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THE LIBRARY 


THE 
AMERICAN MUSEUM 
JOURNAL 


VOLUME X, 1910 


NEW YORK 
PUBLISHED BY THE 
AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISLORY 


1910 


Committee on Publication 


January—June 
EDMUND OTIS HOVEY, Editor 
MARY CYNTHIA DICKERSON, Associate Editor 
June—December 


MARY CYNTHIA DICKERSON, Editor 


FRANK M. CHAPMAN | 
LOUISSE: GRATACAP. Advisory Board 
WILLIAM K. GREGORY $$! 


American Museum of Natural History 
Seventy-seventh Street and Central Park West, New York City 


BOARD OF TRUSTEES 


President 
Henry Fatrrietp OsBorn 
Second Vice-President 
CLEVELAND H. DopGE 


First Vice-President 
J. Prereont MorGan 


Treasurer Secretary 


CHARLES LANIER J. Hamppen Ross 
Ex Officio 
Tue Mayor or THE Crry or New Yor«K 
THE CoMPTROLLER OF THE City or NEw York 
THE PRESIDENT OF THE DEPARTMENT OF PARKS 


Class of 1910 
J. HAMPDEN ROBB 
ARTHUR CURTISS JAMES 


PERCY R. PYNE 


JOHN B. TREVOR 


J. PIERPONT MORGAN, Jr 


Class of 1911 
CHARLES LANIER 
ANSON W. HARD 

SETH LOW 


Class of 1912 
ALBERT S. BICKMORE 
ADRIAN ISELIN, Jr. 


Class of 1913 
GEORGE 8. BOWDOIN 
AD) Oe WANE 


WILLIAM ROCKEFELLER 
GUSTAV E. KISSEL 


THOMAS DEWITT CUYLER 
OGDEN MILLS 


CLEVELAND H. DODGE 
ARCHER M. HUNTINGTON 


FELIX M. WARBURG 


Class of 1914 


JOSEPH H. CHOATE 
HENRY F. OSBORN 


J. PIERPONT MORGAN 


JAMES DOUGLAS 


GEORGE W. WICKERSHAM 


EXECUTIVE OFFICERS 


Director 
Hermon C. Bumpus 


Assistant-Secretary and Assistant- Treasurer 
y 
GerorGE H. SHERWOOD 


Scientific Staff 


DIRECTOR 
Hermon Carry Bumpus, Ph.D., Se.D., LL.D. 


GEOLOGY AND INVERTEBRATE PALHONTOLOGY 
Epmunp Oris Hovey, A.B., Ph.D., Curator 


MINERALOGY 
L. P. Gratacar, Ph.B., A.B., A.M., Curator 
Georce F. Kunz, A.M., Ph.D., Honorary Curator of Gems 


INVERTEBRATE ZOOLOGY 


Prof. Hmnry EH. Crampron, A.B., Ph.D., Curator 
Roy W. Miner, A.B., Assistant Curator 
Frank H. Lutz, A.B., A.M., Ph.D., Assistant Curator 
L. P. Graracap, Ph.B., A.B., A.M., Curator of Mollusca 
WiLLIAM BruTENMULLER, Associate Curator of Lepidoptera 


Prof. WrLturamM Morton Wuertmr, Ph.D., Honorary Curator of Social Insects 
ALEXANDER PETRUNKEVITCH, Ph.D., Honorary Curator of Arachnida 
Prof. Aaron L. TrEapWweELut, B.S., M.S., Ph.D., Honorary Curator of Annulata 


MAMMALOGY AND ORNITHOLOGY 
Prof. .J. A. Anuen, Ph.D., Curator 
Frank M. CHapman, Curator of Ornithology 
Roy C. Anprews, A.B., Assistant in Mammalogy 
W. De W. Mitier, Assistant in Ornithology 


VERTEBRATE PALHONTOLOGY 


Prot. Henry Farrrietp Ossporn, A.B., Se.D., LL.D., D.Sc., Honorary Curator 
W. D. Mattuew, 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 
Wiutiiam K. Grecory, A. B., A. M., Ph.D., Assistant 


Louis Hussaxor, B.S., Ph.D., Associate Curator of Fossil Fishes 
Joun T. Nicuors, A. B., Assistant Curator of Recent Fishes 


ANTHROPOLOGY 


CuaRK WissterR, A.B., A.M., Ph.D., Curator 
Puiny E. Gopparp, A.B., A.M., Ph.D., Associate Curator 
Haran I. Smitru, Associate Curator 
Rosert H. Lowier, A.B., Ph.D., Assistant Curator 
Hersert J. Sprinpen, A.B., A.M., Ph.D., Assistant Curator 
CHartes W. Mean, Assistant 
ALANSON SKINNER, Assistant 


PHYSIOLOGY 
Prof. Ratpa W. Tower, A.B., A.M., Ph.D., Curator 


UB KC EE AUG ILE 
Prof. CHarLEs Epwarp Amory WInsLow, 8.B., M.S., Curator 


WOODS AND FORESTRY 
Mary Cyntuia Dickerson, B.S., in charge 


BOOKS AND PUBLICATIONS 
Prof. RatpH W. Tower, A.B., A.M., Ph.D., Curator 


ANTHONY WoopwWarbD, Ph.D., in charge of Maps and Charts 


PUBLIC EDUCATION 


Prof. Atprert S. Bickmore, B.S., Ph.D., LL.D., Curator Emeritus 
Grorcre 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 Peoples.’ 
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, 


Paleon- 


, 


243 

Ceremonial Canoe Scene in the North 
Pacific Hall, 227 

CuHarMan, Frank M. Protective Colora- 


tion in the Habitat Groups of Birds, 
195 

Chapman, Frank M., 87, 139, 191, 261 

Chili, Ethnological Collection from, 257 

Cuoate, 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 
Museum, 59 

Congo Expedition, 113, 147 

Congress of Americanists. 190, 222 


of the 


““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 CynrTutia. 
of Africa, 147 
Herculean Task in Museum Exhibition, 
227 
Dodge Expedition to Mississippi, 121 
Elephant Head, Transferred from Museum 
to Bronx Park, 113 
Emmons, GreorGce 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. Hidatsa, 190 
Southwest. Anthropological 
1325 2211 
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, Witu1am H. Response to Com- 
memoration Address, 84 
Gifts to the Museum, 8, 22, 26, 52, 
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 


Address by 


In the Heart 


Work, 


53, 86, 


vi INDEX 


Horticultural Society of New York, 114, 221 

Hovry, Epmunpb Orts. Robert Parr Whit- 
field, 119 

In the Heart of Africa, 147 

Indian Trides 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, 28, 54, 87, 115, 
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 

Marruew, 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 
Group, L106 

Miner, Roy W., 190 

Mineral Accessions, 19 

Mississippi, Dodge Expedition, 121 

Monsen, Frederick I., 52 

Museum News Notes, 26, 52, 86, 
187, 220, 262 

National Association of Audubon Societies 
114, 263 

Navajo Blankets, 201 

NeEANDROSS, SicurRD. The Work on the 
Ceremonial Canoe, 238 

New Field for Museum Work, 198 

Nicuouts, Jonn 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 


Harbor 


112, 139, 


“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, 2: 
Scientific Staff, Changes in, 85, 188, 262 
Seaman, Dr. Louis L., 140 
SHERWOOD, GrorGe H. Quotation 
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 
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 Northwest 
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 
Wisster, CuarKk. An Indian Who Helped 
the Museum, 254 
Women Not Conservationists, 261 


Address by 


from 


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. 
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, 
Zoli, 2Zo2 
Fisheries at Stanleyville, 155 
Fishing Scene in Raiatea. Society Islands, 


Portrait, 77 


A Suggestion 


127/ 

Forest, 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 


““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 
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 


the North 


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 
Mohali 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 
1908, 73 
Museum Caravan Crossing a River, 164 
Natives of Stanleyville Playing a Game, 165 
Navajo Blanket, Weaving a, 206 
Navajo Blankets: 
Attractive Blanket 
lection, 207 
Beautiful Saddle Blanket from the Sage 
Collection, 209 
Chief's Blanket of 
lection, 204 
Gem of the Lenders’ Collection, 204 


Viewed from the 


in 


in the Sage Col- 


the Lenders’ Col- 


vill 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. 
15 
Opunohu Bay, Looking South in. 
Society Islands, 123 
“*Packing’’ on the Missanabie River, 11 
Pagopago Harbor. Tutuila, Samoan _ Is- 
lands, 129 
Papeete and the 
Tahiti, 12: 
Peruvian Mummy 
253 
Plesiosaur, American. 
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 
Avakubi, 168 
River Boat on the Way to Stanleyville. 154 
Savali, The Cone of, 173 


Lenders’ 


Fort Hope, 


Moorea 


Northwestern 


Cloths, Portions of, 


Elasmosaurus, 247 


Solenhofen, 


from 


Part of 


Crater Margin. From the Seaward 
Side, 175 
Ruins of Stone Houses, 175 
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 
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 


Upper 


THE 
AMERICAN JIUSEUM 


~ JOURNAL 


EXCAVATING A TYRANNOSAURUS SKULL, MONTANA. 


Volume X January, 1910 Number 1 


Published monthly from October to May inclusive by 
Tue AmeRIcAN Museum or NatTurAL History 


New York City 


American Museum of Natural History 
Seventy-seventh Street and Central Park West, New York City 


BOARD OF TRUSTEES 


President 
Henry FAtrRFIELD OsBORN 


First Vice-President 
J. Prerpont MorGan 
Treasurer 
CHARLES LANIER 


Second Vice-President 
CLEVELAND H. Dopes 
Secretary 
J. HamppEn Ross 


Ex Officio 


Tue Mayor oF THE Ciry or New York 
THE COMPTROLLER OF THE City or NEw York 
THE PRESIDENT OF THE DEPARTMENT OF PARKS 


Class of 1909 


JOSEPH H. CHOATE 
HENRY F. OSBORN 


Class of 1910 


J. PIERPONT MORGAN 


J. HAMPDEN ROBB 
ARTHUR CURTISS JAMES 


PERCY R. PYNE 
JOHN B. TREVOR 


Class of 1911 


CHARLES LANIER 
ANSON W. HARD 


WILLIAM ROCKEFELLER 
GUSTAV E. KISSEL 


SETH LOW 
Class of 1912 


D. O. MILLS 
ARCHIBALD ROGERS 


ALBERT S. BICKMORE 
CORNELIUS C. CUYLER * 


ADRIAN ISELIN, Jr. 
Class of 1913 


GEORGE 8. BOWDOIN 
A. D. JUILLIARD 


CLEVELAND H. DODGE 
ARCHER M. HUNTINGTON 


EXECUTIVE OFFICERS 


Director 
Hermon C. Bumpus 


Assistant-Secretary and Assistant-Treasurer 
GrorGE H. SHERWOOD 


THe AMERICAN Museum oF Naturat History was established in 1869 to promote 
the Natural Sciences and to diffuse a general knowledge of them among the people, and 
it is in cordial codperation with all similar institutions throughout the world. The Museum 
authorities are dependent upon private subscriptions and the dues from members for pro- 
curing needed additions to the collections and for carrying on explorations in America 


and other parts of the world. 


The membership fees are, 


Annual Memberspeccececceae se) LO 
Sustaining Members (Annual). 25 
Tbifer Members crac avtarclenwie 100 


Hello ws:S.. Fa... wiels cists, 2 acuta eee 
PatrONs saiiera cece reno ieraiahelane 1000 
Benefactors (Gift or bequest) 50,000 


All money received from membership fees is used for increasing the collections and 


for developing the educational work of the Museum. 
The Museum is open free to the public on every day in the year. 


* Deceased 


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VNVLNOW ‘W3auO LYSAETIO ‘SNOILSYONOD GNV ANOLSGNWS 1VSV8 ‘SAVY19 YNVSONIG YaddN G 


The American Museum Journal 


VoL, X JANUARY, 1910 Nox 


THE TYRANNOSAURUS 


N the southeast corner of the Dinosaur Hail are the remains of the 
largest beast of prey that ever lived. This is the Tyrannosaurus, 
the great Carnivorous Dinosaur of the Cretaceous Period. Forty 

feet in length, with huge and massive skuil, the jaws four feet jong 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 vertebrae 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 1908S he was so fortunate as to 
find a skeleton in splendid preservation, and perfect except that it lacked 
the iimbs and the tip of the tail. he 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. 
{xtracting 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 T'yrannosaur 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 ‘MODSV19 
40 HLNOS SATIW ALYOS WASNO ANG DIG ‘dN N3AxAVL 3g lOl AGVSa GNV G3YSAOONN NOLSISYS SNYNVSONNVYAL P 


WORKING ON SKULL OF TYRANNOSAUFUS. QU4RRY FORTY MILES SOUTH OF 
GLASGOW, MONTANA 


BOXING PELVIS OF TYRANNOSAURUS. TWO TONS IN WEIGHT BIG DRY CREEK, F!FTY 
MILES SOUTH OF GLASGOW, MONTANA 


WNASNW NI 11NyXsS GSLNNOW 


“SNUNVSONNVYAL 


9 


WAASNW AHL NI SNAWIOSdS WOYS NOILVYOLSSY 


“SNYNVSONNVYAL 


WE 


W+- 


8 THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL 


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 


eroup cons'sting of the two 
D 


from the other, it is intended to make a g 


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 usualiy 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 Allosaurus of the 
Jurassic, the Tyrannosaurus 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. he great horns 
and bony neck-frill of Triceratops and the armor-plated head and body 
of Ankylosaurus were developed no doubt to resist the attacks of the 
huge Tyrannosaur. Other contemporary dinosaurs like Trachodon 
were unarmored but were evidentiy 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. GEorGE S. Bowboln, one of the Trustees, has presented to the 
Museum a fine o'd native basket from the Hope Isiands in the South 
Pacifie 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 

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 decidediy hostile and threatening after they learned that 
our object was to study their manners and customs, so that, aithough 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 paddiing found that the guide did not remember the route. 
We were obliged to return to the Lac, which we reached a littie 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 ayail, at ieast we can truthfully say 
that we have feit no iil effects from his charms as yet. The foilowing 
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 


arried 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 


GOVERNMENT PAYMASTER DISTRIBUTING ANNUITIES TO THE FORT HOPE INDIANS 


fee ieee 


FEAST FOLLOWING THE RECEIPT OF ANNUITIES 


The men form the inner cirele, while the women and children sit outside 


OJIBWAY AND CREE OF CENTRAL CANADA 13 


gathered in camp around the Hudson’s Bay Company’s and Revillon 
Fréres’ stores. ‘These Indians aiso were afraid of us, as they had been 
warned by messages sent from Lac Seui as to our kidnapping propen- 
sities. I aimost immediately got myself into difficulty by giving a ten 
cent piece to an attractive baby. A council was catied at once to de- 
termine whether I was attempting to charm the chiid to death or not. 
But the missonary and the Hudson’s Bay and Reviilon 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 oid fellow was hunting some 
distance from the Fort but put in his appearance a few days iater, 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 
a rival whom we knew the old fellow did not 


another medicine-man 
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. ‘loward 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 piate. 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. I am 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 


ANGLICAN CHURCH MISSION AND INDIAN VILLAGE. FORT HOPE, KEEWATIN 


THE MISSION SCHOOL AT FORT HOPE 


Ojibway children ave still taught their own language by the English missionaries 


14 


ty 


ee eee ee 


OJIBWAY LADS. FORT HOPE 


OJIBWAY MOTHERS AND BABIES. FORT HOPE 


15 


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 Le 


and dances. At this time the Indians received the only medicai attention 
which they wiil 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 smaii 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 fei- 
low. ‘But she is too 
young,’ I replied. 
“Phat makes no dif- 
ference, my friend,” 
said Rabbit Man. 
“Take her now. Bring 
her up right. She will 
love you all the more 


’ 


when she gets older.” 


I finally explained that 
I was a poor young 


WIGWAM AT FORT HOPE 


man and did not catch The bark wigwam is still occasionally constructed by 
many beaver and was the Eastern Ojibway. ; 
not in any position at 

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 
‘ranoe. 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 buil 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. Incidentaily, 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 
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 handsome 
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 


HERE are about ten thousand species of insects occurring within 
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 


Ayooog [ROBO[OWLOJUAT YLOR MON OY} JO WOOY SuMoopY “Sjoosuy [vIO'T JO UOTeT]O,) 


AY3T1IVS LOASNI 4O 30IS HLYON 0G 


ere erreeeee 


= 
~ 
= 
i 
= 
Lt 
as 
* 
= 
Li 
a 
Cl 
~ 


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 coilections the species which are 
lacking and seeing that all specimens are correctiy 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 coilec- 
tion now contains one hundred eleven, whereas it formerly contained 
only eighty-three. Messrs. Comstock, Poilard 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 wiil be seen that with 
the exception of the Diptera and the parasitic Hymenoptera the local 
insect collection is in the hands of men weil competent to take care of 
them. 

In connection with the work and to facilitate the study of the local 
coilection some important alterations have been made on the north side 
of the gallery of the Insect Hail. 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 iockers where students may keep their 
material. Visitors desiring to consult the coliection now may do so by 
asking the attendant to unlock the cabinets for them. The valuable 


22 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 formeriy occupied by the collection 
| \ : 
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. 
gs } gS) 


RECENT ACCESSIONS TO THE DEPARTMENT OF GEOLOGY 


HE Department of Geoiogy is fortunate in having received recently 
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 
no mining has been done since. Recentiy one of the mine officials 
was examining these old workings and on top of the refuse on the floor 
of the galiery discovered the fossilized stump of a tree in perfect condi- 
tion. ‘The trunk was probabiy more than two feet in diameter and the 
spread of the remains of the roots is more than ten feet across. ‘he 
stump evidentiy 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 dropped 
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 codperation 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. 


SCIEN TIFIC PUBLICATIONS EN 1909 93 


SCIENTIFIC PUBLICATIONS DURING 1909 


HE scientific publications of the Museum consist of the Mrmorrs, 
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, Hoiland, 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. 


Vox. IV, *Part VIL— The Shuswap. By James Terr. Pp. 443-789, pll. 
Mlil-xiv and 82 text figures. 

Vout. VIII, *Parr I]1— The Kwakiutl of Vancouver Island. By Franz 
Boas. Pp. 301-522, pll. xxvii—li and 142 text figures. 

Vou. XI, *Part IIl— 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 DrEaANn. Pp. 209-287, pll. xxvi-xli and 
65 text figures. 

Vou. LX, 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, Votumr XXVI. 


(Sixty-five plates and 119 text figures.) 
PAGE 
Art. I.— Observations upon the Genus Ancodon. By W. D. 


MATTHEW . 3 , ; : : ; 5 l 
Art. II.— Fossil Diptera from Florissant, Colorado. By 

T. D. A. CockERELL. (Plate I and one _ text 

figure.) : : : : 9 


24 THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL 


Arr. I1J.— Faunal Horizons of the Washakie Formation of 

Southern Wyoming. By WaLrerR GRANGER. 

(Plates II-VI and three text figures.) : 

Art. IV.— The Washakie, a Voleanic Ash Formation. By 

W. J. SINCLAIR : 

ArT. V.i— The Species of Holcaspis ay ine Galls. 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.) : : 

Arr. 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. [X.— Notes on Alaskan Mammoth Expe inion of 1907 
and 1908. By L. S. QuackEeNnBusH. (Plates 
XVII-XXV.) ; : , : 

Arr. X.— A Note on the Dolphins (Coryphana equisetis and 
Coryphena hippurus). By Joun ‘TREADWELL 
Nicuots. (Two text figures.) , : 

Art. XI.— The North American Species of Diastrophus ae 
their Galls. By Witi1am BEUTENMULLER. 
(Plates XX VI-XXIX.) 5 5 4 

Art. X11 Mammals from British East Africa, Collected by 
the Tjader Expedition of 1906. By J. A. ALLEN. 
(‘Ten text figures) ; 

Arr. XIII.— A Contribution to the Knowledge of the Ouhowien 
of Sumatra. By James A. G. Reun. (Thirty- 
one text figures.) : ; 

Art. XIV.— Observations on the Habits of ae Tale: dnd 
Humpback Whales of the Eastern North Pacific. 
By Roy C. AnprEews. (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. Burior, D:Se., FBS. 

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 


~I 
“I 


87 


131 


135 


147 


213 


SCIENTIFIC PUBLICATIONS IN 1909 


Arr. XVIII.— The Species of Biorhiza, Philonix and Allied Gen- 
era and their Galls. By Witiiam BEuTEN- 
MULLER. (Plates XLI-XLIII.) : ; : 
Art. XIX.— A New Goblin Shark, Scapanorhynchus jordani, 
from Japan. By L. Hussaxor. (Plate XLIV 
and three text figures.) 4 ; 
Art. XX.— The Systematic Relationships of Certain American 
Arthrodires. By L. Hussaxor. (Plate XLV 
and eight text figures.) : : ‘ 
Further Notes on Eubalana glacialis (Bonn.). By 
Roy C. ANprEws. (Plates XLVI-L.) 
Arr. XXII.— Some North American Cynipidee and their Galls. 
By Witi1am BEUTENMULLER. (Plate LI.) 
Art. XXIII.— Modern Laboratory Methods in Vertebrate Palee- 
ontology. By A. Hermann, Chief Preparator. 
(Plates LIT-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 Carboniferous 
Amphibia in the American Museum of Natural 
History. By Roy L. Moopm. (Plates LVIII- 
LXV and two text figures.) 4 4 ; 
Art. XXVI.— Haplosyllis cephalata as an Ectoparasite. By 
Aaron L. TREADWELL. (‘T'wo text figures.) 
Art. XXVII— A Pliocene Fauna from Western Nebraska. By 
W. D. Marrsew and Harotp J. Cook. 
(Twenty-seven text figures.) : 
Arr. XXVIII.— New Carnivorous Mammals from the Fayfim 
Oligocene, Egypt. By Henry Farrrietp Os- 
BORN. (Nine text figures.) : : : ; 
Arr. XXIX.— Mammals from Shen-si Province, China. By J. A. 
ALLEN 


Art. XXI. 


ANTHROPOLOGICAL PAPERS, Vouume II. 


Part II.— The Northern Shoshone. By Rosperr H. Lowir. 
(Plate I and twenty text figures.) : : 

Part III.— Notes on New Collections. Edited by CLARK WISSLER. 
(Plates II-X XIII and twenty-three text figures.) 


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 ie and one 


map.) ; : : 1 
Parr Il.— Aboriginal Rema on Siena Stanek “By JAMES 
Kk. FincH : ; : ; : : A 65 


Part III]._— The Indians of W Aeron Heights. By ReGinaup 
PELHAM BOoLTon. (Plates XPSkVili vand six 


text figures.) . : : : : 14 
Part IV.— Archeology of Manhattan Island. By ALANSoNn 
SKINNER. (Nine text figures. 5 : ; «| dels 
oo} 


Part V.— The Rock-Shelters of Armonk, New York. By M. R. 
HARRINGTON. (Plates XVIII-XX and seven text 


figures). : : : » SS 
Part VI.— Indian Rock- Sheler in Notion Mee Jersey and 

Southern New York. By Max ScHRABISCH . eae 
Part VIJ.— Ancient Shell Heaps near New York City. By M. R. 

Harrinaton. (Three text figures.) ; : - . £69 


Part VIII.— Notes on the Mohegan and Niantic Indians. By F. G. 
SPpEcK. (Plates XXI-XXIV and four text figures.) 183 

Part IX.— Archeology of the New York Coastal Algonkin. By 
ALANSON SKINNER. (Six text figures.) . > FEZ 


ANTHROPOLOGICAL PAPERS, Vouiume IV. 


Part I— The Assiniboine. By Ropert H. Lowrie. (Plates I-III 


and seventeen text figures.) — . : : : : if 


Special Publication. 


*The Anatomy of the Common Squid. By LroNARD WorcESTER WIL- 
LIAMS. Pp. 1-87, pll. 1-ii and sixteen text figures. 


MUSEUM NEWS NOTES. 


HE Department of Vertebrate Paleontology has received as a 


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 


NEWS NOTES 27 


Mr. Charles H. Sternberg and is considered the second finest example 
ever discovered. 


‘THrouGH 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 JouRNAL 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, Wn. H. FiscHer, GEORGE CoE GRAVES, 
Watrer C. Hupsarp, ALBERT Tac, F. D. UNDERWOOD and EGERTON 
L. WrxtHrop; Annual Members, Messrs. FrRED’k GIRARD AGENS, 
G. L. Botssevarn, A. H. Caspary, F. R. Hazarp, WALKER D. HInEs, 
Minor C. KeitH, Morris Kinney, ANrHony R. Kusrer, GrorGE A. 


28 THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL 


Lavieg, Wittiam W. LAWRENCE, JAMES Marwick, JoHN NEILSON, 
CLARENCE Porter, JoHN F. THomson, JuLiIAN R. TinKHaAm and 
Wiuus D. Woop, Dr. A. Buarr THaw, Mmes. Groreia C. Hupson, 
and RAYMOND VON PALMENBERG and Miss ‘THEODORA WILBORN. 


LECTURE ANNOUNCEMENTS. 
PROPEES COURSE: 
Given in codperation with the City Department of Education. 
"Tuesday evenings at 8:15 o'clock. Doors open at 7:30. 
) g } 

The first four of a course of five lectures by Mr. Coaries M. Peprer 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.” 

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. 


Scientific Staff. 


DIRECTOR. 
Hermon C. Bumpus, Ph.D., Se. D. 


DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION. 


Prof. Aupert S. Bickmore, B.S., Ph.D., LL.D., Curator Emeritus. 
GrorcE H. SHERWOOD, A.B., A.M., Curator. 


DEPARTMENT OF GEOLOGY AND INVERTEBRATE PALHAONTOLOGY. 


Prof. R. P. Wuirrretp, A.M., Curator. 
Epmunp Otis Hovey, A.B., Ph.D., Associate Curator. 


DEPARTMENT OF MAMMALOGY AND ORNITHOLOGY. 


Prof. J. A. ALLEN, Ph.D., Curator. 
Frank M. Cuapman, Curator of Ornithology. 
Roy C. Anprews, A.B., Assistant in Mammalogy. 
W. ve W. Mitter, Assistant in Ornithology. 


DEPARTMENT OF VERTEBRATE PALHZONTOLOGY. 


Prof. Henry Farrrietp Ossorn, A.B., Se.D., LL.D., D. Se., Curator. 
W. D. Matrruew, Ph.B., A.B., A.M., Ph.D., Associate Curator. 
WALTER GRANGER, Assistant. 

BarnuM Brown, A.B., Assistant. 


DEPARTMENT OF iCHTHYOLOGY AND HERPETOLOGY. 


Prof. BasHrorp Dean, A.B., A.M., Ph.D., Curator of Fishes and Reptiles. 
Louis Hussaxor, B.S., Ph.D., Assistant Curator of Fossil Fishes. 


DEPARTMENT OF ANTHROPOLOGY. 


CuaRK WissuLeR, A.B., A.M., Ph.D., Curator. 
Haran I. Smit, Assistant Curator. 
Rospert H. Lowis, A.B., Ph.D., Assistant Curator. 
CHarRLes W. Meap, Assistant. 


Prof. MarsHatL H. Savinue, Honorary Curator of Mexican Archeology. 


DEPARTMENT OF MINERALOGY. 


L. P. Gratacap, Ph.B., A.B., A.M., Curator. 
GrorGcE F. Kunz, A.M., Ph.D., Honorary Curator of Gems. 


DEPARTMENT OF BOOKS AND PUBLICATIONS. 
Prof. RatpH W. Tower, A.B., A.M., Ph.D., Curator. 


DEPARTMENT OF INVERTEBRATE ZOOLOGY. 


Prof. Henry E. Crampton, A.B., Ph.D., Curator. 
Roy W. Miner, A.B., Assistant Curator. 
Frank E. Lutz, A.B., Ph.D., Assistant Curator. 
L. P. Graracap, Ph.B., A.B., A.M., Curator of Mollusca. 
Wiuu1aM BruTrenMULLER, Associate Curator of Lepidoptera. 


Prof. Witu1amM 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 Annulates. 


DEPARTMENT OF PHYSIOLOGY. 
Prof. Rauepo W. Tower, A.B., A.M., Ph.D., Curator. 


DEPARTMENT OF MAPS AND CHARTS. 
A. Woopwarp, Ph.D., Curator. 


iv 


The American [luseum Journal 


Epmunp Otis Hovey, Editor. 
Mary Cyntruta DickrERson, Associate Editor. 


FRANK M. CHAPMAN, 
Louis P. GRATACAP, 
WILLIAM K. GREGORY, 


Advisory Board. 


Subscription, One Dollar per year. Fifteen Cents per copy. 


A subscription to the JourRNAL 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- 
ridge, 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. 


THE 
AMERICAN JLIUSEUM 


JOURNAL 


Volume X February, 1910 Number 2 


Published monthly from October to May inclusive by 
Tue American Museum or Natura History 


New York CIty 


First Vice-President 
J. Pirrepont MorGan 


CHARLES LANIER 


American Museum of Natural History 
Seventy-seventh Street and Central Park West, New York City 


BOARD OF TRUSTEES 


President 
HENRY FAIRFIELD OSBORN : 

Second Vice-President 
CLEVELAND H. DopGE 
Secretary 
J. HamppEN Ross 


Treasurer 


Ex Officio 


THe Mayor or THE Ciry or New York 
THE COMPTROLLER OF THE City oF NEw York 
THE PRESIDENT OF THE DEPARTMENT OF PARKS 


Class of 1909 
JOSEPH H. CHOATE 


J. PIERPONT MORGAN 


HENRY F. OSBORN 


Class of 1910 
J. HAMPDEN ROBB 
ARTHUR CURTISS JAMES 

Class of 1911 


CHARLES LANIER 
ANSON W. HARD 
SETH LOW 


Class of 1912 


D. O. MILLS * 
ARCHIBALD ROGERS 


PERCY R. PYNE 
JOHN B. TREVOR 


WILLIAM ROCKEFELLER 
GUSTAV E. KISSEL 


ALBERT S. BICKMORE 
CORNELIUS C. CUYLER * 


ADRIAN ISELIN, Jr. 


Class of 1913 


GEORGE 8. BOWDOIN 
A. D. JUILLIARD 


CLEVELAND H. DODGE 


ARCHER M. HUN'TING'TON 


EXECUTIVE OFFICERS 


Director 
Hermon C. Bumpus 


Assistant-Secretary and Assistant-Treasurer 


GEORGE H. SHERWOOD 


THe American Museum or Natura History was established in 1869 to promote 
the Natural Sciences and to diffuse a general knowledge of them among the people, and 
it is in cordial codperation with all similar institutions throughout the world. The Museum 
authorities are dependent upon private subscriptions and the dues from members for pro- 
curing needed additions to the collections and for carrying on explorations in America 


and other parts of the world. 
The membership fees are, 


Annual Members..... ee moe LO 
Sustaining Members (Annual). 25 
Life Members. . e 100 


Well owssiacivashiegerstoisstrstouete take 
Patrons. 
Benefactors (Gift or r bequest) 50,000 


All money received from membership fees is used for increasing the collections and 


for developing the educational work of the Museum. 


The Museum is open free to the public on every day in the year. 


* Deceased. 


> 


RIVERS INLET 


TOTEM POLE, 


30 


The American Museum Journal 


VoL. X FEBRUARY, 1910 No. 2 


A VISIT TO THE INDIAN TRIBES OF THE NORTHWEST COAST. 


N an expedition along the northwest coast of America, between 
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 archeeol- 
ogy of the entire coast north of Vancouver Island as far as Mt. Mclinley 
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 


32 THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL 


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 Chileat 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. ‘lhe 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 


% 


GRAVES IN TREES, ALERT BAY 


posrodep oy} Jo Ayypeytdsoy pur yQ[eoa Jo oaryrorpur soouvs pur ,, s1oddoo ,, Jo SUOT}R}WOSIIdII TOPOO AA 


V1000 W113 ‘AYSLSW30 SAILVN 


i 


i ATTTHTTTY 


t 


NORTHWEST COAST INDIANS 5) 


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- 
tinetive shape and markings. ‘They are of no great intrinsic value, but 


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 move 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. ‘These 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 ai 


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 eagle 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. ‘his 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 4] 


The older Indians of Belia 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 nettle. 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 slightiy 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 Pacifie 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 archzeological 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 Chilcat 
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. 

Haran |. SMITH. 


RESULTS OF AN ART TRIP TO THE NORTHWEST COAST. 


MURAL DECORATIONS PLANNED TO SHOW INDIAN INDUSTRIES. 


REVIOUS to the starting of last summer’s expedition to British 
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. 

The industrial series will have its subjects arranged according to the 
geographical relations of the seven distinct Indian groups: the Tlingit of 


MORTUARY COLUMN, WRANGEL, ALASKA 


The bodies are within two covered niches in the shaft 


43 


dt THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL 


Alaska, Haida of Queen Charlotte Islands, Tsimshian near the Nass and 
Skeena Rivers, Bella Coola between the Burke and Dean Channels, 
Kwakiutl on the mainland and northeast end of Vaneouver 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 Kluekwan 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. 

‘Yo 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 


YVASVIV 'NYMXONIY ‘CYuvOod NYSLivd GNV (G3HSINISNN)*LayXNVIa LVOTIHS 


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 


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. ‘lo 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, 


Mittal LOVNOR LAW ESE 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. For 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 Tsimshian, 


48 THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL 


will show this eulichon industry. Natives hang fish on racks to dry in 
the sun, women press the sediment ieft 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. 

dverywhere 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 
on the 


I secured the locality, color and facts for a whaling picture, 
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 
‘anoes for the eulichon grease of the T’simshian. ‘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. 

Witios GLAWunOR: 


A COMPLETE PTERODACTYL SKELETON. 


HE Museum has recently acquired through exchange with the 
Munich Paleontological 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. 
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 zrepoév, wing, and daxrvdos, 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. 


ESSRS. Alessandro and Ernesto G. Fabbri, members of the 
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 suffh- 


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. ‘Tarpon 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 Meml vers, Messrs. W. B. BouRN, GEORGE 
W. BRACKENRIDGE, SAMUEL POMEROY COLT, BAREND VAN GERBIG, 
GEORGE Scott GraHaM, |. A. Grirrin, H. E. Huntineton, O. G. 
JENNINGS, Wn. G. Low, FRANK E. PEABopy, FREDERICK 'T. PRocToR, 
JOHN A. ROEBLING, ALANSON SKINNER, CHARLES CHAUNCEY STILLMAN, 
JAMES N. WaLLAceE and GrorGE PEABODY WETMORE and MMEs. 
W. L. Harkness and James R. Jesup; Sustaining Members, Messrs. 
R. R. Coteatre and Henry GotpmMan; Annual Members, Messrs. 
J. Francis A. Cuark, A. S. Dwicut, A. O. Ermer, Joun B. FarisaH, 
JOHN L. GoLpEN, Ivan L. C. Goopine, Horace S. GouLtp, Maxt- 
MILIAN GRAB, HENRY GRAVES, JR., DE Courcy L. Harp, Henry 
Rawtie, J. O. von Scumip, Frank McMinuan Stanton, WiiuiaM E. 
STIGER, BENS. StRoNG, JR., Ropert B. SuckiEy, Geo. H. Surron 
and THro. N. Varn and Mes. Frank H. Ray and Frrcw W. SmirH. 


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 


TuroucH 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. Cuarues 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. 


RoLaND 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. JouN C. OLSEN on “ Pure Foods and 
their Preparation.” 

February 5.— ‘“Sweetening Agents.” 
February 12.— ‘‘Condimental Foods: Spices, Cocoa, Chocolate, Flavoring 
’ 


extracts.’ 


ce 


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 55 


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- 
] to) oD i SD 
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 Oris Hovey, Editor. 
Mary CyntruiA DickERsON, Associate Editor. 


FRANK M. CHAPMAN, 
Louis P. GRATACAP, 
WILLIAM K. GREGORY, 


Advisory Board. 


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. 


56 


Scientific Staff. 


DIRECTOR. 
Hermon C. Bumpus, Ph.D., Se. D. 


DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION. 


Prof. AuBert S. Bickmore, B.S., Ph.D., LL.D., Curator Emeritus. 
GrorGce H. SHerwoop, A.B., A.M., Curator. 


DEPARTMENT OF GEOLOGY AND INVERTEBRATE PALHONTOLOGY. 


Prof. R. P. Wuirrietp, A.M., Curator. 
Epmunp Otis Hovey, A.B., Ph.D., Associate Curator. 


DEPARTMENT OF MAMMALOGY AND ORNITHOLOGY. 


Prof. J. A. ALLEN, Ph.D., Curator. 
FRANK M. CuapMan, Curator of Ornithology. 
Roy C. Anprews, A.B., Assistant in Mammalogy. 
W. ve W. Mitier, Assistant in Ornithology. 


DEPARTMENT OF VERTEBRATE PALZONTOLOGY. 


Prof. Henry FatrRFieELD Osrorn, A.B., Se.D., LL.D., D. Se., Curator. 
W. D. Marruew, Ph.B., A.B., A.M., Ph.D., Associate Curator. 
WALTER GRANGER, Assistant. 

Barnum Brown, A.B., Assistant. 


DEPARTMENT OF ICHTHYOLOGY AND HERPETOLOGY. 


Prof. BasHrorp Dean, A.B., A.M., Ph.D., Curator of Fishes and Reptiles. 
Louis Hussaxor, B.S., Ph.D., Assistant Curator of Fossil Fishes. 


DEPARTMENT OF ANTHROPOLOGY. 


CuarK Wissuter, A.L., A.M., Ph.D., Curator. 
Haran I. Smiru, Assistant Curator. 
Rosert H. Lowrie, A.B., Ph.D., Assistant Curator. 
CuarLes W. Mean, Assistant. 


Prof. MarsHaLu H. Savite, Honorary Curator of Mexican Archeology. 


DEPARTMENT OF MINERALOGY. 


L. P. GraracaPp, Ph.B., A.B., A.M., Curator. 
GeorGE F. Kunz, A.M., Ph.D., Honorary Curator of Gems. 


DEPARTMENT OF BOOKS AND PUBLICATIONS. 
Prof. Ratpa W. Tower, A.B., A.M., Ph.D., Curator. 


DEPARTMENT OF INVERTEBRATE ZOOLOGY. 


Prof. Henry E. Crampton, A.B., Ph.D., Curator. 
Roy W. Miner, A.B., Assistant Curator. 
Frank E. Luiz, A.B., Ph.D.. Assistant Curator. 
L. P. Gratacap, Ph.B., A.B., A.M., Curator of Mollusca. 
Winuram BeuTrENMULLER, Associate Curator of Lepidoptera. 


Prof. Witttau 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 Annulates,. 


DEPARTMENT OF PHYSIOLOGY. 
Prof. Rautew W. Tower, A.B., A.M., Ph.D., Curator. 


DEPARTMENT OF MAPS AND CHARTS. 
A. Woopwarp, Ph.D., Curator. 


THE AMERICAN MUSEUM 
OF 


NATURAL HiSTORY 


FOR: THEE OPREE 
FOR EDVCATION 
FOR+S7 Cale INL 7E 


COMMEMORATION NUFMBER 


THE 
AMERICAN JSIUSEUM 
JOURNAL 


Volume X | March, 1910 Number 3 


Published monthly from October to May inclusive by 
Tue American Museum or Natura. History 


New York City 


American Museum of Natural History 
Seventy-seventh Street and Central Park West, New York City 


BOARD OF TRUSTEES 


President 
Henry FatIrRFIELD OSBORN 
First Vice-President Second Vice-President 
J. Przerpont MorGan CLEVELAND H. DopGE 
Treasurer Secretary 
CHARLES LANIER J. HamppEn Ross 
Ex Officio 


THe Mayor orf THE Ciry or New York 
Tur COMPTROLLER OF THE City or New Yorxk 
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 
ARCHIBALD ROGERS ALBERT S. BICKMORE 
ADRIAN ISELIN, JR. T. DEWITT [;CUYLER 
Class of 1913 
GEORGE S. BOWDOIN CLEVELAND H. DODGE 
A. D. JUILLIARD ARCHER M. HUNTINGTON 
Class of 1914 
JOSEPH H. CHOATE de PIERPONT MORGAN 
HENRY F. OSBORN JAMES DOUGLAS 


GEORGE W. WICKERSHAM. 


EXECUTIVE OFFICERS 


Director Assistant-Secretary and Assistant-Treasurer 
Hermon C. Bumrus Grorce H. SHERWOOD 


Tue AmeriIcAN Musrum or Natura History was established in 1869 to promote 
the Natural Sciences and to diffuse a general knowledge of them among the people, and 
it is in cordial codperation with all similar institutions throughout the world. The Museum 
authorities are dependent upon private subscriptions and the dues from members for pro- 
curing needed additions to the collections and for carrying on explorations in America 
and other parts of the world. 


The membership fees are, 


Annual Members. 5 bd 1) Fellowshiscsrmiicien manne $ 500 
Sustaining Members : (Annual) 25 Patrons.. 1000 
Life Members... sguersiiteten el OO Benefactors (Gift or bequest) 50,000 


All money received from membership fees is used for increasing the collections and 
for developing the educational work of the Museum. 


The Museum is open free to the public on every day in the year. 


ran hk . 


a ee ee 


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MEMORIAL STATUE OF MORRIS K JESUP 


By William Couper, Sculpto 


The American Museum Journal 


Vout. X MARCH, 1910 No. : 


Oo 


COMMEMORATION OF THE FOUNDING OF THE MUSEUM 
UNVEILING OF THE STATUE OF Morris K. JEsup 


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. ‘The 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 ‘Trustees 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. BickMorRE, JoHN BrGELOW, GEORGE S. Bow- 
DOIN, NATHANIEL L. Brirron, HERMon C. Bumpus, NicHoutas M. 


i The subscribers to the Jesup Memorial Fund are Messrs. Henry F. Ossorn, J. Prer- 
PONT MORGAN, CLEVELAND H. DopGr, CHARLES LANIER, J. HAMPDEN Ross, CoRNELIUS N. 
3LIss, ALBERT 8S. BICKMORE, GEORGE 8S. BOWDOIN, ANDREW CARNEGIE, Jo-EPH H. CHOATE, 
Anson W. Harp, JAMeEs J. HILL, FREDERICK E. Hypre, ApRIAN ISELIN, ARTHUR CURTISS 
James, A. D. JUILLIARD, JOHN S. KENNEDY, Gustrav E. Kisseu, SetrH Low, J. Prereontr 
MorGan, JrR., Horace PorTer, Percy R. Pyne, ARCHIBALD RoGers, WILLIAM RocKrE- 
FELLER, JACOB H. ScHIFF, CHARLES STUART SMITH, JOHN T. TeRRy, JOHN B. TREVOR. 


59 


60 THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL 


BuTLER, ANDREW CARNEGIE, JosEPH H. CHoatTE, JoHn M. CLARKE, 
WituiamM Couper, THos. Dr Wirr CuyLEeR, CrEvVELAND H. DopeGs, 
DanIEL GirRAUD ELLIOT, JoHN H. FINLEY, Witu1amM J. Gaynor, Mapr- 
son GRANT, ArtTHUR I’. HaptEy, ANson W. Harp, Samuet V. Horr- 
MAN, Witu1AM T. Hornapay, FREDERICK E. Hypr, ARTHUR CURTISS 
JaMEs, A. D. JumiiarpD, James F. Kemp, Gusrav E. KIsseEt, 
H. M. Leipziger, GoopHUE LIVINGSTON, SETH Low, FREDERICK 
A. Lucas, H. M. MacCrackxen, Wintiam H. Maxwe ti, Jonn P. 
MircHe.., J. Prerpont Morean, Henry F. Ossorn, Winiiam A. 
PRENDERGAST, Henry S. PrircHett, Percy R. Pyne, J. HamepEn 
20BB, EpwarpD Rosinson, J Acos H. Scurrr, HucuH M. Smiry, CHARLES 
B. Stover, JaMEs W. Toumey, CHarites H. Townsenn, Jonn B. 
Trevor, Breck TROWBRIDGE, C.D. Watcorr, Witiiam R. Witcox, 
CiarRK WituiaMs, Ecrerton L. WintHRopP, ROBERT S. WOODWARD. 

As soon as the invited guests were seated, the addresses that foilow 
were delivered to a most sympathetic audience that fiiied 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 Hail, 
the Jesup Forestry Hall and the Darwin Synoptic Hail. 


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 event- 
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 untyersities 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 gertle 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 yoice- 
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 


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 


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i 
4 


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 fillmg the building with collections. 

The agreement has been kept on both sides in the best spirit. ‘lo 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 pecuharly 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 tart HonoraBLteE 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 J 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 te 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 


JoHNn Davin WoLrE ‘THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
RoBERT COLGATE Howarp PoTrer 
BENJAMIN H. FIEeLp WituiaM T. BLopGetr 
ROBERT L. STUART Morris Kk. Jesup 
ADRIAN ISELIN D. Jackson STEWARD 
BENJAMIN B. SHERMAN A. G. PaEetes DopcE 
Witiiam A. Haines CHarLEsS 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 yaluable 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, Iam 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. 


IN 


MUSEUM BUILDING 


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 nan of boundless energy and indomitable persistence, 
Prof. A. 5. 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 zoGlogist, 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. Tweed 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 


G2 | 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 earhest 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. 


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COMMEMORATION ADDRESS 15 


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.” 


THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL 


~I 
o> 


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. ‘The 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. Myr. 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 codperation 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 


io 
ai ae A 


COMMEMORATION ADDRESS TES, 


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 
as he rises from hall 


impressive, excite his imagination and amazement; 
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- 
ucational 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 
center of knowledge and culture. 


great metropolitan 

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 


SI 


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. T 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. 
-resident 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 todo 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 HonoraBLeE WILLIAM J. GAYNOR 
Mayor OF THE City or NEw York 
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 incalculable. 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 


T the Annual meeting of the Board of ‘Trustees, which was held 
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 


S6 THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL 


appointed Assistant Curator and Mr. Aianson Skinner has been added 
to the list as Assistant; a new Department of Public Heaith has been 
established with Prof. C. E. A. Winsiow as Curator; a new Department 
of Woods and Forestry has been estabiished, with Miss Mary C. Dicker- 
son in charge. 

Announcement was made at the meeting that Mrs. Morris Kk. Jesup 
had added to her previous benefactions the gift of a large coliection of 
ethnological material from the Philippine Islands, vaiued 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 foliowing persons have been elected to 
membership in the Museum: Patrons, Mr. ‘THos. Dre Wirr 
CuyLER AND Hon. GrorGe W. WickERSHAM; Life Members, 

Messrs. A. RADCLYFFE DucGMore, THEODORE R. Hoyt, FreprErtic H. 
KENNARD, ALFRED H. MuLuikren, NaTHANIEL: CusHine Nasu, DE 
Lancey Nicoiu, R. A. C. SmirH and ALFRED RutTcers WHITNEY, JR.; 
Sustaining Member, Mr. J. B. Greennur; Annual Members, Messrs. 
F. B. Apams, W. L. ANDREWws, MisHa E. APPELBAUM, ALEXANDER 
Arsis, G. W. E. Atkins, WM. CHILDs, JR., SAMUEL W. Enrico, WM. 
H. Farrington, L. P. Feustman, Haroup H. Frits, Epwin GoutLp, 
Jr., JOHN ARTHUR GREENE, Louis M. GREER, EDWarpD GRIFFITH, 
E. Morcan GRINNELL, O. J. Gupr, HENRY WILLIAM GUERNSEY, 
R. A. GusHer, A. FintMorE Hype and JAMEs NesmirH and Misses 
M. Taper and FrorENCE WATERBURY. 

Dr. Hermon C. Bumrpus, 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 S7 


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- 
‘an 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. CHapman, 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 wiil 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- 
‘ance 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. Percivau Lowe tt, ‘‘ 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. Winuts 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. 


SS THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL 


CO 


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 voleanoes 
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. Gtrrorp Pincrot, “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. 


Scientific Staff. 


DIRECTOR 
HerMon Carey Bumpus, Ph.D., Se.D., LL.D. 


DEPARTMENT OF GEOLOGY AND INVERTEBRATE PALAONTOLOGY 
Prof. R. P. Wurrrietp, A.M., Curator Emeritus 
Epmunp Oris Hovny, A.B., Ph.D., Curator 
DEPARTMENT OF MINERALOGY 
L. P. Gratracap, Ph.B., A.B., A.M., Curator 
GEorRGE F. Kunz, A.M., Ph.D., Honorary Curator of Gems 
DEPARTMENT OF INVERTEBRATE ZOOLOGY 
Prof. Henry E. Crampron, A.B., Ph.D., Curator 
Roy W. Miner, A.B., Assistant Curator 
Frank EH. Lurz, A.B., A.M., Ph.D., Assistant Curator 


L. P. Gratacar, Ph.B., A.B., A.M., Curator of Mollusca 
WILLIAM BEUTENMULLER, Associate Curator of Lepidoptera 


Prof. Winu1am Morron 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 
DEPARTMENT OF ICHTHYOLOGY AND HERPETOLOGY 
Prof. Basarorp Dean, A.B., A.M., Ph.D., Curator of Fishes and Reptiles 
Louis Hussakor, B.S., Ph.D., Assistant Curator of Fossil Fishes 
DEPARTMENT OF MAMMALOGY AND ORNITHOLOGY 

Prof. J. A. AtLen, Ph.D., Curator 
Frank M. CHapMan, Curator of Ornithology 
Roy C. Anprews, A.B., Assistant in Mammalogy 
W. ve W. Miter, Assistant in Ornithology 
DEPARTMENT OF VERTEBRATE PALHAONTOLOGY 
Prof. Henry Fairrigetp Ossporn, A.B., Se.D., LL.D., D.Se., Curator 
W. D. MarrHew, Ph.B., A.B., A.M., Ph.D., Associate Curator 
WALTER GRANGER, Assistant Curator of Fossil Mammals 
Barnum Brown, A.B., Assistant Curator of Fossil Reptiles 
DEPARTMENT OF ANTHROPOLOGY 
CuarK WissuLEeR, A.B., A.M., Ph.D., Curator 
Purny E. Gopparp, A.B., A.M., Ph.D., Associate Curator 
Haran I. Smiry, Associate Curator 
Rospert H. Lowtn, A.B., Ph.D., Assistant Curator 
HERBERT J. SPINDEN, A.B., A.M., Ph.D., Assistant Curator 
CHARLES W. Mrap, Assistant 
ALANSON SKINNER, Assistant 
DEPARTMENT OF PHYSIOLOGY 
Prof. RatpH W. Tower, A.B., A.M., Ph.D., Curator 
DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC HEALTH 
Prof. CHARLES Epwarp Amory WInstow, S.B., M.S., Curator 
DEPARTMENT OF WOODS AND FORESTRY 
Mary Cyntrata Dickerson, in charge 
DEPARTMENT OF BOOKS AND PUBLICATIONS 
Prof. Rauph W. Towsnr, A.B., A.M., Ph.D., Curator 


ANTHONY Woopwarp, Ph.D., in charge of Maps and Charts 


DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC EDUCATION 
Prof. AuBert 8. Bickmorg, B.S., Ph.D., LL.D., Curator Emeritus 
GrorGE H. SHERwoon, A.B., A.M., Curator 


The American [luseum Journal 


Epmunp Otis Hovey, Editor. 
Mary CynTutIA DickERSON, Associate Editor. 


FRANK M. CHAPMAN, 
Louis P. GRATACAP, 
WILLIAM K. GREGORY, 


Advisory Board, 


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 


THE 
AMERICAN JLIUSEUM 


JOURNAL 


Volume X April, 1910 Number 4 


Published monthly from October to May inclusive by 
THe American Museum or Natura History 


New York CIty 


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. Prrrpont Morcan CLEVELAND H. DopGE 
Treasurer Secretary 
CHARLES LANIER J. HAMPDEN RoBB 
Ex Officio 


THe Mayor or THE Ciry or New York 
Tur CoMPTROLLER OF THE Ciry 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 
ARCHIBALD ROGERS ALBERT S. BICKMORE 
ADRIAN ISELIN, Jr. Ty. Du Wwitth CUYLIER: 
Class of 1913 
GEORGE S. BOWDOIN CLEVELAND H. DODGE 
A. D. JUILLIARD ARCHER M. HUNTINGTON 
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 GrorGcEe H. SHERWOOD 


Tue American Museum or Naturau History was established in 1869 to promote 
the Natural Sciences and to diffuse a general knowledge of them among the people, and 
it is in cordial coéperation with all similar institutions throughout the world. The Museum 
authorities are dependent upon private subscriptions and the dues from members for pro- 
curing needed additions to the collections and for carrying on explorations in America 
and other parts of the world. 


The membership fees are, 


Annual Memberss...2.-..:..... 3 10 elo wgs3 iw seis chateteroie s eeocien aa oD OUNe 
Sustaining Members (Annual). 25 PA trons cic werreria ss see oraciel soa aL OOO 
IatevMembersissde.c5cneka-ore 900 Benefactors (Gift or bequest) 50,000 


All money received from membership fees is used for increasing the collections and 
for developing the educational work of the Museum. 


The Museum is open free to the public on every day in the year. 


HONORABLE JOSEPH H. CHOATE, A FOUNDER AND TRUSTEE 


From life-size portrait by Princess Lworr-PARLAGHY 


90 


The American Museum Journal 


Vout. X APRIL, 1910 No. 4 


PORTRAIT OF THE HONORABLE JOSEPH H. CHOATE 


A FouNDER AND TRUSTEE 


MONG the founders of the Museum, one who stands out promi- 
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 IT 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 Hoiy 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 1’ 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. Tle 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 unusuai strength in 
the individualization of greatness and in this, her latest work, she has 
been particularly successful in giving expression to the steriing qualities 


which so endear Mr. Choate to his friends. 


LENDERS INDIAN COLLECTION 


HE Lenders collection, valued at $30,000, which has recentiy been 
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 Pacifie 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 


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 moccasits 
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 catiinite pipes. 
The stone for the bowis of these pipes was obtained at the famous quarry 
at Pipestone, Minnesota, which is stiil 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 Piains tribes and some of those of the Eastern 
Woodlands. 

The Indians of the Southwest have contributed to the coilection 


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 Vaylor, 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. ‘lwo 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 articies. 

The objects from the Indians of the Southern Piains 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 TempPLE Rutns at Mirra, Mexico 


HE Museum has a new restaurant —a very novel one. ‘Taking 
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 wails. 

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 tempie building art, 
far exceeding that usualiy 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 shouid come to the town of Mitla, a modern littie piace with 
thatched houses and cactus fences, lying in a great amphitheater-iike 
valiey 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 volcanic 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 


96 THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL 


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 Grecques. 

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. ‘Vhroughout 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 


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LENDERS INDIAN COLLECTION 99 


the quadrangle entered from this hali, 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. Saviiie 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 


Sra 

es hall. The parts representing 
= = 

she r heavy masonry, to a height of 
Cae about five feet, consist of stones 
Gale cast in KXeen’s cement, backed 
eas with reinforced conerete, which in- 


: - sures both strength and hardness. 


Above this, where there is little 
GROUND PLAN OF THE “GROUP OF THE danger of damage, the material 
COLUMNS,” MITLA 3 i ; f 

: used for panels and grecques is 

A. Court of the Quadrangle of the 
Columns. B. Hall of the Six Columns. 4 ; 
C. South Chamber of the Greeques. D. Having obtained the measure- 
Court of the Quadrangle of the Grecques. ments of each piece of stone or 
E. North Chamber of the Greeques. 


plaster strengthened with burlap. 


‘ panel of mosaic, wooden forms 
The Museum restaurant reproduces l leled 
Fehon hcoEh were made, then modeled over 
with clay to gain the effect of the 
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. Ail 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 inay see an old Mitla temple as it used 


| ee 


PRUETT SEN TES 


, 
1 
\ 


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 paneis 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 hail 
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 


WO new habitat bird groups have recently been opened for 
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 hail, 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 
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. 

Vhe 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 siaughter 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 iarge boat which carried the 
Museum expedition could approach only within seven miles, because of 
the shallowness of the water, and smali boats had to be laboriously 
puiled and pushed through the brackish brown water of the remaining 
distance. 

This is the rookery where Warden Guy Bradiey 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 hail, 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, 
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 


simple way the home life of this bird, rare in the North, not 


CUTHBERT ROOKERY HABITAT GROUP 


103 


The only Heron rookery left of the many existing twenty-five years ago 


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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, fiil 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 as a 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 JOURNAL 


COLD SPRING HARBOR GROUP 


Hk group shown in the photograph on page 107 is being installed 

in the Darwin Hail of Invertebrate Zodlogy 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 Coid Spring Harbor, 
and the studies were made during the month of April. 

A crowded mussel bed (Modiolus plicatula), rather thiniy covered with 
sprouting ‘spartina” grass, is overrun by fiddier 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 haif-ebb tide, while underneath its surface are clusters 
of the edible mussei (Mytilus edulis) and of the common oyster (Ostrea 
virginica). Upon one of the oysters is its arch enemy, a starfish (4 sterias 
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). ‘lwo 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 sheil, are several speci- 
mens of the tube worm (/7ydroides dianthus) with expanded gili circlets 
of briliiant 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. 


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108 THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL 


THE STEFANSSON- ANDERSON ARCTIC EXPEDITION 


N February 18 ietters were received at the Museum from Mr. 

VY. Stefansson 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 ietters 


give only a hint at their lives. Mr. Stefansson writes as follows: 


HerscHe. 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 lbs. 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 
betore. + 4+ 

Kast 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 
{skimo 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. I. 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 | shall not accept 
the verdict as final. * * * * I 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. 


HerscHen 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: 
e coma) © ’ 


HeErRscHEL Isuanp, 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. Myr. 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 MiLis 


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 


HE yacht “'Tekla” which has been cruising in the waters of 
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 Museuim’s representative. 


REPORT FROM THE FABBRI YACHT 11] 


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 bearm- 
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 gronovii 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 sead, Trachurus 
trachurus. "Vhis 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 ‘‘’Tekia” anchored several miles up Shark River, 
among the mangroves, and shallower waters stiil 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 pilaster 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 


HE bequest of Miss Phebe Anna ‘Thorne to which reference was 
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 doilars, out of the 
residue estate, thus insuring a permanent income for the development of 
this new and extremeiy 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. Jouiiiard, Dr. H. C. 
Bumpus and Professor Henry F. Osborn. 


MUSEUM NEWS NOTES 115 


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. Miils. 


Since our last issue the following persons have been elected to mem- 
bership in the Museum: Patron, Hon. Greorce W. WIcKERSHAM; 
Life Member, Mr. Frepertck A. Lucas; Sustaining Members, MEssrs. 
Fritz AcHELIS and Atrrep E. Mariina; Annual Members, Messrs. 
M. W. AmBerc, CHARLES EBERHART, B. Tarren FaircuHi.p, H. C. 
FLEITMANN, JAMES GuTMANN, E. G. Love, BRapLEY Martin, JR., 
Howarp Norman, FRANKLIN SIMON and AuGUST ZINSSER, JR., REV. 
Percy STICKNEY GRANT, Dr. E. Lyevti Earie, MmMes. CADWALADER 
Jones and Henry D. Wutrrirtp and Misses LEeéntE M. Gatior 
STAMM and CATHERINE A. STEVENS. 


Mr. Frepertick 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 vears as a loan from Mr. Samuei 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 fiims 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 ietters 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. MeMillan will be remembered as 
one of the scientific staff that accompanied Commander Robert E. 
Peary on his successful North Polar expedition last summer. 


THe Honoras_e 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 coéperation 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. Louris F. Berry, “Spain.” 

March 8.— Dr. Joun C. Bowker, “Portugal, a Cluster of Grapes.” 

March 15.— Mr. C. J. Buancuarp, “Winning the West.” 

March 22.— Mr. Franx A. Gatiup, “Greece as It is To-day.” 

March 29.— Mr. Frank A. Gattup, “Italy and the Italians.” 

April 5.— Dr. GeorceE R. Van DE Water, “To the Heart of the Dolo- 
mite Region.” 

Apml 12.— Dr. Greorce R. Van DE Water, “From Cortina to Botzen, 
over Pordoi Joch Pass.” 

April 19.— Dr. GrorceE R. Van DE Water, “The Stelvio Pass.’ 

April 26— Mr. Atrrep J. Tauury, “The Passion Play.” 


, 


Saturday evenings at 8:15 o’clock. Doors open at 7:30. Lectures 

illustrated with stereopticon views. 

March 5.— Mr. A. Emrerson Patmer, “ Development of Public Education 
in-New York City.” 

March 12.— Mr. H. SNowpEen Warp, “The Humor and the Pathos of 
Charles Dickens.” 

March 19.— Hon. Jonn J. Murpny, “The Tenement House Department.” 

March 26.— Hon. Cuarues N. Cuapwick, “‘Our New Water Supply.” 

April 2.— Hon. Cuaruss B. Srover, “The Park Department.” 

April 9.— Hon. Lawson Purpy, “The New York Tax Department.” 

April 16.— Hon. Miro R. Maurstr, “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. 


1G 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. 
‘ De © tor 
On Tuesday evenings, as announced: 
The Linnean Society of New York; 
The New York Entomological Society; 
The Yorrey 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 CyntTHiA DickrErRson, Associate Editor. 


FRANK M. CHAPMAN, ; 
Louis P. GRATACAP, Advisory Board. 
WILLIAM K. GReEGORY, 


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. 


Scientific Staff 


DIRECTOR 
Hermon Carey Bumpus, Ph.D., Se.D., LL.D. 


DEPARTMENT OF GEOLOGY AND INVERTEBRATE PALHONTOLOGY 


Prof. R. P. Waurrrienp, A.M., Curator Emeritus 
Epmunp Otis Hovey, A.B., Ph.D., Curator 


DEPARTMENT OF MINERALOGY 


L. P. Gratacap, Ph.B., A.B., A.M., Curator 
GrorGE F. Kunz, A.M., Ph.D., Honorary Curator of Gems 


DEPARTMENT OF INVERTEBRATE ZOOLOGY 


Prof. Henry EK. Crampron, 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. Gratacar, Ph.B., A.B., A.M., Curator of Mollusca 
Wixi1AM BEUTENMULLER, Associate Curator of Lepidoptera 


Prof. Wiitu1am Morton WHEELER, Ph.D., Honorary Curator of Social Insects 
ALEXANDER PEeTRUNKEVITCH, Ph.D., Honorary Curator of Arachnida 
Prof. Aaron L. TREADWELL, B.S., M.S., Ph.D., Honorary Curator of Annulata 


DEPARTMENT OF ICHTHYOLOGY AND HERPETOLOGY 


Prof. BasHrorp Dean, A.B., A.M., Ph.D., Curator of Fishes and Reptiles 
Louis Hussakor, B.S., Ph.D., Assistant Curator of Fossil Fishes 


DEPARTMENT OF MAMMALOGY AND ORNITHOLOGY 


Prof. J. A. Aten, Ph.D., Curator 
Frank M. CHapMAN, Curator of Ornithology 
Roy C. Anprews, A.B., Assistant in Mammalogy 
W. ve W. Miter, Assistant in Ornithology 


DEPARTMENT OF VERTEBRATE PALHONTOLOGY 


Prof. Henry FatrFieELD Ossorn, A.B., Se.D., LL.D., D.Se., Curator 
W. D. Matrruew, Ph.B., A.B., A.M., Ph.D., Associate Curator 
WALTER GRANGER, Assistant Curator of Fossil Mammals 
Barnum Brown, A.B., Assistant Curator of Fossil Reptiles 


DEPARTMENT OF ANTHROPOLOGY 


CLARK WisstEeR, A.B., A.M., Ph.D., Curator 
Puiny E. Gopparp, A.B., A.M., Ph.D., Associate Curator 
Haran I. Smiru, Associate Curator 
Ropert H. Lowin, A.B., Ph.D., Assistant Curator 
Herpert J. SpinpeN, A.B., A.M., Ph.D., Assistant Curator 
CHARLES W. Mzap, Assistant 
ALANSON SKINNER, Assistant 


DEPARTMENT OF PHYSIOLOGY 
Prof. RaupH W. Tower, A.B., A.M., Ph.D., Curator 


DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC HEALTH 
Prof. CHARLES Epwarp Amory WINsLOow, S.B., M.S., Curator 


DEPARTMENT OF WOODS AND FORESTRY 
Mary Cyntuia Dickerson, B.S., in charge 


DEPARTMENT OF BOOKS AND PUBLICATIONS 
Prof. RatpH W. Tower, A.B., A.M., Ph.D., Curator 


ANTHONY WoopWARD, Ph.D., in charge of Maps and Charts 


DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC EDUCATION 


Prof. Aupert S. Bickmorgs, B.S., Ph.D., LL.D., Curator Emeritus 
GrorGE H. SHERwoop, A.B., A.M., Curator 


THE AMERICAN MUSEUM 
OF 


NATURAL HISTORY 


FOR THE PEOPEE 
FOR EDVCATION 
FOR S76 ENTE 


THE 
AMERICAN JIUSEUM 


JOURNAL 


Volume X May, 1910 Number 5 


Published monthly from October to May inclusive by 
Tue American Museum or Naturat History 


New York City 


American Museum of Natural History 
Seventy-seventh Street and Central Park West, New York City 


BOARD OF TRUSTEES 


President 
Henry FaArrRFIELD OSBORN 
First Vice-President Second Vice-President 
J. Prrrepont MorGan CLEVELAND H. DopGeE 
Treasurer Secretary 
CHARLES LANIER J. Hamppen Ross 
Ex Officio 


THe Mayor or THE Ciry 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 


ARCHIBALD ROGERS ALBERT 8S. BICKMORE 
ADRIAN ISELIN, Jr. T DEWITT CUYLER 
Class of 1913 
GEORGE 8S. BOWDOIN CLEVELAND H. DODGE 
AC Ds JULIE TAR D ARCHER M. HUNTINGTON 
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 GrorGe H. SHeRwoop 


THe AmertcAN Muspum or Naturat History was established in 1869 to promote 
the Natural Sciences and to diffuse a general knowledge of them among the people, and 
it is in cordial codperation with all similar institutions throughout the world. The Museum 
authorities are dependent upon private subscriptions and the dues from members for pro- 
curing needed additions to the collections and for carrying on explorations in America 
and other parts of the world. 


The membership fees are, 


Annual Members............. $ 10 IH GW OWS aici sats 2 Cee een OO 
Sustaining Members (Annual) .. 25 Patronse.. capaci nice ae eee 1000 
IbiesMemlbersacn asec OO Benefactors (Gift or bequest) 50,000 


All money received from membership fees is used for increasing the collections and 
for developing the educational work of the Museum. 


The Museum is open free to the public on every day in the year. 


ROBERT PARR WHITFIELD 


Curator of Geology and Invertebrate Paleontology, 1877-1909 


The American Museum Journal 


VoL. X MAY, 1910 No. 5 


ROBERT PARR WHITFIELD 


OBERT PARR WHITFIELD, Curator Emeritus of Geology 
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 
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. THis 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 


120 THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL 


for more than twenty years. When the great James 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 
brillianey 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 12] 


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. 

Epmunpb Otis Hovey. 


THE DODGE EXPEDITION TO MISSISSIPPI 


HE Museum collection of fishes is poor in “ ganoids’’— sturgeon, 
gar-pikes, amia, shovel-noses and spoon-billed catfish or paddle- 
fish 


should be exhibited adequately in the Hall of Fishes. One reason for 


-and it has seemed desirable that this ancient group 


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 


122 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 
tomanes, Jordan, Allen, Wallace and others, who have dealt with 


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 


sunilar 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 1765S was 240,000 whereas now there are less than 10,000 natives. 
‘ven 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 SOOO 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 


POUR DE NOUN iy LO LEE SOUT SEAS 125 


160 Long Fast of 170 Greenwicr 120 Co) ae Greeravich 160 
y 


Francisco: 


p EPS er eed 


a . 
CAROLINE ISLANDS * 


GILBERT 


ARCH a 
ay “& soLomon 

GER G 
2 aN 


~: < 

‘\ - 4 i MARQUESAS 1 
aN ee TOKELAU MANIHIKI 

ISLAND! si 


+2 
nt s ‘ 1 ISLANDS MeN 
’ a Hen ISLANDS ; 
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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 


rive ample evidence to 


and according to their geographical source, they gi 


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 
the snails have evolved primarily by “sporting,” or mutation in the 
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 


Ben es agen ae A 


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 iny 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, Hawaian 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 Pacifie 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 151 


restricted to particular islands. ‘The climatic and other conditions were 
so adyerse 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 zoélogist 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 


URING the past few months the Museum has been carrying on 
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: 


Santa Fr, New Mexico, 
March 30, 1910. 


* * * * T am able to make a brief report on our work in the South- 
west. In general, | find the results in collections beyond what I dared hope 
at the outset, while in the research side of the work my expectations bave 
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 
Zuni and some divisions of the Yuma stock. ‘lo 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 groups soon. ‘Vhus, we 
shall have brought together in less than a vear’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 


ab al al al 
bs SS 


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. 
* %* 2% > 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 


INCE the last issue of the JouRNAL more extensive reports than 
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 
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 JouURNAL, 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: 


HeErscHEL IsLuanp, 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 


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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 dall’). One mountain hunter, named 
Kunagnana, with his wife and three small chi!dren had been living on sheep 
for months. He had oyer 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 
ona 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-ta (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 sunmmit 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 


156 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 moying 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 paleontologists 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 
egos 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. 


“05 


* * %& = Since my last letter, dated Herschel Island, we have progressed 
thus far eastward. My party sailed from Herschel Island at 3:30 a4. 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 
S. 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 (Tananodk). 
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. ‘lhe 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 Nittigarynit Sep- 
tember 26. Several Eskimo families were camped here, and were revelling 


158 THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL 


n abundance of fish, and ‘‘killalua’ Qvhite 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 
Tatoroktok, 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 
Ibs. 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 159 


MUSEUM NEWS NOTES 


ARLY in April, President Osborn returned from a journey in 
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 palonto- 
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. 


THrouGH 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. JoHN G. MIL- 
BURN and D. SCHNAKENBERG; Annual Members, Messrs. Patt B. 
HaviLanp, Courin I. Macponatp, WINTHROP PARKER and WARBURTON 
Pike, Dr. ALEXANDER LAMBERT, Hon. Francis M. Scott, 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 might. ‘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 15,000 
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. AnpreEws, 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 Livincston 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 


MUSEUM NEWS NOTES 14] 


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 codperation with the 
NEW YORK ACADEMY, OF SCIENCES 


In the large Auditorium of the Museum 
Illustrated Lecture 


‘‘The Return of Halley’s Comet” 
By 


Proressor 8S. A. MircHELL 
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 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 CyntTui1A 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 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. 


No. 


No. 


MUSEUM LEAFLETS 145 


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. CuHapman, Associate Curator 
of Mammalogy and Ornithology. October, 1901. Price, 10 cents. 

2.— THE SAGINAW VALLEY COLLECTION. By H. I. Smirs, 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. Graracap, A. M., 
Curator of Mineralogy. February, 1902. Revised edition, May, 1904. 
Price, 10 cents. 

5.— NORTH AMERICAN RUMINANTS. By J. A. Aten, 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 Wi1u1AM BreuTENMULLER, Curator of Entomology. May, 1902. 
Price, 15 cents. 

8.— THE SEQUOIA. A Historical Review of Biological Science. By 
Grorce 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 Witi1am BrvuTeENMULLER, Curator of Entomology. February, 
1903. Price, 10 cents 


. 11— THE MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS OF THE INCAS. By C. W. Meap, 


Assistant in Archeology. July, 1903. Price, 10 cents. 


. 12— THE COLLECTION OF FOSSIL VERTEBRATES. By W. D. Mar 


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 THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL 


No. 15.— PRIMITIVE ART. July, 1904. Price, 15 cents. 

No. 16— THE INSECT-GALLS OF THE VICINITY OF NEW YORK CITY. 
By Witi1aM BrEuTENMULLER, Curator of Entomology. October, 1904. 
Price, 15 cents. 


(Reprinted from The American Museum Journal.) 


No. 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. 

No. 18— THE MOUNTED SKELETON OF BRONTOSAURUS. By W. D. 
MarrHew, Ph.D., Associate Curator of Vertebrate Palzontology. 
April, 1905. Out of print. 

No. 19.—THE REPTILES OF THE VICINITY OF NEW YORK CITY. By 
Raymonp L. Dirmars, Curator of Reptiles, New York Zodlogical Park. 
July, 1905. Price, 15 cents. 

No. 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. 

No. 21.—THE DEVELOPMENT OF A MOLLUSK. By B. E. Danuecren, 
D.M.D. January, 1906. Price, 10 cents. 

No. 22.— THE BIRDS OF THE VICINITY OF NEW YORK CITY. By Frank 
M. CHapman, Associate Curator of Mammalogy and Ornithology. 
April-July, 1906. Price, 15 cents. 

No. 23.—THE SPONGE ALCOVE. By Roy W. Miner, Assistant Curator of 
Invertebrate Zoédlogy. October, 1906. Price, 10 cents. 


(Published as a separate series.) 


No. 24.— PERUVIAN MUMMIES. By Cuarues W. Mean, Department of Eth- 
nology. March, 1907. Price, 10 cents. 

No. 25.— PIONEERS OF AMERICAN SCIENCE. Memorials of the naturalists 
whose busts are in the Foyer of the Museum. April, 1907. Price, 15 
cents. 

No. 26.— THE METEORITES IN THE FOYER OF THE AMERICAN MUSEUM 
OF NATURAL HISTORY. By Epmunp Otts Hovey, Ph.D., 
Associate Curator of Geology. December, 1907. Price, 10 cents. 

No. 27.— THE MALARIA MOSQUITO. By B. E. Dautcren, D.M.D.  Assis- 
tant Curator of Invertebrate Zoédlogy. April, 1908. Price, 15 cents. 

No. 28.— THE HABITAT GROUPS OF NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. By 
Frank M. CHapMan, Curator of Ornithology. February, 1909. Price, 
15 cents. 

No. 29.— THE INDIANS OF MANHATTAN ISLAND AND VICINITY. By 
ALANSON SKINNER, Department of Anthropology. September, 1909. 

LPG, 0) Gai: 
No. 30.—THE STOKES PAINTINGS REPRESENTING GREENLAND ESKIMO. 


November, 1909. Price, 5 cents. 


Scientific Staff 


DIRECTOR 
Hermon Carrey Bumpus, Ph.D., Se.D., LL.D. 


DEPARTMENT OF GEOLOGY AND INVERTEBRATE PALEONTOLOGY 


Prof. R. P. Wurrrretp, A.M., Curator Emeritus 
Epmunp Otis Hovey, A.B., Ph.D., Curator 


DEPARTMENT OF MINERALOGY 


L. P. Gratacap, Ph.B., A.B., A.M., Curator 
Grorce F. Kunz, A.M., Ph.D., Honorary Curator of Gems 


DEPARTMENT OF INVERTEBRATE ZOOLOGY 
Prof. Hrnry #. Crampton, A.B., Ph.D., Curator 
Roy W. Miner, A.B., Assistant Curator 
FRANK EH. Lutz, A.B., A.M., Ph.D., Assistant Curator 
L. P. Graracap, Ph.B., A.B., A.M., Curator of Mollusca 
WituiAM BreuTENMULLER, Associate Curator of Lepidoptera 


Prof. Wrut1aM Morton WHEELER, Ph.D., Honorary Curator of Social Insects 
ALEXANDER PreTRUNKEVITCH, Ph.D., Honorary Curator of Arachnida 
Prof. Aaron L. TREADWELL, B.S., M.S., Ph.D., Honorary Curator of Annulata 


DEPARTMENT OF ICHTHYOLOGY AND HERPETOLOGY 

Prof. BasHrorp Dran, A.B., A.M., Ph.D., Curator of Fishes and Reptiles 
Louis Hussaxkor, B.S., Ph.D.,- Assistant Curator of Fossil Fishes 
DEPARTMENT OF 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. ve W. Mitter, Assistant in Ornithology 


DEPARTMENT OF VERTEBRATE PALHAONTOLOGY 
Prof. Henry Farrrietp Ossporn, A.B., Se.D., LL.D., D.Se., Curator 
W. D. Marruew, Ph.B., A.B., A.M., Ph.D., Associate Curator 
WALTER GRANGER, Assistant Curator of Fossil Mammals 
Barnum Brown, A.B., Assistant Curator of Fossil Reptiles 
DEPARTMENT OF ANTHROPOLOGY 
CuarRK WissuterR, A.B., A.M., Ph.D., Curator 
Puiny E. Gopparp, A.B., A.M., Ph.D., Associate Curator 
Haruan I. Suiruy, Associate Curator 
Ropert H. Lowrie, A.B., Ph.D., Assistant Curator 
HERBERT J. SPINDEN, A.B., A.M.. Ph.D., Assistant Curator 
CHARLES W. Mean, Assistant 
ALANSON SKINNER, Assistant 
DEPARTMENT OF PHYSIOLOGY 
Prof. RaupH W. Tower, A.B., A.M., Pb.D., Curator 


DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC HEALTH 
Prof. CHARLES Epwarp Amory WInstow, S.B., M.S., Curator 


DEPARTMENT OF WOODS AND FORESTRY 


Mary Cyntruia Dickerson, B.S., in charge 


DEPARTMENT OF BOOKS AND PUBLICATIONS 
Prof. RaupH W. Tower, A.B., A.M.. Ph:D., Curator 


ANTHONY WOODWARD, Ph.D. ; 
DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC EDUCATION 


Prof. ALBERT S. Bickmore, B.S., Ph.D., LL.D., Curator Emeritus 
GrorcE H. SHERwoop, A.B., A.M., Curator 


in charge of Maps and Charts 


THE AMERICAN MUSEUM 
OF 


NATURAL HISTORY 


FOR THE.PEOPLE 
FOR EDVCATION 
FORSCIENCE 


THE 
AMERICAN JSIUSEUM 


JOURNAL 


aa 
nat 


CARAVAN ZOF THE MUSEUM'S CONGO EXPEDITION 
Volume X October, 1910 Number 6 


Published monthly from October to May inclusive by 
Tue AMERICAN Museum oF NaTuRAL History 


New York City 


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. Przerpont MorGANn CLEVELAND H. DopGE 
Treasurer Secretary 
CHARLES LANIER J. Hampprn Ross 
Ex Officio 


Tue Mayor or THE City or New Yor«K 
THE COMPTROLLER OF THE City oF NEw YorK 
Tur PRESIDENT OF THE DEPARTMENT OF PARKS 


Class of 1910 


J. HAMPDEN ROBB PERCY, R2PYNE 
ARTHUR CURTISS JAMES JOHN B. TREVOR 
J. PIERPONT MORGAN, Jr. 


Class of 1911 


CHARLES LANIER WILLIAM ROCKEFELLER 
ANSON W. HARD : GUSTAV EH. 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 
ACD) SULT LARD 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 Grorer H. SHERWOOD 


Tur AMERICAN Museum or Natural History was established in 1869 to promote 
the Natural Sciences and to diffuse a general knowledge of them among the people, and 
it is in cordial co6peration with al} similar institutions throughout the world. The Museum 
authorities are dependent upon private subscriptions and the dues from members for pro- 
curing needed additions to the collections and for carrying on explorations in America 
and other parts of the world. 


The membership fees are, 


Annual Members.............. @e Oy: Wellowpt thse iets eee ee 
Sustaining Members (Annual) .. 25 IRA GTONS i110 Duta sath kes 1000 
Tite Members... d0/ccat en, fl0o Benefactors (Gift or bequest) 50,000 


All money received from membership fees is used for increasing the collections and 
for developing the educational work of the Museum. 


The Museum is open free to the public on every day in the year. 


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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 


Worn, 2 OCTOBER, 1910 No. 6 


IN THE HEART OF AFRICA 
THE FIRST PUBLISHED ACCOUNT OF THE MUSEUM'S CONGO EXPEDITION 
Photographs by Herbert Lang 


WO members of the Museum staff, Messrs. Herbert Lang and 
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 
and the 


tropical country, the splendid color, the sounds, the life 
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 


147 


ts IS 


: : it ee 
AN (ys 
i a wlttst Gere dk 


EMERGING FROM THE FOREST NEAR AVAKUBI 
A caravan of more than 200 


In Central Africa, more than 8000 miles from New York. 
people was necessary to transport the expedition’s equipment from Stanleyville to Avakubi 
There are great difficulties in photographie 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 THE 
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 
Jast 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 


MR. 


JAMES CHAPIN, ASSISTANT 


Spainand 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 


= 


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 


317N1AG10d037 dIHSWvV3alS SHL WOHS GAHdVHDOLOHd ODNOO HAMOT AHL 4O SAHOHS 1G] 


PIER AT BOMA 


The Congo Expedition reached Boma, Capital of the Congo Free State, June 23, 1909 


WOODPOST AT BARUMBU 


The river boats burn wood, stopping frequently for a supply at ‘*woodposts,”’ usually 
mere clearings cut out of the jungle 


Or 
“~ 


ACCOUNT OF THE MUSEUM’S CONGO EXPEDITION 1. 


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 zo6- 
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. GRRE Wa eR Caa EIN oeteE aes 


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 coéperation 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. 


ry - Ass 
A RIVER BOAT ON THE WAY TO STANLEYVILLE Phus the expedition 


opeul oq Uv SUOTJIO{ [CO Yysy 


ayenbopy yt) offAAosuBIG 7B SolloUSy Ssnourey oy} ye durwo TIM ‘uINjor sit UO SUOT}IPIdxo at ey} OS SOATIYBU OY} YIM OpRUL Uoog OABY S}UOUTOSULL 
t I 5 : : : ! Ma ss : yi l 


a 


osuod Joddy) 94} Jo Sospo[ oU0}S puv SIBG pUvS oY} UO JIS “YJOaLD}H ‘spalq OY-AoAOTA fo syooy }Bols ysnsny 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. 


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ITINERARY OF THE 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 
to Stanleyville, from there through the “dense forest’? on foot to Avakubi. The latest 
report, June 30, 1910, came from Medje 


158 THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL 


The expedition left Matadi by rail reaching Leopoldville July 1, 
bevond the cataracts and 32U 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 serew 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 s2e 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 


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 MUSEUWS 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 16: 


or Matadi only one hundred miles 
from the coast will not even 
reach its destination for from ten 
to fifteen days. In fact, thedelay 
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 zodlogical 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- 


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 


“ TELEGRAPH" OPERATOR 


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 hay- 
ing remained unimpaired. 
It scarcely seems possi- 


2 
D) 


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. 


We have done our utmost [writes Mr. Lang] in training these natives and look 
forward with great pleasure to the results. Six of them ean 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. 


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, this large 
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 M7’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 adrapery 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 MUSEUM’S CONGO EXPEDITION 


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- 
tended to the expedition in two 
other directions. It has been 
granted storage free of charge in 
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 anteater 


or Pangolin 


Striped Squirrel 


of the Congo 


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 


= 


oar et 
seat ae ce gene 


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, 1s 
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. 


pS : 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 Ayakubi. 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 Congo forest with its strange life. 

Mary Cyntuia DicKERSON 


— 


VOLCANOES OF THE SOUTH SEAS 17 


TWO ACTIVE VOLCANOES OF THE SOUTH SEAS 


E were camped at the base of the voleano 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 volcano 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 fame 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 
-aused 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 


ukAD0 oY} OJUT SutMod KAY] Uo}[OUT Aq poshwo o1V UIRA}S JO Sphop oy], ‘puUvISI oY} JO 4SBoo Y}LOU oY} Jo UOTJIod pue ‘ouRo[O, 


vas SHL WOYS GAMGFIA IIVAVS GLI 


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 Pacifie 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 
lava fields unfurrowed by erosion. 


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 sez 


RUINS OF STONE HOUSES 
Trees were not consumed because of rapid cooling of the lava 


MAUNA LOA, HAWAII, VIEWED FROM THE SEA 
The 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- 
sandescent 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 réle 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 Savai 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 voleano 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 voleanoes 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 voleanic 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 are 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 Savail, 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 activity that form a 
network upon the surface of the pool. 

Henry E. CRAMPTON 


A NEW SWORDFISH MODEL 181 


A NEW SWORDFISH MODEL 


REAT interest prevailed in the Department of Preparation one hot 
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. 


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 


HE Honorable Mr. Karl Petraschek of Vienna, who is in America to 
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 


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 te 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. 


HE old method of prolonging life through the quest for an elixir of 
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 larvee feed and change to pup. 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 


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 codperation 
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 larvee 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 


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 


T is fortunate indeed that Mr. Carl E. Akeley is recovering from the 
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: 
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 


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. OcpEN Mitts and Fenix M. 
WarsBurG, Her SERENE HIGHNEss, Princess Vi~tMA Lworr-PaARLAGHY 
and Mmes. Russe_t SAGE and JoHNn B. Trevor; Life Members, Messrs. 
F. Lorurop Ames, C. Forster Cooper and Stanton D. KirkKHAmM and 
Miss EvizABETH BILLINGS; Sustaining Members, Mr. CHARLES DE RHAM 
and Mrs. C. M. Pratr; Annual Members, Messrs. J. ApAMS Brown, 
CLARENCE L. Fasré, Emit FRENKEL, WILLIAM HaGur, Row.Lanp G. 
Hazarp, JAMES Henry, Louris A. HILDEBRAND, STANLEY D. McGraw, 
S. K. Reep and GrorGce M. THornton and Megs. CHar.es A. Post, J. 
CLIFFORD RICHARDSON and CHARLES B. ROWLAND. 


1SS THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL 


PRESIDENT OszorN 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 vears. It is illustrated largely from the Hall of Fossil Mammals 
and from photographs collected by the Museum’s field expeditions. 


Dr. James DovuGtas 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. CHARLES H. TowNseENp 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 FatrFIELD OsBorN has been appointed Honorary 
Curator of the Department of Vertebrate Paleontology and Dr. W. D. 
Matthew has been promoted to the position of Acting Curator. 


Dr. C. H. Townsend 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. 


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. Wixstow, 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. 


Proressor 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 facility 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 Zoédlogy at Yale and will 
assume his new duties at the beginning of the current university year. 


Mr. J. D. Fiaers, 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. 


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 Riaas 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 PrRorrssor 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 DiIcKERSON, 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 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. 


Scientific Staff 


DIRECTOR 
HERMON CarREY Bumpus, Ph.D., Se.D., LL.D. 


DEPARTMENT OF GEOLOGY AND INVERTEBRATE PALHONTOLOGY 
Epmunp Otis Hovey, A.B., Ph.D., Curator 


DEPARTMENT OF MINERALOGY 


L. P. Gratacap, Ph.B., A.B., A.M., Curator 
GeorGE F. Kunz, A.M., Ph.D., Honorary Curator of Gems 


DEPARTMENT OF INVERTEBRATE ZOOLOGY 
Prof. Hmnry E. Crampton, A.B., Ph.D., Curator 
Roy W. Miner, A.B., Assistant Curator 
FRANK E. Lurz, 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 


Prof. Witu1am Morton WHEELER, Ph.D., Honorary Curator of Social Insects 
ALEXANDER PETRUNKEVITCH, Ph.D., Honorary Curator of Arachnida 
Prof. Aaron L. TREADWELL, B.S., M.8., Ph.D., Honorary Curator of Annulata 


DEPARTMENT OF MAMMALOGY AND ORNITHOLOGY 


Prof. J. A. Aten, Ph.D., Curator 
Frank M. Cuapman, Curator of Ornithology 
Roy C. Anprews, A.B., Assistant in Mammalogy 
W. ve W. Miter, Assistant in Ornithology 


DEPARTMENT OF VERTEBRATE PALAONTOLOGY 


Prof. Henry FarrrieLtp Osporn, A.B., Se.D., LL.D., D.Se., Honorary Curator 
W. D. Marruew, 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 
Louis Hussakor, B.S., Ph.D., Assistant Curator of Fossil Fishes 


DEPARTMENT OF ANTHROPOLOGY 


Cuark Wisster, A.B., A.M., Ph.D., Curator 
Purny E. Gopparp, A.B., A.M., Ph.D., Associate Curator 
Haruan I. Smiru, Associate Curator 
Ropert H. Lowin, A.B., Ph.D., Assistant Curator 
HersBert J. Sprnpen, A.B., A.M.. Ph.D., Assistant Curator 
CuHarLes W. Manan, Assistant 
ALANSON SKINNER, Assistant 


DEPARTMENT OF PHYSIOLOGY 
Prof. Ratpo W. Tower, A.B., A.M., Ph.D., Curator 


DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC HEALTH 
Prof. CHARLES Epwarp Amory WINSLOW, S.B., M.S., Curator 


DEPARTMENT OF WOODS AND FORESTRY 
Mary Cyntuia Dickerson, B.S., in charge 


DEPARTMENT OF BOOKS AND PUBLICATIONS 
Prof. RatpH W. Tower, A.B., A.M., Ph.D., Curator 


ANTHONY WoopwWaARD, Ph.D in charge of Maps and Charts 


DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC EDUCATION 


Prof. Atgert S. Bickmore, B.S., Ph.D., LL.D., Curator Emeritus 
GrorGeE H. SHeRwoop, A.B., A.M., Curator 


THE AMERICAN MUSEUM 


OF 


NATURAL HISTORY 


POR TE PEOPEE 
FOR EDVCATION 
FOR SiG: E.N-G.E 


THE 
AMERICAN [JIUSEUM 


JOURNAL 


BRONZE BAS RELIEF BY CHESTER BEACH 


Volume X November, 1910 Number 7 


Published monthly from October to May inclusive by 
THe AMERICAN Musreum or Naturat History 
New York City 


American Museum of Natural History 
Seventy-seventh Street and Central Park West, New York City 


BOARD OF TRUSTEES 


President 
Henry FarrFieLp OsBorN 
First Vice-President 
J. Prerepont MorGan 
Treasurer 
CHARLES LANIER 


Second Vice-President 
CLEVELAND H. DopGsE 
Secretary 
J. Hamppen ROBB 
Ex Officio 
THe Mayor OF THE Ciry or New York 
THe COMPTROLLER OF THE City oF New YorK 
Tur PRESIDENT OF THE DEPARTMENT OF PARKS 


Class of 1910 
J. HAMPDEN ROBB ; PERCY he even 
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 GroRGE H. SHERWOOD 


Tur AmertcAN Museum or Naturau History was established in 1869 to promote 
the Natural Sciences and to diffuse a general knowledge of them among the people, and 
it is in cordial codperation with all similar institutions throughout the world. The Museum 
authorities are dependent upon private subscriptions and the dues from members for pro- 
curing needed additions to the collections and for carrying on explorations in America 
and other parts of the world. 


The membership fees are, 


Annual Memibers.....-...5.... $ 10 Bellows des cicvand seen ee we pO UU 
Sustaining Members (Annual) .. 25 IRAtONS i Aye. tas fore cree 1000 
ites Memberseec rine ete oF 100 Benefactors (Gift or bequest) 50,000 


All money received from membership fees is usedgfor increasing theZcollections and 
for developing the educational work of the Museum. 
ping 


The Museum is open free to the public on every day in the year. 


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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 


Mor. Xx NOVEMBER, 1910 No. 7 


PROTECTIVE COLORATION IN THE HABITAT GROUPS OF 
BIRDS 


HILE the habitat groups of birds make their strongest appeal to 
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. 

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 


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 
biologic 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 


WHITE-TAILED PTARMIGAN IN SUMMER PLUMAGE 


its wearer with the details of 
A portion of the Arctic-Alpine group. The 


female ptarmigan is protectively colored; she 
will allow herself to be touched before deserting 
the nest contains a further illustra- 


its nest. 
This San Joaquin group 


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 


HAT the Museum has created a Department of Public Health em- 
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 
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 


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 algee 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 temporary 
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 Navaso 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 Chileat and other tribes 
made blankets from the hair of the mountain goat, where, however, the 


YOM 10F WOT}ISOd UI st UNnseq snl yoyuRTG VW 


AWOH YSWWNS OPVAYN £06 


Pal 


aeGarandd 


CHIEF’S BLANKET OF THE LENDERS’ COLLECTION 


es 


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 


NAVAJO WOMAN SPINNING WOOL 


weaving is done begin- The spindle is very like those found in the prehis- 


ning at the bottom, the _ toric cliff-dwellings in the Southwest 


206 THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL 


blanket being lowered as 
the work progresses. No 
shuttle is used, the yarn 
is inserted with tbe 
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 NAvAJso 
BLANKETS 


The colors employed 
are the natural white 


WEAVING A NAVAJO BLANKET 


and brown of the well- 
Insuring a close weave by beating down the woof  * 


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 pinon 
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 


AN ATTRACTIVE BLANKET IN THE SAGE COLLECTION 
round 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 eclored 
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. This 


blanket is unusually fine in weave 


Z ¢ 


Y 
> : 
? 


A tk Tas aad ee 


DREAMS 


es 


sa a ce a 


a a a a 


alll 


EE AINA alain iets nih pam yt tPA PONE Ne ae sinininsn baa te 


a 
af 


he, 


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. 


Navaso DEsIGns 


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 codrdinate 
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. 


Navajo 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. 

Puryy E. Gopparp 


212 THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL 


“TURNING KOGMOLLIK’’ FOR SCIENCE 
EXPERIENCES OF THE Museum’s Arctic EXPEDITION 


HERE could be no more simply told story of hardship, of high hopes 
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 
Aretiec 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- 


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-d-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 lbs. of tea at 20 cents a lb., 40 lbs. 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 lbs. 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 zoological 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 
Yskimos 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 


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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 
Francisco 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 insufhi- 
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 Arctics 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 Arcties is a large problem. To hire an 


2S 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 
Yskimo’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 
aleohol 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 zodlogical 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 coéperation 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 


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 
codperation 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 Palseontology 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 Teacuers’ 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. 


THe HorticuLturaL Society or 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 Pp. M., also on Sunday from 1 to 5 Pp. M. 


Miss Mary Lots Kisseuu 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. 


Pusuiic meetings of the New York Academy of Sciences and its Affili- 
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. CHARLES-EDWARD Amory WINSLOW, “ 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. Cuapman, “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. Cuark, “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. Puiny 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. ANDREWs. 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 Pp. M. 


Oct. Novy. 
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. RoEsuer. 
Monday, 31 21—“Scenes in Peru, Bolivia and Brazil.”’ By Dr. 
Louis Hussakor. 


224 THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL 


Novy. 
Wednesday, 2 30— “Alaska and its Indians.” By Mr. Haran I. Smrru. 
Dec 
Friday, 4  2—“Children of all Nations.” By Mrs. A. L. RoEsLER. 
Monday, 7 5&—“Transportation: Past and. Present.” By Mr. 


WALTER GRANGER. 
Wednesday, 9 7—“A Trip to Europe.” By Dr. Louris Hussaxkor. 
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 Rices. 

November 8 — “Southeastern Italy: The Sorrentine Peninsula and its 
Place in History.” By Mr. ArtHur STaNnLey Rices. 

November 15 — “Twentieth Century Sicily: The Modern Garden of 
Eden.” By Mr. ArTHuR STANLEY Races. 

November 22 — Subject and lecturer to be announced. 

November 29 — “ Holland’s War with the Sea.” By Jamzs H. Gores, LL. D. 


Saturday evenings at 8 : 15 o’clock. Doors open at 7:30. Illustrated. 


November 5 — “The Humming Bird’s History.” > Prog. S. C. SCHMUCKER. 

November 12 — “The Mind of the Apes.” Pror. S. C. ScHMUCKER. 

November 19 — “The Living and the Non-living.” By Mr. BENJAMIN C. 
GRUENBERG. 

November 26 — “Life Aggressive: Utilizing the Environment.” By Mr. 
BENJAMIN C. GRUENBERG. 


The American [luseum Journal 


Mary Cynruia Dickerson, Editor. 


Frank M. Cuapman, | 
Louis P. GRaATACcaP, \ Advisory Board. 
Wiuuram K. GREGORY. J 


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 


Scientific Staff 


DIRECTOR 
Hermon Carty Bumpus, Ph.D., Sc.D., LL.D. 


DEPARTMENT OF GEOLOGY AND INVERTEBRATE PALHZONTOLOGY 
Epmunp Otis Hovey, A.B., Ph.D., Curator 


DEPARTMENT OF MINERALOGY 


L. P. Gratacap, Ph.B., A.B., A.M., Curator 
GeorGe F. Kunz, A.M., Ph.D., Honorary Curator of Gems 


DEPARTMENT OF INVERTEBRATE ZOOLOGY 
Prof. Hrnry E. Crampron, 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. Gratracap, Ph.B., A.B., A.M., Curator of Mollusca 
Wituram BrvuTENMULLER, Associate Curator of Lepidoptera 


Prof. Witt1amM Morton WHEELER, Ph.D., Honorary Curator of Social Insects 
ALEXANDER PrerruNKEvitTcH, Ph.D., Honorary Curator of Arachnida 
Prof. Aaron L. TREADWELL, B.S., M.S., Ph.D., Honorary Curator of Annulata 


DEPARTMENT OF MAMMALOGY AND ORNITHOLOGY 


Prof. J. A. Atten, Ph.D., Curator 
FRANK M. Cuapman, Curator of Ornithology 
Roy C. Anprews, A.B., Assistant in Mammalogy 
W. ve W. Mitier, Assistant in Ornithology 


DEPARTMENT OF VERTEBRATE PALHONTOLOGY 


Prof. Henry FarrrieLp Osporn, A.B., Se.D., LL.D., D.Se., Honorary Curator ° 
W. D. Marruew, 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 
Louis Hussaxor, B.S., Ph.D., Assistant Curator of Fossil Fishes 


DEPARTMENT OF ANTHROPOLOGY 
CuarK WIssLeR, A.B., A.M., Ph.D., Curator 
Puiny E. Gopparp, A.B., A.M., Ph.D., Associate Curator 
Haran I. Smiru, Associate Curator 
Rospert H. Lowtier, A.B., Ph.D., Assistant Curator 

HERBERT J. SpINDEN, A.B., A.M.. Ph.D., Assistant Curator 
CHarRLES W. Mrmap, Assistant 
ALANSON SKINNER, Assistant 


DEPARTMENT OF PHYSIOLOGY 
Prof. RatpH W. Tower, A.B., A.M., Ph.D., Curator 


DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC HEALTH 
Prof. CHARLES Epwarp Amory Wrnstow, 8.B., M.S., Curator 


DEPARTMENT OF WOODS AND FORESTRY 
Mary Cyntuta Dickerson, B.S., in charge 


DEPARTMENT OF BOOKS AND PUBLICATIONS 
Prof. RaupH W. Tower, A.B., A.M., Ph.D., Curator 


ANTHONY WooDWARD, Ph.D., in charge of Maps and Charts 


DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC EDUCATION 


Prof. Atpert 8. Bickmorn, B.S., Ph.D., LL.D., Curator Emeritus 
GrorGre H. SHEeRwoop, A.B.,.A.M., Curator 


THE AMERICAN MUSEUM 


OF 


NATURAL HISTORY 


FOR. JHE PEOREE 
FOR EDVCATION 
FOR. S'Gaje N GE 


Vou. teen GUO No 3 


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 Canoe,’ page 238 


The American Museum Journal 


Vou. X DECEMBER, 1910 No. 8 


HERCULEAN TASK IN MUSEUM EXHIBITION 


FOREWORD REGARDING THE CEREMONIAL CANOE SCENE IN THE NORTH 


Paciric Hau 


Photographs from the North Pacific Coast by Lieutenant George T. Emmons, 
Museum photographs by Thomas Lunt 


N unusually large task in exhibition entered upon by the Museum 
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. 


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. 

Wits (Gy De 


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 Colon, 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 


HE potlatch is the distinctive feature of aboriginal life along the 
North Pacific Coast from the Strait of Fuca to the vicinity of 


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 JOURNAL 


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 occa- 
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. 

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. The men and women 


IN THE LAND OF THE POTLATCH 


TLINGIT CHILDREN 


ad0Y} SOQLI} UBIPUT VY} JO oINA[N oy} ur vov[d Suryey ore yey} Sosuvyo oy} Jo puB ySvo_D oYlovg YON oy} uo Sut 
-YCUI SI UOT}EZI[LAW S9UBAP? pider oy} JO UOTBorpul suo ynq SISIGT, ‘e[}}Beg YPM [quo URoLeUTY-][e UR Aq po}dUUOD MOU ST BYIIG 


AJONVO TVINOW3YH3S390 GNV YOSHVH VHLIS GEG 


SIGURD NEANDROSS, SCULPTOR 


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 
‘anoe 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 POLEMAN IN THE CEREMONIAL CANOE, SHOWING THE SCULPTOR'S 
SKILL IN MAKING CASTS OF FIGURES IN ACTION 


EQRT UL WUNESNy, oY} JO UOIssassod oy} OFUT OUTRO YT “BUOT Joo} INOJ-A4XIS UBY} 2IOUL ST GOURD Bpleyy YL, 


8061 ‘YSEWSAON NI T1IVH O14I0Vd HLYON SHI 9EG 


oy} jo JUDULOSUBLIG oULL ‘IO ]Ud0 oy} ul JOUBD [BIUOULIO0 Bo oy “S ILL STLOLIBA oy} jo oATYRJUOSOIdod SUOT}IOS ULL J O} Jos sojod W040} “YJoy pus 
}YSIE YW SMOPULM ot} UVeMjoq Soovds oy} UI uoljIsod oye} 0} LO[ABT, “9 [ILA Aq uoreredord ur suetipuy oyloed YON Jo SosBaAuvo [BINUL “puso Ivy ot} 


v EM ol uo Ssutmuted oullys7 soyoya :snduin UuUOULLO LO IIIT 0 UoTdodU0d OT IB SOINIBIT IATPRIOVIP ot yuB UBRId JRIOUONS ol 
hen | yaa iE S) {dy ; | : L 


SITIVH NOILISIHXS S,WNNSSNW 3SHL 40 ONISOdUW!I LSOW 3ZHL 30 ANO “O16h NI AWVS SHL LES™ 


THE WORK ON THE CEREMONIAL CANOE 


A MODIFIED METHOD OF MAKING PLASTER CASTS FROM LIFE 
By Sigurd Neandross 


HE Museum is continually carrying on experiments to find methods 
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 ¢ 
record of individual types of these Indian tribes, requiring at every 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 


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 


i 


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 occupied 


THE FINISHED FIGURE 


IN THE WORK 


A LATER STAGE 


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 


LONG the Pacific Coast from Puget Sound in Washington past 
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 oceupy 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. 


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 
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 
dug out. ‘To effect this 
result, the dug out canoe 


is filled with water, then 


River canoes owned by Kwakiutl. Semi- 
circular in cross section, spoon-shaped at the 


hot stones are added, 
and after the wood is ends. Poled by two men, one in the prow, one 
somewhat softened, the nEmnetatenn 

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 WorRLD. 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 MuSEUM 
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 ina 
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, 


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 


THE NEW PLESIOSAUR 247 


AMERICAN PLESIOSAUR Elasmosaurus 


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. 

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 


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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 
vertebrie 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 Mosasaurs, which were in fact relatives of the lizards and resembled 
them in many respects, although lke 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-pointed 
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. [t 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. 


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. 38 — 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 
. « oD 
(4), p. 251. 2—Still more conventionalized, a key to many complex patterns as 


in (3), (4) and (5). Compare with (5), p. 251 


2 


OTHER CONVENTIONALIZED FISH DESIGNS 


The first can be accepted after comparison with (2) above 
and with (5), p. 251. Asa 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 (3) 


a very ___sinterest- 
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 


Y, 
Vanrfe 


/ 


/ CAR 4 
Sea 
ite 


Traladaicaanseel atten he Ne 
Weanpnamsetenteine, sediy op 


DM eyw rove 


VOLO AE LORS ETEFOOPPRD DIAL ELL DODAMPDEPORT EMER 
PANTIE ARNEL IRE 


PORTIONS OF PERUVIAN MUMMY CLOTHS 


Chosen to show various highly conventionalized patterns of the interlocked fish design. 
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 


OT so very long ago there came to us the simple message that one of 
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 


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, 
“Tet 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, 
Chih, 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. 
C. 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 cobperation with the City in educational work along 
lines of natural science.— Editor. 


NE of the purposes of the Founders of this Museum was to establish 
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 codperation 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. As a result we had numer- 


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 


INCE the last issue of the JouRNAL, letters have been received from 
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. Stefans- 
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, 


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 


= 


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- 
cal 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 


Tue following have been elected recently to membership in the Museum: 
Life Members, Messrs. BENJAMIN WaLwortH ARNOLD, Dickson Q. 
Brown, CHarLtes W. Harkness, D. P. Kinestey and T. B. PARKER, 
Captain JOHN J. PHELPS and COLONEL Ropert M. THompson; Sustaining 
Member, Mr. RatpH Wurts-Dunpas; and Annual Members, His Ex- 
CELLENCY Wiiu1aM H. Tart, Messrs. Wituiam A. ADRIANCE, MARSHAL 
CHANDLER Bacon, F. O. Brezner, L. F. Bratine, W. B. CoGSwELL, FRANK 
R. CorD.ey, JULIEN T. Davies, J. BENJAMIN Diunick, F. N. DouBLEepDay, 
H. C. Drayton, WiLtLiam SEYMouR Epwarps, THomas W. Farnam, 
WiwuaM T. Fioyp, J. R. Guappine, Henry J. S. Hay, Partie W. Henry, 
A. F. Houpen, L. E. Hotpen, Joun H. Isetin, Epwarp H. Kipper, Orro 
R. Korcuu, TowNSEND LAWRENCE, ARTHUR LEHMAN, ARTHUR LINCOLN, 
Lucius N. Lirraver, R. S. Lovett, ALFRED BisHorp Mason, STEPHEN O. 
Metcatr, RoBERT GrreER Monrog, J. SEAVER Pace, Epwarpb C. PERKINS, 
GeorGE E. Perkins, Lewis A. Pratt, Grorce E. Scoanck, ALFRED L. 
SELIGMAN, GEORGE St. JOHN SHEFFIELD, Louts Morris STarr, SAMUEL 
TuHorNE, Jr., THomas G. WASHBURN, ALEXANDER M. Wuite, Lucrus WIL- 
MERDING, ORME WILSON, JR., and JoHN YARD; Rev. Dr. GrorGE C. 
YeISLEY, Drs. CHares L. Dana and Joun E. Witson, GENERAL CHARLES 
F. Ror and Mmes. CHartes OT1s 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 
Kk. Gregory, Assistant in the Department of Vertebrate Paleontology. 


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. 


MUSEUM NEWS NOTES 263 


Mr. Barnum Brown of the Department of Vertebrate Palsontology 
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. 


THe Museum Liprary lacks for its files volumes II to VIII inclusive 
of the JournaL. 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. FrRanK M. CHapman, “From Sea-level to Snow-line 
in Vera Cruz, Mexico.” 
December 8— Mr. James L. Ciark, “Snap Shots from British East 
Africa.” 
December 15 — Dr. Piryy E. Gopparp, “ Nomadics of the Southwest.” 
December 22 — Mr. Roy C. ANpDREWws. 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. Acnes L. Roeser, “Children of All Nations.” 
December 5 — Mr. WALTER GRANGER, “ Transportation: Past and Present.” 
December 7 — Dr. Louts Hussakor, “A Trip to Europe.” 

December 9 — Mr. Barnum Brown, “Life on the Plains.” 


PEOPLE’S COURSE 


riven in codbperation 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. Hitt, “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. m. Doors open at 2:45 Pp. Mm. 
December 26— Dr. Louts Hussaxor, “The Fish and Fisheries of the 
Southern States.” 
January 2— Mr. Roy W. Mrver, “Corals and Coral Islands.” 
February 22 — Pror. C—E. A. Wrinstow, “ 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. 


Frank M. Cuapman, | 
Louis P. Graracap, } Advisory Board. 
WitiiaAmM K. Gregory. } 


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. 


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