SCIENTIFIC REVISION AND PREPARATION OF THE CATALOGUE.

85

in these forms in a manner in many instances more or less imperfect. Theoccasion called for a large amount of peculiar knowledge—of knowledge not to begained by study, but taught by industrial experience, in addition to that higherknowledge, the teaching of natural and experimental philosophy. To meet theserequirements the following plans were devised, and carried into operation. A pum adopted,number of scientific gentlemen gave their consent to undertake the revision andcorrection of proofs of the returned forms in their peculiar departments, with aview to remove from them those errors which might present themselves, and tosupply what might appear requisite to give prominence to their really importantfeatures. In addition to this it appeared advisable, as critical observations werenecessarily inadmissible, to relieve the tedium of mere description, and to assist'in pointing out the leading features of interest in the objects described, or indirect relation with them, by appending, as the subjects of the proofs suggested;such brief annotations as might appear best calculated to effect these objects.

As a certain degree of harmony of procedure was considered absolutely neces- Suggestions as to

° . ^ . principles of

sary in order to give a consistent character to such corrections and annotations, correction and

J 3 ° p ' n _ . a . annotation.

supplied as they would be irom a variety of sources, a few suggestions ot certaingeneral principles were- adopted, and as far as possible acted upon. It is notnecessary to reproduce the whole of these suggestions in their original form; butsince it is important that exhibitors should be informed of the principles which,to a great extent, guided and determined the corrections and annotations whichare'found in this work, they are here subjoined. Attention is particularlydirected to suggestion 5, under the head annotations, by which it will be per-ceived that the character of critical notices has been strictly excluded from theannotations appended to the descriptions in this work.

1. Corrections. Tliese will be chiefly of the following kind :— Corrections.

1. To correct in a general way any obvious typographical inaccuracies.

2. To correct with care all technical and scientific errors in names, places, and things.

3. Occasionally, if time permit, to recast badly composed sentences or expressions.

4. To delete redundancies and self-laudatory terms, or expressions that could in any

way be so construed, or critical and extraneous statements.

2. Annotations. Many of the proofs will undoubtedly suggest interesting elucidatory notes. Annotations.

As it is desifablo that the same notes should not be repeated, the information which, under othercircumstances, or in a volume of a different kind, it would be well to present in a mass, may beconveniently subdivided, and a portion appended to the most appropriate proofs on the subject

to which it refers. Thus, for a vegetable or animal product, a line or turn as to its historymight be attached to one proof, a note upon the natural order or tribe yielding it to another,the uses to a third, the commercial importance, &c., to a fourth, &c. In the selection of proofs forannotation, those of course will be preferred which are in themselves the most interesting andsuggestive. It is considered desirable that these notes should as far as possible partake of thefollowing characters :—-

1. To be as short, clear, and definite as possible. Character of.

2. To have reference, as far as may be, if the article cannot be seen—■

a. To the article as described by the Exhibitor.

To its uses, history, consumption, production, &c. (See Memorandum forthe instruction of Exhibitors in preparing the descriptions contained in forms

„ for the Catalogue.)

3. io be of the following average length—

a. Articles of primary importance, as, for example, “cotton,” “iron,” “ steam-engine,” and such like, eight or ten lines.

. -Articles of secondary importance, four and three lines.

4. the same annotations not to he repeated or appended to more than one proof.

o . Observations of a critical character, in either sense of that term, are

INADMISSIBLE.

bo soon as the work actually commenced, a mechanical difficulty of no commonproportions presented itself. On the distribution of proofs for the purposeannotation and correction, they were necessarily cut up into separate portions,