Page:The museum, (Jackson, Marget Talbot, 1917).djvu/175

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THE PREPARATION OF OBJECTS
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of the Rautenstrauch-Joerst Museum of Cologne in Ethnologia, and to the papers by Mr. L. E. Rowe and Mr. H. L. Madison in the proceedings of the American Association of Museums, 1916.)

There are two really important matters to be considered in building cases. One is that they should lock securely, and the second, that they should be dust-proof. For the first of these one must be cautious in the selection of the hardware on a case. A very good type of lock is one which throws three bolts, one at the top of the case, one at the bottom of the case and one in the middle. This has the advantage of holding a large door firmly closed as it could not he held with the ordinary lock. A small keyhole is desirable and a complicated system of tumblers on the order of a yale lock is also an advantage. A large number of keys is to be avoided. Each museum should have its locks made to order with a minimum number of keys or with a master key, and it is desirable that the firm who makes the keys should be located in some other city and should not know for whom they are made.

Dust-proofing may be accomplished in various ways. Perhaps the simplest is that in which the door is provided with a little tongue which fits into a groove in the frame. The groove has to