The United States National Museum Annual Report for the Year Ended June 30, 1953 SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION Unirep Statzs Natronat Museum, Unpir DireEcTIoN OF THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, Washington, D. C., October 15, 1958. Srr: I have the honor to submit herewith a report upon the present condition of the United States National Museum and upon the work accomplished in its various departments during the fiscal year ended June 30, 1953. Very respectfully, ReminetTon KELLoGG, Director, U. S. National Museum. Dr. LEonarp CARMICHAEL, Secretary, Smithsonian Institution. Ir Annual Report of the Director United States National Museum June 30, 1953 Scientific staff Director: Remington Kellogg Department of Anthropology: Frank M. Setzler, head curator A. J. Andrews, J. E. Anglim, exhibits preparators ARrcHEOLOGY: Waldo R. Wedel, cu-|PHystcan ANTHROPOLOGY: T. Dale rator Stewart, curator M. T. Newman, associate curator Ersanotoecy: H. W. Krieger, curator J. C. Ewers, associate curator C. M. Watkins, associate curator R. A. Elder, Jr., assistant curator Clifford Evans, Jr., associate curator Department of Zoology: Waldo L. Schmitt, head curator W. L. Brown, chief exhibits preparator; C. R. Aschemeier, W. M. Perrygo, E. G. Laybourne, C. 8. East, J. D. Biggs, exhibits preparators; Mrs. Aime M. Awl, scientific illustrator MAMMALS: Insects: Edward A. Chapin, curator D. H. Johnson, associate curator R. E. Blackwelder, associate curator H. W. Setzer, associate curator W. D. Field, associate curator Charles O. Handley, Jr., assistant} O. L. Cartwright, associate curator curator Grace E. Glance, associate curator Birps: Herbert Friedmann, curator Sophy Parfin, assistant curator H. G. Deignan, associate curator MARINE INVERTEBRATES: F. A. Chace, Samuel A. Arny, museum aide Jr., curator Frederick M. Bayer, associate curator REPTILES AND AMPHIBIANS: . rs Mrs. L. W. Peterson, museum aide Doris M. Cochran, associate curator Mouuusxks: Harald A. Rehder, curator FisHes: Leonard P. Schultz, curator Joseph P. E. Morrison, associate cu- E. A. Lachner, associate curator rator W. T. Leapley, museum aide R. Tucker Abbott, associate curator Robert H. Kanazawa, museum aide| W. J. Byas, museum aide Department of Botany: Jason R. Swallen, head curator PHanerRocams: A. C. Smith, curator] GRasszs: E. C. Leonard, associate curator Ernest R. Sohns, associate curator E. H. Walker, associate curator Cryptoaams: C. V. Morton, acting cu- Lyman B. Smith, associate curator rator Velva E. Rudd, assistant curator Paul S. Conger, associate curator Frrns: C. V. Morton, curator Iv Department of Geology: W. F. Foshag, head curator J. H. Benn, Jessie G. Beach, museum aides MINERALOGY AND PETROLOGY: W. F.| VERTEBRATH PALEONTOLOGY: Foshag, acting curator E. P. Henderson, associate curator G. 8. Switzer, associate curator F. E. Holden, museum technician INVERTEBRATE PALEONTOLOGY Cy i: Gazin, curator D. H. Dunkle, associate curator F. L. Pearce, exhibits preparator A. C. Murray, exhibits preparator AND PaLEOBOTANY: Gustav A. Cooper, curator A. R. Loeblich, Jr., associate curator David Nicol, associate curator W. T. Allen,“museum aide Department of Engineering and Industries: Frank A. Taylor, head curator ENGINEERING: Frank A. Taylor, acting curator; in charge of Sections of Civil and Mechanical Engineering, Marine Transportation, and Phys- ical Sciences and Measurements K. M. Perry, associate curator, Section of Electricity S. H. Oliver, associate curator, Sec- tion of Land Transportation MEDICINE AND Pusiic HEALTH: George B. Griffenhagen, associate curator Alvin E. Goins, museum aide CraFrts anD Inpustrins: W. N. Wat- kins, curator; in charge of Sections of Wood Technology, Manufac- tures, and Agricultural Industries Edward C. Kendall, associate curator Grace L. Rogers, assistant curator; Section of Textiles E. A. Avery, museum aide William E. Bridges, museum aide Walter T. Marinetti, museum aide Grapuic Arts: J. Kainen, curator A. J. Wedderburn, Jr., associate curator; Section of Photography J. Harry Phillips, Jr., museum aide Department of History: Mendel L. Peterson, acting head curator Mizirary AND Navau History: Mendel L. Peterson, associate cura- tor J. Russell Sirlouis, assistant curator Craddock R. Goins, Jr., assistant cu- rator. NUMISMATICS: Civit History: Margaret W. Brown, associate curator Robert Leroy Morris, museum aide PHILATELY: Franklin R. Bruns, curator Jr., associate S. M. Mosuer, associate curator Hla yah PY OPER fast we yee) er | a 2 | : ¢ % Saf f é . 3 y | Smithsonian collaborators, associates, custodians of collections, and honorary curators Anthropology Neil M. Judd, Anthropology W. W. Taylor, Jr., Anthropology Zoology Paul Bartsch, Mollusks _ W. L. Jellison, Insects Arthur C. Bent, Birds W. M. Mann, Hymenoptera A. G. Béving, Zoology W. B. Marshall, Zoology L. L. Buchanan, Coleoptera Gerrit S. Miller, Jr.. Mammals M. A. Carriker, Insects J. Perey Moore, Marine Invertebrates Austin H. Clark, Zoology Theodore S. Palmer, Zoology R. 8. Clark, Zoology Benjamin Schwartz, Helminthology Robert A. Cushman, Hymenoptera Mrs. Harriet Richardson Searle, Marine Max M. Ellis, Marine Invertebrates Invertebrates W. K. Fisher, Zoology C. R. Shoemaker, Zoology D. C. Graham, Biology Alexander Wetmore, Birds Charles T. Greene, Diptera Mrs. Mildred Stratton Wilson, Copepod A. Brazier Howell, Mammals Crustacea Botany Agnes Chase, Grasses F. A. McClure, Grasses David G. Fairchild, Lower Fungi John A. Stevenson, Fungi E. P. Killip, Phanerogams Geology R. S. Bassler, Paleontology J. P. Marble, Mineralogy Roland W. Brown, Paleobotany S. H. Perry, Mineralogy Preston Cloud, Invertebrate Paleon-| J. B. Reeside, Jr., Invertebrate Pale- tology ontology Frank L. Hess, Mineralogy and Pe-| W. T. Schaller, Mineralogy trology T. W. Stanton, Invertebrate Paleon- J. Brookes Knight, Invertebrate Pale- tology ontology Engineering and Industries F. L. Lewton, Crafts and Industries vI Contents Page iN TROD U CLI ON aint doch esate Atco ent ae aye Mee ae sl in, hs 1 EXCEPTS eek oe Me! ce TPR MN” wee Paha be ae ee MIR rs RAE PA db 8 AIC CHSSIONSEMANC Ura ilcetar ace ohne hipay oul su MMS cone De ees ychee tc tcl ts 12 CARE oF COLLECTIONS ........... SEIS SL vated hari: He ie 20 INVESTIGATION AND? RESMARCH |. Shis SRS Tae ee Tee een 25 ATUL MEO OLO LYM pre nett er cect ace aR ae Ar We Peis eee Sanat Gi Lnaleny) oe nei 25 LOO OLY MERE heuer en nea for ca ne ADA Gem ILMaY fae tg igen aly eels 29 IB OUAN VAN eatery eae Mm Mg AG, ft, Me lal a eR ae eo 35 Ceolosyarden St yten ck tor ans Tess eoieds We Remap chun) sala Glee 37 Hngineerinecand) Industries... Gea, ale thee 2 eee oe a 44 ERISGOT Ys ee) 9" SP ant ee ae ee ecm ACS Ab A hs Aah 46 UO BRICATIONS Ham eiciie: cileUpoiiaicoenrs Dbireeppe: Bees Tel vit Pt dis aie, apeiron 2a 48 Donors To THE NATIONAL COLLECTIONS ..... +. «6 © « o « «© « 56 ye ® oe Rie Ge re eee he og er dae ero miu ajaut vsithea-m ie nee nek epee x the lb ARSE, Ay So Introduction Our National Museum serves many purposes. In it, objects of natural science and treasures of history and technology are preserved for posterity. Through critical study of its collections and the data relevant to them the scope of human knowledge is enlarged. From the exhibition of its collections the visiting public receives information and intellectual stimulation. All these activities—the amassing, the preserving, the documenting, the study, and the exhibiting of its collections—require not only constant work and attention but also financial support. Lack of adequate funds for exhibits over a period of many years has forced the United States National Museum to leave many of its public halls long unchanged, despite the awareness of its staff that newer and better methods of exhibition would greatly improve them. The Congress has now made appropriations permitting us to start some modernization of these exhibition halls. To this improvement in our service to the public the Museum staff is turning a very considerable part of its thinking and effort. As we commence this long-range undertaking it seems worthwhile to discuss its goals in terms of the mission of the Smithsonian Institution to increase and diffuse knowledge among men. National repository In planning exhibits for the National Museum, a number of factors must be considered in addition to the obvious ones of cost and avail- ability of space and personnel. Several in particular are significant. First, the Museum is the national repository for materials in national history, technology and engineering, and the natural sciences. It is charged with the duty of holding for public use this material, much of which is turned over to it by other departments of the Govern- ment. In more than a century of service to science and the public it has been given the responsibility for preserving and exhibiting im- mense collections of scientific and cultural objects, many of them unique, valued at many hundreds of millions of dollars. No museum in this country and few, if any, throughout the world have this func- tion and this opportunity to gather and exhibit so much that is of permanent significance. 1 2 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM ANNUAL REPORT, 1953 Public interest Second, the interest of the public in these collections is attested by a recent national poll showing that the National Museum is a tourist attraction in Washington second only to the Capitol and the White House. Because of its location on the Mall, the Museum is frequently the first point of interest for visitors to the Nation’s Capital. Citizens from every section of the United States are to be found at almost any time in its halls, which are open to the public every day in the year but Christmas. Many of its visitors return again and again, often from considerable distances. Others, some of them foreign, are able to make no more than one trip to Washington in a lifetime. To all these people, most of whom have a limited budget of time but a vast interest in seeing as much of as many different things as possible, the Museum has a very great responsibility for making their visit both significant and satisfying. The presence in the Museum of so many authentic relics of our social and technological background provides a rich opportunity to set before the world this material evidence of the factors contributing to our national growth. Also, as the only large museum of its kind in the Washington metropolitan area, its exhibits are studied each year by hundreds of thousands of young people in organized groups from the schools and colleges of the District of Columbia and nearby States. The presence of the Museum in the Washington area makes establishing a local museum for such purposes unnecessary and a practical impossibility, in the unlikely event one should be desired. The repeated use of its exhibits as an educational facility by these schools is another evidence of public interest that cannot and should not be ignored. The needs of this group can be satisfied in ways that will contribute to the larger function of the Museum as a national institution. Changing cultural tastes Third, a marked change has taken place in the cultural needs and tastes of the public since the period before the first World War, when many of the present Museum exhibits were created. ‘That was some 40 years ago, toward the end of an era of great expositions in which periodically were assembled novelties and oddities and interesting devices from all over the world. Then, as now, people were eager for knowledge. Great areas of the visible world of nature were still being explored, mass production was just beginning to bring the world of science into the home, and there were wonders on every hand for the edification of the public, which delighted in being astounded. INTRODUCTION 3 Today world travel is commonplace. Numbers of our citizens have visited distant countries or they know intimately someone who has. The motion pictures, radio, and television teach those who stay home more of the world and its natural history than any but the most favored few could learn in the still-recent past. Study of man’s physical and cultural environment has become an important part of the curricula of our schools. In some subjects children today are often better informed than their parents. As people have become better informed generally, their increased knowledge has given them both the desire for more information and the capacity to compre- hend it. As a result, they flock to museums in greater numbers than ever before to examine the actual objects at first hand. The average museum visitor today is likely to be far more dis- criminating and much less naive than his parents were. His attitude toward what he sees, moreover, is conditioned by his contact with modern techniques of presenting information and with educational methods that have radically improved through the influence of applied psychology and modern advertising. He is accustomed to these techniques and methods, approves of them, and expects them to be used wherever they contribute to the quick comprehension of an idea or situation. His intellectual curiosity can no longer be completely satisfied with rows of stuffed mammals or birds, with cases of rocks that all look very much alike and have little to identify them but hard-to-pronounce scientific names, with displays of arrowheads or shells in geometric patterns, with garments and personal effects of famous people laid out in rows, or with shelves of primitive artifacts and implements whose appearance gives few hints of their use or effectiveness or significance. The Museum not only has to show its collections in a different and better way, it must also show a greater variety of topics in order to satisfy and give intellectual pleasure to people with a wider range of interests. Merely to show more objects is not the answer. It is rather to show fewer, but with greater attention to their selection and arrangement. Today’s visitor may come to the Museum with a passively receptive mind and not in search of a particular object or fact, but he neverthe- less expects to find in the exhibits a higher level of idea content than can be presented by a series of objects with accurate but unimagina- tive labels. He is better able to absorb the story behind the objects, and it is the function of the Museum to give him that story as lucidly and attractively as possible, 4 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM ANNUAL REPORT, 1953 Scope of collections The fourth factor affecting the program of modernizing our exhibits is the vast scope of the collections. The Museum is in effect three museums in one—a natural-history museum dealing with plants, animals, and minerals—a museum of anthropology dealing with an- cient and modern man and his works—a museum of national history and technology dealing with the development of this country and its culture. These three fields overlap somewhat (the phase of anthro- pology that deals with man as a physical being, for instance, is covered in part by the field of mammalogy, in natural history, dealing with man as an animal), but basically they are different aspects of the whole subject of man and his physical environment. And while the exhibits of each require different treatment, the over-all presentation of them can be coordinated so that taken together they clarify the relationship of man to his environment and emphasize the special contributions of the United States to the improvement of man’s physical and social well being. Panorama of life National interest as well as the opportunity to increase knowledge among men make it highly desirable to present this impressive and engrossing subject to the millions of visitors coming to the Nation’s Capital, and to present it as a broad, integrated panorama of life, the essentials of which can be grasped in a limited time but which nevertheless provide ample material for detailed study. The first steps toward achieving such a presentation are already under way in the rehabilitation of our specialized divisional exhibits. Completion of this work will increase measurably the usefulness of our museum materials in the traditional groupings—birds, insects, archeology, botany, engineering, paleontology, graphic arts, stamps and coins, ethnology, textiles, military history, to name a few. Subsequent steps can be taken as other programs of the Smithsonian Institution now in progress come to fruition and other halls become available. Construction of the proposed National Air Museum and the museum proposed for the National Collection of Fine Arts, for example, will release for other uses the halls now occupied by these collections. Likewise, other construction proposed for the Natural His- tory building will provide space for exhibition material now held in storage. And replacement of the worn-out Arts and Industries build- ing, an exhibition shed both costly to maintain and basically unsuit- able for use as a modern museum, will allow the exhibits in national history and technology to be displayed in a manner appropriate to their true significance in the story of man’s development in the partic- ular environment of the United States. INTRODUCTION 5 Thematic exhibits As these halls become available, the broader outlines of the program will unfold. For each major aspect of the story of man in relation to his environment—natural history, anthropology, national history and technology—a basic series of exhibits is being considered that will develop a sustained theme illustrating the essential facts of that aspect. Each series will be laid out so that the visitor can tour the halls in an hour or two and not miss any major exhibit. Supporting the basic series, in adjoining halls and alcoves, will be supplementary exhibits supplying details that amplify the main theme. These are intended to satisfy those who are making a closer study of the Museum, or whose interest has been aroused by a particular facet of the main series. Elsewhere in the Museum, for the many scientists, collectors, hobbyists, and others who come with specific interests in mind, will be found the specialized collections, strengthened by the addition of explanatory displays and timely, topical exhibits. In the laboratories, storage areas, and work rooms the scientist and historian will find as usual the reference collections—the incomparable research tools that comprise the bulk of the materials in the Museum. Ecological associations The theme chosen for each of the main series will provide a broad, comprehensive view of the subject, and at the same time will help the visitor integrate what he sees with what he knows. In natural history, for example, environmental association is of primary importance, and appreciation of the environment as a whole is essential to a full understanding of any of its parts. The average person has learned to know his own particular world of nature as such an association, whether city park, suburban com- munity, or rural countryside. He customarily thinks of the rest of the world of nature in terms of large-scale associations—the seashore, the mountains, the desert, the tropics. In these, also, he naturally expects to find characteristic varieties of life existing and interacting, transmuting the minerals of soil and sea into fiber and flesh, and adapting themselves to ceaselessly changing conditions of geology and climate. So, in the Museum, he should find and study together in their proper association the various forms of life from those parts of the world to which he is a stranger. For this reason the basic series in natural history will present representative ecological associations and will contain materials from all pertinent divisions of the Museum. These associations will be selected on the basis of educational value and public interest from a 6 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM ANNUAL REPORT, 1953 wide range of possible subjects covering the entire globe. Typical of those under consideration are such subjects as “Beneath the Sea,” “Tropical Rain Forest,” ‘‘Arctic Tundra,” “At the Water Hole,’ “Rocky Mountain Upland,” ‘The Desert,” ‘Virgin Hardwood Forest,” “Pacific Atoll.” Adjacent halls will illustrate the geologic processes that have created the world as we know it and will trace through fossils and reconstruc- tions the evolution of modern life from its ancestral forms living in past geologic ages. In anthropology the basic series will comprise an introduction to the development of man and his cultures. The supporting exhibits will present civilizations of the world, with emphasis on the Americas and in particular on the North American Indian, and will carry back into the prehistoric past the story of man’s development as a living organism, and his conquest of his environment, as illustrated by civilizations of the past. Pivotal periods of history In national history and technology, dealing primarily with man in the United States, the basic series will be focused on pivotal periods of our history. The halls will coordinate the technological, social, and political phases of our growth and will dramatize the interplay of the physical resources of our land, the technical genius of our people, and the stimulus our builders and statesmen have derived from our traditional freedoms. Supporting halls will illustrate and amplify this story by tracing the development of techniques and tools, the evolution of the products of science and industry, and the growth of customs and institutions typical of our country. The aspects of the story of man and his environment thus far discussed comprise the immediate tangible surroundings of man—the earth and its inhabitants. The part of his environment comprising the atmosphere and the heavens is not at present treated in the exhibits of the National Museum. Ideally, this subject would be treated in a series of exhibits grouped about a planetarium. In them the phenomena of the weather, solar radiation, and the movements of the heavenly bodies would be explained. They would give oppor- tunity to illustrate the applicable laws of mechanics and of electricity and magnetism, while exhibits of meteors, up to now man’s only contact with outer space, would remind the visitor that man’s envi- ronment reaches out to the infinite. INTRODUCTION 7 Lofty goals The initial purpose of this undertaking, the goals of which have been outlined here, is to rehabilitate the present exhibits of the National Museum. In doing so, however, we would be remiss not to make the most effective use possible of the treasures in our custody. As scientists it is all too easy to let the factual minutiae of our daily work dull our imagination—a quality just as precious to science as to any of man’s other intellectual pursuits. Hence, for this undertaking the staff has been inspired to set lofty goals, well aware of the challenge they pose. The staff is equally aware that we live in a time of many challenges. In overcoming these challenges we see great opportunity for service to the Nation. We also see in it many opportunities for individual citizens of every sta- tion to cooperate in this service. The good that can flow from the successful accomplishment of this program is, like the environment of man himself —boundless. Funds Allotted From the funds appropriated by Congress to carry on the opera- tions of the Smithsonian Institution and its bureaus during the fiscal year 1952-53, the sum of $800,459 was allotted to the United States National Museum. Of this allotment $765,514 was used for salaries and expenses required for the preservation, increase, and study of the national collections of anthropological, zoological, botanical, and geological specimens, as well as materials illustrative of engineering, industry, graphic arts, and history. The remainder, $34,945, was used for printing and binding. Exhibits Anthropology Two extensive programs of modernization of exhibits are in progress in the Department of Anthropology. One, involving two halls, will portray ‘“The Native Cultures of the Western Hemisphere”’ in a series of displays ranging geographically from Tierra del Fuego to northern Greenland. The other, described in last year’s report, involves a series of exhibits illustrating the cultures of the major archeological periods of Latin America. Under the direction of John C. Ewers, associate curator of ethnology, and Dr. Clifford Evans, associate curator of archeology, assisted by Exhibits Preparator John EK. Anglim, ten new exhibits on the Pueblo Indians of New Mexico and Arizona were installed. Also completed were four new archeological exhibits: ‘Trade in Meso-America,” “Aztec Artistry.in Stone,” “Arts and Crafts of the Mayas,” and “‘Toltec and Maya Architecture.” A special exhibition, “Johann Friedrich Amelung and his Tradition,” was built around the display of the only known pair of engraved glass “pokals,’’ or ceremonial goblets, made by Amelung in his pioneer ““New Bremen Glassmanufactory,’’ near Buckeystown, Frederick County, Md. They are handsomely engraved with the name of George,Trisler, a journalist and merchant of Frederick, Md., and the date, 1793. The pokals were lent to the Museum for this special exhibition by Mrs. Christian Thomas. Several specialists and school groups were given instruction in the laboratory on various techniques for making molds and in display techniques. Zoology Plans are being drawn up for renovation and modernization of three halls—mammals, birds, and marine invertebrates. In the North American mammal hall will be placed four groups now partially completed: the puma, the pronghorn antelope, the Virginia deer, and the red wolf. In the present puma group several improvements have been made by changing the illumination, by adding more balsam needles, and by painting clouds on the backdrop. Further progress was made with the sea otter, coyote, and bobcat habitat groups. 8 EXHIBITS 9 The cases containing the reproductions of fish were newly painted, and the models cleaned, touched up, and repaired. The case of deep- sea fishes, in particular, was enhanced with 13 color sketches made by Elie Cheverlange while a member of the Johnson—Smithsonian Ex- pedition of 1933 to the Puerto Rican deep. A large mounted sailfish donated by Edward G. Miller, Jr., of New York City, and a steelhead trout from Alaska, prepared by G. T. Sundstrom, U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service, were also placed on exhibition. Geology Laboratory preparation of the giant ground-sloth Megatheriwm from Panamé4 is now almost completed. The skeleton of this huge, uncouth creature promises to be a spectacular addition to the hall of vertebrate paleontology. No important changes have been made in the exhibition series in geology. Much time, however, was given to planning new installa- tions. Scale models were prepared for several proposed halls. Engineering and Industries Thomas Jefferson’s improvement in the shape of the wooden moldboard for plows and the method he described in 1798 for repro- ducing its shape with common farm tools are shown in an exhibit produced by the division of crafts and industries. Early corn planters and the methods of their use are exhibited in another. New exhibits on sewing machines and yarn winding and measuring implements brought to completion the renovation of the hall of early American textiles. The exhibit on papermaking was brought up to date. Special crafts and industries exhibits included ‘The Toiles of Today and Yesterday” from the Scalamandre Museum of Textiles, mid- September through October, and ‘‘Pictorial Techniques” from the Museum’s textile collections, begun in April and continuing. Four steps in the series of exhibits on the history of photography were completed. ‘The first, an introductory exhibit, contrasts the earliest and latest models of photographic cameras; the second outlines the development of the camera from early times to 1839; the third provides a historical summary of the wet processes, including albumen, collodion and its derivatives, the ambrotype, the tintype, and the wet plate; and the fourth features the carte de visite and the photo- graphic album. Two other recently installed exhibits are devoted to applications of photography in the sciences, with examples of its use in medical, biological, industrial, and military research. Other newly arranged cases display prints by renowned photographers, including prints from the Hickemeyer and Petrocelli collections. 272468—53——2 10 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM ANNUAL REPORT, 1953 In graphic arts, a new exhibit of historical lithographs and the improvement of the display of color printing of wood cuts carried forward the renovation of the hall of hand-print processes. A colorful exhibit on the process of roll-leaf stamping shows how printing on a variety of materials such as wood, plastics, cloth, leather, and even paraffin, is done by stamping colored or metal leaf, which is carried on paper rolls, onto the material by means of heated dies. SPECIAL EXHIBITS—DIVISION OF GRAPHIC ARTS Grapuic Arts 1952 American Prints Various prints from the per- June 23-September 1 manent print collection Dorr Bothwell 25 serigraphs September 2-September 28 Lynn Egbert 35 prints September 29—-November 2 Terry Haass 27 prints November 3—December 7 Jakob Steinhardt 27 woodcuts December 8-January 11 1958 Ramendranath 40 prints January 12—February 8 Chakravorty Grace Oehser 22 block prints February 9—March 15 Charles W. Dahl- Monotypesfrom permanent March 16—April 19 green print collection Ben-Zion 18 etchings from Biblical April 20-May 24 Themes Portfolio Antonio Frasconi 19 woodcuts May 25-June 29 PHOTOGRAPHY 1952 Paul Linwood Gittings 96 pictorial photographs July-August Maurice LaClaire 52 pictorial photographs September Ernest G. Rathenau 113 pictorial photographs October American Society of Photo- 75 pictorial photographs November graphic Art National Photographic Society 106 pictorial photographs December and color slides 1953 Frank R. Fraprie 35 pictorial photographs January Carl Mansfield 55 pictorial photographs February Francis Wu 50 pictorial photographs March-April Sixth Annual Exhibition of Ma- 50 pictorial photographs May rine Photography Permanent Print Collection 50 pictorial photographs June In the division of medicine and public health patent models of infant nursing bottles were incorporated in a nursery-equipment exhibit, which received wide public notice. Suppository molds and patent models were combined in a new exhibit depicting the history and evolution of this device. “A Pictorial History of Ancient Pharmacy” was produced with a number of significant pharmaceutical specimens EXHIBITS 11 from the collection, supplemented with ten colored prints of old scenes of pharmacy from Parke, Davis and Company. Recently received historical specimens relating to various antibiotics have been installed in an “‘antibiotic” exhibit that depicts the history of their discovery, methods of isolation, manufacture, and testing, and gives a brief explanation of their current uses in medicine. Several hundred new exhibition labels were installed and the appearance of several halls of engineering exhibits was improved by the removal of material to the new storage area. A special display of the original log of the SS Savannah and its model was made for the observance of National Maritime Day. History Renovation of the wall cases in the costumes hall was completed with the installation of lights in each individual case. The exhibit ‘Silhouettes of Fashion—Women’s Costume in America 1750-1950,”’ presents a chronological display of period costumes that shows the progression of fashion and changes of silhouette in dresses and costume accessories such as shoes, hats, fans, parasols, and similar objects. The dress of Mrs. Harry S. Truman was added to the collection of dresses of the First Ladies of the White House. It was displayed on a figure made in the Museum’s anthropological laboratory by Chief Preparator A. J. Andrews. Planning the hall for the dresses of the First Ladies of the White House, approved as part of the current modernization program, moved rapidly forward. In addition to the floor plan and side elevations of the hall, scale models were made of some of therooms. The research involved in planning the interiors of the eight period rooms in which the dresses will be exhibited has occupied a major portion of the time of Associate Curator Margaret W. Brown. The U. S. Marine Corps is forming an extensive collection of materials relating to its history to be placed in the hall of naval history. The gold coins in the Paul A. Straub collection have been placed on display and the silver coins are being installed. The program of special exhibits recently undertaken by Curator of Philately Franklin R. Bruns, Jr., resulted in five special showings of Museum material in New York City and Washington, D. C. Aeccessions During the Fiscal Year 1952-53 Specimens incorporated into the national collections totaled 1,607,911 (more than twice the number received last year) and were distributed among the six departments as shown in the tabulation opposite. The increase in the number of specimens added to the Museum’s collections is attributable chiefly to the accessioning of a large number of small fossils, including 750,000 Permian invertebrates and 500,000 Arctic Foraminifera. Most of the other accessions were acquired as gifts from individuals or as transfers from Government departments and agencies. The more important of these are sum- marized below. A full list of the donors is to be found on page 56. Anthropology A collection of 315 chipped stone artifacts, including fluted pro- jectile points and other man-made objects suggesting a Paleo-Indian culture, from the Shoop Site, Dauphin County, Pa., is considered to be of particular interest. The Carnegie Institution of Washington, in continuation of its generous cooperation, donated a collection of potsherds representing type objects from excavated sites in the Maya area. Through an exchange with the Denver Art Museum, the division of ethnology acquired two ceremonial bundles formerly used by northern Blackfoot Indians in tobacco planting rites. A rare and valuable Chinese Lamaist robe, of dark-blue silk and embellished with over-all couching of braided silk and embroidery in metallic gilt, was presented by Maj. Lee Hagood, who had acquired it in Shanghai in 1918. Objects recovered from historical sites of villages, trading posts, and factories in Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, New York, and Massa- chusetts and other New England States were received from individual donors. Of outstanding interest and usefulness to the collector and student of early American ceramics are 189 pieces of redware, stone- ware, and other types of New England folk pottery presented by Mrs. Lura Woodside Watkins. These pottery fragments, excavated from sites of New England potteries in existence between 1687 and 1880, were assembled by Mrs. Watkins as a study collection for use and illustration in her ‘‘New England Potters and their Wares.” 12 ACCESSIONS 13 SPECIMENS IN THE NATIONAL COLLECTIONS, JUNE 30, 1953 Department of Anthropology .......... 765, 200 Archeology! 6 2p Vs Jl tel fees An's 525, 623 Inponarlopay Vag wigs do 4 a) 6 187, 313 Cerannics ici tay ie reo) hoptan/ephowes 9, 776 Musical instruments ..... 2, 443 Period art and textiles . ... 2,919 Physical Anthropology ...... 37, 126 Departmentiof Botanya ciyad Ph. il feritaiici os 8 2, 559, 592 Phanerocamsic us slvayeey cieadyey nay « 1, 665, 445 © GRASSCS lime coe oe feb yet faricla ve) con ary ey 334, 571 IBGE NS you opiate rte hoes ove, at one Sn Gans 201, 089 Cryptogams.) SAI get eee. Fe 348, 487 Department of Engineering and Industries. .... 167, 620 Crafts and Industries ...... 61, 452 PUN PINCCTIN Cy op) wiicy (hoy eee tehsil s 33, 099 GraphicpATisn tye. i Jo gout io cones 50, 116 Medicine and Public Health ... 22, 953 Department of Geology . ....:....+2s 6. 5, 209, 733 Mineralogy and Petrology .... 263, 085 Invertebrate Paleontology and Pale- ObOtATI YA cure pe dtea eh eee s eats los 4, 908, 959 Vertebrate Paleontology ..... 37, 689 MenantmMent Oly MIStOLY elon tice us ice vmagnne | s/s 670, 799 CivalFEistoOny. ste ee es 37, 249 MalitanyAHiIstonyss luesecelia ere plete 29, 068 Naval History > oe cami S Westie 4,514 Numismatics} ssi Oa fiw Sup sate 62, 968 Philatel ype: a) Side) 2 on Hetecthecyee fue 537, 000 Weparbmentrol, LOGOS, 0 us Fie o sec tjei ets) heh os 25, 391, 306 VISITAS abe os See aN ees eee s 265, 803 Birdshy [0s thie tack. o 4 ROS EO, 471, 865 REptues yea ee Me LE ed ae", 140, 712 WISHES) sep lcm ecie Rh ope bacvie pienogeuts 1, 538, 102 SC CESirS. Syste ay fiir RS seer ans bat es 12, 038, 766 Marine Invertebrates ...... 1, 293, 005 IMGUUSKSWavc je tke ee ee 9, 412, 318 Helminths vx VO SOs 46, 204 Echinoderms) Zoology ™ In line with a precedent set 8 years ago, when the merger of the ornithological collections of the Fish and Wildlife Service with those of the National Museum was initiated, the specimens of mammals of both collections are being organized into a single series according to the system used by the Museum. This entails a complete shifting of nearly 300,000 specimens and a general reallocation of storage space. When completed, all specimens will be much more readily available both to the staff and to visitors at a great saving of curatorial time. 20 CARE OF COLLECTIONS 21 In the closing weeks of the fiscal year the intercalation of the mono- tremes and the first family of the marsupials of the one collection in the other marked the beginning of this long-term operation. The merging of the collections of bird skins progressed most satisfactorily. Some 173,000 specimens, occupying 200 quarter-unit cases and covering the families from the Cinclidae to the Fringillidae, were merged. Some- thing over 1,200 specimens of reptiles and amphibians were identified and added to the rather crowded study collections. To alleviate overcrowding in the fish collection the practice of com- bining many small catalog lots from one general locality in larger containers of alcohol was continued, and appropriately tagged speci- mens of large fishes were preserved together in large tanks at a great saving of space. In the continuing program of bringing the insect collections up to date, about two-fifths of the Korschefsky collection was incorporated with the Museum’s collection of Coccinellidae. In the division of marine invertebrates the rearrangement of the collection of hydro- medusae in alphabetical order was begun. This arrangement has been found necessary for all groups for which there is no specialist on the staff, to facilitate the filing of new material and the removal of lots for study by outside investigators. The entire sponge collection also was inspected and consolidated to provide space for new material. Further progress was made in the rearrangement of the mollusks of the eastern Atlantic. Most of the Henry B. Ward collection of helminths is still uncataloged, and the recently received George La Rue collection has been added to the cataloging backlog, which totals now about 6,700 lots needing to be filed in the study collections. With segregation of the coral types completed by Dr. John W. Wells, of Cornell University, all types in the coral collection have now been brought together. The curatorial staff of the division of marine invertebrates continues to maintain the alcoholic echinoderm collections, which have been without an official curator since December 1950. ¥ In the care given the reptile, bird, and mammal collections by the exhibits preparators are to be included the skinning of three large tortoises and two large snakes; the making or remaking of 236 bird and 36 mammal skins; and the cleaning of 139 bird skeletons, 51 mammal skeletons, and 2,400 mammal] skulls. 22, U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM ANNUAL REPORT, 1953 Botany The major activities in caring for the permanent botanical collec- tions and the processing of new material are summarized in the following table: 1951-52 1952-58 Specimens mMOuntEGe nsw hie a EAs eee ee eee 37, 886 34, 616 Specimens repaired sx. eS eee ak Cee bs 4,566 4,935 Specimens stamped and recorded. ........ 40,225 36, 655 Specimens incorporated in herbarium ....... 47,406 30, 831 Ehotographs mounted sa-cmi serene Sete 1,851 1,810 The segregated type herbarium now contains 53,930 types, 1,162 having been added during the year. Except for cryptogams, they were mostly from recent accessions, the known types already having been taken from the general herbarium. Many types of cryptogams remain in the general collections, although the acting curator, C. V. Morton, picked out 689 this year. The number of types segregated, by divisions, is as follows: Phanerogams, 37,930; grasses, 9,801; ferns, 3,170; cryptogams, 3,029. The Hitchcock and Chase Library was increased by 42 publications on grasses, making a total of 7,018. The number of entries in the grass species index is now 78,428, having added 421 during the year. To the special collection of fruits, which has a total of 1,084 specimens, 20 were added. Fumigating the herbarium once has proved to be adequate; no insect infestation has been noted and the source of any new infection is practically eliminated by the fumigation of all incoming material. Geology In the division of mineralogy and petrology and of vertebrate paleontology the collections are now in well-ordered condition, with adequate facilities for expansion for several years to come. Work on the condensation of the collections of the division of invertebrate paleontology and paleobotany has progressed and much-needed space and equipment has been recovered thereby, although not enough to accommodate all the collections still without accessible storage facilities. ; In the lapidary shop 46 meteorites were sawn, ground, polished, and etched; 412 specimens of rocks, minerals and ores were sawn and polished; 47 thin sections prepared for study purposes; 15 plaster bases made for exhibition use; and 7 plaster molds prepared. All type specimens in the division of invertebrate paleontology and paleobotany have now been segregated except the brachiopods. These are awaiting the accumulation of a sufficient number of drawers to contain them. Museum Aide Allen continued his efforts to put CARE OF COLLECTIONS 23 the type collections into order by, alphabetizing the insect and trilo- bite types, the latter being one of the largest of the type groups. The Paleozoic paleobotanical collections are now in good order, thanks to Dr. Serge Mamay of the U. S. Geological Survey. The Tertiary types have been segregated and put in good order by Mrs. Ellen Trumbull, also of the Geological Survey. Museum Aide Allen has continued his putting the stratigraphic collections in order. Associate Curator Loeblich spent considerable time integrating with the national collection the Cushman collection of Foraminifera and materials accumulated by gift and exchange. Museum Aide Jones covered thousands of slides of Foraminifera with glass covers and aluminum holders, providing them with permanent, secure mounts. Curator G. A. Cooper devoted time to the sorting of genera and species from the Permian fossils accumulated from the etching of limestone blocks. Of this collection, occupying between 500 and 600 drawers and including hundreds of thousands of specimens, 125 drawers have been sorted with a saving of drawer space of nearly 50 percent. The curator also rearranged the brachiopod collection to get more drawer space and to accommodate the 146 drawers of Ordovician brachiopods recently studied. Engineering and Industries Thousands of objects in the study collection of the department were moved from crowded locations, where they were exposed to damage, to the newly constructed storage area. Some collections are together for the first time and the organization and accessibility of most of them have been greatly improved. Several hundred signed proofs of American wood engravings were removed from mats on which they were tightly stretched and vul- nerable to damage, and rematted for safe preservation. History With the appointment of a scientific aide, it has become possible to start on the long-needed checking and renovation of the study collections, a task that will continue through the next year. Experimentation on techniques for the restoration and preservation of objects recovered from sea water continued. Most of the objects now recovered can be preserved, even when in advanced stages of oxidization. The reference collections of pistols was entirely rearranged in specially designed drawers developed by Assistant Curator Sirlouis 24 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM ANNUAL REPORT, 1953 and Assistant Curator Goins. The reference collections of swords and long arms were installed in racks. The inventory and rearrangement of the reference collections of stamps continued under Curator of Philately Franklin R. Bruns, Jr. Stamps from all sources are being brought together into an orderly system, old stock books that have deteriorated are being replaced, and all reference material is now stored in safes. The main collection, housed in the display cabinets, is in process of being checked and re- mounted on Scott specialty pages donated last year by Gordon Harmer, of Scott Publications, Inc. This remounting is being done in alphabetical sequence to avoid overlapping, and may possibly result in the elimination (for display purposes) of postage-due ad- hesives of all foreign countries. Investigation and Research Each year the curators of the National Museum find it more diffi- cult to conduct the research investigations that are the bone and sinew of the Museum, that make it a place of study and enlightenment, that distinguish it from a mere storehouse or ossuary. More and more the pressure of administrative details and the shortage of trained assist- ants force them to carry on part or all of this essential work outside of office hours. This condition has many causes and is not to be remedied by any simple panacea. Whatever the causes, the result is that research is usually done under many handicaps. In such circumstances, for the curators to accomplish so much work of such high order is a tribute to their professional integrity and their personal loyalty to the Institution. Anthropology In collaboration with the Director of the National Collection of Fine Arts, Thomas M. Beggs, Head Curator Frank M. Setzler pre- pared a descriptive catalog for the Smithsonian Traveling Exhibition being circulated throughout the country. Entitled ‘Art and Magic in Arnhem Land, Australia,” it describes the land, the people, and their legends and material culture. Publication was financed through the Alice Pike Barney fund. Head Curator Setzler was elected president of the Washington Academy of Sciences. Archeology.—Dr. Waldo R. Wedel, curator of archeology, from July until September 1952 was in camp near Cody, Wyo., where he represented the Smithsonian Institution in a joint excavation project with Princeton University at the site of a buffalo kill and camp used by hunters some thousands of years ago. Investigations were carried on here in 1949-50 by Princeton; the 1952 program involved a com- bined geological, paleontological, and archeological attack on the closely interrelated problems of all these fields. Among the scat- tered and fragmentary remains of some 200 bison were found about 250 chipped-stone implements, including projectile points, knives, scrapers, gravers, and chopping tools. Unlike most similar Yuma sites it has yielded an assemblage of tools permitting definition of its culture complex and a comparison of the complex with that of other early man assemblages such as the Lindenmeier, Folsom, and Shoop 272468—53——_3 25 26 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM ANNUAL REPORT, 1953 sites. Radiocarbon dates on charcoal collected in 1952 gave an aver- age date of 6920-500 years ago, averaging very close to the figure of 68764250 years ago obtained from burned bison bone two years previously. ‘The complex thus falls between such early horizons as Folsom and Clovis, on the one hand, and such later ones as Signal Butte I and others of later prepottery times. Following termination of the fieldwork, Dr. Wedel examined collections at Boulder, Colo., in search of comparative materials from eastern Colorado and else- where in the High Plains. During the fall, Dr. Wedel presented a review of Plains archeology in a symposium on the present status of New World archeology, at the annual meeting of the American Anthropological Association in Philadelphia. To a symposium on human ecology at the annual meeting of the Society for American Archeology and the Central States Anthropological Society in Urbana, IIl., he presented a paper reviewing certain interactions between man and his physical environ- ment in the Central Plains. Near completion is a short paper on earthenware and steatite pottery in the Yellowstone National Park region, northwestern Wyoming, and another is in preparation de- scribing and comparing pottery vessels collected from the Upper Missouri Valley tribes during the nineteenth century. From October 1952 to April 1953, Dr. Clifford Evans, associate curator in archeology, conducted archeological research in British Guiana, South America. This project was made possible by a Ful- bright Research grant, funds from the Smithsonian Institution, and other grants to Dr. Betty J. Meggers, the other anthropologist on the expedition. British Guiana is significant to the understanding of the development of aboriginal culture in northeastern South America, for to date almost nothing has been known of this area from an archeo- logical standpoint. Thanks to the magnificent cooperation of Mr. Vincent Roth, curator, and Mr. Ram S. Singh, assistant curator, of the British Guiana Museum, and of Colonial officials, much more work was accomplished than originally planned. Ninety-five archeo- logical sites were studied and excavated. While on the Upper Essequibo River Dr. Evans conducted ethnological studies and ob- tained a collection of the material cultural objects of the Wei Wei Indians, In collaboration with Dr. Betty J. Meggers he carried forward the manuscript describing archaeological materials excavated on the Lower Amazon, in the Territory of Amap& and on the Islands of Mexiana, Caviana, and Marajé, by the expedition of the Columbia University Department of Anthropology, in 1948-49. At the request of a field party of the U. S. Geological Survey work- ing in the Monument Valley-Comb Ridge area of northeastern Ari- INVESTIGATION AND RESEARCH D974 zona, Dr. Walter W. Taylor, collaborator in anthropology, visited 41 sites, of which he found 20 worthy of site designation and from 17 of which sherd collections were made. Immediately after the field work, Dr. Taylor went to Flagstaff, where the collections and library of the Museum of Northern Arizona were generously put at his dis- posal for the study of the sherd collection. Physical anthropology.—Dr. T. Dale Stewart, curator of physical anthropology, continued his analysis of the occurrence of neural arch defects in the lumbar vertebrae of Eskimos and Aleuts. In the early 1930’s when Smithsonian expeditions to Alaska obtained large col- lections of human skeletal remains, it was observed that one or more of the vertebrae in the lower back showed arch defects. In some cases much of the arch was a separate piece of bone, a condition con- sidered at the time largely hereditary. Recent examination of about 800 skeletons, including those of children from the same regions, shows such arch defects to be rare in early years, but to occur more and more frequently up to about age 40, leading Dr. Stewart to con- clude that arch defects are primarily due to bone fatigue resulting from prolonged unusual postures. The collection as a whole yields an adult incidence of about 35 percent, in contrast to an incidence of about 5 percent in the present-day white population. The historic Indian village of Patawomeke in Stafford County, Va., was one of the Potomac River villages visited by Capt. John Smith in 1608. It was from this village that Pocahontas was abducted in 1613 by Captain Argall and taken to Jamestown. Excavations carried on at this site between 1935 and 1940, largely by Smithsonian expeditions, revealed five pits, or ossuaries, used for secondary burials. Dr. Stewart spent considerable time during the year analyzing both the excavation records and the ‘skeletal material. Through the kindness of Dr. William J. Mulloy, archeologist of the University of Wyoming, Dr. Stewart was enabled to study an impor- tant early human skull from the Keyhole Reservoir area of Wyoming. About twenty years ago a Smithsonian expedition discovered in Nebraska an early pre-ceramic culture to which was given the name Signal Butte I. Dr. Mulloy has now found a similar horizon in Wyo- ming, and in addition for the first time has found a human skull in association. The radiocarbon date obtained on materials from this cultural level is around 3,000 years ago. Dr. Stewart’s examination of the skull showed that the physical type is not very different from that of certain Indian tribes living in this area, providing an indication of the antiquity of this Indian physical type. Dr. Marshall T. Newman, associate curator of physical anthro- pology, presented a paper, ‘‘Adaptive Change and Race Formation in the Aborigmal New World,” at a meeting of the American Association 28 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM ANNUAL REPORT, 1953 of Physical Anthropologists. He also prepared a summary of the racial anthropology of the aboriginal Northwest Coast for inclusion in the book by Philip Drucker, ‘“The Northwest Coast.’”’ He substan- tially advanced his researches on the large, well-preserved skeletal series probably representing the Arikara Indians from Mobridge, S. Dak., and undertook the description of several small lots of skeletal material from Georgia and Mississippi, for inclusion in archaeological reports. Dr. Newman was elected president of the Anthropological Society of Washington. Ethnology.—Curator Herbert W. Krieger completed a scenario for a diorama on the Lucayan Indians, of Long Island, Bahamas, based on his excavations there in 1947 and on Spanish source material. The third of a series designed to illustrate native cultures of the peo- ples of the Western Hemisphere, it portrays the first native American Indian community to be seen and described by Europeans. Associate Curator C. Malcolm Watkins continued the study of the simple pottery types found at Jamestown, Va., and other colonial sites. Classification of characteristic types is being made. He was ussisted by the division of ceramics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, in making comparative microscopic analyses and by British Museum personnel in obtaining historical and technical infor- mation. The project should provide a basis for the future identifica- tion of ceramic wares of the colonial period and the extent of local colonial ceramic manufacture as compared with importations from abroad. Associate Curator John C. Ewers completed editing for the Missouri Historical Society the Denig manuscript describing the cultures of five Indian tribes of the upper Missouri River Valley in the second quarter of the nineteenth century. He continued with the studies of historical change in Plains Indian costume, spending two weeks studying the collections of documented Plains Indian specimens in the American Museum of Natural History, Museum of the American Indian, and the Brooklyn Museum. He also continued his study of the history of wampum. In June Mr. Ewers was conducting field investigations of Assiniboin Indian arts and crafts on Fort Peck and Fort Belknap Reservations, Mont. Research by visiting investigators.—During the past year 3,747 visitors conferred with members of the staff, 3,095 letters were written in answer to requests for anthropological data, and 7,146 telephonic inquiries were answered. Among the 270 scholars using the reserve collections were 30 scientists from the following foreign countries: Argentina, Belgium, Brazil, British West Indies, Canada, Ceylon, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Denmark, El Salvador, Formosa, France, Great Britain, Japan, Netherlands, Norway, South Africa, INVESTIGATION AND RESEARCH 29 Thailand, Venezuela, and Yugoslavia. The wide range of interest of these individuals is indicated by a few examples: Dr. Ronald Singer, professor of anatomy, University of Cape Town, South Africa, correlation of suture closure with age at death, in human skulls. Dr. Sood Sangvichien, professor of anatomy, University of Medical Sciences, Thailand, instructions in anthropometry and newer developments in American physical anthropology. Dr. Franjo Ivanicek, head of the Anthropological Institute, University of Zagreb, Yugoslavia, under a contract between the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology and the Smithsonian Institution, correlation of the micromorphology of the skull vault with age, sex, and race. Frederic H. Douglas, Indian Arts and Crafts Board and staff member of Denver Art Museum, kachinas of the Hopi Indians. Paul H. Guevara, writer, paraphernalia of Comanche warriors and their methods of warfare. W. Smith and Larry Atkins, Saturday Evening Post, early American bathtubs in the Dr. and Mrs. Arthur M. Greenwood collection. Francis W. Glaze, National Bureau of Standards, historical research on glass technology. John R. Catch, Galpin Society and Dolmetsch Foundation, Buckinghamshire, England, harpsichords. Mrs. Lewis W. Allen, New York, research on lamps and lighting devices. Dr. Chen Shao-hsing and Mr. Chen Chi-lu, National Taiwan University, Taipei, problems of Formosan ethnology and aboriginal Formosan ethnography. Dr. Jose Cruxent, director of the Museum of Natural Science, Caracas, eth- nology and archeology of Amazonas Territory, Venezuela, also European trade materials. A. Gunasekara, Department of National Museum, Colombo, Ceylon, problems of museum exhibition, preparation of ethnographical exhibits. Dr. Thomas W. Whitaker, senior geneticist, U. S. Department of Agriculture, and Hugh C. Cutler, curator of economic botany, Chicago Museum of Natural History, records of squash seeds in Museum’s collection of aboriginal foods. Dr. Fridtjor Isachsen, professor of geography, University of Oslo, Norway, Plains Indians’ use of the Black Hills and Wind River Mountains. Bryan Holme, president, The Studio Publications, Inc., New York, George Catlin paintings. Dr. Jorgen Paulsen, Denmark, paintings by George Catlin. Henry C. Gipson, Museum Extension Service, New York, the buffalo and westward expansion. Raymond R. Townsend, Shoemaker’s Shop, Williamsburg, Va., research on shoes and leatherwork of eighteenth century colonial America. John Hemphill, Williamsburg, Va., craft program in silversmithing. Zoology Mammals.—Further progress has been made by Dr. David H. Johnson, acting curator, in his studies of the mammals of the Australian Arnhem Land Expedition of 1948, and those collected in the South Pacific during World War II. He also completed some interrupted studies of several species of the genus Rattus in connection with his taxonomic survey of the murine rodents. 30 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM ANNUAL REPORT, 1953 Dr. Henry W. Setzer, associate curator, completed his report on the mammals of the Arctic slope of Alaska for the Office of Naval Research, and now is concentrating on a study of the mammals collected in the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan by U. S. Naval Medical Re- search Unit No.3. Progress was also made on a revision of American shrews of the genus Crypiotis. For five weeks in January and Febru- ary Dr. Setzer was with the 25th Preventive Medicine Survey De- tachment, U. S. Army, in Panama and the Canal Zone, instructing personnel in the methods of collecting and preparing specimens of mammals involved in their parasitological and epidemiological studies of human disease. As a part of his general studies of the systematics of American high Arctic mammals, Assistant Curator C. O. Handley, Jr., worked on a revision of the Arctic foxes. He also studied the American big-eared bats of the genus Corynorhinus and completed his review of the vole Phenacomys. Mr. Handley spent seven months of the year in the Kalahari Desert region of South-West Africa, where he observed and collected mammals and assisted in ethnological investigations of the primitive Bushmen, as a member of the Peabody—Harvard Expedition, led by L. K. Marshall, of Cambridge, Mass. Toward the close of the year he devoted a week to field work in the Dismal Swamp of Virginia, gathering specimens and data for a chapter on mammals in a book about the Swamp that the Virginia Academy of Sciences has in preparation. Birds.—The curator, Dr. Herbert Friedmann, completed his mono- graph of the honey guides, a joint paper with Foster D. Smith on the birds of northeastern Venezuela, and the manuscript for the ranges of the last sections of the Fringillidae for the fifth edition of the A. O. U. Check-List of North American Birds. With F. H. Glenny, he finished a study of the reduction of the clavicles in the Mesoenatidae. He also continued his work on the second volume of the ‘‘Distribu- tional Check-List of the Birds of Mexico.”’ H. G. Deignan, associate curator, spent the year in Thailand in continuation of his study of the avifauna of that country. S. A. Arny, museum aid, published ‘a paper on the taxonomic status of the bank swallows of North America, and continued his studies of the flycatchers of the genus Myiarchus. Dr. A. Wetmore, research associate, studied Panamanian and Colombian birds, and published a paper on the birds of Taboga, Taboguilla, and Urava, Panama, and three papers (with W. H. Phelps, Jr.) on Venezuelan birds. Reptiles.—Since the submission of the manuscript of her mono- graphic work on the frogs of southeastern Brazil, now in press, Dr. Doris M. Cochran, associate curator, has been occupied with her report on the frogs of western Brazil, an undertaking of some magni- INVESTIGATION AND RESEARCH 31 tude that was about half completed at the close of the year. She published a paper describing three new Brazilian frogs of two differ- ent genera, and continued with her catalog of types of reptiles and amphibians in the National collections and a supplement to her “Herpetology of Hispianola.” Fishes.—Dr. Leonard P. Schultz, curator, and Dr. Ernest A. Lachner, associate curator, gave first priority to the preparation of volume 2 of the comprehensive study of ‘“The Fishes of the Marshall and Marianas Islands,”’ of which the first volume was in page proof at the close of the year. So far, 69 families, 232 genera, and 618 species of fishes have been covered, leaving but 3 large and 5 small families to do. Nine papers, three prepared jointly with others, were published by Dr. Schultz during the year; three others are in press. One of Dr. Lachner’s completed reports was published, and three others are either in press or soon to be submitted for publication. On March 19, 1953, the Award for Scientific Achievement in the Biological Sciences by the Washington Academy of Sciences for 1952 was conferred on Dr. Lachner in recognition of his work on the tax- onomy of the cardinalfishes (Apogonidae) and goatfishes (Mullidae). William T. Leapley, biological aide, completed two manuscripts and has in progress a study of the characteristics of the pharyngeal bones of the parrot fishes. He received the degree of master of science from George Washington University on November 11, 1952. His thesis dealt with ‘‘The Cranial Osteology of the Bluefish Pomatomus saltatriz (Linnaeus).”’ Robert H. Kanazawa, biological aide, published three research papers and is at present occupied with a revision of the Conger eels of the genus Conger. This study is about two-thirds completed. Insects.—Curator E. A. Chapin continued his studies of the Col- ombian beetles of the family Coccinellidae, completing the identifica- tions for most of the major species, and initiated a survey of the Coccinellidae of Micronesia. Dr. R. E. Blackwelder, associate curator, continued with his bibli- ography and index of Bulletin 185, ‘(Checklist of the Coleopterous Insects of Mexico, Central America, the West Indies, and South America,” of which five parts have already appeared. In connection with his taxonomic monograph of the Lycaenidae, Associate Curator William D. Field continued with the Theclinae of the New World, nearly completing manuscripts dealing with three species groups within the genus Thecla. About 25 percent of the re- visions necessitated by his taxonomic studies on the family Pieridae have been completed, and revisionary work on other genera is in progress. 32 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM ANNUAL REPORT, 1953 Associate Curator O. L. Cartwright completed his study of a group of scarab beetles within the subfamily Geotrupinae and made further progress with species of the genus Psammodius in the subfamily Aphodiinae. Sorting of material in preparation for reports on the Scarabaeidae of Bimini and of Micronesia was begun. Grace Glance, associate curator, is still much occupied with the remounting of improperly prepared types in the collection, but was able to give some time to work on certain new species of Collembola. Sophy Parfin almost completed her work on the revision of the neuropteran family Sisyridae. Marine invertebrates.—Curator F. A. Chace, Jr., about completed his manuscript for the chapter on the Crustacea Malacostraca for the revised edition of “Fresh-water Biology” by Ward and Whipple, as well as his report on some shrimps from the Marshall Islands collected by expeditions sponsored by the U. S. Department of the Navy in 1946 and 1947. F. M. Bayer, associate curator, had three studies in progress: Hawaiian scleraxonian gorgonians collected by the U. S. Fish Com- mission steamer Albatross; the alcyonarians described in Rumphius’ “Herbarium Amboinense,” for a Rumphius memorial volume to be published by the Royal Herbarium of the Netherlands; and the section on the Octocorallia for a forthcoming ‘Treatise on Invertebrate Paleontology.” A recently completed paper by him on the evolution and zoogeography of the family Gorgoniidae, based largely on avail- able published and unpublished data, was submitted for publication. Clarence R. Shoemaker, associate in zoology, completed a manu- script on some American west-coast amphipods containing descriptions of a new species and a new variety, and nearly finished a report on the extensive collection of amphipods made off Point Barrow, Alaska, by Dr. G. E. MacGinitie in 1948-1950. Mrs. M.S. Wilson, collaborator in copepod Crustacea, continued work preliminary to a monographic report on the North American copepods of the genus Diaptomus, and completed a paper diagnosing and giving distribution records of inadequately known North American species of this genus. With W. G. Moore, she published new Louisiana records of Diaptomus sanguineus and allied species and the description of a new species of the genus. This year 30 zoologists in various parts of the world were of greatest service in identifying specimens of many groups of invertebrate animals for which the Museum is unable to support specialists on its own staff. In many cases they prepared manuscript reports for publi- cation, thus making possible the dissemination of all significant data derived from their sudy of the material submitted to them. Most of the volunteer collaborators on the following list (with groups worked INVESTIGATION AND RESEARCH on) have so served the division 33 of marine invertebrates and the Museum for a number of years past: Dr. Donald P. Abbott: Tunicates. Dr. Albert H. Banner: Mysid crusta- ceans and snapping shrimps. Dr. H. Barnes: Barnacles. Dr. J. L. Brooks: Cladoceran crusta- ceans. Dr. Oskar Carlgren: Sea anemones. Dr. Wesley R. Coe: Nemertean worms. Dr. Elisabeth Deichmann: Holothu- rians. Dr. Ralph W. Dexter: Branchiopod crustaceans. Dr. Walter K. Fisher: Sipunculoid, echiuroid, and priapuloid worms. Dr. H. E. Gruner: Mud shrimps and hippas. Dr. Olga Hartman: Polychaete worms. Dr. Joel W. Hedgpeth: Sea anemones. Dr. Dora P. Henry: Barnacles. Dr. Arthur G. Humes: Copepod crus- taceans. Dr. Libbie H. Hyman: Flatworms. Dr. Paul L. Illg: Copepod and bran- chiuran crustaceans. Dr. M. W. de Laubenfels: Sponges. Dr. Folke Linder: Branchiopod crus- taceans. Dr. J. G. Mackin: Isopod crustaceans. Dr. N. T. Mattox: Branchiopod crus- taceans. Dr. Robert J. Menzies: Isopod crusta- ceans, Dr. Marvin C. Meyer: Leeches. Dr. Milton A. Miller: Isopod crusta- ceans. Dr. Raymond C. Osburn: Bryozoans. Dr. Grace E. Pickford: Earthworms. Dr. E. Lowe Pierce: Chaetognaths. Dr. Edward G. Reinhard: Rhizoce- phalan crustaceans. Dr. Willis L. Tressler: Ostracod crus- taceans. Mrs. Mildred 8. Wilson: Copepod crus- taceans. Dr. Harry C. Yeatman: Copepod crus- taceans. Mollusks.—Curator Harald A. Rehder undertook some preliminary work gathering data for a synoptic treatment of the superfamily Pyramidellacea for the ‘“Treatise on Invertebrate Paleontology.” Dr. J. P. E. Morrison, associate curator, continued his revisional and anatomical research on the Conidae of the Marshall Islands, the eyclophorid land mollusks of America, the Hybrobiidae of the Amer- icas, and the family Ellobiidae. He also spent some time on revising his manuscripts on the fresh-water snails of the family Thiaridae, and on the cowries (Cypraeidae) of the Marshall Islands. In June and July 1952 he was a member of a team studying coral-atoll ecology on Raroia Atoll in the Tuamotus, under the auspices of the Pacific Science Board of the National Research Council. Associate Curator R. Tucker Abbott completed and submitted for publication several studies on marine mollusks of the Western Atlantic, initiated a study of certain pelagic snails of the Gulf of Mexico, and began the preparation of a monograph of the Synceridae of the Western Pacific. Some further progress was also made on a contemplated monograph dealing with the Neritidae of the Marshall Islands. Dr. Paul Bartsch, associate in mollusks, continued his study of the Pyramidellidae of the St. Petersburg Pliocene and wrote two papers 34 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM ANNUAL REPORT, 1953 describing new species of marine mollusks from the east coast of the United States. Echinoderms.—Austin H. Clark, associate in zoology, continued with the Ophiuroidia of the Snellius expedition entrusted to him by the Rijksmuseum van Natuurlijke Historie, Leiden, and a general review of the echinoderms of the Pacific islands, centered on Pacific Science Board material collected by the various field parties of its coral atoll research program. Mr. Clark has in press reports on various records and several collections from the Indo-Pacific and the Gulf of Mexico, and on echinoderms from buoys and mooring chains from the coasts of the United States, and five dealing with other fields of zoological interest—the faunas of North, Central, and South America, the ecology, evolution, and distribution of the vertebrates, and the butterflies of Dismal Swamp, Va. Seven papers previously completed were published during the year. Research by visiting investigators.—In addition to investigations from government agencies located in the Washington area, more than 220 professional biologists and students with an interest in systematic biology paid one or more visits to the offices and laboratories of the department, some staying for a considerable time. Among the foreign visitors were the following: Dr. Pablo Anduze, Venezuelan Ministry of Education: Venezuelan mammals and Diptera. Dr. R. L. Peterson, Royal Ontario Museum of Zoology: Canadian mammals, EK. M. Hagmeier, University of British Columbia: Martens. Dr. Finnur Gudmundsson, Natural History Museum, Reykjavik, Iceland: Holarctic birds. Dr. W. H. Phelps and Foster D. Smith, Jr., Caracas, Venezuela: Venezuelan birds. Donald W. Strasburg, University of Hawaii: Central Pacific fishes. H. Steinez, Hebrew University, Israel: Fishes of Palestine and the Red Sea. Gustavo de la Torre R., OFAR, Lima, Pert: Peruvian insects of economic im- portance. Dr. Theodoros Buchelos, Department of Agriculture, Patras, Greece: Mites of economic importance. Dr. Annamma Philip, Indian Central Tobacco Comm., Madras, India: Fruit flies. Pedro Araoz, Tingo Maria, Peri: Museum methods. Drs. Bryan P. Beirne, Eugene Munroe, and W. J. Brown, Department of Agri- culture, Ottawa, Canada: Respectively, leafhoppers, Lepidoptera, Pyraustidae, and beetles. J. Maldonado Capriles, University of Puerto Rico, Mayagiiez, Puerto Rico: Leaf- hoppers. Dr. W. R. Thompson, Science Service, Ottawa, Canada: West Indian parasitic flies. Dr. F. Monrés, Fundacion Miguel Lillo, Tucum4n, Argentina: Chrysomelid beetles, Dr. R. L. Araujo, Instituto Biolégico, Sio Paulo, Brazil: Termites. Leopoldo Gomez Alonso, Quito, Ecuador: General entomology. INVESTIGATION AND RESEARCH 35 Victoriano J. Madrid, Bureau of Plant Industry, Los Bafios, Philippine Islands: Museum techniques. Dr. W. Haliburton, Division of Forest Biology, Ottawa, Canada: Cerambycids. Dr. José C. M. Carvalho, Museu Nacional, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil: Mirid bugs. Dr. Nazeer A. Janua, Deputy Director, Department of Plant Protection, Ka- rachi, Pakistan: Museum methods. Dr. R. G. Fennah, Imperial College of Tropical Agriculture, St. Augustine, Trini- dad: Fulgorid bugs. Dr. L. B. Holthuis, Rijksmuseum van Natuurlijke Historie, Leiden, Holland: Decapod crustaceans of the Pacific Islands. Dr. Isabel Perez-Farfante, Universidad de La Habana: Commercial shrimps of Cuba. Dr. Dorothy L. Travis, Bermuda Biological Station: Literature of the spiny lob- sters. Dr. Freydoun A. Afshar, Department of Mines, Tehran, Iran: Mollusks of the family Tellinidae. Dr. T. Soot-Ryen, Tromsg Museum, Troms¢, Norway: Mollusks of the family Mytilidae; and the zoogeography and ecology of Arctic mollusks. Dr. Bengt Hubendick, Naturhistoriska Riksmuseet, Stockholm, Sweden: Fresh- water mollusks of the families Lymnaeidae and Planorbidae. Dr. Alan Mozley, London, England: Fresh-water mollusks of the Near East and Canada. Dr. Robert W. Hiatt, Department of Zoology and Entomology, University of Hawaii: Ecology of Pacific coral atolls. Botany Phanerogams.—Dr. A. C. Smith, curator, submitted for publica- tion two papers in his series, “‘Studies of Pacific Island Plants,”’ com- pleting the project undertaken in 1947. Three papers describing new species of tropical American plants were also completed by him during the year. The Smithsonian Institution received a grant from the National Science Foundation in support of further field studies by him in Fiji preliminary to the preparation of a definitive Flora of Fiji. He left Washington on March 6, his third visit to Fiji, with the intention of continuing field studies until January 1954. He hopes to reach those parts of the archipelago that seem most in need of collecting, primarily upland regions in south-central Viti Levu; visits to the islands of Ovalau, Taveuni, and Ngau are also projected, the exact itinerary depending on local circumstances. Dr. L. B. Smith, associate curator, continued work on separate accounts of the Bromeliaceae of Colombia, Bolivia, and Brazil, most of his efforts being devoted to the citation of specimens and detailed geographic studies of the 550 Brazilian species. A treatment of the Colombian Violaceae, prepared jointly with Mr. Alvaro Fernandez, was completed. He also collaborated with Dr. Bernice G. Schubert of the U. S. Department of Agriculture, in the collection of plant 36 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM ANNUAL REPORT, 1953 material for analysis by the Heart Institute, National Institutes of Health. Associate Curator E. C. Leonard, is bringing to completion the third and last part of his revision of the Colombian Acanthaceae, having described 82 species, including 58 new to science, and drawn 63 accompanying illustrations. He has submitted for publication a report on the Acanthaceae in Julian A. Steyermark’s Venezuelan collections, and with Dr. H. A. Allard has continued the preparation of an annotated list of the species in the Potomac—Virginia Triassic region. Associate Curator E. H. Walker continued to develop the data accumulated during his visit to the Ryukyu Islands last year and completed a reference booklet, “Important Trees of the Ryukyu Islands.” This is the first work of its kind for the Ryukyus and is basic to the development of forestry there. Dr. Velva E. Rudd, assistant curator, has essentially completed the manuscript of a revision of the American species of Aeschynomene (Leguminosae). This was presented in partial fulfillment of the re- quirements for her Ph. D., which was received from the George Washington University in February. She began a study of the remaining American genera of the subtribe Aeschynomeninae. Research Associate E. P. Killip continued his critical field studies of the plants of Big Pine Key, Fla., with the intention of preparing an account of this fast-disappearing flora. He also spent several months on the Isle of Pines, Cuba, collecting plants for the Museum. Grasses.—Curator Jason R. Swallen completed his manuscript on the Gramineae for the flora of Guatemala being published by the Chicago Natural History Museum. Some progress was made on preparing an account of the grasses of southern Brazil. Dr. Ernest R. Sohns, associate curator, submitted for publication two papers on floral morphology, one on Cenchrus and Pennisetum, and the other on Jzophorus unisetus. He spent several weeks during October and November collecting grasses in México, mostly in the State of Guanajuato, a region poorly represented in the National Herbarium, as shown by a preliminary survey. A large proportion of the specimens collected represent extension of ranges or first records for the state. The field work contributes to the long-term project on the grasses of México, recently initiated. Mrs. Agnes Chase, research associate, continued her studies of special groups which have been of particular interest to her. Dr. F. A. McClure, research associate, completed a manuscript on the native and cultivated bamboos of Guatemala. This is to be included in the Gramineae for the Flora of Guatemala being published by the Chicago Natural History Museum. INVESTIGATION AND RESEARCH 37 Ferns.—Curator C. V. Morton has continued his studies of the ferns of Central America, of Honduras and Guatemala in particular, with a view to the preparation of regional fern floras that will include descriptions, keys, synonymy, and other pertinent information useful not merely for the identification of specimens, but for fern students in general. A short paper on the nomenclature of the genus Anetvum was published during the year, and various other brief papers were prepared. The treatment of the ferns and fern allies of the north- eastern United States and Canada, completed some years ago, was finally published. As a member of the International Committee for the Nomenclature of Phanerogamae and Pteridophyta, the curator was occupied on bibliographic work in connection with decisions on various proposed nomina conservanda. In September he attended the summer field trip of the American Fern Society to selected localities in Vermont and New York. Cryptogams.—Associate Curator Paul Conger continued his studies of the diatom Rhizosolenia eriensis and allied forms, and the study of an interesting marine diatom from the coast of Florida. He began a study of the ecology and taxonomy of the diatoms of Chincoteague Bay, Md., and delivered a lecture, ‘‘Nature and Significance of Diatoms,”’ at the Chesapeake Biological Laboratory, Solomons Island, Md. Research by visiting investigators.—Dr. Jestis M. Idrobo, of the Instituto de Ciencias Naturales, Bogoté, Colombia, returned to Colombia in September after spending more than a year at the National Herbarium continuing his studies of the flora of Colombia. Dr. Alicia Lourteig, of the Fundacién Miguel Lillo, Tucuman, Argen- tina, arrived in January to consult South American material in the herbarium of the families Ranunculaceae, Lythraceae, and Celas- traceae. More than 700 persons visited the department, including 34 from 20 foreign countries. Of these, 62 remained for brief periods to make use of the collections of the National Herbarium in furthering their research projects. The herbarium has been consulted regularly by staff members of other Government agencies, particularly the Bureau of Plant Industry, Soils and Agricultural Engineering, the Forest Service, the Fish and Wildlife Service, and the Geological Survey. To these staff members 26 informal loans, totaling 1,087 specimens, were made to facilitate their work. Geology Mineralogy and petrology.—The extensive record and the col- lections of materials from Paricutin made by the head curator during 1942-1945 will continue to be a source for studies for some time to 38 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM ANNUAL REPORT, 1953 come. With the extinction of the volcano in March 1952, a summary report of its birth, development, and death has been prepared for publication. A sample of the final lava is awaited to complete a study of the changes in the chemical and petrological characters of the lavas. Studies on the aqueous emissions and fumarolic products have been started. Two studies on jade are being undertaken by the head curator. One, on the mineralogical nature of the archeological jades, under- taken in cooperation with the Instituto de Antropologia e Historia, Guatemala, is complete except for the determination of the precise optical properties of the minerals, delayed pending the acquisition of new equipment now received. The other, an outgrowth of the first, concerns the natural system of minerals jadeite-diopside-acmite. Undertaken in collaboration with Associate Curator George Switzer, and with Mr. Joseph Fahey, of the U. S. Geological Survey, it will correlate the chemical composition and the optical properties of this series of minerals, and will systematize their relationships. The head curator presented a paper at the annual conclave of the American Gem Society describing present day conditions in the famous gem cutting center Idar-Oberstein, Germany. Dr. Foshag was elected president of the Section of Volcanology of the Geophysical Union for the term 1953-1956. Associate Curator Switzer, in collaboration with the head curator, completed the annual review of the diamond industry for 1952, which was published by the Jewelers’ Circular-Keystone. This review includes summaries of diamond mining, cutting and marketing con- ditions, with statistics, of all the important diamond centers of the world. A briefer summary relating to gem stone production is prepared annually for the U. S. Bureau of Mines for publication in its Minerals Yearbook. A reexamination of the rare and unusual mineral mosesite, also undertaken in collaboration with the head curator and Joseph Fahey and Jack Murata of the U. S. Geological Survey, identified this mineral as a type of chemical compound not previously recognized in the mineral kingdom. Other short studies report an occurrenee of the rare mineral burkeite in Italy, and demon- strate the identity of the doubtful species hydrocuprite with cuprite. A study of the minerals making up the remains of some microfossils shows a rather surprising range of mineralogy in these fossils. In continuance of his work, he also added 250 powder patterns of min- erals to the reference catalogs of these photographs. At the request of the American Gem Society he delivered a paper entitled ‘Domestic Gem Stone Production” at the Society’s annual conclave in Philadelphia. INVESTIGATION AND RESEARCH 39 Associate Curator Henderson investigated the iron meteorites from both Camp Verde and Seligman, Ariz.; Dayton, Ohio; Keen Mountain, Va.; and Tambo Quemada, Pert. Dr. Stuart H. Perry, associate in mineralogy, completed volume 8 of ‘‘Photomicrographs of Meteoric Iron,” an album of superb photo- micrographs of meteoric structures. Dr. John P. Marble, associate in mineralogy, continued his investi- gations on the absolute measurement of geologic time. As chairman of the Committee on the Measurement of Geologic Time of the National Research Council, he prepared the annual report of the committee, which includes a comprehensive annotated bibliography of articles referring to this subject. In May 1953 he was elected general secre- tary of the American Geophysical Union. Invertebrate paleontology and paleobotany.—Dr. Ray S. Bassler, associate in paleontology, completed his chapter on the Bryozoa for the Treatise of Invertebrate Paleontology, the large reference work being compiled under the auspices of the Geological Society of America. This has engaged him ever since his retirement in 1948. He is now bringing to completion a study of Ordovician cystids which was started before his retirement. Dr. J. Brookes Knight, associate in paleontology, published his study, ‘‘ Primitive Fossil Gastropods and their Bearing on Gastropod Classification.”” This paper brings together the accumulated results of many years of Dr. Knight’s researches. He is now engaged in preparation of the section devoted to Paleozoic gastropods for the Treatise of Invertebrate Paleontology, the illustrations for which have been prepared on a grant from the Geological Society of America. Dr. A. R. Loeblich, Jr., published his revisionary study of the genus Triplasia, describing 37 species, and in collaboration with Dr. Helen Tappan Loeblich, the important “Studies of Arctic Foraminifera,” which described 56 genera and 110 species. With these tasks out of the way, the Loeblichs are devoting themselves to the preliminary stages of preparing the section on smaller Foraminifera for the Treatise of Invertebrate Paleontology, in which connection they plan to visit Europe in the fall and winter of 1953-1954 to study type specimens and collections of material not available here. Associate Curator David Nicol completed his revision of the pele- cypod genus Echinochama and studied the taxonomic position of other genera. He described one new genus (Pettersia) of prionodont pelecypods. During the year Dr. Nicol took over work on Mesozoic as well as Tertiary pelecypods and has several new genera under study. The work on Pliocardia mentioned in the previous annual report was finished during the year. 40 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM ANNUAL REPORT, 1953 Associate Curator Bowsher completed his study of actinocrinitid crinoids and presented the manuscript to the University of Kansas for publication. Curator Cooper completed his study of early Middle Ordovician brachiopods of the United States in February, describing about 925 species distributed among 150 genera. He also finished (with others) his study of the Permian fossils collected near Antimonio, Sonora, México. He describes 28 genera and 51 species. A chapter describing 8 genera of gastropods, by J. Brookes Knight, is included. Dr. Cooper is now sorting his large collection of Permian brachiopods from West Texas into genera and species preparatory to describing them. He is also bringing to completion a manuscript on the Mississippian and Permian brachiopods of Oregon. Curator Cooper, Associate Curator Bowsher, and Museum Aide W. T. Allen spent about a week in the vicinity of Pine Spring Camp in the Guadalupe Mountains of West Texas. The party then went on to southern New Mexico where they collected Devonian, Mississip- pian, and Pennsylvanian fossils in the Sacramento, San Andres, and Mimbres Mountains. From New Mexico the party went north to Oklahoma to collect Permian fossils. There, Cooper left the party but Allen and Bowsher moved on to Missouri to collect Mississippian fossils. About the middle of September Associate Curator Loeblich accom- panied Dr. D. H. Dunkle to Mexico where he sought samples of Jurassic and Cretaceous shales to be washed for Foraminifera. Dunkle’s interest was Mesozoic and Tertiary fish. The party collected from the extensive Cretaceous beds in Coahuila and Tamaulipas and then went south to Puebla, Oaxaca, and Chiapas. They gathered some fine Mesozoic mollusca and brachiopods and about 900 samples of shale before their return to Washington in mid-December. Vertebrate paleontology.—The study of the Knight Lower Eocene mammalian faunas by Curator C. L. Gazin was completed about the beginning of the current year. Its publication in December placed on record the results of several seasons of field collecting, stratigraphic interpretation, and laboratory study of fossil materials representing the various faunal horizons of one of the more important and widely distributed Tertiary formations in the Rocky Mountain region. During this year the curator submitted for publication a mono- graphic study of the Tilodontia, a mammalian order comprising groups of extinct animals whose remains are known only from the Kocene and Paleocene rocks. sthonyx, the Lower Eocene and Upper Paleocene member of this peculiar phylum, possibly of creodont- pantodont origin, was apparently of world-wide distribution, whereas Middle Eocene representatives are known only from North America, INVESTIGATION AND RESEARCH 41 with an aberrant branch recorded somewhat later in the early Tertiary of China. The study of these forms was carried on intermittently over the past six years and involved all the known material. He began a review and revision of the Upper Eocene artiodactyls of North America, in particular the homacodont and so-called seleno- dont forms of the Uinta and Duchesne River stages of the EKocene. This interval of time witnessed the beginnings or early differentiation of several of the groups of even-toed ungulates, including the camels, hypertragulids, and oreodonts. The investigation was undertaken as a result of his recent undertaking to catalog a rather extensive collection of such materials made by the curator in 1938. While so employed he discovered that the taxonomy and our understanding of the relationships of several of the forms involved was somewhat chaotic. Curator Gazin has also undertaken study of a newly discovered occurrence of Paleocene mammals in south-central Wyoming. Exam- ination of a small collection secured by a party of geologists of the U. S. Geological Survey during the past summer has revealed an exceedingly interesting assemblage apparently of an open or nonforest type environment of Tiffanian age. Field work in this area was undertaken by the curator, assisted by Preparator Franklin L. Pearce, prior to the close of this year. As a part of the investigation of Upper Eocene artiodactyls the curator studied collections in the American Museum of Natural History, Carnegie Museum, Princeton University, and Yale Univer- sity. The collections at the American Museum and Princeton Uni- versity were also utilized at these times to make comparisons with the Paleocene mammal remains from central Wyoming. Reports of the curator’s researches on the Knight faunas, the Tillodontia, and the newly discovered Paleocene occurrence were presented at the annual meeting of the Society of Vertebrate Paleon- tology held at Boston and Cambridge, Mass., in November. Also, Dr. Gazin agreed to serve on this Society’s committee on nomencla- ture and correlation of the North American Continental Cenozoic, as chairman of the Eocene subcommittee and member of the Paleocene subcommittee, in the preparation of a new correlation chart and glossary of faunal, stratigraphic, and geographic terms applicable to these ages, to be published by the Geological Society of America. Associate Curator D. H. Dunkle continued work on two long- range studies, the fish fauna of the Green River formation, under- taken with Dr. Bobb Schaeffer of the American Museum of Natural History, and the late Mesozoic origins of teleostean orders of fishes. In the first, current work has centered on the genera Priscacara, Phareodus, and Notogoneus, the eighth, ninth, and tenth of the total 272468—53—4 42 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM ANNUAL REPORT, 1953 of 15 genera to be investigated. Work on the second was furthered by the opportunity of collecting, under the Walcott fund, a small but important assemblage of Lower and Upper Cretaceous fishes from México during the first half of fiscal 1953. Further in this con- nection, the employment of acetic acid for etching is beginning to produce gratifying results in the preparation of the Jurassic fishes from Cuba, and the division has recently acquired, for serially section- ing three-dimensional specimens, the use. of a precision machine which promises to be of great help in these proposed detailed mor- phological studies. During the fall of 1952 the associate curator accompanied Dr. A. R. Loeblich, Jr., to Mexico where opportunity to investigate reported Mexican occurrences of Jurassic and Cretaceous fishes was enjoyed. In the course of the expedition, which traversed the Sierra Madre Oriental from the vicinity of Monterrey to beyond the Isthmus of Tehauntepec, vertebrates were collected from the Agua Nueva formation in Tamaulipas; Neocomian deposits near Tlaxiaco, Oaxaca; and a Tertiary occurrence near Guanajuato. Manuscripts completed by the associate curator during the year include one concerning Jurassic and Lower Cretaceous fishes from the State of San Luis Potosi, México, and another, in collaboration with Carl Fries, of the U. S. Geological Survey, and Dr. Claude W. Hibbard, concerning an early Tertiary faunule at Guanajuato, México. Completion of a manuscript on new records of Permo-Carboniferous fishes in Brazil was advisedly withheld pending study of additional materials submitted to this institution by the University of Sado Paulo. Research by outside investigators.—As in past years, Many in- vestigators from this country and elsewhere were aided by the staff and used the Museum collections. Prof. Hisashi Kuno, Tokyo University, during his tenure as research associate at Princeton University visited the Museum to examine rocks from some volcanic areas in the world in connection with his studies on the natural equilibrium relationships of the pyroxene minerals in lavas. Dr. T. W. Amsden, Johns Hopkins University, recently published a study of pentameroid brachiopods based on Museum specimens. Dr. Franco Rasetti, of the same University, continued his studies of Cambrian fossils, making frequent visits to the Museum laboratories. William Sando, also from Johns Hopkins, visited the Museum on two occasions. Dr. Norman D. Newell, American Museum of Nat- ural History, is monographing a large collection of Permian pele- cypods from West Texas, many of which are from the National Museum. Dr. Harry B. Whittington, Harvard University, com- INVESTIGATION AND RESEARCH 43 pleted another large segment of his monograph on silicified trilobites (mostly belonging to the Museum) from the Ordovician of Virginia, and also completed a manuscript on silicified Mississippian trilobites from Texas. Dr. Erwin C. Stumm published his report on the Traverse trilobites of Michigan, based in large part on National Museum specimens. Dr. Byron N. Cooper published his study of Ordovician trilobites of the Appalachian Valley prepared while he was at the Museum in 1946. Dr. John Hoskins, University of Cin- cinnati, worked on a large collection of fossil wood from Lower Missis- sippian rocks of Kentucky. J. B. McLean, Jr., Alexandria, Va., visited the Museum to study Foraminifera and confer with the staff. During the summer Donald Squires, Kansas University, and Roger Batten, Columbia University, studied Permian gastropod collections under the guidance of Research Associate Knight. Dr. Francis G. Stehli, graduate student at Columbia, spent several months at the Museum studying Permian brachiopods. Dr. John Sanders, National Research Council Fellow, spent most of the year studying Mississip- pian fossils from Tennessee. Other visitors were Dr. M. R. Sahni and Dr. M. V. R. Sastry, both from the Geological Survey of India, and Dr. T. Kobayashi, Tokyo University, Japan. Also using the collections were Dr. C. W. Hibbard, University of Michigan, studying Cenozoic rodents from Arizona; David Kitts, Columbia University, who made extensive use of the collection of Hyracothervum material from the Lower Eocene of Wyoming for his doctoral thesis; Dr. G. Edward Lewis, Denver office of the U. S. Geological Survey, who brought materials from the Miocene of California to compare with Museum type specimens for his study of the Barstow fauna; Dr. A. S. Romer, Harvard University, who examined Permian and Pennsylvanian tetrapods as a part of his study of these forms; Dr. George Gaylord Simpson, American Museum of Natural History, who examined and borrowed for study material of the Hocene primate Phenacolemur; Loren Toohey, Princeton Univer- sity, who studied the Museum collection of middle Tertiary and later Tertiary felids as a part of his doctoral thesis; H. H. Winters, paleontologist with the Florida State Geological Survey, who studied the Pliocene and Pleistocene mammalian remains from Florida; Dr. A. E. Wood, Amherst College, who carefully studied and identified the entire collection of paramyid rodents in connection with his forthcoming revision of this group. Particular mention may be made of two visitors from the Naturhistoriska Riksmuseet, Stockholm: Dr. Erik A. Stensié, who was principally interested in the Museum collection of placoderms, and Dr. Tor @rvig, who was concerned with Lower Devonian arthrodires and also made histological studies of bone material of various Paleozoic tetrapods and fish. 44 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM ANNUAL REPORT, 1953 Engineering and Industries Crafts and industries.—Curator William N. Watkins continued to assist Colonial Williamsburg, the Charleston Museum, and others in the study of secondary woods used in antique furniture as an aid to establishing the origin of furniture. He also assisted Drs. Clay G. Huff and Victor H. Dropkin in their research on the resonance and tonal qualities of woods used in marimbas and xylophones from earliest times to the present. Edward C. Kendall, associate curator, continued his investigation of the Ludwig Rau plow models, expanding the project to include a descriptive catalog of the collection. Data already assembled were consulted by outside investigators. For his history of American plow types he is tracing their European antecedents and has consulted collections of agricultural implements in Pennsylvania, New York, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Delaware. Grace L. Rogers, assistant curator, nearly completed her history of the sewing machine and began a study of the quilts, coverlets, blankets, and linens of early America. She made 94 short studies to answer requests from outside investigators. Engineering.—S. H. Oliver, associate curator, who has completed the documentation leading to publications relating to the automobile and cycle collections, began a similar study of the railroad collections. His preliminary investigation of the first locomotives imported into the United States has produced interesting and possibly new informa- tion about the relics of the “Stourbridge Lion” and the cylinder of the ‘‘America,’’ preserved in the national collections. Associate Curator K. M. Perry devoted much time to identifying and organizing a quantity of radio and electrical material received during the year. A tentative plan for the selection, authentication, and preservation of radio materials in the possession of members of the Institute of Radio Engineers was worked out with the Institute. Graphic arts.—Curator Jacob Kainen continued research on the origins and development of photomechanical halftone processes, the results of which will be combined with a catalog of the halftone collections, and made a start on the study of photogravure processes. A preliminary study of the history of the halftone screen and a sketch of the history of letterpress halftone printing, were completed. Progress was made by Alexander J. Wedderburn, associate curator, on his research project, ““A History of the Camera.” Medicine and public health.—Research was initiated by Asso- ciate Curator George Griffenhagen on the history and evolution of various surgical and pharmaceutical instruments, to be combined with a catalog of the collections in the division. Studies on individual INVESTIGATION AND RESEARCH 45 subjects will be completed for separate publication prior to inclusion in the catalog. The first of these, ‘‘A History and Evolution of the Suppository Mold,” was published this year. A second project, preparation of a catalogue of apothecary shop restorations on exhibition in the United States, will record the history of many of America’s most famous drug stores and will provide a pictorial history of the drug store in America. During the year Curator Griffenhagen was appointed museum consultant to the American Pharmaceutical Association and was elected to the Board of Managers of the Friends of Historical Pharmacy. Research by outside investigators.—Much of the research and study of the staff is undertaken to assist individuals who seek assist- ance with their particular problems, or use the collections to further their researches on various subjects. A total of 1,671 persons visited the offices of the department and an additional 1,974 made inquiry by phone or letter. From the Historic American Merchant Marine Survey were pre- sented 31 catalogs to individuals requesting them, while 108 blueprints of watercraft and 105 photographs were ordered from the Survey, bringing the total of blueprints distributed from this collection to 6,382. About 606 photographs from the Chaney collection of historical railroad material and 242 photographs of other subjects were purchased by publishers, writers, and collectors. In addition, 2,502 photographs were furnished to individuals and institutions as loans and gifts. The service furnished in connection with these 3,455 photographs consists of assisting inquirers in the use of the files, the selection of prints, the ordering of the work, the checking of the prints made, and the prepara- tion of captions for the inquirer’s use. In some instances models and machines were posed for new photographs. The patent section of the Applied Physics Laboratory, Johns Hopkins University, was aided in setting up exhibits and demonstra- tions for the instruction of laboratory scientists in the history of invention and the value of patents. Ship models and a print were lent to the Truxton-Decatur Naval Museum for two exhibits. Raymond Evans spent several days studying the extensive collection of the work of nineteenth-century American wood engravers in prep- aration for a book he is writing. C. E. Littleton, secretary of R. Hoe & Co., gathered material from the library and files of the division of graphic arts for his biography of Richard March Hoe, inventor of the Hoe press. Kenneth M. Wilson, curator of the Delaware State Museum, examined old looms and the types of yarns used, and fabrics woven on them. 46 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM ANNUAL REPORT, 1953 The Jack Chertok Productions, Inc., requested information on the Samuel Slater spinning frame and its operation. From diagrams made by Miss Rogers to illustrate the spinning principle a replica was built and used on the television program ‘‘Cavalcade of America.’ Forest Lunger, curator of the Edison birthplace in Milan, Ohio, was assisted in research on types of fabrics and curtains of the period 1842-1847. Chern Nilviset, chief of Section of Wood Utilization, Royal Forest Department, Bangkok, Thailand, studied the forestry literature and wood collections in the Museum, comparing Thai woods with those of the United States and other countries, and obtaining assistance in wood identification. The Museum received later a set of 20 important woods of Thailand. Among investigators using the facilities of the division of medicine and public health were Jeannette K. Whitmer, curator of the Johnson and Johnson Museum, who sought information for the establishment of a firm museum and undertook to prepare facsimiles of early Johnson and Johnson products in the collections; Edith Rothbauer, Johns Hopkins Science Review, who prepared television copy for the May 27 Johns Hopkins Science Television Review ‘‘The Story of a Needle”’; Morris Leikind, Armed Forces Institute of Pathology Medical Museum, who consulted the division with regard to various pharma- ceutical and medical historical topics. Associate Curator Griffenhagen assisted librarians at the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology Medical Library to prepare monthly rotating exhibits at the Library and furnished specimens from the collection for these exhibits, which included one on Wiliam Withering and digitalis and another on Claude Bernard and curare. History Associate Curator Margaret W. Brown continued her revision of the “Catalog of Washington Relics in the U. S. National Museum.” She completed an article on the George Washington memorial medal to be submitted for publication during the coming year. Her article “‘Thomas Jefferson and the Declaration of Independence Desk in the U. S. National Museum” was accepted for publication in the Ap- pendix of the Annual Report of the Smithsonian Institution for 1953. In the field of marine archeology, Mendel L. Peterson, curator of naval history, did extensive research in the collections and archives of Spain, France, Denmark, and :Great Britain. During May he participated in an expedition investigating the wreck site of a Spanish ship which sank in 1733. Documents relating to this ship, found last year in the Casa Lonja, Seville, Spain, and evidence found on INVESTIGATION AND RESEARCH 47 the wreck site prove it to have been one of a fleet, commanded by Admiral de Torres, struck by a hurricane on July 15, 1733. Numerous objects recovered from the wreck site are being preserved for the collections of the division of naval history. All this work is being supported through a grant of funds from E. A. Link, of the Link Aviation Corporation, who has equipped a fine motor vessel for salvage work and personally participates in all the field and research activities. Another expedition to the site is planned for July 1953. S. M. Mosher, curator of numismatics, intensified his research in the field of American designers, die-sinkers, engravers, and artists associated with United States coins, medals, and tokens. This project is producing a wealth of material that will later appear in the form of a register. Franklin R. Bruns, Jr., curator of philately, continued preparation of the catalog of the national philatelic collection and worked on his history of the Liberian postal service. Since a group of postal stationery specialists have undertaken compilation of a world-wide postal stationery catalog, the proposed catalog of the Michel collection has been abandoned as an unwarranted duplication. The division of philately was the recipient of a medal presented in behalf of the Federal Republic of Germany through Dr. Hans Schuberth, Federal Minister for Posts and Telecommunications, and a gold medal in behalf of the American Air Mail Society through Rear Admiral Jesse M. Johnson, USN (Ret.), president of that group. Publications The National Museum issued, in addition to an Annual Report, 17 publications based on research in the national collections. Of these, 3 were in the bulletin series, 13 were papers in the Proceedings, and 1 was a Contribution from the National Herbarium. ‘Their titles appear below. At the close of the year 3 bulletins, 1 Contribution from the National Herbarium, and 1 Proceedings paper.were in press. Publications by staff members, including research associates and collaborators, totaled 157. These books, articles, and reviews, listed on pages 50 to 55, were distributed as follows: Subject Publications Subject Publications ANCHTODOLOCY: me asec pacey cia: 2 2i WEVISCORY: cera peo acme th clam a sms IBOtAn Yi acc hota oe ae hone ZU VLOOOLY wins stisg eo. ote eee 60 Engineering and Industries .. . 8 —— Geology see Gare eae 33 Total Vo 2 Ree eee 156 On January 5, 1953, Ernest E. Biebighauser was appointed assistant editor of the National Museum. Publications of the United States National Museum July 1952 through June 1953 REPORTS The United States National Museum annual report for the year ended June 30, 1952. 8vo,iv + 103 pp. January 15, 1953. BULLETINS Bulletin 200. The generic names of the beetle family Staphylinidae, by Richard E. Blackwelder. S8vo, iv + 488 pp. July 21, 1952. Bulletin 203. Life histories of North American wood warblers: Order Passeri- formes, by Arthur Cleveland Bent. S8vo, xi + 734 pp., 83 pls. June 15, 1953. Bulletin 204. Catalog of the cycle collection of the division of engineering, United States National Museum, by Smith Hempstone Oliver. 8vo, vi + 40 pp., 1 fig., 24 pls. May 26, 1953. 48 PUBLICATIONS 49 PAPERS PUBLISHED IN SEPARATE FORM From Vouums 30, Contrisvutions From THE UNITED States Nationa HErR- BARIUM Part 5. Studies of Pacific Island plants, XV. The genus Elaeocarpus in the New Hebrides, Fiji, Samoa, and Tonga, by A. C. Smith, 8vo, pp. i-v + 5238-575. May 8, 1953. From VouuME 102 oF THE PROCEEDINGS No. 3306. The sipunculid worms of California and Baja California, by Walter Kenrick Fisher. Pp. 371-450, pls. 18-39. July 8, 1952. From VouuME 103 oF THE PROCEEDINGS No. 3311. Two new naucorid bugs of the genus Ambrysus, by Ira La Rivers. Pp. 1-7, fig. 1. Feb. 12, 1953. No. 3312. Two new scale-mite parasites of lizards, by R. F. Lawrence. Pp. 9-18, figs. 2-7. March 10, 19538. No. 3313. Notes on the biology and immature stages of a cricket parasite of the genus Rhopalosoma, by Ashley B. Gurney. Pp. 19-34, figs. 8,9, pl. 1. March 10, 1953. No. 3314. Photuris bethaniensis, a new lampyrid firefly, by Frank A. McDermott. Pp. 35-37. February 26, 1953. No. 3315. Distribution, general bionomics, and recognition characters of two cockroaches recently established in the United States, by Ashley B. Gurney. Pp. 39-56, fig. 10, pl. 2. March 10, 1953. No. 3316. Biting midges of the heleid genus Stilobezzia in North America, by Willis W. Wirth. Pp. 57-85, figs. 11,12. May 15, 1953. No. 3317. Beetles of the oedemerid genus Vasaces:.Champion, by Ross H. Arnett, Jr. Pp.*87-94, fig. 13. April 30, 1953. No. 3318. Scarabaeid beetles of the genus Bradycinetulus and closely related genera in the United States, by O. L. Cartwright. Pp. 95-120, figs. 14-16, pls. 3,4. June 5, 19538. No. 3319. The chrysomelid beetles of the genus Sirabala Chevrolat, by Doris Holmes Blake. Pp. 121-134, fig. 17. June 5, 1953. No. 3320. American biting midges of the heleid genus Monohelea, by Willis W. Wirth. Pp. 185-154, figs. 18-19. June 17, 1953. No. 3321.