May 11, 1900.] 



scmwGE. 



755 



TffE MAKING OF A MUSEUM. 



Mr. L. P. Gkataoap has reprinted, as a sep- 

 arate, his article on Museums which originally 

 appeared in the pages of the Architectural 

 Record, and the pamphlet makes an acceptable 

 contribution to museum literature. Many of 

 the points in the making of a museum from the 

 general style of the building to small details of 

 installation are well and concisely treated and 

 frequent diagrams help to a better understand- 

 ing of the text. On most points the reader will 

 find himself in substantial accord with Mr. 

 Gratacap, but some of the dicta must be re- 

 garded as expressions of individual opinion 

 rather than of a general agreement on the points 

 at issue. The personal equation will more or 

 less unconsciously influence the opinions of any 

 one writing on the subject of museums and 

 what would meet with the unqualified approval 

 of an ornithologist might not please an inverte- 

 brate paleontologist. If any apology is needed 

 for noting that there are differences of opinion 

 concerning the correctness of some of Mr. 

 Gratacap' s views it is to be found in the fact that 

 the growing interest in museums, the large 

 sums of money involved in their construction 

 and maintenance, and the great value, in every 

 sense of the word, of their collections seem to 

 demand a careful consideration of all details of 

 construction and installation. 



Light is a question of vital importance to a 

 museum, but Mr. Gratacap tells us nothing of 

 the various methods of electric lighting that 

 have been devised especially for museums and 

 nothing of the Luxfer prismatic glass for throw- 

 ing light into dark corners. And while the 

 lighting of the building as a whole is considered 

 at some length, the question of the window 

 glass is not touched' upon. As a matter of in- 

 dividual opinion the windows of a museum 

 should be of ground glass, unless prismatic 

 glass is required for special places, not only to 

 exclude the direct rays of the sun and thus les- 

 sen injury to the specimens, but to diffuse the 

 light ; any arrangement of curtains that will 

 keep out the sun will deaden the light also. 

 The alcove system of arrangement is discussed 

 and the statement made that by this method 

 table cases are excluded. What has always 

 seemed an ideal arrangement, and one that was 



shown to good advantage in the exhibit of the 

 U. S. National Museum at Chicago, and may 

 now be seen in portions of the Field Columbian 

 Museum, is the alcove system with table cases 

 in the center of the alcove ; if there is any 

 better plan than this, where there is sufiflcient 

 overhead light, the writer has yet to see it. 



Passing to the cases themselves it may be 

 said that the objection to case doors pushing 

 upwards is not that the glass can not be cleaned, 

 an objection that is purely imaginary, but that 

 it is difficult to make such a case dust tight, a 

 difficulty that may be largely overcome by 

 cai'eful construction ; on the other hand the 

 size of the glass that may be used in a counter- 

 poised sash, and the ease of handling may be 

 looked upon as oflBetting many disadvantages. 

 It is to be doubted if a case can be built with 

 sashes sliding by one another that will be either 

 dust proof or attractive in appearance. For 

 floor cases the double desk case with upright 

 center, sometimes termed a Liverpool case, is 

 most admirable for the display of minerals, 

 shells, or other invertebrates. 



Any disposition of shelves must necessarily 

 be adapted to suit the specimens, but it is fre- 

 quently, if not usually, found in practice that it 

 is decidedly best to have the broadest shelf near 

 the center of the case and a little below the 

 level of the eye. To place the broadest shelf 

 near the bottom of the case prevents the use of 

 the floor for large and bulky objects. As for 

 glass shelves they are often very desirable since 

 they do transmit a great deal of light while not 

 presenting the heavy appearance that is una- 

 voidable where wood is used. While talking 

 of shelves the omission of any mention of the 

 Jenks brackets is a little strange as these are 

 for many purposes much better than any others. 



The best methods of exhibiting fossils may as 

 yet be undiscovered, but some excellent begin- 

 nings have been made both in the American 

 Museum of Natural History and in the U. S. 

 National Museum, and among these beginnings 

 many consider the use of encaustic, not terra- 

 cotta, tiles which Mr. Gratacap looks upon with 

 doubt. The color and texture of these tiles are 

 agreeable to the eye, their first cost is small, 

 their color is uniform and they do not fade by 

 exposure to light ; also specimens which have 



