68 NATURALISTS' ASSISTANT. 



have a number of small rooms for this, which may be occu- 

 pied by those of the members who care to do any work in 

 the building. In the Philadelphia Academy building these 

 rooms are in alcoves leading from the Library ; in the Bos- 

 ton Society's Building there are two on each floor leading 

 from the exhibition halls ; in the New York Museum they are 

 all on the upper floor of the building. 



CASES. 



The cases are by no means an unimportant portion of a mu- 

 seum and great care should be taken in their construction. 

 It will not do to leave them entirely to a builder or cabinet 

 maker ; a naturalist should also be consulted. From an omis- 

 sion in this respect the cases in many museums are poorly 

 constructed. Notable examples are to be found in the in- 

 stances of Brown University and Princeton and Williams Col- 

 leges. At Brown the cases are very loosely constructed, leav- 

 ing large holes for the entrance of dust and vermin ; at 

 Princeton the extent of sash nearly equals that of glass, ren- 

 dering it almost impossible to see the specimens on ac- 

 count of darkness ; while those at Williams cannot be tightly 

 closed and the shelves are permanent and cannot be altered 

 in height. On the other hand, the cases of the American 

 Museum in New York, Yale College and the Peabody Mu- 

 seum of Archaeology at Cambridge are models, but are very 

 expensive. The cases of the Peabody Academy of Science 

 at Salem, Mass., are very good and others can be built like 



