30 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1893. 



extreme care beiiifif taken to avoid wriukliiij;-, and is then set aside to 

 dry for a lialf lionr or more. It is then taken up again, and another 

 sheet is pasted to it, after which it is again set aside to dry. This is 

 repeated until four or live thicknesses of paper have been joined 

 together, live thicknesses being necessary for the heaviest drawers. 

 Each sheet, before being pasted on, is thoroughly soaked in water. The 

 combined sheets thus forming the bottom of the drawer are then allowed 

 to dry for twelve to twenty-four hours, according to the moisture of the 

 atmosphere. The inside of the bottom of the drawer is then thoroughly 

 coated with shellac. Then, without removing the sheets of paper from 

 the stretcher, they are tacked to the bottom of the frame of the drawer 

 with G-ouuce Swedish tacks, placed about a quarter of an inch apart 

 (PI. 9, fig. 2), Then another sheet of i)aper is pasted over, thus cov- 

 ering the heads of the tacks. This not only improves the appearance 

 of the bottom, bnt prevents the tacks from drawing out. Then the 

 bottom is also thoroughly shellacked, and the edges of the paper 

 trimmed close to the edge of the drawer, which is then complete. The 

 weight of the lightest 24 by 30-inch drawers for small bird skins, 2 

 inches m depth, is about 31i ounces, and the cost is about 25 cents. 



The ordinary pine storage drawer, 3 inches in depth, costs on the 

 average about 50 cents; a 4-inch drawer, 55 cents; a 5-inch drawer, 

 60 cents, and so on in proportion. This, of course, refers to prices 

 where a large number of them are madeby machinery at the same time. 



Another feature in our cases, peculiar to this Museum, it is believed, 

 is that every case, no matter how large, is placed upon rollers, or can 

 be lifted from the floor on adjustable rollers of various forms. Even 

 the long wall cases, 9 feet in height, which have been recently con- 

 structed, are made in sections, so that they can be moved without the 

 assistance of carpenters. 



- The largest case in the Museum — that containing the group of buffa- 

 loes — is undoubtedly the largest movable show case in the world. It is 

 16 feet 6 inches l>y 12 feet 5j| inches by 11 feet 1§ inches in dimensions, 

 and the weight of the case, with its contents, is about 9,300 i^ounds. This 

 is supported on 10 rollers, which are of the kind used on the heaviest 

 rolling idatforms in warehouses, and are made of iron, the wheels being 

 4^ inches in diameter, with rims about 2 inches wide. They are of a 

 pattern called the " anti-friction " castors, the bearing of the axle being 

 upon an arrangement of several wheels. This case can be readily 

 moved froin one end of the Museum to the other by eight men. 



There are other cases almost as large, and still others — in the mineral 

 hall — much heavier in proportion to their size. The mineral storage 

 case, 8 feet 6 inches long, 4 feet 4 inches wide, and 3 feet 3 inches high, 

 filled with unit drawers, loaded with minerals, has an estimated weight 

 of 2,000 pcmnds. Such cases as these are supported on 4 or 6 auti-fric- 

 tion castors of the pattern and size just described, one at each corner, 

 and can be moved bv four men. 



