Ward—Modern Exhibitional Tendencies of Museums. 339 
lure or the artifacts of some primitive people to a setting reek¬ 
ing of the ambitions of the modern architect. A pleasing ex¬ 
ample of this is seen in the hall in the Museum of the Brooklyn 
Institute where is shown the civilization of the Pueblo Indians 
.amidst surroundings suggestive of their habitat. Pictures and 
mural paintings are valued aids in this harmonizing. 
In extension of this seeking to harmonize surroundings has 
been a special development of case installation by which it is 
attempted to segregate a particular group from all other objects 
so that when viewing it no other objects can be seen at the same 
time. This I have treated of more extensively elsewhere 7 
and will merely call attention to the distracting effect of looking 
through a four-sided glass case and seeing beyond it other ob¬ 
jects incongruous to those contained within and also to the ob¬ 
scuring glass reflections frequently disfiguring such exhibits. 
There is also a noticeable striving after the abolition of the 
time honored shelf exhibit. It needs no argument to demon¬ 
strate the inartisticness of the apothecary-shop-like arrangement 
of specimens on wooden shelves. They must still be retained 
for some things but, many times, other methods of installation 
are greatly preferable and have been used in most modem mu¬ 
seums, though the abolition of the shelf has not yet reached its 
maximum development. In line with this are a multitude of 
museum details as lighting, placement, style and construction of 
cases, color and texture of background, etc., etc., that, while 
requiring most careful attention from the museum man and go¬ 
ing a long way towards making or marring the exhibits, are 
hardly proper subjects for discussion in this place. 
The labeling of specimens is, however, such an important 
feature in modem museum development that I must say a few 
words upon it although I have elsewhere separately treated it in 
some detail. 8 The color and quality of paper, style and 
size of type, color of ink and make up of the label including 
proportions, length of lines and spaces between them have much 
to do with its effectiveness irrespective of what it may say. 
The artists object to what they are pleased to term the spotted 
effect of an adequately labeled collection; and the criticism is 
