and Laboratory Methods. 



2073 



Such a nucleal box in its base simplicity is exemplified in ordinary town con- 

 structions, but when this box is united with other similar units, when extension 

 on all sides and super-imposition as well occur, then the architectural severity 

 or monotony requires modification, and at this juncture the taste, ingenuity, and 

 invention of the architect enters, to confer upon the composite mass dignity and 

 charm. The architect seems at times superserviceable in this respect, and illus- 

 trations are not wanting of his neglect of the real functions of the museum, and 

 their subordination to the architectural complexity or splendor of the building. 

 Still the architect's skill and cultivated eye are essential, and a noble museum 

 building in the large cities should be imperatively insisted on. Anyone who has 



Fig. (!. — Art Museum, New York. 



seen the Kensington Museum (Fig. 1) has felt the influence of its beauty, exter- 

 nal nobility, and elegant composition, though even in that instance architectural 

 elaboration may have slightly encroached upon museum claims. On the other 

 hand, the design of the museum in Glasgow, while forming an impressive and 

 varied architectural spectacle, appears too curiously and intricately developed 

 into towers and finials (Fig. 'I), and its windows too much broken up by transoms 

 or mullions. The natural history section of the Dublin Museum for science and 

 art is an example of the />ox unornamented or changed, and while its solidity is 

 unmistakable, if it stood alone, its blankness and gloom would prove repellent 

 (Fig. 3). 



