News

Published Monthly by Field Miiseum of Natural History, Chicago

Vol. 10

JANUARY, 1939

No. 1

THE DODO, EXTINCT SINCE THE YEAR 1681, IS RESTORED IN LIFE-SIZE MODEL

By RUDYERD BOULTON

Curator of Birda

Perhaps no bird is so universally known,
by name at least, as the dodo, symbol to
the modern world of obsolescence and
grotesqueness. Few people, however, realize
that the dodo is anything but fictitious, and
fewer still know that there were two species
of dodos, and also a dodo-like bird, the
solitaire, which flourished in a limited way
in the seventeenth century.

A restoration of the Mau-
ritius dodo has been com-
pleted by the writer and
recently was installed in Hall
21. Mr. Frank Gino has ably
modeled and constructed the
restoration, and Miss Laura
Brey has executed drawings
and paintings to supplement
the exhibit.

There are no complete
specimens of dodos in exis-
tence. In addition to one or
two incomplete skeletons
and miscellaneous bones in
European museums, there is
a head in the Copenhagen
Museum, a foot in the Brit-
ish Museum, and a head and
a foot in the Ashmolean Mu-
seum at Oxford. The reason
for the lack of specimens is
not hard to find since, during
the seventeenth century and
even the first part of the
eighteenth, there were no
museums as we know them
today.

At least two dodos are
known to have been brought
alive to Europe, and one of
them was shown in London in 1638. The
remnants of this bird, a head and a foot
only, are undoubtedly those preserved at
Oxford, having first been exhibited in
Tradescant's Museum in 1656. The speci-
men has suffered grievously from the ravages
of time, a misfortune that will scarcely
happen to objects now preserved in present-
day museums with their modern techniques.

Our knowledge of dodos comes to us in
a most interesting way. Descriptions of
their habits and appearance are contained
in the journals of navigators who sailed
the Indian Ocean in the sixteenth century.
The most accurate information, however,
comes through the school of Flemish paint-
ing that reached its peak in the early part

of the seventeenth century. In order to
judge the accuracy of this information, it
is profitable to examine the life and career
of the artist, Roelant Savery, who painted
the dodo several times. He was born in
Courtrai (now in Belgium), in 1576, of an
artistic family, his father and brother having
also been painters. The two boys were
pupils of Hans Bol, genre painter, con-
temporary and colleague of Pieter Brueghel,

No Myth, as Many Have Thought, the Dodo Looked Like This

Restoration, now on exhibition in Hall 21, of tiie extinct bird whose name has become a
[)art of our language as a symbol of obsolescence. In many ways the most famous bird that ever
lived, no complete specimen of the dodo, or even of its skeleton, remains in existence.

the Elder, who was the most illustrious
Flemish painter of the sixteenth century.
In the early part of Roelant Savery's career
he traveled in the Tyrol and painted for
some time at the courts of Rodolphe II
and of Mathias, emperors of the German
Empire, in Prague and Vienna. In 1619 he
returned to Holland and settled in Utrecht
where, until his death in 1639, he painted
landscapes with animals principally, and
became one of the outstanding animal
painters of the Flemish school. About 187
paintings and 90 drawings by Savery are
extant, most of them in European collections.
At least eight paintings attributed to
Savery contain figures of dodos, and it is
highly probable that he had as a model

one of the living specimens that was brought
to Europe during his life time. The com-
positions in his paintings are fanciful, as
may be judged from the titles of some of
them: "Orpheus charming the beasts,"
"Fable of the stags and cattle," "Slaughter
of the Turks," "The Garden of Eden,"
and "Noah's Ark."

The figures of the birds and animals,
however, are far from fanciful. They are
definitely literal, executed
with the finesse and atten-
tion to detail that is so char-
acteristic of the Flemish
school. Among the birds
that he painted are faithful
figures of turkeys, pelicans,
swans, ostriches, casso-
waries, bitterns, herons,
storks, crested cranes, pea-
cocks, macaws, cockatoos
and geese. In the small re-
productions of Savery's
paintings available for ex-
amination the smaller birds
are naturally unidentifiable,
but they undoubtedly could
be identified in the originals.
Several of his pencil draw-
ings of monkeys would do
credit to our best modern
animal portrayors from the
point of view of literalness
and accuracy, while Savery's
figures of domestic animals
are the equal of Bonheur's.
Roelant Savery, then, was
an artist with an accurate,
meticulous and careful
brush, and it is from his data
that the restoration of the
dodo in Field Museum has
been made. To the Ryerson Library of the
Art Institute of Chicago, and especially to
Mr. Daniel Catton Rich, Director of Fine
Arts, and to Miss Dorothy Odenheimer, I
am deeply indebted for assistance in examin-
ing data relating to Savery's work.

The dodos belonged to an extinct family
of birds related to the pigeons, constitut-
ing with them the order Columbiformes.
There were two genera — the dodos proper
and the solitaires. They were all large
birds, about the size of turkeys, and they
were found only on three of the Mascarene
Islands, southeast of Madagascar. The
gray dodo lived on Mauritius, the white
dodo on Reunion (or Bourbon as it is some-
times called), and the solitaire, which was

Page 2

FIELD MUSEUM NEWS

January, 19S9

more slenderly built, inhabited Rodriguez.
All three were flightless, their wings being
no longer functional. Their ancestors, of
course, were undoubtedly capable of flight.
The date of their extinction was about 1681.
This group of birds illustrates perfectly
the fact that insular isolation and freedom
from predatory enemies bring about flight-
lessness through mutation pressure and the
absence of the need for adaptation. Origi-
nally there were no predatory mammals
in this group of islands, but pigs and
monkeys were introduced by the early
explorers. Within a hundred years the
pigs and monkeys completely destroyed the
dodos and their kin. This illustrates the
danger of the promiscuous introduction of
animals foreign to a natural environment.
There is an interesting contemporary ac-
count of dodos published in 1601, from the
pen of the Dutch Admiral Neck, who
wrested the island of Mauritius from the
Portuguese. Another, that appeared in
1625, says: "There is a store of great fowle
of the bignesse of a Turkie, very fat, and
so short winged that they can not fly,
being white, and in a manner tame; and so
be all other fowles as having not been
troubled nor feared with shot."

Of the Rodriguez solitaire, F. Legaut wrote
in 1708: "They are taller than turkeys,
the eye black and lively and the head with-
out comb on cop {sic). They never fly, their
wings are too little to support their bodies,
they serve only to beat themselves and
flutter when they call on one another.
From March to September they are very
fat and taste admirably well, especially
while they are young; some of the males
weigh 45 pounds. The females are wonder-
fully beautiful and no one feather is strag-
gling from the other all over their bodies.
The feathers on their craws are whiter
there than the rest, which livelily represents
the fine neck of a beautiful woman."

Distinguished Visitors

Among distinguished visitors recently
welcomed at Field Museum are the Countess
Gisele de Diesbach, Attach^e to the Louvre,
Paris, as head of the lecture department;
Mr. A. S. Arguelles, Director, Bureau of
Science, Manila, Philippine Islands; Dr.
Alexander Wetmore, Director, United States
National Museum and Assistant Secretary
of the Smithsonian Institution, Wash-
ington, D.C.; Dr. C. L. Lundell, of the
Herbarium of the University of Michi-
gan, Ann Arbor; Dr. Leon J. Cole, Professor
of Zoology, University of Wisconsin, Madi-
son; Mr. Stewart H. Perry, of Adrian,
Michigan, an authority on meteorites;
Mr. Bertrand Schultz, Assistant Director,
Nebraska State Museum, Lincoln, and Dr.
Gerald W. Prescott, Associate Professor in
the department of botany, Albion College,
Albion, Michigan, who is a well-known
student of algae.

Economic Importance of Palms

In tropical countries, palms furnish many
of the necessaries of life — food, clothing,
construction material for dwellings, home
furnishings, etc. An extensive display of
palms and their economic products is to be
seen in Hall 25.

George M. Pullman Hall (Hall 13) is
entirely devoted to horned and hoofed
animals from all parts of the world.

FIELD MUSEUM NEWS
IN "NEW DRESS"

To provide better legibility, and to
increase and improve its service to
Members of the Museum, FIELD
MUSEUM NEWS inaugurates with
this issue a more easily read style of
typographical "dress," and an in-
crease in size to eight pages.

It is believed that all readers
will welcome the increase by two
"points," as printers' terminolo-
gy expresses it, of the white space
between the lines of type. This
brings the NEWS into conformity
with the typographical practice of
most modern periodicals and news-
papers.

The increase in the size of this
monthly bulletin will make possible
a more complete coverage of the
activities of the Museum.

CLIFFORD C. GREGG, Director

RAINSTORM 250,000,000 YEARS AGO
RECORDED IN FOSSIL IMPRINTS

By Sharat K. Roy
Curator of Geology

Fossil imprints of rain drops in sedi-
mentary rocks (shale or sandstone) made
by ordinary brief showers are not of un-
common occurrence, but such imprints re-
sulting from rain accompanied by winds of
high velocity are rare. A specimen believed
to be of the latter type was found by the
writer last summer while conducting the
Sewell L. Avery Geological Expedition, and
is now on exhibition among the physical
geology collections in Clarence Buckingham
Hall (Hall 35). It was found, about four
and one-half miles northwest of Boulder,
Colorado, in a fine-grained sandstone (Lyon's
sandstone) of the Pennsylvanian age, esti-
mated to be 250,000,000 years old.

Rain drops not accompanied by high
winds produce circular pits margined by
elevated rings, whereas, when driven by
strong winds, they make elliptical pits with
greater depths and higher margins on the
sides toward which the rain drops and wind
are directed. This is because the velocity
of the wind drives the rain drops at a slant
and with greater force. The Field Museum
specimen shows these characteristic ellip-
tical pits and rims elevated toward the

direction of the wind, but the pits are not
as deep nor are the rims as high as they
might have been had they fallen on muddy
sediments instead of on sands. Mud, due
to its greater cohesiveness and because it
can be more easily squeezed, retains the
impressions formed on it better than sand,
which tends to roll and spread.

Another interesting but somewhat per-
plexing feature of the Field Museum speci-
men is that it does not contain as numerous
imprints as might be expected, indicating
that the wind either blew hard and that
the rainfall was light, or that the impressions
were caused by hail stones, which are
usually fewer numerically than rain drops,
and which, when accompanied by high
winds, also descend at a slant and produce
similar elliptical pits and elevated rims.
No convincing proof that the impressions
were made by hail stones has yet been
found, but the specimen is still being studied.
If conclusive evidence that the impressions
are hail imprints is found, they will be, to
the knowledge of the writer, the first of
their kind ever brought to light.

Preservation or "fossilization" of rain drop
or hail imprints, like those of mud cracks
and foot prints of animals, is simple in its
nature if conditions are favorable. Rain
drops falling on soft, but not fluid muddy
or sandy flats, left exposed after the reces-
sion of floodwaters, leave their imprints.
Exposure for a time to sun and air desiccates
and hardens the flats and with them the
imprints. These may later be covered with
wind-blown sand or silt and once thus
covered they are protected from destruction
by further inundation of the mud flats. By
continued deposition on the top, the im-
prints are buried deeper and deeper. Later,
after the sediments have become hardened
by pressure and cementation into rock, the
beds of shale or sandstone, depending on
the nature of the deposits, may be exposed
by erosion, revealing a secret of the past
as in this case.

Birds of Yucatan Presented
by Melvin A. Traylor, Jr.

Representatives of more than eighty
species of birds, native to the Yucatan
peninsula of Mexico, have been presented
to Field Museum by Mr. Melvin A. Traylor,
Jr., of Chicago, who collected them last
summer during a sojourn of several weeks
in that region.

Mr. Traylor at present is also contributing
his services to the Museum, as a volunteer
worker in the Division of Birds, where he
is engaged in classifying and studying the
specimens in collaboration with Mr. Rudyerd
Boulton, Curator of Birds. Included in the
collection, which is notable for the varieties
represented, are a number of important
species of hawks which will make a valuable
addition to the extensive series of birds of
prey inaugurated by the late Mr. Leslie
Wheeler, former Trustee of the Museum.

January, 1939

FIELD MUSEUM NEWS

Page 3

THINGS YOU MAY HAVE MISSED

Tibetan Prayer Wheels

The wheel goes round and round, and
each time it spins represents a repetition of
the prayer written on a paper attached to
it — that is the idea of the Tibetans in
designing the revolving aids to devotions
known as prayer wheels, of which a collec-
tion is exhibited in Hall 32 (Case 3).

But not content even with the efficacy
of this lazy way of saying prayers, they
have developed a method which they believe
increases its effectiveness a thousandfold.
This is done by printing the prayer a thou-
sand times on long strips of paper which
resemble the tape used in stock market
tickers, and inserting these strips into a
hollow cylinder in the wheel. Then, each
time it spins, the effect is regarded as
equivalent to saying the prayer a thousand
times. As most Lama priests and many
laymen have these instruments, and keep
them almost perpetually in motion during
their waking hours, they are thus enabled
to say their prayers millions of times in a
day, a feat that would be physically im-
possible to the most fervent suppliant who
confined himself to oral utterance.

Shown in the accompanying illustration
is a typical prayer wheel included in the
Field Museum collection. A further refine-
ment of these hand-propelled wheels — one
equipped with a tin propeller to be spun
by the wind — is exemplified by one of the
specimens in the exhibit. Temples and
villages often have community prayer
wheels, fifteen to twenty feet in diameter,
operated by water power or windmills. The
larger ones, because of their size, are usually
called "prayer barrels."

Mr. Schuyler Cammann, who recently
returned from Tibet, and visited Field
Museum to study its Tibetan collections,
adds the following information from his
personal observation:

There are other Tibetan devices to aid
praying. A traveler may walk clockwise
around a chorten (a monument containing
ashes of saints) or a mani pile (made of

stone slabs carved with the prayer formula
"om mani padme hum") and thus have
prayers said for him. The extreme develop-
ment of this seems to be the mani walls,
sometimes three-quarters of a mile long
with a chorten at each end, and with hundreds
of flat rocks along the top of the wall, each
carved with a prayer or charm words. In
passing these to the left the prayers ac-
crue to the traveler's benefit. But if he goes
on the right of the wall, the prayers are
"deducted." Tibetan horses automatically
walk to the left of such walls. A combina-
tion of the wheel and wall method of pray-
ing is found in Likiang, in the borderland

"Mass Production" of Prayers

Tibetans believe they accomplish the effect of
praying a thousand times with each twirl of one of
these odd wheels containing a long strip of paper on
which supplication may be printed a thousand times.
Mr. C. Martin Wilbur, Curator of Chinese Archae-
ology and Ethnology, holds a complete instnunent
and a roll of prayer tape. On the table is a disassem-
bled wheel showing opened cylinder into which roll is
inserted. The metal weight attached to cylinder by a
chain causes it to revolve when a swinging motion is
applied to the handle by the person offering prayers.

between Tibet and southwestern China. A
monk walks clockwise around the wall of
his temple, into which have been fixed
leather-bound prayer wheels. As he walks
along he brushes the wheels with his
shoulder, setting them to spinning prayers
for him.

FIELD WORK IN MISSISSIPPI

Collections of birds from the state of
Mississippi are few and far between, and
as a result the avifauna of that part of the
South is relatively little known. This
lack of knowledge is important because
Mississippi lies in the area where birds typ-
ical of Florida and Texas come together.

Through the cordial co-operation of Mr.
James Leavell and Mr. Carl Birdsall, of
Chicago, Mr. Rudyerd Boulton, Curator of
Birds, and Mr. Stephen S. Gregory, Jr.,
of Winnetka, had the opportunity recently
of making a brief reconnaisance of the bird
life of Jackson County.

In the space of five days, some sixty
species were recorded. Specimens were
obtained of about thirty species that will
greatly aid in the solution of problems of
speciation in birds of the Gulf Coast area.
Among the interesting birds found were
Brewer's black-birds which occurred in large
flocks. It was not previously realized that
this western species wintered so far to the
east.

The field work, though brief, was so
successful that hopes were aroused for a
more extensive program of further work in
this zoologically neglected area of the
south. — R.B.

ANOTHER GIFT OF $4,000 RECEIVED
FROM MRS. J. N. RAYMOND

To further the co-ordination of educa-
tional activities of Field Museum with those
of the schools of Chicago, Mrs. James Nelson
Raymond last month made an additional
gift of $4,000 to the Museum. This, with
previous gifts, makes a total of more than
$63,000 received from Mrs. Raymond to
supplement the $500,000 endowment she pro-
vided in 1925 wherewith the James Nelson
and Anna Louise Raymond Foundation
for Public School and Children's Lectures
was established.

The year 1938 was one of the most
active in the history of the Foundation, and
the staff has been increased from five to six
lecturers to meet the increasing demands for
its services. Attendance at the free pro-
grams of motion pictures for children pre-
sented in the James Simpson Theatre has
been larger, and several new types of
activity have been carried on, such as the
preparation of special exhibits, and the
development of informational conferences
for groups of children in connection with a
new series of radio programs broadcast under
the auspices of the Chicago Board of Educa-
tion. More work has been undertaken also
to supply natural history counsel for those
in charge of children's camps, boys' and
girls' clubs, and church organizations.
Approximately 1,200 groups, aggregating
tens of thousands of children, have been
provided with guide services on visits to the
Museum. Two new series of stories for
children have been prepared, and thousands
of copies distributed. Extension lecturers
sent out into the schools have addressed
approximately 185,000 children in their
classrooms and assembly halls.

Museum Lecture Tours Attended
by 1,585 "4-H" Boys and Girls

Groups of American farm boys and girls
from forty-four states, Canada, and Hawaii,
were brought to Field Museum during the
International Live Stock Exposition held
in Chicago in December. There were 1,585
of them — 626 girls, and 959 boys — several
hundred more than were in the groups of
the previous year. They came under the
auspices of the National Four-H Club Con-
gress. The entire staff of the James Nelson
and Anna Louise Raymond Foundation was
assigned to conducting them on guide-
lecture tours of Museum exhibits. In addi-
tion to these groups, the Museum received
hundreds of other individual visitors, both
adults and youths, in Chicago because of
the live stock show.

Noteworthy fresco paintings of the first
century A. D., excavated from the village of
Boscoreale near Pompeii, are exhibited in
Edward E. and Emma B. Ayer Hall (Hall 2).

Page U

FIELD MUSEUM NEWS

January, 193 d

MONUMENTS NOW MARK SITES WHERE FIELD MUSEUM EXPEDITION FOUND DINOSAURS

Through the interest of the Chamber of
Commerce of Grand Junction, Colorado,
as well as several service clubs of that city,
and Mr. Al Look, an executive of the Grand
Junction Daily Sentinel, bronze plaques have
been placed on monuments constructed
from native rock at sites where important
fossil dinosaur skeletons were excavated by
a Field Museum Expedition during 1900
and 1901.

Mr. Look, long an enthusiastic friend of
the Museum's, who has assisted its expedi-
tions in many ways, and has contributed
many fine fossil specimens to the collections
of the institution, reports that a movement
is also under way to have these sites pre-
served as public parks under perpetual
protection.

Both sites are on isolated buttes in the
valley of the Colorado River, one west of
Grand Junction, the other across the river
from Fruita. The expedition commemo-
rated was conducted under the leadership
of Mr. Elmer S. Riggs, Curator of Paleon-
tology. At one site the expedition obtained
the huge skeleton of Avalosanrus (also
known as Brontosaurus) , one of the largest
forms of dinosaur, which now occupies a
central position in Ernest R. Graham Hall
(Hall 38). At the second site the expedition
unearthed a genus of dinosaur previously
unknown to science, almost giraffe-like in
form, to which was given the name Brachio-
saurus. As the first example of this animal
discovered, this is a type specimen, of im-
portance to scientists as a criterion for
comparison of any further specimens which
may be found. Various parts of this crea-
ture are exhibited in a series of cases in
Graham Hall.

DINOSAUR HUNTING
IN COLORADO

By Elmer S. Riggs
Curator of Paleontology

(Mr. Riggs presents reminiscences of
the Field Museum Expedition -which
has just been commemorated by the
erection of monuments in Colorado.)

In the late '90's and early 1900's, the
Rocky Mountain region was the scene of
intense dinosaur hunting activity. Dis-
covery in 1877 by Professor O. C. Marsh
(Yale) of the first of these gigantic reptiles
to be found on this continent, fired public
imagination, and every museum wanted a
dinosaur. The eastern slope of the Rockies
and adjacent plains were scoured by a
score of expeditions, and the search was
carried northward into Canada.

The western slope of the mountains, how-
ever, was still virgin territory. The writer,
after studying maps of western Colorado
and eastern Utah, communicated with Dr.
S. M. Bradbury, who was President of the
Western Colorado Academy of Science. The
dental office of this pioneer scientist had

become a headquarters for amateur col-
lectors. In answer to my letter, he described
^ fossils that had been found in the Grand
River Valley, and offered aid and informa-
tion to any exploratory party Field Museum
might send.

Early in June, 1900, Mr. H. W. Menke,
my colleague at Field Museum, Victor
Barnett, a young assistant, and I, arrived
at Grand Junction and called at Dr. Brad-
bury's office where we examined his speci-
mens. Among them were large vertebrae
and a leg bone of a brownish color.

"They are from dinosaurs all right," said
Menke as we recognized a caudal vertebra
of Diplodocus.

Field Museum Expedition Commemorated

One of two monuments erected by citizens of Grand
Junction, Colorado, to mark sites where paleontologists
excavated huge dinosaur skeletons now on exhibition
in Ernest R. Graham Hall. Efforts are being made to
have the locality designated as a public park, to be
preserved perpetually in its natural state.

"Can you take us to the place where these
fossils came from?" I asked.

"Get saddle horses for tomorrow," was
Dr. Bradbury's answer,
"and I'll take you where you
can see fossils in the rock."

Crossing the Grand River
and the Gunnison next
morning, we sighted the first
"pay-dirt" in two buttes
near the mouth of the No-
thoroughfare Canyon. There
Dr. Bradbury showed us
fragments of dinosaur bones
scattered on the surface and,
higher up, pieces in undis-
turbed clay.

Convinced that the region
would be fruitful, we chose
a camp site. Riding back
through the Gunnison Valley
we saw a fossil turtle locked
in a quartzite boulder that
must have weighed a ton,
and returned to town filled
with anticipation of a successful "dig."

That evening wagons unloaded our tents
and camp equipment at the Goat Ranch,

near our site. We began our search for
surface indications much like men in search
of gold — we traced leads, dug dozens of pros-
pecting holes, and then abandoned most of
them as worthless.

Vertebrae, ribs, and the shoulder blade
of a medium size dinosaur, Camarasaurus,
were finally located and dug out. As weeks
passed and summer heat came on, the sands
drifted, and "dust-devils" danced down the
valley. On the Fourth of July, Menke
took his pick and canteen, and went pros-
pecting alone. At dusk he returned, an-
nouncing he had found "the biggest thing
yet!" It proved to be the skeleton of
Brachiosaurus, indeed, and by far, "the
largest known dinosaur."

The news spread to the town, and many
parties were organized to visit our camp.
Captain Lemon, Superintendent of the In-
dian School, ran an appraising eye over the
huge pelvis lying upside down, and remarked,
"He's broader across the back than a $200
mule!" At sunset people were still coming
on horseback and bicycle. Members of
our party stood by to explain the nature of
the animal, and to make sure that no damage
was done by the groups of enthusiastic
sightseers.

The skeleton of Brachiosaurus was em-
bedded in a layer of clay-sand cropping out
of the side of a butte capped with a heavy
ledge of Dakota sandstone. When found,
it was being slowly washed out by rain and
water from melting snows. The sacrum and
one side of the pelvis were exposed. As the
hard clay was removed from the upper side,
a series of vertebrae were disclosed. A
great femur, nearly seven feet long, lay
crosswise underneath. Beside the vertebrae
lay great flat bones shaped like ribs, some
as much as eight inches in width, or nearly

Skeleton of Apatosaurus

This specimen, 32 feet long, provides an impressive representation of a
prehistoric giant despite the lack of head and extremity of tail which gave it in
life, according to estimates, a total length of 65 to 70 feet. The site where it
was excavated in Colorado is one of those now marked by monuments.

twice as wide as any ever seen before. As
the rock was cleared away, and five, six,
seven, eight and finally nine feet of these

January, ld39

PlELD MUSEUM NEWS

Page S

great ribs were revealed, our amazement
increased in proportion.

Further along appeared a great flat bone,
broad at one end, and tapering away to a
rounded shaft which was jagged and broken.
More than four feet of it lay intact. It
was too long for any dinosaur humerus
known at that time from America. Soon
we began picking up fragments scattered
along the slope and fitting them together.
Within half an hour, we had a second great
bone quite as long as the thigh bone, but
of different shape. Scarcely believing our

of soft sand. The big prize was a series of
vertebrae with ribs attached, and pelvis
and leg bones in position. These were
found on a steep slope in a little gulch
which enters the river near Fruita. The
prospect was an excellent one, but there
was no opportunity of doing more that year.
Next April our party returned to Grand
Junction. Permission was secured to util-
ize an old cable, once used for operating
a ferry-boat, which would give access to
the railroad and supplies, and solve the
problem of transporting the specimen. A

blasting was required in this operation. The
bones were taken out in blocks of matrix,
bound up with plaster of paris and burlap,
and thus made ready for shipment.

Packed in this way, the skeleton of
Apatosaurus weighed ten tons. It was
conveyed by wagon to the ferry and across
the river. There, boxes were made and the
bones were more securely packed for ship-
ment to Field Museum.

Arrival at the Museum marked only the
beginning of work on the skeleton. A year
and a half was required for four men to

Photograph copyright Field Museum of Natural History

Apatosaurus as It Is Believed to Have Appeared in Life

Restoration of the huge Colorado dinosaur, as conceived from skeletons and the results of scientific research. This large mural by Mr. Charles R. Knight is on
exhibition in Earnest R. Graham Hall with twenty-seven other paintings of scenes showing prehistoric animals and plants beginning with the earliest known forms.

senses, the conclusion was forced upon us
that this bone was from an upper fore-leg —
a humerus. That conclusion was revolu-
tionary to our knowledge of dinosaurs. They
had been known only as animals with short
fore-legs and long hind legs. Here was a
beast whose shoulders must have been carried
much higher than the hips — a veritable
giraffe in the dinosaur kingdom!

At the end of the summer of 1900, a
further search for dinosaurs was made lower
down in the Grand (now called Colorado)
River Valley. Separate bones were seen in
ledges of sandstone. A complete fore-leg,
with shoulder blade, was found in a layer

large scow was constructed at Grand Junc-
tion, and camp equipment, including food
supplies for men and horses, was loaded
aboard. The boat, christened Mary Ann,
was floated down the river and installed
as a ferry-boat on the old cable.

The task of digging out this big skeleton
involved quarrying methods. Rock was
stripped off from above to reach the speci-
men. But as the series of vertebrae led fur-
ther into the hill, the bank became too high
for such operations, so a tunnel was driven
in, and thus the animal was followed past
its pelvis to the middle of its tail where
the series of vertebrae was broken. Much

chisel away the stone from the fossil bones
and cement the pieces together. Another
six months were needed to set the bones up
on a steel frame as an assembled skeleton.
It remains today one of the outstanding
exhibits in Ernest R. Graham Hall (Hall 38).
The tablets now set up at the sites of the
two principal excavations will be a constant
reminder to residents of the region, and to
travelers, that before the Rocky Mountains
were uplifted, before the sagebrush and the
sand existed, all this district was a vast
swamp, inhabited by gigantic creatures
totally different in habits and structure
from any which live on the earth today.

STAFF NOTES

Director Clifford C. Gregg was among
the speakers on a program marking the
opening of a new wing in the Museum of
Science of the St. Paul Institute, December
1. His topic was "The Place of the Local
Museum in Its Community." During his
visit to St. Paul, Mr. Gregg was a guest
speaker also at a luncheon of the Minnesota
Club.

Mr. C. Martin Wilbur, Curator of Chinese
Archaeology and Ethnology, last month

visited museums in Kansas City, St. Louis,
Milwaukee and Minneapolis to inspect and
study important Oriental collections re-
cently received in those cities.

Mr. Rudyerd Boulton, Field Museum's
Curator of Birds, was recently honored by
election as Treasurer of the American Orni-
thologists' Union, and Business Manager of
its quarterly journal. The Auk.

Dr. Paul S. Martin, Chief Curator of
Anthropology, presented a report on the

1938 excavations of the Field Museum
Archaeological Expedition to Southwestern
Colorado, before the meeting of the Ameri-
can Anthropological Association held in
New York, December 27-31.

Dr. Henry Field, Curator of Physical
Anthropology, gave an illustrated lecture
on "Ancient and Modern Inhabitants of
Southwestern Asia," before the joint meeting
of the American Historical Association and
the American Oriental Society held in
Chicago, December 30.

Page 6

FIELD MUSEUM NEWS

Janvary, 19S9

Field Museum of Natural History

Founded by Marshall Field, 1893
Roosevelt Road and Field Drive, Chicago

THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES
Sewsix L. Avery Charles A. McCuixocb

Leopold E. Block Willlam H. Mitchell

WiLLiAii J. Chalmers* George A. Richardson

Albert B. Dick, Jr. Theodore Roosevelt

Joseph N. Field Fred W. Sargent

Marshall Field James Simpson

Stanley Field Solomon A. Smith

Albert W. Harris Albert A. Sfragub

Samuel Insull, Jr. Silas H. Strawn

John P. Wilson

*Deceased December 10, 19S8

OFFICERS

Stanley Field Pretident

Albert A. Sfrague Fini Vice-President

James Simpson Second Vice-President

Albert W. Harris Third Vice-PreeidenI

Clifford C. Gregg Director and Secretary

Solomon A. Smith . . . Treasurer and Assistant Secretary

FIELD MUSEUM NEWS

Clifford C. Gregg, Director of the Museum Editor

CONTRIBUTING EDITORS

Paul S. Martin Chief Curator of Anthropology

B. E. Dahlgren . Chief Curator of Botony

Henry W. Nichols. Chief Curator of Geology

Wilfred H. Osgood Chief Curator of Zoology

H. B. Harte Managing Editor

Field Museum is open every day of the year (except
Christmas and New Year's Day) during the hours
Indicated below:

November, December, January, February 9 a.m. to 4 P.M.
March, April, September, October 9 A.M. to 5 P.M.

May, June, July, August 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Admission is free to Members on all days. Other
adults are admitted free on Thursdays, Saturdays and
Sundays; non-members pay 25 cents on other days.
Children are admitted free on all days. Students and
faculty members of educational institutions are admit-
ted free any day upon presentation of credentials.

The Musexim's natural history Library is open for
reference daily except Saturday afternoon and Sunday.

Traveling exhibits are circulated in the schools of
Chicago by the N. W. Harris Public School Extension
Department of the Museum.

Lectures for schools, and special entertainments
and tours for children at the Museum, are provided
by the James Nelson and Anna Louise Raymond
Foundation for Public School and Children's Lectures.

Announcements of free illustrated lectures for the
public, and special lectures for Members of the Museum,
will appear in Field Museum News.

A cafeteria in the Museum serves visitors. Rooms
are provided for those bringing their lunches.

Chicago Motor Coach Company No. 26 buses go
direct to the Museum.

Members are requested to inform the Museum
promptly of changes of address.

WILLIAM J. CHALMERS
July 10, 1852— December 10, 1938

Field Museum suffered an acute loss by
the death, on December 10, of Mr. William J.
Chalmers, who had ably served as a member
of its Board of Trustees since 1894, shortly
after the founding of the institution. Mr.
Chalmers, noted in Chicago also for his
many other civic interests and philan-
thropies, was in his eighty-sixth year.

Concurrently with his election as a Trustee
of the Museum, Mr. Chalmers was chosen
as a member of the Building Committee,
and for many years he served as Chairman
of that important committee, and also as a
member of the Executive Committee. For
his eminent services to science, Mr. Chalmers
was elected an Honorary Member of the
Museum, while his generous gifts to the
institution placed his name high on the roll
of the Museum's Contributors. He was also
a Corporate Member and a Life Member.

William J. Chalmers

In the Museum's Department of Geology,
Mr. Chalmers founded a noteworthy series
of exhibits which his fellow Trustees desig-
nated as the William J. Chalmers Crystal
Collection. By means of carefully selected
mineral specimens, this collection illustrates
the systems by which minerals crystallize,
and the varying development of crystal
form in each system, thus providing an
educational feature of immense value,
which has been
much used by stu-
dents and teachers.
Year after year,
Mr. Chalmers made
further contribu-
tions to expand and
improve this collec-
tion. Many types
of twin crystals and
other crystal group-
ings are illustrated,
as well as various
features of crystal
growth, such as
zone structure, inclusions and phantoms.
Among the crystals are many of gem quality,
which would have been cut for gems had they
not been preserved in natural form for this
collection. Especially noteworthy is a
series of tourmalines exhibiting an extra-
ordinary variety of colors and forms. He
made notable contributions also to the col-
lections of gems and of invertebrate fossils.

Mr. Chalmers, a native of Chicago, was
born on July 10, 1852. He rose to a
prominent place in the city's business life,
but in recent years had retired from active
direction of the enterprises with which he
was associated. He was a director of the
World's Columbian Exposition of 1893, and
a member of the Chicago school board
under Mayor Washburne. He also served
on the track elevation commission which
made possible the elevation of the Illinois
Central railroad in 1892.

Because of his extensive interests as a
manufacturer of mining machinery, Mr.
Chalmers traveled widely, and had visited
practically every important area where
mining is carried on. During the world war,
he directed campaigns to obtain relief funds
for Belgian children, contributing lavishly
from his own pocket. Later he was decorated
by the Belgian government in recognition
of this work.

JOHN E. GLYNN
October 13, 1869-December 14, 1938

Mr. John E. Glynn, a veteran member of
the staff of Field Museum, died December 14,
after a protracted period of illness. Mr.
Glynn, who was 69 years old, had been an
employe of the Museum since 1894, when he
joined the staff as Assistant Superintendent.
Since 1920 he had been Superintendent of
Maintenance.

Mr. Glynn was largely responsible for
supervising the gigantic task of moving
the Museum's exhibits, study collections,
and other possessions from the building
originally occupied in Jackson Park, and
reinstalling them in the present building
which was opened to the public in 1921.
This immense moving operation, including
hundreds of thousands of items, many of
them extremely fragile, was conducted with
practically no losses or damage.

Mr. Glynn designed many of the best
types of cases used in the Museum, including
the built-in cases which are architecturally
integrated with the interior of the building
itself, and which are used for the installation
of habitat groups and other dioramas. He
also made other improvements in methods
of installation of exhibits, lighting, etc. A
notable accomplishment was his recon-
struction in the Hall of Egyptian Archae-
ology (Hall J) of two complete mastaba
tomb chapels of Egypt's Old Kingdom
period. These were assembled using chiefly
original stone blocks brought from Egypt.

Stone Age Hall Sculptor
Dies in Accident

News of the death of Mr. Frederick
Blaschke, noted sculptor, came as a pro-
found shock to members of the scientific
and administrative staff of Field Museum,
with whom he had been associated for a
number of years. Mr. Blaschke was the
creator of the restorations of various types
of prehistoric men and animals in Field
Museum's Hall of the Stone Age of the Old
World, and Ernest R. Graham Hall. This
work ranked among his most important
accomplishments, and won him great acclaim
for its excellence.

Mr. Blaschke died December 4, due to
injuries suffered in an accidental fall in
his home at Cold Spring-on-Hudson, New
York. He was 57 years old.

BASIC KNOWLEDGE—

Architecture of the Universe, by
Reginald A. Daly.

"This book, by a recognized author-
ity, explains in non-technical language
and in a most interesting manner the
structure of the earth," states Mr.
Henry W. Nichols, Chief Curator of
Geology at Field Museum. "It de-
scribes the structure and composition
both of the interior of the earth and
of its crust, and tells why there are
continents and oceans, mountains and
plains. Much of its content is based
on discoveries of recent years, and will
be new to those whose studies in
geology terminated more than a few
years ago."

At the BOOK SHOP of FIELD
MUSEUM— $3.

January, 1939

FIELD MUSEUM NEWS

Page 7

MUSEUM STAFF APPOINTMENTS

The following appointments, effective
January 1, 1939, are announced by the
Director:

Mr. William H. Corning — Superintendent
of Maintenance. Mr. Corning joined the
staff of Field Museum late in 1920 as Chief
Engineer, and has served in that capacity
since that time.

Mr. William E. Lake — Chief Engineer.
Mr. Lake came to the Museum July 1, 1922,
as an engineer, becoming Assistant Chief
Engineer in 1926.

Mr. Arthur G. Rueckert — Staff Artist.
Mr. Rueckert joined the staff in November,
1923, as a taxidermist. In addition to a
general experience in taxidermy and the
making of accessories for exhibits, Mr.
Rueckert assisted the late Charles Abel
Corwin in the painting of many of his more
recent backgrounds, and has carried on this
work since Mr. Corwin's death.

Mr. Robert L. Yule — a Preparator, in the
Department of Anthropology, where he has
been employed in various capacities since
February 1, 1932.

Mr. W. E. Eigsti — a Taxidermist. Mr.
Eigsti came to Field Museum in February,
1931, as an assistant taxidermist, since
which time he has mounted many splendid
specimens for the Museum collections.

Mr. Robert E. Bruce — Purchasing Agent.
Mr. Bruce joined the staff in October, 1927,
and served in various clerical capacities
until August, 1938, when he became Acting
Purchasing Agent.

Mr. Noble Stephens — Manager of the
Book Shop. Mr. Stephens has been on the
staff of the Museum during the past year
and has been in charge of the Book Shop
since it was opened in April. He is largely
responsible for the splendid showing made
by this new venture.

Mr. Warren E. Raymond — Assistant
Registrar. Mr. Raymond joined the staff
October 1, 1938, as a clerk, and is now
appointed to a new position created because
of the increasing volume of business in the
Registrar's office.

Mr. Joseph D. Todd — Carpenter Fore-
man. Mr. Todd came to the Museum as a
carpenter in November, 1927, after a wide
experience in both exterior and interior con-
struction, and in his new position will be of
great value to the Superintendent of Main-
tenance.

Mr. E. S. Abbey — Captain of the Guard.
Mr. Abbey joined the guard force in 1905,
and became Sergeant in May, 1924. A
reorganization of the guard force at the
beginning of 1939 retains Mr. Abbey as the
senior member of the organization with the
new title of Captain.

Mr. Patrick Walsh — Sergeant of the
Guard. Mr. Walsh came to Field Museum
in February, 1894, in the Maintenance
Division. He is one of the oldest employes in
point of service. In August, 1905, he became

a guard, and since January, 1930, has been
Acting Sergeant on one of the night shifts.
Mr. David Conwill — Sergeant of the
Guard. Mr. Conwill became a Museum
guard April 1, 1931, immediately after his
retirement from the United States Army.

ANIMAL LIFE IN AIR PLANTS

By Karl P. Schmidt
Curator of Amphibians and Reptiles

The environment in which animals are
found is referred to as their "habitat."
Within the more general types of habitat,
such as hardwood forest, we distinguish
restrictions to special environments as
"niches." The red-backed salamander, for
example, is found in the fallen-log niche in
a forest habitat. When whole assemblages
of animals are found in such a habitat niche,
their inter-relations, extent and mode of
dependence on their special environment, as
well as their mode of dispersal, and the
correlation of their geographic distribution
with that of their habitat, become problems
of more than usual interest to the naturalist.

One of the most remarkable of such
habitat niches in the American tropics is
that afforded by the "bromeliads," the
epiphytic plants of the pineapple family
Bromeleaceae, which perch upon the limbs
and trunks of trees, and together with
orchids and other air-plants, form a charac-
teristic feature of the tropical forest. The
bromeliads have their leaves arranged in
whorls, and in the rainy season retain water

at the bases of these leaf-

whorls. In the cloud-forests
above 4,000 feet on tropical
mountains, this water may
be essentially permanent,
and as there is little standing
water on steep slopes,
animals dependent on mois-
ture are attracted to this
situation.

The salamanders, whose
soft skins require a constant
moist atmosphere, are repre-
sented in Central America
only by the genus Oedipus,
which has undergone evo-
lution into a remarkable
number of species. These
salamanders are found under
logs, within rotten logs,
under stones, in the coiled
leaves of many plants, under
the leaf sheaths of banana
plants, and most notably in
the whorls of leaves of the
bromeliads. The bromeliad
habitat is especially charac-
teristic in the cloud-forest
zone where the constant
moisture is ideal for
amphibians.

The bromeliads yield a
veritable harvest to the col-

lector. Felling a small tree loaded with
promising plants, he cuts through the base
of each plant with the machete, and then
removes the leaves one by one. Earth-
worms and nematodes are abundant in the
moist detritus in the outer leaves; the aquatic
larvae of damsel flies are almost invariably
present; flattened bugs and beetles inhabit
the leaves above the water level; and various
arachnids are foitnd in the drier tops of the
plants.

In addition to the salamanders (of which
there may be two or even three species in
a single plant) the bromeliad niche is a
favorite refuge for tree frogs of the genus
Hyla. The hylas frequently make use of
the standing water at the bases of the leaves
for egg-laying, and frequently exhibit great
modification from the normal body form
and dentition. It is evident that long-
continued evolution has given rise to special
adjustments of the tadpole stage to the
conditions of life in the bromeliad environ-
ment.

Systematic search of these plants in the
cloud-forest zone in the mountains of Hon-
duras and Guatemala has yielded a surpris-
ing number of new species of salamanders
and hylas, described in technical papers
embodying results of the Marshall Field
Central American Expedition of 1923, and
of the Mandel Guatemalan Expedition of
1933-34. This environmental complex af-
fords a little worked and fascinating problem
for ecological study.

THE CANNON BALL TREE

One of the outstanding exhibits in the Hall of Plant
Life (Hall 29) is this cannon ball tree of the forest regions
of northern South America, as reproduced from nature in
full flower and fruit, in the laboratories of the Department
of Botany. The original material upon which the repro-
duction is based was collected by the Stanley Field Botanical
Expedition to British Guiana. The cannon ball tree is a
showy large tree of the monkey pot or Brazil nut family
and derives its common name from its large, round, dark
brown fruits, which are seen in the above picture.

Field Museum is unique among institutions of its kind for
the extent of its exhibits illustrating various phases of the
plant world. Five large exhibition halls are devoted to
botany, in both its scientific and economic phases. The main
divisions are plant life, food plants, palms, plant raw mate-
rials and products, North American woods, and foreign woods.

Page 8

FIELD MUSEUM NEWS

January, 19S9

RACES OF MAN FORM SUBJECT
OF JANUARY SUNDAY TOURS

An imaginary trip around the world,
visiting the principal races of mankind, is
the offering of Mr. Paul G. Dallwig, the
Layman Lecturer of Field Museum, for
four Sunday afternoons in January (January
8, 15, 22 and 29 — the Museum vnll be closed
for the New Year's holiday on Sunday,
January 1).

The tour, presented under the title
"Parade of the Races," will be devoted to
studies of the extensive series of racial
sculptures by Malvina Hoffman in Chauncey
Keep Memorial Hall. Mr. Dallwig, in the
popular dramatic style which characterizes
his lectures, will imbue the bronze figures
with life by his exposition of human interest
"angles" associated with each of the races.

Because of increasing public demands,
the limit on the number of persons accom-
modated on each Sunday lecture tour has
been raised from 100 to 125. Despite this,
it is still essential to make reservations in
advance by mail or telephone (Wabash
9410). Parties are restricted to adults.

The Sunday lectures begin promptly at
2 P.M., and end at 4:30. Midway there is
a half-hour intermission during which mem-
bers of the party may obtain refreshments
in the Cafeteria, where they may smoke.
Special tables are reserved for the group.

GIFTS TO THE MUSEUM

Following is a list of some of the principal
gifts received during the last month:

Department of Anthropology:

From Mrs. E. B. Simonson, Franklin Park,
111. — a birchbark covered basket, with
porcupine quill decorations, Illinois.
Department of Botany :

From Dr. John R. Johnston, Chimal-
tenango, Guatemala — 90 herbarium speci-
mens, Guatemala; from Museo Argentino
de Ciencias Naturales, Buenos Aires — 11
algal specimens, Argentina; from Philip W.
WoUe, Princess Anne, Maryland — 27 algal
specimens, Maryland; from Evan R. Guest,
Kuala Lumpur, Federated Malay States —
formalin-preserved material of durian and
cloves. Federated Malay States; from B. A.
Krukoff, New York City — 131 herbarium
specimens, Puerto Rico; from Bernardo
Rosengurtt, Montevideo, Uruguay — 35 her-
barium specimens, Uruguay.

Department of Geology:

FVom Elmer S. Riggs, Chicago — 11 skulls
and an incomplete skeleton of modem ani-
mals, western Kansas, Wyoming, and Colo-
rado; from Alfred A. Look, Grand Junction,
Colo. — a fossil vertebrate specimen and 2
fossil teeth, Colorado; from C. W. McLeod,
Michigan City, Ind. — 30 clay concretions,
Indiana; from Standard Oil Company
(Indiana), Chicago — 14 sjsecimens of petro-
leum products; from William B. Ktts,
Sunnyvale, Calif. — 42 specimens of orbicular
jasper, California; from H. V. Schiefer,
Cleveland Heights, Ohio — a specimen of
jasper, Ohio; from William C. McKinley,

Peoria, 111. — 12 specimens of "glacial gems,"
Illinois; from Paul Weiss, Denver, Colo. —
a polished specimen of fossil wood and one
of red chalcedony, Colorado; from William
F. Menzel, Chicago — 23 geological and
mineral specimens. United States; from
Benedict Gresky, Chicago — 38 economic
geology specimens; from Lloyd B. Curtis,
Lander, Wyo. — 11 specimens of sapphire
with damourite and 3 of nephrite jade,
Wyoming.

Department of Zoology :

From Chicago Zoological Society, Brook-
field, 111. — 62 zoological specimens; from
Bryan Patterson, Chicago — 65 sets of birds'
eggs, England; from Mrs. Charles Corwin,
Chicago — 15 sets of birds' eggs, Hawaii;
from James Baley, Chicago — a rattlesnake,
Indiana; from W. Frank Blair, Ann Arbor,
Mich. — 3 white mice. New Mexico; from
Mrs. B. J. Thorp, Chicago — a ruby-crowned
kinglet, Illinois; from H. E. Woodcock,
Chicago — 28 butterflies and a moth, France;
from Rudyerd Boulton, Chicago — 18 bird
skins, Mississippi; from United States Na-
tional Museum, Washington, D. C. — 410
fish specimens, Panama and Canal Zone.
The Library:

From Dr. Albert B. Lewis, Chicago —
10 valuable books.

An Artistic Calendar for 1939
Published by the Museum

Field Museum has published an at-
tractive calendar for the New Year,
containing a natural color picture of
the Quetzal group. The photograph
was made by Mr. Clarence B. Mitchell,
Research Associate in Photography.
The calendars are designed to stand
on a desk or dresser, or to hang on a
wall. On sale at The BOOK SHOP of
FIELD MUSEUM— 10 cents.

NEW MEMBERS

The following persons were elected to
membership in Field Museum during the
period from November 16 to December 15:

Associate Members

David Arthur Lee, Edwin J. Ward.

Annual Members

Mrs. Lloyd G. Albert, Clarence Avildsen,
Lewis I. Birdsall, Miss Agnes Colby, John
W. Denison, George A. Johnson, Joseph
M. Johnson, Thomas E. Maddock, Mrs. E.
M. McDonnell, Mrs. E. L. Millard, Charles
H. Newman, William C. Reavis, M. A.
Rosenthal, Harry S. Sandberg, Alfred Smart,
Dr. Milton L. Smith, Eugene V. Zahringer.

Intriguing Names

Intriguing are such names as Homalodo-
therium, Eosclaerocalyptus, Scelidodon, Lep-
tomeryx, Elasmosaurus, and Bathyopsoides.
The prehistoric animals to which they are
applied were as strange as their names. To
satisfy your curiosity, visit Ernest R. Graham
Hall and see fossil specimens of them.

JANUARY GUIDE-LECTURE TOURS

Conducted tours of exhibits, under the
guidance of staff lecturers, are made every
afternoon at 3 o'clock except Saturdays,
Sundajrs, and certain holidays. Following
is the schedule of subjects and dates for
January:

Week beginning January 2: Monday —
New Year's Holiday, no tour; Tuesday —
Horned and Hoofed Animals; Wednesday —
Native Life in the Philippines; Thursday —
General Tour; Friday — Native American
Fruits and Vegetables.

Week beginning January 9: Monday —
Egypt and Its Art; Tuesday — Plant and
Animal Life of Long Ago; Wednesday —
Races of Mankind; Thursday — General
Tour; Friday — Su-Lin and Her Neighbors.

Week beginning January 16: Monday
— North American Indians; Tuesday —
Fibers and Their Uses by Primitive Peoples;
Wednesday — Moon, Meteorites and Min-
erals; Thursday — General Tour; Friday —
Ancient Burial Customs.

Week beginning January 25; Monday
— Systematic and Habitat Bird Exhibits;
Tuesday — Clothing; Wednesday — Gems and
Jewelry; Thursday — General Tour; Friday —
Peoples of the South Seas.

Monday, January 30 — African Animals;
Tuesday — The Cavemen and Their Arts.

Persons wishing to participate should
apply at North Entrance. Tours are free
and no gratuities are to be proffered. A
new schedule will appear each month in
Field Museum News. Guide-lecturers'
services for special tours by parties of ten
of more are available free of charge by
arrangement with the Director a week in
advance.

Most of the principal varieties of crude
rubber are displayed in Hall 28.

MEMBERSHIP IN FIELD MUSEUM

Field Museum has several classes of Members.
Benefactors give or devise $100,000 or more. Contribu-
tors give or devise $1,000 to $100,000. Life Members
give $500; Non-Resident Life and Associate Members
pay $100; Non-Resident Associate Members pay $50.
All the above classes are exempt from dues. Sustaining
Members contribute $25 annually. After six years they
become Associate Members. Annual Members con-
tribute $10 annually. Other memberships are Corpo-
rate, Honorar>*, Patron, and Corresponding, additions
under these classifications being made by special action
of the Board of Trustees.

Each Member, in all classes, is entitled to free
admission to the Museum for himself, his family and
house guests, and to two reserved seats for Museum
lectures provided for Members. Subscription to Field
MusBUM News is included with all memberships. The
courtesies of every museum of note in the United
States and Canada are extended to all Members of
Field Museum. A Member may give his personal card
to non-residents of Chicago, upon presentation of
which they will be admitted to the Museum without
charge. Further information about memberships will
be Bent on request.

BEQUESTS AND ENDOWME.VTS

Bequests to Field Museum of Natural History may
be made in securities, money, books or collections.
They may, if desired, take the form of a memorial to
a person or cause, named by the giver.

Contributions made within the taxable year not
exceeding 15 per cent of the taxpayer's net income are
allowable as deductions in computing net income for
federal income tax purposes.

Endowments may be made to the Mtiseum with the
provision that an annuity be paid to the patron for life.
These annuities are guaranteed against fluctuation in
amount, and may reduce federal income taxes.

raiNTKS BT FIKLD HUSEUli PKSBS

Reld^K

News

Published Monthly by Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago

Vol. 10

FEBRUARY, 1939

No. 2

ILLINOIS METEORITE THAT RECENTLY DAMAGED GARAGE AND CAR IS EXHIBITED

By Henry W. Nichols
Chief Curator, Department of Geology

Illinois has been singularly immune from
falls of meteorites. There are records of
only two having fallen within this state,
although there have been numbers of falls
recorded in adjoining states. Not only has
Illinois lacked meteorites which observers
have actually seen falling, but until recently
no specimen has ever been found that has
upon investigation
proved to be a mete-
orite. In other states,
however, meteorites
actually seen falling
are few in comparison
with the number later
found in the ground
and recognized as such
by their physical fea-
tures and chemical
composition.

Field Museum is
therefore extremely
fortunate in having
acquired, through the
co-operation of Messrs.
Ben Hur Wilson and
Frank M. Preucil, Jr.,
of the Joliet Astronom-
ical Society, the com-
plete specimen of the
second recorded mete-
orite to fall in Illinois.
This good fortune is
augmented by the
fact that Illinois
Meteorite No. 2 is
one of only eleven (out
of a total of approxi-
mately 1,300 recorded

meteorites) to strike and damage buildings
or other property.

This meteorite fell in the little mining
town of Benld (Macoupin County), near
Carlinville, Illinois, on September 29, 1938,
at about 9 o'clock in the morning. It
crashed through the roof of a garage owned
by Mr. Ed McCain, penetrated the top of
his automobile, and passed through the seat
cushion and floor board, striking and denting
the muffler, whence it rebounded into the
cushion and finally came to rest entangled
in the springs.

The meteorite is now on exhibition in
Hall 34 of Field Museum, together with the
damaged sections of garage roof and car top,
the perforated cushion, and muffler. Messrs.

Wilson and Preucil, acting as agents for
the Museum, not only obtained this material,
but made a very thorough investigation,
collecting unusually complete and competent
records of the fall, and making numerous
photographs of all important features
pertinent to the data.

From the reports made by Messrs. Wilson
and Preucil, and published in the periodical
Popular Astronomy, it is learned that when

Mr.

Stone from the Sky

Henry W. Nichols, Chief Curator of Geology, and Miss Caroline Ryder, examine the Benld meteorite,
which fell in September, 1938, and is only the second such visitor from outer space on record in Illinois. It is now
on exhibition at the Museum, as shown above, together with section of a garage roof, automobile top and seat
cushion which it penetrated. Of approximately 1,300 recorded meteorites the world over, only ten others are
known to have hit buildings, and this is the first authenticated instance in which one has struck a vehicle.

the Benld meteorite struck Mr. McCain's
garage last September, Mrs. Carl C. Crum,
a neighbor, was working in her yard, across
an alley from the McCain place, at a point
about 50 feet from the garage. While
neither she nor anyone else witnessed its
passage through the air, Mrs. Crum was
startled by the celestial visitor's great roar,
which she described as sounding like an
airplane going into a power dive. This
was followed by a sharp cracking sound as
the meteorite broke through the boards of
the wooden garage roof and crashed into
the automobile. Mrs. Crum was surprised
subsequently to find no smashed-up airplane,
and not even a plane in sight in the sky.
Mrs. McCain, wife of the garage and car

owner, was pumping water in her yard, but
was at a greater distance from the garage
than Mrs. Crum. She also heard the roar
but, accustomed to hearing and seeing pass-
ing mail airplanes, thought nothing of it.
A few other neighbors, indoors, heard the
sounds less sharply.

Mr. McCain, working at the town's coal
mine, did not know that anything had
happened until he returned home late in
the afternoon and
went to the garage
to take the car out.
At first he noticed
only the large hole in
the seat cushion, and
thought it was due to
rats until he observed
the holes also in car
top and garage roof.
The meteorite is
roughly rectangular in
shape. It measures
about 4 3^ by 31^ by
3 J^ inches, and weighs
some four pounds. It
is a stony meteorite,
gray in color, crusted
with a black fused
coating which it ac-
quired by heat from
the friction of passing
through the atmos-
phere of the earth.

It is of interest to
trace the changes this
meteorite probably
underwent during its
journey towards the
earth through mil-
lions of miles of out-
er space. Hurtling through the sky, it was
a light gray body, of unknown shape, lacking
the dark crust it now has. No doubt it was
larger, but wastage during its passage
through the earth's atmosphere accounts
for loss of volume. Its velocity of approach
was enormously greater than the speed with
which it struck the garage. Meteorites
which reach the earth during the morning
hours, as did the Benld meteorite, are
moving in a direction opposed to that of
the earth in its orbit, and collide with this
planet head-on. Therefore, the speed of
this meteorite relative to the earth was the
sum of the speeds of the meteorite and the
earth in their orbits — a velocity which is
computed at about 44 miles per second. But,

Pages

FIELD MUSEUM NEWS

February, 19S9

Where the Meteorite Struck*

Mr. Ben Hur Wilson is seen here holding the Benld meteorite beside the
hole it made in the roof of garage. The superimposed arrow shows the
direction at which the meteorite came to earth.

at this staggering speed, a body passing
through even the extremely attenuated
upper atmosphere of the earth devel-
ops enormous friction. This so rap-
idly moderates its speed that, be-
fore it strikes, it is falling only as
fast as would a similar body drop-
ping from a height of only a few miles
under the influence of gravity alone.
The Benld meteorite was not picked
up until several hours after it fell, so
there is no direct evidence of how hot
it was beyond the fact that the cotton
filling of the upholstered car cushion
was not charred. As the passage of
the meteorite through the air was
only a matter of a few seconds, there
was not time enough for the heat to
penetrate far into its cold interior, so
it should not be a matter of surprise
that it was not hot enough to burn
the cushion. Except in four or five
instances, the numerous meteorites
which have been handled within a few
minutes of their fall were found to be only
lukewarm.

As two points in the passage of the meteo-
rite— the places of penetration of the garage
roof, and of the seat covering — were accur-
ately known, Mr. Wilson was able, by the
use of surveying instruments, to determine
the direction and inclination of the meteo-
rite's path with far more accuracy than has
ever been possible of attainment in the case
of any other meteorite.

The other ten meteorite falls which are
known certainly to have penetrated or struck
buildings, fell in the following years, and at
the places indicated below:
1790 — Barbotan, France.
1798 — Benares, India.
1803 — Massing, Germany {Bavaria).
1847 — Braunau, now Germany (then Bo-
hemia, and recently Czechoslovakia)

^Illustrations marked with asterisk are published
by courtesy of the Editors of Popular Astronomy, and
Messrs. Ben Hur Wilson and Frank M. Preual, Jr.
Mr. Preucil was the photographer.

1858 — Aussun, France.
1863— Pillistfer, Latvia (then

Russia).
1911 — Kilbourn, Wisconsin.
1916 — Baxter, Missouri.
1930 — Kurumi, Japan.
1936— Yurtuk, Ukraine,

U.S.S.R.

Fragments from seven of
these are included in the
Field Museum collection,
which, in point of number of
falls represented, is the larg-
est meteorite assemblage in
the world, containing speci-
mens from approximately
two-thirds of all recorded
falls. (The Museum collection
includes a board penetrated
by the Kilbourn, Wisconsin,
meteorite which, in its fall on
June 16, 1911, struck a barn, penetrated
three thicknesses of shingles, a hemlock roof

The Meteorite's Course

Diagram showing path of the Benld meteorite through the roof of garage,
and top, seat and floor-board of automobile to muffler. From there it bounced
back into the cushion and came to rest, entangled in the wire springs.

board, and a plank floor in
the hay loft. It then glanced
against the side of a manger
and finally buried itself two
and a half inches deep in the
clay floor of the barn. Also
exhibited is the damaged sec-
tion of a tree branch which
was struck by a meteorite
which fell at Andover,
Maine, on August, 5, 1898.
A fragment of the meteorite
is shown with it.)

Although some danger of
damage from meteorite falls
exists, as is apparent from
the few known instances,
perils from this source are so
small as to be negligible.
There is not a single authen-
ticated record of a meteorite
striking or injuring a
human being. The late Dr.
Oliver C. Farrington, former

Curator of Geology at Field Museum, and
one of the world's leading authorities on
this subject, wrote in his book Meteorites:
"No meteorite fall has ever positively
been known to have been destructive to
human life. Accounts purporting to describe
such catastrophes prove on investigation to
have come either from times or countries so
remote that they cannot be verified ....
No well authenticated occurrence of the
sort is known. Perhaps the most narrow
escape which has ever been experienced was
that of three children in Braunau at the
time of the fall of that meteorite in 1847.
This meteorite, an iron weighing nearly 40
pounds, fell in a room where these children
were sleeping and covered them with debris,
but they suffered no serious injury. Other
meteorites have fallen near human beings
but never have struck them so far as credible
information goes. That personal injury or
death might be caused by the fall of a meteo-
rite is entirely possible, in fact is likely to
occur at some time. It is remarkable
that some falls, such for instance as
the showers in Iowa which occurred
in fairly thickly settled communities,
should not have caused serious injury
to the inhabitants."

How exceedingly slight is the dan-
ger of injury by meteorites is shown
in a calculation made by Dr. H. H.
Nininger, who is well-known for his
work on meteorites and who lectured
at Field Museum last October. In the
125 years ending in 1923, when his
calculations were made, there were
287 falls recorded in twelve European
and American countries in which there
exist fairly reliable records. As many
of these 287 falls were multiple, and
some consisted of showers of hundreds
of small stones, it is estimated that in
these falls more than 12,000 stones

•

dm

r^

K

%

I

1 •

The Damaged Automobile*

This is the coupfi whose top and seat cushion were pierced by meteorite.
It is the first motor car in the world known to have been struck by a stone
from the heavens. At left is Mrs. Carl Crum, who was working about 50
feet away when meteorite landed. Mrs. Ed McCain, wife of the owner of
car and garage, is in center, holding the meteorite. At right is Mr. F. A.
Bertetti, principal of the Benld Township High School, who was of assistance
to agents investigating the meteorite fall for Field Museum.

February, 19S9

FIELD MUSEUM NEWS

Pages

FOOD FOR THOUGHT
IN METEORITES

"Three reasons may be assigned
for ascribing peculiar interest to
the study of meteorites:

"First. They are our only tangi-
ble sources of knowledge regarding
the universe beyond us.

"Second. They are portions of
extra-terrestrial bodies.

"Third. They are a part of the
economy of Nature. No survey of
Nature can be considered complete
which does not include an account
of them."

From the book MeteoriUB by the late Dr. Oliver
C. Farrington, former Curator of Geology at Field
Museum, who was one of the foremost authorities
on the subject.

were included. From these numbers, and
the areas of the countries considered, Dr.
Nininger has estimated that one meteorite
fell during the 125 years for each 55}4
square miles. It is not known how many
meteorites have fallen unobserved, but
assuming arbitrarily that ten may have
fallen for each observed one, the figures

become one meteorite to each
5J^ square miles of territory
in the 125 years. When it is
considered how small a part
of the earth's surface is cov-
ered by living human beings,
it is not strange that no one
has yet been injured. The
area covered by buildings is,
of course, much larger, yet
even here the proportion is so
small that the wonder is not
how few but how many build-
ings have been damaged.

As has been pointed out,
the Benld meteorite is only
the second one recorded in
Illinois. The first was a mete-
orite that fell July 13, 1927,
near Tilden, about 40 miles
southeast of St. Louis. It
imbedded itself in the ground.
The larger part of Illinois
Meteorite No. 1 is preserved
in the Illinois State Museum,
Springfield. A fragment of it,
presented by that institution,
is on exhibition in Field
Museum's collection.

^iffiMiWffll

8i

Close-up View of Benld Meteorite*

The size of the celestial stone may be gauged from the scale furnished
by section of foot-rule. This photograph shows the black fused coating
caused by friction during passage through the earth's atmosphere.

FIELD MUSEUM EXHIBITS
AT TWO EXPOSITIONS

Field Museum will be represented in
exhibits at two great expositions this year —
the Golden Gate International Exposition
at San Francisco, and the New York
World's Fair.

The material loaned to the San Francisco
exposition consists of a collection of ethno-
logical objects from Borneo, Java, New
Guinea, Sumatra, Cook Islands, Celebes,
and other south Pacific islands. These
objects will be displayed in an exhibit
illustrating the cultures of the Pacific, and
will be located in the exposition's Depart-
ment of Fine Arts.

To the New York Fair the Museum is
sending an Egyptian mummy which will be
used in the exhibit of the General Electric
X-ray Corporation to demonstrate the appli-
cation of the fluoroscope in scientific research.
An elaborate installation has been arranged
whereby visitors will be enabled alternately
to view the mummy's exterior and then,
through the fluoroscope, its interior. This
will be a central feature of the X-ray Corpo-
ration's exhibit.

The mummy to be used is that of a man
who lived about 900 years before the begin-
ning of the Christian Era. In Egyptian
history, the period was that of the Twenty-
first Dynasty. From inscriptions on the
coffin lid, it is learned that the man's name
was "Harwa," and that he was the Overseer
of the Magazine (or storage houses) on the
great farming estate of one of the temples
of Amon, chief god of the empire. This
was an important position, comparable to

that today of superintendent of an extensive
agricultural or ranching enterprise. As at
this time the priests in the temples had
political power superior to that of the king,
the farm-estate was probably similar to a
state-controlled industry. Harwa probably
had charge of granaries, fruits and vege-
tables, stocks of wool and other animal
products, and wine cellars. No doubt, he
had an army of subordinates and slaves at
his command.

Pathological study of the mummy by
means of the X-ray indicates that Harwa
was probably about 40 years old at the time
of his death. It is interesting to note that
he had a most uncommon name — Egyptian
archaeologists have never before encountered
the name Harwa. The inscriptions on the
coffin lid reveal very little about Harwa
other than his name and occupation. The
rest of the hieroglyphics with which it is
covered constitute a common form of in-
cantation or prayer for the welfare of the
deceased in the after liter

Field Museum was invited to participate
because of the pioneer work conducted at
this institution, over a period of several
years beginning in 1925, in developing, and
successfully applying, a technique for x-ray
photography on mummies and other types
of specimens not previously studied in this
manner. The results of these experiments
are reported in the book. Roentgenologic
Studies of Egyptian and Peruvian Mummies,
by Professor Roy L. Moodie, Paleopa-
thologist to the Wellcome Historical Mu-
seum, London (Field Museum Anthropo-
logical Memoirs Series, Vol. Ill, 1931).

As full credit will be given Field Museum
in the exhibits at both expositions, many
persons, who later may be visitors to
Chicago, will thus become acquainted with
phases of the work of this institution.

A Historic Collection of Algae

Mr. Philip W. Wolle of Princess Anne,
Maryland, has placed on file in the Her-
barium of Field Museum a considerable
portion of the algal herbarium of his late
grandfather, the Rev. Francis Wolle. Some
2,000 specimens of algae, including most of
the material received by the Rev. Mr. Wolle
in his exchanges with European workers
during the years 1875-92, are thus being
made available for study at the Museum.
The remainder of Rev. WoUe's collection is
in the Herbarium of the University of
Pennsylvania. — F. D.

Complicated Curry

Curry powders, used so extensively in the
East Indies for seasoning rice and various
other foods, are made of a combination of
spices. There are approximately forty
recipes for preparing curry powder, all of
which contain at least the following ingre-
dients: fenugreek, garlic, ginger, peppers,
tumeric, coconut, and nutmeg. One form,
popular in Ceylon and parts of India, con-
tains as many as forty different spices, and
specimens of these are to be seen in the
section devoted to exhibits of food products
in Hall 25.— L. W.

Feather masks, fourteen and nineteen
feet tall, from New Guinea, are displayed
on life-size figures in Stanley Field Hall.

PageJt

FIELD MUSEUM NEWS

February, 19S9

EXPEDITION LEADER TELLS STORY OF EXPLORATION IN THE JUNGLES OF BRITISH GUIANA

(Editor's Note: — The December issue of
Field Museum News carried a brief
story of the unfortunate accident at King
William Rapids in British Guiana which
resulted in the loss of a boat and many of
the specimens of the Seu>ell Avery Zoological
Expedition. Recently Mr. Blake, the leader,
returned to Chicago vnth more than 60 per cent
of his collection, which in itself is sufficient
to enable the Museum to pronounce the
expedition a success. The salvaging of his
collections was accomplished under extremely
difficult circumstances, which might easily
have dissuaded one of less experience and
determination. Mr. Blake's own story
follows.)

By EuuET R. Blake
Assistant Curator of Birds

One of the most inaccessible as well as
scientifically little-known areas in all South
America is the Brazilian frontier of British
Guiana, recently visited and explored by
the Sewell Avery Zoological Expedition of
Field Museum. It is a region of rugged
mountains, rushing streams, and inviolate
solitude. A trackless and almost impene-
trable jungle blankets many thousands of
square miles, much of it unexplored and
avoided even by aboriginal Indians.

Access to most of the area can be gained
only by ascending the rapid-strewn Couran-
tyne River, which forms the boundary be-
tween Dutch and British Guiana, and its
turbulent tributary, the New River. This is
a dangerous small boat journey of approxi-
mately 600 miles. The mechanical diffi-
culties of river transport are so formidable
that no scientific expedition had ever
succeeded in penetrating to the frontier,
and thus a large area remained entirely
unknown to biologists.

With the advent of the recent Brazilian-
British Guiana boundary survey, however,
the frontier became temporarily accessible
to properly organized independent organiza-
tions. The discovery of mountains on the
boundary, greater than any yet mapped in
this region, and the realization that the
hinterland would again become inaccessible
with the withdrawal of the Boundary Com-
mission, led to the organization of the Field
Museum expedition which accomplished the
first zoological reconnaisance of the region.
The undertaking was made possible by the
generosity and interest of Mr. Sewell Avery,
a Trustee of the Museum, who in 1938
sponsored this and three other expeditions.

BY AIRPLANE TO THE INTERIOR

Preliminary arrangements were made by
cable for the deposit of supplies, boats and
equipment at strategic points along the
river by attaches of the Boundary Com-
mission as they descended to the coast. Mr.
Richard Baldwin, an experienced Commis-
sion aide, was retained as assistant for the
Museum expedition, and with twelve Indian

and negro boatmen, he awaited the writer's
arrival at King Frederick William IV Falls.

On August 12 the writer disembarked at
Georgetown, capitol of British Guiana, with
six hundred pounds of carefully selected
collecting and field equipment. Mr. Habib
Rasool, a capable young East Indian native
collector trained by the 1937 Stanley Field
British Guiana Expedition, was signed on
as taxidermist and did notable work through-
out. A small hydroplane, owned and piloted
by Mr. Arthur Williams, an American
aviator formerly employed by the Boundary
Commission, was chartered, and on August
15 the party was flown into the interior.

The route of our flight first led almost due
south, following closely the erratic course
of the Demerara River for about 100 miles,
then southeastward over the unbroken
jungle to the desolate Berbice savannahs
and on to the Courantyne itself. The well-
ordered coastal rice and sugar plantations
quickly gave way to second growth bush
and finally to a primeval forest which
extended without a break as far as the eye
could reach in every direction. During
the course of our cross-country flight, a
rainstorm was encountered which forced the
plane low, and for many miles the tiny
seaplane skimmed the tree-tops.

"white water" ahead

A brief pause for refueling was made at
Wonatobo Falls, 150 miles up the Couran-
tyne River. A single native boat crew, the
last of the Boundary Commission force
remaining in the interior, was on hand to
assist. Once more in the air and speeding
southward, I saw that the river was becom-
ing increasingly turbulent. Literally hun-
dreds of islands studded its course. White
water indicated the presence of countless
rapids which had to be run later by boat
when the river was at a lower and more
dangerous stage.

The flight from Wonatobo to King
Frederick William IV Falls, where the
expedition boat crew awaited us, required
forty-five minutes, but saved three weeks
of travel by river. We landed on the river
half a mile above the falls and were soon
comfortably installed in a bush camp on
the Dutch shore. With the departure of
the plane at noon, our last means of com-
munication or assistance from the outside
world was irrevocably lost until we reached
the coast more than three months later.

In order to reach the frontier and maintain
the expedition there, supplies and equipment
sufficient for fifteen men for possibly four
months had to be relayed up the river. The
expedition's 32-foot boat, Oronogue, was
of "greenheart" plank construction, with a
capacity of 4,000 pounds. She was propelled
by an outboard motor, supplemented by
native paddlers. The crew made a preli-

minary trip to Oronoque Base Camp with
gasoline and supplies, while Rasool and I
remained at King Frederick William IV
Falls nine days to obtain a representative
lowland collection for comparative purposes.

collecting by day and night

Subsequent similar relays transferred all
necessary supplies to the head of boat
navigation on Itabu Creek, a tributary of
the upper New River. There a base camp
was established and all expedition personnel,
with the exception of the boat captain and
bowman, proceeded in dugout canoes to the
headwaters. Canoes were abandoned at
this point, and the expedition proceeded
overland some ten miles by tortuous trail
to the watershed which marked the inter-
national boundary, our objective. A camp
was established at the highest source of
water, and collecting began September 20,
approximately five weeks after joining the
boat crew at King Frederick William IV
Falls.

With three collecting guns in daily use,
extensive trap lines set for small mammals
each night, and several men scouring the
forests for specimens of all kinds, the col-
lections grew very rapidly. The camp was
always astir at dawn, and rarely were the
lanterns dimmed in the taxidermy tent
before midnight. Among the notable birds
collected were two specimens of the famed
harpy eagle, later unfortunately destroyed
due to disaster on the river. A number of
specimens of cock-of-the-rock, a brilliant
orange species regarded as one of the love-
liest birds in tropical America, were also
taken. Many other birds not previously
represented in the Field Museum collections
by Guiana specimens were collected, and
several species appear to be additions to
the fauna of the colony.

Approximately 500 insects, and a repre-
sentation of vertebrates totaling more than
2,000 specimens of birds, mammals, reptiles
and fish, were collected by the expedition
before the boundary camp was evacuated.
By the middle of October the expedition was
in momentary danger of becoming stranded
in the hinterland, because Itabu Creek was
falling with the advancement of the dry
season. Collecting ceased, and the boundary
camp was abandoned October 19. The party
began the arduous journey to the coast with
its collections. Surplus stores and equip-
ment were discarded to facilitate transport
over the portages which we faced.

SHOALS presage DANGER

Creeks and rivers had dropped approxi-
mately fifteen feet during the month of our
sojourn in the mountains. Portions of the
streams which were relatively placid during
our ascent were now boiling whirlpools and
seething rapids. Channels which had been
diflBcult before were now death traps which

February, 19S9

FIELD MUSEUM NEWS

Page 5

required extreme care in navigation, or
had to be avoided by strenuous portages.
Day by day sudden disaster was an immi-
nent possibility as the boats were run or
"streaked" through interminable rapids.

King Frederick William IV Falls is im-
passable at all seasons. Boats and supplies
must be transported overland by way of a
mile long portage. Our dug-out canoes were
abandoned above the falls and all hands
labored for three days with block and
tackle, hardwood skids, rollers and levers

serviceable canvas canoe from an old tar-
paulin. We also had prepared considerable
dried fish for provisions on the journey out.
Although we now had four craft, they
proved inadequate for men and specimens,
so bark was stripped from a large "purple-
heart" tree and an Indian "woodskin"
was prepared.

Three days below King William Rapids
we reached the head of Wonatobo Falls,
which necessitated a three-mile portage.
The woodskin fell apart there, but finally

Museum Explorers In Small Boat Brave Rapids in a ' Li>^i WurU"
Photograph made in wilds of British Guiana by Mr. Emmet R. Blake, leader of the Sewell Avery Zoological
Expedition, showing the type of dense jungle, and the turbulent water of the Courantyne River, which the expedition
had to combat. At one point an expedition boat capsized on a rock in an uncharted channel through the rapids, but
all lives were saved, and even the larger part of the collection of specimens was salvaged.

to inch the heavy Oronoque over the hilly
terrain. Another day was required to repair,
caulk and launch her.

DISASTER— AND ESCAPE
On November 1 the Oronoque, loaded with
specimens, equipment, fifteen men, and
supplies for three weeks, once more got under
way. About the middle of the afternoon the
boat struck a submerged rock while running
King William Rapids, and capsized. All of
the personnel were miraculously saved by
swimming to a rock island in mid-river,
but most of the equipment and supplies,
and almost half of the specimens were lost.
Two days were spent attempting to find
and salvage the boat and stores, but without
success. Finally nine men were chosen and
sent up river through the jungle to obtain
the canoes abandoned above King Frederick
William IV Falls. They returned a week
later with three dug-outs. Meanwhile, the
marooned party, which included Mr. Bald-
win and the writer, had dried the specimens
salvaged from the rapids, and fabricated a

a bateau was made with planks obtained
from an abandoned Boundary Commission
camp. Several days and nights of paddling
brought us to La Tropica, a Dutch police
outpost and farthest interior point of civiliza-
tion on the river. Arrangements were made
with police officials to tow our canoes to
the coast, some eighty miles distant, and on
November 20 the expedition returned to
Georgetown. There the salvaged specimens
were packed for shipment to Chicago, and
the expedition personnel was disbanded.

PROGRAMS FOR CHILDREN
TO BEGIN THIS MONTH

The James Nelson and Anna Louise
Raymond Foundation will present two free
programs of motion pictures for children
during February. The first, a special pro-
gram in commemoration of George Washing-
ton's birthday, will be given on Wednesday,
February 22. The films will portray the life
of Washington as a boy and as a man.

On February 25, a week earlier than usual,
the Raymond Foundation will begin its
spring series of Saturday morning programs.
Four films will be shown on this initial pro-
gram, as follows: "The Grasshopper and the
Ant" (musical cartoon in colors, by Walt
Disney), "Cartoonland Mystery," "The
Plow That Broke the Plain," and "Neptune's
Mysteries."

Nine other programs, upon which will
be included thirty-seven other films, are to
be given on Saturdays during March and
April. The complete schedule of these will
appear in the March issue of Field Museum
News.

All programs, including the special one for
Washington's birthday, will be given in the
James Simpson Theatre, with two showings
of each, one beginning at 10 A.M., and one
at 11. Children from all parts of Chicago
and suburbs are invited, and no tickets are
required for admission. The Museum is
prepared to receive large groups from schools
and other centers, as well as individual
children coming either alone or accompanied
by parents or other adults. Teachers are
urged to bring their classes.

Botanical Project in Europe
Makes Notable Progress

Mr. J. Francis Macbride, Associate
Curator of the Herbarium, who has been
in Europe since 1929 obtaining photographs
of type specimens of plants in herbaria of
various countries, has returned to his head-
quarters at the Paris Jardin des Plantes,
after several months of work in Geneva
and Florence. The Museum recently received
from him about 1,500 additional negatives,
bringing the total to date in this important
collection to 36,000. Prints from these are
made available, at cost, to botanists and
institutions all over the world, and have
proved to be of immense value in connection
with various scientific problems.

EXCITING AS A NOVEL—

is Animals Without Backbones (An Introduction to the Invertebrates), by Dr. Ralph
Buchsbaum, of the Department of Zoology at the University of Chicago.

Dr. Fritz Haas, Curator of Lower Invertebrates at Field Museum, regards this as
the best general book on this subject yet published. He says: "Although it may be used
as a text book, it can be read for entertainment too, and will prove as enthralling as a
story by a master novelist. The illustrations are exceptionally numerous and well

chosen."

At the BOOK SHOP of FIELD MUSEUM— $5.

Page 6

FIELD MUSEUM NEWS

February, 19S9

Field Museum of Natural History

Founded by Marshall Field, 1893
Roosevelt Road and Field Drive, Chicago

THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES

Sbwell L. Avbby William H. Mitchell

Leopold E. Block George A. Richardson

Albert B. Dick, Jr. Theodore Roosevelt

Joseph N. Field Fred W. Sargent

Marshall Field James Simpson

Stanley Field Solomon A. Smith

Albert W. Harris Albert A. Spbagub

Samuel Insull, Jr. Silas H. Strawn

Charles A. McCulloch John P. Wilson

OFFICERS

Stanley Field President

Albert A. Sprague First Vice-President

James Simpson Second Vice-President

Albert W. Harris Third Vice-President

Clifford C. Gregg Director and Secretary

Solomon A. Smith. . .Treasurer and Assistant Secretary

FIELD MUSEUM NEWS

Clifford C. Gregg, Director of the Museum .... Editor
CONTRIBUTING EDITORS

Paul S. Martin Chief Curator of Anthropology

B. E. Dahlgren Chief Curator of Botany

Henry W. Nichols Chiejf Curator of Geology

Wilfred H. Osgood Chief Curator of Zoology

H. B. Harte Managing Editor

Members are requested to inform the Museum
promptly of changes of address.

FROM THE DIRECTOR'S DESK—

Mr. Stanley Field Completes 30th Year
as President of Museum

On January 11, Mr. Stanley Field com-
pleted his thirtieth year as President of
Field Museum, an office which he has held
continuously since 1909.

On January 16, at the Annual Meeting of
the Board of Trustees, Mr. Field was again
accorded the complete confidence of his col-
leagues by re-election for his thirty-first
term as President.

When Mr. Field first took the presidential
helm on January 11, 1909, the Museum was
still in its original home (the Fine Arts
Building, now Museum of Science and
Industry) in Jackson Park. His uncle, the
first Marshall Field, had died some three
years previously, leaving to the institution
the large bequest which was to enable it to
undertake the construction of a new and
adequate edifice, and which provided a basic
endowment to extend its activities. The
major expansion has all occurred during
the years of President Field's leadership,
bringing the Museum to its present position
among the world's four or five greatest in
natural science.

Few institutions of this kind are privileged
to have a president so intimately and
directly connected with their activities and
progress from day to day. Few have a
president who can or would personally
devote so much of his time, effort, and
enthusiasm to working right along with the
members of the staflf — encouraging them,
offering suggestions which are notable for
their keenness and practicability, and fre-
quently providing the means for carrying
out plans which would otherwise be

frustrated. Mr. FHeld maintains an ofl5ce
in the Museum building, and is there nearly
every day when he is in the city, which is
during the greater part of the year. He is
keenly interested in every proposal which
has for its object the
advancement of the
Museum's interests
in any way, or the
betterment of its ser-
vices to the public or
to science. His gen-
erosity has been
without stint. He has
paid large sums to
meet requirements of
the building deficit
fund. He has "kept
the wolf from the
door" in many a year
when the Museum president Stanley Field
has ended with a Re-elected for the tWrty-
1ni.rT^ A^f^^;*- rt*. ;+,, first time. In the three
large deficit on its decades of his administra-
Operating expenses, tion the institution has risen
, J . , from a comparatively small

He has made notable beginning to a place among
^i(*-^ «f f,,i^A^ +« the world's foremost mu-
gifts of funds to seums. His leadership has

finance expeditions, b«en ? ™aiof factor '" 'ts

, , ... growth and development.

to make physical im-
provements in the building, and to obtain
outstanding desiderata for the exhibits, the
study collections and the Library.

— Clifford C. Gregg, Director.

logical Society of America recently held at
New York.

All Museum Officers Re-elected

In addition to the re-election of President
Field, all other Officers of the Museum who
served in 1938 were re-elected for 1939.
The others are: Colonel Albert A. Sprague,
First Vice-President; Mr. James Simpson,
Second Vice-President; Mr. Albert W.
Harris, Third Vice-President; Mr. ClifiFord
C. Gregg, Director and Secretary, and Mr.
Solomon A. Smith, Treasurer and Assistant
Secretary.

Staff Notes

Mr. Paul C. Standley, leader of the Sewell
Avery Botanical Expedition to Guatemala,
currently in the field, reports to the Museum
that he has collected more than 2,500 plants
to date. When heard from last month he
was working in the Guatemalan highlands,
at altitudes ranging from five to ten thou-
sand feet, in the vicinity of Antigua.

Dr. Francis Drouet, Curator of Crypto-
gamic Botany, attended the meeting of the
American Association for the Advancement
of Science recently held at Richmond, Vir-
ginia. He presented a paper describing his
studies of the specimens of blue-green algae
treated by the Rev. Francis WoUe (1817-93),
one of the first great American algologists.

The staff of the James Nelson and Anna
Louise Raymond Foundation entertained the
personnel of the Museum as a whole at a
Christmas tea and reception in the Founda-
tion offices.

Mr. Emmet R. Blake, Assistant Curator
of Birds, and leader of the Sewell Avery
Zoological Expedition to British Guiana,
was guest speaker on the Blue Network
(60 stations coast to coast) of the National
Broadcasting Company, Friday evening,
January 13, a few days after his return from
South America. The Chicago outlet was
station WLS. Mr. Don McNeill, of the
NBC staff, interviewed Mr. Blake. On Jan-
uary 21, Mr. Blake spoke on the Mont-
pamasse program over station WIND.

Distinguished Visitors

Among distinguished visitors recently
received at Field Museum are: Mr. Russell
Plimpton, Director of the Institute of Art,
Minneapolis; Mr. Paul Frank, of the
National Park Service staff at Zion Na-
tional Park, Utah; Dr. Philip Drucker, De-
partment of Anthropology, University of
California, who spent three days studying
the Museum's Northwest Coast ethnology
collection; Mr. Michael Lerner, sportsman
of New York City; Dr. Paul Ganz, a pro-
fessor at the University of Basel in Switzer-
land, and President of the International
Commission on the History of Art; and Dr.
William K. Gregory and Mr. Harry C. Raven,
both of the American Museum of Natural
History, New York.

Mr. Sharat K. Roy, Curator of Geology,
and Mr. Paul McGrew, Assistant in Paleon-
tology, attended the meetings of the Geo-

A FEW FACTS ABOUT FIELD MUSEUM

Field Museum is open every day of the year
(except Christmas and New Year's Day) during
the hours indicated below;

November, December,

January, February 9 A.M. to 4 p.m.

March, April, and

September, October 9 a.m. to 5 P.M.

May, June, July, August. . . .9 a.m. to 6 P.M.

Admission is free to Members on all days.
Other adults are admitted free on Thursdays,
Saturdays, and Sundays; non-members pay 25
cents on other days. Children are admitted free
on all days. Students and faculty members of
educational institutions are admitted free any
day upon presentation of credentials.

The Museum's Library is open for reference
daily except Saturday afternoon and Sunday.

Traveling exhibits are circulated in the schools
of Chicago by the N. W. Harris Public School
Extension Department of the Museum.

Lectures at schools, and special entertain-
ments and tours for children at the Museum, are
Srovided by the James Nelson and Anna Louise
;aymond Foundation for Public School and
Children's Lectures.

Free courses of lectures for adults are presented
in the .lames Simpson Theatre on Saturday after-
noons (at 2:30 o'clock) in March, April, October,
and November.

A Cafeteria serves visitors. Rooms are avail-
able also for those bringing their lunches.

Chicago Motor Coach Company No. 26 busses
provide direct transportation to the Museum. Ser-
vice is offered also by Surface Lines, Rapid Tran-
sit Lines (the "L"), interurban electric lines, and
Illinois Central trains. There is ample free park-
ing space for automobiles at the Museum.

February, 1939

FIELD MUSEUM NEWS

Page 7

A REVIEW OF 1938

{Editor's Note: — At an early date Field
Museum, as usual, unit publish in book form
the Director's Annual Report. Meanwhile,
Field Museum News presents this brief
summary of some of the outstanding activities
of 1938.)

The story that science has to tell of the
world in which we live was brought directly
to more than 2,000,000 Chicagoans, and
visitors to the city, by Field Museum dur-
ing 1938. Indirectly — through publication,
radio, and other such media — additional
numbers, which cannot be estimated, have
been reached. From the standpoint of
service to the public, the year was one of
the most active and successful in the history
of the institution.

ATTENDANCE

The number of visitors received at the
Museum was 1,391,580. This is an increase
of 101,557 over the 1937 attendance, which
totaled 1,290,023 and was likewise more
than 100,000 in excess of that in 1936.

The balance of the more than 2,000,000
brought directly within the sphere of the
Museum's influence in 1938 consists of some
500,000 Chicago school children repeatedly
reached by the 1,200 traveling natural
history exhibits circulated by the N. W.
Harris Public School Extension, and 182,608
children reached through lecturers sent into
the schools by the James Nelson and Anna
Louise Raymond Foundation.

Of the 1938 attendance, more than 93
per cent were admitted free of charge, com-
ing on the free days (Thursdays, Saturdays
and Sundays), or belonging to classifications
such as children, teachers, students, and
Members of the Museum, who are admitted
free on all days. The 25-cent admission fee
charged on other days was paid by less than
7 per cent.

The regular spring and autumn courses
of illustrated lectures on science and travel
for adults, and the Raymond Foundation
series (spring, summer and autumn) of free
motion pictures for children, were presented
in the James Simpson Theatre before
audiences aggregating more than 50,000
persons. In addition, parties totaling more
than 48,000 children and adults were con-
ducted on guide-lecture tours of the exhibits.
Several thousand other persons participated
in the Sunday afternoon lecture tours con-
ducted by Mr. Paul G. Dallwig, the Layman
Lecturer. The books and pamphlets on the
shelves of the Museum's Library increased
to 114,000 and were extensively used by the
public as well as by students and scientists.
A new service was inaugurated during the
year by the opening of The Book Shop,
which specializes in popular books on science
that have been approved by qualified
scientists on the Museum staff.

Field Museum Press issued thirty technical
scientific publications, and seven leaflets

for lay readers. The technical publications
circulate internationally among scientists,
and among libraries and other institutions.

The membership of the Museum at De-
cember 31 numbered 4,122, as compared
with 4,266 on the same date of 1937. It is
hoped that the small loss may be more
than recovered in 1939. A word of apprecia-
tion is due to all who have continued their
support by retaining their memberships.

All Departments of the Museum made
important additions to their exhibits in
1938. These have been described, at the
time of installation, in Field Museum
News.

expeditions

In view of the fact that in 1938, as in other
recent years since depression has severely
curtailed its budgets, it has been impossible
for the Museum to make appropriations
for expeditions from its own funds, the
institution was singularly fortunate in being
enabled to carry out an important expedi-
tionary program with contributions from
public-spirited Chicagoans. Mr. Sewell
Avery, a Trustee, sponsored four — a zoo-
logical expedition to British Guiana, a
geological expedition in western and eastern
parts of the United States, and two botanical

expeditions, one to Guatemala, and one
to Nova Scotia. Mr. Stanley Field, Presi-
dent of the Museum, made available funds
for continuation of the work, begun eight
years ago, of archaeological excavations of
extensive scope and importance in south-
western Colorado. Dr. Wilfred H. Osgood,
Chief Curator of Zoology, personally financed
and conducted an expedition concerned with
biological research in New Mexico.

WPA PROJECT

The project conducted at Field Museum
by the federal Works Progress Administra-
tion was continued throughout the year,
giving employment to 218 men and women.
These workers aggregated 337,756 hours,
and the government paid them wages total-
ing $211,548. They displayed a variety of
skills and talents, and were employed
accordingly, the range of the tasks to which
they were assigned embracing scientific
research, preparation of exhibits, clerical
work, and general labor. Work done by
WPA employes is of a character that could
not be undertaken by the Museum's regular
staff because of the pressure of more urgent
tasks. The regular employes on the Mu-
seum's own payroll continued with their
usual duties. — C. C. G.

THINGS YOU MAY HAVE MISSED

The Swan Flower

The swan flower {Aristolochia grandiflora)
is the largest member of the Dutchman's
pipe family, and also the largest flower of
the western hemisphere. Unfortunately
this remarkable native of Central America
and the West Indies is one of the most
malodorous of tropical plants. The un-
pleasant scent of its great flowers has been
described as resembling that of decaying
tobacco. This odor, and possibly also the
blotched colors, attracts insects, particularly
flies, which act as pollinating agents.

The plant often is also called pelican or
goose flower. In Jamaica it has been given
the name "poison hog-meat," and the well-
known botanist, John Lunan, in "an account
of its virulent nature," wrote: "The plant is
so abominably fetid that it is detested and
shunned by most animals, yet when hogs
venture, through necessity, to eat of it, it
destroys them." One report tells of a whole
herd of swine perishing from eating the roots
and young stems. In some localities native
children are said to adorn their heads with
the flowers in lieu of hats.

The flowers, like those of other plants in
this family, are typically tubular. In the
swan flower the tube is S-shaped, and its
free margin is enormously expanded. In
the throat of the tube is a diaphragm with
an opening which makes the flower an effec-
tive insect trap, luring many small creatures
of the air to their deaths.

In the illustration is shown a reproduction
from nature, made at the Museum on the
basis of a specimen collected in Guatemala.
It is exhibited in the Hall of Plant Life
(Hall 29).

Largest Flower of Western Hemisphere

Reproduction of the swan flower of Central America
and the West Indies, on exhibition in the Hall of Plant
Life. One of the flowers is shown in profile, revealing,
when picture is turned with left side down, the resem-
blance to certain birds from which the plant gets such
names as "swan," "goose," and "pelican flower."

Pages

FIELD MUSEUM NEWS

February, 19S9

SUNDAY TOURS IN FEBRUARY
FEATURE GEMS AND JEWELS

With reservations being made several
weeks in advance, the popular Sunday after-
noon lecture tours conducted by Mr. Paul G.
Dallwig, the Layman Lecturer of Field Mu-
seum, will continue through May. "Gems,
Jewels and 'Junk,' " is the new subject for
the four Sundays in February. This lecture
includes tours of H. N. Higinbotham Hall,
devoted especially to gems and jewels,
and also of exhibits in other halls in the
Department of Geology pertaining to precious
and semi-precious gem stones and the sources
from which they are obtained. Mr. Dallwig
describes the processes of mining, cutting,
and polishing gems, and relates many human
interest stories about the most famous
diamonds in the world. He also gives his
hearers an insight into the workings of the
international jewel markets.

In March the subject of Sunday tours will
be "Nature's 'March of Time,'" dealing
with prehistoric animals.

Each Sunday lecture tour is limited to a
party of 125 persons. Reservations must
be made in advance by mail or telephone
(Wabash 9410). Parties are restricted to
adults.

The lectures begin promptly at 2 p.m., and
end at 4:30. Members of the parties may
obtain refreshments in the Cafeteria, and
smoke, during a half-hour intermission mid-
way in the tours. Special tables are reserved
for the groups.

GIFTS TO THE MUSEUM

Following is a list of some of the principal
gifts received during the last month:

Department of Anthropology :

From Alvan T. Marston, London, Eng-
land— 16 flint implements and a molar
tooth of an elephant, England; from Miss
Helen M. Dart, Chicago — a Bundu mask,
West Africa.

Department of Botany :

From Irving Knobloch, San Juanito,
Mexico — 130 herbarium specimens, Mexico;
from R. A. Dyer, Pretoria, South Africa —
10 palm fruit specimens. South Africa;
from Dr. Herbert M. Evans, Berkeley,
California — 1,650 herbarium specimens, Cali-
fornia, Montana, and Oregon; from Dr.
William R. Taylor, Ann Arbor, Michigan —
10 specimens of algae, Arctic America.

Department of Geology :

From The Chicago Tribune — a relief map
of North America; from Dr. H. C. Dake,
Portland, Oregon — 23 almandite crystals,
Idaho; from Donald C. Boardman, Fillmore,
California — 2 specimens of lava and tuff
inter-stratified, California; from Miss Bertha
F. Gordon, Porterville, California — 6 photo-
graphs of Death Valley and vicinity, Cali-
fornia.

Department of Zoology:

From University of Miami, Coral Gables,
Florida — a turtle, Bahamas; from Chicago
Zoological Society, Brookfield, Illinois — a
rat kangaroo and 4 birds; from Mrs. Clara
K. Walton, Highland Park, Illinois — 5 birds,
Illinois; from Phil C. Orr, Santa Barbara,
California — a cleaned domestic fowl skele-
ton; from Miss Claire Nemec, Chicago —
a specimen of moUusk, Texas; from H. W.
Lix, Hot Springs, Arkansas — a snake,
Arkansas; from Luis Mille, S. J., Bahia de
Caraquez, Ecuador — 6 sponges and corals,
Ecuador; from Michael Lerner, New York
City — a mounted specimen of a North
Atlantic broadbill swordfish, Nova Scotia,
and a large photograph of it; from John M.
Schmidt, Homewood, Illinois — a Florida
opossum.

NEW MEMBERS

The following persons were elected to
membership in Field Museum during the
period from December 16 to January 15:

Associate Members

Adam Gabriel, Otto Madlener, Oscar G.
Mayer, Joseph D. Murphy, Sarkis H.
Nahigian.

Annual Members

Samuel Adams, Amos G. Allen, Mrs.
H. S. Austrian, John S. Burchmore, Frank
Osborne Elliott, Dr. Gordon B. Fauley, Mrs.
William Edward Graham, J. C. Hauser,
Mrs. Henry T. Heald, Benjamin G. Kaplan,
H. A. Kern, Frank Kotrba, Mrs. Johannes
Krawetz, Adolph Kroch, Arthur Kruggel,
O. W. Lehmann, Mrs. Kenneth Llewellyn,
Mrs. Samuel Nast, John F. O'Toole, Henry
R. Richardson, Miss Lavinia Ritter, Meyer
Schuman, John M. Simpson, Howard M.
Sims, A. E. Thiffault, Casimir R. Wachow-
ski.

SEASICK FISH

Page Mr. Ripley of "believe it or not"
fame. This is a fish story, avowedly, but
a true one although it makes severe demands
on one's credulity.

While in a power boat, with the sea
running high, during a Museum expedition
off the coast of Maine, Mr. Alfred C. Weed,
Curator of Fishes, and Staflf Taxidermist
Leon L. Pray, made a curious observation —
that fish, of all creatures, are subject to
mal de mer. The Museum men had made
a good catch of live specimens, which they
kept in a "live-car" alongside the boat. As
the intensity of the waves increased, the
water washed over the live-car in such a
way as to provide potential means of escape
for the captives. But the fish, actually and
visibly seasick from the swaying motion of
the container, remained miserably at the
bottom of their floating prison-tank, with
no apparent interest in swimming out to
the freedom that beckoned. Later they
were transferred to tubs on board the boat,
but continued to suffer from the pitching
and rolling motion of the vessel until port
was reached.

FEBRUARY GUIDE-LECTURE TOURS
FOR WEEK-DAY VISITORS

Conducted tours of exhibits, under the
guidance of staff lecturers, are made every
afternoon at 3 o'clock except Saturdays,
Sundays, and certain holidays. Following
is the schedule of subjects and dates for
February:

Wednesday, February 1 — Races of Man-
kind; Thursday — General Tour; Friday —
South American Animal Life.

Week beginning February 6: Monday —
Coal and Oils; Tuesday — Plants with
Curious Habits; Wednesday — Burial Cus-
toms; Thursday — General Tour; Friday —
Animal Families.

Week beginning February IS: Monday —
Indians of North, Central and South
America; Tuesday — Prehistoric and Modern
Mammals; Wednesday — Story of Flax and
Cotton; Thursday — General Tour; Friday —
Birds at Home.

Week beginning February 20: Monday —
Life in the Far East; Tuesday — Rocks and
Their Formation; Wednesday — The Cave-
men; Thursday — General Tour; Friday —
Horses and Their Relatives.

Monday, February 27 — Plant Ecology;
Tuesday — Ancient Mexico.

Persons wishing to participate should
apply at North Entrance. Tours are free.
A new schedule will appear each month in
Field Museum News. Guide-lecturers'
services for special tours by parties of ten
or more are available free of charge by
arrangement with the Director a week in
advance.

Examples of the traveling natural history
exhibits circulated among Chicago's schools
by the N. W. Harris Public School Extension
are shown in Stanley Field Hall.

MEMBERSHIP IN FIELD MUSEUM

Field Museum has several classes of Members.
Benefactors give or devise $100,000 or more. Contribu-
tors give or devise $1,000 to $100,000. Life Members
give $500; Non-Resident Life and Associate Members
pay $100; Non-Resident Associate Members pay $50.
All the above classes are exempt from dues. Sustaining
Members contribute $25 annually. After six years they
become Associate Members. Annual Members con-
tribute $10 annually. Other memberships are Corpo-
rate, Honorary. Patron, and Corresponding, additions
under these classifications being made by special action
of the Board of Trustees.

Each Member, in all classes, is entitled to free
admission to the Museum for himself, his family and
house guests, and to two reserved seats for Museum
lectures provided for Members. Subscription to Field
Museum News is included with all memberships. The
courtesies of every museum of note in the United
States and Canada are extended to all Members of
Field Museum. A Member may give his personal card
to non-residents of Chicago, upon presentation of
which they will be admitted to the Museum without
charge. Further information about memberships will
be sent on request.

BEQUESTS AND ENDOWMENTS

Bequests to Field Museum of Natural History may
be made in securities, money, books or collections.
They may, if desired, take the form of a memorial to
a person or cause, named by the giver.

Contributions made within the taxable year not
exceeding 15 per cent of the taxpayer's net income are
allowable as deductions in computing net income for
federal income tax purposes.

Endowments may be made to the Museum with the
provision that an annuity be paid to the patron for life.
These annuities are guaranteed against fluctuation in
amount, and may reduce federal income taxes.

PRINTKD BY FIEVD MUSBUM PRE**

News

Published Monthly by Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago

Vol. 10

MARCH, 1939

No. 3

LARGE RELIEF MODEL OF NORTH AMERICA PRESENTED BY CHICAGO TRIBUNE

By L. BRYANT MATHER, JR.

ASSISTANT CURATOR OF MINERALOGY

From The Chicago Tribune the Museum
recently received, as a gift, an unusually
large model in relief of the continent of
North America. This model, 10 feet wide
and 15 feet long, has been
repainted, and mounted on
the west wall of Hall 36 in
the Department of Geology.

There are many different
ways in which a model such
as this can be used to show,
far more clearly than could
many pages of writing, vari-
ous interesting features of the
continent on which we live.
However, its most effective
and valuable use in the
Museum seems to be as an
exhibit illustrating basic
physical facts about North
America: its shape, the eleva-
tion of the land, and the
major physical divisions into
which it may be divided.

The actual height of the
land above sea level is shown
modeled to scale. Lower
areas are colored green, in-
creases in depth of shading
indicating lower land. Higher
areas are bufif to brown, the
color darkening to corre-
spond with rises in the level
of the land. Conforming to
conventional usage, areas
covered by water are colored
blue, and those covered for
the greater part of the year
by snow are colored white.

This relief model recalls to
mind a number of facts that
the average person seldom
thinks about once his school-
days are a few years behind
him. For example, do you
remember that the continent
of North America contains
approximately 8,300,000
square miles or just a little
more than half of the land area of the entire
New World of North and South America
together? The American continental mass
is intermediate in size between the earth's
two other continental masses, the Eurasian-
African-Australian group being a great deal

larger, and the Antarctic mass much smaller.
The Museum exhibit, being a model in re-
lief, illustrates graphically that the average
height of the land of North America above
sea level is only 2,100 feet, yet its highest
point. Mount McKinley in Alaska, rises to an

Mii

The North American Continent In Relief

Elizabeth Hambleton (center), guide-lecturer on the staff of the James Nelson and
Anna Louise Raymond Foundation, points out to a group of school girls and boy scouts interesting
features on large relief model (10 by 15 feet) presented to Field Museum by The Chicago Tribune.

elevation of 20,310 feet. Higher mountains
are found only in South America and Asia.
Also the map makes clear the location of
the lowest dry land on the continent, which
lies in Death Valley in southern California,
some 280 feet below sea level. Likewise in-

dicated is the lowest part of the continent
that is not dry land — the deepest point in
Lake Huron, which is approximately 500 feet
below sea level.

At present the oceans overlap the edges
of the continent to some extent. It has
been estimated that since
the beginning of melting
of the ancient ice sheet that
once covered large parts of
North America, the level
of the oceans has been raised
258 feet by the water that
has been returned to them,
and that when the ice that
still remains has all finally
melted, the level of the sea
will rise another 150 feet.
The relief model in the
Museum shows graphically
that should this condition
occur, only the tops of the
highest buildings in cities
such as New York and
Boston would remain above
the sea. Chicago would
remain on quite dry land,
but would be some 300
miles nearer to the Gulf of
Mexico, due to the sub-
mergence of the lower
Mississippi Valley.

The shape of continents
is due to the location of
their mountain ranges.
North America owes
its triangular shape to the
spreading apart in the
north of its two great
mountain chains. The
principal irregularities in
continental outlines — pen-
insulas, bays and islands —
arise either from the
influence of these mountain
chains or from sinking of
low portions of the connect-
ing plain.

In addition to the new
model presented by The
Tribune, there are other
models in relief of parts of North America.
These are on display in the west end of
Clarence Buckingham Hall (Hall 35) and in
the corridors between Halls 34, 35, and 36.
Included are some devoted to the topogra-
phy of Illinois and the Chicago region.

Page 2

FIELD MUSEUM NEWS

March, 19S9

A GREAT GAME FISH—
THE WHITE MARLIN

By ALFRED C. WEED

CintATOB OF FISHES

Fashions in game fishing usually change
rather slowly. Some of the South Sea fisher-
men not only use the methods employed by
many generations of their grandfathers but
probably, in some cases, the same actual
hooks and lines. Salmon fishing methods
in England do not differ greatly from those
that were in use when Izaak Walton wrote
The Compleai Angler. On the other hand,
we have in recent years seen many changes
in American styles of fishing, both in tackle
and in the kinds of fishes sought. These
changes have been more notable in the
marine fishes than in those of the rivers and
lakes. Tarpon fishing as a sport is only
about fifty years old.

Perhaps the most spectacular change in
the sportsmen's ideas about game fishes has
been the recent great rise in popularity of
various members of the swordfish group.
"Broadbill," the real swordfish, has been
caught by anglers for many years at Cata-
lina Island, California, but it is only a
short time since attention began to be paid
to sailfish and marlin in the waters around
Florida and the West Indies. The search
for sailfish was well established before our
anglers began to try to take marlin. Two
species of these magnificent fishes are fairly
common in waters that can be reached
easily from Miami, Florida, or from Bimini,
Bahama Islands. The larger and less
known of these is the blue marlin. This
fish may reach a length well over ten feet
and a weight of several hundred pounds.
Such a fish makes a splendid trophy and
may force the angler to work hard for some
hours before it can be brought into the boat.

SPECTACULAR LEAPS

The white marlin is considerably smaller,
not much larger than a sailfish, and rarely
reaches a weight of more than one hundred
pounds. However, this is not all the story.
An active fish, weighing eighty to a hundred
pounds, on moderately light tackle can give
the angler plenty of thrills, and it seems
from published accounts that this is just
what the white marlin does. If one can
believe the stories in books and magazines,
there are few, if any, fishes that put up a
more spectacular battle against the angler.
While most fishes seek deep water when
they feel the restraint of the line, the white
marlin goes into the air, making spectacular
leaps in such rapid succession that it seems
to be dancing on the water.

The swordfishes of the world have not
been well studied by scientists. There are
three main divisions of the group. The
true swordfishes carry on the front of the
head a long, flat, bony structure resembling
in shape the blade of a broad-sword. Fishes
of this type are found in most warm and
temperate seas. They look very much alike,

THIS MONTH AT THE MUSEUM

From various schedules which
will be found in this issue of FIELD
MUSEUM NEWS, it will be seen that
there are special events scheduled
for the entertainment and instruc-
tion of Museum visitors every day
during March and April. On Satur-
days, in the morning there will be
the Raymond Foundation motion
picture programs for children, and
in the afternoon the illustrated lec-
tures on science and travel for
adults, both presented in the James
Simpson Theatre. On Sunday
afternoons there will be the lectures
and tours conducted by Mr. Paul G.
Dallwig, the Layman Lecturer.
Daily from Monday to Friday inclu-
sive there will be presented guide-
lecture tours conducted by members
of the Museum staff.

and it is not yet known whether to class
them all as one, or to make two or more
species of them. All the others have
pointed bony spikes in place of the sword.
They are often called spearfishes to dis-
tinguish them from the swordfishes. These
may be divided into two groups by the
shape of the fin on the back. In the sail-
fishes this fin is very large, more than twice
as high as the body of the rather slender
creature. There are several species in this
group.

STREAMLINED FOR SPEED

The marlins are larger and somewhat
heavier for their length than the sailfishes,
but still much more slender than the sword-
fishes. Their dorsal fins are smaller, quite
high in front, and lower behind. All these
fishes are streamlined for high speed. Be-
cause the fins would add much resistance
they can be enclosed in grooves in the body
of the fish so that they are entirely hidden
much of the time. The number of species
of marlins is not known. Various authors
estimate it from two or three to about
twenty.

In a new Hall of Fishes, currently in
preparation, the Museum expects to have
on exhibition some fine specimens of the
larger game fishes. The most recent addi-
tion to this series is a beautiful specimen of
white marlin caught by Colonel Warren R.
Roberts in the Gulf Stream off Miami,
Florida. This fish was mounted by Mr. Al
Pflueger, of Miami, and presented by
Colonel Roberts.

THE OLDEST KNOWN TEXTILES,
MADE IN NEOLITHIC AGE

By HENRY FIELD

CURATOR OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOUXJY

The average person probably does not
associate the gentle arts of crocheting and
embroidering with the sturdy woman of pre-
historic times. Nor is there evidence that
any form of textile making was known to the
people of the Old Stone Age. But five or
six thousand years ago some Neolithic lady
(or was it her husband?) left a wooden
crochet needle, and another some embroid-
ered cloth for twentieth century excavators
to find in prehistoric lake dwellings in
Switzerland.

Evidences of the high development of
various forms of textile art have come to
light there. Spindle whorls and loom weights
of stone and clay, bundles of raw flax fiber,
specimens of knitted and netted fabrics, and
loom-woven cloth of wool and of linen in
forms as complicated as twill were found.

From these and other discoveries we know
that this primitive people learned, possibly
through accidental experience, that animal
and vegetable fibers could be twisted to form
long, strong threads; that from these threads
they wove cloth; and that they decorated
their cloth with rich borders, chain and plait
fringes, and embroidery. They even wove
designs by combining threads of different
textures.

Fleecy, hairy-surfaced textiles were used
for rugs and capes; coarse bags were some-
times made of braided bast and rushes; and
baskets were coiled and twined.

Contemporary knowledge of weaving in
ancient Egypt is indicated by the figure of a
horizontal loom decorating a Badarian bowl
recently found and attributed to about
4000 B.C.

In the Hall of the Stone Age of the Old
World (Hall C), Case 13 contains spindle
whorls and loom weights, as well as woven
fabrics and a reconstruction drawing of a
loom. In Case 14 are samples of nets and
twisted fibers which had been charred and
were therefore well preserved, although
buried for several thousand years in the bed
of Lake NeuchStel. The large diorama
opposite these cases (No. vill) represents
an early morning scene beside Lake Neu-
chatel. In the foreground two fishermen are
hauling in their seine. At the entrance to
one of the thatched dwellings of their village
stands a large loom, awaiting the attention
of the woman of the house.

ADVENTURES IN BOTANY

are told in The World Was My Garden, by David Fairchild, well-known plant explorer.
"This book contains a fascinating account of a lifetime of work and travels in all parts
of the world in pursuit of exotic plants, fruits, and vegetables for introduction into the
United States," states Dr. B. E. Dahlgren, Chief Curator of Botany.

On sale at the BOOK SHOP of FIELD MUSEUM— $3.75.

March, 1939

FIELD MUSEUM NEWS

Page S

A GROUP OF TOUCANS COLLECTED BY MANDEL EXPEDITION

By emmet R. BLAKE interesting family may be found in forested

ASSISTANT CURATOR OF BIRDS . , , , , . ,... ,

regions from sea level upward to altitudes
of seven or eight thousand feet.

Many factors are involved in the forma-
tion of natural associations of bird-life.
Similarity of nesting or of feeding habits
frequently attracts birds of widely separated
families. Tropical fruit trees, such as the
one reproduced in the present habitat group,
are particularly important focal points for
many species during the season of fruitage.

Birds which, in their search for food,
ordinarily are widely scattered in the vast
forests, become concentrated in and about
these occasional sources of abundant food.

The feeding habits, migrations, con-
vergent adaptation, protective coloration,
and various other elements in the intricate
life patterns of certain birds are revealed in
the Guatemala forest habitat group recently
opened to the public in Hall 20.

Data, and specimens and accessories for
the elaborate group, were collected in the
dense tropical rain-forest of eastern Guate-
mala. A special expedition, organized and
sponsored by Mr. Leon Mandel, of Chicago,
spent six months in the field on this mission.
The expedition collected also material for

Toucans and Their Habitat

Photograph shows detail of one section of a group in Hall 20. The specimens were collected by the Leon
Mandel-Field Museum Zoological Expedition to Guatemala, of which Assistant Curator Blake was a member.

two Other habitat groups, one of the exotic
quetzal, national bird of Guatemala, and
the other of a nesting colony of oropendulas.
These groups, exhibited in adjoining cases,
were pictured and described in the Septem-
ber and December (1938) issues of Field
Museum News.

Puerto Barrios, the Caribbean port of
Guatemala, familiar to many travelers in
Central American waters, was chosen as the
ideal locale to be reproduced. The humid
forests, luxuriant vegetation, and abundance
of parasitic plants, so ably portrayed in this
Guatemala forest group, are typical of the
vast tropical lowlands of eastern Central
America.

Featured in the group are two species of
toucan, or "billbirds." More than fifty
species of this fruit-eating family are known
to science. All are characterized by enor-
mous beaks which are of light, cellular struc-
ture internally. The colors of the beaks are
generally brilliant and follow characteristic
patterns. Toucans are restricted to the Amer-
ican tropics, but representatives of this

Bishop grosbeaks compete actively and
successfully, as shown, with the larger and
more voracious toucans. Tree-tops which
ordinarily shelter only occasional accidental
bird visitors, suddenly become alive with
avian activity.

Something of the intense competition
existing within the ranks of every related
group of animals is suggested by the attack
of a short-keeled toucan upon two smaller
collared aracari which were monopolizing a
berry-laden branch. Not until the tree is
entirely denuded of ripe berries does the
assemblage of birds scatter to forage else-
where.

The very important biological principle
of convergent evolution is illustrated in the
group by a western barred wood-hewer and
a chestnut-collared woodpecker. Although
members of entirely different orders or major
groups of birds, wood-hewers, as well as
woodpeckers, are equipped with stiffened
tail feathers which serve as a necessary
support while the birds are perched in a
vertical position. Field observations reveal

the basic similarity of the feeding habits of
these unrelated species, and one concludes
that the similarity of structure has, through
evolutionary channels, been the natural
result.

Also included in the exhibit is a northern
wood thrush, representative of a large num-
ber of species which nest in North America
but retire to the tropics each winter. Some,
like the wood thrush, pause in Central
America. Many others continue southward
to South America or even fly directly across
the Caribbean. Most of our insect-eaters
are highly migratory, even the smaller species
performing amazing journeys twice each
year. Unfortunately, all of our song-
sters, of which the wood thrush is one of the
finest, become relatively silent in winter.
The tropical forest never resounds with the
songs of North American birds.

The birds in the group, as well as the
painted background, were prepared by Staff
Artist Arthur G. Rueckert, and the acces-
sories were made under the supervision of
Preparator Frank H. Letl.

BOTANIST EMPLOYS MONKEYS
TO COLLECT SPECIMENS

Stories of monkeys as botanical collectors
always seem fantastic and incredible. Some
time ago Field Museum News printed such
a story and aroused critical comments from
the incredulous. Here is another more
detailed and documented one from a British
source:

The Kew Bulletin, No. 7, 1938, quotes
from the Annual Report of the Director of
Gardens, Straits Settlements, an account
of the use made of berok monkeys (Macacus
nemestrina), widely used in the East by the
Malays for gathering coconuts, to collect
botanical specimens from tall trees. Two
young beroks, Jambul and Putch, are at
present employed; they understand twelve
words of Kelantanese and can thus be
instructed to pick specific twigs, and drop
them to the ground. Mr. E. J. H. Corner,
Acting Director of the Gardens, who ob-
tained the team from Kelantan, states, "A
berok upon the shoulder can be likened, in
effect, to a falcon on the wrist; and its
employment is recommended both to
amateurs for its charm and cheapness, and
to keepers of reserves where it is desirable
to collect specimens repeatedly from the
same trees without damage to them. Jam-
bul and Putch are the first beroks to enter
the government service. "

Group of Geologists Visits Museum

Fifty members of the Marquette Geolo-
gists Association visited Field Museum in a
body last month. They were conducted
through the exhibits of the Department of
Geology by Chief Curator Henry W.
Nichols and Assistant Curator L. Bryant
Mather, Jr.

Page ^

FIELD MUSEUM NEWS

March, 19S9

BROKEN DISHES REVEAL HISTORY OF PREHISTORIC DWELLERS IN SOUTHWEST

By PAUL S. MARTIN

CHIEF CURATOR, DEPARTMENT OF ANTHROPOLOGY

In the Southwest a revival of pottery
making has resulted in refuse piles around
modern Indian pueblos similar to the dumps
of abandoned prehistoric towns. The Hopis
are making "classical" pottery again — more
important, they often break it. The pieces
of a broken bowl or pot, called sherds, are

terized by a peculiar combination of cultural
traits. The Cliff Dwellers were recognized as
a phase due to their distinctive custom of
building pueblos in caves, and because they
made a characteristic classical pottery known
as "Mesa Verde ware."

The typological differentiation of phases
has been corroborated by excavations reveal-
ing sherds scattered all over the surface of

Reconstructing Pottery and History
Dr. Paul S. Martin, Chief Curator of the Department of Anthropology, and Miss Marjorie Kelly, studying
jars rebuilt from fragments collected in Colorado by last ^summer's Field Museum Archaeological Expedition to
the Southwest. At right is Mr. Tokumatsu Ito, Ceramic Restorer of the Department, whose special skill is
reassembling as many as a hundred or more tiny bits of an ancient vessel so as to restore its original form.

of extreme importance to the archaeologist.

Sedentary people have lived in the South-
west for at least 2,000 years, and the
correlation between agrarian habits and
pottery production is high. Not only the
Hopis, but the Indians at Santa Clara, San
Ildefonso, Tesuque, Zuni, Jemez, Acoma and
other villages, are now making pottery.

The ancient Hohokam, the Cliff Dwellers
at Mesa Verde, and the Basket Maker
Indians at White Dog Cave likewise all made
pottery. Inevitably a large amount was
broken, providing sherds. Archaeologists
have discovered that, fortunately, a fair
sized sherd with the design elements present
is a satisfactory substitute for a whole jar
or bowl. Examination of a number of
sherds from one site affords a comprehensive
picture of pottery-making activities.

DIFFERENTIATING CULTimAL PHASES
Originally it was fascinating enough to
make a qualitative study of the sherds.
There were gross differences between speci-
mens from the pueblo of Acoma in New
Mexico and those from the Oraibi pueblo
in Arizona. Around these places one could
discover site after site loaded with sherds
similar to those produced in the present
towns. It was possible to associate par-
ticular pottery-making habits with particular
house types, and thus phases were recognized
and differentiated. A phase is an arbitrary
point or period in cultural change, charac-

a ruin, and refuse mounds saturated with
broken bits of pottery from top to bottom.
As early as 19H remarkable differences
were noted between sherds found in a top
"cut" and those in the bottom. This
differentiation, recognized as a natural
phenomenon, is called stratigraphy.

A common sense principle is founded upon
stratigraphy: given a dump heap or a room
artificially filled and, providing there has
been no disturbance of the fill (in either
historic or prehistoric times), the bottom
layer must be older than the top, and an
overlying deposition must be more recent
than any underlying it. It is safe to assume,
until there is evidence to negate it, that the
strata were contiguous and that the changes
in ways of making pottery, as shown by
the sherds from one stratum to the next,
were natural, transitional steps.

Principally upon sherd evidence, the
Southwest (from Chihuahua to Colorado,
and from Texas to southern California) came
to be viewed as an archaeological area in
which the vicissitudes of a single, funda-
mental cultural pattern could be observed.
Four original variations on the fundamental
pattern were conjectured: a Yuman, a
Hohokam, a Caddoan, and a Basket Maker.
Each of these "roots" was composed of a
myriad of phases differentiated from each
other in time position. Yet there was an
asymmetrical relationship between the

phases of one root and those of others. Early
Acoma was contemporaneous in time alone
with the abandoned Hopi village of Sikyatki.
Their methods of making pottery were en-
tirely unassociated, and dependent upon
cultural trends from widely separated areas.
The reconstruction of cultural history for
the Southwest has been given a definite
form. We know that each of the peoples
of Acoma, of Zuni, and of the Hopi mesas
boasts a separate ancestry. In latter days
the rigorous, inexorable qualities of quantita-
tive technique have been employed in
archaeological research. Earlier it had been
noted that "natural" levels of deposition,
outlined by strata of ash or sterile soil,
were not to be trusted. In one incident,
it was found that upon dividing a "natural"
level vertically at an arbitrary point the
sherds on one side were 100 per cent of
one phase, and the sherds on the other were
100 per cent of another phase. It was dis-
covered also that, quite generally, all of
the pottery types of all of the different
phases present in a particular site would
be found present through all of the fill.
Quantitative technique counteracted this
discrepancy. If a refuse mound is divided
into squares, and the refuse removed in
blocks of a given depth, a chronology of
pottery types for each square and its
respective blocks is established. These
squares can later be compared and a single
chronology for the entire site created. This
does away with the contradictions of
"natural" levels.

PROSPECTS FOR FUTURE STUDY

Also, although unassociated pottery types
are often found from the top to the bottom
of a mound, it has been noted that the types
definitely "out of place" are present in a
much smaller proportion than the bona fide
wares of any particular level. Therefore,
by making an arbitrary ruling that no
pottery type under 10 per cent of the total
number of sherds for a particular block
may be considered as characteristic, it has
been possible to remove this aberration of
natural mixing of unassociated sherds.

This new technique lends itself to the
recognition of subtle, transitional stages
between phases that might contain the same
pottery types, qualitatively, but with a
wide variation in proportions. It is im-
possible to say how much more will be
accomplished with such new evidence.
From the pessimistic viewpoint, it should
be mentioned that no one will ever fill in
the gaps in the Southwestern chronology to
the point where there will be nothing more
to learn. Possibly it would be best to
predict the unpredictable and to say that
one day there may be an entirely new school
of thought that will examine the findings
of Southwestern archaeologists for the
promulgation of natural laws of the ways
and habits of mankind.

March, 1939

FIELD MUSEUM NEWS

Page 5

TOXICOLOGIST COMPLETES STUDY
OF PERU'S "DEATH VINE"

The collections of the Marshall Field
Peruvian Expedition (1929-30) included
some stems, branches, and roots, and a
quantity of a native decoction from a
twining shrub or woody climber known as
Caapi. This plant is the source of a power-
ful narcotic, used in rites and divinations,
by medicine men of the Indians in the
Peruvian Montaiia region. The physiologi-
cal effects of Caapi — excitation and visions,
followed by depression — have been described
repeatedly and are well known. The active
principle of the drug was made the object of
various investigations, but no definite
results were obtained. It was therefore
deemed advisable to offer the material to a
competent toxicologist for study, and it was
accordingly placed at the disposal of Dr.
K. K. Chen, of the Research Laboratories of
Eli Lilly and Company, Indianapolis, in
1931. A report on his investigation has now
been published, after the lapse of these
several years, in the Quarterly Journal of
Pharmacy and Pharmacology, a British
technical periodical.

Dr. Chen found the active principle of
Caapi or ayahuasca to be harmine, an
alkaloid already known from another plant
source. The many different terms which
have been applied by various authors to the
toxic principle of Caapi — e.g., telepathine,
yajeine, banisterine, etc. — now may all be
discarded. In the words of Dr. Chen, "the
mystery of the action of Caapi is thus
resolved."

In his experiments with harmine on mice
and rabbits, Dr. Chen found that the effects
of the drug were neutralized to a large extent
by injections of certain barbituric acid
derivatives which appear to offer a possible
means of treatment of Caapi poisoning.

The use of Caapi or ayahuasca by Peruvian
aboriginals was described by Mr. Llewelyn
Williams, Curator of Economic Botany, and
leader of the expedition, in the August, 1931,
issue of Field Museum News. The fol-
lowing reprinted excerpts are of interest in
connection with Dr. Chen's report:

The name ayahuasca derives from the
Quechua dialect words aya, meaning death,
and kuasca, meaning vine. The ' 'death vine"
belongs to the tropical family Malpighiaceae.

Among the Indians the leaves of this vine
are boiled in water for several hours, and
the resulting infusion is drunk copiously at
ceremonial feasts to eliminate fear and to
stimulate reckless bravery in warfare. The
narcotic element in the drink has a rapid
and violent effect on the nervous system.
It is strongly habit forming.

During a tribal gathering the medicine-
man acts as cup bearer. He serves the
ayahuasca drink in a small calabash con-
taining about a cupful. In about two
minutes its effect begins to be apparent.
The drinker turns pale, trembles in every

limb, and is swept by dizziness. When this
stage has passed he announces that he sees
charming landscapes, trees laden with fruits,
birds of gorgeous plumage and other beauti-
ful things. Then, suddenly, the vision
changes. Unable longer to support himself,
he has hallucinations of persons appearing
to ridicule him, of tigers, serpents and super-
natural creatures preparing to attack him,
and other fearsome things. He howls and
groans mournfully, screams incoherent unin-
telligible words. All of this, the medicine-
man explains later, is due to some particular
individual — usually an enemy of the family
— for whom a poisonous concoction should
be prepared.

When the Indian awakes from his trance
he must be held down by force to prevent
him from seizing his weapons and attacking
the first person he encounters. This stage
is followed by lethargy, lapsing into uncon-

sciousness. Finally, upon recovering, there
is a feeling of heavy drowsiness and headache
which lasts for several days.

The ayahuasca concoction is drunk also
by the medicine-man himself, to produce a
trance supposed to enable him to do such
things as settle a dispute or quarrel, discover
robbers, tell if strangers are approaching,
give proper answer to an envoy from another
tribe, discover the plans of an enemy, dis-
cover if wives are unfaithful, or, in the case
of a sick man, to tell who bewitched him.

Visiting Hours Change March 1

Beginning March 1, spring visiting hours,
9 A.M. to 5 P.M., will replace the winter
schedule of 9 to 4. The new hours will
continue in effect until April 30, after which
the Museum will be open from 9 a.m. to
6 P.M. until September 4 (Labor Day).

THINGS YOU MAY HAVE MISSED— DYAK HUNTER OF BORNEO

The Dyaks of Borneo are world-famed for their prowess in hunting. In Hall G of
the Museum is a life-size figure representing a typical Siang-Dyak hunter with his
weapons.

The chief weapon, both in hunting and warfare, is the blowgun, an example of which
is shown in the exhibit. Reeds are sometimes used for the making of blowguns, but
more typical are those made from a straight-
grained stick of hard wood. This is cut to the
desired length, and the blowpipe is bored with
a long iron rod having a chisel-like end. When
it has been smoothed and finished, a spear
blade is lashed to the end, so that it can be
used not only as a blowgun, but in hand-to-hand
combat with a human or animal foe. Thus it
parallels the idea and effect of the rifle with
bayonet attached as used in the armies of the
world.

In its use as a gun, the missiles employed
are tiny darts. These are fitted at one end
with a cone of pith, and the other end is pointed.
To increase their deadliness, the points are
smeared with a powerful alkaloid poison. Plac-
ing a dart in the tube, the Dyak raises it to
his lips and blows mightily — a man with good
lungs can direct the dart with sufficient force
to kill his quarry at a distance of several yards.
Speed of death is hastened by the poison, but
the meat of an animal slain in this way is not
damaged for consumption as food. The darts
are carried in a quiver on the belt, as shown in
the exhibit.

A Dyak hunter carries also a shield for
warding off poison arrows which enemies may
direct against him, and for parrying spears or
knife thrusts. A long fighting knife is another
customary item of equipment. The young
men are exceptionally skillful fencers and
spend many hours practising with these knives.

The data for the Museum's figure of a Dyak
were assembled by Dr. Fay-Cooper Cole, now
of the University of Chicago faculty, in con-
nection with the Arthur B. Jones Expedition to Malaysia of which he was the leader.
This expedition made extensive collections for the Museum in 1922. Dr. Cole was then
a member of the staff of Field Museum's Department of Anthropology.

Blowgun Marksman

Fully eqtiipped Dyak hunter aa represented
in Museum exhibit. The blowgun, with spear
blade like a bayonet, is seen in right band.

Page 6

FIELD MUSEUM NEWS

March, 19S9

Field Museum of Natural History

Founded by Marshall Field, 1893
Roosevelt Road and Field Drive, Chicago

THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES

Sewell U Avery Wiluam H. Mitchell

Leopold E. Block George A. Richardson

Albert B. Dick, Jr. Theodore Roosevelt

Joseph N. Field Fred W. Sargent

Marshall Field James Simpson

Stanley Field Solomon A. Smith

Albert W. Harris Albert A. Sprague

Samuel Insull, Jr. Silas H. Strawn

Chables A. McCulloch John P. Wilson

OFFICERS

Stanley Field President

Albert A. Sprague First Vice-President

James Simpson Second Vice-President

Albert W. Harris Third Vice-President

Clifford C. Gregg Director and Secretary

Solomon A. Smith . . . Treasurer and Assistant Secretary

FIELD MUSEUM NEWS

Clifford C. Gregg, Director of the Museum .... Editor

CONTRIBUTING EDITORS

Paul S. Martin Chief Curator of Anthropology

B. E. Dahlgren Chief Curator of Botany

Henry W. Nichols Chief Curator of Geology

Wilfred H. Osgood Chief Curator of Zoology

H. B. Harte Managing Editor

Members are requested to Inform the Museum
promptly of changes of address.

FROM THE DIRECTOR'S DESK—

A Great Friend of Chicago's Children

A Benefactor of Field Museum, whose
widespread generosity to the people of
Chicago is perhaps not fully known and
appreciated, is Mrs. James Nelson Raymond.
Her gifts created the James Nelson and Anna
Louise Raymond
Foundation for
Public School and
Children's Lectures,
through which the
lessons of plant and
animal life, the com-
position and struc-
ture of the earth,
and the strange lives
of primitive peoples
of the world are

made known to the Mrs. James N. Raymond
Founder of the Raymond
Foundation. Through her
benefactions, lessons in
natural history are brought
T-«- 1 1 »«■ ^y Field Museum to ap-
tion at Field Mu- proximately a quarter of a

seum, Mrs. Ray- '"""'"' '•''"'*""' ^'=^ >"^"-
mond has established a similar project in
the Art Institute of Chicago to promote a
consciousness of art among school children,
and she has provided scholarships and
benefits for students in other educational
institutions.

The contributions of Mrs. Raymond for
the conducting of work among children by
Field Museum now amount to more than
$565,000. A gift of $2,000 was received
from her in February, following by only a
few weeks the gift of $4,000 announced in
the January issue of Field Museum News.

The continuous and enthusiastic support
which Mrs. Raymond gives the Museum in
its efforts to stimulate the interest of the

school children of
Chicago. In addi-
tion to her Founda-

growing generation in Nature and Science
is one of the greatest factors in the institu-
tion's success as an educational force. Mrs.
Raymond's Foundation is one that is work-
ing in a field where the most good can be
accomplished, the young generation, upon
which all our hopes must rely for the build-
ing of a better society, conscious of the needs
and rights of contemporary mankind. A
sincere appreciation of Nature is a potent
force toward an improved civilization and a
higher type of citizenship. The Raymond
Foundation is developing this appreciation.
It is a great and good work, the importance
of which cannot be over-emphasized.

Clifford C. Gregg, Director.

Distinguished Visitors

Among distinguished visitors recently
received at Field Museum were the follow-
ing: Colonel Richard Meinertzhagan, noted
British ornithologist; Professor E. N. Tran-
seau. Head of the Department of Botany,
Ohio State University, and Dr. Osvald Siren,
Curator of Oriental Art at the National
Museum in Stockholm, Sweden.

Professor Malcolm F. Farley, of the
FHikien Christian University at Foochow,
China, is spending six months at the Mu-
seum on a research project in connection
with Chinese ceramics and related subjects.

STAFF NOTES

Mr. L. Bryant Mather, Jr. has been
appointed to the staff of the Department of
Geology as Assistant Curator of Mineralogy.
Mr. Mather studied at the Johns Hopkins
University under some of the outstanding
authorities of the mineralogical world. He
has been engaged in mineralogical work for
the United States Geological Survey and
the National Park Service, and served for a
time as Curator of Mineralogy in the
Museum of the Natural History Society of
Maryland, at Baltimore.

Mr. James R. Shouba has been appointed
to the Museum staff to assist Superintendent
W. H. Corning.

Mr. Karl P. Schmidt, Curator of Amphibi-
ans and Reptiles, presented his lecture, "A
Naturalist in the South Seas," relating the
story of the Cornelius Crane Pacific Expe-
dition of Field Museum, before the Cornell
Club of Chicago last month.

Staff Taxidermist John W. Moyer pre-
sented a lecture, "Behind the Scenes at
Field Museum," before a large audience of
guests of the Stevens Hotel on February 6.
He also recently lectured before members
of the Medinah Club.

Dr. Julian A. Steyermark, Assistant Cu-
rator of the Herbarium, has been appointed
representative of Field Museum to the Con-
servation Council of Chicago, an organiza-

tion devoted to the conservation of natural
resources.

Dr. Steyermark gave an illustrated lecture
before the Chicago Aquarium Society,
February 15, on "Aquarium Plants and
Their Flowers."

Staff Taxidermist C. J. Albrecht recently
lectured on the life history of the Alaska fur
seal before an audience at the Carnegie
Museum of Pittsburgh.

NEW MEMBERS

The following persons were elected to
membership in Field Museum during the
period from January 16 to February 15:

Contributors

Wallace W. Lufkin, Clarence B. Mitchell

Associate Members

Mrs. Frances S. Cummings, Otto Gressens,
George W. Lennon, Albert E. M. Louer,
Frederic G. Pick.

.\nnual Members

Dr. Margaret Howard Austin, Mrs. Her-
man A. Behrens, H. L. Bloom, Sidney Weil
Bloom, Clayton B. Burch, Richard W.
Canman, James F. Clancy, Harry Dinkel-
man, George W. Dixon, Jr., Miss N. B.
Durbin, Carl Ed, Henri Elman, Mrs. Cora F.
Engel, Nick Fennema, Mrs. Earle B.
Fowler, Thomas B. Gallaher, Herbert F.
Geisler, Roger F. Howe, Mrs. R. M. Kimball,
Mrs. Michael L. Mason, Mrs. George A.
McKinlock, John B. Metzenberg, Mrs.
Arthur O. Olsen, Mrs. George H. Parkinson,
Dwight S. Parmelee, Mrs. John B. Rodgers,
J. C. Schmidtbauer, J. A. Schram, Calvin F.
Selfridge, Mrs. J. Harry Selz, Walter H.
Siegfried, Sidney Stackler, W. L. Stensgaard,
Albert J. Tarrson, Mrs. S. E. Thomason,
Louis A. Weiss, E. L. Wilson.

A FEW FACTS ABOUT FIELD MUSEUM

Field Museum is open every day of the year
(except Christmas and New Year's Day) during
the hours indicated below:

November, December,

January, February 9 a.m. to 4 P.M.

March, April, and

September, October 9 A.M. to 5 P.M.

May, June, July, August 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Admission is free to Memt>ers on all days.
Other adults are admitted free on Thursdays,
Saturdays, and Sundays; non-members pay 25
cents on other days. Children are admitted free
on all days. Students and faculty members of
educational institutions are admitted free any
day upon presentation of credentials.

The Museum's Library is open for reference
daily except Saturday afternoon and Sunday.

Traveling exhibits are circulated in the schools
of Chicago by the N. W. Harris Public School
Extension Department of the Museum.

Lectures at schools, and special entertain-
ments and tours for children at the Museum, are
provided by the James Nelson and Anna Louise
Raymond Foundation for Public School and
Children's Lectures.

Free courses of lectures for adults are presented
in the James Simpson Theatre on Saturday after-
noons (at 2:30 o'clock) in March, April, October,
and November.

A Cafeteria serves visitors. Rooms are avail-
able also for those bringing their lunches.

Chicago Motor Coach Company No. 26 busses
provide direct transportation to the Museum. Ser-
vice is offered also by Surface Lines, Rapid Tran-
sit Lines (the "L"), interurban electric lines, and
Illinois Central trains. There is ample free park-
ing space for automobiles at the Museum.

March, 1939

FIELD MUSEUM NEWS

Page 7

"NATURE'S 'MARCH OF TIME' "
ON SUNDAY TOURS

The prehistoric world, with its many
strange forms of animals and plants which
have been extinct for millions of years, will
be brought to life for those who attend the
Sunday afternoon lecture tours conducted
during March by Mr. Paul G. Dallwig,
the Layman Lecturer of Field Museum.
"Nature's 'March of Time' " is the title
ofTered by Mr. Dallwig for each of the four
Sundays this month. The parties will tour
Ernest R. Graham Hall of Historical
Geology, where Mr. Dallwig will relate the
most interesting facts about the various
fossil specimens, as well as the restorations
in which the creatures of the past are shown
as science indicates they must have appeared
in life.

Each Sunday lecture tour is limited to a
party of 125 adults. Reservations must be
made in advance by mail or telephone
(Wabash 9410).

The lectures begin promptly at 2 p.m. and
end at 4:30. Members of the parties may
obtain refreshments in the Cafeteria, and
smoke, during a half-hour intermission mid-
way in the tours. Special tables are reserved
for the groups.

In April Mr. Dallwig's Sunday tours will
be on the subject "Digging Up the Cave-
man's Past."

GIFTS TO THE MUSEUM

Following is a list of some of the principal
gifts received during the last month:

Department of Anthropology:

From Dr. Henry Field, Chicago — 3 glass
and 4 pottery lachrymas and 3 glass brace-
lets, Italy; from William J. Town, Detroit,
Michigan — a skull, Michigan; from C. J.
Hambleton, Chicago — a Tibetan prayer
wheel of silver, inlaid with turquoise and
coral.

Department of Botany :

From R. C. Monteiro da Costa, Para,
Brazil — 13 specimens of fibers and woods,
Brazil; from Dr. Harold C. Bold, Nashville,
Tennessee — 20 specimens of algae. North
Carolina and Tennessee; from University
of California, Berkeley, California — 91 her-
barium specimens. South America, Mexico,
and California; from Dr. F. Raymond
Fosberg, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania — 45
herbarium specimens, Hawaii.

Department of Geology :

From A. J. and Ray Schneider, Portland,
Oregon — one rough and 7 cut and polished
thunder eggs, Oregon; from Frank M.
Preucil, Joliet, Illinois — 6 meteorite photo-
graphs; from Glen C. Wolf, Chicago — 110
concretions, Montana; from Grahame
Horton, Glencullen, Oregon — a specimen
of polished natrolite, Oregon.

Department of Zoology:

From Habib Rasool, Buxton, British
Guiana — 69 specimens of miscellaneous
birds, British Guiana; from Dr. Wilfred H.

Osgood, Chicago — 28 small mammals and
a mammal skeleton, Mississippi; from
General Biological Supply House, Chicago
— 23 specimens of snakes, lizards, and fresh
water snails, and a mass of eggs of the
leopard frog, artificially produced, Florida,
Panama, and the laboratory; from John G.
Shedd Aquarium, Chicago — one Japanese
giant salamander, and 8 fish specimens from
Fiji, South America, Florida Keys, and
Bahama Islands; from Chicago Zoological
Society, Brookfield, Illinois — 13 birds and
2 snakes.

The Library:

Valuable books from L. Bryant Mather,
Jr., Dr. Henry Field, and C. Martin Wilbur,
all of Chicago, and from Museo Arquologia
e Historia de Yucatan, Merida, Yucatan.

The Raymond Foundation:

From Dr. Henry Field, Chicago — 5 large
colored transparencies of Egyptian subjects.

A BOOK THAT IS DIFFERENT—

"You will enjoy reading Sculpture,
Inside and Out, by Malvina Hoffman,"
says Dr. Henry Field, Curator of Physi-
cal Anthropology. "The little known
story of the foundry where the artist's
clay is immortalized in bronze is told
vividly and eloquently, simply yet dra-
matically, by a master-craftsman — the
creator of the figures illustrating the
Races of Mankind in Field Museum."

Lavishly illustrated. Price $3.75.
Deluxe autographed edition $7.50.
Publication date about March 25.
Advance orders now being taken by
BOOK SHOP of FIELD MUSEUM

MARCH GUIDE-LECTURE TOURS
FOR WEEK-DAY VISITORS

Conducted tours of exhibits, under the
guidance of staff lecturers, are made every
afternoon at 3 o'clock except Saturdays,
Sundays, and certain holidays. Following
is the schedule of subjects and dates for
March:

Wednesday, March 1 — Meteorites, Moon
and Minerals; Thursday — General Tour;
Friday — Carl Akeley and His Work.

Week beginning March 6: Monday — Uses
of Plant Liquids and Fibers; Tuesday —
The Eskimos and Their Cultures; Wednes-
day— Birds, Past and Present; Thursday —
General Tour; Friday — The Story of
Crystals.

Week beginning March IS: Monday —
Reptiles of Ancient and Modern Times;
Tuesday — The Door in History and Art;
Wednesday— The Hall of Plant Life; Thurs-
day— General Tour; Friday — China and
Tibet.

Week beginning March 20: Monday —
Animals of Cold Regions; Tuesday — Trees
and Their Uses; Wednesday — Man Through
the Ages; Thursday — General Tour; Friday
— Field Museum Bronzes.

Week beginning March 27: Monday —
The Earth and Its Crust; Tuesday — Paints
and Dyes; Wednesday — Beavers and Other
Gnawers; Thursday — General Tour; Friday
— African Cultures.

Persons wishing to participate should
apply at North Entrance. Tours are free.
A new schedule will appear each month in
Field Museum News. Guide-lecturers'
services for special tours by parties of ten
or more are available free of charge by
arrangement with the Director a week in
advance.

A FAMOUS GROUP— THE RARE MARCO POLO SHEEP

Marco Polo's sheep {Ovis poli), named for
the famous Venetian traveler who first
reported it, is generally regarded as the
finest of all wild sheep. Its long, gracefully
sweeping horns are among
the most highly prized
trophies of the hunt.

The habitat of these
sheep is in the Pamir
ranges of western Turke-
stan, beyond the main
Himalayas, where travel is
very arduous.

The specimens in Field
Museum's group, on exhibi-
tion in William V. Kelley
Hall (Hall 17), were shot
by Colonel Theodore
Roosevelt and Mr. Kermit
Roosevelt, leaders of the
James Simpson-Roosevelts
Asiatic Expedition. They
are good average examples
of the species, with horns
slightly more than fifty

inches long. Although horns exceeding
seventy inches in length are known, none
approaching this size have been taken for
many years, according to the records.

The Ovls Poli

Group of Marco Polo's sheep in William V. Kelley Hall. The specimens
were collected by an expedition sponsored by Mr. James Simpson, and led
by Colonel Theodore Roosevelt and Mr. Kermit Kooseveit, of New York.

mSSUSt

Pages

FIELD MUSEUM NEWS

March, 19S9

SPRING LECTURES FOR ADULTS
WILL BEGIN MARCH 4

The seventy-first free course of illustrated
lectures on science and travel to be presented
by Field Museum will open March 4.
Lectures by well-known scientists, natural-
ists, and explorers, together with motion
pictures and stereopticon slides, will be
given each Saturday afternoon throughout
March and April. These will be presented

is reserved for Members of the Museum,
each of whom is entitled to two reserved
seats on request. Requests for these seats
may be made by telephone or in writing to
the Museum, in advance of the lecture,
and seats will be held in the Member's
name until 2:30 o'clock on the day of the
lecture. All reserved seats not claimed by
2:30 o'clock will be made available to the
general public.

The James Simpson Theatre

Field Museum's auditorium in which are presented the Saturday afternoon lectures for adulU,
and the Raymond Foundation entertainments for children on Saturday mornings. The adult course
begins on March 4. The children's programs began in February. Both series will continue until
the end of April. The Theatre was built with funds provided by Mr. James Simpson, who is both
a Trustee and a Vice-President of the Museum. It is equipped for the presentation of both sound
and silent motion pictures, as well as stereopticon slides. Seating capacity exceeds 1,100.

in the James Simpson Theatre of the Mu-
seum, and all will begin at 2:30 o'clock.
Admission is restricted to adults.

Following is the complete schedule of
dates, subjects and speakers:
March 4 — Where Falls the Yellowstone

Mr. Alfred M. Bailey, Colorado Museum of
Natural History

March 11 — Rainbow River

Mr. Martin K. Bovey, Concord, Massachusetts

March 18 — Tropical Brazil

Mr. James C. Sawders, Nutley, New Jersey

March 25 — Africa Speaks Again

Dr. Paul C. Hoefler, Los Angeles, California

April 1 — The Basket Maker Indians in
Eighth Century Colorado

Dr. Paul S. Martin, Field Museum

April 8 — Life Among the Alaskan
Eskimos

Mr. £lder C. Anderson, Minneapolis, Minnesota

April 15 — Colorful Caribbean Shores

Mr. William B. Holmes, Evanston, Illinois

April 22 — Mysterious Kinabalu

Mr. Harold J. Coolidge, Jr., Museum of Com-
parative Zoology, Cambridge, Massachuisetts

April 29— Western Wild Flowers

Mr. John Claire Monteith, Hollywood, California

No tickets are necessary for admission
to these lectures. A section of the Theatre

RAYMOND FOUNDATION OFFERS
MORE CHILDREN'S PROGRAMS

Nine more free programs of motion pic-
tures for children remain to be given on
Saturday mornings during March and April
in the spring series begun last month by
the James Nelson and Anna Louise Raymond
Foundation. The programs include films
with talking and other sound effects, musical
animated cartoons by Walt Disney, and a
great variety of educational subjects. There
will be two showings of the pictures on each
program, one beginning at 10 a.m., and one
at 11. Children from all parts of Chicago
and suburbs are invited, and no tickets are
required for admission. The Museum is
prepared to receive large groups from schools
and other centers, as well as individual
children coming alone or accompanied by
parents or adults. Teachers are urged to
bring their classes.

The following schedule shows the titles
of the films to be presented on each day:

March 4 — How to Know Our Spring Birds;
Where Bananas Ripen; Rainbow Natural
Bridge; The Cutter Northland in Alaska.

March 11 — Father Noah's Ark (Disney

Cartoon); Living Jewels of the Surf;
Sponge Divers of Tarpon; Jungle Play-
mates; Old Sea Chanties.

March 18 — Mr. and Mrs. Goldfinch; Cheeka
the Indian Lad: — Cheeka's Home;
Cheeka's Canoe; Cheeka and the Caribou;
The Proud Seminoles.

March 25 — Pioneer Days (Disney Cartoon);
The Strange Duck-billed Platypus; Thrills
of Bali.

April 1 — The Declaration of Independence;
Elephants of Today.

April 8 — Busy Beavers (Disney Cartoon);
In Faraway Manchukuo; We're on Our
Way; The Life of a Plant; Spotted Wings.

April 15 — Bill and Bob Trap a Mountain
Lion; Our Four-footed Helpers; The
Trumpeter; Majorca the Picturesque;
Wild Life on the Amazon.

April 22 — Birds in the Spring (Disney
Cartoon); Chumming with Chipmunks;
Leaping Through Life; Pottery Makers
of the Southwest; Nature's Armor.

April 29 — In Nature's Workshop; Let's
Save a Life; The Heart of the Sierras;
Our Zoo Acquaintances.

An iron meteorite weighing 3,275 pounds,
and remarkable for its large size and sym-
metrical form, is on exhibition in Case 10
of Stanley Field Hall. It was found near
Tonopah, Nevada.

MEMBERSHIP IN FIELD MUSEUM

Field Museum has several classes of Members.
Annual Members contribute $10 annually. As-
sociate Members pay $100 and are exempt from
dues. Sustaining Members contribute $25 annu-
ally for six consecutive years, after which they
become Associate Members and are exempt from
all further dues. Life Members give $500 and
are exempt from dues. Non-Resident Life Mem-
bers pay $100, and Non-Resident Associate
Members $50; both of these classes are also
exempt from dues. The Non-Resident member-
ships are available only to persons residing fifty
miles or more from Chicago. Those who give or
devise to the Museum $1,000 to $100,000 are
designated as Contributors, and those who give
or devise $100,000 or more become Benefactors.
Other memberships are Honorary, Patron,
Corresponding and Corporate, additions under
these classifications being made by special action
of the Board of Trustees.

Each Member, in all classes, is entitled to free
admission to the Museum for himself, his family
and house guests, and to two reserved seats for
Museum lectures provided for Members. Sub-
scription to Field Museum News is included
with all memberships. The courtesies of every
museum of note in the United States and Canada
are extended to all Members of Field Museum.
A Member may give his personal card to non-
residents of Chicago, upon presentation of which
they will be admitted to the Museum without
charge. Further information about member-
ships will be sent on request.

BEQUESTS AND ENDOWMENTS

Bequests to Field Museum of Natural History
may be made in securities, money, books or
collections. They may, if desired, take the form
of a memorial to a person or cause, named by the
giver.

Contributions made within the taxable year not
exceeding 16 per cent of the taxpayer's net in-
come are allowable as deductions in computing
net income for federal income tax purposes.

Endowments may be made to the Museum
with the provision that an annuity be paid to
the patron for life. These annuities are guaran-
teed against fluctuation in amount, and may
reduce federal income taxes.

PRINTED HT FIELD

MUSEUM PRE&8

Reldj^^KtoNews

Published Monthly by Field Mitseum of Natural History, Chicago

Vol. 10

APRIL, 1939

No. 4

By RUDYERD BOULTON
curator op birds

All peoples of all times have been im-
pressed with the power and spirit of large
birds of prey, and the many species of
eagles that exist in all countries of the
world have been a focus for this interest.
Countless legends and traditions attest to
the high regard, and even perhaps to a little
of the awe, in which these splendid birds
have been held from
earliest antiquity to
the present day. The
"thunder bird" of the
Indians of the south-
western United States
was probably pat-
terned after a huge
condor known only
from fossil remains.
The coats-of-arms of
many nations include
an eagle on the device,
and eagles could only
be flown by royalty
when falconry was at
its hey-day in medie-
val Europe.

In North America
there are two species
that occur commonly
and have wide distri-
bution. Magnificent
specimens of both are
shown in Field Mu-
seum: the bald eagle
in Hall 21, and a habi-
tat group of the golden
eagle in Hall 20. The
group was prepared
by Taxidermist Julius Friesser, with painted
background by the late Staff Artist Charles
A. Corwin, and has just been reinstalled by
Taxidermist John W. Moyer. The two ea-
glets are the gift of Mr. Alfred M. Bailey,
formerly a member of Field Museum's staff,
and now Director of the Colorado Museum
of Natural History in Denver.

Golden eagles are holarctic in distribution
— that is, they are circumpolar, and inhabit
all north temperate regions. In this regard
they resemble a great many birds, mammals,
and other vertebrates that have taken
advantage of the proximity of Alaska to
Siberia and have extended their domain to
include all habitats suitable to them. About
six or seven geographic races have been

recognized, based on slight differences in
size and color. The American race is one
of the largest and darkest, and the golden
sheen from which the species gets its name
is largely confined to the lanceolate hackle
feathers of the neck.

Unlike the white-headed bird used as the
national emblem of the United States, the
golden eagle is partial to mountainous
regions and arid barren wastes. It is there-

THE GOLDEN EAGLE AND THE AMERICAN (OR BALD) EAGLE— HOW THEY DIFFER

two or three nests which they use in alter-
nate years. The nests, when first built, are
no more than three or four feet in diameter,
but as they are used for many years and are
continually repaired and added to, they
become huge structures six or eight feet in
diameter and as many feet thick.

Almost invariably the nest is perched on
a ledge in a canyon or on a rocky crag from
which a wide view can be obtained. Rarely,
a huge tree is used.
The eggs are two in
number, occasionally
three, and are white,
attractively shaded
and blotched with
pinkish brown. It not
infrequently happens
that one egg is infer-
tile and fails to hatch.
If both eggs hatch,
one of the youngsters
is invariably larger
than the other because
the eggs are laid at an
interval of about a
week and the first-
born gets a start on its
nest mate. And thus
it happens that often
only one young bird is
brought to maturity,
for the elder and
stronger youngster
may tear its weaker
brother to bits in
the sheer exuberance
of living.

Eaglets are clothed
in thick, soft white
down when they hatch. They wear this
coat for about three weeks. Then comes a
period of about two weeks while their
feathers are growing, during which time
they are ragged, pathetic looking creatures.
They remain in the nest for another three
weeks — two months in all — while they gain
strength and confidence to venture into the
exciting and strenuous world.

A reliable eye witness in California states,
in describing his observations of an eagle
teaching its youngster to fly: "The mother
started from the nest in the crags and,
roughly handling the young one, she allowed
him to drop about ninety feet. Then she
would swoop down under him, wings spread,
and he would alight on her back. She would

Habitat group of an
to the Museum's exhibits,

The Golden Eagle
outstanding bird of prey, as exhibited in the Hail of Birds (Hall 20). Although not new
this group has been recently reinstalled and improved by Taxidermist John W. Moyer.

fore much more common in the western states
than in the east, where it occurs only as
a migrant. The nesting places of the eagles
that yearly fly down the length of the AUe-
ghenies are unknown, but the flights are of
regular occurrence, and the birds can gener-
ally be seen in mid-October drifting past
Hawk Mountain in Pennsylvania. Even in
the Chicago region hardly a year passes
without the visit of a straggler from his
chosen mountain terrain. Yet golden eagles
are not now known to nest east of the
Rockies.

Eagle's nests, often poetically called
eyries, are large affairs made of sticks and
branches with a finer lining of leaves and
lichens. Often a pair of eagles will have

Page 2

FIELD MUSEUM NEWS

April, 19S9

soar to the top of the range with him and
repeat the process. The farthest she let
him fall was about 150 feet."

There is nothing particularly spectacular
or bizarre about the courtship of eagles, but
their complete mastery of the air makes
the sight very impressive. The two birds
circle in intertwining, ever rising spirals,
sometimes brushing wings as they pass each
other. Then the male will execute a series
of "power dives" with half-closed wings,
shrieking musically his joie de vivre. Eagles

The American Eagle

Also known aa the bald eagle. Many people confuse
this species, which is used as a national emblem of
the United States, with the golden eagle shown in the
illustration on page 1. The above specimen is in Field
Museum's systematic collection of birds in Hall 21.

probably mate for life, but when one of a
couple is killed, the other soon finds another
partner and brings it to its established
nesting territory.

Golden eagles feed largely on mammals —
cottontail rabbits, ground squirrels, domes-
tic and mountain sheep lambs, and even on
antelope and deer occasionally. Strangely
enough, they are also fond of rattlesnakes.
There is an authentic instance of a fox
attacking an eagle that was feeding on a
rabbit that it had killed. After a fierce
struggle, the eagle managed to rise into the
air although the fox climg to its breast with
clamped jaws. The eagle rose higher and
higher and the fox, with nothing but thin
air to brace himself against, was at a
disadvantage. Eventually he released his
hold and was dashed to death on the ground.
The eagle escaped, exhausted and weak.

THE BALD EAGLE, OXHl NATIONAL BIRD

The bald eagle, which nests from Florida
to Alaska, is a strictly American bird unlike
its widespread golden cousin. It is there-
fore appropriate that it should have been
chosen as our national symbol by Congress

on June 20, 1782. The habits and bearing
of the white-headed bird do not compare,
however, with the noble, fearless design for
living characteristic of the golden eagle.

The bald eagle is rarely found far from
water, for its food consists almost entirely
of fiish and water birds, although mammals
that occur in marshes and along shores are
taken. This eagle obtains its food when-
ever possible by strategy rather than by
sheer power and speed. It is perfectly able
to catch a full winged duck in the air.
However, it is more likely to tire a duck by
forcing it to dive repeatedly until the duck
is exhausted and becomes an easy victim.

In its behavior towards the osprey or fish
hawk, it is one of the most famous of pirates.
The osprey, slightly smaller than the eagle,
is an expert fisherman and expert he must
be, for he often feeds both himself and the
eagle. Waiting in majestic pose on the bare
top of a dead tree, the eagle spies a heavily
laden osprey returning to his nest. The
marauder gives chase and though the osprey,
if unburdened, might escape, he is eventu-
ally forced to drop the fish which the eagle
often retrieves in full flight before it reaches
the water.

TULIP TIME RECALLS A MANIA
OF SEVENTEENTH CENTURY

By SOPHIA PRIOR

The tulip probably is the most popular
of all spring garden flowers. It is a native
of China, Japan, Siberia, Asia Minor,
Turkey, the Mediterranean countries, and
central Asia. Its early history and origin
are very obscure. However, records show
that it was first introduced into Europe
from Turkey in 1554, at which time seeds
were brought to Vienna by the Austrian
ambassador to Turkey, and soon tulips
spread rapidly over Europe. Clusius, a
Dutch botanist and horticulturist, developed
on a large scale new varieties which he sold.
The red and yellow tulip with the narrow
pointed segments, a favorite of the Turks,
was developed into broad, rounded, petaled
forms of unusual colors.

This anxiety for new varieties culminated
in the year 1634 in the historic craze
designated as "tulipomania," and during
several subsequent years many Dutch
fortunes were invested in bulbs and their
culture, and vast sums were lost through
speculation. Fabulous prices were paid for
bulbs, as much as $1,000 to $4,000 each, until
the government interfered. Holland never-
theless continued developing varieties for
commercial purposes, and its tulips reached
such a degree of perfection that to this day
the Dutch bulbs are prized among gardeners.

Of interest to Chicagoans is the tulip
festival held each spring at Holland, Michi-
gan, a short drive from the city. This
Michigan town was founded by Nether-
landers and to this day has preserved much
characteristic atmosphere of their homeland.

AN ODDITY AMONG MINERALS

By L. BRYANT MATHER, JR.

ASSISTANT CimATOR OF MINERALOGY

It looks like lard — it feels like butter — •
it cuts like cheese — yet it is a mineral that
can't be melted!

The material possessing these striking
properties was received at Field Museum
as a gift from Mr. Ben Hur Wilson of Joliet,
Illinois. Mr. Wilson reports that it came
from a locality near Agate on the Union
Pacific Railroad, fifty miles from Barstow,
California, where it is being worked for
use in the ceramics industry. The mineral
has locally been called "Eyrite," derived
from the name of its discoverer, but pre-
liminary study in the Museum laboratory
indicates that it is sufficiently similar to
Saponite (Dana No. 488) to be classified
as a variety of that species. Chemically
it is a hydrous silicate of magnesium with
about 20 per cent water, and small amounts
of lime, fluorine and alumina. When the
mineral is heated, the water is given off
and the lard-like appearance of the speci-
men is changed to a chalk-like one. It
is distinguished from its distant relative
Sepiolite (better known as "Meerschaum")
from which fine pipes are carved, and which
is likewise a hydrous magnesium silicate, by
several tests. The most striking of these is
its failure to display that characteristic prop-
erty of Sepiolite of adhering to the tongue.

EARLIEST SPRING FLOWERS

Among garden plants the earliest to bloom
in the spring are the snowdrop (Galanthus
nivalis), usually with white flowers, and the
squill (Scilla sibirica and Seilla bifolia),
usually with blue flowers. These are dainty
low-growing herbs only a few inches in
height. Both the snowdrop and the squill
are natives of the cooler parts of Europe and
Asia Minor, the Siberian squill inhabiting
Russia and Asia Minor, while the snowdrop
is a native of Europe from the Pyrenees to
the Caucasus Mountains. They were in-
troduced into cultivation in the United
States by the early New England settlers.
In the Chicago region they usually bloom
in March and early April.

The crocus also flowers very early, as do
the daffodils and jonquils, but these come
into bloom somewhat later than the snow-
drop and the squill. — J. A. S.

Sculpture, Inside and Out
— by Malvina Hofifman

This, the latest book by the creator
of the Races of Mankind sculptures
in Field Museum, will be published
April 3. The book is copiously illus-
trated. Regular edition $3.75. De
luxe autographed edition $7.50. On
sale at the BOOK SHOP of FIELD
MUSEUM.

April, 19S9

FIELD MUSEUM NEWS

Pages

AVERY BOTANICAL EXPEDITION
REPORTS SUCCESSFUL WORK

Letters received recently from Curator
Paul C. Standley, in charge of the Sewell
Avery Botanical Expedition to Guatemala,
report exceptional success in field work in
many widely separated areas of that country.
During the past three months 10,000 speci-
mens of plants have been collected, at alti-
tudes varying from sea level to more than
12,000 feet. While vegetation is not so luxu-
riant during the dry winter months as during
the wet summer season, at all times there
is a great abundance of flowers to be found
in favorable areas, Mr. Standley states.

Some of the richest regions for plants
that Mr. Standley has visited have been
the slopes of the volcanoes, which form
such a conspicuous element of the magnifi-
cent Guatemalan scenery. He has collected
plants on the slopes of the volcanoes of
Pacaya, Agua, Fuego, Acatenango, and
Zunil, and on March 6, with an Indian
guide, he ascended on foot to the summit
of the volcano of Santa Maria (12,560 feet),
near Quezaltenango in western Guatemala.
Santa Maria, one of the most celebrated
volcanoes of Central America and perhaps
the most symmetric and majestic of them
all, has been almost unknown botanically,
and is rarely visited by foreigners.

Mr. Standley reports that the work of
the Guatemalan expedition has been greatly
facilitated through the courtesy of Dr.
J. R. Johnston, Director of the National
School of Agriculture of Chimaltenango,
Don Mariano Pacheco, Director of the
Department of Agriculture, Guatemala, and
Professor Ulises Rojas, Director of the
Botanic Garden of Guatemala.

THINGS YOU MAY HAVE MISSED

Relation of Soil to Rock
in the Chicago Area

With the approach of spring, interest in
the soil rises to its annual high point. As
the first shoots of green come up through
the ground surface, it may be interesting
to recall some of the unusual and character-
istic features of the soils of the Chicago area
and their relation to the rock surface
beneath. In Hall 36 of the Department
of Geology there is a model on which these
relations are strikingly shown. It might
be expected that in digging deeper the soil
would become increasingly rocky until quite
gradually it would grade into the unweath-
ered rock, and quite likely this would be
the case had Chicago not been visited by
the great glaciers of the Ice Age.

If we could go back to the time before the
ice came, we would find the Chicago region
a country of rather steep hills and valleys
covered by a soil derived from the under-
lying bed rock, a limestone of great age
formed in the Niagara stage of the Silurian

period (about 400,000,000 years ago). Then,
as the glaciers slowly advanced and receded,
this soil, and with it a layer of the limestone
itself, was scraped off, as if by a giant
carpenter's plane, not however destroying
the ruggedness of the topography. As the
ice melted and the glacier receded for the
last time, these valleys and hills were filled
and covered by sands and gravels that we
call "till" — material that the glacier had
picked up on its journey, some coming from
as far away as the northern part of Canada.
Thus it was that the glaciers that bared
the limestone bed-rock were also the agents
that buried it again, but this time under its
present mantle of glacial drift.

There was a time, soon after the retreat
of the ice, when Lake Michigan stretched
considerably to the south and west of its
present shoreline, covering most of the area
on which the city is now built. During this
time there was deposited over the till a
relatively thin layer of lake mud which
comprises the top soil layer of much of
Chicago today. Erosion, since the glacier
and later the lake retreated leaving the
country to assume its present topographic
form, has in some places removed the till
and exposed the limestone at the surface.
Elsewhere, especially in those places where
before the glacier came there were valleys,
the limestone is buried by as much as 200
feet of till.

These are the conditions interpreted as
bringing about the situation represented in
the model. They explain why in the Chicago

Underneath "Ghica^oland"

Model in the Department of Geology showing the
relation of soil to rock in the Chicago area, and how
this was affected by presence of glaciers in this region
during the Silurian period, some 400,000,000 years ago.

area, as in all regions over which the glacier
moved, there is a sharp break between the
soil and the bed-rock below, and why the
rugged rock surface is overlain by compara-
tively level terrain. — L.B.M., Jr.

CURATOR C. C. SANBORN RETURNS
FROM EUROPEAN RESEARCH

Mr. Colin Campbell Sanborn, Curator of
Mammals, who was appointed a Fellow of
the John Simon Guggenheim • Foundation
last spring, returned from Europe on March
1. Through this fellowship he has spent the
last seven months, chiefly in London at the
British Museum (Natural History), working
on a taxonomic revision of the horseshoe
bats. In connection with this work he also
visited museums in Edinburgh, Amsterdam,
Leiden and Paris.

About twenty-five type skulls of bats,
representing genera not in Field Museum,
were photographed and measured so that
these genera can be more accurately identi-
fied here, should the need arise. An exchange
was arranged with the British Museum for
125 specimens, including five genera and
many species new to the collection in this
institution.

Mr. Sanborn spent two weeks in Scotland
collecting red grouse for a proposed habitat
group. Besides a dozen birds, he collected
heather, bracken, and grass for accessories,
and made photographs to be used for guid-
ance in preparing the background. A few
Scotch mammals were also collected.

In order to study two species of horseshoe
bats in life, Mr. Sanborn made a trip to the
Cheddar caves in Somerset, as the guest of
Mr. J. L. Chaworth-Musters. Here, with
the help of the Spelaeological Society of
Bristol University, a number of caves were
visited, and about fifteen specimens of bats
were obtained.

The British Museum has entrusted Mr.
Sanborn with the identification of some 800
bats collected in Haiti, Trinidad, and Dutch
Guiana by Mr. Ivan T. Sanderson, author of
Animal Treasure. The collection has been
shipped to Field Museum for this study.

Mr. Sanborn was in London during the
international crisis last September, and had
to suspend his work to help pack type and
other valuable specimens in the British
Museum mammal collection for removal to a
safer place in case of emergency.

The remainder of Mr. Sanborn's fellow-
ship will probably be spent in the field,
studying the life histories of bats, and
photographing and collecting specimens.

Enormous palm leaves, as much as forty
feet long, are shown in Hall 25.

FORESTS WITHIN A BOOK—

See The Tree Book, by Julia Ellen
Rogers.

"An interesting, well illustrated
volume," says Dr. B. E. Dahlgren,
Chief Curator of Botany at Field Mu-
seum. "A popular guide to the trees
of North America in nature and in culti-
vation, with simple and serviceable
keys as an aid to their identification."

At the MUSEUM BOOK SHOP— $5.

Page i

FIELD MUSEUM NEWS

April, 1939

THE CRYPTOGAMS OR NON-FLOWERING PLANTS— WHAT THEY ARE, AND THEIR IMPORTANCE

plants or animals, or from other organic
matter. They are responsible for certain
human ailments, especially those of the
skin, and for the majority of diseases of
crop plants, which entail yearly losses of
millions of dollars to the farmer. The molds
and the fleshy fungi, along with the bacteria,
bring about the decay of dead bodies of
animals and of other plants. Mushrooms
and certain other fleshy fungi are annually
assuming more and more importance in
American cookery. Still other fleshy fungi
are deadly poisonous when eaten. The
yeasts are unicellular fungi upon whose
life processes the baking and brewing
industries are founded. The yeast plants
change sugar to alcohol and carbon dioxide
gas, and, according to species and ingredients,
are agents in manufacturing beer, wine,
whiskey, etc. Gas from yeast
makes bread dough rise.

The lichens are composite
plants, made up of fungi and
algae living together. They
grow on rocks, trees, and soil.
All are large enough to be
seen with the naked eye.
They often develop best upon
poor, barren soils, especially
in arctic regions, where they
constitute the only food of
herbivorous animals.

By FRANCIS DROUET

CURATOR OF CRYPTOOAMIC BOTANY

(Editor's Note: — The Cryptogams, or non-
flowering plants, are of immense importance
in the economy of Nature, and comprise
thirteen out of fourteen major dirisions of the
Plant Kingdom. Large collections of them
have in the course of years accumulated in the
Herbarium of Field Museum, and some of
them are represented in the botanical exhibits,
but it is only recently, with the addition of Dr.
Francis Drouet to the Museum staff, that it
has been possible to give them anything
approaching the scientific attention which they
demand. —B.E.D.)

Perhaps many more than half the species
included in the Plant Kingdom are those
which bear no flowers or seeds; most of them
have no leaves, stems, or roots. Such
plants as a group are often spoken of as
the Cryptogams. Familiar to us are the
ferns, the mosses, the fleshy
fungi, the molds, the lichens,
the seaweeds, and the pond-
scums, most of them large
enough to be recognized with
the naked eye. Less familiar,
but of far greater economic
importance, are the thou-
sands of species of bacteria,
fungi, and algae, which may
be seen and recognized only
under the microscope.

The bacteria comprise
many hundred species of ex-
tremely small, single-celled,
and mostly colorless plants
which have little distinguish-
able internal structure.
They all are parasites on
other living things, or secure
their food from dead or other
organic matter. Many are
useful to man; others are
harmful. Certain species
live within the bodies of
human beings and other ani-
mals, and some of these pro-
duce poisons which cause
such diseases as tuberculosis and pneumonia.
Other species live in the bodies of larger
plants. The amount of damage which they
do to the leaves and fruits of trees and herbs
is of vast importance to the agriculturist.
Nitrifying bacteria live in the soil and in
the roots of leguminous plants; they convert
nitrogen of the air into nitrates, which are
absorbed by green plants. Certain bacteria
are responsible for the souring of milk, the
spoiling of foods, the production of vinegar,
and the decay of organic matter of all sorts.
The bacteria are of such unparalleled eco-
nomic importance to medical science, agri-
culture, and various industries that the
highly specialized science of bacteriology
has been developed.

THE CHIEF SOURCE OF IODINE

The algae are an even more extensive
group of species, comprising both large and

microscopic forms. The plant bodies con-
sist of single or many cells; they all contain
the green coloring matter (chlorophyll)
which enables them to manufacture food
from inorganic substances. The largest
algae are the seaweeds, some of which
exceed all other plants in length. Most
of these are colored red or brown and grow
in greatest abundance in shallow marine
waters along rocky shores. They are the
world's chief source of iodine and an im-
portant one of agricultural fertilizers. Some
are used as food by many people, especially
in the Orient. In both fresh and salt water
there occur the diatoms, flagellates, and
other microscopic algae. The federal and
state bureaus of fisheries expend much
money and time in the study of these uni-
cellular plants, which are the basic source

Collecting Crypto^ms

Curator Francis Drouet is seen in search of algae in a pool in the bed of the Rio Pacoty,
Cear&, Brazil. The plants are gathered in the vasculum or collecting pan which is strapped over the
explorer's shoulder, and brought back to camp for sorting, study, and packing for shipment home.

of food for all animals of the sea and of
fresh water. The diatoms, the blue-green
algae (Myxophyceae), and the green algae
(Chlorophyceae) grow not only in water
but also on soil and moist rocks. With
the mosses and. lichens, they are suspected
of being responsible for the rehabilitation
of poor and worn-out soils. The microscopic
algae, and especially the Myxophyceae and
flagellates, may develop in such abundance
as "water-blooms" in reservoirs that serious
damage may be done to city water supplies.
Deposits of shells of diatoms which grew
in the sea thousands of years ago, known
now as diatomaceous earth, are used as
polishing and insulating agents in industry.
The fungi are jjerhaps the largest group
of cryptogams. They have single- or
multi-celled bodies which contain no chloro-
phyll. Their food is derived from living

EROSION PREVENTIVE

The mosses and liverworts
are small green plants, never
microscopic, many with
stems and distinct leaves.
They grow on soil, rocks,
and trees, and .in water.
Those in the water are re-
sponsible for the formation
of bogs. By gradually filling
lakes and ponds with their
own remains they bring
about the ultimate disap-
pearance of these bodies of
water. The mosses, lichens, and soil algae
cover bare soils, and are important in pre-
venting erosion in deforested areas.

The most familiar green cryptogams are
the ferns and their "allies," all rather
similar in structure to the flowering plants.
The ferns comprise many species, most of
which live in the tropics, a few in temperate
regions. Thousands of years ago these
plants, with the horsetails, clubmosses, and
extinct seed ferns, were a far more important
component of the flora than they now are.
Some grew to enormous sizes, as may be
seen in the Hall of Plant Life (Hall 29),
and in the reconstruction of the flora of the
Carboniferous period in Ernest R. Graham
Hall (Hall 38). Various species now living
have economic uses.

Representative types of all these groups
of cryptogams are on display in Hall 29.

April, 1939

FIELD MUSEUM NEWS

Page 5

STAFF NOTES

Mr. Llewelyn Williams, Curator of
Economic Botany, on leave in Venezuela
to aid the government botanist, Dr. Henry
Pittier, in botanical exploration of that
country, recently made a trip from Caracas
across the Venezuelan Guiana, by way of
Ciudad Bolivar and La Paragua. He was
accompanied by Captain Felix Cardona, of
the Venezuelan Frontier Commission. They
journeyed in canoes up the Caroni River to
regions very little explored botanically.

A paper "Chemistry in Field Museum," by
Chief Curator Henry W. Nichols, Depart-
ment of Geology, appears in the March Chem-
ical Bulletin (American Chemical Society).

Dr. Samuel J. Record, Research Associate
in Wood Technology on the staff of Field
Museum, and Professor of Forest Products
at Yale University, has been appointed
Dean of the University's School of Forestry.

Staff Taxidermist John W. Moyer is the
author and publisher of a book, Lessons in
Museum Taxidermy, which appeared re-
cently. It is intended as an aid both to the
amateur who wishes to mount birds, mam-
mals, fishes, etc. as a hobby, and to persons
who wish to train themselves in taxidermy
as a profession.

Twins — a boy and a girl — joined the
family of Mr. Robert E. Bruce, Purchasing
Agent of the Museum, on March 12.

Miss Elizabeth Peitzsch, Secretary to the
Director of the Museum, became the bride
of Mr. William E. Diez, on March 31.

Dr. Fritz Haas, Curator of Lower In-
vertebrates, presented a series of ten lectures
under the general title "The Biologist Looks
at Human Life," before the Jewish People's
Institute during January, February and
March. Mr. John R. Millar, Curator of the
N. W. Harris Public School Extension,
recently lectured on "Field Museum and Its
Work," before the Biology Round Table.
Dr. Julian Steyermark, Assistant Curator
of the Herbarium, spoke before the Chicago
Conservation Council, and before the Chi-
cago Cactus Society, on botanical subjects.
Mr. Emmet R. Blake, Assistant Curator of
Birds, lectured before the Chicago Orni-
thological Society, and the Kennicott Club,
on the work of the Sewell Avery Zoological
Expedition to British Guiana, which he led.
Mr. Karl P. Schmidt, Curator of Amphibians
and Reptiles, lectured on animal geography
to a class at the University of Chicago, and
before the Illinois Committee of the Chicago
Association of Commerce. Dr. Henry Field,
Curator of Physical Anthropology, broad-
cast a lecture on "Recent Archaeolog-
ical Discoveries Throughout the World"
over a nation-wide radio network, in the

Columbia Broadcasting System's Science
Service series. Dr. Field also lectured before
the Friday Club, and at the Art Institute
before the Chicago Chapter of the Archaeo-
logical Institute of America, on anthropo-
logical and archaeological subjects.

GROUP SHOWS HOW POWHATANS
MADE STONE IMPLEMENTS

One of the most important industries of
North American Indians was the manufac-
ture of stone implements. A race of hunters
and warriors required stone knives, spear-
heads, arrow-heads, and scrapers in vast
numbers. Quarries of flint and other varie-
ties of workable stone were opened in many
sections of the country, and extensive traces
of pitting and manufacture are found by
investigators today.

The group of figures shown in the accom-
panying illustration is a life-size exhibit in
Hall B demonstrating how the work was
carried on by Powhatan Indians in an exten-
sive quarry on the site now occupied by the
city of Washington. The costumes are
restored from drawings left by John White
and John Smith, historians of the Virginian
colonies.

The Indian at the left is engaged in prying
up the quartzite boulders, the best material

Indian Toilers

Life-size group showing implement makers of the
Powhatan tribe, on exhibition in Hall B of the Museum.

found in the region. The middle one is
breaking up the larger masses as a first
step in shaping. The sitting Indian at the
right is flaking out rude blades, a number of
which are heaped at his side. These blades
were carried away from the quarry to be
worked into various specialized implements
as occasion demanded.

NEW MEMBERS

The following persons were elected to
membership in Field Museum during the
period from February 16 to March 15:

Associate Members

W. C. Banes, Mrs. Sidney M. Bloss,
W. H. Dangel, Edmund K. Eichengreen,
Joseph M. Johnson, Rudolph J. Olson, Mrs.
Ira M. Pink.

Sustaining Members

Sydney Stein, Jr.

Annual Members

William J. Alexander, E. M. Antrim,
Walter Bachrach, Charles Bass, Mrs. R. B.
Carter, Fred J. Clifford, Jr., Harry Cohen,
Dr. C. A. Cummings, Miss Ellen T. Daniel-
son, Mrs. H. G. Davies, Arthur G. Davis,
Robert J. Eitel, Mrs. Albert W. Engel,
Charles E. Fawkes, J. W. Floto, Charles W.
FoUett, John V. Frankenthal, Fred M.
Friedlob, Ralph L. Goodman, Clinton B.
King, Byron W. Knoblock, Simon P. Larson,
Edward N. Lee, Mrs. Frank G. Logan,
F. B. McConnell, Oscar F. Meredith, Mrs.
E. W. Nardi, Herbert U. Nelson, Harvey
Pardee, Ernest B. Price, Clarence E. Ridley,
Earle L. Ross, Walter L. Rubens, Mrs.
Philip Spiegel, Miss Charlotte M. Stevens,
Theodore Tieken, Dr. E. E. Ulvestad, James
Weber, R. T. Welch, William W. Welsh,
Mrs. Frank A. Windes.

Distinguished Visitors

Among distinguished visitors recently
received at Field Museum are: Dr. R. A.
Falla, Director of the Canterbury Museum,
Christchurch, New Zealand, who was in
this country making a study of museum
methods and techniques; Dr. Watson Davis,
Managing Director of Science Service; Mr.
Lorenz Hagenbeck, one of the owners of the
Hagenbeck Tierpark, of Stillengen, Germany ;
Dr. Norman C. Fassett, Curator of the
Herbarium of the University of Wisconsin;
Mr. T. A. Monmayeda, Director of the
Japan Institute, New York, who came to
consult about Field Museum's plans for
Japanese collections, and Mr. Taneo Taketa,
Manager of the New York office of the
South Manchurian Railway.

A comparative exhibit of the skeletons
of the higher apes and man may be seen in
the Hall of Osteology (Hall 19).

FOR BIRD LOVERS—

A Field Guide to the Birds, by Roger
Tory Peterson.

"Peterson's revised and enlarged
edition with four colored and thirty-
six black and white plates of birds,
designed primarily to aid in field
identification, is an improvement on
an already splendid book," says
Rudyerd Boulton, Curator of Birds
at Field Museum. "Absolutely in-
valuable to any one interested in field
study of living birds."

At the BOOK SHOP of FIELD
MUSEUM— $2.75.

Page 6

FIELD MUSEUM NEWS

April, 19S9

Field Museum of Natural History

Founded by Marshall Field, 1893
Roosevelt Road and Field DiiTe, Chicago

THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES

Sewell L. Avery Wiluah H. Mitchell

Leopold E. Block George A. RicHARoeoN

Albert B. Dick, Jr. Theodore Roosevelt

Joseph N. Field Fred W. Sargent

Marshall Field Jambs Simpson

Stanley Field Solomon A. Smith

Albert W. Harris Albert A. Sprague

Samuel Insull, Jr. Silas H. Strawn

Charles A. McCulloch John P. Wilson

OFFICERS

Stanley Field President

Albert A. Sprague First Viee-Presideni

James Simpson Second Vice-President

Albert W. Harris Third Vice-President

Clifford C. Gregg Director and Secretary

Solomon A. Smith . . . Treasurer and Assistant Secretary

FIELD MUSEUM NEWS

Clifford C. Gregg, Director of the Museum. . . .Editor

CONTRIBUTING EDITORS

Paul S. Martin Chief Curator of Anthropology

B. E. Dahlgren Chief Curator of Botany

Henry W. Nichoi^ Chief Curator of Geology

Wilfred H. Osgood Chief Curator of Zoology

H. B. Hartb Managing Editor

Meinl>ers are requested to inform the Museum
promptly of changes of address.

FROM THE DIRECTOR'S DESK—

Another Benefactor of Education

The brief article which appeared in this
column last month in tribute to a Benefactor
of neld Museum brought such favorable
comment that I am moved to tell of another
good friend of the institution whose works
should be known to
its Members. I
refer to Mr. Albert
W. Harris, for many
years a Trustee of
the Museum, and
now one of its Vice-
Presidents and the
Chairman of its Fi-
nance Committee.

For many years
school children in
Chicago have been
privileged to study,
in their own school
buildings, exhibits
which were brought
to them by repre-
sentatives of the
N. W. Harris Public School Extension of
Field Museum. This splendid service was
foitnded by Mr. Norman Wait Harris, father
of Albert Harris, in 1912. Mr. Stephen C.
Simms, late Director of Field Museum, was
the first Curator of the Harris Extension.

As the value of the Harris Extension
became known in the schools of Chicago,
demands and opportunities for its service
came to the Museum in such numbers that
the income from the special endowment was
entirely consumed by operating expenses,
and the requirements for expansion could
not be met. Then it was that Mr. Albert

Albert W. Harris

Mr. Harris, a Trustee
and Vice-President of the
Museum for many years,
enthusiastically has carried
on the benefactions of his
father, the late Norman
Wait Harris. Founder of the
N. W. Harris Public School
Extension Department.

Harris came to the support of his father's
endowment, adding to it so that it might
perform adequately the full service for which
it had been founded.

When a new truck was needed, and money
was not available, Mr. Harris quickly saw
that the need was filled. When the vagaries
of the earnings of securities and declining
interest rates caused income to fall below
the amount required for proper operation,
Mr. Harris again came to the rescue. His
gifts to Field Museum now amount to more
than $250,000. Mr. Harris has not felt
content to satisfy his interest in FMeld
Museum with money alone, but has given
unselfishly of his time, his advice, and his
counsel.

His interest in the Museum, manifested
not only in his gifts but by his keen apprecia-
tion of those actually carrying on the work,
has been an incentive which has helped to
keep up the high standard of the work done
not only in the Harris Extension but
throughout Field Museum.

— Clifford C. Gregg, Director.

GIFTS TO THE MUSEUM

Following is a list of some of the principal
gifts received during the last month:

Department of Anthropology:

From Dr. Henry Field, Chicago — 3 stamp
seals, Iraq; from Miss S. W. Peabody,
Chicago — 6 ethnological specimens, Siam.

Department of Botany:

From Dr. Eari E. Sherff, Chicago— 65
herbarium specimens; from Southwest State
Teachers College, Springfield, Missouri —
90 herbarium specimens, Missouri; from
Dr. G. W. Prescott, Albion, Michigan— 31
specimens of algae, Wisconsin; from Uni-
versity of Chicago — 73 specimens of Brazil-
ian woods; from S. C. Johnson and Son, Inc.,
Racine, Wisconsin — 2 specimens of wax;
from Dr. H. C. Bold, Nashville, Tennessee
— 14 specimens of algae, Tennessee; from
Senor S. A. Guarrera, Buenos Aires, Argen-
tina— 11 specimens of algae, Argentina.

Department of Geology :

From George Byrland, Marion, Iowa —
a hollow hematite concretion, Iowa; from
R. E. Prison, Ten Sleep, Wyoming — 8 gastro-
liths, Wyoming; from George Artamonoff,
Chicago — a specimen of sand. Canal Zone;
from A. D. Carter, East Los Angeles,
California — 26 minerals, California; from
Ben Hur Wilson, Joliet, Illinois — a specimen
of saponite, California; from Benedict
Gresky, Chicago — 6 specimens of boron
carbide.

Department of Zoology:

From John M. Schmidt, Homewood,
Illinois — 3 bats, Texas; from John R.
Schmidt, Lakeland, Florida — a limbless
lizard, Florida; from Mrs. Robb White,
Thomasville, Georgia — 3 salamanders, Geor-
gia; from Mrs. George Artamanoff, Chicago
— 5 fish, Guatemala, and 15 specimens of
lower invertebrates, near Canal Zone; from
D. S. Bullock, Goodrich, Michigan — 64
frogs, toads, lizards, and snakes, Chile;

from Chicago Zoological Society, Brook-
field, Illinois — 3 mammals; from Colonel
Richard Meinertzhagen, London, England
— 4 mammals, northern Afghanistan; from
H. Loewenstamm, Chicago — 16 lots of land
and fresh-water shells, representing 15
species, Palestine; from H. B. Conover,
Chicago — 3 birds, Paraguay.

The Library:

Valuable books from Biblioteca Municipal,
Guayaquil, Ecuador; from Lyman Bradford
Smith, Cambridge, Massachusetts; from
Carnegie Institution, Washington, D.C. and
from Dr. Henry Field, Clifford C. Gregg,
and C. Martin Wilbur, all of Chicago.

Exhibit of Corwin Paintings

An exhibit of paintings by the late
Charles Abel Corwin, former Stafif Artist of
Field Museum, was held last month at the
Newcomb-Macklin Galleries, Chicago.
Shown were landscapes and other works
which Mr. Corwin painted prior to and dur-
ing his many years of association with the
Museum. While his work in this institution
was confined to backgrounds for habitat
groups, and to a series of murals in the De-
partment of Botany, he maintained a private
studio in which he continued other painting.

The pictures shown covered a wide
variety of subjects, including many of the
old West with its Indians and cowboys.
There were also landscapes of scenes in the
Chicago region, scenes from the Chicago
World's Columbian Exposition of 1893,
seascapes, and scenes of Hawaii where Mr.
Corwin lived in his youth.

Grotesque totem poles and grave posts
from tribes of the northwest coast of America
are exhibited in Hall 10.

A FEW facts ABOUT FIELD MUSEUM

Field Museum is open every day of the year
(except Christmas and New Year's Day) during
the hours indicated below:
November, December,

January, February 9 A.M. to 4 P.M.

March. April, and

September, October 9 A.M. to 5 p.m.

May, June, July, August 9 A.M. to S P.M.

Admission is free to Members on all days.
Other adults are admitted free on Thursdays,
Saturdays, and Sundays: non-members pay 25
cents on other days. Children are admitted free
on all days. Students and faculty members of
educational institutions are admitted free any
day upon presentation of credentials.

The Museum's Library is open for reference
daily except Saturday afternoon and Sunday.

Traveling exhibits are circulated in the schools
of Chicago by the N. W. Harris Public School
Extension Department of the Museum.

Lectures at schools, and special entertain-
ments and tours for children at the Museum, are
provided by the James Nelson and Anna Louise
Raymond Foxmdation for Public School and
Children's Lectures.

Free courses of lectxires for adults are presented
in the James Simpson Theatre on Saturday after-
noons (at 2:30 o'clock) in March, April, October,
and November.

A Cafeteria serves visitors. Rooms are avail-
able also for those bringing their lunches.

Chicago Motor Coach Company No. 26 busses
provide direct transportation to the Mxlseum. Ser-
vice is offered also by Surface Lines, Rapid Tran-
sit Lines (the "L"), mterurban electric Unee, and
Illinois Central trains. There is ample free park-
ing space for automobiles at the Museum.

April, 193d

FIELD MUSEUM NEWS

Page 1

FIELD MUSEUM MUMMY TO FLY TO NEW YORK WORLD'S FAIR FOR X-RAY EXHIBIT

By RICHARD A. MARTIN

CUBATOR OF NEAR EASTERN ARCHAEOLOGY

A mummy named Harwa, from Field
Museum's Egyptian collection, will leave
Chicago April 5 on a United Air Lines

Amon, Harwa now becomes the first adult-
sized person to be publicly fluoroscoped.
Visitors to the General Electric X-Ray
Corporation's exhibit at the Fair will only
have to press a button to see a fluoroscopic
image of his skeleton.
The mummy, with
the coffin-lid nearby,
will be displayed, as
shown in the accom-
panying illustra-
tions, against a back-

amber floodlights, shifts a full-length fluoro-
scopic screen in front of the mummy, and
turns on 125,000 volts for the x-rays which
then pass through the dried flesh and the
layers of wrappings and create a full-sized
image on the viewing screen.

Standard medical x-ray apparatus is used
in conjunction with a specially built fluoro-
scopic screen made to these unusual speci-
fications by the Patterson Screen Company,
of Towanda, Pennsylvania. Lead glass will
protect visitors from any harm by the rays.

Illustrations by courtesy of General Electric X-ray Corporation

Harwa as He Will Appear at New York World's Fair

Egyptian mummy and coffin lid loaned by Field Museum for the exhibit of the
General Electric X-Ray Corporation. The young lady is pushing a "magic button"
which dims the lights, energizes a mechanism that moves a large sliding fluoroscopic
screen in front of the mummy, and starts a 125,000-volt x-ray machine into action.

sleeper plane for New York, to attend the
World's Fair which opens there April 30.

Twenty-eight hundred years after ending
a useful life as an agricultural official for one
of the temples dedicated to the ancient god

ground of black
velour. Pressing the
button energizes a
mechanism which
dims the golden-

Harwa's Skeleton Revealed by Fluoroscope

The x-rays pass through mummy wrapping and dried flesh, and a_ fluoroscopic
image of the mummy's skeleton is projected on the screen. This remains for half a
minute, after which the screen automatically slides back, again showing the mummy
as it appears in the picture at the left, until another visitor pushes the "magic button."

BROADBILL SWORDFISH CAUGHT
BY MRS. MICHAEL LERNER

An excellent mounted specimen of At-
lantic broadbill swordfish was recently
presented to the Museum by Mr. Michael
Lerner, well-known sportsman, of New
York. The fish was caught on rod and reel
by Mrs. Lerner, off the coast of Nova Scotia,
near Louisburg, Cape Breton, and it is

reported to be the first swordfish ever thus
taken by a woman angler in Canadian
waters. The fish weighed 295 pounds, and
it required nearly three hours of skillful
work to bring it into the boat after it had
been hooked. It will be included among
exhibits in a new Hall of Fishes, upon which
work is now in progress but which will not
be ready to open for several months.
Mr. and Mrs. Lerner are now on an expedi-

tion to New Zealand and Australia for the
American Museum of Natural History,
New York, and stated before leaving that
they would make efforts to collect some
material also for Field Museum.

About a year ago Mr. Lerner presented to
this institution a record-size swordfish of
the blue marlin species, weighing 537 pounds,
which he caught near the Bahama Islands.
It will also be displayed in the new hall.

Pages

FIELD MUSEUM NEWS

April, 19S9

SATURDAY AFTERNOON LECTURES
CONTINUE ANOTHER MONTH

F^ve illustrated lectures on science and
travel in the spring course for adults remain
to be given on Saturday afternoons during
April. All lectures begin at 2:30 p.m., and
are presented in the James Simpson Theatre
of the Museum. The speakers engaged for
the series are well-known scientists, natura-
lists and photographers. Motion pictures
or stereopticon slides accompany each
lecture. Because of the heavy demand for
seats, children are not admitted; for them,
the James Nelson and Anna Louise Ray-
mond Foundation presents free programs of
motion pictures on the mornings of the same
days.

Following are the dates, subjects and
speakers for the remaining lectures:

April 1 — The Basket Maker Indians in
Eighth Century Colorado

Dr. Paul S. Martin, Field Museum

April 8 — Life Among the Alaskan
Eskimos

Mr. Elder C Anderson, Minneapolis, Minnesota

April 15 — Colorful Caribbean Shores

Mr. William B. Holmes, Evanston, Illinois

April 22 — Mysterious Kinabalu

Mr. Harold J. Coolidge, Jr., Museum of Com-
parative Zoology, Cambridge, Massachusetts

April 29— Western Wild Flowers

Mr. John Claire Monteith, Hollywood, California

No tickets are necessary for admission
to these lectures. A section of the Theatre
is reserved for Members of the Museum,
each of whom is entitled to two reserved
seats on request. Requests for these seats
may be made by telephone or in writing to
the Museum, in advance of the lecture,
and seats will be held in the Member's
name until 2:30 o'clock on the day of the
lecture. All reserved seats not claimed by
2:30 o'clock will be made available to the
general public.

APRIL SUNDAY TOURS PRESENT
STORY OF PREHISTORIC MAN

"Digging Up the Cave Man's Past" is the
title of the lecture-tours to be presented on
Sunday afternoons during April by Mr. Paul
G. Dallwig, the Layman Lecturer of Field
Museum. Mr. Dallwig will conduct his
listeners on tours of the Hall of the Stone Age
of the Old World, lecturing on the series of
dioramas containing life-size restorations of
various types of prehistoric men, and on the
extensive accompanying exhibits of artifacts
displayed in near-by cases.

As each Sunday tour is necessarily limited
in size to 125 adults (children cannot be
accommodated), it is necessary to make res-
ervations in advance by mail or telephone
(Wabash 9410). Lectures begin promptly
at 2 P.M., and end at 4:30. During a half-
hour intermission midway in the tours,
members of the parties wishing to do so may
obtain refreshments in the Cafeteria, where

they may also smoke. Special tables are
reserved for the groups.

In May the subject of Sunday tours will
be "The Parade of the Races," in connection
with which Mr. Dallwig will conduct his
hearers on tours of the Hall of the Races of
Mankind containing the famous series of
sculptures by Malvina Hoffman.

SPECIAL NOTICE
Members of the Museum who
have changed residences or plan
to do so are urged to notify the
Museum of their new addresses,
so that FIELD MUSEUM NEWS
and other communications may
reach them promptly. A post
card for this purpose is enclosed
with this issue.

Members going away during the
summer, who desire Museum
matter sent to their temporary
addresses, may have this service
by notifying the Museum.

FIVE PROGRAMS FOR CHILDREN
ARE OFFERED THIS MONTH

The James Nelson and Anna Louise
Raymond Foundation will present in April
five more programs in its spring series for
children. These programs are given on
Saturday mornings in the James Simpson
Theatre of the Museum. Admission is free.
The films on each program will be shown
twice, at 10 a.m., and at 11, in order to
accommodate maximum audiences. In-
cluded are pictures with talking and sound
efifects, musical animated cartoons by Walt
Disney, and educational subjects in great
variety. Children from all parts of Chicago
and suburbs are invited. No tickets are
needed. The Museum is prepared to receive
large groups from schools and other centers,
as well as individual children coming alone
or accompanied by parents or other adults.
Teachers are urged to bring their classes.

The following schedule shows the titles
of the films to be presented on each program.

April 1 — The Declaration of Independence;
Elephants of Today.

April 8 — Busy Beavers (Disney Cartoon);
In Faraway Manchukuo; We're on Our
Way; The Life of a Plant; Spotted Wings.

April 15 — Bill and Bob Trap a Mountain
Lion; Our Four-footed Helpers; The
Trumpeter; Majorca the Picturesque;
Wild Life on the Amazon.

April 22 — Birds in the Spring (Disney
Cartoon); Chumming with Chipmunks;
Leaping Through Life; Pottery Makers
of the Southwest; Nature's Armor.

April 29 — In Nature's Workshop; Let's
Save a Life; The Heart of the Sierras;
Our Zoo Acquaintances.

APRIL GUIDE-LECTURE TOURS
FOR WEEK-DAY VISITORS

Conducted tours of exhibits, under the
guidance of staff lecturers, are made every
afternoon at 3 o'clock except Saturdays,
Sundays, and certain holidays. Following
is the schedule of subjects and dates for
April:

Week beginning April 3: Monday — Ores
and Metals; Tuesday — Native American
Fruits and Vegetables; Wednesday — Animal
Life of the Chicago Region; Thursday —
General Tour; Friday — American Archae-
ology.

Week beginning April 10: Monday —
Building Materials; Tuesday — Cats and
Their Relatives; Wednesday — Races of
Mankind; Thursday — General Tour; Fri-
day— The Art of Ancient Egypt.

Week beginning April 17: Monday — Our
Spring Birds; Tuesday — Palms and Cereals;
Wednesday — Totem-pole Builders; Thurs-
day— General Tour; Friday — Pottery and
Porcelain.

Week beginning April 2i: Monday — Apes
and Monkeys; Tuesday — Plants of Tropical
Lands; Wednesday — Glimpses of Melanesian
Life; Thursday — General Tour; Friday —
Jades and Their Uses.

Persons wishing to participate should
apply at North Entrance. Tours are free.
A new schedule will appear each month in
Field Museum News. Guide-lecturers'
services for special tours by parties of ten
or more are available by arrangement with
the Director a week in advance.

MEMBERSHIP IN FIELD MUSEUM

Field Museum has several classes of Members.
Annual Members contribute $10 annually. As-
sociate Members pay $100 and are exempt from
dues. Sustaining Members contribute $25 annu-
ally for six consecutive years, after which they
become Associate Members and are exempt from
all further dues. Life Members give $500 and
are exempt from dues. Non-Resident Life Mem-
bers pay $100, and Non-Resident Associate
Members $50; both of these classes are also
exempt from dues. The Non-Resident member-
ships are available only to persons residing fifty
miles or more from Chicago. Those who give or
devise to the Museum $1,000 to $100,000 are
designated as Contributors, and those who give
or devise $100,000 or more become Benefactors.
Other memberships are Honorary, Patron,
Corresponding and Corporate, additions under
these classifications being made by special action
of the Board of Trustees.

Each Member, in alt classes, is entitled to tree
admission to the Museum for himself, his family
and house guests, and to two reserved seats for
Museum lectures provided for Members. Sub-
scription to Field Museum News is included
with all memberships. The courtesies of every
museum of note in the United States and Canada
are extended to all Members of Field Museum.
A Member may give his personal card to non-
residents of Chicago, upon presentation of which
they will be admitted to the Museum without
charge. Further information about member-
ships will be sent on request.

BEQUESTS AND ENDOWMENTS

Bequests to Field Museum of Natural History
may be made in securities, money, books or
collections. They may, if desired, take the form
of a memorial to a person or cause, named by the
giver.

Contributions made within the taxable year not
exceeding 15 per cent of the taxpayer's net in-
come are allowable as deductions in computing
net income for federal income tax purposes.

Endowments may be made to the Museum
with the provision that an annuity be paid to
the patron tor life. These annuities are guaran-
teed against fluctuation in amount, and may
reduce federal income taxes.

PRINTED BY FIELD MUSEUM PRESS

News

Pvblished Monthly by Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago

Vol. 10

MAY, 1939

No. 5

FANTASTIC INVERTEBRATE CREATURES OF THE SEA ARE SHOWN IN A NEW HALL

BY FRITZ HAAS

CURATOR OF LOWER INVERTEBRATES

The lower animals, which are so fascinat-
ing to the human imagination because of
their bizarre shapes, bright colors, and al-
most unbelievable patterns, are the subject
of an extensive series of exhibits occupying
a new hall (Hall M on the ground floor of
the Museum), which was opened last month.

While it is planned later to make additions
to these exhibits, the
cases already avail-
able contain a choice
collection. Many
shells of clams and
snails illustrate the
thousands of varia-
tions of which these
animals are capable.
Varieties so tiny as
to be hardly visible
contrast with giant
clams ranging from
two to three feet in
diameter, and weigh-
ing as much as 155
pounds. Included
also are both marine
and fresh-water pearl-
mussels, with ex-
amples of the products
obtained from them
upon which various
industries are based.
Land snails of many
highly colored vari-
eties, and many gro-
tesque shapes, form
another interesting
section of the exhibits.

Well

but that they may prove to be fertile material
to stimulate the fancy of artists and designers
because of the many surprising suggestions
they offer as inspiration for compositions in
color and form.

Outstanding in interest are life-size repro-
ductions of a large octopus and a giant squid
which are hung from the ceiling in this hall.

The exhibits in this hall are equipped
throughout with a new type of "daylight"

represented
are the corals, which make up a vast army
composed of varieties ranging in color from
white through all the hues of the spectrum,
and of different forms which give them such
names as "brain-like," "fan-like," and "tree-
like" corals. Other odd creatures selected
from the populations of seas and sea-shores
for display in this hall are the sea-urchins,
the star-fishes, and a host of other animals
of strange appearance and remarkable
habits.

These exhibits fill a gap which has long
existed in the Museum's Department of
Zoology. It is expected that they will not
only attract the attention of lovers of nature,

One of the Exhibits in the New Hall of Lower Invertebrates

Many other cases, like this one, are filled with specimens of some of the strangest denizens of the sea depths.
The displays of bizarre creatures are made all the more striking by a new and extremely effective type of lighting.
In this particular group are shown some of the varieties of corals which resemble trees and shrubs in appearance.

lighting which reveals the true colors of the
specimens, bringing out rich tones as well as
somber shades, and all the delicate varia-
tions, in a manner that has never before
been possible with ordinary illumination.
The hall is the first in Field Museum, and
probably the first in any museum, to be
thus completely equipped. The light is
furnished by a new type of tubular fluores-
cent lamp, recently developed by the General
Electric Company. As used in the Museum,
these lamps are concealed in specially con-
structed light boxes at the tops of the
exhibition cases. Before deciding to adopt
this innovation, exhaustive tests were made

in the Museum for several months to
determine to what extent the lighting was
improved, and also to ascertain whether
the lights would cause fading or other
damage to exhibited objects. The lamps
passed the tests on all points. A check on
the amount of current consumed indicates
an average saving of 71 per cent in wattage
as compared with the old type of lights.
Certain other exhibits are already being
equipped with the
new lights, and plans
are under considera-
tion for gradually in-
stalling them in many
other exhibits, and
also in the Library,
in offices and labora-
tories, and elsewhere.

NEW LIGHTING USED
IN BIRD HALL ALSO

Shortly after the
completion of the
new Hall of Lower
Invertebrates, in-
stallation of the new
type of lighting used
there was completed
also in Hall 21, de-
voted to the system-
atic collections of
birds. Here, as in
Hall M, the new lights
were found to have
distinct advantages
in showing exhibits
in their true colors.
An application of
the new lights in
illumination of a
habitat group has also
been successfully made in the new Hall
of Fishes (Hall 0), currently in preparation.
Exhibits in Hall O, however, will not be
available to the public until construction
and installation work is completed, which
will require several more months.

A Gift of Navaho Textiles
from Homer E. Sargent

Augmenting his many previous gifts
over a long period of years, Mr. Homer E.
Sargent, of Pasadena, California (formerly
of Chicago), recently presented an additional
collection of notable Navaho textiles.

Page 2

FIELD MUSEUM NEWS

May, 19S9

EXPEDITION WILL COLLECT
FLORIDA MARINE ANIMALS

An expedition to collect specimens of
marine animals, and study the invertebrate
life of the shores along both the Atlantic
and Gulf coasts of the Florida peninsula,
will leave Chicago about May 10. Mem-
bers of the expedition are Dr. Fritz Haas,
the Museum's Curator of Lower Inverte-
brates, and Mr. Leon L. Walters, of the
stafif of taxidermists.

Specimens will be sought by Dr. Haas for
addition to the collection in the recently
opened Hall of Lower Invertebrates (Hall
M). He will also make studies and collect
material for possible use in habitat groups
planned for the future. Mr. Walters will
assist Dr. Haas, and will make special at-
tempts to obtain certain important species
of large turtles — loggerheads and green sea
turtles. From the specimens collected he
will make plaster casts for use in preparing
reproductions at the Museum later.

The expedition is sponsored by the
President of the Museum, Mr. Stanley Field.

FOSSIL MAMMALS OF WEST
SOUGHT BY EXPEDITION

A Field Museum expedition left Chicago
on April 17 to collect skeletal material repre-
senting various species of extinct mammals
in the Oligocene, Miocene and Pliocene fossil
beds of northwestern Nebraska and eastern
Wyoming. Mr. Paul O. McGrew, Assistant
in Paleontology, is the leader. He is accom-
panied by Mr. John M. Schmidt, of Home-
wood, Illinois, and Mr. Orville Gilpin, of
Chicago. The party drove to the region of
operations in a motor truck, which will be
used also for transport of the specimens
excavated.

The expedition will seek prehistoric mam-
mals of species not yet represented in the
Museum's large collections. Previous sur-
veys of the territory to be worked indicate
that among the specimens which may be
found are camels and rhinoceroses which
once inhabited the American plains, small
three-toed horses, and various rodents,
carnivores, and insectivores. Some of the
species to be sought lived as far back as
forty million years ago.

Plans call for the continuance of the work
until some time in July. The expedition is
sponsored by Mr. Stanley Field, President
of the Museum.

RAYMOND FOUNDATION AIDS
SCHOOL RADIO PROGRAMS

On April 13 the James Nelson and Anna
Louise Raymond Foundation for Public
School and Children's Lectures presented
the fourth in its series of "Radio Followup"
programs of the present school year, in
co-ordination with the science broadcasts of
the Public School Broadcasting Council.

Two informal meetings for groups of chil-
dren were held in the Lecture Hall of the
Museum. The subject was "The Age of
Trees." Many fine specimens showing
annual rings were loaned by the Department
of Botany. Each child who attended had
an opportunity to observe different types
of woods and to study the formations of the
annual rings, as well as to ask questions.
The discussions were followed by conducted
tours to Museum halls containing wood
exhibits, and to Hall 7 for the exhibit
explaining tree ring dating and its use in
archaeology. One hundred sixty-nine pupils
from eighth grade classes were the guests of
the Museum for these programs. Similar
programs given in preceding months treated
the subjects of birch trees, coal, and
meteorites. — M.M.C.

THINOS YOU MAY HAVE MISSED

The European Cave Salamander

The underground waters of caves in the
Carinthian and Balkan limestone region
harbor one of the strangest of living crea-
tures— a white, blind, and eel-like salaman-
der. It is known in German as "01m," and
in English sometimes as the proteus (from
its scientific name, Proteus anguineus). Its
bright red tufts of gills on each side of the
neck mark it as a larval form^one of those
salamanders which even breed as aquatic
larvae and have altogether lost the adult
land stage into which we may presume their
ancestors transformed. The olm is further
remarkable among salamanders for produc-
ing living young, numbering only two at
birth.

The olm is not difficult to transport and
may occasionally be seen alive in aquaria in
this country. In spite of the very consider-
able numbers of specimens captured for
sale to aquarists and to scientists, the re-
maining olm population in caves happily
does not seem to have declined.

There are two cave salamanders, also
white and with eyes covered over with skin,
in the United States. One occurs in the
caves of the Ozark region of Missouri and
Arkansas, and the other lives in the under-
ground waters of a limited area in the vicinity
of San Marcos, Texas.

The European cave salamander is shown
in Albert W. Harris Hall. — K.P.S.

-and Things the Editors Missed!

A Correction

In the caption for the illustration accom-
panying the Things You May Have Missed
article on page 3 of the April Field Museum
News there occurred an error involving
some 399,982,000 years, more or less. This
caption placed glaciers in the Chicago region
"during the Silurian period, some 400,000,000
years ago." The period of glaciation referred
to was the Pleistocene, and it ended about
18,000 years ago. The Silurian period was
the time of formation of the underlying
rock of which the upper layer was planed
off by the glaciers.

White, Blind, and Eel-like

The European cave salamander (or "Olm"), as
it is represented in an exhibit in Albert W. Harris Hall.

DR. P. S. MARTIN TO EXCAVATE
RUINS IN NEW MEXICO

During the summer of 1939, Field Museum
will again sponsor an archaeological expedi-
tion to the Southwest under the leadership
of Dr. Paul S. Martin, Chief Curator of the
Department of Anthropology. Resumption
of this important work has been made possi-
ble by a gift from Mr. Stanley Field, Presi-
dent of the Museum.

Dr. Martin, who in recent years has com-
pleted eight seasons of field work in south-
western Colorado, will this season turn his
attention to excavating some early ruins
near Glenwood, New Mexico. He and his
associates will leave Chicago about June 1,
and will continue field operations until
autumn.

Dr. Martin has concluded investigation of
all of the various known manifestations in
southwestern Colorado of Anasazi culture
(i.e., the Modified Basket Maker Period,
and Pueblo Periods I, II, and III). Two
reports on his researches have already
been issued by Field Museum Press, and
another is in press now for release within a
few months.

The ruins Dr. Martin will investigate in
New Mexico this season belong to what is
known as the MogoUon culture. It is barely
possible that a cultural connection exists
between the early MogoUon and the Basket
Maker cultures, Dr. Martin states.

May, 1939

FIELD MUSEUM NEWS

Page 3

EGGS OF ODD SHAPES, SIZES,
AND COLORS, EXHIBITED

A temporary exhibit of a selection of
some of the world's most interesting birds'
eggs has been installed in Stanley Field Hall.
Originally placed on view as a special
feature for the Easter week-end, it proved
so popular among Museum visitors that it
was decided not to withdraw it for several
weeks. Ultimately, it is planned to sub-
stitute a more extensive permanent exhibit
of eggs.

EVEN "triangular" EGGS!

In the present exhibit are included eggs
of various shapes, sizes and colors — eggs of
long extinct birds, the smallest known birds'
eggs, and a replica of the largest egg known.
In addition to those of the familiar oval
shape, there are approximately triangular
eggs of shore birds, laid in groups of four
which fit together in a nest like the pieces
of a cut pie; tapered conical eggs of murres,
and the round eggs of owls which are almost
as spherical as billiard balls. The conical
murre's eggs represent an example of
Nature's provisions for "safety first." These
eggs are not laid in nests, but directly on
the rocks on high cliffs in the Arctic wilder-
nesses they inhabit, where high winds blow.
The conical shape causes them to roll in
a circle when blown by the wind, instead
of rolling off the cliffs to disaster.

The eggs in this special exhibit are selected
from the Museum's vast study collection
which comprises more than 60,000 speci-
mens. The greater part of these were collect-
ed and presented by the Hon. R. Magoon
Barnes, of Lacon, Illinois, Curator of Birds'
Eggs. This collection is one of the largest
and most important in America.

Among the eggs shown are those of the
South American tinamous, remarkable for
their pastel colors and a characteristic glaze
that makes them appear as though they
were made of glass; and eggs of the mound-
builder birds which have a bisque-like
texture resembling pottery. The mound-
builders' eggs are laid in mounds and
abandoned by their parents. Incubation is
accomplished by rotting vegetation, and
the young birds when thus hatched out are
able to shift for themselves from the start,
states Mr. Rudyerd Boulton, Curator of
Birds.

A NINE-QUART EGG

The tiniest eggs shown are those of hum-
ming birds — scarcely the size of small coffee
beans. The largest egg is that of the extinct
Aepyornis, one of the three largest birds
that ever lived. This bird attained statures
exceeding eleven feet in height. Its eggs
were as much as fifteen inches long, and
had a capacity of about one and three-
quarters gallons. The specimen exhibited
is a replica, cast from a mold made over
an original specimen in the possession of
the Museum (the original is too rare to
risk in an exhibit). Several of these replicas

have been prepared by Mr. James H. Quinn,
Assistant in the Museum's paleontological
laboratories. The largest eggs of modern
birds are those of the ostrich, which average
about five and one-half inches in length by
five inches in diameter. Cubically measured,
one Aepyornis egg equals about six ostrich
eggs, and about ten dozen hens' eggs.

Aepyornis is probably the inspiration of
the many legends about the mythical "roc"
(or "ruhk") which figured in the Arabian
Nights. Rocs were supposed to feed their
young on full-grown elephants which they
carried to their nests, and to drop heavy
boulders on the ships of early traders and
sink them. It was in such an "air raid" that
Sindbad the Sailor was wrecked, according
to the story.

FOUND FLOATING AT SEA

Nests of the Aepyornis were made in the
sand dunes of southwestern Madagascar.
Eggs from these were often washed out by
wave action, and then found floating at
sea by Arab and Indian mariners. The sailors

Tiny Nest of Hummingbird, and Eggs
Illustration is about actual size. Dimensions of
the nest are: IJi inches in length, IH inches in width,
1 K inches in outside depth, and ^ inch in inside depth.

were naturally led to speculate as to what
sort of bird could have laid such large eggs
and thus the roc legends arose, according to
Curator Boulton.

Rare Books From Colonel Roosevelt

Two beautiful illuminated religious manu-
scripts from Tibet, written on parchment in
the ornate Tibetan script, and bound in
elaborate wooden covers, were recently
presented to the Library of Field Museum by
Colonel Theodore Roosevelt, of New York,
a Trustee of the institution.

$1,250,000 for Glass

The plate glass required for the protection
of exhibits in Field Museum runs into
notable figures. The total amount used in
all Museum cases is approximately 2,100,000
square feet, and represents a value of more
than $1,250,000.

A GEOLOGICAL COLLECTION
OF HISTORIC INTEREST

The Department of Geology has received,
as a gift from Dr. Henry Field, Curator of
Physical Anthropology, a large and valuable
collection of minerals and fossils numbering
more than 1,500 specimens. The collection
derives much of its interest and significance
from the fact that the specimens contained
in it were collected or acquired more than
120 years ago by the Misses Salisbury of
Baggrave Hall, Leicestershire, England.
Before their death in the 1820's, these
remarkable women had collected minerals
and fossils from many of the now "classical"
localities both in Great Britain and on the
continent, and had acquired mineral speci-
mens from points as distant as California,
Siberia, and the East Indies.

Eight hundred of the specimens are in-
vertebrate fossils, including assemblages of
forms from the famous English localities of
Wenlock, Lyme Regis, and the chalk cliffs,
as well as from deposits of many other ages
and places. Among the mineral specimens,
of which there are more than 600, are repre-
sentative examples of the varied and, in
some cases, rare minerals of Cornwall,
Devon, Cumberland and Derbyshire, as
well as fine collections from Arendal, Nor-
way, and the Vesuvius region in Italy.

In addition to providing a great deal of
material for study, some of it from localities
in which such specimens can no longer be
obtained, this collection will enhance the
exhibits, and will provide some material for
educational use by the N. W. Harris Public
School Extension. A specimen of Cumber-
land fluorite from this collection has been
added to the fluorescence display between
Halls 34 and 35. — L. B. M., Jr.

Higinbotham Portrait Received

A painting of the late Harlow N. Higin-
botham, who was the second President of
Field Museum, serving in that capacity
from 1898 to 1908, has been presented to the
Museum by Mrs. Richard T. Crane.

HIGHLY INSTRUCTIVE—

"Handicraft, by Lester Griswold,
is an exceptionally complete instruc-
tion book of applied arts that answers
more questions than one would expect
from a book of its size," states Dr.
Paul S. Martin, Chief Curator of
Anthropology at Field Museum.
"Scout leaders and other students of
Indian crafts will find especially useful
the chapters on leather working, weav-
ing, pottery-making, stone-working,
and other primitive arts."

Craft Edition (flexible cover) $2.50;
Library Edition (cloth cover) $3.50.

On sale at the BOOK SHOP of
FIELD MUSEUM.

Page i

FIELD MUSEUM NEWS

May, 1939

AFRICAN BOYS PROVE FORTITUDE AS MARRIAGE ESSENTIAL

By WILFRID D. HAMBLY Ward and removed his tunic so that he was

CURATOR OF AFRICAN ETHNOLOGY naked from ths waist upward. From the

circle of spectators rushed an elderly woman,
the mother of the lad, who threw her arms
about him, and in this protective manner
sought to draw him back to the crowd.
This, however, she was not permitted to
do, and after a brief scuffle the boy stood
holding a sword above his head.

Another boy of the same age came for-
ward, testing the suppleness of a stout
pliable stick that he swished through the
air with great satisfaction as evidenced by
his broad smile. The boy holding the sword
appeared to take a less cheerful outlook,
but despite the punishment he was about
to receive he stood still and held the sword
firmly. The music was accelerated, and in
time to the rhythm the boy with the switch

When traveling through hilly country in
east central Nigeria some years ago (while
conducting the Frederick H. Rawson-Field
Museum Ethnological Expedition to West
Africa), my attention was attracted by a
group of people arranged in a circle from
the center of which came sounds of drum-
ming and dancing. One could see at a glance
that an important ceremony was in progress,
as a dignified chief was in charge, while two
"janitors" were enlarging the arena by a
liberal and impartial use of their long whips.

All the people were of the Fulani tribe,
who might almost be described as a race,
so clearly distinguished are they from other
Africans in appearance and language. There
is a mixture of Negro blood in the Fulani,

How African Boys Prove Their Manhood

The flogging ceremony, a part of the initiation of the youths of the Fulani tribe in Nigeria. Note the marks on
the body of the boy who is holding up the sword. The photograph was made by Curator Wilfrid D. Hambly, who
was permitted to witness the ritual while in Africa conducting the Rawson-Field Museum Ethnological Expedition.

but the light brown skin color and refined
features betoken basic traits of another
race. Many of the Fulani are nomadic
cattle keepers who wander over wide areas
of west Africa, and without design I had
the good fortune to arrive at the beginning
of a rite of initiation into manhood. This
pain test is an indispensable prelude to
marriage, for no girl among those standing
around would accept a coward.

MATERNAL INSTINCT THWARTED

The chief secured for me a place near the
orchestra whose principal instruments were
slender drums one of which was held under
the arm of each player. Louder grew the
music, and more energetic were the efforts
of the janitors with their whips, but when
at last a space was dear a boy stepped for-

danced round his victim, pausing now and
then to raise his weapon as if about to
deliver a blow, then once more resuming
his gyrations. The boy who held the sword
stood still with downcast eyes, giving no
indication of emotion when the blow threat-
ened. His exhibition of stoicism drew ap-
plause from the onlookers.

At last the blow descended with a sick-
ening thud, leaving a conspicuous welt. The
sufferer bent double for a second, and an
elderly man ran forward and rubbed him.
Then the victim made a few rhythmical
steps and smiled, rather faintly, at the crowd
which was vociferous with applause. The
actions of the victim were intended to
indicate his contempt for pain. Three
times the performance was repeated. Then

came a transfer of roles. The sufferer
proceeded leisurely to dress and take the
whip, while the boy who had wielded it be-
fore now prepared to play a less happy part.
Again an attempt was made at rescue, by
the mother, but she was thrust back into
the ring of spectators. The lad who had
received three blows undertook his new task
with relish, dancing slowly and threatening
his victim repeatedly before actually deliver-
ing a blow.

WIVES CHOSEN AT ONCE

The second victim emerged as trium-
phantly as the first, and both were sur-
rounded by admiring girls from whom the
lads quickly selected their mates. The
ceremony, though forbidden by the colonial
government, is still considered by the Fulani
as a necessary prelude to marriage. One
cannot but wonder whether there are any
boys who prefer to enjoy a painless bachelor-
hood.

In Sennar, far away from this site, I have
seen men flog each other with rhinoceros
hide whips as part of a wedding entertain-
ment. Each man gave and received three
blows, and all concerned appeared gratified
with this crude exhibition of fortitude.

Additions to Mammal Exhibits

Recent additions to the systematic collec-
tion of mammals in Hall 15 include a screen
on one side of which are displayed several
species of hyena, and on the other side
specimens of the varied assortment of in-
teresting animals comprising the raccoon
family. To the exhibit of monkeys has been
added a specimen of the strikingly marked
Indo-Chinese species known as the douc
langur.

Hopewell Flint Discs

The largest single cache ever found in
America of flint discs fashioned by prehis-
toric men is on exhibition in the Hall of
North American Archaeology (Hall B).
They come from the famous Hopewell
Mounds of Ohio, and have been installed
as nearly as possible in the same position
in which they were left by the early Indian
inhabitants of that region.

WILD FLOWER LEAFLETS—

Of special interest and usefulness to
those interested in recognizing the
wild flowers appearing at this season
are illustrated leaflets. Spring Wild
Flowers, and Spring and Early Sum-
mer Wild Flowers, published by Field
Museum. J. Francis Macbride, Asso-
ciate Curator of the Herbarium, is the
author. The booklets are on sale at
the BOOK SHOP of the Museum—
25 cents each.

May, 1939

FIELD MUSEUM NEWS

Page 5

IRISH MOSS

By LLEWELYN WILLIAMS

CURATOR OF ECONOMIC BOTANY

Chinese gastronomes are famous for their
strange dishes, prominent among which are
ancient eggs and birds '-nest soup.

The secret of the palatability of the vener-
able eggs seems to be that they are pickled
in a lime solution which preserves them
almost indefinitely. They are sliced and
served cold as in a salad.

The birds'-nest soup is made of material
similar to the so-called Irish moss which is
popular for puddings and desserts in the
New England states, particularly Massa-
chusetts and New Hampshire. The use of
this small seaweed for food is not confined,
however, to the United States. Its gelatin-
ous properties and serviceability for the
preparation of desserts have long been
known in Europe and Great Britain, where
the plant grows in abundance in many
places off the coast, especially that of south-
ern and western Ireland. A similar sea-
weed obtained from the Red Sea and
Indian Ocean is used in Persia.

USED IN COIFFURES, HATS, BEVERAGES

Prior to 1835 the small quantity of this
seaweed imported from Europe was sold in
this country at $1 to $2 per pound. When
it was found to be abundant also on this
side of the Atlantic the price soon fell, and
by 1880 it had been reduced to about 3 cents
a pound. Besides serving as food, this
marine plant has a variety of other uses,
such as in making bandoline for stiffening
milady's coiffure, for clarifying alcoholic
beverages, and as sizing in the manufacture
of calico and hats.

Irish moss, or carrageen, is one of the red
algae, and as such is related to agar, or agar-
agar, which yields a similar vegetable
"gelatine." Its native habitat is the sea
and it grows at low-water mark as well as
at greater depths, but flourishes best on
rocks constantly washed by strong waves.
The harvest season extends from May to
September. The plant is obtained in two
ways — by hand-picking at low tides, and
by means of long-handled rakes used from
boats. Men go out in sailboats or dories
at half tide, and return at half flood to
scrape the "moss" off the rocks.

EXTENDED CtmiNG PROCESS

For curing, fair weather with abundant
sunshine is necessary. On being brought
ashore the clumps of much branched moss-
like algae are red and are spread out on the
high beach to be bleached by repeated
wetting and drying in the sun. The material
is then placed in hogsheads, in which it is
re-saturated with salt water by rolling
the barrels in the marshes, after which the
material is again spread out and further
bleached. This alternate treatment is re-
peated four or five times until the product
is yellowish-white. The final drying is done

in barns where the mass is finally picked
over and packed in 100-pound barrels.

The Chinese birds'-nest soup is the
product of a small, red seaweed which
abounds along the coast of China and some
islands of the Indian Archipelago, and forms,
with its entangled small organisms, the
principal source of food of a species of
swallow. The bird feeds upon the seaweed
and macerates the material in its crop.
The partly digested algal substance is
regurgitated and drawn out in gelatinous
fiber which the birds attach with their bills.
The silky adhesive matter lends itself to

the construction of beautiful white nests,
about the size of goose-eggs, as thin as a
silver spoon. When dry they are brittle
and weigh about half an ounce. The gather-
ing of them for food is often hazardous work.
Before being used they are carefully cleaned.
After they have been freed of foreign matter
they are stewed with pigeons' eggs, spices
and other ingredients. The cooked article
suggests chicken broth.

Specimens of both the Irish moss, and
the type of weed which forms the basis of
birds'-nest soup, are on exhibition in the
Hall of Plant Life (Hall 29).

HARWA, FIRST MUMMY TO FLY, GOES TO FAIR IN NEW YORK

When Harwa, a 2,800-year-old Egyptian,
once the agricultural overseer for a temple
of the god Amon, was placed aboard a
United Airlines' plane for New York on
April 12, he was well on his way toward
establishing a list of "firsts" for the country's
museum populace. It is believed he is the
first mummy to travel on a plane, and he is
the first adult-size person to be publicly
fluoroscoped.

Harwa, a mummy from Field Museum's

Egyptian collection, was the guest of Lowell
Thomas and a personal representative of the
Egyptian Consul-General at a luncheon of
the Advertising Club in New York on April
13. Following that, he was taken to one of
the New York World's Fair buildings where
he is to be displayed in the General Electric
X-Ray Corporation's exhibit. There, when
a visitor to the booth pushes a button, an
x-ray machine will create a full-length image
of Harwa's skeleton on a fiuoroscopic screen.

Illustration by courtesy of General Electric X-Ray Corporation

Mummy from Field Museum Boards Plane for New York Fair

Harwa, 2,800-year-old Egyptian, is shown leaving Chicago to appear in fluoroscopic exhibit of General Electric
X-Ray Corporation. At left is Mr. A. J. Kizaur, General Electric engineer who designed the exhibit. At right is
Mr. Richard A. Martin, Curator of Near Eastern Archaeology at Field Museum, who served as historical advisor.

Page 6

FIELD MUSEUM NEWS

May, 1939

Field Museum of Natural History

Founded by Marshall Field, 1893
Roosevelt Road and Field Drive, Chicago

THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES

Sgwell L. Avery WniiAM H. Mitchell

Leopold E. Block George A. Richardson

Albert B. Dick, Jr. Theodore Roosevelt

Joseph N. Field Fred W. Sargent

Marshall Field James Simpson

Stanley Field Solomon A. Smith

Albert W. Harris Albert A. Spraoue

Samuel Insull, Jr. Silas H. Strawn

Charles A. McCulloch John P. Wilson

OFFICERS

Stanley Field President

Albert A. Sprague First Vice-President

ixtsss Simpson Second Vice-President

Albert W. Harris Third Vice-President

Clifford C. Gregg Director and Secretary

Solomon A. Smith . . . Treasurer and Assistant Secretary

FIELD MUSEUM NEWS

Clifford C. Gregg, Director of the Museum .... Editor
CONTRIBUTING EDITORS

Paul S. Martini Chief Curator of Anthro-pology

B. E. Dahlgren Chief Curator of Botany

Henry W. Nichols Chief Curator of Geology

Wilfred H. Osgood Chief Curator of Zoology

H. B. Harte Managing Editor

Members are requested to Inform the Museum
promptly of changes of address.

FROM THE DIRECTOR'S DESK—

Conservation

During the past month the local news-
papers have carried some information
regarding conservation. Conservation Weelc
was officially proclaimed from April 9 to
April 15 in the State of Illinois by the Acting
Governor. It is fitting that we should turn
our attention from time to time to the prob-
lem of conservation and all that it means.

Unfortunately the term is rather generally
misunderstood. To some it means the
abolition of the privilege of hunting and
fishing at any time. To others it means the
establishment of game preserves and the
restoration of wild life. Still others regard
conservation as the preservation of all
natural things as we find them.

Conservation actually does not mean pro-
hibiting the use of our natural resources, but
it does imply that we must use them with
intelligent understanding so that they will
not diminish or be lost to the world, but
may be passed on substantially as we find
them to succeeding generations. This
implies more than building fish hatcheries
to restock our streams, and closing seasons
for a year or two on the hunting of birds and
animals. Not only the hunter, but the
farmer, the lumberman, the miner, the
industrialist, and almost all of the rest of us
at some time, by our carelessness or lack of
knowledge, tend to destroy the natural
things that cannot be replaced. In short,
what must be learned is that it is dangerous
to destroy the balance of nature.

Elimination of predatory birds and beasts
has sometimes permitted rodents and grass-
hoppers to overrun the grain fields of the
farmers. Ill-advised irrigation projects have
taken the water from one watershed and

transferred it to another, reducing ground
water levels and making deserts out of former
prairies. Industrial wastes in our streams
have poisoned the fish and made the waters
uninhabitable for the new crop of fish from
the hatcheries. Sloughs have been drained
to add to the area of marginal farm lands,
resulting in the reduction of wild fowl by
the elimination of their nesting-sites. All
these and many more abuses against the
balance of nature have done far more harm
even than the fisherman or hunter who does
not limit himself to a fair day's catch.

Extinct Passenger Pigeons

A lesson in conservation. These birds are believed
to have been exterminated by excessive shooting for
food (not only for humans liut for fattening hogs).
The last wild one was seen in 1907; the last captive
died in 1914 in the' Cincinnati Zoological Garden.
Shown above is part of a group in Stanley Field Hall.

In the belief that our natural resources
are being wasted more because of ignorance
than because of greed, Field Museum takes
its place among the conservationists in an
effort to acquaint people with the problem.
An appreciation of wild life, whether flowers,
trees, or animals, is perhaps the first element
in creating the desire to retain them for
posterity. An understanding of the sur-
roundings which make wild life possible,
and an appreciation of the inter-relation-
ships of the various forms of wild life are
basic factors in solving the problem. It
seems then that every intelligent person
who understands these matters and who
desires to pass on the beauties of nature to
posterity must become in one way or another
an ardent conservationist.

— Clifford C. Gregg, Director

ADOLF CARL NOE
October 28, 1873-April 10, 1939

Dr. Adolf Carl Noe, Professor of Paleo-
botany of the University of Chicago, died
April 10, 1939, after a short illness. He had
been associated with Field Museum for many
years, and had been a member of the staff of
the Department of Botany as Research Assoc-
iate in Paleobotany since 1933, having
become interested especially in the Depart-
ment's reconstruction of the coal forest
vegetation.

Dr. No6's researches and publications in
coal formations and coal balls are well
known to scientists. He placed the use of

his collections and his large knowledge
freely at the disposal of the Museum. His
most important collections were made
chiefly in Illinois, for the Illinois State Geo-
logical Survey, and in Iowa, Kentucky,
Texas, Mexico, and Russia. In order to
gain some first-hand knowledge of the flora
of the tropics for comparison with fossils, he
spent a season in Panama, at the Barro
Colorado Island laboratory.

Scion of an old aristocratic family of
French origin and long Austrian tradition,
Professor No6 was born in Graz, and
served in his youth as an officer in an
Austrian Hussar regiment. He was an
enthusiastic horseman, fencer and marks-
man. His first experience in his chosen
science of paleobotany was as a demon-
strator at the University of Graz. In 1899
he came to the United States, studied at
the University of Chicago, and there
obtained his A.B. degree, and later his Ph.D.
degree. In later years he was awarded hono-
rary degrees by the University of Graz and
the University of Innsbruck. He was well-
known as a scholar in the field of German
literature as well as in science.

His publications include Fossil Flora of
Northern Illinois, and Ferns, Fossils, and
Fuel. After his participation in the Allen
and Garcia Commission for the study of the
coal beds of Russia in 1927 he wrote Golden
Days of Soviet Russia.

The Museum staff regrets keenly the loss
of a valued friend and associate.

The evolution of the horse from a small
four-toed animal to a large one-toed animal
is interestingly illustrated in Case 22 of
Stanley Field Hall.

A FEW FACTS ABOUT FIELD MUSEUM

Field Museum is open every day of the year
(except Christmas and New Year's Day) during
the hours indicated below:

November, December,

January, February 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

March, April, and
September, October 9 A.M. to 5 P.M.

May, June, July, August. . . .9 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Admission is free to Members on all days.
Other adults are admitted free on Thursdays,
Saturdays, and Sundays; non-members pay 25
cents on other days. Children are admitted free
on all days. Students and faculty members of
educational institutions are admitted free any
day upon presentation of credentials.

The Museum's Library is open for reference
daily except Saturday afternoon and Sunday.

Traveling exhibits are circulated in the schools
of Chicago by the N. W. Harris Public School
Extension Department of the Museum.

Lectures at schools, and special entertain-
ments and tours for children at the Museum, are
provided by the James Nelson and Anna Louise
Raymond Foundation for Public School and
Children's Lectures.

Free courses of lectures for adlilts are presented
in the James Simpson Theatre on Saturday after-
noons (at 2:30 o'clock) in March, April, October,
and November.

A Cafeteria serves visitors. Rooms are avail-
able also for those bringing their lunches.

Chicago Motor Coach Company No. 26 busses
provide direct transportation to the Museum. Ser-
vice is offered also by Surface Lines, Rapid Tran-
sit Lines (the "L"), interurban electric lines, and
Illinois Central trains. There is ample free park-
ing space for automobiles at the Museum.

May, 1939

7^ A ^Wahd^

^^ ^ 0 FIELff »

MUSEUM NEWS

^\ji^*f^<K

Page ?

STAFF NOTES

Mr. Alfred C. Weed, Curator of Fishes,
has been in Englewood on the west coast of
Florida for several weeks, and has collected
a number of fishes and specimens of other
forms of marine life. Valuable co-operation
was extended to him by the Bass Biological
Laboratories.

DETAILED STUDY REVEALS SU-LIN WAS A MALE GIANT PANDA

Dr. Wilfred H. Osgood, Chief Curator
of the Department of Zoology, recently
returned from a sojourn of several weeks in
Florida, principally at Captiva Island, where
he made surveys in preparation for a forth-
coming Field Museum expedition, and did a
limited amount of collecting.

Mr. Paul C. Standley, Associate Curator
of the Herbarium, at present in Guatemala
on a botanical expedition sponsored by Mr.
Sewell Avery, a Trustee of the Museum, in
his last report indicated that he had com-
pleted plant collecting in the western region
of the country. He was planning at that
time to transfer his activities to the Cobdn
district, rated as having the richest vegeta-
tion in Guatemala.

Mr. L. Bryant Mather, Jr., Assistant
Curator of Mineralogy, will participate in
an expedition under the leadership of Dr.
Joseph T. Singewald, Jr., Professor of
Economic Geology at The Johns Hopkins
University, between May 1 and 15. The
expedition will visit eighteen important
mineral and mining localities in Pennsyl-
vania, New Jersey, and New York. Material
will be collected for Field Museum's mineral
and physical geology collections.

Mr. D. Dwight Davis, Assistant Curator
of Anatomy and Osteology, presented a
scientific paper before the meeting of the
American Society of Mammalogists at
Baton Rouge, Louisiana, April 4.

Staff Taxidermist C. J. Albrecht lectured
recently before an audience at the American
Museum of Natural History, New York, on
fur seals, telling his experiences on a Field
Museum expedition to the Pribilof Islands.
While in the east he also made studies of the
collections in several other leading museums.

Mr. C. Martin Wilbur, Curator of Chinese
Archaeology and Ethnology, lectured on
Chinese jades on April 26 before the Society
of Fine Arts and History of Evansville,
Indiana.

Dr. Paul S. Martin, Chief Curator of the
Department of Anthropology, lectured on
the work of his expeditions in the Southwest
before an audience of members of the P. E. O.
Club in the lecture hall of the Museum on
April 20.

Now it can be told — the late Su-Lin,
most famous of giant pandas, was a deceiver.
Known to its many admirers during life at
the Chicago Zoological Park, Brookfield, as
"she," this animal actually should have
been referred to as "he." This was an-
nounced recently by Mr. Edward H. Bean,
Director of the
Zoo, upon re-
ceipt of a re-
port from
Field Museum
in whose labo-
ratories, for
more than a
year since the
panda's death
(on April 1,
1938), meticu-
lous detailed
dissection has
been in pro-
gress for pur-
poses of re-
search. The
skin was
mounted and
placed on ex-
hibition at the
Museum with-
in a few weeks
after Su-Lin's
death, but the
soft anatomy,
preserved by
chemical in-
jections, was
turned over to
Mr. D. Dwight
Davis, Assist-
ant Curator of
Anatomy and

Osteology, for the first thorough study of
the species which has ever been possible to
scientists.

Mr. Davis's research, which is not yet
completed, has just recently reached the
stage where it has been discovered that,
owing to peculiarities of the little known
species, Su-Lin, while outwardly appearing
to be a female, was actually a male.

"While Su-Lin was alive there was no

external indication that would lead to the
suspicion that the animal was anything
other than a female as had generally been
supposed," states Dr. Wilfred H. Osgood,
Chief Curator of the Department of Zoology.
"This is not so surprising as it might at first
seem to a layman — there are various other

Su-Lin Fooled the World

The famous giant panda, always known as "she" during^ life at the Brookfield Zoo,
was actually a male, it has been revealed by the detailed dissection in progress in the labora-
tories of Field Museum. The animal is shown above as it has appeared as a mounted specimen
at the Museum since shortly after death in April, 1938. The exhibit is in Stanley Field Hall.

animals in which the evidences of sex are so
concealed that it is difficult to distinguish
males from females by external examination
only. It is particularly difficult with ani-
mals that are not fully mature, as was the
case with Su-Lin. Most of the supposed
relatives of the giant panda are fairly
normal, so it was natural to assume that
Su-Lin was a female until dissection revealed
facts to the contrary."

Distinguished Visitors

Among distinguished visitors recently
received at Field Museum are: Dr. Paul H.
Nesbitt, of Beloit College, who came to
study the Museum's Southwestern archaeo-
logical collections; Mr. L. D. Bestall,
Director of the Hawkes Bay Art Gallery
and Museum, Napier, New Zealand; Mrs.
Nicholas (Alice Roosevelt) Longworth,
widow of the late Speaker of the House of
Representatives of the United States, and
her daughter; the Duke and Duchess of
Sutherland, of London; Mr. Dillman S.
Bullock of Angol, Chile, donor of many

Chilean specimens to the Museum, who
conferred with Chief Curator Osgood and
Curator Sanborn on problems of Chilean
zoology; Count Benedict Tyszkiewicz of
Poland; Mr. Harold J. Coolidge, Jr.,
Assistant Curator of Mammals at the
Museum of Comparative Zoology, Cam-
bridge, Massachusetts, who spent several
days in conference with members of the
staff of Field Museum; Dr. C. R. Ball, of
Washington, D.C., an authority on willows;
and Mrs. M. Quennell, Hon. A.R.I. B.A.,
who is the Director of the Geffrye Historical
Museum, in London, England.

Page 8

FIELD MUSEUM NEWS

May, 19S9

MAY GUIDE-LECTURE TOURS
FOR WEEK-DAY VISITORS

Conducted tours of exhibits, under the
guidance of staff lecturers, are made every
afternoon at 3 o'clock, except Saturdays,
Sundays, and certain holidays. Following
is the schedule of subjects and dates for May:

Week beginning May 1: Monday — Sea
Invertebrates (new hall); Tuesday — Plants
of Plains and Deserts; Wednesday — Peoples
of the South Seas; Thursday — General Tour;
Friday — Dinosaurs and Other Prehistoric
Animals.

Week beginning May 8: Monday — Amphib-
ians and Fish; Tuesday — Plants That Trap
Insects; Wednesday — Crystals and Gems;
Thursday — General Tour; Friday — Indians
of North, Central, and South America.

Week beginning May 15: Monday —
Animals at Home; Tuesday — Our Native
Trees; Wednesday — From Chellean to Swiss
Lake Dweller; Thursday — General Tour;
Friday — The Benld and Other Meteorites.

Week beginning May 22: Monday — Hall
of Plant Life; Tuesday— Birds That Nest
in the Chicago Region; Wednesday — Miner-
als; Thursday — General Tour; Friday —
Chinese Art.

Week beginning May 29: Monday —
Lacquers, Turpentine, and Rubber; Tuesday
— Memorial Day holiday, no tour; Wednes-
day— Carl Akeley Exhibits and Processes.

Persons wishing to participate should
apply at North Entrance. Tours are free.
A new schedule will appear each month in
Field Museum News. Guide-lecturers'
services for special tours by parties of ten
or more are available by arrangement with
the Director a week in advance.

GIFTS TO THE MUSEUM

Following is a list of some of the principal
gifts received during the last month:
Department of Anthropology :

From Dr. Henry Field, Chicago — 68
ethnological specimens, Italy, England, and
Near East; from Thomas E. Donnelley,
Chicago — 44 pieces of bronze and wooden
movable type, Korea.

Department of Botany:

From Dr. Delzie Demaree, Monticello,
Arkansas — 92 herbarium specimens, Arkan-
sas; from Richard A. Schneider, Kankakee,
Illinois — 190 herbarium specimens, Mexico;
from Hermann C. Benke, Chicago — 257
herbarium specimens, Wisconsin and Illinois;
from Mrs. George Artamonoff, Chicago —
150 herbarium specimens, Mexico and Cen-
tral America; from Dr. J. A. Steyermark,
Chicago — 5,107 herbarium specimens, Mis-
souri; from Jardim Botanico de Belo
Horizonte, Minas Geraes, Brazil — 1,772
herbarium specimens, Brazil.
Department of Geolo^ :

From George W. De Muth, Chicago —
187 specimens of minerals; from Dr. Henry
Field, Chicago — a collection of 1,543 speci-
mens of minerals and fossils, England and
Europe, and a specimen of marl, Moravia;
from William G. Rinehart, Batesville,

Arkansas — 8 photographs of region where
Joe Wright Mountain meteorite was found;
from Geringer Brothers, Oak Park, Illinois
— 2 specimens of scheelite, California; from
Mrs. George Artamonoff, Chicago — 17 speci-
mens of volcanic products, Guatemala and
El Salvador; from Dr. M. J. Groesbeck,
Porterville, California — 2 specimens of min-
erals, Nevada and California.

Department of Zoology:

From Dr. W. C. Hobgood, Monticello,
Arkansas — a frog and 3 salamanders,
Arkansas; from Instituto de La Salle,
Bogota, Colombia — 8 bats and 4 rodents,
Colombia; from H. St. John Philby, Jidda,
Arabia — 6 toads, 36 lizards, and 7 snakes,
Arabia; from Eugen G. J. Falck, Chicago —
13 crayfish and 105 land and fresh water
shells, Illinois; from Lincoln Park Zoo,
Chicago — an anaconda, South America;
from John White, Thomasville, Georgia — a
scorpion, Georgia; from Chicago Zoological
Society, Brookfield, Illinois — a lemur, a
kinkajou, and a new-bom sea lion; from
Michael Blackmore, London, England — 6
bats, England; from J. L. Chaworth-Musters,
London, England — 15 bats, England; from
James Little, Naperville, Illinois — a sala-
mander, 8 snakes, and 7 frogs and toads,
Wisconsin; from John M. Schmidt, Home-
wood, Illinois — 4 garter snakes, Illinois;
from FVank Bagot, Miami Beach, Florida
— a beetle, Florida; from Henry Dybas,
Chicago — 3 land shells, Colombia; from
John G. Shedd Aquarium, Chicago — a turtle,
Bahama Islands; from Mrs. Robb White,
Thomasville, Georgia — a short-headed hog-
nosed snake, Georgia; from Mrs. George
Artamonoff, Chicago — 6 fish and 625 speci-
mens of shells and other lower invertebrates.
Central America and Mexico.

The Library:

Valuable books from Americana Corpora-
tion, New York City; from Professor
Norman C. Basset, Madison, Wisconsin;
from Mme. L. Lion, Paris, France; from
Carnegie Institution, Washington, D.C.;
from William L. Steam, London, England;
and from Miss Margaret Ennis, W. J.
Gerhard, Dr. Albert B. Lewis, and John W.
Moyer, all of Chicago.

NEW MEMBERS

The following persons were elected to
membership in Field Museum during the
period from March 16 to April 15:
Associate Members

Mrs. Laura T. C. Alford, Miss Aurelia
Bertol, Mrs. W. W. Sherman.
Annual Members

Edwin D. Allen, Claude A. Benjamin,
William George Cariisle, Willard F. Clark,
John H. Drummond, Dr. William P. Finney,
Mrs. R. H. Fogler, John R. Fugard, J. E.
Fuller, Mrs. Steve Gavin, Mrs. Thomas D.
Heed, Chester S. Hendry, Lewis J. Isaacs,
Dr. M. J. Kostrzewski, Edward Marshall,
Wallace Meyer, Walter D. Monroe, R. L.
Nafziger, Dr. Harry A. Oberhelman, L. A.
Phillips, Albert C. Pobloske, Mrs. Lewis J.
Pollock, J. Rockefeller Prentice, Victor W.
Purcey, Rex Rathbun, Robert S. Smith,
Dr. Max Thorek, Rudolph E. Vogel,
Eugene Whitmore.

"PARADE OF THE RACES" OFFERED
ON SUNDAY TOURS IN MAY

May is the final month in the current
season of Sunday afternoon lecture-tours
given at Field Museum by Mr. Paul G.
Dallwig, the Layman Lecturer. On each
Sunday in this month Mr. Dallwig will
present "The Parade of the Races," which
in the past has proved to be one of his
most popular subjects. Those partici-
pating will tour the Hall of the Races of
Mankind (Chauncey Keep Memorial Hall)
with Mr. Dallwig, where they will view the
extensive series of sculptures by Malvina
Hoffman, and hear the lecturer's dramatic
but factual stories about each of the races
represented.

Attendance at Sunday afternoon lecture-
tours is restricted to those who have made
advance reservations, because parties are
necessarily limited in size. Heavy demands
have resulted in the filling of quotas for each
of the remaining Sundays of this season and
no further reservations are available.

Mr. Dallwig's next season of Sunday
lecture tours will begin November 5, and
continue until the last Sunday in May, 1940.

Museum Hours Extended
for Summer Period
Summer visiting hours, 9 a.m. to 6 P.M.
daily, including Sundays and holidays, will
go into effect at Field Museum on May 1,
and continue throughout the period up to
and including September 4 (Labor Day).

MEMBERSHIP IN FIELD MUSEUM

Field Museum has several classes of Members.
Annual Members contribute $10 annually. As-
sociate Members pay $100 and are exempt from
dues. Sustaining Members contribute $25 annu-
ally for six consecutive years, after which they
become .\ssociate Members and are exempt from
all further dues. Life Members give $500 and
are exempt from dues. Non-Resident Life Mem-
bers pay $100. and Non-Resident .\ssociate
Members $50; both of these classes are also
exempt from dues. The Non-Resident member-
ships are available only to persons residing fifty
miles or more from Chicago. Those who give or
devise to the Museum $1,000 to $100,000 are
designated as Contributors, and those who give
or devise $100,000 or more become Benefactors.
Other memberships are Honorar>% Patron,
Corresponding and Corporate, additions under
these dassifications being made by special action
of the Board of Trustees.

Each Member, in all classes, is entitled to free
admission to the Museum for himself, his family
and bouse guests, and to two reserved seats for
Musetun lectures pro\'ided for Members. Sub-
scription to Field Musbuu News is included
with all memberships. The courtesies of every
museum of note in the United States and Canada
are extended to all Members of Field Museum.
A Member may give his personal card to non-
residents of Chicago, upon presentation of which
they will be admitted to the Museum without
charge. Further information about member-
ships will be sent on request.

BEQUESTS AND ENDOWMENTS

Bequests to Field Museum of Natural History
may be made in securities, money, books or
collections. They may, if desired, take the form
of a memorial to a person or cause, named by the
giver.

Contributions made within the taxable year not
exceeding 15 per cent of the taxpayer's net in-
come are allowable as deductions in computing
net income for federal income tax purposes.

Endowments may be made to the Mtlseum
with the provision that an annuity be paid to
the patron for life. These annuities are giiaran-
teed against fluctuation in amount, and may
reduce federal income taxes.

PRINTED BY FICLP MUSCUM PUCSS

News

Published Monthly by Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago

Vol. 10

JUNE, 1939

No. 6

NEW EXHIBIT OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL MATERIAL FROM THE AMERICAN SOUTHWEST

Bv PAUL S. MARTIN

CHIEF CURATOR, DEPARTMENT OF ANTHROPOLOGY

After months of study and work, the
Basket Maker Indian materials recovered
by the 1938 Field Museum Archaeological
Expedition to Southwestern Colorado have
been placed on exhibition in Hall 7 of the
Department of Anthropology.

Included in this exhibit are several classes
of objects which should be of great interest
to all who are inter-
ested in southwestern
prehistory. For exam-
ple, attention should
be called to the skill-
fully restored pottery.
All of this was in
fragments when
found, having been
smashed by the weight
of tons of earth which
have lain upon these
fragile objects for more
than ten centuries.

Some red-on-orange
pots are the most
fascinating because
they represent a very
rare type of pottery
— a type which was
practically unknown
up to a few years ago.
This very beautifully
made ware, which
dates from about a.d.
700 (or possibly
earlier), is a source
of some mystery, be-
cause at present no one
knows where it was
first made. Further,
the use of designs in
red on an orange back-
ground is not in the

accepted tradition of Basket Maker ceramics.
Usually, Basket Maker pottery is plain gray
or is marked with black designs of a simple
nature on a plain gray background. There-
fore, Field Museum is proud to be able to
display this rare kind of pottery which has
never before been exhibited in Chicago.

One of these red-on-orange pots merits
special notice, because the shape is unique.
This particular pot is provided with a
basket-handle made of baked clay and
decorated with a zig-zag design.

The painted pottery was never used for
cooking purposes, but served rather as

containers for prepared food and beverages.

The plain gray pottery, which comes in
various shapes and sizes, was what may be
called the utilitarian ware. Some of it was
used for cooking food and boiling water.
The large narrow-necked jars were undoubt-
edly used as water containers. One very
large, plain gray jar had been smeared all
over with a red-ocher paint.

In addition to the pottery, there are dis-

Villa&e of Basket Maker Indians, About A.D. 860

Restoration, by Staflf Artist Arthur G. Rueckert, of an ancient site excavated by Field Museum Archaeolo-
gical Expeditions to the Southwest, as the researches of Chief Curator Paul S. Martin indicate it must have
appeared when occupied by prehistoric inhabitants. Circular structure at left is the largest known great kiva or
ceremonial chamber. At right is a smaller kiva, close to the barracks-like rows of surface houses. The small
circular structures from which smoke issues are pit-houses. Both house types were probably used as dwellings.

played other objects which were used in the
daily lives of the Basket Maker Indians.
These include: bone awls for piercing holes
in buckskin; bone needles; bone scrapers;
stone hoes, axes, and mauls; and manos or
the upper portion of corn-grinding mills.
Included also are some of the ornaments
with which these Indians decorated them-
selves.

Since the ancient villages which were
excavated by the Museum expedition had
been exposed to the rains and snows of more
than a thousand years, all the perishable
objects, such as basketry, cloth, sandals.

matting, and wooden materials, have long
since rotted away. This is unfortunate,
because the archaeologist is confronted with
the difficult task of reconstructing the history
of these Indians from only three classes
of objects: pottery, bone, and stone. Im-
agine how trying it would be for any
archaeologist of the future to have to piece
together a complete story of our complex
civilization from only broken dishes, rusty
tools (the uses of
which he did not
know), and tin cans!
In spite of this dif-
ficulty, however, we
have managed to re-
construct a reasonably
clear history of the
Basket Maker Indians
of southwestern Colo-
rado. This story, writ-
ten in non-technical
language, has been in-
cluded in a report cov-
ering in detail the ex-
pedition's work, and
the research conduct-
ed on the material
brought to the Mu-
seum. This report,
richly illustrated, will
be released by Field
Museum Press some-
time during the sum-
mer, and it may then
be purchased at the
Museum.

One of the special
features of the exhibi-
tion recently opened
to the public is a
sketch showing how a
Basket Maker village
actually looked. This
reconstruction is very accurate, as it was
based on all the data collected by the expe-
dition. A reproduction of the sketch is
published with this article.

This village was built on a narrow prom-
ontory which juts out into Cahone Canyon,
Colorado. The Indians built two types of
houses: pit houses and surface houses. The
pit houses (in the middle-ground) look like
big ant hills; the surface dwellings are the
long low structures. At the extreme left
of the picture, and also toward the right,
may be seen examples of circular struc-
tures called "great kivas." A kiva is a

Page 2

FIELD MUSEUM NEWS

June, 1939

place for holding ceremonies. These "great
kivas" were probably used for celebrating
large communal ceremonies. The larger of
these two great kivas measured 83 feet in
diameter, and is the largest structure of this
type yet found. The lesser great kiva
measured 43 feet in diameter. Neither of
these structures was roofed.

In all, the writer and associated archae-
ologists have spent eight summers in the
excavation of Basket Maker sites in Colo-
rado. About the first of June the ninth
expedition, sponsored by Mr. Stanley Field,
President of the Museum, will resume this
work, but a new field will be entered this
year. The 1939 operations will concentrate
upon the excavation of some ruins near
Glenwood, New Mexico. The new sites
belong to what is known as the Mogollon
culture, and investigations will be con-
ducted to determine whether or not there
was a cultural connection between the early
Mogollon and Basket Maker cultures.

1939 IS YEAR FOR APPEARANCE
OF THE 17- YEAR CICADA

By WILLIAM J. GERHARD

CURATOR OF INSECTS

In many of the forest preserves in Cook
County last month the ground under the
trees was perforated with numerous open-
ings or vertical burrows, some topped with
capped mud chimneys. These burrows in-
dicated that the compact brood XIII of the
seventeen-year or periodical cicada — some-
times incorrectly called the "seventeen-year
locust" — would again make its appearance
in large numbers in woodland tracts of
northern Illinois, eastern Missouri, southern
Wisconsin and Michigan, and northern
Indiana, during the spring of 1939.

A few inches below the burrow openings
lay the waiting pupae that represent the
third stage in the life-history of this cicada.
For seventeen years (in the northern states)
the young or larvae, which the pupae closely
resemble, have lived in the ground, where
they sucked the juices of roots and rootlets.

During some night, possibly in the latter
part of May before this publication, or at
least in the early part of June, the pupae
were due to leave their burrows almost
simultaneously and crawl up on some nearby
object. When this occurs, a longitudinal
slit appears in the skin of their backs, and
therefrom emerge the flabby, white adults
with little wrinkled wing pads. Within a
few hours the soft wings expand, harden, and
become nearly transparent, while at the
same time the body hardens and assumes
its characteristic color.

On the day following their emergence
from the pupal stage the adults are ready to
mate, and the females begin to lay their eggs
in the terminal twigs and branches of trees
by means of their sword-shaped ovipositor.
As a result of this egg-laying habit the leaves
of many terminal twigs soon turn yellow

and the twigs may also be blown to the
ground by strong winds. While the females
are fulfilling their mission in life, the males
are busy producing their familiar, prolonged,
buzzing sound. And in from four to six
weeks their adult life is ended.

MAY FLIES TO APPEAR AGAIN

Within a month or more countless num-
bers of fragile insects known as May flies
will also again make their appearance in the
Chicago area and elsewhere on or near the
shores of the Great Lakes. They will annoy
housewives because of their fondness for
artificial light. Every year swarms of them
descend upon this city and its suburbs.

These four-winged creatures, with their
two or three hair-like caudal appendages,
are of interest on account of their brief
adult life, which may last only a few hours —
rarely more than two days. Unlike other
insects they molt or shed their old skin after
their wings are fully developed. The name
"May fly" is not a misnomer, for some
species appear during May in certain places.

Although the adult life of May flies is an

ephemeral one, which is the reason why the
Greeks of Aristotle's day called them Ephem-
eron, they are in fact rather long-lived
insects. Their development from the egg
to the adult or winged stage actually re-
quires from one to three years. But except
for a few hours or days they live as wingless
njmiphs in lakes, ponds and streams, where
they feed mainly on low forms of plant life.
Many of the nymphs in turn are eaten by
fish. In some waters it has been found that
nearly a fifth of the food of fish consisted
of May fly nymphs.

When the nymphs are full-grown, they
come to the surface of the water, and from
a slit or fissure that appears in their backs
the winged adults emerge. After finding a
convenient resting place like a wall, tree,
or blade of grass, the adults shed their old
skin, including that of the wings, the skins
remaining attached to the objects upon
which they were shed. Unable to eat any-
thing during their short adult life, they
nevertheless are now ready for mating. The
females lay their eggs on or in the water —
hundreds to several thousands of them.

DANISH AND NORWEGIAN ROYALTY VISIT FIELD MUSEUM

Twice recently Field Museum has been
host to European royalty. On April 25,
Their Royal Highnesses, Crown Prince
Frederik and Princess Ingrid, of Denmark,
were guests of the institution. On May 4,
His Royal Highness, Crown Prince Olav,
of Norway, was a visitor to the Museum.

Prince Frederik and Princess Ingrid were
escorted to the Museum by Mr. Reimund

Baumann, the Danish Consul, and Prince
Olav by Mr. Sigurd Maseng, Consul of
Norway. Each of the royal parties was
conducted on a tour of outstanding exhibits
by the Museum Director, Mr. Clifford C.
Gregg. All of the royal guests indicated
especial interest in and appreciation of the
Races of Mankind sculptures, by Malvina
HoflFman, in Chauncey Keep Memorial Hall.

photograph by courtesy of Chicago Daily Times

Royal Personages at Field Museum

Their Royal Highnesses, Crown Prince Frederik and Princess Ingrid, of Denmark, on tour of Chauncey Keep
Memorial Hall during their visit to Chicago. They were extremely interested in the Races of Mankind sculptures
by Malvina Hoffman. Left to right: the Princess, Mr. Clifford C. Gregg, Director of the Museum, and the Prince.

June, 19S9

FIELD MUSEUM NEWS

Page S

STRAW HATS

In Europe the history of what is known
as the "straw hat" dates back to the early
seventeenth century when hats were made
from wheat straw in Bedfordshire, England.
In Italy the "Leghorn hat" was a well-known
article of manufacture in Tuscany about
the middle of the same century. In addition
to types of wheat straw hats, there is on
display in Hall 28 of the Department of
Botany at Field Museum an exhibit showing
steps in the manufacture of the so-called
Panama hat (actually made principally in
Ecuador), and also some distinctive hats
from Alaska, Brazil, the Philippine Islands,
China, and India, made from materials,
such as split palm leaves, rushes or grasses,
and stems of reeds.

The First Step in Making a Panama Hat —

— is to grow a Panama hat palm (Carludovica palmata).
This plant is native to Central America and northern
South America, especially Ecuador and certain parts
of Peru. The reproduction shown above is on exhibi-
tion in Field Museum's Hall of Plant Life (Hall 29).

ARABIAN METEORITE CONVERTED
DESERT SANDS INTO GLASS

By henry W. NICHOLS

CHIEF CUBATOR, DEPARTMENT OP GEOLOGY

Of more than ordinary interest are two
small meteorite specimens and a large piece
of silica glass recently added to Field Mu-
seum's meteorite collection in Hall 34. This
material was presented by Mr. William
Lenahan, of the California Arabian Standard
Oil Company, Jidda, Arabia, and represents
an unusually spectacular meteorite fall.

In February, 1932, Mr. H. St. John Philby,
noted British explorer, discovered at Wabar,
which is in the heart of the Arabian (or
Rub'al Khali) Desert, a group of craters
formed by the impact of an enormous
meteorite. This impact had been so violent
that it generated intense heat which melted
and even vaporized part of the sand upon
which it struck. Vapors were generated so
suddenly and in such quantity that severe
explosions were produced blowing out five
craters, the largest about one hundred yards
in diameter. Specimens of the meteorite
and of the silica glass formed from the

melted and vaporized sand were collected
by Mr. Philby and sent to the British Mu-
seum in London, where they have been
thoroughly studied.

Wabar is in such an inaccessible region of
the desert that it was not again visited until
1937, when a geologist of the California
Arabian company succeeded in reaching the
place. He collected there the meteorite
specimens and silica glass which now appear
in Field Museum's exhibit.

The meteorite specimens resemble other
iron meteorites of like size, and the silica
glass, as might be expected from its origin,
has the general appearance of a furnace
slag, or of any rock which has been melted
and suddenly cooled. Its unique nature is
perceived only on the closest inspection,
and its most remarkable feature can be
seen only under the microscope. The stony
semi-opaque glass is filled with a multitude
of minute bright globules of iron, a thou-
sandth of an inch and less in diameter. This
can only mean that the heat generated by
the impact of the meteorite was so great
that part of the iron meteorite boiled oflf as
iron vapor and mingled with the vapor given
off by boiling silica from the sand, while the
silica vapor, shielding the iron, prevented
its burning. As the mixed vapors cooled
they condensed into a rain or mist of iron
and silica which formed the silica glass.

THINGS YOU MAY HAVE MISSED

FIELD MUSEUM'S QUETZAL GROUP
APPEARS IN BRITISH WEEKLY

A beautiful full-page reproduction, in
colors, of Field Museum's habitat group of
the quetzal, national bird of Guatemala,
appeared in the March 25 issue of The
Illustrated London News, one of Great
Britain's most important periodicals. The
illustration was made from a natural-color
photograph taken by Mr. Clarence B.
Mitchell, Research Associate in Photography
on the Museum staff.

Publication of a picture in these dimen-
sions, and in full colors, by a magazine
exercising the superior type of editorial
discrimination characteristic of The Illus-
trated London News, can be accepted as a
tribute to the skill and artistry both of the
photographer, and of the taxidermist and
artists responsible for the preparation of
the group — Mr. John W. Moyer, who
mounted the birds, Mr. Arthur G. Rueckert
who painted the background, and Mr.
Frank Letl who prepared the plant acces-
sories for the foreground. The birds in the
group were collected by Assistant Curator
Emmet R. Blake as a member of an expedi-
tion sponsored by Mr. Leon Mandel.

A small reproduction, in colors, of this
group appeared in the December, 1938 issue
of Field Museum News. Colored post
cards of it are available at The Book Shop
of the Museum.

The Least Weasel

Ounce for ounce, with the possible excep-
tion of the shrews, the tiny least weasel is
the most ferocious and bloodthirsty animal
of the mammalian class. Only a fraction
over six inches in length, and weighing on an
average about one-third of a pound, it is
distinguished from the other weasels by its
extremely small size and almost total lack
of the characteristic black tip to the tail.
With its long flattened head, wide jaws, and
peculiar looping gait when scenting a trail,
it gives a definite impression of resemblance
to a reptile. There is a tense readiness
about it, comparable to a coiled spring held
precariously in leash.

The least weasel is reddish-brown above,
and white beneath. In common with other
weasels, it possesses the ability to change
to a white coat in winter, which must give
it an enormous advantage over the mice
and birds upon which it preys. In fact, it
is only in the light of the almost unbelievable
fertility of its victims that one can conceive
of their continued existence, for all weasels
are known to attack out of mere lust for
killing. However, this is apparently part
of Nature's scheme of checks and balances,
and the conduct of weasels should not be
judged by human moral standards. On the
credit side are an enormous number of
insects and rodent pests destroyed by this
small predator, thus making it decidedly
beneficial to man's interests.

The four North American subspecies of
this highly successful little carnivore range
from Alaska to Hudson Bay, and southward
to Montana, Minnesota, Indiana, and Penn-
sylvania; but in addition the species has
recently been shown to be represented by
Old World races, making it circumpolar in
range. Nevertheless, despite this wide radia-
tion, it is rarely taken in traps and little
is known of its habits. The nest, usually
grass-lined, is in a hole in a bank. Four
to six young are born in a litter.

A specimen of least weasel is shown among
the fur-bearing animals in the systematic
collection of mammals (Hall 15). — W.J.B.

The making of flour is illustrated by a
miniature mill on exhibition in Hall 25.

Tiny Killer

The least weasel, which many zoologists describe as,
ounce for ounce, "the most bloodthirsty of mammals."
The illustration is approximately one-quarter life size.

Page i

FIELD MUSEUM NEWS

June, 19S9

ARTIFICIALLY DEFORMING THE HUMAN HEAD FOR 'BEAUTY'

By henry field
curator of physical anthropology

There is a saying that "beauty is only skin
deep,"but judging from the age-old ideals of
certain groups of people scattered through-
out the world, it would seem that Samuel
Johnson's broader interpretation of that
desirable quality is more accurate. Johnson
defined beauty as "that assemblage of graces,
or proportion of parts, which pleases the
eye." It is that "proportion of parts"
which is the chief concern of those people
who practise artificial deformation of the
head as an aesthetic measure.

Some prefer heads that are flattened in
front and abnormally elongated towards the
back. Others favor
the domed variety,
flattened at the back
and growing upwards,
sometimes into an
actual peak. There
are many variations
of these two extremes
and many methods
by which they are
achieved.

Molding or mas-
saging of an infant's

Photo copyright Field Ulueum - .

head, and applica-
Mangbetu ^.j^^^ ^j bandages.

Woman of Aincan tribe w '

with head peculiarly de- boards, pads. Or even

formed for aesthetic reasons. ^* „4.«« „«„ „««,„

A bronze sculpture by Mai- ol stones, are some
Vina Hoffman, in the Hall of the measures taken

of the Races of Mankind. ,

in attempting to force
the head to grow into the desired shape.
Another familiar method is the use of the
cradle-board.

ELONGATION MARKED NOBILITY

The peculiar custom of artificial cranial
deformation dates back several thousand
years, at least to the Late Minoan III
period in Crete and a contemporary age
in Egypt. Ikhnaton's skull is an outstand-
ing example, and many people believe that
his wife, the beautiful Nofretiti, and their
daughters also had deformed heads. Others
are of the opinion, however, that the ap-
parent abnormality of the heads of the
queen and princesses was nothing more than
a built-up coiffure.

Hippocrates, who died about 350 B.C.,
stated that there were peoples living in the
Caucasus who elongated their heads arti-
ficially, and he added that a head so de-
formed was a mark of nobility. There
is abundant evidence — in India, China,
Celebes, and Madagascar, to cite only a
few localities — that the practise originated
among persons of high rank. It has been
suggested that the desire to simulate the
majesty and wisdom of Ikhnaton started
the custom in Egypt, and that it spread
to other parts of the world. This theory
loses weight, however, when one considers
that the custom has been practised on every

continent except Australia, from very early
to modern times.

The Indians of Peru had long deformed
their children's heads before the Spanish
conquerors arrived during the sixteenth
century and issued decrees against the
practice. Two hundred years later, Lewis
and Clark reported that the Chinook tribes
of our Northwest Coast had their heads
flattened "in a most disgusting manner."
From China comes the story that during
the massacre at Nanking the final test
of identity of a Manchu was the shape of
his head. Any soldier found with a head
flattened in the back was promptly executed.
Deformation has been practised throughout
Europe, especially in south Russia, at various
periods, and is still current in certain parts
of France and Holland. I was told in
Marken, Netherlands, that the grandmother
generally molds the infant's head by
massage and that a tight cap is also used,
the object in this instance being to make
the head rounder. Among the Mangbetu
in central Africa, children's heads are still
bound, with bark cloth, string, fibre, or the
hair of the giraffe.

MENTAL ABILITY UNIMPAIRED

In southwestern Asia the "Armenian"
cradleboard is used in parts of Syria, Ana-
tolia, Iraq, Iran, and the Caucasus. The
head is deformed, generally without inten-
tion, as a result of the hard pad upon which
the child's head rests. The child remains
fastened in the cradle for the first two years
of its life, or even longer, the only respite
being the occasion of the weekly bath. The
reason usually advanced for this confine-
ment is that the child keeps in better health
than otherwise, and that it can never be
stifled by being carried around in its mother's
arms.

Although there are reports that some of
the more severe methods of misshaping

the skull are painful, and that the brain is
inevitably injured, comparative examination
of numerous deformed and undeformed
skulls has shown that cranial capacity is
not affected. The head merely grows in
unrestricted but abnormal directions. Proof
is also lacking of any change in mental
ability.

Thus, the results of intentional deforma-
tion of the head seem to be merely the
satisfaction of vanity, on the one hand, and
on the other, the confusion of anthropologists
in their search for accurate indications of
race. Head shape is one of the most con-
stant of physical traits, and by means of
measurements which determine the relative
length and breadth of a head, the cephalic
index (dolichocephals are long heads;
brachycephals, short heads), we are able
to trace certain racial affinities more posi-
tively than in any other way. But the
"sugar-loaf" skull of an ancient Peruvian
or the streamlined head of a Nofretiti
baffles the best anthropologist, and scientific
accuracy must bow to the supremacy of
beauty.

According to E. J. Dingwall, author of a
text-book on this subject, some of the finest
examples of artificially deformed skulls are
those from Peru and the Northwest Coast on
exhibition in the section devoted to physical
anthropology in the Hall of the Races of
Mankind (Hall 3) at Field Museum.

New Data on Orbicular Jasper

"A Study of Orbicular Jasper," by Dr.
Albert J. Walcott, appeared in the February
issue of The Mineralogist. Dr. Walcott,
basing his thorough study on material in
Field Museum's collections, has determined
that this unique stone, highly prized by
lapidarists, is not a jasper but another form
of quartz.

Dr. Walcott recently lectured on asterism
at the convention of the American Gem
Society at the Stevens Hotel. A party of
sixty-one delegates from the convention
was conducted on a tour of the Museum's
geological exhibits.

Cradle-board for Head Flattening

Method of deforming child practised by Chinook
Indian tribes of the Northwest Coast {iUuttration after
CaUin), The mother's head shows how the changed
shape — considered "beautif<il"— continues in adulthood.

DESERTS

— by Gayle Pickwell

"A volume notable for its fine illus-
trations of the physical, botanical,
and zoological features of the deserts
of the southwestern United States,"
says Mr. Karl P. Schmidt, Curator
of Amphibians and Reptiles at Field
Museum. "Sixty-four full-page illus-
trations, with the colored frontis-
piece, give the reader landscapes,
and plant and animal portraits, of
great distinction."

On sale at THE BOOK SHOP of
FIELD MUSEUM— $3.50.

June, 19S9

FIELD MUSEUM NEWS

Page 5

NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUMS
(A Review of Recent Developments)

BY WILFRED H. OSGOOD

CHIEF CURATOR, DEPARTMENT OF ZOOLOGY

(Editor's Note: — The follotving article,
written by Dr. Osgood at the request of the
Editors of the 1939 britannica book of the
YEAR, is reprinted here by special permission
of the publishers — Encyclopaedia Britannica,
Inc. It concisely tells the principal develop-
ments of the past year in the museums of the
world.)

Evidence continues to accumulate indicat-
ing that natural history museums are chang-
ing their ways. There have been museums
or collections of natural objects for centuries,
but it is only in the last few decades that
they have attained a new status and changed
more than in all their previous history. In
municipalities, states, and nations their im-
portance, amounting almost to indispensa-
bility, is everywhere being recognized. In
1938 the British Standing Commission on
Museums and Galleries made sweeping
recommendations for new museums and
extensive additions to existing ones in the
South Kensington district in London. Sig-
nificant, also, was the establishment in
Argentina by executive decree of a national
"Commission on Museums and Historic
Sites." Such commissions already exist in
many other countries.

MANY NEW MUSEUMS OPENED

The multiplication of small municipal and
park museums has continued. In the United
States there are now forty-five museums in
national parks, representing an investment
of $1,300,000 and serving 1,500,000 visitors
annually. Louisiana proposes "to establish
an appropriate historical or natural history
museum within each state park." Other
states have already gone far in the same
direction. A new specialization in the
museum field is a psychology museum
opened in Chicago. This so-called "museum
movement" is practically world-wide. In
the British Isles it is stated that new mu-
seums have been opened at the rate of one
every three weeks for the past ten years.
One student, investigating museum methods
in 1938, visited no less than 300 museums
of various kinds in the British Isles. In
the United States, in addition to the large
privately endowed institutions, there are
now twenty-three independent state mu-
seums. In Canada there are thirty-six
museums with full-time staffs. Even in
newly organized Manchuria there are at
least six museums of some importance, and
Soviet Russia has more than seven hundred
of all classes.

In Russia, the aim of many govern-
mentally supervised museums is plainly
adult education for the masses. Exhibits
are shown without glass fronts, and visitors
are encouraged to handle many of the
objects. The same aim is the fundamental
one in nearly all museums elsewhere.

Entertainment is still a great function but
the tendency is to combine it with service.
This is seen not only in organized work with
schools, colleges, and other cohesive groups,
but also in didactic exhibits and in general
public relations ranging from docent services
to national radio broadcasts. The modern
demand is for exhibits that are thought-
provoking or definitely instructive as well
as those that inspire wonder and admiration.
The habitat group, which has been especially
developed in America, continues to be
popular both for its colorful art and its
subtle didacticism. During 1938, six large
habitat groups were completed by the
American Museum of Natural History in
New York. In Chicago, at Field Museum,
seven new groups of large size also were
opened. In museums with smaller resources,
some large groups are still being made,
but the small diorama, which serves many
of the same purposes, is receiving much
attention.

In the United States, many museums have
been stimulated to put their houses in order
and to undertake long postponed projects
through assistance received from personnel
supplied by the federal unemployment relief
agencies. In this way, in 1937, services
from a total of 2,774 additional employees
were obtained by museums throughout the
country. In 1938, the number was slightly
increased and much valuable work was
accomplished.

The movement for the training of museum
workers to meet the requirements of modern
specialization is gaining headway both in
the United States and Great Britain. The
Buffalo Museum has regular organized
courses for students intending to pursue
museum work and a system of "internes"
closely comparable to that so well estab-
lished in medical education. Several other
museums provide similar service, and the
National Museum of Wales accepts students
on a three-year basis for work in special
branches of science. The British Museums
Association, through its Education Com-
mittee, offers a diploma for students of
museology, which is thus becoming an
organized profession. The Carnegie United
Kingdom Trustees continued their policy
of promoting inter-museum travel. During
the year seven grants were made, each
essentially a traveling fellowship.

MEASURES FOR SAFETY IN WAR

The violent "war scare" in 1938 was of
considerable concern to museums, especially
in England. Hasty preparations were made
for the removal of special museum treasures
from the large cities to places in the country
offering comparative safety. Not much
could be done in the limited time available
and it was obvious that immediate bombing
might have produced much irreparable
destruction. The result has been the forma-
tion of more definite plans for the permanent
removal of much material (especially that

having a basic relation to research) to new
quarters. It is not unlikely that the future
will see the research of museums conducted
in the quiet and relative safety of the
country while the exhibits, many of them
replicas, and the popular education will
remain in the city.

WORLD-WIDE EXPEDITIONS

Museum expeditions during the year have
been numerous and world-wide, but mostly
financed through private sources since
museums, like other endowed institutions,
find their income from fixed endowment
curtailed by prevailing low interest rates.
In number and importance of expeditions,
the American Museum of New York easily
stands first with parties working in New
Guinea, Venezuela, Burma, South Africa,
and many parts of North America. Field
Museum of Chicago worked in British
Guiana, Guatemala, Canada and the United
States. The Philadelphia Academy of
Sciences reports no less than eighteen expedi-
tions of varying importance.

(Copyright, 1939, in the United States of America by Encyclopaedia
Britannica, Inc.; copyright in all countries subscribing to the Berne
Convention by Encyclopaedia Britannica Company, Ltd. )

Raymond Foundation "Followup"
to School Radio Program

The Museum's last "radio followup"
meeting of the present school year was given
in the Lecture Hall by the James Nelson
and Anna Louise Raymond Foundation on
May 4, in conjunction with a science
program of the Public School Broadcasting
Council. The subject was "Spring Wild
Flowers." Colored slides of flowers both
common and rare in the Chicago region
were shown, and special attention was called
to those protected by state laws. After the
talk, herbarium sheets, from the Depart-
ment of Botany, were exhibited, and the
steps necessary in collecting, cutting, and
mounting plants were explained. The meet-
ing was attended by 129 representatives
chosen by eighth grade science classes.

Reported Nest of Fossil Eggs
Found to Be Not Genuine

Fossil eggs are known from various
localities, but up to the present no genuine
fossil birds' eggs have been recovered in
Illinois, according to Mr. Elmer S. Riggs,
Curator of Paleontology. A recent news-
paper report of the discovery of a nest of
fossil eggs in DeKalb County, Illinois, was
investigated by Mr. Riggs and Assistant
Curator Bryan Patterson, who visited the
locality on May 17 and examined eleven
of the supposed egg specimens. Three of
these were brought back to Field Museum
and subjected to microscopic examination
and to chemical tests. It was found that
the "eggs" were artificial, some of them
being composed of lime and sand cast in a
mold, and others composed of Portland
cement and sand.

Page 6

FIELD MUSEUM NEWS

June, 1939

Field Museum of Natural History

Founded by Marshall Field, 1893
Roosevelt Road and Field Drive, Chicago

THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES

Sewell L. Avery William H. Mitchell

Leopold E. Block George A. Richardson

Albert B. Dick, Jr. Theodore Roosevelt

Joseph N. Field Fred W. Sargent

Marshall Field James Simpson

Stanley Field Solomon A. Smith

Albert W. Harris Albert A. Spragub

Samuel Insull, Jr. Silas H. Strawn

Charles A. McCulloch John P. Wilson

OFFICERS

Stanley Field President

Albert A. Sprague First Vice-President

James Simpson Second Vice-President

Albert W. Harris Third Vice-President

Clifford C. Gregg Director and Secretary

Solomon A. Smith. . .Treasurer and Assistant Secretary

FIELD MUSEUM NEWS

Clifford C. Gregg, Director of the Museum Editor

CONTRIBUTING EDITORS

Paul S. Martin Chief Curator of Anthropology

B. E. Dahlgren Chief Curator of Botany

Henry W. Nichols Chief Curator of Geology

Wilfred H. Osgood Chief Curator of Zoology

H. B. Harte Managing Editor

Members are requested to Inform the Museum
promptly of changes of address.

FROM THE DIRECTOR'S DESK—

Field Museum Ready to Help You
Enjoy Your Summer Vacation

With the coming of summer, plans for
vacation trips will be made in many homes
throughout the Chicago area. Information
is being gleaned from travel bureaus, from
so-called vacation states, and from summer
hotels, in an effort to gain the greatest
amount of enjoyment and benefit from the
proposed trip. It is generally agreed that
advance preparation for a vacation trip
greatly enhances its value and enjoyment
and gives understanding and appreciation
of the scenes viewed and the places visited.

For almost any trip which leads to woods
or open waters, to scenic regions, or to
foreign countries. Field Museum has a great
store of information to impart. To become
familiar with a typical scene and afterwards
to experience it in its original beauty and
splendor must add to vacation pleasure.

Those who intend to visit the Rocky
Mountains will be interested in the group
showing plant life in the alpine zone of the
Rocky Mountains, at approximately the
twelve-thousand foot level.

Perhaps your vacation travel may take
you to the southwest or to the north woods,
in each of which places you may be in
proximity with the American Indian. An
extensive collection of Indian artifacts so
displayed as to give one some appreciation
of the Indians' mode of living and their
ingenuity in the struggle for existence will
be found in several halls at the Museum.

The fisherman has ample opportunity at
Field Museum to see and to learn to identify
the species of fish which he hopes to catch.

On his return he may have an intimate view
of the big one that got away!

For all wilderness travelers the wild life
groups and the systematic mammal, bird, fish
and reptile collections hold the key to greater
pleasure in introducing them to the denizens
of our forests, fields, and streams. To see
and identify animals in their native habitats
brings far greater pleasure than merely to
see them and wonder what they are.

Those so fortunate as to make extensive
trips around the world will find at Field
Museum vast stores of interesting informa-
tion not only on the animal and bird life
of foreign countries, but on the life and
customs of primitive peoples in all parts of
the globe.

For visitors from other states and nations,
Field Museum is an end in itself. A casual
inspection of the parking lot at the Museum
at any time during the summer months
reveals a horde of automobile licenses from
other states, from Mexico, and from Canada.
These cars bring in visitors from near and
far who have heard the story of Field Mu-
seum and who pause in their travel to see
for themselves a collection of exhibits which
has few rivals.

At vacation time, Field Museum offers
opportunities galore for those who would
come and see.

— Clifford C. Gregg, Director

STAFF NOTES

Dr. Paul S. Martin, Chief Curator of the
Department of Anthropology, has been
elected First Vice-President of the American
Anthropological Society (Central Section).
The election took place at a meeting held
in May at Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Mr. C. Martin Wilbur, Curator of Chinese
Archaeology and Ethnology, conducted a
seminar on "Museum Work as a Career,"
at Grinnell College in Iowa last month.

Dr. Julian A. Steyermark, Assistant
Curator of the Herbarium, and Mr. Loren
P. Woods, of the Raymond Foundation
staff, made a collection of plants, fishes,
reptiles, and mammals for the Museum
recently, in the Black River watershed in
the Ozark Mountains of Missouri.

Mr. L. Bryant Mather, Jr., Assistant
Curator of Mineralogy, has returned from
an expedition under the direction of Dr.
Joseph T. Singewald, Professor of Economic
Geology at the Johns Hopkins University.
The party included fourteen geologists.
Localities in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and
New York were visited. Eighty-seven
mineral species were collected for Field
Museum.

children's division of the Story Paper
Editors' Conference on the subject: "The
Development of Museum Stories for Chil-
dren." Mrs. Leota G. Thomas, also of the
Raymond Foundation, addressed members
of the Prairie Club on natural history of
the Chicago region.

Distinguished Visitors

Among distinguished visitors recently
received at Field Museum are Mr. William
J. Morden, well-known traveler and ex-
plorer, and Associate of the Department of
Mammals in the American Museum of
Natural History, New York; Lieutenant
Colonel J. H. Patterson, of the British Army
(retired), who shot the man-eating lions of
Tsavo now exhibited in Field Museum, and
is author of an interesting book about these
famous marauders; Dr. Robert Allen Cooley,
well-known entomologist specializing in
ticks at the Rocky Mountain Laboratory,
Hamilton, Montana; Mr. A. H. Kierney of
the Bureau of Plant Industry, United
States Department of Agriculture; Mr.
J. B. Kinlock, of the Department of Forestry
of British Honduras; Dr. Margaret Mead,
Assistant Curator of Ethnology at the
American Museum of Natural History,
New York, who is the author of well-known
books on island peoples of the South Pacific;
Mr. Charles R. Knight, of New York, the
artist who painted the series of prehistoric
life murals in Ernest R. Graham Hall of
Field Museum; Mr. Newton B. Drury,
Secretary of the Save-the-Redwoods League,
of California; and Dr. Hu Chao-chun, Di-
rector, City Museum of Greater Shanghai,
China, who is investigating American mu-
seum administration and technique.

Miss Margaret M. Cornell, Chief of the
James Nelson and Anna Louise Raymond
Foundation staff, recently spoke before the

A FEW FACTS ABOUT FIELD MUSEUM

Field Museum is open every day of the year
(except Christmas and New Year's Day) during
the hours indicated below;

November, December,

January, February 9 a.m. to 4 P.M.

March, April, and
September, October 9 a.m. to 6 P.M.

May, June, July, August. . . .9 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Admission is free to Members on all days.
Other adults are admitted free on Thursdays.
Saturdays, and Sundays; non-members pay 25
cents on other days. Children are admitted free
on all days. Students and faculty members of
educational institutions are admitted free any
day upon presentation of credentials.

The Museum's Library is open for reference
daily except Saturday afternoon and Sunday.

Traveling exhibits are circulated in the schools
of Chicago by the N. W. Harris Public School
Extension Department of the Museum.

Lectures at schools, and special entertain-
ments and tours for children at the Museum, are
provided by the James Nelson and Anna Louise
Raymond Foundation for Public School and
Children's Lectures.

Free courses of lectures for adults are presented
in the James Simpson Theatre on Saturday after-
noons (at 2:30 o'clock) in March, April, October,
and November.

A Cafeteria serves visitors. _ Rooms are avail-
able also for those bringing their lunches.

Chicago Motor Coach Company No. 26 busses
provide direct transportation to the Museum. Ser-
vice is offered also by Surface Lines, Rapid Tran-
sit Lines (the "L"), mterurban electric lines, and
Illinois Central trains. There is ample free park-
ing space for automobiles at the Museum.

June, 1939

FIELD MUSEUM NEWS

Page 7

HASELTINE SCULPTURES OF DOMESTIC ANIMALS WIN HIGH PRAISE FROM ART EXPERT

"Of great significance artistically is the
permanent exhibition of sculptures of cham-
pion domestic animals by Herbert Haseltine,
British sculptor, which occupies a special
hall at Field Museum of Natural History,"
wrote Mrs. Katherine Kuh, of the Kuh
Galleries, after a recent visit to the Museum.

Mrs. Kuh was so enthusiastic about the
Haseltine works that she immediately got
in touch with members of the staff of the
Department of Zoology, urging that this
collection, in Hall 12, be brought to the
attention of a wider public.

The Haseltine series, a gift to the Museum
from Mr. Marshall Field, a Trustee of the
institution, immortalizes in bronze and
stone some of the finest animals in the
service of man. Each represents a life study
of animals which won honors as the best
examples of live stock bred in Great Britain
— horses (draft, racing and polo), bulls, cows,
sheep, and hogs. The series comprises nine-
teen sculptures, all scaled to one-quarter
life-size. They not only represent the actual
winners of contests, whose mettle has been
proved in the stock shows and on the race

courses, but they typify the physical charac-
teristics of various outstanding breeds. In
most cases, stones of various hues and
textures, suitable for representing the colors
and characteristics of the animals, have been
used. Also employed, with the utmost
success, are such materials as plated gold
and bronze, ornamented in some cases with
lapis lazuli, ivory, or onyx. The statues are
beautifully mounted and lighted. Before
coming to Chicago for their permanent
home, the sculptures were exhibited in Paris,
London, and New York.

Draft Horse, by Herbert Haseltine

The animal is Sudbourne Premier, a Suffolk Punch
stallion. The sculpture is in bronze, plated with gold.

Hereford Bull, by Herbert Haseltine

Bronze partially plated with gold. The animal repre-
sented was known in England as Twyford Fairy Boy.

Race Horse in Bronze, by Herbert Haseltine

It represents Polymelus, a British thoroughbred,
winner of many races, and a champion sire for years.

PARTS OF OLD AUTOMOBILE
AID PALEONTOLOGIST

By ELMER S. RIGGS

CURATOR OF PALEONTOLOGY

, Before a fossil animal can become an
exhibit in a glass case, with possibly a back-
ground and habitat accessories, it must
first be an object of careful and painstaking
work in a laboratory.

In fact, the museum worker usually first
makes its acquaintance in the field as a mere
tantalizing prospect in a ledge of rock or a
bank of clay, and thence follows it through
a variety of stages, all laborious. Only after
arduous toil is the specimen separated from
the terrain as a block of "matrix" in which
the bones still remain imbedded. Shipped
home, this block next appears mounted on
a chipping block in the laboratory where it
is attacked, but gently and carefully to
avoid damage to the bones, with chisels and
hammer. At long last the preparator finds his
specimen laid out on a laboratory table as
an assemblage of mended and sorted bones.
Then, to obtain a satisfactory pose for
exhibition, a temporary mount is necessary.
This last step often taxes the ingenuity
of the preparator more than any other.
Far different from a plastic material to be
molded in a modeler's hands, the skeletal
parts must be set up, posed, and almost
interminably readjusted. Distorted parts
have to be reshaped until they finally form
a consistent whole correctly interpreting the
physical structure of an animal which has

never been seen alive, or even as a carcass,
by any human eye.

Mr. James Quinn, a Field Museum col-
lector and preparator of fossil mammals,
recently solved the difficulty of assembling
troublesome fossil skeletons by enlisting for
the purpose certain discarded parts of a
small car. A pair of lifting-jack screws,
mounted upon two upright standards,
furnish adjustable supports for the body
bones of the animal. Flat rods, with ad-
justable knees attached to every vertebra,
make the vertebral column almost as mutable
as the flexible arm of an electric fixture.

Sliding jointed braces make it equally
possible to raise and lower the head. The
ball and socket joints of a steering gear,
joined by varying lengths of tie-bar and
piping with slip joint, form an adjustable
leg support capable of universal adjustment
at hip, knee and hock. In short, by using
all the movable parts of a half-dozen steer-
ing gears and other pieces from the scrap-
heap, a fossil skeleton, in the hands of Mr.
Quinn, resourceful adaptor and manipulator,
becomes almost a "robot" of movement.
Recently the device was used to support the
skeleton of a fossil horse, thus presenting a
combination of features of the by-gone horse
and buggy age with that of the motor car.

But pose, not action, is the object being
seriously sought here. When all of the
adjustments of body, head, legs and feet have
been made, and the pose, whether represent-
ing an animal as walking or standing, idling

or alert, has been checked and found correct,
screws and lock-nuts are tightened down
and the specimen from some remote period
may be trusted to stand. Then permanent
supports, less conspicuous than those of
the temporary device, are shaped and fitted
to the skeleton, and the steering-gear frame-
work is detached and laid aside until required
again in a different set-up adapted to a pose
for some other animal of the long ago.

Notable Study Collection

A notable collection of some 800 ceramic
objects of Chinese and Siamese origin, found
in the Philippine Islands, has been placed
in the Museum, for study, by Mr. E. D.
Hester, of Manila, Economic Adviser to the
High Commissioner of the Philippines.
These ceramics range in date from about the
thirteenth to the seventeenth century.

POISON IVY—

— Now is the time to beware of this
pestiferous plant, which can do so
much to spoil a summer vacation.

An illustrated leaflet — No. 12 in
Field Museum's Botanical Series —
tells how to identify the plant, how
poisoning takes place, the nature of
the poison and the disease it causes,
and the remedies for ivy poisoning.

On sale at the BOOK SHOP of
FIELD MUSEUM— 15 cents.

Page 8

FIELD MUSEUM NEWS

June, 19S9

SUNDAY LECTURE-TOURS END;
TO RESUME IN NOVEMBER

The Sunday afternoon lecture tours con-
ducted by Mr. Paul G. Dallwig, the Layman
Lecturer, ended for the season on May 28.
Since October 2, Mr. Dallwig has conducted
33 parties, with an aggregate attendance of
approximately 2,800, or an average of 84
each Sunday. This was an increase over
the 1937-38 season, despite the fact that
the number of Sundays was two less in the
1938-39 season. The audiences included,
besides Chicagoans, visitors from many
sections of the United States, Canada and
Europe — men and women engaged in a wide
variety of professions, businesses, and other
activities. Reluctantly, Field Museum has
been forced to disappoint approximately
1,500 persons whose applications for reser-
vations were received too late, but this was
necessary in order to limit the groups to a
size practicable for handling.

Mr. Dallwig will resume his activity as
Layman Lecturer on the first Sunday in
November (reservations will be accepted
beginning October 1). In the 1939-40
season he plans to present some additional
subjects, as well as repeating those which
have proved so popular with the public
during the past two seasons. Mr. Dallwig
renders this service as a contribution to the
Museum. In his lectures this season he
covered prehistoric animals, prehistoric man,
the living races of mankind, and precious
and semi-precious gem stones.

Department of Zoolo^:

From Dr. L. C. Buckley, Trang, Siam—
15 bats, Siam; from Chicago Zoological
Society, Brookfield, Illinois— 45 birds, 6
ticks, a mangabey monkey, and a kinkajou;
from Herman C. Benke, Chicago — 33 speci-
mens of marine shells, east coast of the
United States; from General Biological
Supply House, Chicago — a giant earth-
worm, Peru; from Julius Friesser, Chicago
— 4 mountain lion skulls and a lynx skull,
Arizona; from John Werler, Seaside, Oregon
— 9 garter snakes, Oregon; from Boardman
Conover, Chicago — 2 red-eyed pochards,
Africa; from Carl Bartell, Blue Island,
Illinois — a barn owl, Illinois; from H. St.
John Philby, Jidda, Arabia — 12 bats and
3 hedgehogs, Arabia; from Clark Sanderson,
Chicago — 6 specimens of the terrestrial
saw bug, Illinois; from H. E. Woodcock,
Chicago — 7 butterflies, New Mexico; from
Loren P. Woods, Evanston, Illinois — 2,056
fish specimens, 17 specimens of frogs,
lizards, snakes, tadpoles, and a turtle,
Missouri; from Henry Barthman, Useppa
Island, Florida — a tarpon, Florida; from
John R. Millar, Chicago — 2 turtles and 2
snakes, Indiana; from Fred Rittschof,
Urbana, Illinois — a fence lizard, Illinois;
from Brother Niceforo Maria, Bogota,
Colombia — 22 birds, Colombia; from Mrs.
Charles A. Corwin, Chicago — 4 oil paintings
of Laysan Island birds; from Frederick W.
Hill, Chicago — 2 humming birds, Costa Rica;
from John M. Schmidt, Homewood, Illinois
— 14 specimens of snakes, South Dakota
and Nebraska.

The Library:

Valuable books from Carnegie Institution,
Washington, D.C., and from J. Francis
Macbride, Chicago.

JUNE GUIDE-LECTURE TOURS
FOR WEEK-DAY VISITORS

Conducted tours of exhibits, under the
guidance of staff lecturers, are made every
afternoon at 3 o'clock, except Saturdays,
Sundays, and certain holidays. Following
is the schedule of subjects and dates for
June:

Thursday, June 1 — General Tour; Friday
— The Octopus and Other Sea Animals.

Week beginning June 5: Monday — North
American Archaeology; Tuesday — General
Tour; Wednesday — Malvina Hoffman
Bronzes; Thursday — General Tour; Friday
— Native American Plants.

Week beginning June 12: Monday — Pre-
historic Life; Tuesday — General Tour; Wed-
nesday— Snakes and Their Cousins; Thurs-
day— General Tour; Friday — Eskimos and
Their Neighbors.

Week beginning June 19: Monday — Jades
of Many Lands; Tuesday — General Tour;
Wednesday — Su-Lin and Other Rare Ani-
mals; Thursday — General Tour; Friday —
Skeletons of Man and Beast.

Week beginning June 26: Monday —
Egyptian Hall; Tuesday — General Tour;
Wednesday — Moon and Meteorites; Thurs-
day— General Tour; Friday — Wild Flowers
of the Chicago Region.

Persons wishing to participate should
apply at North Entrance. Tours are free.
A new schedule will appear each month
in Field Museum News. Guide-lecturers'
services for special tours by parties of ten
or more are available by arrangement with
the Director a week in advance.

GIFTS TO THE MUSEUM

Following is a list of some of the principal
gifts received by Field Museum during the
last month:

Department of Anthropolo^ :

From A. Leslie Armstrong, Stockton
Heath, Warrington, England — 3 deer antler
picks, England; from J. Mandement,
Ussat-les-Bains, Ariege, FYance — 6 archaeo-
logical objects, France; from Dr. W. C.
Pei, Peiping, China — 115 artifacts, and casts
of implements from Choukoutien, 2 plaster
busts of the restoration of Sinanthropus
pekinensis by Lucille Swan, and a set of
colored plaster casts of teeth, China; from
Arthur W. Joseph, Chicago — a Dakota Sioux
cradle hood; from Robert S. Carson, New
York — 13 pottery fragments of typical black
and gray ware, China.

Department of Botany;

From Dr. Delzie Demaree, Monticello,
Arkansas — 276 herbarium specimens, Ark-
ansas; from William A. Daily, Indianapolis,
Indiana — 49 specimens of algae, Minnesota,
Ohio, and Indiana; from George L. Fisher,
Houston, Texas — 165 herbarium specimens.
New Mexico, Texas, and Mexico; from Pro-
fessor J. Soukup, Puno, Peru — 169 her-
barium specimens, Peru.

Department of Geology:

From William Lenahan, Jidda, Arabia —
2 meteorites and a specimen of silica glass,
Arabia; from Miss Bertha Gordon, Porter-
ville, California — 14 specimens of minerals,
California.

Boy Safety Leaders Visit Museum

More than 300 safety patrol boys, selected
for merit from schools in many communities
of Illinois and Indiana, were brought to
Field Museum on May 11 under the auspices
of the Chicago Motor Club. They were
conducted on tours of the exhibits by guide-
lecturers of the James Nelson and Anna
Louise Raymond Foundation.

NEW MEMBERS

The following persons were elected to
membership in Field Museum during the
period from April 16 to May 15:

Associate Meml>ers

Hugo Dalmar, Jr., Mitchel Goldsmith,
Madeline Magerstadt, E. F. McDonald, Jr.,
Paul C. Smith, Henry H. Straus, Dr.
Austin H. Thurber.

Annuai Meml>ers

George E. Bernstein, Mrs. M. W. K.
Byrne, Reuben W. Cohen, Mrs. Jessie B.
Condon, George O. Consoer, Mrs. Albert J.
Deniston, Jr., Charles N. Granville, Jr.,
Mrs. Arthur B. Hitchcock, Frank Katzin,
John A. Lapp, Thomas W. Merritt, Fred W.
Nash, Austin H. Parker, Mrs. Grace M.
Pebbles, George L. Pollock, Miss Irene K.
Reiser, Richard W. Simmons, Joseph C.
Sindelar, Fred Stearns, Herbert J. Taylor,
Mrs. Edward C. Waller.

MEMBERSHIP IN FIELD MUSEUM

Field Museum has several classes of Members.
Annual Members contribute $10 annually. As-
sociate Members pay $100 and are exempt from
dues. Sustaining Members contribute $25 annu-
ally for six consecutive years, after which they
become Associate Members and are exempt from
all further dues. Life Members give $500 and
are exempt from dues. N on- Resident Life Mem-
bers pay $100, and Non-Resident Associate
Members $50; both of these classes are also
exempt from dues. The Non-Resident member-
ships are available only to persons residing fifty
miles or more from Chicago. Those who give or
devise to the Museum $1,000 to $100,000 are
designated as Contributors, and those who give
or devise $100,000 or more become Benefactors.
Other memberships are Honorary, Patron,
Corresponding and Corporate, additions under
these classifications being made by special action
of the Board of Trustees.

Each Member, in all classes, is entitled to free
admission to the Museum for himself, his family
and house guests, and to two reserved seats for
Museum lectures provided for Members. Sub-
scription to FiBa.D MusBim News is included
with all memberships. The courtesies of every
museum of note in the United States and Canada
are extended to all Members of Field Museum.
A Member ma^ give his personal card to non-
residents of Chicago, upon presentation of which
they will be admitted to the Museum without
charge. Further information about member-
ships will be sent on request.

BEQUESTS AND ENDOWMENTS

Bequests to Field Museum of Natural History
may be made in secuirities, money, books or
collections. They may, if desired, take the form
of a memorial to a person or cause, named by the
giver.

Contributions made within the taxable year not
exceeding 15 per cent of the taxpayer's net in-
come are allowable as deductions in computing
net income for federal income tax purposes.

Endowments may be made to the Museum
with the provision that an annuity be paid to
the patron for life. These annuities are guaran-
teed against fluctuation in amount, and may
reduce federal income taxes.

PRINTED BT FICLD MUSEUM PRESS

lUrNews

Published Monthly by Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago

Vol. 10

JULY, 1939

No. 7

EXPEDITION DEPARTS TO COLLECT FAUNA OF SOUTH AMERICA'S FARTHEST AREA

Blackstone photo

Dr. Wilfred H. Osftood

Chief Curator of Zoology

A Field Museum expedition, to be known
as the "Magellanic Expedition," will begin
operations in July. It will work largely
in the lower reaches
of South America
where continental
land extends farther
than anywhere else
in the world. One
of its prime objec-
tives will be the col-
lection of specimens
and data to supple-
ment the work of
Charles Darwin in
that territory. The
expedition is spon-
sored by Mr.
Stanley Field, Presi-
dent of the Museum.
Mr. Karl P.
Schmidt, Curator of
Amphibians and Reptiles, and his son, Mr.
John Schmidt, field assistant, will leave
Chicago July 1. Mr. Colin C. Sanborn,
Curator of Mammals, will leave July 5.
All three will sail July 7 from New York
aboard the S. S. Santa Rita for Lima, Peru.
These men are the first contingent of the
expedition. Later, probably about October,
they will be joined by Dr. Wilfred H. Osgood,
Chief Curator of the Department of Zoology.
The expedition will attempt to complete
the now fragmentary knowledge of the fauna
of the southern half of South America. All
classes of animals will be sought — mammals,
birds, reptiles, fishes, insects, marine in-
vertebrates, etc.

Upon arrival in Lima, Mr. Schmidt and
his companions will proceed through south-
ern Peru to Arequipa and Lake Titicaca,
where collecting will begin. Crossing the
lake by steamer, they will enter Bolivia,
and make collections in various localities.
Their further penetration into the interior
of South America will be made variously
by airplane, rail, boat, pack animals, and
afoot. After the arrival of Dr. Osgood
the expedition will push onward through
Chile down to the southernmost tip of the
continent. It is in the region along the shores
of the Straits of Magellan, and on the remote
island of Tierra del Fuego, one of the wind-
iest places in the world, that the most im-
portant research will be conducted.

"But little zoological exploration in this
region has been done for more than one

hundred years," Dr. Osgood asserts. "In
1834, Darwin collected in parts of it, during
the famous cruise of the Beagle. Since that
time it has been neglected. Although
Darwin made some collections of the fauna,
which are still preserved in the British
Museum, there are many gaps which remain
to be filled in available knowledge of the
natural history of the region. The Darwin
collections are not satisfactory from today's
standards because, naturally, facilities and
techniques for the collecting and preserva-
tion of specimens had not been developed
in his time to the point since achieved. On
the Field Museum expedition it is expected
that data will be obtained which will make
possible the completion and revision of
present knowledge based on the Darwin
collections. It may be confidently expected
further that we shall obtain examples of
species of animals still unknown or hitherto
unrepresented in any collections.

"This region is far beyond the Equator,
in the south temperate zone, where the
climate is much like our own, and there
are no dangerous tropical diseases, no poison-
ous snakes, and no blood-thirsty lions or
tigers. The animals that do live there are
not widely known and the number of species
is not large, but among them are some of
great peculiarity and much interest.

"Darwin was only 23 years old when he
started on this great journey, and in the
five years of continuous field work which
followed, he laid the foundation for much
of his later study.
He not only proved
himself to be a won-
derfully accurate
observer and a pro-
found thinker, but
also an energetic
collector of natural
history specimens.
His collections in all
branches of natural
history subsequent-
ly furnished the
basis for numerous
scientific studies not
only by himself but
by various special-
ists, including many
of the greatest zool-
ogists, botanists and geologists of that time.
Darwin's specimens, in this way, became
standards of comparison, and even now a

great part of our knowledge of the natural
history of southern South America is based
on them. Therefore, the special student
whose problems en-
ter this field has
been obliged to go
to London to exam-
ine them. This was
not always conven-
ient and would not
be necessary if dup-
licate specimens
were in American
museums."

Although the ex-
pedition will be con-
cerned primarily
with assembling
thousands of speci-
mens for the Mu-
seum's extensive re-
search collections,
specimens will be
sought also for addition to the public ex-
hibits, and material may be obtained for
a few habitat groups of important animals.

Hoffett photo

Karl P. Schmidt

Curator of Amphibians
and Reptiles

C^lin C. Sanborn

Curator of Mammals

HISTORIC FOSSIL TURTLE

Mention was made in the May issue of
Field Museum News of a collection of
European fossils and minerals recently pre-
sented by Dr. Henry Field. The collection
was assembled by the Misses Diana and
Otteline Salisbury of Leicestershire, England,
about 120 years ago. Certain fossil verte-
brates included in this gift have recently
been catalogued. Among these were a
number of fragments of a turtle shell from
England which seemed sufficiently numerous
to warrant an attempt to fit them together.
This has been done by Messrs. James H.
Quinn and Orville Gilpin in the Museum's
paleontological laboratories, with the result
that a nearly complete carapace or upper
shield has been obtained.

The turtle thus resurrected proved to
belong to the genus Trionyx, one of the soft-
shelled turtles. A closely related species
lives today in the Chicago area. The
fossil was found in Eocene deposits and is
hence some 40,000,000 years old. The fact
that so little change has taken place in such
a period gives an idea of the conservatism
of the turtle group. This specimen, belat-
edly assembled well over one hundred years
after its finding, is one of the finest of its
kind ever collected in England. — B.P.

Page 2

FIELD MUSEUM NEWS

July, 1939

AVERY BOTANICAL EXPEDITION
RETURNS FROM GUATEMALA

By PAUL C. STANDLEY

CURATOR OF THE HERBARIUM

The botanical expedition to Guatemala in
1938-39, sponsored by Mr. Sewell Avery
and conducted by the writer, had for its
purpose the collection of data and specimens
of plants to be used in preparation of a de-
scriptive flora of that country. Six months,
from November 19 to May 13, were spent
in the field, and more than 15,000 numbers
of plants, represented by perhaps twice as
many herbarium specimens, were collected,
80 that the work may be regarded as highly
successful. All except two of the country's
twenty-two departments were visited.

It must not be inferred that the country
was thoroughly explored, despite the many
well-built highways that make almost every
settled region of Guatemala easily accessible
by automobile. The area of the republic is
about 42,000 square miles, approximately
that of the state of Kentucky, but the
similarity in area is misleading. The moun-
tainous nature of the country makes its
exploration several times as difficult as that
of one of our central states of equal extent.

Because of the large and varied area to
be covered and the brief time available,
intensive collecting was possible in only a
few localities, and many large regions were
merely viewed from a distance, in hurried
passage along the roads. It was thus
possible to gain a good idea of the general
appearance and composition of the vegeta-
tion of the greater part of the country,
but a full knowledge of all the species of
plants composing the vegetation will require
many more months or years of field work.

MANY VOLCANOES

Much collecting has been done previously
in Guatemala by other botanists, and seven-
teen years ago the writer spent a short time
there. The plants of a few limited regions
were already rather well known. Some of
these localities were revisited during the
past winter, and excursions were made to
many places where no collecting had been
done previously.

The geography and climate of Guatemala
are extremely varied. The western and
southern parts of the republic contain many
volcanoes, some of them more or less active,
and other mountains, the highest peaks
rising to 14,000 feet. The northern region
is formed of non-volcanic rocks, chiefly
limestone, and supports a conspicuously
different flora. Some areas are arid, with
varied displays of giant cacti and typically
desert plants. Others, especially near the
Atlantic coast, have a heavy rainfall and
support a luxuriant rain forest. The central
and western regions have generally six
months of rain and six months of rainless
weather. Temperature varies from the
sometimes oppressive heat of the coasts
to the almost equally excessive cold of the

Altos or uplands. At many places above
7,500 feet frost is common, ice often is
formed, and scant snow falls occasionally.
Guatemala lies well inside the tropics, but
neither climate nor flora is wholly tropical.
Indeed a great part of the vegetation of
central and western Guatemala is clearly
temperate or, at very high elevations, alpine.
The commonest trees over most of the
country are oaks and pines. Near Cob&n
the sweet gum or liquidambar abounds,
with box-elder, willows, alders, poison sumac,
red cedar, magnolia, and yellow jessamine.
In the highest regions are magnificent forests
of cypress (Cupressus) and fir.

FLOWERS IN PROFUSION

For three months the writer made head-
quarters in the picturesque and beautiful
city of Antigua, twenty-five miles from
Guatemala City. Excursions were made to
many localities of the high central region,
to the dry Oriente bordering Salvador, and
to the Pacific coast. Collections were made
on forested slopes of the three great central
volcanoes, Agua, Fuego, and Acatenango,
and also on the low but destructive volcano
of Pacaya. In late November, at the end
of the rainy season, this central upland
affords a lavish display of brilliant flowers —
pink and white tree dahlias, begonias, sun-
flowers, salvias, and dozens of others in
every color. By late April the great displays
of blossoms have passed, although it is
possible to find quantities of flowers at
every season. Orchids are none too plentiful
in the highlands, or at least not conspicuous.
Many of the trees are loaded with bromeliads
or "air plants" showier than most orchids.

For a month the writer had headquarters
in the Occidente, in Quezaltenango, at
almost 8,000 feet. At this elevation in
March the landscape is strangely reminiscent
of that of Illinois at the same season — the
same fields of corn stalks and wheat stubble,
rough-coated cattle, heavily clothed people,
and low houses from which gray smoke
rises. In late March the mountains are
beautifully green with the unfolding leaves
of alders and oaks.

LITTLE EXPLORED REGION
From Quezaltenango excursions were
made to the summit of the Sierra de los
Cuchumatanes, above Huehuetenango, the
white sand mountains of San Marcos, the
summit of the Volcano of Santa Maria,
Ayutla on the border of Chiapas, and the
Pacific port of Champerico. Visits were
made to the bocacosta lying at middle eleva-
tions between the uplands and the Pacific.
Here, at 2,000 to 5,000 feet, where there is
plenty of rain throughout the year, is found
probably the most luxuriant and diversified
vegetation of Guatemala. Moreover, it has
been little explored by botanists, and the
brief trips made there were tantalizing be-
cause it was clear that only a small number
of the amazingly diversified plants could
be collected. High upon the slopes of the

Volcano of Zunil, at 8,000 to 9,000 feet,
the tropical rain forest is exceedingly rich
in species. The northern slopes of Santa
Maria, on the other hand, proved disappoint-
ing because of their relative dryness.

RESIDENTS CONTRIBUTE AID

As on the writer's previous visits to
Central America (this was the fifth), work
was aided materially by local botanists and
by other persons who took a sympathetic
interest in the exploration. Many officials
of the Guatemalan government gave the
most courteous assistance and advice. Don
Mariano Pacheco, Director-General of Agri-
culture, was particularly generous in his
help and interest. His private garden of
Guatemalan and exotic plants would delight
any visitor wishing to see the high lights of
Central American ornamental plants. Pro-
fessor Ulises Rojas, Director of the Jardin
Botinico, was a delightful companion on
collecting trips in the Occidente, generous
with his rich fund of knowledge of the
Guatemalan flora. To Mr. and Mrs. B. B.
Lewis, of Guatemala City, Mr. and Mrs.
L. Lind Petersen, of Finca Zapote, and Mr.
George B. Austin, of the United Fruit
Company at Puerto Barrios, the writer is
deeply indebted for hospitality and assist-
ance in his work. Mr. Petersen presented
to Field Museum a fine plank of the Pacific
coast mahogany, to complete the Museum's
mahogany exhibit. Special acknowledg-
ment must be made to Dr. J. R. Johnston,
Director of the Escuela Nacional de Agri-
cultura, Chimaltenango, who accompanied
the writer on many excursions, and contrib-
uted very largely, with his intimate know-
ledge of Guatemalan geography and vegeta-
tion, to the success of the expedition.

Lighting of Jades Improved

The recent introduction of the latest
illuminating technique throughout the Hall
of Chinese Jades (Hall 30) has greatly
improved the exhibition of these ancient
specimens of lapidary art. The former
yellow lights distorted certain colors, espe-
cially that of the subtle blue jades which is
particularly beautiful. That problem has
now been solved, and many details of
decorative carving are likewise better re-
vealed. This is a valuable improvement in
the cases showing small carvings of the
Shang and Chou periods which extended
roughly from 1400 to 250 B.C. During this
earliest stage ornamentation of the surface
of jade with line design was at its peak of
perfection. With the new lights this decora-
tion is now more clearly visible. — C.M.W.

Fluorescence of Petroleum

The brilliant fluorescence shown by petro-
leum and many of its products is illustrated
by a specimen of crude oil and two of its
products recently placed in the fluorescence
exhibit in the Department of Geology
(corridor between Halls 34 and 35).

July, 19S9

FIELD MUSEUM NEWS

Page S

SIX PROGRAMS FOR CHILDREN
IN JULY AND AUGUST

A summer series of six programs of talk-
ing motion pictures for children will be pre-
sented at Field Museum on Thursday morn-
ings, from July 6 to August 10 inclusive,
by the James Nelson and Anna Louise
Raymond Foundation for Public School and
Children's Lectures. Animated cartoons by
Walt Disney will be included on three of
the programs, and several other novel
feature pictures will be presented. The
programs will begin at 10 a.m., and will
be given in the James Simpson Theatre of
the Museum. Admission is free, and children
from all parts of Chicago and suburbs are
invited. Following are the titles of the films
to be presented on each program:
July 6 — The Musical Farmer (Disney Car-
toon); "Cimarron" (acted by chimpan-
zees); Hungarian Gypsy Dances; Grass
— A Story of Persia.
July 13— William Tell— A Story of Switzer-
land.

July 20 — Frolicking Fish (Disney cartoon);
Footprints and Bicycles; Water Fun;
Adventures of a Mongrel Pup.

July 27— The Gang (Boy Scout life).

August 3 — The Busy Beavers (Disney car-
toon); The Lovely Taj Mahal; The
Navajo Demon; Babes in the Woods.

August 10 — The Wedding of Palo (A Story
of Eskimo Life in Greenland).

Fly Whisks

In Tibet the bushy tails of yaks are used
to make fly whisks. In India the fly
whisk is included among the insignia of
royalty. Warriors of nomadic tribes in
Central Asia attach fly whisks to the
trappings of their horses as standards, and
Chinese deities of Buddhistic origin fre-
quently carry them in their hands as
emblems of dignity. Some interesting speci-
mens, collected in Tibet, are exhibited in
Hall 32, Case 17.

A GIFT TO THE LIBRARY

A modern man practising an ancient art
of prehistoric man was the late Fred Snare,
flint-knapper, of Brandon, Suflfolk, England.
Of historic interest, therefore, is a collection
of his correspondence, received by the Li-
brary of Field Museum, as a gift from Dr.
Henry Field, Curator of Physical Anthro-
pology. In the Department of Anthropology
are a collection of Snare's flint-knapping
tools, and samples of his work.

"As a craftsman. Snare was unsurpassed,"
asserts Dr. Field. "He alone was able to
make small flint rings. He was the last of
a family line of flint-knappers which dates
back at least to the year 1066, for in Domes-
day Book one of his ancestors was ordered
by William the Conqueror to repair a flint
church wall. At the time of his death Snare
was making gun flints on orders from Africa."

Dr. Field made Snare's acquaintance
while conducting archaeological expeditions
in Europe. Snare bequeathed his correspond-
ence to Dr. Field.

SKELETON OF MOROPUS, STRANGE FOSSIL MAMMAL WITH CLAWED FEET, IS EXHIBITED

By ELMER S. RIGGS

CURATOR OF PALEONTOLOGY

A fossil skeleton of Moropus, a strange
mammal related to the horse and the extinct
Titanothere, but having claws on the feet
in place of hoofs, has recently been placed
on exhibition in Ernest R. Graham Hall
(Hall 38).

This specimen was found in Nebraska
where it had been preserved in a sandstone
formation characteristic of the Great Plains
region. The animal lived in the Miocene
Age (about 20,000,000 years ago).

Moropus was as tall as a draft horse, but
of a heavier and more massive build. Its
head was about as large as that of a horse,
but the eye was placed farther forward on

the face, and the teeth were more like those
of a rhinoceros. The neck was rather long,
the body moderately heavy, the shoulders
massive, and the leg bones heavy. The ani-
mal's unique feature is the structure of the
foot. While related to such hoof-bearing ani-
mals as the horse and the extinct Titano-
theres, Moropus walked upon heavy pads un-
der the first joints of the toes, and was armed
with stout claws similar to those of the great
ground sloths. In fact, the first bones of this
animal, found in 1877, were those of the foot
and claw, and for this reason they were mis-
taken for bones of the ground sloth. In 1905
some specimens of jaws and vertebrae were
found among a great accumulation of bones
at the fossil quarries of Agate, Nebraska.

Moropus was a plant-eating animal. Its
teeth were fitted for feeding upon leaves,
twigs, and other vegetable matter. The great
claws on the feet may have served to give
the animal a firmer footing on sandy ground,
but they were probably used also in digging
in the ground for the roots and tubers which
undoubtedly constituted a large part of the
creature's food.

While Moropus is a member of the family
Cholicotheridae which was widely distributed
through Europe, Asia, and Africa in periods
ranging from the Eocene to Pleistocene, our
present knowledge would indicate that they
lived only a short time in North America,
and that they probably came to this conti-
nent as immigrants from Asia.

<CKT: .>f^^

Moropus, and Contemporary Miocene Animals

The two animals at extreme right represent the strange fossil mammal with clawed feet which lived in Nebraska some 20,000,000 years ago, as science indicates it must
have appeared in life. An articulated skeleton has been added to the exhibits in Ernest R. Graham Hall. The other creatures shown in this mural painting by Charles R. Knight,
in the same hall, are (left to right) : Oxydactylm or prehistoric camel; Diceratherium, a small species of rhinoceros; Parahippiis, a tiny three-toed horse; and Dinohyus, the giant pig.

Page i.

FIELD MUSEUM NEWS

July, 19S9

THE TRAVELS OF A BOTANIST
IN VENEZUELAN INTERIOR

By LLEWELYN WILLIAMS

CURATOR OF ECONOMIC BOTANY

{Editor's Note: — Mr. Williams, currently
on leave of absence from the Museum to
assist Dr. Henry Pittier, government botanist
of Venezuela, in extensive exploration of that
country, has sent the following account of his
recent experiences.)

I have returned to Caracas after a four
months' expedition to the Venezuelan
Guayana, principally in the upper and lower
reaches of the River Caura. This was the
most difficult and dangerous trip I have yet
undertaken, but was well worth the effort.

Collecting equipment was sent overland
to Ciudad Bolivar, and I followed two weeks
later, partly by road, chiefly by flying over

Tapping a Cow Tree

This photograph, made on an expedition to Costa
Rica several years ago, shows a botanist obtaining
"milk" from a tree similar (though of a different species)
to that encountered by Curator Williams in Venezuela.

the "llanos" (extensive plains). It takes
three days by road, but one can traverse
the distance by air in two hours. In Ciudad
Bolivar I was joined by Captain Felix
Cardona, of the Venezuelan Frontier Com-
mission. Because of the heavy load of
equipment and provisions, we hired a sail
boat. Sailing up the Orinoco for three
days we reached the estuary of the Caura,
then followed the latter for three more days
to Las Trincheras, the last sizable village.
There our cargo was transferred to "curiaras"
(large canoes), and in these we then ascended
the Caura, notorious for its many dangerous
rapids, for two more weeks until we arrived
at the Salto de Para, a large waterfall, where
Cardona and I separated.

At one time our party included thirty-
two individuals — seven Venezuelans (or

"racionales" as they call themselves), seven
Macuchies (Indians from the Grand Sabafia
to the south), a Carib, a Jindus, and sixteen
Maquiritares (also called Mayongkongs).
Two days before we arrived at the Salto
de Para, it began to thunder and our oars-
men, the Macuchies Indians, told us this
meant that "the Indians (meaning the
Mayongkongs) were coming." The follow-
ing morning as we moved up river, the
Macuchies shouted, "Here come the Indians."
We, racionales, could not spot the Maqui-
ritares, but our forest-bred friends have a
highly developed sense of sight and smell.
The Macuchies were excited and one of
them blew his shell. This was a sign of
friendship and the Maquiritares, recognizing
the call, advanced from their hiding places
behind a large rock some 500 yards away.
They advanced rapidly towards us in three
canoes, led by their caciques (chieftains),
Cardier, and Chauran. Cardier and his
men decided immediately to return with us,
but Chauran and his group insisted on con-
tinuing down river. However, when we
reached the Salto de Para, Chauran arrived
simultaneously. Asked why he had changed
his mind he replied in one word: "Canaima."
In Indian lore this means the devil in the
form of revenge, and Chauran and his
followers had feared we would attack during
the night to punish them for not returning
with us.

CUSTOMS OF THE INDIANS

Except for a narrow loin cloth, dyed red
with "achote," these Indians live in the
nude. Both men and women bob their
hair in a fashion practised since time
immemorial. Another beautifying process,
practised by both sexes, is plucking the eye-
lashes and eyebrows. The Mayongkongs
are expert hunters, fishermen, and builders
of canoes. Their principal weapon is the
bow and arrow, but in late years they have
adopted firearms, principally for defence.
They have two great fears — the Salto de
Para waterfall, and the Shirishana Indians,
their bitter enemies who inhabit the region
along the Brazilian frontier. Almost every
year, during the dry season, these Shiri-
shanas attack the Maquiritares, burn their
huts, and carry off prisoners. Cases have
been reported of groups of Shirishanas led
by an old woman more ferocious and
cruel than any known male cacique. The
Maquiritares believe that the Salto de Para
is inhabited by "Makoi," a form of devil.
For this reason, while we were below the
Salto they kept aloof and spoke little, but
once they arrived above the falls they
became congenial. Money has no value to
them, and all business is done by barter,
a hunting dog being traded for a canoe, for
example.

For about three months I lived alone with
the natives in the forest, cut off from the
outside world. We had to shoot rapids,
which is far more dangerous than ascending

them, and fight the heat, rain, and malaria.
But we came through without serious
mishap, bringing "a collection of thousands
of herbarium specimens, about 400 samples
of woods, and textile fibers, gums, resins,
oils, and hundreds of photographs. This
collection is the first of its kind so far made
in the vast Venezuelan Guayana, although
some famed botanists have visited parts of it.
The region is a botanist's paradise, whose
variety of plant-life is amazing, ranging
from tiny orchids with exquisite flowers
to giant trees, often reaching 140 feet in
height. Some of the trees have straight,
cylindrical trunks, up to six feet in diameter
and clear of branches up to about eighty
feet. One of the most interesting of these
trees is the cajiman, also called vacuno, or
palo de vaca. Inci-
sions in the bark of
this "cow tree" yield
a sweet latex. It is a
common practice
among those who
travel through these
forests to drink this
milk. I have now
done so myself and
can vouch for its ex-
cellence. The best
way to use it is to add
five parts of water to
one part of the latex,
and boil slowly until
a scum is produced.
This can be added to
coffee or tea without
fear of any ill-effects.
If there is no imme-
diate need of using it
in coffee, it forms an
admirable material for
caulking canoes.
When the latex is
boiled, without the
addition of water, it
coagulates readily, is
pliable and can be
kneaded into any de-
sired shape. The pulp

of the fruit provides an exceedingly sweet
and savory food relished by man, as well as
by birds and quadrupeds. "Cow trees" were
first discovered by Alexander von Humboldt,
and described by him 140 years ago.

k

Cow Tree in Museum

A trunk of the Guate-
malan species, presented
to Field Museum by the
United Fruit Company,
and exhibited in Hall of
Foreign Woods(Hall 27).

FOR AMATEUR COLLECTORS—

The BOOK SHOP of FIELD MU-
SEUM has added to the books, and
other merchandise such as animal
models, map-globes, paper weights,
etc., available at its counters, speci-
mens of rocks and minerals approved
by the Department of Geology for the
use of the amateur collector and
lapidary. Many are ornamental.

July, 1939

FIELD MUSEUM NEWS

Page 5

EXHIBIT TRACES DEVELOPMENT
OF SOUTHWEST POTTERY

By PAUL S. MARTIN

CHIEF CURATOR, DEPARTMENT OF ANTHROPOLOGY

The Story Behind Southwestern Pottery —
so reads the label on an exhibit of a new
type recently installed in the Southwestern
Indian Hall (Hall 7). This exhibit is
designed to show, in graphic form, the
relationships existing among the varied
pottery types in this rich archaeological
field.

Horizontal lines on the exhibition screen,
representing dates ranging from a.d. 500
to A.D. 1700, give chronological data on
the specimens which are arranged also on
vertical lines in accordance with their family
or culture branches. The dated sequence
indicates the changes and developments in
the prehistoric cultures of the peoples who
made these wares. Branches are divided
into time phases, each of which includes
several types of pottery, both plain and
painted. In most instances, each phase is
here represented only by its most typical
ware.

This exhibit is planned on the basis of a
classification system developed at Gila
Pueblo, Globe, Arizona, but it is unique
because it uses many whole pieces of pottery,
instead of sherds alone.

Pottery, in its earliest form, was probably
sun-dried. Learning to bake the pottery
in a fire constituted the first advance in
the potter's art. This fired pottery was
plain and unpainted, and although it has
been modified and manufactured for utili-
tarian purposes up to the present day, it
is shown in this exhibit only where it is the
sole type known at any given date. The
final development was the addition of
painted decoration, with which this exhibit
is mainly concerned.

The two great peoples represented by
specimens in the exhibit are the Hohokam,
and the Basket Maker-Pueblo Indians.
Yrom the beginnings they made, there were
developed the pottery types associated with
such modern tribes as the Hopi, Acoma,
Zuni, Puma, and Papago.

FLORIDA EXPEDITION COLLECTS
MORE THAN 800 SPECIMENS

Approximately 800 specimens of land,
fresh-water, and marine animals were col-
lected by Dr. Fritz Haas, Curator of Lower
Invertebrates, and Staff Taxidermist Leon L.
Walters, during the first month of their
current expedition in southern Florida, ac-
cording to reports they have made to the
Director. Included in the collections is
material for use in proposed exhibits of
certain kinds of crustaceans. Mr. Walters
has made plaster molds of some of these in
the field, so that when reproductions are
eventually made they will have the advan-
tage of being modeled from the equivalent
of fresh specimens.

At the time of sending their reports,
Messrs. Haas and Walters indicated that
they had completed work in the vicinity
of Englewood, Florida, ahead of schedule,
and were about to proceed to Sanibel
Island for further collecting and research.

Another $2,000 Contribution
from Mrs. J. N. Raymond

For the second time since the beginning
of this year, Mrs. James Nelson Raymond
recently contributed $2,000 toward the
support of the James Nelson and Anna
Louise Raymond Foundation for Public
School and Children's Lectures, which she
established in 1925 with an endowment of
$500,000. Her previous 1939 gift, of the
same amount, was made in February. The
supplementary contributions of this type
which Mrs. Raymond has frequently made
in the years since her original foundation
gift now total more than $67,000.

The work of the Raymond Foundation,
so valuable to the school children of Chicago,
is continuously being augmented and im-
proved. In addition to its regular functions,
the Foundation during July and August
will present a special summer series of free
motion picture programs for children, of
which details will be found elsewhere in
this issue of Field Museum News.

PALEONTOLOGICAL EXPEDITION
REPORTS NOTABLE SUCCESS

Collections, remarkable for their size and
variety, have been made by the paleon-
tological expedition which has been working
since April in Oligocene, Miocene, and
Pliocene fossil beds of South Dakota. Mr.
Paul O. McGrew, Assistant in Paleontology,
who is leader of the party, reports that
excavations in the vicinity of Big Spring
Canyon have thus far yielded skulls, skele-
tons, and partial skeletons of extinct
rhinoceroses, camels, three-toed horses,
antelopes, dogs, a peccary, a horned rodent,
a beaver, a sabertooth cat, and other crea-
tures that inhabited the American west in
prehistoric times, some as far back as forty
million years ago. The country being
explored is close to a Pine Ridge Indian
reservation. Early work of the expedition
was hampered by snow, and recently severe
rainstorms have caused difficulties, but work
has progressed satisfactorily despite these
obstacles.

When work has been completed at the
South Dakota sites, the party plans to
transfer operations to a site near Agate,
Nebraska. Mr. McGrew is accompanied
by Mr. Orville Gilpin, of Chicago, and Mr.
John Schmidt, of Homewood, Illinois.

Mammals of the Chicago area are ex-
hibited in an alcove south of the east
entrance to Hall 17.

The so-called double coconut of the Sey-
chelles Islands, which has the largest seed in
the plant kingdom, is shown in Hall 25.

FAMOUS FORGE FROM PHILIPPINES EXHIBITED AT MUSEUM

The people of the Saltan River valley are
the most skillful iron workers in northern
Luzon (Philippine Islands), and their prod-
ucts are widespread throughout the region.
Perhaps the most famous forge was that of
Balbalasang, which was secured by a Field
Museum expedition and is
shown here, as it is
exhibited in Hall H, to-
gether with faithful repre-
sentations of the people at
their work. The people are
of mixed blood, chiefly
Kalinga, with some Igorot
and Tinguian.

The smithies are small
structures, with grass roofs
and no sides. At one end
is the bellows, consisting
of two upright wooden cyl-
inders in which pistons of
wood packed with chicken
feathers and corn husks are
worked alternately up and
down. Bamboo tubes lead out from the
wooden block in which the cylinders stand,
and come close together in a tube of fire
clay which runs into the charcoal fire.
Nearby is a stone anvil. The white hot
metal, as it comes from the fire, is handled
with iron pincers by the real smith, who

holds it on the anvil while his helper wields
the heavy stone hammer. After the initial
shaping, the smith himself completes the
work with the smaller iron hammer. Tem-
pering is done by cooling the heated iron
in the small bamboo trough of water. The

Philippine Forge Group
Exhibit illustrating methods of skillful iron workers on the island of Luzon.

woman is represented as having just brought
water to the forge for this purpose.

The weapons, completed and under con-
struction, which are shown in the exhibit,
were in the smithy at the time of its acquisi-
tion, and are the last objects that were made
in it prior to its removal to Chicago.

Page 6

FIELD MUSEUM NEWS

July, 1939

Field Museum of Natural History

Founded by Marshall Fibld, 1893
RooseTelt Road and Field DiiTc, Chicago

THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES
Sewell L. Avery Charles A. McCulloch

Leopold E. Block Whjjam H. Mitchell

Albert B. Dick, Jr. George A. Richardson

Joseph N. Field Theodore Roosevelt

Marshall Field James Simpson

Stanley Field Solomon A. Smith

Albert W. Harris Albert A. Sprague

Samuel Insull, Jr. Silas H. Strawn

John P. Wilson

OFFICERS

Stanley Field Praidmi

Albert A. SPRAGirai Firtl Viee-Premdent

James Simpson Second Vice-President

Albert W. Harris Third Vice-President

Clifford C. Gregg Director and Secretary

Solomon A. Smith. . .Treasurer and Assistant Secretary

FIELD MUSEUM NEWS

Clifford C. Gregg, Director of the Mitseum .... Editor
CONTRIBUTING EDITORS

Paul S. Martin Chief Curator of Anthropology

B. E. Dahlgren Chief Curator of Botany

Henry W. Nicboi^ Chiejf Curator of Geology

Wilfred H. Osgood Chief Curator of Zoology

H. B. Harte Managing Editor

Members are requested to Inform the Museum
promptly of changes of address.

FROM THE DIRECTOR'S DESK—

A Permanent World's Fair

At this time the interest of people through-
out the country turns coastwise, east or
west, to the world's fairs at New York and
San Francisco. At either fair one may
expect to see marvelous exhibits featuring
new discoveries, new inventions, new archi-
tecture, and a general cross-section of things
that interest man all over the world.

A few years ago a great world's fair was
held in Chicago, and interest was so great
that it was continued for a second year. At
the same time a large proportion of out-of-
town visitors came to Field Museum. The
comments heard from them were in all cases
complimentary. It might be of interest to
see why those people who were interested
in the world's fair were amazed and delighted
with Field Museum.

Field Museum presents, not on rare
occasions, but at all times, the finest display
of the results of scientific investigation in
the field of natural science. Field Museum,
too, has gathered together from the far cor-
ners of the earth the choicest and rarest
specimens and has prepared them for exhi-
bition in a way that will educate and delight
the visitor. F^eld Museum's exhibits are
not prepared for a few days or for a single
season, but rather to last as long as the
material itself is of interest.

In its Hall of the Races of Mankind, Field
Museum has gathered together typical
examples of humanity throughout the
earth today, done in enduring bronze
through the talent of an eminent sculptor.
This hall might be termed a permanent
assembly of the representative peoples of
the world.

In many halls Field Museum exhibits the
ethnology of primitive peoples of today.
Here the visitor may see the actual weapons
of their warfare, the tools of their handicraft,
samples of their art and their weaving, and
most of the other primitive objects so
essential to their daily lives. Many of these
collections could not be bought at any price
today, as they represent the life of these
primitive peoples before the influence of
European civilization came upon them.
Primitive men today in most of the remote
comers of the earth are using to some degree
articles imported from Europe, America, or
the industrial nations of Asia.

Mammals and birds, fishes and reptiles,
trees and flowers, gems and minerals have
been gathered from far and near — identified,
labeled, and presented for your inspection.
The association of natural things with their
natural surroundings has been brought out
clearly in many splendid habitat groups.

The collection of meteorites at Field Mu-
seum is unique in the number of falls repre-
sented. The appeal of these occasional
arrivals from distant unknown places out-
side the earth needs no comment. Then,
too, there are collections of gems and gem-
stones, cut and uncut, together with typical
jewelry from all parts of the world. A
separate hall contains Chinese jades of many
dynasties. Even for those unacquainted
with the values represented, these halls are
a delight because of the sheer beauty of the
specimens themselves.

Is it any wonder that Field Museum may
be looked upon as a permanent world's fair,
housing as it does priceless collections of
world-wide origin?

— Clifford C. Gregg, Director

James P. Chapin, Curator of Old World
Birds of the American Museum of Natural
History, New York; Mrs. Gertrude Bass
Warner, Director, and Mrs. Louis Colfax, of
the University of Oregon Museum of Fine
Arts, Eugene, Oregon.

Distinguished Visitors

Among distinguished visitors recently
received at Field Museum are: Mr. Herbert
N. Hale, Museum Director of the Public
Library, Museum, and Art Gallery of South
Australia, at Adelaide, who spent eight days
inspecting Field Museum's building and
equipment, and observing the educational
methods employed here; Mr. Chauncey J.
Hamlin, President of the Buffalo Museum
of Science; Mr. Victor Fisher, Eth-
nologist of the Auckland (New Zealand)
Museum; Dr. Herbert Friedmann, Curator
of Birds at the United States National
Museum, and President of the American
Ornithologists' Union; Mr. A. J. van
Rossem, Ornithologist of the California
Institute of Technology, at Pasadena; Dr.
D. Rubin de la Borbolla, Director, Escuela
Nacional de Ciencias Biologicas, Mexico;
Dr. T. H. Goodspeed, Professor of Botany
at the University of California; Dr. Frank
D. Kern, of Pennsylvania State College, who
is one of the foremost specialists on fungi;
Professor Harry W. Norris, of the zoological
department, Grinnell College, Iowa; Dr.

Trustees Vote Honors to Two

Mr. Michael Lerner, well-known sports-
man of New York City has been elected by
the Board of Trustees to the Field Museum
membership classification designated as
Contributors, and Dr. Henri Humbert,
noted French scientist, has been elected a
Corresponding Member. The election of
Mr. Lerner is in recognition of notable gifts
he has made to the Museum, especially to
the collections of the Division of Fishes.
Professor Humbert is Director of the Labo-
ratory of Phanerogams at the Museum
National d'Histoire Naturelle in Paris. He
has accorded extremely valuable co-opera-
tion to Field Museum in connection with
this institution's project for photographing
type specimens of plants in European her-
baria— a project which is proving to be of
immense benefit to botanists throughout
the world.

Oil Palm Specimen

A fruiting spadix of the American oil palm,
collected in Panama by the late Professor A.
C. Noe, who was Research Associate in
Paleobotany for Field Museum, has been
placed on exhibition in Hall 25, in conjunction
with its economically more important rela-
tive, the African oil palm. Oil from the latter
is widely used in the manufacture of soap.

A FEW FACTS ABOUT FIELD MUSEUM

Field Mllseum ia open every day of the year
(except Christmas and New Year's Day) during
the hours indicated below:

November, December,

January. February 9 A.M. to 4 P.M.

March, April, and
September, October 9 A.M. to 5 F.M.

May, June, July, August. . . .9 a.m. to 6 P.M.

Admission is free to Members on all days.
Other adults are admitted free on Thursdays,
Saturdays, and Sundays; non-members pay 25
cents on other days. Children are admitted free
on all days. Students and faculty members of
educational institutions are admitted free any
day upon presentation of credentials.

The Museum's Library is open for reference
daily except Saturday afternoon and Sunday.

Traveling exhibits are circulated in the schools
of Chicago by the N. W. Harris Public School
Extension Department of the Museum.

Lectures at schools, and special entertain-
ments and tours for children at the Museum, are
provided by the James Nelson and Anna Louise
Raymond Foundation for Public School and
Children's Lectures.

Free courses of lectures for adults are presented
in the James Simpson Theatre on Saturday after-
noons (at 2:30 o'clock) in March, April, October,
and November.

A Cafeteria serves visitors. Rooms are avail-
able also for those bringing their lunches.

Chicago Motor Coach Company No. 26 busses
provide direct transportation to the Museum. Ser-
vice is offered also by Surface Lines, Rapid Tran-
sit Lines (the "L"), mterurban electric Qnes, and
Illinois Central trains. There is ample free park-
ing space for automobiles at the Museum.

July, 1939

FIELD MUSEUM NEWS

Page 7

EXHIBIT ILLUSTRATES LIFE
OF CHINESE CHILDREN

By C. martin WILBUR

CURATOR OF CHINESE ARCHAEOLOGY AND ETHNOLOGY

What does a Chinese school child look
like, and what does he study today?

To answer these questions, particularly
when asked by Chicago school children.
Field Museum recently placed a new ex-
hibit in Hall 32 (Case 38). To assure that
the exhibition material would be authentic,
the Museum asked Mrs. Elizabeth S. Stelle,
who has lived for fifty years in intimate
contact with the Chinese near Peiping, to
secure complete outfits of used clothes,
textbooks, and toys, together with class
work and photographs, of two Chinese
school children from middle-class families.
Everything was in actual use when obtained.

The central characters of the new exhibit
are Shih-pin Wu, a sixth-grade boy, and
Chih-ping Wen, a fourth-grade girl. Both
are natives of T'ung hsien, a typical old
Chinese town about ten miles east of Peiping.
Their art work — typically Chinese in its
viewpoint — is shown in the back of the case.
Small manikins are dressed with their
clothes, while their illustrated school books,
exercises, and native writing materials are
all displayed. In the sixth grade Shih-pin
Wu studies history, geography, reading in
the Chinese classics, writing, nature study,
and art. The Chinese girl in fourth grade
concentrates on learning to read and write
the difficult Chinese characters, but also
studies hygiene, arithmetic, nature study,
and art. T'ung hsien is in Japanese-occupied
territory, yet it is entirely characteristic
that the education of Chinese children
continues as it has always continued in
China during periods of economic and
political stress. Photographs accompany-
ing the exhibit show the children in their
class rooms.

THINGS YOU MAY HAVE MISSED

Hummingbirds

Hummingbirds have long held popular
appeal as the jewels of the bird world. Few
birds equal them in brilliance of color and
variety of form. Their minute size, dazzling
hues, speed of flight, and courage in the
defense of their nests all combine to increase
their fascination.

More than six hundred species and races
of hummingbirds are known to science.
These range in size from the delicate vervain
hummingbird of Jamaica, smallest of all
birds, whose total length is just over two
inches, to the giant hummingbird of the
southern Andes, which attains eight and
one-half inches. All are characterized by
slender mandibles, weak feet, and rapidity
of wing movement in flight which gives rise
to the buzzing noise from which their name
is derived.

Hummingbirds are most closely related
anatomically to the swifts, but superficially

resemble the Old World sunbirds by which
they are rivaled in iridescence. The former,
however, are restricted to the Americas,
being most abundant in the Andes of
Colombia and Ecuador. Only nineteen
varieties occur north of Mexico, and of these
only one, the ruby-throated hummingbird,
is found east of the Mississippi River.

Twelve North American hummingbirds,
including the colorful Anna's hummingbird
of California shown in the accompanying
illustration, may be seen in Hall 21 where
more than one thousand North American
birds are on display. — E.R.B.

Tiny Birds

Hummingbirds and nest as displayed in Field Mu-
seum's systematic ornitliological collection in Hall 21.

Staff Notes

Mr. Henry Herpers has been appointed
Assistant Curator of Geology, and will as-
sume his duties in July. He is a graduate of
the Massachusetts Institute of Technology,
and specializes in chemistry.

Dr. Henry Field, Curator of Physical
Anthropology, presented a paper on "Ancient
and Modern Inhabitants of Iran" before the
meeting of the Anthropology Section of the
American Association for the Advancement
of Science, at Milwaukee, on June 21.

Mr. L. Bryant Mather, Jr., Assistant
Curator of Mineralogy, presented a paper
before the convention of the Rocks and
Minerals Association held at Peekskill, New
York, on June 17. Recently Mr. Mather
was elected a junior member of the American
Institute of Mining and Metallurgical
Engineers.

FIELD MUSEUM CO-OPERATES
IN RECREATION PROGRAM

Field Museum participated in a con-
ference on industrial recreation, sponsored
by University College of Northwestern
University, with the co-operation of the
Adult Education Council and numerous
other organizations interested in the better
use of leisure time, held at the Hotel Sher-
man, Chicago, June 14 and 15. The con-
ference was organized in three main divi-
sions: sports and athletics, social activities
and hobbies, and cultural activities.

Under the division of cultural activities,
in a section devoted to museums. Field Mu-
seum was represented by a display of photo-
graphs and printed material designed to
outline briefly the story told by its exhibits,
and to suggest that in this institution there
exist resources and facilities for recreation
and fascinating studies in the arts and
sciences.

Mr. Loren P. Woods, of the Museum
staff, was in attendance during the period
of the conference to answer questions and
distribute information about the Museum.

EGYPTIAN BOAT IN MUSEUM
AMONG FIVE OLDEST

Some of the fine points of marine architec-
ture and shipbuilding, used to this day in
the construction of yachts, were known and
used by the ancient Egyptians 4,000 years
ago. This is revealed by inspection of an
ancient Egyptian boat on exhibition in the
Hall of Egyptian Archaeology (Hall J) at
Field Museum.

So far as is known, this boat is one of the
five oldest now in existence. It was built
during the Twelfth Dynasty, and was
used in an important mortuary ceremony.
Cedar, still considered one of the finest of
woods for the building of small craft, was
used in its construction, and its preservation
through all these years is considered largely
due to the selection of this timber. The
boat is just a few inches under 32 feet in
length, and it has a beam of 8 feet,
and draft of 4 feet. These proportions are
close to popular average sizes of modern
motor cruisers and sailing yachts. In
design of underwater body, midship section,
and rake of the stern, the Egyptian vessel
resembles closely many modern racers.

The boat was excavated near the Dahshur
pyramid of Sesostris III, about twenty
miles above Cairo, and several miles from
the Nile. It had been buried after use in
the mortuary ceremony.

Mr. Rudyerd Boulton, Curator of Birds,
last month attended the annual meeting of
the American Ornithologists' Union, held in
Berkeley, California. Mr. Boulton is
Treasurer of the organization, and Business
manager of its quarterly journal, The Auk,

Page 8

FIELD MUSEUM NEWS

July, 19S9

GIFTS TO THE MUSEUM

Following is a list of some of the principal
gifts received by Field Museum during the
last month:
Department of Anthropology :

From the Estate of Murray B. Augur,
Chicago — 38 specimens of Plains Indian
ethnological material, Kansas, Nebraska,
Oklahoma, and Arizona.
Department of Botany:

From E. J. Stanton and Son, Inc., Los
Angeles, Calif. — a plank of mahogany,
Guatemala; from Dr. Stillman Wright,
Logan, Utah — 113 specimens of algae, Utah
and Montana; from William A. Daily,
Indianapolis, Ind. — 27 specimens of algae,
Indiana; from L. Lind Petersen, Escuintla,
Guatemala — a mahogany board. Pacific
coast of Guatemala; from Museo Nacional,
Costa Rica — 136 herbarium specimens, San
Jose, Costa Rica; from Dr. Earl E. Sherff,
Chicago — 90 herbarium specimens, Hawaii;
from Don Mariano Pacheco H., Guatemala
City, Guatemala — a specimen of black
wheat, Guatemala; from Professor A. O.
Garrett, Salt Lake City, Utah— 140 herba-
rium specimens, Utah.
Department of Geolo^ :

From Henry Elsinga, Lead Hill, Ark. — 5
geological specimens, Arkansas; from Struc-
tural Slate Company, Pan Argyl, Pa. — 2
specimens of fabricated slate, Pennsylvania;
from W. A. Blomstran, Lyon Mountain,
N. Y. — a specimen of bisolite. New York;
from T. E. Courthope, Retsof, N. Y.— a
specimen of halite; from Peter Zodac,
Peekskill, N. Y. — a mineral specimen,
Pennsylvania; from Frank C. Hooper,
North Creek, N. Y. — 2 specimens of ser-
endibite. New York; from T. F. Myners,
Mineville, N. Y. — 2 specimens of martite,
New York; from Katherine S. Kniskern,
Baltimore, Md. — 4 mineral specimens. New
York; from R. D. Butler, Bethlehem, Pa.—
2 mineral specimens, Pennsylvania; from
Nolan R. Best, Chicago — a box of thermo-
luminescent adularia sand. North Carolina;
from Mrs. John Colvin, Chicago — a specimen
of jasper and hematite, Wisconsin; from
Loren P. Woods, Chicago — a specimen of
goethite, Mis.souri; from R. J. Adams,
Chicago — 4 specimens of chalk, Kansas;
from Dr. Henry Field, Chicago — 3 minerals,
Iraq; from Frank De Fore.st, Evergreen
Park, 111. — a dolphin skull, Florida.

Department of Zoolo^:

From H. E. Woodcock, Chicago — 21
specimens of moths and butterflies, India,
Europe, and New Mexico; from Bass Bio-
logical Laboratory, Englewood. Fla. — 98
fish specimens, Florida; from Bob Allen and
Jim Vonderheydt, Oak Park, 111.— 33 frogs
and toads, Wisconsin; from Dr. Delzie
Demaree, Monticello, Ark. — 3 snakes, Arkan-
sas; from Mrs. George Artamonoff, Chicago
— a snake, Guatemala; from Professor C. L.
Baker, Memphis, Tenn. — 39 fish specimens,
Tennessee; from Dr. H. H. Nelson, Chicago
— 63 bats, Egypt; from Dr. Julian A.
Steyermark, Chicago — 4 snakes and a frog,
Missouri; from Loren P. Woods, Chicago —
a snake, Indiana, and 2,000 fish specimens,
Missouri; from H. C. Hanson, Decorah,
Iowa — 21 mammals, Iowa; from F. N. Bard,
Highland Park, 111. — a grizzly bear skull.

British Columbia; from Mrs. Robb White,
Thomasville, Ga. — a black snake, Georgia;
from Phyllis Laybourne, Homewood, 111. —
two snakes, Michigan; from Ray Niles, Lake
Geneva, Wis.— a large trout skull, Wiscon-
sin; from Chicago Zoological Society, Brook-
field, 111. — 18 specimens of mammals, birds,
and reptiles; from Miss N. B. Mason,
Davenport, Iowa — a great plains garter
snake, Iowa; from Dr. Henry Field, Chicago
— 24 bats, Iraq.
The Library:

Valuable books from Dr. Albert B. Lewis
and Dr. Henry Field, of Chicago.

PRINCIPAL WHEAT VARIETIES

More than one hundred varieties of wheat
are grown in the United States. An exhibit
in Hall 25 (Economic Botany) shows wild
grasses related to the wheats, the primitive
forms of cultivated wheat — spelt, einkorn
and emmer — together with a display of the
principal varieties of soft and hard wheats
of the most important kinds: common
wheats, durums, and club wheats. The
term "club wheat" refers to the shape of
the heads. The common wheats are soft
varieties, used in breadmaking, either alone
or mixed with flour of hard wheat. Of the
latter, durum is the most widely known
and is grown in the northwestern States.
It gives a flour of the high gluten content
required for the making of spaghetti and
macaroni.

Displayed with these grain samples are
specimens of wheat from ancient times.
Some grains from the city of Jemdet Nasr,
excavated in Iraq by the Field Museum-
Oxford University Joint Expedition to
Mesopotamia, are estimated to be 5,500
years old, and probably the most ancient
in existence. They are charred as a result
of a fire which destroyed Jemdet Nasr.
Of similar interest are grains of wheat
("emmer") found in two Middle Kingdom
(1900 B.C.) graves in Egypt. The graves
were near the pyramid temple of King
Ne-User-Re who reigned about 2600 B.C.
at Abusir near Cairo.

NEW MEMBERS

The following persons were elected to
membership in Field Museum during the
period from May 16 to June 15:

Corresponding Members

Professor Henri Humbert

Contributors

Michael Lemer

Associate Members

Mrs. Ruthven Deane, John Fredric
Kurfess, Charles Herbert Smith, Mrs.
Theodore Stone, Mrs. Charles Ware.

.\nnual Members

Harry E. Abrahams, Alfred W. Bays,
William L. Blundell, Mrs. Louise T. Bov-
ingdon, Sydney P. Brown, Harry F. Brewer,
George C. Bulk, B. H. Bunn, Lester h.
Forbes, Dr. Stanton A. Friedberg, Dr.
Eleanor I. Leslie, Rev. F. J. Magner,
Harold B. Myers, Sumner S. Sollitt, Mrs.
Lewis J. Solomon, John H. Southman.

GUIDE-LECTURE TOURS

During July and August conducted tours
of the exhibits, under the guidance of staff
lecturers, will be given on a special schedule,
as follows:

Mondays: 11 a.m.. Plant Life Exhibits;
3 P.M., General Tour of Exhibition Halls.

Tuesdays: 11 a.m.. Halls of Primitive and
Civilized Peoples; 3 p.m., General Tour of
Exhibition Halls.

Wednesdays: 11 a.m.. Animal Groups;
3 P.M., General Tour of Exhibition Halls.

Thursdays: 11 a.m. and 3 p.m., General
Tours of Exhibition Halls.

Fridays: 11 a.m.. Minerals and Prehistoric
Life; 3 p.m., General Tour of Exhibition
Halls.

There are no tours given on Saturdays,
Sundays, or on July Fourth.

Persons wishing to participate in the tours
should apply at the North Entrance. The
tours are free, and no gratuities are to be
proffered. Guide-lecturer's services for
special tours by parties of ten or more are
available free of charge by arrangement
with the Director a week in advance.

800 Books Added to Library

An addition of some 800 volumes has
accrued to the Library of Field Museum as a
result of the bequest to the Museum of the
late Mrs. Carrie Ryerson. The books are
largely botanical and zoological in subject
matter, but include also works on travel and
more general subjects.

MEMBERSHIP IN FIELD MUSEUM

Field Museum has several classes of Membera.
Annual Members contribute $10 annually. As-
sociate Members pay $100 and are exempt from
dues. Sustaining Members c<mtribute %'lb annu-
ally for six consecutive years, after which they
become Associate Members and are exempt from
all further dues. Life Members give $500 and
are exempt from dues. Non-Iiesident Life Mem-
bers pay $100, and Non-Resident Associate
Members $50; both of these classes are also
exempt from dues. The Non-Reaident member-
ships are available only to persons residing fifty
miles or more from Chicago. Those who give or
devise to the Museum $1,000 to $100,000 are
designated as Contributors, and those who give
or devise $100,000 or more become Benefactors.
Other memberships are Honorary, Patron,
Corresponding and Corporate, additions under
these classitications being made by special action
of the Board of Trustees.

Each Member, in all classes, is entitled to free
admission to the Museum for himself, his family
and house guests, and to two reserved seats for
Museum lectures provided for Members. Sub-
scription to Field MusBtiu News is included
with all memberships. The courtesies of every
museum of note in the United States and Canada
are extended to all Members of Field Museum.
A Member may give his personal card to non-
residents of Chicago, upon presentation of which
they will be admitted to the Museum without
charge. Further information about member-
ships will be sent on request.

BEQUESTS AND ENDOWMENTS

Bequests to Field Museum of Natural History
may be made in securities, money, books or
collections. They may, if desired, take the form
of a memorial to a person or cause, named by the
giver.

Contributions made within the taxable year not
exceeding 1 5 per cent of the taxpayer's net in-
come are allowable as deductions in computing
net income for federal income tax purposes.

Endowments may be made to the Museum
with the provision that an annuity he paid to
the patron for life. These annuities are guaran-
teed against fluctuation in amount, and may
reduce federal income taxes.

News

Published Monthly by Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago

Vol. 10

AUGUST, 1939

No. 8

'WHAT'S IN A NAME?"— COMMON TERMS FOR ANIMALS ARE OFTEN MISLEADING

By H. B. HARTE
public relations counsel

"A rose is a rose is a rose is a rose." — Gertrude Stein.

But a robin's not a robin not a robin not a robin,
A sparrow's not a sparrow not a sparrow not a sparrow
And et cetera's not et cetera not etc. not etc. —
So, if things are not what they are, which they aren't
what are they?

Truly, things are not what they seem, or
at least what they're called, in the Animal
Kingdom. The nomenclature of birds and
beasts is so confused that residents of

Called a Gopher In Illinois—

— but properly it should be called a thirteen-lined
ground squirrel. It is quite common in the Chicago area.

different regions of this country use the
same names for entirely unlike creatures.
Zoologists at Field Museum, when consulted
by laymen, must frequently disregard the
names their visitors or correspondents use,
and try to establish identifications from
other information cited.

Who is to blame for this chaotic condition
in naming the creatures of the earth and
sky? The pioneers! — the hardy pioneers,
worthy in so many respects, are the culprits.
In settling America they encoun-
tered many new birds and animals,
and carelessly gave them the names
of other creatures they had known
at home. The wrong names ad-
hered, and are now so well estab-
lished that they are actually more
right, in a utilitarian sense, than
the correct names. In fact, con-
fusion twice confounded would
result from any serious attempt
now to give the right names to all
the wrongly named animals.

PARADOXES IN BIRD NAMES

Here are some of the paradoxes
in bird names, pointed out by Mr.
Rudyerd Boulton, Curator of Birds:

The bird commonly called a robin is not
a robin, but a thrush. A real robin is a
small British bird, one-third the size of
our so-called robin, and only distantly
related although superficially alike in having
a red breast.

The real partridge is European, and has
been introduced in some places in America
where it is often called the "hunky" from
its proper name, Hungarian partridge. Our
bob-white is called partridge in the south,
and the ruffed grouse is called partridge in
Canada. In the middle west the bob-white
often is called a quail, which is confusing
because the true quail is a European bird
that migrates to Africa. Just to make
things a little more complicated, our ruffed
grouse is sometimes called pheasant in the
east — a term that is properly applied to
the long-tailed "ringneck" introduced from
Asia.

What we call a warbler does not belong
to the true warbler family at all. The true
warblers are Old World birds. America
has only one native species of warbler, but
it is called a blue-gray gnat-catcher instead
of a warbler.

Our so-called oriole is really a blackbird,
unrelated to the true orioles which are an
Old World family unrepresented in the
western hemisphere. Likewise, our meadow-
lark actually is a blackbird. However,
America's only true lark is, for a change,
called prairie horned lark — someone slipped
and failed to give it a wrong name.

Even that common little street gamin,
the English (or house) sparrow is not a
sparrow by any means — it is a species of
weaver-bird, an immigrant first brought
from Europe in 1850.

The wood ibis of Florida is not an ibis,
but a stork. There are also true ibises in
Florida, but they with customary contrari-
ness are called, instead, white curlews, which
they likewise really are not.

Also in Florida they have a turtle which
they call a gopher, says Mr. Karl P. Schmidt,
Curator of Amphibians and Reptiles. They
have a gopher (the little mammal that we
call gopher in the north) and they call that
a salamander. They have a true salamander
and they call that a "Congo eel." They

This Turtle Is a Gopher, Too—

— in the common zoological nomenclature generally employed by natives of
Florida, who call the mammalian gopher a salamander, and the real salamander an eel.

A True Gopher — the Pocket Gopher

In Florida, however, they call it a salamander, and
call the true amphibian salamander a "Congo eel."

have real eels and — believe it or not! — they
actually call them eels.

MAMMALS ALSO IN CONFUSION

Mr. Colin C. Sanborn, Curator of Mam-
mals, contributes the note that what is
called a prairie dog in the west is a ground
squirrel, and in Illinois we call a ground
squirrel a gopher, but out west again they
have a real gopher that they call a gopher,
of all things, and a ground squirrel that
they call a ground squirrel. What we call
a ground-hog is no relative of the
pig, but is also a ground squirrel or
woodchuck. Then, of course, there
is the classic misnomer pointed out
to every school child — the Ameri-
can buffalo which is not a buffalo
but a bison, very distinctive from
the true buffaloes of Africa and
Asia. Most confusing is the case
of the moose and the elk, adds Dr.
Wilfred H. Osgood, Chief Curator
of Zoology, for the moose is closely
related to the Old World elk and
our so-called elk is not an elk at all
but a true round-horned deer re-
lated to the European red deer and
Asiatic deer. It should be called

Page 2

FIELD MUSEUM NEWS

August, 19S9

wapiti — a name given to it by the Indians.
For the devotees of Izaak Walton, there
are also many and curious anomalies, says
Mr. Alfred C. Weed, Curator of Fishes.
The wall-eyed pike of Wisconsin and
Michigan waters is called a salmon and a
trout in the Susquehanna region down east,
a pickerel in Canada, and in Florida, where
they always seem to go to extremes, the
same fish is a "snook." The black bass is
a sunfish, not a true bass, and the big-

What Do You CaU This Fish?

In Wisconsin and Michigan it is known as the wall-
eyed pike, but it is known both as a salmon and a trout
down east in the Susquehanna region, while it is called
a pickerel in Canada, and — in Florida — a "snook."

mouthed variety of bass is called a trout
in the south. The sea trout is a charr in
Labrador, and a croaker along the coast
from New Jersey to the Gulf of Mexico.

EXHIBIT REVEALS PERFECTION
OF CHINESE POTTERS

By C. martin WILBUR

CUKATOR OF CHINESE ARCHAEOLOGY AND ETHNOLOGY

The best ceramic products of Chinese
potters of the seventeenth and eighteenth
centuries have no rival anywhere in the
world if we judge by artistic beauty or
technical perfection. Their surprising ac-
complishments were due to at least two
important factors: experience and specializa-
tion. Ch'ing porcelain was the culmination
of centuries of accidental and experimental
discoveries, and accumulated tradition and
skill. Superb technique was possible because
of intense specialization in which every pro-
cess— from the mixing of the clay to the final
firing — was in the hands of a different
expert. The imperial kiln-city of Ching-te
Chen resembled in many ways a modem
factory in which each small process is in the
hands of especially trained men.

EXHIBIT IN HALL 24

Through a bequest of Mrs. George T.
(Frances Gaylord) Smith, Field Museum
acquired a collection of white porcelain
which confirms the above comments. The
collection is exhibited in George T. and
Frances Gaylord Smith Hall (Hall 24), in
case 32. The eleven small pieces, though
not all of the finest quality produced at
imperial kilns, illustrate a variety of decora-
tive techniques which make no use of color.
Three Buddhist figures, of the type of porce-
lain known as bUinc de chine, show the
sculptural possibilities of ceramics. This is
especially true of the larger figure of Bodhid-
harma sitting in serene meditation with his
robes gathered around him.

A modified type of the sculpture technique
is decoration in relief. Two libation cups
have dragons in full round clambering over
the sides. That these dragons came through
the inferno of the kiln without wilting com-
mands admiration. In lower relief is the
ornamentation of a small brush-holder
shaped like a joint of bamboo. On its sides
is a charming scene of a man in a bamboo
grove, sleeping over an open book — as he
sits astride a water buffalo! This specimen is
signed by a famous nineteenth century
potter named Wang Ping-jung. The sides of
another brush-holder show a lily pond with
swimming ducks. In this, the decoration
itself forms the body of the container, and
the spaces between lily pads are left open,
which makes it seem as though one were
actually looking down into a pond on which
leaves are floating.

SPECIAL LIGHTING AIDS STUDY

This open work treatment leads to an-
other technique shown in two beautiful
bowls at the back of the case. A floral
design was pierced through the biscuit
before the bowls were glazed. After glazing
and firing, the pierced design became trans-
lucent, as the glaze filled the cut-out floral
design like glass in a window. Finally,
another bowl displays translucent and relief
decoration combined. A special light for
this piece may be turned on and off by the
visitor, thus permitting him to study the
bowl either under normal light or by a light
concentrated inside it. The technique of
making this bowl is very interesting. It
was first shaped on the potter's wheel and
allowed to dry out naturally to a leathery
toughness. Then an expert carefully ground
it down to paper thinness on a lathe to
make it translucent. Next an artist used
a white slip, of paste-like consistency, to
paint two spirited dragons on the sides of the
bowl. Finally it was dipped in glaze and
fired. Thus, although the bowl is translu-
cent, the dragons between the biscuit and
the glaze are opaque. They seem to soar
like shadows against a cloud, which is indeed
the proper occupation of dragons.

Fig Tree Sheltered Rome's Founders

The fig tree, a native of western Asia, was
probably introduced into Italy by Greek
colonists. Romulus and Remus are said
to have been suckled by the she-wolf under
the Ficus ruminalis.

Giant Sea Bean

A huge sea bean, so large that it might
have come from the beanstalk of Jack the
Giant Killer's giant, is exhibited in the Hall
of Plant Life (Hall 29, Case 857), Depart-
ment of Botany. This type of bean, which
grows to a length of four feet, is the
fruit of a large woody climber, and is native
to many tropical regions. Its seeds are
often transported by the Gulf Stream.

PALEONTOLOGICAL EXPEDITION
LEAVES FOR COLORADO

The Paleontological Expedition to West-
ern Colorado left Chicago on July 17 for a
three and a half months' stay in the field.
The personnel consists of Mr. Bryan Patter-
son, Assistant Curator of Paleontology, and
Mr. James H. Quinn, Assistant in Paleon-
tology. Volunteers are expected to join the
party for short periods. Previous expedi-
tions from the Museum have operated in
this region during 1932, 1933, and 1937, so
the present party will be continuing a
well established program. Important col-
lections have already resulted from this
work, and notable additions to knowledge
have been made.

The field of operations lies in Mesa, Gar-
field, and Gunnison Counties, where an
extensive series of formations belonging to
various periods and eras in the earth's his-
tory is exposed. The work will be carried on
mainly in late Paleocene and early Eocene
deposits (the opening epochs of the Age of
Mammals), with some attention also being
paid to the late Cretaceous formations (the
closing period of the Age of Reptiles). The
main objective of the expedition is to collect
fossil mammals from the Paleocene and
Eocene. Specimens from these early hori-
zons are of great interest to students of
mammalian evolution. The dinosaurs and
other reptiles that had previously dominated
the earth were but a short time extinct (geo-
logically speaking), and the mammals were
just getting well under way. Many groups
that no longer survive were flourishing, and
several of the dominant mammalian types
of the present time were represented by
exceedingly primitive ancestors. Thus, for
example, the horses of the early Eocene were
small creatures no larger than foxes, and
they possessed four toes in contrast to the
modern horse's one.

In addition to the work on vertebrates,
attention will be paid to geological observa-
tions, and to the collecting of fossil plants.
It is hoped that by means of the latter it
will be possible to make somewhat more
precise age determinations and correlations
of the late Cretaceous formations than has
hitherto been done.

SUMMER FLOWERS—

Of special interest and usefulness to
those interested in recognizing the
wild flowers appearing at this season
is an illustrated leaflet. Summer Wild
Flowers, published by Field Museum.
J. Francis Macbride, Associate Curator
of the Herbarium, is the author. This
booklet, like many others which are
valuable to nature lovers at this time
of year, is on sale at the BOOK SHOP
of FIELD MUSEUM— 25 cents.

August, 1939

FIELD MUSEUM NEWS

Page S

THINOS YOU MAY HAVE MISSED

A Rain God

To an enlightened person it seems ridicu-
lous to believe that an idol carved from a
tree trunk could influence rainfall or other
natural phenomena. But when the coinci-
dences surrounding the acquisition of a
wooden rain god from a South Pacific island,
now on exhibition at Field Museum (Poly-
nesian collection, Hall F) are considered, it
is easy to see how similar coincidences would
appear to the minds of primitive tribesmen
as cause and effect. In the same way the
common superstitions of our own people,
such as those associated with the number
"13," black cats, broken mirrors, and
rabbits' feet, persist because coincidences
sometimes seem to confirm their validity.

Field Museum's rain god is one of four
which were preserved in a sacred place in
the valley of Atuona, on the island of Hi-
vaoa, one of the French-owned Marquesas
group. Dr. Ralph Linton (formerly Assistant
Curator of Oceanic and Malayan Ethnology
at Field Museum, now Professor of Anthro-
pology at Columbia University), learned of
the idols during an expedition. He found them
surrounded by the bones of about twenty-
five tribesmen who had been offered as
human sacrifices. A problem confronted
the explorer in seeking to acquire and re-
move the revered objects in the face of
certain opposition from the Atuona tribe.

However, opportunity was presented by a
dispute between two natives over ownership
of the land on which the gods were located.
Thinking that Dr. Linton could not take
them away, and believing that a paper from
a white man would help in court (both as a
legal document and by its supposed magical
power), each native secretly offered the gods
to the anthropologist if he would give a
receipt. Each thought this would indicate
that Dr. Linton believed him to be the right-
ful owner. Dr. Linton gave each a receipt,
and thus acquired clear title whichever way
the case might be decided. Dr. Linton then
sought to remove the four heavy idols by
employing porters from another island —
members of a tribe whose gods were dif-
ferent, and who were therefore not subject
to the Hivaoa lahus. In the dead of night
these men carried the idols to Dr. Linton's
camp. But the Hivaoa people learned what
had happened, and a native boy warned
Dr. Linton of impending trouble.

Telling about his experiences later. Dr.
Linton said:

"Half an hour after the gods arrived there
was a downpour of rain that became heavier
and heavier, lasting about twenty-four
hours. The river on the island rose rapidly,
and the natives were badly frightened. It
was all due, they insisted, to the wrath of
the disturbed gods. They said the gods
would continue the rain until the river

flooded, washing the entire village, and all
its inhabitants into the sea. The tribesmen
were becoming menacing. Something had
to be done to calm them. I called to the
elders, and before them I addressed the gods
in the tribal language. I told the wooden
idols that they were mistaken as to my
motives — I was merely moving them to the
island of Hawaii, regarded as a sort of
Olympus of all native gods, where they
would be more comfortable. But, I threat-
ened, if the rain continued much longer, I
would tie them to coconut trees, where they
would be impotent and unhappy gods. This
speech placated the excited tribesmen, and.

Marquesan Rainmaker

This carved wooden idol was believed by tribesmen
of the island of Hivaoa in the South Pacific to control
the fall, or lack of fall, of rain. It is now on exhibition
in the Polynesian collection in Hall F at Field Museum.

strangely enough, half an hour later the rain
stopped, and the river subsided. Thus the
native faith was sustained.

"I managed to get the idols loaded on a
schooner and sailed away. Three are now
in a museum at Honolulu. The fourth
arrived in Chicago at a time when the city
and all the middle west had had a drought
for weeks. The day the god was uncrated at
Field Museum, rainstorms started, lasting
several days. The story of this rain reached
farming districts which had not yet had
relief. Immediately a farmer in Iowa
requested a loan of the god to bring rain and
save his crops. Similar requests followed.
Needless to say, however, the Museum
never granted the loan."

TWO PROGRAMS FOR CHILDREN
TO BE GIVEN IN AUGUST

The James Nelson and Anna Louise Ray-
mond Foundation will present the final two
programs of motion pictures in its summer
series for children at Field Museum during
August. The programs are as follows:

Thursday, August 3, 10 a.m. — The
Busy Beavers (cartoon by Walt Disney);
The Lovely Taj Mahal; The Navajo Demon;
Babes in the Woods.

Thursday, August 10, 10 a.m. — The
Wedding of Palo (A Story of Eskimo Life
in Greenland).

The programs will be given in the James
Simpson Theatre of the Museum. Admission
is free, and children from all parts of Chicago
and suburbs are invited. They may come
alone, accompanied by adults, or in groups
from clubs, community centers, etc.

POISON IVY IN CENTRAL AMERICA

While conducting the recent Sewell Avery
Botanical Expedition to Guatemala, the
writer was assured by Mr. and Mrs. B. B.
Lewis, of Guatemala City, that poison ivy
(Rhus Toxicodendron) grew in the central
mountains of that country. Since, in North
America, poison ivy has not been reliably
reported south of the Mexican state of
Oaxaca, it seemed quite safe to deny its
possible existence anywhere in Central
America. Facetious comment regarding the
ease with which Central American plants
might be confused by the amateur with
only remotely similar ones of the United
States was met by a repetition of the state-
ment.

Mrs. Lewis, an enthusiastic and critical
student and collector of Guatemalan orchids,
has now forwarded to Field Museum a
specimen of poison ivy, with the informa-
tion that after collecting it, in spite of every
precaution, she exhibited the customary
effects of contact with the plant. The
specimen was obtained near San Juan
Sacatepequez, not far from Guatemala City,
and represents an extension of range far
southeastward from that previously known.

Once again a botanist is embarrassed by
too confident generalization regarding plant
range, although based upon apparently quite
safe presumption. The Central American
flora continues to furnish so many surprises
that it deserves a tribute like that paid to
Africa by Pliny — that something new always
could be expected from that mysterious con-
tinent. — Paul C. Standley

Additions to Fluorescent Minerals

The display of fluorescent minerals located
in the corridor between Halls 34 and 35 in
the Department of Geology has been im-
proved by the installation of new specimens.
Many of these glow under the ultra-violet
light with colors more varied and brilliant
than any hitherto exhibited there.

Page i

FIELD MUSEUM NEWS

August, 1939

AMERICAN LOTUS, FAMED PLANT OF GRASS LAKE, ILLINOIS, IS ERRATIC IN DISTRIBUTION

By PAUL C. STANDLEY

CURATOR OF THE HERBARIUM

In a collection of plants sent recently to
Field Museum by Brother Elias of Barran-
quilla, Colombia, is the first specimen of the
American lotus (Nelumbo pentapetala) that
the writer has ever seen from South America.
It comes from the lower valley of the Mag-
dalena River, from which the plant had,
however, been reported previously.

The American lotus, a plant quite dif-
ferent from the classic lotus of the Nile,
although of the same family, is of exceptional
interest from the standpoint of distribution.
In the Chicago region it is rare, and it is
widely believed that it is known only from
the celebrated locality of Grass Lake, north-
west of Chicago.
Every August, many
thousands of people
visit that lake to see
this showy plant in
blossom. Each sea-
son Field Museum
receives inquiries re-
garding the plant
and its distribution,
for it has often been
stated by the unin-
formed that Grass
Lake is the only
known locality for
the lotus, or that it
is the only American
locality at which the
Egyptian lotus is
found. Both of these
statements must be
labeled altogether
erroneous.

As a matter of
fact, the American
lotus has a wide dis-
tribution in North

This erratic distribution is believed to
have arisen from the fact that the plant
was a food staple of the Indians, who ate
the seeds and also the very thick and
succulent rootstocks. Doubtless on their
travels they carried the small, hard seeds,
which, if they are like those of their Asiatic
relatives, have greater longevity than any
other seeds known, from one place to
another, to plant them for food. Except by
human intervention, the seeds probably are
not easily diffused, and it thus happens
that in one region, lotus plants are found
now in a single lake or pond, although
many others equally suitable for growth
may be near-by.

The American lotus is not confined, in-

Part of Lotus Beds at Grass Lake

These showy plants are at their best in August, when thousands of persons visit this
is easily reached from Chicago by automobile or other means of transportation. The round

are known to have traveled on foot for
great distances, and a journey from Texas
or Oklahoma to Mexico and Honduras is
quite within reason. How the plant reached
the Magdalena Valley is less easily ex-
plained.

PLANT SPECIMENS ENDURE CENTURIES

The lotus brings to mind another inter-
esting subject. Botanists often are asked
how long a pressed and dried herbarium
specimen will last. A herbarium, appropri-
ately called in early botanical literature a
hortus siccus — dry garden — is a rather recent
device; but well preserved specimens three
hundred years old, and probably some that
are considerably older, exist. More than
that, I have seen dried garlands taken from
Egyptian tombs
about 4,000 years
old. These garlands
had been moderately
pressed, whether
during their long
storage or after their
removal in modern
times, I do not know.
At any rate, the lotus
leaves and flowers in
them, while discol-
ored and faded, as
are most very old
herbarium speci-
mens, preserved per-
fectly their form and
texture, and were
not inferior in pre-
servation to ordi-
nary herbarium spe-
cimens ten years old.
Despite the fact
that they had been
stored in sealed
tombs, they must
nevertheless have

celebrated locality, which
trip may be made in a day.

America, west to Nebraska, Missouri, and
Texas, and eastward to Florida and the
Atlantic coast. However, its occurrence is
so erratic as to arouse speculation. Even in
the vicinity of Chicago it probably is not
confined to Grass Lake. Indeed, I have
been told by an old settler that formerly it
was extremely abundant in the Calumet
River and its marshes, but has been de-
stroyed, apparently by industrial operations.
It is generally common in certain extensive
regions such as along the flood plain of the
Missouri and Mississippi rivers in Missouri,
where there are many miles of swampland
crowded with it. It seems probable that
the plant may be a native primarily of the
Mississippi Valley. In the eastern states,
as well as in some regions of the central
ones, the plant is quite as localized as in
the Chicago region. I recall that near the city
of Washington, D.C., it is known in only one
locality, but there it is plentiful. The same
is true in many other eastern regions.

deed, to the United States, but its occurrence
elsewhere is so strange as to cause further
speculation. It is known from Cuba and
the Dominican Republic, and from Mexico,
both in the Tampico region and far away
in the State of Sinaloa. Far south of there
it abounds in Lake Yojoa in central Hon-
duras. Its next jump is to the lower part
of the Magdalena Valley in distant Colom-
bia. Of course, it is not improbable that
it might be found in intervening areas, but
so far, if one may depend upon records, it
has not, and it is a large and conspicuous
plant not easily overlooked.

It is dangerous to venture theories re-
garding plant distribution. At best, these
are matters of speculation. The lotus is so
abundant in the Mississippi Valley that one
would suppose that to be its center of
dispersal. It may well be that the colonies
in Mexico and Honduras descended from
seeds carried thither by Indian merchants
hundreds of years ago. Such merchants

been accessible to ordinary atmospheric
changes. It therefore is evident that no
limit can be placed on the time for which a
herbarium specimen, moderately well pro-
tected, may be preserved. There is no ma-
terial reason why the specimens now in the
Herbarium of Field Museum should not be
still in existence and useful for study three
thousand years from now.

Research on Asterism

Studies of the cause of asterism (the
appearance of a luminous star) in gems,
carried out by Dr. Albert J. Walcott in the
Department of Geology at Field Museum,
are attracting much favorable attention
from those interested in gemmology. Fine
examples of these stars appear in sapphire,
garnet, and crystal in the gem room (H. N.
Higinbotham Hall— Hall 31).

The principal commercial woods of the
Amazon Valley are displayed in Hall 27.

August, 19S9

FIELD MUSEUM NEWS

Page 5

THREE LARGE COLLECTIONS
OF REPTILES RECEIVED

A collection of more than 1,500 specimens
of lizards of the genus Sceloporus has been
received in the Department of Zoology from
Dr. Hobart M. Smith, Fellow of the National
Research Council. This acquisition results
from an arrangement whereby Field Museum
Press will publish Dr. Smith's monographic
revision of the lizards of this genus in the
Zoological Series of the publications of this
institution. The Museum accession com-
prises about one-half of the collection upon
which Dr. Smith's research is primarily
based, and includes nine type specimens and
125paratypes.

The lizards in question form a North
American group in which active evolution of
species and subspecies seems to be in prog-
ress. The genus has consequently offered
problems of especial difficulty to the taxono-
mist. Dr. Smith's successful treatment of
these problems rests on one hand on an
exceptionally comprehensive and detailed
examination of all known specimens in
American museums, and on the other is due
to his extensive field studies during four
successive expeditions to Mexico, which
have carried him into nearly every state of
that country. Dr. Smith is now in Mexico
for renewed studies of reptiles and amphib-
ians under a grant of the Walter Rathbone
Bacon Scholarship of the Smithsonian
Institution.

The interest of Field Museum's Division
of Reptiles in Mexican problems is still
further stimulated by the receipt of several
hundred specimens of reptiles from Mr.
Ernest G. Marsh, Jr., of the University of
Texas, who is conducting a survey of the
vertebrate animals of the state of Coahuila.
His collection has been deposited in the
Museum for determination and study, a
share of it to remain permanently in the
reference collection here.

A third considerable addition to the
Museum's reference collections of reptiles
and amphibians from Mexico resulted from
the recent purchase of more than 600 speci-
mens collected by Mr. Harry Hoogstraal, a
student at the University of Illinois. His
specimens come from Cerro Potosi, in
Nuevo Leon, a high point in the eastern
escarpment of the Mexican Plateau, about
midway between the United States border
and the high mountains near Mexico City.
They afford important new information on
distribution of Mexican forms. — K. P. S.

Ornamental Copper Ore

Some varieties of copper ore are of such
a beautiful blue or green color that the more
perfect pieces are often used as ornamental
stones and carved in the shape of vases,
ink wells, table tops, and other articles. A
special case in Frederick J. V. Skiff Hall
(Hall 37) is devoted to a display of speci-
mens of these types of ore, as they appear

when first brought from the mine except
for small polished sections showing their
adaptability to ornamental uses. Most
popular is green malachite, which is a basic
carbonate of copper. Another basic car-
bonate is azurite, characterized by its rich
blue color. Azurite is used less for carving
because it is more difficult to obtain suitable
pieces. The green silicate of copper, chryso-
colla, is also used for ornamental purposes
although not so frequently as malachite.
The exhibit includes also a basic sulphate
of copper known as brochantite, which is
shown as an example of copper ores which
are highly attractive in color but unfor-
tunately are not durable enough for such use.

MUSEUM GUARDS' UNIFORMS
ARE NOTABLY IMPROVED

Comfort, coolness, and a better appear-
ance are emphasized in the new uniforms
currently being worn by the guards at Field

The New and the Old

Captain E. S. Abbey of the Museum guards, on the

left, in the new blue uniform with gold braid, and

white summer cap; and Sergeant David Conwill in

the uniform which has been used for many years past .

Museum. The high military collar, which
was a feature of every uniform worn since
the founding of the Museum, has been dis-
carded in favor of the open lapel collar.

The color has been changed from the
severe military olive drab to blues of har-
monizing shades for coat and trousers.
Gold buttons and gold braid complete the
ensemble. The cap for summer wear is
topped in white.

6,000 INVERTEBRATE SPECIMENS
COLLECTED IN FLORIDA

The Field Museum expedition which has
been collecting marine animals and other
invertebrates along the Atlantic and Gulf
coasts of Florida since early in May, has
completed its work. Dr. Fritz Haas, Curator
of Lower Invertebrates, and Staff Taxi-
dermist Leon L. Walters, who conducted
the expedition, have returned to the Mu-
seum. More than 6,000 specimens, repre-
senting the most important features of the
invertebrate life forms native to the region,
were collected. On Sanibel Island, Dr.
Haas conducted notable researches on the
relationships between the various types of
fauna and the environmental conditions in
which they are found. He also investigated
the role of molluscan life in building up land
through the accumulation of shells.

One of the main objectives of the expedi-
tion was the collecting of material and data
for a proposed habitat exhibit of the logger-
head turtle. This material was collected
on Sanibel Island, and plaster molds were
made which will form the basis for lifelike
reproductions. Mr. Walters was fortunate
in being able to observe the entire nesting
procedure — the turtle leaving the water,
digging the hole, laying its eggs, and covering
them with sand. The entire process re-
quired only fifty-five minutes.

The expedition was extended the utmost
co-operation by the Bass Biological Labora-
tories of Englewood, Florida, and by other
agencies and individuals as well.

Food from Orchid Tubers

Salep is a farinaceous meal obtained from
the tubers of several terrestrial orchids,
of European and Asiatic species. The meal
is separated by macerating the bulbs in
water. It contains a substance called
bassorine, which is said to contain more
nutritive matter than any other vegetable
product, one ounce per diem being sufficient
to sustain a man. Large quantities of salep
are prepared in Macedonia and Greece, but
the finest comes from Turkey. In the Hima-
laya and Cashmere many species of bulbous-
rooted orchids yield salep, which is used
as food by the natives.

Crystal balls, and carvings of rock crystal,
some of them interesting from a historical
standpoint, are included in the gem room
(H. N. Higinbotham Hall— Hall 31).

WORLD OF HORSES

—edited by W. E. Lyons and G. H. S.
Dixon.

"Probably the finest and most varied
collection of pictures of horses in action
ever published," says Dr. Wilfred H.
Osgood, Chief Curator of the Depart-
ment of Zoology. "Here horses are not
classified by breeds but by what they
can do."

On sale at the BOOK SHOP of
FIELD MUSEUM— $5.

Page 6

FIELD MUSEUM NEWS

August, 1939

Field Museum of Natural History

Founded by Marshall Field, 1893
Roosevelt Road and Field Drive, Chicago

THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES
Sewell L. Avery Charles A. McCulloch

Leopold E. Block William H. Mitchell

Albert B. Dick, Jr. George A. Richardson

Joseph N. Field Theodore Roosevelt

Marshall Field James Simpson

Stanley Field Solomon A. Smith

Albert W. Harris Albert A. Spragub

Samuel Insull, Jr. Silas H. Strawn

John P. W11.SON

OFFICERS

Stanley Field President

Albert A. Sprague First Vice-President

James Simpson Second Vice-President

ALBERT W. Harris Third Vice-President

Clifford C. Gregg Director and Secretary

Solomon A. Smith . . . Treasurer and Assistant Secretary

FIELD MUSEUM NEWS

Clifford C. Gregg, Director of the Museum .... Editor
CONTRIBUTING EDITORS

Paul S. Martin Chief Curator of Anthropology

B. E. Dahlgren Chief Curator of Botany

Henry W. Nichols Chief Curator of Geology

Wilfred H. Osgood Chief Curator of Zoology

H. B. Harte Managing Editor

Members are requested to Inform the Museum
promptly of changes of address.

FROM THE DIRECTOR'S DESK-

Expeditions

From time to time Field Museum and
other museums, as well as leading univer-
sities throughout the world, announce expe-
ditions to some remote country, stating
their objectives, their hopes, and to some
extent, their plans. Many thoughtful
people look beyond the announcement and
question in their own minds what values
may come forth to justify the expenditure
of time, money, and effort, and the possible
endangering of lives in such projects. It is
certainly true that unless the ultimate
values are greater than the expenditures,
all expeditionary work should be discon-
tinued.

The purpose of an expedition, like the
purpose of a research museum or university,
is to advance knowledge. The great value of
expeditions lies not only in the materials
brought back but in the lessons learned or
in the lessons that may be learned by care-
ful subsequent study and classification of
the specimens obtained.

Darwin's celebrated cruise on the Beagle
brought back very little in the way of mate-
rial values, but contributed largely to the
formation of ideas which have had a tre-
mendous and revolutionizing effect on man's
understanding of his own place in a natural
world.

A museum expedition is not primarily
concerned with material values, as the pur-
pose of the museum is to discover, to classify,
and to give to a civilized world the results
of its study. There is often a lapse of many
years between the discovery of new trees,
new herbs, new resins or gums, and their
ultimate utilization in industry. It is not
the purpose of the museum to point to the

utilization of its knowledge, but to be ever
ready to supply the basic facts which indus-
try may use.

The purpose of the museum is to give out
knowledge for knowledge's own sake.
Whether its collections are used for the study
of industrial scientists who seek to make a
profit, by scholars who seek to solve some
problem of research, or by casual visitors
who seek recreation and enjoyment is not
of primary concern to a museum. The only
real concern is that the collections be avail-
able and that they be used. To measure
the value of an expedition would be equiva-
lent to measuring the value of education,
culture, and scientific knowledge.

The privations of expeditionary leaders
have been a matter of great interest and
concern to the entire world. Some expedi-
tions have gone forth to discover new lands
to make nations great. Some have gone
forth to spread religious beliefs. Some have
gone forth to locate raw materials which
may be used in industry to build private
fortunes of industrial communities. But
the museum expedition goes forth for a
different purpose — a purpose which is identi-
cal with the purpose of the museum itself —
to discover facts which will add to the sum
total of human knowledge and understanding.
— Clifford C. Gregg, Director

STAFF NOTES

The paleontological expedition to the
fossil beds of South Dakota, led by Mr.
Paul O. McGrew, Assistant in Paleontology,
recently completed its work and returned to
the Museum with a large collection of fossil
mammal specimens.

Mr. Rudyerd Boulton, Curator of Birds,
will leave for New York about August 1 to
spend several weeks in special research on
the collections of birds from Angola (Portu-
guese West Africa) at the American Museum
of Natural History.

Mr. C. Martin Wilbur, Curator of Chinese
Archaeology and Ethnology, has been
elected Secretary of the American Friends
of China. The late Dr. Berthold Laufer,
former Curator of Anthropology, was the
first Secretary of the society and held that
office for many years until his death.

Dr. Julian A. Steyermark, Assistant Cura-
tor of the Herbarium, returned recently
from a two weeks collecting trip in Missouri.
He obtained about 800 specimens of plants
for the Museum Herbarium. Recently Dr.
Steyermark lectured on the flora of Missouri
before the Garden Club of Barrington,
Illinois.

DISTINGUISHED VISITORS

Among distinguished visitors recently
received at Field Museum are: Mr. Edward
P. Henderson, Curator of Applied Geology
at the United States National Museum,
Washington, D. C; Professor V. Gordon
Childe, noted anthropologist of the Uni-
versity of Edinburgh, Scotland; Mr. William
H. Phelps, ornithologist, of Caracas, Venez-
uela; Mr. W. A. Daily, a specialist in cryp-
togams, Department of Botany, University
of Cincinnati; Mr. William Gilbert, a worker
on algae, connected with the Department
of Botany, University of Michigan, as well
as the Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods
Hole, Massachusetts; Dr. G. T. Velasquez,
Professor of Botany, University of the Philip-
pines, Manila; Dr. R. N. Webster, Professor
of Botany, Middlebury College, Middlebury,
Vermont; Dr. R. T. Wareham, of Ohio
State University, Columbus; and Mr. Lloyd
Weaver, of the Marine Biological Laboratory,
Woods Hole, Massachusetts, and the De-
partment of Botany, Columbia University,
New York. The six last named have been
studying collections in Field Museum's
cryptogamic herbarium.

A Correction

Professor Samuel J. Record, Dean of the
School of Forestry at Yale University (and
Research Associate in Wood Technology for
Field Museum), points out that the caption
accompanying a picture under the heading
"Tapping a Cow Tree" on page 4 of the
July Field Museum News, incorrectly in-
dicated that this tree was of the Costa
Rican species. The photograph was made
on an expedition to Guatemala, not Costa
Rica, Professor Record states.

Mr. Emmet R. Blake, Assistant Curator
of Birds, has been honored by election to
full membership in the American Orni-
thologists' Union.

A FEW FACTS ABOUT FIELD MUSEUM

Field Museum is open every day of the year
(except Christmas and New Year's Day) during
the hours indicated below:

November, December,

January, February 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

March, April, and
September, October 9 A.M. to 5 P.M.

May, June, July, August 9 A.M. to 6 P.M.

Admission is free to Members on all days.
Other adults are admitted free on Thursdays,
Saturdays, and Sundays; non-members pay 25
cents on other days. Children are admitted free
on all days. Students and faculty members of
educational institutions are admitted free any
day upon presentation of credentials.

The Museum's Library is open for reference
daily except Saturday afternoon and Sunday.

Traveling exhibits are circulated in the schools
of Chicago by the N. W. Harris Public School
Extension Department of the Museum.

Lectures at schools, and special entertain-
ments and tours for children at the Museum, are
provided by the James Nelson and Anna Louise
Raymond Foundation for Public School and
Children's Lectures.

Free courses of lectures for adults are presented
in the James Simpson Theatre on Saturday after-
noons (at 2:30 o'clock) in March, April, October,
and November.

A Cafeteria serves visitors. Rooms are avail-
able also for those bringing their lunches.

Chicago Motor Coach Company No. 26 busses
provide direct transportation to the Museum. Ser-
vice is offered also hy Surface Lines, Rapid Tran-
sit Lines (the "L"), interurban electric fines, and
Illinois Central trains. There is ample free park-
ing space for automobiles at the Museum.

August, 19S9

FIELD MUSEUM NEWS

Page 7

AFRICAN FISHING CUSTOMS

By WILFRID D. HAMBLY

CURATOR OF AFRICAN ETHNOLOGY

A Negro of the Ovimbundu tribe of Portu-
guese West Africa has a great advantage
over the modern fisherman in highly civilized
countries. If the (ish are not biting well,
the latter tries another kind of expensive fly,
makes another cast, but without much hope.

The Negro approaches his problem with
all the optimism that magic can give. His
primitive equipment consists only of a line
of thin bark at the end of which is a sharp
stalk of grass on which a fat grub is impaled.
But with this meager outfit he never doubts
success, for he softly sings his spell: "0
fish, come and take your good thing. Do
not send the little fish to spoil the good bait.
Better you come and take the good thing
with all your strength." Among the Ovim-
bundu, fishing with the line is practiced only
by men. Women push baskets against the
stream, or use poison which is scattered on
the surface of the water.

In order to make fish-poison, the tuberous
roots of a wild plant are soaked in water
until scum rises to the top. The solid part
of the poison is not given, because it would
sink and the fish which had eaten it would
remain at the bottom of the river. There-
fore, only the scum of this poisonous infu-
sion is thrown in the water. The stupefied
and gasping fish remain at the surface,
whereupon they are seized by women who
transfer them to gourds or baskets worn
around their necks. Usually poison is used
only in the dry season when the rivers are
shallow.

Sometimes there is fishing by means of a
weir which has an opening in the middle.
A basket or trap is placed opposite this gap
in the weir in order to catch the fish as they
come through the aperture. Spearing of
fish, shooting them with bow and arrow, and
fishing by torchlight to attract the fish to
the surface, are all methods known among
African Negroes. The method varies accord-
ing to the tribe, the season, and the sex of
the angler. In Hall D, Case 6, is a model
of a bark canoe such as is used by fishermen
of the Vachokwe tribe in eastern Angola.

RUBBER TECHNIQUE DEVELOPED
FOR BRAIN CASTS

Getting inside the skull of a fossil animal
dead some millions of years to find out what
kind of a brain it had is a difficult problem.

Occasionally, weathering of the surface
bones of a skull may expose a natural cast
of the brain, formed by sand or silt sifting
into the cranial cavity and hardening there.
Such casts reproduce with fidelity the shape
of the brain cavity as it existed in the living
animal. These are rare finds, however,
and often difficult of identification. Various
methods, therefore, of producing artificial
casts have been tried.

Perhaps the most successful of these is
the liquid rubber technique, recently de-
veloped by Assistant Curator Bryan Patter-
son and Assistant James Quinn of Field
Museum's Division of Paleontology. The
liquid rubber is poured into the cavity,
rolled about and drained. After the first
coat has dried, another is added, and then a
third or fourth application. When thorough-
ly dry, the flexibility of the rubber permits
it to be pulled from the cavity intact with
very little risk of damage to the skull. This
cast is then filled with plaster to retain its
shape while a mold is being made as a pre-
liminary to the permanent plaster casts.
These molds give very accurate casts with
minute detail, sometimes even showing
details of the cranial circulation.

The casts obtained are used in the research
work that is carried on in the Museum's
laboratories. They are of the greatest
importance as an aid in determining the
relationships of many puzzling types of
extinct mammals.

Hemp Comes from a Species of Banana

Manila fiber, usually known as manila
hemp, and used in rope-making, is derived
from a species of banana plant, not of the
edible species, but another of the same genus,
Musa textilis, of the Philippine Islands. The
fiber is obtained from the stalk and leaf
bases, by heating, tearing, boiling, and
combing the material. The innermost part
of the flower stalk is employed for fine
fabrics, shawls, and the beautiful "drawn
work" of the Filipinos.

THE OLDEST HANDLE

By henry field
curator of physical anthropology

A Cro-Magnon craftsman who lived in
southwestern France some thirty thousand
years ago invented what is thought to be
the first handled tool.

From the Middle Aurignacian levels at
Tarte, in the Haute-Garonne district of
France, Mr. Jean Cazedessus, well-known
French archaeologist of that region, ex-
cavated a small horn handle in which a flint
blade had apparently been inserted. This
object, the oldest horn handle in the world,
is on exhibition in Case 4 in the Hall of the
Stone Age of the Old World (Hall C).

No doubt Cro-Magnon artisans had tried
wooden handles, only to find that they split
after being exposed to water, ice, and snow.
We can even imagine their going through
the childish experiment of tying handles to
their flint blades, with fibers or leather
thongs. But the puny instrument created
by such efforts would have been no match
for the tough skin of the reindeer or the
great cave bear, and yet those skins were an
important protection against an icy Aurig-
nacian winter. So necessity mothered one
of her earliest inventions. The strong horn
of a reindeer's antler was made into a handle
which has borne the test of centuries. Ask
any backwoodsman today to show you
his hunting knife. It will almost certainly
have a horn handle.

The oldest handle exhibited in Hall C is
much shorter than that of a modern knife,
but it also carried a stubbier blade — a blade
of chipped flint instead of tempered steel.

THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN GOAT— A PICTURESQUE AMERICAN MAMMAL

Mountain goats are found on the higher,
almost inaccessible slopes of the mountains
of northwestern North America, but they
are most numerous in British Columbia.
They are remarkably sure-footed and
fearless in traversing high precipitous
slopes above timberline,
where they feed on brush
grass, lichens, moss, and
stunted vegetation.

Despite their goat-like
appearance, they are not
true goats, but are some-
what related in structure
to the antelopes. Between
the males and females
there is no prominent
difference. Although keen-
sighted and difficult to
approach, they are some-
what stupid animals.
Living in high, nearly inac-
cessible places that can be
reached only by the most
intrepid sportsman, they
are thus so well protected
by Nature that they are not rapidly decreas-
ing in number like some other animals.

In the group shown in the accompanying
illustration are three males and two females,
of the northern variety, which were collected
by the Marshall Field Expedition to British
Columbia. This exhibit is in the Hall of
North American Mammals (Hall 16). The

Sure-footed Climbers

Rocky Mountain goata — a habitat group in Hall 16. They are not true
goats, being somewhat related to the antelopes in structural characteristics.

scene represented is typical of the beautiful
Kootenay District in British Columbia.

Page 8

FIELD MUSEUM NEWS

Augiist, 1939

FISH SKELETONS

BY D. DWIGHT DAVIS

ASSISTANT CURATOR OF ANATOMY AND OSTEOLOGY

Among the osteological exhibits in Hall 19
is a screen, recently installed, on which are
displayed many types of fish skeletons,
worthy of study because they reveal such
marked variations from the general form of
vertebrate skeletons. These variations are
due to the fact that swimming involves
mechanical principles quite different from
those which govern walking and running.
In most fishes the whole body undergoes,
while swimming, wave-like movements
which are strongest in the tail. These re-
quire a long, flexible backbone, and a strong,
immovable skull to receive the thrust from
the backbone. Important as accessory
propellors are the fins. The pectoral fins
correspond to the arms of a human being,
the pelvic fins to the legs.

Adaptation of the fish's respiratory system
to under-water conditions has resulted in a
complex gill structure, which is also better
understood by studying the bony framework
by which it is suspended from the skull.

Fishes have developed an astonishing
number of forms. Many of them are so
curiously shaped that they are scarcely
recognizable as fishes at first glance. Among
such may be mentioned the sea horses, the
rays, and the bat fishes. Naturally, these
modifications of the body have strongly
affected the skeleton, and it is often difficult

GIFTS TO THE MUSEUM

Following is a list of some of the principal
gifts received during the last month:
Department of Anthropology:

From Frank Watkins, Chicago — complete
suit of Japanese armor, composed of 14
separate parts; from Dr. Henry Field,
Chicago — 3 human skulls, Iraq.

Department of Botany:

From Professor L. A. Kenoyer, Kalama-
zoo, Mich. — 620 herbarium specimens, Mex-
ico; from Harde LeSueur, Austin, Tex. — 600
herbarium specimens, Mexico; from Servicio
Botinico, Caracas, Venezuela — 161 herbar-
ium specimens, Venezuela; from Professor

C. L. Wilson, Hanover, N.H.— 255 her-
barium specimens, Guatemala; from James
Zetek, Balboa, Canal Zone — 35 herbarium
specimens, Panama; from Dr. Delzie Dema-
ree, Monticello, Ark. — 228 herbarium speci-
mens, Arkansas; from Estate of Mrs.
George A. Butler, Chicago — 256 bryophytes
and lichens, Japan, New Hampshire, and
northwest United States; from Don Ignacio
J. Aguilar G., Guatemala City, Guatemala —
355 herbarium specimens.

Department of Geolofiy :

From Howell Taylor, Lebanon, Syria —
5 minerals and 3 invertebrate fossils, Syria;
from John R. Winterbotham, Chicago —
a specimen of fossil fish and one of silicified
wood, Wyoming and Connecticut; from

D. P. Swett, Mina, Nev. — a specimen of
gold, silver, lead, and zinc ore, Nevada.
Department of Zoology:

From E. N. Gueret, Chicago — 4 mammal
skeletons, New York; from John G. Shedd
Aquarium, Chicago — 61 fish specimens,
Hawaii and Samoa; from H. H. Dodge,

to identify some of the bones composing it.

The skeletons of fishes demonstrate
strikingly that evolution from a "lower"
to a "higher" form does not always mean an
increase in mechanical complexity. A cod-
fish, which is relatively low in the vertebrate
scale, has sixty-eight bones in its skull,
while man, at the top of the scale, has only
twenty-two. Mechanical perfection often
may be brought about by simplification of
a structure, as is shown frequently in the
development of human inventions as well
as in biological development. Useless
"parts" are eliminated, and more perfect
design produces a simpler but more efficient
machine. Although fishes are well adapted
to the sort of life they live, and their smooth
carefully streamlined bodies are often cited
as examples of nature's mechanical adapt-
ability, many improvements and refinements
have been introduced in other animals that
have evolved later.

In attempts to reconstruct the long pedi-
gree that leads to the human body in its
present form, the sharks are among the most
noteworthy of all animals. They have
retained a remarkable number of features
that were found in the early ancestors of
vertebrates. Sharks are therefore often
referred to as "living fossils," and their struc-
ture, has been studied in great detail.

The fish skeletons on exhibition were
prepared and mounted by Mr. Edmond N.
Gueret, Curator of Anatomy and Osteology.

Columbus, Ohio — a beetle (paratype), Min-
nesota; from William D. Field, Lawrence,
Kan. — 2 butterflies (paratypes), Kansas;
from W. J. Beecher, Chicago — 11 small
mammal skins and skulls, Tennessee; from
John M. Schmidt, Homewood, 111. — 29
rodents. South Dakota; from Dr. C. L.
Turner, Evanston, 111. — 87 tadpoles, Mex-
ico; from Mrs. Robb White, 'Thomasville,
Ga. — a garter snake, Georgia; from Messrs.
Burton and Kurfess, Hinsdale, 111. — 26
reptiles and amphibians, Illinois; from
E. Gustav J. Falck, Chicago — 39 reptiles
and amphibians, southeastern Missouri;
from Dr. Henry Field, Chicago — 441 speci-
mens of snails and shells, 50 fishes, and 151
insects, Iraq; from Chicago Zoological
Society, Brookfield, 111. — an alligator, a
snake, 2 black bear cubs, and 19 specimens
of birds and small mammals.

NEW MEMBERS

The following persons were elected to
membership in Field Museum during the
period from June 16 to July 14:

Associate Members

Mrs. A. M. Barrett, Mrs. Hugo Dalmar,
David W. Davidson, H. S. Demaree,
Gaylord Donnelley.

Annual Members

Paul H. Bonfield, David Borowitz, Mrs.
Robert H. Cabell, Mrs. Joseph J. Cavanagh,
J. A. Cobbey, Archie T. Coburn, Ralph W.
Condee, Dr. John F. Delph, Joseph Foard
Gettrust, Mrs. G. S. Grochowski, Albert G.
Joseph, Dr. Jarold Kemp, Karl E. Lofquist,
Bruce Parsons, John H. Porter, Theodore
W. Robinson, Jr., Harold A. Smith, Barnard
S. Solar, Mrs. Samuel A. Stein, Mrs. Hannah
Sternath, Thomas J. Thomas, John O. Todd.

GUIDE-LECTURE TOURS

During August conducted tours of the
exhibits, under the guidance of staff lec-
turers, will be given on a special schedule,
as follows:

Mondays: 11 a.m.. Plant Life Exhibits;
3 P.M., General Tour of Exhibition Halls.

Tuesdays: 11 A.M., Halls of Primitive and
Civilized Peoples; 3 p.m.. General Tour of
Exhibition Halls.

Wednesdays: 11 A.M., Animal Groups;
3 P.M., General Tour of Exhibition Halls.

Thursdays: 11 a.m. and 3 p.m.. General
Tours of Exhibition Halls.

Fridays: 11 a.m.. Minerals and Prehistoric
Life; 3 p.m.. General Tour of Exhibition
Halls.

There are no tours given on Saturdays or
Sundays.

Persons wishing to participate in the tours
should apply at the North Entrance. The
tours are free. Guide-lecturer's services for
special tours by parties of ten or more are
available free of charge by arrangement
with the Director a week in advance.

Pyramid Builders Ate Onions

In ancient Egypt onions and garlic were
established articles of food. During the
building of the great pyramid of Cheops,
says Herodotus, 1,600 talents of silver were
spent on radishes, onions, and garlic for
the workmen, as may be read from inscrip-
tions in Egyptian characters on the pyramid
itself.

MEMBERSHIP IN FIELD MUSEUM

Field Museum has several classes of Members.
Annual Members contribute $10 annually. As-
sociate Members pay $100 and are exempt from
dues. Sustaining Members contribute $25 annu-
ally for six consecutive years, after which they
become Associate Members and are exempt from
all further dues. Life Members give $500 and
are exempt from dues. Non-Resident Life Mem-
bers pay $100, and Non-Resident Associate
Meml^rs $50; both of these classes are also
exempt from dues. The Non-Resident member-
ships are available only to persons residing fifty
miles or more from Chicago. Those who give or
devise to the Museum $1,000 to $100,000 are
designated as Contributors, and those who give
or devise $100,000 or more become Benefactors.
Other memberships are Honorary, Patron,
Corresponding and Corporate, additions under
these dasaifications being made by special action
of the Board of Trustees.

Each Member, in all classes, is entitled to free
admission to the Museum for himself, his family
and house guests, and to two reserved seats for
Museum lectures provided for Members. Sub-
scription to Field Museum News is included
with all memberships. The courtesies of every
museum of note in the United States and Canada
are extended to all Members of Field Museum.
A Member may give his personal card to non-
residents of Chicago, upon presentation of which
they will be admitted to the Museum without
charge. Further information about member-
ships will be sent on request.

BEQUESTS AND ENDOWMENTS

Bequests to Field Museum of Natural History
may be made in securities, money, books or
collections. They may, if desired, take the form
of a memorial to a person or cause, named by the
giver.

Contributions made within the taxable year riot
exceeding 15 per cent of the taxpayer's net m-
come are allowable as deductions in computing
net income for federal income tax purposes.

Endowments may be made to the Museum
with the provision that an annuity be paid to
the patron for life. These annuities are guaran-
teed against fluctuation in amount, and may
reduce federal income taxes.

PRINTED BV FIILD MUSEUM PRESS

FieldeMil

News

Published Monthly by Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago

Vol. 10

SEPTEMBER, 1939

No. 9

RHEA, LARGEST BIRD OF WESTERN HEMISPHERE, DISPLAYED IN ITS HABITAT

By emmet R. BLAKE

ASSISTANT CURATOR OF BIRDS

Largest and most characteristic of all the
birds which inhabit the vast pampas of
southern Brazil and Argentina is the rhea,
or so-called South American ostrich. True
ostriches have never existed in the western
hemisphere, being represented there by this
smaller but somewhat similar flightless bird,
which exceeds in size all other birds of
either North or South America.

An opportunity to collect rheas and suit-
able accessories for a
habitat group was
presented in 1937 by
the Stanley Field
Zoological Expedition
to British Guiana and
Brazil, under the
leadership of the
writer. After com-
pleting work in
Guiana, I sailed direct
to Trinidad, British
West Indies. There
I obtained additional
supplies and equip-
ment deposited in ad-
vance for my use in
Brazil, and proceeded
by steamer to Rio de
Janeiro, whence I
went inland.

Rheas occupy an
extensive range in
central and southern
South America. The

two species and six varieties known are
distributed over most of the grasslands south
of the Amazon River, being restricted
primarily by forests. They are particularly
abundant on the campo of Matto Grosso
in southwestern Brazil, a region bearing a
striking resemblance to portions of our
middle-west, and like them devoted pri-
marily to cattle raising. The rolling plains,
studded with island-like woodlands, appear
limitless and extend southward many
hundreds of miles.

The preparation of specimens and field
studies for a major natural habitat group
is tedious and complicated at best, but
work on the rhea was greatly facilitated
by officials of the Brazil Land, Cattle and
Packing Company. Through the courtesy
of Messrs. W. Andrews and J. D. Fleming,
I was permitted to make the necessary

collections at the Fazenda Capao Bonita, a
company ranch more than a thousand miles
west of Rio de Janeiro. It was a happy
choice, for nowhere in Matto Grosso are
rheas more numerous than in this attrac-
tive country which is known locally as
the "Beautiful Copse."

Most of my journey into the interior
was made by rail from Sao Paulo, a large
and prosperous city sometimes called the
Chicago of South America because of its
extensive meat packing industry and varied

.^j)^

Latest Addition to Hall of Birds

The rhea, sometimes (but improperly) called "the South American ostrich/

recently installed in Hall 20. Either male or female attends the nest on the ground, but only one bird remains on
watch at a time. Observe the two young rheas just hatching from eggs. As many as 60 eggs occur in one nest.

manufactures. Leaving Sao Paulo and the
rugged hills of the coastal range behind, the
train bears westward through a picturesque
undulating country covered with coffee
plantations. The berry-laden trees extend
in orderly rows mile on mile as far as the
eye can reach, with only an occasional
hacienda and drying compound to relieve
the monotony.

An antiquated narrow-gauge railway,
having its terminus on the Bolivian frontier,
conveys one across the far-flung reaches of
Matto Grosso. For the most part the right
of way passes through a drab and desolate
country, sun-baked and sparsely wooded.
The crude conveniences aboard the train
afforded variety, but scarcely lessened the
tedium of the trip. Bunks were built
solidly into the cars, and one was reduced
to lounging in them for the duration of the

sweltering journey. Insofar as my travel
experience goes, the only square railway
wheel in regular use was the one which
supported the car beneath my bunk; a
novelty which not only thwarted sleep, but
also added zest to the orderly consumption
of soup.

Campo Grande, sprawling capital of
Matto Grosso, was reached three days
after entraining at Sao Paulo. Several days
were occupied there with the reorganization
of expedition equipment for the final stage
of the trip. As a mili-
tary outpost, a market,
and the capital of an
immense cattle king-
dom, Campo Grande
is of considerable im-
portance and interest.
Traditions and cus-
toms of the unfenced,
lawless range linger
even though modern
progress is now in full
swing. Swarthy, be-
spurred campanheiros,
hard-bitten and fresh
from the ranches,
supplied the expected
frontier atmosphere,
and each evening the
populace turned out
en masse to promenade
the village square in
approved Latin-
American style. In-
congruous, however,
were the blaring radios, the honking trucks,
and flaming posters extravagantly proclaim-
ing the cuteness of Shirley Temple!

A truck ride of about seventy-five miles
over the plains south of Campo Grande
brought me to the Fazenda Capao Bonita,
objective of the expedition. There I was
greeted by Senhor Carlos Buytendorp, the
genial and efficient manager, whose interest
and enthusiastic participation in my col-
lecting activities assured their success.
Headquarters were established in Senhor
Buytendorp's home where every facility was
thoughtfully provided for my comfort and
convenience.

Capao Bonita occupies a grassy plateau
drained by the headwaters of the Vaccaria
River, a tributary of the Rio Parana.
Although several hundred square miles are
included in the ranch, I was surprised to

as shown in habitat exhibit

Page 2

FIELD MUSEUM NEWS

September, 1939

find that it is considered only moderately
large as Brazilian ranches go. Today
much of the cattle range in Matto Grosso
is enclosed in fences, but these scarcely mar
the landscape in a country where a single
pasture may be ten miles wide.

Rheas are protected by popular sentiment
in Matto Grosso and proved to be very
abundant at Capao Bonita. None were
nesting when I arrived early in September,
but each day small flocks could be observed
stalking across the campo in search of edible
herbs and berries. The flocks generally
included a male and several females, some-
times accompanied by a few juveniles of
the previous year.

The first weeks of my visit were spent
making general zoological collections and in
preserving some of the numerous flowering
plants for use in the rhea exhibit . September
below the equator is early spring and at
that season the campo becomes a veritable
garden. With so much interesting material
available, one's chief difficulty is in deciding
what to eliminate rather than what to
collect. Several hundred miles were covered
by truck and horseback in studying the
rheas and their most characteristic habitat
for reproduction in Field Museum.

RUNNING BIRDS LASSOED

Most strenuous of all, however, was the
actual collecting of the adult rheas. Al-
though flightless, and fairly tame when
unmolested, they are amazingly fleet of
foot when pursued. Several methods were
tried, but the use of a light automobile
truck proved most effective. On several
occasions the racing birds were clocked at
better than forty miles an hour. Rheas
are no respecters of trails or motor trucks,
and when pursued they always seek the
roughest terrain. Only the steady nerves
and practiced hand of Don Carlos, who
favors the brakeless car, avoided disaster
on the mad dashes across miles of prairie
pitted with armadillo holes and studded
with countless termite nests. A native
cowboy accompanying us rode the radiator
and lassoed several of the birds, but I relied
on my shotgun.

Bird-life on the campo is surprisingly
varied and abundant. Scarcely less spec-
tacular than the rhea is the cariama, a
long-legged bird which bears a superficial
resemblance to the secretary-bird of Africa.
Of great interest anatomically, cariamas
are the nearest living relatives of the pre-
historic Phororhacos, an enormous bird
which lived in the same region more than
8,000,000 years ago. Tinamous, burrowing
owls, caracaras and many lesser birds con-
tribute to the ornithological interest of the
grasslands.

MANT EGGS IN NESTS

The first rhea nest, containing thirty

spotless white eggs, was found and collected

early in October. Each flock prepares and

deposits its eggs in a single crude nest built

upon the ground on the open campo. As
many as sixty eggs have been recorded in
a single nest, but the usual number is twenty
or thirty. Males as well as females take
part in the incubation, but only one bird
attends the nest at a time. When not on
duty, the others range widely while feeding
on herbs and berries, or occasional reptiles,
but carefully avoid the nesting site. Young
birds join the flock soon after hatching.

The birds collected by the expedition
are now exhibited in a natural habitat
group in Hall 20. They were mounted by
Staff Taxidermist John W. Moyer, and the
background was painted by Staff Artist
Arthur G. Rueckert.

CULTIVATED BLUEBERRIES

By PAUL C. ST.\NDLEY

CURATOR OF THE HERBARIUM

Luscious blueberries from wild bushes
have long been a favorite fruit in the
United States. They are almost exclusively
American — the European blueberries, if
such the European species of Vaceinium
may be called, have quite different and
generally inferior fruits. It is only in very
recent years that cultivated blueberries have
reached the Chicago market, and in 1939
they have been far more plentiful than ever
before. The cultivated plants are mostly
descendants of strains established by Miss
Elizabeth White, of New Jersey, through
selection of wild bushes with exceptionally
large berries.

At the end of July the writer and Assistant
Curator Julian A. Steyermark visited the
region of South Haven, Michigan, an im-
portant center of blueberry culture. The
handsome cellophane-covered boxes of care-
fully graded Michigan fruit, twice as large
as that of wild plants, have formed a tempt-
ing display this summer in most of the
Chicago food shops.

The field visited consisted of seventy-two
acres, and there are many other large
plantings in the vicinity of South Haven.
The bushes, all of the "high bush" (yac-
cinium corymbosum) type, are four to five
feet high, planted in hilled rows in sand
that often is covered with water. The
abundance of fruit was astonishing to one
familiar with wild bushes. The branches
were loaded with large, dense masses of
blue fruits suggesting bunches of grapes.

Many native American fruits long ago
became economically important, among
them strawberries, some of the cultivated
plums, raspberries, dewberries, and all the
grapes grown in the eastern states. It was
scarcely to be expected that at this late
date another native fruit would become
commercially important, but the blueberry
already has established itself. It is note-
worthy that Michigan berries are being
shipped to the Atlantic coast, where they
originated, because they are in season after
the eastern crop has been exhausted.

FOSSIL BISON AGAIN EXHIBITED

A skeleton of a large male bison of the
extinct species Bison antiguus from the
asphaltum pools of Los Angeles, California,
has been returned to exhibition in Ernest
R. Graham Hall (Hall 38). This specimen,
and three others, were exhibited in the open
some years ago, but suffered so much from
thoughtless handling by the public that they
had to be removed. The bison skeleton is
now protected in an individual case.

Bison aniiquus is an extinct species which
was common in the western United States
during the Glacial Period. Fossils of it are
found most abundantly in the tar pools of
Rancho La Brea near Los Angeles. There,
crude asphaltum, seeping up through the
rocks of Miocene age, accumulated in pools
at the surface. This formed a death trap,
concealed by surface water during the rainy
season, or by blown sand and dust during
the dry season. Bison and other animals
entering these pools, either in quest of water
or unwarily for other causes, were caught in
the mass of tarry asphaltum, and perished
there. Later, their bones became saturated
with the asphaltum and so were preserved.
As the gas from the asphaltum evaporated
and the latter became solid and covered over
with earth, large masses of bones were
preserved. Nearly 100 species of extinct
animals and birds of all sizes and habits have
been found in these old tar pools. — E. S. R.

Tree Snails from Florida

Field Museum has just received, as a gift
from Mr. G. J. Kessen, of Sanibel Island,
Florida, several specimens of the beautiful
Sandy Key tree snails. Originally Sanibel
Island had no tree snails. The stock from
which these snails descended was collected
on Sandy Key on the east coast of Florida
by Mr. Kessen and transferred to Sanibel
Island on the west coast in 1921. Since then
the original Sandy Key snails have been
destroyed, probably by the 1929 hurricane.

Firmly established on Sanibel Island, it
is pleasant to contemplate that such an
interesting form of life has been preserved
from extinction and may ultimately be again
transplanted to its original home. — L.L.W.

LEAFLET ON
AUTUMN FLOWERS

With the arrival of September,
timely reading for flower enthusiasts
is offered in the Field Museum Leaflet
Autumn Flowers and Fruits. This little
book, with thirty pages of text,
illustrated with a color plate, two
collotype plates, and twenty-eight
half-tones, is by J. Francis Macbride,
Associate Curator of the Museum
Herbarium. At the Book Shop of
Field Museum — 25 cents.

September, 19S9

FIELD MUSEUM NEWS

Pages

EXPEDITION FINDS NEW RUINS ON AN OLD SPANISH TRAIL

By PAUL s. MARTIN ologist is the presence of small pieces of

CHIEF CURATOR, DEPARTMENT OF ANTHROPOLOGY 1^,^^^^^^^ p^^^^^.^ [yj^^g scattered OH the

ground. These pottery fragments, about the
size of a man's thumbnail, are brown and
look exactly like the natural gravelly pebbles
of the terrain. It took more than a week for
the writer and his assistants, Messrs. Joe
Weckler and Hugh Pigg, to locate these
particular ruins, and even the local pot
hunters were surprised for they did not
know of the existence of this very ancient
and primitive village. But the Museum
party knew, from archaeological experience,
that where there are pottery fragments.

About four hundred years ago the Spanish
explorer, Francisco Vasquez de Coronado,
journeyed through the Mogollon and San
Francisco mountains in western New Mexico
on his famous march to find the fabulous
"Seven Cities of Cibola" whose streets were
supposed to have been exclusively occupied
by gold and silversmiths. Coronado failed
to find the treasures for which he had
traveled so far; but he unwittingly passed
within a few hundred feet of some ancient
Indian villages which had been lying silent

Ancient Pit-House

One of the sites of ancient Indian habitation being excavated in the Mogollon Mountains of New Mexico by
the Field Museum Archaeological Expedition to the Southwest. This structure, 34 feet in diameter, is the largest
of its type known in this area. Features are a tunneled entry, and a fire pit. While the date of the pit-house has
not yet been determined, Dr. Paul S. Martin, leader of the expedition, believes it was built prior to a.d. 750.

and deserted even then for more than seven
hundred years. These villages are now
being explored by the Field Museum Ar-
chaeological Expedition to the Southwest,
under the direction of the writer.

MEAGER TRACES OF SITE

Even if Coronado and his men had
marched directly over the spot where these
early villages lie buried, it is doubtful
whether he or any of his men would have
known it. The reason for this is that only
the most minute traces of human occupation
remain. There are no ruined walls to see
because the Indians of long ago did not build
houses above ground. There are no large
mounds of accumulated rubbish, ashes, and
broken dishes because these villages were
lived in for only a short time and then
abandoned. The only clue for the archae-

there are almost sure to be houses, even
though they cannot be seen.

A few days' digging proved the correctness
of this hypothesis, for soon the walls and
floor of a large pit-house were discovered. A
pit-house is just what the term implies — a
pit dug in the ground and used as a dwelling
or as a place for celebrating ceremonies.

When this pit-house was completely dug
out — an arduous task which required about
ten days' work because the clay fill was
extremely tough — it was found to be thirty-
four feet in diameter, one of the largest
ever excavated in this region. The features
within this structure are few — a firepit,
three pits apparently used for storage, a
short tunnel which served as an entryway,
and five troughed depressions near the walls.
The purpose of these depressions is un-
known, but it is thought that logs may have

been placed in them for support of the roof.
It is believed that this large pit structure
was used only for ceremonies because it is
larger than most pit houses, and too large
for one family. Furthermore, there were
very few ashes in the firepit — a fact which
bespeaks few fires and therefore little cooking.
Also no tools or household objects, such as
cooking and water-storage vessels, were
anywhere in evidence.

LITTLE-KNOWN CULTURE

The Mogollon culture, which is now being
investigated by the Field Museum expedi-
tion, is one of the three main archaeological
divisions of the Southwestern area, the
other two being the Pueblo and the Hoho-
kam. Nothing is known about the earliest
phases of this Mogollon culture, and it is
because of this great archaeological gap that
the Museum undertook this necessary
research.

Thus far the expedition personnel have
found several very precious clues concerning
the age and development of the Mogollon
culture. However, as the facts thus far
accumulated have not yet been digested, it is
too early to make any positive statements.

MESSRS. TRAYLOR AND ANDREWS
TO COLLECT IN MEXICO

Resuming the zoological collecting under-
taken for Field Museum in 1938, Mr.
Melvin Traylor, Jr., of Chicago, and Mr.
Wyllys Andrews, of Washington, D.C.,
returned to Mexico early in August for
five months of field work on the Yucatan
Peninsula. Mr. Traylor is concerned pri-
marily with the collecting of birds and
small mammals, while Mr. Andrews will
divide his time between reptile collecting
and archaeological research.

After several weeks of preparation in
Mexico City, Messrs. Traylor and Andrews
plan to fly to Chichen Itza, Yucatan, the
scene of last year's activities and the locale
of important archaeological discoveries by
the Carnegie Institute. Later the party
will proceed overland into the interior of
Campeche where a general collection of
vertebrates will be made.

Although Field Museum possesses exten-
sive zoological collections from various parts
of Central America, Mexico itself is rela-
tively poorly represented. It is expected
that the field work now under way will go
far towards filling important gaps in the
Museum's research collections.

Change in Visiting Hours
Begins September 5

Field Museum visiting hours, which have
been 9 a.m. to 6 P.M. daily during the
summer months, will change to the autumn
schedule — 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. — on Tuesday,
September 5, the day after Labor Day.
These hours will continue until October 31.
On November 1 the winter hours, 9 A.M.
to 4 P.M., will go into effect.

Page i

FIELD MUSEUM NEWS

September, 19S9

FIELD MUSEUM OBTAINS FIRST IRON METEORITE EVER REPORTED FROM STATE OF IOWA

By SHARAT K. ROY

CURATOR OF GEOLOGY

A new siderite, or iron meteorite, to be
called the Mapleton meteorite, was
recently purchased by the Museum from
Mr. Harvey Meevers, of Mapleton, Iowa.
This is the first iron meteorite to be reported
from that state.

Previous to the discovery of this iron,
four other meteorites were known from
Iowa, three of which were aerolites or stone
meteorites, and one a meso-siderite (or
variety of iron-stone meteorite).

reduced velocity.

The Mapleton (Iowa) Meteorite

Mr. Sharat K. Roy, Curator of Geology, inspecting recent addition to Field
Museum's meteorite collection (which in number of falls represented is the world's
moat comprehensive). This celestial visitor, despite its comparatively small mass,
weighs 108 pounds, due to its composition of iron (stone meteorites are much
bulkier in proportion to weight). Inset shows an enlarged section of a fragment,
etched with acid in the laboratory to bring out Widmanstatten figures proving
it is of extra-terrestrial origin — the earth's iron does not react the same way.

The meteorite just acquired was acci-
dentally found by Mr. Meevers on June 17,
1939, in his cornfield. It was said to have
been struck by his cultivator. The location
of the find is in Cooper Township, Monona
County, Iowa, on the east side of a rather
steep hill, a little less than four miles east-
northeast of Mapleton.

The date and time of the fall of the mete-
orite are not known. However, it is well to
point out here that the meteorite, although
it has suffered oxidation which has consider-
ably altered and destroyed the fusion crust,
is remarkably well preserved, and because
of this excellent state of preservation it
may be assumed that the fall took place in
recent decades. Ordinarily, iron meteorites,
particularly those rich in chlorine, when
exposed to the atmosphere, oxidize and dis-

integrate very rapidly. The source of
chlorine is the mineral lawrencite, a com-
pound of iron and chlorine which is present
in small quantities in many iron meteorites.
Apparently the meteorite does not repre-
sent the original mass. It appears to have
been broken, but the disruption must have
taken place at a considerable altitude while
it still had high velocity. This is evidenced
by the presence of elongated furrow-like
depressions or pittings on the broken side
which could not have been formed under
In its present state, the
meteorite, which prob-
ably does not represent
much more than one-half
of the original mass,
weighs 49 kilograms (108
pounds). Its greatest
length, breadth, and
height are 1734 inches,
9% inches, and 6 J^ inches
respectively. The
general shape, as pre-
served, is difficult to de-
scribe, for it does not
conform to any of the
characteristic forms of
meteorites. Roughly, it
has a sub-semicircular
outline and may be said
to have the appearance
of a low conoid cut verti-
cally near the center.
One side of it is plano-
convex, the other a very
low truncated cone with
the apex slightly away
from the center.

The point of this re-
duced cone is not present
and presumably was
broken off during disrup-
tion of the mass, for it
does not show the usual
smooth surface, but is
pitted. The slopes of the
cone are unequal and
considerably damaged and deformed. The
pittings of the plano-convex side, some of
which are merged into one another, are
larger and more circular, but shallower than
those of the opposite side. This is to be
expected, for the plano-convex side is the
rear of the meteorite and was thus less
exposed to heat and friction of the atmos-
phere. The conical side or the front of the
mass has many elongated pittings, more or
less radially arranged on the slopes and
edges of the cone, evidence of the passing
of air currents from the apex of the cone
during its passage through the atmosphere.

STRUCTURE IS STUDIED

The structure of the meteorite was
brought to view by etching the polished
surface of a small fragment of the mass. In
most iron meteorites etching brings out

certain octahedral figures, called Widman-
statten figures, after their discoverer. These
are made up of thin plates or lamellae
parallel to the faces of an octahedron, such
as might be formed by putting two Egyptian
pyramids base to base. The lamellae are
composed of two different nickel-iron alloys,
named respectively kamacite and taenite.
Angular interstices called fields, between
intersecting lamellae, may be filled with a
third kind of nickel-iron alloy known as
plessite. Meteorites made up of nickel-iron
which exhibit these three alloys are known
as octahedral meteorites or simply octa-
hedrites. The octahedrites are subdivided
into three main groups, fine — medium, or
coarse — depending on the thickness of the
lamellae, which vary from a fraction of one
to several millimeters. The Mapleton
meteorite contains all three alloys mentioned
above and exhibits medium-sized lamellae.
It is, therefore, a medium octahedrite.

The information given here is the result
of preliminary examination only.

CHINESE MONEY BELTS

A collection of Chinese money belts,
beautifully embroidered with glass beads of
various colors in intricate designs, mounted
on leather, is on exhibition in Hall 32 (Case
No. 30). The beads are of cut glass, and
each is sewed on separately. The belts thus
exemplify not only fine artistry, but the
exercise of extreme patience in delicate
hand work. The designs are all characteris-
tically Chinese, consisting of flowers, birds,
dear, bats, goldfish, carp, and butterflies.
In a few there are human figures. The
magpie, a bird of lucky omen to the Chinese,
appears frequently. Ornamental forms of
the character "shou," Chinese symbol of
longevity, are conspicuous, indicating the
universal desire among the Chinese to attain
long life.

The belts are provided with silver buckles
which have embossed figures of lions and
dragons, and sometimes a gold-plated cen-
tral panel. On the inside of the belts are
their reason for being — pockets for the safe
carrying of money. Most of the specimens
were made during the last hundred years,
and come from the south of China. The
collection contains also spectacle cases, orna-
ments for beds, and slippers, all of which
are ornamented with the same type of bead
work. This material was acquired by the
Museum in a gift from the late Mrs. George
T. Smith, of Chicago.

A single crystal of beryl which weighs a
thousand pounds is displayed in Stanley
Field Hall (Case 18).

Diamonds, specimens of the rocks in
which they are found, and minerals associ-
ated with them, form an exhibit in Hall 36.

September, 19S9

FIELD MUSEUM NEWS

Page 5

MEDICINE MEN OF THE INDIANS
PRESCRIBED WITCH HAZEL

Witch hazel extract, long accepted in
medical and domestic practice as a reputable
sedative for the relief of pain and inflamma-
tion, and as a mild antiseptic, had its origin
as a remedy in the magic of the medicine
men of North American Indians, according
to Dr. Julian A. Steyermark, Assistant
Curator of the Herbarium at Field Museum.

In the Hall of Plant Life (Hall 29) is a
branch of the witch hazel shrub in full
flower and leaf, reproduced from nature,
and a model of a flower of the plant enlarged
to illustrate its characteristics. Also shewn
are specimens of its bark and leaves, and
of allied plants.

The Indians were the first to use the bark
and leaves of the witch hazel plant to
alleviate pain, under the direction of their
tribal medicine men who accompanied treat-
ment with magical incantations, Dr. Steyer-
mark says. The white invaders of the
American continent learned of their efficacy
from the Indians, and today millions of
households always have on hand a bottle
of extract obtained from the bark and
leaves by modern pharmaceutical manu-
facturing methods.

The name "witch hazel" has its origin
in superstition. The shrub has unusual
living habits, as it blooms in the autumn,
often after frosts have come, and ripens
its fruit in the spring. This phenomenon,
contrary to the behavior of most plants,
gave rise to an idea that the plant was
supernatural, and caused it to be invested,
in the minds of the superstitious, with many
peculiar powers — hence the name, "witch
hazel," a plant regarded as capable of the
sorceries of a witch. There are several
species of witch hazel trees and shrubs,
each with a number of varieties, growing
throughout the northern temperate zones
of the Old and New World.

THINGS YOU MA Y HA VE MISSED

Formation of Peat
Shown in Model

A model representing a small lake of
glacial origin which is filled with peat
formed from the swamps and pond vegeta-
tion growing in it is on exhibition in Hall 36
in the Department of Geology. Such lakes,
in all stages of filling, and the marshes and
even fairly dry meadows which indicate
their former sites, are numerous in the Chi-
cago region and also in the lake country
of northwestern Illinois, Michigan, Wis-
consin, and Minnesota.

The original lake bottom composed of
stony glacial clay, or "till," may be seen
in the model. The till is covered with a
thick bed of other clay deposited from the
muddy water of the lake. Above this clay

lie beds of dark brown peat and partially
decomposed vegetation which grows in the
lake. The light-colored bed near the center
of the model is "marl," a limy substance
formed by the deposition of carbonate of
lime from solution in the water around the
stems of certain algae, the life processes of
which bring about this deposition. Beds
of shell marl — limy deposits formed from
the accumulations of shells on the bottom
of such lakes — do not appear in this model,
as the conditions in the lake represented do

Model of Peat Boe

Down to the line representing the surface of the
lake water it shows the scene a traveler would see:
below this line it represents, in cross-section, the
underwater conditions which cause formation of peat.

not favor the formation of such deposits.
In some lakes marl deposits are often
entirely absent.

The vegetation from which the peat is
derived grows in the lake in well-defined
zones. The more important of these zones
are: (1) a zone of algae; (2) a zone of floating
weeds, such as bladderwort; (3) a zone of
floating bog which is a mat of sedges and
rushes with clear water below; (4) a zone
of grasses, sedges, and shrubs occupying the
inner part of the filled-in edge of the lake;
(5) a zone of tamaracks and spruces. At
the edge of the swamp area is a depression
which is wetter than the tamarack and most
of the sedge zones. The depression marks
the original shore line of the lake and is
called a "fosse." The chief sources of peat
in these local lakes and bogs are sedges and
rushes. In many parts of the world peat is
formed largely from the swamp moss
known as sphagnum.

Source of Digitalis

The foxglove, a member of the figwort
family, is a biennial plant which during its
first year produces a rosette of leaves at
the ground, and in its second season develops
a stem two to four feet high with large
leaves and conspicuous purple bell-shaped
flowers. The leaves are used in preparing
digitalis, a drug used as a cardiac tonic in
some forms of heart disease. A native of
northern Europe, the plant is widely cul-
tivated. It is found in old-fashioned gardens
in the United States and has become natural-
ized in certain sections of this country. A
specimen is exhibited in Hall 29.

SILENT TRADE

By WILFRID D. HAMBLY

CURATOR OF AFRICAN ETHNOLOGY

In these days of keen competition, in
which bargaining may sometimes be none
too scrupulous, it is interesting to look back
to the period some 2,500 years ago when
the "silent trade" took place on the north-
west coast of Africa, as described by the
Greek historian Herodotus.

Merchants from the ancient Phoenician
city of Carthage, on the north African coast,
sailed regularly through the Strait of Gibral-
tar, then known as the Pillars of Hercules.
They unloaded their wares, and having dis-
posed them in an orderly fashion along the
beach, returned to their ships where they
raised a dense smoke as a signal to tribes
ashore. The natives of that part of the Afri-
can coast responded to the signal, and dis-
daining any temptation to dishonesty, laid a
quantity of gold near the goods. The na-
tives thereupon withdrew to a safe distance.

Then the Carthaginians would come
ashore, and appraise the gold. If it was
not a satisfactory payment, they would
return to their ships. The natives would
then advance again, and if they thought
the goods were worth more they would add
a small quantity of gold dust to the pile
already offered.

Again the Carthaginians would land, and
if the amount of gold was satisfactory, they
would take it away. The natives would
then advance and collect the merchandise.

Herodotus says: "Neither party deals un-
fairly by the other; for the Carthaginians
never touch the gold till it comes up to the
worth of their goods, nor do the natives ever
carry off the goods until the gold is taken
away."

THE HEIGHT OF PRECAUTION—

— is exemplified by one animal which al-
ways enters its home backwards. This
suspicious creature, which fears to take its
eyes from the direction of possible approach
of enemies as it goes into its burrow, is
the African warthog, of which a group is
on exhibition in Carl E. Akeley Memorial
Hall (Hall 22). The specimens were col-
lected in Somaliland.

The warthog is about as far removed from
beauty as a creature can be. One writer
has described it as "more like the incarnation
of some hideous dream than any other
extant animal." It is a cousin of the
domestic pig, and gets its name from warty
protuberances on its face. These are especi-
ally marked in the male. Both sexes have
tusks, those of the male being larger.
Zoologists state that warthogs are not
ferocious unless wounded or hard pressed,
when they may slash viciously with their
tusks. The neck of a warthog is so short
that the animal cannot turn its head very
far, and when it wants to look back quickly
it raises its snout straight up in the air.

Page 6

FIELD MUSEUM NEWS

September, 19S9

Field Museum of Natural History

Founded by Marshall Field, 1893
Roosevelt Road and Field Drive, Chicago

THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES
Lester Armour Samuel Insull, Jr.

Sbwell U Avery Charles A. McCulloch

William McCormick Blair William H. Mitchell
Leopold E. Block George A. Richardson

Walter J. Cummings Theodore Roosevelt

Albert B. Dick, Jr. James Simpson

Joseph N. Field Solomon A. Smith

Marshall Field Albert A. Spragub

Stanley Field Silas H. Strawn

Albert W. Harris Albert H. Wetten

John P. Wilson

OFFICERS

Stanley Field President

Albert A. Spragub First Vice-President

James Simpson Second Vice-President

Albert W. Harris Third Vice-President

Clifford C. Gregg Director and Secretary

Solomon A. Smith. . .Treasurer and Assistant Secretary

FIELD MUSEUM NEWS

Clifford C. Gregg, Director of the Museum .... Editor

CONTRIBUTING EDITORS

Paul S. Martin Chief Curator of Anthropology

B. E. Dahlgren Chief Curator of Botany

Henry W. NiCHOia Chiejf Curator of Geology

Wilfred H. Osgood Chief Curator of Zoology

H. B. Harte Managing Editor

Members are requested to Inform the Museum
promptly of changes of address.

PROM THE DIRECTOR'S DESK—

The Museum Library

Even to the most regular of our Field
Museum visitors one of the greatest educa-
tional facilities of the Museum is practically
unknown. The vast collections on display
are familiar to all visitors who care to come
and see. Many of them appreciate that the
study collections not on exhibition must be
even greater in extent than those selected for
display. Many do not know, however, that
Field Museum has among its assets an
excellent collection of literature covering
anthropology and natural history, which
makes possible the careful study of speci-
mens, and which is available not only to the
institution's own staff but to any serious
minded person.

A librarian could tell you that Chicago
contains many splendid collections of books
in highly specialized groupings. There are
law libraries, medical libraries, libraries con-
cerned only with architecture, with art, with
music, with science. One of these libraries,
outstanding in its field, is housed at the
Museum. Perhaps it might be more accur-
ate to state that four of these libraries are at
Field Museum, for there are comprehensive
libraries on anthropology, botany, geology,
and zoology. Each year almost 3,000 vol-
umes are added to the shelves of the Library
— volumes coming from all parts of the world
where scientific research on lines within the
scope of Field Museum is carried on. Any
library, to be of most value, must be kept
up to date. Research in natural history may
be greatly aided by the study of books a
century old, but conclusions can properly
be reached only with a study of the latest
findings by contemporary scientists. Often
days of research, including not only the

study of specimens but the study of printed
records as well, are necessary in the produc-
tion of a very few Museum labels. That is
necessary because Field Museum labels
must carry correct information — it would
be highly improper for a leading educational
institution to disseminate information which
was not accurate in every detail so far as it
is possible to determine.

It should be emphasized that Field Mu-
seum Library is available not only to the
advanced scientist. It is, in fact, consulted
from time to time by people from all walks
of life, by those engaged in many businesses,
trades, or professions. A woman may come
to Field Museum for information to include
in a talk she expects to give at the next
Tuesday afternoon session of her neighbor-
hood club. A child comes to the Library
asking about a bird he saw in his back yard,
or a caterpillar taken from a plant in his
mother's garden. A man planning his
vacation comes to Field Museum Library
to ask about the geological formations of
the countryside he expects to visit. A high
school student wants special information to
improve the term paper he is preparing.

To all of these people, and to all others
who want the information which anthro-
pologists and natural scientists have re-
corded in books and pamphlets, Field Mu-
seum Library extends its welcome.

— Clifford C. Gregg, Director

Four New Trustees Elected
At a recent meeting of the Board of
Trustees of Field Museum, four prominent
Chicago civic leaders were elected to mem-
bership on the Board. They are: Mr. Lester
Armour, Mr. William McCormick Blair,
Mr. Walter J. Cummings, and Mr. Albert
H. Wetten. They fill vacancies caused by
deaths and resignations which have occurred
during a period of more than two years past,
and the Museum now has for the first time
in many months a full membership of twenty-
one Trustees, which is the maximum number
provided by the By-laws of the institution.

Distinguished Visitors

Among distinguished visitors recently
received at Field Museum are: Mrs. Oscar
Straus, of New York, who sponsored the
Straus West African Expedition of Field
Museum in 1934, which resulted in large and
important collections for the Department of
Zoology, including outstanding material
used in the preparation of several beautiful
habitat groups in the Hall of Birds; Miss
Florence Guggenheim Straus, who accom-
panied Mrs. Straus; Mr. Stewart Springer,
of the Bass Biological Laboratories, Engle-
wood, Florida, who has frequently made the
facilities of his organization available to
Field Museum collectors; Dr. Ruth Patrick,
of the Academy of Natural Sciences, Phila-
delphia, and Professor Charles Hodge, of
Temple University, both of whom have been
making studies in Field Museum's crypto-

gamic herbarium; Mr. Theodore Sizer,
Associate Director, Gallery of Fine Arts,
Yale University; Professor C. N. Gould, of
Santa Fe, New Mexico, head of the South-
west Division of the United States National
Park Service; Mrs. V. Goschen — de Watte-
ville, of Berne, Switzerland, who with her
father conducted an expedition to Central
Africa which resulted in extremely important
zoological collections for the Natural History
Museum of Berne; Miss Martha Van Bom-
berghen of Brussels, member of the Conseil
de Direction of the Institut Beige des
Hautes Etudes Chinoises, Secretary of the
Societe Beige d'Etudes Orientales, and
Editor of Melanges Chinoises et Bouddiques;
Dr. E. J. Lindgren, well-known anthro-
pologist of Cambridge University, and
Honorary Editor of Man.

Staff Notes

Dr. Henry Field, Curator of Physical
Anthropology, is spending several weeks at
Harvard University where he is engaged in
special research in connection with data
required for a forthcoming publication on
the physical anthropology of Iraq. One of
his consultants is Dr. Ernest Hooton.

Mr. Sharat K. Roy, Curator of Geology,
gave a radio lecture on Meteorites over
Station WCFL on August 18.

Staff Taxidermist C. J. Albrecht recently
has lectured on Field Museum expeditions
before audiences at the University of
Minnesota, and three state teachers' col-
leges. He has also spoken on several radio
broadcasts devoted to Museum topics.

A FEW FACTS ABOUT FIELD MUSEUM

Field Museum is open every day of the year
(except Christinas and New Year's Day) during
the hours indicated below;

November, December,

January, February 9 A.M. to 4 P.M.

March, April, and
September, October 9 A.M. to 6 P.M.

May, June, July, August. . . .9 A.M. to 6 P.M.

Admission is free to Members on all days.
Other adults are admitted free on Thursdays,
Saturdays, and Sundays; non-members pay 25
cents on other days. Children are admitted free
on all days. Students and faculty members of
educational institutions are admitted free any
day upon presentation of credentials.

The Museum's Library is open for reference
daily except Saturday afternoon and Sunday.

Traveling exhibits are circulated in the schools
of Chicago by the N. W. Harris Public School
Extension Department of the Museum.

Lectures at schools, and special entertain-
ments and tours for children at the Museum, are
provided by the James Nelson and Anna Louise
Raymond Foundation for Public School and
Children's Lectures.

Free courses of lectures for adults are presented
in the James Simpson Theatre on Saturday after-
noons (at 2:30 o'clock) in March, April, October,
and November.

A Cafeteria serves visitors. Rooms are avail-
able also for those bringing their lunches.

Chicago Motor Coach Company No. 26 busses
provide direct transportation to the Museum. Ser-
vice is offered also l>y Surface Lines, Rapid Tran-
sit Lines (the "L"), mterurban electric lines, and
Illinois Central trains. There is ample free park-
ing space for automobiles at the Museum.

September, 1939

FIELD MUSEUM NEWS

Page 7

ZOOLOGIST EDMUND HELLER
DIES ON WEST COAST

Mr. Edmund Heller, formerly a member
of Field Museum's staff and active in the
conduct of various zoological expeditions
for this institution, died in San Francisco
July 18, at the age of 64. Mr. Heller had a
long and distinguished career as a naturalist
and traveler. When quite a young man, he
was employed by the Museum as zoological
collector and was in the field continuously
from 1901 to 1905, working in the western
United States and Mexico. In the fall of
1905 he went with Carl Akeley to British
East Africa (now Kenya Colony) and made
an important collection of the small mam-
mals of the region, including the types of
many new species and a number of rare
animals not previously represented in Ameri-
can museums.

In 1909 he was selected as one of the
naturalists to accompany former President
Theodore Roosevelt on his famous expedition
to Africa for the Smithsonian Institution.
On this trip he was conspicuously successful
and, on returning, devoted considerable
time to the preparation of his share, which
was a large one, of the great two-volume
work. Life Histories of African Game Ani-
mals, by Roosevelt and Heller. This was
his most important publication; numerous
shorter papers, however, also appeared under
his capable authorship.

At various times he was connected with
the United States Biological Survey, the
Smithsonian Institution, the American Mu-
seum of Natural History, and the Museum
of Vertebrate Zoology of the University of
California. During the war, he accompanied
Mr. Paul Rainey to Asia on work connected
with the federal Intelligence Service. In
1921, he again joined the staff of Field
Museum and, in 1922-23, conducted a
lengthy expedition in Peru. In 1924-26, he
worked in central Africa for the Museum
and, in 1927, he left to become Director of
the Washington Park Zoo at Milwaukee.
Some years later he went to San Francisco
as Director of the Fleishhacker Zoo in
Golden Gate Park, the position he held at
the time of his death.

In number of specimens collected, and in
the breadth and variety of the field covered.
Heller must be ranked as one of the greatest
zoological collectors of all time. Of mam-
mals alone, nearly 9,000 of his specimens are
in Field Museum, and practically all other
large American institutions also have large
numbers. — W. H. O.

Ferns Used as Food

Ferns, which are generally considered
only as ornamental plants, are important as
food producing plants in some countries,
particularly in New Zealand, Australia, and
islands of the Pacific. The underground
stem, or rhizome, of the bracken contains a

quantity of mucilage and starch. In some
parts of Europe it is prepared by pounding,
washing, and then mixing it with meal to
make bread in time of scarcity. With the
introduction of corn and potatoes, however,
this practice is becoming discarded.

PLANTS FROM ANCIENT SEEDS
IN FULL FLOWER

In the May, 1938, issue of Field Museum
News there appeared an account of the
germination, in the Department of Botany
at Field Museum, of some seeds of pink lotus
of the Orient (Nelumbium Nelumbo) esti-
mated to be 300 to 500 years old. Within a
few weeks one of these ancient seeds devel-
oped a shoot seven and a half inches in
length, at which time it was transferred to
the Garfield Park Conservatory for growing.

There, in the care of Mr. August Koch,
Chief Horticulturist of the Conservatory, the
lotus plant continued to grow and last year
within a few months of its germination it
produced a number of small floating leaves.
After passing the winter in storage its
growth was resumed in the spring of this
year. Floating leaves were again produced.
Then there appeared the erect leaves charac-
teristic of the lotus, and, in the middle of
summer, several of the large pink flowers of
the species followed in close succession.

The plant, believed to represent the
longest duration of delayed germination on
record, is now on public view at the Con-
servatory of Garfield Park where it forms a
unique exhibit.

Plant from Centuries-old Seed

Pink lotus of the Orient, in full bloom at Garfield
Park Conservatory a little more than a year after its
germination in the botanical laboratories at Field
Museum from seeds estimated to be three to five
hundred years old. It is believed to represent the
longest instance on record of such delayed flowering.

Flax is Oldest Textile Plant

Common flax (Linum usitatissimum L.), is
first on the list of textile plants, as the one
of which we have the oldest historic record.
It formed both the garments and grave
clothes of the inhabitants of ancient Egypt.
The cere-cloth which envelops Egyptian
mummies consists of fiber of flax.

A PROJECT TO IMPROVE
BIRD COLLECTIONS

The magnificent systematic series of
mounted North American birds exhibited
in Hall 21 is being still further amplified
and improved by the inclusion of freshly
collected nesting and natural habitat acces-
sories which give more lifelike results.

Numbering more than a thousand speci-
mens arranged systematically to reveal
family relationships, the exhibit includes
most of the species and better known
geographical races of birds occurring north
of Mexico. Discarding, as unimaginative
and obsolete, the well-known "T" type
of perch often used by museums, every
specimen is mounted upon a branch, rock,
tussock, or other natural element sugges-
tive of the birds' environment.

The additions now being made carry the
illusion still further and when complete will
include actual nests and eggs of many com-
mon species. Planned as a long-time pro-
ject which may continue several seasons,
the actual collecting of specimens and
accessories is under way in a series of week-
end field trips by Mr. Frank H. Letl, Pre-
parator of Accessories, and Mr. Emmet R.
Blake, Assistant Curator of Birds.

Floyd T. Smith, Collector, is Dead

Members of the Museum's Department
of Zoology were saddened by news of the
recent death of Mr. Floyd T. Smith, of
New York, noted Asiatic explorer. Mr.
Smith was leader of the Marshall Field
Zoological Expedition to China for Field
Museum in 1931, and at various times con-
ducted other important field work for this
institution. The 1931 expedition in par-
ticular was highly successful, resulting in
the acquisition of several thousand speci-
mens of mammals, birds, fishes, reptiles,
and amphibians. The beautiful habitat
group of the rare Asiatic takin in William V.
Kelley Hall (Hall 17) is composed of speci-
mens collected by Mr. Smith.

THE PLEASURES OF ISOLATION

are recounted in / Know an Island,
a book by R. M. Lockley, noted
British naturalist.

"A charmingly written account of
the seasonal surge and ebb of bird life
on a primitive island off the coast of
England," says Mr. Emmet R. Blake,
Assistant Curator of Birds at Field
Museum. "It will appeal to layman
and ornithologist alike, both as an
authoritative record of birdlore, and
as a philosophical discourse on the
pleasures of 'the simple life.' "

On sale at the BOOK SHOP of
FIELD MUSEUM~$3.

Page 8

FIELD MUSEUM NEWS

September, 1939

GIFTS TO THE MUSEUM

Following is a list of some of the principal
gifts received during the last month:

Department of Anthropology :

From Thome Donnelley, Chicago — 3
drums, Haiti; from Loran D. Gayton,
Chicago — 2 human skulls and a femur,
Illinois; from Mrs. George A. Carpenter,
Chicago — pottery jar, Bizen ware, more than
100 years old, Japan.
Department of Botany :

From Garfield Park Conservatory, Chi-
cago— 109herbariumspecimens; from Jardim
Botanico, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil — 26 speci-
mens of plants, Brazil; from Service de
Botanica e Agronomia, Sao Paulo, Brazil —
43 herbarium specimens, Brazil; from Bill
Bauer, Webster Groves, Mo. — 40 herbarium
specimens, Missouri; from William L.
McCart, Denton, Tex. — 104 herbarium
specimens, Texas; from Dr. Ralph Voris,
Springfield, Mo. — 13 herbarium specimens
and one wood specimen, Missouri; from C. M
Palmer, Indianapolis, Ind. — 7 specimens of
algae, California, Indiana, and North
Carolina; from William A. Daily, Indian-
apolis, Ind. — 4 specimens of algae, Indiana;
from Servicio Botanico, Ministerio de Agri-
cultura y Cria, Caracas, Venezuela — 199
herbarium specimens, Venezuela; from Dr.
Delzie Demaree, Monticello, Ark. — 32 speci-
mens of Compositae, chiefly California and
Oregon; from Centro Nacional de Agri-
cultura, San Pedro Montes de Oca, Costa
Rica — 65 herbarium specimens, Costa Rica;
from Miss Charlotte C. Ellis, Mancos, Colo.
— 34 herbarium specimens, Colorado; from
Professor W. R. Hatch, Hanover, N. H. —
135 herbarium specimens, Costa Rica; from
Gordon Pearsall, River Forest, 111. — 1,154
herbarium specimens, Illinois, Indiana,
Wisconsin, Colorado, and Massachusetts;
from Dr. Earl E. Sherff, Chicago— 146
herbarium specimens, Hawaii.

Department of Geology :

From Hermann C. Benke, Chicago — one
mineral and 2 rock specimens, Iowa and
Ontario; from Edward Grabill, Chicago — 5
sandstone and 6 porphyry specimens,
Wyoming; from Frank Von Drasek, Cicero,
111. — 29 specimens of minerals, Arkansas;
from F. C. Worth, Chicago — one ore and 2
mineral specimens, Wisconsin and Penn-
sylvania; from Charles C. Merrill, Buhl,
Idaho — a specimen of chalcedony geode,
Idaho; from John Winterbotham, Chicago —
a specimen of coral sand, Bermuda; frcm
Stanley Field, Chicago — 5 invertebrate
fossils, Florida; from Henry Herpers, Chi-
cago— 4 invertebrate fossils, Wisconsin;
from L. Bryant Mather, Jr., Chicago — 22
invertebrate fossils, Wisconsin; from Clar-
ence Bachelor, Chicago — a fossil coral,
Michigan; from Harry Changnon, Chicago —
10 invertebrate fossils; from Miss Anne H.
Snyder, Kenosha, Wis. — 4 invertebrate
fossils, Wisconsin; from Don Eldredge,
Chicago — 5 invertebrate fossils, Wisconsin.

Department of Zoology:

From Robert A. Burton, Evanston, 111. —
15 frogs, toads, and snakes, Illinois and
Indiana; from Loren P. Woods, Evanston,
111. — 1,001 fish specimens and 202 specimens
of lower invertebrates, South Carolina; from
H. E. Woodcock, Chicago— 20 butterflies

and 3 moths, PVance; from Chicago Zoologi-
cal Society, Brookfield, 111. — 12 birds and
2 lizards; from George A. Larrissey, Chicago
— a snake, Illinois; from John M. Schmidt,
Homewood, 111. — 42 snakes, turtles, lizards,
frogs, and toads. South Dakota; from Bass
Biological Laboratory, Englewood, Fla. — 2
shark specimens, near South Carolina; from
Mrs. Rob White, Thomasville, Ga.— 5
insects, Georgia; from H. H. Hagey, Madi-
son, Wis. — a bird, Wisconsin; from H. B.
Conover, Chicago — 4 birds, Illinois and
Colombia; from Eugene G. J. Falck, Chicago
— 77 fresh-water moUusks and 30 fresh-
water clams, Missouri and Illinois; from
John Boyd, Southern Pines, N. C. — 15
butterflies, Virginia; from C. M. Barber,
Hot Springs, Ark. — a domestic goat skeleton,
Arkansas.

SPECIAL NOTICE

All Members of Field Museum who
have changed their residence, or are
planning to do so, are earnestly urged
to notify the Museum at once of their
new addresses, so that copies of Field
Museum News and all other com-
munications from the Museum may
reach them promptly.

Plants That Die in Flowering

There are in the plant kingdom various
groups of plants which live for many years
before flowering, and die subsequent to the
first production of fruit and seed. Most
striking examples of this kind are century
plants, bamboos, and Corypha palms. The
whole of the extensive bamboo jungle
flowers at the same time, and it is recorded
that in India the quantity of seed has at
times prevented famines. However, the
dying of the stems causes a scarcity of wood
for house building.

NEW MEMBERS

The following persons were elected to
membership in Field Museum during the
period from July 15 to August 15:
Corporate Members

Lester Armour, William McCormick Blair,
Walter J. Cummings, Albert H. Wetten.

Associate Members

Harold M. Florsheim, Mrs. Frank W.
Howes, Peter F. McNamee.

Non-Resident Associate Members

Harvey Meevers

Annual Members

Ross J. Beatty, Jr., Matthew G. Becker,
Irving Berman, Dr. Merrick R. Breck, Miss
Marion Clark, Miss Anita de Mars, Thomas
C. Dennehy, Jr., Elmer E. Frodin, Dr.
Norris J. Heckel, J. A. Hiller, H. H. James,
Hathaway G. Kemper, Miss Alice E. Mad-
dock, Mrs. Samuel K. Markman, Alfred H.
Oelkers, Nate H. Sherman, Clinton F.
Smith, James A. Thomas and Horace O.
Wetmore.

SEPTEMBER LECTURE TOURS

Conducted tours of exhibits, under the
guidance of staff lecturers, are made every
afternoon at 3 o'clock except Saturdays,
Sundays, and certain holidays. Following
is the schedule of subjects and dates for
September:

Friday, September 1 — Animal Habitat
Groups.

Week beginning September 4: Monday —
Labor Day holiday, no tour; Tuesday —
General Tour; Wednesday — Hall of Races
of Man; Thursday — General Tour; Friday —
Mummies and Other Ancient Burials.

Week beginning September 1 1 : Monday —
Dinosaurs and Their Cousins; Tuesday —
General Tour; Wednesday — Men of the Old
Stone Age; Thursday — General Tour; F>iday
—The Story of Plants.

Week beginning September 18: Monday —
The Octopus and Other Sea Animals; Tues-
day— General Tour; Wednesday — Asia, Its
Peoples and Cultures; Thursday — General
Tour; Friday — The Moon and the Meteo-
rites.

Week beginning September 25: Monday —
Native American Plants; Tuesday — General
Tour; Wednesday — Indians of South and
Central America; Thursday — General Tour;
Friday — Birds, Past and Present.

Persons wishing to participate should
apply at North Entrance. Tours are free.
A new schedule will appear each month in
Field Museum News. Guide-lecturers'
services for special tours by parties of ten or
more are available by arrangement with the
Director a week in advance.

MEMBERSHIP IN FIELD MUSEUM

Field Museum has several classe3 of Members.
Annual Members contribute $10 annually. As-
sociate Members pay $100 and are exempt from
dues. Sustaining Members contribute $25 annu-
ally for six consecutive years, after which they
become Associate Members and are exempt from
all further dues. Life Members give $500 and
are exempt from dues. Non-Resident Life Mem-
bers pay $100, and Non-Resident Associate
Members $50; both of these classes are also
exempt from dues. The Non-Resident member-
ships are available only to persons residing fifty
miles or more from Chicago. Those who give or
devise to the Museum $1,000 to $100,000 are
designated as Contributors, and those who give
or devise $100,000 or more become Benefactors.
Other memberships are Honorary, Patron,
Corresponding and Corporate, additions under
these dassifications being made by special action
of the Board of Trustees.

Each Member, in all classes, is entitled to free
admission to the Museum for himself, his family
and house guests, and to two reserved seats for
Museum lectures provided for Members. Sub-
scription to Field Museum News is included
with idl memberships. The courtesies of every
museum of note in the United States and Canada
are extended to all Members of Field Museum.
A Member may give his personal card to non-
residents of Chicago, upon presentation of which
they will be admitted to the Museum without
charge. Further information about member-
ships will be sent on request.

BEQUESTS AND ENDOWMENTS

Bequests to Field Museum of Natural History
may be made in securities, money, books or
collections. They may, if desired, take the form
of a memorial to a person or cause, named by the
giver.

Contributions made within the taxable year not
exceeding 15 per cent of the taxpayer's net in-
come are allowable as deductions in computing
net income for federal income tax purposes.

Endowments may be made to the Museum
with the provision that an annuity be paid to
the patron for life. These annuities are guaran-
teed against fluctuation in amount, and may
reduce federal income taxes.

PRINTED By FIELD MUSEUM

News

Published Monthly by Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago

Vol. 10

OCTOBER, 1939

No. 10

LECTURES FOR ADULTS, AND PROGRAMS FOR CHILDREN, TO BEGIN OCTOBER 7

Noted Speakers Will Appear
on Saturday Afternoons

Field Museum's seventy-second free course
of illustrated lectures on science and travel
for adults will begin October 7. Well-
known scientists, naturalists, and explorers
have been engaged to tell of their achieve-
ments. All except
one of the lectures will
be illustrated with
motion pictures, and,
in the case of the ex-
ception, stereopticon
slides will be used.
The lectures will be
given each Saturday
afternoon throughout
October and Novem-
ber, in the James
Simpson Theatre of
the Museum. All will
begin at 2:30 o'clock.
Admission is restricted
to adults.

Following is the
complete schedule of
dates, subjects and
speakers:

October 7 — A Natu-
ralist's Diary.

Karl Maslowski,
Cincinnati, Ohio.

Mr. Maslowski will
present a remarkable

motion picture film in natural colors, giving
intimate views of plant life, and bird and
animal activities throughout the year.
Courtship, feeding, incubation, flight and
care of the young are a few of the many
subjects illustrated by the films. Mr.
Maslowski, formerly Curator of Birds of
the Cincinnati Society of Natural History,
and well-known as a college instructor,
lecturer, writer, and photographer, is well
qualified to explain in an interesting manner
the actions and habits of the creatures
shown in his films.

October 14 — Through Africa Unarmed.

Lewis N. Cotlow, New York.

Mr. Cotlow is the winner of the 1938
gold medal awarded by the Adventurers'
Club of New York for the year's outstanding
adventure. His lecture, and the accompany-
ing films, tell the story of a one man expedi-
tion up the Nile, across the Sudan, and down

the length of Africa. Armed only with
his cameras and a penknife, he traveled
through the lion country, the haunts of
the Pygmies as well as the domain of a
tribe characterized as the world's tallest
people, the various habitats of giant goril-
las, and many other fascinating regions.

*fe'<

North American Otters

Their life story will be told, in lecture and motion pictures, by Mr. C. J. Albrecht on October 21 — the third lec-
ture in Field Museum's Autumn Course. These animals are among the most difficult of wild creatures to photo-
graph, and they are rapidly becoming rare. They make excellent pets, and can be used as hunters and retnevers.

His films record the life of flamingoes,
hippos, elephants, the rare okapi, croco-
diles, and many other animals.
October 21 — The Life Story of the Otter.

C. J. Albrecht, Chicago.

Mr. Albrecht, a staff taxidermist at
Field Museum, who has been a member of
many of this institution's expeditions, has
made a unique motion picture film of the
otter's life. He shows all phases of this
interesting little animal's existence, having
photographed it even from underwater in
a submarine diving bell. Other scenes in
his film show this amazing animal in all
seasons and all characteristic activities.
Well qualified as a naturalist, Mr. Albrecht's
observations, as well as his pictures, provide
an interesting story about the otter's life,
which has probably never been so completely
studied before.

{Continued on page 2, column 1 )

Motion Pictures are Offered
by Raymond Foundation

The James Nelson and Anna Louise
Raymond Foundation for Public School
and Children's Lectures will present a series
of eight free programs of motion pictures
for children on Saturday mornings during
October and Novem-
ber. Included on the
programs are films
relating to natural
history, travel, and
American history. On
two programs ani-
mated cartoons will
^ also be shown. A

special program to be
given on October 28,
"Fun With Don
Heaton in the Wild
West," will feature a
lecture by Mr. Heaton
who will appear in
person. Most of the
films will have talking
and other sound
effects.

There will be two
showings of the pic-
tures on each program,
one beginning at 10
A.M., and one at 11.
Children from all parts
of Chicago and sub-
urbs are invited, and no tickets are required
for admission. The Museum is prepared
to receive large groups from schools and
other organizations, as well as individual
children coming alone or accompanied by
parents or adults.

The following schedule shows the titles
of the films to be presented on each program :
October 7 — Jolly Little Elves (cartoon);
The 17-year Locust; Humming Birds at
Home; Plants and Animals Prepare for
Winter.
October 14 — Gathering of the Clan; Box-
ing with Kangaroos; Columbus: a. At
the Court of Isabella; 6. Landing on
American Shores.
October 21 — Animal Aristocracy; The
"Father of Waters"; Romantic Mexico.
October 28 — Fun with Don Heaton in the
Wild West (Mr. Heaton in person).
(Continued on page 2, column 3)

Paget

FIELD MUSEUM NEWS

October, 19S9

MAMMOTH FOUND WITH ELK
AT WESTERN SPRINGS, ILL.

A repMDrt reached Field Museum recently
that extensive excavations by WPA workers
at Western Springs, Illinois, had uncovered
a number of fossil bones. Mr. Paul O.
McGrew, of the Museum's paleontology
staff, accompanied by Dr. E. C. Olson, of
the University of Chicago, after a trip to
the site of the excavation, identified the
bones as a rib and a foot bone of Parelephas
jeffersoni, the species of mammoth common
to the Mississippi valley region immediately
after the final retreat of the ice sheet which
covered all of this part of North America
during Pleistocene time.

Other bones uncovered were those of an
elk, possibly of a modern species. Positive
identification must wait for more complete
material, but if these bones are those of a
modern elk it would indicate that Parelephas
jeffersoni ranged into relatively recent
times. The date of extinction of elephants
in North America has always been of interest
because of the fact that certain Indian
mounds are built in a conventionalized
elephant outline, and this was taken by
some investigators to indicate that Indians
and elephants were, at least for a brief
period, contemporaneous.

AUTUMN LECTURES FOR ADULTS
TO OPEN OCTOBER 7

(Continued from page 1, column 2)

October 28 — Wings from the North.

Martin K. Bovey, Concord, Massachusetts.

Three trips to the wilderness region of
Hudson Bay, and six weeks of color photog-
raphy, were required to make the thrilling
motion pictures shown in Mr. Bovey's films.
During the course of this work Mr. and
Mrs. Bovey lived with five Indian families.
Among the striking features of the film are
great flocks of ducks and geese dropping on
set wings toward the mud decoys of the
Indian hunters, and Cree women plucking
the geese and smoking them for their winter
food. Mr. Bovey, a former instructor at
Harvard University, once served with the
Biological Survey in the Arizona deserts.
In recent years he has made profound
studies of the natural history of various
regions of Canada.

November 4 — Wonders of Plant Life.

Arthur C. Pillsbury, Berkeley, California.

Mr. Pillsbury, by means of highly devel-
oped special equipment for the taking of
"lapse time pictures" of plant life, in natural
color, shows his audience in a few minutes'
imreeling of his films everything that
happens in the life of a plant during the
course of several days. Thus one is able
to see step by step the development from
bud to full flowering. Further refinements
in his equipment enable him to show living
cells and cell division in various forms of
microscopic life.

November 11 — What IS Biblical Archae-
ology AND Why?

Dr. Nelson Glueck, Director of American
School of Oriental Research, Jerusalem.

Dr. Glueck last year began the work of
uncovering King Solomon's seaport at the
north end of the Red Sea. With a knowledge
of Palestinian history approached by few
other scholars, he is qualified to establish
relationships between new archaeological
finds and historical records. The lecture
will be illustrated with stereopticon slides
showing Dr. Glueck's recent excavations.
November 18 — The Tundra Speaks.

Dr. Arthur C. Twomey, Carnegie Museum.

Dr. Twomey recently returned from a
nine months' expedition to the interior of
Ungava and the Bellcher Islands of Hudson
Bay. In colored motion pictures he records
a trip by airplane to the Great Whale River,
and by dogteam and other modes of travel
to the Arctic. He shows pictures of the
striking flowers and nesting migratory birds
of the far north, as well as seals, white
whales, and walrus. Polar bear hunts by
the Eskimos are another feature.
November 25 — Stratosphere Explora-
tion.

Major Chester L. Fordney, (rreat Lakes,
Illinois.

Major Fordney has been farther away
from the earth than almost any other man,
having accompanied Lieutenant-Comman-
der Settle of the United States Navy on the
stratosphere flight made from Akron, Ohio,
on November 20, 1933, when a new world's
altitude record of 61,237 feet was established.
The landing was made in the marshes of the
southern part of New Jersey. As a United
States Marine Corps ofHcer, Major Fordney
has had an adventurous career in many
parts of the world, but his journey into the
unknown of the stratosphere, which he will
relate in his lecture and illustrate with
motion picture films, exceeds in thrills all
of his other experiences.

No tickets are necessary for admission
to these lectures. A section of the Theatre is
reserved for Members of the Museum, each
of whom is entitled to two reserved seats on
request. Requests for these seats may be
made in advance by telephone (Wabash
9410) or in writing, and seats will be held
in the Member's name until 2:30 o'clock
on the day of the lecture. All reserved seats
not claimed by 2:30 o'clock will be made
available to the general public.

long existed in the Museum's collection.
Now rare in the Alps, the chamois is still
common in other high mountains of Europe.

The topi, an antelope from Molo, Kenya
Colony, is the East African representative
of the brighter colored korrigum anteloi>e
of West Africa. Hunter's antelope, from
the Tana Valley, Kenya Colony, is a rare
species, allied to the topi, and resembling
the hartebeests. The Museum's specimen
was collected several years ago by the
White-Coats African Expedition.

All three animals were prepared for ex-
hibition by Staff Taxidermist Julius Friesser.

CHILDREN'S PROGRAMS OFFERED
BY RAYMOND FOUNDATION

(Continued from page 1 , column 3)

November 4 — Land of the Giants; Sea
Going Thrills on the Wander Bird;
Oriental Methods of Traveling; Glimpses
of Old China.

November 11 — Armistice Day Program:
Famous Dixie Land Spirituals; The
Pilgrims Land at Plymouth; The Signing
of the Declaration of Independence;
The Moon and Its Features.

November 18 — Hunting Musk Ox with the
Polar Eskimos; Eskimo Life in Southern
Greenland; Nanook and His Family;
In the Land of the Reindeer.

November 25 — Winter (cartoon); Learn-
ing to Ski; Sonja Henie, the Champion
Skater; International Ice Patrol; The
Nass River Indians.

Three Additions Made to Exhibit
of Horned and Hoofed Mammals

Three excellent mounted mammals have
been added to the systematic series of
horned and hoofed animals in George M.
Pullman Hall (Hall 13). They are a cham-
ois, a topi, and a specimen of Hunter's
antelope. The chamois comes from Yugo-
slavia, and is a gift from Dr. Sholar Wencel,
of Peru, Illinois. It fills a gap which has

BOTANICAL EXPEDITION LEAVES
FOR GUATEMALAN FIELD

A six months' expedition to make a
comprehensive collection of the plants of
Guatemala for Field Museum is being
undertaken by Dr. Julian A. Steyermark,
Assistant Curator of the Herbarium, who
sailed September 27 on the steamship Vltui
from New Orleans.

The expedition is sponsored by Mr.
Stanley F^eld, President of the Museum.
Among the regions where exploration is
contemplated is the little known Oriente
area in the departments of Chiquimula,
Jutiapa, and Jalapa. The desert area
around Zacapa will be worked in the rainy
season, and Dr. Steyermark expects to find
a number of unusual species of plants. The
expedition then plans to move into the
Sierra Madre region of western Guatemala,
in the departments of San Marcos and Hue-
huetenango. Particular attention will be
devoted to the flora of the Tajumulco
volcano, and collecting is also planned in
the district around Mazatenango.

The work of this expedition will supple-
ment that undertaken last year by Curator
Paul C. Standley, leader of the Sewell Avery
Botanical Expedition of Field Museum.
In addition to collecting specimens, data
will be obtained for inclusion in the flora
of Guatemala which Mr. Standley and Dr.
Steyermark are preparing for publication.

October, 1939

FIELD MUSEUM NEWS

Page S

THE GIRAFFE IN HISTORY

Lorenzo de Medici had a giraffe in his
menagerie at Florence in the fifteenth cen-
tury. The animal was the subject of much
curiosity at the royal
court, and it aroused
the envy of Anne de
Beaujeu, daughter of
Louis XI of France.
She had dreams of
owning a giraffe of her
own, and finally
fMMwm '-«>' alleged that Lorenzo
i0. (Hdl had promised her his.

I mftWSS In a letter addressed

to him on April 14,
1489, she wrote:

"You know that
you advised me in
writing that you
would send me the giraffe, and although
I am sure you will keep your promise, I
beg you nevertheless to deliver the animal
to me and send it this way, so that you
may understand the affection I have for it;
for this is the beast of the world that I
have the greatest desire to see. And if
there is anything on this side I can do for
you, I shall apply myself to it with all
my heart. God be with you and guard you.
"Anne de France."
However, the Medicean was deaf to this
plea, and kept his giraffe. "Breach of
promise suits were not yet instituted at that
time," is the comment of the late Dr.
Berthold Laufer, former Curator of Anthro-
pology at Field Museum, in relating this
story in Tfw Giraffe in History and Art, an
illustrated leaflet in the Museum's Anthro-
pological Series Many other strange and
interesting anecdotes about giraffes, brought
to light by Dr. Laufer's researches, are
included in this book which is one of the
most fascinating and delightful of the
author's many contributions to literature.
The leaflet traces the history of the
relation of giraffes to the life of men from
the earliest recorded times. One chapter is
devoted to a zoological discussion of the
animal. Others tell of the impressions the
giraffe made on the peoples of ancient
Egypt, primitive Africa, Arabia, Persia,
China, India, ancient Rome, Constantinople,
and Europe during the Middle Ages, the
Renaissance, and the nineteenth century.

The costliness of giraffes is one of the
many interesting facts revealed in the book.
Before the 1914-18 World War, one of
these gentle beasts could be purchased for
the comparatively reasonable price of $1,500
to $2,000, but after that war the price range
rose to between $5,000 and $7,500 or more.
The transportation difficulties presented by
the long neck of a giraffe are a large factor
in causing the high price.

Among the Arabs, the book reveals, many
superstitions arose about the giraffe. An
Arab diviner is quoted as writing: "A giraffe
seen in a dream indicates a financial calamity.

Sometimes it signifies a respectable or a
beautiful woman, or the receipt of strange
news to come from the direction from
which the animal is seen. There is, however,
no good in the news. When a giraffe appears
in a dream to enter a country or town, no
gain is to be obtained from it, for it augurs
a calamity to your property; there is no
guaranty for the safety of a. friend, a spouse,
or a wife whom you may want to take
through your homestead. A giraffe in a
dream may be interpreted to mean a wife
who is not faithful to her husband."

By the Chinese, on the other hand, the
giraffe was regarded as an auspicious omen,
the book indicates.

Many curious theories held in various
countries as to the giraffe's origin are re-
counted. It was ascribed variously as a
hybrid of a panther and a camel — or a camel
mare and a male hyena whose mongrel
offspring mated with a wild cow and pro-
duced in the third generation a giraffe — and
to other such queer matings. From these
beliefs various forms of the word "camelo-
pard" were derived to describe it.

Dr. Laufer shows further: that part of
the tribute of war paid to King Tutenkha-
mon by the Nubians consisted of giraffes;
that Chinese emperors of the fifteenth cen-
tury treasured live giraffes presented to
them as gifts; that Julius Caesar in 46 B.C.
proudly displayed Rome's first giraffe in a
triumphal procession; that Ethiopian women
wore giraffe hair and tails as ornaments; and
that the first live giraffe to arrive in France,
in 1826, had a marked effect on fashions,
was glorified in poems and paintings, and
even became a political symbol.

The Giraffe in History and Art, by Berthold laufer.
(Field Museum Anthropology Leaflet 27.) 100 pages,
9 collotype plates, 1 vignette, 23 text-figures. $.60

Tutenkhamon's Giraffe

Tribute, in form of animal, for presentation to
ancient ruler of Egyptians. (Sketch, from Dr.
Laufer's book, after Nina de Garvis Davies.)

Specimens of European red deer are
exhibited in George M. Pullman Hall
(Hall 13). This deer is the famed stag of
early European history.

MAGELLANIC PARTY REPORTS;
DR. OSGOOD TO SAIL

Reports from the advance party of Field
Museum's Magellanic Expedition, which
began operations in July, indicate good
success in southern Peru where Curators
Colin C. Sanborn and Karl P. Schmidt have
been working at very high altitudes in the
region southwest of Lake Titicaca. They
have secured series of mammals, birds, and
amphibians belonging to species not found
elsewhere in South America and wholly
unrepresented in the collections of American
museums. Among them are a number of
handsome, long-haired, and particolored
rodents which have become especially
adapted to life on the chilly windswept
punas of the mountain tops. In this region
mammalian life appears to thrive at greater
altitudes than anywhere else in the world.

Dr. Wilfred H. Osgood, Chief Curator of
the Department of Zoology, expects to sail
from New York October 6 aboard the steam-
ship Santa Lucia. He will join the party
in southern Peru, and proceed thence via
central Chile to the Straits of Magellan for
extensive work which will continue through
the southern summer season.

EXTINCT MOOSE FROM ANTIOCH

Varigus bones of the skeleton of an extinct
moose, Cervalces, have been received at
Field Museum from Antioch, Illinois.
Mr. Charles N. Ackerman, a Member of
the Museum, who is engaged in dredging
operations in the peat beds bordering on
Grass Lake, found these bones in the dump
heap brought up by his dredge. The dredg-
ing operations extend to a depth of eighteen
feet below the water level, and it is probable
that the bones were preserved in the lower
layers of the peat bog. Other species of
extinct animals have been encountered
from time to time at this place.

Cervalces is an extinct moose somewhat
larger than the Alaskan moose and decidedly
larger than the Canadian moose which
ranged about the lake region. The animal
is distinguished from the living moose by
its antlers which are intermediate in struc-
ture between those of a moose and the
wapiti. This animal is best known from a
skeleton found in New Jersey, but other
evidences of its presence have been recorded
from a bog spring at Minooka, Illinois,
from Beecher and Alton, Illinois, from
Oakland City, Indiana, and Big Bone Lick,
Kentucky. These occurrences show that
this extinct moose had a wide distribution
through the Great Lakes Region and
through the central states after the retreat
of the Great Glacier.— E. S. R.

As many as 500 extension lectures are
given in the schools of Chicago during a
year by lecturers of the James Nelson and
Anna Louise Raymond Foundation.

Page i

FIELD MUSEUM NEWS

October, 1939

ANCIENT CHINESE BRONZE TYPE REVEALS SOME OF THE HISTORY OF PRINTING

By C. martin WILBUR

CURATOR or CHINBSS ARCHAEOLOGY AND ETHNOUMY

Eleven old pieces of movable type, cast
in bronze in Korea, but made to print
Chinese characters, have recently been pre-
sented to Field Museum by Mr. Thomas E.
Donnelley, of a well-known printing and
publishing firm in Chicago. They have a
particular interest at this time because they
are almost as old as the European invention
of metal type cast in molds. The five

Chinese Printers

Setting type by hand in the Chinese imperial printing office, about 1773.
Three men at the back of the room are finding characters filed in drawers. The
men in foreground are engaged in examining pages of type and reading proof.

hundredth anniversary of that important
invention is to be celebrated by the printing
industry in 1940. The Chinese could
celebrate an anniversary for the same
invention at least half a century earlier,
and could further point to their invention
of movable type made of wood, or baked
in clay, several centuries previously.
Two interesting facts stand out:
The Chinese invention of metal type cast
in molds, though chronologically earlier, had
no known influence on the European in-
vention. A common knowledge of certain
preliminary essentials for type printing, such
as paper and block printing, together with
similar needs in the two cultures, seem
to have produced similar results thousands
of miles apart within the same century.

Secondly, the same invention had radically
different developments in the two areas.
In Europe the transition from block printing
to printing from type cast in molds covered

about a century; the new technique de-
velop)ed and spread rapidly to scores of
cities; block printing quickly went out of
use. In China the process was otherwise.
There the Chinese were extensively printing
charms, calendars, and religious and secular
books in the eighth and ninth centuries.
Experiments with movable wooden or baked
clay types did not quickly produce a general
shift to metal type cast in molds. And
even after the development and wide use
of that technique, which
seems more advanced
and logical from our
point of view, block
printing continued to be
used in China side by
side with movable type
printing down to our
day.

Why did the two cul-
tures treat the inven-
tion in entirely different
ways? Perhaps an an-
swer can be found in the
specimens of Korean-
made Chinese type now
on exhibition in Field
Museum (Hall 32,
Case 27).

These types seem to
be about the same age
as the ones used by
Gutenberg for the fam-
ous Vulgate Bible of
1456. They are thought
to come from Korean
fonts dating 1452 and
1455. Of two sizes, they
measure respectively a
little more and a little
less than half an inch
square at the shoulder,
i.e., just below the print-
ing face, and the body
is about J^ of an inch
high, which is about one-third as high as
modern type. The larger ones average 10.2
grams in weight. They are hollowed on the
bottom to give a firmer attachment to the
melted wax in which they fitted in the
bottom of the chase when set. Two styles
of calligraphy are represented. All of the
type have become green from age, and some
are badly corroded or so clogged with ancient
ink that the characters cannot be deciphered.
Others could still be used in printing today.
Apparently it was not long after the
process of casting type was developed in
China that it spread to Korea where it was
enthusiastically adopted. Under royal en-
couragement the official casting of type
and the printing of books therefrom began
about 1400 — the earliest official date being
1403. Several hundred thousand type were
cast from the first molds. Three different
royal fonts are recorded before 1440, the
accepted date for the invention of the type

mold in Europe, and about half a million
type had been produced. In fact so many
fonts are recorded as having been made in
Korea during the fifteenth and succeeding
centuries, with several recastings from some
of the famous sets of molds, that it is im-
possible to determine the date of a specimen
without a close check between the type and
printed books of which the date of printing
and specific font are known. This informa-
tion is available only in Seoul, the former
royal capital of Korea. Our attribution
comes from the collector, Dr. James S.
Gale, who lived for forty years in Korea,
and was one of the greatest missionary-
scholars. He carefully studied the whole
problem of early Korean movable type.

WORDS, NOT LETTERS, REPRESENTED

It is significant that our type was cast
under imperial patronage for the specific
purpose of extensive printing of all sorts
of books. From the molds of 1455 more
than 150,000 type were cast, and nearly
two tons of bronze must have been used,
not counting waste. Now 150,000 type is
not a large number for hand-set book
printing, though it would undoubtedly have
been counted large in Europe at the time.
A very small font of Chinese characters in
F^eld Museum contains about 120,000 type.
But this figure covers approximately 3,000
different kinds of type, all of the same point
size, with no upper or lower case, and only
about ten punctuation marks. Each of the
three thousand different kinds of type repre-
sents a separate word, as opposed to separate
letters in Western fonts. For Chinese is
not an alphabetic language. Herein lies a
tremendous difference, and herein may prob-
ably be found one explanation for the fact
that movable type failed to drive out block
printing in China.

Three thousand words represent only a
small vocabulary. To publish its most
recent book using only a little Chinese type
it was necessary for Keld Museum to
borrow a number of words not among the
3,000 in its font. The standard Chinese-
English dictionary contains 14,000 words.
To set it the printers had to have that many
different type available. Any Chinese book
on history, literature, or philosophy would
draw on a vocabulary even larger.
compositor's task a hard one

With a font of ten to fifteen thousand
different words in a single point size, and
having an adequate number of duplicates
of the most common words, the typesetter
is faced with a serious problem to find the
desired words for a single page of text. It
has been estimated that in order to hand-
set a single page of a Chinese newspaper —
in which the vocabulary is purposely limited
and the type are scientifically arranged on
the basis of frequency of occurrence — a
typesetter has to walk three miles between
his cases. No really adequate type-setting

October, 1939

FIELD MUSEUM NEWS

Page 5

machine for Chinese has been produced
despite years of experimentation.

This situation, then, helps to explain why
wood-block printing held certain advantages
over movable type printing in China, and
why the Chinese did not follow the same
path as European printers. In the wood-
block method a page of text is written by
hand on thin paper which is then pasted
face down on a prepared board. The
writing shows through the paper in reverse,
and a carver simply cuts away the wood
about an eighth of an inch wherever there
is no writing. From this point on the
process of printing was exactly the same
as the process with movable type. It was a
hand job without a press, which the Chinese
failed to invent. Indeed the wood-block
had certain advantages: the type could not
come loose, as in the crude Chinese type
chase; there was less possibility of typo-
graphical error; and new editions could be
printed over and over from the old blocks
till they were worn out or lost.

WOODEN TYPE ALSO RECEIVED

Since most Chinese printing establish-
ments in the past were small and were not
printing a wide range of books, an invest-
ment in a huge font of type was either
prohibitive or unnecessary. It would be
wrong to create the impression, however,
that the Chinese neglected movable type.
For the printing of imperial editions of
important books the imperial printing office
used extensive fonts of cast metal type as
well as carved wooden type of which
hundreds of thousands were cut by hand!

In Mr. Donnelley's gift there were also
thirty small hand-cut wooden type, of recent
Korean make. The accompanying illustra-

tion, taken from a Chinese book describing
the imperial printing office of 1773 — a book
recently acquired by the Library of Field
Museum — shows how type was set by hand
and makes clear what a laborious process
this must have been. A modern Chinese
typesetter with his banks of type around
him, has only the advantage of scientific
arrangement of the characters to lessen the
drudgery of his chores.

Ancient Type

Nine specimens of bronze movable type made in
Korea during the fifteenth century to print Chinese
books. The type have been photographed lying on
a wood block cut to print a whole page, which is an
alternative method. The three top specimens are face
up: the half-size type in the middle is for printing
footnotes; the five type on back or sides show groove
in bottom for attachment to wax in bottom of chase.

MUSEUM ACQUIRES COLLECTION
OF 50,000 AMERICAN BIRDS

Field Museum recently acquired the well-
known Bishop collection of more than
50,000 North American birds, one of the
largest and most important collections ever
assembled, and the last of its kind which,
had not passed to a public institution.

The negotiations to obtain this collection
were recently completed by Dr. Wilfred H.
Osgood, Chief Curator of the Department
of Zoology, on a visit to Dr. Louis B. Bishop
at Pasadena, California. Dr. Osgood is an
old friend of Dr. Bishop's, and in 1899 they
conducted an expedition together to the
Yukon and Alaska.

Field Museum has already obtained
possession of the major part of the collection
which had been housed at New Haven,
Connecticut. A further part will remain
in Los Angeles where, during the rest of his
life. Dr. Bishop will continue research upon
it, and further work towards its improve-
ment.

The Bishop collection includes repre-
sentatives of nearly all known forms of
birds found in every section of North
America north of Mexico. Formation of
this collection represents forty years of
constant and intensive effort, both on the part
of Dr. Bishop and numerous professional
ornithologists who have been associated
with him at various times. According
to Mr. Rudyerd Boulton, Curator of Birds,
who has made a careful inspection of the
collection, the specimens are distinctly
superior to the average in quality of prepara-
tion. An important item is the inclusion of
thirty type-specimens. "Type-specimen"
is the scientific term for the original repre-
sentative of a species to be collected, which
thus forms a basis for the description of
that species to which all other specimens
are referred for identification. Included
also are specimens of various birds which
are now extinct, such as the Carolina
parakeet, the Guadalupe flicker and petrel,
heath hen, Eskimo curlew, and passenger
pigeon. Many others are of species which
have become very scarce and difficult to
obtain.

To date. Field Museum's principal efforts
in ornithological research have been devoted
to the birds of Central and South America,
Africa, and other foreign localities. The
North American field had been left largely
to other institutions, although Field Mu-

seum did have a collection which is ex-
tensive enough to be regarded as important.
Addition of this new collection fills a large
gap in the Division of Ornithology, and
gives the institution one of the most com-
prehensive North American bird collections
either in this country or abroad. It is
estimated by Dr. Osgood that the collection
had cost its former owner nearly $100,000,
and it is doubtful if it could be reproduced
at this time for twice that figure.

The acquisition of the Bishop collection
is of tremendous importance to scientists
and to students of zoology, because of the
unusual research opportunities it affords.
For this purpose it is especially valuable
because the birds of North America have
been more intensively studied than those
of any other part of the world, and a detailed
knowledge of them is fundamental to all
ornithological research in evolution, varia-
tion, and all theoretical fields of biology.

Dr. Bishop is one of the few surviving
American ornithologists who began studies
of American birds in the very active period
of the "nineties" and formed private collec-
tions rivalling in size and importance those
of public institutions. Other famous collec-
tions include that of William Brewster,
which is now in the Museum of Comparative
Zoology, Cambridge, Massachusetts; and
that of Jonathan Dwight, which is now in
the American Museum of Natural History
in New York.

Dr. Bishop was born in New Haven,
Connecticut where he graduated from
Yale and continued studies in medicine
in the special field of pediatrics which he
expected to follow professionally. His
passion for ornithology, however, led him to
relinquish other interests and devote his
entire life to collecting and studying birds.
In his early years he made numerous trips
to North Dakota and the Middle West, to
eastern Canada and, in 1899, to the Yukon
River and Alaska. In 1917 he removed to
Pasadena, California, and continued his
interests there. An important collection
of birds' nests and eggs, assembled by him,
is now in the Peabody Museum of Yale
University.

Death is the Penalty for Seeing
New Guinea Masked Man

Each family of Tami in the Huon Gulf,
New Guinea, has the right to use one or
more masks of a type known as tago. Each
tago has a special name, and is distinguished
by certain definite characteristics. The
masks represent spirits which are supposed
to visit the village at the time the masked
figures appear. The man wearing the mask
is completely covered by a sago leaf dress,
and under no circumstances may he be seen
or recognized by any woman, child, or un-
initiated person. Should this happen by
accident, the observer is killed. Examples
of tago are on exhibition in Joseph N. Field
Hall (Hall A), on the Museum's ground floor.

Page 6

FIELD MUSEUM NEWS

October, 19S9

Field Museum of Natural History

Founded by Marshall Field, 1893
Roosevelt Road and Field Drive, Chicago

THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES
Lester Armour Samijel Insull, Jr.

Sbwell L. Avery Charles A. McCulloch

William McCormick Blair William H. Mitchell
Leopold E. Block George A. Richardson

Walter J. Cummings Theodore Roosevelt

Albert B. Dick, Jr. Jahbs Simpson

Joseph N. Field Solomon A. Smith

Marshall Field Albert A. Sprague

Stanley Field Silas H. Strawn

Albert W. Harris Albert H. Wetten

John P. Wilson

OFFICERS

Stanley Field Prendent

Albert A. Spragub Firtt Vice-President

James Simpson Second Vice-President

Albert W. Harris Third Vice-President

Clifford C. Gregg Director and Secretary

Solomon A. Smith. . .Treasurer and Assistant Secretary

FIELD MUSEUM NEWS

Clifford C. Gregg, Director of the Museum Editor

CONTRIBUTING EDITORS

Paul S. Martin Chief Curator of Anthropology

B. E. DahlGren Chief Curator of Botany

Henry W. Nichols Chief Curator of Geology

Wilfred H. Osgood Chief Curator of Zoology

H. B. Harte Managirtg Editor

Members are requested to Inform the Museum
promptly of changes of address.

FROM THE DIRECTOR'S DESK—

Field Museum Pension Plan

For many years it has been the desire of
the management of Field Museum to
establish a pension plan which might insure
a regular retirement income for faithful
employees after their period of active service
had been completed. As early as 1916, Mr.
Stanley Field, President of the Museum,
established a Museum Employees' Pension
Fund, the proceeds of which gave to the
employees the benefit of insurance protec-
tion for their dependents. While this
benefit was greatly prized at the Museum,
it was still felt by those responsible for the
operation of the institution that the em-
ployee himself was entitled to protection
and leisure in his declining years, as well as
some security for his dependents.

Recently Mr. Marshall Field, a Trustee
of the Museum who always has been deeply
interested in the welfare of the employees,
provided the means by which such a pension
plan might be established, and on July 1,
1939, the Plan was instituted through a
contract with the Metropolitan Life In-
surance Company. Under the Plan each
employee pays approximately 4% of his
salary to the Pension Fund. The Museum
contributes a much larger sum, and with
the combined contributions purchases an-
nuities amounting to 134% of the employee's
salary for each year of his membership in
the Plan. Annuities for past service,
amounting to 1% of the current salary for
each year of service prior to the beginning
of the Plan, will be purchased by the
Museum without employee contribution.
Normal retirement ages have been set at
65 years for men and 60 years for women.
Retirement will automatically occur at those

ages unless the Board of Trustees requests
that the employee continue longer in service,
which invitation he may accept or decline.

It is impossible under any circumstances
for an employee or his estate to receive from
the Plan less than he has put into it. Upon
leaving the Museum prior to retirement,
the employee is entitled to the return of his
money with interest compounded annually at
the rate of 2J4%. In the event of the death
of an employee either prior to or subsequent
to retirement, his estate is entitled to his
entire contribution with interest com-
pounded annually.

Another provision protecting the interest
of the employee who leaves the institution
after more than ten years of membership
in the Pension Plan, is the so-called "vested
interest" provision. This provides that an
employee after ten years of membership is
entitled to receive at retirement age the full
benefits of the pension thus far purchased
for him by both his own and the Museum's
contributions.

The wide-spread approval of the em-
ployees is indicated by unanimous accept-
ance on the part of those eligible. Both
the management and the employees rejoice
in the assurance that a lifetime of faithful
service at the Museum may be followed by
leisure and freedom from financial worries
in the later years of life.

— Clifford C. Gregg, Director

Fish and Reptile Experts
Meet at Museum

Field Museum was one of three Chicago
scientific institutions which acted as hosts
to delegates attending the annual meeting
of the American Society of Ichthyologists
and Herpetologists, September 13-16. At
the opening meeting an address of welcome
was made by Director Clifford C. Gregg.
Meetings on succeeding days were held at
the John G. Shedd Aquarium and the
Chicago Academy of Sciences, with a ban-
quet at the Medinah Athletic Club. Several
reels of motion pictures made by Mr. Walter
H. Chute, Director of the Shedd Aquarium,
were shown. Open house was held at Locy
Hall, Northwestern University. This was
the first meeting of the society held in
Chicago since 1922. Special exhibits for the
visitors were arranged at Field Museum and
the other host institutions.

Important Fossil Collections
Reported by Expedition

A number of important fossil finds by
the Field Museum Paleontological Expedi-
tion to Western Colorado were recently
reported by its leader, Mr. Bryan Patterson,
Assistant Curator of Paleontology. Out-
standing is the skeleton of a prehistoric
animal of the family Taeniodontia. This is
a small group of early hoofed mammals —
forerunners of a similar but larger creature
excavated by Mr. Patterson in 1933 and

known as Barylamhda. The present speci-
men, Mr. Patterson states, may constitute
a new genus.

Other specimens collected by the present
expedition include multituberculates (a
group of small rodent-like animals charac-
terized by many cone-like prominences on
their teeth), and prehistoric turtles. Work
has been begun on the excavation of a fossil
crocodile, and a large collection of small
fossil animals has been made.

Staff Notes

Dr. Julian A. Steyermark, Assistant
Curator of the Herbarium, and Mr. Loren
P. Woods, of the Raymond Foundation
staff, recently made a short trip to collect
plants and fishes in a number of Missouri
springs. Mr. Woods brought back 4,000
specimens of fishes, which are to be added
to the Museum's collection. Dr. Steyermark
collected several hundred specimens of plants.
Among the plants is one new to Missouri,
found several hundred miles north of its
previously known range in the United States.

Assistant Taxidermist Edgar G. Lay-
bourne has resigned to accept a position in
Hawaii.

Mr. J. Francis Macbride, Associate Cura-
tor of the Herbarium, who has been con-
ducting a botanical project for Field Museum
in Europe since 1929, is currently at work
in Geneva, Switzerland, and is believed^to
be safe from war hazards in that neutral
country. During most of the past year his
activities have centered in Paris.

A FEW FACTS ABOUT FIELD MUSEUM

Field Mxiseum is open every day of tile year
(except Cliristmas and New Year's Day) during
tile tiours indicated below :

Novemlier, Decemljer,

January, February ... .9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Marcli, April, and

September, October ... 9 A.M. to 6 P.M.
May, June, July, August. 9 A.M. to 6 P.M.

Admission is free to Members on all days.
Otlier adults are admitted free on Tiiursdays,
Saturdays, and Sundays; non-members pay 25
cents on other days. Children are admitted free
on all days. Students and faculty members of
educational institutions are admitted free any
day upon presentation of credentials.

The Museum's Library is open for reference
daily except Saturday afternoon and Sunday.

Traveling exhibits are circulated in the
schools of Chicago by the N. W. Harris Public
School Extension Department of the Museum.

Lectures at schools, and special entertain-
ments and tours for children at the Museum, are
provided by the James Nelson and Anna Louise
Raymond Foundation for Public School and
Children's Lectures.

Free courses of lectures for adults are pre-
sented in the James Simpson Theatre on Satur-
day afternoons (at 2:30 o'clock) in March,
April, October, and November.

A Cafeteria serves visitors. Rooms are avail-
able also for those bringing their lunches.

Chicago Motor Coach Company No. 26
busses provide direct transportation to the
Museum. Service is offered also by Surface
Lines, Rapid Transit Lines (the "L"), inter-
urban electric lines, and Illinois Central trains.
There is ample free parking space for auto-
mobiles at the Museum.

October, 193 9

FIELD MUSEUM NEWS

Page 1

THE HUMBOLDT CURRENT

By KARL P. SCHMIDT

CURATOR OF AMPHIBIANS AND REPTILES

(Editor's Note: Mr. Schmidt at present is
in South America as a member of the Magel-
lanic Expedition of Field Museum. The
following article, virilten aboard ship en route
to Lima, has just been received from him.)

The sudden change of temperature en-
countered as one's ship passes the Gulf of
Guayaquil and rounds Cape Blanco, the
westernmost point of Peru, is one of the
surprises of a voyage to western South
America from the north. The oppressive
heat of the Canal Zone and of the Colombian
port of Buenaventura is only a little relieved
at sea, where the daily temperature range
is from about 82° to 90°. As the ship
enters Peruvian waters the temperature
drops more than ten degrees, to a daily range
of 70° to 76°. Coats and sweaters make
their appearance on deck, and covers are
required at night. We find ourselves in the
climate dominated by the cold Humboldt
Current, the major oceanographic feature
of the southeastern Pacific.

Alexander von Humboldt, first of the great
scientific travelers, described the geographic
effects of the vast current of cold water
named for him. The Humboldt Current
turns out to be a phenomenon very different
from the more familiar river-like ocean
currents, like our Atlantic Gulf Stream. On
the western borders of the continents, in
the middle latitudes, the steady trade winds
drive the surface waters of the ocean before
them, and the water thus removed is replaced
by vertically upwelling waters from the
depths of the ocean. The slow creep of
the glacial waters from the poles maintains
the bottom waters of all oceans at tempera-
tures near freezing, and an upwelling current
accordingly draws on this source of cold.

JUNGLE CHANGES TO DESERT

The upwelling strip of cold water along
the coast of Chile and southern Peru is
about forty miles wide, and as it accumu-
lates it flows away northward, becoming
river-like as it is deflected westward by the
trend of the Peruvian coast to wash the
shores of the equatorial Galapagos Islands
before it is swamped by the warm waters
of the tropics.

The effect of the Humboldt Current on
the adjacent tropical coasts is profound.
Instead of the forest and jungle of Panama
and the Colombian coast, which one
naturally associates with the tropics, the
Peruvian coast is a desert of barren cliffs
and hills, often so extremely arid that not
a spear of vegetation is to be seen for miles.
The cool winds coming in from the Pacific
are warmed as they reach the heated land,
and since this increase in temperature in-
creases their capacity for moisture, no rain
falls near the coast — winds from the east
have had to drop their moisture in crossing
the Andean ranges. The result is the

Chilean and Peruvian desert coast, which
contrasts as remarkably with the jungles
and rain forests proper to the tropics as
does the temperature at sea with the
familiar connotation of the word tropical.

The biological effects of the upwelling
oceanic waters are of even greater impor-
tance than the effect on the adjacent land.
Every living surface creature in this part of
the vast Pacific must die, and sinking slowly
to the bottom, must slowly decay and leave
the simple chemical compounds so vital to the
growth of plant life. But since plants in
general require sunlight, and since sunlight
penetrates only a few hundred feet of the
upper stratum of the ocean, this vast store
of accumulating plant food is withdrawn
from the normal plant-animal-plant circu-
lation.

THE WEB OF LIFE REVEALED

In the strip of upwelling water along the
South American coast, this stored-up
nitrogen and phosphorus is brought into the
lighted zone, where it becomes available to
plants, while the coldness of the water, with
its increased capacity for carbon dioxide
and oxygen is an additional factor to both
plants and animals. With a basic and

inexhaustible food supply, the microscopic
plants of the open ocean flourish in incon-
ceivable numbers, and the stalked algae
along the coast grow to an unparalleled size.
As on land, the plant life of the sea in its
turn forms the basic food supply of animals.
Microscopic animals feed on the myriad
diatoms, to be eaten in turn by large though
still minute crustaceans and other floating
animals. These are fed upon by the smaller
fishes, which become the food of the larger
fishes and other marine creatures. Myriads
of sea birds are attracted by the never-failing
food supply, and sharks, sea lions, and
whales end this greatest of all "food chains."
We may even add man, with his fisheries, to
this series; and it must be remembered that
New England sailors frequented these
waters for generations in search of whales.
Climate, plant life, animal life, and human
relations to the environment are all inter-
related and dependent in last analysis on the
revolution of the earth (which produces the
winds and ocean currents), and the earth's
intake of sunlight. But it is only in a few
regions like the Peruvian coast that the
major outlines of the vast complex web of
life are so simplified that we can trace cause
and effect backward to the physical sources.

THINGS YOU MAY HAVE MISSED

A Rolling Stove

A way of taking a coal or charcoal fire
right to bed with one on chilly nights, with-
out endangering either oneself or the bed-
clothes, was devised by an ingenious Chinese
hundreds of years ago. It was done by
means of a cleverly contrived bed-warmer,
which might be described as a rolling stove.
An example dating from the seventeenth
century is to be seen in the Chinese collec-
tions in George T. and Frances Gaylord
Smith Hall (Hall 24, Case 24).

The device consists of a hollow sphere of
brass, cut out in rosette-like designs to let

Chinese Bedwarmer

The tops of the brazier, and of the gimbal-sup-
ported fire bowl, have been removed to show the
ingenious construction of this device for safely taking a
coal or charcoal fire to bed where it can be rolled around.

air in and heat out. The sphere is composed
of halves which may be fastened together
for use, or separated for loading. Utilizing
the same principle upon which a ship's
compass is suspended on gimbals so that in
whatever direction the ship may pitch or
roll the compass face always comes to normal
level, a round brass bowl is suspended on
two hoops inside the sphere, one hoop
within and perpendicular to the other. The
outer hoop is riveted to two lugs, projecting
from the inside of the lower hemisphere, and
the inner loop moves on a pivot which
connects it with the outer hoop. The bowl,
which holds the burning coal or charcoal, is
encircled by the inner loop.

After the halves of the sphere are fastened
together, it may be rolled or kicked about at
will, and the fire-laden bowl swings freely
and independently of the sphere's motion,
never turning upside down. The Chinese
styled the device "brazier-reclining-on-the-
mattress" and "brazier-in-the-bed-clothes."
Its original invention is believed to go back
to a clever mechanician who lived in the first
century of our era.

The late Dr. Berthold Laufer, former
Curator of the Department of Anthropology,
pointed out that the suspension principle
used, known as "Cardan's suspension"
through the erroneous attribution of its
invention to Girolamo Cardano, scientific
and philosophical dilettante who lived in
Italy from 1501 to 1576, thus was actually
known hundreds of years before him. Not
only the ancient Chinese used it, but it was
known to the earlier Hellenic mechanicians
of the Alexandrian epoch.

Page 8

FIELD MUSEUM NEWS

October, 19S9

GIFTS TO THE MUSEUM

Following is a list of some of the principal
gifts received during the last month:

Department of Anthropology :

From George Commons, Oak Park, 111. —
a human skeleton from gravel mound,
Illinois; from the late Mrs. A. I. Ludlow,
Cleveland, Ohio — 112 ethnological speci-
mens, Korea; from Charles B. Harbaugh,
Jr., Chicago — a pair of Sioux sandals, a
hippo tusk, and a small knife. United States
and Africa.
Department of Botany:

F>om George Moore, Lebanon, Mo. —
38 herbarium specimens, Missouri; from
Dr. Cesar Vargas C, Cuzco, Peru — 95
herbarium specimens, Peru; from Rev.
Brother Apolinar-Maria, Bogota, Colombia
— 145 herbarium specimens, Colombia;
from Bill Bauer, Webster Grove, Mo.— 220
herbarium specimens, Missouri; from Dr.
George H. Fuller, Springfield, 111.— 133
herbarium specimens, Illinois; from Centro
Nacional de Agricultura, San Pedro Montes
de Oca, Costa Rica — 34 herbarium speci-
mens, Costa Rica; from Professor J. Soukup,
Puno, Peru — 28 herbarium specimens, Peru;
from Rev. Brother H. Daniel, Medellin,
Colombia — 35 herbarium specimens, Col-
ombia; from W. A. Daily, Indianapolis,
Ind. — 20 specimens of algae, Indiana; from
Mrs. Cloyd B. Stiffler, Chicago — 14 speci-
mens of mosses and algae, Michigan, Penn-
sylvania, and Illinois; from Dr. Harold C.
Bold, New York — 218 specimens of algae.
North and South Carolina, Georgia, and
Tennessee; from Dr. O. L. Inman, Yellow
Springs, Ohio — 10 specimens of algae, Cali-
fornia and Nevada; from Miss Cora Shoop,
Chicago — 74 specimens of cryptogams, Mis-
souri; from Donald Richards, Chicago — 25
specimens of algae and mosses.
Department of Geolo{^:

From Nolan R. Best, Chicago — 2 speci-
mens nepheline, Canada; from Loren P.
Woods, Evanston, 111. — 5 specimens miner-
als; from R. J. Vintrup, Chicago — 8 speci-
mens minerals. South Dakota; from Charles
N. Ackerman, Antioch, 111. — vertebra and
bones of fore and hind legs and feet of Cer-
valees, Illinois; from Oscar U. Zerk, Kenosha,
Wis. — 7 polished slices of agates, Arizona,
Oregon, and Montana.
Department of Zoology:

FVom Ben Cascard, Chicago — 2 birdskins,
Indiana; from Colonel Richard Meinertz-
hagen, London, England — 14 miscellaneous
African birds; from Loren P. Woods, Evans-
ton, 111. — 23 preserved sjjecimens of em-
bryonic domestic chicks, small mammals,
etc.; from Schwab Brothers, Muscatine,
Iowa — a bamboo partridge, Iowa; from
Seymour Levy, Chicago — a lesser yellow-
legs, Illinois; from Karl Plath, Chicago — a
purple Guiana parrot; from The Charleston
Museum, Charleston, S. C. — 11 small fishes;
from David W. Owens, Flossmoor, 111. — 11
amphibians and a snake, Illinois; from
R. R. Robertson, Chicago — a platypus skin,
Australia or Tasmania; from Mrs. Robb
White, Thomasville, Ga. — 5 snakes and 6
insects, Georgia; from Eugene G. J. Falck,
Chicago — 737 shells, 57 crayfish, 156 frogs,
4 toads, a turtle, and a salamander, Missouri;
from Chicago Zoological Society, Brookfield,

111. — 7 birds; from John Kurfess, Hinsdale,
111. — a common shrew, Illinois; from Mrs.
Mabel Bowers, Chicago — a red bat, Illinois;
from G. J. Kessen, Sanibel Island, Fla. —
10 shells, Florida; from Dr. Henry neld,
Chicago — 100 shells, 43 crabs, and a sponge,
Maine.
The Library :

Valuable books from Carnegie Institution,
Washington, D. C; Hallwyl Museum,
Stockholm, Sweden; South African Depart-
ment of Native Affairs, Pretoria; and Dr.
Henry Field, Dr. Albert B. Lewis, Elmer S.
Riggs, and A. B. Wolcott, all of Chicago.

Distinguished Visitors

Among distinguished visitors recently
received at Field Museum are Mr. A. R.
Penfold, Curator and Economic Chemist
of the Sydney Technological Museum in
Australia; Mr. S. Koperberg, Secretary of
the Java Institute for Promoting Javanese
Art and Culture, Director of the Museum
Sono Boedojo, and Secretary of the School
for Javanese Arts and Crafts; Mr. James T.
Dye, of the staff of the New York Museum
of Science and Industry; Dr. Herman
Johannes Lam, Director of the National
Herbarium, Leyden, Netherlands; Mr. David
Lack, of London, a recognized authority
on bird ecology and population; Dr. Ernst
Mayr, Associate Curator of Birds at the
American Museum of Natural History,
New York; Dr. Levi W. Mengel, Director
Emeritus of the Public Museum and Art
Gallery of Reading, Pennsylvania; Dr. F. M.
Pagan, head of the Department of Botany,
University of Puerto Rico; Dr. Louis C.
Wheeler, Department of Botany, University
of Missouri; Professor Maximino Martinez,
noted botanist of Mexico City, formerly on
the staff of the National Museum of Mexico;
Dr. Edgar Anderson, of the Missouri Botani-
cal Garden; Dr. F. A. Barkley, of the
University of Montana, and Dr. C. L.
Wilson, of Dartmouth College.

NEW MEMBERS

The following persons were elected to
membership in Field Museum during the
period from August 16 to September 15:

Non-Resident Life Members

Miss Mary Louise Clas

.\S80ciate Members

E. W. Burbott, Mrs. John L. Gardiner,
Theodore Leavens.

Annual Members
Mrs. Freeman K. Blake, Robert C.
Brown, Jr., Denis P. Carey, Miss Rose A.
Clark, Mrs. Cecile Coverley, George H.
Dovenmuehle, Norman Eaton, Mrs. I. H.
Freund, William A. Fuller, Albert B. Fulton,
Mrs. Edward F. Fox, Lee J. Gary, Mrs.
Nathan S. Goldstein, Ferris E. Hurd,
George P. Jensen, Dr. Joseph C. Kaczkow-
ski. Miss Anne L. Milburn, Miss Theresa J.
O'Brien, Grier D. Patterson, Mrs. Charles
S. Pillsbury, Mrs. George W. Powers, Mrs.
Sidney L. Schwarz, Joseph J. Tumpeer,
George Wolosh.

OCTOBER GUIDE-LECTURE TOURS

Conducted tours of exhibits, under the
guidance of staff lecturers, are made every
afternoon at 3 o'clock except Saturdays,
Sundays, and certain holidays. Following
is the schedule for October:

Week beginning October 2: Monday —
Horned and Hoofed Mammals; Tuesday —
Ores and Minerals; Wednesday — Mexico;
Thursday — General Tour; Friday — Carl Ak-
eley and His Work.

Week beginning October 9: Monday —
Horses — Past and Present; Tuesday — Trees
and Their Uses; Wednesday — African Cul-
tures and Art; Thursday — General Tour;
Friday — Birds as Friends to Man.

Week beginning October 16: Monday —
Crystals and Gems; Tuesday — China and
Tibet; Wednesday — Su-Lin and Other Asi-
atic Animals; "Thursday — General Tour;
Friday — Textiles and Fibers.

Week beginning October 23: Monday —
India and Its Neighbors; Tuesday — Rocks
and Their Formation; Wednesday — Plants
with Curious Habits; Thursday — General
Tour; PYiday — Animals at Home.

Week beginning October 30: Monday —
Totem-pole Indians; Tuesday — Jades and
Their Uses.

Persons wishing to participate should
apply at North Entrance. Tours are free.
Guide-lecturers' services for special tours by
parties of ten or more may be arranged for
with the Director a week in advance.

ME.VIBERSHIP IN FIELD MUSEUM

Field Museum has several classes of Mem-
bers. Annual Members contrioute $10 annu-
ally. Associate Members pay $100 and are
exempt from dues. Sustaining Members con-
tribute $25 annually for six consecutive years,
after which they become .Associate Members
and are exempt from all further dues. Life Mem-
bers give $500 and are exempt from dues. Non-
Resident Life Members pay $100, and Non-
Resident .Associate Members $50; both of these
classes are also exempt from dues. The Non-
Resident memberships are available only to
persons residing fifty miles or more from Chi-
cago. Those who give or devise to the Museum
$1,000 to $100,000 are designated as Contribu-
tors, and those who give or devise $100,000 or
more become Benefactors. Other memberships
are Honorary, Patron, Corresponding and Cor-
porate, additions under these classifications
being made by special action of the Board of
Trustees.

Each Member, in all classes, is entitled to
free admission to the Museum for himself, his
family and house guests; and to two reserved
seats for Museum lectures provided for Mem-
bers. Subscription to FiEa-D MusEVtM News is
included with all memberships. The courtesies
of every museum of note in the United States
and Canada are extended to all Members of
Field Museum. A Member may give his
personal card to non-residents of Chicago, upon
presentation of which they will be admitted to
the Museum without charge. Further informa-
tion about memberships will be sent on request.

BEQUESTS AND ENDOWMENTS

Bequests to Field Museum of Natiu-al His-
tory may be made in sectuities, money, books or
collections. They may, if desired, take the form
of a memorial to a person or cause, named by
the giver.

Contributions made within the taxable year,
not exceeding 15 per cent of the taxpayer's net
income, are allowable as deductions in computing
net income for federal income tax purposes.

Endowments may be made to the Museum
with the provision that an annuity be paid to
the patron for life. These_ annuities are guaran-
teed against fluctuation in amount, and may
reduce federal income taxes.

PHINTCO BT FIELD MUSCUM PRESS

News

Published Monthly by Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago

Vol. 10

NOVEMBER, 1939

No. 11

WILD TURKEY, LARGEST GAME BIRD, DRIVEN FROM MOST OF ITS RANGE BY MAN

By rudyerd boulton

CURATOR OF BIRDS

When America was young — before ex-
press highways quartered the country, before
millions of hunters roamed the fields and
woods, before the forests were cut down,
before distance was eliminated by new
methods of
transporta-
tion, in other
words, before
modern civili-
zation took
over the plan-
ning and order-
ing and des-
tiny of all
forms of life —
the country
was populated
with a rich
and teeming
fauna that can
be likened
only to that
popularly con-
c e i V e d in
Africa's plains
and forests.
Finely balanc-
ed in their re-
lationship to
each other,
the birds and
animals, large
and small, oc-
cupied almost
to the satura-
tion point the
ecological
niches that

Turkeys, wild turkeys at any rate, just
"can't take it!" They require a large range,
adequate forests, and freedom from dis-
turbance by the ways of man which are so
annoying from the turkeys' point of view.
And so, although they were exceedingly
abundant once throughout the eastern states,

Wild Turkeys

On such birds as these the Pilgrim fathers feasted in inaugxirating the Thanksgiving custom. Wild turkeys formerly flourished
in the Chicago area, and in forty states from the Atlantic to the Dakotas, and from Maine to Mexico — only the extreme western
states lacked them. But as human population has spread and increased, they have rapidly vanished from all but a few retreats
in the more southern and western portions of their former range. This habitat group, in Hall 20, a gift from Mr. Stanley Field,
President of the Museum, represents a scene in Louisiana forests which afford one of the present refuges of the bird. The illustra-
tion is reproduced from a natural color photograph made by Mr. Clarence B. Mitchell, Research Associate in Photography at Field
Museum. The Museum plans to publish a book containing forty or, more similar color pictures of outstanding exhibits in all
Departments of the institution, all products of Mr. Mitchell's camera artistry, and to be printed from plates contributed by him.

had existed from time immemorial. These
changed so slowly that the innate adapt-
ability of the creatures was able to keep
pace with the change. Many of these
"ecological niches," which abstract term
is used to indicate the relationship between
an organism and its environment — physical,
biological, and social — have been displaced
by civilization only slightly in time and
space. The life in them goes merrily on.
Some of the niches are all but destroyed
and with them have gone, are going, or are
drastically reduced in numbers, the bison and
pronghorns, the passenger pigeons and
Carolina paroquets,' the heath hens and
Eskimo curlews, the condors and turkeys.

they now occur east of the Mississippi only
in the forested mountains from Pennsylvania
to North Carolina, and in the cypress
swamps, cane brakes and pine woods of
the deep south. In the southwestern states,
where man has not yet become such a
dominant feature of the environment,
turkeys range more nearly as they originally
did. Before the advent of the white man,
turkeys occurred commonly from southern
Maine to Florida, and from the Dakotas
south along the eastern Rockies to the
tableland of central Mexico. In 1517
Francisco Fernandez encountered turkeys
domesticated by the natives in large numbers
on the north coast of Yucatan. It is in-

teresting to note that this first published
account refers to a domesticated bird —
not to the wild bird, which never ranged so
far south. Thus it is seen that some Indians
as readily recognized the economic value of
this largest of all game birds as did the
European invaders. The first wild turkeys

in what is now
the United
States were
reported by
the Coronada
Expedition in
1540 from
Taos, New
Mexico. This
exploring
party found
the Pueblo In-
dians using
turkey feath-
ers extensively
in ceremonials
and in making
prayer stick
offerings.

Champlain
in 1604 was
the first to re-
port our east-
ern turkeys,
and shortly
thereafter the
Pilgrims used
them as the
piece de resis-
lance of the
first Thanks-
giving feast.
So important
has this holi-
day and ceremony become to the American
people, and so firmly rooted in tradition,
that a great schism has arisen in the country
this year, and two Thanksgivings may
be celebrated in some communities — one
by those who follow the customary last
Thursday of November, and one by those
who follow the date set one week earlier
for 1939 by the President's proclamation.
About six varieties or subspecies of the
wild turkey are recognized in addition to
the distinctive ocellated turkey of the
Yucatan peninsula. The principal dif-
ferences among these races are in size,
barring of the wing quills and, most im-
portant, in the color of the tips of the

Pages

FIELD MUSEUM NEWS

November, 19S9

feathers of the rump and lower back. The
eastern varieties have deep rich chestnut
colored tips to the feathers. The farther
south and west one goes, the lighter these
become until they are almost white in
Mexico. From this character one can be
sure that our domesticated turkeys are
derived wholly from the Mexican birds
that were taken to Europe by the con-
quistadores. The darker and larger wild
turkey of the eastern states was not much
involved in the development of the various
kinds of domesticated turkeys. The most
common variety is the bronze turkey. Buff,
black, white, and steel gray varieties are
also propagated.

On the average, none of the domesticated
varieties are as large as the eastern wild
turkey. An old gobbler of the latter form
frequently weighs as much as thirty pounds.
It might be expected that such heavy birds
would not be strong fliers. Yet, of their
own free will, they always roost in trees
to which, of course, they must fly. When
alarmed, a turkey's first method of escape
is by running, but when closely pressed
and really frightened it readily takes to
the wing and flies across wide rivers and
mountain valleys with ease.

Few birds are more alert and wary than
a wild turkey. Their sight and hearing
are especially keen, and at the slightest
suspicion of danger they take themselves
to safer places. For this reason, if for no
other, turkey hunting probably requires
more skill and woodcraft than any other
kind of hunting in North America. Turkeys
are sometimes shot at dusk or dawn while
they are roosting. That, of course, can
hardly be called hunting in the true sense
of the word. Any hunter who successfully
stalks a wild turkey, or who knows enough
"turkey talk" to succeed in having one
respond to his call, must be regarded as
an especially qualified woodsman.

The voice of a turkey, aside from the
"gobble" of the cocks during the strutting
season, is quite disproportionate to its
size and noble bearing. It is quite a plain-
tive "peeping" that can be readily imitated
by a piece of slate on a hardwood box, a
whistle made from a turkey's hollow wing
bone, or even by a blade of grass. The
nuances of tone, inflection and timing are
as obvious to the turkey's ear as the various
American dialects are to our ears. The
slightest false note gives the deception
away and the turkey stealthily vanishes.

The habitat group of wild turkeys in
Hall 20 was prepared by Staff Taxidermist
Julius Friesser, and has a background
painted by the late Charles A. Corwin,
former Staff Artist. Field Museum's
Zoological Leaflet No. 6, The Wild Turkey,
by Mr. John T. Zimmer, formerly Assistant
Curator of Birds, gives many interesting
details of turkey history, turkey lore, and
turkey habits that limited space prevents
discussing here.

SATURDAY LECTURES FOR ADULTS
CONTINUE THROUGH NOVEMBER

Four more lectures in Field Museum's
free Autumn Course for adults remain to
be given on Saturday afternoons during
November. All are to be illustrated with
motion pictures or stereopticon slides. The
lectures are given in the James Simpson
Theatre of the Museum, and all begin at
2:30 P.M. Admission is restricted to adults.
Following are dates, subjects and speakers:

November 4 — Wonders of Plant Life

Arthur C. Pillsburj', Berkeley, California

November 11 — What is Biblical Archae-
ology and Why?

Dr. Nelson Glueck, Director of American School
of Oriental Research, Jerusalem

November 18 — The Tundra Speaks

Dr. Arthur C. Twomey, Carnegie Museum

November 25 — Stratosphere Exploration

Major Chester L. Fordney, Great Lakes, Illinois

No tickets are necessary for admission
to these lectures. A section of the Theatre is
reserved for Members of the Museum, each
of whom is entitled to two reserved seats on
request. Requests for these seats may be
made in advance by telephone (Wabash
9410) or in writing, and seats will be held
in the Member's name until 2:30 o'clock
of the lecture day. Seats not claimed by
2:30 will be made available to the public.

"ALCOHOL" WAS ONCE THE NAME
OF A SOLID MINERAL

By L. BRYANT MATHER, JR.

ASSISTANT CUKATOR OF UINBRALORY

To say that the name alcohol was once
properly used only for a mineral species
may sound very strange — indeed, some
question may be raised as to the writer's
personal familiarity with the substance
that has now usurped that name. Yet,
when the word came to Europe in the six-
teenth century, from the Arabic, it was as
a mineral name. The mineral thus desig-
nated is now known as stibnite, and fine
specimens of it are to be seen at Field
Museum in Hall 34 (Cases 7 and 11).

This mineral, long known, has been used
as a cosmetic since ancient times. Stone
receptacles and bronze applicators for this
substance were used by the Egyptians
(2000 B.C.— 300 A. D.). Examples of these
objects, known as kohl jars and kchl sticks,
may be seen in Hall J (Archaeology of
Egypt, Case 32). Among the Greeks it was
known as xXoruo<^9aX^oi' from rXarvs mean-
ing wide and o<j>9a\fios meaning eye, since
the powdered mineral was used to increase
the apparent size of the eye. Among the
Arabs it was known as kohl, from kahala,
meaning to color or to stain. In the theat-
rical profession the black powder used for
blackening the eyelids is still called kohl,
perhaps the only vestige in contemporary
language of the original Arabic usage. The
earliest use of the word al-kohl (kohl with

the definite article al) seems to have been
in 1623 by Minsheu, who wrote: "Alcohol is
a drug, sometimes called antimonium, used
to color the eyebrows." Francis Bacon in
1626 wrote: "The Turkes have a Black
Powder, made from a Mineral called Alco-
hole, which, with a fine long pencil they
lay under the Eyelids." Thus, as a mineral
name, the word "alcohol" was introduced
into Europe.

Before the science of mineralogy, and
its nomenclature, became systematized,
the word had changed in meaning and, in
effect, the mineral had lost its name. Alco-
hol became a general term for all sublimed
powders and later for all distillates. In
these stages of the evolution of the word
we find phrases such as "alcohol of sulphur"
and "alcohol of wine" being used for sub-
limates and distillates. In the last century
the use of the word has again been restricted
by chemists, not to a mineral species, but
to a class of organic compounds containing
the hydroxyl group (OH). The best known
of these are methyl (wood) alcohol
CH3OH, and ethyl (grain) alcohol C.HsOH.

What then, we may ask, happened to
the mineral after its name had been lost
through these devious changes? Among
the Greeks there seem to have been other
names that were applied both to the mineral
and to the metal antimony extracted from
it. These names were srirfi (stibi) and
sTiM*" (stimmi). The Latin language took
over sTi/3i and made it stibium, as a name
for the metal antimony, from which term
we derive the present chemical symbol of
the element — Sb. Thus when F. S. Beudant,
the French mineralogist, in 1832, was look-
ing for a new name for the mineral he decided
to call it stibine. The English name stibnite
was given by J. D. Dana, the American
mineralogist, in 1854, as a modification of
Beudant's name.

THIS MONTH AT THE MUSEUM

From various schedules which
will be found in this issue of FIELD
MUSEUM NEWS, it will be seen that
there are special events scheduled
for the entertainment and instruc-
tion of Museum visitors every
day during November. On Satur-
days, in the morning there will be
the Raymond Foundation motion
picture programs for children, and
in the afternoon the illustrated lec-
tures on science and travel for
adults, both presented in the James
Simpson Theatre. On Sunday
afternoons there will be the lectures
and tours conducted by Mr. Paul G.
Dallwig, the Layman Lecturer.
Daily from Monday to Friday inclu-
sive there will be presented guide-
lecture tours conducted by members
of the Museum stafl.

November, 1939

FIELD MUSEUM NEWS

Pages

A "MIRACULOUS" METEORITE
OF ARAB LEGEND

By HENRY W. NICHOLS

CHIEF CURATOR, DEPARTMENT OF GEOLOfiY

A slice of a meteorite which, according
to an ancient Arabian legend, was a block
of gold when it fell to earth, and was twice
changed by God — once to silver, and finally
to iron — as a punishment to tribes who
quarreled over its possession, was recently
acquired by Field Museum. It is now on exhi-
bition in Hall 34 which contains the world's
most comprehensive meteorite collection.

The true history of this meteorite, known
as the Tamentit iron, although not as
strange as the Arabian Nights type of
tales told about it by the natives of the
region where it fell, is nevertheless also
extraordinary. It arrived on the earth
hundreds of years ago near the Tamentit
oasis in the Touat, Sahara Desert, and it is
the oldest iron meteorite, actually seen
while falling, which has been preserved,
according to the records.

THE LEGENDARY STORY

For hundreds of years this meteorite has
been the mascot of the people of the Ta-
mentit oasis, and if we could only believe
all that is told of it in an old, undated
Arabian manuscript it would be the most
extraordinary object in Field Museum or
any other museum. According to this
manuscript, called El Bassit, a block of
gold fell between Noum in Nas and El Tittaf
in the Sahara during the time when the
Oulad Nesslem, the Oulad Yacoub, and
the Oulad Daoud occupied Tamentit.
Each of these peoples prepared to take it
home, but each encountered the opposition
of the others. Quarrels arose, and God
changed the gold to silver. As the quarrels
continued, God next changed the silver
to the iron of which the meteorite is now
composed.

THE AUTHENTIC HISTORY
Digging into its authentic history, we
find that the Tamentit iron fell toward
the close of the fourteenth century — the
exact year is not known. Sometime between
1392 and 1413 it was brought by order of
the Sheik Amr' to Tamentit. Here it lay
in the street in front of the mosque, project-
ing sixteen inches above the ground in
which it was partly buried from about 1400
to 1827, when it was moved to France.
Because the Arabs believed it to be a mascot
of great virtue and importance they had
constantly avoided touching it as far as
possible, and tried to prevent animals also
from touching it. Before the French could
obtain the consent of the natives to take
it away, they found it necessary to conduct
long and difficult negotiations, lasting more
than two years. After consent was obtained
difficulties were encountered in transporting
it from the desert over 1,000 kilometers
to the coast. However, these were over-
come and in 1827 the meteorite reached

Paris, where most of it now rests in the
National Museum.

Complementing Field Museum's speci-
men representing the Tamentit meteorite
as the first iron meteorite ever seen to fall
and afterwards to be preserved, the institu-
tion also has a piece of the Ensisheim
(Alsace) meteorite which was the first
stone meteorite ever preserved after being
seen to fall. The Ensisheim stone fell in
1492, or about one hundred years after the
Tamentit iron arrived on the earth.

Change In Visiting Hours

Effective November 1, and continuing until
February 29, winter visiting hours — 9 A.M.
to 4 P.M. — will be observed on weekdays at
Field Museum; 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sundays.

Proceedings, transactions and publica-
tions of learned societies and universities
throughout the world are among the books
available to the public for reference in the
Library of Field Museum.

THINQS YOU MAY HAVE MISSED

Something to Think About
on Thanksgiving Day

Whether you celebrate Thanksgiving on
the traditional last Thursday of the month,
or in accordance with presidential and
gubernatorial proclamations which vary
from that date, it is of interest to reflect
how purely American this holiday is. Even
the foods used in a typical Thanksgiving
feast are practically all native to this
country, and were unknown in Europe prior
to the opening of the New World — the
plant foods, as well as the turkey (regarding
the latter, see page 1).

The important part the discovery of
America played in augmenting the world's
variety of foodstuffs is impressively illus-
trated in an exhibit of food plants of New
World Origin in Hall 25 of the Department
of Botany. By means of this display a
visitor is enabled to see at a glance which
of the numerous vegetables and fruits in
common use originated on this continent.
A large proportion of these are to be found
at almost any Thanks-
giving dinner-table.

Dr. B. E. Dahlgren,
Chief Curator of the
Department of Botany,
writes:

"On his first voyage
to the New World, Col-
umbus found the in-
habitants using vege-
tables that were strange
to him, especially some
starchy tubers, prob-
ably sweet potatoes and
cassava. He carried
these back to Spain and
presented them to
Queen Isabella, to-
gether with other products of the newly
found land. The incident marked the first
introduction of American food plants into
the Old World, an event of considerable
significance to the world's dietary, which
has America to thank for many important
contributions.

"After Columbus, the early explorers and
conquistadores found other food plants in
use and cultivation among the New World

inhabitants, especially the Aztecs of Mexico
and the Incas of Peru. Cortez made the
first acquaintance with chocolate and vanilla
at the court of Montezuma.

"Early settlers in North and South
America soon learned to use many of the
vegetable foods of the Indians, such as corn,
pumpkins, squashes, and cassava. Certain
of the newly discovered food plants spread
rapidly over most of the world. This was
true of the peanut, which was carried to
Africa from the east coast of South America,
and to the Orient from the west coast, early
in the history of world-wide navigation.
Some American food plants, such as pota-
toes, were first carried to Europe and
developed in cultivation there before coming
into general use among the new population
in the land of their origin. Others, such
as tomatoes, were very slow in becoming
adopted.

"The tomato was grown in Europe for
several centuries as a curiosity and orna-
mental plant known as 'pomme d'amour'
or 'love apple,' before it became, rather
recently, the important food that it is today,
with its juice also a popular beverage."

Food Plants of New World Orlein

An exhibit in Hali 25 which enables a visitor to comprehend at a glance
America's vegetable and fruit contributions to the world's diet. All of these plant
foods were unknown in Europe prior to Columbus's voyages. Many will appear
on typical Thanksgiving dinner tables throughout the United States this month.

Included among the products on display
are maize or Indian corn, potatoes, sweet
potatoes, tomatoes, pimentoes, Jerusalem
artichokes (which are the roots of a western
sunflower), pumpkins, squashes, lima and
kidney beans, cassava (which in the United
States is best known in the form of tapioca),
peanuts, cranberries, persimmons, papaws,
papayas, avocado, pineapple, cacao, and
vanilla. Uncommon products are omitted.

Page i

FIELD MUSEUM NEWS

November, 1939

SOUTHWEST EXPEDITION TRACES
"LOST PERIOD" CULTURE

(Editor's Note: — The Field Museum Ar-
chaeological Expedition to the Southwest,
sponsored by Mr. Stanley Field, President
of the Museum, recently concluded its opera-
tions for the 19S9 season. Excavations and
researches were conducted for about five
months on sites of habitations of prehistoric
Indians in the Mogollon and San Francisco
Mountains in southwestern New Mexico.
This is the ninth expedition to the Southwest
under the leadership of Dr. Paul S. Martin,
Chief Curator of the Department of Anthro-
pology. Following is a report which outlines
some of the expedition's principal accom-
plishments this year, and indicates the re-
lation of its discoveries to the whole sequence
of the region's archaeology.)

Evidence has at last been found, as a
result of operations in 1939 by the Field
Museum Archaeological Expedition to the
Southwest, which
may lead to the
bridging of a 1,500
year gap in our
knowledge of the
culture of an
ancient people who
lived in Arizona
and New Mexico.
To obtain the
proper background
for consideration of
this evidence, and
an appreciation of
its place in the re-
construction of cul-
tural history, it is
of value to review briefly what is known of
periods preceding the gap. Some 18,000
years ago the last Pleistocene ice sheet in
Canada was so reduced that an ice-free
corridor formed at the eastern foot of the
Rocky Mountains. Through this corridor
some of the Asiatic peoples shortly found
their way into territory now occupied by
parts of the United States.

10,000-YEAR-OLD RECORDS

Evidence of early immigrants is present
in southeastern Arizona, and has been
studied by archaeologists of the Gila Pueblo
Archaeological Institution of Globe, and
the Carnegie Institution of Washington.
The records occur in beds exposed by the
modern arroyo erosion. They include hand-
stones, milling stones, stone axes, and
knives, which occur in association with
bones of extinct horses, bison, camels, dire
wolves and mammoths. In the hearths of
the dwellings of these people is found
charcoal of which part is of hickory logs,
although trees of this kind now grow no
closer than some 700 miles to the east. The
ancient people camped on the sandy flood
plain of a permanent stream during the
Pluvial period which came to a close some
10,000 years ago.

In beds overlying the oldest human re-
cords there are artifacts belonging to cul-
tural stages dated by researchers tentatively

Dr. Paul S. Martin

Chief Curator, Depart-
ment of Anthropology, and
leader of nine Field Museum
Archaeological Expeditions
to Southwest Indian sites.

at about 3000 B.C., 1500 B.C., and 500 B.C.
The stage of 500 B.C. yields the first pottery,
and evidence, in the form of corn remains,
of the beginning of agriculture. The stone
artifacts are plainly developed from earlier
types, while the pottery is of a very primi-
tive sort, derived from the stone objects.
Between the appearance of the first primitive
pottery in 500 B.C. and the advanced forms
of painted pottery and highly developed
villages in a.d. 1000, all trace of these
people has been lacking.

Problems facing the archaeologists were:
What sort of growth took place in these
1,500 years? What were the stages of
development from the primitive to the
sophisticated? The answers have been
hidden by this gap of 1,500 years with
nothing as yet uncovered to contribute to
our knowledge of the period.

The Field Museum expedition of 1939
(ninth season of operations), working in
southwestern New Mexico some eighteen
miles from the Arizona line, has uncovered
evidence of a culture that may lie in the
early part of the gap period. Pit houses of
a former village, excavated by the expedi-
tion, represent a very ancient type of
dwelling brought over from the Old World
where it was very common. Such houses
are found in northern Europe, across Siberia,
and in China, and the idea for this type
of construction may have been brought
to the New World anywhere from 40,000
to 10,000 years ago. A pit house consists
of walls sunk two to three feet below the
ground level, roofed over by boughs and
hide supported by six-foot posts. The
floors are smooth hard-packed dirt, and the
entrance is generally a low passage opening
to the east. This is also characteristic of
the Old World pit houses and may have
been in accordance with the dictates of a
cult or merely for warmth.

Enough pottery fragments were found by
the expedition to piece together two jars
and a bowl. Hundreds of unrelated sherds
were also collected. The scarcity of com-
plete pottery is probably due to the fact
that working in clay was still a new technique
to the people inhabiting this region during
this period. The shapes are simple and
entirely without decoration. The technique
used is clay spirals without benefit of the
potter's wheel. The color throughout is
dark brown-red.

SHELL BRACELETS ON SKELETON

Burials found by the expedition are related
in type to previously known cultures desig-
nated by archaeologists as Cultures IV and
V. Skeletons were found in flexed position,
one to a pit, individuals being buried in the
houses in which they had lived. The careful
placement indicates a high regard for the
dead. On the arm of one skeleton was
found a series of four marine shell bracelets.
This would indicate that at this period
there must have been at least indirect
trade with the people of the Pacific coast.

Nothing can be deduced about the cults
and ceremonies of these people. However,
one anthropological observation may hold
here: that the more primitive the material
culture of a people may be, the more
elaborate are their cults and ceremonials.
But these particular people have left nothing
behind that the archaeologist may regard
as a clue indicating more than that they,
like their earlier brothers, were hunters,
probably a poor and peaceable people, and
that they had to contend with the exigencies
of stern elements for food and shelter.

LARGE SCALE FUR TRAPPING
REPORTED IN ILLINOIS

Not generally recognized is the fact that
Illinois ranks fairly high among the states
most important in supplying animal furs
for commercial use. That this is so, how-
ever, is revealed in a recent publication of
the Bureau of Biological Survey of the
United States Department of Agriculture,
under the title A Survey of the Annual Fur
Catch of the United States (Wildlife Research
and Management Leaflet BS-140). Accord-
ing to this survey, during the last year
for which statistics are available (1937),
the numbers of various fur animals taken
in Illinois were as follows:

Fox, red and gray 3,926

Mink 21,593

Muskrat 323,895

Opossum 25,519

Raccoon 6,281

Skunk, common large 30,426

Total 411,640

The state reporting the largest take of
pelts is Louisiana with 2,546,820. Second
comes Ohio with 2,530,800. Information,
in many cases not regarded as complete or
satisfactory by the Bureau of Biological
Survey, was supplied by forty-one states
and Alaska. Excerpts from the leaflet follow:

"The conservation of fur animals in the
United States is as much a matter of public
concern as is the conservation of any other
of the natural resources of the country.
The administration of fishes and game may
rest with either the state or federal govern-
ment, but fur animals are generally recog-
nized as the property of the individual
states. The maintenance of fur supplies,
therefore, must be brought about through
the enactment and enforcement of state
laws. . . .The states are entitled, therefore,
to know how much of their natural wealth
in the form of fur is taken every year. . . .
One of the most important features of
present-day legislation" (which the leaflet
indicates has not yet been adopted in many
states) "is that requiring trappers to make
annual reports on the number of each
species taken. . . .The data to be obtained
from these reports would provide the
material for a factual survey of the annual
kill and of its relation to the breeding
supply, or capital stock, as it may be con-
sidered. It is on such surveys that pro-
tective measures should be based."

November, 1939

FIELD MUSEUM NEWS

Page 5

TO COLLECT PLANTS IN MEXICO
AND U. S. SOUTHWEST

Dr. Francis Drouet, Curator of Crypto-
gamic Botany at Field Museum, and Mr.
Donald Richards, of the Hull Botanical
Laboratory, University of Chicago, left
Chicago October 7 on an expedition into
the southwestern United States and north-
western Mexico. The primary aim of the
expedition is to make an investigation of
the algae and bryophytes (mosses) of the
region, with special reference to that type
of flora along the Gulf of California. Collec-
tions of all other groups of plants will be
taken also. A week will be spent at Las
Vegas, New Mexico, for study of the flora
of hot springs in the vicinity. Another
week will be devoted to collecting in the
area about Tucson, Arizona. The itinerary
will then continue into the Mexican state
of Sonora, with stops at points between
Nogales and Hermosillo, and between Her-
mosillo and Guaymas. With the two latter
cities as bases, short trips will be undertaken
along the coast and into the mountains and
desert. If time permits, the lakes of northern
Lower California will also be visited. Dr.
Drouet and Mr. Richards are expected to
return to Chicago in January, 1940. The
expedition is sponsored by President Stanley
Field.

COLORADO EXPEDITION RETURNS
WITH NOTABLE COLLECTION

The Field Museum Paleontological Ex-
pedition to Colorado returned to the Mu-
seum last month with a large collection of
fossil vertebrates from the western part
of that state. The greater part of the season
was spent working in the Plateau Valley
beds, a late Paleocene formation which has
been the scene of
Field Museum op-
erations at various
times since 1932.

The most im-
portant discovery
made by the ex-
pedition was a
rather extensive
deposit of bones
representing a new
genus of the order
Pantodonta, suffi-
cient, it is hoped,
to permit the
mounting of a skel-
eton. This group
of ungulates, or hoofed animals, was the
first among the mammals to achieve large
size in the era that followed the disappear-
ance of the dinosaurs. The new animal
is a relative of Barylambda, skeletons of
which were obtained by the expeditions
of 1932 and 1933. From an examination
of the material as collected in the field it
may be tentatively estimated that the
skeleton will be between six and seven feet

Bryan Patterson

Assistant Curator of Pa-
leontology, and leader of
fossil hunting expeditions
to the American west in
1939 and several other years.

long, and will stand between three and four
feet high. The animal was very powerfully
built with a small head and massive limbs.
Like all its relatives it was a vegetarian.

The method of excavating this find
differed somewhat from the usual collecting
procedure. The bones were discovered
cropping out along one side of a small clay
ridge some sixty feet long and twenty-five
feet high. This ridge was capped by six
feet of hard sandstone, the specimens
occurring at the junction of the sandstone
and the clay. The latter being softer than
the former, it was found easier to mine
under the sandstone than to cut through
it. The clay was blasted out with dyna-
mite. Then with the roof supported by
timbers, members of the party were enabled
to sit in the cool of their "mine" and com-
fortably chisel the bones out of the roof.

Other specimens collected by the ex-
pedition include two partial skeletons
of Barylambda, a partial skeleton of a
taeniodont, and fragmentary remains of
the smaller animals of the time. Of par-
ticular interest among the latter are some
jaws of early primates, members of the
order to which man belongs.

The personnel of the party consisted of
Mr. Bryan Patterson, Assistant Curator
of Paleontology, Mr. James H. Quinn,
Assistant in Paleontology, Messrs. Robert
G. Schmidt, and Paul Clark, of Homewood,
Illinois, and Messrs. Leonard C. Bessom
and Harold Pearson, of Chicago.

Raymond Foundation Co-operates
in School Radio Work

The James Nelson and Anna Louise
Raymond Foundation for Public School
and Children's Lectures is again co-operat-
ing, as in 1938 and the spring of this year,
with the Public School Broadcasting Council.
Special programs are presented at the Mu-
seum as "follow-ups" to the Council's
science radio programs. Two such radio
follow-ups were given last month — "Grasses
and Forage Plants" on October 4, and
"Famous Trees" on October 25. Informal
meetings were held in the Lecture Hall of
the Museum for representative pupils select-
ed from the upper grades of many schools.
More than 200 attended the first program.
Mimeographed sheets containing text and
drawings pertaining to the subjects under
discussion were distributed to the children.
After the meetings the children were con-
ducted on tours of the halls containing re-
lated exhibits.

Balsa

Balsa wood, light and soft like cork, is
obtained from various species of ochroma.
This tree grows in the lowlands of Central
and South America and the West Indies,
and is used by the natives to make unsink-
able rafts. An exhibit of balsa may be seen
in Case 870, Hall of Plant Life (Hall 29).

SUNDAY "LAYMAN LECTURES"
TO FEATURE GEMS

The third annual season of Sunday after-
noon lecture tours at Field Museum, con-
ducted by Mr. Paul G. Dallwig, the Layman
Lecturer, will begin on November 5. On
the four Sundays in November Mr. Dallwig's
topic will be
"Gems, Jewels
and 'Junk.' "
In connection
with this lecture
he will take his
hearers through
the gem exhibits
in H. N. Higin-
botham Hall,
and in other
halls of the Department of Geology. He
will trace for his audience the progress of
precious and semi-precious gem-stones from
their original home in the mother-rocks to
their ultimate resting place in a jewelry
store, milady's personal jewel chest, or a
museum. He will explain the rise of supersti-
tions that led to the customs of wearing
gems as charms to avert evil and illness,
to induce good luck, and to further the
cause of love. He will also describe the
methods of producing imitation and syn-
thetic gems, and give instructions on how
gems may be tested to prove their genuine-
ness or artificiality.

As each Sunday tour is necessarily limited
to 100 adults {children cannot be accom-
modated), it is necessary to make reserva-
tions in advance by mail or telephone
(Wabash 9410). Lectures begin promptly
at 2 P.M., and end at 4:30. During a
half-hour intermission midway in the tours,
members of the parties wishing to do so
may obtain refreshments in the Cafeteria,
where they may also smoke. Special tables
are reserved for the groups.

On Sundays in December Mr. Dallwig's
subject will be "The Parade of the Races,"
on which the tour will cover the famous
Races of Mankind sculptures by Malvina
Hoffman. In January the subject will be
"Romance of Diamonds from Mine to Man,"
and in February, "Prehistoric Monsters in
Nature's 'March of Time.' " Other changes
of subjects will be announced for each
succeeding month up to and including next
May.

New Guinea House Ornaments

A collection of New Guinea house orna-
ments is on exhibition in Joseph N. Field
Hall (Hall A). Each family has certain
designs, more or less elaborate, with which
they decorate not only their houses, but
their implements, canoes, and other objects,
large and small. The designs are inherited,
and no one else has the right to use them
unless such a right is purchased — thus they
might be said to be protected by a primitive
form of patent, like a registered trademark.

Pages

FIELD MUSEUM NEWS

November, 1939

Field Museum of Natural History

Founded by Marshall Field, 1893
Roosevelt Road and Field Drive, Chicago

THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES
Lester Armour Samuel Insull, Jr.

Sewell L. Avery Charles A. McCulloch

William McCobmick Blair William H. Mitchell
Leopold E. Block George A. Richardson

Walter J. Cummings Theodore Roosevelt

Albert B. Dick, Jr. James Simpson

Joseph N. Field Solomon A. Smith

Marshall Field Albert A. Spragub

Stanley Field Silas H. Strawn

Albert W. Harris Albert H. Wetten

John P. Wilson

OFFICERS

Stanley Field Pretidmt

Albert A. Sprague First Vice-President

Jambs Simpson Second Vice-President

Albert W. Harris Third Vice-President

Clifford C. Gregg Director and Secretary

Solomon A. Smith. . .Treasurer and Assistant Secretary

FIELD MUSEUM NEWS

Clifford C. Gregg, Director of the Museum .... Editor

CONTRIBUTING EDITORS

Paul S. Martin Chief Curator of Anthropology

B. E. Dahlgren Chief Curator of Botany

Henry W. Nichois Chief Curator of Geology

Wilfred H. Osgood Chief Curator of Zoology

H. B. Harte Managing Editor

Members are requested to inform the Museum
promptly of changes of address.

FROM THE DIRECTOR'S DESK-

The Layman Lecturer

For the past two seasons Field Museum
has offered a series of Sunday afternoon
lecture tours given by "The Layman Lec-
turer." The membership of the Museum
should be fully informed about these lec-
tures, and particu-
larly about the lec-
turer.

The Layman Lec-
ture Tours actually
began as a personal
hobby. Prior to the
fall of 1937 Mr.
Paul G. Dallwig had
developed the habit,
born of his interest
in Field Museum, of
bringing in groups of
personal friends on
Sunday afternoons.
When these repeated
visits were brought
to my notice, I sent
an invitation to Mr. Dallwig to call upon
me and tell me of his work. As a result
of this interview I persuaded Mr. Dallwig
to include in his informal groups not only
his own friends but a much larger group of
friends of Field Museum. It was felt that
Mr. Dallwig, being closely associated with
men in the business and professional life
of Chicago, might have a different point of
view in the presentation of the wealth of
scientific information available at Field
Museum. The experiment, now two years
old, has amply indicated the correctness of
this belief.

Da^crre Studio. Ctiicago

Paul G. Dallwig,
the Layman Lecturer

When the new series of lectures became
known, they soon achieved such popularity
that a limitation had to be placed on the
size of the groups. Reservations were
required in advance, and still the demand
exceeded the approved size of group-lecture
parties to the extent that many persons
were unable to obtain reservations, although
Mr. Dallwig spoke to groups averaging 84
in attendance during the entire past season.

The reasons for this phenomenal showing
might well be worked into a typical success
story. First of all, Mr. Dallwig carries into
his work an enthusiasm and a desire for
accurate information which would do credit
to a true professional scientist. His research
among his chosen subjects includes the
facilities of his own splendid library, the
library and collections of Field Museum,
and frequent interviews with members of
the Museum staff. He spares neither time
nor effort in the preparation of his scripts,
and he weaves into them material of great
"human interest." His objective is to
disseminate accurate scientific information
in a non-technical manner and in terms
readily understood and appreciated by his
audience.

Mr. Dallwig believes that a good title is
an asset in any lecture series. Certainly
the interest shown seems to bear out his
contention. "Digging up the Caveman's
Past" is more alluring than "The Life of
Prehistoric Man," and "Nature's 'March
of Time' " seems more intriguing than
"Prehistoric Life as Revealed by Fossils."
His fascinating story on precious stones
bears the title, "Gems, Jewels and 'Junk.' "
His scripts are prepared in a similarly in-
teresting and non-pedantic style.

I would feel that I had not properly com-
pleted this story if I did not emphasize
the fact that Mr. Dallwig's activities for
Field Museum are wholly unselfish. He
receives no compensation, direct or indirect,
from either the Museum or his audience.
He is making a truly notable contribution
in public service and in the dissemination
of scientifically correct information.

— Clifford C. Gregg, Director

Field Museum Participates
in Television Programs

In recent weeks Field Museum has partici-
pated in a series of experimental programs
of an educational nature over the television
station (W9XZV) of the Zenith Radio
Corporation.

The staff lecturers of the James Nelson
and Anna Louise Raymond Foundation for
Public School and Children's Lectures were
speakers on these programs. They were
televised while giving their talks, as were
also the stereopticon slides, exhibition ob-
jects, living animals, and motion pictures
they used to illustrate their subjects. The
first program, "Introduction to Field Mu-
seum, Its Exhibits and Activities," was

presented by Mrs. Leota G. Thomas; "The
Story of the Earth" was given by Miss
Marie B. Pabst; Miss Miriam Wood spoke
on "Native American Food Plants"; Mr.
Loren P. Woods on "Life Stories of Snakes";
Miss Elizabeth McM. Hambleton on
"Hunters, Herders and Farmers," and Miss
Margaret M. Cornell, Chief of the Founda-
tion, concluded the series with "Expeditions
and Their Value to Chicagoans."

Officials of the Zenith corporation ex-
pressed themselves as highly pleased with
the Museum's contributions to this new
type of educational venture. The success
of the undertaking indicates a broad field
for this work in the future when television
facilities are further developed.

Staff Notes

Mr. Sharat K. Roy, Curator of Geology,
has been on a trip through the east during
which he visited various important museums
and universities to check the results of his
research on the paleontology of Baffin Land
with the work of other paleontologists. Mr.
Roy's studies in this field were undertaken
through his participation in the Second
Rawson-MacMillan Subarctic Expedition.

Mr. L. Bryant Mather, Jr., Assistant
Curator of Mineralogy at Field Museum,
has been given an honorary appointment,
as Associate Curator of the Department of
Mineralogy of the Natural History Society
of Maryland, at Baltimore.

Staff Taxidermist John W. Moyer recently
lectured on "Behind the Scenes in a Mu-
seum" before the Cincinnati Art Club.

A FEW FACTS ABOUT FIELD MUSEUM

Field Museum is open every day of tiie year
(except Christmas and New Year's Day) during
tile iloura indicated below:

November, December,

January, Feoruary ... .9 A.M. to 4 p.m.
March, April, and

September, October ... 9 A.M. to 5 P.M.
May, June, July, August. 9 A.M. to 6 P.M.

Admission is free to Members on all days.
Other adults are admitted free on Thursdays,
Saturdays, and Sundays; non-members pay 25
cents on other days. Children are admitted free
on all days. Students and faculty members of
educational institutions are admitted free any
day upon presentation of credentials.

The Museum's Library is open for reference
daily except Saturday afternoon and Sunday.

Traveling exhibits are circulated in the
schools of Chicago by the N. W. Harris Public
School Extension Department of the Museum.

Lectures at schools, and sf>ecial entertain-
ments and tours for children at the Mtiseum, are
provided by the James Nelson and Anna Louise
Raymond Foundation for Public School and
Children's Lectures.

Free courses of lectures for adults are pre-
sented in the James Simpson Theatre on Satur-
day afternoons (at 2:30 o'clock) in March,
April, October, and November.

A Cafeteria serves visitors. Rooms are avail-
able also for those bringing their lunches.

Chicago Motor Coach Company No. 26
busses provide direct transportation to the
Museum. Service is offered also by Surface
Lines, Rapid Transit Lines (the "L"), inter-
urban electric lines, and Illinois Central trains.
There is ample free parking space for auto-
mobiles at the Museum.

November, 1939

FIELD MUSEUM NEWS

Page 7

SPECIAL EXHIBIT OF BIRDS
FROM BISHOP COLLECTION

As reported in the October Field Mu-
seum News, the famous Bishop Collection
of some 50,000 North American birds was
recently acquired for addition to the study
collections of the Department of Zoology.
Last month a special exhibit of unusually
interesting birds, selected from this collec-
tion, was placed in Stanley Field Hall,
where it will remain until November 30.
Aside from the inherent interest of the
birds chosen for display, this exhibit is
designed to demonstrate to the layman the
various purposes and values, from the
ornithologist's viewpoint, of assembling
such huge and comprehensive study collec-
tions, and to indicate some of the results
obtained from researches conducted as a
result of their availability.

GEOGRAPHIC VARIATION IN A SPECIES

One section of the exhibit illustrates the
geographical variation which occurs in
various parts of the range of a bird. This
is one of the most important purposes for
forming large collections with complete
data recording the known history of each
specimen. In the exhibit the song sparrow
has been chosen to illustrate the phenomenon
of variation, the species shown including
the Aleutian song sparrow from the Aleutian
Islands near Alaska; the Yakutat song
sparrow of southeastern Alaska; the Dakota
song sparrow of southeastern Saskatch-
ewan to northeastern North Dakota;
the rusty song sparrow, which is found
from British Columbia to Oregon; Samuel's
song sparrow of west-central California;
the eastern song sparrow, found from
Manitoba and Quebec to Georgia; the
mountain sparrow, ranging from Montana
to New Mexico, and the desert song sparrow,
which inhabits the regions from southern
Nevada to southwestern Arizona. These
birds demonstrate the plasticity of the
species and the changes which occur accord-
ing to the nature of their habitats. Thus,
the desert form of the song sparrow is very
pale, while those subspecies inhabiting
humid regions are very dark. There is also a
tendency among many species to develop
increased size in northerly habitats, which
is especially well illustrated by the Aleutian
song sparrow. To compare this form with
the desert race might lead one to think
they are entirely different species, but that
this is not so is proved by their intergrada-
tion with forms geographically intermediate.

SPECIATION, AND BEAUTY

The phenomenon of speciation is illus-
trated by several small birds of the genus
Passerina. In no other closely related group
of North American birds is there so much
variation in color as in these, states Curator
Boulton. The species shown are the indigo
bunting, lazuli bunting, beautiful bunting,
and painted bunting. The last named
thoroughly merits the designation "painted,"

and it is considered by many ornithologists
to be the most beautiful of all North Ameri-
can birds. The many colors with which it is
resplendent, and the intense quality of these
colors, make it a superlative example of the
artistry of Nature.

SEASONAL CHANGES IN COLOR

Seasonal variations in the color of the
scarlet tanager are demonstrated by a
series of specimens showing three nestling
stages of this bird from the egg to juvenal
plumage, followed by the male's first winter
plumage stage, the first prenuptial stage
of the following spring, the first male nuptial
plumage, the male adult winter plumage,
and the adult breeding plumage. A specimen
illustrates also the female's adult plumage
which, although the feathers change just
as often as the male's, shows practically
no variation in color. Most birds do not
develop differences as striking as those of
the scarlet tanager, but there are significant
changes in all of them, Mr. Boulton declares.
These may be due to a change of feathers
(molting), fading, and wearing of the feather
tips. In the case of the scarlet tanager,
molting is the cause.

HYBRIDIZATION ILLUSTRATED

Another section of the exhibit illustrates
hybridization in the genus Vermivora.
Shown are two hybrids of the golden-winged
warbler and the blue-winged warbler. The
Bishop Collection contains what is probably
the finest representation of this group in
the world.

LARGEST AND SMALLEST BIRDS

A feature of the exhibit is the striking
contrast in size afforded by comparison of
North America's largest bird, the Cali-
fornia condor, with the continent's smallest
bird, the calliope hummingbird. It would
take approximately 5,000 of the latter to
equal the condor in weight and bulk.

RARE AND EXTINCT BIRDS

Finally, a section of the exhibit is devoted
to some of the rare and extinct birds repre-
sented in the Bishop Collection. Most
specimens of such birds in museums today
were collected when the various species
were common — now they can only be
obtained through the acquisition of old
private collections such as this one as-
sembled by Dr. Louis B. Bishop, of Pasa-
dena, California. The extermination of a
species often involves many complex factors,
but in many cases it can be attributed to
Man and his ruthless destruction of wild
life, says Mr. Boulton. Included in this
section of the exhibit are specimens of the
heath hen, passenger pigeon, Carolina
paroquet, Eskimo curlew, ivory-billed wood-
pecker, and Guadalupe petrel. It is only
through the preservation in museums of
the few existing specimens of extinct birds
that future generations can really know
what they were like — birds that once existed
in hordes and that have succumbed to Man's
thoughtlessness and greed.

TWINS IN AFRICA

By WILFRID D. HAMBLY

CURATOR OF AFRICAN ETHNOLOGY

In Hall D, Case 9, is a small wooden
figure of a type carried by a Negro mother
when one of her twins has died. She gives
the explanation that the remaining twin,
feeling lonely, might also die. If the surviv-
ing twin nevertheless dies later, the wooden
companion is buried with him.

Among the Ovimbundu tribe, of Portu-
guese West Africa, twins are not unwelcome,
but they are somewhat feared. The medi-
cine-man carries out rites for purifying the
mother of twins, and he gives her protection
against evil influences by providing a small
horn which she hangs around her neck.
This she has to blow when crossing a river,
when meeting a group of people, or if she
sees a hawk flying overhead. There is a
good deal of good-natured joking with the
mother of twins, and an inquiry concerning
the "litter" is met with loud laughter. To
all this she replies jokingly and with a shake
of a special rattle which she substitutes for
the ordinary oral greetings.

The regard of the Ovimbundu for twins is
not a true indication of the general Negro
attitude. African customs have been modi-
fied under European administration, but in
former days the birth of twins was often
followed by their execution, and that of the
mother also. In some tribes only the twins
were killed; sometimes one of them was per-
mitted to live. Customs varied locally.

In some tribes a special form of burial is
given if both twins die. They are buried at
cross-paths, which is a form of interment
given also to suicides and to people who
have been killed by lightning,

A wide survey of tribes south of the river
Zambezi indicates that only a few tribes
regard the birth of twins as fortunate for
the family.

Fossil Horse on Exhibition

A mounted skeleton of the fossil horse
Plesippus, from the Pliocene formation of
Idaho, has recently been placed on exhibition
in Ernest R. Graham Hall (Hall 38). Most
of the skeleton, as mounted, belongs to one
animal. A few parts of other animals from
the same locality have been used to supply
missing bones.

Plesippus is one of the native stock of
North American horses. The animal would
have been about fourteen hands high, or
as large as a small saddle pony. It had
most of the horse-like characteristics com-
mon to living species of wild horses in Asia.
The head is proportionately larger, the legs
more slender, and the feet smaller than those
of our better-bred domestic horses.

The five main types of modern corn, as
well as ancient maize such as was grown by
the Mound Builders, Cliff Dwellers, and
early Peruvians, are shown in Hall 25.

Pages

FIELD MUSEUM NEWS

November, 1939

RAYMOND FOUNDATION OFFERS
MORE CHILDREN'S PROGRAMS

The autumn series of free motion picture
programs for children, presented by the
James Nelson and Anna Louise Raymond
Foundation for Public School and Children's
Lectures, will continue through November.
Programs are presented each Saturday morn-
ing in the James Simpson Theatre of the
Museum. There are two showings of each,
one beginning at 10 a.m., and one at 11.
Most of the films have talking and other
sound effects. Following are the dates and
the titles of the films on each:

November 4 — Land of the Giants; Seago-
ing Thrills on the Wander Bird; Oriental
Methods of Traveling; Glimpses of Old
China.

November 11 — Armistice Day Program:
Famous Dixie Land Spirituals; The Pil-
grims Land at Plymouth; The Signing of
the Declaration of Independence; The
Moon and Its Features.

November 18 — Hunting Musk Ox with the
Polar Eskimos; Eskimo Life in Southern
Greenland; Nanook and His Family; In
the Land of the Reindeer.

November 25 — Winter (cartoon) ; Learning
to Ski; Sonja Henie, the Champion
Skater; International Ice Patrol; the Nass
River Indians.

Children from all parts of Chicago and
suburbs are invited. No tickets are required
for admission. The Museum is prepared to
receive large groups from schools and other
organizations, as well as individual children
coming alone or accompanied by parents
or other adults.

GIFTS TO THE MUSEUM

Following is a list of some of the principal
gifts received during the last month:
Department of Anthropology :

From Dr. S. M. Lambert, Utica, N. Y.—
265 ethnological specimens. New Guinea
and Pacific Islands; from Mrs. Alonzo
Newton Benn, Chicago — a serape, northern
Mexico; from Miss Nina Burdick, Chicago —
a Makah Indian basket, Vancouver Island;
from Mrs. Mildred Anderson, Chicago —
a jungle belt, French West Africa; from
Ralph Chait, New York — 2 bronze halberd
butts, with light green "water patina,"
third century B.C., China.
Department of Botany:

From Miss Charlotte C. Ellis, Mancos,
Colo. — 75 herbarium specimens, Colorado;
from Mrs. B. B. Lewis, Guatemala City,
Guatemala — 10 herbarium specimens, Guat-
emala; from Dr. J. R. Johnston, Chimalte-
nango, Guatemala — 80 herbarium speci-
mens, Guatemala; from Rev. Brother
Apolinar-Marla, Bogota, Colombia — 59 her-
barium specimens, Colombia; from Museo
Nacional, San Jose, Costa Rica — 43 her-
barium specimens, Costa Rica; from Illinois
State Museum, Springfield, 111. — 133 her-
barium specimens, Illinois; from William A.
Daily, Cincinnati, Ohio — 31 specimens of

algae, Ohio and Michigan; from Preston
Smith, Oberlin, Ohio — 52 specimens of algae,
Ohio; from Dr. G. T. Velasquez, Manila,
P. I. — 35 specimens of algae. District of
Columbia, New York, and Ontario; from
Dr. Henry Field, Chicago — 42 specimens of
algae, Maine; from Rev. Brother H. Daniel,
Medellin, Colombia — 45 herbarium speci-
mens, Colombia; from Professor J. Soukup,
Puno, Peru — 32 herbarium specimens, Peru.
Department of Geology :

From Dr. M. J. Groesbeck, Porterville,
Cal. — 11 geological specimens, California;
from Miss Bertha Gordon, Porterville, Cal.
— a garnet crystal, California; from Dr.
Henry Field, Chicago — 2 flint nodules,
England; from William E. Menzel, Chicago
— a mineral specimen, Mexico.
Department of Zoology:

From Loren P. Woods, Evanston, 111. —
3,441 fish specimens, southeastern Missouri;
from Chicago Zoological Society, Brookfield,
111. — 5 mammal specimens.
The Library:

Valuable books from L. C. Page and
Company, Boston, Mass.; Golden Gate
International Exposition, San Francisco,
Cal.; George J. Wallace, Boston, Mass.;
and Dr. Henry Field and Elmer S. Riggs,
both of Chicago.

Distinguished Visitors

Among distinguished visitors recently
received at Field Museum are Dr. Ralph
Linton, formerly on the staff of this institu-
tion's Department of Anthropology, now
chairman of the Department of Anthro-
pology at Columbia University; Mr. Ells-
worth P. Killip, Associate Curator of the
National Herbarium, Washington, D.C.;
Dr. T. H. Kearney, of the Department of
Agriculture, Washington, and Dr. Hermon
C. Bumpus, noted zoologist, former Director
of the American Museum of Natural His-
tory, New York, and now Chairman of
the Educational Advisory Board, National
Parks Service.

NEW MEMBERS

The following persons were elected to
membership in Field Museum during the
period from September 16 to October 16:

Associate Members

Mrs. Harold A. Bachmann, Mrs. Maurice
Berkson, William McCormick Blair, Frank
B. Calmeyn, Arthur W. Carlson, Mrs. W. W.
Forrester, Mrs. Guy H. Giles.
Annual Members

Mrs. J. J. AUin, Harry P. Baumann, Mrs.
Corabel K. Brown, Mrs. Frank A. Carlton,
Miss Bonnie Colvin, Robert S. Cushman,
Mrs. Abel Davis, Ellis H. Denney, Walter
W. Drew, Leo H. Elkan, Walter A. Gerwig,
Fred M. Heller, Mrs. Irene Huck, Mrs.
Martha F. Jackson, Mrs. Alfred B. Johnston,
Mrs. Jacob G. Joseph, Leslie H. Kerr,
John A. Obermaier, Harry M. Reser, Mrs.
W. D. Richardson, Dr. I. I. Ritter, Stuart
Busby Smithson, Milton J. Spitz, A. L.
Starshak, Mrs. Dana R. Treat, Charles
Velvel, E. A. Wagonseller, Charles T.
Wegner, Jr.

NOVEMBER GUIDE-LECTURE TOURS

Conducted tours of exhibits, under the
guidance of staff lecturers, are made every
afternoon at 3 oj clock except Saturdays,
Sundays, and certain holidays. Following
is the schedule for November:

Wednssday, November 1 — South America,
Past and Present; Thursday — General Tour;
Friday — Amphibians and Reptiles.

Week beginning November 6: Monday —
Hall of Plant Life; Tuesday— Life in the
Old Stone Age; Wednesday — Marine Life;
Thursday — General Tour; Friday — Egypt
and Its Art.

Week beginning November 13: Monday
— Prehistoric Plants and Animals; Tuesday
— Valuable Fur-bearers; Wednesday — Amer-
ican Archaeology; Thursday — General Tour;
Friday — Dwellers of the Far North.

Week beginning November 20: Monday
— Cats and Their Relatives; Tuesday —
Plant Ecology; Wednesday — The Earth and
Its Crust; Thursday — Thanksgiving holiday,
no tour; Friday — Hall of Races of Mankind.

Week beginning November 27: Monday —
The Story of Coal; Tuesday—Plants of
Plains and Deserts; Wednesday — Animal
Families; Thursday — General Tour.

Persons wishing to participate should
apply at North Entrance. Tours are free.
Guide-lecturers' services for special tours
by parties of ten or more may be arranged
for with the Director a week in advance.

MEMBERSHIP IN FIELD MUSEUM

Field Museum has several classes of Mem-
bers. Annual Members contribute $10 annu-
ally. Associate Members pay $100 and are
exempt from dues. Sustaining Members con-
tribute $25 annually for six consecutive year^,
after which they become Associate Members
and are exempt from all further dues. Life Mem-
bers give $500 and are exempt from dues. Non-
Resident Life Members pay $100, and Non-
Resident Associate Members $50; both of these
classes are also exempt from dues. The Non-
Resident memberships are available only to
persons residing fifty miles or more from Chi-
cago. Those who give or devise to the Museum
$1,000 to $100,000 are designated as Contribu-
tors, and those who give or devise $100,000 or
more become Benefactors. Other memberships
are Honorary, Patron, Corresponding and Cor-
porate, additions under these classifications
being made by special action of the Board of
Trustees.

Each Member, in all classes, is entitled to
free admission to the Museum for himself, his
family and house guests: and to two reserved
seats for Museum lectures provided for Mem-
bers. Subscription to FIELD MUSEUM News is
included with all memberships. The courtesies
of every museum of note in the United States
and Canada are extended to all Members of
Field Museum. A Member may give his
personal card to non-residents of Chicago, upon
presentation of which they will be admitted to
the Museum without charge. Further informa-
tion about memberships will be sent on request.

BEQUESTS AND ENDOWMENTS

Bequests to Field Museum of Natural His-
tory may be made in securities, money, books or
collections. They may, if desired, take the form
of a memorial to a person or cause, named by
the giver.

Contributions made within the taxable year,
not exceeding 15 per cent of the taxpayer's net
income, are allowable as deductions in computing
net income for federal income tax purposes.

Endowments may be made to the Museum
with the provision that an annuity be paid to
the patron for life. These annuities are guaran-
teed against fluctuation in amount, and may
reduce federal income taxes.

News

Published Monthly by Field Miiseum of Natural History, Chicago

Vol. 10

DECEMBER, 1939

No. 12

EXHIBIT TRACES HISTORY OF CAMEL, ORIGINALLY A NATIVE OF NORTH AMERICA

By PAUL O. McGREW

ASSISTANT IN PALEONTOLOGY

Paleontological research during the last
hundred years has yielded a great deal of
knowledge concerning the evolutionary
history of mammals. Several families,
in fact, may be accurately traced back
through the geologic past in great detail,
the classic example being that of the horse.
Although not so widely used as a text-
book example of evolutionary develop-
ment, the history of the camel is as interest-
ing and almost as well documented as that
of the horse. Certain important pages are
missing from our book of knowledge of
camel history, but these are not numerous
enough to interfere seriously with the story.

The living members of the camel family
are now limited to Asia, Africa, and South
America. For some thirty million years,
however — from late Eocene to late Pliocene
time — camels were restricted to North
America. This means that America was
the stage upon which most of the evolution
of the camels took place. There is ample
evidence to support our reconstruction of
the major steps in the development of the
camel, for, in the successive strata of Ter-
tiary sediments, bones of the ancestral
forms are abundant.

These fossils show us that in the last

thirty-five million years or so the camels
have undergone profound structural changes.
They have evolved from little creatures
hardly larger than rabbits to the large
domesticated animals used in Asia as beasts
of burden. The limbs in the early ancestors
were short, but in the modern descendants
they are long. Of the original four meta-
podial bones in the foot, two have been
lost, and the remaining two a^e solidly
fused to form a single "cannon bone." The
toes, of which there were once four on each
foot, are now reduced to two. The teeth
also have been reduced in number. Of the
forty-four teeth in the Eocene camels only
thirty-two are present in the llamas, and
thirty-four in the Asiatic camels of today.
The molar teeth, which were originally
poorly equipped grinders with low, rounded
cusps, are now long, complex, efficient
grinding mechanisms. The first two upper
incisors were lost in the later camels, while
the third took over the form and function
of a canine tooth. The front premolars
moved forward from their usual position
and they also became caniniform.

All of these changes may be regarded
as modifications for life in open plains
country where the two major requirements
for survival of grazing animals were speed
to escape from carnivorous enemies, and

specialized teeth which would permit feed-
ing upon the hard prairie grasses. The
progressive steps through which the camels
evolved coincided with changes in the
character of the western terrain, the open
country adaptations following closely upon
the appearance of the grass land areas in
what is now the Great Plains.

Some may wonder why, if the camel
developed in, and was restricted to. North
America in the past, it is now absent from
this continent and present in two others:
Asia and South America. To account for
this it may be pointed out that in Pliocene
times a land connection is known to have
extended across what is now the Bering
Strait, permitting the camel, along with
other mammals, to migrate to Asia. Al-
though it would be impossible for a grazing
animal to make such a journey at the
present time, because of the severe climatic
conditions in the north polar region and
the consequent lack of suitable food, climate
did not form such a barrier in the past.
There is good evidence that throughout
the greater part of the earth's history the
climatic zones were not so sharply dif-
ferentiated as they are today. Likewise,
migration to South America was made
possible by the elevation of the Central
American isthmus late in the Pliocene,

A Modern Descendant of Ancient North American C^aniels
Habitat group of guanacos, on exhibition in Hall 16. These animals, now common in southern Argentina, are descended from ancestors which once lived in North America.

Page 2

FIELD MUSEUM NEWS

December, 1939

reuniting North and South America which
had been separated almost from the begin-
ning of the Age of Mammals.

The camels which invaded the Old World
were of a different group from those that
migrated to South America. The large
humped camels that went to Eurasia belong

animals were unable to survive. It has
also been conjectured that some deadly
disease may have spread through susceptible
species and brought about their extinction.
Many other possible causes have been
postulated, but none yet seems to offer a
satisfactory or conclusive explanation.

Exhibit Traces Evolution of the Camel

A new addition to Hall 38, showing, by means of skulls and footbones of extinct species, the development of
the animal from a tiny creature in Eocene time (55,000,000 years ago) to the recent camels of Asia and South America.

to the genus Camelus, comprising both
the bactrian camel and the dromedary.
Even the earliest known camels from Asia
(Pleistocene) belong to this same genus.
The guanacos and llamas that went to
South America, however, were smaller and
without humps.

All of this does not mean that camels
simply evacuated North America. A
llama-like form, Tanupolama, continued
to live on this continent through most
of Pleistocene time, and a large distinct
group, Camelops, lived on almost until
historic times. Some authorities believe
that certain Camelops remains found in
the United States can be hardly more than
a thousand years old. This view is sup-
ported by a specimen found in a Utah cave
which was so fresh that some dried muscle
remained on the bone. Those camels
which did remain in North America, how-
ever, were destined to complete extinction,
for at some time before the arrival of the
white man the last North American camel
died. Not only camels, but also mastodons,
mammoths, ground sloths, horses, and
other animals which abounded in this
country during the Pleistocene, became
extinct at about the same time. The
causes of this mass extinction are not
known. Some students believe that early
man killed the animals off in much the
same manner as modern hunters have
exterminated certain birds and mammals.
On the other hand, the Ice Age may have
brought such a cold climate that these

In the ancient sediments of the western
United States are found several kinds of
fossil camels which were offshoots from
the main line of camel development. Steno-
mylus, for example, from the lower Miocene
of Nebraska, was very small and had
extremely long delicate limbs and a long
slender neck. Dozens of skeletons of this
gazelle-like camel have been collected from
a single quarry. Another striking form
was Alticamelus from the lower Pliocene.
This animal had extremely long legs and
neck, and was the terminal member of a
line of "giraffe-camels" that had its origin
in the early Miocene. Probably the most
spectacular of these side branches is one
represented by Gigantocam^lus which, as
its name implies, was an enormous animal
with a head some three feet in length.

An exhibit has recently been installed
in Ernest R. Graham Hall (Hall 38) show-
ing each important step in camel evolu-
tion, as demonstrated by changes in skulls,
jaws and feet. The fossil specimens dis-
played were collected over a period of
thirty-five years by various Field Museum
expeditions. The first camel specimens
obtained, those oiOxydactylus, were collected
in the lower Miocene beds of Wyoming
by an expedition in 1906; the last, those
of Pliauchenia, were found in lower Pliocene
deposits of South Dakota by an expedition
of the current year. In addition to the
evolutionary series, a skeleton of Oxydac-
tylus is now on exhibition, and it is e.xpected
that during the present winter a skeleton

of Pliauchenia will be mounted for display.
On exhibition in Hall 16 of the Depart-
ment of Zoology is an excellent habitat
group of guanacos, the modern South
American species of camel which in appear-
ance closely resembles the form which fossil
skeletons indicate for certain extinct species.
The modern bactrian and dromedary camels
of Asia are considered too thoroughly
domesticated to warrant their inclusion
among the zoological exhibits. They were
used as beasts of burden thousands of
years ago, in ancient Egypt, Babylonia,
Central Asia, northern China, and else-
where. It may be of interest to note at
this Christmas season that paintings repre-
senting the Three Wise Men usually portray
them as traveling to Bethlehem by camel.

LARGEST CHRYSOBERYL CRYSTAL
RECEIVED AT MUSEUM

By L. BRYANT MATHER, JR.

ASSISTANT CURATOR OF MINERALOGY

What is probably the largest chrysoberyl
crystal in the world has been placed on
exhibition in Field Museum's mineral col-
lection (Hall 34, Department of Geology).

This, and another large specimen, were
recently obtained from their discoverer,
Mr. Richard V. Gaines, of the Colorado
School of Mines, who found them in the
course of mineralogical field work conducted
during March, 1938, near Golden, Colorado.
The specimens occurred among several
hundred crystals, of which a number were
larger than had ever before been found
on this continent, or probably anywhere
in the world. They were in a small granite
pegmatite dike, only eighteen feet wide.

The larger of the two crystals at the
Museum measures 5 x 5 x 1 ' 2 inches and
weighs 40 ounces. This is 6^ ounces
more than the second largest of all the
crystals found. In comparison, not one
of the twenty-five specimens of this mineral
that were in the Museum collection before
this acquisition measured more than 2'^
inches in its longest dimension. The second
of the newly obtained specimens is a well
developed twinned crystal 3x3x1 inches
weighing 11 ' 2 ounces.

Chrysoberyl is a rare accessory mineral
in granite pegmatites and is characterized
by its extreme hardness (8.5) being exceeded
only by corundum and diamond. Chemi-
cally it is the aluminate of beryllium.
Certain varieties are cut as gem stones,
especially alexandrite, cymophane or cat's-
eye, and Oriental chrysolite.

MUSEUM TO CLOSE CHRISTMAS
AND NEW YEAR'S DAY
In order to permit as many
employes as possible to spend
Christmas and New Year's Day
with their families, Field Museum
will be closed on those days.

December, 1939

FIELD MUSEUM NEWS

Page S

James Simpson

JAMES SIMPSON
January 26, 1874-November 25, 1939

The death on November 25 of Mr. James
Simpson deprived Chicago of one of its
greatest civic benefactors and business
leaders, and Field Museum of one of its
most earnest and active Trustees and
Officers.

For many years
Mr. Simpson had
displayed a keen
interest in Field
Museum and its
work for science
and education.
This interest was
expressed in char-
acteristically vital
manner, by acts
which advanced
the realization of
the institution's
aims. He gave

lavishly of his time and his funds to
promote the causes represented by the
Museum. Outstanding was his generous
contribution of $138,000 for the construc-
tion in Field Museum of the theatre which
the Trustees named, in his honor, the "James
Simpson Theatre." This benefaction has
been of the utmost importance in enabling
the Museum to present series of lectures
on science and travel for adults, and of
instructive motion pictures for children
through the James Nelson and Anna Louise
Raymond Foundation. Since the comple-
tion and opening of the Theatre in 1922,
audiences aggregating hundreds of thou-
sands of adults and children have enjoyed
the programs presented in it. In recogni-
tion of this notable benefaction, the Board
of Trustees elected Mr. Simpson a Patron
of the Museum on January 12, 1920, and
elected him to a Trusteeship on December 17
of the same year. For eminent service
to Science, Mr. Simpson was elected an
Honorary Member in 1922.

In 1925, Mr. Simpson again made an
outstanding contribution to the Museum
by his sponsorship of the James Simpson-
Roosevelts Asiatic Expedition, one of the
largest and most successful enterprises
for the collecting of specimens ever under-
taken by this institution. This was led by
Colonel Theodore Roosevelt and Mr.
Kermit Roosevelt, and among its results
are some of the finest habitat groups now
on exhibition — for example, the rare Marco
Polo sheep {Ovis poll), Asiatic ibex, and
Indian rhinoceros. To make this expedi-
tion possible, Mr. Simpson provided funds
totaling more than $45,000.

Mr. Simpson was elected Third Vice-
President of the Museum in 1929, and
Second Vice-President in 1933. Keenly
alert to the Museum's needs in every direc-
tion, he rendered extremely valuable serv-
ices as a member of various important

committees of the Board of Trustees — the
Pension, Auditing, Finance, and Executive
Committees. The loss of his wise counsel
and pleasant companionship will be deeply
felt by his fellow Trustees.

Mr. Simpson's civic interests embraced
many other Chicago institutions. He was
a trustee of the Chicago Zoological Society,
the John G. Shedd Aquarium, the Sunday
Evening Club, and the Otto S. Sprague
Institute, and was active in the affairs of
the Chicago Community Trust, the Chil-
dren's Memorial Hospital, the Scottish
Old People's Home, and various other
charitable organizations. During the World

War he directed Red Cross work in the
Chicago area. As head of the Chicago
Plan Commission he actively pushed a
progressive program for the development
of Chicago's industry, and for the beautifi-
cation of the city.

Prehistoric Stone Carving

A prehistoric stone head, found in the
interior of New Guinea north of Cape Ar-
kona, is on exhibition in Joseph N. Field
Hall (Hall A). Its use is unknown. Pos-
sibly it was the top of a stone pestle, as a
number of these have been found in the
mountains of New Guinea.

THINGS YOU MAY HAVE MISSED

Mistletoes

If you have missed the mistletoe perhaps
you have missed certain opportunities for
enjoying life's full charm. Field Museum
is probably the only place in Chicago where
this plant, so closely associated with Yule-
tide, is accessible every day of the year
(except, ironically, on Christmas and New
Year's days, the only days out of 365 when
the Museum is not open to the public).

The Museum exhibit of mistletoes, in-
cluding a number of varieties not ordinarily
seen, occupies half of an exhibition case
in the Hall of Plant Life (Hall 29).

"The mistletoes (Loranthaceae) compose
a rather small group of shrubby plants
living mostly as semi-parasites on trees
of various kinds," states Dr. B. E. Dahlgren,
Chief Curator of the Department of Botany.
"Their fruits, usually small soft berries,
contain a glutinous substance which renders
the seed sticky. Birds feeding on the fruit
carry the sticky seeds to the branches of
trees where germination takes place, and
the seedlings establish themselves by send-
ing rootlike suckers through the bark of
the host plant. In general the mistletoes
do not live entirely at the expense of their
host. Those that have green leaves can
manufacture a part of their own food. A
few of them grow on the ground as shrubs
or trees. More than 800 species are known
from all continents. They are most num-
erous in the tropics. Many are important
pests on broad-leaved trees, others on
conifers producing the so-called witches'-
brooms. One well-known species is a very
serious pest on cacao plantations.

"Thanks to an old English custom,
deriving apparently from the ancient Roman
festival of Saturn, everyone is familiar
with mistletoe which, like holly, is used
at Christmas as a special festive decoration
for the house. The mistle employed for
this purpose in Europe differs from any
American species but is sufficiently similar
in general appearance to be instantly recog-
nized as mistletoe. An Australian species
grows as a tree reaching thirty feet or more
in height. Flowering with a profusion of

orange bloom at Christmas time, it is
known as the Australian Christmas tree."

In the Museum exhibit a species of
mistletoe is shown growing on a horse-
radish tree. As a result of the penetration
of the mistletoe roots into the tissues of
the host plant, a gall-like thickening as
large as a turnip has been produced around
the point of attachment of the parasite.

Mistletoe of the Tropics

The common North American mistletoe will be
very much in evidence during the coming Christmas
season, so a picture of it here would be superfluous:
but the variety illustrated above, which comes from
Brazil, and is very different from ours, is seldom seen
in this country. Both species are shown in Hall 29.

Likewise shown is a mistletoe on an ebony
branch. The common mistletoe of the
United States, and a South American mistle-
toe, conspicuous for its large, brightly colored
flowers, are among the other specimens
included in the display.

New Leaflet on Mistletoe
Scheduled for publication this
month by Field Museum Press is a
new leaflet in the Botanical Series —
Mistletoe and Holly, by Miss Sophia
Prior. This will be on sale at the
Museum during the holiday season.
It presents in interesting form the
principal botanical information as
well as the folk-lore of these two
Christmas plants.

Page i

FIELD MUSEUM NEWS

December, 1939

SCIENTISTS SPEND CHRISTMAS IN MANY STRANGE PLACES

A Symposium of Reminiscences by Men Who Explore for Field Museum

Somewhere, far south of the equator,
down near the bottom of the long narrow
strip of land which Chile forms on the
west coast of South America, the members
of Field Museum's "Magellanic Expedi-
tion" will celebrate Christmas this year.
According to the last reports received
from Dr. Wilfred H. Osgood, the Mu-
seum's Chief Curator of Zoology and leader
of the expedition, they will probably be
in camp at that time along the shores of
the Straits of Magellan — possibly on the
Island of Tierra del Fuego, which is swept
by some of the strongest winds known in
the world, and is to be the scene of much
of the expedition's most important re-
search. Accompanying Dr. Osgood are
Mr. Colin C. Sanborn, Curator of Mam-
mals, and Mr. John Schmidt, field assistant.
Mr. Karl P. Schmidt, Curator of Amphib-
ians and Reptiles, has completed his work
and is expected home in December.

To the three men remaining in the field,
whose interest in science has led them to
this remote end of the earth, Christmas
will probably be "just another day." The
experience of other expedition men in-
dicates that they will probably go right on
with their collecting. Museum scientists
often find themselves in strange places,
among strange wild peoples, on this day
which most men spend with their families.

The exploring scientist's typical sensa-
tions on this day may be illustrated with
the remarks of Dr. Fritz Haas, Field Mu-
seum's Curator of Lower Invertebrates,
who has often found himself in the depths of
African jungles and other far places during
the holidays while conducting expeditions
for various institutions.

WORK DISPELS NOSTALGIA

"You wake up, scramble out of your
mosquito netting, and realize that this is
Christmas morning," says Dr. Haas. "As
your native cook serves your breakfast,
you are aware of a strong sense of nos-
talgia, thinking of home, family, friends,
and the usual Yuletide festivities. Then
you reflect upon why you are here in the
field, and resolve that the day's work must
go on — it is easier to lose the nostalgia by
working than by lazily taking a holiday.
Soon the homesickness is lost as you be-
come immersed in your work — although
it usually returns when darkness falls, and
work must cease. Then, finally, if you
have really toiled hard enough to be good
and tired, Morpheus comes to your rescue."

Mr. C. J. Albrecht, a staff taxidermist,
spent one Christmas in Ethiopia as a
member of the Harold White-John Coats
Expedition.

SANTA CLAUS IN AFRICA

"We went right on with our hunting,"
says Mr. Albrecht, "and that day bagged
one of the nyalas now mounted in a group

in Carl E. Akeley Memorial Hall. How-
ever, in the evening we really did celebrate
Christmas, even to the extent of having
an appropriately freezing temperature on
the icy African mountain top where we
were camped. We had a portable phono-
graph and a record of 'Holy Night' which
made things just like home musically. We
feasted on one of the rarest of birds — the
blue goose — of which the first specimens
to reach the United States were obtained
by this expedition. I was able to act as
Santa Claus by giving my only warm suit
of woolens to a poor shivering native helper
attached to our party who previously had
seemed in danger of freezing to death."

FRIED ANTS AS A DELICACY IN BRAZIL

Mr. Emmet R. Blake, Assistant Curator
of Birds, and his associates on an expedition
to the upper Rio Negro in northern Brazil,
had a Christmas ruined by the intended
kindness of native Indians. He and his
fellows were in the midst of a special roast
chicken feast when a family of natives
approached offering a bowl of their own
choicest delicacy — inch-long sauba ants
which had been fried in grease. The
etiquette and diplomacy required in dealing
with natives made it essential for Mr.
Blake and his companions to accept and
eat the ants, pulling off wings and legs in
the manner locally practised. After endur-
ing the strong taste of formic acid charac-
terizing this piece de resistance, the explorers
left their other dishes untouched. However,
they made up for this on New Year's Day
with a dinner of wild cat which, Mr. Blake
says, was really not bad.

CHRISTMAS IN THE FAR NORTH

Most like home in many respects was
the Christmas enjoyed by Mr. Alfred C.
Weed, Curator of Fishes, and Staff Taxi-
dermist Arthur G. Rueckert, who were
members of the Second Rawson-MacMillan
Subarctic Expedition. This expedition
spent an entire winter in the northern part
of Labrador. However, they had built
substantial wooden buildings which served
as scientific headquarters and dwelling place.
A large number of Naskapi Indians and
Eskimos of the region were guests.

A Christmas tree was cut from among the
native pines, and erected in the expedition
living room. It was decorated with baubles
and tinsel which someone had thoughtfully
provided in preparing the expedition's stores
before sailing in June. Christmas toys and
candy were distributed among the delighted
Eskimo children. The men of the expedi-
tion and their guests shot at targets, and
raced on skis across the ice to where the
Bowdoin, flagship of the expedition, was
frozen in. There were also snowshoe races,
dogteam races, tumbling contests, and
other games.

Several canned whole turkeys brought

from home, together with local wild cran-
berries (lingonberries) gathered in Labrador,
and canned plum pudding burning in brandy,
provided a thoroughly home-like Christmas
dinner. In the evening motion pictures
were shown — the first the Eskimos and
Indians had ever seen in their lives. For a
New Year's Eve celebration several mem-
bers of the expedition "dressed up" — this
consisted of shaving off the several months'
accumulation of beard that had been allowed
to grow.

ON A TOSSING SCHOONER
Mr. Sharat K. Roy, Curator of Geology,
also a member of the MacMillan Expedi-
tion, was separated from the main party
due to assignment on field work in a different
area. He found himself on Christmas Day
sailing through a cold white-capped sea
on a frail thirty-five foot fishing schooner
bound from Straits of Belle Isle to Notre
Dame Bay, Newfoundland. As the small
boat pitched and tossed on this hazardous
crossing, Christmas dinner was served in
the galley, and consisted of "fish and
brewis." The brewis — hardtack soaked in
pork grease overnight and fried with salt
cod — is a specialty of the "greasy jackets,"
as sealers and fishermen are locally known.

UNDER PROTECTION OF MACHINE GUNS

A sixty-mile ride at 4 o'clock Christmas
morning to attend services at a small mon-
astery in the mountains, traveling in a car
equipped with sub-machine guns and
manned by alert French officers on the
lookout for possible attack by native bandits,
was the experience of Mr. Richard A.
Martin, Curator of Near Eastern Ar-
chaeology, during an expedition in Syria.
For further safety, patrol troopers had been
stationed in each mile of the route. On
Christmas Eve the expedition had presented
goats as Christmas gifts to the Armenian
children in a near-by village.

AN EGYPTIAN PERFECT HOST

"I found myself one Christmas at an
archaeological camp in the Sudan, about
200 miles south of Khartum," says Dr.
Wilfrid D. Hambly, Curator of African
Ethnology. "It was like any other day —
blazing hot, about 130° in the sun, with a
cloudless sky. The workmen's shovels raised
clouds of dust as usual. A messenger ar-
rived with an invitation to dine with the
local railway station-master about six miles
from camp. So evening saw our little
cavalcade on a curious assortment of
mounts — camels, donkeys, mules — loping
along the narrow path through the bush.
Our host was an Egyptian, and at dinner
the etiquette of the East was strictly ob-
served. Courtesy compelled us to swoop
our coffee with the loud sucking noise that
is supposed to express keen appreciation.
The station-master selected morsels of
meat with his fingers and passed them to us.
His attentiveness to his guests was carried

December, 19S9

FIELD MUSEUM NEWS

Page 5

to such extremes that he even rolled,
moistened with his lips, and lit cigarettes
for us. Divertissement was provided by
two colored dancing girls who constantly
swayed and pirouetted around the table.
On the way back to camp, confusion was
produced when the donkeys and mules
scented hyenas. My donkey put his heels
high and his head low suddenly, and I
sailed over his ears."

SWIMMING ON A SUMMER CHRISTMAS DAY

Mr. Elmer S. Riggs, Curator of Paleon-
tology, arrived one Christmas morning in
southern Argentina, to collect fossil animals.
At that latitude the heat of summer was
just coming on, and he and his companions
spent part of Christmas Day swimming in
the sea — it seemed like the Fourth of July.
Christmas dinner was enjoyed in an adobe
building operated by an Italian as a holstelry.
Wild goose was served on a table decorated
with spring flowers. The host used a large
fossil bone as a center-piece in honor of the
paleontologists. The prying eyes of small
native boys crowded the windows to watch
the "gringos" celebrate.

EXCAVATING A CITY OF 3000 B.C.

" 'Sitta sa'a wa nuss, Sahib, mai harr
(Six-thirty A.M. sir, your hot water)' —
these were the first things I remember of
Christmas morning, 1927, as an Arab
servant shuffled into my small mud hut
at Kish, Iraq," reminisces Dr. Henry Field,
Curator of Physical Anthropology. "Break-
fast at seven in the cold and damp under-
ground dining room, and a cold drive alone
in an open touring car across the wind-
swept desert to the great temple complex
dedicated to the Earth Goddess — Har-
sagkalemma. Two hundred and fifty local
Arab workmen were awaiting my starting
signal — both hands raised above my head.
All day long walls and rooms of buildings
5,000 years old were unearthed. Two human
skeletons, and simple grave furniture were
recovered. At sunset a horseman galloped
up bearing cabled greetings from President
Stanley Field of the Museum in Chicago,
and from Professor Stephen Langdon,
Director of the Field Museum-Oxford Uni-
versity Joint Mesopotamian Expedition,
who was in England. After a special dinner
in which Shemu, the Armenian cook, excelled
himself, we drank a toast to absent friends,
and soon retired to our mud huts.

"Overhead Miazan, the great Dipper,
looked very close. Jackals barked in the
distance. Our armed sentries paced the
camp with an occasional challenge of
'Menu hadhal (Who goes there?).' A rifle
shot rang out — a jackal, perhaps, had ven-
tured too close to camp. I fell asleep."

AN ICY NIGHT IN THE TROPICS

One Christmas was made memorable to

Mr. Paul C. Standley, Curator of the

Herbarium, during a botanical expedition

in Honduras, by the presence of a chained

(Continued on page 7, column 1)

"CHRISTMAS ANIMALS" AMONG FIELD MUSEUM EXHIBITS

The Christmas season is a good one during
which to bring young children on a visit
to Field Museum. Here they may see some
of the most famous of "Christmas animals"
— the reindeer, associated for so many years

the American caribou are really reindeer
is not generally known, states Dr. Wilfred H.
Osgood, Chief Curator of the Department
of Zoology, but, he says, they are in fact so
closely related to the Old World species

North American Reindeer

That the caribou of Alaska, shown in the above photograph of a habitat group in Hall 16 of the Museum,
are really reindeer is not generally recognized. In fact, however, they are so closely related to the Old World
species, whence domestic reindeer were derived, that early zoological works did not classify them separately.

with the Santa Claus legend; and also the
nearest approximation in nature to the
perennially popular "Teddy bear." The
"Teddy bear" is a strange anomaly. In-
spired by the grizzly-bear hunting exploits
of the late President Theodore Roosevelt,
and named for him, the toy as usually
produced actually resembles the strange
and charming little mammal of Australia
known as the koala much more than it
does any kind of real bear. The "Teddy
bear" has remained to the present day one
of the most beloved of all types of toys
given to small children. At the Museum,
children may see the koala to which it
bears such a striking resemblance, and also
the grizzly bear which may be regarded as
its real "ancestor," as well as many other
kinds of bears.

In recent years, due to the great publicity
achieved by giant pandas, toy representa-
tions of that animal have come to rival the
"Teddy bear." Children visiting Field
Museum may see the first giant panda
specimens ever to reach America — those
collected by Colonel Theodore Roosevelt
and Mr. Kermit Roosevelt, sons of the
President who inspired the "Teddy bear"
vogue — in a habitat group in William V.
Kelley Hall (Hall 17), and also the famed
Su-Lin, late of the Brookfield Zoo, now
occupying a conspicuous place in Stanley
Field Hall.

The reindeer is represented at Field
Museum by a habitat group of Alaskan
cajibou in the Hall of North American
Mammal Habitat Groups (Hall 16). That

from which the domestic variety was derived,
that in early zoological classifications they
were regarded as the same species.

The animals in the habitat group were
collected by the Thorne-Graves- Field Mu-
seum Arctic Expedition.

The koala is one of the marsupials or
pouched mammals, all of which are now
confined to Australasia and America.

Nature's **Teddy Bear"

The koala, of Australia, which in appearance more
closely resembles the perennially popular Christmas
toy than any bear or other animal. When very young
the koala's offspring are carried in a pouch, like those
of a kangaroo or opossum; a little later they ride their
mother's back, as shown in the above exhibit in Hall 15.

Page 6

FIELD MUSEUM NEWS

December, 193 9

Field Museum of Natural History

Founded by Marshall Field, 1893
RooscTelt Road and Field Drive, Chicago

THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES
Lester Armour Samuel Insull, Jr.

Sbwell L. Avery Charles A. McCulloch

WuxiAH McCoRMicK Blair Williah H. Mitchell
Leopold E. Block George A. Richardson

Walter J. Cummings Theodore Roosevelt

Albert B. Dick, Jr. Jambs Simpson*

Joseph N. Field Solomon A. Smith

Marshall Field Albert A. Sprague

Stanley Field Silas H. Strawn

Albert W. Harris Albert H. Wetten

John P. Wilson

OFFICERS

Stanley Field President

Albert A. Sprague Pint Vice-President

James Simpson* Second Viee-President

Albert W. Harris Third Vice-President

CUFFORD C. Gregg Director and Hecrelary

Solomon A. Smith . . . Treasurer and Assistant Secretary
*Deceased November 25, 19*9

FIELD MUSEUM NEWS

CUPPORD C. Gregg, Director of the Museum. . . . Editor

CONTRIBUTING EDITORS

Paul S. Martin Chief Curator of Anthropology

B. E. Dahlgren Chief Curator of Botany

Henry W. Nichols Chief Curator of Geology

Wilfred H. Osgood Chief Curator of Zoology

H. B. Harte Managing Editor

Members are requested to Inform the Museum
promptly of changes of address.

FROM THE DIRECTOR'S DESK—

Scientific Museums and Wars

For many years the great research in-
stitutions of the world have been working
harmoniously together for the purpose
of adding to the sum total of human knowl-
edge and understanding; thus they have
benefited mankind as a whole. Whether
the subject of research be the origin and
early history of man, the evolution of
animal or plant forms, the discovery of
natural laws, or any one of hundreds of
other problems, the research scientist has
cherished the knowledge that he might
look for help to other men studying the
same or similar problems, wherever they
might be. There is a constant interchange
of correspondence and ideas among scien-
tists and scientific institutions. Geo-
graphical distances, political barriers, and
different languages are no barriers to
unity of effort. Science speaks a universal
language.

Year after year Field Museum publishes
the results of its research and distributes
its publications to other institutions through-
out the world. Year after year Field Mu-
seum receives from other institutions the
results of their studies, printed in various
languages. A study being conducted in
London may be based upon materials
gathered together from the United States,
Russia, Siam, the jungles of Africa, and
the wind-swept Arctic regions. Facts are
valid wherever they are discovered. True
research seeks to find only the truth. Scien-
tific institutions and scientific men of
repute co-operate generously toward a
common end.

Normally, perhaps, men who govern
sovereign states live amicably with their
neighbors. Neighboring sovereignties carry
on commerce with mutual profit, and we
say they are at peace with one another.
Too often, however, interests, and ideas
come into conflict, and the rulers of nations,
seeking not truths but special advantages
for themselves, their own nations, or their
groups, sever diplomatic relations and their
countries are at war. National boundaries
are closed; free communication of ideas
is prohibited; co-operation is forbidden;
constructive research is hampered, and the
God-given energies of millions of people
are turned toward mutual destruction.

In times like these, thinking people may
well consider the different methods employed
in research science and in political govern-
ment. One seeks to establish truths and
to give knowledge to the world, that all
may use it. The other frequently sup-
presses truth, substitutes propaganda, and
withholds material or knowledge of special
value for limited use by favored individuals,
with the inevitable result that life continues
on a lower rather than a higher plane.

Unfortunately there is no quick and easy
remedy for the difficult situation called
war. Science is devoted to the search for
truth, and scientists sacrifice their own ideas,
their own theories, whenever the prepon-
derant weight of evidence indicates that
they are wrong. By contrast, war makers
obscure the truth and substitute propa-
ganda, to reinforce their claims when they
find that they are in error. Science by
international co-operation has accomplished
much for the benefit of mankind. Let us
hope that rulers of nations will some day
rise above personal prejudice and partisan
advantage and will so govern their coun-
tries in the light of truth that there will be
co-operation on all sides toward a common
goal of harmonious living.

— Clifford C. Gregg, Director

Henceforth the editorials appearing under
the heading "From the Director's Desk," will
not be published regularly every month, but
will appear from time to time.

children and teachers, and increase its
effectiveness year by year. A heavy pro-
gram of activities both in the Museum
itself and in the schools is now being carried,
and a number of innovations have recently
been made.

Museum Receives Another $2,000 Gift
from Mrs. James Nelson Raymond

A gift of $2,000 was received by Field
Museum last month from Mrs. James
Nelson Raymond. The money is for the
support of the activities conducted by the
James Nelson and Anna Louise Raymond
Foundation for Public School and Children's
Lectures, and is the third such contribution
made by Mrs. Raymond during 1939.
With the total of $6,000 given this year,
the Museum has now received a total of
$569,422 from this generous benefactor.

Mrs. Raymond's continuing and kindly
interest in the work of the Foundation
has made it possible for that division of
the Museum to improve its services to

Bequest from Cyrus H. McCormick

A bequest of $10,000 from the late Cyrus
H. McCormick, who was a Trustee of Field
Museum from 1894 until his death in 1936,
was paid to the Museum last month by
his estate. The money has been added to
the endowment funds of the Museum.

Distinguished Visitors

Among distinguished visitors recently
received at Field Museum are Dr. D. C.
Graham, well-known archaeologist and eth-
nologist, and a professor at the West China
Union University, Cheng-tu, Szechwan;
Professor Owen Lattimore of Johns Hopkins
University, Baltimore, who is editor of
Pacific Affairs; Mr. James Roosevelt, of
Hollywood, California; Dr. Gordon L.
Walls, of the ophthalmic research laboratory
at Wayne University College of Medicine,
Detroit; Mr. Roger Conant, Curator of
Reptiles of the Philadelphia Zoological
Society; Dr. V. Wolfgang von Hagen, noted
ethnologist, explorer, and author, of Berke-
ley, California; Mrs. Paul Armand Scherer,
chairman of activities of the Junior Recrea-
tional Museum of San Francisco, and Mr.
A. S. Coggeshall, Director of the Santa
Barbara (California) Museum of Natu-
ral History.

A FEW FACTS ABOUT FIELD MUSEUM

Field Museum is open every day of the year
(except Christmas and New Year's Day) during
the hours indicated below:

November, December,

January, February ... 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
March, April, and

September, October .9 a.m. to 5 P.M.
May, June, July, August. 9 a.m. to 6 P.M.

Admission is free to Members on all days.
Other adults are admitted free on Thtxrsdays,
Saturdays, and Sundays: non-members pay 25
cents on other days. Children are admitted free
on all days- Students and faculty members of
educational institutions are admitted free any
day upon presentation of credentials.

The Museum's Library is open for reference
daily except Saturday afternoon and Sunday.

Traveling exhibits are circulated in the
schools of Chicago by the N. W. Harris Public
School Extension Department of the Museum.

Lecttires at schools, and special entertain-
ments and tours for children at the Museum, are
provided by the James Nelson and .\nna Louise
Raymond Foundation for Public School and
Children's Lectures.

Free courses of lectures for adults are pre-
sented in the James Simpson Theatre on Satur-
day afternoons (at 2:30 o'clock) in March,
.April, October, and November.

A Cafeteria serves visitors. Rooms are avail-
able also for those bringing their limches.

Chicago Motor Coach Company No. 26
busses provide direct transportation to the
Museum. Service is offered also by Surface
Lines, Rapid Transit Lines (the "L"), inter-
urban electric lines, and Illinois Central trains.
There is ample free parking space for auto-
mol>iles at the Museum.

December, 1939

FIELD MUSEUM NEWS

Page 7

Manftbetu Woman

One of the sculptures by
Malvina Hoflfman, dis-
ctissed by Mr. Dallwig in
"The Parade of the Races."

SUNDAY TOURS IN DECEMBER
TO STUDY RACIAL TYPES

"The Parade of the Races" is the subject
of the lecture tours to be conducted by Mr.
Paul G. Dallwig, the Layman Lecturer, on
the five Sunday afternoons during December.
In this lecture,
which has proved
in previous seasons
one of the most
popular of Mr.
Dallwig's sub-
jects, he takes his
hearers on an im-
aginary trip around
the world, visiting
the inhabitants of
jungle forests,
great princes of the
East in their
palaces, and many
strata of human
society in between.
Mr. Dallwig en-
deavors to clarify the basic physical charac-
teristics that differentiate the races of man-
kind, and to promote a deeper and more
sympathetic understanding of the principal
peoples of the earth.

As each Sunday tour is necessarily limited
to 100 adults {children cannot be accommo-
dated), it is necessary to make reservations
in advance by mail or telephone (Wabash
9410). Lectures begin promptly at 2 p.m.,
and end at 4:30. During a half-hour inter-
mission midway in the tours, members of
the parties wishing to do so may obtain
refreshments in the Cafeteria, where they
may also smoke. Special tables are reserved.
In January Mr. Dallwig will introduce a
new lecture subject with his first presenta-
tion of "Romance of Diamonds."

SCIENTISTS SPEND CHRISTMAS
IN MANY STRANGE PLACES

(Continued from page 5)

Hindu maniac who a few days before,
had attempted to murder a British overseer
in the vicinity. This charming guest was
present at the dinner. Mr. Standley recalls
also a New Year's Eve spent in a tiny log
cabin at an altitude of 10,000 feet on Cerro
de Las Vueltas in Costa Rica. It was
freezing cold — a sheet of ice covered pools
among the spagnum. A gale was blowing
and it was raining. The hut had open
gables so that wind, fog, and rain swept
through the interior. The only light was
the flame of a small candle.

"I went to bed before dark, to keep warm,
bundled in layer upon layer of heavy
clothes, but in spite of all it was the coldest,
most uncomfortable night I ever spent in
my life — in the midst of the tropics!" says
Mr. Standley. "I was lying on a shelf-like
tabanco, usual bed of the country people,
but slept very little. Nearly all night I was
entertained by the tales of three young

men who were traveling with a large and
very fat hog that had been so affected by
the cold and high altitude it had been
unable to proceed the day before."

Christmas in the field once became a
commonplace to Dr. Albert B. Lewis
Curator of Melanesian Ethnology. He
was in far-off places on that day in four
successive years while conducting expedi-
tions for Field Museum. The first time
was on the island of New Britain in the
South Pacific, where the natives, employed
on European-owned plantations and there-
fore given a holiday, celebrated with a
"sing-sing" and exotic dancing. The next
year Dr. Lewis attended a similar celebra-
tion in the Solomon Islands; the third
Christmas was spent in Australia, and the
fourth aboard ship en route to New Guinea.

HOW THE MAYAS CELEBRATE

The most hilarious Christmas was that
among the Maya Indians of Central
America, described in 1929 by Mr. J. Eric
Thompson, formerly Curator of Central
and South American Archaeology at Field
Museum (now on the staff of the Carnegie
Institution of Washington, D. C). In a
report on the progress of the Second Marshall
Field Archaeological Expedition to British
Honduras, Mr. Thompson wrote:

"I arrived at San Antonio (British Hon-
duras) just before Christmas. The Mayas
here are nominal Christians, but retain
much of the old paganism, and seize eagerly
any excuse for a feast, so Christmas was
the occasion for a four-day siesta. The
married men are banded in guilds of thirteen
men each, and on the senior man of each
guild successively falls the honor, but also
the cost and responsibility, of being host
to the whole village for a festival.

"The Christmas fiesta was in a large hut.
On the mud floor squatted the women and
their numerous children. At one end was
the orchestra, consisting of a queer harp
with a wide hollow base, and a crude home-
made violin. The music was a crude
barbaric rhythm such as probably accom-
panied rites of human sacrifice fifteen cen-
turies ago.

"The center of the hut was occupied by
dancing couples. The men wore moccasins
or boots, while the women were barefoot,
as an outward visible symbol of male
superiority, a tradition that remains un-
shaken here. Most of the men were under
the influence of the native-made fiery white
rum, and as the night wore on the scene
became more animated with the shouts in
the Maya tongue becoming wilder and
wilder. At last, yielding to the potent
liquor, the men fell one by one, headlong
to the ground, often amidst the dancers.

"In the days when ancient Maya culture
flourished, only the old people had the
privilege of getting drunk, and they did it
only on special occasions as a form of
ceremonial sacrifice to the gods."

STAFF NOTES

Dr. Louis B. Bishop, of Pasadena, Cali-
fornia, well-known ornithologist, has been
given an honorary appointment on the
staff of Field Mu-
seum as Research
Associate in the
Division of Birds. ^^^
Dr. Bishop was re- ^^H ^|
sponsible for as-
sembling the great
collection of more
than 50,000 North ^^^^
American birds re- ^^^^H . h i
cently acquired by
Field Museum,
and known as "the
Bishop Collection."
He will continue
research upon these birds, to which he has
devoted a major part of his time during the
past forty years.

Hewlett photo

Dr. Louis B. Bishop

Dr. Julian A. Steyermark, Assistant
Curator of the Herbarium, now leading a
botanical expedition to Guatemala, reports
exceptional success during his first month
in the field, with more than a thousand
numbers collected. His headquarters have
been at the town of Zacapa, in the heart
of the Motagua Valley desert region of the
Atlantic watershed. He also made a trip
of several days to the summit of the Sierra
de las Minas, which rises above the Motagua
River, a region probably never visited before
by any botanist.

Dr. Francis Drouet, Curator of Crypto-
gamic Botany, leading a botanical expedition
to the southwestern United States and north-
western Mexico, has forwarded to the Mu-
seum a collection of 1,200 algae and other
plants from the general region of Las Vegas,
New Mexico, where he spent several weeks
exploring particularly the algal flora of the
numerous hot springs which abound there.
In October he engaged in similar exploration
in southern Arizona, and early in November
left for Mexico. When last heard from he
was at work in northern Sonora. He is
accompanied by Mr. Donald Richards of the
University of Chicago.

Professor Samuel J. Record, Dean of the
School of Forestry at Yale University,
during a recent visit to Chicago conferred
with members of Field Museum's Depart-
ment of Botany. He is a member of the
Department staff, as Research Associate in
Wood Technology.

Mr. Paul G. Dallwig, the Layman Lec-
turer currently conducting Sunday afternoon
lecture-tours at Field Museum, was guest
speaker on November 25 before the Spring-
field (Illinois) Women's Club. He gave
a version of "Gems, Jewels and 'Junk' "
which, when presented at the Museum,
is illustrated with gem exhibits.

Page 8

FIELD MUSEUM NEWS

December, 1939

GIFTS TO THE MUSEUM

Following is list of some of the principal
gifts received during the last month:
Department of Anthropology:

From Estate of Mrs. Anne Fisher — 38
negatives and 100 prints of scenes in Iraq.
Department of Botany :

From Miss Marjorie Brown, Bennington,
Vt. — 135 herbarium specimens, Panama;
from University of Texas, Austin — 48 her-
barium specimens, Texas; from Donovan S.
Correll, Cambridge, Mass. — 76 specimens
of orchids, southeastern United States; from
Museo del Institute de la Salle, Bogota,
Colombia — 131 herbarium specimens,
Colombia.
Department of Geology:

From Ludwig A. Koelnau, Minneapolis,
Minn. — a chatoyant quartz specimen, Min-
nesota; from Miss Ann Trevett, Casper,
Wyo. — 5 specimens of cordierite, Wyoming;
from Mrs. M. J. Hubeny, Chicago — a sardo-
nyx boulder, Oregon.

Department of Zoology:

From Chicago Zoological Society, Brook-
field, 111. — 17 birds and a mammal; from
Loren P. Woods, Evanston, 111. — 1,177 lower
invertebrates, Washington and Indiana; from
G. J. Kessen, Sanibel Island, Fla. — 2 live
snakes, Florida; from W. J. Beecher, Chicago
— 22 small mammals, Illinois; from Schwab
Brothers, Muscatine, Iowa — a barred owl
and a quail, Iowa; from Carnegie Museum,
Pittsburgh, Pa. — a salamander. West Vir-
ginia; from Dr. Henry Field, Chicago —
86 fish specimens, Maine.
The Library :

Valuable books from G. C. Vaillant,
New York City; T. Cabot, Boston, Mass.;
E. P. Dieseldorff, Coban, Guatemala;
Harold V. Smith, New York City; and
Henry W. Nichols, Dr. Henry Field, Elmer
S. Riggs, W. J. Gerhard, Earl E. SherfF,
and M. Garkowski, all of Chicago.

Belladonna

Belladonna, a member of the nightshade
family, is a coarse, much branched herb,
three to five feet tall, with large ovate leaves.
The small flowers are bell-shaped, and of a
greenish color. The large and thick roots
are used, as well as the leaves, in preparing
atropine, the "drops" employed by oph-
thalmologists to relax the muscles of the iris
before testing the eyes for glasses. The
name belladonna, meaning "beautiful lady,"
is derived from the practice of Italian
women who employed an extract of the plant
to brighten their eyes. Leaves of the plant
are shown in the Hall of Plant Life (Hall 29).

Field Museum Now a Member
of Radio Council

Field Museum has become a member of
the University Broadcasting Council which
is responsible for many of the better types
of educational and cultural programs pre-
sented on the radio. Among other institu-
tions which are members of this organiza-
tion are: Northwestern University, De Paul
University, and the Art Institute.

Guide-Lecture Hour Changed

Beginning December 1, the guide-lecture
tours offered daily from Monday to Friday
inclusive for the general public at Field
Museum will begin at 2 p.m., instead of at
3 P.M. as heretofore. It is believed the new
hour will better suit the convenience of a
larger number of persons desiring to partici-
pate in these tours.

NEW MEMBERS

The following persons were elected to
membership in Field Museum during the
period from October 16 to November 15:

Associate Members

Reid M. Bennett, Mrs. Warren Buckley,
Donovan Y. Erickson, Max Gerber, Miss
Ruth G. Mason, Mrs. H. Foster Straw,
Otto Vogl.

Annual Members

Benjamin S. Adamowski, Miss Minnie J.
Arthur, Miss Mildred Berleman, Miss
Josephine Blalock, Carleton Blunt, Mrs.
Ralph E. Burkhardt, Paul W. Cook, Miss
Winnie Coxe, William Dwight Darrow,
Countess Mira Edgerly, William Eismann,
Winston Elting, Mrs. M. G. Fessenden,
John D. Filson, Miss Gertrude Gane,
Joseph L. Gidwitz, Mrs. William O. Good-
man, Dr. Earle Gray, Harry Hall, Henry M.
Huxley, Mathew Keck, EUman Koolish,
George E. Kuh, Paul Moore, Rev. Walter K.
Morley, Harry C. Phibbs, Mrs. W. G. Potts,
John T. Riddell, David P. Scobie, Harry
Seidenberg, Mrs. James U. Snydacker,
Frank M. Wallace, R. A. Walsh, Lew H.
Webb, Edward Wray.

DECEMBER GUIDE-LECTURE TOURS

Conducted tours of exhibits, under the
guidance of staff lecturers, are made every
afternoon at 2 o'clock except Saturdays,
Sundays, and certain holidays. Following
is the schedule for December:

Friday, December 1 — Etruscan and Ro-
man Exhibits.

Week beginning December 4: Monday —
Moon, Meteorites and Minerals; Tuesday
— Carl Akeley and His Work; Wednesday
— Masks and Their Uses; Thursday —
General Tour; Friday — Rocks and Their
Formation.

Week beginning December 11: Monday —
Native American Fruits and Vegetables;
Tuesday — Deer and Antelope; Wednesday —
China and Tibet; Thursday — General Tour;
Friday — Dinosaurs and Other Early Rep-
tiles.

Week beginning December 18: Monday
— Su-Lin and His Neighbors; Tuesday —
Mammals of the World; Wednesday — Hall
of Plant Life; Thursday — General Tour;
Friday — Egypt.

Week beginning December 25: Monday —
Christmas holiday. Museum closed; Tues-
day— Animals at Home; Wednesday — In-
dians of Plains and Deserts; Thursday —
General Tour; Friday — The Story of Man.

Persons wishing to participate should
apply at North Entrance. Tours are free.
Guide-lecturers' services for special tours
by parties of ten or more may be arranged
for with the Director a week in advance.

Fine embroideries made in western India
are exhibited in Stanley Field Hall.

CHRISTMAS SHOPPING MADE EASY BY FIELD MUSEUM

Members of Field Museum are offered services whereby they may, while sitting
at their own desks, do at least a large part of their Christmas shopping, thus avoiding
the crowds that fill the streets and stores during the rush season. Further, they can
obtain relief from the task of wrapping Christmas parcels, and save themselves from
standing in long lines at post offices to have their packages weighed, stamped and
insured.

The Museum offers its assistance in two forms:

1. Christmas Gift Memberships in the Museum. With this issue of Field Museum
News there are enclosed Christmas Gift Membership application forms, and postage-
prepaid envelopes for returning them. All you need to do is designate the name of
the person you wish elected to membership, and send the form in with your check.
The Museum will handle all details, sending the recipients attractive Christmas cards
notifying them that they have been elected Members of this institution through your
courtesy. With the card will be sent information about their privileges as Members,
as well as the regular Membership cards (and Certificates in the case of Life and Asso-
ciate Members).

2. Services of the Book Shop of Field Museum. The Book Shop is prepared
to furnish books, endorsed for scientific authenticity by members of the Museum
staff, for both adults and children. Also, the Book Shop has in stock a wide selection
of other appropriate gifts, such as book ends, illuminated globe-maps of the world,
and animal models suitable for use as library decorations or as toys for children. You
are invited to browse in the Book Shop during part of your next visit to the Museum.
Where desired, the Book Shop will handle mail and telephone orders, and will undertake
all details in connection with the wrapping, and dispatching of gift purchases to the
designated recipients, together with such forms of greeting as the purchaser may
specify. Purchasers may also specify the date upon which delivery is to be made.

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