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Chicago Natural History Museum 

BuifcpriN 

Formerly \]ffi News 

Published Monthly for the Museums Membership 



Vol. 18 



JANUARY, 1947 



No. 1 



PAINTINGS CONTRAST MODERN WHALING METHODS WITH DAYS OF 'MOBY DICK 1 




WHALING SCENE IN THE ANTARCTIC 

The Antarctic is the center of modern whaling activities. A "factory ship" is in the dis< 
tance, at the right. Killer boats have surrounded a herd of humpback whales, and one is 
cautiously swinging around while the man operating a harpoon cannon is attempting to get 
the surfacing whale in his sights. The whale is soon dispatched and "flagged" like the 
dead humpback floating in the foreground. 



THE FACTORY SHIP 

The "factory ship" is most remarkable development in modern whaling. A ship of this 
type can handle at least ten whales a day. A killer boat is shown that has just towed in 
four whales. A whale is being drawn up to the "flensing deck" where it will be cut up. 
The blubber is boiled with steam, and the whale oil drawn off to storage tanks. Some of 
the meat may be used for human food. 




SHORE STATION WHALING -HAULING OUT 

Typical of Alaskan whaling stations, the scene is in a quiet, practically landlocked harbor. 
A lighthouse guides the "killer boats" home. The great sloping slip and the pier are 
built on piles. The men at work on a skinned whale have drawn it out of the way to cut it 
up and make room for a huge blue whale, which is being drawn up in its turn to be skinned. 
Three more dead whales are tied to the slip. 



SHORE STATION WHALING -FLENSING 

A sperm whale drawn up on the slip with a donkey engine, has had the flipper removed. 
Long incisions have been made lengthwise and crosswise, and a chain, fastened to the 
"blanket piece" of blubber by block and tackle, is peeling it from the carcass. The blanket 
pieces are then cut up and dragged to the mincers and "tried out" for the oil, which ts 
stored in tanks. The head is removed and the spermaceti salvaged. 



Paintings by Start Artist Arthur G. Rueckert 



(See story on page 2) 



Page 2 



CHICAGO NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM BULLETIN 



January, 19U7 



WHALES AND MAN 

(See pictures on page 1) 
By KARL P. SCHMIDT 

CHIEF CURATOR, DEPARTMENT OF ZOOLOGY 

The natural history of whales is so much 
known to us through the operations of 
whaling that it is difficult to think of these 
largest of all living creatures without refer- 
ence to the important economic aspects of 
their use by man. 

The romance associated with the sailing 
ship era of the New England whale fishery 
of the early part of the nineteenth century 
makes us peculiarly conscious, as Americans, 
of whaling. It is thus fitting that one of 
the greatest and most essentially American 
literary works — Moby Dick, by Herman 
Melville — should have its scene in the South 
Pacific and its theme the contest with the 
"monsters of the deep" and, in a vast alle- 
gory, the defiance of God by man. 

It was therefore regarded as appropriate 
to place a mural painting representing the 
climax of a whale hunt of sailing ship days 
at the end of the Museum's Hall of Whales 
(Hall N-l). This is now supplemented by 
a recently installed series of four paintings 
by Mr. Arthur G. Rueckert, Staff Artist, 
representing the extraordinary develop- 
ments of modern whaling. In these he 
illustrates the two principal methods now 
employed — whaling with a large "factory 
ship" and whaling from a shore station 
served by small "killer boats." 

HISTORY OF WHALING 

Man's first contact with whales must have 
been through the not infrequent occurrence 
of stranded individuals even on thickly 
inhabited coasts. Primitive man must have 
made use of such stranded carcasses for 
food. Actual capture of whales by the 
Eskimos, by harpooning them in narrow 
channels between ice floes, must go back 
to prehistoric times, and must long ante- 
date the first records of European whaling 
by the Norsemen, as early as the ninth 
century, and by the Basques, in the Bay 
of Biscay, in the thirteenth century. 

The leadership in the whaling industry 
passed from one seafaring people to an- 
other — to the Dutch in the early seven- 
teenth century, then to the English, then, 
by the early 1800s, to the New Englanders. 

In the redevelopment of whaling in 
modern times, the Norwegians have taken 
the lead, and have been most actively 
emulated by the Japanese. In modern 
times, Great Britain has taken the lead in 
the scientific study of whales. Special 
vessels, the Discovery and the William 
Scoresby, and a shore station on far-off 
South Georgia, in the Atlantic east of the 
southern tip of South America, have been 
devoted to this purpose. 

By far the most important among the 
various products obtained from whales is 
the oil tried out from the thick coat of 



blubber that protects the animal from cold 
and streamlines its body. The use of whale 
oil has varied with changes in our industrial 
culture. One of the factors that put an end 
to the New England whaling industry was 
the substitution of kerosene for whale oil 
in lighting. 

Whale oil from blubber is a fat, and goes 
into many industrial uses, especially soap. 
The fine waxy oil from the head of the sperm 
whale, spermaceti, is especially valued as 
a non-gumming lubricant. 

Whale flesh, long neglected as a food for 
man, is now coming into use in Europe and 
Japan at about half the price of beef. In 
modern whaling, the blood, otherwise un- 
used parts of the flesh and viscera, and bones 
are dried for use as fertilizer. 

The curious product ambergris, which 
has had a use in perfumery since ancient 
times, is a biliary deposit in the intestines 
of apparently diseased sperm whales. It 
has a high, though presumably diminishing, 
value in the modern perfume trade. 

The influence of human fashions in the 
era of stayed women's garments in the 
eighteenth century led almost to the ex- 
tinction of the great Greenland whale when 
the price of whalebone rose to more than 
$1,400 per ton. Steel and plastic stays now 
replace whalebone for stays in corsets, and 
fine whalebone, used for other purposes, 
now brings the much higher price of some 
$5 a poundl because of the scarcity of the 
species of whales that produce it. 

The rise of modern whaling dates essen- 
tially from the use of steamships and per- 
haps most particularly from the invention 
of the harpoon cannon known as the Sven 
Foyn gun. This deadly weapon shoots a 
harpoon of 100 pounds weight carrying an 
explosive charge in its shaft; and this instru- 
ment more than any other, has increased 
the efficiency and reduced the hazards of the 
old "hand lance" whaling. With "killer 
boats" equipped with the harpoon gun, 
whaling is being carried on in both Arctic 
and Antarctic waters by means of shore 
stations, to which the whales are towed for 
processing. 

'floating factories' 

The most spectacular of the develop- 
ments of the commercial pursuit of whales 
is the development of "floating factories." 
Such a vessel is large enough to draw a 
whale carcass to its deck by means of a 
ramp through the bow or stern; and cutting 
up, trying out of the blubber, and pro- 
cessing of the meat and bones is carried on 
efficiently and mechanically. 

Staff Artist Rueckert's four new paintings 
depict: (1) Killer boats from a "factory 
ship" using the explosive harpoon bomb; 
(2) a factory ship to which killer boats have 
just returned with several whales; (3) 
hauling out whales at a typical shore 
whaling station of the type established in 



Alaska; and (4) operations in the pro- 
cessing of whales at a shore station. 

Even before the development of the 
modern killing devices, certain species of 
whales had reached the verge of extinction, 
and others had been eliminated from seas 
where they were formerly abundant. Now, 
with the pre-war destruction of more than 
12,000 whales per annum, and with the 
threat that radio and radar will still further 
increase the destructiveness of whaling 
operations, it is evident to all far-sighted 
members of the whaling industry that 
further decline in the numbers of whales 
will soon increase operational costs and 
reduce income to a point at which whaling 
will disappear. 

It is not unlikely, therefore, that the 
approach to extinction may actually operate 
as the best conservation measure. The 
chemical industry may be expected to 
develop synthetic substitutes for whale oil, 
especially as its costs and price increase. 

International efforts for the control of 
whaling and the protection of the scarcer 
species (such as the all but extinct Green- 
land whale) have resulted in agreements 
and limitations looking in the direction of 
complete regulation and stabilization of 
the industry. The United States, with 
Antarctic possessions of its own, has now 
followed the lead of Great Britain in pro- 
moting scientific studies on whales on which 
long-term policies can be based. 



Photo Entries Close Jan. 18; 
Exhibit Opens Feb. 1 

The deadline for entries in the Second 
Chicago International Exhibition of Nature 
Photography to be held by the Nature 
Camera Club of Chicago at the Museum 
is January 18. 

The exhibition will be held in Stanley 
Field Hall Feb. 1 to 28 inclusive. In addi- 
tion to the 'photograph display, projections 
of color slides will be presented on the screen 
in the Museum lecture hall on three Sun- 
day afternoons, February 2, 9 and 16 at 
3 o'clock. 

Entry forms and rules may be obtained 
from the Museum or from Miss Louise K. 
Broman, 6058 South Troy St., Chicago 29. 



Expedition to Cuba 

Dr. B. E. Dahlgren, Curator Emeritus of 
Botany, is leaving January 4 for an expedi- 
tion in Cuba and Haiti. He will remain 
several months collecting material needed 
for addition to the Museum's extensive 
collection of palms, and other items needed 
by the Department of Botany. 



Specimens of the gold, silver, lead, and 
platinum ores of the world, geographically 
arranged by countries, states, and mining 
districts, are on display in Frederick J. V. 
Skiff Hall (Hall 37). 



January, 19U7 



CHICAGO NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM BULLETIN 



Page S 



TWO 'MAN-KILLERS': THE ELECTRIC EEL AND CANNIBAL FISH ADDED TO EXHIBITS 



By JOHN W. WINN 

ASSISTANT, DIVISION OF FISHES 

Two "man-killing fishes" are represented 
among several models recently added to the 
exhibits in the Hall of Fishes (Hall O). 
They are the electric eel and the piranha 
or cannibal fish. 

The installation of these and other 
recently added fish models carries forward 
the purpose of the arrangement of the 
various types in a linear series to indicate the 
systematic relationships of different species 




THE ELECTRIC EEL, "A 500-VOLT FISH" 

This creature, if alive, would deliver a paralyzing and possibly killing electric shock were 
it to be held as Mrs. Helen Moyer of the Museum's staff is doing in the above photograph. 



to each other and to show the parallel 
development of similar structures and pat- 
terns. This addition is noteworthy in that 
first, two families of fishes, heretofore not 
shown in the exhibits of the Museum, are 
now represented, and second, two of the 
species displayed are perhaps the most 
storied of New World fishes. 

The natural history of the electric eel, 
Eledrophorus elcctricus, the first of the new 
fishes, is well documented in both legend 
and by observation and authentic report. 
First observed late in the 17th century by 
the French astronomer and mathematician, 
Richer, in Guiana, it was made known to 
science in Europe in 1729, when a description 
of its electrical powers was first published. 
It has since been the subject of a voluminous 
literature. 

POWERFUL ELECTRIC SHOCK 

Known chiefly for its remarkable ability 
to deliver powerful shocks, the electric eel 
derives its common name from this property 
and from its body form, which may be 
described as elongate, cylindrical, and scale- 
less — in other words, "eel-like." This resem- 
blance to an eel, however, is more apparent 
than real, for it is not a true eel, but a mem- 
ber of a group of Central and South Ameri- 



can fishes called the Gymnotids, related 
to the characins and presumably descended 
from some primitive member of the family 
Characidae, of which the second of the new 
fishes, the piranha, Serramlmo rhombeus, is 
a more or less typical example. 

Certain uniformities in basic morphology 
relate these two forms to the suckers, the 
carps and minnows, the loaches, and the 
catfishes. Therefore, the electric eel and 
the piranha are placed in the same case 
with these latter types. 
Also to be found in 
this case is the third . 
of the new fishes, 
the common shiner, 
Notropis cornutus, re- 
presenting together 
with the much larger 
carp, Cyprinus carpio, 
the family Cyprinidae. 
The capacity for 
delivering electric 
shocks has developed 
in other fishes besides 
the electric eel. 
Among these are the 
electric rays of the 
Atlantic and southern 
seas, the electric cat- 
fish of Africa, the vari- 
ous species of Mormy- 
rus and Gymnarchus 
of Africa, and the 
stargazer, Astrosco- 
pus. In most of these 
species, the source of the electric power lies 
in the great lateral swimming muscles, 
modified to become essentially structures 
for the production and storage of electric- 
ity. In the African electric catfish, Malop- 
lerurus electricus, however, the electric tissue 
appears to be derived from the epidermis, 
and in the stargazer, the electric organ is 
located on top of the head between the eyes. 

BATTERY-LIKE ORGANS 

In the electric eel the source of the power 
lies in three sets of special organs derived 
from certain muscles of the tail. The head 
and viscera occupy the front one-fifth of the 
body, the remaining four-fifths comprising 
the tail containing the swimming muscles 
and the electric organs. The large electric 
organs, delivering the major discharge, lie 
under the muscle tracts of the back. 

A smaller pair, Hunter's organs, lying on 
either side of the anal fin muscles, delivers 
an irregular discharge supplementing that 
of the large organs. The third pair, Sach's 
bundles, arising about midway in the length 
of the fish and closely associated with the 
large organs throughout the remaining dis- 
tance to the end of the body, delivers a minor 
discharge thought to serve as a warning 



device. The major discharge of the large 
organs augmented by the irregular discharge 
of Hunter's organs is brought into play to 
repel an aggressive attacker that has failed 
to be discouraged by the warning discharge, 
and to stun or kill the small fishes sought as 
food. Recent studies revealed an electro- 
motive force of the major discharge as high 
as 500 volts in a three-foot specimen. 

KNOCKS OUT MAN OR HORSE 

In actual performance, it is reported the 
electric eel is able to stun and knock down 
men and even horses entering the streams 
and pools inhabited by it. Although actual 
contact with the eel produces the greatest 
shock, its electricity is communicated 
through the water and may be felt at some 
distance from the discharging eel. Direct 
contact can produce almost complete tempo- 
rary paralysis in a man. Growing to a 
length of eight feet and the thickness of a 
man's thigh, the fish is respected and feared 
by the natives of the Guianas and Brazil. 

Although a sluggish swimmer, the electric 
eel suffers apparently not at all from its 
lack of speed. 

It is interesting to note that the electric 
eel may swim forward or backward with 
equal ease merely by reversing the direction 
of the waves or undulations running along 
its lengthy and flexible anal fin. The fish 
must rise to the surface approximately 
every four minutes to gulp air. 




PIRANHA OR CANNIBAL FISH 

One of the most ferocious of flesh'eating fishes, it will 
attack man or beast with its bulldog-like jaws. 

Feared no less than the electric eel in the 
streams of South America is the formidable 
piranha, or cannibal fish, whose blood- 
thirsty appetite for animal flesh makes it 
the scourge of the waters it inhabits. Its 
ferocity is belied by its size, ranging from 
just a few inches to about a foot in length. 
Its bulldog-like jaws, armed with two dozen 
or so sharp triangular teeth, enable it to tear 
chunks of flesh from man or beast coming 
into contact with it. It is said that piranhas 
attacking in schools clean the flesh from 
the bones of an animal in short order if it 
is unable to make its escape almost imme- 
diately. 

The models were prepared by Staff 
Taxidermist Leon L. Pray. 



Page i 



CHICAGO NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM BULLETIN 



January, 191,7 



Books 



(All books reviewed in the Bulletin are 
available in The Book Shop of the Museum. 
Mail orders accompanied by remittance are 
promptly filled— The Book Shop pays the 
the postage on shipments.) 

A Treasury of Science. Edited by Harlow 
Shapley, Samuel Rapport, and Helen 
Wright. Harper and Bros., New York 
(seconded.), $3.95. 

The collection of essays presented by 
Dr. Shapley and his associates is intended 
to bridge the gap between scientist and non- 
scientist, and equally the one in the scien- 
tist's own mind produced by the fact that 
he is a specialist in his own field and a lay- 
man in every other department of science. 

This is a laudable aim, and perhaps should 
stand at the forefront of every educational 
endeavor. The battle between classical 
education and scientific education has been 
a long one. That the scientific outlook has 
won has been grudgingly conceded even by 
its opponents, since, as Chancellor Robert 
Maynard Hutchins of the University of 
Chicago has said, the scientists may now 
threaten to blow up the world if they do not 
have their victory. 

It would be an empty victory if we should 
fail to recognize that education in the 
sciences has its own humanistic values and 
indeed is prepared to maintain the humani- 
ties in education with no change except in 
viewpoint and perspective. 

That scientific matters may be discussed 
in every-day language; that scientific 
method is no strange magic but merely the 
systematized common sense of the common 
man; that science may concern itself with 
the wonder and beauty of the world 
and of the universe; and that there is high 
romance and adventure in the careers 
offered by the pursuit of science, are the 
lessons to be derived from this book. 

The choice of excerpts from the older 
literature is excellent, and that from the 
modern literature requires only the reser- 
vation that the literature is vast and that 
there is room for many more such "treasuries 
of science" to keep the classics of scientific 
insight available to the reading public. 

Karl P. Schmidt, Chief Curator, Zoology. 



LAUFER'S FAMOUS "JADE" 
IN NEW EDITION 

In 1912, the Museum (then Field 
Museum of Natural History) published a 
monograph entitled Jade, A Study in Chinese 
Archaeology and Religion, by the late 
Berthold Laufer, then Chief Curator of 
Anthropology. The publication was imme- 
diately in great demand and came to be 
looked upon as the outstanding work on this 
subject. It is probably Dr. Laufer's most 



famous opus. After more than thirty years, 
it still stands as the most authoritative 
source to which scholars, students, and 
collectors can turn. The edition was ex- 
hausted in 1945, and arrangements were 
made to reprint the work, as no other study 
of jade had appeared to supplant Dr. 
Laufer's original text. 

The new edition has now been published, 
by P.D. and lone Perkins, of South Pasa- 
dena, California. Copies are now available 
in the Book Shop of the Museum at $12.50. 
The few copies of the original edition which 
had been available for some years had 
become a collector's item which, when 
obtainable, sold at $50 a copy. 

Dr. Laufer was not interested in pub- 
lishing a mere catalogue or in making a study 
of jade for its own sake. He intended his 
study to form the "background, the leading 
motive, for the exposition of some funda- 
mental ideas of Chinese religious concepts 
which find their most characteristic expres- 
sion and illustration in objects of jade. 

"To trace their relation to thought was 
therefore my chief aim," he wrote, "and 
hence the result has rather become a con- 
tribution to the psychology of the Chinese." 

"Nature Worship," the most ancient 
religion in China, existed before Taoism, 
Confucianism, or Buddhism. Dr. Laufer 
endeavored to establish a correlation be- 
tween this religion and the jade objects he 
described. He based many of his ideas on 
the writings of Chinese authorities and he 
had received from colleagues in the field 
some criticisms of his sources. 

He himself had recognized some defects 
in his research and he had planned to remedy 
these in a later edition, but unfortunately, 
he never found the leisure to work out a 
revised text, nor did he leave any notes of 
such a revised text. It was thought best, 
therefore, to reprint the text of this monu- 
mental work as he left it so that others 
might, as he expressed it, "take up and 
pursue the threads where they dropped 
from my hands." 

Clifford C. Gregg, Director. 



PHILIPPINES EXPEDITION 
REPORTS PROGRESS 

Captain Harry Hoogstraal, leader of the 
Museum's Zoological Expedition in the 
Philippines, reports that members of the 
party have obtained large collections of 
mammals, birds, reptiles, and insects. 
When last heard from they were working in 
Davao Province at a camp 7,200 feet above 
sea level in the cloud zone on Mt. McKinley, 
and planning a survey of Mt. Apo. The 
work will continue until well into the 
summer of 1947. 

The following excerpt from one of Captain 
Hoogstraal's reports indicates some of the 
exigencies of collecting: "We are maintain- 
ing a camp at 7,200 feet in the mossy stunted 



forest where our life is largely an aerial one 
of climbing from one soggy mossy arboreal 
patch to another (and often hanging between 
them up to our armpits) ! We have experi- 
enced some very rainy weather, heavy wind- 
storms, and one locust plague at the lower 
camp which actually broke off the trees, 
but the locusts were succulent enough to 
reduce materially the Museum's food 
expenses for awhile." 

A troupe of Filipinos has already been 
started up Mt. Apo to establish a supply 
base. Plans call for work around a lake, at 
about 7,000 feet elevation, concerning 
which Captain Hoogstraal has "heard 
fantastic stories." He reports that the 
vicinity "swarmed with Japanese biologists 
during the war." Near the lake are some 
bat caves which the expedition is planning 
soon to explore. 



STAFF NOTES 



Dr. Sharat K. Roy, Chief Curator of 
Geology, Mr. Bryan Patterson, Curator of 
Paleontology, Dr. Rainer A. Zangerl, 
Curator of Fossil Reptiles, Mr. Harry 
Changnon, Assistant Curator and Mr. 
Henry Horback, Assistant in Geology, were 
in the Chicago host group to the meetings 
of the Geological Society of America and its 
affiliate, the Society of Vertebrate Paleon- 
tology. The GSA met in the Stevens Hotel 
December 26-28; the SVP met in the Mu- 
seum lecture hall December 27-29. Mr. 
Patterson is secretary-treasurer of the latter 

Mr. Patterson, Mr. Karl P. Schmidt, 

Chief Curator of Zoology, Mr. D. Dvright 
Davis, Curator of Anatomy and Osteology, 
Dr. Theodor Just, Chief Curator of Botany, 
and Dr. Francis Drouet, Curator of Crypto- 
gamic Botany, will attend the meetings of the 
National Research Council's Committee on 
Common Problems in Genetics, Paleontology 
and Systemalics at Princeton, January 2-1,. 
Mr. Schmidt, Dr. Just and Dr. Drouet will 
also go to Boston to the meetings of the Society 
for the Study of Evolution, of which Mr. 
Schmidt is treasurer. Dr. Just will present a 
paper on "Geology and Plant Distribution." 
.... Marie Svoboda has been appointed 
as a member of the guide-lecture staff 
of the James Nelson and Anna Louise 
Raymond Foundation. She is a gradu- 
ate of Northwestern University where 

she majored in biology Mr. George 

I. Quimby, Curator of Exhibits in the 
Department of Anthropology, recently 
spent five weeks in the eastern United 
States and Canada studying the exhibition, 
curatorial and research methods employed 
by 31 other principal museums. . . . Mr. 
Noble Stephens, Assistant Auditor and 
manager of the Museum Book Shop, resigned 
as of December 15 to accept a position with 
the American Bar Association. 



January, 191,7 



CHICAGO NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM BULLETIN 



Page 5 



SANDS FUSED BY ATOM BOMB 
ADDED TO EXHIBITS 

Some additional material was recently 
added to the exhibit pertaining to atomic 
fission in Hall 36. The new specimens are 
chunks of sand, fused by the heat of the 
first atomic bomb dropped in tests on the 
New Mexico desert, into solid masses 
resembling impure glass, greenish brown, 
and slightly radio-active. 

An area thousands of square feet in extent 
was covered with this material. The 
Museum's specimens are from the edge of 
the spot where the bomb was exploded, 
close to the base of the tower from which it 
was dropped, in the Oscura mountains about 
35 miles southeast of San Antonio, New 
Mexico. 

Only recently was clearance obtained from 
the War Department and the Federal 
Bureau of Investigation, permitting Captain 
James Leslie Rowe to present this material 
to the Museum for exhibition, according to 
Dr. Sharat K. Roy, Chief Curator of the 
Museum's Department of Geology. Cap- 
tain Rowe, of the Army Corps of Engineers 
at Sandia Base, Albuquerque, New Mexico, 
was a member of the group in charge of the 
atomic bomb tests. 

The earlier material in the exhibit con- 
sists of a series of radioactive minerals, 




Photo courtesy of the Chicago Sun 

ATOMIC BOMB PHENOMENON 

Chunks of sand (used into solid greenish'brown masses 
resembling impure glass, are displayed by Miss Margie 
Van Nordstrand, "Miss Page One" of Chicago news- 
paperdom, just before their addition to the Museum's 
exhibit pertaining to atomic fission. The sands were 
brought from an area in New Mexico whose surface was 
thus fused for thousands of square feet by the explosion of 
the first atomic bomb during tests. 

illustrating the source of U-235, with charts 
and labels explaining its power, and showing 
the geographical distribution of uranium 
deposits, and other salient information. 



LIFE AMONG THE MIDDLE MISSISSIPPI INDIANS, A.D. 1400-1700 



By GEORGE I. QUIMBY 

CURATOR OF EXHIBITS, ANTHROPOLOGY 

The life and customs of the Middle 
Mississippi Indians are the subject of two 
new exhibits recently installed in the Hall 
of New World Archaeology (Hall B). These 
Indians lived in the middle southern area of 
the eastern United States during the Temple 
Mound stage, circa a.d. 1400-1700. 

The numerous groups of Middle Mississip- 
pi Indians were farmers. They raised corn, 
squashes, beans and other crops, but also 
obtained some food by hunting, fishing, 
and gathering. 

These Indians lived in large villages con- 
sisting of a big plaza or central square 
surrounded by houses. At each end of the 
plaza there were flat-topped pyramidal 
mounds of earth surmounted by wooden 
temples. Some villages were protected by 
palisades of upright posts. 

POLE HOUSES 

Houses were made of upright wooden 
poles, woven reeds, clay, and thatching. 
The frame of the house and the studding 
were made of poles set into the ground. The 
walls were made of clay plastered over a 
lathing of woven reeds. The roof was of 
poles covered with thatching. 

Middle Mississippi pottery was made of 
clay tempered with crushed shell. There 
were many styles of pottery, both plain and 
decorated. 



Tools, weapons and utensils were made of 
stone, bone, copper, wood, and shell. Orna- 
ments were made of wood, shell, copper, 
bone, clay, and stone. Clothing was made 
of woven cloth and animal skins. 

THE GAME OF 'CHUNKEY' 

A rather spectacular game played by 
Middle Mississippi Indians was called 
"Chunkey." Chunkey was played with a 
slender pole of wood and a well-made disk 
of stone. While both players ran forward, 
one player rolled the chunkey stone along 
the ground, and still running, the other 
player (or both players) hurled long poles 
at the anticipated spot where the chunkey 
stone would stop rolling. The player whose 
pole was closest to the spent chunkey stone 
was the winner. 

This game was played in a special place 
in the middle of the village square. The 
ceremonial aspects of the game are imper- 
fectly known, but chunkey players are 
depicted in the sacred art of the Southern 
Death Cult which was an active organization 
among Middle Mississippi Indians. 

The two new exhibits illustrate all of the 
above mentioned aspects of Middle Missis- 
sippi culture. One exhibit emphasizes the 
ceremonial and aesthetic life — the other, the 
daily life of these Indians. 

These exhibits were created by Artist 
Gustav Dalstrom and the writer. 



"CULTURAL GAP" CLOSED 
BY PERU EXPEDITION 

The closing of a "cultural gap" between 
two periods of Peruvian pre-history, the 
first dating back some 2,000 years, is 
reported as an accomplishment of the 
Chicago Natural History Museum Archae- 
ological Expedition to Peru. 

Mr. Donald Collier, leader of the expedi- 
tion and Curator of South American Archae- 
ology and Ethnology on the Museum's 
staff, who has been at work in the field 
since May, has written to the Director, as 
follows: 

"We are continuing to fill in the history 
of the Viru Valley for the past 2,000 years, 
and have made a noteworthy collection of 
artifacts for the Museum. We made a 
stratographic cut which reveals beautifully 
the cultural evolution from the Cupisnique 
period (earliest ceramic period at present 
known for Peru), and the succeeding Salinar 
period. Previously there had been a cultural 
gap between the periods. We have secured 
a representative collection of grave pots 
from the Tiahuanaco period which will 
make a sharper definition of the culture of 
that time. 

"A brief survey trip was completed in the 
Sierra as far south as Cuzco to examine Inca 
pottery and architectural styles in the 
mountains in order better to identify the 
Inca period in the Viru Valley. Collections 
of sherds were made on important sites 
discovered in recent years but not yet made 
the subject of publications." 

Mr. Collier gave an interesting picture of 
his solution of the housing, servant and food- 
economy problems. He wrote: 

"I am camping at the mouth of the Viru 
river in a house I built myself at a cost of 
$15. It is fashioned out of poles and cane 
mats and is plastered with adobe and 
equipped with an adobe fireplace and 
chimney for heating and cooking. Thus I 
am now living much more comfortably than 
previously in the tent. 

"I have a camp boy who does the cooking 
and dish washing. His salary is $3 a week 
and keep. He also keeps the camp supplied 
with wild doves with his muzzle-loading, 
cap-firing shotgun." 

Mr. Collier completed his work with a trip 
to Trujillo to assemble his collections for 
shipment to Lima, and thence to New York. 
He arrived in New York December 19, and 
is expected back at his post in the Muesum 
the first week of January. 



1,000 4-11 Boys and Girls 
Visit the Museum 

The annual delegations of rural boy and 
girl members of the Four-H Clubs were 
again visitors to the Museum last month. 
On December 2, a group of 700 of the girls 
came, and on December 4 about 300 of the 
boys arrived. 



Page 6 



CHICAGO NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM BULLETIN 



January, 191,7 



Chicago Natural History Museum 

Founded by Marshall Field, 1893 

Roosevelt Road and Lake Shore Drive, Chicago 

Telephone: Wabash 9410 



THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES 
Lester Armour Marshall Field, Jr. 

Sewell L. Avery Stanley Field 

W. McCormick Blair Samuel Insull, Jr. 

Leopold E. Block Henry P. Isham 

BOARDMAN CONOVER HUGHSTON M. McBAIN 

Walter J. Cummings William H. Mitchell 

Albert B. Dick, Jr. Clarence B. Randall 

Howard W. Fenton George A. Richardson 

Joseph N. Field Solomon A. Smith 

Marshall Field Albert H. Wetten 

John P. Wilson 

OFFICERS 

Stanley Field President 

Marshall Field First Vice-President 

Albert B. Dick, Jr Second Vice-President 

Samuel Insull, Jr Third Vice-President 

Clifford C. Gregg Director and Secretary 

Solomon A. Smith Treasurer 

John R. Millar Assistant Secretary 

THE BULLETIN 

EDITOR 
Clifford C. Gregg Director of the Museum 

ASSOCIATE EDITOR 
Wilfred H. Osgood Curator Emeritus, Zoology 

CONTRIBUTING EDITORS 

Paul S. Martin Chief Curator of Anthropology 

Theodor Just Chief Curator of Botany 

Sharat K. Roy Chief Curator of Geology 

Karl P. Schmidt Chief Curator of Zoology 

MANAGING EDITOR 
H. B. Harte Public Relations Counsel 



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



STAFF CHANGES 

Several important staff changes, to be- 
come effective January 1, 1947, are an- 
nounced by Colonel Clifford C. Gregg, 
Director. 

Dr. B. E. Dahlgren, a member of the 
Department of Botany since 1909, and 
Chief Curator of 
the department 
since 1924, is retir- 
ing from that posi- 
tion, but will con- 
tinue his connec- 
tion with the 
Museum as Cura- 
tor Emeritus of 
Botany. 

Dr. Theodor 
Just, who joined 
the staff last Au- 
gust as Associate 
Curator, has been 

appointed Chief Curator of the Department 
of Botany to succeed Dr. Dahlgren. 

Dr. Sharat K. Roy, Acting Chief Curator 
of the Department of Geology, has been 
appointed Chief Curator. 

Mr. Harry Changnon, Assistant in Geology 
since 1938, has been promoted to the posi- 
tion of Assistant Curator of Geology. 

Mr. James R. Shouba, assistant since 1939 
to Mr. W. H. Corning, General Superin- 
tendent, has been appointed to the new 
position of Superintendent of Maintenance; 




B. E. DAHLGREN 




SHARAT K. ROY 



Mr. Corning continues as General Superin- 
tendent. 

Dr. Roy, formerly Curator of Geology, 
was commissioned as a Captain in the Army 
Air Forces in August, 1942, and was released 
from military service in the spring of 1946. 
He returned to the Department of Geology 
last July 3 at which time he was appointed 
Acting Chief Curator of the department, to 
fill the vacancy occasioned by the retire- 
ment in 1944 of Mr. Henry W. Nichols. 
Because of his Museum experience as a 
member of expeditions to Newfoundland, 
Labrador and Baffin Land, he first served 
the Army on special duties in Greenland 
and Baffin Land. 
Later, he served in 
India as a combat 
intelligence officer. 
Dr. Roy has been 
a member of the 
staff of the Mu- 
seum since 1925, 
serving first as an 
assistant curator 
and later as a divi- 
sional curator. He 
is a graduate of 
the University of 
Illinois, and earned 
his Ph.D. in geol- 
ogy at the University of Chicago. 

During the twenty-two years since Dr. 
Dahlgren acceded to the position as head 
of the Department of Botany, upon the 
death of the late Dr. C. F. Millspaugh, the 
botanical collections have more than dou- 
bled, and the staff and its activities have 
been greatly increased. The study collection 
of foreign woods, the cryptogamic herba- 
rium, the collection of photographs of types 
and historic specimens of tropical American 
plants in foreign herbaria, and the palm 
herbarium have become distinct important 
features of the department. In large part 
through his own personal collecting on many 
expeditions, the botanical exhibits, that for 
many years were financed by President 
Stanley Field, have been greatly increased 
and improved dur- 
ing his time of ser- 
vice. Relieved of 
all administrative 
duties, he will now 
be able to give 
attention to inter- 
ests which have 
had to be held in 
abeyance for lack 
of time and to con- 
tinue his work on 
palms in the field 
and in the labora- 
tory. He plans to 
leave early in Jan- 
uary for several months' work in Cuba. 

Dr. Just came to the Museum from the 
University of Notre Dame, in Indiana, 
where he held the J. A. Nieuwland Research 




Professorship in Botany. He is widely 
known among his fellow scientists for his 
capable editorship of the American Midland 
Naturalist and Lloydia. 

Mr. Eugene Richardson, Princeton Uni- 
versity, has been appointed to a new post 
in the Department of Geology, as Curator 
of Invertebrate Fossils. Mr. Richardson, 
recently released from Army service, has 
conducted research in his field both at 
Princeton and for the Pennsylvania Geol- 
ogical Survey. 



BOTANICAL EXPEDITION GOES 
TO CENTRAL AMERICA 

The fifth botanical expedition of Chicago 
Natural History Museum to Central Amer- 
ica got under way November 15 with the 
departure of Mr. Paul C. Standley, Curator 
of the Herbarium, for New Orleans to 
embark on the steamship Junior. 

Mr. Standley will remain in the field 
through the greater part of 1947. He will 
make comprehensive collections of the flora 
of Honduras, El Salvador and Nicaragua, 
mostly on the Pacific slope of the countries 
named. His researches will be the subject 
of Museum publications in the future. 
Four previous expeditions by Mr. Standley 
and Dr. Julian A. Steyermark, Assistant 
Curator of the Herbarium, explored the 
twenty-two departments of Guatemala in 
pre-war years. 



Donald Richards a Contributor 

Mr. Donald Richards, Chicago business- 
man, was elected a Contributor (member- 
ship classification for those whose gifts 
range in value from $1,000 to $100,000) by 
the Museum's Board of Trustees at a recent 
meeting. The honor is in recognition of Mr. 
Richards' generous and notable contri- 
butions of approximately 10,000 specimens 
from all over the world for addition to the 
cryptogamic collections in the Department 
of Botany. Mr. Richards also serves as a 
volunteer assistant in botanical research, 
and accompanied two Museum expeditions, 
one to the Southwest in 1939-40, and one 
to California in 1941. 



THEODOR JUST 



Technical Publications Issued 

The following technical publications have 
been issued by Chicago Natural History 
Museum Press recently: 

Fieldiana— Botany, Vol. 24, Part V. Flora 
of Guatemala. By Paul C. Standley and 
Julian A. Steyermark. Aug. 27, 1946. 502 
pages. $3.50. 

Fieldiana— Zoology, Vol. 31, No. 5. Notes 
on Some Tropical Hawks. By Boardman 
Conover. Aug. 30, 1946. 8 pages. 
$0.10. 

Fieldiana— Zoology, Vol. 31, No. 6. A New 
Rodent from the Paraguayan Ckaco. By 
Wilfred H. Osgood. Aug. 30, 1946. 4 
pages. $0.10. 



January, 19i7 



CHICAGO NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM BULLETIN 



Page 7 



THE INCAS— SPECIAL EXHIBIT OF PHOTOGRAPHS OF PERU 



"The Incas," a series of large photo- 
graphs of ancient Inca ruins in Peru, was 
placed on exhibition December 20, and will 
continue on display until January 19, in 
Stanley Field Hall. 

The exhibit consists of thirty-two panels, 
28 x 38 inches each, upon which are mounted 
the large photographs together with cap- 
tions and text. They have been exhibited 
by their sponsor, Life magazine, at museums 
in New York, Philadelphia, and elsewhere. 

The pictures were made by Frank Scher- 
schel, former manager of the Milwaukee 
Journal's photography department, and 
today one of Life's most traveled war photo- 
graphers who worked in both the Atlantic 
and Pacific theaters. The exhibit is ar- 
ranged by the magazine's new department 
of photographic exhibitions, under the 
direction of Mr. Thomas Mabry, formerly 
with the National Gallery of Art, and the 
Museum of Modern Art. 

TIES IN WITH MUSEUM COLLECTION 

Chicago Natural History Museum has long 
had a definite interest in research connected 
with the Incas who, centuries ago (about 
1200-1532), built one of the world's great 
civilizations in the high, cold mountains 
of Peru. The Museum has had an archae- 
ological expedition at work in this field 
from last June until December, in charge of 
Mr. Donald Collier, Curator of South 
American Ethnology and Archaeology. 



NEW MEMBERS 

The following persons became Members 
of the Museum during the period from 
October 16 to December 14: 

Contributors 
Donald Richards 

Associate Members 

Dr. E. M. Buchner, Miss Mizpah Chenier, 
Knight C. Cowles, Mrs. Jack W. Hearst, 
Mrs. G. C. Hodgson, Charles Albee Howe, 
Miss Janet Patzelt, Mrs. Donald M. 
Ryerson, C. R. Walgreen, Jr., Lloyd R. 
Wolfe. 

Annual Members 

Albert H. Allen, Mrs. George L. Apf el- 
bach, W. B. Brodow, H. Templeton Brown, 
Mrs. Isidore Brown, Leon S. Browne, 
Robert F. Carney, Thomas G. Cassady, 
David L. Coghlan, Maurice L. Cowen, 
Miss Edith E. Crocker, Mrs. Estella 
Daemicke, Mrs. John W. Dalton, Craig E. 
Dennison, Mrs. Frank J. Dowd, Rev. Bertil 
Edquist, Mrs. Elizabeth Engelhardt, J. 
Simon Fredrickson, Lee J. Furth, Dr. 
Chauncey D. Giles, Mrs. Fred A. Hansen, 
Homer P. Hargrave, Dr. Francis W. 
Hetreed, Hainer Hinshaw, Donald F. Hips- 
kind, Mrs. J. P. Hobbs, A. Paul Holleb, 
William C. Howell, Dr. Torrey M. Johnson, 
Thomas R. King, Willard L. King, Ralph 
D. Kittner, Leopold Kling, George Knoll, 
Mrs. Harry Koplin, Miss Hattie C. Korten, 
Robert S. Laird, Miss Elaine Lavieri, Paul 
Levy, Mrs. W. E. Macfarlane, Dr. John 



In the exhibits of the Department of 
Anthropology's South American Hall (Hall 
9) there is a large and noteworthy collec- 
tion of Inca artifacts. 

The photographs by Mr. Scherschel were 
made on a recent assignment, and reveal on 
the one hand the delicacy and refinement of 
the Incas' stone cutting and, on the other, 
the grandeur and nobility of Inca architec- 
ture. Perhaps the most arresting quality of 
Scherschel's work is that it arouses a wonder 
at the feat of the Incas who, without bene- 
fit of wheel, oxen, or horses and with only 
the strength of human backs, succeeded in 
moving colossal stones up towering summits 
where they were worked with the precision 
of thorough-going engineers. 

Four sites are covered in detail: Sac- 
sahuaman, Ollantaytambo, Winay Wayna 
and Machu Picchu. The exhibition in- 
cludes many hitherto unpublished photo- 
graphs. 

Winay Wayna, about 60 miles north- 
ward from Cuzco, is the most recently 
discovered site, having been explored by 
the American Viking Fund in 1941. Six- 
teen panels are devoted to Machu Picchu, 
one of the best preserved Inca cities. 

The photographs in their enlarged dimen- 
sions show the almost inaccessible topo- 
graphy of the region, and convey also 
something of the mystery and remoteness 
of the Peruvian Andes. 



D. MacKellar, William P. MacLean, Ralph 
Mansfield, Samuel K. Markman, Mrs. 
Augustus K. Maxwell, A. W. McMullen, 
Charles M. Nisen, Dr. Charles W. Olsen 
Mrs. Claude Irwin Palmer, Master Curtis 
H. Palmer, Mrs. Oscar H. Plotkin, Dr. 
George J. Porter, Marvin G. Probst, Murray 
Randolph, Max R. Rane, Egbert Robert- 
son, Milton P. Rogers, Dr. H. M. Ross, 
Joseph F. Ross, K. B. Ross, Dr. Martin T. 
Ross, Harry Rosset, Mrs. Maurice L. 
Rothschild, Mrs. Harry H. Ruskin, Arnold 
W. Ryan, Mrs. Lawrence J. Ryan, Mrs. 
W. C. Sandvold, John I. Shaw, Miss Lydia 

E. Shirk, Malcolm E. Shroyer, David T. 
Siegel, Mrs. Henry L. Stein, Herbert L. 
Stern, Jr., Martin D. Stevers, Mrs. E. W. 
Stratton, George H. Taylor, Henry F. 
Tenney, Mrs. John W. Thomas, Sr., Mrs. 
G. F. Thompson, Mrs J. N. Thoren, Dr. 
Philip Thorek, Mrs. T. William Timpson, 
Louis P. Troeger, Mrs. Charles L. Trumbull> 
Mrs. George C. Turnbull, Dr. Herbert A. 
Turner, Mrs. Parkinson Unwin, Errett 
VanNice, Mrs. C. D. Varel, John Angus 
Ware, Mrs. Robert R. Ware, James E. 
Weber, Alexander Weiss, Leo Julius 
Weissenborn, Charles C. Wells, A. Herman 
Werth, Mrs. J. M. Westerlin, Mrs. Harold 
R. White, Mrs William W. Whitnell, Mrs. 
Charles R. Whitney, Lawrence Williams, 
Howard A. Wilcox, Miss S. Edna Wilson, 
Mrs. R. Arthur Wood, S. Roger Woolf, 
Ernest V. Wollard, Arthur F. Woltersdorf, 
T. S. Youngsma, Boleslaw Zaleski, Harry 
Zelzer, Elmer K. Zitzewitz. 



200 OLIGOCENE ANIMAL FOSSILS 
COLLECTED IN TEXAS 

Having completed three months of trudg- 
ing back and forth over an arid area in 
southwestern Texas on the Mexican bor- 
der, up and down hills and across desert 
to an aggregate of several hundred miles, in 
the interest of advancing paleontological 
science, Mr. Bryan Patterson, the Museum's 
Curator of Paleontology, Mr. James H. 
Quinn, Chief Preparator, and a volunteer 
companion, Mr. John Schmidt of Plainfield, 
Illinois, have returned bringing a collection 
of more than 200 specimens of prehistoric 
animal fossils. 

The specimens are principally of mammals 
of the Oligocene period, about 40 million 
•years ago. Outstanding are several skulls 
of Titanotheres (large horned animals whose 
skulls alone average 150 to 200 pounds each), 
skulls of amynodont rhinoceroses, and 
partial skeletons or skulls of small three-toed 
horses, an animal that appears to be a saber- 
tooth hyaenodont, another called an oreo- 
dont, a large rodent, and the remains of the 
nesting or roosting place of a large extinct 
bird of prey containing the bones of its 
rodent victims. 

Of outstanding interest is the occurrence, 
within the same formation as the bones, of 
fossil footprints. These were found on the 
hardened surfaces of what were once 
stretches of sand, and are as perfectly 
preserved as if made yesterday. Casts 
were taken of many of the tracks of titano- 
theres, oreodonts, three-toed horses, carni- 
vores and birds. 

The area traversed lies about 50 miles 
south southeast of Van Horn, Texas, which 
is about 120 miles from El Paso and between 
the latter and Big Bend National Park. 
Most of the specimens were collected in an 
area approximately three miles wide and six 
miles long, which had to be prospected 
intensively, largely on foot, to find the 
fossils. The methods employed in hunting 
fossils are similar to those in prospecting for 
minerals. The members of the expedition 
had to build four miles of road to take their 
truck across rugged off-the-highway country 
in order to complete excavating and loading 
of the largest and heaviest specimens. 

Mr. Patterson and Mr. Quinn are now 
back at their Museum posts ready to begin 
the long and intricate task of removing the 
fossils from the matrices of rock in which 
they were preserved for aeons, and to com- 
mence studies that will determine the place 
of the specimens in paleontological classi- 
fication and trace as far as possible their 
bearing upon the entire question of evolu- 
tion. 



In Hall E, Case 29, are some ostrich eggs, 
a few of which are engraved with simple 
geometric designs. These egg shells are 
water containers which were used by the 
Bushmen of South Africa. 



Page 8 



CHICAGO NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM BULLETIN 



January, 19i~ 



SUNDAY LECTURES IN JANUARY: 
MORNINGS AND AFTERNOONS 

In January, two subjects are again 
offered in the Layman Lectures on Sundays 
by Mr. Paul G. Dallwig. 

Each Sunday morning (Jan. 5, 12, 19, 26) 
at 11:30 Mr. Dallwig will present "Gems, 
Jewels, and 'Junk.' " 

Each of the same Sunday afternoons at 
2:30 his subject will be "Romance of Dia- 
monds from Mine to Man." 

In the morning lectures, Mr. Dallwig 
will tell of the superstitions surrounding 
gem stones which prevail in various parts 
of the world, leading to their being worn for 
protection against evil and illness, to bring 
good luck, to further the cause of love, and 
produce other desired effects. He will also 
discuss the difference between precious and 
semi-precious stones, and tell how imitation 
and synthetic gems are produced. Finally, 
he will describe how to apply tests for 
artificiality. 

In the afternoon lectures, Mr. Dallwig 
will summarize the story of diamonds from 
the finding of the first ones in India, Brazil 
and Africa, and will trace the building up 
of the diamond industry to its present big 
business status. A feature of the lecture 
will be his recital of many stories of hate, 
love, greed and murder connected with the 
successive ownership of the world's most 
famous historic diamonds. 

The heavy demand by the public for Mr. 
Dallwig's lectures, and the necessity of 
limiting the size of each audience, make it 
essential to require advance reservations. 
Lectures are restricted to adults. Reserva- 
tions will be accepted by mail or telephone 
(WABash 9410). 

Mr. Dallwig will not appear at the Mu- 
seum during February because of out-of- 
town lecture engagements that month, but 
he will resume his Sunday schedule here on 
Sundays in March with "The Romance of 
our American Forests" (mornings), and 
"Miracles in Wood" (afternoons). 



GIFTS TO THE MUSEUM 

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

Department of Anthropology: 

From: Warren Gorrell, Hinsdale, 111. — 
2 Hopi pottery vessels, Arizona. 

Department of Botany: 

From: Jardim Botanico, Rio de Janeiro, 
Brazil — 127 herbarium specimens; George 
L. Fisher, Houston, Tex. — 76 herbarium 
specimens, Mexico; Charles A. Heath, 
Chicago — a painting of rice growing in 
India; Prof. Helen M. Gilkey, Corvallis, 
Ore. — a branch of noble fir; Prof. J. Soukup, 
Lima, Peru — 102 herbarium specimens; 
Miss Vera Novackova, Trebic, Czecho- 
slovakia — 11 specimens of algae, Moravia; 
Dr. Walter Kiener, Lincoln, Neb.— 130 
specimens of algae, Nebraska, Minnesota, 
and Iowa; Dr. Fred A. Barkley, Austin, 



Tex. — 73 cryptogams, Texas and Mexico; 
University of Texas, Austin — 440 herbarium 
specimens, Texas, Mexico, and Missouri; 
Museo Nacional, San Jos6, Costa Rica — 372 
herbarium specimens. 

Department of Geology: 

From: Capt. James L. Rowe, Albuquer- 
que, N.M. — 6 specimens of sand fused by 
atomic bomb. 

Department of Zoology: 

From: Illinois State Natural History 
Survey, Urbana, 111. — 7,522 butterflies, 
moths, beetles, scorpions, and other insects 
(the exotic insects of the late Adolf Mares' 
collection — Chicago); Col. Clifford C. Gregg, 
Valparaiso, Ind. — 74 spiders, millipedes, 
phalangids, and insects, Jackson Township, 
Ind.; Museum of Comparative Zoology, 
Cambridge, Mass. — 3,957 specimens com- 



BULLETIN RESUMES 
MONTHLY ISSUES 

With this issue, the BULLETIN 
returns to a monthly basis. 
J)uring the war, and in the period 
following, it was first reduced by 
suspension of summer issues, 
then further by reduction to a bi- 
monthly basis. This was necessi- 
tated by the shortage of paper and 
extensive staff absences on mili- 
tary and other services for the 
government. 



prising 230 lots of land and sea shells, 
Caribbean region; John T. McCutcheon, 
Chicago — a duck-billed platypus, Australia; 
Chicago Zoological Society, Brookfield, 111. 
— 13 birds, 2 mammals, and a rosy boa; 
Lincoln Park Zoo, Chicago — 7 birds, a baby 
elk, and a cobra; Dr. Henry Field, Cuerna- 
vaca, Mexico — 7 lizards, 12 land shells, and 
65 insects and allies, Mexico; Lt. (j.g. i J. S. 
Kurfess, USN — 56 reptiles and amphibians, 
Texas; Robert Weber, Highland Park, Hi- 
ll mammal skeletons, Illinois; John M. 
Schmidt, Homewood, 111. — 40 mammal 
specimens and one Scott's oriole, Texas; 
A. J. Nicholson, Billings, Mont. — 94 fox 
squirrel skulls, Michigan; Roger Conant, 
Philadelphia — 6 snakes, Maryland; Charles 
D. Nelson, Grand Rapids, Mich. — 41 
specimens of fresh water shells, Ohio; Dr. 
Donald C. Lowrie, Las Vegas, N.M. — 
1,000 vials containing approximately 1,500 
determined spiders, midwest United States; 
Melvin A. Traylor, Jr., Winnetka, 111. — 
11 bird skins, Bikini; N. L. H. Krauss, 
Summit, Canal Zone — a frog, a toad, and 
2 lizards; Dr. Georg Haas, Jerusalem, 
Palestine — 6 chameleons; Alexander K. 
Wyatt, Chicago — 99 insects; J. A. Slater, 
Urbana, 111. — 86 reptiles and amphibians, 
Indiana and the Ryukyu Islands; Dr. 
Charles H. Seevers, Chicago — 600 beetles, 
Colombia, Mexico, and United States; 
Edward F. Ricketts, Pacific Grove, Calif — 
727 seashells, Vancouver Island and Queen 
Charlotte Islands; Capt. Robert Traub, 
Washington, D.C. — 38 beetles and bat 



PROGRAMS OF LECTURE TOURS 
FOR WEEKDAYS IN JANUARY 

Tours of exhibits, under the guidance of 
staff lecturers, are conducted every after- 
noon at 2 o'clock, except Sundays and 
certain holidays (on New Year's Day the 
Museum will be closed). On Mondays, 
Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays, gene- 
ral tours are given, covering all departments. 
Special subjects are offered on Wednesdays 
and Fridays; a schedule of these follows: 

Wed., Jan. 1 — No tour, New Year's Day. 
Museum closed. 

Fri. Jan. 3— Facts and Fallacies in Natural 
History (Winona Hinkley). 

Wed. Jan. 8— Truth Is Stranger Than 
Fiction (June Ruzicka). 

Fri. Jan. 10 — How Animals Spend the 
Winter (Lorain Farmer). 

Wed., Jan. 15— The Keeper of the Smokes- 
How Different Peoples Have Used Fire 
(Roberta Cramer). 

Fri., Jan. 17 — Plant Storehouses — Stems, 
Fruits, and Roots (Miriam Wood). 

Wed., Jan. 22— The Young of Animals 
(Lorain Farmer). 

Fri., Jan. 24 — Heads and Tales — Famous 
Sculptures of the Races of Mankind 
(June Ruzicka). 

Wed., Jan. 29 — Designs in Wood — Tree 
Growths That Result in Beautiful Pat- 
terns (Miriam Wood). 

Fri., Jan. 31 — Food for the Gods — and for 
People (Roberta Cramer). 

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



flies; Roger Mitchell, Wheaton, 111.— 305 
insects and allies; Capt. Harry Hoogstraal, 
U. S. Army — 442 insects and allies, New 
Guinea and Philippine Islands; Eugene Ray, 
Chicago — 11 insects and allies; Luis de la 
Torre, Ann Arbor, Mich. — 10 parasitic 
mites and 6 fleas, Illinois; S. G. Hansen, 
New York — 2 spiders and 6 millipedes, 
Bougainville and Ulithi Islands; James J. 
Mooney, Highland Park, 111. — 4 mink 
specimens, Illinois. 

Library: 

From: Dr. A. S. Romer, Cambridge, 
Mass.; Dr. Henry Field, Cuernavaca, 
Mexico; E. W. Gudger, New York; and 
Boardman Conover, Dr. Fritz Haas, William 
J. Gerhard, and Miss Esther Hermite, 
all of Chicago. 

Raymond Foundation: 

From: Bryan Patterson, Chicago — 253 
English type uncolored lantern slides on 
Africa, and 2 carrying cases; Charles Albee 
Howe, Homewood, 111. — 267 color slides; 
Miss Louise K. Broman, Chicago — 17 koda- 
chrome transparencies (originals) for slides; 
H. J. Johnson, Chicago — 21 kodachrome 
slides. 



PRINTED BY CHICAGO NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM PRESS 



Chicago Natural History Museum 

BUifeETIN 

Formerly |i|e1i>MiMum News 



Published Monthly for the Museums Membership 



Vol. 18 



FEBRUARY, 1947 



No. 2 



2ND CHICAGO INTERNATIONAL EXHIBIT OF NATURE PHOTOGRAPHY AT MUSEUM 




Copyright, Hobart V. Roberts 

"THREE LITTLE TAILS'* "OLD PAPER BIRCH" 

By Hobart V. Roberts, Uttca, N. Y. First Prize winner in Animal Life Division. By U. Stephen Johnson, Northampton, Mass. First Prize winner in Plant Life Division. 




"OSORNO" "GANNET GROUP" 

By Henry Webb Hyde, Cambridge, Mass. First Prize winner tn Scenery Division. By W. A. Anderson, Toronto, Canada. One of two First Prize winners in Color Division. 

Above are some of prize winners in exhibition sponsored by Nature Camera Club of Chicago. The exhibit will continue throughout February in Stanley 
Field Hall. Accepted for display are 172 black-and-white photographs and 450 color slides. There were 1,650 entries. (See story on page 2) 



Page 2 



CHICAGO NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM BULLETIN 



February, 19U7 



MUSEUM AGAIN HOST TO CHICAGO INTERNATIONAL EXHIBIT 
OF NATURE PHOTOGRAPHY, THROUGHOUT FEBRUARY 

(See pictures on page 1) 

The Second Chicago International Exhibition of Nature Photography is 
being held at the Museum, February 1 to 28 inclusive, under the auspices of 
the Nature Camera Club of Chicago. The top prize winners, selected from 
among the 172 black-and-white prints accepted for display in Stanley Field 
Hall, are shown on page 1 of this issue of the Bulletin. A- total of 400 black- 
and-white photographs was submitted. 

Also accepted for display are 450 color with the inclusion of both prints and color 



slides from among 1,250 submitted. A part 
of these are shown in Stanley Field Hall by 
means of a special illuminated installation, 
which will be changed twice during the 
month (February 10 and 19). As they are 
practically all miniature in size, three screen- 
ings of them in enlarged projection have 
also been arranged, to be given in the Simp- 
son Theatre at 3 p.m. on Sunday afternoons, 



slides, were submitted by 400 competitors 
in 37 states, Alaska, Hawaii, and the follow- 
ing foreign countries: England, Scotland, 
Canada, Australia, Mexico and Hungary. 
An illustrated catalog of the exhibit has 
been published by the Nature Camera Club 
of Chicago, and will be available at nominal 
cost, either from the Museum or the secre- 
tary of the club, Miss Louise K. Broman, 




CECROPIA LARVA' 

By Louis Quitt. 

Buffalo, N. Y. 

One of two 

First Prize winners 

in Color Division. 



February 2, 9, and 16. The general public 
is invited to attend. 

Black-and-white pictures are in three 
divisions: Plant Life, Animal Life, and 
Scenery. The color slides include each of 
these classifications, and are grouped to- 
gether as a separate fourth division. First 
prizes consisting of silver medals were 
awarded in each of the four divisions (two 
in the Color Division). Ribbons, other 
awards, and honorable mentions were given 
to several other entries in each division. 

FOUR HUNDRED COMPETITORS 

The judges were: Mr. Tappan Gregory, 
Chicago attorney, who has won wide acclaim 
in the field of wild animal photography 
under night-time conditions; Mr. D. Ward 
Pease, noted as a writer on photography; 
Mr. Edward Lehman, Associate, Photo- 
graphic Society of America; Mr. Karl P. 
Schmidt, the Museum's Chief Curator of 
Zoology, and Dr. Earl E. Sherff, Research 
Associate in Systematic Botany at the 
Museum. 

The entries, aggregating a total of 1,650 



6058 South Troy Street, Chicago 29, shortly 
after the close of the exhibition. 

The Nature Camera Club of Chicago, co- 
sponsor of the exhibition, is a member of the 
Chicago Area Camera Clubs Association, 
which is an affiliate of the Photographic 
Society of America. Mr. Ben Hallberg is 
president of the club for 1947, and Mr. H. 
J. Johnson, A.S.P.A., is chairman of the 
exhibition committee. 

ANOTHER EXHIBIT PLANNED 

Although this exhibit is the Second 
International Nature salon, as such, it is the 
third event of its kind in the Museum, as 
the institution conducted a competition and 
exhibition, "Lenses on Nature," as a feature 
of the 50th anniversary celebration in 1943. 

It is planned to conduct a Third Inter- 
national, with entries beginning in 1947, and 
exhibition scheduled for the early part of 
1948. These contests have proved to be 
mutually beneficial to those interested in 
amateur photography and to the Museum, 
and it is believed they do much to encourage 
and promote interest in nature and science. 



5 SILVER MEDAL WINNERS 

Louis Quitt, Buffalo, N. Y., Ceeropia 
Larva 

W. A. Anderson, Toronto, Canada, 
Gannet Group 

Hobart V. Roberts, Utica, N. Y., 
Three Little Tails 

U. Stephen Johnson, Northamp- 
ton, Mass., Old Paper Birch 

Henry Webb Hyde, Cambridge, 
Mass., Osorno 



30 HONORABLE MENTION AWARDS 

Therese Whiteside, Big Sur, Calif., 
Yucca; R. B. Horner, 846 Bradley Place, 
Chicago, Spanish Bayonet; Karl E. Hoff- 
man, San Carlos, Calif., Concord Grapes; 
D. C. Gutleben, San Francisco, Jasper 
Sheep; Bernard W. Baker, Marne, Mich., 
Redheaded Woodpecker; Norbert Husting, 
Milwaukee, Mammoth Hot Springs; Rich- 
ard F. Lederhaus, Buffalo, N. Y., Frosted 
Trees; Helen C. Manzer, New York City, 
Rock Crop; H. If. Hickok, Sierra Madre, 
Calif., Blakesly Botanic Garden; Bertha S. 
Townsend, Johnstown, Pa., Spider and 
Web; Jay T. Fox, Seaford, L. I., N. Y., 
Opossum Young in Pouch; E. B. Curtis, 
Verona, N. J., South Mt. Reservation; Maj. 
F. W. Chesrow, 35 West Jackson Boule- 
vard, Chicago, Nature's Fury; Edward A. 
Hill, Fleetwood, Pa., Humming Bird at 
Home; Lucille Babbit, Washington, D. C, 
Bridal Veil Falls; D. C. Morgenson, 
Yosemite National Park, Calif., Dwarf 
Bilberry; John Warth, Spokane, Wash., 
Mountain Goat at Home; Clifford Mat- 
teson, Buffalo, N. Y., Frosted; Douglas S. 
Rowley, Long Meadow, Mass., Reflections 
of an Old Timer; Albert E. Graf, Ports- 
mouth, Ohio, Gull in Flight; Mrs. Grace 
Ballentine, Upper Montclair, N. J., 
"Rhythm" Porpoise; F. V. Sampson, 
Barstow, Calif., Big Ears; Dr. R. R. La- 
Pelle, Philadelphia, Pa., One's, Two's, and 
Three's; Ben Hallberg, Brookfield, 111., 
Desert Flower; H. J. Ensenberger, Bloom- 
ington, 111., Milkweed Seed; Roy A. Whip- 
ple, 66 West Ohio Street, Chicago, Golden 
Aspen; Otho B. Turbyfill, 1632 East 84th 
Place, Chicago, Dune Feathers; Clifford 
Matteson, Buffalo, N. Y., Winter Idyll; 
Emil Pearson, Red Granite, Wis., Aurora 
Borealis; Helen C. Manzer, New York 
City, Bridal Veil. 



An inscribed stone ax of diorite in Case 14, 
Hall 8 presents a problem for Central 
American archaeologists, because its Mayan 
hieroglyphics are as yet undeciphered. The 
ax, which was part of the votive cache 
underneath a temple, was found in British 
Honduras by a Museum expedition. 



February, 19^7 



CHICAGO NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM BULLETIN 



Page 3 



PERUVIAN ARCHAEOLOGICAL EXPEDITION RETURNS; 1,500 YEARS OF HISTORY UNCOVERED 



By DONALD COLLIER 

CURATOR OP SOUTH AMERICAN ARCHAEOLOGY 
AND ETHNOLOGY 

The Chicago Natural History Museum 
1946 Archaeological Expedition to Peru 
returned to the Museum late in December. 
Under the leadership of the writer, the ex- 
pedition completed six months of explora- 
tion and excavations in the Viru Valley on 
the north coast of Peru. 




CLEARING GATEWAY OF CHIMU 

How brush and earth were removed to uncover part of 
Inca town, preparatory to searching for dump heap. 

The expedition co-operated in the field 
with six archaeologists from Yale and 
Columbia universities, the American Mu- 
seum of Natural History, and the Smith- 
sonian Institution. The aim of that co- 
operation was to make an intensive study 
of a single coastal valley in order to 
learn as much as possible about the history 
of the local civilizations from the time of 
earliest human occupancy of the region 
until the present day. Such an intensive 
investigation had never before been at- 
tempted in Peru, or in any other part of 
South America. 

The co-operative aspects of the work were 
carried out under the auspices of the Insti- 
tute of Andean Research, of which the writer 
is a member. With a grant from the Viking 
Fund, the Institute was able to furnish such 
service features as jeeps for transportation, 
air maps, and a field laboratory where 
specimens were washed, mended and cata- 
logued. The work of the writer was greatly 
facilitated by these aids. 

THOUSAND PREHISTORIC SITES 

The Viru Valley is one of the smaller of 
the Peruvian coastal valleys, and was chosen 
as a place to work for that reason. The 
portion of the valley of archaeological im- 
portance is an area approximately six by 
twenty miles. It might be supposed that 
this confined area would be too crowded 
with seven archaeologists at work, but this 
was not the case. The valley contains more 
than a thousand prehistoric sites, such as 
temples, fortresses, cemeteries and dwelling 
places. It was possible to study only a 
third of the existing sites and to excavate 
a much smaller number. 



Basic to all interpretive and historical 
studies of an archaeological region is the 
establishment of a chronology, that is, a 
time sequence of cultural periods or epochs 
into which archaeologists can fit their finds. 
Without chronology, archaeology is specu- 
lative and to a great extent meaningless. 
The work of the writer in the Viru Valley 
was directed toward gathering evidence 
which would make possible the building of a 
temporal sequence for that valley and which 
would correct and amplify the general 
chronology already established for the north 
coast of Peru. 

This evidence was collected by means of 
stratigraphic (layer by layer) digging in 
refuse heaps. These refuse heaps had been 
gradually built up through the continuous 
discarding of broken pots, tools, ornaments 
and other debris by the prehistoric inhab- 



tott 



& 



 

 





1,500-YEAR STORY IN 15 FEET 
The broken white lines indicate approximately the divi. 
sions in Peruvian rubbish pile between the seven cultural 
periods, as follows: 1, Inca; 2, Chimu; 3, Tiahuanaco; 
4, Mochica; 5, Gallinazo; 6, Salinar; 7, Cupisnique. The 
test pit in the floor of the trench was dug to make sure 
that no additional refuse lay below. 

itants, and thus yielded evidence of the 
changes in everyday life through the passing 
centuries. 

With the help of six local farmers, who 
soon became proficient in the precise tech- 
niques of stratigraphic digging, trenches 
were excavated in refuse deposits at a dozen 
sites in the valley. These deposits varied 
in thickness from three to fifteen feet, and 
most of them contained remains from at 
least two cultural periods, one lying on top 
of the other. 

While excavating a refuse heap left by the 
Incas, who conquered Viru Valley about 
A.D. 1450, we were fortunate to encounter 



that rarity so dear to the archaeologist's 
heart ^a complete stratigraphic sequence in 
one deposit. 

SEVEN EPOCHS BARED 

Beneath the Inca remains were found ves- 
tiges of the Chimu people, who were con- 
quered by the Incas. Digging still deeper, 
we encountered successively refuse from the 
Coast Tiahuanaco, Mochica, Gallinazo, 
Salinar, and Cupisnique periods. We guess 
that the Cupisnique people lived in the early 
years of our era, so that when we reached the 
bottom of the refuse fifteen feet below the 
present ground surface we had dug through 
the evidence of nearly 1,500 years of human 
history. 

This sequence of seven epochs included 
all of the known pottery-making periods on 
the north coast of Peru, and confirmed 
beyond doubt the temporal sequence which 
had been laboriously constructed by over- 
lapping the excavation results from numer- 
ous refuse deposits. 

During the course of the excavations the 
writer recovered some 25,000 potsherds 
(broken pieces of pottery), numerous whole 
and restorable pots, tools and ornaments of 
of stone, bone, wood and shell, and plant and 
animal remains which will throw much light 
on the prehistoric diet. This material will 
serve not only in establishing a chronology 
for the Viru Valley, but will reveal much 
about life during the various periods repre- 
sented. And from this combined informa- 
tion it will be possible to date tombs and 
their contents, as well as temples, for- 
tresses and other structures, and then to pro- 
ceed to broader studies of the development 




ANSWER TO ARCHAEOLOGIST'S PRAYER 

Trench cut in stratified rubbish containing seven cultural 

periods. The digging crew is standing at the ten-foot 

level. Completed trench is shown in second column. 

of architectural and art styles and the 
growth of social and political organization. 
Thus the lowly refuse dump is the archae- 
ologist's key to the cultural history of pre- 
historic peoples. 

When the collection reaches the Museum, 
the specimens will be classified and analyzed 
and a report will be prepared for publication 
by the Museum. 



Page b 



CHICAGO NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM BULLETIN 



February, 191,7 



JAPANESE CYCADS, 'LIVING FOSSILS,' PORTRAYED IN MURAL 

by theodor JUST not published until 1784 when Thunberg's 

classic Flora of Japan appeared. It took 
some time before the first fruiting specimens 
were seen in Europe. These were observed 
in 1801 at Farnham Castle, Surrey, be- 
longing to the Bishop of Winchester, and 
were later described and illustrated by J. E. 
Smith. 

By comparison, this cycad seems to have 
been in cultivation in Japan long before it 



The mural, portraying "Cycads in a 
Temple Garden," recently installed in Hall 
29 (Plant Life) shows the largest cycads 
known to grow in Japan. These plants 
adorn the garden of the Ryugeji Temple in 
Shimizu near Fjiri, Shizouka prefecture, 
roughly 120 miles west of Tokyo. The 
largest tree near the road is more than 




CYCADS IN A TEMPLE GARDEN, SHIMIZU, JAPAN 

Painting by Staff Artist Arthur G. Rueckert in Martin A. and Carrie Ryerson Hall of Plant Life (Hall 29). 

Adapted from a drawing published in "American Fossil Cycads" (1906) by G. R. Wieland. 



25 feet tall, and its basal diameter is five 
feet. Its erect and unbranched habit is 
characteristic of this cycad, while the 
branched trunks seen in the background are 
the result of injury induced during early 
growth. 

This species of cycad is known by the 
scientific name Cycas revoluta. It grows wild 
in southeastern Asia as far north as southern 
Japan, where the erect plants are called 
"tessio" or "sotetsu" and the branched ones 
"hoso." By many this cycad is regarded 
as the most beautiful member of this family 
of plants, and is frequently cultivated in 
parks, estates, gardens and greenhouses. 
 Its common name is "sago palm," because 
its stems and seeds contain large amounts of 
starch. Actually it is more closely related 
to large tropical ferns than to palms which 
it resembles in general habit only. Its 
rigid fern-like leaves are familiar symbols of 
Palm Sunday and are widely used as decora- 
tions. 

Although an Admiral Hutchinson of the 
Royal Navy introduced the plant to Eng- 
land in 1758, and specimens have been 
grown at the Royal Botanic Gardens of Kew, 
Surrey, since 1760, the scientific name was 



was brought to Europe. It is not surprising, 
therefore, that the skill of Japanese gar- 
deners should have produced striking 
horticultural variations. One of these 
forms is known as "shishi" or "lion's-head 
variety." Its habit is so different from the 
normal erect plants that it has been likened 
to some of the fossil relatives of the living 
cycads which were low-growing and com- 
pact plants. Shishi plants are purposely 
dwarfed and may have as many as twenty 
closely aggregated crowns of leaves. De- 
spite their low height these specimens may 
be several hundred years old. 

Another horticultural form is known as 
"hoso" or "tree-formed palm." It branches 
more diffusely and may produce as many as 
fifteen distinct crowns of leaves. In culti- 
vation, plants of this species may be induced 
to branch, but rarely will they develop as 
many as three branches, each with its crown 
of leaves. 

Attempts to estimate the age of cycads 
invariably lead to difficulty. Depending on 
local climatic conditions, crowns of leaves 
may last from one to several years. The 
armor of leaf bases left after the leaves drop 
off thus furnishes only an indirect and not 



very reliable basis for age determination. 
Unlike woody flowering plants of temperate 
areas with their fairly regular annual 
growth rings, the cycads produce wood 
devoid of such dependable indicators of 
age. Their relatively slow growth, however, 
suggests considerable age as far as larger 
specimens are concerned. 

The leaves of this cycad may be more than 
two feet long and bear numerous small 
leaflets, giving them a palm-like or fern- 
like appearance. The leathery texture of 
the leaves keeps them fresh for a long time, 
thus retaining their green color as decora- 
tions. 

Often specimens grown in greenhouses 
produce remarkable coralloid masses on 
their roots above ground. These distorted 
structures contain at their tips bacteria 
which intensify the distortion of the roots 
and prepare the way for the entry of another 
micro-organism, a blue-green alga. The 
latter multiplies profusely and forms a zone 
of easily visible growth below the outer 
layers, if one takes the trouble to section 
such a tubercle. This type of root growing 
upward, unlike the regular roots, occurs in 
all cycads, although it is more readily seen 
in plants grown in greenhouses than out- 
doors. 

An outstanding feature of all cycads is 
the absolute separation of the sexes on 
different specimens of the same species. 
Generally the reproductive structures of 
cycads are grouped together either loosely 
as in this species or in a more compact form 
ordinarily referred to as cones or strobili. 
In Cycas revoluta, the female reproductive 
leaves look somewhat like smaller editions 
of the real leaves, bearing usually three 
pairs of ovules below the leafy portion. 
These so-called sporophylls are found at the 
tip of the plant and are spirally arranged 
like the regular leaves forming the crown 
below them. 

This condition of loosely arranged sporo- 
phylls is regarded as the most primitive 
arrangement from which various stages of 
reduction of the leafy parts lead to the com- 
pact type of cone found in the male plants 
of this species as well as most of the other 
members of the family. Although at the 
beginning the female cones of Cycas revoluta 
are covered by yellowish hairs, these dis- 
appear gradually and the seeds, have a soft 
orange-red color. 

Other members of this family of "living 
fossils" which has come down to us almost 
unchanged for about a hundred million years 
are low-growing like their fossil relatives 
or even larger than those illustrated in this 
mural. Though more widely distributed in 
the past, they are today confined to sub- 
tropical and tropical regions except for the 
genus Cycas in Asia and the American genus 
Zamia which reaches southern Florida. 
Their present distribution and greatest con- 
centration may be seen in Mexico and the 
West Indies in the Western Hemisphere and 



February, 1917 



CHICAGO NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM BULLETIN 



Page 5 



in Australia and South Africa in the Eastern 
and Southern Hemispheres. 

Commonly they grow in remote places 
and often are quite local in their distribu- 
tion. The great hardiness of the sago palm 
insures its popularity for outdoor planting 
in such areas as southern California, the 
Gulf of Mexico and the Mediterranean 
region. 

Many remarkable specimens representing 
the nine genera of this unusual family of 
plants have been collected or received from 
abroad by the late Professor Charles Joseph 
Chamberlain, of the University of Chicago 
and a Research Associate of this Museum, 
and can still be seen in the greenhouses of the 
University of Chicago. 

Professor Chamberlain devoted the 
greater part of his lifetime to the study and 
collection of these plants and is readily 
recognized as the greatest authority on this 
group. The Museum was fortunate to 
receive his valuable photographs, herbarium 
and slides assembled during his extensive 
travels in quest of the cycads or at home in 
his laboratory and greenhouses. 



MUSEUM MEN PARTICIPATE 
IN EVOLUTION SYMPOSIUM 

Three of Chicago Natural History Mu- 
seum's four departments were represented 
at an important symposium on "Common 
Problems of Genetics, Paleontology, and 
Evolution," held at Princeton University 
January 3 to 5. 

The Department of Botany was repre- 
sented by Dr. Theodor Just, Chief Curator; 
Geology by Mr. Bryan Patterson, Curator 
of Paleontology, and Zoology by Chief 
Curator Karl P. Schmidt and D. Dwight 
Davis, Curator of Anatomy. 

The conference was one of several spon- 
sored by Princeton, in connection with its 
year of bicentennial celebration, to consider 
problems of major humanistic and scien- 
tific importance. Sixty selected participants, 
including five outstanding biologists from 
the British Isles, spent three days in formal 
meeting and informal discussion. 

MYSTERIES REMAIN 

The theory of evolution is the only great 
generalization, comparable to the atomic 
theory in the field of physics, that has come 
from biological studies. The fact of evolu- 
tion has long been accepted by every 
biologist, but the way in which it occurred 
and the mechanism by which it was brought 
about are still imperfectly understood. 
Students of heredity have discovered that 
localized ultramicroscopic substances called 
genes determine the similarities and the 
differences between animals, and thus are 
the basis of all evolutionary change. But 
this is only half the story. 

The question of how gene changes (called 
mutations) are translated into the evolution 
that has taken place in plants and animals, 



and specifically how the exact adjustments 
of living organisms to their environment 
have arisen, is still unanswered despite a tre- 
mendous amount of study. This is the 
most important biological problem today. 
The question of how evolution has oper- 
ated is being attacked from two different 
standpoints: experimentation and observa- 
tion. Neither of these alone could supply an 
answer, and the work has been largely 



STAFF NOTES 

At the annual meeting of the Botan- 
ical Society of America, held Dec. 26- 
31 in Boston, Dr. Francis Drouet, 
Curator of Cryptogamic Botany, was 
elected Secretary of the Systematic 
Section, and Dr. Theodor Just, Chief 
Curator, Department of Botany, was 
re-elected Secretary of the Paleobo- 
tanical Section and reappointed Chair- 
man of the Committee on Paleobo- 

tanical Nomenclature Mr. Karl 

P. Schmidt, Chief Curator, Depart- 
ment of Zoology, recently presented a 
radio broadcast, "Come and See the 
Museum," in the Make Them Look 
Alive series on science for the Chicago 
Public Schools over stations WIND 
and WBEZ. 



divided between university laboratories and 
the laboratories of natural history museums. 
Most of the experimental work is being done 
in university laboratories, in the fields of 
genetics and experimental embryology. 
Natural history museums, because of their 
vast collections of specimens, have provided 
most of the observational data. 

Fossils not only prove that evolution 
went on in the past, but also show how fast 
plants and animals actually evolved and 
something about the manner in which new 
types arose. The enormous numbers of 
plants and animals living today are the 
result of this past evolution. 

The evolution of the future is taking place 
in the great laboratory of nature. Only a 
small handful of animals can be brought into 
the laboratory and experimented upon. 
One of the important functions of a museum 
is to test the results of such laboratory 
experimentation in the larger laboratory of 
nature, which is where evolution is actually 
taking place, and to work at levels where 
experimentation is impossible. 

GENETICS TURNS TO FIELD 

It is significant that evolution was not 
discovered in an experimental laboratory, 
but was suggested by the "museum" type 
of observational research. Now, after two 
generations of laboratory studies in heredity, 
the active branch of genetics is turning to 
paleontologists and naturalists for illumi- 
nating "leads," and the geneticists them- 



MUSEUM ANTHROPOLOGISTS 
AT AAA MEETING 

On December 27-31, Chicago Natural 
History Museum, the University of Chicago, 
and Northwestern University acted as joint 
hosts at the forty-fifth annual meetings of 
the American Anthropological Association 
and its affiliated societies. The meetings, 
held in the Palmer House, were the first 
since the beginning of the war. 

The principal feature consisted of a num- 
ber of symposia organized around certain 
outstanding interests in American anthro- 
pology today. One symposium was devoted 
to the present status and inter-relations of 
the several fields of anthropology. Another 
was concerned with the progress of African 
anthropology. A third centered on the need 
for river valley archaeology in the United 
States, with particular reference to valley 
areas where archaeological sites will be inun- 
dated or destroyed consequent to the com- 
pletion of proposed river control projects. 

One of the most significant of these sym- 
posia was concerned with recently found 
remains of giant types of early man in Java 
and China, and the problems involved in 
the interpretation of these remains. Finally, 
the growing importance of anthropology 
in matters of practical concern was reflected 
in two sessions on applied anthropology — 
one on military government in the Pacific, 
and a second on the work of anthropologists 
in the field of human relations in industry. 

Two members of the staff of this Museum 
presented papers at the meeting. Dr. Wil- 
frid D. Hambly, Curator of African Ethnol- 
ogy, read "Visual Aids to Teaching African 
Anthropology," a report on research under- 
taken on behalf of the Committee on African 
Anthropology, National Research Council. 
Dr. Alexander Spoehr, Curator of Oceanic 
Ethnology, presented "Changing Kinship 
Systems." Mr. George Quimby, Curator of 
Exhibits, was a member of the Chicago 
committee on arrangements. 

A large number of those attending found 
time to visit the Museum and to inspect the 
Anthropology Department's most recent 
exhibits — those in Hall B (Archaeology of 
the New World). 

selves are turning from their laboratory 
specimens to detailed ecological field studies. 

It is this evident rapprochement between 
the extremely specialized field of genetics 
and the more general and old-fashioned 
fields of systematic zoology and botany that 
made the Princeton symposium peculiarly 
appropriate and timely. 

The question of how evolution operates 
was not answered at the Princeton Confer- 
ence. But the active exchange of ideas, 
similar to the familiar round table and panel 
discussions on the radio, promoted a mutual 
respect and understanding among those who 
are seeking the answer from many different 
angles. The results of the conference will 
be felt for many years in biological research. 



Page 6 



CHICAGO NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM BULLETIN 



February, 191,7 



Chicago Natural History Museum 

Foundbo by Marshall Field, 1893 
Rooaerelt Road and Lake Shore DrlTe, Chicago 

Telephone: Wabash 9410 



THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES 

Lester Armour Marshall Field, Jr. 

Sevvbll L. Avery Stanley Field 

W. McCormick Blair Samuel Insull, Jr. 

Leopold E. Block Henry P. Isham 

Boardman Conover Highston M. McBain 

Walter J. Cimmings Wiluam H. Mitchell 

Albert B. Dick, Jr. Clarence B. Randall 

Howard W. Fenton George A. Richardson 

Joseph N. Field Solomon A. Smith 

Marshall Field Albert H. Wbttbn 
John P. Wilson 

OFFICERS 

Stanley Field President 

Marshall Field First Vice-President 

Albert B. Dick, Jr. Second Vice-President 

Samuel Insull, Jr. Third Vice-President 

Cufford C. Gregg Director and Secretary 

Solomon A. Smith Trtanrtr 

John R. Millar Assistant Secretary 



THE BULLETIN 

EDITOR 
Clifford C. Gregg Director of the Uunn 

ASSOCIATE EDITOR 
Wilfred EL Osgood Curator Emeritus, Zoology 

CONTRIBUTING EDITORS 

Paul S. Martin Chief Curator of Anthropology 

Theodor Just Chief Curator of Botany 

Sharat K. Roy Chief Curator of Geology 

KARL P. SCHMIDT Chief Curator of Zoology 

MANAGING EDITOR 
H. B. Hartb Public Relation Counsel 



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



Nature in Action .... 

ALBINOS 

By EDWIN WAY - TEALE 

In a glass case at the Chicago Natural 
History Museum, after my lecture [Mr. 
Teale lectured here last March 2S] I was 
shown a remarkable exhibit of albino birds 
and animals. There I saw a bluejay that 
wasn't blue, a brown thrasher that wasn't 
brown, a crow that wasn't black. All were 
snow white. There I saw a pure white 
English sparrow. Even its bill was the 
color of white-wash. There I saw a 
flicker, completely white except for a 
startling blood red crescent on the back of 
its head. And there, also, I saw an albino 
woodchuck and an opossum and a skunk 
that had fur as white as that of an ermine. 

In every instance the creature had 
lacked the ability to produce pigments 
within its system to a more or less marked 
degree. There are albinos among plants as 
well as among animals. Snow-white lobsters, 
frogs, peacocks, cattle have been reported. 
Among humans, it is estimated that the 
frequency of the occurrence of albinism is 
about one in 10,000. The highest rate of 
frequency is said to be found among the 
Indians of Arizona and Mexico. The 
reason the eyes of albinos are pink is that 
the red blood circulating through the back 
of the eye is seen through the transparent 
tissues in front. 



Among wild creatures, albinos often have 
an unearthly beauty. Unfortunately, it is 
also often a fatal beauty. Hawks and other 
predators see them more easily. They lack 
the camouflage that saves the lives of 
normally colored birds and animals. Their 
strange beauty is also a kind of curse that 
ostracizes them from their kind. A flock of 
birds will sometimes set upon an albino or a 
partial albino member of the group and 
drive it away. Such birds usually have dif- 
ficulty in finding mates. 

A few years ago, a redwing blackbird 
appeared in a swamp with which I am 
familiar. Almost half the feathers of one 
wing were white. It was a marked bird. 
I used to see it calling from the top of a 
weeping willow tree, engaging in aerial 
battles with other males for the defense of 
its territory, darting after crows or herons 
that flew too close. It stood out among 
the other birds for its dash and vitality 
and courage as well as for its half white 
wing. Yet it never seemed to get a 
mate. Before the summer was over, it 
disappeared. I never saw it again. 

(The above is a syndicated article of The 
George Matthew Adams Service, reproduced 
by permission of the author.) 



Books 



MUSEUM OFFICERS RE-ELECTED 

Mr. Stanley Field was re-elected Presi- 
dent of Chicago Natural History Museum 
for his thirty-ninth consecutive one-year 
term, at the Annual Meeting of the institu- 
tion's Board of Trustees, held January 20. 

All other officers who served in 1946 were 
re-elected. They are: Mr. Marshall Field, 
Chicago publisher, First Vice-President; 
Mr. Albert B. Dick, Jr., Second Vice-Presi- 
dent; Mr. Samuel Insull, Jr., Third Vice- 
President; Colonel Clifford C. Gregg, 
Director and Secretary; Mr. Solomon A. 
Smith, Treasurer, and Mr. John R. Millar, 
Assistant Secretary. 



1946 ATTENDANCE UP 

The counters in the hands of the entrance 
guards at the Museum clicked for 1,287,436 
visitors during 1946. This was a large in- 
crease over attendance in 1945 when the 
number of visitors was 1,070,678. It is 
believed attendance would have been con- 
siderably larger had it not been for the two 
coal strike dimouts which reduced Museum 
visiting hours temporarily, and for the pro- 
longed bus strike which cut off the trans- 
portation facilities of many potential Mu- 
seum visitors. 

Only 127,305, or less than 10 per cent of 
the total, paid admission; more than 90 per 
cent came on the free days, Thursdays, 
Saturdays and Sundays, or belonged to 
classifications admitted free every day — 
Museum members, children, teachers, stu- 
dents, and military personnel in uniform. 



(All books reviewed in the BULLETIN are 
available in The Book Shop of the Museum. 
Mail orders accompanied by remittance are 
promptly filled — The Book Shop pays the 
postage on shipments.) 

A Naturalist in Cuba. By Thomas Bar- 
bour. Little, Brown, and Co., Boston. $3. 

The late Dr. Barbour's host of friends 
rejoice in the memorial of his naturalist's 
life left in his volumes of reminiscence and 
travel. He dedicated his book on Cuba 
specifically as a tribute to commemorate 
his friendship and admiration for the natu- 
ralists of that island. It forms also a most 
satisfactory memorial record of a lifelong 
love of an island. 

The generous stack of papers on the West 
Indian fauna that came to my own desk as 
a gift from Dr. Barbour thirty years ago 
introduced me at once to the charm of the 
West Indies, and to the stimulus provided 
by one's personal library for a field of special- 
ization. 

The personal tone of Dr. Barbour's book, 
and the constant reference to the back- 
ground of personalities that forms so per- 
vasive an aura of interest to the other 
practitioners of descriptive zoology, is 
peculiarly sympathetic. He had a vast fund 
of anecdote about the development of the 
important Harvard Botanical Station, about 
the bird collecting that accumulated the 
great collection in the Museum of Compara- 
tive Zoology, about the fascinating anoles 
and snakes and froglets and shield-headed 
toads, about the mammals, both living and 
extinct, and about the adventures of cave 
hunting. 

A Naturalist in Cuba thus happily com- 
bines the interest of naturalist and historian, 
and forms a thoroughly satisfactory intro- 
duction to the plant and animal life of Cuba, 
to the problems of island life, and to the 
great tropical island to which citizens of the 
United States are perhaps even more closely 
and multifariously tied than to our own 
island outposts in the Caribbean. 

Karl P. Schmidt, Chief Curator, Zoology, 
and Associate Editor of Copeia. 



Technical Publications Issued 

The following technical publications were 
issued by Chicago Natural History Museum 
Press recently: 

Fieldiana— Anthropology, Vol. 36, No. 2. 
Toggle Harpoon Heads from the Aleutian 
Islands. By George I. Quimby. Decem- 
ber 31, 1946. 9 pages, 9 text figures. 
$0.35. 

Zoological Series, Vol. 25, Part 3. A 
Bibliography of Birds. By Reuben Myron 
Strong. December 24, 1946. 528 pages. 



February, 19^7 



CHICAGO NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM BULLETIN 



Page 7 



THE MUSEUM AS CUSTODIAN 
OF PACIFIC CULTURES 

By ALEXANDER SPOEHR 

CURATOR OF OCEANIC ETHNOLOGY 

Excluding Malaysia and Australia, the 
islands of the South and Central Pacific are 
divided into three main groups — Polynesia, 
Micronesia, and Melanesia. 

The Polynesian area is roughly triangular 
in shape, with Hawaii, New Zealand, and 
Easter Island at the corners of the triangle. 

Micronesia encompasses the islands of the 
Central Pacific, north of the equator, from 
the Palaus to the Marshalls. 

Melanesia takes in New Guinea and the 
islands east and southeast as far as Fiji. 

This division is based partly on the 
physiography of the islands, partly on the 
racial characteristics 
of the inhabitants, 
and partly on their 
culture. The "South- 
west Pacific," as it was 
used in wartime com- 
muniques, referred to 
Melanesia — the island 
area populated by 
Oceanic Negroes. 

In the years before 
World War I, German 
museums made great 
efforts to obtain eth- 
nological collections 
from what were then 
German colonies in 
the Southwest Pacific. 
In particular, the Mu- 
seum fur Volkerkunde 
in Hamburg acquired 
one of the finest col- 
lections in the world from the Oceanic 
Negroes living on the islands of Melanesia. 

CHICAGO COLLECTION UNCHALLENGED 

The German museums suffered extensive 
damage in World War II, however. Full 
details are not yet available, but recent 
reports indicate that 90 per cent of the 
famous South Sea collection of the Hamburg 
Museum fiir Volkerkunde was destroyed. 
Probably the finest collection that remains 
in the world is that in Chicago Natural 
History Museum's Joseph N. Field Hall 
(Hall A). 

This Melanesian collection of outstanding 
excellence was acquired primarily between 
1905 and 1913, a period when great efforts 
were being made to build up the anthro- 
pological materials in the Museum. Many 
specimens were purchased from private 
collectors, but by far the largest and best 
documented increment was obtained 
through the efforts of the late Dr. Albert 
B. Lewis, Curator of Melanesian Ethnology, 
on the Joseph N. Field Expedition to the 
South Pacific during the period 1909-1913. 

Dr. Lewis spent five strenuous years in 
the field, and despite the handicap of severe 
illness contracted on the malignant coasts 




SOUTH SEA 
EFFIGY 

(Hall A, Cut 63) 



of New Guinea, pursued his collecting and 
research with enthusiasm and vigor. In- 
cluding his collection, the Museum has 
22,000 specimens from Melanesia. 

It is fair to ask, "What use is this col- 
lection? Why go to such effort and expense 
to obtain strange articles made by far-off 
peoples who have played a minor role in 
shaping present world affairs?" 

The answer is to be found in the point of 
view of anthropology toward its subject 
matter — man. Anthropology is interested 
in man as a whole, not in any particular 
group of men alone. One of its distinguish- 
ing characteristics is its attempt to obtain 
the broadest comparative basis possible in 
examining man and his culture. 

PART OF CULTURE JIGSAW 

The anthropologist is interested in man 
at all times, in all places. In pursuing this 
interest, he has built up an outline of human 
history — sketchy in places, to be true — 
from earliest to recent times. He has 
blocked out the living races of the earth and 
described the great variety of cultures they 
possess. It is in this comparative study that 
the Museum's Melanesian collection as- 
sumes its importance. 

The cultures of Melanesia, as seen in the 
series of tools, utensils, weapons, and ob- 
jects of art, ritual, and ceremony, represent 
a part of the comparative base from which 
anthropology draws its conclusions. 

Furthermore, cultures are constantly 
changing. At the time this collection was 
made, the native cultures were very different 
from what they are today. Indeed, they 
have been so modified in recent years 
through contact with the white man that 
in their strictly aboriginal form they exist 
only in a few places. 

Thus the collection assumes an added 
significance. It cannot now be duplicated — 
it preserves a unique expression of man's 
culture, as found at a particular point of 
time in the Southwest Pacific. 

The Museum also possesses representative 
collections from Polynesia and Micronesia, 
on display in Hall F. The remaining 
Pacific Island area — Malaysia — is repre- 
sented in Halls H and G. 



HOW MINERALS ARE CLASSIFIED 
DISCLOSED IN EXHIBIT 

By SHARAT K. ROY 

CHIEF CURATOR, DEPARTMENT OF GEOLOGY 

In keeping with the policy adopted in 
recent years of providing introductory ex- 
hibits that will lead to proper appreciation 
of each subject as a whole, a new exhibit, 
"The Classification of Minerals," has been 
added to the Museum's geological exhibits. 
It. has been placed in Hall 34, alongside its 
companion case, "Physical Properties of 
Minerals." 

The new exhibit aims to furnish an adequate 
introduction to mineralogy and provide a 
remedy for the complaint heard against 



museums that they overlook the need of supply- 
ing exhibits that equip a visitor with necessary 
background for further study of the subject. 

Minerals may be classified in several 
ways, nearly all of which are dependent, 
however, on their chemical composition or 
the forms of their crystals, although some 
prefer the economic classification. By this, 
the minerals are first grouped according 
to the useful element or groups of elements 
contained in them, then are divided on the 
basis of similarity in chemical properties. 

BASED CHIEFLY ON CHEMISTRY 

The classification shown in the Museum 
exhibit is based upon chemical composition, 
and follows that used in the latest edition of 
Dana's System of Mineralogy. Crystallo- 
graphic and physical relationships are taken 
into consideration in breaking down classes 
and families into groups, species and vari- 
eties. Minerals with the simplest composi- 
tion such as gold, silver and diamond are 
considered first, while those of the greatest 
complexities such as feldspars, micas and 
garnets are placed last. 

In recent years, X-ray studies of crystals 
to determine their internal structure have 
made great strides, and the true nature of 
this structure has been recognized. The 
fundamental fact discovered concerning 
crystals is that the atoms of which they are 
composed are arranged in an orderly fashion, 
forming a three-dimensional pattern. The 
pattern varies, depending on the crystal, and 
determines the class to which the crystal 
belongs. 

The knowledge of the internal structure of 
minerals thus has led to a marked departure 
from conventional mineral classifications. 
Minerals that were formerly grouped under 
a certain class, because of this similar 
chemical composition, have now been placed 
in an entirely different class. To cite an 
example : The quartz group of minerals which 
are oxides were heretofore grouped with the 
oxides, but they are now classed with the 
silicates because X-ray studies have shown 
that, structurally, quartz bears a closer 
resemblance to the silicates. Doubtless, 
with the increased knowledge of the internal 
structure of minerals, there will be further 
changes in the classifications. 

In the space available in the case used for 
this exhibit, only a relatively small number 
of minerals can be exhibited. It has thus 
been impracticable to represent a family or* 
a group of minerals by all of its valid mem- 
bers. Often important members have been 
omitted. 

PATH TO DETAILED STUDY 

Those interested in a more detailed study 
are referred to the specimens displayed in 
the adjacent cases. In them will be found 
most of the known minerals, which number 
considerably more than 1,000 species. 

The exhibit was prepared by Assistant 
Curator Harry Changnon and Mr. Henry 
Horback, Assistant in the Department. 



Page 8 



CHICAGO NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM BULLETIN 



February, 19i7 



SATURDAY AFTERNOON LECTURES 
TO BEGIN MARCH 1 

The Spring Course of Illustrated Lectures 
on Science and Travel for adults will be pre- 
sented on the nine Saturday afternoons in 
March and April. The lectures are accom- 
panied by motion pictures in color and will 
be given in the James Simpson Theatre of 
the Museum. All will begin at 2:30 P.M. 

First lecture, on March 1, will be 
"Through Khyber Pass — History's Oldest 
Funnel," and the lecturer will be Deane 
Dickason, noted journalist, Far East author- 
ity and film director. The second lecture, 
March 8, will be "Bird Magic in Mexico," 
by Dr. Olin Sewall Pettingill, Jr., of the 
faculty of Carleton College, Northfield, 
Minnesota. 

A complete schedule of the entire nine 
lectures will appear in the next issue of the 
Bulletin. 

No tickets are necessary for admission to 
these lectures. A section of the Theatre is 
reserved for Members of the Museum, each of 
whom is entitled to two reserved seats. Re- 
quests for these seats should be made in 
advance by telephone (WABash 9410) or in 
writing, and seats will be held in the Mem- 
ber's name until 2:30 o'clock. 



CHILDREN'S ENTERTAINMENTS 
ON SATURDAY MORNINGS 

The James Nelson and Anna Louise 
Raymond Foundation will open its spring 
series of free entertainments for children on 
Saturday mornings with "Fishing In A Big 
Way," a color motion picture showing a 
salmon run; also lobster fishing off Nova 
Scotia. This program will be given on 
March 1, and will be rounded out with an 
animated cartoon. On March 8 the pro- 
gram will be "The Story of Reptiles" told 
by Mr. Jack Raymon, Director of the 
Kentucky Reptile Garden, who will appear 
in person. Mr. Raymon will demonstrate 
his subject with living specimens of snakes, 
as well as with charts and other material. 

Seven other programs will be given on 
Saturday mornings throughout March and 
April; a complete schedule of these will 
appear in the next issue of the BULLETIN. 

All programs begin at 10:30 A.M. and 
are presented in the James Simpson Theatre 
of the Museum. No tickets are necessary. 
Children may come alone, accompanied by 
adults, or in groups. 



Sunday Layman Lectures 
Suspended Until March 

Because of out-of-town lecture engage- 
ments during February, Mr. Paul G. 
Dallwig, the Layman Lecturer, will not 
appear at the Museum on Sundays during 
that month, but he will resume his lectures, 
both morning and afternoon, on March 2, 
and thereafter will appear each Sunday 
through May 25 inclusive. 



In March, Mr. Dallwig's subjects will be: 
Mornings, 11:30 each Sunday, "The Ro- 
mance of Our American Forests"; after- 
noons, 2:30, "Miracles in Wood." Reserva- 
tions for each date — March 2, 9, 16, 23, and 
30 — will be accepted by mail or telephone 
(WABash 9410) throughout February. Ad- 
vance reservations are necessary for all of 
the Layman Lectures, because of the heavy 
demand and the necessity of limiting the 
size of each audience. 



GIFTS TO THE MUSEUM 

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

Department of Anthropology: 

From: Charles Albee Howe, Homewood, 
111. — 13 color prints of modern Mexico. 

Department of Botany: 

From: Estate of Hermann C. Benke, 
Chicago —100 herbarium specimens, Indiana 
and Illinois; Donald Richards, Chicago — 
350 specimens of mosses, Bryothece Iberica; 
Dr. Harry K. Phinney, Chicago — 126 
specimens of algae, Connecticut; Dr. Frances 
E. Wynne, Chicago — 51 specimens of 
mosses; Bill Bauer, Webster Groves, Mo. — 
41 herbarium specimens, Missouri. 

Department of Geology: 

From: C. M. Barber, Hot Springs, Ark. — 
a collection of fossil fish, turtles, and rep- 
tiles, Arkansas; Dr. Rainer Zangerl, Chi- 
cago — 12 specimens of fossil fish and fossil 
turtles, Wyoming; Frank Derrick, Washing- 
ton County, Tex. — cast of maxillary of 
Caenopus; Dr. Mark Francis — casts of 
three fossil specimens; Dr. David Dunkel, 
Washington, D.C. — 20 specimens of fossil 
fish fragments, Missouri; C. A. Goodell, 
Albuquerque, N. Mex. — 6 official Army 
photographs of the explosion of the first 
atomic bomb; T. R. Lambert, Chicago — 
upper and lower third molar of Mammuthus 
primigenius Blum, Alaska; Dr. Heinz A. 
Lowenstamm, Urbana, 111. — portion of 
carapace of Terrapene cf. ornata (Agassiz), 
Arkansas; Richard Charles King, Colorado 
Springs, Colo. — a specimen of green quart- 
zite, Colorado. 

Department of Zoology : 

From: Robert Weber, Highland Park, 111. 
— 10 mammal skeletons, Illinois; Armando 
Velo, Highland Park, 111. — a mink skeleton, 
Illinois; Ross Allen, Silver Springs, Fla. — 
79 turtles, Florida; Chicago Zoological 
Society, Brookfield, 111.— a lizard and 29 
snakes, South America; S. G. Jewett, Jr., 
Portland, Ore. — 4 mammal specimens, 
Dutch New Guinea; Lincoln Park Zoo, Chi- 
cago — a mammal specimen and 4 grizzly 
bear cubs; John G. Shedd Aquarium, Chi- 
cago — an electric eel, South America; 
Cyril F. dos Passos, Mendham, N. J. — 
39 butterflies (all paratypes of 23 species and 
varieties), North America. 

Library : 

From: Boardman Conover, Chicago; Dr. 
Henry Field, Cuernavaca, Mexico; Henry 
W. Nichols, Chicago; and Miss Miriam 
Shaw, Harvard, Mass. 



PROGRAM OF LECTURE TOURS 
FOR WEEKDAYS IN FEBRUARY 

Tours of exhibits, under the guidance of 
staff lecturers, are conducted every after- 
noon at 2 o'clock, except Sundays and 
certain holidays. On Mondays, Tuesdays, 
Thursdays, and Saturdays, general tours are 
given, covering all departments. Special 
subjects are offered on Wednesdays and Fri- 
days; a schedule of these follows: 

Wed., Feb. 5 — Chicago, Millions of Years 
Ago (Winona Hinkley). 

Fri., Feb. 7— Reptiles Through The Ages 
(Lorain Farmer). 

Wed., Feb. 12— The Adventures of Carl 
Akeley (June Ruzicka). 

Fri., Feb. 14 — Exotic and Unusual Flowers 
(Marie Svoboda). 

Wed., Feb. 19— Readin', 'Ritin', and 'Rith- 
metic — Early Ways of Writing and 
Counting (Roberta Cramer). 

Fri., Feb. 21 — The Magic of Jade (Miriam 
Wood). 

Wed., Feb. 26 — Animal Menus (Lorain 
Farmer). 

Fri., Feb. 28— The First Apartment Dwel- 
lers — Pueblo Indians (June Ruzicka). 



Museum Contributor Elected 

Dr. Maurice L. Richardson, of Edward 
W. Sparrow Hospital, Lansing, Michigan, 
until recently a Non-Resident Life Member 
of the Museum, has been elected to the 
roll of the Museum's Contributors in recog- 
nition of his generous gifts of funds to the 
institution. 



NEW MEMBERS 

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

Associate Members 

Michael Green, Stanley G. Harris, Carl 
Holzheimer, John Jirgal, Leo Mayer, 
Ramond Silverstein, Leo G. Warsh. 

Sustaining Members 

Albert L. Raymond, Morton M. Weil 

Annual Members 
Bertram W. Bennett, Philip Bernstein, 
Mrs. James Burton Braun, Mrs. Walter D. 
Draper, Robert Eirinberg, Max Fuhrer, 
Augustus J. Frank, M. J. Gale, Edward R. 
Glick, Mrs. C. Edward Gluesing, D. S. 
Haigh, Mrs. James J. Haines, William H. 
Harding, Mrs. Carter H. Hathaway, Mrs. 
Otto H. Hedrich, Mrs. Murray D. Hether- 
ington, Robert E. Hirtenstein, H. H. Hoben, 
Max Hoefer, Dr. Ned U. Hohman, Herzl W. 
Honor, Mrs. Walter Clyde Jones, Frank P. 
Keeney, Wentworth Park Mackenzie, Mrs. 
Herbert S. Manning, N. J. McCurdie, Leo 
H. Milles, Harvey W. Olsen, Dr. John 
Chester Ross, Ralph E. Schuetz, H. S. 
Smith, Harry E. Smith, Jr., Monroe A. 
Smith, Jr., Hubert F. Townsend, Morton 
Weinress. 



PRINTED BY CHICAGO NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM PRESS 



Chicago Nature 



History Museum 

:tin 



Formerly y$p 



liiseum News 



Published Monthly for the Museum's Membership 



Vol. 18 



MARCH, 1947 



No. 3 



SATURDAY AFTERNOON LECTURES SCHEDULED THROUGHOUT MARCH AND APRIL 



The earth — from India to Mexico, from 
Greenland to China, from the Mississippi 
Delta to Australia — will be covered in the 
Spring Course of Free Saturday Afternoon 
Lectures illustrated with colored motion 
pictures. The series opens at the Museum 
on March 1, and will con- 
tinue through the last Satur- 
day in April. 

The nine lectures, for 
which outstanding speakers 
have been engaged, will be 
given at 2:30 p.m. each Sat- 
urday in the James Simpson 
Theatre of the Museum dur- 
ing the two months' season. 
They are restricted to adults 
— special motion picture pro- 
grams for children will be 
given concurrently on Sat- 
urday mornings during the 
same months under the aus- 
pices of the James Nelson 
and Anna Louise Raymond 
Foundation (see page 5 for 
children's programs). 

The dates, subjects, and 
lecturers booked for the 
spring course are as follows: 

March 1 — THROUGH Khy- 
ber Pass 
Deane Dickason 

"There is no India," ac- 
cording to Mr. Dickason, 
noted Far East authority, 
who recently returned from 
eight months in that dis- 
contented land. What he 
means, he will tell in this 
lecture. Khyber Pass, the 
high back door to India 
which is the principal scene of his present 
narrative and color films, he describes as 
"history's oldest funnel." Mr. Dickason 
has had a long career as a journalist and 
foreign correspondent, and is the author 
of "Wondrous Angkor" and "Far Harbors." 
He is noted as the director of such well- 
known motion picture successes as "Virgins 
of Bali," "Down Singapore Way," and 
"Beautiful Bali." 



March 8 — Bird Magic in Mexico 
Olin Sewall Pettingill, Jr. 

Dr. Pettingill, a co-leader of the Cornell 
University-Carleton College Expedition to 
the hill country of southwestern Tamauli- 




FAMOUS RAINBOW NATURAL BRIDGE IN UTAH 
From Alfred M. Bailey's "Mormon Land" pictures for March 29 lecture 

pas, tells the story of this expedition in his 
lecture. He found that "Mexican birds are 
among the most beautiful in the world. 
There is something akin to magic in the way 
their bright colors and strange shapes 
harmonize with the exotic land in which 
they live." For two months the members 
of the expedition studied bird life, contend- 
ing with the adversities of a tropical 
environment — intense heat and humidity, 



impenetrable thickets, and noxious insects — 
to gather information on habits and be- 
havior. It was exacting work. But it was 
exciting, too, with parrots screeching and 
chattering, and with countless flashes of 
dazzling orioles, hummingbirds, trogons, 
and cotingas. Dr. Pettin- 
gill used thousands of feet 
of film in photographing 
birds, some never before 
seen through the lens of a 
camera. 

March 15 — Greenland 
Commander Donald B. 
MacMillan 

Leader of twenty-five ex- 
peditions to the Arctic — two 
of them sponsored by Chi- 
cago Natural History Mu- 
seum — Commander Mac- 
Millan presents a lecture 
both new and timely. 
Greenland, the world's larg- 
est island, has been brought 
closely into the orbit of the 
United States by World War 
II. In his color films, Com- 
mander MacMillan brings 
intimate views of the life of 
this little-known northern 
neighbor which was host for 
several years to thousands of 
men of the United States 
armed forces. "Whether we 
keep Greenland as part of 
our defense system or merely 
maintain closer commercial 
ties, this great island conti- 
nent is a part of us and we 
should know it well," says 
Commander MacMillan. 
No one is better able to tell of it than 
he, who is familiar not only with its geog- 
raphy and its resources, but also its people, 
the Eskimos. He has covered it from 
top to bottom by ship, dog-team and plane, 
and has very recently flown over it several 
times. In the last thirty-seven years, 
twelve of his Arctic trips have been solely 
to Greenland. On one trip he stayed there 
four years. (Continued on page 2) 



Page 2 



CHICAGO NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM BULLETIN 



March, 19*7 



SATURDAY LECTURES 

(Continued from page J) 

March 22 — Sheep, Stars, and Solitude 

Francis R. Line 

This is the epic film story of a segment 
of American life. Each year several hun- 
dreds of thousands of sheep are driven from 
their winter pastures in the Salt River Valley 
of central Arizona far north to the summer 
grazing lands in the high forests. It is a 
forty-day trek through a wilderness of 
desert, cactus, mountains, ravines, and 
forests. Mr. Line accompanied one herd 
of sheep on this journey, hiking the entire 
distance in order to film this little-known 
phase of American life. The sheep were in 
charge of Rosalio, a Mexican herder, and 
Pablo, the camp cook. All camping sup- 
plies were carried on the backs of ten 
burrows. The whole film unfolds as one 
continuous and exciting adventure story. 

March 29 — Mormon Land 

Alfred M. Bailey 

Mr. Bailey, once a member of the Chicago 
Natural History Museum's staff and now 
Director of the Colorado Museum of Natural 
History in Denver, in his new all-color film 
of Utah's scenic wonderland portrays the 
land of the Mormons from the shores of 
Great Salt Lake to the Arizona boundary. 
The route traveled by the Colorado Mu- 
seum expedition was along that of Padre 
Excalante, the first white man to explore 
Utah, and the sequences briefly show the 
work of the Mormons in changing the desert 
to an inland paradise. Fillmore, the first 
capital, Great Salt Lake, Bear River with 
its teeming bird life, and deer and other 
forms of animal life with a background of the 
unrivalled Zion and Bryce canyons are 
among the spectacular shots included in the 
first part of the film. The second portion is 
devoted to a desert river trip by boat down 
the canyon of the San Juan to the Colorado 
River, and thence to Lee's Ferry — shooting 
rapids, and visiting the historic Rainbow 
Bridge and the Crossing of the Fathers. 
The film concludes with a visit to unfor- 
gettable Monument Valley — with excep- 
tional shots of the Navajos in their desert 
homeland. The people of Utah currently 
are celebrating the centennial of Brigham 
Young's arrival in the Salt Lake Valley. 

April 5 — The Great Barrier Reef 

A. H. O'Connor 

Mr. O'Connor is the Australian-born 
descendant of a California "Forty-Niner." 
After boyhood on a cattle ranch, where he 
hunted and studied the strange wild animals 
and birds, he joined the great gold rush in 
western Australia. The great Barrier Reef, 
subject of his present lecture, is an amazing 
coral formation some 1,200 miles long, 
which lies in tropical and semi-tropical 
waters off the coast of Queensland. Surface 



beauty of the long chain of islands is more 
than rivalled by that beneath the water, and 
the Barrier Reef is a wonderland for the 
tourist, the big-game fisherman, and the 
ichthyologist. 

April 12 — Campfires on the Sea 

Peter Koch 

Mr. Koch, well-known photographer- 
naturalist, supplies the following synopsis 
of the natural color films which accompany 
his lecture: "Out of the north country the 
blue geese migrate southward; they reach 
the willow-bordered Ohio and Mississippi 
Rivers; the extensive marshland of Reelfoot 
Lake is a focal point for migration routes of 



RESERVED SEATS 
FOR MEMBERS 

No tickets are necessary for ad- 
mission to these lectures. A sec- 
tion of the Theatre is reserved for 
Members of the Museum, each of 
whom is entitled to two reserved 
seats. Requests for these seats 
should be made in advance by 
telephone (WABash 9410) or in 
writing, and seats will be held in 
the Member's name until 2:30 
o'clock on the lecture date. 



the Mississippi flyway. Here, too, is Crane- 
town, America's most beautiful 'bird city.' 
After seeing Cranetown during the nesting 
season, we proceed southward with the 
geese toward the delta — in a pirogue we 
follow interesting bayous — the habitat of 
boat-tailed grackles, redwing blackbirds, 
swamp sparrows, red-bellied woodpeckers, 
myrtle warblers, vultures, and fox squirrels. 
From a sandbar we watch the shrimp fleet 
come in, escorted by brown pelicans, gulls, 
and terns. Skimmers and white pelicans 
join the motley crowd on the bar, and await 
the change of tide at dawn. There is a visit 
to a neighboring 'Cajun's' muskrat camp. 
At the blue goose pond we obtain unusual 
and intimate studies of these wary birds, so 
seldom seen at close range, in their vast 
marshland home." 

April 19— China Journey 

Karl Robinson 

Mr. Robinson's lecture and films present 
essentially a story of the Chinese people 
whose government is now reoccupying its 
war-torn capital city of Nanking. People 
struggling with problems of economic 
change, where a ricksha coolie's earnings 
are now on a par with a New York City 
taxi driver's. Here is inflation! — a lunch 
costs thousands of local dollars. Three 
important sections of China that Mr. 
Robinson covers are the Yellow River, 
Peiping, and the Min River Area of Fukien 



Province near Foochow. The Yellow River 
has not acquired the name "China's Sorrow" 
without writing a very long and tragic 
history. For thousands of years men have 
fought to confine the river by heaping sand 
higher and higher in dikes. In 1938 the 
Chinese army blew a section of the dike 
away in order to halt the Japanese. The 
Japs were stopped and bogged down for 
months — but the river went on flowing 
through the break and inundating miles and 
miles of good farm land and displacing 
millions of people. 

April 26 — The Story of the Gems 
Dr. J. Daniel Willems 

Dr. Willems, a Chicago physician, is an 
enthusiastic lapidarist at such times as he 
is free from the duties of his profession. 
For more than a year, he collaborated with 
a competent professional motion picture 
photographer in producing a color film that 
would reveal the background of gem art and 
explain the exacting techniques of the gem- 
cutter to his colleagues and friends. The 
result has been a fascinating motion picture 
of great interest and beauty. Featured in 
Dr. Willems' film are examples of fine 
minerals, gems and jewelry selected from 
collections in this Museum and photo- 
graphed in the building. Dr. Willems will 
use this film to illustrate his lecture here. 
Pictures and lecture together promise a 
most interesting exposition of the develop- 
ment of a hobby of the type that requires 
extreme perseverance, concentration and 
a high degree of skill. 



PROGRAM OF LECTURE TOURS 
FOR WEEKDAYS IN MARCH 

Tours of exhibits, under the guidance of 
staff lecturers, are conducted every after- 
noon at 2 o'clock, except Sundays and 
certain holidays. On Mondays, Tuesdays, 
Thursdays, and Saturdays, general tours 
are given, covering all departments. Special 
subjects are offered on Wednesdays and 
Fridays; a schedule of these follows: 

Wed., Mar. 5— Peoples of the Past (.Roberta 
CaldweU). 

Fri., Mar. 7 — Primitive Glamour (June 
Ruzicka). 

Wed., Mar. 12— Monsters of the Past 
(Winona Hinkley). 

Fri., Mar. 14— The Gift of Green (Miriam 
Wood). 

Wed., Mar. 19 — From Amoeba to Ape — 
Classification of Animals (Lorain Farmer). 

Fri., Mar. 21— Pageant of Spring— The 
First Birds, Reptiles, Insects, and Flowers 
(Marie Svoboda). 

Wed., Mar. 26— Clean-Up, Paint-Up— 
Story of Paints and Varnishes (Miriam 
Wood). 

Fri., Mar. 28— Story of Palms (Marie 
Svoboda). 



March, 191,7 



CHICAGO NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM BULLETIN 



PageS 



MUSEUM WORKERS IN ROLE OF SHERLOCK HOLMES 



By MARGARET J. BAUER 

ONE of the little-known phases of the 
work of a museum is to supply informa- 
tion. The Museum's storehouse of knowl- 
edge and its technical staff are at the dis- 
posal of the general public as well as scholars. 
Authors and publishers often turn to the 
Museum for verification of facts, artists for 
ideas, and business men use the resources of 




BIG £AR5, 



Cartoon by Peggy Colhngs Brown 



the Museum to solve practical problems of 
industry. 

With the aid of references, and the tech- 
nical knowledge of experts, many of the 
questions that come to the Museum can be 
answered without too much difficulty. 
Generally the questions are simple and often 
repeated, and need only the stock reply. 
In fact, should a Museum worker become so 
engrossed in his work as to be out of contact 
with the outer world (as specialist scholars 
are sometimes thought to be) , the questions 
asked would tell him what season of the year 
it was. Invariably spring is announced in 
the Department of Zoology when someone 
calls in to ask, "How long does it take a 
robin's egg to hatch?" 

Probably because of the peculiarly blind 
faith the layman seems to have in the 



ability of the scientist to solve his problem, 
the Museum scientist will do a great amount 
of sleuthing to find the answer for more ob- 
scure or difficult questions. Many times a 
seemingly easy and simple question is un- 
answerable. One inquiry, "Why does a 
rabbit's nose twitch?" stumped the experts. 
While there are many theories and much 
speculation, no one knows or has ever found 
the answer. Need- 
less to say, the in- 
quirer was surprised 
when no answer was 
forthcoming. 

'dry frog' brings fog 

Very commonly the 
question requires com- 
plete rephrasing to 
make sense. Some- 
times the questions 
come in badly garbled. 
One classic example 
was a telegram sent in 
by a frantic crossword 
puzzle addict who 
wanted a five-letter 
word for a "dry frog 
on the upper Nile, 
beginning with the 
letter 'q'." It was 
given to the Curator 
of Reptiles to answer. 
He had never heard 
of a dry frog, espe- 
cially on the upper 
Nile. He searched 
through the literature 
but found nothing. 
Painstakingly he be- 
gan a systematic 
search through the 
q's in the dictionary. 
At last he found the 
word. It was qobar 
and it meant a dry fog 
on the upper Nile. In 
transcribing the mes- 
sage someone had written frog for fog. The 
crossword puzzle fan received the correct 
answer by return wire — collect. 

Several years ago, one of the newspaper 
fads of the day was to run a series of prize- 
winning crossword puzzles. One part of the 
game was to decipher several small badly 
drawn pictures of objects, usually animals. 

'big ears, bushy tail . . .' 

Inquiries poured into the Museum, usually 
in the following vein: 

"Hello! Can you help me? I have an 
animal. It has four feet, big ears, bushy tail, 
and is climbing a branch. What is it?" 

At first the Museum workers wondered 
what strange form of animal life had invaded 
the city, but soon they caught on when the 
inquirers insisted that "the name must be 



six letters long and begin with an 'a'." 
People were always startled when one could 
not give the answer right off. (The animal 
was an "aye aye," a Madagascan lemur.) 

As the puzzles gained popularity, in self- 
defense the Museum workers tried to iden- 
tify the animal pictures each day before tha 
barrage of telephone calls started. 

One day, when a particularly difficult 
what-animal-is-it picture arose, one of the 
researchers, as a last and desperate resource, 
paged through the index and picture section 
of an obsolete dictionary. To his joy he 
found the identical picture, a wood-cut, in 
the dictionary. The puzzle-makers had been 
using the pictures in this dictionary for their 
puzzle. After that the Museum worker was 
ready for his phone calls. 

Upon occasion, more serious problems 
come in. Probably one of the most in- 
teresting and spectacular pieces of Museum 
detective work was done by Mr. Edmond 
Gueret, late Curator of Osteology. 

'elementary, watson!' 

A detail from the police force came to the 
Museum and wished to see someone about 
bones. The two detectives were shown to 
Mr. Gueret's office. They showed him a 
tiny bone about a half-inch long and asked 
if he could tell them anything about it. Mr. 
Gueret saw that it was the joint of a little 
finger; that the epiphyses, or ends of the 
bone, were still soft, which meant a young 
person; and he judged the person to be a 
girl, because of the slenderness of the bone. 

Mr. Gueret handed the bone back. 

"What is it you want to know about this 
bone?" he asked. 

"We found it in a furnace and we believe 
it might be the bone of someone we are 
looking for. Can you help us?" 

"It is a joint of the little finger of a human 
being. She was a young girl about 18 years 
of age. Does that help?" 

The detectives were astounded. How 
could he tell? 

Mr. Gueret smiled and couldn't resist 
saying, "Elementary, my dear Watson, 
elementary!" 



40,000 Beetles Received 

The Museum recently acquired the larger 
part of the F. W. Nunnenmacher Collection 
of North American Coleoptera (beetles) 
including 40,000 specimens, representing 
4,500 identified species, chiefly from the 
western United States. This acquisition 
was particularly desirable because the 
western species of this important group of 
insects had been rather poorly represented 
in the Museum's research collections. The 
latter now contain between one-half and 
two-thirds of the 25,000 species of beetles 
known to occur in North America. 

Mr. Nunnenmacher was one of the best- 
known of the older coleopterists, and his 
was probably the only large general private 
collection of western beetles remaining. 



Page i 



CHICAGO NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM BULLETIN 



March, 191,7 



AUTOPSIES REVEAL CAUSES OF DEATH AMONG ZOO ANIMALS 



By DOROTHY FOSS 

ASSISTANT, DIVISION OF ANATOMY 

The museum of natural history can often 
make use of the skins or skeletons of exotic 
mammals, birds and reptiles that die at 
zoological gardens, and in some cases the 



birds, especially the penguins, there is a 
fungus that attacks the air sacs and lungs, 
often destroying the lungs completely. 
At least three-fourths of all zoo penguins 
die from this disease. Liver and kidney 
disorders also rank high in cause of death, 




THE BEST ZOO ANIMALS NEVER DIE- 
— they relive at the Natural History Museum, as a result of co-operation established with Brookficld and Lincoln Park 
Zoos. These emperor penguins, collected in Antarctica by Admiral Byrd (or Brookficld, died of a fungus disease, but 

have been salvaged in this habitat group at the Museum. 



entire animal may be preserved for anatomi- 
cal study. The skins may be mounted for 
exhibition or may be prepared for the much 
more extensive study collections. The 
skeletons are carefully cleaned, and in 
addition to their use by anatomists and 
artists, their accumulation forms an essential 
base for the studies of paleontologists. 

A by-product of the museum-zoo relation- 
ship, which functions especially well between 
both Brookfield and Lincoln Park zoos, 
and Chicago Natural History Museum, 
is the accumulation of information as to 
causes of death among zoo animals. 

I am frequently asked to make autopsies 
of the animals received. Taking the animals 
systematically by groups, the following 
general observations may be made: 

Diseases of reptiles, on the whole, are 
somewhat difficult to diagnose. Internal 
parasites are found frequently, although 
there is doubt as to whether such parasites 
are the cause of the death. Snakes fre- 
quently get a disease of the mouth that 
interferes with eating, and if not treated, 
results in death. 

LUNGS ARE BIRDS' WEAK ORGAN 

The most serious diseases of birds are 
respiratory. Tuberculosis of the lungs is 
not observed as often as is an acute respira- 
tory infection that kills the bird quickly. 
Weakened by other afflictions, birds die of 
the acute lung infection before curative 
measures can be applied. Among water 



together with tuberculosis of various parts 
of the body. 

Omitting insectivores, edentates, rodents, 
and water mammals, because they rarely 
reach the Museum, marsupials head the list 
on the cause of death in mammals. Kanga- 
roos and phalangers are the animals of this 
group most frequently received. Kangaroos 
are very susceptible to a disease referred to 
as "lumpy jaw." This disease takes the 
form of abscesses that form on the side of 
the jaws causing the destruction of the jaw- 
bone, and resulting in the falling out of the 
teeth. The animal is unable to take enough 
nourishment, and death soon follows. A 
few phalangers have been noted to have 
lumpy jaw, but a greater majority of them 
seem to die from an intestinal disorder. It is 
not known whether or not the lumpy jaw of 
marsupials is a disease related to the condi- 
tion so termed in domestic cattle. 

In the primates (lemurs, monkeys, and 
apes), respiratory diseases lead in cause of 
death, with digestive disorders in second 
place. For a period of time a large per- 
centage of deaths was caused by tuberculo- 
sis, but in the past three or four years this 
disease seems to have been practically 
eliminated from our local zoological gardens. 
The primates on the whole seem to be a 
healthy lot, repiratory diseases being their 
greatest enemy. 

The carnivores are rather long-lived, and 
a good many of them seem to succumb to the 
infirmities of old age. Occasionally a form 



of respiratory infection causes fatalities, and 
diseases of the nature of dog distemper may 
be suspected. Mos.t epidemics even of so 
infectious a disease as distemper are usually 
halted before any great damage is done. 

The majority of hoofed animals that have 
come under my observation have been 
antelopes. Acute digestive disorders seem 
to be the chief cause of death. Few cases 
of respiratory infection have been observed, 
and there have likewise been very few cases 
of tuberculosis. 

Zoo animals as a whole are much longer 
lived than their wild brothers, and have a 
better chance to survive when illness or 
injury strikes them. Few of them die of 
injuries, as fatal fights are very rare among 
the mammals, and only occasionally will a 
bird kill a cage mate. They also run less 
risk of picking up parasites if the proper 
precautions are taken, as their food is 
selected for them, and their surroundings are 
always clean. With the excellent care 
afforded the zoo animal, it is small wonder 
they usually add years to the span of life 
that would have been theirs in the natural 
state. Records of animals in zoos neverthe- 
less form our principal source of informa- 
tion on the longevity of animals other than 
the domestic animals and man. 

EXPERIENCE CONSISTENT 

As in all such general patterns, there are 
exceptions to the rule, but on the whole my 
experience has been consistent. Respiratory 
infections, including tuberculosis, seem to 
rank first in nearly all groups, with digestive 
disorders next, followed by other varied 
types of disease. 

Comparison of my notes with the records 
of the London Zoological Gardens over a 
similar span of years, reveals considerable 
parallelism. Of the total number of bird 
deaths, more than half were from respiratory 
diseases, including tuberculosis. Next in 
importance were digestive disorders. It 
must be remembered that in many cases, if 
the animal had not already been weakened 
by other undetected disease, the respiratory 
infection would not have gained the upper 
hand. Some relation of incidence of disease 
types' to age of the animal is to be expected. 



An exhibit in Hall 34 contains pictures 
taken without light, by emanations from 
the radium contained in uranium and 
thorium minerals. 



Visiting Hours Change March 1 

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



March, 1U7 



CHICAGO NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM BULLETIN 



Page 5 



TALE OF A NECK— 
THE TURTLE'S 

By RAINER ZANGERL 

CURATOR OF FOSSIL REPTILES 

Most persons think of anatomical features 
merely in terms of their beauty or ugliness. 
But many structural peculiarities of animals 
are of general interest because they show the 
workings of evolution. Living things are 
adjusted to their surroundings and there is a 
distinct relationship between the structural 
organization of an organism and the func- 
tions that it performs. Such bodily adjust- 
ments to particular functions are, however, 
not always of the same kind and conse- 
quently far from equally efficient. An 
example which will clearly demonstrate this 
fact is described below — the interesting 
ability of the turtles to retract their heads 
and necks under the protective cover of 
their shells. 

The turtles have the most peculiarly 
modified anatomy found among vertebrates. 




Fig. 1. X-RAYS OF A CRYPTODIRE 

The common mud turtle, Sternotherus odoratus. In side 

view (above), the neck vertebrae (arrow) form an "S" 

shaped loop inside the shell. In dorsal view (below), the 

neck is retracted into the interior of the shell (arrow). 

The major part of the body is encased in a 
solid, bony box, open in front and back 
to permit the head and neck, the limbs and 
the tail to be extended from it, or to be 
retracted under its protective margin. The 
shoulder girdle and the pelvic bones, to 
which the limbs are attached, lie inside 
rather than outside of the ribs, as they do in 
all other vertebrates. The vertebral column 
is fused with the bony shell in the trunk 
region. The tail is usually short. The 
vertebrae of the neck are greatly elongated, 
always eight in number, and the joints 
between these vertebrae are so developed 
that they permit considerable freedom of 
movement, a matter of great importance to 
an animal with an otherwise rigid body. 
Most modern turtles are capable of retract- 
ing the head under the protective rim of the 
shell, or, at least, of bringing it close to the 
shell, but the early turtles, the extinct 



Amphichelydia, could not do this. Retract- 
ibility of the head and neck developed in 
the course of time, and was accomplished 
in two radically different ways, the two 
solutions of the problem being by no means 
equally efficient. 

In both solutions the neck is strongly 
curved; in all the so-called cryptodire tur- 
tles the curve lies in the vertical plane of 
the body (see Fig. 1), whereas in the 
pleurodires or "side neck turtles" the loop 
is formed in the horizontal plane of the 
animal (Fig. 2). In the cryptodires the 
neck is pulled into the interior of the shell 
where it is totally hidden from view and 
thus completely protected, but in the side- 
neck turtles it can only be pulled underneath 
the front lobes of the shell, where it is always 
partly visible from the outside. 

Cryptodires are most familiar to us, since 
all North American turtles are included in 
this group. Pleurodires are mainly tropical 
in their distribution, but in the geological 
past they inhabited the northern temperate 
zones as well. Members of the modern 
genus Podocnemis of the pleurodire group 
have recently been described from the late 
Cretaceous marls of Arkansas and Alabama 
by Mr. Karl P. Schmidt, Chief Curator of 
Zoology in this Museum, and by the writer. 

The representatives of the genus Podocne- 
mis are freshwater animals and have an 
interesting, discontinuous geographical dis- 
tribution at present: seven species inhabit 
northern South America and one species is 
restricted to Madagascar. This fact was 
widely used, in the past, as evidence in favor 
of intercontinental land bridges along which 
these animals were supposed to have reached 
their present distribution areas. 

Fossil species of the genus were found in 
the Cretaceous of North and South America; 
in the Paleocene of the Congo; in the Eocene 
of England, Egypt and India; in the Oligo- 
cene of Germany and Egypt; and in the 
Miocene of Malta and Egypt. Thus the 




Fig. 2. X-RAY OF A PLEURODIRE 

Rhinemys nasuta has the neck vertebrae in front of the 
shoulder girdle (arrow). Compare with Fig. 1 (below). 

paleontological record indicates clearly that 
the genus had a wide, probably holarctic 
distribution in its early history, which, in 
itself, dispenses with the necessity for the 
hypothetical assumption of land bridges. 
Furthermore, both North American spe- 



SPECIAL NEW FEATURES ADDED 
TO CHILDREN'S PROGRAMS 

The spring series of free programs for 
children presented by the James Nelson and 
Anna Louise Raymond Foundation, includ- 
ing motion pictures and several special fea- 
tures, will be given on Saturday mornings 
during March and April. The programs 
begin at 10:30 a.m. in the James Simpson 
Theatre of the Museum. 

The special features include a lecture on 
reptiles demonstrated with living specimens 
and other materials, a complete marionette 
show presented on the stage, and three 
motion picture programs accompanied by 
personal appearances of lecturers who will 
tell the story of the films. 

Children may come alone, accompanied 
by adults, or in groups from schools, etc. 

Following is an outline of the programs: 

March 1 — Fishing in a Big Way. 

Color motion picture showing salmon run 
and entire story of salmon. Lobster 
fishing and catches off Nova Scotia. 

Also a cartoon. 

March 8 — The Story of Reptiles. 
Told and demonstrated with materials, 
charts and living specimens by Jack 
Raymon, Director, Kentucky Reptile 
Garden. 

March 15 — The Crow and the Fox. 
A stage production by The Foltake 
Marionette Studio — Basil Milovsoroff, 
artist-producer, of Thetford Center, 
Vermont. 

March 22 — Revival of Spring. 
Color motion pictures of effects of spring 
on animals, birds, flowers and people. 

March 29— High Country. 
Color motion picture of big game in the 
mountains of Colorado; story told by 
Alfred Bailey, Director, Colorado Mu- 
seum of Natural History. 

April 5— Insect Neighbors. 
Also a cartoon. 

April 12— Said the Owl to the Spoon- 
bill. 

Color motion picture; accompanying 
story by Peter Koch. 

April 19— The Earth "Blows Her Top." 
Story of volcanoes, by Winona Hinkley. 

April 26— Wings Over Ireland. 
Also a cartoon. 

cies occur in marine shoreline deposits, and 
the species of the late Eocene of Egypt 
were discovered in estuarine beds, indicating 
that the dispersal of the genus might, at 
least in part, have taken place along the 
continental shores. 



Page 6 



CHICAGO NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM BULLETIN 



March, 1U7 



Chicago Natural History Museum 

Founded by Marshall Field, 1893 

Rooserelt Road and Lake Shore DrWe, Chicago 

Telephone: Wabash 9410 



THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES 

Lester Armour Marshall Field, Jr. 

Sewell L. Avery Stanley Field 

W. McCormick Blair Samuel Insull, Jr. 

Leopold E. Block Henry P. Isham 

Boardman Conover Hughston M. McBain 

Walter J. Cummings Wiluam H. Mitchell 

Albert B. Dick, Jr. Clarence B. Randall 

Howard W. Fbnton George A. Richardson 

Joseph N. Field Solomon A. Smith 

Marshall Field Albert H. Wetten 
John P. Wilson 

OFFICERS 

Stanley Field President 

Marshall Field First Vice-President 

Albert B. Dick, Jr. Second Vice-President 

Samuel Insull, Jr. Third Vice-President 

Clifford C. Gregg Director and Secretary 

Solomon A. Smith Treasurer 

John R. Millar Assistant Secretary 



THE BULLETIN 

EDITOR 
Clifford C. Gregg Director of the Museum 

ASSOCIATE EDITOR 
Wilfred H. Osgood Curator Emeritus, Zoology 

CONTRIBUTING EDITORS 

Paul S. Martin Chief Curator of Anthropology 

The©: OR Just Chief Curator of Botany 

Sharat K. ROY Chief Curator of Geology 

Karl P. Schmidt. . . Chief Curator of Zoology 

MANAGING EDITOR 
H. B. Harte Public Relations Counsel 



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



OUT OF THIS WORLD!' 

Each year during the time of the National 
4-H Club Conference in Chicago, the dele- 
gates visit the Museum as a part of their 
carefully worked out schedule. For the 
ensuing several months, the Director 
receives letters of appreciation from them. 
The following enthusiastic letter was written 
by a visitor from Rhode Island: 

"Your Museum of Natural History is 
simply out of this world. When I went I 
thought it would probably be very dry, but 
I quickly changed my mind as soon as I 
stepped inside the door. 

"Your animals are so real and alive. They 
look as if they're just awaiting there for you 
to come up and pet them. Someday if I 
ever get to Chicago again I hope to come to 
your museum and draw some of your 
animals. Do you mind? 

"I want to thank you for the wonderful 
afternoon in your museum. I enjoyed 
every minute of it and I only wish I could 
spend more time there someday. Who 
knows though, maybe someday I'll be back." 



Books 



Agate in Ancient Times. 

Agate was once more highly esteemed 
than it is at present. Theophrastus, who 
wrote his History of Stones in the 3rd 
century B.C., says, "The agate is also an 
elegant stone. Its name is from the river 
Achate in Sicily. It is sold at a great price." 



(All books reviewed in the Bulletin are 
available in The Book Shop of the Museum. 
Mail orders accompanied by remittance are 
promptly filled — The Book Shop pays the 
postage on shipments.) 

Trinidad Village. By Melville J. Hersko- 
vits and Frances S. Herskovits. Alfred A. 
Knopf, New York, 1947, 348 pp., price $4.75. 

For many years Dr. M. J. Herskovits, 
Professor of Anthropology at Northwestern 
University, has been well known as a leading 
authority on problems relating to the physi- 
cal anthropology and ethnology of American 
Negroes. In this extensive research in the 
United States, West Indies, and South 
America Dr. Herskovits has been ably 
assisted by his wife. 

The interest of these two scholars was 
first aroused during a temporary stay in 
Trinidad where they heard of local worship 
of the African god Shango. Years later 
they were able to carry out a systematic 
observation in a selected area of Trinidad. 

The book carefully outlines the economic 
conditions of that area and shows these 
fundamentals in relation to the family and 
general social structure. The major portion 
of the work describes religious beliefs, 
divination and magic, and the technique 
of spiritual revivals. Both the lay reader 
and the scientific man will find great 
interest in the strange combination of 
beliefs and rites relating to a remote African 
religious background now blended with wor- 
ship as conducted by the "Shouters" sect 
in some parts of America. 

The book is illustrated and has an 
appendix of additional scientific material 
relating to Shango, the God of Thunder of 
the Yoruba people of Nigeria, West Africa. 
There is an adequate index and a useful 
bibliography. 

Wilfrid D. Hamblv. 
Curator, African Ethnology. 



3 MUSEUM ANTHROPOLOGISTS 
COLLABORATE ON BOOK 

Indians Before Columbus — 10,000 Years 
of North American History Revealed by 
Archaeology, by Dr. Paul S. Martin, Mr. 
George I. Quimby, and Mr. Donald Collier, 
has just been released by the University of 
Chicago Press. It may be obtained from the 
Museum Book Shop ($6). 

This, it is claimed, is the first time such a 
comprehensive account of the history of the 
North American Indian has ever been 
gathered together. Much of the informa- 
tion has never before been published. From 
the remains of the material culture of early 
Americans (pottery, mounds, cliff houses, 
and stone tools) the authors have recon- 
structed history from earliest times until 
the period of first contacts with Europeans. 



Indians Before Columbus contains 122 
illustrations, a glossary of archaeological 
terms, an extensive bibliography, and a 
full index. 

The authors are members of the Museum's 
Anthropology staff. Dr. Martin is Chief 
Curator, Mr. Quimby, Curator of Exhibits, 
and Mr. Collier, Curator of South American 
Ethnology and Archaeology. They are all 
also Research Associates of the Department 
of Anthropology at the University of 
Chicago. 

The book will be reviewed in the next 
issue of the Bulletin. 



Technical Publications Issued 

The following technical publications were 
issued by Chicago Natural History Museum 
recently: 

Anthropological Series, Vol. 33, No. 4. 
Changing Kinship Systems. By Alexander 
Spoehr. Jan. 17, 1947. 85 pages, 13 
drawings. $1. 

Fieldiana — Anthropology, Vol. 36, No. 3. 
Cranial Capacities, A Study in Methods. 
By Wilfrid D. Hambly. Feb. 4, 1947. 
52 pages. $0.75. 

Fieldiana— Zoology, Vol. 31, No. 7. The 
South American Rodents of the Genus 
Neotomys. By Colin Campbell Sanborn. 
Jan. 20, 1947. 8 pages, 2 text figures. 
$0.15. 



GIFTS TO THE MUSEUM 

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

Department of Anthropology: 

From: Miss Marcia Capps, Minneapolis — 
a shell lei, Hawaii. 

Department of Botany: 

From: Mrs. Clifford Stout, Barrington, 
111. — 39 herbarium specimens, Illinois; Miss 
Louise Raddin, Chicago — 1,250 herbarium 
specimens, Illinois, Africa, Chile, and India; 
M. Acosta Solis, Quito, Ecuador— 8,000 
herbarium specimens, Ecuador. 

Department of Zoology: 

From: N. L. H. Krauss, Summit, Canal 
Zone — 27 specimens of lizards, snakes, and 
amphibians, and 7 sea shells, Panama; 
Chicago Zoological Society, Brookfield, 111. 
— 2 capybaras and a black bear cub; H. S. 
Ducoff, Chicago — 112 coral reef fishes, 
Saipan; G. S. Cansdale, Oda, Gold Coast, 
Africa — a flying mouse, Gold Coast; United 
States National Museum, Washington, 
D.C.— 9 lizards, Syria. 

Library: 

From: Mrs. Frank W. Carson, Pasadena, 
Calif.; Dr. Henry Field, Cuernavaca, 
Mexico; Stuart H. Perry, Tucson, Ariz.; 
Stanley Field, Lake Forest, 111.; and Donald 
Collier, Boardman Conover, and Rupert L. 
Wenzel, all of Chicago. 

Raymond Foundation: 

From: George W. Parker, Bloomington, 
III. — 47 color slides; S. L. Gibbons, Chicago 
— 13 color slides. 



March, 19^7 



CHICAGO NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM BULLETIN 



Page 7 



STAFF NOTES 



Dr. Theodor Just, Chief Curator of 
Botany, has been appointed Research 
Associate in the Department of Botany 

at Northwestern University Mr. 

Karl P. Schmidt, Chief Curator of Zoology, 
will lecture at Antioch College, Yellow 

Springs, Ohio, on March 6 John 

W. Winn, Assistant in the Division of 
Fishes, recently spent several days in the 
Museum of Fishes at the University of 
Michigan, Ann Arbor, on special research. 
.... Dr. Wilfrid D. Hambly, Curator of 
African Ethnology, will participate in the 
meeting of the African Anthropology Com- 
mittee of the National Research Council, 
to be held at Northwestern University in 
Evanston on March 1. This committee's 
work is a continuation of that inaugurated 
by the same body for aid to the government 
during the war. 



LAYMAN LECTURES RESUMED; 
2 TOPICS EACH SUNDAY 

After an absence of a month for an out-of- 
town lecture tour, Mr. Paul G. Dallwig, the 
Layman Lecturer, will resume his Sunday 
appearances — mornings and afternoons — 
at the Museum on Sundays in March 
(March 2, 9, 16, 23, and 30). 

The subject of his morning lectures this 
month will be "The Romance of Our Ameri- 
can Forests"; on each of the same Sunday 
afternoons the subject will be "Miracles in 
Wood." The morning lectures begin at 
11:30, the afternoon ones at 2:30. 

In the morning lecture on forests, Mr. 
Dallwig will tell of the currently vital 
problems involved in the conservation of 
this great renewable natural resource. He 
will also present interesting information 
about trees and, in a lighter vein, will relate 
interesting Paul Bunyan tales. The dra- 
matic part of the lecture includes a sketch 
depicting early logging operations. 

The afternoon lectures on "Miracles in 
Wood" will cover some of the new uses for 
this material recently discovered by scien- 
tists. Mr. Dallwig will explain the startling 
new scientific discoveries based on the 
chemistry of wood, making it possible to 
produce ethyl alcohol, plastics, and other 
commercial products out of "wood wastes." 
He will explain the terms "hardwood" and 
"softwood"; tell about plywood, veneers, 
etc.; and describe how fine woods are 
imitated in furniture and how to detect 
such imitations. 

The heavy demand by the public for Mr. 
Dallwig's lectures, and the necessity of 
limiting the size of each audience, make it 
essential to require advance reservations. 

In April, Mr. Dallwig's lectures will be 
"Who's Who in the Museum Zoo" (morn- 
ing) and "The History, Mystery, and Ro- 
mance of Museums" (afternoon). 



A RARE TROPICAL PLANT IS FOUND BY MUSEUM BOTANIST 

BY JULIAN A. STEYERMARK treeS) , ianaS( and var j ous y^ o{ orch;ds 

About 200 yards from the camp my atten- 
tion was suddenly attracted by a display of 
large banana-like plants growing among the 
palms. The large strap-shaped leaves, 
strongly ascending in a fan-shaped arrange- 
ment, surmounted a trunk about 35 feet 
tall and five inches in diameter. Standing 
stiffly among the leaves was an erect cluster, 
a couple of feet in length, of white and green 
flowers embedded in large bluish-green boat- 
shaped bracts which spread in two directions 
from the main axis. The appearance of the 
latter suggested a giant Heliconia, a com- 
mon genus of the banana family 

It was not possible to survey the entire 
extent of the stand at this locality, but many 
plants were counted within a half-mile 
radius. At the time of the discovery, I was 
not aware of the rarity and uniqueness of the 
plant I was collecting. After returning to 
the Museum nearly a year later, I had an 
opportunity of studying this material, and 
the identification revealed that this plant 
was indeed the famous Ravenala guianensis. 
It is the first record for this species from 
Venezuela. In French Guiana it is known 
as "bosch-banaan" (bush or wild banana). 

Of additional interest is the fact that the 
giant leaves, measuring 10 to 20 feet in 
length, were used by the workmen on the 
expedition for thatch to cover some of the 
temporary shelters in camp. In this con- 
nection it is interesting to note that the 
leaves of this species in British Guiana and 
the one of Madagascar are likewise used by 
the natives as thatch material. 

Pollination of the large flowers may be 
effected, at least in part, by birds, since they 
are known to visit the flowers of the species 
of Madagascar, as well as those of certain 
bananas and the bird-of-paradise flower 
(Slrelitzia reginae) of the same family. 



One of the most spectacular plants is 
the Madagascar palm (Ravenala mada- 
gascariensis). Not a true palm but rather 
a member of the banana family (Musaceae), 
it grows wild on the island of Madagascar. 
Its large banana-like long-stalked leaves 
spread majestically, double-ranked into a 
large fan-like cluster atop a woody trunk, 
which may attain a height of 35 feet. 

Moreover, it is the only true woody mem- 
ber of the banana family, the banana itself 
being considered not a tree, but a giant 
herbaceous plant. 

Because of its striking appearance, it has 
commanded much attention and is culti- 
vated as an ornamental tree in all tropical 
regions. It receives the name "traveler's 
tree" from the fact that refreshing draughts 
are often obtained by travelers from the 
water caught and stored in the large cup-like 
bases of the leaf-stalks. A good photograph 
of the cultivated plant and an exhibit of a 
portion of the dried plant are displayed in 
Martin A. and Carrie Ryerson Hall of 
Plant Life (Hall 29); there is also a large 
mural by the late Charles A. Corwin, for 
many years the Museum Staff Artist. 

Besides the species known from Mada- 
gascar, a second one, Ravenala guianensis, 
also of limited occurrence and rarity, grows 
wild in the Guianas and Brazil, and recently 
has been found in a native state in a remote 
portion of southeastern Colombia. During 
exploration for quinine-yielding plants in 
South America, I led an expedition on the 
upper Orinoco River to Mount Duida in 
southern Venezuela. At the base of that 
famous mountain a temporary camp was 
made along a rocky stream hemmed in by 
dense luxuriant rain-forest, consisting mostly 
of large palms and many kinds of forest 




MADAGASCAR TRAVELER'S TREE -MURAL IN HALL OF PLANT LIFE 



Page 8 



CHICAGO NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM BULLETIN 



March, 19U7 



THE SECRET OF YOUR AGE 
IS IN YOUR BONES 

By WILFRID D. HAMBLY 

CURATOR, AFRICAN ETHNOLOGY 

Men and women, particularly the women, 
of all times and places have made cunning 
attempts to cheat Nature and to give a false 
impression of the passage of years. Thou- 
sands of years ago, Egyptian women 
enhanced the beauty of their lustrous black 
eyes by the use of a dark pigment named 
"kohl" (antimony), and there has been 
widespread use of tattooing, facial cosmetics, 
elaborate hairdressing, and personal orna- 
ments. All this, like the modern "hair-do" 
and other mysteries of a beauty parlor, was 
intended to rejuvenate and cheat the records 
of Father Time. 

Case 8 recently added to Chauncey Keep 
Memorial Hall (Races of Mankind, Hall 3) 
may be a disappointment to the girls in 
showing that, despite all efforts to the con- 
trary, Nature keeps a careful account of the 
years as they go by, marking the changes in 
the skull and long bones. 

Every reader has been impressed by some 
newspaper story which gives an account of 
the gruesome discovery of a skeleton or 
perhaps the finding of parts of a skull under 
circumstances suggesting tragedy. The 
reader has perhaps wondered in what way 
an expert came to the conclusion that the 
bones represent a male adult of more than 
twenty-five years, or a young female of 
eighteen years. The new exhibit in this 
Museum illustrates in a simple way the 
skeletal differences of sex, and the changes 
which take place in skull and long bones 
from birth to maturity, and beyond. 

A favorite test imposed on a student of 
physical anthropology consists of supplying 
the young aspirant with a large miscel- 
laneous collection of human bones in a 
fragmentary condition. The student is 
asked to unite the appropriate fragments so 
as to reconstruct them, and he is required 
to state how many persons are represented, 
also their probable age and sex. This 
sounds like the $64 question of a radio 
quiz, but the guiding principles are simple, 
though not absolutely infallible in certain 
individual instances. Owing to a variety 
of causes — diet, work, disease — there may be 
an unusual speeding up or a retarding of the 
natural processes indicative of age. 

SEX DIFFERENCES IN BONES 

In general, the male has the larger and 
heavier skull. The larger brain-box of the 
male does not necessarily denote higher 
intelligence than that of the female. Brain 
weight is proportionate to body weight, and 
males are on the average considerably heavi- 
er than females. 

The differences of sex are further shown 
by the heavier brow ridges of the male, his 
more massive jaw, and, at the back of the 
skull, strong ridges for muscular attach- 
ments. The eyesockets of the female are 



rounder, and have thinner margins than 
those of the male. 

On the under side of the skull, the sex 
differences are seen in the larger mastoids, 
and in the broader palate and larger teeth 
of the male. 

The arm and leg bones of males are, on 
the average, longer than the corresponding 
bones of females, and the male bones have 
stronger ridges to accommodate heavier 
muscular attachments. 

SKELETAL RECORDS OF AGE 

At birth, a human skull comprises many 
bones which are distinctly separated. Some 
of the bones, such as those on the top and 
sides of the skull, have saw-like edges 
(sutures) which gradually grow together. 
At the age of 50 years, all trace of the sutures 
has usually disappeared and the dome of 
the skull looks like one bone. 

The ends of the long bones of arms and 
legs show a distinct division from the shafts 
in infancy, but generally these divisions 
have disappeared before the age of 25 years. 

Teeth are often a reliable guide to age 
because there is a regular order of appear- 
ance. The first to appear are the juvenile 
(milk) teeth. These are replaced in regular 
sequence by the adult (permanent) teeth. 
The third molars (wisdom teeth) usually 
erupt at the age of 18 to 21 years, sometimes 
rather later. 

With advancing age the angle of the jaw 
grows wider. Teeth fall out and the margin 
of the jaw becomes a thin, bony edge. 

NATURE DECEIVES THE EXPERTS 

Mother Nature seems in some instances 
to be whimsical and even with a sense of 
humor in deceiving the scientist with regard 
to age, sex, and even race. The scientist is 
sure of his general principles, but just mis- 
trustful enough of the exceptions to temper 
his decisions with caution. 

A reference to the deceptions of Nature 
in regard to age has been given. The sex 
traits are sometimes contradictory in a 
certain skull. The skull is small and feels 
light when poised in the hand, so suggesting 
female traits. But the mastoids and brow 
ridges are large and the ridges for muscular 
attachments are strong. In a collection of a 
hundred skulls there will always be a few of 
these sex problems. 

In most races, the sex characters are 
clearly marked with the few exceptions 
noted above. Yet in some people, the 
ancient Egyptians for instance, males were 
of slender build and their bones have some- 
what feminine qualities. 

Work is a factor in enlarging and strength- 
ening muscles. Consequently, in tribes 
where women are the agriculturalists, who 
hoe the fields and carry produce, the ridges 
for muscular attachments are unduly 
developed. 

A scientist naturally dislikes to base his 
opinions on fragmentary remains, but this 



NEW MEMBERS 

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

Contributors 

Dr. Maurice L. Richardson 

Associate Members 

Mrs. Harry L. Canmann, Mrs. John 
Favill, Colin S. Gordon, Dr. Blair S. 
Latshaw, Miss Anna J. Wavrinek. 

Annual Members 

Mrs. Thaddeus V. Adesko, Lynn W. 
Beman, Henry J. Beutel, Frederic A. 
Birmingham, Earl J. Bush, Phil S. Dickin- 
son, John J. Downey, Mrs. Raymond C. 
Dudley, Miss Jane Dyon, Will S. Ellis, 
W. A. Figueira, Samuel Fishman, Reuben 
S. Flacks, Charles Y. Freeman, Jr., Charles 
B. Genther, Joshua B. Glasser, Mrs. A. N. 
Hauter, Mrs. John R. Heyworth, Ray R. 
Hutmacher, Lee D. Jalkut, Joseph J. Janda, 
Charles D. Kaufmann, Mrs. John Lord 
King, Judson Large, Mrs. Luther M. 
Lorance, Justin MacKiewich, Mrs. L. G. 
Maison, Arnold H. Maremont, William 
Markoff, E. S. Marsh, Mrs. Louise C. M. 
Martin, Mrs. Alfred C. Meyer, Glenn A. 
Milleren, John T. Moran, Holbrook Mul- 
ford, P. M. Murphy, Mrs. George Pearson, 
Miss Bonita V. Plimpton, John C. Price, 
Samuel R. Rappold, Dr. Thomas P. Saltiel, 
George H. Schulz, J. R. Selby, Dr. H. Regi- 
nald Smith, Mrs. Adlai E. Stevenson, James 
H. Tatman, William M. Trumbull, M. G. 
VanBuskirk, Mrs. Ethel R. VanSchaick, 
Herman S. Waldstein, Allen M. Weary, 
Maurice Webster, Alfred C. West, Mrs. 
Seymour Wheeler, Mrs. Jay N. Whipple, 
W. J. Whyte, Mrs. Lucille Wickersham, 
Ralph E. Williams, G. J. Willingham, 
Henry F. Woulfe, Maurice M. Zusser. 



has been unavoidable in instances of the 
discovery of certain remains of fossil man 
of great antiquity. Therefore judgments 
are always cautiously expressed, and the 
prudent man leaves himself a back door 
open from which he can escape if further 
evidence challenges his original judgment. 

Human bones are always white through 
life, and a visitor should not be misled by 
the brown or even black surface of some of 
the skulls in this exhibit. The dark color is 
post mortem, and may be due to the burial 
of skulls. Some people preserve the skulls 
of ancestors and of captured enemies as 
well, in the rafters of the home. There they 
rest perhaps for many generations, to be 
blackened by smoke from domestic fires. 

The chemical changes due to aging bone 
cannot easily be demonstrated to visitors. 
Perhaps no demonstration is necessary. 
Our visitors know, perhaps, from painful 
experience, or by observation of aged 
relatives, that the gelatinous binding 
material of bone decreases. The matter 
then becomes extremely brittle. Fractures 
are easily sustained, and the process of 
repair is slow. 



PRINTED BY CHICAGO NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM PRESS 



Chicago Natur 

BU 

Formerly 




History Museum 

Mijseum News 



Published Monthly for the Museum's Membership 



Vol. 18 



APRIL, 1947 



No. 4 



LIFE IN THE DEEP SOUTH CENTURIES BEFORE THE FIRST WHITE MEN ARRIVED 



By GEORGE I. QUIMBY 

CURATOR OF EXHIBITS, ANTHROPOLOGY 

A visual story of prehistoric Georgia is 
shown in a new exhibit recently installed in 
the Museum's Hall of American Archae- 
ology (Hall B). This new exhibit illustrates 



villagers threw their refuse on the floor or 
out the door, thus easily disposing of their 
refuse and at the same time building a solid, 
well-drained platform for their village. 

The Late Savannah River Indians used 
tools and weapons of stone, wood, and bone, 



made of bone and antler. These were 
conical and socketed for hafting. 

Various kinds of fish were caught with 
bone hooks or nets weighted down with 
small perforated soapstone slabs or notched 
soapstone pebbles. Large ovate and tri- 





( \ 




^iK^jtA 



SOUTHERN HUNTERS 

IKOIANl OF CEOtCl* 
A. D. 900 - tOO 



s? 






PREHISTORIC GEORGIA-CULTURAL FEATURES OF THE LATE SAVANNAH RIVER INDIANS. A.D. 500-900 



the culture of the Late Savannah River 
Indians as it existed in the period about 
A.D. 500-900. 

The Late Savannah River Indians occu- 
pied the coastal plains of Georgia, southern 
South Carolina, and northeastern Florida. 
They made their living by hunting, fishing, 
and the gathering of shellfish and vegetal 
foods such as nuts, seeds, roots, and berries. 
Their villages were groups of simple shelters 
built on top of refuse dumps of discarded 
clamshells, animal bone, broken pottery, 
and other junk. 

The refuse dump or midden was much 
like a modern city dump, except that people 
were living on top of it. A modern city 
dump usually is located at the periphery of 
the city and refuse from all over the city is 
transported to the dump. The ancient 
dump or midden of the Indians was beneath 
the village and very convenient, too. The 



and ornaments of bone and shell. Lacking 
the bow and arrow, they hunted with the 
spear and spear-thrower. The spear- 
thrower was a device for throwing a spear 
with greater force than could be achieved 
by hand only. This weapon consisted of a 
wooden shaft about 15 or 20 inches long. 
At one end of the shaft was a handle or 
grip. At the other end was a socketed antler 
hook for engaging the butt of the spear. 
For purposes of greater momentum and 
force, stone weights were attached to the 
spear-thrower shaft. These weights were 
prism- and wing-shaped bannerstones, rec- 
tanguloid bars, and boat-shaped stones. 
Spears were made of wood or cane and 
tipped with large lopsided triangular points 
chipped from flint or hard slate. These 
points had stems which were used in 
hafting the point to the wood or cane spear 
shaft. Other types of spear points were 



angular knives were made of chipped stone, 
as were cross-shaped and expanded base 
drills. Fully grooved or three-quarter 
grooved axes were made of stone by grind- 
ing and polishing. Whetstones may have 
been used for shaping bone tools. Large 
and small spherical stones were used as 
hammers. 

Stone mortars and disk-shaped mullers 
or grinders were probably used in the prepa- 
ration of collected foods — nuts, roots, wild 
seeds, and the like. There were a number 
of styles of bone awls, antler flakers, antler 
handles, cylindrical tubes, spatulas, and 
chisels. 

Necklaces were made of small disk-shaped 
beads of stone or shell, spherical shell beads, 
and tubular shell beads. Another style of 
bead was manufactured by cutting the 
spires from olivella shells. Rectangular 
pendants with single holes used for suspen- 



Page 2 



CHICAGO NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM BULLETIN 



April, 191,7 



sion were made of bone or shell, and two- 
hole bar gorgets were made of ground stone. 
Long and short bone pins of various styles 
may have been ornaments. Some of these 
were decorated with painted or incised 
designs. 

Pottery was made of clay tempered with 
Spanish moss or other vegetal fiber. Only 
bowls were manufactured. Most bowls 
were plain, but many were decorated with 
punctate and linear punctate impressions 
arranged in simple geometric patterns. 

The dead were deposited in graves dug 
into the midden. Some of these graves were 
round pits. The bodies were flexed, 
extended, or disarticulated and placed in 
bundles. Probably the bundle burials repre- 
sented a secondary deposition of the dead: 
burial of the bones of individuals that had 
either been buried elsewhere and disinterred 
or that had been allowed partly to decom- 
pose before burial. Burial furniture was 
not abundant, although there were grave 
offerings of tools, weapons, and ornaments 
with some of the burials. 

The Late Savannah River Indians were 
descended from the Early Savannah River 
Indians, who had the same kind of culture, 
for the most part, but lacked pottery. 
Although the Early and Late Savannah 
River cultures are part of the same con- 
tinuum, the latter culture is particularly 
interesting because it is indicative of the 
early transition from ancient hunting cul- 
tures to later agricultural peoples. 

By looking at the new exhibit, a Museum 
visitor can obtain most of the information 
that I have just presented more easily and 
more quickly than by reading this article. 
The objects shown in the exhibit were 
excavated from a Late Savannah River 
Indian refuse dump or shell midden in 
Georgia. The new exhibit was created by 
Mr. Gustaf Dalstrom, artist in the Depart- 
ment of Anthropology. 



The cross-shaped staurolite twins, some- 
times called "fairy stones," of which ex- 
amples are shown in the Museum's mineral 
collection, are often used as charms or luck 
stones. 



CHANGING YOUR ADDRESS? 

Members of the Museum who 
change residence are urged to 
notify the Museum so that the 
BULLETIN and other communi- 
cations may reach them promptly. 
A post card for this purpose is en- 
closed. 

Members going away during the 
summer may have Museum mat- 
ter sent to their temporary 
addresses. 



SPOEHR FLIES TO MICRONESIA; 
OTHER 1947 EXPEDITIONS 

The Museum's first expedition of the 1947 
season was launched March 16, when Dr. 
Alexander Spoehr, Curator of Oceanic 
Ethnology, left Chicago for San Francisco, 
from where he flew to the South Pacific 
groups of islands known as Micronesia. 
Dr. Spoehr is a lieutenant in the U. S. Naval 
Reserve who served in naval aviation during 
the war largely in the area he will now survey. 

The Micronesian expedition marks the 
resumption of the Museum's long-standing 
interest in the peoples of the Pacific area, 
anthropologists from the Museum previously 
having worked years ago among the native 
peoples of the Philippines, the Netherlands 
East Indies, the Malay Peninsula, and the 
islands of Melanesia. 

Dr. Spoehr will conduct his work among 
the natives of the Marshall Islands, one of 
the groups formerly mandated to Japan. 
The purpose of the expedition is to study 
the present-day social, economic, and politi- 
cal structure of the native society in order 
to determine how contact with modern 
western civilization has affected native cul- 
ture and what its present characteristics are. 
The results of the expedition are expected 
to be of value both in the comparative study 
of native cultures and as a means of provid- 
ing the factual basis necessary in the 
successful administration of the island 
peoples. 

"The United States has found itself in the 
position of having acquired the former 
mandated Japanese islands through con- 
quest, but without having an adequate 
knowledge of the native inhabitants," says 
Dr. Spoehr. 

The Micronesian Expedition is also part 
of a wider program for the co-ordinated 
investigation of Micronesian anthropology, 
sponsored by the Pacific Science Board of 
the Navy Department. 

Dr. Spoehr stopped in Honolulu for some 
preparatory studies at the University of 
Hawaii and the Bishop Museum. Thence 
his itinerary carries him to Kwajalein and 
Majuro in the Marshall Islands. About 
July 10, he will fly to Guam and the Marian- 
as, where he will engage in further work at 
Saipan and Tinian. Late in the summer he 
will return to his post at the Museum. 

Other Expeditions 

Ten other expeditions are still to be dis- 
patched from the Museum later in the 1947 
season, and four that departed in 1946 are 
remaining in the field. 

The expeditions scheduled to go are: 

An Archaeological Expedition to the 
Southwest, to excavate prehistoric Indian 
sites in New Mexico under the leadership of 
Dr. Paul S. Martin, Chief Curator of 
Anthropology, will be in the field from June 
15 to September 15. 

Dr. Sharat K. Roy, Chief Curator of 
Geology, and Mr. Harry E. Changnon, 



Assistant Curator, will begin about the 
second week in June a ten-week circle 
journey in various fields from the Adiron- 
dack Mountains to various sites in the Far 
West to collect physical geology, economic 
geology, and metallic mineral specimens. 

Early in June, Mr. Bryan Patterson, 
Curator of Paleontology, and Mr. James H. 
Quinn, Chief Preparator in Paleontology, 
will go to Colorado to collect specimens of 
prehistoric vertebrate mammals. 

On April 15, Mr. William Turnbull, of 
the Department of Geology, will leave for 
Alabama to collect specimens of fossil 
turtles. Dr. Rainer Zangerl, Curator of 
Fossil Reptiles, will conduct an expedition 
to collect fossil turtles in Washekie Basin, 
Wyoming. 

Mr. Karl P. Schmidt, Chief Curator of 
Zoology, will go during the summer on an 
expedition to Texas for the continuation of 
zoogeographic studies carried on in previous 
years. 

Mr. Colin Campbell Sanborn, Curator 
of Mammals, accompanied by Mr. Louis 
de la Torre from the University of Michi- 
gan, will conduct an expedition to Texas 
and Mexico, its purpose being to collect 
specimens of mammals. 

Mr. Clifford H. Pope, Curator of 
Amphibians and Reptiles, will conduct a 
two-months' expedition in western New 
Mexico to survey the reptiles and amphib- 
ians in the forests of certain areas whose 
fauna is incompletely known and to study 
the altitudinal distribution of reptiles in the 
mountains from 2,500 to 14,000 feet altitude. 

Dr. Fritz Haas, Curator of Lower 
Invertebrates, accompanied by Mr. Joseph 
B. Krstolich, Artist-Preparator, will con- 
duct an expedition in Bermuda to study the 
life of coral reefs — corals, Crustacea, sea 
anemones, sea urchins, sea cucumbers, and 
fishes. 

As a contribution to the Museum, Mr. 
and Mrs. William Street have arranged 
both to finance and conduct an expedition 
to Alaska, in May, to collect specimens of 
the Alaska brown bear (Kodiak bear) for a 
new group in the Museum. Mr. C. J. 
Albrecht, formerly a staff taxidermist at 
the Museum, has been engaged to accom- 
pany the expedition as a special representa- 
tive of the institution. On his return Mr. 
Albrecht will mount and install the new- 
group at the Museum. 

The expeditions in the field, carried over 
from 1946, include a botanical expedition 
to Central American countries, being con- 
ducted by Mr. Paul C. Standley, Curator 
of the Herbarium; a zoological expedition 
to Trinidad in the British West Indies, being 
conducted by Mr. Frank C. Wonder, 
Staff Taxidermist; a botanical expedition to 
the interior of Cuba, being conducted by 
Dr. B. E. Dahlgren, Curator Emeritus of 
Botany; and a zoological expedition to the 
Philippine Islands under the leadership of 
Capt. Harry Hoogstraal. 



April, 1U7 



CHICAGO NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM BULLETIN 



Page S 



HUNTING RABBITS 
WITHOUT A GUN 

By PAUL C. STANDLEY 

CURATOR OF THE HERBARIUM 

The Everglades that comprise all southern 
Florida are an almost perfectly flat area only 
a few feet above sea level, from which the 
summer rains drain very slowly. Most of the 
land consists of pine savannas with a low 
growth of grasses and hundreds of kinds of 
small plants, many with beautiful flowers. 
Interspersed through the pine woods are 
bald-cypress "hammocks," slight depres- 
sions, usually with a pond in the center, 
containing many water plants and sur- 
rounded by dense thickets of myrtle and 
other shrubs. 

Among the shrubs arise tall cypress trees 
with slender pale trunks whose bark is 
almost like soft velvet. The hammocks 
occupy places usually filled elsewhere by 
rivers — there are no real rivers here, at best 
small streams — and along the chains of 
hammocks the water drains slowly to sea. 

Great areas of savanna and hammock 
land remain even in those parts of the Ever- 
glades where vegetables and citrus fruits are 
cultivated, and these wild areas are one of 
the most densely populated refuges of wild 
life to be found anywhere in the United 
States. Birds live here in countless numbers 
despite the disappearance of such former 
residents as the Carolina parrakeet and the 
great rarity of others, such as the flamingo 
and ivory-billed woodpecker. 

VENOMOUS SNAKES 

There are uncomfortable numbers of 
moccasins and rattlesnakes. Alligators 
persist even in well-settled areas and may 
be seen along or even on the paved roads. 
Wild turkeys and deer are bagged in large 
numbers during the open season, and in the 
most remote swamps black bear and 
panthers survive. 

One of the most interesting mammals is 
the swamp rabbit, in size and appearance 
much like the northern cottontail. Because 
of the peculiar environment, its habits are 
somewhat different. During the summer 
the savannas are covered with shallow 
water seldom more than two or three inches 
deep, too shallow to drown the smaller 
animals but enough to keep their feet always 
wet. The rabbits feed on the higher ground, 
but if molested they race for the swamps. 
When frightened, they make no attempt to 
avoid water, but dive into the ponds and 
swim across them or lie quietly among the 
plants in the margins. 

Upon my first visit to the Everglades a 
good many years ago, I was invited one 
morning to go rabbit hunting with my sister. 
Noting that she was accompanied by a dog 
but carried only a hatchet, I asked whether 
she were not going to take a rifle, but was 
told there was no need for one. The route 
followed led toward a cypress hammock. 
The cypress trunks have enlarged bulblike 



bases, and between the trees are many 
conelike "knees" that project above the 
water and are supposed to serve as breath- 
ing organs. The lower part of the trunk 
often is hollow, as the sequel proved. 

RABBIT CAUGHT BY HAND 

We had not proceeded far when the dog 
raised a rabbit and began barking madly on 
its trail. • At the edge of the swamp the dog 
was soon barking at the foot of a rather 
small and slender cypress in whose base 
there was an inconspicuous opening. The 
trunk was tapped tentatively with the 
hatchet; then a hole was cut some four feet 
above the base (often it is cut still higher) 
with the hatchet through the thin wood. 
A hand thrust upward into the hollow 
grasped the hind legs of the panting animal 
and hauled him from his retreat. 

This is the conventional method of rabbit 
hunting in the Everglades, economical of 
ammunition and with few failures. The 
rabbit is so tightly wedged into the narrow 
channel within the tree trunk, pushing 
upward just as far as his head permits 
him to climb, that one wonders that he can 
free himself when he feels safe again. 

In New Mexico, almost 40 years ago, I saw 
another quite different kind of rabbit 
hunting by the Spanish-speaking residents 
of the Rio Grande Valley near Las Cruces. 
These people, who have inhabited the valley 
for many centuries, are descendants of 
agricultural Indians like the Pueblos of 
more northern New Mexico, and cling 
tenaciously to many ancient customs. 

ANNUAL DRIVE 

Here it was formerly — and may still be — 
customary to hold a rabbit drive once a year 
or oftener, usually in late autumn. The 
affair was directed by a responsible "chief" 
of the rabbit hunt, who marshaled as many 
men and boys as possible, armed at least 
with clubs, and many of them with short 
curved throwing sticks of hard wood. These 
sticks can be thrown by a skilled man with 
considerable accuracy and will return to the 
thrower like an Australian boomerang. 

Stationing the men in a great circle 
around a selected area, usually upon the 
high level mesa above the Rio Grande 
Valley, the circle was gradually narrowed as 
the men advanced on foot, urging the cotton- 
tails and jackrabbits, both very abundant 
in this region, toward a chosen center. If 
the circle was sufficiently large at first and 
care was used to keep the rabbits within it, 
a large number of them often were herded 
into a close mass and slaughtered by club- 
bing or by use of the throwing sticks. At 
the end of the hunt the dead animals were 
soberly apportioned by the chief and carried 
away for a feast. 

These New Mexican rabbits, in contrast 
to the Florida ones, have little acquaintance 
with water. They live on plains where for 
most of the year not a drop of water is 



HARES AND EXOTIC RODENTS 
ADDED TO EXHIBITS 

Recent acquisitions have made possible 
the exhibition of formerly unrepresented 
rodents from South America, Asia, and 
Africa. These have been added to the screen 
of exotic rodents and hares in Hall 15. The 
Peruvian viscacha, a larger relative of the 
chinchilla, which lives at altitudes from 
3,000 to 16,000 feet in the Andes, is now 
shown. Also, the large burrowing bamboo 
rat of China, so called because it feeds 




HUTIA CONGA 

Specimen presented by the Chicago Zoological Society 

largely on bamboo, and the Patagonian 
cavy, a large almost tailless rodent of the 
Argentine pampas, are now exhibited. 

Of especial interest is the arboreal hutia 
conga from Cuba, one of ten forms of hutias 
found in the West Indies. As the heavy 
forests are cleared for agriculture or grazing, 
these mammals are gradually becoming 
rarer. Some have been successfully raised 
in captivity and were found to make gentle 
and interesting pets. Only one or two 
young are born at a time, after a gestation 
period of, in the conga, 123 days. The conga 
does not have a prehensile tail as do some 
of its relatives. It feeds on fruit and leaves. 

An antelope jackrabbit and a snowshoe 
rabbit have been added to the exhibit of 
these mammals. Other additions are the 
pygmy rabbit, a small relative of the cotton- 
tails of the western United States, and two 
pikas or conies, one from Oregon and one 
from the mountains of western China. 
These mammals, related to the rabbits, 
are best known for their habit of making 
hay and storing it for winter use in the 
broken rock slides where they make their 
homes. 

The new exhibits were prepared by Staff 
Taxidermist W. E. Eigsti. 

— C. C. S. 



obtainable, and in their whole lives they 
probably never see even the smallest pool 
or trickle of water, even when the scant 
summer showers fall. 



Page b 



CHICAGO NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM BULLETIN 



April, 19U7 



A PYTHON IN THE HOME 

By CLIFFORD H. POPE 

CURATOK OF AMPHIBIANS AND REPTILES 

'TTHHERE are many ways of tackling 
[_ big snakes," writes Dr. Malcolm 
Smith of the British Museum, "but the fol- 
lowing method is as simple as any of them. 
Take a bath towel and wrap it several times 
around the left hand so as to protect it com- 
pletely. Push this into the snake's face." 

Dr. Smith, who is writing about the 
reticulated python, the largest of all, goes 
on to say that the snake's body will get 
wound about yours but that this is of no 
consequence provided the snake is not more 
than twelve feet long. He adds that it is 
well to have a friend at hand to unwind the 
snake's tail from your neck should the reptile 
happen to establish such intimate relations 
with you. 

Reticulated pythons reach a length of a 
little more than thirty feet; so the towel 
method should not be used on all of them, 
even by the experienced snake catcher. It 
must be explained, however, that no python 
or boa is poisonous, if that helps any. 

QUICKER THAN HUMAN EYE 

Dr. Smith's advice may come as a surprise 
to those who have assumed that a big con- 
strictor would squeeze or constrict an 
antagonist rather than use the teeth on it. 
Actually, boas and pythons defend them- 
selves like smaller snakes and resort to con- 
striction only when outmaneuvered. It is 
an appeal to the appetite that calls forth 
the feeding reaction, a combination of biting 
and constricting: the prey is seized and 
instantly encircled by the lithe coils. The 
action is too quick for the eye. First one 
sees the python confronted by the victim, 
then a flash of coils, and the two reappear, 
the smile on the face of the python and the 
prey in its jaws but almost hidden by its 
coils. 

Surprisingly little pressure is required, 
because the terror inspired by the attack 
has made the victim reduce its girth to a 
minimum by expelling all its breath. The 
python merely takes advantage of this by 
drawing the coils tight enough to prevent 
expansion, and the prey quickly suffocates. 
It is hardly necessary to add that constric- 
tion also interferes with the victim's 
general circulation. 

Stories of finding broken bones in the 
bodies of animals rescued from pythons are 
not true. One who doubts this can find 
out how hard it is to break bones in any 
animal by applying pressure evenly about 
the body of a dead animal. 

'attractive pet!' 

Some timid readers have no doubt 
thought by now, "But who wants to catch 
a big snake, anyhow?" Such a reasonable 
question deserves an answer. First, a small 
python or boa makes an attractive pet; 



second, the herpetologist does not yet know 
the answers to most of the questions that 
the layman is all too prone to ask. The only 
way to find out certain of the answers is to 
study living snakes. 




HE CAN'T POISON YOU! 
One procedure for handling a python: Wrap bath towel 
around left hand and push it into the snake's face. If he 
winds himself about you. be nonchalant — just have a 
friend undo the coils. Some caution is advised, however, 
and Cartoonist Peggy Collings Brown suggests the incon- 
venience that may result from carelessness. 

Some of these questions without answers 
are: 

How fast do the giant snakes grow? 

How long does it take them to grow up? 

How long do they live? 

How much can they learn? 

How do they crawl? 

How much do they weigh? 

It is embarrassing to the herpetologist 
when reptile keepers and amateurs ask 
these and many other questions. I know a 
circus man who even says that a herpetolo- 
gist is the last person to consult about 
reptiles. Since there is no one else to ask, the 
only solution for the reptile student is to 
work out all the answers for himself. At 
present he does know a lot about the classi- 
fication of reptiles, but few laymen lose 
sleep because they do not know whether 
the blue racer and the king snake, let us say, 
are first or second cousins. 

SNAKE OR YOUR WIFE? 

Often the lay interest is of a drastically 
practical nature. Every year, for instance, 
the Museum receives calls from new house 
owners whose wives are finding garter snakes 
in the yard or even in the basement of their 
suburban homes. Methods for eradication of 



these "pests" are urgently desired because 
the wife has issued an ultimatum — a choice 
between wife and snake! After elaborating 
on the difficulties of eradication and explain- 
ing that garter snakes are harmless and 
interesting creatures, I suggest that it might 
be easier to eradicate the feminine fear. 
The clear and emphatic reply never varies: 
"Yes, but you don't know my wife!" At 
this point I ring off; it is obvious that far 
too few men, when choosing a mate, con- 
sider the dread of snakes a serious drawback, 
and it would be contrary to public policy to 
suggest elimination of the wife herself. 

In northeastern Burma on October 3, 
1945, a snake was found under the sugar 
barrel in the mess hall of an Army labora- 
tory. It was noisily announced as a seven- 
foot cobra, but closer examination proved 
it to be an infant python less than three 
feet long. Through the kindness of a col- 
league it was presented to the Museum in 
December, 1945. After biting at us a few 
times, this snake settled down to laboratory 
life with such ease that we were soon con- 
vinced of its value as a living rather than as a 
preserved specimen. It fed readily and in 
other ways proved itself to be in excellent 
condition. 

After a few weeks, I took the python to 
my home because there temperature can be 
controlled day and night. The Museum 
laboratories, unfortunately, are not equipped 
to house living animals (and this is one of the 
valid excuses herpetologists have for being 
unable to answer all those questions). 
Placed in a clean box next to the furnace, 
where the temperature stays well above 70° 
Fahrenheit, the python began a complacent 
existence. 




MR. POPE'S PYTHON GUEST 
Three feet long when adopted in curator's home as a pet, 
it grew a foot in four months, and if it reaches full life 
expectancy it may eventually attain a length of 22 feet. 

By February 10, 1946, it measured 41.5 
inches and would immediately take food 
from my hand. Nearly two months later, 
on April 7, it had reached a length of 47.5 
inches, thus proving that its new life was 
agreeing with it perfectly. Accurately 
measuring the length of many large snakes 
is all but impossible because they squirm 
and resist attempts to stretch them out. 
This python is an exception that proves the 
rule. If allowed to crawl against the wall, 
it will extend itself in a perfectly straight 
line and then a measurement accurate to 



April, 19i7 



CHICAGO NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM BULLETIN 



Page 5 



within a fraction of an inch can be taken by 
two persons using a tape measure. 

Such rapid growth made me reflect on the 
place of a python in the home and exactly 
how long a python has to be before it wears 
out even the welcome of a herpetologist. 
Uncertainties were involved, because the 
growth rate of Indian pythons is not known. 
Would our Burmese reptile continue its 
rapid growth for years and, let us say, by 
1950 attain a length of fifteen feet and a 
weight of 1 50 pounds? And what about that 
increasing appetite? Being cold blooded, 
snakes require little food and infrequent 
meals. Our pet had been put on a diet of a 
few mice or a small rat a week. This meant 
that rats had to be raised, and so a colony 
of the hooded variety was started by autumn 
when the snake's length had increased to 
61 inches and its weight had reached 3 
pounds 8 ounces. 

After the python shed its skin, the 
gorgeous pattern caused even snake haters 
to exclaim, for then the iridescence of the 
scales added a splendor that defies descrip- 
tion. On one occasion during the summer, 
our prize had stolen the show by causing 
guests to desert a birthday party for the 
company of the python. The inevitable 
embarrassment was one of those unforeseen 
difficulties of raising pythons in the home. 

HOUSEBROKEN, TOO 

On February 2, 1947, at the approximate 
age of eighteen months, this snake had a 
length of 72.5 inches, a girth of 7.21 inches, 
and a weight of 6 pounds 6 ounces; it con- 
stricted and devoured a large, dead, hooded 
rat in fourteen minutes. Sometimes captive 
reptiles get the worst of a battle with a rat, 
apparently because life in confinement has 
robbed them of part of their natural aggres- 
siveness. Like other snakes, the python 
swallows all of its food whole, being unable 
to chew or tear it apart. This way of eating 
makes the snake one of the cleanest of 
eaters; ours had also become housebroken 
in a sense, but that is extremely unusual. 

Coincident with evolving a long body and 
losing the limbs, the snake has acquired an 
expansible gape and jaws that work like a 
shuttle. The skin is so elastic and the jaws 
so loosely joined together and to the rest 
of the skull that the mouth can be stretched 
over a huge object with a diameter several 
times that of the head. The right and left 
jaws are alternately moved forward, allow- 
ing the inwardly curved teeth to grip the 
prey. Thus the snake literally pulls itself 
over the object, much as a housewife gets a 
pillowcase on a pillow by pulling it first here 
and then there. If the pillowcase got itself 
on without the help of the housewife, the 
simile would be perfect. 

Once the meal enters the python's throat, 
muscles of the gullet and ribs co-operate to 
force the object along with surprising speed. 
It is the start that takes most of the time, 
although, when the reptile has tried to 



swallow something with a diameter several 
times that of its own head, many periods of 
rest are necessary. During these, the wind- 
pipe with its heavily reinforced walls is 
shoved out to the tip of the lower jaw and 
the lungs filled with fresh air. 

The chain of events that began in Burma 
with a python, a sugar barrel, and some 
alarmed men is thus stretching halfway 
around the world to an end nobody can 
foresee. If this python survives, he may 
answer some of those puzzling questions. 
It is certain that he will also create problems. 
Try to picture, if you can, a twenty-foot 
snake, no matter how docile, comfortably 
coiled by your furnace! 



CHINA HAD TALKING MOVIES 
AS EARLY AS 100 B.C. 

More than a hundred years before the 
beginning of the Christian era, a form of 
talking motion picture plays originated in 
China, and it has continued in popularity 
down to the present day, despite the ad- 
vances of modern cinematography. This 
type of entertainment is the ancient Chinese 
shadow-play, which anticipated the talking 
pictures of our time by having concealed 
readers to produce voice effects. Collections 
of the figures used in the action of these 
early moving pictures, obtained by various 
Museum expeditions in past years, form 
an interesting part of the exhibits in 
Hall 32, of which a large section is devoted to 
this and other forms of Oriental theatricals. 
The Museum also has examples of the screen 
and other equipment used for the projection 
of shadow plays. 

The history of shadow-plays, and details 
of their production were traced by the late 
Dr. Berthold Laufer, former Curator of 
Anthropology who was leader of the Mu- 
seum's expeditions to China. The scenarios 
used for the shadow-plays are derived from 
the literary drama of the legitimate stage, 
and they, with marionette shows, constitute 
the most popular theatrical pastimes of the 
Chinese. The reader, "in the wings," 
recites the words of the plot as the figures 
perform the action. The special appeal 
to popular taste lies in the fact that the 
the words are recited in the living vernacular, 
while until quite recently the repertoire of 
the legitimate stage of China employed the 
literary language, which was intelligible 
only to a limited educated group. 

The acting figures in the shadow-plays 
are flat and ingeniously cut out of parch- 
ment, usually ox or sheep skin, evenly 
colored and varnished on both sides. When 
held against the light they are transparent. 
A screen of white gauze lighted by means 
of oil lamps from behind, is stretched 
between two poles. The figures, held by 
wires stuck into bamboo or reed handles, 
are skilfully manipulated behind the screen 
upon which their silhouettes are cast. Head, 
arms, and legs are cut out separately and 



hinged to the body, so that great agility 
of motion is assured. The shadow plays 
have an advantage over the Chinese legiti- 
mate stage which now, like the English 
stage in Shakespeare's time, is almost lack- 
ing in scenery, while in the picture plays 
the sea, clouds, rivers, gardens, mountains, 
palaces, temples, courts, and boats, as well 
as gods, demons and monsters, are all most 
excellently represented. 

The performance is always accompanied 
by a small orchestra, while the various roles 
are recited by the operator behind the 
curtain. The plots are taken from Buddhist 
and Taoist lore, or incidents in the history 
of China. The shadow plays excel in 
comic or satiric subjects; their wit is aimed 
at human weaknesses, official corruption, 
and social and political evils. 

The shadow play was originally of a re- 
ligious character, and only gradually as- 
sumed the function of mere entertainment. 
It is without doubt, according to Dr. 
Laufer's researches, indigenous to China, 
whence it spread to the Persians, Arabs, 
Turks, and other peoples, finally reaching 
Europe. The first mention made of it is 
in historical annals relating to the year 121 
B.C. The historian narrates an anecdote 
of Wu-ti, an emperor, who lost one of his 
favorite wives and was obsessed by a great 
desire to see her again. A magician appeared , 
at court who was able to throw her shadow 
on a transparent screen. The story is 
symbolic of the general idea underlying 
the early shadow performances — the shadow 
figures were regarded as souls of the de- 
parted, summoned back into the world by 
professional magicians. 



NEW MEMBERS 

The following persons became Members 
of the Museum during the period from 
February 17 to March 15: 

Associate Members 
Harry Z. Perel, Frank C. Rathje, John 
Roggenkamp, Nathan Rosenstone. 

Annual Members 

Miss Carmen Aguinaldo, Robert J. 
Aitchison, Frederick W. Alger, John F. 
Barron, J. Algert Baukus, Ferrel M. Bean, 
Arnon N. Benson, Louis G. Berman, Mrs. 
James A. Cathcart, Dante Chimenti, D. A. 
Conroy, Ernest F. Corey, Dr. Francis M. 
Crage, Harry E. Davis, Milburn L. Forth, 
Robert R. Glenn, Otto W. Goes, Earl H. 
Graff, Mrs. Robert W. Hamill, George A. 
Hamm, Adam Hefner, Paul S. Hein, 
Robert E. Levin, Edward H. Loevenhart, 
Richard M. Loewenstein, N. S. Mackie, 
Maurice Mandeville, Lynn L. Mathewson, 
Edward L. Miller, W. S. Miller, Mrs. 
Norman G. Parry, Mrs. Harold M. Pond, 
Philip Rootberg, James V. Sallemi, Edward 
G. Sandrok, Mario M. Sciaky, Donald K. 
Searles, A. G. Shennan, Robert Philip 
Shepard, Robert W. Smick, Saul Stone, 
Mrs. William H. Tomhave, Mrs. Frank 
H. Towner, Mrs. Paula H. Townley, D. H. 
Voltz, Dr. Eugene L. Walsh. 



Page 6 



CHICAGO NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM BULLETIN 



April, in? 



Chicago Natural History Museum 

Founded by Marshall Field, 1893 

Roosevelt Road and Lake Shore Drlre, Chicago 

Telephone: Wabash 9410 



THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES 

Lester Armour Marshall Field, Jr. 

Sewell L. Avbry Stanley Field 

W. McCormick Blair Saiiuel Insull, Jr. 

Leopold E. Block Henry P. Isham 

Boardhan Conover Hi'ghston M. McBain 

Walter J. Cummings William H. Mitchell 

Albert B. Dick, Jr. Clarence B. Randall 

Howard W. Fenton George A. Richardson 

Joseph N. Field Solomon A. Smith 

Marshall Field Albert H. Wetten 
John P. Wilson 

OFFICERS 

Stanley Field President 

Marshall Field First Vice-President 

Albert B. Dick, Jr. Second Vice-President 

Samuel Insull, Jr. Third Vice-President 

Clifford C. Gregg Director and Secretary 

Solomon A. Smith Treasurer 

John R. Millar Assistant Secretary 

THE BULLETIN 

EDITOR 
Clifford C. Gregg Director of the Museum 

ASSOCIATE EDITOR 
Wilfred H. Osgood Curator Emeritus, Zoology 

CONTRIBUTING EDITORS 

Paul S. Martin Chief Curator of Anthropology 

Theodor Just Chief Curator of Botany 

Sharat K. Roy Chief Curator of Geology 

Karl P. Schmidt Chief Curator of Zoology 

MANAGING EDITOR 
H. B. HARTS Public Relations Counsel 



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



IMPORTANT ECUADOR COLLECTION 
RECEIVED IN HERBARIUM 

The Museum recently acquired a large 
and important collection of plants from 
Ecuador, assembled for and presented to 
the Herbarium by Professor M. Acosta 
Soils of that country. This is the largest 
collection from Ecuador so far received by 
this or any other institution and one of the 
largest from a South American country to 
have reached the Museum. 

The collection was made possible through 
the efforts of Dr. Julian A. Steyermark, 
Assistant Curator of the Herbarium of 
Chicago Natural History Museum. At the 
beginning of his wartime quinine explora- 
tion work for the government of the United 
States, Dr. Steyermark recommended that 
Professor Soils join the Cinchona Mission in 
Ecuador as a well-qualified field worker and 
student of the flora. 

After some preliminary field work, Pro- 
fessor Soils spent more than a year in 
quinine work in various parts of Ecuador, 
during which time he collected assiduously 
numerous representatives of the flora. 
After his work with the Cinchona Mission 
was finished, he continued botanical 
exploration in various other parts of the 
country. During two years, he amassed a 
total of 6,283 numbered plants, amounting, 
together with the duplicates, to some 8,000 
specimens. 

Professor Soils, recognized authority on 



the flora of Ecuador, has contributed a 
number of articles to Tropical Woods, official 
magazine of Yale University School of For- 
estry, and to Flora, official publication of the 
Ecuadorian Institute of Natural Sciences, of 
which he is the director. In addition, 
Professor Soils is the author of several 
studies on the vegetation of certain areas 
of Ecuador, including a monograph on the 
province of Esmeralda, and lately of a book 
on quinine exploration in Ecuador. 

As the flora of Ecuador is not too well 
known, Dr. Steyermark and Professor Soils 
plan to collaborate on a "Flora" of that 
country, an undertaking that will require 
many years of botanical exploration before 
completion. In this project, Dr. Steyermark 
will devote his time largely to a systematic 
study of the flora, while Professor Soils 
will secure additional collections and data 
pertaining to the ecology and economic 
uses of the plants. 

Professor Soils' notable collection and the 
large number of plants (2,600) collected by 
Dr. Steyermark greatly augment such 
important historical collections from Ecua- 
dor as those of Spruce, Jameson, Liebmann, 
Sodiro, Father Mille, Rimbach, Mexia, 
Skutch, Penland, and others already in the 
Herbarium of the Museum. 



Books 



(All books reviewed in the Bulletin are 
available in The Book Shop of the Museum. 
Mail orders accompanied by remittance are 
promptly filled — The Book Shop pays the 
postage on shipments.) 

Indians Before Columbus, Twenty Thou- 
sand Years of North American History 
Revealed by Archeology. By Paul S. Martin, 
George I. Quimby, and Donald Collier. 
University of Chicago Press, 1947. Pp. 
xxiii+582, 122 illustrations, price $6. 

The appearance of this timely archae- 
ological synthesis thirty years after the 
publication of the first edition of Clark 
Wissler's The American Indian is an 
excellent measure of the remarkable accel- 
eration in our knowledge of the aboriginal 
peoples of the New World. Whereas 
Wissler's book (3rd ed., 1938) was the first 
synthesis of our knowledge of all aspects of 
the life of American Indians past and present 
in North, Middle, and South America, this 
volume, larger in format and containing 
more pages, covers only the archaeological 
record for North America north of Mexico. 
Much of the data, it may be added, has 
been made available by excavations carried 
out only within the last ten to fifteen years 
and, even so, there are wide gaps in our 
knowledge, as the authors point out, for 
great stretches in Canada, Alaska, and even 
the Middle Atlantic Seaboard. 

This book, therefore, is unique as well as 
timely and, although designed primarily for 



the layman and student, will be found 
indispensable to anyone who wishes to 
obtain up-to-date and authoritative infor- 
mation on the past history of the aborigines 
of this continent. 

The manner of presentation is simple and 
direct. There is a glossary of technical 
terms and there are more than 100 illustra- 
tions. The reader is enabled to maintain 
both a geographical and a temporal perspec- 
tive by the map of archaeological areas on 
the inside cover, appropriate chronological 
charts of the successive cultures of these 
regions in the text, and a master chronologi- 
cal chart covering four pages of Chapter 34. 

After introducing the reader to the tech- 
niques of digging and methods of dating 
the objects found, there is a brief discussion 
of the origin of the Indians and of some 
popular fallacies about them. Then there 
follow several chapters on basic arts and 
industries, concerned with the manufacture 
of objects of stone, bone, and copper, of 
pottery, textiles, and so on. The earliest 
known cultural remains (Folsom, Cochise) 
are then described, followed by a systematic 
review and summary presentation of the 
material remains of the peoples who occupied 
the major geographical regions of the conti- 
nent at various periods in the past. 

But the book is not a mere compilation 
of data. The authors do not hesitate to 
enrich the meaning of the facts they have 
collected and synthesized. When they do 
this they say so; consequently, there are 
many paragraphs headed "Conjectures and 
Comments." To my mind, this is one of the 
most valuable features of the book. For 
facts never speak for themselves; they 
always need interpretation. The authors' 
comments often are in the nature of stimu- 
lating hypotheses, and many of their 
hypotheses should point the way to further 
investigation. If we ever are to have a 
super-synthesis of our growing knowledge 
of the American Indian, we shall need more 
first-order syntheses, such as the authors of 
this book have essayed, for other regions of 
the New World and for ethnographical as 
well as archaeological data. 

A. Irving Hallowell 
Professor of Anthropology, 
Northwestern University 



Technical Publications Issued 

The following technical publications were 
issued by Chicago Natural History Museum 
recently: 

Fieldiana— Zoology, Vol. 31, No. 8. The 
Sheath-Tailed Bat of the Palau and 
Marshall Islands. By Colin Campbell 
Sanborn. Jan. 20, 1947. 4 pages, one 
text figure. $0.15. 

Fieldiana— Geology, Vol. 10, No. 3. A 
New Anosteirine Turtle from Manchuria. 
By Rainer Zangerl. Jan. 23, 1947. 10 
pages, 4 text figures. $0.15. 



April, 191,7 



CHICAGO NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM BULLETIN 



Page 7 



AMERICA'S RAREST WARBLER 
CAUGHT BY CAMERA 

By EMMET R. BLAKE 

ASSISTANT CURATOR OP BIRDS 

To the ivory-billed woodpecker, now 
reduced to a few scattered individuals, 
belongs the unenviable distinction of being 
America's rarest bird. Scarcely more 
abundant in this country, and certainly less 
well known, is the Colima warbler. This 
inconspicuous and elusive species is repre- 
sented in the United States by a few breed- 
ing pairs restricted to canyons of high eleva- 
tion in the Chisos Mountains of Brewster 
County, in southwestern Texas. 

Photographing so rare a bird is an exciting 
experience for an ornithologist and there is 
added zest in being the first to capture it on 
film. 

Colima warblers were long believed to 
occur only in the mountains of several 




FIRST PHOTO OF COLIMA WARBLER 

Mexican states. Only twelve specimens 
were known to science prior to 1928, when 
the first specimen recorded in this country 
was collected in the Chisos by Dr. Frederick 
M. Gaige, former Director of the Museum 
of Zoology, University of Michigan. Sub- 
sequent field work in that locality disclosed 
the presence of other Colima warblers, and 
eventually three nests were discovered. 

Four additional nests were found in May 
and June, 1941, by the writer and Mr. 
Melvin A. Traylor, Jr., Associate in the 
Division of Birds, while conducting field 




studies in the Chisos Mountains. The series 
of natural color photographs, which we 
made at that time, includes studies of the 
nests and eggs, nestlings, and the adult 
warblers engaged in feeding their young. 

Our first nest was discovered by accident 
in Boot Canyon on May 25, when a small, 
unidentified bird was flushed from the side 
of a ravine near our camp. Its alarm calls 
indicated the proximity of a nest; so we 
withdrew a few yards and quietly awaited 
the bird's return. 

It reappeared within a few minutes, but 
the nest was so well concealed that the bird, 
now identified as a Colima warbler, had to be 
flushed repeatedly before the nest could be 
traced to a clump of bunch grass. Four 
blind and naked nestlings, the first known 
to science, extended eager gapes toward us 
as we carefully exposed their nest. 

A canvas "bird blind" was hastily erected 
near the nest and, with camera mounted 
and focused, we settled down within the 
blind to await developments. Such occa- 
sions are always critical, for birds differ in 
their tolerance of nest disturbance and many 
will not approach a foreign object even to 
feed their young. Our tension mounted as 
the minutes dragged, but the female finally 
returned to resume her domestic responsi- 
bilities in order to save the nestlings from 
the sun's rays. 

During the days that followed, there was 
ample opportunity to observe, and to record 
on film, the activities of this rare species. 
In habits, and in general appearance, the 
Colima warbler is much like the related 
Virginia warbler of our Rocky Mountain 
states, but our photographs of so elusive a 
bird remain for us the highlight of our sum- 
mer's field work. 



STAFF NOTES 



RARE COLIMA WARBLER NESTLINGS 



GIFTS TO THE MUSEUM 

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

Department of Botany: 

From: Prof. M. M. Lacas, Monterey, 
Mexico — 161 herbarium specimens, Mexico; 
University of Texas, Austin, Texas — 74 
herbarium specimens, Mexico and Texas; 
J. Francis Macbride, Palo Alto, Calif.— 273 
cryptogams, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mex- 
ico, Arizona, and California; Dr. William 
Randolph Taylor, Ann Arbor, Mich. — 47 
specimens of algae of "Crossroads," United 
States atomic bombing expedition, Mar- 
shall Islands; Herman Silva, Knoxville, 
Tenn. —44 specimens of algae, Great 
Smokies National Park. 

Department of Geology: 

From: Dr. George H. Cox, St. Petersburg, 
Fla. — 2 specimens of Ostrea coxi Gardner, 
Florida; Alfred M. Bailey, Denver, Colo. 
— 5 photographs showing differential ero- 
sion; C. M. Barber, Flint, Mich. — a collec- 
tion of fossil vertebrates, Alabama; Eugene 
Richardson, Jr., Winnetka, 111. — one min- 
eral and 6 rock specimens; Dr. Henry 
Field, Cuernavaca, Mexico — 4 specimens 
of soil and sand, Mexico. 



Mr. Karl P. Schmidt, Chief Curator of 
Zoology, has been appointed a member of 
the Pacific Science Board of the National 
Research Council, a group of American 
scientists concerned with various problems 
in the islands of the South Seas. ... Mr. 
Philip Hershkovitz has joined the Staff as 
Assistant Curator of Mammals. He took 
his master's degree in zoology at the Univer- 
sity of Michigan in 1940. He has made two 
expeditions to South America to collect 
mammals. He spent the years 1933-37 in 
Ecuador and worked in Colombia in 1941-43 
on the Walter Bacon Rathbone Traveling 
Scholarship. He served in the U. S. Army in 
Europe in 1943-46. ... Dr. Julian A. 
Steyermark, Assistant Curator of the 
Herbarium, spoke before the St. Louis 
Horticultural Society on "Exploring for 
Plants in Guatemala." He was lately 
re-elected president of the Barrington 
Natural History Society. . . . Dr. R. H. 
Whitfield and Mrs. Violet S. Whitfield 
have been appointed Associates in Paleo- 
botany. . . . Mr. Llewelyn Williams, 
Curator of Economic Botany, has returned 
to his post at the Museum after a leave of 
absence of fifteen months devoted to the 
study of latex-yielding trees and to field 
trips in Mexico and the West Indies. 



Department of Zoology: 

From: Leslie Hubricht, Battle Creek, 
Mich. — 5 fishes, 45 land snails, and 11 sea 
crabs, Missouri, Virginia, and Louisiana; 
Ross Allen, Silver Springs, Fla. — 114 fresh- 
water shells and crabs, and 25 marine and 
freshwater fishes, Florida; Wendell M. Levi, 
Sumter, S. C. — 6 domestic pigeons; Chicago 
Zoological Society, Brookfield, 111. — 2 mam- 
mals and a snapping turtle; Col. Clifford C. 
Gregg, Valparaiso, Ind. — a mammal speci- 
men, Indiana; M. K. Jacobson, Rockaway, 
N. Y. — 17 freshwater shells, Illinois; Walter 
L. Necker, Chicago — 14 lots of shells, 
crustaceae, and worms, Mariana Islands; 
H. S. Ducoff, Chicago —820 specimens of 
shells and crustaceae, Pelew and Mariana 
Islands; Dr. D. C. Lowrie, Las Vegas, N. M. 
— 71 specimens of shells, crabs, and worms, 
Texas; Lincoln Park Zoo, Chicago — a 
Mexican beaded lizard; Misses Ruth and 
Ellen Carlson, West Chicago, 111. — a male 
Manx cat, Denmark; Dr. Henry Field, 
Cuernavaca, Mexico — 19 scorpions, beetles, 
and allies, Mexico; Charles D. Nelson, 
Grand Rapids, Mich. — 9 river clams, 
Michigan and Indiana; Dr. Jeanne S. 
Schwengel, Scarsdale, N. Y. — 80 sea shells; 
Stanley G. Jewett, Jr., Portland, Oreg— 170 
mammal specimens, New Guinea; State 
Natural History Survey, Urbana, III. — 54 
bumblebees, Mexico. 

Library: 

From: Stanley Field, Lake Forest, 111.; 
Col. Clifford C. Gregg, Valparaiso, Ind.; 
Oakes Ames Botanical Museum, Cam- 
bridge, Mass.; and University of Chicago. 



Page 8 



CHICAGO NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM BULLETIN 



April, 191,7 



PROGRAMS FOR CHILDREN, 
SATURDAY MORNINGS 

The James Nelson and Anna Louise Ray- 
mond Foundation will present the final four 
programs in its Spring Series for children on 
Saturday mornings during April. Motion 
pictures will be shown on all of the programs, 
and on two of them there will be personal 
appearances of story-tellers to interpret the 
films. 

Following is the schedule: 

April 5 — Insect Neighbors. 
Also a cartoon. 

April 12— Said the Owl to the Spoon- 
bill. 

Color motion picture; accompanying 
story by Peter Koch. 

April 19— The Earth "Blows Her Top." 
Story of volcanoes, by Winona Hinkley. 

April 26— Wings Over Ireland. 
Also a cartoon. 

The programs will be presented at 10:30 
a.m. in the James Simpson Theatre of the 
Museum. Admission is free, and children 
may come alone, accompanied by parents or 
other adults, or in groups from schools and 
other centers. 



SUNDAY LAYMAN LECTURES 
TO END THIS MONTH 

Last call for the Layman Lectures! 

With two topics offered on Sundays in 
April (April 6, 13, 20, and 27), one in the 
morning and one in the afternoon, Mr. Paul 
G. Dallwig, the Layman Lecturer, will end 
his tenth anniversary season at the Museum. 

"Who's Who in the Museum Zoo," at 
11:30 A.M., and "The History, Mystery, 
and Romance of Museums," at 2:30 p.m., 
are the subjects for each of the April Sun- 
days. The second of these lectures has not 
been presented in any of Mr. Dallwig's 
previous seasons. 

The morning lecture, mostly about Asiatic 
and African animals, will include Mr. Dall- 
wig's own dramatic account of the "two 
man-eating lions of Tsavo" that devoured 
130 human beings — the lions are now 
mounted in Carl E. Akeley Memorial Hall 
of the Museum. Dr. Dallwig will tell the 
complete story of the late giant panda of 
Brookfield Zoo, "Su-lin," also now a 
Museum exhibit. Other features of the 
lecture are a discussion of the art of taxi- 
dermy and a dramatization of "A Day in 
Africa." 

The afternoon lecture covers the origin 
and history of museums. Mr. Dallwig will 
tell how museums began merely as collec- 
tions of "curiosities and rarities," some of 
the collections so gruesome that people com- 
plained they caused bad dreams, and then 
trace the development of leading European 



and American museums. He will discuss 
the functions of museums as research insti- 
tutions for both scholar and layman, their 
place in our educational system for both 
children and adults, and their value to the 
community, with, finally, a forecast of 
their future and how their influence can be 
made more widespread by such mechanical 
advances as the perfection of television. 

The heavy demand by the public for Mr. 
Dallwig's lectures and the necessity of 
limiting the size of each audience make it 
essential to require advance reservations. 
Lectures are restricted to adults. Reserva- 
tions will be accepted by mail or telephone 
(WABash 9410). 

With the close of this tenth season of his 
lectures, which were begun in 1937 and have 
become an ever increasingly popular feature 
of Museum activity, Mr. Dallwig will dis- 
continue his appearances to take a long and 
well-earned rest. Mr. Dallwig undertook 
the lectures as a contribution to the 
Museum. He received no compensation, 
but was happy to give his lectures purely 
as a public service. For his contribution, 
he is entitled to the deep appreciation of 
the Museum, as an institution, and of the 
thousands of persons who have composed 
his audiences over the years. 



SATURDAY AFTERNOON LECTURES 
FOR ADULTS IN APRIL 

Four more lectures in the Spring Course 
for adults remain to be given on Saturday 
afternoons during April. Accompanied by 
color motion pictures, all lectures begin at 



PROGRAM OF LECTURE TOURS 
FOR APRIL WEEKDAYS 

Tours of exhibits, under the guidance of 
staff lecturers, are conducted every after- 
noon at 2 o'clock, except Sundays and 
certain holidays. On Mondays, Tuesdays, 
Thursdays, and Saturdays, general tours 
are given, covering all departments. Special 
subjects are offered on Wednesdays and 
Fridays; a schedule of these follows: 

Wed., Apr. 2 — April Fool in the Animal 
World (Lorain Farmer). 

Fri., Apr. 4 — Dressed in Sunday Best — 
Choice Clothing of the World's Peoples 
(June Ruzicka). 

Wed., Apr. 9— The Earth "Blows Her Top" 
— Story of Volcanoes (Winona Hinkley). 

Fri., Apr. 11 — Indian America (Roberta 
Caldwell). 

Wed., Apr. 16 — Fashions in Foods — Effects 
of Food Customs on Peoples (Marie 
Svoboda). 

Fri., Apr. 18 — Drama in the Orient (June 
Ruzicka). 

Wed., Apr. 23 — Animals Go Courting 
(Winona Hinkley). 

Fri., Apr. 25 — The Land of the Mummies 
(Roberta Caldwell). 

Wed., Apr. 30 — Rare Animals (Lorain 
Farmer). 




Babylonian, Roman, and Italian cameos 
and intaglios are represented by many choice 
examples in the gem and jewel collection 
(H. N. Higinbotham Hall, Hall 31). 



SURGEON'S HANDS CUT GEMS 

Dr. J. Daniel Willems, when he can get away from his 

medical practice, pursues his avocation as a lapidarist. He 

will lecture at the Museum April 26 on "The Story of 

the Gems" (with motion pictures). 



2:30 P.M. and are given in the James Simpson 
Theatre of the Museum. 

Following are the dates, subjects, and 
speakers: 

April 5 — The Great Barrier Reef 
A. H. O'Connor 

April 12— Campfires on the Sea 
Peter Koch 

April 19 — China Journey 
Karl Robinson 

April 26 — The Story of the Gems 
Dr. J. Daniel Willems 

No tickets are necessary for ad- 
mission to these lectures. A sec- 
tion of the Theatre is reserved for 
Members of the Museum, each of 
whom is entitled to two reserved 
seats. Requests for these seats 
should be made in advance by 
telephone (WABash 9410) or in 
writing, and seats will be held in 
the Member's name until 2:30 
o'clock on the lecture date. 

The April 26 lecture by Dr. Willems will 
give the Museum audience a feature different 
from the type usually presented in these 
courses. Gems are a hobby of Dr. Willems, 
who is a practising Chicago physician, and 
like many amateurs in the arts he has culti- 
vated an intense degree of skill outstripping 
many professionals. Equally "professional" 
in tone and technique is the color motion 
picture in which he shows the beauties of 
gems and reveals the exacting techniques 
of the gem-cutter. 



PRINTED BY CHICAGO NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM PRESS 



Chicago Natural History Museum 

BULLETIN 

Formerly Wit 



^Miiseum News 



Published Monthly for the Museum's Membership 



Vol. 18 



MAY, 1947 



No. 5 



INDIAN MOUNDS: SOME FACTS ABOUT THEM, AND SOME FALLACIES DEBUNKED 



By PAUL S. MARTIN 

CHIEF CURATOR, DEPARTMENT OF ANTHROPOLOGY 

MOUNDS occur for the most part only 
in the United States east of the Rocky 
Mountains; a few shell mounds are found 
along the Pacific Coast. Most mounds 
were built between 
a.d. 500 and 1100, and 
some of the largest 
ones were erected in 
the 15th century. 

Up to compara- 
tively recent times, 
many people believed 
that the mounds were 
built by a highly civi- 
lized group of peoples 
who were finally over- 
run and stamped out 
by the uncivilized In- 
dians. This idea of a 
mighty nation with 
advanced ideas of 
government and reli- 
gion and with great 
knowledge of all the 
arts and crafts, a 
nation that later dis- 
appeared, leaving be- 
hind no evidences of 
its wealth, glory, and 
power save the 
mounds, is a fascinat- 
ing theory and one 
that, unfortunately, 
still has many ad- 
adherents. 

Careful archaeological work in the mound 
area has dissipated all former ideas of an 
extinct race of "mound-builders" and has 
shown, without shadow of doubt, that the 
builders of all the mounds were American 
Indians, whose modern descendants were 
living somewhere in the Mississippi Valley 
when Europeans first penetrated the mound 
area. 

The construction of the mounds presents 
no great engineering problem. Certainly 
there is no evidence that the Indians 
possessed any knowledge of machinery or 
any secret methods of construction. Build- 
ing a mound involved willing laborers (there 



are no grounds for postulating slavery), 
co-operation, a preconceived plan, and hard 
manual labor. 

One may gain some idea of the huge 
amount of work involved in building one 
of the larger Ohio mounds by considering 




MONKS' MOUND, LARGEST ABORIGINAL EARTHEN STRUCTURE IN AMERICA 

In the Cahokia Mound group in southwestern Illinois near East St. Louis. It is greater in area than the Pyramid of 
Cheops. Drawing by Artist Gustaf Dalstrom of the Department of Anthropology. 



the fact that it took the Ohio State Museum 
expedition of fifteen workers, equipped 
with teams and scrapers, about nine months 
to move the 20,000 cubic yards of dirt in a 
burial mound that measured 250 feet long, 
150 feet wide, and 30 feet high, and every 
advantage of gravity was seized upon to 
hasten the work. Imagine, then, how much 
more difficult it must have been for the 
original builders to transport the dirt and 
to erect this great mound. 

The method of building was very simple. 
Each person who was assisting carried dirt 
in baskets or skin bags and dumped his load 
on the ever-growing heap. Sticks, clam- 



shells, stone hoes, or shoulder blades of 
bison, deer, or elk may have served to 
loosen or to dig the dirt. 

There are four kinds of mounds: 

1. Burial mounds 
a. Conical-shaped 

b. Linear-shaped 

c. Effigy-shaped 

2. Temple mounds 

3. Earthworks 

4. Shell-middens 

While burial mounds 
were intended exclu- 
sively as depositories 
of the dead, burials 
may also occur in 
temple mounds and in 
earthworks. The two 
last-named types of 
structures were not 
primarily built as 
tombs. It should be 
noted that the age of 
these mounds may 
vary considerably. 

1. BURIAL MOUNDS 

Conical-shaped 
mounds, as the name 
indicates, are shaped 
like a cone and occur 
all over the eastern 
United States. They 
range in diameter 
from 15 to more than 
300 feet, and in height 
from 18 inches to 70 feet. Burials are 
found near the center. 

Linear mounds may be from 20 to more 
than 250 feet long, 11 to more than 150 feet 
wide, and one to 30 feet high. This type of 
mound occurs mostly in the Great Lakes 
area. Burials may be found anywhere along 
the major axis. 

Effigy mounds, occurring mainly in Wis- 
consin and most frequently representing 
bears, panthers, or birds, may range in 
length from 30 to more than 600 feet, and 
in height from one to four feet. Burials 
occur in the heart position, in the head, 
hips, shoulders, and between the hips and 



Page 2 



CHICAGO NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM BULLETIN 



May, 19i7 



INDIAN MOUND BUILDER 
EXHIBITS IN MUSEUM 

The Cahokia Mound in south- 
western Illinois was built by 
Middle Mississippi Indians about 
A.D. 1400-1700. Exhibits relating 
to the Middle Mississippi Indians 
are in the Hall of North American 
Archaeology (Hall B). 

The Great Serpent effigy mound 
and the Miamisburg mound in 
Ohio were built by Hopewell 
Indians about A.D. 1100-1400. 
Many exhibits illustrating the 
spectacular culture of the Hope- 
well Indians are also in Hall B. 



shoulders. The Great Serpent Mound in 
Ohio may also be classed as an effigy mound. 
Its length (in an air line) is about 500 feet. 
No burials have been found in it. It has 
frequently been claimed that effigy mounds 
were built to represent totemic or clan 
symbols, but there is no proof for this claim. 
Anyone who thoughtlessly excavates a 
burial mound in the hope of obtaining loot 
or treasure will find that he has done back- 
breaking work for nothing; and, further- 
more, unless one has had special training, 
he may do much damage and destroy 
valuable information. All excavations 
should be done under the direction of a 
competent archaeologist. Artifacts of any 
kind are rare in burial mounds. 

2. TEMPLE MOUNDS 

Temple mounds are always flat-topped 
and generally pyramidal in shape. They 
may also be square, rectangular, or round. 
Temple mounds may range in height from 
five to 100 feet; and the greatest breadth 
ranges from 20 to 1,080 feet. Almost every 
temple mound was provided with ramps or 
staircases leading to the top. 

The temple mounds were erected as 
substructures for wooden temples — hence 
the name. Apparently, the builders wanted 
to raise their sanctuaries above the profane 
earth. The temple-mound idea probably 
originated in Mexico and spread northward. 
Wherever pyramidal or temple mounds 
occur in groups of two or more, they seem 
to be oriented about a plaza or central 
square. The flat-topped mound surmounted 
by a wooden temple was situated at either 
end of the plaza. 

The largest mound of this type — in fact, 
the largest prehistoric mound in North 
America — is the great Cahokia Mound, 
near East St. Louis in Madison County, 
Illinois. It covers an area of approximately 
16 acres and may best be described as a 
truncated pyramid, rectangular in form, 
with a broad terrace or apron that extends 
from the south side, all sides being well 
oriented in regard to north-south, east- 




THE SERPENT MOUND IN SOUTHWESTERN OHIO 

Finest and largest effigy mound. Aerial photograph supplied by the Ohio Archaeological and Historical Society, Columbus. 



west points. The greatest height of the 
mound is 100 feet; the east-to-west width 
is 710 feet; and the maximum north-to- 
south length, including that of the terrace, 
is 1,080 feet (our Museum plot covers about 
IS acres, and the longest dimension of the 
Museum building is 706 feet). It is believed 
that a ceremonial wooden structure once 
occupied the spacious upper level. 

3. EARTHWORKS 

The term "earthworks" includes enclo- 
sures, walls, and embankments. 

Enclosures were built in various shapes: 
circular, oblong, square, and octagonal. 
They occur in many parts of the eastern 
United States. The area enclosed by these 
earthworks may vary from one to 100 
acres. The height of the embankment 
walls ranges from one to 20 feet. 

The purpose of these enclosures is not 
known. They may have been built for 
religious reasons; they probably were not 
constructed for defense. Two of the better 
known ones are "Fort" Ancient and the 
Newark Works, both in Ohio. 

4. SHELL-MIDDENS 

Another type of mound is the shell- 
midden. The midden, however, is merely a 
large mound of refuse that is built up 
incidental to its occupation. The midden is 
very similar to a modern city dump. 
Middens range in height from a few inches 
to 12 or 15 feet and may be 1,000 feet in 
length. In contrast to other mounds, for- 
mation of middens is unintentional. 



The custom of making shell dump-heaps 
was not confined to any one culture but 
seems to have been an environmental 
adaptation, inasmuch as they are generally 
found along the seacoasts or rivers where 
shellfish were plentiful. 



WEEKEND TOUR SUGGESTION: 
VISIT A MOUND 

You don't have to go to Iraq, 
Egypt, Peru, or even to Guate- 
mala or Mexico, to experience a 
taste of the archaeologist's thrill 
at digging into ancient civiliza- 
tions. As Dr. Martin points out, 
the largest prehistoric mound in 
North America is right in Illinois, 
near East St. Louis, an easy week- 
end drive from Chicago in your 
new (or even an old) car. Take 
U.S. Highway 66 to junction Illi- 
nois 43, 43 to junction U.S. 40, and 
the last to the mound — about 300 
miles each way. For the spectacu- 
lar Serpent Mount in Ohio, also a 
weekend trip of about 360 miles 
each way, the route is: U.S. 41 and 
30 to Fort Wayne, Indiana; U.S. 33 
and 127 to Greenville, Ohio; Ohio 
49 to Dayton; U.S. 35 to Xenia; 
U.S. 68 to Wilmington; Ohio 73 to 
Hillsboro and the mound. South 
out of Dayton twenty-five miles is 
the Miamisburg Mound, highest 
(70 feet) Hopewell mound. 



May, 1H7 



CHICAGO NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM BULLETIN 



Page S 



COAL WAS HEADLINE NEWS AEONS BEFORE NEWSPAPERS 



By HARRY E. CHANGNON 

ASSISTANT CURATOR OF GEOLOGY 

Recent controversies over the mining of 
coal have made us keenly aware of the vital 
role coal plays in our society, which seems 
to function smoothly only as long as the 
delicate balance between raw materials, 
transportation, and specialized industry is 
maintained. 

Coal has been known for centuries. As 
early as the ninth century it came into com- 
mon household use in England and active 
world trade in it soon followed. The inven- 
tion of the steam engine introduced a new 



and it is unlikely that atomic power will 
replace coal to any large extent in the near 
future. 

ORIGIN OF COAL 

Coals are compact masses of carbonized 
plant debris derived from vast accumula- 
tions of vegetable matter of former geologi- 
cal ages. The areal extent of the coal beds 
and studies of the plant fossils found 
associated with the coals attest that millions 
of years ago large sections of the world were 
covered by swamps and marshy places in 
which an ancient type of vegetation grew 




PART OF RESTORATION OF A FOREST OF THE COAL AGE (250 MILLION YEARS AGO) 



industrial era and coal became the backbone 
of industry throughout the world. Countries 
endowed with it became world powers; those 
lacking it became mostly agricultural or 
handicraft nations. 

Coal still holds the eminent position of 
being the most important source of utilizable 
energy. Despite the inroads made upon it 
by petroleum and water power, coal still 
produces about 70 per cent of all energy 
units. Water power, even when developed 
to its fullest, is not likely to replace coal. 
Petroleum as the preferred fuel for mobile 
power units has encroached greatly on coal 
in this field. Nevertheless, increased 
efficiency of coal burning is counteracting 
the inroads made by oil and gas. 

The future of coal as a leading source of 
utilizable energy appears to be assured, for 
it is widely distributed and world reserves 
are sufficient to last many thousands of 
years. Although atomic power promises to 
become an important source of utilizable 
energy, sources of uranium ore are limited 



in wild luxuriance. The plants, both large 
and small, represented types related to the 
club mosses and horsetails of today, ferns, 
conifers, and the forerunners of modern seed 
plants, including some whose relationships 
to present-day forms are still obscure. 
These, growing year after year, died down, 
depositing in the comparatively shallow 
waters great masses of vegetal debris, which 
was subsequently transformed into coal. 

In the transition of vegetal debris to coal, 
two stages at least were passed through — 
the first a biochemical and the second a 
geochemical stage. In the first stage, 
partial decay was brought about soon after 
deposition by wood-destroying micro-organ- 
isms. During this process of decomposition 
and maceration, biochemical changes liber- 
ated oxygen, hydrogen, and concentrated 
carbon, transforming the debris to a brown- 
ish or blackish matter with a high carbon 
content known as peat. 

The second stage is termed geochemical 
because subsequent chemical changes in the 



transformation of peat to coal were deter- 
mined by geological activities. The great 
masses of peat, due to oscillations of the 
earth's crust, were slowly depressed and 
subsequently covered with clay, silt, or 
sand, which today we find in the form of 
shales, slates, and sandstones overlying 
the coal beds. The process was necessarily 
slow, but, in the course of ages, these masses 
of peat, acted upon by fermentative heat 
and the pressure of the overlying rock 
masses, were metamorphosed to varying 
degrees and transformed into black mineral 
substances low in moisture and volatile 
constitutents and high in fixed-carbon 
content. These are commonly known as 
coal. The chief coal-producing districts of 
this country include West Virginia, Pennysl- 
vania, Illinois, Kentucky, and Ohio. 

EXHIBITS OF COAL 

Among exhibits recently installed in 
Hall 36 (non-metallic elements and minerals 
of commercial importance) is one of the 
mineral fuels representing coal and peat. 
The exhibit aims to furnish an adequate 
introduction to the origin and classification 
of coal as well as to show by comparison the 
progressive changes that take place in coal 
as it is transformed from peat (the embry- 
onic form of coal) through lignite (brown 
coal), to bituminous (soft coal), to anthra- 
cite (hard coal), in which the changes have 
gone the farthest. 

In Ernest R. Graham Hall (Hall 38) the 
Museum has an elaborate reproduction of a 
scene in a swamp forest of the Coal Age (the 
Pennsylvanian period some 250,000,000 years 
ago), vividly represented in all the luxuri- 
ance that characterized it in life. The trees 
and other carboniferous vegetation are 
reproduced in life size, and a number of 
insects and animals of the same age are 
represented — dragonflies with a two-foot 
wing spread, cockroaches up to three and 
one-half inches long, and various primitive 
insects. This group, one of the largest in 
the Museum, is also one of the most spec- 
tacular reconstructions of a prehistoric 
subject ever attempted. The group, repre- 
senting the labor of several years, was 
prepared in the plant reproduction labora- 
tories of the Department of Botany for the 
Department of Geology. 



Michigan Children Throng Museum 

Ottawa County, Michigan, rural schools 
sent 1,000 grade-school children, from the 
age of 10, on a visit to Chicago Natural 
History Museum and the Shedd Aquarium 
on April 11. Another group of 900 is 
scheduled for May 2. 

The first contingent came via Holland, 
Michigan, on a special train early in the 
morning and was at the Museum from about 
11 A.M. to 4 p.m. Members of the Museum's 
Raymond Foundation school lecture staff 
and other Museum staff members conducted 
them on tours. 



Page i 



CHICAGO NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM BULLETIN 



May, 191,7 



♦WHAT'S IN A NAME?' 
IN THE PLANT WORLD 

By JULIAN A. STEYERMARK 

ASSISTANT CURATOR OF THE HERBARIUM 

"What's in a name?" is a phrase com- 
monly used in a manner that might indicate 
that a name doesn't matter very much. 
Actually, names are all-important. They 
serve as definite and tangible go-betweens 
that enable man to designate objects and 
to classify them. 

Names given to plants are often based 
on some of their obvious characters. But 
in many cases a question arises whether the 
word used as a plant's name existed before 




SO-CALLED 'WOODEN ROSE' 

It is really the fruiting stage of a tropical morning glory, 
with the capsule surrounded by thickened calyx lobes. 

the plant was known or whether the word 
came into the language for other applications 
as the result of comparison with the plant. 
It is another case of the question: "Which 
came first, the hen or the egg?" Thus, 
"violet" perhaps became the common name 
for violets because the first plants seen by 
those who chose the name were of violet 
color; but it may just as well be that the 
color got its name because its shade approxi- 
mated that of the variety of flowers called 
violet. Likewise, roses may have been 
named for their predominant color or the 
color for the plants. 

Other obvious characters of plants were 
used in the selection of names. Thus, 
bloodroot was a logical name to give a plant 
that contained an orange-red coloring 
matter in its rootstock, a fact also expressed 
in the Latin generic name, Sanguinaria. 
The number of plants with descriptive 
names referring to some outstanding charac- 
teristic is legion: balloon-vine, blueberry, 
Turk's-cap lily, shooting star or bird's bill, 
spider lily, nipple cactus, bluebells, bell 
flower, crowfoot, larkspur, Dutchman's 
breeches, Dutchman's pipe, five fingers, 
pepper plant, sourwood, hens-and-chickens, 
pitcher plant, buckeye, turtlehead, and 
monkey flower. 

An equally long list of names includes 



•An article entitled "What's in a Name," treating 
of nomenclature in zoology, appeared in the Bulletin 
(then Field Museum Setrs) of August, 1939. 



those plants that were said to possess healing 
properties. Good examples are snakeroot 
and rattlesnake master, both used for their 
supposed efficacy in treating snake bite; 
pleurisy root, more familiarly known as 
butterfly weed, for its reputed effects in 
alleviating pleurisy; boneset; and heal-all. 

This naming of all objects is a natural as 
well as convenient and necessary procedure. 
But difficulties arise whenever numerous 
objects are considered. For instance, the 
name violet originally was applied to any 
member of the violet family or Violaceae. 
However, this did not last long, since it did 
not stop people from calling Saintpaulia, a 
member of the Gesneria family or Gesneri- 
aceae, the African violet, because of the 
definite violet color of its flower, nor from 
giving cyclamen, a member of the primrose 
family or Primulaceae, the popular name 
of alpine violet. These cases emphasize 
the need of reserving for each plant a uni- 
versally adopted Latin name that is under- 
stood by botanists and plant-lovers all over 
the world. 

By careful study of the structure of the 
flower as well as of the vegetative characters 
of the stems, leaves, and roots, and of the 
internal anatomy, botanists have been able 
to classify plants and place them into groups 
of families, those of one family possessing a 
given set of characteristics distinguishing 
them from those of another family. Thus, 
the flower of a true violet (Violaceae) is 
quite different from that of an alpine violet 
(Primulaceae) or African violet (Gesneri- 
aceae). However, because of some resem- 
blance to the true violets, or to the habit 
of their growth, the other names have been 
allowed to persist. 

FALSE LILIES 

In this manner we encounter many plants 
that are not true lilies or members of the lily 
family (Liliaceae) with popular names sug- 
gesting that they are true lilies: spider lily 
(Pancratium) of the amaryllis family 
(Amaryllidaceae), water lily (Nymphaea) of 
the water-lily family (Nymphaeaceae), and 
ginger lily (Hedychium) of the ginger family 
(Zingiberaceae). Similarly, although the 
apple belongs to the rose family (Rosaceae), 
the following names were given because of 
some supposed resemblance to an apple: 
rose apple (Eugenia Jambos) of the myrtle 
family (Myrtaeeae), pineapple (Ananas) of 
the pineapple family (Bromeliaceae), and 
custard apple (Annona) of the custard 
apple family (Annonaceae). 

Thus, as the common names become more 
and more misleading, the layman becomes 
more and more confused. Because the 
layman's time is limited, names should have 
clear and definite meanings. It is regret- 
table, therefore, that names are often 
purposely misapplied for commercial pur- 
poses or in the hope of giving people fanciful 
impressions. By obscuring the true origin 
and nature of a plant under an unnecessary 



or strange name, the public receives false 
information and the existing confusion is 
increased. 

A case in point is the recent introduction 
on the market of a plant belonging to the 
buckwheat family (Polygonaceae). It is a 
species of Eriogonum originating from the 
mountains of southern California. The 
plant grows with the habit of some alpine 
or desert species, with cushion-like rosettes 
of tiny thick gray leaves spreading from the 
tips of woody rusty-brown or coppery 
curved branches. The colorful stem con- 
tinues for some distance below the ground, 
branching and winding into the extensive 
root system; when removed from the soil, 
it has a curiously twisted wind-beaten 
appearance, much like the bark of some 
weather-beaten mountain juniper or fir. 
The leaves are either left in their natural 
gray state or are sprayed to give a lively 
green color. 

These plants may now be seen in the 
windows of florists, jewelers, and gift shops 
of the larger cities, not under their rightful 
name Californian Eriogonum but under the 
misleading one of Peruvian cypress tree. 
The last name undoubtedly increases the 
sales and creates a sense of the exotic, 
although it adds to the confusion of the 
public. Since the plant resembles in shape 
some dwarfed Japanese trees, it is also 
readily mistaken for them. Prolonged col- 
lecting and sale will lead to the extinction 
of this plant, for it grows in a very limited 
mountainous area. 

'wooden flowers' 

Other misnomers that have come into the 
trade and are perpetuated by florists and 




MISNAMED 'PERUVIAN CYPRESS TREE' 

Actually it is a species of Eriogonum of the buckwheat 
family from the mountains of southern California. 



others are "wooden rose," "wooden flower," 
and "spoon flower." The last is really the 
entire leaf of the sotol plant (Dasylirion 
Wheeleri) with the firm polished-appearing 



May, 1H7 



CHICAGO NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM BULLETIN 



Page 5 



broadened base displayed as the tip. 
"Wooden roses" are actually not roses at all, 
but the fruiting stage of a large yellow- 
flowered member (Merremia tuberosa) of 
the morning glory family (Convolvulaceae). 
The spreading calyx-lobes in this case 
persist in fruit and become thickened and 
brown, spreading out horizontally in the 
form of petals and surrounding a large 
shining globular capsule, which contains 
the seeds. A smaller example of this type 
of fruit is on display in Case 843 of Martin 
A. and Carrie Ryerson Hall (Plant 
Life— Hall 29). 

To the layman, "wooden rose" sounds 
quite alluring and exotic, but actually it 
may be a letdown to some people to learn 
that it is only a type of morning glory in 
fruit. "Wooden flower" is not even a flower 
or any normal part of a plant, but rather an 
abnormal bizarre-looking enlarged and 
brown woody growth produced by the 
branch of a tree in the Central American 
tropics that has been stimulated by the 
parasitic plant Psittacanthus, a member 
of the mistletoe family (Loranthaceae). 
The parasite induces the formations of 
striking and expanded growth faintly 
resembling a flower carved out of wood. 
A good example of a "wooden flower" is 
shown in Case 839 of Hall 29. 

Misapplied popular names may thus 
become generally accepted as has been the 
case with many false Latin generic names. 
For example, we are accustomed to using 
geranium for pelargonium, gloxinia for 
sinningia, nasturtium for tropaeolum, and 
amaryllis for hippeastrum. As such, gera- 
nium, gloxinia, etc. are correct Latin names, 
though they pertain to other plants. In 
short, when we see or hear the popular name 
of a plant, it is wise to investigate it before 
accepting it. 

HOW MUSEUM AND UNIVERSITY 
BENEFIT EACH OTHER 

By D. DWIGHT DAVIS 

CURATOR OF YEREBRATE ANATOMY 

The successful completion of a unique 
course in the cranial morphology of verte- 
brates marks another step in the plan to 
integrate the activities of the Museum and 
the University of Chicago. 

The course, an advanced study of the 
evolution of the head among vertebrates, 
was planned to take advantage of the 
resources of the Museum. It was presented 
for the first time this year on an experi- 
mental basis. A class of eight students in 
the graduate school of the University met 
twice weekly at the Museum instead of in 
the University classrooms and laboratories. 
This arrangement made it possible for the 
students to make full use of the Museum's 
vast research collections and of the special 
knowledge of various staff members. It is 
planned to offer the course again next year. 

Underlying the idea of Museum-Univer- 
sity co-operation is the fact that no uni- 



versity, however large, can possibly cover 
all fields of human knowledge. This is 
especially true for the biological sciences, 
which are so enormously complex that no 
expert can be familiar with more than a very 
small corner of the whole field. 

Many biological studies are impossible 
without collections of thousands of speci- 
mens from the four corners of the earth, 
which are referred to in much the same way 
as books in a technical library. Few 
universities can afford to underwrite such 
an enterprise, and collecting and storing 
such material logically falls to the larger 
natural history museums. But this division 
of labor between museum and university is 
functional only if such collections can be 
utilized by the university as well as by the 
museum. Otherwise the supposed division 
of labor is mere compartmentalization, 
which is the arch enemy of progress in 
science. 

The head of a mammal or reptile is an 
amazingly complex thing, and its evolution 
was correspondingly complex. Many of the 
body's most important organs — the brain, 
the eyes, the ears, the organs of taste — are 
here crowded together in an intricate maze 
of details, infinitely more complicated than 
any device man has ever contrived. In 
most animals the mouth is used for self- 
defense, and to seize and hold food as well 
as to chew and swallow it. Some of the 
things that happened in the history of our 
own heads are almost unbelievable. The 
three little ear bones (the familiar hammer, 
anvil, and stirrup), for example, once were 
parts of the lower jaw and gills in our 
remote ancestors. 

The histories of Greek and Roman civili- 
zations, for example, are far better known 
than the history of our own heads. Yet by 
using the Museum's collections, a course in 
the history of the head is made a thousand 
times more graphic than any course in politi- 
cal and social history could possibly be. 
When the science student handles dozens of 
fossil skulls, it is as if a history student could 
visit dozens of entombed cities like Pompeii, 
under the expert guidance of a trained 
historian. When the science student dis- 
sects the head of an alligator, it is as if the 
history student could live for a time among 
the Australian Bushmen or the African 
Pygmies, with a sociologist to explain to 
him the structure of the primitive human 
society that he was visiting. 

The advantages of this program are not 
all one way. Museum scientists are some- 
times accused of living in an ivory tower 
because they are out of contact with the 
inquiring minds and challenging questions 
of student classes. Organizing ideas for 
presentation to student classes has long 
been recognized as an astonishingly effective 
way of showing up inconspicuous but impor- 
tant loopholes in our knowledge — and in the 
personal knowledge of the instructor. The 
research scientist who has been industriously 



NATURE COURSE OFFERED 
FOR CAMP COUNSELORS 

During May, the Museum is offering a 
nature course for camp counselors. There 
will be four sessions of the class, on Thurs- 
day evenings, May 1, 8, 15, and 22, in the 
Lecture Hall of the Museum. Sessions will 
be from 7 to 9 p.m. The West Entrance of 
the building — the only one to be open — will 
admit members of the class at 6:30 P.M. 

This course includes brief information 
concerning the natural history of the 
Chicago region, suggestions for nature trails 
and camp museums, techniques for collect- 
ing and organizing nature materials, and 
projects for integrating nature work with 
camp activities. 

All recreational leaders are welcome; 
there is no admission fee. For further infor- 
mation, call WABash 9410, Extension 43. 

Following are the subjects for each 
session: 

May 1 — Introduction, Nature Trail, Geology 

May 8 — Animal Flyers (birds and insects) 

May 15 — Mammals, Reptiles, and Amphibians 

May 22— Plant Kingdom 

The classes will be conducted by members 

of the staff of the James Nelson and Anna 

Louise Raymond Foundation. 



First Collections from Philippine 
Zoological Expedition Arrive 

The first shipment of specimens from the 
Philippines Zoological Expedition, 1946-47, 
led by Captain Harry Hoogstraal, has 
recently been unpacked and contains numer- 
ous rare mammals not hitherto represented 
in the Museum's collections. This material 
was collected on Mount McKinley, Minda- 
nao Island. 

Most outstanding is a series of thirty 
wood shrews formerly known from but one 
specimen. Some are preserved in alcohol so 
that the soft parts may be studied. Skins 
and skeletons of the flying lemur are a wel- 
come addition. This mammal is poorly 
named because it does not fly but glides and 
is not a lemur but is related to the insecti- 
vores. There are also four tiny squirrels, 
about six inches long, among the smallest 
known squirrels in the world. 

Besides these are rodents, representing 
genera new to the collection, monkeys, bats, 
and deer. In all, there are about 180 speci- 
mens. The arrival of two other much larger 
collections is expected soon. 

making bricks finds himself called upon to 
assemble those bricks into an edifice, and 
the work of an architect is often more 
difficult than that of a brickmaker. 

New and stimulating ideas for further 
research almost invariably result from such 
classroom experience. And in the case of 
the Museum some, at least, of these ideas 
will find their way into future exhibits too. 



Page 6 



CHICAGO NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM BULLETIN 



May, 191,7 



Chicago Natural History Museum 

Founded by Marshall Field, 1893 

Roosevelt Road and Lake Shore Drive, Chicago 

Telephone: WABash 9410 



THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES 

Lester Armour Marshall Field, Jr. 

Sewell L. Avery Stanley Field 

W. McCormick Blair Samuel Insull, Jr. 

Leopold E. Block Henry P. Isham 

Boardman Conover Hughston M. McBain 

Walter J. Cummings William H. Mitchell 

Albert B. Dick, Jr. Clarence B. Randall 

Howard W. Fenton George A. Richardson 

Joseph N. Field Solomon A. Smith 

Marshall Field Albert H. Wetten 
John P. Wilson 

OFFICERS 

Stanley Field President 

Marshall Field First Vice-President 

Albert B. Dick, Jr Second Vice-President 

Samuel Insull, Jr Third Vice-President 

Solomon A. Smith Treasurer 

Clifford C. Gregg Director and Secretary 

John R. Millar Assistant Secretary 

THE BULLETIN 

EDITOR 
Clifford C. Gregg Director of the Museum 

ASSOCIATE EDITOR 
Wilfred H. Osgood Curator Emeritus, Zoology 

CONTRIBUTING EDITORS 

Paul S. Martin Chief Curator of Anthropology 

Theodor Just Chief Curator of Botany 

Sharat K. Roy Chief Curator of Geology 

Karl P. Schmidt Chief Curator of Zoology 

MANAGING EDITOR 
H. B. Harte PublU Relations Counsel 



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



MR. DALLW1Q COMPLETES 
A JOB WELL DONE 

With his afternoon lecture on Sunday, 
April 27, 1947, Mr. Paul G. Dallwig com- 
pleted his tenth season as the Layman 
Lecturer of Chicago Natural History 
Museum. Since the autumn of 1937, Mr. 
Dallwig has carried on his series of popular 
lectures on subjects within the scope of this 
Museum as a voluntary contribution to the 
work of this institution. His scripts, care- 
fully prepared at his own expense, have been 
checked by other staff members of the 
Museum for scientific accuracy. It may 
interest the public to know that in the course 
of the preparation of his lectures Mr. Dall- 
wig has accumulated a personal library 
covering the many fields of his interest in 
order to have available for reference at all 
times the works of acknowledged authorities 
in those fields. 

The popularity of Mr. Dallwig's presenta- 
tions is indicated by the fact that applica- 
tions for the necessary tickets often have 
been received two months in advance and, 
in several instances, requests were made in 
the early fall for season tickets. In former 
years, Mr. Dallwig gave but one lecture 
each Sunday afternoon. In order especially 
to mark his tenth anniversary, however, he 
gave morning and afternoon lectures during 
November, December, January, March, 
and April, thus presenting ten lectures in his 



tenth season (1946-47). During his service, 
his audiences have totaled 34,090 persons. 
Mr. Dallwig will take a well-earned rest 
during the season 1947-48, and plans for 
his lectures beyond that time have not been 
completed. The best wishes of the Museum 
go with him, as he terminates for the time 
being his splendid effort in behalf of this 
institution and of the people of Chicago. 
Clifford C. Gregg, Director 



charge of Mr. John W. Winn, Assistant, 
whose appointment as Assistant Curator of 
Fishes is effective from April 1. 



STAFF NOTES 



E. R. BLAKE PROMOTED 

Effective May 1, Mr. Emmet R. Blake 
is advanced from Assistant Curator of 
Birds to Associate Curator of Birds, a 
position that has been 
vacant since the death 
of Dr. Charles E. 
Hellmayr in March, 
1944. 

Mr. Blake became a 
permanent member of 
the staff of the Mu- 
seum in July, 1935. 
Previous to that time, 
however, he had 
taken part in two of 
the Museum's expedi- 
tions, to Venezuela 
and Guatemala. Mr. 
Blake was absent from the Museum in 
military service from June 15, 1942, until 
June 1, 1946, during which time he rose 
from enlisted status to the rank of captain 
in the Counter Intelligence Corps, serving 
in North Africa, Italy, France, and Ger- 
many. Besides five battle stars on his 
campaign ribbon, Mr. Blake was awarded 
the Bronze Star and the Purple Heart. 




EMMET R. BLAKE 



TWO STAFF PROMOTIONS 
IN FISH DIVISION 

Mr. Loren P. Woods, a member of the 
Museum staff since 1938, and Assistant 
Curator of Fishes since 1941, has been 
promoted to the position of Curator of 
Fishes, effective from April 1. His first posi- 
tion at the Museum was as a member of the 
lecture staff of the Raymond Foundation. 

In 1943, he was commissioned an ensign 
in the Naval Reserve and in war service was 
promoted to lieutenant (j.g.). After the 
war's end, while still in the Navy, he was 
assigned to work in Japan for the American 
Military Government in the investigation 
of fisheries. Late in 1946, Mr. Woods was 
granted a leave of absence from the Museum 
of two years to accept a temporary post as 
an associate curator of fishes in the United 
States National Museum, Washington, 
D.C. He is working there on the classi- 
fication of shore fishes of the Marshall 
Islands, collected before and after the atomic 
bomb tests at Bikini. 

Since Mr. Woods' departure on leave of 
absence, the Division of Fishes has been in 



Mr. John W. Moyer, taxidermist in the 
Division of Birds before the war, has been 
appointed Chief of the new Motion Picture 
Division at the Museum. This division has 
a program of natural history and other 
Museum educational films. In the war, 
Mr. Moyer served as a Navy motion 
picture photographer in many parts of the 
world. . . . Mr. Karl P. Schmidt, Chief 
Curator of Zoology, attended the organiza- 
tion meeting of the American Institute of 
Biological Sciences in Washington, D.C, 
in April. The organization is to unify the 
many biological societies of the Americas. 
Mr. Schmidt also attended, as representa- 
tive of the American Society of Ichthyolo- 
gists and Herpetologists, the annual meeting 
of the Division of Biology and Agriculture 
of the National Research Council. . . . Mr. 
Frank C. Wonder, Staff Taxidermist, 
returned April 21 from his expedition to 
Trinidad, British West Indies, bringing a 
large collection of birds, mammals, reptiles, 
and amphibians for the Museum's syste- 
matic collections. He had been in the field 
since December 29. The collection he 
assembled is the first to be made in Trinidad 
by an American museum since 1893. 



NEW MEMBERS 

The following persons became Members 
of the Museum during the period from 
March 17 to April 15: 

Associate Members 

Joseph C. Belden, Jr., Isidore Horween, 
Michael L. Igoe, Dr. Nicholas H. Kern, 
O. R. Murphy, Kenneth W. Skarrn. 

Sustaining Members 

W. J. Stebler 

Annual Members 
Lawrence A. Appley, Harley R. Bucklen, 
Mrs. DeWitt Davis, III, Mrs. Jean E. 
Dougherty, C. Harold Eshbaugh, A. 
Ettlinger, Chester L. Glover, Austin T. 
Graves, Harry J. Graw, A. S. Gray, Louis 
Harpole, Christopher G. Janus, Byrne A. 
Jackson, Arthur S. Leonard, Moses Levitan, 
Dr. J. J. Litschgi, Robert R. Lockwood, 
Willard R. Matheny, Leo A. Mautner, Dr. 
C. 0. Miller, Harry L. Mitchell, Oscar F. 
Modene, Harold A. Moore, M. W. Murray, 
Harold F. North, Benjamin Franklin Olson, 
William F. Patterson, MacMillan Priest, 
Miss Martha Jane Rogers, Eben T. Sabin, 
Miss Betsy Ruth Salk, Dr. Gabriel Salta- 
relli, Joseph R. Shapiro, Mrs. Albert F. 
Sperry, Miss Katherine J. Spiegel, Dr. Karl 
H. Tannenbaum, Mrs. J. M. Taussig, Dr. 
Willard O. Thompson, Claude Towne, 
Earle E. Vogt, Glenn D. Wade, Sheldon A. 
Weaver, William D. Wick, Mrs. Allan C. 
Williams, Jr. 



May, 19i7 



CHICAGO NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM BULLETIN 



Page 7 



USE OF AERIAL PHOTOGRAPHS 
IN FOSSIL HUNTING 

By BRYAN PATTERSON 

CURATOR OF PALEONTOLOGY 

During recent years, large portions of the 
United States have been photographed 
from the air by such governmental agencies 
as the Department of Agriculture and the 
Army Air Forces. Whatever the main 
purpose for a particular aerial survey may 
have been, flood control, soil erosion, etc., 
geology in many of its varied branches has 
been one of the chief beneficiaries. Aerial 
photographs show physiographic and struc- 
tural features, complement and supplement 
maps, and reveal areas suitable for investi- 
gation that might otherwise not be detected. 

Since the aerial photographs are taken in 
overlapping series, the same patch of ground 
is seen from slightly different angles in 




Fig. 1. A "STEREOSCOPIC PAIR" 

Cut from two overlapping aerial photographs, covering 
approximately seven square miles of an area in trans.Pecos 
Texas worked by a Museum Expedition in 1946. To 
obtain the stereoscopic effect, focus the eyes beyond the 
page; the two images will merge into a central one that, 
when adjusted, will reveal the relief. 

several photographs. If two of these are 
looked at through a stereoscopic device, the 
ground relief leaps into view, and the depths 
of gullies and the heights of hills and cliffs 
are clearly revealed (Fig. 1). 

Individual aerial photographs and the 
aerial mosaics of larger stretches of country 
that are made from them are of inestimable 
benefit to those who hunt for the remains of 
fossil vertebrates. Many fossil-bearing 
formations are largely covered by grass, 
scrub, or woods, and rock exposures are 
few and hidden. A blind hunt for these 
might take fruitless weeks, but with aerial 
photographs in hand each one can quickly 
be located. 

OLD TRAILS LOCATED 

The success of the Museum's recent 
expeditions to Alabama, where the verte- 
brate-bearing Cretaceous deposits are for 
the most part obscured by vegetation, is due 
in large measure to the existence of an aerial 
survey made by the Department of Agricul- 
ture. Aerial photographs usually disclose 
old roads and trails that may enable the 
fossil hunter to extend his operations with- 



out too great an expenditure of time and 
effort. 

Not only are aerial photographs of great 
help in the finding of fossils, but they are 
also invaluable in the precise recording of 
the localities at which they are found. Too 
often, localities that have been recorded in 
the literature are difficult or even impossible 
to relocate at a later date. 

An imaginary but fairly typical case 
would be as follows: A field party that 
worked a certain area in 1910 reported that 
fossils were found in abundance in Antelope 
Draw and around the base of a butte known 
locally as Calamity Jane's Hat; a section 
of the strata exposed in Antelope Draw was 
published in the report. A party revisiting 
the area some thirty years later naturally 
wishes to head straight for these spots. 
The only topographic map of the region, 
published in the 1890s, shows neither of 
these place names. The residents have 
never heard of them either; they've nearly 
all moved in during the last fifteen years or 
so. Finally, one old-timer who has heard 
of Calamity Jane's Hat turns up, but he 
can't recall to which of several buttes it 
was applied, and as for Antelope Draw — he 
doesn't know the name at all! The party, 
therefore, has to start practically from 
scratch. 

In an effort to avoid this sort of thing, 
careful collectors have, whenever possible, 
recorded the township and section in which 
their finds were made. In more settled 
areas, this works quite well; but in the 



Books 







34 82 


1 

9 8 7 6 S 4. 3 


1 I 

2 l,_ 






X-SCALE 


z — 

A 4 ! 




os- 1 

> 

r e- 
m 

7— 








8- 








9- 





Fig. 2. LOCATION RECORDING DEVICE 

The upper right corner of the card is upon the center of 
the isolated, nipple.shaped hill seen near the middle of 
Fig. 1. The data for this point are X 4.6 - Y 4.68, 
U.S.A.A.F. negative No. 34 82, Del Rio area, 9" x 9". 

wilder places, corner markers, if set up at 
all, were often temporary makeshifts, such 
as a pile of stones or a rag tied to a stick, 
that disappeared soon after they were 
erected. 

THE MODERN WAY 

With aerial photographs available, these 
difficulties largely disappear. The collector 



(All books reviewed in the BULLETIN are 
available in The Book Shop of the Museum. 
Mail orders accompanied by remittance are 
promptly filled — The Book Shop pays the 
postage on shipments.) 

Clever Hands of the African Negro. By 
Wilfrid D. Hambly. Associated Publishers, 
Washington, D.C., 1945. Pp. xiii+192, 
73 illustrations, price $2.65. 

In this delightfully written and well- 
illustrated book, intended for children, Dr. 
Wilfrid D. Hambly, Curator of African 
Ethnology in Chicago Natural History 
Museum, has presented a well-rounded 
account of African handicrafts in colorful 
and conversational style. 

Into the central theme of African arts and 
crafts, Dr. Hambly integrates not only a 
general view of the geography and history 
of Africa and of African ways of life, but 
also an account of the aims, organization, 
and operation of a large natural history 
museum and of what happens on a museum 
expedition. The chapter on ivory carving 
serves as an example of the skillful way in 
which the reader's interest is directed from 
the central theme to matters of wide histori- 
cal and geographical interest. Here, in 
addition to pertinent zoological facts about 
elephants, the reader is introduced to the 
history of man's use of elephants and of 
ivory from the Stone Age to the present and 
from China to Europe. 

Altogether, this is a stimulating and 
informative book, and one that will hold 
the interest of ten-year-olds, older children, 
and their parents as well. 

Donald Collier 
Curator, South American 
Ethnology and Archaeology 

(See p. 8 for Museum Publications.) 

can tell where he is on the ground, often to 
within a few yards, and can record the loca- 
tion of his finds in his notebook. He does 
this by means of the simple device shown 
in Fig. 2. 

As aerial photographs come in standard 
sizes, usually 9' X 9* or 10* X 10*, a square 
card is marked off in inches and tenths on 
the top and right-hand sides, the X- and 
Y- scales respectively, beginning at the top 
right corner. This corner is applied to the 
spot on the photograph that is to be re- 
corded, the scales being parallel to the sides 
of the photograph, and the co-ordinates read 
off. These are then entered in the notebook, 
together with the serial number and size of 
the photograph and the name of the survey 
for which it was made. 

By the use of such methods, greater 
precision is obtained and the troubles 
caused by unstable place names should soon 
be things of the past. 



Page 8 



CHICAGO NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM BULLETIN 



May, 19J,7 



NEW MUSEUM PUBLICATIONS 

Popular Series — Botany, No. 26. Tropical 
and Subtropical Fruits. By B. E. Dahl- 
gren. April, 1947. Pp. x+72, 68 illus- 
trations (one in color). $0.50. 

The latest number of the Museum's 
Popular Series (Botany, No. 26) to come 
off the press is a profusely illustrated account 
of the more important tropical and sub- 
tropical fruits of the Old and New World, 
prepared by Dr. B. E. Dahlgren, Curator 
Emeritus of the Department of Botany, 
with the assistance of Mr. Albert Frey, 
artist. Interesting facts about the dis- 
covery, introduction, and cultivation of 
many of these plants are recorded in the 
opening pages. Each fruit or group of 
fruits is illustrated, and significant informa- 
tion concerning its botanical characteristics, 
origin, uses, etc., as well as the scientific and 
common names in French, Spanish, Portu- 
guese, Dutch, or Malay, is found in the 
accompanying descriptive text. The inter- 
ested reader can find additional data by 
consulting the references given in the bibli- 
ography. An index to common and scientific 
names facilitates the use of this timely and 
attractive book. 

The following technical publications have 
been issued recently by the Museum: 

Fieldiana — Geology, Vol. 10, No. 4. A New 
Pycnodont Fish from the Cretaceous of 
Arkansas. By Louis Hussakof. Feb. 18, 
1947. 6 pages, 1 text figure. $0.10. 

Fieldiana— Zoology, Vol. 31, No. 9. Notes 
on Amphibians and Reptiles of Michoacan, 
Mexico. By Karl P. Schmidt and 
Frederick A. Shannon. Feb. 20, 1947. 
24 pages, 1 text figure. $0.25. 

Fieldiana— Zoology, Vol. 31, No. 10. Two 

Races of the Bridled Titmouse. By A. J. 

van Rossem. Feb. 28, 1947. 6 pages. 
$0.10. 

Fieldiana — Zoology, Vol. 31, No. 11. A New 
Race of Koklas Pheasant. By Robert L. 
Fleming. March 13, 1947. 4 pages. 
$0.10. 

Fieldiana— Zoology, Vol. 32, No. 1. Pha- 
langida from Tropical America. By 
Clarence J. and Marie L. Goodnight. 
March 31, 1947. 58 pages, 30 text figures. 
$0.75. 

Fieldiana— Zoology, Vol. 31, No. 12. Some 
Neuropterous Insects from Szechwan, 
China. By Nathan Banks. April 11, 
1947. 12 pages, 5 text figures. $0.15. 

Fieldiana— Zoology, Vol. 31, No. 13. A 
New Kinosternid Turtle from Colombia. 
By Karl P. Schmidt. April 11, 1947. 
4 pages, 1 text figure. $0.10. 

Fieldiana— Zoology, Vol. 31, No. 14. The 
Malleus (Ossiculum Auditus) of the 
Anthropoid Apes. By Walter Segall. 
April 11, 1947. 8 pages, 3 text figures. 
$0.10. 



Fieldiana — Zoology, Vol. 31, No. 15. Notes 
on Philippine Mosquitoes — XI — A New 
Species of Tripteroides. By F. E. Baisas. 
April 11, 1947. 4 pages, 1 text figure. 
$0.10. 



SPECIAL RAYMOND FOUNDATION 
PROGRAMS FOR SCHOOLS 

The James Nelson and Anna Louise 
Raymond Foundation offers the following 
special programs in the Museum to the 5th, 
6th, 7th, and 8th grades of the schools of 
the Chicago region during May: 

Animal Flyers— May 7, 8, 10:30 a.m. 
Illustrated talk on birds and insects 
common in the Chicago region. Records 
of bird calls and songs. 

Animal Adaptations — May 14, 15, 10:30 
a.m. How animals adapt themselves to 
their surroundings and protect them- 
selves. 

The Earth's Green Mantle— May 21, 22, 
10:30 a.m. The story of the plant king- 
dom, illustrated. Chicago region flora 
will be featured. 

The Land of Chicago, Past and Present — 
May 28, 29, 10:30 a.m. The story of the 
Chicago region from prehistoric times to 
the present. 

Suggestions for summer nature hobbies 
will be given. 

Reservations may be made by teachers 
up to one week in advance. Call WABash 
9410, Raymond Foundation. Admittance 
to the program will be limited to the number 
specified in request. 



LECTURE TOURS IN MAY 

Tours of exhibits, under the guidance of 
staff lecturers, are conducted every after- 
noon at 2 o'clock, except Sundays and 
certain holidays. On Mondays, Tuesdays, 
Thursdays, and Saturdays, general tours 
are given, covering all departments. Special 
subjects are offered on Wednesdays and 
Fridays; a schedule of these follows: 

Fri., May 2 — Bridges and Barriers — Like- 
nesses and Differences Among Peoples 
(Roberta Caldwell). 

Wed., May 7 — Burial Customs (June 
Ruzicka). 

Fri., May 9— Plants of the Past (Marie 

Svoboda). 
Wed., May 14 — Downtown Ornithology — 

City Bird Life (Winona Hinkley). 

Fri., May 16 — Mammals Through the Ages 
(Lorain Farmer). 

Wed., May 21 — Oriental Weavers (Roberta 
Caldwell). 

Fri., May 23— People of the South Pacific 
(June Ruzicka). 

Wed., May 28— Tales of the Spice Roads- 
Ancient and Modern Routes of Trade 
(Marie Svoboda). 

Fri., May 30 — No tour. (Memorial Day 
holiday — Museum open 9 A.M.-6 p.m.) 



Visiting Hours Change May 1 

Beginning May 1, summer visiting 
hours, 9 A.M. to 6 p.m., will go into 
effect, to September 1 (Labor Day). 



GIFTS TO THE MUSEUM 

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

Department of Anthropology: 

From: Dr. Henry Field, Cuernavaca, 
Mexico — a partially finished fish net with 
two netting shuttles and ball of fine cotton 
netting twine, Mexico. 

Department of Botany: 

From: Dr. Gregorio Bondar, Bahia, 
Brazil — 72 herbarium specimens, Brazil; 
Dr. George D. Fuller, Chicago — 152 her- 
barium specimens, Illinois; W. A. Archer, 
Belem, Brazil — a trunk section of Malouetia 
wood, Brazil; Dr. Paul Voth, Chicago— 236 
herbarium specimens of ferns, Mexico, 
United States, Hawaii, and New Zealand. 

Department of Geology: 

From: Eugene Richardson, Jr., Winnetka, 
111. — one mineral and 6 rock specimens, and 
one calcite crystal; Ralph J. Lofquist, 
Chicago — one specimen of lead ore; Houston 
Boyd, Lindsberg, Kan. — 4 quartz rosettes, 
Georgia; Dr. Henry Field, Cuernavaca, 
Mexico — 4 specimens of soil and sand, 
Mexico. 

Department of Zoology: 

From: Dwain Willard Warner, Ithaca, 
N. Y. — a shrew, Mexico; Walter L. Necker, 



Chicago — 24 specimens of shells and 
worms, United States; Lincoln Park Zoo, 
Chicago — a golden eagle; Chicago Zo- 
ological Society, Brookfield, 111. — a young 
camel and 12 birds; Sam Hinton, La 
Jolla, Calif. — 7 night lizards, California; 
Dr. Clarence R. Smith, Aurora, 111. — a 
snake, Illinois; N. L. H. Krauss, Summit, 
Canal Zone — 2 snakes and 2 frogs, Canal 
Zone; Roger Conant, Philadelphia, Pa. — 17 
lizards, 2 snakes, and 42 frogs, Delaware, 
Maryland, and Virginia; Dr. Sidney Cam- 
ras, Anchorage, Alaska — 11 bird skins and 
20 specimens of accessories for sea-otter 
group, Alaska and Aleutian Islands; R. M. 
Barnes (deceased), Lacon, 111. — 39 speci- 
mens of freshwater shells, United States; 
Dr. Henry Field, Cuernavaca, Mexico — 32 
specimens of shells, a frog, and a horned 
toad, Mexico. 

Library: 

From: Middle America Information Bu- 
reau (United Fruit Company), New York; 
New Hampshire Planning and Develop- 
ment Commission, Concord, N. H.; Dr. 
Henry Field, Cuernavaca, Mexico; Dr. 
Wilfrid D. Hambly, Chicago; Pioneer Hi- 
Bred Corn Company, Des Moines, Iowa; 
and United States Brewers Foundation, Inc., 
New York. 



PRINTED BY CHICAGO NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM PRESS 



Chicago Natural History Mu 

BULLETIN 

Formerly 



seum 



S 



iseum News 



Published Monthly for the Museum's Membership 



Vol. 18 



JUNE, 1947 



No. 6 



A PALEOZOIC 'APARTMENT HOUSE' OF 400 MILLION YEARS AGO 



By EUGENE S. RICHARDSON, Jr. 

CURATOR OF INVERTEBRATE FOSSII.S 

THERE is a too-much used statement 
that there is nothing new under the 
sun; and usually someone adds that what- 
ever it is that we call particularly up-to-date 
was familiar to the Chinese centuries ago. 
Recently added to the exhibits of inverte- 
brate fossils in Frederick J. V. Skiff Hall 
(Hall 37) is a small skyscraper built millions 
of years before the Chinese had any (see 
Fig. 1). In fact, it was made even before 
there were any Chinese or other human 
beings, the work of s6me tiny corals called 
Favosites, which lived in the Silurian period, 
about 400 million years ago. 

The animals who built this apartment 
house have never been seen, for they were 
of soft flesh and are long extinct, but they 
must have been very similar in appearance 
to modern corals, having a small sack-like 
body, with an opening, surrounded by tiny 
fleshy tentacles, at one end. Being so very 
soft, they built a protective limy coating 
for their bodies, leaving only the tentacles 
without. And, being so very tiny, it was to 
their advantage to live in colonies, or close 
groups, each Favosites touching its neighbors 
on all sides, a practice that made them six- 
sided. Their principal occupation, of course, 
was feeding, in which they weren't so very 
different from some people you could name. 

To bring the minute animals and plants 
<)n which they fed into reach, all members of 
a colony probably moved their tentacles in 
unison, setting up a current in the sea water 
above them. When a suitable morsel 
happened along, the nearest coral closed his 
tentacles upon it and pushed it into his 
hollow interior. 

As a by-product of digestion and respira- 
tion, each animal continued to deposit 
lime around his body, even after the pro- 
tective coating was initially achieved. Of 
course, in time, the addition of lime would 
be a little too great, so that the animal would 
have to reach up over it to get at his food. 
Hence, each coral periodically pulled him- 
self up to the top of his growing tube, built 
a little limy floor to rest on, and continued 
catching his microscopic wild game. 

Because of the repeated moving up in the 



tubes, the animals ultimately found them- 
selves on top of a structure that might be 
several feet high, though the animals them- 
selves were no more than one-tenth of an 
inch long. In the nineteenth century, it 
would have been fashionable to draw a moral 
conclusion from this per aspera ad aslra sort 
of activity, as Oliver Wendell Holmes ex- 




Fig. 1. HOUSING PROBLEM SOLUTION? 

No, this is not a tall modern Lake Shore Drive apartment 

building; it is a coral colony from a Silurian limestone. 

horted his soul: "Build thee more stately 
mansions," after he had been contemplating 
a Nautilus. Perhaps now, however, we 
might compare the situation of the corals 
with the residents of a city apartment house, 
who gain a factitious social prestige from 
living on a higher story than someone else. 
Reduced to the scale of our Favosites, and 
seen in the shallow water that corals inhabit, 



Chicago's impressive skyline array of tall 
buildings would be called a reef. It is 
interesting to reflect that in the Silurian 
period there was indeed a great reef in what 
is now the Great Lakes region, extending 
northward to Arctic climes. It was com- 
parable in size and topography to the Great 
Barrier Reef, which now borders the Queens- 
land coast of Australia, both being composed 
of many small reefs. 

As in the modern city, skyscrapers form 
a conspicuous but numerically small part 
of the whole; so in the Paleozoic reef the 
Favosites type of coral was outnumbered by 
less spectacular forms. These were mostly 
Bryozoa, which look like corals, but are 
smaller; and many other kinds of sessile 
animals with limy shells added to the volume 
of the reef by their numbers. 

The abandoned chambers in the lower 
part of the animal's tube became filled with 
crystalline calcite, even during the life of the 
colony, making the early structure a firm 
rock foundation for the living society above. 

Since corals always live on the top part of 
their edifice, they have no need of windows, 
nor would windows profit them, because 
each tube is closely appressed to the next. 
The spots on the specimen, which give it the 
appearance of a windowed building, are little 
holes in the limy structure made for the 
accommodation of "buds." A bud is a 
young coral growing from the side of a 
parent and represents the way corals usually 
begin. If it is not crowded out, the bud will 
develop tentacles, sheath itself in a limy 
tube, and, breaking its connection with the 
body cavity of the parent, become a full- 
fledged coral. Though each parent member 
of the colony considered here produced a 
multitude of buds and carefully left open 
part of its own wall to give the young one a 
start, most of the infant corals were stopped 
against the solid wall of the next grown-up. 
But the holes remain, and look very much 
like windows (see Fig. 2, page 2). 

It is remarkable that the "windows" form 
such straight horizontal rows; apparently 
the impulse to sprout a bud came almost 
simultaneously to every member of the 
group. If we could look inside, we would 
find that the "floor levels," where the limy 



Page 2 



CHICAGO NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM BULLETIN 



June, 19U7 




Fig. 2. CLOSE-UP OF THE 'WINDOWS' 

Actually, traces of stifled coral buds. 

platforms come, are almost even, too, in all 
the tubes. The similar level of floors and 
bud-holes leads us to conclude that there 
was a "community flesh" covering the top 
of the colony, as there is in many modern 
corals. This is a very convenient provision, 
for if one polyp (individual coral animal) 
has greater success in catching food than his 
neighbors, his nourishment is shared with 
the others, and if one detects a danger, a 
nerve-like impulse can be distributed 
through the colony and cause all its mem- 
bers to withdraw into their stony forts. 

The soft parts of the animals are gone, 
but by observing the limy structure that 
remains and by comparing this with struc- 
tures of present-day animals whose soft 
parts are known, we can form a probably 
reliable idea of the nature of these inhabit- 
ants of the Silurian sea. 



ALGAE AND WATER SUPPLIES 

By HARRY K. PHINNEY 

ASSISTANT CURATOR OF CRYFTOGAMIC BOTANY 

The water supplies of most American 
cities are kept healthful by rigid regulation 
of the disposal of domestic and industrial 
wastes within the supplies' watershed. By 
close observation of the bacterial content 
of the water it is possible for the laboratory 
bacteriologist to note pollution and to check 
its source. 

Although water-borne contagion can thus 
be kept at a minimum, many water supplies 
are occasionally afflicted and some are con- 
stantly endangered by the presence of 
members of a group of organisms quite 
distinct from the disease-producing bacteria. 
These organisms belong to the group of 
chlorophyll-bearing cellular plants generally 
and collectively known as algae, pond 
scums, water blooms, and the like. They 
are plants reproducing by means other than 
seeds and lack true roots, stems, and leaves. 
The menace of these plants is their nuisance 
value in producing unpalatable tastes and 
odors in the water. 

Any algal species may grow so abundantly 
in a water supply that upon death and 



decomposition of the plant body it imparts 
an objectionable flavor to the water. 
Before and after death occurs, algae may 
also cause trouble in interfering with water- 
works operation in clogging intakes, filter 
screens, and filter beds. In addition, certain 
species are noted for producing tastes and 
odors in the medium in which they grow as 
a normal metabolic phenomenon. Odors 
have been noted resembling both fresh and 
rotten fish, rotten wood, cucumbers, and 
musty grass. 

CHEMICAL TREATMENT 

Once the water has become unpalatable 
through any of these causes, the problem 
must be handled entirely as a chemical 
deodorizing process. This is accomplished 
in most waterworks at the same stage 
where chemicals are added to flocculate 
sediments or where chlorine is added to 
reduce the bacterial population. The two 
common agents employed for this purpose 
are chlorine and ammonia, either singly or 
together as ammoniachlorine. 

If the control biologist periodically checks 
the algal content of the water and a sharp 
increase is noted or objectionable species 
appear, treatment should be undertaken to 
destroy the organisms before they reproduce 
in sufficient quantity to cause difficulty. 
This may require treatment of the lake or 
river that is the original source of the water 
or often the reservoir or storage basin into 
which the water is pumped. 

The method of making population counts 
of free-floating organisms has been standard- 
ized and offers no obstacle to the aquatic 
biologist. It has been the accepted practice 
for more than forty years to use copper as 
an algaecide in such situations. The copper 
is applied as copper sulfate (blue vitriol) 
either in the dry state or as a concentrated 
solution. The calculation of the quantity 
of dry salt necessary to make the water to 
be treated a copper solution of the required 
strength must be made by a person having 
accurate first-hand information concerning 
the quantity of water to be treated and the 
biological and chemical content of that 
water. 

BOTANISTS ASSIST 

The problems of applying the algaecide 
are of an engineering nature and do not 
enter the realm of cryptogamic botany. 
Frequently, however, the identification of 
the organism creating the difficulty must 
be undertaken by a specialist who can make 
a positive determination and thus give the 
information necessary for adequate control. 
It is for this reason that cryptogamic 
botanists are called upon for their help. 

Such inquiries are received not only from 
waterworks engineers but also from tropical 
fish fanciers whose aquaria become clouded 
and green, from owners of outdoor swimming 
pools, and from people whose property 
includes lakes and ponds all of which are 



quite susceptible to the algal plague. It is 
impossible for the botanist to attempt more 
than the identification of the causal organism 
and, possibly, furnish any information 
regarding its lethal threshold to copper. 
Investigation in the laboratory and 
experience in the field have shown that most 
of the organisms that constitute a menace 
are susceptible to less than one part per 
million of copper. Some species have 
reported lethal thresholds as low as one- 
tenth part per million. Thus, accurate 
identification of the organism involved can 
result in savings by allowing the use of a 
minimum amount of copper sulfate. This is 
important because many fish species are 
relatively sensitive to copper and it is best 
to keep the dosage of copper as low as is 
possible. 

SPECIFIC FORMS AND REMEDIES 

Of the green algae, Cladophora,* Hydro- 
dictyon,* and Spirogyra* clog filter beds and 
screens while Volvox, Dictyospherium, Pan- 
dorina, and Eudorina cause odor and taste. 
Here the differences in amounts of copper 
needed for eradication are great. They vary 
from one-tenth to ten parts per million. 
The diatoms* are frequent trouble makers, 
as they are responsible for both vile flavors 
and clogging of filters. The amounts of 
copper needed for their control vary from 
two-tenths to five-tenths parts per million. 

Among the yellow-brown algae, Cera- 
tium,* Dinobryon, Synura, and Uroglena 
are the most frequent producers of a fishy 
taste and it requires from two-tenths to 
five-tenths parts per million of copper to 
kill them. 

Aphanizomenon, Anabaena, Microcystis,* 
and Rivularia (Gloeotrichia)* among the 
blue-green algae have been reported to 
clog filter beds and to cause odors. These 
forms can be eliminated or sharply reduced 
in number by adding copper sulfate in a 
quantity to give one-tenth to four-tenths 
parts per million of copper. 

Occasionally the stoneworts (Chara) 
cause trouble because they form large masses 
and on decay give forth a sulphurous, rotten- 
onion odor. They are destroyed by copper 
in concentrations from one to five-tenths 
parts per million. 

NON-CHEMICAL METHODS 

Under certain circumstances in which the 
water is not put to domestic or industrial 
uses and the basin involved is small, it is 
possible to control the algae by other than 
chemical means. In small pools the masses 
may be removed by raking. 

If no harm would ensue, draining the basin 
for a period of days will at least reduce the 
number of organisms but will not eradicate 
them. Shading small pools is often effective, 



♦The forms singled out in the above discussion by 
an asterisk are represented in the glass model display 
of algae at the north end of Martin A. and Carrie 
Ryerson Hall (Plant Life-Hall 29). 



June, 191,7 



CHICAGO NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM BULLETIN 



Page 3 



as algae multiply best in warm water in 
strong sunlight. Reducing the nitrogen 
content of the water by removal of all 
organic debris and by cementing the bottom 
is another fair means of control. 

The blue-green algae are reputedly quite 
sensitive to the nitrogen content of the 
medium and this method is most applicable 
when they are concerned. In general, it is 
best to know the identity of the trouble- 
making organism in order to determine the 
best treatment for it. 



'OIL IN VENEZUELA' PHOTO SHOW AT MUSEUM, JUNE 5-27 



EXPEDITION TO SOUTHWEST 
HUNTS EARLY SITE 

Dr. Paul S. Martin, Chief Curator of the 
Department of Anthropology, will leave 
Chicago this month for western New Mexico 
where he will continue archaeological 
researches for the Museum. He will be 
assisted by two staff specialists, Dr. John 
Rinaldo, Assistant in Archaeology, and Mr. 
George I. Quimby, Curator of Exhibits. 
Dr. Rinaldo has already left for the field. 

In previous seasons, exhaustive work was 
carried on at an early site — called the SU 
village. Here were discovered evidences of 
an early civilization that archaeologists 
have called Mogollon (pronounced mugg-a- 
yown). Briefly, it may be characterized as 
simple, primitive, and unsophisticated. 
The people, as deduced from the skeletons 
found buried under the house floors, were 
similar in appearance to the modern Hopi 
or Zuni Indians. They lived in pit houses, 
made undecorated pottery, used the crudest 
kind of stone tools, existed mostly on seeds, 
nuts, berries, and products of the chase, and 
perhaps did a little farming on the side. 
This Mogollon civilization was different 
from that of the Pueblo Indians and of the 
Hohokam Indians of southern Arizona. 

SEEK AGE FROM WOOD 

The age of this SU village is not yet posi- 
tively known, although the burned roof 
beams are being studied at the Laboratory 
of Tree Ring Research at Tucson. But 
Dr. Martin's considered guess is that this 
village was occupied about the year A.D. 500. 

Two reports have appeared on the results 
of the work at the SU site, and the third and 
final document is in press now. In them, 
Dr. Martin has explained the significance 
of the various specimens found and has 
synthesized the results of the expeditions. 

The next problem is to trace the origin 
and development of the people of the SU 
village. This calls for Dr. Martin and his 
associates to undertake what is known as 
an "archaeological survey." On foot or 
on horseback, the archaeologists cover 
many miles of territory in order to locate 
what might be a village earlier than the SU 
village and perhaps ancestral to it, or a site 
that is later than the SU village and perhaps 
inhabited by descendants of SU people. 



An exhibition of photographs document- 
ing the oil industry of Venezuela will open 
in Stanley Field Hall of the Museum on 
June 5 and continue through June 27. 
Entitled "Oil in Venezuela," the exhibition 
was prepared by Standard Oil Company 
(New Jersey) for the Council for Inter- 



Jersey Standard affiliate, is drilling for oil 
beneath water as deep as 60 feet. The 
panels also portray the refineries and their 
pipelines, the types of native workers and 
modern housing projects, and schools and 
hospitals constructed for the people'of the 
oil communities. All photographs are 




Photo by Vachon-Standard Oil Co. (N. J.) 

TIA JUANA OIL FIELD, LAKE MARACAIBO 

Drilling in this Venezuelan area is done in 60 feet of water. (One of the photographs to be exhibited June 5-27.) 



American Co-operation, Inc., and is to be 
presented in twenty cities throughout the 
United States. The Pan-American Council 
of Chicago is co-sponsor of the exhibit here. 
The ten large panels of photographs 
provide a dramatic record of the tropical 
oil country of Venezuela with its derricks 
rising from Lake Maracaibo, where the 
Creole Petroleum Corporation, a New 



accompanied by labels telling essential 
facts and will be exhibited in individually 
lighted cases. 

All photographs in the exhibition were 
taken by Mr. John Vachon, who is well 
known in his field through his work for 
Farm Security Administration, Office of 
War Information, and United Nations 
Relief and Rehabilitation Administration. 



Several such sites may be encountered. 
They will be excavated during this and fol- 
lowing summers to obtain evidence for trac- 
ing the origin of the Mogollon civilizations. 
The survey work requires special training 
and experience. About two months will be 
required to cover the area of interest. Mr. 
E. B. Sayles, Curator of the Arizona State 
Museum, leader of the survey and an expert 
in this field, has already begun the task. 
He is being assisted by Dr. Rinaldo. 

HOW RUINS ARE SPOTTED 

As the survey has not yet been completed, 
it is not possible at this time to give any 
report on the results obtained from it. But 
it is hoped that an early village will be found 
— one that might date from about A.D. 300 
or earlier. When such a village is located, 



it will be thoroughly excavated for the 
Museum. 

With experience and training, one can 
spot the ruins of abandoned village or camp 
sites by the presence of one or more of the 
following traits: broken pieces of pottery, 
broken stone implements, chips of stone, 
fragments of bone tools, saucer-like hollows 
(about 14 feet in diameter), and traces of 
walls. 

In the event that no early, pre-pottery 
village is located, investigation of a village 
occupied after A.D. 500 will be undertaken. 
There is equal interest in the developments 
leading up to the SU culture and those that 
stemmed from it. 

Dr. Martin and his associates will employ 
five or six local laborers and will be in the 
field until the middle of September. 



Page i 



CHICAGO NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM BULLETIN 



June, 19i7 



2 MILLION VOLUMES IN MUSEUM LIBRARY BY A. D. 2022?— 'THE DOCTRINE OF SUFFERANCE' 



By CARL W. HINTZ 

LIBRARIAN 

THE past few decades have witnessed a 
tremendous increase in size of the book 
collections of libraries throughout the world, 
and particularly in the United States. The 
problem of housing, organizing, and admin- 
istering large collections has engaged the 
attention of many people — librarians and 
non-librarians alike — and proposed solutions 
have ranged from regional storage ware- 
houses for the less used material to the 
reduction of books photographically to the 
size of catalogue cards to save space. 

The latest warrior to enter the lists is 
Garrett Hardin, a bacteriologist, at Santa 
Barbara College. His article, "The Last 
Canute," which appeared in the Scientific 
Monthly for September, 1946, is a beautiful 
piece of satirical writing, which follows the 
Swiftian method of making a point by 
exaggeration. It is built upon the theme 
of a wealthy man who left $20,000,000 to 
each of four university libraries on condition 
that for each ten dollars they applied for, 
one book had to be removed from the stacks 
forever and destroyed. The will was broken 
because of some smart alecks at Harvard, 
and the four universities got the money 
without any strings attached. Librarians 
fare rather badly at Mr. Hardin's pen, as 
he says that "libraries must have a well 
thought out system for getting rid of books, 
as they have for acquiring them. This 
seems obvious enough — to everyone but the 
librarian." 

This proposal that books be evicted from 
the library is elaborated upon in a second 
article by Mr. Hardin: "The Doctrine of 
Sufferance in the Library," in the April, 
1947, issue of College and Research Libraries. 
His thesis here is that all books shall be 
placed on the defensive after a certain period 
of time. Unless their retention can be 
justified, out they go. "No book remains 
in the library save on sufferance. This must 
be the basic principle governing libraries, 
at least college and research libraries." 

SHORT LIFE FOR BOOKS 

If the system Mr. Hardin outlines were 
adopted, he predicts that, in a college 
library, for instance, most textbooks would 
go out at the end of ten years, and the 
majority of monographs and reviews in the 
field of science, at the end of twenty years. 
Even original research papers could be 
destroyed after one hundred years or at the 
most two hundred, on the assumption that 
it is easier to make the discovery anew than 
it is to exhume it from the library after a 
lapse of many years. Mr. Hardin cites the 
classic example of Mendel's work remaining 
unknown for forty years, during which time 
at least three other investigators had inde- 
pendently reached the same results. 

Granted that we are faced with a tre- 



mendous flood of printed matter, it seems 
that some of the assumptions on which the 
alarmists base their case may be critically 
examined. 

The prize example is cited in "The Last 
Canute"; namely, that if Yale University 
Library continues to grow at the same rate 
as it has in the past, it will have approxi- 
mately 200 million volumes by a.d. 2040. 
It is true that research libraries have doubled 
every sixteen years on the average, but it 
seems questionable whether this rate of 
growth will continue. The realization that 
libraries are important to research, plus the 
development of new fields since the turn of 
the century, led in large measure to the 
tremendous increase in the size of book 
collections, in part, at least, made up of 
material published many years earlier. 
Eventually, the backlog of desiderata will 
be overcome — either because it has been 
acquired or because a supply is no longer 
available. When and if this happy stage is 
reached, libraries will be faced primarily 
with current production. 

HOW MUSEUM LIBRARY GROWS 

It is interesting to apply these figures to 
Chicago Natural History Museum Library 
in terms of its past and projected growth. 
According to the Annual Report of the 
Director for 1894-95, the Library was 
organized in March, 1894. By October 1 of 
that year, 6,520 items had been entered in 
the Accession Book. 



2022, to 56,000. In other words, in order 
to double in size every sixteen years, the 
annual rate of acquisitions must constantly 
increase. 

It is interesting, though dangerous, to 
speculate on the number of volumes of 
research interest published annually in the 
world. The Library of Congress, the largest 
American library, received a total of 
2,984,619 pieces of new material during the 
fiscal year 1944-45, and disposed of, or 
consolidated into volumes in the course of 
binding, 648,326 pieces, leaving a net gain 
of 2,336,293 pieces. Of the total number of 
items received, 572,821 were classed as 
volumes and pamphlets. The remainder 
were unbound serial parts, unbound news- 
paper issues, maps, microfilm, motion 
picture reels, recordings, etc. Admittedly, 
the Library of Congress does not acquire a 
copy of all publications of research interest, 
but included in its total are many publica- 
tions not of research value. 

If we attempted to construct a rough fig- 
ure in volumes for unbound serial parts and 
newpaper issues, we would arrive at a total 
of 650,000 volumes and pamphlets added 
annually. Multiply this by 100, and we 
would have 65,000,000 volumes by A.D. 
2045 — a staggering figure, but considerably 
less than the 200,000,000 volumes projected 
for Yale. Similarly, the 650,000 volumes 
added annually seem like a drop in a bucket 
compared with the presumptive 5,500,000 
volumes that Yale would be adding from a.d. 



Annual 


Doubling Every 


Annual 


Actual Growth Additions 


Sixteen Years 


Additions 


Oct. 1894— 6,520 } 

\ 2,091 


1894— 


7,000 








438 


1910— 39,980 \ 


1910— 


14,000 • 




\ 1,716 






825 


1926— 67,450 \ 


1926— 


28,000 • 




} 2,650 






1,750 


1942—109,850 \ 


1942— 


56,000  




\ 2,950 








1946—121,650 J 


1946— 


70,000 


3,500 




1958— 


112,000 


7,000 


This table shows the actual growth of the 


1974— 


224,000 < 




Library as compared with the figures to be 






• 14,000 


obtained from the "doubling every sixteen 


1990— 


448,000 




years average," together with the number 






 28,000 


of items added or to be added each year. 


2006— 


996,000 








• 56,000 




2022—1 


,992,000 





The table herewith shows actual growth 
has outstripped the average considerably, 
as we are now about where we ought to be 
in 1960. However, from this point on, the 
number of volumes that we would need to 
acquire annually to keep doubling every 
sixteen years rises sharply. Between 1958 
and 1974, for instance, it increases to 7,000 
yearly; from 1974 to 1990, to 14,000; from 
1990 to 2006, to 28,000; and from 2006 to 



2032 on in order to have its 200,000,000 
volumes by a.d. 2040. 

EVER INCREASING ACQUISITIONS 

What other evidence is there to support 
the thesis that the rate of growth will slow 
down? In our own case, for instance, much 
of the material that we are now acquiring 
antedates the founding of this Library. 
Eventually we shall have filled in the gaps 



June, 19^7 



CHICAGO NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM BULLETIN 



Page 5 




LIBRARIAN OF THE FUTURE? 

(Cartoon by Peggy Collings Brown) 



in the collection or the material will no 
longer be available. This is not an indica- 
tion that our rate of acquisitions will drop. 
Rather, it should increase with particular 
emphasis on securing current material and 
more complete coverage, so that it will not 
be necessary fifty years from now to go 
back in order to remedy deficiencies. How- 
ever, it seems doubtful if we will ever reach 
a stage where we would be adding enough 
volumes each year to meet the figure under 
the doubling-every-sixteen-years formula. 

What of the doctrine of sufferance? In 
our case, the older material is frequently 
referred to. Hardin's thesis that it is simpler 
to rediscover facts independently after a 
long lapse of time ignores the law of economy 
by suggesting that work already done should 
be duplicated rather than utilized. The fact 
that Mendel's work was not known until 
forty years later is a situation that would not 
reoccur, in all probability, in these days of 
research libraries and abstracting and index- 
ing services. Furthermore, the suggestion 
that older material, which is presumably no 
longer useful to an experimental scientist, 
be removed from the stacks and forever 
destroyed is a denial that the history of 
science is important as a subject in its own 
right. Any humanistic aspects that the 
sciences possess would be ignored in favor 
of a stark utilitarianism. 

Furthermore, the argument that unre- 
stricted growth will lead to a situation where 
librarians will outnumber every other group 
in the population is ridiculous. Before books 
can be added to a library, they must be 
written and published. Closely allied to the 
question of speculating on the number of 



research publications 
is the fascinating, 
though perhaps equal- 
ly unanswerable one 
of the number of peo- 
ple engaged in writing 
them. For if libraries 
are to double in size 
every sixteen years, 
it is implied that the 
production of publica- 
tions must constantly 
grow. If publications 
double, it is reason- 
able to assume that 
the producers of those 
publications will in- 
crease in number. In 
other words, Mr. Har- 
din's character who 
says, "If everyone is 
cataloguing books who 
on God's green earth is 
going to write them?" 
might well be para- 
phrased to read: "If 
everyone is writing 
books, who is going to 
buy, read, and care 
for them?" The need 
for thousands of cataloguers will be brought 
about only by the existence of many more 
thousands of writers. Perhaps birth control 
at the source rather than euthanasia at the 
end is the answer. 



Books 



Paleontology Field Trip 

The Museum's 1947 Paleontological Expe- 
dition to western Alabama, after five 
successful weeks in the field, returned to 
Chicago on May 15. Mr. William Turnbull, 
Preparator in Paleontology, was in charge. 
He was assisted by Mr. C. M. Barber. In 
addition to several fine fossil turtles, mosa- 
saurs, and whales, the most exciting speci- 
men is an almost perfectly preserved fish. 
Nearly all of the specimens were from the 
Selma Formation of late Cretaceous time, 
although the whales and a few others 
were found in the Jackson Formation of the 
Eocene epoch. 



Technical Publications Issued 

The following technical publications were 
issued by the Museum during the last 
month : 

Fieldiana— Geology, Vol. 11, No. 1. The 
Family Diadectidae, and Its Bearing on 
the Classification of Reptiles. By Everett 
Claire Olson. April 23, 1947. 54 pages, 
8 text figures. $ .60. 

Fieldiana— Geology, Vol. 10, No. 5. Re- 
description of Taphrosphys Olssoni, a 
Fossil Turtle from Peru. By Rainer 
Zangerl. April 30, 1947. 12 pages, 4 
text figures. $ .20. 



(All books reviewed in the Bulletin are 
available in The Book Shop of the Museum. 
Mail orders accompanied by remittance are 
promptly filled — The Book Shop pays the 
postage on shipments.) 

The Ancient Maya. By Sylvanus Griswold 
Morley. Stanford University Press, 1946. 
Pp. xxxii+520, 152 illustrations, price, $10. 

The ancient Maya produced one of the 
most fascinating civilizations of the New 
World. Fittingly enough, Morley's book 
on the Maya is as outstanding as the civili- 
zation about which it is written. The book 
is the most up-to-date synthesis of the 
detailed knowledge that archaeologists have 
extracted about the Maya, their history, 
and their intellectual and artistic achieve- 
ments. 

Also, now that the picturesque Maya 
country of Yucatan and Guatemala is so 
easily accessible by air, the book is of value 
in providing an essential background for all 
those whose interest in native America 
impels them to visit the scene of the ancient 
ruined Maya cities and to see the Maya 
people of today. 

Dr. Morley, an associate of the Carnegie 
Institution of Washington and one of the 
most eminent of Middle American archae- 
ologists, has devoted a lifetime to the study 
of the Maya. In his book, he treats in 
detail the origin, rise, and decline of the 
Maya civilization and the final conquest 
of the Maya by the Spanish in the 16th 
century. He also gives a concise picture of 
the natural setting in which the Maya lived 
and describes the focal points about which 
Maya life revolved. 

One learns of the central position that 
maize agriculture held among the Maya and 
of its intimate relation to religion and 
ceremony. There are excellent chapters on 
the system of hieroglyphic writing and 
on Maya mathematics and astronomy. 
Achievements in architecture and the arts 
are clearly described. Interesting sections 
are also devoted to various aspects of every- 
day life and to the structure of Maya 
government and social organization. 

One of the book's most attractive features 
is the very large number of excellent 
illustrations and text figures. A number 
of explanatory tables further enhances the 
volume. The well-known French artist, 
Jean Chariot, has provided a colorful 
jacket. Finally, the Stanford Press is to be 
complimented on the over-all makeup of 
the book, the excellent type, and the fine 
quality of the paper. 

Alexander Spoehr 
Curator of Oceanic Ethnology 



Models of a record-size squid and an 
octopus are suspended from the ceiling in 
Hall M (Lower Invertebrates). 



Page 6 



CHICAGO NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM BULLETIN 



June, 19U7 



Chicago Natural History Museum 

Founded by Marshall Field, 1893 

Roosevelt Road and Lake Shore Drive, Chicago 5 

Telephone: WABash 9410 



THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES 

Lester Armour Marshall Field, Jr. 

Sewell L. Avery Stanley Field 

W. McCormick Blair Samuel Insull, Jr. 

Leopold E. Block Henry P. Isham 

BOARDMAN CONOVER HUGHSTON M. McBAIN 

Walter J. Cummings William H. Mitchell 

Albert B. Dick, Jr. Clarence B. Randall 

Howard W. Fenton George A. Richardson 

Joseph N. Field Solomon A. Smith 

Marshall Field Albert H. Wetten 

John P. Wilson 

OFFICERS 

Stanley Field President 

Marshall Field First Vice-President 

Albert B. Dick, Jr Second Vice-President 

Samuel Insull, Jr Third Vice-President 

Solomon A. Smith Treasurer 

Clifford C. Gregg Director and Secretary 

John R. Millar Assistant Secretary 



THE BULLETIN 

EDITOR 
Clifford C. Gregg Director of the Museum 

ASSOCIATE EDITOR 
Wilfred H. Osgood Curator Emeritus, Zoology 

CONTRIBUTING EDITORS 

Paul S. Martin Chief Curator of Anthropology 

Theodor Just Chief Curator of Botany 

Sharat K. Roy Chief Curator of Geology 

Karl P. Schmidt Chief Curator of Zoology 

MANAGING EDITOR 
H. B. Harte Public Relations Counsel 



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



STAFF NOTES 



Dr. Paul S. Martin, Chief Curator of 
Anthropology, and two of his associates, 
Mr. George I. Quimby, Curator of Ex- 
hibits, and Mr. Donald Collier, Curator 
of South American Ethnology and Archae- 
ology, attended the meetings last month 
of the Central Section of the American 
Anthropological Association held at the 
University of Michigan at Ann Arbor. 
Mr. Quimby presented a paper on the 
Death Cult among the prehistoric Indians 
of the Southeastern United States, and 
Mr. Collier presented one on the Indians 
of South America. . . . Mr. Colin C. 
Sanborn, Curator of Mammals, visited 
museums in Cambridge, Mass., New York, 
Washington, D.C., and Pittsburgh last 
month to make comparative studies of 
South American mammal specimens. . . . 
Mr. Karl P. Schmidt, Chief Curator of 
Zoology, attended a meeting of a subcom- 
mittee of the Pacific Science Board last 
month in Washington, D.C., to discuss 
current active projects for research in the 
Pacific. The Museum shares in the major 
project for an anthropological survey of the 
Pacific islands under American control 
through the work of Dr. Alexander 
Spoehr, Curator of Oceanic Ethnology, 
currently on an expedition in the area. . . . 
Dr. Rainer ZangerJ, Curator of Fossil 



Reptiles, left May 1 on a field trip to the 
Eocene deposits in Wyoming. . . . The 
resignation of Dr. C. Martin Wilbur as 
Curator of Chinese Archaeology and Eth- 
nology as of May 31, is announced. Dr. 
Wilbur joined the staff of the Museum on 
October 1, 1936. He has been on leave of 
absence since April 7, 1943, for service with 
the Office of Strategic Services of the War 
Department, and later with the State 
Department. On completion of his present 
assignment in government service, Dr. 
Wilbur will join the faculty of Columbia 
University, New York. 



Reptile Study in Southwest 

During the last week of June, Mr. Clifford 
H. Pope, Curator of Amphibians and 
Reptiles, will leave for western New Mexico 
where for about two months he will make a 
survey of the reptile and amphibian life of 
the southern border of the high plateau that 
covers most of New Mexico and much of 
Arizona. Special attention will be paid to 
the altitudinal distribution of lizards on the 
plateau and in mountains lying to the east 
and west. 



GIFTS TO THE MUSEUM 

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

Department of Anthropology: 

From: Dr. Harold S. Bayless, Chicago — 
the robe of a Maori chief, Hawkes Bay 
tribe, New Zealand. 

Department of Geology : 

From: Kent Jones, Joplin, Mo. — 2 fossil 
pelecypods, Texas; Glen L. Evans, Austin, 
Texas — a fossil gastropod, Texas; Michael 
Chappers, Chicago — a specimen of brown 
fluorite and a Pleistocene conglomerate, 
Ohio; Charles E. Mohr, Director, Academy 
of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia — 10 photo- 
graphs of exhibits in the Hall of Earth 
History at the academy; Eugene S. Richard- 
son, Jr., Winnetka, 111. — 169 specimens of 
invertebrate fossils, Pennsylvania and New 
Jersey. 

Department of Zoology: 

From: Boardman Conover, Chicago — a 
reproduction of a Labrador duck; Chicago 
Zoological Society, Brookfield, 111. — a Man- 
darin duck, China; Dr. Henry Field, 
Cuernavaca, Mexico — 51 specimens of shells, 
Mexico; Ross Allen, Silver Springs, Fla. — 
401 specimens of reptiles and amphibians, 
Florida and Gulf States; N. L. H. Krauss, 
Honolulu, Hawaii — a snake, Hawaii. 

Library: 

From: Commissioner for Archaeology 
and Anthropology, Khartoum, Egyptian 
Sudan; Col. Clifford C. Gregg, Valparaiso, 
Ind.; Dr. Carl L. Hubbs, LaJolla, Calif.; 
Dr. Henry Field, Cuernavaca, Mexico; 
Eugene S. Richardson, Jr., Winnetka, 111.; 
Carl Colby, Loyal, Wis.; P. Coremans, 
Brussels, Belgium; and Boardman Conover, 
Dr. Theodor Just, Rupert L. Wenzel, and 
Anthony Mazur, of Chicago. 



Philippine Expedition Progress 

Reports of successful work by the 
Museum's Philippine Zoological Expedi- 
tion, which is staffed in part by collectors 
from the former Philippine Bureau of 
Science, continue to arrive from the field, 
as well as notable collections. The expedi- 
tion, under the direction of Captain Harry 
Hoogstraal, is continuing work on the 
interesting island of Palawan. This long 
narrow island lies between Borneo and the 
Philippines, and its animal life, almost 
entirely unlike that of other Philippine 
islands, is closely related to that of Borneo. 

Active studies of the Philippine collections 
received from Mindanao, the largest of the 
southern Philippine islands, are under way. 
The use of Filipino members on the expedi- 
tion constitutes co-operation with the new 
Philippine National Museum. 



Collection From Trinidad 

An important addition to the South 
American collections of the Museum has 
resulted from the collections made in 
Trinidad, British West Indies, by Staff 
Taxidermist Frank C. Wonder, whose 
return from a four-month expedition to 
that island was reported in the last issue 
of the Bulletin. Since that report, Mr. 
Wonder's collections have arrived safely 
at the Museum. Mr. Wonder concentrated 
on collecting mammals, reptiles, and am- 
phibians, but he also assembled repre- 
sentative birds. 

Trinidad is the type locality of many 
species of animals, and fresh specimens from 
the island accordingly are essential to the 
understanding of the distribution of South 
American species. Mr. Wonder was aided 
by Dr. E. M. Chenery and Mr. J. C. Cater 
of the Forestry Department of Trinidad. 



NEW MEMBERS 

The following persons became Members 
of the Museum during the period from 
April 16 to May 15: 

Associate Members 

A. Forrest Steepleton, Mrs. Robert 
Tarrant. 

Sustaining Members 

Gerhard Lessman 
Annual Members 

H. B. Barber, Lawrence H. Barrett, 
George L. Barrowclough, Miss Helen Boyd, 
Edward J. Burnell, Lynton W. Caldwell, 
G. Murray Campbell, Horace M. Carleton, 
Dr. Sam S. Chrisos, Stuart O. Fiedler, Mrs. 
D. C. Franche, III, Carl R. Gray, Jr., 
Kenneth M. Henderson, J. L. Hollo way, 
Fred Jacky, Ray Kaspar, I. C. Keller, 
Miss Clara R. Lacey, Arthur G. Leonard, 
Jr., John D. Leonard, Dr. Aquil Mastri, 
Claude R. Miller, Myron T. Monsen, 
Robert R. Owen, Paul M. Plunkett, Mrs. S. 
Austin Pope, John V. Sandberg, Warren H. 
Sapp, Jr., Ralph W. Schalla, T. P. Stathas, 
Donald J. Walsh. 



June, 191,7 



CHICAGO NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM BULLETIN 



Page 7 



LECTURE TOURS IN JUNE 

Tours of exhibits, under the guidance of 
staff lecturers, are conducted every after- 
noon at 2 o'clock, except Sundays and 
certain holidays. On Mondays, Tuesdays, 
Thursdays, and Saturdays, general tours 
are given, covering all departments. Special 
subjects are offered on Wednesdays and 
Fridays; a schedule of these follows: 

Wed., June 4 — Sun Journey — Southwest 
Indians (June Ruzicka). 

Fri., June 6— Edible Wild Plants in the 
Chicago Region (Marie Svoboda). 

Wed., June 11 — The Races of Mankind 
(Miriam Wood). 

Fri., June 13 — Animals of Tropical Climates 
(Lorain Farmer). 

Wed., June 18 — Plants to Beverages (Marie 
Svoboda). 

Fri., June 20 — Your Trip to the Rockies — 
The Story Behind the Mountains (Winona 
Hinkley). 

Wed., June 25 — Denizens of the Deep 
(Lorain Farmer). 

Fri., June 27 — Your Trip to the Rockies- 
Animal Life of the Region (Winona 
Hinkley) . 



PLANTS AS SOURCES 
OF RUBBER 

By LLEWELYN WILLIAMS 

CURATOR OF WOOD TECHNOLOGY 

The use of the milky exudation of certain 
plants by the natives of tropical America, 
and elsewhere, has been known to explorers 
and naturalists for centuries. History 
relates that when Columbus, on his first 
voyage to the Americas, reached the island 
of Hispaniola he found a group of Indians 
playing with balls that bounced. At the 
beginning of the 17th century, Pietro 
Martyre d'Anghiera, chaplain to the court 
of Ferdinand and Isabella, told how the 
Aztecs played with balls made "from the 
juice of a certain herb." 

FIRST RAINCOATS 

When the Spaniards arrived in Mexico, 
they established the practice of dipping 
capes into latex to waterproof them. 
Early explorers of the Amazon likewise 
reported that the primitive forest dwellers 
of the region prepared waterproof garments, 
pouches, rubber vessels, and so forth from 
an elastic substance of plant origin, which 
they called "cahuchu." 

Years later, Charles-Marie de la Conda- 
mine, the French scholar and explorer, 
furnished descriptions of the uses and 
preparation of rubber, samples of the 
material, and details of the botanical 
characteristics of the trees tapped by the 
Indians of equatorial America. 



Everyone is familar with the common 
milkweed, or the rubber plant frequently 
grown in homes — when the stem is broken, a 
milky juice exudes. Milk or latex is charac- 
teristic of hundreds of plants, especially 
those of the Spurge, Dogbane, Mulberry, 
Nettlewort, and Sapodilla families. 

LIFE FUNCTION UNKNOWN 

This latex has its origin in a system of 
capillary vessels or cells found in the first- 
formed or primary tissue of the stems, in 
the secondary tissue in the underlayers of the 
bark, and sometimes in the sapwood of 
the trunk and branches. Its function in the 
growth and life of the plant still remains 
unsolved. When seen under the microscope, 
this milky juice has the appearance of 
minute oily globules of variable size and 
chemical content, depending upon the plant 
from which the latex is obtained. 

Though comparatively rare in temperate 
regions, rubber-yielding plants are exceed- 




RUBBER GATHERERS* CAMP 

On the upper Orinoco River, Venezuela. In foreground 

are balls of crude rubber prepared by smoking the latex 

over poles. (Phoro by Curaror Williams.) 



ingly common in the tropics. Many of the 
largest trees in the humid forests of Central 
and South America, Africa, Asia, and the 
Malay Archipelago exude a milk-like sub- 
stance when the bark is cut or damaged or 
when the leaves and twigs are torn or 
snapped. The best known are various species 
of Hevea, widely distributed in northern 
South America, especially in the Amazon 
and upper Orinoco regions; species of Sap- 
ium, in Brazil, Colombia, and Venezuela; 
Ceara rubber tree (Manihot glaziovii) and 
Mangabeira (Hancornia speciosa), in eastern 
Brazil; species of Clitandra, Carpodinus, 
Landolphia, and Funtumia, in Africa; and 
the so-called India rubber tree (Ficus 
elaslica), in India, Burma, and Malaya. 

The most rubber and that of highest 
quality comes from the Para rubber tree 
(Hevea brasiliensis), native of the Amazon 
valley. Late in the last century it was 
introduced into the Far East, where it has 
been so extensively propagated that until 
recently the Far East furnished the world's 
chief supply of rubber. 

The method of extracting the latex and 
the preparation of rubber vary according 
to the plant. In some instances the trunk 



and branches are tapped; in others the entire 
plant is macerated. The liquid is solidified 
by the application of heat or the addition 
of such chemical agents as acetic or phos- 
phoric acids or alum. 

In the Amazon Valley and adjacent 
regions, rubber trees are tapped during the 
dry season. The tappers explore the forest 
and open paths to suitable trees. A vertical 
incision is made with a special knife up to a 
height of three or four feet. A lateral cut, 
at an angle of 45 degrees, is opened, leading 
to the vertical channel. Subsequent inci- 
sions are opened parallel with the original 
lateral cut, usually on alternate days. The 
latex begins to flow immediately and is 
caught in a receptacle fastened to the trunk. 
After a few hours the contents of all the cups 
are transferred to a larger vessel and taken to 
the main camp. 

The next step is to convert the still liquid 
latex into solid rubber. A fire is lighted, 
using certain species of hardwoods or palm 
nuts, to produce a dense smoke. Latex is 
poured over a pole or paddle and held over 
the smoke. Almost instantly the heat 
causes the latex to dry or coagulate, forming 
a thin layer on the pole or paddle. More 
latex is added and then smoked. The 
process is repeated until a large ball, weigh- 
ing up to 100 pounds or more, is formed. 
When fresh, rubber is of a golden brown 
color, but it gradually becomes dark, almost 
black, on contact with moisture or on 
exposure to air and sunlight. 

PROCESS ON PLANTATIONS 

On plantations it is customary to coagu- 
late the liquid with chemical agents and to 
press the solidified mass into thin sheets, 
which are afterwards placed for several 
days in a smoke-filled chamber. 

Despite considerable research and great 
progress made in recent years in the syn- 
thetic industry, wartime experience indi- 
cated the manifest superiority of natural 
rubber over synthetic substitutes in the 
manufacture of certain articles, especially 
those subject to friction or requiring 
endurance. 

An exhibit showing trunks of several 
rubber-yielding trees, various types of 
rubber, and steps in the preparation of 
Para rubber is on display in Cases 605 and 
607 in Hall 28. 



Museum to Be Host to Librarians 

The Special Libraries Association will 
hold its 1947 convention at the Drake Hotel, 
June 9-13, and its Museum Group is 
scheduled to meet at Chicago Natural 
History Museum on June 13 at 2:30 p.m. 
A brief tour of the building is planned, 
followed by a talk by Chief Curator of 
Zoology Karl P. Schmidt on "Bibliographi- 
cal Foundations of Museum Research" and 
a description of the library and its activities 
by Librarian Carl W. Hintz. 



Page 8 



CHICAGO" NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM BULLETIN 



June, 1U7 



PLEASE PASS THE SALT' HAS A SWEET SOUND IN AFRICA 



By WILFRID D. HAMBLY 

CURATOR OF AFRICAN ETHNOLOGY 

"T)ASS the salt, please." African Ne- 
jT groes, especially those of the interior, 
and Pygmy tribes as well, would be most 
happy if the above modest request could 
be continually made with hope of com- 
pliance. For even today, after consider- 
able opening up of Africa, salt has a high 
value. During the Frederick H. Rawson- 
Field Museum Expedition to Portuguese 
West Africa, led by the writer, gifts of salt 
were welcomed, and occasionally the com- 



as that procured from sea water only, by 
the same method of boiling, is preferred to 
it by the natives." 

At the present day, near Lake Mweru- 
in east Africa, the making of salt is accom- 
panied by important ritual. A local priest 
inaugurates the work by spending several 
days alone at his own salt diggings, and on 
his return he erects a small spirit-hut near 
a sacred tree. In the middle of the floor 
of this hut a cup of salt is placed. Formerly, 
and even today if European supervision is 
lax, a human victim is sacrificed, and the 




TRANSPORT 

OF SALT IN 

WEST AFRICA 

The blocks these 

tribesmen 

catty ate 

natron, a salt 

used in the 

drinking water of 

domestic animals 

in the Lake Chad 

region. 



modity was used in exchange for objects 
of Negro manufacture, although money has 
been circulated among native tribes for many 
years. The Ovimbundu tribe of Angola 
preserve locusts in a mixture of salt and 
fat. In the early centuries of European 
trade with Negro Africa, salt was one of 
many objects, such as brass wire, cowrie 
shells, beeswax, ivory, and copper ingots, 
each of which had a standardized purchasing 
power and a definite value in relation to 
other forms of currency. 

It is stated occasionally that African 
people prefer salt of their own manufacture 
to the more purified forms that are imported 
from Europe. Be this as it may, there 
still exist very crude methods of obtaining 
adulterated salt from ashes that result from 
the burning of carefully selected plants. 
The usual method is to soak the ashes in 
water, then to strain them, and finally to 
evaporate the water. 

SEA-WATER SALT 

As far back as the year 1775, Lieutenant 
J. Matthews witnessed the manufacture of 
salt from sea water, by Negroes of Sierra 
Leone, West Africa. He describes marshy 
plains that were overflowed by the sea 
twice a year, and when the resulting deposit 
of mud had hardened after the high tides 
had receded, cakes of the saline earth were 
collected by slaves. "The mud is dissolved 
in water in large earthen pots; when the 
water is sufficiently saturated with salt it is 
boiled in shallow brass pans, and yields an 
excellent salt, which, although not so white 



ground is blessed by the sprinkling of human 
blood. The whole of this procedure is to 
solicit the ancestral spirits, for the essence 
of Negro religion is a belief that the dead 
are able to influence even the most trivial 
events in the lives of the living. A division 
of labor is followed in the preparation of 
salt; men bring firewood, children carry the 
salt earth and water, while women take care 
of the evaporation and collection of the 
resulting salt. When the water containing 
salt earth has nearly boiled away, women 
scoop the salt with a cup and pour it into 
receptacles made of bark. The salt is 
intended not merely for personal use, but 
also for trade on a quite large scale with 
neighboring villages. 

6000 PER CENT PROFIT 

Negroes of west Africa have, since very 
ancient times, received cakes of salt from 
the mines of Bilma and Tigguida in the 
interior Sahara desert. At the present day 
one may see salt cakes from the Sahara on 
sale in markets hundreds of miles from the 
place of their origin. In Hall D (Case 21) 
are pieces of salt cake which were purchased 
in Nigeria, West Africa by the Frederick H. 
Rawson-Field Museum Expedition to that 
country. Salt which is worth a penny in 
Bilma is worth sixty times as much at the 
end of a long caravan journey. 

In Negro Africa, as well, there are stories 
concerning a commodity so highly esteemed. 
The Bushongo of the southwest Congo 
region have a legend ' that describes the 
discovery of salt as an appetizer. A woman 



whose leg had been wounded while escaping 
from a village fire treated the wound with 
ashes of plants that had been burned in the 
conflagration. Later she sucked the wound 
to ease the pain, and so discovered that the 
ashes had a pleasant taste. Some time later 
the discovery was made that these ashes, if 
soaked in water, would yield a satisfactorily 
briny substance. 

MURDER INDEMNITY PAID IN SALT 

One curious use of salt in payment of a 
fine is recorded by a traveler in a village of 
central Africa, about forty years ago. A 
murder had been committed and, according 
to custom, the community in which the 
murderer lived was responsible for paying 
the blood-money. The chief of this village 
went around on an appointed day and 
collected from each of his subjects two 
cupped handfuls of salt. This was pooled 
to form payment for the life taken. 

Negroes who keep cattle, and there are 
many such tribes, although other Negro 
tribes are wholly agricultural, have to find 
salt for their herds as well as for themselves. 
Among the Suk tribe of northeast Africa, 
cattle are driven to a salt lick once a month 
on the first appearance of the new moon. 
There is a belief to the effect that cattle 
must not proceed if the moon is obscured, 
for if they do a stomach disease may result. 

A well-known ethnologist said of the 
Bakitara tribe of northeast Africa, that 
should the rain-makers fail to bring rain, 
they were punished by being made to eat 
a meal cooked with a large amount of salt. 
They then had to sit perspiring in the sun. 
Nobody believed that the rain-makers were 
incapable; they were thought to be stubborn. 
The sacred office appears to be one that 
might well be difficult to fill, for should the 
magicians make too great a downpour they 
were compelled to drink excessive quantities 
of water; or a capricious king might immerse 
them and appoint guards to push them under 
when they arose to breathe. 



Reptile Collecting in Texas 

Mr. Karl P. Schmidt, Chief Curator of 
Zoology, his son, John, and Dr. C. C. Liu, 
engaged in research at the Museum on a 
State Department fellowship, have returned 
from a brief field trip to Texas and the 
adjoining states for early spring collection 
of amphibians and reptiles. Despite the 
adverse season, interesting collections were 
made in Baylor County, Knox County, and 
Palo Pinto County in Texas, and in Natchi- 
toches Parish, Louisiana. 

The group also attended the meeting of 
the Texas Herpetological Society. This 
society has an annual field meet for a day's 
collecting that draws attendance of 40 to 50 
members from various parts of Texas. Mr. 
Arthur F. Senior of Homewood, Illinois, an 
enthusiastic amateur photographer, joined 
the party to attend the meeting and obtained 
an interesting photographic record. 



PRINTED BY CHICAGO NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM PRESS 



Chicacfo Nature 

BU} 

Formerly 



a. 



History Museum 

:tin 

Eiiseum News 



Published Monthly for the Museum's Membership 



Vol. 18 



JULY, 1947 



No. 7 



PANGOLINS, TARSIERS, AND FLYING LEMURS OF PHILIPPINES 



By KARL P. SCHMIDT 

CHIEF CURAIOR, DEPARTMENT OF ZOOLOGY 

THE title of this preliminary note on 
the Museum's Philippine Expedition, 
which has been operating for more than a 
year in Luzon, Mindanao, and Palawan, 
might easily be ex- 
tended to fill all of the 
space in a number of 
the Bulletin with 
the mere catalogue 
of names of strange 
animals collected, 
among which only the 
words pigs, deer, and 
monkeys would have 
a familiar sound to 
non-zoological read- 
ers. Shrews, civets, 
and rare rodents; 
hornbills, parrots, and 
monkey-eating eagles; 
arboreal earthworms, 
colorful land snails, 
and giant centipedes; 
mosquitoes, bird-lice, 
and ticks; and insects, 
insects, and more in- 
sects will be enumer- 
ated in the accessions 
and catalogues and 
scientific reports deal- 
ing with the incoming 
collections. 

The Museum's 
Philippine Zoological Expedition of 1946- 
47 results from the pre-war interests 
of several American GIs, two of whom 
had been involved in the mosquito-con- 
trol work of the Sanitary Corps and 
the Medical Corps in the Far East. At 
the end of the war, Captain Harry Hoog- 
straal, finding himself in the Philippines 
with Captain Anthony de Vos, of the 
Royal Netherlands Air Force and formerly 
of the staff of the great Buitenzorg Museum 
in Java, planned first of all to spend a year 
on the great spider-shaped East Indian 
island Celebes. When political disturbances 
and the necessity of repatriating Japanese 
prisoners made it impossible to work any- 



where in the Netherlands Indies, Captain 
de Vos resigned from the project and came 
to America to continue his education 

Lieutenant Donald Heyneman then joined 
with Captain Hoogstraal in the alternative 
plan to collect mammals and birds, reptiles 




THE TARSIER. REMOTE RELATIVE OF MAN 

This strange-looking lemuroid primate is well represented in the collections of the Philippines Expedition, and the 
specimens will be used at the Museum in important research projects. 



and amphibians, fresh-water fishes, and in- 
sects and land invertebrates of all kinds 
in the Philippines. It was their especial 
desire to profit by the existence of surplus 
Army equipment and of Army facilities. 
By co-operation with the personnel of the 
bomb-and-fire-destroyed Philippine Bureau 
of Science, it was hoped that their operations 
might be greatly extended and that pre- 
liminary steps might also be taken to build 
up collections for a new Philippine National 
Museum. 

This plan had much obvious intrinsic 
merit as a project for Chicago Natural 
History Museum, which had conducted 
extensive anthropological collecting and 



study in the Philippines but had never 
acquired a representation of the Philippine 
animal life. Captain Hoogstraal had long 
been favorably known to the Museum for 
his promotion of zoological and botanical 
collecting in Mexico. A year's expedition- 
ary work was accord- 
ingly approved by this 
institution. 

The party began 
work in the high 
mountains of northern 
Luzon, famous in mu- 
seum circles as a zoo- 
logical "type locality" 
from the remarkable 
variety of curious or 
primitive rodents dis- 
covered there by the 
British collector John 
Whitehead. Most of 
these rodents are ex- 
ternally rat-like, but 
with extraordinarily 
modified dentition. 
Some are large and 
very un-rat-like, al- 
though still related to 
the true rats. White- 
head had collected on 
Mt. Data, which rises 
to an elevation of 
more than 10,000 feet, 
and the Hoogstraal 
party set up its camps 
on the same mountain. The Mt. Data collec- 
tions, by a not unfamiliar mischance, arrived 
at the Museum only in June of the follow- 
ing year, more than a year after they were 
collected. 

Desiring to strengthen Captain Hoog- 
straal's party for insect and invertebrate 
collecting, in line with the general desire to 
strengthen the Division of Insects in the 
Museum, Mr. Floyd G. Werner, of Ottawa, 
Illinois (quite recently from Okinawa), was 
attached to the party. Mr. Werner joined 
forces with Hoogstraal and Heyneman in 
southern Mindanao, planning to make a 
frontal zoological attack on two of the high 
mountains northeast of Davao, Mt. Apo 



Page 2 



CHICAGO NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM BULLETIN 



July, 191,7 




Scene 



MOUNTAINS OF THE PHILIPPINES 

the region combed by the Museum expedition. Mt. Apo and Mt. McKinley challenge the zoological collector. 



and Mt. McKinley. The field collectors of 
the Philippine Bureau of Science greatly 
strengthened the small American personnel; 
it is to be hoped that this co-operation may 
prove an effective step in the rehabilitation 
of natural science in the new Philippine 
Republic. 

Though a considerable by-product of 
exhibition material will accrue from the 
collections of the Philippine Expedition, the 
main emphasis in both plans and operations 
has been upon material intended for immedi- 
ate research, collections to strengthen the 
reference collection in the Museum, and 
observation in the field. One scientific 
paper, based on these collections, "A New 
Species of Tripteroides," by F. E. Baisas of 
the Bureau of Health in Manila, describing 
a new species of mosquito, has already 
been published. 

ISLANDS PRESERVE FAUNAS 

The zoological interest of the Philippines 
lies in a combination of tropical wealth of 
life with insular and regional peculiarity. 
Islands may preserve primitive forms from 
extinction, as seems to be indicated by some 
of the strange rodents of Mt. Data in Luzon; 
island archipelagos may exhibit a profoundly 
interesting study of the origin of species in 
all stages and degrees in their insular species 
and chains of species; and, in the relations 
of the animal life from island to island, past 
land connections and directions of immigra- 
tion of the land life of the region may be 
indicated. In a region so complex as the 
East Indies, analysis of the living plants 
and animals forms an important means of 
study of the basic geography. 

To remark further only upon the mam- 
mals, the results of the expedition in this 
group alone suffice to make it a most notable 
one. The curious rodent genera of Mt. 
Data exhibit extraordinary modifications of 



skull and dentition that pose new and still 
unsolved problems of functional anatomy. 
The tree shrews of the southern islands have 
only recently been transferred from the 
shrews to the lowest place in the order 
Primates, to which man belongs. This gives 
extraordinary anatomical and evolutionary 
interests to this group. These interests may 
be extended directly to the ground shrew 
Podogymnura, which has long been known 
only from a single specimen; it was collected 
in considerable numbers by the Hoogstraal 
party, and several specimens were ade- 



quately preserved for anatomical study. 
This animal is an almost ideal living 
generalized mammal, essentially a "living 
fossil." Its anatomy will yield insights into 
the evolution of the mammals that are 
otherwise unobtainable. 

RELATIVE OF MAN 

Also because of its remote relations to 
man, the tarsier, a strange-looking and 
otherwise remarkable lemuroid primate, 
has had much attention from anatomists. 
This arboreal creature, with toes modified 
like those of a tree-frog or gecko for clinging 
to branches, has been difficult to obtain 
because of its small size and nocturnal 
habits. It seems at first astonishing and 
even horrifying that the Philippines party 
should have collected no less than eighty 
specimens of so rare an animal. But sudden 
abundance of a supposedly rare creature is 
by no means an unfamiliar experience to a 
museum collector, for rarity is more often 
apparent than real. 

The tarsiers were obtained when their 
jungle habitat was cleared away for a Manila 
hemp plantation. Since the surrounding 
forest was undoubtedly already filled to its 
full carrying capacity with tarsiers, it is 
doubtful if many could have survived even 
if transported to the neighboring uncut 
forest. Vastly greater destruction of tarsiers 
obviously has taken place and continues 
inevitable wherever original forest is being 
cleared for agricultural use. 

The scientific interest of the tarsier as to 
anatomy and behavior is very great, and it 
appears that the Museum's series will be 




JUNGLE CLEARING ON PHILIPPINES EXPEDITION 

Numerous tarsiers and other animals desired for the Museum collections were disclosed by these operations. Inset: The 
tarsier. Its zoological interest is in inverse proportion to its size; it can be held in the palm of a man's hand, 



July, 1U7 



CHICAGO NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM BULLETIN 



PageS 




THE PANGOLIN 

Otherwise known as a scaly anteater, this creature repre- 
sents a Bornean element in the Philippine fauna. 



put to excellent scientific use. Research 
Associate A. A. Dahlberg has undertaken a 
report on the individual variation of the 
dentition and its succession. Among recent 
visitors to the Museum's Division of Anat- 
omy, Dr. H. W. Mossman of the University 
of Wisconsin and Dr. C. O. Bechtol have 
signified their interest in undertaking special 
studies on our tarsiers. The disporportion- 
ately large eye, which appears to be fixed 
in a forward direction, together with a great 
movability of the head, which appears to 
rotate through 180° on the neck, suggests 
both anatomical and behavioral problems. 
It is to be hoped that Major George Whar- 
ton, engaged in collecting for the United 
States National Zoological Garden, may be 




TREE SHREW 

These inhabitants of the East Indian region are the most 
primitive of the Primate relatives of man. 



successful in bringing back tarsiers alive. 
Major Wharton will deliver the expedition's 
live monkey-eating eagle (one of the great 
rarities among Philippine birds) to the 
Brookfield Zoo. 

FLYING LEMURS 

Still another of the remarkable mammals 
of Mindanao is the so-called "flying lemur," 



an insectivorous mammal that is so highly 
modified that its relations to the insectivores 
proper and to the lemurs are obscure. This 
creature exhibits the extreme of develop- 
ment of gliding flight among mammals; it 
is provided with membranes between the 
fore and hind limbs, like those of a flying 
squirrel, but these extend also between 
tail and hind limbs and the chin and fore- 
limbs. The Museum had two specimens 
of the flying lemur, neither in good condi- 
tion; the Philippine collection contains 
thirty specimens. 

Of less immediate scientific importance, 
but of the most spectacular public and 
general interest, is the pangolin, or scaly 
anteater, shown hanging by its tail from the 
hand of a Philippine collector in one of the 
accompanying illustrations. The large 
overlapping scales of this strange mam- 
malian type give it a superficial resemblance 
to a reptile, and specimens have sometinu-s 
been delivered to the reptile departments of 
museums as a result. The pangolin, like 
other termite-eating types, has lost its teeth 
in the course of evolution. Like the flying 
lemur, the pangolins represent a distinct 
and most peculiar order of mammals. 



SUMMER GUIDE-LECTURE TOURS, 
MORNINGS AND AFTERNOONS 

During July, conducted tours of the 
exhibits, under the guidance of staff lec- 
turers, will be given on a special schedule, 
as follows: 

Mondays: 11 A.M., The Earth's Green 
Mantle (General survey of the plant 
exhibits); 2 p.m., General Tour (Exhibition 
halls, all Departments). 

Tuesdays: 11 a.m., The People of the World 
(General survey of the anthropology 
exhibits); 2 p.m., General Tour. 

Wednesdays: 11 A.M., The Earth's Story 
(General survey of the geology exhibits); 
2 p.m., General Tour. 

Thursdays: 11 a.m. and 2 p.m., General 
Tours. 

Fridays: 11 A.M., The World of Animals 
(General survey of the animal exhibits); 
2 P.M., General Tour. 

There are no tours given on Saturdays, 
Sundays, or on July Fourth. 



Wyoming Fossil- Field Trip 

A field trip to the Washakie Basin in 
southern Wyoming was concluded by Dr. 
Rainer Zangerl, Curator of Fossil Reptiles, 
on June 5. The Washakie formation is of 
late Eocene age and its fauna is relatively 
poorly known. Among the more important 
results of Dr. Zangerl's exploration are the 
discovery of a turtle-crocodile-fish grave- 
yard covering a large area, a well-preserved 
shell of a large land turtle, and a fine skull 
of a soft-shell turtle. 



SIX SUMMER MOVIE PROGRAMS 
OFFERED FOR CHILDREN 

The annual summer series of free motion 
picture programs for children on Thursday 
mornings during July and August will open 
July 10. The series is presented under the 
auspices of the James Nelson and Anna 
Louise Raymond Foundation. Six pro- 
grams will be given featuring films on 
natural history and travel; animated car- 
toons will be included on four. 

The entertainments will be given in the 
James Simpson Theatre of the Museum at 
10:30 a.m. Children are invited to come 
alone, accompanied by parents or other 
adults, or in groups from clubs and various 
centers. Admission is free. Following are 
the dates and titles of the films: 

July 10 — Thunderhead 

A story sequel to "My Friend 
Flicka." 

July 17 — Realm of the Wild 

Wild game and birds of our National 
Parks. 
Also a cartoon. 

July 24— Summer Adventures for All 
Ideas for a vacation near home. 
Also a cartoon. 

July 31— Puss in Boots 
Also a cartoon. 

August 7— Adventures of Chico 

The story of a Mexican Indian 
boy. 

August 14— Animal tales 
Also a cartoon. 



Central America Botanical Expedition 
Reports Recent Progress 

Recent reports from Mr. Paul C. Stand- 
ley, Curator of the Herbarium, indicate 
that the expedition that he is leading is 
making substantial progress. Most of the 
time since Mr. Standley left last November 
has been spent in El Salvador and Honduras. 
Many different localities were visited in 
these countries and many species hitherto 
unknown from these areas were found, e.g., 
a number of species previously known only 
from Guatemala have thus been added to 
the flora of Honduras. During the early 
part of May, the expedition moved to 
Nicaragua, the least known of the Central 
American countries. Here many important 
discoveries are expected during the course 
of exploration in the next few months. 



Paleontology Expedition to Colorado 

An expedition to collect specimens of 
prehistoric mammals in the vicinity of Mesa, 
Colorado, left the Museum June 9. Mr. 
Bryan Patterson, Curator of Paleontology, 
is leader. He is accompanied by Mr. James 
H. Quinn, Chief Preparator in Paleontology, 
and Mr. William Turnbull, Preparator. 



Page I 



CHICAGO NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM BULLETIN 



July, 1H7 




Fig. 



THE ADVERSITIES OF ANGELINA 
(A FOSSIL, NOT A MOVIE) 

By EUGENE S. RICHARDSON, Jr. 

CURATOR OF INVERTEBRATE FOSSILS 

PAULINE had her Perils; Belinda 
the Beautiful Boiler Maker's Daughter 
had more than her share of woes. Happy 
are those who can retire to a quiet case in a 
museum. One of the retired characters 
staying here with us is Angelina. Her 
present address is Hall 37 (Frederick J. V. 
Skiff Hall), where she is propped up in the 
upper right-hand part of the case devoted 
to Cambrian fossils. 

Our Angelina, and thousands of her 
kindred with such thoroughly un-British 
names as Shumardia, 
Asaphellus, Olenus, 
TriarOirus, and Eulo- 
ma, were trilobites, 
living quietly with a 
multitude of smaller 
and less active neigh- 
bors in the quiet sea 
that covered a large 
part of England in the 
late Cambrian period. 
However confident we 
may be that "there'll 
always be an England," we may be still 
more certain that there has not always 
been an England — at least not the same 
rabbit-shaped island that we sometimes 
call Albion. 

A long time ago, before the North Sea 
and the English Channel flooded the edge 
of Europe, England was a part of the conti- 
nent, and the Thames a minor tributary of 
the Rhine. And long before the Thames 
started flowing, Britain was a region of arid 
basins of high, block-like mountains shining 
bright red under a semitropical sun. Before 
that, it was a low, swampy place with 
mountain ranges where are now Wales and 
Scotland. 

ONCE DOMINANT CREATURES 

But even this was long after Angelina's 
time. She and her relatives with the queer 
names found their warm sea-bottom a good 
place to live and feared nothing in it, for 
they were the biggest and strongest of all 
its creatures. 

Angelina may have lived four or five years, 
slowly crawling about on the muddy sea- 
floor and chewing up the smaller animals 
that had died and fallen to her table. Then, 
having attained a length of about two inches, 
she too died in the fullness of age, settled 
down into the mud, and wasn't seen again 
for 600 million years. Her life had been 
uneventful, but her troubles had not yet 
begun when the slowly settling silt of the 
Cambrian sea closed over her paper-thin 
shell (Fig. 1). 

A trilobite is a very much-jointed animal, 
even more so than the related horse-shoe 
crab of the present time, and Angelina had 
sixteen different pieces to her shell, hinged 



together to help her move about: a head- 
shield, a segmented body-shield, and a small 
tail-shield. Her under side had no shelly 
covering, and even the legs, of which a pair 
stuck out from under the ends of each shell 
segment, were soft and weak, each with a 
feathery gill for obtaining oxygen from the 
water. 

MERGED INTO SHALE 

When Angelina died, her soft parts 
quickly decayed, and she was left with 
nothing but the test (shell) that covered her 
back. Soon the slowly accumulating clay 
and silt of the sea-floor buried her deeply, 
and in course of time, when the overlying 
material had consolidated and become shale, 
Angelina became part of the shale. 

At the end of the Cambrian period (550 
million years ago), Angelina lay well buried, 
so well buried indeed 

that the first g<:ntle gj, 

upheaval of the earth's 
crust, anticipating a 
period of mountain 
building, had no effect 
upon her. With the 
beginning of the next 
period, the Ordovician 
(480 million years 
ago), some of the new- 
ly formed Cambrian 
rocks were arched 
above sea level in the 
region of the present 
English- Welsh border, 
east of Angelina's 
former home. It was a 
naked land, and the 
streams that carried 
off the rain water 
fallen upon it carried 
off the land as well, 
depositing it again to 
the westward. Thus 
Angelina was buried ever more deeply. 

High above Angelina's grave now was a 
moderately deep ?ea of quiet, warm water, 
with animals different from those she had 
known. Conditions of life were a little 
harder; the trilobites no longer ruled the sea. 
There appeared animals larger than her 
kind — cone-shaped cephalopods with arms 
like the modern octopus and appetites like 
the modern schoolboy. But even more dis- 
turbing was the continued evidence of 
crustal unrest. Volcanoes broke out, both 
on the land as far east as what is now 
London and in the sea itself, where they 
formed chains of islands much like the 
Hawaiian chain. The ash and dust from 
the volcanoes fell as sediment on the bottom 
of the sea. Lava pouring from the volcanoes 
flowed out under the water in wrinkly, 
stubbly sheets, while the water boiled and 
bubbled and the local trilobites were stewed 
alive. Angelina, however, was safely under- 
neath all this commotion, and even the lava 
rising to the volcanoes through cracks in the 




Fig. 2 



earth's crust by some fortunate chance 
happened to miss her delicate shell. 

ADVERSITIES BEGIN 

But at the close of the Ordovician period, 
Angelina's luck ran out. The shale in 
which she lay imprisoned, along with the 
other rocks since deposited above her, was 
folded into gentle waves and lifted above sea 
level. With the folding and accompanying 
pressure, the shale became harder, more like 
slate. It is here that the real adversities of 
Angelina began, for the folding of the rocks 
pushed her shell a little out of shape and she 
didn't look herself at all (Figs. 2 and 3). 

For a while there was peace and quiet. 
The low hills were eroded by the run-off of 
rain water until the land was flat and near 
sea level. During the next period, the 
Silurian (390 million years ago), this new 
lowland slowly sank beneath the waters and 
again there was a sea, with Angelina down 
there somewhere far underneath its bottom, 
but no longer lying flat, as before, for the 
late Ordovician folding had tilted the bed 
of rock in which she lay. Several times 
during the Silurian there were episodes when 
the rocks were again squeezed into tighter 
folds and she was further distorted. The 
pulses of activity were becoming more and 
more frequent. 

COMES THE REVOLUTION (GEOLOGICAL) 

Finally, at the close of the Silurian 
period, the greatest and longest-continued 
epoch of compression occurred, and the 
rocks were not only tightly folded but were 
broken and pushed along. It was the birth 
of a major range of mountains, the Cale- 
donian range, rivaling the Rocky Mountains 
in size though not in beauty, for they were 
without trees — without plants, indeed, 
except for lichens and possibly some very 
tiny woody reeds. 

The Caledonian Revolution ended hun- 
dreds of millions of years ago, and the 
mountains then 
formed have long since 
been worn down to 
plains and valleys, 
covered again with 
further deposits and 
now again uplifted 
and eroded. During 
this erosional cycle, in the cutting of one of 
the present valleys, the bed containing 
Angelina was finally exposed. Ages passed; 




Fig. 3 



KEY TO FIGURES 

Fig. 1 — Angelina sedgwicki as she appeared in 
life. One'half natural size. 

Fig. 2 — Angelina as she appears in exhibit of 
Cambrian fossils in Frederick J. V. Skiff Hall 
(Hall 37). Natural size. 

Fig. 3 — Another Angelina sedgwicki, which 
happened to lie in a different relation to the Cale* 
donian pressure. One-half natural size. 



July, 1H7 



CHICAGO NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM BULLETIN 



Page 5 



glaciers and glacier-dammed lakes occupied 
the valleys. Stone Age man hunted now- 
extinct animals; Druids performed strange 
rites in their leafy temples; Welsh tribesmen 
hurried past in their successful defense of 
Wales against the legions of Caesar, Hadrian, 
the Danes, the Normans; plows and culti- 
vated fields appeared; and, finally, a paleon- 
tologist with his hammer and chisel. 

While breaking up piece after piece of the 
Tremadocian shale, the scientist discovered 
Angelina, very nearly ruined by the vagaries 
of Nature. Angelina, we blush to relate, has 
even lost her shell ; for, as the valley was cut 
closer to her bed, the slowly moving water 
always present just below the ground had 
dissolved it. What we see of her now in 
Skiff Hall is only a distorted cast of the 
shell's lower side. Almost destroyed, she is 
still recognizable as a member of the species 
to which J. W. Salter, in November of 1864, 
gave the name Angelina sedgivicki. 

Soon after her discovery, Angelina was 
set on her travels, her first since the Cale- 
donian Revolution had moved her original 
burial place. Eventually she arrived in 
Rochester, New York, at Ward's Natural 
Science Establishment, and in 1891 came 
to Chicago as a member of the first collection 
of fossils in what was then the Columbian 
Museum. Since that time Angelina has 
been blandly ignoring the stares of countless 
visitors. She will ignore you too, if you go 
to see her. 



A UNIQUE AMERICAN PALM, 
VEGETABLE IVORY 

By JULIAN A. STEYERMARK 

ASSISTANT CUBATOR OF THE HERBARIUM 

Normally ivory, the hard dentine-con- 
taining substance found in the teeth of most 
mammals, is secured from the large teeth of 
elephants, walruses, hippopotamuses, and 
narwhals. Although it has no structural 
counterpart as such in the vegetable world, 
the fruit of some tropical American palms 
contains a remarkably hard, creamy-white 
substance resembling the consistency and 
appearance of true ivory to such a degree 
that it is called "vegetable ivory." The 
generic name of these palms is Phytelephas, 
meaning "plant elephant," because of the 
obvious resemblance between the ivory of 
the elephant and that of the plant. The 
Spanish name, often applied to fruit of this 
palm, is "marfil vegetal," which means 
"vegetable ivory." 

About a dozen species of vegetable ivory 
palm are known. Although most of them 
occur in South America in Venezuela, 
Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Brazil, some 
extend as far north as Panama. They are 
usually vigorous palms having a short stout 
erect trunk topped in plume-like fashion by 
long dark green feathery fronds. These 
leaves may attain a length of. twenty feet, 
each leaf segment measuring up to three 
feet in length and two inches in width. 
A single leaf may have 160 segments. 



The leaves are used as thatch in much the 
same way as those of other palms, but are 
considered inferior because of their limited 
durability. In very young plants the leaves 
appear to arise directly from the ground, 
whereas the trunk becomes thicker and more 
elongated as the plant grows older. Even 
in mature plants the height of the stem does 
not exceed ten or fifteen feet. The plants 
grow in tropical or subtropical rain forests 
from near sea level up to an altitude of 
3,500 feet, usually inhabiting damp areas, 
such as valleys, banks of streams, and moist 
slopes near rivers. Probably the species best 




VEGETABLE IVORY AND PRODUCTS 

Various toys and ornaments carved from the seeds of the 
vegetable ivory palm. In the centef two of the seeds are 
shown with their wrinkled exterior. Inset: The fruit of 
the palm. It consists of a compact head of single fruits, 
each containing from four ro six seeds, some of which arc 
shown sectioned. 



known is P. macrocarpa of Ecuador, Peru, 
and Brazil. During my explorations of the 
quinine forests in southern Ecuador this 
palm was often seen at elevations of 3,000 
to 3,500 feet, occurring nearly at the lower- 
most limit of growth of the quinine forests. 

In Ecuador the plant itself is called 
"cadi," and the seed, which contains the 
hard white ivory-like substance, is known 
to the inhabitants as "tagua" or tagua-nut. 
The trees are often cut down by local people 
for the tender whitish heartmeat found 
within the growing tip below the leafy crown. 
This may be eaten as a salad, which is quite 
delicious when mixed with some kind of 
dressing, or plain with only salt added to 
flavor it, or cooked like any other vegetable. 
It has the rich meaty quality peculiar to 
most palms. As is well known, many other 
palms are commonly used for food. It is a 
wasteful practice to destroy such large plants 
for the sake of relatively small amounts of 
food, though such delicacies constitute for 
the people a real change in the otherwise 
monotonous daily diet limited to rice, beans, 
potatoes, and tortillas (corn cakes). 

Actually it is a time-consuming as well as 
laborious task to cut down one of these 
palms for the heartmeat alone, because the 
trunk is very hard and tough. A man may 
spend half an hour or more whacking away 
at one of these trunks with his machete 
before felling the plant. In Ecuador, for 



example, the halves of the trunk are severed 
with the machete, and the leaves are then 
laboriously cut near the base of each 
thickened leaf-stalk or petiole. As these 
overlap with one another and surround the 
central core of the stem in a spiral manner, 
each leaf-stalk must be chopped off sepa- 
rately from the main trunk. Finally, the 
growing point is encountered on the inside 
and the delicious white interior can be 
taken out. It consists of the bases of the 
unexpanded leaves and petioles. 

Aside from the use of this plant for food, 
its most interesting and profitable part is the 
hard ivory-like portion of the seed. In the 
vegetable ivory palm, the sexes, contained 
in the flowers, are found on separate plants, 
some of the plants bearing only male flowers, 
others female flowers. The fruits, found 
only on the female palms, consist of clusters 
of six or seven large drupes, the whole mass 
becoming the size of a man's head. At 
first these clusters are erect, but later, 
owing to the increasing weight of the ripen- 
ing fruits, become pendulous. 

When ripe, these clusters may weigh 
about 25 pounds. The outside of the fruits 
is marked by dark brown woody wrinkles or 
convolutions. The inside consists of a hard 
white portion containing the seed. At first, 
the inside of the young fruit consists of a 
clear tasteless liquid, often drunk by the 
inhabitants as a thirst-quencher. Gradually, 
the liquid assumes a milky color and solidi- 
fies into a hard ivory-like substance. This 
solid portion, vegetable ivory, has great 
commercial importance. The inhabitants 
of Ecuador carve from it all kinds of orna- 
ments, toys, ash trays, rings, reels of 
spindles, knobs of walking sticks, etc. 

USED FOR BUTTONS 

But far more important than these are 
the hundreds of thousands of tons of buttons 
that are made from this material. Large 
quantities are exported to Europe and North 
America, as well as to various South Ameri- 
can countries. As early as 1840, quantities 
of 150 tons were imported into England. 
The buttons are very durable and, until a 
short time ago, were as commonly used, if 
not more commonly, than ordinary pearl 
buttons. Now, with the introduction of 
plastics, the button industry that uses 
vegetable ivory is meeting greater competi- 
tion. In Ecuador alone, the exportation of 
tagua nuts occupied fifth place in that 
nation's exports, nearly 65,000,000 pounds 
being shipped annually. Most of the shops 
manufacturing buttons are in the towns 
of Manta, Guayaquil, and Ambato. 

Ecuador is believed to possess the highest 
grade of vegetable ivory found anywhere. 
Thus far, attempts to establish plantations 
of this palm in other countries have been 
unsuccessful. An exhibit showing the 
natural fruit and various articles carved 
from vegetable ivory may be seen in Case 7 
of Hall 25 (Food Plants and Palms). 



Page 6 



CHICAGO NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM BULLETIN 



July, 19U7 



Chicago Natural History Museum 

Founded by Marshall Field, 1893 

Roosevelt Road and Lake Shore Drive, Chicago 5 

Telephone: WABash 9410 



THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES 

Lester Armour Marshall Field, Jr. 

Seweli. L. Avery Stanley Field 

W. McCormick Blair Samuel Insull, Jr. 

Leopold E. Block Henry P. Ishah 

BOARDlfAN CONOVER HUGHSTON M. McBAIN 

Walter J. Cummings William H. Mitchell 

Albert B. Dick, Jr. Clarence B. Randall 

Howard W. Fenton George A. Richardson 

Joseph N. Field Solomon A. Smith 

Marshall Field Albert H. Wetten 

John P. Wilson 

OFFICERS 

Stanley Field President 

Marshall Field First Vice-President 

Albert B. Dick, Jr Second Vice-President 

Samuel Insull, Jr. Third Vice-President 

Solomon A. Smith Treasurer 

Clifford C. Gregg Director and Secretary 

John R. Millar Assistant Secretary 



THE BULLETIN 

EDITOR 
Clifford C. Gregg Director of the Museum 

ASSOCIATE EDITOR 

* Wilfred H. Osgood Curator Emeritus, Zoology 

CONTRIBUTING EDITORS 

Paul S. Martin Chief Curator of Anthropology 

Thbodor Just Chief Curator of Botany 

Sharat K. Roy Chief Curator of Geology 

Karl P. Schmidt Chief Curator of Zoology 

MANAGING EDITOR 
H. B. Harte Public Relations Counsel 

* Deceased June 20, 1947 

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



WILFRED HUDSON OSGOOD 

1875-1947 
News of the death of Dr. Wilfred Hudson 
Osgood on June 20, after a brief illness, was 
received at the Museum with deep regret. 
He was 71 years old. 
Dr. Osgood joined the Staff of the 
Museum in 1909 as 
Assistant Curator 
of Mammalogy 
and Ornithology, 
after serving 
twelve years with 
the United States 
Biological Survey. 
In 1921 he became 
head of the Depart- 
ment of Zoology at 
the Museum and 
continued in that 
capacity until 
1940, when he re- 
tired as Chief 
Curator. As Cura- 
tor Emeritus at 
the Museum, he continued, until the date 
of his death, the scientific research for which 
he was pre-eminently qualified. 

Dr. Osgood was a graduate of Stanford 
LJniversity, where he formed life-long 
friendships among naturalists of his genera- 




W1LFRED H. OSGOOD 



tion. Joining the United States Bureau of 
Biological Survey in 1897 (while still an 
undergraduate), when that organization 
was undergoing rapid expansion, he came 
under the influence of C. Hart Merriam 
and as a result became one of the American 
group pre-eminent in the study of mammals. 
His field work for the Biological Survey was 
especially in Alaska and western North 
America. 

After joining the Museum staff, Dr. 
Osgood took part in one more major govern- 
mental activity, the important investiga- 
tions of the fur seal in Bering Sea, resulting 
in the report of the Fur Seal Commission 
of 1915. In Chicago Natural History 
Museum, he soon developed a program of 
South American studies that took him 
repeatedly to that continent. His special 
interest in the geography of South American 
mammals was varied by the leadership of 
the Chicago Daily AVws-Field Museum 
Expedition to Abyssinia in 1926-27, and a 
personal expedition to Indo-China in 1937. 

The scientific interests of Dr. Osgood are 
reflected in his bibliography of more than 
200 titles. His publications range from the 
monumental study of the white-footed mice, 
published in 1909, to discussion of details of 
the scientific nomenclature of mammals, in 
the Journal of Mammalogy. His major 
publications for the Museum include his 
monograph on the remarkable South Ameri- 
can marsupial Caenolestes, a volume on the 
mammals of Indo-China, and one on the 
mammals of Chile (1943). A volume of 
papers on mammals written by his friends 
and colleagues was published in 1942 as a 
testimonial to his leadership in this field. 
A distinguished volume, Artist and Natural- 
ist in Ethiopia, was written by Dr. Osgood in 
collaboration with his friend, the eminent 
animal artist Louis Agassiz Fuertes, who 
had joined the Abyssinian Expedition. 

Numerous affiliations with scientific soci- 
eties, especially as charter member of the 
American Society of Mammalogists, as 
Fellow of the American Ornithologists' 
Union, as Corresponding Member of the 
Zoological Society of London, etc., indicate 
the breadth of Dr. Osgood's scientific 
affiliations. His services in Chicago to the 
Geographic Society of Chicago and to the 
Chicago Zoological Society, in both of 
which he served on the Board of Directors, 
are examples of his service to the community 
in which he made his home. He served 
similarly in the Quadrangle Club, where he 
lived, and the University Club of Chicago. 

The studies of the small rodents known as 
white-footed mice, ubiquitous on the North 
American continent, foreshadowed a con- 
tinuing interest in the rodent group, which 
includes many more species than all of the 
remaining types of mammals together. It 
is important to note that Dr. Osgood's 
disentanglement of nomenclature and classi- 
fication in a large and complicated group 
of small mammals remains significant and 



useful after 40 years. Still more important 
is the fact that his work on the white-footed' 
mice laid the foundations for investigations 
in the modern fields of genetics and ecology. 
They thus form an illustration of the pro- 
foundly important ramifications of investi- 
gations in pure science. 

Members of the Museum staff and other 
friends of Dr. Osgood attended a memorial 
service on June 25 at Bond Chapel on the 
University of Chicago campus. 



STAFF NOTES 



Colonel Clifford C. Gregg, Director, was 
a speaker before the science section of the 
annual meeting of the American Association 
of Museums held in the city of Quebec, 
Canada, May 30. His subject was "Live 
Ideas or Dead Storage." 



Dr. Rainer Zangerl, Curator of Fossil 
Reptiles, was recently appointed Lecturer 
in Geology in the Department of Geology 
at the University of Chicago. He has also 
contributed to the Encyclopaedia Britannica 
Book of the Year, writing the article on 
"Paleontology" for the 1947 edition. 



Mr. Emmet R. Blake, Associate Cura- 
tor of Birds, was recently elected a Director 
of the Illinois Audubon Society and Vice- 
President of the Chicago Ornithological 
Society. 



Colombian Botanist on Staff 

Dr. Jos6 Cuatrecasas of Cali, Colombia, 
has been appointed to the Museum staff as 
Curator of Colombian Botany for a period of 
three years, during which he will engage in 
research on the flora of Colombia, using the 
collections of this institution and the exten- 
sive herbarium that he has collected. 



Three New Contributors 

Three names have been added to the 
Museum's roll of Contributors by action of 
the Board of Trustees. (Contributors are a 
special class of membership including all 
persons whose gifts of money or material 
range from $1,000 to $100,000.) 

Dr. M. Acosta Solis, Director of the 
Instituto Ecuatoriano de Ciencias Naturales, 
Quito, Ecuador, was elected in recognition 
of his gift of extensive and valuable plant 
collections to the Museum Herbarium. 

In recognition of notable gifts of geological 
and zoological specimens and microscope 
slides, Dr. Rainer Zangerl, Curator of 
Fossil Reptiles, was elected. 

The late Mr. Oscar E. Remmer was 
posthumously elected a Contributor because 
of a generous legacy to the Museum. 



July, 19i7 



CHICAGO NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM BULLETIN 



Page 7 



Books 



(All books reviewed in the Bulletin are 
available in The Book Shop of the Museum- 
Mail orders accompanied by remittance are 
promptly filled — The Book Shop pays the 
postage on shipments.) 

I In -mon Carey Bumpus, Yankee Natu- 
ralist. By Hermon C. Bumpus, Jr. 
University of Minnesota Press, Min- 
neapolis, 1947. 141 pages, 14 illustra- 
tions, price $2.50. 

To modern museum curators some of the 
things in both university education and 
museum exhibition that had to be fought 
for by Hermon C. Bumpus have become 
commonplace. This biography by his son 
pleasantly records his career from birth and 
childhood to old age with honors. One 
might wish for a more literary, more colorful, 
and more critical account of Bumpus' 
career as teacher of biology in the best 
Agassizian tradition, as assistant director 
at the Marine Biological Laboratory at 
Woods Hole, as director of the great Ameri- 
can Museum of Natural History in New 
York City, as university business manager, 
as university president, and as a leader in 
the movement for outdoor education in the 
National Park Service. 

K.P.S. 



GIFTS TO THE MUSEUM 

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

Department of Anthropology: 

From: George F. Niklaus, Boise, Ida. — a 
Chinese dollar, China; Mrs. Paul Q. Card, 
Minneapolis — a Hupa basket and a Hoho- 
kam bowl, jar, and 25 projectile points, 
Arizona. 

Department of Botany: 

From: University of Texas, Austin — 269 
herbarium specimens, Missouri and Mexico; 
Dr. M. S. Doty, Evanston, 111.— 69 speci- 
mens of algae, Massachusetts; University of 
California, Berkeley, Calif. — 844 specimens 
of algae, North America, Oceania, Malaysia, 
China, and Africa; Dr. Walter Kiener, 
Lincoln, Neb. — 260 specimens of algae, 
Nebraska; Donald Richards, Chicago— 50 
specimens of mosses, chiefly Maryland; 
William R. Overton and Wesley Gillespie, 
Arlington Heights, 111., and J. Francis 
Macbride, Palo Alto, Calif. — 513 crypto- 
gams, Arizona and New Mexico; Prof. 
Cesar Vargas C, Cuzco, Peru — 97 her- 
barium specimens, Peru. 

Department of Geology: 

From: Charles Towey, Westmont, 111. — 
an invertebrate fossil and 4 minerals, South 
Dakota and Illinois; Mrs. B. H. Heide, 
Chicago — fossil skull and jaws, and 2 
polished agates; Miss Priscilla Freuden- 
heim, Chicago — a specimen of chrome ore, 
Philippine Islands; William E. Menzel, 
Chicago — a dakeite and a fluorite specimen, 
fluorescent, Wyoming and Illinois; George 



Langford, Chicago - -2 invertebrate fossils, 
Illinois. 

Department of Zoology: 

From: Lincoln Park Zoo, Chicago — a 
fiddler crab, a European hedgehog, 2 hell- 
benders, and an American badger; Alex K. 
Wyatt, Chicago — a spider and 151 insects, 
Colorado, Florida, Illinois, and Indiana; 
Rupert L. Wenzel, Oak Park, 111.— 28 
histerid beetles; Dr. Georg Haas, Jerusalem, 
Palestine — 50 land and freshwater shells, 
United States; R. M. Barnes (now deceased) 
— 280 clutches of eggs; Don McVicker, 
Chicago —a European hedgehog; Robert L. 
Haas, Chicago — 288 specimens of stream 
fishes, Illinois; Dr. Henry Field, Cuernavaca, 
Mexico —8 specimens of shells, Mexico; 
Chicago Zoological Society, Brookfield, 111. 
— a Diana monkey; Maj. Robert Traub, 
Washington, D. C. — 2 fleas (on slides), 
a holotype and an allotype of Opisodasys 
hollandi traub, Mexico; Prof. Clarence R. 
Smith, Aurora, 111. — a red fox, Illinois. 

Library : 

From: Stanton Brumfield, Santa Fe, 
New Mexico; Martin Gusinde, Luxenburg 
bei Wien, Austria; Dr. Henry Field, 
Cuernavaca, Mexico; Col. Clifford C. Gregg, 
Valparaiso, Ind.; Propeller Club of the 
United States, New York City; and Uni- 
versity of Chicago and Polish American 
Congress, Inc., both of Chicago. 



NEW GENERAL GUIDE 
FEATURES PICTURES 

A new and different General Guide to the 
collections of the Museum, prepared in a 
form much easier than the old one to use 
and profusely illustrated, was published 
by the Museum last month. In addition 
to its functional use as a guidebook, it is 
highly attractive as a souvenir. It is priced 
at 15 cents. 

The guide has attractive covers symbolic 
of the scope of the Museum; a map of 
Chicago showing the Museum's location 
relative to other Chicago landmarks and the 
various means of transportation for reaching 
it; floor plans of the exhibition halls, made 
easy to follow by pen-and-ink sketches 
suggestive of their contents; 31 half-tone 
illustrations of the building and of outstand- 
ing exhibits; general information about the 
Museum, its facilities, activities, organiza- 
tion, and history; and summaries, much 
more brief and clear than in the old guide, 
of the contents of each exhibition hall. 
For visitors with a limited amount of time, 
the guide provides directions for a brief 
survey tour, carefully arranged to cover the 
highlights of all departments within about 
one hour, and illustrated charts of the course 
to be followed as well as textual directions. 



JOINS STAFF AS CURATOR 
OF ECONOMIC BOTANY 

Dr. Hugh Cutler, recently appointed 
Curator of Economic Botany, began his 
duties in June. A 
graduate of the Uni- 
versity of Wisconsin 
and Washington Uni- 
versity, St. Louis, he 
conducted research in 
Mexico and Guate- 
mala through the fa- 
cilities of the Missouri 
Botanical Garden. 
While a Fellow of the 
Guggenheim Founda- 
tion and a staff mem- 
ber of Harvard's Bo- 
tanical Museum, he 
conducted botanical expeditions in Brazil, 
Bolivia, and Paraguay to collect wild corn 
and some of the grasses related to corn. 
During the war he was a field technician for 
the United States government's Rubber 
Development Corporation, and in that 
capacity was engaged in work in Brazil. 




HUGH CUTLER 



French Librarian a Visitor 

Dr. Julien Cain, Director-General of 
the Bibliotheque Nationale in Paris, was a 
recent visitor to the Museum. He is also 
Vice-President of the International Council 
of Museums. 



Unfamiliar scientific names often have a 
simple meaning. An example is the amyg- 
dule. This is merely the mineral filling of 
a bubble in lava made by escaping steam 
as the lava cooled. 



NEW MEMBERS 

The following persons became Members 
of the Museum during the period from 
May 15 to June 14: 

Contributors 

Oscar E. Remmer,* Dr. M. Acosta Solis, 
Dr. Rainer Zangerl. 

Associate Members 
Robyn Wilcox 

Sustaining Members 

Rowland L. Williams 
Annual Members 
Mrs. Hugo F. Arnold, Dr. A. Allan Bates, 
Joseph T. Bay, Richard C. Bond, Kenneth 
H. Brush, Charles H. Campbell, Nathan 
Cummings, L. Hyland Erickson, John N. 
Gage, Gerald Gidwitz, F. A. Groenwald, 
Richard H. Grosse, George E. Gunther, 
Mrs. Caroline M. Haas, Edward B. Heyden, 
Henry Mark Hilton, Mrs. Jaroslava B. 
Kosner, Howard Lane, B. F. Lewis, Edward 
E. Loebe, Charles A. Marshall, Lee R. 
Maxwell, H. J. McAllister, Gordon M. 
Metcalf, Fred C. Morgan, Harley W. Mul- 
lins, W. A. Patterson, Elliott H. Penne- 
baker, Sanger P. Robinson, Mrs. Donald 
M. Roche, John H. Rodger, Thomas W. 
Rogers, Harry H. Saalfeld, Harold C. Schott, 
J. N. Stanbery, Anton J. Tadrowski, George 
P. Torrence, W. Fred Townley, G. H. 
Turner, Mrs. Benjamin Weil, Mrs. Frank E. 
Wilhelm, William P. Wiseman, Arthur H. 
Woodward, Austin M. Zimmerman. 

* Deceased 



Page 8 



CHICAGO NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM BULLETIN 



July, 1H~ 



APPEASING THE 'SPIRITS' OF DESTINY IN THE PHILIPPINES 



The Tinguian tribes of northwestern 
Luzon in the Philippines are a people whose 
entire life is organized under the control of 
"spirits." They believe in specific spirits, 
each assigned to exerting an influence upon 
almost every act or occurrence in the day's 
work or play. To the Tinguians, religion is 
thus a very real and all-important concept. 
They believe even in special spirits that 
"cause pains in the side" (appendicitis?), 




IT LOOKS ROUGH - 

— but they're not fighting. This is the ceremonial of the 

pounding of the rice. (Museum expedition photo.) 

others that cause headaches; spirits that 
guard over children, and spirits that exert 
a malign influence upon them; spirits that 
affect crops, the issues of war, the safety of 
dwelling places. The favor of the good 
spirits must be sought with offerings and 
ceremonies, while similarly the evil spirits 
must be appeased. In these dealings with 
the unseen and supernatural creatures in 
control of the destiny of every man, woman, 
child, or group of people, important func- 
tions are performed by properly qualified 
mediums and various kinds of charms. 

a spirit "dictator" 

In the Museum's Hall of the Philippines 
(Hall H) is an interesting and extensive 
exhibit (Case No. 2) illustrating the lengths 
to which these people go to assure them- 
selves of peace with the world of the spirits. 
That world, incidentally, is represented as 
a thorough-going dictatorship — it is dom- 
inated by a great and powerful spirit called 
"Kadaklan" who lives in the sky. To him 
all other spirits are subordinate, "like 
soldiers," the people say. Kadaklan, remain- 
ing aloof in his celestial home, is assisted by 
a sort of deputy named Kaboniyan, who 
resides on the earth and is regarded as the 
friend and helper of the people. Kaboniyan 
is credited with having taught the Tinguians 
how to plant and harvest, how to overcome 
evil signs, and how to foil the designs of 
ill-disposed spirits. He is believed to inhabit 
a magical mountain cave in which is a 
wonderful tree on which grow the agate 
beads so prized by the women. "Living" 
also in this cave are "jars which talk and 



move," and from its depths are believed to 
come all the gongs which the people use and 
upon which they place great value. The 
friendly Kaboniyan is supposed to have 
taught the Tinguians nearly all the details of 
ceremonies and celebrations. Further to bind 
himself to the people he is reputed to have 
married "in the first times" a mortal woman 
from Manabo. More than 150 other spirits, 
some good, some evil, are known by name 
and at one time or another axe believed to 
visit the people through their mediums. 

WOMEN SERVE AS MEDIUMS 

The mediums are especially qualified 
women, and examples of the outfits with 
which they must be provided are included 
in the Museum exhibit. Before a candidate 
may become a medium she must have mas- 
tered the details of all the ceremonies, num- 
bering more than twenty. When this has 
been satisfactorily accomplished, she secures 
her outfit, consisting of a basket, one hun- 
dred fathoms of thread, and certain seashells. 
A small pig is then killed. The blood is 
mixed with rice and offered to the spirits, 
who are summoned by striking the shells 
against a fish or plate. The liver of the 
animal is carefully studied, and if any spots 
or blemishes appear on it, the spirits are 
regarded as unfriendly to the candidate, and 
the medium may not perform her duties 
until such time as a favorable sign may 
be obtained. 

Special offering holders, made of bamboo, 
are often seen near the entrance to a town. 
In these are placed jars of food and drink to 
appease "the spirits that cause headaches" 
— in early days the same baskets were used 
also to display the heads of slain enemies. 




PORK FOR THE SPIRITS 

Filipino medium offering pigs to the supernatural beings 

who are believed ro control all human destinies. (Museum 

expedition photo.) 



These baskets and many other objects may 
be seen in the Museum exhibit. There is a 
spirit mat with its ten clay dishes used to 
set out a meal for the spirits. When the food 




NEW CURATOR APPOINTED 
IN BIRD DIVISION 

Dr. Austin L. Rand, formerly Acting 
Chief of the Division of Biology at the 
National Museum of Canada, Ottawa, will 
join the staff of Chi- 
cago Natural History 
Museum on July 7, as 
Curator of the Divi- 
sion of Birds. 

Dr. Rand, a Nova 
y R.^ Scotian by birth, 
comes to the Museum 
well qualified for this 
position. He was asso- 
ciated with the Ameri- 
can Museum of Natu- 
ral History in New 
AUSTIN L. rand Y ork for about four- 
teen years, prior to his 
joining the staff of the National Museum of 
Canada, in 1942. He has had wide expedi- 
tionary experience in Madagascar and the 
southwest Pacific area, as well as in the 
United States and Canada. 

The position of Curator of Birds at this 
Museum has been vacant since the resigna- 
tion of Curator Rudyerd Boulton on July 1, 
1946, to remain in a government post. 



is ready to serve, the medium strikes two 
split sticks on the ground, and the rattling 
sound produced is supposed to attract the 
attention of the spirits, who are then invited 
to partake of the repast. Shown also are 
spirit boxes representing the head and horns 
of a carabao, and pottery spirit houses, in 
both of which cups and dishes with food 
offerings are likewise placed. The pottery 
houses are regarded as dwelling places of 
the spirit who multiplies the rice. 

HOLDING BACK A FLOOD 

Another object shown is a weaving stick 
used during flood time — it is believed that 
the river can be held within its banks if this 
stick is planted at the water's edge by a 
woman, provided, however, that the woman 
was "born on the far side of the river." Each 
village is believed to be guarded by a spirit 
whose residence is a guardian stone which 
may be found in a grove near-by. Examples 
of these guardian stones are exhibited in the 
Philippine hall. These particular spirits are 
credited with the ability to change form at 
will to that of a wild chicken or a white dog. 

Ceremonial garments, jewelry, and blan- 
kets, examples of strange charms, bells and 
ornaments used in ritual dances, and many 
other objects associated with the peculiar 
superstitions of the Tinguians are also 
included in the exhibit. Even special 
trousers are provided to be worn by female 
mediums when impersonating male spirits. 
It is the extreme attention to such details as 
this that makes the Tinguian beliefs espe- 
cially interesting. 



PRINTED BY CHICAGO NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM PRESS 



Chicago Natur 

BU 

FormerlyM 




History Museum 
TIN 



liiseum News 



Published Mont lily for the Museum's Membership 



Vol. 18 



AUGUST, 1947 



No. 8 



HOW PREHISTORIC PUEBLO INDIANS OF SOUTHWEST LIVED 



By JOHN RINALDO 

ASSISTANT IN ARCHAEOLOGY 

An exhibit recently installed in the 
Museum's Hall of American Archaeology 
(Hall B) presents in graphic form some 
highlights of Pueblo 
Indian life and cus- 
toms from a.d. 500 to 
1700, as revealed by 
archaeology. This ex- 
hibit illustrates some 
of the characteristics 
of the ancestors of the 
contemporary Pueblo 
Indians. 

During the 1,200 
years of history out- 
lined in this exhibit, 
the Pueblo Indians 
lived on the deserts 
and mesas of northern 
Arizona and New 
Mexico and southern 
Utah and Colorado. 
Like their present-day 
descendants, they 
grew corn, squash, 
and beans and ob- 
tained food also by 
hunting. They kept 
dogs and turkeys. 
The turkeys were used 
not only for food; 

their feathers were woven with yucca fiber 
string into warm feather-cloth blankets. 

The Pueblo Indian towns of prehistoric 
times, like those of today, were in a form 
that could be described as terraced apart- 
ment houses. The houses were several 
stories high, with the upper stories terraced 
back from the lower ones. The apartments 
were frequently built around a central plaza 
or courtyard. Under the floor of the plaza 
were ceremonial rooms called "kivas," 
which served a purpose similar to that of 
our churches. These were used also as a 
center where men of a certain clan met, and 
for weaving and other handiwork. 

EARLY 'AIR CONDITIONING' 

"Kivas" are considered by archaeologists 
to have been a development from a slightly 



different form of earlier underground pit 
houses that were used as dwellings. Like 
them, the kivas contained in their structure 
a kind of air-conditioning system. Outside 
and through one wall of the circular kiva 









UNDERGROUND IN AN 'AIR-CONDITIONED' KIVA ABOUT 

Miniature model by Dioramist Lee Rowell included in the new Pueblo Indian life ex 



chamber (tradition decreed that it should 
be the south wall, if possible), there passed 
an L-shaped shaft with the opening of the 
vertical section on the outside at ground 
level and that of the horizontal section on 
the inside at floor level. A few feet away, 
in front of the floor-level opening, stood a 
deflector screen and, just beyond that, the 
fire pit. Directly above the fire pit was a 
hatchway entrance in the roof, through 
which a ladder projected. When a fire was 
burning, hot air and smoke arose and flowed 
out of the hatchway entrance, causing a 
mild vacuum. The fresh air thus drawn 
down through the L-shaped ventilating 
shaft came out at the floor-level opening 
as a draft and then hit the deflector screen 
where it was forced to circulate around 
either side of the fire pit and fire, being 



warmed thereby and in turn warming the 
room beyond. The smoke from the fire 
and the warmest air at the roof level passed 
up and out the hatchway. 

The prehistoric Pueblo Indians made 
fine, tightly woven 
baskets of osiers, 
wooden splints, split 
roots, or yucca fibers, 
clothing of apocynum 
fiber, human hair, or 
cotton cloth, and 
ornaments of stone 
and shell. Their artis- 
tic ability and their 
interest in ceremonies 
are shown in their pot- 
tery, basketry, and 
textile designs as well 
as in the murals in 
their kivas. So intense 
was their desire for 
decoration that they 
even covered the soles 
of their sandals with 
complex patterns of 
knots. Their well- 
fired pottery, deco- 
rated with geometric 
designs painted in 
black on a grayish- 
white background, 
was made in many 
shapes, such as bowls, ladles, and mugs. 

DEVELOPMENT OF AX 

These prehistoric Indians used tools and 
weapons of stone, bone, and wood. Progres- 
sive style trends in a few of the tools and 
pottery types and also developments in 
sandal types and architecture are shown in 
half of this exhibit. For example, there is 
shown the development of the ax from a 
relatively crude implement, notched at 
either side of the head for the attachment 
of the handle, to a nicely worked ax with a 
three-quarter groove around the head for 
hafting by an entirely different method. 

A similar progressive history is illustrated 
in the pottery sequence from the rather 
delicately delineated Kana'a style design 
of the early period to the boldly executed 



A.D. 1200 
hibit in Hall B. 



Page t 



CHICAGO NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM BULLETIN 



August, 19^7 




rUIHO HIS IN TNI ITTN CENTUtV 




POfllO LIFE IN THE I5TN CEHTUSV 



I 1 f 



PUESIO UFE IN THE STh CENTUHV 



l 




SOME HIGHLIGHTS OF 

PUEBLO LIFE 

SOUTHWESTIBN UNITED 1T»TE1 
A.O. 500-1700 




EXHIBIT ILLUSTRATING HIGHLIGHTS OF PUEBLO INDIAN LIFE AND CUSTOMS, A.D. 500-1700 



and richly colored Sikyatki polychrome of 
almost a thousand years later. On the 
other hand, the trend in sandal styles is 
retrogressive, going from the artistic tightly 
woven cord sandal with its unusual decora- 
tion (on both sides!) to the more coarsely 
woven undecorated examples of later times. 
However, in architecture we perceive a 
progression from one-story villages grouped 



about the underground pit houses, through 
the large many-storied terraced apartment 
house-towns located in caves and on mesa 
tops, to the larger aggregates of apartments 
symmetrically arranged around a central 
plaza and kivas. 

In putting this exhibit together, we were 
limited by considerations of space and could 
include only the highlights in a long history 



of a relatively complex way of life that also 
had a large number of regional variations. 
The new exhibit was created by Mr. Gustav 
Dalstrom, artist in the Department of 
Anthropology, Mr. George I. Quimby, Cura- 
tor of Exhibits, and the writer. Mr. Lee 
Rowell, dioramist, constructed the sectioned 
kiva model, illustrated on page 1 of this 
issue of the Bulletin. 



MUSEUM EXPEDITION DISCOVERS 
HIGHEST MOGOLLON SITE 

The Museum's Archaeological Expedition 
to the Southwest, currently operating in 
western New Mexico, has discovered, at 
approximately 7,000 feet above sea level, 
the highest site of prehistoric Mogollon 
Indian culture known to date and is about 
to begin excavations upon it, it is reported 
by Dr. Paul S. Martin, Chief Curator of 
Anthropology and leader of the expedition. 

The site, named "Promontory," was dis- 
covered by two members of the expedi- 
tion, Dr. John Rinaldo, Assistant in Archae- 
ology at this Museum, and Mr. E. B. Sayles 
of the University of Arizona and Arizona 
State Museum, who had been assigned to 
make an advance survey of the area. Their 
assignment — begun before Dr. Martin and 
the main body of the expedition arrived on 
the scene — was large. Their instructions 
had been to hunt for early sites, anything 
from the Pine Lawn phase of Mogollon 
culture (a.d. 500) back to the early Cochise 
culture (13000 B.C.). They were also 
assigned to map all sites found and by 
examination of the surface finds of artifacts 
in the area to try to approximate an idea 
of its past history. 

The area surveyed, practically foot by 
foot, is one of some ten square miles in the 



vicinity of the small community of Reserve. 
To archaeologists, this tedious and exacting 
task is "a problem and end in itself aside 
from being a necessary preparatory job 
before actual excavations commence," in 
the words of Leonard G. Johnson, a mem- 
ber of the expedition. Adding to the diffi- 
culties was the fact that the area is one 
with tall pines, pinyons and fir trees, small 
bushes, and rocky terrain with water con- 
fined to a few underground springs. To 
reach it, the two surveyors had to make a 
long, steep climb under the scorching rays 
of the New Mexico sun. For this work, 
they were dressed like gold prospectors or 
ranchers on the trail of "strays," and as 
they proceeded they filled the pockets of 
their blue denim work trousers and their 
shirts with heavy loads of stone chips made 
by ancient man and potsherds (bits of 
pottery) that they retrieved from the 
ground. Covering the entire ridge top 
were tons of boulders, half buried and half 
hidden by the hardy yellow-greenish straw 
grass. 

At the 7,000-foot level, an abundance of 
potsherds representing the undecorated 
pottery of the Mogollon culture was found. 
These and the stone tools found on the 
surface, together with a few shallow depres- 
sions noted, indicated that an ancient village 



of pit houses once occupied the site. Mr. 
Sayles deduced that the early Indians lived 
in the high ridges possibly for defensive 
purposes, possibly because, like modern 
penthouse dwellers, they wanted a view. 

The great thickness of the potsherds plus 
the unusual elevation of the village seemed 
to indicate that it was of an early stage. 
Dr. Martin and his associates are now faced 
with the questions: Where had these Indians 
come from? and at what date approximately 
was the site occupied? The excavations of 
Promontory site, now beginning, may 
answer these and other questions. 



Fossils in Floor 

Not all the invertebrate fossils in the 
Museum are confined to cases in Hall 37. 
The marble (actually a limestone) of which 
some of the floors and stairs are made con- 
tains fossil shells, seen as sections on the 
polished surface. Perhaps the most readily 
recognizable fossil thus to be found is 
Archimedes, a bryozoan with a spiral or 
screw-like shape, reaching a length of several 
inches and visible in many of the steps 
throughout the building. 



The famous Natural Bridge of Virginia is 
represented in a model in Clarence Bucking- 
ham Hall (Hall 35). 



August, 191,7 



CHICAGO NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM BULLETIN 



Page 3 



GIANT GALAPAGOS LAND TURTLE, TERRAPIN OF THE SQUARE-RIGGERS' MESS 



By KARL P. SCHMIDT 

CHIEF CURATOR, DEPARTMENT OF ZOOLOGY 

The Galapagos Islands, 600 miles off the 
Ecuadorian coast, take their name from the 
Spanish word for giant turtle. It was and 
remains an extraordinarily appropriate 
name, for every voyager who has visited the 
islands since their discovery has commented 
on the remarkable large land turtles that 
feed on the cactus of the barren volcanic 
slopes like sheep feeding in a hillside pasture 
in some civilized landscape. The Galapagos 
Archipelago was entirely uninhabited by 
man when discovered, and none of the 
smaller islands have been colonized, several 
even of the larger ones being essentially 
without human inhabitants to this day. 

The islands are famous in the history of 
science for the fact that their remarkable 
birds and reptiles caught the attention of 
the young Charles Darwin on his visit with 
the Beagle in 1835. He was interested in 
the differences between birds of these islands 
and adjacent islands, in the relations of the 
island life as a whole with that of South 
America — relations that underlie conspicu- 
ous differences — and in the archaic aspect of 
the island lizards and turtles. He was so 
much impressed with his observations and 
with the problems posed as to the origin 
and relations of such island forms that 
thoughts about them continued to revolve 
in his mind, and the Galapagos observations 
found a niche in his arguments about 
The Origin of Species in 1859. 

IDEAL SHIPBOARD 'LIVESTOCK' 

The giant land turtles of the Galapagos 
have great intrinsic interest and romantic 
and tragic history of their own, aside from 
their role in the problem of the history of the 
species. They were reported by Fray 
Tomas in 1535 on the occasion of the 
discovery of the islands. The first detailed 
description by William Dampier, in 1684, 
forecasts the extremely practical nature of 
the interest taken in the turtles by early 
voyagers in general and finally by the 
whalers of the early part of the 19th century. 
This lay in their use as food, for turtles 
offered a free and easily obtained supply 
of fresh meat to sailors living on "salt 
horse" and had the extraordinary merit, in 
sailing-ship days, that they could live for 
months without food or water. 

Dampier writes: "The Spaniards when 
they first discovered these islands, found 
multitudes of land turtles or tortoise, and 
named them the Gallipagos islands. I do 
believe there is no place in the world that is 
so plentifully stored with these animals. 
The land-turtle are here so numerous, that 
five or six hundred men might subsist on 
them alone for several months, without any 
other sort of provision: They are extraor- 
dinary large and fat, and so sweet, that no 
pullet eats more pleasantly. One of the 



largest of these creatures will weigh one 
hundred fifty or two hundred weight, and 
some of them are two feet or two feet 
six inches over the callapee or belly." 
[Dampier's use of the words "turtle" and 
"tortoise" illustrates a continuing confusion 
in the use of these terms, since in English 
the word "turtle" was originally reserved 
for the marine forms. Turtle and tortoise 
are essentially interchangeable, since even 
the ornamental shell of one of the marine 
turtles is usually known as "tortoise shell." 
The attempt by some writers to restrict the 



numbers taken grew to thousands. C. H. 
Townsend, late Director of the New York 
Aquarium, searched the logbooks of seventy- 
nine New England whaling vessels that 
visited the Galapagos between 1831 and 
1868 for entries regarding the turtles (under 
the variously spelled American name "ter- 
rapin") and found positive record of the 
taking of 13,013. This, of course, is only an 
indication of the vast numbers taken by 
American and British vessels in the whaling 
era. Unfortunately for the turtles, their 
fat may be tried out to make an excellent 




GALAPAGOS TURTLE IMMORTALIZED IN PLASTIC 

Most recent addition to the exhibits of reptiles in Albert W. Harris Hall (Hall 18). Prepared by Staff Taxidermists 

Leon L. Walrers and Julius Friesser. 



term tortoise to land turtles now violates 
common usage as much as does the older 
restriction of "turtle."] 

The giant land turtles did, in fact, reach 
a much larger size, three hundred to four 
hundred pounds being fair adult weights 
for the larger races, with occasional gigantic 
old turtle patriarchs that must have reached 
seven or eight hundred pounds. Indeed, a 
turtle foot from a specimen that had been 
killed and eaten on Indefatigable Island, one 
of the larger Galapagos Islands, obtained 
by the Cornelius Crane Pacific Expedition, 
measured no less than seven and one- 
quarter inches across and indicates that it 
may have belonged to a thousand-pound 
super-giant among the turtle giants. 

HISTORY OF EXTINCTION 

The value of the turtles as food was tragic 
for their persistence as species. Early 
visitors to the islands carried away some 
hundreds of specimens; when the whalers 
came, some on four-year-long voyages, the 



clear cooking oil. After the discovery of 
the uses of petroleum and the decline of 
tropical whaling, the remaining turtle 
populations were preyed upon by Ecua- 
dorian oil-gatherers, who killed further 
thousands of turtles for the sake of a few 
pints of oil from each. Even so, the almost 
incredibly rough lava terrain of the volcanic 
slopes would have preserved the turtles 
despite their continued destruction by 
man; but the introduction on the larger 
islands of domestic dogs, which soon 
escaped to form quite distinct feral races, 
supplied an enemy more persistent than 
man, an enemy that devoured the eggs and 
young where man had taken only the larger 
specimens. 

The role of turtle enemies is sadly rounded 
out by the scientific collectors, who came in 
the 1890's and in the early decades of the 
20th century to collect systematically for 
various museums, where collections had 
previously grown up only by chance, by 



PageU 



CHICAGO NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM BULLETIN 



August, 19i7 




U. S. TURTLE MEETS GIANT COUSIN 

The Galapagos turtle model looms gigantically over its 

small quite close relative, a live Texas gopher turtle, gently 

restrained by June Buchwald of the Museum staff. 

gifts of specimens from travelers, and at 
second hand from zoos. It is true that the 
feral dogs and cats are such potent enemies 
that it may well be justifiable to preserve 
the last remaining specimens of some of the 
declining species in zoological gardens. 

The scientific importance of these island 
turtles lies perhaps mainly in their contri- 
bution to the very problem of the origin of 
species that so much impressed Charles 
Darwin. Darwin suspected, as has sub- 
sequently been confirmed, that there were 
several species of the turtles. As specimens 
were studied with accurately known origin, 
it became evident that each of the islands 
is inhabited by a recognizably distinct form 
of turtle, and that on the large island of 
Albemarle; which has been formed by the 



confluence of five distinct volcanic centers, 
there were, indeed, five races of the turtles. 
Since the marine turtles that are abundant 
in Galapagos waters exhibit no trace of such 
island differentiation, the lesson as to the 
importance of geographic isolation in the 
basic evolutionary process is impressive. 

LONGEVITY OF TURTLES 

A great and quite justifiable popular 
interest attaches to these large reptiles for 
their longevity. Even the smaller species 
of turtles tend to be long lived; the great 
land turtles of the Galapagos (with the 
corresponding forms on islands in the 
Indian Ocean) have a life expectancy of 
much more than a hundred years, perhaps 
of two hundred years. 

The most reliable actual report of great 
age in one of these creatures refers to an 
individual Indian Ocean turtle known as 
"Marion's Tortoise." A large turtle with 
four others was taken alive to the Island 
of Mauritius in the year 1766 by the 
French explorer, Marion de Fresne. One 
of these specimens was mentioned on the 
occasion of the capture of Mauritius by 
the British in 1810; and all records indicate 
that this turtle lived on at the Artillery 
Barracks until 1918, when, apparently 
blind from age, it fell into a gun emplace- 
ment and was killed. The remains are 
preserved in the British Museum in London. 
Thus this turtle was known for 152 years, 



and its estimated age at death is between 
200 and 250 years. 

EXPEDITION RESCUES TWO 

The Crane Pacific Expedition of Chicago 
Natural History Museum, in 1929, was 
happy in any case to rescue two small 
living specimens, weighing respectively 28 
and 30 pounds, from the Norwegian fisher- 
men settled at Academy Bay on Inde- 
fatigable Island. We exchanged flour and 
canned vegetables for the turtles, and the 
settlers seemed most pleased with their 
bargain. Had we arrived a few weeks 
earlier we might have obtained the gigantic 
turtle of which only the soles of the feet 
remained! 

The two turtles sailed with us to Tahiti. 
There we boxed them and shipped them 
alive to Chicago, hopefully remembering 
their reputation for traveling for months 
without food or water in the holds of the 
whaling ships. They survived the journey 
and became acclimated in the new reptile 
house of the Brookfield Zoo. There they 
flourished, one of them growing in 18 years 
to a weight of 360 pounds, and still surviv- 
ing. One specimen died in 1941 and was 
returned to the Museum. It served as 
model for the celluloid replica now placed 
on exhibition in Hall 18. The model in 
cellulose acetate is the work of Staff Taxi- 
dermists Julius Friesser and Leon L. 
Walters. 



NEW GRAVEYARD OF FOSSIL VERTEBRATES IN WYOMING 



By RAINER ZANGERL 

CURATOR OF FOSSIL REPTILES 

Once in a great while a veritable grave- 
yard of fossil vertebrates is found. Many 
sites have become world famous in the course 
of time. A visitor to a paleontological 
museum collection in the United States 
could hardly fail to see the impressive 
rhinoceros slabs that are now exhibited in 
nearly every museum. These slabs show 
large numbers of disarticulated rhinoceros 
skeletons with the bones mixed up and 
tightly crowded together. 

Recently another vertebrate graveyard 
was discovered by a Chicago Natural 
History Museum expedition in the Washakie 



formation of late Eocene age in southern 
Wyoming. In this case, the burial ground 
contains probably countless thousands of 
swamp and river turtles, a few crocodiles, 
and fishes similar to the living gar pikes. The 
turtle remains are preserved in all stages of 
disarticulation, belong to individuals of all 
sizes, and represent at least three species. 
The specimens are so tightly packed 
together in the one level in which they occur 
that more than forty individuals were 
counted in an area of about three square 
yards. The extent of the graveyard known 
at present is considerable; the fossil-bearing 
level could be traced over an area of at 
least one-quarter square mile. What were 




Fig. 1. Mystriosaurus bollensis (Steneosaurus bollensis), a superb specimen of a Liassic crocodilian from the region of 
Holzmaden, southern Germany. The specimen is on exhibition in Hall 38. 



the circumstances that led to the aggrega- 
tion of such vast numbers of animals in 
relatively small areas? What killed them 
all at once? 

STUDIES OF FOSSILIZATION 

Answers to these questions, naturally, 
vary with each specific case. The circum- 
stances responsible for the destruction and 
subsequent burial of the turtles and croco- 
diles in Wyoming were certainly very dif- 
ferent from those that brought about death 
and final deposition of the rhino herd in 
Nebraska. Much has been written about 
fossilization, and at least one author, 
Deecke, has made field observations on 
death and burial of animals at the present 
time, observations that are of immeasurable 
value in the interpretation of peculiarities of 
preservation in fossils. 

On the other hand, there are very few 
accurate records on the occurrence of fossils 
in any given formation. As an outstanding 
exception to this, the careful records kept 
and subsequently published by Dr. Bern- 
hard Hauff on the occurrence of fossils in 
the marine early Jurassic (so-called Lias) 
in the region of Holzmaden in southern 
Germany merit brief discussion. This 
formation (Fig. 1) has produced some of 
the most beautifully preserved fossil verte- 
brates exhibited in all major museums. 

In the region east of the town of Holz- 



August, 19^7 



CHICAGO NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM BULLETIN 



Page 5 




Fig. 2. Sketch showing the exact position of the good skeletons that were discovered in Pit No. 16, Lias formation near 
Holzmaden, Germany. From Hauff, 1921, Palaeontographica, vol. 64. 



maden and south of the industrial town of 
Goppingen, the dark bituminous shales of 
the Lias formation are buried in horizontal 
position below the top soil and have been 
commercially mined for a long time. Hauff, 
a local resident of Holzmaden, became 
interested early in the mining activities and 
particularly in the rich fauna of fossils that 
occur in the formation, and while he col- 
lected, prepared, and sold his finds, his 
interests were, most fortunately for pale- 
ontology, scientific as well. 

CAREFUL RECORDS MADE 

Hauff studied the vertical extent of the 
shales accurately, classified them into groups 
and minute subdivisions of the latter, and 
labeled each level accordingly, so that each 
of his shale horizons could be determined in 
the thirty-odd pits that were dug in the area 
of Holzmaden. Whenever a fossil was 
found, the number of the pit and the exact 
designation of the level in which it lay was 
affixed to its label, and all this information, 
together with the identification of the speci- 
men, was put down on record. Naturally, 
records were also kept for specimens that 
were not well-enough preserved to merit 
preparation or had otherwise no sale value. 
Hauff, furthermore, made maps of the region 
indicating the location of the various pits 
and, whenever a good vertebrate skeleton 
was discovered, he sketched its position and 
approximate state of preservation on these 
maps, projecting all the good skeletons of all 
the fossil-bearing levels onto one plane. 

These skeletons were all found in an area 
of 1,782 square yards, in about 5,180 cubic 
yards of rock. Another sketch (Fig. 2) 
by Hauff gives the exact position of the good 



skeletons in pits Nos. 3-31, in their relative 
location to one another. This shows the 
arrangement and state of preservation of 
the better specimens over about two square 
miles of formation. At the time of publi- 
cation, 1921, data gathered over more than 
thirty years had accumulated. In apprecia- 
tion of his merits in the careful collection of 
this highly valuable information, Hauff was 
given an honorary doctor's degree. 

As a result of this effort, it is now possible 
to reconstruct rather accurately the general 
geographic and faunistic conditions that 
prevailed at the time when these strata 
were deposited. To mention just a few, it 
is possible to say with certainty that there 
were no major ground currents in the Lias 
sea in the region of Holzmaden, because the 
position of the skeletons to the compass 
directions is totally irregular. Furthermore, 
the depth of the water must have been con- 
siderable, since there is no evidence of 
wave ground action. The preservation of 
the skeletons suggests a bottom mud, in 
which only anaerobic bacteria could live 
and decompose the carcasses. On the other 
hand, this ocean pocket was not too far 
away from land, since the fossils include 
such land animals as flying reptiles and 
forms that almost certainly frequented fresh- 
water pools and streams. 

The general conditions at Holzmaden are 
rather complex and formations of this kind 
are not very common. Thus the data and 
conclusions reached from them are of little 
use in different types of formations, such as 
lake, swamp, or land deposits. Our knowl- 
edge of conditions of fossilization in forma- 
tions such as these is, in spite of many 
observations, far less systematic and much 



needs yet to be learned. Graveyards of 
vertebrates such as the one discovered in 
Wyoming hold a wealth of information that 
can rarely be obtained otherwise. The 
deposits there are largely stream borne; to a 
somewhat lesser degree they accumulated 
as swamp bottoms. The rock in which the 
turtles are buried is a fine sandy clay of 
fairly uniform character throughout the 
fossil-bearing level. The condition of the 
fossils themselves, in different phases of 
disarticulation, suggests that the animals 
were dead when buried, but not for too long 
a time. Obviously the carcasses were 
transported to the present burial site, most 
likely by a spring flood. What killed the 
animals is difficult to determine, but it is 
known that present-day turtles sometimes 
die in large numbers when caught by a 
severe premature freeze, before they have 
time to protect themselves in a suitable 
manner. 



ORE PROCESSING EXHIBITS 

Two exhibits of models, one representing 
the evolution of the blast furnace for smelt- 
ing iron ore, the other showing the interior 
of an Arizona gold mine and a stamp mill 
for the extraction of free gold from crude 
ore, have recently been reinstalled in the 
Hall of Economic Geology (Hall 36). 

The blast furnace exhibit includes three 
models representing the hot blast furnace 
of today, the cold blast furnace of seventy 
years ago, and the Catalan forge in which 
iron was smelted 150 years ago. They are 
arranged side by side in one case and labeled 
to enable the visitor to compare readily the 
great advances made in smelting of iron 
and to comprehend the steps involved in 
the extraction of iron from crude ores. 

The models of the Arizona gold mine and 
of the stamp mill, installed in a single case, 
illustrate the common features present in 
the great majority of metal mines and the 
manner by which many ores are extracted 
and processed. 



Library Notes 

The Museum Library recently has 
received shipments from the Preussische 
Akademie der Wissenschaften, the Sencken- 
bergisches Museum, the Deutsche Morgen- 
landische Gesellschaft, and the Museum 
fiir V6lkerkunde. It is remarkable that 
learned societies and institutions were able 
to carry on their activities in the midst of 
war to the extent they did. Publication in 
Germany seems not to have been seriously 
interrupted until well into 1944, and earlier 
shipments of material from France, Holland, 
and Belgium indicate that scientific activity 
continued even during the darkest crises. 



For the conservationist, the acquisition 
by the Library of a complete set of the 
Journal of Wildlife Management to date is 
an event of some importance. 



Page 6 



CHICAGO NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM BULLETIN 



August, 19!t7 



Chicago Natural History Museum 

Founded by Marshall Field, 1893 

Roosevelt Road and Lake Shore Drive, Chicago 5 

Telephone: WABash 9410 



THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES 

Lester Armour Marshall Field, Jr. 

Sewell L. Avery Stanley Field 

W. McCorhick Blair Samuel Insull, Jr. 

Leopold E. Block Henry P. Isham 

Boardman Conover Hughston M. McBain 

Walter J. Cummings William H. Mitchell 

Albert B. Dick, Jr. Clarence B. Randall 

Howard W. Fbnton George A. Richardson 

Joseph N. Field Solomon A. Smith 

Marshall Field Albert H. Wetten 
John P. Wilson 

OFFICERS 

Stanley Field President 

Marshall Field First Vice-President 

Albert B. Dick, Jr Second Vice-President 

Samuel Insull, Jr. Third Vice-President 

Solomon A. Smith Treasurer 

Clifford C. Gregg Director and Secretary 

John R. Millar Assistant Secretary 

THE BULLETIN 

EDITOR 
Clifford C. Gregg Director of the Museum 

CONTRIBUTING EDITORS 

Paul S. Martin Chief Curator of Anthropology 

Theodor Just Chief Curator of Botany 

Sharat K. Roy Chief Curator of Geology 

Karl P. Schmidt Chief Curator of Zoology 

MANAGING EDITOR 
H. B. Harte Public Relations Counsel 



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



SPRING AND EARLY SUMMER 
FLOWERING RECORDS, 1947 

By JULIAN A. STEYERMARK 

ASSISTANT CURATOR OF THE HERBARIUM 

The spring and early summer of 1947 will 
go down in the annals of the United States 
as among the wettest and most backward 
on record. Floods throughout the Middle 
West were the worst in 103 years. Farmers 
throughout this region were forced to plant 
their crops of corn either very much later 
than normally or had to abandon hope of 
even planting their fields too long inundated 
by flood water. In many places, acres of 
wheat ready to harvest were left to spoil as 
high waters prevented farmers from using 
their machinery in these fields. 

Flowering plants, too, were late in reach- 
ing their average time of flowering. The 
spring flowering season around Chicago 
starts from one to three months later than 
in most of the southern states and the areas 
as far north as the edge of the Ozarks and 
Great Smoky Mountains. Even as close to 
Chicago as Springfield, Illinois, the season 
is about two to three weeks ahead. Thus, 
by experience we are accustomed to expect 
the spring flowering season to begin much 
later than southward. This year, however, 
the appearance of the first spring flowers 
was greatly delayed. So late, in fact, were 
this year's spring and early summer that 
many interesting data of local significance 
can now be reported. 

Two general facts stand out clearly. 



First, this year's flowering dates are among 
the latest on record, being one to several 
months behind normal records. Secondly, 
as a result of cool weather and frequent 
rains, many plants ordinarily out of bloom 
were still in flower while others came into 
bloom. Thereby conspicuous overlaps in 
flowering time appeared this year. Ordi- 
narily, squills (Scilla) are followed by 
hyacinths, hyacinths by tulips, tulips by 
lilacs and crabapples and irises, all repre- 
senting different phases of spring and early 
summer. This year, however, tulips were 
still in bloom while lilacs, crabapples, and 
irises all flowered at the same time, and 
squill, one of the earliest, was still in bloom 
when tulips and other later flowering plants 
made their appearance. 

An examination of the dates of flowering 
of some of the more common flowers reveals 
the contrast of this year with last year.* 
The crocus, one of the earliest of our culti- 
vated garden flowers, did not come into 
bloom this year until April 13, while last 
year it was recorded on March 27. This 
year hepatica, one of the earliest native 
spring flowers, did not bloom until April 13, 
although last year the first flowering speci- 
mens were seen on March 24, and the year 
before that on March 19. 

Rue anemone (Anemonella thalictroides), 
also an early spring bloomer, this year did 
not appear until April 24, although in 1946 
it flowered on March 29, and in 1945 on 
March 22. In cool weather this species 
normally continues flowering for a long 
period. Actually this spring it flowered 
until June 14, for a period of 50 days. 
Daffodils were flowering this year between 
April 24 and May 1, whereas in 1946 they 
were in bloom on April 7, and in 1945 on 
March 31. Lilies of the valley were about a 
month behind this year, not coming into 
flower until May 25, while last year they 
flowered on May 1. This year tulips 
flowered on May 22, last year on April 17. 

Similarly, the crabapple season was 
much delayed this year until June 1, com- 
pared with last year's first record for April 
21. The purple trillium or wakerobin 
(Trillium reeurvatum) bloomed this year 
on May 22, though last year it was out on 
April 25. Irises appeared this year on 
June 9, whereas last year they flowered 
on May 13. Delayed flowering during the 
first half of 1947 affected all flowering plants 
observed. Even skunk cabbage, normally 
the earliest wild flower of this region, this 
year did not flower until March 15, although 
in other years it was observed in flower as 
early as February. 

Likewise in many parts of the United 
States the 1947 season was far behind nor- 
mal as indicated by dates of flowering. 
The old expression, "Plant corn when the 
oak leaves are as big as squirrels' ears," is 
clearly based on the correlation known to 



exist between the flowering periods of 
plants and the prevailing weather conditions. 



SUMMER GUIDE-LECTURE TOURS, 
MORNINGS AND AFTERNOONS 

During August, conducted tours of the 
exhibits, under the guidance of staff lec- 
turers, will be given on a special schedule, 
as follows: 

Mondays: 11 a.m., The Earth's Green 
Mantle (General survey of the plant 
exhibits); 2 p.m., General Tour (Exhibition 
halls, all Departments). 

Tuesdays: 11 A.M., The People of the World 
(General survey of the anthropology 
exhibits); 2 p.m., General Tour. 

Wednesdays: 11 A.M., The Earth's Story 
(General survey of the geology exhibits); 
2 p.m., General Tour. 

Thursdays: 11 a.m. and 2 p.m., General 
Tours. 

Fridays: 11 a.m., The World of Animals 
(General survey of the animal exhibits); 
2 p.m., General Tour. 

There are no tours given on Saturdays, 
Sundays, or on Monday, September 1 
(Labor Day). 



GIFTS TO THE MUSEUM 

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

Department of Anthropology: 

From: Miss Florence Dibell Bartlett, 
Chicago — a collection of Guatemalan tex- 
tiles and carved wooden manikins, and 
photographic negatives pertaining to the 
textiles. 

Department of Botany: 

From: Dr. Hugh Cutler, Chicago— 39 
herbarium specimens, Bolivia and Cuba. 

Department of Geology: 

From: Roy Eversole, Bitter Creek, Wyo. 
— a specimen of dakeite, Wyoming; Paul J. 
Woodcock, St. Clair, Mo. — a specimen of 
Drusy quartz and one of barite, Missouri. 

Department of Zoology : 

From: Chicago Zoological Society, Brook- 
field, 111. — a Diana monkey. 

Library: 

From: Boardman Conover and Eugene S. 
Richardson, Jr., both of Chicago; Dr. Henry 
Field, Thomasville, Ga.; and James Lewis 
Kraft, New York. 



* Flowering dates recorded north of Harrington, Lake 
County, Illinois. 



Visitors from Abroad 

Among recent notable visitors from 
abroad entertained by the Director of the 
Museum and members of the staff were 
Dr. Achille Urbain, director of the Museum 
National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris, and 
Mr. Martin Noel, Argentinian architect 
and president of the Argentine Academy 
of Fine Arts, Buenos Aires. 



August, 19U7 



CHICAGO NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM BULLETIN 



Page 7 



TWO MORE SUMMER MOVIES 
OFFERED FOR CHILDREN 

The annual summer series of free motion 
picture programs for children on Thursday 
mornings will continue for two weeks in 
August. The series is presented under the 
auspices of the James Nelson and Anna 
Louise Raymond Foundation. The pro- 
grams feature films on natural history and 
travel. 

The entertainments will be given in the 
James Simpson Theatre of the Museum at 
10:30 a.m. Children are invited to come 
alone, accompanied by parents or other 
adults, or in groups from clubs and various 
centers. Admission is free. Following are 
the dates and titles of the films: 

August 7 — Adventures of Chico 

The story of a Mexican Indian 
boy. 

August 14— Animal Tales 
Also a cartoon. 



Books 



(All books reviewed in the Bulletin are 
available in The Book Shop of the Museum. 
Mail orders accompanied by remittance are 
promptly filled — The Book Shop pays the 
postage on shipments.) 

Enchanted Streets. By Leonard Dubkin. 
Little, Brown and Company, Boston, 
1947. 210 pages, illustrations, price $2.75. 

When Leonard Dubkin was writing 
Murmuring Wings, he called at the office 
of the Chief Curator of Zoology in Chicago 
Natural History Museum to explore the 
possibilities of aid and advice from the 
Museum in his project. It was his intention 
to write a book about the familiar birds of 
the Chicago streets and parks. The Chief 
Curator eagerly seized upon this evident 
interest in birds with a variety of immediate 
suggestions as to how Mr. Dubkin might 
become an ornithologist — perhaps even an 
Ornithologist! — by studying bird anatomy 
at the Museum, by joining the Chicago 
Ornithological Society and the American 
Ornithologists Union, by a reading course 
in the Museum's notable Ayer Library on 
Ornithology, and by taking such university 
work in biology as would round out a desir- 
able background for a zoologist specializing 
in birds. Mr. Dubkin, who wanted to write 
a book about birds and who was interested 
in human emotional reactions to birds — but 
only secondarily in the birds and not at all 
in the ornithologists he had encountered, 
made his escape. It is reported on good 
authority that his own account of this 
skirmish with the zoological world has 
become a quite hair-raising escape story. 

Mr. Dubkin's Enchanted Streets, like his 
earlier book, represents an authentic type 



of nature writing, subjective and literary 
rather than scientific and objective. His 
work is to be compared with that of Richard 
Jefferies or even Henry David Thoreau, 
rather than with that of the half-literary, 
half-scientific essayists so often evolved in 
museum circles. Mr. Dubkin's children or 
grandchildren might perhaps produce the 
great natural history of the Chicago Region, 
in which man is accepted as a part of nature 
and for which a model is provided in the 
recent London's Natural History. 

Enchanted Streets, with a few negligible 
errors of fact and interpretation, actually 
is a book of great value to scientists, who, 
for the most part, write badly and who 
urgently need someone like Dubkin to 
present to the general public the fact that 
rats and mice and insects and park pigeons 
may provide fulcrums for the levers of 
science, art, and philosophy. 

— Karl P. Schmidt 



STAFF NOTES 



Technical Publications Issued 

The following technical publications were 
issued by the Museum during the last 
month: 

Anthropological Series, Vol. 32, No. 3. The 
SU Site, Excavations at a Mogollon Village, 
Western New Mexico, Third Season, 19^6. 
By Paul S. Martin and John B. Rinaldo. 
June 6, 1947. 110 pages, 42 halftones, 12 
maps. $2.50. 

Fieldiana^Zoology, Vol. 31, No. 16. The 
Bacula of Some Fruit Bats (Pteropus). 
By D. Dwight Davis. May 14, 1947. 8 
pages, 2 text figures. $0.10. 

Fieldiana— Zoology, Vol. 31, No. 17. Geo- 
graphical Races of the Rodent Akodon 
Jelskii Thomas. By Colin Campbell 
Sanborn. May 14, 1947. 10 pages, one 
text figure. $0.10. 



Dr. B. E. Dahlgren Returns 
With Cuban Collections 

Dr. B. E. Dahlgren, Curator Emeritus of 
Botany, has recently returned from a five- 
month excursion to Cuba undertaken for the 
purpose of obtaining first-hand observations 
and material for the study of the many 
species of palms that are found there. 

In his field work on the island, Dr. Dahl- 
gren enjoyed the advantage of the company 
and collaboration of the distinguished Cuban 
botanist, Brother Leon, of Colegio de La 
Salle, whose unique knowledge of the island 
has been acquired in the course of a life- 
long study of the flora of Cuba, especially 
of its palms, many of which were unknown 
to science until discovered and described by 
him. 

The collections and many photographs 
now made in Cuba will enrich the Museum's 
palm herbarium and furnish especially 
desired material for cytological research. 



Mr. 1 mil Sella, Chief Preparator, 
Department of Botany, was appointed 
Curator of Exhibits for the Department, 
effective July 1. Mr. J. S. Das ton was 
transferred from Assistant in Economic 
Collections to Assistant in Botany, effective 
the same date. . . . Mr. John W. Moyer, 
Chief of the Division of Motion Pictures, 
left July 14 on a month's field trip to New 
Mexico, where he is making color films of 
pit-house excavations by the Archaeological 
Expedition to the Southwest under the 
direction of Dr. Paul S. Martin, Chief 
Curator of Anthropology and leader of the 
expedition. Among other uses, the films 
will be shown at the Museum in November 
when Dr. Martin appears in the annual 
Autumn Course of Saturday afternoon 
lectures. . . . Dr. Alexander Spoehr, Cu- 
rator of Oceanic Ethnology, has returned 
from his expedition to the Marshall Islands. 
. . . Mr. Donald Collier, Curator of South 
American Ethnology and Archaeology, 
attended a conference last month in New 
York on Peruvian archaeology, sponsored 
by the Institute of Andean Research and 
the Viking Fund. 



NEW MEMBERS 

The following persons became Members 
of the Museum during the period from 
June 16 to July 15: 

Associate Members 

Sam J. Eisenberg, Louis Hollenbach, 
Mrs. Alfred Stern, Ernest H. Thompson. 

Non-Resident Associate Members 

Dr. Eliot F. Porter 

Sustaining Members 

Kenneth Kroehler 
Mrs. James W. Thome 

Annual Members 
Maurice J. Barron, Emery E. Bergfors, 
James B. Blaine, Barry J. Clifford, Sydney 
K. Culver, William H. DeParcq, Gilbert 
Etheredge, Peter V. Feil, Clarence E. 
Freeto, John P. Gregg, W. A. Hatfield, 
Joseph W. Hicks, Dr. William A. Hutchi- 
son, A. R. Jameson, Thomas H. Jolls, R. O. 
Ives, Roy R. Larsen, John O. Levinson, 
Ben S. Lochridge, Frank V. Lockefer, 
Charles C. Looney, Mrs. M. K. Maclntyre, 
Hugh M. Matchett, Dwight McKay, John 
M. McLaurin, Graydon Megan, Throvald 
Nielsen, Thomas L. Norton, Robey Parks, 
Morris Perlman, Allen H. Price, Harold A. 
Renholm, Adolph Ryser, Philip H. Salzman, 
E. E. Sando, Milton H. Schwartz, Grant F. 
Shay, William P. Simmons, William B. 
Traynor, Mrs. Christopher F. Turner, 
George H. Weiner. 



The sources of the world's most important 
beverages, both alcoholic and non-alcoholic, 
are illustrated in the Hall of Food Plants 
(Hall 25). 



Page 8 



CHICAGO NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM BULLETIN 



August, 19i~ 



FOOD PLANTS OF THE ANDES 

By HUGH C. CUTLER 

CURATOR OF ECONOMIC BOTANY 

Throughout the Andes the traveler finds 
remains of civilizations whose members 
often surpassed in numbers, skill, and artistic 
feeling the present population. It is difficult 
to understand how a large population could 
have existed in these lands where rainfall is 
scanty and the soil rocky and where the 
temperature frequently varies 50 degrees 
in a few hours. Here only a few edible wild 
plants grew and wild animals were scarce. 
Yet a large part of the Andes was inhabited 
by peoples who not only lived there but 
found enough time and energy to build 
monumental structures and to develop 
artistic and technical skills. 

Only the cultivation of plants especially 
adapted to the highlands enabled these 
civilizations to survive. Their skill in 
farming and in the selection of plants is 
shown by the large numbers of known 
varieties of the principal crops. In this area 
more than 400 named varieties of potatoes 
occur, and the variation within some of 
these varieties is almost as great as that in 
all the potatoes of the United States. 

We know what foods these ancient 
peoples used. In the dry western foothills 
of the Andes, remains of the actual plants 
are often dug out of the old ruins. Some- 
times these plants are found in rubbish 
heaps, together with broken pots, old 
clothes, ashes, and charcoal. Occasionally 
jars of food or seed are found. These appear 
to have been storage vessels that had been 
forgotten or abandoned. Food was often 
placed in graves. 

ARCHAEOLOGICAL TRACES 

Even where the climatic conditions were 
unfavorable for the preservation of vegetal 
material, we can occasionally find modeled 
replicas of fruits, vegetables, and seeds, or 
vessels decorated with figures of the foods. 
The best examples of vessels showing food 
plants are from the Chimu culture of north- 
western Peru. These are shown in Case 21 
in the Hall of South American Archaeology 
(Hall 9) on the first floor. The most interest- 
ing vessels are in the form of food plants 
modeled with remarkable skill and fidelity. 
These representations can be identified with 
certainty, but when the pjant is represented 
in a painting or in a design woven in cloth, 
the design is often so stylized that it is 
difficult to distinguish the plant. 

Besides the evidence left by the old 
inhabitants, we can gather some informa- 
tion on ancient foods from records left by 
the Spanish conquerors, rulers, and priests. 
The first Spaniards were mainly soldiers and 
left very few references to foods. When they 
did write about plants, they often applied 
the names they had learned in Cuba and 
Central America, and their descriptions were 
brief and often inaccurate. Some of the 
names introduced from the Caribbean area, 



such as mats (like our word "maize"), have 
spread throughout Spanish America and in 
many places replace the native word. 

More accurate records of plants and food 
habits were made when Spanish rule of the 
countries had been established. By this 
time, however, many plants had been 
introduced and later writers often could not 
determine which plants were indigenous. 

LIVE AS IN PREHISTORIC DAYS 

Many of the Indians live today as they 
did before the Spanish invasion. There is 
very little difference between the Inca vil- 
lage shown in Hall B on the ground floor and 




ANCIENT PERUVIAN GOD- 

— clothed in a cloak of maize to symbolize fertility. Statue 
in Hall of Food Plants (Hall 25). Othef similar gods and 
goddesses are represented in the Central and South 
American collections of the Department of Anthropology 
(Halls 8 and 9). 



the Indian communities of the present. The 
descendants of the Inca tribes may use metal 
points on their hoes and see airliners fly 
overhead ; yet they still live on their ancient 
foods and speak their Indian language. 
From them we can secure living plants for 
our studies and specimens for comparison 
with the prehistoric remains. 

In the highest parts of the Andes the 
principal food is the potato. The numerous 
cultivated varieties belong to several species. 
Wild potatoes are occasionally harvested 
and some of these are hard to distinguish 
from cultivated varieties. Most of these 
wild potatoes and many of the cultivated 
ones must be treated to remove a bitter 
taste. This is usually done by soaking them 
in water, letting them freeze during the cold 
nights, and then stamping out the water. 
After the potatoes are dried they can be 
stored for many years before using. The 



best dried potatoes are called 'tuntcha and 
the most common type is called chuno. 
Many potatoes, especially the larger ones, 
are eaten immediately. All potatoes taste 
insipid when they are prepared in the high- 
lands where water boils at 175 degrees, and 
several hours are needed before they are 
cooked. But if Andean potatoes are pre- 
pared near sea level or in a pressure cooker, 
some have flavor and texture superior to the 
potatoes of the United States. 

NASTURTIUMS AS FOOD 

A peculiar food plant of the Andean high- 
lands is a nasturtium with large tubers. 
Just as in the potato, there are wild species 
of nasturtium, and the difference between 
wild and cultivated ones is often very slight. 
The nasturtium we grow for flowers is also 
grown in Peru but the flowers are eaten in 
salad unless used for ornamental purposes. 

In the highlands where corn could not 
grow and in places where the soil was poor, 
a close relative of the common pigweed of 
the United States was grown. This plant, 
called quinoa, has been found in some of the 
oldest ruins on the Pacific slopes. Quinoa 
should not be confused with quinine, the 
tree whose bark is used as a preventative and 
cure for malaria. Both quinoa and quinine 
are native in the Andes. 

The importance of quinoa is diminishing 
because it is difficult to prepare and has a 
low market value. Barley replaces it on the 
better soils, provided there is sufficient 
rainfall. 

The principal food of nearly all the major 
Indian civilizations was corn. It is still the 
most important plant of the Americas and 
is grown in more varied habitats than any 
other important food. Corn is planted near 
Lake Titicaca at altitudes of 13,000 feet, on 
the lowlands near sea level, in deserts with 
ten inches of rainfall per year, and in tropi- 
cal forests with 96 inches of rainfall per year. 
Besides varieties for special climates, there 
are varieties for definite uses. One of these 
has a purple dye used for fabrics and drinks. 

CORN AS ART MOTIF 

Because corn was so important, there is 
much old pottery decorated with designs 
based on ears of corn. Small clay models, 
which were probably used as offerings to 
insure good crops, are often found. One of 
these clay models was erroneously described 
as a fossil ear of corn. This mistake is 
readily explained because some of the models 
are so accurately made that even the place 
where the silks were attached is shown. 
For many years the clay model was con- 
sidered a real fossil but finally when cut 
open was found to be only a clay rattle. 

A similar ancient clay model is exhibited 
in Case 12 of Hall 25 (Food Plants and 
Palms), together with a pottery jar made 
about 1,000 years ago in coastal Peru. 
Other cases in Hall 25 contain models of 
native American food plants in use today. 



PRINTED BY CHICAGO NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM PRESS 



Chicago Natur 

BU 



Formerly Wi/e 



History Museum 
IN 




urn News 



Published Monthly for the Museum's Membership 



Vol. 18 



SEPTEMBER, 1947 



No. 9 



SOME ANCIENT 4 DPs' 
OF NEW MEXICO 

By LEONARD G. JOHNSON 

(MEMBER OF THE MUSEUM'S ARCHAEOLOGICAL 
EXPEDITION TO THE SOUTHWEST, 1947) 

Five thousand years ago the primitive 
Cochise Indians of southern Arizona packed 
their few possessions 
and moved north far 
into New Mexico. It 
apparently was not a 
political displacement 
but, rather, an eco- 
nomic one. "This 
movement was due to 
the rain-gods' lack 
of co-operation," says 
Dr. Paul S. Martin, 
Chief Curator of 
Anthropology and 
leader of the Mu- 
seum's Archaeological 
Expedition to the 
Southwest, which is 
still in the field. 

The erosion that 
has done and is con- 
tinuing to do so much 
damage throughout 
the Southwest has 
been quietly working 
for the archaeologists 
during the last fifty 
years. It has revealed 
a camp site that thou- 
sands of years ago 
had been the stamp- 
ing grounds of the 
ancient Cochise Indians, who, forced to 
leave Arizona for lack of water, had jour- 
neyed hundreds of miles before finding a 
small permanent stream in the mountains 
of west central New Mexico. How long they 
stayed in the vicinity of Wet Leggett 
Canyon, ten miles from what is now Reserve, 
New Mexico, nobody knows, for all that 
remains of these Indians is a few stone tools, 
so crude that the layman would have a hard 
time distinguishing them from ordinary 
river boulders. 

On their way to the Museum and soon 
to be placed on exhibition are the grinding 
stones, choppers, scrapers, and arrowheads 
of these people. All else that may have 



played an important part in the life of these 
early Indians is lost forever. Only stone 
was able to resist the ravages of time and 
weather. 

The few stone tools, regarded by the 
expedition personnel as the oldest and most 
important Indian find made by the Museum 




SCENE ON THE •DIG,' ARCHAEOLOGICAL EXPEDITION TO THE SOUTHWEST, 1947 

Members of the expedition in Wet Leggett Canyon near Reserve, New Mexico, excavating the ancient 

implements that revealed the presence of a tribe of "displaced persons" that came from Arizona some 

5,000 years ago. (Museum Expedition photo.) 



in many years, were dated geologically 
through the old gravel beds in which the 
artifacts were found. They were embedded 
six feet below the surface in very hard, 
cement-like material. With a combination 
of good luck and years of experience, Mr. 
E. B. Sayles, of the University of Arizona 
and Arizona State Museum, and Dr. John 
Rinaldo, Assistant in Archaeology at the 
Chicago Museum, authorities on ancient 
man in the New World, discovered this 
material. 

"Although Cochise material has been 
found in southern Arizona, this is the first 
indication of these people in New Mexico," 
(Continued on page 8, col. 1) 



MICRONESIA EXPEDITION 
COMPLETES WORK 

By ALEXANDER SPOEHR 

CURATOR OF OCEANIC ETHNOLOGY 
AND LEADER OF THE EXPEDITION 

The 1947 Ethnological Expedition to the 
Marshall Islands in Micronesia marked the 
return of the Museum 
to active field work in 
the anthropology of 
the Pacific. The Mu- 
seum has maintained 
a long-standing inter- 
est in the study of 
Pacific peoples, dating 
back to the early 
years of the century. 
The 1947 expedition 
to the Marshall Is- 
lands has just com- 
pleted its field season. 
The following is a pre- 
view of its results. 

In addition to their 
basic theoretical im- 
portance, anthropo- 
logical studies in that 
part of the Pacific 
islands known as 
Micronesia have to- 
day an added signifi- 
cance. Micronesia en- 
compasses the islands 
of the former Japanese 
mandate. At the close 
of hostilities with Ja- 
pan, the United States 
was in possession of 
these islands, and at present has assumed the 
responsibility for the administration of the 
native peoples of the area under an agree- 
ment with the United Nations. Yet our 
knowledge of the Micronesians is either non- 
existent or inadequate. 

Both for purposes of sound administration 
and for the formation of an intelligent public 
opinion in this country regarding the islands 
and their inhabitants it is essential that a 
well organized, up-to-date body of scientific 
information be available. It is the job of 
the professional anthropologist to provide 
this information. 

Micronesia — the land of small islands — is 
composed of three principal groups: the 



Page 2 



CHICAGO NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM BULLETIN 



September, 1H7 




YACHTLIKE MARSHALLESE OUTRIGGER 

CANOE 

(Museum Expedition photo) 

Marshall Islands, the Caroline Islands, 
including the Palaus, and the Marianas. 
The Oceanic zone over which these islands 
are scattered is larger than the United 
States, but the total land area is only about 
1,000 square miles. The Marshall Islands 
themselves are composed of thirty-four low- 
lying coral atolls and islands covering nearly 
375,000 square miles, but with a combined 
land area of only 75 square miles. The 
population of the Marshalls totals approxi- 
mately 11,000. In racial characteristics, 
the Marshallese are probably an early 
hybrid mixture, primarily of Caucasoid and 
Mongoloid elements, and are closely related 
both racially and culturally to the Poly- 
nesians of the vast island area to the east. 

The work of the Museum expedition was 
concentrated at one atoll — Majuro. Majuro 
is a typical coral atoll — a ring of narrow 
islands and coral reef surrounding a clear 
blue lagoon that is approximately twenty- 
one miles long and from three to six miles 
across. To the Marshall islander, the lagoon 
is almost as much a part of his home atoll 
as the land itself. No more typical sight 
exists in the Marshalls than a cleanly 
designed outrigger canoe with its lateen 
sail billowing in the wind as it cuts through 
the sparkling waters of the lagoon. 

Although Majuro was the scene of a major 
wartime Pacific base, the atoll fortunately 
escaped bombardment, and most of the 
land area remained free of the severe dis- 
ruptions caused by base-building. The 
vegetation consists primarily of coconut 
palms, pandanus, breadfruit, and a few 
tropical hardwoods, together with low brush 
and grasses. Although Majuro is only seven 
degrees north of the equator, the northeast 
trade wind tempers the tropical climate. 
There is no malaria, and the people are 
healthy and happy. 

The principal village is located on the 
atoll's largest island, called also by the name 
of Majuro. Here there lives a community 
of a little more than a thousand people. 



The houses of the villagers are scattered 
for a distance of two miles along the well- 
kept main road that stretches along the 
length of the island just back of the lagoon 
shore. Secondary roads also cross the island 
to the ocean side. 

In the interior of the island and on the 
ocean shore there are also houses, but the 
lagoon shore location is on the windward 
side of the island, is cooler, and is preferred. 
The houses formerly were of thatch, but 
today the people have switched to modest 
homes constructed of sawed lumber, in large 
part salvaged from the former Navy base 
across the lagoon. 

Public buildings in the village include a 
meeting house, a dispensary manned by a 
Marshallese medical practitioner, and a 
large well-built church. In addition, two 
co-operative stores partially fulfill the desire 
of the villagers for imported trade goods — 
such as needles, thread, cloth, canned 
meats, fish hooks, soap, and kerosene. 

PURPOSE OF THE FIELD WORK 

The field work was conducted at this 
village. What was the purpose of the 
expedition in coming to Majuro, and what 
was the aim of the anthropologist in carry- 
ing on his studies there? 

Although the Marshallese were the subject 
of anthropological inquiry some forty years 
ago, Marshallese society and culture have 
changed greatly in the past four decades. 
Today the Marshallese cannot in any way 
be considered as a native people untouched 
by contact with the West. They wear 
Western-style clothes, are largely Christian- 
ized, build Western-style houses, and are 
familiar with the movies (shown at the 
Navy ships and stations) and popular songs 
of America. 

Yet there remains a core of Marshallese 
culture that stems directly from native 
tradition, and modified though it may be, 
it is essentially Marshallese rather than 
Western. The question therefore arises as 
to how these culture elements of old and new 
have blended to form Marshallese culture of 
today. And what are the distinguishing 
characteristics not of Marshallese society as 
it once was, but as it is at the present 
moment? These were the questions that 
guided the work in the field. 

The limitations of time made it necessary 
to concentrate effort at a single village, and 
considerations of transportation, communi- 
cation, and supply led to the selection of 
Majuro as a type village for study. 

What were the results of the field work? 
Space allows only a brief summary here. 
A full report will be issued in the Museum's 
scientific series. 

The economic basis of Marshallese life 
still revolves around the old products of 
land and sea — the coconut, pandanus, 
breadfruit, taro, and fish. These provide 
the staples in the diet and the raw materials 
of handicraft. The principal change in the 



economic life is the development of trade 
relations with the outside world. Beginning 
with the German administration of the 
Marshalls prior to World War I, and becom- 
ing more marked under the Japanese 
thereafter, the Marshalls were drawn into 
the orbit of international trade. Although 
their resources were strictly limited, the 
Marshallese exported copra and woven 
pandanus mats and other handicraft in 
exchange for cloth, needles, thread, sewing 
machines, sugar, flour, rice, canned meat, 
fishing tackle, and a variety of manufactured 
products on which they have come to 
depend. 

Associated with this development of 
foreign trade was the establishment of a 
money economy in trade relations with the 
outside world. On the other hand, within 
the village a system of gift exchange of 
goods and services, stemming from old 
economic practices, still prevails. 

The Marshallese also continue to main- 
tain a feudal class system of kings, nobles, 
and commoners, although class distinctions 
based on birth alone have been greatly 
modified and weakened in recent years. 
The system continues to survive largely 
because it is so closely tied to practices of 
land use and ownership. Land is the limited 
resource, and a complicated set of usages 
exists, defining the respective rights of kings, 
nobles, and commoners to the ownership of 
land and to its fruits. 

CLAN SYSTEM CONTINUES 

In most small communities the ties of 
kinship are widely extended and regulate 
much of social life. The Marshallese are 
no exception. The old clan system con- 




MARSHALL ISLANDER BUILDING 

FISHTRAP 

(Museum Expedition photo) 

tinues to exist. One belongs to the clan 
of one's mother, and everyone in one's own 
clan is considered a relative. Kinship ties 
are economically important, in that most 
co-operative groups are drawn from the 
(Continued on page 8, col. S) 



September, 19^7 



CHICAGO NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM BULLETIN 



Page 3 



SCHOOLS WITHIN THE MUSEUM: ELEMENTARY TO UNIVERSITY 



By H. B. HARTE 

PUBLIC RELATIONS COUNSEL 

WITH the arrival of September 
and the opening of the 
autumn term in grade schools, high 
schools, and colleges, it is appro- 
priate to review some of the con- 
tributions of this Museum in the 
field of direct education. These 
activities constantly are being ex- 
panded. 

Education, of course, is a year-around 
activity of the Museum. The millions of 




Phoio courtesy Chicago Daily Times 

MEET THE RAYMOND LECTURE STAFF. 
Daily in the newspapers and monthly in the 
Museum Bulletin appear the names of these young 
women and their lecture subjects. Left to right: 
Marie Svoboda, Winona Cosner, Lorain Farmer, 
June Buchwald. Miriam Wood, Chief of the Ray- 
mond Foundation, is pointing to Chicago map 
indicating hundreds of schools for outside lecture 
assignments. Two other lecturers, Roberta Cald- 
well and Marie Pabst, were away when picture 
was taken for a recent newspaper "spread.** 

visitors who come into its halls are moti- 
vated, for the most part, solely by the desire 
for recreation. Nevertheless, they can 
scarcely avoid adding something to their 
own education as they view exhibits and 
read the accompanying labels. The absorp- 
tion of knowledge in this manner, which 
probably takes place without conscious 
realization by most of those who come here, 
is an important educational process. 

It is this educational effect through its 
recreational facilities that people in general 
are inclined to regard as the only function 
of the Museum. It is not widely enough 
recognized that there are two other primary 
lines of activity: (a) the extensive and 
important research program in many fields, 
conducted by the scientific staff in offices 
and laboratories hidden away from the 
public on the third and fourth floors of the 



Museum and by expeditions in the field; 
(b) a vast direct education program reaching 
hundreds of thousands of grade-school 
children and thousands of high-school and 
college students and adults in which the 
Museum functions as actual classroom or 
part of the campus. 

Principal direct-education activities are: 

/. Raymond Foundation 

Varied and comprehensive are the activi- 
ties of the James Nelson and Anna Louise 
Raymond Foundation, whose staff of seven 



by a $500,000 endowment, plus accretions, 
established by Mrs. James Nelson Raymond. 
The seven young women who compose the 
staff of the Raymond Foundation organize 
their lectures by consultation with members 
of the scientific staff, by surveys of Museum 
materials, and by studies in the Museum 
Library. Thus fully prepared, they conduct 
groups of school children on tours of the 
Museum exhibits. They go out into the 
schools of Chicago with slides and occasion- 
ally with motion picture films to present 
lectures in classrooms and school assembly 



"AND THEY LIVED 

30 MILLION YEARS 

AGO!" 

Roberta Caldwell 

of Raymond Foundation 

staff tells story of 

prehistoric three'toed 

horse (Mesohippus) to 

children spellbound by 

Museum restoration. 




lecturers gives natural-history lessons to 
about 115,000 grade-school children and 
high-school students in an average year. 
The work of the Foundation is supported 




Photo couttesy Chicago Daily Times 

RAYMOND FOUNDATION GIRLS don't lee- 
ture all day, but they're kept busy in between. 
Here Lorain Farmer is drawing picture on stencil 
with stylus and mimeoscope for mimeographed 
"handout" to guide study group of children in 
Museum; Winona Cosner offers suggestions. 



halls. They prepare sheets of questions 
and suggested activities concerning Museum 
exhibits for groups of children visiting the 
Museum. For these, they draw their own 
illustrations and print the texts and pictures 
by means of mimeoscope and mimeograph, 
sometimes in several colors. They also 
write "Museum Stories for Children," 
which are published by the Museum Press 
and distributed free of charge to children 
at the Raymond Foundation's spring and 
autumn series of free Saturday motion 
picture programs in Simpson Theatre. 

In addition to the work directly with 
children, Raymond Foundation staff mem- 
bers occasionally conduct nature courses 
for Boy and Girl Scout leaders, camp 
counselors, and school teachers, and special 
classes for advanced school pupils. In 
such courses they use Museum specimens 
for demonstration, on occasion even han- 
dling live snakes. Occasionally they may 
go on field trips within the Chicago area to 
collect specimens to illustrate lectures. 

2. Adult Education 

Some museums, particularly in the East 
and abroad, employ "docents" to conduct 
visitors on tours of their exhibits. Some 
museums have guides in uniform, whose 
bearing is all too reminiscent of the man 
with the megaphone on the sightseeing 
buses and whose memorized unvarying 



Page i 



CHICAGO NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM BULLETIN 



September, 19i7 




Photo courteiy Chicago Daily News 



"MUSEUM DAY" AT A SCHOOL. In each of nearly 500 Chicago schools— public, parochial, and 
private— children greet the N. W. Harris Extension truck bringing them a .change of traveling exhibits 
every two weeks. Thus about 500,000 children are reached repeatedly throughout the school year. 



"lecture" also too often recalls the busman's 
stereotyped "spiel." 

Chicago Natural History Museum em- 
ploys neither "docents" nor uniformed 
lecturers. Instead, it has hit upon what is 
thought to be the happiest solution of all. 
It has searched the universities and colleges 
to select young women who combine major 
achievement in the natural sciences with 
charm and the ability to speak informally 
and spontaneously. These young women 
meet their audiences as hostesses represent- 
ing the Museum and, because their lectures 
follow an informal, conversational plan 
instead of a memorized set form, visitors 
may interrupt to ask questions or make 
remarks, as they would at a social gathering. 

This gives to Museum guide-lectures a 
tone and quality not obtainable in any other 
way. It does not imply, however, any 
superficiality. On the contrary, each of the 
young women is a specialist in at least one 
field — anthropology, botany, geology, or 
zoology — as well as being equipped to 
impart information in any or all of them. 
As a result, countless visitors have com- 
mented, delightedly, on the difference 
between a guide-lecture tour as provided 
at this Museum and the usual sort of guid- 
ance and lecture offered in connection with 
most tourist attractions. 

Another adult education activity of the 
Museum, one with which most Members 
of the institution are familiar, is the Satur- 
day afternoon lecture courses in the Simpson 
Theatre in the Autumn and Spring. 



3. The N. W. Harris Public School 
Extension 

This is the department that takes the 
Museum right into the schools — the birds 
and small mammals and insects; the rocks 
and minerals and meteorites; the flowers, 
and the vegetable products upon which man 
largely depends for food and clothing. This 
is done by means of traveling exhibits of 
natural history and economic subjects, 
which on a small scale resemble the larger 
exhibits within the Museum itself. 

Harris Extension cases are sent to practi- 
cally every public, parochial, and special 
school in Chicago — approximately 500 of 



them — on a regular schedule: two cases at a 
time, with changes each two weeks, through- 
out the school year. In this way, some 
500,000 children are reached, and reached 
repeatedly. The cases are used as school cor- 
ridor and classroom displays, where the 
children may independently make observa- 
tions, and in connection with classes engaged 
in nature study, biology, and related 
subjects. 

There are about 1,100' traveling exhibits 
in circulation. New ones are constantly in 
preparation by the preparators in the Harris 
Extension laboratories. Many of the cases 
are small dioramas with colored photo- 
graphic or painted scenic backgrounds. 

The work is supported by a special endow- 
ment set up by the late Norman Wait Harris 
and added to by his son, Mr. Albert W. 
Harris, formerly a Trustee of the Museum, 
and other members of the Harris family. 
The contributions of the Harris family total 
more than $525,000. 

4. Art Classes 

The nature research classes of the Art 
Institute of Chicago — some for grade-school 
children, some for high-school and college- 
age students, and some for adults beyond 
the formal schooling stage — use the exhibits 
and facilities of the Museum in the study of 
drawing, painting, sculpture, and ceramics. 
The Art Institute groups have been provided 
with their own classroom in the Museum 
building. After lectures there from their 
instructors (members of the School of the 
Art Institute faculty who accompany them 
here), they disperse throughout the exhibi- 
tion halls with sketchboards and easels. 

5. Co-operation With Universities 

(and Museology Class) 

Most of the universities and colleges in 
the Chicago area send classes and their 
instructors to the Museum to use the 
exhibits and study collections in connection 
with such studies as geology, paleontology, 
zoology, botany, anthropology. The Uni- 



NATURE CLASS 

USES TRAVELING 

HARRIS EXTENSION 

EXHIBIT OF BATS 

From study of specimens 
in case, children have 

made drawing of bat wing 
on blackboard at left. 



Photo by John. T. Newell, 
Chicago Board ol Educatio 




September, 191,7 



CHICAGO NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM BULLETIN 



Page 5 




STUDENTS OF THREE SCHOOLS OF HIGHER LEARNING USE MUSEUM FACILITIES 



(Upper left) John Pletinckx, Ceramic Restorer in Department of Anthro- 
pology, instructs Marie Esther Hermitte, who came from Argentina to join 
University of Chicago muscology class, in method of piecing together frag- 
ments of ancient pottery. (Lower left) Two of the students in one of the 
adult classes sent to the Museum by the School of the Art Institute of 



Chicago, sketching animals in an exhibition hall. (Upper and lower right) 
"Work-Earn-and-Learn" students from Antioch College, Yellow Springs, 
Ohio. They alternate periods of formal study on the campus with periods 
of working for salaries. Lucille Hanford catalogues the birds' egg collection. 
Donald Stoops works as an assistant in the chemical laboratory for Geology. 



versity of Chicago and Northwestern 
University, in particular, make wide use of 
these facilities. 

An especially interesting division of this 
work is the University of Chicago's course 
in museology. This is composed of students, 
frequently including some from foreign 
countries, who are preparing themselves for 
life careers as curators, museum artisans, 
and museum directors. Three days a week 
are spent on the university campus in the 
usual arts and science courses of a university 
curriculum; two days a week the classes are 
held in the Museum, with members of the 
Museum staff as instructors. Laboratory 



requirements include actual work in the 
study and preparation of Museum specimens 
under the supervision of Museum people. 
During the course, the students are brought 
into contact with the personnel and methods 
employed in the operation of almost every 
division of the Museum — the scientific 
departments and such divisions as business 
administration, membership, publicity. 

6. The "Study-Work-and-Eam" Group 

This, the most recent direct-education 
program of the Museum, consists of a small 
group of students from Antioch College in 
Yellow Springs, Ohio. All students at that 



college divide their school year between 
periods of formal classroom work on the 
campus and periods of on-the-job training, 
with pay, in various types of businesses and 
in institutions all over the country. This 
Museum provides a few such positions for 
young men and women interested in its 
field, in which the students are actually on 
the Museum payroll. When one group goes 
back to the campus in Ohio, another group 
is sent to the Museum to replace those 
students in their jobs. Some of the students 
are employed in the scientific departments 
and some in the administrative offices of 
the Museum, in junior capacities. 



Page 6 



CHICAGO NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM BULLETIN 



September, 191,7 



Chicago Natural History Museum 

Founded by Marshall Field, 1893 

Roosevelt Road and Lake Shore Drive, Chicago 5 

Telephone: WABash 9410 



THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES 

Lester Armour Marshall Field, Jr. 

Sewell L. Avery Stanley Field 

W. McCormick Blair Samuel Insull, Jr. 

Leopold E. Block Henry P. Isham 

Boardman Conover Hughston M. McBain 

Walter J. Cummings William H. Mitchell 

Albert B. Dick, Jr. Clarence B. Randall 

Howard W. Fenton George A. Richardson 

Joseph N. Field Solomon A. Smith 

Marshall Field Albert H. Wetten 
John P. Wilson 

OFFICERS 

Stanley Field President 

Marshall Field First Vice-President 

Albert B. Dick, Jr Second Vice-President 

Samuel Insull, Jr Third Vice-President 

Solomon A. Smith Treasurer 

Clifford C. Gregg Director and Secretary 

John R. Millar Assistant Secretary 

THE BULLETIN 

EDITOR 
Clifford C. Gregg Director of the Museum 

CONTRIBUTING EDITORS 

Paul S. Martin Chief Curator of Anthropology 

Theodor Just Chief Curator of Botany 

Sharat K. Roy Chief Curator of Geology 

Karl P. Schmidt Chief Curator of Zoology 

MANAGING EDITOR 
H. B. Harte Public Relations Counsel 



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



LIBRARY RECLASSIFICATION 

The Board of Trustees has approved the 
project of reclassifying and recataloguing 
the Museum Library according to the 
Library of Congress Classification as rapidly 
as possible. The reasons for adopting this 
classification in preference to continuing 
with the Library's own scheme are several: 
The L.C. scheme has been developed by 
specialists in classification for actual applica- 
tion to a large collection of books; it is com- 
prehensive, expansive, flexible, and practi- 
cal; emanating as it does from a growing 
library, it is undergoing continuous ampli- 
fication and revision; the fact that it is the 
classification scheme of our "national 
library" insures its continued development. 

A great deal of attention has been given 
the problem of cataloguing costs. By 
adopting the L.C. Classification and cata- 
loguing practice substantially without 
change, the Museum Library will be able 
to utilize the bibliographical work performed 
by the Library of Congress Processing 
Division. Eventually, this will result in 
economy of time and effort on the part of 
the staff and will permit greater attention 
to be given to other phases of the Library's 
activity. 



tionaux du Congo Beige. The latter groun 
contains the published results of the work 
of the several expeditions sponsored by 
the institute. 



STAFF NOTES 



Mr. Karl P. Schmidt, Chief Curator of 
Zoology, and Mr. John W. Winn, Assistant 
Curator of Fishes, as well as Mr. Loren P. 
Woods, Curator of Fishes (on leave of 
absence), attended the meetings of the 
American Society of Ichthyologists and 
Herpetologists at Higgins Lake, Michigan. 
Mr. Woods presented an account of the coral 
reef fishes of the Bikini Atoll, on which he is 
working under the direction of Dr. L. P. 
Schultz at the United States National 
Museum. Mr. Schmidt presented com- 
mittee reports as representative of the 
society to the National Research Council. 
. . . Mr. Philip Hershkovitz, Assistant 
Curator of Mammals, and Mr. Luis de la 
Torre, temporary assistant, attended the 
meetings of the American Society of Mam- 
malogists, August 25 to 27. . . . Dr. Fritz 
Haas, Curator of Lower Invertebrates, 
reports a very cordial reception at the 
Bermuda Biological Station for Research, 
where he has been joined by Mr. Joseph B. 
Krstolich, artist. Dr. Haas reports condi- 
tions for study of the marine fauna extremely 
favorable. . . . Mr. Samuel H. Grove, 
Jr. has been appointed a preparator in the 
plant reproduction laboratories of the 
Department of Botany, and Mr. Harold 
Hinshaw has been appointed assistant in 
the Herbarium. 



Ecuador Botanist at Museum 

For several weeks the Museum will be 
host to one of Ecuador's foremost scientists, 
Professor M. Acosta Solis, Director of the 
Ecuadorian Institute of Natural Sciences 
at Quito. Mr. Solis, who has made detailed 
studies of the vegetation of Ecuador and 
who recently gave the herbarium the largest 
collection of Ecuadorian plants ever received 
by this or any other institution, will be 
writing labels for the thousands of specimens 
so that they will be available for study and 
eventual insertion in the herbarium. 



Change in Visiting Hours 

On September 2, the day after Labor Day, 
autumn visiting hours, 9 a.m. to 5 P.M., go 
into effect at the Museum, continuing until 
October 31. 



PEIPING— SPECIAL EXHIBIT 
OF PHOTOS, SEPT. 1-30 

"Peiping," a photographic exhibition pre- 
pared by the editors of Life magazine, will 
be placed on view at the Museum from 
September 1 to 30, inclusive. The pictures 
in the exhibit are devoted primarily to 
Peiping architecture and, although based 
on a photographic essay that recently 
appeared in the magazine, they include 
many not hitherto published. 

The photographs were made by Mr. 
Dmitri Kessel, a Life staff photographer, 
during an assignment in the Far East. Mr. 
Kessel spent many weeks photographing 
the Chinese city's unique and beautiful 
architecture, which had suffered little from 
the hands of the Japanese during the war. 
Of the subject, the editors say: "The history 
of China's ancient capital began more than a 
thousand years before Christ. For cen- 
turies, its palaces and temples have been 
many times built, destroyed, rebuilt again. 
And although most of its present-day 
monuments go no further back than the 
15th century, Peiping still stands, one of 
the great architectural cities of the world." 

The exhibit will be on display in the south 
half of Stanley Field Hall. There are twenty- 
five panels, 28"x38". In some instances, an 
entire panel is devoted to a single photo- 
graph, such as a superb view of the rooftops 
of the Forbidden City or the Inner Starry 
Wicket Gate to the Altar of Heaven. 



The Library's collection of material on 
the Belgian Congo has been considerably 
strengthened by the receipt of a large block 
of publications of the Institut Royal Colonial 
Beige and of the Institut des Pares Na- 



Interesting to all readers of Robinson 
Crusoe and other tales of adventure on 
"desert islands" is the breadfruit tree. An 
exhibit of breadfruit is a feature of Martin A. 
and Carrie Ryerson Hall (Hall 29). 



GIFTS TO THE MUSEUM 

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

Department of Anthropology: 

From: Major Wang Ching-Yien, Chanute 
Field, Rantoul, 111. — a rubbing from inscrip- 
tion on stone monument, T'ang dynasty, 
a.d. 841, China. 

Department of Botany: 

From: Dr. Hugh C. Cutler, Chicago— 39 
herbarium specimens, Bolivia and Cuba; 
Dr. Henry Field, Thomasville, Ga.— 18 
specimens of fungi, Georgia. 
Department of Geology: 

From: C. M. Barber, Flint, Mich. — speci- 
mens of Plesiosaur, Arkansas. 

Department of Zoology: 

From: Robert Guillaudeu, Chicago — 17 
frogs, lizards, and snakes, Illinois and 
Indiana; Lt. John F. Kurfess, Warrington, 
Fla. — 34 snakes, Florida; J. E. Johnson, Jr., 
and John Sparks, Waco, Texas — 232 snakes, 
frogs, lizards, salamanders, and turtles, 
Texas. 

Library: 

From: Margaret Conover, Stanley Field, 
and Eugene S. Richardson, Jr., all of Chi- 
cago; Henry Field, Thomasville, Ga.; Henry 
C. Hitt, Seattle; A. W. Jessep, Melbourne, 
Australia; National Research Council, 
Ottawa, Canada. 

Raymond Foundation: 

From: Charles Albee Howe, Homewood, 
111.— 334 color slides. 



September, 19U7 



CHICAGO NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM BULLETIN 



Page 7 




ECONOMIC GEOLOGIST 
APPOINTED TO STAFF 

Mr. Robert Kriss Wyant has been 
appointed to the staff of the Museum as 
Assistant Curator of 
Economic Geology 
and is scheduled to 
begin his duties 
September 1. 

Mr. Wyant is a 
graduate of the Uni- 
versity of New Mex- 
ico, where he majored 
in geology and chem- 
istry and earned his 
R. K. wyant bachelor of science 

degree. Since then 
he has engaged in post-graduate work at 
the University of Chicago and has com- 
pleted most of the requirements toward a 
doctorate. ' 

In 1939-40 he was a chemist on the staff 
of the United States Geological Survey at 
Albuquerque, Mew Mexico, working on 
ground-water problems in that area. From 
1941 to 1945, he was a production chemist 
with Todd and Brown, Inc., where his work 
was concerned with explosives manufactured 
by that company for the war services. He 
is a member of the American Institute of 
Mining and Metallurgical Engineers. 



Books 



(All books reviewed in the Bulletin are 
available in The Book Shop of the Museum. 
Mail orders accompanied by remittance are 
promptly filled— The Book Shop pays the 
postage on shipments.) 

Logbook for Grace (Whaling Brig Daisy, 
1912-13). By Robert Cushman Murphy. 
The Macmillan Company, New York, 
1947. 290 pages, 4 figures, 2 maps. 
Price $4. 

The half-brig Daisy was a New Bedford 
whaler going south in 1912 for the oil of 
sperm whales in the Atlantic and of sea 
elephants on the island of South Georgia. 
The skipper was from Martha's Vineyard, 
and most of the crew of more than thirty 
men were from the West India or Cape 
Verde islets. The whole crew had this in 
common — they were all islanders, "which 
is in keeping with the whaling tradition 
because boatmen are more important than 
mere sailors." 

Murphy, too, was an islander, from Long 
Island, New York. He shipped as assistant 
navigator, a berth usually reserved for the 
skipper's wife, but his duties were those of 
museum naturalist. His interest was in the 
animals of the sea. For the American 
Museum of Natural History he skinned 
birds, pickled squids and cleaned skeletons, 
and made as complete collections and studies 



of the life of the sea and the islands visited 
as one man could do. 

Dr. Murphy is now chairman of the 
Department of Birds of the American 
Museum and the outstanding authority on 
oceanic birds. His major work is a classic, 
the two-volume Oceanic Birds of South 
America (1936). But when this story opens 
he's recently out of Brown University, 
recently married to the "Grace" of the 
title, and about to start on an eleven-month 
voyage in the Daisy. 

The tale is from his diary, his logbook, 
written daily to tell his wife what he saw 
and felt, to help bridge the gap in time and 
space, and to assuage his nostalgia. It's a 
human story, of pride and pleasure in 
accomplishment, of the drag of empty days 
in the doldrums, of the life of a free-running 
ship, and of the quick passage of crowded 
days. 

It's a human story of the weather, rain- 
bows, and storms; of the Atlantic as flat as 
a silver disk and with great waves running; 
of ice fields and green tussocks and beaches 
of South Georgia; of whales and whaling 
and sealing, and how the whales spout and 
what the seals feed on; of albatross and skua, 
and the petrels that swarm in the far south, 
and the penguins that always run from the 
sea when danger threatens; of the Portu- 
guese man-o'-war, of a glimpse of the 
convict settlement of Fernando Noronho, 
and of incipient scurvy; of the daily life on 
a whaler and of comments on Shakespeare 
and Dante and Bunyan; and of the author's 
anxiety to finish his job and be home with 
his loved one. 

It's an intimate story, combining travel 
and observation with a love story and much 
good writing. It's a book to be read and 
cherished. 

Austin L. Rand 
Curator of Birds 



Geology Expedition in East 

Dr. Sharat K. Roy, Chief Curator of 
Geology, and Mr. Harry E. Changnon, 
Assistant Curator of Geology, began an 
expedition by automobile in various eastern 
states last month to collect representative 
ores, physical geology specimens, and certain 
types of rocks required for the Museum 
collections. A special effort will be made 
by the Eastern States Geological Expedition 
to obtain specimens of ores with charac- 
teristic features from which the mode of 
origin of the ores may be interpreted. Many 
of these specimens will be used in the 
Economic Geology Hall, where exhibits are 
now being installed; others will be added 
to the geology study collections. Much of 
the time will be spent in the Adirondack 
region and its mines, an excellent area in 
which to obtain certain types of ores as 
well as physical geology specimens that 
display effects of the forces involved in 
mountain building and rock metamorphism. 



SCREEN LECTURES ADDED 
TO TOUR SCHEDULES 

Beginning with the program (below) for 
September, a new feature has been added 
to the guide-lecture tours that are presented 
daily except Sunday. The Friday lecture 
tours, which are on special subjects, hence- 
forth will open with an introductory lecture 
in the new meeting room on the second floor 
of the Museum. Here the guide-lecturers 
will give a preliminary talk usually illus- 
trated with lantern slides, and in some cases 
with motion picture films and with speci- 
mens of material that can be inspected at 
close range or handled by the audience. 

The tours will continue to be conducted 
at 2 o'clock in the afternoon. On Mondays, 
Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays, gen- 
eral tours are given, covering all depart- 
ments. Special subjects are offered on 
Wednesdays and Fridays. A schedule of 
these follows: 

Wed., Sept. 3— School Bells Ring Again 
(June Buchwald). 

Fri., Sept. 5 — Story of Mountains. Illus- 
trated introduction in Meeting Room 
(Winona Cosner). 

Wed., Sept. 10 — Smokes and Smokers — 
Tobacco and Its Uses (Marie Svoboda). 

Fri., Sept. 12 — Amoeba to Ape. Illustrated 
introduction in Meeting Room (Lorain 
Farmer). 

Wed., Sept. 17— Story of Gem Stones 
(Winona Cosner). 

Fri., Sept. 19— Fibers, Feathers, and Furs 
— Materials Used in Clothing. Illustrated 
introduction in Meeting Room (Marie 
Svoboda). 

Wed., Sept. 24 — Animals of Legend and 
Fable (Lorain Farmer). 

Fri., Sept. 26 — Indian America (Indian 
Day). Illustrated introduction in Meet- 
ing Room (June Buchwald). 

There will be no lecture tour on Septem- 
ber 1, because of the Labor Day holiday, 
but the Museum will be open to visitors 
from 9 A.M. to 6 p.m. 



Technical Publications Issued 

The following technical publications were 
recently issued by Chicago Natural History 
Museum: 

Fieldiana— Zoology, Vol. 32, No. 2. Cata- 
logue of North American Beetles of the 
Family Chridae. By Albert B. Wolcott. 
June 12, 1947. 48 pages. $0.75. 

Fieldiana— Zoology, Vol. 32> No. 3. Cata- 
logue of Type Specimens of Fishes in 
Chicago Natural History Museum. By 
Marion Grey. June 27, 1947. 100 pages, 
24 text figures. $1.25. 

Fieldiana: Zoology, Vol. 31, No. 18. Two 
New Beetles from Costa Rica and Australia, 
with a description of a New Genus (Cole- 
oplera, Cleridae). By Albert B. Wolcott 
and Henry S. Dybas. July 31, 1947. 
6 pages, 3 text figures. 



Page 8 



CHICAGO NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM BULLETIN 



September, 19i7 



ANCIENT 'DPs' 

(Continued from page 1 ) 
says Dr. Martin. But almost as important 
as the actual discovery was the dating of 
the site. How long ago had these imple- 
ments been left by the side of the ancient 
stream? 

In hope of a solution to this problem, 
Dr. Martin called on Dr. Ernst Antevs, of 
Globe, Arizona, a student of the Ice Age 
and of the climates of the past, formerly of 
the Harvard faculty and the Carnegie 
Institution, Washington, D.C. Dr. Antevs 
came at once, for not only an interesting 
geological problem was at hand — here was a 
claim that the Cochise Indians had ventured 
far north into the mountainous regions of 
western New Mexico. Mr. Sayles and Dr. 
Antevs had worked many years in Arizona 
trying to unravel the history of these ancient 
Indians in that state. 

The information gleaned by Dr. Antevs 
from the arroyo walls wove a fascinating 
story. The erosion and the gravel beds 
correspond to those in other regions of the 
Southwest and indicated an extremely dry 
period lasting from 8,000 to 4,000 years ago. 

"The country was a lot drier then than 
it is now," says Dr. Antevs, "and now there 
is only fourteen inches of rainfall per year — 
if the rain-gods are merciful. During this 
ancient drought little vegetation could 
survive; the rain, when it did fall, ran off 
rapidly over the hard, bare ground, leaving 
it scarred with erosion channels. Soils and 
silts were washed away and the stream bed 
became paved with gravel and boulders." 

DRIVEN BY DROUGHT 

Dr. Antevs, Dr. Martin, Mr. Sayles, and 
Dr. Rinaldo all agree that it was because of 
drought and need of water that these pre- 
historic Indians strayed into the mountains 
of New Mexico. It was the drought that 
drove them up Wet Leggett Canyon to the 
small, permanent spring that flowed there. 
But the erosion that uncovered the stone 
tools of these Indians to the archaeological 
eye was begun by cattle-grazing in the period 
around 1870 or 1880, thus reproducing the 
conditions that existed several thousand 
years ago. 

Now with geological and archaeological 
evidence the antiquity of these stone tools 
is virtually assured. The total lack of 
pottery, the apparent absence of houses, 
the crudity of the tools, and the geological 
occurrence indicate the great age of the 
material. But, further, the grinding stones, 
the choppers, the scrapers, and the arrow- 
heads enable the archaeologist to appraise 
with reasonable certainty the type of life 
these ancient Indians led. 

It was a life of hunting, seed gathering, 
and constant moving in search of game and 
water. The habitable regions were restricted 
to the vicinity of springs and flowing 
streams. Most tools were left at the camp- 
ing sites, one of which has now been found 



at Wet Leggett spring. Possessions were 
few and life was hard and insecure. 

Had it not been for the devastating 
erosion and the persistency of the archae- 
ologist's search for early man in the New 
World, the evidence of the Cochise Indians 
might have remained an unknown chapter 
of American Indian history. 



3rd CHICAGO INTERNATIONAL 
NATURE PHOTO SHOW 

The Museum will again co-operate with 
the Nature Camera Club of Chicago in 
presenting early in 1948 the Chicago 
International Exhibition of Nature Photo- 
graphy, the third in this series of salons. 
The exhibition will be held in the Museum 
from February 1 to 28, inclusive. Entries 
may now be submitted, in care of the 
Museum. Final deadline for entries is 
January 17. The judging will take place 
on January 24 and 25. 

The exhibition will have two divisions, 
prints and color transparencies, with a fee 
of $1 in each, to be sent with the entry form 
and pictures. Contestants are limited to a 
maximum of four prints (either black-and- 
white or color) and four color transparencies. 
Forms will be available on application in 
September (foreign contributors need no 
entry form and pay no fee, due to foreign 
exchange difficulties). The forms may be 
obtained from the Museum or from the 
chairman of the exhibit, Mr. H. J. Johnson, 
1614 Adams Street, Chicago 12. 

The judges will be: Mr. L. H. Longwell, 
Associate of the Photographic Society of 
America; Mr. John R. Millar, Deputy 
Director of the Museum; Mr. Karl Plath, 
artist and Curator of Birds at Brookfield 
Zoo; Mr. Lee Smiley, a high school teacher 
of biology and photography, and Dr. 
Theodor Just, Chief Curator of Botany at 
the Museum. 

As usual, the subject matter of jentries 
will be restricted to nature, but some changes 
have been made in classifications. The 
"Scenery" classification has been changed 
to "General" to make better provision for 
the inclusion of all classes of nature photo- 
graphs that will not fit into the two pri- 
mary classifications of "Plant Life" and 
"Animal Life." The General classification 
will thus include scenery, geological forma- 
tions, frost forms, anthropological subjects 
(including archaeological sites), and miscel- 
laneous manifestations of nature. 

Color transparencies, instead of being 
grouped together as hitherto, regardless of 
subject, will be divided into the same classi- 
fications as prints: Plant Life, Animal Life, 
and General. 

Attention of readers of the Museum 
Bulletin is called to the fact that entries 
are welcome from anyone who uses a camera. 
It is not necessary to be a member either of 
the Nature Camera Club of Chicago or of 
any camera club with which it is affiliated. 



MICRONESIA 

(Continued from page 2) 
circle of relatives. Considerations of kin- 
ship also affect other aspects of life, from 
birthday parties to the selection of village 
officials, such as the magistrate. 

Finally, the Marshallese have adopted 
Christianity, in the form brought by nine- 
teenth-century missionaries, and modern 
medical practices, and are taking rapidly to 
the American type of school. Yet though 
the Marshallese have incorporated the 
Western institutions of church, hospital, and 
school into their lives, they have not 
abandoned a strong belief that the ghosts of 
the dead cause disease or that an effective 
system of education is found in the voluntary 
association of children of similar age who 
learn many of the necessary skills, manners, 
morals, and traditions through a highly 
informal, imitative process of absorption 
from their elders and relatives. 

CO-ORDINATED INVESTIGATION 

The Museum expedition to the Marshall 
Islands is part of a larger program for the 
study of Micronesian peoples. This pro- 
gram, called the Co-ordinated Investigation 
of Micronesian Anthropology, is sponsored 
by the Pacific Science Board of the National 
Research Council, and has been undertaken 
to meet the pressing need for anthropological 
information on the native peoples of 
Micronesia. 

Major scientific institutions engaged in 
anthropological research are participating 
and are sending anthropologists into the 
field. The work has been greatly facilitated 
by the assistance and co-operation of the 
Navy Department. The Museum's expedi- 
tion is the first to return from the field under 
this program. 



NEW MEMBERS 

The following persons became Members 
of the Museum during the period from 
July 16 to August 15: 

Associate Members 

Robert A. Carr, John Caleb Cushing, 
Marshall G. Sampsell, Mrs. Elmer J. 
Schafer. 

Annual Members 

Henry C. Bonfig, Charles W. Bracken, 
Mrs. Jane Marian Bradford, Mrs. Orville T. 
Bright, Richard R. Chapman, David B. 
Cheskin, Fairfax M. Cone, Samuel G. 
Creden, Dr. William L. Culpepper, Walter 
F. Dodd, W. Fred Dolke, Dr. James R. 
Downing, George F. Endicott, Joseph G. 
Fuhry, Edward H. Hanses, Mrs. Edith 
Sackett Howard, R. W. Johnson, Harry E. 
Kellogg, Charles Kratsch, Paul Levy, Eli 
Metcoff, Miss Mary Jeanette Prietsch, 
Burke B. Roche, Ralph H. Ross, Thomas P. 
Scanlan, Mrs. Herbert S. Schelly, Joseph 
Herbert Smith, Robert C. Smith, William 
Knowlton Traynor, Philip W. Vineyard, 
Mrs. Philip H. Wain, George H. Wallace, 
Albert W. Williams, H. Fred Wilson. 



Chicago Natural History Museum 

Blfif&ETIN 



Formerly 



^seum News 



Published Monthly for the Museum's Membership 



Vol. 18 



OCTOBER, 1947 



No. 10 



BEAR HUNT IN MEXICO— STORY OF MUSEUM'S GRIZZLY GROUP 



By C. M. BARBER 

The Mexican grizzly, said to be the 
smallest of the grizzlies, was named Ursus 
nelsoni by Dr. C. Hart Merriam in honor of 
E. W. Nelson. The type specimens were 
taken near Colonia Garcia, in the Mexican 
state of Chihuahua, by Hyrum A. Cluff in 
1899, and additional specimens were col- 
lected by E. W. Nelson and E. A. Goldman. 
The southern form, while not habitually 
looking for trouble like the northern ones 
described by Lewis 
and Clark in 1805, 
would really fight on 
the proper provoca- 
tion. 

At Colonia Garcia 
[in 1901] I joined 
forces with Cluff, a 
renowned bear hunter. 
He had a partner 
whom I now can only 
recall as Will. Be- 
tween us we had sev- 
enteen small bear 
traps and a few No. 4 
traps for wolves. 
Since our horses were 
to be ridden on grass, 
without grain feed, 
each man had two 
saddle horses so that 
one could rest each 
day. We headed south 
the next morning for 
Wild Horse Mesa. 

It was cool, though the sun was shining 
brightly from a clear sky. The summer rains 
were over. Most of the game had left the 
higher ridges to move into the rougher 
country on the slopes of the main range. 
The plateau proved to be covered with a 
magnificent stand of virgin pine. Here and 
there in this forest was a live oak, a red- 
barked madrona, or a manzanita, that gave 
some added color to the scene. There was 
almost no underbrush. The forest floor was 



grass and flower covered. You could see 
any game a hundred yards away through 
the trees. 

Large flocks of noisy, big, green parrots 
laughed at us from the treetops. The 
giant woodpecker, the largest in the world, 
related closely to our ivory-billed wood- 
pecker, resented our intrusion and flew 
away with loud, hoarse cries. A few sleepy, 
green trogons flew from bough to bough. 
The trogons and parrots in this temperate 




From the manuscript, "Recollections of a Museum 
Collector," by former staff member C. M. Barber, 
these notes present the story behind the Museum's 
habitat group of the Sonoran Grizzly Bear (Hall 16), 
for which Mr. Barber collected the specimens some 
time before he joined the Museum staff. Mr. Barber's 
account gives an extraordinary impression of the wealth 
of game animals in the mountains of northwestern 
Mexico at the beginning of the 20th century .— K.P.S. 



SONORAN GRIZZLY BEAR GROUP 
The story of the adventures surrounding collection of the specimens is recalled by Mr. Barber, one of 
the hunters, in the accompanying article. The group, in Hall 16, was prepared by Staff Taxidermist Julius 
Friesser, and the background is by the late Charles A. Corwin, for many years Museum Staff Artist. 



scene showed how close we were to a much 
hotter country a few miles west and down 
the slope. 

At Wild Horse Mesa we left the main 
plateau, dropped over the eastern rim and 
down into a rough country of narrow 
timbered ridges, their steep sides covered 
thickly with oak brush. The canyons were 
deep and rocky, each with a swift, clear 
stream of cool water. Here we located our 
permanent camp. Two tents were set up, 
although we expected no rain or snow. A 
brush shelter for cooking and eating was 
built. 

We now went out to find locations for 
trap sets. These were so selected as to give 
us two circuits to ride daily. The traps were 



spaced a mile or two apart, each set near a 
good game trail. Some were placed in low 
saddles in the hills, others in stream bottoms. 
Since deer were plentiful we killed one for 
each large trap, taking the hind quarters to 
camp for our meat supply. The front end 
of each deer plus all entrails became the 
trap bait. Once we baited a trap with a 
big turkey gobbler — gobblers are too difficult 
to cook well in camp. 

A pen was built of small logs from the 
plentiful supply on 
the ground. Located 
against the base of a 
standing tree, this 
pen was laid up log 
on log like a rail fence 
corner. A few short 
chunks of log partly 
closed the open side 
of this triangle, leav- 
ing a narrow clear 
path to the bait. At 
the front of the en- 
closure the trap was 
placed in a hole dug 
out so that the trap 
pan was level with the 
ground surface, then 
lightly covered with 
earth and finally with 
leaves or pine needles. 
The trap springs were 
put down and held by 
large thumb screws 
while the trap was 
being set. Each trap had about three feet 
of strong chain and a large ring. 

A sturdy green oak sapling twelve to 
eighteen feet long was now cut for a drag. 
After being carefully trimmed of all branches 
this pole was driven through the chain ring 
within a foot or so of the large end. This 
formed the drag that kept the trapped bear 
from traveling too far. Just to the rear and 
front of the trap small dead sticks were 
placed. Since a bear prefers to walk on 
solid ground, these sticks directed his foot 
into the trap. As a rule, bears are not 
difficult to trap and most of them are caught 
by the front foot. When the trap is sprung 
the bear makes a big jump, and runs off, 
taking trap and drag along at a rapid clip, 



Paget 



CHICAGO NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM BULLETIN 



October, 191,7 



knocking rocks and down logs out of the 
way. This drag makes a plain trail to 
follow; brush catching on the drag soon 
slows the bear to a walk. When he reaches 
rough country he crawls into dense brush, 
digs out a big hole and crawls in to rest and 
cool off. 

Some of the Mormons intimated that 
Hyrum Cluff was not a proper Latter Day 
Saint; but as a bear hunter he was really 
good! He was a small man, but very strong 
and quick. He was a splendid horseman. 
On foot, this man seemed tireless. His 
courage and judgment were correctly mixed 
for every emergency. He used a 30-30 
Winchester, with which he was a dead shot. 

DOG PLAYS IMPORTANT ROLE 

Cluff owned a big, rough-looking dog 
called Shep. He maintained that this dog 
was half hound and half shepherd. Shep was 
an excellent varmint dog, ranging far and 
wide. At a word from Cluff he became a 
slow-trail dog that would not leave your 
sight. On the trail of a trapped bear Shep 
was a great comfort as he walked slowly 
along ahead of you, trailing and sniffing the 
air for that bear. While he took no chances 
with bear or mountain lion, Shep had no 
real fear of either. Cluff knew the dog had 
saved his life on several occasions. He 
valued him and protected him. 

Once the traps were all set, we started 
our routine. Two men riding and hunting 
together would run the north trap line. 
The other man with Shep for protection 
made the south run. 

We caught a couple of mountain lions, 
and then Hyrum and Will got the first 
grizzly. The day was bad, baits stolen by 
lions, traps sprung by skunks, all of which 
made a lot of extra work. More bait had 
to be killed, traps reset. The last bear trap 
on the north line was out in fairly open 
country. It was about an hour before sun- 
down when they found the trap gone. 
Leaving their horses and with rifles ready, 
they followed a plain drag trail, one trailing, 
the other looking over every foot of cover in 
front and on each side to avoid surprise. 
They knew at once, by his tracks, that a 
large bear had been caught. They also 
knew he would be an angry bear, watching 
his back track and hoping for a fight. 

GIANT GRIZZLY CHARGES 

After tracking a mile, night was approach- 
ing; so they had to hurry. The country was 
rougher now, with large patches of oak 
brush, so thick you could hardly see into 
them. Hyrum was trailing, hurrying, but 
trying to be careful. Will was doing his 
best to look over everything in sight. 
Suddenly, out of a brush patch they had 
passed, a gigantic grizzly charged down on 
them. Even with trap and drag he was 
making speed. Both men whirled and fired, 
almost together. Down went the bear. 
The shots were deadly, both of them. The 



bear thrashed around for a time, but could 
not get up. He had been too close for com- 
fort, yet close enough for good shooting, 
even in that failing light. The weather was 
cool; so they left him where he fell. 

At the break of day we were back there at 
work skinning a magnificent specimen. He 
seemed to be a full-grown and large bear. 
On a later hunt we saw the crooked track 
of a still larger bear's foot, apparently that 
of a much larger grizzly. This latter bear 
became known to us as "crooked-foot." 
He looked our trapsets over, but at a safe 
distance. Apparently, he had at some time 
been caught in a trap and was too wise to 
try again. The pelt of our big male speci- 
men was like most of these Mexican grizzlies 
in fall pelage, almost black with not many 
silver-tipped hairs. His coat was heavy and 
in fine condition. 

A few days later, Shep and I made the 
north trap line with only a half-grown lion 
for our trouble. That night, Cluff and Will 
came in with the handsome pelt of an old 
she-bear. She was really a true silver-tip 
for color. Her teeth were much worn, 
showing age. She had not traveled far 
with the drag. She was rather small and 
killing her had been easy. 

MOUNTAIN LION TRAPPED 

Will sometimes stayed in camp to clean 
up the hides and skulls on hand. Hyrum, 
Shep, and I then made the rounds. One 
such occasion was my lucky day. At the 
second trap we found a big male lion, a 
handsome brute. As usual he was caught 
by the hind foot. These big cats were 
almost too smart to be caught. They 
always walked on the logs and sticks we 
placed about our traps, but when they 
finally got their teeth into the bait they 
dropped a hind foot into the trap. 

We ate our lunch of cold meat and 
biscuits as we rode along. The next trap 
was missing, and since nothing was in sight, 
we knew we had a bear. Leaving our horses, 
we put Shep on the trail and were soon in 
rough country. We followed up a smooth 
draw for a half mile. Directly ahead was a 
steep brush-covered mountain. Shep kept 
raising his head, trying to wind the bear. 
As we reached the foot of the mountain the 
dog whined, then barked and rushed into a 
thicket. About twenty feet away and ten 
feet above lis a handsome young female 
bear raised up out of a hole. It was agreed 
that this was to be my bear, as I had never 
killed a grizzly. I raised my gun to shoot. 
Cluff said, "Don't shoot from there — the 
bear could jump down on you." 

While Shep kept the bear busy, I crawled 
around through the brush to get above the 
animal. When I was well above her I 
aimed for the heart. As I fired, the bear 
made a lunge at the dog. The bullet broke 
her spine, and a heart shot finished her. 

Shep and I missed the really big show a 
few days later. Hyrum and Will took a 



burro and pack saddle out on the north trap 
line to change some trapsets that seemed to 
be doing us no good. They had two bear 
traps on the burro as they approached an- 
other trap, set in a shallow draw. The jogging 
burro carrying the traps made a loud jingling 
noise as it went along. When they topped 
the draw, a grizzly ran out on the far side 
and away at full speed. Cluff dropped 
from his horse, grabbing his rifle from its 
scabbard as he went. His first shot knocked 
the bear down but it was up and on the way 
at once. 

A RUNNING BATTLE 

Cluff tried several more running shots 
with no apparent result. As the bear went 
down, Will spurred his horse across the 
draw and gave chase. They were running 
down a gently sloping ridge. As he began 
to catch up with the bear, Will pulled his 
rifle, thinking to try a running shot from 
the saddle. Before he could start shooting, 
the bear turned and charged right at him. 
His horse dodged the charge, then made a 
run to leave, the bear following close behind 
at every jump. Will was too busy riding and 
dodging limbs and brush to risk a shot. 

In the meantime, Cluff had mounted 
his horse to hurry into the battle. He inter- 
cepted the charge, again dismounting for 
better shooting. His next shot again 
knocked the bear down. When Cluff tried 
to flip a shell into his rifle barrel he dis- 
covered his magazine was empty. The bear 
was now charging him. He had just time 
for a jump and swing that took him over a 
limb to safety, as the bear arrived below. 
Seeing that he was no longer being chased, 
Will dismounted some distance away. He 
had a good shot at the bear swinging at 
Cluff under his tree. A heart shot finally did 
the business. Will remounted to round up 
Cluff's frightened horse and the burro. 

The boys now skinned their prize. They 
found eleven bullet holes in the hide, good 
shooting, everything considered. Most of 
the shots were near vital organs. It is 
remarkable how much lead a thoroughly 
aroused grizzly can carry and still fight. 
This animal was a young but matured male 
in fine condition. He was caught by one 
toe in the trap. This must have been very 
painful to him. It held him all night, until 
he heard the clanking traps and human 
voices approaching, when he tore off the 
toe to make a run for it. 

The battle that followed did not last very 
long, but every one concerned was really 
busy while it went on. I had a good supper 
ready for the boys when they reached camp. 
They seemed rather quiet as they dis- 
mounted. When I untied that hide from the 
saddle, spread it out hair side down, and 
counted the bullet holes, I began to realize 
they had had a real adventure. 

(To be continued next month.) 



October, 1U7 



CHICAGO NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM BULLETIN 



PageS 



SPONGES THAT WORK FOR A LIVING: THE TARANTULA, TOADSTOOL, AND TULIP 



By EUGENE S. RICHARDSON, JR. 

CURATOR OF INVERTEBRATE FOSSILS 

In almost every animal group there are 
individuals who make their living by 
"sponging" on others. Cowbirds lay their 
eggs in another bird's nest; jackals tag 
along to benefit from the kills of bolder ani- 
mals; hermit crabs neither build nor pay 
rent; and, most conspicuously, not a few 
human beings are not above cadging sodas, 
accepting unintended invitations to dinner, 
or "borrowing" books for an indeterminate 




TARANTULA-LIKE SPONGE 

Brachiospongia digitata, an Ordovician species. 
Illustration about half natural size. 



period. To call these characters with the 
carefree habits "sponges" may assuage our 
irritation, but it is an unwarrantable slur 
against one of the gentlest and most hard- 
working animals that has ever lived. 

Not a single parasitic sponge is known, 
though a great many fasten themselves to 
shells of crabs or other moving animals, and 
one, Cliona, burrows into oyster shells to 
protect itself. Most sponges just settle 
down on the bottom of the sea, in not-very- 
deep water, and stick to their business of 
catching microscopic food. Two very hand- 
some yellow sponges in the marine group 
from the Maine Coast in Hall O (Fishes) 
suggest the ornamental quality of this odd 
animal. 

Because of their bright colors and their 
shapes, these animals, which are attached 
to the sea-floor, were long supposed to be 
plants. That they are really animals was 
shown in 1765 by an English investigator, 
Ellis, who discovered currents of water 
issuing from the openings {oscula) on the 
top of some small sponges. He reported 
that the oscula "receive and pass the water 
to and fro," in which he was mistaken: a 
steady and strong current of water passes 
out of the osculum, but never tn. 

How, then, does the sponge get all this 
water which he is continually sending out 
of his only apparent opening? Look very 
closely at a sponge; the body is actually a 
porous wall surrounding a central cavity 
that opens through the osculum. If you 
put some powdered chalk on the surface of 



a living sponge, you will see it sucked into 
the almost invisible pores and then squirted 
out with the outgoing current. This 
experiment was first done in 1825 by Grant, 
another Englishman, who thus demonstrated 
the feeding habits of sponges. 

OUTDOES CAT'S 'NINE LIVES' ! 

With a microscope, you can see that the 
sponge body is made up of eight kinds of 
cells, rather loosely joined together, each 
almost an independent animal. If you cut 
the sponge apart, the pieces continue living. 
Indeed, there is no visible effect on the 
sponge, even in the near vicinity of the cut — 
apparently it has nothing like a nervous 
system. The independence of the cells of 
this peculiar animal is strikingly shown by 
squeezing a live sponge through the mesh of 
a fine sieve, which reduces it to tiny frag- 
ments of tissue. These, after a calamity 
that would ruin any more highly organized 
animal, continue to live and will reproduce 
several entire sponges. 

The vitality of the individual cells suggests 
that the sponges may not be far removed 
from a colony of Protozoa. Protozoan 
colonies are small masses of a jelly-like 
material, not more than one-tenth of an 
inch in diameter, with many individual 
one-celled animals on their surface. Each 
of these is independent of the rest, but they 
always live in colonies and have taken a 
step toward a higher life-type in that some 
of the members are structurally and 
functionally specialized. 

Sponges are among the oldest forms of 
life on earth, though the fossil record of 
their earliest evolution is unknown. A 
comparison with some of the colonial proto- 
zoans, whose members are nearly the same 
in appearance as the feeding-cells of the 
sponge, strongly suggests that at some time 
in the dawn of Earth's history a highly 
developed colony of Protozoa produced new 
cell types by specialization of some of its 
members, or else brought other kinds of 
Protozoa into its association and became 
the first sponge. 

As the general plan was more and more 
perfected, the "pre-sponge" acquired the 
several kinds of cell now used by its descend- 
ants: the collared cells with little whips, 
for feeding and for making the water cur- 
rents (and so remarkably similar to some of 
the colonial protozoans); the amoeboid cells 
for taking nourishment from these and 
carrying it to the non-feeding cells of the 
body; the doughnut-like cells forming the 
pores of the body- wall; and the special cells 
to take mineral salts from the water and 
form them into stiff, bristly, little mineral 
needles, or spicules, which strengthen the 
sponge and make it unpalatable to most 
potential enemies. It was a slow pro- 
cess, this evolution by trial and error, 
and in the intermediate stages, before all 



the necessary types of cell were added or 
derived, the animal's efficiency in feeding 
was slight. It could have happened only in 
pre-Cambrian times, when minute animals 
and plants were abundant and competition 
for them slight. 

THE 'SPONGING' IS ON THE SPONGE 

The sponge is one of the most efficient 
food-gatherers now living, with a ceaseless 
current bringing water in through the tiny 
pores, where the collared cells catch the tiny 
animals and plants in it and then sweep it on 
through the sponge. The next time that you 
want to call someone a sponge, think of a big 
sponge found a few years ago in Tortugas, 
healthy and growing, though 16,352 shrimps 
and thousands of lesser animals had installed 
themselves within it to take advantage of the 
food-bearing water so energetically swept 
past them by their uncomplaining host, who 
provided them shelter as well. 

With almost unlimited time for experi- 
menting, sponges have developed many 
different sizes and shapes. A complete 
knowledge of their forms during geologic 
time will never be had, as a fossil sponge is 
rather rare. Upon death, sponges usually 
disintegrate rapidly, leaving only some 
spicules to be swept up by currents and 
scattered over the sea-floor. An unusually 
fine collection of fossil sponges is displayed 
in Frederick J. V. Skiff Hall (Hall 37), 
especially in the Ordovician, Silurian, and 
Cretaceous cases. The specimens illustrated 
here happen to have shapes suggestive of 
other forms of life — a tarantula, a toadstool, 
and a tulip. It is a matter of some trouble 
to sponge specialists to account for the fact 
that such loosely organized animals can 




TULIP-LIKE SPONGE 

Siphonia tulipa, of the Cretaceous. Illustration 

about natural size. 



develop a shape characteristic of each species 
and stick to it. A great deal remains to be 
learned of their make-up, and the fossil 
sponges are as important to the problem 
as are the living ones. 



Chinese ivory carvings of the 18th and 
19th centuries and snuff bottles carved from 
semiprecious stones are exhibited in Case 12 
of Stanley Field Hall. 



Page i 



CHICAGO NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM BULLETIN 



October, 19b7 



TRAVEL AND NATURE LECTURES ON SATURDAY AFTERNOONS, OCT. 4— NOV. 29 



The autumn course of nine free illustrated 
lectures on Saturday afternoons will open 
October 4 in the James Simpson Theatre 
of the Museum. The lectures will continue 
each Saturday through the last week of 
November. All lectures will begin at 2:30 
P.M. They are restricted to adults— special 
programs for children will be given on 
Saturday mornings during the same months 
under the auspices of the James Nelson and 
Anna Louise Raymond Foundation. 

The lectures will be given by outstanding 
speakers and will cover a wide range of 
subjects including prehistoric life, animal 
hunting, the life relations of plants, and 
exploring in Hudson Bay, the Southwest, 
Australia, and the Antarctic. 

The dates, subjects, and lecturers booked 
for the autumn course are as follows: 

October 4 — "Outlaws" in Nature 
Murl Deusing 

The exciting story of the hawk and the 
owl, the rattlesnake and the black widow 
spider, the hornet and the water tiger — 
creatures that frequently find themselves 
"outside the law" from a human point of 
view. There is rollicking fun with a cub 
black bear who goes on a series of adven- 
tures. Mr. Deusing is a member of the 
staff of the Milwaukee Public Museum. 

October 1 1— Jungle Adventures 
Frank Buck 

Known as Frank "Bring 'Em Back Alive" 
Buck, this famous wild-animal collector, 
adventurer, and explorer has a story to tell 
of daring safaris into exotic places. He 
brings his audience face to face with adven- 
ture in stories and motion pictures of his 
experiences. Mr. Buck knows intimately 



the jungles of southern Asia, India, the 
Malay Peninsula, Burma, Sumatra, Java, 
Nepal, Borneo, New Guinea, the Sulu 
Islands, and the Philippines as well as the 
African and South American jungles. 

October 18 — The Land Down Under 
Carl ton Hoffman 

This lecture covers such diverse facets of 
Australian life as the tribal customs of the 
continent's primitive peoples; a trip through 
the desert on camels; strange animals — the 
koala bear, kangaroo, wombat, platypus, 
the kookaburra and lyre birds; 300-foot- 
high eucalyptus trees; the Great Barrier 
Reef, 1,200 miles of coral, unrivaled for the 
variety and beauty of its marine life; diving 
for pearls; and natives spearing crocodiles. 
Mr. von Hoffman has appeared many times 
on the Museum's lecture platform. 

October 25— Exploring for Dinosaurs 
Dr. A. S. Coggeshall 

Dr. Coggeshall, who has been a member of 
the paleontology staffs of several important 
museums and now is director of the Santa 
Barbara, California, Museum of Natural 
History, takes his audience to the "very 
morning of time" when huge dinosaurs 
inhabited vast swamps and dense jungles 
where great mountains now stand. In his 
motion pictures he shows the hunt for and 
excavation of the skeletons of these great 
prehistoric monsters of 100 to 200 million 
years ago. He also shows films in which they 
are restored to their appearance in life. 

November 1 — Antarctic Adventure 
Carl Eklund 

When the last United States Antarctic 
Expedition, led by Admiral Richard Byrd, 



set sail for the frozen reaches of the Antarc- 
tic, Carl Eklund went along as official 
biologist and ornithologist of the expedition. 
After having touched at Little America, the 
expedition sailed on to East Base some 1,500 
miles away, and it was from there that Carl 
Eklund set out with one companion and two 
dog sleds on his trip of exploration. Mr. 
Eklund and his companion traveled 1,200 
miles across the freezing wastes, sometimes 
through howling blizzards that reached 
115 miles per hour in intensity. But he 
found what he had set out to get — a com- 
plete record of the wild life that clings to 
existence at the bottom of the world. 

November 8— Archaeologists in Action 
Dr. Paul S. Martin 

For fourteen seasons Dr. Martin, Chief 
Curator of Anthropology at this Museum, 
has carried on excavations of prehistoric 
sites in the Southwest, studied the artifacts 
yielded by this activity, and published the 
results of his findings which have added 
many new chapters to the knowledge of 
some of the earliest American Indians. His 
present lecture, including the narrative of 
his latest expedition conducted during the 
past summer, brings the record up to date. 
The lecture will be accompanied by colored 
motion pictures made in the field by Mr. 
John W. Moyer, chief of the Museum's new 
Division of Motion Pictures, who was 
assigned as special cinematographer to the 
expedition. 

November 15 — Hudson Bay Adventures 
C. J. Albrecht 

Mr. Albrecht, formerly a staff taxidermist 
at this Museum, brings to his audience an 
intimate and dramatic color record of the 




Phoiograph of mural by Charles R. Knight -Copjrnghi Chicago Natural History Museum 

THE STORY OF CREATURES SUCH AS THIS BRONTOSAURUS WILL BE TOLD IN THE OCTOBER 25 LECTURE, "EXPLORING FOR 

DINOSAURS," BY DR. A. S. COGGESHALL. 



October, 191*7 



CHICAGO NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM BULLETIN 



Page 5 



RESERVED SEATS 
FOR MEMBERS 

No tickets are necessary for ad- 
mission to these lectures. A sec- 
tion of the Theatre is reserved for 
Members of the Museum, each of 
whom is entitled to two reserved 
seats. Requests for these seats 
should be made in advance by 
telephone (WABash 9410) or in 
writing, and seats will be held in 
the Member's name until 2:30 
o'clock on the lecture day. 



great caribou migration. He traveled 300 
miles with the bounding bulls of the tundra. 
There he learned their habits and filmed 
the intimate life of the otter, beaver, mink, 
ermine, and birds. This is a new color 
picture, just completed, of sub-Arctic 
adventure. 

November 22 — The Natural History of 
Mosses 

Dr. William C. Steere 

Dr. Steere, one of America's foremost 
bryologists, has spent most of his student 
and professional life at the University of 
Michigan, where he is now professor of 
botany and chairman of the department of 
botany. During World War II, Prof. Steere 
served with the Board of Economic Warfare 
and the Foreign Economic Administration 
as a senior botanist. From 1942 to 1944 he 
accompanied the government's Cinchona 
Missions in Colombia and Ecuador, search- 
ing for sources of quinine to replace those 
taken by the Japanese in the South Pacific. 

November 29 — Rams of the Rimrocks 

Cleveland P. Grant 

Mr. Grant's lecture is accompanied by a 
color film on one of the most spectacular 
and majestic of all big game animals, the 
North American bighorn mountain sheep, 
photographed against its native Rocky 
Mountains. It is the story of bighorn 
sheep at their most critical and interesting 
times of year — spring lambing and fall 
mating and fighting. To see these 250- 
pound rams charge together until their 
horns hit with the crack of a rifle is one of 
the thrilling sights of the American wild. 
Mr. Grant formerly was a member of the 
staff of this Museum. 



Paleontology Field Trip 
to Western Colorado 

The Paleontological Expedition to West- 
ern Colorado returned from the field on 
August 31 with collections from Paleocene 
and Eocene deposits. Included were speci- 
mens of Pantodonts, large, heavy, clumsy 
mammals, primitive four-toed horses, early 



carnivores, small primates and various 
lizards, turtles, and crocodiles. The expedi- 
tion was one of a series initiated before the 
war and was intended as a final survey of an 
area in which the Museum has long been 
interested. With the completion of the 
collecting program, the study of the material 
obtained can now be carried to completion. 
Mr. Bryan Patterson, Curator of Paleon- 
tology, was leader. He was accompanied 
by Mr. James H. Quinn, Chief Preparator 
in Paleontology, and Mr. Richard Bisbee, 
Chicago, who was with the expedition as a 
volunteer to make a motion picture record 
in color of scenes and activities that may be 
incorporated later into a film on paleonto- 
logical exploration and research by Chicago 
Natural History Museum. 



STAFF NOTES 



Captain Harry Hoogstraal and Mr. 
Floyd G. Werner returned to the United 
States recently after completion of the 
Philippines Zoological Expedition, 1946-47. 
Upon their return both were temporarily 
appointed to the staff of the Division of 
Insects. Captain Hoogstraal, who directed 
the expedition, will remain with the Museum 
until February of next year; Mr. Werner is 
resuming his graduate studies at Harvard 
University this fall. . . . Dr. Rainer Zan- 
gerl, Curator of Fossil Reptiles, flew to 
Europe recently on leave of absence. In 
addition to visiting his home in Switzerland, 
he is collecting specimens and conducting 
research for the Museum in fossil fields and 
museums of Switzerland, France, Italy, and 
the American occupation zone of Germany. 
He will return here about November 1. 
. . . Miss Harriet Smith has been ap- 
pointed a lecturer on the staff of the Ray- 
mond Foundation, replacing Miss Roberta 
Caldwell who resigned to engage in post- 
graduate university studies. Miss Smith is 
a graduate of Northwestern University and 
obtained a master's degree in anthropology 
at the University of Chicago. She formerly 
was in charge of extension work at the 
Illinois State Museum, Springfield, later 
was assistant to the director of the Chicago 
Academy of Sciences, and more recently was 
connected with the motion picture staff of 
Coronet Magazine. . . . Dr. Wilfrid D. 
Hambly, Curator of African Ethnology, is 
the author of Jamba (the Elephant), a 
popular book on the tribal life of the 
Ovimbundu in Portuguese West Africa, 
about to be published by Pellegrini and 
Cudahy. The book results largely from 
Dr. Hambly's observations while leader of 
the Frederick H. Rawson West African 
Expedition of the Museum and is for adults. 



SATURDAY MOVIES 
FOR CHILDREN 

The James Nelson and Anna Louise Ray- 
mond Foundation will open its autumn 
series of free Saturday-morning programs 
for children on October 4, continuing 
through November 29. The programs begin 
at 10:30 A.M. in the James Simpson Theatre 
of the Museum. On three of the programs, 
as a special feature, lecturers will appear to 
tell the children the story of their films. 
Personal appearances will be made by 
Frank "Bring 'em Back Alive" Buck, Murl 
Deusing of the Milwaukee Public Museum, 
and Anauta, a native of Baffin Island. 

Children may come alone, accompanied 
by adults, or in groups from schools, etc. 

Following is an outline of the programs: 

October 4 Bright Feathers 

The Murl Deusing family in search of 
adventure (lecture by Mr. Deusing) 

October 11— Jungle Adventures 

(Lecture by Frank "Bring-'em-Back- 
Alive" Buck) 

October 18 — Indians of America 
Also a cartoon 

October 25— Wings Over Alaska 
Also a cartoon 

November 1— Story of the Seashore 
Also a cartoon 

November 8— Cavalcade of Marble 
Also a cartoon 

November 15— My Friend Flicka 
(Repeated by request) 

November 22 — East of Bombay 
Also a cartoon 

November 29 — Story of Baffin Island 
and Its People 
Told by Anauta, a native of Baffin Island 



The various species of birds that have 
become extinct on the North American 
continent in historic times are grouped 
together in Hall 21. 



Bermuda Expedition 
Reports Progress 

Dr. Fritz Haas, Curator of Lower Inverte- 
brates, reports a successful stay at the 
Bermuda Biological Station for Research, 
at St. Georges West, Bermuda, where he 
and Mr. Joseph B. Krstolich are engaged 
in studies on the life of the coral reef. Mr. 
Krstolich required first-hand studies of 
translucence and color of living marine 
forms for the Museum's program of exhibi- 
tion in this field. The Bermuda reefs, with 
the facilities of the Research Station, are an 
especially favorable site for Dr. Haas' long- 
continued interest in the ecology of mollusks. 
Dr. Dugald E. S. Browne, the director of the 
station, has taken keen interest in the work 
of the Museum party and has given its 
members all possible aid. 



Page 6 



CHICAGO NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM BULLETIN 



October, 19i7 



Chicago Natural History Museum 

Founded by Marshall Field, 1893 

Roosevelt Road and Lake Shore Drive, Chicago 5 

Telephone: TV A Bash 9410 



THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES 

: Armour Marshall Field, Jr. 

. L. Avery Stanley Field 

W. McCormick Blair Samuel Issuli . Jr. 

Leopold E. Block Henry P. Isham 

BOARDMAN CONOVER HUGHSTON M. McBAIN 

Walter J. Cummings William H. Mitchell 

Albert B. Dick, Jr. Clarence B. Randall 

Howard W. Fenton George A. Richardson 

Joseph N. Field Solomon A. Smith 

Marshall Field Albert H. Wetten 

John P. Wilson 

OFFICERS 

Stanley Field President 

Marshall Field First Vice-President 

Albert B. Dick, Jr. Second Vice-President 

Samuel Insull, Jr. Third Vice-President 

Solomon A. Smith Treasurer 

Clifford C. Gregg Director and Secretary 

John R. Millar Assistant Secretary 



THE BULLETIN 

EDITOR 
Clifford C. Gregg Director of the Museum 

CONTRIBUTING EDITORS 

Paul S. Martin Chief Curator of Anthropology 

Theodor Just Chief Curator of Botany 

Sharat K. Roy Chief Curator of Geology 

KARL P. Schmidt Chief Curator of Zoology 

MANAGING EDITOR 
H. B. Harte Public Relations Counsel 



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



THE ANCIENT MOGOLLONS' 
HOUSING TROUBLES 

"Housing — heap big headache!" 

Dr. Paul S. Martin, Chief Curator of 
Anthropology and Leader of the Archaeolog- 
ical Expedition to the Southwest, is pretty 
sure that the Mogollon Indians of 1,500 
years ago did not use these exact words, 
but it's a good bet that they grunted out 
something to that effect and probably cursed 
the gods for bringing them to the mountains 
of what is now Catron County, New Mexico. 

"Although facing a severe housing prob- 
lem in present-day society, we cannot envy 
yesterday's Indians, for in many ways they 
faced a far more serious crisis," says Dr. 
Martin. 

After excavating five pit-houses (circular 
ground pits, approximately four feet deep 
and nine to forty-five feet in diameter) at 
Promontory site, nine miles southwest of 
Reserve, New Mexico, Dr. Martin and his 
staff found themselves confronted with a 
number of questions. 

In climbing the ridge to Promontory, 
7,000 feet above sea level, the question 
naturally came to the breathless archaeolo- 
gists: "Why in blazes did the Mogollon 
Indians ever decide to live on such a high, 
inaccessible mountain?" For they knew 
that the Indians would have to climb up 
and down, walking miles to obtain water. 

Warfare and defense immediately were 
suggested, but as yet no evidence of warfare 
has been uncovered. In digging their homes 



on Promontory site the Mogollon Indians 
needed large quantities of water with which 
to make adobe, a clay plaster, which on top 
of branches and poles roofed their ancient 
pit-houses. 

"Mamma, papa, and all the papooses had 
to haul water during those days and prob- 
ably drank most of it before they reached 
the top of Promontory," says Dr. Martin. 

Dr. Martin, supervising a crew of Mexican 
workers equipped with picks and shovels, 
noted that the digging was far more arduous 
and slow than anything he had encountered 
in thirteen previous expeditions to the 
Southwest. The rocky terrain and the hard 
cement-like ground broke pick and shovel 
handles. The tools had to be sharpened 
frequently. 

Dr. Martin has recovered all the stone 
tools that were in common use 1,500 years 
ago, but finds nothing that could have been 
used by the Indians in digging their homes. 
The only possible conclusion is that the 
Mogollon Indians used digging sticks — 
which meant hours and weeks of back- 
breaking labor, he says. 

"Living on a high ridge remote from 
water, digging homes on its narrow top 
with primitive tools in hard, rocky soil, the 
Mogollon Indians had their own housing 
problem, and it was a tough one," says 
Dr. Martin. 



BOTANICAL EXPEDITION 
TO CENTRAL AMERICA 

By PAUL C. STANDLEY 

CURATOR OP THE HERBARIUM 
AND LEADER OF THE EXPEDITION 

The purpose of the Museum's fifth botani- 
cal expedition to Central America, which 
returned early in September, was to obtain 
herbarium material to complete the Muse- 
um's collection of Middle Central American 
flora covering El Salvador, Honduras, and 
Guatemala. Nearly ten months were spent 
in the field — almost two in El Salvador, 
two and one-half in Nicaragua, and the rest 
in Honduras. There, headquarters and 
every facility for work were supplied most 
generously by the Escuela Agricola Pan- 
americana, situated at El Zamorano, 25 
miles from Tegucigalpa. The director of 
this institution is Dr. Wilson Popenoe, 
distinguished authority on tropical fruits, 
who was chiefly responsible for the intro- 
duction of the avocado into Florida and 
California. 

I left Chicago in early November, 1946, 
by ship from New Orleans, landing at 
Puerto Cortes on the north coast of Hon- 
duras and proceeded by plane to Teguci- 
galpa. November and December were spent 
at El Zamorano. From there, collecting 
trips were made in all directions, most often 
in company with Dr. Louis O. Williams, 
well-known authority on orchids, now a 
member of the staff of the Escuela Agricola. 
His deep interest in the collections and his 
unstinted kindness and practical assistance 



were the most important factors in making 
the expedition completely successful. 

Most of January and February, 1947, 
was spent in El Salvador, where collections 
were made in the Sierra de Apaneca, above 
Ahuachapan, near the Guatemalan border, 
and around Metapan in the northwest, 
where Guatemala, El Salvador, and Hon- 
duras meet on Cerro Miramundo. The work 
was terminated at San Vicente in central El 
Salvador, a region celebrated for its varied 
flora. This country is botanically least 
interesting of all Central America because 
most land is under cultivation and the 
original vegetation and particularly forest 
remain in only very limited areas. 

PINE AND OAK FOREST 

Returning to Tegucigalpa and El Zamo- 
rano at the end of February, work was 
continued about the latter place, with 
frequent excursions into the adjoining 
departments. This whole region, like most 
of the Honduran mountains, is covered, 
except for clearings, by an almost continuous 
stand of pine and oak. Honduras has a 
greater area of pine and oak forest than any 
other Central American country and prob- 
ably more than all of them combined, at 
least under present conditions. 

March and April were spent in central 
and northern Honduras, first at Comayagua, 
once the capital of Honduras and of all 
Central America. It is situated in a broad 
valley with scant rainfall and has a distinc- 
tive vegetation of a type rare in Central 
America. There are extensive areas of thorn 
forest and an unusual display of cacti. Col- 
lections of plants were made also in the high 
mountains about Siguatepeque, in the same 
department, in pine-oak forest. Later work 
was carried on near the North Coast, the 
banana region, chiefly about La Lima in the 
Department of Cortes, in virgin rain forest 
about San Alejo in the Department of 
Atlantida, and at several localities between 
La Lima and Quimistan in the Department 
of Santa Barbara. 

At the end of April, I returned to El 
Zamorano and, on May 12, went by plane to 
Managua, Nicaragua, remaining in that 
country until the end of July. Nicaragua 
was the only Central American country in 
which I had not collected previously, and 
botanical collections from the republic are 
almost non-existent in American herbaria. 
It proved to be a most delightful country, 
with kindly people who facilitated the 
botanical work in every possible manner. 
I am especially indebted to Brother Antonio 
Gamier of the Institute Pedagogico de 
Varones of Managua, maintained by the 
Brothers of the Christian Schools, and to 
his associates, who were most generous in 
their support of the expedition's work. 

TORRENTIAL RAINS 

Plant collections were made first in the 
Sierra de Managua, near the capital. This 



October, 191,7 



CHICAGO NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM BULLETIN 



Page 7 



is a strange region, rising to only 3,000 feet 
but, because of its curious climate, which 
is cold and wet, it supports a luxuriant type 
of vegetation that ordinarily would not be 
expected on the Pacific slope at such a low 
elevation. More than three weeks were 
passed in the Department of Chontales, first 
at La Libertad, in the region where Thomas 
Belt obtained data for his classic volume, 
A Naturalist in Nicaragua. La Libertad lies 
at the southern edge of the Atlantic rain 
forest, and there are excellent collecting 
areas close to the town, but collecting had to 
be discontinued because of the quick arrival 
of the first torrential rains of the wet season. 
Then collections were made about Juigalpa, 
capital of Chontales, where heavy rain had 
brought out the flowers and given to the 
landscape the appearance of early spring in 
the United States. 

Three weeks were spent at Jinotega in the 
department of the same name, in the general 
region known in Nicaragua as Las Segovias. 
The narrow valley of Jinotega, between two 
high mountain ranges, is one of the most 
beautiful in Central America, with an almost 
ideal climate, and botanically of extreme 
interest. I left there with reluctance, 
because the vegetation was so rich that it 
was impossible to exhaust it in the three 
weeks devoted to its exploration. 

The last part of my stay in Nicaragua was 
devoted to work in the Occidente or West, 
with headquarters at Chichigalpa in the 
Department of Chinandega, and a visit to 
the port of Corinto. It was desired to obtain 
plants from the Pacific lowlands, and in this 
the work was partially successful, but the 
time chosen was unfortunate, and unusual 
natural conditions seriously impeded the 
collecting. 

VOLCANO ERUPTS 

A few days before my arrival at Chichigal- 
pa, a long quiescent volcano, Cerro Negro, in 
the adjoining Department of Leon, erupted 
violently, sending up a column of ash-like 
sand estimated at 40,000 feet in height. 
More than four inches of sand fell on the 
city of Leon, and a thinner but very annoy- 
ing layer upon Chichigalpa and Corinto. 
Every plant was covered with it, and when 
one touched a bush or tree, showers of sand 
fell over and inside clothing and into ears 
and eyes. There wa