STUDIES ON MUSEUMS AND KINDRED INSTITUTIONS. 



559 



Fig. 95.— Museum uf Science and Art, Edinburgh (art). 



To open them, one must get a ladder, and then with a screw-driver 

 unscrew them in several places. No attention is paid to this incon- 

 venience, however, since they are not accustomed to an3'thint«- hotter, 

 and they even regard this metliod of installation as an ad\ance on that 

 of other museums, since 

 it prevents the warping 

 of the wooden framework 

 and makes the cases dust 

 proof, which it evidently 

 does Avhen the frames are 

 screwed on. Notwith- 

 standing all this, the cases 

 and doors are quite small. 

 Three hundred and fifty 

 running feet of such cases 

 were completed and in- 

 stalled in 1899 alone. 



The labeling of the De- 

 partment of Art and In- 

 dustry is after the pattern 

 of that of the South Kensington Museum. In the great Natural His- 

 tory Department, which is by no means insignificant and which fills 

 four great skylighted halls and six galleries (3 series of two galleries, 

 one above the other), I did not notice any features deviating from the 



customary ones. Through- 

 out the museum there is 

 by far too much exhibited 

 for the great public, and, 

 in consequence, this not 

 only tires the visitor, but 

 the exhibits are damaged 

 seriously b}' being con- 

 stantly exposed to the 

 light. This matter is sufii- 

 ciently considered in but 

 few nuiseums of the world. 

 But I can not properly 

 do justice to these large 

 and extensive collections 

 in a brief space. I found 

 nothing that was directly worth imitating or particularly useful in 

 planning for a new structure. The ventilation was primitive and the 

 building was not adequatel}^ fireproof. 



A not unimportant ethnographic collection of over 10,000 speci- 

 mens is remarkable, with more than one valuable old specimen; Benin 



Fig. %.— Museum of Science and Art, Edinbursli (art). 



