224 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



the original. With this arrangement the spectator coiild not see his 

 own image or the ordinary visitor detect a mirror. 



The iron frame work which was to support the weight of the crystals 

 was built of i^ inch angle iron and in order to relieve the great 

 strain on the museum floor suspended from a roof girder by a seven- 

 eighths inch iron rod with a turnbuckle. 



The form of this frame was determined by making a full-size 

 ground plan of the closet and by bending thin strips of wood into the 

 shape of the intended iron ribs. There were fifteen of these ribs 

 which met at the center of the roof and were bolted in place to a large 

 circular iron plate. The general shape of the completed framework 

 was that of an irregular dome with a false floor built of 2 inch angle 

 iron 20 inches above that of the museum floor. The object of this 

 was to place the visitor in a more intimate relation to the exhibit by 

 bringing the crystals into greater prominence. An opening 2I 

 feet square was provided in the front of the iron work to allow for a 

 window for the observer. 



Our attention was devoted for nearly two months to preparing 

 the crystals for exhibit and working out a method to fasten them to 

 the walls and roof. There was a secondary or stalactitic formation 

 over many of the crystals which was removed by applying dilute 

 hydrochloric acid with a jeweler's brush, always exercising great 

 care in order to confine the acid to the particular spots where there 

 was crust, so as not to injure the fine sharpness of the angles and the 

 exposed faces of the clear crystals. 



To suspend calcite in large and bulky crystals fr.om the ceiling and 

 in every conceivable position at any angle was the proposition now 

 before us. If one has had the experience of drilling a fine calcite 

 crystal and had it fly into a half dozen pieces he can imagine the 

 discouragement of having several hundred crystals before him to be 

 drilled accurately, some to have three and four holes each. This was 

 exactly the problem. We devised an individual clamp which would 

 have held the weight of the crystal but to make a special clamp for 

 each separate specimen would have been impracticable on account 

 of the area of crystal faces concealed and the expense and time 

 required to make them. Further experimenting with flat drills 

 nine thirty-seconds of an inch and seven thirty-seconds of an inch 

 diameter of Stubb's English steel, hardened in water and drawn to a 

 straw color, used in a lathe turning at a slow speed of about 400 

 revolutions a minute, proved to be a successful method to obtain 

 results. This way we were able to obtain a steady motion and apply 



