)
ia)
\ iy
;
i
a
it)
eae
i
i
iy Rn
ant
iN
i}
i
in ca Ay
are
i ‘,
° wh
a i) i ;
eit
iy
iat
!
rating!
ay) aby
et Ot it
he
F}
My
’
eee
ira ees
Set
Si ee ee aes
‘3
—
t=
<=
ees
Ke
Sener
meer
<=
ee eceregie
ee
ee
are sa
t
St
Poser:
uy
rh
i}
ys
‘
1m
y
i!
'
Ms
ny
ity
e
5
i}
U
ei
,
4
a
f
rs
.}
ay
ti
RY?
ml
ae
ae a
f
f
4
ese
”
Faiwee
SSS
Se
Se
ees
ee See
wih
i
i) \
eos
Ae
a
gees
tees
eee
eae ae eee mre
i i
ya
wer Ard
neta
Poa
fe
ie
ey
MND
fe
=
=
Ht
Yu Rea vite
oy ‘iste ie
Saat
“yi pt
fi f
f Heed
Fatty
34)
SREP NE ee
SSeS Seas.
i
=e
Ste
S
eT
Lie
oe i
= Fae
SS
- - oo Sie
treet SSS SSS
SS PEES ese
=e
me
i
Vel
whats
ANA!
coats
y
i
¥
i
Ata
Art)
my
RAD,
on) y
Aan he xe
rity ty
’
vathty
hye
aes
i ae
ial
i
re’ aE
(ais
4)
is
:
i
i i
ie
da
eee
SES Rise
Seeks
See
pt
(
anit
i
7
teeth
fete
inte
eyltte
fA
ite
-
zi
Prue
EER
pst
Patty
oat
Pap ocaee
Pages
A Se | | +f.
[NY 1 AM eA [+a (OLAS
THE
AMERICAN MUSEUM
JOURNAL
VOLUME X, 1910
eaRane
a - = RR eS
JAN i O 19]]
Y, Lp RS
PSITY OF TOR®
ei al
- |) ie
NEW YORK i f t
PUBLISHED BY THE
AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY
1910.
mn
te
See
>
| ae r
r
.
—
| RDMUND OMS HOVEY, Btior
_ MARY CYNTHIA DICKERSON, te
| Fune-December
| MARY CYNTHIA DICKERS
January-June
FRANK M. CHAPMAN“)
LOUIS P. GRATACAP —}- Advisory Board
WILLIAM K.GREGORY J}
.
=
A 3 .
. 4 $ | rs
? >) '
i .
-
~
>
2 - i
‘ é
, <—
{
.
‘ Z ty : ed
American Museum of Natural History
Seventy-seventh Street and Central Park West, New York City
BOARD OF TRUSTEES
President
HENRY FAIRFIELD OSBORN
First Vice-President Second Vice-President
J. Prerepont MorGan CLEVELAND H. Dopar
Treasurer Secretary
CHARLES LANIER J. HamMppEN Ross
Ex Officio
THe Mayor OF THE City or New YorK
THE COMPTROLLER OF THE City oF NEw YORK
THE PRESIDENT OF THE DEPARTMENT OF PARKS
Class of 1910
J. HAMPDEN ROBB PERCY R. PYNE
ARTHUR CURTISS JAMES JOHN B. TREVOR
J. PIERPONT MORGAN, Jr.
Class of 1911
CHARLES LANIER WILLIAM ROCKEFELLER
ANSON W. HARD GUSTAV E. KISSEL
SETH LOW
Class of 1912
ALBERT S. BICKMORE THOMAS DEWITT CUYLER
ADRIAN ISELIN, Jr. OGDEN MILLS
Class of 1913
GEORGE 8S. BOWDOIN CLEVELAND H. DODGE
A. D. JUILLIARD ARCHER M. HUNTINGTON
FELIX M. WARBURG
Class of 1914
JOSEPH H. CHOATE J. PIERPONT MORGAN
HENRY F. OSBORN JAMES DOUGLAS
GEORGE W. WICKERSHAM
EXECUTIVE OFFICERS
Director Assistant-Secretary and Assistant- Treasurer
Hermon C. Bumpus GEORGE H. SHERWOOD
Scientific Staff
DIRECTOR
Hermon Carey Bumpvus, Ph.D., Se.D., LL.D.
GEOLOGY AND INVERTEBRATE PALHONTOLOGY
Epmunp Oris Hovey, A.B., Ph.D., Curator .
MINERALOGY
L. P. Gratacap, Ph.B., A.B., A.M., Curator
GeorGe F. Kunz, A.M., Ph.D., Honorary Curator of Gems
Prof. Hmnry E. Crampton, A.B., Ph.D., Curator
Roy W. Miner, A.B., Assistant Curator
Frank E. Lutz, A.B., A.M., Ph.D., Assistant Curator
L. P. Graracap, Ph.B., A.B., A.M., Curator of Mollusca
Witu1AM BruTeNMULLER, Associate Curator of Lepidoptera
INVERTEBRATE ZOOLOGY |
.
Prof. W1Lt~t1AM Morton WHEELER, Ph.D., Honorary Curator of Social Insects
ALEXANDER PETRUNKEVITCH, Ph.D., Honorary Curator of Arachnida
Prof. Aaron L. TREADWELL, B.S., M.S., Ph.D., Honorary Curator of Annulata
MAMMALOGY AND ORNITHOLOGY
Prof. J. A. ALLEN, Ph.D., Curator
FraNK M. CHapman, Curator of Ornithology
Roy C. Anprews, A.B., Assistant in Mammalogy
W. De W. Miter, Assistant in Ornithology
VERTEBRATE PALHONTOLOGY
Prof. Henry Farrrretp Ossporn, A.B., Se.D., LL.D., D.Sc., Honorary Curator
W. D. Matrruew, Ph.B., A.B., A.M., Ph.D., Acting Curator
WALTER GRANGER, Assistant Curator of Fossil Mammals
Barnum Brown, A.B., Assistant Curator of Fossil Reptiles
Wiuiiam K. Grecory, A. B., A. M., Ph.D., Assistant
Louis Hussaxor, B.S., Ph.D., Associate Curator of Fossil Fishes
JoHun T. Nicuots, A. B., Assistant Curator of Recent Fishes
ANTHROPOLOGY
CLARK WissLer, A.B., A.M., Ph.D., Curator
Puny E. Gopparp, A.B., A.M., Ph.D., Associate Curator
Haran I. Smitru, Associate Curator
Ropert H. Lowi, A.B., Ph.D., Assistant Curator
HersBert J. SprnpEN, A.B., A.M., Ph.D., Assistant Curator
CHARLES W. Mean, Assistant
ALANSON SKINNER, Assistant
PHYSIOLOGY
Prof. RatpH W. Tower, A.B., A.M., Ph.D., Curator
PUBLIC HEALTH
Prof. CHARLES Epwarp Amory WINsLow, 8.B., M.S., Curator
WOODS AND FORESTRY
Mary Cyntuia Dickerson, B.S., in charge
4
BOOKS AND PUBLICATIONS
Prof. Rate W. Tower, A.B., A.M., Ph.D., Curator
ANTHONY Woopwarp, Ph.D., in charge of Maps and Charts
PUBLIC EDUCATION
Prof. ALBERT S. Bickmore, B.S., Ph.D., LL.D., Curator Emeritus
GrorGE H. SHerwoop, A.B., A.M., Curator
INDEX
Capitals Indicate the Name of a Contributor
Accessions:
Department of Anthropology, 27, 52,
86, 92, 139, 187, 257
Department of Geology, 22, 86, 141
Department of Mammalogy and Orni-
thology, 187, 188
Department of Mineralogy, 19
Department of Vertebrate
tology, 26, 189, 222
Account of the Museum’s Congo Expedi-
tion, 147
Address of Welcome at Commemoration of
the Founding of the Museum, 60
Adventure with an African Elephant, 186
Africa, In the Heart of, 147
‘*African Explorations and Adventures.’’
Lecture by Dr. Louis L. Seaman, 140
African Game, Exhibition of, 140
‘“‘Age of Mammals,’ 188
Akeley, Carl E. Adventure with an African
Elephant, 186
American Fisheries Society, 190
American Ornithologists’ Union, 262
Andrews, Roy C., 113, 140, 189
Anthropological Work in the Southwest, 132
Arctic Expedition, 108, 133, 190, 212, 259
Art Trip to the Northwest Coast, 42
‘Basketry Weavings of Primitive Peopies.’’
Lecture by Miss M. L. Kissell, 53
Brown, Barnum, 263
Bumpus, Hermon C., 86, 188
Caliph, 53
Canoe, Work on the Ceremonial, 238
Canoes of the North Pacific Coast Indians,
243
Ceremonial Canoe Scene
Pacific Hall, 227
CHAPMAN, FranNK M. Protective Colora-
tion in the Habitat Groups of Birds,
195
Chapman, Frank M., 87, 139, 191, 261
Chili, Ethnological Collection from, 257
CuoaTte, Joseph H. Commemoration Ad-
dress, 67
Choate, Honorable Joseph H., Portrait of
the, 91
Cold Spring Harbor Group, 106
Collecting Expedition to the Florida Reefs,
50
Commemoration Address, 67
Commemoration of the Founding of the
Museum, 59
Congo Expedition, 113, 147
Congress of Americanists. 190, 222
Paleon-
in the North
**“Conservation Movement.”
Dr. W. J. McGee, 114
Crampton, Henry E. Fourth Journey to
the South Seas, 122
Two Active Volcanoes of the South
Seas, 171
Crampton, Henry E., 189
Dickerson, Mary CYNTHIA.
of Africa, 147
Herculean Task in Museum Exhibition,
22:7
Dodge Expedition to Mississippi, 121
Elephant Head, Transferred from Museum
to Bronx Park, 113
Emmons, Greorae T. The Potlatch of the
North Pacific Coast, 229
Ethnological Collection from Chili, 257
Expeditions and Field Work:
Albatross, 113
Arctic, 108, 133, 190, 212, 259
British East India, 186
Congo, 113, 147
Florida Reefs, 50
Florida, Seminole Indians, 189
Japanese Whaling Stations, 140, 189
Mexico, 86, 87, 139
Mississippi. Dodge Expedition, 121
Montana, 263
North Dakota.
Address by
In the Heart
Hidatsa, 190
Southwest. Anthropological Work,
132;-225
Wisconsin. Menomini Indians, 189
Fabbri Yacht, Report from the, 110
Figgins, J. D., 190
Fish Design on Peruvian Mummy Cloths,
251
Flies and Mosquitos, Annual Scourge of, 183
Florida Reefs, Expedition to the, 50
Forestry Hall, Note from the, 182
Four-toed Horse, 221 :
Fourth Journey to the South Seas, 122
GAYNOR, Witt1AMmM H. Response to Com-
memoration Address, 84
Gifts to the Museum, 8, 22, 26, 52, 53, 86,
139, 187, 188
Goddard. Pliny E. Navajo Blankets, 201
Granger, Walter, 221
Gratacap, L. P. Mineral Accessions, 19
Habitat Groups of Birds:
Protective Coloration in, 195
New Loon Group, 260
Two New Bird Groups, 101
Halley’s Comet, 27
Herculean Task in Museum Exhibition, 227
vi INDEX
Horticultural Society of New York, 114, 221
Hovey, Epmunpb Oris. Robert Parr Whit-
field, 119
In the Heart of Africa, 147
Indian Tribes of the Northwest Coast, 31
Indian (An) Who Helped the Museum, 254
“Indians of the Southwest.’’ Lecture by
Frederick I. Monsen, 52
Insects, Local Collection of, 19
Jesup Memorial Fund, 59
Kissell, Mary L., 53, 221
Lecture Announcements,
141, 191, 222, 263
Lenders’ Indian Collection, 92
Local Insect Collection, 19
Loon Group, The New, 260
Lowie, Robert H., 190
Lucas, Frederick A., 113
Lutz, Frank E. Annual Scourge of Flies
and Mosquitoes, 183
Matrruew, W.D. The New Plesiosaur, 246
McGee, W. J., 114
Members, 27, 52, 86, 113, 139, 187, 262
Miller, W. DeW., 263
Mills, Darius Ogden, 110, 113
Miner, Roy W. Cold Spring Harbor
Group, 106
Miner, Roy W., 190
Mineral Accessions, 19
Mississippi, Dodge Expedition, 121
Monsen, Frederick I., 52
28, 54, 87, 115,
Museum News Notes, 26, 52, 86, 112, 139,
187, 220, 262
National Association of Audubon Societies
114, 263
Navajo Blankets, 201
NEANDROsS, Sigurp. The Work on the
Ceremonial Canoe, 238
New Field for Museum Work, 198
Nicuouts, JoHn TT. Report from’ the
Fabbri Yacht, 110
Northwest Coast Indians, 31, 229, 243
Northwest Coast, Results of an Art Trip to
the, 42
Ojibway and Cree of Central Canada, 9
Ossporn, Henry F. Address of Welcome
at Commemoration of Founding of
Museum, 60
Osborn, Henry F., 139, 188
Peary, Robert E., 114
Peruvian Mummy Cloths, 251
Petrunkevitch, Alexander, 190
Plesiosaur, The New, 246
Portrait of the Honorable Joseph H. Choate,
91
Potlatch of the North Pacific Coast, 229
“Practical Bird Conservation.”
Frank M. Chapman, 191
Protective Coloration in the Habitat Groups
of Birds, 195 =
Pterodactyl Skeleton, A-Complete, 49
Public Health, Department of, 198
Recent Accessions to the Department of
Geology, 22
Restaurant, Museum, 53, 95
Results of an Art Trip to the Northwest
Coast, 42
Scientific Publications during 1909, 23
Scientific Staff, Changes in, 85, 188, 262
Seaman, Dr. Louis L., 140
SHERWOOD, Grorce H. Quotation from
Address on Teachers’ Day, 258
SKINNER, ALANSON. A visit to the Ojibway
and Cree of Central Canada, 9
Skinner, Alanson, 189
SmitH, Haruan I. Visit to the Indian
Tribes of the Northwest Coast, 31
Canoes of the North Pacific Coast
Indians, 243
Societies, Meetings of, 28, 55, 88, 116, 142,
192, 264
Address by
: South Seas, Fourth Journey to the, 122
Two Active Volcanoes of, 171
Stefansson-Anderson Arctic Expedition, 108,
133, 190, 212, 259
Swordfish, New Model, 181
Taytor, Witt S. Results of an Art Trip
to the Northwest Coast, 42
Teachers’ Day, 221, 258, 262
Thorne Bequest, 27, 112, 187, 220
Trustees, Board of, Annual Meeting, 85
Elections to, 85
Quarterly Meeting, 262
Triceratops, 26 ©
“Turning Kogmollik’’ for Science, 212
Townsend, Charles H., 188
Two Active Volcanoes of the South Seas, 171
Two New Bird Groups, 101
Tyrannosaurus, 3
Visit to the Indian Tribes of the Nothweat
Coast, 31
Visit to the Ojibway and Cree of Central
Canada, 9
Volcanoes of the South Seas, 171
‘‘Waste of Life Capital in American In-
dustries.’’ Lecture by Prof. C-E. A.
Winslow, 189
Whitfield, Robert Parr, 119
Winslow, C-E. A., 189, 198 ,
Wissier, Cuarx. An Indian Who Helped
the Museum, 254
Women Not Conservationists, 261
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
Avakubi, Emerging from the Forest near, 148
Bartering with Passengers on the River
Boat, 159
Bella Coola. Carved Post, 38
Native Cemetery, 34
Pagan Village, 40
Bickmore, Albert S.
Boma, Pier at, 152
Canoe, Ceremonial. Bear Dancer, 242
Chief Directs the Ceremony from the
Stern of the Canoe, 226
Finished Figure, 241
Later Stage in the Work, 241
Poleman, Showing Sculptor’s Skill in
Making Casts of Figures in Action,
235
Sketch Model in Clay. A Suggestion
of the Plan, 228
Unfinished Figure in Place in the Canoe,
240
Chapin, James, Assistant. Portrait, 149
Chief of a Renowned Cannibal Tribe, 166
Chileat Blanket (Unfinished) and Pattern
Board. Kluckwan, Alaska, 45
Chinook Canoe, 46, 245
Choate, Joseph H. Portrait, 65, 90
Cold Spring Harbor Group, 107
Congo Anteater or Pangolin, 167
Congo Expedition Entering Avakubi Sta-
tion, 168
Congo Horned Viper, 167
Congo River, Village on the, 159
Congo, Shores of the Lower, 151
Congo Striped Squirrel, 167
Cree ‘‘Cache,’’ Eastern. Black Bear Point,
James Bay, 16
Elliot, Daniel Giraud. Portrait, 81
Fabbri Yacht ‘‘Tekla,’’ 51
Falls of Stanleyville in the Distance, 160
Fish Design on Peruvian Mummy Cloths,
251,252
Fisheries at Stanleyville, 155
' Fishing Scene in Raiatea. Society Islands,
127
At the Entrance of the Dense.
Avakubi, 160
Fort Hope, Keewatin. Anglican Church
Mission and Indian Village, 14
Mission School, 14
Wigwam, 17
Fort Hope Indians, Government Paymaster
Distributing Annuities to the, 12
Feast Following the Receipt of Annui-
ties, 12
Fly, Common House or
185
Portrait, 77
Forest,
‘““Typhoid Fly,”
vii
Glareola. On Sand Bars and Stone Ledges
of the Upper Congo, 155
Grave Monument, 244
Graves in Trees. Alert Bay, 33
Grecques, Reproduction of the
Chamber of the, 100
Habitat Bird Groups:
Cuthbert Rookery, 103
Detail of the Flamingo, 194
Portion of the Loon, 260 ;
Small Portion of the Snake-bird, 197
Turkey Buzzard, 104
Haida Canoe, Alert Bay, 47
‘‘Halemaumau,’’ House of Perpetual Fire,
176
Insect Gallery, North Side of, 20
Ivory Caravan, 162
Jesup, Morris K. Memorial Statue of, 58
Kilauea. ‘‘Lake of Fire,’’ 179
‘*‘Lake of Fire’ at Night, 179
Lang, Herbert, Leader of the Congo Ex-
pedition, 149
Kwakiutl River Canoes, 245
Mambuti Pygmy. Avakubi, 169
Mangaia. One of the Cook Islands, 128
Maps and Diagrams:
Arctic Alaska. Showing Region
Visited by Stefansson-Anderson Ex-
pedition, 134, 215
Ground Plan of the ‘‘Group of Columns’”’,
Mitla, 99
Itinerary of the Congo Expedition, 157
Route of Professor Crampton’s Journey
of 1909, 125
Mauna Loa, Hawaii.
Sea, 176
Mitla, General View of, Looking South, 97
Mobali Woman Carrying Firewood, 153
Mobali Woman Carrying Water, 146
Morgan, J, Pierpont. Portrait, 61
Mortuary Column. Wrangel, Alaska, 43
Moss and Balsam Boughs for Bedding.
Rupert’s House, James Bay, 18
Museum Building in 1881, 69; Same in
1908, 73
Museum Caravan Crossing a River, 164
Natives of Stanleyville Playing a Game, 163
Navajo Blanket, Weaving a, 206
Navajo Blankets:
Attractive Blanket in the Sage Col-
lection, 207
Beautiful Saddle Blanket from the Sage
Collection, 209
Chief’s Blanket of the Lenders’ Col-
lection, 204
Gem of the Lenders’ Collection, 204
North
Viewed from the
viii ILLUSTRATIONS °
Navajo Blanket of the Sage Collection,
208
Navajo Woman’s Dress, 207
Section of a Saddle Blanket.
Collection, 201
Valuable Blanket. Sage Collection, 208
Valuable Old Navajo Blanket, 209
Navajo Summer Home, 203
Navajo Woman Spinning Wool, 205
Neandross, Sigurd, Sculptor. Portrait, 233
North Pacific Hall in November, 1908, 236.
Same in 1910, 237
Ojibway Lads. Fort Hope, 15
Ojibway Mothers and Babies. Fort Hope,
15
Opunohu Bay, Looking South in.
Society Islands, 123
‘*Packing’’ on the Missanabie River, 11
Pagopago Harbor. Tutuila, Samoan Is-
Lenders’
Moorea
lands, 129 .
Papeete and the Northwestern Part of
Tahiti, 123
Peruvian Mummy Cloths, Portions of,
253
Plesiosaur, American. Elasmosaurus, 247
Cryptoclidus, 249
Skeleton of a, 248
Sketch Restoration of the Cryptoclidus
by Edwin Christman, 246
Potlatch, In the Land of the, 231
Ptarmigan, White-tailed, in Summer Plum-
age, 196
Pteryodactylus Elegans.
Bavaria, 50
Restaurant, Main Room of the Museum, 98
Resthouse at Bafwasikule, 164
Revising the Loads. Two Hours from
Avakubi, 168
River Boat on the Way to Stanleyville, 154
Savaii, The Cone of, 173
Solenhofen, -
Crater Margin.
Side, 175
Ruins of Stone Houses, 175
From the Seaward
Sea Wall near the Cascades of Molten
Lava, 175
Viewed from the Sea, 172
Western Limit of the Lava Field along
the Shore, 173
Shaman’s Ceremonial Mask, 239
Shaman’s Rattle, 239
Sitka Harbor and Ceremonial Canoe, 232
‘*Telegraph’’ Operator, 163
Tevaitoa in Raiatea. One of the Leeward
Tslands, 126
Tlingit Children, 231
Tlingit Indians, Such is the Country of, 234
Tlingit Race, Of the, 229
Totem Pole. River's Inlet, 30
Totem Poles. Alert Bay, 35
Tyrannosaurus, Boxing Pelvis of. Big Dry
Creek, Fifty Miles South of Glasgow,
Montana, 5
Mounted Skull in Museum, 6
Restoration from Specimens in Museum, ~
7
Skeleton Uncovered and Ready to be
Taken Up. Big Dry Creek, Forty
Miles South of Glasgow, Montana, 4
Working on Skull of. Quarry Forty
Miles South of Glasgow, Montana, 5
Upper Dinosaur Clays, Basal Sandstone
and Concretions. Gilbert Creek,
Montana, 2
Vite-levu. The Largest of the Fiji Islands,
130
Winslow Professor C-E. A. of the Depart-
ment of Public Health, 200
Woodpost at Barumbu, 152
‘*Wireless *’ Station at Stanleyville, 162
York Boat Ascending the Albany River, 10
% {i
aed
1 Pe
Fhe ere
Yi Mee
Rigas
SDNY
a> hee
one
¥r
uA
VNVLNOW ‘¥33Y4S LYSETID ‘SNOILSYONOD GNV ANOLSGNVS 1VSV@ ‘SAV1D YNVSONIG YaddN G
The American Museum Journal
VoL. X JANUARY, 1910 No. 1
THE TYRANNOSAURUS
N the southeast corner of the Dinosaur Hall are the remains of the
| largest beast of prey that ever lived. ‘This is the 7'yrannosaurus,
the great Carnivorous Dinosaur of the Cretaceous Period. Forty
feet in length, with huge and massive skull, the jaws four feet long armed
with sharply pointed teeth each projecting from two to six inches from
the socket, this monster is beyond comparison the greatest carnivorous
animal that ever inhabited the land.
The Museum has been peculiarly fortunate in securing three skeletons
of this rare dinosaur. All of them were found by Mr. Barnum Brown
of the Department of Vertebrate Paleontology on different expeditions.
The first, from near Edgemont, South Dakota, was discovered in 1900
and includes the lower jaws, many vertebree and ribs and a few bones.
from the limbs and feet. ‘The second was obtained in 1902 on Hell
Creek in central Montana and consists of a large part of the skull and
jaws, most of the vertebree of the back and the nearly complete pelvis
and hind limbs. Since then Mr. Brown has searched diligently for
additional remains of this animal, and in 1908 he was so fortunate as to
find a skeleton in splendid preservation, and perfect except that it lacked
the limbs and the tip of the tail. ‘The rock in which these skeletons were
found is a loosely cemented sandstone, but the skeletons themselves are
partly or wholly encased in great concretionary masses of flinty hardness.
Extracting the bones uninjured from these iron-hard concretions is a slow
and difficult task and is not yet complete on the third and finest of the
skeletons.
The skull and jaws and the pelvis and hind limbs of the second
skeleton have been restored and mounted in the hall, as previously
noticed in the JournaL. ‘The skull and jaws of the third and finest
skeleton of the 'lyrannosaur have recentiy been placed in a case beside
them. ‘This specimen, which is the first really complete skull of a
carnivorous dinosaur known to science, is of inestimable scientific value.
It is beyond question the most impressive dinosaur skull ever found and
3
YNVLNOW ‘MO9DSV19
JO HLNOS S3TIW ALYOS W33R3NO ANG DIG ‘dN N3WVL 3G OL AGVSY GNV GSYSAOONN NOLAISYS SNYNVSONNVYAL v
int 4
ey
*WORKING ON SKULL OF TYRANNOSAUPUS.
GLASGOW, MONTANA
QUARRY FORTY MILES SCUTH OF
BOXING PELVIS OF
TYRANNOSAURUS. TWO TONS IN
MILES SOUTH OF GLASGOW,
WEIGHT
MONTANA
BIG DRY CREEK, FIFTY
WNASNW NI TINHAS GALNNOW ‘SNYNVSONNVYAL 9
>
+.
J
3M
-2M
TYRANNOSAURUS. RESTORATION FROM SPECIMENS IN THE MUSEUM
8 THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JO URNAL
presents several unusual features, notably the distinct sutures which clearly
define every element of the skull and the definite size and position of the
orbit. :
The present arrangement is temporary. As soon as the skeletons
can be restored and the missing parts in each modeled or cast, the one
from the other, it is intended to make a group consisting of the two
Tyrannosaurs standing over the mummied carcass of a 'Trachodon, a
unique specimen which was purchased last year from Mr. Charles H.
Sternberg and noticed in the JouRNAL for April, 1908. ‘This group will
make a very effective and striking centerpiece for the Hall of Cretaceous
Dinosaurs which is planned for the future development of the Museum.
There is no living beast of prey that compares with the great car-
nivorous dinosaurs or which habitually attacks the largest herbivorous
animals. ‘The lion and the tiger prey upon the medium-sized and
smaller hoofed animals; they do not usually molest the great ‘ pachy-
derms”’ (the elephant and the rhinoceros), and the indefinite multi-
plication of these giant ungulates is checked by other means. But
during the Age of Reptiles it was different. ‘The Allosawrus of the -
Jurassic, the T'yrannosaurus of the Cretaceous, were fitted by nature to
attack and prey upon the largest of their herbivorous contemporaries;
and the size and power of their weapons for attack far surpass anything
seen among modern carnivores or those of the Age of Mammals. Con-_
versely the largest herbivorous dinosaurs wore armor or weapons for
defense much heavier and more powerful than can be found among the
great pachyderms of modern times, whose thick skin is mainly a protec-
tion against accidental injury or the attacks of insects. ‘The great horns
and bony neck-frill of T'’riceratops and the armor-plated head and body
of Ankylosaurus were developed no doubt to resist the attacks of the
huge ‘T'yrannosaur. Other contemporary dinosaurs like Trachodon
were unarmored but were evidently adapted to a more amphibious life
and sought refuge in swimming beyond the reach of their great enemy.
Others again of much smaller size were agile and active and probably
escaped by superior speed.
Mr. GrorcE S. Bowpotrn, one of the Trustees, has presented to the
Museum a fine oid native basket from the Hope Islands in the South
Pacific Ocean.
OJIBWAY AND CREE OF CENTRAL CANADA 9
A VISIT TO THE OJIBWAY AND CREE OF CENTRAL CANADA
BAND of Ojibway Indians occupies that region of central Canada
A lying between Hudson Bay and the Great Lakes, and a band of
Cree lies directly north of them. ‘These tribes it was my good
fortune to visit during the past summer, sent by the Department of
Anthropology of the Museum. On the first day of June starting from —
Dinorwick, the little Hudson’s Bay Company post some 200 miles east of
Winnipeg on the Canadian Pacific Railroad, I began the expedition
accompanied by two guides, one of whom, ‘Tom Bain by name, was
head-guide for the Museum’s expedition into the James Bay region in
1908. Our equipment was light, consisting merely of a tent and blankets,
food, guns and necessary ammunition. ‘These we carried nine and one
half miles to Sandy Lake where we loaded them into an eighteen-foot
cedar canoe, our bark for the remainder of the trip.
From Sandy Lake we journeyed four days northward to Lac Seul,
touching at several Ojibway villages and camps by the way and coming
in rather dangerous proximity to a serious forest fire. We made our
first permanent camp at Lac Seul. About eight hundred Ojibway
trade at this point, and at first they were inclined to be suspicious of us.
They became decidedly hostile and threatening after they learned that
our object was to study their manners and customs, so that, although we
spent about ten days among them, we were able to secure little informa-
tion and but few specimens.
At length, finding that our efforts were bringing no results, we set out
for our next stopping place, Fort Osnaburgh on Lake St. Joseph, but
after a day’s paddling found that the guide did not remember the route.
We were obliged to return to the Lac, which we reached a little after
midnight. For some time before nearing our camping ground we could
hear the Indians drumming and singing back in the woods, and after we
pitched our camp not far away from where the Indians were, we could
hear very distinctly what was going on. ‘The medicine man or shaman
was making medicine against us and particularly against me. His
incantations, however, proved of no avail, at least we can truthfully say
that we have felt no ill effects from his charms as yet. The following
morning, we secured a friendly Cree who was living among the Ojibway
at this point to guide us on our way to Fort Osnaburgh. ‘The journey
10 THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL
>
from Lac Seul to Fort Osnaburgh led through the Root River, across the
Height of Land into Lake St. Joseph.
The Root River although quite deep is a sluggish stream and narrow
most of the way, varying from five to fifty feet in width. Moose, caribou
and deer frequent its low and swampy shores. On our first day out we
saw a yearling cow moose on the bank, and a shot from my carbine
put us in possession of a much needed supply of fresh meat. On the
following day we saw two more moose, and owing to the skillful and
YORK BOAT. ASCENDING THE ALBANY RIVER
Supplies from Europe for the Hudson’s Bay Company are still sent around
Labrador into Hudson Bay, a journey of many months.
silent paddles of the Indians, were able to approach within fifty feet of
one of them before she saw us. ‘The day after, we again saw two moose
and on the following day another pair. ‘The last moose which we saw
was an immense bull, and his horns, which were still in the velvet, were
of enormous size, though it was only the middle of June. During the
long time that we watched he remained in the middle of a small round
basin caused by an expansion of the river and was evidently feeding on
roots or weeds beneath the surface of the water. Sometimes he sank
completely out of sight, even the ridge of his back disappearing from view.
OJIBWAY AND CREE OF CENTRAL CANADA 11
My men stated that this was most unusual, though Bain said that he
had once before seen a moose go completely under the water.
We found the Indians at Fort Osnaburgh also inclined to be hostile.
The band at Lac Seul had sent warning messages that they were to have
nothing to do with us, as our purpose in coming to their country was to
steal little boys. ‘The fact that
I wore spectacles also militated
against me, as the Indians be-
lieved that my glasses could
see completely through them
and read their thoughts. ‘The
Hudson’s Bay Company had
suspected several Indians of
various petty misdemeanors
and these Indians showed their
guilty consciences by moving
away as soon as we arrived.
After some effort, however, we
managed to come to friendly
terms with these people and
gained some results here.
From Fort Osnaburgh we
left Lake St. Joseph and
descended the Albany River,
about four days’ journey, when
we turned aside and entered
Lake Eabamet where the
Hudson’s Bay Company has
long had a post known as Fort
Hope. At Fort Hope there
had been listed by Govern-
ment census 513 Indians who
were drawing annuities of four
‘“PACKING’'’ ON THE MISSANABIE RIVER
All goods and specimens must be trans-
ported in this manner part of the way in the
forest.
dollars each for England’s use of the Canadian territory, but the epidemic
of influenza which swept the Indians of northern Canada last year had
carried away eighty of them during the winter.
We arrived at this place just before the Government men who were
to pay the Indians their annuities. Hence we found the Indians all
ww Fw
den
* Sows
\
GOVERNMENT PAYMASTER DISTRIBUTING ANNUITIES TO THE FORT HOPE INDIANS
FEAST FOLLOWING THE RECEIPT OF ANNUITIES
The men form the inner circle, while the women and children sit outside
12
OJIBWAY AND CREE OF CENTRAL CANADA 13
gathered in camp around the Hudson’s Bay Company’s and Revillon
Fréres’ stores. ‘These Indians also were afraid of us, as they had been
warned by messages sent from Lac Seul as to our kidnapping propen-
sities. I almost immediately got myself into difficulty by giving a ten
cent piece to an attractive baby. A council was called at once to de-
termine whether I was attempting to charm the child to death or not.
But the missonary and the Hudson’s Bay and Revillon Company’s
factors got word of it, came to Fort Hope and persuaded the Indians
that our intentions were not bad.
The Indians decided, however, to send for their most noted shaman,
Waboose-Inini or “Rabbit Man.” The old fellow was hunting some
distance from the Fort but put in his appearance a few days later, camp-
ing about three miles outside of the Post. He immediately sent word to
me that he wished to see me. ‘To this I replied that I was very busy and
could not bother with coming. A second messenger shortly arrived in-
quiring why I was so busy that I could not see so great a man as Waboose-
Inini. My reply was that I was learning all about shamanism from
another medicine-man — a rival whom we knew the old fellow did not
like. Waboose-Inini arrived next morning at our camp and we kept
busily employed writing in our notebooks all the morning, while the old
man sat about smoking. ‘Toward noon he would have departed, but I
asked him to stay for dinner, and on the following day the old man
appeared again about meal time. ‘This time he was not only invited to
stay, but I gave him something to eat from my plate. He told me that
no white man had honored him so before. When on the third day, he
happened around at the noon hour and was again invited to dine, his
delight knew no bounds and he burst out with, “’Tell the young white
chief that if there is anything he wants to know, I will tell him. I know
everything. ‘These other people are nothing but old women. Iam the
only one about here who knows how to make medicine.”
After this, we were on most friendly terms and the other Indians
seeing that I was accepted by the shaman also became friendly so that
we were able to secure many photographs and quite a collection of
specimens, notwithstanding that the Indians were at first afraid of the
camera and in spite of the fact that most of the old customs have gone out
within the past fifty years.
Few of the Northern Indians now seem to practise their ancient
culture, in fact, they are much less primitive in many ways than our own
oo be ae fp pe
aie © iy 4.
(= ;
ahs ye
|
;
si
:
THE MISSION SCHOOL AT FORT HOPE
Ojibway children are still taught their own language by the English missionaries
14
gee
ae ae
S
an:
OJIBWAY LADS. FORT HOPE
OJIBWAY MOTHERS AND BABIES. FORT HOPE
15
" 7h
ws a ?
i] >
; no
.
x
Ae 0B
: A
. + ~
as
k
EASTERN CREE ‘‘CACHE.’’ BLACK BEAR POINT, JAMES BAY
Supplies placed on seaffold out of reach of dogs and wolves.
reservation Indians who have been in contact with the white people for
so many years. ‘The reason for this is twofold. In the first place, most
of the tribes in the United States were by nature warlike, while those of
the north were hunting peoples, gentle and rather timid in character.
In the second place, our Indians have been surrounded by a great num-
ber of white people who came among them as enemies. ‘They have been
isolated in groups among people whom they dislike. For this reason
they have striven to preserve their identity as Indians, in so far as that was
possible. In Canada, on the other hand, the white people in the north-
ern district are still greatly in the minority. ‘They have come among
the Indians slowly and have come as friends. ‘The Hudson’s Bay Com-
pany has done a great deal toward rendering the existence of the Indians
less difficult. White men’s clothing, good food, implements and many
other useful things have been given in exchange for fur. ‘The side of the
white man which the Indian has seen is an admirable one and worth
striving to imitate in every way.
While we were at Fort Hope, the Indians were visited by Government
treaty representatives. ‘The arrival brought about much rejoicing on
the part of the Indians, exhibited in firing of guns and in daily feasts
16
OJIBWAY AND CREE OF CENTRAL CANADA 17
and dances. At this time the Indians received the only medical attention
which they will have until another year has passed.
After a stay of several weeks at Fort Hope, we decided to leave.
Old Rabbit Man seemed very sorry to see me go and, wishing no doubt
to do the proper thing, decided to present me with his small daughter, a
girl of about eight
years of age. Need-
less to say, | was some-
what embarrassed ,by
this and asked why
I was so_ honored.
“Make you fine wife,”
replied the old fel-
low. ‘But she is too
young,’ I replied.
“That makes no dif-
ference, my friend,”
said Rabbit Man.
“Take her now. Bring
her upright. She will
love you all the more
when she gets older.”’
I finally explained that
I was a poor young
man and did not catch
many beaver and was
not in any position at
WIGWAM AT FORT HOPE
The bark wigwam is still occasionally constructed by
the Eastern Ojibway. |
the present time to support a young lady in proper state. ‘The old man
was satisfied and we proceeded on our journey.
Below Fort Hope, along the Albany River as far as Martin’s Falls
we caught beautiful trout but saw little game. From Martin’s Falls
we passed down to Fort Albany on James Bay, then coasted Hudson
Bay for 120 miles to Moose Fort. Immense flocks of ducks, plover
and various water and shore birds were frequently encountered. On
one occasion we ran into a herd of white whales which sported about the
canoe. My men shot ducks and geese to help out our provisions, and in
addition, killed several hawks which they roasted and ate and which,
to my surprise, proved quite palatable.
18 THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL
The journey up the river was rather uneventful, except that I was
fortunate enough to kill a yearling bull moose about 150 miles south of
the Bay. ‘This was the first fresh meat that we had had since the moose
I killed on the Root River some two months before. Incidentally, it
may be said that we had no vegetables from the time we went in until
the time we came out. After a return journey of sixteen days on the
Missanabie or Moose River, we arrived at Missanabie on the Canadian
Pacific Railroad August 27.
It appears that the Ojibway visited once lived in a neighborhood
considerably farther south, possibly in northern Minnesota, whence they
pushed northward, almost to Hudson Bay. Since. coming to the North,
they have not only given up many of the manners and customs of the
typical Ojibway of the south but have also taken on some of the cus-
toms of the Eastern Cree. In addition they have evolved some new
points of culture distinctively their own. All of these factors set them off
as a distinct and separate body from the well-known historical Ojibway.
There was secured upon the expedition a series of the articles of
aboriginal manufacture now used by the Cree and Ojibway of the ~
Hudson Bay Region. These articles consist of household utensils,
games, clothing and a few ceremonial articles. At the same time, full
notes on the ethnology and folk lore were made, and the results will
soon be published. ALANSON SKINNER.
MOSS AND BALSAM BOUGHS FOR BEDDING. RUPERT’S HOUSE, JAMES BAY.
LOCAL INSECT COLLECTION 19
MINERAL ACCESSIONS
HROUGH the Bruce Fund the Mineral Collection has received
Ae some attractive mineral specimens, including several species
new to the collection and others from new localities or of un-
usually perfect crystallographic development. Among the specimens
is a group of lodyrite crystals from ‘Tonopah, Nevada, illustrating some
of the hemimorphic forms described recently by Kraus and Cook, a
handsome surface of dark-green prismatic Brochantite, a hydrous sul-
phate of copper, from Chili and a striking veinlet of the same mineral
in fibrous form which has been changed to red oxide of copper (Cuprite),
possibly, in a measure, through the agency of heat.
Among the remarkable mineral developments at Chuquicamata,
Chili, which furnishes the Brochantite, are very beautiful light-green
pyramidal crystals of Kréhnkite, and the collection has secured an
admirable example of this unique occurrence. Less noteworthy though
valuable are some specimens of minerals which possess individual interest
for crystal perfection, and among these may be mentioned a handsc ne
Apatite from Hebron, Maine, which for a long time remained an unat-
tainable ornament of a private collection, a small perfect Spodumene
(Kunzite) crystal in its matrix, a New Hampshire Topaz and Phenacite,
a beautiful blue Topaz from a new locality in Texas, some ruby Corun-
dum from North Carolina, translucent crystals (viewed through the
shorter axis) of Phlogopite from Franklin Furnace, N. J., and a deli-
cately arborescent native Silver. In addition to these, specimens helpful
for the scientific illustration of their respective species have been pur-
chased, and the collection sensibly maintained abreast of the rapidly
increasing development of the subject, through this indispensable en-
dowment. L. P. GRATACAP.
THE LOCAL COLLECTION OF INSECTS
fifty miles of New York City, but up to the present year, owing
to the pressure of other work and the lack of funds, the Museum
collection representing these insects attained to only twenty-five per cent
Loe are about ten thousand species of insects occurring within
Ayooog [woISo[oOWOjUy YOK MEN ey} JO WOOY Buyooy_ ‘syoesuy [woo'T Jo uore]oD
AY3TIVS LOASNI 4O 30GIS HLYON
a »
rere ewpvrveee
me
=
=
~~
Saal
Ne
~
Trrerererrriz
Bae 4
f
igi aie 4
f 4 ; < ie j fly ‘
Hi, BAD)» + ded alin, mE ss
ie Rss
LOCAL INSECT COLLECTION 21
of this number. Now efforts are being made not only to complete the
collection, but also to install it in a way convenient for use, so that it may
be of value as an aid in the difficult task of identifying specimens and as
a record of this branch of the local fauna.
Considerable collecting was done during the past summer to help
fill up the gaps in the series, and now the New York Entomological
Society has kindly undertaken to assist in the work. In fact the custody
of the collection has been turned over to the Society, which has chosen a
curator whose duty it is to care for the specimens and to attend to keep-
ing the records. Several times a month members of the Society meet at
the Museum and spend the greater part of the day working over the
collections, adding from their private collections the species which are
lacking and seeing that all specimens are correctly identified and labeled.
The importance of the work that they are doing cannot be overestimated.
When one realizes that within fifty miles of New York City there are
still more than seven thousand species of insects which are not represented
in our collection, it will be seen what a task has been undertaken. Con-
siderable progress, however, has already been made. Messrs. Angell,
Bischoff, Dow, Englehardt, Harris, Joutell, Leng, Schaeffer and Winter-
steiner are taking up the Coleoptera group by group, and of the one
hundred twenty-five species which they have considered the local collec-
tion now contains one hundred eleven, whereas it formerly contained
only eighty-three, Messrs. Comstock, Pollard and Watson are paying
particular attention to the Lepidoptera; Dr. Love has undertaken the
non-parasitic Hymenoptera; Messrs. Barber and Olsen, the Hemiptera,
and Mr. Davis has already straightened out the Orthoptera and Odonata
and expects to arrange the lower orders. Thus it will be seen that with
the exception of the Diptera and the parasitic Hymenoptera the local
insect collection is in the hands of men well competent to take care of
them.
In connection with the work and to facilitate the study of the local
collection some important alterations have been made on the north side
of the gallery of the Insect Hall. The collection has been taken out of
the open exhibition cases and put into light-proof cabinets along the side
of the hall. Reference books and instruments have been provided and
cork-topped tables in which are lockers where students may keep their
material. Visitors desiring to consult the collection now may do so by
asking the attendant to unlock the cabinets for them. The valuable
bo
bo
THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL
library of the Museum and that of the Entomological Society are avail-
able for convenient reference.
The space in the exhibition cases formerly occupied by the colleetion
of local insects is being filled with exhibits aiming to show both the
practical and theoretical sides of entomology, particular emphasis
being laid upon insect ecology, or relation to the factors of environment.
RECENT ACCESSIONS TO THE DEPARTMENT OF GEOLOGY
as a gift from the Delaware, Lackawana and Western Coal
Company, through its president, Mr. E. E. Loomis, a fossilized
tree stump from the Diamond vein of one of the anthracite coal mines
under the city of Scranton, Pennsylvania. ‘The thickness of the coal
in this vein was eight feet and its top was seventy feet below the surface
of the ground. ‘The vein was exhausted here thirty-five years ago and
af HE Department of Geology is fortunate in having received recently
no mining has been done since. Recently one of the mine officials
was examining these old workings and on top of the refuse on the floor
of the gallery discovered the fossilized stump of a tree in perfect condi-
tion. ‘The trunk was probably more than two feet in diameter and the
spread of the remains of the roots is more than ten feet across. ‘The
stump evidently dropped from the roof some years after mining had
been finished, and the specimen was apparently unnoticed when active
operations were in progress, since the bottom of the fossil conformed to
the roof line of the workings. ‘The cavity from which the stump rah
shows that the trunk of the tree stood in a vertical position.
Through the generosity of Dr. Charles E. Slocum of Defiance, Ohio,
a Life Member of the Museum, and with the coéperation of the Kelley
Island Lime and ‘Transport Company, we have been able to extract
from the quarries at Kelley’s Island, Ohio, and transport to the Museum
a splendid block about 8 x 10 feet in size representing the glacial grooves
for which the Island is famous. Several deep grooves traverse the block,
the principal one of which is about 12 inches deep. ‘The higher parts
of the surface show glacial scratches at an angle to the deep grooves, indi-
cating a change of direction of movement in the ice during the latter part
of its history or the work of a glacier advancing from a different center.
Portions of the surface are polished almost as highly as they would be
if the work had been done by hand.
SCIENTIFIC PUBLICATIONS IN 1909 23
SCIENTIFIC PUBLICATIONS DURING 1909
HE scientific publications of the Museum consist of the Memoirs,
3 the BULLETIN and the ANTHROPOLOGICAL Papers. ‘The wide
_ range of research carried on by the Museum is indicated by the
titles of the articles comprising the volumes as given in the following list.
Although these articles are technical in character many of them have
general as well as scientific interest. ‘They are issued separately and with
the exception of those marked with an asterisk may be obtained from
the Librarian.. Those which are marked with an asterisk are published
by E. J. Brill, Leiden, Holland, and are not on sale at the Museum.
They may be obtained through G. E. Stechert, Bookseller, 129 West
20th St., New York City.
MEMOIRS.
Anthropology.
Vou. IV, *Part VII.— The Shuswap. By James Terr. Pp. 443-789, pll.
xili-xiv and 82 text figures.
Vout. VIII, *Parr Il.— The Kwakiutl of Vancouver Island. By Franz
Boas. Pp. 301-522, pll. xxvii-lii and 142 text figures.
Vou. XI, *Part II1— The Chuckchee: Social Organization. By W.
Boaoras. Pp. 537-733, pl. xxxv and 1 text figure.
Zoology and Paleontology.
Vou. IX, Parr V.— Studies on Fossil Fishes (Sharks, Chimeeroids and
Arthrodires). By BasHrorp Dran. Pp. 209-287, pll. xxvi-xli and
65 text figures.
Vou. IX, Parr VI.— The Carnivora and Insectivora of the Bridger Basin,
Middle Eocene. By W. D. Marruew. Pp. 289-567, pll. xlii-li and
118 text figures.
BULLETIN, Votume XXVI.
(Sixty-five plates and 119 text figures.)
PAGE
Art. I.— Observations upon the Genus Ancodon. By W. D.
MatTTHEW . : ; : 1
Art. II].— Fossil Diptera from Florissant, Colorado. By
T. D. A. CocKERELL. (Plate I and one text
figure. ) ; , 9
24 THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL
Art. I1].— Faunal Horizons of the Washakie Formation of
Southern Wyoming. By Watrer GRANGER.
(Plates II-VI and three text figures.)
Art. [V.— The Washakie, a Volcanic Ash Formation. By
W. J. SINCLAIR
Art. V.— The Species of Holcaspis er ts Gals. By
WILLIAM BEUTENMULLER. (Plates VII-IX.)
Art. VI.— The Species of Amphibolips and their Galls. By
WILLIAM BEUTENMULLER. (Plates X—XV.)
Art. VII.— Fossil Insects from Florissant, Colorado. By T. D.
A. CocKERELL. (Plate XVI.)
Art. VIII.— A Catalogue of the Generic Names Based on Amer-
ican Insects and Arachnids from the ‘Tertiary
Rocks, with Indications of the Type Species.
By 'T. D. A. CockERELL
Art. IX.— Notes on Alaskan Mammoth Reseiiors a 1907
and 1908. By L. S. QuackENBusH. (Plates
XVII-XXV.)
Art. X.— A Note on the Dolphins (Cor ee ocuihene and
Coryphena hippurus). By JoHN TREADWELL
NicHois. (‘I'wo text figures.)
Arr. XI.— The North American Species of Diaairophun ae
their Galls. By WiiuiaAm BruTENMiLuER.
(Plates XXVI-XXIX.)
Art. XIIT.— Mammals from British East ‘ahics: Collected iy
the Tjader Expedition of 1906. By J. A. ALLEN.
(Ten text figures)
Art. XIII.— A Contribution to the Kenwicies. of the Orthopter
of Sumatra. By James A. G. Renn. (Thirty-
one text figures.)
Art. XIV.— Observations on the Habits of the Pinback and
Humpback Whales of the Eastern North Pacific.
By Roy C. AnpREws. (Plates XXX-—XL.)
Art. XV.— Descriptions of Apparently a New Species and Sub-
species of Cebus, with Remarks on the Nomen-
clature of Linnzeus’s Simia apella and Simia
capucina. By D. G. Exxiot, D.Sc., F.R.S.
Art. XVI.— The White Bear of Southwestern British Columbia.
By J. A. ALLEN. (Four text figures.)
Art. XVII.— Further Notes on Mammals from the Island of
Hainan, China. By J. A. ALLEN
(if ee
87
131
135
147
177
213
227
233
239
La
SCIEN TIFIC PUBLICATIONS IN 1909
Art. XVIII.— The Species of Biorhiza, Philonix and Allied Gen-
era and their Galls. By WiuiAm BEUTEN-
MULLER. (Plates XLI-XLIII.)
Art. XIX.— A New Goblin Shark, Scapanorhynchus jovdant:
from Japan. By L. Hussaxor. (Plate XLIV
and three text figures.)
Art. XX.— The Systematic Relationships of Covent ree:
Arthrodires. By L. Hussaxor. (Plate XLV
and eight text figures.)
Art. XXI.— Further Notes on Eubalena Hlantsiee orn, ) By
Roy C. AnprEws. (Plates XLVI-L.)
Art. XXII.— Some North American Cynipide and their Galls.
By WituiAM BEUTENMULLER. (Plate LI.)
Art. XXIII.— Modern Laboratory Methods in Vertebrate Palee-
ontology. By A. Hermann, Chief Preparator.
(Plates LII-LVII and eighteen text figures.)
Art. XXIV.— Ants of Formosa and the Philippines. By WiL-
LIAM Morton WHEELER
Art. XXV.— New or Little Known Forms of Cashoniterdis
Amphibia in the American Museum of Natural
History. By Roy L. Moopir. (Plates LVIII-
LXV and two text figures.)
Art. XXVI.— Haplosyllis cephalata as an Hevesaracita: By
AARON L. TREADWELL. (‘I'wo text figures.)
Art. XXVII.— A Pliocene Fauna from Western Nebraska. By
W. D. Marrnew and Harouip J. Cook.
(‘Twenty-seven text figures.)
Art. XXVIII— New Carnivorous Mammals from ie Faytim
Oligocene, Egypt. By Henry Farrrietp Os-
BORN. (Nine text figures.)
Art. XXIX.— Mammals from Shen-si Province, Ching, By J. A.
ALLEN , ;
ANTHROPOLOGICAL PAPERS, Votume II.
Part II— The Northern Shoshone. By Rogpert H. Lowie.
(Plate I and twenty text figures.)
Part III.— Notes on New Collections. Edited by ores WISSLER.
(Plates II-X XIII and twenty-three text figures.)
LS)
(ey |
285
333
347
309
361
415
425
165
307
26 THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL
>
ANTHROPOLOGICAL PAPERS, Votume III.
Part I.— The Lenapé Indians of Staten Island. By ALANSON
SKINNER. (Plates I-XII, five text hele and one
map.) : 1
Part Il.— Aboriginal Ratsatne on : Miailentiicn Flanid JB J AMES
K. Fincu : 65
Part I11.— The Indians of Wachingieh Heist: By Rec iis
PeLHaM Botton. (Plates XIII-XVII and _ six
text figures.) . : 77
Part IV.— Archeology of Manhattan flan” By ecarpoee
SKINNER. (Nine text figures.) 113
Part V.— The Rock-Shelters of Armonk, New York. oe M. R.
HARRINGTON. (Plates XVIIJI-XX and seven . text
figures) . 125
Part VI.— Indian Rock- Shelters in Norikem Now Tescey aad
Southern New York. By Max ScHraBiscH . 141
Part VII.— Ancient Shell Heaps near New York City. By M. R.
Harrincton. (‘Three text figures.) 169°
Part VIII.— Notes on the Mohegan and Niantic Indians. By F G.
Speck. (Plates XXI-—XXIV and four text figures.) 183
Part IX.— Archeology of the New York Coastal Algonkin. By |
ALANSON SKINNER. (Six text figures.) . ; - Seaae
ANTHROPOLOGICAL PAPERS, Votume IV.
Part I.—'The Assiniboine. By Ropert H. Lowe. (Plates J-III
and seventeen text figures.) - . ; ; 1
Special Publication.
*The Anatomy of the Common Squid. By LEONARD WorcestTER WizL-
LIAMS. Pp. 1-87, pll. 1-ili and sixteen text figures.
MUSEUM NEWS NOTES.
gift from Mr. Charles Lanier, one of the ‘Trustees, a skull of the
great Cretaceous dinosaur Triceratops. ‘This specimen was col-
lected in the Laramie Cretaceous of Seven-Mile Creek, Western County,
Wyoming, about 45 miles northwest of Edgemont, South Dakota, by
14 Department of Vertebrate Palzeontology has received as a
_ See ee 1 One” —
NEWS NOTES Pa
Mr. Charles H. Sternberg and is considered the second finest example
ever discovered.
TuHrouGH the bequest of Miss Phebe Anna ‘Thorne, the Museum is
to receive ten thousand dollars for its permanent endowment. The
income of the fund is to be-used in such a manner as to perpetuate the
memory of her father.
THE path of Halley’s comet has been added to the planetarium in the
Foyer, and the position of this transient visitor to the solar system will
be indicated daily during the next few months, while the comet is visible
to the unaided eye.
THE Department of Anthropology has recently been enriched by the
accession of two large local collections. ‘The first of these was made
on Manhattan Island by Messrs. Calver and Bolton. It is particularly
valuable, because the sites on the upper end of the Island, whence the
objects were obtained, are fast becoming obliterated. Several skeletons
are particularly interesting as being the only authentic remains of the
Manhattan aborigines known. ‘There is also a large and perfect pottery
vessel of the Iroquoian type from the upper end of Manhattan Island.
This collection was described and many of the objects figured by Mr.
Bolton in Volume III of the ‘ Anthropological Papers” and in the Hud-
son-Fulton number of the JourRNAL for October, 1909. The second
collection was made on Staten Island during the years 1900-1909 by
Mr. Alanson Skinner of the Department of Anthropology and is the
largest and most complete in existence from this locality, consisting of
nearly 1200 specimens. The collection is described and figured by Mr.
Skinner in Volume III of the “Anthropological Papers,’’ and in the
JouRNAL for October, 1909. Figures 9, 10, 11 and 12 illustrate speci-
mens largely drawn from this collection.
SINCE our last issue the following persons have been elected to
membership in the Museum: Sustaining Members, Messrs. Ernest C.
Buss, ‘TempLE Bowporn, Wm. H. Fiscuer, Grorce Cor GRAVEs,
WALTER C. Hupparp, ALBERT Tac, F. D. UNpERWoop and EGERTON
L. Winrnrop; Annual Members, Messrs. Frep’k GirarpD AGENS,
G. L. Botssrvatn, A. H. Caspary, F. R. Hazarp, WALKER D. Hines,
Minor C. Kerru, Morris Kinney, ANrHony R. Kusrer, Grorce A.
28 THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL
.
Lavie, WituiAmM W. LAwrencr, JAMES Marwick, Joun NEILSON,
CLARENCE Porter, JoHN F. THomson, JuLIAN R. TinkHam and
Witus D. Woop, Dr. A. BLarr THaw, Mmes. Groreta C.. Hupson,
and RAYMOND VON PALMENBERG and Miss ‘THEODORA WILBORN. =
LECTURE ANNOUNCEMENTS.
PEOPLE’S COURSE.
Given in codperation with the City Department of Education.
‘Tuesday evenings at 8:15 o’clock. Doors open at 7:30.
The first four of a course of five lectures by Mr. CHartes M. Pepper on
“The ‘Twentieth Century South America.”
January 4.— “‘Panama to Patagonia.”
January 11.— “Argentine, the World’s Wheatfield.”
January 18.— “The Vastness of Brazil.”
January 25.— “‘Colombia and the Andes.”
Saturday evenings at 8:15 o’clock. Doors open at 7:30. The first four
of a course of six lectures by Pror. JoHN C. OLSEN on “Pure Foods and
their Preparation.” 3 ,
January 8.— “Food Values; Cereals and ‘Their Products.”
January 15.— ‘Milk and Milk Products.”
January 22.— “Bacteria and Preservatives.”
January 29.— “Fats and Oils.”
Children are not admitted to the lectures of the People’s Course, except
on presentation of a Museum Member’s Card.
LEGAL HOLIDAY COURSE.
Fully illustrated. Open free to the public. No tickets required. Doors
open at 2:45, lectures begin at 3.15 o’clock. .
New Year’s Day, January 1, 1910. Roy W. Miner, “Sea Animals of.
Our Shores.”
Washington’s Birthday, February 22, 1910. Epmunp Oris Hovey,
“Some American Mining Regions.” Particularly those producing Coal,
Iron, Copper, Gold and Silver.
MEETINGS OF SOCIETIES.
Public meetings of the New York Academy of Sciences and its Affiliated
Societies will be held at the Museum during January as usual.
Bb ayers
Rios She
ees
id fe
es
et
chai
. inion
So eae.
TOTEM POLE, RIVERS INLET
30
The American Museum Journal
VoL. X FEBRUARY, 1910 No. 2
A VISIT TO THE INDIAN TRIBES OF THE NORTHWEST COAST.
Seattle and Skagway, I was able to resume during the past
summer the archeological reconnoissance which I began on
the Jesup North Pacific Expeditions of 1897-8-9, and continued: on
that of the American Museum in 1903. I carried this reconnoissance
onward from the northern end of Vancouver Island, where work stopped
on the previous expeditions, to Kluckwan, Alaska, some twenty-five
miles above Haines on the Chilkat River; obtaining also photographs
and other data regarding the ethnology of the region and securing speci-
mens not already represented in the Museum collections. I was accom-
panied by Mr. Will S. Taylor, mural artist, who made color sketches of
the Indians and their natural and artificial environments. ‘These
sketches, together with the photographs and the actual ancient cos-
tumes and other specimens available in the Museum, will form the basis
-upon which Mr. ‘Taylor will build up mural decorations for the Hall
of Northwest Coast Ethnology, to illustrate the home country, character-
istic occupations and social customs of the seven great groups of north-
west coast natives. }
The scientific results of the trip are interesting because the archeol-
ogy of the entire coast north of Vancouver Island as far as Mt. McKinley
has been unknown to the scientific world. In the Bella Coola valley
about midway along the British Columbia coast I saw chipped imple-
ments, marking the farthest north of the art of chipping stone in British
Columbia. Evidences were also found here of the relation of the early
people to those of the interior. The Bella Coola Indians have appar-
ently pushed down from the interior and crowded in between the peoples
already firmly established on the Coast, taking up the coast customs
and ways of living very completely. Their language, however, has
remained distinct from those of their new neighbors, the nearest peoples
speaking the same type of language being found in the interior.
Although the Indians have given up much of their old life and seem
31
fy an expedition along the northwest coast of America, between
32 THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAB
greatly changed even in the twelve years since my first visit, we could
still find many purely native manufactures among them. Pictures
bruised on the rocks by some of the ancient Indians were seen near
Wrangel. In the vicinity of Old Metlakatla, Port Simpson and along
the Chilcat River, we found ancient village sites, some of them indicated
by the heaps of shell and other refuse discarded for many generations.
On the Nass River also was an ancient village site where the Indians
still go for eulichon or candle fish. In March these fish ascend the river
in great schools and are taken with nets and rakes. ‘The fish are very
good food and are so fat that formerly they were used for candles. ‘The
Indians’ chief interest in eulichon, however, lies in the oil that may be
extracted from them, which is considered a luxury and is used as we
use butter.
Our first stop of any length was at Victoria, a town perhaps more
typically English than any other in North America. ‘The Indians here
have been little disturbed, so that even near the city both the southern
Salish and the Nootka groups may be studied. Among the interesting
photographs and sketches made here were one of an Indian making a
dugout canoe from a cedar tree, and one of a Nootka man carving a
totem pole.
From Victoria we went by steamer to a small island near the north-
ern end of Vancouver Island, where. at Alert Bay there is a tribe of the
Kwakiutl. In spite of the influence of several other races living and
working in their midst the Indians of Alert Bay in many ways keep to
their old methods of living. For instance, although there has been a
missionary here for a long time he has not been able to stop burial in
tree-tops. ‘The Indians must have practised this custom very recently,
as some of the bodies were doubled up in common cheap trunks which
can be bought only in the white man’s store and are of a sort not
made till a few years ago. In the older graves the bodies were placed in
boxes made of three pieces of wood split from red cedar. One of the
pieces served as the bottom, another as the top and the third was notched
and bent around to form the ends and sides of the box. Where the
edges of the boards met they were sewed together with spruce roots.
Sometimes the boxes were painted and occasionally both painted and
carved with the characteristic animal pictures of the region.
Some of the Indians bury their dead in the Christian cemetery, but
even then show remnants of old customs. Near one of the graves a fine
>
<
a
=
x
Ww
ae |
<
n
Ww
WwW
x
=
e
GRAVES
re coma op
e FR SES wes
TE EE te ie Se ctl ERR EE
_ i
pasrasep oy} jo Azyeqidsoy pue YyYBAM JO 9AT}ROIpUT seouRd. puP ,, S19ddood ,, Jo suOTyeUBSAIdaI UOPOO AA
vV10090 vW113¢8 ‘AYSLAW3SO SAILVN FE
PALL | al |
NORTHWEST COAST INDIANS 30
bureau stood in the wind and rain. Perhaps it had been owned and
highly regarded by the woman interred or had been something that she
had longed for and now that she was dead her relatives were showing
the greatness of their grief by sacrificing a valuable piece of property
to the elements. ‘The Indians often erect beside the graves curious
monuments such as wooden representations of “coppers,” as is shown in
the illustration on page 34. ‘These coppers are pieces of metal of dis-
tinctive shape and markings. ‘They are of no great intrinsic value, but
eS
TOTEM POLES, ALERT BAY
when bought and sold among the Indians they increase to almost fabulous
worth. When a copper is transferred there is always a gathering and a
feast. ‘The Indians value a copper so highly that the white store keeper
takes the piece of metal as credit and advances groceries and dry goods
to the Indians for perhaps a whole year until they are able to go to the
cannery and earn money. On coming back from the canneries the
Indians always redeem their copper securities and again use them, buy-
ing and selling them at enhanced values and with special ceremonials.
36 THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL
From Alert Bay the expedition moved northward to Rivers Inlet,
where lives another tribe of the Kwakiutl Indians. ‘There are two
villages, one near the Rivers Inlet cannery at the head of the inlet, the
other on an island about three miles up stream. Here the river reaches
the tide water between tall mountain peaks, still covered with snow in
July. At this season of the year the Indians congregate here to work for
the salmon canneries. ‘There were Nootka from the west coast of Van-
couver Island and also members of the Kwakiutl tribe from Alert Bay.
The local Indians with characteristic hospitality invited the visiting
Indians to a feast or “‘cultus potlatch.” It was held on Saturday night,
when, according to the laws of British Columbia, fishing must not be
carried on. We expressed a desire to attend this potlatch, and from
time to time during the day, the Indians invited us and reminded us of the
event. The chief of the local tribe was very sick and was expected to
die. His retainers were going to give the potlatch, so that honor would
accrue to him. I am inclined to think that they had a vague idea
that it might be of benefit also to his health.
As the darkness gathered the Indians began to moye toward the
main house of the village. The house was immense and was made of
split cedar slabs on a framework of great logs. The rafters, which
were just out of reach, were at least three feet in diameter and blackened
by the smoke of many years. When we entered this house there seemed
to be at least a hundred Indians assembled. At the farther end were
the members of the small tribe located at Rivers Inlet. ‘hese Indians
later furnished music, by beating upon a board with batons and upon
a great wooden drum with the fist. Along the left side of the room
were gathered the Nootka, and on the right the Kwakiutl from Alert
Bay. Some of the men of the latter tribe had positions of honor in great
wooden seats which were placed on the floor, where they reclined with
their feet toward the fire, their knees partly drawn up and their heads
and shoulders resting against the back of the seat. Before the feast
began, cordwood was heaped on the fire which furnished the only
illumination. When the fire flared up, long shadows were thrown
against the blackened walls. Occasionally a dog passed in front of the
fire and his weird shadow was thrown against the wall. Sometimes
there was a silhouette of a baby, who toddled toward the fire from his
mother, only to be drawn back by a clutch upon his skirts. As the
evening wore on these children became fretful, and the affectionate
NORTHWEST COAST INDIANS 37
character of the Indians was shown by the way in which the little ones
were treated. Some of the older men, in accordance with their rank,
preserved the proverbial Indian dignity, but there was enough laughter
throughout the assemblage to convince one of the mistake of the popular
notion that the Indians are always morose.
At first there was a speech in Kwakiutl by a chief from Alert Bay,
in which I caught occasionally the name of the superintendent of the
cannery. ‘Then there was a similar speech with much gesticulation by a _
young man of the Nootka. ‘This was interpreted in Chinook, and since
I could understand this jargon, I realized that the Indians were having
a labor agitation. Other canneries had been paying bounties to secure
the Indians to work for them, and the Indians wanted five dollars for
each one who had come to work at the Rivers Inlet cannery. They also
thought that the women who put the salmon into the cans were not paid
enough. ‘They finally decided not to go out to tend the nets, unless the
wages of the women were increased and the bounty was forthcoming.
After the speeches came a dance by the daughter of the chief. She
was gorgeously costumed, looking like an oriental princess in a red robe
decorated with rows of pearl buttons. She wore a carved and painted
headdress, in which were sea lion whiskers carrying eagie down, and
which had many ermine skins that hung down her back. ‘The dance
was simple and was of short duration, but the mere appearance of so
distinguished a person seemed to be considered a great honor. ‘This
dance was followed by others, after which the two masters of ceremonies,
old Indian neighbors of the-owner of the house, brought in a curiously-
gowned personage, wearing a grotesque carved and painted wooden
mask. ‘This individual followed his leaders part way around the fire,
threatening them in screeching tones apparently made with a whistle.
Finally, as though out of patience, the Indians turned on him and drove
him back a little distance, but he retired with dignity, turning his back
upon them. ‘This operation was repeated, until he had gone around the
fire several times, when he disappeared with many screeches through a
little door at the back of the house, behind the blankets of the masters
of ceremonies.
During this performance the fire caught in the roof of the house,
but there was no panic among these people, noted as a race for their
stolidness. Presently a pail appeared lowered on a rope from the roof.
The pail was filled with water and pulled to the ceiling and the water
38 THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL
dashed onto the fire. ‘This was kept up until the fire was out, but the
people paid no attention to the interruption, and the dancing and other
ceremonies progressed as if nothing unusual were happening. Finally,
great cans of tea that had been brewing in the edge of the fire and pilot
CARVED POST, BELLA COOLA
Purchased for the Museum
bread from twenty-eight cases, some of which we had been using as
seats, were brought forward, and the cultus potlatch was on.
A real potlatch is a function consisting of the giving out of property
as an investment and with the purpose of gaining aristocratic position
NORTHWEST COAST INDIANS 39
in the tribe. ‘The people of this coast formerly were very much given to
holding potlatches, but the government officials and missionaries believed
that the ceremonies entailed a wasteful throwing away of property and
were accompanied by many indiscretions and by much gambling and
intemperance, so that a law was passed some years ago making the
giving of a potlatch a criminal offence. I am informed now, however,
that the cases are thrown out of court by the judges as being unconsti-
tutional or else out of their jurisdiction. Blankets are usually distributed _
at such potlatches, not only those belonging to the person holding the
potlatch, but also those of his relatives, friends and retainers. Sometimes
the potlatch is for the benefit of children, so that they will have a certain
prestige when older. ‘This sort of a potlatch may be compared to our
endowment insurance. ‘The cultus potlatch, however, from which no
direct return is expected, may be likened to a dinner or banquet among
our own people. So the visiting Indians at Rivers Inlet were given pilot
bread and tea to uphold the honor and hospitality of the local tribe.
We next went to Bella Coola, at the extreme eastern end of Burke
Channel, about sixty miles inland beyond the usual course of steamers.
The Bella Coola River is building out a delta here, so that steamers have
to land at a wharf at least a mile long. ‘The outer end of this is only a
few feet from the steep mountain side to the north and follows along it
until the low delta land is reached. On the end of the wharf is an open
shed where all freight is placed until called for by the owners. This
shed is never locked, yet nothing is ever stolen from it.
The population of Bella Coola is scattered through the valley and is
made up of Norwegians, Indians and Canadians. ‘There is an Indian
village on each side of the River. ‘The one on the north consists of
Christianized Indians who have settled here, leaving the pagan Indians
on the south side. ‘The houses in the Christianized village are similar
to those of the white people of the vicinity. Near the pagan village
dwell Mr. John Clayton and his family. He is the venerable Hudson’s
Bay man who keeps the store and is one of the richest and best known
men living on the coast of British Columbia north of Vancouver. In
the Christianized village are the church and the home of the missionary,
the Rev. W. H. Gibson. Both Mr. Gibson and Mr. Clayton were in-
strumental in assisting us to secure totem poles for the Museum.
On both sides of the valley the mountains rise abruptly, the upper
portions rocky, the lower portions heavily timbered with spruce, hemlock,
40 THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL,
cedar and fir, as is also the valley. ‘The mountains look purple in the
clear atmosphere. In certain protected parts the snow lingers in July,
and here and there may be seen perpetual snow and even blue glaciers.
The river is fed from the snow peaks farther to the east and is icy cold.
It is very swift and navigated only by long canoes dug out of single tree
PAGAN VILLAGE, BELLA COOLA
Deserted, the inhabitants being away at the canneries.
trunks. These canoes are spoon-shaped at each end and are entirely
different from the ocean canoes of the coast. ‘They are poled where the
river is too swift for paddling. A stranger’s best policy is to sit on the
bottom of the canoe and leave its management to the Indian owner.
NORTHWEST COAST INDIANS 41
The older Indians of Bella Coola, those who were not away working
at the cannery, were preparing fish for winter use and also drying berries.
They raised some of the finest strawberries I have ever seen. ‘To pre-
pare for drying they crush these and various native berries, the red and
yellow salmon berries and a large sort of raspberry, into an immense
cake which they spread on racks made of split cedar covered with the
fresh leaves of skunk cabbage or nettie. Here we found an old man
carving spoons out of alder wood and an old woman weaving strips of
cedar bark into mats. Indians from the interior come to Bella Coola. —
They look different from those of the coast, are more active and angular.
The costumes of both men and women are slightly different from those
of the people of the coast. ‘They wear moccasins, which are not used by
the Bella Coola or their neighbors, who spend much of their time in the
surf and on the beach.
Leaving this valley of the Bella Coola, which is a most beautiful spot,
sometimes called the Switzerland of America, we proceeded up the coast
to visit the country of the Tsimshian, who live on the Skeena and Nass
Rivers and the adjacent coasts. ‘The regular steamer took us to Prince
Rupert, the lively western terminus of the Grand ‘Trunk Pacific Rail-
way, where we chartered a launch and visited Old Metlakatla. A mis-
sionary was once located here but he had trouble with his superiors in
British Columbia and took his followers, about one thousand Tsimshian,
to Alaska, where he established the town of New Metlakatla on a grant
of land received from the American government. His followers make
some of the finest boats constructed on the North Pacific Coast. In
the vicinity of the old town we saw a number of shell heaps marking the
sites of ancient villages, where archeological explorations would un-
doubtedly reveal the character of the arts of the ancient people of this
area and throw some light on their migrations. Continuing with the
launch we went up the Nass River near the boundary between Alaska
and Canada, visiting the old eulichon fishing grounds, and then crossed
into Alaska to stop at many places before turning back at Skagway.
Our longest stay was made at Wrangel, in the country of the Tlingit
Indians, where are large numbers of totem poles, carved grave posts
and mortuary columns. From Wrangel we made a most interesting
trip up the Stickine and Iskut Rivers. ‘The river is too swift for rowing
or paddling canoes, and all former ascents had been made by poling,
bushing or lining. After proceeding as far up the Iskut as it was possible
42 THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL
to go, in fact to a place where the current was so swift that with full
speed ahead of the engine the boat made no progress against the current,
we made camp and completed our studies in this direction. Returning
to the mouth of the Iskut much more quickly than we went up, we
ascended the Stickine to the Great Glacier, and then came back to
Wrangel and went by regular steamer to Haines, and thence to Kluck-
wan by the military road.
Kluckwan is a village of the ‘Tlingit Indians on the old Dalton trail
to the Klondyke. Here we saw the ‘Tlingit women making Chileat
blankets. This blanket, as is well known, is one of the most remark-
able kinds of weaving done in North America. It is made from cedar
bark and mountain goat wool and decorated with woven designs char-
acteristic of the region. In very ancient times the designs were of a
geometric character, similar to those of the ‘Tlingit baskets, but the
blankets which are seen to-day bear the animal motives common on the
carved wooden boxes of these people.
From Kluckwan I returned to the Museum, while Mr. Taylor con-
tinued his color studies by visiting the Haida at Masset on the northern
end of Queen Charlotte Island and the Nootka at several villages along
the western coast of Vancouver Island, before coming back to New
York. 2
Harvan I. Sirus.
RESULTS OF AN ART TRIP TO THE NORTHWEST COAST.
MURAL DECORATIONS PLANNED TO SHOW INDIAN INDUSTRIES.
Columbia and Alaska it was decided that there should be two
distinct series of pictures in the mural decorations of the North
West Indian Hall, and that one series, on the west side of the hall, should
be devoted to the industries of the Indians, while the other, occupying
the east side, should deal with Indian ceremonials.
P cots to the starting of last summer’s expedition to British
The industrial series will have its subjects arranged according to the
geographical relations of the seven distinct Indian groups: the ‘Tlingit of
a
MORTUARY COLUMN, WRANGEL, ALASKA
The bodies are within two covered niches in the shaft
43
+t THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL
Alaska, Haida of Queen Charlotte Islands, ‘l’simshian near the Nass and
Skeena Rivers, Bella Coola between the Burke and Dean Channels,
Kwakiutl on the mainland and northeast end of Vancouver Island,
Nootka on the west coast of Vancouver Island, and Salish at the extreme
southern extremity of British Columbia.
According to prominent writers the typical industry of each tribe
serves as a means of commerce and trade among the neighboring tribes,
the conditions of the country naturally influencing its products; for ex-
ample, when the northern Indian is weaving blankets out of mountain
goat wool, the southern Indian may be drying clams for the winter’s food.
Therefore in the first series of paintings the effort will be made to show
not only the industries, but also the connections of these industries with
those of other tribes. ‘These pictures will present the scenes where the
material was procured, how it was prepared and as far as possible the
use of the finished article in trade.
To gather the artistic and scientific data for the first painting of the
series, showing the weaving of the Chilcat blanket, I searched through
many towns and villages, often in vain, because the weather-beaten and —
adze-carved boards of the old houses had their original color hidden
under white man’s paint. In Wrangel, I made many color notes valu-_
able to my work, yet it was not until I reached the Great Glacier on the
Stickine River that I caught the spirit of Alaska. Having waited two
days for the dense fog to rise, I at last beheld a beautiful glacier partly
covered with snow converging toward a small river of ice at the junction
of the mountains. ‘The scene partly in sunlight gave me the first inspira-
tion for the ‘Tlingit decoration. I got the remainder of the subject in the
Chileat River section at Kluckwan where two old women, seated in their
peculiar fashion on their heels, were creating a blanket, stripping the
cedar bark for warp and spinning the wool from the crude wool of the
mountain goat.
‘To obtain data for the second or Haida decoration, I went to Masset,
Queen Charlotte Islands, but in all the twelve days spent there, I had but
a few hours of sunshine in which to make sketches and so gather in the
material I had located. ‘There were days of waiting and watching in the
rain. When an opening came in the clouds I had to cover a hasty two
miles along the sandy beach to catch on canvas the brilliancy of color
displayed — gaining often a severe drenching as an additional reward.
The Queen Charlotte Islands have long been inhabited by the most
VXSVIV 'NVMxMONIy ‘Guvod NYaLivd GNY (QSHSINIANN) LAAYNVIdG LYOTIHO
46 THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL
skillful builders of canoes, enormous dugouts from cedar trees. Al-
though no canoe was being built while I was there, one six fathoms long
had been made the previous winter. ‘The Indians were still interested in
it and manifested considerable pride in showing their work. Urged on
by their pride, they carefully explained details and in many cases splen-
didly illustrated them, as a result of which I gained dozens of pencil
compositions and many local color notes, so that the Haida painting will
show graphically the Indians at work carving and steaming the canoe in
the midst of characteristic surroundings.
From Prince Rupert, our headquarters in the north, we traveled to
f
CHINOOK CANOE, NEAR VICTORIA
The Indian is excavating the interior with an adze
Nass River. On our way we were informed that a native artist lived at
Georgetown. ‘To learn that a picture painter, not a mere decorator,
existed among these serious-minded peoples who are accustomed to
make only abstract designs stimulated my interest. Late in the after-
noon we moored beside a raft of logs and had to dance our way for
many yards over the moving tree trunks to reach the shore. We finally
reached the shack of the artist and, watched by a large and curious
family, were ushered into his “studio.” He exhibited odd bits of broken
glass which when held toward the light showed strange drawings in color,
ART TRIP TO NORTHWEST COAST 47
sometimes almost caricatures. Yet they held a certain charm, telling
tales of legendary battles or of wonderful ceremonials. In spite of the
difficulties in the way of his work the man was a true artist, an eager
spirit, in a race where enthusiasm is rare.
At Redcliff on the Nass River there was most charming art material,
the mountains high and partly obscured by clouds dwarfing the houses
along the shore. It rained almost continuously, however, during our
stay, but there were intervals when we ventured from the boat in spite of
the rain. Walking along the shore we found it impossible to get close to
the houses, the nettles, grown since the previous fishing season in March,
HAIDA CANOE, ALERT BAY
forming a successful barricade. Even on the outskirts we found it
uncomfortable to stay long in one place, because the refuse of last
season’s catch still retained its disagreeable odor. So I was obliged to
procure sketches from a distance.
Once a year the tribes congregate at this place as they have done for
years. Jor one month, while the run of eulichon or candle fish is on,
the Indian employs all his time catching the small sardine-shaped fish
and preparing it for use. Many hundreds of the fish are dried in the sun
to serve later as candles. Many more hundreds are put into water with
hot stones and allowed to cook until the oil rises and can be skimmed
off to serve later as butter. The third picture, that of the T’simshian,
48 THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL
will show this eulichon industry. Natives hang fish on racks to dry in
the sun, women press the sediment left from the cooking through a coarse
mesh to secure the remaining oil. ‘The fire silhouettes the figures and
makes plain the method of heating the stones. ‘There is a lean-to, an
old building used only at this time of the fishing, and always the Nass
River with its sand bars flows in swift current beyond the trees.
One of the pleasantest localities we visited was Bella Coola at the
head of Burke Channel, the site that furnished material for the fourth
painting of the series. Set back between the mountains the Bella Coola
valley with its swift river and its lines of delicately colored cotton-wood
trees impresses One at once with its beauty. Here we found excellent
gardens, ideal homes and broad fields. On either side of the river were
Indian communities, one modern and under missionary influence, the
other still retaining its old customs. |
I learned here the fascinating facts of the bread-making industry. —
Down in the flats, near the mouth of the river, the families gather during
the summer and make bread for themselves and their neighbors. Seated
in a rope chair, high up in a hemlock tree, a native scrapes away the —
inside bark of the tree. Below in the sunlight children hold out a cedar
blanket to catch the shreds as they fall. Near them is the large pit in
the ground to which they carry the bark for cooking. Hot stones are put
over the surface of the pit, and over these stones alternate layers of moist
skunk cabbage leaves and the scraped bark. Four days are required
for the cooking, at the end of which time the bark is ground into a pulp
by means of pestle and stone, and then is left in the sun to dry.
Everywhere during the expedition I studied the commercial transac-
tions of the Indians, but it was not until I reached the Kwakiutl tribe,
on the northeast end of Vancouver Island that I found material for the
fifth picture. Since the traders have taken away from the Indians all
the skins and furs, tribal currency has been limited to blankets, though to
a large extent it has given place to the money of the United States and
Canada. We find the Kwakiutl Indian still using blankets for exchange
in their potlatches, and therefore I have chosen this tribe to illustrate
the fact that a basis of finance did exist. It must have been no unusual
thing in the past to see ornamented natives unload canoes full of blankets,
while groups of waiting “financiers” stood in picturesque arrangement
before their houses and totem poles.
When I reached the west coast of Vancouver Island, where I went in
COMPLETE PTERODACTYL SKELETON 49
search of data for the sixth painting, the Nootka Indians had returned
from fishing and hop-picking. Villages were no longer deserted, and
activity showed on all sides. Along the shores canoes with swan-like —
barbed prows and straight high sterns were being hewn. At Clayoquot
I secured the locality, color and facts for a whaling picture,—on the
brilliant sandy beach the whalers had returned from a successful hunt,
while the inhabitants of the village welcomed a dignified old chief in his
ceremonial costume. |
Briefly, then, I am trying to show in this series of mural paintings
that the trading among the tribes of the northwestern coast was mainly
through the products of their own industry. The Tlingit exchanged
their Chileat blankets for Haida canoes. The Haida traded their
canoes for the eulichon grease of the Tsimshian. ‘The Bella-Coola who
were the bread makers exchanged their bread with neighboring tribes.
Thus through all the coast tribes we find distribution of industrial
products going on, and to-day the results | of this commerce are evident,
for in the extreme south one finds the work of the tribe living farthest
north, and vice versa.
WILL S. TAYLOR.
A COMPLETE PTERODACTYL SKELETON.
Munich Palzontological Museum a complete skeleton of a
small Pterodactyl of the Jurassic Period. This beautiful little
specimen is from the lithographic limestone quarries of Solenhofen in
Bavaria and is one of the most perfect specimens of its kind ever found.
a Museum has recently acquired through exchange with the
The Munich Museum has a unique series of these rare fossils from these
quarries and parted with this one in exchange for a complete fore and
hind limb of Brontosaurus which we were able to get together out of the
great collections obtained from Bone Cabin Quarry. ‘The Solenhofen
specimen is exhibited in a table case in the Dinosaur Hall, together with
specimens of the much larger but less perfectly preserved Pterodactyls
found in the chalk beds of western Kansas.
The Pterodactyl (from the Greek zrepov, wing, and ddxrvdos, finger)
was a flying reptile named from the fact that the bones of one finger of
50 THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL
>
each fore limb were extremely long, carrying a film of skin to enable
the animal to fly. ‘The Pterodactyls of Jurassic time were small, none
PTERODACTYLUS ELEGANS. SOLENHOFEN, BAVARIA
of them exceeding the modern eagle in size, and their habits were like
those of the present day bats.
A COLLECTING EXPEDITION TO THE FLORIDA REEFS.
Museum who are greatly interested in marine zodlogy, have
recently placed their new yacht ‘‘’Tekla”’ and their personal
services at the disposal of the American Museum. Thanks to their
generous offer, it will accordingly be possible during the present winter
to obtain valuable collections at various points along the coast of Florida.
For this work in collecting, the vessel is admirably adapted: it is suffi-
Mocs Alessandro and Ernesto G. Fabbri, members of the
EXPEDITION TO THE FLORIDA REEFS 51
ciently large (90 feet in length and 17 in beam) to be depended upon in
all weather; it is light in draft and when necessary can be taken into
water shallower than 4 feet; its gasoline engines take up relatively small
space and there thus remains plenty of room for collecting operations;
its equipment includes various forms of trawls and dredges and the
mechanical appliances which will enable them to be used in all waters
to a depth of about 200 fathoms. Particular effort will be made to
increase the Museum’s collection of fishes from the rich fauna of the
THE FABBRI YACHT. *-TEKLA.”’
semitropical waters, and colored drawings of the fishes, moving pictures
and, in the case of the larger kinds, plaster casts will be secured. Saw-
fish are not uncommon in Florida waters and it is hoped that good speci-
mens of them may be caught. Effort will also be made to obtain a large
specimen of the devil-fish, Manta, which sometimes attains a spread of
20 feet. ‘l'arpon are readily taken in the waters to be visited and ample
material will be brought back for a “habitat group.” Mr. John T.
Nichols, Assistant in the Department of Ichthyology, left the Museum
January 18 to join the “'Tekla” at Miami and will spend six weeks in
the collecting work.
52 THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL
MUSEUM NEWS NOTES.
HROUGH a bequest of the late Mrs. Georgiana Colgate Stone
the Museum has received a portrait of her father, Robert Col-
gate, by Huntington. Mr. Colgate was one of the founders of
the Museum and served for many years on the Board of ‘Trustees.
SINCE our last issue the following persons have been elected to mem-
bership in the Museum: Life Members, Messrs. W. B. BourN, GEORGE
W. BRACKENRIDGE, SAMUEL POMEROY CoLT, BAREND VAN GERBIG,
GEORGE Scotr GRAHAM, 'T. A. Grirrin, H. E. Huntineton, O. G.
JENNINGS, Wm. G. Low, FRANK E. PEAsopy, FREDERICK ‘I’. PRocror,
JoHN A. RoEBLING, ALANSON SKINNER, CHARLES CHAUNCEY STILLMAN,
JaMEs N. WaLuLAcE and GrorRGE PEABODY WerrMoRE and MMgs.
W. L. Harkness and James R. Jesup; Sustaining Members, Messrs.
R. R. Cotearre and Henry GoLtpmMan; Annual Members, Messrs.
J. Francis A. Ciark, A. S. Dwieut, A. O. Ermer, JoHn B. FarisH,
Joun L. Gotpen, Ivan L. C. Goopine, Horace S. Goutp, Maxi-
MILIAN GRAB, Henry GRrRaAvEs, Jr., De Courcy L. Harp, Henry
Rawte, J. O. von Scumip, Frank McMiILuan Stanton, WILLIAM E.
StIGER, BENJ. SrronG, Jr., Ropert B. Suckitey, Gro. H. Surron
and THro. N. Var and Mes. Frank H. Ray and Fircu W. SMIra.
Tue Department of Anthropology is fortunate in having received
as a gift from Mr. George S. Bowdoin another beautiful example of the
feather capes for which the natives of the Hawaiian Islands were once
famous. ‘This cape was originally the property of King Kamekameha
III and was given by him to Mr. Mackintosh, from whom Mr. Bowdoin
obtained it. The cape is described and illustrated in Brigham’s book
on the Hawaiian Islands.
FREDERICK I. MonsEN gave a special lecture to the Members of the
Museum on Thursday evening, January 13, upon the life and manners
of the Indians of the Southwest, with stereopticon views and motion pic-
tures selected from his well known collection of photographs made by
himself during the past twenty years. For the remainder of the month
a large collection of his photographs were on exhibition in the West
Assembly Hall.
MUSEUM NEWS NOTES 53
TurouGH the generosity of Mr. J. Pierpont Morgan the Museum
is receiving as fast as issued the magnificent series of volumes on “The
North American Indian” now in process of preparation and publication
by Mr. Edward S. Curtis, who is so well known for his studies and
photographs of the descendants of the aboriginees of North America.
This work is to consist of twenty quarto volumes of text profusely
illustrated with photogravures and accompanied by as many supple-
mentary volumes of folio plates. ‘Thus far five volumes of text with
their supplementary volumes of plates have been issued and delivered,
Last month the modeled mount of the hippopotamus “Caliph”
was placed on exhibition in the Department of Mammalogy. Caliph
was a familiar sight to the visitors at the menagerie in Central Park,
where he was one of the chief attractions for about thirty-five years. He
was the largest hippopotamus in captivity on record and probably was
as large as any known. He died in January, 1908, of acute indigestion,
and his body was presented to the Museum by the Department of Parks.
ON the afternoon of Saturday, January 15, Miss Mary Lois Kissell
of the Department of Anthropology began a series of talks in the Acad-
emy Room upon “Basketry Weavings of Primitive Peoples” illustrated
with examples of the different styles selected from the extensive material
in the Museum collections. ‘The second lecture of the series was given
January 29. ‘The third and last will be delivered February 5, when the
"Technic of Basketry” will be considered and a scheme of classification
will be presented by means of which the work of various tribes may be
recognized.
‘THE restaurant upon the third floor of the Museum has been discon-
tinued and a new one opened at the foot of the elevator in a series of
rooms which have been fitted up expressly for the purpose and which
have been built and decorated after the style of the prehistoric edifices
of Mitla, Mexico, giving a vivid idea of the interior of those ancient struc-
tures in their prime.
5-4 THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL
LECTURE ANNOUNCEMENTS.
MEMBERS’ COURSE.
The second course of lectures to Members for the season of 1909-1910
will be given in February and March. Special announcements will be sent
out later.
PEOPLE’S COURSE.
Given in coéperation with the City Department of Education.
‘Tuesday evenings at 8:15 o’clock. Doors open at 7:30. Illustrated.
February 1.— “The Grizzly Bear.” By Mr. W. H. Wricur.
February 8.— “‘What I Saw in Panama.” By Mr. CuHar.es L. Lewis.
February 15.— “‘Hawaii, the Paradise of the Pacific.’ By Mr. A. F.
GRIFFITHS.
February 22.— ‘‘Martinique and the Mt. Pelée Tragedy.” By Mr.
RoLanpd S. Dawson. |
Saturday evenings at 8:15 o’clock. Doors open at 7:30. ‘The last four
of a course of eight lectures by Pror. JoHN C. OLSEN on “Pure Foods and
their Preparation.”’
February 5.— ‘“‘Sweetening Agents.”’
February 12.— ‘‘Condimental Foods: Spices, Cocoa, Chocolate, Flavoring
Extracts.”
February 19.— ‘‘Candies, Aniline Dyes, Coloring Matter.”
February 26.— “Jams, Jellies, Canned Vegetables and Fruits.”
LEGAL HOLIDAY COURSE.
Fully illustrated. Open free to the public. No tickets required. Doors
open at 2:45, lectures begin at 3:15 o'clock.
Washington’s Birthday, February 22. Epmunp Oris Hovey, “Some
American Mining Regions.” Particularly those producing Coal, Iron
Copper, Gold and Silver.
MEETINGS OF SOCIETIES 59
MEETINGS OF SOCIETIES.
Public meetings of the New York Academy of Sciences and its Affiliated
Societies are held at the Museum according to the following schedule:
On Monday evenings, The New, York Academy of Sciences:
First Mondays, Section of Geology and Mineralogy;
Second Mondays, Section of Biology;
Third Mondays, Section of Astronomy, Physics and Chemistry ;
Fourth Mondays, Section of Anthropology and Psychology.
On Tuesday evenings, as announced:
The Linnean Society of New York;
The New York Entomological Society;
The Torrey Botanical Club.
On Wednesdays, as announced:
The Horticultural Society of New York;
The New York Mineralogical Club.
On Friday evenings, as announced:
The New York Microscopical Society.
The programmes of the meetings of the respective organizations are pub-
lished in the weekly Bulletin of the New York Academy of Sciences and
sent to the members of the several societies. Members of the Museum on
making request of the Director will be provided with the Bulletin as issued.
The American [luseum Journal
Epmunp Otis Hovey, Fditor.
Mary CYNTHIA DICKERSON, Associate Editor.
FRANK M. CHAPMAN,
Louis P. GRATACAP, { Advisory Board,
WILLIAM K,. GREGORY,
Subscription, One Dollar per year. Fifteen Cents per copy.
A subscription to the JouRNAL is included in the membership fees of all classes of Members of
the Museum, |
Subscriptions should be addressed to The American Museiim Journal, 30 Boylston St., Cam-
bridge, Mass., or 77th St. and Central Park West, New York City.
Entered as second-class matter January 12, 1907, at the Post-office at Boston, Mass.
Act of Congress, July 16, 1894.
56
fees Seo ae
)
MEMORIAL STATUE OF MORRIS K JESUP
By William Couper, Sculptor
58
The American Museum Journal
Vou. X MARCH, 1910 New?
COMMEMORATION OF THE FOUNDING OF THE MUSEUM
UNVEILING OF THE STATUE OF Morris K. JEsupP
N the afternoon of Wednesday, February 9, 1910, a notable assem-
.) blage gathered in the Foyer of the American Museum to witness
the unveiling of a statue of the late Morris Kk. Jesup, who for
more than a quarter of a century was the president of the institution,
and to listen to an address commemorating the founding of the Museum
forty-one years ago. Shortly after Mr. Jesup’s death in January, 1908,
the Trustees and others of his friends, feeling that a suitable memorial
of the late President should be installed in the Museum to which he had
devoted so much of his life, subscribed to a fund' for the purpose of
placing in the Foyer of the building a life-size marble statue of Mr.
Jesup. Mr. William Couper, the sculptor of the busts of scientists in
the Foyer, was engaged to prepare the statue. ‘he artist, from his
own long acquaintance with Mr. Jesup, was inspired with his subject and
produced a satisfying portrait showing him in his prime.
The exercises were begun with music, and at four o’clock President
Osborn and Honorable Joseph H. Choate entered the Foyer leading the
procession of 'T'rustees to the temporary platform which had been erected
at the south side of the hall, facing the statue. On the platform were
representatives of the National, State and City Governments, besides
delegates from great universities, scientific societies and other educational
institutions in this city and elsewhere, the full list being as follows:
J. A. ALLEN, ALBERT S. BickMORE, JOHN BigELOw, GEORGE S. Bow-
DOIN, NATHANIEL L. Brirron, Hermon C. Bumpus, NicHouas M.
1 The subscribers to the Jesup Memorial Fund are Messrs. Henry F. Osporn, J. Prer-
PONT MORGAN, CLEVELAND H. DopvGr, CHARLES LANIER, J: HAMPDEN RoBB, CORNELIUS N.
Buiss, ALBERT 8. BICKMORE, GEORGE 8. BowWDOIN, ANDREW CARNEGIE, JO-EPH H. CHOATE,
ANSON W. Harp, JAMgEs J. HILL, FREDERICK E. Hypr, ADRIAN ISELIN, ARTHUR CURTISS
JAMES, A. D. JUILLIARD, JOHN S. KENNEDY, Gustav E. Kisseu, Sern Low, J. PrerRPontr
MorGAN, JR., HorAck PortTeR, Percy R. PyNnr, ARCHIBALD RoGeRS, WILLIAM ROCKE-
FELLER, JACOB H, ScHirr, CHARLES STUART SMITH, JOHN T. TERRY, JOHN B. TREVOR.
59
60 THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL
>
ButTLerR, ANDREW CARNEGIE, JosEPH H. CHoatr, Jonn M. CLarKR,
WIiLuraAM Couper, THos. De Wirr CuyLer, CLEVELAND H. Dopgr,
Dante GirRAUD Exvxior, Jonn H. Fintey, WitiiAM J. GAyNor, Mapt-
son Grant, ArtHUR T. Hapiey, Anson W. Harp, Samvuen V. Horr-
MAN, WitiiAM ‘T’. HorNApAy, FrRepERICK E. Hypr, ArTHuR CURTISS
JAMES, A. D. Jur~urarpD, JamMEs F. Kemp, Gustav E. KiIsset,
H. M. Leipziger, GoopHurE Livrinaston, SerH Low, FREDERICK
A. Lucas, H. M. MacCracken, Wittiam H. Maxwe.., Joun P.
MircHe.i, J. Prerpont MorGan, Henry F. Osporn, Winuram A.
PRENDERGAST, Henry S. PrircHerr, Percy R. Pyne, J. HAMPDEN
Ross, Epwarp Rosinson, JAcos H. Scuirr, Huce M. Smuira, CHARLES
B. Srover, JAMEs W. Toumry, CHARLES H. Townsrenp, Joun B.
‘TrREvor, BReEcK 'l’ROwBRIDGE, C. D. Watcorr, Wiruittam R. Wi.cox,
CLarRK WILLIAMS, EGertTon L. WINTHROP, ROBERT S. WooDWARD.
As soon as the invited guests were seated, the addresses that follow
were delivered to a most sympathetic audience that filled the Foyer
and overflowed into the Northwest Coast Hall behind the statue. At
the close of President Osborn’s welcoming remarks, the veil was removed.
from the marble portrait of Mr. Jesup, and the assembly showed its
appreciation of the likeness of their former friend. After the close of
the addresses, the members of the Museum and guests present were
given an opportunity to visit the newly arranged North Pacific Hall,
the Jesup Forestry Hall and the Darwin Synoptic Hall.
ADDRESS OF WELCOME
By HENRY FAIRFIELD OSBORN
PRESIDENT OF THE MUSEUM
Members of the American Museum of Natural History:
We commemorate this afternoon the founding of the Museum in 1869.
For their services to our city and country we pay our tribute to the first
presidents, John David Wolfe and Robert L. Stuart, and especially to the
third president, Morris Ketchum Jesup, distinguished by his long and eyent-
ful administration.
As the oldest institution of the kind in the City of New York we welcome
J. PLERPONT MORGAN
A Founder and Trustee
61
ADDRESS OF WELCOME 63
representatives of our twin sister, the Metropoliton Museum of Art, of our
younger companions, the Public Library, the Brooklyn Museum, the Zodlogi-
cal Park, the Aquarium and the Botanical Garden,— all animated by the
same purpose, all under a similar government, and together forming a chain
of free educational institutions of which the City may well be proud.
We are honored by the presence of delegates from the President of the
United States, from the Governor of this State, from several of the great
American universities and from national institutions of scientific research.
We welcome the leading officers of the City government and of the Board
of Education. His Honor, the Mayor, the President of the Park Department
and the Comptroller are with us as members of our Board. It is significant
that these heads of the second great municipality of the world are uniting
to play the part of hosts in this celebration, because the City and the ‘Trustees
have enjoyed from the first a free and cordial union. From their entire
community of purpose there is no reason why they should ever disagree.
Through the original application of the Museum for land, this institution is
legally under the Department of Parks, but while the relation is amicable
and effective, the museums are less a part of public recreation than of the
great civic system of education.
A few words may be said as to our future, as to the kind of educational
spirit which has been developed under past administrations and will be
increasingly developed in the coming years in other branches of science.
We believe that we are only on the threshold of the applications of science,
or knowledge of the laws of Nature as they bear on human morals, welfare
and happiness. If there is one new direction which this Museum shall take,
it is in the applications of science to human life. Here people shall have a
vision not only of the beauty, the romance, the wonder of Nature, but of man’s
place in Nature, of laws as inexorable as the moral commands of God
handed down by great religious teachers. Over the portals of our new Hall
of Public Health we may well place the inscription, ‘Learn the Natural
Commandments of God and Obey Them.” If Nature is stern and holds in
one hand the penalty for violation of her laws, she is also gentle and bene-
ficent and holds in the other hand the remedy, which it is the duty of science
to discover and make known.
What is the part the Museum exhibition halls should play in this educa-
tion? An ideal museum is a mute school, a speechless university, a voice-
less pulpit; its sermons are written in stones, its books in the life of the
running books; every specimen, every exhibition, every well-arranged hall
speaks for itself. In this sense, in its appeal to the eye, in its journeys for
those who cannot travel, the Museum is not the rival but is the ally of all
other methods of instruction within its own walls and throughout the great city.
64 THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL
mie
This Museum is a monument of public spirit in New York. We owe
the rise of public spirit in this city and country to the war for the Union;
that terrible experience brought men and women of all classes together in a
closer sympathy, into a new and greater union. ‘Thus Lincoln was our
prophet at Gettysburg when he said, “‘’This nation under God shall have a
new birth of freedom.” As will be fully told by the historian of the day, the
inspiration to build a free museum for the people of this city came to us
through Albert S. Bickmore. Under his scientific guidance and that of
Daniel Giraud Elliot the right direction was taken. Both of these men are
happily with us in this hall to-day. |
The Founders of 1869, whose names have recently been inscribed on
yonder wall, voiced the public spirit of their day. New York was a rela-
tively small and relatively poor city. It was before the era of the great
captains of industry, of the single-handed patrons of art, science and educa-
tion. Nor were there any models on which to draw the lines or to take the
scale; there was no British Museum of Natural History, there was no
National Museum of the United States. We marvel the more at the audacity
of Trustees who conceived a museum so great and who in 1874 approved a
general plan larger than that of any building in the world even to the present
day, larger than the Escorial of Spain or the National Capitol of Washington. —
It crowns this commemoration that four of the originators of the Museum
are with us,— two of its scientific advisors, two of its Founders. If I were
asked which of the Founders contributed most to administration and develop-
ment I would say unquestionably Mr. Jesup, Mr. Morgan and Mr. Choate.
Of the splendid services of our late President is it not delightful that his
colleague for thirty-nine years, Mr. Choate himself, is here to speak ?
Our two Founders, mirabile dictu, are as young as or younger than they
were forty years ago. If youth is measured by energy, by productiveness,
by patriotism, these Founders are two of the very youngest men in the City
of New York, as each day brings forth fresh, surprising and ever welcome
proofs. Who among the so-called younger generation can equal Mr.
Morgan, who has quietly and almost unknown to the public sustained the
successive administrations of Wolfe, Stuart and Jesup, with his loyalty,
his time, his advice, his noble gifts, and who stands behind the present
administration with undiminished force and generosity ?
Are not our very bones founded in the law? In the early years Mr.
Choate rendered incomparable and lasting service, not only to the two
museums but also to the City, in laying down our charter relative to that
union of public and private responsibility and beneficence which has been
the model on which all the other institutions of the kind in this City have
been founded. ‘This union has proved by experience to be perfect, for it has
JOSEPH H, CHOATE
A Founder and Trustee
65
COMMEMORATION ADDRESS 67
given the city of New York something far superior either to the publicly
administered institutions of foreign cities or to the privately owned and
privately administered institutions of other great American cities. The
essence of this charter and constitution is that from the beginning the city
officials as the elective representatives of the people undertake to give the
land, the building, the maintenance; the Trustees volunteer to give their
best ability and their valuable time to administration, their means and that
of others to filling the building with collections.
The agreement has been kept on both sides in the best spirit. ‘To the
honor of the City of New York be it said that her rulers have never withheld
funds from education, nor have her citizens been lacking in generosity.
Owing to this peculiarly American and altogether ideal union of public and
private endeavor, we discover that at the end of forty-one years the amount
which the people of the city of New York have contributed through their
government to this Museum is balanced by an equal amount given by officers,
trustees and other friends.
I have therefore great pleasure in introducing as the orator of the day the
Honorable Joseph H. Choate, Founder, Trustee and author of the laws of
our being.
COMMEMORATION ADDRESS
By THE HonoraBLE JOSEPH H. CHOATE
A FouNDER AND TRUSTEE OF THE MUSEUM
Mr. President and Ladies and Gentlemen:
Time, like an ever-rolling stream, bears all its sons away, and a lapse
of forty years sweeps off a whole generation and more. After their forty
years’ wandering in the wilderness, when the children of Israel came again
to be numbered on the plains of Moab, Caleb and Joshua alone survived
of all who had escaped out of the house of bondage in Egypt; and so Mr.
Morgan and I alone survive of those who founded this great Museum in 1869.
We have accompanied its progress through mazes of doubts and difficulties
until it has come at last within sight at least of a land flowing with milk and
honey. I am sure that he will heartily join with me in this tribute to our
departed associates, that this marvellous growth and development are to be
attributed to their fidelity and courage, their public spirit and their un-
bounded generosity; and when I read their names you will realize how near
they come to our hearts and homes, and how much richer and better New
York is for their having lived in it:
68 THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL
>
JoHN Davip WoLrFrEe ‘THEODORE ROOSEVELT
RoBEertT COLGATE Howarp Porrer
BENJAMIN H. Fieip WiuuaM T. BlopGerr
Rospert L. STuart Morris K. Jesup
ADRIAN ISELIN D. JACKSON STEWARD
BENJAMIN B. SHERMAN A. G. PHEetes DopGr
Witiiam A. Harness CHARLES A. DANA.
It was to their initiative and far-seeing sagacity that the City and the
country owe the beginning of this great educational and scientific institution,
and, as you all know, there is nothing so hard as a beginning.
New York was sadly behind her sister cities in this interesting develop-
ment of knowledge and science. Although she had many learned natura-
lists, and had made spasmodic efforts for the establishment of a museum in
which their valuable collections might be gathered, she had allowed Phila-
delphia and Boston to be far in advance.
The advent of the great naturalist, Professor Louis Agassiz, at Cambridge,
a signal event in the history of Harvard, his boundless enthusiasm for
science, and the wonderful manner in which he imparted it to his pupils and
hearers, gave an impetus to the study of natural history not only at Harvard,
but throughout the country which had never been felt before. The truth is
that the acquisition of one truly great man by a university does more for the
advancement of learning than whole decades of mediocrity; and Harvard
and the country awoke from long slumber to a new life of study and inquiry
under the light and leading of this famous scholar and naturalist, and almost
all the men who afterwards became famous in natural history flocked about
him as pupils and gathered inspiration from his lips. The arrival of Pro-
fessor Arnold Guyot at Princeton soon afterwards was another great in-
centive, and the formation and rapid increase of museums at the two
universities and in Philadelphia were examples of the practical advance in
science as a means of education which New York could not fail to imitate.
There were many strong men here interested in the subject; there were
ample resources and many interesting and valuable collections within reach,
but there was a total lack of organization, an apparent inability to get to-
gether, which paralyzed the growing and general desire for the establishment
of a museum of natural history which should be worthy of New York as a
great intellectual center. In fact, I am not sure that New York was then a
great intellectual center. Its intense energies, stimulated by the triumphant
close of our great Civil War, were concentrated in commercial channels, and
while they were ready to give generous help to any honorable enterprise,
our great merchants and men of rapidly growing wealth had hardly time to
think of these higher and better things of the mind. They had to be solicited
‘1881 NI ONIGTING WNASNW 69
pa
COMMEMORATION ADDRESS 71
urgently and intelligently, before they could realize the importance to the
city of such things.
Fortunately there came among us at an opportune time a young and
intrepid enthusiast who realized keenly the possibilities of the situation and
the vast importance to the city of the creation of such a museum. A pupil
of Agassiz’s, and a man of boundless energy and indomitable persistence,
Prof. A. S. Bickmore, was a capital engine driver to propel the train of the
growing sentiment, and to him, I think, more than to any other one man is
due the credit of initiating the movement which resulted in our foundation. |
It is pleasant to think that Professor Bickmore is with us to-day to enjoy the
ripe fruits of his early labors, as is also Dr. Daniel G. Elliot, an important
and influential friend and scientific adviser in the early days, and now a
veteran and most distinguished zoélogist, again connected with our institu-
tion as an investigator and writer.
The first thing to be done was to obtain from the State a charter of
incorporation for the founders, under which the scattered elements which
might make a beginning of such an enterprise could be brought to work
together. I well remember our visit to Albany to wait upon the magnates
of the Legislature, and ask for such a charter. William M. l'weed was then
in absolute command of that body, and I will say to his credit, as one white
mark against the terrible array of black ones under which his memory has
long since been buried, that he received us most courteously, and seemed to
recognize the importance of the project which we had in hand, and the
charter was quickly obtained and signed by the Governor.
We asked for no other legislative aid, and dared not expect or hope that
the money of the people of a great democratic city could be asked or required
to be spent to gratify the taste or promote the scientific pursuits of a few men
of wealth and culture; nor did the most ardent lover of natural history dare
to dream that within a single lifetime this magnificent group of spacious
buildings would be erected at the public expense for the housing of our
collections, and maintained by a liberal allowance from the city treasury,—
so rapid has been the growth of a wholesome popular sentiment in support
of what has proved to be one of our most valuable educational establishments,
and a scientific institution which holds a leading place among those of the
country and of the world. |
The museum was organized under the presidency of John David Wolfe,
whose administration of three years, from 1869 to 1872, was the formative
period of the infant body which was destined by and by to reach such
colossal dimensions as we see to-day. Quarters for the storage and display
of its first collections were granted by the city in the second and third stories
of the old Arsenal Building near the south end of Central Park, and there
72 THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL
they continued to be kept, until in 1877 the first new building in the center
of Manhattan Square was completed.
Those earliest days were full of struggle and full of hope, sometimes
even against hope itself; and despair sometimes stalked among us as threaten-
ing and terrible as if the carnivorous dinosaur had come to life again and
showed his terrible teeth; but the fidelity of the president and the never-
failing generosity of the more wealthy among the trustees kept the tottering
infant alive. Year after year they put their hands in their pockets to make
up the inevitable annual deficit, that ever recurring terror and inspiration of
all philanthropic institutions. And the boundless enthusiasm of such true
lovers of nature and of nature’s handiwork as William A. Haines and D.
Jackson Steward, constantly breathed new life and spirit into our ambitious
purpose to make it a true museum of natural history worthy of the name
and of New York.
From the outset we met with the usual fate of all, whether individuals or
corporations, who become known as collectors. Miscellaneous collections
of every description crowded in upon us much faster than our narrow
quarters and limited means could possibly provide for them. Nobody can
testify from personal experience more truly than Mr. Morgan of the unhappy
predicament of a recognized collector. He does not have to seek collections,
but collections seek him from all quarters of the world with voracious appe-
tites and open maw, and would bury even him out of sight, if he had not
learned to say No. So it was with our young museum, which would have
been bankrupt from the start, if it had not denied itself many tempting
offers and learned to say No.
Our first object was to attract public attention and gain public confidence
by a well-ordered exhibition of our most attractive collections, while the rest
were stored away to await future developments. ‘The trustees and their
friends raised forty-four thousand dollars the first year, less than one-tenth
of what some of the individual trustees have since given, and five thousand
visitors rewarded their efforts as against the million who now throng these
spacious halls.
The brief administration of our first president did lay the foundations
of the superstructure that was soon to rise. The prestige given to the new
enterprise by his high character and his unbounded generosity, followed
by that of bis daughter, Miss Catherine L. Wolfe, must ever be held in
grateful remembrance.
Then came the awful panic of 1873, which threatened to swallow us up
as if the earth had opened beneath us. Our hearts melted and our spirits
gave way;— but even that calamity was tided over by renewed efforts and
redoubled gifts of the richer trustees, by means of which the institution not
only held its own, but made steady progress.
8061 NI DNIGIINGA WNASNW oy A
ae
%
Paap “Sia nal
oS, geen eee
—
COMMEMORATION ADDRESS 79
All the while the trustees and their friends had been besieging the legis-
lature to come to their aid, as every day made it more and more obvious that
it was quite impossible to build up by private means alone a great museum
which should be worthy to compete with the great museums of Europe,
which were supported almost wholly by public monies. To show how
modest our aspirations then were, a great petition signed by forty thousand
citizens was presented to the Legislature, asking that a single building should |
be erected at the expense of the city for the joint occupation of the museum
of natural history and the museum of art, which at the same time was strug- ©
gling into being and leading a sickly and precarious existence in private
quarters, and sustained largely by the same generous donors.
It was at this period of promising progress and of great struggles under
heavy burdens that the ten years’ administration of our second president,
that generous and public spirited merchant prince, Robert L. Stuart, began,
during which the Museum, fostered by public aid and private munificence.
- grew into a valued and well-recognized educational establishment.
This epoch of steady progress was ushered in by the allotment by the
Legislature of the Deer Park on the east side of Central Park for the use of
the Museum of Art, and of Manhattan Square, then a remote and almost
inaccessible waste land, for the Museum of Natural History, and the appro-
priation of adequate sums for the erection of a suitable building for each on
those respective localities, a most auspicious inauguration of a public policy
which provided for the possible growth of each institution in the indefinite
future (Manhattan Square alone consisting of eighteen acres) a policy
which has already resulted in the expenditure of nearly five millions of
dollars by the city under legislative authority in the erection of these magni-
ficent buildings for the housing of our collections, upon which private benefi-
cence has expended an equal amount. And the same may be said of the
Museum of Art.
On the second of June, 1874, the corner stone of our first building, de-
signed by Calvert Vaux, as one section of a stupendous plan to cover a large
portion — nearly the whole — of the entire square, was laid with imposing
ceremonies in the presence of the President of the United States, accompanied
by members of his cabinet, the Governor of the State and the Mayor of the
City. On the twenty-second of December, 1877, the building was opened
- with similar ceremonies in the presence of the same august personages.
Professor Marsh and President Eliot made admirable addresses, the latter
concluding his impressive exhortation to courage and progress by quoting
the last words of Moses before he went up on the top of Pisgah to see the
promised land which he was not to enter, “‘The Eternal God is thy refuge,
and underneath are the everlasting arms.”
76 THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL
Meanwhile a contract was entered into between the city and the trustees
which has subsisted without change for more than thirty-two years, and
upon which the contracts of the city with other great institutions like the
Museum of Art and the Zodlogical Society have been closely modeled.
‘This contract embodies a mutually generous policy which secures equal
advantage to the Museum and the public. It practically provides for a
permanent occupation by the Museum of all the buildings erected or to be
erected in Manhattan Square, and for a free exhibition to the public of all
our collections, under regulations to be mutually agreed upon. ‘The Mu-
seum is to continue at all times the absolute and exclusive owner of the
collections, and the city the absolute and exclusive owner of the buildings.
Under this arrangement the delightful and mutually beneficial relations
between the Museum and the people which it inaugurated have steadily
grown more close and cordial, to the immense advantage of both. -
The administration of Mr. Stuart was one of enormous interest and
progress. "lhe Museum was constantly acquiring new and great collections
of recognized scientific as well as popular value. A scheme of lectures to
public school teachers was instituted under Professor Bickmore, and the
Museum began to attract the attention of scientific bodies by the number and
variety of its valuable collections. Mr. Stuart’s name will be perpetuated
as one of our most important benefactors. :
I have thus traced the beginnings, but yet only the beginnings, of that
truly beneficent institution whose fortieth anniversary we have met to-day to
celebrate by the unveiling of this most lifelike statue of the one man who,
more than any other — I might almost say, more than all others, for he truly
inspired and led all the rest to work in coéperation with him,— has trans-
formed the curiosity shop of miscellaneous and unrelated exhibits which
was transferred hither from the old Arsenal in 1877, into this great educa-
tional and scientific establishment, this national, this truly American mu-
seum of natural history, which is the boast of New York and the admiration
of the nation, and may I not say, of the world to-day? If you seek for the
monument of Morris K. Jesup, you have not far to go. You have only to
wander, with eyes and mind wide open, through these splendid halls, so
nobly constructed and fitly equipped, and filled with these collections of
wonder and of beauty, among which day unto day uttereth speech, and night
unto night showeth knowledge of the works of nature, which are truly the
works of God.
I shall attempt no idle words of eulogy of Mr. Jesup, but speak of him
only in connection with his work as here accomplished, the crowning glory
of a long and honorable life.
To the average observer, the casual layman, untrained by scientific
ALBERT S,. BICKMORE
An Originator and Trustee
wT oo
“ie
-
te
.
- Oa 2
Dt
COMMEMORATION ADDRESS 79
study, the first impression upon entering the Museum is of its immense
utility as a place of popular entertainment, recreation and instruction,—
recreation of the most innocent and ennobling kind, for who ever heard of an
immoral naturalist, and how could the most casual study of any single thing
on exhibition here fail to exalt and elevate the mind and heart? That
splendid lecture room, filled to overflowing day after day and night after
night with eager teachers and students listening keenly with delight and
laying fast hold of instruction, not to let her go;—as the layman enters this
vestibule, those wonderful visitors from other worlds, so mysterious and so
impressive, excite his imagination and amazement; — as he rises from hall
to hall and from floor to floor, does he desire to know the history of his own
race, from the days when Adam delved and Eve span up to that considerable
civilization which had developed here before Columbus came, every step
in the advance from the crudest flint instrument is spread out before him ;—
would he see something of primitive animal life as recorded in the fossils of
many succeeding ages, they are here;— does he incline to study the rocks
and minerals and know how and where the most } recious stones are found,
there is the marvellous Morgan collection of gems, so rich in variety and
beauty that the cases containing them are surrounded by hundreds day by
day;—is he curious to know how trees grow, there is the splendid Jesup
collection of woods from all parts of America; — do the beauties and mysteries
of insect life attract him, he is lost in the mazes of entomology;— is he a
lover of birds, there they are in their native habitats, all true to life; — would
he know what mighty animals roamed the earth before Adam, let him gaze,
awe-struck, on the brontosaurus, the mastodon and the dinosaurs in both
kinds, and observe how Professor Osborn has learned to put hooks in the
jaws of leviathans;— and would he see how woman in all ages has suffered
for man, let him visit the copper woman, resting from her labors, immor-
talized on earth; but his wonder grows as he gazes at her. Will she, who
was once all flesh and blood, but long since transmuted into pure copper, —
will she wake with the rest of us when the last trump sounds, or has she
joined the mineral kingdom forever ?
The amusement of the people, however, was only an incident in Mr.
Jesup’s lofty conception of the true mission of the Museum. He aimed at
something far higher and nobler. His lofty purpose was to enlarge and
extend the work which had been so well begun, to keep pace with the mar-
vellous growth of the city, and develop the Museum not only into a great ed-
ucationa] institution, imparting life and light to the people, but also, which
in his mind was the chief object, to make it the home of true science, which
should be the center of the scientific activities of the nation, so far as natural
history was concerned,— and in all three of these objects his success was
most remarkable.
SO THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL
*
Coming to the presidency in the very prime of manhood, with ample
fortune achieved, and the rich experience of a great business life behind him,
he bestowed upon the Museum not only generous gifts, constantly repeated,
but what was far better, he gave it the best twenty-five years of his life, and
all the rich powers of his generous and large-hearted nature. Stimulated
by his enthusiasm and his example, the trustees and friends of the institution
rallied to its support, and so rapidly did its collections grow, that the Legisla-
ture and the City, recognizing its rapidly growing needs, added every four
years a new section, a new and noble building to the original edifice, so as to
complete already about two fifths of Vaux’s original plan, which in 1869 the
trustees had had the far-sighted audacity to adopt and approve. I do not
hesitate to say that the money spent by the city in the development of this
Museum and the Museum of Art is the best investment of public monies
ever made by it, whether we consider the direct benefit to the people, or
the prestige and character attained by the city as the great metropolitan
center of knowledge and culture.
The appetite of the people for what they could learn here grew by what
it fed on. ‘The establishment of the Department of Public Instruction, and
the erection of a new and complete lecture hall, afforded facilities for educa-
tion which were largely availed of and widely appreciated. The daily
attendance rapidly multiplied, and the people showed their growing love
of what they justly regarded as their own free pleasure ground.
Mr. Jesup’s generous nature broadened rapidly and constantly with the
growth of the work which had come to his hands, not only as to the scope of
its objects, but as to the spirit in which it should be administered. ‘This
was never better illustrated than in the matter of Sunday opening. At first,
and for many years, with the large majority of the trustees, he was utterly
opposed to it from early training and prejudice, but as the demand grew,
the subject was more carefully considered, and he and those who thought
with him yielded, having become satisfied that to look through nature up to
nature’s God was the best way of spending a portion of the Sabbath, and
both he and William E, Dodge, who sympathized with him, and who was one
of our most valuable and generous trustees, assured me afterwards that this
was the best step forward that the Museum had ever taken.
Mr. Jesup’s extraordinary enthusiasm for science and his sympathetic
admiration for scientific men, though having little knowledge of science
himself, was the most striking feature of his career as President, and wholly
unexpected, because he had given up his life before to business and affairs.
As he said himself in the report of the trustees for 1886, ‘It is a difficult task
to estimate the money value of what belongs to science and scientific in-
stitutions. ‘lo their value must be added their ameliorating power, their
DANIEL GIRAUD ELLIOT
81
COMMEMORATION ADDRESS 83
educational force, and the scope they afford the higher faculties of man
to apprehend the wonderful phenomena of nature, and to master and utilize
her great forces.” ‘The highest results of character and life offer some-
thing which cannot be weighed in the balances of the merchant, be he ever
so wise in his generation.”’ In this view he directed with exhaustless energy
and rare intelligence the resources and progress of the Museum.
The establishment of the Department of Woods and Forestry, and his
wonderful collection of the woods of America under the direction of Pro-
fessor Sargent;— the creation of a great Library of Natural History;—
alliances with Columbia University and the Board of Education ;—the scien-
tific arrangement of the collections in proper departments with a skilled
scientific curator at the head of each;— the publications of the Museum,
growing more and more valuable to science as the years progress;— the
sending out of exploring expeditions to all parts of the world in quest of
scientific knowledge and specimens, some of the most prominent of which
were at his own expense ;— the interchange of specimens and the establish-
ment of mutual and cordial relations with other scientific societies, all testify
to this lofty ambition of his to promote here the highest possible objects which
he happily lived to see realized. I must not omit his generous and unfailing
support of Peary in his repeated and undaunted efforts to reach the North
Pole. We had hoped to have that famous discoverer here to-day, but I
have the great privilege to read this letter from him, just received.
New York, February 9, 1910.
Dear Sir:
It is with the deepest regret that I am obliged to say that an engagement in an-
other city, which cannot be postponed, will make it impossible for me to be present this
afternoon on the occasion of the unveiling of the statue of my friend, Morris K. Jesup.
His breadth of mind and character is perhaps in no way indicated more clearly
than by the wide range of his interests, as shown by the two projects in which his
heart was most deeply centered — the future of the American Museum of Natural
History and the discovery of the North Pole.
The fact that such a big, broad, practical mind as his should take up with such
deep and steadfast interest the question of North Pole efforts, proved to me con-
clusively that my own conviction of the value of those efforts was correct.
To Morris K. Jesup more than to any other one man is due the fact that the
North Pole is to-day a trophy of this country.
His faith and support carried me past many a dead center of discouragement
amounting almost to despair.
Friend of unswerving faith, advisor of keen, long-headed ability, backer of
princely generosity, he was first in my thoughts when I reached that goal of the cen-
turies, first in my thoughts on my return, and my ever present regret is and has been
that he could not have stayed with us a little longer to see the realization of his faith.
Faithfully,
(Signed) R. E. Peary, U.S. N.
President Henry FAIRFIELD OSBORN.
84 THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL
.
By all these means the Museum did become, in Mr. Jesup’s life time,
a veritable Mecca for scientific men and societies from all parts of the country,
and foreign scientists of distinction were its frequent visitors. He labored
in season and out of season with the authorities of the City and State to
promote the interests of the Museum, and by the princely bequest of a
million dollars doubled our endowment fund, which he had labored strenu-
ously and already contributed generously to create. The debt of gratitude
which the Museum and the City owe to him can only be repaid by continuing
his work, and carrying it as near to perfection as the ever-growing domain
and horizon of science can permit it to go.
We should be false to him and to our own trust if we allowed the work
of the Museum to stop where he left it, advanced though that point was.
Its relations with the city are fixed and permanent. It has grown with the
growth of the city in the past, and it must continue to do so. Judged by its
marvelous present development, New York is destined soon to become the
greatest of the cities of the world. Shall it be content with riches and luxury
and material strength, or shall it lead, as it ought to lead, its sister cities in
higher things, in knowledge and culture, in art and science? We and our
successors can give it that lead, if we will, by promoting with all our might
the higher objects of such institutions as this and the Museum of Art, and the
universities, so as to make the higher education and training of men and
women the leading feature of our civic life.
I deem it a great privilege in behalf of the donors to present to the Mu-
seum this fine statue of our beloved and honored President, Morris Ketchum
Jesup, and am glad that his Honor the Mayor, who by virtue of his office is
one of our trustees, will accept it on the part of the Board.
RESPONSE
By tHE HonorasBLE WILLIAM J. GAYNOR
Mayor oF THE City or New Yorxk
Gentlemen:
No one can witness this occasion, or go through this great Museum,
without a feeling of pride in this great city. It and its citizens are constantly
doing something for the moral and intellectual elevation of the community.
The good thus done is incaléulable. The result is that this is the most
intelligent, decent and moral large city in the world. But while many
ANNUAL MEETING OF TRUSTEES 85
noble men and women like Mr. Jesup have been doing this work, others in
recent years, aided and abetted by a very few newspapers, of which we are
all ashamed, have been decrying the city and its people, and spreading
throughout the world that they are sunk in vice and sin. I would that they
were here this day. ‘They might imbibe some sense of shame. ‘They have
also spread throughout the world the wholly false notion that this city is in
a doubtful financial condition. ‘The result is that recently our 4 per cent. city
bonds sold down to 100.14, while the similar bonds of the comparatively
small city of Baltimore sold at the same time for 105.17. It is time that the
decent men of this city put an end to this. ‘There is no safer security in the
world than the bonds of this city, and yet they have been cried down, until
they sell for less than railroad securities which are safe, but not absolutely
safe, like the city bonds. ‘The funded debt of this city can never exceed ten
per cent. of the assessed value of the real estate on its tax books. It is, for
that reason alone, of the same security as a mortgage on real estate, for only
one-tenth of its value. But in addition to that, it has back of it the taxing
power of the state forever. I hope that those who love this city and work
to uplift it and are so worthily represented on this occasion will make their
voices heard against all this detraction, and reassert the moral and financial
soundness and superiority of this city.
ANNUAL MEETING] OF THE TRUSTEES
on Monday, February 14, 1910, the following elections to the
Board were announced:
In the Class of 1912, Mr. T. DeWitt Cuyler, to take the place of Mr.
Cornelius C. Cuyler, deceased, and in the Class of 1914, the Hon.
George W. Wickersham, in addition to Messrs. J. Pierpont Morgan,
Joseph H. Choate, Henry F. Osborn and James Douglas, who were
reélected from the Class of 1910.
The following changes in the Scientific Staff were announced: In
the Department of Geology and Invertebrate Paleontology, Prof.
R. P. Whitfield, the Curator of the department since 1877, has been
made Curator Emeritus, and Dr. E. O. Hovey has been promoted to the
Curatorship; in the Department of Anthropology, Dr. Pliny E. Goddard
has been appointed Associate Curator, Mr. Harlan I. Smith has been
advanced to Associate Curatorship, Dr. Herbert J. Spinden has been
N T the Annual meeting of the Board of ‘Trustees, which was held
86 THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL
>
appointed Assistant Curator and Mr. Alanson Skinner has been added
to the list as Assistant; a new Department of Public Health has been
established with Prof. C. E. A. Winslow as Curator; a new Department
of Woods and Forestry has been established, with Miss Mary C. Dicker-
son in charge.
Announcement was made at the meeting that Mrs. Morris K. Jesup
had added to her previous benefactions the gift of a large collection of
ethnological material from the Philippine Islands, valued at $6000, and
the contribution of $10,958.33, being the sum required for the third pay-
ment on the Cape York (Peary) meteorites, which are a gift from her
to the Museum.
Announcement was likewise made of a gift by Mrs. John B. Trevor
of $5000 to the Permanent Endowment Fund which is to be added to
the John B. Trevor Fund; of gifts from Mr. Archer M. Huntington of
$5000 for anthropological work in the Southwest and $5,000 toward a
fund for Antarctic exploration; and of the gift from Mr. Arthur Curtiss
James of $5000 toward the Antarctic exploration fund.
MUSEUM NEWS NOTES.
INCE our last issue the following persons have been elected to
S membership in the Museum: Patrons, Mr. THos. Dre Wrrr
CuyLerR AND Hon. Greorce W. WickrersHAM; Life Members,
Messrs. A. RADCLYFFE DuaMmore, THEODORE R. Hoyt, FreprEric H.
KenNarRD, ALFRED H. Mutiiken, NATHANIEL CusHiIna NasH, DE
Lancey Nicoun, R. A. C. Smira and ALFRED RutcEerRs WHITNEY, JR.;
Sustaining Member, Mr. J. B. Greennut; Annual Members, Messrs.
F. B. Apams, W. L. ANprews, MisHa E. AppELBAUM, ALEXANDER
Aris, G. W. E. Atkins, Wm. Cuitps, Jr., SAMUEL W. Enricu, WM.
H. Farrineton, L. P. Feusrman, Harouip H. Fries, Epwin GouLp,
Jr., Joan ArtHuR GREENE, Louis M. Greer, Epwarp GRIFFITH, —
E. Moraan GRINNELL, O. J. Gupr, Henry WiLiiaAM GUERNSEY,
R. A. GusHesr, A. Firtmore Hype and James Nesmitru and Misses
M. Taper and FLORENCE WATERBURY. :
Dr. Hermon C. Bumeus, Director of the Museum, sailed from New
York on February 17 on a tour to Yucatan, Mexico and the southwestern -
States. In Yucatan, Dr. Bumpus will visit the famous Mayan ruins of
LECTURE ANNOUNCEMENTS 87
Chichen-Itza, and in Mexico he will spend some time at the great Aztec
ruins at Mitla near Oaxaca. ‘These visits are for the purpose of making —
field studies that will be used in reproducing certain of the prehistoric
ruins of North America for structural use in the new hall of Mexican
archeology which is planned for the next addition to the Museum
building. On his way back from Mexico, Dr. Bumpus will visit the
copper mining regions of New Mexico and Arizona, making studies for
use in connection with proposed groups illustrating some famous Ameri-
can copper mines and will make a tour of inspection among the anthro-
pological field parties which the Museum has in the Southwest.
Mr. Frank M. Cuapman, Curator of Ornithology, sailed for Mexico
on February 17, to make studies and collect specimens and accessories
for one of the new series of Habitat Bird Groups. ‘This Mexican group
is designed to show the characteristic birds of the American tropics,—
parrots, toucans, trogons, motmots and others. ‘The locality repre-
sented by the foreground will be in the “tierra caliente,’ or tropical
portions of the State of Vera Cruz, while the painted background will
lead one to the snow crown of Mt. Orizaba, since to explain the signifi-
cance of perpetual summer and perpetual snow in the same scene will
be one of the objects of the group. Mr. Chapman is accompanied by
Mr. Louis Agassiz Fuertes, the well-known artist, who will make studies
for the background as well as for the birds of the group.
LECTURE ANNOUNCEMENTS
MEMBERS’ COURSE
The second course of illustrated lectures for the season 1909-1910 to
Members of the Museum and persons holding complimentary tickets given
them by Members will be given in March.
Thursday evenings at 8:15 o’clock. Doors open at 7:45.
March 3.— Dr. Perctvat Lowe .t, ‘‘’The New Canals of Mars.”
These are not simply new canals to us but new on Mars. From the long con-
tinued records at the Lowell Observatory, Dr. Lowell, the Director, proves that these
canals have originated on Mars within the last few months.
March 10.— Pror. Wituis L. Moors, “The Story of the Weather.”
Professor Moore is the Chief of the United States Weather Bureau, and in his
lecture will give an account of the work of his Department, a subject of wide-spread
interest at the present time.
88 THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL
2
March 17.— Pror. Henry E. Crampton, “The Living and Older Vol-
canoes in the South Pacific.”
During the past year Dr. Crampton, curator of Invertebrate Zodlogy, spent
several months among the Islands of the South Pacific, visited the active voléanoes
of Kilauea in the Hawaiian Islands and Savaii in the Samoan Islands, and obtained
an interesting series of photographs of these voleanoes in action.
March 24.— Mr. Girrorp Pincnort, ‘The Conservation Movement.”
Mr. Pinchot is the President of the National Conservation Association and is
perhaps responsible more than any other one individual for the present efforts to
conserve the natural resources of our country.
PEOPLE’S COURSE.
Given in coéperation with the City Department of Education.
Tuesday and Saturday evenings at 8:15 o'clock. Doors open at 7:30.
All lectures illustrated with stereopticon views.
MEETINGS OF SOCIETIES.
Public meetings of the New York Academy of Sciences and its Affiliated
Societies are held at the Museum according to the following schedule:
On Monday evenings, The New York Academy of Sciences:
First Mondays, Section of Geology and Mineralogy;
Second Mondays, Section of Biology;
Third Mondays, Section of Astronomy, Physics and Chemistry;
Fourth Mondays, Section of Anthropology and Psychology.
On Tuesday evenings, as announced:
The Linnean Society of New York;
The New York Entomological Society;
The Torrey Botanical Club.
On Wednesdays, as announced:
The Horticultural Society of New York;
The New York Mineralogical Club.
On Friday evenings, as announced:
The New York Microscopical Society.
The programmes of the meetings of the respective organizations are pub-
lished in the weekly Bulletin of the New York Academy of Sciences and
sent to the members of the several societies. Members of the Museum on
making request of the Director will be provided with the Bulletin as issued.
HONORABLE JOSEPH H. CHOATE, A FOUNDER AND TRUSTEE
From life-size portrait by Princess Lworr-PaRLAGHY
90
The American Museum Journal
VoL. X . APRIL, 1910 No. 4
PORTRAIT OF THE HONORABLE JOSEPH H. CHOATE
A FouUNDER AND ‘TRUSTEE
MONG the founders of the Museum, one who stands out promi-
A nently for long-continued and valuable services to the institution
is the Honorable Joseph H. Choate. Only on rare occasions,
however, can Mr. Choate be found in person within its walls, but from
now on visitors may see his genial face and feel the energy of his presence
in a life-size portrait painted with unusual power. ‘The portrait is the
work of Princess Lwoff-Parlaghy and is presented by her to the Museum
through President Osborn.
The artist has painted more royal and princely personages than any
other living painter, and although still young, counts some two hundred
portraits of well-known persons as her life work. From the time of her
childhood at Hajdti-Dorog, Hungary, she has shown marked talent in
portraiture and has a strength and ruggedness of style reminding one of
Rembrandt and Franz Hals. She studied at Budapest and Munich,
having the unique distinction, for a woman, of working under the great
von Lenbach, then went to Italy for study of the Italian school. It was
while here that she made her first great success in a portrait of Kossuth,
the Hungarian patriot, who was living in exile at Turin. ‘The portrait
now hangs in the Museum at Budapest. Afterwards she worked in
Holland, devoting much time to the Dutch masters.
The most celebrated paintings by the Princess are probably a por-
trait of Kaiser Wilhelm II and one of von Moltke, the former hanging
in the imperial castle at Berlin, the latter in the building of the General
Staff of the same city. Others of her pictures are to be found in the
museums of Dresden, Leipzig, Heidelberg, Hannover and Vienna.
She has received more and higher decorations in the sphere of art than
any other woman in the world. Among these medals and decorations
may be mentioned the great gold state medal of Germany (the Princess
is the only woman in the world who has received this honor), ‘‘ Hors
Concours”’ and life member of the jury of Berlin, the great gold medal
91
92 THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL
for art and science on the ribbon of the order of the crown of Wuerttem-
berg, the order of the Holy Sava of Servia, the large medal for art and
science and the great gold medal from His Holiness Pope Leo XIII,
the academic laurels and election as “‘ Officier de |’Académie”’ of France,
the gold state medal of Prussia, the gold medal of the Paris Salon and the
great Chicago medal of the World’s Columbian Exposition.
The present portrait represents Mr. Choate clad in the bright red
gown of Oxford University, from which he received the degree of D. C. L.
in 1902. He is seated in an arm chair, his right hand on his knee clasp-
ing the collegiate cap, but so well has the artist caught the spirit of the
man that he seems about to rise in greeting and to be on the point of
giving utterance to some of those happy phrases which make him an
orator of international reputation. The artist has unusual strength in
the individualization of greatness and in this, her latest work, she has
been particularly successful in giving expression to the sterling qualities
which so endear Mr. Choate to his friends.
LENDERS INDIAN COLLECTION
purchased by Mr. J. Pierpont Morgan for the Museum has now
been temporarily installed in the South Pacific Hall on the
fourth floor. The collection, brought together through many years of
travel by Mr. E. W. Lenders, a noted artist of Philadelphia, is rich in
material from the Plains Indians, although there are some specimens
from the Eastern Woodlands, the North Pacific Coast and the South-
west. The tribes are, in order of the importance of their representation ,
the Sioux, Cheyenne, Arapaho, Blackfoot, Crow, Nez Percé, Plains
Cree, Assiniboine, Apache, Comanche, Kiowa and Shoshone.
A highly interesting part of the material is a series of Sioux costumes.
Seven scalp shirts attract immediate attention. ‘The best of them is an
old one made of antelope skin decorated with beautiful porcupine-quill
work and colored with native dyes. Several women’s costumes are note-
worthy, and among them are two dresses of more than usual interest.
One is very old and is of skin ornamented with elk teeth. It is the second
specimen of the kind to come into the possession of the Museum. ‘The
de Lenders collection, valued at $30,000, which has recently been
LENDERS INDIAN COLLECTION 93
other is a more modern dress made of blanketing, but it is decorated
with imitation elk teeth cut by the Indians from elk antler. ‘These are so
well carved and polished as to deceive any but the most experienced
observer. ,
In the material obtained from the Blackfoot there is a group of
specimens from a noted medicine man known as “Pretty Antelope.”
This comprises his costume consisting of an ermine headdress with
beaded horns, shirt and leggings beautifully beaded and decorated with »
dozens of ermine skins in the form of a fringe, with belt and moccasins
to match, and his tomahawk, lance, tobacco bag, scalp ornaments,
rattles, talisman, medicine pipe and all the paraphernalia of a shaman.
This makes one of the most complete personal outfits in the Museum.
Among the costumes from other tribes there are several unusual or
particularly significant examples. A splendid Comanche suit includes
leggings which have enormous flaps trailing on the ground more than
twenty inches. Several pairs of Apache leggings have moccasins at-
tached which show the big toe protector. A Pawnee shirt is decorated
with porcupine quills in a manner suggesting a more northerly region.
The Apache, Comanche and Kiowa objects show the peculiar ideas of
dress of these people, such as lack of beads and presence of painted
designs in the ornamentation. A magnificent eagle-feather war bonnet
has a double trailer which dragged on the ground after the wearer. A
very rare wig made of buffalo hair with long tips of horse hair of a lighter
color has the hair strands ornamented and held together by daubs of red
paint at intervals of about-an inch.
The art work of the Indians is represented by moccasins, vests,
charms, awl cases, bags, saddle blankets and game bags, carriers and
parts of horse accoutrements and pipe and fire bags decorated in beads
and quills. Smokers will be interested in the collection of catlinite pipes.
The stone for the bowls of these pipes was obtained at the famous quarry
at Pipestone, Minnesota, which is still in the possession of the Indians,
who have kept, with the sanction of the Government, the exclusive right
of quarrying this peculiar stone. ‘The pipes in the collection, many of
them with decorated stems and bowls, represent the handiwork of
practically all the larger Plains tribes and some of those of the Eastern
~ Woodlands.
The Indians of the Southwest have contributed to the collection
many curiously wrought objects in silver and other metals, such as
94 THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL
bracelets, wrist protectors, belts and necklaces. Particularly remarkable
is a necklace of turquoise and silver beads with a pendant of hammered
silver. Seven medals dating from 1829 to 1857 represent tokens given
to noted Indian chiefs by Presidents Andrew Jackson, John ‘Tyler,
Zachary ‘Taylor, Millard Fillmore, Franklin Pierce and James Buchanan.
The custom of giving medals bearing an embossed portrait of the Presi-
dent is still in vogue, but it is almost impossible to obtain them from
the Indians who have been honored.
Basketry and pottery are not as well represented, since Mr. Lenders,
from the character of his work as an artist, took more interest in collecting
costumes and the utensils and weapons of the material culture of the
tribes. ‘There are, however, a few splendid old baskets including two
of the feathered Pomo variety and three of the pitch-covered water
baskets of the Southwest. There are some interesting specimens of
pottery from the Pueblo region and buffalo and mountain sheep horn
spoons from the Plains. ‘The most valuable spoon, however, does not
come from the Plains region but is a large one of beautiful translucent
horn from the Haida of the Northwest Coast of America.
In regard to weapons and war pieces, there are quivers and bows
and arrows, buffalo lances, tomahawks and stone clubs of various sizes
and shapes. ‘T'wo clubs, the stone heads of which are covered with
beads, are known as “coup sticks.” In former times, the most notable
achievement of an Indian was the taking of a scalp, but with the intro-
duction of rifles the killing of a man became so easy and there were usually
so many scalps taken after a battle that this trophy began to lose its
importance. ‘The Indians considered it a much braver act to touch the
body of a fallen foe with a coup stick under fire of the enemy. There
are two buffalo hide shields, one of which is worthy of special mention.
It is from the Osage tribe and has a buckskin cover with symbolical
paintings. From this cover there formerly depended eagle feathers,
the shafts of which were decorated with dyed hair woven in various
patterns. A bullet hole through cover and shield and what seem to be
blotches of blood suggest the fate of its original owner.
Besides all these, the collection includes series of baby carriers, Indian
dolls, wampum peace belts, Navajo blankets, necklaces of deer’s hoofs
and bears’ claws, ghost dance clubs, scalp dance wands and medicine
otters.
A special feature of the collection is the extensive series of articles
THE MUSEUM RESTAURANT 95
of painted buffalo hide, Mr. Lenders having made a special study of the
buffalo. Among the objects, besides the two shields mentioned, is a
small Shoshone medicine tipi painted with realistic designs. ‘There are
also several saddle bags, a Winnebago drum with a painting of the
Thunder Bird on one side, together with many ratties and other articles.
The objects from the Indians of the Southern Plains were much
needed in the Museum collections, which still are weak in material from
the Southern Plains region and the Southeast in general, though rich in
that from the Northern Plains.
THE MUSEUM RESTAURANT
REPRODUCTION OF ‘TEMPLE RuINS at Mitria, MExico
the elevator to the east basement, we find ourselves within the
three rooms that comprise this new restaurant, but strange to
say we have passed through the low, broad doorway of an ancient
Mexican temple and are surrounded by its mosaic-ornamented walls.
To see the original in its prime, we must have lived centuries before
the Spanish conquest and have known a race which even before the times
of the ‘Toltecs had developed a culture, at least a temple building art,
far exceeding that usually ascribed to the native races of this hemisphere.
To look upon the ruins of this original to-day we should need to travel to
southern Mexico. ‘There, thirty miles by stage from the large city of
Oaxaca, we should come to the town of Mitla, a modern little place with
thatched houses and cactus fences, lying in a great amphitheater-like
valley surrounded by mountains. ‘The stage ride leads through broad
green valleys dotted with farms and villages and set here and there with
signs of occupation at some time far past. As we approach Mitia, the
surrounding hills show much of the gray and greenish colors of trachyte,
an ancient voleanic rock. When we reach the town, we find the market
place and some ‘of the public buildings constructed of this trachyte,
which probably was taken from its abiding place in the cliffs more than
a thousand years ago and used in successive building operations by the
predecessors of the homely Zapotecan race now living here.
Mitla has long been known as the site of some of the best preserved
r | “HE Museum has a new restaurant —a very novel one. ‘Taking
96 THE AMERICAN: MUSEUM JOURNAE
and most remarkable ruins in all Mexico. Who the people were that
erected the buildings and whether the structures were intended for
palaces or temples is unknown, but the architects and builders were
wonderful for skill and boldness in design and execution, and they were
not averse to work. ‘They brought the trachyte from the hills, a stone
that_is soft and easily broken into great blocks, but yet is tough and
durable; they obtained adobe from the immediate vicinity to be used in
the foundations in setting the stone; they transported lime, probably
from some outcrop in the valley, and mixed it with gravel to make cement
or concrete for the laying of floors and pavements; they procured paints,
mainly by mixing whitish earth and iron oxides, the colors preferred
being white and several shades of red, and they cut great trees to get logs
for long spans in ceilings and roofs. Because of the limit set by the
length of a single roof beam, they built most of their chambers long and
narrow, though they sometimes set stone columns through the middle
of a chamber to double the span.
In raising the walls they cut the margins of the stone blocks so
accurately that the joints required little or no mortar. ‘The wonderful
fact is that they did little simple stone laying, but instead prepared every
block to fit into a particular place, so that each additional layer in the
walls differed from its neighbors above and below in width, angle or
projection. Most remarkable of all is the manner in which these builders
ornamented their structures with geometric designs made out of innu-
merable little pieces of stone, each of which was cut and shaped to fit into
the formal pattern of the mosaic. It is estimated that about 15,000
pieces of hewn stone were used for the inside walls of one of the small
chambers of the Quadrangle of the Greeques.
To appreciate the new restaurant fully, we must know the plan on
which the Mitla temples that furnished its inspiration were built. “There
are traceable in the ruins five groups of structures. ‘Throughout these
the ground plan is a formal quadrangle, presenting a series of central
courts each surrounded by four chambers. The best preserved of the
structures is the so-called Group of the Columns, particularly interesting
because its great central court (about 150 feet square, probably once
holding a shrine at its center) was supposedly bounded by four wide
halls, each of which gave entrance into a smaller quadrangle of four
rooms around a less spacious court. The best preserved of these wide
halls is that on the north, the so-called Hall of the Six Columns. It is
qo] 94) 9B UMA
quourmoid oy} osoduroo (G6 osed uo urd ayy Jo Wy puR q ‘oO ‘q) SUUINIOD XIg ey} jo [BY oyy puv sonbossy oy} Jo opsuvspengyy oxy,
HLNOS DNIWHMOOT VILIN AO MAIA IWHANAD 16
ere eo os
On ee
Se Sins
(66 eased uo uvyd oy} Jo q) ‘ep, ‘sonboory ayy Jo apsuvapen’d ayy Jo y.n0g oy} Jo uoToNpordoyy
ANVYUNVLSSY WNASNW SHL AO WOOHY NIVW
LRT" SEN I ET ET
= %
LENDERS INDIAN COLLECTION 99
the quadrangle entered from this hall, the Quadrangle of the Grecques,
that the Museum has in part reproduced, including the court, 30 feet
square, with its north and south chambers, the east and west rooms
being omitted on account of the limited space available.
The reproduction was undertaken upon data given by Professor
Marshall H. Saville who has made extensive studies of the ruins. While
many desirable measurements were lacking, those suppiied were suffi-
cient— augmented by good photo-
graphs — to secure accurate scales
which were employed throughout
the construction. ‘The materials
employed were selected with the
object of avoiding the possibility
of fire and at the same time of re-
ducing to a minimum the danger
of damage through use as a dining
hall. The parts representing
heavy masonry, to a height of
about five feet, consist of stones
cast in Keen’s cement, backed
with reinforced concrete, which in-
sures both strength and hardness.
Susereceesricetios Above this, where there is little
GROUND PLAN OF THE “GROUP OF THE danger of damage, the material
COLUMNS.” MITLA 3
used for panels and grecques is
A. Court of the Quadrangle of the plaster strengthened with burlap.
Columns. B. Hall of the Six Columns. : é
C. South Chamber of the Greeques. D. Having obtained the measure-
Court of the Quadrangle of the Greeques. ments of each piece of stone or
E. North Chamber of the Grecques.
The Museum restaurant reproduces
Ee pane F were made, then modeled over
with clay to gain the effect of the
panel of mosaic, wooden forms
stone surface as shown in many samples from the Mitla. ruins in the
possession of the Museum. From these models, plaster or glue moulds
were made and cement or plaster casts run off as they were needed in
construction. All parts were cast hollow, and by cementing each to its
neighbor and anchoring all securely to the walls, the structure became
both rigid and durable with a minimum of weight.
Thus visitors to the Museum may see an old Mitla temple as it used
REPRODUCTION OF THE NORTH CHAMBER OF THE GRECQUES
Stained glass windows in the north-and south rooms represent. pre-Columbian
mythological figures taken from an ancient codex
100
TWO NEW BIRD GROUPS : 101
to look,— the same low doorways of simple structure at the centers of
the walls between court and rooms, the same court walls covered with
horizontal panels of mosaic, and those of the chambers, except for a
dado of masonry, made up completely of grecque patterns. The rooms
off the court have been provided with stained glass windows made by
the artist, Mr. Will S. Taylor. They represent mythological designs
taken from the Codex Magliabecchiano XIII, 3. Similar mythological
figures have been painted on the backs of the chairs by the same artist.
That the new restaurant is of unusual interest as an exhibition hall
arises not only from the fact that it sets down in the heart of New York
an exact reproduction of an ancient temple of Mexico, but also because
the Mitla structures themselves in many features of construction as well
as in the system of ornamentation stand alone not only in the general
region represented but even in the small province to which they belong.
TWO NEW BIRD GROUPS
exhibition, and there are now but few breaks in the circuit of
the gallery that these groups occupy. ‘The one first completed,
“Cuthbert Rookery,” on the west side of the hall, is among the largest
of the series, and represents a portion of a Florida Heron -rookery, the
sort of Florida bird gathering best known to the world because of the
economic interest attached to aigrette-bearing herons. ‘The foreground
= new habitat bird groups have recently been opened for
shows these herons — six different species and several individuals of
each species — nesting among thick-growing mangroves, while the
background, painted by Mr. Bruce Horsfal, pictures the whole islet of the
rookery as it appears at sundown. Hundreds of birds are settling
among the mangrove branches that literally roof over the islet with green.
Gray Louisiana and Little Blue Herons make up a colony by themselves
at the left. Roseate Spoonbills, conspicuous because of their color,
approach and occupy a portion of the islet at the right; and everywhere,
except in these preémpted spots, are the representatives of the other three
species, American Egrets, Snowy Egrets and Ibises. At the time the
studies were made for the group, March 29, 1908, it was estimated that
this rookery was the home of about 3,000 birds, 2,000 being Louisiana
102 THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL
Herons and 350 American Egrets, while only 15 were Snowy Egrets and
35, Roseate Spoonbills.
‘The rookery from which this group was copied is the only one
remaining of the many that existed twenty-five years ago. All the others
have given way to the slaughter wrought by aigrette hunters, this one
escaping because of its inaccessibility. Cuthbert Rookery is in the
heart of the mangrove swamp that borders the Everglades at the ex-
treme southern part of the State. ‘The large boat which carried the
Museum expedition could approach only within seven miles, because of
the shallowness of the water, and small boats had to be laboriously
pulled and pushed through the brackish brown water of the remaining
distance.
This is the rookery where Warden Guy Bradley was shot in the
summer of 1905, while on duty guarding this last stronghold of the
herons. ‘The island to-day is unprotected and the birds, rare now, are
liable to meet extermination in the near future. If the visitor to the
Museum has previously read either Mr. Chapman’s experiences at
Cuthbert Rookery as given in ‘Camps and Cruises of an Ornithologist”
or those of Mr. H. K. Job as set forth in his book “ Wild Wings,” he will
see the Cuthbert Rookery Habitat Group with greatly enhanced interest.
The second of the two groups, the Turkey Buzzard or ‘Turkey Vul-
ture, that on the east side of the hall, presents a sharp contrast to the
Cuthbert Rookery group in that it shows but one bird with its young,
instead of a vast gathering of birds and many nests. Notwithstanding
this, the ‘Turkey Buzzard group is one of the most satisfactory of the
whole twenty-five now completed.
The series of habitat groups of North American birds was designed
not only to show the haunts and habits of the birds, but also to include in
the painted backgrounds representations of the land types of American
scenery. Until the Turkey Buzzard group was completed, the series did
not show the wooded shores of an Atlantic slope river. ‘The locality
selected to fill this gap is on the Potomac, ten miles above Washington,
where the river flows through heavy deciduous forests.
The success of the new group, however, does not lie only in depicting
in a strong, simple way the home life of this bird, rare in the North, not
only in setting forth an added sort of American landscape, but also and
strikingly in the effect of the whole as a work of art. As we stand before
the group, the scene is very real, quite as though we had climbed the rocky
CUTHBERT ROOKERY HABITAT GROUP
103
The only Heron rookery left of the many existing twenty-five years ago
UOJBULYSUAA SAO So[iUL U9} ‘IBATY OvVUIOJO oY} UO epEtU otoeM Anos sity} OJ sorpnyg
dNOYD LVLIEVH GeVZZNG AASMYNL POT
TWO NEW BIRD GROUPS 105
cliffs and, from the height, surrounded by all the details of the life there,
were looking up the river and to the opposite shore. ‘The picture spread
out before us has atmosphere, an achievement due both to the work on
the painted background and to the conception carried out in the fore-
ground. A haze rests over the green wooded hills that slope down to
the Potomac and are imperfectly reflected in its muddy, slow-moving
water. Close at hand, the gray lichen-spotted rocks that make up the
cliffs of the near shore are here and there covered with poison ivy and
Virginia creeper. Fern and hepatica, growing among dead leaves fallen
from an overhanging chestnut oak, fill the crannies of the rocks.
In one of the larger of the crevices of these rocks two white down-
covered birds stretch up their heads and spread their wings in supplica-
tion to a parent bird that has just alighted on a rock above them. We
realize in looking at these young birds the wisdom of the instinct which
makes them “lie low” in the nest, for we feel, almost with a sense of
dizziness, so realistic is the group, how precipitous are the walls that
extend from the nest to the water far below. ‘The Turkey Buzzard has
a longer period of family life than many birds. ‘The time of incubation
for the two heavily-spotted eggs is about thirty days, and the young
must know for fully two months a world limited to the rock and dead
leaves of the niche in which they first opened their eyes, although as their
vision is perfected, they see the dome of the sky and the wooded heights
of the river.
The ‘Turkey Buzzard is an abundant and well-known bird at the South,
where it does good service asa scavenger and is protected both by law and
public sentiment. ‘The studies for the group were made by Mr. Frank
M. Chapman and Mr. J. D. Figgins in May, 1909, at Plummer’s Island.
The background was painted by Mr. Hobart Nichols from his own
__ sketches, made on the ground. Piummer’s Island is locally interesting
as the home of the Washington Field Naturalists’ Club, to which organi-
zation the Museum is indebted for many courtesies extended.
For these two groups the Museum expresses gratitude to the same
Members whose generous contributions have made possible the whole
series: Mr. John L. Cadwalader, Mrs. Morris K. Jesup, Mrs. Philip
Schuyler, Mrs. John B. ‘Trevor, Mrs. Robert Winthrop, Mr. F. Augustus
Schermerhorn, Mr. H. B. Hollins, Mr. Henry Clay Pierce, Mr. Henry
W. Poor and Mr. Courtenay Brandreth.
106 THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAE
COLD SPRING HARBOR GROUP
HE group shown in the photograph on page 107 is being installed
A in the Darwin Hall of Invertebrate Zoélogy and represents a
typical association of animal life, such as may be seen between
tides on the Long Isiand shore. ‘The scene is laid at Cold Spring Harbor,
and the studies were made during the month of April.
A crowded mussel bed (Modiolus plicatula), rather thinly covered with
sprouting “‘spartina’”’ grass, is overrun by fiddler crabs of two species
(Uca pugillator and Uca pugnax). At the extreme right of the group are
two sections of fiddier-crab burrows, occupied by their tenants. ‘The
water is shown at half-ebb tide, while underneath its surface are clusters
of the edible mussel (Wytilus edulis) and of the common oyster (Ostrea
virginica). Upon one of the oysters is its archenemy, a starfish (A sterzas
forbesii). With arms extended over the shell of the oyster and with
innumerable tube feet firmly attached and in a state of tension, the
starfish is steadily straining to pull apart the valves of its gradually —
weakening victim. Scattered about on the sea bottom are those scaven-
gers of shallow water, the sea snail (Nassa obsoleta) and the hermit crab
(Eupagurus longicarpus). ‘Two of the crabs are fighting over a dead
fish, while lurking here and there may be seen the mud crab (Panopeus
herbstii). In the center, adhering to an oyster shell, are several speci-
mens of the tube worm ([Tydroides dianthus) with expanded gill circlets
of brilliant color. At the lowest part of the group in the foreground,
the mud of the sea bottom is cut in vertical section to show the long
or soft clam (Mya arenaria) upright in its burrow, its protruded siphon
reaching upward to the water.
The background of the group gives a good effect of distance pro-
duced by an arrangement of colored photographic transparencies show-
ing an actual view of the harbor. The materials were collected and
the field studies made by Dr. F. E. Lutz. ‘The group was mounted by
Mr. Ignaz Matausch, with the assistance of Mr. Dwight Franklin and
under the direction of the Department of Invertebrate Zodlogy.
Roy W. MINeEr.
apt} qqe-jjvy 4e Uses sv ‘aloYs PUBIST SUO'T B Jo ofl] 0} BIQOIOAUT
dNOYD YOSEHVH ONIYdsS A109
OT
-——- 4
108 THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL
THE STEFANSSON- ANDERSON ARCTIC EXPEDITION :
N February 18 letters were received at the Museum from Mr.
V. Stefénsson and Dr. R. M. Anderson, who are now spending
their second winter on the Arctic coast of North America. ‘Their
experiences are best related in their own words, although their letters
give only a hint at their lives. Mr. Stefansson writes as follows:
HeErscHEL Istanp, August 18, 1909.
I arrived here this morning to find that there is opportunity to send out
mails this evening, with no sure opportunity after that till December.
* * * * My last report to you was from Barrow in May. * * * * A day
or two after the date of it I left Point Barrow, going east with two dog
teams of five animals each, and three Eskimo.- On one sled was the skin
umiak, which we later found capable of carrying 3500 Ibs. in smooth waters,
on the other our camp gear and some ammunition purchased from Mr.
Brower for use in the event of our supplies not arriving. When we reached —
Smith Bay we found that Dr. Anderson, with one team and two Eskimo,
had commenced hauling eastward what stuff there was left in our cache at
Smith Bay. For three days we worked together carrying our outfit forward,
but on May 28 I detached three Eskimo with one sled to proceed as fast as
possible to our other cache at Barter Island to take care of it during the
spring thaws. * * * * On June 12 sledding operations were stopped some
fifteen miles west of Colville by water on the ice,— travel resumed June 23
by umiak in open water. June 26 to July 8 was spent on Colville River,
much of time in camp with Colville Eskimo, some of whom I had not seen
before. * * * *
East of the Colville we were delayed an aggregate of five days by ice,
strong head winds and some annoying, if not serious minor misfortunes.
Arrived at and departed from Flaxman Island August 5, but were delayed
two miles east of there two days; here were met by our whaleboat and
Eskimo from Barter Island and journey now proceeded more smoothly.
August 18, myself and the umiak were picked up about twenty miles west of
Herschel Island yesterday by Capt. C. T. Pedersen, schooner ‘‘ Challenge,”
and brought here to-day, while Anderson and whaleboat could not be taken
on and therefore follow. Capt. Pedersen expected to stay here two days,
giving me ample time to write letters, but reports of whales take him out
again to-night.
The main energies of the summer have been taken up with getting east-
ward; we still have hopes of getting as far as Cape Parry, which will put us
STEFANSSON-ANDERSON ARCTIC EXPEDITION 109
in striking distance of the Coppermine by sled (about 300 miles). Some
ethnological information has been gathered here and there incidentally,
Dr. Anderson has a number of sets of eggs and bird skins. * * * *
I leave a good many things unconsidered and turn to the future. If we
fail to reach the Coppermine or Victorialand districts I shall not accept
the verdict as final. * * * * [ shall make the winter as useful as I can
among the Cape Bathurst natives, if we are forced to winter there. ‘They
are almost as unknown scientifically as any Eskimo, although not as ‘‘un-
spoilt” perhaps.
HeErRscHEL Isuanp, August 19, 1909.
* * * Shortly after finishing yesterday’s letter, and as Capt. Pedersen
was about to sail, the “‘Karluk,” Capt. Cottle, came in from Barrow. He
had sighted the “‘Hermann”’ (supposedly carrying my freight) but had had
no communication with her; believes neither the “‘Hermann”’ nor any other |
ship will come in this year; and intends himself to winter in the Arctic, but
cannot say where. It is therefore clear we shall receive none of the supplies
sent by you. * * * *
Capt. Cottle will take me and the two Eskimo I have with me as far east
as he can and land us. ‘There we shall fish and hunt against the winter.
I leave instructions for Anderson to follow in the whaleboat, and if he is
frozen in west of where Capt. Cottle lands us, say, Cape Parry, he can sled
east to find us. It seems to me now the chance is fair of our getting to the
Coppermine after all. * * * *
Dr. R. M. Anderson, the biologist of the expedition, writes more
briefly, being greatly pressed for time, as follows:
HeErscHEL Istanp, August 22, 1909.
I arrived here to-day from the west with the whaleboat, having been
stormbound for three days within sight of the Island. Mr. Stefansson’s
boat had preceded us-by a few hours, while our party was looking for a lost
dog. Mr. Stefansson sailed yesterday on board the steamer “ Karluk.”
* * * * T shall follow at once through the Mackenzie delta in the whaleboat.
If frozen in before reaching Cape Parry, we shall proceed by sled to join Mr.
Stefansson. * * * * Capt. Pedersen’s schooner is to sail at once for Point
Barrow, so that my official report of operations since Oct. 20th, 1908, will
have to go out via Dawson the coming winter. My specimens including
seven skins with heads of Ovis dalli, and fifteen Caribou, mainly from
Colville region, will have to remain here until another ship comes in or the
‘“Karluk” goes out.
110 THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL
DARIUS OGDEN MILLS
T the annual meeting of the Board of ‘Trustees the following”
resolutions were passed with reference to Mr. D. O. Mills, who
died January 3, 1910:
This Board records with sorrow its tribute to the late
Darius OGpEN MILLS
for twenty-eight years one of its number.
Mr. Mills was elected a Trustee February thirteenth, eighteen hundred
eighty-two, and a year later was made a member of the Finance Committee,
on which he continued to serve until his death. He was one of the four
members of the committee appointed in eighteen hundred ninety-two to
consider arrangements for educational codperation. He also served on the
Nominating Committee and was its Chairman for over fifteen years.
The Museum is indebted to Mr. Mills for many generous gifts.
Since the foundation of the Museum forty-odd years ago many promi-
nent and distinguished men have served on the Board of ‘Trustees, but none
whose presence was more welcome than that of Mr. Mills. Quiet and
gentle in his manner, sound in judgment and wise in counsel, modest and
simple but full of good sense, just and true in every dealing, he was loved
and appreciated by all who knew him. His death on January third leaves
his fellow Trustees of this Board with a feeling of profound sense of loss
and with the greatest admiration for his fine and lovable qualities of char-
acter.
REPORT FROM THE FABBRI YACHT
southern Florida, under command of her owner Mr. Alessandro
Fabbri, in behalf of the Department of Fishes has succeeded in
obtaining many interesting forms which are new to the Museum’s
collections, and the Messrs. Fabbri are carrying on the work with great
energy and enthusiasm and expect to take plaster moulds from fishes
which can be captured a little later in the season. By invitation of the
Messrs. Fabbri the writer had the privilege of accompanying the yacht
as the Museum’s representative. S
co yacht ‘“Tekia”’? which has been cruising in the waters of
REPORT FROM THE FABBRI YACHT 111
The most effective apparatus for getting specimens proved to be a
large seine. ‘This was especially useful on smooth sand bars sloping
down into water of moderate depth. At times a strong current and the
mud at a river’s mouth would make the seine almost too heavy to draw,
or some huge snag would anchor it to the bottom temporarily, but the
results obtained fully compensate for the trials and labor of its operation.
A small hand seine yielded good results where the large one could not
be used, and variously improvised dip-nets turned up rare things from
the tide-pools and shallows. Off shore specially constructed beam-
trawls were used without great success, owing to the treacherous nature
of the bottom. Yet the beam-trawl turned up several forms of life not
obtained in any other way.
Collecting off shore from a small boat was highly profitable, when,
on fine warm days, light airs from the south and east wafted Gulf Stream
conditions into the very harbor of Key West, driving in the colored,
bubble-like floats of the Portuguese-man-of-war (Physalia), the little
violet snail (Janthina) and masses of gulf weed (Sargassum). A fine
series of Nomeus gronovit was obtained. These little fishes swim about
under the float of the Portuguese-man-of-war, receiving protection
through the powerful sting of its host’s long tentacles. It is easy to dip
up Physalia and fishes together in a net and carefully disentangle and
throw back the Physalia without getting stung. ‘The small fishes are
very beautiful, but their black, blue and silver colors do not keep well in
preserved specimens. Swimming among the Portuguese-man-of-war
were also the very young of the amber jack, pretty little banded fishes
searcely an inch long, as well as small schools of scad, T'rachurus
trachurus. ‘This latter fish, abundant and an important food fish in
Europe, is considered rare on our coast. The young are probably
common enough here where the Gulf Stream washes the shore of Florida.
Many of the fishes collected about Key West range southward among
the West Indies. At Cape Sable, where much collecting was done,
there is a predominance of forms that range along the South Atlantic
coast, from about Cape Hatteras, or even Cape Cod, to Texas, but it
was a surprise to find the blow-fish (Spheroides) obtained there identical
with the one so common about New York in summer, whereas a quite
different species was found common at Miami and a third form was
abundant at Key West.
112 THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL
Unquestionably the most interesting region visited was the edge of
the Everglades. ‘The ‘’Tekla” anchored several miles up Shark River,
among the mangroves, and shallower waters still farther up stream
were explored with a launch and row boats. In the weed-choked
shallows various interesting small fishes characteristic of the region
and new to the Museum’s collections were very abundant. ‘These
forms are preyed upon by larger fishes, of which the leathery spotted
gar (Lepisosteus) was most in evidence. It was here that some un-
usually small specimens of the great tarpon were obtained with rod and
reel.
Common, though seldom seen, a rather large gray shark (Carcharhinus
lamnia) with broad, blunt head and a formidable array of saw-edged
teeth, prowls about the wharves and shipping in the harbor of Key West.
Several of these sharks were caught. From the number a fine specimen
eight or nine feet long was selected, and plaster moulds for a cast were
made from it. When placed on exhibition in the Museum, the cast will
doubtless attract no little attention, as will also the cast of a jew-fish,
a huge bass of the sea, weighing some hundreds of pounds. The moulds
taken from this latter fish have already been safely received at the
Museum.
JoHN 'T’. NICHOLS.
MUSEUM NEWS NOTES
made in the January number of the JouRNAL has been paid over
to the Museum and has been applied as an endowment to the
Museum’s room for the blind. Messrs. Samuel and Jonathan Thorne,
the executors of the will, feeling that this use of the legacy was so thor-
oughly in accord with their sister’s interest and desires have increased |
the amount from ten thousand to twenty-five thousand dollars, out of the
residue estate, thus insuring a permanent income for the development of
this new and extremely useful and promising branch of the Museum’s
work. ‘The ‘Trustees have established a committee on the Museum for
the Blind consisting of Hon. Seth Low, Mr. A. D. Jouiilard, Dr. H. C.
Bumpus and Professor Henry F. Osborn.
4s bequest of Miss Phebe Anna ‘Thorne to hich reference was
MUSEUM NEWS NOTES 113
THE Museum has received and added to its permanent endowment
fund the sum of one hundred thousand dollars which was bequeathed
to it by the late Mr. Darius O. Mills.
Since our last issue the following persons have been elected to mem-
bership in the Museum: Patron, Hon. Grorce W. WICKERSHAM;
Life Member, Mr. FREDERICK A. Lucas; Sustaining Members, MEssrs.
Fritz AcHELIS and ALFRED E. Mariina; Annual Members, Messrs.
M. W. AmBERG, CHARLES EBERHART, B. Taprpen Farrcuiup, H. C.
-FLEITMANN, JAMES GUTMANN, E. G. Love, BrapLeEy Martin, JR.,
Howarp NotTMAN, FRANKLIN SIMON and AuGustT ZINSSER, JR., REV.
Percy STICKNEY GRANT, Dr. E. Lyety Earte, MMes. CADWALADER
JonEs and Henry D. WuirTrirLtp and Misses LeénteE M. GaALior
STAMM and CATHERINE A. STEVENS.
Mr. Freperick A. Lucas, Curator in Chief of the Brooklyn Museum,
has been elected a life member of the American Museum on account of
the practical assistance which he has rendered the latter institution
and because of his contributions to science.
THE magnificent elephant head which was collected by Mr. Richard
Tjader in German East Africa in 1906 and which has been on exhibition
at the Museum for the past two years as a loan from Mr. Samuel ‘Thorne
has been transferred to the Heads and Horns collection at the Zodlogical
Park in Bronx Park.
ADVICEs received late in February from Mr. Roy C. Andrews, who
has been cruising for the past six months on the steamer Albatross
of the United States Bureau of Fisheries, gave an account of an interest-
ing and profitable journey among the Philippine Islands, the Moluccas,
the Celebes and along the coast of Borneo. Many valuable photographs
of natives have been obtained, including moving picture films of dancing
“Dyaks” at Amboyna, Moluccas. Ethnological material, too, was ob-
tained from several islands, part of which was generously presented
by His Excellency, Baron Quaries de Quarles, Governor of the Celebes.
News from Messrs. Lang and Chapin, of the Museum’s Congo ex-
pedition, has come in the form of letters and post cards which were ten
weeks or more on their journey from the heart of Africa. Mr. Lang’s
114 THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL
official report is stated to be on its way to New York, but it has not
arrived yet. When the letters were despatched, late in November, 1909,
the Museum expedition was making its headquarters at Avakubi,
twenty-six days’ march up the Congo River from Stanleyville. Most
of this march was through the dense tropical forest and was extremely
trying, not only to the white men but also to their native porters; never-
theless, all are in excellent health. Avakubi is an important rubber
station, about twenty tons per month being received in payment of taxes
from the natives, who also bring in many fine elephant tusks. ‘The ex-
pedition has been successful in collecting hundreds of perfect skins and
skeletons of mammals and birds, besides photographs and other data for
use in preparing habitat groups.
On the evening of Friday, March 11, Commander Robert E. Peary,
U.S. N., presented to the members of the Museum a thrilling account
of his discovery of the North Pole, illustrating his address with many
excellent photographs made by him while on the expedition. On account
of the great popular interest in Commander Peary’s work it was necessary
to restrict admission to those holding Members’ tickets. Even under
these conditions six hundred persons were turned away from the audi-
torium.
From Wednesday to Friday, March 16 to 18, inclusive, the Horti-
cultural Society of New York held its spring exhibition in the Columbus
Avenue wing of the Museum. ‘The event was made more noteworthy
even than usual through the codperation of the American Rose Society,
which held its annual convention and exhibition here at the same time.
THe National Association of Audubon Societies held its annual
meeting at the Museum on March 17. The convention was signalized
by the principal address, which was by Mr. Donald B. McMillan upon
“The Bird Life of the Arctic.”” Mr. McMillan will be remembered as
one of the scientific staff that accompanied Commander Robert E.
Peary on his successful North Polar expedition last summer.
THe Honorasie Girrorp Pincnor unfortunately was unable to
fill his engagement to address the Members of the Museum on March 24,
but his place was filled by Dr. W J McGee, Secretary of the Inland
Waterways Commission and member of the National Conservation
Commission, who spoke upon ‘‘The Conservation Movement,”’which
was the subject originally assigned for the evening.
LECTURE ANNOUNCEMENTS 115
LECTURE ANNOUNCEMENTS
PEOPLE’S COURSE
Given in codperation with the City Department of Education.
Tuesday evenings at 8:15 o’clock. Doors open at 7:30. Lectures
illustrated with stereopticon views.
March 1.— Mr. Louis F. Berry, “Spain.”
March 8.— Dr. Joun C. Bowker, “Portugal, a Cluster of Grapes.”
March 15.— Mr. C. J. Buancnarp, ‘‘ Winning the West.”
March 22.— Mr. Frank A. Ga.uvp, “Greece as It is To-day.”
March 29.— Mr. Franx A. Ga.uvp, “Italy and the Italians.”
April 5.— Dr. GeorceE R. Van De Water, “To the Heart of the Dolo-
mite Region.”
April 12.— Dr. Grorcre R. Van De Water, “From Cortina to Botzen,
over Pordoi Joch Pass.”
April 19.— Dr. Grorce R. Van De Water, “The Stelvio Pass.”
April 26.— Mr. Atrrep J. Tauuery, “The Passion Play.”
Saturday evenings at 8:15 o'clock. Doors open at 7:30. Lectures
illustrated with stereopticon views.
March 5.— Mr. A. Emerson PAtmer, “‘ Development of Public Education
in New York City.”
March 12.— Mr. H. SNowpEn Warp, “The Humor and the Pathos of
Charles Dickens.”’ .
March 19.— Hon. Joun J. Murpny, “The Tenement House Department.”
March 26.— Hon. CHartes N. CHapwick, ‘‘Our New Water Supply.”
April 2.— Hon. Cuarzes B. Stover, “The Park Departinent.”
April 9.— Hon. Lawson Purpy, “The New York Tax Department.”
April 16.— Hon. Miro R. Maursteg, ‘The Public Service Commission.”
April 23.— Subject and lecturer to be announced.
April 30.— Subject and lecturer to be announced.
Children are not admitted to the lectures of the People’s Course, except
on presentation of a Museum Member's Card.
116 THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL
MEETINGS OF SOCIETIES.
Public meetings of the New York Academy of Sciences and its Affiliated
Societies are held at the Museum according to the following schedule:
On Monday evenings, The New York Academy of Sciences:
First Mondays, Section of Geology and Mineralogy;
Second Mondays, Section of Biology;
Third Mondays, Section of Astronomy, Physics and Chemistry;
Fourth Mondays, Section of Anthropology and Psychology.
On Tuesday evenings, as announced:
The Linnean Society of New York;
‘The New York Entomological Society;
The ‘Torrey Botanical Club.
On Wednesdays, as announced:
The Horticultural Society of New York;
The New York Mineralogical Club.
On Friday evenings, as announced:
The New York Microscopical Society.
The programmes of the meetings of the respective organizations are pub-
lished in the weekly Bulletin of the New York Academy of Sciences and
sent to the members of the several societies. Members of the Museum on
making request of the Director will be provided with the Bulletin as issued.
The American [luseum Journal
Epmunp Otis Hovey, Editor.
Mary CynTHiA DickERSON, Associate Editor.
FRANK M. CHAPMAN,
Louis P. GRATACAP, { Advisory Board.
WILLIAM K. GREGORY,
Subscription, One Dollar per year. Fifteen Cents per copy.
A subscription to:the JouRNAL is included in the membership fees of alljclasses of Members of
the Museum,
Subscriptions should be addressed to The ‘American Museum Journal, 30 Boylston St., Cam-
bridge, Mass., or 77th St. and Central Park West, New York City.
Entered as second-class matter January 12, 1907, at the Post-office at Boston, Mass.
Act of Congress, July 16, 1894.
Sen as ee teas
ate ne!
F
StS ELE D2) OS ge Re: ay
‘
NE SP Be Sa ee, aa
me
oe
A
4
4
~#
Ae
:
7%
ROBERT PARR WHITFIELD
Curator of Geology and Invertebrate Palzontology, 1877-1909
118
The American Museum Journal
VoL. X MAY, 1910 No. 5
ROBERT PARR WHITFIELD
and Invertebrate Paleontology, died on April 6 after a long
illness. Coming to the Museum while still in the prime of life,
he rendered most faithful service to the institution for thirty-three years
and did his full share in placing it in its commanding position in the
Parr PARR WHITFIELD, Curator Emeritus of Geology
scientific world.
He was born at New Hartford, Oneida County, New York, May 27,
1828, and therefore came from a region which has furnished several
of the most famous geologists and paleontologists of America. At the
age of nine, the boy began work in a cotton mill, later entering the shop
of his father, who was a spindle maker. When he was twenty, his
father gave young Whitfield his time, and he was employed by Samuel
Chubbock, a well-known manufacturer of philosophical instruments at
Utica. His spare moments were spent in collecting the fossils for which
the region around that city is famous and in preparing, mounting and
studying them, his interest in natural history having been aroused and
fostered in very early life by an English nurse who was in the family.
School education did not fall to his lot; in fact, as he has stated in con-
versation with the writer, his entire school training amounted to less
than three months of time in all, and he never saw the inside of a school
house as a student after he was twelve years old. Hence Professor
Whitfield’s career as a scientist is even more remarkable than it would
have been, if he had had the advantage in early life of the scholastic
and other training that has fallen to the lot of the majority of men who
have attained eminence in science.
In the early fifties, Professor James Hall heard of young Whitfield’s
collection, visited him and saw the scientific promise in the young
mechanic. When, therefore, poor health obliged him to give up his
work in the shop in 1856, Professor Hall was glad to get his assistance on
the Natural History Survey of the State, and Mr. Whitfield removed to
Albany, where he remained as an assistant in paleontology and geology
119
120 THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL
for more than twenty years. When the great Jaines Hall Collection
of fossils was purchased for the American Museum, the services of
Professor Whitfield were secured for its care, and he entered upon his
duties as Curator of Geology in January, 1877, being the only curator
that the institution then had. His first year was devoted to arranging
the geological and paleontological material in the exhibition hall as-
signed to it in the new building of the Museum, and when this building,
which is now known as the North Wing, was opened to the public,
December 22, 1877, the collections in his charge were by far the most
important from a scientific standpoint among all the possessions of the
Museum.
Throughout his whole career, the mechanical skill developed in the
tool and instrument shops stood Professor Whitfield in good stead, and
it was of material assistance to him in the development of his talents as a
draftsman. His first efforts at making drawings for publication were in
the delineation for the State Survey of the correct relations of the compli-
cated remains of fossil crinoids, or sea lilies. He soon surpassed the ~
other draftsmen in the accuracy of his observations and in the skill and
brilliancy with which he used his pencil in representing fossil forms,
and it was not long before he became the head draftsman of the Survey.
In this capacity he executed several thousands of drawings before
the termination of his connection with the organization. ‘This training
as a draftsman was of material assistance to Professor Whitfield in all
his studies. His recognition of old and new features amounted almost
to an instinct, and there is little question that for nearly half a century
he had no superior in this country in the identification of fragmen-
tary invertebrate fossils.
In addition to his work for the State of New York and this Museum,
he studied and described the fossils which were gathered by the Clarence
King Geological Survey of the Fortieth Parallel, Jenney’s and Ludlow’s
expeditions to the Black Hills of South Dakota and much of the material
gathered for the geological surveys of Ohio, Indiana, Wisconsin and
New Jersey.
Soon after he came to the Museum, he began to urge the establish-
ment of a medium for the publication of the results of the scientific work
done in the Museum. ‘This led to the institution, in 1881, by President
Morris K. Jesup, of the Museum “ Bulletin,” the first five articles of
which, comprising all that was issued during the first year of its existence,
DODGE EXPEDITION TO MISSISSIPPI 121
were prepared by Professor Whitfield. In the succeeding years, he
contributed many articles to the pages of the “Bulletin,” and the last
piece of work that he did in connection with his department was the
preparation, during the latter half of last year, of the text and drawings
of the descriptions of several new species of fossil shells from the Mt.
Lebanon district of Syria. ‘The drawings, to be sure, show the effects
of advancing age and infirmity, but nevertheless they indicate clearly
the master hand that prepared so many thousands of antecedent figures.
Although never a man of strong physique, Professor Whitfield usually
enjoyed good health and was able to accomplish an immense amount of
work. ‘The Hall Collection of fossils was his idol, and its care and
interests were constantly on his mind. Naturally methodical and
systematic himself, the arrangement of the collection reflected these
characteristics of the man and was the joy of the visiting scientist who
desired to inspect a particular species with or without the assistance of
the curator. Almost punctilious in his attention to duty and to his.
ideas of Museum work, he was always to be found either in the exhibi-
tion hall or in the laboratory, never going away on collecting expeditions
except within the limits of his usual brief vacations. Remaining ac-
tively engaged in his department to within so short a period of his
demise, his removal means much to the Museum and his familiar figure
and his counsel will be greatly missed.
EpmuNnb Oris Hovey.
THE DODGE EXPEDITION TO MISSISSIPPI
HE Museum collection of fishes is poor in “ ganoids’’— sturgeon,
a gar-pikes, amia, shovel-noses and spoon-billed catfish or paddle-
fish —and it has seemed desirable that this ancient group
should be exhibited adequately in the Hall of Fishes. One reason for
the interest in “ganoids”’ is that they are known to be the race of fishes
from which all the modern types such as perch, cod and salmon are
descended. Accordingly, thanks to the aid of the Dodge Fund, an
expedition was sent in March to spend several weeks in a region which
is peculiarly rich in these rare forms for the purpose of obtaining material
to show their structure and development. In the northwestern corner
bd
bo
bo
THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL
of the state of Mississippi there is an extensive fishery of the paddlefish
(Polyodon folium) which is in charge of Mr. J. E. McGehee, a friend of
the Museum, who put at its service his launches, fishermen and nets.
‘There was thus offered an unusual opportunity for securing the desired
collection, which was further improved by the fact that during the present
spring a lake, Moon Lake, was to be fished, which had not been netted
before. ‘The collecting party consisted of Dr. L. Hussakof and Mr.
Dwight Franklin. They report excellent success in collecting speci-
mens and in obtaining casts and color studies which will ultimately be
used in the preparation of habitat groups.
A FOURTH JOURNEY TO THE SOUTH SEAS —
URING the years 1906 to 1908, inclusive, I made three voyages to
|) Tahiti and the other islands of the Society group, under the au-
spices of the American Museum and of the Carnegie Institution
of Washington. ‘The purpose was the investigation of the land-snails of
these islands, and each year the results proved so unexpectedly satisfac-
tory that further explorations were found desirable and were accordingly
planned and carried out. My fourth journey, that of 1909, extended
over about 15,000 miles of the Pacific Ocean and involved travels in
seven groups of islands (the Society, Cook, New Zealand, ‘Tongan,
Samoan, Fijian and Hawaiian) while some of the Paumotus were seen
in passing. My route is shown in the chart on page 125. ‘The investi-
gation of the land-snails of the Polynesian region was undertaken on
account of the unusually favorable conditions for the study of certain
evolutionary results and processes. Every biologist is familiar with
Gulick’s famous writings of the last quarter of the nineteenth century,
in which he demonstrates that the Achatinellid land-snails of the Hawai-
ian Islands vary from valley to valley and from island to island of the
group. As descendants of a common ancestral stock the different valley
colonies and island types are the products of divergent evolution in corre- »
lation with their greater or lesser degrees of isolation. The efficiency of
differing environmental conditions as actual factors in the process of
species differentiation has been variously estimated by writers like
Romanes, Jordan, Allen, Wallace and others, who have dealt with
PAPEETE AND THE NORTHWESTERN PART OF TAHITI
LOOKING SOUTH IN OPUNOHU BAY. MOOREA SOCIETY ISLANDS
The impressive and strangely sculptured peaks are part of an ancient
crater wall
123
124 THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL
similar phenomena displayed by other groups of organisms. Dr. A. G.
Mayer made an initial biological study of the Tahiti land-snails belonging
to the genus Partula and found remarkable differences between the
valley colonies of this island. Advised by him to carry investigation
further, I undertook the journeys mentioned, and the present brief
account of the last one will give some of the general results of studies
in the field and laboratory.
The first landing place as in previous voyages was the island of
Tahiti, the largest and best known member of the Society Islands.
Papeete is its main town, situated on the northwest coast, and like Suva
in the Fiji group and Honolulu in the Hawaiian group, it is the govern-
mental and commercial centre of the surrounding ‘region of the South
Seas. Its great prominence has been gained from Captain Cook’s
famous voyages in the eighteenth century and from the establishment
here of the earliest missionary settlements in southeastern Polynesia.
The town now has over 3,000 inhabitants, about three fourths of whom
are natives. Cook’s estimate of the population of the entire island made
in 1768 was 240,000 whereas now there are less than 10,000 natives.
Even if we allow for considerable exaggeration in his estimate there has
obviously been a frightful mortality, resulting from their contact with
white races and from the almost total destruction of their primitive
scheme of life.
On approaching ‘Tahiti, the island reveals itself as a magnificent
double cone of ancient volcanic rock; the larger cone is twenty-five miles
in diameter and rises to a height of nearly 8000 feet; it is joined by a low
narrow isthmus to the smaller cone which is fifteen miles across. ‘The
view of the island near Papeete (page 123) shows:also the characteristic
mountain ridges whose central heights are covered by clouds from soon
after sunrise to sunset. ‘These ridges radiate with remarkable regularity
from the interior to the sea, and the valleys between them are sometimes
a half-mile in width, with dense tropical vegetation along the-more level
ground on either side of the streams. Sometimes the valleys are deep,
narrow gorges with high, steep walls, bare of everything except low shrubs
and grass. It is in the moist jungles of the valley bottoms that the
Partulas live, and the higher and drier slopes form ‘boundaries that
restrain the snails from crossing to another valley, except during the
- wettest months of the rainy season.
More than two hundred valleys of smaller and larger size have been
FOURTH JOURNEY TO THE SOUTH SEAS 125
1 150 160 Long Fast of 170 Greenwich 10 Long neste? 170 Greerwich 160 150 140 12
. E
rs ¢
rt
San
s
SS) Seen AE RIA OS 82s Lhd Beck Lh Lip aig ye ee nme
' HAWAIIAN ile g
a f x
Istanps /
°
1
0
- '
i a tl
ISLANDS pa
SOCIETY
\ SISLANDS AUAMOTU
‘ a eerbah ts ame Ea aa "ARCHIPELAGO
ISLANDS) = pas. COOK : SF SES ".
* - ars Is A: rin Sole Ny IP é
“+ Tropic of |Capricorn [0070 7d gee EI PALO ANI Ak) MCAS. Nag OO ;
¢ ‘ TUBUAI| or Rhee (a gy | ae ane
., -.. AUSTRAL Is. * Rina Let
4
ua 160 Long East of 170 Greenwich 180 West of 170 Greenwich 160 150 140 130
ROUTE OF PROFESSOR CRAMPTON’S JOURNEY OF 1909
126 THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL
explored during my four journeys around and about the Society Islands.
Over 100,000 specimens of snails have been obtained from ‘Tahiti and
the other five islands of the group — Moorea (see page 123), Raiatea,
Tahaa, Huahine and Borabora. It was necessary to make a com-
plete survey, in order that there might be no unknown gaps. On
account of the high and rugged ridges which separate the valleys, it is
very rarely possible to cross inland from one valley to another. It
was my habit, therefore, to travel with my group of native assistants
TEVAITOA IN RAIATEA, ONE OF THE LEEWARD ISLANDS
A primitive village of the Society Islands
around the coast by canoe or whaleboat, or sometimes by carriage and on
horseback, and to live literally among the natives in their primitive and
interesting villages like the one shown on this page. Naturally it was
possible to learn much of these people, their customs, their every day
life and also their occasional ceremonies that the casual visitor to Pa-
peete and similar large towns misses. A photograph is given on page
127 of one of their rare village fishing parties, undertaken in this case by
the men of the entire district of Opoa in the Island of Raiatea.
The abundant collections in hand give a perfect demonstration of
FOURTH JOURNEY TO THE SOUTH SEAS 127
the principles of geographical distribution. Each island possesses its
own species, while its different valleys have forms that are usually
markedly different. For instance, in the valley of ‘Tipaerui of ‘Tahiti
the examples belonging to the species Partula otaheitana are almost all
twisted to the right, and all of them are rather small, brown and streaked.
Their relatives in the magnificent valley of Fautaua, a half mile distant,
are larger, yellower and redder, but the fact of greater interest is that
the shells of a large proportion of them twist to the left. In Hamuta
FISHING SCENE IN RAIATEA, SOCIETY ISLANDS
Distributing the fish caught for a district feast
Valley, just beyond Fautaua, the right-handed and left-handed members
of the species are about equal in numbers, while in Pirai Valley beyond
they are all left-handed. ‘This last valley is the home of a small form,
Partula filosa, that grows nowhere else in this island, in the group of
islands or in the world.
When the collections are sorted out according to species and varieties
and according to their geographical source, they give ample evidence to
128 THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL
prove that the divergent types of neighboring or distant valleys have
arisen from common ancestors and that they have changed little by
little, in one place and another, so as to become the distinct and character-
istic types of their own neighborhoods. ‘The evidence proves also that
or mutation in the
‘ b
the snails have evolved primarily by ‘sporting,’
de Vries sense, and that the internal or constitutional factors are the
potent ones, for the geological, climatic and general biological conditions
are more uniform in these islands than anywhere else in the world. ‘The
MANGAIA, ONE OF THE COOK ISLANDS
An uplifted coral limestone island
assignment of a secondary importance to environment is one of the princi-
pal results of ny investigation.
A second result of equal importance is even more interesting. It is
that the evolution of new types is taking place at the present time, as the
evidence amply demonstrates in several instances discovered in different
islands. My investigations give long-desired proof that the differentia-
tion of species is going on under surroundings that are entirely natural
FOURTH JOURNEY TO THE SOUTH SEAS 129
and not only under the artificial conditions of the laboratory and experi-
ment station.
In June, July and the early part of August a final survey was made of
certain baffling portions of ‘Tahiti, Moorea, Raiatea and Huahine. I
then passed on to the Cook Islands by a steamer which stopped long
enough at Mangaia, Moki,’Aitutaki and Rarotonga for a survey to be
made of each place. With the exception of the last named, which is a
“high” island like ‘Tahiti, the Cook Islands are uplifted coral atolls —
PAGOPAGO HARBOR, TUTUILA, SAMOAN ISLANDS
Showing part of the surrounding amphitheater of mountains
composed entirely of limestone. Mangaia, illustrated on page 128, is
a typical example of such islands, which are relatively infrequent in the
South Seas. ‘These were originally low coral atolls scarcely rising above
the surface of the ocean, and they were subsequently lifted by some geo-
logical power which raised the bottom of the ocean at this place, so that
what were formerly the lagoons in the center became basin-like valleys.
Earlier voyagers like Garrett and Cuming had reported certain species
130 THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL
of Partula from some of these islands, a remarkable fact in view of their
low character and peculiar geological formation. Moki, however, had
not been visited before. At both Moki and Mangaia, I found a species
of Partula living in banana, orange and screw-pine (pandanus) groves
of the coral plateau.
My voyage was then continued to New Zealand, which does not
possess any species of Partula; but it is a region of great interest geo-
logically on account of its voleanoes and geysers, and also in ethno-
VITI-LEVU, THE LARGEST OF THE FlJl ISLANDS
A characteristic jungle scene
logical respects because its natives, the Maoris, are the offspring of the
same stock which peopled the Society, Cook, Samoan, Hawaiian and
certain other groups of Polynesia. My route then proceeded through
the Tonga group, which includes many beautiful examples of all three
kinds of South Pacific islands. At the end of September headquarters
were established in Apia, the main town of Upolu in the Samoan group,
and explorations were made in this and neighboring islands. Peculiar
species of Partula live here, and they, like the Society Island forms, are
FOURTH JOURNEY TO THE SOUTH SEAS 131
restricted to particular islands. ‘The climatic and other conditions were
so adverse that a complete exploration was impossible in Samoa at this
time of the year. In Tutuila, however, which is the largest island of
American Samoa, a practically complete survey was made, and much
interesting material was secured. ‘The high mountain slopes covered
with dense vegetation are pictured on page 129. ‘They are like those of
the Society Islands, but the intervening valleys are not as rigidly isolated
as in the latter region, so that the species of different parts of the islands
resemble one another quite closely. Our interest here centers in the
comparison of Samoan species with those of other groups.
The Fiji Islands, next in order, belong ethnologically and geologically
to Melanesia, a quite distinct region of the South Pacific. Ovalau and
Viti-Levu were visited, but no species of Partula were found in them;
the single form from this group that is known to science occurs in more
remote islands. It seems strange to one familiar with southeastern
Polynesia that the Partulas should be lacking, for the thick, moist jungle
(page 130) and the topography seem to be in every way the same as in
the eastern islands. Going next to the Hawaiian Islands, I spent consid-
erable time in studying the famous collections in the Bishop Museum
which were made by Andrew Garrett during decades of research in the
islands of the Pacific. Most of the original forms had been discovered
during Garrett’s explorations, and so his collections with his own identi-
fications must always have great value for the student of the present day.
Through the kindness and courtesy of Dr. C. M. Cooke of the Bishop
Museum, excursions were made into the field in the island of Oahu, in
order to observe personally how the Achatinellid land-snails resemble
and differ from the Partulas in biological relations. ‘The remarkable
fact resulting from this comparison is that the former snails are re-
stricted to isolated trees or clumps of trees on the sides of the valleys,
while the drier and more open valley-bottom forms the barriers, instead
of the ridges as in the case of the Partulas. The essential principles of
distribution, however, are the same.
The zodlogist who travels more or less extensively in the South Seas
soon becomes an ardent student of the native inhabitants. His interests
would be aroused by the primitive daily occupations and culture of the
people who, nevertheless, have developed remarkable inte!lectual powers;
but the feature of greater significance to the investigator of the principles
of geographical distribution is the fact that precisely similar phenomena
132 THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL
are displayed by the various Polynesian island-races and lower forms
like the snails already described. ‘The Polynesians from the Paumotus
westward to ‘Tonga and New Zealand and from Hawaii southward to the
Austral Islands possess the same general physical and intellectual char-
acteristics, while their culture is practically uniform throughout this
vast region. ‘These resemblances indicate a common ancestry of the
several races, and the native traditions confirm the conclusion which
may be based solely upon observations of the present day. ‘The islanders
of each group have certain more or less unique qualities, especially in the
matter of language. Subservient, like other living things to the control
of evolution, the natives as well as the snails have come to differ more or
less widely in correlation with their greater or lesser isolation in geo-
graphical respects.
Henry E. CRAMPTON.
ANTHROPOLOGICAL WORK IN THE SOUTHWEST
important anthropological work in the Southwest through Dr.
Pliny E. Goddard and Dr. H. J. Spinden of the Department of
Anthropology. A glimpse at what is being accomplished is given in a
recent report from Curator Clark Wissler, who has been making a tour
of inspection. Extracts from Dr. Wissler’s report are as follows:
| ee the past few months the Museum has been carrying on
Santa F£, New Mexico,
March 30, 1910.
* * * * T am able to make a brief report on our work in the South-
west. In general, I find the results in collections beyond what I dared hope
at the outset, while in the research side of the work my expectations have
almost become realities. As you will recall, we planned work on a pro-
gramme that would this year give us fair collections from the pueblo and
non-pueblo dwelling Indians of New Mexico and Arizona, excepting the
Zuiii and some divisions of the Yuma stock. ‘To date we have collections
from the four divisions of Apache peoples, two divisions of the Pima stock
and the various Rio Grande Pueblo. Collecting among the Navajo is now
under way, and J expect to try-some of the Yuma eroups soon. ‘hus, we
shall have brought together in less than a year’s time, from actual field-work,
collections representing six tribal divisions and as many villages of Pueblo
——_—
STEFANSSON-ANDERSON ARCTIC EXPEDITION 133
Indians, as a whole constituting two general types of culture, occupying an
area comprising the territories of New Mexico and Arizona. * * * *
From the research point of view our important pieces of work are on the
Apache and the Rio Grande Pueblo. ‘The former resolve themselves into
several groups each of which has a culture modified largely by environment
and contact with their neighbors, the determination of these sub-types and
their origins being the important problem. While the Apache hold a promi-
nent place in the general literature of the South-west, their culture has not |
hitherto been made the subject of systematic investigation by anthropologists.
* * * & 'The Rio Grande Pueblo constitute by far the largest body of their
class, but they have not been systematically studied in contrast with the
Zuni and Hopi groups. While our collection is far from representative of
the villages taken severally, as a whole it covers their general culture fairly
well and contains some very good things. There are pieces of pottery made
fifty years ago which in connection with that of recent make certainly give
us the modern type, making our collection a standard. In several other
classes of objects we fare almost as well.
STEFANSSON-ANDERSON ARCTIC EXPEDITION
we have had heretofore have come in from Dr. Rudolph M.
Anderson, the biologist of the Museum’s expedition to the Arctic
coast of North America east and west of the mouths of the Mackenzie
River. For many months nothing was heard from him, but no news
— the last issue of the JOURNAL more extensive reports than
was considered to be good news, for bad news travels rapidly among the
Eskimo, and no anxiety was felt regarding his welfare. Letters from
both Mr. Stefansson and Dr. Anderson were published in the April
number of the JouRNAL, and we now have the privilege of publishing
extracts from the narrative of the latter’s experiences during the preced-
ing months. He writes as follows:
HerscHE.L Isuanp, August 22, 1909.
* * * * Mr. Stefansson and I left Flaxman Island October 20, 1908,
going in opposite directions. I started east with one sled and eight dogs,
four Eskimo, our employee Havinerk, his wife Mamayouk, their little girl,
and an 18 year old boy named Kidya. The latter had no place to stay for
the winter and wished to accompany us as a “‘ volunteer.” He proved to be
ee BTN A Ps fea ae ee abating va oA
qsou oy} st Arieg edeg “ysinyyeg odeg Jo 4ysvayynos st puRjsy oped
‘deur sty} uo uMoys yutod Ay104s80
“yUlOg LayxOJ, JO 4svo oul] ysBoo oY} [eT[Bred soyery OwTysy
eL “puvysy prvyorRy jo 4svo puvyureut oy} UO si qulog Jeyoy, “Avg oIzUeyoR Jo 4ysvo ysnf puvyst o8re] oY} SI pus] pareyoryy
NOILIGQSdxa3 NOSHSONV-NOSSNV4318 BSHL AG GAY3SAO090 NOIDSY SONIMOHS ‘VHXSV1IV OILOYUV 30 dVW FEI
1 ee
743 _wounk id) == == — tS BAS eID mapas
A
. AS
> Pe Ne
JLIAVT ~~ WH --
B uosueydoew 14
a
ae x ty
oN $
a iB
=
Te
1)
PS
S
=
2
*149"F youre
\
nyesiny
\
: zee?
OL
°o
*psneqy
Fy Saree \ vw)
\
\
Yd Wwagu
\
\
-
Fn wre
MOD,
yl
STEFANSSON-ANDERSON ARCTIC EXPEDITION 135
a good sheep hunter and a useful companion. We followed the coast line,
in general, to the mouth of the Hula-hula River, about six miles west of
Barter Island. Here we picked up a toboggan, very useful in the mountains,
and fixed up our whaleboat cache. We took only three 50 Ib. sacks of flour,
two slabs of bacon, a few pounds of beans, and some tea and tobacco with
us from Flaxman Island. We cached half a sack of flour here for our
return trip, but it was eaten by wandering natives before we returned. ‘There
is plenty of driftwood along the coast for camping purposes, but inland, |
between the coast and the mountains, there is little to burn, only a few willow
twigs and snags along the river bars. We found two families of natives
living on the Hula-hula, and hunted with them during November, the entire
party killing fifteen sheep (Ovis dalli). One mountain hunter, named
Kunagnana, with his wife and three small children had been living on sheep
for months. He had over thirty sheepskins on hand, besides having clad
the whole family from head to foot in sheepskins. His shirt, coat, pants,
stockings, boots, mittens, snow-shoe lacings, and even the little tent he
lived in, were made entirely of mountain sheepskins.
Our flour and other “civilized rations,” except tea and tobacco, were gone
early in November, and for the next month we lived on mountain sheep
“straight,” with a few messes of ptarmigan thrown in. Willow ptarmigan
were very common and rock ptarmigan rare in the creek valleys. On the
north side of the mountains, it required very little effort to bag ten or fifteen
ptarmigan in a couple of hours. Later in November, we joined forces
with a party of five Eskimo whom we had met at Herschel Island the summer
before — Auktelek and his wife Tulak, their grown son Akorak, and another
young hunter named Pikalo, and the latter’s father Kunasilek. Auktelek
told me that several years before his brother Umegluk with two companions
had crossed the “divide” from the head of the Hula-hula River and hunted
on a river flowing south (I believe the middle or east branch of the Chandlar),
a northern tributary of the Yukon, and had found plenty of ttik-ti (caribou).
There is an immense territory south of the Endicott Mountains and north
of the Yukon which the white prospectors have not yet reached except in a
few places. ‘The Rampart House and Fort Yukon Indians do not range
so far north except in summer, and the Eskimo seldom cross the mountains.
To the knowledge of the natives, no white man had ever crossed the moun-
tains in this region.
We decided to cross this mountainous divide. We hauled a load of meat
and a little wood within a quarter mile of the summit and camped one night
(December 3) above the willow line. We took the sleds over safely by put-
ting ten dogs in harness, and with the help of six men boosting and pulling.
Descending a rocky creek gorge, we reached large willows before night of
136 THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL,
December 4. The second day devoted to hunting brought in one sheep out
of a flock of eleven seen. ‘The third day’s travel brought us to green spruce
trees. Ptarmigan were scarce, also hard to find as the river valley was wild.
We were on pretty short rations before we struck the caribou herds in the
high foothills on December 18. ‘The snow was deep and soft on the south
side of the divide, our sleds were soon stalled, and we were delayed for days
cutting trees, hewing out boards and making toboggans. A trail had to be
snow-shoed ahead, and travel was slow, all hands “slugging’’ in harness
with the dogs. ‘Two porcupine and a great gray owl proved welcome addi-
tions to our larder. Canada jays were observed a few miles north of the
limit spruce trees, and ravens were often in sight. During the latter part of
December we saw many caribou, at one time over a thousand within rifle
range at one time,—a magnificent spectacle. We lived in tents until
December 23, when we built a hut of poles covered with blocks of moss, liv-
ing there until late in January, occasionally seeing caribou. ‘They were
continually moving eastward, and we were finally compelled to cross a low
chain of hills to another large creek valley about twenty miles farther east.
When we were down to our last day’s food, we fortunately killed sixteen
caribou, January 31, and one moose, February 4. ‘This gave us meat
enough to attempt the return journey. * * * * The return journey was
easier than the descent, as the river was covered with ice. We often had
difficulty in crossing places where the whole river half a mile wide was over-
flowed with several inches of water which perhaps had a very thin crust of
ice over it — this at —50° Fahrenheit. Lowest temperature observed was
—~54° F. We recrossed the “divide” February 28 and reached Flaxman
Island March 7, having been on a “ straight meat” ration for four months,—
two months without salt. All the party, however, were in fine health and
condition.* * * * The usual procedure before moving camp is to pound up
every bone and boil the fragments to extract the grease — as a result of
which few bones are left on the mountains for future paleeontologists to
ponder over. .
I made another trip to the Hula-hula River from Flaxman Island to bring
out the balance of my skins and skulls, returning April 14, and met Mr.
Stefansson, whom I had not seen since October 20. After finishing the
preparation of my specimens I started west from Flaxman Island, and
sledded as far as Smith Bay. Here I found a note from Mr. Stefansson who
had preceded me, stating that advices had been received at Point Barrow
to the effect that no whalers were coming into the Arctic Ocean this summer,
and we were left to our own resources to get our belongings east.
We at once started hauling goods and supplies east from our cache at
Smith Bay, and by strenuous effort with two sleds succeeded in getting five
STEFANSSON-ANDERSON ARCTIC EXPEDITION 137
sled loads of gear, and a thirty-three-and-one-half foot skin “umiak”’ within
a few miles of the Colville delta before water overflowing the sea ice put an
end to sled travel on June 14. Launched this boat on June 23 and have
spent the time since then moving eastward, paddling, sailing or tracking.
I have spent all available time in collecting, and have taken a fair series of
eggs and nests, including whistling swan, black brant, black-billed and
American golden plovers, turnstone sp., red-backed pectoral, Hutchins goose
and semipalmated sandpipers, northern and red phalarope, snowflake,
Lapland longspur, parasitic jaeger, red-throated loon, willow ptarmigan
and others, all from the vicinity of Colville delta. * * * * Near Flaxman
Island, we found several Herschel Island boats at the trading rendezvous
to meet the Cape Smythe traders, and Ningakshuk, owner of a small sloop,
kindly brought me, with several dogs and several hundred pounds of speci-
mens, as far as Herschel Island. * * * *
CAMP NEAR TOKER Pornt,
Arctic Coast, October 16, 1909.
* * %* * Since my last letter, dated Herschel Island, we have progressed
thus far eastward. My party sailed from Herschel Island at 3:30 a. M.,
August 25, with two whaleboats and one sloop — one boat belonging to us,
the other to a young native named Pikalo, who, with his father, had agreed
to come with our party and assist us, on consideration of being free to trap
on his own account during the winter. ‘The sloop belonged to Ningakshuk,
who wished to go some distance eastward, as an independent venture. He
aided us materially by carrying seven dogs and several hundred pounds of
baggage through the Mackenzie delta.
We were often delayed by bad weather and head winds. It was neces-
sary to stop for several days east of Shingle Point, as it is unsafe to cross the
shoals on the western side of the delta, unless the wind is light and fairly
5S. W. Just east of Tent Island we were stopped again by head winds and
foggy weather; then we cruised through a network of channels south of
Langley Island, and after several days of tedious tacking and grounding,
reached the mainland opposite the south end of Richard Island (Ttninok).
At this point, our friend Ningakshuk decided that he dare not risk his sloop
outside of the river, fearing heavy September gales in the shoal water outside.
We were consequently compelled to transfer our baggage from the sloop
to the two whaleboats. This loaded them down heavily, without the seven
people and eleven dogs which we were carrying. ‘The channel east of
Richard Island is very wide, but is shoal in many places, and a N. or N. E.
wind raises a rough sea quickly. Entered the harbor at Kittigarynit Sep-
tember 26. Several Eskimo families were camped here, and were revelling
138 THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL
n abundance of fish, and ‘“‘killalua’”’ (white whale or beluga) meat and
blubber. The natives are said to have killed about two hundred beluga near
here during the summer, and every family has large caches of meat and
plenty of oil — enough for the winter. * * * * This region has evidently
supported a comparatively dense population in the past, as the beach is
lined with old houses and every hill-top is strewn with graves.
On September 22, we reached a harbor in a little lagoon, known as
Tiatdroktok, a few miles S. W. of Toker Point, just as a N. W. gale began to
blow. ‘The storm lasted three days, and on the morning of the 26th “young
ice’ had formed half way across the lagoon, while a heavy snow-fall had
filled the sea with slush ice. With some difficulty, we moved the boats
out to another and better harbor about half a mile away, and as there was
no prospect of advancing farther by boat, we hauled the boats up on dry
land for the winter.
As long as there was any open water, we caught fair hauls of fish in our
nets every night, and after that have had fair success fishing through the ice.
We have been getting our dogs into good condition for a long sled trip and
have now all the frozen fish we can carry, as well as a cache of about 200
lbs. to leave here for the coming spring.
We are starting to-day with three sleds for the eastward to join Stefans- |
son, expecting to find him somewhere between Baillie Island and Cape
Parry. Sled travel is not good even now. ‘There has been no very cold
weather, and the sea ice is not solid. The bays froze over earlier than
usual at such temperatures, as the water was clogged by falling snow. Heavy
snow-falls later prevented the ice from getting thick, and the salt ice is still
wet and slushy under deep snow. Our intention is to follow the coast a
little farther east than Warren Point, make a portage of “our sloop’’across
to the Eskimo Lakes, follow the lakes northeastward, then portage again,
to strike the foot of Liverpool Bay, near Nicholson Island. From Nichol-
son Island we shall follow the east side of Liverpool Bay to Baillie Island.
If Mr. Stefansson is not at Baillie Island to make other arrangements, we
shall proceed down the west coast of Franklin Bay around to Cape Parry
and as much farther as circumstances will permit during the winter. * * * *
The prospects are favorable for a successful season.
MUSEUM NEWS NOTES 139
MUSEUM NEWS NOTES
ARLY in April, President Osborn returned from a journey in
5 Arizona, Mexico and California partly in the interests of the
Museum. ‘I'wo of the great copper mines of Arizona and
Mexico were visited, and with the aid of Dr. James Douglas, one of
our Trustees, questions relating to the future exhibition of the geology
and economics of copper were studied. In California, arrangements
were made with the Mt. Wilson Observatory through Director George
Ellery Hale to secure for the Museum copies of the most recent solar
photographs. Dr. Hale has also consented to take the chairmanship
of an appointive committee on astronomy. A visit to the paleonto-
logical collections of the University of California led to concluding im-
portant arrangements for future collecting on the Pacific coast with the
cordially promised coéperation of Prof. J. C. Merriam of the University.
An interesting trip was made to the famous bone beds of the Rancho
La Brea.
THrovuGcH the generosity of Mr. Anson W. Hard, the Museum is
fortunate in having secured an extensive series of old and valuable
serapes and other blankets made by the Saltillo and other Indian tribes
of Mexico and several of the tribes of our own Southwest.
SINCE our last issue the following persons have been elected to mem-
bership in the Museum: Sustaining Members, Messrs. Joun G. MIL-
BURN and D. SCHNAKENBERG; Annual Members, Messrs. Pau B.
Havinanp, Coin I. MacponaLp, WINTHROP PARKER and WARBURTON
Pixrt, Dr. ALEXANDER LAMBERT, Hon. Francis M. Scort, Mrs. J. B.
Durer and Miss MABEL SATTERLEE.
Mr. Frank M. CHapMan writes that the party collecting material
for the zonal group representing the fauna and flora of the east-
ern edge of the Mexican plateau is in good health and is rapidly
attaining its objects. Mr. Chapman and Mr. Fuertes have made their
studies from near Cordova to a point above timber line on Mount
Orizaba, and the former’s letter is, in part, as follows:
140 THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL
“ Cordoba, 28 March, 1910.
“We got back from our mountain trip last night. ‘The first two
days on the mountain we had constant fog or rain, then it cleared and
the weather was superb. We camped at 8,500, 9,500, 10,500 and 12,000
feet. At the highest camp the mercury fell to 12° F. The mountain
has never been ascended from the side we were on and is said to be
there unscalable. It looked so! I went only to timber line at 13,000
feet and then found permanent ice 100 feet higher. Here life ceased and
further ascent would have served no purpose that I had in view, had it
been possible.
“The temperate zone has been materially changed by man, and
there is no first growth left, even in this unfrequented part of Mexico.
The limit of human habitation is approximately marked by the limit
of corn growing, or about 9,000 feet. Here we found magnificent forests
of pine and spruce, with oaks six feet in diameter and over 100 feet high.
Timber line is marked by the abrupt cessation of tree-growth, the last
trees being 30 to 40 feet in height. We got an essentially complete list
of Alpine birds and other data of value, including a large series of photo-
graphs.”
Mr. Roy C. ANpDREws, of the Department of Mammalogy, is visit-
ing the whaling stations of southern Japan, where the opportunities for
the study of several species of cetaceans are particularly good.
Dr. Louis Livrnaston SEAMAN delivered a lecture at the Museum
on Thursday evening, April 7, 1910, entitled “ African Explorations and
Adventures.” Dr. Seaman has visited Africa on several occasions. His
lecture was illustrated by stereopticon views of the territory of Uganda,
the shores of Albert Nyanza and other regions, and he dealt particularly
with his studies upon the tsetse-fly and sleeping sickness and incidentally
with the ethnological and geographical features of his expeditions.
On Friday, April 15, from four till six and from eight till ten o’clock,
there was held a private exhibition of the collection of African game made
in 1909 by Messrs. E. Hubert Litchfield, Bayard Dominick, Jr., and
Henry Sampson, Jr. The collection includes more than three hundred
heads and illustrates admirably the range of variation in size and color
of the animals that have made East Africa famous. During the after-
noon and evening a large series of photographs illustrating the capture
Pree © peepee
MUSEUM NEWS NOTES 141
of the animals, the physical aspect of the country through which the
expedition passed and the primitive inhabitants, was thrown upon the
stereopticon screen. ‘The newly arranged African Hall is now open to
the public.
THE collection of meteorites in the Foyer has been enriched by the
recently acquired siderite or iron meteorite to be known as Knowles, the
name of the post office in Oklahoma nearest to where it was found.
The find has not yet been described, but a full account with illustrations
will soon be published. ‘The mass weighs about 355 pounds. ‘There
has also been placed on exhibition here the second largest known mass
of the siderolite form of the Brenham (Kansas) meteorite. This weighs
218 pounds and replaces the two smaller masses of the same fall that
have heretofore been on exhibition.
Monday, May 16, 8:15 P.M.
In coédperation with the
NEW YORK ACADEMY OF SCIENCES
In the large Auditorium of the Museum
Illustrated Lecture
‘‘The Return of Halley’s Comet”
By
Proressor S. A. MiItcHELL
Of Columbia University
No tickets required
Members of the Museum and their friends are cordially invited to attend
142 THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL
MEETINGS OF SOCIETIES
Public meetings of the New York Academy of Sciences and its Affiliated
Societies are held at the Museum according to the following schedule:
On Monday evenings, The New York Academy of Sciences:
First Mondays, Section of Geology and Mineralogy;
Second Mondays, Section of Biology;
Third Mondays, Section of Astronomy, Physics and Chemistry ;
Fourth Mondays, Section of Anthropology and Psychology.
On ‘Tuesday evenings, as announced:
The Linnean Society of New York;
The New York Entomological Society;
The Torrey Botanical Club.
On Wednesdays, as announced:
The Horticultural Society of New York;
The New York Mineralogical Club.
On Friday evenings, as announced:
The New York Microscopical Society.
The programmes of the meetings of the respective organizations are pub-
lished in che weekly Bulletin of the New York Academy of Sciences and
sent to the members of the several societies. Members of the Museum on
making request of the Director will be provided with the Bulletin as issued.
The American [luseum Journal
Epmunp Oris Hovey, Editor.
Mary CyntuiA Dickerson, Associate Editor.
FRANK M. CHAPMAN,
Louis P. GRATACAP, { Advisory Board,
WILLIAM K, GREGORY,
Subscription, One Dollar per year. Fifteen Cents per copy.
A subscription to\the JourNAL is included in the membership fees of alliclasses of Members of
the Museum,
Subscriptions should be addressed to The American Museum Journal, 30 Boylston St., Cam-
bridge, Mass., or 77th St. and Central Park West, New York City.
Entered as second-class matter January 12, 1907, at the Post-office at Boston, Mass,
Act of Congress, July 16, 1894.
Pee ae ae
MUSEUM LEAFLETS 143
Guide Leaflets published by the
AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY
For Sale at the Museum
(Issued as. supplements to The American Museum Journal)
1— THE BIRD ROCK GROUP. By F. M. Cuapman, Associate Curator
of Mammalogy and Ornithology. October, 1901. Price, 10 cents.
2.— THE SAGINAW VALLEY COLLECTION. By H. I. Smiru, Assistant
Curator of Archeology. December, 1901. Price, 10 cents.
3.— THE HALL OF FOSSIL VERTEBRATES. By W. D. Marruew,
Ph. D., Assistant Curator of Vertebrate Paleontology. January, 1902.
Out of print.
4— THE COLLECTION OF MINERALS. By Louis P. Grartacap, A. M.,
Curator of Mineralogy. February, 1902. Hevised edition, May, 1904.
Price, 10 cents.
5.— NORTH AMERICAN RUMINANTS. ByJ.A.Atuen, Ph.D. Curator
of Mammalogy and Ornithology. March, 1902. Revised edition,
February, 1904. Price, 10 cents.
6.— THE ANCIENT BASKET MAKERS OF SOUTHEASTERN UTAH.
By Grorce H, Pepper, Assistant in Anthropology. April, 1902.
Second edition, May, 1909. Price, 10 cents.
7.— THE BUTTERFLIES OF THE VICINITY OF NEW YORK CITY.
By Witu1Am BEUTENMULLER, Curator of Entomology. May, 1902.
Price, 15 cents.
8.— THE SEQUOIA. A Historical Review of Biological Science. By
GrorGE H. SHERwoop, A. M., Assistant Curator. November, 1902.
Price, 10 cents.
9.— THE EVOLUTION OF THE HORSE. By W. D. Marruew, Ph. D.,
Associate Curator of Vertebrate Paleontology. January, 1903. Sec-
ond edition, May, 1905. Price, 10 cents.
. 10.— THE HAWK-MOTHS OF THE VICINITY OF NEW YORK CITY.
By Witu1amM BEvUTENMULLER, Curator of Entomology. February,
1903. Price, 10 cents.
. 11— THE MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS OF THE INCAS. By C. W. Mean,
Assistant in Archeology. July, 1903. Price, 10 cents.
. 12— THE COLLECTION OF FOSSIL VERTEBRATES. By W. D. Mat
THEW, Ph. D., Associate Curator of Vertebrate Paleontology. Octo-
ber, 1903. Price, 10 cents.
. 13.— A GENERAL GUIDE TO THE AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL
HISTORY. January, 1904. Out of print.
. 14.— BIRDS’ NESTS AND EGGS. By Frank M. CuHapman. Associate
Curator of Mammalogy and Ornithology. April, 1904. Reprinted,
February, 1905. Price, 10 cents.
144
No.
. 16.— THE INSECT-GALLS OF THE VICINITY OF NEW YORK CITY.
No.
No.
No.
THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL
15.— PRIMITIVE ART. July, 1904. Price, 15 cents.
By W1111AM BreuTeNMOLLER, Curator of Entomology. October, 1904.
Price, 15 cents.
(Reprinted from The American Museum Journal.)
. 17— THE FOSSIL CARNIVORES, MARSUPIALS AND SMALL MAM-
MALS IN THE AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY.
By W. D. Marruew, Ph. D., Associate Curator of Vertebrate Paleon-
tology. January, 1905. Price, 15 cents.
. 18— THE MOUNTED SKELETON OF BRONTOSAURUS. By W. D.
Matruew, Ph. D., Associate Curator of Vertebrate Paleontology.
April, 1905. Out of print.
. 19.— THE REPTILES OF THE VICINITY OF NEW YORK CITY. By
Raymonp L, Dirmars, Curator of Reptiles, New York Zoélogical Park.
July, 1905. Price, 15 cents.
. 20.— THE BATRACHIANS OF THE VICINITY OF NEW YORK CITY.
By Raymonp L. Dirmars, Curator of Reptiles, New York Zodlogical
Park. October, 1905. Price, 15 cents.
. 21—THE DEVELOPMENT OF A MOLLUSK. By B. E. Danteren,
D. M.D. January, 1906. Price, 10 cents.
. 22.— THE BIRDS OF THE VICINITY OF NEW YORK CITY. By Franx
M. Cuapman, Associate Curator of Mammalogy and Ornithology.
April-July, 1906. Price, 15 cents.
. 23.—THE SPONGE ALCOVE. By Roy W. Mrner, Assistant Curator of
Invertebrate Zoédlogy. October, 1906. Price, 10 cents.
(Published as a separate series.)
. 24— PERUVIAN MUMMIES. By Cuartzes W. Mean, Department of Eth-
nology. March, 1907. Price, 10 cents.
. 25.— PIONEERS OF AMERICAN SCIENCE. Memorials of the naturalists
whose busts are in the Foyer of the Museum. April, 1907. Price, 15
cents.
. 26— THE METEORITES IN THE FOYER OF THE AMERICAN MUSEUM
OF NATURAL HISTORY. By Epmunp Otis Hovey, Ph.D.,
Associate Curator of Geology. December, 1907. Price, 10 cents.
27— THE MALARIA MOSQUITO. By B. E. Danucren, D.M.D. Assis-
tant Curator of Invertebrate Zodlogy. April, 1908. Price, 165 cents.
28.—THE HABITAT GROUPS OF NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. By
Frank M. CuapMan, Curator of Ornithology. February, 1909. Price,
15 cents.
. 29— THE INDIANS OF MANHATTAN ISLAND AND VICINITY. - By
ALANSON SKINNER, Department of Anthropology. September, 1909.
Price, 10 cents.
30.—THE STOKES PAINTINGS REPRESENTING GREENLAND ESKIMO.
November, 1909. Price, 5 cents.
a eae ee ee ee ane eS Pe
a ey
Deer 5) 5
A
MOBALI WOMAN CARRYING WATER
The Congo natives (Bantus) are sharply cut off from the other five African races by
their language, which, soft, flexible, built on a systematic, philosophical basis, would seem
to argue degradation from some superior race
The American Museum Journal
VoL. X OCTOBER, 1910 No. 6
IN THE HEART OF AFRICA
THE FIRST PUBLISHED ACCOUNT OF THE MUSEUM’S CONGO EXPEDITION
Photographs by Herbert Lang
James Chapin, are in the Upper Congo region, that great
steaming land of equatorial Africa shrouded in jungle. They
have slowly sailed up the Congo River, one of the three largest rivers
of the world, and least well-known; they have travelled on foot through
dense tropical forests proceeding for hours through swamps until, as
described by one of them, they were dripping and picturesque like the
mighty jungle trees with innumerable hangings and decorations. They
have seen strange places and stranger primitive peoples, of whom it is
time that the world obtain complete scientific record in view of the
rapid advance that civilization must make in the Congo in the imme-
diate future. The photographs that they have sent tell a small part
of the story of their progress into this heart of Africa, giving, however, a
realization of the inadequacy of cold gray pictures to make vivid a
tropical country, the splendid color, the sounds, the life— and the
heat. It was in regard to the last that Mr. Lang wrote the following
advice to a friend: “While looking at the pictures get into a Turkish
bath. You will appreciate the country better.”
The Congo is probably one of the most promising unexplored fields
for zodlogical work in the world. There has been every reason to
prevent investigation of the region previously. Civilization has ignored
the west coast of Africa. The world knows the north, east and south
coasts, but mystery has been attached to the whole six thousand miles
of the coast on the west where surf continually thunders.
The Congo, inland, is cut off from communication with the north by
the desert of Sahara, from the east and the valley of the Nile by high
mountain ranges, from the south by trackless jungle and misty swamp.
It lies in the heat of the equator, inaccessible and inhospitable, a country
of nearly one million square miles, larger than Europe leaving out
ie members of the Museum staff, Messrs. Herbert Lang and
147
ae ee
isos
EMERGING FROM THE FOREST NEAR AVAKUBI
In Central Africa, more than 8000 miles from New York. <A caravan of more than 200
people was necessary to transport the expedition’s equipment from Stanleyville to Avakubi
There are great difficulties in photographic work at the Congo camp, partly because of the in-
tense heat; developing is done at night
ACCOUNT OF THE MUSEUM’S CONGO EXPEDITION — 149
MR. HERBERT LANG LEADER OF
CONGO EXPEDITION
Mr. Lang, an expert in
zoological survey and modern
taxidermy, has had previous
experience in Africa, having
gone in from Mombasa on the
East Coast in 1906
four centuries after the
discovery of the river
was it charted, that is,
by Stanley in 1877.
Latterly, conditions
have wholly changed.
There is now a lure for
all nations in ivory, gold
and rubber. The Arabs
have been driven away
and the slave trade abol-
ished. Where formerly
there was no way of
transferring objects from
Spain and Russia. It has
been given over to fever
and sleeping sickness, to
raiding Arabs, and to
various negro tribes vic-
tims of slavery, and more
or less cannibalistic in
habit. It has neither
sent out invitation nor
given cordial greeting to
the white man, who up
to 1871 had not been
more than one hundred
and fifty miles from the
coast. At that time no
one knew whether the
head waters of the Congo
belonged to the Niger or
to the Congo. Not till
JAMES CHAPIN, ASSISTANT
150 THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL
the coast except on the heads of negroes, now ocean steamers discharge
cargoes at a railway pier one hundred miles up the river, a railroad
continues to Leopoldville, 320 miles from the coast, connecting there
with steamers for points still farther inland.
The Congo River between the coast, or more properly between Boma, -
one hundred miles from the coast, and Leopoldville, is a cataract region,
a stretch of two hundred miles through which there is a rise of land from
700 feet above sea level to 2500 feet; or considering it in the other
direction, down the river instead of up, there is a drop of 1800 feet
through which the vast volume of water passes in a series of plunges
from Leopoldville to Boma. It is this impassable cataract region that
kept secret for so long the great highway of the Congo. Pass these
two hundred miles and the Upper Congo stretches on through 1100
miles of smooth river, making with its tributaries one of the greatest
systems of natural canals on the globe.
For many years, the late President Jesup held the hope that an
expedition from the American Museum might be sent to the Congo.
Even early in 1907, preliminary plans had been discussed with the
Honorable Mr. Liebrechts, Secretary General of the Department of the
Interior of the Congo, the negotiations being carried on through the
Honorable James Gustavus Whiteley of Baltimore, Consulat Général
de L’Etat du Congo, and the Honorable Pierre Mali of New York,
Belgian Consul and an intimate personal friend of President Jesup. In
May, 1907, the plans were so far advanced that Hermon Carey Bumpus,
Director of the Museum, went to Brussels to confer with the Belgian
officials. As a result of these negotiations the patronage of King
Leopold was obtained for the project, a patronage which he evidenced
at once by presenting large collections of ethnological material, a nucleus
for the Museum’s African halls. With Director Bumpus, the hope for
an expedition to the Congo became one of the most cherished among
his many plans for the rapid advancement of the institution along lines
coérdinate with the world’s progress. His interest, with that of Mr.
Whiteley, accrued also by that of Mr. John B. Trevor of the Executive
Committee of the Board of Trustees, finally crystallized in a Congo
Expedition Committee appointed late in the fall of 1908 by Henry
Fairfield Osborn, President of the Board of Trustees, and consisting of
these three men, Mr. Trevor acting as chairman, and of Messrs. Robert
W. Goelet, Herbert L. Bridgman and Frank M. Chapman as added
3111AG10d031 dIHSWV31S 3HL WOY4 GSHdVHYDOLOHd ODNOD YSMO1 3HL 4O SSHOHS 1ST
R
=r
elie
PIER AT BOMA
The Congo Expedition reached Boma, Capital of the Congo Free State, June 23, 1909
fy zy f is
: y gh,
3
i
WOODPOST AT BARUMBU
,
The river boats burn wood, stopping frequently for a supply at ‘‘ woodposts,” usually
mere clearings cut out of the jungle
ACCOUNT OF THE MUSEUM’S CONGO EXPEDITION | 153
associates. The organization of this committee gave definite form and
impetus to the negotiations which finally brought about the sanction of
the authorities in Belgium to the Museum’s exploration of the Congo,
and which so controlled circumstance at home that the project dreamed
of became a reality.
The history of the following months, in fact, till May 8, 1909, when
Messrs. Lang and Chapin sailed on the “Zeeland” of the Red Star
Line for Antwerp, is a fascinating chapter of work preparatory to the
launching of a great expedition.
The matter of financing the expedition was taken in hand by a
group of the Museum’s members and friends, to whom the institution
is deeply indebted and to whom the world in the future will be indebted
because of the large scientific value of the expedition. They are Messrs.
John B. Trevor, Charles Lanier,
Cleveland H. Dodge, J. P. Morgan,
Jr., William K. Vanderbilt, A. D.
Juilliard, Robert W. Goelet and Wil-
liam Rockefeller.
Plans were outlined for the scientific
end of the work: to push at once into
the central part of Africa so that
headquarters might be located eight
hundred or more miles from the coast
in a region formerly unexplored z06-
logically; to make the aim of the ex-
pedition a zodlogical survey of the
basin of the Congo, collecting heavy
game but also directing energies along
other lines of investigation, so as to
make collections for all departments of
the Museum. While awaiting the final
arrangements with the Belgian gov-
ernment, codperation and enthusiasm
among those concerned pushed the un-
dertaking to a wonderful success in its
preliminary stages, assuring an aim and
scope to rank the expedition as perhaps
the greatest the Museum ever sent out.
MOBALI WOMAN CARRYING FIREWOOD
154 THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL
Finally there came a day of good news, April 2, 1909, marked by the
receipt of letters from His Excellency Baron Moncheur of the Legation
de Belgique at Washington and from the Honorable Mr. Whiteley at
Baltimore announcing that there had been secured not only the support
and necessary good will of the Belgian Government but also an appro-
priation of 6800 franes ($1329.23) toward the expense of transportation
in the Congo. The compact agreed upon provided that in return the
expedition should give to the Tervueren Museum, Belgium, certain
suggested zodlogical specimens lacking there. The coédperation is
expressed by the following words quoted from the reply of Director
Bumpus to Baron Moncheur: “The American Museum of Natural
History will consider it a privilege to be permitted to share the scientific
results of this expedition to the Congo with the Museé du Congo in
Belgium. We are confident that the combined efforts of the Colonia!
Administration of the Kingdom of Belgium and the American Museum
of Natural History will result in the general promotion of Science and
thus redound to the benefit of all people.”’
Practical work could now be pushed rapidly. Passports were ob-
tained from the Secretary of State at Washington, steamship tickets
were purchased, permits for freight obtained, money cabled to the
Banque du Congo, Belge, Brussels, to be held at the disposal of the
expedition. Through the courtesy of Mr. H. L. Bridgman, a member
of the Congo Committee, letters of introduction were obtained to
persons in Brussels, in particular to His Excellency, the Honorable
Mr. Lane Wilson of the United States Embassy; and in each case the
new allies proved their personal interest by writing to officials in the
Congo. On April 16, ata
dinner given by President
Osborn to the Congo
Committee and_ other
friends of the undertak-
ing, a farewell was ex-.
tended to the explorers
and the last word was
said in anticipation of un-
precedented success for
the work.
A RIVER BOAT ON THE WAY TO STANLEYVILLE Thus the expedition
OpevU 9q UB SUOIVajJvI YSy
ayenbopv [[1} af[tAAoyueyg 4B Sotteysy snourey oy} 4B Curd [[IM ‘UINJor S}I UO ‘UOT}IPedxe oY} YY} OS SOATYBU OY} YIM opeuUL Uoeq DAY S}USUIOZULLIV
osu0Z) todd oy} Jo Sospo[ ous pUB SIV PULS 94} UO 4s ‘DJOILD/H ‘sp4iq oyYl]-r9ACTd Jo syooy ywors ysn3ny uy
156 THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL
was launched. Messrs. Lang and Chapin reached Antwerp and pro-
ceeding to Brussels were cordially received. A letter from the Hon-
orable Mr. Lane Wilson to His Royal Highness Prince Albert de Ligne *
brought invaluable services in securing concessions for the expedition:
all articles for scientific purposes, except rifles, to be duty free; the col-
lecting to extend not only to all ordinary specimens throughout the
vear, but also to the rare white rhinoceros of the Lado district, the
elephant in Ituri, the white gorilla recently found in the Kivu region,
and the okapi, that recently discovered relative of the giraffe.
In Brussels and London the equipment was completed, an equipment
which throughout was based upon such sound considerations that the
expedition is having unusual strength in the field. Special considera-
tion was given to the medicine chest and to the tents. Through the
courtesy of the Secretary General, Mr..H. Droogmans, it was most
fortunate that the Chief of the Medical Service was met, Dr. Emile
Van Campenhout. With ten years experience in the Upper Congo and
many years of investigation of Congo diseases, especially of the sleeping
sickness, he could advise preéminently well. He inspected the expedi-
tion’s tents and pronounced them ideal for the region, recommending
for night the partly closed rather than the all-round open tent used by
the British in tropical work — for daytime use, however, recommending
the all-round ventilating type.
Finally in the first week of June the start was made for Africa on
the steamship Leopoldville and after twenty days’ sail Boma was
reached, one hundred miles from the coast, the capital of the Congo
Free State for the past twenty-eight years. Here a warm greeting was
received from the Honorable Mr. Handley, the American Consul General.
It was well that the expedition had planned to push immediately
inland, because of the extravagant prices as well as the dearth of life
in the region of Boma and Matadi, the latter a town built on ledges of
rock a few miles above Boma. Mr. Lang writes:
You should see the relative poverty of the fauna around Boma and Matadi.
This of course goes hand in hand with the general monotony of the country, nothing
but hills, one as barren as the other, though occasionally the grass, usually four or —
five feet high, is replaced in the valleys by a few bushes. The scarcity of bird life
is most striking as one enters the Congo River from the sea. The stream is seven
miles wide at its mouth, with low shores, reeds, sedges, papyrus, mangroves and, in
some places, cocoanut palms. Farther up, false Borassus [palms] and Baobabs
become more abundant; yet there are few birds except of the very common kinds,
some terns, swallows and a few vultures.
0°
Ne cee,
TROPIC OF CANCER:
H tees
oe
F
Ns
\R
XN
Org: , /
paid o ; Bl SF NIGERIA, \,
IBRRA "S-_- Io Cnet *
! — | ‘
GONE wary VamAN | BE Behe
— 7 Bees re / CAMERON I
, /
AR,
ate GUINEA #5 his
EQUATOR ee
to Stanleyville, from there through the ‘dense forest’’ on foot to Avakubi.
CongoR :
>
J
#
ITINERARY OF TH
a
E CONGO EXPEDITION
Sailing from Brussels on the steamship Leopoldville, the expedition reached Boma
June 23, 1909, proceeded from Matadi by rail to Leopoldville, up the Congo by river boat
report, June 30, 1910, came from Medje
The latest
158 THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL
The expedition left Matadi by rail reaching Leopoldville July 1,
beyond the cataracts and 320 miles from the coast. From there it
proceeded by boat to Stanleyville, hoping to find this place suitable for
a permanent base of operations. Stanleyville is 720 miles inland,
twenty-two days’ journey from Leopoldville, although the return trip
requires only thirteen or fourteen days owing to the swiftness of the
current. Most of the steamers on the Congo are stern-wheelers, of
very shallow draught because there are so many sand bars. The ex-
pedition, however, did not utilize one of these steamers but took a
barge, propelled by a twin screw tug alongside. Wherever the boat
stopped to take on firewood, the men went ashore, collected whatever
was possible, and on coming back had the advantage of the large deck
of the barge for work.
Of the voyage up stream Mr. Lang writes:
The lack of any congregation of large birds must be a surprise to anyone, espe-
cially on such a mighty stream interrupted by so many forested or grass-covered
islands. One kind of vulture is the most common large bird, but to see more than
twenty in a day is unusual. There are some white-headed eagles. In Stanley Pool
kites are common, sitting on the sand bars, in the neighborhood of which some
solitary pelicans may be seen preening themselves or swimming. On shore there
are ibis and geese. A few egrets emerge silently from the bushes on the swampy
islands. Water turkeys, mostly single, but sometimes in pairs disappear at once in
the water or reeds, or very often take wing to establish another lookout on some
branch farther off. To see a few large herons is an occasion, but it may become an
exciting event if one discovers, on some distant sand bar, a few marabous. Small
shore birds or pigeons may often enliven the edge of shores and sand banks; but the
only large aggregations of any bird on the Congo during this season are composed
of a species of Glareola, of which several large flocks have been observed. Even the
birds that cross the river from time to time show no great variety; flocks of scream- |
ing gray parrots are common in the morning and evening, a few hornbills in very
elegant swoops, plantain eaters, single or in pairs, more seldom, ducks, heron and
ibis. We distinguished five different kinds of kingfishers as they darted out from
the branches or hovered over the water.
On land it is quite different. Above Kwamouth, not only are larger birds more
common, but indeed small birds are fairly abundant, especially weaver birds, sun-
birds, bee eaters, wagtails, sandpipers, goatsuckers, swifts, swallows, pigeons,
rollers and starlings. We were disappointed in our desire to see mammals from the
boat on the journey up stream. There were occasional bands of monkeys sitting
in trees near the shore, but no elephants trespassing or bathing in herds, and no
buffaloes. In fact, the few places where elephants have been seen six or more years
back are pointed out. to you, like historic places. Even the hippos seem to resent
the bullets that are invariably sent in their direction by the passengers of any passing
boat. It is true that we saw some, but it took good looking and a strong field glass.
If it happens that a young innocent hippo shows himself full size on a sand bar,
the ever hungry negroes on board talk only of something to eat and proceed to
shoot him.
BARTERING WITH PASSENGERS ON THE RIVER BOAT
Congo natives are great traders, using for currency such objects as beads and brass rods
ig
VILLAGE ON THE CONGO RIVER
The dots on the palm leaves are nests of the weaver birds. Flat and bare land shows
where the river has eaten into and overflowed the shore
THE FALLS OF STANLEYVILLE IN THE DISTANCE
Showing the natives with their dugouts, and also the bar that stretches out into the
river. It is at Stanley Falls that the famous native fisheries are located
AT THE ENTRANCE OF THE DENSE FOREST"
The mightiest primeval woods known to man. A cold gray picture is wholly inade-
quate to make vivid a tropical country, the splendid color, the sounds, the life — and the heat
ACCOUNT OF THE MUSEUM’S CONGO EXPEDITION 161
Finding after all that Stanleyville was impossible as a- base for
operations, because of high prices and because too far distant from the
most interesting zoélogical regions, decision was made to push on still
farther east with a part of the supplies, to Avakubi in the Haut Ituri.
Certain bits of local color from Avakubi are in the following quota-
tions from letters sent to friends and not intended for public reading:
You laugh about the quinine, but I do not take quite ten grains a day. Every
other day I take six grains and have become so accustomed to it that I do not notice
any bad effects. Our medicine chest is quite a formidable affair, but seems to be
mostly used for treating our black boys and porters, who are always having little
illnesses, for which they want ‘‘dawa”’ (medicine).
Just now we are having the pleasure of inhabiting a house, built of bricks laid
in mud, as they all are here, and roofed with palm leaves. ...How you would laugh
to see us catching bats in the evening with a butterfly net.
Avakubi is a great rubber station, about twenty tons a month being received
from the natives as taxes. Some elephant tusks are also received from the same
source. There is a mission here with two priests who often shoot birds for us.
They have added a number of good specimens to our collection. It has taken us an
almost incredible time to get out to this place, and will take almost as long to get
back. Such an isolated spot can hardly exist anywhere else in the world. A lieu-
tenant who gets his newspapers by way of East Africa, and consequently much more
quickly than if they came up the Congo, has lately informed us that Cook claims to
have discovered the North Pole. This is about the only news from the rest of the
world we have heard. [November 12.]
That the place is isolated was well proved to the friends of the ex-
plorers when after August 14, 1909, the months passed by and no word
came. Anxiety increased, notwithstanding the knowledge that the
expedition had gone far into the Haut Ituri district where it was difficult
to get out mail. In late April, however, a sixty-six page report dated
November 29, relieved all fear. They were putting in every hour from
the first beam of light in the morning till nightfall, and often till mid-
night when the work required it, and that in a humid atmosphere of
about one hundred degrees, but heroically said that all was so fasci-
nating they were not thinking of discomfort. The report, which was
rather buiky, had come by parcel post and had been nearly five months
on the way.
The comparative isolation of the Congo is well illustrated in the
matter of cablegrams. For instance, a cablegram from New York to
a point five hundred miles inland in British East Africa will be an-
swered in about eighteen hours, while one from New York to Boma
IVORY CARAVAN
A caravan with 97 tusks from the Haut Ituri. The largest weighs 106 lbs. and is 9 ft.
long. Trade in the Congo is now in the hands of several nationalities
“WIRELESS” STATION AT STANLEYVILLE
By an intricate system of beating the tom-tom — a log hollowed out through a narrow
slit — news is “telegraphed” at night. The sounds repeated over and over carry six or
seven miles
ACCOUNT OF THE MUSEUM’S CONGO EXPEDITION 163
or Matadi only one hundred miles
from the coast will not even
reach its destination for from ten
to fifteen days. In fact, thedel ay
is said to be sometimes so great
that a letter may be received
before the cablegram.
The report of November
29 shows remarkable industry.
It reveals work astonishing in
amount and careful and system-
atic to a degree. Mr. Lang is
evidently living up to his reputa-
tion for speed and skill in the
work of zoélogical survey and
expert taxidermy; and not only
this, but also such system is being
used in labelling the material
that the collection will have in- cease BELAL con
Sounds produced by beat-
ing at different points on the
tom-tom are combined into a
syllabic alphabet, so that any
message, however compli-
cated, can be sent
dubitable scientific value.
It was the wish of the
Museum that all speci-
mens, large and small,
should be individually
tagged so that if at any
time they had to be aban-
doned but did ultimately
reach the Museum, there
would be more chance of
their scientific value hav-
ing remained unimpaired.
NATIVES OF STANLEYVILLE PLAYING A GAME
They spin fruit stones like tops. The trick is
to spin two on the banana leaf so that one will ;
not bounce the other off It scarcely seems possi-
A RESTHOUSE AT BAFWASIKULE
Erected for the agents of the colony. The courtesy of these resthouses has every-
where been granted to the expedition
MUSEUM CARAVAN CROSSING A RIVER
The raft is attached to lianas stretched across the stream
ACCOUNT OF THE MUSEUM’S CONGO EXPEDITION 165
ble that two men in the short space of two months after reaching their
base of operations should have been able to prepare such a list of speci-
mens, 291 mammals and 472 birds, besides more than 2000 specimens of
the smaller fauna. A later report sent out January 5, little more than
three months after reaching Avakubi, shows a record of 510 mammals
and 762 birds, with more than 4000 of the smaller fauna, and this col-
lection covered by 400 pages of descriptive matter.
That so much has been done is due not only to speed and skill, but
also to the foresight of the leaders in planning and to that force of
personality which can get enthusiastic work from subordinates. Three
assistants (Loangos, a tribe from the French Congo, known as very
intelligent) were hired before leaving Leopoldville. These fellows
were taught during the voyage up the river. Afterward, just before
leaving Stanleyville, the last place where natives can be engaged by
contract, fifteen assistants were hired —for a monthly payment of
three dollars in addition to food.
a
We have done our utmost [writes Mr. Lang] in training these natives and look
forward with great pleasure to the results. Six of them can prepare small mammals,
four can prepare birds, several of them can do the work on larger mammals, though
all of them can take active part in it. Besides, two are successful hunters, and all
know how to set traps for small mammals and to catch reptiles and batrachians.
Several are very keen in catching invertebrates, and one is remarkable for finding
different species of ants. Others are fishermen; they know how to weave native
fish traps and they handle canoes with skill. As a whole they are a remarkable lot
of natives, and I sincerely hope that the results will show what can be achieved by
native assistance. 3
In addition to these trained assistants the expedition has forty
porters for the work of ordinary occasions. The porters are not hired
for a long period but are paid and discharged at the end of every trip,
fresh ones being engaged in each new locality through the assistance of
government officials. ‘The porters of the Upper Congo cannot carry as
heavy loads as those of British East Africa; fifty-five pounds (English)
is taken as a maximum load. This results not only from their inferior
physical constitution, for there are many strong and well-built porters,
but it is, of course, more weakening, even for natives, to carry loads
in the hot moist atmosphere of the forest than on the generally healthy
plains of British East Africa. A very large caravan was necessary for
the travel through the dense forest from Stanleyville to Avakubi; one
hundred and sixty porters were hired at Stanleyville and to get along
166 THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL
quickly and safely twenty more were engaged from village to village.
It is interesting to know that after twenty-two days’ march under all
the difficulties of making way through a wet tropical forest, thisslarge
caravan was brought to a safe arrival at Avakubi, having lost neither
man nor load and with everything of the equipment in perfect condition.
To read the following quoted from Stanley’s description of the
Congo jungle brings a fuller appreciation of this march:
Lean but your hand on a tree, measure but your length on the ground, seat your-
self on a fallen branch, and you will then understand what venom and activity
breathe around you. Open your notebook, the page attracts a dozen butterflies,
a honey-bee hovers over your hand; other forms of bees dash for your eyes; a wasp
buzzes in your ear, a huge hornet menaces your face, an army of ants come march-
ing to your feet. Some are
: already crawling up, and will
presently be digging their scissor-
like mandibles into your neck
.... Imagine the whole of France
and the Iberian peninsula closely
packed with trees whose crowns
of foliage interlace and prevent
any view of sky and sun....
Then from tree to tree run cables
from two inches to fifteen inches
in diameter, up and down in
loops and festoons and W’s and
badly-formed M’s; fold them
round the trees in great tight
coils, until they have run up the
entire height, like endless ana-
condas; let them flower and leaf
luxuriantly, and mix up above
with the foliage of the trees to
hide the sun, then from the high-
est branches let fall the ends of
the cables reaching near to the
ground by hundreds. ...Work
others through and through these
as confusedly as possible ....on
every horizontal branch plant
cabbage-like lichens of the larg-
est kind, and broad spear-leaved
CHIEF OF A RENOWNED CANNIBAL TRIBE
The cap of leopard skin and red parrot plants....and orchids and ...
feathers gives him wisdom; the chain of a drapery of delicate ferns. Now
leopard canines confers the leopard’s stealth cover tree, branch, twig, and
and cunning. Instead of the ivory disk creeper with a thick moss like a
usually gracing the upper lip of the Congo green fur....To complete the
native, he wears a polished leopard incisor mental picture of this ruthless
ACCOUNT OF THE MUSEUW’S CONGO EXPEDITION 167
Congo anteater
or Pangolin
forest, the ground should be strewn
thickly with half formed humus of rot-
ting twigs, leaves, branches; every few
yards there should be a prostrate giant
.... half veiled with masses of vines. - - .
and every mile or so there should be
muddy streams, stagnant creeks, and
shallow pools, green with duckweed,
leaves of lotus and lilies, and a greasy
green scum:...
In addition to the government
assistance in the matter of por-
ters, which has been due largely
to the personal influence of Mr.
Jules Renkin, Minister of Colo-
nies, courtesies have been ex-
Ae . Striped Squirrel]
tended to the expedition in two
other directions. It has been
granted storage free of charge in
of the Congo
every magazine of the Province
Orientale, and has been allowed
to get goods from the government
storehouses. This latter privilege
is of unusual importance as no
money of any kind is used among
the natives of the Upper Congo
and the various kinds of articles,
brass rods and accordeons, for
‘instance, prized and accepted in
trade among these tribes are so
Congo
Horned Viper
REVISING THE LOADS, TWO HOURS FROM AVAKUBI
The 200 porters and native assistants of the Congo Expedition after marching through
the dense forest for 22 days
CONGO EXPEDITION ENTERING AVAKUBI STATION
Congo natives cannot walk long distances, and admire greatly the white man of strength
and endurance
ACCOUNT OF THE MUSEUM’S CONGO EXPEDITION 169
unusual in a white man’s eyes that no adequate preparation could be
made.
When the report of January 5 was sent, the active work on heavy
game had not commenced. The expedition was on the point of en-
gaging experienced native hunters and the very keenest pygmies to be
found. It was in the district of large game where the trumpeting of
elephants could be heard from the camp, and elephants’ trails — deep
round footprints “as if someone for amusement had gone about sinking
a bucket into the mud and pulling it out again’”” — were common along
the river and in the banana planta-
tions. For the most part heavy
game in Central Africa is protected
by law and is relatively abundant,
not near extinction as in South
Africa. The square-mouthed or so-
called white rhinoceros, however, is
not common anywhere in Africa. It
is practically extinct in South Africa,
is rare in the narrow strip of country
west of the Nile — the Lado of Cen-
tral Africa — and is wholly unknown
in all other parts of the continent.
The square-mouthed rhinoceros is MAMBUTI PYGMY, AVAKUBI
on the average larger than the com- Congo pygmies, having the height
mon African rhinoceros, hasa double _—of_ten-year-old children, are shy, vin-
dictive when angered, keen in hunting.
‘ i Many photographs and 24 measure-
a head that differs wholly in shape ments of this pygmy have been taken,
from that of the common form, one __ besides a plaster cast of his face
striking point of difference being a
hump in the region of the neck and
square upper lip instead of a pointed overhanging one.
Also, the expedition was in the land of the okapi, with the hope of
getting specimens for a group in the Museum. Less than ten years ago
the world was stirred by the discovery of a new animal in the northern
part of the Congo forest, okapi, the natives called it. Stanley had
gained from the dwarfs some hint of it. He thought it related to the
horse, in spite of the anomaly of a grass-eating animal living in forests.
When actually seen, the okapi was found very wonderful: a shy animal,
standing as high as a stag, and feeding on the leaves and twigs of trees,
170 THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL
its sleek, glossy coat even brown above while zebra-like on the legs
and posterior part of the body. Its foot has two hoofs but no vestige
of the two small false hoofs characteristic of the deer. In fact, the
okapi proves itself closely allied to a fossil animal, Helladotherium, of
Greece and Asia Minor, its nearest living relative being the giraffe.
The hunting trips for large game will facilitate the work along
anthropological lines since pygmies will be a part of the company.
Besides, villages will be visited, having two or three hundred pygmies
attached to them. Some successful casts have already been made of
the faces of three pygmies, but dwarfs are so shy that they are re-
luctant to submit to the procedure. They were won over by having
their hands cast first. After they had seen how simple a matter it is,
they were induced to allow the plaster to be put on their faces.
A letter sent to friends in early January tells of the personal welfare
and good cheer of the explorers:
On Christmas we dined especially well and on New Year’s day opened a canned
plum pudding (!) that had been given to us in Stanleyville. Good food is not at all
scarce here. Yesterday we looked over our stock and found we had seven live
chickens, ten pineapples, three large bunches of bananas and various fresh vege-
tables and fruits. Sweet potatoes, whiter and not so tasty as those at home, grow
like weeds on all sides. In fact, we scarcely need to draw upon our European pro-
visions at all except for butter and sugar.
From the first of December till two days after Christmas we stayed at N’Gayu,
three days to the north of Avakubi, collecting mammals and other specimens which
have been sent back to Avakubi. Our Christmas present was an old male chim-
panzee captured on Christmas Eve.
A final word just received from the expedition, started June 30 from
the Congo camp at Medje, north of Avakubi. With the introductory
words, “There is only good news to be reported, all is well,” there fol-
lows a triumphant record: 1200 mammals and 1500 birds are in the
collections; a unique ethnological collection of 700 numbers has been
gained from the Mangbetu; best of all, the okapi group is assured, not
only in the possession of male and female specimens and young, but
also, in that materials from the animal’s haunt have been preserved
and crated ready to ship, so that there promises to be reproduced in the
near future in the American Museum of Natural History, New York, a
small part of the mighty C ong forest with its strange life.
Mary Cyntuta DICKERSON
a a
VOLCANOES OF THE SOUTH SEAS 171
TWO ACTIVE VOLCANOES OF THE SOUTH SEAS
\ , ] E were camped at the base of the volcano Savaii of the Samoan
Islands and had climbed from our camp to the summit over
the broken lava fields to see the fire of the voleano at night.
Standing upon the extreme edge of the crater and looking down, the
immense lake of lava four hundred feet below glowed almost as a continu-
ous incandescent mass. Its light was reflected upon the clouds above,
making a beacon that we had often seen from a distance of forty miles and
which was said to have been visible at a distance of seventy miles during
the period of the volcano’s greatest activity about two years previous.
Looking seaward, rosy vapors outlined the course of the lava down to
the shore of the island where the fire of final lava cascades gave color to
two huge clouds of steam. The fires illumined the scene so as to give light
to guide a way over the broken lava, which is at best a precarious
ground, and again and again through the night we chmbed from our
camp.at the base of the cone to look down upon the fascinating but awful
marvel.
Even when we saw it in the daytime, it was hard to realize the scene
actual and not an imaginary panorama of Dantesque infernal regions.
The yawning cavity of the crater extended a full half mile in length, and its
width was more than four hundred yards. Almost perpendicular and
sometimes undercut, the crater walls dropped hundreds of feet to the lake
of molten lava, which was in such violent commotion that it seemed to be
liquid flame rather than a mass of fused and fiery rock. At certain places
it boiled with unusual activity, sending huge jets and fountains high into
the air. Its waves moved hither and thither at different times, but now
and then they would surge heavily and dash against the wall where the
lava made its final way to the ocean. And always from this surface, thin
-steam-like vapor charged with acid gases swirled upward in the draught
caused by the strongly-blowing trade winds, making it unpleasant to look
over the edge even from the windward side.
We had begun the ascent of the voleano early in the afternoon in order
to reach the crater before dusk. Proceeding through the undestroyed
woods of a neighboring valley we entered upon the lava field at a point
some miles from the coast, thus obviating the necessity of traversing its
whole extent from sea to crater. Our natives, bearing food and water, now
uea00 ay} OFUt SutMod BAR] Usjfour Aq pasnwo are UTRE}S JO Sphofo oy], ‘pUvISt oy} Jo ysvood YI1OU ay} JO UOTAOd pu ‘ouRDIOA
VSS SHL WOYS GAMBIA IIVAVS
WESTERN LIMIT OF THE LAVA FIELD ALONG THE SHORE
Continually more territory has been devastated as wave after wave of fluid lava has
swept downward from the crater of Savaii
THE CONE OF SAVAII
The cone is 400 ft. from base to crest. The margin of the crater shows above at the left
174 THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL
tied the husks of cocoanuts to their naked feet for protection in walking
over the broken lava, and after a final pause for rest, we left the shade and
tempered heat of the tropical forest for the open glare of the voleano’s
slope. Viewed from afar, this slope seems even and smooth, but in reality
it is like a tempestuous ocean suddenly arrested in its movements and
turned into stone. Here and there wide sheets of lava with corrugated
rippling surfaces formed still rivers between massive banks of cinders
through which their molten substance had earlier ploughed its way; larger
and smaller tables of crust, like broken floes of the Arctic Ocean, were
tilted up and piled in strange heaps. And so vitreous was the material
of this sea of black broken rock that the light was reflected from millions
of crystal surfaces and facets as from so many fragments of ice or glass.
Progress over this field was necessarily slow, but by following the general
trend of the less broken lava streams, we gradually worked upward and
toward the main axis of the whole lava mass, indicated by vents which
gave egress to steam and gases discharged by fluid lava running through
tunnels beneath the surface.
The great crater we found a perfectly typical cone of cinders and lava,
with a height from base to summit of four hundred feet as measured by
the aneroid barometer. On three sides it is composed mainly of ashes and
pumice, but toward the sea its surface displays smoother areas of rock
where the lava formerly welled over the edge before the tunnels were formed
by which the discharge now takes place. Large bombs, rounded masses
of lava hurled from the crater during some explosive eruption, occur on
the slopes, sometimes covered as by a sheet of tar with a later-extruded
layer of lava.
It was in the course of my fourth journey among the islands of the
Pacific that I made the ascent of this remarkably active voleano formed
about five years ago on the island of Savaii, the largest member of the
Samoan group. It happened that my investigations of the distribution
of the land snails of Polynesia demanded for comparative data a thorough
exploration of volcanic islands of great age, islands that for many centuries
have been sculptured by the elements till they present alternating ridges
and valleys radiating from their high central peaks. ‘Tahiti is perhaps the
most beautiful example of such an island. In many cases the several
islands in the Pacific groups are of different geological ages, and conse-
quently display different degrees of weathering. They thus form a series
of stages to show how ancient rugged islands like Tahiti and Moorea may ~
have been derived from the newly formed volcanic mountains like those
of the Hawaiian and other groups which possess relatively even sides with 7
lava fields unfurrowed by erosion.
ee ee
CRATER MARGIN, SAVAII, FROM THE SEAWARD SIDE
Savaii holds supreme rank among volcanoes of to-day for rapidity of development
SEA WALL NEAR THE CASCADES OF MOLTEN LAVA
Cinders and lava, layer upon layer, between volcanic field and sea
ea
RUINS OF STONE HOUSES
Trees were not consumed because of rapid cooling of the lava
MAUNA LOA, HAWAII, VIEWED FROM THE SEA
rhe even slopes, bearing secondary cones, rise slowly and grandly to a high summit
‘“HALEMAUMAU’’, HOUSE OF PERPETUAL FIRE
Floor of the main crater basin of Kilauea, the jet of vapor marking the fire-pit of in-
candescent lava. Kilauea has been active continually for more than a hundred years
VOLCANOES OF THE SOUTH SEAS 177
It is true that I was interested in these Pacific islands also for reasons
less closely connected with my work. For instance, the various islands
give evidences of great changes in the level of the ocean bed and also explain
the rdle played by corals in the construction of many types of islands.
With few exceptions the islands occur in groups or chains suggesting the
conclusion that they are the peaks of a range of mountains formerly con-
nected by lowlands but now separated as the result of a subsidence of the
ocean’s floor. Every one is familiar with the theory that a coral atoll,
consisting of a living reef bearing a more or less extensive series of coral
islets, is built upon such a voleanic peak, which, according to Darwin and
Dana, has been withdrawn below the water’s level and overgrown by coral
as it slowly subsided. It may be, as Agassiz contends, that a coral atoll
is built upon a submarine volcanic mountain upheaved from the ocean’s
floor; but in either case the relation between coral reefs and volcanic peaks
is one that possesses a real importance for the zodlogist.
The two volcanoes of Savaii and Kilauea occur in island groups that
are in every way typical of the so-called “high” islands of the Pacific Ocean.
The Samoan Islands, containing Savaii, lie almost on a straight line running
nearly east and west. Upon examination they prove to be of various ages,
for the westernmost, Savaii, bears the volcano that is active and has other
indications that it is more recent in origin than its neighbor, Upolu; this
island, in its turn, is younger than the more rugged Tutuila and Manua
to the east. The Hawaiian Islands, containing Kilauea, also range with
some regularity along a line, which in this case runs west-northwest and
east-southeast; but one very interesting difference consists in the fact that
the newest island, Hawaii, lies at the eastern end of the group, while the
relative geological ages of the other islands correspond with their serial
geographical order westward to Kauai, the oldest and most sharply sculp-
tured member of the group. In all other essential respects, the Samoan
and Hawaiian Islands are closely similar.
The new volcano on the island of Savaii is assuredly very impressive.
Its total mass is great, but this feature is not so striking as its remarkably
rapid development in the short period of five years; this development and
the continual flow of fiery lava from its vast crater entitle it to supreme
place in the array of volcanoes now in activity. . It lies about eleven miles
back from the coast nearly opposite the middle of the north shore of Savaii,
which is roughly rhomboidal in outline and forty miles long. Approaching
this part of the island by day, the most striking features of the panorama
are the two vast clouds of steam that rise from the places where molten
lava pours in cascades into the ocean. Upon the glistening black slopes
beyond, jets of vapor mark the vents in the roofs of the tunnels through
178 THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL
which the fluid lava runs upon its seaward journey from the crater; and
from the crater itself, two thousand feet above sea level, rises a similar
fountain of thin steam that quickly merges with the dense clouds above.
When one looks upon the enormous mass of this new mountain, it seems
impossible that five years could be sufficient for its formation, yet this is
actually the case. The first crater appeared in August, 1905, upon the
floor of a beautiful green valley. As cinders and lava were sent out, they
gradually built up a larger dome and spread out to form the first strata of
the great volcanic field. The flow followed the valley to the ocean, but as
wave after wave of fluid lava or steam-charged ash swept downward, more
and more territory was devastated, while the lava, already cooled to form
ridges and hillocks, diverted the later lava rivers into irregular and wider-
spreading channels. Reaching the ocean, the molten rock poured into
the depths of the sea over the coral reef, building ever outward, at the same
time that it followed the reef and shore so as to spread over a section of the
island represented by a five-mile arc of shore. Naturally the seaward wall
of the whole lava field is highest near its midline where it measures eighty
or ninety feet. This wall displays a regular series of strata of prismatic
blocks or tables, formed by the cooling of successive sheets of flowing lava.
These strata sometimes lie between masses of cinders, showing how the
eruptive output varied in character during succeeding weeks and months.
Toward either side, the whole field gradually thins out, and at its western
edge ends in a series of rough rocky billows, seared and broken by their
contraction in cooling. Yet their materials reached this point as red-hot
fluid lava, having journeyed a route that must have been nearly fifteen
miles in length.
As the molten lava first swept down the valley and along the strand, we
can see that its destructive affects were rapid and complete. It was only
where there were walls of coral limestone, like those of the churches and
traders’ warehouses that anything could withstand the flood of rock; the
wooden huts of the seaside villages were entirely consumed. Yet so quickly
did the surface of the plastic mass become cool, that the cocoanut and other
trees, felled by the burning through of their bases, were rarely consumed.
Turning to the voleano Kilauea of the Hawaiian Islands, we find it in
many respects quite different from Savaii of the Samoan group. It is an
accessory outlet upon the side of the giant voleanic mountain of Mauna Loa,
whose main crater at the summit, more than thirteen thousand feet above
the sea, is active only at very long intervals. There is a journey of two
hundred miles from Honolulu to the island of Hawaii on which Mauna Loa
occurs; viewed from the ocean on approach, the even slopes of the mountain —
rise slowly and grandly to the high summit, bearing numerous secondary
or “parasitic”’ cones which have been formed by sporadic local eruptions.
THE ‘' LAKE OF FIRE’’ OF KILAUEA
Jets of molten lava are thrown up along lines of greatest activity
THE “LAKE OF FIRE" OF KILAUEA AT NIGHT
The photographic film was exposed four seconds
180 THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL
The first view of Kilauea itself is somewhat disappointing to one who
has recently witnessed the grandeur of the eruption at Savaii, but closer
acquaintance reveals many features of great interest. Kilauea lies about
four thousand feet above the level of the sea, and is about twenty miles
back from the coast. In general structure it is a wide shallow basin over
three miles in diameter, depressed below the general level of the slopes of
Mauna Loa. At quite a little distance from the geometric center of the
lava field which forms the floor of this basin is the active fire-pit, marked
during the day, as at Savaii, by a cloud of vapor, and at night by a marvelous
pillar of fire.
The well-beaten trail to this center of activity leads down along the
terraced wall of one side to the almost level floor of the main basin. In the
strongest contrast to Savaii, Kilauea’s lava field is remarkably even;
indeed the best areas of the former are far more broken than the most
irregular parts of the latter. The surface undulates more or less, it is true,
while here and there broken masses form hillocks and ridges, but the active
vent has given forth the molten lava with comparatively little disturbance.
Since the middle of the nineteenth century enough rock has poured out into
this wide basin to reduce the height of its vertical walls from more than
eight hundred feet to about four hundred.
In December last, Kilauea was unusually active after a period of rela-
tive quiet. The fire pit is nearly circular in outline and its walls fall in
two terraces to the small pool of molten lava, about two hundred feet below
the natural level of the whole basin. Its general structure has varied more
or less in past decades, as well as its degree of violence, but it has been a
permanent center of eruptive activity for more than a hundred years, well
deserving the native name of “ Halemaumau,” the House of Perpetual Fire.
Here as at Savaii the surface of the pool is in constant commotion, but
the areas of incandescence are much restricted and run in parallel or forking
lines. Cakes of congealed lava float between these lines, and when in their
movements they reach the neighboring areas of greater activity, they are
redissolved and their fragments are thrown into the air together with jets
of more fluid lava. Photographs taken at night exhibit with great dis-
tinctness the primary and minor areas of greater ar avay that form a
network upon the surface of the pool.
Henry FE. CRAMPTON
OT ee a a
A NEW SWORDFISH MODEL 181
A NEW SWORDFISH MODEL
Saturday forenoon in late July when a swordfish, a very perfect
130-pound representative of its race, was brought there as a gift
from one of the Museum’s members, Mr. George McKesson Brown. The
fish was in fine condition for casting; it had been put, as soon as captured,
into a specially constructed zinc-lined tank filled with ice, then after a
hurried sail to New York, had been removed from the yacht’s deck to the
Museum, still in its ice-filled tank.
The staff of the Department dropped other work and under the direction
of Dr. Louis Hussakof and the donor set out to pose the fish, ready for the
manipulation of clay and plaster about it. The body was made to curve
slightly as if in motion. The tail fin was placed stiffly in the position in
which it cuts the water as it moves rigidly from side to side. This rigid
widely-forked tail fin, contrasting with the curving flexible tail fin of a
shark, announces the identity of the swordfish to the fisherman watching
with harpoon ready at the prow of his boat. The “sword” was posed
straight out in front, more than three feet in length, slender and rapier-
like, a weapon made by consolidation of the upper jaw bones. It is this
sharp-edged instrument that is said to prove so deadly to a school of fish.
The swordfish rises fully into air above the prey, turns on its side and
drops —a long, slender form glistening in air momentarily. Then the
many small fish sharply cut in two by the descending weapon are followed
and picked up as they settle to the bottom. The men in the taxidermy
shop continued to work throughout the day but as a result, at night,
there lay beside the fish a two-piece mold, perfect imprints of the two sides
of the fish.
The adaptation of a swordfish to endure high pressure is said to be re-
markable. A diver who can stand a greater pressure than sixty or seventy
feet is difficult to find, to stand one hundred feet is most unusual, although
there are extreme cases in which the record is higher than this. It is said
that the usual sub-marine boat can endure little more than one hundred and
fifty feet depth, its standard power being to maintain a depth of seventy-
five feet; yet a swordfish, according to Mr. Brown, will reach a depth of
twelve hundred feet. When harpooned and given freedom, fastened only
to a floating keg, it may carry a two hundred fathom line straight down
till taut. If the line is too short to reach the bottom, the keg will be
dragged under, staves and hoops will rise to the surface, resulting in the
loss of the fish to the pursuing boat.
(ys interest prevailed in the Department of Preparation one hot
182 THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL
This specimen, the cast of which will be put on exhibition soon, measured
nine feet in length and was caught about forty-five miles off Block Island,
a region the fish reaches in July, appearing off No Man’s Land a little later,
and as far north as Bar Harbor in August. The swordfish is the only species
of its kind. It belongs to the mackerel type with body greatly narrowed
just in front of the tail fin, the rapid motion of the slender posterior end of
the body and of the tail fin sending the fish at high velocity through open
seas. It is reported to be a creature radiantly beautiful in sun-lighted
water, as with grace of form and motion, clothed in the iridescent colors of
feldspar, it now shimmers in contrast with the hues of the sea, now blends
with them. The swordfish has strength even great enough to penetrate
ships and, as is proved by many authentic reports, has often had the in-
clination to use this strength. The species, although widely distributed
through the seas of the world, has recently become more rare. Fishermen
fear that in a very short period of years it will be extinct along the Atlantic
coast.
A NOTE FROM THE FORESTRY HALL
study forestry conditions, stopped in New York this summer on
his way to Washington and the West and spent several days study-
ing the collection of North American trees in the Museum’s Forestry Hall.
Mr. Petraschek has been Chief Forester of Bosnia and Herzegovina for
more than twenty years. In addition to this practical work in Austria,
which includes the famous reclamation of the Karst, a 600,000-acre tract
of barrens, he has studied the forests of other countries also, namely, Ger-
many, France with Algeria and Tunis, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Rou-
mania and Servia, this last country through having been called there as
expert for the reorganization of Servia’s system of forest management.
Mr. Petraschek’s pleasure in the Jesup Collection was great; he declared
it to be, quoting his words, “a sample for the world, in its complete display
of the wood itself, in arrangement and ‘groupment,’-as made now for a
great part of the hall, in the models of leaves, flowers and fruits, which
are so like nature that they give a better idea than a good picture, and also
in the labels, especially those with small maps, indicating graphically the
dispersal.”” America can learn much from Europe in all forestry matters.
As proof stand the four months of study spent last winter in Germany by
forty-five Americans, sons of lumbermen and forest owners and students
of the Biltmore Forest School. It is therefore gratifying to realize that
+ HE Honorable Mr. Karl Petraschek of Vienna, who is in America to
ae ae ae te are
ANNUAL SCOURGE OF FLIES AND MOSQUITOES 183
in the opinion of expert European authority, President Jesup’s inception
of the American Museum Wood Collection with its complete representation
of distribution maps and the recent work which has added flower and fruit
models and arranged the trees in natural groups, have produced an exhi-
bition unsurpassed in excellence.
THE ANNUAL SCOURGE OF FLIES AND MOSQUITOES
Exhibition Hall labels must necessarily be brief. For those who are especially
interested in some given subject, much must be left for explanation by other means.
These notes on household insects have been prepared to supplement the exhibits
which are being arranged in the Hall of Local Insects, since inquiries pertinent to
the subject come both from members of the Museum and others almost daily by
letter, telephone and word of mouth.
life has fortunately been replaced by the modern method of gaining
control of the preventable causes of premature death. Of these
causes to-day nothing is to be compared in disastrous results with the infec-
tious or germ disease. One of the greatest discoveries made in the work
of getting control of germ diseases has been the relation between their
dissemination and common insects, insects so accepted by the world as
necessary evils that there has been great difficulty for public opinion to
grasp the far-reaching force of the discoveries and the tragic meaning of
past years of ignorance. That where there are no mosquitoes, there will
be no malaria and no yellow fever, is a fact now proved beyond dispute.
That Africa has so often been the “white man’s grave” has not been the
fault of Africa so much as of the white man’s lack of knowledge of the re-
lations between the sleeping sickness and other fevers prevalent there and
insects, especially of flies and mosquitoes.
The Typhoid-Fly, as the United States Entomologist has suggested that
the common house-fly, Musca domestica, be called, is the most abundant
insect of this vicinity. It carries the germs of typhoid and many other
diseases, especially of those intestinal in character, on the sticky pads of
its feet, on its proboscis and in its digestive apparatus. Its eggs are laid
in foul matter where the larve feed and change to pupe. Upon emerging
from the pupal cases, the flies wing themselves perhaps to other foul places,
perhaps to the nearest kitchen or dining-room, to sick-chambers, to the
children in the streets, always returning to accumulations of foul matter for
the purpose of depositing eggs. It is unnecessary to say more. These
facts prove the need of an active campaign, increasing in force with the
= old method of prolonging life through the quest for an elixir of
>
184 THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL
return of each summer, especially when combined with the fact that of the
23,087 flies collected by Dr. L. O. Howard from dining-rooms in different
parts of the United States, 22,808 were of this typhoid species.
To screen our windows is but a partial remedy against the scourge, for
shops from which food comes may remain unscreened. To rid ourselves of
the fly we must do away with its breeding places; there is no other way.
This means work for the Board of Health in every city, and coéperation
of all members of communities everywhere, but it is the one road toward
protection from fly-born sickness and death.
The Malaria Mosquito, Anopheles maculipennis, is likely to insert the
germs of malaria when it pierces the skin, and that it is only the females that
“bite,” is no consolation since their number is legion. There are 15,000
deaths annually from malarial fevers in the United States, yet this disease
can be spread only through the agency of this insect. All mosquitoes, unless
it be the striped-legged form of the seashore, should be looked upon with
suspicion, for the points of difference between the malarial and non-malarial
forms are too minute to be of general help in distinguishing them. The
ravages of the malaria mosquito can be checked, just as can those of the
typhoid fly, by getting rid of its breeding places. This work also must be
communal, the method varying with the conditions. Swamps and pools
should be drained whenever possible. Where draining is not practicable,
they can be kept free from mosquito larve by covering the water with a
film of oil. The larvee coming to the surface to breathe cannot break
through the film and so suffocate; however, as the oil evaporates rapidly, it
must be renewed every week or two. Ponds, brooks and fountains may be
kept relatively free by introducing goldfish or top minnows, if the banks
have been cleared of weeds so that the fish can patrol the entire surface.
Rain barrels and water tanks should be screened or stocked with fish; even
tin cans and bottles which fill with water during rains may prove ruinous
to the health of a community and should be buried or disposed of in some
safe way. Much work has already been done in eliminating mosquitoes
from-infested regions, but — and this is the rock on which many mosquito
campaigns have been wrecked — the action must be communal and com-
pulsory, one ignorant or obstinate landowner easily making of no avail
the work of a hundred.
Frank E. Lutz
:
oe a
Published by. special permission frum the National Geographic Magazine. Copyrighi 1910.
THE COMMON HOUSE-FLY OR “ TYPHOID-FLY,’
House-flies may carry living germs of typhoid fever on the sticky pads of their feet.
For structure of Malaria Mosquito, see enlarged model in the Museum, Darwin Hall
>
186 THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL
ADVENTURE WITH AN AFRICAN ELEPHANT
rather serious injuries received while elephant hunting in Africa this
past summer. He came upon a herd unexpectedly and before he
could take aim at the giant fellow nearest, the huge tusks were immediately
upon him. Mr. Akeley swung himself between the tusks, grasping one
with each hand, but was borne to the ground under the elephant’s trunk
and body. Ina letter of July 20 to Director Hermon C. Bumpus, he writes:
| is fortunate indeed that Mr. Carl E. Akeley is recovering from the
Four weeks ago, while in quest of a spot to make studies for the elephant group,
I ran on to the trail of several bulls. The trail was old, but I followed it and came
up with the herd the next day quite unexpectedly in dense jungle. One of them saw
me first, used me for a “prayer rug” and got off scot-free. I can walk a little now,
and have reason to hope that in another month I may be able to return to the forest,
though it may be much longer before I can undertake the work of caring for an
elephant’s skin. I should like to meet once more the elephant who drew first on me.
Mr. Akeley, the noted collector of big African game, has had much
previous experience in elephant hunting. He is responsible for the ele-
phants as well as for the taxidermy work in connection with the group in
the central foyer of the Field Columbian Museum, a group masterly in its
action and in its portrayal of animal character. But the risk in elephant
hunting is always great even to the experienced. As Colonel Roosevelt
says: “...there are few careers more adventurous, or fraught with more
peril, or which make heavier demands upon the daring, the endurance, and
the physical hardihood of those who follow them.”
Mr. Akeley left New York in the summer of 1908 for British East Africa
to make collections for the American Museum, especially to insure an ele-
phant group for the African Hall. His aim has been, therefore, not only
to get elephants but also studies and materials for the reproduction of their
habitat. It was this that took him to Mount Kenia, the place from which
his last letter was sent; on this mountain he reports elephants living at an
elevation of 1400 feet. His work of getting possession of the elephants has
been slow of achievement because most of the great tuskers have fallen
before the continual raids for the ivory trade. Quoting again from his
letter:
Since January, I have inspected well over one thousand elephants here and in
Uganda, but have not been fortunate in finding the desired perfect specimens. I
am determined that the old bull shall be as near right as possible even if it takes
another year. Uganda is undoubtedly the place to get big elephants, but they are
becoming rare. They are hounded incessantly by sportsmen, poachers, traders and
es joa ees ”
ee ee
MUSEUM NEWS NOTES 187
natives. The wonder is that there is a good one left. One that we shot in Uganda
carried tusks of seventy to eighty pounds weight, but owing to the huge bulk of the
animal, they appeared small. This elephant was of size sufficient to carry two-
hundred-pound tusks gracefully. .
Mr. Akeley tells of an interesting discovery he made at Mount Kenia
owing to his habit, offensive to his followers, as he says, of “pounding’’
across country by compass regardless of well-known trails. He found the
shelter where a baby elephant had been born and was spending the early
days if its existence while the mother fed about in the neighborhood. It
was on the extreme point of a ridge, well off the elephant trails and feeding
grounds. He was first attracted to the spot by the remarkable appearance
of a tree which, hung with an enormous mass of aerial roots, made a canopy
for the shelter.
MUSEUM NEWS NOTES
AMONG the recent gifts to the Museum are the Lender’s collection of
costumes of the Plains Indians, presented by Mr. J. Pierpont Morgan;
a valuable collection of Navajo blankets presented by Mrs. Russell Sage;
and two specimens of the African elephant as well as two of the square-
mouthed or white rhinoceros, collected and presented by the Honorable
Theodore Roosevelt.
A memorial tablet to the late Jonathan Thorne has been placed in the
Museum’s room for the blind, recently endowed by the bequest of his
daughter, the late Phebe Anna Thorne. The tablet is a bronze bas-relief
of Mr. Thorne and was designed and executed by Chester Beach of New
York.
SINCE our last issue the following persons have been elected to member-
ship in the Museum: Patrons, Messrs. OapEN Mitts and Feirx M.
WarsurG, Her SERENE HIGHNESS, Princess VitMA Lworr-PARLAGHY
and Mes. RussELL SaGeE and JoHN B. Trevor; Life Members, Messrs.
F. Lornrop Ames, C. Forster Cooper and Stanton D. KirKHAM and
Miss ExvizaBetu BILLines; Sustaining Members, Mr. CHARLES DE RHAM
and Mrs. C. M. Pratrr; Annual Members, Messrs. J. ApAmMs Brown,
CLARENCE L. Faspré, Emit FRENKEL, WittiAM Hacur, Row.anp G.
Hazarp, JAMES Henry, Louis A. HItpEBRAND, STANLEY D. McGraw,
S. K. Reep and Grorce M. THorNToN and Mes. CHartes A. Post, J.
CLIFFORD RICHARDSON and CHARLES B. RowLAND.
>
ISS THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL
PREStDENT OszorNn left August 5 for a journey in the West, returning
to the Museum September 19. He visited the Big Horn Basin of Northern
Wyoming, where a field party under Mr. Walter Granger is carrying on
explorations for the earliest known ancestors of the horse and of other
mammals in America, the especial object of the work being to secure the
complete history of the life of this section of the country in lower Eocene
times. President Osborn also visited the new Glacial National Park of
Northern Montana, which since the last session of Congress has been added
to the system of National Parks. ‘This park is a superb region, embracing
the wildest and finest mountain scenery in the United States. It contains
no less than sixty glaciers and includes the summit of the Rocky Mountain
System, lying about forty miles immediately south of the Canadian bound-
ary.
Berore his departure for the West, President Osborn sent to the press
his volume on the “Age of Mammals.” This book is to be published by
the Macmillan Company in October and will be the first popular summary
of the results of the paleontological explorations of the Museum during the
past twenty years. It is illustrated largely from the Hall of Fossil Mammals
and from photographs collected by the Museum’s field expeditions.
Dr. JAMES DouG tas is having prepared for the Museum at his expense,
a large model of the Copper Queen Mines, the property of the Copper
Queen Mining Company, Bixby, Arizona. This model, showing the con-
struction of tunnels and the various processes of extracting and treating
the ore, is the first step in Museum representation of the industrial side
of geology. Dr. E. O. Hovey has charge of the field studies preparatory
to the construction of the model. He left for Arizona early in August,
accompanied by Messrs. A. Breismeister, William Peters and Thomas
Lunt. They will return to the Museum about the first of October.
Dr. CHar_es H. TownsEnp of the New York Aquarium is serving the
Museum as Acting Director during a six-months’ leave of absence of Direc-
tor Hermon C. Bumpus.
Proressor Henry FAIRFIELD OsBorN has been appointed Honorary
Curator of the Department of Vertebrate Paleontology and Dr. Me D>:
Matthew has been promoted to the position of Acting Curator.
Dr. C. H. Townsenp has recently presented to the Museum fourteen
specimens of Hawaiian Island birds from the collection of the late Edward
Hitchcock of Hilo. Not one of the eight species represented was previously
contained in the Museum’s collection of birds, which is deplorably deficient
in Hawaiian mater‘al.
fies
ine ‘ Sie = , a
rye erry ae i la i eg
MUSEUM NEWS NOTES. 189
A recent addition to the Dinosaur Hall is a skeleton of Cryptocleidus
oxoniensis, a Plesiosaur from the Oxford Clays of Peterborough, England,
dating from the Upper Jurassic. This specimen was obtained by exchange
from the British Museum and is unusually complete, the principal restored
parts, carefully modelled from other well-preserved skeletons, being the
head and the outer ends of the paddles.
Proressor C. E. A. Wrnstow, Curator of the Department of Public
Health, delivered a paper, ‘“‘ Waste of Life Capital in American Industries,”
at the summer conference of Mayors, Schenectady, convened to discuss
municipal health problems.
ProFEssorR Henry E. Crampton sailed from Naples September 9 after
a summer spent in touring through Europe. During his travels he visited
the principal European museums, noting methods of exhibition, and study-
ing the collections of terrestrial snails. In August he attended the session
of the International Congress at Gratz, reading there a paper covering his
investigations on land snails made in four journeys to the islands of the
South Pacific.
SincE March of the present year, Mr. Roy C. Andrews of the Museum
staff has been studying and collecting the Cetaceans taken at the whaling
stations on the west coast of Japan. To date he has secured skeletons of
whales according to the following list: finback more than 69 feet long,
humpback 47 feet long, sperm 60 feet long, sulphurbottom 78 feet long,
and two kill whales 22 and 28 feet respectively. In addition, he has pro-
cured a number of skeletons of several species of porpoises. These skele-
tons, four of which have already made the long journey to the Museum,
were presented to the Museum by the Oriental Whaling Company of Japan.
At the various stations Mr. Andrews has been received with the utmost
courtesy by the Japanese and every facilitv has been extended to him for
carrying on the work. A detailed report of his work will appear in a later
number of the Journal.
Mr. ALANSON SKINNER of the Department of Anthropology has made
two field excursions this summer. The first was to the Menomini Indians
residing on their reservation in northern Wisconsin. From these people,
Mr. Skinner obtained an exhaustive collection. He was especially success-
ful in being able to secure some very important religious objects including
five medicine bundles. The second expedition was to the Seminole Indians
dwelling in the Big Cypress and the Everglades of Florida. On this trip
also, a large collection was made, and will shortly be placed on exhibition
in the Museum.
190 THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL
Mr. Roy W. Miner, Assistant Curator in the Department of Inverte-
brate Zodlogy, spent the month of July at Woods Hole, Mass., making
ecological studies and gathering material for Museum groups to illustrate
typical associations of marine life, especially the fascinating fauna of wharf
piles. During August, he studied rock tide-pools, first at Nahant, Mass.,
and later at South Harpswell, Maine. He was assisted in the work by I.
Matausch and H. Miiller, preparateurs, S. Shimotori, artist, and Thomas
Lunt, photographer.
Dr. ALEXANDER PETRUNKEVITCH, Honorary Curator of Arachnida,
has accepted a position in the Department of Zoélogy at Yale and will
assume his new duties at the beginning of the current university year.
Mr. J. D. Fiaarns, Chief of the Museum’s Department of Preparation,
has gone to Denver to assume the Directorship of the Colorado Museum
of Natural History.
Just as the JouRNAL goes to press, a letter dated Cape Parry, Arctic
Ocean, March 13, comes from Mr. V. Stefansson, and one written from
Baillie Island from Dr. Rudolph M. Anderson. These letters give the
adventures of the Museum’s Arctic Expedition and the results of work
during the months from September 1, 1909: to March 6, 1910. Unusual
difficulties have been experienced in the matter of getting a living from the
frozen country. Sometimes the men have been without food for days or
have been reduced to forcing down their throats what seems impossible food,
such as rubbery, raw sealskin, or ptarmigan feathers and long-haired deer-
skin soaked in clear seal oil. In fact, at one time starvation reduced them
to use as food and sacrifice to the minimum the skins that served them for
clothes and bedding. A full report with extracts from their letters will be
given later.
AFTER several months spent among the Crow Indians of Montana, Dr.
Robert H. Lowie is at present at work among the Hidatsa of the Fort
Berthold Reservation, North Dakota.
Drs. GopDARD AND SPINDEN of the Department of Anthropology are
attending the Congress of Americanists in Mexico City- after which Dr.
Spinden will again take up his work among the Rio Grande Pueblo of New
Mexico.
THE AMERICAN FISHERIES SOCIETY, which held its fortieth anniversary
in New York City, September 27-29, met at the American Museum of
Natural History September 28, at which time the members of the Society
were the guests of the Museum at luncheon.
a,
~ ; -
ren Vo Oe ee ee
LECTURE ANNOUNCEMENTS 191
Mr. Frank M. Cuapman, Curator of Ornithology, addressed the
National Conservation Congress at St. Paul, September 7, on “ Practical
Bird Conservation.” Before demonstrating with the aid of lantern. slides
and motion pictures practical methods and results in the conservation of
birds, Mr. Chapman explained why protection is essential and called
attention to the relation between birds, insects and forests, giving statistics
in regard to the depredations of insects injurious to trees and also data
showing to what extent birds feed upon these insects.
LECTURE ANNOUNCEMENTS
MEMBERS’ COURSE
The first course of lectures for the season 1910-1911 to Members of the
Museum and persons holding complimentary tickets given them by Mem-
bers will open in November.
PUPILS’ COURSE.
The lectures to Public School children will be resumed in October.
PEOPLE’S COURSE.
Given in coéperation with the City Department of Education.
Tuesday evenings at 8:15 o’clock. Doors open at 7:30. The first
four of a course of seven lectures by Mr. ArtHUR STANLEY Riaes on “ His-
toric Italy from Sea to Sea.”’ Illustrated by stereopticon views.
October 4.— “Down the Riviera: The French and Italian Shores of the
North.”
October 11.— “Florence: The City of Art Transcendent.”
October 18.— “ Pisa — Genoa — Venice: ‘They Who Go Down to the
Sea in Ships.’”’
October 25.— “Rome: The Quick and the Dead — A New View.”
Saturday evenings at 8:15 o’clock. Doors open at 7:30. The first four
of a course of six lectures on “Evolution”? by Prorrssor SAMUEL C.
SCHMUCKER. Lectures of October 15, 22 and 29 illustrated with stere-
opticon.
October 8.— “Charles Darwin,— a Master Mind.”
October 15.— “ Natural Selection,— a Master Idea.”’
October 22.— “Fossil Evidences for Evolution.”
October 29.— “ What a Chicken Can Teach Us.”
Children are not admitted to these lectures, except on presentation of a
Museum Member’s Card.
192 THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL
MEETINGS OF SOCIETIES
Public meetings of the New York Academy of Sciences and Affiliated
Societies will be held at the Museum according to the following schedule:
On Monday evenings, The New York Academy of Sciences:
First Mondays, Section of Geology and Mineralogy;
Second Mondays, Section of Biology;
Third Mondays, Section of Astronomy, Physics and Chemistry;
Fourth Mondays, Section of Anthropology and Psychology.
On Tuesday evenings, as announced:
The Linnean Society of New York;
The New York Entomological Society;
The Torrey Botanical Club.
On Wednesdays, as announced:
The Horticultural Society of New York;
The New York Mineralogical Club.
On Friday evenings, as announced:
The New York Microscopical Society.
The programmes of the meetings of the respective organizations are pub-
lished in the weekly Bulletin of the New York Academy of Sciences and
sent to the members of the several societies. Members of the Museum on
making request of the Director will be provided with the Bulletin as issued.
The American [luseum Journal
Mary CynTHIA DicKERSON, Editor.
FRANK M. CHAPMAN,
Louis P. GRATACAP, Advisory Board.
WiLu1aAM K. GREGORY,
Subscription, One Dollar per year. Fifteen Cents per copy.
A subscription to_the JouRNAL is included in the membership fees of all classes of Members of
the Museum.
Subscriptions should be addressed to The American Museum Journal, 30 Boylston St., Cam-
bridge, Mass., or 77th St. and Central Park West, New York City.
Entered as second-class matter January 12, 1907, at the Post-office at Boston, Mass.
Act of Congress, July 16, 1894.
a i |
a
ee
Pe? Te
#,
whe
“4 + ¥
ued res
4
Ae
i
ies
Ss an
: z
t x
4
}
=
Pane dame
P|
*
— —-——-~™- — -— -—-
A DETAIL OF THE FLAMINGO GROUP
Protective coloration evidently plays no part in the lives of adult flamingoes.
are protected by the nature of their haunt and by excessive wildness
The American Museum Journal
VoL. X NOVEMBER, 1910 No.:-7
PROTECTIVE COLORATION IN THE HABITAT GROUPS OF
BIRDS
most Museum visitors through the universal love of the beau-
tiful, it must not be forgotten that mounted specimens placed in
a natural setting permit study of the animal in relation to its environment.
The origin of the name “ snake-bird,” for example, as applied to the Anhinga
is at once obvious when one sees in the group representing this species
the bird swimming with the body submerged and only the slender sinuous
snake-like neck and head exposed. The wading stilt, betraying the func-
tion of the exceptionally long legs, and the feeding flamingo, with upturned
bill pressed into the mud, also illustrate the importance of natural surround-
ings for exhibition specimens. re
The necessity of seeing the bird in its natural habitat is particularly
evident when one attempts to explain the relation between the color of an
animal and its immediate environment. Nearly every. one of the habitat
groups of birds will present some evidence in support of this fact. Let us
look, for example, at the first group to the right as we enter the hall. It
is based on studies made on Cobb’s Island, Virginia, and contains, among
other birds, numerous black skimmers with their newly hatched young.
Several of the latter, mounted directly from photographs from life, are
shown in the pose they assume at the command of the parent in the
presence of danger, and are so flattened out against the sand that they
seem almost to fuse with it; even in the group they are remarkably incon-
spicuous, while in life they are almost invisible.
The inquiring visitor noting this fact will doubtless ask, how then is’the
correspondingly conspicuous black plumage of the adult bird to be ex-
plained; assuredly it is not protective, and a reply to the question is that
the adult skimmer avoids observation by excessive wariness. Up to the
time the studies for this group were made, no naturalist appears to have
seen a skimmer on its nest, and it was currently believed that the bird sat
upon its eggs only during the night. Observations and photographs made
from a blind showed that the skimmer returned to the little hollow in the
sand in which its eggs were laid, just as soon as it felt that it was not under
WW om the habitat groups of birds make their strongest appeal to
195
196 THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL
observation. Indeed a ther-
mometer would doubtless
have proved the necessity
of the bird’s presence if its
eggs were not to be cooked
by the noon-day rays of a
July sun.
Passing by the groups ar-
ranged along the side of the
hall, each one of which has a
biologie story of its own, we
journey from the Atlantic to
the Pacific and find the case
of the skimmer practically
repeated by the black-necked
stilt in the San Joaquin Val-
ley group. Here again is a
conspicuous black and white
parent, while the downy
young wear an admirably
disguising costume, which
persists even to the plumage
of flight worn by the half-
grown stilt which is squat-
ting in the vegetation at the
water side. Note also in this
group how effectively the
color of the downy black
tern in the foreground blends
its wearer with the details of
WHITE-TAILED PTARMIGAN IN SUMMER PLUMAGE
A portion of the Arctic-Alpine group. The.
; . ; its nest.
female ptarmigan is protectively colored; she : :
will allow herself to be touched before deserting This San Joaquin sroup
the nest contains a further illustra-
tion of protective coloration
in the cinnamon teal and ruddy duck. When molting, these birds, in
common with grebes, murres and other diving birds, lose all their wing
quills simultaneously and are consequently flightless until new ones are
acquired. Apparently, therefore, to aid in their concealment during this
comparatively helpless period, the males shed the more striking portions
of their distinctive plumage which is replaced by a dull, neutral-tinted
plumage like that of the female. This is worn only until they reacquire
A SMALL PORTION OF THE SNAKE-BIRD HABITAT GROUP
The origin of the name appears when one sees the bird swimming with only the head
and the slender sinuous neck exposed
197
198 THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL
the power of flight when their full male costume is regained. The disguise,
as it were, known as the “eclipse plumage’”’ is well shown indeed by the
cinnamon teal and ruddy duck in the San Joaquin group.
At the same end of this hall, but on the west side, is situated the really
startling flamingo group. Protective coloration evidently plays no part
in the lives of adult flamingoes, whatever it may do for their young, and
these flaming creatures, which, as the birds in the background show, can be
seen at a great distance, are protected by the nature of their haunts which
permit them to see as well as be seen long before an enemy could reach them,
in connection with a wildness which makes it impossible to approach near
them without the exercise of the utmost caution, and that under favoring
conditions. Furthermore, these brilliant birds are most abundant only on
islets uninhabited by predatory mammals and where they find in abundance
the small shells on which they mainly subsist.
Only one additional instance will be cited to illustrate further the value
of these groups in connection with a study of the colors of birds. It will be
found in the Arctic-Alpine group from the summit of the Canadian Rockies
where white-tailed ptarmigan in summer plumage can scarcely be seen amid
the heather and the lichen-covered rocks. A seasonal group at the entrance —
to the main bird hall below shows clearly how the plumage of this bird,
keeping pace in its changes with the variations in its surroundings, prevents
its wearer from ever becoming a shining mark for the numerous foes to
whose attacks it is subject, but the group in question shows only the summer
home and summer plumage of the birds, and it is especially significant to
know that the female, found sitting on the nest here shown, actually per-
mitted herself to be touched before deserting her eggs. Compare her ac-
tions with those of the skimmer, which avoids even being seen on its nest,
and we have a convincing demonstration by the birds themselves of what
constitutes a protective and what a non-protective plumage.
Frank M. CHAPMAN
A NEW FIELD FOR MUSEUM WORK
phasizes its aim to develop scientific work along practical lines
directly beneficial to the masses of the people. That it has placed
at the head of this department a man whose previous work and interest
P | ‘HAT the Museum has created a Department of Public Health em-
have centered largely in problems of city water supply and sewage disposal - !
comes with peculiar fitness at just this moment when for the past two
months the water supplies in and about New York have been deficient in
quantity and questionable in quality. Professor Winslow plans to build
BS
A
4
7
a
a
“«
a
j
A NEW FIELD FOR MUSEUM WORK 199
up the new department along two somewhat distinct lines, bacteriology and
municipal sanitation.
There is at present no comprehensive collection of bacteria in this
country and workers who desire authentic cultures must send to Prag for
them unless a neighboring laboratory happens to have the particular
organism desired. In the bacteriological laboratory now being equipped
at the Museum, the new Department will install and keep under cultivation
a complete collection of bacteria, securing material from colleges and board
of health laboratories in this country and in Europe. The Museum will
thus be in a position to act as a central bureau for the distribution of bac-
teria, supplying the needs of corresponding laboratories and of schools and
other institutions which may occasionally desire cultures. Such a bacterio-
logical collection when established will furnish also an exceptional oppor-
tunity for studies of the systematic relationships of this group in which a
better biological classification is greatly needed.
The public exhibits of the Department will deal chiefly with phases of
municipal sanitation. The central idea will be to set forth some of the
conditions which affect the life of the human animal in that form of com-
mensalism which we call a city. Temporary exhibits will be prepared to
illustrate the history and development of the more important phases of
city life. For example, the first of these exhibits will deal with the problem
of water supply sanitation, illustrating by models and specimens as well
as by photographs and charts, the sources of water, its collection for public
use, the danger of infection, the development of microscopic alge and
protozoa in reservoirs, methods adopted for purification and _ resulting
effects upon the public health. The history and development of the
present and future sources of water supply of New York — an engineering
undertaking second only in magnitude to that of the Panama Canal —
will be graphically represented. The chief features of these temporaiy
exhibits will be preserved for a permanent exhibit of Public Health, such as
several German cities now possess, but of which there is no example in the
United States.
Professor Winslow comes to the Museum from ten- years of service in the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where since 1905, he has been
Assistant Professor of Sanitary Biology. In 1903, he was appointed
Biologist-in-charge of the Sanitary Research Laboratory and Experimental
Station, founded by the Institute at that time for the study and dissemina-
tion of knowledge with regard to sanitary questions. Professor Winslow
was also Assistant Health Officer in Montclair, New Jersey, during the
summer of 1898 and did special work in the Engineer’s Office of the Massa-
chusetts State Board of Health during the summers of 1899-1902. He has
200 THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL
been an extensive contributor to the medical, technical and scientific press
on the subjects of bacteriology of water, ice and air, the purification of
sewage and the causation of typhoid fever. His investigations on the puri-
fication of Boston sewage, carried on at the Sanitary Research Laboratory,
have led to important practical applications at many of the plants in
this country and in Canada.
Professor Winslow has been more or less actively associated with socio-
PROFESSOR C-E. A. WINSLOW OF THE DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC HEALTH
He will build up an exhibit dealing with the problems of New York’s water
supply and with other sanitary aspects of city life
NAVAJO BLANKETS | 201
logical interests in Boston, particularly in relation to movements for better
factory conditions and improvements in the milk supply. It was mainly
through his efforts that the system of factory inspection in Massachusetts
was remodelled two years ago by the creation of district medical inspectors,
acting under the Board of Health and having supervision of all questions of
factory inspection. In our own section he is already known for his expert
services extended in connection with lawsuits relating to the water supply
of New Jersey.
SECTION OF A SADDLE BLANKET, LENDERS’ COLLECTION
It shows the diagonal or twilled weave conforming to the color design, a white
and black diamond on a rose ground
NAVAJO BLANKETS
HE Navajo, the Indian blanket-makers of the Southwest, occupy a
large portion of northern Arizona and New Mexico. In language,
they are of the Athapascan stock and therefore are connected with
the various Apache tribes to the east and south with whom, in fact, they
are able with difficulty to carry on conversation. The Hopi, a Pueblo
people, have their homes on the mesas to the west.
The Navajo are the only natives of North America who have become a
202 THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL
pastoral people. When first visited by the Spanish explorers in 1540, they
were already agriculturalists. During the seventeenth, eighteenth “and
early part of the nineteenth century, the Navajo were given to raiding their
Mexican neighbors much after the manner of the Apache. It is probable
that at first the mules, burros, cattle and sheep procured on these raids
were killed and consumed immediately, but that later they were retained
and allowed to breed. The combination of a pastoral and an agricultural
life in a semi-arid region requires not only a vast acreage but much travel-
ling. The corn is grown along the stream beds, the crop being matured,
if the gods are good, by showers in late summer. The sheep must be
moved from range to range as the seasons change. The herding of the
flocks usually falls to the children who are assisted in times of difficulty
by the older members of the family. Only during the winter is a house
really necessary; at other seasons, the family lives under the shelter of a
tree or rock. The Navajo have become a wealthy people with their half
million of sheep, doubly so since much of the wool, by the skill, industry
and unlimited patience of the women, is woven into blankets.
Blanket-making is now the chief art of the Navajo. It seems probable
that formerly they made a variety of baskets and that methods of dyeing
and the designs were transferred to the blankets as the art of basket-making
declined. Many of the men are expert silversmiths showing not only skill
but excellent taste. The Navajo are not the unpoetic, unimaginative
people they appear, for they have a great wealth of ceremony with songs,
prayers, and complicated graphic art.
BEGINNINGS IN Navajo WEAVING
The history of the Navajo shows the adaptability of a race to meet and
take advantage of new conditions and to imitate and develop the customs
of neighboring races. It is especially interesting to look at this history in
connection with weaving, since the beginning of the manufacture of cloth
by any race is always a milestone in development, clothes giving a more
emphatic impression of the status of a people than any other one item in
their culture. There was considerable weaving done in North America
before 1492, the date of the landing of Columbus. From the cliff-dwelling
Pueblo area of New Mexico and Arizona southward to Peru, cotton was
cultivated, spun and woven into cloth. Specimens recovered from the
extremes of this territory indicate that a high state of perfection had been
reached. Also in another area, the Northwest, the Chilcat and other tribes
made blankets from the hair of the mountain goat, where, however, the
ae a ee ae eT ee A
Se ee ee ee oe Os
——e ee
yIOM 10} UOT}ISOd UI SI UNSeq ysnf yoyUR[G V
AWOH YAWWNS OPVAVN £06
ee oe Se amet NT ITO
+ bd | s rs
= eee ae Sake LT
THE GEM OF THE LENDERS’ COLLECTION
Indigo blue and white design on a body of bayeta red, the bayeta ravelled from five
different pieces of cloth
NAVAJO BLANKETS 205
most simple form of loom was used, the work being done entirely by hand as
in basketry. Again, in the eastern portion of North America, belts and
other small articles were woven from Indian hemp and from buffalo, bear
and moose hair. The Navajo, however, in early times, seem not to have
raised cotton nor to have woven blankets, although their Indian neighbors,
the Hopi, are known to have done so.
Metuop or WEAVING
The spindles and looms used by the Navajo are so similar to those
employed by the Indians of this region and farther south one is justified
in supposing that in some respects the art was borrowed, but certainly
not from Europeans since the differences are too great to be reconciled with
any direct teaching by the Spanish. Judging from the general character of
the product and the designs employed, one must believe that to a very great
extent, the Navajo have developed for themselves their unsurpassed art.
The wool is sorted,
spread out on a sloping
stone and then washed
by pouring hot water
containing an extract of
the yucca root over it.
The carding is done with
a pair of ordinary Euro-
pean hand cards and
there is no evidence of
a primitive means ever
having been employed.
The spindle, however, is
the same as that found
in cliff ruins. It consists
of a small stick at the
base of which is a wooden
disk to give momentum
and facilitate the wind-
ing of the yarn.
The loom is a simple
frame in which the warp
is placed vertically. The
raepion is done begin- The spindle is very like those found in the prehis-
ning at the bottom, the _ toric cliff-dwellings in the Southwest
NAVAJO WOMAN SPINNING WOOL
206 THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL
blanket being lowered as
the work progresses. No
shuttle is used, the yarn
is inserted with the
fingers or by the aid of a
small stick. The woof is
forced down by pressure
with a fork or by the blow
of a batten stick. The
weaving of North Amer-
ica is peculiar in that the
woof strands of a partic-
ular color are not carried
entirely across the blan-
ket, but only as far as
that color is required for
the design. It is then
dropped and another col-
or taken up.
CoLors oF NAVAJO
BLANKETS
The colors employed
are the natural white
Insuring a close weave by beating down the woof and brown of the well-
with a batten. Both implement and method are washed wool, a gray
characteristic of the Southwest . which results from the
mingling of these, and
various native and commercial dyes. Some of'these were almost certainly
employed by the Navajo in basket-making. Black they produced by com-
bining a concoction. of sumac (Rhus aromatica), roasted ocher and pifion
gum. Dull red was obtained by placing the yarn in a liquid made by boil-
ing in water the bark of alder and mountain mahogany. Lemon yellow was
secured by the use of the yellow flowers of the shrubby Bigelovia graveolens
and a native alum. Old gold resulted from rubbing into the wool a paste
made of sorrel roots and crude alum ground together. In rather early days
indigo blue was obtained from the Mexicans and displaced native blue.
A bright scarlet and a rose color were obtained in the early history of blan-
ket-making by ravelling woolen cloth obtained from Europeans. Blankets
containing such material are called “bayeta” from the Spanish name of
WEAVING A NAVAJO BLANKET
AN ATTRACTIVE BLANKET IN THE SAGE COLLECTION
Background of red, broken in the middle by irregular stripes of lighter color; diamond
pattern in dark blue and white
NAVAJO WOMAN’S DRESS
A blanket of black and bayeta red. Sage Collection
NAVAJO BLANKET OF THE SAGE COLLECTION
Background of blue and black; a diamond in red as a central design; rose colored
bands between middle and end figures
A VALUABLE BLANKET, SAGE COLLECTION
A design of red and white on a background made up of narrow blue and black stripes
A BEAUTIFUL SADDLE BLANKET FROM THE SAGE COLLECTION
The background is red, the complicated design dark blue, yellow and white.
blanket is unusually fine in weave
A VALUABLE OLD NAVAJO BLANKET
Designs in white and indigo blue on a background of red. Sage Collection
210 THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL
>
flannel used in the soldiers’ uniforms. It is to be regretted that in recent
years aniline dyes have superseded native ones. At the present time an
effort is being made by the traders in the Navajo country to secure the use
of native dyes again or of more permanent commercial dyes. .
NavaJo DeEsIGNs
Since blanket weaving is of comparatively recent origin among the
Navajo, the source of designs is a matter of considerable interest. It is
yet to be determined how far these patterns are a natural growth coédrdinate
with the development of Navajo weaving, in how far they have been taken
over from Navajo basketry, and to what extent they have been influenced
by Pueblo and Spanish neighbors. The earlier examples of Navajo weaving
often have broad stripes, closely resembling the blankets made by the Hopi.
Later many geometrical figures appear, standing alone, or combined with
horizontal and vertical stripes or with each other. The general arrange-
ment is usually symmetrical, but both the completed pattern and the in-
dividual designs lack the exactness of machine work.
The more common designs are squares, parallelograms, diamonds and
triangles. Diamonds are often formed by intersecting diagonal lines which —
run across the blanket, half diamonds resulting at the sides. The outlines of
the figures in many cases are broken with right angles, that is, made to con-
sist of a series of steps. These designs have Navajo names descriptive of
them, such as “sling” for the elongated diamond, “three points” for the
triangle. The ordinary diamond is called “star large,’ by which the
morning star is meant. This and the zigzag line representing lightning and
triangular masses called clouds have more or less religious connotation and
may be symbolic in their intention. The swastika, a primitive cross-like
form, which is now often seen on blankets has recently been introduced in
response to the commercial demand for it.
Kinps oF Navaso BLANKETS
The Navajo wove at first to secure clothing and blankets for their own
use. The women’s garment consisted of two rectangular pieces of cloth
partly sewed together on the sides and one end, openings being left for the
neck and arms. The fashion required that the middle portion of each
piece be black with a broad band of red at each end relieved by narrow
stripes and small designs in black or blue. This red is in many cases
bayeta because the women’s dress has not been much worn since the use of
bayeta has been superseded by Germantown .and commercial dyes. A
single large rectangular blanket was used to wrap around the body. These
NAVAJO BLANKETS 211
are called “Chief’s blankets” and are distinguished by a peculiar arrange-
ment of designs. The body of the blanket is made in broad stripes. On
this as a background, a rectangular design is woven in the center with one
half of the same design midway on each side and one quarter of it in each
corner. These blankets are valuable because they were woven with care
from finely spun yarn and because they usually date from the period of
bayeta and the better dyes. The Navajo now prefer to wear the trader’s
blanket since it is lighter in weight and more gorgeous in colors and designs.
From the collector's and blanket lover’s standpoint, there are four
groups into which Navajo blankets fall. The most valued are those con-
taining bayeta which have not been made since about 1875. Next stand
those which consist entirely of wool in the natural color or dyed only with
native dyes. Thirdly, many blankets of excellent workmanship and
pleasing designs have been woven from Germantown yarn, ready spun and
dyed; and finally, the common modern product too often the result of
aniline and other commercial dyes.
Navaso BLANKETS RECENTLY ACQUIRED
In the Lenders’ collection presented to the Museum by Mr. J. Pierpont
Morgan, there are twenty-five Navajo blankets, eleven of which contain
bayeta yarn, five of the eleven being also chief’s blankets. The gem of
this collection is about two yards long and a yard and a half wide and has
the body of bayeta red, material ravelled from five different pieces of cloth.
Mrs. Russell Sage during a recent visit to the Southwest and California
purchased two collections of blankets. One of these belonged to A. C.
Vroman of Pasadena, California, and had been made by him with rare taste
and judgment. It is mostly composed of the very best examples of earlier
Navajo weaving. Thirteen blankets of this collection were given to this
Museum, others to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The second col-
lection was obtained from Fred Harvey, well-known through his connection
with the Santa Fé railroad system. It consists of six Navajo blankets in
addition to specimens of Hopi, Chimayo and Saltillo weaving. This
collection as a whole has been presented to the Museum. :
A few months ago the Museum had no blankets worthy of mention and
the situation was a discouraging one, for good blankets are obtained only
by bountiful means and by the exercise of a critical judgment acquired
through years of experience. These three collections brought into the
possession of the Museum through the generosity of Mrs. Russell Sage and
Mr. J. Pierpont Morgan have already supplied the need hardest to meet,
that of the oldest and best blankets.
Puiny E. Gopparp
212 THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL
“TURNING KOGMOLLIK”’ FOR SCIENCE
EXPERIENCES OF THE Museum’s Arctic ExpPEDITION
made futile by storm and illness than that recorded in the latest
letters from the Museum’s Arctic Expedition. The past winter will
long be remembered as the “hard times” winter by the two expedition
leaders, Messrs. V. Stefansson and R. M. Anderson, “‘turned Kogmollik ”
in the cause of science — “to turn Kogmollik”’ meaning to join forces with
the Kogmollik Eskimos of the Mackenzie delta and eastward, dressing as
they do and wandering with them to get a living from the country.
Any man who goes into the Arcties expects the possibility of having
to face starvation, unless he takes a ship. It is impossible to carry with
dog team or small boat enough to serve for more than a short journey; and
if at the end of the journey, game proves scarce or wandering bands of
Eskimos cannot be located, retreat from the difficult situation becomes
problematic. In such straits Eskimos sometimes have to sacrifice their
dogs; but unless worst comes to worst, they take such an adventure as a
matter for joking and with whetted courage push on, perhaps in the face
of a blizzard and through deep snows. The explanation of the Eskimo’s
cheerful view of the matter lies largely in his trust in the hospitality of his
fellow Eskimos. For in Eskimo character there has evolved great unselfish-
ness and in Eskimo tribal life a rare communism, passing strange and con-
tradictory as it may seem that this should have taken place in a land of
cold and privation, opposed to the selfishness and cruelty of most peoples
of southern countries where there are physical comfort and plenty. A
chief in the Arctics is not appointed or chosen, nor does he inherit his
title. He attains it from a reputation for hospitality.
The Stefansson-Anderson Expedition differs essentially from ordinary
Arctic ventures in that whereas it is usual to carry along everything that
the party is expected to need during its stay in the field, in this instance,
little in the way of food, clothing or house materials was taken. This was
the original plan, since the primary aim of the expedition is ethnological.
How can a white man become familiar with the real life of primitive peoples,
with their language, folk lore and songs, customs, beliefs and ambitions,
except by living with them in their houses and as they do? Therefore,
the leaders of the Arctic Expedition dress in Eskimo clothes, which weigh
no more than a spring suit yet “allow one to sit comfortably on a block of
snow, with back to the wind, fishing through a hole in the ice, the tem-
[aa could be no more simply told story of hardship, of high hopes
TURNING KOGMOLLIK FOR SCIENCE 213
perature being —50° Farenheit, and to feel the cold nowhere but on the
face.”’ They eat Eskimo food also, a great acquirement for a white man,
and report that since the first month’s difficulties they relish all,— raw
frozen fish, eaten as one would eat corn from the cob, boiled fish without
salt, taken with the fingers, even the Eskimo delicacy of boiled fish heads,
and, of course, seal oil, whale blubber and deer meat.
The necessity of existing on such food seems a bad enough state of
affairs to one surrounded by the comforts of civilization, but in reading the
letters of the expedition’s experiences the past winter the imagination is
sated with the recounting of one impossible food after another:
A little Eskimo boy with us was fortunate enough to find the carcass of a
caribou which had been killed by wolves. They had eaten only part of the back
meat, leaving us enough for three or four good meals....After that was gone we
had “whitefish”? blubber straight, with the addition of about two spoonfuls apiece
of caribou stomach mixed with oil at each meal. Our caribou had carried a peck of
well masticated moss and grass in its stomach. Perhaps the stuff did not have much
nutritive value for man, but it served as a vehicle for the assimilation of a much
greater quantity of oil than we could take straight. I asked the Eskimos to tell me
the name of this camping place, as nearly every little creek, hill or promontory has a
local name. Nobody knew, but ‘Jimmy”’ sardonically suggested that we call it
Kak’-wi-i-tuk (the place of no food).
Ivitkuna killed a fox, which afforded a taste of meat. We also singed the hair
off a piece of sealskin, slightly scorching the skin. This made the skin brittle and
“chewable” and as a little fat was still adhering it was quite palatable, much better
than the scraps of rubbery, raw sealskin we had often forced down our throats before.
....This diet kept us from experiencing actual hunger, but we felt lazy, and weaker
every day. Frequent halts were necessary, perhaps fifteen minutes every hour,
and we usually fell asleep sitting on the sled at every halt. Everybody was getting
pretty thin, but had not been sick at all. I had lost fully twenty pounds in nine
days, although still fairly strong.
The expedition took small equipment in supplies, it is true. Yet scan
the list of purchases made at Point Barrow on the Alaskan coast. At first
blush the perusal is amusing, later enlightening. Of course, there is am-
munition; also, bespeaking the needs of the climate there are deerskin
coats and various articles such as snow goggles. Lanterns and cases of
coal oil anticipate the Arctic winter when the sun does not rise for nearly
three months. Naturally the list itemizes dogs: 4 dogs at $15 each, 1 dog
$19, 3 dogs $45. But besides all these there are certain frequently recurring
items that arouse interest because of the large amounts: 50 lbs. of tea at
35 cents a lb., 20 Ibs. of tea at 20 cents a lb., 40 Ibs. of tea at 35 cents, and
so on; 4 tins of matches $8, 3 tins of matches $6, 2 tins of matches $4,
and so on; 100 Ibs. black tobacco $50, 8 boxes chewing tobacco $38,
50 Ibs. Uncle Ned tobacco $20, and so on and on. The fact develops that
214 THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL
these astounding quantities of matches and tobacco and of tea are not
for the members of the expedition, but are to pass slowly into the hands of
the Eskimos, being the staple trading medium of the country.
The Arctic Expedition left New York in May, 1908, financed for its
work by the American Museum of Natural History and in part by the
Geological Survey of the Canadian Government. It proceeded overland
to Edmonton, the world’s greatest fur market, then two thousand miles
northward by the Mackenzie River route to the coast. The final good-by
was sent back from Athabasca landing which was the jumping-off place as
regarded communication with the Museum. The main object of the
expedition is to make a scientific study of little-known Eskimos, especially
those tribes east of the Mackenzie River, and to obtain, of course, as much
material as possible to illustrate Eskimo life and customs. Secondarily,
it is to carry on a zoélogical survey, procuring collections of mammals,
birds and fish, this work being in the hands of Dr. Anderson.
In the ethnological work there were plans to investigate two fields, one
west of the Mackenzie River, the other east. The “ Nunatama,” an inland
tribe of the Colville are probably least known scientifically among the —
Eskimos of Alaska because they never trade directly with the white man,
getting goods from the Point Barrow Eskimos, who in their turn trade with
the Arctic whaling vessels. The greatest interest of the expedition, how-
ever, centers in the tribes east of the Mackenzie at Coronation Gulf with
its Coppermine River and on Victoria Land north of this. It is known
that here are opportunities to study tribes wholly uninfluenced by the
white race.
Although the desire was.to go directly to these eastern Eskimo tribes,
the final arrangements sent the expedition west to the Colville with the idea
of returning eastward by whaling ship. The latter plan ingloriously mis-
carried owing to the fact that no whaling vessel visited the region during the
whole season, the first time such a thing had occurred during the forty
years since ships began to visit there regularly. Thus the expedition was
forced to winter in the lower Colville region.
Now it happens that the Colville, which is very poor in game, is not the
place one would choose in which to spend a winter. The year before both
dogs and Eskimos had starved to death there and many families had moved
out. This winter the cold came early, ponds were frozen over in August.
The failure of the whaling vessels meant not only inability to get east-
ward from the Colville but also that the winter must be passed there without
sufficient supplies, for only part of the equipment had been taken by way
of the Mackenzie, dependence being placed on whaling vessels from San
Francisco to get the remainder to the northern camp. The Museum made
OI6T ‘Tady ut ourmseddoy ay} 10} poyreys Ayred Ss WOssuRjoyg “IJ
[[S SI oovr OFM OY} AQ pooTONPFUIUN soqii} OUITYSA YIM YOM JuByoduT sz]
“IOATY ourueddoyd oy} uo “sve JoyyAIv]
‘OIZUIOVI, OY} JO ysvo ‘Avq uoySueyT pure
Are g VdVd JO UOISa1 oY} UL PUODES S}I ‘BIZUOYOVIT OY} JO 4SOM OI[TA[OD oY} WO ‘G-QOGT 10} ULM 4SIy Syt yuods UOTyIpedxe oJ,
- - NOILIGadxa
SILOYV S.NNASNW SHL Ad AALISIA NOIDSY AHL MOHS OL dVW
, mS
og omecaaine fos uoliedo1o x’
IPA = ae Lif
/
ae Pun Z }
Lg Ui Apay, . Pre
0 Ie do,
Ze \
AC,
if
M7
fo
7
OOF SOF OM SI) OZ Szi of! Sel OF ch
216 THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL
repeated and emphatic efforts to get north these supplies. The Museum
files show copies of many letters written by Director Hermon C. Bumpus
to steam whaling companies, owners of private whalers, captains of freight
schooners and of United States revenue cutters, and with these letters
courteous responses bearing negative results. Strange chance it seemed
that there was no vessel of any sort going to the Far North in the summer of
1909. The negotiations for shipment of supplies went on between the
Museum and the West through the winter and early spring. At last it
transpired that one steamship whaling company of San Francisco, Messrs.
H. Liebes and Company, would send the freight steamer “ Herman”’ to
Herschel Island and would carry supplies. That the supplies left San
Franciscd April 24, 1909, however, did not insure their reaching the expedi-
tion, and if the truth must be told, revealing much in regard to Arctic navi-
gation, these same supplies, most of which left New York in the fall of 1908,
and all of which left San Francisco in April, 1909, have not yet reached the
Museum’s expedition or at least had not done so in late spring of 1910
when the last letters were sent out.
The winter on the Colville proved less difficult than had been feared;
spring came and the main energies of the summer of 1909 were spent in
getting eastward, with much time lost waiting for whalers which never came.
Finally Mr. Stefansson succeeded in getting as far east as Cape Parry, near
enough to the Coppermine for a dash there at the opening of the spring of
1910 — if the intervening winter could be successfully passed. It is this
winter in the Cape Parry district that has proved the “hard times” winter
for the expedition, set forth in the narrative of recent letters.
We landed, Nat-ku-tji-ak, his wife Pan-ni-gib-luk and I, August 31, by the
stranded wreck of the steam whaler “‘ Alexander,’ lost here in the summer of 1906,
ten miles east of Cape Parry. Our first object was to find deer, as we were insuffi-
ciently clothed for the winter and had on hand provisions for about two months only.
After hunting inland in vain two days, we decided to store most of our stuff in an
old house built by some Eskimos who pillaged the “‘ Alexander’”’, and then proceed to
Langton Bay to look for deer. We had to transport the things, a little more than a
boatload, from where they had been landed on the beach to the house, and while we
were loading the second time a southwest wind suddenly blew up. We made a
vigorous effort to get to the house, but the beach was rocky there and the surf made.
a landing impossible. We had to run into shelter in a deep fjord cutting southeast
into the land. The southwester continued and we could not get back to the “ Alex-
ander,” although many articles which we needed badly were there and others a
handicap to carry were with us in the boat.
As soon as possible we began edging southwest along the coast, but it was slow
work. Paddling a big umiak is slow work under any conditions for three people.
A few days of southwest gales would be separated from a few more days of southwest
gales by perhaps a half day of calm, but never a breath of fair or land wind. Un-
fortunately for us we happened to have with us a map of the coast. When on
TURNING KOGMOLLIK FOR SCIENCE 217
September 7 we came to a bight in the shoreline which corresponds excellently with
one on the map into which the map makers show that a large river empties, we
concluded we had reached this river, R. la Ronciére. The formation of the coast
simulated well the mouth of a large river. We all agreed that the river must have
trees, or at least large willows, as all good-sized rivers do, which would mean game,
and it seemed advisable to ascend it. The beach was covered with small spruce
drift trees which promised well. I made an entry in my diary to the effect that
“R. la Ronciére”’ differed from most Arctic rivers in that the Lord had put it in the
same place as had pleased the map makers.
We ascended and found, sure enough, a river — small, it is true, but we took it
for one of the numerous delta channels of a large stream. We went for about five
miles farther and came to a small lake. We know now that ‘‘R. la Ronciére’”’ does
not exist. It took us two days of fair weather to get back to the open sea again, and
we finally reached Langton Bay September 13.
At Langton Bay, Mr. Stefansson and the Eskimos hunted with little
success. This was unfortunate because all were short of deerskins. Each
person in the Arctices needs at least six deerskins for clothes and three for
bedding; in fact a total of nine skins is rather short allowance. By the end
of October, considerable anxiety began to be felt concerning the where-
abouts of Dr. Anderson who in August had started east in a small boat
along the coast, leaving at Herschel Island, boxed and ready for shipment,
all specimens collected up to that date. Eventually Mr. Stefansson and his
Eskimo started out to find him, first building a log house with an open fire-
place where the Eskimo woman could stay to protect a cache of twenty-
two deer. Travelling was difficult but they reached the coast fifty miles
west from Langton Bay by November 18. Here they found on the beach
an old whale carcass, probably four years old, and spent a day getting a
sled-load of blubber before proceeding. They had gone on only a day’s
journey when they were rejoiced to meet Dr. Anderson with his six Eskimo
assistants. The whole party returned to the beach where the frozen whale
was and spent the day getting another load of blubber and in talking over
the situation.
Dr. Anderson had been traveling under unusual difficulties because
having a large party of assistants to make possible the transportation of
supplies and collecting equipment. He says respecting this, “Turning
Kogmollik has its disadvantages as well as its advantages. Alone I could
shoot more game than I drew out of the pot and still have much leisure
time for other work. There was certain work to be done, however, which
I could not handle alone and diplomatic reasons compelled me to become
a communist out and out. This meant a hand to mouth existence for a
time with so many to be fed, some worry, and much hard work, but
brought my boat and goods to the place where they had to be.”
The matter of assistants in the Arctics is a large problem. To hire an
218 THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL
Eskimo means that his family also must be fed and carried along with the
expedition. Captain Roald Amundsen is of the opinion that outside of
the scientific staff of an expedition Eskimos should best be depended on for
all work, his chief reason being not the greater resistance of the Eskimo
physically to northern hardships, although that is true also, but that the
Eskimo does not get homesick and is not continually down-hearted. The
Eskimo’s disposition is such that whether he be cold, hungry or in danger
he seldom becomes dispirited or sulky. Commander Peary has always
spoken in favor of Eskimo assistants and has always shown his personal
preference in being accompanied by them on his dashes for the Pole. Mr.
Stefansson who had previously spent a year with the uncivilized Eskimo
agreed with this opinion in favor of the Eskimo and the Museum’s Arctic
Expedition was planned accordingly. He reports, however, a wonderful
change in the Eskimos as regards pay for services since he was at the Mac-
kenzie delta in 1906. ‘‘ Then they knew little about money and one could
hardly pay for anything. He might make gifts, but pay was never asked
and if offered needed explaining by the statement that white men always pay
for food and work in their own country. So great is the change that now
an Eskimo seldom remains permanently satisfied with the most liberal pay
for services.” |
While the reunited divisions of the expedition worked getting a store of
blubber, the leaders reviewed the past and carefully studied the future.
One thing was certain, they must have the traps and ammunition that had
been left perforce in the old house beside the wrecked “ Alexander.” Black
and silver fox had recently been seen, black fox with a value from six
hundred to a thousand dollars per skin. Besides there could be no more
opportune time to get the things necessary for the Coppermine trip which
would begin in the spring as soon as the sun came back. It was, therefore,
decided that Dr. Anderson with two Eskimos and ten dogs should go at
once to the “Alexander.” The day they separated was one of the worst
of the year,— 35° with a southwest blizzard. Going east with the storm,
Dr. Anderson could proceed; going toward the west and so in the face
of the gale, Mr. Stefansson’s dogs refused to work, and waiting was
necessary till the storm abated. At last they started, six people with two
days’ provisions, and after fifteen days of struggle they got back to the log
house where they had left the Eskimo woman in charge of the cache. Noth-
ing could be more graphic than Mr. Stefansson’s description of these fifteen
days:
On the whole trip we killed five ptarmigan and not a single rabbit, though one
of us hunted each bank all the way up. The sun was gone and so the daylight was
meagre, besides it blew a blizzard every day. The whale tongue was very bad eating,
TURNING KOGMOLLIK FOR SCIENCE 219
it had little to it but dry fibres and was strongly impregnated with sea salts (other
than NaCl). When we had finished this we were really better off for the stuff seemed
to make us sick. We then ate sealskin, some deerskin we had along for sole leather
and our snowshoe lashings, in fact every edible thing except clothes: Fortunately
we had seal oil. With about a cupful of oil a day one does not feel in the least
hungry but lazy, sleepy and weak. All of us found it a little difficult to take the oil
straight. We soaked it up in tea leaves, deerskin with long hair on it and ptarmigan
feathers.
Before they reached the end of these fifteen days some of the Eskimos
were taken sick, and did not recover for weeks. These were indeed
most discouraging times. Mr. Stefansson was not able to go far from the
camp because of the sick Eskimos, there were seven people and six dogs
to feed, meaning a consumption of rather more than a deer per day, while
there was no light but dim twilight for hunting, and every southeast wind
brought fog, every southwest wind, a blizzard. To add to other causes
for depression all were feeding wholly on lean meat in Arctic cold where
health and spirits depend on the presence of fat in the food. Also it was
at this time that the oil for lights gave out:
At this time we had left only about a quart of oil, which was soon gone and we
were without lamplight all the time the sun was away. This was especially incon-
venient for the women, as sewing in the dark is difficult. There was more than once
a whole week, too, when I made no entry in my diary because I could not see. One
could write for about two hours at noon, but I was usually hunting at that time,
always starting out before daybreak.
In addition, we were getting badly worried over the non-arrival of Anderson and
his party. They should have been home by Christmas. We were especially afraid
that on the very day they left us in the blizzard they might have ventured too far
off shore on the ice and have been carried with it to sea. The sick Eskimos were
growing despondent. I used to see deer almost every clear day (there was fog or
blizzard two days out of three) but on the clear days it was so absolutely breathlessly
calm that deer could hear you and you could hear them from a quarter to a half mile
away. I therefore never got a shot at them. An Eskimo always looks upon such
protracted ill luck as caused supernaturally. Taboos had been violated. They
knew I had eaten deermeat the day I killed a wolf, but worse than that they knew
of more than one case of my breaking the Sabbath. They were therefore certain
they should never be able to get any deer. One day, however, I shot a fawn. This
seemed to break the spell to the notion of the Eskimos.
In early January lack of food made some sort of a venture necessary,
so a start was made for Langton Bay. Here they found the cache of
blubber broken into by a wolverine which had eaten a hole through a two-
inch plank. Small consolation was gained by the fact that they caught
the wolverine, although it was excellent eating after its high living on deer
meat and bear meat. Disappointed here, there was nothing to do but
keep on to the “ Alexander”; reaching the old house by the wreck they
220 THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL
were astounded to find Dr. Anderson and one of his Eskimos there, re-
covering from pneumonia. Fortunately flour had been among the supplies
left at the house or the men never could have lived through. Fortunately
too, polar bears have no appetite for flour. When Dr. Anderson arrived
at the house he found that bears had broken in and devoured four boxes
(500 Ibs.) of whale blubber, two slabs of bacon, spilled a ten-gallon can of
alcohol and “knocked things about generally’’; but the flour they had not
disturbed.
The letters report that in March all were “in fit condition, showing no
serious after-effects,” and that Mr. Stefansson was expecting to start with
his party during the first week in April for the Coppermine.
The expedition is planning to come out of the field soon, and great
interest at the Museum attaches to the time when the full results of the
work will be known. Making a zoélogical survey in the Arctics is a pe-.
culiarly difficult task due largely to problems of transportation of outfit
and accumulating specimens; and the collections with duplicate series
which the expedition reports will be of great scientific value. With the
close of this expedition, Mr. Stefansson will have five years’ knowledge
of the Eskimo. He has accomplished much in getting records of songs and
short tales, working to ascertain definitely the presence and variations of
certain folk tales throughout the tribes. He has complete lists of words
used by the Shamans in ceremonials; and he has a large series of head
measurements and many photographs. All results of the expedition will
possess unusual value, representing as they do, work accomplished in spite
of the almost insuperable obstacles set by the Arctic winter and by the
necessity of “turning Kogmollik.”’
MUSEUM NEWS NOTES
THE near future promises rapid development in the Museum’s instruc-
tion for the blind owing to the Jonathan Thorne Memorial Fund. The
work is under the supervision of the Department of Public Education
which has long had an interest in Museum instruction for the blind, but
outside of its regular lecture courses could do little because all permanent
exhibits are of necessity within glass cases. It is hoped that future plans
will allow close codperation with the teachers of the blind throughout the
city and that the unusual advantages which the Museum can give in the
free handling of duplicate specimens from its store-rooms will be found
valuable training for blind children. It is desired even that the Museum
ey oe ee
ae Sear ee oe
MUSEUM NEWS NOTES 221
shall extend the work beyond its own doors, sending out to the blind
study collections well labeled in both New York Point and American
Braille, following here the plan of small travelling museums employed in
coéperation with the city schools where 900,000 children were reached
during the past year.
AN expedition under Mr. Walter Granger of the Department of Verte-
brate Paleontology in searching for fossil remains in the Big Horn Valley,
Wyoming, has discovered in the Lower Eocene a complete skeleton of the
ancestral horse, a small four-toed species. The skeleton has been taken up
in a block of sandstone, and after the block arrives at the Museum, chip-
ping the rock away from about the bones will proceed at once. The
great fact is that this skeleton was found in the Lower Eocene, being the
first record for this formation, which is older than any that has before yielded
a complete horse skeleton. The specimen must, therefore, carry evolu-
tionary history farther into the past than skeletons previously obtained, and
when fully exposed, is likely to be found approximating more nearly a
hypothetical five-toed ancestor of all horses.
A TracHers’ Day has been planned by the Museum authorities. Dele-
gates from all the schools have been invited to be present on Saturday,
November 5, from two to five-thirty o’clock. Special guides will be on
hand to conduct the teachers through the exhibition halls and especially
through the laboratories and workrooms which are not open to the public.
The program includes ten-minute illustrated talks by the Curators of the
Museum and a general meeting at which brief addresses will be made by
Professor Henry Fairfield Osborn, President of the Board of Trustees,
Dr. William H. Maxwell, Superintendent of the Public Schools, and other
educators. <A reception will follow these addresses.
Tue HorticuLTuRAL Society oF NEw York will hold its fall exhibition
in the Museum from November 9 to 13. The exhibition will be open
especially for the members of the Society and for Museum and affiliated
organizations on Wednesday evening from 7 to 10 o’clock. . It will be open
to the general public on Thursday, Friday and Saturday from 9 a. M. to
5 p. M. and from 7 to 10 p. M., also on Sunday from 1 to 5 P. M.
Miss Mary Lots Kissetu of the Department of Anthropology left New
York October 28 for an extended period of field observation among some
of the Indian tribes of the Southwest. Miss Kissell will devote her time to
a study of the basket work and textiles of these tribes paying especial atten-
tion to the origin and significance of designs.
222 THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL
Dr. R. Broom, the leading authority on the Permian vertebrates of
South Africa and collecting there for this Museum, has recently announced
the discovery of a fossil skeleton of Delphinognathus, a large and aberrantly
specialized extinct reptile, related to the group of Theriodonts. These
latter forms are believed to stand rather near the borderland between
reptiles and mammals. The accession is important because there is very
little South African material in the Museum.
THE SEVENTEENTH CONGRESS OF AMERICANISTS in accordance with an
adjournment taken in Buenos Aires in May reassembled in Mexico City,
September 7 and continued its sessions until September 14. These con-
gresses meet biennially, alternating between Europe and America. This
meeting of the Congress in reality formed a part of the Mexican centennial
which continued throughout the month of September. The papers pre-
sented dealt for the most part with various subjects concerning Mexican
archeology and ethnology and were read by leading anthropologists.
Europe was represented by Dr. Edward Seler, Berlin, the president of
the Congress; Dr. Francois Heger, Vienna; Professor Capitan, Paris; and
Professor Moguel, Madrid. From the United States there were in attend-
ance, Drs. Dixon and Tozzer of Harvard, Dr. MacCurdy of Yale, Dr. Boas
of Columbia, Dr. Gordon of Philadelphia, Dr. Hrdlicka of Washington,
Professor Starr of Chicago and Mr. Stansbury Hagar of New York. Drs.
Goddard and Spinden were delegates from the American Museum.
PuB.Lic meetings of the New York Academy of Sciences and its Affii-
ated Societies will be held at the Museum according to the usual schedule.
Programmes of meetings are published in the weekly Bulletin of the
Academy.
LECTURE ANNOUNCEMENTS
MEMBERS’ COURSE
The first course of illustrated lectures for the season 1910-1911 to Mem-
bers of the Museum and to persons holding complimentary tickets presented
to them by Members will be given in November and December.
Thursday evenings at 8:15 o’clock. Doors open at 7 :45.
November 17 — Pror. CHartes-Epwarp Amory WINsLOow, “ Insect-
Carriers of Disease.” |
Professor Winslow has been engaged for some years in the study of problems of
water supply, sewage disposal and other phases of municipal sanitation. His lecture
LECTURE ANNOUNCEMENTS 223
will deal with the important discoveries made during the last decade in connection
with the spread of typhoid fever, malaria and yellow fever through the agency of
flies and mosquitoes and with the recent achievements of sanitation in controlling
these diseases.
December 1 — Mr. Frank M. CuHapman, “From Sea-level to Snow-line
in Vera Cruz, Mexico: A Study of the Distribution of
Bird-life as it is Controlled by Altitude.”
Mr. Chapman worked on Mt. Orizaba from the coastal lagoons (where moving
pictures were secured of the rare roseate spoonbill) and the luxuriant forests of the
lowlands upward to the magnificent pine and spruce forests with their snowbirds
and crossbills, characteristic of the Canadian zone.
December 8 — Mr. James L. Crarx, “Snap Shots from British East
Africa.” :
Mr. Clark, a successful sculptor and taxidermist, has returned recently from a
fourteen months’ stay in British East Africa. While there he obtained a splendid
series of pictures of the big game of the country, as well as of the picturesque
natives, and besides had some most unusual adventures, for example, at one time he
was treed by a herd of two hundred elephants.
December 15 — Dr. Piurny E. Gopparp, “Nomadics of the Southwest.”
Through the generosity of Mr. Archer M. Huntington, the Museum for the past
two years has been maintaining expeditions in the Southwest for the purpose of
making an exhaustive study of the Indian tribes there and of their relationships.
Dr. Goddard has spent several months among these Indians, and will give an ac-
count of his experiences and observations.
December 22 — Mr. Roy C. ANpREws. Subject to be announced.
Mr. Andrews of the Museum staff has recently spent six months at the whaling
stations on the eastern coast of Japan and has secured a number of large whale
skeletons for the Museum. Many of his photographs are remarkable.
PUPILS’ COURSE
These lectures are open to the pupils of the public schools when accom-
panied by their teachers and to the children of Members of the Museum
on presentation of Membership tickets. Lectures begin at 4 P. M.
Oct. Nov.
Monday, 24 14—“New York City: Past and Present.” By Mr.
Roy W. MIner.
Wednesday, 26 16— “Insects and Health.” By Pror. C—E. A. WInsLow.
Friday, 28 18 — “Forests and their Uses.’”’ By Mrs. A. L. Rosier.
Monday, 31 21— “Scenes in Peru, Bolivia and Brazil.’ By Dr.
Louis Hussakor.
224 THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL
Nov.
Wednesday, 2 30— “Alaska and its Indians.” By Mr. Haran I. Smita.
Dec.
Friday, 4 2—“Children of all Nations.” By Mrs. A. L. RoESsLErR.
Monday, 7 5—“Transportation: Past and Present.” By Mr.
WALTER GRANGER.
Wednesday, 9 7—“A Trip to Europe.” By Dr. Louis Hussakor.
Friday, 11 9—“Life on the Plains.” By Mr. Barnum Brown.
PEOPLES’ COURSE
Given in codperation with the City Department of Education.
Tuesday evenings at 8:15 o’clock. Doors open at 7:30. Illustrated.
November 1— “Naples: Its Environs and Vesuvius.” By Mr. ARTHUR
STANLEY Riaos.
November 8 — “Southeastern Italy: The Sorrentine Peninsula and its
Place in History.” By Mr. ArtHour STANLEY Ria@s.
November 15 — “Twentieth Century Sicily: The Modern Garden of.
Eden.” By Mr. Artour STANLEY RiGG6s.
November 22 — Subject and lecturer to be announced.
November 29 — “ Holland’s War with the Sea.” By James H. Gorg, LL. D.
Saturday evenings at 8 : 15 o’clock. Doors open at 7:30. Illustrated.
November 5 — “The Humming Bird’s History.” Pror. S.C. SCHMUCKER.
November 12 — “The Mind of the Apes.” Pror. S. C. SCHMUCKER.
November 19 — “The Living and the Non-living.” By Mr. Bensamin C.
GRUENBERG. 3 3
November 26 — “Life Aggressive: Utilizing the Environment.” By Mr.
BENJAMIN C, GRUENBERG.
The American [luseum Journal
Mary Cyntraia Dickerson, Editor.
Frank M. Cuapman, |
Lovis P. GratacapP, f Advisory Board.
Witiiam K. GReEeGorY.
Subscription, One Dollar per year. Fifteen cents per copy.
A subscription to the Journat is included in the membership fees of all classes of Members of
the Museum.
Subscriptions should be addressed to The American Museum Journal, 30 Boylston St., Cam-
bridge, Mass., or 77th St. and Central Park West, New York City.
Entered as second-class matter January 12, 1907, at the Post-office at Boston, Mass.
Act of Congress, July 16, 1894.
on ane
ia
;
a,
Aa}
a
ans
4
y
‘si
|
ae
tut i
{ | i .
} '
* =
=
_.
seen
at I cm one ng
2 aang ~
AEE SP > ~
*
Snot eM,
* THE CHIEF DIRECTS THE CEREMONY FROM THE STERN OF THE CANOE
Every article of dress and regalia from the smallest ivory ornament to the largest
ceremonial robe is reproduced in durable materials and with fidelity to nature
’
—‘‘Work on the Ceremonial Canoce,’’ page 238
The American Museum Journal
VoL. X . DECEMBER, 1910 No. 8
HERCULEAN TASK IN MUSEUM EXHIBITION
FOREWORD REGARDING THE CEREMONIAL CANOE SCENE IN THE NORTH
Pactric HA
Photographs from the North Pacific Coast by Lieutenant George T. Emmons,
Museum photographs by Thomas Lunt
is that of filling a Ceremonial Haida Canoe sixty-four and a half
feet long with Indian figures, about forty in all, representative in
physique, garb and action of the tribes of the North Pacific Coast. The
- conception is that of Director Hermon C. Bumpus, supervision of scientific
details is under Lieutenant George T. Emmons, and the technical work
is being carried out by the sculptor, Sigurd Neandross.
Lieutenant Emmons has spent some thirty years among the Indians of
the Northwest Coast, working with deep interest along the lines covering
their culture and is abundantly equipped in knowledge. The Museum will
always be in his debt for invaluable service. Sigurd Neandross is an Amer-
ican sculptor of Norwegian parentage who has been honored at home and
abroad. Notable among his works are a monument in the public square
in Copenhagen — an imaginative figure of a nymph singing the song of the
Vikings, a bust of a mother and child shown at the Berlin International
in 1897 and now in the Kaiser Wilhelm Museum at Krefeld, Germany,
and in this country a bronze statue of an officer of volunteers in the public
square at Pottsville, Pennsylvania. Mr. Neandross has at present several
large idealistic figures and groups in progress.
The Ceremonial Haida Canoe was made many years ago on the Skeena
River near Port Essington on the Alaskan Coast and formed a part of the
Powell collection secured by the Museum in 1883. The monstrous boat
hung for many years from the ceiling of the hall, taking its present place in
1908. In this year decision was made to convert it into a great open ex-
hibition case in which to set forth the primitive culture of the Northwest
Coast Indians, and the idea advanced by Lieutenant Emmons was accepted
that the exact expression of the exhibition should take the form of an
institution known as the “potlatch,”’ a ceremonial allowing attractive use
of the rich Northwest Coast materials in the possession of the Museum.
\ N unusually large task in exhibition entered upon by the Museum
227
SKETCH MODEL IN CLAY
Work was begun in the summer of 1908. The time represented by the
scene is somewhat over a century ago when these Indians first came in
contact with Europeans. The canoe is supposed to have reached the surf
of the beach, being kept in position there by the paddlers holding water and
the bow and stern men operating the poles while ceremonial speeches and _
dances are rehearsed. The result of the positions chosen for paddlers and
polemen is not only an artistic one but gives opportunity for mechanically
bracing the boat so that there can be no vibration of the exhibit, the poles
being anchored in the floor and the paddles riveted in the cement base
supporting the canoe.
Mr. Neandross has taken hold of the Museum’s problem with unusual
insight into the needs of the case, designing an immense composition with
sweep and balance in the grouping, yet each figure an accurate study of
tribe, suited in dress and action to its particular part in the meaning of the
whole. The ideal of exhibition in a people’s museum must be accuracy
and completeness of truth in such combination with beauty, life and action
that there is produced a resultant of human interest and educational force.
Mr. Neandross has proved in his work as a sculptor before the world that
he is on the way to mastery of a combination in art unusual and difficult,
that is of realism and idealism. It is this power of the sculptor which is in
considerable part bringing success to the Museum’s giant task.
M6 "Di
The actual story of the great canoe’s journey to New York is as follows: It was pad-
dled by Haida Indians to Victoria; carried by schooner to Port Townsend, Puget Sound;
by steamer to San Francisco; by Pacific mail steamer to Panama; across the Isthmus on
the Panama Railroad from Panama to Col6n, whence it was shipped on the deck of a
Pacific mail steamer to New York. In crossing the Isthmus, to avoid injury during sharp
turns, the canoe was adjusted on two platform cars, being fastened securely on the forward
car and swinging loosely on greased guys on the rear car. Free transportation from San
Francisco to New York was contributed by the President of the Pacific Mail Steamship
Company.
A SUGGESTION OF THE PLAN
THE POTLATCH OF THE NORTH PACIFIC COAST
By Lieutenant George T. Emmons
North Pacific Coast from the Strait of Fuca to the vicinity of
, | ‘HE potlatch is the distinctive feature of aboriginal life along the
Mt. St. Elias. It is the great giving ceremony when individ-
OF THE TLINGIT RACE
Underlying the potlatch as a social function is a deep
religious fervor in the worship of ancestry and the com-
munion with the dead
uals and families gladly
impoverish themselves
that the dead may be
honored, the emblem
of the clan exalted
and social standing rec-
ognized or increased.
What was probably
a simple feast for the
dead in primitive days,
in the progress of time
has become a most com-
plex observance which
however is regulated by
the strictest laws of
etiquette and though
varying somewhat in
minor details among
different tribes is recog-
nized in the main by all.
230 THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAI*
The social organization of the Tlingit is founded upon matriarchy and
consists of a number of clans or totemic families grouped under two exoga-
mous phratries which intermarry and supplement each other upon all oeca-
sions of ceremony. In the building of the home, the erection of the heraldic
or mortuary column (totem pole), the preparation and cremation of the
dead, and the mutilations of the body, the service is invariably performed
by those of the opposite party, and the potlatch is given in payment
for these acts; but underlying the more social function is a deep religious
fervor in the worship of ancestry and the communion with the dead. The
food and tobacco that are cast into the fire become a spiritual administra-
tion to those who are ever present though invisible, and with each offering
there is called the name of one departed who receives honor in proportion
the gift.
The peculiar food and climatic conditions throughout this area have
not only rendered this wholesale giving possible but also have encouraged
its practice and development to an enormous degree. Here life is com-
paratively easy. The wonderful annual run of salmon, trout, herring and
eulichon, the steady supply of halibut, cod, whale, seal and shell fish, the
generous yield of berries, roots and green things, as well as the great forests
of cedar, spruce and hemlock, and pure water ever at hand, combine to
offer the greatest advantages with the least exertion. Along this Pacific
coast there are but two seasons. During the milder and pleasanter period
from April until October the food supply is procured, and the remainder of
the year, not extreme in temperature but wet and stormy, becomes a time
of leisure. These leisure months from October till May are devoted to
social pleasures and ceremonies among which the potlatch holds the first
place. | 3
Preparations for the function may occupy much of a lifetime in the
accumulation of material to be given away, and the invitations are personally
delivered months or a year in advance. The guests, including generally
two tribes or village clans, if living at a distance get ready as soon as they
return from the summer camps. ‘The canoes are repainted and decorated,
dancing paraphernalia is unpacked and gone over, a sufficient food supply
for the travel is put aside, and a programme of dances and songs with which
to honor their host is arranged. Households embark together in_ the lar-
gest canoes and as in war parties they are under the direct supervision of
their chief. They travel and camp together and practice their dances
and songs en route. From time to time the host receives notification of
their progress and when they are within one camp of their destination, he
sends out envoys and food to them. ‘The final day when they embark, the ~
canoes are assigned their places with the chief leading. Themen and women
TLINGIT CHILDREN
do} Soli} UBIPUT oY} JO aINY[NO oY} UT soBId SuLyey ore YY SasuBYO oY} JO puR 4ysvOD oyloOVg YON oy} uo Sut
-YBUI SI UOT}VZIAIO S92UBAP? pidsi oy} JO UOL}BOIPUL 9UO 4YNq SI SIG, ‘e[}Vog YILA o[qvo UBOLIOUTW-][v UR Aq pa}voUMOD MOT SI BYIIG
SAONVOSO IVINOWSYHS90 GNV YOSHWH YVXLIS GES
1 - So i ieee
ihadlion dal —s : roe rata SOE
SCULPTOR
SIGURD NEANDROSS,
*
234 THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL
have put on their ceremonial dress, the face has been painted and the hair
dressed with red ocher and birds’ down. With drum, rattle and dance
staff they take their places in the sterns of the canoes which now follow each
other in column until near the village of their host when they form in line
abreast and holding gunwale to gunwale stand in slowly to the shore, the
occupants singing and dancing to the accompaniment of the drum. When
nearing the beach those paddling hold water, the bow and stern men get out
the poles and the line of boats is kept in position, while speeches are ex-
changed through several hours. With the signal to,land the canoes are
backed around stern first and beached, the villagers rush into the water to
greet their friends and carry the party’s belongings to the house which has
been prepared for reception and all is confusion and bustle. —
In early days the Tlingits had many slaves who paddled the war canoes
besides performing all work for their masters. They were not permitted
to take part in the ceremonies and were often sacrificed upon the occasion
of the potlatch. The group which Mr. Neandross is so skillfully executing
represents a Chilcat chief and his followers in ceremonial dress in the war
canoe just before landing to attend a potlatch. The dress and materials
represented on the figures are all from the North Pacific Coast and in the
possession of the American Museum.
SUCH IS THE COUNTRY OF THE TLINGIT INDIANS
— a, a
i ee ae me —"
A POLEMAN IN THE CEREMONIAL CANOE, SHOWING THE SCULPTOR'S
SKILL IN MAKING CASTS OF FIGURES IN ACTION
235
ERLT UL WNesny ey} JO uorssassod oy} OJUT oUIvD YY *BUOT Yoo} ANOJ-A}XIS ULYY BIOUI SI VOURD VpIeTT OT,
8061 ‘YSEN3A0ON NI W1IVH OISIOVd HLYON SHL
:
es re ees
eee ein | a agent Bidet ar aha!
eK aS
< —
Seieatlr prethes ee meter seme eee
Pr ona aa Sa
ABojodoryjuy jo Juourjredaq] oy} Ul 1OYBAND oyeIVOssy “YIUIG "[ UBV}{ JO YOM olf} ST SOSBO OY} UT S}IQIYXo [BOTUYIO}
oy} jo JUoMNSUBIIe OY], ‘“o}UE oY} Ul 9OUB) [BIUOUIO1I0 yeoiS oY} ‘Soql4} SNOLIBA oY} JO DAT}RYUOSOIdoI SUOTJOOS ULIOJ 0} Jos Sojod Ut9}04 “YjoT pu
{YS YB SMOPULM oY} UdeMjzoq Soovds oY} UT UOT}SOd OYB} OF IO[ABT, “S TLM Aq uorjeredord ut suvrpuy oylovg YWON jo soseauvo jenul “pus Ivy oy}
ye [BM oy} uO sdutured owtysyY seyoyg :sndung “D UoUulIoF{ 1OJoITC] Jo uoTjdeouod oY} ov SoINjRey oAT}BODep oY} puR UL[d [BIoUNS oY],
STIVH NOILISIHXS S,NNASNW SHL AO DNISOdW!I LSOW 3SHL AO ANO ‘O16! NI AWWS SHL IAG
THE WORK ON THE CEREMONIAL CANOE
A MODIFIED METHOD OF MAKING PLASTER CASTS FROM LIFE
By Sigurd Neandross
for reproducing objects which cannot in themselves, because of the
very nature of the case, be exhibited, and when the work was started
upon the Ceremonial Canoe Scene of the Chileat Indians it was found that
the earlier methods of cast taking were not entirely satisfactory.
The work as a whole brings an unusually large number of technical
problems, for here must be reproduced some forty figures for exhibition
without the protection of glass cases in the center of the North Pacific
Coast Hall. The lack of protection means that not even the garments,
the furs, the masks and regalia can be used, for a few years of such
exposure would mean great deterioration in value of some of the richest
possessions of the Museum. Therefore everything from the smallest ivory
ornament to the largest ceremonial robe has to be reproduced and that in
durable materials. The work presents unusual difficulties also, because in
addition to its artistic scope, it has to be given great scientific value as a
record of individual types: of these Indian tribes, requiring at wii! step
work most accurate of form and lifelike in coloring.
In the figure work a new method has been developed to a most successful
working so that perfect life casts can be made. A paraffin spraying machine,
the idea of which was obtained by Director Bumpus in Europe, has been
utilized to cover the model with a coat of wax preliminary to the applica-
tion of the plaster. Some time after the work was begun, however, a simple
brush method of applying the paraffin was substituted for the machine.
This yields equally good results and has the advantage of making
the method possible for a man working alone in the studio or in the
field. The method makes the process less disagreeable for the model
than is the case in making the ordinary plaster mold. It is also possible
to make larger casts in this manner than by the usual method, such
as the full head and shoulders as in a portrait bust, even half the body or in
fact the whole if the pose permits. One principal gain in plaster casts taken
from molds in which the paraffin process is used is the advantage of accuracy
of form whereas in the old method the weight of the plaster compresses and
distorts all the softer parts of the body. The threads used to cut the mold
being first laid over the model in the usual way, warm paraffin heated in a
P | ‘HE Museum is continually carrying on experiments to find methods
238
SHAMAN’S RATTLE
One is‘the original, the other a reproduction in plaster. The half-tone shows only in
part the striking similarity of the two because of lack of color
SHAMAN’S CEREMONIAL MASK
Lack of color and unequal lighting prevent the apparent identity that exists when
the masks are taken in the hand. That on the right is the original
UNFINISHED FIGURE IN PLACE IN CANOE
Each figure is begun in the studio and put into the canoe incomplete to get perfect
adjustment of pose and action in the particular spot to be oceupied
7
B3YyNSIs GAHSINIA SHL MYOM AHL NI 3OVLS YHSLV1 V T¥S
THE CEREMONIAL BEAR DANCER
double boiler is painted over the model
with a soft brush. The work is started
at the lowest parts; each stroke of the
brush leaves a film which immediately
becomes hard; the painting or splashing
of the paraffin is continued until about
one-fourth of an inch is covered over the
model. A coat of this thickness will re-
sist any pressure from the plaster which
at this stage is applied over the paraffin
and in such thickness as to insure the safe
handling of the mold. Before the plaster
becomes entirely hard the threads are
drawn to cut the mold into manageable
parts as in the ordinary “piece mold.”
In the matter of dressing the figures
it was soon found that plaster alone was
too brittle and that for clothing or objects
of regalia each specimen must have a
different treatment. Woven cloth and
skins are copied in burlap or caracas cloth
which, dipped in a warm solution of glue
water, is hung upon the plaster figure
and allowed to stiffen there after adjust-
ment in a natural arrangement of folds
corresponding to pose and action. This
garment can then be covered with a mix-
ture of plaster and glue, and almost any
texture imitated by applying the sticky
composition with a modeling tool or
CANOES OF THE NORTH PACIFIC COAST INDIANS. 243
brush. ‘The substance adheres to the fibres of the cloth, becomes tough
and quite hard, suitable to take a coat of varnish and the color, and is
remarkably well fitted for the work as it can be kept in plastic condition
for three or four days. As to the color work on both garments and figures,
it has proved better to put on a priming color in a higher key than nature
after which a thin wash of shellac over the thoroughly dried color forms a
backing for a stippling of transparent colors to accentuate the desired effect,
eliminating opaque colors in this finishing work. Finally the oily finish
of the new paint may be removed and a lifelike texture given to the surface
by rubbing over lightly with pumice stone and turpentine.
Results essential to the representation of life as well as the work of
suiting the subject, pose and dress to artistic uses must always remain to
the skill of the artist working. The method is valuable in museum work
and presents a possibility for a new level of accomplishment.
CANOES OF THE NORTH PACIFIC COAST INDIANS
By Harlan I. Smith
Photographs by the Author
British Columbia to Mt. McKinley in Alaska live seven great
groups of sea-faring Indians and canoes make one of their most
valuable possessions. Their canoes for use on the ocean differ from those
for river navigation and those of the south differ from those of the north.
Certain tribes have a characteristic type, but the Indians travel great
distances and have traded their canoes from tribe to tribe, so that a
given type may be used throughout the entire region.
The Haida of the islands of northern British Columbia and southern
Alaska make an ocean-going canoe with a breakwater at the prow and both
ends curving upward. Canoes of this type are sometimes only large enough
for two or three people, while others, especially those formerly made for
warfare, will hold as many as forty. In 1909 two of these canoes more than
sixty feet long and with prows and sterns extending higher than a tall
man’s head were seen on the beach of the Kwakiutl village at Alert Bay.
This Haida type is one of the most important and seaworthy of all canoes
of the coast. The Tlingit Indians, who occupy the coast of Alaska from the
Haida country to that of the Eskimo, own many Haida canoes although
they make several kinds of their own.
| LONG the Pacific Coast from Puget Sound in Washington past
244 THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL
A Grave Monument prob-
ably signifying that the de-
ceased ‘‘potlatched’’ many
canoe loads of property
The Chinook is another seaworthy and
extensively used type. The Nootka of Cape
Flattery and western Vancouver Island use
it for whale hunting and launch it skillfully
through the tremendous breakers constantly
washing their coastline. They use a racing
canoe also, somewhat similar in shape but
long and narrow.
A river type rather smaller than the
Chinook sea-going canoe is used by the
Salish of Puget Sound and vicinity and also
by the southern tribes of the Kwakiutl of
northern Vancouver Island and the adjacent
mainland. The prow which extends hori-
zontally over the water has a deep notch
in the end and meets the main part of the
prow to form almost a right angle. A river
canoe with spoon-shaped ends is found
among the Bella Coola of the inlets of the
northern Kwakiutl country, who are very
skillful in navigating the swift rivers fed by
melting glaciers. Such a canoe is usually
poled, one man standing in the prow, another
in the stern and poling on opposite sides.
This type of river canoe is also used by the
adjacent Kwakiutl tribes. The Salish In-
dians of the west coast of Washington have
a canoe very much like it for river naviga-
tion but the prow and stern are like those
of a scow.
Decoration of the canoes with carved and
painted animal figures characteristic of
this general region is common, especially
among those of the Haida and Chinook
types, and the canoes are always cared for
as valuable property. Paths are cleared in
the rocks on the beach so that the canoes
may be drawn up without injury, and some-
times skidways are formed of cross poles
weighted at the ends with stones. A canoe party was observed to impro-
vise such a skidway when landing at a strange beach. The men jumped
CANOES OF THE NORTH PACIFIC COAST INDIANS 245
into the shallow water aa NiCad
and carried their women |
ashore, then returned
to the canoe, flung the
dogs into the sea to
swim ashore by them-
selves and next carried
arm loads of small slabs
to the women. ‘These
slabs the women placed
crosswise on the beach
and as the men pushed Chinook canoe. Note overhanging prow
and vertical stern. Seaworthy and outside of
the Haida the most extensively used
the canoe on to the im-
provised skidway, the
women gathered up the
slabs as fast as the canoe
passed over them and
ran ahead to repeat the
operation.
Curiously enough a
canoe sometimes has a
width greater than the
diameter of the cedar
tree from which it was
dugout. To effect this
result, the dug out canoe
is filled with water, then
hot stones are added,
and after the wood is
River canoes owned by Kwakiutl. Semi-
circular in cross section, spoon-shaped at the
ends. Poled by two men, one in the prow, one
somewhat softened, the in the stern
sides of the canoe are
pressed outward and fastened in place by means of thwarts which are tied
in with spruce or cedar rootlets. When the canoe is nearly finished great
care is taken in adzing it down, measures being used to get it to the proper
thickness throughout. The surface of the canoe is usually charred, which
not only serves to give it a good black color but tends to prevent it from
decaying.
There is some doubt as to whether sails were used on any of the canoes
before the Indians first saw white navigators, but it is certain that they
were used before canvas was a commodity in the country, strips of
cedar bark being woven together for the purpose as in some of the mats of
to-day.
THE NEW PLESIOSAUR
A Great MARINE REPTILE OF THE ANCIENT WorLD. IN APPEARANCE
COMPARABLE TO ““A SNAKE THREADED THROUGH THE BODY OF A
TURTLE.” ‘THE FOSSIL SKELETON IS NOW ON EXHIBITION ON
THE FOURTH FLOOR OF THE MusrEuUM
By W. D. Matthew
HE latest addition to the fossil skeletons on exhibition is a great
marine reptile, eleven feet long, six feet and seven inches across from
tip to tip of the paddles. It belongs to a group long since extinct
and is very obviously unlike any living animal. The long flippers, broad
compact body and short tail suggest a huge sea turtle; but there the resem-
blance ends, for the creature had no bony carapace or “shell” and the long
stiff neck and small flattened head with sharp teeth flaring out from the
jaws are very unlike those of any turtles.
This skeleton was found in an unusually complete condition and more-
over, the bones were not distorted by crushing, which made it possible to
articulate the skeleton in its true proportions and form, and mount it in a
characteristic pose. Generally speaking skeletons as ancient as this one
are found flattened in the rock, so that while they make a good bas-relief
when the rock is chiseled away, they do not show the real form of the ani-
mal as when alive.
Plesiosaurs were both numerous and varied in the Age of Reptiles, and
their remains have been found in marine formations of this era in all parts
of the world. In the United States they occur in many localities from Cali-
fornia to New Jersey, but the best specimens are from the Cretaceous
formations of the Great Plains. The remains have been mostly fragmentary,
ap A= - Ee ee c e.% at —=—
Fs ge ear ated e* — —_— - —
BRS coat eae i
at a « . — “
«<" “4 . ~~ . ~ ~ . ae
aan 5 We : s PASSA TAB 733
” —s ; . on mt
we Ae
ae S \* 1
ee “St
gut ee
SoSe=: y
Tt
oo eR ol ea magne eee
eee als Soa plete
set + ge a
= ct PF Be
Sketch Restoration of the Cryptoclidus, by Edwin Christman. Note the small
head, stiff neck and the turtle-like paddles. Based on the mounted skeleton in the
American Museum
ee
THE NEW PLESIOSAUR 247
AMERICAN PLESIOSAUR EHlasmosaurus
Restoration by Mr. Charles R. Knight. The long neck which was very likely
much less flexible than here depicted, probably allowed this reptile to come up
stealthily on prey from underneath while swimming near the bottom in shallow seas
though a few more or less complete skeletons are preserved in this and other
museums in America. pes
Many skeletons, crushed and flattened but splendidly preserved, have
been obtained from the cliffs of Lyme Regis and Whitby in England and
from the great slate quarries of Holzmaden in Wiirttemberg, and are pre-
served in various museums in Europe and America. The clay pits near
Peterborough, England, have yielded a large series of Plesiosaur skeletons,
most of which are in the British Museum. Fragmentary remains have
also been described from India, South America, Australia and New Zealand.
Some of the Plesiosaurs were of gigantic size, thirty to forty feet in
length, but more commonly they were smaller, from six to fifteen feet. The
length of neck and relative size of the head varied widely in different genera.
The American Elasmosaurus was forty feet long with a small head and a
neck twenty-two feet in length. The other extreme was Pliosaurus, equally
huge in bulk but with the skull nearly five feet long and the neck only a
foot and a half. The smaller Plesiosaurs were intermediate between these
two extremes, but most of them had small heads.
The restoration of Elasmosaurus, made by Mr. Charles R. Knight under
the direction of the late Professor Cope, is based upon a nearly complete
skeleton in the Cope collection now in the American Museum. Studies by
wniwenby YO X MON oY} 7B SapjINg Bas BULAT] JO SyUBUIBAOUT oY} JO OSTR
UOJJOYS OY} JO Sofpnys [Njorvo Woy pozoopes Suleq esod oy} “IoywIND juBysIssy ‘UMOIG WNUIYG “IJ, JO voUBPMS oYTUAIOS ay} JapuN
‘BUBT SOMBVYD “APY Aq St SsuljuNow oy], “puvpsug ‘YSnos10qiojog Ivou SAVIO P1OJXQ OY} WUOIJ pOLlog sISSVINE oY} JO seswarUoxo snpyoo;dhu)
aMNtd3ay ANIYVW LV3SHYD YO YNVSOISATd V 40 NOLS1ISNS
pues
SEG
suOoT}oaT[0D WNesN|, YSMg oY} Ul suouTIoeds J9}Je AressoooU UaYM poT[epou ‘1eyse[d ul paroyser usveq aAvY s}red JOUTUT Jey40
AUBUL pUB BIGo}1I0A oy} fo toquinu & ‘soypped oy} jo syed “4nys oy, “WMesny, YSWg oY} WOIy OSuKYOXe UI pouTeyqoO s¥M UOJ[OyS OUT,
Ssa1ddqvd GNV AGOS SHL 4O SNOILHOdOuUd SHL NI 3ILYNL-vV2S Vv GaIgWasay (Snp17901dht9) UuNnvsolisaid SIHL 6FZ
>
250 THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL
Professor Dames of Berlin show, however, that the neck was by no means
as flexible as indicated by this restoration. This is proved by the character
of the joints of the neck vertebrae, which are nearly flat instead of being
ball-and-socket joints as in the neck of mammals and of most modern
reptiles, or saddle-shaped joints as in birds. These flat joints, like those
in the back of mammals, allow but a limited amount of motion at each
joint, which must have been only partially offset by the great number of
vertebre in the neck of the Plesiosaurs.
The name Plesio-saur or “near-lizard,” given to these animals about a
century ago, indicates that they are more like the modern reptiles than are
the “fish-lizards’”’ or Ichthyosaurs found in the same geologic formations.
But they are not related to lizards any more than to snakes, crocodiles or
turtles, and the name of “Great Sea Lizards” which was given to them in
the popular natural history works of fifty years ago is an unfortunate one,
because there was in the Reptilian Era a third group of great marine rep-
tiles, the Mosazsaurs, which were in fact relatives of the lizards and resembled
them in many respects, although like Plesicsaurs and Ichthyosaurs, they
were provided with swimming paddles instead of feet. Skeletons and
restorations of Mosasaurs and Ichthyosaurs are exhibited on the walls of
the east corridor near the elevator, and show the differences between these
three types of great marine reptiles.
We must suppose that Plesiosaurs were carnivorous, the sharp-poleee
flaring teeth being adapted to seize a quick-moving prey rather than to feed
upon slow-moving shellfish or upon seaweeds. But from the proportions
of the body and the analogy with turtles we may suppose that they swam
slowly and usually near the bottom, coming up on their prey stealthily from
underneath instead of pursuing it through the water like the swift Ichthyo-
saurs or the modern sharks and dolphins which these reptiles resembled.
The long neck was too stiff for very quick movements, but would neverthe-
less be of great assistance both in capturing prey and in reaching the surface
to breathe, a necessity for all reptiles. It is common to find with Plesiosaur
skeletons a considerable number of pebbles enclosed within the body cavity.
Sometimes a peck of these pebbles are found —hard, round, with polished
surfaces, and varying in size from a hen’s egg to a baseball. It is prob-
able that these pebbles assisted digestion, as is the case in many birds,
the pebbles seeming to crush and grind the hard parts of the food in the
gizzard. If so we must suppose that the prey of the Plesiosaurs contained
hard parts for which this kind of crushing was necessary. It has been sug-
gested that they preyed in part upon the squid-like baculites and belem-
nites whose remains are exceedingly abundant in the same formations.
ore ee ; et ak
ae ee ee ee ee
THE FISH DESIGN ON PERUVIAN MUMMY CLOTHS
AN EXPLANATION OF CERTAIN COMPLEX PATTERNS
UR largest sources of knowledge of prehistoric Peruvian peoples are
records from their graves, not written documents however, for
these people of Peru had no written language, but records far more
difficult to read with correctness, namely, vessels of clay, wood and brass,
or fabrics wrapped about their mummies. In the coastal region of Peru,
the people worshipped the sea and the fish as a symbol of the sea, differing
in this respect, of course, from inland races. In this coastal region there-
REALISTIC FISH DESIGNS FROM PREHISTORIC PERU
1 — Pendant cut from shell. 2— Head of bronze implement. 3— Clay vessel.
4 — Vessel of wood. 5— Interlocked fish design from pottery
fore, as would be expected, the fish proves a favorite design in decorative
art. Pottery, vessels of wood and metal, as well as large coarse pieces of
cloth used to wrap about mummy bundles show fish forms with considerable
fidelity to nature. Woven fabrics, on the other hand, are decorated more
often with conventional designs, designs of much greater simplicity of
outline, owing possibly in part to the difficulties in the way of technique
in weaving.
Mr. Charles W. Mead of the Depart. of Anthropology has set forth in the
Anniversary Volume of Essays presented to Professor Frederic Ward Putnam
251
CONVENTIONALIZED FISH DESIGNS ON PERUVIAN MUMMY CLOTHS
1 — Only the eyes and general form of the fish are preserved. Compare with
(4), p. 251. 2—Still more conventionalized, a key to many complex patterns as
in}(3), (4) and (5). Compare with (5), p. 251
SR Ee
a
OTHER CONVENTIONALIZED FISH DESIGNS
The first can be accepted after comparison with (2) above
and with (5), p. 251. As a result the second and third also
are revealed as fish designs. The fourth represents a_peli-
can-like bird with a fish in its beak; compare with (38)
a very _ interest-
ing explanation of
certain of these com-
plex designs on
mummy cloths. He
begins with exam-
ples in which the
fish form is not to be
doubted, and traces
the design through
others less simple
to the most com-
plex conventional-
ized patterns which
in no way suggest
the fish form, thus
showing conclusively
that many designs
Af My
Gb ON
“ais,
tn *
a
=
a ¥
RPAH Ss 6%
§ ¥
ee at Wey ‘
: ayy * dee eee +e
. errne
Cava?
ie his
WP, x 4
BA ae
Ww
ANy
7
aR ae he
MRE
. 2 OAT * : RPT a caine
sini Bhened steampeedomel core iee i hein pengeRe OMe d ses MbbE I Mex cesege Ae 9 eer ns cagpie NLS LN NANA OAS 8 F068 228 See aryN be Mb ae ponte
evssevierebenesil emis ty] Retr neeettteniseitivieesssettH Lee Ph 8 EE ON 8G SOMA Loa BL bp daaOHEORS IE eet MAMRRROR DSA E 8 Maton Sdaghrokspacenees abpoagag ssn | Lian RRORRRnE He ee Tia Diet prrne en strony ape 2882"?
adel € Be ieee <1 AOL ETEEOHTEEM PE ET RAROPNESE Hider eg MADDMFE CAE vhok cde Nan TaN PRPRTESPPODARED PPE TE Td + :
fea MRP EE
MST ienene se
nail oF
ike
PRE A OM ee PM teh ind «2p teiccarastin ts MAMMALAE A ida hiass mdr nailed od ab
ae lied - SMM PEEEL SCHEER ES AHERN RE HOA RoR
Po ee ORR as, Seu bab Morea oT
be daaased
f
- I lhsdi EPP AIL EL, SR Sremmenae ds | 8K g 9 BEES T 8d 9 1idy ERR AES aL APD HOM pderwetng be PEERS
Phi) gapogent A Sd 1d PE POA IEPEPEIAT EO He AIA EDEL EDEL RES LIRA DD OME LEPSIPLR RAMEN SEDI REED I SADA B EES
daionsedeiee cer Ve i bia todd sts FERRI AR bt been cote Oth Iie oe
vi) Sede ‘ SO PELELALSS Mae BES 11 EP BAB EREE AIRE NebG Be PEPE PAE OOEREES weve
eneas ote hs Fb sa eos Sti» aula patti tose esha agh eee ee oP a Se
tilt fiers ncemmmeettiiieitial
Wittadleario dase inn
ete ee
gence ENSEOPEPP UT OCOTEN TT: x
Abie
in
PORTIONS OF PERUVIAN MUMMY CLOTHS
Chosen to show various highly conventionalized patterns of the interlocked fis
The softened coloring of these fabrics is wonderfully beautiful
254 THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL
hitherto described as animal figures or designs derived from animal figures
are in fact conventionalized fish forms.
The theory underlying the explanation is really that of art progression
by degeneration, first promulgated in 1879 by Professor Putnam, who said:
“In the course of time, as art attained increased power of expression,
it progressed beyond mere realism and led to the representation of an object
by certain conventional characters without that close adherence to nature
which was at first necessary to a clear understanding of the idea intended to
be conveyed. Thus conventionalism began. Side by side with this con-
ventional representation of objects are found realistic forms; conservatism
which is such a strong characteristic of primitive peoples leading to both
methods of expression at the same time.”
Mr. Mead is the first to make the application of the theory to the evolu-
tion of mummy cloth designs; and he makes his point very clear. He has
had unusual opportunity for study in the Museum. He has held under
his charge for many years the Peruvian mummy cloths, which, if we except
those of Berlin, form the world’s largest collection. The collection is not
wholly known, in fact, because many mummy bundles have never been
opened, but still hold secret their fabrics of softened color and symbolic
design.
AN INDIAN WHO HELPED THE MUSEUM
By Clark Wissler
our Indian friends had set out from his tipi expecting to take a
brief journey and had taken the long one that ended in the Beyond,
the Sand Hills of his people. But a few days before there had arrived at
the Museum marked as a gift to the writer a package containing a few
specimens and carefully wrapped to themselves a few ordinary trinkets.
The contrast between this token and those usually received, for there had
been many, might have warned us had not our senses been deadened to the
signs of his people. So his last message remains unanswered. It seems
fitting, however, that some formal acknowledgment of his services to this
Museum should be made. It was chiefly through him that the important
medicine bundles in the Plains Indian collections were received, objects
no white man should handle, much less own, and certainly not expose to
public view. This collection, then, in so far as it represents the Blackfoot
Indians is a memorial to him.
He was a priest, a medicine man of the old type, almost the last his
race holds. He was born some eighty years ago into the Piegan division
N OT so very long ago there came to us the simple message that one of
ae eal oe
oo ae ee eee, Se
AN INDIAN WHO HELPED THE MUSEUM 250
of his people. At the proper age he put himself under the care of a famous
medicine man and finally inherited the rituals and formula long used by his
teacher. His face was rather feminine and commonplace, except the eyes.
No one seeing him in a ceremony when the “spirit was with him” would
ever forget the eyes that seemed to light up his whole face. Sharp, the
well-known painter, has caught them fast on his canvas. His names, as
with the Indian, changed at various periods of life. To us he wished to be
known as “The Bear-One.”
We first saw The-Bear-One in one of his ceremonies. He wore a robe
having blue emblems upon a yellow ground, a simple head-dress of running
fisher skins and carried a small feather wand. Through the open front
of the robe his body appeared painted an even yellow with star and moon
signs on the breast. This robe and its accessories may be seen in the Plains
Hall. Not long after, we called upon him. The interview was uneventful
and confined to a discussion of our purpose to record faithfully certain facts
of Indian life and to preserve certain objects pertaining thereto. While
he was respectfully attentive, he seemed not particularly interested. On
leaving we remarked that his robe would be a fitting object for our collection.
He made no reply, but a burst of laughter from his woman indicated the
absurdity of the request. We went our way and the man and his robe
were forgotten for a time. One day we received an unexpected call from
him, the woman trudging at his heels. He stated that we had asked the
robe of him, that such was quite unusual, but that our purpose was credit-
able; that we were sincere in our efforts to learn the ways of his people,
that the memory of them be not lost. Hence, we could have the robe under
certain conditions. If he gave the robe to an Indian, he would lose the
right to its ceremonial use and the protection of the powers of nature asso-
ciated therewith; but that he would part with it to us at the cost of making
another if we would follow out certain instructions as to its care at our
hands and would agree to leave behind the full right to the ceremony.
The restrictions as to the care of the robe were necessarily discussed fully,
we feeling that no agreement should be made that could not be kept. At
one stage of this he became indignant and rose to his feet with the remark,
“You came to me with a request, I have come to you with that which you
requested and now you receive me as a mere bargainer.”” A frank apology
on our part saved the day and at last common ground was found. At a
sign the woman took from under her shawl the old buffalo-hide case con-
taining the robe and placed it in my hands. The-Bear-One urged me to
open it and see that all was correct. It was. Without further comment
the pair went their way.
We went about our work and waited. The important things were yet
to be done. Unless we could get the ritual of that robe, the significance of
256 THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL
its use and its many symbols, we should fail to do what our. profession
considers most important. By and by we were invited to call on. The-
Bear-One. This time we got the head-dress and wand upon similar terms.
Then followed much visiting between us, but nothing seemed to open the
way to the information we desired. He always got away from any dis-
cussion that pointed that way. However, he gave us much important
data about the ordinary affairs of life. One day he turned to us with,
“Let us make an agreement: you always do as I say, I always do as you
say.’ It is useless to try to describe the reaction to this remark. We
stood facing each other with long unflinching gaze, each searching the
other to the depths. On our part prudence, caution, reason all shouted,
“No, never!”” Yet —so far we had failed to get a single important medi-
cine bundle, nothing except these few things of his, information concerning
them not at all; such a compact would get them all; but the price! At last
we ventured, “’To such requests as are reasonable to the minds of the asked.”
Something like reproach and pain flashed across his face, but he clasped my
hand and departed. On reflection the rashness of even this impressed us
and we resolved not to call upon him for aid except in last resort. In late
years he often spoke among his people of this compact as a bond that had
never been broken. During the years he made three formal requests of us
and we on our part two. One we turned down as impracticable, but made
a fair return of another sort. :
In association with his robe and head-dress the visitor will see other
objects, such as a drum, a whistle of human bone, and the skin of an albino
magpie, in short his complete outfit as a medicine man. The information ~
we secured in time: the dreams and visions he experienced, his fasting,
how he learned his powers. This we cannot enter upon here. Suffice it
to say that the spirit of the sun, the moon, the various stars, the earth, the
water and much that pertains to each have some place in the formula of
which the objects were, even to him, but crude symbols. He once charged
me that if these objects should be rudely handled there would follow an
annoying storm of rain and wind. Strangely enough, our workmen in the
Museum have twice shifted these objects and in each case the city was swept
by a severe storm within two days. Each time we notified our friend of
the coincidence; happenings of which he frequently spoke with a pleasure
that comes from a faith confirmed.
He believed that he had the knowledge to control the weather and other
of nature’s works. For many years he had been the leading one to keep the
days fair during the annual sun dance ceremonies. One season a young
medicine man talked about among his people that he would show his power
at the sun dance and bring the rain in spite of our friend. When the day
came the horizon was banked with clouds and mist hung upon the hillsides.
~
AN INDIAN WHO HELPED THE MUSEUM 257
The young aspirant appeared in the open among the tipis with a small pipe,
dancing, shouting and holding the pipe toward the heavy clouds. Our
friend was not idle, but after his way sat modestly in his tipi with his drum —
the one in the case — tapping it softly and mumbling his songs and formula.
All day long the clouds lowered and rose, of mist there was much, but of
rain scarcely a drop. It was an unusual day. Even the prudent old
weather prophet would have advised umbrellas and mackintoshes. At
intervals the young braggart danced in public, our friend kept to his tipi.
After two days of this uncertain weather, the sun came forth bold and
clear. Then our friend laid his drum aside and the braggart sought solace
in heavy wagers at the wheel games.
At another time our friend accepted a challenge as to which could make
it rain more heavily. His rival worked his formula and there was a pour.
Then our friend took up his drum and began. Soon there were torrents.
The waters rose in all the tipis save his own, but he continued tapping his
drum heedless of his fleeing neighbors. What matter if his tipi had been
set on a small knoll, thanks to his keen-eyed woman?
The little drum in the case could doubtless tell us many other tales,
but they are lost forever. Remember that our friend was but an old un-
washed, blanket-covered Indian addicted to the prejudice and folly of his
kind, and not the ideal these lines may entice you to imagine. Once he was
heard to say that he had lived to know deeply two white men, one daubed
in color, one otherwise; that he himself dabbled in medicine, but that each
after his way attained his ends. Yes, each has his method — art, science,
the medicine formula of the Indian.
There are other objects in the hall that stand as silent memorials to this
crude Indian and his time, each object bearing its own unwritten lore and
none the less important in science if occasionally the cause of sentiment.
ETHNOLOGICAL COLLECTION FROM CHILI
HE Museum has recently received from Dr. F. D. Aller of Gatico,
a} Chili, a valuable ethnological collection of one hundred and fifty
specimens, some of which belong to prehistoric times, others to the
sixteenth century. These specimens are much like those in the Museum’s
collection from Arica, Antofagasta and Chuquicamata, Chili. Of unusual
interest are the objects taken from a woman’s grave, in particular a work
basket of the same form as those found all over the Peruvian coast. In
the basket are feather plumes, bone charms and bone awls for basket work,
spindles wound with thread, spindle whorls and a finely netted bag used
probably for carrying coca.
Cc. W. M.
TEACHERS’ DAY
QUOTATION FROM THE TALK OF GEORGE H. SHERWOOD, CURATOR OF THE
DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
The Teachers’ Day exercises were attended and appreciated in a way gratifying to the
Museum, which on its part made every effort to set forth in detail both the institution’s
desire and its wealth of equipment for codperation with the City in educational work along
lines of natural science.— Editor.
an institution which would encourage and develop a study of
natural science. I believe that they had in mind an intimate
relation between the Museum and the public schools, and our Trustees have
faithfully carried out this idea of the Founders. The work of the Depart-
ment of Education in this connection falls under two heads: first, what we
are prepared to do for the teachers in the building, and second, what we
are prepared to do in the schools.
Considering first the work in the building.— We give every fall and
spring to school children a series of lectures prepared with the idea of
supplementing the work in your class rooms. Topics are chosen for the
most part by the teachers and are fully illustrated. Most of you, I know,
are sending your pupils to these. In addition to this, largely through the
generosity of Dr. A. S. Bickmore, who was founder and first curator of
our Department of Education, we have a large series of lantern slides,
between thirty and forty thousand. Any teacher may come to our build-
ing, select slides, make an appointment, bring her class to the building
and there give a lecture on the subject she has chosen. The Museum
furnishes lecture room, slides and operator and if the teacher does not care
to do the talking will provide also a person to do the talking.
We have started in a small way a room for the children. In this room
are modelling tools and drawing instruments and animals of interest to the
children. The purpose is recreative, but a competent instructor is always
there to direct the play and recreation. And more recently we have opened
a room for the blind. In that room are objects which can be handled and
which, through the coédperation of the Library for the Blind, have been
labelled in raised type.
Second, the work done in the schools.—I refer to the circulating collec-
tions sent out to the public schools. When the Department of Education
of New York City placed in your hands its first syllabus of nature study, it
made no provision to supply you with material. Asa result we had numer-
€ NE of the purposes of the Founders of this Museum was to establish
258
ARCTIC EXPEDITION 259
ous applications for assistance. Director Bumpus felt that here was an
opportunity to carry out the idea of the Founders and prepared ten small
cases of birds. These were sent to the schools. From that beginning has
grown the work of to-day, but instead of ten cases there are more than four
hundred cases and we are supplying monthly nearly four hundred schools
of the city. You are better able than I to judge of the practical use of
these collections. We have felt encouraged by a letter that came from
a little girl in one of the East side schools. The teacher had evidently |
used a collection of our birds for a lesson in language which had taken
the form of a letter to the Director of the Museum: “My dear Director
Bumpus, I am very glad that you sent the birds to us. We have enjoyed
them very much. I think they are all beautiful, but of all the birds I
have studied the one I like the best is the English sparrow because it is the
only one I have ever seen.”
NEWS FROM THE ARCTIC EXPEDITION
the Stefansson-Anderson Expedition. That from Mr. Stefansson
was written April 25 at a place fifty miles on the way to the Copper-
mine and holds out bright prospects for the journey, in part because he had
fortunately been able to purchase fifty pounds of pemmican from a sailor
at Cape Parry. The expedition was about to start on the remaining
three hundred miles but with only three Eskimo assistants, great difficulty
having been experienced in getting any Eskimos to go because of fear of
violence from the Coronation Gulf people. Of these three he writes that
Natkutjiak is the sort who will go anywhere, Tannaumirk will follow any-
where and Pannigabluk, the woman, is used to starving, having been near
death from hunger half a dozen times. The country through which they
will pass has many lakes and rivers unknown to geographers. Mr. Stefdns-
son is supplied with charts of the region made by Dr. Richardson in 1846 and
he considers them authoritative, saying, “They omit many things, but do
not put down things not here. For the huge non-existent R. la Ronciére,
Dr. Richardson is not to blame. His charts are innocent of it, though all
our newer maps have it.” |
The letter from Dr. Anderson was written August 13. It announces
that at last he has in hand the supplies sent by the Museum in 1908 and 1909.
He had not yet heard from Mr. Stefansson, who, however, had told him not
to worry if he did not hear until Christmas,
Se the last issue of the JouRNAL, letters have been received from
THE NEW LOON GROUP
HE loon’s penetrating call, reported to sound like demoniac laughter,
is well known to people visiting northern lakes. Few see the bird,
however. If they do catch a brief glimpse of it, they decide that
its neat tailor-like appearance, with head black, breast clear white, back
closely polka-dotted with white, belies the weirdness of its call. Loons are
noted for skill in diving and swimming, being able to proceed rapidly under
‘ 4
A PORTION OF THE NEW HABITAT BIRD GROUP
several fathoms of water. It is said that they have been caught with hooks
set for trout eighty feet below the surface in New York lakes. It is known
that many loons winter at sea fifty miles or more from land.
Two loons are shown in the new habitat bird group which is reproduced
from studies made in June, 1909, on the New Hampshire shore of Lake
260
WOMEN NOT CONSERVATIONISTS 261
Umbagog. One bird is standing erect over its two large eggs in a nest of
leaves on the ground; the other just coming up from the water is half hidden
by a ridge of moss. That it is June is proclaimed in the foreground of the
group by a clump of blossoming viburnum, by tall purple rhodora and on
the ground waxen flowers of bunchberry. Rocks at the edge of the lake
make gradual the transition to the painted background where the artist,
Mr. Hobart Nichols, has portrayed a portion of the lake, its irregular |
evergreen-covered projections of land and its still reaches of water leading
to a farther shore and mountains in the distance.
This group is the last in the series of habitat bird groups installed under
the supervision of Mr. Frank M. Chapman, the habitat being the work of
Mr. J. D. Figgins and Mr. A. E. Butler. That the loon group has been
made possible is due to the generosity of the benefactors to whom the
Museum is indebted for the whole series. '
WOMEN NOT CONSERVATIONISTS
From an Address by Frank M. Chapman
NSECTS cost a loss to our forests of $100,000,000 a year. ‘The Biologi-
| eal Survey of the United States has shown that the stomach of a
single cedar bird contained 100 canker worms, that of a cuckoo 250
tent caterpillars, of a chickadee 454 plant lice, of a flicker 1,000 chinch
bugs, and of a scarlet tanager 630 gypsy moth caterpillars. A tanager
eats moth caterpillars at the rate of 2,100 an hour. A Maryland yellow-
throat ate 3,500 plant lice in forty minutes.
Yet chief among the enemies of the birds and therefore of the forests is
woman. In shopping districts where I have made ornithological studies
on women’s hats, I found woodpeckers, flycatchers, orioles, bobolinks,
meadow larks, tree and white-throated sparrows, snow buntings, waxwings,
swallows, tanagers, warblers, thrashers, robins and bluebirds by scores and
hundreds. ‘The destructive power of fashion is shown in the case of the
ptarmigan grouse. In winter it is snowy white and its plumage may be
dyed any color. The flesh of the birds is good food, but the food demand
did not drain the supply. When the feathers became fashionable, however,
2,000,000 were killed in four years; one shipment contained ten tons of
wings. Twenty thousand paradise birds are shipped annually. Of the
thousands of herons which glorified our marshes only a few remain since
the egret plumes became the fashion. In one year Venezuela exported
1,538,000 plumes of herons, and these figures do not take into account
possibly double that number of young herons which starved in their nests
for lack of care.
>
262 THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL
MUSEUM NEWS NOTES
THE following have been elected recently to membership in the Museum:
Life Members, Messrs. BenyAMin WatwortH ArNoLD, Dickson Q.
Brown, CHarLes W. Harkness, D. P. Kineastey and T. B. Parker,
Captain JOHN J. PHELPS and CoLoNEL Rosert M. THompson; Sustaining
Member, Mr. Ratpo Wurts-Dunpas; and Annual Members, His Ex-
CELLENCY WiLuIAM H. Tarr, Messrs. Wiuuiam A. ADRIANCE, MarsHAL
CHANDLER Bacon, F. O. Bezner, L. F. Bratingr, W. B. CoGSweti, FRANK
R. Corb.ey, JULIEN T. Davies, J. BensAMIN Drumick, F. N. DousBLepay,
H. C. Drayton, Witit1AM SEYMour Epwarps, THomas W. Farnam,
WiuuraM T. Fioyp, J. R. Guappine, Henry J. S. Hay, Poitier W. Henry,
A. F. Hotpen, L. E. Hoitpen, Jonn H. Isetin, Epwarp H. Kipper, Orro
R. Korcui, TowNsEND LAWRENCE, ARTHUR LEHMAN, ARTHUR LINCOLN,
Lucius N. Lirravrer, R. S. Loverr, ALFRED BisHop Mason, STEPHEN O.
Mercatr, RoperT GRIER Monrok, J. SEAVER Pace, Epwarp C. PERKINS,
GerorGE E. Perkins, Lewis A. Piatt, Grorce E. ScHANcK, ALFRED L.
SELIGMAN, GEORGE St. JOHN SHEFFIELD, Louis Morris Starr, SAMUEL
THORNE, Jr., THomas G. WASHBURN, ALEXANDER M. Waite, Luctus WIL-
MERDING, ORME WILSON, JR., and JoHN YarD; Rev. Dr. GrorceE C.
YeIsLey, Drs. CHARLES L. Dana and Jonn E. WiLson, GENERAL CHARLES
F. Ror and Mmes. CHaries Ottis KIMBALL, JoHN Murray MITCHELL,
and E. L. Breese Norrie.
Tue following members of the Board of Trustees contributed toward
the expense of Teachers’ Day: Messrs. Cleveland H. Dodge, J. Pierpont
Morgan, Adrien Iselin, Jr., Seth Low, J. Hampden Robb and Henry F.
Osborn.
At the Quarterly Meeting of the Board of Trustees of the Museum held
on November 14 the following changes were made in the scientific staff:
Dr. Louis Hussakof was appointed Associate Curator of Fossil Fishes;
Mr. John T. Nichols, Assistant Curator of Recent Fishes;~and Dr. William
K. Gregory; Assistant in the Department of Vertebrate Palzeontology.
THREE members of the Scientific Staff, Dr. J. A. Allen, Curator of the
Department of Mammalogy, Mr. Frank M. Chapman, Curator and Mr. W.
DeW. Miller, Assistant in the Department of Ornithology, attended the
28th annual meeting of the American Ornithologists’ Union in Washington,
November 15-17. Dr. Allen was the first President of the Union, serving
for seven years (1883-1891); Mr. Chapman is now first Vice-President.
i ee eee
- MUSEUM NEWS NOTES 263
Mr. Barnum Brown of the Department of Vertebrate Paleontology
has recently returned from an expedition to Montana which completes the
work on the Laramie formation begun in 1902 and carried on continuously
since that time except during the year 1907. The most important specimen
obtained was an unusually complete skeleton of Trachodon. As a result of
the work in Montana the Museum will be able to restore and mount all of
the chief representatives of dinosaur life during the Laramie Cretaceous
period which marked the close of dinosaur life in the United States.
Tue NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF AUDUBON SOCIETIES met at the Museum
October 25. Besides other business a resolution was passed expressing to
Mrs. Dutcher the gloom cast upon the meeting by the illness of William
Dutcher, the Association’s President. The lecture in the evening was
given by Professor John B. Watson of Johns Hopkins University on the
“Facilities for the Study of Animal Behavior on the Dry Tortugas Bird
Reservation.”
Mr. W. DeW. MILLER acted recently as expert ornithologist to pass
on the legality of sale of about one hundred species of birds submitted by
milliners of the State. Mr. Miller identified the skins and reported that
under the ruling of the Shea bill passed by the last Legislature, forty-three
among them could not be used on women’s hats. Among these were
Bohemian waxwing, snow bunting, swift, magpie, sooty and white terns,
green heron and white heron, screech owl, condor, jay and skylark.
Toe Museum Liprary lacks for its files volumes II to VIII inclusive
of the JourRNAL. The librarian would be grateful if Members who have
any of these numbers and do not care to keep them would send them
to the Museum.
LECTURE ANNOUNCEMENTS
MEMBER’S COURSE
The following illustrated lectures of the course remain to be given to Members of the
Museum and persons holding complimentary tickets given them by Members.
Thursday evenings at 8:15 o’clock. Doors open at 7:45.
December 1— Mr. Frank M. CHapman, “From Sea-level to Snow-line
in Vera Cruz, Mexico.”
December 8— Mr. James L. Cuark, “Snap Shots from British East
Africa.”
December 15 — Dr. Piiny E. Gopparp, “ Nomadics of the Southwest.”
December 22 — Mr. Roy C. ANpREws. Subject to be announced.
264 THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL
PUPIL’S COURSE
These lectures are open to the pupils of the public schools when accompanied by. their
teachers and to the children of Members of the Museum on presentation of Membership
tickets.
Lectures begin at 4 o'clock.
December 2 — Mrs. Aangs L. Rorster, “Children of All Nations.”
December 5 — Mr. WALTER GRANGER, “ Transportation: Past and Present.”
December 7 — Dr. Louis Hussakor, “A Trip to Europe.”
December 9 — Mr. Barnum Brown, “Life on the Plains.”
PEOPLE’S COURSE
Given in codperation with the City Department of Education.
Saturday evenings at 8:15 o’clock. Doors open at 7:30.
The last three of a course of five lectures on “ Biology” by Mr. BENJAMIN
C. GRUENBERG. Illustrated by stereopticon views.
December 3 — “Life Defensive: Resisting the Environment.”
December 10 — “Life Victorious: Mastering the Environment.”
December 17 — “ Heredity.”
Tuesday evenings at 8:15 o’clock. Doors open at 7:30. Illustrated.
December 6 — Mr. CHartes T. Hii1, “The Post-Roads of the High Alps.”
December 13 — Dr. Jonn C. Bowker, “The Passion Play.”
LEGAL HOLIDAY COURSE
Fully illustrated. Open free to the public. Tickets not required.
Lectures begin at 3:15 p. mM. Doors open at 2:45 p. mM.
December 26— Dr. Lovuts Hussaxor, “The Fish and Fisheries of the
Southern States.”
January 2— Mr. Roy W. Miner, “Corals and Coral Islands.”
February 22 — Pror. C-E. A. Winstow, “ Insect-Carriers of Disease.”
Public meetings of the New York Academy of Sciences and its Affiliated
Societies will be held at the Museum according to the usual schedule.
Programmes of meetings are published in the weekly Bulletin of the Academy.
The American [luseum Journal -
Mary Cyntruia Dickerson, Editor.
FranNK M. CHAPMAN,
Lovis P. GRATACAP, Advisory Board.
Witiiam K. GReEGoRY.
Subscription, One Dollar per year. Fifteen cents per copy.
Entered as second-class matter January 12, 1907, at the Post-office at Boston, Mass.
Act of Congress, July 16, 1894.
of
.
= ine ae tee
~vieg: ee
ae
a?
CF Aad
Be
fess
oy
Natural history
N3
v.10
Biological
& Medical
Serials
PLEASE DO NOT REMOVE
CARDS OR SLIPS FROM THIS POCKET
UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO LIBRARY
a ee
Soo ete
Pease
am
BS : a
ace aes Lae oe
os
in
%
ie
a5 Sere
Sages seas Sie Sr)
bar
oa
| S a
is
Pee as
Live Music Archive
Librivox Free Audio
Metropolitan Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Internet Arcade
Console Living Room
Books to Borrow
Open Library
TV News
Understanding 9/11