—— : sr 7 a es ae tee pei ac SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM REPORT ON THE PROGRESS AND CONDITION OF THE UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM FOR THE YEAR ENDED JUNE 30, 1944 @eangae?l- UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE WASHINGTON : 1945 For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U. S. Government Printing Office, Washington 25, D. C. Price 35 cents Unitep States Nationa Museum, Unvrr DIRECTION OF THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, Washington, D. C.,' October 14, 1944. Srr: I have the honor to submit herewith a report upon the present condition of the United States National Museum and upon the work accomplished in its various departments during the fiscal year ended June 30, 1944. Very respectfully, ALEXANDER WETMORE, Director, U.S. National Museum. THE SECRETARY, Smithsonian Institution. pay CONTENTS Page Sper ONswoMmune Vearuase © oo No Sele Se SE ee ee PAM OOO [ONL AGIOS yee ake a A SUNN ie 1, BRON GE Le if COUN OTUs Fe I Aa Ue gy cape IS 2 Pxplorationsand field works ue. Soha ea oe ee 3 Anes Wvinisenm IM wartime. 628" oe oe a 5 NW TEST EOS Ss SB I asap eg lg a ep 8 Seana ee a ee eS Vera Oe ee en 9 Bublicaivonsand printing. 6 echo ee oe a 11 hotecrapmctiaboratory ho Is eo Ae Se es es ee 12 Buildingstandeequipment 2.22.46 hoes le ee 12 Nieetimes and special.exhibits.. 2 2 6 ee 13 @hangesin organization, and stat °° 2. 20 oe eee 14 Wetalledercoorts on the collections..2_-_-- 2222 2le le el lS 16 Wenarument).or anthropology ii. SoU ee ee else ek 16 Wepartmenttot/biology = 22.4 .Vi.t oo. ke Bo ee 26 WepamumentOlgeology. oy 2 ee ee ie 45 Department of engineering and industries__._____________________- 56 DivisiOMGm MIstorye! wi Ie Ah lA PN I es a 67 iicinemaAccesslomsn tie Ghee bk eo cepeene 71 icteOne VinIsetimupUbNCatiOns.22 0s. le ce be ek 99 ae ge ~ fete ae we / fod elma TAOS Ra Oe te tn En RIOT at ee , ics So nd wale ike eB sot sae Uecieopne aig ee epilation: 4 Sees pd Enolio {ed SLL LSS aetive bled file Bro Daten st eh ae a ec «EE aan? Pe ee ee > ~ = ee ae Se er we Bs eal a he eqlipa Bt fa RaeR ies mee at atid a fgioege bare saaiea he ee ane peelegeor al esgaed> ie asligr acliieen, nee Dolisiadh lH, to Beige cos ot SRE Ens eeolotd Reed g (2) osha eee as ses 16 esi eketenbal baa spre tie gigas te Jnooatregad ite ae oo ho seen COREE 10 aOR Ee sale oatide wii Leak a. Oa geal -aewse a ote ROH ROT DG soa ae dent oe. — REPORT ON THE PROGRESS AND CONDITION OF THE UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM FOR THE FISCAL YEAR ENDED JUNE 30, 1944 By ALEXANDER WETMORE Assistant Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, Direcior of the United States National Museum OPERATIONS FOR THE YEAR APPROPRIATIONS Funps for the operation of the United States National Museum for the year ended June 30, 1944, were included in the appropriation ‘Salaries and Expenses, Smithsonian Institution,’ which, as an item in the Executive and Independent Offices Act for the fiscal year 1944, was approved on June 26,1943. All the Federal activities administered by the Smithsonian Institution, excluding the National Gallery of Art, were covered in one appropriation. That portion of the overtime pay due members of our staff under the War Overtime Pay Act of 1943, not covered by savings in the regular appropriation, was provided for in the first Deficiency Act, 1944 (Publ. Law 279, approved April 1, 1944). Moneys required for the Museum were allotted from the regular appropriation and the Deficiency Act, and are summarized as follows: Preservation of collections: necwian AO propria tioned) 22). CAN seks Cickty PrRR | $422, 765 Hirst Deficiency Act Zk Ao bi AUR aria ts 9, 860 Maintenance and operation: RerilaTs approprniaiiONas vas) Sat te CUR Ree Le yk ee 422, 489 irsh Dehiciency Act... to leee See ea i See 31, 935 ramus Andy bInGing sa! 6 neue oe see cs se Me 43, 000 Totaliavailable for the yearos 2.232204 cst ee 929, 999 In combining the appropriations of the Smithsonian Institution, the former appropriation ‘Preservation of Collections, Smithsonian Institution” became an allotment, and the name of the project was changed to ‘‘National Museum.” By internal reorganization the project ‘““Maintenance and Opera- tion”’ was enlarged by adding to it the guard, labor, and char forces formerly included under ‘Preservation of Collections,’ as well as the guard force from the project ‘‘National Collection of Fine Arts” and laborers from the project ‘General Administration.” This change brought into one project the guard force of the Smithsonian 1 2 REPORT OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1944 Institution and the mechanics, laborers, and char force responsible for the maintenance and operation of all the buildings of the Smith- sonian Institution, excluding the National Gallery of Art. The considerable increase in funds allotted for ‘‘“Maintenance and Opera- tion’”’ and the decrease in the allotment for the ‘““National Museum” (Preservation of Collections) as compared with the previous year are explained by this reorganization. Payment for overtime service of the personnel of the Museum was made throughout the year. The allotment for printing and binding was the same as for the preceding year. With the restrictions the Museum has placed on its publications during the war period, the sum is adequate except that binding of the valuable reference library is in arrears. The sum now available will be entirely inadequate when the usual program of publication is resumed. Science suffers when publication is restricted. The facts discovered from research on the national collections attain their full utility only when they become generally available to other workers. The staff was at a low ebb owing to the fact that 1944 was the first full year under the reduced personnel ceiling placed on the Insti- tution. The National Museum lost 55 positions by the imposition of this ceiling, and the man-years of service by permanent personnel dropped from 373 in 1943 to 321 in 1944. Loss from this sharp decrease was felt in all activities of the Museum, from classification, care, arrangement, and study of the collections to maintenance, operation, and repair of the buildings. The ceiling on personnel cannot be blamed alone for this situation, for the acute manpower shortage made it most difficult to recruit personnel in all categories wherever there were vacancies in positions. The condition imposes a most pressing postwar problem on the Institution. While an acute shortage in personnel can be offset for short periods by increased effort on the part of the reduced staff, this cannot be expected to continue. The collections now housed in the National Museum are of such great value to the science, the culture, and the history of our country that their preservation must be adequate under all conditions. The arrearage in the work of the Museum, already considerable, has been increased unduly. Safety demands that it be reduced. To accomplish this, more personnel and more space must be provided. The need for space has been stressed in previous reports. The situation becomes more acute yearly. Unless provision is made for the continuing growth of the collections, the Museum cannot dis- charge its responsibility to the Nation. COLLECTIONS In summing up the work of this fiscal year it has been interesting again to note the steady inflow of valuable specimens as additions to our great collections in spite of war conditions. These have come mainly as gifts from interested persons, since our usual program of field work has been laid aside except where it has related to some activity concerned with the war. Small sets of natural-history specimens began to arrive in increasing number from members of the armed forces stationed throughout the world, bringing many OPERATIONS FOR THE YEAR 3 useful and interesting things. The total number of specimens received is somewhat larger than that of last year. New material arrived in 1,159 separate accessions, with a total of 239,640 specimens, distributed among the five departments as follows: Anthropology, 852; biology, 229,546; geology, 3,466; engineering and industries, 1,388; history, 4,388. The increase has come in the fields of biology and history, the others showing slight decreases. For examination and report 724 lots of specimens were received, covering all the fields embraced in our laboratories, an increase of 43 over last year. Part of these were returned to the senders when the examination was concluded, some were consumed or otherwise de- stroyed during identification, and some were presented as additions to our permanent collection. Gifts of duplicates to schools, museums, and other institutions numbered 2,382 specimens. Exchanges of duplicate materials with other collections amounted to 10,634 specimens, and 726 specimens were transferred to other governmental agencies. Loans for scien- tific study to investigators outside Washington totaled 21,787 speci- mens. The summary of the collections given below has been adjusted to reflect additions and eliminations from the various series. AMTUNEOPOO Sy 402 Sees ONG ES ae 711, 917 UO eypumens RATA Pea p SCT RN PR ee SOTA | of as 13, 869, 472 GEOlO Cia ee ee elol a es ero mesh her hehe abe 2, 687, 129 meimeering and industries. 2 ae et 139, 420 TAN SEOMApames cath rays ek Uae a aa te Moe aa 529, 483 ARO Getl EIT EC AY 8s EG esa a 17, 937, 371 EXPLORATIONS AND FIELD WORK Under the auspices of the Division of Cultural Cooperation of the Department of State, Ellsworth P. Killip, associate curator of plants, visited Colombia during April, May, and June, spending some time in Bogoté for work with Dr. Armando Dugand and his associates upon large collections of Colombian plants recently assembled at the Instituto de Ciencias Naturales. From there he made brief field trips to Apulo and Pubenza, in the western part of the Department of Cundinamarca, and to Monserrate and Fusagasugé. Later he went to Popaydén to join the ornithologist Dr. F. C. Lehmann V in an excursion to the Lehmann hacienda at La Capilla and to Paéramo de Puracé. Mr. Killip’s last 5 weeks were spent with Dr. José Cuatre- casas, Director of the Comisién de Botanica, Secretaria de Agricultura y Fomento, Cali, in examining the herbaria there and at the agricul- tural school, and in exploring the extensive mangrove swamps about Buenaventura Bay and on the delta of the San Juan River. Philip Hershkovitz, holder of the Walter Rathbone Bacon Scholar- ship for 1941-43, returned to Washington in October after spending the better part of two years in Colombia, where he collected in the states of Atlantico, Magdalena, Bolivar, and Norte de Santander. The collection he amassed forms the largest single accession of mam- mals received by the Museum in the past 25 years. In Colombia, also, M. A. Carriker, Jr., continued ornithological field work until October under the W. L. Abbott fund, his investiga- tions in northeastern Colombia extending south into Norte del Santander. In November he brought to the Museum the results of 4 REPORT OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1944 his past two seasons’ work, one of the finest collections of birds that has been made in that area. Dr. G. Arthur Cooper, curator of the division of invertebrate pale- ontology and paleobotany, in collaboration with Drs. Byron N. Cooper and R. 8S. Hdmundson, of the Virginia Geological Survey, made an investigation of the relationships of the limestones occurring on the flanks of Clinch Mountain in southwestern Virginia and northern Tennessee. Considerable information on these valuable deposits was obtained. The work also furthered studies of those brachiopods that have a significant relation to the classification of the Middle Ordovician strata of the eastern United States. The investi- gations were made under the Walcott fund of the Smithsonian Institution. Under the cooperative program between the Division of Cultural Cooperation of the Department of State and the Smithsonian Insti- tution, Dr. Cooper continued study of the geological formations of northwestern Mexico with the assistance of Mexican geologists. He arrived in Mexico City on February 23, and after conferences with geologists in the Instituto Geolégico de México, continued on February 28 to the field, accompanied by his collaborator of the previous year, Ing. Alberto R. V. Arellano. After a week’s journey the party arrived in Caborca, Sonora, and there established headquarters for work in the desert. Investigation began in the hills northwest of the village and continued in the mountains to the southeast, south, and west, as well as in the vicinity of the village of Pitiquito. Eight days were spent at the mining camp of El Antimonio. On April 11 the party moved to the village of Altar, where sections were visited to the north, south, and east. Field work terminated on April 16. After about 2 weeks in Mexico City, partly devoted to conferences with Mexican geologists, Dr. Cooper returned to Washington, arriv- ing on May 11. The additional studies outlined have revealed that the Cambrian section extends into the hills northwest of Caborca for about 15 miles farther than previously known and have perfected knowledge of the structure of the Cambrian sediments from Caborca west to the Arrojos Hills, a distance of about 15 miles. In addition to the informa- tion acquired on the Cambrian, an enormous sequence of pre-Cambrian rocks was established, running from Pitiquito for many miles to the southeast. The same sequence was determined in several of the ranges south of Caborca. Work at El Antimonio led to the rediscovery of a zone of fusuline fossils, which will be important in establishing the geologic age of the related beds. It also led to the acquisition of more and better fossils from sections not fully covered last year and helped to establish a satisfactory explanation of the structure of the Permian rocks in this complicated area. The work around Altar was of necessity superficial, but during the limited time available a long sequence of Lower Cretaceous rocks was identified, constituting an addition to the geological column for this part of Sonora. The field work was supported in part by a grant from the Walcott fund of Smithsonian Institution. Dr. W. F. Foshag, curator of mineralogy and petrology, while occupied in work on strategic mineral sources in Mexico, has had opportunity to make observations of the Paricutin Volcano. OPERATIONS FOR THE YEAR 5 During a 2-day trip, C. W. Gilmore, curator of vertebrate paleon- tology, accompanied by A. C. Murray, visited Plumpoint, Calvert County, Md., to collect a partial skeleton of a sirenian found by William E. Salter. The specimen proved to be the most complete skeleton of this sea-cow yet found in the Maryland Miocene rocks, as it consisted of the skull, ramus, 22 vertebrae, 39 ribs, both scapulae, both humeri, and sternal and fragmentary parts, all representative of a skeleton more than 10 feet long. THE MUSEUM IN WARTIME The halls of the National Museum continued to be of great public interest during the year, the total attendance of 1,532,765 visitors being an increase of 177,496 over those of the previous fiscal year. Through an actual tabulation made during the first seven days of each month, it was ascertained that approximately 40 percent of all! visitors are men and women in uniform, While the possibility of enemy attack on Washington became steadily less as the year progressed, measures for safeguarding our visitors, collections, and buildings continued in force. The Smith- sonian air-raid defense organization remained in operation throughout the year under the direction of the general defense coordinator, F. M. Setzler. Six practice blackout drills were held at night, and two practice air-raid drills were held during the daytime. As a result of a recommendation by the Smithsonian War Com- mittee, a conference was held between officials of the Smithsonian Institution and the United Service Organizations, Inc., to organize a free guide service for personnel in uniform in the National Museum. In July 1943 a committee of U.S. O. groups within the city of Wash- ington indicated their willingness to enlist the aid of their hostesses as volunteers for this docent service. Under the direction of F. M. Setzler, head curator of the department of anthropology, a route was established within the Natural History Building and a script prepared and mimeographed describing the exhibitions in the galleries selected for the tour. Since all the volunteer hostesses were employed during the week, classes for instructing them were arranged on Sunday afternoons, from August 22 to October 17, 1943, and on October 24 the first U. S. O. guide service for men and women in uniform was inaugurated. The individual groups were organized by a receptionist in the rotunda near the south entrance of the building. The first tour left at 11 a. m., and other small groups continued at 15-minute intervals until 3:30 p. m. Each tour, covering the exhibitions illustrating the various phases of geology, anthropology, and biology, required approximately 45 minutes. In order to fill vacancies among the hostesses as the work progressed, a second class was instructed during February 1944. During the 35 Sundays from October 24, 1943, to June 25, 1944, a total of 5,325 military visitors were escorted through the building, an average of about 152 people for each Sunday. The tours were suspended in July 1944. These free Sunday tours for visitors in uniform were much appreci- ated by those men and women who participated. Many interesting and worth-while reactions were obtained, as indicated by the questions asked and the interest expressed concerning the various exhibition halls. Credit for the success of this service is due to the efforts of 6 REPORT OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1944 the U. S. O. hostesses, to the excellent cooperation of the U.S. O. headquarters, and to the chairman and head receptionist, Miss Margaret Bledsoe. All have assisted in diffusing knowledge through the medium of the exhibitions. Throughout the year the collections removed from our buildings as a safeguard were inspected regularly, and careful guard was main- tained over them. While progress in the prosecution of the war toward the close of the fiscal year modified some of the Museum’s contacts with the war agencies, we may feel definite pride in the many calls made on us for data and information as well as for the various individual services rendered. These have extended to practically all the laboratories and offices in our organization. Scores of requests came for informa- tion on various kinds of animals and plants, these being concerned sometimes with identifications and sometimes with other specific data. In the division of mammals, Dr. Remington Kellogg, curator, served as chairman of the American delegation at the International Conference on the Regulation of Whaling held at London during January 1944. At the request of the National Research Council, Dr. Kellogg undertook the preparation of text, keys, distribution maps, and illustrations of monkeys known to be susceptible to in- fection by malarial parasites, to aid in malariological studies in man. Officers of special Army and Navy Units, the staff of the Surgeon General of the Army, Office of Strategic Services, and the Division of Preventive Medicine and Surgery of the Navy, as well as members of the Inter-American Sanitary Institute and Pan American Sanitary Union, were furnished information relative to the distribution and identification of mammals involved in the transmission of diseases and, aided by our facilities and study collections, were given instruc- tions regarding the identification of such mammals. In the division of birds, Herbert G. Deignan, associate curator, assisted in work concerning maps and geographic names of the Far East and in a compilation of literature dealing with parts of that area. In the division of reptiles and amphibians, Dr. Doris M. Cochran assisted the Surgeon General’s Office in the preparation of lists of Asiatic reptiles. In the division of fishes, aid was furnished various agencies concerning dangerous, poisonous, and useful fishes, methods of fishing, sound-making fishes, and emergency fishing equipment. In the division of insects, many identifications, particularly of mosquitoes, mites, and ectoparasites, were made for the Army and Navy, and the units submitting such material were also supplied with much information on the habits of the forms represented in the identified material. Assistance was given the Army Medical School and the National Naval Medical Center, as well as various Army and Navy training centers throughout the country, by supplying well- preserved material of insects and Acarina that are involved in human health problems. About 1,200 specimens were specially mounted on pins, and approximately 450 slide mounts were made for such train- ing centers. During the year nearly 200 Army and Navy officers, who were being assigned to malaria survey or control units, or to other activities concerned with human-health problems, have re- ceived some instruction or other help from personnel of this division. The Division of Medical Intelligence of the Surgeon General’s Office has been provided with detailed information on the medical insects OPERATIONS FOR THE YEAR v4 occurring in specific foreign areas. This information was placed on cards and the files were so organized as to permit their effective use. At the request of the National Research Council, Dr. Paul Bartsch, curator of mollusks, served as a member of a committee charged with the preparation of a list of helminth parasites and their intermediate hosts of the Southwest Pacific. The list of known or suspected mol- luscan intermediate hosts was prepared in the division. Information regarding corals and coral reefs in the Bahaman-Caribbean region, as well as in the western Pacific, was furnished the Navy Department on several occasions. In the division of plants, in addition to many minor inquiries from various war organizations, Dr. EK. H. Walker, assistant curator, pre- pared an account of the emergency food plants of the Tropics. In the section of diatoms, in addition to supplying information regarding marine and fresh-water algae and examining samples of material in- volved in the fouling of ships, mines, and other marine structures, the associate curator, Paul S. Conger, prepared a bibliography covering the value of plankton as food. Service in the department of anthropology inciuded a wide variety of matters—identification of hallmarks on purportedly stolen foreign silver; suggestions for tropical and Arctic clothing; water supply and population statistics on Caribbean Islands; primitive weapons of Pacific and Indonesian peoples; Oceanian boats; Oceanian foods; fish pemmican in Micronesia; house types in Burma; degree of western influence in certain islands of the Pacific and in the Philippines; average stature of men and women of peoples of Europe, Africa, and Asia; photographs of Oceanian, Japanese, Chinese, and other Asiatic peoples; Hindu caste marks; Central American Spanish art; food supplies, containers, footgear, and leather products of North African peoples; footgear for aviators; primitive and HKuropean armor; musical instruments for rehabilitation of wounded soldiers; also a number of detailed projects dealing with the Philippine Islands and the islands of the Japanese mandate. Information based upon the department’s collections was given also on the resources of certain strategic areas, and of the peoples or tribes inhabiting those areas, with a view to conserving space on ships bound for those regions. Of scarcely less importance was assistance given in the identification of tribal cul- ture patterns, chiefly of the island peoples of the west Pacific area and of continental southeastern Asia. The division of physical anthropology supplied the Office of Stra- tegic Services with photographs of various eastern physical types. It also supplied detailed data on average body weight for Europeans and various peoples of the Far East to the Office of the Quartermaster General. The curator of physical anthropology, Dr. T. Dale Stew- art, was released for a 6-months’ furlough to the Washington Uni- versity School of Medicine in St. Louis, Mo., to teach anatomy to Army and Navy medical students. The associate curator of arche- ology, Dr. Waldo R. Wedel, was detailed for special service to the Military Planning Division, Office of the Quartermaster General, War Department, from September 1, 1943, to March 1944. In the department of geology, two members of the staff, in cooper- ation with the Geological Institute of Mexico, continued field studies in the economic geology of that country as a part of the war effort. Curator W. F. Foshag spent the year on detail from the Museum in a 8 REPORT OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1944 continuation of the supervision of surveys for strategic minerals in Mexico. Dr. G. A. Cooper, similarly, spent three months in the field in Sonora concluding studies begun last year on the stratified rocks. The results, soon to be published, will be useful in the loca- tion of new mineral areas. Dr. Cooper also concluded field work on the project dealing with the subsurface geology of the Devonian rocks of Illinois, obtaining information for use in the oil development of that and neighboring States. Members of the geological staff in the home office have been more occupied than ever before in furnishing information to the various war agencies. These services have included such diverse items as the preparation of analyses, assisting in selecting and grading calcite for the War Production and other Boards, editing a scientific volume for an allied country, and furnishing information of all kinds to an ever-increasing number of service men and women visiting the Museum. Other services, especially from the department of engineering and industries, have included the following: Construction of two demon- stration models of new ordnance devices for the National Inventors Council; transfer of a series of model buildings to the War Depart- ment, Corps of Engineers, Camouflage Section ; information on revolv- ing airfoils to the Technical Data Laboratory, Wright Field, Dayton, Ohio; furnishing photographs for Navy training films; identification of woods; information on properties and uses of woods for the Navy Department, War Production Board, Foreign Economic Administra- tion, and Inter-American Development Commission; methods of preserving specimens of dehydrated foods for the War Food Admin- istration; advice on disposition of hemp produced in Kentucky to the Commodity Credit Corporation; assistance in drawing up contract specifications involving a true lockstitch in sewing safety seams, to the U. S. Maritime Commission; suitability of palmyra fiber as a substitute for rattan for stiff brushes to the Navy Department; and aid in the training of document inspectors of the Federal Bureau of Investigation in identification of various printing processes. VISITORS The number of visitors to the Museum buildings during the year showed an increase of 177,496 over the previous year. The total number, 1,532,765, is, of course, far below the peacetime record of 2,408,170 in 1937-38, but the increase does indicate a salutary up- trend in the degree to which the National Museum exhibits and col- lections are being viewed and studied by the people even in wartime. August 1943 and April 1944 saw the largest number of visitors, 162,016 and 164,221, respectively, being recorded for these months. Table 1 shows the number of visitors to the various Museum build- ings during each month of the year. Since a considerable proportion of the visitors consisted of men and women in the armed forces, special services were proffered this group and every effort was made to enhance their visits. In the Natural History Building a program of Sunday docent service, for guiding parties through the Museum, was inaugurated. A number of women U.S. O. volunteers were especially trained to act as guides, and the “tours” conducted by them proved very popular. During the period OPERATIONS FOR THE YEAR 9 covering the last 35 Sundays of the fiscal year, over 5,000 members of the military personnel took advantage of this guide service. A fuller account of this program is contained elsewhere in this report. In the Smithsonian Building, information service for visitors was main- tained. The information clerk handled 11,082 separate inquiries for information, distributed 2,427 soldier greeting folders, gave out 602 of the Smithsonian Institution historical brochures, and super- vised a free-magazine table for service men and women. In the Arts and Industries Building, picture postcards of Smithsonian scenes were distributed free to men and women in uniform. Up to January 1944, when the special edition of these cards was exhausted, 50,000 sets (800,000 cards) had been so distributed by the Institution. TABLE 1.—Visitors to the Museum buildings during the year ended June 80, 1944 See REgII91 Gis isaiporod to dau ant aes org Dn Museum buildings Smithsonian hso Total Building dustries Buila- Natural His- Aircraft ing tory Building Building Year and month a | et | ee | ee eS 1943 | RULE 26, 445 46, 576 43, 973 16, 100 133, 094 AUIStISGs eo ho 33, 389 59, 715 49, 449 19,463 |. 162, 016 September_._______- 23, 664 45, 083 38, 186 13, 487 120, 370 Octoberss_ 625. 22. uz 26, 782 49, 434 43, 552 14, 397 134, 165 November. = 222. 22, 460 41, 301 43, 103 12,666 | 119, 530 December__._______ 15, 348 26, 907 27, 098 9, 026 78, 379 1944 ; Jammanye te. ae F. o 21, 478 39, 519 35, 385 12, 712 109, 094 Hebruaryee 6 ooo. 2 21, 670 38, 374 36, 360 12, 269 108, 673 Wiameleis iss i) 22, 549 45, 907 36, 692 12, 926 118, 074 ANG 0 PU as is i 31, 466 67, 254 46, 822 18, 675 164, 221 Milanese) ss G Si) 0 26, 625 51, 385 45, 598 15, 318 138, 926 TJC S es con ee 29, 336 55, 091 47, 021 14, 775 146, 223 PoOtalsstr 2 301, 212 566, 496 | 1 493, 239 171, 818 | 1, 532, 765 1 Not including 3,684 persons attending meetings after 4:30 p. m. LIBRARY The experience gained in the first year and a half of the war enabled the staff of the Museum library to begin the past fiscal year better prepared to meet and to adapt its services and facilities to changed conditions. Unpredictable earlier, it was now possible to know not only the kind and character of many of the difficulties arising and of the changes of emphasis certain to continue for the duration but even to foresee others that must be met, and consequently to settle into a better stabilized wartime routine. From the point of view of work done for the war effort, under wartime conditions, the records show that the year was a good one. The degree to which the library was used directly by various war agencies and by individuals in the armed forces was almost double that of the preceding year, and 520 requests for information came from these sources alone. Some of them were simple questions that could be easily answered, but many of them required considerable research. As was noted in last year’s report, an interesting postwar story could be written about the variety of subjects covered by these 10 REPORT OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1944 questions, and the surprising conversion to wartime uses of literature resulting from the most unwarlike pursuit of scientific investigations, especially in the field of the natural sciences. No statistical record was attempted of the extensive use of the library made indirectly by the war agencies through the liaison of the Ethnogeographic Board. In the library services to the curatorial staff of the Museum it was no longer possible to distinguish definitely between war work and nonwar work. Routine requests for books and bibliographical assist- ance were much the same in kind and number as in normal years. The difference lay in their purpose, since so many of the Museum staff not actually on war duty elsewhere were almost wholly occupied with war assignments needing their highly specialized knowledge. There was little difference from last year in the accessions of books and periodicals. The number of periodical parts received both by purchase and by exchange fell off somewhat, but most of the still- continuing scientific serials from allied and neutral countries reached the library with gratifying regularity and with a minimum of loss of individual numbers. Among the noteworthy acquisitions of the year were 120 volumes and 1,850 pamphlets on Cambrian stratigraphy from the library of the late Dr. Charles E. Resser, and 8 volumes and 750 pamphlets on beetles from the library of the late Dr. M. W. Blackman. As they have long been accustomed to do, many members of the scientific staff and other friends of the Museum generously gave copies of their own publications and other useful and important books and pamphlets. The cataloging of currently received material was practically up to date at the end of the year, in spite of illness among the staff and a still-vacant cataloging position. The temporary services of a sub- professional cataloger helped considerably to prevent a mounting arrearage of current work that might otherwise have become difficult to reduce. Again a generous allotment of funds for binding made it possible not only to send off newly completed volumes of periodicals to be bound but also to make some further inroads in the binding ‘‘backlog.”’ Of the 1,951 volumes returned from the bindery, 900 were part of the 1,550 prepared and sent this year, while the rest had been sent toward the close of last year. The physical condition and the appearance of the library were greatly improved by the completion of the extensive rearrangements undertaken to relieve the overcrowding of the shelves in the Natural History Building. So serious was the overcrowding that even after the transfer of about 2,000 volumes to the Arts and Industries Build- ing there was little room for actual expansion, and almost every book in the stacks had to be shifted to make space in the right places for hitherto unshelved or improperly shelved books and periodicals. In the process, however, the shelves were read and put in order, and not a few “lost”? books came to light. The provision of adequate room for future growth is still an unsolved problem. Changes on the staff included the resignation of Mrs. Daisy F. Bishop, library assistant, on January 25, 1944, and the appointment of Mrs. Marie Boborykine to succeed her, on March 14. Mrs. Carmen G. Randall was given a temporary appointment as library assistant on September 30, 1943, succeeding Miss Ruth Newcomb, who served | | OPERATIONS FOR THE YEAR 11 from August 24 to September 6. Miss Marie R. Wenger was pro- moted to the position of librarian in charge of cataloging, and Mrs. Mary A. Baer was promoted to the position of librarian, continuing in charge of the Arts and Industries branch library. Samuel A. Jones was promoted from assistant messenger to messenger. Statistics Accessions of cataloged publications and bound periodicals. 3,726 Volumes, pamphlets, and maps cataloged___------------- 4,794 Rernlogical parts entered 2618s og ar Br fea isc eo 5,607 Cards added to catalogs and shelf lists. _..2...-+-4---1-- 20,619 Volumes bound.or rebounds « oy: sec oe ek 1,951 iNewsexchances arranged o2 3. 2 tt ee 134 Circulation of books and periodicals (exclusive of intra- divisional circulation from sectional libraries)__.__.__--- 10,310 The estimated number of volumes and pamphlets now in the Museum library is 230,693. Not included in this figure are incom- plete volumes of periodicals and the large collections of pamphlets on special subjects in the sectional libraries. PUBLICATIONS AND PRINTING The sum allotted for National Museum publication requirements for the fiscal year 1943-44 was $43,000, the same amount as for the preceding year. This allotment was apportioned as follows: $30,000 for the printing of Museum Bulletins, Proceedings, and the Annual Report; $9,000 for binding; $4,000 for the salary of the Museum printer. Twenty publications were issued—the Annual Report, 4 Bulletins, 1 Contribution from the National Herbarium, and 14 Proceedings papers. The publications are listed on page 99. Vol- umes bound totaled 1,550. The distribution of volumes and separates to libraries and individ- uals on the regular mailing lists aggregated 33,847 copies, while in addition 6,970 copies of publications issued during this and previous years were supplied in response to special requests. The mailing lists have been carefully revised to avoid loss in distribution. Early in the fiscal year, the Museum editor, Paul H. Oehser, brought to a close his work as editor of the Proceedings of the Eighth American Scientific Congress when volumes 10-12 of that series were published and distributed. This work had been in progress since 1941 in collaboration with the Division of International Conferences, Department of State. The editor continued also as chairman of the Efficiency Rating Committee of the Smithsonian Institution. Indexing.—Notable advancement was made during the year on the comprehensive index to Museum publications, which has been in progress since 1933. With the exception of seven or eight annual reports, all volumes have now been indexed down to the year 1900. The index at present comprises approximately 235,000 cards. The indexing of current volumes of Proceedings was kept up to date, indexes and tables of contents for three volumes (91-93) being published during the year. In addition to what time the editor and his assistant, Gladys O. Visel, were able to devote to the indexing work, considerable help was rendered during the year by Mrs. Mar- guerite W. Poole, information clerk. 12 REPORT OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1944 Museum print shop.—F¥. W. Bright was detailed by the United States Government Printing Office, as in former years, to print labels and special forms at the Museum print shop, a branch of the Govern- ment Printing Office. Requisitions submitted for printing numbered 146, and Mr. Bright completed 131; in addition 7 that were submitted during the previous fiscal year were finished, a total for the year of 138. Seven of the 15 unfinished requisitions represent specimen labels involving long press runs and 8 cover large exhibition labels requiring much hand setting of type. With the exception of these, the work of the print shop is up to date. PHOTOGRAPHIC LABORATORY The Bureau of American Ethnology, the National Collection of Fine Arts, and the National Museum have continued their cooperative arrangement with the photographic laboratory. Under this the laboratory has made 3,205 negatives (including 120 microphotographs) 13,533 prints, 314 lantern slides, 2,060 enlargements, and 35 trans- parencies (including 13 in kodachrome). It has also developed 27 rolis of film, 5 film packs, 73 paper negatives, and 135 cut films. In addition it copied 1,049 pages in microfilm, mounted 624 prints, retouched 286 negatives, and cut 8 mats. Much of this work has been in connection with the preparation of illustrations for the Smithsonian War Background Series of publications, with the work of the Ethnogeographic Board, and other matters related to Smith- sonian activities in the war effort. Under a reorganization effected during the year the curatorial work on the photographic collections in the Museum, which pertains properly to the division of graphic arts, was separated on November 9, 1943, from the activities of the head photographic laboratory. BUILDINGS AND EQUIPMENT Repaars and alterations —Repairs to the service roadway around the Natural History Building, begun last year, were completed in October. Although these were only of an emergency nature, it is felt that they have put the roadway in very good condition and will furnish a perfect foundation when funds become available for complete resurfacing. Most of the other building repairs were of a routine, maintenance nature and need no special mention. Painting, as usual, was the biggest item. The largest paint job completed was the repainting of the walls and ceiling of the “chapel” and ceiling of the west range in the Smithsonian Building. In progress at the close of the year was the painting of the exterior of the window frames and sashes in the west end of the Smithsonian Building, a rather difficult and lengthy procedure because of the complexity of some of these old windows. Scrap-metal and paper salvage.—As a contribution to the war effort, the collection of scrap metal in Museum buildings was continued. During the year 2,350 pounds of junk metal and 1,250 pounds of salvaged tin cans were collected and delivered, respectively, to the Procurement Division and the District of Columbia Salvage Commit- tee. More than 6 tons of waste paper were collected. OPERATIONS FOR THE YEAR 13 Heat, light, and power.—The steam used during the year for heating the various Museum buildings amounted to 63,445,800 pounds— about 8,500,000 more than for the previous year. All steam is fur- nished by the Government’s Central Heating Plant. Electric current used amounted to 1,510,510 kilowatt-hours. An important maintenance job completed in June was the rewiring of the tunnel from the Natural History Building to the Smithsonian Building, where through corroding the old conduit line had become hazardous. Ice production.—Ice for the Museum’s use manufactured by the refrigerating plant amount to 197.9 tons, at a cost of $1.15 a ton. Air-raid and fire protection.—The usual weekly air-raid alarm tests, and periodic inspections and maintenance of water barrels, fire pumps, fire extinguishers, and other equipment, were made. ‘The fire and burglar alarm systems functioned efficiently. Furniture and fixtures —Furniture added during the year consisted of 5 exhibition cases and bases, 287 pieces of storage, laboratory, and other furniture, and 2,426 drawers, boxes, and wing frames. Con- demned and disposed of were 28 exhibition cases and bases, 120 items of storage, laboratory, office, and other furniture, and 166 drawers and boxes of various kinds. An inventory as of June 30, 1944, showed on hand: 3,522 exhibition cases, 20,368 pieces of storage, office, and laboratory furniture, and 116,466 drawers, boxes, and wing frames. MEETINGS AND SPECIAL EXHIBITS The Museum has continued its practice of making its auditortum and lecture-room facilities available for the use of scientific, educational, welfare, and governmental organizations and groups. Especially in wartime do such groups, particularly local ones, find it convenient to use these facilities for their meetings, and as far as possible the Museum is glad to assist in carrying out their programs. In all, 139 such meetings were held during the year in the auditorium and room 43, Natural History Building. A series of 17 special exhibits were held during the year in the foyer and adjacent space of the Natural History Building. These, listed chronologically, were as follows: July 1 to August 31, 1943: Exhibit of anthropological specimens from the Pacific area, from the Aleutian Islands through Micronesia and the Melanesian Islands, prepared by the department of anthropology. September 1 to 30, 1943: Exhibit of photographs conducted by the National Photographic Society. October 6 to 31, 1943: Exhibition of paintings by Zeferino Palencia, of Mexico, sponsored by Sefior Dr. Don Francisco Castillo Najera, Ambassador Extra- ordinary and Plenipotentiary of Mexico, and by the Pan American Union. October 13 to November 1, 1943: Exhibit illustrating the theme ‘‘Bali—Back- ground to War,’’ prepared by the Museum of Modern Art, of New York. November 1 to 30, 19438: Exhibit of wild-flower paintings, by Mrs. D. Werden Scott, of San Saba, Tex. December 3, 1943, to January 3, 1944: Exhibit of water colors of Mexico by Walter B. Swann, of Omaha, Nebr., sponsored by Sefior Dr. Don Francisco Castillo Najera, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Mexico, and by the Pan American Union. January 1 to 31, 1948: Exhibit of arts and crafts made by Service people in various U. 8. O. centers throughout the country, sponsored by the United Service Organization. 662679—45 2 14 REPORT OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1944 January 7 to 31, 1944: Exhibit of water colors and block prints by Ralph H. Avery, (Owe) om UES US INENA February 4 to 27, 1944: Exhibition of paintings by John Mix Stanley, 1814-1872, his daughter-in-law Jane C. Stanley, 1863-1940, and her daughter Alice Stanley Acheson, of Washington, D. C. March 1 to June 30, 1944: Exhibit of emergency rescue equipment, sponsored by the U. 8. Coast Guard. March 1 to 31, 1944: Exhibit of photographs illustrating the Belgian Congo at war. Photographs by André Cauvin, of the Belgian Information Center. April 1 to 30, 1944: Series of photographs by members of the Army Map Service, entered in a contest by that organization. April 1 to 28, 1944: The Carl Moon exhibit of Indian portraits. Gift, through the artist, of Mrs. Florence Rand Lang, of Montclair, N. J. April 29 to May 3, 1944: Biennial art exhibit sponsored by the National League of American Pen Women. May 2 to 29, 1944: Exhibit of portraits of leading American Negro citizens by Mrs. Laura Wheeler Waring, of Philadelphia, Pa., and Mrs. Betsy Graves Reyneau, of Washington, D. C. May 8 to 31, 1944: Continuation of the Carl Moon exhibit of Indian portraits. June 2 to 29, 1944: Exhibition of mural paintings from the caves of India, by Sarkis Katchadourian. CHANGES IN ORGANIZATION AND STAFF The year saw no major change in the organization of the National Museum, but some work was done in allocating positions to their proper grades under the Classification Act on the basis of the duties of each position. Honorary appointments were conferred on Maj. Edward A. Gold- man as associate in zoology, on August 1, 1943; Dr. Floyd A. McClure as research associate in botany, on April 21, 1944; Dr. J. B. Reeside, Jr., as custodian of Mesozoic collections, on June 19, 1944; and Clarence R. Shoemaker, as associate in zoology, on April 1, 1944. In the department of biology, Dr. David H. Johnson, associate curator, division of mammals, was furloughed for military duty on November 15, 1943, and Dr. Richard E. Blackwelder, associate cur- ator, division of insects, was furloughed temporarily for war work on August 23, 1943. Other changes were the resignation on March 22, 1944, of Walter A. Weber, assistant curator, division of birds; and the retirement of Clarence R. Shoemaker, associate curator, division of marine invertebrates, and of Julian S. Warmbath, taxidermist, the latter vacancy being filled by the promotion of Watson M. Perrygo on December 9, 1943. Under the section of diatoms, Paul S. Conger was appointed on March 9, 1944, as associate curator. Through the death of Dr. Charles E. Resser, Dr. G. Arthur Cooper was advanced to the curatorship of the division of invertebrate paleon- tology and paleobotany, department of geology, on October 2, 1943, Miss Marion F. Willoughby, scientific aide, transferred to the U.S. Geological Survey on October 31, 1943. In the department of engineering and industries, Dr. A. J. Olmsted, chief photographer of the Museum, was relieved of this position on November 9, 1943, and was placed in charge of the section of photo- graphy, which he so ably developed. Gurney I. Hightower succeeded Dr. Olmsted in charge of the photographic laboratory of the Museum, assisted by Floyd B. Kestner, on January 9, 1944. Other changes on the administrative staff during the year were the retirement of Royal H. Trembly, superintendent of buildings and labor, who, was succeeded by Lawrence L. Oliver, on December 10, OPERATIONS FOR THE YEAR 15 1943. Anthony W. Wilding was assigned to the position of property officer on December 21, 1943 by transfer from the Bureau of American Ethnology. The vacancy caused by the death of Miss Helen A. Olmsted, personnel officer, was filled by Mrs. Bertha T. Carwithen on February 1, 1944, and Mrs. Margaret L. Vinton was appointed personnel assistant on March 9, 1944. Employees furloughed for military duty during the year were as follows: Robert L. Bradshaw, on October 12, 1943; Joseph R. Burke, Jr., on October 18, 1943; John Carl Carter, on May 5, 1944; Walter McCree, on April 3, 1944; and Dr. David H. Johnson, on November 15, 1948. Ernest Desantis returned to duty from military furlough on October 18, 1943. Eleven persons were retired during the year through operation of the retirement act, as follows—Through age: William Rice, laborer, on September 30, 1943, after 15 years 3 months of service; Thomas J. Shannon, guard, on April 30, 1944, with 18 years 6 months of serv- ice; and Clarence R. Shoemaker, associate curator, on March 31, 1944, with 33 years 4 months of service. By optional retire- ment: Royal H. Trembly, superintendent of buildings and labor, November 30, 1943, with over 49 years of service; Bertie Turner, attendant, on November 30, 1948, with 32 years 6 months service; and Julian S. Warmbath, taxidermist, with 15 years of service. Through disability: Eugene C. Miller, guard, on December 9, 1943, with 6 years 1 month; Cecil R. Mulnix, guard, on March 31, 1944, with 13 years 7 months; Arthur G. Rodgers, guard, on November 10, 1943, with 8 years 5 months; Ann M. Stokes, laborer, on October 4, 1943, with 18 years 6 months; and Charles O. Watson, laborer, on April 5, 1944, with 35 years 3 months. Through death, the Museum lost five employees from its active roll during the year: Dr. Charles E. Resser, curator, division of inverte- brate paleontology and paleobotany, on September 18, 1943, after 29 years 5 months of service; Miss Helen A. Olmsted, personnel officer, on January 11, 1944, after 43 years 9 months; Benjamin F. Coe, guard, on March 1, 1944, after 25 years 5 months; George E. Matheny, guard, on July 20, 1943, after 24 years 6 months; and Cornelius S. Jones, laborer, on March 17, 1944, after 32 years 6 months. From its list of honorary workers, the Museum lost by death on September 5, 1943, Dr. Ale’ Hrdli¢ka, associate in anthropology since April 1, 1942, and on February 22, 1944, Dr. E. O. Ulrich, as- sociate in paleontology since June 9, 1914. DETAILED REPORTS ON THE COLLECTIONS DEPARTMENT OF ANTHROPOLOGY (FranK M. Srerzurer, Head Curator) ANTHROPOLOGICAL specimens continue to be used by investigators from military organizations and wartime agencies, those collections from remote areas and little known primitive peoples being especially significant. The greatly reduced staff has given priority to all requests from war agencies in supplying data and in preparing scien- tific reports related to certain theaters of war. ‘The numerous requests from war agencies for well-documented specimens of a perishable nature emphasize the need for constant care in the preservation of such objects at all times. Even though field work has been held in abey- ance for the duration of the war, the regular routine assignments, special exhibitions, and the reduction of backlog extend the efforts of the present reduced staff to the maximum. From August 1943 to the end of the fiscal year the head curator directed the special guide service for military visitors, which was inaugurated through the cocperation of United Service Organizations, Inc., and the Smithsonian Institution. This activity is described on page 5. The head curator attended weekly conferences of the Committee on Personnel Utilization and the Committee on Workload; served as secretary of the Advisory Board of the National Park Service and attended a conference of the board in Chicago; and con- tinued as general defense coordinator for the Smithsonian buildings on the Mall except the National Gallery of Art. Dr. Waldo R. Wedel, associate curator of archeology, was detailed for special service as needed to the Military Planning Division, Office of the Quartermaster General, War Department, from September 1, 1943, to March 1, 1944. The curator of physical anthropology, Dr. T. Dale Stewart, was granted a furlough from July 1943 to January 1944 for the purpose of teaching anatomy to Army and Navy medical students at Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Mo. On September 5, 1943, the department, the Museum, the Institution, and the science of physical anthropology lost one of its most distin- guished students when death came to Dr. AleS Hrdli¢ka in his seventy- fifth year. Even though he had retired from the active administra- tion of the division of physical anthropology on March 31, 1942, Dr. Hrdliéka continued unabated his researches up to within a few days of his death, and only death itself could stop him from his work. He was born in Humpolec, Bohemia, March 29, 1869, and arrived in this country with his parents at the age of 13. In 1903 he assumed charge of the newly created division of physical anthropology in the U. S. National Museum and spent the remaining years of his life in building one of the outstanding collections of human skeletal material. The more than 37,000 specimens in this division can rightfully be 16 DEPARTMENT OF ANTHROPOLOGY 17 credited to his vigorous and boundless energy. The studies and reports resulting from his world-wide travels, explorations, and laboratory analyses are represented by the more than 350 articles and books which he published. Moreover, the science of physical an- thropology in America, to which he devoted the greater part of his life, is largely responsible to this one man. In 1918 he founded the American Journal of Physical Anthropology, and he was largely responsible for organizing the Anerican Association of Physical Anthropologists, which was established i» 1928. During his world travels he personally examined a!! the significant specimens relating to the skeletal remains of early man as known up to 1930, and his treatise on the subject made him the outstanding authority. Many societies and educational institutions recognized his untiring zeal and ability by honorary membership. He quite naturally assumed a proprietary interest in the field of physical anthropology, and at times seemed much more formidable than he actually was. ACCESSIONS The accessions assigned to the department during the year totaled 61. Only one division, archeology, exceeded the number of accessions received during the previous year. This reduction is no doubt a direct result of the country’s effort in winning the war. Nevertheless we were forced to decline several private collections because of lack of space. The 61 accessions included four loans related to special exhibitions installed under the direction of the head curator. These consisted of “Bali: Background to War,” ‘Arts and Crafts of Service People Made in Various U. S. O. Centers,’’ “Emergency Rescue Equipment,” and ‘Belgian Congo at War.” Other accessions were assigned as follows: Archeology, 23; ethnology, 19; ceramics, 3; musical instruments, 1; period art and textiles, 9; physical anthropology, 2; totaling 852 specimens. The more important of these are described under the following divisions: Archeology.—A collection of 115 lots of potsherds and other mate- rials from various Indian sites, many of which are on or near the pre- sumed route of De Soto’s expedition of 1539-42 through the south- eastern United States, were presented by Dr. John R. Swanton. Other materials include: 29 lots of potsherds from Indian village sites in Nebraska and South Dakota, excavated under the direction of A. T. Hill through the Work Projects Administration and the Nebraska State Historical Society; 65 lots of potsherds, chipped blades, and projectile points from sand-dune hearth areas in Dugway Valley, Tooele County, Utah, presented by Lt. Karl Schmitt, U. S. A.; a Tiahuanacoid pottery vessel from the Lake Titicaca region, Bolivia, donated by Mrs. William C. Davis. Two gold and silver book ends reflecting the Tiahuanacan style of architecture and sculpture, a gift from the Chamber of Commerce in Bolivia to Vice President Henry A. Wallace on the occasion of his visit to La Paz in April 1943, were presented by him to the National Museum. Ethnology.—One major documented field collection, from the Hui- chol Indians of northern Jalisco, Mexico, was received as a gift from Col. Harry Stewart. This series of 159 specimens supplements previous collections from that tribe. It was made by Edwin F. Myers during a 3-months’ expedition through the entire Huichol 18 REPORT OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1944 region. Agustin Cossio, an educated Huichol, rendered valuable assistance to Mr. Myers but was later killed by a rebel band. In- cluded are 23 excellent photographs showing the Huichol in their native environment and engaged in their daily activities, hand-woven poncho capes of wool and cotton and other weavings, hunting bows and arrows, objects of personal adornment, basketry, furniture (such as cradles and chairs), toys, charms, votive bowls and fetishes, gourd and pottery utensils, and musical instruments. Another important collection accessioned consisted of 26 large oil paintings of Navaho, Apache, and Pueblo Indians of Arizona and New Mexico by Carl Moon. These came as a gift of the late Florence Rand Lang, who generously financed a project for obtaining ‘‘an authentic picture record for present and future students, and all others interested in the American Indian.”’ The pairtings were made from color sketches and photographs obtained by Mr. Moon in the field between the years 1903 and 1917. A special showing of the paintings in the foyer of the Natural History Building was favorably received by the public and art critics. Through Charles P. Taft, the estate of Mrs. William Howard Taft, wife of the late President and first Civil Governor of the Philippine Islands, a collection of excellent examples of Moro and Indonesian brasses, which had been presented to Mr. and Mrs. Taft on various occasions, was given to the Museum. Included also is an excellent example of Philippine metal work in the form of a vase beautifully chased, decorated in relief, and inscribed ‘‘ Al Hon- orable Gobernador Civil de Filipinas Mr. Wm. H. Taft en Recuerdo del Sangdugong Paitiagunip—Pedro A. Paterno. Manila 27 de Agosto de 1962.”’ A collection of Chinese and Korean bronze mirrors pre- sented by J. Morgan Clements is particularly noteworthy because of certain outstanding specimens. A Korean mirror included in the accession is identical in design and inscribed characters with a mirror in the Prince Yi Household Museum, Seoul, Korea. It is there identified as being of the Koryo period (A. D. 918-1391). The in- scription reads huang p’er ch’ang tien, or, in English, ‘the brilliant vast resplendent heavens.’ Included also was an example of Chinese knife money known as ming tao, the provenience of which is probably the Chao State, now a part of modern Shansi, Hopei, and Inner Mongolia. The coin may be classified as of the late Chou period, fourth—-third century B. C. Important accessions assigned to the section of ceramics consisted of a sugar bowl of French silver luster, originally obtained by Captains Lawrence and Tracy, of Steuben, Maine, coowners of a coastal schooner, from a French frigate off Boston Harbor during the latter years of the French and Indian war and presented by George V. Blue, a lineal descendant of Captain Tracy. Three vases and two bowls of Hollywood ware were received from the Santa Monica pottery of the California Art Products, Inc. The section of musical instruments accessioned a B-flat clarinet made about 1870 by C. H. Eisenbrant, of Baltimore. This instrument, of rosewood, with 7 finger holes and 15 silver keys jeweled with brilliants, and inlaid with filigree silver, came as a gift from Miss Alice I. Siddall. To the section of period art and textiles was transferred custody of the 95 objects of colonial American house furnishings on exhibition in the colonial room, off the ground floor foyer of the Natural History DEPARTMENT OF ANTHROPOLOGY 19 Building. These specimens were collected and presented to the Museum by Mrs. Gertrude D. Webster in 1924. ‘The room, including the wail paneling of American pine and the miscellaneous furnishings, has been recently reconditioned. A sixteenth-century Spanish colonial vargueno cabinet desk made of soft wood and veneered with a choco- late-colored walnut or mahogany was presented by Mrs. Graham Ker. Through a bequest from Miss Rebecca E. Everly a hardanger scarf and two doilies embroidered with butterflies, roses, and carnations, and edged with Battenburg lace, were received. Kate Session Marsh bequeathed 20 specimens of miscellaneous antique American and European laces, silver, and other objects of minor period art. Impor- tant specimens in the latter bequest are a cake basket of openwork silver, made by William Plummer, London, 1764-65; a chocolate pot of repoussé silver, made by Alice and George Burrows, London, 1816-17; and an icon of the Virgin and Christ Child, made of gold- washed silver, enamel, and pearls, bearing the town mark of Tule, Russia, year 1885. INSTALLATION AND PRESERVATION OF COLLECTIONS During the year six temporary exhibitions were installed in the foyer of the Natural History Building under the direction of the head curator, assisted by the other divisions in the department, especially Mr. Krieger and his staff in ethnology, and by the office of the super- intendent. During July and August 1943 the Museum’s anthropolo- gical specimens from the Pacific area extending from the Aleutian Islands through Micronesia and the Melanesian Islands were exhibited in the ten alcoves of the foyer. Of particularly timely interest were those illustrating island cultures of the Marshalls, Solomons (especially Guadalcanal), and Tarawa in the Gilbert Islands. In the Aleutian group emphasis was placed on the extensive archeological and ethno- logical material from the Island of Attu, from which the native Aleuts were removed or exterminated by the Japs. From October 13 to November 1, 1943, a special exhibition was installed entitled ‘‘ Bali: Background to War.” This exhibit, prepared by the Museum of Modern Art of New York City, has served as a visual aid for the regional training programs of the armed services. It displayed the use of Balinese carvings, paintings, and shadow-play puppets to illus- trate the psychology of the natives on the Island of Bali. The exhibi- tion was derived from the 2,000 native works of art and 30,000 photo- graphs collected by the Bateson-Mead Anthropological Expedition. Karly in January 1944 arrangements were made to display ‘“‘Kmergency Rescue Equipment” in a special section at the south end of the foyer. Final installation was made in March. Owing to the unusual interest to visitors, this special exhibition remained on view at the close of the fiscal year. It consists of such objects as balsa and inflated life rafts, sun still for purifying salt water, food bombs and their contents, various types of food rations, life preservers, signaling devices con- sisting of smoke bombs, water dyes, flags, and the emergency signaling mirror, fishing kits, light-weight exposure suit, and photographs illustrating the application of some of this equipment, as well as literature describing the use of the objects under a variety of condi- tions. The visitors’ reactions to the display differ: Parents and rela- tives of persons in the armed forces are interested to see at firsthand 20 REPORT OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1944 the precautions taken to prevent loss of life under emergency condi- tions; military visitors who have had some experience in the use of some of the equipment may either describe some of their narrow escapes or ignore the exhibit because it brings back memories of hardships. The objects were lent to the Institution originally by the Emergency Rescue Equipment Section of the Coordinator of Research and Development, U. S. Navy, later changed to Air Sea Rescue Agency, U.S. Coast Guard. In January of this year a portion of the foyer was used to display arts and crafts made by Service people in various U. S. O. centers throughout the country. An interesting exhibition of paintings by Carl Moon was placed on display at various intervals from March to June 1944. These were developed from colored sketches made by the artist between the years 1903-1917, and depict various episodes in the daily life of the Navaho, Apache, and Pueblo Indians against a back- round of home life within the mountains and deserts of the American outhwest. Under the auspices of the Belgian Information Center the department supervised the instaliation of enlarged photographs illustrating the ‘‘Belgian Congo at War.” These unusual pictures were made by André Cauvin, who spent a year in the Congo making a photographic record of the transition from a chaotic past into a new structure of contemporary cities and modern forms of armed warfare. When the supervision of the colonial room was assigned to the department, considerable time was given to the cleaning of all speci- mens. The handsome wall paneling was cleaned and waxed, the floor painted, and black draperies hung from the top of the Museum walls in order to concentrate the attention of the visitor on the furnishings within the paneled room. Archeology —-During the year several minor additions were made to the exhibits, but no major changes. The Museum-Gates collec- tions of 1901 and 1905, principally from ceremonial caves in Arizona and New Mexico, were reexamined in preparation for revised exhibits. Several hundred specimens previously removed from exhibit were sorted and returned to their proper place in the study collections. The reference library for Old World archeology was placed in order, and its index cards were revised; a card index to archeological papers in the various Smithsonian Institution publications is in progress. As an example of the work involved in preparing archeclogical ma- terial for museum use, the under scientific helper devoted practically one entire man-year to marking pottery fragments and stone artifacts collected at Tres Zapotes, Mexico, by the Smithsonian Institution— National Geographic Society Expedition. The death of Dr. A. Hrdliéka on September 5, 1948, interrupted his review of the 12 collections he brought back from Alaska between 1926 and 1938. Ethnology.—All current accessions have been cleaned, fumigated, classified, cataloged, and placed either on display or in classified study series. It has become more apparent during the present war emer- vency than was evident in normal years that an ethnological specimen may on occasion be found extremely useful to investigators. This observation pertains particularly to specimens originating outside the North American Continent. The staff has, therefore, made every possible effort to improve the classified study series from the Pacific DEPARTMENT OF ANTHROPOLOGY 21 areas, from Indonesia, and from the Asiatic maipland. In this effort the laboratory of the department of anthropology has been of appre- ciable assistance, particularly in the cleaning, restoration, and repair of specimens from those areas so that they have beer made available for purposes of study. Specimens collected 100 years ago by the U. S. Exploring Expedition from island peoples of the Pacific, as well as the many unique specimens from Indian tribes of the western plains collected by the U.S. Army between 1870-1880, were classified and housed in 45 standard and in 10 specially built cases by the senior scientific aide, Robert A. Elder, Jr., who devoted most of the past year in classifying, repairing, and fumigating these collections. The Museum’s fumatorium has been in almost constant use by the division in connection with this work, wherein the division has received the active cooperation of the superintendent’s office through the detail of laborers in the cleaning and moving of specimens. Ethnological collections long on exhibition in the displays of Korean, Chinese, Tibetan, and West Airica ethnology have been removed temporarily for fumigation. As indicated in the earlier part of this section, the staff in ethnology assisted in the preparation and installation of tem- porary exhibitions in the foyer of the Natural History Buildiug. Physical anthropology.—Because of the death of Dr. Hrdli¢ka, the 6-months’ absence of the curator, Dr. T. Dale Stewart, and the military furlough of the associate curator, very few changes in the public exhibitions were made during the fiscal year. After the curator’s return from Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Mo., plans were made and carried out for the complete reorganization and redecoration of the division offices and laboratory. While these changes were in progress the divisional work that could be carried on was limited. The material exhibited in the offices, laboratory, and third floor halls of the division was removed and rearranged in the course of reorganization. One exhibition case retained in the library section of the main office has been filled with memorabilia pertaining to Dr. Hrdli¢ka. Two other exhibition cases in the adjoining offices weie being filled at the close of the year with exhibits showing age changes in different parts of the human skeleton. Material of this nature is frequently needed for reference, especially in connection with identi- fication work for the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and is difficult to locate in the genera! collections. These two cases will also serve as experimental cases for testing out new ideas for exhibitions. Throughout the year the under scientific helper, Riley HK. Mangum, was engaged in rearranging and relabeling the division collections. Within each geographical or tribal group the specimens are being arranged serially by catalog number, and all scattered bones brought together so as to make the individual skeleton the storage unit. Anthropological laboratory—The chief preparator, Andreas J. Andrews, supervised the modeling of a composite bust of an average young man, which was lent to the Reconstruction and Development Office, Office of the Quartermaster General, U.S. Army. A life-size model in natural color of head and shoulders of a young man was made, as a loan, for the Motion Picture Photographic Division, Navy Department. A portrait bust of the late Dr. Ales Hrdlitka was modeled. A death mask of Dr. Hrdlitka was made for the Czechoslovakian Embassy, the piece-mold for which was retained in 22 REPORT OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1944 the laboratory. The entire colonial-room exhibit was cleaned and the necessary repairs were made, including 50 new identification numbers. A life-size mannikin, two water-color illustrations, and several specimen supports were prepared for the special exhibition, ‘““Himergency Rescue Equipment.”’ For the division of archeology several pieces of Mexican pottery and sculpture were repaired and restored. For the division of eth- nology 90 pieces of American Indian pottery and a cooking pot from New Guinea were repaired and restored. ‘Ten 5-inch lettered labels were made for the exhibition entitled ‘‘Specimens from the Various Islands in the Pacific.’ A Spanish chest from the year 1600, a 4-foot Chinese statue of Buddha, a large Chinese statue carved from wood, and several additional woodcarvings were repaired and restored. Three costumed life-size figures were repaired and cleaned. Repairs and treatment were given to 57 shields from Borneo, New Guinea, and New Zealand, 21 shields from Africa, two shark-tooth lined swords from the Marshall Islands, a wooden paddle from the Solo- mons, as well as miscellaneous baskets, blowguns, spears, bows, and harpoons from various primitive peoples. Repairs were made on the Zufii Indian group, the Cocopa Indian family group, and the John Smith group. The heroic statue of Alexander Agassiz was assembled, repaired, and given a green bronze patina, and the original model for the Statue of Liberty, by Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi, was repaired for the National Collection of Fine Arts. A piece-mold and two bronzed casts were made of a bronze Chinese Tang mirror for the Freer Gallery of Art. Two duplicates in natural color of a Mayeria Maga were made for the department of biology. Adjustments on a figure in the Period Costume Exhibit were made for the division of history. Sr. Gregorio Herndndez de Alba, of the Museo Arqueolégico de Colombia, was instructed in the technique of restoring and mending pottery. Sr. Anibal Buitron, from Quito, Ecuador, was given in- struction in the technique of restoring and mending pottery, mold- making, and the process of reproducing foliage in wax. All sculpture throughout the building was kept in repair. INVESTIGATION AND RESEARCH To furnish the desired anthropological information requested by the various war agencies, the Ethnogeographic Board, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation has required considerable research on the part of the staff. Many specimens submitted to the department for identification through normal channels have required many man- hours. In addition, several manuscripts were prepared for publica- tion. An article entitled ‘‘ Archaeological Explorations in the United States, 1930-1942,” by the head curator, was published in Acta Americana. During the year 43 lots of specimens were assigned to the depart- ment for identifications and subsequently returned to the owners. total of 647 letters were referred to the department requesting anthro- pological information. In addition, numerous identifications were made and information was supplied to the visitors coming directly to the offices of the various curators. DEPARTMENT OF ANTHROPOLOGY 23 Archeology.—The curator of archeology, Neil M. Judd, completed three additional chapters of his report describing the materia! culture resulting from excavations he directed at Pueblo Bonito in Chaco Canyon, N. Mex. Upon his return from a six-months’ detail to the War Department, the associate curator, Dr. Waldo R. Wedel, resumed study of the archeological material which he excavated in Kansas during 1939-1940. Dr. Wedel’s report ‘‘ Archeological Investigations in Platte and Clay Counties, Missouri’ (with an appendix on ‘“‘Skeletal Remains” by Dr. T. Dale Stewart), was published during the year as a bulletin of the National Museum. Sr. Gregorio Hernandez de Alba, chief of the Archeological Section, Ministry of Education, Bogota, Colombia, and Sr. Anibal Buitron, of Quito, Ecuador, graduate student of anthropology and guest of the State Department, spent considerable time working on the archeo- logical collections and acquainting themselves with our museum methods. Thirteen lots of archeological material were received for examination and report and subsequently returned to the senders. Ethnology—Through increased assignments in connection with temporary exhibitions and the general supervision of classifying and preserving specimens, little time remained for the curator, H. W. Krieger. Nevertheless his article ‘‘Island Peoples of the Western Pacific’? was published as No. 16 of the Smithsonian Institution War Background Studies, and progress was made on the preparation of another number for the same series covering the ethnology of the outlying islands of the Japanese Empire, namely, Ryukyu Islands, Formosa, Karafuto, the Kuriles, and Bonin Islands. Assistance by the division in the research work of outside investi- gators has been primarily through facilities provided them for examin- ing specimens in the collections, the files of photographs, paintings, manuscripts and other documentary data, books from our library, and the indexed references of filed classified data. ‘The demand by individual correspondents and visitors for photographs from our negative files and for new photographs of specimens is steadily in- creasing. This involves the assembling of appropriate pictures for selection, as well as of specimens to be photographed, and the identi- fication and captioning of the prints. Governmental departments and agencies used the division resources continuously throughout the year. Many classes of specimens were examined and sketched. The division library was combed for every scrap of information constructive to the war effort. The study of ceramics, silver, glass, and pewter is of never-failing interest to the public and involves time and some research on the part of the division staff in collecting data for visitors and compiling information for distribution to interested correspondents. Personal interest in the identification of privately owned collections of laces, embroideries, musical instruments, silver, pottery—in fact, the entire gamut of antiques—survives robustly as a war time hobby. Visitors and correspondents reveal an increasing interest in the care and preservation of treasured antiques and of family heirlooms. This frequently results in requests for advice regarding technical methods of repair and preservation. Inquiries regarding hallmarks on silver, and maker’s marks generally, require considerable time in providing answers. It has been observed that during periods of war-loan drives requests for information as to suitable markets for family heirlooms and 24 REPORT OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1944 antiques markedly increase. The number of requests for available literature on the division’s collections reveals a growing public demand that such literature be prepared for distribution as requested. Twenty-eight written reports were made pertaining to the exami- nation and identification of a total of 108 specimens for private individuals as compared with 18 written reports covering a total of 41 specimens for the preceding year. Physical anthropology.—During his furlough for teaching at Wash- ington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Mo., studies were carried on by the curator, Dr. T. Dale Stewart, on age and sex changes in the human skeleton. This was possible because the skeletal collections preserved in the department of anatomy were obtained from the dissecting rooms and therefore were accurately identified. The experience gained in handling this material is proving useful in studying the unidentified specimens in the division. In the course of this work the curator took the opportunity also of studying arthritic changes in the skeleton. The decision to study this subject is ex- plained by earher observations on this feature in the Eskimo and Indian skeletons in the National Museum. Here again, since arthritis is closely correlated with age, it was hoped that the university’s identified material would aid in the interpretation of the condition in the groups where exact age is unknown. In addition to his work at the University, several evenings were given to studying the Indian skeletons excavated in Illincis by Dr. P. ¥. Titterington, a St. Louis physician. ‘Two cultural horizons are represented by these Indian remains, the Hopewell and the Jersey County bluff focus of the Mid- dle Mississippi. After his return to Washington Dr. Stewart pre- pared a paper on “Filed Indian Teeth from Illinois,’ based also on material in the collection of Dr. Titterington. Up to the time of his death, Dr. Hrdlicka continued to analyze his data on the human tibia. The year also saw the publication of the seventh and last part of Dr. Hrdlitka’s “Catalog of Human Crania in the United States National Museum Collections,” this number covering the non-Eskimo people of the Northwest coast, Alaska, and Siberia. This series of catalogs in all presents measurements of more than 7,500 non-White crania and has been described as constituting ‘one of the most valuable sources of basic anthropometric data in existence.” The curator, Dr. Stewart, furnished a report on a skeleton discovered in Texas by Dr. Cyrus Ray and investigated in situ by Dr. Frank H. H. Roberts, Jr., of the Bureau of American Ethnology. This specimen afforded an opportunity to make a reconstruction of the skull from relatively few fragments. Aided by the Schwarz stereograph pos- sessed by the division, it was possible to approximate the original shape of this skull in a manner that would not otherwise have been possible. On several occasions the curator aided in the identification of skeletal remains brought in by agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. In most of these cases the Bureau had received frag- ments of burnt bone obtained from furnaces or stoves where murder was suspected. DISTRIBUTION AND EXCHANGE OF SPECIMENS During the year the department distributed 242 items, including a plaster cast bust in natural color of a young man approximately 20 DEPARTMENT OF ANTHROPOLOGY 25 years of age, to the Motion Picture Division, Photo Science Labora- tory, U.S. Naval Air Station; the cast of a Neanderthal child recently discovered in Uzbekistan, Central Asia, loaned to Dr. Franz Weiden- reich; gifts to the William T. Hornaday Foundation and the Children’s Museum in Washington, together with photographs and transfers to other government bureaus, schools, and colleges for exhibitions and educational purposes. NUMBER OF SPECIMENS UNDER DEPARTMENT On June 30, 1944, the department of anthropology was credited with a total of 711,917 cataloged specimens, which represents a net increase of 800. The followimg summary indicates the distribution of speci- Mens as assigned to the various divisions and sections within the department: ERC MC OlO Saye’ te eels ie gh Cy! ew eI be ae 479, 786 J DG] OUOA OEA ya R a a i a 182, 748 (OLET CEN 1a CASPAR SRI Near Mag ASE Cy A AA ca 7, 585 Musical instrumentsy? ci Se he Oe oe oy 2, 414 meniod artrand textiles#.a. 6 Ue fh I es | 2, 254 Pissicallamthropologiye. «ire Ue ee Sees ee 37, 130 PRo tater ak LONE te eddie RUNS SS Pad aa 711, 917 DEPARTMENT OF BIOLOGY (WaLpo L. Scumirt, Head Curator) Wits pardonable pride we may review this department’s partici- pation in the present war, both in men and special knowledge or information furnished and in contributions to the scientific, esthetic, and economic life of the Nation. Dr. Remington Kellogg, curator of mammals, served as chairman of the American delegation to the International Conference on the Regulation of Whaling held in London during January. Also, at the request of the National Research Council, for the Board for the Coordination of Malarial Studies, and in collaboration with Maj. K. A. Goldman of the Fish and Wildlife Service, Dr. Kellogg prepared the first of a series of descriptive accounts of the kinds of monkeys that may carry malarial infections. Dr. Paul Bartsch, curator of mollusks, worked in close cooperation with a special committee of the National Research Council, in preparing a list of known or sus- pected molluscan intermediate hosts of human parasites. In con- nection with the preparation of survival manuals, Dr. L. P. Schultz, curator of fishes, and Earl D. Reid, scientific aide, demonstrated to members of the U. S. Navy the use of derris root for securing fish for food in emergencies. Dr. David H. Johnson, associate curator of mammals, commissioned lieutenant (jg), U. S. N., left in May for special service with a medical unit. S. Dillon Ripley and H. G. Deignan, assistant and associate curators of birds, respectively, were granted military furloughs for special missions. Dr. R. E. Blackwelder, associate curator of insects, also is still on furlough, in work concerned with the war. Dr. J. P. E. Morrison, assistant curator of mollusks, has been on a special detail concerned with work of the war since Feb- ruary. Seven entomological collaborators and specialists from the staff of the Bureau of Entomology and Plant Quanrantine located in the Museum have been serving with the Sanitary Corps of the Army in the Pacific area and on the home front for periods ranging from eight months to two and a half years. Under the auspices of the Division of Cultural Cooperation of the Department of State, Ellsworth P. Killip, associate curator of plants visited Colombia during April, May, and June for consulta- tions and work in botanical centers in Bogota and Cali. All divisions carried as heavy a work load this year as last, furnish- ing special information on a great variety of subjects and indentifying a constant stream of animals and plants for various units of the armed forces and other agencies concerned both directly and indirectly with the war. Identifications and information centered around organisms involved in the transmission of disease, their distribution over the world, their life histories, their habits, and frequently the remedial measures that should be taken to overcome them, Other 26 DEPARTMENT OF BIOLOGY Dave inquiries concerned poisonous or otherwise noxious animals and plants, emergency foods, sources of new or increased food supplies, and strategic and substitute raw materials of plant or animal nature needed in prosecuting the war or sustaining civilian economy. All divisions in the department contributed to the Navy’s booklet “Survival on Land and Sea,” published in December, to ‘A Field Collector’s Manual in Natural History,’ recently issued by the Smithsonian, and to the preparation of nine mimeographed leaflets for distribution to correspondents inquiring about the animal and plant life of the Southwest Pacific. Austin H. Clark, curator of echinoderms, published ‘Iceland and Greenland,” the fifteenth of the Smithsonian’s War Background Studies, and in collaboration with Dr. E. H. Walker, assistant curator of plants, prepared material for the biological section of another volume of this series dealing with the Aleutian Islands. While on vacation in Illinois, Dr. R. I. Sailer, of the U. S. Bureau of Entomology and Plant Quarantine, working at the Museum, collected more than 2,000 specimens of Hemiptera, since added to the national collections. About 500 Diptera collected by Dr. M. T. James of the same Bureau during a vacation spent in Colorado also were added to our collections. Other specialists of the Bureau located at the Museum accomplished considerable collecting in the vicinity of Washington, D. C., assembling a surprisingly large amount of material, principally Ichneumonidae, Aleyrodidae, and miscellaneous Heterop- tera and Diptera. In addition to the Aleyrodidae taken in the field, other sizable collections of this family were obtained from the National Herbarium. Certain groups of preserved plants examined for speci- mens of Coccidae and Aleyrodidae in connection with an African problem yielded more species of Aleyrodidae than had been known previously from all Africa. ACCESSIONS The 760 accessions recorded for the year exceeded the previous year’s total by 56. The number of specimens received was also ereater, totaling 229,546 specimens in all. One accession, the Albert Mann Diatom Collection, received as a gift from the Carnegie Insti- tution of Washington, alone approximated 18,000 specimens of various kinds, chiefly mounted slides of diatoms. In combination with the existing national collections, this gives the National Museum one of the world’s leading diatom collections. This and other important accessions are listed below by divisions. Mammals.—The largest single collection of mammals received in the last quarter of a century consisted of a large series, about 2,400 specimens, of both small and large mammals from the departments of Atlantico, Magdalena, Bolivar, and Norte de Santander, Colombia, collected by Philip Hershkovitz, while holding the Walter Rathbone Bacon Traveling Scholarship of the Smithsonian Institution. Other smaller but also important accessions include the following: A beaked whale fetus measuring about 7 feet in length, the largest in the national collections, taken at Cape Hatteras, N. C., and presented by the North Carolina State Museum; three transfers from the Navy Medical School consisting of 24 mammals from Georgia and Florida, 98 rats and mice, and 2 mongooses from the Pacific, of interest because they come from areas from which the Museum has practically no 28 REPORT OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1944 material; a skin and skull of a whitetailed deer from the Virgin Islands from Harry A. Beatty; 17 mice, 1 mole, and 1 muskrat from Grosse Isle, St. Lawrence River, Quebec, a hitherto unrepresented locality, from Capt. James A. Baker; 76 small mammals from Bolivia, of which 42 were collected by Dr. Raymond Gilmore and 34 were forwarded by Dr. Roberto Cors Medina, Servicio Nacional Antipes- toso, La Paz, Bolivia; 20 mammals from the National Zoological Park; 624 mammals from various North American localities from the Fish and Wildlife Service, comprising the second largest accession of the ear. Birds.—Aided by the W. L. Abbott fund of the Smithsonian Institution, M. A. Carriker, Jr., added 3,281 specimens from Colombia to the Neotropical bird collection, giving the Museum a reasonably complete representation of the bird life of northern Colombia. From Brother Nicéforo Maria, of Bogot4, gifts totaling 85 birds were re- ceived from parts of Colombia not visited by Carriker. Other addi- tions include the following: From the American Museum of Natural History 20 birds hitherto unrepresented in the study series, including a genus, Drepanoptila, new to the collection; from Lt. KE. W. Pfeiffer, U.S. Marine Corps, 37 birds, including some forms new to the collec- tions, from Recife, Brazil; from Pvt. Hugh Birckhead, U. 8. A., 13 specimens from North Africa; from W. H. Phelps, of Caracas, Vene- zuela, two skins of a Venezuelan warbler, Myioborus miniatus balluz, of which one, the type, is placed on deposit. By exchange there came two skins of a Texas red-shouldered hawk, Buteo lineatus texanus, new to the collection, from the Museum of the Louisiana State University, and from the Departamento de Zoologica, Sao Paulo, Brazil, a specimen of the genus Coryphaspiza, also new to the collec- tion. Sixty-eight skeletons, nine skins, and three alcoholic specimens were received as a transfer from the National Zoological Park. Reptiles and amphibians.—As a result of exchanges undertaken with other institutions, a number of unrepresented, or poorly repre- sented, species of amphibians have been added to the collections as follows: From the Museum of Zoology, University of Michigan, para- types of 13 frogs and specimens of 125 frogs and 24 salamanders; from the Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University, 13 paratypes and 50 other specimens of frogs. As gifts there came 356 salamanders, frogs, lizards, and snakes from the Great Smoky Mountain National Park from Lt. (jg) Willis King; about 400 specimens of frogs from Jamaica, lizards and frogs from Honduras, from Dr. W. Gardner Lynn; about 60 turtles, lizards, snakes, and frogs from Philip Hershkovitz, incumbent under the Walter Rath- bone Bacon Traveling Scholarship; 28 frogs from the New York | Zoological Park through Dr. William Beebe; and 69 turtles from the | Tennessee Valley Authority through Dr. Clarence M. Tarzwell. | Fishes Exchanges consummated during the year brought much valuable ichthyological material to the Museum, most of it new to the collections, as follows: From the Museum of Comparative Zoology, — 321 cotypes; from the American Museum of Natural History, four paratypes of Characidiwm marshi Breder; from the Chicago Natural History Museum, a paratype of Gobiesox paradiseus Herre, besides 14 other specimens of Venezuelan fishes. Other species new to the col- lections received as gifts include a cotype of Geophagus magdalenae Brind, from A. J. Deering; from Dr. William Beebe, holotypes of the DEPARTMENT OF BIOLOGY 29 Venezuelan fishes Hypopomus beebei Schultz and Corymbophanes venezuelae Schultz; from Hugh H. Iltis, Priacanthus bonariensis and Sphaeroides pachygaster, together with 17 other well-known species from off Cape Henry, Va.; and from the National Geo- graphic Society, collected by Luis Marden, three large specimens of the fresh-water shark Hulamia nicaraguensis trom Lake Nicaragua, the type locality, new to the collections, and 173 other specimens mostly from Lakes Nicaragua and Managua and from Hi Salvador. Insecis.—The vital and significant role played by entomology and entomologists in the war is reflected in the host of mosquitoes and mosquito larvae that have been received by the Museum from the Sanitary and Medical Corps of the armed forces, about 10,000 speci- ments all told, comprising a collection of these forms from the south and southwest Pacific probably not equaled anywhere else in the world. Other important accessions of insects include the following: More than 3,000 specimens of bees from all parts of the world, includ- ing some type material, presented by Dr. T. D. A. Cockerell; nearly 4,000 butterflies of the family Lycaenidae, including 37 holotypes and 160 allotypes and paratypes, a gift from W. D. Field; 2,000 Hemiptera, including 3 holotypes, from Dr. 8. B. Fracker; comprehen- sive collections, chiefly insects ccllected by the donor, Maj. D. Elmo Hardy, in India; 57,000 miscellaneous insects selected by workers of the Bureau of Entomology and Plant Quarantine from material re- ceived for identification during the year. Marine wnveriebrates —Giits of type matcrial were received in seven of the year’s accessions and include: Types of two new species of crayfish from Dr. Horton H. Hobbs; the type of a new species of rhizocephalid from Dr. KE. G. Reinhard; holotypes and allotypes of 10 new species of crayfishes from Dr. Rendell Rhcades; holotypes, aliotypes, and paratypes of six new species of ostracods from Dr. C. Clayton Hoff; five slides of Foraminifera carrying paratypes of a new species from David Nicol; and the type and paratypes of a new poly- clad worm described by Dr. Libbie Hyman, from Dr. C. H. Edmond- son. A notable northward extension of the range of a tropical west American marine crab is represented by a specimen of Huphylax dovit taken in Monterey Bay and presented to the Museum by the Hopkins Marine Station through Dr. Rolf L. Bolin. Especially worthy of note is the fact that during the last year 6 accessions, totaling 2,380 specimens, collected by men in the armed services have been donated by them to the national collections. For these, in many cases rare, specimens the Museum is indebted to the following: Maj. D. Elmo Hardy, San. C., U.S. A., India; Ensign Donald R. Johnson, Malaria Control, U. 5S. N. R., North Carolina; Set. Joel Martin, U. S. A., South Pacific; Set. Milo W. Williams, U.S. A,, Mississippi; Set. James EK. Hadley, U.S. A., New Guinea. Mollusks —The Museum’s collection of Mexican land shells was materially enhanced by three gifts, totaling 1,490 specimens, received from Miss Marie EK. Bourgeois. Other Mexican material collected by Dr. G. A. Cooper, of the department of geology, includes 1,145 shells and 67 brachiopods from Sinaloa, Sonora, and Veracruz. Dr. HK. A. Andrews, who had built up the largest known collection of Jamaican representatives of the family Neritidae, presented the entire 51,000 specimens and accompanying 850 microscope slides to the Museum. Other notable accessions included 1,200 Trinidad shells from Samuel 662679—45—_3 30 REPORT OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1944 P. Archino; 31 specimens, representing 25 species, from Dr. R. G. Fenneh, entomologist to the Agricultural Advisory Department of Trinidad; 84 Colombian mollusks donated by Brother Daniel, of Medellin; 150 marine shells from Mississippi, collected by Sgt. Milo W. Williams; and 238 land and fresh-water mollusks from the U. S. Public Health Service, through Dr. Eloise B. Cram. Helminths.—Valuable accessions in the form of gifts of type ma- terial came to the helminthological collections as follows: From Dr. Eduardo Caballero y C., three cotypes of Ocheterenella digiticauda and a cotype of Choledocystus intermedius; from Lt. (jg) N. Z. Frayne, D. C., the type specimen of Choricotyle reynoldsi; from the — Illinois State Academy of Science, types of Diphyllobothrium oblonga- tum and D. crenatum; from Dr. Harold W. Manter, three slides con- taining four specimens, including type and paratype of Hexzosioma macranthum and type of Cyclocotyla hysteroncha; from Carl Cecil Riguey, nine slides of cotypes of Raillietena centurr. Corals —Twenty recent corals, collected by Dr. Hollis Hedberg, were presented by Dr. John W. Wells, and 12 from Trinidad by Samuel P. Archino. Echinoderms.—Among the 89 echinoderms accessioned during the year were six specimens of an undescribed species from Hawaii re- ceived from Dr. Charles A. Ely, six paratypes of new ophiurans described by Dr. Hubert Lyman Clark, and two interesting abnormal starfish from Dr. Walter K. Fisher. Plants. —Though the actual number of botanical accessions was slightly less than last year, the 36,240 plants received included 2,000 more than the year previous. Largest of the more important acces- sions was the Chickering Herbarium of approximately 10,550 speci- ments, presented by the Columbia, Institution for the Deaf (Gallaudet College). This herbarium, formed by the late John White Chickering, Jr., mostly during the long period of his association with the college, was acquired some time after his retirement from teaching in 1900. It is a valuable addition to the National Herbarium, since it includes much historically important material belonging to collections pre- viously not at all or scantily represented; for example, the early col- lections of K. L. Greene in California, New Mexico, and Colorado, of J. F. Joor in Texas and Louisiana, and of T. J. Hale in Wisconsin. The collection is of special local interest also as containing Professor Chickering’s own material from the District of Columbia, of which a great deal was collected in plant habitats now destroyed. The larger part of the herbarium consists of mounted specimens. Other note- worthy gifts include 3,279 specimens from Venezuela, coming largely from little-known regions, presented by Prof. Henry Pittier; 2,052 specimens of Venezuelan plants collected for the Museum by the associate curator, EK. P. Killip; about 2,500 specimens of bamboos from tropical America, including an unusually good representation of vegetative structures important in the field identification of the bamboos, collected for the Museum by Dr. F. A. McClure, research associate in botany; 1,421 specimens from Colombia, collected by the donor, Oscar L. Haught; 539 specimens of grasses, mostly from Australia, presented by Mrs. Agnes Chase, custodian of grasses; about 1,000 specimens from Virginia and West Virginia, presented by H. A Allard; 261 specimens from the little explored west-central mountain region of Puerto Rico, containing a number of ferns hitherto not DEPARTMENT OF BIOLOGY 31 known from the Island, presented by F. H. Sargent; 315 specimens from Hawaii and the western United States, presented by Otto Degener; 538 specimens from Maryland, presented by E. C. Leonard, assistant curator; 430 specimens, mostly from Brazil and Panamé, presented by E. P. Killip, associate curator. The Albert Mann Diatom Collection, consisting of approximately 8,000 slides of mounted specimens, in excess of 10,000 samples of crude diatom material, and over 200 negatives and 300 lantern slides, was formally accessioned on March 21 as a gift from the Carnegie Institution of Washington. The Albert Mann Collection is the most important single addition ever made to the nation’s collection of diatoms, about doubling it in size and so extending its scope that it takes its place among the world’s foremost collections of these organisms. INSTALLATION AND PRESERVATION OF COLLECTIONS In the course of the continuing task of cleaning and renovating the biological specimens on public display, occasion was taken to rearrange and otherwise improve the exhibition series of European, Australasian, Asiatic, and African mammals. By removing duplicates and deteri- orated specimens, mounting all arboreal animals on suitable limbs, removing all old wooden bases, grouping the animals in geographical sequence, sanding the floors of all cases, and, finally, washing all glass inside and out, the exhibits in the south hall, except for the labels, appear as newly installed. A lack of uniformity in style in the labels is to be remedied at the first opportunity. The Museum’s exhibit of hummingbirds is being completely overhauled. New specimens are replacing old faded ones, and fluorescent lighting is being installed. Two large, handsomely mounted sharks, donated by Michael Lerner, were placed on exhibit in the fish hall on the second floor. A few specimens, such as the Neptune’s cup sponge for which many visitors inquire, were added to the invertebrate exhibit. Although any general overhauling or reconstitution of the depart- mental exhibits must await the end of the war, the curators in a series of discussions participated in by various members of their staffs and the chief taxidermist have drawn plans designed to make the most effective use of available space and existing exhibits. At the same time, models were constructed to present graphically the subjects chosen for visual demonstration. The proposed vertebrate exhibits were suggested by Dr. Wetmore, Dr. Herbert Friedmann, A. H. Clark, Dr. Doris Cochran, and Walter A. Weber, and modeled by Mr. Weber, Mr. Clark, and Dr. Cochran; the proposed invertebrate ex- hibits were planned and modeled by Mr. Clark and Dr. E. A. Chapin. Descriptive matter accompanying the models was prepared by Dr. Friedmann and Mr. Clark. Mammals.—In common with other divisions of the department, one of the most pressing problems is shortage of storage space. This condition hinders the orderly expansion of the study collections, adds to the burden of their care and study, and retards identification of new material. All the material is properly indexed but in a number of cases difficult of access. No special work was done on the alco- holic collections except the routine filling of jars and tanks with alcohol as necessary. 32 REPORT OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1944 Birds. —The rearrangement, reidentification, and labeling of the study series of bird skins were continued, the following families being covered in part or whole: Eurylaemidae, Dendrocolaptidae, Furnar- iidae, Conopophagidae, Rhinocryptidae, Cotingidae, Pipridae, Tyran- nidae, Oxyruncidae, Phytotomidae, Pittidae, Xenicidae, Phileptit- tidae, Menuridae, Atrichornithidae, Alaudidae, Hirundinidae, Cam- pephagidae, Dicruridae, Oriolidae, Irenidae, Tetraonidae, Phasianidae, and Cracidae, comprising 42 quarter-unit cases and 24 half-unit cases. During the first half of the year the associate curator, H. G. Deignan, spent considerable time in checking over the collection for possible types and in correcting labels on specimens with insufficient or mis- leading data. The evacuated material has been checked, poisoned, and found to be in excellent condition. All material received during the year has been identified, at least to species, for catalog purposes. Substantial additions were made to the card catalog of published colored pictures of birds. Under the supervision of the curator, Dr. EK. M. Hasbrouck, carrying on volunteer work in the division, and the scientific aide, J. S. Webb, began a complete rechecking of the col- lection of the birds of North America, listing especially all gaps in the series, not only of forms unrepresented, but of plumages (sex, age, and season) needed to round out the collection, and of forms of which no topotypical material was available. This information will facilitate arranging exchanges and suggesting other ways of filling these gaps in order to increase the usefulness of the collection. The study collection of the Fish and Wildlife Service was extensively rearranged and expanded by its curator, Dr. J. W. Aldrich. Reptiles and amphibians.—The dried turtle collection, which was returned to the division following the death of Dr. Stejneger, has been entirely rearranged so that all specimens may be readily located. The card catalog being made of this collection is about half completed. The processing and cataloging of all incoming material are up to date. The backlog of unidentified material in the collection is beng steadily reduced to an almost negligible figure. Exchanges involving duplicate specimens have not greatly relieved the overcrowded con- dition of the alcoholic stack, as the desired material received in return required about as much space as was occupied by the distributed duplicates. Four half days a month of the time of a laborer are devoted to the care of the evacuated alcoholic types of the depart- ment. These collections continue in first-class condition. Fishes.—The alcoholic storage in the division of fishes is about taxed to capacity, with the result that the 45,000 specimens transferred from the Fish and Wildlife Service last year are still on shelves in the offices. By rearranging shelves and family jars in the stack, enough space was gained to care for current accessions and for the anchovies worked up by Dr. Hildebrand. The 12 families of South American catfishes and the family Characinidae were also rearranged to accom- modate the intercalation of the 18,262 Venezuelan fishes worked up by the curator. The identification of unworked fishes accumulated from past years is being energetically continued. A careful estimate shows about 400,000 fishes either uncataloged and therefore unavail- able for comparison or as yet unincorporated in the classified series. Except for some large accessions, the general routine of identification, counting, cataloging, bottling, labeling, and filing and refiling of jars is current. Wooden barrels have been found to be unsatisfactory for DEPARTMENT OF BIOLOGY 33 holding fish and are being replaced with other containers as they be- come available. The present status of the collection is satisfactory except for the crowded condition of the stack. Insects.—Oi the groups of Scarabaeidae and Coccinellidae in direct charge of the curator all the material of the genus Pinotus, family Scarabaeidae, was reidentified and placed in systematic order. The addition of a new double room on the second floor greatly increased the working facilities in the section of Hemiptera, making it possible to rearrange the cutworm moths, family Phalaenidae, in the space formerly occupied by the Hemiptera. Because of the heavy load of service work and lack of personnel, it has been impossible, for the present at least, to continue with the segregation of holotypes begun in 1942. Work on the Lepidoptera was discontinued before the end of the last fiscal year, and, although resumed early in 1944, it was again dropped when Mr. Field was inducted into the Army in De- cember. The Nearctic collections of Orthoptera are on the whole well arranged and identified, but the exotic material is largely unstudied. During the year, however, both the Nearctic and exotic Blattidae, Mantidae, and Phasmatidae were put in good condition. “The Dermaptera were studied and completely rearranged. Ali the order Embioptera was recently identified by Capt. HE. S. Ross. The work- ing collections of Nearctic Odonata, Plecoptera, Megaloptera, Mecop- tera, and Neuroptera are moderately weil named and for the most part reasonably well arranged. The Trichoptera and exotic Odonata are mostly unworked, the latter being unavailable for study. Parts of the alcoholic collections were gone over during the year and put m good order. The entire collection of coleopterous larvae, which is probably the best of its kind anywhere, is in excellent condition and on the whole very well arranged. Dr. A. G. Bé6ving redetermined and rearranged all the material belonging to the Anobiidae, and Dr. W. H. Anderson expanded, relabeled, and put the scarabaeid larvae in good working order and incorporated some large lots of identified Scolytidae (weevils) in the regular reference collections. Of the adult Coleoptera W. S. Fisher rearranged the Bostrichidae of the world and accomplished a much-needed reorganization of the Anobiidae, Languriidae, Colydiudae and Melasidae. H. 5S. Barber rearranged several minor groups of Chrysomelidae and some portions of the Dermestidae, while L. L. Buchanan rearranged parts of many genera of Curculionidae. Dr. J. M. Valentine completely rearranged the West Indian Carabidae, as well as several larger genera of Klateridae. On the whole, the collec- tions of Coleoptera are in fairly good condition. Many parts, how- ever, are badly overcrowded and contain much poorly identified material which needs to be reviewed and redetermined. ‘There are also very many schmitt boxes of pinned beetles, partly identified but mostly unnamed, remaining to be transferred to Museum trays. Before his induction into the Army, W. D. Field completed the incorporation and rearrangement of the North American but- terfly collections into one unit, a difficult and praiseworthy accom- plishment. Work that Mr. Field had initiated on the Phalaenidae has now been taken up by H. M. Tietz, temporarily appointed for the purpose. Before his death August Busck completed the incorporation of the Engelhardt collection of Aegeriidae in the 34 REPORT OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1944 national collection, which was rearranged at the same time to conform with Engelhardt’s revision of the family. The adult and the slide collections of the Oecuphoridae were arranged by Carl Heinrich to conform with Clarke’s recently published revision of the group. Mr. Heinrich and Mr. Capps began a separate collection of inflated larvae by withdrawing such specimens from the adult collections. This work was completed for the large family Phalaenidae, considerably facilitating larval identifications in that group. Segregating the larvae has saved the adult collections from unnecessary handling. The principal additions to the Lepidoptera collections have been in identified larvae. Austin H. Clark, curator of echinoderms, received during the year some hundreds of butterflies from New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, the West Indies, and northern South America, collected by officers and enlisted men in the Army and Navy. A considerable number have already been identified and placed in the collection. The speci- mens are turned over to the Museum as gifts from the collectors. Moving the collections of Hemiptera to new quarters on the second floor provided needed room and more comfortable working space. Al- though this larger room seems to be rather well filled, space remains for considerable expansion. In spite of adding some of the identifi- cation work in the Homoptera to his already heavy workload, Dr. R. I. Sailer made appreciable improvements in the collection of Heteroptera, labeling and arranging it in as uniform a manner as pos- sible considering the diverse character of the material. The sub- family Triatominae, of considerable medical importance, was given special attention, the entire collection being rearranged and all un- determined material identified. The same treatment was accorded the family Cimicidae and the genus Solubea of the family Penta- tomidae following the completion of Dr. Sailer’s revision of this genus. All doubtful Nearctic representatives of the family Muiridae in the regular collections, some 500 specimens, were checked by Dr. Sailer and the identifications verified by Prof. H. H. Knight. The New World Tingidae were largely rearranged, as was also the greater part of the subfamily Corimelaeninae. The Old World Cydninae, pre- viously mostly unidentified and in old cork-bottomed drawers, were checked and transferred to trays. The Nearctic collection of this group was arranged in large part; and more than 1,500 specimens of the genus Huschisius of the family Pentatomidae were reidentified and arranged. The entire Fracker collection of about 2,300 specimens, 700 specimens of the McAtee collection, and approximately 3,000 specimens from miscellaneous sources were incorporated in the regular collection. The large quantity of unincorporated material, especially of the McAtee, Baker, and Ball collections, constitutes the principal curatorial task remaining in the Heteroptera. The work that remains to be done in incorporating the leafhoppers and related groups, in- cluding the extensive and valuable Ball collection, is enormous. The aphid collection was so well reorganized last year that it has required little attention this year except for the incorporation of new material. The collection is well named and otherwise in very good condition, and almost certainly is the largest and best collection of aphids any- where in the world. Further improvements have been made in the aleyrodid collections by Louise M. Russell, who remounted unsatis- factory old type material as opportunity offered. Approximately Se — DEPARTMENT OF BIOLOGY 35 100 lots of unmounted specimens were transferred from boxes and miscellaneous containers to the envelope collection of duplicate un- mounted material, and about 250 slides were rearranged in accordance with recent revisionary studies. Ail currently received material of the Aleyrodidae, Psyllidae, and Chermidae has been incorporated. The improvement in the condition of these collections during the past three years since Miss Russell has had charge of them is most en- couraging. The transfer of the Diptera collections to the second fioor was of ereat help in the better organization of these collections as a whole. During the past year the principal emphasis naturally was on the col- lections of blood-sucking flies, especially the mosquitoes. As a result of Army and Navy directives, 22 shipments of mosquitoes were re- ceived from the Army and 29 from the Navy during the year from foreign countries, including Algeria, Liberia, Gold Coast, Ascension Island, French Morocco, Brazil, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, China, New Hebrides, Solomon Islands, Samoa, Fiji, and New Guinea. In addition to the material received through the Army Medical Mu- seum and the National Naval Medical Center, some Army and Navy officers have submitted collections involving many thousands of speci- mens directly to Dr. Alan Stone. As such enormous collections can- not be put into proper condition and incorporated promptly with the limited staff available, the Bureau of Entomology and Plant Quarantine appointed R. E. Nevin to assist Dr. Stone with the preparation and arrangement of this material. Early in the year the large collection of fruit flies comprising the Tephritidae, also contained in Dr. Stone’s assignments, was incorporated in the regular series. Current ma- terial, as well as the collection of Conopidae identified and returned by Sydney Camras, was incorporated in the muscoid collections. The collections of Muscoidea are in reasonably good order as far as Nearctic material of certain families is concerned, but on some large groups, particularly the Muscidae and Anthomyiidae, a great deal of work still needs to be done. One of the most serious deficiencies is in the Old World material. For most families of Muscoidea the Cld World fauna is so inadequately represented that identification work is ex- tremely slow, much of it uncertain. Apart from the incorporation of currently received material, little was done during the year in the rearrangement of parasitic Hymenop- tera. R. A. Cushman, however, reorganized the North American material and part of the exotic collection in the course of his revision of Ophionini. Considerable old Philippine and Australian material in the Ichneumonidae was transferred from schmitt boxes to trays and roughly rearranged. As a result of Mr. Cushman’s interest in the classification of larvae, some worth-while additions were made to the collection of immature stages of parasitic Hymenoptera. Of the acu- leate Hymenoptera nothing was done with the bees, except that J. C. Crawford handled those requiring immediate attention. The wasps were given some attention by Dr. H. K. Townes, who studied and arranged seven drawers of Philanthini and four drawers of Oxybelini, and also incorporated in the collection part of the large lot of Polistes that was reviewed and identified by Lt. Richard Bohart. The collection of Thysanoptera, though still relatively poor as far as the number of forms represented is concerned, is well organized. Only a small part of a considerable amount of material accumulated 36 REPORT OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1944 from many sources, both United States and foreign, was mounted, owing to shortage of preparatorial assistance. The collections of fleas and Anoplura were arranged in accordance with the latest classifications. The slide material of these two orders is in good condition, being very satisfactorily arranged, and nearly all specimens specifically identified. ‘The mite collection, however, is in need of complete overhauling, but this is not possible until more slide storage is available. Some effort will have to be made soon to provide additional storage equipment. Marine wnverte braies.—The study series of marine invertebrates, both dry and alcoholic, is in excellent physical shape, and its arrange- ment and accessibility are being slowly but gradually improved. This year a considerable portion of our extensive collections of marine and fresh-water plankton was overhauled, relabeled where necessary, and arranged chronologically under collectors, chiefly vessels of the old U. S. Fish Commission and former U. 8. Bureau of Fisheries: Grampus, fish Hawk, and Albatross. Mollusks.—The division reports material arrearages in the prep- aration of specimens for intercalation in the study series, due partly to the prolonged absence of Dr. J. P. E. Morrison on special detail and partly to the fact that the great volume of work of this sort is more than the present staff can cope with unaided. There is enough of this work awaiting attention to warrant the full-time employment of a preparator for several years. Helminths, corals, echinoderms.—These collections continue in good shape. The helminths at present are being cared for at the research station at Beltsville, Md. The corals of the United States Exploring Expedition were removed from exhibition during the year and re- turned to storage. Considerable progress was made in the identifi- cation of unnamed echinoderms; 8,226 identified specimens were cataloged and incorporated in the study collection. Plants. —During the year 14,650 specimens of flowering plants and ferns were mounted, wholly by adhesive straps. In addition, 4,711 specimens were repaired and 442 photographs and 5,663 typed or printed descriptions and reference labels mounted on herbarium sheets. Specimens stamped, recorded, and ready for the Herbarium total 14,539, leaving only about 1,000 still unstamped. An accumu- lation of more than 30,000 specimens is still awaiting mounting. For incorporation in the Herbarium there are on hand 60,000 mounted, stamped, and recorded specimens, including sheets bearing descrip- tions. This year the number of specimens incorporated in the Herbarium about equaled the newly mounted material. The identi- fication of phanerogams from continental America by E. P. Killip and C. V. Morton continues to be successfully combined with the work of incorporating material in the Herbarium family by family, but both tasks were greatly retarded by lack of curatorial assistance. A considerable number of ferns were also distributed. Dr. E. H. Walker incorporated an accumulation of Old World specimens and a large number of reference sheets and mounted descriptions of Philip- pine and Old World types in the collection. The segregation of type specimens from the general herbarium was continued in the course of general distribution and rearrangement of the collection. The type herbarium now consists of 43,610 specimens, of which 776 specimens DEPARTMENT OF BIOLOGY 37 segregated during the current year have not yet been placed in the storage outside of Washington. As in previous years, E. C. Leonard cared for the cryptogamic col- lections, devoting about one day a week to them, giving special attention to mosses of the Washington region. The C. G. Lloyd mycological collections, in charge of John A. Stevenson, honorary curator, continue important as a reference series of the larger fungi of the world and of the wood-rotting forms in particular. There are over 1,500 type specimens, as well as many others authenticated by comparison with the original types at Kew, Paris, and other mycological centers. Taxridermist shop.—Mention has been made of the overhaul and improvement of the European, Australasian, Asiatic, and African exhibition series of mammals under the supervision of W. L. Brown, chief taxidermist. ‘This rather large undertaking involved cleaning 162 mounted mammals, repairing 33, painting 60, and placing 66 on branches. The hummingbird exhibit is under renovation through placing the birds on a panel covered with monk’s-cloth, instead of perching them on wooden tees placed on glass shelves. The true color of the birds will be better revealed by the use of fluorescent lighting. Nine mounted heads, a snow leopard, 20 South American hawks, 1 snow goose, and 2 large sharks were placed on exhibition. Sixteen groups of reptiles and amphibians on exhibit were completed by the addition of as many specimens. Six of these specimens were painted by Dr. Doris M. Cochran. All mounted birds in the District collection and six for the Army Signal Corps were cleaned, as well as four cases of specimens in the Smithsonian index exhibit and 49 mounted heads. Specimens mounted, or of which the mounting was nearly completed, during the year comprised 6 mammals and 43 birds. Two hares and eight birds were mounted for a Navy survival exhibit. Hight mammals removed from former exhibits were dismounted for return to the study collections, two for remounting. Accessories were completed for five snake groups and a number of leaf molds and a quantity of leaves were made. Five snakes and one newt were reproduced in celluloid, as was the head of a Nicaraguan fresh- water shark; considerable progress was made on the celluloid repro- duction of the nearly 25-foot, 305-pound reticulated python received from the National Zoological Park. This was skinned after molding. The miniature work included four models, nine latex molds, and the lacing of models of an African elephant and a hippopotamus on ases. For the study collections 370 mammal skins were cleaned, made up, or degreased, and one large mammal was skinned. For the orni- thological study series 102 birds were skinned and made up, and 46 others cleaned, degreased, or made up. The osteologists had a busy year, cleaning 152 skeletons of mammals, 2,885 skulls, 45 sets of leg bones, 10 sets of seal and porpoise flippers, and 14 lots of miscellaneous bones; 8 skeletons were roughed out and 6 large skeletons, 2 skulls, and 3 leg bones degreased. The skeletal work on birds comprised 62 cleaned, 45 roughed out, 1 degreased, and 1 set of skull and leg bones cleaned. A jewfish skeleton and an electric- eel skull were also cleaned. Instruction and training in making up skins for scientific purposes were given to four individuals, one a member of the Museum staff 38 REPORT OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM in preparation for a field trip; a fifth person was given instruction in the molding of feet. Some assistance was also rendered the War Department in connection with insignia design. INVESTIGATION AND RESEARCH Mammals.—The curator, Dr. Remington Kellogg, spent part of September at the Museum of Comparative Zodlogy at the request of the director, Dr. Thomas Barbour, examining a collection of cetacean remains from Polk County, Fla. His report, ‘‘Fossil Cetaceans from the Florida Tertiary,’ was completed and submitted to Dr. Barbour in December for publication. During January Dr. Kellogg served as chairman of the American Delegation to the International Con- ference on the Regulation of Whaling held at London. Between sessions he studied at the British Museum (Natural History) in prep- aration of a report on the recent porpoises. At the request of the Divi- sion of Medicine of the National Research Council, he also undertook a series of descriptive accounts of the monkeys used by investigators of the Board for the Coordination of Malarial Studies. In collabora- tion with Maj. EK. A. Goldman, of the Fish and Wildlife Service, the first of these accounts, a revision of the spider monkeys of the genus Ateles, has been completed. As in previous years, the curator parti- cipated in a number of interdepartmental conferences related to the International Agreements for the Regulation of Whaling. Gerrit S. Miller, Jr., research associate, continued work on the revision of his list of ‘“North American Recent Mammals.”’ Birds —The curator, Dr. Herbert Friedmann, completed part 10, the gallinaceous birds, of Ridgway’s unfinished monograph, ‘The Birds of North and Middle America,” and began the revision of his own previously completed manuscript on the falconiform birds. In this connection, he published three papers on as many genera of game birds, describing new forms. His study of the H. G. Holt Venezuelan- Brazilian collection was continued. He also published a paper on some West African honey-guides and wrote a number of reviews of recent ornithological literature. He is cooperating with Robert T. Moore, of the California Institution of Technology, and Ludlow Griscom, of the Museum of Comparative Zoélogy, on a checklist of the birds of Mexico. The curator gave some time to work on the fifth edition of the checklist of North American birds to be published by the American Ornithologists’ Union. H. G. Deignan, associate curator, completed his monograph on “The Birds of Northern Thai- land,’’ now in press, and carried on his researches into the records and catalogs of the collections, uncovering unexpected types and correcting many errors, until he left on special service concerned with the war in January. ‘Two of his papers on Thai ornithology, an obituary notice of an American bird student, Russell Richardson II, and a paper on Burma for the Institution’s War Background Siudies were published during the year. Despite his absence from the Museum on war work, S. Dillon Ripley, assistant curator, published two short papers, one on a Bornean cuckoo, Rhinortha, and one on a wild cross in ducks. Dr. Wetmore studied a number of lots of fossil bird bones and published seven papers on them, one of them a remarkable and unusually complete terrestrial vulture of a new family from Wyoming. Unlike most fossil birds, this one was complete enough to warrant DEPARTMENT OF BIOLOGY 39 an attempted restoration of its appearance made by Walter A. Weber. Dr. Wetmore also published a number of short notes on North Amer- ican birds and devoted a large part of his research time to the manu- script of the fifth edition of the A. O. U. Check List of North American Birds. His report on ‘‘A Collection of Birds from Northern Guana- caste, Costa Rica,’’ published by the Museum, appeared only a few days after the close of the year. Dr. E. M. Hasbrouck, volunteer worker in the division, published a paper on the status of the European widgeon in North America. Reptiles —The associate curator, Dr. Doris M. Cochran, made further substantial progress in her studies on South American frogs. Sbe also undertook to expand her popular handbook on “ Poisonous Reptiles,”’ No. 10 of the Smithsonian War Background Studies, into a treatise on ‘‘ Dangerous Reptiles,’’ nonpoisonous as well as poisonous, for the Appendix to the Smithsonian Annual Report. She also con- tributed a section on the preservation of reptiles and amphibians to the Institution’s field collector’s manual, and prepared copy for a mimeo- graphed circular on the reptiles and amphibians of the South Pacific Islands. Fishes.—The curator, Dr. L. P. Schultz, made notable progress with his studies on the extensive material that he collected in Venezuela, finishing a report on the Characinidae, in press at the close of the year, and completing manuscript for the families Gymnotidae, Cichlidae, Cyprinodontidae, Dasvatidae, Tetraodontidae, and Centropomidae. Dr. Schultz’s report on “‘The Catfishes of Venezuela” was published in February in the Museum Proceedings. Dr. Robert R. Miller, asso- ciate curator, described two new species of fishes from the northwest coast of Mexico, and undertook a study of the Chinese fishes collected by Dr. D. C. Graham some years ago. Insects.—The curator, Dr. E. A. Chapin, made further progress with the manuscript embodying the results of his investigations on the genus Hippodamia and continued work on other sections of the Coccinellidae. In the Orthoptera and neuropteroid insects, Dr. H. K. Townes completed for publication a genotype catalogue of the Dermaptera, before undertaking other studies now in progress involving the classifi- cation of the group. One of these studies is a revision of the Nearctic species of Dermaptera, of which only 16 are known at present; another is a generic classification of the order. Dr. Townes has found good bases for the recognition of 4 families and discovered a number of new poua eters that materially facilitate generic grouping within the amilies. In the Coleoptera, Dr. A. G. Béving continued work on the larvae of the family Anobiidae and also prepared preliminary keys for the generic identification of larvae of the Cerambycinae and Lamiinae, thus expediting their identification. Dr. W. H. Anderson continued work on curculionid larvae and completed the preliminary descriptions of the genera for which the larvae are known. His work on larvae has been much curtailed since taking over work on the adults of the Scolytidae following the death of Dr. M. W. Blackman. Special attention was given to various structures requiring slide preparation and 172 permanent slide mounts have been completed. New charac- ters were discovered that materially assist the definition of hitherto difficult species. W. S. Fisher continued his study of the North American Anobiidae, placing emphasis upon the groups containing 40 REPORT OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1944 North American forms of economic importance. Further, very satis- factory progress has been made on a revision of the North American Bostrichidae, a group containing many species causing serious damage to finished lumber, lead cables, and stored vegetable products. In continuation of his detailed taxonomic studies on the white- fringed beetles, L. L. Buchanan completed statistical analyses of more than 1,200 specimens representing all the main populations of the leucoloma complex now occurring in the United States. Dr. J. M. Valentine’s research was confined almost wholly to the Elateridae of the genus Drasterius and closely allied groups. Dr. Valentine himself prepared all the illustrations for this paper and, as most of the specific descriptions have been written, it should be completed before the end of next year. Asa contribution to a volume of scientific papers which will be published in honor of Professor Petrunkevitch, of Yale Uni- versity, Dr. Valentine completed a research study begun several years ago presenting certain aspects of speciation through an analysis of a restricted cave fauna of Carabidae. Two parts of Dr. R. KH. Blackwelder’s ‘‘ Checklist of the Coleopterous Insects of Mexico, Central America, the West Indies, and South America”? were published during the year by the Museum (Bulletin 185). Virtually no research could be conducted on the Lepidoptera be- cause of reduced personnel and the marked increase of service activi- ties. Some attention, however, was given to the classification of lepidopterous larvae begun by Carl Heinrich and H. W. Capps two years ago and to certain segregates of the Phycitidae, a revision of which has also been under way for several years. One of the division’s artists devoted the greater part of ber time to the preparation of more than 200 detailed drawings for this revision. In the Heteroptera a revision of the pentatomid genus Solubea was published by Dr. R. I. Sailer, who also nearly completed a manuscript on the North American species of Cydnidae of the genus Pangaeus. Extensive revisions were also made in his manuscript on the cydnid subfamily Coreimelaeninae. While reorganizing the collection of Triatominae, an annotated card catalog was compiled. As this is undoubtedly the most complete index available anywhere, it is pro- posed to prepare it for publication at the first opportunity. Inter- mittent work has been done on the aphid genus Macrosiphum. As the group is enormous, containing many difficult sections, this undertaking cannot be completed short of four or five years at the present rate of progress. Research on the genus Aleuroglandulus of the Aleyrodidae begun last fiscal year was completed and published, and a critical study of certain very difficult sections of the genus Aleuroplatus was submitted for publication. In the Diptera, because of the war, all Dr. Alan Stone’s time was given to service work on mosquitoes. Acting on a suggestion coming from Navy sources, Dr. M. T. James devoted himself to the prepara- tion of a manual for the identification of Diptera involved in human myiasis. Most of the required new illustrations were completed by one of the Bureau’s artists, and about half of the manuscript written. A little time was given to the study of the anthomyiid genus Cordilura. C. T. Greene gave special consideration to certain species of the groups of Agromyza frequently received for determination, and in which definite identification have hitherto been impossible. _> - — oa—_— _——_—_— fo : =———— i, —— _——— ———=