Page:The museum, (Jackson, Marget Talbot, 1917).djvu/213

Rh with red cedar and the trays built of the same wood. No finish is applied for obvious reasons: In order to run no risk of the prints becoming stained by sap oozing from improperly cured wood, it is best always to lay down a paper on the shelf before putting in the portfolios of prints.
 * 1) Any finish would impair the exhalation of the germicidal odor which is the attribute of cedar.
 * 2) Every finish contains matter which might stain the prints under exceptional weather conditions.

ARCHÆOLOGY

There is no class of material so often poorly exhibited in museums, nor so capable of arousing enthusiasm if properly shown, as that which is the result of excavations. The most serious mistake, and the one most often committed, is in placing before the public quantities of specimens of a similar character. The wholesale exhibition of one class of objects leads to two things: a false impression on the part of the public as to the importance of that particular thing in the daily life of the people of ancient times, and a fatigue of mind and eye which must be avoided if the public is to benefit from the collection. To the great mass of museum visitors the exact position of a handle on a cup or the precise number of geometrical figures used in a design are of no