Page:The museum, (Jackson, Marget Talbot, 1917).djvu/72

52 these things the building committee should be conversant.

An important precaution is the use of fire doors by means of which the different parts of the museum building can be shut off, one from another. These are often made with what is called a fusible link, an attachment which when the temperature reaches a certain degree, automatically closes the door. These doors are never handsome but if they are planned during the construction of the building they can be made to run in the thickness of the wall so that when opened they are concealed. If a plan is adopted similar to that of the National Museum in Munich such an arrangement is absolutely necessary, as a fire once started could spread too easily from one room to another, and what is more, the damage done by the smoke would be very great. Fire doors usually fit so tight that the minimum amount of smoke passes through them. In general, it seems wise to reduce as far as possible the number of places in the building where fires are lighted or matches need to be struck. In the carpenter's shop it is necessary to have an arrangement for heating glue. At the present time, a small electric machine which uses very little current can be obtained especially for this purpose, and these electric gluepots are much cleaner and