=323. Writing Materials.=--INKS are manufactured in such a variety of kinds and colours that choice is made difficult. A good black ink should be procured, and also a bright red colour. Copying ink is not necessary even where press letter-copying is employed, as ordinary blue-black ink, if not blotted but allowed to dry naturally, will make perfectly good press copies. Care should be taken not to dry the tissue-paper leaves of the letter book completely when making copies. Other colours of inks, such as green, violet, etc., can be obtained if wanted for special purposes. INK-WELLS should be got in the modern reservoir form, with a constant level dipping place. Ink kept in such receptacles never gets thick or dirty, and the pen is never overcharged or underfed. These ink-wells with rubber tops can be obtained for about one shilling each, but for staff and committee use a better variety should be ordered as the rubber degenerates quickly under the chemical action of the ink. Ink-wells should preferably be associated with pen-_racks_ rather than with pen-trays. A rack sorts the pens and pencils out automatically in a visible order, while a tray wastes a large amount of time annually, owing to the groping and examining and fruitless fumblings necessitated before the right pen or pencil is found among its fellows. One pen one place, is a good motto for any librarian. Of course the FOUNTAIN PEN removes a great deal of the waste of time and trouble inseparable from ink-pot filling, pen selecting, pen dipping, etc., and every librarian ought to have one as part of his ordinary equipment. There are various sorts in the market, but the higher priced ones are, as a rule, the only reliable ones, and the cost is an investment on which a return is soon made. STYLOGRAPHIC PENS are very useful, but because of their tendency to spoil good handwriting, they are not so satisfactory as fountain _pens_, although they are much cheaper. For staff use in the numbering of book labels, charging, etc., stylographic pens would be found very useful, and every library of reasonable size should stock a few.