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 Archzeology 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 
