STl'DIKS ON MUSKTMS AND KINDKKD i'nsTITI'TIOXS. 44'-) 



;i|)|tMi:itns is kept in a small, detacluMl huildiiiii'. Natural <i'as is used 

 U>v hoatiii*;' (see p. 440). In tiie house itself ii<» lire is all(»\v«'d to he 

 lig'hted. The heatini;' eoils stand e.\])osed in the luiddh^ of the hall, 

 whieh is rather unsig-htly. 



The tii"e service is especially well oro'anized. Tlie huiidino- and the 

 eolleetions are insured hy a company whi(di maintains a watch sei'vice 

 for all its laro(> customers. In every room tiiere is an alarm. The 

 watclnnan. who carries a lantern and does not use the electricity which 

 is installed throughout the huilding-, strikes this alarm hourly throuiih- 

 out the niuht, and thus a direct telegrajjhic conmmnication is esta]>lished 

 with the watch room of the insurance company, and the otticial tliere 

 knows whether each room has heen inspected every hour. If the sig-- 

 nal is ojiiitted at any time some one immediately appears at the Ijuild- 

 iiig- from the fire-insurance company. Each morning" a card showing 

 the night report is sent to the director of the art institute. Through 

 these precautions, in the special interest of the insurance company, 

 ^reat security is obtained, an arrangement certainly worthy of imita- 

 tion. It is intended, however, to stop the insurance, which is practi- 

 cable liecause of the isolation of the fireproof building — on the one side 

 facing the lake, on two sides entirely free, and on the side toward the 

 city 175 feet from the nearest building's, which are also fireproof. 

 Behind the nniseum, however, the railroad runs along the lake front, 

 which, with its vast commerce, may well occasion some troul)l(\ 



For economical reasons ventilating apparatus was not provided. In 

 the second story, however, panes of the lower skylight can l)e opened 

 and fresh air admitted through wintlows below the roof (see tig. 44, 

 arrow) into the empty space between these skylights and the fixed 

 glass roof. On the ground floor air may be admitted by opening the 

 large plate-glass windows, without crossbars, which (urn xtTticailv 

 iiround an axis, a practical arrangement worthy of imitation, by means 

 of w hich ciossbars sind their injurious eti'ects are sivoided." It can be 

 easily understood that this kind of ventilation is insutticient when th<> 

 Imilding is crowdetl with visitors. In the smoky atmosphere of Chi- 

 cago, where soft coal is l)urned, the exterior of the beautiful museum 

 is defaced in an ugly manner (as are the buildings in Dresden), and 

 this also occurs in the interior, especially on the plaster casts. This 

 last drawback could at least be avoided by \ entilating with purified 

 air and closed windows, as I have found done in \ arious buildings in 

 America (see for example the remarks ludow on the Cliicago Public 

 Librar}'), an arrangement with which we are unacquainted intiermany. 



" The panes are 10 feet higli and 7 feet wide. Only every fsecond window can be 

 opened. To fit tightly i^onie material is attached. Double windows are not consid- 

 ered necessary. Neither frost nor condensed vapor have any bad effects in winter, 

 owing to tiie effective heating. During my visit one of these great window panes 

 was shattered ))y a football hurled against it during a game in the adjoining park 

 meadow. 



