Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 63.djvu/48

44 six feet of the room is above the grade of the building, and there is generous window space so that the lighting is better than is found in many museum halls. In general the building is a modern French adaptation of Greek and Roman styles and is constructed of Pompeiian brick with trimmings of Indiana limestone and terra-cotta. The chief ornamental feature is the portico with massive limestone foundations and its four great columns of polished granite. The building is somewhat removed from the street so that the noise of traffic is escaped. It is situated near the center of the city and in close proximity to Library, Art Museum and High School. The opportunity thus afforded of cooperation between these institutions has been utilized with excellent results.

An important element in the success of the museum is the excellence of the cases. They have been designed so as to secure the largest possible glass surface and adequate protection against dust. The frames are of quartered oak and are fitted with the highest grade of plate-glass. In adjusting the shelves, the display of specimens to the best advantage has been constantly kept in mind, and the cases have been modified according to the kind of material exhibited. A buff color has proved most satisfactory for a background. On the main floor there are now ten standing cases, each ten feet long, four feet wide and seven feet high. This height seems most convenient for the utilization of all shelf space. There are thirteen wall cases of somewhat smaller dimensions than the standing floor cases. Four table cases are used for material in botany and two desk cases for shells and birds' eggs. For animal groups there are in all seventeen cases, making a total of forty cases in the main museum, to which must be added eight wall eases and two desk cases for the material in archeology, and historical relics. In the desk cases, only the upper part is used for display of specimens, and the space below is fitted with drawers for the preservation of duplicate and study collections.

The arrangement of the museum has been based on the principle of a simple and systematic grouping that should give an attractive appearance; where such a course seemed desirable, liberty has been taken to depart from a strictly formal classification. On the left side of the main hall are collections in mineralogy, lithology and geology. One alcove contains the Samuel Cotton Booth collection of local minerals, and a wall case is devoted to specimens of unusual rarity or beauty. This material is supplemented by relief maps, as, the Colorado cañon, the Volcanic District of the Auvergne in central France, the United States with a representation of the glacial ice-sheet, and southern New England. Photographs, wall maps and models complete the geological exhibit. In the basement there is a large amount of material for laboratory work and for illustration of local formations. In time, the latter