NEWS AND SUNDRIES. 
141 
Prof. Archer, of Edinburgh, agrees with Mr. Wallace in regard to the ar¬ 
rangement of specimens. He states that, “at South Kensington, where the ques¬ 
tion of constructing cases best adapted for the display of objects in a museum, 
has received a greater amount of intelligent attention than at any other museum, 
they have shown that you can make cases which will admit of perfect symmet¬ 
rical arrangement, and yet be of various sizes, so that small objects as well as 
large ones may be so exhibited as to permit of their being examined from all 
sides, instead of from one point of view only, as in wall-cases.” (15.)* 
Thus it will be seen that though wall-cases have been almost if not quite 
universally used in museums, there is considerable argument in favor of abandon¬ 
ing them or of using them in a limited way, and only for certain classes of ob¬ 
jects ; the reason being that they fail to perform the function for which they 
were designed, namely, of displaying to the best advantage the objects they con¬ 
tain. 
The time has now come when intelligent managers of museums will cease 
in their efforts to display the greatest possible number of objects, without regard 
as to how they are displayed. 
The thing to be desired in museum specimens that are displayed for public 
instruction, is that each and every specimen or series of specimens so displayed,' 
should be the representative of some intelligible idea that it is desirable to convey 
by the exhibition of such objects. If only objects of this nature are to be ex¬ 
posed, and I think this will be conceded by all who have given the subject any 
thought, then the question which we have now under consideration becomes all 
the more important. 
If wall-cases are to be used, I would recommend the plan which was carried 
out at my suggestion in the building of those which now contain “ The Green 
Smith Collection of Birds,” and that of my own zoological collection at Cornell 
University; namely, that the ends of all wall-cases should be of glass instead of 
wood, and that the sashing for the front of the cases should be made as light as 
it is practicable to make it, thus permitting the greatest possible amount of 
light to fall upon the objects. All cases of whatever kind should be made as 
nearly air-tight as possible, to prevent the ingress of dust and museum pests. 
Each case should be provided with a suitable lock and key. 
The most convenient and room-saving shelving for wall-cases, that has come 
under my notice, consists of short shelves supported by movable iron brackets, 
admitting of their being placed near together or far apart according to the 
height of the specimen to be accommodated. 
At first one might think that unless the short shelves in a large case were ar¬ 
ranged upon the same level, the effect would be anything but pleasing to the eye, 
but from personal experience with such shelving, I can assert with great positive¬ 
ness that the opposite of this is true. 
( To be continued .) 
NtWS AND SUNDRIES. 
Trichinosis. —Cases of trichinosis have lately been discovered 
in Brooklyn, and in Hoboken, N. J. 
