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SCIENTIFIC REVISION AND PREPARATION OF THE CATALOGUE
Record of historyof proofs.
Technological
mistranslations,
Catalogue valu-able as illustra-tive of the sci-ence of trades.
which had destinations as far distant as Germany and remote parts of theUnited Kingdom , whither they were despatched for the purpose of ensuringtheir scientific and technical accuracy. Many thousand proofs were thus scat-tered in various directions, yet all were required to be gathered together again,and arranged precisely in the same form and order as that assumed prior to theirdispersion. Some of these proofs were not more than three inches long, and notbroader than a narrow ribbon, containing only two or three lines; the difficultyof determining and immediately affixing the proper place of such a minute stripin a work of such magnitude as the present, seemed to be great. A simplemethod of ascertaining not merely the place in the catalogue, but its entirehistory, its destination, annotator, and return was, however, contrived, and thehistory of every proof has thus been accurately recorded. The information thusobtained, was so accurate and precise, that on the temporary delay of very smallproofs, their original destination was instantly discovered, together with the dateof transmission, and the name of the annotator to whom they had been sent.Much punctuality characterized the return of the dismembered portions of thislarge volume. Had not such been the case, the original plan of scientific andtechnical revision could not have been persisted in. As a general rule, it wasconsidered advisable to limit annotations to an average of eight or ten lines inlength; but in certain instances, where peculiar technical, local, or scientificinformation has been available, this rule has been to a very considerable extentdeparted from.
The language of the arts among various nations has always been regarded as ofextreme difficulty in translation. A considerable portion of this work is neces-sarily written in this language, and it is therefore to be expected that, notwith-standing the precautions employed, errors of description may occur in thoseparts of it which describe the productions of foreign exhibitors. It is requestedthat these may be pointed out. In a number of instances technical terms havebeen explained by notes. As far as it was possible foreign weights and measureshave been converted into English .
The mottoes on the title-pages of this work were selected and placed by HisKoyal Highness Prince Albert .
There is a peculiar feature in this Catalogue to which attention requires to bedirected. This is the fact, that it embodies to a large extent the science orcommerce. An attempt has been made here to convert the changing and inaccu-rate conventional terms of trade into the precise and enduring expressions ofscience. In classes 1 to 4 of the Exhibition, are contained specimens of a vastproportion of the raw materials upon which human industry daily operates throu ab-out the world. In the majority of the descriptions of the articles exhibited in thesefour classes, will be found the commercial names of the materials, together with theirscientific equivalents. As an instance, may be mentioned the woods employedfor furniture, which are enumerated, with their commercial names, their Latinnames, their native habitats, and the uses to which they are applicable. In thepresent edition of this work, prepared as it has necessarily been under highlyunfavourable circumstances as to accuracy and correction, this attempt may notbe as successful as in future editions; but such arrangements are made in orderto obtain this important and valuable result, as will render future editions of thisCatalogue permanently valuable in this respect, not only to the naturalist, butalso to commercial men. That this feature of the Catalogue will not be without