THE NEW AFRICAN HALL 



183 



give opiiortunity for particularly striking 

 scenic effects. 



Lack of care in museum exhibition has 

 come about in part at least because of the 

 lack of permanence in the specimens exhibited. 

 Now that we have reached a point in the 

 development of taxidermy technique where 

 we can say without reservation that our 

 preparations are permanent, permanent to 

 a degree only dreamed of up to within a 

 couple of years, we feel justified in taking 

 extreme measures to insure the future care 

 and preservation of these preparations. 

 The elephants and rhinos can be made as 

 permanent as bronze for endurance vmder all 

 conditions, but the other animal groups with 



rays of hght. The space between these two 

 skylights will be a cooling space — that is, 

 air will circulate through this space, modify- 

 ing the heat of the summer sun or the cold 

 of winter. Each group will be in fact within 

 an individual compartment, and allowed to 

 "breathe" only the air of the alleyway, which 

 is filtered and dried and kept at a uniform 

 temperature throughout the year. The day- 

 light admitted through the skylight is under 

 automatic control so that after the amount of 

 lighting of an individual group has been de- 

 finitely determined upon, it is kept at the 

 proper amount by automatically controlled 

 shutters which open and close with the 

 changing light, maintaining a uniform light 



Lion and Buflfalo — A model for bronze by Carl E. Akeley 



their backgrounds and with accessories 

 necessarily made largely of wax, cannot be 

 thus exposed. That they shall not suffer 

 from excessive light and from changing 

 atmospheric conditions, they will be placed 

 in these two great alleyways on either side of 

 but practically outside the hall, in fact 

 hermetically sealed off from the hall proper 

 and also from the outside atmosphere. Thus 

 each group will be absolutely protected from 

 changes in temperatufe and humidity. 



The lighting of the groups will be a combi- 

 nation of daylight and artificial light. Day- 

 light will be admitted through a skylight 

 beneath which a second skylight will serve as 

 a ray-filter to cut out the actinic or fading 



on the group under all conditions. 



The amount of light required on these 

 groups will be relatively small because of the 

 fact that they are to be viewed from a rela- 

 tively dark central hall. We shall be looking 

 from the hall into the source of light rather 

 than from the source of light outward. Also 

 reflections can be reduced to a minimum and 

 practically eliminated, owing to the fact that 

 the groups are the source of illumination, by 

 having the glass in the front of the case in- 

 clined at such an angle that it reflects only 

 the dark floor of the hall. The effect as we 

 pass through this hall will be that of looking 

 out through open windows into an African 

 out of doors. 



