Page:The museum, (Jackson, Marget Talbot, 1917).djvu/26

8 The ownership of neighboring lots is another vital question. The erection of a factory near the museum may be a dangerous menace to the safety of its contents. Smoke, soot and dust are among the greatest dangers we have to face in the preservation of works of art. A large department store or even an office building as a neighbor cannot fail to bring some fire danger. Unfortunately it has not yet been possible to find a means of rendering our buildings thoroughly fire-proof. Even with all modern devices the risk is great, and there is hardly a building that would not prove a serious menace to its neighbors should a fire once gain headway. If a museum building is to be placed in the heart of the city, therefore, there must be riot only the usual provision for a legitimate growth, but some surplus to guard against undesirable neighbors.

As regards growth, it is to be hoped that the museums of the future are going to be very different from the museums of the past, and that we shall learn that economy in running a large plant is not the only consideration. Such monstrosities as the Louvre in Paris, the South Kensington in London, and the Metropolitan in New York, will no longer be possible, but their place will be taken by museums of moderate size, devoted not to all art from earliest times to the present day,