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flood the whole extent of the stair with daylight. This stair 
extends only to the second story which has museum halls 
similar to the first. From the second floor another stair ex- 
tends to the third. ‘Two elevators are provided, one for pas- 
sengers and one for freight. Both elevators are close to the 
entrance so they can be reached by persons desiring an up- 
per floor without first traversing the lower floor, and they 
give access equally to the museum department and to the stu- 
dents’ department. On the third floor the hall is arranged 
on the front of the building in order to leave all of the north 
light on the rear part available for the laboratories. The li- 
brary is made the central department with two subdivisions, 
the reading room under the dome, which is of glass, in its up- 
per part, and the stack room or book room which is to the 
rear in the square central block. The remaining space of 
this story is devoted to work-rooms, class-rooms, laboratories, 
and herbariums. The herbarium and the library book room 
are well isolated so that fire in their combustible contents can 
be easily managed. 
Fireproof qualities absolute and consistent will be provided 
not only in the construction but in the finish. In this design 
there is not to be used any combustible structure or finish 
whatever. The numerous wooden finishings found in most 
buildings of fireproof construction are banished, and the in- 
terior finish and furniture will be as nearly fireproof as possi- 
ble so that not only the safety of the building structurally, but 
also the safety of each room and its contents will be assured. 
For the museum floors a composition of natural marble in 
mixture colors will be used, and the finish of walls and col- 
umns will consist of hard patent plaster. With such imper- 
vious floors and walls the comfort of persons is secured and, 
equally important, the impossibility of dampness prevents the 
lodgment of mildews and bacteria. 
The ventilation throughout will be well secured partly by 
natural draft and partly by fans forcing currents of fresh air 
and exhausting foul air. Sanitary appliances will be the 
usual approved combinations of porcelain, marble and tile and 
