NS ike hat Rat wae oy uh) Panne aM " "t; Reaay sah at . Aa ue alaleayie Nels Alot, y utd (sr A sheth rey wy ah oe ut ve) i “ cr ahd ue " AON. . Fh eae 8 Suh celts ieshisancesstan met aitants ‘ve io Rab) irs Mf - Oe a yiatew oh Sate ery ae Ro he Fret oe : ribs ahaa) 3° Mth Ss Te aka) he = asda Aeeg: > ie A lo setgey« i rae Nas ae ve ‘aside re “ ne Cyt E 4 foal be ap haete ’ . . . “ . ' ‘ ‘ pie at bey > Pe : eG oF ee a tke ’ ‘ ‘ coer F : 8 . poe rite ‘ . . Tare cas a es oA, Cerf pms 5 i de oe ap ven arb Pei ccrat- wen pret a 2 eis rettaheeee fi atcbiye ors 8 bigest y nts po ihe need sw oa bat SP et th gh Peek ig He 19: ey ow tad pehs Ai, eaopig t's OO Ai 8 04 Pi Liga s i eyes ,® 194 op gig Le Fb aes a ati aor Ce eee i she ra ee 9,04 ors ie A ie “ SM eDT F "1, eh eel den ela Bae eA Be ny FOE eee ann) Ae alls rR Wd a peras ETL ro Museum of XN. - coe Y Ue > “yy %, A 4, A 1869 THE LIBRARY Shae AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL VOLUME XI, 1911 NEW YORK PUBLISHED: BY THE AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY OLA American Museum of Natural History Seventy-seventh Street and Central Park West, New York City BOARD OF TRUSTEES President Henry FarrRFIELD OSBORN First Vice-President Second Vice-President CLEVELAND H. DopceE J. Prerpont Moraan, JR. Treasurer Secretary CHARLES LANIER ArcHER M. HuNnTINGTON Tue Mayor or tHe City or New York Tur CoMPTROLLER OF THE City or New York THE PRESIDENT OF THE DEPARTMENT OF PARKS ALBERT 8S. BICKMORE A. D. JuILLrarRD GEORGE 8S. BowpboIn Gustav E. Kissen * JoserpH H. CHoatrr Seta Low Tuomas DeWirr CuyLEerR OagpEN MILLs James DouaGuas J. Prerrpont Morcan Mapi1son GRANT Percy R. PYNE Anson W. Harp WILLIAM ROCKEFELLER ADRIAN ISELIN, JR. JoHn B. TREVOR ARTHUR CURTISS JAMES Fevtrx M. WarBuURG Water B. JAMES GrorGE W. WICKERSHAM EXECUTIVE OFFICERS Director Assistant Secretary Freperic A. Lucas GEORGE H. SHERWOOD Assistant Treasurer Tuer Unitrep States Trust Company or New YORK * Deceased Tue Museum 1s Open FREE TO THE PuBLIC ON Every Day IN THE YEAR. Tue AMERICAN Museum or Natura History was established in 1869 to promote the Natural Sciences and to diffuse a general knowledge of them among the people, and it is in cordial coéperation with all similar institutions throughout the world. 'The Museum authorities are de- pendent upon private subscriptions and the dues from members for procuring needed additions to the collections and for carrying on explorations in America and other parts of the world. The membership fees are, Ariniral/;- MEGmDers: ae eo eee snes $ 10 INGO Soe else aie otal eve tate $ 500 Sustaining Members (Annual)... 25 Patrousac eee RY rs 1000 Bifewviembersine a.tsc ee cucrinic : 100 Benefactors (Gift or bequest) 50,000 THe Museum LIBRARY contains more than 60,000 volumes with a good working collection of publications issued by scientific institutions and societies in this country and abroad. The library is open to the public for reference daily — Sundays and holidays excepted — from 9 a.m. to 5 P. M. THe Museum PUBLICATIONS are issued in six series: The American Museum Journal, Annual Report, Anthropological Papers, Bulletins, Guide Leaflets and Memoirs. Information concerning their sale may be obtained at the Museum Library. GUIDES FOR Stupy oF EXHIBITS are provided on request by the Department of Public Education. Teachers wishing to bring classes should write or telephone the Department for an appointment, specifying the collection to be studied: Lectures to classes may also be arranged for. In all cases the best results are obtained with small groups of children. WORKROOMS AND STORAGE COLLECTIONS may be visited by persons presenting membership tickets. The storage collections are open to all persons desiring to examine specimens for special study. Applications should be made at the information desk. Tue Mirra RESTAURANT in the east basement is reached by the elevator and is open from 12 to 5 on all days except Sundays. Afternoon Tea is served from 2 to 5. The Mitla Room {is of unusual interest as an exhibition hall being an exact reproduction of temple ruins at Mitla, Mexico. Scientific Staff DIRECTOR FrepeRIc A, Lucas, Sc.D. GEOLOGY AND INVERTEBRATE PALHONTOLOGY Epmunpb Otis Hovey, A.B., Ph.D., Curator MINERALOGY L. P. Gratacap, Ph.B., A.B., A.M., Curator GeorGE F. Kunz, A.M., Ph.D., Honorary Curator of Gems INVERTEBRATE ZOOLOGY Prof. Henry E. Crampton, A.B., Ph.D., Curator Roy W. Miner, A.B., Assistant Curator Frank E. Lutz, A.B., A.M., Ph.D., Assistant Curator L. P. Gratracap, Ph.B., A.B., A.M., Curator of Mollusca WiLu1AM BrEuTENMiULLER, Associate Curator of Lepidoptera Joun A. GrossBeck, Assistant Prof. Witt1AmM Morton WHEELER, Ph.D., Honorary Curator of Social Insects ALEXANDER PETRUNKEVITCH, Ph.D., Honorary Curator of Arachnida Prof. Aaron L. TREADWELL, B.S., M.S., Ph.D., Honorary Curator of Annulata CHARLES W. Lena, B.S., Honorary Curator of Coleoptera ICHTHYOLOGY AND HERPETOLOGY Prof. BasHrorp Dean, A.B., A.M., Ph.D., Curator of Fishes and Reptiles Louis Hussakor, B.S., Ph.D., Associate Curator of Fishes Joun T. Nicuous, A.B., Assistant Curator of Recent Fishes Mary Cyntruta Dickerson, B.S., Assistant Curator of Herpetology MAMMALOGY AND ORNITHOLOGY Prof. J. A. AtLEN, Ph.D., Curator FranK M. CuapMan, Curator of Ornithology Roy C. Anprews, A.B., Assistant Curator of Mammalogy W. De W. Mitter, Assistant Curator of Ornithology VERTEBRATE PALEONTOLOGY Prof. Henry FarrFieELp Ossporn, A.B., Sc.D., LL.D., D.Sec., Curator Emeritus W. D. Marraew, Ph.B., A.B., A.M., Ph.D., Curator WaLTER GRANGER, Associate Curator of Fossil Mammals Barnum Brown, A.B., Associate Curator of Fossil Reptiles Wituram K. Grecory, A.B., A.M., Ph.D., Assistant Curator ANTHROPOLOGY Cuark Wissier, A.B., A.M., Ph.D., Curator Purny E. Gopparp, A.B., A.M., Ph.D., Associate Curator Rosert H. Lowis, A.B., Ph.D., Assistant Curator HERBERT J. SpINDEN, A.B., A.M., Ph.D., Assistant Curator CHARLES W. Mrmap, Assistant ALANSON SKINNER, Assistant PHYSIOLOGY Prof. Ratpo W. Tower, A.B., A.M., Ph.D., Curator PUBLIC HEALTH Prof. CHARLES-EpwaRD Amory Wrnstow, S.B., M.S., Curator Joun Henry O’Ner, 8.B., Assistant WOODS AND FORESTRY Mary Cyntaria Dickerson, B.S., Curator BOOKS AND PUBLICATIONS Prof. Ratpao W. Tower, A.B., A.M., Ph.D., Curator PUBLIC EDUCATION Prof. AtBerT S. Bickmore, B.S., Ph.D., LL.D., Curator Emeritus Grorce H, SHerwoop, A,B., A.M., Curator ILLUSTRATIONS Absorbed in study of the meteorites, 221 African boy carrying leopard, 89 African Hall, 14, 15, 17, 18, 19 African warriors, 12-13 “Age of Mammals,” 67 Arabopo River, 290 Awaiting their turn to enter for a lecture, 242 Bagobo ‘‘burden basket,’ 171; hemp fibre, 169; man’s carrying bag, 167; scarf, 166; textile for woman's skirt, 169; women, 165, 168; youth, 164 Bakuba pilecloth, 17 Beehive in Insect Hall, 250 Bella Coola family making ‘‘bread,”’ 137 Bickmore, Prof. Albert S., 189, 230 Birches, Jesup estate, 42 Bird houses made by schoolboys, 258 Black walnut, Jesup Collection, 38 Bullfrog Group, cover (Oct.), 186, 202, 204 ‘*Caliph,”’ 173, 176, 177, 178, cover (May) Canoe Builders, cover (April), 109 Catalpa Flowers, Forestry Hall, 253 Central Andes, Western Colombia, 294 Chilkat blanket weaving at a salmon river camp, 134 Children have favorite exhibits, 233 Chinese bronzes, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64 Coloring from the live frog, 207 Congo battle-axe, Kasai District, 16; carved wooden vase, 18; pygmies in the death dance, 19 Contact (double) beds, 146 Coppermine River, Museum’s Arctic Ex- pedition, 271 Copper Queen Mine, Cavern in, 305 Crocodile, Skeleton of an extinct marine, 68 Crow Indians, Adoption lodge, 180 Dinosaur mummy, 6 Dinosaurs, Duck-billed, 8, 10 Dominica, Fording a stream, 270 Driftwood (polluted) Picking up, 147 “Dry Camp,’’ Gray Bull River, 87 Elephant, Head studies, 92; herd, 5 Eohippus, 84, 85, 88 Eryops from the Lower Permian of Texas, 197 European frog showing external vocal sacs, 209 Flatboat, Red Deer River, 273 Flea, Human 96; Rat, 95, 96 Flowering dogwood, Jesup Collection, 37 Forests on Andean Coast Range, 296, 298 “Fossil Aquarium,’ 160 Fossil fish field work, 303 Fossil in position, 277 Fossil ripples in sandstone, 280 Four-toed horse, Eohippus, 84, 85, 88 Fur Seal Group, 50, 51 Fur seals, Pribilof Islands, cover (Feb.) Giraffe, Five-horned, 91 Ground Sloth Group, 114, 116, 119 Guiana Indians, 289, 291, 292 Haida Canoe, Steaming and decoration, 109 Hippo, Measuring and skinning, 90 House posts, 82 Tcterus fuertesi Chapman, 20 Impalla, 91 Indian tipi, Studying home life within, 222 Infectious diseases, Photographs to teach prevention, 238, 239 Intermittent sand filters, 144, 145 Ireng River, Looking over the dense canopy of the forest toward valley of, 286 Kaieteur, the Great Falls of the Guianas, 266 Lacrosse, Menomini game of, 138, 139, 141 Malarial mosquito exhibit, 241 Mangbetu natives, Congo Expedition report, 190, 191 Maori carved canoe prow, 53, 55; warrior, 54 Map showing exploration and field parties, 1911, 269 Marine Group, Model for, 251 Mesohippus, 85, 88 Monitor (Water), Habitat Group, 206; modeling manikin for, 207 Moose Group, Studying the, 226 Mount Wilson, View from, 40 Mounting the skin of a lizard of Tropical America, 212 Mural panels in North Pacific Hall, cover (April), 109, 128, 134, 137 Museum building, Design for east facade, 154 Museum of Celebes, 149 Newt’s method of shedding skin, 208 North American geography at close of Coal Era, 198 Okapi, 46, 47, 72 Oriole, Fuertes’, 20 Orohippus, 85, 88 Pine seeds for planting, cover (May) Pines, Jesup estate, 34, 41 Potaro River below Kaieteur Falls, 283, 284 Prospecting in Wind River Basin, Wyoming, 87 Rat, ‘‘Norway,"’ (Mus decumanus), 97, 98 Red Deer River, 272, 275, 276, 279, 280, 281, 282 Rhinocerus, Hook-lipped, cover (Jan.); Square-mouthed, 2, 4 Roraima, Mount, 290, 291 Salamander, Japanese giant, 203 San Ildefonso pottery, 192, 193, 194, 195 vi INDEX Savannahs, Brazilian, 286, 287 Saveritik, Camp on Guiana border, 292 School children visiting special exhibits at the Museum, 218, 222, 225, 226, 233, 237, 241, 242, 243, 248, 249, 250, 252, 2D0, 201, ZOL, 202 ‘*Sea elephants,’’ 108, 110, 111 Septic Tank, 146 Sketching for North Pacific Hall panels, 131 Skin-laden mules, Africa, 93 Spoonbill or paddlefish, 120, 121, 123, 125 Spoonbill caviar, Preparing, 124, 125 Stikine River, 132 Stone seat from Ecuador, 83 Successful kill by Guiana Carib Indians 289 Sugar maple in the Forestry Hall, Studying the, 237 Sun Dance among Plains Cree, 299 Tamanawas board, Bay Center, Washington, Whe Totem poles, cover (March), 76, 78, 79, SO, 81 Trachodon mummy, Portion of skin, 9 Travelling case of birds, 245 Tree Climbing Ruminant, 162 Tree sloth, Modern, 117 Trickling filters, Columbus, O., 142, 143 Tsimshian family making eulachon *‘butter,”’ 128 Turtle (soft-shelled), Wax cast, 210 Turtles (spotted), Wax cast, 210 Water moccasin, Wax cast, 211 Wax casts, 205, 206, 207, 208, 209, 210, 211 Whale skeleton cases from Japan, 23 Zebra Group, 172, 173, 174 INDEX Capitals Indicate the Name of a Contributor Accessions: Anthropology, 30, 83, 102, 150, 184, 216 Geology, 310 Invertebrate Palaeontology, 151 Invertebrate Zoblogy, 264, 309 Mammalogy and Ornithology, 31, 71, 72, 102, 183 Mineralogy, 30, 216 Public Education, 71, 189 Vertebrate Paleontology, 69, 264 Paintings of Peary meteorites, 102, 264 Administrative Offices, 214 African Large Game, 173-178 “‘Age of Mammals,”’ 30, 65-67 AuueNn, J. A. Habitat Groups of Mammals and Birds, 248-249 The Okapi, 73-75 American Museum and Education, 242 Amphibians of the Great Coal Swamps, 197-200 Ancient Chinese Bronzes, 59-65 AnprEws, R. C. Around the the Museum, 21—24 Modern Museum of Celebes, 149-150 Anthropological Field Work for the Year. 299-300 Anthropology, Arrangement of Exhibits, 254 Appointments, 151, 215 Appropriation for Museum Extension, 213 Around the World for the Museum, 21—24 World for Bagobo Fine Art Collection, 164-171 Benepict, L. W. Bagobo Fine Art Collec- tion, 164-171 Bickmore, Professor Albert S., Educator, 229 Bicetow, Maurice A. Educational Value of the American Museum, 234-235 Bird Collections on Deposit, 182 British Guiana and Brazil to Mount Ror- aima, 283-293 Brown, Barnum, Fossil Hunting by Boat in Canada, 273—282 Bumpus, Hermon Cary, 30 Burrage, Guy H., 182 Byrne, Mary B. C. seum, 262—264 Tuesday at the Mu- CHAPMAN, FranK M. New Oriole from Mexico, 20 Zooblogical Expedition to Western Colom- bia, 295-298 Zoobdlogical Exploration in South America, 52 Child Welfare Exhibit, 30 Children’s Room of the Museum, 260-261 CriarK, ANNA M. The Museum a Labora- tory for Classes, 2839-240 Crark, James L. Preservation of Mammal Skins in the Field, 89-94 Congo Expedition, Reports from, 44-48, 191 Contents, Table of, 1, 33, cover (Mar.), 105, POS LOD eee Oo Cooéperation in Education, 219 Copper Queen Mine, Newly Cavern in, 304-307 Crampton, Henry E., British Guiana and Brazil to Mount Roraima, 283—293 Educational Aims of the Department of Invertebrate Zodlogy, 250-252 Crow Indians of Montana, 179-181 Discovered INDEX vil Dean, Basurorp, Collecting Fossil Fishes in Ohio, 302-3038 Exhibition of Reptiles and Amphibians, 201 The New ‘‘Fossil Aquarium,” 161 Dickerson, M. C. Foreword on the New Mural Paintings, 129-130 Rare Elephant Seals, 109-112 Some Methods and Results in Herpetol- ogy, 203-212 Dinosaur, Fort Lee, 28—29 Dinosaur Mummy, 7-11 Educational Spirit in Museums, Evolution of, 227-228 Educational Value of the American Museum, 234-235 Expeditions: Alberta, 213, 214, 273-282; Alaska, 300; Arctic, 31, 72, 100, 215, 308; Arizona, 304; British East Africa, 99; British Guiana, 215, 283-293; Canada, 300; Colombia, 100, 151, 295- 298; Congo, 44, 99, 183, 191; Florida, 309; Guadaloupe, 109; Japanese Whal- ing Stations, 100, 216, 309; Lower California, 100; Nebraska, 214; New Jersey 300; Northern Plains Indians, 126, 300; Ohio, 215, 302-303; Pine Ridge Reservation, 214; Southwest, In- dians of, 300; Venezuela, 100, 215; West Indies. 100, 215; Wyoming, 85, 214, 311 Exploration Work, Review of the Museum’s, 267 Exploring and Field Parties of 1911, 269 Extension of Museum, Plans for, 155-158 Fassett, E. C. B. A Treasure of Ancient Bronzes, 59-65 New Mural Paintings, 130-137 Fast Vanishing Records, 270-271 Finley, (John H.) A Word of Congratula- tion from, 220 Flea Carriers of Plague, 95-98 Forestry and the Museum, 39-43 “*FPossil Aquarium,” 161 Fossil Egg from Madagascar, 70 Fossil Fishes in Ohio, Collecting, 302-303 Fossil Hunting by Boat in Canada, 273-282 Fossil Vertebrates — What They Teach, 246 Four-Toed Horse, A New Specimen of, 85-88 Gift from Ecuador, 83 Gift of Peculiar Value, 189 Gifts to the Museum, 30, 69, 71, 83, 101, 102, 189 GRANGER, WALTER, A New Specimen of the Four-Toed Horse, 85-88 GreGcory, W. K. ‘‘Age of Mammals, 67 Ground Sloth Group, 113-119 Guide Leaflets, 183, 184, 215 > 65- Habit and Structure in the Insect World, 27-28 Habitat Groups of Mammals and Birds, 248 Herpetology, Some Methods and Results in, 203-212 Hovey, E. O. Newly Discovered Cavern in the Copper Queen Mine, 304—307 Professor Albert S. Bickmore: Educator, 229-233 Huene, Dr. Friedrich von, 214 Hunter, Grorce W. Museum and High School United for Health and Economie Welfare, 236 Hussakor, L. Mississippi, Spoonbill of the 121-125 Fishery Indians of the Northern Plains, Research and Exploration among, 126—127 Invertebrate Zoédlogy, Educational Aims of the Department, 250-252 Jesup Collection of Woods, 37, 38, 43, 184 Jesup (‘Morris Ketchum) and the American Museum, 35-36 Kunz, GrorGe F. New Zealand Jade, 57-58 Lana, Hersert, Reports from the Congo Expedition, 44-48, 191 Lecture Announcements, 32, 72, p. 3, cover, (Oct.) 311 LerpziceR, Henry M., The Museum and the Public Lecture, 220 Library, The Museum, 252-253 Lower California Expedition, 100 Lowie, R. H. Crow Indians of Montana, 179-181 Industry and Art of the Negro Race, 12-19 New South Sea Exhibit, 53-56 Lucas, F. A. Evolution of the Educational Spirit in Museums, 227—228 Fast Vanishing Records, 270-271 Human Interest in Museum Exhibits, 187 Lutz, F. E. Flea Carriers of Plague, 95—98 Relation between Habit and Structure in the Inseet World, 27-28 103, 152, Mammal Skins, Preservation, 89-94 Man, Exhibit Showing Antiquity, 310 Marruew, W. D. Amphibians of the Great Coal Swamps, 197-200 Fort Lee Dinosaur, 28-29 Fossil Vertebrates — What They Teach, 246 Ground Sloth Group, 113-119 Tree Climbing Ruminant, 162-163 Maxwetr, W. H. Codédperation in Educa- tion, 219 Meap,C. W. A Gift from Ecuador, 83 Medicine Pipe, 24—26 Members, 29, 71, 101, 182, 213, 215, 264, 307 vill INDEX Members’ Room, 102, 264 Menomini Game of Lacrosse, 139-141 Metropolitan Sewerage Commission Exhibit, 151 Minerals, Hall of, 216 Mollusks, Hall of, 151 Mural Paintings, 129-137 Murray, Sir John, 182 Museum, A Laboratory for Classes, 239-240 and High School United for Health and Economic Welfare, 236 and the Public Lecture, 220 Exhibits, Human Interest in, 187-188 How One Crowded High School uses the, 240-241 Increasingly Helpful for Ten Years, 236 News Notes, 29, 71, 101, 150, 182, 213, 264, 307 of Celebes, A Modern, 149-150 of the Future, 223-225 Tuesday at the, 262-264 Museum’s Work, Cordial Recognition of the, 236-241 Museums Association’s Meeting, 214 National Academy of Sciences, 264 Negro Race, Industry and Art, 12-19 New Zealand Jade, 57-58 Oceanographic Work on the Albatross, 159 ‘““Oceanography,’’ lecture by Sir John Murray, 182 Okapi, 73-75 Oriole from Mexico, A New, 20 Ossorn, H. F. A Dinosaur Mummy, 7-11 Museum of the Future, 223-225 Plans for Extension of Museum, 155-158 Osborn, H. F., 30, 65, 71, 213 Panama Canal Project, 310 Preapopy, James L. How one Crowded High School Uses the Museum, 240 Pot hole from Russell, N. Y., 310 Pottery of San Ildefonso, 192-196 Primary and Grammar Schools, Symposium of Expressions from, 255—260 Public Health, Appointive Committee, 101 Question of, 142-148 Public Schools, Coéperation with, 242 Publications, 106-108, 183, 184, 215 Reptiles and Amphibians, Exhibition of, 201 ‘“‘Revealing and Concealing Coloration in Birds and Mammals,”’ 200 Rhinocerus, Square-mouthed or White, 3-5 Robb, J., Hampden, 99 Roester, Acnes, The Children’s Room of the Museum, 260 RooseEVvELT, THEODORE, The Square- mouthed or White Rhinocerus, 3-5 Roosevelt, Theodore, 200 Sacre, L. B. The Museum Increasingly Helpful for Ten Years, 236-239 Schaffer, Dr. Franz, 214 Scientific Staff, Changes in, 71, 99, 101, 102, 150, 183, 213, 214 Seal Group, 49-51 Seals, Rare Elephant, 109-112 Senckenberg Museum, Historic Fossil from, 69 SHerRwoop, G. H. Codédperation Public Schools, 242—245 Gift of Peculiar Value, 189 SKINNER, ALANSON, The Menomini Game of Lacrosse, 139-141 Smith, Harlan I., 215, 301-302 SmiruH, Haran I., Totem Poles of the North Pacific Coast, 77-82 Societies, Meetings of, 31, 103, 151 South America, Bird Fund, Contributions to, 101 Zoological Exploration in, 52 South Sea Exhibit, 53-56, 71 SpinpEN, H. J. The Making of Pottery at San Ildefonso, 192-196 Spoonbill Fishery of the Mississippi, 121-125 Stefansson-Anderson Arctic Expedition, 31, 72, 100, 215, 308 with the Totem Poles, North Pacific Coast, 77—S2 Toumey, J. W. Forestry and the Museum, 39-43 Tower, R. W. The Museum Library, 252 TowNseENpD, C. H. Oceanographic Work on the Albatross, 159 The Finished Fur Seal Group, 49-51 Tree Climbing Ruminant, 162-163 Trustees, Annual Meeting, 99-100 Elections to, 99 Vertebrate Paleontology Expeditions, 214 311 Walker, Dr. J. R., 216 Wild Boar Habitat Group, 183 Winstow, C-E. A., A Question of Public Health, 142-148 Winslow, C-E. A., 183, 216 Wisster, Criark, Anthropological Field Work for the Year, 299-300 Arrangement of Exhibits in Anthro- pology, 254-255 Medicine Pipe, 24-26 Research in Anthropology, 126-127 Zodlogical Expedition to Western Colombia, 295-298 THE AMERICAN JIUSEUM JOURNAL Volume XI] January, 1911 Number 1 Published monthly from October to May inclusive by THE AMERICAN Museum oF NATURAL HIstTory New York City American Museum of Natural History Seventy-seventh Street and Central Park West, New York City BOARD OF TRUSTEES President Henry Farrrirtp Osborn First Vice-President Second Vice-President J. Prerpont MorGan CLEVELAND H. DopGsE Treasurer Secretary CHARLES LANIER J. Hamppen Ross THe Mayor or THE Ciry or New York Tue COMPTROLLER OF THE City oF New York Tue PRESIDENT OF THE DEPARTMENT OF PARKS ALBERT S. BICKMORE A. D. JuImLiiarp GEORGE 8S. BowpboINn Gustav E. Kisseu Josera H. Cyoatr Seta Low THomas DeWitTr CuyLeR OGDEN MILLS James DouaGuas J. Prsrpont Moraan, Jr. Anson W. Harp Percy R. PynE ArRcHER M. HUNTINGTON WiLuiAM ROCKEFELLER ADRIAN ISELIN, JR. Joun B. Trevor ARTHUR CuRTISS JAMES Frevirx M. WarBuUuRG GEORGE W. WICKERSHAM EXECUTIVE OFFICERS Director Assistant-Secretary and Assistant-Treasurer Hermon Carty Bumpus Grorce H. SHeRwoop Tue Museum 1s Open Free To THE Pusptic oN Every Day IN THE YEAR. Tue AmpricAN Museum or Naturaut History was established in 1869 to promote the Natural Sciences and to diffuse a general knowledge of them among the people, and it is in cordial coéperation with all similar institutions throughout the world. The Museum authorities are de- pendent upon private subscriptions and the dues from members for procuring needed additions to ‘the collections and for carrying on explorations in America and other parts of the world. The membership fees are, AmmnuUal IMI@MBDeEnss wines ec cles ms $ 10 OL OW Sey wise Wie OUR cee ies $ 500 Sustaining Members (Annual)... ... 25 IPathOns aes) crea ataiarn ero t arg 1000 AGife BVLEIMB CIS) Gea ce ci rene 168 ares ees 100 Benefactors (Gift or bequest) 50,000 Ture Musrum LIBRARY contains over 60,000 volumes with a good working collection of publi- cations issued by scientific institutions and societies in this country and abroad. The library is open to the public for reference daily — Sundays and holidays excepted — from 9 a. m. to 5 P. M Ture Museum PUBLICATIONS are issued in six series: The American Museum Journal, Annual Report, Anthropological Papers, Bulletins, Guide Leaflets and Memoirs. Information concerning their sale may be obtained at the Museum Library. GUIDES FoR Stupy OF EXHIBITS are provided on request by the Department of Public Education. Teachers wishing to bring classes should write or telephone the Department for an appointment, specifying the collection to be studied. Lectures to classes may also be arranged for. In all cases the best results are obtained with small groups of children. WoRKROOMS AND STORAGE COLLECTIONS may be visited by persons presenting membership tickets. The storage collections are open to all persons desiring to examine specimens for special study. Applications should be made at the information desk. Tar Miria RESTAURANT in the east basement is reached by the elevator and is open from 12 to 5 on all days except Sundays. Afternoon Tea is served from 2 to 5. The Mitla Room is of unusual interest as an exhibition hall being an exact reproduction of temple ruins at Mitla, Mexico. The American Museum Journal CONTENTS FOR JANUARY, 1911 Cover, Photograph by James L. Clark The’ Black or Hook-lipped Rhinoceros Frontispiece, Photograph by Kermit Roosevelt The White or Square-mouthed Rhinoceros The Square-mouthed Rhinoceros. ..........THEODORE ROOSEVELT 3 An account of the white rhino from personal observations in the Lado A Dimosaur Mummy.................HENRY FAIRFIELD OSBORN ri Trachodon annectens purchased through the Jesup Fund. With reproduction by Charles R. Knight Industry and Art of the Negro Race.............RosBert H. Lowrie 12 Plan of the African Hall. New theories of the negro’s relation to civilization A. New Oriole from Mexico. ................. FRANK M. CHapmMan 20 With colored plate Around the World for the Museum.............Roy C. ANDREWS 21 ithe, Wedicme: Pipe sie. o. ok £2 08 so) poe oho eos es CLARKS Wissimnrr 24 The Museum gains phonograph records of Indian prayers and songs Relation between Habit and Structure in the Insect World FranK E. Lutz 27 Marts Lec inOsatins fis. aca sp ete ee foals bee Ds Mie IVIGISETIMEINGWWSRINOLES face orca tea eee ieee Ceo oy ee, ei) REPUTE ATINOUNGCCHICINES: feo Pe eee eh Crk Oe ee kee Mary Cyntuia Dickerson, Editor Subscription, One Dollar per year. Fifteen cents per copy A subscription to the JourNau is included in the membership fees of all classes of Members of the Museum Subscriptions should be addressed to The American Museum Journal, 30 Boylston St., Cam- bridge, Mass., or 77th St. and Central Parlkk West, New York City Entered as second-class matter January 12, 1907, at the Post-office at Boston, Mass. Act of Congress, July 16, 1894 From a photograph, copyright, by Kermit Roosevelt THE SQUARE-MOUTHED RHINOCEROS The white or square-mouthed rhinoceros is now found only in a game preserve in South Africa and on a narrow stretch of territory along the west bank of the Upper Nile The American Museum Journal Vou. XI JANUARY, 1911 No. 1 THE SQUARE MOUTHED RHINOCEROS By THEODORE ROOSEVELT Colonel Roosevelt has presented to the American Museum two specimens of the rare White Rhino, and gives to the JOURNAL from his personal experiences and observations in Africa the following account of this great horned beast of the Lado. On the arrival of the skins at the Museum, work will begin at once on the task of preparing and mounting them for exhibition. N our trip in Africa for the Smithsonian, in addition to the series of specimens of big game for the Smithsonian itself, we also pre- pared a few skins of the largest and rarest animals for other col- lections: a head of the white rhinoceros for Mr. Hornaday’s noteworthy collection, a bull elephant for the University of California, two cow ele- phants and a bull and cow of the white rhino for the American Museum of Natural History. I was especially anxious to get this pair of white rhinos, because the American Museum is in my own city, because my father was one of its founders and because my admiration is great for the work of the men who have raised this institution to its present high position. The skins of the two cow elephants were prepared by Carl Akeley, with whom I had gone after them; the other specimens were preserved by Edmund Heller and R. J. Cunninghame as a labor of love. The white rhinoceros is, next to the elephant, the largest of existing mam- mals. There are three groups of existing rhinoceros: the two-horned species of Africa, the one-horned species of the Indian region and the little Sumatran rhinoceros — the three separate stems of ancestry going back at least to early Pliocene and probably to Miocene times. At one time rhinos of many dif- ferent kinds and covering the widest variety of form and habit abounded in America, and in Europe species lasted to the days of paleolithic man. There are two wholly distinct kinds in Africa, differing from one another as much as the moose does from the wapiti. They are commonly called the black and the white; but as in fact they are both of a dark slate hue, it is better to call the former the hook-lipped and the latter the square-mouthed. They intergrade in size, but the square-mouthed averages bigger and longer-horned. The hook-lipped or common black kind is still plentiful in * The illustrations are used through the courtesy of Charles Scribner's Sons. 3 4A - . » | a eT A ~ eh WOR by eS A Aaa Bes From a photograph, copyright, by Kermit Roosevelt many places from Abyssinia to the Zambezi; it is a browser and feeds chiefly on twigs and leaves. The white or square-mouthed kind is now found only in a game preserve in South Africa and on a narrow stretch of territory along the west bank of the Upper Nile. It is purely a grazer. In its range the square-mouthed rhino offers an extraordinary example of discontinuous distribution. It was originally known from South Africa, south of the Zambezi, and was believed to exist nowhere north of that river. Then, when it had been practically exterminated in South Africa, it was rediscovered far to the north beyond the equator. In the immense extent of intervening territory it has never been found. We spent over a month in the Lado, the present habitat of this huge sluggish ungulate. We collected a good series of specimens, nine in all — bulls and cows and one calf. Of course, we killed none save those abso- lutely needed for scientific purposes. All told we saw thirty or forty individuals and Kermit got some fine photographs, the first ever taken of living members of the species. Their eyesight was so dull and their brains so lethargic that time and again we got within a score or so of feet and watched individuals as long as we cared to. They drank at night, either at the Nile or at some pool, and then moved back, grazing as they went, into the barren desolation of the dry country. About nine o’clock or thereabouts they lay down, usually under the scanty shade of some half-leafless thorn tree. In mid afternoon they rose and grazed industriously until sundown. But as with all game, they sometimes varied their times of resting, eating and drinking. Ordinarily we found the bulls singly and the cow along with her calf; but occasionally three or four would go together. Cow herons frequently accompanied them, as they do elephants and buffaloes, perching unconcernedly on their heads and bodies. They were not difficult to get as our trackers followed their trail with little difficulty; and they seemed less excitable and bad-tempered than their hook-lipped cousins, although on occasion they charge with determination, so that a certain amount of care must be exercised in dealing with them. 4 velt y Kermit Roose b copyriaht, ntograph, a phe m HIGH TIMBER IN AN OPEN FOREST OF ELEPHANT OF A HERD yards distant twenty-five Colonel Roosevelt has presented two elephants to the and r ground five or six feet from the limb of a tree point of the Vantage Photograph taken from the The addition to his valuable Museum ln mammals. the largest of existing are gift of a bull and cow of the white rhino square-mouthed rhinoceros elephant and the puny dnsor -y slaoyy oy) YsSnoayy wunosnyY oy Aq pasvyosnd sem pure SurWOA A UL PodoAOOSTP SVM ALUN PY anesoutc, vy, snues siq) jo sunesourp Joy aIqey oNRBNbe Jo Aucoy) oy) SUBYISUES Poules oFpo[MOouy Mou oy, “UOJVTOYS 9yo JoAO APYSO UMTUp ‘}Udsead ULYS oO} SuULARYy ult punoy ATSnotAeid suayIO TPB Woa sdayip sBsuRy JO Bdloquioig FL SsopeyO AQ SOG] UL pasaAOoOSIp (SUajveUUD UVOPOYIVAT) AURSOULP STULL AWWNW YNAWSONIG V 9 Sie Seren, — a J C16 / ajay .~ ~ A DINOSAUR MUMMY By Henry Fairfield Osborn WO years ago, through the Jesup Fund, the Museum came into possession of a most unique specimen, discovered in August, 1908, by the veteran fossil hunter Charles H. Sternberg of Kansas. It is a large herbivorous dinosaur belonging to the closing period of the Age of Reptiles, and is known to paleontologists as 7'’rachodon, or more popularly as the “duck-billed dinosaur.” The skeleton, or hard parts of these very remarkable animals has been known for over forty years, and a few specimens had preserved with them small areas of the impressions of the epidermal covering, but it was not until the discovery of the Sternberg specimen that a knowledge of the outer covering of these dinosaurs was gained. It appears probable that in a aumber of cases these priceless skin impressions were mostly destroyed in removing the fossil specimens from their surroundings because the ex- plorers were not expecting to find anything of the kind. Altogether seven specimens have been discovered in which these delicate skin impressions were partly preserved, but the “trachodon mummy” far surpasses all the others, as it yields a nearly complete picture of the outer covering. The reason the Sternberg specimen (Trachodon annectens) may be known as a diaosaur “mummy’’ is that in all the parts of the animal which are preserved (i. e. all except the hind limbs and the tail) the epidermis is shrunkes around the limbs, tightly drawn along the bony surfaces and contracted like a great curtain below the chest area. This condition ot the epidermis suggests the following theory of the deposition and _preser- vation of this wonderful specimen, namely: that after dying a natural death the animal was not attacked or preyed upon by its enemies and the body lay exposed to the sun entirely undisturbed for a long time, perhaps upon a broad sand flat of a stream in the low-water stage; the muscles and viscera thus became completely dehydrated, or desiccated by the action of the sun, the epidermis shrank around the limbs, was tightly drawn down along all the bony surfaces, and became hardened and leathery; on the abdominal surfaces the epidermis was certainly drawn within the body cavity, while it was thrown into creases and folds along the sides of the body, owing to the shrinkage of the tissues within. At the termination of a possible low-water season, during which these processes of desiccation took place, the “mummy” may have been caught in a sudden flood, carried DUCK-—BILLED DINOSAURS Fossil reptiles with spreading webbed feet, compressed tail and duck-like bill, all of which indicate a more or less aquatic existence. Compare with restoration, p. 10 The jaws are provided with a marvelous grinding apparatus composed of a complex of more than two thousand separate teeth A DINOSAUR MUMMY ) Pl WS om 4 Sa ~~ af are PORTION OF SKIN FROM TRACHODON MUMMY This reptile had neither scales nor bony covering, but a thin epidermis made up of tubercles of two sizes, the larger size predominating on surfaces exposed to the sun down the stream, and rapidly buried in a bed of fine river sand intermingled with sufficient elements of clay to take a perfect cast or mold of all the epidermal markings before any of the epidermal tissues had time to soften under the solvent action of the water. In this way the markings were indi- cated with absolute distinctness, and as the specimen will soon be mounted in a glass case, the visitor will be able by the use of a hand glass to study even the finer details of the pattern, although of course there is no trace either of the epidermis itself, which has entirely disappeared, or of the pigmentation, or coloring, if such existed. The discovery of this specimen discloses the fact that although attain- ing a height of fifteen to sixteen feet and a length of thirty feet, the trachodons were not covered with scales or a bony protecting arma- LHOINYH “HY SSTYHVHO AS NOILVHOLSSYH AYVNIWIISYd V “YNVSONIO GC317118-HONG OL A DINOSAUR MUMMY 1] ture, but with dermal tubercles of relatively small size, which varied in shape and arrangement in different species, and that not improbably asso- ciated with this varied epidermal pattern there was a varied color pattern. The theory of a color pattern is based chiefly upon the fact that the larger tubercles concentrate and become more numerous on all those portions of the body exposed to the sun, that is, on the outer surfaces of the fore and hind limbs, and appear to increase also along the sides of the body and to be more concentrated on the back. On the less exposed areas, the under side of the body and the inner sides of the limbs, the smaller tubercles are more numerous, the larger tubercles being reduced to small, irregularly arranged patches. From analogy with existing lizards and snakes we may suppose, therefore, that the trachodons presented a darker appearance when seen from the back and a lighter appearance when seen from the front. The thin character of the epidermis as revealed by this specimen favors also the theory that these animals spent a large part of their time in the water, which theory is strengthened by the fact that the diminutive fore limb terminates not in claws or hoofs, but in a broad extension of the skin, reaching beyond the fingers and forming a kind of paddle. This marginal web, which connects all the fingers with each other, together with the fact that the lower side of the fore limb is as delicate in its epidermal structure as the upper, certainly tends to support the theory of the swimming rather than the walking or terrestrial function of this fore paddle, as indicated in the accompanying preliminary restoration that was made by Charles R. Knight working under the writer’s direction. One is drawn in the con- ventional bipedal, or standing posture, while the other is in a quadrupedal pose, or walking position, sustaining or balancing the fore part of the body on a muddy surface with its fore feet. In the distant water a large number of the animals are disporting themselves. The designation of these animals as the “duck-billed’’ dinosaurs in reference to the broadening of the beak, has long been considered in con- nection with the theory of aquatic habitat. The conversion of the fore limb into a sort of paddle, as evidenced by the Sternberg specimen, strengthens this theory. This truly wonderful specimen, therefore, nearly doubles our previous insight into the habits and life of a very remarkable group of reptiles. Hai r Ree Oe inn AS - Saas phe adie WARRIORS WITH SHIELDS, SINGING AS THEY MARCH INDUSTRY AND ART OF THE NEGRO RACE THE EXHIBITION IN THE MUSEUM’S AFRICAN HALL ENFORCES NEW IDEAS AS TO THE CAPACITIES OF THE NEGRO RACE AND REVEALS THE GROUND ON WHICH ARE BASED SOME NEW THEORIES REGARDING THE NEGRO’S RELATION TO CIVILIZATION By Robert H. Lowite Decorative illustrations from African Hall frescoes by Albert Operti HILE a few years ago all the Museum’s ethnological material from Africa could have been conveniently placed in a few cases, the acquisition of two unusually large collections from the Congo seemed to warrant the installation of a hall especially devoted to African 12 ethnology. The great \ preponderance of ma- terial from the Congo as compared with other regions of Africa made necessary the allotment of an ap- parently dispropor- tionate amount of space, a large rectan- gulararea in the center being set aside for this purpose. There is a certain measure of justification, however, for the prominence thus given to a single region. The Congo embraces within its boundaries tribes rep- resenting with special clearness the develop- ment of negro culture as uninfluenced by external causes; it in- cludes not only divi- sions of the Pygmy race representing per- haps the lowest of cultural stages to be found in Africa, but also a num- ber of Bantu-speaking negroes whose artistic work may be fairly taken as representative of the capacities of the African natives. The plan of arrangement was designed to be, as nearly as possible, geographical. The as yet uninstalled collections from parts north, east, south and west of the Congo are to be placed ultimately in corresponding positions with reference to the large central rectangle; within this central area devoted to the Congo a similar geographical plan was actually followed as rigidly as the nature of the material and other practical condi- tions permitted. Thus, the visitor entering the African Hall is confronted by a row of cases exhibiting material from the southern Congo, while a series of mats from the same district is stretched in frames above. Passing to the east, he finds along the eastern border of the central area the material from the eastern Congo, while the space, as yet unoccupied, between this 13 Portion of transparency in African Hall. The shaved head and abundant neck and ear orna- ments are typical of East Africa ip ah ah aps row of cases and the windows is to be dedi- cated to East Africa. Here, as throughout the perimeter of the Congo area, spears, shields, battle axes and other specimens are grouped on pillars or fastened in frames above the cased material from the same territory. A rather novel device was hit upon to illus- trate phases of native life such as can scarcely ever be represented adequately by actual specimens. Thus, the pastoral life of the Masai is not clearly shown by an exhi- bition of milk jugs, and the crossing of a river on a native bridge cannot be very vividly presented to a visitor by a cased section of the bridge. Similarly, the necessarily piece- meal installation of garments and objects of personal adornment from some district hardly permits the construction of a picture of the fully-dressed warrior. Accordingly, there was obtained a large series of standard photo- graphs illustrating various aspects of African culture; from these, colored enlargements on glass were prepared, and placed in the lower window frames as transparencies. These transparencies, which embrace in scope the entire African continent, supplementing the material on exhibition, are likely to convey to the general public a clearer and more impressive picture of aboriginal African cul- ture than could otherwise be hoped for. So far as the exhibition of the material itself is concerned, especial care was taken to emphasize certain broad features which : 4 4 al 4 > STSLELELELE LALA LELELELARLELELELeL eee cic c ee Leelee eee ele elec ci ei cicicicicl (LALZLALALALALAL PRIS ALALALALALALALALALALALALALsa lel ele Leelee LeeLee LeLeLaLeLeALeLeLeLals! the average layman is not likely to associate with the African aborigines, but which are nevertheless in the highest degree characteristic of them as apapapahar 4h eh ap apared aa SMALL SECTION OF AFRICAN HALL Editorial Note: Frescoes along the gallery above, a frieze spanning the distance from pillar to pillar and colored transparencies in the windows produce a strong decorative effect in addition to correlating vividly the technical exhibits in the cases with African life and customs. These plans for the hall are accredited to Director Hermon C. Bumpus who also is the originator of the idea carried out in this and in other halls as to the apportionment of space. That is, the space along the east and west sides of the African Hall from north to south is destined to indicate the relative geographical distribution of the various tribes around the great heart of Africa, the Congo. So that in walking the length of the hall along the right, and back along the left, one may pass in review African industry, art and tribal customs as if actually traveling north from the Cape of Good Hope to the Mediterranean, east of the Congo, and south again, west of the Congo — in other words, from the Bushmen to the tribes of the Nile and from the Sahara tribes to the Hottentots. Such a plan gives a forceful and natural arrangement for the disposition of any collection of heterogeneous mate- rials from a region. The installation of the collections in the cases is the work of Robert H. Lowic, Assistant Curator in the Department of Anthropology. BATTLE AXE FROM KASAI DISTRICT CONGO These axes are remarkable for their openwork patterns and for the human heads cut upon them compared with the races of other continents. First and foremost among these is the fact of a native African metal- lurgy. While the highly developed tribes of Polynesia had not advanced beyond the stone age at the time of their dis- covery by white men and even the inhabitants of ancient Mexico and Peru had not learned to smelt iron from the ore, practically all the tribes of Africa have in historical times practised the iron technique, some having attained a high degree of perfection in this industry. This fact is so striking that scientific travelers of the highest rank, such as Dr. Schweinfurth and Professor von Luschan, have advanced the theory that the African negroes were the originators of the technique and transmitted it through the intermediation of other peoples to the ancestors of our civilized 16 women embroider upon it hahahah ahah ar ae, ‘es a plush-like fabric ap aparara then the abhapararared oO z > < Ww = ar ” 5 wl a u ° w =| a = < x wi z < a B ° = | re) w a | a < oO =) ne < a The men weave the cloth from the fibres of the raphia palm, geometrical patterns and give a final shaving which produc r (ALR LAL Lee nations of to-day. PAP ADAP AP AP ah ahah ahah ahah db abababababab apap ap apabapabababapabapabapapapab apap adap arapapapabap nigh a aie a eee —— _— ; Guu —r yr a hh a Aah ih eh ih i ie A eo Sl te Sl tn Dy te ee te LLL LLL LLL ah apap ar ar arh ar ar. Should this theory prove tenable, it is obvious that a complete revision of popular beliefs as to the negro’s relation to modern CARVED WOODEN VASE, KASAI DISTRICT In this excepticnally beautiful piece the more usual angular design in imitation of the interlacing strands cf hasketwork has heen transformed into a fyattern of gracefully curved lines PeTeiecisi hd ~~ abana civilization would be a necessary consequence. However this may be, it was clearly essential to em- phasize metal-work in the African Hall. smiths, which had been in the pos- A group of negro black- session of the Museum for a number of years, was given a con- spicuous. place in the northern section of the Hall, and in the dec- orative panels overhanging the cases, as well as on the pillars mark- ing the perimeter of the Congo area, African spears and battle-axes, throwing-knives and scimitars were made to predominate. Another phase of activity which is not usually associated with the African race has underlying it a strong development of the zesthetic sense, and the new exhibits are likely to carry conviction on this point. The number of different types of musical instruments utilized by the negroes contrasts favorably with their relative scarcity as ex- hibited in other halls. Far more imposing, however, is the array of decorative woodwork and pilecloth Tene a ae ae abana ee 2 Photograph by Rev. G. W. Stahlbrand CONGO PYGMIES IN THE DEATH DANCE from the Kasai District of the Congo, the patterns of which occasionally rise to classic beauty of composition. Even the ironwork, aside from its excellence from a utilitarian point of view, is at times equally impressive by the almost incredible virtuosity of its ornamentation. The exhibits are thus likely to temper current misunderstandings as to the capacities of the negro race and to carry home to a wider public some of the most funda- mental and now firmly established conceptions of ethnological science. v a .7 a ’ a _ — . in ied 7 a ae i ee *~< ¥. MUELAULALALAL LAL ALALALALALALAL SL eo eLeLeLeLeLes! A NEW ORIOLE FROM MEXICO By Frank M. Chapman MONG the most interesting results attending the Museum’s expedi- tion to Mexico to secure material for a habitat group of tropical birds, was the discovery of a new species of oriole. The bird is most nearly related to our orchard oriole, which prior to this time has been distinguished by the fact that it had no close relatives, its rich chest- nut colors being strikingly unlike the orange dress of most members of the genus Icterus. The new bird was discovered by Mr. Louis Agassiz Fuertes, the artist of the expedition, and in view of this fact, as well as in recognition of his invaluable services to ornithology, it has been named, in the January issue of the vlwh, the official organ of the American Ornithologists’ Union, [cterus fuertesi. The colored plate of the new bird, drawn by Mr. Fuertes, is here reproduced through the courtesy of the Union. The discovery of this very distinct new species in a region the bird life of which was supposed to be well-known, illustrates how extremely restricted is the range of many tropical birds, and at the same time emphasizes out comparative ignorance of the bird life of tropical America. Four specimens of Fuertes’s oriole were secured. They were all taken on the banks of the Tamesi River, some thirty-five miles in an air-line and seventy-five by water from Tampico on the Gulf coast of Mexico. The members of the Museum expedition were here the guests of Mr. Thomas H. Silsbee, on the sugar plantation of Paso del Haba, and the new birds were found only in the serubby second-growth which has appeared on the banks of the river from which the forest had been cleared in establishing the plantation. Whether they also inhabited the somewhat scanty growth away from the vicinity of the river, we did not ascertain since the surpris- ing abundance of birds in the river-forest claimed all our attention. At this time (April 3-9, 1910) the great vellow-headed parrots (lmazona oratriv) so popular as cage-birds, together with somewhat smaller red- headed parrots (Amazona viridigenalis) and two species of paroquets were beginning to nest, and several pairs had selected hollow limbs in the trees about our camp. There were also trogons (Trogon ambiguus), motmots (Momotus lessonii), chachalaccas (Ortalis vetula mecalli) and many other birds characteristic of the tropics, most of which were at the northern limit of their range. The region, therefore, has an especial interest as the nearest point to New York City at which a well-developed tropical fauna can be found. 20 ICTERUS FUERTESI CHAPMAN ADULT MALE AND FEMALE (Two-thirds natural size) AROUND THE WORLD FOR THE MUSEUM* By Roy C. Andrews HROUGH the coéperation of the Bureau of Fisheries at Washington with the Director of the American Museum, I received a temporary appointment on the United States ship Albatross to do collecting, principally of mammals and birds, on an expedition to Borneo and the islands of the Dutch East Indies. By agreement, the types of new species and series of duplicates were to go to the National Museum, the remainder of the material collected being reserved for the American Museum. This was in the summer of 1909 and the Albatross at the time was cruising in Philippine waters. Leaving New York in August, 1909, I sailed from Seattle to Hong Kong by way of Yokohama and after waiting four days in Hong Kong for a typhoon to subside, left just in time to meet a second storm about halfway across the China Sea. At Manila I learned that the Albatross was on its way from Zamboanga and that almost ten days must elapse before she would be ready to leave for the southern trip; consequently the time seemed opportune to make a short expedition to the island of Mindoro for the purpose of ascertaining the whereabouts of a great number of whales which had been reported as coming ashore near Calapan. Consequently I went to Mindoro and made arrangements for transportation the next day in a native canoe to the spot where the whales were supposed to be. That evening, however, telegrams were received from Manila stating that a typhoon was on the way. All of the white people in the little village and many of the natives hurried to the old Spanish fort and prepared to spend the night there. It was well that this was done, for the typhoon struck the north end of the islands with tremendous violence and for two days we were practically kept prisoners in the old fortress. It was a most inter- esting experience and the disagreeable features were very shortly forgotten after the typhoon had ceased. All attempts to reach the whales, however, were useless because of the heavy sea that was running and the tremendous surf pounding the shore all along the north coast. Returning to Manila I found the Albatross already there and Captain McCormack kindly consented to take the ship to Calapan. The trip resulted in disappointment, however, because the bones of the whales had *This article, an itinerary and general statement of the collecting trip made for the Museum in 1909 and 1910 by a representative of the Department of Mammalogy, will be followed in iater issues of the JourNaL by detailed reports of work and places visited. 21 oe THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL become so softened by being buried with the flesh in the damp sand that only two skulls and a few other parts of skeletons were available. The Albatross finally left Manila in late October and after a three days’ trip reached Sibattick Island, British North Borneo. Here I had my first experience collecting in a tropical forest. Great white camphor-wood trees, some stretching up nearly two hundred feet, and the “Kayu Rajah,” or king-tree, equally as high, were hung with vines and creepers forming a tangled network. Palms were interspersed here and there throughout the forest and banana trees were growing in every little clearing. Bird notes could be heard, subdued because of the great height of the trees and some- times drowned in the shrilling of myriads of locusts and beetles. The Albatross then visited the North Celebes. In Limbe Strait I collected a number of monkeys, a pig and one of the rare ursine phalangers together with a good series of birds among which were four large hornbills. Another stop, Ternate, was interesting as the place where many of the paradise birds from New Guinea are marketed and sent to Paris and London for millinery purposes. We got to Makassar for Christmas and were most hospitably received by the Governor and the European residents of the town. It was here that I met His Excellency, Baron Quarles de Quarles, Governor of the Celebes, who has a splendid museum of his own illustrating the anthropology and ethnology of the East Indian native tribes. He became interested in our work and very generously presented to the American Museum a collection of ethnological material, otherwise impossible to obtain. The Albatross returned to the Philippine Islands in January and ex- changing the Filipino members of the crew for white sailors, put out again in heavy weather for Formosa and the Loo-Choo Islands, and then made straight for Nagasaki, Japan. Here we were received with great cordiality by the Governor and the American Consul and obtained information result- ing in a trip to Shimonoseki where permission was secured from officials of the Oriental Whaling Company to visit their stations for the purpose of studying and collecting Cetacean material. Returning to Nagasaki, I definitely arranged to leave the Albatross and eventually forwarded much of my material to Shimonoseki. First I went to the whaling station at Shimidzu on the island of Shikoku. So few whales were taken at this station, however, that I transferred to Oshima, where were taken a splendid blue or sulphur-bottom whale 79 feet in length, the jaws alone of which were nineteen feet long, a sei or sardine whale 46 feet long and a killer of 26 feet length. After being carefully crated these were put on board a schooner and sent to Shimonoseki, whence they were trans- ferred to the Hamburg-American liner Aragonia for New York. With AROUND THE WORLD FOR THE MUSEUM 2 them was also shipped a killer skeleton which had been taken in Korea and presented by the whaling company with the other material. The Museum was desirous of securing a large sperm whale and with this end in view I went to the station at Aikawahama, three hundred miles north of Yokohama. Here I remained for more than three months going out on the whaling ships and studying the different specimens as they were brought in. Four species of large whales were taken and there were excep- tional opportunities to obtain valuable scientific data, but although some twelve sperm whales had been killed, none were over 47 feet in length. | had almost despaired when finally Captain Fred Olsen of the whaleship Two of the 27 cases of whale skeletons from Japan. The larger crate has 2 space measurement of 26 tons and contains a sperm whale which yielded 20 barrels of spermaceti Rekkusu Maru brought in a specimen 60 feet long and fortunately none of the bones had been broken by the four harpoons used in the capture. During the time spent at this station, a finback whale 70 feet in length and also ten porpoises of four different species were secured, one of which is apparently new to science. After considerable difficulty the enormous crates containing the skulls and bones of the whales were transported to a village some twelve miles away, loaded onto a Nippon Yusen Kaisha liner and sent to Yokohama, thence being shipped direct to New York by the steamship Welsh Prince. The courtesy shown to me as a representative of the American Museum 24 THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL of Natural History was very great both by the president and officials of the Oriental Whaling Company and by the various station masters and cap- tains of the ships. Not only did the company present all of the skeletons to the Museum, but also gave every facility for prosecuting scientific work. This whaling company is the largest in the world, notwithstanding that the industry in Japan dates back only about fifteen years. Superior methods are used and by making both whale flesh and blubber serve as food, the product of the industry is disposed of in the most profitable way. After seeing the skeletons safely on board the Welsh Prince I left Japan, going directly to Egypt, touring afterward through Italy, Austria, Germany, Belgium, France and England to inspect the zodlogical gardens and museums and do comparative work on the study collections in the various institutions. THE MEDICINE PIPE ITS RITUAL OF PRAYERS AND SONGS GIVEN TO THE MUSEUM IN VALUABLE PHONOGRAPH RECORDS By Clark Wissler N the exhibit for the Plains Indians stands a magnificent medicine pipe. This is one of the most important medicine bundles of the Blackfoot Indians; when belonging to them the pipe and its acces- sories were never unwrapped except with the appropriate ceremony and never spoken of lightly. That it should be exposed to your gaze from day to day, as it now is, would shock even the most hardened iconoclast of that tribe. There once came to visit the Museum a mixed-blood Piegan, long schooled and practiced in the ways of the white man; but when looking at the exhibit for the Plains Indians he shrank away from the sight of that great pipe and asked that we allow him to walk on the other side of the hall. To give reasons why these people so feel toward this object would be a long story and belongs rather to the scientific interest and purpose of the Museum, while our present fancy takes us in another more human direction. That this pipe can be exhibited here is another testimonial to the devo- tion of The-Bear-One. We had hoped to record fully the ritual and other information pertaining to the medicine pipe as a contribution to the Mu- seum’s investigation of Plains culture and, knowing that our friend was formerly a medicine-pipe keeper, selected him to give that information. He, like others of his kind, freely gave us such information as we asked for, told us how the first pipe was handed down by the Thunder, how the bundle THE MEDICINE PIPE 23 must always be opened at the first sound of thunder in the spring, how it may be opened by a vow or to cure the sick, and how it must be cared for. Yet we wanted more; the ritual for that pipe contains prayers and songs in a fixed order which we wished to record with a phonograph. Before our friend was confronted with this ordeal we made him ac- quainted with the phonograph. The instrument was not new to him for every trader at his agency owned one; on trade days they ground out the latest and best in solo, chorus and orchestra, all no doubt a great din to his Indian ears. That the machine talked like a white man he knew well enough, it was but in keeping with other performances of that remarkable race. One day when he called we explained that we wished to record his voice, to have it always to keep in memory of him and hoped he would consent to sing a song into the horn. He complied rather indifferently, selecting a common song of his people. At the end he leaned back in his chair with the unmistakable air of one who listens. We adjusted the reproducer to the cylinder just taken and turned on the motor. He listened rather curiously to the scraping and buzzing that always preceded the bursting tone of the record but when the first phrases of his own song struck his ear there was a flash of light from his eyes that we can never forget. That the machine could speak the language of the Indian was, he said, almost beyond belief. He asked many questions, but was partic- ularly anxious to know how we came by such a machine. The fact that its originator was yet alive impressed him. He sang other songs for us and always asked to hear his records when he called. He even went so far as to repeat certain prayers we heard him offer up at the sun dance, but cautioned us that such were not to be trifled with and asked that they be not repeated to his or other Indian ears. At last as time went on, we found ourselves working out with him the ritual for a medicine pipe and when we came to the songs, we suggested the phono- graph. He considered the matter for some minutes, then in a low but distinct voice made a long prayer to the spirits of all the departed medicine pipe keepers, the import of which was that he was about to do something questionable, but that our purpose was noble and honorable and not a mockery, and that he begged their indulgence to do this thing. He then announced himself ready to proceed. Now there are about a hundred songs in this ritual, too many for one sitting; so we stopped before half of them were recorded. He seemed quite enthusiastic and promised to return on the morrow to his task. We were happy for we could see in our possession the long line of wax records bearing the ritual of this great pipe — but on the morrow he came not. On the following day he appeared, announcing that he would sing 26 THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL no more in the phonograph for he had received a warning. Even as he was singing that day a messenger was galloping in to call him home where his wife had been seized with a hemorrhage, something she had never before experienced. Was it not sufficient that this affliction should come on his home the moment he began this serious business and to him of all others, the greatest “blood-stopper”’ of the tribe? Hence, not again. We talked long and earnestly of bleeding and its causes. We learned from him that it was a bad case of nose-bleeding that gave him his fright. We produced a bit of surgical cotton and explained its virtues when properly manipu- lated and offered our assistance at the next attack. He tucked some of the cotton in his belt and went his way. We worked with other Indians on less difficult subjects and waited. At last The-Bear-One surprised us by announcing that he would proceed with the phonograph. He gave no explanations and we asked for none. Fortunately, nothing occurred to interrupt him and the ritual was com- pleted. It was some time after this that we made our first formal request of The-Bear-One. We asked his aid to secure a medicine pipe bundle. He made no comment beyond stating that since we now had the ritual and the songs the request was reasonable. We did not see him for a long time after this, but heard it talked about that The-Bear-One now had a pipe bundle in his tipi and had had a dream in which he was asked to give it to a certain white man, also seen in the dream. To these Indians, dreams are sacred and not to be disregarded; hence, though to their minds a terrible fate threatened the pipe, there seemed no remedy. The hope was that the certain white man would shrink from the responsibility. One day our friend sent for us. When seated in his tipi he recounted our request, his dream, and pointed to the bundle. The transfer was arranged and finaily executed without hindrance. The event was something of a scandal in the tribe, but nothing was said before us and the prestige and medicine power of our friend was too great to permit calling him to task. Yet of talk there was no lack. Strange to say no Indian seemed to question the reality of the alleged dream; but while The-Bear-One never broke faith with us to our knowledge and ever seemed sincere, we never felt quite certain about that dream. So when you look upon this pipe do not forget the hopes and fears of many that once clustered around it; that even its story is not yet told; that though The-Bear-One has become as the dust of the plains, the works of his hand and even his voice are here. RELATION BETWEEN HABIT AND STRUCTURE IN THE INSECT WORLD By Frank E. Lutz K do not know whether an insect has a given structure as an adap- tation to its habits of life or whether the habits have been devel- oped to conform to changed structures. Following the work of Darwin, most biologists believed that the greater number of structures arose gradually either through the natural selection of variations favorable to a given habit or by the effect of use, and the term “adaptation”’ has come to imply as much. Specifically, this would mean that a grasshopper has long powerful hind legs either because of the fact that its ancestors with the longest, strongest hind legs were the best jumpers and so were most successful, or through continued use by its ancestors of their hind legs for jumping. In this connection two things must be said. First, not a single instance of the inheritance of the effect of use or disuse upon anatomical characters has ever been experimentally proved, while there are numerous cases of experimental negative evidence. Second, in recent years many cases have been recorded of large heritable variations arising suddenly. Among these is that of abnormally large hind legs in no less common an animal than the domestic cat. Now when these “rabbit cats’? run they do so by a series of leaps. The large hind legs are not adapted (in the technical sense) to jumping but the habit of jumping is adapted to the large hind legs. A cockroach’s flat body enables it to live in cracks and crevices. If its body were of such shape that it could not, it would live elsewhere as its relatives do. Natural selection doubtless accounts for the failure of many variations to be perpetuated, but doubtless many variations are perpetuated either because the eliminating action of natural selection is dodged by a change of habits, that is by habit becoming adapted to structure; or because they are of neutral value fitting in with the habits of their possessors in the struggle for existence — that is, natural selection does not effect them at all. There is another class of characters. They are very striking but no use can ever be imagined for them. To this class belong most of the pat- terns of coloration, many of the horns and spines, and the unusual develop- ment of some parts of the body. These are explained as having come about either through orthogenesis or the effect of the environment or in other ways which are too complex to be mentioned here. If this be true, is it not probable that some, at least, of the characters which are used by insects 27 28 THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL are merely used either because the insect is forced to, as in the case of the long hind legs for jumping, or because it finds it convenient, as living in crevices when the shape of the body enables it to do so? Therefore, let us be on the safe side and use the non-committal phrase, “the relation between habit and structure,” rather than the committal one, “adaptation of structure to habit.” Examples of such relation are legion. The large wings and slender bodies of dragon flies make them su- preme in the air but clumsy on the ground. The ground beetles have legs of such length and suppleness that they are enabled to run swiftly. The “electric light bug’’ whose home is the water has paddle-shaped legs and a keel-shaped body. The water striders skate over the surface of ponds and streams by virtue of slender, hair-covered feet which do not break the sur- face film. The mole cricket burrows in the ground by using the spade- shaped front legs. The mantis catches its prey with its toothed front legs. The scalpel-like ovipositor of the katydid_ slits leaves and the bar-like one of the ericket makes holes in the ground for the reception of eggs. The subject is most fascinating and therefore one in which we are apt to lose our judicial balance. At any rate, however the relations come about, they are not only numerous and striking but, as is shown by the dominance of insect life, effective. FORT LEE DINOSAUR By W. D. Matthew Fort Lee almost within the city of New York is of exceptional interest to New Yorkers. It was found on the red shales which HE discovery of a fossil reptile skeleton, probably a dinosaur, at underlie the Palisades and outcrop at the river’s edge opposite 160th Street almost directly in front of the site of old Fort Lee and just south of the boundary of the Palisades Park, being discovered there by three post- graduate students of Columbia University, Messrs. J. E. Hyde, D. D. Condit and A. C. Boyle, through whose courtesy and the good offices of Professor Kemp, the Museum has been enabled to acquire this specimen. The red shales and sandstones in which this fossil was found belong to the Triassic period, the early part of the Age of Reptiles. The formation extends over a considerable part of New Jersey and is found also in the lower part of the Connecticut Valley and at other points along the Atlantic Coast, but fossils are everywhere rare and vertebrate fossils especially so. Great numbers of footprints indeed have been found in two or three locali- MUSEUM NEWS NOTES 29 ties, at Turners Falls on the Connecticut, near Boonton and elsewhere in New Jersey. But of the animals which made these footprints only two or three partial skeletons of small species have ever come to light. This animal probably lived among the hills and valleys where now New York City stands. He was one of the lords of creation in his time — some ten million years ago, for the dinosaurs were the dominant land animals then and long after until the higher quadrupeds appeared. He was not indeed the “oldest inhabitant,’ for many a race of animals had lived and died before his time, and no doubt they lived on what is now Manhattan Island as well as elsewhere, but he is the oldest whose mortal remains have actually been preserved to our day. Could he have arisen from his mauso- leum in the rocks at Fort Lee, he might have supplied us with a rather startling volume of “ Recollections of Early New York.” For in his time there were no Palisades, and from the eastern bank of what is now the Hudson River one might look across a broad estuary to the west and south- west, while the East River and Long Island, as far as we know, were not yet in existence. MUSEUM NEWS NOTES SINCE our last issue the following persons have been elected to member- ship in the Museum: Patron, Mr. Henry C. FRIcK; Life Members, Messrs. Larz ANDERSON, GreorGE F. Baker, JR., LYNFORD BrppLe, W. Lyman Bropie, J. INSLEY BLatr, ANDREW CARNEGIE, Ricuarp M. CouGate, Marcetius Harritry Dopnce, JoHN SHERMAN Hoyt, Ricuarp S. Huncerrorp, WriLtttAM ApAMs Kissam, Epwarp DEP. LIVINGSTONE, GEORGE GRANT Mason, JoHn G. McCuntoucnH, Moses CHARLES MiceEt, GeorcE B. Post, Jr.. Henry H. RoGERs, SCHUYLER ScHIEFFELIN, H. M. Titrorp, and Henry Watters, Mr. and Mrs. Pau M. Warrurc, Dr. GeorGE T. HowLanpd and Murs. ANNE W. PENFIELD, Fenix M. Warsure and WILLIAM SEWARD WEBB; Sustaining Members, Messrs. James Marwick and Freperic S$. WELLS and Mrs. BENJAMIN BREWSTER; Annual Members, Messrs. J. J. ALBRIGHT, A. CHESTER BEATTY, Winuram Apams Brown, CHARLES DU PoNnT COUDERT, CHARLES CURIE, Jr., Bryan DauGuerty, MELVILLE EGLESTON, WILLIAM FARNSWORTH, Joun W. Garrett, Ropert GARRETT, RusseELL Hopkins, ARTHUR INGRA- HAM, NORMAN JAMES, Emory S. Lyon, WILLIAM G. Matruer, Paut. Morton, Henry F. pu Pont, CorNELIUS VAN Vorst Powers, WILLIAM SPROULF, 30 THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL THomas H. Srryker, JOHN DAVENPORT WHEELER, A. LUDLOW WHITE and ELmMore A. WILLeTs, Drs. WaLtrer Brooks Brouner, A. MONAE Lesser, Morris Mances, Matcorm McLean, Stewart Patron and THomas M. Weep, Rev. WitttiAmM GREENOUGH THAYER, HONORABLE Henry 8. Quinsy and Mes. Jonn R. Drexer, Jonn Henry HAMMOND and REGINALD DE Koven. Tue “ AGr or MamMats”’ by President Henry Fairfield Osborn has come from the press of the Macmillan Company and will receive notice in a later issue of the JOURNAL. THERE has just been presented to the American Museum of Natural History and placed on exhibition in the Morgan-Tiffany Gem Room a specimen of the new gem Morganite (rose beryl). It is a long oval stone of rich rose color and weighs 57% carats. This gem was named by Dr. George Frederick Kunz, the Honorary Curator of Gems of the American Museum, at a meeting of the New York Academy of Sciences on December 3, 1910. Director Hermon Carey Bumpus has recently been decorated by His Majesty, King Charles of Roumania, with the Grand Cross of the Commander of the Order of the Crown. This highest rank of the Order is bestowed upon Director Bumpus in recognition of his well-known ser- vices to science. Dr. A. D. Gaspay of New York City has presented to the Museum a valuable collection of ground and polished shells from California and Japan. These specimens with their convolutions and superb nacre make objects of great beauty. They will be installed in certain sections of the Hall of Mollusca, illustrating the economic and ornamental uses of shells. DurinG the past month the Museum has received, as a gift from Mr. D. C. Staples, a small but very interesting collection of archeological and ethnological material which comes from the Provinces of Esmeraldas and Manabi in the extreme northern part of Colombia, South America. Tue Cottp Wetrare Exartsir will be held during January in the Seventy-first Regiment Armory, New York City. At this exhibit the Museum will illustrate the work it is doing in coéperation with the public schools. It will show the loan collections sent to the schools, photographs and descriptions of the Children’s Room at the Museum and of the Room for the Blind, drawings and models made by children in these rooms and MEETINGS OF SOCIETIES 3] photographs of permanent exhibits especially interesting to children. As a part of the exhibit an automatic stereopticon will display pictures used in the pupils’ lecture courses. TWENTY-THREE Cases of zoélogical material representing several hundred skins of birds and mammals have arrived in New York as the first ship- ment of specimens from the Stefansson-Anderson Arctic Expedition. MEETINGS OF SOCIETIES. Public meetings of the New York Academy of Sciences and its Affiliated Societies are held at the Museum according to the following schedule: On Monday evenings, The New York Academy of Sciences: First Mondays, Section of Geology and Mineralogy. Second Mondays, Section of Biology. Third Mondays, Section of Astronomy, Physics and Chemistry. Fourth Mondays, Section of Anthropology and Psychology. On Tuesday evenings, as announced: The Linnzean Society of New York, The New York Entomological Society and the Torrey Botanical Club. On Wednesday evenings, as announced: The New York Mineralogical Club. On Friday evenings, as announced: The New York Microscopical Society. The programmes of the meetings of the respective organizations are published in the weekly Bulletin of the New York Academy of Sciences and sent to the members of the several societies. Members of the Museum on making request of the Director will be provided with the Bulletin as issued. a2 THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL LECTURE ANNOUNCEMENTS PEOPLE’S COURSE Given in coéperation with the City Department of Education. Tuesday evenings at 8:15 o'clock. Doors open at 7: 30. ’ The first five of a course of eight lectures on ‘‘ New Movements in Old Asia.’ January 3— Dr. ArrHurR JupsoN Brown, ‘‘New World Conditions in the Far East — the Forces at Work.” January 10 — Dr. ArtHurR Jupson Brown, ‘Imperial Japan.’ Illustrated. January 17 — Mr. Epwin Emerson, “ The Russo-Japanese War.’’ Illustrated. January 24 — Dr. Arruur Jupson Brown, “Independent Korea.’ Illustrated. January 31— Dr. ArtHur Jupson Brown, ‘The Struggles between Russia and Japan for the Leadership in the Far East.” Saturday evenings at 8: 15 o’clock. Doors open at 7: 30. January 7 — Dr. Hermann M. Biaas, ‘‘The Health of New York.”’ January 14— Dr. Wituram Hatiocnu Park, ‘‘Communicable Diseases — Their Prevention.” January 21— Dr. H. D. Pease, “The Relation of Flies to the Transmission of Disease.” January 28 — Dr. Ernst J. Leperue, ‘The City Milk Supply and Its Control.” LEGAL HOLIDAY COURSE Fully illustrated. Open free to the public. Tickets not required. Lectures begin at 3:15 o'clock. Doors open at 2: 45. January 2— Mr. Roy W. Miner, ‘Corals and Coral Islands.” February 22 — Pror. C-E. A. Winstow, ‘Insect Carriers of Disease.”’ Scientific Staff DIRECTOR Hermon Carey Bumpvus, Ph.D., Se.D., LL.D. GEOLOGY AND INVERTEBRATE PALHONTOLOGY Epmunp Otis Hovey, A.B., Ph.D., Curator MINERALOGY L. P. Gratacap, Ph.B., A.B., A.M., Curator GeorGe F, Kunz, A.M., Ph.D., Honorary Curator of Gems INVERTEBRATE ZOOLOGY Prof. Hmnry E. Crampton, A.B., Ph.D., Curator Roy W. Miner, A.B., Assistant Curator Frank E. Lurz, A.B., A.M., Ph.D., Assistant Curator L. P. Graracap, Ph.B., A.B., A.M., Curator of Mollusca WILLIAM BrUTENMULLER, Associate Curator of Lepidoptera Prof. Wr~tt1am Morton WHEELER, Ph.D., Honorary Curator of Social Insects ALEXANDER PETRUNKEVITCH, Ph.D., Honorary Curator of Arachnida Prof. Aaron L. Treapwe tu, B.S., M.S., Ph.D., Honorary Curator of Annulata MAMMALOGY AND ORNITHOLOGY Prof. J. A. ALLEN, Ph.D., Curator Frank M. CHapmMan, Curator of Ornithology Roy C. Axnprews, A.B., Assistant in Mammalogy W. De W. Mituer, Assistant in Ornithology VERTEBRATE PALHONTOLOGY Prof. Henry FarrrreLtp Osporn, A.B., Se.D., LL.D., D.Se., Honorary Curator W. D. Marruew, Ph.B., A.B., A.M., Ph.D., Acting Curator WALTER GRANGER, Assistant Curator of Fossil Mammals BarnuM Brown, A.B., Assistant Curator of Fossil Reptiles Witiiam K. Grecory, A. B., A. M., Ph.D., Assistant Louis Hussaxor, B.S., Ph.D., Associate Curator of Fossil Fishes Joun T. Nicuous, A. B., Assistant Curator of Recent Fishes ANTHROPOLOGY CuaRK WIssLER, A.B., A.M., Ph.D., Curator Puiny E. Gopparp, A.B., A.M., Ph.D., Associate Curator Haran I. Smuiru, Associate Curator Rosert H. Lowir, A.B., Ph.D., Assistant Curator HrerBert J. SpINDEN, A.B., A.M.. Ph.D., Assistant Curator » CHARLES W. Mean, Assistant ALANSON SKINNER, Assistant PHYSIOLOGY Prof. Ratpo W. Tower, A.B., A.M., Ph.D., Curator PUBLIC HEALTH Prof. CHARLES Epwarp Amory WINsLow, 8.B., M.S., Curator WOODS AND FORESTRY Mary Cyntuia Dickerson, B.S., in charge BOOKS AND PUBLICATIONS Prof. RatpH W. Tower, A.B., A.M., Ph.D., Curator ANTHONY Woopwarp, Ph.D., in charge of Maps and Charts PUBLIC EDUCATION Prof. Aubert S. Bickmore, B.S., Ph.D., LL.D., Curator Emeritus Grorce H. SHERwoop, A.B., A.M., Curator THE AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY FOR’ THE, -PEOPEE FOR EDVCATION FOR:S CEN GE _— er —_>{ — THE AMERICAN JSIUSEUM JOURNAL FUR SEALS (ADULT MALES), PRIBILOF ISLANDS Volume XI February, 1911 Number 2 Published monthly from October to May inclusive by THe AMERICAN Museum or NaturaL History New York City American Museum of Natural History Seventy-seventh Street and Central Park West, New York City BOARD OF TRUSTEES President Henry FAIRFIELD OSBORN First Vice-President J. Prerpont MorGan Treasurer CHARLES LANIER Second Vice-President CLEVELAND H. DopGE Secretary J. HamMppen Ross Tue Mayor or THE Ciry or New York Tue COMPTROLLER OF THE City OF New YorK Tue PRESIDENT OF THE DEPARTMENT OF PARKS ALBERT S. BICKMORE GEORGE S. Bowboin JosepH H. CHoatr Tuomas DeWitr CuyLer JAMES DouGLAS Anson W. Harp ArcHER M. HuntTInGTon ADRIAN ISELIN, JR. ArtTHUR CurTIss JAMES GEORGE W. A. D. Jutmutarp Gustav E. Kissen Setu Low OGDEN MILLS J. Przrpont MorGan, Jr. Percy R. Pyne WILLIAM ROCKEFELLER JoHun B. Trevor Fevix M. WarBURG WICKERSHAM EXECUTIVE OFFICERS Director Hermon Carey Bumpus Assistant-Secretary and Assistant-Treasurer Grorce H. SHERWOOD Tue Museum 1s Open FREE TO THE PuBLIC ON Every Day IN THE YEAR. Tue AmERICAN Museum or Naturaut History was established in 1869 to promote the Natural Sciences and to diffuse a general knowledge of them among the people, and it is in cordial coéperation with all similar institutions throughout the world. The Museum authorities are de- pendent upon private subscriptions and the dues from members for procuring needed additions to the collections and for carrying on explorations in America and other parts of the world. The membership fees are, Ann ial NICnIDEES ee otic ciate: =) $ 10 MGLOWS: eccentrics, sae ese c $ 500 Sustaining Members (Annual)... ... 25 Patrons: os soe pecs Gc cic eetieas 1000 1G htshi Kosa ols G95 ary Soke eI COE Le 100 Benefactors (Gift or bequest) 50,000 Tus Museum LIBRARY contains more than 60,000 volumes with a good working collection of publications issued by scientific institutions and societies in this country and abroad. The library is open to the public for reference daily —— Sundays and holidays excepted — from 9 a. Mm. to 5 Pp. M. Tue MuSEUM PUBLICATIONS are issued in six series: The American Museum Journal, Annual Report, Anthropological Papers, Bulletins, Guide Leaflets and Memoirs. Information concerning their sale may be obtained at the Museum Library. Guwwes For Stupy or EXHIBITS are provided on request by the Department of Public Education. Teachers wishing to bring classes should write or telephone the Department for an appointment, specifying the collection to be studied. Lectures to classes may also be arranged for. In all cases the best results are obtained with small groups of children. WoORKROOMS AND STORAGE COLLECTIONS may be visited by persons presenting membership tickets. The storage collections are open to all persons desiring to examine specimens for special study. Applications should be made at the information desk. Tre MitLa RESTAURANT in the east basement is reached by the elevator and is open from 12 to 5 on all days except Sundays. Afternoon Tea is served from 2 to 5. The Mitla Room is of unusual interest as an exhibition hall being an exact reproduction of temple ruins at Mitla, Mexico. The American Museum Journal CONTENTS FOR FEBRUARY, 1911 Cover, Photograph of Fur Seals, Pribilof Islands Frontispiece, Photograph of Pines on the estate of the late Morris Kk. Jesup Quotations Concerning Morris Ketchum Jesup and the American Miusemmiaf 3: 2-26. 28S = RIAA eth I Sire eeN LR sates Se Fe 35 Rorestry: amar the Vinseuny 2.4..c 050 or Poco odes nek J. W. Toumry 39 The museum a power for education in important questions of the period Report from the Congo Expedition................. HERBERT Lana 44 Hunting the okapi from a chain of isolated camps in wet jungle The Finished Fur Seal Group............... CuHariEes H. Townsend 49 With a brief review of the fur sealing question Zodlogical Exploration in South America........ Frank M. CoapMan 52 Pie New SOUL: Oa LUXMIOUes © wii i.8o%, ne < Sion’ oie Ropert H. Lowie 53 Notes on the South Sea Hall and the statue of the Maori Warrior [he P/E Eh eta bad 0 (=a GEORGE F. Kunz 57 The world’s largest known block of jade in the South Sea Hall of the American Museum A Treasure ot Ancient Bronzes. 2.2. gs aks 0 ee Ee GC. B.. Basserr. (59 A collection of such importance that it is difficult to make another its equal in China to-day “The Age of Mammals”— A Review.......... WiiuiaM Kk. Gregory 65 Historic Fossil from the Senckenberg Museum....................- 68 Hoss leo front Madarasear 06. 2 henna eA tains ee api nets 70 DA Ser ee EWS NOLES. uti ics shc's cdlhue fe Sed alee Hera ast c. vase ede Rote en as 71 Mer UT eeAMNOUNeCIMents:,.. 162 .iinckeergs 2 o:took alan Sone os ee ee acer 72 Mary Cyntata Dickerson, Editor Subscription, One Dollar per year. Fifteen cents per copy A subscription to the JourNnau is included in the membership fees of all classes of Members of the Museum Subscriptions should be addressed to the AMericaAN Museum Journat, 30 Boylston St., Cambridge, Mass., or 77th St. and Central Park West, New York City Entered as second-class matter January 12, 1907, at the Post-office at Boston, Mass, Act of Congress, July 16, 1894 From Trees and Forestry [In press; MASSACHUSETTS LENOX, JESUP, PINES ON THE ESTATE OF THE LATE MORRIS K, The American Museum Journal Vou. XI FEBRUARY, 1911 No. 2 QUOTATIONS CONCERNING MORRIS KETCHUM JESUP AND THE AMERICAN MUSEUM! HEN Mr. Orr called upon Mr. Jesup to request his consent to his nomination as President of the Chamber of Commerce, he found him engrossed in the study of some building plans which covered his table. “Mr. Jesup,” said Mr. Orr, “I have got a piece of interesting news to give you.” “All right,” said Mr. Jesup, “just wait a moment until I show you this plan.” “ But, my dear Jesup,” remonstrated Mr. Orr, “this business of mine is important. I have come to tell you that I wish to nominate you for President of the Chamber of Commerce.” “Indeed,” said Mr. Jesup, “I am glad to hear it, but, look here, I want to show you what a splendid plan this is.’ And he turned back again to the papers on the table. It was only after he had relieved his mind of this paramount interest that he had leisure to appreciate the new honor and responsibility to which his colleagues of the Chamber invited him. The plan which Mr. Orr found Mr. Jesup studying was that of the new wing of the American Museum of Natural History. The place which the Museum held in Mr. Jesup’s regard, the long and devoted service which he rendered it, and the eminence which it attained under his leadership are well known. For more than a quarter of a century it was his controlling interest, and it remains to-day his most enduring monument. “The two grandly distinctive features of Mr. Jesup’s administration,” writes President Osborn, “were, first, the desire to popularize science through the arrangement and exhibition of collections in such a simple and attractive manner as to render them intelligible to all visitors; and secondly, his recognition that at the foundation of popular science is pure science, and his determination, which increased with advancing years, that the Museum should be as famous for its scientific research and explorations as for its popular exhibitions of educational work.” 1Morris Ketcuum Jesup: A Cuaracrer Sketcu. By William Adams Brown. Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1910. 35 30 THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL On December 29, 1906, a large and representative audience gathered in the lecture room of the Museum to witness the presentation to the Trustees of the series of busts of eminent American naturalists which now adorns the spacious anteroom through which visitors approach the Museum. The idea was Mr. Jesup’s, and he provided the funds. The gift fitly sym- bolizes his conception of the part played by science in the complex circle of interests, of whose joint efforts the Museum is the expression. “T suppose,” says Mr. Choate, his fellow founder and trustee, speaking some years later at the Chamber of Commerce, “that I may speak with authority of Mr. Jesup’s services to the world in the Museum of Natural History. I should hardly venture in the presence of Mr. Morgan to claim for him a monopoly of the generosity that endowed that institution from the beginning; nor would I forget the abundant aid of many other generous benefactors; but I will say that he was the chief factor, the most powerful and effective agent in bringing it to the great eminence that it enjoys to-day.” This great service was fitly signalized by his fellow trustees on February 12, 1906, when in commemoration of the twenty-fifth anniversary of his presidency, they presented to him a loving cup beautifully designed in gold, with inscriptions and symbols in allusion to those branches of science in which he had taken a special interest. On one face of the cup reference was made to the forestry of North America; on another his interest in vertebrate paleontology was indicated, and his gift of the Cope collection of fishes, amphibians, and reptiles was mentioned; on the third face was a design symbolizing the work of the Jesup North Pacific expeditions, the last and greatest of the enterprises toward which his efforts were directed. “Tt is not because of the long period of his service,” writes Professor Bumpus, “nor because of his unfailing devotion, nor yet because of his innumerable gifts, that Mr. Jesup’s administration of the affairs of the American Museum of Natural History will mark a distinct epoch in the history of the institution... . “Tt is because he served long and also well; it is because he was devoted and at the same time exercised good judgment; it is because he not only gave but gave wisely, that he finally enjoyed the fruit of his labor, that his devotion to the Museum ripened into absorbing affection, and that his example of giving infected those associated with him.” From Trees and Forestry {In press) FLOWERING DOGWOOD, JESUP COLLECTION OF WOODS The models of leaves, flowers and fruits are so perfectly executed that it is often difficult to dis- cover even by careful scrutiny how much is the original and how much is reproduced From Trees and Forestry (In press] BLACK WALNUT, JESUP COLLECTION OF WOODS Full-grown black walnut trees practically no longer exist in America’s forests Thus the Jesup Collection is already beginning to prove its value as an historical record FORESTRY AND THE MUSEUM THE MUSEUM A POWER FOR THE EDUCATION OF THE PUBLIC REGARDING IMPORTANT QUESTIONS OF THE PERIOD By J. W. Toumey (AcTING DIRECTOR OF THE YALE FOREST SCHOOL AND MORRIS K. JESUP PROFESSOR OF SILVICULTURE, MEMBER OF THE APPOINTIVE COMMITTEE OF WOODS AND FORESTRY OF THE AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY] T no period of our national life has the public been so keenly alive to the importance of our forests and what they mean to the future welfare of the nation. We have in comparatively recent years segregated more than 190,000,000 acres from our national domain and with- drawn it from settlement that it might remain forever the forest property of the nation. We are asking in the Weeks Bill! now before Congress that large areas in the Appalachian and White Mountains be purchased outright by the national government to form a part of the forest property of the nation. Many of the states, as is the case with New York and Pennsylvania, have already purchased large tracts of forest property and set them aside as forest preserves. The present outlook appears to indicate that many such reserves will be established in the states east of the Great Plains in the near future. As a nation we are demanding the conservation of our forest property and asking private owners of forest property to manage it in accordance with the ideas of scientific forestry. Although the public is fully in accord with the idea of national and state forests and fully realizes the need for a better utilization of our forest property, it is yet woefully ignorant regarding the forest as a living thing and has but little information 1 The Weeks Bill is scheduled to come up for Senate vote on February 15, 1911. It is as follows: “To enable any state to codperate with any other state or states, or with the United States for the protection of the watersheds of navigable streams, and to appoint a commission for the acquisition of lands for the purpose of conserving the navyiga- bility of navigable rivers.”’ This bill, the product of the combined study of some of the ablest men in Congress, is a general conservation bill for the creation of national forests. The immediate interest, how- ever, lies in the Appalachian and White Mountain region controlling the watersheds of the most important rivers of the East and the South and containing a great part of the timber supply. The question of reserves for the East has been under discussion for ten years. The Weeks Bill itself has previously passed the Senate three times and the House once. In the sixty-first Congress it again passed the House, June 24, 1910; it was filibustered in the Senate. however, so that Congress adjourned without a passage of the bill. From Trees and Forestry [In press]. Department of Woods and Forestry of the American Museum. 39 MOL UNA SIOATI PU SIYSZNOAp ole 9.19Y JOUILUMS UT OTT ‘SPOOP SULSVUUBP UL POISVA ST JOJVA SITY ‘SodO[s oY} WOIJ IND OAV SySo1OJ OY J] *S]OAT JOMOT OF JOVVA JO ATddns 1@ Ul JOWUUNS OI} patelePeiateniep! {] MOS nO JUaS BG OF ‘osuods vB UL SB SISO1O] SUuTpUunO.INS tq PIsy pue poqsosqR are sul INOUL JO SMOT your oy suds uy NOSTIM LNNOW WOXS MBIA [ssoud uy fh.AQSa40y PUD S79at7T WIOAST Of A WHITE PINE ON THE ESTATE OF THE LATE MORRIS K., JESUP This tree was a particular favorite and was saved in spite of the adyice of landscape gardeners DR se ~ oe ei pe Nre: ya a Pe ; Fre es aw SE Ve... {In press] and Forestry Trees From ESTATE OF THE LATE BIRCHES AGAINST A BACKGROUND OF DARK TREE TRUNKS, DECORATIVE E. MASSACHUSETTS LENOX, JESUP, MORRIS K, FORESTRY AND THE MUSEUM 45 regarding the many ways the forest affects our present prosperity and how vital its conservation is to the future life of the nation. The usefulness of a Museum depends upon how fully it serves the public as an educational institution, whether the instruction concerns the preservation of forests, of the country’s mammals and birds, questions along lines of public health and public education or yet other directions of work. To a very large degree its power to instruct is measured by its effectiveness In commanding attention regarding the things worth while in everyday life. For this reason at one period of its history a museum may have to direct public attention to events and things quite different from at other times, depending upon the particular needs of the period. The old idea of a museum as a storehouse for miscellaneous objects from all corners of the earth is of the past. A new idea prevails, that a museum is to a large degree a place in which objects are exhibited in such a manner as to convey to the public the greatest amount of useful information of present interest. The Forestry Hall of the American Museum at present and in its future development along lines following out Mr. Jesup’s original interests and pioneer work in forest preservation! has a great work to do in education. The present interest in forest conservation and the need for public educa- tion regarding the life of the forest and the important uses that the forest serves in our national economy, clearly point out the direction that the future development of the American Museum must take in reference to this important subject. 1 On December 6, 1883, Mr. Jesup presented in the Chamber of Commerce the following: “To THE HoNoRABLE THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF New York, IN SENATE AND As- SEMBLY CONVENED: May it please your Honorable Body: The Chamber of Commerce of the State of New York is alarmed at the dangers which threaten the water supply of the rivers in the northern part of the State through the destruc- tion of the forests which protect their sources. The Chamber believes that the preservation of these forests is necessary to maintain an abundant and constant flow of water in the Hudson, the Mohawk and other important streams; and that their destruction will seriously injure the interna! commerce of the State. As long as this forest region remains in the possession of private individuals, its protection from fire and lumbering operations will be impossible. Believing, then, that this matter is one of very great importance, and that the necessity exisis for immediate legislative action, we humbly pray your Honorable Body to adopt such measures as will enable the State to acquire the whole territory popularly known as the Adirondack Wilderness, and hold it forever as a forest preserve.” [That the proposed legislation was eventually secured and that New York has its state forests to-day was largely due to the unceasing efforts of Mr. Jesup.| Here, as so often, his work was that of a pioneer. To-day forest preservation has become an accepted national policy; but twenty-five years ago this was not the case, and the action taken by the Chamber of Commerce on Mr. Jesup’s initiative was an important factor in educating the sentiment which has made the wider movement possible. From Morris Ketchum Jesup, Charles Scribner's Sons, 1910. REPORT FROM THE CONGO EXPEDITION ' By Herbert Lang [The Museum's Congo Expedition sends word of the health of its members and the success of its work in zoédlogical survey, with the story of hunting the rare okapi from a chain of isolated camps in the hot, wet jungle. The next issue of the JourNav will contain a colored plate of the okapi with an account of present knowledge regarding the species.— Editor] K left Avakubi December 7, 1909, with fifty-five porters and after increasing our collections at N’Gayu and Bafwaboka, arrived at Medje January 13. As we heard about good hunt- ing grounds, possibly with okapi, south of Gamangui, we made the neces- sary preparations and set out at once. After more than six months’ work in a lonely uninhabited tract some eighty miles square, we returned to Medje July 17. Since then we have made several transports and stored safely all our collections, besides accumulating the necessary equipment with which to set out next Saturday, October 15, for the Uele. We profit by this occasion to thank all those who have extended to us the privilege of carrying on such interesting work in regions that well deserve to be called the “ Heart of Africa,’ and who by their great generosity have provided us with an equipment that makes it comparatively easy to main- tain good health even under a most trying and disagreeable climate. Though camped for nearly six months in or about the dense forest, we both enjoyed excellent health. All our native helpers have always been in good condition. All our equipment including firearms and tents is in perfect order. Our supplies are sufficient to carry on the work without interruption. The active per- sonnel has remained practically the same — eighteen native assistants. One Loango had to be sent back to Leopoldville on account of the ill-health of his wife, and has since been replaced by an intelligent Mangbetu, whose services are very desirable in this region of the Mangbetu people. The plans for porterage have worked very satisfactorily, and although the natives are true cannibals and are seldom seen without poisoned arrows or other weapons, we have succeeded well in enlisting their services. This may best be illustrated by the fact that the Congo Expedition since leaving Stanleyville has employed and paid more than 3,400 natives and has never experienced the slightest accident in handling them. The record of the expedition shows a total of 4,952 specimens collected, exclusive of at least 15,000 invertebrates, and 1,120 pages of data and descriptive notes which are supplemented by 800 photographs. It is mir 1 Selections from the Annual Report of the Congo Expedition by Herbert Lang. Manuscript sent from Medje, Haut Ituri, October 8, 1910; received at New York January 13, 1911. 44 REPORT FROM THE CONGO EXPEDITION 45 probable that these are the largest and most important collections ever gathered by a single expedition in the midst of the dense forest of the Congo, and they represent a completeness of series that will be surprising. How true this is may be ascertained from the work with regard to the okapi, but all departments have equally profited. All the skins have been safely stored away in the expedition’s large galvanized iron tank originally brought in sections to Avakubi, where it has been put up in one of the government magazines. The remainder of our collections is stored in a government magazine in Medje, which we our- selves have lately made fireproof by constructing a ceiling of beams and sticks, covered with reeds and a layer of soil. The record for large mammals is as follows: 402 specimens covering 50 species = a nearly complete series of the larger mammals of the dense Congo forest, 206 pages of descriptions, 76 skeletons, a large collection of foetal specimens, 18 plaster casts and many photographs. For nearly six months we camped as close as possible to the haunts of the okapi and though we profited by the skill of the most experienced native trappers, who were engaged in catching okapi for food purposes, during the first two months we secured no reasonable success. The super- stition of the natives, and the hot moist climate, counteracted our best organized efforts. After interminable palavers, however, the native trappers consented to allow our native assistants, who were trained to skin large mammals independently, to camp with them in the forest. Therefore we established three camps at a distance of fifteen to twenty- five miles from our main camp, thus adopting the native system of hunting in small parties, for in these perfectly uninhabited forests it is an impossi- bility to provide suitable food for any large company of men. Whenever the native trappers succeeded in killing an okapi, some of them would march day and night toward our main camp. In the meantime our native assist- ants who camped with them would take off the skin and cure it as much as possible until I could reach the place. Within two months from the time of organization of this plan, we had added to the two skeletons of male and female already obtained, three perfect skins of females and that of a young okapi. Two months later we at last succeeded in obtaining a good sized male. This okapi like all the others had been caught by a noose around the foot, but in an almost impenetrable swamp. Unfortunately in its struggles to free itself, it rubbed a portion of the skin, which however can easily be repaired. The following month we secured the accessories for the group on the very same spot where one of the males had expired, which chanced to be 46 THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL Through courtesy of the British Museum HEAD OF MOUNTED OKAPI, BRITISH MUSEUM Young male okapi presented by the late Mr. Boyd Alexander, 1907. Welle River near northern border of the Congo Free State. From Monograph of the Okapi by Sir E. Ray Lankester, 1910 one of the most typical portions of the haunt of the okapi. The acces- sories represent twenty-five loads of material. Of the larger trees the bark only has been taken, and everything has been so numbered that there will be no trouble in readjusting the different sections or pieces of bark. Many leaf moulds have been made. Mr. Chapin has prepared very exact and beautiful color sketches of the different leaves. Besides, typical twigs and leaves of all trees, bushes and low plants are preserved in formalin. The casts of the heads of male and female okapi are deserving especial mention. The exterior of the head shows no giraffe-like characters which, judging from the skull, were supposed to exist. Indeed, the lips are not prehensile in any way and on account of the somewhat square mouth and rather small eyes there is much more resemblance to the head of a large deer. The prehensile tongue, the palate and sections of the four divisions of the stomach have been preserved in formalin. There is also the complete skeleton of a large-sized embryo showing a very interesting stage. The descriptions are rather complete with regard to habits, food, calving season and haunts. Detailed measurements have been secured. Over forty-five excellent photographs will guarantee correct representation of the group work. Detailed photographs of every form of vegetation have also been secured. REPORT FROM THE CONGO EXPEDITION 17 With regard to elephants, I sincerely hope that we shall succeed in pre- paring the skins of one or two large specimens. Permission to collect four specimens has been granted by Son Excellence, le Vice-Gouverneur Général de la Colonie, F. Fuchs, at Boma. The Lado Enclave, with its white rhinoceroses, is now out of our reach, as on account of the demise of His Majesty, King Leopold, these regions have been returned to England. Ona the other hand according to some reports lately received, it is not impossible that we may find these interest- ing creatures in the eastern portions of the Uele. Of small mammals there are 1,054 specimens collected. During several Through courtesy of the British Museum PHOTOGRAPH OF LIVING OKAPI ONE MONTH OLD Photograph taken by Monsieur Ribotti on the Welle River. The photograph was shown at the meeting of the British Association at Leicester on August 5, 1907, and reproduced in Illustrated London News, September 7, 1907 48 THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL months the expedition had from 300 to 500 traps set and daily revised. The Mangbetu have displayed remarkable skill in capturing the smaller mammals with their own native traps. A collection of 1,885 birds covering 290 species is accompanied by full and exact data. Very many of the species are represented not only by both sexes, but also by a series of young in different plumages. OOO Fe Ey Meg WT I a \ 4am» Fb, , “ vy ye Ue “ey WEE kD 5 “yd pvt, D aoe Fy yt ve J ley Wi) Ao SKETCH RESTORATION OF THE GROUND SLOTH GROUP BY ERWIN CHRISTMAN, I9I1I Photo by Dwight Franklin One may seize a five-foot paddlefish by the ‘‘nose”’ or the tail and haul it into the boat A MISSISSIPPI SPOONBILL FISHERY 12] Photo by Dwight Franklin THE DAY'S CATCH THE SPOONBILL FISHERY OF THE LOWER MISSISSIPPI By Louis Hussakof AST spring the Museum sent an expedition to the State of Mississippi to collect material for an exhibition group of the paddlefish or spoonbill-cat. This is one of the most singular fishes found in American waters. The name paddlefish is given it in allusion to the extraordinary, long, paddle-shaped jaw or “nose.” It is a large fish, often reaching a length of six feet and a weight of one hundred and sixty pounds. It is found only in the water-ways of the Mississippi valley, ranging as far north as the Great Lakes. From the name spoonbill-cat by which it is often known, one might think it a catfish; but it is not a catfish. It is a ganoid, or a member of that ancient group of fishes which includes the sturgeon and a few other 122 THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL forms. In earlier geologic times ganoids were the dominant race of fish, at one period of their evolution even outnumbering all the other kinds of fish put together. But they have since then fallen upon evil times, and are now reduced to only a few genera, which play but an insignificant role in the fish-life of to-day. The paddlefish reaches its largest size and is found in greatest abundance in the smaller lakes connected with the lower Mississippi; and it was at one of these lakes — Moon Lake, in Coahoma County, Mississippi — that material was sought. Here Mr. I. E. McGehee carries on an extensive spoonbill fishery, and through his courtesy, admirable collecting facilities, including the use of his fishing paraphernalia, were obtained. The Museum party consisted of Mr. Dwight Franklin of the Department of Preparation of the Museum, and the writer; the expenses of the work were defrayed by the Dodge Fund. Until about a decade ago the spoonbill was of little economic value; it was interesting merely as a zodlogical curiosity. About that time however, the fact was discovered that when smoked it makes a tolerable substitute for smoked sturgeon and that its roe makes excellent caviar. Since then spoonbill fisheries have sprung up at various points on the Mississippi and Ohio rivers. The fish is usually taken in a seine. A practical method of operating a large seine has been introduced by Mr. McGehee at Moon Lake and is worth noting. The seine is wound on a huge spool-shaped reel which is mounted in a flat-bottomed boat. It is laid by unrolling this reel; and it is wound up by having the crew walk up the spokes of the wheels as on a ladder, so that the reel is made to revolve. As the seine is gradually wound up and the fish are confined to narrower and narrower space, they dart wildly about seeking means of escape. One may then study the paddlefish at close range. It is an exceedingly clumsy creature, hardly making an effort to escape capture. Its sense of sight is poorly developed, as indeed one might infer from its small beady black eyes. If its “nose”’ is caught in the seine it makes only feeble efforts to free itself, and usually fails in doing so. The contrast between the clumsiness of the spoonbill and the alertness of an active fish, is strikingly brought out if any garpike are in the haul; forthe gar makes tremendous efforts to escape and unless rendered unconscious by a blow with a mallet, will flash through the seine as if it were gauze. Leaning over the side of the boat, near the cork-line of the seine, one may seize a five-foot paddlefish by the “nose” or the tail and haul it into the boat; the only resistance is that of weight. The fish has absolutely no sport value. The number of spoonbill taken in a single haul varies; sometimes only a few are brought up, and sometimes Seining for spoonbill on Moon Lake, Mississippi Photo by L. Hussakof The crew walk up the spokes of the wheels as on a ladder thus causing the reel to revolve and wind up the seine Photo by Ty. Hussakof Of course other fish are caught, such as bass, carp, crappie and drum; but they are of secondary importance and the game fish taken are thrown back 124 THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL as many as a hundred. Of course other fish are caught, such as bass, carp, crappie, and drum; but they are of secondary importance and the game fish thus taken are thrown back as they are safeguarded for the angler by state law. The paddlefish are cut up in the manner shown in the photograph. Their heads and fins are usually discarded, but sometimes they are boiled for their oil. The roe is then removed to be prepared into caviar. It Photo by L. Hussakof Removing the roe for the preparation of caviar. The roe weighs from two to fifteen or twenty pounds in a single fish. The heads and fins are usually discarded but sometimes they are boiled for their oil. The body of the fish is smoked and becomes ‘‘sturgeon”™ A MISSISSIPPI SPOONBILL FISHERY . : bp ey esi woe Photo by Dwight Franklin Preparing spoonbill caviar. Theroe is put on a coarse wire sieve and rubbed by hand across the wires until the eggs are separated from their mem- branes and drop into the pan beneath are separated from their membranes and drop into the pan beneath the sieve. The raw caviar is mixed with “German” salt and is ready for shipment. It must under- go still further preparation however, before it is in the form familiar to us. In its raw state it brings about half-a-dollar a pound. It is said that spoonbill caviar is the best known, having received the highest award at one of the World Expositions. pounds, in a single fish. 125 '/ weighs from two to fifteen or twenty It is put on a coarse wire sieve and rubbed by hand across the wires until the eggs Photo by L. Hussakof The spoonbill spathula) or paddlefish (Polyodon RESEARCH AND EXPLORATION AMONG THE INDIANS OF THE NORTHERN PLAINS By Clark Wissler URING the summer of 1910 the research staff of the Department of Anthropology made further progress on the systematic sur- vey of the Northern Plains Tribes, returning collections from the Crow, Dakota and Village Indians. In central North America there is a large area drained by the Upper Missouri and Saskatchewan rivers, grass-covered land for the most part, the home of a number of Indian tribes of peculiar interest to anthropologists. Here in buffalo days lived eleven different tribes,— the Sarci, Blackfoot, Gros Ventre, Assiniboine, Crow, Dakota, Plains Cree, Plains Ojibwa, Hidatsa, Arikara and Mandan. Kach occupied a more or less definite territory, and spoke a distinct lan- guage, generally recognized as belonging to one of four widely distributed linguistic families, Algonkin, Siouan, Athapascan and Caddoan. At present representatives of these aboriginal tribes survive on reservations in various parts of the area. The cultures of this group of northern Plains Indians, as presented in museum collections, show striking fundamental simi- larities in contrast to diverse linguistic origin and offer therefore an inviting field for museum collecting and investigation. In 1906 the Department of Anthropology selected this area for con- tinuous systematic exploration, to seek data for formulating the manner in which special ceremonies like the sun dance and the medicine pipe, es well as distinctive traits of material culture and art, were distributed throughout the region, one of the more important groups of problems now confronting serious students of American anthropology. Fortunately for this plan, the tribes concerned were neither closely confined nor forced to abandon their aboriginal economic life until after 1865, the change being gradual and continuous to the present day so that the domestic life and other aspects of culture, while much modified, are still cherished in the memories of old Indians from whom data and specimens may yet be ob- tained. Naturally with each succeeding year comes the obliteration of more and more of these precious memories, rendering the labors of our field workers less and less productive. The realization of this has led to the vigorous prosecution of the work by our field staff to the extent of avail- able funds. Field exploration has been conducted among practically the full list of tribes contemplated in the plan, the Sarci, Blackfoot, Assiniboine, Nez Perce, Northern Shoshone, Crow, Teton-Dakota, Hidatsa, Arikara, Mandan, Plains Cree and Plains Ojibwa. In most cases however, the work is still 126 RESEARCH IN: ANTHROPOLOGY 127 far from complete and some important divisions of several tribes have not vet been visited. In every case more than a beginning has been made while in several instances the data accumulated are quite sufficient for the de- tailed study of the area necessary to the development of anthropology in America. Regarding publications of results of this exploration, the following series has been issued: Some Protective Designs of the Dakota, Gros Ventre Myths, Ethnology of the Gros Ventre, Mythology of the Blackfoot Indians, Mythology of the Northern Shoshone, Mythology of the Assiniboine, and Material Culture of the Blackfoot Indians. In addition to these seven papers the following will appear in due time: Social and Ceremonial Culture of the Blackfoot, Ethnology of the Crow, Ethnology of the Teton-Dakota, the Hidatsa and the Sarci. Other papers will appear as soon as the field work is sufficiently advanced. No other institution has given much attention to this area and while the older historical literature contains much valuable data of a desultory character, the only other specific publications not found in our series are a few minor studies on the Crow, Blackfoot, Hidatsa and Dakota, none of which are sufficiently comprehensive for a serious compara- tive study of the area as a whole. The field work has been conducted by the staff of the Department of Anthropology, Messrs. Clark Wissler, P. E. Goddard, Robert H. Lowie, Herbert J. Spinden and Alanson Skinner, also by Dr. J. R. Walker and Rey. Gilbert L. Wilson, not connected directly with the Museum. Supplementary to this plan, Mr. Harlan I. Smith conceived and devel- oped a plan for the archeological survey of the Upper Missouri basin. The part of this area falling within the state limits of Wyoming and Montana is practically unknown to archeology. Mr. Smith’s explorations have so far been confined to eastern Wyoming, the results of which will be presented in a future publication. This work enjoying not only priority, but being conducted in a systematic manner will be an important contribution to our knowledge of the area and, it is hoped, will afford some basis for a conclu- sion as to the early inhabitants of the region, a matter of no small impor- tance in the general comparative results of the ethnological survey now nearing completion. Museum anthropology is confined to the aspects of culture represented by collections. Our collectors have met with favorable conditions so that their returns, supplemented by gifts from private collectors and patrons, give a fair start toward an efficient study series for the area as a whole. The Department has developed plans for an entire exhibition hall in which the general aspects of culture so far discovered in the area may be presented, showing with some detail the peculiarities in distribution for the distinctive traits. Mural panel by Will S. Taylor A TSIMSHIAN FAMILY MAKING EULACHON “ BUTTER” The glow of the ember fire is on the girl’s face as she waits for stones to heat. In the box at the right, fish are being boiled by means of the heated stones; the oil thus removed from the fish forms ‘‘butter.”’ The residue is being strained by the woman at the left. The artist has used the medium of steam here and in the ‘‘Canoe Builders”’ to distribute the color effect of the fire 128 FOREWORD ON THE NEW MURAL PAINTINGS IN THE AMERICAN MUSEUM HE first large commission for mural decoration in this country was given for Trinity Church, Boston. That was in 1870 and the artist was John La Farge, working in co6peration with H. H. Richardson, architect. Since that time and particularly in the past ten vears there has been great advance in mural painting in America. Great public buildings are no longer built for utility only, but are given beauty and a character fitting their purpose by the codperation of the artist with the architect. In a Museum, as a public building which entertains and educates the million or more people who visit it annually, there is oppor- tunity for a high standard in the architecture and decoration of its halls, harmonizing design and color with the spirit as well as with the details of each accompanying exhibit. In this, mural decoration is fitted to play a large part, for the mural painting can often perform forcefully and with an effect of beauty what can be accomplished in no cther way: it can vital- ize an exhibit by setting forth the life and the country that the exhibit represents. In the summer and fall of 1909 the American Museum sent an expedition to the North Pacific Coast, with Mr. Harlan I. Smith, ethnologist in charge, and Mr. Will S. Taylor, artist. On this expedition Mr. Taylor made studies for a series of mural panels to represent the North Pacific Indians as they were one hundred years ago when uninfluenced by white men. Sketches of landscapes were obtained, color notes on the different tribes and many photographs. Most of the old industries had disappeared however — as had also the old costumes — so that with all effort these mural paintings have had to be largely restorations. This has entailed tedious study of museum material and the literature of the subject on the part of the artist since his return. His study has been rewarded however; the ethnological staff of the Museum and Lieutenant Emmons, who has generously helped in the work of scientific supervision, pronounce these paintings rarely accu- rate presentations. Landscapes although idealized give the color and feeling of particular spots which a visitor to this northern country can locate, while each canvas shows good type portraits of the tribe represented. The four panels from north to south in the Hall are in series, with color graded from the cool country of the northern part of the coast to the warmer country toward the south, and with design regulated in rhythmic sequence as in a mural frieze. The composition in each panel is simple and the action is readily understood. There is an evident center of interest and 129 130 THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL the lines of the various figures, of mountain gorges, of masses of steam, of clouds, of tree branches either lead toward this center or serve to tie in the composition. Dignity appropriate to the subjects has been gained by a conspicuous introduction of vertical lmes—a thin column of smoke, trees, totem poles, erect figures. Steam has been cleverly used in two of the pictures as a medium for the distribution of the color effect of fire. Mr. Taylor considers himself fortunate in the position of the paintings in this Hall among old weathered totem poles, canoes and other symbols of Indian art. It has allowed him to portray the simple out-of-door life of the people with true local color and in a broadly decorative way unham- pered by the usual modern architecture and ornament. The panels certainly meet the requirements of true decorations as well as serve their scientific purpose. They blend with their surroundings, an integral part of the color scheme of the Hall; they are flat in effect, clinging to the wall like tapestries though with relief high enough to give an effect of reality to the scenes end of increased space to the Hall. The imagination sees also in these paintings something beyond the industry represented, something more than satisfying design and _ color. One finds himself picking out the various items that signify a development of love of beauty in this primitive race; speculating on the fact that the grandeur of this country has its concomitant in the earnestness of its people; and seeing in the pose and expression of certain of the figures evidence that mind and spirit, here as in all primitive races, have developed with the training of eye and hand. It is thus that Mr. Taylor’s work done with high seriousness of aim meets the final demand of mural decoration. Ns.CaDy, THE NEW MURAL PAINTINGS AND THE INDUSTRIES THEY PORTRAY By E. C. B. Fassett HE first four of a series of mural decorations by Mr. Will S. Taylor are completed and in their places in the Hall of the North Pacific Coast Indians. They invest this Hall with atmosphere and local color. They hang like tapestries between the weathered totem poles and dealing with themes of industry, combine truthful illustration with land- scapes that would seem to be purely ideal. Here are mountains forested with hemlock and cedar. Yonder are glimpses of blue glaciers and veils of mist that suggest the cool atmosphere of the northern summer. In Mr. Taylor’s sea-girt, mountain-sheltered scenes we behold the homes of the NEW MURAL PAINTINGS 13] weavers, carvers, basket makers and canoe builders whose works are gathered together in this Hall of the North Pacific Coast peoples. The arrangement of the Hall is planned in such a manner that the mate- rials are divided into seven arbitrary groups representative of the various tribes from the Columbia River to Mount McKinley. The Tlingit materials from the coast of Alaska occupy a space near the northern end, one section illustrating the material industries, another the social affairs and cere- monials. The collection from the Haida people who occupy the country immediately south of the Thingit, including the Queen Charlotte’s Islands, follow and are arranged similarly. In like manner succeed the exhibits of the Tsimshian, Bella Coola, Kwakiutl, Nootka and the southern coast Salish peoples; while the new mural decorations are so placed that those opposite each exhibit represent the general characteristics of the country from which the Museum collections came. THE FIRST PAINTING The Blanket Weavers The first of Mr. Taylor’s series of mural paintings is placed on the west wall of the space occupied by the Tlingit collections. He has chosen for the subject of this decoration the rapidly disappearing art of the Chilkat blanket maker. The origin of this type of wool weaving is attributed to As many as possible of the sketches were made in sunlight in order better to roduce out-of-door effects when painting the decorations later 132 THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL On the Stikine River at the Great Glacier. The artist visited all the country along the coast making color studies and collecting facts the Tsimshian; but the art passed from them through the Tongas, the Stikine and the more southern Tlingit to the Chilkat tribe, a division of the Tlingit family which lives about the head of Lynn Canal in southeastern Alaska. This migration of art is attributable to the intermigratery habits of the people. Canoe life in the netwerk of island channel-ways permits free intercourse between the tribes and an exchange of commodities which, together with the practice of intertribal marriages, accounts for the dis- semination and perpetuation of similar arts among neighboring peoples. The Chilkat blanket is undoubtedly the best possible expression for this group, not only that it is the emblem of the clan but also, as is always true of art objects, that it sums within its textile limits suggestions of the mythical lore and history of its people. Not least interesting is the fact that this textile is a copy from a painted design. In the canvas against an impressive background of mountains, whose snows and glaciers are tinted with blues and purples and greens, a Chilkat blanket hangs in process of making, and around it is grouped the family engaged in the work. The man stands passively at the left. Carved emblems on the uprights of the looms, also the painted pattern board at the right of the composition, are his share in the work. The old woman seated at the right with lower lip distended by a mouth ornament indicative of her wealth and rank, is engaged in spinning a strand of the wool from the moun- tain goat. For the weaving of a Chilkat blanket all the long coarse outer hair of the goat is discarded, since only the soft fine under wool is used. The wool is NEW MURAL PAINTINGS 133 spun by hand, and then dyed in the yarn. ‘To prevent the hanging warp from tangling, it is divided and tied in bags of skin as indicated in the paint- ing. ‘The weaving is a marvel of patient execution with the unaided hand, in technique similar to one type of the basketry work of this tribe. The small coler fields are woven separately and very ingeniously united by interweaving. Several of these small interwoven fields form = divisions which are united with fine sinews, as thread is used by the European tapestry weavers. Technically the Chilkat blanket is a tapestry. THE SECOND PAINTING The Canoe Builders The mural decoration on the west wall, next to that of the Tlingit, portrays the Haida Indians as woodworkers. They are engaged in canoe building just in front of a wooden structure which extends from the right of the composition. This structure is an example of the community house of these people. The timber is hand-hewn and _ skillfully jomed. The boards of the walls are bevelled to slide in a groove and close up to one another with great nicety. Those important structural features, the corner posts and totem poles, the placing of which is the initial step of the building and the oecasicn of important ceremonies, are broadly indicated as befits their position in the composition. The North Pacific Coast Indians are a fishing people. Their homes are largely among islands and Mr. Taylor could have chosen no better object illustrative of their lives than the canoe. It is their chief means of trans- portation and in it much of their lives is spent. The red cedars of Queen Charlotte’s Islands produce logs from which are made huge canoes, sometimes from forty-five to sixty feet in length. The Haida are master craftsmen since there is no other type of dugout canoe so light, graceful and seaworthy as this one they construct. In Haida canoe building, the outside contour is first hewn and carved. Wooden pins are driven through the outer surface to indicate the varying thickness of the walls of the canoe, and the interior is dug out to the depths thus fixed. The spread of the beam is attained by steaming the wood. The canoe is partly filled with water into which red hot stones are dropped producing steam which softens the wood. The sides are forced out by wedges which are afterward replaced by permanent seats. Beds of hot embers are kept near the canoes to dry the outer surface. Not only is the Haida process of canoe building well suggested in this second painting, but also we get in this decoration the atmosphere of the Mural panel by Wiil S. Taylor WEAVING A CHILKAT BLANKET AT A CAMP ON A SALMON RIVER The blanket is being made for the man of the family who stands at the left. The young girl has stopped in the process of separating the strands of the cedar bark to be used for warp. The woman at the right has looked up from her work of spinning the wool 134 NEW MURAL PAINTINGS 135 region, a sense of the mists and the dampness. The attention centers on the boat builder, who is about to drop from long wooden tongs a red hot stone inte the water within the canoe from which rises swirling steam, while the glow from the ember fire illumines his well-developed figure and reveals an intensely interested face. The cloud of steam gives life and movement and plays a strong part in the pictorial composition and color scheme, while the diffusing mist veils subordinate detail and holds all in harmonious relation. THE THIRD PAINTING The Butter Makers In this delightful composition, which Mr. Taylor calls “The Butter Makers,” we find the eulachon industry illustrated with much detail. This group of busy Tsimshian is placed in a semi-realistic landscape of great beauty. We discern the flanks of mountains veiled by cloud masses, and the green slopes that reach down to the shore of the Nasse River. The stream is splendid at this point near its mouth where the candlefish come in from the sea. The eulachon or candlefish are caught during March and April in great numbers with dip nets and rakes or with seines. This party in the picture has made a temporary camp here in the “ lean- to” at the left, to harvest the run. Two methods of preservation are indicated. At the right a man is hanging eulachon to dry. The other and more important process is the extraction of the oil, which is a greatly valued delicacy used like butter by these people. This oil and the dried eulachon are exchanged up and down the coast by those Indians so fortunate as to control the catch. To extract the oil, the fish are permitted to decompose slightly, after which they are placed in boxes of water and kept at the boiling point by the use of red hot stones. The oil is then skimmed off as it rises to the surface, and so precious is it that even the residue is worked over. The column of light smoke at the left of the painting and the glow of the ember fire indicate the heating of the stones. The woman with the tongs is about to take one of these stones to keep the water boiling in the boxes, and the old woman at the box with the straining mesh is working over the residue. These quite literal facts are expressed simply while the balance of the composition in line and color mass is well maintained. The artist has invested the whole decoration with poetic charm and the treatment of the clouds, smoke and steam is masterly. 136 THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL THE FOURTH PAINTING The Bread Makers of the Bella Coola This scene is in the beautiful Bella Coola valley, about eighty miles up the fiord at the delta of the river. The narrow valley lies between moun- tains covered in places with perpetual snow and glaciers. The purple of the mountains with the delicate greens of cottonwoods ranged along the river’s edge, are portrayed in the upper planes of the painting. In the lower plane, beside the winding glacial stream, are swamp lands where skunk cabbage is abundant and hemlocks grow. At the left of the composition the man supported high on the tree trunk is scraping away the inner bark or cambium and dropping the moist strips to the cedar mat held below by the woman and the boys. The edible value of the cambium is well understood by Indians; that of the pine, spruce and fir is eaten in the spring time, while that of the yellow pine, hemlock and red alder is preserved for winter use. A hole in the ground is lined with hot stones, which are covered with the leaves of the skunk cabbage to keep the bark from burning. Within this the muci- laginous strips are packed and covered with the skunk cabbage leaves, then over all are placed layers of bark and cedar mats. In four days the cambium steamed to a pulp is ground with a pestle on a flat stone, then formed into brick-like cakes and dried in the sun. This fourth painting has especial distinction because of the sense of space conveyed and of the highly picturesque character of the landscape. The simplicity of the grouping of the figures and the admirable arrangement of the masses of light and dark coloring complete a composition which can- not fail to have lasting charm. Both the Museum and the artist are to be congratulated. Not every painter would have striven with such sincerity to tell the simple stories of the handicrafts of these various tribes. The color scheme holds together in these four canvases as well as it would in a suite of old tapestries. There is self-restraint and subordination of detail; and there is good measure of the literal and the educational. Art has prevailed over all. Mountain mists and steam-clouds are gracious mediums for invoking the ideal; and yet these are good portraits of the lands where live the Tlingit and the Haida, the Tsimshian, and the Bella Coola. From mural panel by Will S. Taylor A BELLA COOLA FAMILY MAKING “ BREAD The man is gathering hemlock bark, which is later steamed in holesin the ground lined with hot stones; thus is made a kind of native bread In each canvas the figures are good type portraits of the tribe represented SUPERNATURAL THUNDERBIRD CHARMS OF THE GAME ON THE MAT AT THE LEFT THE PRIZES CONSISTING OF BLANKETS AND STRIPS OF CALICO 138 SORTING THE STICKS AND SO CHOOSING SIDES‘* THE MENOMINI GAME OF LACROSSE By Alanson Skinner Photographs by the Author HE Menomini Indians, about fifteen hundred in number, are intelli- gent and progressive farmers dwelling for the most part in sub- stantial log cabins and frame houses on their reservation in northern Wisconsin, yet about one half of them adhere to their ancient ceremonials and to the legends of their race. One of my early experiences after reach- ing the reservation in the summer of 1910! was attendance upon a cere- monial to the Thunderers, given to appease the wrath of these Indian gods of the storm, so that there might end the drought from which the country was suffering; and another consisted in witnessing a ceremonial game of lacrosse, which is interwoven with the legend of the Thunderers and revolves about the idea of the birth of these spirits in man. THE GAME STARTS At the lacrosse game the Menomini nation was well represented. The smooth field stretched before us. The prizes, blankets and strips of calico, were hung at one side. Warriors rapidly gathered as the chief moved toward the place where the prizes were displayed. They gathered in a 1The gratitude of the Museum goes to the Wisconsin friends who contributed to the success of this expedition of 1910. Those to whom greatest indebtedness is due are Special Agent of the United States Government, Mr. Angus Nicholson, and all his staff, as well as the late agent, Mr. Wilson. As for the Indians, those to whom thanks should be given are very many. Perhaps the ones who have been most liberal and helpful are Mr. John V. Satterlee, Chiefs Perrote, Wiuskacit and Niopet, Messrs. James Blackcloud and. Antoine Shibicow, and Jane Shibicow and Mrs. Petwaskun. i 139 140 THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL dense mass about him while he entered upon a speech advising how to play the game to the satisfaction of the Thunderers. As soon as this ended attendants passed among the warriors and collected the game sticks and bringing them to one spot mixed them well together, afterward quickly spreading them out in two opposing rows on the grass. The players fol- lowed watching, each making an effort to locate his own stick in one row or the other. When he had done so he knew on which side he was to play and also, for by that time each warrior was standing before his own stick, just who were to play with him, who against. The warriors of one side marked the left cheek with a heavy stroke of vermilion for recognition in the game. Each took up his stick and all seemed ready and waiting for some signal. Suddenly a ball was tossed into the center of the crowd and with many whoops and a great rush the game was on. The following is the story connected with lacrosse as gained through the interpreter from one of the oldest Indians of the tribe. Knowledge of the legend makes clear many things about the game, such as the honored position near the prizes accorded to the supernatural war club and lacrosse stick belonging to the Indian giving the game. You ask who are the Thunderbirds. I will tell you. You have seen the black clouds roll up in the spring. You have seen the rain fall heavily and you have seen the great flashes of light that shoot from the heavens, and you have heard the rum- bling noise that follows. What the Wabskuat (Paleface) says of these things I do not know, but the Indian understands well that they are made by the Thunderbirds hunting. “ar, far away in the West where the sun sets, there floats a great mountain in the sky. Above the earth the rocks lie tier on tier. These cliffs are too lofty to be reached by any earthly bird. Even the great war eagle cannot soar so high. But on the summit of this mountain dwell the Thunderbirds. They have control over the rain and the hail. They are messengers of the Great Sun himself, and their influence induced the Sun and the Morning Star to give the great war-bundle to our race. They delight in fighting and great deeds. They are the mighty enemies of the horned snakes, the Misikinubik. Were it not for the Thunderers these monsters would overwhelm the earth and devour mankind. When the weather is fair, then watch when you travel abroad, for the snakes come out to bask in the sun, but when the weather is cloudy you need fear nothing, for the Thunderers come searching from behind the clouds for their enemies, the Misikinubik. Now this is true and our people know it well, that these Thunderers have a great love for us. Often they come down to earth and are born as men. He who bears a Thunderer’s spirit has power to understand nature and to foretell the weather and he is strong in war. But a man who has such a spirit is not like other Indians. As a child his parents never punish him for fear his spirit will be shamed and leave his body. Instead they honor him and make for him a war club and lacrosse stick, the one to protect him in time of war, the other a symbol that he is a child of the Thunderers. For lacrosse is a warlike game and therefore the Thunderbirds delight in it. Anyone who has a Thunderer’s spirit in him must have the game played at least once a year. He must offer great prizes to the winner of his game and he must THE CHIEF INSTRUCTS THE PLAYERS send out gifts of tobacco to all the people as an invitation to come and play. He himself takes no part but sits and watches and the Thunderers are satisfied. Before I left the reservation I saw three additional ceremonial lacrosse games, besides other interesting ceremonies such as that of the Society of Dancing Men. Ceremonies of all kinds among the Menominiare becoming more and more curtailed every year and adherence to legendary lore more rare, and it is probably a question of only a few years more when all will have passed into tradition. The Menomini Indians have always been exceedingly friendly toward the white man and they were well pleased when they learned that a system- atic effort was to be made by the American Museum to record their old life and collect their ancient articles. In the words of Chief Niopet, who presented the Museum with several handsome examples of beadwork, the following is their idea: ‘‘ We wish to put these things into the ‘ great house’ where they will be kept with care, where our children’s children may go to see them when our race has followed the white man’s road until it has forgotten their use.”’ A SCRIMMAGE NEAR THE GOAL, THE FIRST SIDE SCORING FOUR GOALS WINS A QUESTION OF PUBLIC HEALTH EXHIBIT OF MODELS ILLUSTRATING POLLUTION OF NEW YORK HARBOR WATERS AND SCIENTIFIC METHODS FOR THE DISPOSAL OF CITY SEWAGE By C-E. A. Winslow ITY life presents pressing and peculiar biological problems. When a great number of human beings are concentrated within a small area, the fundamental needs of individual life must be met by the latest perfected methods. Especially should this hold true in the preven- tion of epidemics, which always threaten crowded communities; and in guarding against disease the first essential is the proper removal of the waste products which accompany all living processes. One of the greatest prob- lems which confronts a modern municipality is here encountered, for from every large city there pours out a river of waste material which pollutes streams, harbors and foreshores, spoiling what should be the pleasure-spots of the city, damaging property and even endangering health and life. New York is more fortunate than most cities in the large bodies of water which wash its shores, but to-day the disposal of its waste material has become a serious problem and one which demands prompt solution. The Metropolitan Sewerage Commission which has recently published the results of its important investigations will shortly make an exhibit of its work at the American Museum, and the Museum’s Department of Public Health has prepared a series of models illustrating on the one hand local conditions 142 PANORAMIC VIEW OF TRICKLING FILTERS, COLUMBUS, OHIO The most efficient device yet discovered for the purification of a city’s sewage — stones on which bacterial growth may gather and a regulated supply of sewage in fine spray and of air with regard to harbor waters and on the other hand the various devices which may be used for the disposal of city sewage by sanitary methods. When sewage is discharged in small volume into a relatively large body of water the aim of all sewage purification is attained. The bacteria nor- mally present in the water attack the organic matter and oxidize it, and at the same time the typical sewage bacteria, finding themselves in an un- favorable environment, gradually die and disappear. In New York, however, the present method of disposal by the haphazard discharge of sewers into the waters of the rivers and harbor at the piers or bulkhead lines, is manifestly unsatisfactory. The sewage oscillates back and forth instead of passing promptly out to sea, and the local nuisances at certain points are extreme. Besides the fact that this brings about conditions offensive to the senses, real danger to health is involved. The germs of typhoid and other infec- tious diseases are always present in a city’s waste, menacing the lives of those to whom their contact is inevitable. For instance all along the waterfront, driftwood and other floating objects are picked out by the poor and carried to their homes. In Jamaica Bay and neighboring waters shell- fish are grown in close proximity to both public and private sewers and while some processes of cookery destroy the typhoid germs, others do not. The greatest risk is run by bathing in the polluted waters and in New York several of the free floating baths maintained by the city are placed sufficiently 143 uolRiu d outos AG poMoOT[OJ oq AT] ISH YSNU SIT, “SULWOedOS AG poATOs st asvMos AjIO JO [Rsodsip oy} UL WeTqoad ysay ou, SLLASNHOVSSVW ‘NOLMOONS ‘SH3aitIS GNVS INSLLINYSLNI buijog a0 are) fo fis). . espana eS RO A QUESTION OF PUBLIC HEALTH 145 near sewer outlets to furnish excellent opportunity for infection of various sorts. The first problem in the disposal of city sewage is the elimination of the coarser floating particles by some form of screening. In some cases this alone is sufficient, but generally sedimentation must also be employed. In sedimentation excellent results have come from the use of a deep tank hay- ing a conical or pyramidal bottom. Into the lower part of this tank the sewage enters, spreads out in the conical section as it rises, progressively diminishes in velocity, and when the effluent flows off at the top, leaves the suspended solids behind. The sludge which accumulates in the sedimentation tank must itself be disposed of in some way and the modified sedimentation basin known as the “septic tank”’ is designed to minimize this nuisance by holding the sludge under such conditions that it may be liquified by anaérobic bacteria. One tank of this type, the Imhoff tank used extensively in northern Germany, has met with marked success. . After the removal of suspended solids, the liquid sewage remains to be purified. The most primitive method of disposal consists in its distribution over the surface of suitable land, what is called “broad irrigation.”” Under proper conditions the living earth renders organic matter harmless and changes it into food material for the higher plants. Paris and Berlin to-day utilize this method of disposal. But broad irrigation requires large areas of land of suitable soil and would be a costly method for a city situated as Intermittent Sand Filter Bed. Photograph of a model in the American Museum 146 THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL Septic Tank or modified sedimentation basin. Model in the American Museum is New York, where the waste would have to be carried a ereat distance before final disposition of it could be made. At Lawrence, Massachusetts, through the experiments of the Massa- chusetts Board of Health, a more scientific and intensive modification of the irrigation process was devised known as intermittent filtration. It consists in the application of sewage in regulated quantities to the surface of properly prepared beds of sand in which nitrifying bacteria colonize and oxidize the organic matters in the sewage into harmless mineral form. The construction of this filter is simple in regions like those in the northeastern part of the United States where there is suitable soil from glacial drift. Even the intermittent filter requires a large area of land however, and Double contact beds for purification of sewage on the plan of “ broad irrigation ’’ but without the necessity of large areas of land. Model in the American Museum A QUESTION OF PUBLIC HEALTH 147 still more rapid processes have been devised to meet the needs of com- munities which have no ample sand areas at their doors. It was shown by a series of English investigators that the nitrifying bacteria could be grown on coarser materials like broken stone as well as on sand and that by filling a bed with such materials and letting sewage stand in it for a short time in contact with the stone, a considerable purification would take place. Such a purifying device is known as a “contact bed.” The most efficient device of all is the “trickling” or “percolating” bed which represents still another method of combining the three required Picking up polluted driftwood on the Battery steps. Model in the American Museum elements, sewage, bacteria and air. In 1894, at Newport, Rhode, Island, the late Colonel George E. Waring experimented with the purifying of sewage at high rates by blowing air into a bed of coarse stone from below, while sewage ran down through it from above. Theoretically good, prac- tically the method fell short of perfection; but success has finally been reached along another similar line by applying sewage, not in bulk, but in a fine spray distributed as evenly as possible over the surface of the bed. By this method the liquid trickles in thin films over the surface of the filling 14S THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL material while the spaces between are continually filled with air. The trickling bed, which may be defined simply as a heap of stones or other material of such size, depth and texture as to support a bacterial growth sufficient for the work in hand, is considered one of the most promising and effective of any known device for sewage purification and particularly well adapted for use in large cities, for it exhibits the simplicity which dis- tinguishes the best scientific application —a pile of stones on which bac- terial growth may gather and a regulated supply of air and sewage being the only desiderata. In this way the dangerous organic waste material produced in the city of human habitations is carried out to the city of microbes on their hills of rocks and it is their duty to turn it into a harmless mineral form. The removal of disease bacteria is not necessarily accomplished by these newer processes of sewage disposal which are primarily designed to remove putrescible organic matter. This end, which is an important one in a sea- board city because of its adjacent shellfish industries, can be met by special chemical treatment. The application of ordinary bleaching powder or chloride of lime in small amounts of fifteen to thirty parts of powder to a million parts of sewage will effect a satisfactory reduction of bacteria at a very reasonable cost. There are yet many unsolved problems in the purification and disposal of a city’s sewage, yet the work of the last ten years in the United States and England foreshadows ultimate success. To-day the engineer is limited in the perfection of his work only by the amount of money the community is prepared to expend; and the City of New York can go as far along this line as its citizens choose to afford. It should unquestionably go farther than it has gone to-day. 7 | i) i sere sc — “adil Kua = “SARITA A MODERN MUSEUM OF CELEBES By Roy C. Andrews HEN a naturalist’s wanderings in the South Seas carry him to a native city of comparatively small white population, and he finds there a museum embodying modern ideas of exhibition, he experiences considerable surprise. It was my good fortune on Christmas Day of 1909 to find such a museum and also to visit it with its founder and curator, His Excellency Baron Quarles de Quarles, Governor of Celebes. The Albatross had but recently dropped anchor in the Bay of Makassar. While driving in Makassar, the principal city of South Celebes, we came upon a large; oblong building set on piles and having an entrance-way projecting from the front. As usual the little shaggy brown horse drawing the rickety “carametta”’ in which we were riding was rushing along at a furious pace and we had almost passed the house before we caught sight of an English sign reading “ Museum.” The building was closed, but its keeper was finally located and although he spoke only Dutch and Malay, we managed to exchange ideas and made a brief inspection of the place. Later Captain McCormack and myself visited the Museum, conducted by Baron de Quarles, who presented to the American Museum a small collection representing some of the most characteristic features of the native 149 150 THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL life of Celebes. The building was formerly the residence of the deposed Raja of Boni, a potentate who for some time ruled one of the large provinces of the Island, and itself furnishes a most interesting example of the royal dwellings of these native princes. The collections contained in the museum are strictly local, but represent in a form quite complete the basket work and other industries, the dress and customs, in fact all the principal features of the life of the natives in and about Celebes. All the material has been collected and arranged under the supervision of the Governor. Plaster casts have been prepared to illustrate the natives and the dress of the different tribes. There are also miniature models of fish-traps, houses, and boats, as well as models to show pottery making and basketry. Around the walls are hung spears, knives, shields, and other articles of warfare, and their uses are explained by admir- able labels in Malay, Dutch and English. One room contains many ob- jects which made part of the furnishings of the household in the time of the Raja of Boni. The entire museum gives such evidence of attention to details and of thought and care in selection and exhibition of specimens that it reflects the greatest credit on Baron de Quarles. He has extended the scope of the Makassar Museum’s work by making up and presenting to expositions in various countries of Europe collections representing the chief features of the ethnology of the natives of the Celebes. It is to be hoped that there will be a continuance of the growth of this institution which, although the years of its existence have been few, is already doing important educational work, and that the example so admirably set by Baron de Quarles will be followed by the officials of other native cities. MUSEUM NEWS NOTES Ow1nG to ill health, Dr. J. A. Allen, Curator of Mammalogy, has given up his duties as Acting Director and the President has appointed Dr. E. O. Hovey, Curator of the Department of Geology and Invertebrate Paleontol- ogy to serve as Acting Director pro tem during the absence of Dr. Townsend. Tue Department of Anthropology has recently received the gift of a Sioux tepee made entirely of buffalo skins. This tepee is of peculiar interest from the fact that for at least the past thirty years buffalo skins have not been used in Indian house construction. MUSEUM NEWS NOTES 15] Mr. FRANK M. CHAPMAN sailed from New York March 14 for Colombia, South America, where he is to join Mr. William B. Richardson, who has been in that locality collecting birds and mammals for the Museum for several months. Mr. Chapman-expects to get into a region where no col- lecting of birds has been done; there he will make a systematic survey, probably obtaining some undescribed species and many new to the Museum collections. He will also get material for several new bird groups. He has taken an assistant and expects to remain until July, when Mr. Richardson and the assistant will continue the work. Dr. GeorGeE H. Girry of the United States Geological Survey, who has recently presented to the Museum a series of fossil invertebrates, has been made a Life Member of the Museum in recognition of his generosity. Art the meeting of the Executive Committee on March 22, Mr. Frederick H. Smyth was appointed to the position of bursar of the American Museum of Natural History, the appointment to take effect April 1, 1911. THe METROPOLITAN SEWERAGE COMMISSION In codperation with the Department of Public Health of the American Museum will hold an exhi- bition at the Museum during the last two weeks of April. The exhibition will illustrate conditions of sewerage and sewage disposal in the metro- politan district of New York and will include models, charts, diagrams and apparatus used by the Commission in its Investigations. Toe Hai or Mouwuscs which has been removed from the fifth floor to make room for the new administrative offices is still in preparation and will not be open to the public for some time. The shell collections of the Museum, which are among the earliest of its acquisitions, are being re- arranged in accordance with the modern spirit of museum exhibition. Pustic meetings of the New York Academy of Sciences and its Affiliated Societies will be held at the Museum according to the usual schedule. Programmes of meetings are published in the weekly Bulletin of the Academy. LECTURE ANNOUNCEMENTS PUPILS’ COURSE These lectures are open to the pupils of the public schools when accompanied by their teachers and to children of Members of the Museum on presentation of Membership tickets. Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 4 o'clock. March 20 and April 17 — Mr. Roy W. Mrner, ‘Early Days in New York.” March 22 and April 19 — Mr Roy C. AnpreEws, ‘‘A Visit to the Orient.” March 24 and April 21 — Dr. Louis Hussaxor, “‘Scenes from Pole to Pole.” March 27 and April 24— Mr. Joun T. Nicuous, “Natural Resources of the United States.” March 29 and April 26 — Mr. Watrer GRANGER, ‘‘ Famous Rivers of the World.” March 31 and April 28 — Mr. Haran I. Smitru, “Life among Our Indians.” April 3 and May 1— Mr. Roy C. Anprews, “Travels and Life among the Japanese.” April 5 and May 3— Dr. Louis Hussakor, ‘‘South American Scenes.” April 21 and May 5— Mrs. AcGnes L. Roester, “Around the World with Children.” PEOPLE’S COURSE Given in codperation with the City Department of Education Tuesday evenings at 8:15 o’clock. Doors open at 7:30. The last four of a series of lectures on ‘‘Great Modern Composers”? by DANTEL GREGORY Mason. Illustrated at the piano. April 4— “Peter Ilyitch Tschaikovsky.” April 11 — ‘Johannes Brahms.” April 18 — ‘Richard Strauss.” April 25 — ‘‘ Present-day Tendencies.” Saturday evenings at 8:15 o'clock. Doors open at 7:30. April 1— Mr. Avsert Hate, ‘Central America: Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, Salvador and Guatemala.” Illustrated. April S— Mr. Avsert Hate, ‘Mexico: Our Nearest Neighbor.’ Illustrated. April 15 — Mr. Cuartes R. Tooruaker, ‘Panama and the Canal.” Illustrated. April 22 — Subject and lecturer to be announced. April 29 — Pror. WiuiiaM Lipsey, “Hawaii.” Illustrated. 152 Scientific Staff ACTING DIRECTOR CuarLes H. Townsenp, Sc.D. GEOLOGY AND INVERTEBRATE PALHZ ONTOLOGY EpmMuNpD Otis Hovey, A.B., Ph.D., Curator MINERALOGY L. P. Gratacap, Ph.B., A.B., A.M., Curator GrorGE F. Kunz, A.M., Ph.D., Honorary Curator of Gems INVERTEBRATE ZOOLOGY Prof. Henry E. Crampron, A.B., Ph.D., Curator Roy W. Miner, A.B., Assistant Curator Frank E. Lutz, A.B., A.M., Ph.D., Assistant Curator L. P. Graracap, Ph.B., A.B., A.M., Curator of Mollusca Witu1am BruTenmiiLtier, Associate Curator of Lepidoptera JoHN A. GrossBEckK, Assistant Prof. Witt1amM Morton Wueeter, Ph.D., Honorary Curator of Social Insects ALEXANDER PETRUNKEVITCH, Ph.D., Honorary Curator of Arachnida Prof. Aaron L. TREADWELL, B.S., M.S., Ph.D., Honorary Curator of Annulata CuHartes W. Lena, B.S., Honorary Curator of Coleoptera ICHTHYOLOGY AND HERPETOLOGY Prof. Basurorp Dean, A.B., A.M., Ph.D., Curator of Fishes and Reptiles Louis Hussaxor, B.S., Ph.D., Associate Curator of Fossil Fishes Joun T. Nicuous, A.B., Assistant Curator of Recent Fishes Mary Cyntuia Dickerson, B.S., Assistant Curator of Herpetology MAMMALOGY AND ORNITHOLOGY Prof. J. A. ALLEN, Ph.D., Curator FraNK M. Cuapman, Curator of Ornithology Roy C. Anprews, A.B., Assistant Curator of Mammalogy W. DeW. Miter, Assistant Curator of Ornithology VERTEBRATE PALHONTOLOGY Prof. Henry Farrrretp Ossporn, A.B., Se.D., LL.D., D.Se., Curator Emeritus W. D. Matruew, Ph.B., A.B., A.M., Ph.D., Curator WALTER GRANGER, Associate Curator of Fossil Mammals Barnum Brown, A.B., Associate Curator of Fossil Reptiles WiuiiamM K. Grecory, A.B., A.M., Ph.D., Assistant ANTHROPOLOGY Cuark Wisster, A.B., A.M., Ph.D., Curator Puiny E. Gopparp, A.B., A.M., Ph.D., Associate Curator Haran I. Smiru, Associate Curator Rosert H. Lowin, A.B., Ph.D., Assistant Curator HERBERT J. SpInDEN, A.B., A.M., Ph.D., Assistant Curator CuarLtes W. Mean, Assistant ALANSON SKINNER, Assistant PHYSIOLOGY Prof. Ratpo W. Tower, A.B., A.M., Ph.D., Curator PUBLIC HEALTH Prof. Cuarves-Epwarp Amory Winstow, S8.B., M.S., Curator Joun Henry O’Net1, S.B., Assistant WOODS AND FORESTRY Mary Cyntuia Dickerson, B.S., Curator BOOKS AND PUBLICATIONS Prof. Ratpw W. Tower, A.B., A.M., Ph.D., Curator PUBLIC EDUCATION Prof. ALBert S. Bickmore, B.S., Ph.D., LL.D., Curator Emeritus GeEorGE H. Suerwoop, A.B., A.M., Curator THE AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY FOR DHE) PEOPEE FOR EDVCATION FOR-S;GITERN, GCE a THE AMERICAN JSIUSEUM JOURNAL GATHERING PINE SEEDS FOR PLANTING Volume XI May, 1911 Number 5 Published monthly from October to May inclusive by THe AMERICAN Museum oF NaturRAL History New York CIty ONE DOLLAR PER YEAR FIFTEEN CENTS PER COPY American Museum of Natural History Seventy-seventh Street and Central Park West, New York City BOARD OF TRUSTEES President Henry FAIRFIELD OSBORN First Vice-President Second Vice-President CLEVELAND H. DopGE J. Prerpont MorGan, JR. Treasurer Secretary CHARLES LANIER ARCHER M. HUNTINGTON Tue Mayor or THE City or New York THE CoMPTROLLER OF THE CiTy OF NEW YorRK THE PRESIDENT OF THE DEPARTMENT OF PARKS ALBERT S. BICKMORE A. D. JUILLIARD GEORGE 8. Bowboin Gustav E. Kisseu JosepH H. CHOATE Seta Low Tuomas DeWitr CuyLeR OGcpEN MILLs JAMES DouGLAS J. PrerPpont MorGan MapIson GRANT Percy R. PYNE ANSON W. Harp WILLIAM ROCKEFELLER ADRIAN ISELIN, JR. JoHn B. TREVOR ArtTHUR CuRTISS JAMES Fevix M. WaRBURG Water B. JAMES GeorGce W. WICKERSHAM EXECUTIVE OFFICERS Acting Director Assistant Secretary CHARLES H. TOWNSEND GeEorGE H. SHERWOOD Assistant Treasurer Tue Unrrep States Trust Company oF NEw YorRK Tue Museum 18 OPEN FREE TO THE PuBLIC ON Every Day IN THE YEAR. Tue AMERICAN Museum or NaTuRAL History was established in 1869 to promote the Natural Sciences and to diffuse a general knowledge of them among the people, and it is in cordial coéperation with all similar institutions throughout the world. The Museum authorities are de- pendent upon private subscriptions and the dues from members for procuring needed additions to the collections and for carrying on explorations in America and other parts of the world. The membership fees are, Ammnnal Members. coc acc ee oe $ 10 MGHOWSS ccc ot casos eee $ 500 Sustaining Members (Annual)... ... 25 PPACLOUS! sa, cctevoy'e.0 Steere ots, lel clone 1000 [So Gielen ye OS eae ee 8 oI 100 Benefactors (Gift or bequest) 50,000 Tus Museum LIBRARY contains more than 60,000 volumes with a good working collection of publications issued by scientific institutions and societies in this country and abroad. The library is open to the public for reference daily — Sundays and holidays excepted — from 9 4. M. to 5 P. M. Tue Museum PUBLICATIONS are issued in six series: The American Museum Journal, Annual Report, Anthropological Papers, Bulletins, Guide Leaflets and Memoirs. Information concerning their sale may be obtained at the Museum Library. GuwwEs For Stupy or EXHIBITS are provided on request by the Department of Public Education. Teachers wishing to bring classes should write or telephone the Department for an appointment, specifying the collection to be studied. Lectures to classes may also be arranged for. In all cases the best results are obtained with small groups of children. WoRKROOMS AND STORAGE COLLECTIONS may be visited by persons presenting membership tickets. The storage collections are open to all persons desiring to examine specimens for special study. Applications should be made at the information desk. Tur Miria RESTAURANT in the east basement is reached by the elevator and is open from 12 to 5 on all days except Sundays. Afternoon Tea is served from 2 to 5. The Mitla Room is of unusual interest as an exhibition hall being an exact reproduction of temple ruins at Mitla, Mexico. The American Museum Journal CONTENTS FOR MAY, 1911 Frontispiece, Design for East Facade of the Museum Trowbridge and Livingston, Architects Plans for Extension of the Museum....HeNryY FatrReteELD OsBorn Preliminary studies for an expansion that will equip the Museum for edu- cational work in the great New York of the future Oceanographic Work ontthe-Albatrossy.. (2.2. sc os wes ade Fe Quotations from the letters of Acting Director Charles H. Townsend in command of the Museum Expedition in the Pacific 7 Coa A . ” Phew News cH OSs VA QUARIUT: ..7 Secs. eat ee BASHFORD DEAN Reconstruction of representative fishes of the typical ‘‘ Age of Fishes,’’ show- ing what can be done to make these ancient forms appear as living. Back- ground painted by Charles R. Knight Aa trees Chmbimne Rumimant,.< 5.24... )o nee W. D. MatraHEew Bagobo Fine Art Collection............ LaurA Watson BENEDICT dD Some Work on African Large Game by an Animal Sculptor.......... A new era for the natural history museum was inaugurated when the careful delineation of the sculptor superseded the old taxidermy methods of mounting mammals The. Grow Indiansvot Montana .: 4... .<0) 6). eas Rospertr H. Lowie METIS C1LMIEINEWTSOIN O LES cade oe trocar ee Mary Cyntrara Dickerson, Editor Subscription, One Dollar per year. Fifteen cents per copy ] 5 5 159 161 179 182 A subscription to the JourNAL is included in the membership fees of all classes of Members of the Museum Subscriptions should be addressed to the American Museum JourNat, 30 Boylston St., Cambridge, Mass., or 77th St. and Central Park West, New York City Entered as second-class matter January 12, 1907, at the Post-office at Boston, Mass. Act of Congress, July 16, 1894 “ieee. SLOSLIHOYNVY NOLSONIAINI BloUues OUI if ULYJIM TUNosnyY oy} JO UOlyerodsoour oangny 9 usIsop oy, “AITO! 1B ONnDsSOUBWIOY [R. | i ULBJOIT OF Pod Boyd ‘apes oO Sty JO uslsop oy) ul 4 SNQINSMOYL “HOLSYHS AYVNIWIDSYd “HHVd TIVYLNSO ONIOVA WNASNW SBAHL 40 3QvOvV4 NYS1SV3 MAN HOG NODIS3G The American Museum Journal Vou. XI MAY, 1911 No. 5 PLANS FOR EXTENSION OF THE MUSEUM PRELIMINARY STUDIES TOWARD AN EXPANSION OF THE AMERICAN MUSEUM SUCH THAT FORCE AND A WIDE SCOPE WILL BE GIVEN TO THE INSTITU- TION’ S EDUCATIONAL WORK IN THE GREAT NEW YORK OF THE FUTURE By Henry Fairfield Osborn ITH this number is presented a preliminary study by Messrs. Trowbridge and Livingston, architects, for the new East Facade of the Museum, facing Central Park. The design has not been adopted either by the Committee on Buildings and Plans or by the Trustees, but its preparation at this stage is welcomed because of the oppor- tunity which it affords for a prolonged and careful consideration of the artistic requirements of a monumental building, and of the scientific and educational requirements of ideally related exhibits within this building. The design for the East Facade contemplates the future incorporation of the Museum within the general design of Central Park by the construction of a broad entrance roadway from the West Drive. Ultimately, no doubt, the lower reservoir in Central Park will be removed and an avenue of approach will connect the east and west sides of the Park and thus unite the Museum of Science with its sister Museum of Art at Eighty-second Street. This is in the far future, but nevertheless it deserves the early consideration of all those who are interested in the artistic growth of what is probably destined to be the greatest city of the world. In the design of this Eastern Facade, the architects have endeavored to retain the general Romanesque architecture of the Southern Facade, while modifying it in the direction of greater simplicity. It is obvious that a building of the vast proportions contemplated in the original plans. of Calvert Vaux in 1871 and authorized by the Legislature in connection with the setting aside of Manhattan Square, must have an entrance of monu- mental size, and that this entrance must have a broad and dignified avenue of approach. The Museum will thus have three entrances. On Sundays and holidays when people come in large numbers from the direction of the Park, the Eastern Entrance will be most convenient together with the present 155 156 THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL historic South Entrance, with its included Memoria! Hal! constituting a monument to the administration of President Jesup. During the entire summer season these two entrances, the Southern attracting by its shaded approach, will be most accessible; while for purposes of attendance at public lectures and for large classes from public schools, the contemplated Western Entrance will prove the most practical and readily accessible to the arteries of transportation of the city of the future. Since assuming office in 1908 the President’s interest has largely centered in a series of studies for the future development of the interior of the Mu- seum! to provide at once for expansion and to look toward an ideal future in an arrangement made both from the standpoint of a natural sequence and of an artistic impression upon the minds of visitors. A great natural history museum should impress the visitor with the grandeur and beauty, and with the orderliness and system of the processes of nature. Especially is natural sequence important, not only sequence of the exhibitions in each hall but also of the successive hal!s themselves. This is an educational principle of the utmost value. It is as important in natural history as it isinart. Visitors to the Berlin Museum will recat! the simplicity and direct educational value of the arrangement of the picture galleries according to the sequence of Schools of Art in various countries. Exactly the same ide: applies to a museum of natural history, yet with the exception of the Museum of Comparative Zodlogy of Cambridge, arranged by the late Alexander Agassiz, no large scientific museum, to our knowledge, has yet embodied the idea of the natural relations of subjects or of the consequent natural groupings. In a geographic sequence for instance, the visitor would pass from country to country, as in course of travel. In studying the prehistoric life of North America, he would naturally pass from east to west; he would study the former inhabitants of Manhattan Island and the neighboring tribes along the eastern coast; then pass to the Central West, to the region of the Great Plains, to the Indians of the Southwest, and finally, to the past and present history of Mexico and Central America. | Such geographic arrangement can be made to prevail naturally to a large extent on the west- ern or anthropological side of the Museum and also in certain halls on the 1 There are now in preparation two publications in which the proposed interior arrange- ment of the Museum will be set forth. The first of these is the second or Curators’ edition of the work entitled ‘ History, Plan and Scope of the American Museum of Natural History,”’ the Trustees’ edition of which was published in 1910. The second publication is an illus- trated folder showing the gradual steps which have been made in the development of the buildings of the Museum, beginning with the completion of the original South Transept in 1877 and ending with the presentation of the proposed future arrangement of the halls in th2 completed central portion and southern half of the Museum, the plans for which are now in the hands of the architects. The northern half of the Museum is left entirely for future consideration. PLANS FOR EXTENSION OF MUSEUM 157 zodlogical side. In the latter, a geographic arrangement is known as faunis- tic. The visitor may first enter the life of Africa and Australia, follow into the life of Southern Asia, which we know historically to be only a detached portion of prehistoric African life; he may then pass to the life of Northern Asia which will bring him to the Polar Region, from which he will enter naturally the life of North America and pass southward into Central and South America. There is, however, another kind of sequence to which other series otf halls of the Museum may be devoted — namely, the sequence of evolution. Thus on the anthropological side the visitor may compare the more primi- tive races of man, including the origin of man, with the more civilized races; he may follow the slow steps of progress from our very remote ancestors of two hundred thousand years ago through the so-called Eolithie stages until he reaches Man of the Bronze and of the Iron Ages. Similarly he may trace the first steps of nature and the subsequent stages from the lower into the higher forms of plant and animal life. The most impressive example of evolutionary sequence will be the series of connecting halls, to which it is hoped the Fourth Floor on the east side of the Museum may be devoted. Here the visitor will pass from the dawn of life reaching back millions of years, and in successive halls traverse the Ages of Molluses, of Fishes, of Amphibians, of Reptiles, finally reaching the first Age of Mammals, and then the Age of Man. In this final hall he may witness the earliest struggle between the primitive types of palzeolithic hunters and the noble forms of mammalian life which were to be found both in Europe and North America in the early period of man. There is still a third kind of sequence, that of systematic classification, which must be provided for in another series of halls. This is the prevailing system of all our great natural history museums of the present day, with the exception of the Agassiz Museum at Cambridge, in which the animals for the most part are arranged geographically. In the sequence of classifica- tion, the visitor will find all the animals of a certain kind, from whatever part of the world they may have been collected, assembled for comparative study. Thus for example, he will be able to compare with one another all the members of the Horse Family whether collected in Africa, in Western Europe or in Asia. It has proved possible to provide amply in the development of the southern half of the great American Museum building of the future for all three of these various kinds of sequence — geographic, evolutionary and systematic. The plan, in its general features, will be submitted for the approval of the members of the Scientific Staff of the Museum. It has already been welcomed by experts from other institutions in this country 15S THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL and abroad as marking a very important advance in the educational arrange- ment of natural history museums. It is believed that this arrangement will meet both the exacting demands of the specialist and also impress upon the minds of the uninitiated visitors, young and old, the greatest lesson, per- haps, that Nature has to teach us — namely, the reign of law and order. There are, however, other objects to be attained in the new plans for the enlargement of the Museum. Chief among these are ample provisions for branches of natura! sciences which heretofore have not been included within the field of any museum of natural history, but have been pre- sented more or less successfully in isolated forms in kindred museums. These are principally the subjects of Astronomy, of Geography and of Oceanography. Berlin has its popular Astronomic Museum known as “Urania.” It also has its Oceanographic Museum, established under the patronage of Emperor William as a result of the extraordinary interest aroused in oceanographic research by the voyage of Nansen and of sugges- tions made by Sir John Murray in Berlin at the subsequent Geographic Congress. Later a finely equipped oceanographic museum was established at Monte Carlo by the Prince of Monaco in connection with his own marine explorations. More recently the Prince has established an Institute of Oceanography in Paris. To our knowledge however, there is no museum at present devoted to Geography or to Physiography. Yet these subjects are quite as intimately related to the distribution of anima!s and plants and to the general laws which govern living beings as is Oceanography. The interest of the public in Astronomy has already been witnessed in the American Museum in the models of the planetary system at present installed on the First Floor and of the rotating earth on the Second Floor. There is no doubt that a treatment of both Geography and Oceanography would subserve the public educational needs of the City. It is far better for the American Museum to bring these subjects within its walls in New York City and thus assemble all the phenomena of nature under one roof, rather than to wait until smaller institutions for these branches spring up as they are doing in Berlin, in Paris and in other cities. Thus in addition to designs for the future building itself, careful study is being put on the idea! arrangement of subjects and collections within this building. This study takes into account the broad relations of the living and inanimate worlds as conceived in the minds of Humbo!dt, Darwin and other great naturalists. These relations underlie the physica! welfare of man. They cannot be omitted from the plan. In fact the American Museum in the establishment of its Department of Public Health has already entered this new field of service and of public instruction, which will bring still closer within its influence the well-being of the people of New York. OCEANOGRAPHIC WORK ON THE ALBATROSS HE Museum Expedition under Acting Director Townsend in the United States Fish Commission Steamship Albatross continues the land collecting in Lower California and the oceanographic work in the waters adjacent according to prearranged schedule. The following quotations from Dr. Townsend’s letters give suggestions of the expedition’s work. Maapaupna Bay, L. C., March 18, 1911 We left San Diego March 7 for work farther south. The program is being car- ried out very much as originally planned, that is we spend our days ashore and our nights at sea, jogging along slowly and economically with steam on one boiler only. Four or five days at each anchorage would be better than merely one or two, but even as it is we shall have a fair representation of the sea and land fauna of Lower Cali- fornia. Occasionally we take half a day for a run out beyond the five hundred fathom line to dredge. Mr. Bell has already some fine molds of deep sea fishes and invertebrates; however, we shall do three times as much dredging on our return trip, not having to land shore parties. The collection of shore fishes and invertebrates is naturally the largest. A few sweeps of the large seines give us barrels of fishes to select from, while invertebrates are easy to get at low tide. We visited San Benito and Cedros islands, obtaining fair representations of the land forms peculiar to them. We shall do some deep-water dredging on the way to Cape St. Lucas, our next stop. The climate could not be better. The awnings are spread, and I am sorry to see the days slipping by so rapidly. LA Paz, L. ©., March 26, 1911 To-morrow evening we begin to move up the Gulf, taking in both islands and mainland. We now have about five hundred birds, with other Jand forms in smaller numbers. Going up the Gulf coast we shall make trials for mountain sheep and antelope. We have coyotes, rabbits, wood rats and mice in large numbers. Dr. Rose will have the bulk of the collections. His boxes, crates and barrels of villainous cacti are filling the ship. GuayMas, Mexico, April 15, 1911 After leaving La Paz, the Albatross made a trip up the Gulf as far as Angel de la Guarda Island. From there we crossed the Gulf to Tiburon Island, then to San Estéban Island, coming from there to Guaymas to-day. We leave to-night for La Paz to get coal for the homeward voyage, calling at Santa Catalina, Espiritu Santo and Cerralvo islands. We have 600 birds, 200 mammals, perhaps 400 lizards and snakes. We are shipping to the New York Zoélogical Park by express to-day two crates of live snakes and large-sized lizards. Our collections are largely from unexplored islands and undoubtedly contain new species. We shall pick up some good things on the islands between here and La Paz; then dredge in deep water all the way to San Francisco. 159 apis Aq opis pojstxo A][Ror UMOYS SOINQROID OY IVY} “odOJoIOY? QDOUBPTAY JSoq OY YIM “puRpOos JO suojspuRy poy PLO 1UOADG ‘ sy JO o5e¥,, [wordy oy) soyeagsnyyL dnoas yOBIBVYO 9} Joos OF sty? Ayotq st ueld oy, { sey JUuoUTLIodxo oy} pur [M . UrIntenbe [Issoy,, V oy) UL VOART YOOr o[Burs BV puv (AQIBUTOTD) AVTROOT o[SUTS B WOIZ OUTRO po uUosoided SUMO, 94 YOM Ul od Yous oyRur Oo} puR soysy Jo ,,SesR,, 10 spolod oI 1[@ SULARY SUROUT Of} ‘UO Pole oq [TIM Soltos oY} YEUX [NYJSssodons ¢ pojoyduioo oy, “dnoas poonsAsuovod Ly oFpod “H purpas»lyD oy? UL popt I] SV aRodde SUMIOJ JUOLOUR oSol[) SULYRUL UL OUOp oq UBD JBYM JO BopT UB SOALS AdoT[Rs YsSy oy ul ooepd ur ind Usoq Mou sey pot AY3IT1VD HSId SHL NI «.WAIYVNOV TISSO4., MAN 3HL ool THE NEW ‘ FOSSIL AQUARIUM ”’ By Bashford Dean OSSIL fishes have a special meaning to those who seek light upon the history of the backboned animals. They occur in practically all layers of rock which yield fossils, having lived during a longer range in time than amphibians, reptiles and mammals; and it is well known that in the succession of the fishes from age to age, one can trace the changes which have taken place in their kinds and can show how some kinds became transformed into others, and thus how evolution proceeded. However interesting this may be in theory, everyone will admit that it is a difheult matter to make clear to the Museum’s visitor the lesson of fossil fishes, or even to display them in an attractive way. As a rule they appear in slabs of rock only as faint impressions of what they were in life, and he who enters the fossil fish gallery, if he has no knowledge of fishes, 1s not apt to examine these slabs of rock attentively and try to learn their meaning. He is more interested when he sees models of living fishes placed side by side with their fossil relatives, and he is still more interested if he sees a restoration, better in a cast than in a picture, of the fossils them- selves. Such a restoration may in many cases be legitimately provided since the fossil fishes in their numerous specimens give the facts clearly upon which models can be prepared. A “fossil aquarium” has now been put on exhibition in the fish gallery. With it is a label explaining the Devonian age, naming the fishes illus- trated and telling how the more ancient groups are giving place to the more modern ones. Thus it is shown that the race of bony fishes, which represents about ninety-nine per cent of all living fishes, had not yet appeared; that on the other hand, the tribe of sturgeons and garpike, now almost extinct, made up about a quarter of all Devonian forms; that sharks, which are but a small fractional percentage of all living fishes, made up about one-third of all kinds then known; while finally, that the placo- derms, a group long extinct and even of uncertain kinships, constituted forty per cent of the ancient fish fauna. In preparing this “fossil aquarium,” questions as to the nature of the water, the character of the bottom and its vegetation were investigated by Dr. Hussakof; the models of the fishes were prepared after restorations of specialists, but revised in numerous points in accordance with actual speci- mens. The colors could not, of course, be given infallibly; the best that could be done was to follow the nearest living relatives of the ancient forms. The design of the group and the color work were carried out by Mr. Charles R. Knight, and his results are realistic and attractive. 161 A TREE CLIMBING RUMINANT By W. D. Matthew T seems somewhat paradoxical to imagine a ruminant climbing trees. There are stories of goats doing so, but these stories seem to be more or less apocryphal as far as any real climbing goes. Even the narrow sharp-pointed hoofs of a goat do not give the necessary grasp, and his limbs and feet are too stiff and limited in their motion. The only living members of the Ungulata or hoofed mammals which really climb trees are the coneys or hyracoids, especially the little tree-coney or Di ndrohyrax of South Africa. This little animal, about the size of a rabbit and somewhat like one in appearance, is in many respects the kind of animal from which we conceive that all the Ungulates are descended, and like the earliest fossil Ungulates it has four separate digits on each forefoot and a rudiment of the inner digit. This kind ef foot, and the more flexible limb with which it is associated, enables him to climb readily, to cling to branches and to live in the trees as well as on the ground. A similar adaptation is seen in most of the clawed animals or Unguiculates; while we find the limb and foot still further adapted to arboreal life in all of the Primates except man. 162 A TREE CLIMBING RUMINANT 165 All living hoofed animals however, except the //yrax, have the feet modified for walking and running upon the ground, in such a way as to gain in speed and endurance at the expense of a loss in flexibility of the foot, and none of them are able to climb trees. This is especially true of the Rumuinants, in which the foot is very much specialized for running pur- poses, the metapodial bones of the two middle digits united inte a single bone, the “cannon bone,” and the two outer digits reduced to little rudi- ments known as “dew-claws,” so that the animal walks and runs entirely upon the tips of the hoofs of the central digits. Compare this type of foot with the soft flexible sharp-clawed foot of a cat, and it is easy enough to see why a cat can climb a tree and a ruminant cannot. The most primitive extinct ruminants had four separate digits of nearly equal size, and this condition is retained in all the Oreodonts, a family of pig-like Ruminants very common in North America during the Tertiary. But these Oreodonts were probably quite as exclusively terrestrial in their habits as the modern pigs and peccaries, in which the digits are also separate, although the side toes are much reduced in size. The Agriochwrus however, while a member of the Oreodont family, and like them provided with ruminating teeth, had the limbs and feet modified in such a way as to enable it to climb trees as readily as a Jaguar or other large cat. The hoofs are so narrowed as to be actually converted into a sort of claw; the articulations of the digits, wrist- and limb-bones are modified so as to give throughout limbs and feet the same flexible joints which we find in the cats and in all tree-climbing animals. The animal also differs from the other Oreodonts in that the front teeth are adapted for browsing upon leaves and twigs instead of cropping grass or other herbage. These modifications from the usual Oreodont type appear to be adap- tations for climbing trees to feed upon their foliage. This theory 1s embodied in the mounted skeleton of Agriochwrus. The animal is repre- sented as walking out along a sloping branch of a tree, the branch being modeled in imitation of the fossil tree trunks often found in the Tertiary formations of the West. Like any large cat in a tree, he seems a little uncertain and shaky in his movements, and is inclined to cling tight with bent limbs, lacking the assured and confident step of a truly arboreal animal such as a monkey or lemur. The Agriocherus lived during the Oligocene epoch in Western North America, and then became extinct. Why, we do not know, but we may suppose that it was only partly arboreal, and that the handicap of its clumsiness upon the ground was more than enough to offset the advantage of being able to climb trees, when pursued by the improved races of Car- nivora that were being evolved about this time. BAGOBO FINE ART COLLECTION By Laura Watson Benedict HE tendency of a savage tribe to express its love for beauty in the form of decorative art is shown in some detail in a collection from the Bagobo tribe of southern Mindanao, recently installed in the Philippine Hall. Whether we examine basketry or wood-carving, textiles or embroidery or beadwork, we find a minute attention to form, a correct sense for color contrasts, a fine discrimination in decorative finish. A Bagobo mountains of from the Min- youth southern danao in typical beaded dress. The Bagobo has a love for decoration passionate 164 The Bagobo tribe, numbering a few thou- sand, forms one of the groups of pagan Malays living clustered in villages over the mountains and foothills that range back from the west coast of the gulf of Davao. They are a people of singular beauty, with clear golden-brown skin, earnest wide-open eyes, and mobile faces changing from deep seriousness in repose to sparkling vivacity in conversation. In dress both women and men have un- usually good taste and as fashions never vary from generation to generation, there comes no mandatory decree to change a good style. A more picturesque sight is rare to find than a party of Bagobo coming down a mountain trail in single file, walking with swift free step, the men in short trousers and open jackets, long black hair streaming over their shoulders, and richly beaded carrying-bags on their backs; the women in scant-bodied, scarlet-sleeved camisas and straight skirts woven in lustrous pictured patterns, and wearing their hair in Bright- colored kerchiefs adorn the heads of women glossy coils secured by beaded combs. and men; sparkling in their ears are ivory and inlaid plugs; around their necks hang pendants of finely carved seeds and braided beadwork and strung petals. Tassels of sweet- scented roots and toothbrushes — of boars’ bristles dangle from jacket and neckband, while bordering bag, basket and scabbard, and tinkling from hollow leglet or armlet are hun- BAGOBO FINE ART COLLECTION 165 dreds upon hundreds of tinkling bells that announce the approach of the Bagobo. If the Bagobo people could come to New York and see their belongings arranged in a great hall in sight of all visitors, their joy would be un- bounded. When I made this collection in the Bagobo country, the people came flocking daily to my little nipa hut, less perhaps to visit me than to see their own things and identify each other’s property and get current prices on jackets and trousers. Nowhere else in their villages could they find such a lot of Bagobo objects together, or test so many guitars and Hutes, or examine such a bristling array of spears. That an American should want Bagobo specimens called forth no surprise; rather it seemed to them highly natural that every scrap of Bagobo workmanship from a richly deco- rated war shield down to some mean and filthy garment should be sought after and prized, for all the Bagobo admire every Bagobo product with a_ self-complacency that is both amusing and appealing. “ Bagobo things, Senora!’ came the pass- word always uttered with an exultant note as a preliminary toward higgling the market with me. On reaching the Islands, I heard on all sides from white foreigners that it was almost hopeless to try to secure Bagobo objects, that the time was past for making a collection. It is true that a Bagobo parts with any one of his possessions reluctantly, and prizes each at double its material value because of intimate personal associations. But up to that time no account had been taken of certain emotional interests that had never before been appealed to, and that found expression as soon as a big collection began to grow. There was an undefined pleasure in knowing that over yonder in the Senora’s house their things were perpet- ually in contact with other Bagobo things. Now when Atun made the rounds of my Her leglets are made of tubes of little museum and asked the usual ques- ass which contain metal balls that roll freely and produce a _ tinkling tions: Z Whose is this? How much did Vou sound as she walks 166 THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL pay for it?” he had a left-out-feeling if he found nothing that represented himself. But if he could hold up just one article and say, “ Kanak” (mine) or “ My wife made it,” he would give a radiant smile and sit down content. Again, there was an appeal to the conservative tendencies of the people. More than one thoughtful Bagobo expressed a lively satisfaction at the prospect of a great Bagobo collection being carefully kept in an American museum forever. When the news spread there awakened a new feeling toward my work. One old woman secretly brought me a rare embroidered scarf, an heirloom that she handled tenderly, for her mother had worn it to hold the baby on her hip, and she said that it had carried many, babies, that few old women remembered how to do that sort of needlework, and that she would never let it go, ex- cept that it might always be with the rest of the Bagobo things in America. That piece of embroidery was done under conditions hard to comprehend. Dur- ing the day Bagobo women have little time for fancy stitching, with all the cook- ing and the long climb to the river for water and the work ae of the loom — for the weaving KS : S Long must be done by daylight, as A no native lamp can illumine <7 the floor space covered by the hand loom. But when dark- ness falls sewing and em- broidery can be done. < aaa. Black and white storage jar. At the right, jagged lightning; at the left, a terraced cloud (placed on edge with the top projecting inward) swollen with rain as indicated by the crossed lines 193 Even small geometric motives have a realistic in- rafters, little terpretation as well as a descriptive term: 1 or sloping lines; 2 or diamonds; 3 slings little hills'or sharp points clouds or scallops j Symbolic of the rainbow. Upper diamonds are scat- below, the cloud rack with rainbow more or less broken and fringed with light; under the rainbow the open sky, a mass of white cumulus clouds appearing above the horizon which runs out at either end into mysterious distance. tering rain clouds; Lower horizontal line the level ground, under it roots benefited by the down- pour; from center of ground-line springs a flower sequel of the rain \, OGG GOOOSE a lake. In diamonded area white represents black land Border of the lake at either side in the form of the ever-recurring terrace or with its mysterious clouds. mountains and human aspiration. At the top the cat-tail rush with long roots growing downward into the deep water Swampy margin of water, zigzag 194 suggestion of trees, spreads out in a maze of channels. Between it and the divided irregularly by hedges town are the cornfields of wild plums and sunflowers that follow the courses of the To the north is seen the Black Mesa, irrigation ditches. an isolated flat-topped hill perhaps six hundred feet in that the The vertical escarpments of black height stands in middle of the valley. lava resemble the bastions of On the summit of of San a fort. this hill the natives Ildefonso maintained them- selves against the besieging Spanish soldiers during the rebellion of 1680. Several kinds of pottery are still manufactured at San Ildefonso. In particular the pueblo is famous for water jars and large storage vessels with conventionalized de- signs in red and black upon Red base pottery with designs in a cream-colored base. black, polished black pottery and rough cooking ware are also made. The processes of pottery manufacture are about the same in all the Rio Grande pueblos but the materials, such as clays and_ paints, vary from village to village, as do also the styles of deco- The of each pueblo are, as a rule, ration. typical wares easily recognized. The ves- sels are built up by hand from hollowed out lumps of San Ildefonso water jars. The design on the jar at the left shows a spring set in a valley between hills. In the centre is the water dotted with floating duckweed. On all sides are flowering water plants The second vessel gives to the Pueblo a picture of summer time. that float high in the sky are about the neck of the jar; beneath are rain clouds heavy with water, and lower still are blossoming wako plants and humming birds are hovering about White fleecy clouds At the left a fine San Ildefonso bowl decorated with red and black designs representing highly conventionalized flowers The water jar at the right is decorated with floral patterns executed in more realistic manner 195 196 THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL clay to which rings of fresh clay are added as the height is increased. The shaping is done by the fingers, which must be dipped frequently in water during the process. The walls of the pots are made thin and even by gourd scrapers. After the pots are dry their outer surfaces are polished with smooth stones, then a sizing of fine clay is added and the process of polishing repeated. After this the designs are painted on with a brush made from a yucca leaf. The kiln is constructed in the open air. A fire is laid and over it the pots are piled in inverted positions, the rims resting on stones or on lumps of clay. More fuel, consisting of slabs of dry manure, is then arranged around the jars, great care being taken to see that none of the fuel actually touches the sides of the vessels. The draft must be kept open or the ware will be blackened. All painted pottery and all polished red pottery is burned in an open draft fire. In the case of the polished black pottery however, after the open fire has been started, it is smothered by several shovelfuls of fine dust-like manure that drives in the smoke and blackens the red wash or sizing. It is hard to realize that the sole difference between the brilliant red ware and the gleaming black is merely a trick in burning. At San Ildefonso the finest pottery has designs in black on a whitish background. The black paint is made by boiling down the leaves and stems of the wako weed or Rocky Mountain bee balm. This makes a dark brown syrup which becomes a very smooth jet black after burning. Red ochre is commonly used for red paint, while orange paint appears very rarely on San Ildefonso pottery. Most of the designs on Pueblo pottery seem quite unintelligible to us, yet to the makers they signify definite and important things. The Pueblo Indians of San Ildefonso, and of the Southwest in general, have a keen appreciation of nature which shows in every feature of their decorative art. Living an agricultural life in a semi-arid environment, rain is to them the great necessity of existence. Clouds, falling rain, flashing lightning, brimming rivers and flooded fields — these are the aspects of nature that please them most. The formal figures in which they embody their con- ceptions of propitious nature are intended to appeal to the imagination and to please the eye. These figures are manipulated as motives of pure design without losing a bit of their realistic intention. There is also a religious significance in many of the figures painted on the pottery. Primi- tive people very often represent by means of drawings or dramas what they consider to be desirable things so that they will be more certain to occur. Even the small geometric motives used in narrow bands have a realistic interpretation, although there is usually a descriptive term as well, while the more elaborate designs often disclose strikingly realistic conceptions notwithstanding the formal presentation. THE AMPHIBIANS OF THE GREAT COAL SWAMPS By W. D. Matthew The kind of animals that inhabited the ancient forest-swamps where the great coal for- mations of the world were laid down is shown by the skeleton of the primitive amphibian Eryops, now on exhibition in the Hall of Fossil Reptiles. HE Coal Era has more practical importance to civilized man than any other period of the past. Coal is the most important mineral product of the world; to a very considerable extent it may be said to be the material basis of our present-day civilization. If for no other reason than this, the Carboniferous Period, when most of the world’s coal b eds were being formed, ought to be of especial interest to everyone. But SERS 6 og AT RR ST Se zm: Ae ay ‘ f = > : - a St hy Eryops from the Lower Permian of Texas. An ancient amphibian which lived about the close of the Coal Era, many million years ago. It is twice as old as the Brontosaurus five times as old as the Eohippus, a hundred times as old as the mammoth or mastodon or the earliest known remains of man to all who are likewise interested in the past history of the earth, in the extinct races of animals and plants which have formerly inhabited it, in the evolution of those which now exist, the Coal Era has a_ broader interest. For the antique world of this remote period, many millions of years ago, was widely different in its appearance, in the outlines of its con- tinents, in the character of its plants and animals, from the present day. There were no broad-leaved trees nor flowering plants, no birds nor mam- mals nor any of the higher kinds of insects. The swamp vegetation was chiefly ferns and fern-like plants and giant relatives of the modern equisetums and club mosses, while coniferous trees grew in the uplands. The insects were all of the lower orders, dragon flies, cockroaches, milli- pedes, and others; no bees, no ants, no butterflies nor beetles. The land vertebrates were, at this ancient period, in the early stages of their adaptation to terrestrial life. Like the modern efts and salamanders 197 = Nese! =| —————_—_ + _ —__—_—]} je. ~_— ce NCL a ; =. = FFA } ) SZ A EES 7, iy Ee SNS hh hs, The outlines of land and water are slightly modified from the map by Professor Schuchert. The border shows characteristic vegetation of that epoch, partly conventionalized; to the left, Sigillaria, Neuropteris, to right Calamites, Sphenopteris. Below is a sketch restoration of Eryops, and above, one of the giant ‘‘dragon flies,”’ Meganeura “The dragon fly that darted over the head of the slow-crawling Eryops might seem, except in size,.. . a far more promising candidate for the position of ancestor to the intelligent life which was to appear in the dim future”’ 198 NORTH AMERICAN GEOGRAPHY AT CLOSE OF COAL ERA AMPHIBIANS OF THE COAL SWAMPS 199 they were amphibious animals, half reptile, half fish, in appearance and habits. Living amphibia are the survivors more or less altered of the kind of animal which in the Coal Era was the highest form of animal life. The study of the structure and development of the higher vertebrates — of reptiles, birds and mammals — has shown that they must be derived from animals of this type, and the successive stages in their evolution are illus- trated by the fossil vertebrates of the successive periods of geological history. In the Carboniferous the amphibians were the dominant type, and the reptiles were just beginning to evolve from them, becoming adapted to a more strictly terrestrial life. These earliest reptiles are very close to the primitive amphibians, and the wide gap that now separates these two classes of vertebrates was then so slight that it is difficult to draw any sepa- rating line between them. Most of the primitive amphibians are so small and their skeletons so crushed and imperfect that they cannot very easily be studied except by specialists. A few of them however, the giants of their day, are of fairly large size, and well preserved skeletons have been found in the “red beds”’ which immediately overlie the coal formation of Texas and are of somewhat later age (Lower Permian) than the true coal measures. LEryops is the largest and best known of these Permian amphibians in America. — Its bones have been found in the upper coal measures of Pennsylvania but the best skeletons are from the Texas red beds. Here then is the type of animal that lorded it over the denizens of the gloomy forests and dark morasses of the Coal Period: a sort of gigantic tadpole or mud puppy, with wide flat head, no neck, a thick heavy body, short legs and paddle-like feet and a heavy flattened tail. While able to crawl clumsily and slowly upon the land, he must have been far more at home in the water, living in the dead pools and backwaters and slow- moving streams that traversed the far extended coast-marshes of the great interior sea to the west of the Appalachian highlands. That this beast, slow, heavy and clumsy, small brained and low organ- ized, should be one of the highest types of living beings in his time, may help to realize how remote and far away was the era of the Coal Forests. That he is a collateral ancestor of all the higher animals — of reptiles, birds, mammals and of man himself —all evolved through the millions of years which have since elapsed from animals of the same type and grade of organization, may serve at least to raise our respect for the possibilities of development which lay in the primitive amphibia. The giant dragon fly that darted over the head of the slow-crawling Eryops might seem, except in size, a far superior type of being, a far more promising candidate for the 200 THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL position of ancestor to the intelligent life which was to appear in the dim future. But the insect had fulfilled the mechanical possibilities of which his structural organization was capable. The future progress of the insect type was to lie not in the direction of a more perfect mechanism, but in the perfection of the metamorphosis during the growth of the individual and in the establishment of elaborate social organizations and instincts. The amphibian was but beginning the adaptation of the vertebrate structure to a terrestrial habitat and in his organization lay concealed a potential evolution to a far higher plane of existence than the insect organ- ization has been able to reach. It is not so easy to say just wherein this superiority lay, but probably the possession of an internal instead of an external skeleton was an essential feature of it. The late Professor Shaler! has pointed out the advantages of an internal as against an external skeleton in stimulating more intelligent and less blindly instinctive activities in the evolution of animal life. The internal skeleton has also certain marked mechanical advantages in permitting the attainment of a much larger size in the animals possessing it, as may easily be seen by comparing the maxi- mum size attained in one or the other type of organization under the same conditions of life. “REVEALING AND CONCEALING COLORATION IN BIRDS AND MAMMALS” BY THEODORE ROOSEVELT HIS book, published by the Museum in August is well worth reading by all interested in the subject of animal coloration. The more than one hundred pages present a critical review of Thayer’s Concealing Coloration in the Animal Kingdom published in 1910. Mr. Roosevelt considers the principle of countershading a discovery of real merit as a colorist law but with limited application to birds and mamunals as far as concealment is concerned. From his extended experi- ence in the field, he holds that this concealment is due maialy to “cover and habits.’ With pithy arguments and forceful examples, with now and then an admission that the knowledge is incomplete and a frank, “I do not know,” he covers Thayer’s points, separating misinterpretations from com- mon-sense facts and deductions. The last sentence of his conclusion summarizes his view: “ As regards the great majority of the species [of birds and mammals], the coloration, whether concealing or not, is of slight importance from the stand- point of jeoparding or preserving the bird’s or mammal’s life, compared to its cunning, wariness, ferocity, speed, ability to take advantage of cover and other traits and habits, and compared to the character of its surroundings.” 1TuHEe INpIVIDUAL: a Stupy oF Lire aNp Deatu. N.S. Shaler. New York: Apple- tons, 1900. EXHIBITION OF REPTILES AND AMPHIBIANS By Bashford Dean HE Museum collection includes at the present time about two thousand amphibians and five thousand reptiles —not a strong representation as material in great museums goes, but more than a good beginning in the development of a department. Of these specimens hardly more than one per cent are on general view: the bulk of the collection in this as in other fields in the Museum will ever from the limits of space be kept in reserve for purpose of study. None the less there are, all will admit, great possibilities for the development of the popular side of the work of the department: reptiles and amphibians are apt to interest the general visitor, and they are of yeoman’s service to the classes of nature study which regularly visit the galleries. Snakes, turtles, salamanders, frogs, crocodiles, lizards, all have their especial niche in non-technical natural history. And it is clear that they should be exhibited in such a way as to attract the visitor’s attention to the nature of the various groups — to illustrate the principal kinds, native and foreign, to. demonstrate at least the elements of their structures, development, habits, distribution, descent. As a means of teaching attractively the life habits of these creatures, a series of special case-exhibits will be prepared, each illustrating one of the larger groups. These will be brought together after the fashion of the panoramic “ habitat” bird group, in a separate gallery, for the present in the southeast tower room on the second story. The Bullfrog Group is the first of this series to be exhibited. It has been prepared under the supervision of Miss Dickerson, and is described in the following paper. Her account however does not tell the reader the discouraging technical difficulties surmounted in the long work of preparation in a little developed field. The present work is an earnest of what can be done to make the remaining groups at once attractive and instructive. A PORTION OF THE BULLFROG GROUP Two frogs are engrossed in a chickadee on the birch branch above. The smaller frog seems likely to fall a prey to a black snake ready to strike from the white azalea near The water of the group is a tightly-stretched transparent sheet of celluloid. The ingredients were mixed at the Museum according to a formula which gives a less brittle product than the com- mercial celluloid and the sheet was made by flowing this liquid on glass in layers one over the other 202 SOME METHODS AND RESULTS IN HERPETOLOGY By Mary Cynthia Dickerson HE Bullfrog Group, which has been put on exhibition at the Museum in the east tower of the second floor, represents a July scene typical of Southern New England. Knowledge of the bullfrog consists usually in an acquaintance with his sedate appearance on the bank of a pool or with the sonorous sound of his “jug-o-rum”’ during summer nights. We do not realize that a pond which may chance to be the home of this giant of the frogs of North America is a small world of continual drama with the bullfrog well in the plot. The group in connection with its descriptive labels attempts to show the general biology of the frog, its swimming, croaking, breathing under water and in air, the manner in which it “les low” before a near enemy when it cannot escape by leaping, its food habits in connection with small mammals, birds, snakes, fish and turtles, insects and snails. It also shows the metamorphosis from the tadpole. The Bullfrog Group is novel in that it has a transparent background, curved in panoramic fashion and made of fine and durable linen. This is painted in transparent colors, the high lights on the front, the shadows on the back, in an effort to obtain a realistic woodland scene with shifting light in it and through it as in nature. The light at the back of the canvas has been kept at the minimum and balanced on the canvas in front by a weak indirect light, while a relatively strong di- rect light has been focused on the foreground as if from the western sky (direction of the observer). It has been hoped to obtain by this lighting some ta fi slight illusion and perspective “yar oe ee notwithstanding the small- ness of the space (84 ft. by 6 Modeling the Japanese giant salamander (Megalo- = batrachus japonicus) from a living specimen loaned by ft.). Tohelp the perspective the New York Zodlogical Park. Wholly aquatic amphibians are not likely to maintain the shape for casting when removed from the water, and must be there has been resort to varl- — given over to the animal sculptor for modeling in a minor degree in addition, 203 A DETAIL OF THE FROG GROUP Sediment, water weed, pond scum, every item under water was a separate problem. The plants above are in their ecological order from the duckweed and lilies on the surface through the pickerel weeds to the higher alders and willows The bullfrog may prove a menace in ponds where any species of food fish is expected to thrive. He usually captures a fish by a single plunge in shallow water using his hands frantically to turn the fish into the right position to swallow 204 ous small devices: for in- stance, the foreground slopes upward to meet the back- ground, a total of five inches; tall shrubs at the front are made to lead into ones less tall farther back, large-leaved plants such as alder and birch are in the immediate fore- ground, willow and_ other small-leaved plants at the rear, leaves of water lilies and pickerel weed are graded back from larger to smaller; while conspicuous colors, the red of Turk’s cap lilies and the white of azaleas, are placed well forward and the purple pickerel weed carries the eye back where the effect of distance and shadow , is desired. \ The story of the group tells itself at sight: one frog is molting its skin, “ swallow- ing it off” in typical frog fash- ion; a second is dashing from the water to catch a white- footed mouse descending from a deserted song sparrow’s nest; another is croaking, with vocal sacs and throat expanded; a fourth is demon- strating how large a mouth- ful of young water snakes a bullfrog can master. — Still another is making it plain that a frog’s tongue is fas- tened in front and thrown out of the mouth to catch insects. One frog has within his rolled tongue a bumble- bee from the white azalea flowers. A smaller bullfrog is A mouthful of young water- Comfortably floating in the July pond Catching insects about the azalea flowers Shedding the skin, * swallowing it off” in frog fashion 90% uosIOyVIG. “O “WW Aq postAgodns pur pouurld YAO “Suoprey [RoruRjOg, YAOK MON oy) Aq xVM ‘Kouyrolg semoyy, Aq powoyoo puw xVM UT ysRo JodrA ‘“ulpyURAyy IySIMC: Aq pojuNou BAqosy PUR JOJIUOTT ONSUO} S,oyeus B ONT] IIR ul UOONpoOAdod AOJ pojyuosoid vipuy JO syury[q se WoOdy oyeus oyg AG posn soyRusS OM} OY} OUR GOdIA puUR BIgOH “AYSIU oY} 9R JOdTA Ss Jossny !40jTUOU JOIRM pPuUR BIGOD UdsOM JOG Surjoour poyodxoun uy SISNNf AHL 3O 3903 SBHL LV L0G fuontiqiyxe JO] polejduiod yok jou JepoyY] “s}sed pur sTopow ASojoOjodsoy Aue uo YAOM 1O]OO J.A9dxa oUIOS BUOp sey AOUYRoTY SvMOy, “SsUpPTBOIO pue Sur} vo1q ‘Suva QIEM po}oouUOD Soinjonajs jo Apnjs JOJ YINOU S,so1Z OY JO Topoul posaryae ur — qJoy oy) 3e A[prloryd sys YOIYM — sOdJ OAT[ OY] WOIJ SUNOTOS) AULIOPIXe} S,CaMOEsNyT }B JOITUOU SUTAT v dnoisy so1jng ed oy) Jo ullyuRdy IYSIMG ! 10) 1mOUlL JOVeM oy} 10J IO} SISVO XVM OQ OpeuU ‘uoljor jo Apnys aoJ ULyIURU of} Suyopoyy yeas pury A study from life. Series of wax casts to show the American newt’s method of shedding the skin: from the head backward until it binds the fore legs which are drawn out one at a time, on backward until the hind legs must be worked free engrossed in a chickadee just alighted on a birch branch above his head, and inattentive to danger, is about to fall a prey to a black snake. A frog far over at the left is “lying low” with head lowered and hands lifted, having unexpectedly found himself in too close proximity to the black snake to make it advisable to leap for safety. Under water one frog in resting position — quite different from the resting position on land — has throat contracted and nostrils closed and like a fish is breathing oxygen from the water, his skin doing the work in place of gills. A swimming frog is sending up a stream of bubbles from the nostrils, showing that the lungs are emptied of air as the skin comes into play for breathing. At first glance the group presents a small cove reaching into a larger expanse of water, with only four or five frogs in view. The abundance of vegetation and the great array of animal life (there are some half-hun- dred specimens in the group) have been subordinated to the effect of the whole. All of the animals are directly before the eye yet are so chosen and placed as to be incon- spicuous except upon a more careful search, thus imitating the condition in nature. In addition to the Bullfrog Group there have been put on view recently a Monitor Group and various smaller exhibits. The exhibition of amphibia and reptiles is beset with unusual difficulty and the various species Portion of a wax cast before color is ap- have been represented in muse- plied. The gills are of glass. Congo eel (Amphiuma means) North Carolina: cast from a model from life by Frederick Blaschke 208 ums heretofore by alcoholic material more often than in any other way. After much — experimental work it has been found possible to make wax repro- , ductions with fidelity to the living animal in form and color and also with lifelike pose and expression. The work has been done by cer- Then the newt reaches back to pull the skin off tain artists who have added the tail and swallow it according to the custom of his to the technique of clay, ancestors % plaster, wax and color, the power of accurate seeing. The two especially connected with the com- pleted work are Dwight Franklin and Thomas Bleakney, although results could not have been obtained without the many complex piece molds made by James Bell and without the expert modeling of Frederick Blaschke. Several methods are in use. If the animal has a thick and horny skin as_ has the water monitor or a large iguana, the skin itself is mounted over a manikin modeled from life. following the methods of the animal sculptor’s work on mammals, or is filled with a soft prepara- tion which hardens later, after it has beea modeled into cor- rect form through the skin. The modeling is from life; all work on both form and color European frog (Rana esculenta) showing external is done from the living ani- vocal sacs. When the frog is croaking, these sacs are ml, the New York Zodlogi- ‘ints sv clases itu eee Gai eal Park and the New York is used also for the vocal saes of the spring peepers and Aquarium having courteously American toads of the exhibit loaned many duplicate living specimens for study. If the skin is thin and soft, which is true in most small lizards, many snakes and turtles and all amphibia, the animal is reproduced in wax, the wax used being pure bleached beeswax (which has a high melting point so that summer temperatures are not an enemy to the exhibits) with a small proportion of Canada balsam to make it less brittle and more easily worked. The dead animal may be posed from the living and a waste plaster mold or a piece mold made, from which a cast is taken in wax. This is the method by which the frogs of the Bullfrog Group were made. There are 209 SWIMMING SOFT-SHELLED TURTLE (Trionyx spinifer) Most perfect reproductions with all the beauty and softness of color and texture of the living animal can be made in wax to replace the old display of alcoholic material. Posed and cast by Dwight Franklin; colored by Thomas Bleakney. Specimen presented by the New York Aquarium a few wholly aquatic forms like the hellbender (Cryptobranchus) and the Congo eel (Amphiuma), which do not maintain the shape for posing when removed from water. These the sculptor must model from the living ani- mal, which model then serves for mold and cast. In the work on snakes A STUDY FROM LIFE Wax casts of fighting spotted turtles (Chelopus guttatus) made for insertion in a group planned to show local amphibia and reptiles of the month of April Piece molds by James Bell; casts by Dwight Franklin; color work by Thomas Bleakney 210 the skin is often removed, filled with clay, and modeled into correct form, when it is posed ready for plaster mold and wax cast. In the case of turtles many must be cast entire, the carapace being too soft to make a permanent mount. In other cases the “Shell” is used and wax casts of the soft-skinned head and legs are fastened in position, while still others more thick- skinned are mounted as are the thick-skinned_ lizards. The advantage of making the casts in wax lies not only in a great susceptibility of this medium to take and f VAS , retain fine detail, not only in Portion of wax cast of water moccasin (Ancis- : trodon piscivorus). Moceasin closely related to the a transparency which adds copperhead and one of the most poisonous snakes on c Orn |= J reatly to the lifelike effec of the South. The cast is designed for a small = sare rap e elfect Cypress Swamp Group not yet completed. The In many amphibia, but also moccasin unlike a rattlesnake opens the mouth : : in a surface of such character when threatening to strike that it takes oil color with an effect of life texture. Soft skin texture cannot be gained with a hard plaster surface. When a form is too large to cast in wax, like the giant salamander of Japan, and must be cast in plaster, the plaster surface is afterward sprayed with a coating of wax. An exhibit of any group of animals to interest other than technical students must be shown from the life standpoint and in relation to man, especially a group repellant because of mystery and myth man has inherited from a time of less knowledge. Amphibia and reptiles should hold a con- siderable place in the exhibition of a museum for many reasons. They are of great antiquity. The amphibian race bridged the gap in descent between water life and land life, and reptiles, developed from these early amphibians, gave rise through some primitive group to mammals. Thus both are in the direct line of vertebrate evolution. In the light of this dominant position of the past and the ancestral relation to man, the amphibia and reptiles of to-day take on peculiar interest. Descended from forms of considerable or great size, modern amphibia and reptiles present a race of pygmies, reminiscent of the giants 211 Mounting the skin of a lizard of Tropical America (Iguana tuberculata). The skin, filled with a soft preparation, is tooled into shape from a living model and the prepara- tion within hardens in the permanent form. Mr. Blaschke brings the same skill to reptile taxidermy that he displays in his work on mammals of millions of years ago in a few forms only, such as the nearly extinct ele- phant tortoise of a few tropical islands, the leatherback turtle of tropical seas, the gavial of India, the largest modern reptile, and the giant salamander of Japanese streams. Also neither race gives promise of advance for the future. Modern amphibia number only one- eighth of the race of fishes and one- tenth of birds and have taken no step toward freeing themselves from de- pendence on fresh water, in fact on moisture in a constant supply, and modern reptiles seem not much better placed for the future being fitted for life in equatorial regions only and absolutely dependent on heat for activity. The very high specializa- tion however, which removes from them the chance of advance, gives them unusual value for exhibition in an educational institution like the American Museum. For perhaps in no other vertebrate groups is there more opportunity for the study of remarkable relations to environment including many instances of economic worth and direct relation to agricul- ture through the destruction of insect and rodent enemies; as also oppor- tunity for the study of examples of structure, embryology and _ relation- ship, illuminating as proofs of the important roles played in the develop- ment of intelligent life on the earth. It would seem fortunate for mu- seum exhibition that some successful methods have been found, and still others are likely to reward research, for reproducing these forms ade- quately and permanently. MUSEUM NEWS NOTES SINCE the last issue of the JouRNAL the following persons have been elected to membership in the Museum: Patrons, PRoFEssOoR and Mrs. ALBERT S. BIcKMORE and Mr. CHARLES H. Senrr;* Life Members, Messrs. CHARLES L. BERNHEIMER, GEORGE BLEISTEIN, CHESTER L. Cotton, W. Bayarp CuTTiInG, CHARLES J. EDER and JOHN V. Irwin; Sustaining Members, Dr. SAMUEL MurrLanp and Mrs. ELIsaBeTH C. T. MILLER; Annual Members, Messrs. Grorce L. Apams, Henry SHERMAN ADAMS, JAIME DE ANGULO, JAMES H. S. Bates, GEORGE PowELL BENJA- MIN, WriuiAM H. Buiiss, SAMUEL J. BLOOMINGDALE, Louts Boury, JULIEN T. Davies, Jr., Moses H. Grossman, JoHN Knapp Ho.uins, FRANK Hucues, J. HEMSLEY JOHNSON, BENJAMIN G. Paskus, M. BERNARD Puitipp, N. TERHUNE, J. C. THaw, C. J. UtMANN, R. WEIL, and Caspar WHITNEY, Mmes. SAMUEL Q. Brown, Wiiitam Kerra MiIrTenporr, and ANNA SHEPARD PIERCE. On July 17 the Board of Estimate and Apportionment appropriated $200,000 for the construction of the foundations of the southeast wing and court building and $75,000 for furnishing and equipping unfinished portions of the building. PRESIDENT HENRY FAIRFIELD OsBorN and Mr. MaAptson GRANT spent the early part of September with Mr. Brown in Alberta. The following is an extract from President Osborn’s latest letter: .... Brown and Mr. Grant met me at Red Deer on Monday last, August 28, and we started almost immediately down the river in asmall craft loaded to the gunwales. The current, three to five miles an hour, gave us, with Brown sculling and steering at the rear, a three and one-third average speed and we passed all the rapids safely, camping four nights on the shore, prospecting and visiting all important sites and quarries. ... Brown has discovered the only method of working these rich and virgin formations and it looks as though there would be one or perhaps two seasons more....The region about here is very rich. Kaison has taken up another Trachodon and parts of two others await removal. Yesterday we secured a fragmentary Albertosaurus skull. All are well and in fine spirits. We start for the remaining 125 miles to-morrow morning... . Dr. Frepertc A. Lucas was appointed Director of the Museum by the Board of Trustees on May 8 and assumed his new office on June 15. * Deceased. 213 214 THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL AMONG the scientific visitors at the Museum this summer were Dr. Friedrich von Huene of Tiibingen, and Dr. Franz Schiffer of Vienna. Dr. von Huene remained nearly two months studying the collections of extinct reptiles. Both gentlemen later visited the field parties in Nebraska and Wyoming and various noted fossil localities in the West, and expressed the greatest enthusiasm over the paleeontological treasures brought to- gether in this and other American museums, and the wonderful extent and richness of the western fossil fields. Dr. Wititisam K. Grecory was appointed Assistant Curator in the Department of Vertebrate Paleontology at a meeting of the Executive Committee in June. Dr. Gregory’s The Orders of Mammals, published by the Museum in 1910, is a standard book of reference invaluable to teachers and students in the universities of this and other countries. It was on receipt of this volume that Dr. R. Broom, the leading authority on mammal- like fossil reptiles of South Africa, recalling recent work of New York men of science, wrote: “I am afraid New York is taking the place once held by London in the days of Owen, Huxley and Parker and I think it fully deserves to lead.” THE DEPARTMENT OF VERTEBRATE PAL®ONTOLOGY had three expeditions in the field this summer. The Alberta expedition, in charge of Associate Curator Brown, continued the search for Cretaceous dinosaurs in the rich fossil fields of the Red Deer River. The Wyoming expedition, in charge of Associate Curator Granger, will probably complete this year the explora- tion of the Big Horn Valley for remains of the earliest ancestors of the horse, and other animals of the Lower Eocene. The third expedition, in charge of Mr. Albert Thomson, has resumed work in the great fossil quarry of Lower Miocene age at Agate, Nebraska. ProFEssor BasHrorpD DEAN early in July officially represented the American Museum at the Museums Association’s meeting at Brighton, England, and in September at the Centennial Celebration of the University of Christiania. DurtinG the summer Dr. CLark WIsSSLER spent some time among the Dakota Indians on the Pine Ridge Reservation, giving especial attention to military and other societies. Other members of the staff of the Depart- ment of Anthropology visited various Indian tribes of the United States and Canada continuing their systematic field study of other summers. This work will receive full report later. THE administrative offices of the Museum have been removed from the east wing and will now be found on the fifth floor near the elevators. MUSEUM NEWS NOTES 215 Mr. Cuarues L. BERNHEIMER has been made a Life Member in recogni- tion of his contribution for cetacean work in Japan. Mr. Cuarves J. Ever of Palmira has been elected a Life Member because of the courtesies he extended to the Museum’s expedition to the United States of Colombia. Mr. V. STEFANSSON reports from the Dease River, Arctic America, wonderful success in ethnological work. He has discovered a “new” Eskimo tribe, one that has never seen a white man; he also finds a Scandi- navian-like people in Victoria Land. Through the courtesy of the English travelers, Messrs. Melvill and Hornby, who have a boat on Great Bear Lake, the collections will be carried out to Fort Norman and the Mackenzie River. Mr. Stefansson’s letters will be quoted in a later JOURNAL. THe Museum has in press a Guide Leaflet on the methods of making the wax flowers, leaves and fruits on display in the Forestry Hall and used as accessories in habitat groups. A SERIES of eight lectures on evolution by Professor Henry E. Crampton, formerly delivered as the Hewitt lectures of Columbia University, has been brought out in book form by the Columbia University Press. Proressor Henry E. Crampron returned September 19 from a biologi- cal expedition to South America and the West Indies. He succeeded in reaching Mount Roraima, at the junction of the Venezuela, Brazilian and Guiana borders. Mr. Roy W. Miner and Dr. Frank E. Lutz were also members of the expedition, the former returning from Dominica in July and the latter from Kaieteur Falls in British Guiana, in August. Dr. Louis Hussakor spent several weeks collecting fossil fishes in the Devonian formations of Kentucky and Ohio. Some valuable material was obtained including a number of specimens of the giant Arthrodira, Titanichthys. The expedition was made possible through the Cleveland H. Dodge Fund. Tue following appointments have been made: Mr. J. B. Foulke, Super- intendent of Building; Mr. Harry F. Beers, Assistant Superintendent of Building; Mr. George N. Pindar, Registrar. Mr. Harwan I. Suiru, Associate Curator in the Department of Anthro- pology, has resigned his position to accept a curatorship in the new museum at Ottawa. 216 THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL Mr. Roy C. ANpREWws will leave during the last week of November on an expedition to the Orient. He will visit the whaling stations of south- ern Korea, then outfit at Seoul and travel into the mountains of north Korea, a region unknown zoGlogically. Tue installation in the new Hall of Minerals is almost completed, and more than three thousand specimens are brought to view. Among recent additions are the remarkable tarbuttite (basic zine phosphate) associated with vanadinite from Rhodesia, Africa, a beautiful white beryl, enclosing tourmaline, from Pala, California, and important specimens of benitoite and neptunite from the same locality. Tue Museum recently acquired through purchase from Mr. Juan E. Reyna of Ithaca, New York, some interesting fragments of ancient Mexican codices. The fragments were taken from the walls of a church at Tlaquil- tenango, Morelos, and are about one hundred in number. They represent parts of several manuscripts on maguey paper and probably date from soon after the arrival of the Spaniards. The church in question was com- pleted in the year 1540. The manuscripts had apparently been collected by the priests and pasted face down on the walls of the cloisters instead of being destroyed outright as was the usual custom. The collection is of peculiar value because the point of origin is so clearly indicated. Tlaquil- tenango is situated in the ancient territory of the Tlahuican nation, a branch of the great Nahuan stock. Dr. J. R. Warker, United States Indian Physician, of Pine Ridge Reservation, South Dakota, has been a voluntary contributor to the De- partment of Anthropology for several years. He is especially interested in the mythology and ceremonies of the Dakota Indians, among whom he has lived for thirteen years. During the past year he gathered some four hundred pages of manuscript written by Indians who have learned to write their own language in the Rigg’s alphabet. These manuscripts contain unusual material upon the most complex and sacred of Indian conceptions. Durra the summer Professor C-E. A. Winslow devoted considerable time to the study of an epidemic of a peculiar acute tonsillitis which affected some 1500 persons and caused 50 deaths in the vicinity of Boston and which proved to be due to an infected milk supply. This outbreak of tonsillitis is the first of the kind in this country and the most serious ever recorded anywhere. LECTURE ANNOUNCEMENTS MEMBERS’ COURSE The first course of lectures for the season 1911-1912 to Members of the Museum and persons holding complimentary tickets given them by Members will open in November. PUPILS’ COURSE The lectures to publie school children will be resumed in October. PEOPLE’S COURSE Given in codperation with the City Department of Education Tuesday evenings at 8:15 o'clock. Doors open at 7:30. The first five of a course of eleven lectures on ‘‘Great Classical and Romantic Composers” by Mr. Dante, Gregory Mason. Illustrated at the piano. October 3 — ‘Johann Sebastian Bach.” October 10 — “Joseph Haydn.”’ October 17 — “Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.” October 24 — “Ludwig von Beethoven: His First Period.” October 31 — ‘‘ Beethoven: His Second Period.” Saturday evenings at 8:15 o’clock. Doors open at 7:30. The first four of a course of eleven lectures, “‘From the Rhone Glacier to the Pillars of Hercules; Courtly Provence and Romantic Spain,” by PRorEssor CHARLES U. Crarxk of Yale University. Illustrated by stereopticon views. October 7 — “The Valais and Savoy.” October 14 — ‘‘The Dauphiny.”’ October 21 — ‘‘ Lyons, Queen of the Rhone Valley.” October 28 — “In Troubadour Land.” THE AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY FOR: THE ‘PEOPLE FOR EDVCATION FOR ?S GAGE NGI PUBLIC EDUCATION NUMBER THE AMERICAN [TIUSEUM JOURNAL =e a 4 5 S é Biel as ~ - “~ Ts yay aT R SD. on “AN ve Beh haa ey ee ry er. ppt SLD = * ~ hae th; 99) PES } : Ligh vs Volume XI November, 1911 Number 7 Published monthly from October to May inclusive by THe AMERICAN Musreum or NaturAL History New York City ONE DOLLAR PER YEAR FIFTEEN CENTS PER COPY American Museum of Natural History Seventy-seventh Street and Central Park West, New York City BOARD OF TRUSTEES President Henry FarrFietp OsBoRN First Vice-President Second Vice-President CLEVELAND H. DopGE J. PrerponT MorGan, JR. Treasurer Secretary CHARLES LANIER ArcHER M. HuntTINGTON THe Mayor oF THE City or NEw YorK THE COMPTROLLER OF THE CiTy OF NEW YorRK THE PRESIDENT OF THE DEPARTMENT OF PARKS ALBERT S. BICKMORE A. D. JUILLIARD GEORGE 8S. BowbDoIn Gustav E. KIsseEt * JosepH H. CHOATE SetrH Low Tuomas DeWitr CuYLEeR OaGpEN MILLs JAMES DouGLas J. Prerpont MorGan MapIson GRANT Percy R. Pyne Anson W. Harp Witi1aM RocKEFELLER ADRIAN ISELIN, JR. JoHN B. Trevor ArTHUR CuRTISS JAMES FeLtrx M. WarBuRG Water B. James GrorcE W. WIcKERSHAM EXECUTIVE OFFICERS Director Assistant Secretary Freperic A. Lucas GeEorGE H. SHERWOOD Assistant Treasurer Tue Unitep States Trust Company oF NEw YorRK * Deceased THe Museum 1s OPEN FREE TO THE PuBLIC ON Every Day IN THE YEAR. THe American Museum or Natura HIsTory was established in 1869 to promote the Natural Sciences and to diffuse a general knowledge of them among the people, and it is in cordial coéperation with all similar institutions throughout the world. The Museum authorities are de- pendent upon private subscriptions and the dues from members for procuring needed additions to the collections and for carrying on explorations in America and other parts of the world. The membership fees are, Annual Members: 3 ccios acre gusts: $ 10 HOMOWS!. 5 nc savant aeisaie seen 3 500 Sustaining Members (Annual)... ... 25 (Paurons:,. 12.4. tn eee 1000 Life Members: cies. < cote oie Fe nae 100 Benefactors (Gift or bequest) 50,000 Tse Museum Liprary contains more than 60,000 volumes with a good working collection of publications issued by scientific institutions and societies in this country and abroad. The library is open to the public for reference daily — Sundays and holidays excepted — from 9 a. Mm. to 5 P. M. Tue Museum PuBLicaTIONS are issued in six series: The American Museum Journal, Annual Report, Anthropological Papers, Bulletins, Guide Leaflets and Memoirs. Information concerning their sale may be obtained at the Museum Library. GuIDEs For Stupy or Exursits are provided on request by the Department of Public Education. Teachers wishing to bring classes should write or telephone the Department for an appointment, specifying the collection to be studied. Lectures to classes may also be arranged for. In all cases the best results are obtained with small groups of children. WoRKROOMS AND STORAGE COLLECTIONS may be visited by persons presenting membership tickets. The storage collections are open to all persons desiring to examine specimens for special study. Applications should be made at the information desk. Tue Mitta RESTAURANT in the east basement is reached by the elevator and is open from 12 to 5 on all days except Sundays. Afternoon Tea is served from 2 to 5. The Mitla Room is of unusual interest as an exhibition hall being an exact reproduction of temple ruins at Mitla, Mexico. The American Museum Journal CONTENTS FOR NOVEMBER, 1911 CoG6peration in. Education............... Winturam H. Maxwet.n The Museum and the Public Lecture...... Henry M. LeErezicer A Word of Congratulation from President John H. Finley.......... The Museum of the Future............ HENRY FAIRFIELD OSBORN Evolution of the Educational Spirit in Museums FRrEDERIC A. Lucas Professor Albert S. Bickmore: Educator. ...EpmMuNb Orts Hovey “ducational Value of the American Museum. . Maurice A. BIGELow Cordial Recognition of the Museum’s Work...................... 1. Museum and High School United for Health and Economic Welfare GEORGE W. HuNTER The Museum Increasingly Helpful for Ten Years..Litytian BELLE SAGE The Museum a Laboratory for Classes............ANNA M. CuLarkK How One Crowded High School uses the Museum..James L. Peasopy Pw ‘The American Viuseumand Education... .~ 3. ...420s2 eens eee 1. Co6peration with the Public Schools..........GrorGe H. SHERWOOD 2. Fossil Vertebrates — What They Teach..............W. D. MatrHew 3. The Habitat Groups of Mammals and Birds..............J. A. ALLEN 4. Educational Aims of the Department of Invertebrate Zoology Henry E. Crampton Ab) ere MY be) bho egg) Bid a) ot: via eee RE en ee eee SS oe adam od Nonyiaons 6. Arrangement of Exhibits in Anthropology.............CLarkK WISSLER i | Symposium of Expressions from Primary and Grammar Schools... . The Children’s Room of the Museum.............AGNES ROESLER ‘resday atuthe: Museum. 242! ase snes Mary B. C. Byrne MiseumNews 2 Notes. 5224s a ee eee Mary Cynrara Dickerson, Editor Subscription, One Dollar per year. Fifteen cents per copy 219 220 220 242 Entered as second-class matter January 12, 1907, at the Post-Office at Boston, Mass. Act of Congress, July 16, 1894 THEY BEHOLD A ‘‘CiITY’’ OF STRANGE BIRDS spots in childhood are connected with a vague Some of the brightest realization of the beauty and mystery of the world The Museum wishes to welcome and honor the children who come within its walls. It publishes in this number of the Journaw the pictures of a few of the children who have been among itsrecent visitors The American Museum Journal WOne cael NOVEMBER, 1911 No. 7 COOPERATION IN EDUCATION By William H. Maxwell Superintendent of Public Schools, New York City HE present contract for co6peration has existed between the public schools and the American Museum of Natural History for more than thirty years. Meantime the development of the schools has paralleled the growth of the Museum and both have kept pace with the phenomenal upbuilding of the city. For the Museum’s part in this I extend my congratulations, because while the public school system has but developed in accordance with the progressiveness of the times, the Museum has broken away from all records of museum organization and maintaining its stand as an institution of science has distinctly identified itself with education also. By so doing it has made possible for the children of the City of New York many good things from which they would otherwise have been shut off. The teachers of several thousands of classes in the schools are working under a difficulty of conditions not equalled in any other quarter of the globe. One-third of the hundred thousand new pupils of each year cannot speak English and moreover come from centers of the City where people live one thousand to the acre and have the attendant ills of such a congestion of population. The problem is to galvanize these classes into a spontaneity of interest that will carry them into a new language, into the knowledge of the grade and at the same time into a more wholesome, more sanitary life. For these teachers the Museum’s lectures and collections serve royally in the threefold purpose. I hail with satisfaction the trend of the Museum’s work in its new depart- ment of public health, and in its woods and forestry and habitat groups which form a continually stronger lure to out-of-door life. Even if nature study may not yet have been developed to give children practical knowledge for life activities, it most positively does give a large working interest in the direction of such knowledge. It will be increasingly the pleasure of the teachers to use the power the Museum puts into their hands. In the near future these boys and girls will be in control of the destiny of our City and the Museum’s present coéperation in their education will bear fruit a few years hence in citizens more fitted to deal wisely with large questions on which depend health and moral well-being. For the study of nature is the foundation of that knowl- edge which leads to increased productivity in industry and of those ideals of life that make for improved conditions of living. 219 THE MUSEUM AND THE PUBLIC LECTURE By Henry M. Leipziger Supervisor of the Public Lecture System of the Board of Education, New York City N the occasion of the laying of the corner stone of the Museum about thirty-five years ago, Professor Henry of the Smithsonian Institu- tion used these words: “How incomparably greater would the importance of this Museum be were there connected with it a professor who would give courses of free lectures on the objects which it contains, who would expound the laws of the phenomena of nature, who would discourse on the changes the world has undergone during geological periods.” The Public Lecture System of the Board of Education coéperating with the American Museum of Natural History carries out the suggestion made by the distinguished scientist and continues a work inaugurated by Professor Bickmore soon after the erection of the first section of the Museum building. Many lecturers carry the treasures of the institution to every corner of this great city and the desire to visit the Museum is every- where awakened. More than that those who come are prepared by these lectures to appreciate the importance and the meaning of its priceless col- lections. The Museum and the public lecture add to the joy of life as well as to the knowledge of life. They teach that knowledge is not alone a means of livelihood but a means of life. Both are doing their share to increase the number of those who take delight in nature and its wonders; who find genuine recreation in it; who find a solace when sorrow comes; who become strengthened to resist temptation. Many of the greatest men of science have come from the humblest surroundings. The immortal Faraday, while attending a course of lectures by Sir Humphry Davy at the Royal Institution, caught the inspiration which determined his future career. So may other men arise to benefit the world, who shall have been directed to their career through the combined influences of the museum and the public lecture. A WORD OF CONGRATULATION FROM PRESIDENT JOHN H. FINLEY OF THE COLLEGE OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK HE development of the Museum of Natural History as a vital force in the community is most gratifying. It is persuading the past to help the present and compelling both through its guidance of public opinion to make living under urban conditions better in the future. I am particularly grateful for what the Museum is doing toward bringing within the reach of the schools and higher equivalent institutions the advan- tages of the institution as far as possible. The Museum is no longer accu- rately defined as a “repository’’; it is a great living teacher. 220 ABSORBED IN STUDY OF THE METEORITES ‘‘Many of the greatest men of science have come from the humblest So may other men arise to benefit the world, who shall have been directed through the combined influences of the museum and the public lecture” surroundings. ... .to their career 221 With the pelicans. The Museum is a wonder world of true stories for the younger children who are brought to the Museum by the boys and girls of school years Studying the home'life within an Indian tipi. As one walks about the Museum, he can but remark the large numbers of children eagerly recording what they see or copying facts from labels. The sight is a spur to the Museum to give its exhibits a still more civic trend, a still more human touch and to make its labels tell more fully and simply just what the child wishes to know and should know 999 THE MUSEUM OF THE FUTURE By Henry Fairfield Osborn OR the American Museum this is Teachers’ Year, and our energies are for the time turned chiefly in the direction of making the insti- tution a more vital part of the great free civic educational system in which New York is destined to lead the world. To set this forth we have prepared an educational map, which shows what our City offers as a whole in its combined schools and libraries, in science, literature and art; no other city in the world offers so much or offers it so generously. I wish we could afford to put this map into the hands of every teacher and every pupil, for study of what might be called the “ geography of things worth seeing and worth doing.”” To show more clearly what may be seen in this Museum we are also issuing to-day a new Guide Book to all the exhibits. In Pittsburgh recently I was delighted to meet a party of San Francisco public school boys who had worked their way east through all the great cities, and to learn that while in New York they had spent the greater part of their time in the Natural History Museum, in the Zodlogical Park and at the Aquarium. This little incident in itself proves that we have already ad- vanced far along educational lines; but we are still not satisfied, and Director Lueas and the Scientific Staff are concentrating their time and attention for three or four months on the practical and very difficult problem of eluci- dation of all the exhibition halls. You have little idea in walking through these halls what labor they have involved, what sacrifices men have made and are making for them to-day in all parts of the world, how much the workers in this Museum are attached to what may be called the spirit of the institution — namely, the desire to extend the call and vision of Nature. We realize that teachers cannot all be specialists, that we must make many of our special collections more readily understood by you, if you in turn are to bring your pupils here and explain objects and principles to them. In so far as we draw on public funds, public education is our chief and final purpose; toward this all our plans tend; for this the City erects the great building and gives the larger part of the maintenance; for this the Trustees and other friends give their time and means; for this members of the Scientific Staff are exploring in all parts of the world, collecting and arranging objects of natural history constantly inventing new methods to attract and to impress visitors, young and old. Very few people, even among those who have the means to travel, really see Nature in the sense of understanding it, and to the millions within the cities Nature is practically unknown. So we are interpreters; Wwe are trying to tell in a very simple way the laws which the greatest minds have wrestled with from the earliest times, and we are also trying to add to these 223 224 THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL laws, for it is part of the genius of the institution to create new knowledge as well as to spread it. This gradual elucidation of the deep and difficult is to my mind one of the most marvelous features in the growth of science. Some great law is first in the will of the Creator, then, like the light of a star so distant that it takes ages to reach the earth, it reaches the mind of some great naturalist, and finally it comes down, down, down to the vision of the very youngest. And the best way to learn one of these laws is to see it in operation; this is far better than to read about it, for what is seen becomes part of oneself. In the development of our halls there is a constant effort to shut out the human artificial element, to bring the visitor directly under the spell of Nature, as under a great and infinitely gifted teacher, by making every case, every exhibit, tell some clear and simple story which appeals at once to the imagination, to the reasoning instinct and to the heart. There are three especial ends we are endeavoring to advance this year: first, to bring within your grasp the scope of the Museum as a whole; second, the particular meaning and lesson of each of its parts; third, how this mean- ing may best be impressed on the young mind. I believe strongly that the average child is a better nature observer than the average adult, and if you let children alone they will see a great deal. Thus there are one or two suggestions which I would make from more than thirty years of experience as a teacher: first, look at the object and get all you can out of it yourself, then read about it; second, try to make the child work out the reason of things before you work it out for him. In brief, nearly all the works and processes of man are complex, and one great lesson we have to learn from Nature is its simplicity. Here are to be seen simple lessons in animal and plant architecture, in beauty, in government, in codperation, in endurance. Among the insects, the ants, bees and wasps lead wonderful lives, not alone in their industry; we may consider all their ways and be wise. The moral lessons, much needed for our day and generation, to be learned in the Habitat Groups of Birds are endless — the maternal and paternal love, the happy family life of the young, the joy of living, the beauty of their homes. Many of the so-called savages shown in this Museum can teach us far more than the so-called civilized peoples — their industry, their patience, their sense of beauty which adds the esthetic touch to all their implements, often their integrity, their courage, their fidelity. Nature study in the school and in the open already has hosts of friends; it is no longer on trial, it is an established system. Nature study in the museum is a newer part of the same educational movement. The great museum can, however, do what neither school, college, nor even the uni- versit y can; it can bring a vision of the whole world of nature, a vision which THE MUSEUM OF THE FUTURE 220 cannot be given in books, in classrooms or in laboratories. This is a branch of public education which is especially urgent in a great city, crowded with the works of man, and where except for the nightly vision of the heavens obscured by smoke and dust, and the altered wild life of our parks, the works of Nature are totally destroyed. Our future ideal for the Museum is to provide at no cost a little journey on this planet and among the heavens beyond it. Our ideal of museum order is to pass, by a natural and easily seen sequence, from country to country as you would in travel, or from age to age in the past history of the earth, or from lower to higher stages of life in the history of animals and plants. This is what we are working toward although it is by no means attained. We propose to add astronomy, and geography of the land and of the sea to the older and traditional subjects of the museum. Already the child can see here what Aristotle dreamt of but never saw, and what Darwin and Huxley put into prophecy but did not live to see. We want the teachers of New York to feel that this Museum is part of their educational plant, we want their codperation, their suggestions, and their frequent presence. GROUP MOOSE THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS STUDYING FROM THE A CLASS 226 more accurately and more sympathetically broadly, children more fail to make animal life cannot portrayal of study of a truthful and attractive The educated EVOLUTION OF THE EDUCATIONAL SPIRIT IN MUSEUMS By Frederic A. Lucas The motto of the American Museum is ‘For the People, For Education, For Science’ and the institution has ever striven to live up to that motto. Hampered somewhat at first by the bonds of heredity and tradition it was the first museum in this country to plan exhibits for the public alone; it has been a leader in the cause of education and has ever tried to set an example for sister institutions to follow USEUMS were not educational at the outset. Not only this, the benefit of the public was something that did not enter into the thought of their founders. For museums had their origin in the collections of paintings, statuary, and other objects of art, brought together by men of wealth to gratify their love of the beautiful, or in collections of natural objects and “curios” gathered mainly too by men of wealth, to gratify their desire to know something of the life of distant lands. Then came collections brought together by scientific societies with a real desire to foster knowledge, although mainly of benefit to a few individuals, and then the museum, opened to the public on the payment of a fee and quite as much for the amusement of visitors as for their instruction. Yet we must not forget that Peale the artist, a contemporary of Wash- ington, conducted one of these semi-popular, semi-scientific museums and that in many ways his ideas of the educational possibilities of museums were quite in accord with those held to-day. At a time when public schools were just springing into existence and free libraries did not exist at all, the establishment of free museums could not be expected, the more that according to the views of some the public museum is the latest and high- est, though by no means last, institution for public education. First we have public schools, then libraries and now the museum. The opening of the Louvre to the populace seems to have been the first really free public museum and this was rather an expression of the fierce demand for “ Liberty, Equality and Fraternity” than done with a deliberate intent to benefit the people. Love of beauty precedes the love of knowledge, so the opening of the Louvre preceded the opening of the British Museum. To us the view then taken of the conduct of a free museum is somewhat amusing. When we do not have at least five hundred visitors a day at the American Museum we begin to worry lest the public is losing interest or our collections ceasing to be attractive; and yet at the outset the number of visitors that might enter the British Museum in one day was limited to thirty. We not infre- quently have an attendance of one thousand to twelve hundred at one of our lectures. Under the old regime it would have taken that audience an entire year to pass through the British Museum. Little by little this state of affairs has changed. The public was first permitted, then invited, then heartily welcomed to enter the museum. 227 228 THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL Also as the attitude of museums has changed, so has the character of their collections, or to be exact, the character of the part the public sees and in which it is interested — the exhibits. The museums of fifty years ago or even much less were rather dreary affairs compared with those of the present day. The visitor was greeted by row upon row of animals, most literally stuffed, arrayed in ranks and accompanied by labels whose principal mission was to convey to the public what to them is a most unimportant matter, the scientific names. The aim of the modern museum is to illustrate ideas, not merely to display objects, to take the facts or information gathered by long years of patient study and so present them that they may be understood by everyone. More than that it aims to present these facts in such manner as to interest the visitor, having come to understand that if you cannot interest him you cannot instruct him. For the average museum visitor does not come in search of knowledge but to be interested, and “rational amusement’’ was long ago counted as one of the purposes of a public museum. So instead of a host of beasts, birds, and fishes marshalled in serried cohorts we have our groups showing not only what the creatures are, but where they live and what they do. In our ethnological halls you see not only the objects used by strange and far-off peoples, but the people themselves engaged in the occupations of everyday life. We have our Children’s Room though this is merely in its beginning, our lectures, our guides to the collections, all with the purpose of making the collections of real use to visitors. These things have not come to pass all at once; they have come about as a part of the evolution of museums, for there is an evolution of ideas and institutions, as well as of living things. I can recall every step in the progress of the American Museum; I have seen it change from a mere storehouse of objects to a great educational institution. Dr. Goode of the National Museum used to say that the aims of a record, research, and publication: record by the museum were three preservation of objects, research by their study, and publication by giving to the world the information thus gained. Had Dr. Goode been spared but a few years longer, he would have added to the above mentioned pur- poses of a museum the further aim, education of the public. And let me say here that no one in this country did more than he to further the educa- tional influence of museums and that his loss was a great calamity. An educational museum may be defined as a museum in which the objects shown, the manner in which they are arranged, and their accom- panying labels illustrate some fact in nature or in the history of mankind in such manner that it may readily be grasped by all, and this is what the American Museum is endeavoring to be for the public. PROFESSOR ALBERT S. BICKMORE: EDUCATOR ONE OF THE ORIGINATORS OF THE AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY, ALSO THE ORGANIZER AND FIRST CURATOR OF THE DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC EDUCATION By Edmund Otis Hovey ORTY-NINE years ago (1862) there came to New York from the inspiring atmosphere of the laboratory of Louis Agassiz at Harvard University a young man with an idea — to establish in the metropo- lis of the country a museum of natural history worthy the name and the fame of the whole United States, one that should grow with the growth of the nation. That young man was Albert S. Bickmore, born of sea-faring family on the coast of Maine, brought up amid the inducements to nature study furnished by the ocean, the beach and the virgin forest, and educated at Dartmouth College. Directly after graduation with the class of 1860, he became a student under and later an assistant of the great naturalist Louis Agassiz. The conversations between Agassiz and the noted scien- tists of this country and Europe that took place in the famous laboratory were listened to with keen interest by young Bickmore, and were a means of broadening the youthful student’s point of view. These and other experiences led to the conception of founding and building up a great museum in New York. The idea was broached to Professor Asa Gray, but he discouraged it through the feeling that New York was too commercial in character to appreciate and support such an institution. On the other hand, Dr. Jules Marcou, a famous geologist who was then residing in Cam- bridge, favored the plan most heartily and showed his practical interest in the museum as finally developed by bequeathing to it his extensive and valuable library of geological works and maps. ‘The real impetus however came from a fortunate hour spent with Sir H. W. D. Acland, then the fore- most naturalist and museum man of England, who heartily endorsed the young student’s scheme. Nine months’ service in the Union army in 1862-1863 interrupted these plans, although part of the soldier naturalist’s time was utilized in collecting mollusks for his famous teacher, but neither New York nor the country was ready for the launching of the museum project, and after the mustering out of his regiment Bickmore returned to his studies and work at the Agassiz Museum. An opportunity to go to the Far East on an exploration cruise was eagerly embraced, and three years, 1865 to 1868, were spent most profitably in China, Japan, Siberia and the Dutch East Indies. Meanwhile sentiment in New York was ripening for undertaking the enterprise. Mr. W. A. Haines, who had the largest private collection of 229 Through his work as first Curator of the Department of ‘ium was built to accommodate the large numbers in attendance -six years. IN THE AUDITORIUM OF THE MUSEUM Au present 0 the BICKMORE PROFESSOR ALBERT S. -rofessor Bickmore’s services for a period of more than thirty a i= en MD «a se S «4 N Educ: ~*~ =) Aj QO MM ~ PROFESSOR ALBERT S. BICKMORE 251 shells in the country, Mr. D. Jackson Steward, whose collection was smaller but very choice, and Mr. Robert L. Stuart, who had many rare books, a good collection of shells and an excellent series of mineralogical specimens, with other public-spirited men, had striven in 1865 to raise funds for the proper support of the Lyceum of Natural History of the City of New York (now known as the New York Academy of Sciences) and the erection of a building for the housing of its large and valuable collections. The effort had been unsuccessful, in spite of the fact that for nearly fifty years the Lyceum had maintained in this city a natural history museum of much merit and considerable reputation. The following year, 1866, the building of the University Medical College in Fourteenth Street, in which the Lyceum collections were stored, was burned and its contents destroyed. The field therefore was clear for the establishment of a new museum which should have no connection with any existing society and should be devoted wholly to the promotion of natural history by means of research and the display of specimens. What was imperative was the advent of a man of science possessing the inspiration and energy required for bringing together the men interested in the subject and organizing the whole project. The opportunity fell to Albert S. Bickmore, who while on his journey in the East had corresponded actively with Mr. William KE. Dodge, 2d., with constant reference to the ultimate establishment of a natural history museum, Mr. Dodge and Mr. Theodore Roosevelt, Sr. being particularly interested in such a project. When Mr. Bickmore returned the war was over; the North had entered on a period of great prosperity; men of affairs had become used to the thought of large enterprises involving the expendi- ture of great sums of money, and the young naturalist himself was better equipped than before for developing and pushing plans for a really great museum. He had the boundless enthusiasm of youth and the buoyancy of a wonderfully sanguine disposition. He was full of his subject and by reason of his very enthusiasm New York’s men of means were forced to listen to the poor young man from Maine. In season and out of season the museum project was brought forward, until in the autumn of 1S68 were held the first informal conferences at the residences of Mr. W. A. Haines, Mr. Benjamin H. Field and Mr. Robert Colgate, that led to the sending of a letter! to the Commissioners of Central Park offering to procure a certain rare and valuable collection as the nucleus of a museum of natural history if the Commissioners would provide for its reception and develop- ment. This offer was accepted over the signature of Andrew H. Green, ‘This letter was signed by Messrs. James Brown, A. T. Stewart, B. H. Field, Adrian Iselin, R. L. Stuart, M. O. Roberts, Theodore Roosevelt, George Bliss, M. K. Jesup, W. T. Blodgett, J. D. Wolfe, Robert Colgate, I. N. Phelps, L. P. Morton, W. A. Haines, J. P. Morgan, A. G. P. Dodge, D. J. Steward and Howard Potter. THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL to to then Comptroller of the Park, and cn the 19th of January, 1869, a meeting was held at the home of Mr. Benjamin H. Field. This meeting, when the first Board of Trustees was chosen, is considered the actual foundation of the American Museum of Natural History. The draft of the present charter was drawn up by Hon. Joseph H. Choate and accepted without change at the next meeting. When the question arose as to the manner of raising the money for the running ex- penses of the institution, it was Professor Bickmore who suggested the plan which has worked so well that it has since been adopted for other institutions, whereby the municipality provides the ground and the buildings and pays a certain sum per year toward “maintenance,” which includes salaries and wages, heat, light, power and repairs, while the collections are owned in the name of the trustees of the institution and are increased by the expenditure of special and general funds provided for through their efforts. Professor Bickmore also was the one who made the happy suggestion that the word “American” be included in the name of the institution, thus indicating its national scope, and it was he to whom was intrusted the delicate and important mission of presenting to the State legislature the bill incorporat- ing the museum. Through the influence of the Hon. Samuel J. Tilden and Senator William M. Tweed the bill was passed exactly on the broad lines devised by the founders. In later years Professor Bickmore was an important agent of the Trustees in getting Manhattan Square reserved exclusively for the purposes of the Museum, in changing the course of the transverse road through Central Park so that it ended at West Eighty- first Street instead of at West Seventy-ninth Street, as originally projected, in procuring the establishment of a carriage entrance to Central Park at West Seventy-seventh Street, and in obtaining through the legislature appropriations from the city for one section after another of the Museum building till seven integral portions of the great structure were completed. As first superintendent of the Museum — 1869 to 1884 — Professor Bick- more was constantly in touch with the Trustees in perfecting their plans. Thus his impress was made upon the dimensions and general plan of the complete building, the proportions, lighting and original casing of the first section (now known as the North Wing) and he was concerned with the acquisition and first installation of many of the early collections. On May 11, 1885 he was elected to the Board of Trustees. The general public came to be most familiar with Professor Bickmore’s connection with the Museum through the Department of Public Instruc- tion, organized in 1880 at his suggestion for the purpose primarily of famil- iarizing the teachers of the public schools with the collections on exhibition by means of lectures ‘Ilustrated with specimens and lantern slides. From PROFESSOR ALBERT 8S. BICKMORE 230 the humble beginning in 1S81 the lecture courses rapidly grew in importance until in ISS4 State aid was given to this feature of the Museum work, greatly extending its scope and value. In 1889 a small lecture hall was provided where the present foyer is, and finally appropriations were ob- tained for the construction of the lower portion of the great central tower designed to be the dominant feature of the completed building. | The new section was devoted exclusively to an auditorium seating fourteen hundred persons and was opened with appropriate exercises, October 30, 1900. In the four lecture seasons succeeding this date, Professor Bickmore addressed many thousands of people here, but in the spring of 1904 ill health forced him to retire from the platform and from active participation in the affairs of the institution to which his energies had been unsparingly devoted for more than thirty-six years. THE CHILDREN HAVE FAVORITE EXHIBITS THE EDUCATIONAL VALUE OF THE AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY By Maurice A. Bigelow Professor of Biology, Teachers College, Columbia University HE most discouraging fact concerning our boasted modern science is that its great teachings full of meaning for daily life are so slowly filtering down from the investigators to even many well-educated people, not to mention the great masses with limited or no formal education. We need a rapid expansion of facilities for the promulgation of scientific knowledge among the people. This means a movement along two lines: first, there should be greater attention paid to science teaching in schools and colleges; and second, there is need of a science extension system reaching out to those who have already passed beyond the direct control of regular educational institutions. In both of these lines science museums have an opportunity for playing an important part. They may be valuable supple- mentary aids to the science studies in educational institutions, and they may be the people’s university of science for the diffusion of scientific knowledge among those not directly reached by teachers. Now it must be evident to even a superficial observer that in order to be of such educational value, a science museum must be far different from the old-time collection of natural objects arranged systematically. There must be a limited amount of systematic arrangement, for some idea of system is an essential part of scientific education, but the great view of modern science which the general public needs is only in very small part taxonomic. It must, on the contrary, be chiefly a view of science in relation to modern life in its combined intellectual, practical and esthetic outlook. Therefore a science museum with educational aims must be planned to present the great principles (such as evolution) which make an intellectual appeal; it must teach the applications of science te practical life (that is, germ diseases, economic animals and plants); and it must increase the esthetic appreciation of nature and nature’s processes. Such are the chief opinions as to the educational functions of a science museum as seen by an outsider who is interested in nature study and general science with reference to popular educational movements. Such views lead to recognizing that museums have two distinct functions, one the scientific work looking toward an increase in the sum total of knowledge, and the other concerned with selecting and diffusing among citizens young and old the main facts and ideas wherein science definitely touches human life. This means that we need either separate museums of two types, or two organizations within one museum. Obviously the latter is the ideal and 234 EDUCATIONAL VALUE OF THE AMERICAN MUSEUM 235 economical plan, for numerous specimens may at the same time serve both scientific and educational ends, and the specialists attracted by opportunity for scientific work may also be excellent directors of the educational activi- ties in their own lines. If I were requested to name a museum which illustrates in its working the above ideas regarding educational functions and organization, | should at once think of the American Museum of Natural History as of far greater value in public education than any other of the great natural history mu- seums of America and Europe. In no other museum have I been able to find so much evidence that the administrative authorities are deeply inter- ested in public educational problems. This is shown in many ways, in four very prominently: First and most strikingly in the immense number of specimens mounted and arranged so as to emphasize the points of greatest interest to the general public. Splendid examples of this are the bird groups, certain groups in the vertebrate palzeontological halls, and the Darwin Hall. Another evidence is shown by the method of labeling. The value of an exhibit depends largely upon explanatory labels. A museum with simply the names on specimens does not deserve to be classed as of noteworthy educational value. The third important evidence is found in the very liberal space allotted to specimens and groups of specimens which are likely to be of popular interest. To reduce the interest of the non-scientific visitor there is nothing so successful as crowding specimens into cases and cases into limited floor space. The few dozen bird groups set prominently in open spaces at the American Museum mean more to the general public than would a very great number of such groups crowded together in order to exhibit a complete ornithological collection. And lastly, the fourth evidence that the American Museum is interested in public education lies in its direct attention to the teachers and students of nature study and biology of the New York City public schools. This would have been considered by an old-time curator as an unpardonable digression from the proper work of a museum. This development of the American Museum during the past ten years into an efficient educational institution is a matter to which New Yorkers are just awaking. And it would seem that the educational greatness of the Museum has only begun. With coming new buildings and above all with improved transit arrangements which will make the building more readily accessible from all parts of the greater city, the American Museum is sure to develop into full completeness its possibilities as a great educational institution in addition to its function as a scientific one. CORDIAL RECOGNITION OF THE MUSEUM’S WORK I Museum anp HicH ScHOOL UNITED FOR HEALTH AND ECONOMIC WELFARE By George W. Hunter Teacher of Biology in the De Witt Clinton High School S a high school teacher of biology I cannot speak with sufficient praise of the work of co6dperation already in force between the American Museum and New York City high schools. Our courses in biology have decidedly a civic trend, biology being applied in its relation to human welfare and especially to the welfare of the citizen of New York. The collections then which bear on the health and economic welfare of the nation are the collections which we as high school teachers most use. The value of the Museum to us is threefold: first, in our study of collec- tions at the Museum; second, in attendance on lectures which fit into our course, and third, in the use of loan collections. Under the first heading the De Witt Clinton High School plans several trips during the year; one for the general survey of the Animal Kingdom — for this purpose the synoptic collection in the Darwin Hall is used; then a trip to the insect collections for the economic relation of insects, the mosquito models in the Darwin Hall being used for this also. A third very important trip has heen worked out for the bird groups which are used to teach the meaning of adaptation. To a less extent we use the collections of mammals of New York State, the fishes and the Jesup Collection of Woods. One of the greatest aids will come when the new department of hygiene prepares its exhibits. Last year, for example, we visited the Sewerage Commission Exhibit and listened to an admirable lecture on sewage disposal. That kind of coéperation counts much for the making of citizens. Il. Tue Museum INCREASINGLY HELPFUL FOR TEN YEARS By Lillian Belle Sage Teacher of Biology in the Washington Irving High School INCE my connection with the New York City schools in February 1902, we have in various ways used the Museum with relation to the biology work. For two years we arranged a regular course of lectures at the Museum, the Museum authorities giving us the use of the lantern, someone to run it, and the use of some room. So popular did the lectures become that a third year we joined the other high schools of the 236 Studying the sugar maple in the Forestry Hall. Much of the education of the Museum leads directly to interests in country life City and had a series of lectures given by officers of the Museum, and the auditorium was crowded. We found however that to listen to a lecture and visit the Museum itself in one day was not satisfactory, so for the past two years we have had each class visit the Museum three times during the year. A teacher always accompanies the class and each pupil before starting out is supplied with a set of questions which are to be answered from observa- tions made there. I find this method most successful for we go directly to work with questions, specimens, note-book and pencil and no time is lost. Our first-term students visit the Jesup Collection of Woods; those of 997 23% SES « YINOU oY} WOdJ SUJET OY JO JassuRsay od Ysnoryy JOYIO oY} OF proads 0} AjToxT] oq [TEM oAVY ARUT JOYIIO YOIM osvosrp Luv Vey) OS ‘YANOUW Joy OJUL synd Supyurya qnoyIIM wmy url yore yorys ‘floued ouo Wom oSoy? “o[AWARX JOyf “SUROTU SNOMBA AQ WHOIA JXOU OY} OF ,dolIvd, OY} IO UOSIOd Yors oy} Wor; pvoads oae osvosTp JO suIIOS OU, ,, sostasip Jayj3oO Auru pur JOY ‘AoAdJ prloyd Ay ‘voy IYydrp ‘stsopnodeqn} JO osnvod oy oe AoYQ QA ‘Quod urd vw UO OFpoy 4ysru suo (dOoSOIOTU ONT] SSUTYY SUPYOO]-ssopuIey oce suLlos osoy, “Yop sowoulos puke ssouyoIs osneo yeyy suostod oyeur pur Ayjol ul v suuns SULOp ox 7ey) [TeuIs OS ‘SosRsneSs i SMOIS PJOU B se Apo oY} UL MOAT YOIYAM SUldos SULATT AQ posnwo oue ‘oTqRotuNwTUOD JO SUTYOIVO ore YOM osoyy AjaRNoMaed pur ‘sossouyois Aueypy,, :BUIMOT[OJ OY} SB ‘PBorUyooI-UOU pu O[dUUIS AJOA ST SJURYO oY} JO 19})} RUE LI0JRURIAXO OYA, ILOS4ANI SO NOILNSASYHd SHI HOVSL OL HLIVSH 91I18Nd JO INAWLYVd3a0 SHL AG GANNVW1d SLYVHOD IOOHOS ONILVINOYID SHL 4O 3NO 4JO SHdVHYDOLOHd sasvasia snc the second term make two trips, one for insects and a second for birds and comparative work on vertebrate skeletons. The girls write an ac- count of their visit and their papers are discussed in class the day follow- ing. It must be said that the collection showing life _ histories, economic value and relationship of insects could not be improved for the purpose of supplementing our teaching, and that the new frog group is one of the best exhibits in the whole Museum as adapted for high school correlation with our biology. The Museum has loaned to our school cases of insects, birds and invertebrates, which we have found of great value. A set of pictures, prepared under the direction of Dr. Winslow, was loaned to us last year and we used it with more than six hundred girls. The pictures showed plainly the common carriers of disease and how infectious diseases ‘an be prevented. In my last visit I brought a blind girl and enough cannot be said of the assistance she received. mammals and birds about which she had read and heard. “Our own hands are almost as likely to carry disease germs as are those of anyone else, for in the day they touch a hundred things which someone else may have in- This is why the thorough washing before eating is so neces- fected. of the hands sary.’ [From circulating school chart] She gained her first accurate idea of the The Washington Irving biology girls soon get the “ Museum habit,” for once their attention is directed there, they go often and interest others, especially members of their own family. Ill. THe Museum a LABORATORY FOR CLASSES By Anna M. Clark Head of Department of Nature Study and Science, The New York Training School for Teachers HE studies made by our students at the Museum are a very important part of our nature study course. Four class trips at least each year are made for the purpose of studying the invertebrate groups in Darwin Hall and the birds, insects and minerals. 239 240 THE AMERICAN -MUSEUM JOURNAL The Museum gives a far broader view than it is possible for students to get from their own outdoor experiences or from such collections as the school provides. A carefully planned museum lesson, calling for the solution of definite problems, affords the benefits usually following any laboratory work. We have used the Habitat Groups of Birds to show types of bird life in various parts of the world and how birds are adapted to different environ- ments; the insect collections chiefly in connection with the study of econo- mic forms. We have used the collection of precious stones to show forms of unusual beauty in which many common minerals occur, and the collection of New York City rocks and minerals to aid in the identification of such minerals as we ourselves find about the city as well as to supplement our observation work on them. IV. How OnE Crowpep HicH ScHOOL USES THE MusEum! By James L. Peabody Teacher of Biology in the Morris High School VER since the Morris High School was organized in 1897 its biology teachers have found the American Museum a most valuable source of instruction and enjoyment. In the early days before the numbers of students in our classes became so great, most of the teachers of biology went to the Museum with each division of students to study trees, or birds, or insects, or skeletons. Not only did this study supplement the work of classroom instruction, but it also furnished the best of opportunities for the teacher to know personally the boys and girls in his classes. With the increased complexity in school organization those class trips have become more and more impracticable, and we have therefore set apart two days in each half-year for biological excursions to the American Museum. On Friday of the week devoted to school examinations, the four to five hundred boys and girls in Biology II (Animal and Human Biology) go to the Museum on a special train provided by the Interborough, accompanied by the ten teachers of biology. They assemble in the large lecture hall, where they listen to an illustrated lecture on the characteristics and eco- nomic importance of birds with methods of bird protection. A definite study is then made of the bird groups and of the various types of animals in Darwin Hall, the students being guided by an outline which they fill in 1 Mr. Peabody furnished with this statement of the work of biology classes in the Morris High School, copies of the outlines used and questions to be answered in the Museum lessons on woods, birds and invertebrates. These seem of such practical value and general interest that it is regretted lack of space prevents their publication in the JourNnaLt.— The Editor THE MUSEUM AND THE HIGH SCHOOL 241] and file with the teachers on leaving the Museum. At school the next two or more days are devoted toa discussion of the lecture and the observations made of the animal groups. In a similar manner, on Monday of Regents’ week, the five to six hundred pupils in Biology I (Plant Biology) meet in the lecture hall and listen to a lecture on“ Forests and Forest Preservation.” The remainder of the morning is devoted to a study of the Jesup Collection of North American Trees, when the students fill in the blanks of an outline. Certainly the public schools of New York City will do all they can to develop appreciation of the enjoyment and knowledge furnished so prodi- gally by the world’s greatest museum for popular instruction. Pupils from the High School of Commerce before the malarial mosquito exhibit In a museum the visitor may seek out that subject in which he is most interested and thus lay a foundation for a life work or recreation Classes from the High School of Commerce visit the Museum not only for the subject matter of the exhibit but also for a study of methods, the work of glass blower, clay and wax modeler and of other craftsmen in the preparation laboratories THE AMERICAN MUSEUM AND EDUCATION A SERIES OF SIX ARTICLES BY MEMBERS OF THE SCIENTIFIC STAFF OF THE MUSEUM ON CERTAIN PHASES OF THE INSTITUTION'S EQUIPMENT FOR EDUCATIONAL WORK I. COOPERATION WITH THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS A system of Museum Extension in loan collections and lectures and provision within the building for expert guidance and instruction of classes By George H. Sherwood HILE education is the fundamental principle underlying all modern museum exhibition and the collections of the American Museum from its foundation have been a source of infor- mation to teachers, certain definite steps have been taken within the last ten years to bring about a closer relation between the Museum and the pub- lic schools. To carry out this purpose, especial facilities are offered teachers and pupils in order that they may have the freest use possible of the educational material which the Museum possesses. The introduction of nature study into the courses of study of the public schools, combined with the growing general interest in out-of-door life, has given the Museum an opportunity through its circulating collections to become of much practical use to the teachers. Using as a guide the syllabus of nature study issued by the Board of Education, the Museum prepared some years ago several hundred collections 242 Awaiting their turn to enter for a lecture ; wore ‘ Ee ee of natural history specimens for circu- lation in the pubue schools of New York. The purpose of these collections was to place in the hands of the teach- ers the material that was needed to present properly the subject of nature study. Each collection is accompanied by a leaflet giving facts on the structure, habits and characteristics of the par- ticular species in the collection. These notes are necessarily brief and are in- tended chiefly as suggestions to teachers. A bibliography of the subjects treated is appended to each set of notes. From small beginnings this work has grown until to-day nearly four hun- dred schools, some of which are twenty- five miles from the Museum, are receiv- ing the collections regularly. At the present time the circulating collections that are available for loan to schools and the grades to which each is adapted are as follows: Native Birds. Adapted for Grades 1A-4B Schools to visit a special exhibit at the Museum Owl Set — Containing owl, chickadee, nuthatch, song sparrow, kinglet Blue Jay Set — Containing blue jay, woodpecker, crossbill, junco, English sparrow Robin Set — Containing robin, red-winged blackbird, oriole, meadow-lark, chipping sparrow Bluebird Set — Containing bluebird, phoebe, barn swallow, house wren, chimney swift Tanager Set — Containing scarlet tanager, red-eyed vireo, goldfinch, humming- bird, pigeon Insects. Adapted for Grades 2A—5A Containing cynthia and cecropia moths, monarch butterfly, ete., and typical repre- sentatives of the different groups of insects Special Insects. Adapted for Grades 2A—5A Containing life history of cecropia moth, development of monarch butterfly, life and work of honey-bee and household insects Mollusks. Adapted for Grades 4A-5A Containing shells of about twenty-five mollusks, including specimens of the oyster clam and chambered nautilus 243 244 THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL Crabs. Adapted for Grade 6A Containing relatives of the common blue crabs Starfishes and Worms, Adapted for Grades 4A and 5A Containing typical species of the two groups Sponges and Corals. Adapted for Grades 4A and 5A Containing about fifteen species of corals and their relatives Minerals and Rocks. Adapted for Grades 3B and 4A Containing twenty specimens of minerals and building stones. Native Woods. Adapted for Grades 2A and 5B Containing elm, hickory, oak, maple, white birch, ailantus, sweet-gum, sour-gum, chestnut, sycamore. Specimens show cross, longitudinal and oblique sections of the wood, characteristic bark, annual rings, etc. The method by which the teacher obtains the collections has been made as simple as possible. The Museum furnishes blanks upon which principals make application for the collections and at the same time indicate the sequence desired. Delivery is then made by the Museum messengers who call again at the end of the loan period, i. e. every three or four weeks, and make the second delivery. The wisdom of making these collections loans instead of gifts has been repeatedly demonstrated. This method keeps the Museum in frequent touch with the teachers and enables us to understand their needs better. It is of course at the Museum that we are prepared to extend more varied aid to the teachers. To facilitate the work of reaching the Museum, the Museum in coéperation with its sister institutions of the city, has issued a large map of New York City showing the locations of free educa- tional institutions and the main transportation routes by which they are reached. A copy of this map has been presented by the contributing institutions to every public school in the city and its examination will simplify the task of visiting the Museum. By making an appointment a few days prior to the visit to the Museum an instructor will be provided who will guide the teacher and her pupils through the halls, calling attention to the lessons taught by the exhibits. Such visits may also be arranged in series to supplement classroom work and may be preceded or followed with lectures by the instructor on the subject under study. Through the aid of the instructor classes are enabled to make the best use of the time spent at the Museum. In some instances teachers prefer to give their pupils special talks or lectures. For this purpose the Museum has several small classrooms equipped with chairs, tables, blackboards and stereopticon which will be reserved on request. In one of these rooms a teacher would be as much undisturbed as in her regular schoolroom. The Museum possesses more than thirty-five thousand lantern slides, of which about twelve thousand are colored. The field parties which the Museum is sending to remote parts of the earth bring back photographic COOPERATION WITH THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS 245 material, which enables us to make continual additions to this series of slides. The views illustrate plant life, animal life, industries, customs of people, and physical geography. While these slides cannot be loaned for use outside the building, teachers may select slides to illustrate a desired lecture which may be delivered in one of the Museum’s classrooms. It is from this source of supply that we draw the material to illustrate the informal lectures which are given to school children. These courses were first suggested by the New York City Teachers’ Association in 1904. Since that time they have been given regularly in the spring and fall. The subjects are chosen with especial reference to the courses of study given in the syllabuses for history, geography or nature study, and are designed to supplement the classroom work of the teachers. Announcements of our courses of lectures are mailed to principals, and teachers file reservations for seats in the Auditorium on blanks fur- nished by the Museum. The broad scope of the educational work of the Mu- seum is Indicated in the action of the Trustees in recently authorizing the equipment of a room especially reserved for the use of the blind. As yet only a small beginning has been made, but speci- mens of animals and Indian implements have already been set aside and labeled in raised type. The devel- opment of this feature of the Museum’s activity has been amply provided for through the bequest of Phebe Anna Thorne and the generosity of her executors, who have en- dowed the work as a memo- Two compartments of a traveling case showing junco and blue jay on their way to the children of It is safe to say that no some primary school. The Museum has prepared several hundred traveling cases of birds rial to Jonathan Thorne. visitors to the Museum ob- tain a greater enjoyment from the collections than do the various groups of blind people, who may often be seen in the exhibition halls. II. FOSSIL VERTEBRATES —WHAT THEY TEACH By W. D. Matthew “The plan of the department [of Vertebrate Palzontology] as outlined by Professor Osborn in the Annual Report for 1892, was to...present a historical development of the Evolution of the Mammals in North America. It was expanded subsequently to cover the evolution of the vertebrata in general, but its chief aim. .. has been to present the Evolution of the Land Vertebrates, primarily of North America, but incidentally of other parts of the world.”’ Extract from the History, Plan and Scope of the American Museum of Natural History HE history of vertebrate life in North America: this is the funda- mental concept in the exhibits of fossil vertebrates which occupy three great halls on the fourth floor, east wing, of the Museum. Paleontology, it has been said, is but history writ large. It is the history not merely of man, but of all life, projected backward into a dim past whose distance dwarfs to insignificance the few centuries of recorded human events. In the history of mankind the modern view no longer regards it as a mere chronicle of successive events and disconnected episodes, but seeks to trace the orderly and continuous development of primitive races and conditions into the complex and elaborate civilizations of the present day. The rise and fall of dynasties and kingdoms, the progress and decline of races, their migrations and interaction on each other, the qualities of mind and body and conditions of circumstance and environment which bring about the sequence of historical events, all play their part both as cause and effect, and each event is considered in relation to the causes which preceded and the effects which followed it. So too in this larger history which traces the orderly development of life through the vast periods of geologic time. The continuity of life, and its evolution under the impulse and control of natural law from primitive beginnings to its present variety and complexity — the doctrine of evolu- tion in its broader sense — is the keynote of modern paleontology. In a historical museum we expect to find the documents, or some of them, on which history is based. Some of the more important are on exhibition, arranged and labeled so as to show what they mean. Most of the records and documents are preserved in storage, catalogued and arranged and made accessible to students. So with the documents of paleontology, the fossil skeletons, teeth and bones which record the former existence of animals now extinct, and the earlier history of the races which now people the earth. The more important specimens are placed on exhibition and are provided with labels and diagrams. The great mass of the material is in storage, accessible to scientific students. The three large halls devoted to fossil vertebrates represent in a broad way successive geologic eras as marked out by their dominant forms of life. In the central hall are placed the mammoth and mastodon, the great ground sloths and other extinct giants of the Age of Man, with whom our prehistoric ancestors disputed the dominion of the earth. 246 FOSSIL VERTEBRATES—WHAT THEY TEACH 247 To the east is the Tertiary Mammal Hall showing the evolution of the different races of modern quadrupeds during the Age of Mammals, before man had emerged from the obscurity of his pre-human existence. Here in successive alcoves are paleontological “documents” which illustrate the past history of the different kinds of modern mammals, as interpreted and explained by labels and diagrams. By far the most complete of these exhibits is the alcove showing the Ancestry of the Horse. In other alcoves are illustrations of the geologic history of the camel and other ruminants, of rhinoceroses, tapirs and carnivora, and at the farther end are shown such episodes in the Tertiary history of North America as the rise and fall of the Uintatheres and Titano- theres, dynasties of extinct giant races which have left no living descendants. But in a broad way the Tertiary Mammal Hall shows the evolution of the higher quadrupeds, the building up of the animal world of to-day. In the Dinosaur Hall we pass into an older world. As in a museum of antiquities we may pass from the halls devoted to the records of the up- building of our modern civilization into those displaying the relics of an older civilization upon whose ruins it is built, so here we pass from the Age of Mammals into the Age of Reptiles, the era of the dinosaurs — gigantic extinct reptiles which were the dominant land animals of that far distant time. They are but remotely related to the living lizards, crocodiles, snakes and turtles, poor and unassuming cousins who have survived the downfall of the giant reptilian lords of the Mesozoic world, and continue even to-day to play their modest part in the economy of nature. The unfamiliar and bizarre proportions and often gigantic size of these Dinosaurs make them the most interesting and impressive of all extinct animals. As yet, their history is imperfectly known, and neither the materials nor the space allotted for their display permit us to show the successive stages in the evolution of the different dinosaurian races. In the far corner of the Dinosaur Hall are the records, still less complete, of a more ancient period, the Age of Amphibians, which preceded the Age of Reptiles; and in the small southeast Tower Hall are the relics of the Age of Fishes which in turn precedes the Age of Amphibians. With the building of the projected extensions of this wing of the Museum the space allotted to these older periods of earth history will be expanded, so that the visitor will see displayed in successive halls the records of the Age of Fishes, the Age of Amphibians and Coal plants, the sarlier and later periods of Dinosaur supremacy, and then, passing through the Evolution of the Mammals, will finally reach the Age of Man in the central hall. The materials for filling these successive halls are rapidly accumulating through the efforts of successive expeditions financed by the President and Trustees of the Museum. III. THE HABITAT GROUPS OF MAMMALS AND BIRDS By J. A. Allen HE group exhibits illustrating the life habits and natural environ- ment of mammals and birds in the American Museum of Natural History now exceed one hundred and fifty in number, and nearly half of them, in respect to scope, size and accuracy of detail, are admittedly more elaborate than any similar exhibits in other museums. The con- struction of the smaller groups began some twenty-five years ago, and later much larger groups were undertaken. In more recent years similar exhibits have been installed in other American museums, making a more or less general departure from the century-old methods of museum exhibition that prevailed generally almost to the end of the nineteenth century. The educational advantages of these groups consist in their realism. The Bison Group, with its area of fifteen by thirty feet, represents a characteristic bit of the Plains, the former typical home of the American bison (miscalled “ buffalo’’), and includes not only the original sod covered with real “ buffalo grass,”’ but also a real buffalo trail, a weathered bison skull, and bunches of cacti, besides an old bull and cow, a young calf and young bulls of different ages, the ensemble illustrating most impressively and accurately the actual appearance of this animal and its home surroundings. Large explanatory labels give briefly its history, while on accompanying maps is shown the vast area of its original range and the gradual restriction of this range to the few points where it still exists, in limited preserves under governmental protection. 248 The Moose Group, on a similar scale and with equal detail and realism, illus- trates the life history of the largest game animal of America, with its entirely dif- ferent habits and haunts. The elk, the Barren Ground caribou of the Alaskan Peninsula, the musk ox of Arctic Amer- ica, the white sheep of the northern Rockies, the Atlantic walrus and the Alaska fur seal, are each placed before the visitor in a way to illustrate im- pressively their habits and the condi- tions under which they live. All of the mammals characteristic of New York State, except the field mice, shrews and bats, are similarly illustrated, so that the children of New York City have thus the opportunity to see and become in a way familiar with the principal mammals of New York, many of which they would never see in life, and ot none of which would they ever be able to obtain more than fleeting glimpses in a state of nature. The bird groups, with their pano- ramic backgrounds and elaborate treat- ment, now occupying the entire gallery of the north wing of the Museum, possess an educational value not easily over- estimated, illustrating as they do the principal types of North American bird The Museum provides instructors to guide teachers and classes, explaining at request exhibits that correlate with Visitor mot only the habits and haunts classroom work life in a way to bring vividly before the of the species represented, but also the types of country they inhabit. They are thus highly educational from the standpoint of geography and climate, as well as eminently pleasing zesthetically.. The accompanying descriptive labels supply the necessary information to render the groups easily understood. The interest and value of this visual instruction to the children of the schools is best appreciated by witnessing the avidity with which they scan these elaborately presented glimpses of bird and mammal life, these bits of nature transferred to the museum where they may be studied in detail and at leisure. 249 IV. EDUCATIONAL AIMS OF THE DEPARTMENT OF INVERTEBRATE ZOOLOGY By Ili nry E. Crampton HE student of living nature invariably becomes acquainted at first with the larger animals, those possessing a backbone, such as the beasts of the field and forest, the birds of the air, and aquatic forms like fishes and amphibia.~ Not until later is his attention challenged by the myriads of smaller animals devoid of backbones, and hence called invertebrates; only a few kinds of insects, crustacea and edible mollusks come to notice without being sought in their natural homes. Yet many of them are related to man in such ways that his health and welfare depend upon a knowledge of their habits and life histories and moreover, from the educational standpoint, the value of their study is extraordinarily high because their forms are more varied than those of vertebrates. It is the task of the Department of Invertebrate Zodlogy to display characteristic examples chosen from the wide array known to science, and also to demonstrate the countless ways in which the lives of these low forms are intertwined with other animal life and directly touch human interests. In addition, an in- sight into nature’s all-inclusive — pro- cess of evolution is so. valuable that this too must be presented in edu- cational exhibits of the relationships of animals to one another and_ to their surroundings as well. In the Darwin Hall,specimens and models illustrating significant forms among the princi- pal groups of the Animal Kingdom are arranged in the order of their rela- tionship from the A hive of live bees in the Insect Hall EDUCATIONAL AIMS IN INVERTEBRATE ZOOLOGY 251 lowest to the highest. Many of these forms are so minute in life that a glass or wax model must be made with a magnification of more than a thousand diameters in order to show the delicately beautiful structures. To make these systematically arranged specimens upon the shelves more instructive, correlated groups are planned—some have been constructed and others are in progress of construction — to show how the animals really live, how worms burrow in the sand and mud along the ocean’s shores, how crabs and starfish meet their conditions of life (Cold Spring Harbor Group) and how swarms and clusters of lower animals crowd upon the piles of a wharf. While in the center of the hall are groups that illustrate greater principles of science and wider biological relations — for Model for a new group to show the plants and animals that live at different depths in the sea gardens about old wharves. Such a group teaches many facts and principles of biology instance, a field mouse with its enemies on the one hand and its prey on the other —is an example of the struggle for existence. The Hall of Mollusca aims to do in detail for one division of animals what the Darwin Hall outlines for all. Here an extensive array of shells is placed, to- gether with exhibits showing how important some species are to man, such as the pearl oyster with its pearl-fishing industry, and the common oyster and the clam with their culture and industries. The Hall of Insect Biology and Local Insects has a double function. In it are deposited larger collections of insects found within fifty miles of New York so that a student can bring his own collections for comparison and identification. Here, as in the Darwin Hall, larger principles are demonstrated, such as variation of the members of a single species, the differences between insects of forests and of plains, the results of experi- mental investigation of heredity, and the like. During the past summer there have been in the hall special exhibits of the seventeen-year cicada and of live bees at werk in a hive. V. THE MUSEUM LIBRARY By Ralph W. Tower HE Library of the American Museum has been in existence since the founding of the institution but not until very recent times has it kept pace with other departments. During the last decade how- ever, enthusiasm has increased, some scientific societies have deposited their books in the Museum’s custody and altogether a serious attempt has been made to make this library one of the most comprehensive and complete of its kind in America. Library progress in general has been very rapid in America in recent years and one of the most important developments in this progress has been the rise and growth of the “special library,’’ particularly the one whose purpose it is to serve the public in a free and unrestricted manner. A special library relating to natural history appeals not only to the specialist whose needs demand accurate and detailed descriptions but also to a very large proportion of the public where the desire is for more general 252 “ THE MUSEUM LIBRARY Qe information; for very frequently has the business man, the professional man, the man of leisure, the artist, the inquiring youth found the keenest enjoyment and relaxation in gaining expert knowledge on some subject in natural history. And where would he rather find a well-equipped library in this domain than in a large public museum supplied both with the specimens and with the literature pertaining to these specimens. In the Museum’s library of 60,000 volumes are some 15,000 volumes devoted to zodlogy, containing the works of Audubon, Gould and Chapman in ornithology, an excellent collection of 3500 volumes relating to insects, and a 2000 volume collection in conchology embracing the classics of Kiister, Reeve and Binney. There is also a well-selected library of 2500 volumes in anthropology containing many of the rare and older works relat- ing to the North American Indians; an excellent collection of 3000 volumes in geology, enriched by the library of the late Professor Marcou; a collec- tion of 5000 volumes in paleontology to a large extent composed of the Osborn Library of Vertebrate Paleontology, and besides, an unusual collection of more than 20,000 volumes of natural science periodicals. It is doubtful if the educational value of a free special library of this kind can be overestimated. In few other fields is it possible to bring to- gether the material subject and the literature as under the roof and adminis- tration of a great natural history museum. Describing catalpa flowers (wax reproduction) in the Forestry Hall A natural history museum presents the combination of laboratories filled with material for study and a library covering the literature of this material VI. THE ARRANGEMENT OF EXHIBITS IN THE HALLS OF ANTHROPOLOGY By Clark Wissler T is fitting that a natural history museum should show something as to the natural history of man and in accordance the anthropological halls of the Museum exhibit samples of handiwork illustrating, as we say, the cultures of the less civilized races. We fear however that few who visit our halls really understand the principle upon which the specimens are arranged. If you ask one what any of our biological halls represents the answer is as instantaneous as a reflex — evolution. If you ask a biologist what an anthropological hall should indicate you receive the same answer — the evolution of man and his culture. Yet, if you ask the anthropologist he is somewhat at a loss for a definite term or phrase to express the idea, for while the whole biological world is almost unanimous that evolution is for it the one working hypothesis, the anthropologists of Europe and America are by no means agreed except in that the origin and historical development of culture is the fundamental problem. Animal life is the biologist’s prob- lem until that life takes the shape of man whence the classification becomes the anthropologist’s problem. Since with the exception of a few very ancient skeletons however, all men seem to constitute a single biological species and cannot readily be arranged in a series of descent according to ancestry, the chief interest of anthropologists has been in habits and customs, or culture. While most museum anthropologists will agree that exhibits should be so ordered as to show the origin and historical development of culture, they are confronted with no generally accepted theory of develop- ment according to which museum material could be arranged. Hence they all fall back upon a geographical scheme of classification. As our halls now stand we have on the ground floor five of the great culture areas of the American Indians — the Eskimo, the North Pacific Coast, the Eastern Woodland, the Great Plains and the Southwest. On other floors are halls for Asia, Africa, the South Seas and South America. The ancient races are represented in the Mexican and general archeological halls. Such an arrangement has this virtue, it presents man in approxi- mately the time and place relation he really occupied at the date of observa- tion. Many of our visitors, especially teachers of children, are interested in the developmental sequences, such as methods of fire-making, house con- struction, and stone and metal work. On all such points illustrative material will readily be found in the various collections. If one is interested in houses, many types will be found in the exhibits for the different geographical areas. If one wishes to formulate a theory as to how the various types 254 ARRANGEMENT IN HALLS OF ANTHROPOLOGY 259 develop, he is at liberty to do so and will not find his flight impeded for lack of insight into the true relation of things, for should a museum officer decide this point for himself and select out all the house models for exhibi- tion in a single hall, arranging them according to his notion, the visitor could not see each type in its proper cultural setting. The point however is this: searcely any two anthropologists are agreed upon any one of such sequences and until they are, or until the facts available make a definite conclusion inevitable, it is impossible to have other than a geographical arrangement in our exhibition halls. There are, of course, some very fundamental problems now occupying the minds of anthropologists, but their working hypothesis is a geographical classification of cultures rather than an evolutionary hypothesis. The general cultural value of such comparative studies as methods of fire-making and house types is obvious. In the case of fire-making, we have real historical data on the evolution of matches, and know that they were preceded by flint and steel and wood friction. We are not quite sure that wood friction was first, but think it safe to assume as much. Beyond this we cannot go, but we feel that the child who sees the various methods demonstrated in school and sees real specimens in museum collections, is likely to grasp some fundamental principles of practical life as well as the significance of certain physical and chemical conceptions. The same is true of house types, canoe types, hatchet types, food types, and every other phase of culture. A SYMPOSIUM OF EXPRESSIONS FROM PRIMARY AND GRAMMAR SCHOOLS HE following quotations representing a few of the many letters received from principals and teachers of the Public Schools can but make the Museum humble before the vastness of its oppor- tunity, the far reaching of even the smallest effort put forth, and again proud that the American Museum was the institution to which came the rare fortune of developing the working system of codperation with the schools. The Museum holds an unusual opportunity as providing free and pleasurable instruction in the heart of New York. Moreover, it is an insti- tution untrammeled by courses and requirements, or rather it has all courses elective so that the child may seek out that subject in which he is most interested to lay unconsciously the foundations of a life work or recreation. For feeling and intellect act together in the child and the more spontaneous the interest the more deep-rooted and lasting the impression. Thus it is gratifying to see in the letters from the schools frequent reference to the liking that children have for the collections and the trips to the Museum. It is good also to find many allusions to the fact that children carry home the news of their experiences and bring their parents “to see the Museum”’ too. This unites the younger and the older generations by a tie of common knowledge and interest. Two features of the institution’s educational work are peculiar to a museum and due to its organization: first, that it furnishes pleasurable instruction which is non-compulsory as to time and subject, being moreover important as knowledge toward better living; and second, that it furnishes such education to young and old together, thus forming one small bond for united family life under city conditions where there is great need of such influence. Tue Musrum HAS JUSTIFIED ALL IT Cost BY WHAT IT DOES FOR CHILDREN OF ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS Public School No. 50, Manhattan I have not seen equalled in any European country the hospitality with which the Museum has opened its doors to the children, providing guides to escort them through the building. The children have been intelligent and eager listeners to the lectures, and have always re- turned to school the following day enthusiastic over their experience, which provided an outing for many whose lives are not often gladdened, while affording instruction as well as rare pleasure. It has been the good fortune of Public School No. 50 to have lecturers like Mr. Sherwood and Mrs. Roesler come to the children in their own school and show them, from specimens sent by the Museum, the characteristics of many birds whose notes they reproduced to the great pleasure of the children. It is a ‘‘red-letter day’’ in Public School No. 50 when a new case of specimens arrives and is exhibited to the children. We feel that the Museum would have justified all that it has cost if it were only for what it does for the children of the elementary schools. A SINGLE CHERRY FLOWER Public School No. 36, Brooklyn, Grade 3B The flowers and twigs distributed by the American Museum of Natural History last spring were of great interest to the children. A bud on one of the cherry twigs opened in my classroom, and the children, who had never seen a cherry blossom, were delighted to see and smell the little white flower. Tue Birp Co.Luections A REAL ENJOYMENT Public School No. 113, Manhattan I do not know how we ever had any bird study down in this section of the city before the Museum began to lend us the collections of birds. Now we have not only the study of the birds but the children draw them in color, thus doubling the enjoyment. I keep the birds near my office door and no child passes without giving a good long look in their direction. 256 VISITING THE MUSEUM ON A HOLIDAY Editorial note. Lack of space in the JourNAL has post- poned the publication of many interesting letters sent by school children. Who could speak of the Museum's help with a meaning less obscure than in the following: ‘Last month I was down to see the Natural Museum His- tory for the tenth time | was very glad I went, because when my teacher ask to describe a insect, bird or anything I could stand up and answer all her questions correctly. When the class was tested I received a hundred per cent paper. I can assure you if anybody who is interested or wants to learn nature to go down to the Natural Museum History” On Columbus Day boys came on their skates long distances to see the picture of Columbus. Some of these photographed came from 146th Street, Public School No. 186 169th Street, East Side, Public School No. 2, and from 257 Photo by Ge orge Gade Bird houses made by boys of Public School No.5, The Bronx, on the basis of collections sent by the Museum Musrtum Heures Boys To MAKE Birp HovwusEs Public School No. 5, The Bronx The collections of birds that the Museum sends out to the public schools have proved very helpful in the matter of furnishing concrete evidence of the size of birds the boys of Public School 5, The Bronx, decided to build houses for. The school has always made much of Audubon’s birthday, which comes about the same time of the year as does Arbor Day, and the pupils have taken a lively interest in the fate of the birds that used to be so numerous about the Bronx. Therefore when it was suggested that the boys make bird houses to put up in the yards to coax back some of the wanderers, the notion was taken up enthusiastically. The teacher of constructive work in the upper grades sent for the collections of birds as they came to the school and allowed the boys to judge of the size and appropriateness of the houses for the various birds. They read in suggested books about the kinds of birds that lived in artificial abodes and searched every- where for facts concerning the nature of their habitat. It was in accordance with these ideas that they built the houses, save that in some the more ambitious put glass windows in the hope that they might be able to observe the birds actually at work building or brooding. For the most part the houses were made in hours out of school and with tools of the pupil’s own. The school, not being provided with a shop, was ill-equipped for the furtherance of any very elaborate work, but the untiring zeal of the instructor made the boys eager to work. The results proved to be extremely creditable and boys that had heretofore shown not much evidence of constructive ability, when once they were launched on this lively problem with a definite, concrete goal, developed remarkable skill and ingenuity. Also it must be said that there came from the work as well a moral development of which there was good reason to be proud. Tue Jesup CoLLecTION A StrmuLus FOR Woop CoLLEcTIONS MADE BY Boys Public School No. 150, Brooklyn The children are told of things in nature but rarely have the opportunity of seeing them except through the collections. The class of 5A boys were interested in examining the different woods at the Museum. One boy made a collection of hard woods, which the other boys take great pleasure in studying. Tue Mountep Birp MEANS MUCH IN THE IMAGINATION OF THE City CHILD Public School No. 76, Manhattan, Grade 2B These little people of the second grade, brought up under the abnormal conditions of the city, love the birds of the collection. They smooth and pet them, and even kiss them when I am not watching. THE MusEuUM GIVES CHILDREN A GREATER LOVE FOR LIVING ANIMALS Public School No. 76, Manhattan As our pupils live within walking distance of the Museum, they go there frequently. The great attraction for the boys are the wonderful Indian collections. For class use the bird 258 THE MUSEUM AND THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS 259 collections are prime favorites. All our teachers tell me of the pleasure it gives their children to be permitted to touch these specimens carefully and tenderly. The members of one class of 4B boys were very enthusiastic over the skeleton of Jumbo. This enthusiasm, as usual, found expression in greater love for the living animal, for we learned while a class was planting seed that one little boy had gone to the park during his luncheon hour and planted some seed near the elephants’ house. CHILDREN REMEMBER WHAT THEY LEARN AT THE Museum Public School No. 25, Manhattan The knowledge obtained both from the collections sent us and the lectures given at the Museum means much more to the children than that obtained from books. The informa- tion is so definite and interesting that it creates a strong and lasting impression upon the minds of the children, and they are thus able to retain it very effectually. A Lerrer To Make THE MusrtumM DESIRE TO DO STILL MORE FOR THE SCHOOLS Public School No. 84, Brooklyn Many of our pupils are children who never see the country and who are totally un- acquainted with any birds or insects found outside of the crowded city streets. The speci- mens enable these children to form correct conceptions of otherwise fabulous creatures. In their own way the children show quite as much appreciation as their teachers. The first question they invariably ask is, ‘‘Is it real?’’ When assured upon this point they are always deeply interested, and very anxious to *‘feel how soft the bird’s coat is!"’ Each new interest endures as a helpful foundation for further work. Allusions to any subject studied with the help of Museum specimens bring an immediate and intelligent response. Tuirty-stx Musrtum Lectures ATTENDED Public School No. 184, Manhattan Our higher classes have attended thirty-six lectures which helped to fix the grade work, were an entertainment and brought out a pleasant attitude toward their work. Among the favorite lectures were ‘‘From Pole to Pole,’ ‘‘Early Days in New York,” ‘‘Natural Re- sources of the United States,”’ and ‘“‘Life among the Indians.’’ These afforded material for geography, history, nature study and language work. Worp FROM A DISTANT SCHOOL Public School No. 59, Brooklyn My school is located at so great a distance from the Museum that it is not possible to send classes there because of the carfare involved. Thus my teachers and I welcome the collections sent to the school, and the children are always delighted to see the boxes and to study their contents. THe CHILDREN OF “LITTLE ITALY OF THE WEST SIDE”’ Industrial School No. 6 When the Museum of Natural History was brought down to Industrial School No. 5, in the shape of suitable collections in sequence for study, it was a good thing for the children of ‘‘Little Italy of the West Side,’’ who live so far down town, near Sullivan, MacDougal and West Houston Streets, that they have little opportunity to go to the Museum. The children like the birds especially and it is remarkable the aptitude with which they learn to know them. The humming bird is a great delight and the solemn owls are studied with round-eyed wonder. Three classes were taken to the Museum last term. Their ex- periences are always related at home to the other members of the family, and in this way the benefit is far reaching. 260 THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL SPRING AND Fatt FLOWERS Public School No. 36, Manhattan The spring and fall flowers distributed at the Museum are a great help to us, for we find it difficult to obtain the specimens required by the course in nature study. I am sure that this voices the sentiment of all the teachers. PLEASURABLE STUDY Public School No. 27, Manhattan The children, even of the higher grades, like the bird collections best of all. A robin collection was sent to a fifth year class. The teacher glanced at the label and said, ‘‘Oh, those are birds; they are for the lower grade. Take them downstairs.’’ A boy immediately raised his hand and said, ‘‘Can’t we study them before they go down?” In one of the collections is a parrot. It was the children’s favorite. One boy in particu- lar took a special interest in Polly. This boy one day offered to stay after three and put chalk and board rubbers away. Later it was found that his motive in staying was not to help his teacher. He wanted the chance to stroke the bird and talk to it. When the time came for Polly to return to the Museum this boy found he could no longer stay in after three. Trips to the Museum are always looked forward to with pleasure and the children gain knowledge unconsciously. The classes are large, so that a teacher often has to ask some to wait until another time. But it is likely that when those chosen to go reach the Museum, the ‘‘not invited’’ members of the class are there before them and all must be taken under the teacher’s guidance. Tue ScHoot CHILDREN OF NEw YORK HELP THE MUSEUM TO A GREATER USEFULNESS Public School No. 10, Manhattan Many of the children know not even of the existence of such a place until they have accompanied their teacher to view some exhibit. Their delight then sends them home to tell parents and friends of their wonderful ‘‘find,’’ and again and again they visit the en- chanted ground with varying groups of acquaintances. So in their childish way, by making the Museum known to the greater mass of the citizens of New York, they help it to a greater and ever widening realization of its usefulness. THE CHILDREN’S ROOM OF THE MUSEUM By Agnes Roesler HE Children’s Room was started in response to the needs and de- mands of young visitors to the Museum. The original equipment was slight. A few specimens of birds and small mammals, some books, plants, an aquarium and a case containing live snakes consti- tuted the entire material. The children flocked into the room, looked at the picture books, drew portraits of the birds and mammals and asked questions to their hearts’ content. At different seasons of the year temporary exhibits were placed on view. A jar containing mosquito culture was the subject of many talks; frogs and their eggs were collected by some of the boys and formed the subject of an interesting lecture given by a boy of thirteen years. A lecture on Indians is frequently given and illustrated by some of the youngsters dressed in “real Indian” costumes. The actors bring water- color paints to decorate their faces, and they play their parts with bashful earnestness. Sometimes little figures of animals or miniature Eskimo villages are modeled in composite clay, the sculptors first making a visit to the Eskimo Hall to examine the construc- tion of igloos. To some of the older children are handed lists of questions to which answers must be deduced from observation of the Museum exhibits. ‘ < It is now estimated that there are between four ¢ and five thousand youthful visitors in the Children’s ms ang Room during the year. A small group of children ae . comes every Wednesday afternoon, with sufficient regularity to enable us to carry on study further than desultory questions and answers. Among other activities we read Swiss Family Robinson last winter, and investigated every animal men- tioned in that remarkable book. A chance remark disclosed the fact that one of these children was “afraid”? of spiders, so we set to work to learn all that we could about spiders and to transmute fear into interest. The same course was followed with regard to snakes, and the children handled garter snakes and other harmless species without dread. The Children’s Room is now being fitted out more in accordance with the original plans and is taking shape as a small museum where opportunity is given for carrying on some activity in addition to ob- servation. Permanent exhibits of shells and minerals and one of won- derful fishes are displayed there. = B = B — 2 —_ gE - —