vember. The library will be opened to the public in December. OLIVER L. FASSIG, Secretary. NEW YORK LIBRARY CLUB. pamphlets being arranged by classes, and laced into cases made by folding the paper the size desired. This does not waste so much space as regular pamphlet cases. Periodicals which he does not intend to bind are kept in these cases at a cost of three or four cents per volume. Also, little-used periodicals are sewed and glued by the binder at a cost of 10 cents a volume, several inches of the cords on which they are sewn being THE first meeting of the season of the New York Library Club was held at the Mercantile Library, November 14. The meeting was unusually well attended, there being at least 60 present. The president, Mr. Stevens, was in the chair. The club was welcomed to the Mer-left, and are laced and pasted into covers of the cantile Library by Mr. Peoples. The committee on the decennial celebration reported that it had been decided to celebrate the 10th birthday of the club at the annual dinner in January. This introduced the subject of the joint meeting with the state association. It was voted to hold the January meeting in connection with the state association, and decided to invite the visiting librarians to be the guests of the club at the dinner. ར་ manila paper by a page in the library, making a durable and cheap binding. Dr. J. C. Thomas, of the Methodist Book Concern, is prepared to supply this paper to librarians at wholesale rates. Miss Winser, of the Newark Library, reported that the newest thing with them was their new library, which they hoped to occupy in two years. The library had opened seven new delivery stations during the year, and had also issued to readers a non-fiction card. Miss Leipziger reported that the Aguilar Library had opened a new branch on 59th street, and had adopted the two-book system. Miss Tuttle, of the Long Island Historical Society, said that they were allowing freer access to the shelves than before, with no unfortunate results so far. Business disposed of, the first subject on the program, "Echoes from the Denver Conference," was taken up. Mr. C: A. Nelson, of Columbia College, read a paper on the sessions of the conference, in which he said that few meetings had given more satisfaction than that in Denver, for though at previous conferences there had been more papers, and longer papers, few had given rise to more interesting discussions. Mr. Nelson touched upon the value to librarians of Dr. Wire's paper on "Medical books in public libraries," and on the interest-books, government documents, yearly additions, ing subject opened by Miss Sharp's paper, practically the first in its field, on "Libraries in secondary schools." Miss Winser, of Newark, read a paper on the experiences of four adventurous members of the party in their trip to Salt Lake City. Mr. Bigelow, of the Society Library, who was to have reported on the Post-conference trip proper, was unable to be present. The attention of the meeting was next called to the second subject, "New work undertaken by the libraries represented during the past year." Mr. Baker reported that the new Columbia library was above ground, and that the builders promised its completion in 1897. The special library problem that the architects had attempted to solve was the combination of the store-room for books with the seminar system of the university. During the past college year, July, 1894 July, 1895, 25,000 volumes were added to Columbia, the largest number ever added in one year, while Sooo more have come in since that date. Even temporary storage for them is becoming a serious problem. The most important accession was that of the Townsend collection of newspaper clippings upon the Civil War. Mr. Bardwell, of the Brooklyn Library, sent in an interesting report of the moving of the circulating department from the second to the first floor of the building. Mr. Berry, of the Y. M. C. A. of Brooklyn, told of the use he had made of manila rope paper. (See report of meeting of the club at the Methodist Library, L. J., March, 1895, P. 95.) Mr. Berry has found this device of Mr. Thomas's of great use for pamphlet cases, Pratt Institute was next heard from, Miss Plummer calling attention to the four new bulletins published during the year, of German and fiction, including juveniles. Readers' cards of different colors had been adopted for the various classes of borrowers, teachers, normal students, children, and also for school-room cards. The two-book system was adopted, for an account of which see L. J., October, 1895, p. 338. An experiment was made of ordering English books through the London branch of the Library Bureau, the books being gotten in the sheets and bound in the Duro-flexile binding. 78 books have been bought in that way, at an average cost, transportation included, of $1.10 per volume; but the experiment is too recent to report on its success. Miss Hall, of the Library of the Union for Christian Work, said that they were printing weekly lists of additions at a cost of $3 for 500 copies, and selling them for one cent each, just covering expenses. They are binding all their books in light canvas, and writing the numbers on the book itself instead of using labels. They are using the manila rope paper to cover the magazines which circulate. Mr. A. E. Bostwick, of the Free Circulating Library, spoke of an experiment in statistics by which they had tried to arrive at a juster estimate of the actual time spent reading the various classes of books than is given by the ordinary statistics which show only the number of volumes circulated, not the actual time spent in reading. To get at it statistics were kept for a month of the length of time each work returned to the library had been kept out. The result was very interesting: history and religion were kept out the longest, poetry the shortest time, the percentage of juveniles and fiction was much reduced. The occasional use of this method was recommended to supplement and correct the regular statistics of circulation. Mr. Eastman gave a short account of the new libraries recently built or now building throughout the state, describing the Reynolds Library in Rochester, a reference library of 30,000 volumes, and the new $100,000 building of the Grosvenor Library in Buffalo. Rome, Herkimer, Ogdensburg, Southampton, L. I., and Westfield have also new library buildings. Mr. Nelson supplemented the report from Columbia by stating that the catalog of the Avery collection of architectural books is in the hands of the printer. Mr. Sibley, of the Syracuse University Library, spoke of the von Ranke collection of historical literature the library has become possessed of. Miss Van Hoevenberg called the attention of the club to the Washington Heights Free Public Library, a library of 10,000 volumes, at 156th | Street. The following new members were elected: Wilberforce Eames, Lenox Library; Frank Weitenkampf, Astor Library; Mrs. F. H. Hess, University of the City of New York; Miss Bertha Eger, Pratt Institute; Miss M. V. Wallis, Pratt Institute; W. R. Eastman, Albany; Miss Fanny D. Fish, Y. W. C. A. Library, Brooklyn. JOSEPHINE A. RATHBONE, Secretary. CHICAGO LIBRARY CLUB. THE 24th regular meeting of the Chicago Library Club, being the opening session of the season 1895-96, was held at the Newberry Library, Thursday, Oct. 3, at 8 p.m. President Gauss inaugurated the work of the year in a few remarks setting forth the ideals of the club in elevating the profession and furthering the library interests of the community. Owing to a painful physical disability Mr. Gauss was obliged to surrender the gavel to Miss Katharine L. Sharp, who presided during the remainder of the evening. The minutes of the last meeting of the club were read and approved, and the names of Messrs. W. W. Bishop and R. A. Simonson, recommended for membership by the executive committee, were favorably acted upon. The formal program was then commenced, the subject appointed for the evening being "State library commissions." Dr. Wire, who was the first speaker, gave an historical sketch of the library commissions of the United States. He described in detail the operations of the justly renowned Massachusetts library commission, and of the several commissions organized in other states. the lack of information or zeal on the part of their librarians and trustees, and that the influence of these libraries was detrimental to library interests in general. The association soon became convinced that its first work should be to improve libraries already founded, and to make them attractive object lessons in methods and enthusiasm; while much has been done in this line, the association lacks means to do more than a fraction of the work needed. The canvass of the state, though fragmentary, showed an unexpectedly popular feeling in favor of public libraries. This sentiment was so universal that almost every community could show its record of attempts to found a library, in fact the state is fairly strewn with wrecks of libraries. If the efforts in Wisconsin had been intelligently directed it might now rival Massachusetts in the number of successful libraries. The failures have discouraged many people, and the remnants of old and ill-selected libraries are sometimes the most serious check to a growing enthusiasm. Nearly every failure has resulted from one or more of three cases: The indifference or ignorance of the person who guards the books, the selection of books not interesting to the masses of the people, and the extra expense caused by a reading-room attachment. The association could do so little in aiding and founding libraries, in comparison with the needs, that, after four years of work, it concluded to ask Wisconsin to follow some good examples and give it the aid of a state commission. Last winter the state teachers' association devoted one session to the relation of the public library to the public school. This session developed so much enthusiasm for public libraries that the teachers joined the librarians in petitioning individual members of the legislature to establish a commission. The bill to secure this was carried without a dissenting vote in either house. In response to questions Mr. Hutchins gave a synopsis of the law creating the commission. It provides for a board of five members, two of whom are appointed by the governor. The president of the state university, the secretary of the state historical society, and the state superintendent of schools are the other members. The duties of the commission are to give practical counsel to libraries and to aid in securing the establishment of others. An annual allowance of $500 is made to pay the travelling and incidental expenses of the members of the commission. All the ex-officio members have clerical forces which will obviate the necessity of expenditures for clerk hire and leave much of the appropriation available for travelling expenses in personal visits. The ex-officio members are also in constant touch with many influential persons in the state who should be in active sympathy with the libra The chairman then introduced Mr. F. A. Hutchins, formerly in charge of the school library department in the office of the Wisconsin state superintendent of schools, who spoke on "The Wisconsin library commission-how and why it was created." Mr. Hutchins said in sub-ries. stance: The Wisconsin library commission is a result of the work of the Wisconsin Library Association. The latter found, through personal visits made by its officers, that many libraries in the state were doing unsatisfactory work because of In Wisconsin all country schools are now required to maintain libraries, and this work is under the charge of the state superintendent. It is hoped that the work of the commission will prove so fruitful and popular that in a few years a larger appropriation can be secured. Hon. W. C. Eakins, of the library committee of the Illinois legislature, who was to have spoken on "Library legislation in Illinois and the prospects for a state library commission," telegraphed his regrets that illness prevented him from being present. An invitation from Miss Ambrose to have the next club meeting at the Orrington Lunt Library, Evanston, was read and referred to the executive committee. Thereupon the club adjourned. E: L. BURCHARD, Secretary. THE Chicago Library Club has issued a Manual for 1895. It contains the aim, history, constitution, and list of members of the club, and short sketches of the 16 libraries represented in the club. (A history of these libraries by W. B. Wickersham appeared in the LIBRARY JOURNAL of August, 1895.) By a summary on the last page it appears that 35 Chicago libraries have in all about 800,000 volumes. Reviews. UNITED STATES, War Department, SurgeonGeneral's Office. Index catalogue of the Library of the Surgeon-General's Office, United States Army. Authors and titles. Vols. 1-16, A-Zythius. Washington, Government Printing Office, 1880-1895. preface, this form was that preferred by the majority of American physicians, who are accustomed to work from the subject, while Euro| pean scientists work largely, if not wholly, from the author. The general rules for selection and use of subject headings are 11 in number, all short, simple, but, of course, dealing with technical subjects. They are as follows: 1. Those titles have been selected for subjects for which it is presumed that the majority of educated English-speaking physicians would look in an alphabetical arrangement. 2. When there is doubt as between two or more subject-headings, cross-references are given. 3. Where both an English and a Latin or Greek word are in common use to designate the same subject, the English word is preferred and references are given from the other. 4. As a rule substantives rather than adjectives are selected for subject-headings. Exceptions occur to this in anatomical nomenclature, as "Lachrymal duct," "Thyroid gland." 5. In names of subjects derived from personal names the latter precede, as "Addison's disease," Eustachian tube." 6. Local diseases or injuries are, as a rule, placed under the name of the organ or locality affected, as "Kidney (Abscess of)," "Neck (Wounds of)." There are exceptions to this in accordance with rule 1, e.g., "Abscess (Perinephritic.)" 7. Cases in which one disease is complicated with or immediately followed by another are placed under the name of the first disease with the subheading," Complications and Sequela." 8. When the main subject of an article is the tion in several diseases, it is indexed under the name of the remedy; but if it relate to its action in but one disease it is indexed under the name of the disease. This work is a great triumph, if not the greatest triumph of American bibliography. The mere title alone to those not familiar with the thick green quarto volumes imports much work, and that work extending over a period of 15 years. Those who are fortunate in hav-action of a given remedy in general, or its acing this immense work in their libraries appreciate it far more than they can tell. In order to review it we must first of all examine the preface, dated June 1, 1880, and the postscript, dated June 1, 1895. Both are written by the same man, who in the former signs himself J. S. Billings, Brevet Lt.-Col. and Surgeon U. S. Army, and in the latter John S. Billings. Deputy Surgeon-General and Lieut.-Col. U. S. Army. It is rarely that a man is given to see the completion of so marvellous a bibliographical work as Dr. Billings has carried on for so many years. According to the postscript work was begun on this in 1873 and a specimen fasciculus was issued in 1876. But it was not until 1880 that the first volume was issued, and it has followed at the rate of one volume a year. The appropriation for this is $10,000 a volume, and this makes the cost of publishing this catalog $160,000. This, as we understand, does not include the cost of preparing the manuscript. The name, Index catalogue, is that given to it when it was in manuscript, and this name was adopted in printing. It is an index of articles in periodicals and translations as well as a catalog of books and pamphlets, and in this particular follows the plan of both the Boston Athenæum and the Peabody Institute catalogs. As indicated in the 9. The amount of subdivisions made under the principal subject-heads depends very greatly upon the number of references to be classed. 10. As a rule the references are given from general to more special heads, but not the reverse. It is presumed, for instance, that those who wish to consult the literature on “Aphasia" will turn to "Brain (Diseases of)," and "Nervous System (Diseases of)." as well as to "Aphasia." without being directed to do so by a crossreference under the latter title. II. Under the name of an organ will be found the books and papers relating to the anatomy and physiology of that organ. Following this usually comes the abnormities and malformations of the organ, then its diseases, then its tumors, and lastly its wounds and injuries. The work, according to the postscript, was begun by several medical men from the army, and has since been continued by catalogers or "clerks," as they are termed in the office of the surgeon-general. The postscript gives the statistics of entries of the entire catalog, from which it appears that the library contains 116,847 books and 191,598 pamphlets. The entire number of book subject entries is 168,557, and of periodical article entries is 511,112, nearly three times the book entries. Dr. Billings closes his postscript with thanks to his assistants and to the printers and proofreaders, in short, to all who have made this work a possibility. Having thus given the history of the work, the conditions under which it was undertaken and has been carried on, and the rules governing it, let us now proceed to a glance at the work itself from a librarian's point of view. loger in any library, general as well as medical. Four years ago Dr. Billings gave the size of the library as 102,000 volumes, of which 34,350 volumes, or about 32 %, were periodicals and transactions of societies. This ratio doubtless obtains at the present time, and it is the treatment of these which gives the name "Index catalogue." As has been seen, the number of periodical entries is almost three times the number of book entries. For example, under Larynx we find 45 pages of entries, of which 40 pages are given to periodical entries. This is an exceptional case, as the periodical literature of the larynx has of late years increased with great rapidity. The simple rules above given necessitate a knowledge not alone of medicine but a knowledge of other sciences as well, not to speak of a large linguistic training. As will be remembered, The number of subjects is frequently due to these rules were drawn up with a view of afford- the indexing of periodicals, as subjects like Filing as simple a catalog consistent with the sub-ters and Fire-arms are found, under which are jects involved as possible. And they were the result of consultation with physicians and not the result of consultations with eminent librarians and catalogers. Had the latter been the case it is hard to see where they would have led to in matters of entries, and I fear the whole scheme would have broken of its own weight. In examining the work one is impressed with the idea that here, as in the British Museum catalog, substantial accuracy has been the aim kept in view. This substantial accuracy and uniformity has been achieved, and this with no sacrifice of any scientific accuracies. Of course in a catalog of this size, occupying so many years in preparation and printing and carried on by so many different hands, absolute consistency is not to be expected. The simplicity of the entries considering the number is quite refreshing, and the absence of hosts of general meaningless cross-references is likewise refreshing. Under Abdomen, for instance, I find only three see alsos, and they are sensible and scientific. In a catalog of a general library I find under that head seven, five of which are utterly nonsensical. The author's name is given sometimes in the vernacular and sometimes as it appears on the title-page. Particularly in cases of theses written in Latin no attempt has been made to turn the name back into the vernacular. Dates are only used where two men of same name appear, and then only for distinction. only periodical entries. Another fruitful source of subject-headings are theses, of which there are great numbers in the library of the SurgeonGeneral's Office; these are marked with a star to distinguish them, and this star has followed them into the Index Medicus. This library has the only complete collection of Paris theses (on medicine) in this country running back 100 years. A list of periodicals and transactions is given in vol. I, and each volume up to vol. 7 gives additions to the list. A consolidated list is given in vol. 7, and this is supplemented by annual lists until vol. 16. In that volume the periodicals are all gathered together, and this list is in reality a short entry catalog and can be had in separate form. This library has the best collection of medical periodicals and transactions in the world, and receives at least 1000 current periodicals. The full catalog of periodicals will be found in vol. 9, occupying 225 pages, a most valuable portion of the work. This is practically a catalog of all the medical periodicals and transactions in existence at the date of printing the volume, which was 1889. These are arranged by countries and under them alphabetically. Being a catalog it follows strictly the changes of name, and does not gather the various series under one heading, as do Scudder and Bolton in their catalogs of scientific periodicals. But this catalog is full and accurate as to the various changes of name, place of publication and editors, and what is more perplexing as to the hiatuses which occur. One such hiatus is historical, that which occurred in all French publications in 1870-1871, during the Franco-Prussian War, and a cataloger naturally expects a break there. But in many instances there is nothing to tell about the gap, especially if you are unfortunate enough There are comparatively few title entries, to have a set deprived of all covers and advertisleaving out societies and periodicals, and these ing pages. It must be confessed that the U. S. title entries are rather more prevalent in the periodicals are as bad as any about changes of earlier than in the later volumes. Societies are title and place. Ignorance is to blame for a sometimes put under the name and sometimes similarity of titles in many cases, but no excuse under the place, but in vol. 13, under the head can obtain for the same title being used by two Societies, they are grouped under 22 headings, different publishers in the same city. And yet running from Anatomical to Veterinary. These editors and publishers are not entirely to blame headings include not only those medical, using for these changes; in some cases they are the the word in its broad sense, but also many scien- unwilling agents in the matter. One large tific societies. This list is valuable to the cata-medical publishing house claims a monopoly Several years' use of this catalog for names renders me competent to say that it is accurate and reliable and worthy of confidence as to names. As a general rule the capitalization of the title-page is followed. This gives German titles their accustomed capitals, but denies the capitals to English, French, and U. S. books beyond the first word. of the words Medical Record, and is constantly warning trespassers off its ground and at the same time bringing woe to the catalogers. One periodical changed its name three times before it suited the medical autocrats. As to subject entries the rules have been followed quite strictly. Manifestly there must be a number of subject entries, and under these a number of subdivisions in such a mass of book and periodical entries. At first there would seem some ground for criticism, but when the magnitude of the work, the number of years, and the number of people engaged in it is considered, one is inclined to praise rather than criticise. Obviously the names and number of subdivisions must vary, but it is safe to say the number has been kept as low as is consistent with accuracy. For instance, under Abdomen are 29 subdivisions, not counting the references and see alsos, and no one of these 29 headings could be dispensed with and accuracy be maintained. These minute subdivisions are only necessary in a large library and are not suitable for non-medical libraries. Even in smaller medical libraries, where the periodicals are not indexed, there are liable to be too many, and some are unsuitable because they are class headings. This immense library of over 116,000 volumes and nearly 200,000 pamphlets is classified on the shelves, but the books are not marked nor is there any shelf-list. It is safe to say there is no other library of this size so absolutely dependent on the attendants for keeping books in order and for finding the books and pamphlets. It is gratifying to be able to state that this confidence is not misplaced and that any book or pamphlet indexed in the catalog can be found in an amazingly short space of time by the attendants. But this want of notation and shelf-list has forced into the Index Catalogue certain class and form entries not suitable and not needed in any library where classification is followed and the books are marked. On this account these entries are undesirable, and certainly in one case where they were at first allowed the work had all to be gone over and these entries thrown out. This catalog modestly does not profess to be a bibliography, but the catalog of the largest medical library in the world; but as a matter of fact it is a most exhaustive bibliography of medical subjects. It is true that not every edition is represented, but it is safe to say there are few important editions which are not represented in this collection. The indexing of serial transactons, theses, and pamphlets more than makes up for any lack of editions. As a matter of curiosity, and to give some idea of the extent of this catalog, we give figures on a few subjects. The page is a quarto measuring 734 by 11%; the type page is 514 by 814. The type is brevier unleaded, and nonpareil is used for analyticals. A few statistics showing amount of literature on a few subjects taken at random in looking through the catalog, will give some idea of the size of the library and also of the labor involved in getting up this catalog: Fever, 68 p.; Hernia, 84 p.; Hospitals, 90 p.; Hygiene, 117 p.; Insane and Insanity, 168 p.; Medicine, 335 p.; Pharmacy, 47 p.; Phthisis, 80 p.: Statistics, 48 p.; Waters, Mineral, 147 P.; Wounds, 58 p. In 1891 Dr. Billings delivered an address before the Association of American Physicians on The conditions and prospects of the Library of the Surgeon-General's Office and of its Index catalogue." At that time he estimated that if he could add 10,000 volumes of his selection it would contain at least one edition of every important work. The deficiencies were in incunabula, ancient Greek and Roman, Arabic and Hebrew authors, and some lines of continental periodicals up to 1850. He then spoke of the continuation of the Index catalogue, and said sufficient material had accumulated to fill four volumes. This has now, as he anticipated, grown to five volumes, and in the postscript he says the appropriation for the first volume has been made, the matter is ready for the press, and so there will be no interruption in the work. Dr. Billings, at his own request, has been placed on the retired list, but all the world owes him a debt of gratitude for this work. G. E. WIRE, M.D. LEYPOLDT, Augusta H., and ILES, George (eds.) List of books for girls and women and their clubs, with descriptive and critical notes and a list of periodicals and hints for girls' and women's clubs. Boston, published for the American Library Association Publishing Section by the Library Bureau, 1895. 161 p. O. cl., $1; pap., 50 c. Or, in five parts, Tt. pap., ea., 10 C. Mr. George Iles, as the apostle of the evaluation of books, to use his favorite term, is indeed a library benefactor. Instead of endowing a small library he has, in fact, endowed all dibraries, giving liberally of both brains and money, for, we take leave to say against his desire, he has spent many hundred dollars, in this latest enterprise, in paying for contributed work in departments which from their magnitude could not be handled gratuitously, as well as in the cost of paper and print. It is to him chiefly that the library profession and particularly students of economic science are indebted for the "Reader's handbook" in that field, for the labor of his co-editor was confined mostly to work in the general planning and in the annotations of general books, and the editorial burden of that useful issue of the Society for Political Education was carried practically by him. In the present work he has courteously put the name of Mrs. Leypoldt to the front, that a woman's flag might float over the women's ship. How much labor has gone into this modest enterprise only those who have watched its development can know. The present work, although it originated as a list of books for girls' clubs, as planned by Miss E. M. Coe, now Mrs. Rylance-who was diverted from the library profession by the usual fate of womankind-is much more than its title |