Note 10 — (B) PRINCIPLES OF THE NEW CLASSIFICATION OF THE PATENT OFFICE.
Reading edition
In the Manual of Classification of the U. S. Patent Office the arrangement of subclasses has always been alphabetical, although in the Supplement containing definitions of revised classes the arrangement is numerical. If the latter schedule of "Balls" in the text had been printed in alphabetical order, it is apparent that the species "Aluminum" and "Zinc" of the genus Metal would be as widely separated as possible. In the former schedule of "Balls," in which the genus Metal is printed, "Aluminum" and "Zinc" come together. It is apparent that in an alphabetical arrangement allied species can not be kept together without printing every proximate genus. This fact, among others, indicates the advisability of abandoning the alphabetical arrangement in the classification manual and adopting the idea arrangement in the schedules of revised classes, supplemented by a consolidated alphabetical index of all subclasses.