tt^ether in any serguence desired, and temporary covers, simU larly perforated, may bo placed on each brochure,

B. PiCKMAN Mann. W»blogl»ti, D.C.lKn. Ift.lSSe.

��THE DECADENCE OF SCIENCE ABOUT BOSTON.

A RwroNiAN. ])ioiul q( the scientitic fame of his native gilacc. and yet oiilj- too ramiliar witb empty beiidies ut the orilinaiy acienlific assemblages, aud to whom the election of new members, * ])ost|ioned for want of a qtiorum,' is a stundaril event, when he visits Baltimora
 * Ln(l Washington, begins to ask whether the

scepti-e has not departed from Isi-aet. He is thereafter i\ little ehy about inviting a brotbw pbj'sicist from llaltimore to attend a meeting of the academj', or taking a naturalist from Washington into a session of the natural hi»> tory society. To a friend about to visit thA national capital, he nuburdens himi^elf with sad foreboilings of llie decadence of scienoe 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 thb, — tliat the meetings of sdentilic societies at Washington and nt Baltimore are much more nuraeroUB and more specialized than nt 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 latter 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 it jileasant and yet sad reminiaeentt' of earlier and better da^* for a scientilic man from Slassachusctls to visit his confi'ci'es at the south, tie 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 easy to see the exact reason for alt tills changed aspect of ulTnirs in the north. Assnredly, never was more expected of science than at the present day. All men attend her words. Is it that each specialist has become so engrossed in the httle cornerof the universe he cultivates that he can scarcely see beyond that corner, and must needs keep to it even wlien he shows its products? Yet why should oTie's mental liori/.oii iw nniriiiver at Boston

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