Article beginning on page 300.
Psyche 3:300, 1880.

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PSYCHE.
CAMBRIDGE, MASS., JAN. 1882.
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Cowfftvnidaitoyfs, exchawes a ~ d editors1 copies should be addressed ta EDITORS OF PSYCHE, Cam- bridge, Muss. Com7~uJiirvtions for pwbCicaiio~t iti PSYCHE must J>? properly <iuthmti~uted, and no aftony- ntous ar(tdts will be publisArd.
Editors and contributors arc only responsible for the slufentettts made in their own coffimunicutions. Worsts on sttbfecis no# rchied & cntorno!<yry will not 6e reviewtit in PSYCHE.
For rates of subscriptton and of' (tdverfisitig, we udweriising cuInwvs.
LOAN LIBRARIES.
THE need which every student feels of ac- cess to books of reference can so seldom be met by the purchase of a complete library, that the student is obliged either to forego the use of many needed books or to obtain such as loans from their possessors.
While great liberality is usually shown by book-owners in granting loans to deserving applicants, the iack of general information as to who are the owners of particular books prevents the student from being able to re- quest their loan, and delicacy forbids a fre- quent repetition of such requests.
Access to a loan library organized for the supply of books of the character indicated would undoubtedly be welcomed by a large number of students, who ' would willingly pay a small fee for the use of the bookfi. Such, a library, however, would fail of its usefulness if it could not afford to grant the loan of its books for a small fee, and it could not, at any rate. depend upon fees for its support.
Its first requisite, the obtaining of the books, would necessitate some sort of expen- diture, or the cooperation of authors in the presentation of their individual works.
Another requisite, the preparation and
publication of a catalog of the books to be loaned, would also entail expense, for while the preparation of the catalog might be se- cured by gratuitous labor, the same would not be the case with its publication.
A last requisite and one the most difficult to fulfil, the care of the sending and receiv- ing of books loaned, would involve an ex- penditure of time and labor for which the re- ceipt of the slight fee charged for loans would be a quite inadequate compensation.
So far as these three requisites were ful- filled, the establishment of such a loan library as is contemplated would bea success; without this fulfilment, the desired end seems unattainable. The entomologists of this
country have it in their power to decide how far such a plan of a library shall be carried out.
The Cambridge Entomological Cinb de-
cided in February 1875, in connection with its other bibliographical undertakings, to offer the loan of books from its library gen- erally to all the members of the Club and subscribers to PSYCHE, tlie distribution and return of the books to be effected through the mails. For this purpose it secured, by gratuitous labor, the preparation of a catalog of its possessions, which, however, from lack of funds, it has been unable to publish : tlie same circumstance obliged it to rely entirely upon donations and exchanges for the in- crease of its library. Generous donations, principally of so-called " separates," and numerous exchanges for PSYCHE have been
received, and the few contributions of money to the Permanent Publication Fund have
tended to enrich the library, so far as they have rendered possible the continued publi- cation of PSYCHE. upon which the receipt of exchanges depends. The want of a catalog, the inability to purchase the numerous need- ed works which will not be presented, and the lack of means to employ assistance in the distribution and recovery of loans, have hiqdered the realization of the full benefits which may result from this undertaking.
B: P. M.




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