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ANNUAL REPORT OF THE
BOARD OF REGENTS OF
THE SMITHSONIAN
INSTITUTION
SHOWING THE
OPERATIONS, EXPENDITURES, AND
CONDETION “OF THE INSTITUTION
FOR THE WEAR ENDED JUNE, 30
any
(Publication 3606)
UNITED STATES
GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE
WASHINGTON : 1941
For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, Washington, D.C. - - -« - - - Price $1.50 (cloth cover)
ae 11 1957
LIBRARY
LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL
SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION,
Washington, December 5, 1940.
To the Congress of the United States:
In accordance with section 5593 of the Revised Statutes of the
United States, I have the honor, in behalf of the Board of Regents,
to submit to Congress the annual report of the operations, expendi-
tures, and condition of the Smithsonian Institution for the year ended
June 30, 1940. I have the honor to be,
Very respectfully, your obedient servant,
C. G. Assot, Secretary.
III
'
ee
1
CONTENTS
Page
hist ofiotheimisvri. Hirsi a ls a res Sree Bete) Oo ger grid ierie SN Ix
Outstanding eventsy: +t. 2s sari ee ahs et. ell jee abla elgg ae F 1
Summary of the year’s activities of the branches of the Institution_______ 2
Mherestablisnment=: 232.52 anes ees eke 218 Se Te oe Sie 8
(he, Boardyohinepents 25.0222 Soe Fe eae pat fer ghee al 8
MimancCes say Been eee wee eee Soe eee Ree Al eed 9
Mattersiofpencraluinterest! O22 22) ° 2) entre 33 9 Sees Sosa 9
Smithsonian radio programs. foo sue Jevast araiines th tepM 5 9
Anthropological publication in honor of John R. Swanton’s fortieth
year withathernsvtuion =o 328 eee eo eae ee tt
Walter Rathbone Bacon traveling scholarship____________________- 12
Smithsonian main hallvexhibits: 22.2.2 2222- 022220522 0.452222.- 5 13
NINGHEATLHUT eC CUrOMtm oi saunas oe Oy Ae Skin eee ee 13
Witherspoon bequest2* 524222. Ma. = ok a et See Pe 14
xplorabions and fieldiworke = — 22s" 4 Seren: en res he eee 15
Pari lica On sec. See ee ae Fee etic ee tt ct ee 16
ALCP rea ype ae eas pee ee Per Pa pee OS in kee 17
Appendix 1. Report on the United States National Museum____________ 18
2. Report on the National Gallery of Art_-_.______-_-_--__-_- 31
3. Report on the National Collection of Fine Arts___________- 38
4. Report on the Freer Gallery of Art_-..___________________ 43
5. Report on the Bureau of American Ethnology____________- 49
6. Report on the International Exchange Service___.__________ 59
7. Report on the National Zoological Park_____.__._________ 70
8. Report on the Astrophysical Observatory____.__._________- 85
9. Report on the Division of Radiation and Organisms___-_---- 90
10+ Report onthe library. 2 oes ee eee see ae 95
iM Reportonspublications= 22-2. 2862225. 2 eek oe oe 102
Report of the executive committee of the Board of Regents__..__.______- 109
GENERAL APPENDIX
Solar prominences in motion, by Robert R. McMath_________________- 121
The satellites of Jupiter, by Seth B. Nicholson________._.......______- 131
Cultural values of physics, by David Dietz__.___.________._.__________- 139
Nuelear fission why Marl) Ke) Darrow2¢ Sse 2-32 oo ee ee ne 155
The national standards of measurement, by Lyman J. Briggs-___-_____- 161
The rise of the organic chemical industry in the United States, by C. M. A.
SSCUING em Bi ae wee aE eee eee pe es eee een Oe tL aS 177
The rubber industry, 1839-1939, by W. A. Gibbons______._.___._---_-_- 193
The future of man as an inhabitant of the earth, by Kirtley F. Mather__.__ 215
‘ThersearcuetOnr Olle iby Ge Wie, Mees. eons ee Le eee ket ocise 231
Perspectives in evolution, by James Ritchie, M. A., D. Se_____________- 249
Animal behavior, iby Ernest BP. Walker. 2-0-2222 32 ce eae 271
The national wildlife refuge program of the Fish and Wildlife Service, by
Pippo Nee Gaile Ores sige se eee EHC Tae TY a ee ee ad ee 313
VI CONTENTS
A living fossil; iby Jib: B: Smiths-- = oso Ss 2 ase ee eee eee
Insects and the spread of plant diseases, by Walter Carter___._---------
The Mexican bean beetle; by WH. Whites] = === 5225222 2 eee
Plant-tissue cultures, by Robert L. Weintraub_-----------------------
The botany and history of Zizania aquatica L. (‘‘wild rice’’), by Charles
ibe Chamiblisss:= os oS eae ee Bee re ee ere eee
Prehistoric culture waves from Asia to America, by Diamond Jenness_--_-
Masked medicine societies of the Iroquois, by William N. Fenton___-----
The beginnings of civilization in eastern Asia, by Carl Whiting Bishop-_--
Stonehenge: Today and yesterday, by Frank Stevens, O. B. E., F. S. A_-
Sulfanilamide and related chemicals in the treatment of infectious diseases,
by Wesley W. Spink, Mi ID = <2) 24 <2 Soe eee eee
The future of flying, by H. E. Wimperis,C. B., C. B. E., Hon. D. Eng.
(Melb.), Past President Royal Aeronautical Society__---------------
LIST OF PLATES
Secretary’s Report:
NET ED te Sipe gp ae ere a ee ee EE nor et ee san SMe A
TGCS yes rd ete ae ale cee ee nig eee ee eens ee Sea eae SS
Solar prominences in motion (McMath) :
DETAR eee ee
Satellites of Jupiter (Nicholson) :
IGS yo a pg et Na tS nN ae ee ee ee ey a
Rise of the organie chemical industry in the United States (Stine) :
DL RMETe ene Ue Bas 9 re Sir DN BV ll pee eral ee Ee ge See here eee Ee
Rubber industry, 1839-19389 (Gibbons) :
OFT ED tga re er a ec nh ae ne eee rae
Search for oil (Lees) :
eG pel a See ee ene er ere Sk ene See A ke ER eee
Animal behavior (Walker) :
JEST eX} 9 aa I pe es a Pa I Ig ae mee ee aes me ee
National wildlife refuge program of the Fish and Wildlife Service
(Gabrielson) :
EES el oe ee a ee ee ee ee
A living fossil (Smith) :
A SERV Poy er kr a a ce a eee a ee
Insects and the spread of plant diseases (Carter) :
TCC eG ee oe a ee see ee Ng ee ee
Mexican bean beetle (White) :
Plant-tissue cultures (Weintraub) :
1 BNE] oil Fs eS a cat Oe a Soe ct eae ee
Botany and history of Zizania aquatica L. (“wild rice”) (Chambliss) :
Tae il = Oe aaa ee ere Se eis SUR Les ete ee Pee Eee
Masked medicine societies of the Iroquois (Fenton) :
Petes aed ey eee ae a Se ERE a
Beginnings of civilization in eastern Asia (Bishop) :
PY tes ea dea a es ee Se ee ee ee ee
Stonehenge: Today and yesterday (Stevens) :
AP eae aa eee eee Ree Te ee ee
al = 7
ae eee
hth} an cits) eae ie
Codie ;
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THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION
June 30, 1940
Presiding officer ex officio.—FRANKLIN D. Roosrvetr, President of the United
States.
Chancellor.—CHARLES EyANsS HueuHes, Chief Justice of the United States.
Members of the Institution:
FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT, President of the United States.
JOHN N. GARNER, Vice President of the United States.
CHARLES EvANs Hueuess, Chief Justice of the United States.
CorDELL HUuLL, Secretary of State.
Henry MorcGEeNtTHAU, Jr., Secretary of the Treasury.
Harry Hines Wooprina, Secretary of War.
Rosert H. Jackson, Attorney General.
JAMES A. FARLEY, Postmaster General.
CHARLES Epson, Secretary of the Navy.
HaroLp L. Ickes, Secretary of the Interior.
Henry A. WALLACE, Secretary of Agriculture.
Harry Lioyp Hopkins, Secretary of Commerce.
FRANCES PERKINS, Secretary of Labor.
Regents of the Institution:
CuHarLtes Evans Hueues, Chief Justice of the United States, Chancellor.
JOHN N. Garner, Vice President of the United States.
CHARLES L. McNary, Member of the Senate.
ALBEN W. BARKLEY, Member of the Senate.
BENNETT CHAMP CLARK, Member of the Senate.
CHARLES L. GirrorD, Member of the House of Representatives.
CLARENCE CANNON, Member of the House of Representatives.
WILLIAM P. Corn, Jr., Member of the House of Representatives.
FRrEDERIC A. DELANO, citizen of Washington, D. C.
R. Watton Moore, citizen of Virginia.
Rowand S. Morris, citizen of Pennsylvania.
Harvey N. Davis, citizen of New Jersey.
ArTHuR H. Compton, citizen of Dlinois.
VANNEVAR Bush, citizen of Washington, D. C.
Brecutive committee—FReEpERIO A. DELANO, R. WALTON Moore.
Secretary.— CHARLES G. ABBOT.
Assistant Secretary.—ALEXANDER WETMORE.
Administrative assistant to the Secretary— Harry W. Dorsey.
Treasurer.—NIcHOLAS W. Dorsey.
Chief, Editorial Division —WEBSTER P. TRUE.
Tibrarian.—Wiu11am L. Corsin.
Personnel officer—HELEN A. OLMSTED.
Property clerk—JamEs H. Hm.
x ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1940
UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM
Keeper ex officio—CHARLES G. ABBOT.
Assistant Secretary (in charge).—ALEXANDER WETMORE.
Associate director—JOoHN E. Graf.
SCIENTIFIC STAFF
DEPARTMENT OF ANTHROPOLOGY :
Frank M. Setzler, head curator; A. J. Andrews, chief preparator.
Division of Ethnology: H. W. Krieger, curator; Arthur P. Rice, collab-
orator.
Section of Ceramics: Samuel W. Woodhouse, collaborator.
Division of Archeology: Neil M. Judd, curator; Waldo R. Wedel, assistant
curator; R. G. Paine, senior scientific aid; J. Townsend Russell, honorary
assistant curator of Old World archeology.
Division of Physical Anthropology: AleS Urdlitka, curator; T. Dale
Stewart, associate curator.
Collaborators in anthropology: George Grant MacCurdy; D. I. Bush-
nell, Jr.
DEPARTMENT OF BIOLOGY:
Leonhard Stejneger, head curator; W. L. Brown, chief taxidermist ;
Aime M. Awl, illustrator.
Division of Mammals: Gerrit S. Miller, Jr., curator; Remington Kellogg,
assistant curator; H. Harold Shamel, senior scientific aid; A. Brazier
Howell, collaborator.
Division of Birds: Herbert Friedmann, curator; J. H. Riley, associate cura-
tor; H. G. Deignan, assistant curator; Alexander Wetmore, custodian
of alcoholic and skeleton collections; Casey A. Wood, collaborator;
Arthur C. Bent, collaborator.
Division of Reptiles and Batrachians: Leonhard Stejneger, curator; Doris
M. Cochran, assistant curator.
Division of Fishes: Leonard P. Schultz, curator; E. D. Reid, senior scientific
aid.
Division of Insects: L. O. Howard, honorary curator; Edward A. Chapin,
curator; William Schaus, honorary assistant curator.
Section of Hymenoptera: S. A. Rohwer, custodian; W. M. Mann, assist-
ant custodian; Robert A. Cushman, assistant custodian.
Section of Myriapoda: O. F. Cook, custodian.
Section of Diptera: Charles T. Greene, assistant custodian.
Section of Coleoptera: L. L. Buchanan, specialist for Casey collection.
Section of Lepidoptera: J. T. Barnes, collaborator.
Section of Hemiptera: W. L. McAtee, acting custodian.
Section of Forest Tree Beetles: A. D. Hopkins, custodian.
Division of Marine Invertebrates: Waldo L. Schmitt, curator; C. R. Shoe-
maker, assistant curator; James O. Maloney, aid; Mrs. Harriet Rich-
ardson Searle, collaborator; Max M. Ellis, collaborator; J. Percy Moore,
collaborator; Joseph A. Cushman, collaborator in Foraminifera; Charles
Branch Wilson, collaborator in Copepoda.
Division of Mollusks: Paul Bartsch, curator; Harald A. Rehder, assistant
curator; Joseph P. E. Morrison, senior scientific aid.
Section of Helminthological Collections: Benjamin Schwartz, collab-
orator.
Division of Echinoderms: Austin H. Clark, curator.
REPORT OF THE SECRETARY xI
DEPARTMENT oF BroLtoay—Continued.
Division of Plants (National Herbarium): W. R. Maxon, curator; Ells-
worth P. Killip, associate curator; Emery C. Leonard, assistant curator;
Conrad V. Morton, assistant curator; Egbert H. Walker, aid; John A.
Stevenson, custodian of C. G. Lloyd mycological collection.
Section of Grasses: Agnes Chase, custodian.
Section of Cryptogamic Collections: O. F. Cook, assistant curator.
Section of Higher Algae: W. T. Swingle, custodian.
Section of Lower Fungi: D. G. Fairchild, custodian.
Section of Diatoms: Paul S. Conger, custodian.
Associates in Zoology: C. Hart Merriam, Mary J. Rathbun, C. W. Stiles,
Theodore S. Palmer, William B. Marshall, A. G. Boving.
Associate Curator in Zoology: Hugh M. Smith.
Associate in Marine Sediments: T. Wayland Vaughan.
Collaborator in Zoology: Robert Sterling Clark.
Collaborators in Biology: A. K. Fisher, David C. Graham.
DEPARTMENT OF GEOLOGY :
R. S. Bassler, head curator; Jessie G. Beach, aid.
Division of Physical and Chemical Geology (systematic and applied):
W. F. Foshag, curator; Edward P. Henderson, assistant curator; Bertel
O. Reberholt, senior scientific aid.
Division of Mineralogy and Petrology: W. ¥. Foshag, curator; Frank L.
Hess, custodian of rare metals and rare earths.
Division of Stratigraphic Paleontology: Charles E. Resser, curator; Gustav
A. Cooper, assistant curator; Marion F. Willoughby, senior scientific aid;
Margaret W. Moodey, aid for Springer collection.
Section of Invertebrate Paleontology: T. W. Stanton, custodian of
Mesozoie collection; Paul Bartsch, curator of Cenozoic collection.
Division of Vertebrate Paleontology: Charles W. Gilmore, curator; C. Lewis
Gazin, assistant curator; Norman H. Boss, chief preparator.
Associates in Mineralogy: W. T. Schaller, S. H. Perry.
Associate in Paleontology: E. O. Ulrich.
Associate in Petrology: Whitman Cross.
DEPARTMENT OF HINGINEERING AND INDUSTRIES:
Carl W. Mitman, head curator.
Division of Engineering: Frank A. Taylor, curator.
Section of Transportation and Civil Engineering: Frank A. Taylor,
in charge.
Section of Aeronautics: Paul EK. Garber, assistant curator.
Section of Mechanical Engineering: Frank A. Taylor, in charge.
Section of Electrical Engineering and Communications: Frank A.
Taylor, in charge.
Section of Mining and Metallurgical Engineering: Carl W. Mitman,
in charge.
Section of Physical Sciences and Measurement: Frank A. Taylor, in
charge.
Section of Tools: Frank A. Taylor, in charge.
Division of Crafts and Industries: Frederick L. Lewton, curator; Eliza-
beth W. Rosson, senior scientific aid.
Section of Textiles: Frederick L. Lewton, in charge.
Section of Woods and Wood Technology: William N. Watkins, assist-
ant curator.
Section of Chemical Industries: Wallace E. Duncan, assistant curator.
Section of Agricultural Industries: Frederick L. Lewton, in charge.
XI ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1940
DEPARTMENT OF ENGINEERING AND INDUSTRIES—Continued.
Division of Medicine and Public Health: Charles Whitebread, associate
curator.
Division of Graphic Arts: R. P. Tolman, curator.
Section of Photography: A. J. Olmsted, assistant curator.
DrvIsion oF History: T. T. Belote, curator; Charles Carey, assistant curator ;
Catherine L. Manning, philatelist.
ADMINISTRATIVE STAFF
Chief of correspondence and documents.—H. S. Bryant.
Assistant chief of correspondence and documents.—L. E, COMMERFORD.
Superintendent of buildings and labor.—R. H. TREMBLY.
Assistant superintendent of buildings and labor.—CHAaArtes C. SINCLAIR.
Bditor.—Pavut H. O§FHSER.
Engineer.—C. R. DENMARK.
Accountant and auditor—N. W. Dorsey.
Photographer.—A. J. OLMSTED.
Property clerk.—LAWRENCE L. OLIVER.
Assistant librarian.—Lea F.. CLARK.
NATIONAL GALLERY OF ART
Trustees:
THE CHIEF JUSTICE OF THE UNITED STATES.
THe SECRETARY OF STATE.
Tuer SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY.
THE SECRETARY OF THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION.
Davin K. E. Bruce.
DUNCAN PHILLIPS.
FERDINAND LAMMOT BELIN,.
SAMUEL H. Kress.
JOSEPH FE). WIDENER.
President.—Davip K. BE. Bruce.
Vice President.—FERDINAND LAMMOT BELIN.
Secretary and treasurer.—DonaAtp D, SHEPARD.
Director.—DaAvip E. FINLEY.
Assistant director.—MAcciui, JAMES.
Administrator.—H. A. McBRIDrE.
Chief Curator..—JoHN WALKER.
NATIONAL COLLECTION OF FINE ARTS
Acting director—RveEt P. ToLMAN.
FREER GALLERY OF ART
Director.—JOHN EXLLERTON LODGE.
Assistant director—GRACE DUNHAM GUEST.
Associate in archeology.—CakL WHITING BISHOP.
Associate in research.—ARCHIBALD G. WENLEY.
Superintendent.—W. N. RAwLey.
REPORT OF THE SECRETARY
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
Chief.—MATTHEW W. STIRLING.
Senior ethnologists—H. B. Cottins, JR., JOHN P. HARRINGTON,
SWANTON.
Senior archeologist—FRANK H. H. Roserrs, Jr.
Senior anthropologist —JuLIAn UH. SrewArp.
Associate anthropologist—W. N. FENTON.
Editor.—M. Hrten PALMER.
Librarian.—Mir1aAm B. KetcHuM.
Illustrator.—Epwin G. CASSEDY.
INTERNATIONAL EXCHANGES
Secretary (in charge).—CHARLES G, ABBOT.
Chief Clerk.—Coatrs W. SHOEMAKER.
NATIONAL ZOOLOGICAL PARK
Director. —WILLIAM M. MANN.
Assistant director.—ERNEST P. WALKER.
ASTROPHYSICAL OBSERVATORY
Director.—CHARLES G. ABBOT.
Assistant director.—LoyaL B. ALDRICH.
Senior astrophysicist —Wim11AM H. Hoover.
DIVISION OF RADIATION AND ORGANISMS
Director.—CHARLES G. ABBOT.
Assistant director —EArt S. JOHNSTON.
Senior physicist—Epwarp D. MCALISTER.
Senior mechanical engineer.—LELAND B. CLARK.
Associate plant physiologist —FLORENCE M. CHASE.
Junior biochemist.—Rosert L. WEINTRAUB.
JOHN
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Pe ja. Sus = — i 2248 7. Pie: SO eee, eae Deca?
ChristmastatiMountiVemon'#2- 654-334 Sates 5s 5S = eee pee Ae Dec. 24
Rirsie ews ear inthe ‘Colonies = <7. 32324: 2 - ie Fi Ee Dec. 31
1940
The March of Science: © Set ee ee ee ie eee Jan: 7%
Rise: of the: Railroadittt.0 S12. 895.8 21 kt Oise Set ised SSO Jan. 14
Harnessing: Hlectramagnetism: 22 tu. c2net sea ose ns oleae ie be Jan. 21
WGlCanoese nm. teat = A a Ske ey a Jan. 28
TherAmericany SIsOnran dav ie elt dines = gee ee en Feb. 4
SLory, OL -Hard Money in-Ancient Dimese 2. = =o. at ee eee Feb. 13
Hvyolution of the! Ly pewriters 2. 2 tas eee ee See ee Feb. 18
Pompeli#bives iA gainu=—-4- 252. sn ae ee Feb. 25
Radium: 3294. 6 22. eee c ceowe ee). ba eee ol eee Mar. 3
Gondiest iota NORD 5613 ee ee ee Se ee Mar. 10
Our hanging Wildlife. - = 52 8 2 8 eee en eee Mar. 17
American Pharmacy—First-line Defense Against Disease__.________-_- Mar. 24
Opening of the’ Far Wests) - + 2 eo = ee a eee Mar. 31
American nveéentors/§ 2224. 3.335. 8032 ey Bi eer Here et (Apr and
Sciencesin therMiel@en2)ien — ea Eke | See 2 appre eee ee Apr. 14
Dinosaurs— Giants oftne: Past... 8 ee ee ee Apr. 21
Story Of Corn 2 a Se a ae ee eee ge Apr. 28
LOO; Years Of Postage Stamps: 2.2 -- 5) ee eee oe eee May 5
Whistler: The Artist and the Man_-_-_.-- 722222222522. 22o22222_22 May 12
REPORT OF THE SECRETARY 11
Wilkes: An American Who Discovered a Continent______------------ May 19
DEDEVOEeAITarn pa! sae) 8 oe Se ee ee 7 eee oe ee May 26
HOwAROsSsIISTOeRVGLMANDKING= - 2 25 Sho ee Pee June 2
Bata —Aniinlgthage Wl yee tee ee ee ee ee ee ele June 9
INativesiOtcbaw alle. 52s oI Pia ST pg ek ok eh A June 16
Bering in che warsNvorins tis sys sis ee a rey le oe June 23
Shue onsib Asp BiAg et OOA VL eS ete eyed oe nt Se re June 30
From the beginning an attempt has been made to supply listeners
who request it with supplementary information on the subject cov-
ered by each broadcast. This supplementary material has been is-
sued in a number of forms—mimeographed, multigraphed, and
printed—but the difficulty has been to print sufficient copies with the
funds available. In October 1939 a new method was tried—that
of publishing the “listener-aids” in magazine form through the coop-
eration of Columbia University Press and selling them to listeners
at cost. This method proved to be very successful and was con-
tinued through June 30, when publication of the magazine was sus-
pended for the summer months. After February, the articles printed
in the magazine were written by Smithsonian experts and were
illustrated with reproductions of photographs. The average cir-
culation over the 9-month period was between 3,000 and 4,000 per
week.
The W. P. A. financial assistance given during the 4 years the
program has been on the air was withdrawn at the close of the past
year. The W. P. A. funds had been used to pay the salaries of
the production and music directors, a large proportion of the actors,
and all of the clerical force in Washington who handled “The World
is Yours” mail. Rather than let the program die for lack of funds,
N. B. C. generously agreed to finance all the production costs for
the coming year, so that hereafter “The World is Yours” will be pre-
sented as an N. B. C. public-service feature. The script writer will
be paid by the Smithsonian, as for the past 2 years.
Much experience has been gained during the 4 years of the Smith-
sonian radio program. The quality of the broadcasts has been stead-
ily improved, and their popularity has continued unabated. It is
the hope of the Institution that “The World is Yours” may stay on the
air indefinitely.
ANTHROPOLOGICAL PUBLICATION IN HONOR OF JOHN R. SWANTON’S
FORTIETH YEAR WITH THE INSTITUTION
In 1900 Dr. John R. Swanton joined the scientific staff of the
Bureau of American Ethnology, a branch of the Smithsonian In-
stitution. The year 1940, therefore, marks the fortieth year of his
association with the Institution, and to commemorate the occasion,
12 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1940
there was published a volume entitled “Essays in Historical Anthro-
pology of North America.” This book, comprising 600 pages of
text, 16 halftone plates, and 36 text figures, contains 18 essays by
members of the Institution’s staff, an analysis of Dr. Swanton’s own
work by Dr. A. L. Kroeber, an introduction by Dr. Julian H. Stew-
ard, and a bibliography of Swanton’s published contributions to an-
thropology. Each contributor, taking the field with which he has
been particularly concerned, presents a survey of the anthropology
of that area, stressing the historical phases of the study. Asa whole,
the volume covers a large part of the North American Continent,
with, however, notable gaps such as the lower Mississippi region and
the Pacific coast.
Dr. Swanton, knowing nothing of the preparation of this volume
of essays in his honor, was invited on May 25, 1940, to attend a meet-
ing of the staffs of the Institution and the Bureau of American
Ethnology in the regents’ room. At this meeting I presented him
with a specially bound copy of the volume and expressed to him on
behalf of his colleagues our admiration of his outstanding achieve-
ments in the field of historical anthropology. This was also ex-
pressed in the foreword to the published volume, prepared and signed
by me, which reads:
It is a real satisfaction for the Smithsonian Institution to publish this col-
lection of papers in historical anthropology in honor of Dr. John R. Swanton,
on the occasion of his fortieth year with the Institution. Diligenee, modesty,
and kindliness combine with great ability in his make-up, and lead all his col-
leagues and friends to love him, at the same time that they honor his scholarship
and his basic contributions to American anthropology.
While the attractive field of deductive speculation has in the past lured
many American anthropologists, Swanton has been content to gather informa-
tion and, sifting it, to lay a foundation where others may securely build.
Treating particularly the history of cultures and of tribal movement in the
Southeast since the discovery of America, Swanton’s publications in this field
will ever be the classic sources, basic to future advances.
WALTER RATHBONE BACON TRAVELING SCHOLARSHIP
The Walter Rathbone Bacon traveling scholarship of the Smith-
sonian Institution was held for a second year by Dr. Hobart M.
Smith. The purpose of Dr. Smith’s work, as stated last year, is
the accumulation of specimens of reptiles and amphibians from
Mexico, on the basis of which a herpetology of Mexico may be com-
piled and the biotic provinces of the country more accurately defined.
Collecting was continued during the year, and included the vicinity
of Piedras Negras, Guatemala, and certain parts of the Mexican
states of Chiapas, Oaxaca, Veracruz, Guerrero, Michoacin, Mexico.
Puebla, and Hidalgo. By June 30, 1940, the collection numbered
approximately 17,000 specimens, and represented some 475 species.
REPORT OF THE SECRETARY 13
Eight new species of frogs, lizards, and snakes have been described
by Dr. Smith from the collection. In addition, Dr. E. H. Taylor
has described two other species of frogs from the collection.
SMITHSONIAN MAIN HALL EXHIBITS
In my last annual report it was stated that I had appointed a
committee, consisting of Messrs. Mitman, chairman, Foshag, Fried-
mann, Setzler, and True, all of the Institution’s staff, to recommend
plans for exhibits in the Smithsonian main hall to illustrate all
the work of the Institution and to make clear to visitors the relation-
ship between the parent Institution and its various branches. The
committee met weekly, beginning in the summer of 1939, and its
first recommendation was for the complete redecoration of the hall,
using a plastic paint that would give the effect of old stone. The
exhibits and bookcases previously in the main hall were removed,
and new walls were constructed at the east and west ends of the
hall to conceal the steel bookstacks constructed many years ago for
the use of the Smithsonian Library. The redecoration was com-
pleted in the spring of 1940.
The committee’s recommendation as to the exhibits themselves, sub-
mitted on March 30, 1940, was approved by me, and the committee
was instructed to carry out the plans, the entire exhibit to be ready
in time for the next annual meeting of the Board of Regents on
January 17, 1941.
The plan proposed by the committee comprised eight alcoves and
four quadrants to be constructed completely around the hall, leaving
the central aisle clear for the easy circulation of visitors. The eight
alcoves are to portray in popular form the work of the Institution
in astronomy, geology, biology, radiation and organisms, physical
anthropology, cultural anthropology, engineering and industries, and
art. The four quadrants, enclosing the central area of the hall, will
illustrate the scope of Smithsonian activities, the National Zoological
Park, history, and the organization and branches of the Institution.
The former children’s room, adjoining the main hall on the south,
will be used to illustrate the Institution’s work in the diffusion of
knowledge.
At the close of the year, construction of the backgrounds for the
exhibits was well under way, and the details of the exhibits themselves
were being worked out for prompt installation when the construction
work is completed.
NINTH ARTHUR LECTURB
The Arthur lecture, under the auspices of the Institution, was pro-
vided for in the will of the late James Arthur, of New York, who in
1931 left to the Smithsonian Institution a sum of money, part of the
14 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1940
income from which should be used for an annual lecture on some
aspect of the study of the sun.
The ninth Arthur lecture, “Solar Prominences in Motion,” by Robert
R. McMath, Director of the McMath-Hulbert Observatory of the
University of Michigan, was given in the auditorium of the National
Museum on the evening of January 16, 1940. The lecture was illus-
trated with moving pictures of the sun. It will be published in full
with illustrations in the 1940 Smithsonian Report.
The eight previous lectures in the series given under the Arthur
fund were as follows:
1. The Composition of the Sun, by Henry Norris Russell, Professor of Astronomy
at Princeton University. January 27, 1933.
2. Gravitation in the Solar System, by Ernest William Brown, Professor of Math-
ematics at Yale University. January 25, 1933.
3. How the Sun Warms the Earth, by Charles G. Abbot, Secretary of the Smith-
sonian Institution. February 26, 1934.
4. The Sun as a Typical Star, by Walter S. Adams, Director of the Mount Wilson
Observatory. December 18, 1934.
5. Sun Rays and Plant Life, by Earl S. Johnston, Assistant Director of the Divi-
sion of Radiation and Organisms, Smithsonian Institution. February 25,
1936.
6. Discoveries from Eclipse Expeditions, by Samuel Alfred Mitchell, Director of
the Leander McCormick Observatory, University of Virginia. February 9,
1937.
7. The Sun and the Atmosphere, by Harlan True Stetson, Research Associate,
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. February 24, 1938.
8. Sun Worship, by Herbert J. Spinden, Curator of American Indian Art and
Primitive Cultures, Brooklyn Museums. February 21, 1939.
WITHERSPOON BEQUEST
In May 1940 the Institution received approximately $180,000, the
residuary estate of the late Eleanor E. Witherspoon, of Washington,
D. C. The paragraph in Mrs. Witherspoon’s will relating to this be-
quest reads as follows:
All the rest, residue and remainder of my estate, of every kind and description,
real and personal, wheresoever and howsoever situated, now possessed or that may
hereafter be acquired by me, including any lapsed or void legacy or devise, I give,
devise and bequeath absolutely and in fee simple, unto the Smithsonian Institution,
to be held by it as a fund to be known as the Thomas A. Witherspoon Memorial,
in memory of my late beloved husband, with full power in said Institution of
managing, controlling, investing and reinvesting the same, and sale of all or any
part of the corpus thereof, and of any investment or reinvestment thereof, and the
net income therefrom to be used for the advancement of human knowledge,
with the single exception that no part of the corpus of the trust fund created
in this Sixteenth Paragraph hereof or the income therefrom shall be used in
collecting birds and animals dead or alive or for purposes of vivisection.
This generous bequest is a most welcome addition to the Institution’s
resources for research, exploration, and publication, and the wishes of
the testatrix in respect to it will be scrupulously observed.
REPORT OF THE SECRETARY 15
EXPLORATIONS AND FIELD WORK
In the furtherance of its investigations in many branches of science,
the Smithsonian sent out or cooperated in 19 expeditions, which
worked not only in many States in the United States but also in a
number of foreign lands as well.
Dr. W. F. Foshag continued his survey of the mines and mineral
localities of Mexico and added valuable mineralogical specimens to the
Smithsonian’s collection, now the greatest assemblage of Mexican ores
and mineralsextant. Dr. C. Lewis Gazin directed an expedition to cen-
tral Utah in search of remains of extinct vertebrate ainmals and par-
ticularly to investigate the Cretaceous and Paleocene formations ex-
posed along the east side of the Wasatch Plateau. Drs. Josiah Bridge
and G. Arthur Cooper visited localities in Utah, Nevada, Texas, and the
Midwest to collect Paleozoic fossils, needed to fill gaps in the National
Museum collection, and also to examine and collect from Lower Ordovi-
cian sections in the western States in order to obtain more exact infor-
mation for use in the interregional correlation of these rocks. Dr.
Cooper also spent a month studying the rocks and fossils of the Middle
Ordovician in the Southern Appalachians. James H. Benn quarried
out and brought to Washington for study a large slab of beautifully
preserved fossil sea urchins (echinoids) from the bluffs bordering
Chesapeake Bay at Port Republic, Md.
Dr. W. M. Mann conducted an expedition to the Argentine to col-
lect live animals for the National Zoological Park; the trip resulted
in the addition of 316 specimens to the collection, a number of which
had never before been exhibited at the Zoo. Dr. Alexander Wetmore
collected birds in southern Mexico, gaining information on the dis-
tribution of variable forms and on the movements of northern migrants.
W. M. Perrygo collected birds and mammals in North Carolina to
fill gaps in the National Museum’s study collection, and H. G. Deignan
visited European museums to study type material and other relevant
specimens in connection with his work on the birds of Siam. Dr.
Leonard P. Schultz accompanied the Navy Surveying Expedition to
the Phoenix and Samoan Islands and obtained, in addition to 14,000
fishes, many hundreds of specimens of the fauna and flora of the region.
At the invitation of Capt. G. Allan Hancock, Dr. Waldo L. Schmitt
participated in the expedition to the north coast of South America,
where boat dredging and shore collecting resulted in the acquisition
of valuable specimens of marine life. Capt. Robert A. Bartlett, on his
annual summer trip to the Arctic, collected for the Institution a quan-
tity of material, including five specimens of a very rare 10-armed
starfish. Austin H. Clark continued his study of the butterflies of
Virginia, collecting many fine specimens including one species new to
the Virginia fauna.
16 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1940
Ellsworth P. Killip collected plants in Colombia in continuation of
the Smithsonian’s special study of the flora of that country. About
11,000 specimens were obtained, including 300 numbers of ferns and
more than 100 numbers each of orchids, aroids, grasses, and peppers.
Dr. Ale’ Hrdlitka spent several months studying anthropological
material in the museums of England, Russia, Siberia, and France.
The main object of the work in Russia, where most of his time was
spent, was to examine such skeletal and cultural materials from
Siberia as might have a bearing on the problem of Asiatic-American
connections.
Dr. T. Dale Stewart continued excavations at Patawomeke, the Vir-
ginia Indian village visited by Capt. John Smith in 1608, discovering
a type of pottery unlike that prevailing on the surface, and an ossuary.
Dr. Waldo R. Wedel conducted an archeological survey in western
Kansas to determine the extent of Puebloan influence in that area
and to examine the prospects for injecting time perspective into the
earlier archeological history of the region. Dr. Frank H. H. Roberts,
Jr., continued excavations at the Lindenmeier site in northern Col-
orado, producing much further evidence of the presence of the ancient
Folsom man, but failing again to discover any skeletal remains of
Folsom man himself. Dr. William N. Fenton carried on ethnobotan-
ical studies among the Iroquois of New York State and Canada, giving
particular attention to Iroquois medicine.
PUBLICATIONS
The principal means of carrying out the “diffusion of knowledge,”
one of the Institution’s primary functions, is its series of publications.
From its private funds, the Institution issues the Smithsonian Miscel-
laneous Collections, a series containing all the scientific papers pub-
lished by the Institution proper; from Government funds are issued
the Smithsonian Annual Report (with general appendix reviewing
progress in science), the Bulletins and Proceedings of the National
Museum, the Bulletins of the Bureau of American Ethnology, the
Annals of the Astrophysical Observatory, and Catalogs of the National
Collection of Fine Arts. The Freer Gallery of Art series, Oriental
Studies, is supported by Freer Gallery funds.
During the past year, the Institution and its branches issued a total
of 78 publications, of which 45 were issued by the Institution proper,
30 by the National Museum, and 3 by the Bureau of American Eth-
nology. Information as to titles, authors, and other details of these
publications will be found in the report of the Chief of the Editorial
Division, appendix 11. The total number of publications distributed
was 146,156.
REPORT OF THE SECRETARY 17
LIBRARY
The accessions to the Smithsonian Library during the past year
were 7,709 volumes and pamphlets, bringing the total holdings to
907,816, exclusive of several thousand incomplete or unbound items.
The exchange work of the library was seriously handicapped by ab-
normal conditions abroad; many foreign publications have been
suspended or discontinued altogether. Among the larger gifts of the
year were 897 publications from the American Association for the
Advancement of Science, 653 from the Geophysical Laboratory of the
Carnegie Institution of Washington, 252 from the American Asso-
ciation of Museums, and 216 from James Townsend Russell, Jr. The
staff made 26,422 periodical entries, cataloged 6,105 publications, pre-
pared and filed 42,388 catalog and shelf-list cards, loaned 11,745 publi-
cations to members of the staff of the Institution and its branches, and
materially advanced the Union Catalog. Besides adding to the index
of all Smithsonian publications and that of exchange relations, they
began a third during the year; namely, a card index of all Smithsonian
explorations. ‘The needs of the library are for more funds for binding,
more shelf room, and more personnel.
Respectfully submitted.
C. G. Apsor, Secretary.
APPENDIX 1
REPORT ON THE UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM
Str: I have the honor to submit the following report on the condi-
tion and operation of the United States National Museum for the fiscal
year ended June 30, 1940.
Funds provided for the maintenance and operation of the National
Museum for the year totaled $810,725, or $32,345 more than for the
previous fiscal year. The amount was reduced $5,500 however, by
reason of a compulsory administrative reserve. In addition to the
normal expenditures of the Museum, a deficiency appropriation made
$270,000 available to cover expenses in changing the electric current
for the Smithsonian group of buildings from direct to alternating,
and for installing new elevators in the Smithsonian and Natural
History Buildings.
COLLECTIONS
Additions to the great collections of the National Museum were
received in 1,960 separate accessions, totaling 212,474 individual speci-
mens. These were distributed among the five departments as follows:
Anthropology, 5,233; biology, 168,673; geology, 33,921; engineering
and industries, 2,019; and history, 2,628. For the most part these
acquisitions were gifts from individuals or represented expeditions
sponsored by the Smithsonian Institution. All are listed in detail
in the full report on the Museum, published as a separate document,
but the more important are summarized below. The total number of
catolog entries in all departments now slightly exceeds 17,000,000.
Anthropology.—Archeological material came from many parts of
the world: Eskimo and other artifacts from Siberia and northern
Alaska, stone and shell artifacts from Guam and Mexico, objects from
various parts of Egypt, and potsherds and casts from Argentina. In
ethnology, many objects were received representing the cultures of the
Eskimos and of various Plains and western Indian tribes. Africa was
represented by Bondu and Yoruba masks from West Africa and
Nigeria, respectively. The section of ceramics received 146 speci-
mens; musical instruments, 12, including a violin designed and con-
structed in the anthropological laboratory by Nicola Reale, partly
along the lines of a late Stradivarius; period art and textiles, 153,
including many fine pieces of lace, ivory, and silver. In the division
of physical anthropology the following accessions are noteworthy:
18
REPORT OF THE SECRETARY 19
Cast of a Neanderthal child skull from Uzbekistan, a neolithic skull
from Siberia, 8 trephined skulls from Peru, and casts of upper paleo-
lithic crania from the Choukoutien caves near Peiping, China.
Biology—aA total of 168,673 biological specimens were accessioned
during the year, a number less than last year owing presumably to the
disturbed condition of the world. Important mammalian material
consisted of 8 Weddell and 2 crab-eating seals and 1 leopard-seal
skull from the Antarctic, several cetacean skulls and fetuses from
Alaska and the Antarctic, 101 bats from Mexico and Guatemala, 10
mammals from the Smithsonian-Firestone Expedition to Liberia, and
many small mammals collected from North Carolina, District of Co-
lumbia, Maryland, and Massachusetts. The George S. Huntington
collection of nonhuman skeletons was transferred from the Army
Medical Museum.
Avian accessions from Veracruz and Indochina were outstanding.
Over 1,000 bird specimens resulted from the field work conducted by
the Museum in North Carolina. Other lots were representative of
Italian, Chilean, Paraguayan, Antarctic, and Samoan forms.
Large collections of reptiles and amphibians were made in Mexico
by Dr. Hobart M. Smith under the Walter Rathbone Bacon traveling
scholarship of the Smithsonian Institution. Forty-one specimens
from Liberia were sent by Dr. W. M. Mann from the Smithsonian-
Firestone Expedition; 240 Maryland reptiles and amphibians were
donated; and an important lot of Jamaican and Cayman Island
material was purchased.
The most noteworthy ichthyological addition consisted of 14,000
fishes collected by Curator Leonard P. Schultz as a member of the
Navy Surveying Expedition to the Phoenix and Samoan Islands in
1939. Dr. W. M. Mann forwarded 462 fishes collected at Gibi Moun-
tain, Liberia. A large number of paratypes of fishes was received in
exchange from the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, the
Bernice P. Bishop Museum at Honolulu, the Field Museum of Natural
History at Chicago, and the British Museum of Natural History.
In insects several large collections were added: The E. D. Ball col-
lection of approximately 75,000 specimens of Hemiptera; about 63,000
miscellaneous insects transferred from the Bureau of Entomology and
Plant Quarantine, and 20,000 more received directly by specialists or
additions resulting from collecting trips; about 30,000 specimens of
mites (on 3,000 slides) from the collections of the late A. P. Jacot,
transferred from the Forest Service; 6,000 Chinese insects from Dr.
D. C. Graham; and an important collection of about 2,000 coccinellid
beetles of the genus Hippodamia from the distinguished coleopterist
Prof. Th. Dobzhansky.
280256—41——-3
20 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1940
Nearly 600 marine invertebrates from southeast Greenland came as
a result of the Bartlett Greenland Expedition of 1939. In addition,
there were received important collections of isopods, amphipods,
sponges, pycnogonids, and worms, many representing new species or
species new to the Museum collections. Mollusks came chiefly from
Cuba, Hawaii, Jamaica, Samoa, Guam, Colombia, Ecuador, and the
United States. Accessions of helminths included type material of
much interest. Among the echinoderms was a fine series of starfishes,
sea urchins, brittlestars, and holothurians from Antarctica, as well as
noteworthy specimens from the Indo-Pacific.
About 23,600 plants, largely American, were received for inclusion
in the National Herbarium, the largest lot being 5,200 specimens from
Virginia, West Virginia, and Maine presented by H. A. Allard, of
the United States Bureau of Plant Industry.
Geology.—Several additions to the mineralogical and petrological
series were made possible by the Canfield, Roebling, and Chamberlain
funds of the Smithsonian Institution. Among these were a flawless,
pale blue, aquamarine crystal weighing 347 grams; a 128-carat emerald
crystal from Bahia, Brazil; and 495 Mexican minerals, including
rare arsenates and associated minerals and fine apatite crystals from
Durango. These latter were collected by Curator W. F. Foshag on
a trip to Mexico in 1939. About 3,000 mineral, ore, and rock specimens
were transferred from the United States Military Academy. Forty-
one individual specimens were contained in 21 accessions of meteorites
received, 30 of these representing falls new to the collections.
The largest accession in the field of stratigraphic paleontology com-
prised the Paleozoic fossils collected by Assistant Curator G. A.
Cooper and Dr. Josiah Bridge during their 1939 field work. Next in
point of size is the celebrated old English Calvert coilection of fossils
procured by Martin L. Ehrmann. In addition, the biologic study col-
lections were materially augmented with many fossil echinoderms,
conodonts, Foraminifera, bryozoans, brachiopods, and mollusks
received from generous donors. The most important exhibition
specimen of the year was a 8- by 7-foot slab of Miocene standstone,
discovered by Dr. Foshag at Scientists Cliff, Md., on which a rare
species of echinoid covered the surface.
From a scientific standpoint, the most noteworthy accession in
the division of vertebrate paleontology was an exchange from the
Peabody Museum of Natural History of 25 original type specimens
of fossil lizards, making the National Museum collection of these
saurians the largest assemblage of its kind in this country. Field
expeditions yielded four articulated lizard skeletons, two partial
ceratopsian skulls from the North Horn formation, and a consid-
erable number of fragmentary jaws and teeth from the Paleocene
REPORT OF THE SECRETARY 21
of central Utah. The type of Delphinus calvertensis originally be-
longing to the National Institute, but lent to Louis Agassiz prior
to 1852, was returned to the National collections by the Museum of
Comparative Zoology.
Engineering and industries——In the section of aeronautics addi-
tions were made to the collection of aircraft propellers, including
one of the first controllable-pitch propellers issued for practical
service. A model of the Yankee Clipper from the Pan American Air-
ways System and the first ticket issued to a fare-paying passenger
on the initial public trans-Atlantic flight also were received, as well
as a number of aircraft models. To the section of electrical engi-
neering and communications came the following: A Gaulard and
Gibbs transformer and an early Tesla motor, both important contri-
butions to the practical use of alternating current; a collection of
early incandescent lamps; and a Parsons turbine-electric generator,
thought to be the oldest of the original form of the Parsons turbine
now in existence except for the first one at the Science Museum in
London. Many miscellaneous objects pertaining to transportation,
communication, metrology, mining, and metallurgy, tools and crafts,
medicine and public health, and chemistry continue to come in as
gifts and loans, always welcome additions to these sections. To the
division of graphic arts there was transferred from the Government
Printing Office an iron printing press invented by Peter Smith in
1822. Other interesting material received in this division pertained
to motion-picture photography and projection, color photography,
fine printing and bookmaking, and photoengraving.
History.—Over 2,600 objects of historic and antiquarian interest
were accessioned, including mementos, medals, and portraits of such
outstanding figures as General Lafayette, Gen. Ulysses S. Grant, Gen.
Philip H. Sheridan, Maj. Gen. George H. Thomas, Col. Charles A.
Lindbergh, Madame Ernestine Schumann-Heink, and others. The
handsome dress in the White House series worn by Dolly Madison
was presented to the Museum by Mrs. Charles D. Walcott and the
Smithsonian Institution. A unique addition to the historical col-
lection was the five flags flown by the Yankee Clipper on the first
official flight of that plane from Port Washington, N. Y., to South-
ampton, England, and return in May 1939, presented through the
Hon. R. Walton Moore. The numismatic collection was increased
by 408 coins and medals and the philatelic collection by 2,038 foreign
postage stamps, cards, and envelopes transferred from the Post
Office Department. Also there came the famous A. Eugene Michel
collection of postal stationery, which comprises 144 volumes of ma-
terial containing about 40,000 specimens.
22 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1940
EXPLORATIONS AND FIELD WORK
The work of the staff in the field was wide and varied in scope and
was carried on principally through funds made available through
the Smithsonian Institution. The field studies thus arranged are one
of the most important sources of new materials for the National
Museum and result in new facts and information of many kinds.
Anthropology—On April 15, 1939, Dr. Ale’ Hrdlicka, curator of
physical anthropology, left New York on an anthropological trip to
Europe, with particular emphasis on studies in Russia and Siberia.
The main objects of a visit to London were to see the remains of early
man from Palestine and whatever Siberian skeletal material there
might be in the museums of that city. In France the main purpose
was to see the newly established Museum of Man in Paris. In Russia
and Siberia the chief objective was to examine such skeletal and cul-
tural materials from Siberia as might have a bearing on the problem
of Asiatic-American connections. The main part of the trip was in
the Soviet Union, where the stay was divided between Leningrad,
Moscow, and Irkutsk. In the anthropological institutes and museums
of these cities, Dr. Hrdlitka found exceedingly rich and valuable
materials from Siberia, all of which he was allowed to utilize freely.
The examinations in Leningrad were carried on in the new Anthro-
pological Institute and Museum, which has a very large and valuable
collection of human crania and skeletons, including important series
of skulls of the Chukchi and other Siberian peoples. In the Anthro-
pological Institute of the Moscow University there is another huge
cranial and skeletal collection, including other important series of
Siberian materials. Finally, at the Irkutsk Museum there is a large
and very important collection of neolithic skeletal remains from the
Angara River and Baikal Lake regions.
The Siberian crania examined and measured included large and
particularly interesting series of the Chukchi, Ostiaks, Tungus, and
the neolithics of the Irkutsk region. Dr. Hrdlicka had the further
privilege, partly at Leningrad and partly at Moscow, of seeing the
skull, remains of bones, and associated cultural materials of a Nean-
derthal child from Uzbekistan, in central Asia. This is a find of
outstanding anthropological importance, and the skull, lower jaw,
and teeth are in excellent condition.
To determine, first, the extent of Puebloan influence in western
Kansas and, second, the prospects for injecting time perspective into
the earlier archeological history of the region, Dr. Waldo R. Wedel,
assistant curator of archeology, extended into the High Plains an
archeological survey begun in Kansas in 1937. A month was spent
in and near Scott County State Park. Traces of a seven-room pueblo
ruin opened by Williston and Martin in 1898 were relocated. Middens
REPORT OF THE SECRETARY Ze
yielded potsherds and artifacts of stone, bone, and horn, as well as
rare objects of copper, iron, and glass. Charred maize and squash
gourd rinds indicate horticulture, but quantities of animal bones
suggest that subsistence was primarily by hunting. Contrary to
expectations, Puebloan influences were almost negligible. Aside from
the stone-walled ruin and nearby prewhite irrigation ditches, there
was a bare handful of sherds, some painted, and a few incised clay
pipe fragments presumably attributable to late Southwestern stim-
ulus. Numerous bell-shaped roasting pits and large irregular trash
pits, as also the great bulk of artifacts recovered, show close relation-
ship to sites of the prehistoric Dismal River culture of southwestern
Nebraska. No houses of indigenous type were found. Whatever the
relationship between these remains and the Pueblo structure, it is an
interesting historical fact that in early contact times the western plains
were inhabited by Apache and Comanche bands, some of whom appear
to have followed a semihorticultural mode of life.
Just outside the north entrance to the Park a small burial ground,
probably much older than the above, yielded two long-headed skele-
tons and several secondary interments. With the skeletons were
broken tortoise shells, tubular bone beads, and chipped flints, includ-
ing one heavy-stemmed arrowpoint of woodland type. Persistent
search failed to disclose any evidence of an associated village or
camp site.
About 20 miles east, on Salt Creek in Lane County, Kans., remains
of a different type were found. On and just below the surface of one
site were materials attributable to the Upper Republican culture of
southern Nebraska. Two small pit houses, each with four center
posts, were worked out. Along with shallow middens nearby, they
yielded typical pottery, arrowpoints, a bone fishhook, and other mate-
rials, but no direct proof of horticulture. Separated from this de-
posit by a barren stratum up to a foot thick was a second cultural
layer. From this came thick cord-roughened sherds and _ large-
stemmed arrowpoints markedly unlike the top-layer materials. This
second horizon, evidently linked with some Plains woodland mani-
festation, had been intruded by both pit houses. Lack of time pre-
cluded investigation of what may be a third cultural horizon underly-
ing both of the above.
These researches seem to show that in Lane and Scott Counties
there were at least two groups of prehistoric pottery-making peoples.
On stratigraphic grounds, those bearing a woodland culture preceded
ethers with Upper Republican affiliations; neither appears to have
been in contact with southwestern peoples. Still later, in proto-
historic times, a third complex, assignable to the Dismal River cul-
ture, occupied the area. This sequence parallels that in western
24 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1940
Nebraska and adds materially to the geographic range of the cultures
involved.
Dr. T. Dale Stewart, associate curator of physical anthropology,
continued systematic excavations at the site of the Indian village
located in Stafford County, Va., visited by Capt. John Smith in the
summer of 1608 and described by him under the name of Patawomeke.
Indications were that it had been a stockaded village. Among the
details of the town plan that remained undiscovered at the close of
the 1938 season were the main entrances, the location of the dwellings,
and the manner of their construction. The cultural objects obtained
during this work, as well as those found previously by Judge Graham,
showed considerable uniformity, and thereby suggested a relatively
short occupancy of the site. Nothing thus far gave indication of the
presence here of cultural elements differing from those apparent on
the surface. Nevertheless, a further development of the town plan
in itself was deemed of sufficient importance for continuing the inves-
tigation in 1939. Constant presence at the site permitted the employ-
ment of a somewhat different technique from that used last year.
Trenches 10 feet broad were extended across undisturbed parts of
the site. This increased exposure, in contrast to the previous short
5-foot trenches, clarified the picture considerably. The initial
trenches were run in the field to the east that had been under culti-
vation last season. Here it was hoped to find an entrance to the
stockade, but none was found. As elsewhere about the site, the post
holes are so numerous, presumably as a result of replacements and
relocations, that the details are obscured. Some time was devoted
also to trenching the accumulated refuse along the bluff overlooking
the creek. In places these deposits reach 4 feet in depth, but give
evidence of having received accretions from the plow.
Attention was distracted from these features toward the close of
the season by two important finds of a different nature, a deep pit,
containing a type of pottery unlike that prevailing on the surface,
and an ossuary. The finding of the ossuary offered the opportunity
to expose the bones from above in order to show their arrangement.
Circumstances usually do not allow time for this procedure. In the
present case a good record was made of about one-third of the burial
pit before heavy and prolonged rains interrupted. A typical method
of contracting the body appears to have been that in which the lower
legs were flexed forward unnaturally at the knees so that the feet
came to touch the abdomen. ‘Two other features of the ossuary are
of interest: At one place there was a mass of charred bones, the re-
mains perhaps of a deliberate cremation or sacrifice. In connection
with some of the skeletons there were great numbers of shell beads,
and in one of these cases the largest beads had been placed within
the skull, obviously at the time of burial.
REPORT OF THE SECRETARY 25
Biology.—Field work in the study of the distribution and collec-
tion of birds and mammals of North Carolina, begun in the spring
of 1939 and continued until July, was opened again in the fall for
a period of a little over 2 months with W. M. Perrygo in charge
of the party and Charles L. Wheeler as assistant. Dr. Wetmore
and Mr. Graf visited the party when the men were located near
Mattamuskeet in October, and spent several days with them. The
work was concluded toward the close of November, with important
collections as the result. In the spring of 1940 Mr. Perrygo was
dispatched for similar work in the field in South Carolina, Southgate
Hoyt serving as assistant throughout the period, with John Calhoun
also as a member of the party during the early part of the summer.
All this work was carried on under the W. L. Abbott fund.
In continuation of work in the vicinity of the archeological camp
at Tres Zapotes, Veracruz, begun last year by Dr. Wetmore, M. A.
Carriker, Jr., was engaged in making collections of birds in this
area from January to May. The resulting collections, together with
those that were obtained by Dr. Wetmore, constitute the most valu-
able series of birds yet assembled from this interesting area. Mr.
Carriker during this season made collections in the region of the
Tuxtla Mountains, which have been proposed for a national park,
and also supplemented his series from Tres Zapotes with material
from Tlacotalpan and from the coastal region south of Alvarado.
The investigations were carried on under the W. L. Abbott fund.
Dr. Hobart M. Smith, traveling under the Walter Rathbone Bacon
traveling scholarship of the Smithsonian Institution, continued
throughout the year an exploration and study of the herpetological
fauna of Mexico, covering systematically that interesting region.
As a result of his work many beautifully prepared reptiles and
amphibians have been received at the Museum. Dr. Smith was still
in the field at the close of the fiscal year.
Dr. Leonard P. Schultz, detailed to accompany the U. S. S. Bush-
nell as naturalist on the Naval expedition to the Phoenix and Sa-
moan Islands during the summer of 1939, returned on August 18
with large collections consisting of about 14,000 fishes, besides mol-
lusks, coelenterates, echinoderms, worms, and other marine inverte-
brates, reptiles, birds, mammals, and plants aggregating 2,000 or
3,000 specimens.
As in past years, Capt. Robert A. Bartlett in his annual expedition
to Greenland waters brought to the Museum further valuable addi-
tions to the invertebrate collections besides a noteworthy collection
of Arctic plants.
Austin H. Clark continued his work on the survey of the butterfly
fauna of Virginia, visiting different localities during the summer of
1939 and the spring of 1940.
26 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1940
Upon invitation of the Venezuelan Government, Mrs. Agnes Chase,
custodian of grasses, was detailed to Venezuela in February for the
purpose of studying the grasses of that country and recommending
plans for agrostological research. Field work was carried out suc-
cessfully in the western, northern, and eastern parts of the country
during a stay of 6 weeks. Notwithstanding an almost unprecedented
drouth, about 1,500 specimens were collected. Continuing his study
of the flora of Big Pine Key, Fla., E. P. Killip, associate curator of
the National Herbarium, accompanied by Robert F. Martin, of the
Department of Agriculture, spent a period of 2 weeks there in mid-
winter. To the 208 species of plants discovered on three earlier
visits, 82 were added, and many duplicates were collected for general
distribution.
Geology—Dr. W. F. Foshag, curator of physical and chemical
geology, spent August 1939 collecting minerals in Mexico, confining
his studies largely to the states of Nuevo Leon and Durango.
Mapimi and Cerro Mercado, in the state of Durango, yielded excep-
tionally fine material, notably the rare arsenates of iron from upper
workings of the Ojuela mine recently reopened by Mexican miners,
and fine apatite crystals and associated minerals from Cerro Mercado.
Among other localities visited were Banderas, Cabrellas, Higueras,
Diente, Zimapan, Guanajuato, and Queretaro. After the Instituto
Geologico de Mexico had deducted its selection, see cases were
shipped to Washington.
Late in September, Dr. G. A. Cooper, assistant curator of strati-
graphic paleontology, joined Dr. Josiah Bridge, of the United States
Geological Survey, in Salt Lake City, Utah, whence they journeyed
co Logan, where Dr. J. S. Williams, of Utah State Agricultural
College, assisted them in the study of that region. The classic
area for Cambrian, Lower Ordovician, and Devonian fossils, near
Eureka, Nev., was visited, and 12 days were spent with Dr. T. S.
Nolan and party, of the United States Geological Survey. Next,
Las Vegas, Nev., furnished Lower Ordovician collections for future
studies of that little-known area. The Devonian rocks at Silver
City, N. Mex., were next examined and excellent fossils collected.
From here the party proceeded to El Paso and Van Horn, Tex.,
obtaining Lower Ordovician fossils from the El Paso limestone;
then to Marathon and the Glass Mountains, where 5 days were
devoted to collecting silicified Permian fossils. The Central Hill
country of Texas was visited for Cambrian fossils, and Mineral
Wells for deposits of Pennsylvanian age. Turning homeward by
way of the Arbuckle Mountains and Criner Hills, Okla., they de-
voted a week to collecting Middle Ordovician fossils. Dr. Cooper
continued to Lower Ordovician outcrops in south-central Missouri
and the Silurian of Little Saline Valley in east-central Missouri.
REPORT OF THE SECRETARY 27
The season’s work was brought to a close with collecting in the
Wabash region of Indiana, where Silurian fossils were obtained
from reefy masses near Peru, and in southern Indiana from De-
vonian and Mississippian rocks. Although the purpose of this long
trip was to build up the weak parts of the study series of invertebrate
fossils, equally important was the information obtained for definite
placement stratigraphically of the Museum sets of fossils obtained
in the days when such correlation was not so accurate. The Lower
Ordovician fossils from Nevada and Texas, Permian of Texas, Penn-
sylvanian of central Texas, and Silurian from east-central Missouri
and north-central Indiana, resulting from this trip, were all new
to the collections.
Dr. E. O. Ulrich, associate in paleontology, in order to further
his stratigraphic studies of Appalachian Valley geology and to test
certain conclusions before publication, spent the month of September
in field work in the southern section of the area, and a shorter time
in June in Pennsylvania. Good collections were made, but most
important was the information obtained to place stratigraphically
the Museum’s older sets of fossils.
In the division of vertebrate paleontology, C. W. Gilmore was
detailed early in the spring of 1940 to accompany Earl Trager, of the
National Park Service, on a reconnaissance trip to the site of a pro-
posed national park in the Big Bend region of Texas. Although no
collections were made, the area was determined as a field of much
promise for dinosaur remains. The main field operations of the
year for this division were conducted by Dr. C. Lewis Gazin, assist-
ant curator, who left Washington early in June 1939 to head an
expedition into the Upper Cretaceous and Paleocene regions of
Utah, a continuation in part of two previous seasons of field work.
In the upper Cretaceous along the westerly slope of North Horn
Mountain, several partially articulated lizard skeletons and two
incomplete ceratopsian skulls were among the specimens collected.
In the Paleocene numerous fragmentary mammal specimens, con-
sisting chiefly of jaw fragments and teeth, were obtained. As many
of the latter represented new forms of multituberculates, taeniodonts,
and other primitive forms, this collection contributes much informa-
tion to the fauna of the Dragon formation.
Early in June 1940 Dr. Gazin left to continue the work in the
Paleocene of Utah in the vicinity of North Horn Mountain and
then to the Eocene of the Bridger Basin of Wyoming.
MISCELLANEOUS
Visitors —A total of 2,506,171 visitors at the various Museum
buildings was recorded for the year. This is 271,826 more than
the number for the previous year and represents an all-time record
28 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1940
for annual attendance. This year the high months were July and
August 1939, when 360,599 and 400,719 visitors, respectively, were
recorded. The attendance in the four Museum buildings was as
follows: Smithsonian Building (closed to visitors from January 2
to June 30, 1940), 200,113; Arts and Industries Building, 1,261,808 ;
Natural History Building, 809,661; Aircraft Building, 233,589.
Publications and printing—The sum of $27,100 was available
during 1940 for the publication of the Museum Annual Report,
Bulletins, and Proceedings. Thirty publications were issued—the
Annual Report, 1 Bulletin, 1 Contributions from the United States
National Herbarium, and 27 separate Proceedings papers. Particu-
larly outstanding were the following: Variations and Relationships
in the Snakes of the Genus Pitwophis, by Olive Griffith Stull (Bull.
175); The Hederelloidea, a Suborder of Paleozoic Cyclostomatous
Bryozoa, by Ray S. Bassler; Observations on the Birds of Northern
Venezuela and Notes on the Birds of Kentucky, by Alexander Wet-
more; Catalog of Human Crania in the United States National
Museum Collections: Indians of the Gulf States, by AleS Hrdli¢ka;
Trematodes from Fishes Mainly from the Woods Hole Region,
Massachusetts, by Edwin Linton; and A Prehistoric Roulette from
Wyandotte County, Kansas, by ‘Waldo R. Wedel and Harry M.
Trowbridge.
Volumes and separates distributed during the year to libraries,
institutions, and individuals throughout the world aggregated 65,962
copies.
W. P. A. assistance——As in previous years workers were assigned
from the Works Progress Administration of the District of Columbia
to assist the Museum staff in miscellaneous activities. On July 1,
1939, 144 assistants were so engaged, and on April 15, 1940, when
the project was terminated owing to shortage of funds, these workers
numbered 126. The service performed totaled 169,848 man-hours for
the year. Conclusion of the project was felt in all departments of
the Museum. Aside from the care given by the W. P. A. help in
arranging and preserving the study collections, the cataloging and
numbering of specimens were of direct aid to research, for the mate-
rial thus handled became readily available for study by our own staff
and by other technical workers.
Special exhibits—Twelve special exhibits were held during the
year under the auspices of various educational, scientific, and gov-
ernmental agencies. In addition the department of engineering and
industries arranged 23 special displays—2 in engineering, 9 in graphic
arts, and 12 in photography.
Participation in scientific congress—Members of the Museum staff
actively participated in the Eighth American Scientific Congress,
REPORT OF THE SECRETARY 29
which was held in Washington May 10 to 21, 1940, under the auspices
of the United States Government and which brought together dis-
tinguished scientists from all the Pan American Republics. Dr.
Alexander Wetmore served as the Secretary General to the Congress,
working with officials of the State Department. Dr. C. G. Abbot
and Dr. T. Wayland Vaughan were members of the organizing com-
mittee, and the latter was chairman of the geological section. All
Museum curators were designated official delegates, and two members
of the Museum staff—Frank M. Setzler and Paul H. Oehser—were
detailed as secretaries; Austin H. Clark served as science press-
relations officer. Dr. AleS Hrdlicka was a member of the section
committee on anthropology. At various technical sessions of the
Congress papers were presented by the following Museum scientists:
Dr. Ale’ Hrdli¢ka, Dr. T. Dale Stewart, Dr. Remington Kellogg,
Dr. Waldo L. Schmitt, and Dr. Paul Bartsch.
CHANGES IN ORGANIZATION AND STAFF
In the Department of Anthropology, Andreas J. Andrews was pro-
moted October 1, 1939, to chief preparator in anthropology, succeeding
W. H. Egberts, who retired.
In the Department of Biology, Herwil M. Bryant was appointed
as junior biologist on September 29, 1939, and assigned to duty with
the United States Antarctic Service. Through the retirement of
Mrs. M.S. Clapp, Miss Vendla M. Hendrickson was promoted June 1,
1940, to clerk-stenographer in the Head Curator’s office. Other changes
in this Department included the promotion of Herbert G. Deignan to
assistant curator in the Division of Birds on June 16, 1940, of Mrs.
Aime M. Awl to principal scientific illustrator on June 1, 1940, and of
Charles S. East to scientific aid on March 1, 1940.
In the library, Miss Marie Ruth Wenger was promoted to library
assistant, on November 16, 1939.
Two honorary appointments on the Museum staff were made during
the year, as follows: Dr. Stuart H. Perry as associate in mineralogy,
and Dr. Adam G. Béving as associate in zoology.
Under the superintendent of buildings and labor Harry S. Jones
was raised to principal mechanic (foreman of electricians) on Sep-
tember 1, 1939, and Sherley F. Williams to senior mechanic (senior
electrician) on October 1, 1939. George W. Sharman was promoted
to senior mechanic (senior sheet-metal worker), on September 16, 1939.
Floyd B. Kestner of the photographic laboratory was made assistant
photographer on November 16, 1939.
Eleven employees left the service through the operation of the re-
tirement act, seven of these for age, as follows: Leonard C. Gunnell,
assistant librarian, on May 31, 1940, with 33 years 11 months of serv-
30 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1940
ice; William H. Egberts, chief preparator, on September 30, 1939,
with 25 years 1 month of service; Mrs. Mary S. Clapp, clerk-stenog-
rapher, on May 31, 1940, with 19 years 11 months of service; Frank J.
Cross, senior mechanic (tinner), on August 31, 1939, with 19 years 9
months of service; James F. Cudmore, lieutenant of guard, on June 30,
1940, with 21 years 3 months of service; William J. Snellings, guard,
on December 31, 1939, with 18 years 5 months of service; and Willis
Lanier, laborer-messenger, on August 31, 1939, with 24 years 7 months
of service. Lewis E. Perry, shipper, on June 30, 1940, retired at his
own request with 25 years 3 months of service. Three persons were
retired for disability: Micajah W. Knight, guard, on November 30,
1939; William J. Myers, guard, on October 10, 1939; and Alberta
Jackson, attendant, on August 31, 1939.
Dr. Willard W. Hill, assistant curator, Division of Ethnology, re-
signed to enter other service on January 18, 1940.
The year was marked by the loss of Dr. Cyrus Adler, associate in
historic archeology, who died in Philadelphia, Pa., on April 7, 1940.
Dr. Adler had been associated with the Smithsonian Institution over
50 years. Dr. Maynard M. Metcalf, since March 12, 1925, a collaborator
in the Division of Marine Invertebrates, died on April 19, 1940.
Respectfully submitted.
ALEXANDER Wetmore, Assistant Secretary.
Dr. Cuartes G. ABBOT,
Secretary, Smithsonian Institution.
APPENDIX 2
REPORT OF THE NATIONAL GALLERY OF ART
Sir: I have the honor to submit, on behalf of the Board of Trus-
tees of the National Gallery of Art, the third annual report of the
Board covering its operations for the fiscal year ended June 30, 1940.
Such report is being made pursuant to the provisions of the act of
March 24, 1937 (50 Stat. 51), as amended by the public resolution
of April 18, 1989 (Pub. Res. No. 9, 76th Cong.).
Under the act of March 24, 1937, Congress created, in the Smith-
sonian Institution, a bureau to be directed by a board to be known
as the “Trustees of the National Gallery of Art,” charged with the
maintenance and administration of the National Gallery of Art.
In addition, Congress appropriated to the Smithsonian Institution
the area bounded by Seventh Street, Constitution Avenue, Fourth
Street, and North Mall Drive (now Madison Drive) Northwest, in
the District of Columbia, as a site for a National Gallery of Art and
authorized the Smithsonian Institution to permit The A. W. Mellon
Educational and Charitable Trust, a public charitable trust, estab-
lished by the late Hon. Andrew W. Mellon, of Pittsburgh, Pa., to
construct thereon a building to be designated the “National Gallery
of Art.” Further, the act authorizes the Board to accept, for the
Smithsonian Institution, and to hold and administer gifts, bequests
and devises of money, securities, or other property for the benefit
of the National Gallery of Art. To date two great collections of out-
standing works of art have been received by the Trustees of the
Gallery; namely, the Mellon Collection and the Samuel H. Kress Col-
lection, which will be housed and exhibited in the Gallery building
now being constructed in Washington. Under the creating act, the
United States is pledged to provide such funds as may be necessary
for the upkeep of the National Gallery of Art and the administrative
expenses and costs of operation thereof, including the protection and
care of the works of art so that the Gallery shall at all times be prop-
erly maintained and the works of art exhibited regularly to the general
public.
ORGANIZATION AND STAFF
The statutory members of the Board are the Chief Justice of the
United States, the Secretary of State, the Secretary of the Treasury,
and the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, ex officio, and five
31
ae ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1940
general trustees. The general trustees, serving during the fiscal year
ended June 30, 1940, were David K. E. Bruce, Duncan Phillips,
Ferdinand Lammot Belin, Joseph E. Widener, and Samuel H. Kress.
At the annual meeting of the Board held February 12, 1940, David
K. E. Bruce was elected President and Ferdinand Lammot Belin was
elected Vice President of the Board to serve for the ensuing year.
Other executive officers continuing in office were Donald D. Shepard,
Secretary-Treasurer and General Counsel, David E. Finley, Director,
Harry A. McBride, Administrator, and John Walker, Chief Curator.
At the same meeting the Board elected Macgill James of Baltimore,
Maryland, to be Assistant Director. Mr. James has been serving as
Director of the Municipal Museum of the City of Baltimore and is
well qualified by experience and training to perform the duties of
Assistant Director of the National Gallery of Art. Mr. James will
begin his Gallery duties in the near future.
Other officers of the Gallery appointed during the year were Charles
Seymour, Jr., formerly Instructor of History of Art and History in
the Department of Fine Arts at Yale University, as Curator of
Sculpture; George T. Heckert, as Assistant to the Administrator; and
terling P. Eagleton, as Chief Engineer and Building Superintendent.
The three standing committees of the Board, provided for in
the bylaws, as constituted at the annual meeting of the Board
held February 12, 1940, are:
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
Chief Justice of the United States, Charles Evans Hughes.
Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, Dr. C. G. Abbot.
David K. EB. Bruce.
Ferdinand Lammot Belin.
Dunean Phillips.
FINANCE COMMITTED
The Secretary of the Treasury, Henry Morgenthau, Jr.
The Secretary of State, Cordell Hull.
David K. E. Bruce.
Ferdinand Lammot Belin.
Samuel H. Kress.
ACQUISITIONS COMMITIEE
David K. EH. Bruce.
Dunean Phillips.
Joseph BE. Widener.
Ferdinand Lammot Belin.
David E. Finley.
During the year satisfactory progress has been made in the
work of organizing the Gallery staff. All the positions required
with few exceptions have now been classified by the Civil Service
Commission, and examinations for several positions in the artistic
REPORT OF THE SECRETARY 33
and professional field have been held by the Commission. The nu-
clear staff has been slightly increased so that it will be in a position
to employ and train the staff which will be required when the build-
ing is completed and taken over by the Government. ‘Twelve persons
were employed on the Government roll as of June 30, 1940. This
staff has been engaged in preparatory work and the compilation
of the catalogs for the Gallery, and in the purchase of supplies
and furniture to be placed in the Gallery building when completed,
and in other matters looking toward the opening of the Gallery
to the public. Until the Gallery is completed, the staff is being
housed in offices furnished by The A. W. Mellon Educational and
Charitable Trust.
A large part of the equipment, supplies, furniture, and furnish-
ings have been purchased for delivery as soon as the building is
completed. Favorable progress has been made upon the complete
cataloging of the works of art in the national collections which will
be housed in the Gallery building.
APPROPRIATIONS
For salaries and expenses, for the upkeep and operation of the
National Gallery of Art, the protection and care of the works of
art therein, and all administrative expenses incident thereto, as
authorized by the act of March 24, 1937 (50 Stat. 51), as amended
by the public resolution of April 18, 1989 (Pub. Res. No. 9, 76th
Cong.), there was appropriated for the fiscal year 1941 the sum of
$300,000. Of the sum of $159,000 appropriated by Congress for
the period July 1, 1939, to June 30, 1940 (53 Stat. 984), $158,985.75
was expended or encumbered, in the following detailed amounts,
for personal services, printing and binding, and supplies and equip-
ment, leaving an unencumbered appropriation of $14.25.
Hzpenditures and encumbrances
Personal! services ssi. Se aR A Se $21, 284. 63
Printings and: binding 26 Ss See re eee 1, 901. 47
Supplies; and: equipment2=s224 22" = Slo s2 == a 135, 799. 65
Ua ol ae Se ee ee eee ee eee 158, 985. 75
ACQUISITIONS
On February 12, 1940, the Board of Trustees accepted, from The
A. W. Mellon Educational and Charitable Trust, a valuable gift of 11
celebrated paintings by early American artists which are considered
outstanding not only for their aesthetic but also their historical merit.
These paintings will be placed in specially designed rooms when the
building iscompleted. This gift marks the first step toward setting up
34 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1940
in the National Gallery a section devoted to the advancement and pres-
ervation of American art. The gift includes the noted painting of
the family of George Washington by Edward Savage. Other paint-
ings given are as follows:
Painting Artist
John Randolph s— oe 5 re ek Gilbert Stuart.
Mrs. sRichardt Vates= 28-2 2s 28 ee Do.
hawrence Vates=s 2 Sse ee ee Do.
George Washineton= 2 sso See oe ee Do.
Joseph Coolidge. 2 Ss ee ee Do.
Alexander Hamilton22222 92 2 ee ee John Trumbull.
WillismuvVans, Murray! eB ee Sek Pi Mather Brown.
Richard Wars EO wee ee ee eee John Copley.
®olonel- Guy Jobnson====- 1 ase ee ee Benjamin West.
Onn R and Ol p heeee ee eee ee ee Chester Harding.
PATS MOTIN OVE aT eH Tire lied eo CEN eee ee ee eee Frans Hals.
PACE yee 5 And 0 ARR Ae ae Ae OE A Rembrandt.
PortiraitioriamMemish Wadyeei 2 eee Van Dyck.
At the same meeting the Board also accepted from Mr. Mellon’s
charitable trust two fountain groups by Pierre Legros and Jean
Baptiste Tubi. These groups were executed in 1672 on orders of
Louis XIV as a part of the decoration for the celebrated Theatre
d’Eau at Versailles and are exceedingly valuable not only for their
antiquity but for the quality of art they reflect. They are admirably
suited for the settings arranged for them. One will be placed in each
of the spacious garden courts which form an important architectural
feature of the main floor of the Gallery.
During the year other offers of gifts of works of art were received
but were not accepted because, in the opinion of the Board, they were
not considered desirable acquisitions for the permanent collection of
the Gallery as contemplated by section 5 (b) of the act of March 24,
1937.
EXCHANGE OF WORKS OF ART
On June 17, 1940, the duly authorized officers of the Gallery, as
directed by the Board, on recommendations of the acquisitions com-
mittee, exchanged a terra-cotta bust representing Giovanna Tornabuoni
and attributed to Verrocchio, in the Mellon collection, for the painting
by Aelbert Cuyp entitled “The Maas at Dordrecht” and two monu-
mental eighteenth century marble vases by Clodion (Claude Michel),
all to be included in the permanent collection as more desirable and
needed acquisitions for the Gallery. The two marble vases by Clodion
are signed and dated 1782 and are said to have been made for the
Palace of Versailles during the reign of Louis XVI. The painting
by Cuyp is said by experts to be one of the greatest masterpieces of the
work of that master of the Dutch school of the seventeenth century.
The exchange had the approval of the donor.
REPORT OF THE SECRETARY 35
RESTORATION AND REPAIRS TO WORKS OF ART
During the year, as authorized by the Board, Stephen Pichetto,
Consultant Restorer to the Gallery, has undertaken such work of repair
and restoration of paintings as has been found to be necessary, at his
studio in New York. Such paintings when completed have been
returned in excellent condition. Other necessary repairs and restora-
tion to works of art in the collections will be done by Mr. Pichetto
during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1941.
PAINTINGS LOANED AND RETURNED
During the year the following paintings from the Mellon collec-
tion were returned from the Masterpieces of Art Exhibition at the
New York World’s Fair where they had been on loan for the period
April 30 to October 31, 1939, as reported by the Board of Trustees
last year:
Painting Artist
Self= Por tina to ee ee een ae Rembrandat.
An UOlGmOMan? SCAted ee Ste 2 2 en See oe a ee Hals.
A Gentleman (Greeting’a Lady——- ee Terborch.
Also, the following paintings from the Mellon collection were re-
turned from the Golden Gate International Exposition at San Fran-
cisco where they had been on loan for the period February 16 to
December 31, 1939, as reported by the Board of Trustees last year:
Painting Artist
AS Yun Wk Gye GAs Ss a se eee Rembranat.
PortraiteoL Balthasar Coymanseense2 aoe eee Hals.
AUDutch Courtyard eee) eee Pieter de Hooch.
CURATORIAL WORK
Curatorial work during the year consisted primarily of studying
and cataloging the large Mellon and Samuel H. Kress collections
and in making recommendations for the installation of these collec-
tions in the Gallery building when it is completed.
PUBLICATIONS FUND
In its meeting of February 12, 1940, the Board adopted a resolu-
tion approving a plan for a publications fund. Carrying this plan
into effect, a sum was advanced by The A. W. Mellon Educational
and Charitable Trust to establish the Publications Fund, the pur-
pose of which is to ensure that catalogs, handbooks, color reproduc-
tions, postcards, and similar material, of the highest quality but at
moderate cost, shall be available to the public for educational and
study purposes when the Gallery is opened. Considerable progress
has already been made in the preparation of these publications.
280256—41——-4
36 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1940
GALLERY CONSTRUCTION
Work on the Gallery building and landscaping on the site was
started in the summer of 1937 and is rapidly nearing completion.
It is hoped that construction will be completed in November of this
year. Several months will be required for decorating the exhibition
rooms and installing the collection. Formal opening of the Gallery
to the public, therefore, may take place in March. As of June 30,
1940, $11,271,786.63 had been expended by The A. W. Mellon Edu-
cational and Charitable Trust for the construction of the building
and landscaping of the site. It is estimated that the total construc-
tion cost of the building and landscaping will exceed $15,000,000.
Upon advice of the accountants of the Gallery, recording of such
costs on the books of the National Gallery of Art will be deferred
until the building is turned over to the Smithsonian Institution and
the trustees of the Gallery.
AUDIT OF PRIVATE FUNDS OF THE GALLERY
Price, Waterhouse & Co., a nationally known firm of public ac-
countants, has made an examination of the accounting records main-
tained for the private funds of the National Gallery of Art and its
Publications Fund for the year ended June 30, 1940. The certificate
of Price, Waterhouse & Co. follows:
In accordance with instructions, we have made an examination of the ac
counting records maintained for the private funds of the National Gallery of
Art and its Publications Fund for the year ending June 30, 1940, and have ob-
tained information and explanations from its officers and employees. Records
relating to the disbursement of public funds appropriated by Congress for the
upkeep of the National Gallery of Art or the administrative expenses and cost
of operation were not within the scope of our examination.
The recorded assets of the National Gallery of Art at June 30, 1940, com-
prised works of art donated by The A. W. Mellon Educational and Charitable
Trust and by Mr. Samuel H. Kress and the Samuel H. Kress Foundation, or
works of art acquired in exchange for donated items. The works of art ac-
quired from The A. W. Mellon Educational and Charitable Trust were valued
for accounting purposes at $31,892,502.31, including $589,340 for items acquired
during the year under review. One piece of sculpture included in the first-
mentioned amount at $185,000 was exchanged during the year for two vases
and a painting appraised at values aggregating the same amount. The value
for accounting purposes of the works of art donated June 29, 1939, by Mr.
Samuel H. Kress and the Samuel H. Kress Foundation has not yet been deter-
mined. This gift is subject to completion of construction of the Gallery build-
ing on or before June 29, 1941, as provided in the gift indenture. The cost of
construction of the building is being met by The A. W. Mellon Educational and
Charitable Trust and the recording of the expenditures on the books of the
National Gallery of Art is deferred until completion of the building.
The Publications Fund, National Gallery of Art was created by an indenture
dated February 28, 1940 between The A. W. Mellon Educational and Charitable
REPORT OF THE SECRETARY 37
Trust and three of the officers of the National Gallery of Art designated as
“Custodians.” The Fund was established for the purpose of making avail-
able to the public, at reasonable cost, catalogues and other publications con-
cerning the works of art. The Trust advanced to the Custodians the sum of
$40,000, and the indenture provides for repayment after July 1, 1941, out of
profits, if any, from sale of publications and for transfer of any remaining
assets of the Fund to the National Gallery of Art after the advance has been
entirely paid. We obtained a confirmation from the National Metropolitan
Bank of the amount of $40,000 on deposit at June 30, 1940.
Our examination disclosed no other transactions to June 30, 1940, which
should be recorded in the books of account. We did not inspect the works
of art but we examined the deeds of trust which provide that the donors
shall be responsible for the custody and shall bear the cost of storage and
insurance until the delivery of the works of art after completion of the Gallery
building.
In our opinion, subject to the fact that the value of the works of art ac-
quired June 29, 1939, has not been determined and recorded, the books of
account fairly reflect the transactions pertaining to the private funds of the
National Gallery of Art and of the Publications Fund, National Gallery of
Art, at June 30, 1940, in conformity with generally accepted accounting prin-
ciples applied on a basis consistent with that of the preceding year.
Respectfully submitted.
F. L. Bean, Vice President.
Dr. C. G. AxBsort,
Secretary, Smithsonian Institution.
APPENDIX 3
REPORT ON THE NATIONAL COLLECTION OF FINE ARTS
Sir: I have the honor to submit the following report on the ac-
tivities of the National Collection of Fine Arts for the fiscal year
ended June 30, 1940:
The beginning of the year found the Gallery in the throes of
major repairs which continued for several months after the first of
July. The galleries were reopened to the public October 4, 1939.
A new background of rubber-backed monk’s cloth was used, with all
trimmings, baseboards, railings, and reflectors painted to match.
This produces such a soft, quiet effect that all attention is centered
on the exhibits themselves. The pictures were all put in first-class
condition and backed.
Five special exhibits were held in the foyer, and two, of minia-
tures, in the Gallery proper. The Smithsonian Building, where
Graphic Arts exhibits have usually been held, was closed to the
public on account of alterations, so that the nine such exhibits held
during the year were transferred to the north lobby of the Natural
History Building and were displayed in National Collection of Fine
Arts cases.
Three miniatures were purchased and two others were received as
loans. Loans of large objects or paintings cannot be accepted because
of crowded conditions in the galleries and in storage.
APPROPRIATIONS
For the administration of the National Collection of Fine Arts by
the Smithsonian Institution, including compensation of necessary
employees, purchase of books of reference and periodicals, traveling
expenses, uniforms for guards, and necessary incidental expenses,
$33,765 was appropriated, of which $11,999.89 was expended for the
care and maintenance of the Freer Gallery of Art, a unit of the
National Collection of Fine Arts. The balance of $21,765.11 was
spent for the care and upkeep of the National Collection of Fine Arts,
nearly all of this sum being required for the payment of salaries,
traveling expenses, books, periodicals, and necessary disbursements
for the care of the collection.
38
REPORT OF THE SECRETARY 39
THE SMITHSONIAN ART COMMISSION
The nineteenth annual meeting of the Smithsonian Art Commission
was held on December 5, 1939. The members met at 10:30 in the
Natural History Building, where, as the advisory committee on the
acceptance of works of art which had been submitted during the year,
they accepted the following:
Oil painting “Young Girl with Dog,” by Edward Percy Moran, 1890 (1862-1925).
Bequest of Alfred Duane Pell.
Mr. McClellan and Mr. Lodge were appointed to select objects from
the 207 ceramics, 106 ivory carvings, 30 fans, 5 pieces of silver, 3
tapestries, and 3 chairs, received from the bequest of Alfred Duane
Pell, which they considered suitable for the National Collection of
Fine Arts.
After a brief visit to the Freer Gallery of Art, the members pro-
ceeded to the regent’s room in the Smithsonian Building for the
further proceedings, the meeting being called to order by the chairman,
Mr. Borie.
The members present were: Charles L. Borie, Jr., chairman; Frank
Jewett Mather, Jr., vice chairman; Dr. Charles G. Abbot (ex officio),
secretary; and Louis Ayres, David E. Finley, John E. Lodge, Paul
Manship, George B. McClellan, Edward W. Redfield, and Mahonri M.
Young. Ruel P. Tolman, Curator of the Division of Graphic Arts
in the United States National Museum and Acting Director of the
National Collection of Fine Arts, was also present.
The Commission recommended to the Board of Regents the reelec-
tion of Louis Ayres, James E. Fraser, George H. Edgell, and Frank
Jewett Mather, Jr.
The following officers were reelected for the ensuing year: Charles L.
Borie, Jr., chairman; Frank Jewett Mather, Jr., vice chairman, and
Dr. Charles G. Abbot, secretary.
The following were reelected members of the executive committee
for the ensuing year: George B. McClellan (chairman), Herbert
Adams, and Gilmore D. Clarke. Charles L. Borie, Jr., as chairman of
the Commission, and Dr. Charles G. Abbot, as secretary of the Com-
mission, are ex-officio members of the executive committee.
Dr. Abbot reported in detail regarding various phases of the act
providing for the Smithsonian Gallery of Art; of the rules under
which the recent competition for a design for the Gallery had been
carried out; of the results of the competition; and of the suitability
of the prize-winning design. After a very full discussion by the
Commission, during which Dr. Abbot stated that he would be glad
to submit to the forthcoming meeting of the Board of Regents any
40 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1940
expression of opinion which the Commission might agree upon, Mr.
Mather submitted the following resolution which the members present,
on motion, adopted as their opinion in the matter:
The primary purpose of the Smithsonian Gallery of Art is worthily to house,
classify, and exhibit such art collections as the Smithsonian Institution now has
or shall have. The secondary purpose is to make an educational use of such art
collections through direct instruction at Washington or through loan exhibitions
in the United States or elsewhere.
THE CATHERINE WALDEN MYER FUND
Three miniatures were acquired from the fund established through
the bequest of the late Catherine Walden Myer, as follows:
19. “Portrait of I. G.,” by an unknown artist; from John Schwarz,
Baltimore, Md.
20. “Portrait of a Colonial Gentleman,” signed Copley, 1773; from
Whitlock’s Incorporated, New Haven, Conn.
21. “Portrait of a Man,” by an unknown artist; from Michael J.
de Sherbinin, Mount Vernon, N. Y.
LOANS ACCEPTED
A miniature of Mrs. Robert Means, by Edward Greene Malbone
(1777-1807) was lent by J. J. Pringle, Jr., Alexandria, Va.
A miniature of Ebenezer Martin (1791-1876) by an unknown artist,
was lent by Miss Alice L. Wood, Blowing Rock, N. C.
A portrait of Mr. Justice Brandeis, by Joseph Tepper, was lent by
the friends of Mr. Justice Brandeis, through Paul A. Freund, Harvard
University, Cambridge, Mass.
Three paintings—‘Portrait of Woman in White,” by Haggenaes,
“Linlithgan Bridge,” by Macaulay Stevenson, and “Landscape—
Moonlight,” by E. R. Menard—were lent by Miss A. M. Hegeman,
Washington, D. C.
LOANS TO OTHER MUSEUMS AND ORGANIZATIONS
An oil painting, “Brittany Sunday,” by Eugene Vail, was lent to
the Corcoran Gallery of Art for a memorial exhibition from January
6 to 28, 1940. (Returned February 1, 1940.)
Two oil paintings, “Portrait of Stephen Decatur,” by Gilbert Stuart,
and “Portrait of Admiral Sims,” by Irving R. Wiles, were lent to the
United States Naval Academy for an exhibition of Masterpieces of
Painting and Graphic Arts relating to Naval Personages and Tradi-
tions from April 6 to May 15, 1940. (Returned May 20, 1940.)
The following four paintings were lent in April 1940 to The Public
Library of the District of Columbia:
REPORT OF THE SECRETARY 41
“Portrait of Thomas McKean,” by Charles Willson Peale, and “Portrait of
Mary Abigail Willing Coale,” by Thomas Sully, to the Georgetown Branch.
“Madonna with Halo of Stars,’ by an unknown artist, to the Southeastern
Branch.
“Musa Regina,” by Henry Oliver Walker, to the Northeastern Branch.
An oil painting, “Portrait of Mary Hopkinson (wife of Dr. John
Morgan),” by Benjamin West, was lent May 20, 1940, to the Master-
pieces of Art exhibition at the New York World’s Fair, 1940.
Two oil paintings, “The Torrent” and “Fishing Boats at
Gloucester,” by John Twachtman, were lent to the Munson-Williams-
Proctor Institute, Utica, N. Y., for an exhibition of the work of John
Twachtman from November 5 to 28, 1939. (Returned December 1,
1939.)
An oil painting, “Moonlight,” by Albert P. Ryder, was lent to
M. Knoedler & Co., New York City, for an exhibition of paintings
by Albert P. Ryder and Robert L. Newman called “Two American
Romantics” from November 13 to December 2, 1989. (Returned De-
cember 6, 1939.)
Two oil paintings, “Caresse Enfantine,” by Mary Cassatt, and
“Sunset, Navarro Ridge, California Coast,” by Ralph A. Blakelock,
were lent to the Art Institute of Chicago for an exhibition, “Half a
Century of American Art (1888-1939),” from November 16, 1939, to
January 7, 1940. The Blakelock painting was forwarded to Chicago
at the close of the Golden Gate International Exposition, San Fran-
cisco, Calif. (Returned January 10, 1940.)
LOANS RETURNED
The painting “Friendly Neighbors,” by Alfred C. Howland, lent
to Harvard University, William Hayes Fogg Art Museum, Cam-
bridge, Mass., for an exhibition of New England genre by New Eng-
land artists, was returned September 8, 1939.
THE NATIONAL COLLECTION OF FINE ARTS REFERENCE LIBRARY
A total of 471 publications, including 334 acquired by purchase and
2 by transfer, were accessioned during the year.
OTHER ACTIVITIES
The Acting Director visited and studied collections and methods
of installation in New England galleries from August 21 to Septem-
ber 1, 1939.
Four colored lantern slides were lent to Holbrook Muller for use
in connection with a lecture given at the Washington Heights Pres-
byterian Church, December 26, 1939.
42 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1940
SPECIAL EXHIBITIONS
The following exhibitions were held:
November 9 to 29, 1939.—The Fifth Annual Metropolitan State
Art Contest, 1939, under the auspices of the Department of Fine
Arts of the District of Columbia Federation of Women’s Clubs.
There were 272 exhibits, paintings, sculpture, and prints, by 128
artists.
December 12, 1939, to January 1, 1940.—Special exhibition of 29
pastel and oil paintings by Esteban Valderrama, under the patronage
of His Excellency the Ambassador of Cuba, Sefior Dr. Pedro Martinez
Fraga.
December 15, 1939, to February 8, 1940.—Special exhibition of a
miniature by Juan de Dios Hoyos, under the patronage of His
Excellency the Ambassador of Mexico, Sefior Dr. Francisco Castillo
Najera.
January 9 to 26, 1940.—Special exhibition of 83 pieces of wood
turnings by James L, Prestini of Lake Forest, Tl.
January 9 to 31, 1940.—Special exhibition of 24 portraits and 5
drawings by John Slavin, of Richmond, Va.
April 4 to 28, 1940—Special exhibition of 153 paintings by 31
members of the Landscape Club of Washington, D. C.
May 25 to June 10, 1940—Special exhibition of 103 miniatures
by 61 members of the Pennsylvania Society of Miniature Painters.
PUBLICATIONS
Torman, R. P. Report on the National Collection of Fine Arts for the year
ended June 30, 1939. Appendix 8, Report of the Secretary of the Smith-
sonian Institution for the year ended June 30, 1939, pp. 47-51.
Lovagz, J. E. Report on the Freer Gallery of Art for the year ended June 30,
1939. Appendix 4, Report of the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution
for the year ended June 30, 1939, pp. 52-55.
Respectfully submitted.
R. P. Totman, Acting Director.
Dr. C. G. Axzor,
Secretary, Smithsonian Institution.
APPENDIX 4
REPORT ON THE FREER GALLERY OF ART
Sir: I have the honor to submit the twentieth annual report on the
Freer Gallery of Art for the year ended June 30, 1940:
THE COLLECTIONS
Additions to the collections by purchase are as follows:
39.78-
39.79.
39.38.
39.39-
39.40.
39.41,
39.52.
39.53.
40.3.
40.10.
BAMBOO
Chinese, seventeenth-eighteenth century. By Chang Shih-huang. Two
brush-holders with landscape designs, inscriptions and signatures
earved in delicate relief. Heights: 0.122 and 0.106 respectively.
BRONZE
Chinese, Eastern Han dynasty, dated in correspondence with A. D. 174.
A mirror. Smooth black patina; decoration and inscription in counter-
sunk relief. Diameter: 0.182.
Chinese, late Shang dynasty, fourteenth-twelfth century B. C. Two
ceremonial weapons of the type ké, each ornamented on both sides
with turquoise inlay. Rough green patina. Lengths: 0.893 and 0.391,
respectively.
Chinese, late Chou dynasty, fifth-third century B. C. A ceremonial
vessel of the type tow. Granular, bluish green patination; design
inlaid with gold. 0.151 x 0.189 over all.
Chinese, Western Chin dynasty, third century A. D. A mirror. White
bronze patinated in black, gray, and green with earthy encrustations.
On the back, concentric zones of mythological and legendary subjects
in high and countersunk relief. A dedicatory inscription of 43 char-
acters. Diameter: 0.175.
Chinese, early Chou dynasty or earlier, twelfth century B. C. A cere-
monial vessel of the type kuang. White bronze with smooth light
gray-green patina. Decoration in linear relief. 0.169 x 0.196 over all.
(Illustrated. )
Chinese, late Shang dynasty, fourteenth-twelfth century B. C. A vase
of the type ku. White bronze with a green and black patina. Decora-
tion in linear relief. Inscription. 0.284 x 0.157 over all.
BRONZE AND JADE
Chinese, late Shang dynasty, fourteenth-twelfth century B.C. Probably
from An-yang. A ceremonial sickle in four parts: three of bronze
inlaid with turquoise; one (the blade) of jade decorated in linear
relief with notched back and ground edge. 0.3845 x 0.175 over all (when
assembled with all parts in contact). (Illustrated.)
43
44
39.54.
39.55.
39.43.
39.56.
40.2.
39.44
a-b.
39.45.
39.58.
40.4—
40.9.
40.4—
40.5.
40.6.
40.7.
40.8.
40.9.
ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1940
JADE
Chinese, middle Chou dynasty, eighth-fifth century B. C. An oblong
ornament of reddish color shading to gray-green; somewhat trans-
lucent; decoration in linear relief. 0.073 x 0.033 over all.
Chinese, early Chou dynasty, twelfth-eighth century B. C. A cere-
monial “toothed” blade of a yellow-brown color with cloudy mottlings
of darker brown. 0.411 x 0.065 over all.
MANUSCRIPT
(See also Painting, 39.49b and 39.50b)
East Indian, fifteenth century. Part of a Jaina sitra: nine leaves of
thin paper between brocade-covered boards. Two miniatures. (See
under Painting, 39.43.) 0.074x 0.253 (average leaf).
Arabie (Persia), Seljuq period, eleventh—twelfth century. A leaf from
a Qur‘adn. The text is written in slender Kufie script in black ink on
a ground filled with palmette scrolls drawn in brown ink; vowel-signs
in red, blue, and brown. Gold verse-stops, borders, and marginal
ornaments. 0.323 x 0.214.
MARBLE
Chinese, late Shang dynasty, fourteenth—twelfth century B.C. A terminal
ornament in the form of a bird; surface details in linear relief on both
sides. 0.121 x 0.070 over all.
METAL WORK
Iranian (Persian) late eighteenth century. A dagger and sheath, prob-
ably made in Shirafz. Curved, double-edged blade of steel. Hilt and
scabbard of iron ornamented with gold inlay; arabesques and inscrip-
tions in relief. Length: 0.372.
Iranian (Persian) sixteenth century. A pierced steel rectangular plaque,
a portion of a frieze, containing two medallions with naskhi inscrip-
tions on a ground of tendril scrollwork. 0.077 x 0.269. i
Syro-Egyptian, sixteenth century. A globular brass hand-warmer made
in two hemispheres, one fitted with a fire pot hung in gimbals. The
surface is pierced with small holes; the decoration engraved and inlaid
with silver. Diameter: 0.125.
Iranian (Persian) sixteenth—-seventeenth century. Six small objects of
iron and steel:
Two sheet-iron comb-backs with sockets for teeth. The decoration is
engraved and inlaid with silver and gold. 0.062x0.077 and
0.061 x 0.109, respectively.
A steel hatchet (or chopper) head with screwpin and nut for shafting.
Decoration pierced and engraved. 0.159 x 0.078 over all.
A steel flint-striker in the form of a bird; the decoration is engraved and
inlaid with gold; jewels (one damaged) set in the eyes. 0.087 x 0.050
over all.
A rectangular steel ornament of interlacing vine-scrolls in delicate pierced
work. 0.038 x 0.071 over all.
A circular steel ornament: pierced work with the bismallah in gold on
a ground of tendrils; gold border. Diameter: 0.046.
Secretary’s Report, 1940.—Appendix 4 PLATE 1
40.10
A RECENT ADDITION TO THE COLLECTION OF THE FREER GALLERY OF ART.
Secretary’s Report, 1940.—Appendix 4 PLATE 2
39.50a 39.48b
SOME RECENT ADDITIONS TO THE COLLECTION OF THE FREER GALLERY OF ART.
39.37.
39.51.
39.59.
39.60.
40.1.
39.43.
39.46a—
39.50b.
39.46a.
39.46b.
39.47a.
39.47b.
39.48a.
39.48b.
39.49a.
39.49b.
39.50a.
39.50b.
REPORT OF THE SECRETARY 45
PAINTING
Chinese, Sung dynasty or earlier. Style of Chou Fang. “Ladies playing
double-sixes.” Color on silk. ‘Title, one other inscription, and 3 seals
on the mount. Makimono: 0.307 x 0.480.
Chinese, Ming dynasty, dated in correspondence with A. D. 1536. By
Wen Pi (Chéng-ming, 1470-1567). A landscape. Ink on paper. In-
seription and 16 seals on the picture; 2 inscriptions and 2 seals on the
mount. Makimono: 0.314 x 2.903.
Chinese, Yiian dynasty, fourteenth century. By Wang Méng (died 1385).
A landscape. Ink and color on paper. One inscription and 10 seals on
the picture ; label, 4 inscriptions and 25 seals on the mount. Makimono:
0.245 x 0.972.
Chinese, Ming dynasty, fifteenth-sixteenth century. By T‘ang Yin (1466—-
1524). Landscape. Ink and color on paper. One inscription and 5
seals on the picture; label, 9 inscriptions and 28 seals on the mount.
Makimono: 0.283 x 1.030.
Chinese, Yiian dynasty, fourteenth century. Attribution to Chao Lin.
Tatar horsemen. Ink and gold on paper. Two inscriptions and 7
seals on the picture; label on the mount. Makimono: 1.083 x 0.238.
Indian, fifteenth century. Two miniatures illustrating part of a Jaina
siitra (see also Manuscript, 39.48). Color and metallic lustre on paper:
Leaf 1: A deity enthroned; two worshippers. Leaf 3: A deity en-
throned; six other figures. 0.074 x 0.058 and 0.073 x 0.058, respectively.
Indian, Mughal, seventeenth century. Five leaves from a royal album
upon which are mounted eight paintings on paper and two pages of
Persian calligraphy (qifa‘):
School of Shah Jahan. By Govardhan. An equestrian portrait of
the Emperor Shih Jahan. Color and gold. Signature. 0.268 x 0.181.
School of Jahangir. By Mansitir. A bird. Color. Signature. 0.114 x
0.205.
School of Jahangir. Dated in correspondence with A. D. 1620. Attri-
bution to Farrukh Beg. Shih Tahmasp in the mountains. Color
and gold. Inscription. 0.219 x 0.138.
School of Jahangir. By Muhammad. A bird. Color and gold. In-
scription. 0.142 x 0.100.
School of Jahangir. Attribution to Manstr. Two deer in a land-
scape. Color and gold. Inscription. 0.167 x 0.093.
School of Jahangir. Dated in correspondence with A. D. 1610. The
Emperor Humayiin enthroned, a sword bearer in attendance. Color
and gold. Inscription. 0.181x0.119. (Illustrated.)
School of Shah Jahan. Dated in correspondence with A. D. 1629. By
Hashim. The Emperor Shah Jahan standing upon a globe; above,
angels in clouds bearing insignia of sovereignty. Color and gold;
faint outline drawings on the globe. Signature and inscriptions.
0.251 x 0.158.
Persian, sixteenth century. By Mir ‘Ali. An illuminated gqita‘.
Nasta‘liq script on blue paper. Signature. 0.171 x 0.092.
School of Jahangir, ca. A. D. 1625. By Hashim. A portrait of the
Khan-Khanan (‘Abd-‘r-Rahim). Color and gold. Signature. 0.149 x
0.082. (Illustrated).
Persian, sixteenth century. By Mir ‘Ali. An illuminated gita‘.
Nasja‘lig script on blue paper. Signature. 0.186 x 0.087.
46 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1940
POTTERY
89.42. Chinese, late Shang dynasty, fourteenth-twelfth century B. C. From
An-yang. A jar (mouth chipped and repaired) of soft, white, un-
glazed clay. The decoration is carved in countersunk relief in two
registers. Three pierced knobs of water-buffalo design. 0.832 x 0.305
over all.
39.61-
39.77. Chinese, Ming to Ch‘ing dynasties, sixteenth-nineteenth (?) century.
I-hsing pottery. Seventeen objects of brown, red, or gray polished,
unglazed clay:
39.61. Tea-pot, sixteenth century (?) Attribution to Kung Ch‘un.
39.62. Tea-pot, seventeenth century. By Shih Ta-pin.
39.63. Tea-pot, seventeenth century. By Shih Ta-pin.
39.64. Tea-pot, dated in correspondence with A. D. 1620. By Li Chung-fang.
39.65. Tea-pot, seventeenth century. By Hsti Yu-ch‘tian.
39.66. Tea-pot, seventeenth century. By Ch‘én Ch‘én (styled Kung-chih).
39.67. Tea-pot, dated in correspondence with A. D. 1642. By Shén Tzii-ch‘é.
39.68. Tea-pot, sixteenth-seventeenth century. By Ch‘én Ming-yiian.
39.69. Tea-pot, sixteenth-seventeenth century. By Ch‘én Ming-yiian.
39.70. Tea-pot, eighteenth century. By Ch‘én Han-wén.
39.71. Water-pot, sixteenth-seventeenth century. By Ch‘én Ming-yiian.
39.72. Water-pot, sixteenth-seventeenth century. By Ch‘én Ming-yiian.
39.73. Incense-box, sixteenth-seventeenth century. By Ch‘én Ming-yiian.
39.74. Brush-rest, sixteenth-seventeenth century. By Ch‘én Ming-yiian.
39.75. Oval cup, nineteenth century (?). By Ch‘éng-chai.
39.76. Octagonal cup, nineteenth century (7). By Ch‘éng-chai.
39.77. Fluted cup, nineteenth century (?). By Ch‘éng-chai.
Curatorial work has been devoted to the study and recording of the
new acquisitions listed above, and to other Chinese, Arabic, Persian,
Kast Indian, Aramaic, and Armenian manuscripts or art objects
either already in the permanent collection or submitted for purchase.
Other Chinese, Japanese, Arabic, Persian, Egyptian, American, and
European objects were sent or brought to the Director by their
owners for information as to identity, provenance, quality, date, in-
scriptions, and so on. In all, 1,093 objects and 263 photographs of
objects were so submitted, and written or oral reports upon them
were made to the institutions or private owners requesting this
service. Written translations of 21 inscriptions in Oriental lan-
guages also were made upon request.
Forty changes were made in exhibition as follows:
@hinese bronzes. 2 ee ee ee 21
Chinese =‘painting——ss. 2 eee eee 7
Hast Indian’ painting»... ee eee 12
ATTENDANCE
The Gallery has been open to the public every day from 9 until
4:30 o’clock, with the exception of Mondays, Christmas Day, and New
Year’s Day.
REPORT OF THE SECRETARY 47
The total attendance of visitors coming in at the main entrance
was 108,638. One hundred and thirty-two other visitors on Mondays
make the grand total 108,770. The total attendance for week days,
exclusive of Mondays, was 77,129; Sundays, 31,509. The average
week-day attendance was 297; the average Sunday attendance, 606.
The highest monthly attendance was, as usual, in April, 18,736; the
lowest in January, 4,351.
There were 1,577 visitors to the main office during the year. The
purposes of their visits were as follows:
ODM CTELs leplTt OTN tl OT eer eee ea 327
MouSeeODIECTSAIN: SLOLA Seas ees oe A eee ee eh eee ee 419
Marnehasternn paintings. ts 8 Stee a ee ee eee 98
Near Hasterns paintings and) manuscripts====— 2225) 25
Hasteindian paintines ands manuSserip lisse = eee 10
AMEericani paintings eo = aa ena See ee eee eae 36
Wihistler cprinis = 22 a ee 9
Oriental pottery, jade, lacquer, bronzes, and sculptures_______----___ 165
Syrian. eArapicy ands Hgyptiangclasss-== ple a eee 3
iByzantine. ODjCCtSas 2. = ena ae ee ee 3
iWashingtow: Manuscripts ees ee ee ee ae ae 70
Totread=inethe \iprary 24 = 2 ee SE SNES OME ES Se coe toe ee 215
To make tracings and sketches from library books_--___-_______-_-___-___---~_ 4
Toxsee the building and installation==22=5<= fete ae — eee Se 15
To obtain permission to photograph or sketch_-_------__-_--_--_____--_~ 24
To submit ObJeCts LOL exami nal Onese= eee ee ae ee ee 176
Mousee Members) OLMtner Stale a eee we Se ee eee 151
To see the exhibition galleries on Mondays__--_------__________________-_ 42
™o ‘examine. or: purchase . photographs... -_____---- 457
Of the 1,577 visitors to the offices, 132 came in on Mondays.
LECTURES, DOCENT SERVICE, AND AUDITORIUM
Eight illustrated lectures were given by members of the staff in
the auditorium: total attendance, 197. Upon request, 11 groups
ranging from 7 to 20 persons (total, 145) were given instruction
in the study rooms, and 7 groups ranging from 5 to 24 persons (total,
114) were given docent service in the exhibition galleries. The total
number of persons receiving instruction at their own request was
456.
The auditorium has been used by the following groups:
Bureau of Agricultural Economics of the U. S. Department of Agri-
culture: 4 meetings; total attendance, 1,200.
Federal Crop Insurance Corporation of the U. S. Department of Agri-
culture: 4 meetings; total attendance, 729.
Eighth American Scientific Congress: 1 meeting; attendance, 15.
48 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1940
PERSON NEL
William R. B. Acker, Student Assistant, left for Holland on
July 3, 1939, to pursue his Chinese studies at the University of
Leiden.
On August 18, 1939, the Gallery suffered a great loss in the death
of its Superintendent, John Bundy, at his home in Ridgewood, N. J.
Mr. Bundy had been associated with the Freer building for more
than 21 years, coming here first as the representative of the archi-
tect, Charles A. Platt, of New York. During 1921 he was trans-
ferred to the staff of the Freer Gallery as Superintendent, a post
he held until his death. To his work he brought not only the highest
degree of technical proficiency, the fruit of long experience, but
also the single-minded devotion of a strong and loyal character.
Weldon N. Rawley, who has been associated with the Gallery since
December 1, 1921, was appointed Superintendent on September 20,
1939.
On March 22, 1940, Eleanor Thompson Snedeker resigned as
assistant, a position she had held since November 15, 1929. On the
same day the appointment of Margaret B. Arnold to succeed Mrs.
Snedeker became effective.
March 28, 1940, Emil L. Zorn reported for duty as senior cabinet-
maker.
Grace T. Whitney worked intermittently at the Gallery between
October 9, 1939, and June 24, 1940, upon translations of Persian
texts.
Respectfully submitted.
J. E. Lona, Director
Dr. C. G. Assor,
Secretary, Smithsonian Institution.
APPENDIX 5
REPORT ON THE BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
Sir: I have the honor to submit the following report on the field
researches, office work, and other operations of the Bureau of Ameri-
can Ethnology during the fiscal year ended June 30, 1940, conducted
in accordance with the act of Congress of March 16, 1939, which
provides “* * * for continuing ethnological researches among the
American Indians and the natives of Hawaii and the excavation
and preservation of archeologic remains. * * *”
SYSTEMATIO RESEARCHES
M. W. Stirling, Chief of the Bureau, left Washington on Decem-
ber 26 to continue his archeological excavations in southeastern
Mexico. Work was continued at Tres Zapotes until April 20. Two
additional expeditions were made, one to Cerro de Mesa on the Rio
Blanco in the State of Veracruz, and the other to La Venta in
northern Tabasco. As last year, the work was undertaken in cooper-
ation with the National Geographic Society. Dr. Philip Drucker
accompanied Mr. Stirling as assistant archeologist.
As a result of the second season of work, the chronology of the
Tres Zapotes site has now been satisfactorily determined. Indica-
tions are that the site was occupied from a date before the begin-
ning of the Christian era but that it was abandoned sometime before
the beginning of the Spanish conquest.
At Cerro de Mesa, 20 carved stone monuments were located and
photographed, including one with an initial series date in the Maya
calendar. This date reads 9-1-12-14-10, or 1 Oc 3 Uyab. The
discovery of this monument raises to three the number of initial
series now known from the State of Veracruz. Although a very
early Baktun 9 date, it is later than Stela C from Tres Zapotes and
the Tuxtla statuette. Of the 20 monuments at Cerro de Mesa, 12 are
stelae.
Twenty monuments were also unearthed at La Venta, including
five colossal heads, several beautifully carved altars, and some stelae.
At the conclusion of the work the collections were brought to Mex-
ico City and a division of the material was made by the department
of archeology of the Mexican Government, whose splendid coopera-
tion did much to facilitate the work in the field.
49
50 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1940
Mr. Stirling attended three anthropological conferences as a dele-
gate of the United States Government, these being the Twenty-
seventh Session, International Congress of Americanists, held at Mex-
ico City, August 5-15, 1939; the First Inter-American Congress on
Indian Life, at Patzcuaro, Michoacén, April 14-24, 1940; and the
Eighth American Scientific Congress, in Washington, May 10-21,
1940.
Dr. J. R. Swanton, ethnologist, devoted the greater part of the
fiscal year to the assembling of material bearing on the ethnology
and early history of the Caddo Indians, former inhabitants of
northwestern Louisiana, southwestern Arkansas, northeastern Texas,
and southeastern Oklahoma. This now covers about 700 typewritten
pages including copies of original Spanish and French texts. He
rendered assistance to various local organizations in preparing for
the placing of markers along the trail followed by Hernando de
Soto and celebrations connected with them. Investigations were
undertaken for the United States Board on Geographical Names,
of which Dr. Swanton is a member. A bulletin by him entitled
“Linguistic Material From the Tribes of Southern Texas and North-
eastern Mexico” is now in page proof.
Dr. Swanton was much gratified at the kind recognition tendered
by his anthropological associates this year on the completion of
40 years’ service in the Bureau and the Institution in having dedi-
cated to him volume 100 of the Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collec-
tions entitled “Essays in Historical Anthropology of North
America.”
At the beginning of the fiscal year, Dr. John P. Harrington,
ethnologist, was engaged in field studies at Anadarko and Apache,
Okla., on the Kiowa Apache Tribe, in reality a variety of Lipan
and not Apache Indians according to language, and possibly iden-
tical with the “Palomas” of early Spanish archives of New Mexico.
These peoples, which can well be termed “Lipanan” from the Lipan,
one of the tribes, have become extinct or have been shoved far
from their former ranges, with the sole exception of the Kiowa
Apache, which, because of alliance with the powerful Kiowa Tribe,
succeeded in remaining in the region although assimilating the
Kiowa culture.
Returning to Washington, Dr. Harrington proceeded in the latter
part of July to Window Rock, Ariz., location of the administrative
headquarters of the Navaho Tribe. Just as the Kiowa Apache
show a subtype of western Plains culture submerged to that of
the Kiowa, so the Navaho show Great Basin culture with a varnish
of many Pueblo features, and study proves that these Pueblo fea-
tures are in every case directly derived from some particular Pueblo
REPORT OF THE SECRETARY 51
with which the Navaho have had century-long contact. For in-
stance, the Navaho of Ramah derive their Pueblo features from
Zuni. The most interesting discovery of all was the prominence
of the buffalo in Navaho ceremony, in which the buffalo plays a
role as large as among the Pueblos.
In the case of both the Kiowa Apache and Navaho, language study
is the most practical means of proving that the language-bearing
ancestors of these tribes came from the north, where similar lan-
guages are still spoken, occupying the interior of Alaska and of
western Canada.
Proceeding October 25 to the Chipewyan of eastern Alberta, Can-
ada, Dr. Harrington found them to consist of a southern-projecting
tongue of the language of the great Athabaska Lake of northern
Alberta, which derives its name from Algonquian Cree Adhapas-
kaaw, meaning “much grass” and applied originally to the Peace
River Delta at the western end of the lake. Chipewyan means
“pointed skins,” referring to an old habit of dress. The Chipewyan
language proved to be surprisingly close to Navaho in vocabulary
and construction,
Proceeding to the Sarcee language of southern Alberta, Dr. Har-
rington encountered ancther closely related tongue, and one which is
most nearly affiliated with the Beaver and the Sekeneh, two dialects
that lie north of the Sarcee. Dr. Harrington learned the tradition
that the Sarcee and Beaver were originally one people but that in
migrating southward across a frozen lake, the water monster became
angered and broke the ice, those Indians on the northern side becoming
the Beaver and those having crossed to the southern side becoming the
Sarcee. The Sarcee were found to have adopted the culture of the
neighboring Blackfeet, and the meaning of the name of the Blackfeet,
Ayaatciyiiniw, was found to be “ugly enemy.”
The Carrier, Chilcotin, and Nicola dialects were reached in Decem-
ber. These are located on the upper Fraser River, especially about
the great lakes at the head of this stream.
The Sekeneh were also reached in British Columbia and the name
was found to mean “Rocky Mountain Indian.”
Returning to Washington, Dr. Harrington proceeded in March to
the study of the Tlinkit Indians of southeastern Alaska, finding these
to be related to the Navaho, in a close relationship which cannot mean
many centuries of separation.
Dr. Harrington then proceeded in May to the study of the Atchat,
or Eyak, Tribe, which was found to have occupied the entire eastern
half of the Gulf of Alaska, a stretch of coast 350 miles long, extending
from Prince William Sound in the west to Latuya Bay in the east.
This tribe has earlier been called Ugalenz and Eyak, but the real
280256—41——5
52 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1940
name of the tribe has never been known, Atchat meaning “on this
side” or “opposite,” referring to location on the Gulf of Alaska and
opposite the islands. This language also proved to be closely related
to the Navaho, and, as might be expected, more closely related to
the languages of British Columbia and the Navaho than is the island
language.
Dr. Harrington returned to Washington on June 29.
At the beginning of the fiscal year, July 1, Dr. Frank H. H. Roberts,
Jr., archeologist, was engaged in excavating at the Lindenmeier site
in northern Colorado. The investigations were continued through
July and August and were brought to a close for the season on
September 15. The area under examination was a portion of the Fol-
som camp site that has occupied a Bureau of American Ethnology-
Smithsonian Institution Expedition’s attention for several seasons.
The 1939 excavations consisted of the removal of the overburden,
ranging from 314 to 51% feet in thickness, from some 1,540 square feet
of the old area of occupation, digging a series of 10 test trenches in
unsampled parts of the site, and prospecting in outcroppings of the
archeological layer in the banks of a deep ravine that traverses a
portion of the site. The excavations in the camp remains produced
more specimens than any previously made in areas of comparable size.
The collection of artifacts includes typically fluted Folsom points,
fluted knives, knives made from the flakes removed from the faces of
the points in producing the channels, other kinds of flake knives, a
variety of scrapers including several forms of the spokeshave type,
flakes with small points used for marking on bone and wood, hand-
hammer stones and large choppers, red and yellow ochers used for
pigments, bone punches and awls, pieces of decorated bone from ob-
jects of unknown form and function, and tubular bone beads. The
latter are the first to be found in the Folsom Complex. They were
made from shafts of long bones. Unfortunately, the criteria for
identification were removed in the process of manufacture, but they
seem to be rabbit and bird. One of these specimens was decorated
with a series of short parallel lines cut into its surface.
Dr. Roberts returned to the office in Washington on October 1.
During the fall and winter months he read galley and page proofs
on the report Archeological Remains in the Whitewater District,
Eastern Arizona. Part II. Artifacts and Burials, which appeared
as Bulletin 126 of the Bureau of American Ethnology. He also
served as technical advisor for “The World is Yours” programs,
“Cortez, the Conquistador” and “Pompeii Lives Again,” and wrote the
article for “The World is Yours” pamphlet on Pompeii. He also
prepared a manuscript on the subject Developments in the Problem
of the North American Paleo-Indian. Galley and page proofs were
REPORT OF THE SECRETARY 53
read and corrected for this paper, which appeared in the Essays in
Historical Anthropology of North America, volume 100, Smithsonian
Miscellaneous Collections. Special papers on archeological subjects
were prepared and presented before the Pennsylvania State Archeo-
logical Society, the American Anthropological Association, and the
Kighth American Scientific Congress.
Dr. Roberts left Washington, May 26, for Colorado and resumed
investigations at the Lindenmeier site. While the preliminary exca-
vations were under way, a number of places in that vicinity were
visited for the purpose of checking purported finds of Folsom ma-
terial. Work at the Lindenmeier site was in full progress at the
close of the fiscal year.
As editor of the Handbook of South American Indians, Dr. Ju-
lian H. Steward, anthropologist, in consultation with leading au-
thorities on South American anthropology, drew up a working
outline for this project. A two-volume, 2,000-page work to be pub-
lished in 5 years, the Handbook will contain articles by specialists
on the various subjects. The volume of essays in honor of Dr.
Swanton, for which Dr. Steward served as technical editor, was
pushed through to a successful conclusion and published on May 25,
1940. Several studies of Shoshonean archeology and ethnology
were written and published.
May 26 to July 1 was spent by Dr. Steward among the Carrier
Indians of British Columbia. Records of land tenure, subsistence
activities, and sociopolitical changes during five generations were
procured from the Stuart Lake and neighboring Carrier. It was
found that within the framework of aboriginal land utilization, the
sociopolitical structure had shifted from a band organization to a
matrilineal clan and potlatch system derived from the coast. In
historic times, the latter had given way before a patrilineal family
system. Records of general ethnography, 100 specimens of native
artifacts, and over 50 specimens of plants used in aboriginal times
were also obtained.
In July 1939 a Latin-American bibliographic conference at Ann
Arbor, Mich., was attended. In December 1939 two papers were
read before the American Anthropological Association in Chicago.
In May 1940 Dr. Steward served as secretary of the Anthropologi-
cal Section of the Eighth American Scientific Congress, meeting in
Washington.
Henry B. Collins, Jr., ethnologist, continued working over the mate-
rial which he excavated in 1936 at prehistoric Eskimo village sites
around Bering Strait. The collection from one of the sites—Kurigi-
tavik, at Cape Prince of Wales—eonsists of several thousand artifacts
of ivory, bone, stone, clay, wood, and baleen and provides a detailed
54. ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1940
picture of prehistoric Eskimo culture of the intermediate Thule-Punuk
stage, the age of which may be estimated at around a thousand years.
The material from Kurigitavik, together with that from two earlier
sites, has provided needed information on the transition from the
Birnirk stage to the Thule, and collections from several later sites
reveal the changes leading up to the culture of modern times.
Manuscripts completed during the year included a general paper
summarizing the archeological evidence bearing on the origin of the
Eskimo and the cultural position of this group in relation to neighbor-
ing peoples in Asia and America; and shorter papers on Eskimo art,
on the voyages of Vitus Bering (for the Smithsonian radio series),
and on prehistoric Indian crania from the Southeast.
Early in July 1939 Dr. William N. Fenton, associate anthropolo-
cist, left for Salamanca, N. Y., to conduct ethnobotanical studies
among the Iroquois Indians of New Yerk and Canada. He visited
the Senecas of Allegany and Cornplanter Reservations, in southwest-
ern New York and Pennsylvania, and the Mohawks of St. Regis
Reservation, N. Y., and Caughnawaga, Province of Quebec. He
called briefiy on the Hurons of Lorette and the Mohawks of Oka,
Lake of the Two Mountains, near Montreal. At Ottawa he studied
the extensive catalog of Iroquois ethnological photographs in the
National Museum of Canada. The month of August was passed
among the Iroquois of Six Nations Reserve in Ontario, where he
worked with Simeon Gibson, interpreter to the late J. N. B. Hewitt.
About a hundred herbarium specimens were collected; when identi-
fied at the National Hebarium, these proved to be largely duplicates
of medical plants gathered in previous years of field work among the
Senecas. Moreover, interesting similarities of plant use and termi-
nology were noted among Seneca, Mohawk, and Cayuga-Onondaga
remnants who now live on widely separated reservations. Such
resemblances suggest older basic Iroquois botanical concepts and
medical practices. Photographs illustrating various activities in
Iroquois herbalism comprise part of 100 negatives that were taken
in the field. The early notes of F. W. Waugh were reviewed with
Mohawk and Cayuga informants, and some paradigms in the several
Iroquois dialects were recorded for comparative purposes. Returning
to Allegany for the Green Corn Festival, Dr. Fenton reached
Washington in mid-September.
During the winter’s office work, Dr. Fenton read in the historical
literature and located towns of the several Iroquois bands at successive
periods in their history, with a view to outlining the major cultural
problems arising from Iroquois tribal movements and conquests. This
study, now published, attempts to begin for the Northeast the type of
systematic approach that Dr. Swanton has accomplished for the
Southeast. Dr. Fenton also published A Further Quest for Iroquois
REPORT OF THE SECRETARY 55
Medicines, in Explorations and Field-Work of the Smithsonian
Institution in 1939, and An Herbarium from the Allegany Senecas,
in The Historic Annals of Southwestern New York. Several lectures
on various aspects of Iroquois culture were delivered to Washington
audiences, and in June, Dr. Fenton addressed a regional meeting of
botanists at the Allegany School of Natural History on Iroquois
Ethnobotany.
On May 2, 1940, Dr. Fenton again left for Salamanca to resume
field work among the Seneca. Working primarily at Allegany Res-
ervation, he also visited Tonawanda, collecting early spring medic-
inal plants. This season, work with informants was combined with
a project to study Iroquois masks and ceremonial equipment in
museums located near the Iroquois. At the close of the fiscal year,
the extensive Converse collections in the New York State Museum
(Albany) and Montgomery County Historical Society (Fort John-
son), and the Boyle and Chiefswood collections in the Royal Ontario
Museum of Archaeology (Toronto) were measured and photo-
graphed. The pictures have proved to be useful in eliciting new
material from informants and promise future usefulness in estab-
lishing local types of carving. A complete record of the mask-
making technique has been made together with photographs of
crucial stages in the process, and the rituals of several shamanistic
societies have been taken with a flash camera for the first time. Dr.
Fenton was engaged in field work at the close of the fiscal year.
SPECIAL RESEARCHES
Miss Frances Densmore, a collaborator of the Bureau, continued
her study of Indian music chiefly by completing manuscripts for
publication. A trip was made to Wisconsin Dells, Wis., to confer
with Evergreen Tree, a Cochiti Indian, and to obtain further in-
formation concerning songs he recorded several years previously.
Additional information concerning the peyote cult was also received
from Winnebago informants in Wisconsin and Minnesota.
Nine manuscripts on pueblo music were recast and combined in
a manuscript entitled “Music of Acoma, Isleta, and Cochiti Pueblos,
New Mexico.” Four manuscripts on “Choctaw Music,” previously
submitted, were similarly combined. The manuscript on “Winne-
bago Music” was completed, and a portion of the section on the
peyote cult was restudied, extended, and retyped. These three
manuscripts are now ready for publication.
Eleven manuscripts on the music of the Seminole in Florida were
combined in a tentative manuscript of more than 300 pages. The
number of transcribed Seminole songs now in possession of the
56 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1940
Bureau is 173 and these were arranged in a tentative order, corre-
sponding to the order in the manuscript. About 70 Seminole songs,
recorded in 1932 and 1933, have not yet been submitted to the Bureau.
Work was begun on this material and a few of the songs were
transcribed.
A peculiar custom observed in a few of the oldest Choctaw and
Seminole songs consists in an embellishment of the melody in repe-
titions. It was found that the several renditions differed from one
another and that the Indians were able to sing the simple melody,
without the embellishments. These consisted in the addition of
short, unimportant tones, without changing the trend of the melody.
The custom resembles the improvisation which was noted in the
songs of the Tule Indians of Panama and is in contrast to the exact
repetitions of songs by northern tribes of Indians. 222s 1,010 30
District of Columbia---------_- 6, 706 123 (joa ie eee een ere ee 5 18
Orida-=: a ee 40 hilsPennsylvania.- oss) soo ee 6, 293 116
‘Georgia. -- Joe eee 431 WSat eonodersland. -- 2 se 70 1
Wndiana: = 252s oe eee 37 fijesoutn! Carolina --ss_"---—-e-= 5-2 549 16
IM Singt-<—- see eee eee eee 172 geibnepnessee -. <2. - 22 cet = se 130 3
Maryland 2aes e222 Sa eee 5, 580 Oa C7400) {: ee oe 5, 855 117
Miassachusetts=.c.-cccce ees cose | 672 P7allmwuost: Virginig= setae tee | 1, 327 16
Michi gan eens eae ses see | 152 4 |
New Hampshire=2----- ee ee | 86 1
REPORT OF THE SECRETARY 73
About 3 o’clock every afternoon, except Sundays and holidays, a
census is made of the cars parked on the Zoo grounds. During the
year, 27,840 were so listed, representing every State in the Union,
Alaska, Canada, Canal Zone, Cuba, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, and the
Philippine Islands.
Since the total number is merely a record of those actually parked
at one time, it is not of value as indicating a total attendance but is
of importance as showing the percentage of attendance by States, Terri-
tories, and countries. The record for the year on this basis shows
that the District of Columbia automobiles comprised slightly less
than 46 percent; Maryland, 20 percent; Virginia, 10 percent; and the
remaining cars were from other States, Territories, and countries.
On a few occasions when it has been possible to make a census of the
cars that were parked in the Zoo grounds at a given hour on Satur-
day afternoons, Sundays, and holidays, it has been found that Dis-
trict cars comprise only about 30 percent and cars from the several
States and other parts of the world make the remaining 70 percent.
Owing to the large attendance on these days, the proportion for the
year of District and foreign cars would be very materially altered
from that obtained when Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays are
omitted from the count. It is, therefore, clearly evident that at least
60 percent of the cars that come to the Zoo throughout the year are
from outside the District.
An accurate count of the total traffic through the Park would be
desirable, and with that in mind a request has been made to the D. C.
Works Progress Administration for such a project.
ACCESSIONS
FIELD WORK
SMITHSONIAN-FIRESTONE EXPEDITION
Through funds donated to the Smithsonian Institution by the Fire-
stone Tire & Rubber Co., of Akron, Ohio, a party was sent to Liberia,
West Africa, for the purpose of collecting specimens for the National
Zoological Park. The party, consisting of the Director, Mrs. Mann,
Ralph Norris, and Roy J. Jennier, sailed on the American-West
African Line on February 17, 1940, for Monrovia. Here they were
received by Mr. George Seybold, manager of the Firestone Plantations
Co., and taken immediately to the plantation, where they established
headquarters.
Trips into the interior were made at four localities: Belleyella, near
the French Ivory Coast frontier; the Gibi country; the Polish Plan-
tation at Reputa; and Bendaja in the Gola country, inland from Cape
Mount and near the British Sierra Leone border. The party also
visited the American Episcopal Missions at Bromley and Cape Mount
74 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1940
and were given cordial hospitality by Bishop Leopold Kroll and Miss
Mary Wood McKenzie.
Much aid and hospitality were given by Mr. Seybold. He also spent
some time at Cape Palmas and brought back a number of interesting
specimens which he gave to the expedition. B. O. Vipond, Director
of Personnel, was of great assistance as were various other planta-
tion employees. P. C. Bodewes, with the aid of his native boys, made
several drives for animals; Mr. Lewis Chancellor, well-known hunter,
personally collected several duikers and water chevrotains. Mr. and
Mrs. George Blowers, of the Bank of Monrovia, presented their house-
hold pets, a red duiker, a civet cat, and a linsang. To all of these the
expedition is under deep obligation.
The other specimens were collected almost entirely by natives in
various parts of the country, and many were brought back by the party
onits field trips.
In addition to the live animals a considerable collection of alcoholic
specimens was made, including fishes, reptiles, batrachians, and in-
sects. All preserved specimens collected on this expedition are being
turned over to the United States National Museum.
At the close of the fiscal year the expedition was still in the field,
although a preliminary shipment had been made from Liberia to
Boston in the care of Roy J. Jennier, who arrived at that port on
May 17, 1940. A summary of the specimens in this shipment follows:
Class Species Individuals
Mammal 5. a ented S28 Mei ti eee eB ae 5 3
511120 (= eee ee eee eR SEMEN As NE cr ORS. Se MOEN Te ion ee ew te 8. saad
Repiiless==-—= 2 Ss Re Ne a ee ula 53
MOMUSKS 2232 oo Ss 2 er peel es ee 1 14
Total, sa 22 cc = eh EE a eee 25 95
Some of these animals were placed on display in the exhibition
of the Firestone Tire & Rubber Co. at the New York World’s Fair,
upon the close of which they will be forwarded to Washington. The
remainder were brought direct to Washington.
The other members of the expedition sailed from Monrovia on July
15, 1940, and arrived at Norfolk, Va., August 6 with about 100 speci-
mens including 2 pigmy hippopotami, dwarf civets, crested monkey-
eating eagles, the rare Liberian ratel, and other little-known species.
A list of the live animals which arrived in Boston on May 17, follows:
SMITHSONIAN-FIRESTONE EXPEDITION
Scientific name Common name Number
PU tnONN SCOGC = te erate ey ee eee te eee African rock python] ==> === 2
Anvjda triunguise: i212 Ue Begs West African soft-shelled turtle.__ 1
ANECYSEEnOSGAEL 2 22.1 SE ae West African hinged tortoise___-_-- 25
IN G70, SY ee fe ee ee PE de ee Ci Wire > oe ae ae ee ee 4
REPORT OF THE SECRETARY 75
SMITHSONIAN-FIRESTONE EXPEDITION—continued
Scientific name Common name Number
BGIAS OSICOTMUS oe eee se RhMOceros Viper. s- 2 e = a 8
BIER GQDONCO Se eee = So aaa Gaboonrvinenena == secs eee 3
Osteolacmus teinaspis— 2. sn Broad-nosed crocodile_______--_--- 1
ATRCTIS CRIONCONIS: poe ne en ee a= West African tree viper__-.------ }
PelUstOsiC ChULEN LS eee ae Turtle sso! hase see Soe Soe oe 3
TA ELO LER D CULO See an ee = West African water civet_-_-_----- 2
Peer OdUCICUS) DOO Ses ee ae Ott ee en eee ee ee 1
Cricetomys gambianus_ =.= 22225 =e Gambia pouched rat=-—_--_-=__ = 4
BOIESCU TUR eer ee re Chimpanzees! = see ee: hiss bails 2
Cercocebus fuliginosus__-------2------ Sootywimaneabey. 0 |e =e Pavnceicde y:|
Stephanoaetus coronatus.....---------- Crowned hawk eagle_-_-----_---- 1
Kaupifalco monogrammicus__--------- Northern lizard-buzzard___.__-__-- 2
Astur tachiro macroscelides_-_---------- West African goshawk-_--_-_-_----- 1
Milvus migrans parasitus__.---------- African yellow-billed kite_________ 1
Tymponistria tympanistria frasert_-_--- Tambourine: dovers. 23) (22 oes 6
CONTIN PORE a BAS SaaS Triangular spotted pigeon_-_----_- 1
Streptopelia semitorquata____---------- African red-eyed dove_...-_.._---- 2
Geratoquinnaclatd see ae a Yellow-casqued hornbill_-_______- 1
A CKGUIUGCROUNG BA NOLES A ee Coypu sss s22 eee ses senssss SES 5
Wasianartcass22 2-3 =2 S225. pb RII Coatimundi -2e. See Tei ea 5
PelnurisiOneuice psa en ae ee Lesser flying phalanger__________- 6
IPSCUGOIS- NGNUT AE 2 22 Baars = =e SRS CS Bharal or blue sheep. _-___-__--_-- 1
Taurotragus oryt = 2 Bland es Ow eet 2 AE Seah 1
BIRDS
Larus novaehollandiae_____.---------- DTV ER) til eae hs 2 eae ee ec 14
Nycticorax nycticoraz naevius_-__-_------ Black-crowned night heron_-_-_-_-_-_- 10
Ophentscus demersus_....... = = === Jackass pen guiness see eee ee 4
REPTILES
Consinactorcconsiractoraeeer Seen Se Conimon boas see. es ee ares 10
Cyclagras:. gigas. eh ae et a SS) Cobra de: Paracuay—o-- 2-4 =e 12
EXCHANGES
A most interesting lot of Asiatic mammals, birds, and reptiles were
received from the Zoological Gardens, Colombo, Ceylon. These were
brought to the Park by Malcolm Davis of the Zoo staff, along with
an Indian rhinoceros, the return of which was the specific reason
for his journey to India. The group of animals from Colombo
consisted of 7 monkeys of 3 different species, 33 birds of 5 species,
and 33 reptiles of 9 different species. An important exchange was
made with Louis Ruhe, Inc., New York, N. Y., in which the Park
received a splendid pair of bactrian camels. A young has since
been born to this pair. Several exchanges have been carried on
82 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1940
vith Ennio Arrigutti, Buenos Aires, Argentina, in which the Zoo
received a number of desirable South American reptiles. This
exchange has been made possible through the cooperation of A.
Beweanatd a member of the crew of the S. 8. Brazil, who cared for
the animals en route. A number of interesting specimens of reptiles
that occur in the western part of the United States have been re-
ceived from C. W. Kern, Tujunga, Calif. A list of the specimens
acquired by exchange follows:
EXCHANGES
Scientific name Common name Number
Salamandra salamandra___----------- Hire salamander: 222 see) oe 2a
Hydromantes genet_ _.—. 222 S25 2a o8 Salamanders: ss 221220 ee ee 15
Molge vulgaris....---.------2-2-2--- oo ee
Cornus Corner ees 2) Ree IS loodedlcrowWesee a2. =e ee 4
Warlpesjilua ee is 2 Belge SSE eRe Red fom. <= 2s 02ch Se aa: ae 1
Acrochordus javanicus. =~ = see Elephant-trunk snake__--___----- d
Patho: Oitttatas 2 tee ei tak Indian’ python] 2254. 220 = ae 1
Gecko qeckor 22) SPat ORO Sk ee Gecko. eS ek ee 9
Camelusibactriantise Usa jhe Saat ee Bactrian.camel:= <5. -- = eee 2
Bombing 0omotnas 2 U2 Nene eee, ee Kire-pellieditoads==.s= == 5 aaa 20
TA ON OCT ON tte a ts a Red, yellow, and blue macaw_____- 1
Cer ala pans: OTNOLG Ss= s/o 2 eye ee FROrneg frogs === soe oe Sones 4
iiydromedusa tectiferaan a — = 3552 8 Snake-necked turtle___...-____--- 6
Inolaemus weigmannt.2- 22222 ee Bivardsi 2528 55.8 3 oe 2 eae eee 4
Acryllium vulturinum.......------=-=2: Vulturine guinea fowl___...-_---- 2
OED NOS CROCUS) so ieee South American brown and yeilow
striped snakes. eee 4
Tnophasmiliansee seit = ste eee South American brown aude reise 2
Leimadophis poecilogyrus_....-------- South American green snake_____-_ iE
PREER ODS NUN a nae ee ene ee Dunia eee eee ee ee eee a eee 1
Pscidemiystaornbignt eee ee DOrbigniisiiurtles-.- 5. 3
Phyllorhynchus decurtatus perkinst____- Leaf-nosed snake__._._.__-------- 1
Pituophis catenifer annectens___-_--_-_- Western bull snake. -___.__._-=.- 2
Lampropeltis getulus boylii_.___._.--_- Boyleisikimeisna ke sass espera 1
Crotalusiruber 2242 eee ahs nae Red rattlesnakes == -- ee oe 1
Crotalus viridis oreganus__......------ Pacificiratilesnakesse oe aa 1
Crotalus) cenasies= == Sidewinder rattlesnake___________ 2
Arizona elegans occidentalis. ___._.___- Western glossy snake_._....__+_- 1
Salvadora grahamiae virgultea_________- Chaparral patch-nosed snake______ 1
DCCLONOTUSTONCULIT aa a eee oe Orcuttis 'swiltl = Se Ae ee eee 2
Dipsosaurus dorsalis 224. _2o2_ 22 20188 Desert iguana: 28°) oft iet sos 1
Gerrhonotus imbricatus__...._...------ Platedy lizard se-ence at a= cept? 2
Phrynosoma blainvilltt__.._...2..-..=-- California horned lizard___------- 1
Eleterodon contort ett tags eee ae Hog-nosedasnake 2207 4-4 oi 3
TRAUMNODNIS SIRs = a ee Gartensnakeveeee cone nantes if
Masticophis flagellami sii 21h Coachwhip' ‘snake 24). 22.0171 se. 1
INGtiie sys: SLE tt Few ee Watersnakesi St strict erue oe 1
Clemmnysianscilptame A: 2 wt Boho ie ee Wioodstortgise- 614... -f2.. 5. Baws 4
Neotoma. floridand.2_..- 4 Round-tailed wood rat________._- 5
IROVOTCHUSLOL US A eee White: pesto wits ee ane 1
Anserinas semipaimata__._....-.-.-_. / Australian pied goose. -_-_--...--- 2
REPORT OF THE SECRETARY 83
PURCHASES
One of the most important purchases for some time was a Great
Indian one-horned rhinoceros obtained from the Forest Department,
Government of Assam, India. This was received through the co-
operation of United States Consul General J. C. White, Calcutta,
India. Other specimens acquired by purchase were four black swans,
two Flinders Island wombats, and a South American bush dog. An
important lot of South American animals were purchased by Malcolm
Davis on the west coast of South America. These were mainly
obtained through the kindness and cooperation of Dr. Edwyn P.
Reed, of Valparaiso, Chile. A list of the purchases follows:
PURCHASES
Scientific name Common name Number
Pipa americanGrs22 oso S22 2ues22222.~ Surinam, toad... 2222-22542. 52 6
Chenapisvatratas-= 222 Leys 2 oo eS. Black swan 2.22 --2052.5 55252 4
Vombatula. ursinus.. --- =-2-. 222.22... Flinders Island wombat - ----_-- 2
Pithecta monacha. --_-..----- nds h iets pakismonkey oo ote see eee 2
Callicebusicuprease =a ene ee Beautiful cebus_...._--------- 1
Actus iravirgatugse 2 8 aes les foe Douroucouli or ow] monkey--_-_-_- 5
Puntius partipentazona.-....--------- Red-finned barb... __.--------- 10
Pantodon buchholzts =e aoe 28 See Butterfly fishe. o-4 22268. 2k 4
Monocirrhus polyacanthus_..-...------ eat ish= 2 eee ee eee 4
Ma pirssernestrtsee cee eae Sk te South American tapir-_--------- 1
Teltevyon.wenaticus: 2 ok ee. ee Bush} dog! 224.26 4220232 2562 1
Epimachus fastuosus. 5. —-2.2----.--=. Sickle-billed bird of paradise __-- 1
Gr GUlG Selatan Soe ee ees 8 ee Six-plumed bird of paradise-_-_- -- 1
AGrOcOUld ANGICO 22 en ee eee ee Asiatic tapire= ===> so see == 1
Charing boilae. 22.22 soc eee ee Rober D0as2-2 == 2-228 se eee 1
Calyptocephalus gayi..--------------- Gay's frogte ob see re oS Se 8
Micrurusifulutus cscs sina snc eo cece ee Goralisnake2ee ie te sses5-cee i
REMOVALS
DEATHS
Major losses during the year included an emperor penguin, crab-eat-
ing seal, Siberian tiger, bush dog, Kodiak brown bear, Kidder’s brown
bear, and a young chimpanzee. Asin the past, all specimens of scientific
value that died during the year were sent to the National Museum.
ANIMALS IN COLLECTION THAT HAD NOT PREVIOUSLY BEEN
EXHIBITHD
MAMMALS
Sctentific name Common name
Alaa pions at - eee Se oo West African water civet.
Catllicebus cupred See ee eae Red titi monkey.
Dendrolagus inustus finscht_.---------------- Finsches’ tree kangaroo.
Felasichaques 22>. 32> - ie Sa eR rn Jungle cat.
Lobodon carcinophaga====-.---------==--25- Crab-eating seal.
TanocerOstUunicornniss oe he eee es Great Indian one-horned rhinoc-
eros.
Viverricula indica rasse___------- fA See ee Small civet.
280256-——41—__7
84 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1940
BIRDS
Antenodiytes)jorstent =: =< > a See Emperor penguin.
Epimachus jOstuosus 22 ee ae Sickle-billed bird of paradise.
Kaupifaleo monogrammicus__--.-.--.--.---.-- Northern lizard-buzzard.
Parabuteo unicunctus 2522-2. Fo South American hawk.
Puygoscelssiadeliae +2. * 3... S95 3: es Adelie penguin.
Tympanistria tympanistria fraseri__---------- Tambourine dove.
REPTILES
Charinuibottee220s58ee: see ebeweeee seek Rubber boa.
Gactalis-gangeticus-2 27). ee ee Indian gavial.
achuge tectum eas - 20S: ek 2 ee Spotted-bellied tortoise.
Keenisys erOs@s = ao eee oe See eee West African hinged tortoise.
Liopliis.anomelts= == "ts se Wee oe ek South American ground snake.
TCO DNS MGALOTES oe oe se a ee Do.
: Mam- Rep- Am- Mol- | Crus-
How acquired mals | Birds tiles Dulb; Fishes lusks eee Total
Presented ae ee ee eee 2, 550
Status of Collection
Bie ee a )
Class Species Tadivi: Class Species paid
= 233 7 Insects se.25chs2 Se 1 25
Z 329 1071"'|"Mollusks* <= 25.25" 2 eer 1 ll
Reptiles= se ssaees 148 637, |||) Crustaceans#222) 2 2 ee 1 5
Amphibians 2 26 125 a
Fishes 2.25802 3c eek eas 21 67 Totala 23.0 -Uess.225 25022 762 2, 550
Arachnids S222 322 hss 2 5
Respectfully submitted.
Dr. C. G. Axzor,
Secretary, Smithsonian Institution.
W. M. Mann, Director.
APPENDIX 8
REPORT ON THE ASTROPHYSICAL OBSERVATORY
Sm: I have the honor to submit the following report on the activities
of the Astrophysical Observatory for the fiscal year ended June 30,
1940:
These operations are conducted on funds received in part from the
appropriation by Congress, amounting for the fiscal year 1940 to
$32,070, and in part from private sources. The latter included parts
of the income from the Hodgkins and the Arthur funds, and grants
for specified objects from John A. Roebling. ‘These private sources
contributed altogether $19,000 during the fiscal year.
At Washington, the work is carried on in two old frame buildings
south of the Smithsonian Building. There are three mountain stations
located in New Mexico, California, and Chile. At these stations,
chosen for low winds, high altitude, and extreme cloudlessness, without
much regard for living conditions, the principal apparatus is housed
within a horizontal tunnel to secure fairly constant temperature condi-
tions. Small dwellings, computing rooms, and garages complete the
establishments, which are designed to accommodate only a field direc-
tor, one assistant, and their families. During the fiscal year a rein-
forced cement block dwelling has been under erection at the station
at Montezuma, Chile, but is not yet fully completed, so that the incom-
modious frame dwelling there is still occupied.
WORK AT WASHINGTON
Messrs. Aldrich and Hoover, with a force of regular and special
computers, some of whom were furnished by W. P. A., continued to
work on the complete revision of all results on the solar constant of
radiation from all stations and from 1923 to the present time. Many
smal] inconsistencies revealed themselves between results of a single
station in different years, and between the results of the different sta-
tions in the same year. Each of these inconsistencies was a problem
in itself, requiring extensive study, and in some cases extensive remeas-
urements of photographic records. Consequently, progress was slow
in preparing final tables of daily, decadal, and monthly mean values
of the solar constant, based on the evidence of all observations. It had
been hoped that these results would be ready to assemble and publish
early in the calendar year 1940. But at the end of June there still
remained several very troublesome questions to be resolved, so that
several months more of study seemed indicated.
85
86 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1940
In the meantime Dr. Abbot has prepared text for volume 6 of the
Annals of the Observatory as far as could be done until these revised
results were available for discussion. It is believed that when the
tables are ready the manuscript can be put in press within 2 months
thereafter. Funds for its publication have already been generously
furnished by John A. Roebling. The text will explain and illustrate
with painstaking fullness the details of the research, and the results
will be given with greater completeness than ever before. It may be
partially understood what this involves when it is said that the table
of daily values of the solar constant is estimated to occupy 144 quarto
pages, with three groups of 14 columns each, on every page.
Increasing interest among scientists in these solar-constant studies
is apparent. In last year’s report attention was called to critical
studies of the work published in England. Dr. Abbot’s reply, also
published there, led to mathematical investigations undertaken at
Harvard College Observatory and at the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology. Two of these statistical studies have been published by
Dr. Theodore E. Sterne, of Harvard. They tend to confirm the
reality of periodicities in solar variation, and yield periods for the
most part agreeing in length, within the limits of error, with those
found by Dr. Abbot and published by him several years ago.’
The interest thus aroused led Dr. Shapley, Director of Harvard
College Observatory, to invite Dr. Abbot to give six lectures there
in May 1940, on the following subjects:
1, Exact measurements of solar radiation.
. Solar radiation and the atmosphere.
. The variation of the sun.
. Weather governed by solar variation.
. Utilizing solar radiation.
. Radiation and plant growth.
OA m & bo
Serious and sympathetic attention was given to these lectures by the
staff of Harvard Observatory and by representatives from the Mas-
sachusetts Institute of Technology, the Blue Hill Meteorological
Observatory, and elsewhere. After the fourth lecture Dr. Abbot was
invited by Dr. Brooks, Director of the Blue Hill Observatory, to
publish a summary of the first four lectures relating to meteorology
in the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society. This pub-
lication is going forward.
In September 1939 there was held in Washington a Congress of the
International Geophysical Union. Among the delegates was the
eminent meteorologist, Dr. H. Arctowski, of Poland. His country
was conquered and his property lost while the Congress was in ses-
sion. Later, John A. Roebling provided funds for retaining Dr.
1 Abbot, C. G., Solar radiation and weather studies. Smithsonian Misc. Coll., vol. 94.
No. 10, 1935.
REPORT OF THE SECRETARY 87
Arctowski on the staff of the Observatory for 1 year, from Decem-
ber 1, 1939. Dr. Arctowski was asked to investigate the relations
between solar variation and the weather. At that time he doubted
the reality of solar variation as indicated by our observations. But
within 2 weeks after beginning his studies, Dr. Arctowski became
thoroughly convinced of the reality of solar variation, and that it
is the major factor in weather. He has announced these findings
in two papers.? He is continuing his researches in this field with
consuming zeal. It is hoped to retain him another year after the
completion of his present engagement.
With the assistance of Miss N. M. McCandlish, special computer
under a grant from John A. Roebling, Dr. Abbot has endeavored
to evaluate the separate influences produced on weather by the long-
range solar periodicities which are referred to above. For this re-
search monthly departures from normal temperature and rainfall for
numerous stations in America and other regions were used. It soon
appeared that the solar periodicities produce considerable weather
changes. But for periodicities of less than 25 months’ length, and
occasionally for longer ones, shifting of phases in the weather re-
sponses tock place from time to time. It occurred to Dr. Abbot
that these shifts very probably are due to seasonal influences. That
is, a solar cause operating in winter might reasonably produce a
different phase in its weather effects than the same cause operating in
summer. Inasmuch as the solar periodicities are not commensurable
with 12 months, their phases of course shift through the seasons.
On testing this hypothesis it was found to be sustained by data from
many meteorological stations.
It was then recognized that these phase effects might be eliminated
by taking into account least common multiples of the several periods
as compared individually to 12 months. For instance, an 8-month
periodicity returns each 24 months in the same season of the year.
Other periodicities recur in the same season at longer intervals. Act-
ing upon this basis we computed the average weather effects over a
century or more for 8 solar periodicities ranging in length from 8
months to 68 months in length. Among the stations used were Copen-
hagen, Vienna, and New Haven, all beginning with the year 1800.
It was very encouraging to find that, with the phase taken care of,
as explained above, all of these stations agreed in indicating pro-
nounced effects of solar variation, and that there is no indication that
a change of phase has occurred in the solar periodicities for over a
century. In such long series the solar influences were repeated many
7Solar faculae and solar constant variations. Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci., vol. 26, No. 6,
pp. 406-411, June 1940.
Researches on temperature changes from day to day and solar constant variations. Bull.
Amer. Meteorol. Soc., vol. 21, pp. 257-261, June 1940.
88 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1940
times in the same phase. It was, therefore, possible to obtain from the
meteorological records more accurate determinations of the solar
periodicities than could be obtained from our solar-constant work of
the past 20 years. The three stations mentioned agreed perfectly as
to these determinations. In this way we have established the follow-
ing corrected values for solar periodicities expressed in months:
8.12; 9.79; 11.29} 21.0; 25.3; 39.5; 4514.
It now became of importance to see whether the average results in
departures from normal temperatures and precipitation, correspond-
ing to these corrected periods, could be used synthetically as a means of
long-range prediction for the future. In order to investigate this
interesting possibility, it was clear that if the courses of the meteor-
ological periodicities used should be determined from records all ante-
1935 1936 1937 1936 1939 1940
PERCENTAGE OF NORMAL PRECIPITATION AT PEORIA, /LL/NO/S.
FIVE-MONTH RUNNING MEAN VALUES.
Fiaurs 1.
dating 1935, for instance, then it would be honest to regard a synthetic
assembly of them, covering the years 1935 to 1940, as a true 5-year
prediction, which could be fairly compared with the event. This
precedure was undertaken for numerous stations, and for both tem-
perature and precipitation. The resulting forecasts were not all
equally successful. But in all cases there was a marked correlation
between the forecast and the event. The agreement turned out to be
quite as likely to be good in 1940 as in 1935. As an illustration of very
good correspondence, though in this instance failing somewhat in 1939,
the 5-year forecast and event for the precipitation at Peoria, IIl., is
given here. In this case a correlation coefficient of 70-5 percent is
found between prediction and event for 58 months. It is hoped that
further study may improve the 5-year synthetic forecasts generally.
At present they average satisfactory in two-thirds of the months.
REPORT OF THE SECRETARY &9
WORK IN THE FIELD
As far as weather permitted, daily observations of the solar con-
stant of radiation were continued at three stations: Tyrone, N. Mex.,
Table Mountain, Calif., and Montezuma, Chile. Criticism having
been made again from foreign sources regarding the temperature
coefficient of the silver-disk pyrheliometer, numerous redetermina-
tions of this quantity were made at Tyrone and Table Mountain.
Owing to a misapprehension of directions, no less than 120 redeter-
minations were made at Tyrone by Messrs. Moore and Froiland.
Their mean is identical with that found previously by Abbot and
Aldrich at Washington, and by Zodtner and Greeley at Table Moun-
tain, and is almost identical with that found this year by Butler
and Greeley at Table Mountain. Over 200 determinations have now
been made, giving as their mean the same temperature correction
which has been used for nearly 30 years with silver-disk pyrheli-
ometers. There can now be no further question of altering it.
PERSONNEL
No changes in personnel have taken place since my last report,
except that L. A. Fillmen, for 10 years instrument maker under
private compensation in the Division of Radiation and Organisms,
has been appointed instrument maker under the public funds at the
Astrophysical Observatory, succeeding A. Kramer, retired.
Respectfully submitted.
C. G. Assor, Director.
The SmcretarY,
Smithsonian Institution.
APPENDIX 9
REPORT ON THE DIVISION OF RADIATION AND
ORGANISMS
Str: I have the honor to submit the following report on the
activities of the Division of Radiation and Organisms during the
year ended June 30, 1940:
As in previous years the Division has been in part supported by
a grant from the Research Corporation of New York.
During the past year the Division has continued its active work
on problems of photosynthesis and factors affecting plant growth,
both from a nutritional and radiation point of view. Dr. McAlister,
with the assistance of Dr. Myers, has continued his induction-period
studies of photosynthesis with the very valuable addition of simul-
taneous records of fluorescent intensities. Drs. Johnston and Wein-
traub have further improved their apparatus and technique in carry-
ing out their investigation of respiration, photosynthesis, and chlor-
ophyll formation as affected by light.
Mrs. Chase has extended her work on the stimulative action of
ultraviolet on algae. Dr. Weintraub has completed the initial phases
of some of his growth studies and opened up others to be investi-
gated. Mr. Clark has undertaken the construction of an improved
and simplified apparatus of his own designing for the accurate and
rapid determination of minute amounts of carbon dioxide.
As an outgrowth of the induction-period studies, Dr. Myers is
further investigating the relation of the induction behavior of
Chlorella to the previous condition of culture. In addition, he is
planning a comparative study of various methods for the measure-
ment of photosynthesis and of the photosynthetic behavior of vari-
ous kinds of plants. Mr. Clark and Mr. Fillmen have given valuable
assistance in the designing and construction of apparatus. The divi-
sion library has been improved greatly through the kindness of Mr.
Corbin, the Institution’s librarian. One hundred and fifteen volumes
of periodicals have been bound, and other material has been made
more accessible.
PHOTOSYNTHESIS, RESPIRATION, AND CHLOROPHYLL FORMATION
A great many simultaneous measurements of the rate of carbon
dioxide uptake and the intensity of fluorescence have been made
during the induction period of photosynthesis. The rapid spectro-
90
REPORT OF THE SECRETARY 91
graphic method of carbon dioxide measurements previously used has
been adapted to a constant-flow technique with a rapid time re-
sponse. The intensity of fluorescence was measured with a filter-
photocell combination.
Experiments so far carried out under a wide range of conditions
may be described in terms of two processes. In one, an inverse rela-
tionship appears to exist between the rate of carbon dioxide uptake
and the intensity of fluorescence. In the other, there is a direct
relationship seems to be superimposed.
of wheat seedlings in low oxygen concentration when suddenly ex-
posed to high light intensity. In this case the fluorescence curve
shows an abrupt initial rise, a slower secondary rise, and a decay
toward the steady state. The simultaneously observed rate of carbon
dioxide uptake follows a course inversely related to fluorescence.
Thus, when the intensity of fluorescence or rate of carbon dioxide
uptake are plotted against time, the two curves are almost perfect
mirror images (as to time). For wheat in normal oxygen concen-
tration, the mirror-image relationship is less perfect, and a direct
relationship seems to be superimposed.
The dependence of the direct relationship on oxygen and the
observation of a greater rate of carbon dioxide uptake in low oxy-
gen suggests that this process involves a photooxidation. In the
alga Chlorella pyrenoidosa the induction behavior is greatly influ-
enced by the previous conditions of culture. Cells grown in 4 per-
cent carbon dioxide show a response comparable to that of wheat.
When the cells are acclimated to air of 0.03 percent carbon dioxide
the photooxidation type of response predominates.
Further and more quantitative work is being undertaken along
this line, for it is felt that fluorescence in these experiments is a
useful tool in the study of the mechanism of photosynthesis.
Preparatory to other experiments on photosynthesis, respiration
and chlorophyll studies have been continued with the recording spec-
trographic carbon dioxide apparatus. Attention was especially di-
rected to detecting any difference in respiration of etiolated barley
seedlings that might occur in a change from darkness to light of low
intensities. As has been pointed out in other reports, this information
is essential in the measurement of photosynthesis as determined by
gaseous exchange. Repetition of these experiments indicated a slight
increase in the rate of respiration when the plants were illuminated.
However, the rates of respiration were different on successive periods
so that it was necessary to look for possible sources of error. It was
found that etiolated seedlings placed in the growth chamber connected
with the carben dioxide measuring apparatus did not become green
ina normal manner. ‘The amount of chlorophyll formed was 20 to 30
percent lower than in a control chamber not connected with the ap-
92 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1940
paratus. The difficulty was traced to a minute amount of mercury
vapor entering the growth chamber from the mercury seal of the
air-circulating pump.
The problem then resolved itself into one of obtaining a properly
designed circulating pump for the carbon dioxide measuring appa-
ratus. In a closed system of this type it is necessary to circulate the
air in a system absolutely leakproof to carbon dioxide. Even the
slightest amount, a few cubic millimeters, would introduce an error
that would invalidate the measurements made by this method.
A metal bellows-type pump was constructed and installed. This
worked fairly well but carried with it certain disadvantages. A third
type of pump making use of a rotating magnetic field was next tried,
but was discarded because of its lack of power. A fourth pump was
constructed and, from the few preliminary experiments so far tried,
it is believed that it will meet the rigid requirements of this exacting
experimentation.
A series of experiments on etiolated barley seedlings clearly shows
that there is enough chlorophyll formed in 1% hours’ exposure to light
of about 100 foot-candles to be easily measured.
The instrumental phases and the perfecting of experimental tech-
nique have now been completed to the point where work on the prob-
lems relating to the genesis of chlorophyll and the beginning of
photosynthesis may be carried on in greater detail.
PLANT GROWTH INVESTIGATIONS
PLANT HORMONES AND CHEMICAL FACTORS
A standardized technique has been worked out for the extraction of
growth substances from the oat seedling and, in a comparative study
of the various methods employed by other investigators, has been found
to possess a number of advantages. It is becoming more generally
appreciated among the workers in this field that the problem of growth
substance assay is greatly complicated by the possible existence of
hormone precursors, of active and inactive forms of the growth sub-
stance itself, and of growth inhibitors. A complete understanding of
the behavior of the plant must take all these factors into account and
further work is now being done along these lines.
In the study of the growth of excised oat shoots and leaves a number
of biochemical substances, several of which have been made available
through the generosity of Merck & Co., as well as various plant ex-
tracts, have been tested. As yet it has not been possible to develop
an artificial environment which will enable the excised organs to
develop in an entirely normal manner, but some interesting inter-
relationships among the various parts of the plant have come to light.
These studies are being continued.
REPORT OF THE SECRETARY 93
BADIATION EFFECTS
The initial phase of the study of the spectral sensitivity of the oat
mesocotyl has now been completed. The general finding, which is
expected to be published shortly, is that this organ shows its max1-
mum light sensitivity in the red region of the spectrum and de-
creased response at shorter or longer wave lengths. This is espe-
cially interesting since it is very different from the spectral sensi-
tivity of the contiguous organ of the oat seedling, the coleoptile, as
demonstrated in growth and phototropism. The diversity of be-
havior raises several problems with respect to the mechanism of
the light effect which are now being investigated. One of these
concerns the nature of the photoreceptive pigment involved. It has
been possible to demonstrate the presence, in dark-grown oat seed-
lings, of a pigment which appears to have the requisite absorption
spectrum. Its spectral properties correspond with those recorded in
the literature for protochlorophyll. However, because of the incom-
plete and contradictory nature of the data in the literature, it seems
desirable to undertake an extensive investigation of the whole proto-
chlorophyll problem.
A further result of the study is that the magnitude of the light
effect is proportional to the logarithm of the light intensity. This
fact suggests the possibility that more than one photochemical re-
action is involved. It is hoped to pursue this problem also.
Experiments on the stimulation effects of ultraviolet radiation
on the multiplication of cells of the green alga Stichococeus bacil-
laris Naeg. have been continued during the past year. Four sec-
cessive exposures of the algal cells were made to stimulative amounts
of each of the wave lengths 2352, 2483, and 2652 A. After each ex-
posure the growth rate (expressed as number of cells) increased un-
til at the conclusion of the fourth exposure it was 4 to 4.8 times that
of the control cultures. Cells irradiated with the optimum stimu-
lative exposure of 2967 A. increased at a rate of 1.5 to 1.6 times the
control in the first exposure; but after the second exposure the rate
of muliplication of cells was similar to that of the controls. The
stimulated cells diminished in length with each successive exposure.
They increased slightly in width after the first two exposures, then
decreased with the next two exposures so that after the fourth and
final exposure, the cells were less wide than those of the controls.
Numerous disintegrated cells were present in the cultures that had
been exposed three and four times when they were examined 2 to 3
months after the final exposure, whereas the cells exposed only twice
appeared to be a darker green and more healthy than the controls.
The sum of the three optimum dosages given to the algae was twice
that of the lethal quantity.
94 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1940
Cultures of stimulated algae when exposed to lethal intensities of
the full ultraviolet spectrum proved to be less sensitive to the lethal
amounts than were the control cells. Even those cultures that had
been stimulated by four successive exposures and which contained
numerous disintegrated cells were less sensitive to the lethal amounts
than were the control cells.
A detailed account of this research will be published under the
title “Increased Stimulation of the Alga Stichococcus bacillaris by
Successive Exposures to Short Wave Lengths of the Ultraviolet.”
PERSONNEL
Dr. Jack E. Myers was granted a National Research Fellowship
to carry on his research in photosynthesis in the Division’s labora-
tory. This fellowship, which began September 19, 1939, has been
renewed for a second year.
L. A. Fillmen, by an executive order, was appointed to the civil
service on May 20, 1940, and transferred to the staff of the Astro-
physical Observatory as instrument maker.
PAPERS PRESENTED AT MEETINGS
Cultivation of excised oat leaves. Presented by Robert L. Weintraub before
the American Society of Plant Physiclogists, Columbus, Ohio, December 28, 1939.
Induction and related phenomena. Presented by H. D. McAlister at the
symposium on photesynthesis, Section C (Chemistry) of the American Associa-
tion for the Advancement of Science, Columbus, Ohio, December 28, 1939.
Plant tissue cultures. Presented by Rebert L. Weintraub before the Botani-
cal Society of Washington, D. C., March 5, 1940. -
Sensitivity of plants with special reference te light. Presented by Earl
S. Johnston befere the Gamma Alpha Scientific Fraternity, The Johns Hop-
kins University, Baltimore, Md., April 5, 1940.
Time course of photosynthesis and fluorescence. Presented by HE. D. Me-
Alister before the Physiological Colloquium, Washington, D. C., June 10, 1940.
PUBLICATIONS
JOHNSTON, Eiart S., and WEINTRAUB, Rorert TL. The determination of small
amounts of chlorophyll—apparatus and method. Smithsonian Mise. Coll,
vol. 98, No. 18, pp. 1-5, 1989.
Meier, Ftorence ©, Stimulative effect of short wave lengths of the ultraviolet
on the alga Sitichococcus bacillaris. Smithsonian Mise. Coll., vol 98, No. 23,
pp. 1-19, 1939.
JOHNSTON, Hart S. Sunlight and plant life. Scientific Monthly, vol. 50, June,
pp. 513-525, 1940.
Respectfully submitted.
Fart S. Jounston, Assistant Director.
Dr. C. G. Anzor,
Secretary, Smithsonian Institution,
APPENDIX 10
REPORT ON THE LIBRARY
Sir: I have the honor to submit the following report on the ac-
tivities of the Smithsonian Library for the fiscal year ended June
30, 1940:
THE LIBRARY
The library—or, more correctly, the library system—has come into
being, unit by unit, as the interests and needs of the Smithsonian
have developed. ‘The main unit, dating from 1846, the year of the
establishment of the Institution, was transferred in 1866 to the
Library of Congress, where, as the Smithsonian Deposit, it has since
grown steadily by frequent sendings from the library of the Institu-
tion, It is notable for the completeness of its coilections of scientific
and technological publications, especially those of learned institutions
and societies. Other important units of the system are the libraries
of the United States National Museum and the Bureau of American
Ethnology; still others are those of the Astrophysical Observatory,
Freer Gallery of Art, National Collection of Fine Arts, National
Zoological Park, Division of Radiation and Organisms, the Langley
Aeronautical Library, and the Smithsonian Office Library. The sys-
tem also includes the 35 sectional libraries of the National Museum,
which are the immediate working tools of the curators and their
assistants,
PERSONNEL
The staff remained, for the most part, unchanged. Miss Marie
Ruth Wenger, library assistant, was promoted to the grade of junior
librarian. The assistant messenger, Roland O. J. Caraccio, resigned
in June. Many of the W. P. A. employees of the year before, with
a few others more recently added, were assigned to the lbrary
until the close of the Smithsonian project in April. Their service
was highly appreciated.
EXCHANGE OF PUBLICATIONS
The exchange work of the library was, of course, seriously inter-
fered with by the abnormal economic and political conditions in
several parts of the world. As the year advanced, it became increas-
ingly difficult to carry on the customary exchange of publications
with societies and institutions abroad. In not a few cases, foreign
95
06 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1940
publications were issued less frequently than usual, suspended for the
time being, or discontinued altogether. In most instances, those
that came at all were very late in arriving. Some even were lost in
transit. This irregularity and uncertainty put the library to its
extreme effort to obtain, before it was too late, all the publications
it could of those needed in the work of the Institution. In this it
was only moderately successful. The packages it received through
the International Exchange Service, for example, numbered 1,329—
fewer by 865 than those received the previous year. There was also
a falling off—of more than 2,000—in the packages that came by mail.
This decrease is ominous, for while it may be possible, in various
ways, after the wars are over and conditions become more normal,
to fill many of the gaps in the foreign series, probably some will
remain unfilled.
Most of the large sendings were received early in the year, while
world conditions were still fairly stable. They were from the Ber-
liner Gesellschaft fiir Anthropologie, Ethnologie und Urgeschichte,
Berlin; Yenching University, Peiping; Reale Societa Geografica Ital-
iana, Rome; Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale di Firenze, Florence; In-
ternational Institute of Intellectual Cooperation, Paris; Academia
Romana, Bucharest; Royal Society of Queensland, Brisbane; Royal
Society of New South Wales, Sydney; Manx Museum, Douglas;
G. W. R. Swindon Engineering Society, Swindon; Pan-Pacific
Union, Honolulu; Pomona College, Claremont; and Florida Entomo-
logical Society, Gainesville. These sendings were for the Smith-
sonian Deposit and the libraries of the National Museum and Freer
Gallery of Art.
There was, as would be expected, even a worse falling off in the
dissertations received, especially from foreign institutions. There
were only 1,608 of these, as against 5,190 the year before. They came
from the universities of Basel, Berlin, Bern, California, Freiburg,
Giessen, Greifswald, Louvain, Lund, Lwow, Lyon, Neuchatel, Penn-
sylvania, Strasbourg, and Warsaw, and the technical schools of Braun-
schweig, Delft, Dresden, Karlsruhe, and Ziirich. Of the dissertations,
788 were assigned to the Smithsonian Deposit, and the others, on
account of their subject matter, to the library of the Surgeon General.
The staff wrote 2,502 letters, most of which had to do with the
library’s exchange work—an increase of 212 over the previous year.
There was also an increase of 57 in the number of new exchanges
arranged for and of 157 in the number of want cards handled, in
connection with the special effort of the staff to satisfy the needs of
the Smithsonian libraries, either by exchanging publications or by
drawing liberally on the large collection of duplicates lately made
available at the Institution. The number of publications thus obtained
REPORT OF THE SECRETARY 97
was 7,546, or 1,789 more than in 1939. It should be made clear, how-
ever, that a great many of these items were taken from the surplus
stock mentioned above and were used by the libraries, particularly
the Smithsonian Deposit and the library of the National Museum, in
building up second or reserve sets. Other libraries of the system,
especially those of the Astrophysical Observatory, National Collection
of Fine Arts, Radiation and Organisms, and National Zoological Park,
also benefited generously from this activity of the staff. It is expected
that the libraries will benefit even more richly in the year to come
from the thousands of publications that will be offered to them from
the same surplus collection.
In the interest of the exchange work, too, it may be noted that
during the past fiscal year many publications of the Institution and
its bureaus were returned to the library from various colleges, mu-
seums, and public libraries throughout the country, and from at least
one institution abroad; namely, the Bibliotheque Centrale du Museum
National d’Histoire Naturelle, Paris. These publications, which were
no longer needed by the institutions that sent them back, were wel-
comed by the library as they added substantially to the supply of
material available for exchange. They also, in a number of instances,
brought to the sets in the libraries of the Institution items long out
of print and lacking. And, finally, they made it possible for the
library to respond favorably to dozens of requests on its waiting list
of needs in other libraries. In this clearinghouse activity, as well
as in the main exchange work of the year, the library had the coopera-
tion of the offices of publications, and—so far as it was free to func-
tion, under the restrictions imposed by the unsettled world conditions—
of the International Exchange Service. Among the libraries sharing
most generously in this noteworthy enterprise were those of the De-
partment of Agriculture, National Geographic Society, American
Bible Society, Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole, Public
Museum of the Staten Island Institute of Arts and Sciences, South
Dakota State Historical Society, Departamento de Botanica do Estado,
Sao Paulo, Brazil, and the following colleges and universities: Brown,
Columbia, Duke, Harvard, Massachusetts Institute of Technology,
Mount Holyoke, New York, North Carolina, Oberlin, Pennsylvania,
Princeton, Rochester, Vanderbilt, Virginia, William and Mary, and
Yale.
GIFTS
The gifts of the year were many. They included 897 publica-
tions from the American Association for the Advancement of Sci-
ence; 653 from the Geophysical Laboratory of the Carnegie
Institution of Washington; 252 from the American Association of
Museums; 216, chiefly on ethnology and archeology, from James
98 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1940
Townsend Russell, Jr.; 100, relating mainly to the natural history
of Brazil, from Ernest G. Holt; 23, on airplane engines of various
makes, from John EK. Rae; and a large number, on miscellaneous
subjects, from the Honorable Usher L. Burdick, Member of Con-
gress from North Dakota. Other generous gifts came from members
and associates of the Smithsonian staff, notably Secretary Abbot,
Assistant Secretary Wetmore, and Mrs. Charles D. Walcott. Among
the publications presented by Mrs. Walcott was a highly prized set,
in 23 volumes, attractively bound and lettered, of the scientific and
other papers, both published and unpublished, of her husband, the
late fourth Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution. This will
be given a place of honor in the library alongside of similar col-
lected works by Secretaries Henry, Baird, and Langley.
Of the other gifts, only a few, chosen from the large number, can
be mentioned here, such as 7 books by Vilhjalmur Stefansson—Hunt-
ers of the Great North, The Northward Course of Empire, My Life
with the Eskimo, Adventures in Error, My Life with the Eskimos,
Unsolved Mysteries of the Arctic, and Iceland the First American
Republic—from the author; 5 copies of The Museum in America, in 3
volumes, by Laurence Vail Coleman, from the author, as director of
the American Association of Museums; Chinese Jade Carvings oi the
Sixteenth to the Nineteenth Century in the Collection of Mrs. Georg
Vetlesen, in 3 volumes, compiled by Stanley Charles Nott, from Mrs.
Georg Vetlesen; Portraits of Shipmasters and Merchants in the
Peabody Museum of Salem, and New England Blockaded in 1814
(the Journal of Henry Edward Napier, Lieutenant in H. M. S
Nymphe)—both edited by Walter Muir Whitehill—from the Peabody
Museum; Voyages of the Valero IJ7, by De Witt Meredith, from
Captain G. Allan Hancock; O. C. Marsh, Pioneer in Paleontology, by
Charles Schuchert and Clara Mae Le Vene, from the authors; Les
Beaux Arts et les Arts Decoratifs, in 2 volumes, by M. Louis Gonse,
from Dr. William Schaus; The Macrolepidoptera of the World, by
Adalbert Seitz, from Mrs. Wirt Robinson, the widow of the late
Colonel Robinson, professor of chemistry at West Point, who, it will
be recalled, was a friend and benefactor of the National Museum;
Moss Flora of North America North of Mexico, volume I, part 4, by
A. J. Grout, from the author; Communications, volume 10, of the
Institut de Géophysique et de Météorologie de L’Université de Lwéw,
by Dr. Henryk Arctowski, from the author; A Bibliography of Scien-
tific Papers on Climatic Variations, compiled by Dr. Henryk Arctow-
ski, from the Union Géographique Internationale—Commission of
Climatic Variations; Science and Social Ethics, by Sir Richard Arman
Gregory, from The Friedenwald Foundation; Mouth Infections and
REPORT OF THE SECRETARY G9
Their Relation to Systemic Diseases—A Review of the Literature, in
2 volumes, by Dr. Malcolm Graeme MacNevin and Dr. Harold Stearns
Vaughan, from the authors; Australia, 1788-1938—Historical Review,
from the Hon. B. 8. B. Stevens, Premier of New South Wales; and
Voyage Zoologique d’Henri Gadeau de Kerville en Asie-Mineure
(Avril—Mai 1912), Tome Premier, Premiére Partie (12 copies), from
Henri Gadeau de Kerviille.
STATISTICS
The accessions to the library system, then, were several thousand
fewer than usual. They were as follows:
|
Approxi-
Vol- ntets Bie
Library anes i “| Total | holdings
charts J une 30,
Astrophysical O bservatoryasa-= aoe re ee See ee 71 95 166 9, 848
Bureau of American Ethnology eee 864s Onn 364 1 52,762
Breer GailleryotvArt-00 oe ee aba € 2 230 94 324 15, 761
Langley Aeronautical. __._..-_______- 33 22 55 3, 498
NationaliCollectionof MinevAtisus se eens ee Re ee 227 198 525 7, 292
INationaluMiuasen mia = oo oe ee ee en OT eS re Jee ae 1, 887 938 2, 805 216, 839
INationsl-Zoolovical Parka. i ee oe See 26 38 64 3, 846
Radiation and Organisms ees) een ene ee ee 89 2 91 527
Smithsonian Deposit, Library of Congress____.___--_-___--_---_----- 1,955; 1,214] 3,169 566, 554
Smithsonian office______ el Es Ae eS ee NS 132 Sos ee ee? 129 17 146 30, 892
Otalemcas ste sone Seas eo an ee eee 5,091 | 2,618 | 27,709 ; 2907, 816
: EROaDoth the eeecioee Ter the wear ood thd total holdings are omitted many publications waiting to
be completed, bound, or cataloged.
The staff made 26,422 periodical entries; cataloged 6,105 volumes,
pamphlets, and charts; prepared and filed 42,388 catalog and shelf-list
cards; and loaned 11,745 publications to members of the Institution
and its branches. They carried on an extensive interlibrary loan serv-
ice with more than 50 libraries in Washington and outside, including
several in Mexico and Cuba: an undertaking that involved the writing
of many letters and the handling—without a single loss, it may be
added—of 2,832 publications. They responded to an unusually large
number of inquiries for bibliographical and other information, some
of which required hours of research, often at the Library of Congress.
They also contributed 635 cards to the index of Smithsonian publica-
tions, bringing it practically up to date, and a few to the index of
exchange relations. Finally, they advanced the union catalog as
follows:
WVOLUINESTGa tal Ogee nea se ee ee 3, 523
Eamphietsiandichartsicatal ogee = ss = ee ee ee ee 2, 203
Newaserialventriessma de: a= 2s ae ee ee ee 379
Typed cards added to catalog and shelf list-___________________________ 6, 253
Library of Congress cards added to catalog and shelf list__._-___________ 16, 504
280256—41——_8
100 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1940
SOME OTHER ACTIVITIES
Mention has just been made of two indexes that are in preparation.
A third was undertaken late in the year—a card index of the explora-
tions with which the Smithsonian or one of its bureaus has at any time
been connected. Both the scientists and the library staff have fre-
quently felt the need of such a file—and to the future historian it will,
of course, be of great value. For it will make instantly available the
essential facts pertaining to each expedition—for example, dates,
places, personnel, scientific results, with exact: references to published
accounts—taken part in by the Institution since 1846.
Another important piece of work was checking the records for
periodical holdings in various libraries of the system, in the interest
of the second edition of the Union List of Serials now being prepared.
Still another special task—one that required considerable time on the
part of two or three members of the staff, as well as of several W. P. A.
employees—was the transfer and rearrangement of the publications
that had for years been shelved along the sides of the main hall of the
Smithsonian Building, to cases set up in the alcoves at the ends of the
hall. In their new locations the most consulted of these collections
are more accessible than they were before.
Again, the staff sorted by subject about 3,000 reprints and separates
and assigned them to the sectional libraries of the National Museum;
added substantially to the card index of auction prices brought by
works of art—a project begun the previous year for the library of the
National Collection of Fine Arts; nearly completed the inventory of
the technological library, with revision of the records as necessary;
did further special cataloging for the botanical library; and made
notable progress in the library of the Bureau of American Ethnology
in eliminating material not pertinent to the work of the Bureau and
in reclassifying and rearranging the remaining collections.
And, last but not least, by the joint effort of the staff and the W. P. A.
workers the listing of the longer runs of duplicate serials in both the
east and west stacks was well advanced. As fast as these lists were
finished they were submitted to the libraries of the Institution that
they might check the publications they needed. A few of those not
wanted were sent to the library of the Department of Agriculture to
fill gaps. And many were used in special exchange for other publica-
tions required in the work of the Smithsonian.
BINDING
Owing to lack of funds, it was possible to send to the Government
bindery only a small proportion of the volumes waiting to be bound.
The library of the National Museum sent 714; that of the Astrophysical
REPORT OF THE SECRETARY 101
Observatory, 50. In addition, however, 241 volumes from several of
the libraries, especially that of Radiation and Organisms, were bound
by one of the W. P. A. assistants.
NEEDS
Nevertheless, the binding as a whole, already seriously in arrears,
fell much farther behind during the year. This is most regrettable,
as the plight of the thousands of volumes in question lessens the safety
and usability of the serial files. Steps should be taken immediately
to remedy this unfortunate condition.
There is great need, too, of more shelf room for the collections,
particularly those in the natural history library of the National Mu-
seum. At least some temporary provision should be made without
further delay for relieving the congestion there, even if no permanent
means can be provided at present.
Finally, the staff should be considerably enlarged. Six trained
assistants should be added to the regular force at the earliest possible
moment. They are an assistant librarian, a junior librarian, a library
assistant, a library aid, a messenger, and a typist. These are urgently
needed, that the collections, both main and sectional, may be made
more fully available and that the libraries of the Institution and its
bureaus may, in general, serve more worthily the high purpose to
which they are called.
Respectfully submitted.
Wruuam L. Corsin, Librarian.
Dr. C. G. Asgor,
Secretary, Smithsonian Institution.
APPENDIX 11
REPORT ON PUBLICATIONS
Sm: I have the honor to submit the following report on the pub-
lications of the Smithsonian Institution and the Government
branches under its administrative charge during the year ended
June 30, 1940:
The Institution published during the year 16 papers in the series
of Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections, 1 annual report and pam-
phlet copies of 27 articles in the report appendix, and 1 special
publication.
The United States National Museum issued 1 annual report, 27
separate Proceedings papers, 1 Bulletin, and 1 Contributions from
the United States National Herbarium.
The Bureau of American Ethnology issued three bulletins.
Of the publications there were distributed 146,156 copies, which
included 56 volumes and separates of the Smithsonian Contributions
to Knowledge, 36,872 volumes and separates of the Smithsonian
Miscellaneous Collections, 25,266 volumes and separates of the Smith-
sonian Annual Reports, 3,150 Smithsonian special publications,
65,961 volumes and separates of the National Museum publications,
13,984 publications of the Bureau of American Ethnology, 11 pub-
lications of the National Collection of Fine Arts (formerly the
National Gallery of Art), 3 publications of the Freer Gallery of
Art, 35 reports of the Harriman Alaska Expedition, 16 annals of
the Astrophysical Observatory, and 714 reports of the American
Historical Association.
SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS
There were issued 2 papers of volume 91, § papers and title
page and table of contents of volume 98, 5 papers of volume 99, and
volume 100 (whole volume), making 16 papers in all, as follows:
VOLUME $i
No. 30. A new cornucopina (Bryozoa) from the West Indies, by Raymond C.
Osburn. 3 pp., 2 pls. (Publ. 3584.) March 14, 1940.
No. 31. A new genus and species of eel from the Puerto Rican Deep, by
Earl D. Reid. 5 pp. (Publ. 3585.) March 11, 1940.
102
REPORT OF THE SECRETARY 103
VOLUME 98
No. 18. Notes on Hillers’ photographs of the Paiute and Ute Indians taken
on the Powell expedition of 1873, by Julian H. Steward. 23 pp., 31 pls.
(Publ. 3548.) July 21, 1939.
No. 19. The determination of small amounts of chlorophyll—apparatus and
methods, by Earl S. Johnston and Robert L. Weintraub. 5 pp., 2 pls. (Publ.
3545.) July 31, 1939.
No. 20. The Helt Township (Indiana) meteorite, by Stuart H. Perry. 7 pp.,
9 pls. (Publ. 3546.) August 28, 1939.
No. 21. The weekly period in Washington precipitation, by C. G. Abbot and
N. M. MecCandlish. 4 pp. (Publ. 3547.) July 27, 1939.
No. 22. Birds from Clipperton Island collected on the Presidential Cruise
of 1988, by Alexander Wetmore. 6 pp. (Publ. 3548.) August 11, 1939.
No. 23. Stimulative effect of short wave lengths of the ultraviolet on the
alga Stichococcus bacillaris, by Florence BE. Meier. 19 pp., 4 pls. (Publ. 3549.)
September 26, 1939.
No. 24. The Ptarmigania strata of the northern Wasatch Mountains, by
Charles Elmer Resser. 72 pp., 14 pls. (Publ. 3550.) October 26, 1939.
No. 25. List of the fishes taken on the Presidential Cruise of 1938, by Waido
L. Sehmitt and Leonard P. Schultz. 10 pp. (Publ. 3551.) January 4, 1940.
VOLUME 99
No. 1. Sketches by Paul Kane in the Indian country, by David I. Bushneil,
Jr. 25 pp., frontispiece. (Publ. 3553.) January 9, 1940.
No. 2. Geologic antiquity of the Lindenmeier site in Colorado, by Kirk
Bryan and Louis L. Ray. 76 pp., 6 pls. (Publ. 3554.) February 5, 1940.
No. 3. Ritual ablation of front teeth in Siberia and America, by Ales
Hrdlitka. 82 pp., 5 pls. (Publ. 3583.) March 4, 1940.
No. 4. A check-list of the fossil birds of North America, by Alexander
Wetmore. 81 pp. (Publ. 3587.) June 18, 1940.
No. 5. The 11-year and 27-day solar periods in meteorology, by H. Helm
Clayton. 20 pp. (Publ. 3589.) June 14, 1940.
VOLUME 100
Whole volume. Essays in historical anthropology of North America, pub-
lished in honor of John R. Swanton in celebration of his fortieth year with
the Smithsonian Institution. 600 pp., 16 pls. (Publ. 3588.) May 25, 1940.
The work of John R. Swanton, by A. L. Kroeber. Pp. 1-9.
Introduction, by Julian H. Steward. Pp. 11-13.
Some historical implications of physical anthropology in North America,
by T. D. Stewart. Pp. 15-50.
Developments in the problem of the North American Paleo-Indian, by
Frank H. H. Roberts, Jr. Pp. 51-116.
The historic method as applied to southeastern archeology, by M. W.
Stirling. Pp. 117-123.
Virginia before Jamestown, by David I. Bushnell, Jr. Pp. 125-158, 2 pls.
Problems arising from the historic northeastern position of the Iroqucis,
by William N. Fenton. Pp. 159-251.
Archeological perspectives in the northern Mississippi Valley, by Frank
M. Setzler. Pp. 253-290.
104
ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1940
Culture sequence in the central Great Plains, by Waldo R. Wedel.
Pp. 291-352, 2 pls.
From history to prehistory in the northern Great Plains, by Wm.
Dunean Strong. Pp. 353-394, 6 pls.
Some Navaho culture changes during two centuries (with a translation
of the early eighteenth century Rabal Manuscript), by W. W. Hill.
Pp. 395-415.
Progress in the Southwest, by Neil M. Judd. Pp. 417-444.
Native cultures of the Intermontane (Great Basin) area, by Julian H.
Steward. Pp. 445-502.
Southern peripheral Athapaskawan origins, divisions, and migrations,
by John P. Harrington. Pp. 503-532.
Outline of Eskimo prehistory, by Henry B. Collins, Jr. Pp. 533-592,
6 pls.
Bibliography of anthropological papers by John R. Swanton, compiled by
Frances 8. Nichols. Pp. 593-600.
SMITHSONIAN ANNUAL REPORTS
Report for 1938.—The complete volume of the Annual Report of
the Board of Regents for 19388 was received from the Public Printer
in December 1939.
Annual Report of the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution
showing the operations, expenditures, and condition of the Institution for
the year ending June 30, 1938. xiii+-608 pp., 115 pls., 71 figs. (Publ. 3491.)
The appendix contained the following papers:
New conception of the universe and of matter, by Gabriel Louis-Jaray.
The nature of the nebulae, by Edwin Hubble.
The sun and the atmosphere, by Harlan T. Stetson.
Cosmic radiation, by P. M. S. Blackett.
A world of change, by Edward R. Weidlein.
Transmutation of matter, by Lord Rutherford.
Science and the unobservable, by H. Dingle.
Some aspects of nuclear physics of possible interest in biological work,
by L. A. DuBridge.
Hlectron theory, by R. G. Kloeffler.
Geology in national and everyday life, by George R. Mansfield.
The floor of the ocean, by P. G. H. Boswell.
Ice ages, by Sir George Simpson.
Soil erosion: The growth of the desert in Africa and elsewhere, by Sir
Daniel Hall.
The future of paleontology, by Joseph A. Cushman.
The meteorology of great floods in the eastern United States, by Charles
F. Brooks and Alfred H. Thiessen.
Byes that shine at night, by Ernest P. Walker.
The Chinese mitten crab, by A. Panning.
The biology of light-production in arthropods, by N. S. Rustum Maluf.
The black widow spider, by Fred BE. D’Amour, Frances E. Becker, and
Walker van Riper.
The language of bees, by K. von Frisch.
Forest genetics, by Lloyd Austin.
The story of the maidenhair tree, by Sir Albert O. Seward.
REPORT OF THE SECRETARY 105
The water-culture method for growing plants without soil, by D. R.
Hoagland and D. I. Arnon.
‘“Root-pressure’—an unappreciated force in sap movement, by Philip
R. White.
The reproduction of virus proteins, by W. M. Stanley.
Modern medicine—the crossroads of the social and the physical sciences,
by Charles Austin Doan.
History and stratigraphy in the Valley of Mexico, by George C. Vaillant.
The Folsom problem in American archeology, by Frank H. H. Roberts, Jr.
The Roman Orient and the Far Hast, by C. G. Seligman.
An ancient Chinese capital: Earthworks at Old Ch‘ang-an, by Carl
Whiting Bishop.
The natural limits to human flight, by H. H. Wimperis.
The historic American merchant marine, by Frank A. Taylor.
Report for 1939.—The report of the Secretary, which included the
financial report of the executive committee of the Board of Regents,
and which will form part of the annual report of the Board of Regents
to Congress, was issued in January 1940.
Report of the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution and financial report
of the executive committee of the Board of Regents for the year ended June
30, 1989. ix+1389 pp., 2 pls. (Publ. 3552.)
The report volume, containing the general appendix, was in press
at the close of the year.
SPECIAL PUBLICATIONS
Explorations and field-work of the Smithsonian Institution in 1939. 96 pp.,
102 halftone figs. (Publ. 3586.)
PUBLICATIONS OF THE UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM
The editorial work of the National Museum has continued during
the year under the immediate direction of the editor, Paul H. Oehser.
There were issued 1 annual report, 27 separate Proceedings papers
from volumes 85, 86, 87, 88, and 89, 1 Bulletin, and 1 Contributions
from the United States National Herbarium, as follows:
MUSEUM REPORT
Report on the progress and condition of the United States National Museum
for the year ended June 30, 1939. iii+128 pp. January 1940.
PROCEEDINGS : VOLUME 85
Title page, table of contents, and index. Pp. i—x, 509-530. April 5, 1940.
VOLUME 86
No. 3065. Neotropical flies of the family Stratiomyidae in the United States
National Museum, by Maurice T. James. Pp. 595-607, fig. 71. August 3, 1939.
106 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1940
VOLUME 87
No. 3066. Ceratopsian dinosaurs from the Two Medicine formation, Upper
Cretaceous of Montana, by Charles W. Gilmore. Pp. 1-18, figs. 1-11. August
3, 1939.
No. 3067. Two new parasitic isopods from the eastern coast of North America,
by A. S. Pearse and Henry A. Walker. Pp. 19-23, figs. 12, 13. August 1, 1939.
No. 8068. The Hederelloidea, a suborder of Paleozcie cyclostomatous Bryo-
zoa, by Ray S. Bassler. Pp. 25-91, pls. 1-16, fig. 14. September 12, 1939.
No. 3069. A generic revision of the staphylinid beetles of the tribe Paederini, by
Richard E. Blackwelder. Pp. 93-125. September 15, 1939.
No. 3070. New turritid mollusks from Florida, by Paul Bartsch and Harald
A. Rehder. Pp. 127-138, pl. 17. September 15, 1939.
No. 3071. A new trematode from the loon, Gavia immer, and its relationship
to Haematatrephus fodiens Linton, 1928, by W. Carl Gower. Pp. 189-143, fig.
15. September 1, 1939.
No. 8072. A study of LeConte’s types of the beetles in the genus Monozia,
with descriptions of rew species, by Doris Holmes Blake. Pp. 145-171, pls.
18, 19. October 5, 1939.
No. 3073. Observations on the birds of northern Venezuela, by Alexander
Wetmore. Pp. 173-260. November 3, 1939.
No. 8074. A revision of the soapfishes of the genus Rypticus, by Leonard P.
Schultz and Earl D. Reid. Pp. 261-270. October 24, 1939.
No. 3075. A taxonomic study of the neotropical beetles of the family Mordel-
lidae, with descriptions of new species, by Hugene Ray. Pp. 271-314, figs.
16-19. December 15, 1939.
No. 3076. Catalog of human crania in the United States National Museum
collections: Indians of the Guif States, by AleS Hrdlitka. Pp. 815-464, fig. 20.
May 18, 1940. :
VOLUME 88
No. 3078. Trematcdes from fishes mainly from the Woods Hole region, Mas-
sachusetts, by Edwin Linton. Pp. 1-172, pls. 1-26. May 16, 1940.
No. 3079. Report on certain groups of neuropteroid insects from Szechwan,
China, by Nathan Banks. Pp. 173-220, pls. 27-30. April 13, 1940.
No. 3080. Cestocrinus, a new fossil inadunate crinoid genus, by Edwin Kirk.
Pp. 221-224, pl. 31. March 14, 1940.
No. 8081. Notes on some pedunculate barnacles from the North Pacific, by
Dora Priaulx Henry. Pp. 225-236, figs. 1-5. April 30, 1940.
No. 3082. Revision of the chalcid-flies of the tribe Chaleidini in America
north of Mexico, by B. D. Burks. Pp. 237-354, figs. 6-14. June 11, 1940.
No. 3088. New genera and species of ichneumon-flies, with taxonomic notes,
by R. A. Cushman. Pp. 355-372, figs. 15, 16. March 18, 1940.
No. 3084. The scolytid beetles of the genus Renocis Casey, with descriptions
of nine new species, by M. W. Blackman. Pp. 373-401, figs. 17, 18. June 22,
1940.
No. 3085. Two new genera and three new species of cheilodipterid fishes, with
notes on the other genera of the family, by Leonard P. Schultz. Pp. 403-423,
figs. 19, 20. April 26, 1940.
No. 3086. A contribution to the knowledge of the Eucharidae (Hymenoptera:
Chalecidoidea), by A. B. Gahan. Pp. 425-458. April 25, 1940.
REPORT OF THE SECRETARY 107
No. 3087. A review of the parasitic Crustacea of the genus Argulus in the
collections of the United States National Museum, by O. Lloyd Mechean. Pp.
459-522, figs. 21-47. June 22, 1940.
No. 3088. The ichneumon-flies of the subfamily Neorhacodinae, with descrip-
tions of a new genus and three new species, by R. A. Cushman. Pp. 523-527,
fig. 48. April 18, 1940.
No. 3089. Notes on the birds of Kentucky, by Alexander Wetmore. Pp. 529-
574. April 23, 1940.
No. 3091. A prehistoric roulette from Wyandotte County, Kansas, by Waldo
R. Wedel and Harry M. Trowbridge. Pp. 581-586, figs. 49, 50. June 5, 1940.
VOLUME 89
No. 3092. A revision of the West Indian beetles of the scarabaeid subfamily
Aphodiinae, by Edward A. Chapin. Pp. 1-41. May 23, 1940.
BULLETINS
No. 175. Variations and relationships in the snakes of the genus Pituophis, by
Olive Griffith Stull. vi+225 pp. June 26, 1940.
CONTRIBUTIONS FROM THE U. 8S. NATIONAL HERBARIUM: VOLUME 28
Part 3. Marine algae of the Smithsonian-Hartford Expedition to the West
Indies, 1937, by William Randolph Taylor. Pp. i-fii, 549-562, pl. 20. June 12,
1940.
PUBLICATIONS OF THE BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
The editorial work of the Bureau has continued under the imme-
diate direction of the editor, M. Helen Palmer. During the year
three bulletins were issued as follows:
Bulletin 101. War ceremony and peace ceremony of the Osage Indians, by
Francis La Flesche. vii + 280 pp., 13 pls., 1 fig.
Bulletin 124. Nootka and Quileute music, by Frances Densmore. xxvi +
358 pp., 24 pls., 7 figs.
Bulletin 125. Ethnography of the Fox Indians, by William Jones. Edited
by Margaret Welpley Fisher. ix + 156 pp.
REPORT OF THE AMERICAN HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION
The annual reports of the American Historical Association are
transmitted by the Association to the Secretary of the Smithsonian
Institution and are communicated by him to Congress, as provided
by the act of incorporation of the Association.
The report for 1935, volume 2 (Writings on American History) and
the report for 1938 (Proceedings) were issued during the year. The
report for 1936, volume 2 (Writings on American History, 1936)
and the report for 1937, volume 2 (Writings on American History,
1937-1938) were in press at the close of the year.
108 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1940
REPORT OF THE NATIONAL SOCIETY, DAUGHTERS OF THE AMERICAN
REVOLUTION
The manuscript of the Forty-second Annual Report of the National
Society, Daughters of the American Revolution, was transmitted to
Congress, in accordance with law, December 11, 1939.
ALLOTMENTS FOR PRINTING
The congressional allotments for the printing of the Smithsonian
Annual Reports to Congress and the various publications of the Gov-
ernment bureaus under the administration of the Institution were
virtually used up at the close of the year. The appropriation for the
coming year ending June 30, 1941, totals $73,000, allotted as follows:
Smithsonian!’ institution/225. 2 Be ee SOOO
National’ (Museum) 222 Fs 2 ee ee ee 2s eee 30, 250
Bureaulot American Hthnology220- == 2s) =e 11, 150
Nationali@ollectioncof HinevArts 222s ae eee 400
Internationals xchan ges] eee ee es 100
National Zoological Parkes] soe) 22a ae ee 2 100
Astrophysical: ObServatonyasss=—- = ee ee eee 400
Americane Historical Associa tl On a= ee 7, 100
Totale sess ee ee ps hea. Wie ies 1 het 64, 500
Reserve sash: tse oe ee ee a a he 8,5
Grand! total esse AE AA ee ae cn eae 73, 000
Respectfully submitted.
W. P. True, Chief, Editorial Division.
Dr. C. G. Apzor,
Secretary, Smithsonian Institution.
REPORT OF THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE OF
THE BOARD OF REGENTS OF THE SMITH-
SONTAN INSTITUTION
FOR THE YEAR ENDED JUNE 30, 1940
To the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution:
Your executive committee respectfully submits the following report
in relation to the funds of the Smithsonian Institution, together with
a statement of the appropriations by Congress for the Government
bureaus in the administrative charge of the Institution.
SMITHSONIAN ENDOWMENT FUND
The original bequest of James Smithson was £104,960 8s, 6d.—
$508,318.46. Refunds of money expended in prosecution of the
claim, freights, insurance, etc., together with payment into the
fund of the sum of £5,015, which had been withheld during the
lifetime of Madame de la Batut, brought the fund to the amount
of $550,000.
Since the original bequest the Institution has received gifts from
various sources chiefly in the years prior to 1893, the income
from which may be used for the general work of the Institution.
To these gifts has been added capital from savings on income,
gain from sale of securities, etc., and they now stand on the
books of the Institution as follows:
Avery, Robert S. and Lydia T., bequest fund_____________.____ $51, 794. 10
Endowment fund, from gifts, income, ete___________________ 255, 037. 25
Habel Dr S:-Dequest Und S2=5 ee eee 500. 00
Hachenberg, George P. and Caroline, bequest fund__________ 4, 081. 70
Hamilton’ James bequeststunda— ee ee ee 2, 909. 72
Henry,, Caroline; bequest: tund——_- = ee 1, 227. 52
Hodgkins“ Thomas.G., LUNG 2222 2 ees ee eee ooh Aas 146, 675. 45
Parent fund sess se Sse Se ee ere ieee re Tae 728, 879. 04
Rhees, William Jones, bequest fund________.______________- 4 1, 070. 15
Sanford, George H., memorial fund_____-________________.__ 2, 003. 51
Witherspoon, Thomas A., memorial fund_._-_______________ 130, 982. 00
SS eed cae 0a ar eS ee ees 1, 400. 00
Total endowment for general work of the Institution_______ 1, 326, 560. 44
The Institution holds also a number of endowment gifts and other
funds, the income of each being restricted to specific use. These are
invested and stand on the books of the Institution as follows:
Abbott, William L., fund, bequest to the Institution___._._.._ $104, 662. 96
Arthur, James, fund, income for investigations aud study of sun
andslecture:onsthe suns sens ee ee eee 40, 592. 03
109
110
Bacon, Virginia Purdy, fund, for a traveling scholarship to invest!-
ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1940
gate fauna of countries other than the United States___________ $50, 850. 81
Baird, Lucy H., fund, for creating a memorial to Secretary Baird__ 16, 132. 25
Barstow, Frederic D., fund, for purchase of animals for the Zoo-
logical Park === eee 772. 05
Canfield collection fund, for increase and care of the Canfield
Collection! of minerals:- ===. ee 38, 819. 63
Casey, Thomas L., fund, for maintenance of the Casey collection
and promotion of researches relating to Coleoptera_____________ 9, 309. 42
Chamberlain, Francis Lea, fund, for increase and promotion of
Tsaac Lea collection of gems and mollusks_--__-_-________-___-_ 28, 582. 05
Hillyer, Virgil, fund, for increase and care of Virgil Hillyer col-
lectionyotelichtine objects = ee ee ee 6, 670. 62
Hitchcock, Dr. Albert S., library fund, for care of Hitchcock
IAP OSLOLO LiCl Mest TAN Yaa ae eee ee 1, 344. 95
Hodgkins fund, specific, for increase and diffusion of more exact
knowledge in regard to nature and properties of atmospheric
UT AT ee es a i ts ce kh Oe EE 100, 000. 00
Hughes, Bruce, fund, to found Hughes alcove__-_-------_-__-____ 17, 418. 53
Myer, Catherine Walden, fund, for purchase of first-class works
of art for the use of, and benefit of, the National Gallery of
D's a een inarsee Iam ons APES aE EIR bs RAPE TVW sete ue tH eF Acer ge ee emma eee e NS 19, 239. 80
Pell, Cornelia Livingston, fund, for maintenance of Alfred Duane
Pell ‘collections 222s ae ee Se ee ee 2, 449. 68
Poore, Lucy T. and George W., fund, for general use of the Institu-
tion when principal amounts to the sum of $250,000_______-____ 78, 317. 79
Reid, Addison T., fund, for founding chair in biology in memory of
Asher (nis =e aes a Ce) tele ee) pred ae 2 ee eee 30, 270. 38
Roebling fund, for care, improvement, and increase of Roebling
eollection.o£ minerals Seals oe ee ees De eee ee 122, 488. 89
Rollins, Miriam and William, fund, for investigations in physics
and) chemistry =. 2 eee eee 100, 805. 06
Smithsonian employees retirement fund_-----_-_-__-_-----______- T77. 80
Springer, Frank, fund, for care, etc., of Springer collection and
MUDD Uy es ee ee ees oe 18, 201. 29
Walcott, Charles D. and Mary Vaux, research fund, for develop-
ment of geological and paleontological studies and publishing
Tesults: thereof 2-222 | se ee ee Rae ee 11, 525. 48
Younger, Helen Walcott, fund, held in trust_-____--________-_-_____ 50, 112. 50
Zerbee, Francis Brincklé, fund, for endowment of aquaria________ 772. 45
Special research fund, gift, in form of real estate___________.____ 20, 946. 00
Total endowment for specific purposes other than Freer
endowment se ee a ee ee ee ee 871, 062. 42
The above funds amount to a total of $2,197,622.86 and are carried
in the following investment accounts of the Institution:
U. S. Treasury deposit account, drawing 6 percent interest______-_-_ $1, 000, 000. 00
Miscellaneous) ‘special funds 24 ee eee 116, 373. 61
Consolidated investment fund (income in table following)-__---- 1, 081, 249. 25
2, 197, 622. 86
REPORT OF THE SECRETARY 11]
CONSOLIDATED FUND
Statement of Principal and Income for the Last 10 Years
Fiscal year Capital | Income erent
$28, 518. 07 4, 27
26, 142. 21 3. 67
28, 185. 11 3. 68
26, 650. 32 3. 66
26, 808. 86 3. 79
26, 836. 61 8.71
33, 819. 43 4. 57
34, 679. 64 4.00
30, 710. 53 3. 40
38, 673. 29 3. 47
a om
FREER GALLERY OF ART FUND
Early in 1906, by deed of gift, Charles L. Freer, of Detroit, gave to
the Institution his collection of Chinese and other oriental objects of
art, as well as paintings, etchings, and other works of art by Whistler,
Thayer, Dewing, and other artists. Later he also gave funds for the
construction of a building to house the collection, and finally in his
will, probated November 6, 1919, he provided stock and securities to
the estimated value of $1,958,591.42 as an endowment fund for the
operation of the gallery. From the above date to the present time
these funds have been increased by stock dividends, savings of income,
etc., to a total of $6,112,953.46. In view of the importance and special
nature of the gift and the requirements of the testator in respect to
it, all Freer funds are kept separate from the other funds of the Insti-
tution, and the accounting in respect to them is stated separately.
The invested funds of the Freer bequest are classified as follows:
Courcrandsero wric sy Le de Se as Se a $684, 798. 42
Court and grounds maintenance fund_________ Sj eS ee Se 171, 963. 09
Curatortund2 82S Seo oe Se eee Eases oe ae 696, 897. 47
Residuary legac ys ets ae ee ee 4, 559, 294. 48
LING (eS ees eae aa ee Tn Te es *6, 112, 953. 46
SUMMARY
Invested endowment for general purposes________________.______ $1, 326, 560. 44
Investment endowment for specific purposes other than Freer
endow Ment se! 2s SEE eRe eae See ae ae I A 871, 062. 42
Total invested endowment other than Freer endowment___ 2, 197, 622. 86
Freer invested endowment for specific purposes__________________ 6, 112, 953. 46
Total invested endowment for all purposes________________ 8, 310, 576. 32
1The greater portion of gain in this capital over previous year is caused by placing
on the books of the Institution the approximate market value of a large holding of stock
heretofore held at a much lower figure.
112 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1940
CLASSIFICATION OF INVESTMENTS
Deposited in the U. S. Treasury at 6 percent per annum, as author-
ized in the United States Revised Statutes, sec. 5591____-_____- $1, 000, 000. 00
Investments other than Freer endowment (cost or market value at
date acquired) :
Bonds \(sO0idifferent:zroups) = $539, 844. 99
Stockss(4f difterentigroups)=——-— 577, 792. 36
Real estate and first-mortgage notes________ atts 71, 661. 11
Uninvestedicapital===2 = eee 8, 324. 40
—_—_—-——. 1, 197, 622. 86
Total investments other than Freer endowment____-___--_ 2, 197, 622. 86
Investments of Freer endowment (cost or market
value at date acquired) :
Bonds (48different groups) =——_—--—- $2, 685, 147. 75
Stocks (57 different groups) —-___-__.___- 22) 3, 4107858525
Real estate first-mortgage notes__________-___ 9, 000. 00
Wninvested capital2= geese 7, 947. 46
—_—_—_—_—_——— _ 6, 112, 953. 46
Potalsinvestmentse 2 ae ee ee eee a eee a See 8, 310, 576. 32
CASH BALANCES, RECEIPTS, AND DISBURSEMENTS DURING THE FISCAL YEAR si
Cash balance on hand June 30, 1989_______-__.__-_____ ioe oe ees $313, 097. 74
Receipts:
Cash income from various sources for general Z
WOLK=OL.chesnstituti ona] === ee $90, 255. 92
Cash gift and contributions expendable for
special scientific objects (not to be invested) _ 41, 058. 06
Cash gifts for special scientific work (to be
invested) 2-2 2222 soe eee a as ee 7. 50
Cash income from endowments for specific use
other than Freer endowment and from
miscellaneous sources (including refund of
temporary, advances) =. eee ee 79, 627. 88
Cash received as royalties from Smithsonian
NcientifieSerics2.- 32 eee 35, 183. 75
Cash capital from sale, call of securities, ete.
(to De® reinvested) 2222 eee 126, 797. 78
Total receipts other than Freer endowment____-__----___ 372, 930. 89
Cash income from Freer endowment__.--__~- 242, 573. 92
Cash capital from sale, call of securities, etc.
(tojbe: reinvested) 2=2 32222 ee 1, 311, 672. 25
Total receipts from Freer endowment________------____- 1, 554, 246. 17
4 Bo) 6 9 (ea ee ee ae ea epee Se eee 2, 240, 274. 80
3 This statement does not include Government appropriations under the administrative
charge of the Institution.
REPORT OF THE SECRETARY
Disbursements:
From funds for general work of the Institution:
Buildings—care, repairs, and alterations__
Hurnituresand tixturess =e ee
General administration *_._-___________ <=
STD Tay we a a ee Be ee IE
Publications (comprising preparation,
printing, and distribution) __-__________
Researches and explorations_____________
From funds for specific use, other than Freer
endowment:
Investments made from gifts, from gain
from sale, etc., of securities and from
S2vibegsson incomes === === ee
Other expenditures, consisting largely of
research work, travel, increase and
care of special collections, ete., from in-
come of endowment funds and from
eash gifts for specific use (including
Lemporarys advances) 222 es
Reinvestment of cash capital from sale,
eall’of Securities, ete: 22 Es ore
Cost of handling securities, fee of invest-
ment counsel, and accrued interest on
bonds purchased=s)222 aes
From Freer endowment:
Operating expenses of the gallery, sal-
aries, field expenses, ete.______________-
Purchase of art objects=-o2 2
Investments made from gain from sale,
etc of Securities: 452 ess ee ees
Reinvestment of cash capital from sale,
eallof securities, ete:2==22-2 2 =
Cost of handling securities, fee of invest-
ment counsel, and accrued interest on
bonds purchased including assessment
for employees’ retirement system_______
Cash) balance Juners0) 1940 3 ee ee eee
$3, 118. 37
114. 39
34, 261. 55
2, 112. 90
18, 574. 05
26, 477. 02
49, 621. 10
85, 677. 70
100, 160. 14
2, 619. 75
45, 755. 98
155, 214. 33
196, 273. 55
1, 104, 247. 02
® This includes salary of the Secretary and certain others.
113
$84, 658. 28
238, 078. 69
1, 526, 229. 17
391, 308. 66
2, 240, 274. 80
114 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1940
EXPENDITURES FOR RESEARCHES IN PURE SCIENCE, PUBLICATIONS, EXPLORA-
TIONS, CARE, INCREASE, AND STUDY OF COLLECTIONS, ETC.
Expenditures from general funds of the Institution:
Publieationss sete Ses es eae $18, 574. 05
Researcheswand ,explorations==2—— ee 26, 477. 02
——_—_——— $45, 051. 07
Expenditures from funds devoted to specific purposes:
Researches and ‘explorations = 22 eS 49, 692. 55
Care, increase, and study of special collections_____ 13, 453. 86
Publications!) =.= 23 oo ee eee 3, 469. 12
66, 615. 53
Totals. 2 2.2.22 -- ee ee ee ee eee 111, 666. 60
The practice of depositing on time in local trust companies and banks
such revenues as may be spared temporarily has been continued during
the past year, and interest on these deposits has amounted to $1,022.34.
The Institution gratefully acknowledges gifts or bequests from the
following:
Friends of Dr. Albert S. Hitchcock, for establishment and care of the
Hitcheock Agrostological Library.
Firestone Tire & Rubber Co., for expedition to Liberia for the collection of
living wild animals.
Research Corporation, further contributions for research in radiation.
John A. Roebling, further contributions for research in radiation.
Mrs. Mary Vaux Walcott, for purchase of certain specimens.
Eleanor EH. Witherspoon, for Thomas A. Witherspoon Memorial for the
advancement of human knowledge.
Ali payments are made by check, signed by the Secretary of the In-
stitution on the Treasurer of the United States, and all revenues are
deposited to the credit of the same account. In many instances de-
posits are placed in bank for convenience of collection and later are
withdrawn in round amounts and deposited in the Treasury.
The foregoing report relates only to the private funds of the Insti-
tution.
The following annual appropriations were made by Congress for
the Government bureaus under the administrative charge of the
Smithsonian Institution for the fiscal year 1940:
General jx penses= sss see 1 we ee ee ee eee $356, 620. 00
(This combines under one heading the appropriations hereto-
fore made for Salaries and Hxpenses, International Ex-
changes, American Hthnology, Astrophysical Observatory,
and National Collection of Fine Arts of the Smithsonian
Institution and for Maintenance and Operation of the
United States National Museum.)
Preservation” of» colltections 222s aes Ss ae a ee ee 628, 800. 00
Printing. ang) binding == a 73, 000. 00
National: Zoological, Park==——- == - 2 == Ss ee eee 237, 060. 00
otal 2-23 2s ee Se ee ee re ee ee 1, 295, 480. 00
In addition to the above an appropriation of $270,000 was made in
the Third Deficiency Act, 1939, for the installation of an alternating-
current electric system in the Smithsonian Institution buildings.
REPORT OF THE SECRETARY 115
The report of the audit of the Smithsonian private funds is printed
below:
SEPTEMBER 24, 1940.
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE, BOARD OF REGENTS,
Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D. C.
Simms: Pursuant to agreement we have audited the accounts of the Smithsonian
Institution for the fiscal year ended June 30, 1940, and certify the balance of cash
on hand, including Petty Cash Fund, June 30, 1940 to be $393,208.66.
We have verified the record of receipts and disbursements maintained by the
Institution and the agreement of the book balances with the bank balances.
We have examined all the securities in the custody of the Institution and in
the custody of the banks and found them to agree with the book records.
We have compared the stated income of such securities with the receipts of
record and found them in agreement therewith.
We have examined all vouchers covering disbursements for account of the
Institution during the fiscal year ended June 30, 1940, together with the authority
therefor, and have compared them with the Institution’s record of expenditures
and found them to agree.
We have examined and verified the accounts of the Institution with each trust
fund.
We found the books of account and records weil and accurately kept and the
securities conveniently filed and securely cared for.
All information requested by your auditors was promptly and courteously
furnished.
We certify the Balance Sheet, in our opinion, correctly presents the financial
condition of the Institution as at June 30, 1940.
Respectfully submitted.
WiiiaAm L. YAGER,
Certified Public Accountant.
Respectfully submitted.
Frepertc A, DELano,
R. Watton Moor,
Executive Committee.
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GENERAL APPENDIX
TO THE
SMITHSONIAN REPORT FOR 1940
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ADVERTISEMENT
The object of the Generay APPENDix to the Annual Report of the
Smithsonian Institution is to furnish brief accounts of scientific dis-
covery in particular directions; reports of investigations made by
collaborators of the Institution; and memoirs of a general character
or on special topics that are of interest or value to the numerous
correspondents of the Institution.
It has been a prominent object of the Board of Regents of the
Smithsonian Institution from a very early date to enrich the annual
report required of them by law with memoirs illustrating the more
remarkable and important developments in physical and biological
discovery, as well as showing the general character of the operations
of the Institution; and, during the greater part of its history, this
purpose has been carried out largely by the publication of such papers
as would possess an interest to all attracted by scientific progress.
In 1880, induced in part by the discontinuance of an annual sum-
mary of progress which for 30 years previously had been issued by
well-known private publishing firms, the secretary had a series of
abstracts prepared by competent collaborators, showing concisely the
prominent features of recent scientific progress in astronomy, geology,
meteorology, physics, chemistry, mineralogy, botany, zoology, and
anthropology. This latter plan was continued, though not altogether
satisfactorily, down to and including the year 1888.
In the report for 1889 a return was made to the earlier method of
presenting a miscellaneous selection of papers (some of them original)
embracing a considerable range of scientific investigation and discus-
sion. This method has been continued in the present report for 1940.
119
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SOLAR PROMINENCES IN MOTION*
By Rosrert R. McMatTH
Director of the McMath-Hulbert Observatory of the University of Michigan
[With 6 plates]
The study of the nearest star to our earth, the sun, is probably of
great antiquity. This study, begun by earliest man, has now evolved
from the simplest of visual studies and observations into a field of
science which demands more and more intricate and expensive ap-
paratus and the services of skilled scientists all over the world.
With this evolution has come a separation of the general study into
branches. For instance, Dr. C. G. Abbot, of the Smithsonian Insti-
tution, is the acknowledged authority on the solar constant, which
deals with the radiation received daily by the earth from the sun.
Of course, other men at other institutions also study this important
aspect of solar phenomena, but their particular branch of specializa-
tion may he in another direction.
At the McMath-Hulbert Observatory, which is located at Lake
Angelus, Pontiac, Mich., we are interested most particularly in those
solar phenomena which are in some way connected with that part
of our sun which we call the chromosphere. This is, perhaps, a loose
definition, but we shall use it here for the sake of simplicity.
When one Jooks at the sun through a piece of heavily smoked
glass, he sees what the astronomer calls the photosphere. Surround-
ing the photosphere is a shell of gas, similar to an atmosphere, which
is called the chromosphere. This chromosphere is about 8,000 miles
17The ninth Arthur Lecture, given under the auspices of the Smithsonian Institution,
January 16, 1940, consisted principally of the unusual motion pictures taken at the
McMath-Hulbert Observatory. In all, about 4,000 feet of 35 mm. motion-picture film
were shown to the audience, accompanied by comments and explanations by Dr. McMath.
This type of lecture does not lend itself readily to reproduction on the printed page, so
we publish herewith his general remarks, accompanied by several plates made from the
films shown during the lecture. For more information in regard to the instrumentation
and the techniques employed, the reader is referred to the Publications of the Observatory
of the University of Michigan, with particular reference to vol. 4, pp. 53-73, 1932; vol. 5,
pp. 103-117, 1934; vol. 6, pp. 43-44, 1934; vol. 7, pp. 1-56, 1937; and pp. 191-208, 1939.
With Dr. Edison Pettit, of the Mount Wilson Observatory, Dr. McMath has published
several papers dealing with the scientific aspects of the motion pictures shown at the
lecture. These papers have appeared in the Astrophysical Journal, 1937 and 1939, and
occasional notes in the Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific.
121
122 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1940
in depth and is invisible to the naked eye. Arising above the
chromosphere, but ordinarily connected to it, we find the solar promi-
nences, the subject of this lecture. The principal instrumentation of
the McMath-Hulbert Observatory has been designed and built for the
purpose of studying these solar prominences and other related
chromospheric phenomena.
At this point it would be well to trace briefly the development of
our knowledge of chromospheric phenomena, as each step forward
usually rests on the achievements of earlier workers in the field.
Because of the fact that the prominences are rarely high enough to
subtend an angle as much as 2 minutes of arc, it is not surprising
that they apparently were not seen by the early observers of eclipses.
In fact, the discovery of the prominences had to await the invention
of the telescope. That event occurred early in the seventeenth cen-
tury, and nearly 100 years later Tannyan, at Berne, Switzerland,
reported the chromosphere, which he found by observing an eclipse.
Discovery of solar prominences followed shortly thereafter, as
Vassenius observed them at an eclipse during the year 1733. These
are the most important prephotographic discoveries relating to our
subject. It is, of course, impossible to overestimate the importance
of the photographic process to science, and to astronomy in par-
ticular. Hence we are not surprised that at the eclipse of July 18,
1860, photographs taken 6 minutes apart by Secchi and De la Rue
showed that the prominences were moving. Also, by this time the
spectroscope had become a new tool in the hands of the scientist,
and on August 18, 1868, Janssen observed the bright spectral lines
of the prominences at an eclipse. It is of interest to note that at
first the bright yellow line of helium was mistaken for sodium. The
next day, August 19, 1868, Janssen observed the prominences without
an eclipse, by means of a widely opened spectroscope slit. This was
indeed an important addition to the available methods of observing
the sun. But we should note that it was October 20 of the same year
that both Janssen and Lockyer announced this new method.
The next step, and it is a very important step, was the invention
of the instrument called the spectroheliograph by an American,
George Ellery Hale, in 1892. This instrument appears to have been
evolved independently and concurrently by Evershed and Deslan-
dres; perhaps Deslandres may have been about a year later than
Hale. Two more years were needed to perfect the spectroheliograph,
and for many years it was the principal instrument used for the
study of chromospheric phenomena. A few more dates, and our
chronology will be sufficiently complete for our purpose here.
In 1931 McMath, at Lake Angelus, started to adapt his technique
of practically continuous photography to Hale’s spectrohelioscope,
SOLAR PROMINENCES IN MOTION—McMATH 123
and had obtained successful motion pictures of solar prominences
late in 19382. Lyot, a Frenchman, invented and built his corono-
graph in 1930. His first application of his new instrument to
motion-picture photography of solar prominences was in September
1935. And now, a brief description of the solar research at the
McMath-Hulbert Observatory may be of interest.
The rotation of the sun as shown by sunspots, the drift of sun-
spots and their changes, the more active type of solar prominences,
showing changes of form, were included in the original work pro-
gram of the observatory, and a specially designed spectroheliokine-
matograph for use in motion-picture photography of prominences
was constructed in 1931. This spectroheliokinematograph had to be
light enough and compact enough to fit on the eyepiece end of a
1014-inch equatorial Cassegrain reflecting telescope, but in spite of
these severe restrictions and the relative rarity of active prominences
during the sunspot minimum, prominence motions of sufficient in-
terest and complexity to warrant installation of more powerful and
versatile equipment for their study were photographed. A tower
telescope with pit spectrograph best suited the specifications that we
evolved from a study of the prominence motions from the spectro-
graph films and the then existing instrumentation of the leading
solar-research observatories. Accordingly, a tower telescope, em-
bodying our experience in astronomical motion-picture photography
and the adaptable features of other tower telescopes, together with
innovations leading to ease of control and manipulation, was erected
during 1935 and produced its first prominence pictures on July 1,
1936.
With the completion of the new tower, the difficulties encountered
with the spectroheliokinematograph have been completely eliminated.
The observer may take pictures as rapidly as required, limited only
by a minimum effective exposure time of one-fiftieth of a second.
The effective wave length of the light producing the picture is under
complete control of the observer and may be varied throughout a
spectral range of 7,000 angstroms, and any setting may be dupli-
cated to a small fraction of an angstrom. The scale of the picture
may be changed in a short time, and the start and end of each ex-
posure are recorded automatically. With the usual type of spectro-
heliograph, perhaps 150 photographs could be obtained in an 8-hour
day; with the McMath-Hulbert tower, 15,000 photographs can be
obtained in the same observing time. Although the mechanical fea-
tures of observing are readily controllable and in a large part auto-
matic, the observer still needs to exercise considerable skill in
avoiding too many pictures of a slowly moving object and too few
of objects in rapid motion. For the most part, prominence motions
124. ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1940
are fairly well represented by taking two pictures per minute. Upon
projection, a series of pictures taken at 2 per minute will show mo-
tions on the screen which are 720 times faster than in nature. The
McMath-Hulbert routine procedure for average objects is to speed
up their motions only 360 times. In the pictures shown on the
screen the compression factor, or rate of speed-up of the motions,
varies from 64 to 360.
It is only because of the great distance to the sun that we need to
increase the apparent motions of prominences on the screen by means
of time-lapse photography. In terms of terrestrial experience the
actual speeds of solar prominence features are enormous. The
slowest observable motions are of the order of 1 km. per second,
about the same speed as a bullet from a high-powered rifie. The
highest observed speed of a prominence feature is about 750 km. per
second. Speeds of 10 or 15 km. per second are very common and
may be taken as average values.
The accompanying photographs, selected from motion pictures,
show, as well as is possible in still pictures, some of the behavior of
prominence materiai. The most outstanding feature of prominence
motion, the overwhelming preponderance of motion toward the sur-
face of the sun, obviously cannot be shown; nor can the melee of
motions about a sunspot be made clear in any way except by pro-
jected motion pictures. These sample photographs have been chosen,
in most cases, to emphasize changes in form rather than details of
structure, as well as to indicate the importance of obtaining a large
number of observations in a short space of time in the investigations
of many prominence motions.
A very familiar type of solar photograph is reproduced in plate
1, A, which gives the appearance of the surface of the sun on August
18, 1939, showing a number of sunspots of medium size. This is an
image of the intensely brilliant photosphere—the surface studied
by the earliest visual observers and, except at times of solar eclipses,
the only surface available until the advent of the spectroscope. The
advantage in the ability to use a selected wave length for observation
is seen in plate 1, B, a spectroheliogram of the chromosphere taken
in the light of the hydrogen line Ha a few moments after the direct
photograph A was exposed. In this case bright and dark markings
in the chromosphere are clearly delineated and serve to indicate
features of this higher layer of gases which are transparent to in-
tegrated light and, consequently, do not register on a direct photo-
graph. Many of these dark markings or “flocculi” drift across the
disk with the rotation of the sun, showing only slight changes over
a long period of time. But often, especially in disturbed areas as-
sociated with sunspots, a dark flocculus will suddenly burst into
SOLAR PROMINENCES IN MOTION-——McMATH 125
violent activity and break into whiplike filaments, which apparently
stream downward into the sun. Spectroheliograms such as plate 1,
CG, which are taken in the light of the broad K line of calcium, em-
phasize the bright markings and show a mottling of the entire disk
which, when projected, has the appearance of a troubled sea. The
difference in emphasis of hydrogen and calcium spectroheliograms
does not necessarily indicate a separation of the two gases in the
chromosphere, for it is possible to record the same features in both
spectral lines by proper spectrograph adjustment. This difference
does, however, afford a means of selecting certain details for examina-
tion by accentuating their appearance above that of surrounding
activity. Dark flocculi are more readily photographed in Hae, and,
consequently, this line is usually used to record their behavior.
Plate 1, #, which is an He spectroheliogram of the sunspot group
shown in D as a direct photograph, was selected from a record of
violent. chromospheric activity which involved both the bright and
dark flocculi. The S-shaped bright flocculus below the large spot
very suddenly became more intense and began to expand. At the
apparent maximum brilliancy, a dark marking developed along the
center line, as shown in the frame reproduced from this point in
the record. Eventually, the entire flocculus darkened, disintegrated,
and disappeared.
Actually, all details photographed on the disk show a high rate
of radiation and appear light or dark depending upon the relation-
ship of their radiation to that of their surroundings. When seen
against the disk, the high-level gas clouds, such as surround the spot.
shown in plate 1, F, are dark; but when we follow them to the edge
of the sun, as in @, they show, in exposures timed to record disk
detail, as dimly lighted against the dark background of the sky. In
G we also can see in profile the general disturbance of the chromo-
sphere in the region of a sunspot. In this position, at the edge of
the sun, the high-level formations can be seen and photographed in
greater detail, and are called prominences.
Recurrent typical forms and behaviors of motion have been in-
cluded in Pettit’s classification of prominences. More recently, some
new types have been revealed by the motion-picture records, and are
illustrated by the reproductions in plate 2. The first new type to
be discovered was the “coronal,” so-called because its apparent origin
is somewhere high above the chromosphere in the region of the
corona. A shows such a streamer at about 150,000 km. above the
chromosphere, moving downward toward the sun. This streamer
was first barely visible at a higher level, and subsequent spectro-
heliograms show it moving along a trajectory that terminated in the
bright limb at a point above the sunspot. In this picture as well as
126 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1940
in B, a neutral density glass flat of 10 percent transmission was intro-
duced to cover the image of the disk, and it enabled us to record
some of the surface details while exposing for the faint prominences.
The area of intense activity visible in B is covered at the limb by a
bright mound. This mound form frequently occurs over such regions
and has been named a “cap” prominence.
Two subtypes, usually of very short duration, are illustrated in
plate 2, @ and D which, in this case, occurred simultaneously over
the same sunspot area. These two spectroheliograms are separated
in time by only 6.42 minutes between midpoints of exposures. In
this short interval the smal] detached cloud, which is about 31,000
km. above the limb in @, has been ejected to a point 79,000 km.
above the limb in D, and the bright triangular-shaped surge, directly
under the ejection in the first scene, has decreased in height from
23,600 to 15,800 km. A typical surge rises from an active area on
the chromosphere to its maximum extension and then, apparently
with a complete reversal of motion, returns to the surface along the
same trajectory. Rarely, at its highest point, a small cloud will be
ejected on outward while the main body of the surge subsides.
This Jatter phenomenon is classified as a secondary ejection.
# and F, plate 2, represent two stages in the development of a
quasi-eruptive prominence. The similarity of this prominence to
one strictly classified as active is evident in its general form and the
development and motion of its streamers. The eruptive characteris-
tics are illustrated in the later scene, F, where the main body of the
prominence has been detached from the chromosphere. The motion-
picture record reveals that at this stage the velocities of the motions
increased, and that the whole prominence began to move along the
streamer trajectories. Ultimately, the prominence completely dis-
integrated, some material moving along streamers to the left, and
the major portion entering the chromosphere along the bright
streamers at the right. In this case the motion followed paths which
had slight curvatures and were, over considerable lengths, nearly
parallel to the limb. Of the complete record, the eruptive stage
occupies only a small portion and, because of its rapid changes,
requires many spectroheliograms to form a continuous story of the
behavior.
Many records have depicted the last stages in the history of promi-
nences, but of the early stages very little is known. As yet, we
have no means of predicting when, or at what position on the sun, a
prominence is about to develop. Therefore, such records as we may
have of the beginnings of any type of prominence are the result of
particularly good fortune, in that the phenomenon took place in a
region under examination.
SOLAR PROMINENCES IN MOTION—-McMATH 127
On September 23, 1938, a detached cloud which existed over a
very active area was photographed. During the time that the tele-
scope was directed at this limited portion of the sun’s limb, a promi-
nence loop formed and disappeared at the point under examination.
Selected spectroheliograms from this record are reproduced in
plate 3. The plate covers a period of 2 hours and 20 minutes, and
in that short space of time a bright loop rose to a height of 60,500
km., broke at the crest, and fell back into the chromosphere. The
brilliance of the loop was remarkable. Up to the time when it began
to disintegrate, its intensity was even somewhat greater than that
of the adjacent chromosphere. In this case, apparently, the ma-
terial was carried upward and then returned completely to the active
area on the surface from which it had arisen. Except for the dis-
placement of the detached cloud, there remained scarcely a trace of
the phenomenon after its rapid subsidence.
Another example of loop formation is found in the record of the
sunspot-type prominence of September 7, 1939. Although at certain
stages there was a similarity of form and intensity to that of Sep-
tember 23, 1938, the two evidence very different general characteris-
tics. Plate 4 illustrates several stages of the development of the loop
of September 7, 1939, from the time A, when there was the first
faint indication of a small stationary condensation at the right of
the main group of streamers, to the time /’, when the loop had broken
up into an intricate pattern of loops and streamers. The phenome-
non began as a faint condensation about 42,000 km. above the limb,
which suddenly brightened and then extended branches in opposite
directions. The branches continued to grow rapidly, and both
curved downward, ultimately forming a complete arch. The time
occupied by the formation of the arch, as shown in /, was 8.27
minutes. The subsequent history of this loop is very different from
that of September 23, 1938, which disappeared into the chromo-
sphere. In contrast to this rapid dissolution, the loop of September
7, 1939, continued to develop into more and more small loops and in-
complete arches. At all times, prominence material was moving
downward from the crests of the loops along both branches to the
chromosphere. The appearance of the multiple arches 1 hour and 7
minutes after the loop had completely developed is shown in F.
This does not, however, represent the final stage, for the phonomenon
continued to become more intricate as it gradually lost its extreme
intensity. In plate 5 #, 2 hours and 2 minutes later than the last
stage shown in plate 4, the arches are shown as delicate, beaded
filaments.
The prominence in which this arch development occurred is a
typical example of the sunspot-type classification which, together
128 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1940
with the sunspot-type prominence of September 21, 1939, is illus-
trated in plate 5. In both prominences shown, all detectable mo-
tions were downward along the streamers, and downward from the
crests of the loops along both branches and into the chromosphere.
The relative intensities, or relative densities, of material in different
parts of the loops were continually changing while the paths of
motion persisted. These prominences exhibited a characteristic
gradual increase in height during the time of observation. Because
of the great predominance of downward motions, this general growth
of the entire phenomenon would seem to be an extension of activity,
rather than any sort of material expansion. Plate 5, A, B, and C,
are reproductions from the record of September 21, 1939, showing
the behavior of a loop formation which measured about 142,000 km.
in height and 170,000 km. in width at the beginning of the record,
and increased in over-all dimensions about 25 percent during the
scene. The changes in relative intensity of different parts of the
loop in the 24 minutes which intervened between A and B are quite
evident, and paths of motion 2 hours later are indicated in @ by the
broken streamers.
The prominence of September 7, 1939 (pl. 5, D, #, and F), pro-
vided a remarkable motion-picture scene of continuous and varied
activity. At the beginning of the record bright knots and delicate
streamers cascaded downward 200,000 km. into the sun. As the
scene progressed, the general pattern became more intricate, includ-
ing a background of faint gigantic loops and many small isolated
condensations moving at high velocities toward the seething chromo-
sphere. The loop formation previously described occurred during
this scene and is illustrated in its later stages in plate 5, #' and F.
The scene closed with the longest streamers extending outside the
field of the film, reaching somewhere beyond 240,000 km. above the
limb.
Another very interesting, and perhaps the most impressive,
motion-picture scene of prominence activity that we have obtained
so far is illustrated in plate 6. This is a record of the quasi-eruptive
prominence of August 24 and 25, 1939, photographed in the light
of ionized calcium. Throughout the scene the delicate details of
the internal prominence structure revealed a surprising activity in
the behavior of the motions and the distribution of light intensities.
A and B are reproductions of frames photographed on August 24,
1939, and illustrate the form and dimensions of the prominence in
its “active” stage. At this stage the prominence was about 170,000
km. in height and extended even a greater distance along the limb.
Not noticeable in the reproduction, but clearly defined from the very
beginning of the record, is a narrow “pillar of light” that extends
SOLAR PROMINENCES IN MOTION——McMATH 129
vertically through the center of the picture, as shown in A. This
bright area expanded, and another, beginning apparently somewhat
nearer the chromosphere, developed to give the light distribution
illustrated in B.
The start of observations on August 25 found the prominence in
the eruptive stage, with the light pattern much more pronounced.
In plate 6, 0 and D, the localized illumination has the appearance
of a searchlight beam, and this impression is enhanced by the promi-
nence material brightening as it moves into the “spotlight” and then
leaving its brilliancy behind as it moves on out again. This effect
continued until, near the end of the scene, the prominence material
had all moved along the streamer trajectories to disappear into the
chromosphere. In order to include all the extended activity within
the area of the film, the scale of the image was diminished to 50
percent, and later to 15 percent, of the size of the original image.
The maximum extension of the prominence was nearly 400,000 km.,
and it reached a level about 240,000 km. above the sun. This scene
illustrates many characteristic motions of quasi-eruptive promi-
nences, and discloses a new phenomenon of light distribution which
may prove to be additional evidence in our search for the now
hidden reasons for prominence behavior; or, on the other hand, it
may prove to be another problem added to the number already in-
volved in the study of solar physics.
These records of solar prominences in motion have been treated
here in a purely descriptive manner, but we should emphasize their
value as records of solar phenomena which can, at will, be reenacted
for study. Their greatest value, however, lies in the fact that each
scene forms an uninterrupted, accurately timed series of observations.
This mass of scientific data is contributing to our knowledge of the
true characteristics of motions in the outer surface of the sun.
In conclusion, I wish to acknowledge my indebtedness to H. E.
Sawyer and Dr. O. C. Mohler, of our staff. They have taken many
of the pictures shown in connection with this lecture, and in addition
have collaborated in the preparation of this paper. The plates
accompanying this paper were prepared by Sawyer and J. T. Brodie,
of our staff. I most especially wish to thank Dr. Abbot, Secretary
of the Smithsonian Institution, for the honor and privilege of giving
the James Arthur lecture here in Washington this month of January
1940.
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Smithsonian Report, 1940.—McMath PLATE 1
PHOTOGRAPHS OF THE SOLAR DISK.
A, B, and C, disk of August 18, 1939. A, direct; B, Ha spectroheliogram; C, Ca+ spectroheliogram.
D and £, sunspot group of September 1, 1939. D, direct; EH, Ha spectroheliogram.
F and G, Ha spectroheliograms of a sunspot group approaching the limb of thesun. F, September 14, 1939
G, September 16, 1939.
Smithsonian Report, 1940.—McMath PLATE 2
A,
NEW PROMINENCES ADDED TO PETTIT’S CLASSIFICATION.
A, coronal, August 2, 1937, Ca+ spectroheliogram.
B, cap, August 3, 1937, Ca+ spectroheliogram.
Cand D, surge and ejection of October 25, 1939, Ha spectroheliograms. C, 2118.9; D, 21625.32m G.C.7T.
E, quasi-eruptive in “active” stage, July 21, 1939, Ca+ spectroheliogram.
F, quasi-eruptive in ‘“‘eruptive” stage, July 22, 1939, Ca+ spectroheliogram.
Smithsonian Report, 1940.—McMath PLATE 3
FORMATION OF PROMINENCE, SEPTEMBER 23, 1938, Ha SPECTROHELIOGRAMS.
A, 1853.03™; B, 19612.50m; C, 19h42.32m; D, 19h47.77™; EH, 19b53.99m: F, 20h0.62m: CG, 20h7.32m: H, 20b10.69™,
Gacrk:
Smithsonian Report, 1940.—McMath PLATE 4
Fi
FORMATION OF PROMINENCE LOOP, SEPTEMBER 7, 1939, Ha SPECTROHELIOGRAMS.
A, 16420.16™; B, 16423.28m; C 16430.66™; D, 16632.87m; HM, 16638.43m; F, 17645.52m, G. C. T.
Smithsonian Report, 1940—McMath
A
SUNSPOT-T YPE PROMINENCES OF SEPTEMBER 7, 1939, AND SEPTEMBER 21, 1939,
Ha SPECTROHELIOGRAMS.
A, September 21, 14537.59™; B, September 21, 1555.09™; C, September 21, 16558.48™; D, September 7, 1656,.25™
E, September 7, 18540.98™; F, September 7. 20536.81™, G. C. T.
Smithsonian Report, 1940.—McMath PLATE 6
A
QUASI-ERUPTIVE PROMINENCE OF AUGUST 24 AND 25, 1939, CA+ SPECTROHELIO-
GRAMS.
A, August 24, 15531.38™; B, August 24, 2037.40™; C, August 25, 13541.46m; D, August 25, 17518.66™; &, August
25, 18549.42m :-F, August 25, 2157.02m, G. C. T.
THE SATELLITES OF JUPITER’
By SretH B. NIcHOLSON
Mount Wilson Observatory, Carnegie Institution of Washington
{With 1 plate]
The four large moons of Jupiter were, as you all know, discovered
by Galileo in 1610 with a telescope which he himself had made. This
telescope, with an aperture of about 2 inches,? magnified some 30
times and was probably the largest and most powerful telescope in
existence at that time. The story of how this famous discovery
was made is best told in Galileo’s own words which are quoted from
his account in The Sidereal Messenger as translated by E. S. Carlos.’
Discovery of Jupiter's Satellites.—I have now finished my brief account of
the observations which I have thus far made with regard to the Moon, the
Fixed Stars, and the Galaxy. There remains the matter, which seems to me
to deserve to be considered the most important in this work, namely, that I
should disclose and publish to the world the occasion of discovering and observ-
ing four Planets, never seen from the very beginning of the world up to our
own times, their positions, and the observations made during the last two
months about their movements and their changes of magnitude; and I summon
all astronomers to apply themselves to examine and determine their periodic
times, which it has not been permitted me to achieve up to this day, owing to
the restriction of my time. I give them warning, however, again, so that they
may not approach such an inquiry to no purpose, that they will want a very
accurate telescope, and such as I have described in the beginning of this account.
On the 7th day of January in the present year, 1610, in the first hour of the
following night, when I was viewing the constellations of the heavens through a
telescope, the planet Jupiter presented itself to my view, and as I had prepared
for myself a very excellent instrument, I noticed a circumstance which I had
never been able to notice before, owing to want of power in my other telescope,
namely, that three little stars, small but very bright, were near the planet; and
although I believed them to belong to the number of the fixed stars, yet they
made me somewhat wonder, because they seemed to be arranged exactly in a
1 Public lecture delivered under the auspices of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific
in San Francisco on the evening of Monday, January 9, 1939. Reprinted by permission,
with slight revision, from Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, vol. 51,
No. 300, April 1939.
2It was Galileo’s custom to make a much larger lens than the aperture to be used and
then to cover with a diaphragm the outer portion of the lens where the figure was poor.
The actual aperture used in the discovery of Jupiter’s satellites was probably between 1
and 11% inches.
® Shapley and Howarth, A source book in astronomy, p. 49, 1929.
131
280256—41——_10
132 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1940
straight line, parallel to the ecliptie, and to be brighter than the rest of the
stars, equal to them in magnitude. The position of them with reference to one
another and to Jupiter was as follows:
E s % O * W
On the east side there were two stars, and a single one towards the west. The
star which was furthest towards the east, and the western star, appeared
rather larger than the third.
Y scarcely troubled at all about the distance between them and Jupiter, for,
as I have already said, at first I believed them to be fixed stars; but when on
January 8th, led by some fatality, I turned again to look at the same part of
the heavens, I found a very different state of things, for there were three little
stars all west of Jupiter, and nearer together than on the previous night, and
they were separated from one another by equal intervals, as the accompanying
figure shows.
B (@) 2 * % Ww
At this point, although [ had not turned my thoughts at al! upon the approxi-
mation of the stars to one another, yet my surprise began to be excited, how
Jupiter could one day be found to the east of all the aforesaid fixed stars when
the day before it had been west of two of them; and forthwith I became
afraid lest the planet might have moved differently from the calculation of
astronomers, and so had passed those stars by its own proper motion. I, there-
fore, waited for the next night with the most intense longing, but I was dis-
appointed of my hope, for the sky was covered with clouds in every direction.
But on January 10th the stars appeared in the following position with
regard to Jupiter, the third, as I thought, being hidden by the planet. They
were situated just as before, exactly in the same straight line with Jupiter, and
along the Zodiac ....
E aa eur) Ww
When I had seen these phenomena, as I knew that corresponding changes
of position could not by any means belong to Jupiter, and as, moreover, I
fede 7. Gravsie yee Geee te vSecm © Crane SL
Si: lhe fie a x BE 9. Lhe 2 EAC rmnone
OM.
ene utheug a hi 8 offfarcen con® I +1 Sn 9
Arete at pS retregrad C celeulatorr.
“4. E Me cha he eI Buf 8S.
Dye SG fn acatein Fi fe & veeulzauia bre bs A foo credere.
& le 7d Om poste gust Ke DB. ct Kel id evearnn
a Sime ern Lalncla mrare Vell alo 9 OF An fh7ra al ales.
Qnu ke Galore fare exer K Sue Me offanie dette Oe
Ae ged grandelin && GnK Giro gqurtrn éntone; Dek the
He nbrw a Sime eer 2, By arom enyah ely He 02
FicurRe 1.—Part of a page from Gaiileo’s notebook recording the discovery of satellites
revolving around Jupiter.
SATELLITHS OF JUPITHER—-NICHOLSON 133
perceived that the stars which I saw had always been the same, for there
were no others either in front or behind, within a great distance, along the
Zodiac—at length, changing from doubt into surprise, I discovered that the
interchange of position which I saw belonged not to Jupiter, but to the stars
to which my attention had been drawn, and I thought therefore that they
ought to be observed henceforward with more attention and precision.
Accordingly, on January lith I saw an arrangement of the following kind:
H dete @ Ww
namely, only two starg to the east of Jupiter, the nearer of which was distant
from Jupiter three times as far as from the star further to the east; and the
star furthest to the east was nearly twice as large as the other one; whereas
on the previous night they had appeared nearly of equal magnitude. I, there-
fore, concluded, and decided unhesitatingly, that there are three starg in the
heavens moving about Jupiter, as Venus and Mereury round the Sun; which
at length was established as clear as daylight by numerous other subsequent
observations. These observations also established that there are not only
three, but four, erratic sidereal bodies performing their revolutions round
Jupiter.....
Besides, we have a notable and splendid argument to remove the scruples
of those who can tolerate the revolution of the planets round the Sun in the
Copernican system, yet are so disturbed by the moticn of one Moon about the
Harth, while both accomplish an orbit of a year’s length about the Sun, that
they consider that this theory of the universe must be upset as impossible: for
now we have not one planet only revolving about another, while both traverse
a vast orbit about the Sun, but our sense of sight presents to us four satellites
circling about Jupiter, like the Moon about the Harth, while the whole system
travels over a mighty orbit about the Sun in the space of twelve years.
In addition to demonstrating so clearly the nature of the solar
system, Jupiter’s satellites were responsible for the discovery of
another very important fact of nature, namely, that time is required
for light to travel from one place to another. In 1675, the Danish
astronomer Roemer noticed that when Jupiter was far from the earth
the eclipses of its satellites occurred relatively later than when it was
near the earth. This delay could be explained if it took time for
light to come from Jupiter to the earth, 35 minutes at mean oppo-
sition. Since then the speed of light has been measured many times
by more exact methods but the result is essentially the same as that
obtained from Jupiter’s satellites.
After Galileo’s time no more satellites of Jupiter were discovered
until September 9, 1892, when Professor Barnard, who had been
searching with the 36-inch telescope at the Lick Observatory one
night each week for 2 months, detected a faint satellite very close to
the planet’s surface.* This fifth moon of Jupiter has the distinction
of being the last satellite in the solar system to be discovered visually ;
since then all such discoveries have been made by photography.
* Astrophys. Journ., vol. 12, p. 81, 1892.
134. ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1940
In December 1904 a photographic search for faint satellites of
Jupiter was begun by Perrine with the Crossley reflector at the Lick
Observatory, and on the very first photographs of that search a new
TO) Va
;
&
&
ioe
O/
t
0.2 0.1 re) 10 20
ASTRONOMICAL UNITS MILLION MILES
SCALE
ORBITS OF JUPITER'S SATELLITES
KiecuUr& 2.—Orbits of Jupiter’s satellites. Each orbit is shown ag in its own plane. The
line of nodes on the ecliptic is indicated for each orbit; the arrows which show the
direction of motion are on the part of the orbit north of the ecliptic. The position of
Perijove is marked by the are of a small circle, concave toward Jupiter. The positions
of the satellites are those at the opposition of 1938.
satellite was discovered, and a month later, in January 1905, still
another.’ Both were much farther from the planet than the other
five. Satellite V revolves around Jupiter in 11 hours and 53 minutes,
* Publ. Astron. Soc. Pacific, vol. 17, p. 22, 1905; ibid., p. 63.
SATELLITES OF JUPITER—NICHOLSON toa
the large satellites, I, II, III, and IV, discovered by Galileo, in
periods ranging from 1 day and 18 hours to 16 days and 16 hours,
but VI and VII, discovered by Perrine, are so far away from Jupiter
that 260 days are required for them to encircle the planet.
In 1908 Melotte at Greenwich, England, while photographing the
sixth and seventh satellites, discovered an eighth.° It was still far-
ther from Jupiter and required 750 days to complete its journey
around the planet. Still more peculiar was the fact that it moved
in a retrograde direction, opposite to that of all the other satellites
of Jupiter. In 1914, while a graduate student at the Lick Observa-
tory, I was assigned the task of photographing the distant satellites
of Jupiter to see how closely they were following their calculated
paths. A ninth satellite was found’ on photographs of the eighth,
just as some years before, the eighth had been found by Melotte near
the sixth and seventh. The period of the ninth satellite is almost
the same as that of the eighth and it also revolves in a retrograde
direction.
Satellites VIII and TX are so far from Jupiter that their motions
are greatly disturbed by the gravitational attraction of the Sun, and
their paths around Jupiter do not even approximate closed curves.
The computation of their positions is therefore a difficult task and
it has been necessary to observe them frequently to prevent their
being lost. In the past 20 years, whenever Jupiter has been near the
earth, they have, therefore, been photographed many times, and such
photographs have always been examined for additional satellites,
but none has been found.
Since no systematic search for undiscovered satellites had ever been
made with a telescope larger than 36 inches in diameter, it seemed
worth while to make such a search with the 100-inch reflector, and
accordingly that project was made a part of the observing program
at the Mount Wilson Observatory in the summer of 1938. The
plan was to photograph the region around Jupiter at the Newtonian
focus of the 100-inch reflector on 8- by 10-inch plates with exposures
of 1 hour each. The survey covered about 10 square degrees ex-
tending 3 degrees east and west and a degree and a quarter to the
north and south of Jupiter. The photographs, which partially over-
lapped, covered 54’ by 68’ each and reached magnitude 20 over
most of that area. The survey was completed from July 27 to
August 1 except for two fields, which were photographed on August
25. Six additional fields, three on each side of Jupiter had been
photographed on July 5 and 6 to record any satellites that would be
hidden in the glare near Jupiter at the time of the principal survey
3 weeks later.
® Mon. Not., vol. 68, p. 873, 1908.
* Publ. Astron. Soc. Pacific, vol. 26, p. 196, 1914.
136 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1940
Very faint satellites would not show on photographs made even
with a large telescope guided in the ordinary way because, during
the necessarily long exposures, they would move, and therefore fail
to register. By moving the telescope to follow Jupiter during the
exposure, images of the very faint satellites which move very little
relative to Jupiter in 1 hour, can be made to fall nearly at the same
spot on the photographic plate during the whole exposure, thus leayv-
ing a visible image. On such a plate the brighter stars make elonga-
ted images easily distinguished from the round image left by a
satellite.
One or more of the thousands of asteroids which revolve around
the Sun between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter registered on
almost every photograph taken in the search. The motions of these
tiny planets are, however, generally faster than that of Jupiter, and
their images are somewhat elongated, although not so much as the
images of stars. About 40 moving objects were found in the course
of the search. Among these were the known satellites VI, VII,
VIII, and IX, and 5 other objects which were moving along with
Jupiter.
Satellites VI and VII were identified by their positions given in
the American Ephemeris and Nautical Almanac, and VIII by an
ephemeris computed by Hertz of Yale. No ephemeris of J IX was
computed until after the survey was finished so that the rediscovery
of that satellite served as a check on the completeness of the survey.
The five unidentified objects were followed until their motions iden-
tified two of them as new satellites of Jupiter® and the other three
as asteroids which happened to be nearly in line with Jupiter for a
few days.
The new moons are very faint and anyone who wishes to observe
them should remember the advice Galileo gave to those who might
try to see the satellites he had just discovered. “I give them warn-
ing, however, again so that they may not approach such an inquiry
to no purpose, that they will need a very accurate telescope.” The
new satellites can be photographed with a telescope smaller than
the 100-inch reflector if a sufficiently long exposure is given but it
would be difficult to photograph them with an aperture much smaller
than 36 inches. No effort has been made to see them that I know
of, and at the present time there is only one telescope with which
they could be seen, the 100-inch telescope of the Mount Wilson Ob-
servatory. All the previously discovered satellites of Jupiter have
been seen with that telescope, even IX, which is just as faint as
XI and almost as faint as X.2 An idea of the extreme faintness of
§ Publ. Astron. Soc. Pacific, vol. 50, p. 252, 1938.
® Publ. Astron. Soc. Pacific, vol. 50, p. 350, 1938.
SATELLITES OF JUPITER-—NICHOLSON 137
these objects may be obtained by comparing their brightness with that
of acandle. If the light of a candle were not absorbed by the earth’s
atmosphere it would have to be viewed from a distance of 3,000
miles in order to appear as faint as they are. They are so small
and so far from the planet that an observer on Jupiter itself would
require a 6-inch telescope to see them. Photographs of an hour’s
exposure with the 100-inch telescope are capable of showing much
fainter objects than those that were found, and the fact that fainter
satellites were not found indicates that, if Jupiter has more undis-
covered satellites, they are probably much fainter than those now
known.
The size of the new satellites, although not directly measurable,
can be inferred from the measured brightness and an assumed value
of the surface brightness.?° Satellite X is fainter than XJ and there-
fore probably smaller. Unless their surfaces are extremely dark,
their diameters must be less than 15 and 19 miles, respectively. The
diameters of the other faint satellites of Jupiter, likewise inferred
from their brightness, are: V and VI, 90 miles; VII and VIII, 25
miles; IX, 19 miles. The satellites discovered by Galileo are huge
in comparison. The smallest is 2,000 miles in diameter, almost the
same size as our Moon; the largest, 3,000 miles in diameter, is as
big as the planet Mercury.
Satellite X, like VI and VII, revolves around Jupiter in a period of
about 260 days, and in the same direction in which they move. The
orbit of satellite XI is still not accurately known but the preliminary
calculations show that it revolves in the same direction as VIII and
IX, in a period of about 700 days.
The five inner satellites form a family group at an average distance
of a little less than 1 million miles from the planet, all revolving
nearly in the plane of Jupiter’s equator. Satellites VI, VII, and X
form another family at a distance of 7 million miles, while VIII,
IX, and XI form still a third, 15 million miles from the planet.
The characteristics of each group are so closely accordant that they
cannot be the result of chance. Whether the small outer satellites
have been captured by Jupiter is a debated question, but the fact
that they exist in families seems to point toward a common origin
for each group unless it can be shown that satellites of Jupiter have
much more stable orbits at distances of 7 and 15 million miles than
at other distances.
Many have asked what the new satellites are to be named. They
will be known only by the numbers X and XI, written in roman
70The diameter of a satellite of Jupiter may be computed by the formula
log d=4.46—0.2 m—log ./p
where @ is the diameter in miles, m is the photographic magnitude at mean opposition,
and p is a factor, closely related to the albedo, which for the darker satellites and asteroids
has a value of about 0.1.
138 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1940
numerals, and usually prefixed by the letter J to identify them with
Jupiter. The four satellites discovered by Galileo were once named
but they are more commonly referred to as satellites I, II, III, and
IV than by their names, Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto. The
satellites of Mars, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune all have names,
although the name of Neptune’s satellite, Triton, is not generally
used. When Barnard discovered the fifth satellite of Jupiter many
names were proposed for it but none was adopted. Barnard thought
that, since the names of the four bright satellites were so little used,
the new satellite should simply be called the Fifth Satellite. His
suggestion was followed and a similar custom has prevailed for all
those discovered since. This custom is very convenient and makes
it possible to foretell the name of the next satellite, should another
be discovered. It will be J XII.
Smithsonian Report, 1940.—Nicholson PLATE 1
SATELLITES X AND XI OF JUPITER.
J X. 1938, August 25. Exposure 31min. Length of star trails 10’. Image centered on plate.
J XI. Discovery plates, 1938, July 30. Exposure 60 min. Length of star trails 15’. The image of the
satellite was 26’ from the center of the plate on the upper reproduction and 29’ on the lower.
CULTURAL VALUES OF PHYSICS*
By Davw Dietz
Science Editor of the Scripps-Howard Newspapers
I
There was a time when the classics formed the cultural bond that
united educated men throughout the world. Every high-school boy
read his Caesar, Cicero, and Virgil in Latin, his Xenophon and
Homer in Greek. He continued in college with Horace and the
other Latin poets and made the acquaintance of the Greek drama-
tists and philosophers. Thus all educated men were bound together
by a common educational experience and their thinking was rooted
in a common source of inspiration, the classical learning of ancient
Rome and Greece.
With the rise of the twentieth century, the classics lost their hold.
I do not suppose that there is a college in America which lists a
knowledge of Greek among its entrance requirements. Many col-
leges, including, of course, the scientific schools, do not require Latin.
The dethronement of the classics is so nearly complete today that
it is doubtful if the young student, stepping upon a college campus
for the first. time, realizes the change which has taken place in the
structure of education. I carry a sharp picture of the changing
process since it was my interesting fortune to live through it.
The decline of the classics has, unquestionably, been a byproduct
of the rise of science. Many educators, however, have lamented the
fact that there is no longer a common cultural tie among learned
men. For with the rise of science has come the rise of specialties
and with the rise of specialties has come a division of tongues.
Each specialist speaks a language of his own and this fact has
sometimes been a handicap to understanding and a stumbling block
to progress.
It is inevitable that each specialist must pursue his own line of
attack farther and farther into the frontier of the unknown. It is,
therefore, equally inevitable that these pioneers must draw away
1 Address given at the annua] meeting of the Pennsylvania Conference of College Physics
Teachers, Pennsylvania State College, October 14, 1938. Reprinted by permission from
Journal of Applied Physics, vol. 10, February 1939.
129
140 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1940
farther and farther from each other. But this makes it all the
more essential that there be some common bond of understanding
both for them and for all educated men in general.
Since this is preeminently an age of science, an age chiefly dis-
tinguished for its advances in scientific understanding and engineer-
ing achievement, it is obvious that such a common basis must be
found in the realm of science. I am firmly convinced that there is
only one subject that can furnish this necessary foundation for mod-
ern education. It is the subject of physics. I wish to urge, there-
fore, that educators everywhere give thought to ways of shaping
educational policies to bring about this united emphasis upon the
teaching of physics.
II
Physics derives its first great cultural value from the fact that
the present age cannot be understood without an understanding of
physics. Physics is the foundation stone of the age in which we
live. It was ushered in by discoveries in the realm of physics.
It was the announcement of the X-ray by Roentgen in 1895, fol-
lowed in quick succession by Becquerel’s disclosure of radioactivity,
the isolation of radium by the Curies, and the researches into the
nature of the atom and the electronic theory of matter by Thomson,
Lorentz, Rutherford, Soddy, and others which ushered in the mag-
nificent edifice of twentieth-century science. These discoveries not
only set the pace but furnished the foundation for the century’s
growth. In 1900 the electron was a theory. In the next decade,
Dr. Millikan was to perform his famous experiments to measure
the electric charge upon the electron, experiments destined to win
the Nobel prize in physics. Today, the world has put the electron to
work. In the vacuum tubes of our radio sets, in the photoelectric
cell, in other electronic tubes and in the X-ray tube, we are making
daily use of the electron (1).?
It will be seen, therefore, that only through a knowledge of phy-
sics can the student gain the historical perspective needed for an
understanding of the temper and the tempo of the age in which
we live.
But we need an understanding of physics just as much for the
comprehension of the individual details which make up the picture
of our modern age. Without it, the radio set is a complete riddle,
the gasoline engine becomes a baffling puzzle, the electric light, a
mystery without explanation. We can only understand these things
and the countless other mechanical and electrical marvels around us
2? Numbers in parentheses refer to bibliography at end of article.
CULTURAL VALUES OF PHYSICS—DIETZ 14]
with the aid of the principles of physics. And this fact brings me
to another great cultural value of physics.
Physics derives its second great cultural value from the fact that
it is the foundation of all the sciences. This has not always been
realized for many reasons.
In the first place, a trick of language alienated physics from its
offspring and obscured the connection. Applied physics became
known as engineering and the applications of physics were dissemi-
nated under the names of mechanical engineering, civil engineering
metallurgy, electrical engineering, and so on. But let us not forget
that it was the physicist who launched each of these specialties. It
was Galileo who laid down the fundamental laws of the machine.
Newton’s mathematical expression of Galileo’s dictum, force equals
mass times acceleration, is the foundation of every machine in the
world. Similarly, electrical engineering grew from the experiments
of Oersted, Ampére, Faraday, and Ohm. The first principles of
every engineering science are the laws of physics and no real under-
standing of engineering advances is possible without a knowledge
of physics.
The fundamental position of physics as the foundation stone of all
science was missed, in the second place, because in certain branches
of science this relationship was not at first clear. It took time
to bring the development of atomic theory to the point where it
was plain that chemical phenomena represented the operation of
' physical laws. Today we see the relationship of chemistry to phys-
ics clearly expressed by the use of the term “physical chemistry”
which, perhaps, might just as well be written “chemical physics.”
The chemist invokes the laws of physics to explain the behavior of
atoms and often we find both chemists and physicists working upon
identical problems.
Biology, long regarded as a thing apart, has been brought into
the fold of the physical sciences. This recognition of relationship
was first celebrated with the creation of “biochemistry,” a field of
research which has been unusually fruitful. More recently this
has been extended into “biophysics.” Not long ago I was talking
to the director of an important medical laboratory in the Middle
West. “You will be surprised to know the latest addition to my
staff,” he said. “It is a full-time physicist.”
This new demand for well-trained mathematical and experimental
physicists in many laboratories outside the realm of physics, is one
of the most interesting and important trends of our times. Not only
are chemical, biological, and medical laboratories seeking the aid
and services of physicists, but many industrial laboratories are dis-
covering that chemists and engineers are not sufficient to deal with
the intricate problems met today in mining, metallurgy, electrical
142 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1940
design and construction, and many other fields. ‘This trend was dis-
cussed at some length at the Conference on Industrial Physics ar-
ranged by the physics department of the University of Pittsburgh on
November 15, 1935 (2). I had the honor of appearing on that
program (8) and I remember well the discussions there, particularly
the paper by Dr. A. W. Hull of the General Electric Co. entitled
“Putting Physics to Work” (4).
The physicist is doing his share to usher in the new world of taller
buildings, longer bridges, swifter trains, safer aircraft, and finer
homes, a new world of greater beauty, deeper comfort, and smoother
efficiency. He is helping to build this new world out of stronger
steels, tougher alloys, better aluminum products, more useful plastics,
harder abrasives, more powerful machine tools, and more ingenious
automatic controls.
Iil
A third great cultural value of physics is derived from the im-
portance of physics for the future. I like to talk about the future
for I believe that we should face the future with courage and confi-
dence. I believe that the world will move within the next century
into a period far more remarkable than the present, and I believe
that the leadership for this great progress will come from America.
T have spoken of the taller buildings, the longer bridges, and the
faster trains and airplanes that are now evolving. But no bigger
mistake could be made than to think of the future as nothing more
than an exaggerated picture of the present.
This is the mistake, as the British satirist and caricaturist, Max
Beerbohm, has pointed out, that every century has made. The six-
teenth century thought that the seventeenth century would be only
a magnified picture of itself. The seventeenth thought the same of
the eighteenth, and the eighteenth thought likewise of the nineteenth.
Yet each century had a personality and a development all its own.
How smug the nineteenth century was in this regard can best be
described by borrowing a story from Dr. Millikan. He tells how, as
a student in Europe, he attended the annual session of the British
Association for the Advancement of Science in 1893. An eminent
British physicist rose to address that august assembly and spent his
time giving thanks that he had lived at the close of the nineteenth
century. For, he said, the nineteenth century had seen the compietion
of the great edifice of physics. All the laws of nature had been discov-
ered and cataloged. Nothing remained for the physicists of the future
but to repeat the experiments of the past. Perhaps some twentieth-
century physicist might carry to four decimal places a determination
which the nineteenth-century physicist had left at three.
And how quickly that smug view of nature was overturned! Just
2 years later, in 1895, Roentgen showed the German Physical Society
CULTURAL VALUES OF PHYSICS—DIETZ 143
the world’s first X-ray pictures. Those pictures—so commonplace
today, so startling then, the picture of coins and keys showing through
the leather walls of a purse, of bones showing through the skin and
flesh of a human hand—those pictures were proof that far from com-
pleting the cataloging of nature’s laws, the nineteenth-century phys-
icist had only made a beginning.
In thinking of the twenty-first century, I would ask you not to look
at those things which represent the most complete accomplishments of
our present day but to look at those things which we are just now
beginning to comprehend. I would ask you to visit the laboratories
and study the researches under way rather than to visit the factory
or the market place to study the finished achievements.
Sometimes these laboratory experiments look confused and useless,
but let us not fool ourselves. I am reminded of the story of the
visit which the Prime Minister of England paid to Faraday’s lab-
oratory at the Royal Institution in London. Faraday was then en-
gaged in those experiments upon the laws of electricity, experiments
in physics, if you please, from which have come every electric
generator, transformer, and motor in the world.
“What’s the use of all this?” the Prime Minister asked Faraday.
“Don’t worry, milord,” Faraday is said to have replied, “you’ll tax
it yet.”
When we recall all the taxes paid today by the electrical industry,
and all the taxes we help pay when we pay our electric-light bills,
we are inclined to agree with Faraday.
And I am reminded of another story, this one about our own great
statesman, patriot, and physicist, Benjamin Franklin. That worthy
did many things his neighbors did not altogether understand, like
flying kites, for example. One day, a neighbor woman asked Ben
the very same question that the Prime Minister had asked Fara-
day. “Ben,” she said, “what’s the use of all this?” And Franklin
being a good Yankee, replied in Yankee fashion with another ques-
tion. “What’s the use of a baby?” he asked.
We all know the answer to that question. A baby can grow up
to be a very useful man or woman, and when we see the veritable
giant into which the baby electricity has grown, we realize the wis-
dom of Franklin.
Now when you attempt to picture the future I want you to give
thought to some of the babies of the physical laboratory. They
will grow up to make the twenty-first century a personality in its
own right, different from the century we know.
I think first of the “babies” in the field of the production of
power. The age in which we live rests upon a foundation of phys-
ical power. Imagine, for a moment, what would happen to our great
cities if electric power and the power of the gasoline engine were
144 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1940
suddenly removed. Every electric light would go out. Every
electric motor would stop. Every automobile would become useless.
Physical power is the basis of economic and national power. Pro-
fessor Leith, of the University of Wisconsin, has pointed out that it is
often said that the World War transferred world power from Great
Britain to America. But he believes that the World War only made
evident what had already happened. In the nineteenth century,
Great Britain produced half of the world’s physical power. Today,
the output of energy in the United States from coal, oil, natural gas,
and water power amounts to half of the world’s total. It is this
fact, rather than the last war, Professor Leith believes, that explains
the dominant position of America in the world of today (5).
Any new source of energy, therefore, will be of supreme importance
to the future and a cheap and abundant source of energy will change
the shape of the future in ways which we can only attempt to guess.
As is well known to you, attempts are being made to find such sources
of power.
It is being sought, first of all, in attempts to put the sun to work.
It would not be fair to say that the sun’s energy goes to waste, since
its light and heat makes life upon this earth possible. But it is
perfectly true that we waste the greater part of the energy which the
sun sends us. It has been calculated that the amount of energy fall-
ing upon every square yard of earth’s surface per second is the equiv-
alent of 114 horsepower.
Physicists have long dreamed of putting this solar energy to
work. One of the first suggestions made was to concentrate the
sun’s heat by means of mirrors upon a steam boiler. Dr. C. G.
Abbot, Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, has been a pio-
neer in this field, and his solar engine (6), which has been ex-
hibited at meetings of the American Association for the Advance-
ment of Science, at the Great Lakes Exhibition in Cleveland, and
elsewhere, is well known to many of you. Dr. Abbot incorporated
many ingenious features in his device. A parabolic mirror con-
centrates sunlight upon the boiler which is actually two concentric
glass tubes with a vacuum between them. Thus while there is only
a slight barrier to the entrance of the sun’s radiant energy, there
is a considerable barrier against the loss of heat by atmospheric
conduction. Steam is generated in the inner tube upon the flash-
boiler principle.
Another method for the utilization of solar energy which seems
highly promising to many scientists is the conversion of sunlight
into electricity by photoelectric methods.
About a year ago, on a visit to the research laboratories of the
Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Co. at East Pittsburgh,
I was shown four photoelectric cells like those used in light meters
CULTURAL VALUES OF- PHYSICS—DIETZ 145
which had been connected to a toy electric motor, the sort you might
buy for a small boy at Christmas. When sunlight fell upon the
cells, enough electricity was generated to run the motor. The re-
search men referred to the motor laughingly as “a 1 fiy-power
motor.” But, again, it must be remembered that we were looking
at a scientific baby.
Perhaps the day will come when our houses will be roofed with
photoelectric cells, instead of shingles, and we will make electricity,
instead of hay, while the sun shines.
It is of the utmost significance that during the present year both
Harvard University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology
were given funds totaling about $1,000,000 by Dr. Godfrey L.
Cabot to investigate the problem of solar energy. M. I. T. is to
concentrate upon the direct utilization of solar energy by such
means as I have been describing, while Harvard is to investigate
photosynthesis, the method by which plants utilize solar energy.
Another direction in which many scientists are looking for a new
source of energy is the interior of the atom. That the conversion
of matter into energy would release tremendous stores of power was
shown as early as 1905 when Albert Einstein wrote his equations
for the inertia of energy. Experiments in artificial radioactivity
during the last 5 years have confirmed these equations of Einstein.
As you know, it has been calculated that the atomic energy in a
glass of water would be enough to drive an ocean liner from New
York to Cherbourg and back again. It is easy to see how different
a world this would be if, instead of filling your automobile tank
with gasoline every other day, you merely filled it with water once
a year.
Second in importance to power in this world of ours, is the pos-
session of raw materials. Here again we are fortunate to be citizens
of America since this Nation is the largest owner, producer, and con-
sumer of minerals, leading in the production of iron, copper, lead,
zinc, aluminum, phosphates, gypsum, and sulphur (5).
But the world’s greatest reservoir of minerals is the ocean. A
new world would dawn if we once learned to mine the ocean suc-
cessfully. This is not as wild an idea as it sounds, for, as many of
you know, a successful beginning has already been made.
If you use ethyl gasoline in your automobile, the chances are
that it was made with bromine that was mined from the ocean. At
Kure Beach, near Wilmington, N. C., is the plant of the Ethyl-
Dow Chemical Co. Sea water is pumped through the plant and
bromine extracted from it by a relatively simple chemical process.
During the course of a year, the two giant, electrically driven cen-
trifugal pumps lift about a square mile of ocean, 80 feet deep, into
the towers of the Ethyl-Dow plant at Kure Beach. Chemists of the
146 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1940
plant calculate that while they got the bromine out of that volume
of sea water they missed about $96,379,460 worth of mineral wealth.
Included in it was $29,800 worth of silver and $42,000 worth of gold.
While gold and silver appeal to our imaginations, a far greater
amount of wealth was in that sea water in the form of sodium
chloride, epsom salts, calcium chloride, potassium chloride, alumi-
num, magnesium, strontium carbonate, iron, copper, and iodine.
From the physical laboratory may come techniques in the future
which will extend the ability of man to mine the ocean. And it
iakes little imagination to perceive how profoundly this will change
the trend of civilization.
I have alluded to the new studies at Harvard upon photosynthesis.
Perhaps some day, as Dr. Slosson once suggested, we may know as
much chemistry as a tree. Perhaps we should say as much physics
as a tree. When that day comes, artificial photosynthesis will be
possible, and perhaps we will solve the farm problem by abolishing
the farm and the cycle of the soil and by manufacturing our food in
factories run by sunlight.
We may also expect great changes in the future from the appli-
cation of physics to biology and medicine. Recently, as some of you
know, I undertook to survey the field of medicine in my book,
Medical Magic. I devoted the last chapter of the book to a glance
at the future and in it I wrote: “Of one thing we can be certain: that
every advance in chemistry and physics, every new step in the
understanding of the behavior of the molecule, the atom, and the
electron, will have its influence upon medical progress. Already the
medical laboratories of the world are making use of all the knowledge
that physics and chemistry has to offer” (7).
IV
An example of the application of the technique of physics to
biology is the development of the so-called brain-wave machine in
which vacuum-tube amplifiers are used to amplify the electrical
currents generated in the brain. A new concept of brain activity
and a new understanding of the nerve cell, its functions, and its
behavior, are coming from these studies.
In the study of the potent drugs of life, the hormones, the vita-
mins, the enzymes, and the other important chemical factors, the
constant attempt is to isolate them in pure crystalline form so that
they may be studied with all the resources of the modern chemical]
and physical laboratory.
Biologists have always associated activity with life, and for many
decades now they have known that a vast amount of action goes on
within the living organism. They have been aware of the beating
CULTURAL VALUES OF PHYSICS—DIETZ 147
of the heart that keeps the blood in circulation, the rhythmic motion
of the lungs that supplies oxygen to the blood stream, the complex
chemical activities of the digestive apparatus and other organs.
More recently they have learned something about the living drug
factories, the ductless glands, and about the electrochemical messages
that flow along the nerve fibers.
But new experiments, applying the latest discoveries of atomic
physics to the problems of physiology, have disclosed a veritable
cyclone of activity within the human body such as was never before
suspected. The recent discovery of artificial radioactivity has made
possible these new findings.
At the Harvard Tercentenary Conference, Prof. August Krogh (8),
the distinguished biologist of the University of Copenhagen, reported
experiments in which radioactive phosphorus was fed to rats. He
reported that within a short time this radioactive phosphorus had
left the blood, exchanging places with the ordinary phosphorus of
the tissues. This exchange involved the muscles and other organs.
Even more astounding, he said, was the fact that this radioactive
phosphorus found its ways into the bones and teeth. He believes,
therefore, that we must change our views of the structure of living
organisms, accepting a constant movement of atoms within it such
us WaS hever previously pictured.
It is interesting to speculate what life may be like when our
knowledge of the chemistry and physics of the human body has
become so great as to give us such control over it as is undreamed
of today.
Perhaps the tme is coming when it will be possible to make a
hormone survey of the growing child. A few drops of his blood,
carefully extracted from a pinprick in a finger, placed in a test tube
and sent to the laboratory for analysis, may reveal far more about
the child than any present-day method. Perhaps by that day, the
physician will also possess sufiicient knowledge to act upon what the
analysis will show.
Who can say how successful these methods may prove eventually ?
Perhaps the muscles of the strongest child are the rightful heritage
of every child, the keenest brain the birthright of every infant.
The whole world is thrilled when a youthful Yehudi Menuhin
strides out upon the concert stage, playing the works of Beethoven
and Brahms with the brilliant understanding of a mature genius.
The whole world stares in amazement when an 8-year-old boy turns
out to be a “marvel” at chess, playing 50 simultaneous matches against
masters of the game and winning them all.
Perhaps the genius that makes a Yehudi Menuhin or a chess
marvel lurks within every child.
280256—41——11
148 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1940
If you drive an automobile you have no doubt experienced a time
when the car developed engine trouble. The motor sputtered and
backfired; it ran haltingly and noisily. You took the car to a
garage where a trained mechanic rolled up his sleeves and got out
an assortment of tools and wrenches. He regulated the carburetor
and made other minor adjustments. Soon the engine began to run
smoothly and quietly, quickly gaining its full efficiency.
It may be that every human being is like the automobile engine
that is not quite correctly adjusted. It may be that tiny adjustments,
if we knew how to make them, would open up the potentiality of
genius for every child. Perhaps that hope is extravagant, but
there seems every reason to believe that the time is coming when
far more will be accomplished to insure stronger bodies, healthier
nerves, stabler dispositions, and keener minds for every child than
at the present time.
ve
Physics derives its fourth great cultural value from the fact that
it is the foundation stone of all attempts to understand the universe.
We have just been considering the basic relationship which physics
bears to chemistry and biology. That relationship applies equally
to astronomy and cosmogony. I attempted to trace this essential
unity of the universe in my first book, The Story of Science (9).
The universe is one. The same fundamental laws that govern
the electrons in the atom control the stars in the Milky Way.
Modern science has achieved its greatest triumph in tracing the
organization of the universe from the tiny electron to the great clouds
of galaxies. This has been done with the aid of physics. Perhaps
it was in this field that the importance of physics was first most
clearly realized. Galileo was an astronomer as well as a physicist
and the laws which he and later Newton developed were seen at
once to apply to the heavens as well as the earth. Appropriately
enough the study of planetary motions was christened “celestial
mechanics.”
Newton in his law of universal gravitation stated a rule that
applies as truly to the double star 500 light-years away as it does
to the apple falling from the branch of a tree.
The kinship of physics and astronomy became clearer with the
investigations of the nature of light and the invention of the spectro-
scope, and this kinship was duly celebrated with the christening
of this branch of study as “astrophysics.”
In his attempts to solve the problem of the evolution of the galaxy,
the genesis of the sun’s heat, the origin of the solar system, and
many other fascinating problems of the heavens, the astronomer
turns to the knowledge which the physicist has accumulated about
CULTURAL VALUES OF PHYSICS—DIETZ 149
the behavior of subatomic particles and energy photons. He employs
the experimental apparatus of the physics laboratory and the equa-
tions of the mathematical physicist.
“Matter and force are the two names of the one Artist who fashions
the living as well as the lifeless,” wrote the great Huxley. But the
modern view puts the greater emphasis upon energy.
“All the life of the universe,” says Sir James Jeans, “may be
regarded as manifestations of energy masquerading in various forms,
and all the changes in the universe as energy running about from one
of these forms to the other, but always without altering its total
amount” (10).
In our attempts to construct a universe, therefore, we may regard
all the various subatomic particles as concentrated energy, “bottled
energy” if you please, since the recent experiments with artificial
radioactivity have verified Einstein’s equation of 1905 for the conver-
sion of matter into energy and vice versa.
It is interesting to ask what ingredients we need for the construc-
tion of a universe in addition to energy. A generation ago we should
have required space and time, but now we need only the space-time
continuum of Einstein.
We need certain forces within this space-time continuum—the force
of gravity, electromagnetic forces, the nuclear binding forces which
Tuve and his associates have disclosed, and perhaps the cosmic force
of repulsion to account for the expanding universe of Lemaitre. For
the study of all these we must turn to physics. And then, perhaps,
we shall eventually in the fashion set forth in Einstein’s field theory
come to regard all of them as manifestations of the space-time field.
But whatever decision we may reach eventually, it is apparent that
the man without training in physics cannot work successfully in this
field and the man without a knowledge of physics cannot hope to have
an intelligent understanding of what is being done.
Needless to state, this is a field in which every person, however
slight his formal education has been, shows a keen interest. Speaking
2 years ago before the American Association for the Advancement of
Science upon the subject of Science and the American Press (11), I
sought to trace the factors which accounted for the present-day wide-
spread interest in science. I pointed out that the interest in EKinstein’s
theory of relativity was one of the chief factors in the rapid growth
of interest in science immediately following the World War.
T have tried to show so far that a knowledge of physics is necessary
for an understanding of the age in which we live, for an understand-
ing of all science, for an understanding of the future, and for an
understanding of the universe in which we live. Before concluding
150 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1940
I wish briefly to list certain virtues to be gained from the study of
physics. These constitute the remaining cultural values of physics
which I want to discuss.
VI
Physics derives its fifth great cultural value from the fact that it
teaches the meaning and the value of natural law. This discovery
of the existence of the laws of nature has been one of man’s greatest
triumphs. It has changed his whole intellectual outlook.
To ancient man the universe was a chaos, governed by caprice. In
order to explain its phenomena, he found it necessary to people the
heavens with a host of minor gods and goddesses, and the mountains
and streams with a varied throng of giants, nymphs, and spirits. The
occurrence of an eclipse, the appearance of a comet, the gathering
of the thunderstorm, and the flash of the lightning were interpreted
as the activities of these mythological personages.
Gradually science revealed the order of the cosmos. It taught that
the universe was orderly, functioning in response to well-established
laws. A corollary of the existence of these laws is the important fact
that their willful neglect leads automatically to its own inexorable
penalty.
A sixth great cultural value of physics arises from the fact that
it teaches precision. Experiments must be planned with precision.
Observations and measurements must be precise. Thinking must be
definite and logical. This is a lesson well worth learning. The stu-
dent who carries habits of precision from the physical laboratory to
the outside world is the richer thereby.
A seventh great cultural value of physics is that it inculcates a love
for the truth and a desire to attain it. I have dwelled at some length
upon the present and future applications of physics.
To the scientist, the practical applications have always been sec-
ondary. He has sought primarily to understand nature and the
universe. Galileo, meditating upon the laws of motion, was trying to
understand the workings of nature. He was not thinking of engines
and machines. Maxwell, seeking to explain the nature of light, had
no thought of the radio. This does not mean that science is con-
temptuous of its practical uses. The opposite is true. But it does
mean that the true scientist is motivated by a higher aim than to make
life easier. He wishes also to ennoble and to enrich life. The spirit
of science then is, first of all, the wish to know, the urge to seek, the
desire to comprehend the universe.
I have sometimes noticed that people who have had no training
in science, and therefore have no adequate understanding of its spirit,
are confused by this point. I have had them come to me, for ex-
ample, and ask, “What is the practical use of the Einstein theory?”
They understand that scientists regard Einstein as the greatest scien-
CULTURAL VALUES OF PHYSICS—DIBTZ 151
tific mind since Newton, perhaps as the greatest scientific mind of
all time. But they cannot understand that the scientist venerates the
great excursions which Einstein has made into the realm of
understanding.
The pursuit of physics, therefore, is valuable in that it will incul-
cate this point of view in the student and give him a richer outlook
upon life.
The eighth great cultural value of physics is its ability to instill
the spirit of courage in its students. In this respect physics is one
with the other sciences, for the scientist has never been bound by
ancient tradition. Copernicus dared to cast aside the Ptolemaic
theory though it had dominated man’s thoughts for centuries. Vesa-
lus challenged the authority of Galen’s anatomy even though it had
ruled since the time of the Romans. Scientists did not fear Newton’s
“Principia” because it was new. They did not flee from Maxwell’s
electromagnetic theory of light because it was revolutionary.
Twentieth-century scientists have not rejected Planck and Ruther-
ford and Schrédinger and Einstein because their ideas were new.
On the contrary, they have rejoiced in each new discovery. This is
the courage which the world needs constantly, the spirit to forge
ahead, to discover new truths, and to face them when they have been
discovered.
The ninth great cultural value of physics is that it instills the
spirit of tolerance. The physicist knows that there is no monopoly
upon truth. He sees the advance of science as a great cooperative
venture of all nations and peoples down through the years. The roll
of every science is an international one. Copernicus was a Pole;
Tycho, a Dane; Kepler, a German; Galileo, an Italian; Newton, an
Englishman. The story is the same today. The theory of Einstein
receives its chief verifications at the hands of English and American
scientists.
The scientist is tolerant of other men’s points of view. Realizing
how frequently he must change his own views in the face of new evi-
dence, he is never scornful of the other man’s point of view. He
realizes how little mankind knows and how much is yet to be learned
and the realization makes him tolerant.
The twentieth-century physicist is peculiarly aware of the danger
of jumping to dogmatic and sweeping conclusions on insufficient evi-
dence. He is cognizant of the mistake which the nineteenth-century
physicist made in concluding that the structure of physics had been
completed and that he was justified from that structure in believing
in a purely mechanistic universe.
Today, the physicist is aware of the change in our thinking which
has been introduced by the Einstein theory of relativity and the
Heisenberg uncertainty principle.
152 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1940
Proud as he is of the precision of his experiments and his thinking
he realizes that there is, seemingly, today a place where precision
breaks down. He knows, from the Heisenberg principle of uncer-
tainty, that he can never measure both the position and the velocity
of an electron with exactness. What he achieves in exactness in
measuring position, he loses in exactness in velocity, and vice versa.
He is careful not to jump to conclusions too quickly from this fact,
although physicists everywhere are studying it. Thus Bohr, for
example, has extended this principle to other pairs of measurements
and calls these paired quantities “conjugate quantities,” and the rela-
tionship between the two “complementary.”
What may come of this we do not yet know. It is a strange fact
indeed that Planck’s constant enters the picture at this point. The
product of the uncertainty in the case of two conjugate quantities is
never less than Planck’s constant. It appears to set a natural limit
on the exactness of measurement in the atomic world.
The physicist is impressed by many other problems awaiting solu-
tions and for these reasons, therefore, his spirit is the spirit of
tolerance.
And finally we come to the tenth great cultural value of physics.
This value arises from the fact that the spirit of physics is the spirit
of humanity.
Einstein taught us that the observer is always part of the experi-
ment. There is no such thing as setting up an experiment which is a
closed system independent of the observer. While the physicist may
have thought that possible in the past, nevertheless there never was
a time when the physicist forgot human values.
The physicist has always been concerned for the future of man-
kind. The picture of the scientist as a man who shuts himself away
like a hermit in a cave is an unfair picture. There are, of course,
such individuals but they are not representative of science.
Let Einstein, whose theories represent man’s greatest flight today
into the world of the abstract, speak for the scientist’s interest in
the concrete facts of life. In February 1931, while visiting in Pasa-
dena, he addressed the students of the California Institute of
Technology.
“Why does this magnificent applied science which saves work, and
makes life easier, bring us so little happiness?” he said. “The simple
answer is: Because we have not yet learned to make sensible use of
it.”
“Tt is not enough that you should understand about applied
science, in order that your work may increase man’s blessings,” Kin-
stein told the students. “Concern for the man himself and his fate
must always form the chief interest of all technical endeavors. Nev-
er forget this in the midst of your diagrams and equations.”
CULTURAL VALUES OF PHYSICS——DIETZ 153
How much the world needs this spirit today is evident if we turn
our attention to recent events in Europe. One cannot resist com-
paring these words of Einstein’s with the words of the man who
drove him out of Germany. No doubt you heard his speech of hate,
filled with the rattle of the saber and the threat of war, that was
broadcast to the world during the Czechoslovak crisis.
A decade ago, H. G. Wells pictured the world in a race between
education and destruction. That afternoon, as those words of hate
boomed forth from radios everywhere, it seemed as though destruc-
tion was about to win.
The dictators of Europe have made no secret of their contempt for
democracy and for the freedom of thought and expression which is
not only the life of democracy but the life of all science as well.
But will destruction win in the end? I am one who does not think
so. Iam certain that it will not so long as America remains faithful
to its belief in democracy.* Therein lies the importance of our edu-
cational system for what we teach the young men and women in the
schools today will determine the conviction of the citizens of
tomorrow.
VII
I have urged in this address that we shape our educational system
so that physics be given the position once occupied by the classics as
the common cultural bond that united all educated men. In conclusion
jet me list the 10 cultural values which I have discussed and which, in
my opinion, justify this place of honor for the science of physics:
(1) Physics is the foundation of the present age and a knowledge of
physics is necessary for its complete understanding. (2) Physies
seems to be the foundation of every science and all of them can be bet-
ter understood with an understanding of the principles of physics.
(3) The greatest advances of the future will probably be based upon
the new discoveries of physics. (4) Our understanding of the cosmos
and the picture of the universe given by modern cosmology is founded
upon the science of physics. (5) Physics teaches the importance of
natural law. (6) Physics teaches precision in observation, experi-
mentation, and deduction. (7) The spirit of physics is the search for
the truth. (8) The spirit of physics is the spirit of courage. (9) The
spirit of physics is the spirit of tolerance. And finally, (10) the spirit
of physics is the spirit of humanity.
I call upon you to have courage and to labor with faith for the future
of civilization, for the dawn of that day when the spirit of physics,
the spirit of all science, will triumph over the forces of blind hatred,
of crue] violence, of bigotry and intolerance. God grant that the dawn
may be soon.
® Many events have occurred in Europe since the presentation of this paper in October
1938. But I see no reason to change my view on this point.
154
(1)
(2)
(3)
(4)
(5)
(6)
(7)
(8)
(9)
ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1940
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Compton, Kart T.
1937. The electron: its intellectual and social significance. Science,
vol. 85, pp. 27-37.
HuicHINson, BH.
1935. Conference on industrial physics. Rey. Sci. Instr., vol. 6, p. 381.
Dietz, DAVID.
1936. Science, Unele Sam and the future. Rev. Sci. Instr., vol. 7, pp. 1-5.
Hulu, A. W.
1935. Putting physics to work. Rev. Sci. Instr., vol. 6, p. 377.
LritH, C. K.
1931. World minerals and world politics. Pp. 48-49. Whittlesey House.
Apsgot, C. G.
1936. Energy from the sun. Sci. Amer., vol. 154, p. 197.
DIEtTz, DAvID.
1937. Medical magic. P. 344. Dodd, Mead.
KroeH, AUGUST.
1987. Use of isotopes as indicators in biological research. Science, vol.
85, pp. 187-191.
DirEtTz, DAvID.
19386. The story of science. 4th ed., pp. 342-353. Dodd, Mead.
(10) JEANS, Sm JAMES.
1934, The universe around us. 3d ed., pp. 114-115. Macmillan.
(11) Drerz, Davi.
1937. Science and the American press. Science, vol. 85, pp. 107-112.
NUCLEAR FISSION?
By Kart K,. Darrow
Bell Telephone Laboratories
Some time this summer the art of transmutation will come to its
majority; that is to say, 21 years will have passed since the day it was
born in Rutherford’s laboratory. Infancy and adolescence for this
urt have been marked by more stages than we generally count for
human children; I propose to distinguish six. Here follows a table
of six great events in the story of transmutation, beginning with birth
and ending with fission, which, by the way, bears a name that in
biology means a certain sort of birth. Each of them lifted the art to
a higher level with a broader scope. It is only the sixth and latest
which is my topic, but all the others lead up to it, as I will show
immediately with the table for my text.
Table of great events in hisiory of transmutation
1919. First success with helium nuclei (energy of activation derived from
radium, etc.).
1982. First success with hydrogen nuclei (energy of activation derived from
voltage).
1932. Recognition of the liberated neutron.
1934. Recognition of radioactive bodies resulting from transmutation.
1934. Slow neutrons used to produce transmutation, this resulting in radioactive
bodies.
1939. Recognition of fission.
Be it said that, in general, transmutation takes place when two
nuclei meet and enter into a reaction with each other. They are made
to meet by projecting one against the other, and accordingly we
speak of one as the projectile and of the other as the target. Trans-
mutation does not occur whenever a projectile comes into the neigh-
borhood of a target nucleus, but only on rare occasions which I will
call “lucky hits.” There are four principal kinds of projectiles in
use for transmutation: Helium nuclei—hydrogen nuclei of two sorts,
the light and the heavy—and neutrons. Three stages of my chro-
nology have been marked with theirnames. The phenomena of fission
1 Delivered before the National Academy of Sciences at its Washington meeting, April 28,
1940. Reprinted by permission from Science, n. s., vol. 91, May 31, 1940.
155
156 ANNUAL REPOR’ SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1940
are produced with neutrons as the projectiles and uranium? as the
target, and they therefore belong in the fifth stage of the chronology.
But they also depend on the first and the second stages, for neutrons
are always obtained by bombarding various targets with projectiles of
the first three kinds; and of course they depend on the third, because
if the neutron had not been recognized it would hardly now be in
use as a tool. Moreover, they depend upon the fourth; the phenom-
ena of fission were first detected because the new-born elements re-
sulting from it are radioactive, and to this day they are often, though
not always, observed through this radioactivity. Next it will be
noticed that instead of putting fission into the fifth stage, I gave
it a line and a stage to itself, and said “recognition of fission” instead
of “discovery of fission.” This was not in order to compose a three-
word poem, but because the phenomena were detected about 4 years
before they were properly analyzed; a strange and interesting story,
for which, however, there is not space.
Now I make final use of the table in speaking about energy. Every-
one has heard so much about the gigantic energies and the huge
voltages required for transmutation, that anyone may be pardoned
for thinking that transmutation is a process which swallows up
enormous quantities of energy—which is strongly endothermic, to
use the chemical word. Well, there are many transmutations that
swallow energy up without restoring it, but many of them give back
much more than they receive. I mean by this simply that whenever
a projectile makes a “lucky” hit on a target the total energy of motion
of the new-born nuclei is greater than that of the projectile. On
balance the experimenter does spend much more energy than is re-
jleased, because of the amount which he is obliged to squander on
projectiles which never make lucky hits; but if one considers only
those which do transmute, then their energy may well be smaller and
even very much smaller than that which appears on the new-born
nuclei. This is what I mean to suggest by using the name “energy of
activation” for the energy which hydrogen or helium nuclei must have
in order to make them efficient projectiles. It is, however, the release
of energy which is one of the spectacular features of fission.
This release of energy is indeed amazing. When the process occurs
in any single nucleus there is released—in the form of kinetic
energy of the new-born particles—the appalling amount of 175,000,000
electron-volts. To get a notion of what this figure means, remember
that in the synthesis of hydrogen and oxygen into water—perhaps
the most terrific explosion of all of chemistry—there is released
2 The lecture was confined to the fission of uranium by slow neutrons. “Fast’’ neutrons
(of energies amounting to a million or millions of electron-volts) produce fission of a differ-
ent isotope of uranium, and also of thorium and of protectinium.
NUCLEAR FISSION——-DARROW 157
between two and three electron-volts for each pair of reacting mole-
cules; and in the notorious explosives of industry and war, such as
TNT and nitroglycerine, not even so much as that.
Now I have said that fission occurs when a slow neutron impinges
on a uranium nucleus, and that an enormous amount of energy is
released, and that the resulting new-born elements are radioactive;
but I have not yet said what these new-born elements are. This is
the second of the astonishing features of fission. All other transmu-
tations have resulted in changing the target element to some other
not more than two steps away from it in the periodic table of the
elements. In this periodic table, uranium stands at the ninety-second
and last place; but the no fewer than 16 different elements thus far
identified among the “fission-products” (as they are called) stand
in places ranging from the thirty-fifth to the fifty-seventh! What
happens in fission is therefore something never before observed—the
division of a massive nucleus into two nearly equal fragments. In
ordinary transmutations of heavy nuclei, a particle small in both
charge and mass pops into a nucleus, and another particle small in
charge and mass pops out. In this kind of transmutation a particle
of small mass and no charge at all wanders into a uranium nucleus,
and the nucleus promptly bursts apart into two pieces not exactly
alike indeed but not very different from one another. Fission in
biology is the division of a cell into two which are very much alike
in size, and this is the source of the name.
As for the fact that fission results in so many different types of
nucleus instead of just two, that probably has a double meaning.
Many of the radioactive bodies which are observed during and
after fission are clearly not the original fragments of the explosions,
for after the neutron influx is suspended they increase for a while
in amount instead of diminishing. It is clear that these are descend-
ants of the original fission fragments, and the question as to which
are really the original ones is at present a very live one. Theory
suggests that the initial fragment-pair need not always be the same.
One nucleus, on being entered by a neutron, may burst into barium
and krypton, another into xenon and strontium, another perhaps into
caesium and rubidium. (Note that the members of these element-
pairs are so chosen that their atomic numbers add up to 92, which
is a way of saying that the entire positive charge of the uranium
nucleus must be found upon the two initial fragments immediately
after the explosion.) Whatever the initial fragment-pair may be,
one at least of its members must be the parent of a long chain of
radioactive bodies, and probably both are. This sufficiently accounts
for the fact that the fission process produces radioactive elements
in a profusion and variety beyond any other which is known.
158 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1940
I have saved the most sensational item for the last. Not only is
fission caused by slow neutrons, but it produces fresh neutrons among
its many products. Could these fresh neutrons produce fission in
their turn? Presumably they could; we know of nothing to differ-
entiate them from other neutrons. Could they produce new fissions
and these in turn new fissions and so onward in geometrical progres-
sion, so that a whole massive piece of uranium might blow up in a
sudden explosion of unparalleled fury touched off by so seemingly in-
nocent an event as the entry of a single neutron ?
This is perhaps the most important of the unsolved questions of
physics. Let us begin by asking after a certain necessary though not
sufficient condition. The fissions cannot proceed in geometrical pro-
gression, the explosion of the whole mass cannot occur, unless each
fission results (on the average) in more than one free neutron to
replace the one neutron which is consumed in producing it. Is it so?
Well, the few people whose opinions are worth taking agree that it
is. They do not agree well as to how many fresh neutrons there are
over and above one, but they do agree that there is an excess.
With this as a basis, let us turn the question around. Why has not
the great explosion happened as yet, since there are neutrons enough
to achieve it?
One reason apparently is, that the fresh neutrons are moving with
the wrong speeds when they are released. Fission is performed
mainly by very slow neutrons, while the new-born ones are very rapid.
But if the piece of uranium were very large, even the fresh neutrons
would be slowed down by their repeated collisions with nuclei; and
therefore those who are trying to make the explosion, or trying to
approach it without quite making it, are heaping up great masses of
uranium. If, however, the uranium is mixed with other elements—as
in nature it always has been—the neutrons are liable to be captured
and rendered harmless by the nuclei of these others. ‘Therefore, the
next step is to purify the uranium. ‘This would be easy enough were
it not that “purity” in this connection means something more stringent
than even chemical purity. Within the last few weeks it has been
proved that only one isotope of uranium is sensitive to slow neutrons,
and this is a rare one—fortunately, I feel like saying. One must
perform a process of isotope-separation in which the two isotopes
differ in mass by less than 2 percent, and one is more than a hundred
times as abundant as the other. Probably this will take a long time
in the doing. Ifand when it is done, shall we find that human artifice
has succeeded in removing or relaxing the last brake provided by
nature to impede the slide toward catastrophe? Perhaps not even
then, for the rare isotope of uranium may have ways of its own for
capturing neutrons and rendering them harmless before the most of
NUCLEAR FISSION—-DARROW 159
them achieve fissions. Perhaps on the other hand the brakes are easier
to relax than the foregoing words imply. Possibly they can be relaxed
just a little without letting go altogether, and then there may be avail-
able a potent source of power. But at this point I depart from the
traditional detachment of the scientist, and express the fervent hope
that the mastery of this process, if ever to be achieved at all, will not
be achieved until the world is ready to use it wisely.
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THE NATIONAL STANDARDS OF MEASUREMENT?
By Lyman J. Brices
National Bureau of Standards, Washington, D. O.
A brief historical background may prove helpful in presenting the
present status of our national standards of measurement, particularly
those concerned with our customary system of weights and measures.
The difficulties under which commerce had been carried out among
the Thirteen Colonies, owing to the lack of uniform standards, were
probably responsible in part for the provision of the Constitution
which delegates to Congress the power “to fix the standard of weights
and measures.” In the early days of the new Republic, Washington
in his presidential message to Congress repeatedly urged the im-
portance of carrying out this constitutional provision; but for 80
years no formal action was taken by Congress to “fix” the standards,
save for the adoption in 1828 of a standard Troy pound for coinage
purposes.
Not that the subject was ignored. Repeatedly the matter came up
for discussion, without definite action. A standard of length which
could if necessary be independently reproduced from physical obser-
vations repeatedly intrigued the interest of Congress. Jefferson, as
Secretary of State, submitted a proposal for a standard of length based
upon the length of a uniform cylindrical pendulum beating seconds at
sea level at 45° N. latitude. In 1795 President Washington presented
to Congress a communication from the Minister of the French Repub-
lic suggesting the adoption by the United States of the metric system
of weights and measures. This proposal, however, met with little
favor. A standard based on the length of one ten-millionth of the
earth’s quadrant apparently had less appeal from the standpoint of
reproducibility than one based on the length of a pendulum beating
seconds.
Meanwhile, various State legislatures were imploring Congress to
take some action to bring about uniformity; and in 1821, John Quincy
Adams, as Secretary of State, urged Congress “to fix the standard
1 Retiring address of the president of the American Physical Society, presented at the
Washington meeting, December 28, 1938. Reprinted by permission from Review of Modern
Physies, vol. 11, April 1939.
161
162 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1940
with the partial uniformity of which it is susceptible at present,
excluding all innovations. To consult with foreign nations for the
future and ultimate establishment of universal and permanent uni-
formity.” Prophetic words! Not yet has the goal been reached.
In 1830 the Treasury Department, which was charged with the
collection of customs, was instructed through a resolution of the
Senate to investigate the weights and measures in use in the various
customs houses of the country, with a view to bringing about uni-
formity in the collection of customs. The Secretary of the Treasury
gave a broad interpretation to this authority to “investigate,” and
the outcome was that the various customs offices were supplied, with-
out further action by Congress, with uniform sets of weights and
measures, These included an avoirdupois pound of 7,000 grains,
and a yard of 36 inches, based upon standards which Hassler, the
first Superintendent of the Coast and Geodetic Survey, had obtained
in England.
So well pleased was Congress with this solution of its difficulties
that the Secretary of the Treasury in 1836 was directed through a
joint resolution to deliver to the Governor of each State a complete
set of all the weights and measures used by the Treasury Depart-
ment in the collection of customs. Although no congressional action
was taken to legalize these standards, a number of the States adopted
them independently, and a groundwork for uniform weights and
measures was at last provided.
It was not until after the Civil War that Congress took the first
formal step to legalize a system of weights and measures, and this
oddly enough did not relate to the weights and measures in common
use, but to the metric system, rejected in 1795. The act of 1866
reads as follows:
It shall be lawful throughout the United States of America to employ the
weights and measures of the metric system; and no contract or dealing or
pleading in any court shall be deemed invalid, or liable to objection, because
the weights or measures expressed or referred to therein are weights or
measures of the metric system.
We have thus the anomalous situation in this country of a legalized
system of metric weights and measures which is used for scientific
purposes, and a customary system of weights and measures which
is in common use but has never been formally legalized. When Con-
gress passed the Metric Act in 1866, it realized that the country had
no metric standards and accordingly included the approximate equiva-
lents of the metric system in English measure. The length of the
meter was defined in inches, even though the length of the inch
had never been “fixed.” That Congress had in mind only an approxi-
mation to the true ratio of the units in the two systems is evident
STANDARDS OF MEASURE MENT—BRIGGS 163
from the fact that the meter is given as equivalent to 39.37 inches,
while the millimeter is rounded off to 0.0394 inch.
The platinum-iridium meter and kilogram, supplied to our Gov-
ernment as a result of its participation in the Metric Convention,
provided this country with far better material standards than it had
ever had before. Both the meter bar and the kilogram had been
carefully compared with the international prototypes, and the co-
efficient of expansion of the meter bar had been measured. More-
over, they constituted, together with the Troy pound, the only legal
material standards possessed by the Government. Accordingly, in
the absence of further congressional action, Superintendent Menden-
hall of the Coast and Geodetic Survey in 1893 issued the following
order :
The Office of Weights and Measures with the approval of the Secretary of the
Treasury, will in the future regard the international prototype meter and kilo-
gram as fundamental sfandards, and the customary units, the yard and the
pound, will be derived therefrom in accordance with the act of July 28, 1866.
It will be recalled that the act of 1866 defines the meter in terms
of the inch, and when this is transposed by the Mendenhall order
it leads to the incommensurate relation
1 inch=0.02540005 + meter.
It is obvious that it is not practicable to lay off this incommensurable
decimal fraction on a meter bar, so that this relation defines a theo-
retical inch rather than one that can be derived with exactness from
the meter bar. The inch thus defined is also about four-millionths
longer than the British inch, which is determined directly from the
Imperial yard.
As a matter of fact, the inch now used for engineering purposes
both in the United States and Great Britain, and in 13 other coun-
tries as well, is based upon the simpler relation, 1 inch equals 25.4
millimeters exactly. From this simplified relation it is practicable
to derive the inch from the meter bar. Furthermore, it is possible
to shift from English to metric units on a screw-cutting lathe by the
introduction of a gear having 127 teeth. Finally the ratio 25.4 falls
midway between the present accepted values of the British and the
United States inch. Both countries could adopt this value without
disturbing industry in the slightest, because a change of two parts
in a million would not be detected in any industrial operation.
To summarize the situation, the United States for 150 years has
been using a customary system of weights and measures without
“fixing” the standards on which the system is based. A bill was
presented to the last Congress with the simple objective of putting
the Government’s house in order in this respect. The bill provided
280256—41——12
164 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1940
that the inch and the pound should be fixed in terms of the meter
and the kilogram, respectively, by means of specified ratios. The
ratio proposed for the inch was
1 inch=0,0254 meter.
The bill also carried a supplementary definition of the inch in
terms of light waves. This was based upon the value adopted by
the International Committee on Weights and Measures for the num-
ber of wave lengths of the red radiation of cadmium in a meter, a
value which, as I shall show later, is well supported by several inde-
pendent determinations.
This bill did not come to a vote. Hearings were held by the
Committee on Coinage, Weights, and Measures, and the provisions
of the bill were found to meet with the general approval of industry.
In fact some men directly concerned with precise industrial measure-
ments were inclined to urge that the inch be defined directly in terms
of the wave length of the red radiation of cadmium. It seems de-
sirable, however, to have the inch, like the centimeter, based upon
an actual material standard. And it is important that this standard
should be common to the two systems of units in order that the ratio
of the two units of length may be unequivocally fixed.
Opposition to the bill came from an unexpected quarter. The
system of plane coordinates which forms the basis for Federal and
State surveys is in terms of English units. Now the primary tri-
angulation surveys of the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey
are all carried out in the metric system, and in converting these
measurements to plane coordinates in feet, the ratio 1 meter=
3937/1200 feet has been used. Those engaged in these mapping
operations naturally do not wish to see this procedure changed, and
with this viewpoint the National Bureau of Standards is in complete
sympathy. An amendment to the original bill has therefore been
proposed, authorizing the continued use of the adopted ratio in the
conversion of metric geodetic measurements to English units in con-
nection with plane coordinates, elevations, and other map data.
This amendment provides full authority to maintain the present
procedure in geodetic conversions without sacrificing all the other
desirable provisions of the bill. It should be emphasized that the
point involved relates only to a computation, namely the conversion
into feet of measurements originally carried out in meters in making
primary surveys. A change of two parts in a million in the basic
value of the inch would not have any effect whatsoever upon any
surveys made directly in feet because such surveys cannot approach
this order of accuracy. As a matter of fact the hundred-foot tapes
calibrated by the National Bureau of Standards are certified to only
1 part in 100,000.
STANDARDS OF MEASUREMENT—BRIGGS 165
Tasie 1—Wave length of the red line of cadmium tn angstroms '
After (a) cor-
rection and
As originally | (6) adjust- | Difference
Date Authors given ment to uni- | from mean
form cen-
| ditions?
1895}. Muicheisoniand Benoit --._- 2222-9 e228 | 6438. 4722 6438. 4691 —. 0002
1905-6 | Benoit; Fabry, and! Perot: =. => 22 6438. 4696 6438. 4703 +. 0010
1S27 i Watanabeland: kmaizumic 2) = ee ee 6438. 4685 6438. 4682 —. 0011
1933) |}Sears'andwbarrell ll! : 2 eee ee es os See eee 6438. 4711 6438. 4708 --. 0015
TO94=S5 nN Sears ANG ab ALTO lls se ee ene ee eS oe eee | 6438. 4709 6438. 4709 +. 0016
1933 | Kosters and Lampe_--_--_--~---- SEES See cee ees 6438. 4672 6438. 4672 —.0021
1934-35 | Kosters and Lampe_--.-------- ARES! Sa Oe 6438. 4685 6438. 4685 —. 0008
MTT ha Tn ep aa a a | ee ee ets ence 6438. 4693 =k. 0012
1 Sears. J. E., Sci. Prog., vol. 31, p. 209, 1936.
2 The values originally quoted by the authors are corrected in the fourth column to take account of sub-
sequent conclusions (a) regarding the values to be attributed to the standards of length employed, and ad-
justed (0), so far as the information available permits, to uniform conditions of “normal” air—i. e., dry air
at 15° C. and 760-mm. pressure, containing 0.03 percent of CO2.
THE PRIMARY STANDARD OF LENGTH
The national primary standard of length is represented by the
platinum-iridium meter bar No. 27. Its use is limited to compari-
sons with the working standards. A companion bar, No. 21, of
identical form and composition, has borne the brunt of extensive
comparisons for more than 40 years, particularly in connection with
the certification of geodetic tapes for the Coast and Geodetic Survey.
The Bureau also owns two other platinum-iridium meter bars of
an earlier alloy, one of which is graduated in millimeters.
The stability of these bars in service reflects the wise judgment of
those who were responsible for the selection of the alloy from which
the prototypes were made. Meter No. 21, which has been used so
much and subjected to the thermal shock of innumerable ice baths,
has increased in length about 1 micron during its 50 years of serv-
ice. Meter No. 27, the national prototype, has been certified by the
International Bureau of Weights and Measures as follows:
In 1888-89:
No. 27=1 meter—1.50 microns at 0° C.
In 1921-23:
No. 27=1 meter—1.48 microns at O° C.
These equations indicate that within the limits of measurement
the length of meter bar No. 27 has remained invariable in relation
to the international prototype for the period covered. This fact
alone does not of course preclude the possibility that both bars are
drifting. The conclusion that they are not is supported by other
intercomparisons and can be examined in another way. During a
period of 40 years, various determinations have been made of the
length of the meter in terms of wave lengths of the red radiation
166 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1940
of cadmium. The meter bars used in these measurements were
compared with the international prototype at the time they were
used. Any change in the length of the international prototype
would thus tend to be reflected in the derived value of the wave
length, in microns, of the red line of cadmium. Table 1 shows no
evidence of any systematic drift.
It will be noted that the mean value of the determinations agrees
closely with the original value of Benoit, Fabry, and Perot
(6488.4696 angstroms), which since 1907 has been used by the Inter-
national Astronomical Union as the standard to which all spectro-
scopic wave-length measurements are referred. In view of this
fact, the National Bureau of Standards proposed, in the legislative
bill referred to above, that the meter and the inch should be given
supplemental definitions in terms of wave lengths of the red radia-
tion of cadmium, consistent with the relation adopted by the Inter-
national Astronomical Union. These supplemental definitions, if
adopted, will legalize the direct use of interference methods in the
precise determination of the length of gage blocks and similar work-
ing standards. The practical value of this procedure cannot be too
strongly emphasized,
END STANDARDS
In the past few years the close tolerances placed on the mass pro-
duction of interchangeable parts has led to the extensive use of pre-
cision end gages. ‘These are blocks, usually of metal, with two op-
posite faces accurately plane, parallel and a specified distance apart,
and are used to check various measuring instruments. The extent
to which these gages are used can be judged by the fact that more
than 50,000 have been tested at the National Bureau of Standards.
Using interference methods the surfaces of such gages can be tested
and the length determined with greater accuracy than by referring
to line standards.
In order to provide the Bureau with end standards of the highest
precision, C. G. Peters and W. B. Emerson undertook the construc-
tion in 1934 of a series of end standards by direct interference meth-
ods, based upon the standard wave length of the red line of
cadmium. Fused quartz was chosen for the blanks, because its low
expansivity (about one-thirtieth that of steel) removes the necessity
of accurate temperature control, and it can be given a high optical
polish free from imperfection.
Fifteen blanks 2 cm. square in cross section and 10 cm. long were
cut from blocks of optically clear fused quartz. These were an-
nealed by heating to 1,150° C. and then ground and polished to size.
Extended measurements of these gages were carried out during a
period of 2 years, including measurements made by the International
STANDARDS OF MEASUREMENT-—BRIGGS 167
Bureau, the National Physical Laboratory, and the Physikalisch-
Technische Reichsanstalt. From all of these determinations, no
measurable change in dimension with time has been detected in any
of the quartz gages. The end surfaces were plane and parallel within
less than 0.02 micron and the maximum difference in various deter-
minations of the length of any one gage did not exceed 0.02 micron,
or 2 parts in 10 million.
In making these standards the decimeter length was chosen
because this is about the maximum length for which clear interfer-
ence rings can be obtained with the sharpest spectral lines. With
these lines the number of waves in the path ranges from 300,000 to
400,000. The fractional order can be measured to about 0.01 of a
wave length, so it is possible to attain a precision of 1 part in 380
to 40 million in the comparison of two wave lengths and about 1 part
in 10 million in the direct determination of a material length
standard.
STANDARD WAVE LENGTHS
The internatianal primary standard of wave length is the red
radiation of cadmium. The wave length of this radiation as officially
adopted by the International Committee of Weights and Measures
is 6438.4696 angstroms under specified standard conditions.
Tribute should be paid to the painstaking studies of Michelson
40 years ago that led him to select the red radiation of cadmium as
the standard wave length to be evaluated in terms of the meter. All
of the spectroscopic work which has been done since that time,
including the study of the spectra of helium, krypton, neon, and
other gases then unavailable to Michelson has failed to disclose
another strong line of superior quality. Two krypton lines are the
closest rivals for this honor.
Using the cadmium line as a primary standard, the International
Astronomical Union has adopted a series of secondary wave-length
standards, including 20 neon lines, 20 krypton lines, and about 300
lines in the iron arc. The measurements of Meggers, Kiess, and
Humphreys at the National Bureau of Standards have contributed
substantially to the establishment of all of these secondary standards.
Most of the neon and krypton standards are known relative to
cadmium with a precision of 2 or 3 parts in 100 million, while the pre-
cision of the iron standards is about one order less. These standards
provide the framework of all spectroscopic measurements.
THE STANDARD PLANE SURFACE
In order to obtain a surface which is optically plane to a high
degree of precision, it is necessary to prepare three surfaces, which
when tested in pairs in any of the three possible combinations and
168 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1940
in any orientation one to the other show uniformly straight interfer-
ence fringes. The plane surfaces are actually developed by working
these three surfaces one against another in rotation, up to the final
stages of polishing.
The standard plane surface of the Bureau is maintained by means
of three fused-quartz disks, each 28 cm. in diameter and about 4 cm.
thick. One surface of each is a true plane within one-hundredth
of a fringe. In other words, these surfaces depart less from true
planes than they would if they conformed strictly to the curvature
of the earth.
In testing these planes, care must be used to support the disks in
such a way as to prevent them from bending under their own weight.
The stability of the fused-quartz disks has been most gratifying;
no measurable deviation from planeness has taken place in the last
10 years.
ANGULAR MEASURE
Angular quantities must be measured with great precision in carry-
ing out primary geodetic surveys. In determining the errors of a
completely graduated circle, the Bureau uses a special comparator
which is provided with four fixed micrometer miscoscopes spaced
90° apart around the central rotating table carrying the circle. No
standard circle is needed in this case because we are dealing with a
closed system. Errors as small as 0.2 second in a 9-inch graduated
circle can be measured if the graduation lines are of the highest
quality.
The Bureauw’s circular dividing engine is used mainly for gradu-
ating precision theodolite circles for the United States Coast and
Geodetic Survey. B. L. Page has graduated solid silver circles
9 inches in diameter to 5 minutes of arc with no error throughout
the circle as great as 2 seconds of arc; that is, with no line displaced
from its correct position by more than 1 micron.
THE STANDARD OF MASS
The national standard of mass is represented by the cylinder
known as the prototype kilogram No. 20. It is made of the same
plantinum-iridium alloy as that used in the prototype meter-bars.
This national standard was recently taken to Paris for a new com-
parison with the international prototype. Its certified mass was
0.99999998 Inilogram, a change in mass of only 2 parts in
100 million in 50 years. This difference is within the uncertainty
of measurement.
Two other standard kilograms, one of platinum-iridium and one
of pure platinum, are used as working standards,
STANDARDS OF MEASUREMENT—BRIGGS 169
STANDARD OF CAPACITY
The standard of capacity, the liter, is established by weighing. It
is defined as the volume occupied by a kilogram of water at its
maximum density. This volume is unfortunately not exactly 1,000
cubic centimeters as the founders of the metric system had intended.
Gne milliliter=1.000027 cc. The discrepancy is within the error
of measurement of most volumetric determinations, but in precise
density measurements the unit of volume (cubic centimeter or milli-
liter) must be specified.
THE STANDARD OF FREQUENCY
The national standard of frequency is maintained by means of
seven quartz oscillators, with natural frequencies of 100 or 200
ke./sec. ‘They are carefully protected from external vibration and
the temperature and pressure are closely controlled. These oscillators
are intercompared constantly and they are also compared daily
with time signals from the Naval Observatory. For this purpose,
one of the oscillators, with the aid of a submultiple generator, drives
a synchronous motor clock which indicates mean solar time.
This group of oscillators serves to control the precision of the
standard frequencies of 5,000 ke./sec., 10,000 ke./sec., and 15,000
ke./sec. which are broadcast several days each week from the
Bureau’s station WWV at Beltsville, Md. These frequencies do
not deviate more than 1 part in 5 million from the assigned value.
By means of this service, broadcasting stations throughout the
United States are enabled to adhere closely to their assigned fre-
quencies. In addition, the emissions are modulated to give certain
standard frequencies in the audible range, which have been found
very useful by physicists and engineers. These modulations include
a frequency of 1,000 c./sec. as well as sharp 1-second pulses, accurate
to 0.00001 second. The broacasting of the standard of musical pitch,
440 c./sec., representing A above middle C@, has also met with wide
favor by musicians and laboratory workers alike.
ELECTRICAL STANDARDS
THE STANDARD OF RESISTANCE
Since 1908 the national standard of electrical resistance has been
represented by a group of 10 1-ohm manganin coils, the average
value of which has been assumed to remain constant. The value
originally assigned to each coil was based upon standards certified
by the Physikalisch-Technische Reichsanstalt in 1908. When any
member of the basic group of 10 coils showed a pronounced tendency
to drift in relation to the group, it was replaced by a coil from the
reserve group. The NBS “international unit” of resistance is de-
170 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1940
rived from the mean of the values of the resistances of this primary
group.
The present evidence is that the mean value of this group has
drifted at the rate of about 1 part per million per year since the
group was established in 1908. With the hope of eliminating this
drift in resistance standards, J. L. Thomas undertook the develop-
ment of a new precision 1-ohm coil at the National Bureau of
Standards in 1928 (1).2- The manganin resistance after winding
was annealed in vacuum at a red heat (550° C.) to remove all
locked-up stresses, and special precautions were taken to avoid strain-
ing the coil afterward while assembling it in its double-walled annu-
lar container. These coils have shown remarkable stability, at least
relative to one another. The relative changes within the group have
been of the order of 1 part in a million in the past 5 years, compared
with similar changes of the order of 10 parts per million in the coils
of the older group. In 1932 the 10 coils of the standard group
were replaced by coils of the new type.
THE STANDARD OF ELECTROMOTIVE FORCE
The national standard of electromotive force was maintained up
to 1937 by a group of 20 saturated Weston cells, with many others
in reserve. At that time 9 acid cells which had shown gratifying
stability were added, and 3 cells were discarded. The present pri-
mary group of 26 cells contains 17 cells that have remained honored
members of the group since it was established in 1906. These cells
are kept at a constant temperature. The NBS “international unit”
of electromotive force is derived from the mean value of the 26
cells of the primary group.
DECISION TO DEFINE THE ELECTRICAL STANDARDS IN ABSOLUTE UNITS
At the conclusion of the work of the Washington conference of
1910 the standards of resistance and electromotive force of the United
States, England, France, Germany, Japan, and Russia had been
brought into good agreement. But subsequent comparisons showed
that the standards were slowly drifting apart, and by 1930 differences
as large as 1 part in 10,000 were found in the standards of electro-
motive force of the different nations, while similar but smalier changes
had taken place in the standards of electrical resistance.
A discrepancy also exists between the “international” electrical
units now in force and the mechanical units. For example, if the
same amount of power were measured first in terms of the electrical
units now in use and then in terms of the mechanical units, the differ-
* Numbers in parentheses refer to bibliography at end of article.
STANDARDS OF MEASUREMENT—BRIGGS A
ence would amount to approximately 1 part in 5,000 owing to the
discrepancy of the units.
For these reasons the International Committee of Weights and
Measures decided to replace the present international electrical units
with absolute electrical units, the new system to go into effect January
1, 1940.
In order to carry out the wishes of the International Committee it
has been necessary for the National Bureau of Standards and the
national laboratories of other countries to determine in absolute meas-
ure the value of their electrical standards of resistance and electro-
motive force with the highest attainable precision. A brief descrip-
tion of the Bureau’s contribution to this program, which has extended
over a number of years, will now be given.
Inductance and current are the most suitable quantities for evalu-
ation in absolute measure because they can be determined to a high
degree of precision without involving the measurement of any addi-
tional electrical quantity. But the final objective in absolute meas-
urements is the value of the standard of resistance and the standard
of electromotive force. The procedure is as follows: (1) The induc-
tance of a coil is computed from its geometrical dimensions and the
permeability of the material on which it is wound; (2) this known
inductance, when measured experimentally in terms of time and a
standard resistor, serves to fix the value of the resistor in absolute
measure; (8) current is determined in absolute value from the geomet-
rical dimensions and positions of the coils of a current balance,
supplemented by the absolute measurement of the force exerted be-
tween the coils; (4) the potential drop across the standard resistor
when connetced in series with the current balance serves to fix the
value of a standard cell in absolute measure.
THE ABSOLUTE MEASUREMENT OF ELECTRICAL RESISTANCE
Two independent groups at the National Bureau of Standards have
been working on the absolute measurement of electrical resistance.
Curtis, Moon, and Sparks have used an improved self-inductor with
an intermediary capacitance in determining the absolute value of the
ohm, while Wenner, Thomas, Cooter, and Kotter have determined
resistance in absolute measure by a method using commutative direct
current in a mutual inductor.
SELF-INDUCTOR METHOD WITH INTERMEDIATE CAPACITANCE (2)
In this method the self-inductance of an inductor is measured in
terms of time and a laboratory standard of resistance. The ratio of
the computed to the observed inductance provides the correction fac-
tor which is to be applied to the resistance standard to give the re-
172 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1940
sistance in absolute measure. The four inductors used in this inves-
tigation were of different dimensions and were wound on nonmagnetic
forms of different materials, namely, porcelain, Pyrex glass, and
fused quartz. The most recent form consists of a heavy-walled glass
cylinder 120 cm. long and 35 cm. in diameter, on the surface of which
a very accurate screw-thread was ground and Japped to insure uni-
formity in the pitch of the helix. The electrical measurements re-
quired the use of an intermediary capacitance, so that a resistance
was first measured in terms of inductance and capacitance by an alter-
nating-current bridge; then the capacitance was measured in terms of
resistance and time by the charge-and-discharge method with a
Maxwell bridge. Assuming the capacitance to remain the same under
these conditions, it is eliminated between the two bridge equations.
Time signals from the United States Naval Observatory were used
to calibrate a piezoelectric oscillator which controlled the 100-c./sec.
generator.
The most recent work by Curtis, Moon, and Sparks gives the
value
1 NBS international ohm=1.000483 absolute ohms,
which the authors believe to differ from the true value by less than
20 parts in a million.
MUTUAL-INDUCTOR METHOD USING COMMUTATED CURRENT
This method was devised by Dr. Frank Wenner. A direct current
is passed through the resistor and through the primary winding of
the mutual inductor. The current through the primary of the mutual
inductor is reversed at regular intervals without changing the current
through the resistor. Another commutator reverses the connections
to the secondary of the mutual inductor in such a way that the pulses
of induced electromotive force are always in the same direction. This
rectified electromotive force is balanced against the constant potential
drop through the resistor. A direct-current galvanometer is used to
indicate the balance.
The commutators which control the connections in the primary and
secondary circuits are mounted on the same rotating shaft along with
an inductor generator and a current-reversing generator. Conse-
quently these units all operate strictly in synchronism.
Without attempting to discuss the circuits in detail, it may be said
that if the current in the secondary of the mutual inductor is zero at
the time the connections are reversed, and if the average value of the
current through the galvanometer is zero, then the resistance in abso-
lute measure is four times the product of the speed and the mutual
inductance. The precision of the method is limited theoretically only
STANDARDS OF MEASUREMENT—BRIGGS 173
by the precision with which the speed of rotation of the shaft and the
geometrical dimensions of the mutual inductor can be measured.
The shaft is driven by a direct-current motor, automatically syn-
chronized by a current of 1,000 cycles per second; this latter frequency
is controlled by the primary quartz frequency-standards in the Bu-
reau’s radio laboratory. Over periods of an hour or more the fre-
quency of the control current is constant and known to 1 part in
10,000,000, while the speed of rotation, averaged in the way in which
it affects a deflection of the galvanometer, is uniform within a few
parts in 1,000,000.
The absoclute determination of the ohm by Wenner, Thomas, Cooter,
and Kotter gives the relation
1 NBS International ohm=1.000485 absolute ohms.
THE ABSOLUTE DETERMINATION OF THE AMPERE
H. L. Curtis and R. W. Curtis (8) have made a new determination
of the ampere in absolute measure, employing with some modifica-
tions the current balance originally used by Rosa, Dorsey, and Miller
for this purpose in 1911. The most important modification was the
use of coils in which the current distribution closely approached that
assumed in the theoretical derivation of the force. The value in
absolute amperes of the current in the coils of the balance was com-
puted from the dimensions and positions of the coils, the permea-
bility of the material and the electromagnetic force between the
coils, the latter being measured in local gravitational units.
In such measurements, we must know the absolute value of the
local acceleration of gravity, and Heyl and Cook (4) have recently
completed this determination at the National Bureau of Standards
using pendulums of fused silica. They found, at the Bureau station:
g=980.08 cm. sec.~*,
which indicates that the absolute value of gravity at Potsdam, here-
tofore generally accepted, is about 2 parts in 100,000 too large.
The current through the balance coils was measured simultane-
ously (1) in absolute value by means of the balance and (2) in
“international” amperes as determined by the potential drop across
a standard resistor in series with the balance coils.
The result of the most recent measurements with balance coils of
improved design is:
1 NBS International ampere=0.999852 ampere (absolute).
THE INTERNATIONAL TEMPERATURE SCALE
The thermodynamic scale of temperature introduced by Lord
Kelvin has long been accepted by physicists as the ideal temperature
174 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1940
scale. However, the experimental difficulties incident to the practical
realization of the thermodynamic scale by means of the gas ther-
mometer and the consequent discrepancies that arose in the tem-
perature scales used by different nations led the national laboratories
of Germany, Great Britain, and the United States in 1911 to under-
take the unification of their temperature scales. This culminated a
quarter of a century later in the adoption by the International
Committee of Weights and Measures of the International Tempera-
ture Scale (5).
This scale conformed with the thermodynamic scale as closely as
knowledge permitted at the time, and was designed to be definite,
conveniently and accurately reproducible, and to provide means for
uniquely determining any temperature within the range of the
scale. It is based upon six fixed and reproducible equilibrium tem-
peratures to which numerical values are assigned; namely, the oxy-
gen point (—183° C.), the ice point (0° C.), the steam point (100°),
the sulfur point (444°), the silver point (960.5°), and the gold
point (1063°). Intermediate temperatures are determined by means
of interpolation instruments calibrated according to a specified pro-
cedure at the fixed temperatures.
From the oxygen point to 660° C. the temperature ¢ is deduced
from the resistance of standard platinum resistance-thermometers ;
from 660° C. to the gold point, by means of a standard platinum
versus platinum-rhodium thermocouple; and above the gold point,
from Wien’s law by means of the intensity of blackbody radiation,
measured by an optical pyrometer.
The International Temperature Scale was adopted with the under-
standing that it was susceptible to revision and amendment. The
first meeting for the consideration of possible revisions will be called
in Paris in June 1939.
There is great need for the official extension of the scale from the
oxygen point down to the triple point of normal hydrogen
(—260° C.). At present the National Bureau of Standards main-
tains the scale in this region by means of a group of well-seasoned
resistance thermometers. Hoge and Brickwedde (6) have shown the
feasibility of establishing a number of fixed points in this part of
the scale, represented by the equilibrium states of coexisting phases
of pure substances. With these points once established, resistance-
thermometers need be used only for interpolation.
Another matter that requires consideration is the value of c, in
the radiation equation. The value now specified in defining the
International Scale is c.=1.482 em. degrees. More recent determi-
nations indicate that this value should be increased to 1.436 cm.
degrees. This would decrease the present value of the platinum
point by about 3° C.
STANDARDS OF MEASUREMENT—BRIGGS 175
RADIATION STANDARDS
THE INTERNATIONAL ROENTGEN
The international roentgen is the quantity of X-rays that will
liberate one electrostatic unit of charge from 1 cm.* of air by
ionization under specified standard conditions. It is realized at the
National Bureau of Standards by means of a standard ionization
chamber developed by Taylor and Singer (7), which has now been
adopted as the ionization standard of six other countries besides
our own. The calibration of X-ray dosage meters in roentgens is
carried out by means of this standard chamber.
RADIUM STANDARDS
Radium is certified by the National Bureau of Standards in terms
of the weight of radium element, but the measurement which is
actually made is the determination of the ratio of the gamma-ray
intensity of the specimen to that of a radium standard. The Bureau
has three primary radium standards carrying certificates from the
International Radium Commission. The first of these (Interna-
tional value 15.44 mg.) was prepared by Madame Curie (1913) and
the other two (International values 38.10 mg. and 20.36) by Honig-
schmid (1936) from radium chloride of high purity. The Curie
standard when corrected for decay is in accord within 0.1 percent
with the values assigned by Hoénigschmid to the standards he pre-
pared. Radium standards must be systematically corrected for de-
cay. The initial rate of decay is about 0.043 percent per year.
STANDARDS OF RADIANT FLUX
The National Bureau of Standards maintains standards of radiant
flux, based upon absolute measurements by Coblentz (8). amps are
now supplied by the Bureau with certificates giving the total radi-
ation in microwatts per square centimeter at a specified distance
from the source.
THE STANDARD OF BRIGHTNESS
International agreement has now been reached regarding the adop-
tion of a primary standard of brightness, defined as the intensity
of the radiation from the interior of a blackbody at the temperature
of pure platinum at its freezing point. This standard was originally
proposed by Waidner and Burgess in 1910 but was first actually
realized at the National Bureau of Standards in 1931 by Wensel,
Roeser, Barbrow, and Caldwell (9), following the development of
the thoria crucible at the Bureau.
176 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1940
Using the same device operated at the freezing points of rhodium
and iridium in addition to platinum, Wensel, Judd, and Roeser (10)
established an accurately reproducible scale of color temperature.
This scale is made available to the public through the distribution
of color-temperature standards in the form of tungsten-filament
lamps.
Comparison of the blackbody standard with the present inter-
national candle as maintained by groups of carbon-filament lamps
showed that the brightness of the new standard was about 58.9 inter-
national candles per square centimeter. However, a uniform pro-
cedure has not been followed internationally in the step-up from the
yellower sources to the modern tungsten lamps, and E. C. Crittenden
found that a better agreement with present practice would be reached
by defining the brightness of the standard blackbody radiator as equal
to 60 candles per square centimeter. Other national laboratories have
agreed to the Bureau’s suggestion to adopt this value, and this recom-
mendation has been approved by the International Committe of
Weights and Measures. In stepping up from the blackbody standard
to tungsten lamps, it is proposed to use the luminosity factors recom-
mended by Gibson and Tyndall (11) of the Bureau staff in 1923, and
later adopted by both the International Commission on Ulumination
and the International Committee of Weights and Measures. At last
we have an international primary standard of brightness.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
(1) Tomas, J. L.
1930. Nat. Bur. Stand. Journ. Res., vol. 5, p. 295.
(2) Curtis, Moon, and SPARKS.
1936. Nat. Bur. Stand. Journ. Res., vol. 16, p. 1.
(3) Curtis, H. L., and Curtis, R. W.
1934. Nat. Bur. Stand. Journ. Res., vol. 12, p. 665.
(4) Heyn, P. R., and Coox, G. S.
1936. Nat. Bur. Stand. Journ. Res., vol. 17, p. 805.
(5) Boresss, G. K.
1928. Nat. Bur. Stand. Journ. Res., vol. 1, p. 635.
(6) Hoer, H. J., and BrickweEnpg, F. G.
1939. Nat. Bur. Stand. Journ. Res., vol. 22, p. 351.
(7) Taytor, L. S., and Srmncer, G.
1930. Nat. Bur. Stand. Journ. Res., vol. 5, p. 507.
(8) CoBLENTz, W. W., and Stam, R.
1933. Nat. Bur. Stand. Journ. Res., vol. 11, p. 79.
(9) WENSEL, RorsrerR, BARBROW, and CALDWELL.
1931. Nat. Bur. Stand. Journ. Res., vol. 6, p. 1108.
(10) WENSEL, Jupp, and Roeser.
1934. Nat. Bur. Stand. Journ. Res., vol. 12, p. 527.
(11) Gisson, K. S., and Tynpatt, E. P. T.
1923. Sei. Pap. Nat. Bur. Stand., vol. 19, p. 131.
THE RISE OF THE ORGANIC CHEMICAL INDUSTRY IN
THE UNITED STATES’
By C. M. A. STINng
Vice president, H. I. du Pont de Nemours & Co., Wilmington, Del.
[With 4 plates]
The results of the rapid development of the organic chemical
industry in the United States have been so far reaching and are so
obvious as to require no proof that there is in existence today a
great industry showing a phenomenal growth in the last two decades.
It is young and extremely vigorous; its fruits are of such beauty
and utility that I am satisfied as to its continued cultivation and
development.
Let me mention two of the most important and tangible results
of the development of the organic chemical industry of the United
States; first, the fostering of a tremendous expansion in the train-
ing of research workers in our universities, and the promotion of
a great and widespread interest in organic research. This has had
significant repercussions in practically all fields of research, leading
to expansion and intensification of effort and to results of enhanced
value.
The second has been the tremendous contribution to national self-
sufficiency in this country which the rise of our organic chemical
industry has made. There is good ground for believing that self-
sufficiency very definitely makes for peace. Through research and
synthesis we have obtained methods of preparing certain materials
of organic origin which are not available in this country because
of limitations of soil or of climate, or for some other reason inherent
in our national economy. For instance, we are not able to grow rub-
ber in the United States, and even though climatic conditions were
favorable we should still be unable to harvest it at the low costs
which now prevail in the rubber-producing countries. Research
and the reduction to practice of the results of this research have not
1 An address delivered on the occasion of the presentation to Dr. Stine of the Perkin
Medal of the Society of Chemical Industry, at the Chemists’ Club, 52 East 4ist St., New
York City, on the evening of January 12, 1940. Reprinted by permission from Industrial
and Engineering Chemistry, vol. 32, No. 2, February 1940.
177
178 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1940
only contributed to our eventual independence in respect to certain
natural fibers and in respect to rubber, but also have placed at our
disposal methods for the manufacture of almost unlimited quantities
of liquid and gaseous hydrocarbons from the vast natural resources
of coal with which nature has endowed us. Economic factors, of
course, have a large bearing upon fixing the date of a complete in-
dependence of natural sources of supply of oil, rubber, or some types
of natural fibers.
So it is not so much my task to demonstrate that a great pro-
ductive organic chemical industry has developed in the United States
over the last two decades, but rather it is my task to trace a few
of the more important lines which the industry has followed in its
development and, perhaps, to reinforce the observations with a few
figures, if I may do so without becoming tiresomely statistical.
Contrary to popular belief, America had a substantial chemical
industry prior to the World War. As early as 1865, American chem-
ical production had a valuation of some $60,000,000.2 In 1910 the
United States produced three times as much sulfuric acid as Ger-
many, and our production of alkalies was double that of England.*
The value of our chemical and allied products in 1914 was in excess
of 2 billion dollars.*
Although America experienced a more or less steady growth of
chemical manufacture from early colonial days down to the World
War, this 300-year period was characterized for the most part by
developments in inorganic chemistry. I should emphasize the differ-
entiation between inorganic and organic chemistry. The fateful
World War period served to disclose our woeful lack of manufactur-
ing facilities for many essential materials of an organic chemical
nature. This intolerable situation gave impetus to the research which
has characterized the quarter of a century since 1914—research which
has culminated in the greatest organic chemical industry in the world.
This new industry is a substantially 100 percent American develop-
ment. It was neither borrowed nor transplanted from Europe. It
was conceived by American men and financed by American money.
The brains which directed the research were American brains, and
the methods employed in building up the industry were American
methods. This does not mean that we have not profited from foreign
developments and foreign experience. We have, and we gratefully
acknowledge such assistance.
Without an unwavering faith in research, the organic chemical
industry would not exist today. A clear vision of the possibilities
of such an industry was also essential, and likewise “patient money,”
4 Haynes, Williams, Men, money and molecules, pp. 71 and 57, 1938.
3 Abstract of the U. S. Census of Manufactures, 1914, p. 168.
ORGANIC CHEMICAL INDUSTRY—STINE 179
as the late John EK. Teeple so aptly expressed it. I cannot speak
for the entire industry, but I do know that during the early years
in which the du Pont Company conducted intensive work with dye-
stuffs and other organic chemicals, an outlay of more than $40,000,-
000 was made—without 1 cent of profit being realized. This outlay
represented plant investments, operating losses, and research expen-
ditures. I am quite sure our experience was not unique.
During the past 25 years research has come to be recognized as
the most valuable tool available to the chemical industry. It is the
only tool with the power to create. While reliable data for the
entire industry are not available, Fortune Magazine reports that
American Cyanamid, Dow, du Pont, Eastman, and Monsanto spent
$12,600,000 on research in 1937, corresponding to about $2.80 of each
$100 of their aggregate net sales.* Fortune’s figure is, I believe,
conservative, since in recent years the research bill of the du Pont
Company has been an appreciably greater ratio of sales.
The industry as a whole is reported to have spent $20,000,000 for
research in 1937, corresponding to an estimated $2.25 out of each
$100 of sales of inorganic chemicals, and $4.30 out of each $100 of
sales of organic chemicals. Only the steel and petroleum industries,
spending an estimated 50 and 40 cents, respectively, per $100 of sales,‘
are reported as having research expenditures at all commensurate
with those of the chemical industry. But let us not be puffed up
with pride over our national state of mind—research expenditures
by American industry as a whole, if estimated correctly at $250,000-
000 a year, are lower than the nation’s annual bill for cosmetics by
about $150,000,000.°
The rise of our organic chemicals manufacture might be portrayed
either by cold statistics, or by showing the important role of Ameri-
can organic chemicals today in our whole industrial and everyday
life. For the most part I propose to follow the latter method, but
for the benefit of the statistically minded a few production figures
might be given. It might also be interesting to show how prices have
been reduced as production increased.
In 1914 this country produced only about 10 percent of the dyes
consumed, and even that small proportion was based almost wholly
on imported intermediates. In 1938, by contrast, we produced about
96 percent of the dyes consumed in this country, and had an export
balance of some 5 million pounds. Our production of other organic
chemicals in 1914 was insignificant, so for data on which to base
further comparisons, let us consider 1919, when the manufacture of
4Fortune, March 1939, p. 58.
5 Chem. and Metallurg. Eng., September 19387, pt. 2, p. 545.
® Readers Digest for March 1939, p. 18, gives the approximate figure of $400,000,000 for
our 1938 cosmetics bill.
280256—41——_13
180 | ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1940
organic chemicals was really getting under way. During the 19-year
period ending with 1937, we find such approximate average annual
increases in production as the following: Coal-tar medicinals, 6
percent; total coal-tar finished products, 18 percent; photographic
chemicals, 22 percent; flavors and perfume materials, 29 percent.’
Bear in mind that these percentages are for average annual increases,
not for the increase over the entire 19-year period. It should also
be borne in mind that during the same period the average annual
increase in population was only about 1.25 percent.
Organic chemicals of non-coal-tar origin were somewhat slower
getting under way, but during the 17-year period 1921-37, production
of non-coal-tar organics, including synthetic methanol and other al-
cohols, acetic acid, acetone, and various amines, showed an average
annual increase of 685 percent.’
The astounding rate of growth indicated by these figures is the more
impressive by comparison with corresponding figures for certain other
manufactured products, including representative staple inorganic
chemicals. The average annual increase in sulfuric acid production,
for example, was only about 2.3 percent for thesame period; soda
ash, 5.3 percent; woven cotton goods, 2.6 percent; pig iron, less than
1 percent; steel and cement, each about 2.4 percent; while lumber
and newsprint paper each declined about 1.3 percent annually. Auto-
mobile production showed an average annual increase of 9.6 percent,
and concurrent with this increase in automobile production crude
petroleum showed an average annual increase of 12.5 percent. It
is significant that while automobile production showed an increase of
9.6 percent, automobile casings and tubes showed an increase of only
3.2 percent. This apparent discrepancy means, of course, that the
tires made around 1937 were much superior to those made around
1919, a superiority due in part to improved rubber chemicals, includ-
ing organic accelerators and antioxidants, which added greatly to
the life of tires and tubes.
Price reductions during this 1919-87 period were equally as phe-
nomenal as production increases. The average value of total coal-
tar finished products, for example, declined from $1.02 a pound
to 41 cents; photographic chemicals from $3.16 to $1.05; flavors and
perfume chemicals from $2.27 to $1.02; and coal-tar dyes from $1.07
to 55 cents a pound.® Certain inorganic chemicals which find wide
application in the manufacture of various organic products likewise
7 Figures based on data from Census of Dyes and Coal-Tar Chemicals (U. S. Tariff Com-
mission) for years indicated. Average annual increase arrived at by dividing total increase
by number of years in period.
8 Figures based on data from Abstract of Fourteenth U. S. Census (1920) and Census
of Manufactures (1937), except pig iron and steel figures which are based on data from
Mineral Resources of the United States, 1919, pt. 1, and Minerals Yearbook for 1939,
® Census of Dyes and Other Synthetic Organic Chemicals.
ORGANIC CHEMICAL INDUSTRY—STINE 181
showed important price reductions during this period. Sulfuric
acid, for example, declined about 31 percent, and caustic soda nearly
45 percent.*°
Even during the period 1927-37, after much of the necessary
pioneering research had been done, we still find marked reductions
in the price of organic chemicals. During this decade acetic acid
dropped from $3.38 to $2.43 per hundred pounds; methanol, from
67.5 to 33 cents a gallon; and formaldehyde from 10.33 to 5.75 cents
a pound. Coal-tar chemicals likewise underwent substantial price
reductions during this more recent period. Phenol, for example,
widely used in the manufacture of plastics, dropped from 17.5 to
13.25 cents a pound,” and coal-tar medicinals from $1.92 to 96 cents
a pound,? a decline of exactly 50 percent. Synthetic organic chem-
icals of non-coal-tar origin dropped from 18 cents a pound to 10
cents.12 Likewise during this period we find marked price reductions
in certain inorganic chemicals widely used in the organic chemical
industry. Anhydrous ammonia, for example, declined from 7.5 to
4.5 cents a pound, and chlorine from $4 to $2.15 per hundred pounds.”
By way of contrast, the average price of all chemicals during the
1927-87 period declined only about 10 percent.
To the statistically minded, the above figures bear eloquent wit-
ness to the rise of our domestic organic chemical industry, but cold
statistics cannot portray the vital national significance of this in-
dustry. When all is said and done, it is the broad, general sig-
nificance of a development that is of primary interest both to the
chemist and to the layman. Let us accordingly consider the rela-
tion of the organic chemical industry to other industries, and attempt
to visualize what this development means in terms of our everyday
existence. The complete story cannot, of course, be told here, but
a high-spot survey should be sufficient to show the degree of our
present dependence upon organic chemicals. It is not exaggerating,
I believe, to say they have fundamentally affected our national econ-
omy. They have promoted the development of other industries,
which in turn have provided new jobs for our increasing popula-
tion; greatly stimulated many of our older industries; provided the
farmer with improved weapons with which to combat insects and
plant disease; promoted comfort and health; brought to the masses
of the American people many of the good things of life which for-
merly were to be had only by the relatively well-to-do; and promoted
national self-sufficiency and security.
J. S. Census of Manufactures.
4 JInd. and Eng. Chem., June 1938, p. 601.
2 Census of Dyes and Other Synthetic Organic Chemicals.
18 Survey of Current Business, 1938 Supplement (U. S. Department of Commerce), p. 13.
182 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1940
NEW INDUSTRIES AND NEW JOBS
This new industry for organic chemicals manufacture has not only
provided jobs directly for thousands of workers, but also has indi-
rectly opened up countless additional thousands of new jobs by pro-
viding the chemicals which have contributed to the development of
new industries. As we have seen, these chemical raw materials, as
it were, have been supplied at steadily reduced prices. The dyestuffs,
pharmaceuticals, and plastics industries might be cited by way of
illustration. To be sure we have made some products in these classi-
fications for many years, but in a larger sense they represent new
industries.
Plastics of the nitrocellulose type were, of course, made by Hyatt
in 1869, but how could our modern plastics industry operate with-
out a plentiful supply of such organic chemicals as the acetic acid
used in the manufacture of cellulose acetate plastics; synthetic
camphor, used in the manufacture of nitrocellulose plastics and mo-
tion picture film; and the phenol, formaldehyde, and urea used in
a variety of well-known and widely used plastics?
The importance of camphor is indicated by the fact that more than
a half-million pounds is used each year in motion picture film alone.
As you doubtless know, camphor was the instrument of a foreign
monopoly 25 years ago, but in recent years American chemists have
shown that camphor chemically identical with that from the cam-
phor trees of Formosa can be economically made from pinene, de-
rived from southern turpentine. Today, the du Pont Company is
making more than half of the total domestic consumption of this
important product, and in an emergency additional plant equipment
could be installed to provide our entire needs. As recently as 1920,
refined imported natural camphor reached $3.55 a pound. In con-
trast, refined synthetic camphor is selling for around 48 cents a pound,
while the technical grade used in plastics and photographic film
sells for only about 35 cents a pound.
Likewise imported urea cost in 1920 about 57 cents a pound, cor-
responding to over $1,100 a ton.1* Today urea of equal or better
quality, made at Belle, W. Va., from carbon dioxide and ammonia,
sells for $95 a ton. Practically all of the urea now consumed in
this country comes from this domestic source of supply.
In addition, the organic chemical industry has brought out ma-
terials not hitherto commercially available, which have found appli-
cation in wholly new types of plastics. I shall cite only one
illustration—namely, methacrylic acid, on which are based such
products as the new sparkling “Lucite” methyl methacrylate plastic
14 Oil, Paint, and Drug Reporter, February 26, 1931, p. 50.
ORGANIC CHEMICAL INDUSTRY—STINE 183
which, because of its toughness, beauty, and optical properties, is
finding application for a variety of purposes.
Verily our modern plastics industry is a child of the organic
chemical industry, and the same holds equally true in other fields
of manufacture—medicinals and dyestuffs in particular.
Still other organic chemicals, synthesized to meet definite specifi-
cations, as it were, have likewise promoted the development of new
industries. The “Freon” fluorinated hydrocarbons are an excellent
illustration of such “built-to-specification” products. Because
“Freon” is not only an excellent refrigerant, but also nonpoisonous,
nonexplosive, and nonflammable, it has given great impetus to the
air-conditioning industry, and is widely used today in the air-con-
ditioning units of theaters, hotels, office buildings, trains, and a
rapidly increasing number of homes.
STIMULATION OF OLD INDUSTRIES
Products of the organic chemical industry have not only aided
in the development of new industries, but also contributed greatly to
many of our older industries, such as the manufacture of rubber
goods, textiles, paper, automobiles, refrigerators, petroleum prod-
ucts, perfumes and flavors, and explosives.
Of interest in a number of different manufacturing operations are
the synthetic alcohols, organic acids, esters, ethers, halogenated
hydrocarbons, ketones, urea and substituted ureas, and many other
types of aliphatic compounds which in recent years have become com-
mercially available. These materials find wide industrial applica-
tion, serving as solvents, plasticizers, blending agents, waxes,
antifreezes, raw materials for the manufacture of commercial dyna-
mites, degreasing solvents, dewaxing agents, extraction media, and
solvents for purification by recrystallization. The listing of only a
few developments of this type must serve to suggest the whole fas-
cinating picture of organic chemical synthesis in aliphatic chemis-
try—a field which is still in the very earliest stages of its development.
Of outstanding importance in the manufacture of rubber goods are
the new and improved organic accelerators, antioxidants, sun-check-
ing inhibitors, and agents which nullify the destructive influence of
slight traces of copper. The fact that today’s automobile tires give
some 25,000 miles of service in comparison with 5,000 miles only a
few years ago is due in no small degree to the use of such organic
rubber chemicals.
Synthetic rubberlike materials developed within the past few years
have likewise been accorded a hearty welcome by fabricators of rub-
ber goods. Although these “chemical rubbers” are different in com-
position from natural rubber, the physical properties of certain of
184 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1940
these synthetic materials are very similar to those of rubber, and at
least one of these new materials—neoprene—has qualities not found
in the natural product, including resistance to oils, greases, chemicals,
sunlight, and oxygen. These chemical rubbers are accordingly filling
hundreds of needs that natural rubber cannot fill.
And the fact must not be overlooked that this chemical rubber,
which can be used for practiaclly every purpose to which natural
rubber is put, is based on domestic raw materials of which we have
an abundance—coal, limestone, and salt.
The important role played by synthetic dyestuffs in the textile
industry is so well recognized as to warrant no discussion.
Of the numerous other synthetic organic chemicals which find ap-
plication in the manufacture and finishing of textiles, particular
mention should be made of the fatty alcohol sulfates used as de-
tergents. Certain of these materials are very similar to ordinary
soap in detergent properties, except that they function as well in
hard water as in soft water. Such compounds are accordingly a
boon to textile finishers, particularly in hard-water regions. Other
fatty alcohol sulfates, and also certain alkyl sulfonates, find applica-
tion as wetting agents to facilitate dyeing and other textile opera-
tions. Still other related materials are used as textile softeners, to
impart a pleasing “feel” to fabrics.
Mention should also be made of improved moth repellents, mildew
inhibitors of the type of salicyl anilide, and water-repellent finishes.
Of particular interest is the recently developed “Zelan” durable
water-repellent finish. The base of this new finish—a quarternary
ammonium salt—becomes so firmly bound to textile fibers, either
chemically or physically, that it is not removed by repeated launder-
ing or dry cleaning.
No discussion of the role of organic products in the textile industry
would, of course, be complete without reference to rayon, of which
this country produced some 288,000,000 pounds in 1938, and the more
recently developed products such as “Vinyon” and the synthetic poly-
amides known as nylon. Nylon had its origin in the work on poly-
merization and giant molecules, subjects investigated as part of the
fundamental research which I initiated some 12 years ago, and which
IT am happy to say is still being viogrously prosecuted. Most of you,
I feel sure, have heard of nylon, and know that dibasic organic acids
and diamines are among the intermediates to be used in making this
new family of materials. Note that I say “family” of materials,
since many different nylons are possible.
Many of you have probably heard that one of the more promising
outlets for nylon will be in the manufacture of yarn which, because
of its high strength-elasticity factor, will be used in fine hosiery.
ORGANIC CHEMICAL INDUSTRY—STINE 185
The production of nylon yarn on a limited scale was started early
this month, and small commercial shipments will be made in Febru-
ary 1940. It is anticipated that within the next few months full-
fashioned nylon hosiery will be on general sale.
Nylon is now on the market in the form of bristles for tooth-
brushes and other toilet brushes, and also for certain types of indus-
trial brushes. It is also on the market in the form of sewing thread,
fishing lines and leaders, and surgical sutures. It is said to offer nu-
merous advantages over natural gut sutures. Perhaps other lines of
manufacture wholly new are still cradled in this chemical nursery.
I am sure that all of you are more or less familiar with the role
of organic chemicals in the automobile industry. The story has been
told many times, and I shall accordingly not dwell on it at great
length. Nitrocellulose lacquers, developed around 1921, probably
represent one of the greatest chemical contributions to the automobile
industry. By cutting down the finishing time from 4 to 9 days to as
many hours, mass production was greatly facilitated. In an attempt
to reduce finishing time with the old orthodox enamels, durability
had been sacrificed, but the nitrocellulose lacquers are both quick-
drying and durable.
The development of synthetic rubberlike materials was previously
mentioned. Automobile motors are frequently mounted on blocks of
neoprene or other “chemical rubber,” to minimize chassis vibration.
Natural rubber used for this purpose deteriorates rapidly under the
influence of grease and oils with which it may come in contact. Be-
cause of its resistance to grease and oils, neoprene does not undergo
this deterioration, and is accordingly well suited for the mounting
of motors and some 50 other special uses about the car.
The recent development of polyvinyl acetal plastics has a very
direct bearing on the automobile industry. For many years safety
glass for the windows and windshields was made with an interliner
of nitrocellulose or cellulose acetate plastic, but last year it was found
that an interliner of a certain type of polyvinyl acetal plastic has
definite advantages over the cellulosic plastics. This new plastic is
not only extremely tough and elastic at ordinary temperatures, but
retains its toughness and elasticity at very low temperatures. It is
for this reason that the polyvinyl acetals—products of the organic
chemical industry—make possible the safest safety glass ever made.
Organic plastics find other applications in the automobile industry.
Plastics are used in the distributor head, on the instrument board, and
constitute various articles of internal decoration and utility such as the
knob of the gear-shift lever and the steering wheel. It is of interest
that these plastics are not only organic products themselves, but fre-
quently demand other organic chemicals to modify their inherent
186 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1940
physical characteristics—plasticizers, for example, to facilitate mold-
ing operations. Still other organic chemicals are used in the lubri-
cants and in motor fuel, but these will be covered in connection with
petroleum products.
Mention was made of “Freon” in connection with air-conditioning.
Because these new fluorinated hydrocarbons are absolutely safe, they
are now widely used not only in air-conditioning, but also in domestic
refrigerators as well. Another important class of organic materials
used by manufacturers of mechanical refrigerators are the oil-modified
alkyd resin baking enamels. This new type of finish has to a consid-
erable degree displaced porcelain finishes. This shift from porcelain
to alkyd resin finishes has resulted in a marked decrease in cost of pro-
duction, which in turn is reflected in reduced prices to the ultimate
consumer. Alkyd resin finishes of the type used on refrigerators are
characterized by a high degree of toughness, resistance to grease and
stains, and by excellent color retention. Related alkyd resin finishes
are widely used for interior woodwork and for certain specialty out-
door applications—metal-protective paints in particular. Alkyd
resin finishes are also being used on several types of automobiles—
both passenger cars and motortrucks—on ships and railway cars.
One of the principal intermediates used in making the alkyd resin
finishes is phthalic anhydride, made by the oxidation of naphthalene.
Whereas phthalic anhydride was more or less a laboratory curiosity
in 1917, selling for about $6 a pound,” some 43,000,000 pounds were
made in 1987, and the estimated production for 1939 was of the order
of 60,000,000 pounds. Currently the price of this important coal-tar
intermediate, the principal outlets for which are in the manufacture
of alkyd resins and certain types of dyes, is around 15 cents a pound.
Within recent years a new and greatly improved method has been
developed for the preparation of phthalic anhydride, involving oxida-
tion of naphthalene in the vapor phase, and it is largely due to this
improved method that alkyd resin finishes are available today at prices
which enable them to compete with the so-called orthodox finishes.
I have taken a very personal interest in this new type of finish, since
much of the pioneering work on alkyd resin finishes was done under
my direction. Some 15 years ago when my attention was first called
by Dr. Whitney to resins made by the General Electric Co. through
the interaction of polyhydric alcohols such as glycerol, and polybasic
acids such as phthalic anhydride, it occurred to me that resins of this
type might find application in nitrocellulose lacquers to replace im-
ported natural resins such as damar. It likewise occurred to us about
the same time that resins of the same general type, suitable for use in
paints and varnishes, might be made through the simultaneous reac-
15 Oil, Paint, and Drug Reporter, 1918 Year Book, p. 127.
ORGANIC CHEMICAL INDUSTRY—STINE 187
tion of a polyhydric alcohol, a polybasic acid, and a monobasic fatty
acid derived from drying oils such as linseed or Chinawood oil. A
program for research was accordingly mapped out, and about 1925 or
1926 work was started. First and last, we spent more than half a
million dollars on research directed to the development of variously
modified alkyd resins, but I am happy to say that the fruits of this
work have been such that we have had no occasion to regret spending
this rather large sum.
Synthetic organic chemicals find numerous important applications
in the manufacture and use of petroleum products. As you know,
cracking processes had the effect of doubling our oil reserves as far as
gasoline is concerned. On the other hand, however, cracked gasoline
on storage has a tendency to develop gums which would lead to
clogging of the motor and fuel lines. Through the use of certain
organic chemicals, however, this tendency to gum formation is sub-
stantially eliminated. The amount of an antioxidant such as isobutyl-
para-aminophenol necessary to stablize cracked gasoline so that it may
be stored for several months, or even a year, costs only 2 or 3 cents to
the barrel of gasoline. This is of interest not only to the motorist, but
also to the refiner, since before the advent of gum inhibitors it was not
unusual for cracked gasoline which had been stored for some time to
require redistillation before it was sold.
Likewise of interest to manufacturers of petroleum products are
the organic chemicals used in lubricants. Small amounts of a chemical
such as the esters and nitriles of long-chain fatty acids increase the
“oiliness” of a lubricating oil—that is, the coefficient of friction is
lowered. In addition it is claimed that these “oiliness” promoters
reduce the wear on moving parts, thereby minimizing shut-downs and
repair bills.
We have also what are known as extreme pressure lubricant bases
which cause a film of lubricating oil to be “tough.” Several types
of organic materials are used for this purpose, including halogenated
and phosphated oil compositions, lead soaps, and sulfurized oils.
When present in oils and greases in amounts as low as 1 percent, these
extreme-pressure lubricant bases make it possible for a bearing or gear
to withstand tremendous pressures without the bearing surfaces ac-
tually touching one another, and possibly “seizing.” For the lubri-
cation of the hypoid gear, for example, which is used in the differentia:
of most of the cars now being made, it is absolutely necessary that an
extreme-pressure lubricant base be used in conjunction with the lubri-
cating oil, since the peculiar frictional forces that obtain in this im-
proved gear would squeeze out or rupture the film of any untreated
oil, leaving the metal surfaces in direct contact. The presence of a
suitable extreme-pressure lubricant base insures that a film of oil
will always separate and protect the bearing surfaces.
188 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1940
Many other illustrations might be cited to show how our older indus-
tries have been aided through products or techniques having their origin
in the organic chemical industry, but I shall mention only a few more.
In the manufacture of perfumes, materials known as fixatives are
used, one function of which is to make the odor more lasting. Until
a few years ago, all fixatives were of animal origin, such as the musk
from a species of deer found in Tibet. The characteristic ingredient
of natural musk, if it could be had in a perfectly pure state, would
probably be worth its weight in gold several times over, but within
recent years synthetic musks have been developed, and at least one
of these new organic compounds is substantially identical with the
characteristic ingredient of natural musk. All sell at only a fraction
of the cost of the natural product. Moreover, the chemist has syn-
thesized certain floral odors which cannot well be recovered from
flowers. Perfumes having the true scent of lilac or lily-of-the-valley,
for example, were not to be had until the chemist synthesized these
elusive and delicate odors. Wholly new odors have also been syn-
thesized, but it should be understood that, for the most part, synthetic
perfume chemicals supplement rather than displace natural floral odors.
High quality perfumes are usually a skillful blend of the natural and
synthetic.
The close relationship between organic chemicals and the explosives
industry is well illustrated by some of my own early experiences. One
of my first assignments after becoming affiliated with the du Pont
Company in 1907 related to the manufacture of ammonium nitrate,
used in certain types of dynamite. In particular we sought to find
the cause of repeated fires which occurred on evaporating the neutral-
ized ammonia liquors. Since this was before the days of synthetic
ammonia, the ammonia liquors came from byproduct coke ovens, and
were originally bought on the basis of their ammonia content. While
they were analyzed for various inorganic constituents, no attention
whatever was paid to the possibility of organic matter being present.
To make a long story short, I carefully investigated the ammonia
liquors and found relatively large amounts of volatile tars. When
the liquors were neutralized with nitric acid, some of these tars were
partially nitrated. When the neutralized liquors were concentrated
by evaporation, the deposit of unstable nitrated tarry matter along
the margin of the hot ammonium nitrate liquors often ignited spon-
taneously, and it was this that had caused some disastrous fires. I
thereupon worked out a quantitative method for the quick determina-
tion of the total tarry content of ammonia liquors, so that a specifica-
tion as to tarry content could be incorporated in connection with the
purchase of ammonia liquor.
Another early assignment was a study of the nitration of toluene
in the production of a mixture of nitrated toluols used to lower the
ORGANIC CHEMICAL INDUSTRY—STINE 189
freezing point of dynamite. This work led me to a study of various
nitro derivatives of xylene and other hydrocarbons. Work on the
nitration of hydrocarbons and other organic compounds in turn led
to the preliminary work on the production of dye intermediates. In
connection with my work on low-freezing dynamites, for example, a
method was worked out and equipment designed for separating the
isomeric di-nitro toluenes, and this method was later employed in
making 2:4 dinitrotoluene as an intermediate in the manufacture
of dyes.
Still another early assignment was an investigation of permissible
explosives for use in mines, and in the early days I did all of the
work myself connected with the examination of the safety properties
of such permissible explosives as were then available, attending per-
sonally to the testing of these explosives by the Bureau of Mines at
the Pittsburgh Testing Station, which, incidentally, had just been
opened. The study of the properties of these permissible explosives
from the point of view of their tendency to ignite coal dust mixed
with air, or to explode mixtures of gas and air, led to the development
of a wholly new series of permissible explosives, very much safer for
use in gaseous mines than the earlier so-called permissible explosives.
Many interesting incidents, a few of them amusing, come to mind
as I think of other phases of this early work on explosives, including
the manufacture of TNT, tetryl (trinitrophenylmethyl nitramine)
and picric acid, but in each and every case the story would be the
same—namely, a dependence upon the products and the techniques
of organic chemistry.
To the ancient industry of agriculture, the organic chemical in-
dustry has made many notable contributions. In connection with
plastics, mention was made of urea, which today sells for less than
one-tenth of its price in 1920. This synthetic nitrogenous chemical
not only finds wide application in plastics, but also as a fertilizer
ingredient. Mention should also be made of the organic mercurials
which are being used so successfully for the control of various plant
diseases caused by fungi, and the long-chain alkyl rhodanates for
combating the ravages of sucking insects on certain agricultural
crops.
In this connection mention should also be made of recent work
at the Boyce Thompson Institute for Plant Research with organic
compounds which modify the growth of plants. Among the more
interesting of these materials are compounds such as indole butyric
acid, which promote root growth even on the stems and leaves of
plants to which they are applied. These so-called plant hormones,
which are used in concentrations as low as 1 part in 40,000, bid
fair to find wide practical application in agriculture, horticulture,
and floriculture for starting cuttings of plants difficult to root.
190 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1940
Materials made available, either directly or indirectly, through
the organic chemical industry have enriched our lives by bringing
to the masses of the American people many of the good things of
life which formerly were to be had only by the relatively well-to-do.
Thanks to the development of synthetic textile fibers, millions of
girls who work in offices and mills dress better than did the queens
of a hundred years ago. In 1924 a standard type of viscose rayon
sold for about $2 a pound. Today, greatly improved rayon yarns
sell for approximately 50 cents a pound, and such price reductions
mean large savings in clothing cost to the ultimate consumer. More-
over, the synthetic dyes used today, superior in many respects to
the natural dyes used by our grandparents, are produced at a cost
which adds at most only a few cents a yard to the finished fabric.
Synthetic plastics, previously referred to, have also enriched our
lives by making available a wide variety of beautiful articles, in-
cluding toiletware and costume jewelry, formerly made from rela-
tively expensive materials such as ivory, jade, tortoise shell, and
amber.
For our comfort, safety, and health, the organic chemical industry
has provided a wide variety of products. Reference was previously
made to the nonpoisonous, nonexplosive, and nonflammable fluori-
nated hydrocarbons widely used in domestic refrigerators and air-
conditioning units. I spoke also of the new polyvinyl acetal plastics
used as interliners in the safest safety glass ever made. There can
be no question that many serious injuries have been averted, and
many lives saved, because of safety glass.
But nowhere have organic chemicals played so vital a role as
in the prevention and cure of disease. An outstanding illustration
is “Salvarsan,” synthesized by Ehrlich for the cure of syphilis.
“Salvarsan” is now made in this country, of course, and research is
credited with bringing about a 94 percent reduction in the price of
this synthetic medicinal.1®
Not since the development of “Salvarsan” has a synthetic medi-
cinal met with such a welcome reception as sulfanilamide, or shown
greater promise. Although introduced into the field of medicine
only a few years ago, this coal-tar derivative has already saved the
lives of thousands suffering from “blood poisoning,” peritonitis,
streptococcic sore throat, puerperal or childbirth fever, meningitis,
and other dangerous maladies due to streptococcic infection. A1-
though the du Pont Company does not make this product, I am
proud to say that the company did prepare the sulfanilamide with
which the pioneering work in this country was carried out by Dr.
16 Chem. and Metallurg. Eng., September 1937, pt. 2, p. 546.
ORGANIC CHEMICAL INDUSTRY—STINE 191
Perrin H. Long and his associates at the Johns Hopkins Medical
School.
During the past year a related compound, sulfapyridine, has
shown great promise in the treatment of pneumonia, which claims
an annual toll of some 100,000 lives in the United States.
As a result of the isolation and synthesis of certain of the vita-
mins, various diseases due to dietary deficiencies can now be pre-
vented or cured. Among the more important of these essential
organic materials are vitamin A, a deficiency of which leads to night
blindness and increased susceptibility to infection; the antiscorbutic
vitamin C, now available as synthetic ascorbic acid; vitamin P-—P
(nicotinic acid), an insufficiency of which causes the dread pellagra;
the antirachitic vitamin D, now available as irradiated 7-dehydro-
cholesterol; and the antiberberi vitamin B, (thiamin), previously
referred to in connection with the effect of organic chemicals on
plant growth.1”
Similarly, the research chemist has established the constitution
of, and synthesized, certain of the hormones, those little-understood
secretions of the ductless glands which in some degree affect the
functioning of the mind as well as regulate the chemical reactions
of the body. Developments in this field offer definite promise for
the cure of certain mental ills which have baffled medical science
for ages.
The tremendous increases in organic chemical manufacture have
made such wide and important demands for research laboratories
und increased personnel to man these laboratories as to result in a
great country-wide stimulation of research. From fundamental re-
search in such sciences as chemistry, physics, biology, and pharma-
cology will certainly come the great developments of tomorrow, espe-
cially in the amelioration of man’s health. Chemotherapy, itself as
fundamentally important as the first work which flowed from Pasteur’s
laboratory, is nurtured by the organic chemical industry. <—— suoZ urqunoy’-—>
THE SEARCH FOR OIL-——LEES 235
the adjacent troughs or synclines. The oil thus concentrated along
the summit of such an anticline is actually floating on water within
its porous reservoir rock, as illustrated in figure 38, and if gas is
present in greater quantity than can be kept in solution in the oil
the excess gas fills the highest part of the anticline, forming what
is known as a gas cap.
The most usual type of oil accumulation is under such anticlinal
control. Another type is where the oil is concentrated in the higher
edge of a tilted sandstone wedge, and such an occurrence is called
a stratigraphic trap or shore-line oil field. Yet further types are
where an intrusive body of salt gives a domed structure to the adja-
cent strata, or where the sealing of a sandstone layer is caused by
a fault.
Petroleum production (in long tons)
In 1938 Total to end 1938 Proved reserves !
Percent Percent
WS eA sen eel att 167, 705, 000/60. 81] 3, 026, 000, 000 |64. 19} 2, 000, 000, 000
URSE SARE aeee we 29, 630, 000/10. 75 575, 000, 000 |12. 20 700, 000, 000
Venezuelaa2 2.2422 27, 657, 000}10. 03 242, 000, 000 | 5. 14
frame = fect betas 10, 192, 000} 3. 70 125, 000, 000 | 2. 65
Dutch East Indies
(British Borneo
and Sarawak) ___-_- 8, 194, 000} 2. 97 119, 000, 000 | 2. 52
RUMAnia eee 6, 761, 000} 2. 45 119, 000, 000 | 2. 52) >1, 580, 000, 000
Mexicomatss 2 aero 5, 434, 000} 1. 97 271, 000, 000 | 5. 75
bBo Ce ena ri LD 2 4, 298, 000) 1. 56 19, 000, 000 . 40
Colombis= = 3, 068, 000) 1. 11 33, 000, 000 . 70
rind cae Ss es Ae 2, 541, 000) . 92 23, 000, 000 . 49
AT Cent s ee ae 2, 386, 000} . 87 25, 000, 000 . 3
Renuka tien ere ese 2, 186, 000) . 79
India and Burma___-| 1, 435,000) . 52
iBahnems #+eene eo 1,117,000) .42
@anddane Ut sees 883, 000) . 32
Germany! 225% 41055. 599, 000) . 22
Soearene RRS roe 541, 000) . 20
apan and Taiwan-_-_- 344, 000) .12
Weindon nile sty 291,000! .11 137, 000, 000 | 2. 91 80, 000, 000
Py pte nes eee 222,000) .08
Albaniss 22s ae 93, 000 03
Hrancet 2u 6) eee 71, 000 03
Saudi Arabia________ 66, 000) .02
Hungary setter 43,000) . 02
Other countries_____ 48, 000 02 )
FLotalzee see RAS 805, 000 4, 714, 000, 000 4, 360, 000, 000
! The figures in the last column are the proved reserves on Jan. 1, 1939, estimated by Garfias.
The oil in its reservoir is under a certain pressure governed by the
regional hydrostatic conditions (fig. 3), and it carries gas in solution
either saturated to this pressure or some lower pressure, and it is
the combination of the hydrostatic pressure and gas content which
causes gushers or fountains of oil at the surface. The homely ex-
236 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1940
ample of the soda-water syphon can be quoted as an illustration of
the process. When the well is drilled the oil may flow at the surface
under great pressure or it may flow gently under low pressure, or it
may rise to a certain level in the hole and no higher, from which level
it must be pumped to the surface—all depending on local pressure
conditions and gas saturation pressure. The life history of an oil
field after discovery is first exuberant youth, then, as initial vitality
declines, sober middle age, followed by a long period of tired old
age with ever-decreasing productivity. The best results are obtained
under conditions of controlled production whereby the initial flow is
throttled down and both the gas and the water pressures, which are
the motive forces of the oil production, are carefully controlled. A
carefully managed oil field may be made to produce several times as
much oil as it would under wasteful conditions of control.
After complete exhaustion, what is the corpse of an oil field like?
The porous rock skeleton remains unaffected, as the oil has been
drained only from the interstices between the sand grains of a sand-
stone or from between the grains or fissures of a limestone, and a
large amount of oil still remains wetting the surfaces of these grains.
Only about 20 or 30 percent, on an average, of the total oil of a
reservoir can be produced by ordinary means, but more is possible
where a competent natural or artificial water flush or drive is opera-
tive. In some cases, particularly where the reservoir rock is a lime-
stone, too rapid oil production may draw water up the fissure system
and cause premature and unnecessary ruin of an oil field; this hap-
pened in Mexico in 1922, as some investors may remember to their
cost. Eventually it may be economically possible to mine the oil
sands of exhausted oil fields to recover the residual oil, a process
which, aided by high protection, is now in operation at Wietze in
Germany.
Oil fields vary within wide limits both in size and in productivity.
The world’s record for size is the oil field of east Texas, which, in its
9 years of life to date, has produced 205,200,000 tons of oil and is
credited with an ultimate possible total of 650 million tons. It has a
length of about 40 miles, an average breadth of about 7 miles, and
25,800 wells have been drilled. The world’s depth record is a well in
California which reached 15,004 feet. Such spectacular figures how-
ever are the journalistic scoops of the oil world and give a distorted
impression of the average condition. Oil fields may be classified as
giants, major fields, and average fields. In the first category, and
not more than about a dozen oil fields in the world belong here, are
fields which will give an eventual total of 100 million tons or more.
Major oil fields, and even these are not too plentiful, are from 5 to
100 million tons, and average fields are under the 5-million mark.
THE SEARCH FOR OIL—LEES 237
The number of oil fields in the world in the average category is
about 1,500, and the average size is about 500 acres, average depth
about 2,500 feet, average initial production per well about 10 tons
per day, and average ultimate production about 2 million tons.
So much for the nature of oil fields. I shall now refer back to my
table of production distribution and discuss the question of proved
reserves and the prospects of the future. In the table the U.S. A. is
credited with proved reserves of 2,000 million tons, or, in other words,
about 12 years of supply at the present rate of production. This,
however, refers only to proved reserves, that is, the estimated produc-
tion yet to be drawn from known fields, and no allowance is made
in this figure for new discovery. The rate of new discovery in the
States is still a formidable one. But the present decade will show a
considerable reduction in this respect on the previous, and this is
in spite of great improvements in the technique of oil finding and
of the depth capacity of drilling machinery (fig. 4).
Many estimates have been made in the past of the total oil reserves,
as distinct from proved reserves, of the U. S. A., and each estimate
has in turn been disproved by subsequent experience, with the result
that there is frequently a disinclination on the part of many to trust
the common anticipation of a coming shortage of oil, a disbelief which
gains strength from the large potential overproduction at the present
day. But notwithstanding past errors, there is no doubt on the part
of all responsible American oil geologists, and my own study of the
situation adds confirmation, that the bulk of American oil has already
been discovered. Fifteen years’ supply is already in sight and new
discovery may provide for perhaps a further 10 years, perhaps 15
years, or perhaps 20 years, but that is the order of expectation. One
must not conclude from this that the oil fields of the States will be
exhausted within 20 to 30 years from now, because the rate of decline
of oil fields is so slow that it would be impossible to exhaust them
in such a short time. But what it does mean is that there will be
a decline in total production within a measurable number of years,
and a realization of this salient fact is important for the theme of
my paper. It is the realization of this fact by the large and power-
ful American oil companies that has caused them to intensify their
search for new reserves of oil elsewhere in the world, and to compete
actively for new concessions wherever they are to be had and in any
countries having even remote potentialities, knowing that all the more
obvious prospects have been taken up and explored long ago.
Before leaving the U. S. A. I must answer my earlier question of
why that country should have such a dominating position in the
world of oil. The answer is twofold: they actually have an enor-
mous oil supply, and they have tried harder than any other country.
238 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1940
I have already explained how oil fields occur in sedimentary basins,
in the folded zones in front of mountain ranges, or in shore-line zones.
The U. S. A. have a variety of geologic provinces of various ages
fulfilling these conditions, but that is not all. They have tried harder.
Every modern device of exploration is rapidly accepted and utilized,
but supplementary to both geologist and geophysicist is the wild-
catter or the speculator who drills on “hunch” alone. And the wild-
catter fulfills an important function. He has not only directly
discovered perhaps 20 percent of the total oil of the States, including
the biggest of all oil fields, that of east Texas, but he has also in-
directly contributed to a greater degree in that both geologist and
geophysicist make use of the information from his unsuccessful wells
as a guidance for their own locations. A further important factor
is that small oil fields which can be produced with profit in an in-
tensively industrialized country would not be economically possible
if remote from markets or existing pipe lines.
1859-1895 = 1909-1924) 1929 1934 1935 1936 = 1937-1938
Drake's E F A A s
Well ® 2 Pa i = 8 FA
Feet i — a oie =
604
1000
Pepe»
Fi
=
7200
2000
3000
4000
5000
6000 5860
7°99
7
8000 a
9000
g2n
710000
13000
11
12000 377
13000 12786
14.000
15000 TEP
16000
FicuRp 4.—Diagram showing increase in depth of the world’s deepest wells.
(From Pogue, J. H., Economics of the petroleum industry, 1939.)
THE SEARCH FOR OIL-——-LEES 239
EXPLORATION METHODS
I have already explained in general terms the geologic character-
istics of oil fields and I shall now describe briefly the principles and
working methods which lead up to the discovery of new oil fields.
In the first instance a country to be investigated must be examined
in respect to its general geologic nature. Countries that are com-
posed exclusively of igneous or metamorphic rocks, that is to say,
of granite or schists or gneisses, have no possible hope of contain-
ing any oil, and attention is directed solely to areas having a cover
of sedimentary rocks (fig. 2). The strata must have had a favorable
development for the original formation of oil, must contain suitable
porous rocks to act as oil reservoirs, and must be folded into a suit-
able pattern for the accumulation of important amounts of oil. Un-
fortunately, science has not yet progressed so far that we can with
certainty recognize primary oil-source rocks, but we can say that
certain groups of rocks may come into this category and that others
certainly do not; for this reason the oil geologist is greatly en-
couraged by outward indications of the actual, as distinct from the
theoretical, existence of petroleum in the form of oil seepages, oil-
impregnated rocks, or of oil residues.
A preliminary geologic survey investigates these various points
and, in the case of relatively unknown countries, it is usually neces-
sary to make a comprehensive geologic map at the outset and an
intensive study of structural and stratigraphic conditions must be
made. During the early stages of this exploration, aerial photog-
raphy has been used to great advantage during recent years. Not
only can topographic maps of sufficient accuracy for the purposes
required be drawn from these photographs but, in addition, much
geologic information can be deduced from expert stereoscopic ex-
amination of pairs of photographs. Rock outcrops can be marked,
dip and strike determined, and faults detected; and the outline
geologic map thus produced is of great assistance to the subsequent
ground survey. In many instances, particularly where outcrops
are poor, structural deductions, which would be difficult or even
impossible to make on the ground, are possible from a study of
drainage pattern or of hill forms from the photographs.
A geologic survey is dependent on sufficient rock outcrops, and.
in many foothill zones in front of main mountain systems, par-
ticularly in arid countries, the solid geology is well exposed. But
sedimentary basins frequently fall in low-lying areas or alluvial
plains, and in this case the solid rock structure is completely obscured
from view by a mantle of alluvium, marsh, or tropical forest. When
this is the case the capacity of the geologist is limited and he has
to call on the assistance of the geophysicist for further help. By
240 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1940
geophysics is meant any physical method of investigating the sub-
surface structure of the earth, and applied geophysics in this sense
is a product of very recent years.
The methods used are based on gravimetric, seismic, or electrical
principles, each of which has advantages by certain circumstances.
The gravity method was the first to be developed, and an extremely
sensitive torsion balance, invented by the Hungarian scientist Baron
von Eétvés, was first used for oil finding by Dr. H. de Béickh,
also a Hungarian. During the last few years a new type of gravity
instrument, called the gravimeter, has been extensively used, and
although the physical principles of the instrument are considerably
different, the final result for practical purposes is similar. ‘These
gravity instruments measure minute differences of the force of grav-
ity throughout a given area, and it has been found that a large anti-
cline, the core of which has rocks of higher specific gravity than its
flanks, causes at the surface a slight increase in the value of gravity
as compared to its surroundings. The effect may range from a few
milligals to perhaps as much as 50 in the case of a major unit, but
as a milligal is 0.001 cm./sec.?, or approximately one-millionth part
of the total force of gravity at sea level, it will be readily appreciated
that the instruments used are most highly sensitive and their manipu-
lation is a matter of extreme care and skill. An inverted gravity
result is obtained in the case of salt domes where the salt core of the
dome is of a lighter gravity than the surroundings, and in this case
the target that is required takes the form of a gravity minimum.
The geophysical method which is now perhaps the most usual is
based on seismic principles. This is a type of echo sounding, but sub-
surface conditions are naturally much more complicated than is the
case with the marine echo sounder. A small explosion is fired in a
shot hole of 50 or so feet depth and the return vibrations, reflected
from various harder rock groups at depth, are registered by groups
of seismometers. The results are correlated and depicted in the form
of contour maps which show the structural attitude of the various
reflecting horizons. In some cases however the composition of the
rocks is not suitable for giving satisfactory reflections and it is nec-
essary to use the refraction method. Its use requires a much larger
charge of explosive, which in exceptional circumstances may be as
much as 1 to 2 tons of gelignite, and the seismometer instruments are
placed much farther from the shot point than is the case with the
reflection method, the distance being as great as 10 to 15 miles.
In other cases certain electrical methods of surveying are used,
although the conditions suitable for their employment are less fre-
quent than with the methods already described. The electrical
method measures the relative resistivity and conductivity of the var-
ious groups of rocks and provides a contour map of their structure.
THE SEARCH FOR OIL—LEES 241
These various geophysical methods do not, of course, determine
directly the existence or otherwise of underground oil, but they do
assist greatly in providing a structural picture of the subsurface by
which deductions regarding the probability or otherwise of oil may
be made, and they assist greatly in locating exploration wells to best
advantage. They are, however, far from being a universal panacea
and there are frequently many difficulties of interpretation of the
results obtained.
During recent years a geochemical method has been attempted
which deals more directly with underground oil. Small quantities
of surface rocks or soils are analyzed for their hydrocarbon gas con-
tent, and it has been found that minute escapes of gas, not detectable
by ordinary means, may give a clue to underground oil accumula-
tions. This method is at present at a stage of early development and
much research work is required before it can be looked upon as an
established method for routine application.
The hazards of oil exploration are well known to the investing
public, but the reasons for them are probably less well appreciated.
After as complete a survey of a potential oil region as is possible,
using all geologic and geophysical assistance, the average chance of
success of an exploration boring cannot ever be rated, on the basis of
past experience, as better than perhaps one in ten; but past experience
has also shown that if financial resources can stand the strain of the
nine unsuccessful efforts the reward from the fortunate tenth may be
expected to give sufficient compensation.
OIL EXPLORATION IN ASIA
The intensity of exploration in various parts of Asia has consid-
erably increased during recent years, and most of the large British
and American oil companies are involved. British and British-
Dutch companies have been actively engaged in the Asiatic field for
many years, and many important oil fields have been discovered and
developed; but the new interest now being taken by American com-
panies is, as I have already said, based on the belief that American
oil reserves will not stand the present rate of production for many
years. The necessity to discover and develop additional reserves
well ahead of demand forces the American companies to carry the
search to whatever parts of the world offer even remote prospects.
Exploration work under modern conditions is a lengthy and ex-
pensive undertaking, and the interval between the commencement
of an examination of a new concession and the time when an oil field
is found and sufficiently developed for export may cost many
hundred thousand pounds in money and 5 or even 10 years in time.
For this reason exploration work must be years ahead of the neces-
242 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1940
sity for the products which may emerge therefrom, and in many
cases big oil companies reduce the hazards of expensive undertakings
by pooling their resources and cooperating in the exploration surveys.
The countries, other than in North and South America and Europe,
where exploration is at the present moment most active are Egypt,
Sinai, Palestine, Syria, Arabia, Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Asiatic
U. S. S. R., India, Burma, Dutch East Indies, Borneo, Sarawak,
Dutch New Guinea, British Mandated New Guinea and Papua,
Australia, and New Zealand. In many cases the chances of dis-
coveries of importance are extremely speculative, but nevertheless
wherever theoretical possibilities exist they are being exhaustively
investigated. A large expenditure of money and effort may give
insufficient or completely negative results; as examples may be quoted
an American company’s recent experience in northeastern Iran and
Afghanistan and the Shell Company’s exploration survey in Papua,
which was abandoned after £433,000 had been expended. An ex-
ample of the opposite experience is the spectacular success of an
American company at Bahrein. It would be quite impossible in
the course of this paper to describe in any detail the progress of
these extensive surveys, but a short résumé of the present position
would probably be interesting.
EGYPT, PALESTINE, SYRIA
The first phase of exploration in Egypt was in the years just
before and after the World War of 1914-18, when about 40 explora-
tion wells were drilled in various places throughout the Gulf of
Suez littoral. Two oil fields were discovered, Jemsa and Hurghada.
After a very few years of spectacular life the Jemsa field declined
and was abandoned, but the Hurghada field, discovered in 1913, is
still producing, although at a steadily declining rate. Eighteen
months ago, however, the persistent effort of the Anglo-Egyptian
Oilfields, Ltd., was rewarded with a new discovery at Ras Gharib,
115 miles southeast of Suez. This discovery has greatly stimulated
exploration in other parts of the Gulf of Suez area, northern Egypt,
and Sinai. Geologic and geophysical surveying is being actively
carried out by British and American companies, and several new
exploration wells are in the course of drilling.
Geologic and geophysical exploration has been active in Palestine
for a number of years, and several concessions have been granted
in the coastal zone and in the Dead Sea region. Drilling is con-
templated, but progress has been retarded by the recent troubles in
Palestine. It is interesting to recall that the bituminous occurrences
in and adjacent to the Dead Sea gave rise to its ancient name of
Lacus Asphalticus.
THE SEARCH FOR OIL—LEES 243
Two deep wells are at present being drilled in Syria, one at Derro,
close to Deir ez Zor, and one at Dubeyat, east of Palmyra. As yet
no success has been recorded, but the work is continuing. Other
exploration wells are also contemplated as the result of extensive
geologic investigations.
IRAQ
The construction of the pipe-line system from Iraq to the Mediter-
ranean has been one of the most spectacular engineering achievements
of recent years. It connects the Kirkuk oil field, discovered and de-
veloped by the Iraq Petroleum Co.,? with the Mediterranean terminals
at Haifa and Tripoli. The current rate of production is approxi-
mately 4 million tons per year, and the proved reserves of the field
were sufficient to justify the enormous outlay required for the pipe-
line construction. Against this successful result may be put the
fate of the adjacent concession of the British Oil Development Co.
in the Mosul area. This company drilled many wells in the exten-
sive area south and north of Mosul, and, although large amounts
of oil have been encountered, its quality, owing to high specific grav-
ity, viscosity, and sulfur content, proved such that its export is not
an economic possibility. In the early stages much of the finance and
material for this work was provided by Italian and German sources,
but after many years of discouragement these countries withdrew
their support and the further exploration is now being financed by
the Iraq Petroleum Co. The total expenditure to date, and so far
without economic return, amounts to several million pounds.
During the past year a further concession has been granted by the
Iraq Government in the southern part of the country, but as yet its
investigation has been confined to the initial geologic and geophysi-
cal surveys.
IRAN
Iran ranks fourth among oil-production countries of the world,
and its current output is slightly over 10 million tons per annum.
The original concession was granted in 1901, but many drilling fail-
ures preceded the first success at Masjid-i-Sulaiman in 1908.4 The
pipe line from this field is 120 miles in length and serves a refinery
and port at Abadan on the Shatt al Arab. In the northwest, a pipe
line connects the fields of Naft-i-Shah to a refinery at Kermanshah
which supplies local market requirements. The Haft Kel field was
*The control of the Iraq Petroleum Co. is shared between the Anglo-Iranian Oil Co.,
the Royal Dutch-Shell, American, and French interests.
*The history of the development of this concession has already been described to this
Society by Sir John (now Lord) Cadman under the title of “Middle East geography in
relation to petroleum,” Geogr. Journ., vol. 84, pp. 201-214, 1934.
280256—41 17
244 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1940
discovered in 1928, and during recent years other discoveries at Gach
Saran, White Oil Springs, and Agha Jari have been registered.
These new discoveries are required to maintain production and to
offset the gradual decline of the older fields. Oil-field discovery
in Iran is rendered particularly difficult by the unusually complicated
geologic conditions, and a large program of geologic, aerial, and
geophysical surveys is continuously required.
Hitherto the oil production of Iran has been confined to these
southern regions, but it is well known that oil indications and pos-
sibilities exist in the northern Provinces of the country. Five years
ago an extensive concession in northern and eastern Iran was ac-
quired by an American company and several years were occupied
in preliminary geologic investigations. In the end however it was
concluded that, although oil possibilities undoubtedly exist, the ex-
pectation of quantity in view of the remoteness of seaboard did not
make oil export economically possible at the present time, and the con-
cession was relinquished. During 1939 a Dutch company acquired
a concession for minerals and for oil exploration over certain areas
in central Iran.
KUWEIT, BAHREIN, ARABIAN COAST, QATAR PENINSULA, AND SOUTHERN
ARABIA
Drilling has been carried out at Kuweit for several years, and after
an initial failure success was registered in 1937. Further wells are
now being drilled, but as yet the extent of the oil field has not been
determined. The operating company is under joint British and
American control.
An important oil field has been developed by American interests
on Bahrein Island, and its current production is approximately 1
million tons per year. The island itself is formed by a single anti-
cline, so that in this case there is no expectation of other similar oil
fields within the limits of Bahrein territory. A refinery has been
erected on the island and a marine loading terminal serves ocean-
going tankers.
Important concessions of considerable size in Saudi Arabia are
also held by American interests, and a number of exploration wells
have already been drilled in the Hasa Province. So far one oil field
has been discovered at Dammam and is now beginning regular pro-
duction and export. An oil well accidentally caught fire last summer
and was prominently reported in our press.
The Petroleum Concessions, Ltd., a subsidiary company of the Iraq
Petroleum Co., hold a concession for the Qatar Peninsula, which lies
east of the Bahrein Island. Geologic surveys have been in progress
for some years and an exploration well is at present being drilled.
THE SEARCH FOR OIL-—LEES 245
Various concessions have been acquired to cover the greater part of
southeastern and southern Arabia. Geologic surveys and air recon-
naissance flights have been carried out during recent years and are
still continuing.
AFGHANISTAN
An oil concession of 240,000 square miles in extent was acquired by
American interests in 1934, and extensive geologic surveys were carried
out during the following years. A number of oil indications are
known, particularly in the northern part of the country, but it was
concluded that, though oil fields might be possible, their size was
not likely to be sufficient to justify the expense of pipe-line develop-
ment to the Arabian Sea coast. The local market is also not large
enough to justify, for its own sake alone, the large expenditure neces-
sary for exploration drilling. The concession was relinquished in 1988.
ASIATIC U. 8. 5S. R.
Developed oil fields of importance in Asiatic U.S. S. R. are confined
at present to three regions, the coastal zone of the Caspian Sea south
of Krasnovedsk and including Cheleken Island, the Ferghana Valley
in Kirgizia, and Sakhalin. The last named produces about 400,000
tons per year, and Japanese companies participate in the development.
Exploration is being actively carried out in various parts of the im-
mense territory of Asiatic Russia and many new discoveries must be
anticipated. The Ferghana Valley, being the center of the cotton-
growing belt, with silk and mineral industries in addition, has a large
local consumption which it is expected will be completely supplied
from local sources within a few years. Some small fields, though of
low-grade oil, have also been reported in Tajikistan close to the
Afghanistan border. The surroundings of Lake Baikal are now being
investigated, and theoretically oil fields are possible throughout exten-
sive areas of Siberia. Transport difficulties will, however, handicap
any early development of prospects in remote areas. References should
also be made to a small producing well in the Taimir Peninsula within
the Arctic Circle. .
The bulk of both present and past Russian production has come
from the European side, but the possible future resources for both
European and Asiatic U. S. S. R. are immense. Garfias (see p. 235)
has given the proved reserves as 700 million tons, but Gubkin has
published estimates far in excess of this. He gives a possible total,
1. e., proved plus possible, of 6,376 million tons, and while this may
be Be enact there is no question of the importance for the
future of the oil reserves of the U.S. S. R.
246 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1940
INDIA AND BURMA
Oil production from India is confined to the Potwar Basin area
near Rawalpindi, where there are two small producing fields—Khaur
and Dhulian—both operated by the Attock Oil Co., and in Upper
Assam, where the Assam Oil Co., a subsidiary of the Burmah Oil
Co., has a small field at Digboi. In both these areas exploration
work has been active for many years, and many other exploration
wells have been drilled, but hitherto without further success.
During the past 2 years investigations into oil possibilities have
been carried over larger areas, both in northeastern and northwestern
India, but no deep drilling has as yet been undertaken. Both Brit-
ish and American companies have acquired exploration licenses. The
areas with theoretical, though very speculative, possibilities lie
partly in the vast alluvial plains and partly in the foothills. In the
former, exploration has involved extensive geophysical work on the
part of the operating companies, and in this connection the geodetic
work of the survey of India has been of great assistance. Geologic
surveys, assisted by aerial mapping, are being carried out in the foot-
hill regions in areas where sufficient outcrops exist to make surface
geology possible.
The oil production of Burma is drawn from three principal fields
and, in spite of a considerable program of exploration drilling car-
ried on for many years, no recent addition of importance to known
reserves has been made. Exploration work, however, is being ac-
tively pursued in spite of all discouragements. The possibility of
employing geophysical methods in alluvium-covered areas now makes
oil exploration practicable in areas which some years ago would have
been completely disregarded.
DUTCH EAST INDIES, BORNEO, AND SARAWAK
Oil production from these islands amounted to 8,194,000 tons in
1938, which was drawn from a large number of individual fields.
Most of the existing fields are already in an advanced state of decline,
but new discoveries offsetting this are being made from year to year
and exploration work is being actively pursued.
DUTCH NEW GUINEA, PAPUA, AND MANDATED NEW GUINEA
An extensive concession in Dutch New Guinea is being explored
by a company in which American, British, and Dutch interests are
represented. A wide aerial survey was carried out at an early stage,
and the surface geologic mapping has been greatly assisted by photo-
geologic interpretation from the aerial photographs. Geologic and
THE SEARCH FOR OIL—LEES 247
geophysical surveys followed and the exploration drilling stage is
now commencing. Up to the beginning of this year about 114
million pounds is reported to have been spent on this concession.
A number of oil indications are known in Papua and New Guinea
and led to an investigation and exploration drilling program in
the war years of 1914-18 and subsequently. The results, however,
were uniformly disappointing, partly owing to technical and drilling
difficulties, and no work was carried out for a number of years. Fol-
lowing recent changes in petroleum legislation on the part of the
Australian Government, a fresh attack on the possibilities has
recently been commenced and considerable concessions have been
acquired by American, British, and Australian companies. I have
already mentioned that the Shell Company have abandoned their
interest in another area in Papua, after surveys involving an ex-
penditure of over £400,000 had been carried out. The other con-
cessions are now being actively explored and the drilling phase will
soon be reached.
JAPAN
Japan, including Taiwan, produced 344,000 tons of oi1in 1938. For
national reasons of self-sufficiency Japan has been making strenuous
efforts to increase her indigenous production for many years, but
new discoveries and deeper oil horizons in existing fields have not
done much more than offset the decline of the older fields. In 1937
a well was drilled to a depth of 11,502 feet at Kinsin in Taiwan, and
several oil sands are recorded below 10,000 feet.
CONCLUSION
In the foregoing pages I have attempted to analyze the underlying
factors governing the present-day search for additional oil reserves
throughout the world, and particularly in Asia. The United States
has supplied 64 percent of the total oil production of the world up
to date and is still producing 61 percent. She has at present a poten-
tial output considerably in excess of market demand, and restrictions
on production have been imposed in most of the individual States.
It is expected, however, that this is a passing phase as, with more
and more fields falling into decline, more and more new discoveries
are required to offset this cumulative factor, and it is unlikely that
the discovery rate of the past two decades will be repeated. The
proved reserves of the United States have been estimated at 12 years’
supply at the present rate, but new discoveries can be expected to
extend this to 20 or 30 years, or perhaps even longer. A decline in
total production from the great oil fields of the States is however in
sight within a measurable number of years, and a realization of this
248 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1940
fact is responsible for the recent intensification by American interests
of the search for oil supplies elsewhere in the world, knowing that
5 or 10 years are required to explore and develop a foreign concession
to the point of commencing export. Exploration is particularly
active in South America and Asia.
Asia is at present producing 9.4 percent of the total world supply,
but without question this proportion will increase substantially in
future years. British and British-Dutch companies have been active
in oil exploration in Asia for many years and have many notable
discoveries to their credit. Recently, however, the search has been
considerably intensified and American interests have entered the field
on a much larger scale than hitherto.
The geographic importance of oil-field discovery and development
in Asiatic countries does not require emphasis. The necessary pre-
liminaries of aerial, geologic, and geophysical surveys enormously
enhance our scientific knowledge of hitherto little-known parts of the
world, and the subsequent opening up of inaccessible regions by oil-
field development can bring about far-reaching sociological changes
by the introduction of money, employment, and quick means of com-
munication by road and by air. The search for oil is playing an
ever-increasing part in the westernization of many parts of the East.
Asia, with 55 percent of the world’s population, has less than 5
percent of its oil consumption, but this is a changing circumstance.
Hitherto most of the oil fields in Asia have been developed for export
and only areas adjacent to coast line, or oil fields of a size to justify
the large expense of pipe lines to seaboard, have been developed. As
mechanization progresses and as more and more motor roads are built
and used, the internal market becomes increasingly important and
will lead to oil-field development for its own sake alone. We are
now ceasing to gape at the superficial changes effected by the impact
of West upon East—the tribal shaikh driving across the desert in
his expensive American car, Arabs in Jidda listening to broadcasts
from European wireless stations, Iranian cities cut across by boule-
vards modeled on European pattern, and countless such familiar
incongruities that demonstrate the intrusion of Western behavior
into Asia. The West has not only produced the pattern of modern
life but, in countries where oil royalties form a substantial part of
the yearly budget, the wherewithal to copy it. The movement is
gradual, but now inexorable. How far habits of life will change
habits of mind is a matter for conjecture . . . but with this thought
I seem to be. diverging too far from my geologic analysis of the
search for oil.
Smithsonian Report, 1940.—Lees PLATE
1. FAULTED ANTICLINAL AXIS, AGHA JARI.
2. ANTICLINAL AXIS, SOUTH IRAN.
Smithsonian Report, 1940.—Lees PLATE 2
1. GEOLOGISTS EXAMINING OIL-IMPREGNATED ROCKS.
eae
2. A SEEPAGE OF THICK OIL WITH GAS BUBBLING IN THE CENTER OF THE POOL
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PERSPECTIVES IN EVOLUTION?
By James Ritcur, M. A., D. Sc.
President of the Zoology Section, British Association for the Advancement
of Science
“All useless science is an empty boast,” Shakespeare is alleged to
have said, but he lived before that pernicious cleavage had been made
between pure science and economic science, which suggests that the
latter is a gold-digger while the former excavates only knowledge.
And while we are strongly in favor of those lines of scientific en-
deavor which make their first purpose an attack upon the evils that
man and his possessions fall heir to in the course of nature, and
which aim at easing the human struggle for existence, there are
questions of no immediate practical moment to which the inquiring
spirit of humanity demands an answer. I do not think Shakespeare
would have called these recurrent problems “useless science,” for the
mind of man requires satisfaction as well as his material need.
It is characteristic of the modern evolution of scientific method
that as the zoologist becomes more and more engrossed in a particular
problem within the restricted field in which he specializes, his oppor-
tunities recede of gaging the effect of discoveries in other fields upon
the general problems of life. Even if he desires to keep in touch with
such inquiries, whom is he to follow? Juvenal declared that “Nature
never says one thing and Science another,” and while that is true of
science in the abstract, it can scarcely be true of the purveyors of
exact knowledge so-called, the scientists, for they speak with many
and often discordant tongues.
There is another reason which suggests that a restatement of some
of the great problems may be appropriate on this occasion. Since the
British Association last met in Dundee, in 1912, and Sir Peter
Chalmers Mitchell addressed this Section upon the need for further-
ing the protection of animals whose existence was threatened by the
advance of civilization, great progress has been made in many direc-
tions. Much has been done, for example, for the cause so com-
1 Address to Section D, Zoology, of the British Association for the Advancement of
Science, Dundee meeting, 1939. Reprinted, slightly revised, by permission of the Associa-
tion, from The Advancement of Science, new quarterly series No. 1, October 1939.
249
250 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1940
petently advocated by Sir Peter Mitchell; but in no direction has
there been more striking endeavor than in the testing of old and once
widely accepted theories by the touchstone of detailed analysis and
experiment. That is a distinctive feature of post-war zoology, and
its milestone was erected by Alfred J. Lotka in 1925. It has had a
salutary effect upon theorizing, for “Experience is the greatest baffler
of speculation,” but if speculation gains in precision through running
this new gauntlet, it must not be forgotten that experiment also gains
from the association: “Knowledge directeth practice and practice
increaseth knowledge.”
So, since I think that truth may lie between analysis of long-range
views and synthesis of detailed discoveries, I take this opportunity of
laying before you some ideas concerning life and evolution.
THE SECRET OF LIFE
There was a Scottish politician and philosopher, a former Duke of
Argyll, who, among many sayings that are forgotten, took pleasure
in reminding the world that “Science has cast no light on the ultimate
nature of life.” He stood for the rather facile vitalism which loves
a mystery and regards the probings of science as bringing knowledge
only with the accompaniment of disillusionment. In the opposite
camp is the mechanist, in whose view the processes of life are to be
explained solely and completely by the concepts of chemistry and
physics. The two aspects, the mechanistic and the vitalistic views,
have been canvassed so thoroughly that it would be profitless to trace
the controversy again, if indeed the controversy has any real antithesis
and does not represent simply two facets of one common truth. But it
is legitimate to ask what recent years have contributed toward the
solving of the secret of life.
The outstanding fact which strikes the observer is that the extreme
positions, physical and biological, have become untenable, and that
concessions are being made by both sides. The vitalist’s vitality is
being whittled down, animation is being put into the mechanist’s
machine. Sir James Jeans (1933) from the physicist’s point of view
has stated that living things in some way possess the power of evading
the established physical order of disorganization, and in so doing he
has conceded more than most biologists demand. When, in his plea
at the Cambridge meeting of this Association, in 1938, for the inclu-
sion of probability in the scheme of physical conceptions, Dr. C. G.
Darwin stated that the trouble about forecasting the future from our
knowledge of the present was the impossibility of knowing the present,
he was formulating precisely that difficulty of knowing the conditions
of life activity which besets the biological experimenter in endeavor-
PERSPECTIVES IN EVOLUTION—RITCHIE 251
ing to interpret life axiomatically, a difficulty which appears to be
insurmountable. A common ground, even if it be largely a common
ground of uncertainty and cautiousness, is being approached by the
schools of physics and biology.
Broadly it may be said that the efforts of recent years have done
much to reduce the mystery of life. An elusive quality remains, but
the elusive quality is retreating within its shell, and its shell becomes
smaller and smaller, just as the corresponding physical mystery has
been driven from stronghold to diminishing stronghold, from mole-
cule to atom, from atom to proton and electron with the irreducible
quantum of activity. Such advances as have been made in the inter-
pretation of life have been due to the application of physical and
chemical methods and concepts.
There have been theoretical interpretations, working hypotheses
founded rather on analogy than deduced from direct observation, like
the oscillatory theory of Lakhovsky (1929), who regards the cell as
an electromagnetic resonator, active in absorbing and emitting radia-
tions of very high frequency. Life, in his view, is the dynamic equilib-
rium between such cells, the harmony of innumerable radiations react-
ing upon each other. Or the vortex theory of Lartigue (1929) who,
endeavoring to extend to the domain of life the laws of eddies, comes
to the conclusion that the living organism is not an ordinary thermal
machine, since it works at a temperature practically constant, nor an
ordinary electrical machine, since it works at a practically constant
potential, nor an ordinary chemical machine, since there is no suf-
ficient explanation of the activity of its chemical processes taking
place almost at neutrality. Instead he looks upon the living cell as a
thermoelectrical unit based upon an etherial vortex, and the appear-
ance of life upon the earth as the appearance of such a vortex acti-
vated by a triple movement of centripetal precipitation, of centrifu-
gal diffusion, and of ellipsoidal or cylindrical rotation, and sufficiently
persistent to construct a body by sweeping along matter in its train
and thereafter to engender other vortices specifically like itself.
These are tenuous speculations at best. It is to the lasting credit
of the department of zoology in this university college of Dundee
that it gave to the world a reasoned dynamical interpretation of
organisms which, working on solid ground, revealed the physical
basis of much that had been regarded as manifestations of the pe-
culiar properties of life. His presidential address to our Section
of the British Association at Portsmouth in 1911 showed that Sir
D’Arcy Thompson had already been turning over in his mind the
adequacy of the forces of surface tension, elasticity, and pressure to
explain a multitude of the phenomena illustrated in the appearances
of living things; but the publication of Growth and Form in 1917
Zoe ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1940
exposed, with a wealth of detail that set the subject in a new light,
the far-reaching influences of physical forces on the growth and ulti-
mate conformation of organisms and the parts of organisms.
While the structures, the “things seen” in the architecture of ani-
mate nature, have been yielding their secrets to such physical analy-
sis, the activities of living stuff, far less easy to comprehend, and yet
more intimately part of life than the material plasms through which
they are expressed, have also been giving way to the skilled attacks
of the physicist and chemist. Here investigation has naturally been
concentrated upon the unit of organization, the cell, and 1t has shown
that just as the cell boundary is determined by physical forces, of
surface tension, so activities of the living cell membranes, which
form its boundary, also fall into line, so far as analysis goes, with
physicochemical laws. Thus the living cell, of plant or animal, acts
as an osmotic system, as de Vries showed long ago with the leaf cells
of T'radescantia and as has been shown for many animal cells such as
mammalian red blood cells and leucocytes, spermatozoa, muscle cells
of frogs, and egg cells of echinoderms. Moreover, the adjustment
of forces within and without living cells has been found to be in ac-
cordance with the thermodynamical balance known as the “Donnan
equilibrium” or “membrane equilibrium,” which interprets the rela-
tionship between solvents separated by a membrane, on one side of
which is a nondiffusible ion or molecule. (For a summary of the
biological aspect, see Dixit, 1938.) Part of the activity of a cell,
at any rate, is amenable to purely physicochemical explanation.
Further understanding of the activities of the cell as well as prac-
tical benefits to humanity have followed upon the enzyme discoveries
of recent years. I would remind you of only one example, that the
digestive enzyme of the papaya plant, papain, is now used in Amer-
ica by the ton in making tough meat tender. As Balls (1938) put it,
in an address to the Washington Academy of Science, “ we should
probably all be surprised to know the exact number of years of
beef life that is taken out of the steaks of America by means of
papain”; though I have a strong suspicion that knowledge of this
great discovery has not yet penetrated to the roast beef of old Eng-
land. As regards cell activity the enzymes act as catalysts speed-
ing up chemical reactions; without enzymes cell processes would
“proceed so slowly that the cell would die waiting for food to be
digested or oxygen to become available” (Balls, 1938).
From these few examples it is patent that much that was myste-
rious about life has disappeared or is disappearing before the per-
sistent inquiries of the physicist and chemist. Life processes of the
physiological order are ruled and guided by the selfsame laws which
regulate action in the nonliving world.
PERSPECTIVES IN EVOLUTION—RITCHIE 29a
But it is just as obvious that none of these interpretations reach
the secret spring of life itself. The physical explanation of the
architecture of animals must assume the power of the living thing
to react and mould itself to the forces that play upon it. Osmotic
reactions do not explain wholly the exchange between cells and their
surroundings, as Gross (1939) found in the diatom Ditylum bright-
welli, in which his experiments led him to postulate a vital activity
of the cells involving perhaps the secretion of water, a supposition
since confirmed by Bhatia (1940) working with Gross in the depart-
ment of zoology of Edinburgh University. The Donnan equilibrium,
which interprets a condition of thermodynamical balance, meets the
case of a living cell only when the cell activity is at its lowest; and
the more active, that is the more alive, a cell is the less does the
Donnan theory become applicable.
No known law can account for the curious way in which substances
are sorted out and grouped on opposite sides of living membrane.
It has been shown to be widely true that on one side of living proto-
plasm acid is produced (as in the stomach) together with a higher
concentration of potassium, ammonium, phosphate and, if they be
introduced into the blood, basic dyes; whereas on the other side
occurs sodium (on the blood side of the stomach) associated with
the production of alkaline substances and the assembling of intro-
duced acid dyes. Such anomalous grouping is repeated in plant
cells which preduce acid and potassium concentrate on the inner side
and, on the other side of a protoplasmic film only one-hundredth of
a millimeter thick, alkali and calcium concentrate. As Keller (1938),
in his survey of these odd contrasting groups, sums up the situation:
“We cannot explain how a unipolar living electrode is able to pro-
duce or concentrate on one side acid and the potassium group, on
the other alkali and the sodium group, but we have to accept this
fact as generally observed in all animal and plant cells as long as
the electric potentials of the cells are normal and the normal oxygen
supply is at the disposal of the cells.”
Enzymes may be necessary for the complete activity of a cell, but
though it may hasten a chemical reaction no catalyst can set a
reaction in motion; in the case of the cell that appears to be the
prerogative of “life.” ;
Minute analysis still stops short of the secret of life.
THE QUALITY OF LIFE IN PERSPECTIVE
Let us turn, then, from the minute analysis of the unit of life,
which in recent years has done so much to reduce the mystery of
life, without however reaching the kernel of the mystery, to see
what suggestion may arise from another point of view, a perspective
of eyolutionary processes.
254 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1940
It is difficult for us, overwhelmed by the complexity of evolution,
to single out those features which are most distinctive of life, but
suppose we hand the problem over to reasonable beings of our imagi-
nation, who, coming from a world such as ours, but on which life
has never existed, view for the first time the earth. We may
imagine them to be physicists or chemists or even mathematicians,
for obviously no biologist could come from a lifeless world!
Among many wonders, two things would strike these visitors as
outstandingly peculiar. The first concerns the structure of the
earth’s crust. In it occur unlikely accumulations which would have
no counterpart in a lifeless world. Average sea water contains onty
0.12 part of calcium carbonate per thousand, yet some 48 millions of
square miles of the ocean floor are covered with a deep deposit of
calcareous ooze containing calcium carbonate up to 90 percent. The
coral islands of modern seas, the chalk and limestone formations
which represent relics of the oceans of geologic times and which
make up a very considerable part of the solid crust upon which we
live, have been similarly abstracted and assembled by living animals
from sea water. Soluble silica occurs in very minute quantities in
the ocean, never exceeding 1.5 parts per million, yet in our present-
day oceans plants have assembled from such a dilution, 10 millions
of square miles of diatom ooze, and radiolarian ooze accounts for
another 2 millions of square miles of siliceous accumulations.
From the atmosphere, as well as from the ocean, unlikely aggre-
gates have been sorted out. The average proportion of carbon
dioxide in the lower atmosphere is about 3 parts per 10,000, yet the
superficial deposits of peat and the deeper formations of coal, oil
shale, and the natural petroleum produced from them, consist essen-
tially of carbon sorted out by plants from that tenuous store. The
carbon dioxide, dispersed and inert, in 16,125,000 cubic yards of air
is gathered and made potentially efficient by a single tree of some 5
tons dry weight.
To us these aggregates have lost all sense of wonder, but to our
physicists from a lifeless world they must seem as unbelievable as
the giraffe to the youngster at the zoo, for they controvert one of
the established laws of physical order, that, left to themselves, units
of matter in a gas or a solution move toward their maximum dis-
persal. The normal physical course of dispersal in the cases I have
mentioned has been replaced by assortment and aggregation, and the
agent of the reversal has been the living organism.
The second stumbling-block over which our visitors would trip in
their prospect of the earth is supplied by the history of living
things themselves. The life history of any multicellular organism
is a development, that is a selection and reassortment of materials
PERSPECTIVES IN EVOLUTION—RITCHIE 255
in such a way that the organism beginning as a fertilized ovum,
already complex in a morphological and physicochemical sense,
becomes still more complex. The history of life upon earth in the
broadest sense is also an evolution from more simple to more com-
plex. It might be said that even in the lifeless world from which
our visitors came, inorganic things showed an evolution from more
simple to more complex; that, for example, an ancient range of
mountains, with its peaks and valleys, its corries and its precipices,
is much more complex than the simple fold of the anticline which
was its beginning. But that is a complexity due to disintegration,
and is entirely in consonance with the physical law of randomness
which would assert that in the long run the hills will be deposited
in the valleys so that both will attain a common level beyond which
leveling can go no further. But the complexity of the evolution
of life is no disintegration; on the contrary its characteristic is inte-
gration, a building up associated with an increase in the orderly
arrangement of particles, and not, at any rate as we focus our eyes
upon the products of evolution, an increase of randomness.
Further, if our visitors were fortunate enough to have a biologist
as their mundane guide, he would give a final shock to their physical
concepts by informing them that we believe protoplasm, the essen-
tial living matter, to have risen from a fortuitous concourse of
atoms, and such an event, where physical law demands dispersal and
randomness, is exceedingly improbable, though nothing is impossible.
In brief, place before your physicist who has no knowledge of life,
the series atoms, protoplasm, unicellular organism, metazoan, and
ask him which came first; and he will swear by all the laws of
inorganic nature and statistical probability that the metazoan must
have started the chain and must have evolved or disintegrated into
the unicellular organism, and that into primeval protoplasm, which
must finally have dissociated into its constituent atoms. But we
know that the reverse is the true sequence, the reverse of physical
probability.
Is this then a fundamental secret of life, that it reverses the
physical law of dissipation or increasing randomness? There has
been long argument “about it and about,” but to take recent expres-
sions of opinion, that is the view taken by Sir James Jeans, who
frankly states that “what we describe as life succeeds in evading it
[i. e. the second law of thermodynamics or the law of increasing
entropy or randomness] in varying degree” (1933, p. 276). Other
writers going further see in the paradox “the intervention and con-
tinually active interference of a guiding force which, in the case
of life, lifts it into a higher plane of existence where it is not sub-
ject to the laws of entropy” (H. V. Gill, 1933). The opposing
256 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1940
point of view is that the processes of life offer no obvious contradic-
tion to the second law, since if all other related and simultaneous
actions be taken into account the total effect will be an increase of
entropy. (See, for example, Donnan, 1934.) That may be so, but
it is an unproved suggestion; and the phenomena of life and its
evolution are so complex that if the resolution in terms of physical
law of “all other related and simultaneous actions” has to be pushed
from item to item until, as it were, the universe is involved before a
balance can be struck, then entropy has little immediate significance
for life activity.
It comes to this, that in practice the second law of thermody-
namics, so well established for physical happenings, cannot be satis-
factorily applied to living processes. And that while no one would
deny that living things in the long run and in a universal sense
are subject to its demands, and indeed that in their workings they
are probably controlled by it, nevertheless organisms appear to be
able temporarily to hold up or withstand the physical course of
degradation of matter, if they do not actually reverse it.
From this point of view, then, the secret of the living organism,
that is its essential difference from nonliving matter, is its power of
trading with its environment in such a way that it can build up its
body-stores of high potential energy from materials of lower
potential.
So we are led to two conclusions. The origin of life must be
sought in a concourse of atoms, improbable as that may seem, which
traded with an inorganic environment. The first organism is un-
likely to have been of the nature of a virus, although viruses have
been suggested as the nearest approach we know to a primeval
existence, for whether a virus be alive or be a nonliving protein
molecule, it multiplies by acting upon the organic materials of its
host, and that presupposes the existence of other living things. It is
unlikely that the first organism was of the nature of a green plant,
for chlorophyll is a highly organized stuff, and although some form
of energy must have been utilized in the building up of the first
organic molecules, we do not know whether it was the energy of
sunlight, as in photosynthesis, or of a chemical reaction like the
chemosynthesis which characterizes the life processes of certain
sulfur, iron, and nitrifying bacteria. But even bacteria have their
organization and it may be supposed that before them there came into
being precellular diffuse stuffs, not yet recognizable as definite or-
ganisms, whose one outstanding character was their power of using
for their own aggrandizement some form of energy about them and
external to them.
PERSPECTIVES IN EVOLUTION—RITCHIE 257
A second conclusion follows upon our analysis. Phenomena of
life elude treatment by the laws of thermodynamics, not necessarily
because living matter does not obey these laws, but because the
unknown conditioning of working organisms is too complex to
yield to analysis applicable to inorganic states. Nor does it seem
likely, since livingness exists within a very limited range of tem-
perature and is readily extinguished by interferences, that it can ever
be subjected to the sort of analysis which has led to the interpreta-
tion of the constitution of physical matter. It seems logical there-
fore to take as axiomatic the existence of life, not as a vital force
which animates something different, namely matter, but as the ac-
tivity of an atomic combination, the very activity of which renders
it unanalyzable by the standard methods of the physicist and chem-
ist. Thus, as one of the greatest of living physicists, Niels Bohr,
has pointed out, the biologist would accept for the living world a
position analogous to that accepted by the physicist for the non-
living. “The existence of life must be considered as an elementary
fact that cannot be explained, but must be taken as a starting point
in biology, as in a similar way the quantum of action, which appears
as an irrational element from the point of view of mechanical
physics, taken together with the existence of the elementary particles,
forms the foundation of atomic physics” (Bohr, 1933, p. 457).
And the biologist, admitting “life,” may build up a whole body
of biological theory, as distinctive and peculiarly his own, and as
logical in the logic of probability which Professor Darwin advocates,
as are the theories of the physicist or the chemist in their own
limited fields.
LENGTHENING OF LIFE PERSPECTIVE
There is another notable development of this century which must
affect evolutionary thought, the expanding idea of the time during
which the earth and life upon the earth have been in existence.
Broadly three methods of making the estimation have been can-
vassed—physical, geological, and biological; but from the funda-
mental uncertainty which attaches to conditions of life, it may be
assumed that biological methods are bound to be problematical and
unsatisfactory. To illustrate the enormous change in outlook which
has taken place let me mention a few of the estimates.
An early estimate was biological, founded upon the genealogies
of the Book of Genesis. It used to be familiar in the reference
column of the Bibles of a past generation such as Bagster’s Polyglot
Bible, where the creation is set down precisely at 4004 B. C. In the
eighteenth century, Buffon, a far-seeing naturalist who had views
upon evolution ahead of his time, put the matter to the test of
experiment. Recognizing in the earth a cooling body, he measured
258 | ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1940
the rate of cooling of cast-iron balls, and from the results boldly
stated that the six days of Biblical creation were “periods” to be
extended as the facts required, and that the age of the earth was
actually some 75,000 years.
Scotland took a prominent part in the many discussions of the
subject which took place in the nineteenth century. It was Lord
Kelvin who, from the secular cooling of the earth, concluded that
the globe must have consolidated not less than 20 millions of years
ago, and finally suggested limits between 20 and 40 millions of years;
and it was Professor Tait who reduced that estimate to from 10 to
15 millions of years. The geologic view was expounded by Sir
Archibald Geikie at meetings of the British Association at Dover
in 1899 and at Edinburgh in 1892, and he summed up for an interval
of “probably not much less than 100 million years since the earliest
forms of life appeared upon the earth and the oldest stratified rocks
began to be laid down.”
From these earlier discussions it would appear that a psychological
element entered into the final estimates, as if the calculators drew
back aghast at the possibility of the enormous age of the earth at
which their estimates hinted. Thus almost all tended in their final
summing toward the minimum of their scales, and little is heard
of the other extreme—Lord Kelvin’s independent maxima, reached
by different methods, of 1,000, 400, and 500 million years, or Geikie’s
400 million years—although these came much nearer to the modern
estimate.
The effect upon the biologist of the varying estimates, of their
uncertainty and the adverse criticism to which they were subjected,
was such that he simply ignored them. Thirty years ago it was
the worst possible form, zoologically, to mention them. But now,
thanks to a consensus of opinion that admits credibility to estimates
based upon the break-up of radioactive minerals in the rocks, the
reputed ages of the geologic formations are creeping, somewhat
apologetically, into the biological textbooks. They have passed
through the textbook needle’s eye; that is a sign for anyone to read.
Some of you will remember the joint discussion, shared in by the
Zoology Section, at the meeting of the British Association in Edin-
burgh in 1921, when Lord Rayleigh summarized the physical evi-
dence from the break-down products of uranium. Since then the
methods of estimation and calculation have been refined, but the
results of several methods appear to be in substantial agreement.
Thus the beginning of the Cambrian formations, with their well-
preserved fossils, were laid down probably about 500 million years
ago; below the Cambrian are formations with relatively few and
mostly ill-defined fossils, which carry the relics of life back some
PERSPECTIVES IN EVOLUTION—RITCHIE 259
800 million years, and stretching away beyond that we must imagine
a period when life was evolving in its most primitive forms, of which
no trace remains or could remain. We may say that life has existed
upon the earth for perhaps 1,200 millions of years; and then to com-
plete the picture that the birth of the earth, and as the new cos-
mology seems to indicate, perhaps also at the same time the
stupendous birth of sun and stars, took place about 2,000 million
years ago.
STABILITY OF ORGANISM AND SLOWNESS OF EVOLUTION
This amazing extension of the time concept of life emphasizes anew
some of the striking features of evolution. We are accustomed to lay
stress on the variation of living things, upon which evolution depends,
but surely more remarkable is the stability of living organisms, which
retain their own characters in spite of changes in the environment,
and whose germ cells pass these characters unaltered through count-
less generations. The edible cockle (Cardiwm edule) has retained its
specific characters for 2 million years or more; its genus, in a wide
sense, lived 160 million years ago in the Trias. The crinoid genus
Antedon which flourishes in our own seas antedated that old bird
Archaeopteryx in the Jurassic period, 140 million years ago. It is
surprising enough to realize that genera of foraminifera, like
Nodosaria (Silurian) and Saccammina (Ordovician), still abundant
in our oceans, have retained their generic characters for about 300
million years. But they are relatively simple organisms; it is still
more astonishing to think that contemporaneous with them or before
them lived modern genera (again in the wide sense) of more highly
organized brachipods, like Lingula (Ordovician), and Crania (Ordo-
vician), and that these have experienced the geologic upheavals and
secular changes since Paleozoic times without turning a hair, or in
the revised version, without the shift of a gene upon a chromosome.
It is in agreement with that stability of organisms that we must
conceive of evolution as a process of extreme slowness, as if living
things are loath to change, and ultimately change only under the direct
compulsion of circumstances. Of that slow progress in its minor
phases the new chronology gives us a measure. One or two well-
known examples will illustrate the point. Matthew (1914) and Osborn
(1917), each in his day, suggested a time scale for the evolution of
the modern horse (Z'guus) from its precursors of Eocene times. But
the newer data bearing upon geologic ages should contribute further
precision to a fresh estimate. Accepting, then, the data from helium
and lead methods of time estimation as given by Holmes (1937), we
find that the whole gamut of changes which modified the four-toed
forelimb of Zohippus into the single toe of Z'qguus, from Lower Eocene
to Upper Pliocene, occupied about 57 million years. It took some 17
280256—41—18
260 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1940
million years to reduce the four effective digits of Hohippus (Lower
Kocene) to three in Mesohippus (Lower Oligocene), and 22 million
more to raise the two lateral digits clear of the ground (in Merychip-
pus, Middle Miocene). The penultimate stage of reducing the in-
effective side digit to vestigial splints (in Plesippus, Upper Pliocene)
occupied some 16 million years, and the gradual reduction of these
vestiges to the condition seen in the modern horse (Z'quus, Upper
Pliocene) probably took about another 2 million more.
Time evolution in the series of invertebrate animals may be illus-
trated from A. W. Rowe’s well-known study (1899) of the unbroken
gradation of variations in the fossil sea urchin Micraster. The Cre-
taceous period occupied in all about 40 million years. vy a ha .
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ANIMAL BEHAVIOR
By Ernest P. WALKER?’
Assistant Director, United States National Zoological Park
[With 18 plates]
INTRODUCTION
The everyday life of an animal is a struggle to avoid enemies, to
obtain food and shelter, and to reproduce. A single incident of
carelessness or ineptitude may result fatally. Hence, in a long proc-
ess of evolution, every surviving animal species has developed pro-
nounced traits, characters, or reactions adapted to help the creature
meet the daily conditions of its life.
The problems of life for all wild animals fall into a few general
categories not greatly different from those that confront us. In
self-preservation all but a few of the most powerful creatures must
be prepared to avoid other animals by fleeing or by concealment, or to
fight them off or deter them in some manner. All must be proficient
in obtaining food; and, since the food supply of many kinds is not
uniform throughout the year such creatures must either (1) store
up their winter’s supply, (2) go where a sufficient supply of food
is obtainable, or (3) make use of the provisions with which nature
may have equipped them for storing up reserve energy or for
hibernating. Those that live in damp regions ordinarily have no
difficulty in obtaining sufficient water whenever they need it. Others
must be able to endure long periods without an opportunity to drink.
To the great majority of animals a home of some sort is essential.
For homes they either use natural shelters or construct or excavate
shelters to their liking. All animals have their social problems—
whether to live amicably together in communities or to live singly.
Some have developed cooperation to a high degree and many recog-
nize the property and territorial rights of others. Voice and com-
munication among animals are much more generally prevalent than
is ordinarily supposed. The means by which animals get about are
varied in adaptation to the lives that different creatures lead. The
1The writer wishes to express his gratitude to Messrs. Gerrit S. Miller, Jr., and Vernon
Bailey for advice and suggestions during the preparation of this paper.
271
272 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1940
care of the young under a wide variety of conditions is of paramount
importance in the survival of every species.
The diverse conditions under which the numerous species of ani-
mals live have resulted in wide variation in the activities of animal
home life. Cleanliness and care of the body covering is probably
of as great importance to animals as it is to mankind; for animals
do not have doctors and prepared medicines to use in treating their
skin should it reach an unhealthful condition, and they cannot go
to a nearby store for new clothes if they neglect their one suit.
Memory is probably as necessary to animals as it is to us; for, like
us, animals must profit by their past experiences, must remember
where they have left food stored or hidden, and in other ways must
foster their welfare by remembering the things that are of import-
ance to them. Although animals do not generally use tools, certain
kinds do so to some extent; and the use of carefully selected materials
by animals is rather common. To carry out their varied activities
without tools, animals have developed great skill in the use of their
hands, feet, tails, and teeth, parts that in many species have been
highly modified as specialized tools for special purposes. Efficiency
in the daily activities of animals is just as important as it is to us.
The inefficient may readily be eliminated in the keen competition of
nature, leaving only the efficient to survive. Play and exercise are
regularly indulged in by a great number of animals. In short then,
we can see in the lives of animals many activities that closely paral-
lel our own.
Few people stop to consider why an animal reacts in a certain way
to a given alarm or stimulus. Consideration of such reactions is a
fascinating and instructive study. It frequently reveals facts that
we can put to good use in our own lives.
The activities of any species of animal would supply the material
for an extensive study. Therefore, in this article the most that I
can do is to point out a few facts regarding a number of animals.
The facts that I shall bring forward are by no means lone in-
stances of interesting behavior. Indeed, an observer with a sym-
pathetic viewpoint will find that almost every action of an animal
is interesting because of its definite relationship to the creature’s
mode of life. Ifa particular kind of behavior appears to be without
reason, it should suggest to the careful student that he does not
know enough about the animal to comprehend the significance of
the action.
Most animals operate under rather definite time schedules, having
fairly definite times for sleeping, waking, and feeding, each species
following its own schedule. The clocklike regularity of certain indi-
viduals in adhering to the schedule is surprising. The carnivores are
ANIMAL BEHAVIOR——WALKER Ze
probably the least reguiar. I have observed that each of my pet pocket
mice (Perognathus), kangaroo rats (Dipodomys), and grasshopper
mice (Onychomys) had its own very definite time to wake up and to
go to bed. One little pocket mouse would come out of his nest about
4 o’clock in the afternoon during the winter. With the approach of
spring and the lengthening of the days he did not get up quite so
early; and during the longest days of summer he did not appear until
about 7 o’clock. Another individual of the same species, “Bitty,”
regularly stayed in bed until about an hour or an hour and a half later
in the evening. In the morning I found that both were almost
invariably in bed by daylight.
SELF-PRESERVATION
“He who fights and runs away, may live to fight another day” gen-
erally holds true throughout the animal kingdom, for animals do not
ordinarily seek encounters with others unless it be to obtain food,
shelter, or mates. Combats to the death arerare. By the elimination
process that nature has followed so successfully, the individuals that
are strong and vigorous in searching for food, in capturing their prey,
in fighting for their homes or in gaining mates are enabled to per-
petuate their characteristics, while those that are weaklings in these
contests are not.
The methods of avoiding detection or of being caught in dangerous
situations are, like the methods of escaping from enemies, even more
numerous than are the species of animals, for each species has many
problems of this kind to solve.
Many human beings are definitely opposed to any new proposal,
particularly if they do not fully understand it. This is merely a
remnant of a trait that is essential to the preservation of an animal
species. For animals must be suspicious of anything they do not under-
stand, such as strangers, unaccustomed food, or new surroundings.
The stranger animal may be dangerous, the food may be poisonous,
or the surroundings may conceal a trap; hence the animals that are
not suspicious and do not convince themselves of the safety of a new
thing before they try it may be eliminated.
Since self-preservation is the first impulse of the individual and is
essential to the perpetuation of every species, all animals must have
some means of defense. All too frequently we think of animals in
the terms of whether or not they are dangerous or vicious. In general,
they are not dangerous except when they find it necessary to put up a
show of force to stop aggression. On this subject, it may be said that
when animals appear to us to be vicious, savage, or ill-tempered, this
is almost invariably their way of warning us to leave them alone, of
letting us know that they do not want trouble and that they are cour-
274 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1940
ageous enough to fight in their own defense. Very rarely does a wild
animal attack without first-class provocation.
There are many modes of animal defense. One of the most effec-
tive and well known is the method used by the skunks (Mephitis,
Conepatus, and Spilogale), peaceful animals that desire only to be let
alone to lead their own quiet, inoffensive lives. They are too slow to
escape by running and are not equipped for a fight; but below and on
each side of the base of the tail is situated a gland that secretes a vile-
smelling liquid. This material can be sprayed in two fine jets to a
distance of several feet to the rear of the animal. Therefore, when
danger threatens the little fellow heads away from the enemy, raises
his tail and stands in defensive attitude. If the enemy has not had
previous experience it may be so incautious as to approach and attack.
In such event, it is almost certain to have regrets, for the spray of a
skunk is intensely irritating if it gets in the eye, is nauseating to most
animals, and is remarkably persistant in its duration.?
The term “playing ’possum” is well known in the range of the
North American opossum (Didelphis) as a synonym for feigning
death. In general, when an opossum is disturbed, it will become
limp and allow itself to be handled in almost any manner without
making an effort to fight or to run away. This undoubtedly is a
very effective means of avoiding molestation by animals that are
not particularly interested in eating an opossum but would worry
or attack it should it move or try to escape. The opossum has a
peculiar odor and is probably not relished by many animals for
food. Most dogs soon lose interest in an opossum because it offers
no resistance to them. This feigning of death is thought by some
zoologists to be a paralysis induced by fear.
Just how effective a means of defense spitting in the face of an
enemy may be is not known to me, but the South American repre-
sentatives of the camel family (llamas, alpacas, guanacos, and
vicufias) habitually resort to it. When irritated the llamas and
their relatives spit toward an enemy. Perhaps this is effective for
the protection of the animal under some circumstances, but I do not
sow what dangerous natural enemy it may deter.
In Alaska I once had occasion to investigate charges of unpro-
voked attacks by the big brown bears (Ursus), the largest of all
carnivorous mammals. In practically every case I found that the
attack was not wanton or unprovoked. Sometimes a man would be
2There is a common belief that clothing that has been scented by the skunk’s fluid must
be buried in the ground for a long period. Numerous other treatments have been proposed.
Within about 15 minutes strong, fresh skunk scent can be reduced until it is not seriously
offensive by exposing it to ozone which is now readily available from small electric ozone-
producing units used for purifying air and dispelling odors.
ANIMAL BEHAVIOR—WALKER AED
walking along a trail and a bear would be going in the opposite
direction. They would meet face to face and the bear would try to
get away in the direction it was headed. In doing so, it would
frequently knock over the man, sometimes mauling him a little; but
the bear would always run away if it had a chance. On other occa-
sions the man had shot the bear but had not killed it, and the bear
was merely fighting an enemy to save its own life. In at least one
instance a man had clambered over a log in a dense forest and had
jumped down on a sleeping bear. Naturally, the bear woke up
fighting, as from its viewpoint it had been attacked. The most fre-
quent occasions of so-called attacks were when men had tried to
capture bear cubs or had in some way frightened the little fellows,
who set up a cry for mother. As mother is a courageous creature,
she rushes to the rescue, frequently with disastrous results to the
man. In none of these cases could I feel that the bear was to
blame, for viewing each situation from an entirely disinterested
angle, it was obvious that the bear was in the right.
Most carnivores who engage in combat must protect their ears
and eyes. Good examples of animals that get their ears out of the
way in attacks are the cat and dog, both of which lay their ears
back when danger threatens. This action is not merely intended
to produce a more ferocious expression. Its chief purpose is to get
the ears down as close to the head as possible where they will be
least in danger of being bitten or scratched. The eyelids are par-
tially closed and the eyebrows are drawn down to protect the eyes.
Most of the common rabbits (Sylwilagus) and hares (Lepus) in
the United States live mainly above ground and are exceedingly
swift-footed and alert to avoid the host of enemies that prey on
them. If they were not alert they would not survive in the exposed
locations where they regularly live.
In marked contrast to the behavior of the rabbits is that of a
host of the small mammals that have their dens, nests, or burrows in
the ground or among rocks where but few enemies can reach them
or where enemies can reach them only after considerable digging.
These little creatures instead of taking immediate alarm and fleeing
at the first disturbance remain perfectly quiet in their dens, where
the enemy, unless able to detect them by scent, has no means of
knowing they are at home. Notable among these little creatures are
the pocket mice (Perognathus) and kangaroo rats (Dipodomys),
charming, dainty little creatures that bear only a superficial re-
semblance to mice or rats. They are highly specialized rodents that
live in the western United States and in Mexico. Some of them
occupy the areas of wind-blown sand or sections where the vegeta-
tion is exceedingly sparse and where protective cover is very sparse
2802564119
276 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1940
or entirely lacking. The tiniest of these rodents are the silky
pocket mice which weigh only from 7 to 10 grams and have fur so
fine and silky that it can scarcely be felt with human fingers. They
dig burrows about three-quarters of an inch in diameter into the
soft sand, preferably selecting a location near a sagebrush or grease-
wood or some other kind of desert plant. They close the entrance
to the burrows when they go out and when they come in so that
enemies may have more difficulty in finding the entrance. It must _
also be remembered that on warm dry sands, scent does not remain
long. Therefore, the enemies that would hunt them by scent have
no trail to follow a short time after pocket mice have passed by.
The little hedgehogs (Hrinaceus and related genera) that feed
mainly on insects and small snakes are also believers in passive re-
sistance. Their bodies are clothed with a dense coat of short, fairly
sharp spines that are more securely attached to the skin than are
the spines of the American porcupines (Hrethizon and Coendou).
Around the lower edge of the body there is a circular muscle that
acts as a draw string. When danger threatens, the little fellow tucks
his head beneath himself, pulls in his legs and very short tail, then
tightens the draw string. This very effectively pulls him into a ball
about the size of a grape fruit, with his head, feet, legs, and tail
well enclosed near the center. At the same time the spines are
erected so that the animal appears as a spiny ball. In this form he
is quite inaccessible to almost any enemy.
The tactics of porcupines in both the Old World and America are
alike. When danger threatens, they merely turn their backs to the in-
truder and let him hurt himself on their spines. However, the North
American porcupine (Z’rechizon) adds a bit to this trick by giving a
quick sidewise switch of his tail when the enemy is near. This often
drives the barbed quills into the flesh of the enemy, making painful
wounds; and the movement is so quick that many people believe that
the porcupine throws its quills. Such however, is not the case. The
large African porcupine (Hystrix) will charge backward when an
enemy is close. The spines of porcupines are very lightly attached
to the skin. Usually they stick into and stay with the victim. The
quills of the American porcupines are barbed at the tips and so pene-
trate deeply into the enemy’s flesh. The quills of Old World porcu-
pines are not barbed. Some are merely flattened bristles often deeply
grooved longitudinally.
Many small rodents have remarkable abilities of leaping over dis-
tances equal to many times the animals’ own length. Some kinds
can leap backward or sidewise as well as forward in an incredibly
short time from the actual alarm—in fact, so quickly that the human
senses do not detect the lapse of time from the alarm until the animal
ANIMAL BEHAVIOR—WALKER 277
is at a new point of rest. This is a valuable accomplishment to many
little creatures whose chief danger usually lies in attacks from pred-
ators such as snakes, cats, weasels, owls, hawks, or other creatures that
strike or grab with lightninglike rapidity. Therefore, if at the first
instant of alarm the intended victim changes his first location to some
other he will probably be safer than before; and if he follows this up
with further prompt get-aways, he will frequently avoid capture.
I have observed that small mammals are much disturbed by the
rattling or crumpling of paper or cellophane. If this sound is con-
tinued they soon become nervous and seek shelter. I have no proof
as to why they react in this manner, but I feel certain that it is
because the rattling and crackling of paper reminds them of the
sound of enemy footfalls on dry leaves.
Gibbons (Hylobates and Symphalangus) are the most agile acro-
bats among the primates. They literally fly through the trees in
great swings with their long arms, and they are so thoroughly at
home in the treetops that they have little to fear from enemies. But
they are not so free from danger when they are on the ground, which
consequently they are loath even to touch. When they drink from
the pools or streams, they prefer to hang by an arm and a leg from
a branch or vine, merely dipping the somewhat folded hand into the
water and raising it to the upturned mouth. This method of drink-
ing can be frequently observed in a zoo. Gibbons are also adept in
eating oranges. Instead of making a messy job of it as many animals
do, they will, if given sections of an orange carry them to their
mouths in their hands and direct their mouth upward so that scarcely
a drop of the juice is lost. In their native haunts they are accus-
tomed to eating many kinds of juicy fruits.
The gerenuk (Zitocranius) is an African antelope of extremely tall
and slender build much like the giraffe in form but standing only
about 3 feet high at the shoulders and perhaps 5 feet high to the
top of the head. This little creature inhabits a region of very sparse
vegetation where concealment would ordinarily be difficult. It has
apparently learned that it can best escape from its enemies by lying
down flat on the ground. A young one that was perhaps one-third
grown when it was first placed in its cage amid strange surroundings
in the National Zoological Park at once took this position.
The giant eland (Zaurotragus) which is almost as large as a
horse and inhabits the barren plains of Central and South Africa
has a similar habit of lying flat on the bare ground.
Innumerable other instances might be mentioned of the methods
used by animals in looking out for their own welfare. There might
be cited and discussed at length the manner in which animals re-
main motionless and by their color pattern blend with their sur-
278 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1940
roundings so well that their coloration is their chief protection.
Extreme alertness and the ability to slip away quietly and unob-
trusively at the first sign of danger are common and effective safety
devices.
OBTAINING FOOD
Since all individuals of all kinds of animals must obtain their
food under the conditions peculiar to their respective ranges, there
is an almost infinite variety in the methods of animal food-getting.
Each of these methods, of course, is well adapted to the physique and
mentality of the animal and to the conditions under which the food
must be obtained. Some animals live only from meal to meal,
others hoard food for periods of scarcity, and still others arrange to
avoid eating during periods when food will not be available. Some
animals must make radical seasonal changes in their diets to be
able to survive.
Animals that live in the midst of a food supply that is generally
plentiful, as for example horses (Hquus), cattle (Bos), sheep (Ovis),
rabbits, and many others, merely have to look about them and select
the kind of food they prefer. Sloths (Bradypus and Choloepus)
feed almost entirely on leaves, and, since these mammals live only
in the Tropics where the trees are green throughout the year, their
problem of obtaining food is very simple. They merely climb a tree
that produces the kind of leaves they like and remain there in-
definitely. In some cases at least, sloths appear to live practically
their entire lives in a single tree.
Porcupines, in the northern portion of North America, have
almost as simple a food problem as the tropical sloths. Although,
unlike a sloth, a porcupine is quite capable of traveling on the ground,
one of these prickly rodents may take up its abode in an ever-
green tree that has bark to its liking and remain there during an
entire winter, or at least until it has eaten practically all the bark
from the small twigs and branches.
Other creatures must hunt for and capture their prey or must
search industriously for tiny particles of an inadequate food supply.
A good example of the latter problem is the struggle for existence
by the tiny pocket mice. The homes of these small rodents are
simple burrows in the barren sandy or rocky deserts of the south-
western United States. The burrows may be from a few inches
to 2 or 3 feet in length with from one to three chambers at the end.
One of these chambers is the storehouse. The animals usually go
out early in the evening and industriously search for every seed they
ean find. These they put into their fur-lined cheek pouches. When
they have obtained a load of seeds they return to the burrow and
deposit their valuables in the storehouse. Thus they make trip
ANIMAL BEHAVIOR—-WALKER 279
after trip over as wide a radius as they can safely traverse or until
they encounter the opposition of the occupant of another range.
If the seed crop is good they may thus accumulate a supply of seeds
sufficient to last them for several years. In this respect nature
has taught them well; for there are times when the seed crop is a
total failure during periods of a year or more, and, in a dry region
where the food supply is scant, the little creatures would starve to
death if they did not have adequate supplies laid up.
Pocket mice are very frugal. Apparently they never overeat.
If they did eat excessively they would unduly deplete their food sup-
ply so that when a food shortage arrived they would have nothing
to tide them over it. Competition for food in the region inhabited
by them is so keen that the smallest kinds apparently have to start
out first in the evening to get their share. They generally lead soli-
tary lives. If two meet they almost invariably fight, until one is
killed or driven off. Evidently they have found through the ages
that a given area will produce only enough seeds to support a
limited population. Therefore, in order that the population may be
evenly distributed, they live alone, each within his own territory
in which he must maintain himself. If they adopted a colonial
habit it would be necessary for the individuals to range much farther
from their homes to obtain food supplies, thus greatly increasing
the hazards from enemies. If the burrows of pocket mice are dis-
turbed, the animals feel that their stores are threatened. There-
fore, as soon as it is dark and the disturbance has subsided, they
begin industriously to move their seed supply to another place that
they consider safer.
The kangaroo rats, larger cousins of the pocket mice, lead similar
lives but dig larger burrows. Some of them make large mounds of
earth and elaborate storerooms. They range somewhat more widely
than their smaller relatives. They likewise store up seeds that they
carry in their furlined cheek pouches to their treasure rooms. How-
ever, there appears to be one exception to this rule. One of the
smallest species of kangaroo rat (Dipodomys merriamt) is frequently
found entering the burrows of the larger kinds and is not known
to store up food supplies of its own. It is suspected of having
adopted more or less parasitic habits and of living chiefly on the
stores hoarded by its larger relatives. The pets of this species that
IT have had have shown no disposition to store food.
The grasshopper mouse (Onychomys) of the southwestern United
States is largely a carnivorous rodent, for, in addition to seeds, fruit,
and plant tissues, it eats insects (particularly grasshoppers), crickets,
beetles, scorpions, lizards, and mice. Its technique in obtaining prey
is singularly effective and well adapted to its type of life. It follows
280 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1940
a fresh track like a hound, makes a slow and very careful approach,
and, when within reach, grabs its prey, usually with its teeth but
sometimes with its hands. This action is so quick that the human
eye can scarcely follow it. At the same time the eyelids close al-
most completely over the rather prominent eyes, thus protecting them
from injury by the sharp claws of insects or other weapons of the
prey. If the victim is a mouse or other creature nearly that size,
the attack is particularly savage, much like that of a: little bulldog,
although the grip is not quite so tenacious, the hold being occa-
sionally changed to obtain a more effective killing grip. The quick,
firm grasp is necessary to prevent the prey from escaping; if not
firmly held a grasshopper or cricket might leap or a butterfly or moth
might fly or a worm might retreat into its burrow. The grasshopper
mice contrast sharply in form with the slender, delicate, graceful
build of most of the small rodents. Leading predatory lives they
are built like little prize fighters. Both fore and hind legs are
short; likewise, the tail. The body is short and powerful. While the
teeth are essentially like those of a deer mouse, they are so modified
as to be effective for grabbing, holding, killing, and chewing insects
or warm-blooded prey. A grasshopper mouse has need for his
large ears to help him detect the faint sounds made by insects or
other prey. He also needs good eyesight; and he apparently is
able to detect moving objects at a much greater distance than is pos-
sible for a pocket mouse or a kangaroo rat.
The raccoon or coon (Procyon) obtains much of its food along the
margins of streams, lakes, and coasts, where frogs, mussels, crayfish,
crabs, fish, and other edible creatures are readily obtainable. These
are, of course, frequently caught in shallow, dirty water or on the
mud and consequently are likely to be dirty or covered with sand.
The raccoon has, therefore, formed the habit of systematically wash-
ing all its food before eating. It is entertaining to watch captive
raccoons take their perfectly clean food to their dish of water and
solemnly give it a thorough washing before they eat it.
Bats (order Chiroptera) have developed remarkable techniques in
meeting the problems of survival in a largely aerial habitat. Some
bats that live mainly on fruit have adopted a nomadic type of life
in order that they may shift from one locality to another to be
where fruit is ripening or to obtain the flowers on which some of
them feed. Naturally the bats depending mainly on fruit and
flowers must limit their range to the Tropics, for unless they were
to hibernate they could not survive the long periods in the temperate
zones when fruit and flowers would not be available.
The greater number of the smaller bats feed on insects that they
capture on the wing. To be able to do this they have developed
ANIMAL BEHAVIOR—-WALKER 281
remarkable ability to turn and twist and dodge about in the air.
Apparently their hearing and touch—and perhaps some other sense
unknown to us—are remarkably developed to aid them in locating
their prey. It is obvious that the expression “blind as a bat” is
utterly without foundation, for the most casual observation of bats
shows plainly that these animals can see keenly for considerable dis-
tances and that they are exceedingly watchful.’ No doubt their
eyesight is highly specialized in order that they may, while on the
wing, detect minute insects and successfully capture them. Since
insect food, when it is available at all, is generally very plentiful,
most bats need not lead solitary lives as do many of the animals that
live under conditions in which food is generally at a premium. They,
therefore, frequently congregate in great numbers in caves, houses,
hollow trees, or other convenient roosting places. Since their fingers
serve only to support the wing membranes bats would appear to be
handicapped in capturing and holding insects. However, they have
very successfully overcome this difficulty by developing a remark-
able flexibility of the neck, and an extreme dexterity of the wing.
Turning and twisting in the air a bat successfully follows erratic
insects.
The blood-drinking bats (Desmodus and related genera), com- °
monly known as vampires, are small animals about the size of our
common brown bat (Zptesicus fuscus) that have developed a won-
derful technique in obtaining their food. When they find a warm-
blooded victim—horse, cow, sleeping bird, or person, as the case may
be—they settle on to it so gently that the victim is usually not aware
of their presence. With their peculiarly enlarged razor-edged in-
cisor teeth, they then cut off a very small thin layer of the skin, go-
ing just deep enough to cause the blood to flow. This is so neatly
done that the victim is usually unaware of the presence of the bat as
it quietly laps up the blood that oozes from the wound. Ordinarily
the amount of blood lost by the animal is not excessive. The princi-
pal danger from the attacks by vampires lies in the possibility of
infection of the small wounds.
On the southeastern Alaskan coast I have often observed the little
Northwest fish crows picking up clams or mussels on the beach at
low tide and flying directly upward, 20 to 40 feet, then dropping the
shellfish on the rocks below. The birds then fly down and examine
the morsel. If the shell is sufficiently shattered they proceed to eat
the meat. If it is not broken they pick it up and drop it from a
greater height.
’ Experiments with bats that had been blinded disclosed that they could avoid threads
while flitting about in a dark room. This suggests the existence of some other sense,
perhaps unknown to man, that aids them in the dark.
282 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1940
Snakes, without hands or feet to assist them in capturing and hold-
ing their prey, would seem to be at a considerable disadvantage.
However, they have evolved very effective methods. The quick
seizure of a victim with the mouth and the throwing of the coils
about it by some snakes is generally well known. However, many
snakes do not use this method of capturing their prey. The poison-
ous snakes merely strike their victim and bide their time, making
no effort to seize it until it has died from the poison they injected
with their hypodermic-needlelike teeth. When the victim is dead,
the snake, beginning at the head, gradually engulfs its prey by
working the upper jaw and lower jaw alternately forward over the
victim. Those nonpoisonous snakes that do not kill their prey by
constriction slowly swallow it alive.
The archer fish (Yowotes) regularly obtains its food, consisting
chiefly of insects and spiders that are resting on overhanging vege-
tation, by expelling a drop of water from the mouth which goes with
force and accuracy and knocks the victim down to the surface
where the fish can catch it.
Most animals, like many people, are rather slow to eat freely of
foods with which they are unfamiliar. It is interesting to watch
them become acquainted with new foods. They usually approach
very cautiously as though confronted with a dangerous object, “snif-
fing” it carefully. Their “sniffing” frequently satisfies them in one
way or another. Either they do not touch the inspected object at all
or they proceed to eat it freely. Occasionally the taste of the food
does not appear to have agreed with the judgment of it based on
scent, and they quickly lose interest after taking a taste of it. An
animal’s technique of eating a new food is sometimes amusing. On
one occasion I saw a kaibab squirrel (Sciurus kaibabensis) given a
section of an orange with the peeling left on it. He picked it up and
started to eat from the peeling side, but quickly realizing that that
was not the proper way to eat this new kind of fruit, he turned it
over and worked from the meat side. Thus he made a thoroughly
clean job of eating out the good portion of the orange.
Fortunately, animal life is not as a rule destructive of its food
supply. It is true that a few animals, such as weasels and their
relatives, will kill as long as victims are available, but, in general,
most creatures kill or harvest only what they actually need for their
own immediate food, or for a future food supply. However, such
habits of storing food are generally not harmful to the plants on
which the animals are dependent for a living. For example, the
seeds stored by the little desert rodents will, if not consumed, sprout
and produce a new crop when weather conditions become favorable.
Likewise the nuts harvested and buried by squirrels often develop
into nut-bearing trees.
ANIMAL BEHAVIOR—WALKER 283
DRINKING
We usually think of water as being fully as important as food to
living creatures. Such, however, is not true in many instances.
Animals that live in desert regions have, through long periods of
evolution, developed ways of surviving with a minimum of moisture
obtained from thei food. The most specialized of these are some
of the rodents such as the pocket mice and kangaroo rats of the
southwestern United States, the jerboas (Jaculus) of Asia and north-
ern Africa, and many others. These mammals live in regions
where the rainfall is very scant over much of their range and where
water is practically unobtainable. They have, theretofore, become
adapted to living with almost no water to drink. During the very
short time when there may be green vegetation they may eat some
of it. At other times they obtain no moisture except perhaps an
occasional drop of dew; but their needs are adequately supplied
by chemical processes that take place within their own bodies, where
the constituents of dry seeds and other vegetable food are converted
into moisture by oxidation.
Vernon Bailey, for many years Chief Field Naturalist of the
United States Biological Survey, has taken unusual interest in the
desert animals and has discussed in an admirable manner their
problem of obtaining moisture. He has found that many animals of
arid regions eat roots, tubers, and fleshy stems of plants such as
eacti and others that contain a high proportion of moisture even
during periods of drought, in this way probably obtaining all the
water they need without having to manufacture it by oxidation.
I have often offered water to pocket mice, kangaroo rats, grass-
hopper mice, and other desert animals to make certain that they
did not suffer from Jack of moisture. Almost invariably they refuse
it, though occasionally they may sip a little and then not touch
water again for months.
One pocket mouse, however, a very old male, took to using water
rather regularly. He lived in captivity 8 years and was apparently
adult when captured. It may be that as he became older his normal
ability of converting dry food into moisture became impaired so
that he required moisture in order to survive. It is possible that the
unusual care that I gave him enabled him to live to a greater age
than he could have reached in a wild state. Another animal of
the same kind seemed greatly offended when I offered her water.
On a few occasions I dropped a single small drop of water on her
and was much amused by her violent antics of rolling in the sand
to remove the offending substance from her coat. I am convinced
*Bailey, Vernon, Sources of water supply for desert animals. Sci. Monthly, vol. 17, No. 1,
pp. 16-86, 1923.
284 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1940
that she never took water during 214 years. Very rarely did she
show the slightest interest in eating any moist vegetation. She
subsisted almost entirely on dry seeds. The one now living on my
desk likewise abstains from water and eats very little green food.
My grasshopper mouse, “Ony,” will take water occasionally but
will frequently go for intervals of a month or more without drinking.
It is likely that in the wild state the blood or body fluids of its
victims would supply one of these animals with most of its required
moisture. To make certain that my pets never suffer for moisture
I regularly make lettuce or other green material available to them.
Camels take considerable water when they have the opportunity.
Instead of being stored in large cavities as some of the early zoolo-
gists led us to believe, this water is really kept in small cells in a
semiporous lining of the stomach. The absence of sweat glands in
the skin of the camel reduces greatly the loss of water from evapora-
tion. The camels’ nostrils are slits that can be closed. They lead
into a groove in the upper lip that enters the mouth, this arrange-
ment making it possible for drainage from the nostrils to be returned
to the body.
Antelopes, deer, bighorn sheep, and other desert animals not only
survive but thrive for considerable periods without drinking. How-
ever, they usually find some vegetation that contains moisture in
small quantities. Many desert creatures do not know how to drink
in the ordinary manner. Frequently they stick their noses into the
water and strangle, without getting their mouths into it. More often
they dip their hands in the water and lick their fingers.
On one occasion I observed a thirsty prairie dog (Cynomys) put
his nose into a pan of water. He held his head down at such an
angle that his nose went into the water but his mouth did not. He
sat up wiped his wet nose with his hand, sneezed, then dropped
down on all four feet and put his head at a flatter angle so that he
was able to drink. This is quite a common mistake made by the
little animals that are not accustomed to drinking or that drink at
only very rare intervals. They probably sip or lap up drops of dew
on the rare occasions when dew occurs in their region. In captivity
the little fellows can be given water on a bit of lettuce leaf or a
saturated wisp of absorbent cotton.
Amphibians and certain lizards do not drink. They obtain water
by absorbing it through the skin. I have placed an emaciated lizard
of this kind in a pan of shallow water and watched its skin take up
the moisture like a blotter.
MAKING HOMES OR USING SHELTERS
Just as every animal has a fairly definite territory within which
it lives, so also it usually has a house or shelter of some sort. Some
ANIMAL BEHAVIOR—-WALKER 285
animals merely utilize whatever natural shelter is available. Others
exercise considerable ingenuity to construct a fairly definite type of
home.
Prairie dogs build a very definite type of home. It consists of a
burrow that may go 15 feet or more almost straight down into the
ground with 2 or 3 small chambers at the end. One of these cham-
bers is the real nest; another is a little toilet room; sometimes there
is a spare room; and 2 or 3 feet below the entrance of the burrow is
a little shelf which is used as a sentry station.
The plains prairie dog usually heaps up a volcano-shaped cone
at the entrance of the burrow. The entrance is at the top of the
cone. This arrangement prevents water from getting into the burrow
should the land be flooded by heavy rain. The little fellows can
sit on the crater’s rim or inner slope. If alarmed they merely tumble
into the burrow, disappearing in an incredibly short time. The
manner in which they maintain this crater is particularly interesting.
Earth is pushed and kicked out of the burrow and is gradually built
up around the entrance. If it is necessary to build the crater rim
higher and soil is not being brought up out of the burrow, they go to
the outer base of the cone, dig earth loose with their forefeet and
teeth, kick it backward with their hind feet up toward the center of
the cone and then turn around and push the loose soil with their hands
and chests. When the loose soil is finally in place, they pat it with
their forefeet and tamp it very firmly with their noses. The nose
marks can regularly be seen in fresh, well-kept prairie-dog burrows.
It is particularly amusing to see prairie dogs working the first thing
in the morning after a heavy rain. Almost every individual of the
colony is industriously cleaning out its burrow or repairing its cone,
pushing the soil into place and tamping it with its nose. In captivity
they are fascinating to watch for they are active by day, and if they
have not been persecuted they soon become friendly and go about
their everyday lives as though they had no spectators.
Moles (Scalopus, Talpa, and other genera) are related to the
shrews (Sorex and related genera) and inhabit North America,
Europe, Africa, and Asia. Most people who live in their range know
these animals by their work; but very few persons have actually seen
them at work. This is because moles spend almost their entire lives
a few inches under the surface of the ground burrowing in search
of insects. Their burrows appear generally at the surface of the
ground as raised ridges of earth, which may be annoyingly conspicu-
ous when they cross well-kept lawns. This burrowing is really a
process of forcing upward and to the sides the earth loosened by
the animal as it forces itself ahead, digging to the right and left
with its broad spadelike front feet armed with long, sharp, straight
claws and lifting the forepart of its body when it wedges itself into
286 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1940
the hole it is making. It is surprising how rapidly a mole can
progress by this method. After the runway is completed, the anima]
traverses it without further digging other than enough to keep it
open.
Gorillas (Gorilla) live a seminomadic life. They remain in a
given vicinity only a few days and then move on to another where
the food supply or other conditions may be better. In order that
they may add to their comfort they bend the limbs of trees and
shrubs so as to make crude platforms that are utilized by the females
and young as beds or hammocks. Generally an old male does not
use a platform; perhaps because he is too heavy for that type of
construction. Orangutans (Simia) make similar platforms in the
trees.
The work of the beaver (Castor) is too well known to require dis-
cussion other than to point out that these animals make two types
of houses, one a mound out of the center of which they hollow a
living chamber, the other a living chamber excavated in a stream
bank. Both have tunnels that lead into water that is ordinarily
so deep that it does not freeze to the bottom, so permitting the
beaver to go out of his house and return regardless of the weather.
In order that beavers may have uniform water levels adjacent to
their houses, they build dams of sticks, stones, and earth. Such
dams are sometimes as much as 12 feet high, and some have been
found that, although not so high, were as much as 550 feet in length.
The average dam is perhaps 75 feet long and 3 feet high.
The tropical American fruit bats (Artibeus and Urederma) have
adopted the practice of making shelters by biting the fronds of
certain kinds of palm in such a manner that the edges of the fronds
bend downward so as to form roofs beneath which small groups of the
animals can find shelter from daylight and from rain. Visitors to
the Panama Canal Zone can easily inspect some of these remarkable
shelters in the Botanical Garden at Summit.
Birds’ nests are the best known of animal homes. They are con-
spicuous and have been known by mankind since primitive man first
sought them for the eggs and the young he might obtain. The casual
observer may think that a bird’s nest is merely a collection of sticks
and twigs in a tree but in reality each kind of bird builds a nest of
a type peculiarly itsown. For example, the Baltimore oriole (/cterus
galbula) builds a deep sack-shaped nest pendent from the tips of the
limbs. It is really a woven fabric bag. The vireos (V27e0) on the
other hand, weave cup-shaped nests usually set in a horizontal fork so
that the nest is slightly pendent, though it is no deeper than wide.
In Africa the social weaver birds (Philetaerus socius) live together
ANIMAL BEHAVIOR——-WALKER 287
in colonies, each pair building its own nest. But the nests are con-
structed close together and are so interwoven that they form a single
mass sometimes as much as 8 or 10 feet in diameter to which each
pair of birds has its own separate entrance.
The tailor birds (Sutoria and Orthotomus) sew up the leaves of
trees to make cone-shaped enclosures in which to build their nests.
Variations in the structure of birds’ nests could be discussed in far
greater detail than is here possible. Every species has its special
type of architecture. And then within each species there are in-
dividual peculiarities of construction, for individual birds have their
own traits and preferences in nest building.
Horned lizards (PArynosoma), frequently though misleadingly
called horned “toads,” inhabit the western United States and range
southward into Mexico and Central America. They live on the hot
sands and are very sensitive to any drop in temperature. As soon
as the sun goes down they usually burrow into the sand in order
to enjoy its warmth through the night. Captive horned lizards fol-
low this same habit in the zoo. The cage may show considerable
activity during the bright hours of daylight; but with the approach
of heavy shadows each animal burrows into the sand, sometimes leav-
ing the head in sight, sometimes only the tips of the horns. Some-
times they bury themselves completely, leaving no evidence of their
presence but a little ridge or disturbed spot in the sand.
The houses of insects are noteworthy and of great variety. Most
people are more or less familiar with the fact that ants live in colonies
and have elaborate colonial homes. Wasps and bees are also well
known for their homes. The masses of webs that are frequently
found in trees are usually the homes of caterpillars. The subterranean
burrow made by the digger wasp (Sphecius) m which the female lays
her eggs and places cicadas that she has stung into a comatose state,
may well be called a home for the young wasps that will hatch from
the eggs and will feed on the comatose cicadas.
Trapdoor spiders and other spiders generally have elaborate and
very effective homes.
Even some fish have homes, for many parent fish construct definite
nests in which they deposit their eggs. Conspicuous among these
nests are the beautiful little bubble nests made by the fighting fish
or bettas (Betta) of the Oriental region. The male blows a nest
of bubbles, then carefully takes the eggs in his mouth and blows
them into the nest where they are constantly tended by him. He
constantly restores to the bubble mass any eggs or any young fish
that fall out while too small to be ready to go on their own way.
288 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1940
HIBERNATION, ESTIVATION, AND OTHER PROVISIONS AGAINST
PERIODS OF FOOD SCARCITY
Hibernation, the winter sleep of some animals, and estivation,
the summer sleep of a few others, are remarkable provisions of
nature to permit certain creatures to survive periods of cold, heat,
or food scarcity, with the minimum of hazard. These two peculiar
types of sleep appear to be essentially the same as ordinary sleep
so far as physiological phenomena are concerned; every gradation
seems to exist between them. But, in hibernation and estivation,
breathing is greatly reduced and in some instances of hibernation at
least, it may cease for hours at a time. The body temperature of
a hibernating animal may drop considerably, sometimes becoming
practically the same as the surrounding atmosphere. In other in-
stances, it remains at a fairly constant low level but above that of
the surrounding atmosphere. The heart beat is greatly reduced and
digestive processes are suspended. Some animals remain in this
condition for months at a time. Others for only a day or so at a
time. If disturbed while torpid, they generally soon regain activity.
Apparently animals must be in at least a fairly good state of flesh
before they can enter hibernation. If they were not, they might
not have sufficient vitality to survive a long sleep.
Temperature is only one of the factors that determines when
animals should go into hibernation or estivation. In fact, although
extensive studies have been made of this phenomenon, much yet
remains to be learned.
Some animals that live in the rigorous climates of the extreme
north do not hibernate, while others do. In the temperate regions
many hibernate. Some of these, notably the ground squirrels of
the western United States and probably those of Siberia as well,
continue their summer sleep into their winter sleep. In the arid
portions of both the Tropics and the temperate regions estivation
enables the creatures to avoid the intense heat and dryness and in
some instances, the food shortages or other adverse conditions such
as the drying up of water. Lung fish, northern turtles, and some
other animals undergo the same periods of torpor. Practically all
reptiles and amphibians in temperate regions hibernate, and some of
those in the arid Tropics estivate.
Both hibernation and estivation are practiced by many forms of
invertebrate life, chiefly insects, mollusks, and arachnids. No birds
are known to hibernate.
The hibernation of bears wherein the animals become exceedingly
fat in the fall and select a sheltered den in which to “sleep” through-
out the winter is too well known to require comment other than to
point out that it is a remarkably good provision of nature to permit
ANIMAL BEHAVIOR—WALKER 289
the animals to survive in rigorous climates through periods when
food is generally very scarce.
In the northern portion of their range, the prairie dogs (Cynomys)
make a complete and long hibernation, that is to say, they go to sleep
in the fall and do not come out until spring. Farther south they
come out during the winter if the weather is unusually mild; and in
the southern portion of their range they scarcely hibernate at all.
Prairie dogs, it must be remembered, are not dogs at all. They are
burrowing squirrels closely related to marmots (Marmota).
Woodchucks (Mfarmota) are, of course, noted for their habit of
sleeping through the winter. While their movements on February
2 are of absolutely no importance in indicating the kind of weather
to be expected during the following 6 weeks, much popular interest
is taken in the springtime emergence of these animals.
Skunks in the north remain in their dens all winter and are fre-
quently not to be seen for days or even weeks during the worst
winter weather. During these periods they are almost in hiberna-
tion. However, a slight moderation of the weather will bring them
out; so theirs is only an incomplete hibernation.
Many rodents not only hibernate but go into estivation in mid-
summer or late in the summer. In many cases it continues into the
winter sleep. Notable among these estivating rodents are a number of
species of Spermophiles or ground squirrels (Citellus and Sperm-
ophilus) of the western United States that put on fat during the early
summer when food is abundant and temperatures are favorable. In
the hottest portion of the summer when food in some cases has be-
come scarce they go to sleep in burrows deep enough in the ground
so that the temperature does not affect them and they do not have
to worry about the drought or the food supply. Some individuals
emerge for a short time in the late summer or early fall but many
of them continue their summer sleep into that of winter.
The pocket mice and kangeroo rats go into hibernation as soon
as the weather is a little chilly in the fall and remain curled up in
little furry balls for months at a time. They do not emerge until
the weather has become warm. Apparently a temperature of about
50° to 60° will cause some of them to hibernate.
The common chipmunks (7 amias and Hutamias) that are so con-
spicuous during the summer do not truly hibernate through most of
their range. They merely stay under shelters and in their homes.
When the weather is severe or inclement they must feel like many
people, sleepy and loath to go out.
In the 1910 edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica it is stated that
in some of the northern Provinces of Russia where food is very scarce
and the winter climate severe, the people have adopted a mode of
290 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1940
living in winter that is almost hibernation. If we will consider our own
feelings on many days when the weather is bad, we will see how easy
it might be to go into a partial hibernation even though we lack the
specialization that makes it possible for the furry creatures to hiber-
nate so successfully.
Many animals that do not hibernate encounter more or less alter-
nating periods when food is abundant and when it is scarce. Some
of these have developed remarkable methods of providing for the lean
period. The stump-tailed lizard or shingle-back lizard (T%liqua) of
Australia, the Gila monster (Heloderma suspectum) of the southwest-
ern United States and its relative, the beaded lizard (H. horridum)
of Mexico, lay up considerable masses of fat in their tails. These fat
masses become large enough to serve as reservoirs of energy during
periods when food is scarce. The camel carries his reservoir for
energy in his hump. If a camel’s hump is erect and plump, it shows
that he is in good condition and should be able to stand a period of
food shortage without serious injury. If, however, his hump is flabby
it shows that he is not prepared to do without food or to go on short
rations, although he may be in satisfactory condition so far as day-to-
day living is concerned.
The little fat-tailed lemur (Cheirogaleus) of Madagascar likewise
carries his reservoir of energy food in his tail which he greatly fattens
in seasons of plenty and draws upon in periods of scarcity.
Some bats hibernate in caves, buildings, hollow trees, or other loca-
tions where they can obtain a fairly uniform temperature of about
46° to 54° F. Great numbers of bats are frequently found in such
locations. Other bats migrate like birds, but almost nothing is
known about the exact courses and dates of their movements. It can
merely be said that they go south to escape the winter and return
north in the spring; the details of their flights are yet to be discovered.
Birds meet the problem of bad weather or food shortage in many
cases by migrating to a more equitable climate where food is available.
Before making the migration they become exceedingly fat; but when
their long journey is ended the fat supply is practically consumed
and they are often in an exhausted condition.
SOCIABILITY, COOPERATION, PROPERTY AND TERRITORIAL RIGHTS
Many animals are definitely gregarious and sociable; others lead
solitary lives. Still others mingle with their kind for short periods of
the year, but at other seasons prefer to be solitary. I believe it is
probable that the requirements of an adequate food supply have much
influence in determining whether animals must be solitary or may be
gregarious. In many cases it is obvious that animals enjoy compan-
ionship with their own kind or even with animals of other species.
ANIMAL BEHAVIOR—WALKER 291
Particularly notable is the affection of the dog for man. This has
probably been the great factor in leading to the dog’s domestication.
Prairie dogs, which are not dogs at all but burrowing squirrels, are
sociable fellows that live in colonies and visit back and forth from
burrow to burrow. Indeed it is frequently difficult to ascertain who
owns which burrow. I have observed, occasionally, if one prairie
dog is in a position heading partially into a burrow and is obstruct-
ing the way of another who wants to get in, the one behind will pinch
the tail of the traffic obstructor with his teeth. Apparently it is not
a very hard pinch but it seems invariably to get results.
Recently I saw a young coypu or nutria, a large aquatic South
American rodent, sitting on a log projecting out into the water. An
adult was on the upper end of the log and wanted to go into the water.
It induced the young one to make way for it by reaching down and
gently but firmly pinching the young one’s tail with its teeth. He also
obtained action.
Among animals there are numerous instances of cooperation for
the common good. A well-known example is the beaver colony in
which several individuals cooperate in the building of the dam and
house, and the storing of the winter supply of wood for food. They
work together in perfect harmony and coordination.
The banding together of the wild African hunting dogs (Lycaon
pictus), of the coyotes, and wolves (Canis), and, occasionally, of a
few other animals that hunt prey too large to be taken by one individ-
ual, sometimes displays remarkable sagacity and cooperation. How-
ever, when the time for raising the young arrives, the packs usually
break up into pairs, each of which selects a den some distance from
the den of any others of its kind. Until the young are large enough
to join the pack, the adults forage from their dens for small animals
with which to feed their families.
Pelicans (Pelecanus) apparently cooperate in their fishing. They
frequently swim on the surface of the water, several abreast and
just far enough apart so that no bird will grab for a fish that is
within the reach of another bird. When approaching a school of fish
in such formation, the birds have an advantage in that each one can
capture fish within its reach while the slowly advancing flock keeps
the school of fish continually in front of it.
Those animals that live in groups probably all have some type of
government or leadership. It is easy to see that each herd of bison
is ruled by a dictator, the strongest bull of the group. Flocks of
geese have a leader and give other evidences of government. The
disciplining of offenders can often be witnessed. Usually the ruler
of the herd or colony is also the sentinel who is on the lookout for
danger while others feed. But it is doubtful if this is always the
280256—41__20
292 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1940
case for apparently crows and other birds post more than one sentinel
to watch for danger. If we could understand what is being said
by crows in some of their gatherings, or by many other animals, we
might learn of discussions and announcements that would surprise
us. Certainly these gatherings have every appearance of definite
meetings and discussions,
- Some bats live in colonies and others live almost singly. With the
exception of the fruit bats, those that live in colonies probably do so
because of necessity arising from their habit of passing the daylight
hours in caves or crevices, the supply of which is limited. When
feeding, they travel widely through the air and work as individuals,
probably with no serious competition in capturing their insect prey.
The fruit bats (family Pteropidae) live mainly in colonies that
lead almost a nomadic life, shifting from one region to another to
obtain an adequate supply of suitable food. Since there is usually
enough food for all, they can live in large groups provided they go
where fruit is plentiful.
The colonial habits of insects, wherein, as among the wasps, bees,
and ants, numerous individuals work together to build a common
house and to rear the young, form an apparently perfect community.
The queen ant who lays the eggs but is helpless to defend herself
is guarded continuously by others of her kind that bear scarcely any
resemblance to her in appearance because they are remarkably modi-
fied for fighting. They are the soldiers of the group. The workers
of the ant colony show no evidence of sexual characteristics but are
specialized to do the labor for the community. Apparently they
have rather definitely assigned duties. Some will forage for food
and bring it home; others will attend to the growing of certain food
supplies on which they may feed; others care for the young. In-
deed there may be a far greater division of labor among the colony
than is generally supposed.
The recognition of property and territorial rights among animals
is clearly evident in many instances. This fact is well known among
ornithologists, who have observed that most birds that do not nest
in colonies select a nesting site and fight away other individuals of
their own species for a rather definite area around the nest. The
size of this area, of course, varies with different species, but is fairly
constant for each species. This system is obviously based on the fact
that any given area will, on the average, produce only a certain
amount of food of the kind that is required by the occupants of the
area. Therefore, if other pairs were permitted to invade the terri-
tory there would be too keen a competition for food. Frequently,
other species are tolerated within the nesting area but this is ordi-
narily because the other species are sufficiently different in their food
ANIMAL BEA'AVIOR—WALKWR 293
requirements to Cause no fear of competition. In this way, al-
though a given area may appear to be indiscriminately occupied by
many different kinds of birds, it is in reality more or less definitely
divided into territories with fairly definite boundaries between pairs
of individuals of each species. Naturally the boundaries do not coin-
cide for the different species. Among the passerine birds the smg-
ing of the male of a pair is not merely an expression of happmess
but is also a warning or notice to others of his kind that the terri-
tory in which he is singing is his own and that none should tres-
pass on it. In the case of sea birds that nest in colonies but obtain
their food from the ocean, the only territorial requirements of a
nesting pair is that there be enough room for the adults and their
nest. On the nesting site conflicts do not arise over food, because
this is obtained in the ocean at a distance from the shore.
When certain mammals have established themselves on a given
territory others appear to recognize, to some extent at least, the
accompanying property right. We sometimes, for instance, see a
small dog drive a larger, more powerful dog off the smaller dog’s
territory or away from its bone. Incidents of this kind can regu-
larly be seen among other animals such as wolves, coyotes, foxes,
squirrels, chipmunks, ground squirrels, and others.
VOICE AND COMMUNICATION
I have yet to become acquainted with an animal to which I feel
that the term “dumb animal” should be applied. Animals are cer-
tainly not dumb as far as communication among themselves is con-
cerned, and they must be fairly intelligent to have survived through
the ages until man, the most dangerous and destructive of all crea-
tures, began to kill them wantonly.
We are, of course, well acquainted with the voices of domestic
dogs, cats, horses, cows, and other animals; but many creatures that
are generally considered to be dumb actually have voices and use them
regularly in communicating with their own kind.
“Bobbity,” a tiny pocket mouse that lived on my desk at home for
several years, appeared to be entirely silent. However, when I held
him practically against my ear I found that he was carrying on a
rapid chattering and scolding. Perhaps he understood my language
and I was the dumb one because I did not understand his. A little
female of the same species that was a temperamental spinster, had
but to look at “Bobbity,” change her expression ever so little, and he
would be almost cowed. I am satisfied that she talked to him most
effectively.
Kangaroo rats generally appear to be silent; but I have noticed
that when two are brought together and do not desire to tolerate
294 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1940
each other, they utter a little buzzing growl. Also I noticed that a
single one will give the same sort of a call when it is in the immediate
presence of a grasshopper mouse, its mortal enemy in the wild. I
have heard my pet kangaroo rat utter chirps that could be heard at
a distance of 8 or 10 feet. If one of these animals is held close to
one’s ear a series of buzzing notes can be heard—dots and dashes in
varying frequency and tempo—that must mean something to the
creature that makes them. In their deep underground dens a distinct
tapping of feet or tails can be heard from outside. These sounds
evidently serve as means of communication between different nest
chambers within the elaborate dwelling.
My pet grasshopper mouse calls, apparently to attract attention.
These signals are most noticeable when the animal is running at
liberty on my desk and my wife and I are in an adjoining room.
At such times, he will choose a location from which he can watch
us, then, rising on his hind legs, he will give an exceedingly high
pitched piercing squeak that may be likened to a very high-pitched
automobile brake squeak. The sound is of about one second dura-
tion. If I am about my desk he gives the call much less frequently,
unless I appear to be paying no attention to him. The loudest of
his calls can be heard by the ordinary human ear at a distance of
perhaps 40 to 50 feet; but I have often seen him go through the
motions of giving the call when the sound was so faint or high pitched
that I could not hear it even when I was not more than 2 to 4 feet
away from him.
Giraffes (Camelopardalis) are commonly thought to be voiceless.
It has even been claimed that they possess no vocal cords. However,
anatomists now say that they do possess poorly developed vocal
cords; and there are authentic records that giraffes under extreme
excitement utter a bleating call.
The emperor penguin (Aptenodytes forsteri), an Antarctic sea
bird that was brought to the National Zoological Park in February
1940 from the United States Antarctic Exploration Expedition,
greeted visitors in his cage by approaching them with his slow
waddle. When about 5 or 6 feet away he would stop, bend his head
far down on his breast and raise it gradually while he uttered a series
of guttural musical notes somewhat like the cackle of a hen in point
of timing but far deeper and more pleasing in quality. It appears
probable that since the emperor penguin has practically no enemies
on land or ice, he considers any other large object that approaches
him as friendly. The emperor which stands about 40 inches high
to the top of the head, is the tallest of the inhabitants of the
Antarctic ice barrier.
ANIMAL BEHAVIOR—-WALKER 295
Other means of communication are employed besides the voice.
Many animals stamp the feet when danger threatens or when they
meet an unknown condition that might prove to be dangerous. Deer
(Cervus and Odocoileus) stamp their forefeet. The African brush-
tailed porcupine (Atherura) stamps its hind feet. Sometimes there
may be three or four strokes of the hind foot in quick succession,
indicating irritation, displeasure, or warning. Skunks stamp both
forefeet. Wood rats and kangaroo rats tap, tap, tap with their
hind feet. Rabbits give warning by stamping their hind feet, and
most people have witnessed a woman express her displeasure by tap-
ping her toes. This foot-stamping is a telegraph warning that many
animals heed.
In addition to the voices and the stamping of feet there is the
buzzing sound produced by the rattle on the tail of the rattlesnake
(Crotalus). Snakes that lack rattles vibrate their tails when excited.
If the tail is touching dry vegetation a rattling sound is produced.
Most porcupines vibrate their tails; some species have peculiarly modi-
fied hairs that make very effective rattles.
The visual telegraph is used by such animals as the American
prong-horned antelope (Anéilocapra) and the American elk or wapiti
(Cervus). This is accomplished by erecting the hairs on the rumps of
the animals. By raising these hairs from their normal flattened posi-
tion until they stand almost on end, the light-colored bases of the hairs
are made very conspicuous and readily seen by other members of the
herd, who interpret them as a warning or signal flag. White-tailed
deer also signal with erect tails. Because of this habit they are often
called “flag-tails.”
The booming of prairie chickens, hooting of blue grouse, and vari-
ous nuptial calls of grouse and ptarmigan are all vocal sounds. ‘The
drumming of ruffed grouse (Bonasa umbellus) with their wings is a
remarkably far-carrying sound made by the males during the mating
season. The sharp “whirr” of the wings of a quail (Colinus and re-
lated genera) when taking flight is undoubtedly a warning to other
members of the flock.
LOCOMOTION
The means by which most animals get about are so well known
that detailed discussion of them here would not be justified, however
interesting they might be as a subject of special study. In addition
to the well-known modes of progression such as walking, running,
hopping, flying, swimming, and crawling, some animals have devel-
oped special modes to meet their special requirements. Brief mention
of some of these may be made here.
296 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1940
Bats are the only mammals that truly fly, although there are rodents
in North America (Glaucomys), Africa (Anomalurus and Idiurus),
and Asia (Pteromys and Sciuropterus) that are called “flying squir-
rels,” marsupials (Petawrus) in Australia that are popularly known by
che same name, and insectivores (Galeopterus and Galeopithecus) in
the southern Asiatic regions that are usually called “flying lemurs.”
In reality these mammals do not actually fly: they merely glide. Their
skins are a great deal larger than is necessary to envelop their bodies.
On each side the skin is extended outward in a fold to the wrists,
ankles, and hind feet. When the arms are spread forward and out-
ward and the hind legs are spread backward and outward, the con-
necting skin is stretched so that the animal becomes greatly flattened
and well adapted to gliding. The method is to climb to some fairly
high point, leap off and coast downward through the air. Just before
reaching the point at which it wishes to land, the animal turns upward
so as to check its flight.
Bats, on the contrary, have true wings with a bone structure closely
resembling that of our arms and hands. Their fingers are enormously
elongated; and stretched between the fingers and the arm bones and
extending back to the hind legs there is a thin, flexible fold of skin,
which in some groups of bats crosses the space between the hind legs
and includes part or all of the tail. With these remarkable wings bats
really fly. Most bats rest and sleep hanging head downward suspended
by their hind feet. Often the vertical surface on which the bat hangs
appears to us to be practically smooth; but the small bats have such
sharp little hooked claws on their hind feet that they can hang up
on a roughness that we would scarcely detect. One that I had in my
home regularly hung up on a wall that was covered with paper that
was almost smooth. The method bats adopt to change from a condi-
tion of active flight to a perfectly quiet, restful position hanging head
downward, is interesting. I have observed that some bats at least
accomplish this by flying straight toward the wall until they are almost
touching it,-then turning upward until they do actually touch the
wall, at the same time allowing themselves to fall sideways. Also, at
the same time, the claws attach themselves to the wall. This is done
so quickly that the human eye cannot follow the details of the animal’s
action. When in this position, hanging head downward, a bat is
equally prepared to take off for another flight or to go to sleep.
The sea bears or eared seals, most commonly known as “sealions”
(Otaria and Zalophus), and the fur seals (Callorhinus) have a fairly
flexible body and long flippers... They hunch, sway, and flop along on
a flat surface so that they are frequently able to travel some distance
away from water on their bellies. Though greatly handicapped on
land, they are so adept in swimming that when in the water they
readily catch the fish on which they prey.
ANIMAL BEHAVIOR—WALKER 297
The earless, or hair, seals (Phoca and related genera) do not
have such a flexible body as the sea bears, and their flippers are very
short. They are perhaps as adept as the sea bears in the water, but
when on land they can only progress by a peculiar bouncing move-
ment that they bring about mainly by quickly contracting their
bodies so that they actually bounce along with some aid given by
their flippers.
Otters (Lutra) toboggan on their bellies on soft snow and steep earth
slopes.
Penquins (Aptenodytes, Pygoscelis, Spheniscus) are especially
adapted to a life in the water. However, they regularly go out on
the shores and the Antarctic ice. Most of these shores are rocky,
and the ice usually has abrupt walls rising out of the water, so that
it would be very difficult for the birds to climb out as one might
suppose they would have to do. But instead of climbing out in an
awkward and inefficient manner, they actually spring out of the
water. Coming with considerable speed up through the water,
they leap on to the ice or land. As usually seen on such surfaces
they are standing in almost a vertical position or slowly waddling
along in a manner that to us seems ludicrous. However, they have
evolved a remarkable means for escaping rapidly on the ice. They
merely throw themselves on to their breasts, use their feet as pro-
pellers, dig their toes into the ice and snow, and toboggan rapidly
along, even on level surfaces. Speeds estimated to be as much as
20 to 80 miles per hour have been observed. When swimming, pen-
guins use their modified wings as oars. They steer with their feet.
The simile “like a fish out of water” is commonly used to indicate
a very inefficient and unsatisfactory procedure. However, there are
fish that are entirely at home out of water and that leave the water
voluntarily to walk on exposed flats or dry land. Among these are
the walking fish or climbing fish (Anadas) of southern Asia and
Africa. When the impulse moves, these strange creatures climb up
the bank out of the water, take a stroll on the ground and even
climb into shrubs and trees. They really walk on the tips of their
modified fins. In this way they make very satisfactory progress,
individual fish being known to have traversed unhurriedly more than
300 feet in 30 minutes.®
Flying fish (Haocoetus) do not actually fly. They merely gain
speed in the water, break through the surface into the air and glide
with the aid of their large, winglike pectoral fins which serve as
planes.
The young of certain large spiders and the adults of many smaller
species make use of a novel type of aerial locomotion. They spin a
‘Smith, Hugh M., A walking fish. Nat. Hist. (Amer.), vol. 37, pp. 249-252, March 1936.
298 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1940
long, gossamer thread that offers so much resistance to the wind
and is so light that they can let go of their support, cling to their
strand and be transported considerable distances by the breezes.
They are, of course, unable to choose their direction other than as
they may let go when the prevailing wind is in the direction that
they desire to travel.
CARE OF YOUNG
Both the extent and the methods of caring for the young vary as
widely as do other animal characteristics. No two species follow
exactly the same methods. Some give painstaking individual care to
their babies over long periods. Others look after the young for only
a brief period until the precocious youngsters learn to shift for them-
selves. The rabbits are good examples of this second type. Still
others give their young no care whatever.
The most primitive of the mammals, the platypus (Ovrnithor-
hynchus) of Australia and the so-called spiny anteaters (Hchidna
and Zaglossus) of Australia and Tasmania lay eggs. When the
young are hatched they obtain the mother’s milk by licking the skin
on the surface of her chest, for these animals lack nipples.
The next higher group of mammals are the marsupials. Most
marsupials have a very short gestation period and their young are
born in a very incompletely developed state. The large kangaroos
that stand as high as a man and weigh almost as much, give birth
to young that weigh only a fraction of an ounce, after a gestation
period of certainly less than 50 days and probably only about 20 or
30 days. The little one immediately after birth crawls into the
abdominal pouch of the mother and remains there continuously
for 3 or4months. After that, for a month or two, it spends a por-
tion of its time in the pouch and a portion of its time moving about
near its mother. If danger threatens, it quickly takes shelter in
the pouch. Not all mammals that belong to the group known as
marsupials have pouches. Those that lack the pouches give birth
to young that are somewhat better developed than those of the
pouched kinds. These young ones are cared for in a nest.
At the other extreme from the pouched mammals is the elephant,
which has a gestation period of 18 to 21 months. The young ele-
phant when born weighs about 220 pounds. It is carefully tended
and nursed by its mother during a period that lasts from 2 to 3
years.
The monkeys also have a long gestation period. While the young
at birth are fully formed they are almost as helpless as new-born
human babies. They are carefully tended by their mothers for
many months.
ANIMAL BEHAVIOR——WALKER 299
The female pronghorn antelope of western North America hides
her baby on the prairie or on ground with very little vegetation
by having it le perfectly flat and still while she feeds or rests at
a distance.
Musk oxen have adopted an excellent method of protecting their
young from the wolves and bears of the region that they inhabit.
They always go in small bands or herds, and when danger threat-
ens, the adults form a complete ring, facing outward, with the
young animals in the center of the ring. Thus, the charge of the
pack of wolves can be met from any direction. This manner of
defense was highly satisfactory for the preservation of the musk
oxen until the coming of man, with his guns.
Most baby bats cling to the mother’s nipple and to her fur while she
flits about through the air or hangs up to sleep or rest. On some
occasions, however, the mother leaves the little ones hanging in a
safe place, goes on her flight, then comes back to it. The so-called
naked bat (Chetromeles) of Borneo carries her little one in a pocket
formed by a fold of skin between her back, sides, and wing. Most
bats have only one young at a time, although twins sometimes occur.
In the North American red bat (Nycteris) and hoary bat (Lasiurus)
there are occasionally triplets or quadruplets.
In the colder parts of the Northern Hemisphere baby bears (Ursus,
Fuarctos, and Thalarctos) are born while the mother is in hiberna-
tion, usually in February. New-born black bears weigh only about
a pound, and the mother does not leave them for even a moment
until springtime when she goes out to obtain food.
In moving her baby from one nest to another a squirrel (Sczurus)
mother uses the following method. She turns the baby on its back
and grasps one of its legs or the skin of its under parts in her
teeth and lips, while the little one puts its forelegs around her neck
from one side and its hind legs and tail from the other. In this
way the baby is carried high enough so that its mother can use
her feet in climbing and leaping, while at the same time, the little
one helps to hold itself in place.
A mother polar bear (TVhalarctos), when swimming, helps her
baby along by letting it cling with its mouth to her tail or long
hair. Thus she tows it along. When it is tired, she lets it ride on
her back.
Gibbon (Hylobates and Symphalangus) babies cling beltlike
around their mother’s body. This leaves the mother free to use
her arms and legs in swinging through the trees.
In addition to feeding and protecting the young, the parents of
many kinds of mammals carefully lick their young ones to keep
them clean until they learn to wash and groom their own coats.
300 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1940
Most birds incubate their eggs and care for their young, but the
maleo fowl or mound-building bird (Alectwra and related genera)
of Australia, New Guinea, and the Philippines, have found a unique
short-cut in incubating their eggs. The parents, using their feet
and possibly their beaks, scratch together a mound of dead vegeta-
tion in the forest. Sometimes several pairs of birds will cooperate
in the building of a mound as much as 30 feet long and 5 feet high.
They then dig holes in the mound and lay their eggs in them. The
heat generated by the decaying vegetation is sufficient to incubate
the eggs. When the eggs hatch the young birds scratch their way
to the surface and shift for themselves, never knowing their parents.
The chicks are able to fly immediately on emerging from the mound.
On the other hand, there are many birds, such as the pelicans,
that nest on barren rocky or sandy locations where the heat may
be intense. They incubate their eggs when the temperature is not
too high; but if the heat becomes too great they stand above the
nest and shade it with their bodies.
Emperor penguins are large sea birds of the Antarctic region.
They inhabit areas that are almost solid ice and snow with only
occasional outcroppings of bare rock. Continuous darkness accom-
panied by intense cold and violent storms prevails for months at a
time within the Antarctic Circle. Even in summer the weather con-
ditions are not favorable for rearing families, and the best weather
is of short duration. These penguins have, therefore, evolved a
unique method of perpetuating their kind. Even if they laid their
eggs very early in the springtime, the young would not be hatched
until the summer was so far advanced that they would not have time
to become well grown before the rigors of their first Antarctic
winter set in. Therefore, the emperor penguins lay their single egg
during the cold and darkness of the Antarctic night. They then in-
cubate it by keeping the egg on their feet between their thighs so
that it does not touch the ground, snow, or ice. The birds are so
zealous in their care of the egg that male and female will at times
actually fight to care for it. In this way, the egg is made to hatch
in the Antarctic springtime so that the little one has the benefit of
the full Antarctic summer during its tender period. By fall it will
have become a husky youngster, ready to face the rigors of the
Antarctic winter.
Some reptiles lay eggs that are hatched by the heat of the sun
and the warmth of the sand or of decaying vegetation, the young
ones never knowing their parents. Others give birth to living young.
Apparently there is no clearly defined dividing line between the
oviparous and viviparous groups of reptiles, for among nearly related
horned lizards both types of reproduction are found. Some species
ANIMAL BEHAVIOR—-WALKER 301
of this genus (Phrynosoma) lay eggs and others produce living
young. In few cases, however, is there evidence that reptilian
parents give their young care.
Some insects that do not actively care for their young after they
have hatched make elaborate advance provision of food for the
young that they will never see, and some, like the wasps and bees,
have elaborate colony systems in which certain castes devote their
time entirely to the care of the young.
Every animal that cares for its young has developed methods
characteristically its own. Innumerable examples might be cited,
did space permit.
LIFE WITHIN THE HOME
Naturally the life of an animal within its home is as specialized as
are its activities outside. For example, the burrow of the pocket
mouse is scarcely wider than the diameter of the animal’s body. One
may well wonder how it is possible to turn about in one of them;
but my little pet showed me how this is done. I found that when
he wanted to reverse his direction and the burrow was too small
to allow him to turn in it, he tucked his head backward beneath his
body and practically revolved on himself like a ball. This brought
him wrongside up; but, too quickly for the eye to see the detail of
his movements, he would roll over and be ready to go in the opposite
direction.
The tunnel of the mole is only slightly greater in diameter than
the body of the animal. Therefore, turning about would be a prob-
lem, particularly as the forward two-thirds of the mole’s body is
extremely rigid and muscular. To avoid turning around the mole
merely runs backward in his burrow. This he can do about as fast
as he can go forward. If the mole’s fur were even fairly stiff and
its hairs were directed backward, it would impede the animal’s back-
ward progression; but it is very short with the hairs standing at
right angles to the skin so that they will lie smoothly when pointing
either forward or backward.
In their nest chamber beavers groom themselves, eat the pieces
of wood that they carry up into the houses through the tunnels, sleep,
raise their young, and remain secure from enemies.
CLEANLINESS AND CARE OF THE BODY COVERING
Human beings replenish their wardrobes as required or as their
means permit. Animals, however, are limited to definite times for
getting their new suits of clothes. Usually they grow a heavy
coat with the approach of winter. This coat lasts them until spring,
by which time it has become considerably worn. It is then shed
302 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1940
and replaced with a lighter coat better adapted for summer wear.
If animals did not give enough care to their clothes, they might be
left in a precarious condition between seasons. In fact, they might
have “nothing to wear.” Therefore, each species has developed a
very definite technique for the care of its clothing.
Upon awaking at their leisure nearly all animals go through
more or less the same procedure as human beings. They yawn,
stretch, and the furry creatures proceed to groom their coats and
straighten their whiskers painstakingly. Indeed, all furry and
feathered creatures take good care of their clothes—a fact evidently
recognized by the composer of the song, current in the early 1900's,
that referred to a raccoon as “combing her hair by the light of the
silvery moon.”
As animals travel through shrubbery and grass their coats are
brushed and the shedding of the old hair is especially aided. The
wear incidental to such passage through coarse grasses is very notice-
able in lions, the wild individuals rarely having as fine manes as
those grown by captives.
Most people are familiar with the house cat’s very careful licking
of itself for cleanliness and to keep its fur in good condition.
The horse that rolls, particularly when his harness has just been
removed, is using one means of loosening and straightening his
hair. In the springtime, it is a common sight to see two horses
standing side by side faced in opposite directions each using its lips
and teeth to pluck the heavy winter coat off of his companion. Even
the ungainly bison (Bison) roll. Bears just out of hibernation rub
vigorously against trees and rocks and quickly remove great patches
of hair so that they sometimes become exceedingly ragged and for
a short time almost naked.
Some animals enjoy bathing and if one will observe such a creature
taking a bath after having been deprived of the opportunity for
some time, he will witness enjoyment as great as any person could
display in enjoying a long-deferred bath.
Desert mammals that rarely have access to water abhor it and
are greatly offended by even a drop that may get on them; but they
have evolved a method of keeping their fur in good condition by
rolling in fine dry sand. This is not an aimless process; the move-
ment is so definite that it partially combs the fur without mussing
it up. They then shake themselves and carefully comb their fur
with the tiny nails on their hands and feet, assisted in some cases
by their teeth and lips. Perhaps in some cases there is a slight
licking of the fur; but more often the cleaning process appears
to be nothing more than smoothing the fur or freeing it of tangles.
In grooming the tail, almost all begin at the base and work
ANIMAL BEHAVIOR—-WALKER 303
outward until the full length of the tail has passed through the
lips and hands. The whiskers are very important organs of touch.
Therefore, they are often straightened and adjusted. The skins
of desert animals secrete considerable oil for their fur. This is
shown by the fact that the hairs stick together and the coat becomes
very unsightly if the little creatures do not have access to sand
for a day or two.
Many people who have seen little furry creatures scratching them-
selves have assumed that this action indicates infestation by fleas
or other parasites. However, most animals are very clean and have
relatively few external parasites. Some have apparently learned
that tobacco is an excellent insecticide. I recently discovered that
my pet grasshopper mouse would chew up bits of tobacco, then open
his fur with his hands and place the chewed tobacco in his fur close to
his skin. This was plainly the application of tobacco to spots that
were itchy. In this particular case the animal had been so well
supplied with insect powder that he had no external parasites. He
apparently did not distinguish between the normal itchiness to
which little furry creatures are subject and the external parasites
that would be killed by tobacco.
Semiaquatic animals like the beaver wear coats that are com-
posed of two important layers—the long coarse guard hairs (that
give the coat its rough appearance) and the very dense coat of fine
silky short under hair which insulates the animal and is, if well
cared for, impervious to water. Proper care of the coat is of great
importance to the beaver. Almost immediately after coming out
of the water, he will begin a painstaking grooming by which he will
wipe or rub off most of the surplus water. Then he will proceed to
comb out the fur until it is dry and loose. It has been found that if
beavers and some other animals cannot groom their fur and dry it
out they become very susceptible to pneumonia and related ailments.
It is a common sight to see monkeys carefully grooming each
other’s fur. Most visitors to the Zoo mistakenly believe that this
activity is a search for parasites. But, as a matter of fact, parasites
are so extremely rare on monkeys that their presence can in no way
account for the grooming habit. Grooming is apparently an enjoy-
able process of cleaning the fur and skin. It probably finds its
exact counterpart among human beings in the pleasure most people
take in having their backs scratched and in the soothing, almost hyp-
notic effect of the treatment received in beauty parlors and barber
shops.°®
°Grooming by animals is more than a mere dressing of the coat. It has a definite part
in the social lives of the animals. Considerable has been written on this subject, one paper
being “Sham louse-picking, or grooming among monkeys,” by H. E. Ewing, Journ. Mamm.,
vol. 16, pp. 308-306, November 1935.
304 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1940
Some monkeys have even gone farther and supplemented their
grooming with a very definite system of hair plucking. This habit is
especially well developed in the Japanese macaque. In this animal
the hair grows fairly long on the sides of the head as well as on the
crown. Some individuals have developed a system of plucking the
hair around the sides of their companions’ heads so as to give almost
the effect of a human hair cut. The hair on the crown is left un-
disturbed. This plucking is not a hit-and-miss affair, it is very sys-
tematic and symmetrical, giving the animals the appearance of hav-
ing been carefuly groomed. (See pl. 15, fig 1.) One individual that I
have observed, that lives alone, plucks the hair on his own forearm.
There are members of our medical profession and many other in-
dividuals who feel that the human body derives a very definite bene-
fit from close contact with the earth. By the nature of their lives,
animals are more constantly in contact with the earth than are human
beings. When we observe the true enjoyment that pigs, rhinocer-
oses, elephants, and numerous other animals derive from wallowing in
the mud, can we doubt that they get some very definite benefit from
this habit? The skins of wallowing mammals being practically bare
are especially subject to drying and to the bites of insects. There-
fore, mud baths must be soothing if nothing more.
Many birds will bathe whenever water is available even though
it be ice cold. Following such a bath, they have a bedragegled ap-
pearance but if one will observe them, he will see that they vigorously
shake their plumage and preen it until the feathers are fluffed out
and in good condition. Indeed, in many instances, if birds cannot
bathe, their plumage becomes unsightly and they themselves appear
to become discontented and uncomfortable. Birds also shake them-
selves and fluff out and arrange their feathers. Chickens dusting in
the road or elsewhere, then shaking their feathers and cleaning them,
are familiar examples of this habit. Even flies and other insects
groom themselves after having eaten or having become soiled. In-
numerable other instances might be mentioned.
MEMORY
Memory is a faculty that we ascribe mainly to human beings; but
most animals obviously remember things that concern them. Natur-
ally the things that make the greatest impression on animals are
those that relate to avoidance of their enemies, the finding of their
home and food, and other activities essential to their welfare. The
term “homing instinct” has been applied to the pronounced ability
of certain animals, noticeably cats and carrier pigeons, to find their
way back to their homes. However, it is even more pronounced in
the birds that migrate many hundreds of miles and find their way
ANIMAL BEHAVIOR—-WALKER 305
back the next year to the exact spot that they started from the year
before. We know practically nothing as to what guides birds and
mammals on these long migrations; but we can readily observe in
many animals the painstaking investigation that they make of their
surroundings, obviously with the intention of familiarizing them-
selves with their immediate environs.
A pet kangaroo rat that was given the run of our apartment for a
period of about 2 weeks selected the space beneath the mechanical re-
frigerator for her abode. Whenever she thought danger threatened
she would immediately retreat there. At other times she would ex-
plore around the apartment. If we remained quiet she would ven-
ture close to us. After about 2 weeks of this freedom she was kept
in a cage from which she was occasionally removed for little outings;
however, she did not have another opportunity to utilize the space
beneath the refrigerator. But one day about a year later, when she
was again left free on the fioor, she made persistent efforts to get
into the kitchen where the refrigerator was located, thus obviously
showing that her memory of the home she formerly used had re-
mained with her for at least a year.
USES OF HANDS, FEET, TAILS, AND TEETH
As “necessity is the mother of invention,” it has naturally led ani-
mals to utilize their hands, feet, tails, and teeth in many effective ways.
The tails of horses, cattle, and a number of other animals are val-
uable in dislodging insect pests. In other mammals, such as the kan-
garoos (Macropus) and the jumping rodents, it is important as a
balancing organ and is sometimes used as a spare hind leg to make
a tripod to sit on. With the Old World monkeys the tail appears to
be largely an ornament, although it is useful in helping the animals to
keep their balance when leaping. Among the cats it is useful for
the expression of emotions; and it also assists the animals in right-
ing and balancing themselves when leaping or falling. Those cats
that have long and fairly bushy tails use them as muffs to help keep
their feet and noses warm.
The binturongs (Arctictis) of the southern Asiatic region and the
pangolins (Manis, Smutsia, and related genera) of southern Asia and
Africa, also the North American opossum, the South American porcu-
pines (Coendou), and a few other animals use the tail mainly to
steady themselves by wrapping it around a limb, or to let themselves
down gradually when descending. Some of the American monkeys
use the tail regularly in this manner, the most noteworthy of these
animals being the spider monkeys (Ateles). The underside of the
tip of the spider monkey’s tail is naked like a fingertip. This makes it
a good grasping organ. If an object is beyond the reach of the very long
306 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1940
arms of a spider monkey, the animal will sometimes back up as near
to it as possible, then reach out and grasp it with the tail tip.
A good example of the manner in which the tail is useful as a bal-
ancing organ or to check the animal when it is leaping is shown in the
picture of the douroucouli or night monkey (Aotus) of the Central
American region (pl. 16). On a few occasions I had noticed that
when these monkeys leaped onto a limb their tails swung forward
under the limb. However, the movement was so quick that I could
never be quite certain of the position the tail assumed. I could only
surmise that it was used to balance the animal. When I took this
picture I was trying to photograph the monkey that is shown at the
right, but apparently an instant before I made the flash the monkey
at the left leaped onto the limb and checked his forward movement
by swinging his tail under the limb. His arrival caused the monkey
on the right to turn its head so quickly during the 1499-second expo-
sure that its face was slightly blurred.
The pangolin uses its tail to wrap about itself to keep out enemies.
The tails of whales and porpoises are the propellers that drive these
animals through the water. They work in a vertical plane instead
of horizontally like the tails of most fishes.
The hands of gibbons and orangutans (Pongo) are long and slender
with the very small thumb placed far back. Thus, the hands are
better adapted to be used as flexible hooks than as grasping organs.
During their lives in the trees these animals use their hands in this
manner—that is, by hooking them over the limbs. This is of great
advantage to the gibbons in their flightlike swinging through the
trees.
The feet of the gibbons, orangutans, and chimpanzees (Pan) are
fairly well adapted for grasping, the great toe being opposable to
the other toes. This permits them to use their feet in grasping limbs
or in carrying objects while they use their hands in swinging through
the trees. On one occasion I saw a young chimpanzee trying to carry
away all of its food at one trip. It had both its hands full and half
a head of lettuce grasped in one foot.
The loosening and moving of earth, and in some cases the packing
of earth, plays so important a part in the lives of many animals that
they have developed considerable efficiency in the task. Most bur-
rowing animals do their digging with the forefeet, which are generally
rather large and are armed with short, straight, or slightly curved
claws well adapted for use as picks. They generally pull the earth
toward them and underneath them to a point where it can be reached
by the hind feet. These kick it backward. If they are working in-
side a burrow they generally turn around and go toward the entrance
pushing the loosened earth before them, using their front feet together
with their chests and throats as pushers while the hind feet supply the
ANIMAL BEHAVIOR—-WALKER 307
power. Badgers (Taaidea) probably surpass other mammals in the
quantity of earth they excavate in digging out their prey.
The little desert creatures such as the pocket mice and kangaroo
rats pack the sand about their houses with their forefeet, patting it
so rapidly that a buzzing sound is produced; but the motions are too
rapid to enable the human eye to catch the details.
The teeth of rodents protrude considerably, and are important
for cutting wood, as weapons of defense, and as tools for digging.
Often the burrowing rodent uses his teeth to remove stones or to
cut hard earth. The lips of certain groups are closed behind the large
front incisors so that the front teeth actually protrude outside of
the mouth proper. Thus, dirt is kept out of the mouth by the
lips which make curtains or doors close behind the teeth. The
mouths of rodents are situated rather definitely on the underside of
the head in a position well adapted for working below the level of
the nose. They would thus appear to be poorly adapted for working
above that level. These animals have, however, effectively solved the
problem of cutting out the top of a tunnel or cutting a root or
other object obstructing the upper portion of a runway. They merely
throw themselves on their backs and hold the underside of their
heads close to the top of the burrow so that they can cut upward as
easily as downward.
USE OF TOOLS AND MATERIALS
The use of tools and materials is more common among animals than
is generally supposed. The best known use of materials is seen in
the making of birds’ nests. In this work each species of bird follows
a very definite pattern of procedure. Many birds choose a special
kind of material for one part of the nest, and a different type of
material for another part of it.
Among mammals the making of the nest, particularly the lining
of a cavity with material that is dry and insulating, is well known.
It is common to see squirrels carrying dry leaves or shredded bark to
their homes, particularly after an unusually cold night or a bad rain.
Apparently the little fellows have not been comfortable through the
night and their first thought in the morning is to improve their nest.
The habit of the so-called pack rat or trade rat (Neotoma and
Teonoma) of carrying small articles away from a camp and leaving
something in place of the objects taken has been frequently described.
Apparently the rodent’s idea is to carry material to its home for
protection against invasion, or perhaps for ornamentation. For ex-
ample, a nest in a crevice of a cliff or at the base of a cliff may not
provide adequate protection on the exposed sides. Therefore the
clever rodent carries sticks, dried cow dung, dried cactus pads, and
2802564121
308 | ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1940
other things to fill portions of the crevices or to build a mound at
the base of the cliff in order that it may make its nest under a
protective covering. It is remarkable how many of the exceedingly
spiny dried prickly pear joints they will use when such material is
available. Often the nest is composed chiefly of these joints, which
are indeed excellent protection against enemies. Certainly we can-
not doubt that the pack rat is well aware of their value. With regard
to the pack rats’ propensity for carrying a shining object away from
a camp and leaving something in its place, it is my theory that the
animals are usually carrying something, and that when they find
the bright object that they prefer they drop the one they have been
carrying and pick up the one that is more to their liking.
In building their dams or their houses, beavers have need to use
considerable earth that sometimes must be transported over dis-
tances of several feet or even rods. One method of carrying it is
to gather a mass in their hands held against their breasts while they
walk or swim to the place where the earth is needed. In this man-
ner they move a surprising amount of earth. In addition to earth,
sticks and occasionally stones are regularly used by beavers in the
building of dams.
Wasps and ants have been observed picking up small pebbles in
their jaws and using them to tamp the earth. Wasps have been ob-
served to take a small twig and sweep or smooth the ground over
their burrow which they had just filled. These are a few known
instances of the use of tools by some of the lower animals.
Occasionally individual monkeys adopt the practice of throwing
objects at a fancied enemy. However, this is not a general practice
among monkeys despite the popular belief to the contrary. The
practice of natives of southern Asia and the East Indies of sending
monkeys up coconut trees to break off the nuts is often cited as
evidence that monkeys do throw objects at adversaries. In reality
the monkeys, usually pig-tailed macaques (Macaca nemestrina), are
carefully trained to go up coconut trees, twist off the ripe coconuts
by twirling them between their hind feet, and let them fall on the
ground.
I once saw an orangutan grasp a handful of more or less parallel
straws in both hands, held about 20 inches apart. The animal then
looped his rude straw rope over a projecting iron pipe and swung
from it. EFFICIENCY
Modern mankind lays stress on skill and efficiency. Evidently
animals do likewise, for careful observation of the ways in which
they carry out the everyday practices of their lives indicates that
they are surprisingly efficient in all their actions. Perhaps if it were
ANIMAL BEHAVIOR—WALKER 309
possible to calculate the average efficiency of any given species we
might see that any one of the lower animals is as efficient as man in
fulfilling its particular functions in this world. Close study of ani-
mals will often disclose that movements which at first glance we
might consider aimless, are, in reality, following a very definite pat-
tern, evidently with a definite purpose. For example, if a plot of
land be dug up or otherwise disturbed, squirrels will go over it pains-
takingly, investigating almost every square inch. I believe that the
animals are familiarizing themselves with the area in its changed
condition so that they may intimately know all of the ground that
constitutes their range. Obviously, when it becomes necessary for
one of them to flee to save his life he must know exactly where
safety can be found. A little study along these lines will indicate
that every animal knows its territory intimately. The liberation of
an animal in new surroundings invariably leads to a most painstak-
ing examination of those surroundings. Usually the animal will at
first stand perfectly still and look about, sniffing and frequently
testing the objects near it with its nose, teeth, and paws. It will
then gradually explore farther and farther. If it is forced to attempt
to make a sudden escape before it has become thoroughly familiar
with new surroundings, it will often make bad mistakes. For ex-
ample, if it is berated in a fenced enclosure, it will sometimes run
headlong into the fence so hard as to kill or cripple itself or it will
dash into water and make other like blunders.
A British Army officer who had a pet mongoose that traveled with
him in India observed that every evening when camp was made and
the mongoose was liberated, it made a painstaking examination of the
tent and all objects in the tent and its surroundings. He reached the
conclusion that such an examination was necessary to enable the ani-
mal to know exactly where to go in the event of an emergency.
We often marvel at the way animals appear to travel with such
certainty in the dark. Our first thought on observing this phenom-
enon is that the creatures can see. However, we know that, guided by
the sense of touch, they get about readily in absolute darkness where
sight is impossible. Usually they are traversing ground on which
they grew up and with every portion of which they are thoroughly
familiar. Furthermore, I have observed that the small creatures
extend their very long whiskers forward and to each side to the ut-
most that they can be extended, just as a person in a dark room keeps
one hand out at the side to maintain contact with the wall and keeps
the other hand directly in front in order to be given warning by
touching objects with his finger tips. This is exactly the procedure
that is followed by many little nocturnal creatures. While they can
undoubtedly see far better in subdued light than we can, there is no
310 | ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1940
reason to suppose that they can see in the total darkness prevailing
in their burrows and in many places that they regularly frequent.
They become accustomed to following a wall or the base of a tree;
and their whiskers tell them that they are keeping just a whisker’s
length away from it. If a change in the surroundings has been
made while they were away, they at once detect it, or if an object has
been placed in the path and their forward-extended whiskers touch
it, they have such control of their movements that, ordinarily, they
will stop or turn before they actually hit the object. Furthermore,
they have such exceptional powers of scent that they may be able to
detect the newly placed object or the disturbed condition before they
come in contact with it. Possibly they may even know by counting
a given number of steps that they have traversed a given distance
in a certain direction and that the time has come to change their
course.
The fact that any species of animal has survived the numerous
hazards that have beset its kind down through the ages shows that
it must have become efficient enough in its mode of life to have es-
caped destruction by famines, floods, droughts, diseases, fires, and
predatory animals. We know from the records of the great number
of animals now found as fossils that many species were not able to
survive. Sometimes the geologists and paleontologists have been able
to reach a conclusion as to why these species became extinct; in
other instances they are still at a loss for an explanation. It is ob-
vious, however, that the animals living today are descended from
ancestors that were able to cope, through the ages, with nature’s great
array of hazards and problems; in other words that the efficient ones
survived and the inefficient ones succumbed.
PLAY AND EXERCISE
Most people have, of course, witnessed the play of kittens and pup-
pies and that of some other young animals. But play is not limited
to the very young of only a few kinds. It is obviously enjoyed by
so many different creatures that there can be no doubt that practi-
cally all animals play. Young carnivores when playing with others
of their kind learn how to stalk, attack, and overpower their prey.
This can easily be witnessed by watching kittens at play. Squirrels,
even adults, plainly engage in play when they chase each other about
and obviously have grand times.
I have often noticed that my pet grasshopper mouse, “Ony,”
which has freedom on my desk almost every evening, frequently will
make unnecessary movements that plainly show his exuberantly
good spirits. By flipping a piece of string at him I induce him to
play with the string and pull at it much as a dog pulls at a rope.
ANIMAL BEHAVIOR—-WALKER oe
In the zoo, we place either the inclined disk-type or the ferris-type
exercise wheels in cages of many of the smaller animals so that they
may have an opportunity to exercise. Many of the more active
animals use these wheels and plainly enjoy them. Some of our
keepers have observed that when small exercise wheels have been
standing where the wild house mice could get at them they would
run the wheels even though they were entirely free to come and go
about the premises as they pleased.
A little pocket mouse now living in my study at home runs her
wheel almost continuously from about 9 p.m. to 7 a.m. “Ony,” the
grasshopper mouse that also lives in my study, does not run his wheel
so constantly, but he uses it at frequent intervals from about 10 p. m.
to6a.m. Each wheel has a characteristic sound that I can hear in
my bedroom; thus I am kept well informed of my pets’ activities.
Vernon Bailey, for many years Chief Field Naturalist of the
United States Biological Survey, has informed me that he has found
that some of the animals in the wild state, particularly kangaroo rats,
would run disk-type wheels placed near their burrows.
CONCLUSION
All persons who have kept pets have probably bored their friends
by telling them of the interesting and clever behavior of these
animals, and no doubt most people have thought that their pets were
behaving in an unusual manner and that they were exceptions to the
rule. This is undoubtedly true in some cases where the pets have
had exceptional educational advantages in homes where they were
treated almost as one of the family; but we should bear in mind that
animals’ reactions to the new conditions with which they may be
surrounded are the product of the age-long efforts of the species to
adapt itself to its surroundings, and that the individual confronted
with new conditions must meet those conditions to the best of his
ability based on the instincts of the species and his own intelligence.
Almost every dog owner has seen his pet do many things that seem
to him to indicate unusual intelligence on the animal’s part. Gen-
erally the acts that he has observed do show intelligence, but they are
not isolated instances. They are merely isolated cases of a man’s
observing and in part comprehending some of the things that animals
can regularly do.
Any species of mammal, bird, reptile, amphibian, fish, insect, or
other form of animal life that has survived the vicissitudes of the
ages has developed technique that is well adapted to the perpetuation
of the species. But the student will regularly encounter actions that
he is unable to explain. He may, however, feel certain that such
actions are not haphazard but that they are very definitely associated
312 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1940
with some need through which the species has passed. It may be
that the reaction is no longer of great importance, because conditions
have changed since it was developed. But it is safe to assume that
at one time it served a very definite purpose.
It is not necessary for the purposes of this paper that we try to
decide which of the reactions are prompted by instinct and which
are the result of intelligence and thought on the part of the individual.
But in observing great numbers of animals in conditions entirely
new to them, one cannot help reaching the conclusion that animals
must do considerable thinking. Indeed, it has been my observation
that the more one knows of animals the more he is likely to give them
credit for powers of thought.
Of the great number of questions asked me regarding animals, only
two do I find irritating. These are “What is it good for, or is it
good to eat?” and “Is it mean?” While we frequently cannot point
out acts or behavior of animals that are definitely beneficial to us, we
are constantly finding as we learn more about animals that every one
of them must have its definite function in the economy of nature.
While forms of life may be harmful to some of man’s activities, it is
doubtful if the welfare of the world in general would be much
advanced by the total extermination of any creature.
In general, the sole interest of animals is to make their living and
avoid conflict. Almost invariably, if they have the opportunity, they
will avoid encounters with man.
Smithsonian Report, 1940.—Walker PLATE 1
PR eR A
a
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1. AWELL-ARMORED AFRICAN HEDGEHOG (ATELERIX HINDEI).
Photograph by Ernest P. Walker.
2. AFRICAN HEDGEHOG PARTIALLY ROLLED UP.
Photograph by Ernest P. Walker.
Smithsonian Report, 1940.—Walker PLATE 2
1. ““ONY,’’ GRASSHOPPER MOUSE (ONYCHOMYS LEUCOGASTER), KILLING A GRASS-
HOPPER AND KEEPING HIS EYES CLOSED DURING THE CONFLICT.
Photograph by Ernest P. Walker.
2. ““ONY,’’ AFTER KILLING THE GRASSHOPPER, HAS HIS EYES OPEN.
Photograph by Ernest P. Walker.
Smithsonian Report, 1940.—Walker PLATE 3
1. NORTHERN RED BAT (NYCTERIS BOREAL'S).
A solitary tree-hanging North American species hanging by its right hind foot. The membrane between the
legs and tail is spread downward over the under parts and hides most of the folded wings beneath which
the head is hidden. Photograph by Ernest P. Walker.
2. GIANT PANGOLIN (SMUTSIA) OF WESTERN AFRICA.
A scaly mammal loosely coiled in somewhat the position it assumes when attacked. Photograph by
Ernest P. Walker.
Smithsonian Report, 1940.—Walker PLATE 4
1. ““ONY’’ HOLDS A MEALWORM IN BOTH HANDS WHILE EATING IT, SITTING ON
HIS HAUNCHES.
Photograph by Ernest P. Walker.
2. ““ONY''’ PULLS AT A STRING IN THE AUTHOR'S HAND, JUST AS DCGS AND CATS
WILL PULL AT STRINGS OR ROPES.
Photograph by Ernest P. Walker.
Smithsonian Report, 1940.—Walker PLATE 5
SONY GAERING:
Photograph by Ernest P. Walker.
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Smithsonian Report, 1940.—Walker PLATE 7
1. A NORTH AMERICAN “‘FLYING SQUIRREL’’ (GLAUCOMYS VOLANS) YAWNING
AND STRETCHING.
The edge of the membrane that stretches from its left wrist to its left ankle is clearly shown by the white line.
Photograph by Ernest P. Walker.
2. BINTURONG (ARCTICTIS BINTURONG), A PREHENSILE-TAILED CARNIVORE.
One of several Malayan carnivores that have adopted a diet of fruit and vegetable matter. Photograph
by Ernest P. Walker.
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Smithsonian Report, 1940.—Walker PSAriEaslal
YOUNG GREAT GRAY KANGAROO ABOUT 5 MONTHS OLD IN MOTHER’S POUCH.
The same animal taken on the same day is shown in Plate 10. Photograph by Mary Eleanor Browning.
“IOAJBM “d Jsouay AG Ydevisojoy 4
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Smithsonian Report, 1940.—Walker PLATE 13
1. ‘“‘DIPPY,’’ A KANGAROO RAT (DIPODOMYS MERRIAMI), ON HIND FEET, BAL-
ANCED BY TAIL.
Photograph by Ernest P. Walker.
2. ‘‘DIPPY’’ GROOMING THE TIP OF HER TAIL.
Photograph by Ernest P. Walker.
Smithsonian Report, 1940.—Walker PLATE 14
ote © 7Se gF tS
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1. A SAND BATH.
“Dippy’’ cleaning her fur in very fine Sand. Photograph by Ernest P. Walker.
2. ‘‘DIPPY’’ CLEANING HER FUR IN DRY SAND.
Photograph by Ernest P. Walker.
Smithsonian Report, 1940.—Walker PLATE 15
1. JAPANESE MACAQUES (MACACA FUSCATA).
The one in the background has had its hair plucked in a tonsure effect. The other two have normal heads
of hair. The face is naturally naked. Photograph from National Zoological Park files.
2. WHISTLING SWAN (CYGNUS COLUMBIANUS) IN AN UNUSUAL POSITION OF PREEN-
ING ITS FEATHERS.
Photograph by Ernest P. Walker.
Smithsonian Report, 1940.— Walker PLATE 16
DOUROUCOULIS OR NIGHT MONKEYS (AOTUS TRIVIRGATUS).
The one on the left has just landed on the limb from a leap, and its tail has curled under the limb and up
in front to check its momentum. Photograph by Ernest P. Walker.
Smithsonian Report, 1940.—Walker Eas 1 7/
YOUNG GIBBON (HYLOBATES).
The use of the hands as hooks and of the great toe opposable to the other toes to produce a grasping tool
is well shown in this picture. Photograph by Mary Eleanor Browning.
PLATE 18
Smithsonian Report, 1940.—Walker
PRAIRIE DOGS IN ENCLOSURES, NATIONAL ZOOLOGICAL PARK.
Photograph by Ernest P. Walker.
THE NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE PROGRAM OF THE
FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE?
By Irs N. GABRIELSON
Director, Fish and Wildlife Service
United States Department of the Interior
[With 3 plates]
Every ornithologist is by now familiar with the flyway concept
that has resulted from the return records of birds banded over
a long period of years. Briefly, this visualizes the birds of cer-
tain regions as moving in four wide zones of migration over the
country. Some of these flyways overlap somewhat, particularly in
the breeding grounds. The birds in the Atlantic flyway, for example,
after they reach Chesapeake Bay and from there on south, follow
almost entirely a narrow strip of coastal marsh, the great bulk of
them moving down the coast or across the Great Lakes and down
the Susquehanna and Delaware Rivers. The same is true of the
Mississippi Valley, where, although the migration of birds covers a
wide band, south of Minnesota it is restricted rapidly to the valleys
of the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers, this being largely due to the
lack of water in other parts of the flyway. The Central, or mountain,
flyway is followed by a smaller group of birds that visit intermittent
lakes and sloughs through the Great Plains. The Pacific flight fol-
lows the system of great Jakes and marshes through eastern Oregon,
Washington, and Nevada, but narrows down as it reaches California.
One of the tragic facts in the history of migratory waterfowl] has
been the shrinkage of their breeding ranges. The region extending
north into central Canada from central United States represents the
choicest and in some ways the most productive of all the breeding
areas. There is a serious decrease in the area available for optimum
populations. Another significant fact that must be considered in
studying the migratory waterfowl and the development of the na-
tional wildlife refuge system is that there is a tremendous concen-
1 Reprinted by permission, somewhat revised, from an article entitled “The Refuge
Program of the Biological Survey,’ published in Bird-Lore, vol. 41, pp. 325-332, 1939.
[The Bureau of Biological Survey and the Bureau of Fisheries were consolidated on
June 30, 1939, to form the Fish and Wildlife Service, U. S. Department of the Interior.]
313
314 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1940
tration of the continent’s waterfowl population within a very
restricted territory during the winter months. This circumstance
makes it imperative that southern marshes be preserved or restored
on a vast scale for their use in winter. Basic to the selection of sites
for national waterfowl] refuges are the two facts (1) that birds move
north and south in definite lines and (2) that breeding, wintering,
and feeding grounds must be preserved in the areas where the birds
need them. If we add the concept that the national refuge system
should eventually include a place for every major species of North
American wildlife under natural conditions, we have the basic biologic
principle on which this refuge program has been developed, par-
ticularly in the past 10 years.
The Federal refuge program administered by the Fish and Wild-
life Service was initiated when President Theodore Roosevelt set
aside Pelican Island on March 14, 1908. The refuge system grew
slowly from that time on, but funds for the proper administration
and maintenance of areas did not follow the growth of the system.
It was not until the passage of the Upper Mississippi River Wild-
life and Fish Refuge Act, on June 7, 1924, that the first of our large
waterfowl refuges was established. This was followed by the Bear
River Marsh Refuge Act of April 23, 1928. In both cases funds
were provided. Before this, however, Malheur Lake and Lower
Klamath Lake had been added from Government land and also a
few other areas. The National Bison Range had been established by
an act of Congress on May 23, 1938. This range provided the first
national home made particularly for the fast-vanishing buffalo.
With the passage of the Migratory Bird Conservation Act, on
February 18, 1929, which authorized appropriations of some
$10,000,000 to purchase and develop waterfow] refuges, the national
program really got under way. The authorizations provided in this
act were never reached, but some money was appropriated and a
number of refuges were purchased and developed under this pro-
gram. On July 1, 1933, approximately 6,000,000 acres of land were
embraced in the refuge system. Beginning on that date emergency
money of various kinds became available to extend and accelerate
the refuge program, so that at the end of June 1940 there were
13,635,365 acres in the Federal refuge system. Additional impetus
was given to the movement by the passage, on March 16, 1934, of the
Migratory Bird Hunting Stamp Act, which has to date produced
more than $4,500,000 for the development of this program. This
“duck stamp” money is available for the purchase, development, and
maintenance of a Federal refuge system for the migratory waterfowl,
and the money must be so used.
Embraced in the Federal system are several types of refuges. The
first that might be mentioned are those set aside usually to protect
WILDLIFE REFUGE PROGRAM—GABRIELSON 315
colonies of interesting nongame birds. Many of these consist of
islands in rivers or lakes where breeding colony-nesting forms are
protected. For example, those on the Oregon coast protect colonies
of murres, puffins, cormorants, and similar birds. Anaho Island in
Pyramid Lake offers sanctuary for a great nesting colony of pelicans.
Those on the Florida coast protect colonies of brown pelicans,
herons, and egrets of various kinds. A number of these have been
added in recent years, and the tendency is for more of this type to
be established. One of the difficulties in developing such a pro-
gram is that while some birds remain in the refuges, others, includ-
ing the brown pelicans, herons, and egrets of Florida, do not. They
will nest on some island for a number of years and then abandon it
for an adjoining one. It is the policy of the Service to retain title
to all these islands, however, in the event that the birds should move
back at some future time, and to add new ones when utilized.
As money has become available, an increasingly efficient work
service has added to the protection accorded these refuges for non-
game birds and increased their value for the purpose for which
established. The latest refuge of this character is the Great White
Heron Refuge, which has been added directly to the Key West
Refuge. It occupies several hundred small islands that extend for
a distance of approximately 60 or 70 miles along the Florida Keys.
This refuge is giving protection to the great white heron and the
white-crowned pigeon, as well as to numerous other birds that fre-
quent the area.
There is also the national big-game refuge system, which began
with the establishment of the National Bison Range in Montana.
This has expanded greatly in recent years with the growth of the
plan. There should be an area provided for each major species of
animal within its natural range. With this in mind, the Little Pend
Oreille in northern Washington was set aside and developed par-
ticularly to preserve the large white-tailed deer found in that terri-
tory. Hart Mountain and Charles Sheldon, between them, preserve
the antelope and the sage hen. The Desert Game Range in Nevada
and the Kofa and Cabeza Prieta in Arizona protect the fast-vanish-
ing bighorn sheep. Others on this list are ecological types and areas
that should eventually be included in this system, where indigenous
species of upland game may be preserved for all future time. These
refuges vary in size from less than 1,000 acres (Sullys Hill) to some-
thing over 2,000,000 (Desert Game Range) and are adequate for the
purpose for which developed. At the present time all are under
tentative management and patrol, with the purpose of building up
the herds of animals that are on them.
316 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1940
The concentration of refuges for migratory waterfowl along the
Atlantic coast and along the Mississippi Valley indicates the signifi-
cant grouping of these areas. This is noticeable also in the con-
centration of such refuges in northern California, across Nevada,
Utah, Wyoming, and Nebraska, and into Minnesota, Iowa, and Wis-
consin. These represent restoration or improvement of breeding-
ground areas and are an important contribution to the restoration of
suitable environmental conditions for the migratory game birds in
these territories. We have by no means completed this part of
the program. In addition to purchased areas we have surveyed
something over 8,000,000 acres of marsh or potential marshland,
which may include areas that can be developed into new marshes or
old marshland that may be purchased and restored at a reasonable
figure. These proposed areas, if added to the existing ones, would
adequately provide feeding and wintering grounds for the present
stocks of migratory waterfowl. They would also add to the breed-
ing-ground area of such major refuges as it is now possible to pur-
chase and develop at a reasonable cost. It is unquestionably true
that more of these areas will become available in the future as eco-
nomic conditions change.
The ultimate objective in developing this system of refuges is to
restore every acre of marsh in the breeding range of waterfowl that
can be restored. We have more than reached the halfway point,
and a great increase has taken place in the past 7 years. It will
require in the neighborhood of $10,000,000 of land-purchase money
to add to this refuge system the major units that are still lacking and
that are available at a reasonable figure.
An interesting side line of the waterfow! refuge system, which has
for its purpose the development of existing small breeding areas, was
inaugurated in North Dakota a number of years ago and has now
spread to Montana, Wyoming, and some of the other neighboring
States. This is the so-called easement refuge program, wherein the
Fish and Wildlife Service provides the engineering supervision,
W. P. A. labor develops the structures and does the work, and the
landowners give perpetual easement to the Federal Government to
flood the land and to maintain these units as migratory waterfowl
breeding refuges. There are now 84 of these projects, and the total
acreage restored by them runs to about 147,000. These refuges vary
in size from 160 acres up, but each has restored an old marsh or
developed a new one to replace those that have been destroyed by
drainage and drought combined. Thousands of similar areas can be
restored as money to do it becomes available. We have on file appli-
cations from landowners and others for hundreds of additional proj-
ects of this nature. These will require only such restoration of
WILDLIFE REFUGE PROGRAM—GABRIELSON 317
original environmental conditions as is possible. This refuge pro-
gram has been fitted into others, being made to serve the purposes of
flood control, soil-erosion prevention, and the development of local
water supplies for people in the communities and other needs, pro-
vided that they do not interfere with the primary purpose for which
the refuges are being created.
The Souris River projects afford a good example of these multiple
benefits. There are three projects, one on the Des Lacs, a tributary
of the Souris, and one on each of the Upper and Lower reaches of
the Souris River as it enters this country from Canada and leaves
to return to that country. Our engineering operations have provided
not only one of the major nesting and breeding units in the whole
refuge system but have also furnished flood protection for the re-
mainder of the valley, storing the run-off water for summer use, and
restoring water levels so that wells are not going dry. They also
provide a limited number of recreational facilities in places where
these will not interfere with the birds.
Although built for the primary purpose of restoring environment
for migratory waterfowl, these refuges are serving the same purpose
for countless other birds. While we talk in terms of migratory water-
fowl, because it is largely migratory waterfowl money that is being
used, we do not forget that we cannot restore marshes and Jakes and
make other improvements without extending benefits to all forms of
wildlife frequenting such areas. There has been a tremendous in-
crease in the number of individuals and in the variety of species of
breeding birds within the Souris River area, and there have been 114
species of breeding birds reported in the Lower Souris project alone
since it was established and developed. Among other species that I
have seen there myself are colonies of Sprague’s pipit and Baird’s
sparrow (two varieties not too easily found by the average ornitholo-
gist). Numerous other species, including grebes, terns, gulls, and
herons are coming back in increasing numbers each year to utilize the
facilities made available to them. Both prairie chickens and sharp-
tailed grouse are found on some 25 of these waterfowl refuges in
numbers to make a fine breeding population and probably to insure
the perpetuation of the species.
The Lower Souris refuge also has a population of some 500 to 600
white-tailed deer—more deer than I had thought were left in North
Dakota. This population has built up rapidly following the posting
and patrolling of the refuge and its development for wildlife. The
accomplishments of the past few years have been the most hopeful
ones in the history of the efforts to conserve American wildlife species
and to insure their perpetuation. Such organizations as the C. C. C.
camps, the W. P. A., and other relief agencies have contributed
318 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1940
mightily to the development of these areas. We should be far behind
our present program had it not been for the aid rendered by the
personnel made available from these agencies.
We feel that it is necessary to have at least 3,500,000 additional acres
of marsh in strategic points before we can be absolutely assured of
the safety of the migratory waterfowl] population. This acreage, if
and when it is restored, will also mean much to all the nongame species
that utilize marsh environments.
There is one other thing that should be mentioned in this very brief
review of the present status of the refuge program; that is that in
1939 there was dedicated near Washington the Patuxent Wildlife Re-
search Refuge, with adequate buildings provided, or in course of con-
struction, to make it a great wildlife-research center. ‘There, even-
tually, will be housed the entire wildlife-research Jaboratories of the
Fish and Wildlife Service, which previously were in Washington, new
laboratories that have been developed, and personnel for new studies
that are being undertaken on this area. The refuge consists of 3,000
acres of land, woods, and water, within an hour’s ride of Washington.
It is now available to the scientific staff for any kind of experimental or
observational use they may care to make of it. It is expected and
planned that long-time studies about the relationships of species of
wildlife with each other, with agricultural crops, and with changing
environments will be set up there in places and under conditions that
will permit them to go on for many years without being disturbed. It
is our hope to institute on this refuge such long-time studies as it is
impossible to make on land where administrative control cannot be
practiced by the research agency or where changing administrative
policies may destroy a research program just at the time it begins to
be of practical application. It is hoped to build up a complete history
of the work and observations carried on in this area, so that as the
years go by it will become increasingly valuable to the ornithologists,
mammalogists, and other scientific men of this country as a source of
information. It will also provide us with much-needed data for a
wiser and saner administration of the land now in the refuge system.
It is the present policy of the Fish and Wildlife Service to be
guided in administrative policies by research findings. I assume that
this is an ideal condition that will never be completely attained. Re-
search men are impatient when their findings are not soon put into
practice; on the other hand, other men are impatient if the research
men do not find the solutions promptly. Even after a solution is
found and tested, it takes time to change the program of a refuge
system as large and as scattered as that of the Fish and Wildlife
Service has now come to be. Previously we were not in a position to
invite people to make free use of the refuges. During the period of
WILDLIFE REFUGE PROGRAM—GABRIELSON 319
construction we did not feel like burdening the limited personnel with
the duties of looking after people on the refuges and providing for
their wants, although I do not believe that the Service has refused a
single request for permission to do scientific work on any refuge, even
though it might inconvenience the personnel during the developmental
period. As the refuges pass beyond this stage—and by that I mean
the period of construction of necessary dams and dikes in order to
restore water, the building of fences and the other things necessary
to keep out the stock, the completion of administration buildings, and
the provision of similar equipment necessary to develop a real refuge
program—we look forward to being able to give more attention to
other phases of the work. All are invited to feel free to use these
refuges in making studies of bird and animal life. The Service will
be more than pleased to offer its cooperation and all available facilities
in these areas. These facilities will be found to vary according to the
location and the available personnel. Some refuges have modern and
convenient laboratories situated on the ground, while others have the
most primitive, wild conditions that could be found in areas not yet
and probably never to be developed.
Our Service is proud, and we believe justly so, of the accomplish-
ments along these lines during the past few years. We look forward
with confidence to the time when we shall be able to say (and we hope
that it will not be far in the future) that the refuge areas in this
country are adequate to insure, so far as human provision is possible,
that not one remaining species of American wildlife will vanish from
the face of the earth.
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Smithsonian Report, 1940.—Gabrielson PLATE 1
TRUMPETER SWAN.
Once faced with extinction, the trumpeter swan population in this country has now reached the optimistic
figure of 199 individuals, all of them concentrated on the Red Rocks Migratory Waterfowl Refuge in
Montana and in Yellowstone National Park, Wyo. Photograph by U.S. Biological Survey.
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A LIVING FOSSIL
(LATIMERIA CHALUMNAE J. L. B. Smith)
By J. L. B. Smite
Rhodes University College, Grahamstown, South Africa
[With 3 plates]
Scientific discovery rarely follows a smooth and orderly course.
Like most natural processes it proceeds spasmodically, and important
results frequently come only after long-drawn-out, exhausting, and
apparently fruitless endeavor, sometimes even almost by what ap-
pears to be a lucky chance. Scientific discoveries may roughly be di-
vided into two main classes: Those which affect the material welfare
of mankind (e. g., the existence and action of bacteria) and those
which represent merely an addition to knowledge. There has re-
cently been discovered near East London, South Africa, a very re-
markable fish which represents an event of the latter sort. The
interest it has aroused is on account of the great scientific importance
which attaches to it. It is a living link with a past so remote as to
be almost beyond the grasp of the ordinary mind.
In order that the full significance of the discovery may be appre-
ciated, we may recapitulate briefly a few outlines of the theory
of evolution. By methods which space does not permit to be ex-
plained here, scientists have been able to arrive at an approximate
time scale for the comparatively recent part of the history of the earth.
According to that scale, life, animal life of sorts, was present in at
least some waters of the earth 400 million years ago. We do not
know exactly when or where or how that life originated. In the rocks
are traces which to experts represent vanished forms. Most of this
evidence is in the form of what are known as “fossils.” These are the
petrified remains of creatures which died in such fashion that their
bodies were covered by mud or sand or sludge which to some extent
preserved the main structures. At some later date the embedding
material was converted by various processes, e. g., pressure, infiltration,
etc., into rock. Those records in the rocks are to the paleontologist
1 Reprinted by permission from The Cape Naturalist, vol. 1, No. 6, July 1939.
321
322 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1940
something like a book whose leaves can by incredible patience be un-
folded. Naturally the oldest records le in the deepest strata, and
those are generally the most distorted and very difficult to read. The
record is not complete—there are distressing gaps. In some cases
where one class of creature is known to have originated from an an-
cestral form, no intermediate or “missing link” can be found. The two
forms may coexist, and be traced back for a long period in this record
in the rocks, showing closer and closer relationship in structure, so as
to leave no doubt about the origin of the descendant form. Suddenly
in this working back, all signs of the later form cease, and earlier strata
will show no traces of it. Thus it sometimes seems as if the new class
of creature had suddenly appeared full-fledged and complete. In
other cases, however, the developmental or evolutionary record is for-
tunately complete.
Beyond the disputes of scientists about minor points is the fact
that fishes of sorts were the ancestral forms from which all other verte-
brate creatures have originated. We have no record of any accepted
“Jink” between these fishes and their most likely invertebrate ancestors.
The fishes are suddenly there, some 370 million years ago, in numbers,
and in a diversity of weird forms. From the fishes originated the
amphibia, and from them the reptiles. These were all cold-blooded
creatures, very much at the mercy of sudden climatic changes. The
first amphibia appeared about 320 million years ago, and reptiles
evolved from them by 90 to 100 million years later. Those sluggish
creatures were produced by nature in great diversity of size and
shape, but most of the larger forms in specialized groups have
become extinct.
The call for greater activity and mobility produced from the
reptiles the warm-blooded birds and mammals, the latter class, as
typified by man, being now dominant on the earth.
To return to those early fishes, some of which were our ancestors:
Many of them, the only ones we know, left traces in the rocks. Usu-
ally the skeleton and any teeth, spines, or hard skins are preserved,
in rare cases perfectly. The “soft parts” are largely unknown, and
the reconstructed outlines of extinct forms are to some extent guess-
work, but no more guesswork than the diagnosis of appendicitis by
a physician. In each case visualization of the hidden condition is
based upon experience and knowledge. How close such visualization
may come to actuality may be seen on comparing the outline of a
Coelacanthid fish thus reconstructed (fig. 2) with the photograph
of the present-day fish. (pl. 1).
The primitive ancestral form of fishes was almost certainly some-
thing rather sharklike, without any true bone in its make-up. From
those creatures in a relatively brief period of time evolved a multi-
plicity of types which are generally divided by scientists into four main
A LIVING FOSSIL—SMITH 320
groups. These are known as the Placoderms (clumsy “armor-plated
fishes”), the Marsipobranchs (jawless sucking-mouthed fishes), the
Selachians (fishes with cartilaginous skeletons), and Pisces (fishes
with bony skeletons). Many were experimental forms which found
competition too severe and so vanished. All of the first group
are extinct. They were too clumsy. There are a few miserable
remnants of the Marsipobranchs still alive today (hagfish and
lampreys). The Selachii are the sharks and rays which have re-
mained vigorous and numerous, and which are one of the great forces
in the waters of the earth. In the vast periods of time since their
ancestors first spread terror in prehistoric waters, the sharks have
changed perhaps less than any other creatures. Many became ex-
tinct, but the line was carried on by forms of vigor and activity.
Under Pisces are grouped the vast majority of living fishes, and a
number who have vanished, some of great significance in the ancestral
line.
The immediate importance of this recent discovery lies in the
information it affords us about the developmental processes which
have led to the typical forms of fishes, and which have been the
subject of much research and speculation. This Coelacanthid speci-
men sheds a great deal of light upon many of those questions, since
for some reason parts of this fish are in a condition which may be
termed arrested metamorphosis. That is, it bears certain structures
which are in process of changing from one thing into another, but
the change has not gone to completion. Many of the outer bones
of the head in fishes are supposed to have been derived from scales.
Also the teeth in the jaws of fishes are believed to be merely scales
that have migrated inward and have been changed into tooth-bearing
structures. Fins are regarded as having originated from continuous
folds of skin developed as stabilizers along the long axis of the body.
On these and on many other points the present specimen affords a
great deal of important evidence.
The main outline of the evolution of various types belonging to
the two chief groups of fishes is shown by the accompanying dia-
gram, which is not to scale. Branches which reach the line 1939 rep-
resent groups and forms which have survived to the present day.
The others represent extinct forms. The cross-hatched line shows
the addition to this scheme necessitated by the recent discovery.
One of the great main branches of the evolutionary tree was the
group of the Crossopterygii (or fringe-finned), They were mostly
large active predaceous fishes that probably dominated the extensive
areas in which they occurred. Like most fishes they originated in
fresh water and Jater migrated to the sea. A large number of forms
developed, and were characterized by this peculiar “fringe-finned”
280256—41—22
324 | ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1940
state, and by the heavy bony armature of the head. Many were not
very different from the primitive sharklike ancestor, since their inner
skeleton consisted at least partly of cartilage or gristle. They were
covered by heavy scales, the outer surface of which was ornamented
by an enamellike substance known as ganoin. Many of them pos-
sessed most peculiar tails, known as gephyrocercal, which are really
two tails in one, the extreme tip being a remnant of the original
true tail which degenerated. Their pectoral and pelvic fins had
developed so as to be very like limbs. It had been supposed that the
—>
MODERN
BONY
FISHES
COELACANTH
ee
PRIMITIVE ANCESTRAL FISHES
Ficur® 1.—Diagram illustrating the main lines of the evolution of fishes belonging to the
groups Selachians and Pisces.
400,000,000 B.C.
sole living representatives of this ancient line were the few rather
scarce species of “lungfishes” living in fresh water in America,
Australia, and Africa. They are degenerate forms which are but
feeble shadows of their active and predaceous ancestors.
After having lived and flourished for some 250 million years all
those other numerous and vigorous Crossopterygian fishes had been
supposed to have become extinct by 50 million years ago. The
record in the rocks showed how, after having occurred in great num-
A LIVING FOSSIL—SMITH 325
bers over a wide area, they diminished, until finally all traces ceased
before the end of the Mesozoic era—50 million years ago. Those
important fishes had all vanished. Important because they were a
link between the early intriguing creatures about whose structure we
know so little, and the later vertebrates which have given rise finally
to man.
The Crossopterygian stock developed principally through a group
known as the Rhipidistians. These flourished from 300 million
years ago for about 100 million years. Some of those fishes were
the ancestral forms which gave rise, almost simultaneously, to three
branches of the evolutionary tree: (a) The lungfishes, a thin feeble
line that has survived by living an almost isolated life under condi-
tions that scarcely any other creatures can stand; (6) Actinistian
fishes, the Coelacanthidae, a vigorous branch that flourished for a
long period and then just petered out long ago (or was thought to
have done so); and (¢) the amphibia, the origin of all land verte-
brates. The two latter groups must have budded off from the parent
stock very close together. It is not even unlikely that some of the early
Coelacanthids made expeditions ashore along with those unknown
amphibian ancestors. If that is so, then for some reason they re-
turned to the water, and extinction, while the amphibian stock
multiplied and throve.
Because of their close connection with the origin of land ver-
tebrates, Crossopterygian fishes have been the subject of most in-
tensive researches. In only a few cases have scientists been able to
find anything like complete remains. Mostly there are fragments. In
almost all cases the bones of the front part of the snout are missing.
There have been found very few clues as to structure other than of the
hard parts. All very tantalizing, especially as that “missing link” be-
tween fishes and amphibians is still missing.
Now, suddenly, there has appeared this great 5-foot fish, bearing the
full panoply of his early Mesozoic forbears, but larger than any of
them. He is neither puny nor degenerate like the lungfishes, but
a great robust animal prepared and fitted to face all the risks in the
sea (except a trawl net!). It is as if a fish of 150 million years
ago had suddenly come to life. In that incomprehensibly long
stretch of time this species has remained virtually unchanged, evi-
dently completely satisfied with itself. In every way this is a true
Coelacanthid from that remote past. For at least 150 million years
this representative of that ancient but vigorous line has lived in such
obscurity as never to have left any known traces of its existence.
The discovery of this Coelacanth is a confirmatory link in the
chain of evidence upon which the theory of evolution is based. It
stands as a high tribute to the reconstructional ability of scientists
326 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1940
who have had to work chiefly with distorted and fragmentary
remains. Although the scientists engaged in such work have been
reasonably confident that their reconstructions were fairly close to the
truth, there naturally remained a certain element of doubt. It ap-
peared that there could never be any possibility of comparing their
efforts with actual specimens, and many people regarded those recon-
structions as mere phantasies. This Coelacanth shows that the scien-
tists, in this case at least, have been remarkably accurate in their
reconstructions. Even the layman can see how close is the recon-
structed form of a Mesozoic Coelacanth to that of the recent fish of
East London, South Africa.
Naturally enough this fish will fill in many of the gaps in our
knowledge of those earlier forms. What is as important is that the
discovery makes it at least possible that there may be other primitive
creatures, believed long since extinct, lurking unsuspected in the
depths of the ocean. It is more than likely that there is a real “sea-
serpent.” So many reliable persons have testified independently to
having seen that creature (or those creatures) that it cannot all be
fabrication. We know almost nothing about what may be present
in the depths of the ocean.
I have been asked where this fish is likely to have lived. My
opinion—it can be only a guess—is that the species lives among
rocky ledges where trawlers cannot operate, and at depths. greater
than that at which line fishing is practicable. But a number of
factors incline me to believe that it does not live at very great depths.
Probably 100 to 200 fathoms, along the outer ledges where rocky slopes
fade down into the abyss, these Coelacanths lead a “coney-like” ex-
istence. Our specimen is probably astray. There is reliable evidence
that others have been seen on our coasts. We hope that the advent
of other specimens will be not long delayed. We may even expect
other species.
7 W/ WY
FicURE 2.—The outline of a Coelacanthid fish, which lived about 150 million years ago,
as reconstructed from fossil remains.
A LIVING FOSSIL—SMITH BVATE
For those who are interested, the full classification of this fish is
as follows: Class: Pisces. Subclass: Crossopterygii. Order: Actin-
istia. Family: Coelacanthidae. Genus: Latimeria. Species: chal-
umnae. The genus and the species are new to science. The genus
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valuable specimens. Chalumnae, the specific name, refers to the lo-
cality in which the species was collected, off the mouth of the
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Smithsonian Report, 1940.—Smith PLATE 3
FACE VIEW OF THE PREHISTORIC FISH FROM EAST LONDON.
INSECTS AND THE SPREAD OF PLANT DISEASES?
By WALTER CARTER
Pineapple Experiment Station, Honolulu, T. H.
[With 6 plates]
Insects are recognized as important factors in agriculture on
account of their direct attack on plants. Grasshoppers may appear
in clouds that darken the sun and devour every living green plant
in their path. Cutworms, living underground, may devastate a
farmer’s wheat field by pinching off the young seedlings as fast
as they sprout.
Insects are also recognized as injurious to man’s health, either by
direct attack or as carriers of agents of diseases. One familiar ex-
ample will suffice for both; everyone has experienced the sharp
probing mouth parts of the mosquito, and nearly everyone is aware
that if the mosquito is carrying the organism of malaria, its bite
is infinitely more dangerous.
The third manner in which insects may vitally affect man’s ac-
tivities is as carriers of disease organisms or as agents of plant
diseases, and in recent years it has become increasingly evident that
some of the most difficult problems of entomology are those in which
hoth insect and plant disease are concerned.
There are three ways in which an insect may be involved: First,
the insect may carry on, or in, its body the spores of fungi and
bacteria, and contaminate blossoms or wounds on the plant with
these organisms. Second, the insect may feed by puncturing the
leaf or stem and sucking the plant jucies. In so doing the insect
injects fluids into the plant, which facilitate the feeding process,
and these fluids may have a profoundly disturbing effect on the
plant. In such cases the insect itself is the source of the agent of
disease and no organism is involved. Third, the insect may acquire
from a diseased plant, and transmit to other plants, minute bodies
called viruses, which may or may not be living things.
tt Published with the approval of the Director as Miscellaneous Paper No. 30 of the
Pineapple Experiment Station, University of Hawaii.
329
330 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1940
It is obvious that with such diverse possibilities the problems
encountered are extremely varied, but in the account which follows,
only examples of the principal types are described.
FUNGUS AND BACTERIAL DISEASES
A tiny bark beetle, only one-tenth of an inch long, emerges from
a dying elm tree and flies off to feed on the leaves and buds of
healthy elms. These beetles are the couriers of death, for on their
bodies are the spores of the fungus causing Dutch elm disease, and
the trees that these spores infect soon become sickly and diseased.
These sickly, dying trees offer a perfect breeding ground for the
beetles which burrow between the inner bark and the sapwood and
lay their eggs in long vertical galleries. A vicious cycle is thus
established which spreads over the forest like the ripples in a pool
into which a stone is thrown.
The story of how certain varieties of fig are fertilized through the
agency of tiny wasps called Blastophaga is well known. It is not
so well known that these same insects are the carriers of a serious
fungus rot of the fig. The body of the insect as well as its wings
are covered with short spines, and it is on these that the fungus
spores adhere when the insect pushes its way out through the cavity
of a diseased fig. When the insect enters another fig, the fungus
spores are carried in with it, and in this manner the disease is
spread.
In some cases an insect’s intestinal tract becomes full of disease
organisms when the insect feeds on the tissues of diseased plants.
In addition, therefore, to the infecting of healthy plants by the
insect as it moves around from plant to plant, there is the added
complication that the insect becomes a reservoir of the disease
organisms that are able to live through the winter in the insect,
which thus becomes a carrier again as soon as spring brings new
activity. Such a case is illustrated in plate 1, which shows corn
affected by what is known as Stewart’s disease. This disease is
caused by a bacterium that is carried to corn by several species of
tiny flea beetles, but principally by one species. The disease-produc-
ing organism with which the beetle infects the plant overwinters
in the insect’s body.
The beetle becomes active in the spring when the temperature of
the ground reaches 70° F. and attacks young corn as soon as the
shoots appear above ground. All of the overwintering beetles do
not carry the infection, of course, but by actual test, about 14 percent
were found infective. Since an infective beetle remains so for prac-
tically its entire life, it is evident that the disease could be widely
scattered through a corn field early in the season so that the chance
INSECTS AND PLANT DISEASES—CARTER Jol
would be very great that a new brood of beetles would feed on this
diseased corn and become infective.
DISEASES CAUSED BY INSECT FEEDING
The transmission of disease organisms is perhaps the simplest way
in which insects are concerned in the spread of plant diseases, but
there are more subtle and insidious ways that are even more devas-
tating in their consequences. One of the oldest known cases of an
insect producing a plant disease by merely feeding on the plant is
that of hopperburn of potatoes. Entomologists disagree as to just
how the potato leafhopper does it, but there is no difference of
opinion as to the damage done to potato plants. Badly affected
fields have a scorched appearance, which is due to the fact that the
leaf tips are shriveled and brown, and the yields of tubers from
such fields are very much reduced.
Some workers believe that the disease is due to a chemical sub-
stance injected into the plant along with the insect’s saliva, which
upsets the delicate machinery of food manufacture in the plant;
others consider the explanation a more simple one—merely that the
leafhopper, when it feeds, injects so much saliva into the plant
that its plumbing system is plugged.
There are other cases, however, which are clearly due to the
injection by the insect of some substance which is actually toxic to
the plant. In 1927, in the State of Utah, huge losses to the potato
crop were sustained on account of a disease which affected the entire
potato plant—leaves, stems, and tubers—and since then the disease
has been recorded from a number of western States. This disease,
called psyllid yellows, which also affects tomato plants, is caused
by the feeding of the immature stages of a single species of insect,
the tomato psyllid (pl. 2). Just why up to 1,000 adults of the
insect can feed on a potato plant without causing the disease while
a few immature forms of the same insect can produce typical
symptoms and damage, can only be explained by presuming that
the adults’ secretions when feeding are different chemically from
those of the immature forms. There seems to be no doubt that
in this case the disease is due to the injection by the insect of a
substance, extremely powerful chemically, which spreads through-
out the plant and upsets the whole living process. The leaves of
a badly affected plant look as though they had been curled with
a hot curling iron. The length between the leaf stems becomes
shorter so that the plant has a badly bunched-up appearance, while
small green tubers are actually produced on the stems above the
ground. Underground, many tubers are produced but they are small
and commercially worthless.
332 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1940
Mealybug wilt of pineapples is another important example of a
disease caused by the toxic injections made by an insect when it feeds
(pl. 3). By 1930 this disease had made such inroads that the pine-
apple industry in Hawaii was in serious jeopardy, and even now con-
trol methods must be rigorously maintained. The mealybug, carefully
fostered by several species of ant, moves into the pineapple field from
the weedy field margins and establishes itself on the pineapple
plants on which it feeds. The mouth parts of the mealybug are
very long—almost twice as long as the insect itself—and when not
being used are curled up like a lasso. Their great length is of
value to the mealybug since it can remain in one place on the leaf
and yet reach a considerable leaf area with its long probing mouth
parts, sucking the juice from particular cells in the leaf.
During the feeding process, and probably as part of it, the insect
injects into the leaf some substance which is powerful enough to
pass down the leaf to the roots and kill them. The natural conse-
quence of this is that the plant wilts down in a manner very similar
to wilt due to extreme drought. In this stage the plant is low in
sap, and the mealybugs leave it and move on to adjacent healthy
plants. These in turn wilt and the process goes on until, without con-
trol measures, a field may be ruined. When the mealybugs have
left a plant, new healthy roots are put out and the plants makes a gal-
lant effort at recovery. If wilt has occurred while the plant-was only a
few months old, worth-while recovery sometimes occurs, but usually
the fruits are too small to be of commercial value. Recovery is of
principal interest in demonstrating that the removal of the mealybug
and, with it, the toxic substance it injects, results in new wilt-free
growth.
Psyllid yellows and mealybug wilt are cases in which the effect
of the injected toxin is general throughout the plant affected, but
the more common examples of the toxic effect of insect feeding are the
almost innumerable cases where the effect is localized to a very small
area around the actual feeding point of the insect or, at most, a short
distance away. The stippling effect on leaves fed upon by leaf-
hoppers, the spotting of leaves by the scale insects and mealybugs,
and the curiously varied symptoms produced by the so-called mosquito
bug on tea and many other crops, are all cases in point, but only
the last-named can be discussed here.
The mosquito bug is not even related to the mosquito, but derives
its name from its general appearance—long narrow body and un-
usually long legs and feelers. Actually it is one of the sucking plant
bugs of which the chinch bug is a better known example. The list
of plants which the mosquito bug affects is noteworthy because of the
extremely diverse symptoms which result. Typically, a red spot on
the leaf follows the insect’s feeding. This spot dies and withers. In
INSECTS AND PLANT DISEASES—CARTER Bou
some cases the spot is visible before the insect has finished feeding,
indicating that the feeding process is a very vigorous one. On tea, it
has been estimated that six mosquito bugs, during their development,
can destroy a pound of green leaves.
The typical spot occurs when the insect reaches certain cells in
the plant. If other cells are reached, then different symptoms result.
For example, on mango fruits, if the mouth parts of the insect
reach the middle skin, scab symptoms occur, while if the inner skin
is reached, rot results. On the stems of mango and tea, cankers
formed by split and swollen bark result if the mouth parts reach cer-
tain other cells.
In most cases where sucking insects cause local disturbance in the
leaves of plants, it is possible to trace the route that the mouth parts
took, because in penetrating the leaf tissue the insect injects a kind
of saliva which hardens in the leaf to form a well-defined track.
It is thus possible to learn whether the insect pierces directly through
cells in a direct line to the particular cells which are its objective,
or whether the objective is reached by a tortuous course between
the plant cells.
One case is known where one strain of an insect species produces
a local spotting while another strain does not. There are two
strains of the pineapple mealybug, and one of these produces a dark
green circular spot at the point where the insect feeds on the leaf.
THE VIRUS DISEASES
The virus diseases constitute the third great division of plant
diseases that are spread by insects. This is perhaps the most im-
portant group of diseases of plants carried by insects, although this
statement would be difficult to prove in the absence of actual com-
parative figures on the damage caused. The number of plant viruses
known is very large, at least 100 being recognized apart from numer-
ous variants which are known as virus strains, and new ones are
continually being recognized and described.
There is considerable debate at the present time as to whether vir-
uses are living things or highly complex chemical structures with
some characteristics similar to those usually associated with living
matter. Since this paper is primarily concerned with the role of in-
sects in spreading these agents of disease we can proceed on the basis
of what is universally agreed upon, namely, that whatever their true
nature, viruses are spread principally through the agency of insects.
The number of plant species affected is very large. The virus of
tomato spotted wilt is known to affect over 100 species of plants; the
virus of curly top of sugar beet, a disease that has been studied in
great detail for many years, has over 200 known plant hosts; aster
304 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1940
yellows virus is known to occur in more than 180 separate plant species.
Some viruses are known to affect only 1 species of plant, but by far
the greater number are known from more than 1 host.
Needless to say, the symptoms of the diseases caused by these viruses
vary greatly, from the alternate light and dark green patches of the
well-named “mosaic” diseases, to the bizarre patterns of a group of
viruses generally known as the ringspot viruses because of the ring-
shaped spots, often showing a pattern of concentric rings, which ap-
pear on the foliage of affected plants.
The insects concerned in the spread of viruses are almost all sucking
insects, and of these, the aphis or plant lice are the worst offenders,
with the leafhoppers another very important group. The discovery
that the thrips are also carriers of virus disease is of much interest
because thrips feed by first tearing the leaf tisue and then sucking
the exuding juices; the aphis and leafhoppers penetrate deeply into
leaf tissue, but the thrips are shallow feeders.
WORLD-WIDE EXTENT OF THE PROBLEM
The occurrence of insect-transmitted diseases of plants is world-
wide, and wherever agriculture is practiced, from the wheatlands of
the north to the equatorial Tropics, the problem presents itself in one
way or another. Even greenhouses are not exempt; in fact, because
of their usually protected conditions they sometimes give opportunity
for a disease-bearing insect species to survive far out of its normal
geographic range. Specific problems are often regional because the
insects concerned have a restricted geographic range. whereas others,
because the insects are cosmopolitan, are world-wide. An example
of the first type is the transmission of curly top of sugar beets and
other plants by the sugar beet leafhopper. Roughly speaking, this
insect is confined to the great semiarid regions of the intermountain
region and California. Years before it was known that a serious
disease of tomatoes was caused by the same virus which causes curly
top of sugar beets and was transmitted by the same insect, it was
realized that the geographic range of the two diseases was the same.
Isolated from the curly top of the western United States by a whole
continent, and similarly restricted to a specific insect’s range, is a
disease of sugar beets in Argentina which is so similar to curly top as
to be practically indistinguishable, yet it is transmitted by another
species of leafhopper and appears to be a distinct disease.
An example of the second type is that of spotted wilt of tomato.
This virus disease, which is transmitted by certain species of thrips, is
now known to be world-wide although the disease has been described
under several names in various places. It was first recognized in
Australia; later in English greenhouses. Independently conducted
INSECTS AND PLANT DISEASES—CARTER 335
studies in Hawaii revealed a disease of pineapple which is thrips-
transmitted and which is called yellow spot. Another study in South
Africa described a disease of tobacco called kromnek (crooked neck)
disease. Workers now realize that they are all dealing with the same
disease, either on tomato or on other economic species of plants that
are attacked (pl. 4).
Mealybug wilt of pineapples appears to be present wherever a sus-
ceptible variety of pineapple is grown and mealybugs are present in
any numbers. The mosquito bug has been recognized as a serious pest
of tea in India and Java for many years, but the same insect is now
known to affect not only tea but many other crops in inland Africa.
A virus disease of cassava, which is a staple starchy food of many
native peoples, is known throughout tropical Africa and in Java
(pl. 5). On the other hand, the virus diseases of Irish potatoes are
world-wide, and it is doubtful whether potatoes absolutely free of
virus diseases are to be found anywhere.
HOW THE INSECT ACTS AS A CARRIER
Reference has already been made to the spread of fungus and bac-
terial diseases. Usually the organisms of these diseases adhere to the
insect’s body and are carried from blossom to blossom and from leaf
to leaf or tree in that way. In some cases the organisms are taken
into the intestinal tract of the insect and develop and reproduce there.
The toxic effects of insect feeding depend on the sensitivity of par-
ticular species of plants to the injections of specific insects. Some in-
sects, such as the potato leafhopper and the mosquito bug, affect many
species of plants, but with each plant species reacting in a somewhat
different way. The pineapple mealybug, however, although it lives
and flourishes on many kinds of plants, from short field grasses to
bananas, produces wilt disease symptoms on only one, the pineapple.
The actual toxic principal has not been isolated from any insect
associated with this type of disease for the very good reason that the
insect’s salivary glands, which are presumably where the toxic sub-
stances arise, are extremely small and their contents very unstable
chemically. There has been a measure of success with experiments
on the injection of whole salivary glands in some cases but the isolation
of the toxic principles themselves is probably beyond the capacity of
even modern analytical technique.
The manner in which insects acquire and spread virus diseases of
of plants has been studied in great detail, subject to the important
limitation that, since the virus itself cannot be seen in the insect’s tis-
sues, the appearance of disease symptoms in the plant fed upon is the
sole criterion which the experimenter can use. In simple outline, the
process whereby an insect acquires and transmits a virus is as follows:
336 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1940
The insect feeds on a virus-diseased plant and moves over to a healthy
plant, at which point one of two thing may happen. The insect may
inoculate the plant with the virus at once, or a period of time varying
from a few hours to many days may elapse before the insect is capable
of transmitting the virus. In either case there is a period of develop-
ment in the plant before disease symptoms occur.
Generally speaking the insects capable of transmitting a virus with-
out any delay are the aphis or plant lice and those that transmit viruses
only after retaining them in their bodies for a long period are the
leafhoppers and thrips. There is a certain compensation, however,
for the long delay, since the aphis can usually only inoculate one plant,
whereas the leafhoppers and thrips can inoculate a long series of
plants, often throughout their remaining life.
The period of time which the virus must spend in the insect has been
called the incubation period because it was assumed that during that
period the virus developed, i. e., reproduced to a point where it could
be injected by the insect in sufficient quantity to establish the virus
in the plant. Recent work has challenged this point of view however,
and it is doubtful whether many viruses multiply in the insects’ bodies
at any time.
The matter has by no means been settled, however, since much of
the evidence for multiplication has not been satisfactorily éxplained
away. There is, for example, a virus disease of rice in Japan which
is transmitted by a leafhopper. This virus passes through the eggs
of the virus-carrying female, and experiments have shown that leaf-
hoppers can thus acquire the virus from their maternal parents. A
family of these leafhoppers can therefore be carrying the virus even
though their grandparents were the original feeders on the diseased
plant. This is considered real evidence for multiplication because
otherwise the original quantity of virus would have been diluted to a
degree which no known virus can stand and yet remain capable of
infecting a plant.
The path of the virus in the insect’s body is, of course, only a matter
of surmise although there is experimental evidence that it enters
through the mouth and passes to the midintestine and out through
the wall of the midintestine to the blood, in which it is carried to the
salivary glands, whence it passes out with the salivary secretion
injected by the feeding insect.
It is a matter of great interest to learn just where in the insect’s
body the virus is stored, for if it does not multiply in the insect, it
must be held in some tissue from which it is gradually released. The
best evidence thus far is that the blood is the reservoir for the virus.
Certainly viruses have been found in insect blood, for by employing
ingenious techniques blood has been removed from virus-bearing in-
INSECTS AND PLANT DISEASES—CARTER 307
sects and fed to nonvirus individuals, which in turn have transmitted
the virus acquired in this way to plants.
It might well be asked why some sucking insects feeding on a virus-
diseased plant acquire and transmit the virus while other species
feeding on the same plant do not. It is true that many viruses are
transmitted by very few species of insects, others by only one, whereas
some insects can transmit many viruses. The leafhoppers as a group
transmit the viruses with a very restricted transmission, the plant lice
the less restricted. The peach aphid is known to transmit 21 viruses,
many of which can also be transmitted by other aphid species. On the
other hand the leafhopper-transmitted viruses are usually limited to
a single species of insect, though there are a few exceptions.
Many species do, however, take up a virus when they feed on diseased
plants although they are unable to pass the virus on to other plants.
In some of these cases, the midintestine acts as a barrier and instead
of passing through into the blood the virus passes on and is ejected
with the insect’s faeces. In other cases, viruses have been shown to
pass through the intestine into the blood of nontransmitting insects,
so some other barrier, possibly the walls of the salivary glands, acts
to prevent the virus from passing out into the plant during the process
of feeding.
It is difficult to see any but purely academic interest in these relation-
ships between insect and virus, but workers in this field feel that if
these relationships can be explained, then the nature of viruses,
whether living or nonliving, may be explained also. It is true that a
few viruses have recently been purified and concentrated into what
appear to be purely chemical bodies which are proteins. In this state
they can be measured, weighed, and their physical and chemical char-
acteristics determined. To those who believe that measurement is the
alpha and omega of science, this evidence suffices, but it would be pre-
mature to suppose that the last word has been said. Perhaps the safest
view to hold in the interim is that while certain viruses, not particu-
larly notable for their close relationship with insects, have been “puri-
fied,” the viruses having close and seemingly obligatory relationships
with their insect carriers have not been, and the most tenable explana-
tion is that the word “virus” as used thus far covers a number of
closely allied but different categories. Whatever may be the actual
nature of viruses the fact is not altered that the diseases they cause
in plants are still with us.
THE EFFECTS OF CLIMATE AND WEATHER
Climate and weather exert an important influence on insects in
general and on insect transmitters of plant diseases no less. Climate,
being a general expression for all the weather encountered over a
relatively large region, governs the distribution of many insects.
338 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1940
Weather, being the day to day expression of climate in that region,
vitally affects both numbers and activity of the insects living in the
region. But even weather is subject to an almost infinite number of
variations due to extremely local conditions, and as far as an insect
is concerned, the weather on the outside edges of a bush may be quite
unfavorable compared to that within the confines of the same plant.
With regard to climatic influences, the case of curly top of sugar beet
and the beet leafhopper is a well-studied example. This insect is
distributed over a vast area bounded roughly by the Rocky Mountains
on the east and the dry interior valleys of California on the west. To
the north and south it appears to extend as far as dry, semiarid condi-
tions hold. The climate is characterized by spring and fall rains and
hot, dry summers and by great variation in winter weather from year
to year. The insect overwinters near the annual weeds that germinate
in the fall, and in the spring breeds freely on these plants. When these
short-lived weeds mature, the leafhoppers migrate and disperse over
huge areas seeking new feeding grounds. It is this dispersal which
brings disaster to cultivated crops for when the uncultivated, unirri-
gated lands are dried up, the lush green irrigated sections are oases
for the flying leafhoppers which in some years arrive almost overnight
in enormous numbers. It is during these great flights that occasionally
the leafhopper is carried by wind currents far beyond its normal geo-
graphic range and instances have been recorded of finding curly top
of sugar beet in the Dakotas. If the climate of the Midwest, with its
summer rains and severe winters, would permit the survival of the
sugar beet leafhopper, there is no doubt that the insect would long
since have established itself there as a serious pest.
In its home range, the migrations of this insect are greatly affected
by weather which shows extreme variations from year to year, and
these variations are sufficient to make the difference between a year
of early and extensive migration and a year where, except for minor
flights, the bulk of the leafhopper population remains on the desert
until too late to do serious damage to crops. These differences are
governed by the condition of the insect’s weed host plants. An early
warm and dry season will hasten the maturity of both the new brood
of insects and the plants, so that before the plants that normally carry
the insect through to summer are growing, the early host plants are
dry and unsuitable for food. Variations in the severity of the winter
also affect the survival of the leafhoppers to a marked degree, a severe
winter materially reducing the numbers that are available for repro-
duction in the spring.
An adequate study of such a problem involves detailed investigation
over vast stretches of country. Breeding grounds of the leafhopper
must be located and the life history of the insect studied there. Great
areas of desert must be traversed to determine the presence of the
INSECTS AND PLANT DISEASES—CARTER 339
insect and the appearance of the new brood, for it is when this brood
matures that the danger period is at hand and flights into cultivated
fields are likely to occur.
In the beet leafhopper problem, the weather conditions over indi-
vidual areas perhaps 200 miles long are significant. In Africa, where
a virus disease of the peanut is sometimes serious, weather is also
important but in an extremely localized way. There is a story told
which may be apocryphal, but which has a substantial basis as far as
the scientific data are concerned. A director of agriculture in an
African colony, wishing to improve the native methods of culture of
peanuts, arranged to have demonstration plots planted to show the
natives that their method of crowding the plants together was wrong.
When the crops were grown, however, the nice, orderly, well-separated
official plants were badly diseased, while the native plantings escaped
with only minor damage. The explanation, which seems to be well
authenticated, is that the more open plantings permitted freer air
movement, which increased temperature and light and reduced mois-
ture around the plants. These changed conditions were enough to
favor the activity of the insect carrier of the peanut mosaic, which is
an aphid. The native knew through long trial and error that his
method worked, but the investigator, looking for the reason, had to
have recourse to delicate measurements of extremely local weather in
a very limited environment.
The old cartoon concept of an entomologist was of a bespectacled
individual waving a huge collecting net, but Welsh and Cornish
farmers have recently been treated to the sight of men tramping
through their fields, swinging not nets but thermometers, measuring
humidities and wind velocities and collecting not butterflies but plant
lice; and doing all these things because the potato crop depends on
good disease-free seed.
The seed-potato business in the British Isles has been almost a
monopoly of certain Scottish districts where potatoes have enjoyed
freedom from the virus diseases. In recent years, however, these dis-
eases have become established there and the desirability of finding
new districts where disease-free seed could be grown has led to a
careful study of potato-growing areas to determine the reasons why
potato plants are free from the disease in some locations and severely
affected in others in the same district. It was found that the princi-
pal plant lice species that carry potato viruses are very sensitive to
a combination of wind movement and air humidity and that fields
Subject to the right combination of these two factors were likely to be
affected only to a very slight degree. This is one of the most recent
and best illustrations of how a knowledge of an insect’s reactions to
extremely small variations in the weather has led to important
practical results.
280256—41 23
340 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1940
Sometimes an artificial condition will permit the survival of an
insect far out of its normal range, as seems to be the case in Central
Alberta in connection with potato psyllid. An outbreak of psyllid
yellows was traced to a greenhouse where the insect had overwintered
on tomatoes and moved out into nearby potato fields in the spring.
Also there appears to be a greenhouse strain of the onion thrips in
England which carries the spotted wilt virus while the ordinary field
strain does not.
CONTROL METHODS
Many of the complicated interrelationships between insects and the
diseases they carry or cause to plants are vitally affected by the con-
ditions in their immediate environment and this fact is sometimes
useful in control measures. It will be obvious, however, that such
a diverse set of problems as are presented by insects in their trans-
mission of plant diseases will require most varied attempts at control.
Control may be directed at the insects themselves or at the organisms
they carry, but there is no standard method of control even in closely
related cases.
Field sanitation helps to remove diseased plants and fruits and
may thereby reduce the numbers of disease organisms. Complete
eradication of diseased elms is believed to be the only possible way
to eliminate Dutch elm disease. Diseases such as potato hopperburn,
psyllid yellows, and mealybug wilt are all controlled by reducing the
number of insects, since damage is directly proportional to the number
of insects present and the amount of feeding they do. Control may
be by sprays or, in the case of the potato leafhopper on alfalfa, by
timing the cutting schedules so as to disturb the insect’s reproductive
cycle as much as possible.
When long experience and study have shown that certain sets of
weather conditions are followed by outbreaks, it is sometimes possible
to predict these outbreaks in advance. This does not, of course, con-
trol the outbreak, but it does help farmers to avoid losses because
in years when outbreaks are expected they can plant other nonsus-
ceptible crops. This was done in a sugar beet curly top district in
Idaho from 1927 to 1933, and in these 7 years the prediction failed
only once. The necessity is no longer present as far as sugar beets
are concerned, but other susceptible crops are grown for which
prediction of outbreaks might prove useful.
The real control for the sugar beet leafhopper problem, whatever
the susceptible host is, has been visualized, but the concept is so mag-
nificent as to appear impossible of attainment. The vast breeding
grounds of the leafhopper are areas which originally were covered
with wild grasses and shrubs. These were disturbed by overgrazing
and attempts at dry-land farming, and in their places weeds that are
breeding plants for the leafhopper have come in and occupied the
INSECTS AND PLANT DISEASES—CARTER 341
land. If, by control of grazing, the original plant species could be
restored, then the vast area at present devoted to weeds would once
more be restored to usefulness and at the same time the source of most
of the leafhoppers would be eliminated.
If the sugar beet industry in the West had had to rely on this pro-
gram, however, it would have continued to decline. Why then has
it increased in size and productiveness? The answer is because dis-
ease-resistant beets have been sought and found (pl. 6, fig. 1). This
has been the work of many men in many places, but the net result
is one of the most successful in the history of science in agriculture.
Many other efforts are being made to produce plants resistant to virus
diseases, because in these cases merely reducing the numbers of insects
does not seem to help very much. An insect pauses for a moment to
feed on a plant and that plant becomes diseased whether the insect
stays there or not. If the disease-bearing insect can be kept from
reaching the plant at all, then control is possible. Aster growers, for
instance, can get a considerable measure of relief by protecting their
aster beds with a low screen fence. The aster yellows leafhopper is
not a migrant on the grand scale like the sugar beet leafhopper, but
rather a low-flying species which can be kept out by means of screens
which would not affect the sugar beet leafhopper in the least.
A somewhat similar control method is used in Java against the
mosquito bug on tea. This insect belongs to the group that could be
controlled by sprays, but a Java tea plantation locks like a huge
forest with the tea plantings as a solid undergrowth, and spraying
is not practicable. The control used there is based on the fact that
the insect is shy and retiring and does not cross open spaces willingly.
When the tea plant is pruned, therefore, the pruning is done in alter-
nate strips so that the insect tends to remain in the unpruned portion
instead of spreading over the whole plantation. Although this is
avoidance rather than control, the method has proved its usefulness
in reducing damage (pl. 6, fig. 2).
The most recent method of control is being used in connection with
some tobacco viruses. It has been found that some viruses which do
little damage to plants inoculated with them, nevertheless protect
the plant against other more damaging viruses. This protective
inoculation offers much promise, but there is one apparent danger in
that some viruses, when found in plants with other viruses, cause
damage far more severe than when they attack the plants singly.
THE OUTLOOK FOR THE FUTURE
Certain trends may be recognized which may indicate what future
developments will be. First there is a definite move toward compila-
tion of scattered data into summaries and textbooks; a part of this
trend is the attempt to set up formal classifications, Once a beginning
342 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1940
has been made with classification, new cases that arise can often be
placed at once in their proper categories, while the inevitable debate
that centers around the doubtful cases often leads to the suggestion
of new experimental approaches.
In the case of the fungus and bacterial diseases the problem is
primarily one of determining under what circumstances the insect
becomes a carrier. The insects whose feeding secretions are re-
sponsible for plant diseases present much more difficult problems, but
these fall into perhaps two general categories: What is the nature
of the secretion and how does it affect the plant’s physiology, and,
What factors of insect nutrition and plant susceptibility are involved?
The trend in virus research is unmistakable. The nature of the
virus, whether living or nonliving, will continue to occupy the at-
tention of workers for a long time. All viruses may ultimately be
classified as nonliving proteins with some of the characteristics of
crystallinity, but there is a possibility that the viruses as we now define
them may include both living and nonliving things as well as those on
the borderline between highly complex chemical molecules and living
matter. This is an exciting prospect for those whose privilege it is
to pursue knowledge for its own sake and important for those whose
services are devoted to the control of virus diseases. The general
problem is so complex, however, that workers in very widely separated
fields of study are involved. It is a far cry from a farmer’s field to
the microscope specially designed to reveal the structure of crystals,
but workers in these two fields must somewhere get together if the
problem is to retain its fundamental unity. The entomologist is in
a position to make material contributions to the problem by adding
to our knowledge of the relationship between insects and viruses.
Investigations on control methods will continue to follow as diverse
lines as heretofore. Fungus and bacterial diseases will probably be
attacked by reducing the numbers of the insect carriers and eliminat-
ing sources of infection. The diseases caused by the toxic secretions
of insects will continue to be controlled by reducing the numbers of
insects, but there is a promising line of attack in learning what factors
make a plant susceptible to this sort of injury. It might then be
possible to reduce this susceptibility by cultural or other methods.
Some progress has been made in breeding plants, not only for
resistance to organisms and viruses but also to insect attack. This
offers promise as a part solution of the problem, but resistance to the
virus seems to be the most fruitful line of attack on the immediate
problem of how to reduce losses by virus diseases. Protecting plants
against viruses by inoculation with other viruses is a fascinating pros-
pect even though fraught with many complications. Finally there is
the possibility that chemical treatment of plants to protect or cure
them of infection may become a reality.
Smithsonian Report, 1940.—Carter PLATE 1
}
BACTERIAL WILT OF SWEET CORN.
Plant at right killed by the disease; plant at left, healthy. Photograph by Bureau of Plant Industry,
U.S. Department of Agriculture.
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PEATEs
Smithsonian Report, 1940.—Carter
MEALYBUG WILT OF PINEAPPLE PLANTS.
Smithsonian Report, 1940.—Carter PLATE 4
SYMPTOMS OF TOMATO SPOTTED WILT ON DIFFERENT HOSTS.
Upper left, yellow spot of pineapple. Photograph by M. B. Linford.
Upper right, symptoms on White Burley tobacco. Photograph by K. Sakimura.
Lower, tomato fruits with typical ringspot symptoms. Photograph by K. Sakimura.
Smithsonian Report, 1940.—Carter PLATE 5
CASSAVA MOSAIC DISEASE.
Plant on right is healthy; that on the left, diseased.
Smithsonian Report, 1940.—Carter PLATE 6
1. A TEST OF CURLY TOP RESISTANT BEETS.
The dark strips are U. S. No. 1 resistant variety which yielded 13.6 tons per acre. The light strips are a
susceptible European variety and yielded 2.5 tons per acre. 5
2. STRIP PRUNING OF TEA PLANTS TO LOCALIZE INFESTATIONS OF MOSQUITO BUGS.
The recently pruned Strip is in the center ofthe picture; the unpruned plants in the background and right
foreground.
Smithsonian Report, 1940.—White PLATE 1
MEXICAN BEAN BEETLE.
a, Adult beetle; b, eggs; c, larva; d, pupa (or resting stage) e, bean leaf showing typical feeding injury.
(About 244 times natural size.)
THE MEXICAN BEAN BEETLE*
By W. H. WHITE
Bureau of Hntomology and Plant Quarantine, United States Department
of Agriculture
[With 6 plates]
INTRODUCTION
In 1920 a black-spotted copper-colored beetle was discovered on
garden beans in the vicinity of Blocton and Birmingham, Ala. It
was readily recognized by the entomologists as an insect known at
that time as the ‘bean lady-beetle, an immigrant from the West, an
immigrant whose presence was viewed with alarm because the in-
sect had been long recognized as a destroyer of garden beans in the
irrigated regions of the southwestern States. As early as 1883
Brot G. H. Stone of Colorado Springs, Colo., in a letter to C. V.
Riley, Entomologist of the United States Department of Agricul-
ture, dated August 26 stated:
By this mail I send you a tin box containing larvae and perfect beetles
which promise to have almost as unenviable a reputation as Doryphora 10 lineata
[the Colorado potato beetle which spread across the country from the West
toward the East and destroyed the potato crop during the period of from 1824
to 1874]. From the egg to the grave they are voracious. They are good judges
of food. With me they have confined their attacks to black wax beans, and
the enclosed leaves and pods will show their mode of attack. The early
broods attack nearly all kinds of vegetables in a neighboring garden. They
are rapidly spreading in the vicinity. I judge there are two or three broods
in the year like Doryphora—they only appeared in my garden a few days ago.
Within that time they have eaten almost every Jeaf in a good sized patch of
wax beans.
Stone’s letter to Riley was apparently not the first record of the
occurrence of the bean beetle as a destroyer of beans as F. H. Chitten-
den, of the United States Department of Agriculture, quotes a letter
from a correspondent from the West, dated 1889, in which it is
claimed that the beetle “had been known by its injuries at Watrous,
N. Mex., 40 years earlier than the date of writing.” This date, being
close to the Mexican War of 1846-48, led Chittenden to conjecture
1 Epilachna varivestis Muls.
343
344 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1940
that its presence in the United States might have resulted from the
movement of food for the cavalry during these military operations.
However, with the now well-known ability of this insect to spread
under its own power, Arizona, New Mexico, and Colorado may have
been infested long before this time and even before white man found
his way into the region. However, the facts that Mulsant first de-
scribed the beetle in 1850 from specimens received from a collector
in Mexico, that Bland in 1864 redescribed the species from speci-
mens taken in Mexico, and that related plant-feeding Coccinellids are
foreign to the United States, with the exception of one, indicate that
the bean beetle’s original home was “south of the border.”
Irrespective of its original home, war seems to have marked the
two significant dates of its importance in the United States, as its
occurrence in Alabama has been also attributed to the movement of
large shipments of alfalfa hay from the West into northern Ala-
bama during 1918. This year may have been the actual date of its in-
troduction into the Southeast, as authentic reports by various growers
indicate that the pest was not uncommon about Birmingham, Ala.,
in 1919.
Even in the light of the early knowledge of this pest’s severe at-
tacks on beans in certain regions of the West, it does not appear that
any apprehension was felt as to its gaining a foothold in the eastern
States. At any rate the literature does not reveal that any steps
were taken to prevent its introduction into the East. Although
Stone in 1883 predicted for this beetle almost as unenviable a repu-
tation as the potato beetle, it was almost 50 years later before the
bean beetle established its reputation as a major pest of the bean crop
of the East, and then it came to the East as a “stowaway,” and not
by natural spread as did the potato beetle.
With its discovery in Alabama the agricultural interests of the
South became alarmed and urged the Federal Government to lend
assistance in coping with the problem. ‘The alarm felt was justifia-
ble, as during the second year of its occurrence in the East the in-
sect was so destructive in the Birmingham, Ala., area that the price
of green beans rose in some instances to four times their normal value.
To increase the apprehension were the facts that the insect multi-
plied and spread rapidly in its new habitat and little was known of
its ability to destroy other crops belonging to the same botanical
family, so important to the agriculture of the South and East, such
as cowpeas, soybeans, and even the clovers.
SPREAD
The rapidity with which the beetle spread in a general northeasterly
direction was remarkable. By 1930, 10 years after its discovery in
Alabama, it had become a familiar sight to the bean growers, both
MEXICAN BEAN BEETLE—WHITE 345
commercial and home, in the States of the East from Georgia to Maine
and westward to Illinois. The bean, the favorite planting of every
garden, which had been quite free of insect injury until now, appeared
to the grower to be destroyed overnight by a lemon-colored fuzzy
Ficurn 1.—Map outlining area known to be infested by the Mexican bean beetle,
Lpilachna varivestig Muls. Cross hatching, original infestation, 1920; dotted line,
infested area up to 1932; unbroken line outlines the area known to be infested by the
season of 1940; dot in Minnesota and Iowa shows location of isolated infestations in 1933
and 1935 respectively.
creature, the immature stage or larva of the beetle. It was called by
one the “yellow peril.”
A survey in 1920 revealed the presence of the beetle over a contiguous
area approximating 4,500 square miles in the vicinity of Birmingham,
Ala. In 1921 the infested area had been increased by approximately
40,000 square miles, mainly in a northeasterly direction northward
346 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1940
beyond the border of Tennessee and eastward through Georgia into
the northeast corner of South Carolina with an isolated infestation
in the vicinity of Thomasville in southern Georgia.
Its distribution in 1922 was known to have increased 70,000 square
miles, principally westward and northward with a slight increase in
the infested area to the southwest. The annual distribution outlined
herein for the subsequent years is based upon records of its discovery
in new areas as reported by entomologists and growers and others, and
is not the result of a planned survey as was the case during 1921 and
1922. Reports received in 1923 showed an extension of invaded terri-
tory of approximately 26,500 square miles, mainly northward with no
additional territory to the south or west reported as infested.
In 1924 the beetle had extended its range, 85,500 square miles of
newly infested territory being reported from all directions. This was
the most extensive distribution reported for any 1 year during the 20
years it has been known to occur in the East. Again, as was the case
in former years, the greatest spread was to the north, reaching into
Ohio almost to Lake Erie and eastward into the southwest corner of
Pennsylvania.
During the next 2 years the records of new infestations were unusual
in two respects: The additional square miles reported infested were
comparatively small, considering the large territory now infested from
which the insect could spread, and the spread extended to the east and
west only, no new territory being invaded in the south or north. In
1925 additional reports came only from east of the infested area.
The factors which influenced the reported slower advance of the
beetle into new territory during 1925 and 1926 were absent the follow-
ing year. In 1927 the beetle was found to have reached the shores of
Lake Erie in southwestern New York and was reported from Canada.
It now threatened the great bean-growing area of Michigan and was
present on the Atlantic coast in southeastern Virginia. Westward,
however, the spread was confined to a narrow strip in Tennessee, Ken-
tucky, and Indiana. The total extension of its range during the year
was 80,000 square miles and this spread was the second greatest in its
history. The spread in 1926 was confined to about 56,000 square miles
and was notable because the market and canning bean-growing sections
of eastern Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland, and Delaware were
invaded.
After 1928 the insect’s spread during each of the following 4 years,
judging from the reports, amounted to an average annual increase in
its range of about 20,000 square miles. By 1930 and 1931 it had reached
the Mississippi River in Kentucky and had moved farther in a north-
easterly direction into New York and Connecticut. In 1932 it was
found on the eastern border of Illinois and to the west of northern
MEXICAN BEAN BEETLE—WHITE 347
Indiana and southwestern Michigan. This year was also featured
by reports of its advance beyond the center of New Hampshire into
Maine to the Atlantic coast. Its spread since 1932 has been limited,
apparently having by this time reached the areas most suitable for its
survival in noticeable numbers. An isolated infestation was found in
Minnesota in 1933 and in Iowa in 1935 but judging from the record
the beetle has been unable to thrive in these locations.
The spread of this insect, as given from year to year, can be con-
sidered unusually dependable, because of the universal practice of
planting beans by the farmer and home gardener. With every agri-
culturist vitally and personally interested, reports as to the progress
of the beetle were received, thus providing a more accurate picture of
the spread of the pest than would have been available had the insect
been a depredator of some less popular crop.
The entrance of the beetle into new territory was usually attended,
in many areas, by a severe loss to the bean grower. The home gardener
was probably the greatest sufferer. Now, suddenly, the gardener
found his bean plantings ravaged by an unfamiliar pest which he was
totally unprepared to combat, and so severe was the damage that in
many places the growing of beans in the home garden was abandoned.
The destruction came to the grower with a sudden force since the habits
of the insect are such that its feeding, being confined to the under
surface of the leaves, escaped notice until the damage was done, and
the bean patch upon which the gardener had counted became, appar-
ently almost overnight, a scorched and wasted ruin.
Fortunately, as is true of most insects, the impact of the initial influx
was not repeated each year. In the following years severe damage
was intermittent in nature, and the gardner was able to marshal his
defenses and protect his crop either by insecticidal control or by select-
ing a planting date which would avoid injury. The bean beetle has
now assumed the status of many of our common pests—a pest the
grower must be on guard against but one which is not viewed with
such alarm as when its character was not so well known. Undoubt-
edly, however, the presence of the bean beetle has reduced the home
planting of long-season varieties of beans such as the pole and lima.
In their efforts to control the bean beetle, many materials were tried
by the growers, and belief in the efficacy of certain materials and
methods still persist, even when the fallacy of this belief has been
demonstrated. A case in point is the use of epsom salt, which was
recommended by local sages for the control of the bean beetle. When
reports as to the efficacy of this material reached the Department of
Agriculture, experiments were conducted which conclusively dem-
onstrated that this material is of no practical value for the control
of the bean beetle.
348 | ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1940
Even more strange is the method that was practiced rather ex-
tensively in one section of the East and that has also been reported
as being practiced in the West. This method consisted of placing
tin cans on poles about the field. The origin of this method is obscure,
but it apparently caught the popular fancy and for a few years bean
fields with poles topped by tin cans were a familiar sight in sec-
tions of Maryland and Virginia. One enterprising oil dealer cap-
italized the popularity of this method by offering a prize to the grower
whose bean field presented the best display of cans which had originally
contained his brand of oil.
BIOLOGY AND CONTROL
A Federal field laboratory was established in Birmingham, Ala.,
in 1921, with Dr. N. F. Howard as its director, and in cooperation
with the State of Alabama an extensive investigation of the beetle
and its control was initiated. The investigations by the Federal
Government were continued on a large scale for about 10 years, dimin-
ishing in extent thereafter until the year 1938, when they were limited
to a study of the pest in the Norfolk, Va., area. The curtailment of
this work by the Federal Government was due primarily to the success
of contro] measures developed by Dr. Howard and his staff of workers,
namely, L. W. Brannon, H. C. Mason, B. J. Landis, Rodney Cecil,
J. R. Douglass, and others.
As the beetle spread, State investigators devoted considerable time
to the problem, and the Federal laboratory at Birmingham, Ala.,
was moved to Columbus, Ohio, in 1926, so as to be located nearer the
center of the infested areas. Field laboratories were also established
at Geneva, N. Y., in 1924 and at Norfolk, Va., in 1929. Scientists
were dispatched to Mexico in 1921-22 in search of parasites or other
natural enemies, and a laboratory was established in Mexico City in
1929 for the purpose of studying and breeding parasites for shipment
to the United States.
These reasearches involved answers to such questions as (1) Could
the spread of the beetle be prevented? (2) If not, could the grower
economically control it with insecticides? (8) What would be the
effect of the introduction of parasites? (4) What crop is it capable
of destroying? (5) What would be the natural barriers to its spread
over the entire area east of the Rocky Mountains?
BIOLOGY
Food plants—The uncertainty as to the range of food plants of
the bean beetle was a very disturbing factor when the insect was first
found in the East. It was known that this pest was very destructive
to the garden type of beans in the Southwest, but it was not estab-
MEXICAN BEAN BEETLE—WHITE 349
lished whether the insect infested soybeans, cowpeas, and other legumes
that were so important to the agriculture of the East. Studies on
host plants soon revealed that its favorite foods were the common
varieties of garden bean, tepary beans, and limas, which are grouped
under the species Phaseolus vulgaris and P. lunatus. 'This food pref-
erence distinguished the insect as a pest of the home garden, and its
fondness for and ability to thrive particularly on the “corn field,”
or pole bean, eliminated this important source of food to the home
garden of the South during years when the insect was most abundant.
It can live and develop on certain other food plants. Next to beans,
it prefers beggarweed or beggartick, a plant of the genus Mezbomia.
Its next choice is the hyacinth bean, followed in order by the cowpea
and soybean. It may also feed to a limited extent on the adsuki bean,
kudzu, and some clovers. In the early part of the season the insect
does not, and apparently cannot, live on some of these latter-named
plants, especially cowpeas and soybeans, whereas later in the season
it seems to thrive on them. It has been only in comparatively rare
instances that cowpeas and soybeans have been injured in the field,
and in these cases it was observed that the beetles developed in large
numbers on adjacent garden beans and overflowed onto the soybeans
and cowpeas after their favorite food had become exhausted. Under
threat of starvation it may be forced to feed on many types of plants,
such as okra, eggplant, and squash. However, attack on these garden
plants is rare, and the bean beetle has proved to be primarily a pest of
garden beans.
Life history—The bean beetle resembles in form and color some
of the native beneficial ladybirds, to which family of insects it belongs.
In form it is rounded, about one-fourth inch long and one-fifth inch
wide; each brown or copper-colored wing cover bears eight distinct
black spots. The immature form, or larva, is orange-colored; when
full grown, it is about one-third inch long and is covered with com-
paratively long, soft branched spines, which give it a fuzzy appear-
ance. The insect overwinters in the adult stage and prefers for win-
ter protection a mixture of oak leaves and pine needles, located on
woody slopes. With the approach of cool weather they congregate
in such locations, crawling to a depth of several inches among the
cover, where they will not be subject to rapid fluctuations of moisture
and temperature. In the southern States the beetles may be found
active during the warm days of the winter and in some instances may
seek locations different from those originally occupied with the ap-
proach of cold weather. A few may remain and successfully over-
winter in the old bean fields, but the majority will be found in nearby
woodlands.
The overwintering beetles appear in the field at about the time that
the earliest beans show their first true leaves. After feeding for a
350 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1940
short time the females deposit yellow eggs in groups of from 40 to 60
on the underside of the bean leaves. One female has been known to
deposit over 1,500 during one season, and the average is nearly 500
per female. The time required for the development of the insect from
egg to adult varies with the climate. The eggs may hatch in from 5
to 14 days, the larva requiring 15 days to 3 weeks to complete its
development. In the pupal stage the insect may remain for a week
or 10 days. There is no clear-cut line between generations and afl
stages of the pests may be found in the same field at the same time
during the summer season. In the South there may be from two to
four generations; in Ohio one or two generations may develop during
the season. The beetles which have overwintered usually live until
early summer.
The adult beetles are sluggish as compared with many of the insects
encountered in a bean field. They crawl rather slowly and are not
easily disturbed. At certain times of the year, however, many of
the beetles take wing and in some cases fly high into the air and soon
disappear from sight. In August the beetles become particularly
restless and at this time the greatest dispersion takes place. Flight
experiments conducted with a large number of marked beetles have
shown that the insect will travel as far as 5 miles in 2 days and that
movements of 314 miles in the same length of time are not unusual.
Considering the facts that over a period of 20 years only a few isolated
infestations of the beetle have been found in the East and that the
general movement has been in a northeasterly direction from the
original infestation, the indications are that the spread has resulted
from flight, probably aided by wind currents.
Nature of injury.—The injury caused by the adult and larva of
the bean beetle to the foliage of the bean plant differs from that
caused by any other insect that utilizes the bean as food. The adult
feeds, as does the immature form, on the lower surface of the leaves,
eating ragged areas in the leaf, but often cutting through to the upper
surface, giving the foliage a Jacelike appearance. The larva, on the
other hand, feeds entirely on the under surface of the leaves and does
not cut through the upper epidermis. Dr. Neale F. Howard de-
scribes the feeding of the beetle larva as follows: The mandibles are
used alternately in scraping the tissue from the leaf between the
veins. At intervals the mandibles meet and compress this loosened
tissue, which remains on the leaf as small “windrows” or strips.
As the plant tissue is compressed the larva apparently ingests the
sap or plant juices and discards the more solid portion. When an
infestation is heavy, the plant is practically destroyed and has the
appearance of having been scorched by fire.
Natural enemies—Apparently none of the insect parasites and
predators of the bean beetle followed it from its original home into
MEXICAN BEAN BEETLE—WHITE 351
the United States, as the parasites and predaceous insects occurring
in the United States are of little value in keeping this insect in check.
In 1921 H. F. Wickham collected near Mexico City, Mexico, a dipter-
ous parasite of the bean beetle. In 1922 E. G. Smith, engaged by the
Federal Bureau of Entomology, found a tachinid parasite of the
larval stages of the bean beetle abundant at Mexico City and ship-
ments were made of several hundred parasitized bean beetle larvae
to Birmingham, Ala. This parasite was recognized as new and de-
scribed by J. M. Aldrich as Paradewodes epilachnae in 1923. The
parasite did not survive the winter in the Birmingham, Ala., area,
uor become established after liberation in the field. It was thought
that a more intensive study of the parasite and its host in Mexico
might yield information which would insure its successful introduc-
tion in the United States, and in 1929 B. J. Landis was detailed to
make such a study at Mexico City. Between July 1929 and October
1930, 60,000 puparia were shipped from Mexico City to Columbus,
Ohio, and a serious attempt to colonize the parasites in the areas of
the United States infested with the bean beetle was begun in 1930.
Attempts to store larvae, adults, and puparia of the parasite through
the winter months at Columbus, Ohio, were not successful, and a
breeding stock was maintained from August 1930 to September 1935
by breeding the flies in the laboratory. Of the 145,500 adult parasites
bred at Columbus, 82,000 were released in 19 States, including States
from Alabama to New York in the East and Texas and New Mexico
in the Southwest. The numbers of flies released in separate colonies
ranged from 100 to 4,000 individuals and many of these colonies were
restocked for several consecutive years. In most cases the parasites
were found to have become established during the current season.
However, in no instance has this parasite been definitely collected
from colonies released the previous season, and consequently it must
be concluded that the attempts to introduce this parasite were not
successful. Many workers and observers have contributed informa-
tion to our knowledge of the large array of parasites and predators
found attacking the bean beetle in this country, but in the aggregate
these natural enemies are of no great importance. This list includes,
beside insect parasites and predators, bacteria and fungi, as well as
a few birds and mammals.
Climatic factors—The general climatic conditions of the eastern
States have permitted the spread of the beetle over practically the
whole region east of the Mississippi River. On the other hand, ob-
servations and studies have shown that there are certain areas within
this region where the insect has been in general a more consistent
pest than elsewhere. Roughly, this area may be designated in the
Appalachian Range from the southern part of Ohio southward to
352 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1940
central Alabama. In the coastal area of the Carolinas, Georgia,
Maryland, and Virginia, its occurrence in damaging numbers has been
sporadic. Judging from the reports on outbreaks south of central
Georgia and Atlanta the infestations in this area have been localized.
The bean-growing areas of Michigan and southwestern New York
have not been seriously affected by the insect, and the two infesta-
tions discovered in 1933 and 1935 in Minnesota and Iowa, respec-
tively, apparently have not become of any importance to the bean
crop. Studies have shown that during the hibernation period the
lack of proper coverage to protect the beetle from rapid changes in
temperature and moisture increases winter mortality and during the
active season high temperatures, accompanied by drought conditions,
will rapidly reduce populations of the insect and it is probably these
latter factors that have been largely responsible for the variation in
the seasonal abundance of the bean beetle in many sections. Winter
mortality, although undoubtedly an important factor in the survival
of the insect in any given area does not appear to be of paramount
importance in relation to the seasonal abundance of the insect.
Spring conditions following a high survival of the pest during the
winter may result in low populations of the first generation of the
beetles. Yet on the other hand, spring conditions following high
winter mortality may promote a rapid development of the first gen-
eration of the beetles. Considering these factors then, it is hazardous
to venture a prediction as to bean beetle conditions, based upon winter
survival.
CONTROL
Quarantine—In the early days of the infestation the entomolo-
gists’ knowledge of the insect’s ability to spread under its own pewer
was limited, and it was first thought that a rigid quarantine of the
infested area would prevent the insect’s spread or at least retard
it. Consequently, a Federal quarantine was imposed on May 1, 1921.
It was soon learned, however, that because of the insect’s ability to
make strong sustained flights and its inherent urge to move, even in
the presence of an adequate supply of favorable food, regulations
on the movements of farm produce and other materials would not
prevent its spread. Upon recommendations of J. EK. Graf, who was
in general field charge of the work for the Government, the quaran-
tine was lifted 2 months later, July 23, 1921, and the money appro-
priated for its enforcement was returned to the United States
Treasury.
Insecticidal studies —At the outset the problem of control appeared
to be one in which insecticides would play an important part, the
insect being a gross feeder and developing on the exterior of the
plant. It appeared to be simply a problem of determining which
MEXICAN BEAN BEETLE—WHITE 353
of the insecticides available was best suited. A large number of
insecticides were tested in field plots of garden beans near Birming-
ham, Ala. From these first tests the better known arsenicals such
as lead arsenate and calcium arsenate were apparently satisfactory.
However, after a number of field experiments had been performed
with lead arsenate, it was noticed that bean plants treated with this
material were sometimes stunted and were a darker green than nor-
mal. In one instance such severe injury followed its use by a grower
that a complete loss of crop resulted. This was an unlooked-for
development as lead arsenate had long been considered a standard
stomach poison for insects and one which could be tolerated by most
plants and had been used in the West to control the bean beetle.
Zinc arsenite had also been used for the control of the beetle in
the West, but its use caused injury to the bean crop in the South.
Apparently the atmospheric conditions in the South rendered the
foliage of the bean plant susceptible to the action of these arsenicals.
Paris green, while toxic to the bean beetle, was very injurious to
the plant foliage.
The work with calcium arsenate is of particular interest because
it demonstrated the variability in different types or brands of this
chemical to bean foliage. Throughout the early tests with calcium
arsenate it was found that one particular brand was toxic to the
bean beetle and would not cause foliage injury when diluted with
hydrated lime, and as a result such a mixture was recommended
for bean-beetle control. Calcium arsenate, being cheap and readily
available, was extensively used. However, with the spread of the
bean bettle many different brands of this insecticide were used by
the grower, and complaints were received of chemical injury to the
bean crop. Studies indicated that some brands of calcium arsenate
were not suitable, and an extensive investigation was begun of the
effect of all available commercial brands of calcium arsenate on
the beans grown in the field. It was soon determined that the
brands varied greatly in their effect on the plant. It was also
learned that when the material was applied during periods of high
humidity, injury was more likely to follow than when the atmosphere
was dry. Chemical analyses made by chemists who were cooperating
in the work indicated that there was no appreciable difference in
the chemical composition of the various samples.
It was discovered that a sample of calcium arsenate that normally
seriously injured foliage, lost its injurious qualities when auto-
claved—that is, placed under steam pressure. Further investigation
also indicated that the heat treatment of calcium arsenate, while
it reduced the toxicity to bean foliage, also reduced the toxicity to
the insect. As a result of these investigations much research
relating to the manufacture and composition of calcium arsenate
354 | ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1940
has been undertaken, and undoubtedly sufficient knowledge will
eventually be gained to permit the manufacture of a better product
than has heretofore been available.
In these early tests was included a little-known arsenical, namely,
magnesium arsenate. This material had been developed by a com-
mercial company a few years before and had received little con-
sideration as an insecticide because preliminary tests showed it to be
injurious to the foliage of peach and apple trees. Continued experi-
ments with it produced no visible signs of injury to the bean plant
and gave excellent control of the bean beetle.
Even in view of this experimental evidence the Federal investi-
gators were reluctant to recommend magnesium arsenate to the bean
grower because of the experience of others with this material on
peach and apple trees. Consequently, no recommendations were
made after the results of the first season’s work. During the fol-
lowing year the results of the experimental work were substantiated,
and the use of this material was suggested to a large commercial
canner, who used it on his snap beans and bush lima beans with
excellent success.
Following this work, magnesium arsenate was recommended as a
control of the bean beetle by the Department of Agriculture. How-
ever, it was poisonous to man and, when applied to the green bean
crop, would leave a harmful residue unless treatments were discon-
tinued before the pods began to form or the beans were carefully
washed in several changes of clear water before consumption. Fur-
thermore, it was not readily obtainable, as it was of little value as an
insecticide for other purposes; consequently, it was not carried in
stock by dealers in general.
The inadequate distribution of magnesium arsenate, the variation
between brands of calcium arsenate, and the arsenical residue problem
intensified the search for better materials. During this interval fluo-
rine compounds were being investigated and sodium fluosilicate was
recommended by S. Marcovitch, of the Tennessee Experiment Station.
This material, while toxic to the bean beetle, sometimes caused plant
injury. Later cryolite was recommended by the same investigator.
This material yielded good control of the bean beetle and did not
cause plant injury. However, its physical properties were such that
it was not very suitable for use as a dust.
In 1931 a dust prepared from the root of the plant Derris elliptica,
which contained a substance known as rotenone and had long been
known as a fish poison, was first used in the field. The early results
were not promising because, as was learned later, the rotenone content
was not quite high enough. Work with this root, together with cube
and timbo, other rotenone-bearing substances, continued as these
materials showed promise and, above all, if proved satisfactory as a
MEXICAN BEAN BEETLE—WHITE 355
bean beetle insecticide, would reduce the hazard of undesirable resi-
dues on the beans. By 1988 sufficient data had been accumulated to
warrant the recommendation of the use of finely ground roots of der-
ris and cube in water for the control of the bean beetle. Continued
investigation with these materials showed them to be the most effec-
tive and superior to all others developed for the control of the insect,
and they can be used with equally good results in the spray and dust
forms, which is a distinct advantage under many circumstances.
Since the first important recommendation for the use of derris dust
for the control of a leaf-feeding insect which was widely distributed
and very numerous in certain areas of the country was made in the
case of the bean beetle, the studies on the control of this insect may be
credited with having contributed largely to the extended use of this
relatively new and valuable insecticidal root as well as other plant
roots containing rotenone, such as cube and timbo.
SUMMARY
The Mexican bean beetle, although known in the southwestern part
of the United States for 75 years or more, was first discovered in the
Southeast in Alabama in 1920. Its introduction into the East was
probably through shipments of alfalfa hay from an infested region
of the West. In the East the beetle spread rapidly by flying in a
general northeasterly direction. By 1932 it was present in all
States east of the Mississippi River, with the exception of Florida
and Wisconsin, and to the north as far as southern Minnesota. Dur-
ing the next 8 years its spread was greatly retarded, infestations being
found only a little farther north in Michigan, New York, and Maine,
and in the South scattered infestations had been reported in the Gulf
region from Florida to Louisiana.
The beetle’s presence and spread in the East was viewed with great
concern by those engaged in the production of beans, as the crop
heretofore had been comparatively free of insect attack. Federal
field research laboratories were established in several sections of the
United States, and one was set up in Mexico, to study the habits of
the beetle and methods for its control.
The beetle was found to be most destructive to garden beans,
occasionally feeding on leguminous crops such as cowpeas and soy-
beans. Two broods of the pest may occur in the northern part of
its range, whereas four will develop in the southern States. The
beetle chooses for hibernation quarters accumulations of fallen leaves
of deciduous trees and pine needles. It will, however, hibernate in
the open fields in the South under crop remnants and dead weeds.
Severe damage to the bean crop occurred as the beetle increased its
range. This damage was usually very severe during the season that
280256—41——24
306 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1940
the insect was found in new territory. The home gardener suffered
particularly from the depredations of the pest.
High temperatures accompanied by drought during the active
season apparently constitute the most important natural factors in
inhibiting the insect’s development. Winter mortality, or survival
of the beetles, is not an index to seasonal abundance, because of the
influence of spring weather conditions on the development of the first
generation.
A parasite introduced from Mexico was successfully reared in large
numbers in the laboratory and liberated in 19 States, but as no re-
coveries were made in the field following these liberations it has been
concluded that this attempt at the introduction of a foreign parasite
was unsuccessful. A large number of other natural enemies have
been reported, but these exert little, if any, influence on the beetle
population.
Magnesium arsenate was developed as a control for the pest, along
with calcium arsenate, cryolite, and sodium fluosilicate. Finally,
the rotenone-bearing roots, such as derris, cube, and timbo, were
shown to be the most effective insecticides. ‘These materials could be
used effectively both in the form of a liquid spray and a powder
or dust.
Although the insect remains an important pest of beans over the
greater part of the Eastern area, its depredations can be checked
by the proper application of the control measures now available.
Smithsonian Report, 1940.— White PLATE 2
1. A SOLDIER BUG ATTACKS THE LARVA OF THE BEAN BEETLE BY PIERCING ITS
BODY WITH A SHARP BEAK AND SUCKING THE BODY CONTENTS.
Photograph by Howard.
Za PARAS Gr RIeye
The adult parasite, Paradexodes epilachnae, deposits its eggs on the body of the bean beetle larva, the newly
hatched maggot of the parasite enters the body of the bean beetle larva and feeds and grows with its host.
However, the host dies as it nears maturity as the result of the parasite’s feeding. Photograph by Howard.
Smithsonian Report, 1940.—White PLATE 3
gee...
bY
1. BEETLES IN WINTER QUARTERS.
With the approach of cold weather the beetles congregate in sheltered locations. Protection afforded by
accumulations of oak leaves and pine needles enables them to withstand the winters more successfully
than other types of materials. Photograph by Howard. .
2. BEANS INJURED BY LARVA OF BEAN BETTLE.
The whitish appearance of the bean foliage is due to the feeding of the bean beetle on the under surface
of the leaves. Damage of this nature naturally results in loss of crop. Photograph by Howard.
Smithsonian Report, 1940.—White PLATE 4
1. EXPERIMENTAL PLOT OF BEANS.
The center rows of beans were protected with an insecticide. The rows to the sides have lost their foliage
from bean beetle attack as they were not treated. Photograph by Brannon.
2. INJURED BEAN FIELD.
The bean plants in this field were left without leaves after being attacked by the bean beetle.
Smithsonian Report, 1940.—White PLATE 5
1. TRACTION DUSTER.
The use of dusters equipped with a special spoon-Shaped nozzle arranged on the end of the outlet tube so
that the dust is directed upward to the under sides of the leaves has proved an effective means of treating
the bean crop with dust. Photograph by Howard.
2. TRACTION SPRAYER.
The use of sprayers with nozzles arranged in such a manner so as to cover the entire plant with liquid in-
secticides has proved more effective than dusters. Photograph by Howard.
Smithsonian Report, 1940.—White PLATE 6
HAND DUSTER, PLUNGER TYPE.
The home gardener will find this type of duster useful in treating small plants with a powder or dust.
Photograph by Howard.
PLANT-TISSUE CULTURES
By Rosert L. WEINTRAUB
Division of Radiation and Organisms, Smithsonian Institution
[With 8 plates]
The living plant may be likened to a great factory in which a
large number of physical and chemical operations are proceeding
simultaneously. In the plant, to an extent even greater than in the
factory, each of these processes may be affected by any or all of the
others and may, in turn, exert an influence upon them. AII the living
parts of the plant respire continuously, day and night, absorbing
oxygen from the air, burning a portion of the living substance or
stored material, and excreting carbon dioxide. From the soil the
roots absorb water and minerals which are then moved into the
aerial portions. In the light the green tissues manufacture carbohy-
drates which are supplied to all the rest of the plant and which are
transformed into building materials such as cellulose and proteins
and into storage reserves such as starch and fat. Many of these pro-
cesses, furthermore, are markedly influenced by environmental fac-
tors such as temperature of the air and soil, humidity, and com-
position of the atmosphere, illumination, and supply of water and
minerals. The particular set of environmental conditions which is
most favorable for a given physiological function is not necessarily
the best for any other process.
Such a bewildering intricacy renders very difficult the task of the
plant physiologist who seeks to gain an understanding of the nature
of the various life processes and the interrelationships that exist
among them. If it were possible to separate mechanically the in-
dividual tissues and organs of the plant and to maintain them under
known and controllable conditions while they continued their normal
activities, an important advance toward an analysis of the problem
would have been achieved. This was first clearly recognized by the
German botanist Haberlandt, who wrote in 1902:
So far as I know, there has been, up to the present, no well-planned attempt
to cultivate the isolated vegetative cells of higher plants in suitable nutrients.
Yet the results of such cultures should throw many interesting sidelights on
the peculiarities and capacities of the cell as an elementary organism; they
should bring into evidence the reciprocal relationships and many-sided in-
fluences to which the individual cells of a multicellular organism are subjected.
307
358 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1940
Incidentally, this statement by a botanist antedates by some years
the first work with animal-tissue cultures, which in the hands of
Carrel and others, has yielded such noteworthy results.
Any definition of just what constitutes a tissue culture must be
arbitrary. For the present it may be convenient to adopt the defini-
tion formulted by White, who considers a plant-tissue culture to be
“any preparation of one or more isolated, somatic plant cells which
grows and functions normally, in vitro, without giving rise to an en-
tire plant.” This would exclude spore cultures, cultures of whole
embroys, or other propagula. It should be realized, however, that
this definition contains a joker, namely, the requirement of “normal”
growth and function; to determine whether growth and function of a
culture are indeed normal may at times be a task of almost insur-
mountable difficulty.
Although it was early realized that tissue cultures might furnish
a very useful tool in the elucidation of many problems, it was not
foreseen how laborious would be the fashioning and sharpening of
the tool for use. This preliminary technical preparation, which has
been attended by many difficulties, has been the objective of most of
the work so far accomplished and it is only in the last few years
that the ground work has been developed sufficiently for the appli-
cation of the method to other problems.
It is of interest to review briefly some of the highlights of the work
of the past four decades.
Although a considerable amount of work was done by Haberlandt
and his students and by other investigators, the early results were
not encouraging. ‘The immediate impetus for recent work has come
from the successful cultivation of excised roots, and the present
account will be concerned principally with this phase.
By one of those coincidences that sometimes occur in experimental
work two investigators, Kotte in Germany and Robbins in the United
States, without knowledge of each other’s work, published in 1922 the
first reports on cultivation of excised root tips in nutrient media.
Curiously enough, both investigated the roots of peas and corn. The
general technique adopted in these experiments and in nearly all
subsequent studies was to cut off the root tip of a seedling which
had germinated under aseptic conditions, transfer it to the nutrient
medium, allow it to grow for a week or two, again cut off the tip
and transfer this to fresh media. This procedure was continued as
long as growth ensued, the objective being to prepare an environment
in which growth would proceed indefinitely. Such continued growth
was not achieved by either Kotte or Robbins, and success was first
attained a decade later by White with tomato roots. Using a liquid
medium containing sugar, a number of inorganic ions, and a small
amount of a water extract of yeast, White has been able to maintain
PLANT-TISSUE CULTURES—WEINTRAUB 359
tomato roots in culture for more than 7 years. Since the roots were
customarily subcultured at weekly intervals, this period represents
approximately 350 transfers. Under the culture conditions em-
ployed, the excised roots elongate at a rate substantially equal to that
of normal intact roots, averaging about 5 millimeters per day and
producing one or two new branch roots daily. At this rate, if one
started a culture with a single 10-millimeter-long root tip which at
the end of one week was divided into seven pieces, each including
a growing point capable of further development, and continued this
procedure each week, maintaining all the subcultures so derived,
there would be produced in 4 months a total length of root equal
to the distance from the earth to the sun. In 7 years the length of
roots produced would be a superastronomical figure: 265 x 107%
miles. The dry matter contained in these roots would be equal to
about 7X10? times? the mass of the earth. This represents an
extent of root system of which any tomato plant might well be proud.
The continuance of growth for such a long period of time proves
that the development of the excised tomato root does not depend
upon any growth substance or hormones which might have been
supplied by the root tip from which the culture was originally
started. Since each of the branch roots produced is capable of
growth at a rate equal to that of the original explant it must be
assumed that these branches have received a portion of any hypoth-
ecated essential growth factor initially present. A simple cal-
culation shows, however, that even if the original root tip consisted
exclusively of such growth hormone molecules, by the end of 5
months of weekly subculturing there would be more subcultures than
the original number of molecules.
The excised tomato root was thus shown to be capable of com-
pletely satisfying its requirements from the materials furnished in
the nutrient solution. It then became of interest to determine just
what the minimum requirements might be. It should be realized
that the solution of this problem is exceedingly laborious. In addi-
tion to the large number of combinations of nutrient media which
must be studied when a dozen or more components are involved, there
exists the possibility that the value of a given constituent may vary
according to the presence or absence of other nutrients. A final
answer must be approached by a series of successive approximations
and generalized conclusions should be reached with considerable
caution. The complexity of the situation has given rise to serious
disagreement among various investigators. With better under-
standing of the numerous factors which are concerned these differ-
ences will doubtless be resolved.
1265 X 107°—265 followed by 290 ciphers,
37x 108—7 followed by 263 ciphers,
360
A particularly perplexing question has been raised by the report
of one group of workers that the carbohydrate requirements of
excised tomato roots may be satisfactorily met by either glucose or
sucrose, while in another laboratory glucose has been found entirely
unsuited for the growth of the same species of roots.
As has been mentioned, a satisfactory nutrient medium consisted
of known substances with the exception of yeast extract which,
although it comprised only one-hundredth of 1 percent of the total
solution, was nevertheless indispensable. Roots placed in nutrient
solution lacking the yeast extract ceased growth within a few days.
Since yeast extract contains a great variety of materials the first
problem was the identification of the substance or substances
responsible.
In 1937, within the course of a few months, workers in three
laboratories announced that the yeast extract could be partially or
entirely replaced by vitamin B,, a substance of which the composi-
tion was known and which can be prepared synthetically. Subse-
quent investigation has indicated that vitamin B,, or thiamin, alone
is not an adequate substitute for the yeast extract and that maximal
growth can be obtained only when additional materials are supplied.
Since there is not, as yet, complete agreement as to the nature of
these additional factors a tabulation of the findings of the labora-
tories which have contributed the bulk of our information on the
nutrition of excised roots is instructive.
ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1940
Bonner Robbins White
February 1937: Vitamin B: com- | March 1937: Yeast extract may | July 1937: Two fractions, active
pletely replaces and is superior to
yeast extract for pea roots.
September 1937: Vitamin B; alone
only partially replaces yeast ex-
tract for pea roots. A mixture of
16 amino acids is capable of sub-
stituting for that portion of the
yeast extract activity which is not
due to vitamin By. The mixture
of vitamin By plus amino acids is
equal or superior to yeast extract.
December 1938: Thiamin plus am-
ino acids is not a complete sub-
stitute for yeast extract. Nico-
tinic acid is also an essential
growth factor for pea roots. The
amino acids are not essential.
October 1939: Pea roots grow better
when supplied with thiamin plus
nicotinic acid than in yeast ex-
tract. Radish roots also require
vitamin B; and nicotinie acid.
Flax roots require viatmin Ry but
not nicotinic acid. Growth of
tomato roots continues indefi-
nitely if the yeast extract is re-
placed by vitamin By plus vita-
min Be but the rate js increased if
nicotinic acid also is furnished.
- +
be partially replaced by vita-
min By; for tomato roots.
Growth is improved by the
addition of supplementary
minera) elements but is still
less than in yeast extract.
July 1937: The entire thiamin
molecule need not be fur-
nished. Equal or better
growth of tomato roots is ob-
tained by supplying the thi-
azole portion of the vitamin By
molecule.
January 1939: Addition of nico-
tinie acid or an amino acid
mixture is of no benefit to
tomato roots supplied with
thiamin. Addition of vitamin
Be increases the growth sev-
eral-fold.
March 1939: Growth of tomato
roots supplied with thiamin
plus vitamin Bes is several
times as great as in yeast ex-
tract. In the presence of vita-
min Be the appearance of the
roots is abnormal. Evidence
of the occurrence, in various
sugars, of an additional, as yet
unidentified, growth factor
has been obtained.
in the growth of tomato roots,
can be separated from yeast.
One of these can be replaced by
a mixture of 9 amino acids; the
other fraction can be replaced
by vitamin B; provided that a
mixture of 12 supplementary
inorganic salts is also supplied.
Yeast extract is not equaled,
however, even by the vitamin
Bi plus the amino acids plus the
accessory salts.
April 1938: Reduction of the num-
ber of accessory inorgani¢e com-
pounds to four (supplying man-
ganese, boron, zine, and iodine)
in a medium containing thiamin
and the 9 amino acids gives
growth of tomato roots nearly
equal to that in yeast extract.
July 1939: No single one of the 9
amino acids isindispensable for
tomato roots and the entire
mixture may be replaced by
glycine which is structurally the
most simple of the amino acids.
For sunflower roots the thiamin
plus glycine medium is far
superior to yeast extract whereas
he roots grow very poorly
in it.
PLANT-TISSUE CULTURES—WEINTRAUB 361
It is becoming increasingly evident that the roots of various
species of plants may differ sharply in their nutrient requirements
and that, in the present fragmentary state of our understanding,
generalizations are unjustified. It is of interest that, while some
success has been had with roots of about two dozen dicotyledonous
species, not a single monocotyledonous root has been grown contin-
uously despite numerous attempts.
Lest a misleading impression be created it should be emphasized
that the root cultures so far discussed are in no sense root systems
but merely rootlets. As they age, these excised root cultures do not
exhibit secondary thickening, as do normal roots, but remain indefi-
nitely in a juvenile condition. Typical cultures of this kind are
illustrated in figures 1 and 2.
In unpublished work of the author a somewhat different objective
has been considered. It has been attempted to produce an excised
root system resembling that normally developed by the intact plant
FicURH 1.—Excised root of tomato. The fragment with which the culture was started can
be distinguished near the center of the photograph. Courtesy of Dr. W. J. Robbins (Bot.
Gaz., June 1938).
362 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1940
rather than to subculture the root tips indefinitely. Partial success
has been attained with the root of the white moonflower (Calonyction
aculeatum). 'This species seems to have much simpler nutrient re-
quirements than any of those mentioned above. A root system, de-
veloped from an excised root tip, which exhibits more or less normal
secondary thickening is shown in figure 3. This root was grown in
a nutrient solution containing only inorganic salts and sugar with-
out any other organic material. It has been proved by analysis that in
such a medium the moonflower root is able to elaborate its organic
nitrogenous constituents, such as amino acids and proteins, from
supplied inorganic nitrogen.
Fieurn 2.—Excised pea roots after continued subculturing. This species branches very
sparingly in culture. Courtesy of Dr. F. T. Addicott (Amer. Journ. Bot., October 19389).
We may now examine briefly some of the problems of plant physi-
ology toward the solution of which the study of excised root cul-
tures has been directed.
In the first place the nutrient studies themselves are beginning
to throw some light on the chemical transformations that occur
in the plant. The three growth factors, vitamin B,, nicotinic acid,
and vitamin B,, which have been claimed as essential, all belong to
the large vitamin B complex. So far as is known at present these
PLANT-TISSUE CULTURES—WEINTRAUB
FicurB 3,—Excised root of white moonflower. Note secondary thickening of the older
portion of the primary root.
364 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1940
all appear to be involved in the utilization of carbohydrates in the
respiration of the living cell. It would seem likely therefore, that
there is considerable similarity among the mechanisms by which this
fundamental vital process is performed in plants and in animals.
It is possible, of course, that those roots which do not appear to re-
quire an external supply of a given growth factor are able to synthe-
size the substance from simpler nutrients which are supplied.
It is very interesting that in the case of thiamin, a mixture of the
two portions of the molecule* is just as effective as the complete
thiamin molecule itself. The root appears capable of synthesizing
the vitamin from these building blocks. Furthermore, the vitamin
B, requirement of the tomato root can be met by supplying only
the thiazole portion; this species seems to have the capacity to manu-
facture the pyrimidine portion necessary to complete the molecule.
The pea root, on the other hand, is unable to do this.
Excised roots have been used also to study the synthesis of vita
min C, or ascorbic acid, in the root. The production of vitamin C
in intact plants appears to be intimately connected with the chloro-
plasts and yet the vitamin is of very widespread occurrence in the
roots and other nongreen parts of such plants in which chloroplasts
are lacking. The question arises whether it is actually manufactured
in the roots or is transported to them from the shoot. Now, excised
moonflower roots develop chlorophyll if cultured in light but not if
grown in darkness. Although they make good growth in the dark,
their content of vitamin C does not increase. In light, however, the
ascorbic acid content increases 400 to 1,000 percent. From this find-
ing, it seems probable that the colorless roots of intact plants do not
synthesize vitamin C but receive their supply from the green tops.
It should be mentioned that there is, as yet, no direct evidence that
this vitamin plays a role in the vital economy of the root.
In recent years there has accumulated a large body of evidence
which indicates that the growth and behavior of various organs of
the plant are regulated by growth-promoting substances or hor-
mones. The problem of the relationship of growth substance to
root growth shows a number of similarities to the vitamin C prob-
lem. Growth substance seems to be present in all roots so far
investigated but, curiously enough, concentrations of growth sub-
stance, or auxin, which stimulate the growth of shoots are inhibitory
to roots. Root elongation may possibly be somewhat enhanced, how-
ever, by extremely dilute growth substance solutions (1 part in 10
billions to 1 part in 100 billions). One would like to know whether
the growth substance is produced in normal intact roots or whether
*The vitamin B,, or thiamin, molecule can be split into two fractions, one consisting of
a thiazole, the other of a pyrimidine grouping.
PLANT-TISSUE CULTURES—WEINTRAUB 365
it is supplied to them from the shoots. A number of growth-sub-
stance studies with excised roots have been carried out but, unfor-
tunately, the results have been conflicting so that a definite answer
cannot yet be given. Since it is established that the excised root
can grow indefinitely without any external supply of growth sub-
stance it must be concluded that if auxins are indeed necessary for
root growth they are manufactured by the root itself. In this
connection it is of interest that the excised root does not lose its
capacity for responding to the force of gravity, a property generally
assumed to be related to the action of growth hormones. The geo-
tropic response of excised corn roots cultured in a solid agar medium
is shown in plate 1. The position of the tubes in plate 1, left, was
altered at intervals so as to change the direction of the gravitational
stimulus; the tubes shown in plate 1, right, were maintained in a
vertical position throughout.
One of the first uses to which excised root cultures were put
was the maintenance of stocks of plant-disease viruses. The roots
of tomato were used for the cultivation of the viruses of aucuba
mosaic and of tobacco mosaic. Such cultures have the advantage of
being free from accidental contamination with other viruses, of
requiring comparatively little space, and of permitting close control
of environmental and nutritional conditions. It is interesting that
the infected roots did not exhibit any symptoms of disease although
the virus multiplied actively in them.
Work along somewhat similar lines was undertaken several years
ago by Lewis and McCoy in an attempt to induce nodulation by root-
nodule bacteria on excised legume roots. Although some nodules
were produced by Rhizobium on excised roots of the black wax bean,
the results were not very satisfactory, owing possibly to unfavorable
culture conditions. The use of the tissue-culture technique would
appear to be of great value for the study of many problems related
to the physiology of nitrogen fixation by root-nodule bacteria since
the nutritional and environmental conditions can be so easily and
so precisely manipulated. In view of the great strides in technique
made since the above-mentioned experiments were performed, a re-
newed attack appears to offer considerable promise.
Of the various applications to which excised roots have been put
perhaps the most striking is the study of root pressure. In these
experiments the basal end of a single excised tomato root was in-
serted into a capillary manometer and the root with manometer was
then returned to a flask of nutrient solution (pl. 2). In this way
4A report of this work, for which the $1,000 prize of the American Association for the
Advancement of Science was awarded to Dr. Philip White in 1937, appeared in the Annual
Report of the Smithsonian Institution for 1938, pp. 489-497.
366 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1940
the rate and amount of excretion of liquid from the base of the
root can be measured. It was found in the first experiment that
the rate of secretion into the manometer was rather large and, sur-
prisingly, that it was the same whether water or mercury was used
in the manometer. Figure 4 shows the results of an experiment
which was continued for a period of 12 days. It will be seen that
the secretion continued undiminished even against a pressure of at
least two atmospheres. It was next attempted to determine how
great a pressure could be developed by the roots. For this purpose
compressed air was applied to the manometer. (See fig. 5.) Since
Apparatus moved
1830 Jaim
Tube
changed Hours
RE TE EO
0 40 80
Figurm 4.—Curve showing the effect of imposing pressures up to 3 atmospheres against
the secretion pressure developed by a single excised tomato root. Courtesy of Dr. P. R.
White (Amer. Journ. Bot., March 1938).
the pressure gage employed could not be used at pressures above
100 pounds per square inch, the experiment had to be terminated
after six atmospheres had been applied; even this pressure did not
bring about any observable retardation of the liquid excretion. It
must be concluded from this finding that even six atmospheres is
so small in comparison with the secretion pressure actually devel-
oped by the roots as to be quite insignificant. But even six atmos-
pheres is sufficient to sustain a column of water 200 feet high, far
in excess of the requirement of any ordinary tomato plant. From
PLANT-TISSUE CULTURES—WEINTRAUB 367
this work it would seem that we have another possible answer to
the old problem of what makes the sap rise in tall trees.
One would like to know a great deal more about this phenomenon:
the nature of the force responsible for the secretion, for example,
and the composition of the secreted liquid; but these must all await
future research. Attention should be called to the very interesting
rhythmic character of the secretion curve. The rate of secretion con-
sistently exhibits a clear diurnal rhythm, being high during the day
and falling off nearly or quite to zero at night. Since the roots
were cultured in natural daylight it is interesting to speculate that
the rhythm is related to illumination, although the tomato roots do
not contain chlorophyll and their growth is unaffected by light.
Pressure uniform
Pressure removed—=—
Ca
FicurRB 5.—Curves showing the rates of secretion of two similar excised tomato roots, one
at uniform (atmospheric) pressure, the other against imposed pressures up to 90 pounds
per square inch. Note the diurnal rhythm exhibited by the curves. Courtesy of Dr. P. R.
White (Amer. Journ. Bot., March 1938).
The present discussion so far has been confined to roots. In a
strict sense these root cultures are not tissue cultures at all but rather
they are organ cultures. It has been mentioned above that a great
deal of the earlier research in the field of plant-tissue cultivation
was concerned with attempts to culture isolated cells and fragments
of other tissues such as parenchyma, epidermis, and various types of
368 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1940
hairs. In general, these experiments may be considered as unsuccess-
ful and it was not until a few years ago that the French botanist
Gautheret succeeded in obtaining actively growing cultures of cam-
bial tissue of various plants. These may be regarded as possibly the
first examples of true plant-tissue cultures.
Without attempting any further review of earlier studies reference
will be made to only one recent research on plant-tissue cultures other
than roots. It has been found by White that small fragments of tis-
sue excised from a plant callus may be cultured on a semisolid agar
medium. Such cultures are illustrated in plate 8, figures 1 and 2.
Except for the production of an occasional scalariform cell no evi-
dence of cellular differentiation or of polarity is exhibited by callus
cultures on such a medium. If, however, a culture that has been
maintained in an undifferentiated state during 10, 25, or 40 weekly
transfers is then placed in a liquid nutrient (the same solution minus
the agar), a marked transformation occurs within a few weeks (pl.
8, fig. 3). Growing points differentiate at the surface of the cell
mass and develop into stems and leaves in exactly the same manner
as in similar calluses when attached to the plant.
The simple expedient of immersing the tissue mass under about 8
millimeters of liquid instead of exposing it on the surface of the me-
dium has thus resulted in a profound alteration of the developmental
behavior. It has not as yet been determined just what factor is
responsible for this effect; the most obvious difference between the
two media is the restricted oxygen supply in the liquid culture. The
significant point in this work is that the capacity for differentiation
of the cells has not been lost but can be suppressed or evoked by
simple technical manipulation. There is hereby opened up another
avenue for the investigation of the developmental potentialities of
the cell.
In this short review it has been attempted to call attention to the
outstanding problems and achievements of the study of plant-tissue
cultures. With the establishment of a secure experimental foundation
one may confidently venture to predict a rapid and fruitful develop-
ment of this phase of botanical research.
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Smithsonian Report, 1940.—Weintraub PEATE.
1. CULTURES OF TOBACCO CALLUS CULTIVATED IN VITRO FROM O (EXTREME LEFT)
TO 10 WEEKS (EXTREME RIGHT).
Courtesy of Dr. P. R. White (Amer. Journ. Bot., February 1939).
2. TRANSVERSE SECTION THROUGH CENTRAL PART OF AN 8-WEEKS-OLD CALLUS
CULTURE.
Courtesy of Dr. P. R. White (Amer. Journ. Bot., February 1939).
3. CALLUS CULTURES.
Left, callus cultured for 20 weeks on a semisolid agar medium; right, a Similar culture grown for 10 weeks
on the agar medium, then transferred for 10 weeks to a liquid medium containing the Same nutrient
materials but without the agar. Courtesy of Dr. P. R. White (Bull. Torrey Bot. Club, November
1939).
THE BOTANY AND HISTORY OF ZIZANIA AQUATICA L.
(“WILD RICE”)?
By CHartEes E. CHAMBLISS
Bureau of Plant Industry, United States Department of Agriculture
[With 9 plates]
For this evening I have assembled some of my field notes on
Zizansa, aquatica, together with some historical data on the species,
which I trust will meet the requirements of this occasion. And this
is my story.
Life was easy for Wenibozho.? His indulgent grandmother, with
whom he lived, demanded no work of him, and in consequence he
passed through his early boyhood days without exhibiting any par-
ticular interest in those things that must be learned and thoroughly
understood by people who depend largely upon self for the necessaries
of life.
At last, the grandmother awoke to the fact that her grandson
lacked the initiative so essential to meet the requirements of their
race, and convinced that her solicitous care was responsible, the aging
woman urged the indifferent youth to prepare himself with a train-
ing that would fit him to endure such hardships as hunger, thirst,
and cold. She told him that experiences of this kind would make him
resourceful and teach him how to care for himself and those who
might be dependent upon him. Probably somewhat irked by these
plain words, Wenibozho later said goodbye to his grandmother, who
for many years had provided him with food and shelter.
Equipped with only a bow and some arrows, he started on a long
journey through the forest. For meat, he had to depend upon the
flesh of small animals. Not because there was a scarcity of animals,
for they abounded in the woods, but because of his unskilled use of
the bow, his kills were few. Therefore, he had to subsist on seeds,
roots, and tubers. Without knowing the plants that could furnish
nourishing food, he naturally made mistakes.
One day when thoroughly exhausted from want of food he heard a
voice saying, “Sometimes they eat us.” He heard this voice several
1 Address of the retiring president of the Washington Academy of Sciences, delivered on
January 18, 1940. Reprinted by permission from the Journal of the Academy, vol. 380,
No. 5, May 15, 1940.
? Gilmore, Melvin R., Prairie smoke, pp. 195-198, 1929.
369
3/0 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1940
times and finally asked, “To whom are you talking?” A small bush
replied that it had spoken. As no part of the bush above the ground
seemed edible, Wenibozho thought that the roots might be good to
eat. He uncovered the roots, tasted them, and liked the flavor of
them very much. Being hungry, he ate many of them and suffered
from overeating. or several days he was unable to travel, and when
he attempted to do so he found himself as hungry as before and
quite weak. As he passed along seeking food, many plants spoke to
him. Wenibozho gave no heed to their entreaties until he was at-
tracted by the beauty of a graceful grass growing in a small lake
basking in the sunshine of the open woodland. Some of these plants
beckoned to him and said, “Sometimes they eat us.” He was quite
hungry now, and observing that the upper part of the plants was
loaded with long seeds, he soon gathered some of them. Removing
the hulls, he ate the kernels and found the taste of them so pleasing
and their effect upon his hunger so gratifying that he exclaimed,
“Oh, you are indeed good! What are you called?” The plants
replied, “We are called manomin.”
These adventures and discoveries of Wenibozho have served as a
foundation for many legends that have been handed down through
generations of Chippewa, Menomini, and related Indians. In their
childhood, this story excited their imagination, and as they grew
older they came to have veneration for this fruitful grass that
provides such palatable and nourishing food.
Manomin,? an Algonquian word meaning “good berry,” is sugges-
tive and descriptive. By most of the tribes of this linguistic stock,
this grass and fruit are called manomin, and by the same name
became known to the early white settlers of the upper Mississippi
Valley. Many common names for this plant came into use when
the French and English population increased in this region. By the
French it was folle avoine, a name most frequently found in the
earlier accounts of that part of North America around the Great
Lakes. The English names for the plant are quite numerous. Such
names as wild rice, Indian rice, squaw rice, Canadian rice, black
rice, Indian oats, blackbird oats, wild oats, and water oats are found
in the literature. This plant, however, is not a species of rice or of
an oat, though the vernacular names so designate it. Some of these
names are only locally used. For example, this plant is known only
by the name of water oats to the older inhabitants living along the
tidal streams in the south Atlantic States.
Among the adventurers who flocked to North America shortly
after Columbus missed his way to India and discovered a new world,
there was a sprinkling of naturalists who came to gather seeds and
8 Jenks, Albert Ernest, The wild rice gatherers of the Upper Lakes. Nineteenth Ann.
Rep. Bur. Amer. Ethnol., 1897—98, p. 1924, 1900.
WILD LIFE—CHAMBLISS SF Al
bulbs of plants that might be useful in the gardens, fields, and forests
of Europe. Probably the most noted among them was Peter Kalm.
Shortly after his return to Sweden he published in 1751 a small
octavo pamphlet of 48 pages,‘ containing “a comprehensive summary
of his observations on the habitat, use, and care of American plants
which he considered of sufficient economic importance to warrant ex-
perimental introduction into Sweden.” In the text Kalm says: “I
have chosen this means to give an index and short account of some
of the useful plants [a total of 126 species] the seeds of which I
brought home wth me from North America where I made a journey
at the command of the Royal Academy of Science.”
In reference to wild rice, which is included in this collection, he
records: “In North America where the plant grows wild, it is used as
food by all the savage nations, who yearly collect quantities. Wild
ducks are particularly delicious when the rice is ripe, for at that time
they live on it almost entirely. If we could succeed in getting this
rice to grow and ripen here we would have gained a great deal, for
the wettest places would become as productive as fields if the plant
would stand our winters. Cattle are more than greedy for the leaves
and stalks. The greatest difficulty will be to find a method of sowing
seeds so they will germinate. We still know very little about nature’s
method of sowing the seeds of plants growing in water.”
This attempt to introduce this wild plant into Europe was likely a
failure, for Lambert, in a paper presented before the Linnaean Soci-
ety of London in 1804, states that “the seed of [this species] Zczania
aquatica in a vegetating state from America was long a desideratum
among the botanists of this country; for although seeds were received
here at different times, yet none of them grew. At last, Dr. Nooth
by the desire of Sir Joseph Banks sent them from the lakes of Canada
put up in jars of water. As soon as they arrived they were sown in a
proper situation, where they came up in a few days and the plants
ripened their seeds extremely well in the autumn.” ‘This importation
of seed was made in 1791.
Resident collectors, among whom may be mentioned Bartram and
Clayton, also aided in this work and in addition supplied the bota-
nists of the continent with material that greatly enriched the herbaria
of many botanical centers of the Old World. In this way a specimen
of manomin, called wild rice by the white man, got to Europe, where
in 1758 it was described and named Zizania aquatica by the Swedish
botanist Linnaeus. Until then the “good berry” plant was unknown
to botanists, although for centuries it had fed many tribes of wild
4Larsen, Esther Louise, Peter Kalm’s short account of the natural position, use, and
eare of some plants, of which the seeds were recently brought home from North America
for the service of those who take pleasure in experimenting with the cultivation of the
same in our climate. Agr. Hist., vol. 13, pp. 84, 48-44, 1939.
280256—41——25
372 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1940
men and for nearly 200 years had supplied the food wants of many
European adventurers.
This grass, indigenous to North America, is found from Lake Win-
nipeg to the Gulf of Mexico and eastward from the Rocky Moun-
tains to the Atlantic coast. Throughout these latitudes, and in
this area where conditions are favorable, it is conspicuous among the
aquatic plants growing in shallow lakes and in slow-moving streams.
In the extreme northern and eastern limits of this region it often
covers several hundred acres. Within its natural range the species
often occupies the small bays of the large lakes, covers the mud flats
on tidal rivers of the Atlantic Coastal Plain, fills the lakelike ex-
pansions of rivers near their source, and grows luxuriantly in the quiet
bends of sluggish streams. It is seldom found in the inland lakes with
no outlets. It grows well on a variety of soils under fresh-water
streams and lakes. Its best growth, however, is made wherever the
plants can anchor themselves in a thick layer of mud, regardless of
the kind of soil.
Zizania aquatica is an aquatic, annual, self-sowing grass having tall,
erect, cylindrical, and hollow stems, which bear the inflorescence and
four to six long leaves with flat blades, conspicuously marked by a
very thick midrib (pl. 4). The slender stems have a comparatively
thin wall, and when seen by transmitted light, they show thin, trans-
verse partitions, dividing the internodal space into compartments,
which gives the stems a light banded appearance.
The stems vary in height from 5 to 10 feet and in diameter from
one-fourth to five-eighths of an inch. The taller plants are char-
acteristic of the tidal flats and the shorter plants of the northern
lakes and streams. Plants with stalks as thick as 2 inches near the
crown are not unusual in southern marshes. In thin stands and
among isolated plants a single plant may have many stems, some aris-
ing from the base of the mother stem, though frequently as branches
from the first and second nodes.
The principal roots are slender, fibrous, and numerous and do not
penetrate deeply into the soil.
The first leaves to appear are long and narrow. In the later and
permanent leaves the basal part known as the sheath is thick and
spongy in structure and completely wraps the stem, thereby adding
much to its rigidity. The sheaths vary in length from 9 to 25 inches.
The blade is the free end of the leaf. In the terminal leaves it may
be 2 to 4 feet long and from less than an inch to 1 inch or more wide.
The inflorescence (pl. 5) is borne on the last node of the stem.
It consists of two parts—an upper, with slender straight branches
bearing the female or seed-producing flowers, and a lower, with
drooping branches bearing the male flowers.
WILD RICE—CHAMBLISS 373
The female flower is very simple in structure, consisting of lemma
and palea that enclose a much-branched stigma and a comparatively
small ovary. The lemma bears a long awn or beard. In the male
flower, there are also a lemma and palea, which are much shorter than
in the female flower. They enclose six bright yellow stamens.
The seed is long and slender and almost cylindrical (pl. 6, A, D).
A thin brown hull made up of the lemma and palea encloses the kernel
and bears a long, stiff, straight awn that is covered with numerous
barbs or bristly hairs. The surface of the hull itself is covered with
similar hairs.
The kernel of the southern plants averages 20 mm. in length and
1.4 mm. in width (pl. 6, #). In the northern plants the kernel has an
average length of 12 mm. and a width of 2 mm. (pl. 6, B). There
is a Shallow groove on the ventral surface of the kernel in which a long
embryo is concealed. When fully matured the kernel is purplish black
in color.
Zizania aquatica has two rather distinct forms, and within each
there are many variants. The form having broad leaves and long
needlelike kernels grows along the tidal rivers emptying into the
Atlantic Ocean and is also found locally in the interior as far north as
southern Minnesota and Wisconsin. The form with narrow leaves
and short thick kernels grows in the upper Mississippi Valley and
eastward along the Canadian border.
In ascending a tidal stream such as the Potomac River, which is
salty or brackish almost to the head of tidal water, the halophytic
vegetation begins to disappear with the appearance of Scirpus ameri-
canus, a fresh-water rush quite resistant to brackish conditions. As
the conditions become less saline, fresh-water plants begin to occupy
the marshes, and principal among them is Zizania aquatica. If the
Zizania marsh slopes gradually into a slow-running stream, several
distinct zones of plants will be present. The deeper water will be
inhabited by several species of Potamogeton, Vallisneria spiralis, and
such free-swimming plants as Lemna and other duckweeds. In
water less than 5 feet in depth, the yellow pond lily may occur.
The next zone is usually narrow and is populated with the pickerel
weed (Pontederia cordata), which grows in approximately 2 feet of
water. Having a very large root system, it is capable of holding its
place in a moderate current and serves as a protection to the adjoin-
ing zone containing Zzania aquatica, the plants of which are not
strongly anchored in the soil. Although such a marsh is inundated,
the depth of water covering it varies with the condition of the tides.
The Zizania zone is broad and usually parallels the stream for
some distance (pl. 3). The luxuriant growth of Zizania aquatica
shades out most of its competitors, leaving it in possession of the
374 | ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1940
land except where the stand is thin on the margin of the stream.
Here straggling plants of Polygonum sagittatum and species of Sagit-
taria and Bidens are sometimes present. On the land side of this
zone the dominant species is 7'ypha latifolia, which under conditions
of less water and greater silt deposit may displace Z7zania aquatica.
The Typha area itself is soon invaded by Peltandra virginica, Iris
versicolor, and several species of Hibiscus and Polygonum. As the
marsh becomes more elevated and drier, shrubs and finally trees be-
come dominant.
In the lakes of Minnesota and Wisconsin, just beyond the zone con-
taining such submerged plants as the Potamogeton species and Val-
lisneria spiralis, the bottom is often thickly covered with plants
having lime-encrusted leaves and stems called stoneworts. The
Zizania area is usually bordered on the outside margin by several
species of Scirpus, never by Pontederia cordata as along the Potomac
River, and on the land side by Carew, though Typha is often present.
During early April in the vicinity of Washington, D. C., the seed-
lings of Zizania aquatica have already emerged from the muck-
covered flats and are strong enough to stand erect when the tide is
out, like seedlings in any grainfield. Within a week or 10 days after
emergence the young plants have three leaves. Growth is slow at
first largely because of the low temperature of soil and water and in-
termittent sunshine. During these days they are strengthening their
grip upon Mother Earth, for good anchorage in the soil at this time
reduces the hazard of being washed away by tides, especially the ebb
flow. The protection of the marginal plants that they have in later
life is lacking now. The plants become more robust as spring ad-
vances, and by June, where the stand is good, the growth gives
the marsh the appearance of a low meadow. In another month the
stems that have been concealed by the enveloping leaf sheaths during
this vegetative growth begin to give some evidence of their existence.
The part of the stem embraced by the sheath of the last leaf is
growing rapidly now and being confined within a narrow space dis-
tends the sheath into a spindlelike appearance. Ten days after the
inception of this condition is perceptible, the panicle, which is the
terminal of the stem, begins to emerge. The panicle emerges slowly,
often requiring 7 days to free itself from this cover. It carries on
its distal end the female flowers that bloom almost immediately upon
emergence. They, at once, are receptive to wind-borne pollen from
nearby or distant plants, for the male flowers of the same plant are
still within the leaf sheath.
The male flowers on the lower part of the panicle hang like elon-
gated bells, which open a few days later, revealing six yellow bodies
like so many clappers, which are filled with pollen that is soon dis-
WILD RICE—CHAMBLISS 375
charged into the air to be carried by the wind to other plants. This
pollen takes no part in the fertilization of the female flowers of the
same flower cluster. The male flowers on long drooping branches
arranged in whorls add beauty and symmetry to this tall, slender,
stately plant attractively dressed with long, broad, hanging leaves.
The slender, flexible panicle, when fully protruded, may be 30 to
50 inches above the terminal leaf. On its topmost branches the seeds
are developing very irregularly. As they approach maturity, which
normally occurs within 15 days after fertilization, the seeds drop very
readily, passing quickly through the water to the mud bottom be-
low. They do not float and are soon anchored in a soft bed by the
many bristlelike hairs on their outer surface. These structures, by
their number and arrangement, serve to fasten the seeds more se-
curely in the mud. Here they lie until the following spring, when the
majority of them germinate.
Zizania seed cannot be kept in dry storage like other seed. To
retain its viability it must be kept in a wet state and at a tempera-
ture that will prevent fermentation and control germination. There
is no harvesting of this seed in eastern United States for human use.
Many birds, however, feast upon it and in so doing assist in the
natural sowing of enough seed to provide for next season’s crop. The
dense brown mat of fallen plants and crumpled foliage, which soon
covers the marsh, will again look green in spring when the young
plants, sprouting from this self-sown seed, push their way through
and above this organic debris.
The birds that feed upon this maturing grain are the bobolinks and
red-winged blackbirds. Late in August and early in September these
birds may be seen in large flocks settling on the plants of Z2zania
aquatica at meal time, which continues throughout the day. The
wading birds, such as the sora, feed upon the fallen seeds that le in
shallow water, or exposed on the ground, when the tide is out. Many
species of diving ducks feed upon the seed that has settled in the mud.
The center of the largest area of this uncultivated grain is in the
region of the adjacent sections of Minnesota, Wisconsin, Manitoba,
and Ontario, which is crowded with alluvial-bottom lakes, serving as
sources of many rivers that for great distances meander through a
flat country and give the landscape the appearance of one immense
marsh. The Fox River, on which the earlier explorers traveled from
the Great Lakes region to the Mississippi River, may be taken as
typical of such streams, filled for the greater part of its length with
Zizania. The Indians ® tell us that this river was made by a mon-
strous serpent that spent the night in the marshes between Lake
Winnebago and the Wisconsin River. Having obtained during the
5° Thwaites, Reuben Gold, Historic waterways, p. 153, 1888.
376 | ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1940
day enough food to satisfy its hunger, this creature at dusk crawled
in among the vegetation covering this low land to sleep off the
lethargy that accompanies a full meal. While it slept, the dew ac-
cumulated upon its body. At sunrise it awoke and shook the moisture
from its back and in it wriggled toward the larger lake, leaving be-
hind a chain of small lakes that now are expansions of the river that
became the waterway to the great Northwest. In his account of
ascending this river in 1673, Marquette says, “The way is so cut up
by marshes and little lakes (pl. 8, fig. 1) that it is easy to go astray,
especially as the river is so covered with wild oats [Zizania aquatica]
that you can hardly discover the channel. Hence, we had good need
of our two guides.”
In many places throughout this region such conditions exist today,
in normal seasons, from the middle of June until the first of October.
When the waters are free of ice, usually about the middle of May,
Zizania seed begins to germinate. Most of it was sown by nature
early in autumn of the preceding year and some of it through accident
by the Indians themselves in spite of their skill in harvesting the
crop.
The seedlings grow very slowly at first, too weak to stand erect
without the support of the water, which not only surrounds but covers
them, often deeply. During this early growth, with their narrow
leaves floating and reaching upward and outward, the plants appear,
when seen from a canoe floating over an old Zizania bed, like so many
hydrae seeking their prey. In less than a month the young plants
push their leaves to the water surface, spreading them upon it in long
streamers, which at a distance upon good light conditions give the
lake the appearance of having a low verdant island. In approaching
small beds of this plant, the emerging leaves could be taken, even at a
short distance, for a thick growth of duckweeds. In this stage of
growth, the plants are greatly exposed to wave action. By it they
may be detached from the soil and brought to the surface of lake or
stream, leaving only open water where a few days before the young
plants give the area the appearance of a green field. Entire stands
covering a hundred acres or more are often destroyed in this way.
When water and weather conditions are favorable, the plants are
strong enough in July to push their stems upward. Because of its keeping qualities, the parched grain is recom-
mended to vacation campers for use in either the dry or boiled state.
In the land of Ten Thousand Lakes where the parched grain is
comparatively cheap and is usually a part of the daily meal, the
woodman has the advantage of the man of the city, who must pay
exorbitant prices for it to cover handling charges and profits. Under
these circumstances wild rice in the city home is seldom used except
on special occasions.
Knowing how some like the grain, we may assume that all would
be just as enthusiastic “ffor each man a handfull of that they putt
in the pott” and would exclaim with Wenibozho, “Oh, you are indeed
good !”
13 Biddle, James W., Recollections of Green Bay in 1816-17. Appendix No. 4. 1st Ann.
Rep. and Coll. State Hist. Soc. Wisconsin for the year 1854, vol. 1, p. 63.
14 Dunbar, Sir George, Other men’s lives, p. 149, 1938.
15 Stickney, Gardner P., Indian use of wild rice. Amer. Anthrop., vol. 9, pp. 115-121,
1896.
Smithsonian Report, 1940.—Chambliss PLATE 1
1. An airplane view of Theodore Roosevelt Island (Analostan Island), located between Memorial Bridge
and Key Bridge, showing the broadleaf Zizania aquatica growing on its shore line, August 28, 1935. Offi-
cial photograph, U.S. Navy.
=
2. A Zizania aquatica marsh on east side of Theodore Roosevelt Island (Analostan Island) viewed from
Memorial Bridge, August 30, 1935.
ZIZANIA AQUATICA IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.
Smithsonian Report, 1940.—-Chambliss PLATE 2
a
1. ANARROW ZIZANIA AQUATICA MARSH ON THE WEST SIDE OF THEODORE ROOSE-
VELT ISLAND (ANALOSTAN ISLAND), DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, AND ON THE OPPO-
SITE VIRGINIA SHORE, AUGUST 20, 1935.
Ww
2. A ZIZANIA AQUATICA MARSH ON THE WEST SIDE OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT
ISLAND (ANALOSTAN ISLAND), AUGUST 20, 1935.
Key Bridge is in the background
“GE6l ‘(OZ LSNODNYV ‘VIEWN10D 4O LOIYNLSIG “IWIHOWAW OINVLIL S3HL ONIDSVA
‘(GNW1S| NV.LSOTVNY) GNV1S] LIAASSOOY 3ANYOCOFRH | AO 3CIS LSV4 NO HSYVW MOYYVN NI YSMOT4 NI VOILVNOV VINVZIZ AVEATOV0ONR SH L
€ 3ALW1d SsI[quIeyYy— Op6| ‘WOdey uURlUOsyyTWUG
PLATE 4
Smithsonian Report, 1940.—Chambliss
x
TYPICAL MATURE PLANTS OF THE BROADLEAF ZIZANIA AQUATICA GROWING IN
T1915.
A POTOMAC RIVER MARSH, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, SEPTEMBER 10,
Smithsonian Report, 1940.—Chambliss
Piz Asii rane
PANICLES OF ZIZANIA AQUATICA
Its natural length is 26 inches. Right, the narrowleaf form.
is 1616 inches.
Left, the broadleaf form.
Its natural length
Smithsonian Report, 1940.—Chambliss Pe Aaiese:
1. A TYPICAL WIGWAM OF THE CHIPPEWA INDIANS USED IN THEIR CAMPS DURING
“WILD RICE’’ HARVEST.
2. NARROW FLAT-BOTTOM BOATS, MADE OF PLANKS AND POINTED AT EACH END,
MADE BY THE CHIPPEWA INDIANS AND USED BY THEM IN HARVESTING “‘WILD
RICE.’’ CANOES ARE ALSO USED.
Smithsonian Report, 1940.—Chambliss PLATE 8
ee tal
AGees
me Ses fe
Pe
1. A SMALL LAKE IN NORTHERN MINNESOTA FILLED WITH THE NARROWLEAF
ZIZANIA AQUATICA (‘WILD RICE’’). AUGUST 1938.
It has the appearance of a low meadow.
2. YOUNG CHIPPEWA INDIANS IN BOATS HAVE JUST FINISHED HARVESTING “‘WILD
RICE’’ IN A MINNESOTA LAKE. SEPTEMBER 1938.
The plants are still erect, and there is no open water to be Seen.
Smithsonian Report, 1940.—Chambliss
fy Bes - “a
etd
~ pa -
. Le *
ee
laggy ;
1. A CHIPPEWA WOMAN PARCHING “‘WILD RICE”’ IN A TYPICAL INDIAN CAMP,
NORTHERN MINNESOTA. SEPTEMBER 1923.
2. ACHIPPEWA INDIAN HULLING (‘‘JIGGING’’) PARCHED ‘‘WILD RICE’’ INA TYPICAL
INDIAN CAMP, NORTHERN MINNESOTA. SEPTEMBER 1923.
PREHISTORIC CULTURE WAVES FROM ASIA TO
AMERICA ?
By DiIaAmMonpD JENNESS
National Museum of Canada, Ottawa
The recent excavations of Collins on St. Lawrence Island and at
other places around the Bering Sea? seem to bring out one very
important point, viz, that there has been no extensive migration
across Bering Strait, unless it be of Eskimo, since the early centuries
of the Christian Era. The Eskimo culture strata in that region show
no profound disturbance such as one would expect from an invading
horde, but rather a gradual change, stimulated to some extent by
Asiatic as well as strictly American influences, but not by the intru-
sion of an alien people. Now Nordenskiéld and others? have proved
that although a few Polynesians may on one or more occasions have
reached the shores of America, there has never been any transoceanic
migration large enough to affect profoundly the physical composition
of the aborigines in the New World or the evolution of their cultures.
We can rule out likewise any immigration by way of Kamchatka and
the Aleutian Archipelago, if for no other reason than that the archi-
pelago has yielded no traces of earlier remains than those of the
Aleutian Eskimo, who undoubtedly reached their home from Amer-
ica. Bering Strait, therefore, was the only route of ingress into this
hemisphere, and the forefathers of every known division of Indians
must already have crossed this strait by the beginning of the Christian
Era.
This conclusion harmonizes well with the results of linguistic
studies. Hitherto we have utterly failed to link up any American
Indian language with any language or group of languages in the Old
World. Thus Rivet’s effort to connect the Hokan dialects of Cali-
fornia with Malayo-Polynesian, and some Patagonian languages with
1 Address of the retiring president of the American Anthropological Association, delivered
at Chicago, Ill., on December 29, 1939. Reprinted by permission from Journal of The
Washington Academy of Sciences, vol. 30, No. 1, January 15, 1940.
2 Collins, H. B., Archeology of St. Lawrence Island. Smithsonian Mise. Coll., vol. 96,
No. 1, 1937.
3 Cf. Nordenski6ld, E., Origin of the Indian civilizations in South America. Comparative
Ethnographical Studies, vol. 9, 1931.
Dixon, Roland B., The long voyages of the Polynesians. Proc. Amer, Phil. Soc., vol. 74,
No. 3, pp. 167-175, 1934.
383
384 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1940
Australian, has apparently found few supporters. Some day we may
succeed in joining up Eskimo with the Ural-Altaic languages and in
proving that the Athapaskan or Déné tongues of North America
are genetically related to the Sinitic tongues of eastern Asia. Such
relationships, however, even if confirmed, must be exceedingly dis-
tant, for we know how little the Greenlandic Eskimo dialects have
diverged from the north Alaska ones, despite a separation of 1,000
years, and how small is the difference, after an equally long separation,
between the Navaho Indian dialect in the Southwest of the United
States and the dialects spoken in the Mackenzie River Basin. Prob-
ably much of the linguistic diversity among the Indians and Eskimo
took place in Asia before their entry into the New World; but the
fact that no American tongue is palpably related to any Asiatic one
strongly suggests that the inhabitants of the New World, barring the
Eskimo to whom I will return later, separated off completely from
those of the Old more than 2,000 years ago.
On ethnological grounds, too, there seems no reason to question
this conclusion, because the traits that are common to Asia and
America, apart from a few that are concentrated near the bridgehead
at Bering Strait, are so widely diffused in both continents that they
evidently carry a very respectable antiquity. Even the resemblances
between the Palae-Asiatics and the Indians of the northwest coast of
America hardly demand a migration in post-Christian times. If
there was such a migration it is more likely to have been from Amer-
ica to Asia by way of the Aleutians and Kamchatka, as Collins has
shown,‘ than from Asia to America; moreover, it was a relatively
insignificant migration that introduced into northeast Asia a few
cultural traits such as labrets, certain forms of stone lamps, a certain
type of house, and perhaps some folk tales, but failed to effect any
far reaching changes. It can hardly account for the much deeper
resemblances, e. g., in physical type and clothing, between the Palae-
Asiatics and some of the American Indians.
For the millennia that preceded the Christian Era, the millenia
that saw the peopling and subsequent isolation of America, ar-
cheology, our safest guide, has afforded us hitherto only one or two
uncertain clues. The main props for our theories have come from
ethnology, linguistics, and physical anthropology, none of which can
furnish more than the vaguest indications of a time sequence. In
founding our theories on these disciplines we are building on shift-
ing sand, and we need not be surprised if the theories topple over
when the spades of the archeologists succeed in uncovering new and
possibly unexpected remains.
‘Collins, H. B., op. cit., pp. 875-378. Also Culture migrations and contacts in the
Bering Sea region. Amer. Anthrop., vol. 39, No. 3, pp. 375-384, 1937.
PREHISTORIC CULTURE WAVES—JENNESS 385
The geographical position of the Athapaskan Indian tribes along
the pathway from Bering Strait toward the Equator, the late date
(about A. D. 1000) when their advance columns reached the South-
west of the United States, the comparatively minor changes in their
dialects from the Mackenzie Delta to Arizona, and the still demon-
strable affinity of their language (if we may trust Sapir) to the
Sinitic tongues of eastern Asia, all suggest that their movement into
America did not long precede the Christian Era. There are faint
indications that they may have entered this continent, or at least
have advanced south from Alaska, in two waves, one considerably
earlier than the other; for it is noticeable that the most divergent or
archaic-seeming dialects (e. g., Haida and Tsetsaut) he on the west
side of the Rockies, where the snowshoe and the wooden toboggan
so omnipresent in the Mackenzie River Basin seem to have been un-
known in pre-European times. There are faint indications, also,
that their irruption into the Mackenzie River Basin created a con-
siderable displacement of other peoples who were occupying this
region at the time, or were located on its outskirts. A recent botani-
cal investigation by Dr. Raup suggests that the grasslands of the
Peace River area, perhaps, too, the forest zone along the northern
edge of the plains, were muskeg land or tundra no longer ago than
2,000 or 3,000 years, and that the present-day bison and moose were
preceded by herds of caribou. Presumably, the Eskimo of those
days extended much farther south than they do now and were pushed
eastward and northeastward by the invading Athapaskans. I in-
cline to think that it was at this period that the Caribou Eskimo
were restricted to their present home on the Barren Lands west of
Hudson Bay; and that a kindred group of Eskimo fugitives occu-
pied the coasts of the eastern Arctic, where they developed that mys-
terious Dorset culture, which extended in prehistoric times from
Newfoundland to Greenland.
In addition to driving out the Eskimo, the Athapaskans may have
dislodged some Algonquian tribes, as Birket-Smith believes, and
started them on a movement that carried them into the Labrador
Peninsula. Certainly the traditions of these Montagnais and Naskapi
Indians bring them from the west, and the strange stone culture dis-
covered by Strong near Nain,® on the Labrador coast, despite its
distinctly Algonquian flavor, seems so alien to them that we may
ascribe it tentatively perhaps to some early group that was later
'Cf. Birket-Smith, Kaj, Folk-wanderings and culture drifts in northern North America.
Journ, Soc. Americanistes Paris, n. s., vol. 22, pp. 26-29, 1930.
® Strong, W. D., A stone culture from northern Labrador and its relation to the Eskimo-
like cultures of the northeast. Amer. Anthrop., vol. 32, pp. 126-144, 1934. Cf. the review
by Wintemberg, W. J., in Geogr. Rev., Oct. 1930, p. 673.
386 | ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1940
absorbed or destroyed by other Algonquians, as were the now extinct
Beothuk Indians of Newfoundland.
I am more reluctant to follow Birket-Smith in attributing to the
Salish Indians of British Columbia an early home on the Canadian
plains from which they were driven westward by the Athapaskans,
because so many traits in Salish culture point to a southern rather
than a Plains’ origin, and their language, even should it prove to be
Algonquian, as Sapir suggests, differs so widely from Blackfoot, Cree,
and other members of that linguistic stock that it surely indicates a
very long separation. Nevertheless, we must not overlook the pos-
sibility that the Salish Indians may have a dual origin, that they may
be an amalgamation of two groups, one of which came originally
from the south, and the other from the Canadian plains.
Shapiro and Seltzer? have pointed out the marked resemblance in
physical type between the northeastern Algonquians (including the
Hurons, who absorbed many Algonquians into their ranks), the
Chipewyan Indians of Lake Athabasca, and large groups of Arctic
Eskimo, particularly those in Coronation Gulf, Smith Sound, and
Seward Peninsula. Now we know that at least the Coronation Gulf
Eskimo, like those of Hudson Bay, dwelt inland only a few centuries
ago. Hence physical anthropology also seems to indicate that the
Eskimo and Algonquians formerly lived in such close contact, some-
where in the heart of Canada, that either the Eskimo freely took
Algonquian wives or certain Algonquian groups adopted the Eskimo
culture, and, under pressure from the invading Athapaskans, moved
northward to the Arctic coast.
It is idle to speculate on the Asiatic home of the Athapaskans or
the route they followed to Bering Strait. Even archeology may
never be able to throw light on this question, because the majority
of their tools and weapons had blades and points of bone rather than
of stone, and bone disintegrates very rapidly. This, at least, is true
of Canada. In Alaska there seems to be a greater wealth of stone
implements, and there, too, we find pottery as far up the Yukon
River as the mouth of the Tanana. Both these traits, however, may
well be due to Eskimo influence, since no other American Athapaskan
tribe was acquainted with pottery unless it bordered on a pottery-using
people.
We may assume, then, until evidence to the contrary is forthcom-
ing, that hordes of Athapaskan-speaking peoples crossed Bering
Strait some time in the first millennium B. C. and forced their way
southward, some by the way of the Mackenzie River, others down the
7Shapiro, H. L., The Alaskan Eskimo. Anthrop. Pap. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 31,
pt. 6, 1931; The origin of the Eskimo. Proc. 5th Pacific Sci. Congr., vol. 4, pp. 2723-2732,
1933.
Seltzer, Carl C., The anthropometry of the western and copper Eskimos. Human Biol.,
vol. 5, No. 3, pp. 312-370, 1933.
PREHISTORIC CULTURE WAVES—JENNESS 387
western slopes of the Rockies until they reached Colorado, Arizona,
and New Mexico. It was they, perhaps, who introduced bows and
arrows and the Mongoloid strain in Pueblo I remains, shortly before
the end of the first millennium A. D.; they, too, who introduced the
snowshoe and other important elements into America, as Birket-
Smith cogently argues—though I find it difficult to ascribe to an
Athapaskan invasion all the elements he includes in the snowshoe
complex, particularly hunting territories, which I suspect are post-
European, and moccasins, cradleboards, bark vessels, and the use of
fatty substances for tanning skins, since these elements occur also
in the extreme south of South America.
Inseparably linked with the Athapaskan invasion are the Eskimo,
whom they partly dislodged, and the Indians of the northwest
Pacific coast, the “totem pole” Indians whose origin and culture still
remain a profound mystery.
Let us consider the latter first. Smith’s excavations in the shell
heaps along this Pacific coast have yielded rather negative results,
although the forest growth proves that some of the heaps were aban-
doned at least 500 years ago and that their lowest levels must be
several hundred years older. They revealed that there was a long-
headed strain in the population that is absent in the modern Indians
of the region; also that a few implements had a somewhat restricted
range, being absent either in the more northern heaps, or in the more
southern. By and large, however, there was little or no indication of
any earlier culture than that which was still flourishing along this
coast in the nineteenth century, although it was originally somewhat
simpler, and more nearly related, apparently, to that found inland up
the Fraser River. Even in the first millennium A. D., then, it was
apparently well rooted in its present home.
As far as their physical type is concerned, the modern Indians of
this area are indistinguishable, Hrdlicka states, from the Gilyak and
other tribes on the Amur River in Siberia; but the affinities of the
earlier, long-headed strain are uncertain.
Linguistic studies indicate that Haida and Tlinkit are greatly
modified forms of Athapaskan or Déné, that Tsimshian is a Penutian
tongue related to some languages in California, while the three south-
ern languages, Kwakiutl, Nootka, and Salish, may ultimately prove
to belong to the Algonquian linguistic stock. This helps our present
inquiry very little, except that it suggests a pressure of Athapaskan
tribes in the north strong enough to impose the language but not to
alter the physical type; and since the Haida and Tlinkit languages are
so unlike each other, and so unlike other Déné tongues, it suggests
also that they originate from the earliest Athapaskan wave and have
undergone considerable changes since, partly owing to their isolation
and partly to the influence of neighboring tongues.
2802564126
388 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1940
The evidence of ethnology is rather confusing. Several traits, nota-
bly weaving with loom and spindle, the sib and moiety system, and
the chewing of “tobacco” with lime, suggest a linkage with the south
and middle America. Others may have developed locally, e. g., plank
houses, special types of twined basketry, the caste stratification, and
the peculiar style of art. A few traits lead us northward; thus the
whaling practices of the Nootka, and the decorated lamplike vessels
of stone that were made by the Coast Salish, find their nearest if not
their only parallels among the Eskimo. Several traits, however, carry
us beyond the Eskimo right into Asia. There is slat armor, dis-
tributed almost continuously through Bering Strait (where it was
used in the first millennium A. D.) to Japan and China; woven hats,
a definitely Asiatic trait; curved fish knives, which recall East Asiatic
curved knives as well as the Eskimo ulo; a musical style that seems
altogether different from that of other American Indians, but, ac-
cording to Barbeau,® so strongly Asiatic that certain songs practically
coincide with northeastern Siberian ones, while others closely re-
semble Chinese Buddhist chants; and a social organization based on
wealth rather than on descent or prowess as elsewhere in America,
an organization that expressed itself outwardly in a potlatch system
strongly reminiscent of Indonesia and Melanesia, and in totem poles
and grave monuments that, despite profound differences, instinctively
draw our eyes to the grave posts on the Amur River. Even the unique
art of this northwest coast may offer a clue, because, as Collins ® has
pointed out, its eye designs resemble those of the mysterious Old
Bering Sea Eskimo and also the eye designs on Chinese Shang Dy-
nasty bronzes of the second millennium B. C. Finally, we have such
close parallels in mythology between the northwest Indians and the
Palae-Asiatic tribes of Siberia that Jochelson went so far as to postu-
late a backward movement of tribes from America into northeastern
Asia.
We might also add in this connection two other elements not found
on the Pacific coast itself but present among the Interior Salish In-
dians of the Fraser River Basin. One is the torpedo-shaped bark
canoe, known elsewhere only from the Amur River in Siberia. The
other is the semiunderground house, distributed all around the north
Pacific Basin from China to the Southwest of the United States but
in so many forms that the genetic relationship of them all is still
uncertain.
We do not know, of course, the relative ages of all these traits com-
mon to Asia and the northwest coast of America. Some may be com-
* Barbeau, Marius, The Siberian origin of our northwestern Indians. Proc. 5th Pacific
Sci. Congr., vol. 4, pp. 2781-2784, 1933.
* Collins, H. B., op. cit., p. 298.
PREHISTORIC CULTURE WAVES—JENNESS 389
paratively modern, others very old. Some may have spread by slow
diffusion, just as tubular pipes and the tobacco (Nicotiana attenuata)
spread northward and reached the Fraser River only a short time be-
fore European occupation; others, again, may have been carried by
amass migration. Two or three of them, however, notably the social
organization based on wealth, the talent for sculpture, and the music
(if this is confirmed) appear so deeply seated that almost involun-
tarily we associate them with some invading people, a people whose
original home lay somewhere, perhaps, around the Amur River. Yet
whether such an invasion ever did take place, and, if so, whether it
preceded or followed the Athapaskan invasion, must remain unsettled
until we know more of the archeology of the north Pacific coast of
America and also of northeastern Asia.
Archeology has made more progress with the Eskimo, the other
people who appear to have been influenced by the Athapaskan inva-
sion. Here I should like to pay tribute to the magnificent work of
Danish scholars, not only the brilliant galaxy still living but the
long line of their predecessors, from Hans Egede in the eighteenth
century, Henry Rink in the nineteenth, to the last and in some re-
spects the greatest of them, the late Knud Rasmussen. Thanks largely
to Danish researches, supplemented by those of the Smithsonian In-
stitution in Washington, we know that behind the modern Eskimo
cultures there are three ancient ones, the Old Bering Sea in the west,
the Thule, which originated in the west but spread over Arctic America
to Greenland, and the Dorset, which was restricted to the eastern
Arctic. The origins of all three cultures still await the results of fur-
ther excavations in both the east and the west. Tentatively, however,
I should advance the following hypotheses, in the hope that they may
stimulate and guide the workers of the future.
In spite of suggestions to the contrary, I still believe that the third
culture, the Dorset, is a genuine Eskimo one that has absorbed certain
Indian traits, rather than an Indian culture that has Eskimoized
itself, for the reason that we know of no Eskimo culture except the
Thule that could have influenced it, and many of its non-Indian
traits are equally non-Thule. Of special significance is the fact that
a few of these traits seem to hark back to a very early Eskimo stage,
because we have no parallels to them except in the far west. Collins *°
has already pointed out that in the Dorset, as in the ancient Aleutian
and Old Bering Sea cultures of western Alaska, chipped stone imple-
ments immeasurably outnumber those implements of polished slate
that are so characteristic of Thule and later times; also that Dorset
art represents a fairly close approach to Old Bering Sea style I.
1° Collins, H. B., op. cit., p. 873.
390 |= ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1940
Let us examine these early eastern and western cultures more
closely. In both the Dorset and the Old Bering Sea, but not in later
remains, we find incurved side scrapers and trapezoidal knives of
chipped chert, small slate implements with rubbed edges that may
have been boot creasers, and rubbing stones of polished crystalline
rock, quartz in the east and basalt in the west. From an Aleutian
shell heap, again, Hrdli¢ka has brought back such typical Dorset
types as small leaf-shaped blades notched on each side of the base,
knives with curving edges like miniature hunting knives, and points
with concave bases, the only difference being that the Aleutian speci-
mens are chipped from crude basalt instead of the more amenable
chert and quartz. One Aleutian knife (?) even has three notches on
each side of the base, as we find on a few Dorset specimens also.??
Now we must not forget that in addition to these special forms
known only from the east and the far west, the Dorset culture pos-
sesses many other old Eskimo traits, such as toggle harpoon heads,
eyed needles and tubular needle cases, chipped end scrapers, polished
stone adz heads and adzlike scrapers, barbed bone fish-spear points,
stone lamps and pots, and even “jumping stones.”** It is true that
some of these objects have peculiar shapes, but there are others hardly
distinguishable from Eskimo types elsewhere. Furthermore, the Dor-
set people possessed in full measure the skill of other Eskimo in carv-
ing bone and ivory, for in 1937 Rowley brought back from Iglulik,
on the northwest coast of Hudson Bay, some excellent figurines of
Dorset manufacture that rival in workmanship similar figurines from
any period of Eskimo history."
In view of all this, are we not justified in suspecting, not merely
that the Dorset culture is genuinely Eskimo, but that it has stemmed
from the same parent trunk as the ancient cultures of western
Alaska ?
If we accept this reasoning, then we must believe that the ancestors
of the Dorset people separated from the western Eskimo before the
flowering of the Old Bering Sea culture about the beginning of the
Christian Era. This would date their entry into Canada not later
than the first millennium B. C., and possibly even in the second mil-
lennium. The closing centuries of the second millennium B. C.
appear in fact the more probable if, as I have already suggested, it
was an invasion of Athapaskan tribes that pushed the Dorset people
4 In the Dorset culture implements of both slate and chert.
47At Kachemak Bay de Laguna found the following Dorset types: Planing adz blade,
chipped asymmetric knife blade with notched tang, one type of harpoon head, needle, and
dart heads barbed symmetrically and asymmetrically on both sides. (Frederica de Laguna,
Archaeology of Cook Inlet, Alaska, p. 213, 1934.)
13“‘Jumping stones” have been discovered in Newfoundland and, more recently, inland
from Hudson Bay, in the territory of the Caribou Eskimo.
% Rowley, Graham, The Dorset culture of the eastern Arctic. Ann. Anthrop., vol. 42,
No. 3, pt. 1, pp. 490-499, July—Sept., 1940.
PREHISTORIC CULTURE WAVES—JENNESS 391
out to the coast of the eastern Arctic; for the Athapaskans them-
selves, as we have seen, must have crossed Bering Strait from Asia
before the Christian Era.
Collins’® has already pointed out certain features in which the
Dorset Eskimo influenced later cultures in the eastern Canadian
Arctic and in Greenland. He has shown that the modern form of the
eastern harpoon head, with its bifurcated base and line holes on the
upper surface, is probably derived from a Dorset type; also that
Solberg’s Stone Age culture in northwest Greenland represents a
mixture of Dorset and Thule elements. Even the physical charac-
teristics of the Greenland Eskimo may have been modified by Dorset
admixture, since Greenland Eskimo skulls (outside of Smith Sound)
resemble those of the old Birnirk Eskimo in the western Arctic (who
were the immediate successors, if not the actual contemporaries of
the Old Bering Sea people) more than they do Thule skulls from
the eastern Arctic, or the skulls of Thule descendants in Smith Sound,
Southampton Island, and Barrow.*®
Let us turn our eyes again to the western Arctic, where Collins
has so brilliantly deciphered the Old Bering Sea culture and traced
its evolution, or devolution, down to modern times. The Birnirk
phase of Barrow appears in his sequence as the immediate successor
of the Old Bering Sea, marking the beginning of the Punuk culture.
It seems rather strange, however, that its characteristic harpoon
heads are made of bone instead of the usual ivory, and that they are
rarely if ever decorated. Like the later Thule-type harpoon heads
also present on St. Lawrence Island, they rest there uneasily as if
they were intruders and did not belong to the strict order of succes-
sion, Old Bering Sea, Punuk, and modern. One wonders, too, why
the Old Bering Sea art should have undergone a slow and gradual
modification on St. Lawrence Island all through Punuk times, cen-
tury after century, whereas at Barrow it vanished completely in the
Birnirk stage.
Can it be that the St. Lawrence material is slightly misleading?
The Birnirk (and its first-born child the Thule) is perhaps not a
direct offspring of the Old Bering Sea, but both may be offspring
of some less advanced culture that flourished on the northeast coast
of Siberia around the mouths of the Kolyma and Indigirka Rivers.
From this region the hypothetical parent culture may have sent its
offspring eastward. One branch crossed over Bering Strait and
proceeded north along the Alaskan coast to Barrow, blazing a trai!
that was followed by trading parties in later centuries; it still main-
4 Collins, H. B., op. cit., pp. 315, 336.
%6Cf. Fischer-Moller, K., Skeletal remains of the central Eskimos. Rep. 5th Thule
Exped., vol. 3, No. 1, 1987; and Skeletons from ancient Greenland graves. Medd. Grgn-
land, vol. 119, No. 4, 1938.
392 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1940
tained connections with the south, however, since Geist” found a
whetstone of Kobuk River nephrite in Old Bering Sea remains on
St. Lawrence Island. The other branch colonized the coastline of
Siberia southward from East Cape and either then or later estab-
lished a few outposts on St. Lawrence Island. Subsequently, I
suspect, the southern colony on the Siberian shore below Bering
Strait, powerfully stimulated by a yet more southern source (ulti-
mately, it may be, from China), revolutionized its style of art, and
acquired perhaps some new elements, such as pottery and the bow
drill, that appear to have been unknown in the still earlier period
T hinted at before, the period when the ancestors of the Dorset people
first crossed Bering Strait onto Alaskan soil and pushed into the
heart of North America.
The reader may say, perhaps, that, like a fecund rabbit, I have
already delivered too large a brood of unsubstantiated theories
(some of them possibly still-born). Nevertheless I hope he will
pardon me if I add one more progeny to the overabundant litter.
In Old Bering Sea remains on St. Lawrence Island Collins found
many dog skulls that had been broken for their brains; and the dogs
were of a smaller breed than those of Punuk and later times. Fur-
thermore, objects associated with dog traction, such as toggles, flat
bone sled-shoes, and whip ferrules, did not appear until the close
of the Punuk period, or roughly 200 years ago, so that evidently the
St. Lawrence islanders throughout most of their history never used
dogs to drag their heavy-runner sleds. In the eastern Arctic, how-
ever, Mathiassen found numerous dog-harness toggles in Thule
remains dating back 1,000 years or so; and the dogs that wore this
harness doubtless belonged to that rather large and heavy breed so
prevalent in the eastern Arctic today. Moreover, the Thule Eskimo,
hke the modern, seldom or never ate them, for Mathiassen remarked
no broken dog skulls in any Thule site. No dog bones have yet been
recovered from an unmixed Dorset site, nor have we found any sled
toggles or harness toggles, though there are some flat, bone sled-
runners. We read in Frobisher’s Voyages,'* however, that in the six-
teenth century the Eskimo of Frobisher Bay, in the heart of the
old Dorset range at the eastern entrance to Hudson Strait, kept two
distinct breeds of dogs, a smaller one for eating and a larger one
for dragging the sleds.
How are we to explain these facts? It seems to me quite possible
that dog traction was unknown to the earliest Eskimo who reached
America, not only to those who remained in Alaska, but to those, too,
who pushed eastward into Canada and later spawned the Dorset
17 Geist and Rainey, Archaeological excavations at Kukulik; St. Lawrence Island, Alaska.
Misc. Publ. Univ. Alaska, vol. 2, p. 190, 1936.
4% The three voyages of Martin Frobisher, pp. 136-137. Hakluyt Society, London, 1876.
PREHISTORIC CULTURE WAVES—JENNESS 393
people, and perhaps also the modern Caribou Eskimo. Both groups
alike, however, kept a small breed of dog for hunting and for eating.
Then, about the end of the Birnirk phase at Barrow, sometime in
the first millennium A. D., a larger, sturdier breed of dog was intro-
duced into Arctic America from Siberia, where dog traction, if not
earlier than reindeer traction, arose as a substitute. About the same
time, too, whaling originated in the same region or was introduced
from Siberia also. Under the combined impulses of dog traction and
whaling certain bands of these north Alaskan Eskimo trekked east-
ward, carrying their Thule culture with them; and in the eastern
Arctic they encountered and merged with the Dorset people. Dog
traction then became general throughout the whole of the Arctic,
though St. Lawrence Island, being in a kind of back eddy, did not
receive it until rather late. The smaller breed of dog in the west and
east became extinct, but in Frobisher Bay a mixed group of Thule and
Dorset Eskimo retained and ate it down to the sixteenth century,
when it disappeared there also.
You will note that I have pictured the original homeland of the
Eskimo, not in America, but in northeast Siberia about the mouths
of the Kolyma and Indigirka Rivers. It would not surprise me if it
were in this region, rather than in northern Alaska, that the Birnirk
culture evolved, and even the subsequent Thule. Yet it is probable
that the homeland as thus defined is far too narrow, that it should be
extended westward. Certainly in post-Christian times there were
Eskimo-like people far to the westward, on the Yamal Peninsula, for
example, at the mouth of the Ob, where Chernezovy has excavated
three of their earth lodges,’® probably also in northeast Russia, since
the kayak and bidarka are reported from that region as late as the
sixteenth century.” If some antecedent to the Old Bering Sea, Birnirk
and Dorset cultures could be discovered on the Arctic coast of western
Siberia, it would vastly lessen the gap, both in time and space, be-
tween the historic Eskimo cultures and those of the epipaleolithic
peoples of northern Europe to which they bear a considerable
resemblance.
In expounding his fertile theory of two culture layers in northern
Eurasia and North America, an earlier coastal or ice-hunting layer
and a later inland or snowshoe layer, Hatt justly signaled out the
Eskimo as belated survivors of the ice-hunting stage who had adapted
themselves to life on the seashore and to the hunting of sea mammals.
If, as I have attempted to show, this adaptation occurred on the
Arctic coast of Siberia, not later than the second millennium B. C. and
Cf. Zolotarey, A., The ancient culture of north Asia. Amer. Anthrop., vol. 40, p. 15,
1938.
* Cf, MacRitchie, D., Journ. Roy. Anthrop. Inst., vol. 42, pp. 498-510, 1912.
394 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1940
probably much earlier, then we should look for its inland predecessor
in that “Siberian pocket” of which Zolotarev speaks, the Barstinsky
Steppes, the upper Irtish, Ob, and Yenisei regions, and the narrow
strip of territory extending to Yakutsk. Quite probably it will prove
to be but one of many cultures, closely alike, that extended during
epipaleolithic and early neolithic times from the Baltic to eastern
Siberia. The snowshoe may have originated on the southern fringe
of this zone, perhaps near the Lake Baikal region. At all events, the
complex to which it gave rise seems to have contributed very little
to the Eskimo cultures until relatively recent times, if we disregard
the pressure exerted by its American carriers, the invading Atha-
paskans, on the Eskimo of eastern Canada. As far as we know today,
the snowshoe itself first appears among the Eskimo in the Thule-age
mound dwellings at Wales, Alaska, which may not be older than 6 or
8 centuries.
I have suggested that pottery, being unknown to the Dorset people,
reached Bering Strait after some of the Eskimo had already entered
America and wandered eastward. Richthofen ** has drawn attention
to the striking resemblances, particularly in decoration, between pot-
tery found at Krasnojarsk and other places in Siberia, and pottery
from the Algonquian or Woodland area in eastern Canada and the
northeast United States. Following up this observation, McKern ”
suggests that “a culture closely related and directly parent to the
Woodland Pattern, with pottery but without agriculture, originated
in Asia, came into America and inland by way of the Yukon and
Mackenzie Valleys, had a special development in a locale centering
just south of Lake Superior to become what is now classified as the
Woodland Pattern, and diffused from that center west, south, and
east to its maximum area limits, which are not as yet well defined.”
There are serious objections to this hypothesis. In the first place
we have no evidence that any of the pottery found in this section of
North America dates back beyond the Christian Era, and in more
than one place, e. g., at Lamoka, we have discovered the remains of
an earlier people who, like the Newfoundland Beothuk, did not use
pottery. Secondly, not a single sherd of pottery is known from the
Mackenzie River Basin or the upper reaches of the Yukon; and the
pottery on the lower Yukon was probably copied from the Eskimo
of the Punuk period. We have every reason to believe that no Atha-
paskan tribe ever made pottery unless, like the Sarcee, it was in close
contact with a pottery-using people. It is true that we have found
2 Richthofen, B. Frhr. V., Zur Frage der archiieologischen Beziehungen zwischen Nord-
amerika und Nordasien. Anthropos, vol. 27, pp. 123-151, 1932.
22 McKern, W. C., An hypothesis for the Asiatic origin of the Woodland culture pattern.
Amer. Antiquity, vol. 3, pp. 138-143, 1937. Cf. also Fewkes, V. J., Aboriginal potsherds
from Red River, Manitoba. Ibid., pp. 143—155.
PREHISTORIC CULTURE WAVES—JENNESS 395
sherds at a few sites along the southeastern fringe of the Mackenzie
Basin—at Isle 4 la Crosse, Reindeer Lake, and Cree Lake—but only
within the range of Cree penetration, and the sherds themselves
resemble Woodland pottery from eastern Canada. In view of the
vast potteryless gap separating this Woodland area from the Alaskan
Eskimo, and the comparative lateness of pottery, apparently, in the
Woodland area itself, it would seem more reasonable to believe that
the latter acquired the idea of making pottery from the pottery-
making peoples bordering them on the south than to connect them
with the Krasnojarsk and other Siberian cultures so far removed
in space, if not also in time. As long as the highway from Asia to
America—that is to say, all Alaska outside the Eskimo area, and the
whole of northern and western Canada—yield no sherds, we should
cling to the theory that American pottery evolved quite independ-
ently of pottery in the Old World.
Beyond the second millennium B. C. we enter a realm of twilight,
where ethnology almost ceases to flicker and archeology provides
only one or two faint gleams to light our path. From the Gobi
Desert in Mongolia, were Nelson discovered a preneclithic micro-
lithic culture of Azilio-Tardenoisian character, and Afontova on the
Yenisei, where Von Merhart ** suspects a microlithic station, we jump
to the Amur River, whence other microliths are reported,” and from
there to Fairbanks, Alaska, where microliths unearthed on the uni-
versity campus seem to Nelson identical with his Mongolian finds.”
Can it be that these mark a culture movement from Asia into America,
and not merely a culture movement, but a movement of peoples?
Still more recently, and from Fairbanks also, it is reported that a
stone spearhead resembling a Yuma type was found embedded in a
small mastodon.?7. Now Yuma points are closely related to the Folsom
complex, the oldest yet known in America, dating from a period when
the camel, the mammoth, the mastodon, and other animals now ex-
tinct were still comparatively abundant. Because we have hitherto
discovered no trace of this complex outside of the United States and
the Canadian prairies, certain writers have suggested that it is a purely
North American development. As Nelson ** points out, however, we
must continue to assume that its ancestry lies in the Old World until
we find in North America a still older and more primitive industry
% Berkey, C. P., and Nelson, N. C., Geology and prehistoric archaeology of the Gobi
Desert. Amer. Mus. Nov., No. 222, 1926.
% Von Merhart, Gero, The palaeolithic period in Siberia: Contributions to the prehistory
of the Yenisei region. Amer. Anthrop., vol. 25, pp. 45-46, 1923.
2 Sovietskaya Archaeologiya, No. 1, quoted in Antiquity, Dec. 1937, p. 497.
26 Nelson, N. C., Notes on cultural relations between Asia and America. Amer. Antiquity,
vol. 2, pp. 267-272, 1937.
27 Amer, Antiquity, vol. 3, p. 188, 1937.
78 Nelson, N. C., Amer. Antiquity, vol. 2, p. 320, 1937.
396 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1940
from which it can be derived. This Yuma-like spearhead at Fair-
banks should encourage us to search for the complex farther north and
west, right into Asia itself.
The Fairbanks discoveries are intriguing from another standpoint.
They appear to disclose one of the stations on man’s journey from the
Old to the New World, thereby enabling us to map out his route.
Many Eskimo have journeyed from Bering Strait round the Arctic
coast of Alaska to the Mackenzie River Delta, following a route that
was probably open in early postglacial times also. It may, indeed,
have been easier at that period than today, for the climate was per-
haps milder and the Mackenzie Delta not quite so far north. The dis-
coveries at Fairbanks seem to indicate, however, that some at least
of the early migrants passed up the Yukon Valley, crossed to the
eastern side of the Rockies (probably over the low divide at the head-
waters of the Liard River), and traveled down the eastern foothills
of the mountains into the United States. Some of the later migrants
may have traveled down the western side of the Rockies also, but in
early postglacial times this route was probably blocked by ice.
MASKED MEDICINE SOCIETIES OF THE IROQUOIS
By WItiIAM N. FENTON
Bureau of American Htinology
[With 25 plates]
INTRODUCTION
The Iroquois of New York and Ontario are among our oldest
reservation Indians. Since the Revolution they have occupied di-
minishing areas within their ancient domain, and during the last
century their settlements have been within marketing distance of
large white trading centers that have become important eastern
cities. It is a curious circumstance that Iroquois culture has not
entirely disappeared in the face of our own civilization. Perhaps
this is because it is only recently that the cities have grown and
reached out to engulf the reservation communities. The older In-
dian people complain increasingly that the modern generation are
failing to learn Indian languages or participate enthusiastically in
tribal ceremonies. Nevertheless, within a day’s journey from New
York City there survive five conservative Iroquois communities in
which, semiannually in spring and fall, the faithful leaders of the
Society of Faces manage to muster enough ragged zealots to wear
wooden masks and drive disease from their houses. The ethnolo-
gist may then, if he chooses, witness ancient ceremonies almost in
his dooryard without going to the Southwest.
Longhouse groups—The conservative Iroquois communities are
located near the centers where Handsome Lake, the Seneca prophet,
preached during the first 15 years of the nineteenth century, and on
the reserves to which his disciples emigrated. These “real” or
“longhouse people” live clustered about a dance house or ceremonial
structure, called the longhouse, where they gather for social and
religious purposes. The longhouse fires yet burn on the Onondaga
Reservation near Syracuse (pl. 1, fig. 1) and on the three Seneca
reservations neighboring Buffalo. The so-called Pagan Senecas
kindle their fires at Tonawanda, at Coldspring on the Allegheny
River, and at Newtown on Cattaraugus Reservation. Descendants
of the Iroquois who moved west of the Niagara River into Can-
ada at the close of the Revolution to settle along the banks of
397
398 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1940
the Grand River in Six Nations Reserve comprise four bands
of Handsome Lake’s adherents. The Upper Cayuga have their
longhouse at Soursprings, Onondaga longhouse stands by Macken-
rAT) “Creek opposite Middleport (pl. 1, fig. 2), nearby is the third
or Seneca longhouse with a congregation of mixed Onondaga, Cayuga,
and Seneca descent, and the fourth longhouse is down below Peter
Atkins’ corners among the stronger band of Lower Cayuga. The
Oneida near St. Thomas, farther west, have a longhouse, but neither
among the Oneida, who early came under New England Christian
influence, nor among the Catholic Mohawks of the St. Lawrence,
who have recently been missionized from Onondaga, is there any
great number of longhouse people.t. As might be expected, the rituals
of the masked shamanistic societies are best preserved in the more
conservative centers of the Seneca and among the mixed Onondaga
and Cayuga of Grand River.
Ethnological importance of collections —Wooden masks from the
Iroquois that are prominently displayed in eastern museums have
considerable ethnological importance as well as popular appeal.
Lewis H. Morgan seems to have been the first to collect Iroquois
masks, and the literature on the so-called False-faces begins with
his publication in 1851 of a line drawing of a mask, which he had
acquired among the Onondaga of Sonne together with a terse
statement of beliefs regarding the False- ee “ihe organization of
the band, a reference to their preventing a cholera epidemic at Tona-
wanda in 1849, a description of their curing activities, and the dep-
redations committed by small thieving boys disguised as False-faces
at the Midwinter Festival.2 Although J. V. H. Clark made some-
what earlier observations of the False-faces in the Onondaga Mid-
winter Festival of 1841,° the articles by DeCost Smith, the artist,
are more reliable as source materials.* Smith drew the attention of
the Reverend William M. Beauchamp to the function of the masks,
which he had discovered in an Indian’s attic, and to the problem of
their antiquity among the Iroquois.’ Besides his articles, Smith exe-
cuted a series of animated illustrations which he deposited with his mask
1For a map and summary of populations of reservations and settlements of modern
Iroquoian peoples see the author’s recent paper, Problems arising from the historic north-
eastern position of the Iroquois. Smithsonian Misc, Coll., vol. 100, pp. 214-215, 1540.
2? Morgan, L. H., League of the . . . Iroquois, vol. 1, pp. 157-160, 204-205, New York,
1901.
®Clark, Joshua V. H., Onondaga; or reminiscences of earlier and later times, vol. 1,
p. 57, Syracuse, N. Y., 1849.
¢Smith, DeCost, Witchcraft and demonism of the modern Iroquois. Journ. Amer. Folk-
lore, vol. 1, pp. 184-194, 1888 y Additional notes on Onondaga witchcraft and Ho ®-do’-i.
Ibid., vol. 2, pp. 277-281, 1889.
* Beauchamp, William M., Aboriginal uses of wood in New York. New York State Mus.
Bull. 89, p. 187, 1905.
IROQUOIS—FENTON 399
collections in several museums.° Somewhat later David Boyle, of To-
ronto, was stimulated to make similar observations of the False-face
ceremonies among the Iroquois of Grand River and to publish brief
notices of his collecting activities.?. His collections now repose in the
Royal Ontario Museum of Archaeology in Toronto along with the
Chiefswood Collection of Pauline Johnson, the Mohawk poetess.
Several large study collections resulted from the activities of
Harriet Maxwell Converse, a poet and journalist, who during the
years 1881 to 1903 was an enthusiastic collector of Seneca Iro-
quois materials. Her success was partly due to adoption by the
Senecas and later by the Onondagas, who installed her as an honor-
ary chief of the Six Nations. There are over 100 Converse masks
in the New York State Museum (in Albany), and others in the
Peabody Museum of Harvard University and in the American
Museum of Natural History (New York); and Joseph Keppler, her
successor among the Seneca, has deposited his mask collections in
the Museum of the American Indian. However, Converse’s brief
published utterances on masks (1899 and 1908) and the accession
records which sometimes accompany her collections make one sus-
picious of her field work. There are poetic titles for the masks,
suggesting fanciful roles, such as “war and scalp, clan, maternity,
bird, pipe-smoker’s, sun-rise, dead chief, etc.,” that no field worker
among the Iroquois since her time has substantiated.
M. R. Harrington,? who visited the Canadian Iroquois in the
summer of 1907, turned over to the American Museum gratify-
ingly full accession records which suggest only a few rather general
mask types that agree with the findings of Morgan, Smith, Parker,
and the writer. Even Parker himself, who had access to Mrs.
Converse’s notes and to some of her informants, found only four
classes of masks based on function. We conclude, therefore, that
Mrs. Converse wrote into the records more than she was told, or
that she posed leading questions to willing informants who politely
assented.
®The Onondaga Historical Society of Syracuse has the masks that Smith presented to
Beauchamp, but the American Museum of Natural History has the masks that he published
and his drawings. Following his recent death, his remaining collections were divided
between the latter institution and the Museum of the Amercan Indian, Heye Foundation.
7 Boyle, David, Society of the False Faces, Ontario Arch. Rep. 1898, pp. 157-160, 1898;
and Iroquois medicine man’s Mask. Ibid., 1899, pp. 27-29, 1900.
® Converse, H. M., and Parker, Arthur C., ed., Myths and legends of the New York
State Iroquois. New York State Mus. Bull. 125, pp. 17-29, 1908.
®° Harrington, M. R., Some unusual Iroquois specimens. Amer. Anthrop., n. s., vol. 11,
No. 1, pp. 85-91, 1909.
20 Parker, A. C., Secret medicine societies of the Seneca. Amer. Anthrop., n. s., vol. 2,
No. 2, p. 179, 1909.
400 § ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1940
The False-faces raise some problems of theoretical importance.
We may, as Goldenweiser suggested,? consider the wood-carving
process from the standpoint of technique and artistic styles; or we
may consider the organization of the Society of Faces (the False-face
Company) and its relation to other medicine fraternities and show
how their function is in turn patterned by the concept of reciprocal
services between the dual division of Iroquois society. Thus every
ceremony is conceived as being given by one half of the tribe for its
cousins, the opposite half.
Finally, when we speak of masks, we must always remember, as
Hewitt # stoutly insisted, that the “Faces” are really “likenesses,”
in the sense that they are portraits of mythological beings, and they
are not masks for the purpose of concealment. The mask itself is
only a symbol which operates on the principle of substituting a part
for the whole, and the wearer behaves as if he were the supernatural
being whom he impersonates. These supernaturals are Wind or Dis-
ease Gods of two classes and several varieties, and they are por-
trayed by wooden or husk faces that are described in the myths,
but their human counterparts show a great deal of individual
variation.
The need of an adequate study—Our extensive collections of Iro-
quois masks are frequently undocumented or labelled so as to con-
form to rather dubious sources and in direct contradiction to the
concepts which the Iroquois themselves hold regarding the masks
and their function. Instead of catalog entries, the masks are at-
tended with a lore that has come down through successive curators
as to their supposed function. It is therefore not strange that the
functions which have been ascribed to the masks on the basis of
their appearance and the classification that has grown up in the
museum differ from the ideas entertained by the Iroquois who still
use them. At some time in the past two streams of culture have
diverged, and I feel that the Iroquois have been the less speculative
and therefore the more trustworthy custodians of tradition. That
such confusion exists in the face of a rather extensive literature on
prof. A .A. Goldenweiser and F. W. Waugh studied the Iroquois at Grand River for
the National Museum of Canada following 1912. Masks interested both men: their
role in society and the development of artistic styles intrigued Goldenweiser, the sociol-
ogist; while for Waugh, masks were part of material culture. Both men joined forces
to record the carving process. Goldenweiser, A. A., On Iroquois Work, 1912. Summ. Rep.
Geol. Sury. Canada for the calendar year 1912, pp. 474—475.
uJ. N. B. Hewitt during many years of field work was interested in the problem of the
“Faces.” His informants, Chiefs John A. Gibson, Joshua and John Buck, Jr., were the
best available among the Iroquois of Grand River. Neither his publications (Seneca
fiction . . . (with Jeremiah Curtain), 32d Ann. Rep. Bur. Amer. Ethnol., pp. 61, 67,
1918; Iroquoian cosmology, pt. 2, 43d Rep. Bur. Amer. Ethnol., pp. 533, 610, 1928;
The culture of the Indians of eastern Canada, Expl. and Field-work Smithsonian Inst. in
1928, p. 182, 1929; and ibid., 1929, p. 201, 1930) nor his manuscripts on the Faces
provide the least support for Mrs. Converse’s imaginative titles.
IROQUOIS—FENTON 401
the so-called False-faces only serves to emphasize the need of an ade-
quate monograph. Such a study would require a description and
classification of masks in terms of the myths in which they figure
and in terms of the rituals in which they participate. It would be
interesting to know whether this classification agrees with a typo-
logical classification based on the masks themselves. It is important
to know how individuals join the Society of Faces. How is the So-
ciety organized internally, and how is it related to other Iroquois
medicine societies? This requires a detailed account of the rituals
and a study of its ceremonial equipment and procedure. Finally an
estimate is needed of the importance of masked shamanism in Iro-
quois life, and of its position in the ethnographic perspective of the
Northeast.
Some years ago while engaged in field work among the Seneca I
approached these problems in a general paper.** Its publication
elicited rather unexpected responses representing a wide range of
reading interests outside of ethnology, and it soon went out of print.
Masks evidently hold an especial fascination for dramatists, sculptors,
and decorators, and a great variety of hobbyists; while shamanism has
implications for medicine and all those professions that hem in the
periphery of the human psyche.**
Purpose-——TYhe present paper attempts several things. First, it
revises the original statement in an effort to clarify the unsolved
problems that hung over from the first paper. Second, it includes
new information from further field work among other Iroquoian
groups and from the study of museum collections that were not
available to me in 1935. Finally, it republishes the original mate-
rials together with the results of recent studies and makes them
available to a wider public.
Problems——The problems that confront us in the present study
are essentially those of the relationship of mental stereotypes and
overt behavior. First, what are the formal types of masks and how
do the Iroquois classify them? 'To what extent do the mask types
reflect cultural stereotypes given in mythology; and, conversely, to
what extent are the formal character of spirits in the myths, and the
shapes they assume in dreams and visions, projections into the spirit-
18 Fenton, Wm. N., The Seneca Society of Faces. Sci. Monthly, vol. 44, pp. 215-238,
March 19387.
144A number of general papers on masks and shamanistic societies have appeared. The
relation of ‘“Masks and moieties as a culture complex” has been considered by A. L. Kroeber
and C. Holt (Journ. Roy. Anthrop. Inst. Great Britain and Ireland, n. s., vol. 50, pp.
452-460, 1920). Clark Wissler has made good use of the Iroquois material in a general
paper on masks (The lore of the Demon Mask. Nat. Hist., vol. 28, No. 4, pp. 339-352,
1928), and Kenneth Macgowan and Herman Rosse (Masks and demons. Harcourt, Brace
& Co., 1923) have discussed the relations of masks to the theater, reflecting the rather
wide interest in the subject outside of anthropology.
402 § ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1940
world of the grotesque wooden masks worn by human beings?** If
there are local styles of carving, we must consider how the individual
learns to carve and the opportunities for the free play of his whims
in devising new forms. There is always the problem of disregard
of native theory in ritual practice. Thus, if there are formal dis-
tinctions between mask types, based on myths, the members of the
society may not consistently use the same mask always to portray the
same being, or to perform a consistent function in a ceremony. The
history of masked shamanism among the Iroquois may help explain
the relationship of the Society of Faces to the other medicine soci-
eties, the orders of membership, and the form and content of the
masked rituals.
Method.—This study was first of all an attempt to find out the
meaning and uses of masks in museum collections. I went to the
Seneca at Allegany in 1933 with a series of photographs of masks that
had been collected among them. Informants expressed great inter-
est in pictures of their handiwork and they identified various masks
as belonging to individuals who employed them in certain ceremonies,
and I recorded these comments togethed with the Seneca names for
various mask types. This procedure led to a number of myths and
folk tales involving the masks, which I took down. The method was
not standardized or controlled, but it was repeated with several
informants who checked each other.
Direct information was solicited of all informants on origin
myths and their personal histories as members of the Society of
Faces. Case histories of members disclosed information on illnesses,
membership through dreams and visions, hysteria, and accounts of
participation in cures, as well as lengthy descriptions of the rituals.
Actual rituals of the masked societies were observed during field
trips to the Seneca of Allegany and Tonawanda, and to the Onondaga
outside Syracuse, N. Y.; 1° while only descriptions of the Cattaraugus
Seneca and Canadian Iroquois masked ceremonies were obtained.
However, observation provides only background for questioning be-
cause one observes both significant and accidental detail, and not until
an informant describes the same performance does the ethnologist
appreciate what the ceremony actually means to participants. Other-
wise, the observer makes a complete but spurious record of behavior,
and he fails to grasp what is culturally meaningful. A motion pic-
18 Goldenweiser, A. A., Early civilization . . . pp. 231-232, New York, 1922.
16 Field work among the Seneca at Allegany from June to September 1933, and January—
February and July and August 1934, was conducted for the Institute of Human Relations
at Yale University. Two and one-half years at Tonawanda for the U. S. Indian Service
afforded ample opportunity to witness the masked ceremonies. Recently, two seasons of
field work among the Seneca of New York and among the Cayuga-Onondaga of Six Nations,
Ontario, for the Bureau of American Ethnology have yielded much additional infor-
mation.
IROQUOIS—FENTON 403
ture record of the ceremonies would have the same weakness. Only
during the last season have I been permitted to photograph the False-
face ceremonies, but here again it has been more successful to have
selected informants compose a series of what they consider the essen-
tial phases of a curing ritual. While the camera freezes character-
istic posture and gesture, it also catches the contemporary scene. For
this reason I had a young Seneca artist, Ernest Smith, of Tonawanda,
make some illustrations of the False-face ceremonies, as he imagined
they might have been performed a century earlier. At the same time
he was executing an extensive series for the Rochester Museum of
Arts and Sciences and his work entailed consultation with my older
informants. Smith’s illustrations, therefore, are to the photographs
as informant descriptions are to the ethnologist’s observations. They
stand in the relationship of ideal patterns, cultural concepts, to
actual practice.
Observation coupled with photography is particularly rewarding
in studies of material culture. In this way I recorded the technique
of mask making at Tonawanda, Coldspring, and Grand River, noting
positions of work and ways of handling tools. Out of this emerged
the best material on artistic styles, the role of the individual in devis-
ing new forms, education in handicrafts, and the tyranny of local
canons of art. The whole mask-making process, which was formerly
ritualized, is still hedged in by the fragments of a broken-down cere-
monial procedure.
Because up to 1937 my data on mask types contained nothing com-
parable to the poetic titles that Converse had given to her masks, it
seemed advisable to study her extensive collections in Albany and
New York. I employed the technique of recording on slips informa-
tion on a selected series of criteria that increased or narrowed as the
study progressed, such as color, form of chin, mouth, nose, presence or
absence of supplementary wrinkles and superorbital ridges, spines on
nose bridge, shape and method of attaching tin eyes, presence of
tobacco bags; and on the back: number of holes for head and hair
attachment, indications of use, carving methods, species of wood, and
other noteworthy features. Then each specimen was photographed
with the aid of a copy stand, and negatives were cataloged serially
to agree with data sheets and the museum catalog. Over 100 masks
were examined at the New York State Museum, 6 at the Montgomery
County Historical Society, Fort Johnson, N. Y., 24 at the Royal
Ontario Museum of Archaeology, Toronto, and 16 of the older masks
in the Rochester Museum of Arts and Sciences. Only 35, a small
part of the extensive collections of the Museum of the American In-
dian, were examined at the Annex during 1 day, and photographs
have been obtained subsequently of specimens on permanent exhibit
280256—41 27
404 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1940
which it was not advisable to disturb. Other photographs have been
generously supplied by Dr. W. C. McKern, of the Milwaukee Public
Museum, the Peabody Museum at Harvard University, which I was
unable to visit, and the United States National Museum, the National
Museum of Canada, and the American Museum of Natural History.
In using photographs for sampling the knowledge of informants,
I did not succeed in devising a controlled technique for testing and
recording their attitudes toward the pictures. All informants re-
garded pictures of masks with great interest, and frequently with con-
siderable amusement which they often shared with passing Indians;
and the amount often varied with the horrific appearance of the mask
and its supposed power, or sometimes as it furnished an excellent cari-
cature of some local personality.17 The Iroquois are both amused and
awed by these pathetically humorous portraits of supernatural disease
beings who so dominate their dream life. Nevertheless, if we did not
obtain from all informants a consistent appraisal of mask types, very
often an informant would recognize the picture as of a mask that he
had made or one that he had seen in some ceremony, and all these
incidents provided grist for our mill.
The pictures should prove of further value in segregating formal
mask types and art styles by localities. It is possible to analyze the
masks and plot the distribution of characteristic features, such as
mouth shape, bent nose, spines on forehead, and presence of supple-
mentary wrinkles. This is one way of establishing local and tribal
styles. We compare these with concepts of informants and discover
that much of formal art exists on the level of unconscious behavior
patterns.
The practice of recording extensive texts in the native language of
myths, prayers, and even accounts of individual participation in cul-
ture, has become a bit unfashionable of late in ethnology. This is
partly because the texts often became an end in themselves, or they
remained unpublished because the authors were not satisfied that they
were accurately translated, or they reached such proportions that the
translation became an impracticable ordeal, and the recorders passed
away before the end was achieved. Nevertheless, in the study of
ceremonies there is no substitute for texts in the native language. Very
often the prayer texts contain archaic words that are the keys to
unlock concepts that are not verbalized by contemporary members
of society. Therefore, apart from any interest in linguistic research,
I early discovered that I had to record texts to get at the ethnological
materials which I was seeking. Thus from our texts we derive a
name for the “sponsor” of medicine society ceremonies which we recog-
17Miss Marjorie Lismer, who was eooperating in the same study, encountered similar
reactions.
IROQUOIS—FENTON 405
nize in a similar form in the writings of the seventeenth century Jesuit
missionaries, and from this we infer that the present role of “sponsor”
has a historical depth of 300 years and that it is probably aboriginal.
This helps to explain why the business of feast-making permeates
all of Iroquois ceremonialism."*
Finally, to place the complex of Iroquois masked shamanism in
ethnographic perspective the comparative method might be employed.
Tf we can show that the complex has a historical depth reaching back
to the first white contacts with the Iroquois, it would be relevant to
investigate whether the Iroquois possess the complex in a greater degree
of detail than their Algonquian neighbors. If we could determine
the center whence masking spread throughout the northeast, some
light might shine on the problem of whether Iroquois masking is a
diagnostic trait pointing to their alleged southern origin, or whether
it is related to northern shamanism and the use of masks across the
Arctic littoral, or whether the complex was original with the Iroquois
themselves from whom it spread to the neighboring Delaware. How-
ever, it is beyond the scope of this present paper to do more than stake
out this problem.
MASK TYPES
The wooden masks or False-faces—A few museum visitors may
appreciate that the weird human likenesses which mock them from the
showcases are actually memorials to generations of nightmares. They
are wooden portraits of several types of mythical beings whom the
Iroquois say only a little while ago inhabited the far rocky regions at
the rim of the earth or wandered about in the forests. The Seneca
term for mask is “Face” (gagéhsa’); but the Onondaga more often
call him ‘‘Hunchback”’ (haduw’ ’1’, or hedo: ‘wi’ (;!° while the Mohawk
are satisfied to use the term “Face” (gagu’’wara(; and so they are
called “False-faces” in the literature, and in “reservation English.”
Iroquois hunters, when traveling, frequently met strange, quasihuman
beings who darted from tree to tree in the forests and who frequently
appeared to be disembodied heads with long, snapping hair. They
agreed not to molest human beings, saying that they merely wanted
Indian tobacco (Wicotiana rustica L.) and mush to be made from
the white corn meal which hunters and warriors carried. However,
the being with the wry mouth and broken nose, whom the Seneca call
“Great defender” (s‘agodyowe’hgo'wa’), ‘The great humpbacked
one” (hadu’i’ go: ’na‘) of the Onondaga, has appeared to few human
%¥For an elaboration of this method, see Sapir, E., Time perspective in aboriginal
American culture... Canada Geol. Sur., Mem. 90, Anthrop. Ser. No. 13, p. 51 £.,
Ottawa, 1916.
1 Phonetic note.—The orthography employed in this paper has the same phonetic values
as explained in Iroquois Suicide, Bur. Amer. Ethnol. Bull. 128, No. 14, 1941.
406 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1940
beings because he promised the Creator to abide in inaccesible places
on the rim of the earth; but he is well known in mythology and by
his human counterparts, the maskers that represent him in the
ceremonies,
The Faces of the forest also claimed to possess the power to control
sickness. They instructed the dreamers to carve likenesses in the
form of masks, saying that whenever anyone makes ready the feast,
invokes their help while burning Indian tobacco and sings the curing
songs, supernatural power to cure disease will be conferred on human
beings who wear the masks. The dancers should carry turtle rattles
and speak a weird, unintelligible nasal language. They can scoop up
glowing embers in their bare hands, without suffermg burns when
they blow hot ashes on the sick person. The masks are as varied as
the visions and the artistic whims of the individual craftsmen who
have carved them from single blocks of living basswood.
Native classification confused—Natives themselves are confused
when asked to classify False-faces. One old Seneca informant, Henry
Redeye, told me there are as many False-face types as there are dif-
ferent people. Some are portraits of youths; others are of old men
who have long, white hair and wrinkled faces. There are angry indi-
viduals with broken noses and mouths skewed to one side as if they
had suffered paralytic strokes, who are apt to sweat and cause an
owner illness if he neglects to supplicate them with tobacco offerings.
Some have distended, open lips as if they were blowing ashes; a few
with standing hair and raised eyebrows are whistling and merely want
tobacco, while others protrude red tongues in pain, or laugh, revealing
irregular rows of wooden or bone teeth. Their similarities are only
those which the local culture has prescribed in dreams.
Tradition has dictated the forms which the faces assume in visions,
and the features which the craftsmen emphasize when carving, the
very features which the Indians mention when describing the original
forest folk. It is sufficient for the carver to single out particular
features of the face for artistic expression; the face portrays the
being, and the wearer must dramatize his other attributes: his erect
or slouching gait, his awful mien and the nonsensical, nasal speech
which he accompanies by shaking a rattle. To the Indians, the total
effect is both terrifying and extremely humorous.
Iroquois conceptions of the supernaturals whom these dramatiza-
tions represent have unquestionably been influenced by projecting in
dreams the form of the masks and the behavior of the actors who
appear in the ceremonies. Thus, as Goldenweiser pointed out: 2°
Various grotesque spirits must be regarded as derived either from dreams or
visions or to be the outgrowth of the free play of the imagination. Not in-
frequently, artificial objects or artistic conventions must have had an influence
” Goldenweilser, A. A., Early civilization, pp. 231-232. New York, 1922.
IROQUOIS—FENTON 407
on the formal character of spirits. Thus, it is highly probable that the False-face
spirits of the Iroquois are the projections into the spiritual world of the grotesque
wooden masks worn by the members of the False-face Society, ...
Mask types depend on the use to which they are put. They are
not rigidly definable on the basis of form alone because to a large extent
use determines type. This is the old argument of form vs. function,
of native theory and native practice which flies in the face of all over
nice taxonomic distinctions based on form alone. Aside from the fact
that a carver may be guided by the mythological incident of hadi’
breaking his nose on the mountain and intend his mask as a repre-
sentation of that being, a subsequent owner may disregard this in
using the mask. Conversely, a mask which was never intended to
represent more than a common face of the forest may in time perform
the curing role of the great world-rim dweller in the doorkeeper ritual.
Thus all the old masks do become ultimately “doctor” masks. And,
occasionally, even some of the more potent “doctor” masks get into
the hands of small boys who impersonate the beggars of the forest at
the Midwinter Festival. Therefore, only within certain limits and
allowing for such exceptions will an informant even attempt to assign
a series of masks to specific functions and categories.
The dramatic behavior of the wearers of the masks counts more in
the roles in which the masks appear than the form of the mask itself.
Here individual talent in acting and dancing constitutes much of the
effectiveness of ceremony. Certain individuals in every Iroquois
community are known to be good prospects for the role of doorkeeper.
Sometimes a good actor possesses a fine old mask that is suited to the
role, and in time both he and his mask come to be associated with
this role. But as he grows older he may be selected as conductor and
he easily finds a younger man to wear his mask, but the community
ordinarily has little difficulty in distinguishing the mask and its owner
and in identifying the new actor.
In general, the masks have deep-set eyes, rendered bright by metal
sconces, and large, frequently bent noses. The arched brows are
deeply wrinkled and sometimes divided above the nose by a longitu-
dinal crease or a comb of spines, which only one Seneca calls “Turtle-
tail,” because they resemble the processes on a mud turtle’s tail. The
mouth is the most variable feature, and runs through a whole range
of contortions depending on mood, function, or locality. Both
mouth corners may be upturned in a smile, or a grimace showing
teeth; or the mouth is distended ovally for blowing ashes, sometimes
with protruding tongue; or it is puckered as if whistling, or puck-
ered with conventionalized tongue and spoonlike lips, which may be
again bifunnelate for blowing ashes, or once more revealing teeth;
then others have large, straight, distended lips, which may be twisted
up at one corner to accompany a bent nose, or down at the other
408 | ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1940
corner; and finally, both corners may turn down in an expression
of utmost anguish. Thick, distended lips protrude beneath the
nose, and a series of modifying wrinkles augment the distorted ex-
pression. Cheek bones are sometimes suggested, and a prominent
chin, common on masks from Grand River, serves as a convenient
grip for the wearer to adjust the mask to his face. The face is
framed by a long wig, usually cut from black horsetails which fall
on either side from a part in the middle of the forehead; but an-
ciently, corn-husk braids, shredded basswood bast, or buffalo mane
served as hair. Masks are commonly painted red or black.
Classification based on specimens.—In classifying the masks we
must take into consideration formal types based on variations in the
masks themselves and local styles of carving. Thus a particular
formal feature, such as the bent nose or the twisted mouth, is apt to
be shared among two or more local groups and tribes, but what
distinguishes the masks of one local group, say the Senecas of New-
town, from the masks of artisans in another community, possibly
the Onondagas of Grand River, is the manner with which the indi-
vidual carver expresses his local artistic tradition in the general
conformation of the whole face. Since the mouth is the mask’s most
variable feature, permitting us to range our photographs in a series
of categories illustrating progressive changes from up-turned corners
to down-turned corners, it seems a likely basis for distinguishing
formal types. What gives this arrangement significance is the tend-
ency of the Iroquois themselves to designate the mouth as a cri-
terion for naming the masks. The masks, unlike individuals, do not
have personal names except as they are given the names of the
spirits who are their tutelaries. The names are rather descriptive
referents to various facial expressions.
Thus one afternoon two Seneca informants, James Crow, of New-
town, and Chauncey Johnny John, of Coldspring, distinguished the
following mouth types, while examining photographs of museum
specimens. Naturally, they commenced with types most familiar to
them in their own localities; and I append the remarks of other
informants, Jesse Cornplanter, of Tonawanda, and Simeon Gibson
(Onondaga-Cayuga), of Grand River, and Sherman Redeye, of
Coldspring, where they seem pertinent. We begin at the middle of
the series.
1. The crooked-mouth masks, a type so named because “his mouth
is twisted” (ha‘sagai‘’de’), are’commonest among all the Iroquois.
One corner of the mouth is pulled down, or up. They occur among
Seneca, Cayuga, and Onondaga of New York and Grand River. In
the latter place carvers make them intentionally horrific to frighten
away disease, and masks with bent noses and twisted mouths aug-
IROQUOIS—FENTON 409
mented by many supplementary wrinkles constitute a local style
(pl. 2, fig. 2). ;
2. The mask with straight lips, a type so named because “his mouth
is straight” (hodesado’g‘dg ), has straight distended lips like a duck
bill across the whole face. This one, with its variants, together with
the two that follow, is frequently ornamented with a crest of spines
or “teeth” extending up the forehead from the nose bridge, but its
symbolism is not clear (pl. 3, fig. 1).
8. The spoon-lipped or spoon-mouthed mask, with “double spoons
made on it” (odo’gwa’Sqdq’), is the most easily recognized type. It
consists of conventionalized flared lips or puckered lips as in blowing
and a rudimentary tongue which projects beneath the pursed mouth
aperture (pl. 3, fig. 2). Spoon-lipped masks are rare among the
Troquois of Grand River but are common at Newtown on Cattaraugus
Seneca Reservation, and they have been in use since the earliest
memory of my informants. The Newtown Senecas consider the
straight-lipped and the spoon-lipped masks, which they pair in the
doorkeeper ritual, to be classic Seneca representations of the great
supernatural world-rim dweller. However, the spoon lips take the
form of two funnels among the Seneca of Coldspring on Allegheny
River.
4. The hanging-mouth mask is so named because “the corners of
his mouth are hanging” (hos¢’ ’dq’), not unlike the muse of tragedy
(pl. 4, figs. 1 and 2). This seems to be an old type among the
Senecas because it is present among collections made at the old
Buffalo Creek reserve, Onondaga Valley, and Tonawanda; and one
specimen is supposed to have been taken beyond the Niagara frontier
into Canada before the Revolution (pl. 4, fig. 1). One such speci-
men was collected in Oklahoma, but it was probably taken there from
Grand River, Ontario. These masks sometimes have a crest of spines
on the forehead, but it is not a constant feature.
5. Masks with tongue protruding (dodanghg’’weh) as in pain were
collected by DeCost Smith at Onondaga and by Lewis Morgan and
David Boyle among the Onondaga of Grand River. It is relatively
uncommon among the Senecas and may be considered an Onondaga
type (pls. 5 and 6).
6. Not all the masks are wry-faced. Some of them are smiling
(hoyéndiha’—he is smiling). As one informant remarked, “Maybe
he saw a pretty girl and he is smiling.” Smiling masks are fre-
auently beggar masks, representations of the Common Faces of the
forests. They are not confined to the Senecas of Coldspring, but the
smiling masks from the Onondaga of Grand River are apt to be
extremely heavy with thick, leering lips (pl. 7, fig. 2), a heavy chin,
410 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1940
and puffy cheeks; and some of these were unquestionably used in
curing.
7. The whistler (hang-gaha‘) as his name implies has a puckered
mouth, frequently enhanced by supplementary wrinkles. He is also
called thebl owing spirit mask, or the Whistling God, Djinnaga’hiha*.
His likenesses occur among the Seneca and the Onondagas of Canada
(pl. 8). They generally belong to the class of beggar or dancing
masks and are not considered representations of the great world rim
gods.
8. The divided mask represents a god whose body is riven in twain
(dehodya’tgai:’ewe’). According to Hewitt, who learned of him
through Joshua Buck, his body is half human and half supernatu-
ral; hence his face is divided between deep red and pure black,
symbolizing the east and the west, and he is free to wander at large
even among the people. The Senecas, except a few at Tonawanda,
are unfamiliar with him, and he seems to be a Cayuga-Onondaga
spirit localized on Grand River where there are a few masks of him,
which are not well known even there (pl. 9, fig. 1). It seems possible
that the divided face concept was taken over from the Delaware who
settled among the Cayuga.
9. Other types of wooden masking —Longnose (hagénde’s) masks
are always taken as a joke by the Iroquois because they remind them
of Longnose, the trickster, with whom they were threatened as
naughty children (pl. 9, fig. 2). Probably very few of them were
intended to represent the trickster, although such masks were an-
ciently made of buckskin and later cloth to frighten children at
Coldspring (pl. 10, fig. 2). A certain puckish wooden figure that
stood before a Syracuse tobacconists, DeCost Smith was told, had
inspired a few similar masks at Onondaga (pl. 10, fig. 1).
10. Horned masks (dono’gao*t—horns on it) are a relatively recent
development at Newtown. According to Jesse Cornplanter, this so-
called buffalo type of mask was first devised by Austin Jacobs about
1900, and since that time masks of this character have usurped roles
that were formerly reserved for the “doctor” masks (pl. 11, fig. 1).
Some of the horned masks have a decided diabolical or negroid
appearance and were possibly intended as caricatures of white gods,
or the other new race that came to live near the Senecas at Buffalo.
11. Animal masks are not as common among the Iroquois as among
some primitives, and certainly they are few as compared with an-
thropomorphic likenesses. However, while I know of only one mask
representing the Dew Eagle (S‘ada’ge’a’’) or the Giant Raven
(gihgago-wa'), who is depicted*as fetching in his bill the bloody
scalp of the Good Hunter in the origin legend for the Little Water
Society, masks representing the pig (gis’gwis) are fairly common
IROQUOIS—FENTON 411
at Newtown (Seneca) and among the Cayuga of Grand River. At
Newtown, James Crow formerly had a pig mask which was used as
doorkeeper in a dream ceremonial constructed around the Delaware
Skin-beating Dance. It is possible that pig masks are derived from
masks representing the bear, but there is no evidence that such masks
were used in the Bear Dance Society ritual. However, with the dis-
appearance of the bear the pig has become the principal feast animal
among the remnant Iroquois, and the pighead has acquired a reflected
holiness by association with the rituals of the medicine societies
(pl. 11, fig. 2). At Coldspring the pig is only a beggar mask who
appears at the Midwinter Festival.
12. The blind mask (dagegwega gagehsa’) presents something of
an enigma because it is either little known or informants are unwill-
ing to discuss it. The former is apparently the reason because blind
masks have been obsolete ceremonially for over a generation, accord-
ing to J. Cornplanter, whose father remembered them from his youth.
In the ritual of the ’'dos Medicine Society, the shaman demon-
strated his power to see through the mask by juggling hot stones, and
he knocked a standing doll from an inverted corn mortar. Further-
more, the masks of this ritual in the New York State Museum,
which Parker published in 1909, do not appear to have had much
use in ceremonies. Although a blind mask has been collected from
the Seneca of Grand River (pl. 12), its use is unknown to my in-
formants, the Gibsons. In this connection it is interesting that some
Senecas think the black faces have more power because they usually
have smaller eye holes than the red ones, but other informants say
red masks are equally powerful, and James Crow said that to meet
a red one might cause nosebleed. At any rate the red and black
masks are about equally represented in our collections.
The husk faces or “bushy-heads.”—Besides the wooden False-faces,
corn husk masks represent another class of earth-bound supernatural
beings who formed a pact with mankind and taught them the arts
of hunting and agriculture. The techniques of twining and braiding
corn husks in the manufacture of shoes, mats, and dishes is ancient
among the Iroquois peoples, and it is one of the traits that point to a
southern origin for those elements of their culture that are asso-
ciated with the cultivation of maize. Nevertheless, the use of husk
masks is probably no older than sewing braided corn husks for
seats and foot mats, since the Husk Faces and the beings which they
represent are named like the mats “‘bushy, fuzzy, or awry” (gadji‘’sa’).
The husk faces look lke door mats, the only difference being
that the masks have holes for the eyes and mouth and the pile is cut
off on the inside, but they too have a ragged fringe of hair. Thus
a person awaking with his hair standing awry, like the pile of a foot
mat, in said to look like gadji:’sa’—a bushy-head.
412 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1940
Three techniques of manufacture produce as many types of husk
masks. Most commonly long strips of corn husk braid are sewn in
three coils which form the eyes and mouth, and the nose and fringe
are added. The females of the species are designated by appending
little knobs of covered husk to the fringe, eyes, and nose. The
rougher looking ones are considered old men and the smoother ones
are youths (pl. 18). Usually the mouths are small and round, but
again they take on the mouth shapes of the Wooden Faces. At
Grand River, husk faces are more coarsely braided and more com-
pletely cover the wearer (pl. 14, fig. 2).
Twined husk faces were until recently made by old Seneca women
at Allegany, and at Cattaraugus only one old woman still makes
them. The technique of twining involves twisting a pair of wefts
around each radiating warp as it is passed until one reaches the rim
of the mask. Twined masks are commenced at the nose (pl. 14, fig.
1). The poorly made ones with stubble on the cheeks are grand-
fathers, and the smooth-faced “bushy-heads” with a round red spot
painted on each cheek are young people bound for religious festivals
at the longhouse.
Among the Onondaga of Grand River, Canada, besides the masks
made entirely of corn husks or wood, there is a third variety known
as wooden bushy-head (owe’’ga gadji'’sa’). This is a natural wood
mask with undistorted human features having only ceremonial face
painting confined to a round red spot on‘each cheek or a series of
vertical lines beneath the lower lip. It has corn husk fringe as hair,
and is credited with more power than the other husk faces (pl. 15, fig.
1).
Miniature masks.—For all the larger varieties of masks there seem
to be miniature masks which take the characteristic types and art
styles of the localities where they are made. These are either kept
as personal charms or they are hung on the larger masks and “ride
along” in the ceremonies (pl. 15, fig. 2).
HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE
Archeology.—Stone faces and faces on pots and pipes occur in
sufficient abundance throughout the historic area of the Iroquois to
lead one to suspect that the prehistoric Iroquois entertained concep-
tions of supernatural beings like those which their historic descend-
ants associate with the False-faces. The appearance of some of the
human and animal faces modeled on the bowls of earthenware pipes,
usually to face the smoker, suggests that they were intended to
represent wooden masks. However, the archeological evidence
further confirms an inference that we can make from the accounts
of early travelers below, namely, that the False-face rituals made
IROQUOIS—FENTON 413
their appearance among the Seneca of western New York relatively
late in the seventeenth century considerably after they were first
observed by the French at Huronia, because Wintemberg and Parker
find that a type of pipe known as the “blowing face” was first evolved
during the post-European period of Neutral, Huron, Tionontati, and
Seneca culture." Furthermore, during the colonial period the clay
pipes were imitated in stone, and such a pipe with a blowing spirit
mask facing the smoker has turned up recently near a late historic
sugaring campsite of the Cornplanter band of Senecas (pl. 16).
Narratives of early travelers—From the earliest European con-
tacts with the Huron and Iroquois over 3 centuries ago, the explorers
and missionaries, while they do not always specifically mention masks,
at least describe ceremonies that are now connected with masks in
the modern rituals. The behavior of the actors is older than the
form of the masks, and it would seem that the ritualized Iroquois
masked shamanism that we observe in practice today has kept alive
old tricks of the Huron Oki or medicine man, who was not
always masked. The Oki handled hot coals and blew ashes on his
patient, and Champlain (1616) witnessed the hysterical frenzy of
medicine men and neurotic women who walked “on all fours like
beasts” until the masked company were summoned to displace their
possession by blowing upon them to the din of their turtle rattles;
and they “parade the length of the village while the feast is being
prepared for the masquers, who return very tired, having taken
enough exercise to empty the kettle of its Migan.”* In another place
he describes the beggar maskers, men and women, visiting each
other’s villages much as they now go from house to house at Mid-
winter. In 1623 Gabriel Sagard, whom Champlain invited to
spend an exciting winter in Huronia, found the Okis still in business,
and he witnessed an unmistakable example of the doorkeeper’s role
in the modern ritual. The actor wore a bearskin garb reminiscent of
those in use among Delaware and Onondaga maskers of recent times,
although a wooden mask is not mentioned.
I have seen... a bear skin covering the whole body, the ears erect on top
of their head, their face covered up except for the eyes; and these persons were
only acting as doorkeepers or jesters and took no part in the dance except at
intervals, because they were for a different purpose.”
21 Wintemberg, W. J., Distinguishing characteristics of Algonkian and Iroquoian cultures.
Nat. Mus. Canada, Ann. Rep. 1929, p. 78, Ottawa, 1931; Roebuck prehistoric village
site ... Nat. Mus. Canada, Bull. 83, p. 75, 1936; Parker, A. C., The archeological history
of New York. New York State Mus. Bull. 235, p. 146, 1922.
22Champlain, Samuel de, Voyages ..., vol. 3, pp. 153-155. The Champlain Society,
Toronto, 1929.
28 Sagard, Father Gabriel, The long journey to the country of the Hurons, p. 117.
The Champlain Society, Toronto, 1939.
414 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1940
Furthermore, as now at Grand River, the patient was also led around
in the medicine dance and encouraged to recover, and there was a
terminal feast for invited guests.
While these descriptions do not fit the modern ceremonies pre-
cisely, they at least contain the kernels out of which the modern
rituals have grown.
For the Iroquois of New York at this period we do not find ac-
counts of face painting and masking, comparing the Indians with
the masqueraders in the French Mardi Gras. However, the author
of Van Curler’s journal, whose party visited the Mohawk villages
and the Oneida town at Christmas of 1634, tells us how on two oc-
casions the Chief of the first Mohawk Castle “. . . showed me his
idol; it was a head with the teeth sticking out; it was dressed in a
red cloth.”** This is reminiscent of the modern custom of covering
masks when putting them away. A fortnight later at Oneida, he
saw a dozen red-faced Oneida shamans handle and eat fire while
attempting to drive away evil spirits to the accompaniment of a
turtle rattle.
The “Relations” for 1636 and 1637 mention the antics of the False-
faces and their husk-face doorkeepers among the Huron. Brebeuf ?5
writes, that in the Midwinter Festival of 1636:
You would have seen some with a sack on the head, pierced only for the
eyes; others were stuffed with straw around the middle, to imitate a pregnant
woman. Several were naked as the hand...
And so do the modern maskers go naked to the waist. The following
December at the great Huron village of Ossosané “. . . they donned
their masks and danced, to drive away the disease.” 2° During this
winter a clairvoyant came into prominence among the Hurons, and
his name Tsondacoiianné is not only preserved to us in the “Relations,”
but my informants identify it with their term for the individual
who sponsors a medicine feast (godesoni—she sponsored the ritual;
sad¢Soni—you ... sponsor). Ina dance which he ordered {to drive
away pestilence—
All the dancers were disguised as hunchbacks, with wooden masks which
were altogether ridiculous, and each had a stick in his hand. An excellent
medicine, forsooth! At the end of the dance, at the command of the sorcerer
Tsondacoiiane all these masks were hung at the end of poles, and placed over
every cabin, with the straw men at the doors, to frighten the malady...
[p. 263].
And a day or so later they beat upon pieces of bark, making a great
din, and a householder burned tobacco and urged the masks to keep
3% Wilson, James Grant, Arent Van Curler and his journal. Ann, Rep. Amer. Hist. Assoc.
for 1895, pp. 88, 95, 1896.
33 Jesuit Relations (Thwaites edition), vol. 10, p. 203.
% Op cit., vol. 13, p. 175.
IROQUOIS—-FENTON 415
a good watch over his door (p. 267). Another time all the houses
in the environs of a neighboring town were decked out with wooden
masks and straw figures within 48 hours of the sorcerer’s edict (p.
231).
Surely, if these practices had been current among the Five Nations
of New York at this time, the Jesuits who visited them during the
next few decades would have mentioned the masked ceremonies
which they knew from Huronia. Instead, Dablon and Chaumonot,
who witnessed the Midwinter Festival at Onondaga during 1656, are
silent about masks but describe their host, covering himself with
corn husks from head to foot, who went accompanied by two women
with blackened faces and bodies covered with wolf skins. Each
woman carried a club or a great stake.27_ Beschefer, who accom-
panied De Nonville’s expedition against the Seneca, wrote in the “Rela-
tions” of 1687 to Villermont:
I was mistaken when I toid you that the Iroquois wore no masks. They make
some very hideous ones with pieces of wood, which they carve according to
their faney. When our people burned the villages of the Tsonnontouans
(Seneca), a young man made every effort in his power to get one that an
outaouae (Ottawa) had found in a cabin, but the latter would not part with it.
It was a foot and a half long, and wide in proportion; 2 pieces of a kettle,
very neatly fitted to it, and pierced with a small hole in the center, represented
the eyes.28
Beauchamp holds that since the Seneca had one Huron town after
1648, the Huron may have introduced the False-face Society to the
Seneca, from whence it spread through the other nations of the
Confederacy. Lafitau, who bolstered his Mohawk observation with
the earlier “Jesuit Relations,” says masks were made from the bark
of trees.° John Bartram, the Philadelphia naturalist, recorded an
unmistakable description of a False-face beggar who kept him awake
at Onondaga in 1743.
. . we were entertained by a comical fellow, disguised in as odd a dress
as Indian folly could invent; he had on a clumsy vizard of wood colour’d black,
with a nose 4 or 5 inches long, a grinning mouth set awry, furnish’d with long
teeth, round the eyes circles of bright brass, surrounded by a larger circle of
white paint, from his forehead hung long tresses of buffaloes hair, and from the
eatech part of his head ropes made of the plaited husks of Indian corn; I can
not recollect the whole of his dress, but that it was equally uncouth: he
carried in one hand a long staff, in the other a calabash with small stones in
it, for a rattle, and this he rubbed up and down his staff; he would sometimes
hold up his head and make a hideous noise like the braying of an ass;...
In my whim I saw a vizard of this kind hang by the side of one of their
cabins to another town.%°
7 Op. cit., vol. 42, p. 154.
23 Op. cit., vol. 63, p. 289.
7 Lafitau, P. F., Moeurs des sauvages Amériquains, vol. 1, p. 368. Paris, 1724.
* Bartram, John, Observations on the inhabitants, climate, soil, rivers, productions,
animals ..,. in Travels from Pennsilyania (sic) to Onondaga, Oswego and Lake Ontario,
p. 43. London, 1751 (reprinted at Geneva, N. Y., 1895).
416 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1940
Probably a custom as widespread over the world as dressing in
masks to impersonate other beings permits us to assume that the
Iroquoian custom of wearing false faces sprang from their own or
Huron culture whence it spread to the Iroquois after 1648, where
it became so firmly imbedded that, despite 800 years of buffeting by
white contact, the masks have maintained standards prescribed in the
origin legends. The masks show little fundamental change from
generation to generation, except that they become increasingly ornate
and grotesque when influenced by the adoption of better tools or the
degeneration of the wood-carver’s art; and masks portraying a pig,
the devil, and such amusing figures as Mickey Mouse, Felix Cat, and
Charlie Chaplin have encroached only on the group of faces designed
to elicit laughter—the class of beggar masks—which is the most
plastic.
THE SOCIETY OF HUSK FACES OR BUSHY-HEADS
The Husk Faces are a race of agriculturists. They dwell on the
other side of the earth in a ravine where they till their fields amid
high stumps. Coming from the east every new year, they visit the
Seneca longhouses during 2 nights of the Midwinter Festival. Pre-
ceded by runners, they finally arrive amid a great din of beating the
building with staves, stop the dances, and kidnap a chief for inter-
preter. As messengers of the three sisters—corn, beans, and squash—
our life supporters, they have great powers of prophecy. The inter-
preter relates the message of the old woman, their leader, that they
are hurrying westward to hoe their crops. In fields about their
houses they grow huge squashes; the corn has giant ears, and string
beans climb up poles to heaven. Some of their women have remained
home to tend to crying babies. Recently in their country there is
employment on public works projects. These statements are ac-
cepted as an augury of fertility. They request the privilege of danc-
ing with the people. All their company may be men, but some dress as
women and participate in the dances as if they were women.
The Husk Face Society is by no means as well integrated or
prominent as the False-face Society, although they share certain
functions. Unlike the False-faces, they are mutes and only puff as
they run with great leaps. They have their own tobacco invocation,
a medicine song, and they dance about the staves which they carry.
They also have the power to cure by blowing hot ashes; but in Canada
they sprinkle water on their patients. They like tobacco, but they
prefer popcorn at Allegany and dumplings at Newtown and Tona-
wanda, instead of mush. When four suddenly appear racing between
the houses, they may be signaling the approach of the False-face
Company. They will loiter, policing the premises until the Common
Faces depart. Relatively few Indians belong to their society, and
IROQUOIS—FENTON 417
set a kettle down for them to renew an old dream, but many put on
their masks for the public longhouse rituals, and others join them
in social dances at the end of the line.
Origin of the Onondaga Husk Faces.—Hadji‘’s& (for Gaji‘’sé’),
the Man-being of the Corn Husk Likeness [Mask]—a Tradition
of the Olden Time.*!
(It is said) that in ancient times it thus happened that a man who was hunt-
ing in the forest saw there while on the hunt something. He was surprised to
see there a deer standing at the bottom of a valley. He killed it. When he
had completed dressing the carcass he looked as he turned around and saw
standing there nearby a male Husk Face and he asked him, saying, “Where do
you come from?” He replied, “From the place where the uprooted tree trunk is.”
Again the hunter asked, “Where then are you going?” He answered, “Only
thy person too do I come seeking. I am bearing corn. Expressly for thee[you]
am I bringing it.” He had brought two ears of corn. The hunter then asked,
“From what place do you bring it?” He replied, “On the farther side of the
bushes one has planted it. Odendonni’’a‘t (The Sapling or Sprout: a name for the
Life God or the Master of Life) has planted that.
“He planted it for you (human beings). It belongs to you (people). I have
come bringing it for thee. You must mix it with what you are hunting, when
you do eat.
“He himself, gaende‘’so‘k (Moving Winds) sent me from there, and also
Otcgowendet’’ha’ (The Tempest).’’ He said, ‘‘You go deliver the corn. The
hunter will carry it back to the people when he returns home! That is the reason
I deliver it to you. You must take it home.
“Whole Face Man-being ( gaende‘’s0‘k ), accompanied me. Customarily, I go
there [about the houses] when again as usual [whenever] the humpbacked man
beings (hofidu’’i’) again go about from place to place.
“I have my dwelling place where berries are wont to grow. There in that
place usually I pick up corn bread, when [once more] you human beings are
gathering berries again. Ordinarily, I take the corn bread which is brought there
as provisions. But you [people] never see me.
“Understand that I have dwelt on the earth from the beginning with the Master
of Life. I am independent (wild). You must tell your people that you and
they must prepare something with corn husks which shall be a likeness of the
form of my body. And it shall be that when they wear this husk mask that
wearing the mask will enable me to aid them. Understand that it is I who will
bring to you [people] all the seeds which you will plant—seed corn, seed beans,
and squash seed. All the various kinds of seeds will I deliver in full. I will
bring them from the many planted fields of the Sapling (or Sprout—Odefidofini’a‘—
a name for the Master of Life). So then don’t let anyone complain of the
amount of the seeds which I shall bring (to maturity). Understand also that
it is Diyos’a‘’di* (i. e., Producer of all Things), the Mother of the Sprout, who
brought them here for us to gather.
“Therefore, appropriately (customarily) when one will have thoughts con-
cerning me than one shall usually say ‘Djohgwe’’yani’ Hadji‘sa’ (Mr. Partridge
Bushy-head).’
“So now you alone must carry home with you all the things which I have
given you.”
"The native Onondaga-Iroquoian text was dictated June 1916 by Joshua Buck, a
Tutelo-Onondaga, of the Six Nations Grant on the Grand River, Ontario, and later revised
and translated with notes by J. N. B. Hewitt.
418 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1940
Longnose, who kidnaps naughty children—The Troquois and their
Algonquin neighbors use buckskin masks to impersonate cannibal
clowns who sometimes kidnap naughty children. The Seneca call
this clown “Longnose” (hagénde’s) because of his elongated pro-
boscis. He is the Indian bogeyman. He chases bad children when
the old people are sleeping. He mimics them, crying out as he runs
after them. But the old folks do not wake up, since he has bewitched
them in order that they will remain sleeping. This goes on all night
until the child gives up and agrees to behave, or else Longnose makes
away with the child, carrying him off in a huge pack basket. It is
not right to whip little children. Stubborn children who will not go
to bed are sometimes sent out at dusk to meet Longnose, impersonated
by a relative wearing a cloth mask. The child immediately runs into
the house. Neither is it right to use the great wooden masks belong-
ing to the medicine society for scaring little children. The great
Faces are sacred and should not be ridiculed; and the being they rep-
resent might, through the mask, “poison” the child, or “spoil his face”
and bring bad luck to the wearer.
The Bigheads—At the Seneca Midwinter Festival, two women
dress two men in buffalo robes, which they bind with ropes of braided
corn husks, from which the ears have been successively pulled for con-
sumption; they hand the men wooden corn pounders and dispatch
them about the village. These heralds impersonate the “Uncles” or
“Bigheads” who run through the fires heralding the Feast of Dreams
which marks the new year. Their costume symbolizes the union of
trophies of the hunt and fruit of the harvest. The Bigheads should
not be confused with the wooden False-faces or the Husk Faces, who
form two distinct but somewhat linked medicine companies.
THE SOCIETY OF FACES, OR THE FALSE-FACE COMPANY
The origin of the False-faces—Among the Iroquois there are two
prevailing types of origin legends for the wooden False-faces. One
is a mythical epic belonging to the creation; the other is a human
adventure. Both are associated with different classes of beings. In
abridged form, here is what Chauncey Johnny John and Henry Redeye
heard from their “old folks.”
THE STRUGGLE FOR CONTROL OF THE EARTH
Now when our maker was finishing this earth, he went walking around inspect-
ing it and banishing all evil spirits from his premises. He divested the Stone-
coats and banished them as harmful to men. He removed the Little Folk’s
stone shirts and permitted them to remain to help hunters and cure illness. As
the creator went on his way westward, on the rim of the world, be met a huge
fellow—the head man of all the Faces. The creator asked the stranger, as he
had asked the others, whence he came. The stranger replied that he came from
the Rocky Mountains to the west and that he had been living on this earth since
he made it. They argued as to whose earth they traversed and agreed to settle
IROQUOIS—FENTON 419
the title by contest. The creator agreed to call the stranger “headman,” should
he demonstrate sufficient magic strength to summon a distant mountain toward
them. They sat down facing the east with their backs to the west and held
their breath. Now the great False-face shook his giant turtle rattle and the up-
roar freightened the game animals. He summoned the mountain toward them,
but it moved only part way. Now it was the creator’s turn, and he summoned
the mountain, which came directly up to them. However, his rival, becoming
impatient, suddenly looked around, and the mountain struck his face. The im-
pact broke his nose bridge, and pain distorted his mouth. Now the creator real-
ized that this fellow had great power. He assigned him the task of driving
disease from the earth and assisting the people who were about to travel to and
fro hunting. The loser agreed that if humans make portrait masks of him, call
him grandfather, make tobacco offerings, and set down a kettle of mush, that
they too shall have the power to cure disease by blowing hot ashes. The creator
gave him a place to dwell in the rocky hills to the west near the rim of the
earth, and he agreed to come in whichever direction the people summon him.
THE Goop HUNTER’s ADVENTURE
Later, as humans went about the earth, in the fall men went into the woods
hunting. They carried native tobacco and parched corn meal for mush. They
were tormented by shy, querulous beings who flitted timidly behind trees with
their long hair snapping in the wind. Sometimes a hunter returned to his camp
to find the ashes of his fire strewn about the hearth and the marks of some
great, dirty hand where someone had grasped a house post for support as he
leaned over and pawed in the fire. The hunter agreed to stay home while his
partner went afield. During the morning, a False-face approached cautiously,
sledging on one hip, now and then standing erect to gaze about before proceed-
ing. Going to the hearth, he reached into the ashes and scattered the coals as if
seeking something. That night the hunter had a dream in which the False-face
requested tobacco and mush. The next day, the hunter set a kettle down for
them. The Faces came and taught him their songs and their method of treating
patients with hot ashes. In a subsequent dream, they requested him to remem-
ber them every year with a feast, saying they are everywhere in the forests,
bringing luck to those who remember them.
Another legend from Chauncey Johnny John tells of a hunter who
inadvisedly shot but failed to kill an old man whom he discovered sit-
ting on a log in the forest. The man returned the arrow, instructed
the hunter to make 100 bark bowls, to cook a great kettle of mush, and
provide tobacco for a company of 100 who would appear next day.
The amazed hunter fulfilled everything, and when he was ready, Faces
of all ages gathered around his fire. The old man, who was their leader,
taught him a tobacco invocation and three songs. They showed him
how to cure by blowing hot ashes, and presented him with a miniature
mask to serve as a model for making larger ones.
Hunters returned home to their villages. They related their strange
adventures and revealed their dreams. Sometimes after returning
home, they had new dreams and received further instructions. They
showed their people how to make masks and they organized a medicine
company.
280256—41——28
420 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1940
THE CLASSES OF MEDICINE MASKS
Rationalizing from the two types of origin legends, the modern
Iroquois conceive two main classes of False-faces: First, their leader,
the great fellow who lived on the rim of the earth, and secondly, his
underlings, the common forest people whose faces are against the
trees. The great one, called shagodyowéhgo'wa: {hadjé’dot‘a’, “Our
defender the doctor,” in Seneca, and “The great humpbacked one
(hadu’’i’go'na‘)” by the Onondaga, is the greatest ‘doctor. He is
earth-bound and traverses the earth from east to west following the
path of the sun. He is tall and carries a great staff, made from a
giant pine or shagbark hickory tree with its branches lopped off to
the top. He walks with great strides, bumping his cane and shaking
the earth. He carries a huge mud-turtle rattle, and he stops at noon
to rest and rub his rattle on the giant elm or pine which stand in
the center of the earth and from which he derives great strength (pl.
17, fig. 1). His face is red in the morning as he comes from the east, but
black in the afternoon as he looks back from the direction of the
setting sun. He controls high winds and has a wary eye for pesti-
lences which might destroy the people. He has a song which refers
to his power over winds and pestilence. Few have ever seen him.
He dances, kicking out his feet and sparring, his thumbs pointed in
the air as if he were about to fall over backward. He makes the
people imitate him, organizes them in a round dance, and watches
the door to see that no one leaves or enters. Masks representing him
have long hair. They are painted red or black and portray the
broken nose and pain he suffered when the mountain struck his face.
A few masks have high-bridged noses, and all have protruding lips,
which are twisted with the nose, straight, hanging, or flaring like
two funnels or flattened like spoons, for blowing ashes.
The second class are the Common Faces, who live everywhere in the
forests (pl. 17, fig. 2). They are deformed, either hunchbacked or
crippled below the waist. Some carry rattles, made by folding a
rind of hickory bark; a few possess turtle rattles, but others have
only a stick. They crave mush and beg for tobacco. They have a
dance and a song, and they will cure by blowing hot ashes. Masks
of this category are ill-defined and include a great variety. Fre-
quently new masks make their debut with the Common Faces; but
after they have been worn in many rituals, borrowed and passed
through the hands of several owners, they will have accumulated
several bags of tobacco offerings, attained an antique color, and
achieved sufficient prestige to graduate into the class of great doctor
masks where their sanctity is preserved by reputation.
IROQUOIS—FENTON 421
THREE SOCIETIES EMPLOY MASKS
Among the Iroquois, three distinct medicine societies employ masks.
They perform their rituals in public or privately. The False-face
Company, who wear the wooden masks, include both orders of
medicine masks who have three distinct rituals. Their public rituals
are the spring and autumn exorcism of disease from the settlements
and cures which are sometimes sponsored in the longhouse during the
Midwinter Festival. However, the public appearance of the Beg-
gars and Thieves, during several nights of the midwinter ceremonies,
are merely a motely group of boys who sometimes “take sick” after-
ward and thereby gain admittance to the society (pl. 18, fig. 1). The
second ritual belongs to the Common Faces, who enter a house and
dance (pls. 19,20). The Common Faces may be followed by the great,
world-rim Faces, whose ritual is the Doorkeeper’s Dance. The Soci-
ety of Faces is the body of people who have been cured by the masked
company. The separate society of Husk Faces appears publicly two
nights at the Midwinter Festival. They have their own invocation,
songs, and a curing dance. Membership is gained by a dream or
cure, but nonmembers join in their public dances, dancing at the end
of the line. Frequently at Allegany two special Husk Faces appear
as doorkeepers for the Common Faces at private curing rites and as
heralds and longhouse police during public rituals. Among the
Canadian Iroquois, masked societies seem more highly specialized, but
at Allegany and Tonawanda their functions are less clearly defined.
At Newtown, on Cattaraugus reserve, the Society of Mystic Animals
(hadi’’do’s) possess certain ‘‘secret masks” of which one has no eye
holes, but at Coldspring on Allegany Reservation certain black or
white Faces, which are also used as medicine masks by the Society
of Faces, appear in one ritual of the Society of Mystic Animals and
juggle hot stones or hot ashes while curing the patient (pl. 18, fig. 2).
Membership—An Iroquois Indian joins a particular medicine
society after a dream or because a clairvoyant has prescribed the
ritual of that society to cure a sickness. He automatically joins
all the societies, and is afterward duty bound to sponsor any combina-
tion of rituals that have assisted his recovery. Thus the Society of
Faces includes persons who have been cured by the False-face Company.
Membership in the several orders of the society, or participation in the
rituals of the masked company depend on an individual’s personal
history. The masked company are men wearing masks of the orders
which cured them, but both men and women sponsor the rituals and
belong to the orders that have accepted them for membership in the
society by making them sick. Among the Seneca, two head women,
one from each moiety of four clans, are responsible for certain equip-
422 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1940
ment and manage the rituals. Members of both sexes attend. A
member should put up a feast every year for the orders which have
helped him. He calls in the head woman of the opposite moiety to
conduct the ritual. His membership ceases rarely, when he dreams
he has been released. Then he knows he is no longer a member.
THE FALSE-FACE SICKNESS
Symptoms of the False-face sickness are ailments of the head, shoul-
ders, and joints. Masks cause and cure swelling of the face, toothache,
inflammation of the eyes, nose bleeding, sore chin, and earache. At
Tonawanda, red spots on the patient’s face are False-face symptoms.
This calls for the red Faces, who should dance in the morning before
sunrise. Black spots require the use of black masks at night. Im-
aginary hair lying on the patient’s face, indicated by her attempts to
brush it aside, isa False-face symptom. The patient complains to her
old people. They consult a clairvoyant, who prescribes a False-face
ceremony. ‘To ridicule the masks or any of their ceremonies is inviting
sickness or misfortune.
Cases of hysterical possession formerly occurred among Iroquois
women. A Tonawanda informant states that it was confined to certain
nervous women who became possessed of the False-face spirits when-
ever the masked men appeared (Peter W. Doctor). On hearing the
rumpus of whining and rattles, which marks their approach, one
woman would fall into spasms, imitate their cry and crawl toward the
fire, and, unless she was restrained, plunge her hands into the glowing
embers and scatter the fire as if she were a False-face hunting tobacco.
Some one always grabbed her, while another burned tobacco, imploring
the masked men to cure her. The ritual usually restored her normal
composure. Other women became possessed of the tutelaries of the
Bear or Buffalo societies. My informant used to think women became
possessed to show off. Some of these women were clairvoyants. An-
other informant remembers a man who became possessed 30 years
ago at Newtown, for resisting a doorkeeper (Jesse J. Cornplanter).
When the masked ritual conductor nudged him with his rattle, he
obstinately refused to join the round dance. They struggled and the
man, overcome with fear, fell into a spasm and cried like a False-face.
They had to blow ashes on him. Afterward, the man did not remem-
ber his behavior. In all cases, the form of the hysteria was prescribed
by the culture. These cases resemble those which Champlain and the
missionaries witnessed at Huronia. The Feast of Fools of the early
Hurons has evolved from a random series of hysterical dream fulfill-
ments to an organized Midwinter Festival by a gradual standardization
of forms differing according to locality.
IROQUOIS—FENTON 423
THE MASK AND RATTLE
Men belonging to the Society of Faces usually own a bundle con-
taining a turtle rattle and one or more masks decorated with bags
of sacred tobacco. When not being used, the mask is laid away, face
down with its hair wreathed around the face and the turtle shell
placed in the hollow at the back of the mask; and the whole is wrapped
in the cloth head cover. Sometimes unwrapped masks are hung up-
stairs, but facing the wall. A mask hung facing out should be covered,
lest some frightened persons become possessed and join the society.
One must be careful of them. If a mask falls, the owner burns a
tobacco offering and ties a little bundle of sacred tobacco at the ear
or forehead. Whenever he dreams about the Face, he will rise and
repeat the ritual. Every man has a package of tobacco on his mask
which he removes when he sells it to white people. He burns tobacco,
telling the mask that it is going away. He asks it not to return and
harm him or the new owner (pl. 21, fig. 2). Everyone belonging
to the society may use anyone else’s face. A new owner will add a
package of tobacco to a mask, and if he purchases one already having
several attached medicine bundles, he adds his own; but a maker
does not tie tobacco on a mask unless he intends to keep and use it.
Sometimes the masks become hungry and the owners rub their lips
with mush and anoint their faces with sunflower oil, which after many
years imparts a rich luster. A man, having no children, may request
that a mask be buried with him.
Unless the new member inherits an old mask, he must carve one
or enlist the services of a carver. They say at Tonawanda that softer
woods are best for carving masks. Basswood has the prestige of
tradition, but other soft woods like willow and cucumber are also
used. Anciently, a man went into the forest to carve his masks. He
carried native tobacco and sought a living basswood tree. Now he
committed the tobacco to the burning embers, a pinch at a time,
addressing his prayer to the tree and the beings whom the False-faces
represent. Then he carved the face on the living tree (pl. 21, fig. 1),
and having roughed it out, he notched the tree with an ax above the
forehead and below the chin and cleaved away his sculpture in a
solid block. It is said that the carving never broke because one had
put tobacco and asked the tree for its life. Nor did the tree die.
Within 4 years, the scar healed over. He took home his block, cov-
ered it and worked on it at his leisure. When the features were fin-
ished, he hollowed out the inside (with a bent farrier’s knife), and
perforated the eyes, nose, and mouth (pl. 22). He encircled the eyes
with metal, for the Great False-face’s eyes are bright. Then he
painted it. If he had sought his tree in the morning, he painted the
424 | ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1940
mask red; but if he found the tree and commenced carving after
noon, the mask would be black. This color symbolism originates with
the theory of morning and afternoon appearance of the giant, world-
rim resident. During his daily westward journey following the path
of the sun, his face would appear red in the morning and dark in the
afternoon when the sun is behind him. For the long hair which
falls on either side to his knees, the mask maker attaches to the fore-
head horsetails, tanned with deer brains.
RITUAL EQUIPMENT
The False-face Company carry wooden staves and employ three
instruments: The typical mud-turtle rattle, a folded bark rattle, or a
billet of wood. On late spring evenings, before summer heat peels
the turtle’s shell, Indians watch for turtles about the ponds and creeks.
In the evening one may meet an Indian bearing a burlap sack con-
taining a turtle, or he carries it by the tail; he is bound to the house
of a friend who “can fix it” for a rattle. The rattle maker cuts off
the turtle’s tail or severs the jugular vein and hangs it to drain.
Later, he eviscerates and cures it. He sews up the apertures left
by removing the rear limbs and inserts a handful of cherry pits.
He stretches the neck over a pine stick which extends from in-
side the shell to the base of the skull where it is notched. He
sews the front rents. Cutting three hickory splints, he inserts one
in the sternum, cutting it off under the jaw, and he inserts two lateral
splints in the back of the shell, terminating them on top of the head.
He binds the splints to the neck with basswood fiber, a withe of inner
elm bark, or rawhide, commencing at the shell and whipping toward
the head. A ten-inch rattle is best for singing, but the mammoth
turtle rattles lend awe to the doorkeepers at curing rites and small
turtle rattles furnish comedy for little boys playing beggars (pl. 23,
iter Be
For the bark rattles, a cylinder of green hickory bark is slit longi-
tudinally and peeled around the tree. The maker spreads it at the
middle by inserting his thumbs and folds it end to end, placing one
curled end inside the other (pl. 28, fig. 2). A few cherry pits, pebbles,
or kernels of corn provide the necessary percussion. He plugs the
open end with a corncob and lashes it with a bark withe. A man will
make a dozen on a summer afternoon and toss them overhead in the
loft to dry.
At next Midwinter Festival, a band of outlandishly dressed little
boys wearing beggar masks may visit him soliciting or pilfering food
and tobacco for a feast. He will reward them, and then, reaching
overhead, distribute his rattles to those poor youngsters who were
unable to locate turtle rattles and carry sticks of kindling. Perhaps
IROQUOIS—FENTON 425
he has no children of his own. He will sing for them and they will
dance and depart.
A rattle borrowed from a dancer or a stick of wood is good enough
to beat time for the dances. But despite the Indians’ ingenuity to
makeshift of anything at hand the False-face Company sometimes
possess dance-tempo beaters. They range in design from wooden
cudgels to elaborately carved wooden turtles that have been hollowed
to house noisy pebbles. These wooden replicas of the genuine turtle
rattles exemplify the transfer to an artistic medium of a design
originating with a structural invention.
Miniature masks—Boys sometimes learn by carving miniature
masks. The mask may make the owner ill and then he joins the
society. Masquettes are also charms to protect dwellings against
witchcraft, or they hang on larger masks. A man may carve one in
response to a dream and carry it for good luck. At Cattaraugus, the
leader of the society carries a striped pole on which a tobacco basket,
a small wooden face, a tiny husk face and a diminutive mud-turtle
rattle hang near the top. This is her staff of office when she leads
the masked company from house to house exorcising plagues.
Spring and autumn house cleaning—TIn the spring and fall, when
sickness lingers in the settlements, a great company, wearing both
classes of medicine masks, go through the houses frightening disease
spirits. At Coldspring, two groups start at opposite sides of the
settlement. They are preceded by Husk Face runners. Members
take down their masks and rattles and join the procession as it passes.
The masked exterminators frequently strip to the waist and go
armed with rattles to scare the spirit of sickness and carry pine
boughs to brush away malefic influences. A believer is said to suffer
no injury from plunging his bare hands into the fire nor become sick
from exposure while traveling in cold weather. One winter at Al-
legany the company afforded a wild spectacle as they sped up the
valley road in open Fords with their hair whipping in the chill
winds; they grated their rattles on the car body and uttered their
terrifying cries whenever they swerved to pass a stranger. Ap-
proaching houses occupied by members of the society, an unmasked
leader sings:
A long voice, A long voice
yowige yowige wige
and on again entering the longhouse:
It might happen, It might happen
ha i ge hai
From the mighty Shagodyoweh
ha i ge hei
I shall derive good luck
phiy ha i ge hei
426 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1940
He hopes that the great one dwelling on the rim of the earth will
confer his power on the masked company and prevent high winds
from leveling the settlement. They scour the exterior of the house
and, crawling through the door, visit every room. They sweep be-
neath the beds and peer into every nook and corner for disease
spirits. They haul the sick out of bed and sometimes commit indig-
nities on lazy people. If someone has set a kettle down for them,
their leader will burn tobacco, and ask the masked company to blow
ashes on the patient. Their only fee is native tobacco, which their
guide collects in a twined husk basket. Once at Newtown, a leader
was about to gather his company of exterminators and depart for
another house when one turned up missing. They heard a most
terrifying racket in the loft. They ascended to discover him vio-
lently shaking an old straw bedticking, from which bedbugs were
fleeing by the score. This fellow, now an old man, possessed of an
extraordinary sense of the ridiculous, was shaking his rattle and
crying in the most orthodox manner. It is a good example of the
frivolity which may pervade an otherwise serious ritual.
Meanwhile, the two matrons brew a purgative at the village cook
house. At Newtown and Tonawanda, the sole ingredient is parched
white sunflower seeds, which are steeped for the medicine, but at
Allegany they add “manroot” (Ipomoea pandurata), which must
be found growing erect like a living person.
The community assembles at the longhouse. An appointed speaker
returns thanks to all the spirit forces. At Coldspring, Husk Face
runners and the marching song signify the approach of the combined
company. Bursting into the room, the False-faces craw] toward the
fire. Each matron entrusts a pail of medicine to one of them whom
she designates “water waiter” for her moiety. Lest they scatter the
fire about the room, an appointed priest makes an invocation, burn-
ing the tobacco that was levied at the houses. He implores them
to protect the people against epidemics and tornadoes.
Tobacco INVOCATION
Partake of this sacred tobacco, O mighty shagodyoweh, you who live at the
rim of the earth, who stand towering, you who travel everywhere on the earth
caring for the people.
And you too, whose faces are against the trees in the forests, whom we call
the company of faces; you also receive tobacco.
And you Husk Faces partake of the tobacco. For you have been continually
associated with the False-faces. You too have done your duty.
Partake of this tobacco together. Everyone here believes that you have
chosen him for your society.
So now your mud-turtle rattle receives tobacco. (Here they scrape their
rattles on the floor.)
And now another thing receives tobacco, your staff, a tall pine with the
branches lopped off to the top.
IROQUOIS—-FENTON 427
So presently you will stand up (they crawl in) and help your grandchildren,
since they have fulfilled your desires. Fittingly, they have set down a full
kettle of mush for you. It is greased with bear fat. Now another thing is
fulfilled: on top there are strips of fried meat as large as your feet. (Here
the False-faces roll in ecstacy on their backs, grasping their feet, peering at
them, and attempting to put them in their mouths.) Besides, a brimming
kettle of hulled-corn soup rests here.
Now it is up to you. Arise and help your grandchildren. They have ful-
filled everything that you requested should be done here. In my opinion we
have these ashes here for you to use. Arise and make medicine.
Here the priest summons those who wish to be cured to come
forward and stand near the fire to receive the administrations of the
False-faces.
The masked waiters pass the medicine water. Every one drinks all
he can. Two Husk Faces watch the doors to insure that no one
leaves or enters during the imbibing. However, they can sometimes
be bribed with a pinch of tobacco.
There are dances for each class of Faces. An appointed singer
straddles a bench, and borrowing a rattle, sings for the Common
Faces alone. They stand up and dance and apply hot ashes to any
patients whose dreams have required that they be cured on this
occasion. Frequently, little boys who are wearing masks have to be
held up by their elders in order to blow ashes on the patients’ heads.
Sometimes, a clever little fellow will puff the ashes at the patient
from his upturned hand. At Tonawanda, the masked dancers cure
each other. A matron distributes tobacco and they depart with their
kettle of mush.
Next the Husk Faces perform, receive popcorn, and bound out
of the room.
The second part of the ritual, named “They place one foot ahead
of the other” for one of its component dances, includes the Dance of
the Doorkeepers. The song commences. Two men, who are ap-
pointed from opposite moieties, appear wearing the medicine masks
representing the great world-rim beings. They dance with the
matrons, each facing the woman of the other moiety. A couple
dances in unison, hopping on the left foot while bending the right
knee and then kicking out the right foot. At the same time they spar
at each other with the extended left hand, pointing the thumb up-
ward. The turtle rattles dangle by the loop on the handle. Now
the matrons pair the men and women in couples who dance imitating
the False-faces. They spar at each other and a bold woman will
sometimes back a bashful man from the floor. A doorkeeper looks
inside once during each song (pl. 24).
Then they return and compel everyone inside to join a round
dance, from which the ritual takes its name, since a dancer lifts
his foot, bumps his heel and sets it down again ahead of the other.
428 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1940
One doorkeeper directs the dance, while his cousin watches the door
to see that no one escapes the ritual.
The member who wears the mask to impersonate the doorkeeper is sup-
posed to know the members of the society. You can pick out the members.
They look scared. They look at you hard, or they pretend to be busy about
some other business of their own. You can discern them through the mask.
If any are reluctant to join, you have the power to force them, a strength
against which they dare not resist. Sometimes fights occur. If one is not
able, his partner, the other doorkeeper, will help him. Members must dance.
Those who resist become possessed.
The round dance continues until certain songs request them to -
blow ashes. They repeat their square dance with the two matrons,
blow ashes on their heads, receive tobacco, and depart. The feast
is hulled-corn soup.
Although I have outlined the great public ritual, the same gen-
eral pattern holds for private medicinal rites. The only difference
is that the priest mentions the person’s name in the tobacco invo-
cation. Then the complexity of the ritual depends on the number
of orders to which the patient belongs.
The simpler ceremony of the Common Faces alone has been vividly
treated by Ernest Smith, a Seneca Indian artist of the Tonawanda
reservation (pl. 25).
THE Browine ASHES RITE
The setting is the interior of a bark house, common among the Iroquois
a few generations ago, and the time is presumably an evening of the Mid-
winter Festival. In response to a dream, the host has prepared a kettle of
mush, or False-face pudding, and summoned the False-faces. The announcer,
who is painted sitting on the bench, has returned thanks to all the Spirit-
forces, explained the purpose of the feast, and invoked the Faces-of-the-forests
with burning tobacco. They have entered. The singer straddles the bench
to beat out the tempo for their dance, which they energetically commence,
scattering ashes everywhere. They hasten to finish curing the patient, their
host who stands before the fire, since they crave tobacco and hunger for the
kettle of mush which he has set down for them. A tall, red-faced fellow
vigorously rubs the patient’s scalp before blowing the hot ashes into the
seat of the pain. A dark one moans anxiously while rubbing hot ashes be-
tween his palms prior to pouncing on his victim’s shoulder and pumping
his arm. Across the fire, a red face stoops to scoop live coals, while another
impatiently shakes a turtle rattle. They are naked above the waist, but
wearing the masks is said to protect their bodies from cold and their hands
from the burning embers.
Although the real Faces are seldom seen now, modern Iroquois,
especially little children, fear them. A being which has the power
to control disease, who can also cause the same ailment which he
cures, is a subject for concern. The degree to which the False-
faces dominate the lives of the Iroquois is well illustrated in the
IROQUOIS—FENTON 429
testimony of a sophisticated woman of Shawnee and Cayuga par-
entage whom Dr. Margaret Mead met among the Omaha. The in-
formant had long since removed from her own tribesmen, but her
childhood impression remained.
I remember how scared I was of the False-faces; I didn’t know what they
were. They are to scare away disease. They used to come into the house
and up the stairs and I used to hide away under the covers. They even
crawled under the bed and they made that awful sound. When I was bad
my mother used to say the False-faces would get me. Once, I must have
been only 4 or 5, because I was very little when I left Canada, but I remember
it so well that when I think of it I can hear that ery now, and I was going
along a road from my grandfather’s; it was a straight road and I couldn’t
lose my way, but it was almost dark, and I had to pass through some timber
and I heard that cry and that rattle. I ran like a flash of lightning and I
can hear it yet.
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¢ or alta 1a
it atts & oz
nap
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RD Gow’ 7 ied F= fila , ‘wikwle" dhe a ‘gail a bed eo! ath ee
_ ue Vc ¥ nT at Sit” te a Bhi Sat lt er ia aa
ts) 1OGP 7 PR] ° (Bul | 1 t TA toy (te Fey ¥ a yp hs
mm ry. a wt ¢ a Ooi v : mls, sivad, ai : L. site A Pe, uh hg ,
* ahises J A bie-Heens igi mule pry f. ' noes * eat te nue
slext+ ond hee nity § 2a ‘OF Bad T bea 2 ak Pinte te ix :
: Ibu “golaidyii DD eel a mal OE Te a sa one
-° 9&2 ol 4. : :
7 ae, an a 7
: = a - mre 7 _ =v =
7 Le Phen eat
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* In the
Near East by that time it was already being superseded by the sword
of iron.
The rather undeveloped type of bronze sword—in reality scarcely
more than a dagger—found from Hungary eastward all along the
steppe belt was that which eventually appeared in China. It was
undoubtedly introduced into that country by the nomads—possibly the
Jung people already mentioned as having attacked the Chous in the
eighth century B. C. In any case, China lies almost at the eastern
border of the bronze-sword area, and the variety found there underwent
far less evolution than did those of the Occident.
Another example of culture diffusion is that afforded by the horse-
drawn chariot. That engine of pageantry and war originated in west-
ern Asia, and spread thence both east and west over much of the north
temperate zone of the Old World. It survived latest in marginal areas
like China on the one hand and the British Isles on the other.
DOMESTIC ANIMALS AND CULTIVATED PLANTS IN ANCIENT CHINA
Certain species of animals and plants had slowly been brought under
human control in the Near East before the fourth millennium B. C.
Far later, many of the same forms appeared in China also, around the
time when the Bronze Age itself began there. Whether they did so
one by one, at different times, or all together, as parts of an integrated
culture complex, we cannot yet say.
Be that as it may, few if any of these animals and plants were of
native Chinese origin. Thus China has so far yielded no trace of a
possible wild ancestor for her domestic ox. Again, the Chinese sheep
appears not to be derived from the wild species which still occurs in
the mountains of the northwest, but from a western wild form, the
urial (Ovis vignet), also ancestral to certain early Occidental forms.
Nor does the Chinese domestic horse seem to be descended from the
Mongolian wild form; it must, on the contrary, have been introduced,
already domesticated, from some western region.”*
On this point see, e. g., Olov Janse, Notes sur quelques epées anciennes trouvées en
Chine. Bull. Stockholm Mus. Far Eastern Antiquities, No. 2, pp. 67-134, 1930; ref. on p. 93.
At the time when they conquered northern China, the Chous, like the somewhat earlier
Vedic Aryans when they first occupied northwestern India, seem to have had bronze daggers
but not swords. In many other ways also, the cultures of the two peoples present
interesting parallels.
2° The domestication of any wild species is an exceedingly slow process, while the horse
does not appear in China until rather late. Further, certain details of conformation,
particularly of the skull, suggest kinship with the western domestic breeds and not with
the Mongolian wild horse (2. przvalskii). That the latter has crossed with it to a slight
extent seems certain, however.
EASTERN ASIA—BISHOP 441
The domestic fowl, not identified on Chinese Neolithic sites but
known by Shang times, must have come from India; for its wild
ancestor, the red jungle fowl (Gallus ferrugineus s. bankiva), occurs
in that country but not in China. From India, too, seems to have
come the basic stock of the domestic water buffalo.”
Moreover, not only did the ancient Chinese acquire most of their
domestic animals as culture loans from abroad; but they failed to
make as full use of them as did, for example, the ancient peoples of
the Near East. Thus, though a dairy economy and the use of the
ox-drawn plow had both long been known in the latter quarter, the one
trait was never adopted by the Chinese, the other not until around
the fourth century B. C.28 Again, though the Chinese have had sheep
equator KNOWN DISTRIBUTION
— OF THE—
WAR-CHARIOT
-IN-
ANTIQUITY
—_—-—~—
ee mien!
FIGURE 4.
from late prehistoric times onward, unlike the peoples of the Near
East they have never made or used woolen cloth.
China’s cultivated plants likewise have been derived largely from
other lands. Millet, rice, and sorghum (kao-liang or “giant millet”)
came from India, just as did sugarcane and cotton later on. Wheat
reached China about the beginning of her belated Bronze Age, from
the West. Similarly (though of course not until long afterward)
217The Chinese water buffalo shows far less modification under domestication than do
the Indian breeds. It would seem therefore to have received a large infusion of the blood
of the wild form which we know once occurred in China.
*3On the latter point, see my paper, Origin and early diffusion of the traction-plough.
Antiquity, vol. 10, pp. 261-281, 1936; ref. to p. 278. The article has been reprinted
in the Ann. Rep. Smithsonian Inst. for 1937, pp. 131-547, 1938; ref. on p. 545.
442 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1940
maize, potatoes, tobacco, and other plants were introduced from the
Americas. Instances of this phenomenon, in regard both to plants
and to animals, might easily be multiplied.
THE RISE OF NOMADISM
By the first half of the first millennium B. C., an important cultural
development, the rise of pastoral nomadism, had begun to take form in
central Asia. That region, as abundant remains show, was once
occupied by a sedentary planting population similar to that of Neo-
lithic northern China, already mentioned. Apparently about the time
named, however, we find indications of a change. How far this was
due to growing desiccation we do not know definitely,?® but its form
DISTRIBUTION
—OR in =
TRACTION PLOW
hy —BEFORE THE —
AGE OF DISCOVERY
EQUATOR
FIGURE 5.
was determined by the acquisition of domestic animals—sheep and
cattle—adapted to a pastoral and nomadic manner of life.
The predecessors of the present peoples of central Asia seem to have
gone about on foot.*° They knew the horse-drawn chariots of their
Chinese neighbors, but never adopted them, probably because their
own cultural level was too low. During the earlier half of the first
2 That some climatie change has occurred seems certain. On the fluctuations in level
of the Caspian Sea cf. Ellsworth Huntington, The pulse of Asia, New York and Boston,
1907, passim, At the opposite end of Asia, northern Chinese Neolithic sites have yielded
remains of warmth- and moisture-loving animals, notably the water deer (Hydropotes
inermis) which could not survive there today.
3% More than one ancient Chinese text, referring to wars with the northern barbarians
even as late as the sixth century B. C., says, “They fight on foot, but we in chariots,”
EASTERN ASIA—BISHOP 443
millennium B. C., however, first in western Asia, then a little later
along the northern borders of China, we find a growing use of mounted
troops. How this development tock place, we cannot say; but the
analogous one that occurred among the American Plains Indians when ~
they acquired the horse from the Spaniards affords some illuminating
suggestions.
BRONZE GIVES PLACE TO IRON IN THE FAR EAST
In the Occident, bronze gave place to iron far earlier than in China.
In the latter country the change did not begin until about the middle
of the first millennium B. C., and was not completed until shortly
before the commencement of the Christian Era.
Meanwhile the older metal had diffused itself well beyond the limits
of the ancient Chinese culture group proper into various marginal
areas. In these the Bronze Age survived even later than in the Yellow
River basin itself. Thus, in extreme southern China and the adjacent
portions of Indo-China iron did not supplant bronze (under Chinese
influence) until just after the beginning of our era. In Korea too we
find a belated Bronze Age, introduced there from China probably dur-
ing the Eastern Chou period. From the peninsula bronze soon spread
to southern and western Japan; but before it had had time to reach
the east and north of that country, iron overtook and supplanted it.
These events marked the definitive close of the Bronze Age, and the
commencement of that of Iron in the Far East.
SOCIAL AND CULTURAL DEVELOPMENTS DURING THE LATE CHOU
PERIOD
During the latter part of the Chou period Chinese feudalism
gradually crumbled. Among the causes were the supplanting of the
old chariotry (the arm par excellence of the feudal nobles) by bodies
of militarily more efficient horse-bowmen, copied, as the old Chinese
records expressly state, from the northern nomads, and the rise of a
money economy which slowly replaced the ownership of land and
serf labor as the source of wealth and power. There emerged in
place of the older political system a number of large centralized
states which waged frequent war on one another and paid scant
heed to the claims of their nominal suzerains, the Chou kings. Jn
this historical process the compelling need for the consolidation of
authority over systems of hydraulic engineering—of flood control
and irrigation—played an important part. But the period, though
thus politically unstable, was a most fruitful one in the development
of Chinese civilization, particularly in the realm of thought.
444 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1940
FOUNDING OF THE CHINESE EMPIRE
During the third century B. C. there arose in northwestern China a
great conqueror and organizer, Shih Huang Ti (to give him his later
appellation), king of the aggressive state of Ch’in.* This man of
genius subdued the other Chinese states and united them into a
single centralized and bureaucratic empire, with himself as its abso-
lute ruler—the most enduring political achievement ever wrought by
man.*?
Systems of government closely similar, even in their details, had
arisen not long before in lands farther to the west—in Persia under
Darius the Great, in India under Chandragupta Maurya. This new
principle in state building appeared in all three countries within a
period of about 3 centuries, roughly 500-200 B. C. It did so, more-
over, at successively later dates as we pass from the Near to the Far
East.
With this founding of a centralized empire, the civilization of
China, which became in time, incidentally, that of all eastern Asia,
was fairly launched on its great historical career.
SUMMARY
In the foregoing paper we have purposely avoided attempts at
interpretation, necessarily more or less subjective as these are. We
have, on the contrary, simply stated ascertained facts, and allowed
these to speak for themselves.
As we have seen, civilization appeared earliest in the Near East.
There, certain animals were domesticated, certain plants brought
under cultivation; there, too, various basic inventions were made
and city life first arose. To accomplish all this required a long
period, probably of several thousand years.
In eastern Asia we found things quite otherwise. Many of the
above culture traits appeared there too; but they invariably did so
far later, and, relatively speaking, at an already fairly advanced
stage of evolution. Nothing has been found to suggest their inde-
pendent origin there, while in certain instances we found definite
evidence of their ultimate derivation from the West. These traits
displayed in the Far East, moreover, just that archaic and fragmen-
tary nature characteristic of marginal areas everywhere.
31 from the name of this state almost certainly came our own for the whole of China.
Those who dispute this, usually on the ground that the latter name occurs (in India)
earlier than the founding of the Ch‘in empire, forget that the state of Ch‘in had already
annexed the eastern ends of both the overland routes which link China with the West.
2The Chinese Empire lasted, in substantially the form devised for it by its creator,
for over 2,000 years—221 B. C.-A. D. 1911.
EASTERN ASIA—BISHOP 445
Mainly, therefore, it would appear, to the stimulus imparted by
cultural diffusions from the ancient Near East must have been due
the origin and fundamental type of that civilization which eventu-
ally took form in eastern Asia. The case seems, in short, not to have
been one of separate local invention, but of perfectly normal culture
drift, acting steadily, though most often imperceptibly, during
hundreds, in some cases, even thousands, of years.
; “wan ee al
erat eee ait rps
banat. Anatroin 3s |
aes uit) Palau :
aa
; . sit fli est
A aacayi be ulstii fl
2 Wy Mons ae *
3 : - Noa hheaas j
a
‘ oo se noe
8 Sy eat re en Fh) bigntn
: a oe oe Ley
95 oe st on vlihele i
. op oti’ rete pew a
Hie ae aa ayer i ca
a iery sade aceon Reh
AY Gy a eS A RG Mrs
&
nC ies
‘ a a,
Kj F
eat c pe
| Lee in ot aa shy oo p
tn a: bs hy ia iis Oraphiays ‘% 4
a
Teoeg
Smithsonian Report, 1940.—Bishop PLATE 1
“;
‘Ss
1. PRIMITIVE TYPE OF CART, WITH MERELY A PAIR OF SOLID WOODEN DISKS FOR
WHEELS; STILL SURVIVING IN CHINA DOWN TO THE PRESENT DAY.
2. EARLY TYPE OF WHEEL, ANTEDATING THE USE OF RADIAL SPOKES; COMMONLY
SEEN IN NORTHERN CHINA.
Smithsonian Report, 1940.—Bishop PLATE 2
a
tcc
1. CHINESE WATER WHEELS, NORTHWESTERN CHINA.
Similar ones occur right across Asia as far as Persia at least.
2. CHINESE GRINDSTONE, OF A FORM FOUND AS FAR TO THE WEST AS THE MEDITER-
RANEAN REGION.
PPA ES
Smithsonian Report, 1940.—Bishop
PREHISTORIC PAINTED POTTERY, FOR BURIAL WITH THE DEAD; NORTHWESTERN
CHINA
Smithsonian Report, 1940.—Bishop PLATE 4
j> { {{
Sn ee
een
1. EARLIEST KNOWN FORM OF CHINESE WRITING (2D MILLENNIUM B. C.), INCISED
ON BONE AND TORTOISE SHELL AND PROBABLY ON WOOD AND BAMBOO ALSO.
2. ANCIENT CHINESE RITUAL BRONZE VESSELS; ABOUT MIDDLE OF 1ST MILLENNIUM
BaGe
Smithsonian Report, 1940.—Bishop PLATE 5
1. SURVIVAL OF USE OF PILE DWELLINGS; SOUTH-CENTRAL CHINA.
A,
bn ae
oS i i
»
“See
2. TEMPLE AND GROUNDS IN NORTHWEST CHINA, BUILT AT A SACRED SPRING.
Smithsonian Report, 1940.—Bishop PLATE 6
1. ANCIENT CHINESE CHARIOT OF AROUND 2,000 YEARS AGO; FROM A RELIEF OF
THAT TIME.
As in the Near East and in Europe, so too in China, chariots came into use much earlier than riding on
horseback.
2. CHINESE MOUNTED HUNTSMEN OF THE LATE 1ST MILLENNIUM B. C., FROM A
DECORATED TILE OF THAT PERIOD
Note absence of stirrups and of true saddles, not known until later.
Smithsonian Report, 1940.—Bishop PLATE 7
VIEWS OF THE GREAT WALL OF CHINA.
The original rampart, now almost effaced, was merely one of earth, as here shown; but in recent centuries
the structure was faced with brickwork at strategic points.
“VWNIHD 1VWYLNAD-HLNOS “SAWIL SAIL
‘(,, DNIM NOSVYC AINSAVSAH,,) ONVM ONN “INTH#d WOYS 9I18Y V SV SHILIMOHLNY SHL Ad Gaov
Nal, l FHL OL AIdWAL HLIM ‘SAVD GaYyovVS ‘2 “YNOOSIG MON :VNIHD NYSHLYON NI dIHSYOM 33y 1 * |
8 3LV1d doysigg—"p6| ‘I40dayy uetuosy US
Smithsonian Report, 1940.—Bishop PLATE 9
-
1. REPUTED GRAVE MOUND OF CONFUCIUS (D. 479 B. C.).
The stone tablet is comparatively recent.
2. GRAVE MOUND OF CH‘IN SHIH HUANG TI (D. 210 B. C.), FOUNDER OF THE
CHINESE EMPIRE AS WE KNOW IT, AND BUILDER OF THE GREAT WALL OF CHINA.
Smithsonian Report, 1940.—Bishop PLATE 10
ps ee oe
1. OLD CHINESE CANNON (THE LARGE ‘‘BOMBARD’’ IN FOREGROUND), BEARING
A DATE (IN CHINESE) CORRESPONDING TO A. D. 1378.
Prams it:
2. STREET SCENE IN T’UNG KUAN, THE CHINESE GIBRALTAR; THE HILL IN THE
BACKGROUND HAS BEEN ALMOST IMPREGNABLE TO ASSAULT.
STONEHENGE: TODAY AND YESTERDAY?
By FRANK STEVENS, O. B. E., F.S. A.
Director of the Salisbury Museum
(With plans and illustrations by Heywood Sumner, F. S. A.)
[With 1 plate]
INTRODUCTION
Stonehenge (in the county of Wiltshire, England) is a monument
with a reputation which has attracted visitors of all nations and of
every class for very many years. No prehistoric monument can
boast such a bulky bibliography, which runs into thousands of books,
pamphlets, and newspaper notices.
There would seem to be a fascination about the stones which
attracts the writer and invites him to set down his views and con-
clusions on the subject of this famous circle. And this is not hard
to explain. It is due to the atmosphere of mystery in which Stone-
henge was formerly enveloped which led past generations to indulge
in random speculations as to its origin and use. The quality of these
speculations varied. Some were frankly wild guesses; others were of
a quasi-scientific nature, set out in solemn print with all the impres-
siveness of a scientific achievement.
1Published by His Majesty’s Stationery Office, London, 1988. Reprinted by permission
of that office.
447
448 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1940
At different times the Phoenicians, the Druids, the Romans, and
even the Sumerians have been hailed as builders of Stonehenge. It
has been the background of lurid descriptions of human sacrifice,
with blazing wicker figures filled with writhing victims. It has been
described as a calendar, a great tribal meeting place, and the cere-
monial center of a vast necropolis.
But most of this speculation lacks confirmation. Much is based
on analogy and upon similarity to other stones in other parts of the
world. Analogy is not always a sure guide, and certainly similarity
is not always identity. Because the Japanese or Polynesian may
erect a “Trilithon”? for their religious rites and ceremonies, it does
not follow that Stonehenge was erected for a like purpose.
So much of this speculation has been printed and circulated, copied
and recopied by guidebooks, that it is very difficult for the present-
day visitor to disentangle truth from picturesque fiction or guess-
work. In addition, it is only recently that archeology has come to
be reckoned as a definite science and not the spare-time amusement
of the squire with a taste for investigating burial mounds to see
what was inside them.
To see Stonehenge intelligently, therefore, the visitor should dis-
abuse his mind of all theories and preconceptions, and concentrate
on the definite evidence which scientific exploration can lay before
him today. The aerial photograph will reveal a vanished trackway.
The careful excavations of Professor Gowland, Colonel Hawley, and
R. S. Newall will present an array of objects which can afford a
definite conception as to the date of building. The petrologist will
decide the origin of the rocks used in construction, and finally the
archeologists will produce their contribution, showing the migration
of tribes from the Continent of Europe to the British Isles, bringing
with them their own peculiar customs of burial and religion.
In this sense, then, Stonehenge may come to be regarded not as
an isolated monument but rather as the climax of a long chain of
stone circles introduced into this country by a civilization which
came certainly from the west of Europe, if not from some even more
remote source.
Today it is impossible, even after years of patient investigation,
to find an answer to every problem which the circle propounds, for
the very good reason that the science of practical archeology, as yet,
is only in its infancy. But the conclusions which have been arrived
at during the past three decades have more than a degree of cer-
tainty about them which the earlier work of a past generation lacked.
Let us cling, therefore, to things capable of proof and supported by
*Trilithon, a structure of three stones, two upright, with the third forming an impost
or lintel.
STONEHENGE—STEVENS 449
unshakeable evidence, and if that is done, it will be found that Stone-
henge will prove even more wonderful than the most speculative of
past writers would have us believe.
TOU
in i a=
a a | M
AS |
a
on Ne
TE
FIGURE 2.
DESCRIPTION OF STONEHENGE
The following are the chief features of Stonehenge:
(a) A circular earthwork 300 feet in diameter, inside which are 56
holes known as the “Aubrey Holes,” 32 of which (marked by white
patches of chalk) have been excavated and examined.
ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1940
450
(6) An “Avenue” bounded by earthen banks approaching the cir-
cular earthwork on the northeast.
(c) Within the Avenue, but outside the Circle, a large unworked
upright Sarsen stone, called the “Hele Stone” or “Friar’s Heel.”
coy rete e LEGER = yg ne Tees ~ ETH =
gaa RL UIC ein LYM LYN M3
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(dz) A recumbent slab of Sarsen within the earthwork.
(e) Two small unhewn Sarsens lying northwest and southeast of
the Circle.
(f) A circle of hewn Sarsen stones, with lintels mortised to them.
These lintels are fitted together with toggle joints, and the inner face
STONEHENGE—STEVENS 451
of them has been dressed, to form a circle of 98 feet diameter. Six-
teen out of the original thirty uprights of these Trilithons are now
standing.
(g) Within the circle of Sarsen Trilithons is another circle of hewn
stones. These stones have been conveyed to the spot from Prescelly
in Pembrokeshire. They numbered once between 40 and 50, but only
21 exist today.
(h) Five great detached Trilithons, arranged in a horseshoe, with
the opening to the northeast. These Trilithons are graduated in
height, that in the center standing 22 feet above the ground.
(7) An inner horseshoe of stones from Prescelly, standing from 6
to 8 feet in height. Including the stumps left in the ground, there are
12 of these stones.
(7) A recumbent slab of micaceous sandstone, lying under the de-
bris of the fallen Trilithon, which most probably came from Milford
Haven. This was first called the “Altar Stone” by Inigo Jones in the
seventeenth century. It is 16 feet long and weighs 7 tons.
The question which is bound to arise is, How was the circle erected?
Here again the process of building may be summarized briefly before
entering upon more detailed explanations. The large blocks of
Sarsen stone were roughly shaped in situ on the Plain before being
transported to the site where the work was finished. The Prescelly
stones were dressed on the spot before erection. The entire work was
performed with stone tools of the roughest description, weighing from
half a pound to over 60 pounds.
The large Trilithons were erected first and the Pembrokeshire
stones placed in position afterwards.
STONEHENGE AND OTHER STONE CIRCLES
1. Stonehenge is probably the latest and is certainly the most elab-
orate stone circle in England.
2. It is the only circle in the country which contains stones which
have been brought at least 180 miles.
3. The stones have been squared, dressed, and provided with lintels,
with mortises, tenons, and toggle joints.
4. The horseshoe arrangement of the stones is most uncommon.
5. Most of the stone circles in the South of England face the north-
east. Stonehenge is one of these.
6. Stone circles are to be found in South Britain, in Cornwall,
Devonshire, Dorset, Somerset, and Wiltshire. They are also found
in the Prescelly district in Wales.
7. Though not rich in circles, Wiltshire contains two of the most
remarkable in the Kingdom—Avebury and Stonehenge.
280256—41 20
452 |= ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1940
Avebury, the older of the two, has been partly destroyed, but when
perfect was one of the largest.
Stonehenge is the most finished example of a megalithic circle in
England.
THE LITHOLOGY OF STONEHENGH
Weatherworn and overgrown by lichen, it is not possible at the pres-
ent day to see clearly the nature of the stones which go to make up
Stonehenge. Investigation reveals the fact that the stones vary very
much in material, and that, further, just as the stones are placed in
systematic order, so too has the same care been exercised in the selec-
tion of the material from which each circle or horseshoe has been
built.
Moreover, just as the stones can be divided into groups of uprights
with lintels, or “Trilithons” and “simple uprights,” so too has it been
found that while all the Trilithons are composed of “local” stone
known generally as “Sarsen,” all the simple uprights are of Prescelly
stone, or “bluestone,” as it is generally called. This term must be
understood in a very comprehensive sense, since the simple uprights
show considerable variation in structure, but one and all are foreign
to the County of Wiltshire, whereas the larger Sarsen blocks, which
were formerly scattered all over the Wiltshire Downs, still exist in
some parts in considerable numbers. .
THE SARSEN STONES
All the large stones comprising the Trilithons are “Sarsens” which
have come from Wiltshire. They are found in the form of boulders,
and are picturesquely called “grey wethers.” The name is an apt
one, since in North Wiltshire, where they are more plentiful, they
certainly suggest a flock of titanic sheep reclining at ease on the
pasturage of the Downs. The hand of man has been heavy upon the
Sarsens, in a country which has little stone and that only in the
form of flint. Sarsens have been even quite recently used for pav-
ing stones and kerbs in Wiltshire towns. They are also to be found
in the walls of churches, while the village of Avebury itself affords
an example of how the Great Circle there has been depleted for
building purposes. No doubt the stones were far more plentiful in
prehistoric times, but even admitting this, it seems hardly likely that
the large tabular blocks used at Stonehenge could have been found
in the immediate neighborhood. On closer examination the “Sarsen”
shows itself to be a sandstone, formed by the natural cementing to-
gether of the sand and gravel which overlay the chalk in Tertiary
times. The stone is of very uneven texture, some specimens being
very compact and hard, while others are friable and easily disinte-
grated. One thing is very certain, however; the building of both
STONEHENGE—STEVENS 453
Avebury and Stonehenge called for exceptionally large stones of a
special shape, which would mean that they had to be sought out and
selected over a fairly wide area, and this applies particularly to the
“tabular” Sarsens, which most readily lent themselves to the pur-
pose of the Trilithons at Stonehenge.
With the exception of the “Friar’s Heel,” all the Sarsens at Stone-
henge are tabular blocks.
THE PRESCELLY STONES
The Sarsens usually awake the greatest interest by reason of their
size and the difficulties presented by their erection to a primitive
race.
But a far greater problem is presented by the Prescelly stones,
which, though smaller in size, have traveled to Wiltshire from Pem-
brokeshire, a distance of 180 miles as the crow flies.
For many years the place of origin of these stones was a matter of
controversy. One theory advanced was that they had been brought
to Salisbury Plain as boulders of “glacial drift.” This has been
heavily discounted by the fact that no pebbles of that particular
stone appear in the local gravels. Others have sought their home in
Cumberland, Devonshire, and Cornwall. Finally, the late Dr.
Thomas proved beyond all question that their origin was in the hills
at Prescelly.
Today 34 of these stones remain to us, and have been grouped as
follows:
Molerites! 22... St See ee Se et a 29
Riyolites,. -.-. - eee Ae Be 4
Micacecous: Sandstone==—=—2——- = fee 1 (“Altar Stone’’)
The dolerites are crystalline igneous rocks, of a blue-green to green-
ish-gray color, with white spots varying in size from that of a pea
to a walnut. This is a special characteristic of the Stonehenge
dolorites.
The rhyolites are masses of volcanic rock (lava).
The micaceous sandstone (Altar Stone) differs from the two above-
named rocks and should be regarded as apart from them. Three
localities have been suggested, the Mendips, Glamorganshire, and
Pembrokeshire. The Altar Stone has special affinity to the last two
localities, which are more or less identical in structure, and it is almost
certain that South Wales is the locality from which this stone was
brought. If this is so it seems more probable that the stone came
from Milford Haven than from Glamorganshire. Both dolerites and
rhyolites are to be found in the Prescelly district and at no great dis-
tance from Milford Haven. The spotted dolerite of Prescelly has all
454 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1940
the character of the Stonehenge fragments. The same may be said
of the rhyolite.
Finally, when sections of the rocks are examined under the micro-
scope, the similarity becomes identity. Photographs of these sections
are on view at the Salisbury Museum, together with a full series of
©
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:
'
'
'
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FIGURE 4.
specimens illustrating the lithology of Stonehenge. Dr. Thomas in
his report adds that “the assemblage of Stonehenge foreign stones pre-
sents the significant feature of derivation from a comparatively small
area where all the rock types occur together.”
STONEHENGE—STEVENS 455
But there is yet another point which calls for consideration: the
eastern portion of the Prescelly Mountains is extremely rich in
Megalithic remains. Dolmens and the remains of stone circles are
numerous; at least eight circles have been identified in the limited
area from which the stones have come.
THE AVENCH, DITCH, AND AUBREY HOLES
It is extremely easy for a visitor to Stonehenge to overlook the
Avenue which approaches the circle from the northeast.
This earthwork cannot be traced very readily at the present day;
but in the days when Stonehenge was perfect and formed part of the
life of the inhabitants of the Plain, it must have been a very marked
and imposing feature of the monument. It is quite possible that
there might have been an avenue of standing stones upon its banks.
This is one of the points which still await future investigation. The
Avenue extends from Stonehenge in a northeasterly direction for
over 500 yards, and then divides into two branches, one turning to the
left and proceeding in the direction of the Cursus about half a mile
distant. The task of investigating this branch has not been com-
pletely undertaken. The branch which turns to the right has been
traced by one of the most interesting aids to modern archeology—
photography from the air.
O. G. S. Crawford, of H. M. Ordnance Survey, detected on air
photographs of the Stonehenge district certain lines which indicated
what he believed to be the original trackway leading from Stonehenge
to the River Avon at West Amesbury. Examination and excavation
revealed the accuracy of Mr. Crawford’s surmise. The track, which
diverges from the Avenue, does not go straight to the river, but makes
a sweep round the back of Fargo Wood, over Seven Barrow Down,
and so to the river somewhere near West Amesbury House. There
seems to have been some purpose in this deviation, for it follows more
or less the contour of the map, and avoids the steep dip in the Plain
just before Stonehenge is reached by the road from Amesbury. It is
even more than possible that this particular depression was, at the
time Stonehenge was being built, a quagmire, and that the trackway
purposely skirted the tail of it.
The straight Avenue leading to Stonehenge is quite different from
the two trackways already described. It lies between ditches 71
feet apart, with 47 feet between the banks. This fine layout at
once suggests a ceremonial use for the Avenue.
The Ditch and Bank which surround Stonehenge have been briefly
mentioned already. They are an earthwork of a class quite unlike
cattle enclosures and defensive works, and exhibit a precision in
setting out which is only associated with the sepulchral and religious
456 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1940
earthworks of prehistoric times in this country. The custom of
digging a circular ditch round a barrow or stone circle was not
unusual, and it has been suggested that the Ditch and Bank were
symbolical of a barrier beyond which it was tabu to pass. One
peculiarity in the case of Stonehenge is that the Bank is on the
inside, and not outside the Ditch.
The Ditch has suffered very greatly in the flux of time from the
natural falling in of the sides, known as silting. When freshly dug
it would have been 6 or 7 feet wide at the bottom and between 4 and
5 feet deep. Its dimensions vary between the above limits, and it
would appear from this that it was the Bank rather than the Ditch
which was the main object of the builders. It was in fact to gain
material for the Bank that the Ditch was dug. A glance at the plan
(omitted from this reprint) will also reveal two causeways where
the Ditch ceases, one on the northeast and the other on the south.
It will also be noticed that the Northeast Causeway does not lie in
the center of the line of the Avenue.
Inside the circumference of the Ditch and Bank will be found a
series of roughly circular patches of white chalk, marking the posi-
tions of the Aubrey Holes, which were first scientifically recorded in
1920. The discovery was not absolutely a new one, for when Aubrey,
the antiquary, made his plan of Stonehenge in 1666, now preserved
in the Bodleian Library at Oxford, he indicated upon it certain
depressions at regular intervals inside the earthwork. Time had
obliterated these depressions when Colonel Hawley and R. S. Newall
began to investigate after consulting Aubrey’s map at Oxford. In
all, 56 holes were located in the complete circle, and 32 of these were
excavated. They occur roughly at intervals of 16 feet and vary
little either in size or shape, being rather over 3 feet deep and 5
feet in diameter, all more or less circular. The solid chalk which
lies very close to the surface at Stonehenge, has in many cases been
crushed on the lip of these holes, which suggests that the uprights
which may formerly have stood in them have been pulled down.
Whether these uprights were of wood or stone is still a matter of
debate. That the holes contained uprights is beyond question.
Nearly every one of the 32 holes examined contained cremated
human remains, and in three cases the cremation had taken place
in situ. It does not follow, however, that the cremations are of the
same period as the erection of the uprights; there is, indeed, evidence
in one case that the remains were deposited after the removal of the
upright from its chalk socket.
A very interesting suggestion has been made that the Prescelly
stones originally formed this simple circle of unwrought stones, which
later on were removed and dressed, to be erected in their present
position within the circle and horseshoe of Sarsen Trilithons,
STONEHENGE—STEVENS 457
The diameter of the circle of Aubrey Holes is 288 feet, and the
center from which this circle was struck is not that of the existing
Stonehenge, but lies about 2 feet 6 inches to the south of it. The
fact that Stonehenge has two distinct centers, one for the Aubrey
Holes and one for the circle of Trilithons, may very well suggest that
the Aubrey Holes and the existing circle at Stonehenge do not belong
to the same date, and that there were two distinct periods of building
at Stonehenge.
THE STONES OUTSIDE THE CIRCLE
Outside the circle of Trilithons stand four stones. One, the
“Friar’s Heel,” stands on the northeast, inside the Avenue. The
second, also on the northeast and just within the Ditch, has been
named the “Slaughter Stone.” The remaining two stones are on the
line of the Aubrey Holes at the southeast and northwest respectively.
The “Friar’s Heel” and the two stones at the southeast and northwest
are unworked, but the Slaughter Stone was worked. All signs of
working on its exposed surface have been obliterated by time, but
when it was uncovered during excavation, the tool marks on its sides
were very plainly visible.
THE “FRIAR’S HEEL”
This stone is the largest of the outlying stones of the circle. It
is 16 feet high and leans inward. The name is a remarkable one
and is derived from a legend, whose origin is unknown, which links
the stone with the Devil.
In early times the worship of stones was very common, and even
the Jews were not untainted by it, and such rites were sternly re-
proved by Isaiah and other prophets. Later on, in Christian times,
the custom continued and was forbidden by the Council of Tours
and later on by Cnut. They belonged to the bad old days of paganism
and were, therefore, of the Devil, and hence the “devil-legend.”
Much has been written about the rising of the sun over this stone on
Midsummer Day. Many people have seen it, and there are plenty of
photographs showing the disk of the sun just over the peak of the
stone. It should not be forgotten that the stone lies within the Ave-
nue and is very roughly on the axis of the circle facing the so-called
Altar Stone. These facts should indicate the possibility of a con-
nection between Stonehenge and the sun. Further indication of the
importance of this stone, to the builders, was forthcoming when exca-
vation on the western side revealed a circular trench about 30 feet in
diameter surrounding it. The eastern portion of this had been
destroyed by the present-day roadway.
458 | ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1940
THE STONES AT THE SOUTHEAST AND NORTHEAST OF THE CIRCLE
These two unwrought stones stand just inside the Ditch, and their
position is such as to suggest that some significance was attached to
the points at which they stand. Farther round the circle of Aubrey
Holes to the southward from the southeast stone there is a circular
earthwork described as the “South Barrow.” A similar earthwork
12, 24 36:
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appears on the north of the northwest stone. A line between the two
stones passes directly through the center of the circle. In the same
way a line between the centers of the two earthworks does the same
thing. In addition to this, the distance between each stone and earth-
STONEHENGE—STEVENS 459
work is the same, so that the arrangement of these four points is
symmetrical. For this reason they are sometimes called the “Four
Stations.” But though they are thus placed, so that both stones and
earthworks are in line with the center of the circle, the view between
them is completely blocked by the rest of the monument. To obtain
that line, therefore, it would seem that these four stations must have
been set out before the circle was erected, and therefore at an earlier
date.
Colonel Hawley’s excavations have shed further light upon this
question, for on investigating the “South Barrow” he discovered it
to be a circular ditch surrounding a hole which had formerly held
a stone.
With regard to the corresponding “North Barrow,” Colt Hoare
mentions that there was a circular ditch also, so that it is more than
likely that there was also a stone.
Consequently the “Four Stations” originally were four stones, set
up with considerable accuracy, the lines joining them meeting at an
angle of 45 degrees.
Sir Norman Lockyer has recorded that these stones seen from the
center of the circle would indicate sunset and sunrise on May 6 and
November 8, February 2 and August 5.
THE SLAUGHTER STONE
This name is apt to be misleading and to suggest rather gruesome
rites and ceremonies, of which there is no evidence. The name was
given to it by Stukeley in the seventeenth century. It is almost
buried in a depression in the ground and lies just inside the Ditch,
a little to the south of the axis of the monument.
Opposite to this stone, at the same distance from the center, a
large hole was uncovered, which contained a Sarsen packing block,
which suggests that there was a second stone which has disappeared.
In 1655 Inigo Jones mentioned a pair of standing stones, of which he
gives the dimensions, which correspond to those of the existing
Slaughter Stone. So that there is every reason to suppose that two
stones stood, one on either side of the axis, on the northeast, and that
possibly there may have been a lintel stone froming a complete
Trilithon.
THE Y AND Z HOLES
Outside the stone circle are two irregular circles of holes, called the
Y and Z holes. Only 15 of each have been excavated, but soundings
have revealed the existence of 30 in each circle. They have not been
marked on the ground, as have the Aubrey Holes. Each pair of Y
460 | ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1940
and Z holes lies immediately behind each of the Sarsen uprights of
the circle.
It is known that they were dug after the erection of the uprights in
the circle, because in one case the hole has been dug through the
incline used in the erection of the upright. But the irregularity of
the circles is most striking. They entirely lack the precision of the
setting out of the stone circle. The holes are 3 feet deep and between
11% to 2 feet wide at the bottom. Can they by any chance have been
“constructional” and in some way connected with the raising of the
lintel stones? At the moment no definite suggestion has been made
as to their use.
THE CIRCLES AND HORSESHOES OF STONEHENGE
After this review of the earthworks and stones outside the circle,
the central monument now claims attention.
It begins with the outer circle of Trilithons, which are all of the
local Sarsen stone already described. Many of the stones have fallen,
but a very fair idea of what the circle was like when complete may
be obtained by looking at the group of Trilithons standing between
the Altar Stone and the Friar’s Heel. The original number of the
uprights was 30, and the average weight of each would have been 26
tons. Nine of these have fallen, and five have disappeared. They
were very accurately arranged in a perfect circle at equal distances
apart, and stood 1314 feet above the ground level. On the top of
them was a continuous row of lintel stones, two lintels resting on
each upright. These are somewhat smaller than the uprights, averag-
ing 1014 feet in length and weighing rather under 7 tons.
A feature of these lintel stones, not generally noticed, is that they
are not perfectly rectangular blocks, for the inner face has been care-
fully dressed to the curve of the circumference of the circle, a work
demanding considerable skill.
This arrangement of lintel stones is most uncommon, and, so far
as our knowledge of stone circles in Britain is concerned, is unique.
But there is yet another feature which calls for comment, and that
is the way in which the lintel stones are secured to the uprights by
a series of mortise and tenon joints, and to one another by toggle
joints. The uprights of the outer circle have each two tenons on
their summit, one near each end, and the lintels have corresponding
sockets or mortises which fit over them. The dressing of these must
have been a delicate matter. The toggle joints on the lintels con-
sisted of a groove at one end of the stone and a projection on the
other. Colonel Hawley, who had actual experience of lifting and
replacing more than one of these lintels, is of opinion that the tops
of the uprights were dressed after they were erected. Owing to their
STONEHENGE—STEVENS 461
relative position, and careful fitting together, the undersides of the
lintels and the tops of the uprights have not suffered from weather-
ing, and in replacing the lintels Colonel Hawley says the joints fitted
so well “as to make it difficult to return the lintels to their former
places.”
Within this circle of Sarsen Trilithons lies a concentric circle of
Prescelly uprights of about 78 feet in diameter. This circle has
suffered considerable from depredation by farmers and others in
search of convenient building stone in the seventeenth and eighteenth
centuries. Today only 18 stones remain, but it has been generally
accepted that the original number must have been about 40, and some
writers have suggested that they numbered 60. The method of their
destruction has made it difficult to distinguish the holes from which
they were wrenched, for a continuous trench was dug between some of
the stones in order to loosen them. Colonel Hawley, from personal
examination, is of opinion that the stones were formerly only about
18 inches apart. In some places only the stumps of them remain.
The stones of the inner circle of uprights are between 9 and 10 feet
in length and about 214 feet in width.
Within the two circles just described stands a horseshoe of five de-
tached Trilithons, graduated in height from 161% feet to 17 feet 9
inches for the first two pairs and 22 feet for the “Great Trilithon” in
the center. Two of these five Trilithons are still standing and are
certainly the most impressive features of the monument. The central
Trilithon is said to have fallen in the year 1620 when the Duke of
Buckingham was seeking buried gold at Stonehenge. When this fall
took place, one of the uprights cracked into two pieces and the other
was dragged forward into a leaning position, in which condition it
remained till 1901, when it was restored to its former vertical state.
The next Trilithon, on the north, fell on January 3, 1797, after a
sudden thaw, the fall being due in some measure to a shelter dug at the
foot of the stones by gypsies.
Of the fifth and last of the Trilithons in the horseshoe, two uprights,
one fallen and one erect, remain.
These Trilithons are well worthy of close examination; first, be-
cause of their size, for, with the exception of some of the stones at
Avebury, they are the largest monoliths in England; secondly, because
it is possible to see in them, more clearly than in any other of the stones
at Stonehenge, the fitting of the mortise and tenon joints. The stand-
ing upright of the Great Trilithon shows on its summit a very perfect
example of the tenon, while the fallen lintel which lies at its foot dis-
plays the two mortise holes very perfectly.
The Great Trilithon was carefully examined in 1901 by Professor
Gowland, who was in charge of the excavations. Two very special
Sarsen boulders must have been required for a Trilithon 22 feet high.
462 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1940
One stone 30 feet in length and weighing about 50 tons was forthcom-
ing, but the companion stone was only 25 feet long. In order, there-
fore, that the crowns of these two uprights should be level, the longer
stone had to be embedded 9 feet in the ground, while the shorter one
had only a depth of 5 feet. To give it rather more solidity, a boss of
I DO al "3
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FIGURE 6.
untrimmed stone was left at the base. In the same way the depth
of the foundation of all the Sarsen uprights in Stonehenge has been
adjusted to meet the length of each stone. The lintel stones of these
large Trilithons are of an average length of 16 feet; they are wider
on the upper surface than below, and their inner face follows the curve
STONEHENGE—STEVENS 463
of the horseshoe in the same way as those of the inner ring follow the
line of the circle.
Just as the outer circle of Sarsen Trilithons enclosed a circle of
Prescelly uprights, so too does the horseshoe of Sarsen Trilithons en-
close an inner horseshoe of Prescelly uprights. These uprights are
from 6 to 8 feet in height, and when the horseshoe was complete would
have numbered 19; actually there are, including stumps, 12 remaining
today. These stones have evidently been specially selected for their
unusual length.
Last of all, almost buried beneath the broken upright of the Great
Trilithon, comes that stone on which Inigo Jones unfortunately be-
stowed the name “Altar Stone” in the seventeenth century, and in so
doing left the monument with a heritage of sacrificial rites from which
it is difficult now to dissociate it. The name certainly rests on no sure
foundation of any ascertained fact.
But putting aside altogether any question of sacrifice, human or
otherwise, the stone is of special interest. To begin with it is for-
eign to Wiltshire, and the balance of opinion tends to its having come
from Milford Haven in Pembrokeshire, as has already been stated. In
addition it is the largest of all the foreign stones at Stonehenge, for
it is 16 feet long, 3 feet 4 inches wide, and 1 foot 9 inches thick. Its
position is nearly central to the line of the axis, and it may possibly
have been somewhat shifted by the fall of the Great Trilithon in 1620.
The suggestion has been made that it was once upright, and that it
marked a burial. Such things do exist in other circles, whereas flat
stones in circles do not exist elsewhere. But Stonehenge is unlike
other circles in so many particulars that it is not altogether safe to
accept this argument by analogy without further evidence. If the
stone were an upright, it would naturally follow that it must have
stood in a hole in the chalk, as do all the uprights. Unluckily the site
of the stone has been very much disturbed. Stukeley, in 1723, con-
ducted explorations there, and so did William Cunnington in the early
nineteenth century, who certainly found a hole in which it may have
stood, and about a hundred years later Professor Gowland found traces
of excavation about the still upright stone of the Great Trilithon. If
the so-called Altar Stone had actually been upright, it would have
stood most probably on the axis of the monument, and there seems
very little evidence of any definite stone hole. So that, for want of
more convincing evidence, it would seem quite reasonable to accept the
present position of the stone as being that in which it was originally
placed.
464 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1940
THE BUILDING OF STONEHENGE
THE TRANSPORT OF THE PRESCELLY STONES
Hitherto the actual plan and disposition of the stones and earth-
works has been dealt with. At this point it may be well to consider
the present state of our knowledge of the actual methods employed
in dealing with these vast blocks of stone.
One of the first questions which is bound to arise is, Why were the
Prescelly stones brought to Salisbury Plain, which is 180 miles from
the site where they are found naturally? It should be remembered
that there are eight stone circles at Prescelly, as well as many other
traces of the Megalithic builders. Consequently a very reasonable
suggestion might be that a race migrating from Prescelly would bring
their sacred stones with them. The strong stimulus of religion might
make such a thing possible. It is practically certain that the stones,
ay
.
FIGURD 7,
when removed from Prescelly, had not been dressed. This is evident
from the large number of chippings found at Stonehenge.
The second question is, How were the stones transported? To this
no certain reply can be given. There are three possible suggestions:
(1) There may have been an all-land route through South Wales; (2)
an all-water route by river and sea, round by Land’s End and up the
Avon; or (8) a combination of the land and water route using the land
to reach a convenient estuary from which the stones might have been
shipped.
And here the importance of the material composing the Altar
Stone is very evident. If Dr. Thomas’ opinion is correct and the
stone came from the Cosheston Beds near Milford Haven, the stones
must have been moved southward from the Prescelly Mountains.
Here, it is true, there are river valleys, but they are quite unsuited for
water transit, being swift-flowing mountain streams, with shallows
and rapids, which must have presented considerable obstacles for
navigation.
STONEHENGE—STEVENS 465
On the other hand, there are three ancient trackways recently
described by W. F. Grimes, of the National Museum of Wales, which
appear to afford a solution as to how the stones came from the moun-
tains to the coast. The first of these trackways, called “Fleming’s
Way,” follows east and west the line of the Prescelly range. From
it, leading southward from the range, are two “spur ways”—that on
the west leading to Haverfordwest and that on the east to Narberth.
Both these spur ways are in use as roads at the present day. Haver-
fordwest stands at the head of the tidal estuary of the Western
Cleddau and Narberth is similarly placed on the estuary of the
Eastern Cleddau. The roads have all the features of ancient tracks;
they avoid valleys, and their gradients are easy; and in the case of
the Narberth road in particular, antiquities are plentiful on the route,
showing that the district has been occupied since early times. From
either of the two tidal estuaries the waterway leads through the area
of the micaceous sandstone of the Cosheston Beds and finally to the
sea at Milford Haven.
An interesting sidelight on the date of the removal of the stones
from Prescelly is the large block of Prescelly Stone from the Long
Barrow, called “Boles Barrow,” near Heytesbury, 14 miles west of
Salisbury. This was unearthed by William Cunnington in 1801,
and after some migrations has at last found a home in the Salisbury
Museum. The presence of this stone in a Long Barrow would justify
a date of about 1800 B. C. for its transportation.
The stone axes and axhammers of “spotted dolerite” and other
rocks from North Pembrokeshire, which have been found not only in
Wales but beyond its borders, constitute evidence of human activity
in the Prescelly area in Neolithic and Early Bronze Age times.
THE SARSEN STONES
There seems to be little doubt that the Sarsen stones were fire+
of all roughly hewn into shape before they were conveyed to Stone-
henge. Among the chippings and mason’s waste discovered in the
course of excavation, there is comparatively little Sarsen stone, and
that usually in large fragments. Also the natural tabular form of the
stone adapted itself to the needs of the builders; it was almost. a»
ideal material.
The transport of the Sarsen blocks must have called for consider-
able skill owing to their weight, one block weighing certainly 50
tons. Even with abundant labor, time in which to transport the
stones, and the stimulus of religion, the achievement is a very notable
one, and only second to the erection of the stones at Avebury. But
the transport of monoliths and monolithic figures was common in
other countries, and specially in Egypt, where, prior to Stonehenge
466 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1940
by a thousand or more years, huge figures cut from single blocks
of stone were dragged upon a kind of sledge over ground which was
freely watered to make the figure skid forward when hauled by ropes.
The final skilled work of dressing was completed on the site. It
is impossible today to detect the rough tooling on the exposed surface
of the Sarsens. Time and weather have played their part in obliter-
ating it, but underneath the ground, where the bases of the stones
have been protected by the earth, the toolmarks are as clear and
sharp as when the stone left the craftsman’s hands some 4,000 years
ago. In the process of straightening the upright of the Great
Trilithon in 1901, a thin slab of the surface of the stone became de-
tached. A portion of this slab is in the Salisbury Museum and shows
the toolmarks very plainly.
Very considerable skill would have been called for in the cutting of
the tenons and making of the mortise holes.
In the case of the outer circle, each upright would have had two
tenons; the uprights of the horseshoe on the other hand would have
had only one. Still more difficult would have been the cutting of the
toggle joints and their subsequent adjustment. This can only have
been carried out after the lintels were raised and placed upon the
uprights.
The tools used appear at first sight to be of the roughest descrip-
tion. Some are of flint and some of compact Sarsen, but so far no
trace of any metal tool has been discovered. Most striking of all are
the large mauls of Sarsen, which range between 86 and 67 pounds in
weight. Some of these are roughly spherical, others have a broad
flat base. Some of them may have been slung on a rope with two
ends which could have been swung by two men to give a crushing
blow. The spherical stones might very well also have been used to
grind the mortise holes with sand and water, a common practice
among stone-using peoples. There are likewise smaller Sarsen ham-
mers ranging from 1 to 6 pounds, also roughly spherical, and flint
hammer stones which show extensive bruising due to use. Apart
from these there are axes and hammer axes of flint. From the ex-
cavation at the Great Trilithon alone, over 120 tools were recovered.
Digging the foundation holes was carried out with picks made from
the antler of the red deer, very many of which have been found. The
usual method was to utilize the first branch or “brow tine” as a pick,
and to cut off the rest. Many splinters of these picks have been
found embedded in the chalk of the foundations, as well as unmis-
takable pick holes in the chalk. The antlers were many of them very
much larger than those of the present-day red deer. Some are shed
antlers, and others have been taken from animals killed in the chase
and retain their horn cores.
STONEHENGE—STEVENS 467
THE ERECTION OF THE STONES
It must first of all be understood that the setting-out of Stonehenge
was done with great care. The Outer Sarsen Trilithons were erected
in a perfect circle. The uprights are very evenly placed, 4 feet be-
tween each, or to put it in another way, the center of each upright is
10 feet 2 inches from its neighbor, with the exception of the two up-
rights on either side of the axis (stones Nos. 30 and 1), which are
1 foot farther apart than all the others. This extra width is adjusted
by shortening the distance between stones Nos. 29 and 30 and 1 and 2
by 6 inches.
To insure this accurate placing of the uprights, holes were dug
which afforded room on all sides for the correct placing of the stone
which, once in position, was secured by packing blocks; some of these
are from Chilmark, about 13 miles distant. An incline led to the hole
in all but two cases, down which the stone was slid. The depth of
the hole would, of course, depend upon the length of the upright.
At the bottom of each hole which has been examined was a row of
holes in the ground, sometimes 6 inches in diameter, which seem to
indicate that they were used for wooden stakes which were intended
to steady the upright while the packing blocks were being built around
the three other sides. Or again these holes may have been for posts
used as a fulcrum for a lever. Most probably the holes were used for
both purposes; and it is a fact that decayed wood has been found in
them, which must have been inserted by human agency. And here it
may be noted that very many of the uprights which have been uncov-
ered in excavation have the appearance of having been brought down
at the base to a rude chisel edge, which would make the process of
shifting forward or backward, or from side to side, much easier than
a blunt end to the stone.
But granted the ingenuity of the builders, their care and exactitude
in setting out, the vast bulk of the stones weighing anything between
20 and 50 tons, still presents a staggering problem. It is not so much
one of manpower, important as this must have been, as of careful
thought and direction, and the utilization of simple mechanical prin-
ciples, which, deftly applied, produced this astonishing result. What
kind of ropes were used, for example? It is improbable that hemp
was grown and manufactured at that date. Were these ropes of
plaited hide? The presence of so many antlers used as picks suggests
an abundance of such material.
The Trilithons of the horseshoe, unlike those of the circle, were
erected from the inside. This was discovered in 1901, and the impor-
tant fact followed that the Prescelly stones were erected after the
Trilithons.
280256—41——31
468 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1940
Nor can the placing of the lintels be taken lightly, apart from
the meticulous care expended on fitting them together. Many sug-
gestions have been made, such as levers and alternate packing baulks
of timber, or inclines of chalk up which the stone could be rolled.
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FIGURE 8.
There seems, however, as yet to be little certainty on this subject
and very little proof of the methods employed. This is one of the
points which will doubtless be solved in time, and it is best, for the
moment, not to add to the many speculations already current on the
STONEHENGE—STEVENS 469
subject. It speaks well for the care of the builders that the stones
should have stood as well as they have done. Of the Sarsens, 16 are
standing in the outer circle and 6 in the horseshoe, 13 have fallen or
have been moved, and 5 are missing. An examination of prints and
drawings reveals the fact that Nos. 13 and 14 were standing in 1574,
but No. 14 fell about 20 years later; the big detached Trilithon of the
horseshoe fell in January 1797, and No. 22 in December 1900. The
fallen lintels, being smaller and ready to hand for removal, are
nearly all missing. The Prescelly stones, as has already been said,
have suffered more heavily by reason of the ease with which they
could have been removed. The relic hunter has also been accused
of damage. It is even said that a hammer was kept in a well-
known hotel in Salisbury for the use of visitors to Stonehenge. Be-
sides this there was a superstition which endowed the “Bluestones”
with medicinal properties, which may also have contributed to their
destruction.
OBJECTS DISCOVERED AT STONEHENGE
So far, only the actual implements employed in the building of
Stonehenge have been mentioned, but they by no means exhaust
the list of objects found in the areas excavated between 1920-28.
Very careful investigations have taken place in the Ditch, the Aubrey
Holes, the “South Barrow,” the area between the outer Sarsens and
the Aubrey Holes, the Y and Z holes, and the sockets of stones 1,
2, 6, 7, 8, 9, 29, and 30.
The following list gives a comprehensive idea of the relics:
DITCH
1. From the earth above the chalk silt—¥ragments of Beaker
pottery, c. 1800 B. C. (two distinct beakers can be recognized),
small Late Bronze awl, c. 500 B. C. (the only actual Bronze Age
implement yet found), tanged and barbed flint arrowhead, Roman
brooch and coins, “Samian ware,” spindle whorls, and two medieval
iron arrowheads.
2. From the earthy rubble above the chalk silt—Implements of
Prescelly stone, some partly polished axes, and a small well-wrought
stone ball of unknown use.
3. In the chalk silt at the bottom.—Many rough flint implements
with deep white stain or patina, a bone chisel, and fragments of
chalk balls. Many antlers of the red deer, some cut down to form
picks, and others which show signs of use as rakes.
470 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1940
THE AUBREY HOLES
Among the finds were “fabricators” of flint, used in the manufacture
of flint implements, and flint flakes; some of these have been replaced
upon the cores from which they have been struck off, showing that
the work was done on the spot. Besides these there were axes and
hammers of Prescelly stone, and fragments of Bronze Age pottery.
One of these is of special interest; it is a portion of a vessel with
perforated lugs which may have been an “incense cup” of the Middle
Bronze Age.
CREMATIONS AROUND THE AUBREY HOLES
Bone pins, well finished, some bearing traces of fire, and a beauti-
fully finished perforated Bronze Age macehead, in hornblendic gneiss,
a stone foreign to the district but found in Brittany and also in Scot-
land. This shows no trace of wear and might, therefore, have been
“ceremonial.”
GROUND BETWEEN THE OUTER SARSENS AND AUBREY HOLES
Roughly chipped flint implements, Bronze Age pottery, Early Iron
Age pottery (c. 400 B. C.), pottery “counter” or disk for playing some
game, three Roman coins, Roman fibula (A. D. 350-400), Roman
toilet article, Anglo-Saxon silver belt ornament, coin of Ethelred II,
minted in London, Norman harness ornament, a groat of Henry II,
cut to make a halfgroat, and small bell pendant, possibly from a horse
trapping.
¥ AND Z HOLES
Rough flint implements, small tablets of Prescelly stone, perhaps
“counters,” Prescelly axhammers, Bronze Age pottery, Early Iron
Age pottery, Roman New Forest ware, “mock” Samian, made locally,
fragment of Roman brooch, bangle, and three Roman coins.
SARSEN STONE HOLES
Flint implements (two scrapers with polished edges, fabricator,
etc.), tablet and implements of Prescelly stone, broken perforated
hammer (not Prescelly stone), Beaker pottery, Early Iron Age pot-
tery, Roman pottery, part of Roman bronze bracelet, and a hone.
AREA AT OPEN END OF HORSESHOE
Fint implements (scraper with polished edge), Beaker pottery,
bone pin, Early Iron Age pottery.
STONEHENGE—STEVENS ATi.
“SOUTH BARROW”
Deer antler pick, flint hammer, adz and scraper, parts of three
Prescelly stone axes, portion of the cutting edge of perforated
axhammer.
On reviewing the above discoveries, from every part of the south-
eastern half of Stonehenge, it will be at once noticed that flints,
Prescelly axes and hammers, and Beaker pottery are widely distrib-
uted and a normal result of excavation. More special and of equal
importance are the Middle Bronze Age “incense cup” and the perfo-
rated ax from the Aubrey Hole cremation. The predominance of the
tools of Prescelly stone seems to indicate that they belong to a time
when those stones were dressed and when Stonehenge was erected.
The greater number of the discoveries lie between the late Neolithic
and the Early Iron Age. There is a very considerable amount of
Beaker pottery and a certain number of later Bronze Age objects, but
they are not very plentiful. The same may be said for the Early Iron
Age remains. Roman, Saxon, and other objects seem to have no bear-
ing upon the date of the monument.
The flint and stone implements are found throughout the excava-
tions at all depths, and even under the foundation of one of the
Prescelly stones. Further antler picks, similar to those used at Stone-
henge, have been found in the Beaker flint mines at Easton Down,
not many miles from Stonehenge, where they were used to win flint
for the manufacture of implements which are identical in their work-
ing with those found at Stonehenge. The Easton Down Settlement
throws an important sidelight on Stonehenge, since it yields not only
flints and Beaker fragments, but also pottery of the earliest known
type known as Windmill Hill pottery, which can be dated as about
2000 B. C. The similarity, therefore, between the Stonehenge tools
and those in use at Easton Down, to which a period has been assigned,
indicates that the date of the building of Stonehenge may fairly be
placed at a time when the use of stone was contemporary with a partial
use of bronze, and that, if Stonehenge is not a late Neolithic structure,
it must certainly belong to the Early Bronze period.
It may be urged that the roughness of the tools and the almost com-
plete absence of bronze would indicate an even earlier period. It
should, however, be remembered that the form of the tool is governed
very largely by the work it is called upon to perform. Bronze tools
would have been useless to deal with the compact stones at Stone-
henge. The crushing weight of a heavy maul or stone hammer ax
would have been more effective than a light bronze tool, which would
be liable to bend or buckle.
472 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1940
To many people the mention of a culture period may not convey
very much. To give a date in actual years is by no means easy. The
march of culture in those distant times was slow and liable to be
arrested from time to time. The passage from the use of one mate-
rial to another was prolonged, often reaching into centuries. Speak-
ing very generally, it may be said that the Megalithic culture reached
the west of England and Wales about 2500 B. C. and that it was
followed by the Bronze Age culture, on the east and south coasts of
Britain about 2000 B. C.
WHO BUILT STONEHENGE?
So far nothing has been said as to the race or races which built
Stonehenge, beyond the fact that two races are recognizable in the
structure of the stones and the objects which have come to light in
the course of excavation. ‘This subject opens up rather a wider field
of inquiry than that hitherto pursued. It is necessary now to survey
the continent of Europe, and to study the distribution of the Mega-
lithic Builders and their successors, the Early Bronze Age or Beaker
Folk as they are generally known.
Sir Cyril Fox in his “Personality of Britain” furnishes the requisite
material in his wonderfully suggestive maps of Megalithic and
Beaker distribution in this country, as well as in his map of Europe
showing the approach of these races to Britain. He shows very
clearly that the Megalithic monuments of the late Neolithic Age are
concentrated in the south, west, and north of the island, while the
Beaker Folk can be located as certainly in the east and south. But
as he points out, “the only intensive overlap is in the south of
Britain—the Salisbury Plain region.” Let us consider the Mega-
lithic people first of all. Their monuments (long barrows, cham-
bered cairns and dolmens) follow the Atlantic coast of Portugal,
Spain, and France, notably of course at Carnac in Brittany. The
first landfall of Britain from that district is round and about Land’s
End, with its very numerous and convenient harbors and estuaries,
whence it would be easy to pass up the Irish Sea to the Hebrides.
This contention is fully supported by the distribution of their monu-
ments in Cornwall, South Wales, and up the deepwater channel north-
ward to the Hebrides. With this western sea route open to the
primitive shipmen, Britain was in the stream of European culture,
and in all probability western Britain was living in a higher standard
of culture than eastern Britain.
There would seem to be very little doubt as to the origin of the
Prescelly stones at Stonehenge, but the actual route by which they
were transported seems as yet a matter of conjecture rather than
proof. The question may be asked, Why were they ever carried such
STONEHENGE—STEVENS 473
a long distance to Salisbury Plain? This may best be answered by a
consideration of the map of Britain at that remote period. Dr. Fox
conveniently divides the islands into the Highland and Lowland
areas; the division is a rough one but most suggestive. He points out
the natural barriers imposed by the Cambrian Mountains, Exmoor,
Dartmoor, and the Cotswold and Mendip Hills, which shut off the
Lowland zone of the Western Downs and Salisbury Plain from the
Pembrokeshire Megalithic center.
The Lowland zone had its strong attraction, with rolling downs
offering good pasture, and its deep estuaries to the sea; but there
was in the Lowlands no stone for Megalithic monuments except lime-
stone, and the Sarsens which have been used to great purpose at both
Stonehenge and Avebury. When it came to final settlement, the
Megalithic Race were more attracted by the chalk downs of Salisbury
Plain and the limestones of the Cotswolds and Mendips than by the
rocky land of Devon and Cornwall with its barren moors. The Low-
land always had its attraction for the early migrants, its easy con-
tours offered no obstacle. The newcomer had a better chance of
settlement than in a difficult mountainous country. Granted that the
Salisbury Plain area offered a definite attraction, it would hardly
strain the bounds of possibility to suppose that a tribe or clan,
making the long journey to what was to them a Land of Promise,
would take their Stone Circle with them, and erect it on their arrival,
as an almost sacramental act of taking possession of the land. Such
a supposition would account for a circle of unhewn Prescelly stones
on Salisbury Plain.
But the tide of immigration to Britain was Aomane fast, and within
about 500 years of the arrival of the Megalithic Race by the Atlantic
route, a new race, known as the Beaker Folk, were arriving on the
eastern and southern shores of Britain. The race appears to have
moved westward to these islands from the Rhinelands, the breeding
ground of those cultures which have affected eastern Britain at all
times. Probably in the case of the Beaker Folk, some took a north-
erly course down the Rhine, and others a westerly one by way of the
Seine or Somme, arriving at the southern estuaries in Britain and
spreading inland.
Why were these people called the Beaker Folk? Wherever they
penetrated into this country they made of the local clay vessels
known as “beakers” or “drinking cups.” These are probably the
most widely distributed of any prehistoric pottery. Beakers vary
in shape, but can be divided into classes according to their form.
Two forms can be recognized in Wiltshire, type A and type B, both
of which occur at Stonehenge. It is generally thought that type A
comes from the east coast migrants, and type B from the south coast.
474. | ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1940
It is very significant that both type A and type B have been found
at Stonehenge, showing an overlap of the two migrations there.
The position, therefore, at Stonehenge seems to be that there cer-
tainly was a race of Megalithic Builders who brought stones from
Wales, but that, at about the same time, or rather later, there was
also an infiltration of Beaker Folk from the east or south coasts, or
from both. These last people are known to be a very vigorous race
which spread over the greater part of Europe. They already had a
knowledge of bronze. It seems most likely that the Megalithic and
Beaker people mingled together quite peacefully at Stonehenge, and
it would be quite possible that the special features in construction of
Stonehenge, which differ from those of Megalithic circles generally,
would be due to the fresh influence of the Beaker Folk working on
Megalithic tradition.
THE BARROWS ROUND STONEHENGE
It is impossible to visit Stonehenge without passing numbers of
burial mounds or Barrows, some singly, some in clusters. In the
immediate neighborhood of Stonehenge there are two Long Barrows
and about 300 Round ones. This can hardly be accidental; rather
would it appear that the Barrows reached their highest development
on Salisbury Plain and the Stonehenge region, and form a vast
necropolis about the circle. That there are few Long Barrows is
due to the fact that they were probably earlier than the circle. That
there are roughly 300 Round Barrows of all kinds, would justify the
assumption that the sanctity of the site made the spot specially
attractive for burial.
THE LONG BARROWS
This is the older form of burial mound, and may generally be
referred to the Neolithic period. They are usually found standing
alone, and very often on rising ground. They vary from 200 to 400
feet in length, 30 to 50 feet in breadth, and 3 to 12 feet in height.
The heaped-up earth and chalk of which they are composed was dug
from a trench on either side of the mound. The trench, however, did
not continue round the two ends of the Barrow. They lie usually,
but not always, east and west, and the eastern end is higher than the
western. The sepulchral deposit is generally in the higher end of
the Barrow. No metal objects have been found in these Barrows,
though delicately chipped lJeaf-shaped flint implements are almost
invariably met with, and occasionally very rough hand-made pottery
of early type.
STONEHENGE—STEVENS 475
THE ROUND BARROWS
These may be roughly divided into three main groups:
(1) The Bowl Barrow, most frequently encountered, having a
diameter of from 20 to 60 feet, and a height of 8 to 5 feet.
(2) The Bell Barrow, which reaches its highest development on
Salisbury Plain, and is more generally found in Wiltshire, and par-
ticularly round Stonehenge, than in any other part of England. It is
entirely surrounded by a circular ditch, from which the material
of the mound has been dug; within the ditch is a circular area level with
the turf, from which the mound rises from 5 to 15 feet in a graceful
conical form. The diameter will be upward of a hundred feet, so
that the entire structure is larger and more impressive than a Bowl
Barrow.
(3) The Disk Barrow resembles the Bell Barrow, since it too is
surrounded by a ditch, but instead of the conical mound in the center,
it has one or even two or three small mounds, or “tumps,” in the cen-
ter in which cremated remains are found. The Disk Barrows are not
so numerous as the Bowl-shaped Barrows, but there are roughly
twice as many Disk Barrows as there are Bell Barrows in Wiltshire.
These figures are only a rough indication of the relative numbers
of the two last types of Barrow, for it must be remembered that, par-
ticularly in the case of Disk Barrows, there is a tendency for them
to disappear in the course of time, while the needs of the farmer have
often led to their being plowed down altogether.
The contents of the Barrows are also of importance as regards Stone-
henge, for they shed some light upon the people buried within them.
In the Bow] Barrows skeletons are usually found buried in a crouch-
ing position, with the knees drawn up to the trunk and the legs bent
on the thighs, the arms closed toward the chest and the hands over the
face. The bodies lie generally with the head to the north, but not
always.
In Bell Barrows the crouched skeleton is found as before, but cre-
mated human remains also occur enclosed in hand-made pottery urns,
which were sometimes inverted and often protected by a cist of rough
flints.
Almost without exception the Disk Barrows contain only cremated
remains. In most cases cremation would seem to have taken place else-
where and the remains then carried to the place of burial. Cremations
appear to be more frequent than inhumations, and are considered to be
of a later date.
Cinerary urns vary in size considerably, from 9 to 15 inches in height,
and from about a pint to a bushel in capacity. The well-known “Stone-
henge Urn” at the Devizes Museum is a magnificent example, 22
inches high, while an even larger one, 24 inches in height, is in the
476 | ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1940
Salisbury Museum. These hand-made vessels are very remarkable
examples of primitive potting. Though showing no trace of the
potter’s wheel, they are beautifully symmetrical. The body consists
of a mixture of clay with very fine pebbles, pounded flint, and some-
times chalk or shells. For finer work sharp sand has been used. The
firing is often imperfect. The decoration is simple, usually consisting
of lines or dots, often applied chevronwise, but in the later examples
less care seems to have been shown, and the ornament degenerates into
lines of thumb marks. At its best period, the cinerary urn was decorated
with very clever designs made by the impress of twisted cords, and in
still earlier forms, by the use of a comb of points which gave the fine
dotted lines found upon the early beakers. No curves, circles, or animal
forms appear at all.
The beaker is always constant in its shape, the cinerary urns vary
according to their period, the Middle Bronze Age examples having
overhanging rims which disappear in the Late Bronze period.
Then there are globular cups, and the curious perforated vessels
called “incense cups,” which might possibly have been small braziers
for carrying fire; certainly they have all the appearance of a modern
censer.
Besides the pottery in the Round Barrows, there are weapons and
tools, some of stone, some of bronze, and occasional ornaments of
gold, amber, jet, or glassy paste. The presence of these substances
used as ornaments suggests the existence of trade in those early days;
the gold would have come from Ireland, the amber from the Baltic,
and the jet from the north of England. The place of origin of the
glassy paste is still a matter of debate.
Though the age is called the Bronze Age, there was a very con-
siderable overlap of stone tools used side by side with the recent
metal forms. Stone axes of great beauty, both perforated and unper-
forated, have been found, but it is significant that the perforated
examples are more numerous.
Flint arrowheads when found are always finely barbed. The
bronze weapons found are usually of an early type, indicating the
erection of the Barrows very shortly after the building of Stonehenge.
No other Barrows in Wiltshire have been so productive of bronze
daggers as those round Stonehenge. In some cases even the sheaths
have been found. The handles were of wood, riveted to the blade,
and strengthened occasionally by an oval bone pommel. In one case
an elaborate arrangement of gold pins hammered into the wood in a
zigzag pattern was found. Personal ornaments of gold have been
found in seven Barrows; these consisted of wooden cores, the gold
being hammered on and fastened by indentation. Amber ornaments
were found in 33 Barrows; the quality of the material was usually
STONEHENGE—STEVENS 477
red and transparent, though pale amber has also been found. They
are mostly in the form of necklaces, either of beads or graduated
plates, strung together.
STONEHENGE AND THE DRUIDS
There is a very persistent story that Stonehenge was connected
with the Druids and with human sacrifices. There is, indeed, a
considerable literature on the subject and not a few prints depicting
Druidical ceremonies at Stonehenge, with blazing fires on the Altar
Stone itself. But there are considerable difficulties in accepting the
Druid “legend.”
The Druids were a Celtic priesthood of whom we have no knowl-
edge before the first century B. C. That being so, it seems very
difficult to associate them with a monument which has yielded so
much evidence of races at least 1,800 years previous to our first knowl-
edge of their existence. The Druids do not appear in the earliest
accounts of Stonehenge.
It was John Aubrey, the antiquary, who first put forward the
claim of the Druids, but even this was a very qualified claim, as he
himself admits “This enquiry is a groping in the dark.” But the
idea, once started, did not die, and William Stukeley in the next
generation, 1740, working on Aubrey’s suggestion, was a whole-
hearted champion of the Druid theory. He was obsessed by the
Druids. Of all writers on Stonehenge he was more completely suc-
cessful than any in the propagation of his doctrine, and no one seems
to have disputed his conclusions, which were accepted on the Conti-
nent, so that the French monuments also became Druidic.
By the early days of the nineteenth century, Stukeley’s theory was
an article of general belief.
The Druids were a late Celtic priesthood, whom Caesar found
established in Gaul in the first century B. C. He was told that they
originated in Britain, but the first historical record of them in this
country is in Anglesy in the first century A. D. They seem to have
continued to exist until about the fourth century, when they dis-
appeared until Stukeley brought them to light 1,300 years later, and
provided them with beliefs, knowledge, ritual, and ethics of a sin-
gularly picturesque but quite unreliable nature.
CONCLUSION
It has become customary to dismiss Stonehenge as a monument
of mystery whose origin will never be solved. Such an attitude of
mind is not likely to add to the existing knowledge of Stonehenge.
As a matter of fact, it is possible to look back upon a period of some
20 years, during which very material facts have come to light, when
478 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1940
books containing much valuable and suggestive material have been
written. That is all to the good. On the other hand, an impatient
public demands an immediate and complete solution of every problem
offered by the circle. This is the age of hurry and speed, but neither
hurry nor speed will avail much in archeological problems, where
evidence needs to be weighed with care and deliberation. But sooner
or later the so-called mysteries will be revealed to a public which has
the patience to wait and to be content with such enlightenment as
can be granted to it in the present day.
The last word on Stonehenge has not yet been spoken; the outlook
for the future is hopeful. Today the work of excavation is a fine
art, undertaken under skilled direction. Experts of all kinds coop-
erate, each in his own sphere, to see that every fragment of evidence
has its fullest importance. The day of conjecture and guesswork is
past, and we can look forward with confidence to the future, when,
in due course, Stonehenge again comes under the hand of the modern
investigator.
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SULFANILAMIDE AND RELATED CHEMICALS IN THE
TREATMENT OF INFECTIOUS DISEASES?
By WEsiby W. SPINK, M. D.
Assistant Professor of Medicine, Minnesota Medical School
Last fall the University of Minnesota Medical School celebrated its
fiftieth anniversary. A scientific program was arranged and included
addresses by outstanding scientists of this country and Canada. The
committee in charge of the program wisely selected a central theme
for all the addresses and round table discussions. That theme was
“Some Trends in Medical Progress with Particular Reference to
Chemistry in Medicine.” All the speakers emphasized the tremen-
dous contributions that chemistry has made to all branches of medi-
cal pursuit. Tonight it is my purpose to discuss with you one of the
most significant advances made in the treatment of human disease.
This momentous discovery which has already alleviated untold suf-
fering is a further tribute to the ingenuity of the chemist.
Before unraveling the story of sulfanilamide, it is necessary to re-
view briefly the development of our knowledge concerning infectious
diseases. Prof. Hans Zinsser has defined an infectious disease as
follows: “When microorganisms gain entrance to the animal or
human body and give rise to disease, the process is spoken of as an
infection.” It was a little more than 50 years ago when this rela-
tionship between disease and bacteria was definitely established. It
is true that during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries when syph-
ilis was so common, it was suspected by some that an infectious agent
was responsible. But it remained for those intellectual giants of the
latter part of the last century to prove that bacteria caused disease.
Leaders among these were the French chemist, Louis Pasteur, and
the Prussian general practitioner, Robert Koch.
When the causes of infectious diseases became known, efforts were
made to control them. One of the methods established was to prevent
the organisms from reaching human tissue. Excellent examples of
this preventive type of medicine were the control of malaria, yellow
1¥From the Division of Internal Medicine of the University of Minesota Hospital and
Medical School. One of the thirteenth annual series of public lectures sponsored by the
Minnesota Chapter of the Society of the Sigma Xi. Reprinted by permission from the
Sigma Xi Quarterly, vol. 28, No. 2, summer, 1940.
479
480 | ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1940
fever, cholera, and typhoid fever. Another method was to prepare
the human tissue so that if the bacteria did strike they were defeated
from the start. This included vaccinating against smallpox and ty-
phoid fever, and immunizing against diphtheria. Still another means
of combatting infectious diseases was made available. If the bac-
teria had already invaded human tissue and caused disease, through
the elaboration of toxins, serum such as antitoxin could be used to
shorten the illness. Illustrative of this was the introduction of diph-
theria antitoxin into the therapy of diphtheria.
There are many interesting chapters in the annals of medical his-
tory concerning attempts to control and combat infectious diseases
with chemical compounds. Consider the epoch-making contribution
of Joseph Lister, who introduced carbolic acid into the operating
room to prevent the contamination of operative wounds by bacteria.
For years, it had been common knowledge that certain chemicals
would kill microorganisms in large numbers, and do so in a short
period of time. Why not then inject these chemical solutions into
human beings whose bodies were being ravaged by bacteria? The
major difficulty with this procedure has been that these chemicals not
only killed the bacteria but destroyed the human cells as well. A
definite advancement was made when Paul Erlich and his chemists
synthesized an arsenical compound which could be injected into the
blood with reasonable safety for the treatment of syphilis. But this
was not an accomplishment completed without many disappointments.
Although they knew that arsenic spelled death of the spirochete of
syphilis, they also knew that this element was very toxic for human
tissues. The problem that confronted them was to introduce arsenic
in such a chemical combination that it would still be effective against
the spirochete and yet not be injurious to the host. After experi-
menting with many combinations—606 to be exact—they gave ars-
phenamine to the world. Since then other chemicals have been
safely introduced into the human organism for the treatment of in-
fections, such as emetine hydrochloride for amoebic dysentery, and
atabrine for malaria.
In discussing the history of sulfanilamide, Schulte has stated,
“Sulfanilamide did not appear suddenly, but was the product of
numerous investigations which extended over a period of 30 years.”
Like so many other major scientific discoveries, the successful intro-
duction of sulfanilamide into the treatment of human disease was a
summation of the ceaseless work of many individuals. I should like
to cite for you a few of the persons whose names are closely linked
with one of the most outstanding therapeutic triumphs of our time.
Time does not permit us to include everyone.
SULFANILAMIDE—SPINK 481
P. Gelmo, a chemist working with the interest of the German dye
industry in mind, was apparently the first one to synthesize para
amino benzene sulfonamide. He reported his investigations in 1908.
Little did he realize that a quarter of a century later this compound
would be known as sulfanilamide, and used in the treatment of human
infection.
M. Heidelberger and W. A. Jacobs, two Americans working in the
Rockefeller Institute in New York, observed in 1919 that certain
azo dyes, including para amino benzene sulfonamide hydrocupreiene
would kill bacteria in the test tube. They stated in their paper at the
time that their colleague, the late Dr. Martha Wollstein, would ex-
tend these observations, but she never did.
F. Mietzsch and J. Klaren, two German chemists working in the I.
G. Dye Works in Elberfeld synthesized a red dye called Prontosil,
and patented it on December 25, 1932. G. Domagk, the young di-
rector of the Institute of Experimental Pathology in the same dye
works, observed in 1932 that Prontosil protected mice against fatal
doses of hemolytic streptococci. He announced the results of his
important investigation in 1935, and at the same time, stated that
a closely related chemical compound, Prontosil-Soluble, had similar
protective properties.
At this stage certain workers in France became interested in the
progress that the Germans had made. Important contributions were
made by Levaditi, Vaisman, Fourneau, and Girard. J. Trefouél,
Mme. J. Trefouél, F. Nitti, and D. Bovet made a most significant
announcement late in 1935 to the effect that the action of Prontosil
on microorganisms was due to its being broken down in the body to
form sulfanilamide, and that the latter compound was as efficient
a therapeutic agent as Prontosil. Their conclusions were based in
part upon the observations of Heidelberger and Jacobs.
L. Colebrook and M. Kenny, working in England, demonstrated,
in 1936, the value of Prontosil and Prontosil-Soluble in the treat-
ment of puerperal infections.
P. Long, E. Bliss, and E. K. Marshall, Jr., and their associates
at Johns Hopkins University, in 1936, confirmed the clinical and ex-
perimental findings of the European investigators. This Baltimore
group is largely responsible for placing this new form of chemo-
therapy upon a firm foundation in this country.
The successful clinical application of Prontosil in the therapy of the
dreaded streptococcal infections is one of the most spectacular medical
triumphs of our generation. Before we knew about Prontosil
there was no known specific agent that was of much value in the treat-
ment of this type of infection. Consequently, the mortality rate was
high. It should be pointed out that whereas Prontosil has been
482 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1940
extensively used in England and on the continent, it was never intro-
duced for general use in this country. Sulfanilamide has been the
drug of choice in the treatment of various diseases due to the hemoly-
tic streptococcus. In evaluating the results of sulfanilamide therapy
in this type of infection, it has been observed that the drug has
shortened the duration of the disease, prevented complications, and
reduced the mortality rate. Following are some of the streptococcal
infections for which sulfanilamide has been of value: Puerperal
fever, erysipelas and cellulitis, septicemia, scarlet fever, acute otitis
media, mastoiditis, meningitis, pneumonia, tonsillitis, and peritonitis.
Puerperal fever is an invasion of the issues by streptococci occur-
ring in mothers at the time of childbirth or shortly thereafter. It is
a disease that has been viewed with alarm for many years by the
medical profession because it has such a high death rate; it is con-
tagious, often sweeping through a maternity hospital; and specific
therapy has been wanting. The investigations of Colebrook in Eng-
land, and others, have shown that sulfanilamide and its related com-
pounds have lowered the death rate, shortened the duration of the
disease, and prevented disabling complications.
Erysipelas and cellulitis, which are streptococcal infections of the
skin and their deeper structures, have responded well to sulfanilamide
therapy, provided the drug is given early in the course of the disease.
These infections often kill patients because the streptococci invade
the blood stream. Sulfanilamide not only affects the local lesion, but
keeps the blood free of organisms.
Septicemia, or the state wherein streptococci actually reproduce in
the circulating blood, has been one of the most feared of all infections.
The onset is sometimes insidious, but terminates in a fulminating and
often fatal infection. You probably all know of examples where an
individual had an innocent appearing lesion, such as a blister which
had ruptured, and then streptococci invaded the injured tissue, quickly
entered the blood stream, and death resulted. Treatment in most in-
stances has been ineffective. The mortality rate was over 75 percent.
Sulfanilamide therapy has cut this rate at least in half, and we may
expect even better results in the future.
Scarlet fever, for the most part today, is a mild streptococcal in-
fection, but it may result in serious complications. Convalescent
human serum or potent antitoxin obtained from the serum of im-
munized horses are useful and often adequate in the treatment of scarlet
fever. It would appear that the early administration of sulfanilamide
may prevent the formation of metastatic bacterial complications. In
other words, antitoxin neutralizes the toxin elaborated by the strep-
tococcus, whereas sulfanilamide acts directly upon the organism.
Doctors Sako, Dwan, and Platou, working at the Minneapolis General
SULFANILAMIDE—SPINK 483
Hospital, were among the first in this country to show the value of
sulfanilamide in the treatment of scarlet fever.
Acute otitis media, an infection of the middle ear which is so
common in children, is a dangerous disease. It may cause permanent
loss of hearing, mastoid disease, or it may extend to the meninges and
brain resulting in a fatal outcome. Sulfanilamide, judiciously ad-
ministered under the watchful eye of the physician, may often in-
terrupt the progress of the infection and terminate the disease
permanently.
Streptococcal meningitis is the most serious of all infections caused
by this biological agent. Recovery from this disease was an un-
common occurrence before the present era of chemotherapy. The use
of sulfanilamide has been followed by startling results. The mortality
rate has been reduced from 98 percent to around 20 percent.
While the results are less dramatic in patients with streptococcal
pneumonia and empyema, sulfanilamide is of benefit. Mention should
be made of the treatment of acute tonsillitis, and pharyngitis due to the
streptococcus. This includes the so-called septic sore throat. Sul-
fanilamide is of value in those cases where the condition is definitely
due to the hemolytic streptococcus. But I would like to emphasize the
dangers inherent in administering the drug to every patient who has
a sore throat. As shall be pointed out, sulfanilamide and its related
compounds often cause severe toxic conditions which may be of more
serious consequence than the disease for which it is given.
Although sulfanilamide and its related compounds were introduced
primarily for the treatment of streptococcal infections, it was soon ob-
served that other types of infections were favorably affected by their
use. Among these other diseases was gonorrhea. It has been esti-
mated that this infection afflicts around a million people a year in
this country. It has caused untold suffering and chronic illness in
its victims, some of them having acquired the disease through no fault
of their own. Treatment has been very unsatisfactory. Because of
the social stigma attached to the disease, these patients often ferreted
out quacks and pseudo-physicians in an attempt to obtain a cure. One
of the good fortunes of this age was the announcement coming from
Johns Hopkins University that sulfanilamide would cure gonorrhea.
It is now accepted that this compound is a specific therapeutic agent for
gonorrhea. One of its outstanding contributions is that the devastat-
ing complications that gonorrhea causes, such as crippling arthritis
and blindness, are prevented. On the other hand, the drug may have
caused a social menace in that infected individuals often take the
drug without the advice or jurisdiction of a physician. Lacking
laboratory confirmation of a cure, they often have a latent form of
the disease, and are capable of transmitting it to others.
280256—41——-32
484 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1940
Another serious infectious disease in which sulfanilamide has pro-
voked almost miraculous cures is meningococcal meningitis. Curi-
ously enough, the causative agent, which is the meningococcus, has
biological characteristics that are closely related to the gonococcus.
It has appeared only logical then to try the drug in the treatment
of meningococcal meningitis, and it worked. I have seen a child in
deep coma afflicted with the disease, to whom sulfanilamide was ad-
ministered, and within 72 hours an almost unbelievable transforma-
tion in physical well-being occurred. At the end of that time, he was
sitting up in bed playing with his toys. Even though we have potent
immune serum for the treatment of this disease, sulfanilamide ap-
pears to offer the best form of therapy. Whether serum should be
used along with sulfanilamide is still an open question.
There are several other diseases that are either cured or favorably
influenced by sulfanilamide therapy. Trachoma, which is a painful,
chronic infection of the eye often resulting in blindness, has yielded
in some instances to sulfanilamide. Many infections of the urinary
tract, such as cystitis, and pyelonephritis are permanently cured by
this drug. Sulfanilamide is apparently of some merit in the treat-
ment of undulant fever, a disease transmitted to man either directly
or indirectly from cattle and hogs. However, we have encountered
disappointing results in several patients with undulant fever treated
at the University Hospital. :
While we can continue to extol the virtues of sulfanilamide, and
enumerate other infectious diseases where limited data show that
sulfanilamide is a helpful remedy, time does not permit. It should
be pointed out that there remains a group of infectious diseases where
sulfanilamide is of very doubtful value, and its use in some of these
may be actually harmful. They include typhoid fever, paratyphoid
fever, staphylococcal infections such as osteomyelitis, carbuncles and
boils, acute rheumatic fever, the common cold, epidemic influenza,
Rocky Mountain spotted fever, rheumatoid arthritis, and tuberculosis.
It is of interest that the drug has been used as a prophylactic;
that is, to prevent disease. I shall mention only two examples.
Knowing that children who have had acute rheumatic fever are quite
likely to have a recurrence when they contract streptococcal infec-
tions, certain well-known physicians have given the drug in small
doses to these children to prevent streptococcal sore throats. The re-
sults are very promising, but demand further investigation to see if
the prolonged administration of the drug to growing children has
any harmful effects. Another prophylactic use of sulfanilamide was
worked out by the surgeons at the Minneapolis General Hospital. It
had been recognized for years that when an individual had a com-
pound fracture with fragments of bone protruding through the skin,
SULFANILAMIDE—SPINK 485
and the wound contaminated by dirt and microorganisms, there was
a great danger of infections occurring in the injured tissues. To pre-
vent these infections, these surgeons have placed pure sulfanilamide
crystals in the wounds with the results that the incidence of infec-
tions following compound fractures has been considerably reduced.
The question is often raised, How does sulfanilamide work? The
answer is still shrouded in some mystery, but we can say that the
drug acts directly upon the microorganisms interfering with their
metabolism. They fail to reproduce as rapidly, and those remaining
are injured so that the defense mechanism of the body can cope with
and kill them. As a matter of fact, there is some evidence that
sulfanilamide may actually kill small numbers of organisms.
Thus far, we have extolled the virtues of sulfanilamide. It must
be emphasized again and again that sulfanilamide and its related
compounds are potentially dangerous drugs. Their administration
to patients may result in serious toxic reactions. Under no circum-
stances should any individual take any of these drugs unless they are
prescribed by a physician. The physician, in turn, must be prepared
to observe the patient closely, and withdraw the drug when toxic
signs and symptoms manifest themselves. Shortly after sulfanil-
amide had been accepted by the medical profession of this country,
a number of human lives were sacrificed following the ingestion of a
preparation known as Elixir of Sulfanilamide. It was discovered
that the cause of these deaths was not due to sulfanilamide, but to
a constituent of the Elixir, diethylene glycol. In order to prohibit
the hasty marketing of new drugs with a repetition of another
tragedy, Congress revised the Federal Food and Drug Act. At the
present time, new chemotherapeutic agents are made available for
the medical profession only after they have been thoroughly investi-
gated as to their toxic properties and therapeutic value.
I would like to discuss now the toxic reactions that are caused by
sulfanilamide in the human being. It is well that the patient, the rela-
tives, and physician should have some knowledge of these manifesta-
tions. Some of these are more serious than others. Certain of these
may cause the patient and those caring for him some alarm, but may not
be a contraindication to a continuation of therapy. The first group of
toxic manifestations are related to the central nervous system. They
are dizziness, headache, mental depression, giddiness, nausea and
vomiting, convulsions, and psychoses. Usually, we do not consider the
first four serious enough to warrant withdrawal of the drug when the
patient is kept in bed. However, the exhibition of dizziness and gid-
diness may be of serious moment in ambulatory patients who endeavor
to carry on their daily work, particularly in those individuals oper-
ating motor vehicles, or engaged in dangerous occupations. Bed-
486 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1940
ridden patients may become so disoriented and maniacal, that cessa-
tion of drug therapy may be necessary. Nausea and vomiting are
usually not severe enough to necessitate suspension of sulfanilamide
treatment.
A majority of the patients taking sulfanilamide develop varying
degrees of cyanosis of the skin and mucous membranes. This bluish
discoloration is due to the conversion of a part of the hemoglobin into
methemoglobin, and rarely sulfhemoglobin. Although the morbid
appearance of the patient may startle the uninitiated, we do not con-
sider methemoglobinemia a contraindication for further administra-
tion of the drug.
A more serious toxic reaction is so-called drug fever. It usually
occurs after an individual has taken sulfanilamide for several days.
While the patient is receiving sulfanilamide, the temperature may
approach normal, and then begin to rise again, sometimes quite high.
The problem then confronting the physician is whether this secondary
rise in temperature is due to a spread of the infection or due to drug
sensitivity. Obviously, the treatment is quite different for each condi-
tion. When the fever is due to sulfanilamide, its administration
should be discontinued at once. The appearance of drug fever may
herald the onset of more serious toxic reactions if therapy is continued.
When the drug is omitted, the temperature again approaches normal.
We have been impressed by the ciinical observation that once a patient
has had drug fever, it is likely to occur again when only a single dose
of sulfanilamide is given at a future time. This toxic reaction em-
phasizes again the inherent danger of self-medication without the
attendance of a physician. It also serves to express an opinion shared
by physicians in general that sulfanilamide should only be given to
those patients having an infection that threatens their lives, or is
likely to produce serious complications. If the drug is taken indis-
criminately by individuals, and drug sensitivity results, it may be
impossible to give sulfanilamide in the future when it is definitely
indicated as a life-saving measure.
Various types of skin eruptions occur as a result of sulfanilamide.
These eruptions often appear along with drug fever. The skin lesions
may simulate those occurring in measles and scarlet fever. Intense
itching of the skin may be present. There may be hemorrhages into
the skin. Angioneurotic edema has been described. With the first
appearance of the eruption, no further sulfanilamide should be given.
Skin lesions may present themselves at a subsequent time when only
one dose of the drug is given.
A more subtle toxic manifestation of sulfanilamide is liver dysfunc-
tion. This may or may not be accompanied by jaundice. In a few
reported instances, the damage to this vital organ has been so severe
SULFANILAMIDE—-SPINK 487
that the patients died. Whether the temporary liver dysfunction that
the majority of patients have while taking sulfanilamide results in
any permanent damage will depend upon further investigation.
One of the most common signs of sulfanilamide toxicity is anemia,
or the destruction of red blood cells in the circulating blood. This
usually happens after the drug has been taken for several days. In
the majority of cases, this destruction of cells is only of moderate
severity, but not infrequently there may be a sudden and precipitous
drop in the level of hemoglobin, endangering life if drug therapy is
not discontinued. This acute destruction of red blood cells is appar-
ently another expression of drug sensitivity, since the patients who
have exhibited this phenomenon may have the same reaction when an
initial dose of the drug is given several months after the first reaction.
A more serious form of blood dyscrasia resulting from sulfanilamide
is a disturbance in the formation of the white blood cells. In common
with other toxic signs, this decrease in the number of circulating
leukocytes emerges after patients have ingested the drug for several
days. When the level of white blood cells does drop below normal,
sulfanilamide therapy should be suspended at once. One of the most
feared of all complications in this respect is agranulocytosis, wherein
there is a failure of the bone marrow to deliver leukocytes to the
circulating blood. This condition is highly fatal.
Other toxic expressions of sulfanilamide have been encountered, but
they are less common. Among these is neuritis. Optic neuritis with
blindness has been recorded, as well as neuritis of the peripheral
nerves. I have dwelt at length on the toxicity of sulfanilamide for
the human organism in order to emphasize the inherent danger in the
injudicious use of the compound. I believe that you will agree with
me when [I state again that self-medication is to be deprecated.
As was anticipated, new derivatives of sulfanilamide have been
synthesized, and used in the therapy of certain infectious diseases.
In May 1938, Dr. L. E. H. Whitby of London announced that a new
derivative known as sulfapyridine was more effective than sulfanila-
mide in the treatment of infections due to the pneumococcus. The
most prevalent type of infection caused by this organism is pneu-
monia. It is also the etiological agent of a severe and fatal form
of meningitis. Although statistics for pneumococcal pneumonia have
shown a reduction in the mortality rate following the widespread use
of immune serum, there is still considerable room for improvement.
Sulfapyridine has proved to be an effective therapeutic agent for this
type of pneumonia. It is relatively easy to administer, and is less
costly than serum. This does not mean that the use of serum has
been abandoned. There is some evidence that in the more severe
cases of pneumonia, the combined employment of immune serum
488 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1940
and sulfapyridine is more efficient than either one alone. Further-
more, there are some individuals who cannot tolerate sulfapyridine
because of its toxicity. Treatment of pneumococcal meningitis with
sulfapyridine has been productive of most encouraging results.
Sulfapyridine has also been successfully applied to the therapy of
staphylococcal infections. Treatment of this type of infection with
sulfanilamide was largely ineffective. Sulfapyridine has also been
useful in the treatment of gonorrhea. Patients whose infections are
resistant to sulfanilamide therapy may be cured with sulfapyridine.
Sulfapyridine precipitates toxic signs and symptoms that make it
a disagreeable drug to prescribe at times. The compound is more in-
soluble than sulfanilamide and, therefore, is absorbed erratically from
the intestinal tract. This factor of absorption is important because
successful therapy depends upon an adequate amount of the drug in
the blood and tissues. Sulfapyridine also causes severe nausea and
vomiting in many patients, so that it may be impossible to continue
giving it. Another toxic manifestation not shared by sulfanilamide is
that acetylated sulfapyridine crystals may be precipitated along the
genito-urinary tract causing serious kidney dysfunction and pain.
In addition, sulfapyridine results in other toxic signs that have been
described for sulfanilamide.
What of the future of chemotherapy? Hundreds of new chemical
compounds have been synthesized, and are being investigated in many
laboratories. It is not unlikely that drugs less toxic for the human
organism, and just as deleterious, if not more so, for bacteria, will
be available in the future. At the present time, we are investigating
a new preparation at the University Hospital called sulfathiazole.
In conclusion, I have endeavored to present to you a general review
of this new form of chemotherapy. It is a rapidly developing field
and, perhaps in the near future, much of what I have said will be only
medical history.
THE FUTURE OF FLYING’
By H. EB. Wimpents, C. B., C. B. E., Hon. D. Eng. (Melb.), Past President
Royal Aeronautical Society
President of the Engineering Section, British Association for the Advancement
of Science
The presidential address to the Engineering Section of the British
Association provides each year an opportunity for a survey of some
aspect of engineering science which happens to be of especial im-
portance at the time it is given, and often one which the experience
of the president of the hour may chance to render especially appro-
priate. My subject today is “The Future of Flying.” Of its im-
portance at the present time there can assuredly be no doubt.
Aviation is surveyed by the public with a tempered pride—pride, it is
true, in man’s achievement, but apprehension, it is equally true, as to
the use which is being made of it.
The aspiration toward winged flight was expressed, I submit, with
great. wisdom when, more than 2,000 years ago, the Psalmist avowed
his longing for “wings like a dove!” How wise a discrimination is
revealed by the poet’s asking not merely for the power of flight but
that his wings shall be “dovelike.” For the space of a generation
mankind has possessed the power of flight—a marvelous scientific
and technical triumph but, alas, incomplete. Brilliant as was the
work of the brothers Wright, the crown of achievement will not be
truly won until a grateful mankind sees that the wings gained are
the wings of a dove and not those of a bird of prey.
This is the challenge to our age. One generation has solved the
mechanical problem, leaving it to the next to solve the moral one.
Ever since man inhabited the earth he has lived not by his physical
powers, which are slight, but by the exercise of his wits. Every new
invention he has made has had its warlike use as well as its peaceful
purpose, and each has challenged his wits to ensure that good rather
than harm shall result from the new discovery. To bend the newest
invention of all, the conquest of the air, to the service of mankind
is now his great task. In it, success is essential lest we presently
1 Address to section G, Engineering, of the British Association for the Advancement
of Science, Dundee Meeting, 1939. Reprinted by permission of the Asssociation, from The
Advancement of Science, new quarterly series No. 1, October 1939.
489
490 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1940
find that it is the air that has conquered mankind rather than man-
kind the air. Before we can regard the conquest of the air as
achieved we must control the warlike menace.
In our own technical field, we as engineers have long been used to
responsibility, to pioneer work, to expert status. But when it comes
to the social application of our inventions, we are responsible not in
our capacity as engineers but as ordinary inexpert citizens; and here
we have been very conscious of our amateur status. We are not
experts in the social application of our work; and we are but a hand-
ful among millions. This has been the view of the last generation—
though held with increasing uneasiness, as the misuse of our inven-
tions has become more apparent.
But is it possible that the conditions which formed this view are
changing? May it be claimed—I think it may—that we as engineers,
as technicians, have an important contribution to make toward the
peace of the world?
I believe that the scientific advances of the present time, and their
probable development in the near future, will help us to solve, and not
to aggravate, our central problem—the task Lawrence of Arabia spoke
of as “the biggest thing to do in the world today”—to bend the newest
invention of all, the conquest of the air, to the true service of mankind.
Mechanical flight was achieved when Wilbur Wright flew in De-
cember 1930 in that odd-looking machine now so proudly housed in the
Science Museum at South Kensington. It certainly does look a queer
machine to modern eyes. Although the engine weighed 180 pounds
it gave but 12 horsepower! Of course it was natural that this, like
all the other early airplanes, should be built with two pairs of wings.
Engineers were well accustomed to carrying bending moments by a
form of girder construction having an upper and a lower boom, and
in the biplane form of construction the loads could be carried in this
familiar way. Such early trials as were made of the monoplane type
merely seemed to confirm the idea that a strong wing structure could
not thus be found, and the biplane became the accepted type. Speeds
in those days were low, and even long after the Great War it was
thought that the attainment of high speed would be mainly a matter
of putting in more and more engine power. More and more power
was accordingly put in. This led indeed to the achievement of higher
speeds, but far-sighted designers saw that there was a limit to the
extent of progress by this means. But, as a Spanish proverb has it:
“When one door shuts another opens.” The new door in this case
proved to be the streamlining of the external form of the craft as a
whole.
That the cleaning up of the aerodynamic structure could carry per-
formance much farther than had hitherto been realized, and do so
FUTURE OF FLYING—WIMPERIS 491
without any increase of engine power, was first clearly pointed out,
little more than 10 years ago, by Prof. B. M. Jones, of Cambridge.
This required that all excrescences should be removed, and of these
some of the worst were the interplane struts and wires. Whenthathad
been achieved, it was realized that much of the equipment hitherto
carried externally, especially in military types, must be put inside, and
with that attained, after a severe struggle, there arrived the modern
streamline airplane with its undercarriage, and even its tail wheel,
retractable into the body of the structure. What yet remained was
attention to those external surfaces scrubbed by the passing air stream.
Here guidance was given, curiously enough, by the experience of sail-
plane pilots, who had long found that a much better gliding angle was
attainable when the surfaces were not merely made smooth, but were
carefully polished, and even dusted before flight! At the time these
minutiae of housemaid’s care seemed fantastic, but experience, both
within wind tunnels and without, showed that the sailplane pilots
were right and that protuberances on a wing no more than a thou-
sandth part of an inch high produced a measurable drag.
FLYING TODAY
The consequence of these and other changes in design from the
original Wright machine brought a steady growth in speed, which
during the last score of years has increased by an average of well over
10 miles an hour in each year.
This over-all increase in airplane performance is indeed impressive:
in speed from the 31 miles per hour of the Wrights to the 469 claimed
today! Behind the change in external characteristics there have been
internal changes of an equally important character, such as the in-
crease from the Wrights’ wing loading of 114 pounds per square foot
to the figures of today when 20 to 30 and 40, and even more, are com-
mon. There has also been an equally impressive change from the
modest engine power of the Wrights to the four-figure powers of
modern practice.
As far as growth in altitude and range of flight are concerned,
further progress must depend chiefly on improvements in the present-
day materials of construction, or in the discovery of entirely new
ones. At the moment dural is found best, not because it has any
higher ratio of strength to density than alternative materials, for in
that respect it differs little from steel, or even from cotton or rein-
forced plastic; but because in comparison with steel its lower density
(little more than a third) enables thicker and therefore stiffer and
more fool-proof sections to be used. But, as in the case of steel con-
struction, the sections have to be fastened together with innumerable
rivets (more than a million in one “Golden Hind”), and this time-
492 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1940
absorbing process is both intricate and costly. If some improved
reinforced plastic could be used instead, the path of the manufacturer,
once he had learned the art, would be much simplified.
Speeds have grown because of the smoother shapes used in con-
struction and through the greater engine powers provided. Can
speeds continue to rise indefinitely? We may have gone almost as
far as we can in using ship-shaped forms, though we still know very
little about the possibility of insuring an increase in the extent of the
laminar flow of the air over the surface of wings or body. If this
could be done the resistance would drop considerably. As far as
prospective increases in engine power are concerned there is little
publicly revealed in these days, but one hears of testing plants being
adapted to deal with engines of no less than 3,000 horsepower apiece.
But even with these increases a definite speed limit is being ap-
proached—not one imposed by the laws of any State but by the laws
of Nature. As I pointed out 2 years ago in a presidential address
to the Royal Aeronautical Society, there is good reason to believe that
although speeds of 500 miles per hour may be attained, it is unlikely
that 600 will be much if at all exceeded, for the latter figure is some
80 percent of the speed of sound, and when the latter is approached
the drag rises to a level far ahead of any prospective engine im-
provements. Although nothing in the physiology of man forbids
even higher speeds, as witness the high orbital speed of the earth on
which we all live with some measure of tempered comfort, there is
soon imposed a physiological limit if high speed is combined with
rapid maneuver. If the latter is required, then the speed must be
controlled to suit the conditions. Only the future can reveal how the
balance between the two will be struck.
No simple summary can be given of what has been done as regards
engine development, for great as has been the change from the 15
pounds per horsepower of the original Wright engine to the 1 pound,
and less, of today, one remembers that in this one respect the engines
of the last Schneider Trophy Race were as meritorious; where the
latter were much below modern standards was in their lack of relia-
bility when working at this power ratio. Today’s engines run with-
out attention for hundreds of hours, a very different matter from
endurance for a short race.
Even if engines of 3,000 horsepower may be said to be in sight, they
are still some way from achievement. Progress depends not only on
the skill of the engine designer and the metallurgist, but on the
ingenuity of the industrial chemist in producing his remarkable fuels,
wonderful alike for their uniformity of quality and for their ability
to resist detonation even when employed in engines of very high
compression ratio.
FUTURE OF FLYING—WIMPERIS 493
The outstanding constructional change today is the employment on
a large scale of the sleeve valve, particularly as developed by the
great Bristol firm. This has the impressive merit of only needing
half the component parts of the old type poppet-valve engine; more-
over it is found that, with a given fuel, it can operate without
detonation at an appreciably higher compression.
Engines today run safely at far higher speeds than of yore, and
they are cooled in different ways and at a much less expense in air
drag than used to be the case. In fact at the highest speeds the
drag offers some theoretical promise of being replaced by a small
thrust! A new cooling problem will arise, however, when pusher
airscrews become as common as they will once their use is shown to
afford a means of substantially decreasing wing drag.
Improvement in load-carrying capacity depends also on improve-
ments in materials, though it is fair to designers to record the progress
made in reducing the percentage which the structure forms of the
total flying weight in modern aircraft. Nowadays as good a figure
is shown for this in large flying boats as in landplanes, a remarkable
achievement. The fiying boat used to be thought of as slow and
heavy, but today it holds its own in efficiency, whether aerodynamic,
structural, or economic, with any other mode of flight.
The flying boats of today represent a great technical advance in
quality over their predecessors of 10, or even 5 years ago, but they
have not yet shown any marked advance in size. The fine fleet of
Empire flying boats is made up of 20-ton units; the new Short
“Golden Hind” class for the Atlantic weigh 33 tons apiece; the Boeing
“Yankee Clipper” has a total weight of nearly 40 tons; but the
Dornier Dox which long preceded them ran to 50 tons laden. On
the other hand there has been a great gain in speed and in carrying
capacity. The Boeing boat, for instance, is reported to carry 10,000
pounds of load over and above its 4,000 gallons of fuel. As this
amount of fuel will weigh 30,000 pounds, this makes a total load
of 40,000 pounds, or almost exactly half of the total flying weight,
the same as for the “Golden Hind,” and a truly remarkable percent-
age. The improved Empire flying boats intended for the Atlantic
crossing are planned to take off at a flying weight of about 20 tons
and to take 3 tons additional fuel after they are air borne—by supply
from a flying tanker on Sir Alan Cobham’s scheme. This will in-
crease the load on the wings from 80 to 85 pounds per square foot and
may be regarded as a first step toward what could be done with
wings specially designed and stressed for high loading. The “Golden
Hind” class is designed for a range of 3,400 miles without refueling,
and this with full load. Its early program may include a survey
flight along the route to Latin America.
494 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1940
An attractive development in flying boats is the provision in the
Dornier DO.26 of retractable wing-tip floats which fold inward into
spaces in the wing. This is a 20-ton machine with two tractor and
two pusher airscrews. It is a promising move in a very much de-
sired direction. The remaining structural feature to be made aero-
dynamically clean is the “step” at the hull provided for ease in taking
off. It is no doubt difficult so to design a hull as to be equally effi-
cient whether on the water or in the air, but designers will not be
happy until they have satisfied both requirements.
It is naturally impossible in the course of this address to discuss
all the many problems in the science of aeronautics which are being
investigated at the present time. They are far too numerous and the
time too short. But to some of them I must refer. One of great
importance and quite fascinating interest is the investigation of the
change in the air flow over a wing surface from the laminar to the
turbulent state. It is known that if the flow could be kept laminar
the drag would be vastly reduced, but it has yet to be discovered
how to do this. A step in the right direction may lately have been
made at the Langley Field Laboratories, for during Dr. Lewis’ recent
Wilbur Wright lecture before the Royal Aeronautical Society mention
was made of some wind-tunnel tests in which a special form of airfoil
gave a drag coefficient figure of only about one-third of that usual.
Further particulars will be awaited with interest. Many laboratories
and experimental stations are studying this same problem, and, as
not infrequently happens in such cases, success once met with, itself
creates a batch of new problems. For one thing it is clear that the
presence of laminar flow can but be hindered by the use of the tractor
type of airscrew now almost universal. It may be necessary to change
to pusher designs, and as this will involve a marked rearward move-
ment of the center of gravity of the whole aircraft, all the stability
factors will be gravely affected, to say nothing of the many engine
problems also raised.
Other special problems relate to the possibility of having wing areas
adjustable in flight by telescopic or other means, to the study of the
very considerable increase in the control forces required of the pilot
in large machines of high speed capacity, of the special problems
raised by variable-pitch airscrews, particularly in relation to the
landing run, of the advantage at high air speeds of two-speed gear
boxes, and of the special problems involved in pressure cabins.
The problem of the rotating wing is in a class by itself. Aircraft
so fitted are quite unable to compete in speed with those with normal
wings, but they easily beat the latter in take-off and landing. Many
types are now in the field, the Cierva, the Hafner, the Kay, and the
Focke, to mention no others. The scientific problems are largely
solved, as are the great mass of the mechanical ones. What is
FUTURE OF FLYING—WIMPERIS 495
required is such a degree of user as will call for this form of aircraft
to be constructed in numbers. When that happens, rotary-wing
aircraft will benefit in their design by that skilled attention from
the production engineer which alone seems able to produce results
that really look right.
The growth in recent years of the interest taken by the public in
aviation, over land and over sea, is most striking. Partly, of course, it
is due to the increase in the Air Arm and all that is thereby implied.
But there is also a very rapidly growing use being made of the
abundant facilities for air travel offered by the civil air-transport
services. The United States is often thought to lead the world in
this respect—as it certainly does in the use of the automobile—but
I believe that in proportion to the size of the population, and that is
the true criterion, the total mileage flown annually is larger in Aus-
tralia than it is in any other single country in the world. And there
is good reason to expect that that preeminence is likely to continue.
THE FUTURE YEARS
Let us consider what lies ahead in the coming years in respect
of speed, size, and range. No doubt military craft will go as fast
as they can. But since it seems that they cannot exceed 600 miles
per hour much if at all, there is little doubt that speeds between
500 and 600 will become usual. Not so, however, for the civil air
services, where quiet, comfort, and cost are all-important. Here
there is good economic reason for speeds to settle down in the 200
to 300 range. In both these classes we seem therefore to be approach-
ing some degree of finality.
Altitude and range are alike in that so much depends on the dis-
covery of new materials of construction and new ways of using them.
Steady progress may be expected, though probably nothing sensa-
tional unless the use of reinforced plastics be so reckoned. For civil
work the advantage of long-range flying depends on the ability to
fly by night, and this is advancing rapidly. Radio services are
improving and the vagaries of the ionosphere are becoming better
understood. High-altitude flymg—whether in the stratosphere or
just below it—requires the sealed cabin, and it will, I fancy, chiefly
be sought by those whose first care is speed and whose lesser concern
is cost.
When, however, we come to think of such other factors in the
future of flying as the size of the craft, and the wing loading em-
ployed, we are concerned with quite other considerations. Size
depends mainly on engine power, for there is a limit to the number
of power units which can be conveniently looked after. Even if we
have tractor and pusher airscrews in tandem (and tractor screws
496 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1940
may well become unpopular where the highest aerodynamic efficiency
is sought), 6 such pairs may be the practicable limit. This would
give us 12 engines, which, at 3,000 horsepower apiece, makes the
total power 36,000. At 15 pounds carried per horsepower available
this would give a total flying weight of 540,000 pounds or some 250
tons. Such a craft would naturally be a large boat, taking 200
passengers or more; and that is the largest flying craft that can be
said to be now in sight, although I ought perhaps to mention that
in a lecture to the students of the Royal Aeronautical Society, who
alone perhaps might be expected to live to see it, Dr. Roxbee-Cox was
bold enough to include an American forecast for a boat of 3,120
tons. But difficult as it may be to foretell accurately the future
of the large flying boat, there can be little doubt that we shall soon
see such craft in active competition with their older rivals—which
use the surface of the sea—for all rapid passenger transport on the
important Atlantic routes.
The future of wing loading is hard to forecast. As has been
mentioned, the early Wright airplane was loaded to 114 pounds per
square foot. By the time of the Great War this had risen to the
neighborhood of 10 pounds, but even Hallam (“Pyx”), writing
a few years later of his vision of a 200-ton flying boat, did not put
it above 8! In the succeeding years, however, the figure has grown
gradually until it is now in the neighborhood of 30; and while
loadings of 40 to 50 are talked about for future craft, Sir Allen
Cobham has suggested that, provided the bulk of the fuel is added
by refueling in the air from a tanker, loadings as high as 60 or even
70 should not be unattainable. The real limiting factor here is the
take-off and the landing. With landplanes, the disadvantage of
high loadings is that they lead to great increase in the size and
cost of airdromes, unless this can be avoided by the use of an auxiliary
like the Mayo Scheme or by some form of catapulting, or by the
use of the “tricycle” undercarriage, now so rapidly coming into
use. This consequence of high loadings does not apply in the same
degree to the flying boat, but even there it has the disadvantage of
requiring the use of natural harbors of large size with not too much
local water traffic.
Can one, however, relate these speed ranges of 500 to 600 for
military craft, and 200 to 300 for civil, with wing loading, with
or without refueling in the air? We have the relationship that the
minimum air speed of flight is measured by the square root of the
wing loading. If we assume the use of such aids as wing flaps,
we can calculate for sea-level conditions just what the stalling speed
for any given wing loading must be.
FUTURE OF FLYING—WIMPERIS 497
For a take-off speed of 100 miles per hour (i. e., stalling speed of
80) the wing loading would be about 40 pounds per square foot,
suitable for civil types having a top speed of, say, 300 miles per
hour (since the take-off and landing speeds would then be about 100).
But once in the air a much larger load could of course be carried.
In the case of military types having top speeds of 550 miles per
hour or thereabouts, the landing speed could hardly be less than
150, giving a wing loading of 100 pounds per square foot. It looks
therefore as though in the coming years the wing loadings for civil
types will go little beyond what is now planned in many drawing
offices, but in the case of military types the present-day figures may
certainly be doubled unless some new wing arrangement can be
discovered which will greatly reduce the loading figure when a
landing is about to take place. Rotating wings are the perfect solu-
tion for the landing problem, but how to combine them with means
for the attainment of high horizontal speed is a problem which
the future has yet to solve. The one recent development—or re-
vival—which seems to promise a great advance in safe landing is
the tricycle undercarriage, the use of which seems to be almost all
pure gain. In a lecture before the Royal Aeronautical Society last
year H. F. Vessey expressed the rather conservative view that al-
though with landplanes of the normal type it is difficult to see any
considerable increase in wing loading at landing above about 30
pounds per square foot if present restrictions on landing distances
over a barrier are to be maintained, nevertheless he admits that by
the use of the tricycle undercarriage the loading might go as high
as 40,
It is odd that chance should decide—or at least appear to de-
cide—the future of so many forms of human activity. Almost at
its birth, broadcasting in Great Britain fell into good hands, and
the cinema into bad, but aeronautical research, very fortunately, into
good. I can imagine a critic remarking that it was not quite all
chance, and that organized aeronautical research owed much to the
wise foresight of the late Lord Haldane, who caused there to be created
an Aeronautical Research Committee with funds for research workers
and apparatus for them to use.
Fortunate it was indeed that research in aeronautics was so wisely
led and adequately supported. It was a new science, and one of the
few happy results of the Great War was that it drew into this serv-
ice some of the most brilliant young scientific men of the day, especially
from the universities of Cambridge and Oxford. And this interest
held, for even now the leaders are largely drawn from that band of
498 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1940
pioneers. In their early work they were happy in their hour, for al-
most anything that was done was necessarily original and almost any
invention was bound to be new. There was little need to consult the
records of the past. The Aeronautical Research Committee was, and
still is, mainly drawn from these men and those they have trained.
With the support and confidence felt in them by the Government, they
were able to develop ideas, whether arising from their own ingenuity
or from workers and industrialists outside. It was an example soon
followed by the United States, and its latest adherent is Australia, the
newest country to take up aeronautical engineering as a serious national
effort.
It is impossible not to be struck by the stimulus which this specially
directed scientific research work has given to other branches of engi-
neering. It represents the spearhead of attack in applied science, since
so many of its problems arise from practical conditions of unusual dif-
ficulty, owing to the intensity of the desire for light construction com-
bined with strength and durability, and for very high efficiency factors.
It is hardly surprising therefore that such apparently nonaeronautical
fields as the design of steam turbine blades, of power boats, of indus-
trial fans, of light vehicles should owe so much to the results of
aeronautical research.
THE AIR ARM
Among the world’s many political preoccupations there is no more
pressing or more intractable problem than that of curbing in some
way the universal growth of armaments. It is true that insofar as
the product is entirely produced within the country of origin the mere
cost is of little moment. One makes armaments instead of making
something else, and in the case of a people who loved above all having
lots of lethal weapons there would be nothing more to be said, though
the taste might be thought odd!
It is not, however, solely a matter of finance, since normal peoples
would much prefer the energy directed to armament production to
be given to articles of service in civil life such as houses, pictures, sail-
ing boats, holiday camps, and the like; and for the general body of such
activity to be guided into channels which fit in with the quantity and
quality of the labor available in the country. Moreover, just as a house
containing a store of high explosives is not looked on as a happy abode,
so there is always a fear that in highly armed international life a trig-
ger in some remote spot may be pulled by accident, or by mischief,
with irreparable harm to the whole world.?
When some years ago an effort was made to come to an international
understanding about air armaments, success was not attained. This
2This trigger was pulled a few days after this was written.
FUTURE OF FLYING—WIMPERIS 499
was due, it is true, in some measure to the existence of strong profes-
sional interests and to the relative lack of attention to the needs of
the ordinary man, but it was due also to the inherent difficulty in the
then state of the art of distinguishing between military and civil types.
Even suppose, it was asked, that one could abolish all military air-
craft, how would one deal with the civil types which could be so easily
converted. In those days this was a germane question. But is it now?
I think not, and for this reason,
The speeds of military aircraft are now in excess of 400 miles per
hour and will rise still higher. But civil aircraft rarely go faster than
250, and it is doubtful whether it is economically advantageous to have
even so high a speed as that. This at once makes a great difference in
the types. Again, the comfort and space needed for civil transport
tends to produce a design of body which does not in the least resemble
military requirements. Insofar as the civil types in their really large
sizes come more and more to take the flying-boat form, so are they
the less like military types. Perhaps I should say here that I am
leaving aside reconnaissance duties and troop carrying, and thinking
mainly of the aggressive type, the bomber.
Hence, as I have previously suggested in a recent address at Chat-
ham House, the position has been reached when, so far as technical
considerations are concerned an agreed limitation could be set on
military production without the effort being nullified by the existence
of civil types to which no such limitations applied. It must be
remembered, however, that when a political man talks about “parity
in the air” he may not really understand what he is saying. What
he probably means is equality in offensive force, for mere parity in
numbers might be got by the absurd equation of putting 100 bombers
plus 1,900 interceptor fighters as equal to 1,900 bombers plus 100
interceptors, because both sides add up to 2,000. It cannot worry any
peace-loving country if one of its neighbors builds 1,000 or 10,000
interceptor fighters any more than it would if that neighbor built
immense numbers of antiaircraft guns and searchlights. In fact,
as a gain to the general strength of defense it would be rather
comforting than otherwise.
The right way to arrive at a proper balance of air armaments is
to seek reasonable parity in respect of bombing aircraft and leave
everyone free to build as many defensive aircraft as they care to
afford. Civil types, by reason of their low speed, would be incapable
of acting as fighters, and would be speedily shot down if they tried
to act as bombers.
The discovery of the art of flight has certainly raised terrible
problems, but it does at last seem as though mankind is beginning to
see his way out of the morass. That the laws of nature impose a
280256—41——-33
500 §$ ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1940
speed barrier is a fortunate thing, for that suggests some finality to
the development of types, and limits, moreover, any uncomfortable
rivalry with the speed of response of the human body. It is for-
tunate, too, that this speed limit is much above the economic limit
for civil machines, for that means that the civil type can easily be
defeated if it tries to play the corsair. And it most blessedly hap-
pens at the same time that the strength of antiaircraft defense from
the ground and in the air is increasing in effectiveness at a rate that
even the optimistic had hardly hoped. Britain, a fortress in the sea,
must become a fortress in the air!
In my view there will be no reason, once the international situa-
tion has cleared, why there should not be an agreed limitation in
respect of numbers of tonnage of bombing aircraft—leaving the
interceptor fighters entirely aside. It would be but cautious to
agree on a limit to the speed of civil types, but as this would merely
confirm what economic requirements would themselves suggest, it
need be no hardship; excessively high speeds for civil types do not
pay, are much more dangerous to passengers, are much more noisy to
everyone, and need wasteful forms of airports.
When this difficulty of our own age has been at last happily solved,
we may be very content to leave our successors the even more threat-
ening menace of dealing aright with the problem of atomic energy.
This it is not necessary for me to describe. I will only say that ina
recent broadcast address Professor Cockroft spoke of an atomic trig-
ger action between the metal uranium and a single neutron which is
reported to be capable of releasing a 100,000,000-fold increase in
energy. Perhaps there are immense practical difficulties in doing
this on a large scale; I earnestly hope there are. For ourselves we
are quite sufficiently occupied with our own problem, how rightly to
guide the future of flying.
INDEX
A
Page
Abbot, Charles G., Secretary of the Institution......_.__._______________ ix, 8
Director, Astrophysical Observatory-............-..=.....-__.. xiii, 86, 89
Director, Division of Radiation and Organisms____________________ xiii
Keeper ex officio, National) Museum__-_- = =. eo x
Member ex officio, Board of Trustees, National Gallery of Art________ 31
Member organizing committee, Eighth American Scientific Congress__ 29
Secretary (In charge), International Exchange Service______________ xiii
Secretary, Smithsonian Art Commission..._..............-....__- 39
PUOU ism er a SU a ee en Eee hee 8 ke ee a 25
PCLAAR sElenOeT Gen. ee eee eee eee ne eee Es in all 2 39
Administrative assistant to the Secretary (Harry W. Dorsey)____________ ix
Administrative staff, National Museum__...-......-......-25) 2ecoue 3. xii
Aldrich, Loyal B., Assistant Director, Astrophysical Observatory ----- xiii, 85, 89
PUMIORE WS, GAG ocak a ar ee PN Re AE th a St ae At Stee x
AOTMaLPEhAVIOn GN MlKen) seo. Bel a ot Se ek ee GE 271
Antarctic and South American expedition_______...._._.....________-- 76.77,
Anthropological publication in honor of John R. Swanton’s fortieth year
WAH nL ping GON= = ss 22S). eke we Ree oe Soe ke eS gle 11
SCOP OU ASUS GLB jolt ie ah See Se ae ee 9 86, 87
SHEET OST OTE Le = Stas hl as oR te re ee ea pM ORENIETa SCPE 85
Ja STSCI ol EPO ESI os ie A DS Ie ee nea ee 13
UUMUTSICELUTG WING Nee olen see oe oe G ae HS ESO oe oe 13, 121
Asia, The beginnings of civilization in eastern (Bishop)__--____________- 431
Assistant Secretary of the Institution (Alexander Wetmore)_____________ ix
Associate Director of the National Museum (John E. Graf)____________- x
BHLTODMTRICRIGODSCEVALORY§ <5 =0- Se 2 6
ADDIODMAtION. 2.22 Sata e= seats Sasa ode See he ee 85
Person Belesnee ee Seek eee ea ek eee le eee xiii, 89
ODO Ruse see ee 2 ee a a ee eee eee eer 85
DiaMONR ae seen Soest? cae eae Ree ee ee 85, 89
Wiarkiat i esnine tone. =). 22.2 2 ke Soe ae Soe ee ee 85
Si GRRE? Rene litt: 2.2 en oe te ie err a ibe Re a a Ey 89
Attorney. General (Robert Hy Jackson) sso s525°5- set se ssect sou bees ix
ve i ig OER EUT a | sa a la oR AE eee eS Ey tee ep 8 x
Waly TRE ppd LETT ss ae i ec ey fr eg eee hr oe eR nee ee 39
B
Barkley, Alben W. (regent of the Institution) ...-----.---------------- ix, 8
PARTIC ale ye oss te ey ps Ee ee cl eS ee x
Partieti Greenland jexpedition= 2 s-<. 5.5.22. =e<-e 552-5250. eee es 20, 25
PeaeiCuL PhO DET b a aaa ee ee oe 15, 25
PENG RG Cee ate ee eee Ae MeN SD A he ee a x, xi, 29
501
502 INDEX
Page
Bassler, BR. 82. .- 22 3 8 se ee ae eee xi, 71
Beach, Jessie Got 22202 8 Re eS ee en ee ee eee xi
Bear beetle, The Mexican: (White) 22-32 Ys: 4. S28 See 343
Beginnings of civilization in eastern Asia, The (Bishop)----------------- 431
Belin, Ferdinand Lammot, Vice President, National Gallery of Art__- xii, 32, 37
Welatey a he sa a a xii
Benn, James We n-ne 15
Peng. Arhitur S22 8 Ee ee Se eee ere ee eee x
Bishop, Carl Whiting... 2c. 205. 2S eR ee es eee xii
(The beginnings of civilization in eastern Asia) _-_-_-_-.-_--------- 431
Blowers.George-- =: 2222255. 8 551250 eae eee een 74
Blowers,-Mire--George = 22 === 22552-22222 See ee Se 74
Bodewes, P6222. Chat Pe, SS Ee oe so re 74
Borie, Charles, drain os 3 ee, eee 39
Boas, Norman:3: =. = 20035 Sas ee eee ee xi
Botany and history of Zizania aquatica L. (‘‘wild rice’’), The (Chambliss) - 369
Béving; A. Goan cs ot sees 2 oes assss sees st cene ce BOs eee xi
Bridge, Josiah. <= + 2252-25232 s22sssessn seca Seas ssan say e ees 15, 26
Briggs, Lyman J. (The national standards of measurement) ------------- 161
Brooks::Charles Bus $3.3 520 54.5 ae 2 ee et US ee ee 86
Brown, W.-bs2 4 2h ees Bee ee ee Sees Sige Ae x
Bruce, David K. E., President, National Gallery of Art..-------------- xii, 32
BrYant Hi Si snc0 nso sae sees e Soe aoa ee sh ae xii
Buchanan, bi; Jo2.o- 52 sss esa 2 Bee see Je Se ee x
Bush, Vannevar (regent of the Institution) -__.---.------------------- ix, 8
Bushnell DI 98s 2 ae Se eee ee x
Butler; Glave Pete os ose oes Se ee eee 89
Byrd, Admiral. oo 2os6 See os eis ee a oe ere 76
Cc
Calhoun; John se sass se es SE Se eee ee ee 25
Cannon, Clarence (regent of the Institution) __-._--_--------+--------- ix, 8
Carey, Charles so2.-.- i223) 23 hbo ee ee ee eee eee xii
Carriker, M: Ajj; JWoso 3255 seesss3 sass essoscssas 2 eae ee 25
Carter, Walter (Insects and the spread of plant diseases) -_-__.-_-------- 329
@assedy,- Edwin Gs... 5 2. so 6 Selo scace coed erases ae sess xiii, 58
Catherine: Walden’ Myer fund. = 2— 3) eee ee ee 40
Chambliss, Charles E. (The botany and history of Zizania aquatica L.
(“wild riee”) 2.0 ss 2s oak ews eo ee ee Se 369
@hancellor,; Lewiss «sss. 22225 ee ee 74
Chancellor of the Institution (Charles Evans Hughes) _______________-__ ix, 8
Chapin, Edward “Acs 225 22s2sssc2ssd sens sesS eased a ses wae eee ¥
Ghase, Agnese:5< aso oF Re Se a eS ce a xi, 26
Chase; Riovente’ Mia: 2430 See ee ee eee ee xiii, 90
Chief Justice of the United States (Charles Evans Hughes, Chancellor of
the Institution). ==-2-=ss 25-232) Cee et ee ix, xii, 8, 31, 32
Civilization in eastern Asia, The beginnings of (Bishop) __-------------- 431
Clark> Austin-H.. o-cec cee tee ee ee x, 15, 25, 29
Clark, Bennett Champ (regent of the Institution) __.......-..--------- ix, 8
Clark, Dieila. Fu 22522225e005 2255555 se oe sehec cs ead eo eee ee xii
Clark; ‘iiginnd (6B .. cc te cee ee ee ee ee eee xiii, 90
INDEX 503
Page
lark wi oberosSvering occa ee ae et EL Bates hy! xi
SAT Re WG TNOLOD ea ee eae eee =e Re a 39
OSV g Sh Dare 2 een a ee a nS Sse a x
Cole, William P., Jr. (regent of the Institution) _.._...........________ ix, 8
Collie eres uh oe ee ee Ss cS ie nate aps icas S xiii, 53
Columbine miversitvreresss 2 (2252 sees et wae eto obs coe Ul) 11
SCOTTI CRO LG sul pias eee ees eet te = Se ee Jee esl ee ee oe xii
Compton, Arthur H. (regent of the Institution) ___-------------.------ ix, 8
ane Pemba pe sert e es oe ak eR pet hd apes ele tA xi
OKANO MDE ete 5s oe See ee ot 32 Se lt be ea xxi
WOOP CEMGNStaV AAT CONT — 24.62 32-6 Lea Se Seo ees xi, 15,26
Corbin, William L., librarian of the Institution_____._.__._.__...._____ ix, 90, 101
ULONS My IGIN A ees a Ceaer ye ee ee eS See a atk Sees xi
Cultural values or physies(Diets)/-.- 222-222. sccs- cc ase cesast ath ae 139
Culture waves from Asia to America, Prehistoric (Jenness)_--...-_---_-- 32383
Cusiinrate JOSEP eA sek yes oh ee i ee et een eee x
SishmanwODeTorA si. cece bs ot Gee Ju See 0S SA Se eee x
D
Harrow karl K..(Nuclear fission) e922 oe eee et nk ok ss 155
Davis, Harvey N. (regent of the Institution) -._-_--_------------------ ix, 8
Wavas avalon ee meee eee Fe eke eee eee Sell Set 75, 76
Beton aise tle Gee see eee ses el eee Se ee Se bee ces te te x15
Delano, Frederic A. (regent of the Institution) __---_-_-------------- 1X, Olio
Denmark CRs s-22.<42c2che2 Bee es ai ee Oe ei = xii
WMensmore ,hrancese 428-2 - = Se oceseee sen eee ee Pose 55
Dietz, Dayid (Cultural values of physics)-.-.--..-..--.---==------2--< 139
Dorsey, Harry W., administrative assistant to the Secretary _----------- ix
Dorsey, Nicholas W., treasurer of the Institution__--__---------------- ix, xu
Pruckerwbniipess on ok=s O- ee ese eee ek eee eee nee eden ses eeeeee 49
PRIN CAN WRN AGE Riis A822 he ee es ok ee ee seas eS xi
E
PacletonsSucrhn gb k2 = 2s) ose oc hs tee Sao sete ate eee e eee 32
Ped gell tGcortephes +646. 2e oak oh ee eee ose Soeea sees te ee 39
Edison, Charles, Secretary of the Navy (member of the Institution) - ~~ -_- ix
Pditorial division, chief, (Webster. P.. True) .2.=. 2-222 22 20.22. 2522.54 ix
faghth American, Scientifie’ Congress) 2-22.24 sls 5- 222.222 55-42ti 2. 28
nee amelie so sno Come i ines ae 5S Soe Se ce eee eee x
“Essays in Historical Anthropology of North America’’..-.------------- 12
iste biisirrierihs) BiG. ote 1a) ee ters sy teers oh les fase oe eo = ee 8
RLBnOIORY.) bureau OF AMOCTICAN 222-52 aoe a eee ee 5
citensi Work and puplcAviONSs. 2222.52. --- <2 =2- 3 a 56
Dfancratienn ss S882 Sabet)” Dal ies) bets 3 toh heh yl tL ok ee 58
JOST ec oe Ne ee ee eee 57
IMEIRCE NI APOLR Ss ee EE 2 Se oy Si ee ae ee 58
Rersonne late eee ne ane aS eee ae xii, 58
PORORbeeg eter eee ek a SS et oe ee 49
Special researches._-__--- 232 = 22a seks Sessa see Se 6 55
Syatemmtio researches — .2 22-2622 2 222224 22k} So eee at eesna ee 49
Evolution, Perspectives in (Ritchie) ._........------------------------- 249
504 INDEX
Page
Executive Committee of the Board of Regents_________-_-___________- ix
Report ajo oe a te a See eee 109
ASIOIE, » 02-5 ean se ee ena oh ate 115
Cash balances, receipts, and disbursements during the fiscal year. 112
Consolidated: funds. x2 22 22222 o> re eee oe ee ee i a
Expenditures for researches in pure science, publications, explora-
tions, care, increase and study of collections, etec_.____._______-_ 114
Ereer-Gallery of Art funds 222d S2ou6 2 een) 2 pee 111
Smithsonian endawment,fund._-..=.-2.<--.2-....2..-S ee 109
Pzplorptions. and field work =. 222552255252 Se oe eee oe ee 15
LECT PGS) y 10 BC (: ee ee oe Enns Seniesa 75
F
Bairchild, .D: Guo. eo a ea Re ee xi
Farley, James A., Postmaster General (member of the Institution) -___ ~~~ ix
FRERLON, WN coe ooo hee a ee ee a ee xiii, 16, 54
Masked medicine societies of the Iroquois___-_------------------- 397
GUE bia cys Pal (7) RN Ee ee Ae Fate ek ee ot 8 at ca os KG 2 a Rea en ee 90
BONO C25) 06) 2° Yh AO RI es Rip erg A WS dn fay geome ec aS 9
Finley, David E., Director, National Gallery of Art__....._.--------- xii, 32, 39
Pinestone, Expedition... -— 2.5 .< 2 oe ee ee 19, 73, 74
Purestone,, lire & Rubber Co. 22.22. 2-22. aoe oe 73, 74
Fish and Wildlife Service, The national wildlife refuge program of the
(Gabricison).. 3... - =. oo ean eee eS eee 313
Isher Arg oe: sen ese oe teed ere eat a os Se aT rcs eee en =< xi
Hiving.lne future of (Wimperis) =. 2... =o.) Se 2 eee 489
(Roshag. Web. 2 ee ee eo eee xi, 18, 15, 26
Hraser, James B.. .22s2tese8: 22) 52-2 ee ee eee 39
BreefGallery. of Art: < 20.0 = at St ee eee 4
Attendance. <= 22 a5 Skee Se ee ee ee ee ee 46
Collections. <2 = 2 = so 8 Se ae ne oe ee 43
Lectures, docent service, and auditorium__.._.__._.____.-__--__.-_-- 47
Personnel 25 are ee ee ee ee eee xii, 48
FRCS Ni an ee ee ee 43
iIPriedmann, ‘Herbert: == 2242500 ooo ee eee eee x, 13
Broiland: Alfred iG-3!42 233 4-23 a ee 89
#uture,of flying, The (Wimperis) => 7-9" 22 eS eS eee 489
Future of man as an inhabitant of the earth, The (Mather)-__---------- 215
G
Gabrielson, Ira N. (The national wildlife refuge program of the Fish and
Wildlife. Service)sson ie nod otek n eee to 5 Ss et ee 313
Garber, haul: Bass ieee os as ee ee Pee xi
Garner, John N., Vice President of the United States (regent of the Insti-
CUiblOM eas oet face cere ace te ree ee aie ee = re ee ix, 8
Gass: Bran: 854555 52 6 eee ork eee ee eee 69
Seem 10). GUNG Secs Ss oe ei fe cg ee ee MELD, 208.
RBHCTAL ANON Gite in nde ye Ne a a ie ere ihe g
Gibbons, W. A. (The rubber industry, 1839-1939) ___._-_-------------- 193
Gifford, Charles-L. (regent. of the-Institution)........ ==22sas3 eee ix, 8
Gilmore, Charles Wa ..0< o 6 acc ene A eee xi, 27
Graf, John E., Associate Director, National Museum_----------------- x, 29
Graham: David G- o sn cae eee See ae oe ee ee ee xi
INDEX 505
Page
OTE Cag LEG DY, ae ee ee ee oon ce 89
Biresmiog@ narles ghee sees. 20 os 2 eee tl ee x
Guest, Grace Dunham, Assistant Director, Freer Gallery of Art_-________ xii
H
PAN COCKE SPOCILON Sa ote oe rn fe en ee Se ee 15
ancoch Ga allann fons ae Soe oo oe Se ee ee ek es 15
UATTIN CUO OUMME et eerie aha ace Ae ea ee ee ee xiii, 50
oe kena GcOlgewlemecsa ss 2S Se er a ee ee oe en a a2
MendersOn Pe hdwardy bs sos 5.0 cet eoae o e BES xi
cas SHRANK ptr ec So ee os oo eu eee a oe xi
ial; Jamesers, property, Clerks 2-222. 2 oe eco SS ix
odekins fund: << es es oe 2 Se ot ATER AS ee ee Ad Sy a 85
ROGvViciE awl AME ya mali oe ns op eo ee eee es xiii, 85
PeOp Me Dawa he ee ese ee nh SRG ee a x
Hopkins, Harry Lloyd, Secretary of Commerce (member of the Institution). _ix
ROMAT ymin Omen nero S a3 ke. SoG a ne ween eo ee oe Seine x
Sloell ACE RAvICne re. eee eee eee a x
byt GUbN Saleen da yee See aoe ee cee ee eee 25
13 TG VI Ee Te) A at aR eg ap ee a oy NEED x, 16, 22, 29
Hughes, Charles Evans, Chief Justice of the United States (Chancellor of
elie SES Gt GRO) |S 2 5 A feta SE eg egy ix, (xii oSivsl, 32
Hull, Cordell, Secretary of State (member of the Institution) ____________ ix, 32
I
Ickes, Harold L., Secretary of the Interior (member of the Institution) ____ ix
Infectious diseases, Sulfanilamide and related chemicals in the treatment
OAS pinks) pew ete a ene esac Ce ees ee ee 479
Insects and the spread of plant diseases (Carter)__...._____________-__- 329
EnteEnatlonaler xchange Service oo oo eset oe ea 5
PAN OE Opt ecubl Ones Nee oer ee oe rs en ee cee ee ere oe eee ee 59
Foreign depositories of governmental documents__._______________- 61
iBoreignrexchange ASENCIes 22-22 = soos anon oe nee eee 67
Interparliamentary exchange of the officia] journal________________- 64
iPackaresisentrand received 5.2 oe] eee eee ee eee ee 59
TROLS OTT Career eee ee ea ee ee ee eee xiii
Eee ae es ee en eee ae ee ee 59
Iroquois, Masked medicine societies of the (Fenton) -_____-_----------- 397
J
Jackson, Robert H., Attorney General (member of the Institution) -~-_--~-- ix
James, Macgill, Assistant Director, National Gallery of Art__-_-_-_ -_-- xii, 32
Jenness, Diamond (Prehistoric cultures waves from Asia to America) __-_. 383
HERES ESS Ped ROI lf ea i peat gt ne i pelt cme ey 73, 74
Johnston, Earl S., Assistant Director, Division of Radiation and
CCPH EET Te STEL Sea lp all gt tet oP ya a se Ae pa | BO xiii, 90, 94
ANUS ale SLT 5 et ad peter eye desea le Ae ig pentane ol pee eG gS at x
ipiter. ne satellites Ol NICDOISON)] ~~. —- 22 neocon ee ca oe 131
K
Keeper ex officio of the National Museum(Charles G. Abbot, Secretary
GimTBRORHeLILRGOR eo ene noe one arene rene ea oa x
mpMoge ORME LOU Ae Ben ee ee ee eee Sone ere ee ctaaanaeeeee x, 29
506 INDEX
Page
Ketchum; Miriam ‘Bi. -=2222-—.- +252 522. 3-02 eee xiii
Killip, Eleworth Pos 222.2202 ce-=2- 22 -aees.2c eo ee xi, 16, 26
ress, Samuel Hs:5. 24 Ces 0 ee eee eee ee xii, 9, 32
Kress, Samuel H:, Collection. 2 — oe) ee ee ee 31
Krieger, (H.-W ac oon en en a ee ae en Se x
Rroever A. Gi a keene BO ee ease oe eee 12
Kroll, Bishop: Leopold: - = 55 ae eee 74
L
ihees, G5iM.s(Ehersearch: foro) =e es a ee ee ee ee eee 231
iponard -Pmety Ce 2 oo Se eee ee xi
Lewton, frederick Jue. 222224. 22 ee ee ee ee ee See xi
Librarian of the Institution (William L. Corbin)_-.-........_.._-___-_- ix
ibrminy 2 3 oats en ob eek oe ee eee 17
FRCCERSIONS Soe ere ee ee ee eee se ee 99
Bindings 92) 252 Se es CBee oe es Bee Se Be ee ae en 100
Exchange: of publications. = 5 =e ee 95
IEG Se cee cre se a ee a ae ee ae ee re 97
INGE rst So =e Aor CN ee ee ee ee 101
Personnels 202 ee See es eee ee ee ee 95
Reportimsg23. se Pla See eee AS See ees 95
Bone-opheriachivities-2.5 <= 22 oe Se eee ee 100
Statistios 2 — foe ee! eee we he ee 8 ee eee 99
Lodge, John Ellerton, Director, Freer Gallery of Art..._..___-___-- xii, 39, 48
Logan, M> (regent of the Institution)= = - 22". = eee 8
M
MacCurdy,, George Grant... 2c -2-. =e ee eo ee eee x
Main: halivexhibits; omithsonian=— 2965s eee ee 13
Maloney, James ©)... 3. 222. J3occcene = eee x
Man as an inhabitant of the earth, The future of (Mather)__._._______- 215
Mann; Tucile:Q... 5 or 5 ee ee ee oe eee 73
Mann, William M., Director, National Zoological Park -------- x, xiii, 15, 73, 84
Manning: Catherine Di.) 3,6 oss 5 cn ee ee xii
Marnehipy Paulo... 22 oe a os co goes See ee ee 39
Marshall: (William? = o2.S5ssosec050. Seat ees sae eee xi
Martin Robert t= .2. 225 so S34 oe ee ee 26
Masked medicine societies of the Iroquois (Fenton) _-----_-------------- 397
Mather; Frank:Jewett/drcs 2.02 Joh fe Bee ee eee 39
Matters of general interest:. =~ 3: = Sa as Se eee 9
Wisin. Wiebe 2 a I er ee an a xi
MeAlister, Edward). 252< <5 tA ee ee ee ee xiii, 90
Mie Atees: Wn eMie e S es D k eee x
McBride, Harry A., Administrator, National Gallery of Art__--.--------- xii, 32
MeCandlish, aN. Mie 5. 5s a en ee oe 87
Moctlelian: George Bo -.2.2 2222 ee ee eee 39
MeKenmzie. Mary WOO. 2. 2.22222 55 55 ee ae oe 74
mMoMath: hobert, Woo) 22-2 oes he ee eee ee ee 14
(Solar prominences in motion) =2=52 2-5-4 -=]-)—<- =o ee 121
McNary, Charles L. (regent of the Institution) _....----...------------ ix, 8
Measurement, The national standards of (Briggs)---------------------- 161
Mellon, A. W., Educational and Charitable Trust_-.-.---------- 31, 33, 35, 36
Mellon, -Andrew W = «.3c-2uewo ss coool bee oe ee 31
INDEX 507
Page
Mielions@oNectiore! ee Sats ee. ee Sek oe ees Se oe 31
Mombersvlavhornstitwnon. 222 222 oN e ne eee SE ix
UROL Rane Om ee = ae te ath ee I SUS SSS SE Fes 92
RC LTIAIM Crean pee ee eee eo ee a ee eee ee Sn CS xi
Merriam, John C. (regent of the Institution)..............-.-.-.---.-- 8
fexican bean peeve, che (White)... 5522s. Pie ee a coe 343
Mer Cero tht ee eo ea I Be Wale ee x
1 ARETE CHESS 2 Sg ae pps xi, 13
MePnrycle yam ETO AT Ua Vie oe ee a ee ie a a ac xi
|e UD OFM ES Lehy Ls 5 Sa SaaS 8 er a ee ee RS 89
PPE RSC ELC Yee ee eye ee es eee ee x
Moore, R. Walton (regent of the Institution)---._.__.-_-.------------ ix, 8, 115
Morgenthau, Henry, Jr., Secretary of the Treasury (member of the Insti-
EUEELO Tie ey eee ee repens 2 a A a Bs Shee Se ae ix, 32
Morris, Roland 8. (regent of the Institution) ----...._----------------- ix, 8
NMGrrISOn Td OSeD Haba bene eae oe ee cea See es eee eee x
Rrortona COnraAue viet eee ea oe oe ee eee a ee eee xi
Airs keO KE ee Se ey Pe a ee ee eee en eee ee 90
N
NOPD GME Oo ees OE ana oh eee see anee 9, 11
MatIGNaELORACEStINENCO sane eee cee aceon ee eee eae 9, 11
Wational Collection Of Pine Arte. 28-5552. 20 55 See bee oe eee 4
LGTY DYNO) DY EET COPIES oy = Se a hs ee 38
Catherine-Walaen Myer fund2—2- += 2 5-52-22 5s csc tee Se 40
iontistatCepledeete= san. oe San eee ee ee ek cou ecca Seas eeeeee 40
moanoirevuniicg ese er. = ee So eee ee ee Se ee 41
Loans to other museums and organizations___.-_------------------ 40
Othenacti vilbicseee oe a ae eee ee one eee hee eee oe eee ee 41
Personne eee te ee ee eee ee te het s ae eeeee xii
Pub iC tONS ee ee ee ee ee eee cee aaa cae 42
IRereLeNeCe RI DIARYse eee oe tere ne ote ee NOL See 41
epGht eee eee ee Rene ee oe nee ee ane meso eee a eee 38
SmithsonianvArtsCommissions |. 28 428 sees! Bosses th ue soce se 39
SpecimNexnes MONS) — oe soo fo eee ans eee eee eee 42
DiniiGiAGaleryOleATb = 26.500. oe onan se ene ee eee eee 3
Acominitignn eerie see Tone ee Te es eee ee 33
Acqnisitionsteomimnitvees 222 - {53 StS 5 62 as ec seste EE eeee 32
prOpIstiOnse as. = eS oe ee eee 33
Audit of private funds of the Gallery_..-.-...-------------------- 36
RTatOninlnWOrk ee ae aan sees eos ee ee eee 35
Bxebanpe, of works of arto.-.<-=-------—_- === 55-- === oe 34
recite COMMIGLEC {55 eee tee ee eee eee 32
hinance committee 2-6 = ok cee sce coca ona eee eee 32
Gallery constructions 552-22. -.2 222-2 --222-25-------=------<-= 36
Sy ETigersy Les ee ee rs ee ec ee oe ee ee xii
Organization and staff____..-------.---------------------------- 31
Paintings loaned and returned_---_------------------------------- 35
TESTE EN CEC M EGU TI tae 8 | text ag men nap a A eee ey aga 35
eis onpem seen ooo a) SRS 8 ee anne nce eons S ee Sea 31
Restoration and repairs to works of art--------------------------- 35
508 INDEX
Page
Nationals Miiseum 22 ee ee 2
Appropriation: 322 = no. oe en eco an eee ee ee 18
Changes ‘in organization and staff__1.- -. oe 6 en ck 29
Cdllestions: --2 i> -aate ba oe eee 18
Explorationszand field: work. =) ete? ae ee eae eee 22
Participatian.in-scientifie congress... = ie FPs 220 pe eee 28
Publications. and: printing. of Se ee ee 28
ROD OF GF es ee te a le oe a 18
Spsciahiexhibite:-— = 2 he Se Be oe eee 28
RAN oe ee le a oe ee nee ee ee On ee ee ee x
WiSiLOTS eo eS ee eee eee ee 27
Wir a assistance® 2 foo te Se eee ee Serer ere ee 28
National standards of measurement, The (Briggs)___-.___._____--_------ 161
National Wildlife refuge program of the Fish and Wildlife Service, The
(Gabrielson) 22 22 327 a ee ge ee eee 313
Wational Zoological, Park 50 ee ee 6
ACCRBSIONS 2 6 oc ee eh aN es BS ee ee en ee ee 73
Statement of- oss ks ee a ee eee 84
Animals in collection that had not previously been exhibited _-_--__--- 83
Antarctic and South American expedition._..._..._.....--_--------- 76, 77
PA TNPSP OP YEG pin: Set ee ee ene ee ee 70
IBID GHG eS E e e SS AE Se e oe 81
Donors and their gifts) =o 222. 2 oo ee ee ee 78
WURCHRIRES 28 ee eee ee a ee ae SS ee 81, 82
Rielduworks So 2 oe. se Sor Se ee ee eee 73
Munchianes ~ 2403) 5.50 a ee ee _ 70
Gifts see te ak SSE eo ee oe 2 oe a re Cg
Improvementss: 2... eee eee ee ee ee 70
NG@QUS 2 52 Sook Skee ees ee ere 71
Rersonneélicces 2320 eo ee Se ee xili
Purchases syne Ss ee 83
Remowalain* S22. 223535 2 Se ee a eS eo ae eee 83
Reports Se oe se ae ee ae ee rd ae ae 70
Smithsonian-Firestone. Expedition... -_.. ase ee eee 73, 74
Southern Asiatic: expedition... -.2.. 222. eee ee 75
Status.o£ collection: 2-22. oS. oS So a oe ee 84
Wisitore:. $2s8224- sheets se 131
hanth Arthur lecture... - 22555224 e econ ee ee ee 13, 121
Nolan. DoS... eno snk le ee eee on ee eee eee 26
Norris, Ralph 2-2 22k se ee eee Seen 73
Nuclear fission (Darrow) - ----_- ie bes elke ee ee ee re ee 155
O
Gisliser, “Pali rhs. 2 oo oo ee ere ees ee ee ee se eee ee xii, 29
Oifice or Hducation; Unitedistatessse a2 se ee 9
Gin. “Phe search 10r (bees) te teen ee ee ee ere 231
Oliver Lawrence (oo = re ee eee ees ee rn ee ee xii
Olmsted: As Jc 226 Soe ee ee ee ae ee ae ee eee xii
Ginsted: ‘Helen. A. personnel olucer. = 22-0 See eee ee ix
INDEX 509
Page
Organic chemical industry in the United States, The rise of (Stine) ______ 177
tSEANOINOCOVENS = see nen Se kee eS a ae 1
le
Ee EA Sete en et ese a eae See ee ay ae 71
LES TIOVS Lit Cle ks ea, Se a eg = el eR x
paler vip rc lenwe re eee Ses ee enc a oe en ee ee xiii, 56
PRUMEE MA HCOROLO Seer eerste a 2S Oe ene Se ee ee xi
Pensions for private employees in the Institution_____________________- 9
Perkins, Frances, Secretary of Labor (member of the Institution)________ ix
ELEY ARO phen ee ee ee ioe et pei eta erento xi
CLEMO mE et tie eins en Se ee eo ae a ae ee eee 15, 25
iRersonnelroticers (Helen vAelOlmsted) === se ee ee ix
Perspectives imevolution: (Ritchie) ...-..-.2.-22- --202 ~~ ue 249
pao pO RG Ae es eye ee we ee eee Xil, 32
Phyrices Cultural values of (Dietz) 2225 oo) 8 eee 139
tHe ULG MSCS Mem rs (ee ee et ee ne ee a a 35
Plant diseases, Insects and the spread of (Carter)_____________________- 329
Plant-vissuciculitunes (Welnthallb)\een. = soe oe ee ee ee By aV/
Rosthmastern Generale @ames yA sb air) ey) ae ee ee ix
Prehistoric culture waves from Asia to America (Jenness) ._-__________-- 383
President of the United States (Franklin D. Roosevelt) ________________ ix
Presiding officer ex officio (Franklin D. Roosevelt, President of the United
Sta tre ae eae sa = PE er ee ek ee ix
IPrreccrm Witten nGuseiim OO! a2 9 526 = ee See te eee ee 36
Property clerk of the Institution (James H. Hill)__.._-.------..-_----- ix
abl ca ticns iepeeme meee ee ee Ss oe 16
Allotments Or printinwatats -2 seems Sele ee a eee 108
American Historical Association, Report. .=-.-...-.---.4-L=s2-- 2. 107
AumualpRenorta: Smithsonian. 322-2502 25.2565. 555-s eee ee 104
Daughters of the American Revolution, Report. --.--------------- 108
Miscellaneous Collections; Smithsonian_--..........-----.---===-=- 102
INationalUIViUSe LIME yi Fane So i eee, SS ee 105
Bail Ve tims eae eee ee Ce ee ae ee ee 107
Contributions from the U. 8. National Herbarium-___-_------- 107
IPROCEe CIM eae Seep etna em ne btg s e _ eeesy o Fa 2 ped a bop ES Ss ote 105
RUCDORG S28 8 eam win mate One = pe hae PEs pred ot) See 105
LEY Dy oO) np ee OE ee ay gt ee re ae mes ae ee 102
Beccelaryva Reports: === a=. 26. =. eee ae es meine Ak Se ee: 105
Brecialh =<... = eee Soe eee” AY atti Poke oe ee Skeet et Ba cee 105
R
Ranmtion aodiOrganisms. Division.Glys2o- <= sess aecest 2S s 5a ee 7
Papers: presented at mectings=.5 = =24=—2 55245" Baan ee Se Sa ee 94
IDermouie ere os oe ee Ve ee eee ee ee xiii, 94
Photosynthesis, respiration, and chlorophyll formation - ~~ ---------- 90
Plant @rowonnVvestivanlGOns...- 922... 52 eben ea ee 92
Plant hormones and chemical factors... 2-22... 2-------= 82226 92
BUDUCAONRS oe Ae es Lod ts oye es Ske ee aes eee eee 94
RantintiGMeRelis. 0. f.0- 22 sek cee r eee eee roe eee eae eee ae 93
Renontat hiya oe Oy fe trl oe pele PP te oot oeuet ney ce emece 90
510 INDEX
Page
Rathbun, Mary J_2..6_ 283.051.3230 ee eee eee xi
Rawley, W. Nos sa-s-scessesseswsticcseescts ese eee eee eee xii
Reberholt; BertelsOige >? 22 2 oes oes heat at ae Se Fe eee xi
Redfield, Bdware. Wo. 2s52.2 2.5235 3scke, Sees ee 2 eee 39
Repents:of tha Institutions <2 sc2 ssasesl essa sos esse ae ene ix, 8
Procecdings Of the Board — 52 sa 22 seas eo eee 8
Rehder;Hargldgeas 2 22 te tee esas 22 22 eee x
Reid De. oes se oee wares a ee a x
Research Corporation of Now. York =. +--+ 5-.02-2452 -2- 4 o s ae eee 90
Resser; Charles. W.. ... sss. ee a oe ee ee eS ee xi
Rice Ariaur 2532 oo so ee eee eee x
BUSY, hs Eb = Ate 2 es Dae So ee ee x
Rise of the organic chemical industry in the United States, The (Stine)_._ 177
Ritchie, James (Perspectives in evolution) --...=...-.-.-.-.-.--_-.--.-. 249
Roberts brank bi. is, 0b so ssscs oes ee ee xili, 16, 52
Roebling Jonna. 222 820 2casseoseanae sess eee 85, 86, 87
FON WOT Ss ic So io5 apd ara cic se tt a ne x
Roosevelt, Franklin D., President of the United States (Presiding officer
ex Officioland member of the Institution) ee see eee ix
Rosson: CBZ abet Wise a cs AE A Ee gr a een ee xi
Rubber industry, 1839-1939, The (Gibbons) ._.........-.-.-----.---.. 193
Fussell od: "RO Wiser eo x
s
pAaTINeN lie 228+ se bee ee ee ee Se 9
Satellites .of Jupiter, ‘The GNicholson) 22 22222 se 2525. 22 See 131
pehans,. Willd <=