May 5 '20 39 this evening. He has all his records in steel files, perfectly running. He has six safe cabinets fitted for card files, drawings, etc. Bound books for topographic maps which are mounted on the cloth leaves seem very serviceable. However, the M.V.Z. loose-leaf system has advantages, too. In his mammal files Merriam has large envelopes in which to store odds and ends -- memoranda, copies excerpts, letters, etc. There is an envelope for each North American mammal, and a guide- cord for each genus. I think we might well adopt such a plan at M.V.Z. for birds mammals and reptiles. California. Merriam uses clerical assistance in handling the files.