made up, to facilitate reference to the valuable historical collections of Howell, Pitcairn, and others.

4. Another feature in this Catalogue the Compilers trust will be found of use; the enumeration, namely, in the case of authors whose works have been published in a collected form or in a long series of volumes, such as the works of Bacon, Bentham, etc., of the contents of each volume; and the individual treatises contained in historical and other collections, such as the Miscellanea Scotica, etc., have also been given.

The labour which all this has involved will be comprehended only by those who have been engaged in similar undertakings. It was increased in the present instance by the Library being very deficient in those bibliographical and biographical works which would have enabled the Compilers to verify the entries of title-pages, dates, etc., without trouble. They have used their utmost exertions to avoid errors, but in a work of this nature, errors are unavoidable; and they trust that the circumstances under which it has been compiled, literally "in the intervals of business" of a very laborious nature, and the haste in which the sheets have been passed through the press, will plead as some excuse for them. It is hoped, however, that they will be found to be neither very numerous nor very important. Some were discovered in time to be corrected in the Supplement, and the few that remained did not seem of sufficient consequence to require a list of errata. It is hoped that at no distant period a second edition may be required, in which all the errors and imperfections that may be observed in this one will be corrected. With all its admitted imperfections, this Catalogue is an attempt at what it is conceived the catalogue of a Public Library should be; and, if it shall stimulate any librarian under whose

notice it may fall, to follow out and improve upon the plan here struck out, the Compilers will feel amply rewarded for the trouble they have taken. Were such a plan generally adopted, and were librarians to embody in their catalogues the bibliographical and biographical knowledge each possessed, it is obvious that such productions would become not only much more interesting but greatly more valuable than they are.

The Compilers gratefully acknowledge much valuable assistance and information received from several gentlemen; particularly from Mr. William Smith, one of the Vice-Presidents of the Institution; Mr. Halkett, Librarian of the Faculty of Advocates; Mr. Laing, Librarian to the Society of Writers to the Signet; the Rev. Thomas Gordon, minister of Newbattle; Mr. Alexander Nicolson, Editor of "The Edinburgh Essays;" Mr. Szumrak of the firm of Williams and Norgate, foreign booksellers, Edinburgh; Mr. Trübner, American bookseller, Paternoster Row, London; Mr. Thomas G. Stevenson, antiquarian bookseller, and the officers of the Institution, especially Mr. Tod the Librarian.

EDINBURGH, October 1857.

J. F. RODGER.

DAVID DOUGLAS.

N.B.-The Compilers will esteem it a favour if any one who may discover

errors in this Catalogue will communicate them by note to the Secretary of the Institution, to ensure their correction in the next Edition.

At a Meeting of the DIRECTORS of the PHILOSOPHICAL Institution,

held in the Institution Rooms, the 5th day of October 1857

WILLIAM SMITH, Esq., Vice-President of the Institution, in

the Chair,

It was unanimously RESOLVED

That the cordial thanks of the Directors are due to Messrs. JOHN F. RODGER and DAVID DOUGLAS, the Compilers of the new Catalogue of the Library, for the prolonged and assiduous labour voluntarily bestowed by them on its preparation, arrangement, and execution; whereby a complete and carefully classified Index to this most useful department of the Institution is now about to be placed in the hands of the Members.

The Directors appoint this Minute to be printed at the beginning of the Catalogue as a special acknowledgment of the important services thus rendered to the Institution by these gentlemen.

Signed, in name and by authority of the Directors,

W. SMITH, Chairman.

RULES AND REGULATIONS

FOR THE

LIBRARY AND READING-ROOM.

1. The Library and Reading-Room up stairs, shall be open every lawful day from half-past 9 A.M. till half-past 9 P.M., except on Saturdays, when it is closed for lending at half-past 8 P.M., and on Tuesdays and Fridays during the lecture session, when it is closed for lending at 8 P.M.

2. All New Books added to the Library shall lie on the table of the Read.. ing-Room for One Month after purchase, before being placed on the shelves.

3. The New Books, Magazines, and Reviews, will be lent out by ballot every evening at 9 o'clock, to be returned the following morning before 11 o'clock, under a penalty of 3d.

4. A deposit of £1, or a letter of guarantee to the satisfaction of the Directors, as security for the safe return of the books, shall be exacted from every one borrowing from the Library, except Members for Life or for Seven Years, and Shareholders in the Buildings Fund.

5. Every book issued from the Library shall have a Label specifying the period for which it is given out, and the penalty for its detention beyond that period;-the number of Plates, Maps, etc. in each volume to be specified on the label.

6. If the book be not returned to the Library at the expiry of the period for which it is given out, it is the duty of the Librarian, on the book being applied for, to issue a notice to the person in whose possession it is to return it forthwith. For this notice 3d. will be charged, and the penalty specified on the book will be enforced from the date of the notice so issued by the Librarian. When a book has not been returned to the Library when due, applicants are requested to instruct the Librarian to issue his notice for its immediate return.

7. Applicants may ascertain from the Librarian the date on which any book, which may be out at the time of their application for it, becomes due; and a Register of applications shall be kept by the Librarian, in which applicants are requested themselves to inscribe their names, with the date of their application, and the date for which the book is engaged by them.

8. On the book being returned to the Library, it will be given out to the person who has engaged it for that date, provided he apply for it before five o'clock on the following day;-after which it will be given out to any other applicant.

9. Persons losing, or injuring or defacing any book by writing or otherwise, shall be liable to pay such sum as the Committee of the Library may determine by way of compensation,—or, in the option of the individuals, to supply another copy of the book.

10. Illustrated and valuable books will be lent out of the Library on a special receipt only, such books to have a distinctive mark on the back.

11. Printed Catalogues may be had on application to the Librarian; the complete Manuscript Catalogue, containing the reference letters and numbers, will be found at all times on the Library counter.

12. Persons desirous of consulting any of the books contained in the Library of Reference, which are not to be lent out, are requested to apply to the Librarian for that purpose.

13. No person shall be admitted to the Galleries, or behind the Librarian's counter, except for the purpose of consulting Books of Reference, and then only on an order from the Secretary or principal Librarian.

14. No person whatever, except the Librarians, shall be permitted to remove books from the shelves.

15. All recommendations of books for purchase, if containing full particulars of the title, date, size, and price of the books recommended, and authenticated by signature in the book provided for that purpose, will receive due consideration from the Directors. This book lies in the Reading Room, open at all times to the inspection of the Members.

16. It is particularly desired that all complaints of irregularities occurring in this department may be fully entered and signed in the book provided for that purpose, which lies in the Reading Room, so as to enable the Committee of Management to investigate the circumstances. It is hoped that the Members and Subscribers will in this respect sedulously co-operate with the Directors in their efforts to maintain the efficiency of the Library by enforcing a system of strict order and regularity.