The Priticiph'S of MuscuJii jldi)ii)iislratioii. 227 



5. Mobility is even more necessary. All floor cases and pedestals 

 should have fixed rollers or roller trucks so that they may be moved with 

 their contents, and all fixed cases slioidd l)e built with screws so as to Ije 

 readily moved from hall to hall. 



6. Cases which permit a fixed installation and a recomliination of units 

 without a rehandling of specimens are economical and in many depart- 

 ments indispensable. Possibility of interchange of units between the 

 exhibition and .storage vSystems of cases is indispensable. 



7. For the interior of cases the prime need is that the system of shelv- 

 ing should be as flexible as possi'ole, and that the inside colors should l)e 

 restful to the ej'e and no lighter in color than the neces.sity of illumina- 

 tion may require. 



8. The mountings for individual .specimens should not attract the eye 

 either by beauty or ugliness, but should support and set off the specimens, 

 and b}' their uniformity and propriety- add to the appearance of .system 

 and order in the exhibits. 



9. The inscription should be so attached that it can not be removed or 

 effaced, and, when possible, engraved or painted upon the object it.self . 

 When a mark of this kind is not possible, a ticket or label, preferably the 

 latter, should be attached in the most prominent manner. Even when a 

 ticket is u.sed at least the catalogue number should be in.scribed upon 

 the .specimen, if this can be done without injuring it. These require- 

 ments do not apply .so much to large and heavy objects permanently 

 installed in an exhibition .series as to tho,se kept, even temporarily, in a 

 study or storage series. Fragile objects, or those which can not receive 

 a permanent mark, should be kept in t>-pe receptacles of glass or other 

 material, upon which should be placed the inscription. Even when 

 preparations are thus kept in jars or boxes they .should, when possiljle, 

 have some ticket attached to them Ijearing the .same number as the recep- 

 tacle in which they are placed, so that if .specimens are taken out they 

 .shall not be put back in the wrong receptacle. 



Comment. — In the United States National IMnscnin, each alcoholic preparation is 

 marked with a ticket of block tin, on which the catalogue number is .stamped, the 

 same number being engraved with a diamond u]x)n the glass jar in which it belongs. 



10. A specimen may consist of a single object, or of a large number of 

 .similar objects from one source. For in.stance, a collection of engravings 

 in one portfolio; a collection of similar kinds of .stone implements from 

 one excavation ; a number of animals or plants of one species from the 

 .same locality. 



F'or lack of a better term, the material included in a nmseum catalogue 

 nitmber, whether a single specimen or man^', is called a "lot." This 

 term is chiefly employed in museum statistics. 



1 1 . Explorers and collectors in the field should keep their records hy 

 catalogue and label, in accordance with the principles laid down for 

 museums. Their work thus gains innnensely in definitene.ss and value. 



