Page:The museum, (Jackson, Marget Talbot, 1917).djvu/24

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6
THE MUSEUM

the people is a very serious one. In Chicago, on the other hand, the Art Institute is located in the centre of the down-town district and while it is most unfortunately placed in relation to the railroad which passes the rear, it is at the same time so accessible that the number of its visitors is extraordinary.

Let us consider for a moment the European museums from this aspect. In Berlin, where there is a large group of Art museums, all the more important ones, with one exception, are grouped on the so-called Museum Island, in the heart of the city. The street cars and railroads pass so close to the museums that the dust and vibration which they cause are serious. In Paris, the chief collections have been brought together in the old royal palace of the Louvre, situated in the heart of the city, and although street cars pass along one side the traffic is not so heavy as to cause vibration, though there is much noise and dust. Accessibility is assured by the innumerable lines of motor buses which pass the museum on all sides, as well as by the underground, which has a special stop at that point. In London the case is somewhat different. There, although the British Museum is in the heart of the city, there are no street-car lines which come nearer to it than one block away. The enormous number of people who visit this museum