Field

News

Published Monthly by Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago

Vol. 14

JANUARY, 1943

No. 1

STORY OF INDIAN LIFE BEFORE COLUMBUS TOLD IN "STREAMLINED" EXHIBITS

By PAUL S. MARTIN

CHIEF CURATOR, DEPARTMENT OF ANTHROPOLOGY

With the opening of the west section of
Hall B, a section called "Indian America,"
an era of radically improved technique in
anthropological exhibits has been inaugu-
rated. Here the visitor will find to his delight
that few specimens, practically no labels,
good lighting, and a liberal use of gay colors

POTTERY

TrPlCAL FOffMS OF
OrFFIRENt REGIONS

this antiquated notion of museum exhibits,
shows conclusively that the ordinary visitor
will give no more than a hasty and bored
glance at these "systematic" exhibits. For
the most part they tell no story, have no
meaning, are dull, forbidding, and fatiguing,
and have been responsible for the common
saying, "Dead as a museum." The most
that may kindly be said about older syste-

hensive though necessarily synoptic fashion.
The purpose of this entire hall will be to
give the visitor a bird's-eye view of the
ancient cultures and civilizations of the
Americas. The accomplishments of the
peoples of each large geographical area will
be shown in relation to those of other areas.
It is proposed to emphasize modes of life
rather than specific traits and developments.

EXAMPLE OF EXHIBITS IN NEW HALL OF AMERICAN ARCHAEOLOGY

Typical forms of pottery characterizing Indian cultures in various areas of North and South America at the time of discovefy by Columbus.

harmoniously and tastefully blended, make
for irresistible displays. All previous ideas
and methods of displaying materials have
been thrown overboard. Formerly, it was
our wont to exhibit specimens — many
baskets, hundreds of stone tools, rows of
pots — with no attempt to give meaning to
these objects. Just as a series of nonsense
syllables do not make a poem or the words
in a dictionary do not constitute a story, so
did these exhibits make no sense to anyone.
There are many museum curators who still
cling to the notion that a drab case, full of
spears or butterflies or rocks, is so tantaliz-
ingly attractive that the casual visitor will
be compelled to look at the exhibit. Experi-
ence has proved that such exhibitions do not
teach anything.

The scientific method, which includes
among other things observation as well as
the recognition of realities, when applied to

matic exhibits is that they are really study
collections stored in the public halls and
useful only to a handful of specialists.

The Department of Anthropology has
rejected these outworn principles and
started to work out new methods of display
which will teach the function and meaning
of objects. The first practical application
of these methods has been tried out in this
hall which is to be devoted to Archaeology
of the New World. The first section of
the hall will be opened in January, 1943.

SYNOPSIS OF EARLY AMERICAN CULTURES

To set forth the archaeology of North,
Central and South America in one hall may
seem like a bold, almost impertinent, and
impossible feat. Yet we are confident that
it can be done. Of course, we shall attempt
to present only the most essential facts
concerning the history of the Indian civiliza-
tions, but this will be done in a compre-

The exhibits in the hall are designed to give
in an integrated fashion a basic knowledge
of New World archaeology to any interested
visitor. From this hall (B) the visitor can
then go to the other Indian exhibits in the
Museum with a framework of knowledge,
understanding, and depth of perception
which will give him greater insight and
pleasure. It is the avowed purpose to in-
crease the knowledge, happiness and ex-
perience of every visitor by stimulating
thought and feeling.

There will be three sections in this new
hall, when it is completed:

1) "Indian America," the New World
civilizations as the White man found them.
This section is now completed and will be
opened on January 25, 1943.

2) The New World civilizations as they
were in the thousands of years preceding
Columbus. This section will exhibit the

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FIELD MUSEUM NEWS

Jantiary, IQltS

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C*TMI*IHC

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BASIC FOOD COLLECTING ECONOMIES OF THE NEW WORLD ILLUSTRATED

This exhibit in the new Hall of American Archaeology demonstrates three of the Indians' principal methods of obtaining

food— hunting, fishing, and gathering seeds. Map on left shows distribution of staples such as game, nuts, acortis, etc., thus

relating food habits of various tribes to their environment. Agriculture is the subject of a separate exhibit.

main accomplishments of the Peruvians,
Mayas, Aztecs, and Pueblos, as well as
those of the Indians of the Mississippi
Valley and the rest of North America. It
will also show the chronological order and
the sequence of these civilizations from
approximately the year 1492 back to the
earliest evidence of man in the New World
—or about 15,000 to 25,000 years ago. The
task of presenting these subjects will be
carried out by means of dioramas and a
limited number of specimens tastefully
arranged to illustrate use.

3) Techniques: how stone, bone and metal
tools, pottery, baskets, and clothing were
made and used; how archaeologists find,
excavate, and date ancient ruins; and finally,
how archaeologists collect and interpret
information such as is assembled in Section 2.

The section about to be thrown open to
the public is Section 1, that which is con-
cerned with New World civilizations as
they were found by European explorers,
missionaries, and conquerors.

In later numbers of Field Museum
News it may be possible to describe various
separate exhibits. At present it seems
desirable to give a brief summary only of
what Section 1 contains. In this section
are shown some of the fundamental charac-
teristics of New World civilizations and
cultures as they were at the time when the
White man came: that is, at the point where
recorded history and archaeology (unwritten
history) meet. It is axiomatic that to exist,
every man must eat, clothe himself, erect
some form of shelter, and make and use
tools — even though all of these homely and
fundamental tasks be performed either on
a relatively simple plane or in a complex
way. These aspects of Indian life are ex-
hibited in this section, not with reference
to one isolated area, but with reference to
the entire New World. Such fundamentals
can best be considered in this way.

The exhibits deal with a series of im-
portant culture traits arranged to show
their forms and their spatial distribution

over North, Central, and South America.
Specifically we take up the following sub-
jects: (1) Where we obtain some of our
knowledge concerning the customs of the
Indians; (2) architecture (houses and
temples); (3) travel and transport; (4)
clothing; (5) decorative art; (6) economy —
that is, agriculture, tobacco, hunting and
fishing, seed and root gathering; (7) distribu-
tion of types of basketry, pottery, weaving
and textiles, and metal work; (8) a chart
showing why some Indian civilizations are
rated higher than others; and (9) writing.

These newly opened exhibits are really
an example of the way archaeological knowl-
edge is built up. Suppose that nothing is
known of New World archaeology, and that
we are desirous of obtaining the history of
the pre-white populations that lived here.
If our investigation is to produce valid
results, we must plan it carefully. The pro-
cedure which has proved most useful is that
of working from the historically recorded
known back into the past. The starting
point for investigation is where recorded
history — as left by conquerors, explorers,
and missionaries — and the unknown (pre-
history) meet. This is the point whence
archaeologists begin their backward research.

In the new section, "Indian America,"
the exhibits present the accomplishments
of the Indians at or about the year 1492
and illustrate, therefore, the point where
recorded history meets unrecorded pre-
history. The visitor is shown the final and
some of the greatest advances made by the
Indians before the coming of the Whites.
From this scene, one will (when the next
section is ready) journey backward into
prehistoric times and will obtain glimpses
of what was happening in various New World
areas, at say, a.d. 1200, 1100, 1000, 900,
800, and finally 20,000 B.C.

This then, is the starting point for
understanding all that will follow. And
although it represents the end point of the
aboriginal Indian civilizations, it is the start-
ing point for investigation of the past.

The genesis of this new Hall of American
Archaeology occurred about ten years ago.
At that time there was a Hall of North
American Archaeology located on the main
floor of the Museum. In order to make room
for a new exhibition, "The Races of Man-
kind," the North American archaeological
specimens were moved down to Hall B on
the ground floor. My former chief, the late
Dr. Berthold Laufer, and I were profoundly
dissatisfied with the way these archaeological
materials were displayed. We felt that the
exhibits were dull and lacking in force.
The specimens as arranged had no meaning.
We discussed the possibility of converting
this hall into one which would deal, in a
general way, with all New World Indian
civilizations. It seemed important to show
that the Indians over many centuries had
evolved many techniques, such as weaving
and stone working; many inventions and
discoveries, such as agriculture, writing,
metal working, and pottery making. We
desired to show that the growth of civiliza-
tions was a long, slow process and depended
on many factors. We hoped to demonstrate
that many items, the most important of
which was agriculture, had profoundly
affected the course of our own civilization.
We wanted to give the visitor who comes to
the Museum a real feeling for the accom-
plishments of the Indians from whom we
have borrowed so much. And we felt this
could all be done in one hall so that the
visitor would not have to walk through
seven Indian halls and then come aWay
footsore, weary, bored, and confused.

But, for various reasons, nothing came
of our many discussions and plans at that
time. But the seeds were sown; and every-
one felt that we were due, sooner or later,
to make some revolutionary changes in
exhibition methods.

In 1940, Dr. John Rinaldo, Research
Associate on the staff, suggested that one
case of archaeological materials from the
writer's excavations in Colorado could be
more interestingly displayed. In order to
employ the element of surprise and to avoid
premature discussion, the case was quietly
reinstalled in accordance with Dr. Rinaldo's
suggestions. Miss Anne Harding (now Mrs.
Alexander Spoehr), who was then a volunteer
artist on the staff, made four water colors to
illustrate our ideas. Cut-out letters were
used in this case for the first time in Field
Museum. It met with instant approval, and
plans for a whole hall in the same style
were immediately forthcoming, including
the employment of the several top flight
assistants necessary for the project.

Soon afterward, with the assistance of
Dr. Alexander Spoehr, Assistant Curator
of North American Ethnology, and Miss
Margaret Ross, Volunteer Artist, plans for
a Hall of New World Archaeology were
drawn up, submitted to Director Clifford C.
Gregg and President Stanley Field, and
were approved by them. Early in 1941

January, 19iS

FIELD MUSEUM NEWS

Page S

Mrs. Spoehr joined the permanent staff.
She and Dr. Spoehr gave these preliminary
plans additional character and punch by
their original ideas and dynamic conceptions.
Dr. Spoehr, until he entered the United
States Armed Forces last February, mapped
out the details for many of the cases in
Section 1; and Mrs. Spoehr has done the
art work in all the cases of this section. She
has been given some assistance in this by
Miss Dixie Davis.

After Dr. Spoehr left, the Museum ob-
tained the brilliant aid of two newly added
members of the staff, Mr. Donald Collier,
Assistant Curator of South American
Archaeology and Ethnology, and Mr.
George Quimby, Assistant Curator of North
American Archaeology. Through their
efforts the work of executing the various
cases in Section 1 — "Indian America" —
has come to fruition. Both Messrs. Collier
and Quimby were immediately fired with
enthusiasm for this project and have made
innumerable distinguished contributions and
improvements to the plans, the installations,
and the labels. There has been an uninter-
rupted flow of original contributions from
these two archaeologists.

Also added to the staff in 1941 was Artist
Alfred Lee Rowell who was known for his
superior work • in creating scale model
dioramas. Mr. Rowell has finished one re-
construction diorama of a famous ruin —
the Mummy Cave in Canyon del Muerto,
Arizona — as it probably appeared about
A.D. 1250. Although this model really
belongs in Section 2, it has been temporarily
placed on display in Section 1 so that every-
one may enjoy it without delay.

Thus, a dream of what museum exhibits
should be has been made into reality. These
exhibits are possible only because everyone
has worked in concert on a co-operative
procedure. The plans and details of each
case are thrashed out in conferences and a
majority must agree on all points. Then a
temporary installation with labels is set up
and shown to members of other departments
for criticisms and for suggested improve-
ments. After that, we proceed with the
final installation. It may take as long as
four to six weeks to do a single case.

BUSSES STILL RUN TO MUSEUM
FOR SUNDAY VISITORS

Sunday bus service into Grant Park for
visitors to Field Museum, the Adler Plane-
tarium, and the Shedd Aquarium, recently
canceled under the tire conservation pro-
gram, was almost immediately restored by
the Chicago Motor Coach Company.

A special bus, labeled "Planetarium," now
leaves Michigan Avenue and Seventh Street
at 20-minute intervals on Sundays, the first
run starting at 12:19 p.m. From that time
until 6 P.M. service continues, with stops at
each of the three lake front institutions.
Motor coach passengers from any part of

the city may transfer to and from this special
Grant Park bus. The service differs from
that on weekdays, when the No. 26 — Jackson
Boulevard bus line operates to the Grant
Park institutions.

"Officials of the motor coach company
and the Office of Defense Transportation
are to be commended for recognizing the
educational value of these institutions, and
continuing thus to make them accessible
to the thousands of Chicagoans who have
no time other than Sundays to visit them,"
said Acting Director Orr Goodson in ac-
knowledging the restoration of service.

Sunday services of the Chicago Surface
Lines, Chicago Rapid Transit Company,
North Shore Line, South Shore Line, and
Illinois Central Railroad to points within
easy access of the Grant Park institutions
are continuing as in the past.

GAS RATIONING REDUCES SERVICE
OF MUSEUM TO SCHOOLS

The OflSce of Defense Transportation has
certified the operation of the two N. W.
Harris Public School Extension trucks for
a reduced mileage as compared to previous
years. The trucks are used for the
delivery of portable Museum exhibits to
schools in Chicago.

In order to comply with this regulation,
beginning January 4, 1943, the trucks will
call at each school to exchange cases every
thirteenth school day, instead of every tenth
school day as has been the custom. The
reduced number of calls will permit the
delivery of not more than twenty-four school
cases during the school year, as compared
with thirty-four cases which each school
has received previously. — J.R.M.

Polish Officials Visit Museum

Field Museum was host on December 1
to a group of distinguished officials of the
government of Poland. The visitors included
Dr. Henri Strasburger, Minister of Finance
whose headquarters at ■ present are in
London, England; Dr. Karol Ripa, Consul-
General in Chicago; Dr. Stanislaus Kirkor,
Director of the Polish Department of
Finance's oflRce in New York, and Dr.
Josef P. Junosza, Director of the Polish
Information Center in Chicago. Mr. Orr
Goodson, Acting Director of the Museum,
conducted the party on a tour of some of
the outstanding exhibits, including the
habitat group of storks for which specimens
were contributed to the Museum before the
war by the Polish-American Chamber of
Commerce in Warsaw.

"Believe it or not" — Andranomanjkakel-
hibe is the name of a place in Madagascar
from which a gem in the Museum's collec-
tions was collected by a Museum expedition.
A member of the expedition says that there
are in Madagascar places with even longer
names. Of course, Wales can do still better.

COL. C. C. GREGG

DIRECTOR CLIFFORD C. GREGG
IS NOW A COLONEL

The following news release from Camp
Hood, Texas, reached Field Museum News
just at press time:

"According to a report just received from
General Bruce's headquarters, at the Tank
Destroyer Center,
Lieutenant Colonel
Clifford C. Gregg,
Assistant Chief of
Staff, G-1 (Person- ''tg

nel), has been pro-
moted to the rank
of full Colonel.
(Colonel Gregg is
the Director of
Field Museum, on
leave of absence to
fulfill his duties as
an officer in the

Army.) Colonel Gregg, as one of the four G's
on the General's staff, is adviser on all
matters of policy relative to personnel
planning, both commissioned and enlisted,
of the Tank Destroyer Center. This is
saying in a military way that he is a sort of
god-father to everyone in Camp Hood. He
is also interested in all matters, affecting
the welfare of the Command. In short, a
mammoth task. The amount of midnight
oil burned in Colonel Gregg's office would
light all of the lamps of China.

"Colonel Gregg began his military career
as a Second Lieutenant of Infantry in 1917.
He served through World War I, was
honorably discharged, and accepted a com-
mission as a Lieutenant in the Reserves.
Promoted to Major, he entered active duty
in 1940 in the 6th Corps Area Recruiting
Office in Chicago. After his transfer to the
Adjutant General's Department, he was
promoted to Lieutenant Colonel in March,
1942, attended the Adjutant General's
School, Fort Washington, Maryland, and
reported for duty with the Tank Destroyer
Center in Temple, July 8, of this year."

Tlie Late Walter P. Murphy
Was a Museum Contributor

Because of his modest insistence that
many of his philanthropies be anonymous,
it was not generally known that the late
Walter P. Murphy, founder of the important
Northwestern University Technological In-
stitute, who died December 16, was a gen-
erous donor of material to the collections of
Field Museum. In recognition of his gifts he
was elected by the Board of Trustees to the
membership classification designated as Con-
tributors, in the group whose gifts reach
a value of $25,000 to $50,000.

Whatever the time of year, a breath of
spring may be enjoyed by visiting th*
diorama illustrating the vernal flora of an
Illinois woodland, in Martin A. and Carrie
Ryerson Hall (Hall 29, Plant Life).

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FIELD MUSEUM NEWS

January, 19iS

GUAYULE RUBBER

Progress of Emergency Production

at Salinas (Calif.) Plantation

By J. FRANCIS MACBRIDE

ASSOCIATE CURATOR OF HBRBARIUU

Probably no single plant has in recent
years so captured the interest and imagina-
tion of the general public as guayule. It
has become the most talked about and
written about emergency source of natural
rubber. When Congress last spring author-
ized the Department of Agriculture to en-
gage in its propagation, the task was turned
over to the Forest Service, and the chance
to prove the worth of guayule as a rubber
plant was at hand.

That no effort is being spared to make
this opportunity conclusive must be e\'ident
to anyone who visits the fields where the
plant is now being grown near Salinas, Cali-
fornia, and hears from the several capable
men in charge the explanation of the many
phases of the work. It was my good fortune
recently to be able to spend a day on the
Guayule Emergency Rubber Project. Mem-
bers of the plantation staff gave me data on
the progress to date, some of which I am
permitted to make public.

With an assistant I saw many of the fields
and experimental plots in the Salinas Valley.
It was my pleasure to have with us Dr.
W. B. McCallum, who may be called the
dean of the guayule business, having been
in charge of the development and growing
of it for a private company since about 1912.
This company grew some 8,000 acres of the
shrub under cultivation and processed it at
Salinas alone, and since the Government has
taken over their interests in the United
States, Dr. McCallum has continued to give
his practical knowledge.

Nowadays the science of botany has so
progressed that the domestication, so to
speak, of a plant like guayule can proceed
definitely and simultaneously along all the
lines desired so that the development of
its maximum usefulness may be guaranteed.
This, however, calls for a staff of men
trained in everything that has to do with
the living plant — the varieties and their
improvements, the foods they need, and the
diseases that injure them. Never was there
a finer example than in the guayule setup
of the usefulness and interdependence of
every phase of botanical science, including
taxonomy, with practical agriculture.
Among those who materially assisted the
writer of this article is Dr. E. L. Perry, of
the Salinas Project staff.

30,000 ACRES TO BE GROWN

A survey of the southwestern United
States has been made by scientifically trained
men who know the plant and its habitats.
This has to date resulted in the selection of
a considerable number of areas in California
where the Government has already leased
30,000 acres of land upon which guayule
will shortly be growing. A great many more

thousands of acres will be acquired as nursery
stock is produced to plant them. In addition
to these production areas, about 100 small
indicator plots have been established in
Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona, as a
means of testing the adaptability of other
areas for guayule culture.

In the United States the shrub grows
naturally only in the Big Bend country of
southwestern Texas. Its principal develop-
ment is in north-central Mexico, where it is

"THE PLANT OF THE YEAR"
Gua^Ie (Parthenium argentatura), hopefully b«tng culti'
vaced as a source of rubber. Native to northern central
Mexico and Big Bend section of Texas. Larger mature
plant is about four years old; other is a one.year seedling.

confined to the tops and slopes of limestone
ridges and outwash cones. Like most other
plants, however, it responds readily to better
growing conditions. Up to the present it
has been found to grow best under cultiva-
tion in the fertile Salinas Valley. Here,
under irrigation, it attains about a foot in
two years, and its final height of two and
one-half feet, in four or five years. The
plant produces rubber as the result of alter-
nate periods of growth and dormancy, and
on its natural range where it may rain any
time during the year and where growing con-
ditions are poor, it ordinarily requires several
years for the plant either to develop much
size or accumulate much rubber. Botanists
therefore have the problem of producing
races that, in spite of forcing in good soils
and by irrigation, will yield a maximum of
rubber. Dr. McCallum has been remarkably
successful along this line during his thirty
years of selection and breeding work. The
strains now grown commercially produce
about twice as much rubber per pound of
shrub as the wild plants. A great deal of
work, is also being done to develop forms
suitable for various soil types and resistant
to certain growth hazards which are found
in various localities.

It is remarkable that there are now avail-
able about 300,000,000 seedlings ready for
planting in the field this winter, when it is
considered that only some 23,000 pounds
of seed of improved varieties were on hand
at Salinas when the government took over
the work. From the growing fields and from
the nurseries more than 150,000 pounds of
seed were obtained during the past summer.
A machine had been developed by the com-
pany for gathering seed, but since it is some-
what wasteful and every possible pound of
seed is required, the machine method was
abandoned and the harvesting is done by
hand. The nursery beds, which are four
feet wide and four hundred feet long, look
at a little distance like gray-green carpets
of some low vegetation — for example, some
vegetable — so closely are the seeds sown,
and so high is the percentage of germination
and growth.

When these seedlings are only a few inches
high they are transplanted, one by one, by
a four-row machine especially devised for
the purpose. The plants are spaced from
20 to 24 inches apart in the rows, and the
rows themselves are 28 inches apart. This
permits clean cultivation by tools between
the rows, but a considerable amount of
labor is required, as with sugar beets, for
weeding between the plants in each row.

TWO-YEL\R HARVEST IN EMERGENCY

When the plants are mature they become
bushy. They are then about two or two
and one-half feet high, and composed of
many more or less ligneous branches that
are herbaceous only toward the growing
tips where the gray-green, rather slender,
leaves are closely crowded together. Above
the leaves once a year — or by irrigation
sometimes more often — the small greenish
yellow flowers are raised on a slender stalk.
A rather pleasant resinous fragrance, as
of many composites, is everywhere present.

Under cultivation the most economical
time to harvest guayule is at the end of
the fourth or fifth growing season. How-
ever, in view of the pressing need for rubber,
the Forest Service plans to grow it only
two years, spacing the plants more closely
in the field in order to compensate for the
reduced volume per shrub.

Guayule plantations will always have to
have a nursery of seedlings to perpetuate
them, for in harvesting the entire plant is
used. An efficient method of extracting
rubber from guayule has been in use for
many years, and briefly it is as follows:
The plants, roots and all, are chopped up
rather finely and run between rollers to
crush the woody portions. This material,
with a carefully controlled addition of water,
is then fed into a cylinder lined with very
hard silicon bricks and partly filled with a
special kind of smooth pebbles. The tube
rotates and the material is thus ground
between the pebbles and the lining, separat-
ing the rubber particles from the plant
fibers. Emerging from this tube, the mass

January, 19i3

FIELD MUSEUM NEWS

Page 5

goes into a settling tank where the water-
logged woody material sinks and the rubber
floats to the surface, its particles agglomer-
ated in the form of "worms." These worms
are then spread out in pans and dried, after
which they are pressed into slabs weighing
100 pounds each.

REGARDKD AS PERMANENT SOURCE

The question that is uppermost in the
minds of every one is, of course, whether
guayule will pay. There is no reasonable
question that it will not be an important
help in supplementing other sources of
rubber because guayule rubber, however
expensive, is of high quality and under
present conditions will have its special
place. This importance lies in its ability to
fill those purposes in rubber manufactures
for which the synthetics are not well adapted.

One man's guess seems to be as good as
another's as to its value as a crop in normal
times, but at least one man I talked to in
Salinas has complete faith in it, and that
man is the one who has known it longest.
Dr. McCallum. He points out that had
our government protected it and subsidized
its cultivation in the 1930's, as some thought-
ful and informed men desired, there would
be no acute rubber shortage today. Here-
after, Dr. McCallum avers, it will remain
permanently a supplementary source, at
least, because of its particular merit in
conjunction with other rubbers. There are
a large number of rubber-bearing plants in
the United States, both native and imported,
only a few of which, however, have any
apparent commercial possibilities. Among
the best of these is an African vine, Crypto-
stegia, but so far a thoroughly satisfactory
means of collecting the rubber from it has
not been devised.

THINGS YOU MAY HAVE MISSED

Boys and Girls of the 4-H Clubs
Make Annual Museum Visits

In accordance with their custom, estab-
lished for many years, the cream of America's
farm youth — the boys and girls of the Four-
H Clubs selected for the annual pilgrimage
to Chicago — included Field Museum during
their recent visits. The Museum was host
to some 450 of the girls on November 30,
384 boys on December 1, and a smaller
group which made a special tour on De-
cember 5. Each of the two large groups
were assembled in the James Simpson
Theatre to hear a preliminary lecture by
Mi.ss Miriam Wood, Chief of the James
Nelson and Anna Louise Raymond Founda-
tion staff. After the lecture they were
supplied with pictorial maps indicating the
outstanding exhibits which would be likely
to interest them, and sent forth on their
own in the Museum halls. All members of
the Raymond staff were stationed at stra-
tegic points to give them information and
otherwise assist them. The special group
was taken on a conducted tour of the Hall
of the Stone Age of the Old World.

Museum Displays "Noah's Ark" — But it's a Seashell

A recent visitor to the Museum asked to
see Noah's Ark. Although he had to be
told Noah's Ark was not in the Museum
he was shown a fragment of Mt. Ararat
upon which the Ark landed, according to
the Bible. After he left it was found that
although the Museum did not have the Ark,
it did have a Noah's ark — that is, a salt
water shell which Linnaeus named Noah's
Ark (Area noae) because he noted in it a re-

semblance to some crude types of early ships.
On several occasions visitors have brought to
the Museum alleged relics of the Ark in the
shape of pieces of wood which they insisted
were parts of the Ark, although naturally
they were unable to prove it. Many years
ago a woman claimed she knew exactly
where Noah's Ark was, and asked the Mu-
seum to finance an expedition that she had
planned in great detail to excavate it.

lllustricion on right coufiesy oi Lester Bridahani, Art Institute of Chicago

TWO VIEWS OF NOAH'S ARK SHELL, AND ARTIST'S CONCEPTION OF BIBLICAL ARK

(Photographs of shell onchalf natutal size)

A Huichol Indian Legend
About Rock Crystal

The Huichol Indians of Mexico have a
legend of the origin of rock crystal fully as
weird as the most absurd of the numerous
superstitions concerning gems prevalent
before and during the Middle Ages. Accord-
ing to a note left by the late Dr. Oliver C.
Farrington, former Curator of Geology,
these Indians believe that rock crystals are
mysterious people, dead or alive, who at
the shaman's bidding come flying through
the air as tiny white birds which afterwards
crystallize. They are called grandfathers
and they bring special luck in hunting deer.
Some hunters keep as many as ten carefully
put away in baskets. The condition neces-
sary for living people to become rock crystal
is that they must be true husbands and
wives — hence, such crystals are rare, the
Indians explain. Deer hunters after death
become crystals and accompany the sun
on its travels.

conflict. Among a few recently added books
are the following:

China After Five Years of War. Published
by the Chinese Ministry of Information.

Lengyel: Dakar (reputed to be the only
extensive description of that strategic
African locality).

Milinkov, P.: Outlines of Russian Culture.

Haynes, W.: This Chemical Age.

Blair, T. A.: Climatology (general and
regional).

Thompson, V.: Thailand, the New Siam.

The Library is open to the public on
weekdays from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., except
Saturdays, when it closes at 12 noon; it is
closed on Sundays. As it is purely a refer-
ence library, there are no circulating books,
but the reading room has been especially
equipped for comfort and convenience, and
has the best type of modern lighting.

BOOKS WITH WAR INTEREST
AVAILABLE IN LIBRARY

The Librarian, Mrs. Emily M. Wilcoxson,
calls attention to the fact that many books
with special interest due to the war are
available to Members of the Museum and
other readers. The public is invited to use
the Library whenever special geographic,
economic and scientific information is de-
sired concerning regions involved in the

Demons Feared in Africa

Many Bedouin Arabs of north Africa
believe in the existence of demons (affrits)
who carry out their evil designs under the
direction of a chief of the demons. Primitive
rock engravings, and even the de.sert itself
are attributed to these demons. Divination
and omens are seriously regarded, and the
evil eye is greatly feared. Amulets, and
sometimes tattooing, are regarded as a
protection against an evil glance or curse. An
affrit is said to have red eyes and long talons.

Page 6

FIELD MUSEUM NEWS

January, 191S

Field Museum of Natural History

Founded by Marshall Field, 1893

Roosevelt Road and Field Drive, Chlcafto

Telephone: Wabash 9410

THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES
Lester Aruour Stanley Field

Sbwell L. Avery Samuel Insull, Jr.

W. McCoRMicK Blair Charles A. McCulloch

Leopold E. Block William H. Mitchell

boardman conover george a. richard6on

Walter J. Cumhings Theodore Roosevelt

Albert B. Dick, Jr. Solomon A. Smith

Howard W. Fenton .\lbert A. Sprague

Joseph N. Field Silas H. Straw n

Marshall Field Albert H. Wetten

John P. Wilson

OFFICERS

Stanley Field President

Albert A. Sprague Firtt Vice-Prettdent

Silas H. Strawn Second Vice-President

Albert B. Dick Third Vice-President

♦CuFFORD C. Gregg Director and Secretary

Orr Goodson Actinif Director and Acting Secretary

SOLOMON A. Smith. . .Treasurer and Assistant Secretary

* On leave in active service as a Colonel in the United
States Army.

FIELD MUSEUM NEWS

EDITOR
Wilfred H. Osgood Curator Emeritus, Zoology

CONTRIBUTING EDITORS

Paul S. Martin Chief Curator of Anthropology

B. E. Dahlgren Chief Curator of Botany

Henry W. Nichols Chief Curator of Geology

Karl P. Schmidt Chief Curator of Zoology

MANAGING EDITOR
H. B. HarTE Public Relations Counsel

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

RUSSIAN MUSEUMS

Owing to the success of Russian arms
during the past year, the world has been
revising its ideas of "the bear that walks
like a man." It is plain that the Russia
of the last war and that of the present one
are vastly different. We hear much of
technological advances, of great factories
and engineering projects, and of the newly
developed capacity of the people to adjust
themselves to a mechanical age. At first
it was said that the Russians were tempera-
mentally unfitted for such things, and that
chaos would result as soon as the highly
paid American experts left their factories.
To some extent this may have been true
in the beginning, but it is now evident that
the Russians can do for themselves.

Among the factors which brought about
the change it is perhaps not generally known
that visual education through the use of
museums was an important one. The
growth and spread of museums in Russia
since the revolution has been phenomenal.
Few Americans have been witness to it,
and complete information is lacking, but a
report from the Soviet Society for Cultural
Relations with Foreign Countries published
by the Museums Journal in 1936 gives
numerous facts and takes on a new impor-
tance in the light of what has happened
since then.

Up to 1917 Russia's museums of all types
numbered only 114. By 1934 they had in-
creased to 738. These museums were of all

kinds, including some that were wholly
innovations, as the historico-revolutionary
museums, the historico-social museums and,
most unusual of all, the anti-religious mu-
seums. Although some of these were in-
volved in political doctrine, all were funda-
mentally alike in spreading information
through objective methods. Museums of
natural science increased from 10 to 39 and
art museums from 13 to 60. Most num-
erous were local or regional study museums
of which there were 60 in 1917 and 374
in 1934. These combined natural science
and practical economy with especial refer-
ence to agricultural methods, and were
distributed over wide areas away from the
larger urban centers. Thus while museums
in Moscow were trebled, those in outlying
regions were increased nine times.

Meanwhile, as is well known, scientific
research was fostered in the large, long-
established institutions of the larger cities,
and these served as sources of authority
and inspiration to the smaller ones. Close
relations with public schools were estab-
lished, and museums became well recognized
as essential parts of the effort to raise the
intellectual and cultural level of the whole
people. Although we could not admit that
they are better individually, there are more
museums in Moscow (yes, they also have
a planetarium!) than there are in Chicago,
and while we know Russia has learned much
from us, it is not unlikely that we can learn
something from Russia. — W.H.O.

in which he served as co-pilot on an Ameri-
can bomber based in England.

Staff Notes
Dr. Julian A. Steyermark, Assistant Cura-
tor of the Herbarium, who recently returned
from a year of botanical collecting in Guate-
mala, related his experiences in a radio inter-
view over Station WGN, December 22.

Two more P^eld Museum men have en-
tered war service. Mr. D. Dwight Davis,
Curator of Anatomy and Osteology, has
enlisted as a private in the 13th General
Hospital, U. S. Army, and has begun
training as a surgical technician. Mr. Morris
Johnson, a carpenter in the Division of
Maintenance, has enlisted in the U. S.
Navy as a Carpenter's Mate, 2nd Class.

Two former Museum employees, who had
for some time past been retired on pension,
died recently. They are A. A. Miller, who
served many years as coUotyper, and John
Hardy, a guard.

Mr. Nicholas Repar, of the Museum's
Division of Printing, who has been in the
Navy for several months as a Seaman 1st
Class, has been promoted to Aviation
Machinist's Mate 3rd Class.

Mr. H. B. Harte, Public Relations
Counsel, has enrolled in the U. S. Coast
Guard Temporary Reserves whose members
serve part time on lake and river patrols,
and on other duties, relieving regularly en-
listed Coast Guardsmen for transfer to ser-
vice on submarine patrol, convoys, etc.

Honor to Late Louis L. Valentine

The Board of Trustees, at its meeting
held December 21, paid tribute to the
memory of the late Louis L. Valentine by
electing him posthumously to the member-
ship class designated as Contributors to the
Museum (those whose gifts range from
$1,000 to $100,000 in value). Mr. Valentine
was the donor of many notable items now
exhibited in the Chinese collections.

Lieutenant Don H. Eldredge, formerly a
volunteer assistant in invertebrate paleon-
tology, has been reported missing in an action

FIELD MUSEUM HONOR ROLL

Now in the
Nation's Service

<| — >

* • * •

* • * •

* * • •

* • * *

* * • •

* * • •
.,' • • • •

Army

Theodore Roosevelt,

Trustee — Brig. Gen.
Clifford C. Gregg,

Director — Colonel,

G.S.C.
Dr. John Rinaldo,

Associate, South-
western Archaeol.

— SUff Sgt.
Dr. Sharat K. Roy, Curator, Geol. — Capt.
D. Dwight Davis, Curator, Anat. and Osteol. — Pvt.
Emmet R. Blake, .\sst. Curator, Birds — Corp.
Rupert L. Wenzel, Asst. Curator, Insects —

1st Lt.
William Beecher, Temp. Asst., Zool. — Pvt.
Henry Horback, Asst., Geol. — Pvt.
Jambs C. McIntyre, Guard^2nd Lt.

Navy

Lester Armour, Trustee — Lt. Commdr.
Joseph Nash Field, Trustee — Lt. (S.G.)
Colin Campbell Sanborn, Curator, Mammals —

Lt. (S.G.)
Dr. Alexander Spoehr, Asst. Curator, N. Amer.

Ethnol. and Archaeol. — Ensign
John W. Moyer, Taxidermist — Ch. Specialist (Bur.

Aeronautics)
Patrick T. McEnery, Guard — Master-at-Arms
John Syckowski, Guard — Ch. Commissary Stewd.
George Jahrand, Guard — Ch. Water Tender
Clyde James Nash, Guard — Ch. Gunner's Mate
Nicholas Repar, Printer —

Aviation Machinist's Mate 3C.
Morris Johnson, Carpenter^

Carpenter's Mate 2C.

Marine Corps
Mblvin a. Traylor, Jr. .Associate, Birds — 2nd Lt.
Frank Boryca, Asst. Preparator, Bot. — Pvt,

M.

Coast Guard
C. Darnall, Jr., Guard — Seaman 2C.

Other Services
Bert E. Grove, Guide-Lecturer — American Field

Service (N. Africa)
Rudyerd Boulton, Curator, Birds — Staff of

Office of Strategic Services
Bryant Mather, Asst. Curator, Mineralogy^

Civilian Worker, Corps of Engineers, U.S. Army
John McGinnis, Guard — U.S. Merchant Marine
Llewelyn Wiluams, Curator of Economic Botany

— on special service for U. S. Government

January, 19i3

FIELD MUSEUM NEWS

Page 7

GUATEMALA'S BOUNTY OF PLANTS
FOR SCIENCE AND COMMERCE

By JULIAN A. STEYERMARK

ASSISTANT CURATOR OF THE HERBARIUM

The fourth botanical expedition sent by
Field Museum to Guatemala was led by
the writer, who was accompanied by Mr.
Albert Vatter, Jr. of Glenview, Illinois, in
the capacity of volunteer assistant and
photographer. The party left New Orleans
on December 3, 1941, and arrived by
steamer at Puerto Barrios, Guatemala,
December 7. It returned by overland route
through Mexico, arriving at Laredo, Texas,
on November 9, 1942, thus completing
nearly a year of field work, which resulted in
the amassing of about 30,000 herbarium
specimens of 11,000 numbered collections.
In addition, there were brought back several
hundred wood specimens and about a thou-
sand photographs.

Mr. Vatter also collected several hundred
specimens of animals, including skins of
mammals and birds, insects, and preserved
material of reptiles, amphibians, fishes, and
moUusks. The expedition was highly suc-
cessful in penetrating regions hitherto not
botanized and brought back scores of species
not hitherto recorded from Guatemala, or
from Central America, among them various
species new to science.

THOUSANDS OF MILES AFOOT

Busses or trains carried the expedition's
equipment from one large town to another.
From this point on the problem was to send
the equipment to localities in the mountains
where another base station had to be made.
This was accomplished either by pack mules
(five to ten usually being needed) or by
Indian carriers (ten to eighteen men gener-
ally being necessary). All collecting was
done on foot, and about 4,000 miles of
trails were thus covered. In traveling from
one place to another in the course of a day,
15 to 25 miles were usually covered. In
many places the trails were too rough and
slippery for mule-travel, or were too crowded
with overhanging branches. This neces-
sitated walking over many rough, rocky,
slippery, and muddy trails, which were
especially hazardous and disagreeable in the
rainy season.

The first weeks were spent in collecting
the fiora of Cerro San Gil, the highest moun-
tain adjacent to the Atlantic Coast of
Guatemala. It was especially important to
visit because it had never been explored
botanically. Completely uninhabited, this
vast mountain covers over two hundred
square miles, all in dense virgin rain-forest
except for a patch of cloud forest on the
craggy summit which was found to be 4,000
feet in altitude.

PALM LEAVES FOR BLANKETS
In the ascent up Cerro San Gil, which
required two nights of camping out, I and
my one guide carried only a meager amount
of food to last during the three days out.
In order to lessen weight no blankets were

taken along. To substitute for these, about
a hundred leaves of a Geonoma palm were
cut to use as cover, but even these did not
suffice, and, although the sleeping-site was
not higher than 2,000 feet, we were uncom-
fortably cold throughout successive nights.
However, the discomforts of the trip were
more than made up by the many rare
species of plants collected there. In addition
to the plants, the rare tayra, tropical relative
of the skunk, was found, the first from
Central America to reach Field Museum.

A month and a half was spent exploring
the uppermost portions of the Sierra de Las
Minas, a rugged range in the Oriente badly
in need of botanical investigation. The
moist summits attain 9,000 to 10,000 feet,
and are covered by beautiful cloud forests
abounding with plants.

From February to the end of March the
little-known portion of the northern half of
the Department of Alta Verapaz was ex-
plored. Some of this territory had been
botanized about forty years ago by Tuerck-
heim, whose collections had formed histori-
cally important types which served as the
basis for the descriptions of new species.
The present expedition collected again most
of Tuerckheim's species, chiefly from the
vicinity of Cubilguitz. Dense tropical rain-
forest covers this area in a rugged limestone
topography, and begonias, orchids, palms,
ferns, and a great variety of trees and shrubs
were found especially prolific here.

The latter part of March and early April
were spent in the region of southern Pet^n
north of Cerro ChinajS. This mountain
harbors a very rich flora, and is noteworthy
in being the last northern bit of elevated
land (up to 2,000 feet altitude) before one
drops down into the relatively level and low-
lying forested plains of PetSn. This Cerro
Chinajd area also encloses a large virgin
savanna to the south (in the Department of
Alta Verapaz) harboring many unusual
species of savanna plants not known south
of central Pet^n.

BOTANIZING IN A NEW FIELD

No botanical collections had previously
been made in the southern part of the
Department of Pet6n which constitutes about
one-third the area of Guatemala. It was
deemed especially important to procure as
large a collection as possible from this region.
About a month was spent traveling by cayuco
(native dug-out canoe) down the Rfos
Cancuen and Pasi6n, and their tributaries.
The expedition penetrated as far north on
this trip as the village of Sayaxche in
central Peten. Many difficult rapids had
to be overcome, and thrills were often ex-
perienced when the two native paddlers
invariably hesitated on the brink of some
swift rapid or argued in their native Kekchi
Indian dialect, as to whether they should
follow to the left, right, or down the center
of the stream. Camp was made along shore
each night, and a small clearing was cut
out for swinging the hammocks and pabellons

(mosquito-netting tents). For hundreds of
thousands of square miles this southern
Pet6n country is covered completely by
virgin or practically virgin forests of tall
trees, including mahogany, Spanish cedar,
chicle, fig, inga, and ceiba. However, the
number of species of plants found in these
massive forests is especially small and dis-
appointing to the botanist. Whereas orchids,
bromeliads, ferns, and other epiphytic plants
are plentiful in mountain forests of the rain-
forest or cloud-forest type, here they are
remarkably few.

VOLCANIC "STEAM HEAT" FAILS

The expedition left Peten just at the end
of the dry season, and moved to the Pacific
coast of Guatemala as the rains commenced,
the rainy season lasting in this section
usually from May to October. Extensive
collections were taken from Volcdn de
Atitlin, Volc4n TolimSn, Volc&n Santa
Clara, and VolcSn San Pedro. The actual
summits of each of these volcanoes were
explored. A memorable night was passed
atop Volc4n de AtitlSn. Reaching the
summit at dusk, the party of six (Mr.
Vatter, myself, and four Indian carriers)
prepared to brave the cold and stormy night
on the very rocky and treeless cone. We
selected a place where hot steam was coming
through vents of the crater. Here a tar-
paulin was fastened to large boulders. The
wind and rain continued to blow. With
visions of comfort from steam-heat the party
tried to settle here for the night, but the
hot steam made the blankets not only un-
comfortably warm but also very moist.

The last two months of the expedition
were devoted to an intensive collection of
the flora of the Department of Huehueten-
ango. About 1,000 miles here were covered
on foot over rough mountainous trails. In
the western part of this department many
notable additions to the Guatemalan flora
were obtained, as well as additional stations
for desert plants in Guatemala, hitherto
known only in the Oriente from the deserts
of the Departments of Zacapa, Chiquimula,
and Jutiapa. One especially important
plant found in the desert of western Hue-
huetenango was Haplophyton cimicidum
(locally known as Yerba de cucaracha),
source of a widely-used insecticide in the
United States. The vast high plateau of
the Sierra de los Cuchumatanes, much of
it rising between 10,000 and 11,300 feet in
altitude, was also covered on foot. The
northern, western, and northeastern slopes
of this range also were explored as far as
the lower extensions of this range along
the Mexican border.

THOUSANDS OF ORCHIDS

In the lower elevations on the western
slopes of the Cuchumatanes were found
many other similarly unexpected additions
to the Central American flora. Two of
these are of special note: 1) Virginia creeper
or woodbine of the Chicago region {Par-
thenocisstis quinque/olia), and 2) Ceratozamia

Pages

FIELD MUSEUM NEWS

JaniMry, 19iS

mericana, the latter belonging to the group
of plants known as cycads. Cycads are
particularly noteworthy as survivors of a
primitive group of plants which reached
their climax in Mesozoic times. Previously
cycads were represented in Guatemala by
the single genus, Zamia. One of the great-
est botanical thrills I experienced on the
expedition was due to finding in a canyon
on one of the western slopes of the Cuchu-
matanes thousands of plants of a rare and
beautiful yellow lady-slipper orchid (Cypri-
pedium irapeanum) in full flower. This
very showy orchid has a flower about
twice the size of our own yellow lady slipper
(Cypripedium parviflorum var. pubescens) of
the United States. Many other rare orchids
were collected on this trip.

Much of the success of the expedition may
be attributed to the splendid generosity and
co-operation of the local authorities of the
Guatemalan government, especially the
Director General of Agriculture, Don
Mariano Pacheco Herrarte, who at all
times lent the expedition valuable assistance.

COFFEE AVAILABLE TO U. S. BY RAIL

Guatemala is rich in opportunities to
supply to the United States many plant
products needed in the present war. It has
a surplus of coffee which could be rapidly
shipped to the United States by rail through
Mexico, now that the new international
bridge over the Rio Suchiate has been opened
for commercial traffic. There are planta-
tions of Cinchona bark (which yields
quinine), sugar cane, drug plants of many
kinds, wild and Brazilian rubber, also spices
such as vanilla, cardamom, cinnamon, all-
spice, nutmeg, black pepper, besides an
important supply of timber-, gum-, and
fiber-producing plants.

PROGRAMS OF LECTURE TOURS
FOR WEEKDAYS IN JANUARY

Conducted tours of exhibits, under the
guidance of staff lecturers, are made every
afternoon at 2 o'clock except Sundays, and
certain holidays. There will be no tour on
Friday, January 1, when the Museum will
be closed for the New Year's holiday, and
none on Saturday, January 2, although the
Museum will be open as usual to visitors
on that day.

On Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and
Saturdays, general tours are given, covering
outstanding features of all four departments
— Anthropology, Botany, Geology, and
Zoology. Special subjects are offered on
Wednesdays and Fridays; the schedule of
these follows:

Wednesday, Jan. 6 — Forest Products of
the World (Miss Marie Pabst).

Friday, Jan. 8 — Animals in Winter (Miss
Elizabeth Best).

Wednesday, Jan. 13 — Unique Uses of
Shells (Miss Loraine Lloyd).

Friday, Jan. 15 — Plants of Pacific Lands
(Miss Marie Pabst).

Wednesday, Jan. 20 — High and Low in
the Animal Kingdom (Miss Elizabeth Best).

Friday, Jan. 22 — South America, Its
Products and People (Miss Miriam Wood).

Wednesday, Jan. 27 — Plants and Animals
Through the Ages (Miss Marie Pabst).

Friday, Jan. 29 — Tobacco and Pipes (Miss
Loraine Lloyd).

Persons wishing to participate should
apply at North Entrance. Tours are free.
By pre-arrangement at least a week in
advance, special tours are available to
groups of ten or more persons.

No Sunday Lectures in January;
Resumption in February

Attention is called to the fact that Mr.
Paul G. Dallwig, the Layman Lecturer of
Field Museum, will not present his Sunday
afternoon lectures during January, because
of engagements to speak before audiences in
other cities. He will resume his appearances
at the Museum on the four Sundays in the
following month (February 7, 14, 21 and 28),
at 2 P.M., when his subject will be "Digging
Up the Caveman's Past." In March he
will speak on "Who's Who in the Mounted
Zoo," and in April, the last month of his
current season, on "The Romance of Dia-
monds from Mine to Man." Advance
reservations must be made for all Sunday
lectures, and may be currently made for
any date through the present season, by
mail or telephone (WABash 9410). Audi-
ences are limited to adults because of the
necessary restrictions on size of groups.

A BOOK FOR ARMCHAIR
MOUNTAIN CLIMBERS

"If you spend your vacations among
hills or mountains, or are interested in
rugged scenery, you will find your
pleasure in these surroundings en-
hanced after a perusal of Mountains,
by Carroll and Mildred Fenton," says
Henry W. Nichols, Chief Curator of
Geology.

"The book, written in plain English
devoid of technicalities, explains in a
simple, easily understood manner how
the hills and mountains grew, and
how the peaks, valleys, cliffs, and
other aspects of the scenery were
shaped. It calls attention to many
interesting features you may have
overlooked.

"Not the least interesting part of
the book is the description of the
plants and animals that live in the
mountains. The style is such that the
book provides 'easy reading,' and the
information it contains will stay with
you."

On sale at THE BOOK SHOP of
FIELD MUSEUM— $1.50. Mail
orders accepted.

GIFTS TO THE MUSEUM

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

Department of Botany:

From Donald Richards, Chicago — 42
herbarium specimens and 69 cryptogams;
from Hermann C. Benke, Chicago — 134 her-
barium specimens; from Dr. M. A. Brannon,
Gainesville, Fla. — 17 specimens of algae,
Florida; from Dr. Walter Kiener, Lincoln,
Nebr. — 21 specimens of algae, Nebraska
and Colorado; from J. E. Nielsen, Chicago
— 18 specimens of algae, China and British
Columbia; from Dr. Theodor Just, Notre
Dame, Ind. — 171 specimens of algae, Michi-
gan and Indiana; from Otto Degener,
Waialua, Oahu, Hawaii — 498 herbarium
specimens, chiefly Hawaii.

Department of Geology:

From Dr. Frederick W. Burcky, Evans-
ton, 111. — 4 carnelian cabochons, a polished
slice of red dinosaur bone, and a slice of
carnelian. New Mexico, Colorado, and Utah.

Department of Zoology :

From Dr. Charles E. Burt, Winfield,
Kans. — 46 snakes, Kansas; from Walter F.
Webb, Rochester, N. Y. — 24 specimens of
land shells, Philippine Islands; from Henry
Dybas, Chicago — 195 specimens of land
shells, Mexico, and 126 insects and allies,
Illinois; from Dr. C. H. Seevers, Chicago —
335 insects and allies, Mexico; from Edward
S. Cieslak, Chicago — 69 garter snake skins,
Illinois; from Chicago Zoological Society,
Brookfield, 111. — a roan antelope, a naked-
tailed armadillo, and an Asiatic monkey.

The Library:

Valuable books from Carnegie Corpora-
tion, New York City; from Baker-Hunt
Foundation, Covington, Ky.; from North
Dakota Agricultural Experiment Station,
Fargo, N. D.; from Dr. Henry Field,
Washington, D. C; and from Stanley
Field, Henry W. Nichols, W. J. Gerhard,
Dr. Earl E. Sherff, Miss Lillian Ross, and
Dr. Fritz Haas, all of Chicago.

NEW MEMBERS

The following persons became Members
of Field Museum during the period from
November 16 to December 15:

Associate Members
Harold O. Barnes, Mrs. Ellis R. Lewis,
Mrs. Donald MacMurray, John E. Thomp-
son, S. J. Walpole.

Annual Members

Jens Agger, Herbert E. Bell, Charles A.
Bellows, Milton D. Block, C. A. Boriand,
John H. Boss, Cornelius C. Cole, W. C.
Dillon, Earl J. Jones, Harold J. Kamm,
Leonard H. Kasbohm, Martin King, Philip
Lome, Mrs. Grace Edwards Miller, M. Glen
Miller, Ronald Miller, Albert Mohr, Jr.,
Edmund Daniel O'Connell, Frank Olsen,
Thomas Erskine Pick, John McC. Price, Mrs.
Robert M. Reichert, J. E. Rudney, Harry
Sohn, Arthur T. Spencer, Morris E. Wolf.

Streamlining, so important in modern
airplane and ship construction, is familiar
in nature among birds and fishes.

PRINTED BY FIELD MUSEUM PRESS

News

Published Monthly by Fi^ld Museum of Natural History, Chicago

Vol. 14

FEBRUARY, 1943

No. 2

GIANT SPREADING LIVE OAK
SHOWN IN NEW MURAL

By B. E. DAHLGREN
chief curator, department of botany

For the purpose of providing a series of
murals to supplement the exhibits of plant
life, Field Museum's former Staff Artist, the
late Charles A. Corwin, in 1935 made several
large size paintings of trees.

Work on this unfinished project recently
has been taken up by
Mr. Corwin's succes-
sor, the present Staff
Artist, Mr. Arthur G.
Rueckert. As a result
two new paintings
were added last
month to the series in
this hall. One of these
represents a group. of
tree ferns in Java, the
other a live oak tree.
The latter, as illus-
trated on this page,
represents, with a
certain amount of
artist's license as to its
surroundings, a tree
growing near Bartow
in western Florida, as
it appeared some
years ago.

This is the well-
known live oak or
evergreen oak of the
south Atlantic and
Gulf states extending
westward through
Texas and northeast-
ern Mexico. Some-
times only a shrub in

poor soil near salt water, it appears to
reach its largest size on rich ground in the
south Atlantic states. An example in Garden
and Forest, figured from the neighborhood of
Charleston, South Carolina, has a stem
measuring twenty-three feet in circum-
ference at its most constricted part, and a
crown, past its prime and draped with
Spanish moss, but spreading with a radius
of fifty feet. Trees almost or quite as large
are doubtless found in the Gulf states, e.g.
in Louisiana. Surpassing all other oaks in
grandeur and solidity, the live oak is widely
appreciated wherever it grows and is often
planted for its ornamefttal value, but it is
also an important timber tree, esteemed for
its excellent, hard and tough, brown wood,

well-known for hundreds of years as particu-
larly suitable for shipbuilding. Sargent in
his Stlva of North America quotes official
documents of the time of the war against
Barbary pirates relating to acts of Congress
by which large tracts of live oak in the
southern states, e.g. on St. John's River in
Florida, and in Texas, were reserved or
acquired for the exclusive use of the U. S.
Navy for the construction of men-o'-war.

A painting by Staff Artist Ai
Hall). This spectacular tree

MURAL OF LIVK OAK

rthur G. Rueckert, recently added to the Hall of Plant Life (Martin A. and Carrie Ryerson
i of an evergreen species well'known in the south Atlantic and Gulf states. The mural is
based upon an actual specimen grown in western Florida.

Among the four hundred and fifty or more
species of oak which have been described
there are many that resemble the live oak
in character of foliage and fruit. One of
these is the cork oak of western Mediterra-
nean countries. Among the seventy-five
species and hybrids of oaks recognized in
the United States there are various other
evergreen species some of which are also
known as live oaks. They are confined,
however, to the Pacific Coast states and are
distinguished as California live oak, high-
land live oak, canyon live oak, etc. Some
of these are also massive and beautiful trees
but certainly none of them are very likely
to be confused with the live oak of the
southeastern and Gulf states.

RARE COSTUMES OF ABORIGINES
IN WAR-MENACED YUNNAN

By C. martin WILBUR

CURATOR or CHINESE ARCHAEOLOGY AND ETHNOLOGY

In the months since the conquest of
Burma, a Japanese army has been poised
to strike at China from the rear— to strike
as soon as the rainy season was over and
the trails and roads in Yunnan province
were passable again. The rains have now
ceased and there are
five months of fine
weather ahead in that
backdoor province in-
to which the Japanese
are trying to lunge
from bases in Indo-
China, Thailand, and
Burma. But Yunnan
is tough country for
any invading army.

It is extremely
mountainous, with an
average elevation of
6,000 feet. The west-
ern half is deeply
trenched from north
to south by the Sal-
ween, the Mekong,
and several other
major rivers. Its
southern borders are
a tropical jungle-land.
Except for the famous
Burma Road, which
the Japanese now
stride, and the narrow-
gauge railway running
north from Indo-
China, most commu-
nication lines are only
narrow trails paved with cobblestones. But
no region is impenetrable. The Chinese will
have to defend the province bitterly, because
on the south it guards China's new heart in
the province of Szechwan.

Many peoples besides the Chinese and
their formal allies have an interest in the
defense of Yunnan. The province has been
called an "Anthropological Museum" be-
cause it is the center of an area inhabited
by some eighteen million non-Chinese abo-
rigines. Most Americans have never heard
the names of these peoples, and know noth-
ing of their habits and culture.

STATUS LIKE THAT OF U. S. INDIANS

The status in China of such aboriginal
groups as the Nosu, Moso, Miao, Yao,

Page 2

FIELD MUSEUM NEWS

February, 19J,3

NOSU ARMOR

In Chinese aboriginal
collection — Hall 32

Lisu, and many others, is analagous to that
which the Indians possessed in America
some decades ago. When the Chinese came
in contact with the aborigines, the latter
had developed only the simple folk culture
of isolated peoples living in mountainous or
jungle-covered country. During the last six
or seven centuries they have been gradually
subjugated by the expanding Chinese
who possessed a
powerful state or-
ganization, great
wealth, and far
superior military
organization. Their
only chance of pre-
serving cultural au-
tonomy was to re-
treat into the most
mountainous parts
of the southwestern
highlands, and yet
for most of them
even retreat was
a losing struggle.
Their native cul-
tures have been
slowly modified,
and the recent
westward rush of
modern Chinese
people and civili-
zation has acceler-
ated their cultural absorption.

Living in the provinces of Szechuan,
Kweichow, Kuangsi, and Yunnan, as well
as in the neighboring parts of Indo-China,
Siam, and Burma, the aborigines are grouped
into more than a hundred tribes and speak
many different languages or dialects. One
method of classifying them is to group them
according to the languages they speak.
(Language is closely associated with culture,
in fact is one aspect of culture, but it is not
a good index of race. For example, white
and black Americans and many American
Indians now speak the same language but
represent three basically different races.)
Among the aborigines there are three main
language groups: (1) the Mon-Khmer
language family, which includes the lan-
guages spoken by the Miao tribes; (2) the
Shan; and (3) the Tibeto-Burmese, which
includes, among many others, the languages
of the Nosu, Lisu, and Kuopu peoples.

Field Museum has long exhibited the
curious costumes and interesting imple-
ments and weapons of one of these minority
groups — the Nosu. Recently the Museum
placed on exhibition (Hall 32, Case 30)
examples of clothing worn by the women
of three other tribes — the "Flowery" Miao,
the Lisu, and the Kuopu.

The dress of the Flowery Miao woman,
which was acquired by the donor, Mrs.
Frank D. Gamewell, in 1920 near the
present Kunming, is handsomely decorated
with both embroidered and quilted designs
in red, blue, and white. The long sleeves

and the large collar covering the shoulders
and back are covered with blue and white
crosses outlined in red. The short skirt
of blue printed cotton is pleated, and into
the pleats red and yellow ribbons have been
sewn. On the back of the collar are two
rows of little brass bells, and also strings
of colored beads with bunches of copper
coins and silver bells dangling down the
back. The Miao maiden who wore this
dress must have made a gay appearance
and produced a pleasant tinkling sound as
she hurried to market ii.ong some mountain
path. Her coins, which are all Chinese
issues, bear dates from about 1650 to 1907.

The Miao are most numerous in Kweichow
province, where they live in villages scattered
throughout the mountainous regions. Most
of them are farmers, and many of them
are either tenants of Chinese landlords or
virtual serfs of Nosu overlords. They have
a poorly developed economy and no written
language of their own, though in recent
decades thousands have been educated in
Christian mission schools — a work in which
American missionaries have played a great
role. Miao women continue to wear the
gaily decorated and colorful costumes of
the sort recently placed on exhibition by
Field Museum. It is because of their
costume that the Chinese call one group
of them "The Flowery Miao."

The Kuopu (or Kangi) tribe, a branch
of the Nosu group of peoples, is one of the
lesser known aboriginal folk in Yunnan
province. They dwell in hamlets in the
mountains north of Kunming, and live
by farming and herding. They cultivate
hillside patches of maize, buckwheat, oats,
and wheat, and tend large flocks of sheep.
The women spin and weave the hemp cloth
from which they make their clothes, while
the men spend some of their time hunting
and trapping. The costume of the Kuopu
woman, also a gift of Mrs. Gamewell, is a
garish and rather ill-fitting affair. The
bottom half of the blue skirt is stiff with
tight pleats, averaging eighteen to the inch
all around. The upper half is brightened
by a broad band of red hemp cloth woven
with horizontal blue, white, and green
stripes. The same color combination ap-
pears minutely embroidered on a square
bib in front, and panels behind that form
a yoke-like apron worn on top of a blue
serge jacket.

PEOPLE OF CHINA-BURMA BORDER

The third of the new costumes presented
by Mrs. Gamewell is that of an upper class
Lisu woman, and is strongly influenced by
Chinese styles that prevailed for women
near the end of the Manchu empire. Cut
from dark blue cotton cloth, the costume
consists of a pair of full trousers, a wide
sash about ten feet long, and a full-sleeved,
high-necked jacket trimmed with floral em-
broidery and buttoned down the right side.
There are also pointed shoes, two hats

odd enough to please any modern lady,
and a neck-band embroidered and appliqued
with silver beads. To complete her en-
semble, every upper-class Lisu woman
carried over her shoulder a voluminous
handbag that would contain several of the
larger handbags lugged about by ladies of
fashion in Chicago. The Lisu are related
to the Nosu, and live most numerously
along the border of China and Burma —
where Japan's drive up the Burma Road
is now stalled — although they are found also
north of Kunming, in which region the
costume on display was collected.

Whereas the Miao are a subject people,
the Nosu, or "Lolo" as the Chinese call
them, have maintained a remarkable degree
of independence in their stronghold, the
Ta Liang mountain range in southern
Szechwan, although elsewhere they, too,
have been brought under Chinese rule.
They are a people of fine physique, tall
and comparatively fair, and they are great
warriors. In the exhibition devoted to
the Nosu (Hall 32, Case 26), one can see
examples of the complicated hide armor,
shields, swords, spearheads, and bows and
quivers of the men, and the clothing, jewelry,
and utensils of the women. This collection,
one of the few in America, was made in
1914 by Mr. Camillo Schneider, and most
of the weapons and fighting gear are no
longer made by the Nosu. Aside from these
exhibits of the indigenous peoples of south-
western China, Field Museum presents in
the same hall an extensive exhibit of Mongol
and Tibetan clothing, weapons, and objects
of art and daily use.

SATURDAY MORNING PROGRAMS
OFFERED FOR CHILDREN

The James Nelson and Anna Louise
Raymond Foundation will present its annual
spring series of free motion picture programs
for children on Saturday mornings through-
out March and April. The first program,
on March 6, to be given at 10 a.m. and again
at 11, is entitled "A Look Into India."
Three natural color talking motion picture
films on this subject will be shown: "The
Jungle," "Land of Shahmar," and "A
Village in India." In addition, there will
be an animated cartoon, "Old King Cole."

A complete schedule of all eight programs
will appear in the March issue of Field
Museum News. Children from all parts of
Chicago and suburbs are invited. The
programs will be presented in the James
Simpson Theatre of the Museum. No tickets
are needed for admission. Children may
come alone, accompanied by adults, or in
groups from schools, community centers, etc.

A bird that lays an egg weighing one-
fourth as much as itself — the kiwi of New
Zealand — is shown, together with its eggs,
in a habitat group in Hall 20.

February, 191(3

FIELD MUSEUM NEWS

Pages

GIANT DEVIL FISH, CAUGHT IN GALAPAGOS BY MANDEL EXPEDITION, IS NOW EXHIBITED

By LOREN p. woods
assistant curator of fishes

The giant devil fish has long been near
the top of the list of animals especially
desired for exhibition by FMeld Museum.
Several expeditions both for fishes and other
animals have been made to points along
the Gulf of Mexico or in the eastern Pacific
where these giant rays were plentiful, but
other circumstances were never favorable
because the difficulties accompanying the

MANTA- LARGEST SPECIES OF RAY

New exhibit in Hail of Fishes (Hall O). Specimen from Leon Mandel Expedition to
the Galapagos. The fish is 10 feet long. 12 feet wide.

collecting and making of proper studies of
any animal so bulky are enormous. Conse-
quently, when the Leon Mandel Galapagos
Expedition was organized in 1941, plans
were made and the more difficult aspects
concerning the field preparation of a large
devil fish were discussed and prepared for.
The Pacific species of devil fish {Mania
hamiltoni) was known to be especially abund-
ant in the waters surrounding Indefatigable
and South Seymour Islands in the Galapagos
Archipelago. Here it was possible to select,
from several that were seen in the course
of one afternoon, a female specimen about
ten feet long and twelve feet across. This
was only a half grown example, but one
of the fully grown ones of twenty to twenty-
four feet in breadth with a weight of three
or four thousand pounds would have been
too large to handle or to exhibit in the best
possible way. Even though our specimen
was one of juvenile proportions, sixty con-
tinuous hours were required, working with
all possible speed, to make a plaster mold
of both top and bottom sides so that upon
our return to Field Museum a complete
reproduction in celluloid could be made.

Devil fishes are among the most specialized
of the great group of sharks and rays. Al-
though undoubtedly descended from flat-
tened, bottom-living skates and rays, the
devil fishes are no longer bound to this
habitat, but are well adapted to a free
swimming existence along shores and reefs
at or near the surface of the sea. Their
wing-fins are pointed, enabling them to
swim easily yet rapidly, and thus to cover
large areas in search of food. Their swim-
ming motions greatly
resemble those some
of the large.st soaring
birds use in flying.

Part of the wing fin
is separated and pro-
jects from the head as
a broad, palmate flap;
when tightly rolled it
resembles a horn. It
is this head fin's horn-
like aspect plus the
sooty black color of
the back which has
suggested the name
devil fish. These
"horns" may be tight-
ly rolled as the fish
cruises along, but when
attempting to capture
food they are extended
and moved slowly
back and forth in
front of the mouth.
They may even fold
around forming a
funnel, thus serving
as hands do to guide
food to the mouth.
Unlike that of the other rays, the mouth
of the devil fish is broad, extending across
the front of the head. The teeth, minute
tubercles, number in the thousands and are
arranged in rows over the lower jaw only.
When the nature of the food is considered,
this reduction of size of teeth is easily under-
stood. Devil fishes feed on the small
crustaceans, fishes, and other plankton found
drifting at the surface of the sea. To obtain
this food the devil fish simply opens its
mouth and swims along, removing the
nutritious organisms as the sea water is
sucked into the mouth and strained out
through the gills. There is a special sieving
apparatus located just in front of the gills
which is found in no other fish. This con-
sists of rows of elongated plates the appear-
ance of which has been likened to the stems
of ferns with tiny leaflets turned backwards.
The largest devil fishes are usually soli-
tary except in the case of a mated pair.
It is not especially remarkable, however, to
find several in a favorable feeding area.
One of their most extraordinary habits, and
one which has been often commented upon,
is their graceful leaping and somersaulting.

The return to the water after a leap is often
accompanied by a noise as loud as the report
of a three-inch cannon. The leaping may
be of the nature of play, but it may have
the more practical effect of ridding the
manta of the sucking fish, the remoras,
which are usually found in some numbers
fastened onto the gills and in the mouth
cavity. On the specimen collected in the
Galapagos four of these "louse-fishes" were
found fastened to the gills, but had it been
infested with twice this number it would
not have been surprising.

So far as known, the young of devil fishes
are produced singly, only one to a female
during a season. They are born alive and
in a well developed condition, able to swim
and to feed immediately after their extrusion
into the water. One newly born young was
five feet wide, and this from an adult only
fifteen feet in extent.

Devil fishes show no fear of men or boats,
and frequently come so close that they are
easily harpooned. Once harpooned, the
killing and landing is likely to be not so
simple because the devil fish is a strong
fighter and often able to resist capture by
sheer weight. Though they are at other
times harmless to man, when harpooned
they may turn on the boat and upset it or
stave in the planking. The small one cap-
tured in the Galapagos fought its captors
for almost two hours during which time it
towed a large fishing cruiser for several
miles. By finally planting a second harpoon
in the wing so the fish was able to swim
only in circles, it was brought close enough
to the boat to be dispatched with several
shots from a heavy rifle.

The flesh of the devil fish is quite whole-
some and is eaten by natives along the
tropical shores of various parts of the world.

MAKING CAST OF MANTA

Members of Leon Mandel Expedition to Galapagos at

work in field on devil fish specimen from which new

Museum exhibit has been prepared.

The liver, as in many other members of this
great shark and ray group, produces a large
quantity of valuable oil. The skin is often
used as sandpaper when it is dried.

The specimen recently placed on exhibi-
tion in Field Museum's new Hall of Fishes
(Hall 0) was reproduced in celluloid by
Staff Taxidermist Leon L. Walters.

Page i

FIELD MUSEUM NEWS

February, 19iS

CONSERVATION BRIEFS

I — Minerals

By SHARAT K. ROY

CUBATOR OF GEOLOGY
(NOW A CAPTAIN IN U. S. ARUY)

The United States is unusually favored
in its natural resources. In such high ton-
nage minerals as coal, oil, and iron, it
possesses adequate reserves. Likewise, it is
abundantly supplied with most of the lesser
essential materials. In fact, beyond any
other country it enjoys self-sufficiency.
Nevertheless, we are not wholly self-sus-
taining, nor are our natural resources un-
limited. Unless non-essential and wasteful
consumption of these irreplaceable assets is
restricted by programs of conservation, they
will soon be exhausted and we will be forced
to depend more on foreign countries for
raw materials to maintain our economic
structure and industrial production.

THAT WHICH IS USELESS TODAY
MAY BE ESSENTIAL TOMORROW

As matters stand today, there are a dozen
or more vital raw materials classed as "stra-
tegic," of which we are woefully deficient
and for which we are dependent in whole or
in part on sources outside the continental
limits of the United States. A special
exhibit of these, with a large map showing
the various parts of the world from which
they are obtained, is now on public view in
Stanley Field Hall. This dependence on
foreign sources for strategic materials is
disquieting, and may shock many who have
unconsciously become over-confident in the
strength of America's vast natural resources.
It is thus all the more imperative that we
conserve what we have if we are to exist
as a great industrial power and preserve our
present status among the nations.

Not only must we conserve the resources
that are economically profitable — we must
also guard our future by conserving those
that now seem valueless. The time inevit-
ably and invariably comes when, through
improved conditions or better methods of
processing, what was useless to our genera-
tion becomes a godsend to another. One
may not see how minute quantities of copper
and a little gold and silver can be recovered
from low-grade ore to any advantage, and
yet the future may reveal ways and means
which will convert such present impractica-
bilities into profitable enterprises.

MUST CONSIDER BEAUTY
AS WELL AS UTILITY

Judicial exploitation of economic resources
alone, however, does not satisfy our program
of conservation. In time of war, the im-
portance of raw materials, because of their
indispensability in industries, bulks larger
than ever, and we are apt to lose sight of
certain other natural assets which directly
or indirectly enrich our national life. Hills,
valleys, lakes, canyons, caverjis, streams and

other earth sculptures may not appear so
essential as tin, chromium, or manganese,
but they do constitute the scenic grandeur
of the land. They furnish background for
man's esthetic appreciation of nature, as
well as providing homes for all vegetation
and wild animal life. Streams, if allowed
to be filled with sewage and industrial wastes,
will rapidly lose their pristine beauty and
destroy the aquatic life inhabiting them.
Wooded hills, if allowed to feel the vandal's
ax, will lose their native beauty and soon
erode away, giving to desolation and ruin
vast sections of the country.

All in all, be it raw materials essential to
industry or landscape features essential to
our esthetic appreciation, we cannot afford
to exploit either beyond our legitimate needs.
We can best pay our tribute to Nature for
the blessings we are enjoying by using its
resources judicially and economically.

{Next issue: — Conservation of
Mammalian Life.)

SLAVERY AS PRACTISED
IN ANCIENT CHINA

In ancient times the very practical
Chinese, confronted with the problem of
what to do with people convicted for making
counterfeit money, put them to work in the
mint making legitimate money!

This is one of countless historical oddities,
anecdotes and legends included in Slavery in
China During the Former Han Dynasty (206
B.c.-A.D. 25), a book of more than 480
pages, by Dr. C. Martin Wilbur, Curator
of Chinese Archaeology ■and Ethnology at
Field Museum.

Slaves were owned not only by wealthy
individuals privately, but the government
itself held many to perform various services.
Dr. Wilbur reveals. The bureaucracy of
the government, insofar as minor function-
aries was concerned, was composed largely
of slaves, rather than of the type of "pay-
rollers" with which modern governments are
sometimes charged by opposition parties.

One of the most violent stories related in
the book is that of King Liu Ch'u in 71 B.C.
It "was considered that he had been indecent
and cruel" in that he "had rejected his
teacher's advice," killed the teacher and his
son, roasted and boiled one of his wives and
sliced another alive, and killed sixteen other
innocent people. As a punishment for all
this it was decided the king ought to suffer
execution, but the Emperor "could not bear
to do this." So the king was banished with
"an estate of a hundred households." The
king, however, committed suicide.

Summarizing the general contents of the
book. Dr. Wilbur writes:

"Industry and commerce developed rapid-
ly in China during the last three centuries
before Christ. Contemporary Hellenistic
and Roman business men made extensive
use of slave labor. , Nothing comparable

occurred in China. Private and government
slavery had a marked growth under the Han
empire, but industrialization did not become
an important characteristic.

"There are more historical data on slavery
during the four and a quarter centuries of
the Han period than during the millennium
preceding or the four centuries following.
Slavery was an integral part of the social
system. Various evidences, such as laws
regarding enslavement as a punishment for
certain crimes, special taxes on slave owners,
legislation that limited the master's dis-
ciplinary powers, and the inferior status of
slaves before the law, show that it was legally
established. There was an abolitionist senti-
ment in the Confucian school of officials and
'social scientists.'

"Han slavery was not caste bound as it
tended to become in later Chinese periods.
There was a fluidity of transfer from free
to slave status, and from unfree to full
plebeian rank in one step. It was even
possible for an ex-slave to marry his former
owner. The servile population, apparently
small and well infused, seems to have com-
posed only one to five per cent of a popula-
tion which reached about 60,000,000. There
were no known slave revolts, even though
private male slaves were commonly armed
and were often used by their master for
local terrorism.

"There was government and private
ownership of slaves, and there were native
and foreign slaves. There were hereditary,
criminal, and debtor slavery, self-sale and
selling of women and children under eco-
nomic pressure, kidnapping, slave raiding,
and enslaving of prisoners of war. The
trade included government as well as private
selling, public slave . markets, probably
dealers in specially trained slaves, and
organized importing and exporting. We
know much less about the economically
productive uses of servile labor than about
slaves employed as grooms and domestic
servants, mounted and armed bodyguards,
tomb watchers, musicians, dancers, and
other entertainers, or used as personal at-
tendants, confidential advisors and business
managers. Public slaves did the servant
work in palaces and government bureaus,
held petty bureaucratic positions as clerks,
accountants, timekeepers, ushers, etc., and
engaged in some skilled handicrafts, in game
keeping and ranching, as well as in the
imperial grain transport and a few other
lines of heavy gang labor."

Highly polished armlets of green soap-
stone are displayed with other personal
ornaments of the Tuareg of the Sahara,
in Hall E, Case 12. The armlet is made
by rubbing away all the central portion
of a stone disk by use of sand and water.
The armlet is then steeped in oil; it is worn
only by a youth who has attained the status
of manhood.

Febrtiary, 19i3

FIELD MUSEUM NEWS

Page 5

MUSEUM'S COLLECTIONS USED
FOR WORK WITH THE BLIND

During several months in the past year,
Field Museum's collections, especially in
the Department of Anthropology, have been
made available for special work with the
congenitally blind. The activity has been
conducted by Mr. Donald Hesson, a blind
attorney-at-law whose avocation is aiding
others who are sightless, and Mrs. Hesson
(Marie Seton), a former British journalist
who became interested some years ago in
the problems of the blind from a social
service standpoint. For the work at Field
Museum a room was assigned to Mr. and
Mrs. Hes-son, and a group of twelve blind
persons ranging in age from 16 to 42 was
in attendance. The latter acted as subjects
in preliminary experiments, conducted twice
a week, to obtain records of their reactions
in handling selected material.

Similar work has been carried on by this
group at other institutions. The material
used has fallen into the following categories:
works of three-dimensional art, at the Art
Institute of Chicago, and the Oriental In-
stitute of the University of Chicago, includ-
ing sculpture, bas-relief, and ceramics;
anthropological material at Field Museum,
including life and death masks, models, im-
plements, weapons, handicraft objects, cere-
monial objects, and textiles; abstract forms
at the Chicago School of Design; and, at the
Museum of Science and Industry, mechan-
ical devices including farm machinery,
vehicles, and models. These media were
chosen because they ofTered an obvious
though comparatively unexplored field in
which to study the concepts of the blind.

STUDY OF TACTUAL IMPRESSIONS

The research was premised on the belief
that it might be possible to ascertain the
actual limitations imposed by blindness
upon the development of concepts. This
problem was approached by a method of
observing reactions to impressions gained
by touch of concrete objects, the under-
standing and appreciation of which is
generally supposed to depend upon sight.
Thus it was possible to attempt evaluation
of the extent to which the tactual .sense
could be trained to substitute for sight.

When the blind people are shown an
object, no verbal description or clue is given
as to what it represents. They are asked
to give the impression that they derive from
examining the object. It is then observed
how the individual uses his hands and what
his general expression and demeanor are
while making the examination. This in-
formation, together with the person's
detailed impression of the object, is recorded,
and compared with the impressions of other
people examining the same object. This
makes it possible to follow the development
not only of each person's concepts but also
of any change that may take place in the
external expression of each one's personality.

That blind people require oral description
and reading illustrated by direct tactile
examination, wherever possible, in order to
develop and clarify their concepts is in-
dicated by the following opinion from a
sixteen-year-old girl after she had examined
the Races of Mankind bronze sculptures by
Malvina Hoffman at Field Museum:

"I lost my sight when I was a little over
a year old; therefore, I have never since
seen any person's face or features except
my own. Being small of stature, I have not
even been able to picture accurately a tall
strong person, much less the physical aspects
of other races and nationalities. I was
quite overwhelmed by what I saw* Friday.
By touching the statues I got all the varieties
of faces, facial expressions, figures, and even
dress which I have wondered about. Study-
ing the bronzes even produced reasons as
to why some races conquer, others are
defeated, and still others though conquered
cannot be subdued. Now when I hear or
read about the appearance of other people,
I have some definite picture in my mind."

RACIAL CHARACTERISTICS LEARNED

During the first few weeks of experimen-
tation at Field Museum, a number of objects
showing the work of the American Indians
from Alaska to Peru were laid out on one
table. On a second table were a number of
life and death masks so exhibited that people
could move them about and compare dif-
ferent races. The blind people were not
told what racial group they were examining
and comparing, nor were they given any
oral descriptions until they had completed
their own manual examination. Only when
they had finished "looking" at the masks
and objects were they informed as to the
race of the heads they had "seen" and the
nature and use of the other objects. Up to
this time most of these people had no knowl-
edge of the differences in physiognomy be-
tween races. Those people born blind, for
example, did not associate a broad flat nose
and thick lips with the Negroid type — as a
matter of fact, most of them had never be-
fore examined any face other than their
own. Notes taken verbatim while they were
making their examinations indicate that the
impressions gained by touch closely approxi-
mate those that the sighted gain visually.
The correlation of details remains in the
memory so that they may relate one type
of nose to another after a period of several
weeks or months. It is interesting to note
that people who have never had sight express
definite opinions as to what is "a nice face"
or, alternatively, "an unpleasant face."

•The blind almost invariably refer to "seeing" things
they touch.

THINOS YOU MAY HAVE MISSED

Fulgurites

Everyone is familiar, if not by experience
at least from their reading, and from pictures,
with the damage by lightning to buildings
and trees, but few know of the peculiar
effects left by a bolt of lightning when it
strikes into the ground. These effects are
well exemplified in a collection in Clarence
Buckingham Hall (Hall 35). When a bolt

Photograph courte»y of The Chicago Tnbune

LIGHTNING-FUSED SAND TUBE

Mr. Henry W. Nichols. Chief Curator of Geology, dis'
plays fulgurite specimen from Indiana sand dunes. An
oddity exhibited in Clarence Buckmgham Hall (Hall 35).

of lightning strikes into soil, the soil melts
as might be expected. Owing to the high
voltage of lightning there is a strong electro-
static repulsion between the particles of the
molten soil which makes them fly apart so
that, when cooled, instead of a rod penetrat-
ing the earth, there is a tube which has been
given the name fulgurite from the Latin
word for lightning, fulgur. The wall of the
tube is fragile, rough, and of the thickness of
an egg shell. These features are well shown
in a giant fulgurite from the sand dunes at
Chesterton, Indiana, which occupies a case
by itself. Although this is eight feet long it
is only part of the complete fulgurite, and
no one knows how far into the sand it
penetrated. When lightning strikes into
solid rock the results are the same except
that there may be more melted rock and
the tubes are smaller. In one from Mt.
Ararat, where Noah's Ark is reputed to have
landed, the tubes from many strokes are
small, only one-sixteenth of an inch and less
in diameter. — H.W.N.

The artifacts of the Eskimos bear a
curious resemblance to those of races which
lived in Europe at the close of the glacial
period. Exhibits pertaining to Eskimo life
occupy about one-third of Hall 10 in the
Department of Anthropology.

A model showing the internal structure
of a volcano is exhibited in Clarence Buck-
ingham Hall (Hall 35), together with
specimens of the materials erupted by
volcanoes.

"Scarce as hen's teeth" is a familiar
saying, but various types of prehistoric
birds known as fossils had well developed
teeth (see case in Hall 21).

Pages

FIELD MUSEUM NEWS

February, 19iS

Field Museum of Natural History

Founded by Marshall Field, 1893

Roosevelt Road and Field Drive. Chicago

Telephone: Wabash 9410

THE BOARD OF TRUSTEKS
Lester Armour Stanley Field

Sewbll L. Avery Sauuel Insull, Jr.

W. McCoRMicK Blair Charles A. McCulloch

Leopold E. Block William H. Mitchell

Boardman Conover George A. Richardson

Walter J. Cummings Theodore Roosevelt

Albert B. Dick, Jr. Solomon A. Smith

Howard W. Fenton Albert A. Sprague

Joseph N. Field Silas H. Strawn

Marshall Field Albert H. Wettbn

John P. Wilson

OFFICERS

Stanley Field President

Albert A. Sprague First Vice-President

Silas H. Strawn Second Vice-President

.\lbert B. Dick Third Vice-President

•Cupford C. Gregg Director and Secretary

Orr Goodson Acting Director and Acting Secretary

Solomon A. Smith. . . Treasurer and Assistant Secretary

* On leave in active service as a Colonel in the United
States Army.

FIELD MUSEUM NEWS

EDITOR
Wilfred H. Osgood Curator Emeritus, Zootogy

CONTRIBUTING EDITORS

Paul S. Martin Chief Curator of Anthropology

B. E. Dahlgren Chief Curator of Botany

Henry W, Nichols Chief Curator of Geology

Karl P. Schmidt Chief Curator of Zoology

MANAGING EDITOR
H. B. Harte Public Relations Counsel

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

WAR AND OAS RATIONINQ
REDUCE ATTENDANCE

The general preoccupation of the public
with war activities, and, in particular, trans-
portation difficulties due to the tire conserva-
tion program throughout 1942 (accentuated
toward the end by gasoline rationing) were
the apparent causes of a large decline in
attendance at Field Museum. The number
of visitors received in 1942 was 1,025,002,
as compared with 1,358,147 in 1941. Of
these, only 79,144 visitors came on the four
days of the week when a nominal admission
fee (and Federal tax) is charged, as against
86,531 in 1941 ; all the rest came on the three
free days — Thursdays, Saturdays and Sun-
days— or were of classes such as children,
teachers. Museum members, etc. who are
admitted free on all days.

Especially affected by the war situation
was the Museum's expeditionary program.
This had already been curtailed prior to
December 7, 1941, and since that time no
new expeditions have gone into the field.
Those which were in operation prior to that
time — in Peru, Honduras, and Guatemala —
remained until their work was concluded.
No new expeditionary work is contemplated
for the duration of the war.

Despite the fact that 28 members of its
scientific staff and other personnel, as well
as four members of its Board of Trustees,
have gone into war service, the Museum
has maintained a program of activity at
home as nearly normal as possible. Many

important new exhibits were completed and
opened to the public, and the regular courses
of lectures for adults, Sunday "Layman
Lectures," entertainments for children, and
daily guide-lecture tours were conducted on
the usual scale.

School extension work, including the send-
ing of traveling exhibits to the Chicago
schools by the N. W. Harris Public School
Extension Department, and of lecturers by
the James Nelson and Anna Louise Ray-
mond Foundation, continued on as heavy
a schedule as conditions permitted. A
number of new activities were undertaken,
in which the Museum in various ways
assisted the government in projects bearing
upon the nation's war effort. For the public
the Museum offered special lectures on
"Backgrounds of the War" and installed a
number of special exhibits such as one on
strategic materials.

President Field Begins 35th Year;
All Officers Re-elected

On January 11, Mr. Stanley Field began
his thirty-fifth year of continuous service as
President of Field Museum, having first
acceded to that office in 1909. He was re-
elected for the present year at the Annual
Meeting of the Board of Trustees held
January 18. All other Officers who served
during 1942 were re-elected. They are:
Colonel Albert A. Sprague, First Vice-
President; Mr. Silas H. Strawn, Second
Vice-President; Mr. Albert B. Dick, Jr.,
Third Vice-President; Colonel Clifford C.
Gregg, Secretary; Mr. Orr Goodson, Acting
Secretary, and Mr. Solomon A. Smith,
Treasurer and Assistant Secretary.

Staff Notes

Four more stars were added to the service
flag of the Museum last month.

The number of Museum men now in war
service is 32, including four members of the
Board of Trustees, and 28 employees out of
a total personnel of 206.

Mr. George A. Richardson, a Trustee, has
been commissioned Lieutenant-Colonel in
the Engineer Division of the Air Transport
Command.

Mr. Herbert Nelson, of the maintenance
force, has joined the Navy as a painter first
class. Mr. Frank Dukovich, also of the
maintenance division, and Mr. Raymond J.
Connors, guard, have become privates in
the Army.

Lieutenant Rupert L. Wenzel (Assistant
Curator of Insects, now on leave from the
Museum) on duty at Camp Meade, Mary-
land, visited the Museum during a brief
furlough January 15.

to that had been Assistant Curator. Since
1926 he has been prominent in conducting
Museum expeditions, and has contributed
extensively to scientific literature in his
special field.

Mr. Karl P. Schmidt, Chief Curator of
Zoology, visited the Illinois State Museum
at Springfield and lectured on geography
and natural history of the South Sea Islands,
on January 17.

Correction on Book Price

By error, the price of the book Mountains,
by Carroll and Mildred Fenton, was ad-
vertised in the January issue of Field
Museum News as $1.50. The Museum
Book Shop now advises that the correct
price is $2.50. Postage on mail orders is
paid by the Museum.

Mr. Bryan Patterson has been appointed
Curator of Paleontology. He has been
Acting Curator since the retirement last
year of Mr. Elmer S. Riggs, and previous

FIELD MUSEUM HONOR ROLL

Now in the
Nation's Service

Army

Theodore Roosevelt.

Trustee — Brig. Gen.
George A. Richard-
son, Trustee — Lt.

Col.
Clifford C. Gregg,

Director — Colonel,

G.S.C.
Dr. John Rinaldo,

Associate, Southwestern Archaeol. — Staff Sgt.
Dr. Shabat K. Roy, Curator, Geol. — Capt.
D. Dwight Davis, Curator, Anat. and Osteol. — Pvt.
Emmet R. Blake, Asst. Curator. Birds — Corp.
Rupert L. Wenzel, Asst. Curator, Insects —

1st Lt.
Wiluam Beecher. Temp. Asst., Zool. — Pvt.
Henry Horback. Asst.. Geol. — Pvt.
Jambs C. McIntyre. Guard — 2nd Lt.
Raymond J. Connors. Guard— Pvt.
Frank Dukovich, Janitor — Pvt.

Navy

I.ESTBR Armour, Trustee — Lieut. Commdr.
Joseph Nash Field. Trustee — Lieut. (S.G.)
Colin Campbell Sanborn. Curator. Mammals —

Lieut. (S.G.)
Dr. Alexander Spoehr. Asst. Curator. N. Amer.

Ethnol. and Archaeol. — Ensign
John W. Moyer. Taxidermist — Ch. Specialist (Bur.

Aeronautics)
Patrick T. McEnery. Guard — Maater-at-Arms
John Syckowski. Guard — Ch. Commissary Stewd.
George Jahrand. Guard — Ch. Water Tender
Clyde James Nash. Guard — Ch. Gunner's Mate
Nicholas Refar. Printer —

Aviation Machinist's Mate 3C.
Morris Johnson. Carpenter —

Carpenter's Mate 2C.
Herbert Nei^on, Painter — Painter IC.

Marine Corps

Melvin A. Traylor, Jr. Associate, Birds — 2nd Lt.

Coast Guard

M. C. Darnall. Jr.. Guard — Seaman 2C.
John McGinnis. Guard — Ch. Boatswain's Mate

Other Services

Bert E. Grove, Guide-Lecturer — American Field
Service (N. Africa)

Rudyerd Botn.TON, Curator, Birds — Staff of
Office of Strategic Services

Bryant Mather, Asst. Curator, Mineralogy-
Civilian Worker, Corps of Engineers. U.S. Army

Llewelyn Williams. Curator of Economic Botany
— on special service for U. S. Government

February, 19i3

FIELD MUSEUM NEWS

Page 7

ILLINOIS MAMMALS SHOWN

An exhibit showing the principal kinds of
mammals that inhabit Illinois, designed
especially for the use of school children, boy
and girl scouts, teachers, and scoutmasters,
but of interest also to other residents of this
state, has recently been added to George
M. Pullman Hall (Hall 13). This exhibit
demonstrates, among other things, that our

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OVER-RATED WEATHER PROPHET

The groundhog, or woodchuck, which achieves newspaper
prominence on February 2 each year due to tRe apocryphal
story relating its shadow to the length of the winter.
One of the Illinois mammals included in new exhibit.

own animal neighbors, although all com-
paratively small, are in their own way just
as interesting as the more spectacular lions
of Africa, tigers of Asia, and other large
game beasts.

Many of the mammals in the exhibit are
found in Chicago and its immediately sur-
rounding area, according to Mr. Karl P.
Schmidt, Chief Curator of Zoology. Some
of these are invaders from the north, like
the weasels that change from a brown
summer coat to the white "ermine" in
winter, prized as a fur for women's clothing.
The opossum, on the other hand, is an in-
vader from the south that became abundant
in the Chicago region in recent decades,
spreading northward from southern Illinois.

Other representatives of the Illinois fauna
included in the display are the red fox, gray
fox, coyote, raccoon, skunk, mink, opossum,
badger, and cottontail rabbit. Many
visitors are surprised to see the gray fox
shown on the branches of a tree. This fox
so habitually takes to rail fences and leaning
trees that it is known in many places as the
"tree fox." One division is devoted to
mice — the house, prairie, meadow, jump-
ing, lemming, mole pine, prairie deer and
woodland deer varieties. The woodland
deer mouse is the most abundant of the
state's mammals, and has a habit of ap-
propriating birds' nests for its shelter.
Another division shows such animals as
the least weasel, prairie mole, pocket gopher,
woodchuck, chipmunk, long and short-tailed
shrews, muskrat, and various squirrels —

fox, gray, ground, red, thirteen-lined, and
flying. Bats are represented by the red,
silver-haired, hoary, big brown and little
brown species. The exhibit was prepared
by Staff Taxidermist W. E. Eigsti.

"The larger mammals which formerly
occurred in Illinois were, as in other places,
the first to disappear in the face of man's
encroachments, because of their value for
food and as skins," says Curator Schmidt.
"Among these former Illinoisans were the
bison, elk, white-tailed deer, cougar, timber
wolf, black bear, marten, fisher, otter, bob-
cat and lynx."

IDENTITY OF RARE BLACK JADE
ESTABLISHED AT MUSEUM

Field Museum recently aided in Identify-
ing the true mineral nature of a valuable
antique, saving the owner financial loss.

Mr. R. Bensabott, a well-known importer
of Chinese art, brought to Mr. Henry W.
Nichols, Chief Curator of Geology, a snuff
bottle, carved from rare black jade, which
he had imported from China. One of his
customers had taken the bottle to a New
York jewelry house and been told, after
what must have been superficial examina-
tion, that it was only agate. If it were agate
it would be worth only about $25, whereas,
it it were black jade it would be worth about
$1,000. A variety of identifications was
obtained, but none confirmed the material
as jade. Therefore, Mr. Bensabott asked
the Department of Geology of Field Museum
to determine whether it was jade or not.

Ordinarily, says Curator Nichols, a few
particles would be scraped from such an
object and submitted to microscopic and
chemical examination, but in this case it
was necessary to proceed without injuring
the high polish. A careful study of the
surface under a lens showed that it had the
color variation pattern of jade. Its specific
gravity was found to be that of jade. It
was heavier than would be possible if it
were agate, or any of the other stones with
which it had been identified.

Next, Mr. Nichols determined its index
of refraction. This is a number recording
the degree of bending in a ray of light
when it enters the mineral. This index was
found to be that of jade, far higher than that
of agate and unlike that of any other mineral
that it could possibly be.

These tests proved the bottle must be
jade. To make assurance doubly sure, Mr.
Bensabott had the bottle submitted to
X-ray analysis. This treatment not only
tells what elements are in the mineral, but
gives the arrangement of the atoms (the
space lattice) and their distance apart.
This absolutely sure test confirmed Field
Museum's identification.

NEW ARCHAEOLOGY HALL OPEN

In accordance with the plans announced
in the January Field Museum News, the
first section, "Indian America," of the Hall
of New World Archaeology (Hall B) was
opened January 25 with a preview and tea
for Members of the Museum, the press, and
other invited guests. The general public
was admitted on the following day.

Mrs. William B. Greenlee and Mrs.
George A. Richardson were hostesses at the
tea. They were assisted by two Indian girls
in native costume — Miss Erma Hicks, of the
Cherokees of Oklahoma, and Miss Bernice
Bonga, of the Chippewas of Minnesota.
Both young ladies are members of the staff
of the Department of Interior's Oflice of
Indian Affairs which was recently moved
from Washington to Chicago.

Also mingling with the guests were Mr.
Stanley Field, President of the Museum; Mr.
Orr Goodson, Acting Director; Dr. Paul S.
Martin, Chief Curator of Anthropology,
under whose supervision the new hall was
created; Mrs. Alexander (Anne Harding)
Spoehr, the artist who prepared the maps,
sketches and color scheme of the new ex-
hibits; Miss Dixie Davis, who assisted in
the art work; Miss Miriam Wood, Chief of
the James Nelson and Anna Louise Ray-
mond Foundation; Mr. Donald Collier,
Assistant Curator of South American
Archaeology and Ethnology; Mr. George
Quimby, Assistant Curator of North Ameri-
can Archaeology, and Mr. Alfred Lee Rowell,
Dioramist.

Work is now progressing on the other
sections of the hall.

There is still adequate transportation to
Field Museum by bus, street car, "L", etc.

War Production May Benefit
from this Coincidence

Recently some men considering manu-
facture on a large scale of certain special
equipment needed in the Army and Navy
consulted the Department of Geology at
Field Museum to obtain needed information.
While the consultation was under way an-
other visitor appeared on entirely different
business. It developed in the course of
conversation that he was actively engaged
in searching for the raw material needed
for this special equipment, and had made a
careful study of all stages in its manufacture.
He was able to tell the first men much that
they needed to know, and to suggest means
of avoiding the troubles that are seriously
diminishing the output of other manufac-
turers of this tool. What the result will
be cannot well be predicted, but it may be
that this meeting at Field Museum will
result in an ample supply of this necessary
apparatus.

That these two parties happened to come
at the same time impressed the geologist as
one of those remarkable juxtapositions of
actual events which probably cause many
people to believe in superstitions, telepathy,
clairvoyancy, and so forth. — H.W. N.

Page 8

FIELD MUSEUM NEWS

Fdtruary, 19i3

CAVE MEN ARE SUBJECT
OF SUNDAY LECTURES

After an absence of one month to fill lec-
ture engagements out of the city, the Lay-
man Lecturer, Mr. Paul G. Dallwig, will
resume his Sunday afternoon presentations
at Field Museum in February. Each Sunday
this month, for limited groups of persons
whose reservations are made sufficiently in
advance, Mr. Dallwig will dramatize the
subject "Digging Up the Cave Man's Past."
The features of this lecture are outlined by
Mr. Dallwig as follows: "We trace the evo-
lution of man, and his cultural development
through the Old and New Stone Ages, with
special attention to prehistoric art. An
intimate visit is made to the Neanderthal
family in their cave home, and to the latCT
Cro-Magnons, Sun-worshippers, and Swiss
Lake-dwellers. The most dramatic incident
is the re-enactment of a prehistoric murder
as it might have occurred due to jealousy
over the beautiful Magdalenian woman
whose skeleton is on exhibition at the
Museum together with the weapon that
killed her."

The lecture is illustrated with the exhibits
in the Hall of the Stone Age of the Old
World including the eight imique dioramas
restoring various races of prehistoric man.

The Sunday afternoon Layman Lectiu«s
begin promptly at 2 p.m. The heavy demand
by the public, and the necessity for limiting
each audience to 100 adults (children can-
not be accommodated), make it necessary to
require advance reservations. Persons de-
siring to attend are advised to apply sev-
eral weeks in advance. Applications for
reservations will be accepted by mail or tele-
phone (WABash 9410).

In March Mr. Dallwig's lecture subject
will be "Who's Who in the Mounted Zoo."

SATURDAY LECTURES FOR ADULTS
TO BEGIN IN MARCH

The annual Spring Coiu^e of free illus-
trated lectures for adults will be presented
at FMeld Museum on Saturday afternoons
during March and April. The first lecture,
on March 6, will be "A Naturalist in the
West." Mr. Karl Maslowski, well-known
for his work as Curator of Birds for the
Cincinnati Society of Natural History Mu-
seum, as photographer-naturalist for the
Ohio Division of Conservation, and as a
lecturer on nature study at the University
of Cincinnati, will be the speaker. He will
illustrate his talk with several reels of nat-
ural color motion pictures.

The Saturday lectures begin promptly at
2:30 P.M., and are given in the James
Simpson Theatre of the Museum. All are
illustrated with films or slides. The demand
for seats makes it necessary to restrict
admission to adults, but on the mornings of
the same Saturdays the James Nelson and
Anna Louise Raymond Foundation will

present free motion pictures for children.
A complete schedule of the subjects and
speakers will appear in the next issue of
Field Museum News.

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.
Requests for these seats should be made in
advance by telephone (WABash 9410) or in
writing, and seats will be held in the Mem-
ber's name until 2:30 o'clock on the day of
the lecture. All reserved seats not claimed
by 2:30 p.m. will be made available to the
general public.

PROGRAMS OF LECTURE TOURS
FOR 'WEEKDAYS IN FEBRUARY

Conducted tours of exhibits, under the
guidance of staff lecturers, are made every
afternoon at 2 o'clock except Sundays, and
certain holidays.

On Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and
Saturdays, general tours are given, covering
outstanding features of all four departments
— Anthropology, Botany, Geology, and
Zoology. Special subjects are offered on
Wednesdays and FYidays; the schedule of
these follows:

Wednesday, Feb. 3 — Sources of Materials
Strategic to America (Miss Marie Pabst).

Friday, Feb. 5 — Animals Beneficial and
Harmful to Man (Miss Elizabeth Best).

Wednesday, Feb. 10— Effects of Climate
on Man (Miss Loraine Lloyd).

Friday, Feb. 12 — Special for Lincoln's
birthday: Plants and Animals of Illinois
(Miss Marie Pabst).

Wednesday, Feb. 17 — Hunted and Himt-
ing Animals (Miss Elizabeth Best).

Friday, Feb. 19 — Plants and Animals
Through the Ages (Miss Miriam Wood).

Monday, Feb. 22 — Special for Washing-
ton's birthday: Cherry Trees and Their
Relatives (Miss Marie Pabst).

Wednesday, Feb. 24 — Science Marches
On (Miss Loraine Lloyd).

Friday, Feb. 26 — Animals Found Around
Chicago (Miss Elizabeth Best).

Persons wishing to participate should
apply at North Entrance. Tours are free.
By pre-arrangement at least a week in
advance, special tours are available to groups
of ten or more persons.

GIFTS TO THE MUSEUM

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

Department of Botany:

From Dr. Walter Kiener, Lincoln, Nebr.
— 818 miscellaneous cryptogams, Nebraska
and Colorado; from William A. Daily,
Indianapolis, Ind. — 568 specimens of algae,
Indiana, Ohio, and Kentucky; from Otto
Degener, Waialua, Oahu, T. H.— Ill her-
barium specimens, Hawaii; from Jos6 Ignado
Aguilar, Guatemala City, Guatemala — 827

herbarium specimens, Guatemala; from Dr.
Henry FMeld, Washington, D.C. — 75 crypto-
gams, Virginia; from Harry K. Phinney,
Albion, Mich. — 97 specimens of algae,
northern Michigan.

Department of Geolo^:

From Dolese and Shepard Company,
Chicago — a specimen of cephalopod, Illinois;
from Grayson Meade, Lubbock, Tex. — 6
coprolite specimens and a fossil egg, north-
west Nebraska badlands; from G. Ruegg,
La Junta, Colo. — a natural mold of dinosaur
track and 3 polished specimens of red
dinosaur bone, Colorado.

Department of Zoology;

From Chicago Zoological Society, Brook-
field, 111. — 22 birds and 4 mammals, includ-
ing a juvenile gorilla; from Lincoln Park
Zoo, Chicago — a blesbok and 2 reptiles;
from Walter F. Webb, Rochester, N. Y.—
500 specimens of land and fresh-water shells,
Philippine Islands; from Joe Fanning,
Tucson, Ariz. — skeletons and skulls of 7
mammals, Arizona; from Da\id Gitlin, New
York City — developmental series of frog
embryos, Puerto Rico; from Monsignor
Federico Kunardi, Tegucigalpa, Honduras —
3 bats, Honduras.

The Library:

Valuable books from Dr. Henrj- neld,
Washington, D.C; from Dr. Paul Honig-
sheim. East Lansing, Mich.; from Stanley
Field, Lake Bluff, 111.; and from Henrj- W.
Nichols, Dr. Wilfred H. Osgood, William J.
Gerhard, Dr. FYitz Haas, Dr. Reuben
Myron Strong, and Dr. Earl E. Sherff, all
of Chicago.

Examples of more than a hundred families
of mollusks, arranged in their systematic
order, are exhibited in the Hall of Lower
Invertebrates (Hall M).

NEW MEMBERS

The following persons became Members
of Field Museum during the period from
December 16 to January 15:

Contributor
Louis L. Valentine*

Life Member
Ronnoc Hill Connor

.\s90Ciate Members

Alexander Beck, HjTnan Bolotin, Miss
Sophia C. Camenisch, Donald N. Gellert,
Francis Heisler, Timothy Mojonnier.

Sustaining Members
John W. Page

Annual Meml>ers

William R. Austerlade, Mrs. Louden L.
Bomberger, Rev. Joseph A. Casey, Dr. G. L.
Christopher, Leopold E. Cole, M. M. Cole,
Gerard Darrow, Mrs. William Warren
Dixon, Howard F. Hasbrook, Hj-man
Hatowsid, Mrs. Emanuel Loewenstein, A.
Kip Livingston, Halsey Matteson, Dr. B. J.
Mix, George Moeller, Rev. Walter K.
Morley, Richard E. Pritchard, Miss Pearl
A. Rybar, Mrs. Josephine Rocca, S. E.
Ullmaim.

*Deceaaed

PUirrED BT FIELD MUSEUM PKESS

News

Published Monthly by Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago

Vol. 14

MARCH, 1943

No. 3

FOSSIL'S 30-MILLION YEAR HISTORY TRACED FROM BURIAL TO DISCOVERY

By PAUL O. McGREW

ASSISTANT CURATOR OP PALEONTOLOGY

"How do you know where to look for
them?"

"How do you suppose they got there?"

"How do you go about digging them up?"

"Are they really turned into rock?"

These are some of the questions most

commonly asked about fossils. The first

of a new series of exhibits which will answer

these and other general questions about

searching for "petrified bones." A few
relatively simple facts should enable such
people to collect intelligently and to realize
lasting satisfaction from their efforts by
helping to unravel knotty problems con-
cerning the life of the past. Aside from
furnishing general information to the
average Field Museum visitor, the facts
revealed in this new exhibit may serve the
practical function of encouraging people to
save important fossils which otherwise

a small rhinoceros (Hyracodon) that lived
during the Oligocene epoch (some thirty
million years ago). Although the death
of the hero usually marks the end of a
tragedy, the death of Hyracodon is only
the opening chapter of our story. The first
scene shows his bleached skeleton lying on
the flood plain of an Oligocene stream.
Such streams were numerous at that time
and meandered widely over the plains east
of the Rocky Mountains. Ordinarily skele-

b

*»

THIRTY MILLION years ago a bleached rhinoceros A FLOOD ijrryiiig l.irg. qii.intiu.s of clay and mud from SEDIMENT left by the receding water buried the skele-
skelccon lay on a flood plain east of the Rocky Mountains. the distant mountains colled over and inundated the plain. ton (shown in section) and protected it from damage.

™,-^ V

SEDIMENTS DEPOSITED during many millions of AS THE REGION ELEVATED, the increased stream CANYONS WERE CUT into the ancient sediments, and
years accumulated and buried the skeleton still deeper. gradient caused deposition to stop and erosion to begin. now by careful search the exposed fossils may be found.

fossils and their broad significance recently
has been installed in Ernest R. Graham
Hall of Historical Geology (Hall 38).

The public obviously has little knov/ledge
of the way fossils are preserved or how they
are properly collected. This lack of infor-
mation has resulted in the innocent destruc-
tion of an enormous number of specimens,
which, had they reached the hands of a
specialist, might have been of untold
scientific worth. Many people living near
fossil-bearing deposits find relaxation in

might be destroyed by careless collecting.

The exhibit is divided into three parts,
the first of which consists of six original oil
paintings by Mr. John Conrad Hansen.
These depict the principal stages in the
history of a fossil from death to discovery,
and thus represent a scene in the same
locality through a period of thirty million
years, with the most important geological
changes which have occurred during that
great span of time.

The "leading character" in this story is

tons lying exposed in such a place were
scattered by carnivores or destroyed by the
weather. Occasionally, however, the bones
were protected as illustrated in the second
and third pictures.

Heavy rains in the mountainous high-
lands turned streams and their tributaries
into raging torrents. Rushing down the
mountain valleys the flood waters picked
up countless tons of mud, clay, and sand,
products of weathering rock. Upon reach-
ing the flat plains the waters spread an4

Pages

FIELD MUSEUM NEWS

March, 1913

inundated large areas. Having lost its
great velocity, the water was no longer able
to transport the heavy load it had carried
down from the mountains. This resulted
in the deposition of an expansive blanket
of sediment over the region when the flood
waters receded. The sediment buried the
skeleton and protected it from damage.

During the succeeding millions of years
this process was repeated time after time
until hundreds or even thousands of feet
of clay and sand covered the skeleton.
Because of obvious limitations the great
depth to which specimens are usually buried
cannot be shown in the fourth picture which
represents this stage. During this time the
surface of the area also was subjected to
many changes. The streams changed their
courses continuously, and the mountains
were gradually worn down by the loss of
so much material.

After these millions of years of deposition
a change took place that completely
reversed the process that had gone on so
long. The entire region was elevated, the
gradient and velocity of the streams in-
creased, and deposition no longer took
p^ace. The streams and tributaries cut
deep valleys, large regions became dissected
by deep gullies, and thereby a period
of erosion was initiated. With continuation
of this process, canyons cut deeply into the
deposits that were laid down at the time
the rhinoceros lived. By this means —
fortunately for the paleontologist — the
skeleton was again exposed to view.

Our last scene shows a portion of the Bad
Lands of Nebraska, South Dakota, and
Wyoming as they appear today. The skele-
ton, now petrified, is being collected by a
fossil hunter who, after careful prospecting,
has discovered the bones weathering out of
a canyon wall.

During the time the bones lay buried,
their chemical composition was altered by
the action of ground water that carried
mineral in solution. The type and amount
of alteration varies considerably, and
examples of the more important types are
shown in the exhibit.

Once discovered, a fossil must be collected
with great care. As the top of the specimen
is uncovered with small tools, repeated coats
of thin white shellac are applied. This
penetrates the cracks and pores, and when
hard lends considerable strength to the
fossil. After the top is covered with a layer
of tissue paper it is bandaged with burlap
dipped in plaster of Paris. Not until the
plaster is hard is the specimen removed
from its original position; then it is care-
fully turned over and receives the same
treatment on the under side. When the
fossil is completely encased in the plaster
jacket it may be handled and transported
in comparative safety.

This modern technique of collecting
fossils is vividly illustrated in the exhibit

by a series of five models made by Mr.
Orville L. Gilpin. These show the most
important steps in the procedure.

THINGS YOU MAY HAVE MISSED

A 312-Pound Lapis Lazuli

One of the largest masses known of the
semi-precious stone called lapis lazuli is
displayed in an individual case among the
minerals in Hall 34. Composed wholly of
lapis lazuli, it is a rectangular block two
feet long, fourteen inches wide, nine inches
thick, and weighs 312 pounds. It was
found in an Inca grave in Peru six or seven
hundred miles from the nearest known
deposit which is in the mountains behind
Antofagasta, Chile. Compare the extra-

HUGE LAPIS LAZULI

This enormous block of a popuUr semi'precious scone

weighs 312 pounds, or almost exactly three times as much

as Mrs. Peggy McGann who is comparing her own lapis

lazuli ring with it. It is exhibited in Hall 34.

ordinary size of this specimen with the
statement of an eleventh century author:
"It is oftentimes of so great a bigness that
spoons and hafts of knives are made of it."

Lapis lazuli is an opaque semi-precious
stone of a rich blue color not equalled in
any other stone suited for ornamental use.
It is often spangled with brilliant yellow
specks of pyrite which the ancients believed
to be gold. An apt description is that of
Pliny: "It is like a serene sky adorned with
stars." The richness of its color is not
displayed at its best on this rough block,
but is adequately shown on polished pieces
in the gem collection in H. N. Higinbotham
Hall (Hall 31).

The value and beauty of the stone depends
upon its color — the more intense the blue
the more valuable the stone. It is soft, as
gem stones go — about the hardness of feld-
spar— and loses its polish when subjected to
wear, becoming dull and lusterless. It is
not a simple mineral but a mixture of several
common minerals to which its opacity is
due. Other components are one or both of
two bright blue minerals, lazurite and
haiiynite, to which it owes its color. The
blue minerals are silicates and sulphates of
calcium, sodium, and aluminum with a small
quantity of sodium sulphide.

In jewelers' terms the Museum's enor-
mous block of lapis weighs 706,000 carats.
If ordinary market prices applied to such
huge specimens it would be worth about
$425,000, but practical economics reduces
the actual value of such a stone to about
$10,000.

In the Occident lapis is not as highly
esteemed as formerly, but it is still used
for beads and a variety of small ornaments.
In mediaeval and ancient times it was the
most highly esteemed of all blue stones.
Marbodus, in the eleventh century, wrote
concerning it:

"Opaque of color which excludes the eye
"By Nature with superior honors graced,
"As gem of gems above all others placed."

' The Romans, Greeks and Hebrews called
it sapphire, a name now given to an entirely
different gem. In ancient times it was
esteemed a sovereign remedy for numerous
ills and believed to be a potent charm to
avert many evils. An early Hindu legend
ascribes the origin of lapis lazuli to the cry
of a prince of demons in Ceylon — "From a
cry of the giant son of Diti, resembling the
roaring of the troubled ocean at the close
of the Calpa sprung the variegated Vaidu-
ryam (lapis lazuli), source of colors, of a
bright and ravishing splendor." — H.W.N.

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 6 (Labor Day).

Mummified Animals

The bodies of animals, as well as human
beings, were mummified by the ancient
Egyptians. An exhibit of mummified birds,
and another of mummies of other animals
with the coffins provided for some of them,
is included among the collections in the Hall
of Egypt (Hall J). Animals were mummi-
fied in some cases because of religious signifi-
cance due to their association with various
deities; sometimes as food offerings for dead
humans in whose graves they were placed;
and sometimes animals which had been pets
were mummified for sentimental reasons.

March, 19iS

FIELD MUSEUM NEWS

Page S

HAWAII, ALASKA, AND SOUTH AMERICA AMONG SATURDAY AFTERNOON LECTURE SUBJECTS

Motion pictures in natural colors will be
featured with each of the eight lectures to be
presented in the annual Spring Course for
adults, which begins at Field Museum on
March 6. Various phases of natural history
will be covered in these lectures, and some of
them — such as those about Hawaii, Alaska,
and South America — will have timely inter-
est due to their relation to current incidents
in the war.

The lectures are to be given in the James
Simpson Threatre of the Museum, and all
will begin at 2:30 P.M. The demand for
seats makes it necessary to restrict admission
to adults; for children free motion pictures
are given on Saturday mornings.

Following are the dates, subjects, and
speakers for the adult programs:

March 6 — A Naturalist in the West.

Karl Maslowski.

Mr. Maslowski, who has won great
plaudits on the several previous occasions
when he appeared before Field Museum
audiences, is bringing this season an entirely
new and different color film made last sum-
mer in Texas and Wyoming. In it are many
unusual "shots" of such elusive creatures
as moose, red fox, big horn sheep, bears,
coyotes, prairie dogs, various small mam-
mals, and many birds. There are also very
beautiful expanses of scenery dotted with
remarkable wild mountain flowers.

March 13 — Cruise of the Kinkajou.

Alfred M. Bailey.

A voyage along the west coast of Mexico
is recorded in Mr. Bailey's color film made
on a recent cruise. There are intimate
views of the bird and mammal life of that
coast and the various islands lying along it.
Of particular interest are the notable
colonies of strange sea birds, of sea lions,
and sea elephants.

Mr. Bailey, formerly a member of the
staff of the Department of Zoology at Field
Museum who participated in various im-
portant expeditions for this institution, is
now Director of the Colorado Museum of
Natural History at Denver.

March 20 — Beaver Pond Parade.

Earl Hilfiker.

In order to obtain his rare views of the
life of animals and birds, Mr. Hilfiker often
resorts to camouflage methods similar to
those employed in war. Thus, in localities
where he has conducted his expeditions, the
inhabitants have frequently been startled
to see a tree stump get up and walk, or to
observe a bunch of brush rowing across a
lake. The results of such enterprise will be
seen in the remarkable films which Mr.
Hilfiker will present to illustrate his lecture
at Field Museum. Few animals are so
interesting as those which are the subject
of study in his motion pictures — the
beavers, noted for their work as "four-

footed engineers." Beavers have played a
prominent part in the history and develop-
ment of our country, and rank among the
most interesting and useful of our animals.
They built the first dams, ponds, canals and
roadways on the North American conti-
nent, many centuries before Stone Age man
learned to fell trees with crude stone axes.

March 27— Hawaiian Paradise.

Julian Grotner.

With a subject so rhapsodic as Hawaii,
it is singularly appropriate that Mr. Gromer
should present his lecture and unusually
beautiful color films with a background of
romantic music keyed to the atmosphere and
the native rhythms of the Paradise he
describes. This introduction of music repre-
sents a distinct innovation in Field Museum
lecture presentations. Mr. Gromer's films
show all the colorful tropic flowers and trees,
the yolcanic mountains and their craters,
the lithe and attractive native men and
women interpreting their own fascinating
dances, the Oriental temples, the rapid-fire
native sports such as barefoot football, and
the world famous Waikiki Beach of song
and story.

Mr. Gromer lived in Hawaii for some
years, and came away only a few days before
the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.

April 3 — Alaska Today.

William L. Darden.

Alaska's air bases threaten Japan — and
thus the military importance of our Alaskan
territory grows with each day of the great
conflict!

Some years ago Mr. Darden set forth on
a trip to Alaska as a naturalist. Struck by
its vastness, beauty, and resources, he
stayed on — for eight years, in fact — and
only recently returned with a complete
color motion picture record of modern
Alaska, filmed during the past few months.

A visit to quartz mines — the dredging of
gold — the mighty lumber industry in its
vast forests — these are sequences of Mr.
Darden 's record that will amaze his listeners.
They will see the famed Matanuska Farm
Colony, started as an experiment in 1935,
and thus understand better what it portends
for future colonization. They will al.so
watch salmon spawn, and visit a salmon
cannery. The wild life sequences include
Alaska moose, deer, caribou, fox, beaver,
and lesser animals, as well as giant Kodiak
bears and beautiful white mountain sheep.

April 10 — The Sioux Indian at Home.

Edward T. Camenisch.

Mr. Camenisch's lecture, and the natural
color motion pictures which accompany it,
reveal the life of the Sioux Indians in their
native surroundings. The scenes and story
depict the Sioux's life pattern consisting of
his allegiance to old tribal customs, counter-
balanced by his contact with our social and

educational system. As a prelude, the in-
troduction shows the geology, verdure, birds
and animals among which these Indians
live, and portrays their philosophy and feel-
ing of kinship with all nature. Sub-topics
are the Sioux's early dependence upon the
buffalo, their native artistic ability, family
life, old-time methods of gathering fruits and
vegetables, modern institutions, and contri-
bution to the present war effort.

April 17 — Haunts for the Hunted.

W. F. Kubichek.

Formerly an enthusiastic hunter himself,
Mr. Kubichek laid aside his guns several
years ago in favor of the camera.

"It's much more interesting," he declares,
"the results are more lasting and, what's
more, it takes a great deal more skill to
stalk your prey with a camera than it does
with a gun. To get intimate pictures of the
'home life' of birds requires the ability to
outwit them — and outsit them — in their own
habitats. In addition, I've found that the
motion picture camera is the only medium
to really learn the things we wildlife con-
servationists want, and need, to know about
the habits of birds."

Although the pictures for* the film he is
showing were taken throughout the United
States by Mr. Kubichek, the greater portion
was made in North and South Dakota and
in Montana. Altogether 41 species are
shown — all in color — including the very rare
whooping crane of which fewer than 80 now
exist, and the almost equally rare trumpeter
swan whose present number is about 222.

April 24 — Fabulous South America.

Sullivan C. Richardson.

Mr. Richardson's film is an over-all picture
record of the high spots of the first trip by
automobile ever made from Detroit to Cape
Horn over some 15,000 miles of roadle.ss
jungle, desert, and mountain wilderness.
The close-ups he presents of our "good
neighbors" in various Latin American
countries are of special interest at this time
because of the importance of the relations
between those nations and the United
States due both to the present war and to
future Pan American plans and hopes.
The Pan American Highway Expedition was
made by Mr. Richardson and two com-
panions in 1940.

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 upon presentation of
membership ticket to the Theatre attendant
before 2:30 o'clock on the day of the lecture,
or by writing to the Museum (or telephoning
WABash 9410) for reservation. Seats will
be held in the Member's name until 2:30
o'clock. All reserved seats not claimed by
2:30 P.M. will be made available to the
general public.

Pagei

FIELD MUSEUM NEWS

March, 19i3

"WHAT IS A BAT?"— NEW EXHIBIT TELLS PRINCIPAL FACTS ABOUT ODD FLYING MAMMALS

"What is a Bat?" is the subject of a new
exhibit recently installed in the systematic
series of mammals (Hall 15). By means of
actual specimens and models of various
species of bats found both locally in this
area and in other parts of the world, the
exhibit demonstrates the principal facts
about these odd creatures. Supplementing

apparatus for avoiding objects — so sensitive
that it would be almost a miracle if a bat
did collide with a person, says Mr. Karl P.
Schmidt, Chief Curator of Zoology. Recent
research indicates that the remarkable
ability of bats for avoiding obstacles may be
due to supersonic sounds emitted from their
mouths and reflected back to their ears when

THE VAMPIRE -LIFE SIZE

Sensational writers have long spread the false impression that the vampire bat is a giant creature of terrifying aspect and

far more dangerous to human beings than it is. This illustration indicates the actual dimensions of an average sized bat of

this blood'sucking species which is found only in tropical regions of Central and South America.

the specimens are enlarged models of parts of
bats, showing structural characteristics and
how they are adapted to specific functional
purposes. To some extent the exhibit fol-
lows the plan of the earlier "What is a
Bird?" exhibit installed in Hall 21 (Field
Museum News, November, 1940, p. 1).
Both seek to answer such questions (es-
pecially from children) as "Why?" and
"How?" as well as "What?" Both are
attempts to present and explain ideas,
rather than merely to display examples.

In this manner the Museum is endeavor-
ing to teach the public the truth about bats,
which are widely misunderstood creatures.
Men, or more especially women, have many
false ideas about them, climaxed by the
feminine fear that they will lodge in one's
hair (which they never do purposely,
although on negligibly rare occasions it
could happen by accident). Also requiring
"debunking" treatment are the wildly
exaggerated stories about people being
killed by vampire bats.

Women's fear of bats' getting in their
hair is probably due to the erratic course
bats take in flight, expecially when confined
within the walls of a room, and this erratic
flight, in turn, is due to their exceptional

they come in proximity to objects — a phe-
nomenon basically similar in principle to
that employed in some types of submarine
and airplane detectors. Many bats are
really useful animals, says Mr. Schmidt,
because their dietary habits help to reduce
and control mosquitoes and midges.

The new exhibit was prepared by Staff
Taxidermist Leon L. Walters. In the near
future it will be the subject of a lecture by
Miss Loraine Lloyd of the Raymond
Foundation staff.

Each section of the exhibit is explained
by a general label, and individual items by
shorter labels. The scope of the exhibited
material may be indicated, and the manner
in which objectives are attained may be
suggested, by incorporating into this article
some of the general labels used, as follows:

WHAT IS A BAT?

Bats are often supposed to be related to
birds, because, like birds, they have wings
and fly through the air. Several obvious
features show that this is not true:

Bats have teeth.

Bats are covered with hair instead of
feathers.

Bats bear their young alive; they never
lay eggs.

Bats nourish their young with milk.

All these features prove that bats are
mammals. They are most closely related
to the insect-eating shrews and moles. In
spite of the mouse-like appearance of many
bats, they are not related to mice.

SIZE OF BATS:

Nearly all the models in this exhibit are
greatly enlarged because most bats are small
mouse-sized creatures.

The huge fruit bats or "flying foxes" of
southeastern Asia, Australia, and the South
Sea Islands are the giants among bats.
They may have a wing-spread of almost five
feet, and weigh three pounds or more. At
the other extreme, the tiny pipistrelles found
over most of the United States may have a
wing-spread of less than six inches, and seven
together would scarcely weigh an ounce.

More than 1,000 kinds of bats are known,
and most of these are about the size of the
local silver-haired bats in the exhibit.

WINGS OF BATS:

Bats are the only mammals that truly fly
("flying squirrels" and similar mammals
merely glide, and do not truly fly),
but a bat's wing is very different from a
bird's wing. In a bat the flight surface is
composed of naked skin instead of feathers,
and this skin is spread between the greatly
elongated Angers of the bat's hand.

The thumb is always separate from the
rest of the wing. It forms a little hook on
the front edge of the wing that helps to pull
the animal along when it crawls.

A few bats have a suction disk at the base
of the thumb, which enables them to hang
suspended on perfectly smooth surfaces such
as banana leaves. Other bats have a pouch-
like gland, thought to be a scent gland, in
the skin of the wing.

HEADS OF BATS:

Many bats are equipped with strange
growths on the face, or with exceptionally

VAMPIRE BAT'S SKULL

Enlarged model in new exhibit showing the tigcflike jaws

and teeth which characterize this South American bat, and

may account partly for exaggerated tales of its ferocity.

March, 19i3

FIELD MUSEUM NEWS

Page 5

GROTESQUE FACE

This drawing shows, in enlarged size, the bizarre head of a

horseshoe bat. Many species are equally impressive for

extremely ugly features which belie their character.

large ears. When the head is enlarged, as
in the models shown in this exhibit, these
structures give the face an extraordinary
grotesque appearance unlike that of any
other mammal.

Such developments are found chiefly in
bats that pursue flying insects, and probably
help direct the flight of their owners. In
some cases they are better developed in
males, and then they may have a sexual
significance.

THE MEANING OF BATS' TEETH:

Ancestral bats lived on insects, and had
skulls and teeth suited to seizing and crush-
ing such prey. Many modern bats have
retained this habit, and their teeth have
changed but little.

Other bats have adopted very different
food habits. These enlarged models of the
skulls of bats that live on various kinds of
food show how the skull, and especially the
teeth, are suited to each particular kind of
food. A vampire bat would be unable to
chew up an insect, but neither could an
insect-eating bat make a satisfactory wound
in an animal to lap its blood.

TAILS OF BATS:

The early ancestors of bats undoubtedly
had long mouse-like tails that extended out
behind the body as in other mammals.
Tails much like this are still found in a few
living bats, which are popularly known as
"mouse-tailed bats."

In most bats there is a tail membrane
stretched between the hind legs, and the
tail bones act as a support for this mem-
brane. Both the tail and its membrane have
completely disappeared in some bats, while
other related species exhibit various inter-
mediate stages that show how the tail and
membrane have gradually degenerated in
the course of evolution.

A BAT'S SKELETON shows how the
bones have been modified to enable these

creatures to fly. All the usual bones are
represented, but many of them are so dis-
torted that they look unlike the correspond-
ing bones of other mammals.

Most striking is the skeleton of the wings.
These look like grotesque, enormously en-
larged hands — which is just what they are.
The long and slender fingers serve as "ribs"
to support the flight membrane.

The collar bone is large and powerful and
there is a keel on the breast bone to provide
attachment for the flight muscles.

VAMPIRE BATS are not the huge
blood-sucking monsters that many people
imagine. On the contrary, they are small
inoffensive-appearing creatures apparently
much like many other bats.

Vampires are found only in tropical parts
of South and Central America, where they
are very common. During the day they
retire in colonies to rock caves or hollow
trees, emerging at night to feed on the blood
of mammals and birds.

Looking like a great spider, a vampire
crawls about over its victim until it has
found a suitable spot, then gouges out a little
slice of skin with its teeth and laps up the
blood that flows from the wound. This
slight loss of blood usually does not incon-
venience the victim.

FIREARMS IN THE FAR EAST

Examples of early firearms from Far
Eastern countries are on exhibition in sev-
eral halls of Field Museum's Department of
Anthropology.

When the American Indians had the mis-
fortune to be discovered by the Spaniards,
the three principal means employed by the
invaders to subdue them were the horse,
firearms, and treachery. The Indians had
neither horses nor firearms.

As the Museum exhibits above mentioned
indicate, the story was different when the
Spaniards and Portuguese set out to conquer
parts of Asia. In 1571 the Spaniards en-
tered the Bay of Manila and, to their sur-
prise, were greeted by cannon fire from the
citadels of two fortified towns. Antonia de
Morga, a Spanish writer, relates that long
before the arrival of the Spaniards, the
Philippine Islanders had bronze culverins
and cast iron pieces for defense. When the
Portuguese took Malacca, in 1510, they
captured 3,000 artillery pieces, 2,000 of
which were bronze, the rest iron.

After the Spaniards settled in the Philip-
pines, they sent spies to China to find out
whether she could be conquered as easily
as Mexico and Peru. These emissaries were
Augustinian friars, whose reports are still
extant. They returned and reported that
it could not be done, because China was
very populous, and had standing armies
equipped with horses and firearms. This
deterred the Spanish governors from any
attempt to invade China, and it might be
argued that it was the invention of gun-

powder that saved China from the fate of
Mexico and Peru.

Firearms were employed in China, India,
Java, Sumatra, Borneo, Siam, Cambodia,
and Korea long before the arrival of any
Europeans in Asia. Gunpowder was in-
vented in China about the middle of the
sixth century, and was first employed only
in the manufacture of firecrackers and fire-
works. Large guns were made there about
the beginning of the twelfth century.

In the Museum's Hall of the Philippines
(Hall H) are exhibited nine bronze cannon,
so-called lantaka, captured by American
forces from the Moros on Mindanao. Some
of these are of Chinese manufacture, and
are decorated with ancient Chinese designs;
some were made by the Moros themselves
in imitation of the Chinese models, and
others were imported from Borneo.

In the Museum's Korean collection there
are two copper cannons and one iron
mortar. One cannon bears an inscription
in Chinese characters which reveals that it
was made for the imperial palace at Seoul
in 1747. Its weight is 31 pounds.

In the Chinese collections (Hall 32) are
two heavy muskets, called "jingals," ac-
tually used during the Boxer Rebellion of
1900, and captured by American soldiers.
Their weights are 32 and 40 pounds respec-
tively. The exhibit includes also iron and
leaden cannon balls, and self-loading repeat-
ing crossbows with magazines that held ten
or more arrows, discharged in rapid succes-
sion without reloading. The principle on
which the arrow-chamber is constructed is
almost identical with that of the magazine
mechanism of modern rifies as first applied
to the Winchester in 1867. In China this
type of magazine was used many centuries
ago. A series of matchlock guns made
by the Tibetans may also be seen in Hall 32.

The Arabs learned the gunpowder formula
— saltpeter, sulphur, and charcoal — from
the Chinese. They exported saltpeter from
China under the name "Chinese snow."
After the conquest of Spain, the Arabs
introduced there the secret of gunpowder
and guns. From Spain this knowledge
spread rapidly thereafter to all the other
countries of Europe.

Nature's Bombs Exhibited

Have you seen the volcanic bombs in
Clarence Buckingham Hall (Hall 35)?
Violent explosions in volcanic craters threw
fragments of lava, so hot that they were
plastic like putty, high in the air. Their
rapid whirling motion shaped the plastic
masses into characteristic rounded and
elongated forms which by the time they fell
were stiffened enough by cooling to retain
their shapes.

It is merely a coincidence that many of
those exhibited come from France, Japan,
and New Zealand where bombs of another
kind have been falling recently.

Page 6

FIELD MUSEUM NEWS

March, 19iS

Field Museum of Natural History

Founded by Marshall Field, 1893

Roosevelt Road and Field Drive, Chlcafto

Telephone: Wabash 9410

THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES
Lester Armour Stanley Field

Sewell L. Avbby Samuel Insull, Jr.

W. McCormick Blair Charles A. McCulloch

Leopold E. Block William H. Mitchell

BOARDUAN CONOVER GEORGE A. RICHARDSON

Walter J. Cummings Theodore Roosevelt

Albert B. Dick, Jr. Solomon A. Smith

Howard W. Fenton Albert A. Sprague

Joseph N. Field Silas H. Strawn

Marshall Field Albert H. Wetten

John P. Wilson

OFFICERS

Stanley Field President

Albert A. Sprague First Vice-President

Silas H. Strawn Seeond Vice-President

Albert B. Dick Third Vice-President

♦Clifford C. Gregg Director and Secretary

Orr Goodson Acting Director and Acting Secretary

Solomon A. Smith . . . Treasurer and Assistant Secretary

* On leave in active service as a Colonel in the United
States Army.

FIELD MUSEUM NEWS

EDITOR
Wilfred H. Osgood Curator Emeritus, Zoology

CONTRIBUTING EDITORS

Paul S. Martin Chief Curator of Anthropology

B. E. Dahlgren Chief Curator of Botany

Henry W. Nichols Chief Curator of Geology

Karl P. Schmidt Chief Curator of Zoology

MANAGING EDITOR
H, B. Hartb Public Relations Counsel

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

WISDOM FROM CHINA

Two Chinese proverbs, brought to attenr
tion by Dr. C. Martin Wilbur, Curator of
_ Chinese Archaeology, and

j^ ^T reproduced herewith in

/^ the original Chinese

script, form appropriate
commentaries for this
page. The column on
~j~ "4 the right is translated:

•^ . "A hundred hearings are

. *5(*' 1"* equal to one seeing,"

jt, and thus sums up suc-

^^ "^"^ cinctly one of the primary

AJr ^ reasons for the existence

^m A^ of a museum. The prov-

erb on the left reads:
"Laugh at a tear but don't laugh at a
patch." It thus constitutes an editorial
of the day for our whole country, or in fact
the entire world, at this time when war
makes necessary the philosophical accept-
ance of tragedy and tears, and when short-
ages and rationing make patches the badge of
pride and patriotism, indicating that their
wearer is doing his part to extend the use-
fulness of his possessions and to avoid waste.

aOOD IDEAS

Some time ago (November, 1940) these
pages recorded the completion of an exhibit
called "What is a Bird?" More recently
(October, 1942) an exhibit devoted to
the subject of animal reproduction was
announced, and still later (December, 1942)

the first section of an entire hall to treat
American archaeology and ethnology sub-
jectively was described. In this issue, the
Department of Geology has an account of
an exhibit showing the processes by which
fossils are preserved, and on another page
"What is a Bat?" receives attention.

All these, and others which have had no
special mention, illustrate the trend toward
subjectivity in museum practice and tech-
nique. In the case of Field Museum they
also point to the attainment of a certain
degree of maturity without which they
would not be possible. As a young institu-
tion starting with only the oddments handed
down from a World's Fair, it was necessary
for this Museum to devote its early years
almost exclusively to the accumulation of
objects, and to exhibit these as best it could.
To use objects for illustrating subjects had
limited possibilities because the number and
scope of the objects possessed were seldom
sufficient to cover more than a small part of
any important subject. To a considerable
extent this condition has now changed,
although accumulation and acquisition must
always go on, for the larger and richer col-
lections are, the better they serve not only
for research but also as a source of material
for exhibits of ever widening significance.
Also it seems unlikely that the subjective
exhibit will supplant the objective to any
serious extent. Both are needed, and each
complements the other in the spirit of the
old dictum that "a museum is a collection
of labels illustrated by specimens."

The subjective exhibit is essentially
didactic. It teaches by presenting ideas,
facts, history, and theories rather than
things, although it is relatively ineffective
unless it does this through the use of things
— real things rather than imitations. How-
ever, ideas are legion. They come from the
mind of man, a variable and inexhaustible
source. It is obvious, therefore, that
limits must be placed and that the selection
of good ideas is all important. A good idea
for a Sunday supplement or even a World's
Fair may not be a good one for a museum.
Generally in a natural history museum it is
necessary to stop short of man himself,
except in his primitive condition. As soon
as we begin to deal with civilized man and
man-made things we enter a limitless field
impossible to cover even by various special-
ized museums. Such institutions as have
mistakenly made excursions into this field
have done so only at the sacrifice of the
proper development of their own subjects.

Many museums in the past have made
feeble efforts at subjective exhibits but
their success has been limited either because
the ideas were not first-class or because the
technique of preparation was only a bor-
rowed one. Moreover, exhibits of this kind
have seldom received the financial support
necessary to results of the highest quality.
A good subjective exhibit is not necessarily
large and imposing, and its cost in time and

highly trained thought is not obvious. It
has been relatively easy to secure support
for large beautiful habitat groups, and, in
the fifty years or more since they had their
beginnings, a technique and a personnel have
been developed for their production which
now makes for practical perfection. Some
of the skills thus acquired can be utilized in
the subjective exhibit, but its full success
will depend upon the development of
specialized methods and personnel.

Not every curator is gifted with suffi-
cient imagination to originate the best ideas,
and on the other hand exact knowledge is
the most effective curb upon tendencies to
cheapness or sensationalism. Hence the
prayer is not merely for ideas but for good
ideas worked out co-operatively.

FIELD MUSEUM HONOR ROLL

Now in the
Nation's Service

(} — )

U* • • •

* • • •

* • • •

•"-•1 * • *• *

• • • •

• • • *

• * • •
• • •

* *

Army

Theodore Roosevelt,

Trustee — Brig. Gen.
George A. Richard-
son, Trustee — Lt.

Col.
CuFFORD C. Gregg,

Director — Colonel,

G.S.C.
Dr. John Rinaldo,

Associate, Southwestern Archaeol. — Staff Sgt.
Dr. Sharat K. Roy, Curator, Geol. — Capt.
D. Dwight Davis, Curator, Anat. and Osteol. — Pvt.
Emhet R. Blake, Asst. Curator, Birds — Corp.
Rupert L. Wenzel, Asst. Curator, Insects —

Capt.
William Beecher, Temp. Asst., Zool. — Pvt.
Henry Horback, Asst., Geol. — Pvt.
Jambs C. McIntyre, Guard — 2nd Lt.
Raymond J. Connors, Guard — Pvt.
Frank J. Dutkovic, Janitor — Pvt.

Navy

Lester .\rmoub. Trustee — Lieut. Commdr.
Joseph Nash Field, Trustee — Lieut. CS.G.)
Colin Campbell Sanborn, Curator, Mammals —

Ucut. (S.G.)
Dr. Alexander Spobhr, Asst. Curator, N. Amer.

Ethnol. and Archaeol. — Ensign
John W. Moyer, Taxidermist — Ch. Specialist (Bur.

Aeronautics)
Patrick T. McEnery, Guard — Master-at-Arms
John Syckowski, Guard — Ch. Commissary Stewd.
George Jahrand, Guard — Ch. Water Tender
Clyde James Nash, Guard — Ch. Gunner's Mate
Nicholas Repar, Printer —

Aviation Machinist's Mate 3C.
Morris Johnson, Carpenter^

Carpenter's Mate 2C.
Herbert Nelson, Painter — Painter IC.
Euzabeth Best, Guide-Lecturer —

WAVES (Officers' Training)

Marine Corps

Melvin a. Traylor, Jr. .\ssociate, Birds — 2nd Lt.

Coast Guard

M. C. Darnall, Jr., Guard — Seaman 2C.
John McGinnis, Guard — Ch. Boatswain's Mate

Other Services
Bert E. Grove, Guide-Lecturer — American Field

Service (N. Africa)
RuDYERD BOULTON, Curator, Birds — Staff of

Office of Strategic Services
Bryant Mather, Asst, Curator, Mineralogy —

Civilian Worker, Corps of Engineers, U.S. Army
Llewelyn Wiluams, Curator of Economic Botany

— on special service for U. S. Government

March, 19 US

FIELD MUSEUM NEWS

Page 7

MUSEUM LECTURER JOINS WAVES

Miss Elizabeth Best, Guide-Lecturer on
the staff of the Raymond Foundation, has
been granted leave
of absence for en-
listment in the
Navy. She has
been accepted for
the WAVES Offi-
cers' Training
School at North-
ampton, Mass-
achusetts, and left
Chicago, February
12 for that post.
The Museum has
already lost 32 of
its men to war
service; Miss Best

is the first woman ELiZAiuni lusr
member of its staff

to join up. She has been associated with
the Museum since early in 1940, when she
joined the staff as a volunteer assistant in
zoology. In February, 1941, she was
appointed a staff lecturer. She is a graduate
of Mount Holyoke College with a bachelor
of science degree, and took her master of
science degree at the University of Chicago.

Other Staff Notes

The Army has promoted Mr. Rupert L.
Wenzel (on leave from his post at Field
Museum as Assistant Curator of Insects)
from the rank of First .Lieutenant to
Captain.

Mrs. Ellen T. Smith, Associate in the
Division of Birds, who for several months
was absent due to the fact that her husband,
Mr. Hermon Dunlap Smith, was engaged in
war activities in another city, has returned
to Chicago. She is now again contributing
her highly appreciated services to the
Museum.

Mr. Alfred C. Weed, after two months'
leave of absence spent in the southeast,
returned to the Museum recently.

Dr. Alfred E. Emerson, a professor in
the Department of Zoology at the Univer-
sity of Chicago, Dr. Charles H. Seevers,
head of the Department of Zoology at the
Central Y.M.C.A. College in Chicago, and
Mr. Alex K. Wyatt, a specialist in moths
and butterflies, have all been appointed to
the staff of Field Museum as Research
Associates in Entomology. They will aid
in various research projects.

Mrs. Roberta Cramer has been appointed
a staff lecturer in the James Nelson and
Anna Louise Raymond Foundation. Mrs.
Cramer was graduated from Grinnell College
in Iowa with a bachelor of arts degree. She
specialized in archaeology, and engaged in

further studies in anthropology and eth-
nology at the University of Toronto, later
serving in research in these subjects at the
Royal Ontario Museum of Archaeology in
Toronto.

Mr. J. Francis Macbride is spending some
months at the Department of Botany,
University of California, Los Angeles.

CONSERVATION BRIEFS

II. Mammals

By COLIN CAMPBELL SANBORN

CURATOR OF MAMMAUl

(Now a Lieutenant S. G. in U. S. Navy)

A conservationist trying to explain the
aesthetic value of mammals or birds is often
confronted by someone who asks: "What
good are they?"

People who ask that question should ask
themselves, "What good am I?" A little
reflection on the answer to the second
question might make them more tolerant
of other life.

The motive for true conservation is higher
than the mere gain of worldly possessions —
it cannot be placed on a purely material
basis. It recognizes the right to live — even
the right of weasels, skunks, foxes and other
small carnivores. True conservation is not
the policy of saving that which seems at the
time to be of most value to material civiliza-
tions, but is a policy of noninterference with
all life, no matter how small.

Many living forms have a proper and
rightful place in the perfect functioning
of the laws of nature, and are required to
complete the comprehensive outdoors pic-
ture. To remove even the smallest of these
forms may destroy the balance and leave
a blank in the natural picture.

To satisfy material needs, civilization has
for years defaced the picture. Fortunately,
however, the real value and beauty of the
outdoors is at last being realized and efforts
either to pre-serve or to restore natural
surroundings are now being made. Con-
currently has come understanding of the
aesthetic value of some of the birds and of
the diurnal mammals that attract the atten-
tion and catch the imagination. These are
now protected by moral and written laws.

However, many nocturnal mammals,
principally the small carnivores, have not
as yet gained general approval for their
existence and are thought of as enemies of
material civilization when in many cases
the exact opposite is true. Given sym-
pathetic protection, these mammals could
become almost as well known and friendly
as many of the diurnal forms that captivate
the hearts of their friends.

People guard well their money, jewelry,
and other valuable possessions. If left un-
guarded they are apt to be stolen and the

owner is blamed for his carelessness. On
the other hand, if poultry or livestock suffers
from the attacks of wild animals it is always
upon the wild animals that the blame is
fixed, and not upon the owner who was lax
in the care of his property.

This is illogical, and most certainly is not
fair either to the poultry or the wild animals.
Human beings know that it is wrong to rob
and to kill, but certain mammals have no
other means of existence and cannot dis-
tinguish between poultry and wild birds.
Furthermore, domestication has removed
many of the protective instincts of once
wild animals and it is the owners' accepted
responsibility to care for all of such domesti-
cated creatures.

Even skunks, to say nothing of weasels,
minks, raccoons, and foxes, have their proper
place as checks on rodent and insect life
which, if uncontrolled, would soon become
a plague.

(Next issue: — Conservation of Birds.)

Artificial Silk Anticipated in 1664

Mr. Charles R. Heath, a Member of
Field Museum who often contributes plant
material to the Department of Botany,
supplies the following interesting extract
from an article on textile fibers in an
Australian journal (written by Professor
W. R. Lang of Geelong, Victoria):

"In 1664, Dr. Robert Hooke in his Micro-
graphia made the following curious state-
ment after examining silk fibers: 'Silk is
little else than a dried thread of glew (sic).
I have often thought that probably there
might be a way found out to make an arti-
ficial glutinous composition much resem-
bling if not full as good, nay better than,
that excrement or whatever the substance
it be out of which the silkworm draws his
glew. I need not mention the use of such
an invention, nor the benefit that is likely
to accrue to the finder, they being suffici-
ently obvious. This hint, therefore, may,
I hope, give some ingenious person an occa-
sion for making some trials.'

"No such ingenious person arose until
1884, two hundred and twenty years later,
when the Frenchman Chardonnet, using the
ideas then recently introduced by the
Englishman Swan for producing fine carbon
filaments for his new electric globes, turned
to the deadly explosive nitrocellulose, and
the fantastic combination yielded the first
artificial fibre from cellulose material."

The dating of many of the American
Indian exhibits in Field Museum is based
upon the tree-ring method of establishing
chronology. In Hall 7 is an exhibit of a
master tree-ring calendar illustrating how
this method is used.

A Bean Dance altar of colored sand, made
by Indians of the Southwest, is exhibited
in Hall 7, Case 6.

Page 8

FIELD MUSEUM NEWS

March, 19iS

"WHO'S WHO" AMONG ANIMALS
SUBJECT OF SUNDAY TALKS

Audiences at the Sunday afternoon
lectures to be presented during March
by Mr. Paul G. Dallwig, the Layman
Lecturer, will attend the court of the King
of Beasts and all the lesser lights of the
animal world. "Who's Who in the Mounted
Zoo" is the topic of the lecture to be given
each Sunday this month.

Especial attention will be given by Mr.
Dallwig to such features as the complete
story of the giant panda "Su-Lin," former
pet of the Brookfield Zoo; the history of
the two "man-eating lions of Tsavo" which
devoured more than 130 human beings be-
fore they were finally shot by Colonel J. H.
Patterson and brought to this Museum; and
interesting observed incidents in the life of
wild animals which illustrate their intelli-
gence and their behavior under both normal
and abnormal conditions. Mr. Dallwig will
also dramatize "A Day in Africa," and will
explain the modern art of taxidermy as
practised in this and other leading museums.
The lecture will be illustrated by exhibits in
the halls of the Department of Zoology.

It is necessary to limit the size of groups
attending these lectures, and persons wish-
ing to participate must make reservations
in advance. The lectures begin promptly
at 2 P.M. Because of the heavy public
demands, it is necessary to restrict accom-
modations to adults. Applications for reser-
vations may be made by mail or telephone
(WABash 9410).

In April, the final month of Mr. Dallwig's
current season, his subject will be "Romance
of Diamonds from Mine to Man."

PROGRAMS OF LECTURE TOURS
FOR WEEKDAYS IN MARCH

Conducted tours of exhibits, under the
guidance of staff lecturers, are made every
afternoon at 2 o'clock except Sundays, and
certain holidays.

On Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and
Saturdays, general tours are given, covering
outstanding features of all four departments
— Anthropology, Botany, Geology, and
Zoology. Special subjects are offered on
Wednesdays and Fridays; the schedule of
these follows:

Wednesday, March 3 — Food Plants of
America (Miss Marie Pabst).

Friday, March 5 — The Races of Man
(Miss Miriam Wood).

Wednesday, March 10 — Before the Dawn
of History (Miss Marie Pabst).

Friday, March" 12 — Bird Life in the
Chicago Region (Miss Loraine Lloyd).

Wednesday, March 17 — Snake Stories
(Miss Miriam Wood).

Friday, March 19 — Spring and Its Effects
on Plants and Animals (Miss Loraine
Lloyd).

Wednesday, March 24 — Gems and Jewel-
ry (Miss Marie Pabst).

Friday, March 26 — Indian America (Miss
Miriam Wood).

Wednesday, March 31 — Plants and the
War Effort (Miss Marie Pabst).

Persons wishing to participate should ap-
ply at North Entrance. Tours are free. By
pre-arrangement at least a week in advance,
special tours are available to groups of ten
or more persons.

MOTION PICTURES FOR CHILDREN
BEGIN DURING MARCH

India, Africa, Alaska, American Indians,
and undersea life are among the subjects
to be featured in the spring series of free
motion picture programs for children to
be presented at Field Museum on Saturday
mornings during March and April by the
James Nelson and Anna Louise Raymond
Foundation. One program, that on March
20, will include the personal appearance of
Reginald and Gladys Laubin, noted re-
searchers of Indian lore, who will tell legends
and demonstrate many of the dances of the
aborigines. Five of the eight programs will
include animated cartoons as well as the
more serious pictures. These programs, to
which children from all parts of Chicago and
suburbs are invited, will be presented twice
each Saturday, at 10 a.m. and at 11, in the
James Simpson Theatre of the Museum.
No tickets are needed for admission.
Children may come alone, accompanied by
adults, or in groups from schools, com-
munity centers, etc.

The programs include motion pictures
with sound, many in color. Following is
the schedule:

March 6 — A Look Into India.
Also a cartoon.

March 13 — Wheels Across Africa.

March 20 — Indian Dances and Lore.

March 27— SPRING CROSSES the Conti-
nent. Also a cartoon.

April 3 — Our Neighbors Down the Road.
Also a cartoon.

April 10 — By Air to Alaska.
Also a cartoon'.

April 17 — Life Along the Sea Floor.
Also a cartoon.

April 24 — An All-Cartoon Program.

GIFTS TO THE MUSEUM

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

Department of Anthropology:

From American Museum of Natural
History, New York — 60 prehistoric stone
implements and potsherds, China.

Department of Botany:

From Mrs. M. Alice Cornman, Punta
Gorda, Fla. — 40 lichens, Panama; from Mrs.
Cora S. Steyermark, Barrington, 111. — 90
herbarium specimens, Louisiana; from Dr.
M. J. Groesbeck, Porterville, Calif.— 85
herbarium specimens; from Dr. Henry

Field, Washington, D. C. — 20 herbarium
specimens, Tobago and Trinidad; from Otto
Degener, New York — 153 herbarium speci-
mens, chiefly Hawaii; from William A.
Daily, Indianapolis, Ind. — 64 specimens
of algae, Indiana; from Jos6 Ignacio
Aguilar, Guatemala City, Guatemala — 225
herbarium specimens, Guatemala; from
Prof. Angel Maldonado, Lima, Peru — 115
specimens of algae, western Peru.

Department of Geolo^:

From Emil Liljeblad, Villa Park, 111.—
2 specimens of fibrous gypsum, Illinois.

Department of Zoolo^:

From First Lt. Robert Traub, Louisiana,
Mo. — 8 fleas in 4 species. United States and
Mexico; from Dr. Fritz Haas, Chicago, and
John Q. Burch, Redondo Beach, Calif. —
about 1,200 specimens of marine shells in
224 lots, west coast of United States and
Mexico; from Leslie Hubricht, St. Louis,
Mo. — 190 specimens in 4 lots of fresh water
Crustacea and one lot of land shells, Illinois;
from Hon. R. M. Barnes, Lacon, 111. — 5
specimens in 5 species of shells.

Library :

Valuable books from: Dr. B. P. Georges
Hochreutiner, Geneva, Switzerland; from
A. R. Penrose, Sydney, Australia; from
Willing's Press Service, London, England;
from Mrs. J. Howes, Holyoke, Mass.; from
Ko Zen Kuang, Kunming, Yunnan, China;
from Mons. Federico Lunardi, Tegucigalpa,
Honduras; from Dr. Henry Field, Washing-
ton, D. C; from Elmer S. Riggs, Lawrence,
Kans.; from Stanley Field, Lake Forest,
111.; from Col. Clifford C. Gregg, Camp
Hood, Tex.; from Orr Goodson, Glencoe,
111.; Clifford H. Pope, Winnetka, 111.; and
from H. Boardman Conover, Paul C.
Standley, and Miss Vivian E. Capaul, all
of Chicago.

NEW MEMBERS

The following persons became Members
of Field Museum during the period from
January 16 to February 15:

Associate Meml>ers
Miss Ruth E. Chinlund, Edward Vilas
Piatt, Mrs. Edward Summer, Arnold
Spencer Wahl.

Annual Members

Carl E. Atwood, Dr. Emmet B. Gay,
Stewart Boal, William C. Borngraber,
Henry L. Burman, Sidney I. Cole, Thomas
B. Freeman, Roy G. Geisler, Walter C.
Hasselhorn, J. H. Herz, Harry W. Jarrow,
Arthur Keating, Mrs. Howard Kroehl,
Samuel A. Larsen, Albert F. Meyer, Ben
Miller, Edgar B. Miller, Dr. Shayle Miller,
J. D. Mollendorf, Mrs. Roscoe Moon,
Raymond Mooney, Joseph L. Moss, Joseph
B. Mulligan, Mrs. E. N. Ridley, R. Edward
Stemm, Jr., Mrs. Charles E. Windeler.

The visitor interested in fishes should
note how profound has been the effect of
bottom-living habits in the flattened rays
and skates, and in the sawfish, while free
swimming habits, by contrast, develop the
stream-lined torpedo-shaped body of the
ocean going sharks (see Hall O exhibits).

PRINTED BY FIELD MUSEUM PRESS

News

Published Monthly by Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago

Vol. 14

APRIL-MAY, 1943

No8. 4-5

"WAR THEATRES" EXHIBIT TO KEEP PACE WITH CURRENT FRONT PAGE NEWS

Museum Displays Material from Battle Areas for Information of Fighters and Their Families

Bv H. B. HARTE

MANAGING EDITOR, FIELD MUSBUU NEWS

"Theatres of the War," a special exhibit
of selected material representing phases of
native life in various world zones where
important war action is currently taking
place, has just been
installed in the west
half of James Nelson
and Anna Louise Ray-
mond Hall (Hall 4—
main floor).

This exhibit is de-
signed primarily to
teach members of our
Armed Forces, on their
visits to Field Mu-
seum (and thousands
of them do visit this
institution!) some of
of the principal facts
about the customs of
the peoples in the
various geographic
areas to which they
may be dispatched.
It will also function as
an exhibit for ready
reference by families
and friends of men
overseas who wish to
learn something of the
lands to which their
soldiers, sailors, and
marines have gone to
fight our enemies.

The exhibit has
been assembled in

response to a widespread demand, on the
part both of uniformed and civilian visitors,
for information about the geography,
ethnology, and natural history of the
regions from which most of the newspapers'
front page stories are emanating these days.
It is planned to keep this hall current with
the progress of war events. As new theatres
of war become prominent in the news, or old
ones drop out of the news due to regional
victories, cases will be shifted so as to permit
bringing in material representative of the
new fields of interest.

The greatest emphasis is laid upon illus-
trating the customs of friendly so-called

"primitive" peoples who have chosen to
become comrades of the forces of the United
Nations, and who are rendering conspicuous
services to our troops. It is well known
that our forces have been most successful in
those lands where the natives are friendly.

I'liACLTIMli SCliNli IN NEW GUINEA

This photograph, nude ^ears ago by the Joseph N. Field Melanesian Expedition under the leadership of the late

Dr. Albert B. Lewis of the Museum's Anthropology staiT. shows types of natives, the kind of houses they built, and

dugout canoe. Little known to Americans when Field Museum pioneered in its exploration (I909'I3), this island is now

familiar as one of the principal Pacific Ocean battle areas in which U. S. soldiers, sailors and marines are engaged.

and these friendships have brought many
peoples to our side in varied forms of
assistance. In many lands the members of
tribes we were once disposed to look upon
as "savages" have proved to have more
actual "civilization" than certain other
"modern" peoples we have regarded as
belonging on our own level. These people
seemed strange to us simply because they
dressed differently (or dressed scarcely at
all), had different customs, different reli-
gions (often neither more odd nor more
superstition-based than some of the more
peculiar sects which crop up as "freak
religions" in Europe and America). Or

simply because they were contented to live
more nearly natural lives than ours without
the sometimes questionable benefits of our
much vaunted mechanization and standard-
ization of life. But these peoples have in
many lands arisen nobly to play their part
in the present world-
shaking cataclysm.

They have shown
the ability to distin-
guish between right
and wrong. They
have in many cases
understood the real
intents and purposes
of the Axis nations,
and recognized that
with all our imperfec-
tions the hopes of the
world hang upon the
victory of our side.
And they, for such
reasons in some in-
stances, and for rea-
sons merely of their
own innate humani-
tarianism in others,
have volunteered to
help us materially. In
many places they are
invaluable guides to
our officers and men
in penetrating difficult
terrain such as jungle
and desert. They
have helped to carry
the litters bearing our
wounded. They have
been important cogs in keeping open the life-
lines of communication and supply, carry-
ing food, munitions, and other necessaries
to our troops, by pack animals, on their own
backs, in dugout canoes, and by other means.
In some localities they have even been
known to prepare caches of such fruits as
coconuts, distributed at spots where any of
our men happening along would find them
for both food and liquid refreshment.

This being the case, it is important that
our men going to overseas posts should know
the true facts about these peoples, and be
prepared to accept their hospitality on
equally friendly terms, and to give them full

Page 2

FIELD MUSEUM NEWS

April-May, 19 hS

GANGES RIVHR CARGO BOAT

Model, included in "Theatres of War" exhibit, oi one ol

the many types of craft used in India. Similar vessels now

probably aid transport of supplies to U. S. troops.'

credit for the assistance rendered. If the
Museum can teach these things to some of
our boys, it will supplement the Army's
and Navy's "indoctrination courses" just
as surely and usefully as it is supplementing
the school system by its various educational
activities for children. Likewise, if it can
also help in bringing a similar understanding
and appreciation of these peoples by the
families and friends of the fighting men, and
all the other elements of our civilian popu-
lation, it will be accomplishing a step
toward the promotion of a post-war world
attitude that should aid in bringing about
the kind of peace we want and the removal
.of the causes of future wars.

The areas represented in the first assem-
blage of exhibits in this hall are: the Solomon
Islands, New Guinea, the islands of the Bis-
marck Sea (Admiralty Island, New Britain,
and New Ireland), North Africa, West
Africa, India, northern Australia (Port Dar-
win area), and northern Alaska and the Aleu-
tian Islands. Included in the display are
weapons, ornaments, costumes, musical
instruments, ceremonial objects, hollow log
drums such as are used in "jungle telegraph,"
and other ethnological material illustrating
how these people live, together with photo-
graphs of many of the men, women, and
children themselves, employing some of
these objects in their daily tasks. From this
background material, the soldier, sailor,
coastguardman, or marine bound for far
fields of battle action may gain in advance
some background and familiarity with the
conditions he is going to meet, and the types
of people who may by their co-operation
assist him in important ways.

Space for this special exhibit has been
made without seriously disturbing the
Woodlands and Southeastern North Ameri-
can Indian exhibits which regularly occupy
Hall 4. These exhibits all remain in the hall,
but have been spaced a little more closely
so that they may all be accommodated in
the other end of the hall.

The special exhibit was arranged by Dr.
Paul S. Martin, Chief Curator of Anthro-
pology, assisted by Curators Donald Collier

and George I. Quimby. The keynote of the
spirit in which the Museum administration
and the members of the staff are presenting
this special war exhibit was expressed by
Mr. Collier on the day it was opened to the
public, when he said:

"I confidently look forward most espe-
cially to two days — the day when we will
add exhibits of the Philippines to this hall
because our forces have retaken those islands
and are well on their way to the shores of
Japan itself — and the day when we will
disperse all of these war exhibits to their

NEW GUINEA WAR VESSEL

Sailing canoe, with outrigger, of a type used by Papuan
natives for many purposes. Some United Nations fliers,
and other fighters adrift at sea, have been rescued by such
craft. (Photo by Joseph N. Field Melanesian Expedition).

proper places in the systematic enthnologi-
cal collections because the conflict has
victoriously ended for the United Nations
in all theatres of the war."

CONSERVATION BRIEFS

III. Birds

By RUDYERD BOULTON

curator of birds

(Now serving in Office of Strategic Services)

Chicago is unique among all the large
cities of the United States for the great
wealth of water birds and marsh birds that
nest at its doors and even within its corporate
area. But it is a question whether this con-
dition is properly appreciated by the mass
of Chicagoans, and whether they will provide
the necessary measures for its continuance.
The draining of our marshes has already
lowered the water table in the Chicago
region appreciably, and every agriculturist
and gardener now pays the penalty.

It is only in the last 50 years that conser-
vation has become a living issue of interest
and concern to millions of Americans, and
millions more still need to be educated in
this subject. Widespread public attention
first began to be focused upon the waste
and destruction of our living natural re-
sources during the last years of the 19th
century. Effective at that time in crystal-

lizing public opinion were the efforts of the
then newly founded National Association of
Audubon Societies, the American Ornithol-
ogists' Union, and kindred bodies; and
definite action for conservation was in-
stituted under government auspices. Prior
to that time there were no effective game
laws, and no treaties affecting this problem
with Canada or Mexico. Thousands upon
thousands of birds were killed on their
nesting grounds to obtain feathers for the
millinery trade.

Today most states do have effective game
laws. Treaties with our neighbors regulate
the killing of migratory birds that nest in
Canada and fly through the United States
to winter in Mexico and farther south.
Interstate commerce in game birds for food
is prohibited. The killing of birds for their
feathers and the sale of feathers of wild
birds are prohibited.

MiUions of people today take an active
interest in clubs, societies, and other organi-
zations primarily concerned with the study,
enjoyment and preservation of the natural
and bountiful heritage of our wild life.
There is, however, much yet to be done to
insure that the generations that come after
us may see, experience, and enjoy from
economic, scientific, and aesthetic stand-
points the wild life that we still have. The
pace of civilization gets faster and faster
with the passing years. Airplanes, auto-
mobiles, radio, motion pictures — even tele-
phone, telegraph, postal service, and news-
papers— have been developed within a
period that represents just a tick of the clock
compared to the time required for the com-
plicated adjustment of different types of
animals not only to their environment but
also to one another.

Conservation as a basic idea is universally
agreed to. In the details of execution it
is almost always controversial (no wonder
the birds and animals have a hard time
getting along with the human species, when
the humans can't get along even with each
other!). The controversies are due to the
fact that groups of people with special
interests see comparative values from dif-
ferent points of view. One of the greatest
barriers to effective conservation measures
is ignorance of basic facts. Even the most
expert conservationist would hesitate to
guarantee that certain results would follow
specified practices.

( Next issue: — Conservation of Plant Life.)

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 in-
cluding September 6 (Labor Day).

April-May, 191,3

FIELD MUSEUM NEWS

■Pages

ECONOMIC IMPORTANCE OF BEANS
APART FROM FOOD VALUE

By J. FRANCIS MACBRIDE

ASSOCIATE CURATOR OF THE HERBARIUM

Boston baked, of course, are what almost
any American thinks about first when beans
are mentioned.

But it isn't the lowly bean, upon which
armies since about the year 1500 have ad-
vanced, with which our economy is con-
cerned today. The products that come
from the legume family of plants, typified
by the common bean, are of equal or greater
importance. Many of these plants are
scarcely recognizable as bean plants, even
to a botanist, for they may have flowers
that are not tho.se of the familiar pea or
bean, and fruits that have little rasemblance
to the ordinary bean or pea pod. The classic
example of a bean plant that, in common
parlance, "isn't one," is the peanut that
matures its pods beneath the surface of the
ground. Its blossoms, however, are charac-
teristic bean or pea flowers — see the peanut
plant exhibit in Case 36, Hall 25.

This example is easy to learn compared
with some of the other "legumes" which
are of economic interest. Gum Arabic, for
instance, is the resin of an acacia, a spiny
trrje of northern Africa whose fruit is a pod,
but whose flowers are almost minute and
seem to consist mostly of stamens. The
flowers are so closely crowded together in
some sorts of acacias, and related mimosas,
that they are fluffy in appearance and so
ornamental that florists in the north and
gardeners in Florida and California know
them well in season. And there is cassia or
senna with bright yellow or light pink
flowers that are borne clustered in long loose
sprays in one species often cultivated in
warm regions for its beauty. The fruit is
a pod, and furnishes a drug.

Among legumes with neither the flower
nor the pod of the bean may be mentioned
the "balsam of Peru," used pharmaceuti-
cally and in perfumery. Its fruit is some-
thing like that of a maple tree, but the
winged portion of the stalked pod is below
the solitary seed at the tip. In the seed
portion are two pits filled with balsam.
Curiously enough the tree, notwithstanding
its name, was originally discovered in Central
America and it is chiefly in Salvador that
it is grown commercially, although it is also
found in the forests of Peru. Other legumes
unusual in fruit and flower include the
"jutai" or dialium, a tree of Peru and the
Amazon regions, valued for its hard wood
resistant to moisture. Related is the cour-
baril that supplies copal, the resin exported
from the Amazon.

TIMBER FROM BEAN PLANTS

The above gives an idea of the variation
in flowers and fruits in this great family of
plants, but we have mentioned only a few
of the products that are important in the
everyday life of men. These are as diverse
as the plants themselves, and what diversity

there is! Blossoms so tiny that one can be
picked up on the point of a pin — so large
that one or two make a bouquet — sometimes
with the lovely form of a butterfly or an
orchid, sometimes like a fluff of down, some-
times almost like a wild rose! Often, too,
the fragrance is unusual, exotic. There is,
for example, the "cumaru," a huge Amazon-
ian tree with crown, when in flower, bright
rose-colored from its abundance of fragrant
blossoms. Its egg-shaped fruits are often
oily to the touch and exude an aromatic
odor. The seed is the "tonka bean" exported
for "coumarin," a common substitute for
vanilla and a flavor for perhaps your own
brand of cigarettes not to mention perfume
or medicine. Similar in fragrance is a
Peruvian tree, amburana, that attains a
hundred feet, and is highly esteemed for
its excellent wood. It is one of many

TAMARIND OF INDIA

Fruiting branch of a tree of the bean family, now gi'own
everywhere in the tropics. The illustration is from a
manual prepared by the Museum's Department of Botany
at the request of the SurgeonS'General of the Army and
Navy, to provide Expeditionary Forces with information
2S to edible, and poisonous, plants.

tropical legumes that furnish timbers for all
sorts of construction since they exist in a
wide range of qualities. One of the best
known is the purple heart.

But flowers, perfumes, even timbers and
beans, important as these are, are not the
outstanding products today of the legume
family of plants — the most widely used
"beans" today are a few rather allied and
bean-like plants. These include the ancient
soy bean, the usefulness of which has been
greatly increased in our time. It looks like
a bean plant and furnishes, under the impulse
of modern industrial methods, an almost
fantastic variety of things for man's needs
ranging from food to oil and plastics (see
ca.se 30, Hall 25). Last year fifteen million
bushels of soy beans were required for seed
in the United States, whereas in 1917 a
mere fifteen million pounds sufficed! Then
there is crotalaria, long appreciated as a
source of hemp known as "sunn," a fiber

produced from an Indian spedfe,' but
recently of growing interest and importance
as a soil builder because of its exceptional
nitrogen fixing ability even in almost pure
sand. Other bean or pea-like plants are
proving to surpass by far the common
clovers and alfalfa in usefulness for forage
in many areas, especially on so-called
marginal lands which, to a botanist, are
simply lands for which adaptable crops have
not been found. There are, for example, a
species of "lotus" that yields like alfalfa;
a lespedeza from Korea; and "kudzu," a
trailing, tropical perennial bean — these are
all legumes that have converted millions of
unprofitable acres into profitable lands.

AN IMPORTANT INSECTICIDE

Finally, let us consider the sensational
insecticide rotenone that is derived from a
bean plant of the Amazon valley. This
erect, bushy plant with pea-like flowers,
called derris botanically, is perhaps, next
to the erstwhile lowly bean, the most im-
portant bean of all — maybe even this state-
ment is putting the cart before the horse,
because of what avail is a bean plant if the
insects eat it before the beans mature!
Rotenone is one of the most potent
insecticides and, although harmful to cold-
blooded animals, it is harmless to the
warm-blooded, including man. Although
known from time immemorial to the natives
as a "fish poison," its u.se in agriculture has
come forward only during this decade.
Actually the narcotic principle in the plant
does not "poison" fish which have been
trapped by damming a stream, but partially
paralyzes them so that they are caught
easily near the surface after pulverized
derris plants, particularly the roots, have
been strewn over the quiet water. In
derris, rotenone is most plentiful in the
roots which are thick and may extend for
75 feet or farther near the top of the ground.
They are gathered from several wild species,
some of which are now in cultivation and
may yield as much as a ton of roots per
acre after eighteen months. In 1940 the
production was six and a half million pounds.
The War Production Board has reported a
two million pound shortage for 1942, the
Army alone requiring an estimated 600,000
pounds.

SOME LEGUMES HARM LIVE STOCK

It is of interest that the same or other
narcotics are found in a number of legumes.
Sometimes these are harmful to animals as,
for instance, the well-known loco weed of
the western United States and the Andes
which may be fatal to stock when grazed.
The common "yopo tree" of Peru and the
Amazon yields a narcotic bean that is ap-
parently harmless; pulverized it is u.sed by
many native tribes as snuff.

All of which goes to suggest, among
other things, that next time your friend
tells you that you don't know beans, you
may reply that there is still a great deal to
be learned about legumes.

Page i

FIELD MUSEUM NEWS

April-May, 19i3

CONFUSIONS CONCERNING RACE,
CULTURE, AND LANGUAGE

By PAUL S. MARTIN

CaUtF CUKATOR, DEPARTMENT OP ANTHROPOUXiY

There is more confusion and more smug,
false, malicious, nonsensical thinking on the
subjects of race, culture and language than
on almost any other subject.

Fear is one of the prime factors in produc-
ing prejudices, jealousies, and hatreds. Fear
of what? A fear that the My-Group (my
friends, my labor
union, my church,
my club, my na-
tion) may be criti-
cized or dominated,
oppressed, slan-
dered, over-run or
exterminated by
the You-Group.
This feeling is root-
ed in a very old hu-
man obsession — an
obsession that the
My-Group is the ^ negro type

most important in ^^ ^,^^)

the world — no, even

more, that it is "uniquely valuable." If the
My-Group is weakened, ruined economically,
or killed, its members feel that all important
things, all valuable contributions, and all
good ways of living will die out.

Let me illustrate. We, the Whites (the
group I belong to and therefore My-Group),
think of ourselves, of our accomplishments,
and of o»ir way of life as the most imptortant
and the best in the universe — in a word,
"superior." If another group such as an
alien group, begins to drift into my com-
munity and to work for less wages, then the
My-Group fears that our means of earning
our daily bread will be threatened and
usurped. This fear then turns into a hatred
not just for these intruders but for any and
all aliens. We cast about for rationaliza-
tions about this race which will justify our
hatred. We say such things as "These
people are inferior, they do not respect
womanhood, they sire careless drivers, they
are dirty, they never pay their debts, they
steal, they practice infanticide." We do not
wish to admit that the intruders may work
more efficiently, and we do not recognize
that they are used to a lower standard of
living and can therefore afford to work for
less. We simply condenm all members of
this foreign group and have thus created a
race prejudice. We feel compelled to do
something about this threat to our economic
life. Our fear, which has been translated
into race prejudice, causes us not only to
hate them, but also to legislate against them,
to tar and feather them, to lynch them, and
to run them out. In this illustration, an
economic issue is confused with a racial
issue, and out of this confusion arises much
dissension and racial hatred.

Self-interest or fear that the My-Group
will be weakened also causes distrust, hate.

jealousy, and competition between various
groups in our own country, such as the farm
bloc versiis the silver bloc, the Democrats
versus the Republicans, the Protestants
versus the Catholics. But these conflicts
are not expressed in racial terms.

This trait is common to so-called "civi-
lized" man as well as to the "savages." Our
own immediate concerns, customs, language,
and way of life are dear to us. We smile
when we learn that a small "primitive"
group of American Indians claims that it is
responsible for all that is great and good in
the world. But we might jtist as well
smile at ourselves too.

WHAT IS RACE?

In order to understand these emotional
reactions and to classify the issues involved,
we must understand what race is.

It seems, after an examination of the zoo-
logical e\ndence, that all mankind belongs to
a single genus and a single species. We
know that all human diNdsions are inter-
fertile and that different varieties of man
have interbred since the earliest times with
all other human groups, and that these inter-
marriages have produced fertile offspring.
Absolutely pure and immixed races no longer
exist. The various divisions of the human
race do not arise as purely biological en-
tities, but rather through an arbitrary and
artificial classification. The racial problem
is really a cultural, social and economic one,
rather than a purely biological one.

Hooton defines race as "a major physical
division of mankind, the constituent mem-
bers of which are distinguished by the
possession of similar combinations of ana-
tomical features due to their conmion
heredity."

Strictly speaking, it may be argued that
there is only one real race, i.e., the human
race. For the sake of convenience, how-
ever, and on the basis of superficial differ-
ences, the human race has been broken up
into three main divisions: i.e., White
(Caucasian), Negroid, and East Asiatic (or
Mongoloid). In addition to these there are
subdivisions and
composite groups.

In considering
such traits as skin,
hair or eye-color;
shape of eye or
nose; cephalic in-
dex; stature, or
cranial capacity,
great caution must
be used. No one
of them alone will
distinguilsh any
human type from
another. If all these
traits and many
other anatomical features are carefully tab-
ulated, it may be possible to classify a
given individual as White, Negroid, or East
Asiatic. The main point is that most
of the peoples of the earth fall into definite

CAUCASIAN TYPE
(GeorgU, USSR)

types; and it seems certain that the Whites,
Negroids, and East Asiatics each represent
a long history of physical specialization.

To sum up: (1) There is but one human
race with three main stocks or sub-races or
types. We may loosely speak of the Negroid
race; but we really mean the Negroid division
of the Human Race. (2) Many anatomical
traits have to be taken into account before
people can be classified as belonging to any
particular stock.

Race and language are in no way related.
This is obvious, for all who speak English
are not of the White stock. A man's
hereditary features and anatomy depend
upon biological circumstances, or in other
words upon his mother and father, his
grandparents and so on. A man's language
depends upon the speech he was taught
when he was a child. A Chinese bom in
this country speaks English; yet he belongs
to the East Asiatic or Mongoloid division
of the human race. Language is learned,
not transmitted biologically.

RACE AND CULTURE

Race and cultiire are distinct entities and
are in no way related. Culture is not a
function of race.
By "culture" I do
not mean good
manners. Culture
embraces the sum
total of human be-
havior and activi-
ties which are
handed on by pre-
cept, imitation, and
social heritage.
This would include
all customs, habits,
attitudes, religious
beliefs, political
ideas, and ways of
making and doing things. Any civilization is
built up and contributed to by many human
sub-races or groups — WTiite, Yellow and
Black. Our own civilization rests upon a
foundation of inventions and discoveries of
all human groups. For example, gunpowder
and movable type were invented by the Chi-
nese people; domesticated animals and many
grains come from Asiatic groups as well as
from Mediterranean peoples; and corn and
tobacco were first domesticated by the
American Indians. Casting and smelting
of iron may be attributed to the African
Negro. In other words, civilization is built
up now^ out of the contribution of this group,
now of that group. We and our ancestors
have been great borrowers.

IS THERE RACIAL SUPERIORITY ?

This question interests every human
group and is nearly always answered in
the affirmative and in its own favor by the
group asking the question!

Many people assxmie that the more one
resembles an ape physically, the more one
is like an ape in mental and social capa-
bilities. But if this were true then we, the

MONGOLOID TYPE

(AUskjn Eskimo)

April-May, 19i3

FIELD MUSEUM NEWS

Page 5

Whites, should have the mentality of apes
because we are closer to them and less
specialized than the Negro, for example. It
may come as a surprise to some to learn
that the tightly curled or kinky hair, the
smooth hairless skin, and the thick lips of
the Negro are highly specialized physical
characteristics which are not shared by any
apes. In other words, the Negro is less
primitive and less like an ape in these
respects than are the Whites.

In order to prove that our culture is
superior to all others, we are wont to
compare other civilizations with our own;
and the more they differ from ours, the
lower they are thought to be. This is
illogical, immature, and provincial. There
is really no good way for comparing cultures.
We, like "primitive" peoples and "savages,"
think of our own concerns, our own way of
life, as the best possible in the world. This
smug attitude is similar to that of a man
who, without any knowledge or fair appraisal
of other communities, thinks that the rail-
road station or the park of his home town
is the finest and best in the world. This sort
of belief is a prejudice and should be recog-
nized as such.

All civilizations are the end results of
contributions and borrowings from all other
peoples and civilizations. It is a common
end achieved with the help of many.

In other words, any civilization which is
isolated becomes stagnant; but a civiliza-
tion which has numerous contacts and
intermixtures with other cultures and
peoples flourishes and becomes great.
WHY CULTURES VARY

Why do cultures differ? Why are some
interested mainly in conquest, or in wealth,
or in philosophy? Race, as we have seen,
is not responsible; and instinct certainly is
not. The answer is that man's mental
plasticity is responsible for differing cultures.
Man's adaptive ability is a greater asset
to him than speed is to the deer, than
flight is to the bird, or than streamlining
is to the whale.

But all these things fade into insignificance
when compared to the wide range of man's
potentialities. Man is not inexorably
governed by instincts as are other members
of the animal world. Man is plastic,
reacts quickly and completely to new
situations and environments, and thus has
an advantage over every other animal.

But perhaps you will still ask why cul-
tures differ. Man's innate plasticity or
adaptability is the answer to part of this
question. The other portion may be an-
swered by calling attention to the fact that
man is a social animal arjd craves, and must
have the approval of his fellow men. He
struggles to attain this approval in forms
and ways which his society or group recog-
nizes and sanctions.

For example, if my own little social group,
including family and circle of friends and
acquaintances, stresses the importance of

earning large salaries and playing bridge
well, then I bend all my efforts to be success-
ful in these goals in order to be like others
in my group and thus to win their approval.
In this way, I am secure and happy and feel
that I have "arrived."

And so it is with societies and nations and
cultures. Aims, goals, interests, purposes,
motives vary greatly from one culture to
another; but whatever it is — be it conquest,
herding, farming, wealth — each member of
that society seeks to achieve that goal and
to reap the consequent rewards and honors
of his society.

It is well to remember that time and
historical accidents unequally distribute the
contacts which permit the exchange of ideas
and the chances for a civilization to grow.
Remember that as late as a.d. 900 our
uncivilized ancestors in Britain were already
two or three thousand years behind the
Egyptians. But does that mean that our
ancestors were duller and inferior to the
Egyptians? Of course not. Time and con-
tacts had not permitted them to share in
the advances perfected in the Near East
and Egyptian areas.

FOLKLORE OF THE DIAMOND

By henry W. NICHOLS

CHIEF CURATOR, DEPARTMENT OF GEOLOGY

Many were the occult and mystic powers
attributed to gems in ancient and medieval
times, and many were the fantastic legends
concerning them. These were not merely
superstitions of the more ignorant populace,
for they were recorded in good faith by the
most eminent authors of their day such as
Theophrastus, Pliny, and Boetius. It is
probably from vestiges of some of these
ancient beliefs that we have acquired the
pretty sentiments that add so much to our
own pleasure in the possession of preci-
ous stones.

As the diamond is the most highly
esteemed of precious stones it is natural
that more superstitions and legends cluster
about it than other gems. The most
persistent and widely prevalent of these
beliefs is that of its indestructibility. Pliny
says that the diamond is so hard that if it
is placed on an anvil and struck a violent
blow with a hammer, the hammer and anvil
will break but the diamond will not be in-
jured. If, however, the diamond is first
soaked in the fresh, warm blood of a ram,
the diamond will be crushed to powder but
the anvil will also break. The Chinese
version has it that the diamond will break
if struck with a ram's horn. This belief has
persisted in some degree to modern times.
Instances are known where valuable dia-
monds have been destroyed by being sub-
jected to this test. The trouble is that,
although the diamond is the hardest sub-
stance known, it is far from being the tough-
est, and actually it is readily broken by a
moderate blow.

According to tradition, wearing a diamond
assured many kinds of good fortune. Among
other beliefs are the following: The diamond
should be worn on the left side for there it
has greater virtue than when worn on the
right. It gives hardihood and manliness,
and keeps limbs whole. It gives victory
in plea and in war if the cause be just.
It preserves from strife and riot, from evil
swevens (dreams), and from sorrows and
enchantments. If an enchanter seeks to
bewitch a person who bears a diamond the
virtue of the stone will cause all the evil
to fall upon the enchanter. No beast dare
attack a man that wears a diamond. Dia-
monds drive away lenures, incubi and
succubi (evil spirits, male and female
demons). Diamonds preserve virtue and
detect infidelity. In the presence of poison
they sweat and become moist. They cure
lunacy and drive out evil spirits. In India
it is believed that large stones bring the
wearers back to their families. A diamond
placed upon a lodestone neutralizes its
magnetic properties so that it will not
attract a compass needle. In Roman times
the diamond was regarded as the kernel
of gold, the purest and noblest part which
has condensed to a transparent mass. A
curious account of the origin of the diamond
was given by Sir John Mandeville, traveler
and story-teller of the 14th Century. He
said that diamonds grow together, male and
female. They are nourished by the dew of
heaven. They bring forth small children
and grow all the year. It is needless to say
that in these more enlightened times no
credence is given these legends and super-
stitions of a more credulous age.

In a Field Museum publication, The
Diamond, A Study in Chinese and Hellenistic
Folk-Lore, by the late Dr. Berthold Laufer,
there are cited more of these curious legends
and ancient beliefs of the powers of the
diamond.

FIELD MUSEUM NEWS
ON WAR SCHEDULE

This issue of Field Museum News,
published as of April 15, constitutes
both the April and May numbers
(Vol. 14, Nos. 4-5). The next issue
will combine the Juhe, July, and
August numbers, and will be pub-
lished about June 1. The September
and October numbers will appear as a
single issue, scheduled for publication
September 15. November and De-
cember will be published on normal
schedule the first day of those months.

This reduction is due to the deple-
tion of the Museum staff by the call-
ing of many members into war service,
with consequent necessarily curtailed
activities in many directions, and
to the necessity of conserving paper.

Pages

FIELD MUSEUM NEWS

April-May, 19\S

Field Museum of Natural History

Founded by Marshall Fiblo, 1893

RooscTelt Road and Field DrlTe, Chicago

Telephone: Wabash 9410

THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES
Lester Armour Stanley Field

Skwbu. L. Avery Samuel Insull, Jr.

W. Mccormick Blair Charles A. McCulloch

Leopold E. Block Wuxiam H. Mitchell

Boardman Conover George A. Richardson

Walter J. Cummings Theodore Roosevelt

Albert B. Dick, Jr. Solomon A. Smith

Howard W. Fenton .\lbert A. Sprague

Joseph N. Field Silas H. Strawn

Marshall Field Albert H. Wettbn

John P. Wilson

OFFICERS

Stanley Field Prttident

Albert A. Spragub Fint Viee-Prmdent

Silas H. Strawn Stcond VUe-Presidetit

Albert B. Dick Third Viet-President

*Cufpord C. GrbgO Director and Seerelarj/

Orr Goodson Acting Director and Aetins Secretary

Solomon A. Smith . . . Treaturer and Astielant Secretary

* On leave in active aenrice aa a Colonel in the United
States Army.

FIELD MUSEUM NEWS

EDITOR
Wilfred H. Osgood Curator Emeritiu, Zoology

CONTRIBUTING EDITORS

Paul S. Martin Chief Curator oj Anthropoiofy

B. E. Darlgren Chief Curator of Bafanir

Henry W. Nichols Chief Curator of Geolon

Karl P. Schmidt Chief Curator of Zoology

MANAGING EDITOR
a. B. Harte Public RelatioM Coumel

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

MUSEUM IS STILL ACCESSIBLE

Even if your car is laid up, or you have to
skimp on gas and save your tires. Field
Museum is still easy to reach, and always
worth a visit. Busses, street cars, "L,"
Illinois Central, Aurora-Elgin and North
Shore Lines all provide close transportation.

MAN, THE UNKNOWN

In these days when everybody's efforts
are directed towards helping to win the
war, one may well ask "What role does
anthropological research play?" It may seem
a far cry from research to war, but actually
it is not.

We are living in a very sick world. If
civilization is to endure, we must push
forward the study of Man. Therefore,
anthropology, although a young science, is
one of the most important to the world
today. So much is known of the world
outside of man, and so little is understood
about man himself. Man has narrowed his
world by communication and speed. But
it is about his relationship to other men that
he knows least — a fact which is partly
responsible for our present world difficulties.

The general problem toward the solution
of which anthropological investigations are
directed is precisely to clarify man's social
relationships. Anthropology aims to make
contributions to the understanding and con-
trol of life. The workshops of the anthro-

pologist are the cultures of primitive peoples;
the ancient towns and cities long since
abandoned and buried by an accumulation
of dirt and vegetation; the unwritten
languages spoken by peoples all over the
world; and the various races and sub- races
and their inter-relationships. But from
these workshops, anthropologists seek to
derive some general knowledge of human
ways, not to collect miscellaneous and curi-
ous information. The changes that go on
in our complex culture are more easily under-
stood in simpler primitive societies where
there are fewer obscuring factors and intri-
cate situations.

Raw data must be collected and studied
in order to produce a significant synthesis
of human history. Mere collecting of speci-
mens and data is not enough; that is anti-
quarianism, not research, and is a sterile
waste of time, effort and money.

It should be clear, then, that research is
more vitally needed than ever. We must
know more about that puzzling and fright-
ening creature, Man — about his desires and
contradictory impulses which, on the one
hand, cause him to make progress and to
strive upwards and, on the other hand, to
pull down and to destroy by wars and con-
quest much of the good he has achieved.
We must know also more about the world
in which he lives and which influences him.

— P.S.M.

APRIL 24 LECTURE SUBJECT
.\ND SPEAKER CHANGED

The Saturday afternoon lecture, "Fabu-
lous South America," scheduled for April 24,
has been canceled, due to the fact that the
lecturer, Mr. Sullivan C. Richardson, has
been summoned to carry out a special war
mission for the Co-ordinator of Inter-
American Affairs.

Mr. C. J. Albrecht, of FMeld Mixseum's
taxidermy staff, will appear instead, pre-
senting his lecture "Adventures on Land
and Sea." Mr. Albrecht will show natural
color motion picture films made during his
most recent expeditionary experiences while
collecting material and data for projected
habitat groups. The pictures include
scenes at sea while trailing whales and por-
poises, intimate views of rare sea otters,
travel on the Tamiami Trail in Florida,
and across the Mojave Desert and Death
Valley in California, mountains and canyons
of Wyoming and adjacent states, and many
scenes showing the lives of American game
animals and of Indians.

The lecture will begin at 2:30 p.m., and
will be the closing event in the series pre-
sented each Saturday during March and
April. No tickets are necessary for admis-
sion. A section of the James Simpson
Theatre is reserved for Members of the
Museum, each of whom is entitled to two
reserved seats upon presentation of mem-
bership ticket to the Theatre attendant

before 2:30 on the day of the lecture, or
by writing to the Museum (or telephoning
WABash 9410) for reservations. Seats will
be held in the Member's name until 2:30
o'clock. All reserved seats unclaimed by
that time will be made available to the
general public.

It is probably not so well known that
Edgar Allan Poe, the eminent writer of
fiction and pvoetry, was interested in natural
science and even wrote a book, by no means
technically bad for its time, on his favorite
subject, shells. The title of this publication,
which appeared in Philadelphia in 1839, is
The Conehologist's First Book.

FIELD MUSEUM HONOR ROLL

Now in the
Nation's Service

Army

Theodore Roosevelt,

Trustee — Brig. Gen.
George A. Richard-
son, Trustee — Lt.

Col.
CUFTORD C. Gregg.

Director — Colonel,

G.S.C.
Dr. John Risaldo,

Associate, Southwestern .\rchaen!, — StarT S^:.
Dr. Sharat K. Roy, Curator, Geol. — Capt.
D. Dwight Davis, Curator, Ana t. and Osteol. — Pvt.
Emmet R. Blake, Asst. Curator, Birds — Corp.
Rupert L. Wenzel, .\s8t. Curator, Insects —

Capt.
William Beecher, Temp. .Asst., ZooL — Pvt.
Henry Horback, Asst., Geol. — Pvt.
James C. McIntyre, Guard — 2nd Lt.
Raymond J. Connors, Guard — Pvt.
Frank J. Dutkovic, Janitor — Pvt.

Navy

Lester .Armoitr, Trustee — Lieut. Commdr.

Joseph Nash Field, Trustee — Lieut. (S.G.)

Colln Campbell Sanborn, Curator, Mammals-
Lieut. (S.G.)

Dr. Alexander Spoehr, Asst. Curator, N. .Amer.
EthnoL — Ensign

John W. Moyer, Taxidermist — Ch. Specialist (Bur.
Aeronautics)

Patrick T. McEnery, Guard — Master-at-.Arms

John Syckowski, Guard — Ch. Commissary Stewd.

George Jahrand, Guard — Ch. Water Tender

Clyde Jambs Nash, Guard — Ch. Gunner's Mate

Nicholas Rbpar, Printer —

Aviation Machinist's Mate 3C.

Morris Johnson, Carpenters-
Carpenter's Mate 2C.

Herbert Nelson, Painter — Painter IC.

Euzabbth Best, Guide-Lecturer —

WAVES (Officers' Training)

Marine Corps
Melvin A. Traylor, Jr. Associate, Birds — 2nd Lt.

Coast Guard
M. C. Darnall, Jr., Guard — Ensign
John McGinnis, Guard — Ch. Boatswain's Mate

Other Services

Bert E. Grove, Guide-Lecturer — American Field
Service (N. Africa)

RUDYEKD Boin-TON,- Curator, Birds — Staff of
Office of Strategic Services

Bryant Mather, Asst. Curator, Mineralogy —
Civilian Worker, Corps of Engineers, U.S. Army

Llewelyn Williams, Curator of E^conomic Botany
— on special service for U. S. Government

Dr. Julian A. Stevermark, Asst. Curator, Herba-
rium— field work for Board of Economic Warfare

Dr. C. Martin Wilbur, Curator, Chinese Archaeol.
and Ethnol. — Sttff of Office of Strategic Services

April-May, 19iS

FIELD MUSEUM NEWS

Page 7

TNINOS YOU MAY HAVE MISSED

African Fetish Figure

The nail-studded carved wooden fetish
figure exhibited in one of the halls of
African ethnology (Hall D), and shown in
the accompanying illustration, represents
the equivalent of "the war of nerves"
as practiced by certain Negro tribes.
Appearing somewhat like cartoonists' con-
ceptions of "the
little man who isn't
there," it is actu-
ally a type of fetish
used for fighting, at
a distance, the man
who isn't where his
antagonist is. The
Africans believe
that by hammering
a nail into such a
figure they can in-
duce, through sym-
pathetic magic, an
indirect injury up-
on an enemy with-
out actual contact.
If only such super-
stitions were really
true. Generals
Montgomery and
Eisenhower might
long ago easily
have disposed of
the wily Rommel
and his Axis forces.

This figure comes
from the Maritime Congo District of Africa.
It is a survival of witchcraft not too remote
in principle from what was actually believed
in by many of the best families of New
England in the days of the Pilgrim fathers,
as well as those of Old England.

The Congo tribesmen paid their medicine
men to have nails driven into such figures.
A nail in the heart of the wooden figure was
expected to cause a similar mortal wound
to a hated enemy miles away. If one did
not wish to cause death, but merely pain,
the nail could be driven in a less vital loca-
tion on the body.

These figures are not idols, in the sense
that they are believed to possess any power
in themselves, says Dr. Wilfrid D. Hambly,
Curator of African Ethnology — they are
merely the abodes of certain spirits. The
superior being is usually induced to take
up his abode in the image through certain
ceremonial performances conducted by the
medicine men. There is a special spirit,
and hence a fetish, for every important act.
The larger images usually belong to villages
or chiefs, the smaller to individuals.

light colored ones for women, dark for men.
The ends of the sticks are chewed until
they become fibrous, then they are used
vigorously on the teeth.

MURDER

by remote control. Africans

believed nails driven into

this figure could injure tlieir

enemies miles away.

Staff Notes

Dr. C. Martin Wilbur, Curator of Chinese
Archaeology and Ethnology, has taken
leave of absence from his duties at the
Museum, to join the staff of the Office of
Strategic Services at Washington, D. C.
for the duration of the war.

Dr. Julian A. Steyermark, Assistant
Curator of the Herbarium, has left on leave
to perform a foreign mission for the Board
of Economic Warfare of the United States
Government. He will work in Central and
South America on the important cinchona
project, a prime strategic problem. Mr.
Llewelyn Williams, Curator of Economic
Botany, has undertaken a war-born govern-
ment botanical project in Venezuela where
he had previously conducted scientific
expeditions.

Mr. M. C. Darnall, Jr., a Field Mu.seum
guard who enlisted in the Coast Guard
several months ago as a seaman, has been
commissioned an Ensign.

Dr. Sharat K. Roy, Curator of Geology,
and Mr. Rupert L. Wenzel, Assistant
Curator of Insects, both on leave of absence
for some time past, and both commissioned
as Captains in the U. S. Army, were visitors
at Field Museum for several days last month
while on furloughs from their military assign-
ments. Mr. Bert E. Grove, lecturer on the
staff of the Raymond Foundation, also was
in for several days, having returned from
Africa where he had been serving with the
American Field Service. He is preparing
for new duties in other foreign fields.

Mr. Gustaf Oscar Dalstrom has been
appointed as an artist in the Department
of Anthropology, to fill the vacancy caused
by the resignation of Mrs. Alexander (Anne
Harding) Spoehr. He will continue work,
initiated by Mrs. Spoehr, of paintings
and maps in striking colors for the extension
of the new type of exhibits in Hall B (New
World Archaeology). Mr. Dalstrom's past
career has been as an independent artist.
His work is represented in the permanent
collection of the Museum of Modern Art
in New York, and he has done many murals
in public buildings.

Primitive Tooth Brushes

Primitive tooth brushes used by west
African Negroes are shown in Hall D,
Case 21. The "brushes" are short sticks.

Mr. H. B. Harte, Public Relations
Counsel and Managing Editor of Field
Museum News, has been appointed Manag-
ing Editor of Scuttle Butt, monthly magazine
of the U. S. Coast Guard Auxiliary (includ-
ing all Divisions and Flotillas in the Lake
Michigan area of 9th Naval District). He

has been given a rating as Chief Yeoman (T)
in the Coast Guard Reserve. The editorial
work is in addition to duties aboard Captain
of the Port vessels, Chicago District. As
his enlistment is on a limited service basis,
without pay, he retains active connection
with the Mu-seum.

Radio-shadowgraphs

In Hall 34 of the Department of Geology
there is a group of minerals containing
radium and thorium, exhibited with pictures,
or more strictly speaking, shadowgraphs or
silhouettes, taken by exposure to the radio-
active emanations of the minerals without
exposure to light. For each picture a
photographic plate was wrapped in opaque
paper and the radio-active mineral placed
above it. Between mineral and plate a
key or other small metallic object was
placed. The radio emanations were inter-
cepted by the metal objects, but passed
freely through the opaque paper and affected
the plates in the same way that light would
affect them. After twenty-four hours the
plates were developed and perfect silhouettes
of the key or other objects appeared.

TIMBERS OF THE NEW WORLD

By Samuel J. Record and Robert W.
Hess (Yale University).

"This large and comprehensive
volume contains the latest, and most
complete information available on all
the known timbers of North, Central,
and South America as well as the
West Indian Islands," says Dr. B. E.
Dahlgren, Chief Curator of Botany at
Field Museum. "Professor Record,
Dean of Yale University School of
Forestry, and the world's leading
authority on woods, has long been
Research Associate in Wood Tech-
nology on the staff of Field Museum.
The book represents the only ency-
clopedic treatment of the trees and
timbers of the entire Western Hemi-
sphere from the northermost reaches
of Canada's Artie regions to the tip
of Patagonia. More than 1,100 gen-
era of 155 natural families are in-
cluded. For purposes of compari-
son, there are also references to most
of the commercial timbers of the Old
World. The book contains more than
650 pages of encyclopedia format,
with complete index, and includes
eight original maps, 36 full-page
halftones, and 75 photomicrographs
illustrating the minute structure of
woods."

Published by Yale University Press,
this book, may be obtained through
THE BOOK SHOP of Field Museum
— price $10 postpaid.

Pages

FIELD MUSEUM NEWS

April-May, 19kS

SUNDAY LECTURE SEASON
ENDS APRIL 25

With his lectures each Sunday afternoon
this month on "Romance of Diamonds from
Mine to Man," Mr. Paul G. Dallwig, the
Layman Lecturer, will close his current
season on April 25. He has presented a
different subject every month since October,
except for a suspension during January.

In the April lectures, Mr. Dallwig tells
the story of diamonds from the time of
the original prospecting in South Africa
through (the development of the modern
diamond mining and cutting industries.
He relates the stories and legends surround-
ing the world's most famous diamonds,
and also describes the uses of industrial
diamonds in important war work. The
lecture is illustrated with exhibits in H. N.
Higinbotham Hall of Gems and Jewels and
other halls of the Department of Geology.

Lectures begin promptly at 2 p.m. It is
necessary to limit the size of groups attend-
ing them, and persons wishing to participate
must make reservations in advance by mail
or telephone (WABash 9410). Only adults
can be accommodated.

Mr. Dallwig will resume his lectures on
the first Sunday in October, which will
mark the beginning of his seventh season.
Subjects will be announced later in Field
Museum News.

WEEKDAY LECTURE TOURS,
APRIL 15— MAY 31

Conducted tours of exhibits, under the
guidance of staff lecturers, are made every
afternoon at 2 o'clock except Sundays and
certain holidays.

On Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and
Saturdays, general tours are given, covering
outstanding features of all four Depart-
ments— Anthropology, Botany, Geology,
and Zoology. Special subjects are offered
on Wednesdays and Fridays; the schedule
of these for the period up to May 31 follows:

Friday April 16— The Earth's Face (Miss
Marie Pabst).

Wednesday, April 21 — Hats on Parade
— special for Easter (Miss Loraine Lloyd).

Friday, April 23 — Transportation Prob-
lems (Miss Miriam Wood).

Wednesday, April 28 — Fashions, Fabrics
and Furbelows (Mrs. Roberta Cramer).

Friday, April 30— New Drinks For Old
(Miss Miriam Wood).

Wednesday, May 5 — Vegetable Oils and
Fats (Miss Marie Pabst).

Friday, May T^Mothers and Mothers-
in-Law (Mrs. Roberta Cramer).

Wednesday, May 12 — The Carved Jades
of China (Miss Miriam Wood).

Friday, May 14 — New Guinea (Mrs.
Roberta Cramer).

Wednesday, May 19 — Animals in the
Service of Man (Miss Loraine Lloyd).

Friday, May 21— People of the Worid
Today (Miss Miriam Wood).

Wednesday, May 26 — Spices and Pre-
servatives (Miss Marie Pabst).

Friday, May. 28 — Transportation Prob-
lems of the Animal World (Miss Loraine
Lloyd).

There will be no tour on Monday, May
31, because of the Memorial Day holiday.

Persons wishing to participate should
apply at North Entrance. Tours are free.
By pre-arrangement at least a week in
advance, special tours are available to
groups of ten or more persons.

ARE YOU MOVING?

OR GOING SOMEWHERE?

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.

GIFTS TO THE MUSEUM

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

Department of Anthropology:

From Dr. Louis Schapiro (deceased),
formerly of Chicago — 78 anthropological
specimens, Panama, Nicaragua, Costa Rica,
and Colombia; from Mrs. Edward A. Ren-
wick, Evanston, 111. — 19 ethnological objects,
northeastern Wisconsin.

Department of Botany:

From Hermann C. Benke, Chicago — 57
herbarium specimens, Illinois and Indiana;
from Lawrence J. King, Coshocton, Ohio —
89 cryptogams, Illinois and Indiana; from
Dr. Fred A. Barkley, Austin, Tex. — 30 speci-
mens of algae, Texas; from William A. Daily,
Indianapolis, Ind. — 37 specimens of algae,
Indiana; from Instituto del Museo, Univer-
sidad Nacional de La Plata, La Plata,
Argentina — 100 photographs of type speci-
mens of plants; from Dr. Samuel Eddy,
Minneapolis, Minn. — 65 specimens of plank-
ton algae, Minnesota; from Otto Degener,
New York — 312 herbarium specimens,
Hawaii.

Department of Geology:

From Miss Elisabeth Telling, Guilford,
Conn. — a ring set with three zircons, Siam.

Department of Zoology:

From Lincoln Park Zoo, Chicago — an
anaconda and a monitor lizard: from
Chicago Zoological Society, Brookfield, 111.
— one American alligator, 4 mammals, and
2 snakes; from Mrs. Marion Grey,
Evanston, 111. — 56 specimens of sea shells,
Maryland coast; from Harold Trapido,

Paine Field, Wash. — 3 salamanders, state of
Washington.

Library :

Valuable books from American Museum
of Natural History and George G. Goodwin,
New York; from Mrs. J. Howes, Holyoke,
Mass.; from Horace Groskin, Philadelphia,
Pa.; from Charles Barney Cory, Homewood,
111.; from Emil Liljeblad, Villa Park, 111.;
from Dr. Henry Field, Washington, D. C;
from Miss Helen W. Painter, Bloomington,
Ind.; from Herbert Schoof, Raleigh, N. C;
and from Lillian W. Florsheim Memorial
Library of Michael Reese Hospital, Stanley
Field, Boardman Conover, Orr Goodson,
William J. Gerhard, John R. Millar, Dr.
Paul S. Martin, Paul C. Standley, Dr. C.
Martin Wilbur, Kari P. Schmidt, and Dr.
Charles Seevers, all of Chicago.

NEW MEMBERS

The following persons became Members
of Field Museum during the period from
February 16 to March 31:

Non-Resident .\ssoclate Members

S. R. Lindboe

Associate Members

John G. Allbright, E. M. Antrim, Miss
Hertha Giffey, Walter C. James, Dr. Maclyn
M. Kamins.

Annual Members

Mrs. William R. Alcorn, William H. Alex-
ander, Charles P. Barker, George F. Barry,
Andrew D. Berkey, Ralph C. Blaha, Mrs.
Orville T. Bright, W. H. Bolton, Mrs. Wil-
liam C. Both, Mrs. William C. Boyden,
Rev. Gordon E. Brant, Edward A. Briggs,
Jr., L. J. Burke, Mrs. Oscar D. Carlstrom,
Mrs. Broadus J. Clarke, Mrs. J. S. Clifford,
William F. Crawford, Dr. Langston Cren-
shaw, H. F. DeLonghe, E. J. DeWitt, Eari
B. Dickerson, Samuel A. Edelman, Benja-
min J. Edelstone, Mrs. George J. Farn.s-
worth, Albert J. Foute, Jose Santos Gollan,
Hijo, Bryan Hartnett, Dr. C. Howard
Hatcher, Dr. Francis W. Hetreed, Charles
E. Hogan, F. C. Howard, Robert N. Howell,
Neal S. Hulstein, Joseph M. Jacobs, Mrs.
Doris Hurtig Johnson, John W. Jolly, Mrs.
William KixMiller, Walter S. McCloud,
Miss Charlotte Miller, John S. Molan, Sid-
ney Neuman, Mrs. Vaughn R. Nishkian,
Dr. James A. Northcross, Dr. Harry A.
Oberhelman, Holland C. Pile, Morton S.
Prescott, Hugh Robertson, Max Rukin,
Harold S. Russell, Joseph M. Schnur,
William M. Ward.

Technical Publications Issued

The following technical publications have
recently been issued by Field Museum Press:

Anthropological Series, Vol. 32, No. 1.
The SU Site. Excanations at a MogoUon
Village, western New Mexico. Second Sea-
son, 1941. By Paul S. Martin. Feb. 24,
1943. 174 pages, 49 halftones, 12 maps. $2.

Zoological Series, Vol. 28, No. 1. The
Carotid Circulation in the Domestic Cat.
By D. Dwight Davis and H. Elizabeth Story.
Mar. 25, 1943. 48 pages, 9 text figures. 50c.

PRINTED BY FIELD MUSEUM PRESS

News

Published Motilhly by FiiU Museum of Natural History, Chicago

Vol. 14

JUNE-JULY-AUGUST, 1943

No8. 6-7-8

AFRICANS STILL USE ANCIENT METHODS FOR EXTRACTING OIL FROM OLIVES

By WILFRID DYSON HAMBLY

CURATOR OF AFRICAN ETHNOLOGY

Thousands of American troops in Africa
must by now have become familiar with
primitive methods, employed by the natives
with whom they come into contact, for doing
things which the modern world accomplishes
by means of highly
mechanized processes.
One of the native in-
dustries probably
coming within the
scope of their observa-
tion is that of extract-
ing the oil from olives.
The modern American
and European meth-
od, of course, is to use
some form of hydrau-
lic pressure, but the
Africans have also
shown considerable in-
genuity in developing
reasonably efficient
machines of their own,
some types of which
have been employed
in the Mediterranean
valley for perhaps
2,000 years or longer.

One of the many
attractive murals by
the well-known Chi-
cago artist, Julius
Moessel, in the De-
partment of Botany's
Hall of Food Plants
(Hall 25), shows an

ancient olive press. The painting is a recon-
struction based upon the results of archaeo-
logical research in connection with ancient
worked stones which for a long time were a
puzzling mystery following their discovery in
Africa. The picture shows two women in a
crouching position rolling what appears to be
a heavy log, but in reality is a piece of an old
stone column, over a heap of olives. In the
background is a massive stone press which
can be forced downward by means of a large
log — the trunk of a date palm — used as a
lever and probably very effectively.

This painting is explained by Dr. B. E.
Dahlgren, Chief Curator of Botany, in Field
Museum Botanical Leaflet No. 25, The Story
of Food Plants, as follows:

"The oil of the olive has been well known

since ancient times and is so generally
esteemed above all other edible oils that its
source and preparation are of special
interest. On the north coast of Africa and
among the Aegean Islands there exist certain
curious and symmetrically placed stones
that long defied interpretation. Recently

One of a
The mechanics of

A PRIMITIVE OLIVE PRESS, NORTHERN AFRICA

scries of murals by Juhus MoesscI, in the Hall of Food Plants (Hall 25).

this ancient method of extracting olive oil is explained in the accompanying article.

these were proved beyond doubt to be re-
mains of olive presses of an ancient and
primitive type. Olives, first crushed or
bruised by a roller, as is done even today,
were put in bags and subjected to pressure,
obtained in these ancient presses by a stone
weight suspended at the end of a lever. A
rope and pulley arrangement raised and
lowered the weight."

The first cultivation of the olive is un-
known, but wild forms of the plant are still
plentiful in the Mediterranean area, and
opinion on the whole seems to point to
Syria, at the eastern end of the Mediter-
ranean, as a likely home for early cultiva-
tion of the plant as well as for primitive
methods of pressing out the oil. Although
no definite period can be assigned to the

origin of cultivation, we do know that a spray
of wild olives was worn by the victor in the
early Greek games, and that in early Greek
and Roman times olive oil was used as food.
Pr&served olives have been found among
buried stores in the city of Pompeii which
was destroyed by an eruption of Mount
Vesuvius occurring in
the year a.d. 79.

The trees shown in
Field Museum's mural
are no doubt of con-
siderable age, for they
grow very slowly and
seldom exceed thirty
feet in height. Botan-
ical literature contains
a reference to a tree
having a girth of more
than 23 feet at an age
estimated to be 700
years. The olive be-
longs to a large family
of plants known as
Oleaceae, and the ge-
nus Olia includes
about 35 species which
are widely scattered
over the Mediterra-
nean basin. The olive
is also cultivated in
Australia, South
Africa, and California.
The wild olive is a
small tree or bush of
rather straggling
growth which pro-
duces hard, closely
grained timber of a kind often employed afe
an ornamental wood by cabinet makers.

Fruits of the species vary in color and
differ somewhat in shape, but most of them
are egg-shaped or oval. The liquid which
is expressed from the fleshy part of the fruit
contains from 20 to 60 per cent of oil.
When treated commercially the pulp is
pressed twice, thus yielding first and second
grades of oil. The remaining pulp is then
mixed with hot water and subjected to
further pressure which brings out a sub-
stance that is made into technical oils. In
addition to value as a food substance, olive
oil is used in preserving sardines, and in
manufacturing soaps of high grade.

Although the methods shown in illustra-
tions from North Africa are primitive, the

Page ft

FIELD MUSEUM NEWS

June-July- August, 19^3

total output of olive oil from that region is
considerable. For example, rather more
than 16,000,000 gallons were exported from
Tunisia in 1937, and in the same year nearly
5,000,000 gallons were exported from
Algeria. These countries produce an
enormous surplus of olive oil over and
above what is required by the people in
their domestic cooking.

In some parts of Algeria a system of
bruising the olives in a circular trough is
employed, and pressure is applied by means
of a heavy stone moved by a mule. The
animal walks around and around the
trough, and in so doing pivots a revolving
wooden post. The bruised olives are placed
in baskets beneath a heavy tree trunk, one
edge of which rests upon a ledge in the wall
of the house while a heavy stone attached
to the other end lends additional weight to
the trunk. In this way the tree trunk is
made to press hard upon the baskets under-
neath, and the oil exudes from the olives.
This appears to be akin to the method
shown in Mr. Moessel's mural painting,
except that the end of the pressure beam is
thrust into the wall of a house instead of
into the base of a tree trunk as shown in
the picture.

The methods of applying mechanical
pressure are too numerous to detail, but one
illustration in particular shows how human
ingenuity can reduce hard work. Two men
sit on their haunches, each with his back
against a wall. Between them is a large
cylindrical stone which they push in a
leisurely manner to and fro with their feet
across a quantity of olives.

All of these methods are presumably very
ancient, and the employment of improved
technique has no doubt acquired a long
history. In the oasis of Siwa a very ingen-
ious device for pressing olives includes the
use of an enormous wooden screw. It is
true that the people of Siwa use the rolling
stone which is pushed around by manual
labor and not by a mule as previously
noted. But the Arabs of Siwa in Libya have
in addition to this crude method a more
elaborate device which consists of two up-
right posts and a crossbeam. Directly under
this crossbeam, and resting on the ground,
is a flat stone on which the olives are piled.
On top of the olives are two flat stones. The
huge wooden screw, which is twisted by a
hand-lever, can be turned downward with
an ever-increasing pressure on the olives
which are sandwiched between the stones.
An old manuscript recording the use of this
press is dated about 850 of the Moham-
medan calendar. That would be about
A.D. 1446, but no doubt the apparatus was
in use long before that time. The use of the
screw is, however, a definite advance from
the older primitive methods.

It seems to be the irony of fate that
warfare should be waged among olive groves,
whose twigs have been symbols of peace at

least since early biblical history. So it was
in Gallipoli in 1914 as the writer well remem-
bers, and even a diminutive olive tree was a
welcome shelter from the sun and a screen
against, enemy snipers. In North Africa
some of the olive trees will be blasted with
bombs and gun fire, but doubtless many will
remain to continue their mission of symbol-
izing peace and contributing to material
prosperity.

favorable occasion for their germination.
Then, after years of suspended existence,
they all at once begin to grow, like the mus-
tards and poppies of the bomb craters of
Britain and-Hitlerland.

PLANTS OF OLDEN DAYS BLOOM
IN BOMB CRATERS OF EUROPE

By P.\UL C. STANDLEY
curator of the herbarium

During the first World War there were
reports of strange plants found along the
Western Front in ground pitted with shell
craters. Botanists visited the front to
investigate the plants that sprang up where
the soil was ravaged by exploding shells,
and several papers recorded the results of
their explorations. In such places there
grew in abundance dozens of plants pre-
viously quite unknown in the vicinity or
else very rare. The presumption was that
their seeds had lain for generations deep
in the ground, to germinate only when they
were exposed to the air.

In 1943 similar stories are coming out of
England, and we may hope that this spring
Berlin botanists may find even more of the
same nature to occupy their attention. It
is stated that in the bomb craters of London
there were found during the past season
almost 100 plants no one had see;i in these
places for a century. Of the London plants
the most celebrated is the London rocket
(significantly named!), a kind of mustard
that is said to have made a luxuriant growth
after the great fire of 1666, and is no less
plentiful today.

It is well known that seeds of some kinds
of plants, if lodged deep in the ground or
otherwise protected, maintain their power
of germination for many years, although
not for as long as the 2,000 years after
which wheat of Egyptian tombs is falsely
claimed to have sprouted.

Here in the United States it is sometimes
possible to observe the growth of seed
buried for many years. After a fire sweeps
a forest area, plants of kinds previously
unknown there often appear. Usually
they are plants whose seeds, like those of
dandelion, are carried by wind, and probably
deposited in the ground after the fire. In
the mountains of western North Carolina,
after the magnificent balsam forests are
cut, there spring up immediately thickets of
choke-cherry, whose seeds undoubtedly are
distributed by birds. The thickets of new
bushes are so extensive that one cannot
believe they are the product of a single
season. Instead, there is every reason to
assume that the cherry pits lie in the ground
for years until the brush fires that accom-
pany the cutting of the forest provide a

NEW "BACKGROUNDS OF WAR"
SERIES OF PROGRAMS

A second, and much more elaborate series
of programs on the subject "Backgrounds
of the War" will be presented at Field
Museum throughout July and August.
The first series, offered last summer,
attracted much attention.

The programs will be given in the Lecture
Hall each Thursday afternoon at 2:30
o'clock. In some cases motion pictures will
be the principal item; others will consist of
lectures illustrated with still or motion
pictures, or both. Following the programs,
members of the audiences will be directed
to permanent Museum exhibits correlating
the lectures and films. Admission is
free, both to these programs, and to the
Museum itself on Thursdays.

Following are the dates and the details
of the programs to be given on each:

July 1— The 400,000,000 (a historical record
of the background of events in China).
Motion pictures.

July 8 — Clouds and Weather (an in-
formal discussion illustrated with still and
motion pictures). Lecture by Miss Miriam
Wood.

July 15 — The Solomon Islands (presenting
a general idea of that war area, in selected
still pictures). Lecture by Mrs. Roberta
Cramer.

July 22 — Burma Road (sccTies in color
along the famous highway from Kunming
to Lashio). Motion pictures.

July 29 — New Guinea (a general discussion
of the people and customs, and the plants
and animals of New Guinea). Lecture by
Mrs. Roberta Cramer.

August 5 — England at Work (wartime
and peacetime industries of the British
Isles). Motion pictures.

August 12 — Fun in Foods (some of the
foods of the lesser known nations among our
allies). Lecture by Miss Miriam Wood.

August 19— Five Faces (the five races who
make up the population of Malaya).
Motion pictures.

August 26 — Flight — in the Animal
World (the story of natural flight, and its
bearing upon our aviation techniques).
Lecture by Miss Loraine Lloyd. Illus-
trated with still and motion pictures.

Fallen American civilizations, such as
those. ^f the Mayas, Aztecs, and Toltecs,
are well represented by the archaeological
exhibits in the Hall of Mexico and Central
America (Hall 8).

June-July-August, 19iS

FIELD MUSEUM NEWS

Page S

VARIED LUPINES NOW BLOOMING IN GARDENS AND WILDS

By J. FRANCIS MACBRIDE competitors, SO to speak, are an occasional

ASSOCIATE CURATOR OF THE HERBARIUM buHcH of gFass, little tufted composites,

loco weeds, drabas or other similar low-grow-
ing alpines with which rock-gardeners like
to experiment. In the sunlight or early
morning as the growing warmth of day
sends wisps of fog up and around the little
valleys in which these lupines grow, the
heavy moisture of night (often at this alti-

If any reader of Field Museum News
doesn't know the common wild lupine or
"sun-dial" that often covers rods of sandy
or loose soils to form blotches of blue
color in late May or early June he may
acquaint himself with it easily by turning
to page 16 of the Museum's Botany Leaf-
let No. 8. There this
wild flower of the
Chicago region — not
infrequent in gar-
dens— is illustrated.
The chances are,
however, that one
would scarcely rec-
ognize as lupines
some of the species
that grow not far
below the crests of
the Andes in Peru.
Elevations around
15,000 feet seem
amazing for any
flowering plant to
attain until one re-
members that in
Peru the proximity
of the equator results
in a miich higher
temperature at
greater altitudes
than is the case in
the temperate zones.

Even so, the lu-
pines of the high
puna, a-s a wet turf-
like terrain in the
Andes is sometimes
called, are depres.sed
little shrubs forming
mats from which the
stalks of the well-
known pea-like flow-
ers raise themselves scarcely an inch, or at
most a few inches, and then rarely erectly.
Much more characteristic, and among the
most beautiful species, are those of alpine
basins or meadows at slightly lower eleva-
tions, but unlike the common or garden vari-
eties they grow in scattered clumps, one plant
sometimes as big around as a tub, the thick
flowering stems arising directly from among
many long-stalked leaves, closely clustered
on the crown of the perennial root. The
spikes of flowers of lupines of this type are
often raised a foot or two above the leaves
and may be as big around as a beer bottle,
so closely are the tinted or bright-colored
blue, or bright blue and white, or partly
yellow flowers crowded upon their fleshy
central stalks!

How truly decorative these huge plants
are, set here and there on stony grassy
alpine slopes on which they are apt to be
by far the largest vegetation! Their only

"SUN-DIAL" OR COMMON WILD LUPINE

This species is common in Chicago Area woodlands.

tude congealing as frost) clings to the hair
that commonly covers the stalks of leaves
and flowers and glistens as the plants are
moved delicately by air-currents caused by
the rapid local changes in temperature. In
such a landscape grew the Lupinus Fieldii
which was discovered on one of the expedi-
tions sponsored by Mr. Marshall Field. It
has a wand-like stalk of flowers in pastel
shades of pink and blue.

SOME ARE SMALL TREES

No less interesting and beautiful are the
lupines of the western part of the United
States where, as in Peru, one species or
another is found from sea-level to the higher
mountain slopes and where they display, if
not the same, nearly as great diversity in
habit and in manner of growth. Great areas
of semi-desert lands in spring are evanes-
cently colored when the closely crowded
thousands of plants of the little annual
lupines like "blue bonnets" (the state flower

of Texas) are in bloom, although each plant
is only a few inches high and has only a few
bright blue flowers. In a short time these
hordes of plants have disappeared com-
pletely. On the other hand, mostly in
regions of considerable rain as on the higher
hills and mountain slopes, lupines are often
shrubs or even small trees with the trunk
well defined. The leaves, especially of the
shrubby species, are apt to be silvery, at
least on one surface, from the close covering
of silky hairs which enhances the beauty of
the foliage. The leaves of all species are
divided into several leaflets that spread like
the spokes of a wheel during the day, but at
night droop around the stalk, or more or less
close together vertically. From this charac-
teristic the plants are known in some regions
as "sun-dials." Perhaps this movement of
the leaflets protects the species of high
elevations from the too heavy dew or frost
of night, and those of lower altitudes from
excessive rain or evaporation.

MANY KINDS IN CALIFORNIA

There are more kinds of lupines in Cali-
fornia and in Peru than anywhere else — in
Peru alone botanists have described upwards
of a hundred species — and yet only about
twenty have been recorded as having been
in cultivation and many of these are rarely
seen. Obviously these lovely plants, so
diversified and easy to grow, deserve greater
propagation. Some of the semi-desert peren-
nials would be suitable where water is at a
premium, and the range of color is from
shades of blue or purple to white and golden
yellow. Among the cultivated species is a
yellow one from southern Europe and a tall
strict-stemmed one from the Andes with
blue and white flowers, the banner with a
yellow spot in the center. This attractive
species (Lupinus mutabilis) is of further
interest because in Peru it is grown as a
field crop for the bean-like seeds that are
commonly used for food. There are two
forms — one produces seeds that are glossy
jet-black; those of the other form are
snow-white. The latter are attractive
"beans," sold in the markets as "chochos."

SOURCE OF A POISON

The water in which they are soaked for
cooking is used as an insecticide and fish
poison. In spite of the origin of the Latin
name Lupinus from the word for wolf, in
allusion to a classical superstition that a
crop of lupines destroys the fertility of the
soil, the contrary is true of lupines as of
other leguminous plants. The white lupine
of Asia is a well-known cover crop for poor
soils, and it is often plowed under in order
to increase fertility. Sometimes it is har-
vested as a valuable fodder plant.

Opal's Colors an Illusion

The brilliant colors of the opal belie
the true nature of the stone, which is color-
less; they are the effect of a platy structure.
This breaks up white light into its component
spectral colors in the same way a prism does.

Page h

FIELD MUSEUM NEWS

June-JtUy-Augtist, 19US

RARE COLLECTION ILLUSTRATES CHINA'S NEW STONE AGE

By C. martin WILBUR

CURATOR OP CniNESB ARCHAEOLOGY AND ETHNOLOGY

Contrary to popular belief, Chinese civili-
zation is not so extremely ancient. It was
decidedly later in starting than the civili-
zations which developed in the Nile valley,
in Mesopotamia, and in India. Archae-
ologists can employ with confidence the

Before 1400 B. c. the Chinese, so far as we
know, had a primitive culture comparable
to the culture of the Indians in the north-
eastern United States when white settlers
found them. This phase of culture is called
the "Neolithic" or New Stone Age. These
primitive Chinese did not know how to make
objects of metal, nor how to write, but they

DURING CHINA'S NEW STONE ACE

C3,900-VOOO TE*»l«CO>

PEOPLE...

LIVED IN
VILLAGES

BREW CROPS

KEPT DOMESTIC ANIMALS

• •*.

■^'>

HADE
POTTERY

USED POLISHED
STONE TOOLS

NEOLITHIC CHINESE "DESIGN FOR LIVING"

Recently installed exhibit of mjtetia! representing chief traits of the inhabitants of China during the New Stone

Age. Employing "subjective display technique" now being extended through the Museum, this case shows, with a few

specimens linked together in an integrated story, something of conditions before 1400 B.C.

date 2900-3000 B. c. for both Mesopotamia
and Egypt, but the earliest date that can
be mentioned with an equal degree of con-
fidence for China is "about" 1400 B. C. — and
this may be incorrect by a century. Accord-
ing to historical tradition it was about then
that a ruler of the Shang dynasty moved his
capital to a place now known as Anyang,
in the province of Honan. Archaeology
picks up the trail of the historical Chinese
at Anyang where some of the palace area,
the royal tombs, and certain archives have
been scientifically excavated. Any date
given for a site that was inhabited earlier
is an estimate.

Field Museum has an unusual collection of
Chinese prehistoric specimens collected dur-
ing the past thirty-five years, but very few
of them were scientifically excavated.
Usually prehistoric material is not of itself
very interesting to the average visitor.
Therefore, in designing three new exhibits
which have just been placed on view (Hall
24, Cases B, C, and 1), an important objec-
tive has been to give the specimens meaning
and to draw attention to them by a colorful
and attractive layout. One of the exhibits
illustrates some general facts about the way
people lived in China during the New Stone
Age. Another shows the geographical
distribution of early Chinese cultures and
their chronological sequence.

made improved tools of stone, bone, and
shell. They also made pottery and coarse
cloth. Besides hunting and fishing and
gathering wild plants, they grew millet and
a few vegetables, and raised pigs and dogs.
These accomplishments marked a great
advance over the culture of the Old Stone
Age, the Chinese phase of which is treated in
an adjoining exhibit that was described in
Field Museum News for November, 1942.

The Chinese of the New Stone Age also
had crude houses and lived in villages. In
the northwest they dug caves for their
homes, just as millions of Chinese farmers
in that region do today. Others probably
made their houses by digging large pits in
the ground and covering them with slanting
roofs, or by building crude huts of pounded
earth. Almost nothing is known of the
social life, religion, or language and customs
of the Neolithic Chinese. When they began
to write they left records which aid in under- '
standing such intangible things.

The new exhibit features only a few Neo-
lithic specimens which particularly bring out
these statements. Stone axes, adzes, and
chisels for working wood, a stone hoe and a
grain-cutter for agriculture, a grain grinder,
and an all-purpose stone knife show what the
Neolithic people had for tools. Pottery is
shown which was made for storing and cook-
ing food, and for burial with the dead.

Arrowheads and sling shots represent hunt-
ing, while a fragment of pottery that was
impressed with a very coarse fabric is evi-
dence of primitive weaving. An idea of one
type of early Chinese village and of the
principal domesticated animals and crops
is conveyed on a special panel painted by
Mr. Millard Rogers, a volunteer who also
had an important part in planning the
unusual layout.

The second new exhibit emphasizes the
geographical and chronological aspects of
China's prehistoric cultures. There were at
least two variations of the basic Neolithic
culture in North China. These variations
are called the Painted Pottery Culture in the
northwestern highlands and the Black Pot-
tery Culture in the eastern lowlands.

Archaeologists have known about the
Painted Pottery Culture for twenty years,
since the first site, at Yang-shao in Honan
province, was excavated by a Swedish
explorer, J. G. Andersson. Since that time
typical painted pottery has been found in
about twenty different places in the north-
western part of China, but there have not
been enough careful excavations or detailed
reports so that we can generalize about the
culture. A few details, however, stand out.

The Painted Pottery Culture (sometimes
also called Yang-shao after the name of the
place where it was discovered) seems to have
begun a little earlier than the Black Pottery
Culture. The Neolithic people who devel-
oped it made ordinary pottery of several
sorts, but their most distinctive ware was
an orange or reddish pottery, carefully
smoothed and then painted with brown or
red designs. The Neolithic people who
made it lived by agriculture and pig-raising
as well as by hunting and fishing, and used
stone tools primarily. In the exhibition
miniature painted jars are placed on a large
map of China to show localities where this
painted pottery has been found.

An absorbing question in regard to the
painted pottery of northwestern China is
whether or not it is related to similar
painted pottery found in the Near East,
southern Russia, and the Danube valley.
As more and more exploration and excava-
tion has been done, more sites with painted
pottery have been found along the presumed
routes by which it could have entered China
from the west. An analysis of the designs
also seems to indicate a generic relation
between some of the western pottery and
some of that found in China. There is no
evidence, however, that the people who
made the pottery in China migrated there
from the west.

Chinese archaeologists deserve all the
credit for having established the Black
Pottery Culture as an entity. The great
Chinese research organization, Academia
Sinica, excavated the first black pottery
site at Lung shan (or Ch'eng-tzu-yai) in
Shantung province, in 1930 and 1931. Since
then more than seventy sites belonging to

June-July-Augtist, 19iS

FIELD MUSEUM NEWS

Page 5

the Black Pottery Culture have been found
and a number of them have been excavated.
The Black Pottery Culture (sometimes
called Lung-shan after the name of its place
of discovery) was developed by Neolithic
farmers, who often surrounded their villages
with walls of pounded earth and established
them in clusters in river valleys. This cul-
ture belongs to the great plain of eastern
China as shown by tiny black pots placed
on the map where Black Pottery sites are
known. These people had learned to use
the potter's wheel and made a distinctive
jet-black pottery, in addition to ordinary
gray and brown wares. Usually they deco-
rated their pottery only by incised lines.
They specialized in making tools from shell,
although they also made the more common
stone and bone tools.

The Black Pottery Culture was closely
related to the succeeding culture of the
Bronze Age. Certain of the most distinc-
tive habits of the Bronze Age Chinese were
already practised in a simple form by the
people who lived in the Black Pottery vil-
lages. One of these traits was building city
walls of pounded earth. To make this type
of wall wooden frames were put in position
and earth was dumped between the frames
and pounded down until it was exceedingly
hard. Walls made by this method could be
built quite high and sometimes endured for
centuries. The wall at Ch'eng-tzu-yai can
still be distinguished.

Another trait was fortune-telling. The
Bronze Age Chinese predicted future
events, or tried to learn the outcome of
their plans by consulting their ancestors.
To do so they inscribed a question on the
shoulder bone of an ox or on a piece of tor-
toise-shell. Then they applied heat to the
other side of the bone. This produced a
crack upon the face. The direction in
which the crack ran was believed to indi-
cate a positive or negative answer to the
query. It is due to this practice of divina-
tion, known as scapulimancy, that we know
as much as we do about the Shang people at
Anyang, because great piles of used oracle
bones have been discovered and translated.
Thus we know what the Shang people
worried about, and what was foremost in
their minds. The Black Pottery people
also practiced scapulimancy in a primitive
form. There are a number of other features
that link the Black Pottery people and the
Bronze Age people together.

When evidences of the Painted Pottery
and Black Pottery variations of Neolithic
culture have been found in the same exca-
vated site with evidences of the Bronze
Age the sequence always is: painted pot-
tery near the bottom, black pottery next
above, and bronze remains nearest the top.
This proves that in those regions where the
three cultures existed in sequence the
Painted Pottery Culture was oldest, the
Black Pottery came next, and the Bronze
Age was the latest.

This chronological information is illus-
trated in the second exhibit by steps painted
in different colors — green, aquamarine, gray,
and salmon. On each step ancient pottery
typical of the period is shown, with jars of
the Basic Neolithic culture at the bottom,
of the Painted Pottery Culture and of the
Black Pottery Culture in order, and of the
Bronze Age at the top.

Some of the painted pottery turned out
by the Neolithic people of northwest China
was decidely handsome. Field Museum is
fortunate in having recently acquired ten of
these unusual jars, all presumably more than
3,500 years old, and they are exhibited in
the third of the new in.stallations. Since a
spiral pattern is common on some of the best
painted pottery, this motif was chosen for
the layout. The jars are arranged against
a large spiral of aquamarine color that was
chosen to complement the orange cast of the
pottery itself. Some visitors have con-
sidered the effect dramatic.

CONSERVATION BRIEFS

IV. Plants

By PAUL C. STANDLEY

CURATOR OF THE HERBARIUM

Despite gasoline rationing, thousands of
people will somehow go to and tramp
through the countryside of the Chicago
region during the next few weeks to enjoy
the perennial miracle of the procession of
spring flowers. The thickets of dogwood
and crabapples, the fields of buttercups,
dandelions, Indian paint brushes, and
mustard, and in the woods the more delicate
but no less brilliant colonies of violets, wake
robins, Dutchman's breeches, spring beauty,
bluebells, lady's slippers, hepaticas, and
bloodroot, with dozens of others, afford a
display of fresh and beautiful color such as
scarcely is surpassed anywhere.

Fortunate is the Chicago region to retain,
in spite of its situation in one of the most
intensively cultivated districts of the United
States, such areas as the Cook County
Forest Preserves and the Indiana State
Park, where native plants still flourish in
abundance. Equally fine displays may be
seen in woodlands under private ownership.
Especially noteworthy are the shores of
Lake Michigan near Waukegan, an area
unique in Illinois. The only threat to
permanent preservation and increase of
these features that add so much beauty
to a prairie region lies in the destruction of
wild flowers and decorative shrubs by
thoughtless travelers in the country.

The loveliness of the early flowers is a
constant temptation to lay hands upon
them. Those people who appreciate natural
beauty are mostly persons of good manners,
and it is only through thoughtlessness that
they sometimes cause great damage.

Most of the spring flowers wilt quickly

when picked, and never revive even when
placed in water. Left alone they will con-
tinue to adorn the woodlands, where their
beauty finds its natural and best setting.
Leave the dogwood and crabapple, the haw-
thorn, and especially the more delicate and
rare woodland plants where you may enjoy
them again next year. Thus they will be
able to spread by their roots or by seeds.
If you must pick flowers, gather only
blue violets, dandelions, mustards, etc.

Protected by an intelligent and apprecia-
tive public, our present very extensive native
vegetation, whose beauty began to be
appreciated only when on the verge of
extinction, will undoubtedly expand itself.

Our native plants have yielded many
products of importance to Man — to the
aboriginal Indians, to the early settlers,
and even to us of the present day. They
include fruits like the crabapple and sand
cherry, nuts such as beech and hickory nuts
and walnuts, pot herbs or salad plants like
curly dock, dandelion, and pusley. Perhaps
among them there yet may be found some
that will provide wartime substitutes for
plant products which the country now
urgently needs. A near relative of our
dandelion is said to be providing the Soviet
Republics with some of their sorely needed
rubber. Other Illinois plants might well
furnish fibers or paper material. If our
native plants can supply some of these
needs, the most ardent conservationist will
be happy to see even our rarer plants
mobilized to help defeat our enemies.
(Next issue: — Conservalioti of Reptiles.)

NEW MEMBERS

The following persons became Members
of FMeld Museum during the period from
April 1 to May 10:

Associate Members

Miss Maud F. Back, Marvin H. Coleman,
Anthony S. Holub, Michael L. Layden,
Justus L. Schlichting, Robert J. Speer,
Herman Spertus.

Annual Members

Dr. Bernard Auerbach, Miss Mary
Breckinridge, Charles Borin, Harry M.
Brostoff, Robert C. Brown, Jr., Harry J.
Cogswell, C. T. Collett, Dr. T. J. Coogan,
Dr. Beulah Cushman, Edward Decker,
Lawrence D. Dibble, David Gordon, Walter
C. Green, Mrs. Emil J. Gutgsell, G. C. Hass,
Miss Lily Heffernan, Stuart Hertz, Mrs.
Joseph Huska, Walter J. Jarratt, John B.
Jarrett, S. E. Johanigman, Carl Ray
Latham, Charles C. Livingston, R. R.
Lusk, Frederick Mayer, Dr. Gertrude Mc-
Keever, Karl B. Miller, Ernest E. Moll,
Dr. E. M. Moore, Nelson S. Moore, Dr.
Marguerite Oliver, Arno H. Phillips, Louis
S. Piatt, Mrs. J. A. O. Preus, Edwin G.
Rellihen, George J. Renaldi, Mrs. Bartlett
Richards, Mrs. Oscar J. Ruh, William R.
Sachse, Wallace B. Shlopack, Harry Silver-
man, Dr. Charles G. Spirrison, Ray Snyder,
Jan Taeyaerts, Dr. Edward C. Wach, Mrs.
Marshall A. Waters, Frank D. Weber,
H. J. Weber, Arthur A. Wolf.

Page 6

FIELD MUSEUM NEWS

June-July-Augusl, 19US

Field Museum of Natural History

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

Telephone: Wabash 9410

THE BOARD OP TRUSTEES
Lester Armour Stanley Field

Sewbll L. Avery Sauubl Insull, Jr.

W. McCoRMicK Blair Charles A. McCulloch

Leopold E. Block William H. Mitchell

boardhan conovbr george a. richardson

Walter J. Cummings Theodore Roosevelt

Albert B. Dick, Jr. Solomon A. Smith

Howard W. Fenton Albert A. Sprague

Joseph N. Field Silas H. Strawn

Marshall Field Albert H. Wetten

John P. Wilson

OFFICERS

Stanley Field President

Albert A. Sprague First Vice-President

Silas H. Strawn Second Vice-President

Albert B. Dick Third Vice-President

♦Cufford C. Gregg Director and Secretary

Orr Goodson Acting Director and Acting Secretary

Solomon A. Smith . . . Treasurer and Assistant Secretary

* On leave in active service as a Colonel in the United
States Army.

FIELD MUSEUM NEWS

EDITOR
Wilfred H. Osgood Curator Emeritus, Zoology

CONTRIBUTING EDITORS

Paul S. Martin Chief Curator of Anthropology

B. E. Dahlgren Chief Curator of Botany

Henry W. Nichols Chief Curator of Geology

Karl P. Schmidt Chief Curator of Zoology

MANAGING EDITOR
H. B. Harte Public Relations Counsel

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

CURATOR A. C. WEED RETIRES

Mr. Alfred C. Weed, Curator of Fishes
for twenty-two years, retired from the
service of the Museum on April 30.

Mr. Weed joined the staff on January 1,
1921, and has been materially responsible
for the assemblage of the Museum's exten-
sive fish collections
and the building
up of the exhibits,
both the habitat
groups and system-
atic displays in the
recently opened
Hall of Fishes
(Hall O), and the
exhibits in other
halls prior to the
opening of the new
one. He has con-
ducted various ex-
peditions for the

institution, the most notable being to
the upper Mississippi in 1922, and the
fishing waters of Louisiana and Texas in
1923 and 1924; and he participated as
ichthyologist on the two Rawson-MacMillan
Subarctic Expeditions (to Labrador and Baf-
fin Land) in 1926 and in 1927-28. He also
has carried on a great deal of local field
work in Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin, and
Michigan. The Museum has published
various results of his researches, and he has
been a frequent contributor to Field
Museum News. Before coming to Field

A. C. WEED

Museum, Mr. Weed was an ichthyologist
on the staff of the United States National
Museum, Washington, D.C. for five years.
He was born at North Rose, New York, July
28, 1881. He is a graduate of Cornell Uni-
versity, and did post-graduate work there
after earning his B.A. degree.

WAVES ENLIST ANOTHER
MUSEUM LECTURER

Miss Marie B. Pabst, a lecturer on the
staff of the James Nelson and Anna Louise
Raymond Foundation since 1936, has taken
leave of absence from her Museum duties
to enlist in the
WAVES, Women's
Auxiliary of the
U. S. Navy. She
is the second Ray-
mond lecturer to
join that service.
Miss Elizabeth
Best having been
inducted early in
February.

Miss Pabst came
to the Museum
after graduating
from the Univer-
sity of Minnesota, where she specialized in
botany. Her home is in Springfield,
Illinois. Since coming to Chicago, she has
been very active as a leader in the Girl
Scouts movement, working with groups on
the north side. The Waves are sending her
to Hunter College, New York, for pre-
liminary training.

marie PABST

Museum Aids OCD and Red Cross

At the request of the local Office of
Civilian Defense, Field Museum recently
assigned Assistant Taxidermist Frank C.
Wonder to articulate two human skeletons.
They will be used in demonstrations for
Red Cross first aid classes.

Staff Notes

Miss Elizabeth Blinn Stone, for more than
twenty years Librarian for the Department
of Zoology, and secretary to Dr. Wilfred H.
Osgood, Chief Curator (now Curator Emeri-
tus) of Zoology, recently retired from the
Museum's service under the provisions of
the Employees' Pension Plan. She has
taken up residence in Los Angeles, Cali-
fornia, her home in earlier years.

Dr. Wilfrid D. Hambly, Curator of
African Ethnology, recently made one of
his quarterly visits to Washington, D.C, as
a consultant-member of the African Com-
mittee of the National Research Council,
which is concerned with war problems. On
April 28 he lectured in Chicago for the
Y.W.C.A. on "Peoples Our Soldiers Will
See in Africa."

After a year's .service driving ambulances
of the American Field Service in Africa,
during which he suffered minor wounds,
Mr. Bert E. Grove has returned to his post
as a lecturer on the staff of the Raymond
Foundation.

Miss Elizabeth Best, Raymond Founda-
tion lecturer who was granted leave of
absence recently to enlist in the WAVES
(Women's Auxiliary of the U. S. Navy), has
completed the officers' training course and
been commissioned an Ensign. She has
been assigned to a post at Seattle.

FIELD MUSEUM HONOR ROLL

Now In the
Nation's Service

— >

1

1

1

* • * •

* * • •

* • • •

* • * •

* • • •

* • • *

* • • *

* • * *

* • • •

Army
Theodore Roosevelt,

Tnistee — Brig. Gen.
George A. Richard-
son, Trustee — Lt.

Col.
Clifford C. Gregg,

Director — Colonel,

G.S.C.
Dr. John Rinaldo,

Associate, Southwestern Archaeol. — Staff Sgt.
Dr. Shabat K. Roy, Curator, Geol. — Capt.
D. Dwight Davis, Curator, Anat. and Osteol. — Pvt.
Emmet R. Blake, Asst. Curator, Birds — Corp.
Rupert L. Wenzel, Asst. Curator, Insects—

Capt.
WiLUAM Beecher, Temp. Asst., Zool. — Pvt.
Henry Horback, Asst., Geol. — Pvt.
James C. McIntyre, Guard — 2nd Lt.
Raymond J. Connors, Guard — Pvt.
Frank J. Dutkovic, Janitor — Pvt.

Navy

Lester Armour, Trustee — Ueut. Commdr.
Joseph Nash Field, Trustee — Lieut. (S.G.)
Colin Campbell Sanborn, Curator, Mammals —

Lieut. (S.G.)
Dr. Alexander Spoehr, Asst. Curator, N. Amer.

Ethnol. — Ensign
John W. Moyer, Taxidermist — Ch. Specialist (Bur.

Aeronautics)
Patrick T. McEnery, Guard — Master-at-Arms
John Syckowski, Guard — Ch. Commissary Stewd.
George Jahrand, Guard — Ch. Water Tender
Clyde Jambs Nash, Guard — Ch. Gunner's Mate
Nicholas Repar, Printer^

Aviation Machinist's Mate 3C.
Morris Johnson, Carpenter —

Carpenter's Mate 2C.
Herbert Nelson, Painter — Painter IC.
Elizabeth Best, Guide-Lecturer —

Ensign, WAVES
Marie B. Pabst, Guide-Lecturer— WAVES

Marine Corps

Melvin a. Tbaylor, Jr. Associate, Birds — 2nd Lt.

Coast Guard
M. C. Darnall, Jr., Guard — Ensign
John McGinnis, Guard — Ch. Boatswain's Mate

Other Services

Bert E. Grove, Guide-Lecturer — American Field
Service

Rudyerd Boulton, Curator, Birds — Stafif of
Office of Strategic Services

Bryant Mather, Asst. Curator, Mineralogy-
Civilian Worker, Corps of Engineers. U.S. Army

Llewelyn Williams, Curator of Economic Botany
— ^n special service for U. S. Government

Dr. Julian A. Steyermabk, Asst. Curator, Herba-
rium— field work for Board of Economic Warfare

Dr. C. Martin Wilbur, Curator, Chinese Archaeol.
and Ethnol. — Staff of Office of Strategic Services

June-Jidy-August, 19^3

FIELD MUSEUM NEWS

Page 7

THINOS YOU MAY HAVE MISSED

Paraphernalia of China's
Criclcet Cult

In China there is a cult of the cricket
with thousands of followers. The cultists
divide into two classes — those who prize
crickets ok musicians, and a sporting ele-

ACCESSORIES OF CRICKET FAD

Skillfully made bamboo trap for capturing crickets, on left.
Cage for crickets, on right, made of artistically carved
gourd coated with red lacquer. The cover is of ivory,
shaped to represent three lions playing ball. (In Hall 32).

ment who pit the insects against each other
in fighting contests under a highly formal-
ized set of rules. Rigorous training pro-
grams are maintained to prepare the cricket
champions, with all the fanfare that enters
into the training of an American boxing
champion and his challenger. Large sums
of money are spent upon collecting and
training the crickets, and greater sums
change hands in betting upon the results.

Elaborate housing and furnishings are
provided for both the musical and the
fighting crickets. An exhibit of these tiny
objects, many of them fashioned of the
finest and most expensive materials, and
embellished with highly artistic carving
and other types of decoration, forms an
interesting feature of Hall 32.

Included in the display are examples of
the elaborate traps used for capturing
crickets; especially prepared gourd and
ivory cages in which they are kept; tiny
porcelain dishes for food and water, as
well as tiny beds, with which cages are
furnished; and ticklers used to stimulate
both songs and fighting spirit. There is a
specimen of the type of jar used as an arena
for championship fights, with two crickets
posed in fighting stance. Elaborately carved
walnut shells, worn by Chinese on their
girdles in order to carry singing crickets
wherever they go, are also shown. Much
of the material exhibited came from the
imperial palace or the homes of ancient
families of Peking. There are altogether
about 240 pieces, collected by the late Dr.
Berthold Laufer, former Curator of Anthro-
pology and world-famed Sinologist, as leader
of the Marshall Field Expedition to China

(1923). Dr. Laufer made a profound study
of the cricket cult, the results of which are
charmingly presented for laymen in the
Museum's Anthropology Leaflet 22, Insect-
Musicians and Cricket Champions of China*
Herewith is an abstract of some portions of
this leaflet:

FIGHTING" CRICKET CHAMPIONS
AND MUSICIANS OF CHINA

Of the many insects that are capable of
producing sound in various ways, the best
known and the most expert musicians are
the crickets. Wings and wing covers furnish
the means whereby the male cricket can
produce its familiar chirping sound; the
young and the females cannot chirp. The
adult male makes the sound by raising his
wing covers above his body and then rubbing
their bases together so that the file-like veins
of the under surface of one wing-cover scrape
the upper surface of the other. The object
of the chirping or stridulating is somewhat
conjectural. It may be a love song, mating
call, or an expression of some other emotion.
The Chinese, however, assert that the black
tree-cricket is the only species that requires
the presence of the female to stimulate song.
HARBINGERS OF GOOD FORTUNE

The praise of the cricket is sung in the
odes of the Shi king, the earliest collection
of Chinese popular songs. People then
enjoyed listening to its chirping sounds,
while it moved about in their houses or
under their beds. It was regarded as a
creature of good omen, and wealth was
predicted for families which had many
crickets on their hearths.

■There are various methods of catching
crickets. They are usually captured at
evening. In north China a lighted candle
is placed near the entrance of their holes,
and a trap box is held in readiness. At-
tracted by the light, the insects hop out of
their retreats and are caught in the traps
made of bamboo or ivory rods. Some of
the traps are veritable works of art, sur-
mounted by carved dragons, and with doors
that shut very accurately. In the south a
"fire basket" made of iron rods, within
which a charcoal fire is kept burning, is
used. This drives the insects out of their
dens. Sometimes the cricket hunters reach
their object by pouring water into the holes
where the crickets hide.

Many people rear hundreds of crickets in
their homes, and have several rooms stacked
with jars to shelter them. The rich employ
experts to look after theirs. As you enter
one of their houses you are greeted by a
deafening noise of cricket voices which a
Chinese is able to endure indefinitely.

OWNERS DONATE OWN BLOOD
The crickets feed on fresh cucumber,
lettuce and other greens, and also on
chopped fish, various other kinds of insects,

and even receive honey as a tonic. Fighting
crickets receive particular attention and
nourishment in a dish consisting of a bit of
rice mixed with fresh cucumbers, boiled
chestnuts, lotus seeds, and mosquitoes.
Just before a scheduled fight they are given
a bouillon made from the root of a certain
flower. Some fanciers allow themselves to
be stung by mosquitoes, and when these
insects are full of human blood they are
given to favorite fighting crickets.

TOURNAMENTS IMPRESSIVELY STAGED

Crickets are imbued with a natural
instinct to fight. The Chinese offer the
following explanation: the crickets live in
holes, and each hole is inhabited by a single
individual. This manner of living gives
rise to frictions and frequent combats over
the housing problem. Two rivals will jump
at each other's heads with furious bites, and
the combat will usually end in the death of
one of the fighters. Also, when driven by
hunger, or when several are confined in a
cage, they do not hesitate to eat one another.
The Chinese regard good fighters as incar-
nations of great heroes of the past. The
strongest and bravest of these insect
"soldiers" are dubbed "generals."

The tournaments take place in an open
space, on a public square, or in a special

*28 pages, 12 plates. 40 cents. On sale at The
Book Shop of Field Museum; mail orders accepted.

CARVED WALNUT SHELL
For carrying singing crickets on one's person. From China's
K'ien.liuig period (1736.95). The decorations represent
figures of significance in Chinese mythology. (Hall 32).

house termed "Autumn Amusements."
There are heavyweight, middleweight, and
lightweight champions. The wranglers are
always matched on even terms according
to color, size, and weight, being carefully
weighed in on wee scales at the opening of
each contest. A silk cover is spread over a
table on which are placed the pottery jars
containing the cricket gladiators. The jar
is the arena in which the prize fight is

Page 8

FIELD MUSEUM NEWS

June-July- Augtist, 191^3

staged. The referee, called "Army Com-
mander" or "Battle Director", announces
the contestants and recites the history of
their past performances. He then spurs the
two crickets to combat, using a tickler to
stir the heads, ends of the tails, and hind
legs of the insects. Thus excited, the two
opponents stretch their antennae and jump
at each other's heads. The antennae are
the chief weapons. One of the belligerents
may soon lose one of its horns, and retort
by tearing off one of its enemy's legs. The
two become more and more exasperated and
fight mercilessly. The victor often pounces
with the whole weight of its body upon
the opponent, severing the latter's head
completely.

Cricket fights in China have developed
into a veritable passion. Bets are concluded.

TINY DISHES FOR FEEDING CRICKETS
Elaborate blue-and-white porcelain "tableware" used by
the Chinese for their pampered pet crickets. (In Hall 32).

and large sums are wagered on the prospec-
tive champions. The stakes are in some
cases very large, and at single matches held
in Canton are said to have aggregated as
much as $100,000. Choice champions fetch
prices up to $100 — equal to the value of a
good horse in China! Owners of famous
crickets travel long distances to meet their
competitors. The champion of champions
is honored with the title Grand Marshal.

REWARDS OF VICTORY

Near Canton extensive mat sheds are
erected and divided into several compart-
ments. A placard is posted on the sides of
the building setting forth the various stakes
previously won by each cricket. The owner
of a tournament-winning cricket, besides his
winnings on bets, is presented with a roast
pig, a piece of silk, and a gilded ornament
for his ancestral altar. The names of
victorious crickets are inscribed on a carved
ivory tablet; sometimes the inscription is
inlaid in gold. On returning to his home
community, the champion cricket owner is
greeted with rejoicing crowds, flowers, flags,
and music, and his village gains as much
publicity as an American town which pro-
duces a baseball or boxing champion. A
cricket which has won many victories is,
upon death, solemnly buried in a small
silver coffin.

So seriously do the Chinese take this
sport that they say of a man who has failed
that he is a "defeated cricket — he gives up
his mouth" (equivalent to "throwing in the
towel").

FIELD MUSEUM NEWS
ON WAR SCHEDULE

This issue of Field Museum News,
published as of June 1, constitutes the
June, July, and August numbers (Vol.
14, Nos. 6-7-8). The September and
October numbers will likewise appear
as a single issue, scheduled for publica-
tion September 15. The November
and December issues will be published
on normal schedule.

This reduction is due to the deple-
tion of the Museum staff by the call-
ing of many members into war service,
as well as to the necessity of con-
serving paper.

CHILDREN'S SUMMER PROGRAMS

Nine, instead of the hitherto customary
six summer vacation programs for school
children, will be presented on Thursday
mornings this July and August by the James
Nelson and Anna Louise Raymond Founda-
tion for Public School and Children's Lec-
tures. In addition, instead of the usual
single showing for each motion picture, this
year there will be two presentations of each,
one at 10 a.m., and one at 11. Admittance
is free. The programs will be given in the
James Simpson Theatre of the Museum.

In addition to motion pictures, two of the
programs will include personal appearances
by the explorers who made the films.

Following are the dates and subjects of
each program:

July 1 — Wheels Across India {the film
record of the famous Denis-Roosevelt
Expedition).

July 8 — Gulliver's Travels {Swift's fa-
mous story of Lilliput and Brohdignagia,
in colors).

July 15 — Young Adventurers in Can-
ada's Canoe Country. Wjth a lecture
by Mackenzie Ward.

July 22 — Down Where the North
Begins (northern South America).

July 29 — Farming for Victory (life in
typical American rural areas).

August 5 — King of the Sierras (the
story of a wild horse in the Far West).

August 12 — High Adventures (a moun-
tain climber's story). With a lecture by
C. Findley Bowser.

August 19— "Bring 'em Back Alive"
(motion pictures made by Frank Buck).

August 26 — Vacation Special (an hour
of animated cartoons).

The earliest and most primitive types of
fishes, fossilized for hundreds of millions of
years, are exhibited in Hall 38.

Disputes still continue as to what woods
are entitled to be called mahogany. Ex-
amples of various species from South America
and Africa, accepted botanically and com-
mercially as true mahoganies, are exhibited
in the Hall of Foreign Woods (Hall 27).

GUIDE-LECTURE TOUR SCHEDULE
FOR JUNE, JULY, AND AUGUST

Conducted tours of exhibits, under the
guidance of staff lecturers, will be made at
2 o'clock every afternoon except Sundays
during June.

On Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and
Saturdays, general tours will be given,
covering outstanding features of all four
Departments — Anthropology, Botany, Ge-
ology, and Zoology. Special subjects will
be offered on Wednesdays and Fridays; the
schedule of these for the period up to June
30 follows:

Wednesday, June 2 — Peoples of the Past
(Bert Grove).

Friday, June 4 — What We See in Faces
(Miss Loraine Lloyd).

Wednesday, June 9 — Stories in Stones
(Bert Grove).

Friday, June 11— Feet That Wear No
Shoes (Miss Loraine Lloyd).

Wednesday, June 16 — Matrimonial Fash-
ions (Mrs. Roberta Cramer).

Friday, June 18 — Flowers, Showy and
Inconspicuous (Miss Miriam Wood).

Wednesday, June 23— The United Na-
tions' Market Basket (Miss Miriam Wood).

Friday, June 25 — Australia and New
Zealand (Mrs. Roberta Cramer).

Wednesday, June 30 — Medicine Men
(Mrs. Roberta Cramer).

During July and August there will be
tours twice a day from Monday to Friday
inclusive, at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m., but there
will be no tours on Saturdays and Sundays
during those months. The special schedule
for July and August is as follows:

Mondays: 11 A.M., Stories in Stones;
2 P.M., General Tour of Exhibition Halls.

Tuesdays: 11 a.m.. Animals the World
Around; 2 p.m.. General Tour.

Wednesdays: 11 a.m.. People — Where and
How They Live; 2 p.m.. General Tour.

Thursdays: 11 a.m. and 2 p.m., General
Tours.

Fridays: 11 a.m.. Plants in The Use of
Man; 2 P.M., General Tours.

Persons wishing to participate should
apply at North Entrance. Tours are free.
By pre-arrangement at least a week in
advance, special tours are available to
groups of ten or more persons.

Technical Publications Issued

The following technical publication was
recently issued by Field Museum Press:

Anthropological Series, Vol. 35. Survey
and Excavations in Southern Ecuador. By
Donald Collier and John V. Murra. May
15, 1943. 108 pages, 54 plates, 18 text
figures, and 3 maps.

Note to Donors of Gifts

The usual list of Gifts to the Museum has
been omitted from this issue of Field
Museum News, but will be merged with
the new list in the next number (September).

PRINTED BY FIELD MUSEUM PRESS

FIFTY TEARS

ffl

1893 LIZaJ 1943

FIELD MUSEUM

OF NATURAL HISTORY

FIELD MUSEUM HONOR ROLL

NOW IN THE NATION'S SERVICE

Army

Theodore Roosevelt, Trustee — Brigadier General

George A. Richardson, Trustee — Lieutenant Colonel

Clifford C. Gregg, Director — Colonel, G.S.C.

Dr. John Rinaldo, Associate, Southwestern Archaeology — Staff Sergeant

Dr. Sharat K. Roy, Curator, Geology — Captain

D. DwiGHT Davis, Curator, Anatomy and Osteology — Corporal

Emmet R. Blake, Assistant Curator, Birds — Corporal

Rupert L. Wenzel, Assistant Curator, Insects — Captain

Bert E. Grove, Guide-Lecturer — Private

William Beecher, Temporary Assistant, Zoology — Private

Henry Horback, Assistant, Geology — Private

James C. McIntyre, Guard — Second Lieutenant

Raymond J. Connors, Guard — Private

Frank J. Dutkovic, Janitor — Private

Navy

Lester Armour, Trustee — Lieutenant Commander

Joseph Nash Field, Trustee — Lieutenant (S.G.)

Colin Campbell Sanborn, Curator, Mammals — Lieutenant (S.G.)

Dr. Alexander Spoehr, Curator, North American Ethnology — Lieutenant (J.G.)

John W. Mover, Taxidermist — Chief Specialist (Bureau of Aeronautics)

Patrick T. McEnery, Guard — Master-at-Arms

John Syckowski, Guard — Chief Commissary Steward

George Jahrand, Guard — Chief Water Tender

Clyde James Nash, Guard — Chief Gunner's Mate

Nicholas Repar, Printer — Aviation Machinist's Mate 3rd Class

Morris Johnson, Carpenter — Carpenter's Mate 2nd Class

Herbert Nelson, Painter — Painter 1st Class '

Elizabeth Best, Guide-Lecturer — Ensign, WAVES ' '

Marie B. Pabst, Guide-Lecturer— WAVES

Marine Corps
Melvin a. Traylor, Jr. Associate, Birds — First Lieutenant

Coast Guard

M. C. Darnall, Jr. Guard — Ensign ;

John McGinnis, Guard — Chief Boatswain's Mate

Other Services

RUDYERD BouLTON, Curator, Birds — Staff of Office of Strategic Services
Bryant Mather, Assistant Curator, Mineralogy — Civilian Worker, Corps of

Engineers, United States Army
Llewelyn Williams, Curator of Economic Botany — on special eervice for

United States Goverment
Dr. Julian A. Steyermark, Assistant Curator, Herbarium — field work for

Board of Economic Warfare
Dr. C. Martin Wilbur, Curator, Chinese Archaeology and Ethnology — Staff

of Office of Strategic Services

Fiftieth Anniversary Number
FIELD MUSEUM NEWS

Vol. 14 (9-10) ■ September-October, 1943

Understanding and enjoyment of nature are prime human needs.
To supply these needs is the object of natural history museums.

FIFTY YEARS OF PROGRESS

Some of the History of Field Museum (1893-1943)
—and a Forecast of Its Future

By

STANLEY FIELD
President

FIELD MUSEUM was founded in 1893 by
the late Marshall Field. A cultural awak-
ening had been taking place in Chicago for
some years previous. People generally were
beginning to realize that the city needed better
provisions for education, science, art, and
beautification.

One of the prime needs noted for a long time
past was that of a great museum to provide
facilities for popular education along scientific
lines. Encouraged by the enthusiasm that
greeted the opening of the World's Columbian
Exposition, the sponsors of a museum promptly
instituted a campaign to raise the funds deemed
necessary to carry through such a project.
Their efforts met with remarkable success, and
they obtained contributions in cash from the
following: George M. Pullman, $100,000; Mrs.
Mary D. Sturges, $50,000; Tiffany and Com-
pany, $10,000; McCormick Estate, $10,000;
P. D. Armour, $10,000; D. K. Pearsons, $5,000;
H. H. Porter, $5,000; Martin A. Ryerson,
$5,000; Norman B. Ream, $5,000; J. W. Doane,
$5,000; A. A. Sprague, $5,000; Edson Keith,
$5,000; Lambert Tree, $5,000; William A.
Fuller, $5,000; George E. Adams, $5,000;
R. T. Crane, $5,000; A. C. Bartlett, $5,000;
and five contributors in lesser amounts total-
ing $4,008.

Upon Mr. Marshall Field's return from
Europe in October, 1893, the committee
solicited and received his wholehearted sup-

port and a contribution of $1,000,000. The
Chicago Evening Post suggested that holders
of exposition stock present their shares to the
fund being raised for
a natural history mu-
seum, and stock total-
ing $1,500,000 par
value was donated for
the purpose by 1,100
stockholders; on this
the Museum realized
$193,950.

A charter was ob-
tained on September
16, 1893, under the
title, Columbian Mu-
seum of Chicago. The
name was changed
on June 26, 1894, to
Field Columbian
Museum, and again
changed on November 10, 1905, to the present
form. Field Museum of Natural History.

Committees assigned to obtain material
from exhibitors at the exposition, including
foreign governments, private exhibitors, and
various United States federal departments,
met with great success. The immense amount
of material thus obtained formed the nucleus
of the Museum's present vast collections.

At a cost of $100,000, Mr. H. N. Higin-
botham purchased the collections of gems and

Stanley Field

THE MUSEUM'S FIRST HOME IN JACKSON PARK

Maczene photo

Founder Marshall Field

jewels exhibited at the exposition by Tiffany
and Company and presented them to the Mu-
seum for display in a special hall.

Mr. Edward E. Ayer, who was chosen as
the first President of the Museum, generously

contributed his an-
thropological collec-
tion of North Ameri-
can Indian material,
valued at $100,000.

Dr. Frederick J.
V. Skiff, who had
been serving as Chief
of the Department
of Mines and Mining,
and Deputy General
of the exposition, was
appointed the Muse-
um's first Director, a
position the duties of
which he fulfilled
capably until his death on February 24, 1921.
Permission had been obtained for the use
of the Fine Arts Building of the World's Fair,
and, immediately upon the closing of the exposi-
tion, work was begun on the task of moving
the exhibits and collections secured into the
building, then classifying them and arranging
them in the Museum halls. The Museum was
dedicated and opened to the public on June 2,
1894, and occupied that building until the
present structure was erected.

Much of the sum originally subscribed in
cash — $1,443,408— necessarily had to be ex-
pended during the early years to purchase
collections, exhibition cases, and equipment,
and to defray organizing and administrative
expense. The remainder was set up in an
endowment fund.

$9,430,000 FROM MARSHALL FIELD I

Under the will of Mr. Marshall Field,
whose death occurred on January 16, 1906, the
Museum was bequeathed $8,000,000, with the
stipulation that $4,000,000 was to be added to
the endowment fund and $4,000,000 was to be
used for the construction of a new building,
provided that a permanent site acceptable to
the Trustees be made available without cost.
This bequest of Mr. Field's brought the total
of his gifts to $9,430,000.

The Trustees of the Museum were deter-
mined, if possible, to place the new building
near the downtown area and in as convenient

a location as possible for visitors from all three
sides of the city. Several years elapsed before
a satisfactory site could be agreed upon, but
on March 22, 1911, a contract was entered into
with the South Park Commissioners for the
site now occupied by the present building.
This site at that time consisted partly of ground
occupied by the Illinois Central Railroad for a
pier extending eastward into the lake and used
by them for the storage of empty freight cars,
and partly of an area then still under the waters
of Lake Michigan. Up to this time no filling
of the lake east of the Illinois Central tracks
had taken place, and there existed some con-
troversy as to whether the riparian rights
rested with the railroad or with the state.

Negotiations were entered into by a com-
mittee composed of Mr. Edward B. Butler, Mr.
Charles L. Hutchinson, and Mr. Charles H.
Wacker, who were interested in settling the
dispute once and for all. The parleys resulted
in an agreement whereby the Museum obtained
the desired site and the Illinois Central Rail-
road relinquished all of its claims to riparian
rights and agreed to remove its pier. This
settlement insured a good location for Field
Museum, and made possible the filling in of
the entire lake area lying east of the rail-
road tracks from Randolph Street south.
That area is now famed for its development of a
beautiful park, lagoons, and boulevards.

All obstacles thus being removed, plans for
the building, which had been approved by Mr.

TRAINS DIRECTLY TO NEW BUILDING

Marshall Field prior to his death, were revised
and contracts were let. Construction began on
July 26, 1915, and by June, 1920, the building
had been practically completed at a cost of
$7,136,866. Mr. James Simpson had donated

$150,000 toward the cost of a theatre, which
was named in his honor. The difference
between the total cost of the building and Mr.
Field's bequest of $4,000,000 and its accretions
during the years from 1906 to 1920, amounted
to approximately $838,000. This sum was
made available by gifts, and the cost of con-
struction has been fully liquidated.

For three years prior to completion of the
building, the efforts of the entire staff were
devoted to packing the collections and pre-
paring them for transfer to the new building.
This gigantic task consumed all the time of the
staff, and all of the money at the disposal of
the Trustees, so that nothing could be spent
on expeditions, collection of material, research,
or publications. Actual moving started on
April 26, 1920. A railroad spur was built
through Jackson Park to the old building, and
another was built to the new building, and all
of the collections, exhibition cases, and equip-

BARREN HALLS GREET INVADERS

ment were moved by the use of 321 freight
cars and 354 five- ton truck loads. On June 1,
the moving job was completed, and the arrange-
ment of the halls and reinstallation of material
began. By May 2, 1921, these tasks had been
completed, and the Museum was opened.

SCHOOL EXTENSION WORK
In December, 1910, Mr. Norman Wait
Harris made a contribution of $250,000 in
securities to found the N. W. Harris Public
School Extension of Field Museum, and on
March 4, 1919, various members of his family
added another $25,000. On June 2, 1924,
Mr. Albert W. Harris and members of his
family contributed $100,000 to the fund, and
again, in 1938, Mr. Albert W. Harris gave the
Museum $55,000 to offset a shrinkage which

ONE ELEPHANT COULDN'T CLEAR OBSTRUCTIONS

had occurred in some of the securities originally
turned over by Mr. Norman Wait Harris.
With this foundation the Museum has been
able to extend its activities to all the public
schools in Chicago, and many parochial and
private ones, by the constant circulation of
especially designed small traveling exhibits.

In 1925 the Museum became the recipient
of a gift from Mrs. James Nelson Raymond
of $500,000 in securities, as a memorial to her
husband. The income from this fund was
designated to defray the cost of sending lec-
turers into the public schools of Chicago, to
provide guides for lectures to classes from the
public schools visiting the Museum itself,
and to provide a series of programs of moving
pictures each Saturday morning for the benefit
of children in Chicago's public schools. Mrs.
Raymond has augmented her original contri-
bution of $500,000 by
sums of money annually,
which now aggregate
$86,500.

In 1916 a group insur-
ance plan for all employ-
ees was put into effect, and
in 1938, due to a bene-
faction from Mr. Marshall
Field III, a very liberal
pension plan was institut- Marshall Fi«:id in
ed for the benefit of all
employees of the Museum. The employees, as
well as the Museum, contribute toward the
Pension Plan, but the Museum paid up in full
the entire "past service" liability. These two
contracts give the employees a security that
benefits both them and the Museum.

' ^k^tm^^mtr - jue^.

HELD MUSEUM MEN HAVE RANGED THE EARTH ON 440 EXPEDITIONS -FOR PLANTS
ANIMALS, GEOLOGICAL AND ANTHROPOLOGICAL MATERL\L

Since the founding of the Museum, 440 expeditions have gone out to
all parts of the world, and this number does not include many hundreds
of small trips that are classified as local field work. Many valuable col-
lections have been acquired by purchase and by exchange with other
museums; others have been gifts of friends of the institution. As a result,
the Museum today ranks among the four leading museums of the world, an
achievement which has been accomplished in the short period of fifty
years, and one of which the Board of Trustees and administration of the
Museum are justly proud.

The collections shown in exhibition cases are but a small part of the
total collections. In research, the study collections of museums are of
the greatest importance. They are used by scientific men from all over
the world and are the basis of much of our present-day knowledge of
natural science. Those at Field Museum rank high both in extent
and in usefulness.

During the fifty years under review, the Museum has printed 566
scientific publications, most of them the results of its own expeditions
and research; these have been distributed to other museums at home and
abroad, as well as to libraries and to scientists especially interested in
the subjects covered. It has also published 88 leaflets written in popular
style for the lay public.

For those unacquainted with the facilities of Field Museum, it may
be well to call attention to the fact that the Library now contains approxi-
mately 130,000 books and pamphlets on anthropology, botany, geology,
zoology, and related subjects, and offers the largest reference collection
in its special fields in Chicago. It is particularly rich in anthropological
and ornithological works, with collections that rank among the foremost
in the world. Invaluable for research are the extensive series on its shelves
of the publications of learned societies, academies, and universities all
over the world. It is strictly a reference library, and its reading room is
maintained to make the Library's resources available for the use of
scientists, students, teachers, and others engaged in research. These
facilities are extended, upon application, to laymen with problems requir-
ing reference to the works in a scientific library. Amateur naturalists, and

persons with hobbies involving the natural
sciences, will also find much of value in the
Library.

MORE THAN 33,000,000 VISITORS

It is interesting to note that during the
Museum's occupancy of the old building in
Jackson Park, from June 2, 1894, to February
23, 1920, a period of approximately 26 years,
the total attendance was 5,839,579, whereas the
attendance in the present building from May 2,
1921, to June 16, 1943, approximately 22 years,
has been 27,576,728. The comparison of these
figures fully justifies the Trustees' action in
approving the present site of Field Museum.

During the fifty-year period under re-
view, a total of $10,422,511 has been given to
the Museum in addition to Mr. Marshall
Field's gifts of $9,430,241, making a total of
$19,852,752. In the same period, endowment
funds have been raised to $6,585,000 at market
as of June 30, 1943, after a heavy write-down
of real estate in the portfolio. As part of the
endowment, a Life Membership Fund has been
built up, the market value of which, as of
December 31, 1942, was $251,382, and an
Associate Membership Fund of $299,442.

NEW EXHIBITION METHODS

The Museum has realized the importance
of exhibiting all types of material in a way that
would attract and educate the layman visitor,
and it has been one of the leaders in this practice.
It was among the first museums to install
animal habitat groups in natural settings — the
series of American deer shown as they appear
in each of the four seasons, mounted by the
famous naturalist and taxidermist, Carl E.
Akeley, were notable productions. Akeley's
genius revolutionized methods in taxidermy.
Few of the specimens first exhibited are on
exhibition today. Through expeditions the
Museum has collected the material and neces-
sary data for the magnificent series of habitat
groups in the halls of North and South Ameri-
can mammals, Asiatic mammals, African mam-
mals, marine mammals, and American and
foreign birds. Since moving into the present
building, every exhibition case in all four de-
partments has been reinstalled. Light-colored
case interiors have been adopted, the objects
exhibited have been carefully selected, and the
amount of material in each case has been
reduced. All have been relabeled, and maps,
photographs, and drawings illustrating the

AFRICAN
DANCER

HALL
OF

MAN

uses made of the various objects
have been added.

The exhibits of ores and min-
erals in the Department of Geology
are now being reinstalled a second
time in a much more attractive and
interesting way. While a good be-
ginning has been made, unfortu-
nately the program has had to be suspended
for the duration of the war on account of the
absence of so many members of the staff in
the service of their country.

In the Department of Anthropology
many radical changes have been made in
old Museum methods. An example of such
change may be found in the Hall of the
Races of Mankind, opened in 1933. This
hall contains nearly 100 life-size sculptures,
chiefly in bronze, illustrating the principal
racial types of the human species, as they
exist today. All the sculptures are the work
of Miss Malvina Hoffman.

The Hall of the Stone Age of the Old World,
also opened in 1933, has for its principal
feature eight reproductions of actual prehistoric
sites in Europe with life-size restorations of
men of the various periods represented. The
restorations are the work of a noted sculptor,
the late PVederick A. Blaschke, and are based
upon data supplied by eminent anthropologists
of Europe.

Perhaps the most radical change of all from
old Museum methods is represented by the
new Hall of the Archaeology of North, Central
and South America. This hall, now about one-
third completed, is an effort to exhibit material

NBANDERTHAL FAMILY -HALL OF STO.NL AGli

of great interest, but difficult to display in a
manner that will make it understandable or
interesting to the layman. Judging by the
reception that the part of the hall now open
has received, it is evident that the completed
hall will accomplish its mission and will set
the pattern for still another reinstallation of
exhibition halls in Anthropology.

The building was designed so that all
exhibition halls would have daylight. Experi-
ence showed this to be a mistake, as it made a
very unsatisfactory light in the halls and caused
bad reflections. The sunlight also had a
damaging effect on materials on exhibition.

Therefore, the windows were blocked out in
all halls, and all skylights, with the exception
of the one over the main hall, have been elimi-
nated. All halls are now artificially lighted.

Gradually, during the years, general hall
lighting has been changed to case lighting,
and the recent introduction of fluorescent
lighting has brought about a very revolutionary
change in these methods. Many of the halls
have been fully equipped with the new fluo-
rescent lighting, but no further work can be
done for the duration of the war.

A FORECAST OF FUTURE TRENDS

The first fifty years has seen Field Museum
grow from what was at first only a dream in the
minds of a few public-spirited men to one of
the world's four leading natural history insti-
tutions. The second fifty years, upon which
we are now embarking, may be expected to
bring developments far outdistancing any
progress thus far made. From the evidence
before us today, it seems safe to predict that
there will be two main trends in the future
development of this and other great museums.
First, with new conceptions of what con-
stitutes true liberal education and what is
necessary to adjust individuals to occupy their
proper places as citizens of an international
community which must be reorganized on lines
of peace, humanity, and justice in all nations,
museums may be expected to play an ever
larger and more active educational role.
Second, with the technological advances which
were already apparent before the war, and
which have been accelerated during the war,
we may expect peacetime applications in the
field of museology, as in all other fields, which
will greatly increase the usefulness of museums.

The imperative need for the extension and

broadening of education to equip men, women
and children for true world citizenship as well
as for making the most of their own individual
lives, is even now being widely discussed, and
its importance must be apparent to almost
anyone who thinks. That museums have a
place both in leadership and in execution
of any such program is likewise apparent
to all who realize a museum's proper functions.

The technological advances which may
assist museums in spreading education will no
doubt take many directions and forms, most of
which cannot even be predicted as yet. There
have been a few straws in the wind, however,
for example, television, in which prior to the
war Field Museum is proud to have pioneered.
Only small scale experimentation was possible
at the time, but the results pointed to a future
in which the Museum, while still acting as
host to millions of visitors entering its portals,
may expect to enter the homes of tens of mil-
lions of others unable to come to it; and to
reach repeatedly, many times each year, mil-
lions who might otherwise visit it only once in
several years or a lifetime. I cite television
as a technological advance which may have a
profound effect upon the extension of the
Museum's potentialities, because in this field
we have already had definite evidence. But
television is only one of the new mechanical
means which our engineers and inventors may
be expected to develop which will extend the
usefulness of museums.

It seems certain that the Museum will
become accessible to a world-wide public after
the war. With the probability of universal
use of the airplane as a transportation medium
when peace has descended on the world again,
it seems reasonable to expect that Field
Museum will draw visitors in great number
from countries throughout the globe.

PROBABLE EFFECTS OF THE WAR

The war itself is bound to have a profound
effect upon both the thinking habits and living
habits of all nations and nationalities. Its
world-wide aspect has already broadened the
horizons of most of us by arousing our interest
in geography, history, cartography, logistics,
ethnology, and many other subjects. Areas of
the world formerly remote and little known are
now arousing our curiosity and challenging our
imaginations. The post-war period of world-
wide rehabilitation will accelerate this interest

8

and curiosity. Our soldiers and sailors who
are now having the exciting experience of seeing
strange and exotic regions and races will, on
their return, retain their world-wide interest
and stimulate the interest of those who re-
mained at home.

It is apparent that thinking people will
turn more and more to the
natural history museums in
their quest for knowledge
about races, regions and cus-
toms. Field Museum has
always striven to bring a
better understanding of the
importance of nature study
as an adjunct of our educa-
tional program. We have
believed that the curricula of
grade schools, high schools,
colleges, and universities
should put more emphasis
on the study of natural his-
tory than has been the case
in the past. The time has
now come when educational
leaders should give serious
consideration to methods by
which the great natural his-
tory museums can be made
an active part of their educa-
tional machinery.

Field Museum is a micro-
cosm of the basic realities of
this world. Embraced with-
in the scope of the four great
natural sciences to which
it is devoted — anthropology,
botany, geology and zool-
ogy— are the fundamental
elements of everything in
life, and the causative factors
that make people and other
living things what they are.
When we can master these
things, if we can, we can master ourselves.
The way to the kind of world understanding
which we all realize is needed — an international
understanding that will make for peace and
justice and fairness between individuals and
between nations — is through an understanding
of the forces of nature, a comprehension of the
distribution of natural resources, a knowledge
of plants and animals, and, most important,
an unprejudiced and undistorted view of the

character of other peoples, and of the effects of
environment upon peoples. One of the things
necessary to international understanding is a
complete change in psychological approach
with respect to the problems existing between
peoples. But a prerequisite to attaining a
proper psychological approach is an under-
standing of the truth about
nature, and the corollary
elimination of fallacies, mis-
conceptions, and supersti-
tions which all too often pre-
vent us from solving prob-
lems. If, like the Nazis, we
let racial prejudices blur our
thinking, we shall never
achieve any real solution of
actual problems arising from
racial differences, nor of eco-
nomic, political, social and
other problems either. But
if we listen to the anthro-
pologists, who can scienti-
fically demonstrate that it is
not color of skin, or type of
hair or features, or difference
of religion, that creates prob-
lems between peoples, but
factors for which man is re-
sponsible and which he can
control or change if he will,
then we shall at least come
within sight of that better
world which we now realize
we must achieve if we are not
finally to perish as victims of
our own perversity.

"UNITY OF MANKIND"

An ideal for which we are now fighting, as

expressed by Malvina Hoffman in the Hall

of the Races of Man

INCREASED FUNDS NEEDED

While writing a history of
the fifty years' progress of
Field Museum, and express-
ing my opinion as to what
Field Museum's activities
should be in the future, it seems to me not out
of place to comment on the financial needs of
the institution.

More money is the great need of Field
Museum. This fact cannot be stressed too
emphatically. It has been forcibly impressed
upon those in charge of the administration of
this institution throughout the last ten years.
It is the outstanding consideration that con-
fronts the Museum officials for the future.

More money to operate the Museum —

More money to enable it to carry on its
share of expeditions, research, and the dis-
semination of knowledge to which it is entitled
as a pre-eminent scientific institution —

More money to assure the maintenance of
its enviable position among the great museums
of the world —

More money to provide for an adequate
staff and to pay adequate salaries.

The need of more money for these and
countless other activities is incontrovertibly
the crying problem of Field Museum.

A decrease in income during the past few
years has become a serious menace to the
further growth and development of this great
institution. This decrease has occurred in
nearly all sources of income, viz. : in the return
from corporate investments, in revenue ob-
tained from paid admissions, in sums paid for
memberships, in contributions from friends.

The decrease in the return from corporate
investments makes one ponder long as to what
the future has in store for endowed institutions.

If Field Museum is to carry on its activities
at full strength, and on a scale suited to its
standing as an institution and to the importance
of the great public and territory which it serves,
it obviously must have large additions to its
endowment funds.

There must be an ever-increasing member-
ship supporting the Museum with contribu-
tions or annual dues.

And the Museum must be able to look to
the public-spirited citizens of Chicago and the
middle west, which it so well serves, for gener-
ous contributions.

Lacking increased income from all such
sources, the Museum is faced with the prospect
of a future situation which might lead to serious
curtailment of all the important functions that
it now fulfills with such success.

Men and Women Whose Contributions
Have Made the Museum Possible

By

ORR GOODSON
Acting Director

When it is realized that the British Museum

has been in existence for 190 years, that our

own Smithsonian Institution was founded 108

years ago, and that the American Museum in

New York is 74 years of age. Field Museum,

now celebrating its fiftieth

^figl^ anniversary, seems by

W ^% comparison a young insti-

* j^ ^gJ tution.

ij It is probable that

-3f Founder Marshall Field

^^^^^^^^^ and those other farsighted
^^^^ ^^^^^ and civic-minded men
^^^^^^^^^^1 associated with the Mu-
^^^^^I^^^P^ seum's birth never quite
hoped that the Museum
could in such a short space
of time achieve the outstanding position that
it holds today — one of the four leading natural
history museums of the world.

There are many factors that have con-
tributed to the rapid growth of Field Museum.
Possibly the most important one is the financial
support that has been given by citizens of
Chicago. Their contributions were made be-
cause these men and women believed that this
city was destined to be a leading cultural and

Orr Goodson

educational center of the world. They believed
in the work Field Museum was doing and the
program it had outlined for the future. They
were determined that all of Chicago and the
surrounding territory should have the same
advantages as the cities that were centers of
population when Chicago was little more than
a trading post on the shores of Lake Michigan.
The list of contributors is a long one, and
one in which the Museum takes great pride.
The generosity of Founder Marshall Field is
well known to all who are familiar with the
Museum. The tradition he began has been
continued by his grandson, the present Mr.
Marshall Field, who has contributed a total of
$2,822,000 up to this date. His beneficence, in
addition to financing important expeditions and
underwriting many of the Museum's most
notable activities, has made possible the cre-
ation of the pension fund which proxndes for
the financial care of all employees after they
have reached retirement age.

PRESIDENT FOR 35 YEARS

Mr. Stanley Field has contributed a total
of $1,592,000. Like Mr. Marshall Field, he
has given not only for the benefit and expansion

10

LONG LINES TREKKED ACROSS GRANT PARK FOR OPENING OF NEW BUILDING -MAY 2, 1921

of the Museum as an institution, but has con-
sidered the welfare of its employees. A large
part of his gifts was made expressly for the
establishment of the group life insurance
arrangement which provides family protection
for all employees if death occurs during their
period of service, and throughout their life-
time if they serve until retirement in accordance
with provisions of the pension plan. Of Mr.
Field's contributions, approximately $838,000
was given to meet a deficit in the funds for
construction of the present building.

The contributions of Mr. Marshall Field
and Mr. Stanley Field cannot be measured in
money alone. Mr. Marshall Field has been an
active member of the Board of Trustees since
1914, and has given time and effort to Museum
activities, and highly esteemed counsel in the
deliberations of the Board. Mr. Stanley Field
has served as President of the Museum for the
past thirty-five years. His constant interest in
and able administration of the affairs of the
Museum have been among the chief factors
responsible for attainment of the eminent
position the institution occupies today. This
Museum has indeed been singularly fortunate
in having such an able administrative head.

OTHER GREAT NAMES

There are other famous Chicago people
whose financial support has contributed much
to the success of the Museum during its first
fifty years. The late Norman Wait Harris
gave $250,000 to establish the N. W. Harris
Public School Extension of Field Museum.
This has been supplemented by contributions
of $255,000 from his son, Mr. Albert W. Harris,
and additional sums from other members of the

family. Mrs. James Nelson (Anna Louise)
Raymond has given $587,000 in the name of
her late husband and herself for the establish-
ment and support of the James Nelson and
Anna Louise Raymond Foundation for Public
School and Children's Lectures. Among the
many others who have given notable sums are:
the late Edward E. Ayer, who gave $314,000;
the late Miss Kate Buckingham, $106,000; the
late William V. Kelley, $157,000; the late
Martin A. Ryerson, $211,000; the late Mrs.
Carrie T. Ryerson, $337,000; the late George
M. Pullman, $100,000; the late James Simpson,
$183,000; the late Mrs. George T. (Frances Ann
Gaylord) Smith, $262,000 in her own and her
husband's name; the late R. T. Crane, Jr.,
$120,000; Mr. Cornelius Crane, $109,000; the
late Frederick H. Rawson, $101,000; the late
Ernest R. Graham, $131,000; Mrs. Diego
Suarez, $230,000; the late Joseph N. Field,
$50,000; the late Mrs. Mary D. Sturges,
$50,000; Mr. Philip M. Chancellor, $88,000;
the late Chauncey Keep, $50,000; the late Mr.
and Mrs. Julius Rosenwald, $77,000, and the
late Harlow N. Higinbotham, $100,000.

Because of space limitations, each of the
contributors cannot be mentioned individually
in this article. However, a list of other con-
tributors of large sums and the amounts given
will be found on the following page. Field
Museum gratefully acknowledges the gifts of
all contributors, large and small, and it should
be emphasized that the Museum appreciates
the sincerity and interest of the donors of small
sums as greatly as it appreciates the more sub-
stantial gifts. This applies particularly to those
thousands of people who have supported the
Museum by maintaining memberships.

11

Others Who Have Contributed to Field Museum

In addition to the Benefactors and Contributors mentioned in Acting Director Goodson's article on
the preceding page, the following persons and organizations have made notable gifts to the Museum, and
in recognition have been elected as Contributors, a Membership classification defined in the Museum
By-laws as including all those whose gifts in money or materials range in value from $1,000 to $100,000:

$25,000 to $50,000

Adams, Mrs. Edith Almy*

Blackstone, Mrs.
Timothy B.*

Coats, John*
Crane, Charles R.*
Crane, Mrs. R. T., Jr.

Field, Mrs. Stanley

Jones, Arthur B.*

Murphy, Walter P.*

Porter, George F.*

Vernay, Arthur S.

White, Harold A.

$10,000 to $25,000

Armour, Allison V.*
Armour, P. D. *

Chadbourne, Mrs. Emily

Crane
Chalmers, Mrs. Joan A.*
Chalmers, William J.*
Conover, Boardman
Cummings, R. F.*
Cutting, C. Suydam

Everard, R. T.*

Gunsaulus, Dr. F. W.*

Insull, Samuel*

Laufer, Dr. Berthold*
Lufkin, Wallace W.

Mandel, Leon
McCormick, Cyrus

(Estate)
McCormick, Stanley
Mitchell, John J.*

Reese, Lewis*
Robb, Mrs. George W.'
Rockfeller Foundation,
The

Sargent, Homer E.
Schweppe, Mrs.

Charles H.*
Straus, Mrs. Oscar
Strong, Walter A.*

Wrigley, William, Jr.*

$5,000 to $10,000

Adams, George E.*
Adams, Milward*
American Friends of China
Avery, Sewell L.

Bartlett, A. C*
Bishop, Heber (Estate)
Borland, Mrs. John Jay*

Crane, R. T.*

Doane, J. W.*

Field, Dr. Henry
Fuller, William A.*

Graves, George Coe, II*

Harris, Hayden B.
Harris, Norman Dwight
Harris, Mrs. Norman W.*
Hutchinson, C. L.*

Keith, Edson*

Langtry, J. C.

MacLean, Mrs. M.

Haddon
Moore, Mrs. William H.

Payne, John Barton*
Pearsons, D. K.*
Porter, H. H.*

Ream, Norman B.*
Revell, Alexander H.*

Salie, Prince M. U. M.
Sprague, A. A.*
Storey, William Benson*
Strawn, Silas H.

Thome, Bruce
Tree, Lambert*

Valentine, Louis L.*

$1,000 to $5,000

Avery, Miss Clara A.*
Ayer, Mrs. Edward E.*

Barrett, Samuel E.*
Bensabott, R., Inc.
Bishop, Dr. Louis B.
Blair, Watson F.*
Blaschke, Stanley Field
Block, Mrs. Helen M.*
Borden, John
Brown, Charles Edward

Chicago Zoological

Society, The
Coburn, Mrs. Annie S.*
Crocker, Templeton
Cummings, Mrs.

Robert F.*

Doering, O. C.

Fish, Mrs. Frederick S.

Graves, Henry, Jr.
Gunsaulus, Miss Helen

Hibbard, W. G.*
Higginson, Mrs.

Charles M.*
Hill, James J.*
Hixon, Frank P.*
Hoffman, Miss Malvina
Hughes, Thomas S.

Jackson, Huntington W.*
James, F. G.
James, S. L.

Knickerbocker,
Charles K.*

Lee Ling Yiin
Lerner, Michael
Look, Alfred A.

Mandel, Fred L., Jr.
Manierre, George*
Martin, Alfred T.*
McCormick, Cyrus H.*
McCormick, Mrs. Cyrus*
Mitchell, Clarence B.

Ogden, Mrs. Frances E.*
Osgood, Dr. Wilfred H.

Palmer, Potter
Patten, Henry J.*
Prentice, Mrs.
Clarence C.

Rauchfuss, Charles F.*
Raymond, Charles E.*
Reynolds, Earle H.
Rumely, William N.*

Schapiro, Dr. Louis*
Schwab, Martin C.
Schweppe, Charles H.*
Shaw, William W.
Sherff, Dr. Eari E.
Smith, Byron L.*
Sprague, Albert A.

Thompson, E. H.*
Thome, Mrs. Louise E.

VanValzah, Dr. Robert
VonFrantzius, Fritz*

Wheeler, Leslie*
Willis, L. M.

' Deceased

12

The Departments Tell Their Story

FIFTY YEARS OF ANTHROPOLOGY

By PAUL S. MARTIN

CHIEF CURATOR, DEPARTMENT OF ANTHROPOLOGY

The Department of Anthropology, along
with the present Departments of Botany,
Geology and Zoology, was inaugurated in 1893,
and was a direct outgrowth of the Department
of Ethnology of the World's Columbian Exposi-
tion of 1893.

Much of the material now in the possession
of this department was acquired from the
exposition or from the
exhibitors, by gift and
purchase. These acquisi-
tions, collected from many
parts of the world, formed
the nucleus of the original
exhibits. While the pri-
mary acquisitions are still
valued as collections of
materials in bulk, from
the modern point of view
they leave much to be
most part, the specimens
exposition were collected

Paul S. Martin

desired. For the
gathered for the
hurriedly and without much regard
for accompanying data such as
what the specimens were used for,
what meaning they had to the
owners, and other historical infor-
mation. Therefore, the early col-
lections gathered for the exposition
are not so valuable as they might
have been.

The first Chief Curator of the
Department, from 1894 to 1897,
was Dr. W. H. Holmes, who had
been associated with the exposition.
When Dr. Holmes took charge, he
had the difficult task of creating
a well-defined department out of
a mass of heterogeneous, uncatalogued material
which poured into the Museum after the
close of the exposition. He successfully
discharged this duty in a very short time.
Immediately after the Museum was formally
opened. Dr. Holmes also organized several
expeditions to collect more specimens which
were needed to fill gaps. He led an expedition
to Mexico, the results of which were embodied

in a scholarly report published by the Museum.
In 1897 Dr. Holmes resigned to accept a post
at the United States National Museum.

Dr. George Dorsey, who had joined the
staff of the Museum in 1896, succeeded Dr.
Holmes as Chief Curator of the Department.
Dr. Dorsey had been associated with the exposi-
tion as a leader of collecting expeditions.
Under his vigorous leadership, the department
expanded greatly. Expeditions were sent out
to various parts of the world. From these
expeditions, covering a period of sixteen years,
a tremendous number of specimens were col-
lected. As a result of all these activities, the
exhibition halls were rapidly filled with mate-
rials which cannot now be duplicated; and
many noteworthy monographs were published
by the Museum. This was undoubtedly the
greatest period of expansion that this depart-
ment has ever experienced.

After Dr. Dorsey's resignation in 1915, Dr.
Berthold Laufer was appointed Chief Curator
of the Department. Dr. Laufer had been a
member of the Museum staff, in charge of
Asiatic Ethnology and Archaeology, since
1907. During that time he conducted several

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NEWEST TYPE OF ANTHROPOLOGY EXHIBIT- HALL B

highly successful expeditions to the Far East.
The appointment of Dr. Laufer to the staff,
and later as Chief Curator of the Department
of Anthropology, was an especially happy one.
His interest centered primarily in research,
and, as a result of his stimulation, more
scientific papers were published during his
nineteen years as head of the department than
ever before. Likewise, during his curatorship,

13

many expeditions were sent into the field, the
exhibits were all completely revised, and many
new collections were purchased.

Under Dorsey the department had rapidly
expanded; but under Laufer's leadership it
became distinguished more especially for schol-
arship and research.

In previous regimes, some of the leaders of
expeditions had been wont to collect furiously
and without much thought or selectivity. In
a way, this is understandable, because the
department was young and had many gaps to
close and large halls to fill. But under Laufer,
things were different. Collecting was done on
a more judicious basis, and emphasis was not
on collecting per se. Laufer believed that
specimens without complete documentation
and history were valueless, and that collectors
who failed to achieve at least these minimal
requirements were no more professional than
stamp or arrowhead collectors. They were
merely antiquarians.

To Laufer goes credit for placing the depart-
ment on a scientific basis, for bringing great
distinction and honor to the Museum both
because of his own high scholarly achievements
and because of the work he inspired his staff
to accomplish; and for creating a tradition in
museology and anthropology. His premature
death in 1934 was a blow to the Museum.

The last nine years have brought about
profound changes in our outlook concerning
the Museum and the place of anthropology in
the world today.

For one thing, we are no longer interested
in expeditions which collect well-documented
materials. We are interested in obtaining
information about the totality of a given cul-
ture— tangible and intangible facts; material
and non-material aspects of a culture; data on
language, physical types, ecology, arts and
crafts, religion, mythology, history, techniques,
and economy.

And why are we interested in studying past
and present cultures?

Anthropology, although a young science,
is one of the most important to the world
today. So much is known of the world apart
from man, while comparatively little is under-
stood about man himself and his psychological
makeup. And it is about his relation to other
men that the average man knows least a fact
which is responsible for most of our present
world difficulties.

The anthropologist, using psychology and
other helpful disciplines, is interested in investi-
gating and clarifying man's social relationships.
What happens when two races and two differing
cultures meet? No proper solution of the
world's problems and psychoses can be made
without the aid of anthropological studies.

B. E. Dahlgren

GRE.\T STRIDES MADE IN BOTANY
DURING FIFTY YEARS

By B. E. DAHLGREN

CHIEF CURATOR, DEPARTME.VT OF BOTANY

At the World's Columbian Exposition many
nations were represented by displays of agri-
cultural and forestry products that constitute
their main natural wealth. The aggregate of
such material was very
great. There were woods,
rattans, lacquers, dyes,
gums, resins, starches, oils,
and medicinal plants of
India, Johore, and Siam;
agricultural products, and
an exemplary collection of
the woods of Japan; the
agricultural products of
Russia; Spanish olive oil
and cork; grains, oils,
waxes, gums, fibers and woods from Mexico,
Costa Rica, Jamaica, Trinidad, Colombia, Ec-
uador, and almost all other South American
countries. Brazil alone sent a thousand speci-
mens of its tropical woods and almost as many
other botanical items from its immense rain-
forests, plains and semi-deserts. In addition
there were products exhibited by the United
States Department of Agriculture — crop-plants,
cotton and other fiber plants, tobacco, and
a great variety of woods.

The assembling and preparation of these
many items had obviously cost much time and
planning, and the work of hundreds of men.
When the idea of a permanent depository and
exhibit was realized with the founding of
Field Museum, all this material was freely
contributed. The new Museum was thus
provided with a huge nucleus for botanical
collections. Perhaps never before had such
an array of diverse vegetable material been
brought together under one roof.

The vast accession, much of it perishable,
brought an immediate problem of care and

14

J

preservation. Dr. C. F. Millspaugh, well
known for his Medicinal Plants of the United
States, assumed, as Curator of Botany, the
responsibility for technical organization.

Such is briefly the origin of the Department
of Botany. The first and provisional arrange-
ment preserved the original collections intact,
and was thus geographical. With a scarcity
of exhibition cases, the installation required
much work and ingenuity. It soon became
apparent that the collections left much to be
desired, both as to quality and accompanying
data. For example, it was evident that only
a . new and authentic collection of North
American woods could be satisfactory, with
material of definite size and proportions
accompanied by botanical data, photographs,
and herbarium specimens. The Curator ac-
cordingly initiated a program of collecting
later carried on by a special forestry assistant,
out of which grew the present Hall of North
American Woods.

Serviceable exhibition cases were designed
and provided, and the geographical grouping
was gradually superseded — except in the section
of foreign woods — by a botanically more logical
arrangement according to plant families. Years
of work resulted in a well-arranged exhibit of
plant products with botanical features illus-
trated by dried material and pictures.

SPECIAL TECHNIQUE DEVELOPED

The unsatisfactory appearance of dried
plants has always presented a problem in
Museum technique, sufficiently troublesome
in most cases to deter natural history museums
from concerning themselves with plants, except
incidentally and most casually. After some
early experimental attempts to provide accu-
rate and life-like replicas of plants for the
exhibits, funds were supplied for this purpose
during many years by President Stanley Field
who thus made it possible to represent a great
diversity of plant-forms. Additions to these
are constantly being made by the few expert
technicians and artists now occupied with this
work. The coal forest reconstruction in the
geological exhibits, the Illinois woodland, and
the intertidal seaweed scene in the Hall of
Plant Life (Martin A. and Carrie Ryerson
Hall) are recent outstanding achievements.

After transfer of the Museum to its present
building, a single hall was made to serve for
the systematic botanical display, the remainder

MAINE COAST SEAWEEDS- HALL 29

of the space available being devoted to plant
products, food materials, industrial raw mate-
rials, foreign and domestic woods.

The first opportunity for field work came
in the first year of the existence of the Museum,
when Mr. Allison Armour invited the Curator
of Botany to participate in a cruise to Yucatan.
This resulted in collection of the first specimens
gathered for a herbarium and yielded material
for the first Field Museum botanical publica-
tion. Other expeditions to Yucatan, the
Bahamas, and the larger Antilles provided
further collections. With gifts of plants — one
of the earliest being credited to Mr. Martin
Ryerson — and many purchases from private
collections, the herbarium grew, slowly at
first, then more rapidly with the acquisition
of many important private American and a
few European collections. The transfer to the
Museum in 1907 of the University of Chicago
herbarium, brought together by Professor John
M. Coulter, added 50,000 to the 200,000 speci-
mens of all kinds then catalogued. It has
since become an integral part of the botanical
collections that now comprise more than a
million items. About half this number, per-
haps the most valuable part, has resulted from
Museum botanical expeditions to tropical
America, Peru, British Guiana, Brazil, Vene-
zuela, Mexico, and Guatemala. Tens of
thousands of herbarium specimens have been
obtained by exchanges and in return for deter-
minations made by our own staff.

A ten-year search for type specimens in
the botanical collections in Europe, almost
completed by a member of the staff before the
present war, furnished more than 40,000

15

photographic negatives and a large number of
dupHcates and fragments from the collections
of early botanical explorers of the American
tropics. These now constitute one of the most
important parts of the department's reference
collections. Photographic prints of these types
have been supplied to many other institutions.

A special herbarium of lower plants has
been organized in recent years and therewith
the care of fifty years' accumulation of algae,
hepatics, mosses, lichens and fungi — including
the large Harper collections of fungus and
lichen acquired by gift — has been placed, like
the herbarium of flowering plants, in the com-
petent hands of a specialist.

Thanks to the industry of the staff of the
department, its publications are voluminous,
ranging from popular leaflets to important
technical contributions to scientific literature.
Outstanding unfinished works in progress
include a Flora of Peru by J. FVancis Macbride,
and a Flora of Guatemala by Paul C. Standley
and Dr. Julian A. Steyermark. Both of these
works, including many sections contributed
by other specialists, are based chiefly on collec-
tions obtained by a series of Field Museum
expeditions.

FIFTY YEARS OF MINERALOGY
AND PALEONTOLOGY

By HENRY W. NICHOLS

CHIEF CURATOR, DEPARTMENT OF GEOLOGY

To a geologist, of course, a million, or even
a hundred million years is only a short time —
since we deal (like astronomers, and some poli-
ticians) in figures running into billions. Thus,
fifty years to one in this department, regarded
from the purely scientific
point of view, is but a
fraction of a second in
geological time. But to
us as individual human
beings, fifty years is just
as long as to anyone else.
I came to Field
Museum as Curator of
Economic Geology in July,
1894, two months after
the opening day, and eight
months after the first specimens were brought
into the building. The department staff then
consisted of a Curator of Geology, the late Dr.
Oliver C. Farrington, and myself. The only

Henry W. Nichols

assistant was a label writer, who wrote labels
for the specimens with India ink on buff card-
board. This force was obviously inadequate,
and has since been gradually enlarged until
now there are six curators and assistant cura-
tors and seven preparators and other assistants.

OLD CASES INADEQUATE

The specimens which came by gift and pur-
chase from the World's Columbian Exposition
were more than ample to fill the exhibition
space of the twenty-one halls assigned to the
department. Most of them had been num-
bered and roughly catalogued in temporary

METEORITE AS EXHIBITED IN THE '90's

books. I found all twenty-one halls installed,
although in a few of them the installation was
little better than orderly storage.

The specimens were displayed in crude,
cheaply built cases obtained from the exposi-
tion. The only exception was the gem col-
lection in H. N. Higinbotham Hall, which was
installed in well-built cases of as good design
as any of that period, although not to be com-
pared with those of the present installation.
These cases, however, were far from dust-
proof, and much of the time of the two curators
was taken up with attempts to keep the speci-
mens reasonably neat and clean. Cases had
not been provided for some of the large speci-
mens, and these were displayed on platforms
placed either in the center of the halls or
against the walls.

The collections were classified into the same
sections — paleontology, mineralogy, etc. — that
appear in the present installation, plus an
addition of a section of metallurgy which has
since been discarded. Twelve of the twenty-
one halls, more space than at present, were
assigned to economic geology. The weakest

16

/

/

RESTORATION OF MESOHIPPUS, AN EXTINCT THREE-TOED HORSE -HALL 38

section was that of vertebrate paleontology
which, although it contained much excellent
material, failed lamentably to illustrate its
field. So great and so numerous were the gaps
that, in 1898, Mr. Elmer S. Riggs (who retired
only a few months ago) was appointed Assistant
Curator (and later Curator) of Paleontol-
ogy, and he began the expeditions which have
enlarged the collection into one of the greatest
in the country. The invertebrate paleontology
collection contained thousands of specimens
and was especially strong in European material,
yet there were many serious gaps which have
since been filled by collecting and by gifts.

The mineral collection was large and excel-
lently installed, although the poor furniture in
which it was placed and the hand-written labels
seriously detracted from its appearance. Both
in quantity and quality it was much inferior to
the present display. The meteorite collection
contained examples of 180 falls, and numerous
casts of specimens. As the latter attracted little
attention, they have been withdrawn to make
room for more meteorites. At that time it was
considered a large collection, although small
compared with the 826 falls represented in the
present exhibit. This collection so interested
Dr. Farrington that he made an intensive study
of meteorites which continued over many years
until he became one of the world's leading
authorities on the subject. To facilitate his
studies, a well-equipped chemical laboratory
was soon provided where the Curator of Eco-
nomic Geology spent much time analyzing
meteorites.

The collection of ores was large and proba-
bly more complete than the collection in any

other museum, but the installation needed
drastic revision — a task that required several
years of hard work. The collection of industrial
minerals was large and inclusive, but the drab
installation robbed it of its full interest. How-
ever, even in its first year the collection, in
spite of crudities of installation, took its place
among the greater and more complete geological
exhibits of the country. It was at once realized
by the staff that great improvements in the
installation were needed if the exhibit was to
have the attractive appearance and educational
value it should have, and the planning of an
improved installation has occupied much of the
time of the curators ever since. The old cases
from the World's Fair were gradually replaced
by better ones, and many of these in turn have
later been replaced by still better types. The
hand-written labels were soon replaced by
printed ones, and better methods of supporting
specimens in the cases were devised. Additions
from expeditions, gifts and purchases have
so enlarged and improved the collections
that they are now far more extensive and
valuable than in those early days.

RECENT REORGANIZATION

After some years it gradually became
apparent that the exhibit appealed more to the
scientist than to the general public. In an
endeavor to make the exhibit as complete as
possible, the cases of the early installation had
been overcrowded with specimens, and each
subject was illustrated in the greatest possible
detail. The result was overloaded cases pro-
ducing a monotonous aspect which served to
{Continued on page 20)

17

Snow Leopard of
the Himalayas

William V. Kcllcy
Hall (Hall 17)

The color photographs reproduced on this page, shci
were made by Mr. Clarence B. Mitchell as Researcl

selected from 43 such plates i

Cut and

Polished Nodule

of Copper Ore

Hall of Minerals,

Crystals and

Meteorites (Hall 34)

18

Restoralion of

Swiss
Lake-Dwellers

(Neolithic Period)

Hall of the Stone Age

of the Old World

(Hall C)

«; exhibits in the various departments of Field Museum,
1 sociate in Photography at Field Museum. They are
iric book Exploring Field Museum.

Restoration of

an Illinois
Coal Age Forest

of 250,000,000
years ago

Ernest R. Graham Hall
(Hall 38)

19

MINERALOGY AND PALEONTOLOGY

{Continued from page 1 7)

confuse and tire the average visitor rather
than entertain and instruct him. This trouble
was overcome to some degree by improved
arrangement, reduction of the overcrowding,
and the addition of dioramas and explanatory
labels. It finally became evident that if the
collection was to have a proper appeal to the
public a further drastic reorganization was

EARLY MINERALOGY EXHIBIT

called for. Plans were prepared for this and a
complete reinstallation has now begun. Under
the new plan, each subject is illustrated by
fewer specimens which demonstrate simply and
plainly its essential features. Installations, too,
are designed in a far more attractive manner.
The multitude of specimens necessary to illus-
trate fully details that are of great importance
to the scientist but of little interest to the
average visitor have been transferred to a
study collection not open to the general public.
There they can be better studied by scientists
or others who have real need to consult them,
with the additional advantage that they may
be handled as they could not if on public
exhibition.

Owing to interruptions from the war, the
current reinstallation has barely begun, but
examples may be seen in the industrial mineral
exhibit in Hall 36 and in the vertebrate paleon-
tology collection of Ernest R. Graham Hall
(Hall 38) where the rearrangements are well
advanced. When normal times return, rein-
stallation work will be resumed on an intensive
scale which, it is hoped, will further improve
this department.

FIFTY YEARS OF ZOOLOGY

By KARL P. SCHMIDT

CHIEF CURATOR, DEPARTMENT OP ZOOLOGY

The Department of Zoology has grown from
an original staff of four to twenty-seven, from
limited exhibits of poor quality to a wealth of

the finest modern prepara-

tions, from a few thousand
research specimens to hun-
dreds of thousands, and
from Publication No. 1 to
shelves of volumes em-
bodying fifty years' re-
search. Ward's Natural
Science Establishment col-
lection, valued at $100,000,
after exhibition at the
World's Fair of 1893, form-
ed the nucleus of the Mu-
seum collections. Includ-
ed were numerous rare ani-
mals, but as the taxidermy was old-fashioned,
replacement and remounting was immediately
begun. Field Museum took an extremely im-
portant part in the development of taxidermy
as an art after the arrival (in 1896) of Carl E.
Akeley. During Akeley's twelve years of ser-
vice, he made two expeditions to Africa, and
after perfecting his sculptural methods in taxi-
dermy, turned out a whole series of superbly
mounted African animals. His contribution
to the modern "habitat group" idea, in

NO EXHIBITS LIKE THIS TODAY

Karl P. Schmidt

20

which animals are shown with a reproduction
of the terrain and vegetation in which they
naturally live, was of first rate importance. On
his departure in 1909 he left a tradition of high
standards, trained associates, and most impor-
tant of all, of experiment and invention.

Other significant contributions to museum
techniques have been made by members of the
Museum staff — by Julius Friesser for large
mammals, by Leon L. Pray especially for fishes,
and by Leon L. Walters in the invention
and perfection of the celluloid technique for
making models of reptiles and hairless mam-
mals. The late Charles A. Corwin's special
talent for painting panoramic large-scale land-
scapes as backgrounds for habitat groups seems
to have been discovered by Akeley; Arthur G.
Rueckert is his able successor in this depart-
ment of mural painting. More recently, the
trend in the exhibition program has turned to
the explanatory and subjective kinds of exhibit,
such as evolutionary diagrams, models to show
significant anatomical features, and enlarged
models of microscopic creatures which can only
thus be brought within the scope of vision.

Research in zoology, though often carried
on as an independent activity of the Museum,
is intimately related to exhibition in a museum
large enough to maintain collections and ex-
hibits of world-wide scope. Research began
with the appointment of a scientific staff of
four — D. G. Elliot as Curator, 0. P. Hay as
Assistant Curator, and in a separate Depart-
ment of Ornithology, Charles B. Cory as Cura-

tor and George K. Cherrie as Assistant Cura-
tor. The first zoological publication was by
Hay, on the anatomy of the remarkable local
fish, the bowfin. The first zoological expedition
was by Cherrie, to the island of Santo Domingo.
The first notable addition to the research
collections was the Cory Collection of West
Indian birds.

The research collections have grown stead-
ily, by accretion from small gifts and purchases,
through expeditions to every continent, and
by the purchase and presentation to the
Museum of notable private collections, such
as the Strecker Collection of moths and butter-
flies in 1908; the Bishop Collection of birds in
1939; the Webb Collection of shells in 1941,
and a notable collection of beetles in 1943.
Through all sources, the research collections
now number approximately 200,000 specimens
of lower invertebrates; 400,000 insects and
allies; 150,000 fishes; 50,000 amphibians and
reptiles; 190,000 birds; and 53,000 mammals
(including skeletons).

Expeditions, while often devoted primarily
or wholly to collecting for exhibition, have also
been planned in the interests of research,
resulting in many discoveries and additions
to knowledge. The Museum's more important
foreign zoological expeditions have been to
Africa (six), to Asia and the Pacific Islands
(six); Labrador and Greenland (two), and to
tropical America (sixteen).

The growth of the staff, with the interesting
personalities inevitably assembled in a museum

MODERN HABITAT GROUP-AFRICAN WATERHOLE, AKELEY HALL

21

of natural history, would form an absorbing
chapter in the history of museums in America.
C. B. Cory followed Elliot as Chief Curator
of the consolidated department in 1906; he
was succeeded in 1921 by Dr. Wilfred H.
Osgood, who had been a member of the staff
since 1909. On Dr. Osgood's retirement in
1940, he was followed by the writer, previously
the Curator of Reptiles. Through the several
regimes of the department, Mr. W. J. Gerhard,
Curator of Insects since 1901, has rendered
invaluable aid as unofficial assistant to the
Chief Curator. The department is now
organized into seven divisions, with their
respective curators. Since no museum, how-
ever wealthy, could maintain specialists for the
entire animal kingdom, it is important that
Field Museum should turn to amateur and
professional research associates for the study
of its collections and for advice on problems of
exhibition. Such associates now number six.
Building upon the beginnings in our fruitful
first fifty years of exhibition, education, and
research, there lies before us a great future
program for a still more comprehensive pre-
sentation of the beauty and significance of the
animal kingdom.

SOME NOTES ON THE HISTORY
OF THE HARRIS EXTENSION

By JOHN R. MILLAR
CURATOR, HARRIS EXTENSION

A consideration of earliest beginnings, like
the determination of first causes, brings one
to the borders of the metaphysical. Whether
the beginning of the X. W.
Harris Public School Ex-
tension dates from 1911
when the late Xorman
Si ^M Wait Harris gave the fund
that made the Extension
-^- ^^1 possible, or from some
earlier time when Museum
Trustees and President
Stanley Field received the
idea that an extension
service was a proper enter-
prise for Field Museum, or from 1912 when a
Curator was appointed, is a moot question of
no great consequence.

Whatever date one chooses, a background
of experience in similar extension services had
already been provided by institutions of other

John R. Millar

Norman Wait Harris

cities. Early in 1912, a special committee of
eight persons (four from the Museum staff and
four from the Chicago school system) investi-
gated methods employed elsewhere. The re-
port of the committee, submitted jointly to
the Director and Trustees of the Museum, and
to the Superintendent of Schools of Chicago,
outlined the plan of organization and the broad
objectives that have guided operations since.

OTHER DEPARTMENTS CO-OPERATE

With the appointment of the late Stephen
C. Simms, then an Assistant Curator in Anthro-
pology, as Curator of the
Extension, a staff was as-
sembled and the work of
preparing exhibits soon
began. The immediate
task was to gather exhibits
sufficient to inaugurate
the loan service to schools,
and to standardize equip-
ment and methods to per-
mit its rapid expansion.
In the solution of the lat-
ter problem, Mr. \^alerie LeGault, a skillful and
resoiu"ceful carpenter-preparator in the Depart-
ment of Geolog>% must be given chief credit.
The portable case he designed is essentially the
same as is being used today, and a superior
type of case for the pur-
pose is yet to be devised.
Similarly, the four scien-
tific departments of the
Museum co-operated by
furnishing surplus mate-
rials and performing nu-
merous services to launch
the fledgling Extension.
By the end of 1913
eighty portable exhibits ^ibcr. w. Harris
were available, and seven
schools had made use of part of the material
for two-week periods. During 1914, 207 addi-
tional exhibits were prepared, a delivery truck
was acquired, and 326 schools were reached.
From this point on, there was a gradual increase
in the number of exhibits available, and in the
number of schools borrowing them.

In its infancy the Harris Extension received
considerable aid from other Museum depart-
ments, but it soon became self-sufficient. Staff
members early began to do their own collecting
and preparing of specimens. Some rare and

22

*

iiiaKH

HE? * ^

THROUGH THE HARRIS EXTENSION, EXHIBITS LIKE THIS

unfamiliar forms, such as the Arctic three-
toed woodpecker, are present in the Extension's
collections largely through the activities of Mr.
Herbert L. Stoddard, one of the earliest pre-
parators in the department.

The methods of preparation and quality
of workmanship employed in producing school
exhibits paralleled the development of museum
techniques in general, and in at least one in-
stance made a contribution. Mr. Leon L.
Walters, now a staff taxidermist in the Depart-
ment of Zoology, and renowned as the inventor
of the famed Walters' "celluloid" process for
the production of well-nigh perfect models of
amphibians, snakes, and other types of ani-
mals that had previously defied the efforts
of taxidermists to achieve life-like results, did
his early experimental work while employed
in the Harris Extension. His first successful
work was the production of feet for mounts of
the 13-lined ground squirrel, or
gopher. Celluloid casts of snakes
were a logical development in the
application of the process, and sev-
eral such specimens were made for
school exhibits. These earliest ex-
amples of the Walters technique are
still in good condition after more
than twenty years of service under
conditions much more severe than
those that are encountered in Mu-
seum exhibition halls.

Mr. Arthur G. Rueckert, present
Museum Staff Artist engaged prin-
cipally in painting backgrounds for
large habitat groups, also began his
Museum career as a taxidermist in
the Harris Extension. Numerous

examples of his skill as
collector and taxidermist,
and talent as artist, endure
among collections being cir-
culated in the schools.

Mr. Stephen C. Simms
was Curator of the Harris
Extension from 1912 until
1928 when he became Di-
rector of the Museum, and
he actively supervised the
department until his death
in January, 1937. Although
Mr. Simms had the loyal,
competent help of many

REACH EVEN CRIPPLED YOUNGSTERS

u u u >

ipwwwi — ■'TOWW

ON REGULAR SCHEDULE

23

individuals, such as Mr. Albert B. Wolcott,
who was Assistant Curator until his retire-
ment in 1942, the large measure of success
that has crowned the work of the department
is the result of his skillful, devoted direction
of its activities.

Today the Harris Extension has more than
1,100 portable exhibits, and is currently lending
them on regular schedule to nearly 500 schools
and other educational and social agencies of
Chicago. The quality of these exhibits is
nowhere surpassed by similar material, and the
plan of distribution is believed to be the best
compromise with a difficult problem. Never-
theless, all that has been done must be re-
garded as only preparatory to a new period of
increased usefulness in enriching the experience,
and thereby contributing to the education, of
Chicago's young people.

MUSEUM STAFF LECTURERS FILL
A VITAL PUBLIC NEED

By MIRIAM WOOD

CHIEF, RAYMOND FOUNDATION

Fifty years ago, visitors who entered Field
Museum looked at the exhibits at their lei-
sure; they read the labels, looked back at the
exhibits, wondered a bit
about many things and
continued on their way.
There were no tours con-
ducted by guide-lecturers
to help explain the mate-
rial on exhibition. Groups
of school children came in
and the teachers tried to
explain and relate the ex-
hibits to the things the
children were studying in
school. In the Museum the children could
actually see these things, and thus the exhibits
meant more to them than mere classroom read-
ing. It was almost like taking a journey around
the world, or back into early civilizations and
prehistoric times. This was a new kind of
school room where geography, history, and
science lessons came to life.

It soon became generally known among the
schools in the Chicago region that there were
many worth-while things in this new Museum,
not just curiosities. In fact, some teachers
believed that an hour spent in the Museum
was worth more than an hour over a text book.

Miss Miriam Wood

Mrs. James Nelson
Raymond

Therefore, after

For many years these early teachers used
the Museum exhibits without much help from
the Museum, but they had so many things to
learn as well as to teach
that they could not possi-
bly discover all the inter-
esting stories and facts
about these exhibits. Oc-
casionally the Museum
staff men would talk to the
students, but finally re-
quests for such help be-
came so numerous that
the scientists could not
cope with this problem un-
less they were virtually to
abandon their other duties,
twenty-eight years, the first guide-lecture divi-
sion was established on February 15, 1922, with
one guide-lecturer. It was her duty "to conduct
school children, clubs, societies and other visi-
tors through the Museum halls, and to give in-
formation and lectures on the various exhibits."

After this beginning, it was decided to
develop a program of lectures, tours and enter-
tainments for children from the elementary
schools, and to follow closely the courses of
study used in the schools. School superin-
tendents and teachers were consulted in making
plans to provide the most beneficial use of the
Museum for the children.

In the following year (1923) the first free
entertainments were presented for children.

CHILDREN ARE MUSEUM'S MOST RAPT VISITORS

1

t

p*^"^

9 'i

-V t

24

EACH AUTUMN THE "4-H CLUBS" SEND SELECTED RURAL YOUTH TO FIELD MUSEUM

These were mainly motion pictures, and as at
that time there were few such programs in
Chicago, this activity met a great need; in
fact, one of the early programs attracted more
than 5,000 children in one morning. Then as
now they filled the Museum halls, and their
comments, questions, and laughter could be
heard from one end of the building to the other.

Further developments followed quickly.
Short stories for children were published and
presented to each child attending the enter-
tainments. Extension lecture service was
developed to take the Museum into the schools
by means of illustrated lectures. It was at
about this time (1925) that Mrs. James Nelson
Raymond became interested in the work for
children in the Museum and provided an
endowment to develop and broaden the
program started in 1922. The guide-lecture
division then was named, in honor of her and
her husband, the James Nelson and Anna
Louise Raymond Foundation for Public School
and Children's Lectures.

With this assistance, the Raymond Founda-
tion grew rapidly. More lecturers were added
to the staff, new programs were presented, and
old ones were enlarged. Today the Foundation
presents radio programs, nature courses for
group leaders, nature lectures in near-by
camps, radio-follow-up programs, television
programs, training courses for science teachers,
special programs for science classes, courses for
recreation leaders, and, most recently, series of
lectures on "The Backgrounds of the War."

The Raymond Foundation staff now con-
sists of six members, each qualified in a partic-
ular branch of science and trained to talk and
work with people, especially children. The pur-
pose of this Foundation has not changed materi-
ally from that with which it started: "To make

the most use of the Museum exhibits by inter-
preting them to the people, especially to chil-
dren." Today, we stress the idea of using and
presenting this great storehouse of material and
information at the time it is most needed and
wanted by the people. New lectures, tours,
and other types of programs are constantly
being developed, and changes are made accord-
ing to the current needs.

LIBRARY PLAYS IMPORTANT PART
IN PROGRESS OF MUSEUM

By EMILY M. WILCOXSON

LIBRARIAN

From the beginning, it was realized that a
natural history museum in which research was
to be an important function would require a
comprehensive library as one of its prime
essentials. Such a library, therefore, was
definitely organized as
early as January, 1894,
and it has grown to be one
of the largest collections of
books and pamphlets in its
specialized fields to be
found in the entire middle
western area.

At the start, as in other
departments of the Mu-
seum, the nucleus of the
collections came from the
World's Columbian Expo-
sition. Important accessions from this source
included the Kunz Collection, comprising 6,300
publications on geology, gems, and metallurgy,
a collection of nearly 1,400 ethnological vol-
umes, and some 360 books from the United
States Bureau of Mines.

Mrs. Emily M.
Wilcoxson

25

NEW READING ROOM -A PLEASANT PLACE TO BROWSE

Mr. Edward E. Ayer, first President of
the Museum, contributed the famous ornitho-
logical collection which he had assembled, and
throughout his life continued to make additions
to it. An outstanding feature was his set of the
original edition of the Audubon paintings. He
presented also the Robert Clarke Piscatorial
Library of 1,640 volumes, including eighteen
original editions of Izaak Walton's Compleat
Angler, published in the fifteenth and sixteenth
centuries. Another outstanding early acquisi-
tion was a collection of 587 ornithological books
assembled by Mr. Charles B. Cory, former
Curator of Zoology.

One of the most unusual collections to be
found in any library is that of some 11,000
volumes bequeathed to the Museum by the
late Berthold Laufer, former Curator of Anthro-
pology, at the time of his death in 1934. It
consists chiefly of rare Chinese books and books
about China, as well as Tibetan, Manchu and
Mongolian books and manuscripts of great
historical value and of unusual importance to
those engaged in research in this field.

President Stanley Field is the donor of
many books in which the Library staff has
special pride. These include rare volumes on
early travels and history, some of which date
as far back as the fifteenth and sixteenth
centuries.

EXCHANGES WITH OTHER INSTITUTIONS

The Library is indebted to many members
of the Museum staff, past and present, for
important contributions to its collections, as
well as to thousands of friends outside —
scientists all over the world, Members of the

Museum, other museums, libra-
ries, universities, and other or-
ganizations. A particularly rich
source for enlargement of the
Library's resources has been
the system of exchanges in oper-
ation between museums, libra-
ries, scientific publishers, au-
thors, and the like. Purchases
of important works, both old
and current, have also been
made regularly each year to
keep the collection of reference
works, current scientific period-
icals, and other publications
abreast with the times.

The first Librarian was Mr.
Edward Burchard, who was succeeded by Mr.
Juul Dieserud. The latter arranged and cata-
logued the first books received from the World's
Columbian Exposition. On his retirement in
1900 he was succeeded by Miss Elsie Lippin-
cott, who served efficiently and faithfully until
her retirement in 1930.

In order to provide the greatest service to
members of the scientific staff, a large part of
the Library's collections has been placed in
departmental libraries. The facilities of both
the main and departmental libraries are open
to students, teachers, visiting scientists. Mem-
bers of the Museum, and the public in general.
The reading room and lighting equipment have
recently been modernized to provide the great-
est possible comfort and convenience.

BOOKPLATE

USED

BY THE

MUSEUM

LIBRARY

26

Reminiscences .

By

HENRY F. DITZEL
Registrar

The Early Days When Marshall Field,
the Founder, Was a Frequent Visitor

On the memorable day of the opening of
Field Museum to the public — June 2, 1894 — the
late Dr. Frederick J. V. Skiff, first Director,
delivered an inaugural ad-
dress to a large assembly
of citizens on the front
steps. Many members of
the audience had earnestly
and tirelessly worked for
years to make the estab-
lishment of this civic insti-
tution possible.

Before this assembly,
gathered at the portals of
the Museum's first home,
the former Palace of Fine Arts in Jackson
Park, Director Skiff said:

"There has been gathering head in this
western land of ours during the more recent
period of its history a mighty power of civiliza-
tion. Neither ancient, mediaeval nor modern
times present a wider intellectual horizon, a
period so alive to the demands of progressive
humanity. The annals of centuries do not

Henry F. Dilzel

contain such evidence of a quickened higher
cultiu^ and uplifting of educational forces as
has been evoked within the past few years on
the shores of the lake."

Dr. Skiff credited the World's Columbian
Exposition of 1893 with leaving an ineffaceable
impress on the social, moral, and intellectual
development of the world, and declared that
the establishment of the Museum marked
another effort to meet the growing needs of a
highly developed people, and to gather up the
truths of the sciences and preserve them as a
perpetual benefit to mankind.

The idea of a natural history museum in
Chicago had been seriously considered as far
back as 1890. The museum was proposed
under many names, such as the Museum of
Antiquities, Columbus Memorial Museum,
World's Exposition Memorial Museum, and
Columbus Museum of America. On August
31, 1893, the citizens' committee appointed to
incorporate a museum adopted as a name "The
Columbian Museum of Chicago, " and applica-
tion for the charter was forwarded to Spring-

JUNE 2, 1894-GREAT CROWDS ASSEMBLED FOR THE MUSEUMS OPENING CEREMONY

27

field on September 16. However, these plans
and arrangements were all made without any
tangible prospects of endowment. At first, the
raising of funds proved difficult, and the sums
received were inadequate. Nothing but the
faith, devotion, and courage of a few men pre-
vented the disintegration of the preliminary
organization and the practical abandonment of
the enterprise. Then, the attention of the late
Marshall Field was directed to the difficulties
confronting the Museum project, and he made
his first contribution of $1,000,000, which
assured the prompt carrying out of the plans.
A friendly spirit among exhibitors at the
exposition was at once aroused. Foreign and
state commissions, and American corporations
and individual exhibitors increased their con-
tributions in proportion to the liberality of Mr.
Field's gift. Many valuable collections, which
had been in danger of dispersal, at once became
the property of the Museum, and hundreds and
hundreds of tons of material were transported
to it. Then selection, alteration, arrangement,
rearrangement, and elaboration began. Gradu-
ally hall by hall of the building was emptied of
exposition displays, and museum exhibits were
arranged in their places.

MUSEUM IN PACKING CASES

The former Museum building contained
four great courts with a rotunda in the center.
From these, numerous halls could be entered.
The main large courts were somewhat similar
in height and width to the present Stanley
Field Hall. In this vast space and into the
adjacent halls, packed in boxes, bundles and
otherwise, the accumulation of material was
first piled. While Director Skiff was regarding
this conglomeration one day, Mr. Marshall Field
entered the building. Walking up to Director
Skiff, he said : "There, Mr. Skiff, is your museum
— you can now start your work." This
was the beginning of the beautifully installed
and orderly Field Museum of today. When it
is recalled that the Museum was then practi-
cally unorganized as to its staff and its systems
of installation, labeling, and recording, one can
realize what an arduous task confronted the
first Director.

Subsequent to its opening, Mr. Field fre-
quently visited the Museum, especially on
Sunday afternoons. He would walk (for the
most part unrecognized by other visitors)
through its halls, studying the exhibits and

noting with special interest the remarks made
by the people. Late in the afternoon he invari-
ably wandered into the Director's office (Dr.
Skiff was habitually present on Sundays).
Mr. Field would rest in a large wicker arm
chair beside an office window that overlooked
an adjacent lagoon. Here he and the Director
discussed future plans, and possibilities for
expansion and development. Mr. Field enjoyed
the scene outside the office window, and often
watched the children at play on the park lawn
and the boats on the lagoon.

There is no record of exactly what Mr. Field
and Dr. Skiff discussed, but its import may be
surmised from Mr. Field's subsequent bequest
of $8,000,000 to the Museum.

PLANS FOR CENTURIES

Although the first half century of the Mu-
seum's activities was marked by tremendous
strides and the establishment of a firm founda-
tion for future development, Messrs. Field and
SkiflF looked far beyond this half century hori-
zon. They felt that the work of the Museum
must never cease, and planned a building to
house it for many centuries.

The birth of Field Museum was on grounds
sanctified by the gathering in friendship and
understanding of representatives of all the
principal nations of the earth. On this fiftieth
anniversary let us recall the words of Edward
G. Mason in his opening day address:

"The stately halls of the Museum which
but the other day contained simply the prod-
ucts of the chisel, the brush, and the pencil, are
now filled with the long array of ordered series
which tell the story of the great globe itself.
By its collections even the most care-
less observer must profit to some degree.
Infinitely more is its meaning to those who read
its object lessons aright. These bring to light
the processes which have formed the world in
which we dwell, the materials of which it is
composed, the treasures of the rocks, the ancient
and the modern life of earth and air and sea.
These disclose the beginning of our race in that
antiquity too remote to conceive of, and its
incredibly slow and toilsome movement through
savage aeons to the dawn of a better day. And
thence onward they unfold to us the highest
meaning of this Museum, which is the develop-
ment of the mind of Man Here men

will come to learn what man has accomplished,
and to prepare to take the next step beyond."

28

Chicago Family Attends 250 Raymond Foundation Programs

Presented at the Museum During the Last Eleven Years

How often, in casual conversation, have you
heard people say — perhaps you have often said
it yourself — "Field Museum is a wonderful
place, but Chicago people seldom go there.
Most of the visitors are from out of town.
Chicago people visit museums in New York,
Washington, or other places. At home they
just think about going — but never do."

We at the Museum know that this, like all
generalities, is not even approximately true.
Chicago people do appreciate Field Museum
and great throngs make good use of it, espe-
cially on Saturdays and Sundays. While the
Museum's reputation is a magnet for visitors
from outside of the city, and they probably
constitute a large percentage of the attendance,
it is nevertheless true that probably the larger
number of visitors are Chicagoans.

For true enthusiasm on the part of local
residents, there has recently come under the
observation of Miss Miriam Wood, Chief of
the James Nelson and Anna Louise Raymond
Foundation for Public School and Children's
Lectures, the case of a Chicago family — father,
mother, and three sons — who have been coming
regularly to all the Raymond Foundation pro-
grams in the James Simpson Theatre each
spring, summer, and autumn for eleven years.
During all that time several members of this
family — in most cases the whole family — have
been present at every one of these programs.
The average number of such programs has been
about 23 annually during the eleven-year
period, or a total in the neighborhood of proba-
bly more than 250 programs. This family still
comes, although lately the oldest of the three
sons no longer accompanies them because he is
now enlisted in the United States Coast Guard.

Mr. and Mrs. Carl Knoll are the parents of
this extremely Museum-conscious family. They
reside at 901 Newport Avenue. Both were
born in Europe, and arrived in this country in
1921 (the year the present Museum building
was opened). As far back as that they began
making frequent visits to the Museum, and
then finally developed their visits to the fre-
quency noted for the last eleven years.

Mr. Knoll is a waiter, formerly employed
in a downtown hotel until it was taken over

for Army use. Since then he has been engaged
in a large restaurant. His principal interests,
besides natural history, are literature, sociology,
and political economy. Mrs. Knoll's principal
interest is her family's welfare. She does not
strive to lead or direct their interests too point-
edly. The Museum interest has grown as a
result of the boys' own initiative — they have
led the family in this direction. Paul, the oldest
boy, now in the Coast Guard, became so inter-
ested in the Museum that he sought, and
obtained, a position as an usher in the Museum
Theatre on Saturdays before he became
engaged in full-time work. Karl, the second
boy, is a. high school student with a special
aptitude for mechanics. George, the youngest
lad, is studying music, especially the violin.

Probably there are many Chicago families
who are equally enthusiastic about Field
Museum and others of this city's cultural
institutions, although it is doubtful whether
many, if any, could point to quite such a
faithful attendance record.

COLONEL GREGG MAY BE PRESENT
FOR FIFTIETH ANNIVERSARY

Unless his duties with the United States
Army at Camp Hood, Texas, prevent him
from coming. Colonel Clifford C. Gregg,
Director of the Museum
on leave for the duration
of the war, is expected to
be present at the cere-
monies on September 15
in celebration of Field
Museum's Fiftieth Anni-
versary. All who know
Colonel Gregg's devoted
attachment to the Mu-
seum, and his interest in
the institution's every
branch of activity, are confident that he will
attend if arrangements for a short absence from
his post can possibly be made. If so, he will be
among the speakers on the Museum program.
Colonel Gregg has been on active duty with the
Army since 1940, and, as at present, with the
Tank Destroyer Center for more than a year.

Col. C. C. Gregg

29

Field Museum of Natural History

Founded by Marshall Field, 1893

Roosevelt Road and Field Drive, Chicago

Telephone: Wabash 9410

THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES

Lester Armour Stanley Field

Sewell L. Avery Samuel Insull, Jr.

W. McCoRMiCK Blair Charles A. McCulloch

Leopold E. Block William H. Mitchell

Boardhan Conover George A. Richardson

Walter J. Cummings Theodore Roosevelt

Albert B. Dick, Jr. Solomon A. Smith

Howard W. Fenton Albert A. Sprague

Joseph N. Field Silas H. Strawn

Marshall Field Albert H. Wetten
John P. Wilson

OFFICERS

Stanley Field President

Albert A. Sprague First Vice-President

Silas H. Strawn Second Vice-President

Albert B. Dick, Jr Third Vice-President

♦Clifford C. Gregg Director and Secretary

Orr Goodson .... AetinQ Director and Acting Secretary
Solomon A. Smith . . . Treasurer and Assistant Secretary

* On leave in active service as a Colonel in the United
States Army.

FIELD MUSEUM NEWS

EDITOR
Wilfred H. Osgood Curator Emeritus^ Zoology

CONTRIBUTING EDITORS

Paul S. Martin Chief Curator of Anthropotogy

B. E. Dahlgren Chief Curator of Botany

Henry W. Nichols Chief Curator of Geology

Karl P. Schmidt Chief Curator of Zoology

MANAGING EDITOR
H. B. Harte Public Relations Counsel

TIME AND OPPORTUNITY

Despite the well-worn aphorism, time is not
necessarily the equivalent of money or of
progress. Accretions of time alone may mean
little, but time well spent in continuous accept-
ance of opportunity brings results scarcely
measurable in terms of
dollars and cents.

Today Field Museum
is rendering an account of
the stewardship of its time
rather than its money. It
has had fifty years of time
and never more than a
very modest amount of
money. Its avowed pur-
poses have been several.
Broadly speaking, it has
endeavored to provide
wholesome entertainment
and reliable information
for its local community, and to contribute to
the growth and spread of knowledge throughout
the world. In pursuing these objects there has

Wilfred H. Osgood

been a cumulative gain of incalculable value
which becomes more apparent as past years are
reviewed on such an occasion as a fiftieth
anniversary.

In its day-to-day activities a museum is
dynamic and productive; in the long run,
however, it is an instrument of conservation —
conservation of knowledge, conservation of
natural objects, conservation of human talents
and efforts. After fifty years, it can be seen
that opportunities accepted in the past will
never recur, that objects acquired by momen-
tary alertness cannot now be duplicated, and
that no amount of money could today repro-
duce the accomplishments that are now safely
ours from yesterday.

The very founding of Field Museum was
timely. At the close of the nineteenth century
the great changes of recent years were scarcely
suspected. World travel was free and un tram-
meled. Many fields of exploration still lay open,
and many opportunities were at hand to save
for posterity the things of an era that was soon
to pass. In its first decade the Museum ac-
quired its North American Indian collections
and its Egyptian collections, both now price-
less and irreplaceable. Shortly after the
Spanish War and American occupation of
the Philippines, expeditions were sent into that
field with results that no present day eflFort
could equal. At an early date, by prompt
action in a unique opportunity, an almost un-
paralleled collection of meteorites was obtained,
and meteorites do not grow under every bush.
Then came the great Chinese collections, and
they too could not now be duplicated.

Meanwhile there was steady growth in all
directions, and collections both for exhibition
and for research reached proportions comparing
favorably with those of many older institutions.
Through its expeditions to all parts of the world
the Museum participated in an era of discovery
and exploration such as no future can repeat.
Many wholly unknown animals and plants
were discovered — hundreds of them — and their
unique types are now preserved as standards
for all time. Discoveries of this kind, it should
be noted, are made but once.

While its collections were growing, the
Museum was providing the conditions for men
of power and talent to develop and spread their
influence afar. These also cannot be duplicated
for they and their times were interdependent.
It is scarcely to be hoped that there will be

30

another genius like Carl Akeley, another artist
like Charles Corwin, or another scholar like
Berthold Laufer.

War, "the most wasteful of human activi-
ties," is accelerating the normal emergent or
growth values of American institutions. It not
only destroys many irreplaceable objects, but
disrupts organizations for the promotion of
knowledge and narrows the field of activity.

Many museum treasures have been effec-
tively safeguarded in Europe and it is to be
hoped that losses may be small, but undoubt-
edly there have been losses and there may be
more. There is also destruction of sources of
museum material, especially in the Pacific
islands where military exigencies may lead to
the extermination of animals and plants or
the transformation of native tribes.

In any event it is well that America has
not neglected its opportunities. In whatever
world there is to come, therefore, it will be
evident that our first fifty years have been
well spent. _wilfred H. Osgood

Curator Emeritus, Zoology

THE EVOLUTION OF MUSEUMS

Early museums were only an expression of
man's instinct for hoarding — mere curiosity
shops — and their collections included not only
such things as two-headed calves and four-
legged chickens, but bones of the prophets or
pieces of rope with which notorious criminals
had been hanged. Later, they became store-
houses of natural objects, used only by specta-
cled and bearded wiseacres, whom the average
man regarded as cranks or freaks of nature,
themselves scarcely less peculiar than the col-
lections they pored over. The next period was
when the public character of museums began
to be recognized. They were then supported
by governments and municipalities, and at-
tempts were begun to make exhibits that would
be attractive to the people. This was followed
by the fourth stage when the museum actually
reached out to the public in various lines of
service, becoming a dynamic force in general
education. The fifth stage, now developing,
promises to find museums everywhere recog-
nized as definite necessary parts of educational
and research activities throughout the world.
That this is so is evident from the tremendous
increase in the number of museums in small
towns and cities.

HOW OLD ARE MUSEUMS?

By WILFRID D. HAMBLY
CUKATOR, AFRICAN ETHNOLOGY

In the year 1623 the well-known philosopher
Tommaso Campanella wrote a long discourse
under the Latin title Civitas solis (The City of
the Sun). The story is a dialogue between the
Grandmaster of the Knights Hospitallers and
a Genoese sea captain.

The good captain describes a voyage in
which he visited a large (mythical) city built
upon a high hill, where he made the acquaint-
ance of people who had evolved an ideal form
of government in which peace and good will
were prominent virtues.

The educational system was liberally devel-
oped under a supervisor of education named
Wisdom, who was master of the liberal arts, of
mechanics, and of all sciences. The teachers,
acting under the direction of Wisdom, are said
to have written with conciseness and marvelous
fluency of expression. These scientific writings
were then read to the people, and to assist the
study a large building, which was surely a model
museum, was provided.

One part of the building appears to have
been an imaginary forecast of the modern
planetarium, for there were pictures of stars in
their different magnitudes and diagrams "of
the powers and motions of each."

On the interior wall of the first room, mathe-
matical figures were conspicuously painted, and
explanations were given in neatly written
verses. The mathematical section also con-
tained murals showing various alphabets.

LABELS IN VERSE

A second room was devoted to paintings
of all kinds of precious stones, minerals, and
metals, and opposite each painting was a little
piece of the metal itself which was described
in a "small verse." We seem to have here a
conception of the art of museum labeling, and
we trust the labels were, as we strive to make
our own, brief so as not to be tedious. Indeed,
the narrative suggests that boredom of the
public was avoided by using only "small
verses" for each metal or stone.

The geographical and economic section of
this imaginary museum contained maps and
pictures of seas, rivers, lakes, and streams over
all the face of the earth, and in bottles were
"the wines and the oils, and the different

31

liquids, with the sources from which the last
are extracted and their qualities and strengths.
There are also vessels built into the walls above
the arches, and these are full of liquids, from
one to three hundred years old, which cure all
diseases." We seem to have in this paragraph
a hint of a medical collection. In the geo-
graphical section there were pictorial repre-
sentations of hail, snow storms, and thunder,
"and whatever takes place in the air."

The interests of the botanists were not
neglected in this bold seventeenth century
conception of what a museum ought to be.
All the different families of trees and herbs were
depicted, and there was a live specimen of each
plant in an earthenware vessel. Once more the
labeling seems to have been a pretty good job,
for the sea captain says that with each specimen
there were explanations as to where it was
found and "its power and nature." Medicinal
uses of the plants, especially, were described.

ZOOLOGY A MAJOR DEPARTMENT

Zoological interests were by no means
neglected, and on one of the walls were "races
of fish found in rivers, lakes, and seas and their
habits and values, and ways of breeding, the
purposes for which they exist in the world, and
their uses to man." It seems that our modern
labeling could not do much better than this
forecast of three hundred years ago. The
captain says, "I was astonished when I saw a
fish which was like a star." He continues,
"There are sea urchins to be seen and the purple
shell-fish and mussels; and whatever the watery
world possesses worthy of being known."

In the fourth interior — the captain seems to
use the word interior for room — all the different
kinds of birds are painted with their natural
size, customs, colors, manner of living, etc.
Elsewhere the visitor could see "the races of
creeping animals; lizards, dragons, and worms;
the insects, the flies, gnats, beetles in their
different states, and a great deal more than you
or I could ever think of."

In the fifth interior "they have all the larger
animals of the earth, as many in number as
would astonish you. We, indeed, know not the
thousandth part of them, for on the wall a
great many of immense size are portrayed.
To be sure, of horses alone how great a number
of breeds there is and how beautiful are the
forms that are cleverly displayed." In speak-
ing of portraying domestic animals in a museum

the worthy sea captain seems to have antici-
pated our own efforts by about 300 years.

The compiler of this narrative of an imagi-
nary city and a model museum seems reluctant
to limit his conception in any way, for in
addition to a liberal representation of natural
history he says that the museum contained
"paintings of all the mechanical arts with the
several instruments for each and their manner
of use among the different nations." The
mechanical section included a synopsis of the
science of warfare.

With a truly bold conception, and regardless
of expense, the sea captain then equipped his
museum with a room of statuary representing
Jesus Christ and the Twelve Apostles as well as
sculptures of Caesar, Alexander, Hannibal, and
"other very renowned heroes in peace and war."

The modern use of guide-lecturers seems to
have been anticipated, for in this mythical
museum of three centuries ago there were
"magistrates who announce the meaning of the
pictures, and boys are accustomed to learn all
the sciences without toil and as if a pleasure."

During half a century Field Museum has
made remarkable progress in many branches of
technique, field work, and educational enter-
prise. But we still have to salute the old sea
captain who packed into his one museum our
own collections, as well as those of the Art
Institute, the Planetarium, the Shedd Aqua-
rium, and the Museum of Science and Industry.

QUARTZ— BY THE TON,
AND BY THE CARAT

If ordinary eggs were selling at 45 cents a
dozen, and "the best" at $450,000—

If milk sold for 11 cents a quart, but "grade
A" milk cost $110,000—

— the spread in price between the different
qualities would be no greater than that actually
existing in certain minerals, it is pointed out
by Mr. Henry W. Nichols, Chief Curator of
Geology. In the case of quartz, for example,
the spread is so great that the question "What
is quartz worth?" is nearly as difficult to answer
as "How long is a piece of string?" The quartz
shown in Hall 36, in the form of building sand,
may sell for less than 50 cents a ton, while clear
quartz in the form of the choicer qualities of
amethyst, as exhibited in H. N. Higinbotham
Hall of Gems and Jewels may bring $20 per
carat! — more than 180 million times as much.

32

^^ Lenses on Nature

))

THE MUSEUM'S FIRST INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHIC EXHIBIT
A Golden Anniversary Event

For the first time in its history, Field
Museum this year is sponsoring an Interna-
tional Photographic Exhibit, to be presented
under the title "Lenses on Nature." This
event will be a feature of the Semi-Centennial
Celebration. Invitations to participate were
sent to photographers, both amateur and pro-
fessional, throughout the United States, Can-
ada, Mexico, Central and South America, and
elsewhere. The results may be viewed in Stan-
ley Field Hall of the Museum during the period
from September 15 to November 15 inclusive.
It is hoped to hold further exhibits of this kind
in future years.

This exhibit will differ considerably from
most photographic "salons," as it will be de-
voted exclusively to the specialized field of
pictures pertaining to natural history and
science. Contributors include, besides the
usual "camera fans" and the photographers
who make either a business or a hobby of
picture taking, a great number of naturalists,
geographers, anthropologists, and artists to
whom photography is an avocation pursued
because of its functions in their regular occu-
pational activities.

Each contributor was limited to submission
of four prints. Those to be placed on display
have been selected by a jury composed of: Dr.
Fay-Cooper Cole, Chairman of the Department
of Anthropology, University of Chicago; Valen-
tino Sarra, well-known Chicago and New York
photographer; C. E. Brockhausen, Past Presi-
dent, Chicago Camera Club; J. P. Wahlman,
President, Fort Dearborn Camera Club ; Samuel
Insull, Jr., Museum Trustee, and Dr. B. E.
Dahlgren, Chief Curator of Botany. Ribbons
have been awarded to a few pictures chosen as
possessing superior merit. Anyone desiring to
purchase copies of any of the photographs on
display will, upon application, be put in touch
with the exhibitors. Illustrated catalogues will
be placed on sale at a nominal price when the
exhibit opens.

The idea of holding an exhibit of this kind
has been considered at various times for a
number of years by the administration of the

Museum, and when plans for the Semi-Centen-
nial were being made. Acting Director Orr
Goodson decided that this would be the ideal
time to initiate the project.

The pictures to be exhibited have been
accepted on the basis of their pictorial or
artistic merit, as well as for their natural history
or scientific interest. All had to fall within the
meaning of the term Nature, interpreted in a
broad and general manner. For the purposes of
this exhibit, nature photographs were defined
to conform with the scope of the four scientific
departments of the Museum anthropology,
botany, geology, and zoology.

Pictures on anthropological subjects were
restricted to those of non-European peasant
folk, and to aboriginal peoples. Particularly
sought were a good selection of portraits of the
men, women and children themselves, and
photographs illustrating phases of their lives;
also pictures of ancient ruins, villages, pueblos,
cities, pyramids, and burials.

In botany there were sought good photo-
graphs of wild flowers, plants, trees, forests, and
other plant formations. Most sought were
photographs with an exotic or otherwise excep-
tional quality, such as striking pictures of
tangled jungle vegetation, odd desert plants,
and the flowers found at mountain timberlines
adjacent to snow.

Pictures considered acceptable for geology
included those which show clearly and dis-
tinctly some effects of the forces of Nature
which have altered the appearance of the face
of the earth.

For the zoology division, photographers
were asked to submit portraits of living animals,
either wild or captive in zoos, etc., but photo-
graphs of domestic animals (either work ani-
mals or pets) were excluded. A special desider-
atum was photographs illustrating animal
phenomena such as natural flocks, swarms,
or other aggregations, animals in motion, and
photographs illustrating habits.

Press deadlines for this issue of Field
Museum News make it necessary to report
plans for this exhibit in advance of the time

33

all the photographs were received, and before
the full success of the project can be weighed.
However, enough evidence has come in to
indicate that this type of activity engenders
sufficient interest both among those who enjoy
capturing nature's manifestations with the
shutters of their cameras, and those who as
spectators simply enjoy seeing pictures of the
earth and its creatures, to justify a program for
continuing such exhibitions as annual events.

MUSEUM SCIENCE AND GEOGRAPHY

By KARL P. SCHMIDT
CHIEF CURATOR, DEPARTMENT OF ZOOLOGY

To the non-scientific public "pure science"
often appears to ramify into varied investi-
gations of a most impractical nature. The
scientific staffs of museums of natural history
are for the most part engaged in researches of
this type — studies on the distribution of a
tiny mouse-like rodent in the Andes, an
investigation of the relations of one type of
extinct animal with another equally extinct,
or the description of endless "new species" of
plants and animals.

The urgency of the war effort to preserve
a kind of civilization in which pure science may
continue, and the necessity of turning every
man to a useful niche in that effort, have com-
bined to make museum workers conscious of
the impractical nature of their ordinary re-
searches. Many of us, as may be witnessed
by our honor roll (which is like that of every
other museum), have gone directly into the
armed services, while others have gone into
government service in some civilian field,
leaving only a few of the older staff members
to carry on "for the duration."

PRACTICAL KNOWLEDGE PROVIDED

It is gratifying to find that whether in the
armed forces, in civilian government service,
or in the Museum itself, the Museum staff
member has a kind of knowledge to offer that is
of vital importance. This is his knowledge of
geography. In the course of a museum expedi-
tion to some far corner of the world, many of
us have gained specific knowledge of areas of
strategic importance in the daily headlines —
Burma, the Solomon Islands, the Galapagos, or
the coast of Peru. Even more important, we
discover that we have been thinking geographi-

cally for years, and that our knowledge of
details is tied together in a comprehensive
acquaintance with whole continents. Both
specific and general knowledge have been drawn
upon by the army and navy, and by special
services, and such demands have reached even
the stay-at-homes in every department. For
example, one of Field Museum's anthropolo-
gists is a member of the National Research
Council's Committee on Africa; the Depart-
ment of Botany has been drawn upon for
accounts of the poisonous and edible plants of
the tropics; geologists offer a recent acquaint-
ance with the Arctic; and zoologists have sup-
plied expert knowledge of South America and
Africa, and, after being consulted about snake-
bite in tropics, have been asked to aid in pre-
paring a service-man's "Baedeker" of the South
Sea Islands. Staff members are now in special
service directly related to their museum experi-
ence in Venezuela, in Ecuador and Peru. The
Army Medical Ser\'ice draws upon our entomol-
ogists for their knowledge of insect-borne
disease. Others in combat service have dis-
tinguished themselves in ways attributable to
their training on museum expeditions.

The geographic principle that the distri-
bution of rocks and mountain chains and of
plants and animals and even of men and their
civilizations follows intelligible patterns in our
world, lies at the foundation of museum efforts
in both exhibition and research. The museum
man's training, by study of the known distri-
butions of his material at home and by enlarge-
ment of his knowledge of foreign exploration,
has ine\atably made him a geographer. The
Museum Library is rich in books of travel and
geographic literature and the Museum's own
publications and the photograph albums from
its foreign expeditions are mines of original
information on geographic questions.

Our lack, as a nation, of geographic under-
standing has often been conspicuous; we have
inevitably been provincial during our national
growth. As the mental horizons of our citizens,
from the most obscure private (and his mother
with his foreign postmarked letters) to the
leaders of the nation, expand with our world-
wide interests in the war, and with such a dif-
fusion of "real" geographic education on which
to build, museums may look forward to a more
intelligent interest on the part of the public
and a greater challenge to their functions in
both exhibition and interpretation.

34

Research and Education

An establishment for the increase and dif-
fusion of knowledge among men is a noble
phrase from the bequest that founded the
Smithsonian Institution, expressing the dual
interest of scientific museums in research
and in education.

RESEARCH

It is the special province of museums to
accumulate and preserve material both for exhi-
bition to the general public and for techni-
cal study and report. Such accumulation pre-
serves knowledge; but a critical survey shows
that our knowledge of the mineral, vegetable,
and animal kingdoms has made no more than
a beginning — that vast opportunities lie before
us to increase knowledge — and that the intelli-
gent diffusion of knowledge requires the humble
feeling that we are at the beginning, and not
at the end, of science.

Museums and universities have much the
same fundamental aims. The teaching func-
tion of both is likely to fail or to be limited
unless it has a background of research. In
former years, when the fields were smaller,
universities were able to cover the physical
and biological sciences both in teaching and in
research. The tremendous growth of knowl-
edge, however, has made some division neces-
sary. In recent decades the emphasis in
university research has been mainly on the
synthetic or explanatory and the theoretical
and experimental aspects of the sciences,
leaving the descriptive and objective fields
more and more to the museums. At present,
therefore, certain kinds of research are best
done in the universities and other kinds can
only be done in the museums. Since the
universities are more numerous and their
personnel much larger, experiment and specu-
lation tend to outrun their factual foundations.
This makes it the more important for museum
research to be pursued vigorously wherever
possible.

The departments of descriptive natural
science that find their natural home in museums
are essential in the long run to the sound
development of the synthetic branches — com-
parative anatomy, physiology, ecology, genet-

ics, evolutionary studies, geological theory, and
the social applications of anthropology — which
are helpless or exposed to speculative aberra-
tions without the orderly and permanent
classifications of the plants and animals, rocks
and fossils, and of the product of human
material cultures. These rest on the accumula-
tion, preservation, and recording of specimens.

The interests of the experimentalist need
to be extended to other animals than the fruit
fly and the white rat, and his eyes to be lifted
beyond the range of his laboratory cages to the
fields and fprests or streams and seas in which
animals in nature have their being. The
experimental sciences, when drawn upon as
tools and for suggestion for renewed attack on
the problems of descriptive science, in their
turn infuse new life into the museum fields
of interest. Co-operation between museum
and university scientists is important, but
we must not lose sight of those special func-
tions of museums which are not supported
by universities. Museum research should be
aware of the related scientific fields pursued in
the experimental laboratories, but should not
in general engage in them. It is a practical
matter rather than one of the relative impor-
tance of subjects, both of which are essential
to the progress of knowledge.

Research in natural history involves the
study of natural experiments that have been
going on in the world for eons, while the
laboratory guinea pig has a history of a few
years at most. The two types of research are
inter-related and should be kept abreast of
each other for the solution of fundamental
problems affecting them mutually.

EDUCATION

Aside from the provision of enjoyment of
nature to the public implied in the root of the
word "museum," the most obvious function of
a museum is education. As an educational
institution, the museum compares with a
library rather than a school of any kind.
Like a library, it reaches every age level and
cuts across all divisions of society. Even the
distinction of the open shelves and the reference
stacks in a great library is matched by the

35

museum's open exhibition halls and its equiva-
lent of a "stack permit" to bring the interested
visitor to the reference collections.

For the development of their exhibition
halls, museums require the services of a corps
of artist-technicians under the direction of the
scientific staff. The emphasis of museum
exhibition in the past has been largely on the
obvious — the representation of the animal,
plant and mineral kingdoms and of the fourth
kingdom of man's material culture, in which
there is an insensible transition to the field of
the art museum. Such representation, when
done with artistic insight, has great and funda-
mental educational value. Field Museum's
halls are now filled with specimens, models, and

habitat groups. These exhibits now require
explanation, which is of even greater importance
to the educational program.

Models of the machinery of the animal
body — of the processes of development and
birth, for example — enlarged models of the
microscopic world, and synthesizing exhibits
to show relations and sequences in the works of
primitive man, present a field of activity that
will absorb museum energies during the fifty
years to come. Beginnings have been made in
these directions in the several departments of
Field Museum; they do not discount past
efforts, but they do and should build upon
them. To so build will require the application
of every resource of intelligence and skill.

Special Exhibits Placed on Display for Fiftieth Anniversary

The revival of scientific investigation in the
sixteenth century was stimulated by the inven-
tion of printing. The works of early writers,
existing only in hand-lettered books, were
republished and made widely available, thereby
ser\'ing to give direction to further observation
and experiment. "Natural history," out of
which modern biology grew, flourished notably
with this stimulus.

The effect of published scientific records and
reports is no less important today. Field Mu-
seum has to date 566 scientific publications to
its credit, plus numerous handbooks, guides,
and popular leaflets. These publications are
records of exploration and research, contrib-
uting to the sum of human knowledge, and
serving to guide and aid the continuing investi-
gation of our world.

In the celebration of the fiftieth anniversary
of the founding of Field Museum, this often-

overlooked aspect of the institution's activity
and growth is symbolized in a special exhibit
to be displayed in Stanley Field Hall. Large-
scale maps of the world upon which are indi-
cated the sites visited by the many expeditions
sponsored by Field Museum, surmount a dis-
play of photo-murals of expeditionary work
and a complete file of the various scientific
reports based on materials collected or supple-
mented by the expeditionary work. For other
products of these expeditions, one is invited to
consider the contents of the Museum exhibi-
tion halls and the literally millions of specimens
in reference collections.

Fiftieth anniversaries naturally invite back-
ward glances. Another feature of Field
Museum's special exhibit will consist of photo-
graphs comparing the old with the new in
exhibition methods. There will also be statis-
tical charts and other pertinent items.

36

MEMBERSHIP IN FIELD MUSEUM .

Field Museum has several classes of Members. Annual Members contribute $10 annually.
Associate Members pay $100 and are exempt from dues. Sustaining Members contribute $25
annually 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
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 Chicago. Those who give or devise to the Museum $1,000 to $100,000 are designated as Con-
tributors, 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. Subscription to Field Museum
News, a monthly bulletin, 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.

CONTRIBUTIONS AND BEQUESTS

Contributions and 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,
to be named by the giver.

Contributions made to the Museum are allowable' as deductions in computing net income for
federal income tax purposes, subject only to the limitation that the total deduction for charitable
gifts may not exceed in any year 15 per cent of the contributor's net income.

Contributions and bequests in any amount to Field Museum of Natural History are exempt from
federal gift and estate taxes.

Endowments may be made to the Museum with the provision that an annuity be paid to the
patron during his or her lifetime.

THE BOOK SHOP

To provide a reliable source of supply for authoritative books in the many fields of science within
the scope of Field Museum, a Book Shop is maintained at the east side of the north entrance to Stan-
ley Field Hall. Through the Book Shop there are available, at one location, books by reputable
authors on anthropological, botanical, geological, and zoological subjects, as well as on explorations
and other activities related to the work of the Museum. Included are the products both of Field
Museum Press and of other publishers. All of the books kept regularly in stock have been passed
upon by qualified members of the Museum's scientific staff. There is a large selection of books for
children, as well as for adults. These include books which are amusing as well as educational — books
for reading to the youngest children, books for reading by children of various ages, picture books,
books of drawings to be colored, attractively prepared atlases, etc. On special orders the Museum
Book Shop will obtain for purchasers practically any book available from any publisher or dealer in
the world. Books may be purchased by mail order, but it is necessary to require payment in advance,
as the Museum does not carry accounts. In addition to books, there are on sale miniature repre-
sentations of various animals in bronze and other materials, for use as souvenirs, library decorations,
and toys. Some of the larger figures are designed to serve as book ends. There are also on sale
illuminated globes bearing maps of the world.

FieldMuj

News

Puhlislieii Aloiil/i/y hy tuLi Alusiutti of Natural llislory, Chicago

Vol. 14

NOVEMBER, 1943

No. 11

NEW HABITAT GROUP OF GIBBONS INSTALLED IN HALL OF ASIATIC MAMMALS

Bv WILFRED H. OSGOOD

CURATOR EMERITUS, DEPARTMENT OF ZOOLOGY

The most recent addition to the Asiatic
Hall (Hall 17) is a group of gibbons from
Indo-China. The subject was chosen to
improve the balance of the hall which here-
tofore has been de-
voted mainly to large
hoofed mammals and
carnivores. The pri-
mates were previously
represented only by a
group of orangs pre-
pared by Carl Akeley
in the Museum's first
decade and later re-
modeled by Staff Taxi-
dermist Leon L. Pra\
to suit the conditions
in the present hall.
The gibbons now take
a place opposite th(
orangs, and one finds
it difficult to decide
which of the two
groups is the more
interesting. Because
of its large size and
more frequent ap-
pearance in captivity,
the orang is better
known to the general
public, but the gibbon
is also one of the
anthropoids or man-
like apes and among
the most interesting
of living mammals.

The great apes or
anthropoids, first so called by Thomas Hux-
ley, include only four types, the gorilla and
chimpanzee of Africa, the orang of Borneo
and Sumatra, and the gibbons of which there
are several well-marked species inhabiting
southeastern Asia and the East Indies. In
all the monkey tribe these are nearest to
man in physical structure and there can be
little doubt that man and these apes had a
common ancestor. No one seriously believes
that man descended from present day gib-
bons or gorillas, but if they are not his great
grandparents they are most certainly his
remote cousins.

The gibbons show more physical differ-
ences from the other anthropoids than these
do from each other, and it is not unlikely
that their ancestry goes back to a time when

the common line diverged in three directions,
one leading to the larger anthropoids, one to
the gibbons, and the third to man. How-
ever this may be, the gibbons, in spite of
their smaller size and highly arboreal habits,
must be classified with the great apes and

GIPBONS-SMALLEST OF THE MANLIKE APES
New habitat group installed in William V. Kclle)' Hall (Mammals of Asia, Hall 17)

man rather than with any of the varied
assortment of monkeys, mostly smaller,
which are now living.

Some half dozen distinguishable species
and several varieties of gibbons are known,
the most common being the white-handed
or lar gibbon of Malaysia and the hoolock
of eastern India. Specific differences among
them are mainly those of color and markings.
All are characterized by exceedingly long
arms, .so long that when the animal walks
erect they touch the ground. They are the
only apes that habitually walk upright or
nearly upright, although they do not have
the structural adaptation of the spinal col-
umn known as the sigmoid flexure which is
associated with the upright posture in man.
In captivity, where kept on the ground, they

assume uprightness with great frequency,
and it has been estimated that in the wilds,
even when in trees, nearly one-tenth of their
walking is on two legs instead of four.

Most of the time, however, gibbons
neither walk nor run, but leap and swing
through the tree tops
with a speed and
agility scarcely equal-
ed by any other pri-
mate. As brachiators
(arm locomotors) they
are pre-eminent. The
American spider mon-
keys, whose long tails
are provided with a
grasping or prehensile
tip, are highly adapted
for tree life, but if a
race could be arranged
between them and the
tailless gibbons the
chances are that the
gibbons would win
with ease.

Gibbons are ner-
vous, quick moving,
and highly emotional.
Their facial expression
often seems reflective,
at times, even sad and
mournful. A slightly
wounded one, which I
once kept in camp for
several days, con-
stantly looked at me
with its large liquid
eyes appearing more
reproachful than an-
tagonistic. All gibbons have powerful and
remarkable voices which they exercise
daily, especially in the early morning hours.
Their calls vary among the different species,
but all are loud and clear, some of them
having a very human quality. They can
be heard for several miles and one in their
vicinity is never in doubt as to the presence
of gibbons.

The Museum's group was obtained in the
province of Annam, Indo-China, during a
semi-pleasure trip which I made in 1936-37,
part of the time in company with the Asiatic
Primate Expedition and its representatives
of Harvard, Columbia, and Johns Hopkins
universities. The species shown is one ol the
rarer gibbons, a variety (gabriellae) of the
white-cheeked gibbon which is confined to

Paget

FIELD MUSEUM NEWS

November, 19iS

the forests of eastern Indo-China. It is one
of those in which there is pronounced sexual
difference in color, males being black with
white or buffy cheeks, and females a beauti-
ful tawny buff with only the top of the head
black. In the deep forests near Banme-
thuot, Annam, it was found to be quite
common. Two weeks spent in a camp
pitched in a favorable locality in the heart
of the jungle yielded a varied collection of
mammals and a most interesting experience.
During this time no less than five species of
monkeys and apes were seen from time to
time in the trees within view of the camp
itself, and every excursion to any distance
invariably met with some of them. A series
of fifteen gibbons was collected with the help
of native hunters. The task of preserving
the skins and skeletons of these, in spite of
considerable assistance from a native "boy,"
required so much time that my own oppor-
tunity for hunting and observation was
severely limited, but nevertheless I was
able to get out occsisionally.

Every morning at sunrise I lay under my
mosquito net and listened to a chorus of
gibbon calls. These were quite musical and
unlike the calls of other species. There was
none of whup, whup, and wahoo usually
heard from the commoner species in zoos,
but a series of long clear whistles ending with
a repeated slurring, wheeoo, wheeoo that re-
minded of nothing so much as the final
cadences in the song of our American cardi-
nal bird. At close quarters this comparison
would perhaps not apply, but from a con-
siderable distance it was striking.

In making the group, very valuable advice
was obtained from Dr. C. R. Carpenter
whose extended studief of the natural
behavior of wild gibbons make him an
acknowledged authority. As finally com-
pleted, the group presents the usual associa-
tion of adult and young animals, what Dr.
Carpenter calls a modal group — two adults,
two younger animals of the same parentage,
and a babe in arms. The great majority of
gibbons are found in such groups. In this
case they are shown on the move leisurely
passing through high hanging vines and
tree tops.

The animals were mounted by Staff
Taxidermist W. E. Eigsti, the background
was painted by Staff Artist Arthur G.
Rueckert, and the rather elaborate acces-
sories were produced by P^eparator Frank
H. Letl.

CONSER\ vriON BRIEFS

Unique African Stiield

In Hall D, Case 1, is shown a large shield
of very light texture, made from ambatch
wood. This form, which is used by the
Buduma tribe of the Lake Chad region, is
unique among African shields. Warriors
crouching low are completely protected, and
so covered they can peek out quickly and jab
at one another with their long spears.

V. Reptiles

{End of series)
By K.\RL p. SCHMIDT

CHIEF CURATOR, DEPARTMENT OF ZOOLOGY

Snakes receive little sympathy from many
people who have been "conditioned" to
regard all of them, poisonous and non-
poisonous alike, with horror. Nevertheless,
they deserve consideration in any well-
rounded conservation program. So do their
fellow reptiles comprising the turtles and
lizards. Also of interest to the nature lover
and the zoologist, and worthy of protection,
are the amphibians, which include frogs,
toads, and salamanders.

The principal requirements for the con-
servation of these creatures are two: first,
the diffusion of knowledge about them to
counteract the prevalent but baseless aver-
sion which so many persons feel toward
them, due to psychological quirks; and
second, the preservation of typical wood-
lands, prairies, sand dune areas, marshes,
lakes, and rivers in their original condition,
thus providing environments vital to any
hope for the persistence of the smaller ani-
mals. Neither of these needs is easily met —
the second is desirable not only for this
purpose, but as a need of hiunan beings
themselves.

HATRED OF SNAKES DYING OUT

Snakes have been, and still are, the victims
of persecution, but fortunately a tendency
toward change in the public attitude toward
them has been discernible within the present
generation. Never before were there so
many persons, adults and children, interested
in amphibians, or so many contributing ac-
tively to the knowledge about them. In
recent years this has been recognized
generally by the press, and the editorial
taboo against even mentioning snakes which
once existed in the offices of many news-
papers and magazines has now practically
disappeared. Small turtles have become
favorite household pets for children, and
altogether the outlook for improvement in
the public attitude toward all these creatures
is now quite hopeful.

However, we still face great difficulties
for the presers'ation of amphibians and
reptiles in wild-life refuges. In thickly
inhabited regions few natural areas still
possess anything like their original quota
of reptilian life. In the Chicago area, forest
preserves are either of second growth or
they have been "cleaned up" — that is,
there have been removed the rotten logs
and stumps which are essential to the main-
tenance of a normal population of such
smaller creatures as shrews and wild mice
no less than the snakes and salamanders
which hide away in them.

Lamentable to botanists and ecologists,
as well as to students of reptiles, is the fact

that there is no considerable area of original
prairie sod left in the Chicago region. The
best of our woodland area in the Indiana
Dunes and in the north shore ravines is in
private hands, sometimes fortunately for
conservation interests, but usually to the
detriment of permanent protection of wild
conditions. Our streams tend to be polluted,
our marshes to be drained, and our lakes to
be overfished.

FIFTY YEARS OF PROGRESS
DEPICTED IN MONOLITH

Erected for the Fiftieth Anniversary cele-
bration on September 15, and continuing on
exhibition until Norember 15, is a. "monolith,"
28 feet wide and 22 feet high, containing
special exhibits pertaining to the Museum's
history during its first half century. The
exhibit occupies the center of Stanley Field
Hall. It graphically portrays some of the
principal events in the progress of the Mu-
seum since its founding in 1893. A feature
is a map of the world in two large hemi-
spheres, showing the territory covered by
each of the institution's 440 expeditions to
every clime. The research resulting from
these expeditions and other activities is
represented by hundreds of volumes of
scientific publications issued by the Museum
and displayed at the base of the monolith.
Also included are many mural size photo-
graphs contrasting the exhibits of the Mu-
seum's early days with those of the present,
and various charts of statistics.

PROGRAMS OF LECTURE TOURS
FOR WEEKDAYS I.N NOVEMBER

Conducted tours of exhibits, under the
guidance of staff lecturers, are made every
afternoon at 2 o'clock except Sundays, and
certain holidays. There will be no tour on
Thanksgiving, November 25.

On Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and
Saturdays, general tours are given, covering
outstanding features of all four departments
— Anthropology, Botany, Geologj', and
Zoology. Special subjects are offered on
Wednesdays and Fridays; the schedule of
these follows:

Wednesday, November 3 — Ranks in the
Army of Animals (Miss Loraine Lloyd).

FViday, November 5 — Minerals Through
the Ages (Bert Grove).

Wednesday, November 10 — Cloth from
Trees (Mrs. Roberta Cramer).

Friday, November 12 — Ancient Spice
Tales (Miss Miriam Wood).

Wednesday, November 17 — Wisdom of
the Wild (Miss Loraine Lloyd).

Friday, November 19 — Tomorrow in
Manila (Mrs. Roberta Cramer).

Wednesday, November 24 — Thanksgiving
in America (Miss Miriam Wood).

Friday, November 26 — The Chicago
Region's Ancient Past (Bert Grove).

Persons wishing to participate should
apply at North Entrance. Tours are free.

November, 19kS

FIELD MUSEUM NEWS

Pages

MUSEUM CHANGES NAME, RECEIVES GIFT FROM MARSHALL FIELD, ON 50TH ANNIVERSARY

Following publication of the recent special
number of Field Museum News devoted
to the fiftieth anniversary of the Museum, a
large meeting was held on the evening of
September 15 in further commemoration.
Invitations had been sent to the Museum's
entire membership of more than 4,300
Chicagoans and to other leaders of the city,
as well as to officials of other musaums in

intention to give the Museum "certain
pieces of property that should produce an
income at least equivalent to what his
annual contributions have been in recent
years"; and (2), that, in accordance with
recommendations made by both President
Field himself and Mr. Marshall Field, the
Board of Trustees had decided to change the
name of the institution to Chicago Natural

Phoiogurh coimeiy THE CHICAGO SUN

PART OF THE CROWD IN STANLEY FIELD

all parts of the country. The response was
very gratifying, with more than one thou-
.sand persons in attendance, almost filling
the seating capacity of the James Simpson
Theatre of the Museum.

The principal addresses made at this time
were by Mr. Stanley Field, President of
Field Museum; Mr. Albert Eide Parr,
Director of the American Museum of
Natural History, New York, and Mr.
Robert Maynard Hutchins, President of the
University of Chicago. Briefer and less
formal remarks were made by Dr. Wilfred
H. Osgood, Curator Emeritus of Zoology,
who acted as chairman for the occasion;
Dr. Franklyn Bliss Snyder, President of
Northwestern University; Colonel Clifford
C. Gregg, Director of Field Museum on
leave from service with the Army; and Mr.
Orr Goodson, Acting Director.

Following the meeting, the gathering
pas-sed to Stanley Field Hall where refresh-
ments were served, music was heard, and
special exhibits were displayed.

In concluding his address Mr. Stanley
Field made two important announcements:
(1) that Mr. Marshall Field, grandson of the
Founder, and member of the Board of
Trustees, had advised the Trustees of his

HALL AT MUSEUM'S 50th ANNIVERSARY

History Museum. On these subjects, Mr.
Field said, in part,

"While the gift of Mr. (Marshall) Field
is very substantial, it is only his part in pro-
viding for a future which we hope may be on
a scale suited to the
standing of the insti-
tution, and to the im-
portance of the great
public and territory
which it serves. The
Museum must there-
fore look to other pub-
lic-spirited citizens in
the future, as it has in
the past, for contribu-
tions to its support
and development.

". . . . The Muse-
um has had three
names: Columbian
Museum of Chicago —
Field Columbian Mu-
seum— and Field Mu-
seum of Natural His-
tory. Mr. Marshall
Field has discussed
with me several times
the matter of the

name of the Museum. He has felt that since
the Museum was created and maintained
for the public and has become identified in
the minds of the public as a Chicago institu-
tion, and since it is now playing a growing
and important part in the educational activi-
ties of the city — it would be appropriate,
and also in the best interests of the Museum,
if the name were changed to: Chicago
Natural History Mu.seum, thereby identify-
ing its ownership more closely with the
people of Chicago to whom, of course, it
has always belonged.

"It seemed to both of us that the occasion
of the 50th anniversary was the logical time
to announce the change. Accordingly, the
matter has been fully discussed with the
Board of Trustees, has met with their
unanimous approval, and they have author-
ized me to make this announcement to you.

"The change will become effective as soon
as legally possible." {Editor's note: It now
appears that the change will be effected about
December 1.)

Dr. Parr's theme was that Chicago's
museum was in a particularly fortunate
position to meet the demands of the present
period of transition through which all
institutions of its kind are going — a period
in which, he contended, there must be "a
revaluation of the needs and a reorientation
of the educational and scientific purposes of
the natural sciences."

PARR DEFINES AIMS

"When museums began," said Director
Parr, "the natural sciences were chiefly
concerned with the task of completing our
descriptive knowledge of the contents of

the world It was the age of the

great explorations, which revealed to

European and American civilizations a

(Continued on page 7)

Photograph courteiy THE CHICAGO SUN

SPEAKERS AT 50eh ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION

Left to right: Albert Eide Pirr, Director, Aitierican Museum ol Natural History;
Wilfred H. Osgood, Curator Emeritus, Zoology, Field Museum; Orr Goodson,
Acting Director, Field Museum; Franklin Bliss Snyder, President, Northwestern
University; Robert Maynard Hutchins, President, University of Chicago; Stanley Field,
President, and Colonel Clifford C. Gregg, Director, Field Museum.

Page 4

FIELD MUSEUM NEWS

, November, 19US

SELF-DEFENSE EQUIPMENT OF THE TORTOISE-ARMADILLOS

By BRYAN PATTERSON

CURATOR OF PALEONTOLOOY

(Now serving in the U. S. Army)

The study of life, both existing and
extinct, has revealed a number of funda-
mental principles that operate in nature.
Among the most interesting of these is one
known by the formidable name of adaptive

Patagonia to Texas. These small to medi-
um-sized omnivorous animals possess shells
composed of a large number of united bony
plates, each of which is covered by a horny
one. A variable number of movable bands
of plates across the middle of the body per-
mits a measure of flexibility, which is
sufficiently great in one form (Tolypeiites) to

RESTORATION OF GLYPTODON

Artist John Conrad Hansen's conception, hased on scientific data, of a typical representative of the later members of the

group. The scene depicted is in the Tarija Valley of Bolivia; the time— mid-Pleistoccne, about 500.000 years ago.

radiation. Simply, and perhaps a little
loosely put, this means that all groups of
living things tend to become adapted to as
great a variety of habitats as circumstances
and their structure will permit. This prin-
ciple operates on both the grand and the
small scale. The mammals, with their
infinite variety of forms adapted to dif-
ferent ways of life, are an obvious example
of the grand scale, while the different
climatic, altitudinal or soil preferences
exhibited by the species of a genus of plants
illustrate a smaller radius.

It follows, as a natural corollary of the
principle of adaptive radiation, that there
can be no patents in nature. The characters
evolved by members of one group may be
independently evolved by members of
another. This has been particularly true of
the ultimate in passive defense — the de-
velopment of a bony shell to protect the
body. The most familiar examples of this
effective adaptation are the turtles. Similar
protective structures, however, have been
evolved in other reptilian groups, notably
in a family of herbivorous dinosaurs, among
mammals, and even in the fishes.

The only living mammals thus armored
are the familiar armadillos that range from

enable the animal to roll itself up into a ball.
The top of the head is covered by a casque,
and the tail, except in one form, by a sheath,
both composed of bony plates. The whole
is an effective device, but it is not absolutely
protective — the plates are too thin for that.
A small dog that attached itself to the recent
Paleontological Expedition to Honduras was
able, in the twinkling of an eye, to tear half
the shell from the back of an armadillo so
unwary as to be caught by it. It would seem
that the armadillos owe their survival mostly
to their ability to dig themselves out of
sight in an astonishingly short space of time.
For the last word in mammalian self-
defense we must turn to the giant extinct
relatives of the armadillos, the glyptodonts
or tortoise-armadillos, the latest and largest
of which attained over-all lengths of more
than ten feet. Like the armadillos, from
early fossil members of which they de-
scended, they were of South American ori-
gin. In the course of the evolution of these
animals the various characteristics just
enumerated were carried to an extreme.
The bony plates increased in thickness, and
the movable bands in the shell were elimi-
nated. The end result was a solid shield of
armor, more than an inch thick in places,

protecting the body. The tail was encased
in over-lapping bony rings, composed of
bony plates, which in many of the later forms
terminated in a club-like tube. In some this
club was studded with blunt spikes. As in
armadillos, the bony plates were covered by
horny ones. These, of course, are not pre-
served in the fossils, but their imprint on the
bony plates may be seen in the patterns,
often intricate and mosaic-like, which the
latter display.

The glyptodonts were strictly vegetarian
in diet. As a result, the skull and teeth were
very different from those of the omnivorous
armadillos. In the latter the teeth are, for the
most part, simple and peg-like, and the skull
rather long. Glyptodont teeth were exceed-
ingly long-crowned complicated grinders
suited for chewing harsh plant food, and the
skull became progressively shorter and
deeper to accommodate them.

The acquisition of great size and weight
and of a solid shell led to interesting modifi-
cations of the internal skeleton. The leg
bones were massively built. In correlation
with the high arch of the shell and the low
level at which the head was carried, the hind
legs were much longer than the fore. Flexi-
bility of the backbone was no longer valu-
able, and the trunk vertebrae united to form
tubes. This brought a resemblance to con-
ditions in turtles, but it is accompanied by a
profound difference related to basic distinc-
tions between the shells of the two groups.
The shell in glyptodonts and armadillos
developed entirely from small bones formed
within the skin, whereas in turtles it arose
from a combination of skin bones and ele-
ments of the internal skeleton. Conse-
quently, in the latter the trunk vertebrae
and ribs are incorporated into the shell,
while in the glyptodonts they were free from
it, the shell merely resting upon the posterior
trunk vertebrae and the hips behind and
upon muscles in front. The neck vertebrae
were so constructed as to permit the head to
be drawn down and back, thus closing the
anterior opening of the shell with the casque.

A further contrast to turtles lies in the
lack of an under shell. The soft under-belly
of the glyptodonts was amply protected,
however, at least in the later and larger
forms, by the great weight of the animals,
which must have made it almost impossible
for their enemies to overturn them.

These animals were in effect walking
citadels practically invulnerable to attack.
At the approach of an enemy all they had to
do was squat — bringing the edges of the shell
to the ground — draw in their heads, so as to
present only the casque to the front, and
wait. The tail served as an effective defen-
sive weapon. Swung from side to side, this
formidable giant's club was capable of deal-
ing a crushing blow to any attacker incau-
tious enough to venture within reach of it.
The glyptodont exhibits in Ernest R.
Graham Hall (Hall 38) have recently been
overhauled, and restoration paintings and

November, 19^3

FIELD MUSEUM NEWS

Page S

diagrams have been added to the cases. A
series of these shows a Pliocene glyptodont,
Eleutherocereus, disposing of the saber-tooth
marsupial Thylacosmilus. The attacker
seems in this instance to have been killed
by a blow from the glyptodont's tail received
full in the face. Any carnivore that survived
so unpleasant an experience would be likely
to give glyptodonts a wide berth in future.
It has been emphasized in several previous
articles that South America was isolated
from the rest of the world throughout the
greater part of the Age of Mammals, a
stretch of time lasting almo.st 60 million
years. The mammals of that continent
underwent an adaptive radiation that was
uninfluenced by immigration; the re.sult wa.s
a fauna totally unlike any that came into
existence elsewhere. Many of the.se mam-
mals evolved along lines that were broadly
similar to those followed by unrelated
groups in North America and the Old
World — the natural corollary of adaptive
radiation stressed at the beginning of
this article. There were, for example.
South American pseudo-horses, pseudo-
camels, pseudo-dogs, and pseudo-sabertooth
cats. Together with these "ersatz" forms
were others that had evolved along lines dis-
tinctively their own. The glyptodonts and
armadillos were in this category. Nothing
like them existed in North America, and in
consequence, when the two continents were
again united by the elevation of the Isthmus
of Panama, they encountered no competitors
among the northern mammals. Their ersatz
compatriots were unable to compete, even

on their home grounds, with the more
perfectly adapted invaders, but the glypto-
donts and armadillos were able to spread
northward and to extend their range as far
as the southern parts of the United States.

RAYMOND FOUNDATION OFFERS
FREE MOVIES FOR CHILDREN

The James Nelson and Anna Louise Ray-
mond Foundation for Public School and
Children's Lectures, which began its annual
autumn series of free motion pictures for
children in October, will continue to present
programs on Saturday mornings throughout
November. Each program is given twice,
at 10 A.M., and again at 11, in the James
Simpson Theatre of the Museum. Children
from all parts of Chicago and suburbs are
invited and no tickets are needed. They
may come alone, accompanied by adults, or
in groups from schools and other centers.
Many of the films to be shown are in colors,
and all have sound tracks. Following is the
schedule for November:

November 6 — Isles of the Southern
Seas {New Guinea, Samoa, Fijis, New
Zealand, and other Pacific islands.

November 13 — North of the Border —
Canada (Color and black and white
pictures of the country to our north).

November 20 — Philippines Garden
Islands of the China Sea. (The Philip-
pines before the war).
Also a cartoon.

November 27 — All-Cartoon Program.

PHOTO EXHIBIT CONTINUES;
14 WIN RIBBONS

Blue ribbons for pictures of special merit
were awarded to 14 entrants in the Mu-
seum's First International Photographic
Exhibit, which opened September 15 and
will continue on display until November 15,
under the title "Lenses on Nature." Alto-
gether, 152 photographs, out of nearly 400
.submitted, all bearing on various phases of
nature, are shown.

The blue ribbon winners are: Betty
Henderson, F. L. Purrington, Chester W.
Olson, Dr. Howard K. Gloyd, and Dr. Max
Thorek, all of Chicago; and Dr. B. J.
Ochsner, Durango, Colorado; William C.
Horen, Winnetka, Illinois; Floyd B. Evans,
Pasadena, California; Caryl R. Firth,
Trappe, Maryland; John J. Harrack,
Detroit; Dr. T. W. Kilmer, Hempstead,
New York; Charles E. Mohr, Philadelphia;
Henry D. Scott, Wheeling, West Virginia,
and H. H. Sheldon, Boulder, Colorado.

All photographs, to be eligible, were
restricted to subjects falling within the
broad subject of nature, and include anthro-
pological portraits, and photographs of
plants, forests, birds, animals, geological
formations, etc. The Mu.seum has published
an illustrated catalog giving the names of all
photographers whose work is exhibited, and
the titles of their entries (available at The
Museum Book Shop, 10 cents). The exhibit
was considered a notable success, and it is
planned to continue this activity as an
annual event at the Museum in the future.

PALEONTOLOGICAL "COMIC STRIP"

Sabertooth Meets Old Spiketail

by HANSEN

Capable of active 3S well as passive defense, glyptodonts were animals to be left strictly alone by other creatures desiring to live in health and happiness. Those that failed to realize

this often came to grief, and probably death, as depicted in this series of pictures showing how Eleutherocereus, a mid'Pliocene form of three million years ago, could and often did dispose

of unwary predators. Here the intended surprise attack of a marsupial sabortooth, Thylacosmilus, was stopped with one mortal blow from the huge tortoise^armadillo's spiked and club'like

tail. The curious "funnel" on this glyptodont's back is believed to have housed a large skin gland. These drawings are part of the Halt 38 exhibit.

Page 6

FIELD MUSEUM NEWS

November, 19iS

Field Museum of Natural History

Founded dy Marshall Field, 1893
Roosevelt Road and Field Drive, Chlcafio

Telephone; Wabash 9410

THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES
Lester Aruour Stanley Field

Sewell L. Avery Samuel Insuix, Jr.

W. McCoRMiCK Blair Charles A. Mck^uu-ocH

Leopold E. Block William H. Mitchell

boardhan conover george a. richardson

Walter J. Cuuuings Theodore Roosevelt

Albert B. Dick, Jr. Solomon A. Smith

Howard W. Fenton .\lbert A. Sprague

Joseph N. Field Silas H. Strawn

Marshall Field .Albert H. Wetten

John P. Wilson

OFFICERS

Stanley Field President

Albert A. Sprague FinI Vice-President

Silas H. Strawn Second Vice-President

Albert B. Dick Third Vice-President

•Clifford C. Gregg Director and Secretary

Orr Goodson Acting Director and Acting Secretary

Solomon A. Smith . . . Treasurer and AssisiaiU Secretary

* On leave in active service as a Colonel in the United
States Army.

FIELD MUSEUM NEWS

EDITOR
Wilfred H. Osgood Curator Emeritus, Zoology

CONTRIBUTING EDITORS

Paul S. Martin Chief Curator of Anthropology

B. E. Dahlgren Chief Curator of Botany

Henry W. Nichols Chief Curator of Geology

Karl P. Schmidt Chief Curator of Zoology

MANAGING EDITOR
H. B. Uartb Public Relations Counsel

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

FIRST FIELD MUSEUM WOMAN
TO WIN COMMISSION

Miss Elizabeth Best, now commissioned
an Ensign in the WAVES, is the first woman
member of Field Museum's staff to qualify

as a "gold striper."

She has been
granted leave of
absence from her
position as a lec-
turer on the staff
of the Raymond
Foundation, and
when last heard
from had been as-
signed by the Navy
to duties at a post
in Seattle. Miss
Best completed her
Navy training at
North ampton,
Massachusetts. Her colleague on the Ray-
mond staff, Miss Marie B. Pabst, has also
joined the Women's Auxiliary of the Navy.

ELIZABETH BEST
ENSIGN, USNR.

FOUR MORE MUSEUM MEN
IN MILITARY SERVICE

The Museum has lost its fifth Trustee,
and three more members of its staff for the
duration of the war. Trustee Samuel In-
sull, Jr., has been commissioned a lieutenant-
commander in the U. S. Naval Reserve. Mr.
Loren P. Woods, Assistant Curator of
Fishes, was commissioned an ensign in the

Naval Reserve in September. Mr. Bryan
Patterson, Curator of Paleontology, and Mr.
Henry S. Dybas, Assistant in Entomology,
were inducted into the Army in October.
Trustee Lester Armour, Lieut. Cmdr., U. S.
N. R., has been promoted to commander.
Mr. Bert E. Grove, Raymond Foundation
guide-lecturer, who served in Africa as an
ambulance driver with the American Field
Service for a year, and was wounded in
action, was inducted into the Army shortly
after his return to the Museum last summer.
He has since been given an honorable dis-
charge for medical causes due to his previous
African service, and has again joined the
staff of the Raymond Foundation as a lec-
turer. He is also public relations repre-
sentative of the American Field Service.

tion. Miss Neve, who graduated with an
A. B. degree from Elmhurst College, and
engaged in graduate work at the University
of Illinois, has for the past three years been
a teacher in the public schools of Elmhurst.

LT. MELVIN A. TRAYLOR WINS
PROMOTION AND SILVER STAR

The U. S. Marine Corps has promoted
Melvin A. Traylor, Jr., Associate in Orni-
thology on the staff of Field. Museum, from
Second to First Lieutenant (he originally
entered the service as a private), and has
awarded him the Silver Star for heroism.

The citation commended Lt. Traylor "for
conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in
action while serving as an artillery forward
observer attached to an infantry patrol on
Guadalcanal, on December 27, 1942. In
order to reach a position from which he could
better control artillery fire, he accompanied
the patrol, at his own request, into danger-
ous territory in front of his own lines. The
patrol was subjected to heavy enemy fire
which resulted in the death of the only in-
fantry officer present. Lt. Traylor assumed
command and by his leadership and courage
kept the patrol intact as a fighting unit."

In Memoriam
MAJOR KERMIT ROOSEVELT
1889-1943

News of the death of Major Kermit
Roosevelt in Alaska recently was received
at Field Museum with great regret. Major
Roosevelt, and his brother, Brigadier-
General Theodore Roosevelt (a Trustee of
the Museum) were co-leaders of two of the
Museum's most important expeditions — the
James Simpson-Roosevelts Asiatic Expedi-
tion in 1925, and the William V. Kelley-
Roosevelts Expedition to Eastern Asia in
1928. The zoological specimens they col-
lected on these expeditions now form many
exhibits in both the systematic series of
mammals, and the habitat groups in Hall 17,
including Marco Polo sheep, Asiatic ibex,
and giant panda.

Technical Publications Issued

The following new technical publications
have been issued by Field Museum Press:

Zoological Series, Vol. 29, No. 1. Mala-
cological Notes — ///. By Fritz Haas. June
10, 1943. 24 pages, 8 text figures. $0.30.

Botanical Series, Vol. XIII, Part III,
No. 1. Flora of Peru. By J. Francis Mac-
bride. October 11, 1943. 508 pages.

New Raymond Lecturer

Miss Emma Neve has been appointed a
guide-lecturer on the staff of the James
Nelson and Anna Louise Raymond Founda-

FIELD MUSEUM HONOR ROLL
Now in the Nation's Service

^

Army

Thbodore Roose\'Ei.t,

Trustee — Brig . Gen .
George A. Richard-
son, Trustee— Lt.

Col.
Clifford C. Gregg.

Director — Colonel,

G.S.C.
Dr. John Rinaldo,

Associate, Southwestern Archaeol. — Staff Sgt.
Dr. Sharat K. Roy, Curator, Geol. — Capt.
D. DwiGHT Davis, Curator, Anat. and Osteol.—

Corp.
Bryan Patterson, Curator, Paleontology — Pvt.
Emmet R. Blake, Asst. Curator, Birds — Corp.
Rupert L. Wenzel, Asst. Curator, Insects — Capt.
Henry S. Dybas, Assistant, Insects — Pvt.
William Beecher, Temp. Asst., Zool.— Pvt.
Henry Horback, Asst., Geol. — Pvt.
Jambs C. McIntyre, Guard — 2nd Lt.
Raymond J. Connors, Guard — Pvt.
Frank J. Dutkovic, Janitor — Pvt.

Navy

Lester Armour, Trustee — Comdr.

Samuel Insull, Jr., Trustee — Lieut. Coradr.

Joseph Nash Field, Trustee — Lieut.

Colin Campbell Sanborn, Curator, Mammals —

Lieut.
Dr. Alexander Spobhr, Asst. Curator, N. Amer.

Ethnol.— Lieut, (j.g.)
Loren P. "Woods, Asst. Curator, Fishes— Ensign
John W. Moyer, Taxidermist — Ch. Specialist

(Bur. Aeronautics)
Patrick T. McEnery, Guard^Master-at-Arms
John Syckowski, Guard— Ch. Commissary Stewd.
George Jahrand, Guard — Ch. Water Tender
Clyde James Nash, Guard— Ch. Gunner's Mate
Nicholas Repar, Printer — Aviation Machinist's

Mate 2C.
Morris Johnson, Carpenter — Carpenter's Mate

2C.
Herbert Nelson, Painter — Painter IC.
Elizabeth Best, Guide-Lecturer —

Ensign. WAVES
Marie B. Pabst, Guide-Lecturer- WAVES

Marine Corps

Melvin A. Traylor, Jr. Associate, Birds— 1st Lt.

Coast Guard
M. C. Darnall, Jr., Guard — Ensign
John McGinnis, Guard — Ch. Boatswain's Mate

Other Services

Rudybrd Boulton, Curator, Birds — Staff of
Office of Strategic Services

Bryant Mather, Asst. Curator, Mineralogy —
Civilian Worker, Corps of Engineers, U.S. Army

Llewelyn Williams, Curator of Economic Botany
— on special service for U.S. Government

Dr. Julian A. Steyermark, Asst. Curator, Herba-
rium— field work for Board of Economic Warfare

Dr. C. Martin Wilbur, Curator, Chinese Archaeol.
and Ethnol. — Staff of Office of Strategic Services

November, 19U3

FIELD MUSEUM NEWS

Page 7

MUSEUM'S 50th anniversary

(Continued from page S)

diversity and abundance of natural phe-
nomena undreamed of in the homelands.
In the system of classification devised by
Linneus, science had also for the first time
in its history been offered a method by which
it might actually be able to make a complete
inventory of nature

"(But) the road along which the muse-
ums so brilliantly led the natural sciences in
the last century has obviously become too
narrow for their further advance. . . . We
must attend to the application of our
systematic knowledge of nature to the
branches of research which depend for their
results on the rigid use of such knowledge.
... To define this broadened field by a
single composite term you might call it the
subject of dynamic natural geography, in
which our principal aim must be to acquire
an understanding of nature as we find it,
and how it functions as it does under the
various circumstances and in the different
parts of the world. . . .

"The most immediate and most important
present and future duty of the natural
history museums is therefore the task of
interpreting to the nation the natural con-
ditions under which the nation lives and
struggles for its livelihood, so that it can be
better guided in its future dealings with
nature and its products than it has been in
the pa.st "

"EDUCATE FOR LIFE," SAYS HUTCHINS
President Hutchins said, in part:
"An an ecucational institution, Field
Museum possesses certain special advan-
tages. It has no football team. It gives no
cour.se credits or course examinations and
awards no degrees. Its labors are not
encumbered by the elaborate apparatus of
academic bookkeeping which has re.sulted
in education by the adding machine. The
students of the Museum come here to learn.
They do not ask it to help them make
friends, get a better job, or give them a leg

up the social ladder

". . . . The maximum integration of the
Museum with other educational institutions
in the community is the first requisite of its
increased educational usefulness. Although
the Museum is so integrated with the public
school system that no child can pass through
the system without passing through the
Museum, the same relations do not obtain
between the universities of the area and the
Museum, either in instruction or research.
The reason is partly the inertia of the uni-
versities and partly the small size of the
Museum stafl. Highly valuable relation-
ships do exi.st; but they are too few and too

informal

". . . . The education of adults is and
must remain the peculiar obligation and
opportunity of Field Museum. This is much
more important than the task of providing
innocent amusement for the citizen's idle

hours. The best index to the character of any
civilization is the way in which those who
have leisure use it

"In our own day, in our own country, the
ideal of the Greeks has been attained. For
slaves we have machines. The hours of
labor have steadily fallen . The leisure which
was the prerogative of the few is now the
prerogative of all. This process will con-
tinue

"Machines can set men free. But freedom
is not an end in itself. It is no good to you

unless you know how to use it The

transformation of the American conception
of leisure, from time to waste, into time to
learn, is one of the major responsibilities of
museums.

"It is not education to make a living that
we require, but education to make a life. . ."

The full text of the addresses by Messrs.
Field, Parr, and Hutchins is to be* published
in a pamphlet, now in press, which will be
distributed to all Members of the Museum.

Paul G. DaMwig

WAR'S EFFECT ON PRIMITIVES
TOLD IN SUNDAY LECTURES

"War Reveals Interesting Races in
Strange Places" is the title of the "Layman
Lecture" to be presented at Field Museum
on Sunday after-
noons during No-
vember by Paul
G. Dallwig. This
is the second of six
topics to be dis-
cussed by Mr.
Dallwig, who re-
sumed his appear-
ances at the Mu-
seum in October.
In the lecture to
be given each Sun-
day during Novem-
ber {the 7th, nth,
2lst and 28lh) Mr.
Dallwig will at-
tempt to make clear not only what con-
stitutes "race," but will also explode the
so-called "Aryan race" myth. His lecture,
illustrated with the Races of Mankind
sculptures by Malvina Hoffman, will cover
the peoples of Africa, China, India, Japan,
and the more important of the Pacific
Islands now so frequently in the war news.
Mr. Dallwig will lecture on a different
subject each month. In December his
subject will be "Caveman Clubs his Way to
Culture."

All of Mr. Dallwig's lectures begin
promptly at 2 p.m. and end at 4:30. There
is a half-hour intermis.siOn midway for
smoking, refreshments, and relaxation. Mr.
Dallwig's presentations this season will con-
sist of one hour or more in the Museum
Lecture Hall, and the balance of the time
in the exhibition halls.

The size of Mr. Dallwig's audiences is
necessarily limited to numbers practical for

passing in a group through the exhibition
halls; for this reason it is necessary to make
reservations in advance by mail or telephone
(WABash 9410). The experience of pa.st
.sea.sons is that long waiting lists are quickly
formed for each title. There is no charge
for the lectures or reservations, and admis-
sion to the Museum itself is free to every-
one on Sundays.

FOUR MORE LECTURES FOR ADULTS
IN SATURDAY COURSE

The autumn cour.se of free illustrated
lectures for adults will continue on Saturday
afternoons throughout November in the
James Simpson Theatre of the Museum.
All will be illustrated with motion pictures,
some in natural colors. The demand for
seats makes it nece.ssary to restrict admission
to adults; for children, free motion picture
programs are given in the Theatre on the
mornings of the same Saturdays. The
lectures for adults begin at 2:30 p.m.

Following are the dates, subjects and
speakers;

November 6— Big Game Hunting in the
Backyard.

High adventure close to home.
Murl Deusing.

November 13— Wildlife in Action.
Birds and animals caught unawares.
Olin Sewall Pettingill, Jr.

November 20— Wheels Over The Andes.
Sky driving across South America.
Robert Friers.

November 27 — America Marches With
Australia.

Highlights of an island continent.
Greenwood Adams.

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 seals upon
presentation of membership ticket to the
Theatre attendant before 2:30 o'clock on
the day of the lecture, or by writing to the
Museum (or telephoning WABash 9410) for
reservation. Seats will be held in the Mem-
ber's name until 2:30 o'clock. All reserved
seats not claimed by 2:30 p.m. will be made
available to the general public.

Wellcome Museum Survives Bombinji

From the famous Wellcome Foundation
in London comes the following note:

"Frequent inquiries are received about
the two Wellcome Museums. They are, and
will continue to be, housed in the Wellcome
Research Institution, although the build-
ing suffered considerable damage by enemy
action. Some objects in the Wellcome
Historical Medical Mu.seum were damaged.
The Wellcome Museum of Medical Science
remained comparatively intact."

Page 8

FIELD MUSEUM NEWS

November, IHS

GIFTS TO THE MUSEUM

Following is a list of some of the principal
gifts received since April 1, 1943:

Department of Anthropology:

From Donald Collier-- 200 sherds and 10
textile fragments, Peru; from Mrs. Retta
Eckenrode — a banner stone; from Lowell
Comee — ethnological material, Alaska and
Northwest Coast; from Mrs. Malcolm S.
Millard — a ba.sket.

Department of Botany:

Herbarium specimens, both cryptogamic
and phanerogamic, totaling 2,442, various
localities in North and Central America, and
Hawaii, from: C. W. Bazuin, H. K. Phinney,
William A. Daily, Dr. George D. Fuller,
Harold B. Louderback, James Zetek, Dr.
Paul J. Philson, Dr. M. A. Brannon, Donald
Richards, Prof. Maximino Martinez, Dr.
Walter Kiener, Dr. Fred A. Barkley, Dr.
Otto Degener, Lawrence J. King, Dr. Delzie
Demaree, Miss Marjorie Thomason; and,
from Dr. Earl E. SherfT — 97 photographic
negatives of plants.

Department of Geology:

From William F. Johnson — a fossil horse-
shoe crab. 111.; from William L. Corlew — a
fossil minnow (Cyprinidae), Wyo.; from
Miss Mary E. Davidson — an agate necklace;
from R. Bensabot — a sardonyx ring; from
S. A. Kurtz — 5 calcite crystals, Ohio; from
John W. Jennings — crinoidal limestone.
Ark.; from Sam B. Ullman — differentia!
erosion-Aplite dike in sandstone; from Capt.
Sharat K. Roy — 4i, invertebrate fossils,
N. D.; from John S. Albanese — igneous rock
with garnet, Solomon Islands; from Dr.
Frederick W. Burcky — 4 mineral specimens,
Ore., Calif., and Nev.; from Alfred A. Look —
molar teeth of Phenacodus, Colo.; from Wil-
lett H. Cornwell — 3 mineral specimens, N.
C; from A. S. Eckett— 2 fossil corals, N. Y.;
from Alfred S. McManus — ore specimens (4
iron, 3 gold), Canada; from Charles R. Short
— 3 specimens of diatomite, Fla.; from J. R.
Holland — a fossil coral, Quebec.

Department of Zoology:

From Chicago Zoological Society — 40
birds, a python, a boa, a snake from Hon-
duras, a spiny-haired iguana, a reticulated
giraffe, an African elephant, and 28 other
mammals; from Dr. C. S. Smith — a pilot
black snake, 4 millipeds and fragments, and
a species of cavernicolous crustacean, Tex.;
from D. Dwight Davis — 5 lizards. Ark., and
35 phalangids. 111., Colo., and Honduras;
from J. E. Johnson — 64 snakes, 17 lizards,
a turtle, and 8 frogs, Tex.; from Josef N.
Knull — 14 burestid beetles representing 6
species, U. S.; from William J. Beecher — 32
shells, 63 crustaceans, and 24 fishes; from
R. C. Ellis — 2 snakes and 2 lizards. Ark.;
from Dr. Charles H. Seevers — 253 insects
and allies, U. S. and Mexico; from Ensign
Merle A. Quait — 5 frogs, a salamander, and
40 insects and allies, Ind., 111.; from H. A.
Freeman— 2 butterflies, Tex.; from Dr. and
Mrs. C. Goodnight — 16 phalangids, Mexico;
from Dr. J. C. Bequaert — 4 wasps; from
Robert A. Burton — a frog and 6 snakes,
Iowa; from Robert R. Russo — 47 beetles of
21 species, N. M.; from Dr. C. Clayton
Hoff — 27 slides of paratypes of ostracods;
from Alex K. Wyatt — 5 caddis-flies, Wis.;
from Eugene Ray — a scorpion-fly, a neu-
ropteron, a sawfly, and 3 bugs. 111.; from
Harry Hoogstraal — 2 lizards, Ga., and 6
bats, Venezuela; from Dr. Wilfred H.
Osgood — 72 mammals, S. D.; from Arthur
D. Hasler — 6 species of fresh water shells.
Wis.; from Pvt. Ernst B. Haas— 77 land

shells, Tex.; from Harold C. Hanson — 6
harvest mice, Wis.; from Col. Clifford C.
Gregg — 10 insects and allies, Tex.; from Mrs.
Harmon D. Smith — 10 snakes, Ontario;
from Hon. R. M. Barnes — 2 California con-
dor eggs; from Pvt. Borys Malkin — 45
scarab beetles, 5 book-lice, a pseudo
scorpion, and 10 Zoraptera, Fla.

The Library:

Valuable books from: Col. Clifford C.
Gregg, Dr. Wilfred H. Osgood, Dr. Henry
Field, Dr. Adam of the Melbourne Museum,
Boardman Conover, Henry W. Nichols,
Paul C. Standley, Dr. Earl E. Sherff, L. W.
Penick and Company, Dr. Robert T. Hatt,
Walter F. Webb, Mengel Natural History
Society of Reading, Pa., Manuel Liende
Lazarto, Mrs. H. C. Tennent, Miss H. Eliza-
beth Story, Luis P. Barattini, Bernard
Benesh, Millicent T. Bingham, W. Frank
Blair, William Pierce Brodkorb, Mrs. Wil-
liam H. Bush, Stanley A. Cain, F. Gordon
Canston, Commercial Club of Chicago, Jose
Cuatrecasas, Henry Dybas, P. W. Fattig,
William J. Gerhard, Bert E. Grove, Biblio-
teca Minicipo of Havana, Hebrew Univer-
sity of Jerusalem, Gerald Keitel, Leon Kelso,
Ralph T. King, Frederick Lincoln, Dr. Paul
S. Martin, E. Morton Miller, Dr. Edwin L.
Moseley, Dr. Juan Jose Parodiz, Bryan
Patterson, T. Gilbert Pearson, Elmer S.
Riggs, Dr. Daniel F. Rubin de la BordoUa,
Lois S. Russell, San Diego Society of Natural
History, Ivan T. Sanderson, Karl P.
Schmidt, Sidney C. Smith, Dr. Morris
Steggerda, 0. A. Stevens, Leo R. Tehon,
Viking Fund of New York, Paul Voth,
Henry Miller, and Miss Miriam Wood.

NEW MEMBERS
The following persons became Members
of Field Museum during the period from
May 11 to October 15:

Contributors

Dr. Louis Schapiro*
Non-Resldent Life Members

Mrs. Irene Stark Bennett

' Associate Members

Gary Barthell, Harry P. Baumann, Dr.
Elmo F. Brennom, Daniel D. Carmell,
E. C. Christensen, Gordon A. Cooley, Dean
W. Davis, Dr. John F. Delph, Laurence M.
DuBois, J. W. Embree, Jr., Dr. W. Ray-
mond Fallon, Dr. William W. Gibbs,
Raymond G. Haskins, Ralph B. Howe, Miss
Katherine J. Hudson, Mrs. W. A. Jackson,
Dr. C. Helge M. Janson, Mrs. Mary M.
Jeffreys, Mrs. C. A. Jones, Jerome J. Kahn,
Miss Hilda M. Kemper, John H. Kraft,
D. C. Kreidler, Sanford Lassers, Arthur
L'Hommedieu, John Woodworth Leslie,
John S. Lord, Mrs. George B. Martin, Jonas
Meyers, Eugene Nufer, Grier D. Patterson,
Charles A. PoUak, Harry Prince, J. J. Rein-
gold, Theodore W. Robinson, Jr., Arthur
Rubloff, Mrs. Clive Runnells, Arnold C.
Schueren, Joseph Sterling, John D. Swigart,
James L. Taylor, Dr. J. Daniel Willems.

Sustaining Members

H. A. Treadwell.

Annual Members

Leslie P. Aggerbeck, Mrs. Eloise Parsons
Baker, Mrs. Harold G. Barrett, Mrs. Joseph
C. Belden, S. A. Bennett, Dr. Eugene Birch-
wood, Arthut T. Blake, Robert W. Blake,

♦Deceased.

Mrs. William F. Borgerd, Mrs. Edith L.
Borough, Dr. Curtis B. Bowman, Mrs. E.
M. Bowman, Miss Anne A. Boyd, P. D.
Brook, William W. Brown, Harley N. Bruce,
Mrs. Ralph E. Burkhardt, Tony Ciccone,
Solomon Citterman, Rolland F. Cohee, Jr.,
Harold Coleman, Charles H. Cooper, Mrs.
Irwin Paul Daemicke, Miss Helen M. Dart,
Mrs. James D. Davis, Dan Donald.son,
Charles H. Dornbusch, Frank L. Dorpols,
S. M. Dover, Mrs. Henry A. Dreffein, Mrs.
Arnold Epstein, Albert C. Fellinger, James
R. Fitzpatrick, Mrs. G. R. Fouche, Fred. W.
Frank, David A. Freeman, Chester A. Gage,
Harry W. Gefael, Edward Gordon, Mrs.
George Gouch, Jay Gould, J. F. Green,
Michael Green, Norman C. Green, Miss Eve
Groom, Mrs. Harold A. Hancock, Mrs. L. C.
Harbi-son, John C. Hardaway, Dr. Hubert F.
Harman, Russell E. Harr, Deane S. Hazen,
William S. Herrington, Howard H. Hilton,
Mrs. Michael L. Igoe, Miss Mayde B. John-
.son, R. C. Johnson, Mrs. Morgan B. Kent,
G. A. Kenney, Franz K. Krag, Mrs. Ralph
Henry Kramer, George A. Lane, Miss
Kathryn Lochner, Gilbert L. Lock, Law-
rence A. Lockwood, Lewis M. Long, Mrs.
Henry H. Luning, Frederick W. Manning,
Alfred W. Mansfield, Mrs. Sigurd Maseng,
Auguste Mathieu, Miss Nellie G. McMahon,
Neal F. Mears, Mrs. S. F. Mirabella, Erwin
K. Miske, Mrs. Olivia Moldenhauer, Ed-
ward S. Molineaux, Samuel C. Moore, Mrs.
J. E. Morgan, Milton H. Morris, Miss
Harriet Linda Morrow, Richard Mueller,
Mrs. J. I. Noest, Casper William Ooms,
Russell L. Parrish, George H. Parrott, Mrs.
Max G. Paulus, Earl E. Perreault, Douglass
Pillinger, Myron H. Po.st, Mrs. T. A. Potter,
John W. Power, Paul W. Power, D. J.
Powers, Frank M. Powers, Miss Lillian R.
Powers, William F. ■ Powers, William T.
Reace, Miss Martha Renken, Lewis M.
Rennie, Otto Romstedt, Mrs. N. H. Rosen-
thal, Mrs. Edgar P. Rupprecht, Mrs. Flor-
ence A. Rumbel, Carl Rune, Allen R.
Schlade, Norman J. Schlossman, Mrs. Ralph
T. SoUitt, Mrs. Charles H. Stresenreuter,
Dr. Otto E. Strohmeier, Joseph P. Sullivan,
Anton J. Tadrowski, Paul Tschampel, Lee
B. Thomas, Ernest H. Thompson, E. Clif-
ford Toren, A. E. Tregenza, Frederick W.
Turner, James A. Turner, James A. Velde,
James B. Vogel, E. Jerry Walker, Gary G.
Walters, H. F. Wardwell, Mrs. Richard W.
Watkins, Rudy W. Weber, Mrs. Grace
Adams Whitesel, Walter L. Woldhausen.

NATURALIST AT LARGE
By Thomas Barbour

Dr. Wilfred Osgood, Curator Emer-
itus of Zoology, says of this book:

"To me, this is the best book of the
year and the best for many years. The
author is an all around naturalist of
the so-called old school but in a mod-
ern setting in which he is well known
for his warmth, humor, and forth-
rightness. His telling of incidents in
a most varied career as a traveling
naturalist and as Director of the
'Aga.ssiz' Museum at Harvard makes
fa.scinating reading which should have
a wide appeal to all classes of readers."

On sale at The Book Shop of
Field Museum — $3.50. Postage paid
by the Museum on mail orders.

PRINTED BV FIELD MUSEUM PRESS

Field

News

Cl

.. V\3ol

Published Monthly by Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago

^X^ aA

Vol.

(^-yf^A^

DECEMBER, 1943

No. 13

the numerous tributaries of the great river.
In some of the more sheltered shallower
channels, colonies of water lilies, Victoria
regia, the largest of all freshwater aquatics,
appear to be well established. Though sub-
ject, like everything on the river, to the
vicissitudes of floods, and not present in the

VICTORIA REGIA, LARGEST OF WATER LILIES, SHOWN IN NEW HABITAT GROUP

Bv B. E. DAHLGREN

CHIEF CURATOR, DBPARTMBNT OP BOTANY

A new plant habitat group has recently
been added to the botanical exhibits. It
represents an association of aquatic plants
in their natural environment, and is the
fourth of the small series of habitat groups
in Martin A. and Car-
rie Ryerson Hall (Hall
29). These are de-
signed to provide for
that hall, devoted to
Plant Life, a few out-
standing examples of
plant formations re-
presenting widely dif-
ferent environments.

The scene repro-
duced in the new ex-
hibit is from the junc-
tion of the Tapaj6s
River with the Ama-
zon. At this point
silt from the two great
rivers has produced a
long spit of mud sepa-
rating the waters of
the two streams for a
considerable distance.
This alluvial land is
cut into islands by
transverse channels
and covered in its
more substantial por-
tions by a dense
growth of recent trop-
ical vegetation including, especially, spiny
leguminous shrubs and trees, and weed-
like Cecropias, topped by some slender
Assai palms, all of them evidently survivors
of many inundations. The shallow channels,
as well as the many backwaters enclosed by
the ragged margins of the land, a£ford pro-
tection for a large variety of aquatic plants,
some floating, others anchored in the mud,
growing there from seed or seedlings either
brought down river by the current or pro-
duced on the spot. That those not securely
anchored are soon carried away, is suggested
by the masses of floating plants moving
down stream at all times, alone or in com-
pany with trees or whole floating islands of
vegetation undermined by the current and
recently torn from the river banks, or old
accumulations released from their moorings
by sudden high water in one or another of

GIANT SOUTH AMERICAN AQUATICS

PUnt life of Braztluii sue;ims, as reproduced in habitat group representing junction o:
Rivets. This exhibit was recently added to Martin A. and Carrie Ryerson

great numbers reported from certain other
localities, they are known to have existed
there for a long time. They were observed
in the same place almost a hundred years
ago by the well-known English botanist
Spruce who sent specimens of them to
Europe. Their large prickly seedpods
mature under water and, though not actually
buried in the soil, stick firmly in the mud
of the bottom and will no doubt insure
reseeding even if the parent plants should
be carried off by floods.

The huge water-lily is indigenous in much
of the territory covered by the larger rivers
of eastern South America, from La Plata to
the Guianas. It was first discovered on one
of the Amazon tributaries in 1807 by the
Bohemian botanist Haenke who was sent
by the Spanish government to investigate
the vegetable products of Peru. Shortly

afterwards the plant was found in the La
Plata river system by Bonpland and soon
afterwards by D'Orbigny. It was found
again on the Amazon by the botanist
Poeppig who descended the river from Peru,
and finally in 1837 in the Guianas by Robert
Schomburgk during his Venezuelan bound-
ary explorations on
behalf of the British
governm.ent. Schom-
burgk proposed nam-
ing the plant in honor
of Queen Victoria.

On the Amazon the
popular name of the
plant is "forno de ja-
can&" (the ja^ana's
oven, or frying pan),
the jagand being a
long-legged plover-
like bird frequenting
the huge skillet-
shaped leaves in its
search for food. In
the Paran4 region the
pods are said to be
gathered by the In-
dians, and the seeds,
according to Bon-
pland, "maiz del
agua" (water maize),
are ground for flour.

Introduced into cul-
tivation in tropical
gardens and in the
temperate zone in
places where young plants may be grown in
greenhouises and kept alive for outdoor dis-
play in summer, the largest of all water-lilies
never ceases to be an object of interest and
admiration. The large white flowers are
short-lived. They open in the evening, clos-
ing, at least partly, in the morning, to open
again at du.sk. After the second night they
begin to decline, lose their brilliance, turn
pinkish, wilt and soon disappear from sight.
The leaves, on the other hand, last a long
time. They make their appearance at the
surface of the water as tightly rolled spiny
buds which gradually unfold and enlarge in
widening circles to form flat shallow pans
four to five feet or more in diameter, smooth
on the upper surface, but reinforced on the
lower surface by a radiating network of
stout ribs, channeled for buoyancy by large
air spaces and spiny like the stout leaf and

f the Tapajos and Atnazon
Hall (Hall 29).

Paget

FIELD MUSEUM NEWS

December, 19^3

flower stalks. The plant is a perennial with
a well developed rootstalk. The flowers are
apparently insect pollinated. They are
visited, as soon as they open, by a black
beetle as large as a coffee bean.

The other conspicuous flowering plant of
the habitat group is a water-hyacinth resem-
bling in all essential respects the blue-
flowered South American water-hyacinth
which, as an escape from cultivation in the
southern states, has become a pest and
hindrance to navigation in some of the rivers
of Florida and the Gulf states. The species
growing with the Victoria regia forms well
rooted plants which have long submerged
stems and lack the swollen leafstalks
which serve its more common and familiar
relative as floats.

An aquatic grass, with stout, almost
woody root stalks, lines all the margins of
the channel and invades the shallow water
where it competes with the water-hyacinth
for space. A small floating water fern com-
pletes the special plant association over
which the Victoria regia presides.

The reproductions of the plant-forms in
the new habitat group, and the installation,
are the work of Emil Sella, Chief Preparator,
aided by Milton Copulos, David Henner and
others. The landscape which forms the
background was painted by Staff Artist
Arthur G. Rueckert. The material on which
it is based was collected by several Field
Museum expeditions.

MRS. J. N. RAYMOND GIVES $6,000
FOR CHILDREN'S PROGRAMS

The Museum received a gift of $6,000 last
month from Mrs. James Nelson Raymond,
for the support of current acti^'ities of the
James Nelson and Anna Louise Raymond
Foundation for Public School and Children's
Lectures. The Foundation was established
by Mrs. Raymond in 1925 with an endow-
ment of $500,000 and she has made addi-
tional gifts each year since that time. With
the latest gift, the total of these additions
now amounts to $93,000.

Due to her interest and faithful support,
the Foundation has through the years been
enabled to expand its acti^^ties constantly,
and provide more and more supplementary
scientific education for children in the
schools of Chicago and suburbs. Approxi-
mately 250,000 children benefit each year
from the free series of spring, summer and
autumn motion picture programs which the
Foundation presents in the James Simpson
Theatre of the Museum, and from the
extension lectures given in school assemblies
and classrooms by members of the Raymond
Foundation staff. Other work carried on
by the Foundation includes the publication
of stories for children, radio programs, lec-
ture tours at the Museum, special training
courses to assist teachers who conduct
classes in natural science studies, and various
related activities.

ANTHROPOLOGICAL PROBLEMS

By PAIT, S. MARTIN

CHIBP CURATOB. DBPARTMEN'T OF ANTHROPOLOGY

Anthropological research on cultural and
racial contacts has world-wide implications
and is of vital importance in the entire range
of the sciences of man. Other sciences need
the data and results of anthropology. Re-
search will go further and be more worth
while if it is correlated with other researches.
The botanist studying the origin and distri-
bution of corn should know the distribution
of corn both in space and time. These data
the archaeologist would be able to give him.
Researchers in the field of medicine need to
call on the anthropologist for information on
the food habits and the health of various
peoples; on the physical anthropologist for
the apparent effects of climate on race; and
on the ethnologist for information as to
taboos and other social customs that may
affect the prevention and control of diseases.
These are but a few examples of ways in
which anthropology can serve our society.

Anthropological research aims to be a con-
tribution to the understanding and control
of life. Its laboratories are the cultures of
primitive people, and its purpose is to derive
from them some general knowledge of
human ways, not merely to collect miscel-
laneous and curious information. The
changes that occur in our own more complex
culture are more easily understood- when
similar changes are studied in simpler primi-
tive societies where factors and situations
are relatively few.

PSYCHOLOGY OF CULTURES
If specimens and photographs hdp in
securing and explaining the complete psy-
chological pattern of a culture, then they are
carefully collected and brought back to the
Museum; but they are collected only in order
to help give our audience a picture or an idea
of how a given people of a given culture meet
their daily problems and manage to exist and
thrive in an unfriendly, poor world. Some
expeditions do no collecting; they merely try
to reclaim some fragments of the culture of a
people from whom our early Museum men
hurriedly gathered thousands of miscella-
neous specimens which at present have
no special meaning or value to us or to
anyone else.

In the field of exhibition techniques we are
interested in interpreting facts about man-
kind to an interested lay audience. This
means that we no longer jam our exhibition
cases with a tiresome and duplicative array
of specimens distressingly similar and mo-
notonous. Rather, we insist on using a few
specimens, placed on attractively colored
backgrounds, in order to illustrate some
phase of man's history. A beginning has
been made in Hall B — Archaeology of the
New World. In this way, we can convey
easily and quickly to our audience whether
a given culture is advanced or not, is based
on farming and hunting, or has or has not

been greatly influenced by its environment.
The emphasis of our work has now been
shifted from pure research as such to re-
search which will aid and benefit our society.
We are eager to educate and to give help to
all those who desire to learn. We still cater
to specialists and professionals providing
them with necessary factual material, but
we are also interested in reaching as many
people as possible and influencing them pro-
foundly. We can do this through publica-
tions, exhibitions, expeditions, and research.

FUTimE DEVELOPMENTS

In what direction does the department
hope to reach out in the future?

It seems certain that the results of re-
search in Anthropology must be applied
more and more to our daily life and prob-
lems. The field of Applied Anthropology is
a fairly new one but is growing rapidly.
Applied Anthropology uses all of the present
disciplines of anthropology plus those of
psychology, psychiatry, and other social
sciences. It endeavors to interpret and
smooth out the conflicts in our own society.
The day may come when we shall have a
Curator of Applied Anthropology.

We shall certainly want to continue im-
proving our exhibitions, using what we have
already accomplished in Hall B as a spring-
board for future changes. Before we can go
much further along this path, it will be neces-
sary to study the psychological habits of our
visitors in order to know how to meet their
requirements. This is virtually an unex-
plored field and much work needs to be done.

To predict further would only lead us into
a fool's paradise. It is impossible to state
now what we are going to do except in a most
general way. Most of all, it is imperative for
us to be alert and receptive to changes and
new ideas; to lead the procession rather than
bring up the rear! We must study man's
desires, impulses, and quirks so as to help
society control the conflicts, both major and
minor, which create unstable, even psychotic
tendencies and bring about unnecessary
unhappiness. Wherever these studies of
Man lead us, we shall go.

Games With String

The string figure game known as "cat's
cradle" is widely played among African
children. Complicated figures are con-
structed, and competitions are held in which
children challenge one another. Speed and
accuracy decide the winner. Such string
games are played by native tribes of Aus-
tralia, and seem to be almost world-wide.

MUSEUM TO CLOSE CHRISTM.\S
AND NEW YEAR'S DAY
in order to permit as many em-
ployees as possible to spend the
holidays with their families.

December, 19)fS

FIELD MUSEUM NEWS

Page 3

STRANGE SIGHTS, BOTH LIVING AND INANIMATE, FOUND ON DESERT HIGHWAY OF PERU

By KARL P. SCHMIDT

CHIEF CURATOR. DEPARTMENT OF 200LOOY

The coastal plain of Peru, between the
Andes and the Pacific, though wholly within
the tropics, is untropically cool and as un-
tropically barren.

These surprising and important geographic
features result from the remarkable Hum-
boldt Current that washes the Peruvian
coast — an oceanic current of quite a different
and opposite type from our more familiar
Gulf Stream. The cold waters from the
Humboldt Current well up from the bottom
of the Pacific in a narrow belt along the west
coast of South America. They bring up with
them the fertility of the deep waters and
thus become the scene of an extraordinary
wealth of marine life. This contrasts the
more remarkably with the barrenness of
the coastal desert, which is in its turn due
to the effect of the current on air tempera-
tures. The combination of desert land and
rich marine life results in the extraordinary
phenomenon of the guano islands that fringe
the Peruvian coast.

On the coastal shelf itself, the alternating
rocky ridges and sandy plains form one of
the most extreme of desert regions in the
world, on which one may travel for miles
without seeing a living plant or animal.
The more familiar desert of the North
American Southwest, with basically the
same substratum of sand and rock, is rich
with desert plants specifically adjusted to
arid conditions, and supports an equally
rich and no less remarkable animal life
adapted to the desert environment. Thus
the Colorado desert (of Arizona, adjacent
California, and the Mexican state of Sonora)
gives the impression of an ancient desert
area, in which time has been available for
the evolution of both vegetation and animal
life; the Peruvian desert strip, contrariwise,
seems to be at least relatively a young desert.

SINGLE LANE HAIRPIN CURVES

The absence of tropical jungle has a
conspicuous man-made result, a reflection of
our automobile-conscious civilization. The
ambitious and romantic project for a high-
way to link the two Americas — the Pan
American Highway — has its Peruvian link
completed for the more than a thousand
miles from the Ecuadorean border to Bolivia
and Chile. The worst difflculty that faced
the Peruvian engineers was probably the
moving sand dunes produced by the
eternally pounding waves of the Pacific.
Low but sturdy bridges cross the rivers
which, though numerous and subject to
flood, are small. Where spurs from the
mountains extend to the sea, a winding
passage has been blasted, not always wide
enough for two cars, and sometimes with
a hairpin turn, quite unprotected, above a
dizzy drop. The Peruvian oil field in the
northwestern part of the country not only
provides gasoline at a reasonable price

for the cars that are to run on the roads,
but supplies the asphalt to surface them.
A ribbon of fine "black top" road extended
for hundreds of miles in each direction from
Lima in 1939 when the writer traveled over
it as a member of the Magellanic Expedition

POST-WAR PICTURE
The dream of driving an auto-
mobile from Alaska to the Straits
of Magellan is likely to be realized
in the post-war period. One long
and important link of the
Pan American Highway already
completed is that extending along
the coast of Peru. Something of
the interest of the desert region in
this section is told in the accom-
panying article by Mr. Schmidt
who has already traversed it.

of Field Museum. It may now well extend
the whole length of the country. How
would a thinly populated country, like Peru,
use its roads, and especially an international
highway? And what would one see between
Chiclayo at the north and Lima, and
between Lima and Arequipa at the south?
Would not a trip on the Peruvian highway
be unbearably monotonous in this most
barren of deserts? The answer to the first
question requires a separate essay. The
present one will detail a naturalist's im-
pressions of the coastal landscapes.

TRAVEL BY TRUCK

A brief digression may set forth the mode
of travel to which my son and I became
converts — and not merely converts, but
most active propagandists! We had the
inevitable problem, as a scientific party, of
moving considerable
equipment from Lima
to Arequipa, some thir-
teen hundred kilome-
ters. With our varied
interests, the expedition
baggage (recalling the
apt impedimenta of the
Romans) had grown to
half a truck load. The
road to Arequipa was
officially opened three
days after our arrival in
Lima. Why not be the
first gringos to travel
over it, and as our
equipment required a
truck, why not travel
with the duffle under
our own eyes, as pas-
sengers on the truck?
An estimable friend and
companion predicted
that we might not only

be the first gringo truck riders over the
Arequipa road, but the last as well. We
sent him on by airplane to lay plans for
our collecting in southern Peru, and .lohn
and I joined a caravan of two brand new
Detroit-built trucks (two-tonners) with
the Arequipa Express. We soon learned
to avoid the home-made cab, with its flat
board seat and vertical back. With a
blanket for padding and ropes for hand
holds, we rode instead on top of the high-
piled load. There could be no better vantage
point for anyone whose sOul is moved by
the glorious panorama of mountain and
sea and sky, juxtaposed against desert and
cultivated valley.

VIVID GREEN OASES

The great central ranges of the Andes
wall off the coastal desert from the vast
and dense tropical forest of the Amazonian
side of Peru. The Andes themselves are
barren for the lowermost ten thousand feet;
but, as they rise to the zone of ice and
snow, some thousands of feet of the upper
levels of the mountains below the snow line
are well watered. The run-off from the
snow fields and mountain lakes gathers to
form the more than fifty rivers that cross
the desert plain to the Pacific. These are
insufficient to water the plain, but they
supply sufficient water to convert the valley
floors themselves into oases of vivid green.
These, nursed by irrigation, sometimes ex-
tended upward on the sides of the valleys
in rock-walled terraces, mementos of the
Inca civilization.

The irrigated valleys may spread out in
a broad and fertile delta plain, as at lea
and Pisco, supporting a considerable popula-
tion on the haciendas, and often a city of
some size as well. Or they may be confined
to a steep-walled canyon, whose flat bottom
forms a ribbon-like linear oasis, invisible

HOW HIGHWAY MASTERS ANDEAN SLOPES

After the war miny North Americans may drive their cars over this road on their
way to still farther regions of South America.

Pagei

FIELD MUSEUM NEWS

December, 191,3

until the truck arrives at the very canyon
brim. Or, perhaps most charming of all,
we may skirt a valley so small that it
supports only a single family, with a single
hut, a tiny field of corn, a single goat, and
a single burro; evidently it is inhabited to
its full human carrying capacity, although
there may be no other habitation within
forty miles. Such a self-sufficient human

lypts, interspersed with fields of small grain
and of the staple com.

North of Lima the valleys are still dif-
ferent. Many are devoted mainly to sugar-
cane, in vast flourishing plantations. South
of Chiclayo one may see fields laid off in
tiny squares for aquatic rice culture like
that of the Orient. The last great valley
to the south, that of the Majes River, is

1 IKLD MUSEUM EXPEDITION ON PAN AMERICAN HIGHWAY

Traveling in this truck. Chief Curator Schmidt and his companions were the first North American travelers to motor

from Lima to Arequtpa. Note curious desert vegetation at roadside.

unit may draw in part on the sea, with a
private sheltered beach for a fishing boat
between jutting walls of rock pounded by
Pacific surf on either side.

APPLES AND BANANAS GROW SIDE BY SIDE

The valley oases not only afford the most
welcome and delightful relief from the in-
tervening stretches of rock and sand, but
offer a succession of surprises in the con-
trasts between the products which appear
• from each one to the next. Long-staple
cotton is the principal product in the broad
valley mouths south of Lima. A succeeding
valley will be found to be wholly devoted
to apples, the rectangular orchards bordered
by lines of banana plants. Such a juxta-
position of temperate and tropical fruits at
sea level is scarcely to be found beyond the
influence of the Humboldt Current. Then
there may be a broad valley entirely devoted
to olive trees, their gnarled trunks attesting
their great age, and their gray-green foliage
a delight to the eye. The more remote the
valley from Lima, the more diversified and
self-sufficient will be its agriculture. Such
valleys will have adobe-walled pastures,
often set off by rows of willows or of euca-

famous for its oranges — 'camanetas' — taking
their name from the town of Caman4, at
the sea.

WHALE HUNTING RECALLED

The Pan American Highway sometimes
parallels the coast at a considerable distance
inland, but it frequently comes close to the
sea, and thus brings the traveler into contact
with the remarkable beach zone. Bleaching
skeletons of whales remind us that our
North American forbears hunted the levia-
than in these waters a hundred years ago.
This hunting was as much conditioned by
the presence of the Humboldt Current as
are the geographic features already men-
tioned. The numerous carcasses of guano-
birds attest that the great current is not
in its normal cycle, and dying cormorants,
apparently too weak to fly, may be seen
moving inland to contribute to the wave-
washed zone of flotsam and jetsam which
consists of sticks, pumice, kelp, and the
bones of a great variety of marine creatures.

Our caravan stops at intervals to permit
rest for the drivers, to let us all stretch
our legs, and to test and cool the precious
new tires, pride of the Arequipa Express.

A few minutes stroll along the beach yields
a curious insight into this graveyard zone.
The beach may be watched over by a row
of gigantic condors, properly inhabitants of
the dizziest mountain heights, but remark-
ably able to adjust to the enormous differ-
ences of air pressure between sea level and
the snow line at 16,000 feet.

SCAVENGER LIZARDS
The carcasses of dead fishes, cormorants,
and sea lions are promptly fly-blown, and
the carrion flies and their maggots afford
food for insect eaters. The most conspicuous
living creature in this trash proves to be a
good-sized lizard, Tropidurus peruvianus,
found here in countless hundreds, in a
nearly continuous ribbon of population from
the equator to temperate Chile. The large
males are richly colored with brown bars
and a dark throat, and are as much as
eighteen inches long. The much smaller
females are gray. Juvenile males, gray like
the females, have a vivid flash-mark of
orange or yellow in the groin, a most curious
kind of "recognition-mark" the function of
which is not evident. While this lizard may
range inland onto the mountain slopes to
as much as ten thousand feet altitude, it
nowhere develops such a dense population
as in the beach zone.

AWESOME VISTAS
While our chauffeurs gather a boxfuU
of sea urchins, which we crack open like
eggs and eat raw, we may be charmed by
the aquatic gamboling of a marine otter —
an animal which, happily, is not quite so
near extinction as its relative, the sea otter
of the northern Pacific.

The desert itself, aside from an intrinsic
interest for the extreme of barrenness,
exhibits numerous memorable landscapes.
The spurs of mountain that buttress the
first Andean chain, themselves rising to
great altitudes, are mostly of reddish rock.
They divide and subdivide in an endless
series of arroyos and crests that somehow
make me think of some vast crashing chord
of music with all of its harmonics frozen
into physiography.

"HANGING DUNES"

Where sand sweeps inland from the sea
beach, it may rise into great dunes, and
into dunes of astonishing variety. The
familiar types of coastal dunes are especially
abundant in northern Peru and at some
places between Pisco and Lima. Occasion-
ally the steady winds from the Pacific carry
sand far inland, resulting in vast "hanging
dunes" like the one at Nasca which covers
the top of a mountain spur at several thou-
sand feet of elevation, without any very
evident source. Such wind-borne sand is
carried up the escarpment at the coast to
the nearly level plateau below Arequipa
at four thousand feet altitude. There the
sand gathers in the marvelous "Barkhan
Dunes" that march inland to the main

December, 191,3

FIELD MUSEUM NEWS

Page 5

•THE BARKHANS'-TRAVELING DUNES

Strange sand lormations of nearly equal size which move across the Peruvian desert,

holding their shape as the wind propels them. After reaching normal height of

six to eight feet, they "give birth" to "infant dunes" instead of growing larger.

Andean range. These curious dunes are of
nearly equal size, of crescentic form, with
the horns pointing forward in the direction
of travel. As the sand accumulates in them,
instead of increasing beyond their normal
size (with a height of six or eight feet),
crescentic infant dunes are given off at the
horns. These have long attracted the atten-
tion of travelers by rail from MoUendo to
Arequipa. They are vastly more numerous
along the road from Arequipa to Caman&,
before the road drops steeply into the valley
of the Majes.

SEA FOG ENCOURAGES PLANTS

Where the fog sweeps in from the sea a
strange bromeliad vegetation may develop,
covering the ground with great mats of a
curious rootless ground plant, whose rela-
tives are everywhere familiar in the humid
tropics as epiphytes on trees. Our familiar
"Spanish moss," Tillandsia, belongs to this
group of plants. The ground bromeliads
are so gray that they scarcely appear to be
living. These mats of tillandsia lie at right
angles to the direction of the wind, and
apparently grow toward it, dying off at the
leeward edge.

Occasional valleys, for no superficially
evident reason, develop a uniform growth
of a columnar cactus on their steep walls.
In still other places the rocks may be
covered with a delicate film of green, perhaps
of lichen or of alga, dependent on the fog
from the sea. One or two valleys only, in
all the long series south of Lima, are unin-
habited, and exhibit no trace of former
habitation by man. In these the valley
floor has a sparse vegetation of bushes, and
occasionally displays the mesquite-like alga-
roba tree.

"spring" in OCTOBER

The most wonderful vegetational phenom-
enon in Peru is the rich seasonal herbage
known as the "lomas," produced on certain
slopes close to the sea and watered by the
condensation of fogs sweeping inland. Of

all the contrasts in the
Peruvian landscape,
this is the most star-
tling. On our trip to
Arequipa early in Au-
gust we encountered
the wholly plantless
ridges and plains, the
sparse coastal vegeta-
tion, the occasional
areas covered with til-
landsias, and the occa-
sional cactus-covered
slopes between the suc-
cession of oasis-like irri-
gated valleys. We were
told that the port of
Chala served as a cattle
shipping center; and we
expressed some polite
skepticism as to where
cattle might come from
for shipment. On our return in mid-Octo-
ber, after crossing the ever barren plateau
with its Barkhan Dunes, dipping down into
the orange grove oasis at Camanfi and again
approaching Chala, we suddenly found our-
selves on seaward-facing slopes covered
with knee-deep herbaceous plants, rich with
a great variety of flowers. Lilies were
especially beautiful and varied. The air
was filled for miles with an odor like that of
heliotrope. Birds courted and sang in these
meadows; especially memorable were vivid
vermilion flycatchers. We seemed suddenly
to have come out of an age-long winter into
the full bloom of a northern spring. As we
descended the slopes, the barren sand and
rock reappeared at about three hundred feet
above the sea; a few miles beyond Chala we
drove out of the flower-scented atmosphere
into a long stretch of the most barren desert.
This charming and curious phenomenon
of the lomas vegetation is limited to the
coastal region of Peru, more especially of
the region from Lima southward. It forms
only in an altitude zone between three
hundred and three thousand feet above sea
level. It is rather exactly governed by
topographic and climatic conditions, so that
it will be richly devel-
oped in one valley and
absent or feebly devel-
oped in an adjacent one
that seems little differ-
ent. The Chala region
is known as the richest
of these lomas areas.
A few miles inland how-
ever, desert conditions
prevail throughout the
year.

LAND OF THE INCAS

The shadow of the
Inca and pre-Inca civili-
zations lies everywhere
upon the Peruvian
landscape. The culti-
vated valleys are ter-

raced far above the present level of culti-
vation, often into tiny rock walled shelves
that could only have been watered by hand.
The desert plains often bear the most
astonishing adobe ruins; vast citadels on
hilltops, some doubtless temples and others
fortresses; great cities that must have
hummed with life; and mortuary cities that
seem to have been used by the living only
to bury their dead. All these attest to the
once dense populations of the coastal region.
The traveler on the highway, who is
hurried past the ruins, and who cannot
delve into the panoramic story of pre-
colonial Peru, is afforded an even more
impressive evidence of the populations of
past ages by the incredible abundance of
human remains. In the mortuary city of
Cajamarquilla, above Lima, scattered arm
and leg bones are to be seen everywhere,
with an occasional skull left in a niche in
the adobe wall. In a road cut, a whole
skeleton is seen exposed, the bones rolling
down into the roadway to be ground under
the wheels of the passing vehicles. On top
of a hill one may see a grave neatly dug out
for its pottery (the chief materials of study
for archaeologists), the skeletons left neatly
laid out beside the pit. Or in a sandy
stretch the wind may have uncovered a
helter-skelter tangle of human skulls, limb-
bones, pelvises, and vertebrae.

CREVICE JAMMED WITH SKELETONS

Lest one think that this is a phenomenon
only of the coastal region, I may mention
a rock crevice on the side of the mountain
in the far off valley of the Urubamba
(beyond Cuzco), ten thousand feet above
sea level, which was crammed with human
skeletons. Thus the Peruvian past, with
its irrigation civilization, is visibly linked
to the modernity of automobile traffic on
an asphalt-covered highway.

Such are the glimpses of Peru to be had
from the top of a swaying load on a two-ton
truck on this thousand-mile link in the
Carretera Pan-Americana — destined to see
great caravans of freight and travelers in
the not too distant future.

AREQUIPA AND MOUNT MISTl

Part of Peruvian city at end of desert highway. Note snowcap atop symmetrical

cone of the volcano in background.

Page 6

FIELD MUSEUM NEWS

December, 19iS

Field Museum of Natural History

FoUNn>BD BY Marshall Firld, 1893
Rooaevelt Road and Field DrlTe, Chicago

Tblephonb; Wabash 9410

THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES
Lester Aruol-r Stanley Field

SBWELL L. An-ERY SAlfliEL ISSULL, Jr.

W. McCoRMiCK Blair Charles A. McCuixoch

Leopold E. Block William H. Mitchell

boardman comover george a. richard6on

Walter J. Cljimiscs Theodore Roosevelt

Albert B. Dick, Jr. Solomon A. Smith

Howard W. Fenton Albert A. Sprague

Joseph N. Field Silas H. Strawn

Marshall Field Albert H. Wetten
John P. Wilson

OFFICERS

Stanley Field Pretidtnt

Albert A. Sprague Fim Viee-Pretident

Silas H. Strawn Stcond Vure-Pretident

Albert B. Dick Third Vier-President

♦Cufpord C. Grbgg Director and Secretary

Orr G00D6ON Acting Director and Acting Secretary

Solomon A. Smith . . . Treaturer and Attitlani Secretary

* On leave in active aervice as a Colonel in the United
Statea Army.

FIELD MUSEUM NEWS

EDITOR
WlLPRBO H. Osgood Curator Bmeritu*, Zoology

CONTRIBUTING EDITORS

Paul S. Martin Chief Curator of Anthropology

B. E. Dahlgren Chief Curator of Botany

Henry W. Nichols Chief Curator of Geology

Karl P. Schmidt Chief Curator of Zoology

MANAGING EDITOR
H. B. Haste Public Relatiom Coumel

Membera are requested to Inforin the Muaeum
promptly of changes of addresa.

DECEMBER 25, 1943

is still far from being a day (or

rejoicing in the accustomed pattern.

Who could say "Merry Christmas" to a
boy on his way into battle — or, at home, to
his mother or father — without a feeling of
revulsion at the hollowness and incongruity
of the words as he pronounced them?

While the thunders of war still rever-
berate, the Museum can express to its
Members, its friends, and its staff — those at
home and those in the service of the Nation
— only the wish that the hopes of all which
have risen so notably since the last Yuletide,
may culminate in Victory during 1944, and
that another year will not have to pass with-
out an unqualified "Merry Christmas."

CHICAGO N.H.M. BULLETIN
IS NEW NAME OF NEWS

The change in name from Field Museum
of Natural History to Chicago Natural His-
tory Museum becomes effective this month,
and it has therefore become necessary to
change also the name of this periodical for
Museum Members.

This is the last issue to bear the name
Field Museum News. Beginning with the
January, 1944 issue, this publication will be
called Chicago Natural History Mu-
seum BULLETIN. The seemingly obvious
change which might have been expected,
to "Chicago Museum News," was impracti-
cal because that name seemed to imply a

publication reporting the news of all Chicago
museums including those in fields not
covered by this institution.

PUBLICATION SCIffiDULE CUT

During 1944, due to the absence of so
many members of the Museum staff on the
urgent business of war, and the necessity
imposed upon all publishers to conserve
paper supplies. The BULLETIN will be
published bi-monthly instead of monthly.
The issues will appear in January, March,
May, July, September and November.
Apart from this reduction in the number of
issues, no other change is at present con-
templated.

BIOLOGICAL SUPPLY HOUSE
AIDS ANATOMY DIVISION

The Museum benefits from the friendship
and co-operation of innumerable individuals
as well as organizations of all kinds. These
include especially the local zoological gar-
dens and the commercial biological supply
houses which supply specimens, charts
and microscope slides to schools. In
Chicago, the General Biological Supply
House has served this museum in a unique
way by embalming rare animals of all kinds.
Since the time when the Museum's Division
of Osteology took up a research program,
with a few miscellaneous alcoholic speci-
mens and the gleanings from several expedi-
tions assembled and bravely labeled "Divi-
sion of Anatomy," the General Biological
Supply House has given its whole-hearted
co-operation, and has made generous con-
tributions of time and materials.

The first major acquisition that made the
aid of the supply house of vital importance
was in connection with Su-Lin, the giant
panda. This animal had long been a sub-
ject of zoological argument, and no thorough
dissection had ever been made to establish
its relations with the raccoons on one hand
and the bears on the other. If the necessary
detailed studies were to be done, Su-Lin's
body could not be embalmed piecemeal, and
the Museum had neither the experience nor
the necessary equipment for modern em-
balming. The General Biological Supply
House came to our aid, and soon Su-Lin
was returned not only full of embalming
fluid, but with his blood vessels filled with
colored starch ready for the most delicate
dissection ("she" turned out to be "he"
on the dissecting table). This started a
Noah's ark trek to the supply house. Su-
Lin was followed by another panda, a lesser
panda, a gorilla, a sloth bear, black bear,
bassariscus, binturong, palm civet, raccoons,
skunks, weasel, kinkajous, and many others.
Some were injected with colored starch,
others by the latest latex method. In all,
hundreds of gallons of preserving fluid were
used up. Nor did the biological supply house
balk when asked to embalm a baby giraffe.
No doubt the recent death of an elephant at

Brookfield Zoo occasioned bated breath and
averted eyes at the GBSH.

In the course of studies at the Museum on
carnivorous mammals related to Su-Lin, the
General Biological Supply House pre-
sented various embalmed specimens with-
out charge. The Museum has often served
the supply house with information and
identification of specimens. Their counter-
services now greatly outweigh our aid in the
past. The Museum is especially indebted
to the expert embalmer at the supply house,
Mr. Arnold Blaufuss, as well as to Mr. A.
S. Windsor, and to the president of the
company, Mr. C. Blair Coursen. — M.B.

FIELD MUSEUM HONOR ROLL
\ow In the Nation's Service

^

Army

Theodore Roose\'Elt,

Trustee — Brig.Gen.
George A. Richard-
son, Trustee — Lt.

Col.
Clifford C. Gregg,

Director — Colonel,

G.S.C.
Dr. John Rinaldo,

.Associate, Southwestern Archaeol. — Staff Sgt.
Db. Sharat K. Roy, Curator, Geo!. — Capt.
D. Dwight Davis, Curator, .Anat. and Osteol. —

Corp.
Bryan Patterson, Curator, Paleontologj- — Pvt.
Emmet R. Blake, Aast. Curator, Birds — Special

Agent, War Dept.
Rupert L. Wenzel, Aast. Curator, Insects — Capt.
HEsntY S. Dybas, .Assistant, Insects — Pvt.
William Beecher, Temp. Asst., Zool. — Pvt.
Hentiy Horback, .\sst., Geol. — Pvt.
Jambs C. McIntyre, Guard — 2nd Lt.
Raymond J. Connors, Guard— Pvt.
FKAm J. DUTKOvic Janitor — Pvt.

Navy

Lester Armoub, Trustee — Comdr.

Saml'EL Inslt-l, Jr., Trustee — Lieut. Comdr.

Joseph Nash Fisld, Trustee — Lieut.

CoUN Campbell Sanborn, Curator, Mammals —

Lieut.
Dr. .Alexander Spoehr, .Asst. Curator, N. Amer.

Ethnol. — Lieut, (j.g.)
LoREN P. Woods, Asst. Curator, Fishes — Ensign
John W. Moyer, Taxidermist — Ch. Specialist

(Bur. Aeronautics)
Patrick T. McEnery, Guard — Master-at-.\rms
John Syckowski, Guard — Ch. Commissar}- Stewd.
George Jaheand, Guard — Ch. Water Tender
Clyde James Nash, Guard — Ch. Gunner's Mate
Nicholas Repar, Printer— Aviation Machinist's

Mate2C.
Morris Johnson, Carpenter — Carpenter's Mate

2C.
Hubert Nelson, Painter — Painter IC.
Eloabbth Best, Guide-Lecturer —

Ensign. WAVES
Marie B. Pabst, Guide-Lecturer— W.AVES

Marine Corps

Melvin a. Tkatlor, Jr. .Associate, Birds — 1st Lt.

Coast Guard
M. C. Darnall, Jr., Guard — Ensign
John McGin°nis, Gtuu-d — Ch. Boatswain's Mate

Other Services

RUDYERD BOLXTON, Curator, Birds — Staff of
OflSce of Strategic Services

Bryant Mather, Asst. Curator, Mineralogy —
Civilian Worker, Corps of Engineers, U.S. -Armj-

Llewelyn Williams, Curator of Economic Botany
— on special service for U.S. Government

Db. Julian A. Steyermark, .Asst. Curator, Herba-
rium— field work for Board of Economic Warfare

Dr. C. Martin Wilbur, Curator, Chinese Archaeol.
and Ethnol. — Staff of Office of Strategic Services

December, 19iS

FIELD MUSEUM NEWS

Page'^

FIELD MUSEUM OFFERS AID
TO CHRISTMAS SHOPPERS

Would you like to avoid the rush and
confusion of Christmas shopping? Field
Museum makes it possible for you to buy
and send your gifts while sitting cozily at
your desk in your own home or office.

You can avoid wrapping packages, and
standing in line at the post office to have
them weighed, stamped, and insured.

The Museum offers its services in two
forms. All you need is a pen — we even
furnish the postage.

Here are the plans:

1. Christmas Gift Memberships in the
Museum. With this issue of Field Museum
News there are enclosed Christmas Mem-
bership 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 in-
formation about their privileges as Members,
as well as the regular Membership cards
(and Certificates in the case of Life and
Associate Members).

2. Services of the Book Shop of Field
Museum. The Book Shop is prepared to
furnish books, endorsed for scientific authen-
ticity 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, illumi-
nated 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 tele-
phone orders, and will undertake all details
in connection with wrapping, and the dis-
patching of gift purchases to the designated
recipients, together with such forms of
greeting as the purchaser may specify.

over and the snails in my pockets suffer, as
you can readily see. Yesterday I found
some as I lay crouched behind a bush waiting
to rush forward, and my advance was
slowed down. Theoretically I'm dead now
for ofifering too much target, but — every-
thing for science."

Everything for Science —
Even During War!

The following is from a letter received by
Dr. Fritz Haas, Curator of Lower Inverte-
brates, from a Chicago boy in an Army
training camp:

"I have more snails of the same variety
as sent before and some different kinds. I
think I shall send everything soon. Some
of my new snails are in an encysted stage
like the ones sent before. Here is why a few
are damaged: I collect them while I practice
advancing on an enemy position. You get
down on a split second notice, regardless of
where you fall. Naturally I get bumped all

MUTILATED BRIDES

By WILFRID DYSON HAMBLY

COHATOB OF AFRICAN ETHNOLOGY

Over the years, various articles in Field
Museum News have brought to attention
many of the curious customs of modern
primitive peoples for preparing their boys
and girls for tribal life, especially matrimony.

The knocking out of teeth as a test of en-
durance during initiation ceremonies is a
fairly common one, especially among tribes
of Australia. But the knocking out of upper
central incisors from the mouths of young
women who are contemplating marriage is
a custom by no means well known. This
practice is apparently peculiar to the inha-
bitants of the south Pacific island of Malekula
(in the New Hebrides group).

In this museum's collection of skulls from
Malekula, assembled by the late Dr. Albert
B. Lewis who was leader of the Joseph N.
Field Anthropological Expedition to the
South Sea Islands (1909-13), there is evi-
dence of the custom of tooth extraction dur-
ing youth. One might have thought that
it was bad enough to have one's skull mis-
shaped by pressure during infancy, but in
addition to that the girls suffer the lo.ss of
the two upper central teeth.

This was certainly a very general custom.
Out of twenty female skulls, seventeen indi-
cate the ante-mortem loss of the upper
central incisors. Other teeth are, of course,
often lacking. It is seldom that we can get
skulls with a complete dentition, but it is
clear that extraction of the upper incisor
teeth was made during early life, because the
bony border is entirely healed over. At the
side of this space are holes from which there
has been port-mortem loss of teeth. One
skull shows clearly that the incisor teeth
were not extracted but were broken off
very close to the gum; the roots can be seen
quite plainly.

ESSENTIAL SOCIAL RITE

As far back as 1876, a scientist in the
Royal College of Surgeons, London, who
was examining female skulls from Male-
kula, remarked on the ante-mortem loss of
the upper central teeth, but it is only in
recent literature that one can find some
effort to study the custom more thoroughly.
In 1923 a description was given of the
limited distribution of the custom in south-
west Malekula. Various accounts indicate
that light blows are given with a stone to
loosen the tooth, which is then forced out of
its socket with a wooden implement. It is
not difficult to believe the author of one nar-

rative who states that the girl has to be forci-
bly held by an elderly woman, who shrieks
loudly to drown the cries of the victim. The
most valuable account of this ceremony is a
recent one (1934), for it shows the custom to
be not merely an attempt to attain a curious
standard of beauty, but part of an essential
social rite.

In the southwest of Malekula there is an
institution known as Lapas, which might be
described as a society for females. Removal
of the upper central incisors is part of the
initiation ceremony. Tooth extraction, as
well as cranial deformation, are traits which
establish cultural demarcation between
dwellers in the southwest of Malekula and
those in the eastern and northwestern region
of the island. One of the many problems
of ethnologists is to search for the origin of
such customs, and to explain why some of
them are localized while others become fairly
well distributed.

extraction of wrong teeth SERIOUS

It is very difficult for us to conceive of a
standard of beauty requiring the removal of
the two upper central incisors. Primitive
standards on these matters are rigid and one
does not like to contemplate the fate of the
operator who, presumably by mistake, re-
moved a lateral incisor instead of a central
one. One of the skulls in our collection
shows that such an error was made, and we
are left to speculate whether among these
primitive people there was any possibility
of suing the dentist for damages. That the
parties who contracted a marriage were not
wholly trustful of one another is shown by
the fact that the teeth were not extracted
until the prospective husband had paid the
full bride-price.

THE AMERICAN LAND
By William R. Van Desar

"This book is recommended to all
who are interested in the complete
history of land in our country," says
Orr Goodson, Acting Director of the
Museum. "It tells of the uses of the
soil since it was first broken by the
earliest settlers. Here will be found
the solution of 'the Indian corn
mystery.' The author tells the story
of how our orchards and vineyards
came into being, and traces the origin
of particular American fruits. Espe-
cially interesting are two chapters
dealing with the abuses of the land
in the past, and telling of the cor-
rective methods now being utilized
to prevent the further dissipation of
the fertile top soil."

On sale at THE BOOK SHOP of
the Museum. Price $3.75. Mail and
telephone (WABash 9410) orders
accepted.

Page 8

FIELD MUSEUM NEWS

December, 19^3

CAVEMAN'S STORY NEW TOPIC
ON DALLWIG SUNDAY TALKS

"The Caveman Clubs His Way to Cul-
ture" is the subject for the four Sunday
afternoon dramatized presentations to be
given this month {December 5, 12, 19, and
26) by Paul G. Dallwig, the Layman
Lecturer of Field Museum. Under this
title Mr. Dallwig will trace the physical
evolution of man, and outline his cultural
development through the Old and New
Stone Ages, with special attention to pre-
historic art. He will take his audience on a
visit to the Neanderthal family in their cave
home, and then introduce them also to the
later Cro-Magnons, the Sun-worshippers,
and the Swiss Lake-dwellers. The main
part of the program will be given in the
Museum Lecture Hall, ending with a social
hour in the Hall of the Stone Age. Mr. Dall-
wig's lectures all begin promptly at 2 p.m.
and end at 4:30. During a half-hour inter-
mission the audience is given opportunity
for smoking and refreshments.

No Sunday lectures will be given by Mr.
Dallwig during January, because of out-of-
town platform engagements, but he will
return in February to present "Romance of
Diamonds from Mine to Man."

The size of Mr. Dallwig's audiences is
necessarily limited; for this reason it is
essential to make reservations in advance
by mail or telephone (WABash 9410). The
experience of past seasons is that long wait-
ing lists are quickly formed for each title.
There is no charge for the lectures or reserva-
tions, and admission to the Museum itself is
free to everyone on Sundays.

GIFTS TO THE MUSEUM

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

Department of Anthropology:

From Lieut. A. R. Cahn, U.S.N.R.— pre-
historic Aleut artifacts of bone, ivory, and
stone: tools, utensils, weapons, and orna-
ments, Aleutian Islands; from American
Museum of Natural History, New York —
94 sherds: black-on-white, black-on-red, and
corrugated. New Mexico.

Department of Botany:

From Miss H. Elizabeth Storey, Chicago
— 57 herbarium specimens, Ohio; from Prof.
R. L. Caylor, Cleveland, Miss. — 52 speci-
mens of algae, Mississippi; from Dr. James
B. Lackey, Cincinnati, Ohio — 70 specimens
of algae, Wisconsin; from Ted Flanagan,
Warren, Pa. — 37 specimens of algae, Penn-
sylvania; from Harry K. Phinney, Evan-
ston, 111. — 26 specimens of algae, Illinois.

Department of Geology:

From Kent Blakeslee, Oak Park, 111. — a
specimen of orthoceras, Illinois.

Department of Zoology:

From Chicago Zoological Society, Brook-
field, 111. — 3 mammals, 3 reptiles, and a par-
rot; from Alfred C. Weed, Princeton, N. J.

— 32 fishes, a land snail, and 4 crabs. North
Carolina and Virginia; from Lt. L. J. Mar-
chand. Camp Rucker, Ala. — 9 salamanders,
4 lizards, a toad, and 7 snakes, Alabama;
from G. C. Hawkins, Chicago — a horned
owl, Illinois.

Library:

Valuable books from Miller Laboratories,
North Bergen, N. J.; from Jorge A. Lines,
San Jose, Costa Rica; from Emil Liljeblad,
Villa Park, HI.; and from Dr. Wilfred H.
Osgood, Henry W. Nichols, Boardman Con-
over, Paul C. Standley, Leon L. Pray, and
Mrs. Eunice Gemmill, all of Chicago.

Raymond Foundation:

From Madame Felipe de Espil, Washing-
ton, D.C. — 33 colored lantern slides and box.

BOOKS FOR CHRISTMAS
AT MUSEUM SHOP

The BOOK SHOP of THE
MUSEUM still features the very
latest and best books in the fields
of nature and science. It is an
ideal place to obtain Christmas
gifts for your friends whose inter-
ests or hobbies lie along these
lines. Come in and browse — or
give your orders by mail or tele-
phone (WABash 9410).

Staff Notes
Mr. Karl P. Schmidt, Chief Curator of
Zoology, has been appointed to the Univer-
sity of Chicago's Department of Zoology
committee advisory to the editors of the
Encylopedia Britlanica.

Mr. Frank C. Wonder, Assistant Taxi-
dermist, is on leave of absence to aid the
Illinois State Natural History Survey in
investigations of the migrations of ducks on
the Illinois River.

Museum Aids the SPARs

The Museum extended assistance to the
SPARs, women's reserve of the U. S. Coast
Guard, in a recruiting drive staged in con-
nection with celebration of the first anniver-
sary of that service November 21-27.

Marines' Photo Exhibit

During Marine Week (November 3-10),
the Museum co-operated with the U. S. Ma-
rine Corps by displaying a special exhibit of
official photographs made by men of that
service in the Solomons, New Guinea, and
other South Pacific areas.

PROGRAMS OF LECTURE TOURS
FOR WEEKDAYS IN DECEMBER

Conducted tours of exhibits, under the
guidance of staff lecturers, are made every
afternoon at 2 o'clock, except Sundays and
certain holidays. The Museum will be
closed on Christmas and New Year's Day.

On Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and
Saturdays, general tours are given, covering
all departments. Special subjects are offered
on Wednesdays and Fridays:

Wednesday, December 1 — Facts and Fic-
tion About Animals (Miss Loraine Lloyd).

Friday, December 3 — Islands of the South
Pacific (Mrs. Roberta Cramer).

Wednesday, December 8 — Indian Amer-
ica at the Time of Columbus (Miss Miriam
Wood).

Friday, December 10 — Geology and In-
dustry (Bert Grove).

Wednesday, December 15 — Christmas
Gifts from Animal Products (Miss Loraine
Lloyd).

Friday, December 17 — Christmas Greens
(Miss Miriam Wood).

Wednesday, December 22 — Plant and
Animal Failures (Bert Grove).

Friday, December 24 — Our Neighbors to
the South (Mrs. Roberta Cramer).

Wednesday, December 29 — The Year's
Record in Trees (Miss Miriam Wood).

Friday, December 31 — Nature as an
Architect (Bert Grove).

Apply at North Entrance; tours are free.
By pre-arrangement groups of ten or more
persons may make tours at hours and on
subjects they select.

Iridescent glass from ancient Rome forms
an attractive feature of the archaeological
exhibits in Edward E. and Emma B. Ayer
Hall (Hall 2).

NEW MEMBERS

The following persons became Members
of Field Museum during the period from
October 16 to November 15:

Contributors

Joseph Adams,* Haddon H. MacLean

Associate Members

Mrs. Frederick Ives Carpenter, George
D'Aquila, George Hust, Dr. Eric Oldberg,
Mrs. Charles A. Palmgren, John Wentworth.

Sustaining Members

Eugene C. Fay

Annual Members

Mrs. Arthur R. Baer, Charles M. Bell,
Mrs. Charles Bender, Alexander Brown,
P. A. Caswell, Hamilton Coleman, Harry
M. Coleman, Dr. H. J. Cornwell, Joseph
Dubin, J. Frank Eaton, Mrs. Ernest H.
Farrell, William H. Funke, Philip P. Gott,
Mrs. E. Hartung, Clinton H. Haskell,
W. B. Heald, Mrs. R. R. Holcomb, Miss
Alma M. Hunnemann, C. L. Ibsen, Miss
Maryellen A. Keenan, J. S. Knowlson, Mrs.
Florian Mueller, Roderick Rawlins, Jr.,
Mrs. Peter Schuttler, David B. Straus,
Maurice Turner, Irving M. Tuteur, Mrs.
L. C. Zillman.

♦Deceased

PRINTED BY FIELD MUSEUM PRESS