502 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XX. No. 511. 



Mr. Gratacap considers the plan and struc- 

 ture of museum buildings, touching partic- 

 ularly on their lighting, and devotes consider- 

 able space to case construction, important 

 matters concerning which architects as a 

 rule display lamentable lack of knowledge. 

 It is possible that an architect may, unaided, 

 have designed a good museum case, but if so 

 the reviewer is not aware of the fact, archi- 

 tects' cases being clumsy, poor as to light, and 

 calculated to catch the dust. As to the light- 

 ing, it may be said that plate glass should 

 never be used in the windows of museums, 

 but ground glass or luxfer prisms. It is im- 

 possible to control the sunlight by the use of 

 curtains and in almost any museum one may 

 at times see the sunlight pouring in and ruin- 

 ing valuable specimens. Diffused light is not 

 only better for the specimens, but better for 

 visitors. Again, windows should not reach to 

 the floor, but be well above it, not merely to 

 give wall space, but because experiment has 

 shown that the best light comes from above, 

 the upper third of a window equalling the 

 lower two thirds in illuminating power. 

 Windows in museums are for the purpose of 

 admitting light, not for giving a view of the 

 surrounding country. Also each window 

 should be fixed so that it may not be 

 opened for the admission of dust and smoke; 

 it is time that museums were ventilated on 

 scientific principles (a few are) and not after 

 the manner of a wigwam. And in the present 

 day of electric lighting it should be an easy 

 matter to overcome the difficulty of dark cor- 

 ners. This leads one to say that it will not be 

 long before more attention is given to lighting 

 exhibition cases from the inside, where the 

 objects displayed can be well illuminated and 

 the exasperating shadows attendant to exter- 

 nal lighting avoided. Mr. Ward, of the 

 Milwaulvee Museum, has secured extremely 

 good results in this direction, and it has also 

 been used in the large Bass Rock group in the 

 Ipswich Museum, England. Still a word or 

 two more concerning cases, which are treated 

 in considerable detail and are objects about 

 which Mr. Gratacap's wide experience enables 

 him to judge of what should be adopted and 

 what avoided, but it may be added that seven 



feet is high enough for the average museum 

 ease; most large mammals may be accommo- 

 dated in a case nine feet high and anything 

 over that height is for groups or special 

 exhibits. 



The sliding partition, which Mr. Gratacap 

 views with distrust, is neither awkward nor 

 unnecessary, and in the U. S. ISTational Mu- 

 seum the idea has been further elaborated by 

 having the entire bottom of a case running 

 on trunk rollers, and removable. These de- 

 vices permit the use of large, fixed plate glass 

 panes for the sides of cases and restrict the 

 movable sash to the minimum. A case can 

 not be made that is at once dust-tight and 

 easy of access, and as exhibits are only 

 changed at intervals some concessions may be 

 made. Brackets, pedestals, mountings and 

 labels, each and all claim attention, but the 

 use of many of these depends on the amount 

 of money or size of the working force avail- 

 able. The poor curator may be forced to 

 hang specimens from wires instead of using 

 elaborately finished brass fittings, but, after 

 all, there is a great deal of installation that 

 might be improved with a little thought and 

 care. The average museum errs on the side 

 of endeavoring to show too much; ten good 

 specimens well displayed are worth one hun- 

 dred badly installed. 



Turning now to Dr. Meyer's memoir, which 

 follows the lines of one published about ten 

 years ago, one notes many improvements in 

 cases and methods of installation which Dr. 

 Meyer has found time to devise. He is an 

 ardent advocate of iron cases and, if we re- 

 member aright, was the first to work out the 

 details of their construction and bring them 

 into use on any extensive scale. 



In the United States he has been followed 

 by Dr. Jayne and Dr. Greenman, of the 

 Wistar Institute, where a plant has been in- 

 stalled for the manufacture of cases for that 

 institution. In the matters of lightness of 

 construction, resistance to changes of climate 

 and safety from fire the iron case is indubi- 

 tably far in advance of any other. Neverthe- 

 less, it has certain drawbacks, including cost 

 and time of construction and, with all due 

 deference to Dr. Meyer, appearance. Pri- 



