Chicacfo Natural History Museum

Buplri:^iN

FormerlyW

beum News

Vol. 15

JANUARY-FEBRUARY, 1944

No8. 1-2

HOPEWELL AND OTHER PRE-COLUMBIAN CULTURES SYNTHESIZED IN EXHIBITS

By PAUL S. MARTIN

CHIEF CURATOR, DEPARTMENT OF ANTHROPOLOGY

Another section of Hall B, devoted to
the history or archaeology of American
Indians, is now open to the public. This
section, although not completed, is dedicated
to the American Indian civilizations as they
were prior to the com-
ing of the white man
— that is, before 1492.

At present there are
ten exhibits ready.
Seven of these deal
with the Hopewell In-
dians who lived in
southern Ohio from
about A.D. 1100-1400.
The civilization of
these Indians was well
developed and was
probably more ad-
vanced in many ways
than that of any other
Indians east of the
Rocky Mountains.

Although the Hope-
well Indian farmers
were fairly advanced
in arts and crafts, and
although their civili-
zation has been stud-
ied rather intensively,
very little actually is
known about their
way of living. A few
guesses can be made,
however, and these
are presented in our
exhibits and summa-
rized in this article.

The Hopewell farm-
ers probably lived in

skin or bark covered huts which were
grouped together in small hamlets or towns.
Near the houses were large and small burial
mounds, from which all of our materials
were dug. A low, earthen wall enclo.sed
some of these hamlets and their burial
mounds. This enclosing wall probably did
not serve as a fortification, but was, rather,
sacred in character.

The people of these villages raised corn
and, perhaps, squash and beans. They
obtained other necessary items for their diet
by fishing and hunting. They made pottery,
wore cloth and basketry, and produced

extraordinarily varied and beautiful orna-
ments of copper, mica, stone and silver.

It is believed that the Hopewell farmers
were united with other near-by Indians in
some sort of a political confederacy. From
the meager evidence which is now available,
it seems likely that there were privileged

MODEL OF MUMMY-CAVE VILLAGE (HALL B)

Diorama showing \n miniature a clifT'dwelling as built in a cavern of Canyon del Muerto, Arizona, and occupied
about A. D. 1250. The Indians abandoned the cave about fifty years later because of drought and a military defeat,

archaeological evidence indicates.

classes among the Hopewell Indians, some
of whom may have held a high rank of some
kind; that elaborate ceremonies were per-
formed from time to time; that special
guilds of craftsmen existed; that commerce
and trade were carried on with far distant
tribes; and that the people were organized
socially in such a way as to permit the com-
pletion of large jobs (such as building large
mounds) by means of co-operative labor.

Our exhibits attempt to portray all these
phases of the daily life of these ancient
Indians. For example, there are exhibits
illustrating man's work; woman's work;

personal ornaments of copper, stone and
silver; a Hopewell woman; a Hopewell man
wearing a ceremonial deer-antler headdress;
and finally a display showing the artistic
skill and the interest of the Hopewell crafts-
men in man and nature. We shall soon
install other displays which will show:
Hopewell villages and
burial mounds; sculp-
ture; ceremonies; and
the materials which
they received by
means of trade.

Thus, the round of
daily activities of an
important group of
Indians who lived in
southern Ohio about
700 years ago has
been carefully recon-
structed from evi-
dence secured by
studying Hopewell
burial mounds. We
have presented this
round of daily activi-
ties by means of care-
fully planned exhibits
which are attractive
in layout and color.
Labeling has been re-
duced to a minimum
and no scientific terms
have been used.

Another exhibit,
called "The Death
Cult," is unique and
illustrates a curious
period of emotional-
ism in the life of the
American Indian.
This exhibit shows
some of the symbols and objects associated
with what was really a religious revival.
This religious outburst, which lasted from
about A.D. 1550-1650, centered in the south-
eastern part of what is now the United
States, and manifestations of it were present
in large portions of the east.

It is presumed that at about a.d. 1525
most of the Indians of North America had
at least heard about the white man and the
many unpleasant and cruel tricks he played
on the Indians; although few of them had
ever seen a white man. At any rate, by the
year 1550, the Indians of eastern America

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CHICAGO NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM BULLETIN

January-February, 19H

must have unconsciously experienced a pre-
monition of impending doom. Wild rumors
and stories about the Spanish conquest of
the Aztec empire by means of treachery and
the consequent rapacious pillaging and
plundering had probably reached their ears.
They had probably also heard of the bar-
barous treatment accorded the Southwestern
Indians by the Spaniards. Then the De
Soto expedition which started from Florida

— such as skulls and crossbones, trophy
heads severed from the bodies of enemies,
and representations of human bones —
became very important in the sacred art
and may be seen on pottery, shell pendants,
copper ornaments, and stone paint palettes.
Furthermore, religious art forms similar to
those found in Mexico — such as the weeping
eye symbol, the fighting turkey cock, the
woodpecker, the spider, and eagles — were

THEN, AS NOW, FIGHTING DOMINATED MANS WORK . . .
... as this exhibit of Hopewell activities indicates by its emphasis on weapons, shown at left. Hunting, fishing,
and carpentry were also important elements in the lives of these Indians who lived in southern Ohio about A. D.

IIOO'HOO, the display of implements shows.

• ♦ ♦

HUNT INC

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F ) S H I N C

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61

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CARPENTRY

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MAH'S WORK

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preparing to make a fight for their lives.
Before this time of religious revival, each
village contained at least one "temple"
mound, that is a flat-topped mound (about
20 feet high) on top of which stood a religious
structure. But now, after the people be-
came scared and retreated into remote areas,
these "temple" mounds became much
larger (some being 75 feet high). This
increase in the size of mounds may also
indicate a deeper concern with religion.
One important fact about the Death Cult
should be noted: the "death cult" idea and
all the objects and symbols a.ssociated with
it were independent of people, area, and
civilization. In other words, the revival
of interest in religion and possibly in life
after death was widespread and was not
limited by language, culture, or tribe.
It was, in a way, similar to the European
Crusades — an hysterical religious outburst
which swept over the continent without
respect to language, people, political borders,
or civilizations.

THE "dysphoria COMPLEX"

Thus, the Death Cult exhibit shows some
of the symbols, art, and sacred objects used
during this time of renewed interest in re-
ligion. The general psychological symptoms
typical of this period are characteristic of a

and wandered through many of the southern
states (1539-1542) had certainly made a
most unpleasant impression on the terrified
Indians and had probably given them some
inkling as to how their wives, children,
property, and their own lives would be
ravaged. The Indians sensed the fact that
they had "three strikes" on them, and that
the horses, guns, cannons, and armor of the
whites made them unconquerable.

It is also probable that, in addition to
their fear of the white man, the Indians
may also have been experiencing other
tough luck, such as crop failures and new
and strange diseases which swept the
country in epidemic form. The population
may also have declined.

PREPARATIONS FOR SURVIVAL

Apparently, then, about 1550, the Indians
of eastern North America unconsciously
knew that their civilizations were going to
pieces. It was a time of chaos, despair,
unhappiness, and general tension. The
Indians were scared and the future looked
black and uncertain. Even the art of this
period is "nervous" and does not reflect the
tranquillity and stability of previous periods.

During such times of stress and strain,
what do people usually do about such
problems over which they have no control?
They often turn to religion. The Indians
of the period between 1550 and 1650 did
just this. Religion and ceremonial forms
became more important than ever before.
It seems probable also that there was greater
preoccupation with death. Death symbols

WOMAHS WORK

REPARATION or FOOD

'■A

I

m

1

WOMAN'S WORK, THEN, AS NOW, WAS "NEVER DONE" . . .
. . judging from the variety of tools and utcnsi.'s used for cooking, sewing, and weaving by the Hope\%
wives and recovered from the ruins of their unique hamlets for this new exhibit.

^11 house*

borrowed and adapted to the needs of this
religious revival.

Additional evidence of the restlessness
and the dismal spirit of the times is reflected
by the sudden movement of the people.
Heretofore, the Indians had built their
villages near large and important rivers —
the highways of those times. Now during
this Death Cult or religious revival period,
the people left their ancient and favorite
village sites and retreated into less desirable,
small, unimportant and inaccessible river
valleys. And most of these villages were
now fortified against possible enemies. In
other words, they were trying to hide from
the white man and his devastating and
upsetting ways; and judging from the forti-
fied villages, we assume the Indians were

state of mind sometimes called dysphoria —
that is, a general feeling of dissatisfaction,
unhappiness, unrest, and perhaps despair.

From time to time, more exhibits will be
added to this section. These will deal with
such subjects as: Where the American
Indian came from and how long he has been
in the New World; the civilizations of
ancient Peru, Mexico, the Southwestern
United States, the Great Lakes region,
California, Alaska and New England.

MORE DIORAMAS PLANNED

In addition to the diorama of an ancient
cliff house in Arizona (now on exhibition
in Hall B), there will be three more: one
dealing with the Inca civilization of Peru;
one, with one of the civilizations of Mexico;

January-February, 19 kU

CHICAGO NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM BULLETIN

Page S

HOPEWELL

INDIAN

Restoration with ceremonial

deet'antler headdress of

copper.

and one, with the Temple Mound Period
of the Southeastern United States. Mr. Lee
Rowell is working on one now.

This newly opened section, when finished,
will then present to any interested adult or
child a bird's-eye
view of the ancient
civilizations of the
American Indians.
Then, equipped
with the back-
ground furnished
by this section, the
visitor can more
easily understand
and enjoy the ex-
hibits concerned
with present-day
Indians of North,
Central, and South
America. Further-
more, from a study
of the ancient civi-
lizations of the In-
dians, we can learn
some lessons which will be helpful in our
daily life.

All of these exhibits have been carefully
planned and simplified so that they may
easily be understood. The original ideas
and the general tone of the new types of
exhibit were formulated by Mrs. Anne
Spoehr and her husband, Dr. Alexander
Spoehr, who is temporarily serving in the
United States Navy; and they carried out
these ideas in Section 1 of Hall B. After the
completion of the first section (opened to the
public in January, 1943), Mrs. Spoehr re-
signed as staff artist of this department and
joined her husband on the west coast.

Since that time, the exhibits in the second
section of Hall B have been skillfully
planned and executed by Curator Donald
Collier, Curator George Quimby, and Mr.
Gustav Dalstrom, our present depart-
mental artist. Mr. Dalstrom is well
known for his paintings which have been
widely exhibited, and for his murals.

By constant co-operation we have achieved
in this new hall a harmonious balance
between color, layout, and objects. ' I
believe that we have established a new
precedent in museum exhibition work and
one of which the Museum may be proud.

Equatorial Africa, and a Padaung "giraffe-
necked" woman of the Karen tribe of upper
Burma, are on exhibition at the east end of
the hall. Examination of these body mutila-
tions demonstrates the remarkable lengths in
voluntary torture to which mankind subjects
itself for the sake of "decoration."

Mutilations of the Body

Throughout the ages men and women have
mutilated themselves either to enhance their
powers of attraction to the opposite sex, as
marks of social status, or for therapeutic
reasons. Examples of tattooing, scarifica-
tion, deformation of the skull, binding of
the feet and ear lobes, filing the teeth, hair
shaving in patterns, and splitting the nasal
septum, are shown in photographs in Ca.se 7,
Hall 3 (Races of Mankind).

Bronze busts, by Malvina Hoffman, of
an Ubangi "duck-billed" woman of French

A HISTORICAL NOTE
FOR TEA DRINKERS

Confirmed tea-drinkers (aren't tea-
drinkers always "confirmed" when men-
tioned in conversation?) may find academic
interest, thinks Dr. C. Martin Wilbur,
Curator of Chinese Archaeology and Eth-
nology of this museum, in a bit of tea
history which he recently discovered. Tea,
like "T," seems to stand for Tyranny —
it's always turning up in history — and Dr.
Wilbur's item concerns a sort of one-man
revolt that occurred about 2,000 years ago
in China.

Dr. Wilbur (who prefers coffee) has
found what probably is the earliest written
reference to tea — a reference that dates
some three centuries earlier than "the
earliest previously known literary reference
to tea drinking that has been commonly
accepted by Sinologists." This occurs, of
all places, in a contract for the purchase
of a slave. The document bears a Chinese
date which corresponds to February 18,
59 B.C. of our calendar.

"Tea is casually mentioned twice in the
T'ung yueh 'contract for a slave,' by Wang
Pao, a writer who lived in the first century
B.C.," says Dr. Wilbur. "This is recounted
in a humorous essay in verse form which
describes, perhaps fictitiously, a visit by
the author, a native of Chengtu in Szechwan,
to a widow who owned an unruly male slave.
Wang Pao requested that the slave, Pien-lao
by name, be sent to buy some wine, but
the slave refused to go, contending that his
late master had not contracted for him to
do errands for other gentlemen. Wang then
offered to buy the slave, who promptly
insisted that the purchase contract list every
duty the new master would call on him to
perform (apparently slaves had some rights
in those days). The remainder of the
document is a detailed, humorous, and very
revealing list of Pien-lao's future duties.
The first mention of tea is in a list of prepa-
rations to be made for dinner parties. In
addition to fetching wine and cooking
various foods, the slave is instructed to
'boil tea and fill the utensils.' Then, in a
description of the slave's marketing duties
it is. instructed that 'at Wu-yang he will
buy tea.' "

If one is going to camp or travel in the
wilds it is well to have some knowledge of
poisonous snakes. The only poisonous
snakes found in North America are the
rattlesnakes, water moccasins, copperheads,
and coral snakes. Examples may be
studied in Albert W. Harris Hall (Hall 18).

THE OPAL SUPERSTITION

Bv HENRY W. NICHOLS

CHIEF CURATOR, DEPARTMENT OF GEOLOGY

The superstition that the opal is a bearer
of ill fortune — a belief that prevailed during
the 19th century — is now rapidly disappear-
ing. Such fear of the opal was comparatively
recent in origin, for during the Middle Ages
and earlier times the opal was regarded
contrariwise as a gem bringing much good
fortune to its owner. How and just when
the superstition arose is unknown. Certainly
during the early 17th century the opal was
held in higher esteem than it is at present.
One authority states that the belief came
from an old German superstition. Others
say that it came from the influence of Sir
Walter Scott's novel, Anne of Gierstein, in
which an opal played such a malignant part.
It seems more probable, however, that Scott
conceived the idea of an opal of evil in-
fluence from an already existing belief.

In ancient times the opal was believed to
have all the virtues of all the gems whose
colors appeared in it. As the fire of the opal
includes the colors of all gems, and as in
those superstitious days each kind of gem
had a long list of cures and many beneficial
influences ascribed to it, the opal possessing
all these must have been highly prized.

BELIEVED AID TO VISION

Opals were especially potent as charms
to avoid or cure diseases of the eye. It
increased keenness of vision of the wearer
and dimmed that of the onlooker. One
virtue of the greatest value to the wearer,
but surely not to society, was its property
of making a thief invisible so that he could
pursue his vocation unhindered. If only
this were true, it could be used to advantage
now by equipping commando units with
opal rings!

The list of curative and other virtues
especially ascribed to the opal is too long
to record here and does not differ much from
those credited to other gems. The high
regard in which the opal was held by the
Romans is illustrated by the case of the
Roman senator, Nonius. He possessed an
opal the size of a filbert set in a ring. Be-
cause he refused to part with it he was
banished by Marc Antony and preferred
life in exile with his opal to life in Rome
without it.

The most extravagant praise ever given
any gem is found in a description of an opal
written by Petrus Arlensis in 1610. He
must have had a stone equal to the Sun
God opal in this museum's collection
(H. N. Higinbotham Hall of Gems and
Jewels — Hall 31), for, among other equally
extravagant things, he says, "in which such
beauty, loveliness and grace shown forth
that it could truly boast that it forcibly
drew all other gems to itself while it sur-
prised, astonished and held captive without
escape or intermission the hearts of all who
beheld it."

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CHICAGO NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM BULLETIN

JamMry-Fehruary, ISItU

NEW ZEALAND EXHIBITS INCLUDE RARE MAORI BUILDING

The spaces between the side posts were
filled with panels of woven reeds. The roof
and walls were covered on the outside with a
thick reed thatch. Long beds were made
along either side of the house, and there was
a small fire-place near the door.

By WILFRID D. HAMBLY

CURATOR OF AFRICAN ETHNOUXJY

New Zealand, a critical war area, is well
represented by collections filling approxi-
mately half of Hall F (Polynesia and Micro-
nesia) at the Chicago Natural History
Museum.

The outstanding exhibit in this hall — and
one which has no equal in any other museum
— is a Maori council house nearly sixty feet
long, twenty feet wide, and fourteen feet
high inside. Maori council houses more than

PARLIAMENTARY GHOSTS

We may not regard the Maori council
house merely as a building to accommodate
what corresponds to a legislative or govern-
mental body. The council house of the

MAORI COUNCIL HOUSE AT MUSEUM

Very few such structures renuin in existence either in use by New Zealand natives, or preserved in museums, and

this one, on exhibition in Hall F, is believed to be the largest and finest in the world today.

twenty-five feet long were always excep-
tional, and today very few of these council
houses of any size have been preserved any-
where. In addition to being the largest such
house extant, the Museum's example is one
of the finest ever encountered by ethnolo-
gists, and it is the only one now existing
which has a completely carved front. Its
decorations show Maori art at its best.

The Maori were the best wood-workers
in the Pacific, and all their mechanical
skill and artistic ability were lavished on the
construction of their great council houses
(whare whakairo). These were primarily
council and guest houses, but were also used
as dormitories. They were usually erected
as memorials of some great event, such as
the birth of an heir to the principal chief of
the tribe. The materials were selected with
great care, the framework being hewn from
trees which had been buried in river beds
until they had lost their sap wood and be-
come thoroughly seasoned. The ridge-pole
was the most important member, and was
always made from a single log. That of
this house is nearly sixty feet long, and
weighs a ton and a half. All the upright
timbers were carved with conventionalized
figures of ancestors, while the rafters and
ridge-pole were painted with scroll designs.

Maoris has a strong spiritual significance
and the ghosts of dead chiefs were believed
to attend the meetings.

In the first place the choice of a site was
of extreme importance, and trees which
were chosen to provide the building material
were chopped to the accompaniment of
chants and incantations. Laying of the
foundation stone near the doorway was
accompanied by human sacrifice of a person
of importance, sometimes the son of a chief.
The heart of the victim was removed and
eaten by the priest who performed the
sacred rites. Jade ornaments were buried
near the foot of one of the house-posts.

The council house in the Chicago Natural
History Museum provides an excellent
example of the type of carving which the
Maoris applied with lavish hand to their
canoes, food bowls, and ornamental staffs.
The work was done with tools of stone, shell,
and bone; for before the landing of Euro-
peans the Maoris had no knowledge of metal
tools. The designs are for the main part
geometrical, consisting of a very accurate
spiral design. But the human face is often
portrayed with a protruding tongue which
was a symbol of defiance to enemies, and
the gesture was made repeatedly during a
war dance.

Accompanying the elaborate designs of
the wood-carver was a color scheme usually
carried out with red ocher mixed with fish
oil, and additional decorations were provided
by the insertion of mother-of-pearl.

DESIGNS CARVED IN FLESH
Some of the best Maori carving, strangely
enough, the Maoris applied to their own
faces in the form of "moko." This should
not be described as tattooing which is mark-
ing of the skin by small punctures. The
Maori made designs in the flesh by chiseling
little grooves which were filled with a blue-
black dye. "Moko" heads became objects of
trade when they were desired by European
collectors, in the same way that the shrunken
heads made by the Jivaro Indians of South
America have acquired high value.

It is hardly necessary to say that when
the demand was great "moko" was faked
after death. But a scientist can tell whether
the "moko" was pre-mortem or post-mortem
by a microscopic examination of the coloring
matter in the tissue. The pre-mortem
process allowed the dye to sink deeply into
the dermis or true skin while on the contrary
post-mortem "moko" work usually affected
only the epidermis or the outer skin.

OPENING CEREMONY

The opening of a new council house
required the attendance of a priest who
climbed to the top of the house where he
performed a ceremony to keep away evil
influences. In performing this acrobatic
and undignified feat he had to be careful
not to slip or fall, for any action of that kind
would be the worst kind of omen. Immedi-
ately on descending from the roof the priest
entered the house through a window and
unfastened the door. The ceremony was
completed sometime later by three elderly
women of high social status who were the
first to cross the threshold, which they did
to the accompaniment of chants invoking
the god of the house to protect the building.

The Maoris had an elaborate sort of
government carried out by greater and
lesser chiefs who were the only ones allowed
to do any talking when the house was in
session. This they did with great volubility,
and at the present day Maori councilors in
the New Zealand House of Representatives
are noted for their eloquence. With these
associations in mind we now regard this rare
object in the Chicago Natural History
Museum, not merely as an example of
Maori art. The house is a structure repre-
senting the magic, religious beliefs, and
entire system of government of the dis-
tinguished Maori people, many of whom are
now playing an active part with the Allies
in the present war.

Other New Zealand material on exhibition
at the Museum illustrates well other features
of the culture of the ancient Maori. Promi-
nent among these is a collection of jade
implements and feathered robes which is
regarded as the best in the United States.

January-February, 19U

CHICAGO NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM BULLETIN

Page 5

SOME LAND ANIMALS OF BERMUDA

By KARL P. SCHMIDT

CHIEF CURATOR, DEPARTMENT OF ZOOLOOY

If you are accustomed to thinking of
Bermuda as a naval base and airplane
station, as a place for honeymooners and
convalescents, and as the source of onions
and lilies, it may surprise you to learn that
the islands have received no little attention
from scientists, especially the small group
of biologists who are interested in the hows
and whys of the distribution of animal life.
Even if you know about the interesting
deep-sea dredging, and the spectacular de-
scents with the bathysphere made by Dr.
William Beebe, you may not have heard
of the more permanent foothold of science
in the form of the . Bermuda Biological
Station for Research, at Shore Hills, St.
George, where students of marine life find
an opportunity for research under most
pleasant conditions.

But the marine animals of Bermuda are
for the most part like those of the West
Indies. It is not because of the animal life
of the sea that Bermuda is mentioned in
textbooks of zoology, even elementary ones.
It is the land animals that are especially
interesting to animal geography, both be-
cause there are a few kinds that are found
on Bermuda and nowhere else, and because
of their very fewness. Striking also is the
fact that the abundant types of animal life
on the mainland of North America are so
poorly represented in these islands. Oceanic
islands are wonderful natural laboratories
where "new species" have been produced,
as is demonstrated by the existence of dis-
tinctive island faunas; and great contro-
versies have been waged again and again
over the problem of the origin of such seem-
ingly orphaned species.

North American birds and bats visit
Bermuda in the course of their migrations,
and it is of course obvious that they cross
the ocean by flying, influenced no doubt to
some extent by storms. Seven species of
land birds are resident in Bermuda, and
six of these are now regarded as distinct
from their relatives in the eastern United
States. In Darwin's time it was thought
that they were identical with the American
species, and the fact is that they are only
slightly different.

FEW MAMMALS, AND NO SNAKES

Turning to the land mammals, we find
only the rats and mice, and the goats, cows,
and ponies that have come with the human
population. There are no field mice, no
deer mice, no gophers or squirrels, no deer
or raccoons, in short none of the different
kinds of wild mammals that inhabit the
mainland of the United States to this day.
There are no snakes of any kind, but
there is a lizard, a handsome shiny-scaled
species, related to the common five-lined
skinks of North America. This species,
however, proves to be a very distinct one,

not to be confused with any of the mainland
forms. It is known in zoology as Eumeces
longiroslris, which may be translated as
"long-snouted skink." Many specimens of
this interesting and of course harmless
creature have been collected; but no detailed
studies of its habits, its food and egg-laying,
growth or mating have been made. This
lizard affords an opportunity for some
amateur naturalist to make a real, if humble,
contribution to science by undertaking such
studies and by making a photographic record
of them.

There are no native frogs or toads, which
may be rather difficult for the visitor to
believe if he happens to arrive when the
big Trinidad toads (misnamed by scientists
"marine toads") are engaged in their mating
chorus, which sounds like hammering on
boards, or when the little West Indian tree
frogs sound their bell-like notes in the very
hotel gardens. The toad and the tree-frog
are both introduced species. The toad was
brought in to aid the gardeners in destroying
insect pests, which were likewise imported.
The tree frog seems to have been introduced
by accident from Jamaica.

FROGS TRAVEL IN PLANT IMPORTS

Now you may well ask, how could frogs
be brought in by accident? The ordinary
frogs of the United States probably would
not be subject to such accidental transport;
but in a large group of West Indian frogs
the eggs are laid on land, in moss, or in
the axils of leaves; and, as many types of
plants have been imported into Bermuda
from Jamaica, it seems certain that clusters
of eggs must have been brought in this
manner, or that some of the small frogs
stole a ride hidden in moss or in the leaves
of shrubs. In any case, the Jamaican frog
with the long but euphonious name Eleu-
tkerodaclylus biteolus is now common and
wide-spread in the Bermudas.

When I made a short visit to Bermuda
in November, 1928, as scientist for an ex-
pedition of Field Musseum of Natural History
sailing in the Illyria, the private yacht of
Mr. Cornelius Crane (of Ipswich, Massa-
chusetts, and Bermuda), the little tree-frog
was singing in the gardens of Hamilton.
While searching for lizards on a nearby hill-
side, I found one of these frogs at the open-
ing of an excavation under a flat stone.
When this was turned over, three clusters
of pearl-like eggs were seen in the burrow.
It seems that the male finds a suitably moist
egg-laying site and stations himself there,
inviting successive females to place their
egg-masses in his charge. The three egg-
ma.sses, at any rate, were in different stages
of development.

In the oldest of the eggs the fully formed
froglets could be seen through the gelatinous
covering, each with arms and legs well
developed and wholly unlike the tadpole
stage that always develops in the more
familiar American frogs. The only sugges-

tion of the tadpole stage was the large
flattened tail, which can be seen to be filled
with blood vessels by means of which the
developing frog breathes. The jewel-like
perfection of these frog-atoms never fails
to draw a gasp of admiration from the ob-
server. Here is another opportunity for
the amateur naturalist with note-book and
cameral^although probably not feasible
until after the war.

Lieutenant Traylor Wounded

A dispatch from a combat correspondent
of the U.S. Marine Corps, published in
Chicago newspapers December 8, reports
that First Lieutenant Melvin A. Traylor,
Jr. (Associate in Ornithology on the staff of
the Museum) was wounded during the
Marines' assault on the island of Tarawa.
According to the dispatch. Lieutenant
Traylor was engaged in directing artillery
fire against Japanese pillboxes and bunkers
when he was struck by an enemy bullet.
His injuries are believed to be not serious
and he is reported to be receiving expert
medical care. Earlier in the year Lieutenant
Traylor had been awarded the Silver Star
for similar gallantry and intrepidity during
action on Guadalcanal.

If birds are inevitably associated in your
mind with fiying, you will be surprised by
the number and variety of flightless birds
on display in the Halls of Birds (Hall 20—
Habitat Groups, and Hall 21 — Systematic
Series).

MEET THE APES

"Man's Poor Relations, by Dr.
Earnest Hooton, of Harvard Uni-
versity, is probably one of the best
popular books he has turned out,"
says Dr. Paul S. Martin, the Mu-
seum's Chief Curator of Anthro-
pology.

"Hooton studies chimpanzees, goril-
las, orang-utans, gibbons and mon-
keys exactly as an anthropologist
studies man. He deals with them as
if they were people. Although he
cannot interview an aged baboon in
the zoo and ask him to describe life
in the old days, he presents a humor-
ous, intimate account of the actions
of these close cousins of ours.

"In summarizing some of the
experiments which have been under-
taken with ape subjects. Professor
Hooton makes clear that human
physique, temperament and behavior
are rooted in apes and monkeys. Any-
one who is curious about himself and
his fellows should read this book."

On sale at THE BOOK SHOP of
the Museum — $5. The Museum pays
postage in filling mail orders.

Page 6

CHICAGO NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM BULLETIN

January-February, 19H

Chicago Natural History Museum

Founded by Marshall Field, 1893
Roosevelt Road and Field DiiTe, Chlca&o

Telephone: Wabash 9410

THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES
Lbstbr Armour Stanley Field

Sbwell L. Avery Samuel Insull, Jr.

W. McCoRMicK Blair Charles A. McCulloch

Leopold E. Block William H. Mitchell

boardman conover george a. richardson

Walter J. Cummings Theodore Roosevelt

Albert B. Dick, Jr. Solomon A. Smith

Howard W. Fenton Albert A. Sprague

Joseph N. Field Silas H. Strawn

Marshau. Field Albert H. Wettbn

John P. Wilson

OFFICERS

Stanley Field President

.Albert A. Sprague First Vice-President

Silas H. Strawn Second Vice-President

.\LBBRT B. Dick Third Vice-President

•Clifford C. Gregg Director and Secretary

Orr GOODSON Acting Director and Acting Secretary

Solomon A. Smith . . . Treasurer and Assistant Secretary

* On leave in active service as a Colonel in the United
States Army.

THE BULLETIN

EDITOR
WiLntBO H. Osgood Curator Emeritus, Zoology

CONTRIBUTING EDITORS

Paul S. Martin Chief Curator of Anthropology

B. E. Dahlgren Chief Curator of Botany

Henry W. Nichols Chief Curator of Geology

Karl P. Schmidt Chief Curator of Zoology

MANAGING EDITOR
H. B. Harte Public Relations Counsel

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

CHICAGO HAS PHOTO RECORD
OF BOMB-RUINED "TYPES"

By PAUL C. STANDLEY
curator of the herbarium

At the outset of the war, the dire possi-
bilities of bombing were recognized by
museums, especially in England where
valuable and often irreplaceable collections
were quite promptly removed to places of
comparative safety. Even in the United
States similar precautions were taken, at
least by institutions situated near the
Atlantic and Pacific coasts. In Chicago no
removals were actually carried out, but
definite plans were made for speedy action in
case warning should be given by bombings
on the coast. This seemed to be sufficient
and events have proved it to be so.

Early in the war the American section of
the herbarium containing the great historic
collection of dried plants of the British Mu-
seum in London was destroyed by German
attackers. This was doubtless a grievous
loss, but it was greatly mitigated by the
fact that the more valuable parts of the
collection had been placed in safety.

It is now reported via Sweden and
Switzerland, and confirmed by our State
Department, that the Botanical Museum
in Dahlem, a suburb of Berlin, was struck
during an air raid and that the herbarium
building with all its collections, and its large
library, were completely destroyed, either by
direct hit or by ensuing fire and water.
Practically nothing had been evacuated and

nothing was salvaged except the ferns and
some of the fungi.

GOERING: "BERLIN SAFE FROM BOMBS"!

It seems fair to assume that the German
botanists would have been just as careful to
seek safety for their principal treasures as
the British and the Americans if they had
been permitted or encouraged to do so by
their government. Since Goering had
assured them they would never be bombed,
however, and since this idea continued to
be promoted for supposed reasons of morale,
nothing seems to have been done.

The Berlin Museum was one of the largest
botanical institutions of the world, and the
one most active in recent years. It was
particularly rich in plants of Africa and
tropical America, especially of South Amer-
ica. Since it had been a center of botanical
research for perhaps 150 years, it possessed
a vast number of type specimens of plants,
that is, the standards or historical specimens
used by botanists in describing and publish-
ing new species. The loss, therefore, is a
very great one. Its magnitude, however, is
somewhat reduced by fortunate and fore-
sighted action taken before the war on the
initiative of the Department of Botany of
our own Chicago Natural History Museum.

FORTY THOUSAND PHOTOGRAPHS HERE
More than fifteen years ago, this museum,
in anticipation of the possible destruction of
historic botanical collections in Europe,
proposed a plan for photographing such
specimens, which was carried out in part
with the co-operation of The Rockefeller
Foundation. Mr. J. Francis Macbride,
Associate Curator of the Herbarium, spent
more than ten years photographing type
specimens in the herbaria of Berlin, Copen-
hagen, Munich, Vienna, Paris, Geneva,
Madrid, and elsewhere, making more than
40,000 photographs. Included are 15,800
Berlin types. The negatives and prints are
now in Chicago, and many prints have been
distributed to other botanical institutions in
North and South America, and Europe.

This foresight is well justified by what has
happened. These type specimens are indis-
pensable for standardizing the names of
plants. Many thousands of them were
destroyed at Berlin, and they represent not
the property of the German botanists but
the yardsticks, so to speak, by which thou-
sands of our American plants are to be
judged. Many of the types are duplicated
by specimens distributed to other botanical
institutions of Europe and America, but
many others were unique. The only sub-
stitute for them hereafter will be these
photographs made by our museum, which
may be duplicated indefinitely for distri-
bution to other institutions.

The Berlin Museum apparently has
announced officially the discontinuance of
all its publications, most ambitious of which
was a flora of the whole world. With its
contents there presumably were lost col-

lections of material on loan there from her-
baria of America, including several lots of
specimens lent before the war by our
museum. One correspondent has hinted
that in addition to its own rich collections,
no one knows what may have been removed
by the Nazis to Dahlem from botanical mu-
seums of conquered nations. There were
great herbaria in Paris, Brussels, and Leyden.

THE MUSEUM HONOR ROLL
Now In the Nation's Service

^

Army

Theodore Roosevelt,

Trustee — Brig.Gen.
George A. Richard-
son, Trustee — Lt.

Col.
Clifford C. Gregg,

Director — Colonel,

G.S.C.
Dr. John Rinaldo,

Associate, Southwestern Archaeol. — Staff Sgt.
Dr. Sharat K. Roy, Curator, Geol. — Capt.
D. Dwight Davis, Curator, Anat. and Osteol. —

Corp.
Bryan Patterson, Curator, Paleontology — Pvt.
Emmet R. Blake, Asst. Curator, Birds — Special

Agent, War Dept.
Rupert L. Wenzel, Asst. Curator, Insects — Capt.
Henry S. Dybas, Assistant, Insects — Pvt.
William Beecher, Temp, .^sst., Zool. — Pvt.
Henry Horback, Asst., Geol. — Pvt.
Jambs C. McIntyre, Guard — 2nd Lt.
Raymond J. Connors, Guard — Pvt.
Frank J. Dutkovic, Janitor^— Pvt.

Navy

Lester Armour, Tnistee — Comdr.

Samuel Insull, Jr., Trustee — Lieut. Comdr.

Joseph Nash Field, Trustee — Lieut.

Colin Campbell Sanborn, Curator, Mammals —

Lieut.
Dr. Alexander Spoehr, Asst. Curator, N. Amer.

Etbnol. — Lieut, (j.g.)
LoREN P. Woods, .\sst. Curator, Fishes — Ensign
John W. Moyer, Taxidermist — Ch. Specialist

(Bur. Aeronautics)
Patrick T. McEnery, Guard — Master-at-Arms
John Syckowski, Guard — Ch. Commissary- Stewd.
George Jahrand, Guard — Ch. Water Tender
Clyde James Nash, Guard — Ch. Gunner
Nicholas Repar, Printer — Aviation Machinist's

Mate 2C.
Morris Johnson, Carpenter — Carpenter's Mate

2C.
Herbert Nelson, Painter — Painter IC.
Elizabeth Best, Guide-Lecturer —

Ensign, WAVES
Marie B. Pabst, Guide-Lecturer— WAVES

Marine Corps
Melvin a. TraylOK, Jr. .Associate, Birds — Ist Lt.

Coast Guard
M. C. Dabnall, Jr., Guard — Ensign
John McGinnis, Guard — Ch. Boatswain's Mate

Other Services

RUDYERD BOULTON, Curator, Birds — Staff of
Office of Strategic Services

Bryant Mather, Asst. Curator, Mineralogy —
Civilian Worker, Corps of Engineers, U.S. Army

Llewelyn Williams, Curator of Economic Botany
— on special service for U.S. Government

Dr. Julian A. Steyermark, Asst. Curator, Herba-
rium— field work for Board of Economic Warfare

Dr. C. Martin Wilbur, Curator, Chinese .\rchaeol.
and Ethnol. — Staff of Office of Strategic Services

. . and Some Who Have Served

and Been Honorably Discharged:

Frank Boryca, Asst. Prep., Bot.— Pvt. U. S.

Marine Corps.
Bert E. Grove, Guide-Lecturer — Medical Aide,

American Field Service, Africa.

January-February, 19ii

CHICAGO NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM BULLETIN

Page 7

NATURE AS A BONESETTER
FOR INJURED ANIMALS

By DOROTHY FOSS

ASSISTANT IN ANATOMY AND OSTEOLOGY

In time of war, men may well yearn for a
magic power to regenerate lost fingers or
limbs. Such a power would erase the heart-
break of crippling accidents, diseases, or
war wounds. If a limb could be replaced in
a few months, and the incapacitated person
made whole again, it would indeed be "too
good to be true;" unfortunately it is too
good, for such regeneration does not occur
for any animal higher on the tree of life than
the salamander, which does regrow whole
limbs, although frogs and lizards and all
higher animals have lost this capacity.

All the lower animals have great powers of
regeneration. This ranges from the earth-
worm's ability to grow two worms from the
halves of one cut in two to the sea cucum-
bers, which are able to eject their internal
organs to a predaceous enemy, and within a
short period grow a complete new set. Like-
wise, the latter's relatives, the starfishes, can
grow a whole new "star" from an arm if it is
cut off.

Nature hasn't entirely forgotten the
higher animals, however. As animals have
progressed from the simple forms toward
complexity and specialization, the powers
of regeneration have become increasingly
restricted. Above the level of the frog, loss
of power to replace lost parts becomes evi-
dent. A good many lizards leave their
wriggling tails in the grasp of their enemies,
and in a few months grow others. The
new tail is supported by a cartilaginous rod,
to replace the lost caudal vertebrae, and
may have a different type of scales, but it
it is otherwise as good as new. Lizards,
however, are unable to regrow lost limbs or
toes. Turtles grow new shells to replace
injured parts, although lost limbs, and even
tails, are irreplaceable.

In still higher forms of life this power is
limited to mending broken bones, and to ,
filling in muscle and skin wounds with scar
tissue. When a doctor fits the broken ends
of a man's bone together, and immobilizes
the limb, the organism immediately begins
to cover the break with new bone. When
the healing is complete, the fracture will
have a heavy layer of new bone, which shows
as a slight bulge. Thus at the point of the
original break the bone will be much stronger
than the adjoining bone. We can be sin-
cerely thankful that this fragment of the
remarkable power of regeneration has not
been denied us, and should hope that the
overspecialization of the cells will not be-
come a fact.

Animals in the wild have no recourse but
"Mother Nature" when a fracture occurs,
and sometimes these breaks heal as cleanly
and neatly as though a doctor had set them.
Ribs and vertebral processes usually heal
without much distortion, but in the case of
legs it is a different matter. Because of the

pain, the animal uses the limb as little as
possible, but in the course of searching for
food, and escaping enemies, the leg inevi-
tably gets a good deal of rough handling,
the powerful muscles in contracting pull
the broken ends of bone together, and thus
often past each other, and this causes the
peculiar distortion of the limbs that is fre-
quently observed. Natural healing of
broken bones, even of limbs, is quite well
known to observant hunters and naturalists.
They have been observed even in fossil
skeletons.

The recent receipt at the Museum ol a
naturally healed leg bone of a pheasant,
shot by Mr. E. W.
Atkinson calls at-
tention to this sub-
ject. The bone in
question represents
a case of natural
healing with little
distortion. The
new bone is strong
and solid, and al-
though the healed
bone is three-
fourths of an inch
shorter than the
femur of the other
leg, the bird's limp
was obviously no
great handicap.

In the case of the
tibia of a caribou,
the broken ends of
the bone were ap-
proximately two inches apart. The leg was
shortened about five inches. The new bone
encasing the break was not solid but took
the form of a hollow sphere which was ap-
proximately six inches wide, and sixteen and
one-half inches in circumference. In this
case, the new growth of bone was very thin.
This is contrary to most breaks, in which the
healed break is much stronger than before.

Such cases of natural healing are of
interest as showing the great tenacity of life,
and the powers even of higher animals to
heal grave wounds under natural conditions
Nevertheless, it must be admitted that such
crippling is usually a handicap leading to the
destruction of the animal in question by its
natural enemies.

Exceptional cases of healing naturally
attract attention because of the unique
way in which nature takes care of her own,
without doctors or hospitals.

RESTORED

BY NATURE

Femur of a pheasant as

healed after fracture, com'

pared to normal leg bone.

scratches. From these he concluded errone-
ously that the rock was a glacial boulder and
that Uruguay had once been covered
by the ice of an ice age — a conclusion which
is now known to be untrue.

In 1926 a member of a Field Museum
expedition made a careful study of the rock
shown him by a geologist of the Uruguay
National Museum, and photographed it.
For reasons which need not be detailed here
he saw that the markings could not be of
glacial origin, but was at first unable to
explain them. The true explanation as
given him by a geologist from the National
Museum in Montevideo is absurdly simple.

Uruguay is a cattle country. The cattle
rub against any convenient surface to rid
themselves of ticks and flies. They even
rub through unprotected telegraph poles
until they fall. Constant rubbing of the
rough hides of cattle against the boulder
amply accounts for the mysterious smooth-
ing and scratching. — H.W.N.

CATTLE DECEIVE SCIENTIST

Louis Agassiz, who first developed the
theory of the Ice Age and continental
glaciers, visited the "Mount" near Monte-
video, Uruguay, during the voyage of the
Hassler in 1872. In a large boulder of red
granite found there, he noticed that crystals
projecting on its lower quarter were roughly
polished and that there were a few parallel

Technical Publications Issued

The following new technical publications
have been issued by Chicago Natural His-
tory Museum Press:

Zoological Series, Vol. 24, No. 26. Peru-
vian Snakes from the University of Arequipa.
By Karl P. Schmidt and Warren F. Walker,
Jr. October 20, 1943. 18 pages. $0.15.

Zoological Series, Vol. 24, No. 27. Snakes
of the Peruvian Coastal Region. By Karl P.
Schmidt and Warren F. Walker, Jr. Octo-
ber 20, 1943. 28 pages, 1 text figure. $0.20.

Zoological Series, Vol. 24, No. 28. Three
New Snakes from the Peruvian Andes. By
Karl P. Schmidt and Warren F. Walker, Jr.
October 20, 1943. 6 pages. $0.10.

Zoological Series, Vol. 24, No. 29. Am-
phibians and Reptiles from the Sudan. By
Karl P. Schmidt. October 20, 1943. 8
pages, 1 text figure. $0.10.

Zoological Series, Vol. 24, No. 30. The
White Sands Earless Lizard. By Hobart
M. Smith. October 20, 1943. 6 pp. $0.10.

Botanical Series, Vol. 20, No. 7. Myxo-
phyceae of Eastern California and Western
Nevada. By Francis Drouet. November
20, 1943. 34 pages. $0.15.

Zoological Series, Vol. 24, No. 31. A
Study of the Torrent Ducks. By Boardman
Conover. November 20, 1943. 12 pp. $0.10.

Zoological Series, Vol. 24, No. 32. The
Odonata of Chile. By James G. Needham
and Dillman S. Bullock. November 20,
1943. 18 pages. $0.15.

Zoological Series, Vol. 24, No. 33. Bird
Lice from the Tinamidae. By Theresa Clay.
November 26, 1943. 12 pages. $0.15.

Zoological Series, Vol. 29, No. 2. Notes
on Coral Snakes from Mexico. By Karl P.
Schmidt and Hobart M. Smith. November
26, 1943. 8 pages. $0.10.

Zoological Series, Vol. 30. The Mammals
of Chile. By Wilfred H. Osgood. December
28, 1943. 268 pages, 33 text figures, 10
maps.

Geological Series, Vol. VII, No. 6. Meas-
urements of the Age of the Solar system. By
Robley D. Evans. December 28, 1943.
20 pages, 5 text figures.

Zoological Series, Vol. 29, No. 3. The
Auditory Region of the Arctoid Carnivores.
By Walter Segall. December 31, 1943. 28
pages, 4 text figures.

Page 8

CH1CAC50 NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM BULLETIN

JarMary-Febniary, 19 hh

SUNDAY LECTURES IN FEBRUARY
ON LORE OF DIAMONDS

Although Paul G. Dallwig, the Layman
Lecturer of the Museum, will make no
appearances here during January because of
a lecture tour to other cities, he will resume
his Sunday afternoon lectures at the Mu-
seum on the first Sunday in February
{February 6).

"The Romance of Diamonds From Mine
to Man" will be the subject of Mr. Dallwig's
lectures at the Museum in February, and
will be given each Sunday afternoon. In
this lecture Mr. Dallwig will tell the story
of diamonds from their original "find"
through the various stages of mining, sort-
ing, cutting, polishing, pricing, and market-
ing. He will also dramatize in word pictures
the finding and mining of diamonds in South
Africa. The dramatization will be divided
as follows:

Act I.— The Original Find

Act II.— The Diamond Rush

Act III.— A Trip Through A Diamond
Mine

In addition, this lecture will include the
fascinating stories of hate, love, greed, and
murder attached to the successive ownership
of the world's "famous historic diamonds."
The program will be given in the Museum
Lecture Hall, and end with a "social hour"
in H. N. Higinbotham Hall of Gems and
Jewels. Mr. Dallwig's lectures all begin
promptly at 2 p.m. and end at 4:30. During
a half-hour intermission the audience has
opportunity for smoking, refreshments, and
relaxation. ,

The size of Mr. Dallwig's audiences is
necessarily limited; for this reason it is
essential to make reservations in advance
by mail or telephone (WABash 9410). The
experience of past seasons is that long
waiting lists are quickly formed for each
title. There is no charge for the lectures or
reservations, and admission to the Museum
itself is free to everyone on Sundays.

GIFTS TO THE MUSEUM

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

Department of Anthropology:

From United States Marine Corps — 55
photographs. South Pacific Islands; from
Mrs. John H. Harmon, Highland Park.TU. —
a Chaco jar. New Mexico.

Department of Botany;

From Brazilian Consulate, Chicago — 88
economic plant products of Brazil; from
Donald Richards, Chicago — 800 crypto-
gams, Vogeso-rhenanae; from Forest Service,
United States Department of Agriculture,
Washington, D.C. — 17 herbarium speci-
mens, Costa Rica.

Department of Geolo^ :

From Brazilian Consulate, Chicago — 5
specimens of bauxite and one of monazite

sand, Brazil; from George J. Carson, Akron,
Ohio — 2 specimens of stromatopera and one
of agate, California and Ohio; from Edwin
C. Galbreath, Ashmore, 111. — a fossil crane
bone, Illinois; from an anonymous donor —
20 specimens of gems and minerals, including
16 small cabochon-cut opals.

Department of Zoolo^:

From Mrs. Edw. F. Lustig, Elkhart, Ind.
—408 butterflies and 2,381 moths, United
States — mostly Illinois, Indiana, and Michi-
gan; from Lt. Harold Trapido, Camp Davis,
N. C. — 26 frogs, lizards, and salamanders,
Washington; from Chicago Zoological Soci-
ety, Brookfield, 111. — 30 birds and 5 mam-
mals; from Bernard Benesh, North Chicago,
111. — 44 stag-beetles; from Gordon Johnson,
Hinsdale, 111. — a rattlesnake, Indiana; from
Edward W. Atkinson, Evanston, 111. — a
pair of pheasant femurs, Minnesota.

Library :

Valuable books from Francisco Tamayo,
Caracas, Venezuela; from Department of
Subways and Superhighways, Chicago;
from Dr. Henry Field and Carleton R. Ball,
Washington, D. C; from Council on Inter-
cultural Relations, New Ygrk; from Dr.
George B. Cummins, Lafayette, Ind.; and
from Dr. Wilfred H. Osgood and Boardman
Conover, both of Chicago.

StaflF Notes

Mr. Donald Collier, Curator of South
American Ethnology and Archaeology, has
been appointed Editor of South American
Archaeology for the Handbook of Latin
American Studies, an annual publication
which lists and reviews scholarly publica-
tions in the Latin American field.

Mr. Paul G. Dallwig, the Museum's
Layman Lecturer, in recognition of his
research on gems, has been "elected an
associate member of the American Gem
Society (national and international). He
has lectured ssveral times before the society.

Mr. Oscar Neumann, formerly of the
Berlin Museum and well-known among
European ornithologists, is now in Chicago
and in daily attendance at the Museum,
pursuing studies in the Division of Birds.
He is especially known for his expeditions
to Africa and subsequent research on his
collections.

WEEKD.W LECTURE TOURS,
JANUARY AND FEBRUARY

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

January

Wed., Jan. 5 — Customs and Costumes
(Mrs. Roberta Cramer).

Thurs., Jan. 6— SPECIAL: Teddy Roose-
velt, Naturalist — 25th anniversary of Theo-
dore Roosevelt's death (Miss Miriam
Wood).

Fri., Jan. 7 — South Sea Island Foods
(Miss Miriam Wood).

Wed., Jan. 12 — Reptiles of Ancient and
Modern Times (Bert Grove).

Fri., Jan. 14 — Sleepy Heads — Animal
Habits of Slumber (Miss Loraine Lloyd).

Wed., Jan. 19 — Decorative Art of the
American Indians (Mrs. Roberta Cramer).

Fri., Jan. 21— Sheltering the Worid—
Housing Plans from the Native Viewpoint
(Miss Emma Neve).

Wed., Jan. 26 — Expeditions into the Past
(Bert Grove).

Fri., Jan. 28 — Nature's Hoarders (Miss
Loraine Lloyd).

February

Wed., Feb. 2— The Ground Hog's Shadow
(Miss Loraine Lloyd).

Fri., Feb. 4— Skeletons of the Past (Bert
Grove).

Wed., Feb. 9— Plants of Illinois (Miss
Miriam Wood).

Fri., Feb. 11 — Animal Life Around
Lincoln's Home (Miss Loraine Lloyd).

Wed., Feb. 16— Why People Wear Orna-
ments (Mrs. Roberta Cramer).

Fri., Feb. 18 — History Making Stones
(Bert Grove).

Wed., Feb. 23— Living to Eat (Miss
Emma Neve).

Fri., Feb. 25 — Leap Year Customs (Mrs.
Roberta Cramer).

Apply at North Entrance; tours are free.
By prearrangement, groups of ten or more
persons may make tours at hours and on
subjects they select.

NEW MUSEUM MEMBERS ELECTED FROM NOV. 16 TO DEC. 15

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

Associate Meml>er8

Byron Harvey III, James Donald Rich-
ards, Dr. Otto Schwartz, John O. Stoll,
Mrs. Melvin A. Traylor, Jr., Mrs. Horace E.
Turner.

Annual Memtjers

William U. Bardwell, Dr. Charies L.
Bidwell, W. E. Bishton, Patrick C. Burns,
Joseph T. Carp, William J. Dressel, George

C. Derkers, Mrs. Fred A. Hansen, Mrs.
H. C. Havighurst, Theodore D. Hazen,
Louis R. Hazzard, Gordon Heaney, Guy J.
Henry, E. E. Hesse, Henry J. Jaeobi, Saul
Kaufer, Miss Nellie M. Krotter, James F.
Leahy, John Michael Levy, Mrs. Ernest G.
Loeb, Mrs. L. E. Naffz, E. W. Quackenbush,
Frank R. Reid, Eari F. Reinhart, Mrs.
Charies Reyher, Harold T. Segil, Mrs.
Frank E. Selz, Wilbur Smart, Mrs. Roland
M. Torgerson, Guy R. Turner, Charles
Tuteur, William H. Waddington, Miss
Dorothy Weeks, Frank M. Whiston.

CHICAGO NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM PRESS

Chicago Natur

FormerlyM

History Museum
iTIN

keum News

Vol. 15

MARCH-APRIL, 1944

No8. 3-4

ZEBRA WAS ORIGINALLY NORTH AMERICAN NATIVE— A MILLION YEARS AGO

By PAUL O. McGREW

ASSISTANT CURATOR, PALEONTOLOGY

During the past several years, as their
expeditions traveled to and from fossil beds
of western Colorado, Mr. Bryan Patterson,
Curator of Paleontology, and Mr. James
H. Quinn, Chief Preparator, have stopped
at a locality in north-central Nebraska, and
each year they have thus added a few speci-
mens to a collection of fossil mammals from
deposits of Pleistocene age. In itself the
assemblage is small
and composed of frag-
mentary specimens,
but despite this fact it
has yielded important
clues which, added to
other available evi-
dence, have permitted
what may be solutions
to some rather impor-
tant geological and
paleontological prob-
lems. Indeed, if the
conclusions derived
from the study of this
collection are substan-
tiated, significant
changes in our con-
cepts of the prehistory
of the horse family
will be necessary.

Of the new conclu-
sions, probably the
most interesting is

that the striped horse or zebra was originally
a native of America — not Africa, its present
home, and neither Europe nor Asia, where
it occurred during certain extensive periods.

A new exhibit to illustrate graphically
these findings, including both specimens and
an artist's conceptions of the appearance of
extinct horses as they appeared in life (based
upon careful studies of fossils), is already
partially completed in Ernest R. Gra-
ham Hall (Hall 38), and will be com-
pleted in a few days after appearance of this
issue of the Museum Bulletin.

Nearly everyone has heard of the glacial
period — that unit of geologic time during
which great sheets of ice advanced from the
north to cover some four million square
miles of our continent. Geologists have
learned much about that period: They know
that the ice reached thicknesses of more than

a mile; they know that there were four
major glacial advances; they also know that
in the intervals between these advances,
when the ice melted back, the climate was
warm — probably even warmer than now.
The vast regions once overridden by the
ice are now covered by thick- deposits of
detritus that were carried down by the ice
and dropped as the ice melted. This is
known as glacial till and forms most of the
hills that are found in the Chicago region.

HIPPOTIGRIS

Restoration of prehistoric zebra from the Great Plains of North America. A painting by Artist John Conrad Hansen.

It was by these successive deposits, sepa-
rated by non-glacial sediments, that the
existence of four great ice cycles have been
determined. This series of glacial and inter-
glacial deposits has served as a calendar by
which Pleistocene time (the million or so
years just preceding Recent time) has been
subdivided by geologists.

An important problem in geology and
paleontology has been to correlate deposits
that lie outside the glaciated regions with
actual glacial deposits. Exact solution to
this problem has been beset with many
extreme difficulties.

The locality in north-central Nebraska
lies some 250 miles from the ice front.
Deposits in this area, even though some
distance from the glaciated region, were
strongly affected by the advance and retreat
of the ice sheets. It has been demonstrated

by a Nebraska geologist that it is possible
to correlate the fossil-bearing deposits with
the earliest interglacial period of the
glaciated region. The fresh-water shells are
of the same species that are found in the
interglacial deposits and offer considerable
supporting evidence to the correlation. But
of equal importance is the fact that, by
means of the fossil mammals, it has been
possible to make correlations with beds as
much as 2,000 miles from the glaciated parts
of the country. Thus
the fossil mammals
from this locality have
proved of special geo-
logic interest.

The fossil horses
from this locality have
contributed evidence
that has helped to-
ward the solution of
problems concerning
the evolution of the
horse family. This
new evidence, com-
bined with what we
already knew about
horse evolution, un-
folds a rather com-
plete picture of the
evolution and distri-
bution of the family.
Horses were so
closely a-ssociated with
the conquest and de-
velopment of America that it is hard to
conceive of this country without them,
yet at the time the first Europeans set
foot in the Western Hemisphere the horse
was not among the animals present. Never-
theless, during a period of 50,000,000 years
the horse had been among the most abund-
ant of American mammals.

It has been the consensus of most pale-
ontologists that the true horse originated in
North America and later spread to the Old
World; and that comparatively recently (in
geological terms) it became extinct in
America. The date of extinction was
apparently less than 25,000 years ago,
shortly after the arrival of the first Indians
from Asia, as bones of horses have been
found quite frequently in association with
early Indian artifacts.

The zebra heretofore has been presumed

Page »

CHICAGO NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM BULLETIN

March-April, 19H

to be merely a horse with stripes that
developed from the true horse after the
latter's expansion into the Old World.
However, it has been possible, from speci-
mens in the paleontological collections of
this museum, to trace the ancestry of both

'SityuSi;

Most of the evolution of the horse family took place in

North America during the SO million years of Tertiary

time. About 3,000,000 years ago the ancestor of the true

horse spread into Asia and became extinct in America.

The true horse, as we know it today, evolved in Asia

about a million years ago; from there it spread throughout

Eurasia and to North and South America.

The zebra evolved in North America about a million years
ago and from there spread to Asia, Europe and Africa.

groups, separately, back some four million
years. The history of their evolution and
dispersal must have been very different
and much more complex than previously
believed, the evidence indicates.

It has been well known that the family
Equidae (which includes horses, asses and
zebras) went through most of its evolution
in North America between Eocene and
middle Pliocene time. The earliest known
member of the horse family is from rocks
deposited in inter-mountain basins of
western North America during the Eocene
epoch, some 55,000,000 years ago. Hyraco-
therium, the rather imposing name given this
earliest of horses, was tiny, little more than
a foot in height. It bore four toes on its
front feet and three on the hind. So dif-
ferent was it from its modern descendant, in
fact, that were it not for the intergrading
forms that are found in the successive rock
layers, it is extremely doubtful if this primi-
tive animal would be recognized at all as a
member of the horse family.

EVOLUTION OF TRUE HORSE

By late Pliocene time, about 3,000,000
years ago, the horses, through gradual
evolutionary change, had progressed so they
differed only in slight details from our
modern horses. Through these details of
teeth and skeleton, however, we see that
branching of the horse line had occurred.
One branch, known as Astrohippus, was
destined to give rise to the true horses;
another, Pliohippus, to the zebras. Dur-
ing the several intervening epochs some
other side branches had risen, but all were
poorly adapted and sooner or later became
extinct. Some of these aberrant groups
spread to the Old World, but those leading

to the living members of the family were
confined to North America.

During the late part of the Pliocene epoch
the true horse branch spread over the Bering
I'egion (which was dry land and warm at
that time) into Asia. There it continued
in its evolutionary path and evolved into a
full-fledged horse belonging to the genus,
Equus, the same as our domestic horses of
today. In North America this true horse
line must have become extinct about that
time because no fo.ssils representing it are
found in rocks deposited during a long time
span. Soon after the Equus stage was
reached in Asia, however, the true horse
spread throughout Europe and Asia, back
to North America and even into South
America. Finally, however, something
went wrong — something of which no satis-
factory explanation seems possible — and
horses became extinct in the Western Hemis-
phere before the white man came. All
horses in the Americas today spring from
stock introduced from the Old World after
the white man's invasion.

THE ZEBRA'S PROGRESS

The ancestral zebras continued their
evolution in North America until the modern
form was reached. About a million years
ago this animal, whose origin was in North
America, expanded its range into Asia,
Europe, and throughout Africa. This great
geographic expansion of the zebra was short
lived, however, because by middle Pleisto-
cene time, or about 500,000 years ago, the
zebra had become extinct everywhere except
in Africa. Before recent times the true
horse also greatly reduced its range and has
been found in its wild state only in a small
portion of Asia.

In historic times wild members of the horse family have

been confined to Africa and southwestern Asia. They were

totally extinct in the Western Hemisphere when Euro.

pean explorers and settlers first arrived.

PLIOHIPPUS

An ancestral horse that lived in the Great Plains of North America during early Pliocene time, 7,000,000 years ago.

Restoration by Artist John Conrad Hansen.

March-April, 19U

CHICAGO NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM BULLETIN

Page 3

MUSEUM RECEIVES RARE EGGS OF CALIFORNIA CONDOR

SKELETON OF AMERICAN ZEBRA

(Hippotigris)

The now extinct American zebras were
presumably striped like the modern African
ones, but stripes are not very important
distinctions between horses and zebras as
far as paleontologists are concerned. Early
examples of the true horse were probably
also striped, as indicated by drawings pre-
historic men have left in caves in early
Europe — drawings made at a time when
there were no zebras on that continent.
Further, there is a modern zebra known as
the quagga which has practically lost its
stripes. Important distinctions between
horses and zebras are found in the teeth and
certain features of the skeletons. One lower
milk tooth is sufficient to identify a skeleton
as that of a horse, zebra, or ass.

The asses, natives of North Africa, are
unknown as fossils, and at present practi-
cally nothing is known of their history. In
some respects they resemble the zebra in
their basic structure, and in others they
resemble more closely the true horses.
Clearing up the history of the ass will depend
on future paleontological discoveries.

Editor's Note: The subject of the above article is
covered in a detailed technical paper by Dr. McGrew,
published on January 20, 1944, by Chicago Natural
History Museum Press: Publication 546, Geological
Series, Vol. 9, No. 2, An Early Pleistocene {Blancan)
Fauna from Nebraska; 37 pp., illustrated.

By ELLEN T. SMITH

ASSOCIATE, DIVISION OF BIRDS

Two eggs of the California condor
(Gymnogyps californiana) have recently been
presented to this institution by Judge R.
Magoon Barnes, noted oologist who is
Curator of Birds' Eggs on the Museum staff.
Judge Barnes' extensive egg collection was
given to the Museum in 1925, and included
the only two other California condor eggs
owned by the Museum. These rare eggs,
valued conservatively at $100 each, were
taken in California in 1879, 1900, and 1915.
They are dead dull white, with a faint green
tinge, slightly rough, and nearly perfectly
elliptical — about 4}^ inches long and 23^
in diameter.

A pair of condors lays only a single egg
each year. Had the eggs been allowed to
hatch — a seven weeks' process — there would
have emerged from each a downy white
chick, floundering helplessly, and giving no
hint of the dignified monarch of the skies
which it would soon become.

When grown, the condor in flight resem-
bles a turkey vulture (or buzzard) in the
fingering-out of the feathers at the wing
tips, but it can be distinguished from the
latter by the large white patch on the fore-
part of the under side of each wing, and by
its enormous size. Its wing-spread ranges
from nine to ten feet as contrasted with the
vulture's five and one-half to six feet. Its
head and neck are bald and reddish-orange;
the strength of its great beak is astonishing.

A NUISANCE TO EXPLORERS

It is possible that the two eggs just
acquired, both taken in 1879, were an easy
mark for the collector, as the condor was
once a common sight over California, nesting
in hollow trees and stumps. It ranged as
far north as the Columbia River, congre-

gating there each fall to feed on salmon.

Lewis and Clark, and other early explorers
of the northwest, complained of the diffi-
culty they encountered in hiding their
large game from these birds, which could
devour in an hour enough meat to feed a
man for a month. It is only natural that
under these circumstances the hunter's gun
was frequently aimed at the condor, while a
further incentive to its destruction was
added during the gold-rush, by prospectors,
who found the large hollow wing-quills con-
venient for carrying gold dust, lessening the
fear of detection and theft when sewn into
their clothes.

Fate ironically conspired against the
condors in the early 1900's, when it became
known that they were getting scarce.
According to Dawson, "Anyone who could
stuff a bird and any village junk-pile calling
itself a 'museum', promptly went out to get
a bird while the getting was good." Oolo-
gists joined in the rush, and the remaining
birds were driven to nest on the high cliffs
of the mountains of southern California
(west of Santa Barbara) in the most inac-
cessible cave-like nooks.

The present rate of reproduction is barely
sufficient to sustain the race, but regardless
of this, the fight for preservation is a losing
one, as sooner or later civilization will
abolish the carrion on which the condor
completely depends for food. The forty or
more birds still in existence must eventually
go the way of the dodo and the passenger-
pigeon. And yet, in contrast to those two
species, the condor is one of the most intelli-
gent members of the animal kingdom. One
condor, nicknamed "The General," was
taken when very young by Mr. William
Finley, and made the most extraordinary
pet, equal to a good dog or horse in intelli-
(Please turn page)

RAYMOND FOUNDATION OFFERS FREE MOVIES FOR CHILDREN ON MARCH-APRIL SATURDAYS

America's neighbor nations of the western
hemisphere, the Arctic regions, Africa,
lands of the Mediterranean, Australian
animals, and life underneath the sea, are
among the subjects of motion pictures to be
presented on free programs for children in the
spring series under the auspices of the
James Nelson and Anna Louise Raymond
Foundation. For "spice," there will also be
a number of animated cartoons. These pro-
grams will be given on Saturday mornings
during March and April in the James Simp-
son Theatre of the Museum. Each will be
presented twice, at 10 a.m., and again at 11,
in order to accommodate the maximum num-
bers of children. Children from all parts
of Chicago and suburbs are invited, and no
tickets are necessary for admission. "They
may come alone, accompanied by adults, or
in groups from schools and other centers.

Many of the films to be shown are in
natural colors, and sound effects and talking
are now regulation fare on Museum pro-
grams. Following is the schedule:

March 4 — Wheels Across Africa

Also two cartoons
March 11 — Central America— Old and

New
March 18— The Story of Mountains

Also a cartoon
March 25 — Father Hubbard Among the
Eskimos

Also a cartoon
April 1— With Williamson Beneath the
Sea

Also a cartoon
April 8 — The Holy Land by Way of the
Mediterranean
Also a cartoon

April 15 — Wild Innocence (Australian
animal story featuring Chut, a
kangaroo)

April 22 — America South of the Tropics
(Deep in South America)
Also a cartoon

April 29 — An All-Cartoon Program

Crucibles, flasks, and other utensils blown
from quartz are used in chemical laboratories
to fit conditions that the best glass cannot
endure.

Manufacture of glass ornaments is a rare
occupation of west African Negroes, who
melt European bottle glass. In Hall D,
Case 21, are some glass bangles. Beads
made by rubbing and boring hard stone are
shown in Hall D, Case 16.

Page i

CHICAGO NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM BULLETIN

March-April, IHi

gence and appreciation of human com-
panionship. "The General" eventually
ended up in the New York Zoo.

Contrary to popular belief, the condor
cannot seize its prey in its claws, because,
unlike the eagle or the hawk, its hind toe is
completely undeveloped. It does not attack

One day three condors, which had only a
mile farther to go to reach their nests, were
prevented from doing so by the strong north
wind suddenly turning into a roaring gale.
After repeatedly tacking back and forth
to no avail, they headed for the Carissa
plains, which were baking in the sun twenty-

CALIFORNIA CONDORS
One of the series of bird habitat groups in Hall 20 of the Museum.

or feed off living things, and although undis-
puted master over turkey vultures and
coyotes, has often been seen calmly and
graciously allowing them to share its meal.
When the fanners of the west poisoned
carrion to rid the country of the plague of
coyotes, it • was feared that condors also
would suffer. But their stomachs can stand
great abuse, and when necessary they dis-
gorge something that does not agree with
them, so that in spite of tales to the contrary
none of these birds has been known to
perish from this cause.

TAKE-OFF LIKE BOMBER'S

Their feeding and perching is limited to
the open country or the cliffs, for unless
they can catapult themselves into the air,
they need room, like a bomber, for a take-
off, and run along the ground flapping
vigorously till they have gained enough
speed to commence sailing. Their instinc-
tive knowledge of aerodynamics is extra-
ordinary, and once in the air they do not
use their wings in any forward motion, but
like the perfect glider, they soar majestically,
by means of the most correct use of air
currents. They cannot make headway
straight into a hard wind, but tack back
and forth like a sailboat.

five or thirty miles away. Rising with the
column of heat, the birds were soon above
the gale, sailing north again, and reached
their nests from the northwest, aided by
their former foe, the north wind. This
"slight" detour of some sixty or seventy
miles was accomplished in about thirty
minutes, according to Mr. Claude C. L.
Brown, who had the birds under observation
the entire time.

Condors like water, and spend hours
preening themselves, for obviously every
part of their flying equipment must be
kept in perfect condition; the fifteen- to
eighteen-inch tail and the huge thirty- to
thirty-six-inch wings must not have a
feather out of place.

LARGEST OF FLYING BIRDS

The California condor and its near relative
from South America, the condor of the
Andes (VuUur gryphus) are the largest birds
that fly. Reports as to their relative wing
spread are contradictory and unreliable, but
lead one to believe that while individual
California birds may have larger measure-
ments throughout, the South American bird
probably averages slightly larger. The
Andean condor is said to weigh more, but
no one seems actually to have weighed it to

find out if it surpasses the twenty-six
pounds at which one California condor
tipped the scales after a meal. The normal
weight of the California bird is nearer
twenty to twenty-two pounds.

One other bird, the wandering albatross
(Diomedea exidans), an inhabitant of the
cold southern seas, has a greater wing-
spread, reaching eleven feet four inches, but
it is a smaller bird in every other way.

Examples of these three birds can be seen
at the Chicago Natural History Museum in
Halls 20 and 21. In Hall 20 is a habitat
group of a pair of California condors.

NEW MEMBERS

The following persons became Members
of the Museum during the period from
December 16 to February 12:

Contributors

Lieut. Alvin R. Cahn, U.S.N.R.

Associate Meitibers
Mrs. A. W. Anderson, Robert N. Chatain,
L. Charles Cook, Louis T. Cook, Thomas H.
Cook, Mrs. John E. Cornell, William C.
Danne, Don L. Davis, Mrs. William Warren
Dixon, Karl Eitel, Dr. A. G. Falls, Frederick
M. Gottlieb, Dr. Daniel W. Jeffries, Solo-
mon Katz, Miss Paula Knickerbocker, Carl
Kresl, George C. Lazear, George Moeller,
Edmund Daniel O'Connell, William F.
O'Keeffe, Comer Plummer, Sydney Stein,
Jr., Felix VanCleef, Miss Cecilia Wells.

Sustaining Members

A. E. Meyerhoff

Annual Members

Dr. Walter A. Adams, Jay Adler, R. J.
Anschicks, Guy T. Avery, T. D. Beven,
John W. Blackburn, Maurice C. Blaz,
O. D. Borcherding, Mrs. J. Stewart Boswell,
Mrs. RoUand I. Bosworth, Dr. Garnet
Bradley, Chesser M. Campbell, H. R. Car-
penter, William B. Coggin, Miss Bonnie Col-
vin, A. D. Davis, John S. Dempsey, Mrs.
Andrew R. Dole, Mrs. Charles Eichin, Mrs.
Cyril Farney, Max Feld, John S. Field,
Edward Fitzgerald, Adolph R. Floreen, E.
W. Fritzell, Miss Josephine Goodrich, A. S.
Gourfain, Jr., Harry Green, Miss Rose
Grossfeld, David L. Harrington, Mrs. John
H. Harrison, Mrs. Henry T. Heald, Dr.
S. C. Henn, Charles L. Henry, Mrs. Howard
C. Hill, Edwin W. Hirsch, Joseph Hoffman,
E. N. Hope, Stephen E. Hurley, S. L. Hypes,
Max E. Immerwahr, Scott R. Johnson, Mrs.
Walter N. Jones, Gerald C. Kimes, Mrs.
Marian K. Lamb, A. Pope Lancaster, James
Lawrence, C. A. LeBeau, Theodore Levin,
W. F. Lochridge, Mrs. Richard J. Massey,
Irving McHenry, Eugene Miller, Frederic
Kimball Mizen, J. J. Nance, Mrs. Leland R.
Newell, Mrs. Charles B. Nolte, V. W. Peter-
son, William Henry Phelps, Joseph Richard
Pick, M. C. Pond, Frank Rasmussen, Mrs.
Allen M. Reed, Courtney H. Reeves, C. G.
Rhodes, Burr L. Robbins, Hugh Rodman,
Mrs. L. L. Schaffner, Mrs. Barrett Scudder,
Myron M. Segal, Victor Segal, John P.
Spencer, Dr. Julius L. Spivack, J. M. Symes,
Mrs. A. D. Taylor, Mrs. Albert H. Tippens,
Mrs. Ben E. Ursin, R. G. Wallace, Herbert
J. Watt, A. Webster, William Yates.

March-April, 19U

CHICAGO NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM BULLETIN

Page S

OSA JOHNSON, AND CHINESE SHADOW PLAYS, FEATURED IN SATURDAY LECTURE COURSE

One of the world's most daring and suc-
cessful women explorers — Osa (Mrs. Martin)
Johnson — will appear before a Chicago Nat-
ural History Museum audience during this
year's annual spring course of Saturday af-
ternoon free illustrated lectures on science
and travel. Mrs. Johnson will show some of
the exciting motion pictures for the filming
of which both she and her late husband
became famous.

The annual spring course will open March
4, and lectures will be presented each
Saturday afternoon from then until April 29
inclusive, at 2:30 p.m., in the James Simpson
Theatre of the Museum.

The demand for seats makes it necessary
to restrict admission to adults; for children
free motion pictures are given on Saturday
mornings. Following are the dates, subjects,
and speakers for the adult programs:

March 4 — The New Air World.

Canfield Cook.

Mr. Cook, who has devoted years to study
of the many factors involved, will discuss
the influences, past, present, and future, of
the development of aviation on peoples and
places all over the world. He will emphasize
the changes which may be expected in world
economy in the peace which is to come, as a
result of the expected growth of transporta-
tion of persons and goods by airplane. The
lecture will be illustrated with color films.

March 1 1 — WORLD Adventure Films.

Osa Johnson.

Mrs. Johnson and her late husband,
Martin Johnson, were famous for their
adventuring and their notable motion pic-
ture work, particularly in the jungles of
Africa and Asia, for many years. Since the
airplane death of her husband, in a crash in
which Mrs. Johnson was also injured, she
has gone ahead on her own, exploring in far
places and bringing back magnificent film
records of what she has observed. Her films
often are made under conditions of personal
danger. She is noted for a sparkling per-
sonality which results in a lecture as
humorous and whimsical as it is interesting
and informative.

March 18~We Re-map the World.

Clarence Sorensen.

Mr. Sorensen's lecture is described as:
"a report in new horizons — global dimen-
sions, modern maps, strategic crossroads,
great circles, the geography for peace."
As a geographer and foreign correspondent
for the Columbia Broadcasting System,
Mr. Sorensen's work has since 1934 taken
him to more than thifty-five countries.
Buenos Aires and Burma are alike familiar.
He first packed his bags for Europe to watch
Hitler's rise to power and the re-arming of
the Reich. The great Arab world was next.
With headquarters in the Near East,
Clarence Sorensen covered thousands of
desert miles. Later he went on to India,

Burma, Malaya, Java, China, the Philip-
pines, and other regions.

March 25 — FOUR CORNERS — The Land

OF THE NAVAJOS.

Alfred M. Bailey.

Formerly a member of the Chicago
Natural History Museum zoological staff,
and now director of the Colorado Museum
of Natural History, Mr. Bailey presents in
this lecture the story of the home of the
Navajos at the "four corners," the meeting
place of Colorado,
New Mexico, Ari-
zona, and Utah.
In color films to be
shown with the
lecture he has
faithfully recorded
the plants and ani-
mals encountered.
Included are views
of the high moun-
tains of Colorado
with bird life; views
down the Colorado
River in Utah; the
Arches National
Monument; the
Goose-necks of the
San Juan, and
Mesa Verde Na-
tional Park.

April 1 — Alaska

AND ITS

Highway
William L. Dar-
den.

Alaska is very
much the subject
of the hour. Alas-
ka's air bases are
They are our stepping-
William L. Darden, a
resident of Alaska for many years, shows
this great territory of ours in a complete
manner. Not only points in the news, but
scenery, animals, industries — everything.

April 8 — Midnight Movies in Animal
Land.
Howard Cleaves.

Even many people familiar with the
haunts and habits of wild animals in their
daytime hours have little knowledge of life
in the animal kingdom after dark. Mr.
Cleaves has devoted himself to study and
observation in this special field, and has
made most unusual motion pictures.

April 15— Chinese Shadow Plays.

The Red Gate Players (directed by Pauline
Benton).

Shadow plays have long been a favorite
entertainment in China. With simplicity
and charm they interpret the art, the drama,
the music and the customs of the Chinese.
The shadow actors used by the Red Gate

NAVAHO

(Sculpture by
Malvina Hoffman)

closest to Japan,
stones to Tokyo.

Players are made of transparent parch-
ment, carved and painted by Chinese crafts-
men. Each is a masterpiece of design and
color; each is imbued with its own person-
ality. The action of the drama takes place
behind a screen where the shadow actors
move, live, dance, and talk. A light
illuminates the stage, which is decorated
with elaborate and delicately wrought set-
tings, and shines through the players who
appear to the audience in jewel-bright and
crystal-like colors.

April 22 — Wings Across the Midnight

Sun.
Dr. Arthur Twomey.

This lecture follows the course of a recent
Carnegie Museum expedition across the
10,000 square miles of the Mackenzie delta
region and adjacent arctic islands. It con-
tains many intimate shots of tundra birds
never before photographed in color on their
nesting grounds; immense colonies of snow
geese on the outer fringe of islands that skirt
the Arctic Ocean, and magnificent sweeps of
arctic flora.

April 29 — Summer and Winter in the

Western Ranges.
John Claire Monteilh.

Mr. Monteith has made an enviable
reputation for his studies on many phases
of life on the other side of "the great divide,"
and his natural color motion picture films
are regarded as ranking among the out-
standing achievements in photography
representing the lives of our Indians, and
the story of plains, deserts, and mountains.

No tickets are necessary for admission to
these lectures. A section of the Theatre
is reserved for Members of the Museum, each
of whom is entitled to two reserved seats upon
presentation of membership ticket to the
Theatre attendant before 2:30 o'clock on
the day of the lecture, or by writing to the
Museum (or telephoning WABash 9410) for
reservation. Seats will be held until 2:30.

Technical Publications Issued

The following technical publications re-
cently have been issued by the Chicago
Natural History Museum Press:

Zoological Series, Vol. 28, No. 2. On the
Classification of the Histerid Beetles. By
Rupert L. Wenzel. January 19, 1944. 104
pages, 9 plates, 3 text figures. $1.00

Geological Series, Vol. 9, No. 2. An Early
Pleistocene (Blancan) Fauna from Nebraska.
By Paul O. McGrew. January 20, 1944.
36 pages, 9 text figures. $0.40

Geological Series, Vol. 8, No. 11. Two
New Thalassemyd Turtles from the Cretaceous
of Arkansas. By Karl P. Schmidt. January
21, 1944. 12 pages, 5 text figures. $0.25

Zoological Series, Vol. 29, No. 4. Masti-
catory Apparatus in the Giant Panda and
the Bears. By Harry Sicher. January 28,
1944. 14 pages, 5 text figures. $0.15

Page 6

CHICAGO NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM BULLETIN

Marehf-April, IHi

Chicago Natural History Museum

Founded by Marshall Field, 1893
Roosevelt Road and Field Drive, Chicago

Telephone: Wabash 9410

THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES
Lester Aruour Stanley Field

Sbwell L. Avery Samuel Insull, Jr.

W. McCoRHicK Blair Charles A. McCulloch

Leopold E. Block William H. Mitchell

boarohan conovbr george a. richardson

Walter J. Cuuhings Theodore Roosevelt

Albert B. Dick, Jr. Solomon A. Smith

Howard W. Fenton Albert A. Sphague

Joseph N. Field Silas H. Strawn

Mabshall Field Albert H. Wbtten

JoBN P. Wilson

OFFICERS

Stanley Field President

Albert A. Spbagub Pint Viee-PretidenI

Silas H. Strawn Second Vice-President

Albert B. Dick Third Vice-President

•Clifford C. Grbgo Director and Secretary

Orr Goodson Acting Director and Acting Secretary

Solomon A. Smith . . . Treasurer and Assistant Secretary

* On leave in active service as a Colonel in the United
States Army.

THE BULLETIN

EDITOR
WlLniEO H. Osgood Curator Emeritus, Zoology

CONTRIBUTING EDITORS

Paul S. Martin Chief Curator of Anthropology

B. E. Dahlgren Chief Curator of Botany

Henry W. Nichols Chief Curator of Geology

Karl P. Schmidt Chief Curator 0/ Zoology

MANAGING EDITOR
H. B. Harte Public Relations Counsel

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

MUSEUM "GOES ON THE AIR"
FOR SCHOOL CHILDREN

"Places and People," a series of radio
broadcasts, has been begun by the James
Nelson and Anna Louise Raymond Founda-
tion of the Chicago Natural History Mu-
seum', in co-operation with the Radio
Council of the Chicago Public Schools.

On February 16, the series was introduced
by Mr. Orr Goodson, Acting Director of the
Museum, and on February 23 there was a
broadcast on Alaska. The rest of the pro-
grams, to be given over FM station
WBEZ at 11:30 a.m., and over both WIND
and WBEZ at 1:30 p.m., on the dates
indicated, are as follows:

March 1 — Middle America

March 8 — South America (Part I)

March 15 — South America (Part II)

March 22— Africa

March 29 — Solomon Islands and New
Guinea

April 5 — Polynesia: Samoa, Fiji, Hawaii,
Tonga.

April 12 — Australia and New Zealand

May 3 — Philippine Islands

May 10 — Malay Archipelago, and Bor-
neo, Sumatra, and Java

May 17 — Malaya

May 24 — India

May 31— China

June 7 — United States

In conjunction with the broadcasts, the
Museum will present two follow-up pro-
grams for groups of children brought from
the schools to this institution. The first of

these, "Peoples of Alaska, Middle and South
America, and Africa," will be given on
March 23 at 10:30 A.M.; the second will be
"Peoples of the South Pacific, Australia,
India and China," on June 1.

The Museum and the schools' Radio
Council have jointly prepared a booklet
of suggestions for teachers, to aid them in
making most effective use of the series.
The purpose of the series of broadcasts and
related programs is expressed in this pam-
phlet as follows:

"Our world is being brought closer
together, partly because of easy and fast
transportation. The present war has forced
us to be interested in people and places little
known or thought of before. Many of these
people are our allies; many of the places are
the temporary homes of our relatives and
friends. After the war is over, many of these
people will have a part in the world peace
plans; if the world peace is to be lasting, we
must try to understand their needs and
problems."

In charge of the series for the Museum is
Miss Miriam Wood, chief lecturer of the
James Nelson and Anna Louise Raymond
Foundation; for the schools, Mr. George
Jennings, director of the Radio Council.
Script writer is Joseph H. Spear.

in his division of the Museum. Capt.
Rupert L. Wenzel, U. S. Army (Assistant
Curator of Insects), also visited the Mu-
seum recently.

Staff Notes

Word has been received that Ensign
Maynard C. Darnall, Jr., a former student
guard at the Museum, has been promoted
to lieutenant (j.g.), U. S. Coast Guard.

Mr. Raymond H. Hallstein, for over 23
years connected with the F. J. Riley Print-
ing Company, Chicago, and for eight years
its superintendent, has been appointed as
head of the Division of Printing.

Mrs. Marion Grey has been appointed
Associate in the Division of Fishes in recog-
nition of her continued effective aid to the
work of the division.

Mr. Henry Dybas, formerly Assistant in
the Division of Fishes, has been transferred
to the Army Sanitary Corps.

Dr. Julian A. Steyermark, Assistant
Curator of the Herbarium, on leave for
government war work, has been transferred
recently from Ecuador where he was engaged
in quinine investigations, and is now carry-
ing on the same work in Venezuela.

First Lt. Melvin A. Traylor, U.S.M.C,
(Associate, C.N.H.M. Division of Birds)
visited the Museum while invalided home
from action at Tarawa. Ensign Loren P.
Woods, U.S.N. R. (Assistant Curator of
Fishes) visited the Museum while on fur-
lough and conferred about various projects

Dr. Wilfred H. Osgood, Curator Emeritus
of Zoology, will spend some weeks in the
west where he will visit museums and col-
lect mammals as opportunity presents.

THE MUSEUM HONOR ROLL
Now In the Nation's Service

^

Army

Theodore Roosevelt,
Trustee — Brig.Gen.

George A. Richard-
son, Trustee — Lt.
Col.

Clifford C. Gregg,

Director — Colonel, -. ..» -»

G.S.C. 39

Dr. John Rinaldo,
Associate, Southwestern Archaeol. — Staff Sgt.

Dr. Sharat K. Roy, Curator, Ged. — Capt.

D. Dwight Davis, Curator, Anat. and Osteol. —
Corp.

Bryan Patterson, Curator, Paleontology — Pvt.

Ehmbt R. Blake, Asst. Curator, Birds — Special
Agent, War Dept.

Rupert L. Wenzel, Asst. Curator, Insects — Capt.

Henry S. Dybas, Assistant, Insects — Pvt.

William Bebcher, Temp. Asst., Zool. — Pvt.

Henry Horback, Aast., Geol. — Pvt.

James C. McIntybe, Guard — 2nd Lt.

Raymond J. Connors, Guard — Pvt.

Fbank J. DITTKOVIC, Janitor— Pvt.

Navy

Lester Armour, Trustee — Comdr.

Samuel Insull, Jr., Trustee — Lieut. Comdr.

Joseph Nash Field, Trustee — Lieut.

CouN Campbell Sanborn, Curator, Mammals —

Lieut.
Dr. Alexander Spoehr, Asst. Curator, N. Amer.

Ethnol. — Lieut, (j.g.)
LoRBN P. Woods, Asst. Curator, Fishes — Ensign
John W. Mover, Taxidermist — Ch. Specialist

(Bur. Aeronautics)
Patrick T. McEnery, Guard — Master-at-Arms
John Syckowski, Guard — Ch. Commissary Stewd.
George Jarrand, Guard — Ch. Water Tender
Clyde Jambs Nash, Guard — Ch. Gunner
Nicholas Repar, Printer — Aviation Machinist's

Mate 2C.
Morris Johnson, Carpenter — Carpenter's Mate

2C.
Herbert Nelson, Painter — Painter IC.
EUZABBTH Best, Guide-Lecturer —

Ensign, WAVES
Marie B. Pabst, Guide-Lecturer— WAVES

Marine Corps

Melvin A. Traylor, Jr. Associate, Birds — 1st Lt.

Coast Guard

M. C. Darnall, Jr., Guard — Lieut, (j.g.)

John McGinnis, Guard — Ch. Boatswain's Mate

Other Services

Rudyerd Boulton, Curator, Birds — Staff of
Office of Strategic Services

Bryant Mather, Asst. Curator, Mineralogy —
Civilian Worker, Corps of Engineers, U.S. Army

Llewelyn Williams, Curator of Economic Botany
— on special service for U.S. Government

Dr. Julian A. Steyermark, Asst. Curator, Herba-
rium— field work for Board of Economic Warfare

Dr. C. Martin Wilbur, Curator, Chinese Archaeol.
and Ethnol. — Staff of Office of Strategic Services

. . and Some Who Have Served

and Been Honorably Discharged:

Frank Boryca, Asst. Prep., Bot. — Pvt. U. S.

Marine Corps.
Bert E. Grove, Guide-Lecturer— Medical Aide,

American Field Service, Africa.

March- April, 19ii

CHICAGO NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM BULLETIN

Page 1

SOME SOLOMON ISLANDERS

Bv KARL P. SCHMIDT

CHIEF CURATOR, DEPARTMENT OF ZOOIXXiY

Since American service men have been
stationed in the Solomon Islands, the Mu-
seum has had frequent inquiries about the
animal life of that region. These have often
been in the form of requests for some illus-
trated guidebook to the birds, or insects,
or reptiles, suitable for a far-off boy who
had been interested in natural history at
home, and now finds himself seeing white-
crested cockatoos, hearing the choo-choo,
choo-choo, of the black hornbill's wings, or
listening to strange sounds from the forest
at night. With regret we have had to reply
that knowledge of the natural history of the
Pacific islands, though considerable, is for
the most part locked in technical volumes.

Museums engage in the preparation of
handbooks suitable for the general public
as one of their manifold activities associated
with the attempt to describe the life of the
world; but museums are under-financed and
under-staffed, and the handbooks must often
wait for essential primary research. It may
be enough to recall to the reader that there
was no good popular guide even to the birds
of the eastern United States until 1895.

My own interest in the frogs and lizards
of the Solomon Islands was aroused by the
beautiful lithographs in G. A. Boulenger's
papers, based on the collections of H. B.
Guppy and C. M. Woodford, made on
Guadalcanal and various other islands in the
eighteen eighties. Further knowledge of the
animal life of the Solomons has accumulated.
In 1929, in the course of the Museum's
Cornelius Crane Pacific Expedition, consid-
erable collections of frogs, lizards, and
snakes were made on the islands of Ugi,
Malaita, Tulagi, Isabel and Kulambangra.

SOLDIER SENDS COLLECTION

Our nucleus of Solomon Island collections
in the-se groups has now been greatly in-
creased by the receipt of two collections
made by Pvt. William J. Beecher (Tempo-
rary Assistant in Zoology at the Museum),
now with the Army Medical Corps.

The Solomon Islands are distant enough
from the larger areas of New Guinea and
Australia to have far fewer kinds of amphi-
bians and reptiles, as indeed of all kinds of
animals; this is a general characteristic of
the life of islands as contrasted with that
of the continents. At the .same time, the
separation of the islands from New Guinea
came at a time so ancient that there has been
opportunity for the evolution of numerous
distinct species of animals, and some of the
frogs and lizards are very distinct indeed.
Only some of the very small lizards that may
be transported by floating logs, the exceed-
ingly active and partly aquatic monitor
lizard, and a few tree snakes appear on New
Guinea as the same sjieeies. The relations
of the animal life of the Solomons are nearly
all with New Guinea rather than with

Australia or any other region, and the
archipelagos of smaller islands to the east-
ward have still fewer kinds of animals.

"who comes?"
One March night in 1929, on Tulagi
Island, Walter Weber, the artist, and I were
engaged in the naturalist's perennial search
of the forest for its nocturnal inhabitants,
on a forest floor of extraordinary beauty.
When we put out our flashlights, the leaf-
mold was dotted with gleaming fox-fire.
Whole clumps of tiny mushrooms glowed
with yellow light, as did particles of rotten
wood and leaf, and an occasional whole dead
stick or even a log. We had caught a tiny
froglet (Bairaehylodes) in some numbers,

PREHENSILE-TAILED SKINK

Also called giant slcink, this unique lizard is found nowhere

in the world except the Solomon Islands. The tail aids its

arboreal existence. Specimen shown above is on exhibition

in Albert W. Harris Hall (Hall 18).

and we heard the loud quack of a big
geckonid lizard, but could not find it.
While standing some yards apart, we each
heard a loud "squunk" startlingly like the
suck of a foot in a loose wet boot; and as
we both had wet feet, we looked at each
other for the source of the sound, only to
hear it repeated from another direction.

When traced to its source the sound was
found to be made by a good-sized frog — a
species confined to the Solomons, and in
some ways the most distinctive amphibian
of the area. It is characterized by triangular
flaps of skin on the head and limbs that give
it the scientific name Cerotobatrachus. Other
Solomon Island frogs include a true tree
frog (i.e., a Hyla) and several representatives
of the family of true frogs, including a big
species of bullfrog size. The commonest
frog, whose scientific name is Platymantis
solomonis, is a small relative of the big fel-
low. It has a startlingly loud and clear
note resembling the syllables "whoo-ee."

The snakes of the Solomons are few.
There are burrowing blind snakes (Typh-
lops) with the eyes concealed beneath the
scales. Small boas that reach a length of
about three feet, with strongly prehensile

tails, are remote relatives of the American
boa constrictors. A green tree snake and
a black and yellow tree snake are wide-
spread in the New Guinean region. All
these snakes are quite harmless. There are
three kinds of land snakes that are undoubt-
edly poisonous, related by their fixed fangs
to the front-fanged snakes of Australia.
There is no record of any human being
having been bitten by these snakes, and
none of them are aggressive creatures.
In such densely forested areas as the Solo-
mons, snakes are usually found only by
accident, or perhaps in jungle-clearing
operations like the preparation of an air-
field. The sea snakes that come to shore
to lay their eggs in the rock crevices at
high tide level are deadly poisonous, but
they are never known to bite anything
except the eels on which they prey. Even
if roughly handled by fishermen, they do
not bite at all.

The lizards exhibit a great variety of
form and color, and the shiny-scaled skinks
are especially abundant. Little golden
striped skinks (Emoia) would remind many
an American soldier of the blue-tailed lizard
of the southeastern United States. A
larger green skink (Dasia) is to be seen only
in the trees. Another good-sized lizard
(Riopa) is dull brown, and with its short
legs must be a slow moving ground dweller.

A UNIQUE LIZARD

The real prize among the lizards of the
Solomons is the "prehensile-tailed skink," a
lizard some two feet in length, with the tail
developed as a prehensile grasping organ to
aid in locomotion in the trees. This lizard
is found only in the Solomons. The largest
lizard of the islands, the black and yellow
monitor, was mentioned above as a more
widespread type. Another large tree lizard
has a crest of sharp spines on the back.

Novel to most Americans are the soft-
skinned and big-eyed geckos. These are
lizards that come out at night, and they are
remarkable for their loud voices. There are
several kinds in the Solomon Islands — small
ones only two inches long, medium sized
gray ones, and a brown species with a bright
yellow line down the back, large for a gecko,
as it reaches a length of a foot. The natives
are apt to be much afraid of geckos, appar-
ently on account of the disagreeable feel of
the clinging pads on their feet, but all geckos
are entirely harmless. Many inhabit houses
and come out at night from the thatch, or
from behind picture frames (if there are
picture frames) to hunt their insect prey on
the walls and ceilings.

Mr. Beecher's collections, including a few
fishes, birds, mammals, insects, and crus-
taceans besides his reptiles, came to the
Museum as almost the only accessions for
1943 from foreign lands. They serve to
remind us all the more that the interests of
a museum of natural history are dependent
on a peaceful world.

Page 8

CHICAGO NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM BULLETIN

March-April, 19H

THE LATE SU-LIN

SUNDAY LAYMAN LECTURES
IN MARCH AND APRIL

Paul G. Dallwig, the Museum's Layman
Lecturer, will make nine more appearances
on Sunday afternoons during the current
season.

On Sundays in March his subject will be
"Who's Who in the Mounted Zoo." Fea-
tures of this lecture include the story of the
giant panda, Su-Lin ; the history of the man-
eating lions of Tsavo which devoured more
than 130 human
beings; a dram-
atization of a
day in the Afri-
can jungles, and
interesting tales
of psychological
and behavioris-
tic observations
on the life of
various ani-
mals.

In April the
subject of Mr. Dallwig's Sunday lectures
will be "Mysterious 'Night-Riders' of
the Sky." The lecturer will explain the
differences between comets, meteors, and
meteorites, and relate incidents concern-
ing some of the most important meteoritic
falls. Of special interest is his dramati-
zation in "three scenes" of an imaginary
trip to the moon by rocket plane.

The lectures all begin at 2 P.M. and end at
4:30. For smoking, refreshments and re-
laxation there is a half-hour intermission
during which the audience gathers in the
Museum Cafeteria. The size of audiences
is necessarily limited; for this reason it is
essential to make reservations in advance by
mail or telephone (WABash 9410). Long
waiting lists form for each title. The
lectures are given in the Museum Lecture
Hall, and there is no charge for admission or
for reservations.

On February 20 Mr. Dallwig made his
200th lecture at the Museum. He began
this activity in the autumn of 1937.

Dice in Ancient Egypt

If a gambler of the present day could go
backward into history like the hero of Mark
Twain's Connecticut Yankee at King Arthur's
Court, taking with him a pair of modern
"galloping dominoes" (especially if the dice
were loaded to throw the present day game
in his favor), he would create a lot of havoc.
For the ancient Egyptians whom he would
meet, while having dice almost identical with
the modem ones in size, form, and appear-
ance, nevertheless used numbers paired in
different combinations.

Some dice dating back to Cleopatra's
time and earlier, are on exhibition in the
Hall of Egypt (Hall J) at this museum.
Most of them are made from bone, but some
are of steatite. Tested out by Museum
archaeologists before being placed on exhibi-

tion, the dice showed a tendency to throw
2's and 5's most readily, indicating that
cheating was probably as common among
the early gambling fraternity as among those
who make their livings from games of alleged
chance today. According to Mr. Richard A.
Martin, Curator of Near Eastern Archae-
ology, there has been little change in the
manner of playing games with dice from
Ptolemaic times down to the present.

GIFTS TO THE MUSEUM

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

Department of Anthropology:

From Col. H. W. Jarrow, Chicago — a
model of an outrigger canoe, Samoa; from
Kennett L. Rawson, Chicago — 15 ethnolog-
ical specimens, Greenland and Labrador.

Department of Botany:

From Dr. Walter Kiener, Lincoln, Neb. —
357 specimens of algae, Nebraska; from
William A. Daily, Indianapolis, Ind. — 71
specimens of algae, Indiana; from Professor
F. Miranda, Mexico City — 10 herbarium
specimens (type material), Mexico; from
Harry K. Phinney, Evanston, 111. — 119
specimens of algae, Illinois and Michigan;
from Ted Flanagan, Warren, Pa. — 41 speci-
mens of algae, Pennsylvania; from Donald
Richards, Chicago — 68 moss specimens,
chiefly Asia; from J. Francis Macbride, San
Jos6, Calif. — 200 specimens of algae, Cali-
fornia; from Professor Maximino Martinez,
Mexico City — 43 herbarium specimens,
Mexico; from G. Ruegg, La Junta, Colo. —
a fossil palm wood specimen, Colorado; from
Hermann C. Benke, Chicago — 31 herbarium
specimens, Illinois and Indiana; from Dr.
Henry S. Conard, Grinnell, Iowa — 35 moss
specimens, Iowa; from Seriorita Delia
Rabinovich, Buenos Aires, Argentina — 13
specimens of algae, Argentina.

Department of Geology:

From R. H. Finch, Hawaii National Park,
Hawaii — a specimen of Pele's Hair, Hawaii;
from G. Ruegg, La Junta, Colo. — 8 fossil
and mineral specimens, Colorado and Ore-
gon; from Jim Breslan, La Junta, Colo. — 2
specimens of polished dinosaur bone, Colo-
rado; from Miss Miriam I. Schad, Belle-
fonte, Pa. — a clay specimen, Pennsylvania.

Department of Zoology :

From William J. Beecher, U. S. Army — a
crayfish, 19 fishes, 40 lizards, 17 snakes,
6 frogs, 52 bats, a cuscus skull, 3 birds,
49 insects and allies, Solomons and
other South Pacific Islands; from Lin-
coln Park Zoo, Chicago — 2 birds, 2 mam-
mals, and a salamander; from Lieut. Colin
C. Sanborn, Talara, Peru — 3 fox skins and
skulls and a fox skeleton, Peru ; from Chicago
Zoological Society, Brookfield, 111. — a duck,
Australia; from Sidney Camras, Chicago —
2 conopid flies (type and allotype). North
Carolina; from Dr. J. N. KnuU, Columbus,
Ohio — 20 buprestid beetles, comprising 13
species. United States; from Joseph P. E.
Morrison, Washington, D. C. — a fresh-
water shell (paratype), British Guiana; from
Dr. Paul E. Thompson, Chicago — 5 lizards.
New Guinea.

WEEKDAY LECTURE TOURS,
MARCH AND APRIL

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

March

Wed., Mar. 1 — Nature's Circus (Loraine
Lloyd).

Fri., Mar. 3 — Weathering Heights (Bert
Grove).

Wed., Mar. 8 — Messages to and from the
Unknown (Mrs. Roberta Cramer).

Fri., Mar. 10 — Ambassadors from Space
(Bert Grove).

Wed., Mar. 15 — Social Climbing (Emma
Neve).

Fri., Mar. 17 — Snake Stories (Miriam
Wood).

Wed., Mar. 22 — Housekeeping Customs
the World Around (Mrs. Roberta Cramer).

Fri., Mar. 24 — Trees — in Blizzards or
Sunshine (Miriam Wood).

Wed., Mar. 29— Crime— Threat to Primi-
tive Societies (Emma Neve).

Fri., Mar. 31— April Fool in the Worid of
Animals (Loraine Lloyd).

April

Wed., Apr. 5 — Our Allies in Asia (Mrs.
Roberta Cramer).

Fri., Apr. 7 — Stones of the Ancients (Bert
Grove).

Wed. Apr. 12 — Peaks of Two Civilizations
(Emma Neve).

Fri., Apr. 14 — Wild Flowers of the
Chicago Region (Miriam Wood).

Wed., Apr. 19 — Animals Our Soldiers See
(Loraine Lloyd).

Fri., Apr. 21 — Adventures of a Fossil
Hunter (Bert Grove).

Wed., Apr. 26 — Spring Moving (Loraine
Lloyd).

Fri., Apr. 28 — Interior Decorating in the
Primitive Motif (Mrs. Roberta Cramer).

Library:

Valuable books from Alfredo Barrera
Vasquez, Tacubaya, Yucatan; from Abdul
Bunny, Mosul, Iraq; from Roy Cross,
Kansas City, Mo.; from Raymond Pit-
cairn, Philadelphia, Pa.; from Manuel
Liendi Lazart, La Paz, Bolivia; from C. C.
Burford, Springfield, 111.; from Elmer S.
Riggs, Lawrence, Kan.; from American
Forestry Association, the National Academy
of Sciences, and Dr. Henry Field, Washing-
ton, D. C; from Jacques Marchaio, New
York; from Dr. H. H. Tucker, Columbus,
Ohio; from Orr Goodson, Glencoe, 111.; from
Capt. Rupert Wenzel, U. S. Army; from
Col. Clifford C. Gregg, U. S. Army; and
from Dr. D. Ricardo Calatroni, Henry W.
Nichols, Karl P. Schmidt, Bert Grove,
Boardman Conover, Paul C. Standley,
Dr. W. L. McAtee, Frank L. Heyser, Mrs.
Charles W. Dempster, and Henry Miller,
all of Chicago.

PRINTED BY CHICAGO NATURAL. HISTORY MUSEUM PRESS

Chicago Natural History Museum

Formerly Mi/d^>M^ News

Vol. 15

MAY-JUNE, 1944

Nos. 5-6

REMARKABLE CHANGES IN FISH COLORATION DEMONSTRATED IN EXHIBIT

By KARL P. SCHMIDT

CHIBP CURATOR, DEPARTMENT OF ZOOLOGY

Notable examples of various types of fish
coloration, experiments with color change in
fishes, and models to explain how fishes are
colored and how some of them change color,
are shown in a new exhibit under the title
"Coloration in Fishes." This exhibit is in a
series of cases adjacent to the Hall of Fishes
(Hall 0) on the ground floor of the Museum.

Besides greatly enlarged models of sec-
tions of fish skin and
of single color cells,
the topics presented
are: variability of col-
oration; concealing
coloration including
resemblance to the
background and "rup-
tive markings"; color
mutations such as
albinism, melanism,
golden coloration, etc. ;
and the nuptial color-
ation of male fishes in
the breeding season.
Transparency of small
fishes of the surface
waters of the ocean
and the loss of color
in cave fishes are
represented by models
of the eel larva and of
the cave fish of Mam-

fishermen. The six models exhibit the
extremes of color and pattern out of the
hundreds of different colorations possible
in this species.

The second type of color control is directly
through the nervous system and is governed
by the sensory impressions received through
the eye. The classic example of such color
change is the adjustment of the color and
pattern of the flounder to that of the sea-
bottom on which it lies. This adjustment

INTRICATE PATTERN demonstrates capacity of com-
mon winter flounder for imitating even a complex back'
ground on which it may be placed.

THE EYES CONTROL,

Hounder show entire fish t.

over which the

moth Cave.

In fishes with the capacity for rapid
change of color, the color and pattern may
be under two entirely different sets of con-
trols, and these may be combined in the
same fish. It has been shown that much
color change in fishes is controlled by the
secretion of the pituitary gland at the base
of the brain, and that when the hormone
from this gland is poured into the blood in
response to nervous stimuli such as fright,
aggressiveness, or other exciting factors,
radical reversals of color or shimmering
waves of color passing over the body may
be observed.

A familiar aquarium example is the male
Siamese fighting fish, in which color change
obviously has no relation to the background.
Such color change is shown on the first
panel of the new exhibit by models of the
Nassau grouper, a fish familiar to Florida

has been studied by the experiment of plac-
ing the living fish on a great variety of
natural and even artificial backgrounds.
That the flounder's color change is controlled
through the eye is proved by the adjust-
ments to radically different backgrounds,
and still more clearly by the fact that the
whole fish takes on the color of the part of
the bottom on which the head lies. If the
fish is blind, no color change takes place, the
color cells are gradually lost, and the upper
surface becomes white like the lower side,
which is colorless in the normal fish.

Many fishes have a rather fixed colora-
tion, little subject to change. Important
types of background resemblance have been
developed in such fishes in the course of their
evolution, and it is assumed that concealing
coloration in general develops in response to
the struggle for existence. The most wide-

spread principle of such coloration in the
animal kingdom is that of countershading,
in which the upper side is dark, the lower
light, usually with a gradual transition from
one to the other. Such coloration is familiar
in the black bass of American fresh waters.
Countershading is especially noteworthy
in the pelagic fishes of the surface waters of
the open sea, whose dark blue backs tend to
hide them from enemies above them, while
their silvery bellies make them difficult to
see from below. The
principle of counter-
shading among fishes
is sharply illustrated
by the Nile catfish,
which swims and feeds
belly upward at the
surface of the water
instead of being a bot-
tom dweller like most
of its relatives. Con-
sequently, in this fish
the belly is dark and
the back light.

The third panel of
the exhibit shows ex-
amples of natural
camouflage in which
the principle of "rup-
tive markings" forms
the dominant feature
of the pattern. Bold
lines across the body
at first glance seem to
make the fish conspicuous; but against their
natural colored backgrounds, such markings
break up the outlines of the fish. A black
line through the eye is a recurring feature of
such markings, not only in fishes but in
many other animals. In fishes, conceal-
ment of the eye is frequently furthered by
radiating dark lines, as may be seen in
several of the models.

The development of form to go with color
resemblance to the background is especially
noteworthy in the sargassum fish and in the
wonderful sea-weed-like seahorse of Aus-
tralian seas, Phyllopteryx eques. Another
remarkable example of "cryptic coloration"
is represented by the "dead-leaf fish"
(Monocirrhus polyacanlktis) , in which the
resemblance appears to be as u.seful to the
fish in enabling it to approach its prey as to
hide it from its enemies. The leaf resem-

Experiments with winter
akes on color of background
head finds itself.

Page t

CHICAGO NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM BULLETIN

May-June, 191,1,

blance is strikingly supported by the side-
slipping movements in the water, and a chin
barbel may be interpreted as the leaf-stem.
Other general topics in the coloration of
fishes are treated on the second and third
panels. Models show what is meant by

COUNTERSHADING IN REVERSE

Coloration phenomena follow the fish's habits of life. In
most countet'Shaded fishes the upper parts are dark and
the lower parts light, but this species, the Nile catfish,
normally swims upside down, so Nature has accommodated
by making its belly dark and its back light in accordance
with the general "safety first" principle for protection
from various enemies.

albinism, melanism, and the golden colora-
tion known as xanthism. The common local
minnow, the horned dace, exhibits the strik-
ing seasonal difference in coloration of the
sexes — the brilliant colors of the male appear
only during the breeding season. Such
sexual differences usually accompany some
remarkable courtship and breeding behavior.

A fourth panel now in preparation for the
coloration exhibit, will show the charac-
teristic color profile of the depth zones of the
ocean from the brilliantly lighted surface
waters to the dark abyssal depths.

The plans for the exhibit of the principles
of coloration in fishes were drawn up by
Ensign Loren P. Woods, Assistant Curator
of Fishes, before his entry into the Navy.
The models and installation are the work
of Staff Taxidermist Leon L. P^ay.

BIRDMAN'S-EYE VIEW OF WAR

From Emmet R. Blake, the Museum's
Assistant Curator of Birds, who is now in
Italy as a special agent in the Counter-
intelligence Corps of the War Department,
the Acting Director has received an inter-
esting letter. It gives as intimate and vivid
a picture of the fighting front as censorship
will permit. Excerpts follow:

"Dear Mr. Goodson:

". . . After some months of action in the
mountains, I had a brief vacation. It was
much too good to last, so I wasn't particularly
surprised when I 'made the team' for the
present engagement. No doubt the papers
are giving you a general idea of the situation
here on the Anzio beachhead, but you would
have to be here conducting business as usual,
in view of enemy artillery observers, to
really appreciate it.

"A typical twenty-four hours includes
attacks and counter-attacks, numerous
assorted sneak air raids, harassing artillery
fire, plain and fancy bombardment by long-
range railroad guns and general slapstick.

All in all it proves to be very fascinating —
like a street accident. There is a very exten-
sive wine cellar thirty feet below the bat-
tered structure I infest, but I've not devised
a means of carrying it about with me.
Mussolini did a pretty fair job of draining
his malarial marshes but I would settle for
a better crop of trees to hide behind.

"Business is brisk and quite satisfactory
in my department. It is probable that I
will be an awfully cynical guy to have
around after the war

"The enclosed clipping is probably the
only thing ever published about the CIC
for the public. From it you may get a very
pale idea of what goes on. The inside story
must be left to the imagination until after
the war.

"Sincerely yours,
"Bob Blake"

Following is the Army newspaper clipping
Mr. Blake refers to, giving an account of the
work of units of the type to which he is
attached:

"FASCIST RING BREAKUP
PUTS CIC IN SPOTLIGHT

"Allied Force Headquarters — Behind the
battling Yank, inching his way through the
rains and retarding mud of Italy, move
units of one of the Army's hush-hush depart-
ments. Their job is to see that the fighting
man is not stabbed in the back by sabotage
or any other subversive act in the territory
through which he has passed.

"Wherever there are vital roads or rail
lines to be kept open, wherever there is a
loaf of bread or a flagon of blood plasma to
be forwarded to the front, wherever expedi-
ency demands the constant use of telephone
and power lines, there you will find members
of these highly specialized units known as
the Counter-intelligence Corps.

"The CIC was mentioned this week in the
breaking up of a ring of youthful Fascists in
Trapani, Sicily. A CIC investigation re-
sulted in the detention of 15 men and a
wealthy Italian girl accused of planning acts
of sabotage against the Allies.

"CIC men operate all the way from points
forward of the actual front to positions deep
in the echelons to the rear, and, paradoxi-
cally, while anonymity is sought at the rear
of the theater of operations, they break out
bright red brassards bearing the initials
'CIC when they move into freshly taken
territory.

"The explanation is simple. They wish
to excite the curiosity of natives, and thus
acquire contact with all the informants
usually found in captured communities and
without whom no investigating agency could
function at highest efficiency.

"On occasion, men of the CIC have
entered towns ahead of advancing troops.
Three intrepid members of the corps took
over a small island off Sicily during the
Sicilian campaign.

"The CIC co-operates with, but is in no

way connected with, the Military Police.
Ordinary crimes, such as murder, rape or
robbery, are turned over to the Military
Police for handling. The Military Police,
on the other hand, will place in the hands of
the CIC the names of any persons it runs
across suspected of being active or passive
agents of the enemy."

MOYER ALSO IN AREA

John W. Moyer, also of the Division of
Birds as Staff Taxidermist, and now a Navy
Chief Specialist in photography, has
written from North Africa and Italy. He
was at work with a Medical Photo Unit, not
far from the area where Mr. Blake is located,
when last heard from.

"This was at one time a very beautiful
city, but is now partly in ruins from bomb-
ing, and they still come, every night or so,"

writes Mr. Moyer "I flew here

all the way from America."

MUSEUM BOTANISTS PREPARE
PLANT MANUAL FOR NAVY

Dr. B. E. Dahlgren, Chief Curator of the
Department of Botany, and his associate,
Paul C. Standley, Curator of the Herba-
rium, are co-authors of a special pamphlet
for men in service, recently issued by the
United States Navy Department.

Entitled Edible and Poisonous Plants of the
Caribbean Region, the pamphlet is published
by the Navy's Bureau of Medicine and
Surgery. It includes 72 illustrations of
tropical American plants that are either
edible or poisonous, thus providing service-
men in the Caribbean area with information
enabling them to discriminate as to which
of the plants they encounter will be valuable
additions to their diet, and which they must
shun. The edible plants constitute by far
the great majority.

The pamphlet, designated as Navmed
127, is obtainable from the Superintendent
of Documents at Washington (price 20
cents). Although published by the Navy
for its personnel, it is reported that twice
as many copies as the Navy itself is using
have been distributed to the Army.

ARE YOU MOVING?

Members of the Museum who
have changed residences or plan
to do so are urged to notify the
Museum of their new addresses
80 that THE BULLETIN and other
communications may reach them
promptly. A post card for this
purpose is enclosed with this
issue.

Members going away during
the summer, who desire Museum
matter sent to their temporary
addresses, may have this service
by notifying the Museum.

May-June, 19U

CHICAGO NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM BULLETIN

Page S

MARSHALL FIELD

MUSEUM RECEIVES LARGE GIFT
FROM MARSHALL FIELD

The Pittsfield Building and the Loop site
it occupies, together with 10,000 shares of
Marshall Field and
j[V^^^ "^ Company 6 per
^jJi^^ cent preferred

stock, have been
transferred to the
ownership of the
Chicago Natural
History Museum
as a gift from Mr.
Marshall Field,
Publisher and Edi-
tor of The Chicago
Sun, and member
of the Museum's
Board of Trustees,
it was announced
on April 4 by Mr. Stanley Field, President
of the Museum.

The contribution, one of the largest ever
received by this institution from any source,
is in fulfillment of a pledge made by Mr.
Marshall Field last September 15 on the
occasion of the celebration of the fiftieth
anniversary of the Museum.

At that time he authorized President
Stanley Field to inform the institution's
Board of Trustees, and the public, of his
intention to give the Museum "certain
pieces of property that should produce an
income at least equivalent to what his
annual contributions have been in recent
years." It was
coincident with
this announcement
that President
Field made public
the unanimous de-
cision, since carried
into effect, of Mr.
Marshall Field and
all other Trustees,
to change the name
of the institution
from Field Mu-
seum of Natural
History to its pres-
ent designation,
Chicago Natural
History Museum.
The Pittsfield
Building, erected
in 1928, is an im-
portant modern of-
fice structure of 38
stories, located at
the southeast corner of Wabash Avenue and
Washington Street. The first twelve stories
are occupied by shops and commercial
establishments; the upper floors are divided
principally into suites of offices and labora-
tories occupied by the medical and dental
professions.

Mr. Field's gift becomes a part of the
permanent endowment of the Museum and
is subject to no special restrictions.

PITTSFIELD
BUILDING

'COMIC STRIP" METHODS MAKE EXHIBITS MORE VIVID

The most striking parallel lies in the use
of the speech scroll or speech balloon. The
Aztec scribe used a speech scroll or speech
balloon (just like the circlet which issues
from the mouths of the characters to enclose
dialogue in our funnies) when he wished to
indicate that a certain character in the text
was talking; or used a similar symbol when
he wished to show that noise was issuing
from a trumpet or a drum.

"comics" not necessarily funny
Some critics may object to this com-
parison between our comics and the art of
the ancient Egyptians or the Aztec hiero-
glyphic writing. They may point out that
comics are funny, and that the Egyptian
and the Aztec homologues are not. But
all of our comics are not funny. Many of
them contain no humor at all and are merely
serialized stories in picture form. At any
rate, the pictorial representation or comic
strip technique offers too good a bet
to overlook. We have therefore worked
very hard to adapt it to a form suitable
for our particular needs.

When the idea was first considered, we
were about ready to prepare an exhibit for
Hall B on the Indians of the Shell Mound
Period, tn Kentucky. There were several
items to bring out: (1) These Indians used a
spear-thrower and a spear and did not have
the bow and arrow; (2) they did not make or
use pottery; (3) they planted no crops; but
due to their clam-eating habits, were as
sedentary as any agricultural group; (4)
they lived on the banks of rivers, from which
they gathered clams — their staple food;
(5) they ate so many clams and deposited
the discarded shells in such restricted areas
that large shell-mounds or middens gradu-
ally came into being — some of these shell-
mounds are 18 feet high and 300 feet or
more long; (6) they built their houses on
top of the clam-shell mounds, possibly
because the mounds provided good drainage;
(7) they buried their dead in shallow pits
dug into the shell-mounds; (8) they carried
on simple daily tasks such as fishing, chop-
ping wood, scraping skins, making baskets,
cracking nuts, and sewing skins with the aid
of simple bone and stone tools.

Now, this Kentucky Shell Mound civili-
zation is very simple but very important
because it is the earliest evidence of man in
the eastern United States (probably before
600 A.D.), and because it underlies all later
Southeastern cultures.

But how is one to show all of these daily
activities, each one of which is important
to an understanding of this civilization as a
whole? By means of ten specimens? No;
absolutely not. Ten specimens or even a
thousand could not illuminate all aspects of
their daily life. For example, take merely
those parts which center around clams.
Archaeological objects, such as stone knives
{Continued on page 5)

By PAUL S. MARTIN

CHIBP CURATOR, DEPARTMENT OP ANTHROPOLOGY

Some months ago, I read an article in
The New Yorker on the "funnies." I was
amazed to learn that, according to various
dependable polls, comic strips or funnies are
read by well over half of the country's adults
and by two-thirds of the children over six.
This constitutes a public of about sixty-five
million people who read comics every day!

It seems apparent that the comic strip is
a medium of expression to which many
people are accustomed, and one which is
probably adaptable to museum usage. The
big question, of course, is how to use it most
effectively. I was eager to try to fit the
comic strip into our schemes of new exhibi-
tion techniques because in essence it is
merely a form of pictorial representation.

We know that visitors will seldom read
labels more than two or three lines in length;
and yet many times we have interesting
information which we want to convey to our
visitors and cannot because they will not
read long explanatory labels. But almost
anyone will look at a picture or series of
pictures, and most people will glean more
information from a pictorial than from a
ivord stimulus. We determined therefore to
use this pictorial means of expression.

STRIPS HAVE ANCIENT ROOTS

There are some who abhor comics and
think of them as "cheap," "degrading,"
"lacking in imagination" and ruinous to
good taste for better things. But such a
view is somewhat biased and unperceiving;
for, in the opinion of many people of good
taste, the comic strip is really part of our
folklore, and, as such, is very important.
Many of my "highbrow" friends feel cheated
if they do not have a chance to read their
favorite comic strips each day. Mr. Lovell
Thompson, of Houghton Mifflin and Com-
pany, wrote in The Atlantic Monthly for
September, 1942 that the tendency of the
comics is to prolong a period (or era) by
anticipating it before it arrives, sustaining
it during its brief passage, and maintaining
its illusion after it is gone. He also explains
opposition to such strips as resulting from
man's fear of change; and says that when
some men have been shown the future in
comics, such as "Batman" or "Flash Gor-
don," they resent it and may forbid their
children to have anything to do with such
types of comics.

However, the ancestry of the comics is so
long and distinguished that it could claim a
coat of arms from the college of heraldry.
The painted bas reliefs in Egyptian art are
really nothing more or less than pictorial
representations, many of which depict
scenes of daily life and even of life after
death. The Aztec Indians developed a
system of writing which was also pictorial
representation and which in some ways
resembled our comic strip technique.

-^J^

T
H

E

L
I

F
E

O
F

J
O

E

E
L
K

P NOW WE I VOUGOTENI
EVrR HAvi , V CLAMS TO L/
MOVt AOAlN,/ ^ TWO DAYS
^

JOE HELPS illS MO I Hi U GATHI R CI AM5~j | ~ JOE AND FAI

^Jr ''ES, AND THtYRE SOWO

'^ , PLENTIFUL WE CAN ^"^
YOU GOT ENOUGH/ /. ) STAY HERE A
CLAMS TO LAST // V LONG TIME_
TWO DAYS

JOE HELPS ills MO I Hi U GATHI R CI AM5~j [ JOE AND FAMILY THROW SHELLS ON GROUND

I LCHl AINLi ID,

f f^"^^ ^.f^^''.^^"'' NFW SPEAR THROWER/

NOW 1 CAN make)
YOU A NEW ^

JOE, NOW A GROWN MAN,

TALKS TO HIS NEPHEW

JOE TELLS HIS NEPHEW ABOUT THE 500-FOOT-LONG MOUND

JOE HAS GROWN OLD AND
• DREAMS OF THE PAST

JOE DIES AND IS BURIED

IN THE MOUND

?Ht
'^^

How a shell mound grows

(Included in a new exhibit in Hall B)

May-June, 19ii

CHICAGO NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM BULLETIN

Page 5

(Continued from page S)
or axes, recovered from the shell mounds,
would not show our visitors how the shell
mound came into being or why it was so
important. Therefore, it will be seen, ob-
jects alone would not serve.

LENGTHY LABELS SUPPLANTED

What then? Formerly, it was our custom
to explain by means of word pictures those
aspects of the exhibition which could not
be brought out by specimens. Thus, in
this particular exhibit on the shell mound
civilization, we would
have prepared a long
label to explain that
clams were the staple
food, that because of
them the Indians could
live in villages long be-
fore farming was in-
vented, and that shell
mounds were the sites
for the villages and
came into being because
many thousands of
clams were eaten.

But what a label! It
would be long and dry,
and would only give a
word picture of what we
were talking about.
Most people do not
assimilate a word pic-
ture so readily as a real
picture in color. And,
worst of all, most people will not read a
label consisting of 100 or more words. I
don't blame them — it is not easy to read
standing up.

And so, what would have been our end
product? A case containing .some bone awls,
stone axes, knives, and scrapers, without
any story or meaning behind those tools,
whereas the interesting and meaty part of
our exhibit would be wasted becau.se it
would have been contained in a label which
few if any would read.

"one picture excels 10,000 words"

Therefore, the pictorial representation or
comic strip seemed like manna from heaven.
For with a series of pictures one can express
several ideas so graphically that the visitor
can quickly grasp them and will remember
them longer than if he had stopped to read
any labels. Pictures are like dioramas in
miniature.

But how to use this pictorial idea? At
first, we thought of creating a strip of
pictures showing such activities as clam
gathering, hunting with a spear thrower, and
crushing nuts on a stone mortar. Then we
intended to connect each picture with the
proper objects by means of an arrow (e.g.,
an arrow running from the hunting scene to
the spear and spear thrower). But this
scheme failed for two main reasons: (a) it
was not easy to show the tieup between the

picture and the object, and the exhibit was
unattractive because there were too many
arrows; and (b) because the strip of pictures
did not make a continuous story.

After many other experiments we finally
decided to create a series of nine pictures
arranged like the Sunday comics. These
pictures tell the story of why the people
settled near a river (because of a plentiful
supply of clams) and how the shell mound
came into being. Thus we could eliminate
a long label and still put over our story in a
dramatic, graphic, unforgettable manner.

ANCIENT AZTEC COMIC STRIP PARALLEL

The symbols in interrogation'point shape issuing from mouths of characters at right
were equivalent in style and purpose to ''speech balloons" used by modern cartoonists.

The remainder of the screen is devoted to
a story of daily life which is explained with
a minimum of labels. By means of actual
tools and sketches showing' how the tools
were used, nine daily activities of these
Indians are illustrated. For example, one
important daily activity was to chop wood.
This is shown by means of two actual stone
axes placed next to a drawing in color of an
Indian chopping wood with a stone ax.
The other daily activities are demonstrated
in the same way. This exhibit is now open
to the public in IJall B.

The task of adapting this new technique
to museum exhibits and to our particular
needs in Hall B (Archaeology of the New
World) has been a co-operative one.
Artist Gustaf Dalstrom, Curators George
I. Quimby and Donald Collier, and the
writer have striven to make the final product
attractive, beautiful, educational, and wor-
thy of our ideals for advancing the art of
teaching through exhibitions.

overpainting technique

For rendering the comic strip. Artist
Dalstrom used a technique employed by
many of the famous Rennaissance masters —
a technique called overpainling. The
method consists of applying transparent
layers of oil paint over a prepared tempera
painting. This technique gives the painting
a translucent quality which would be unob-

tainable by other means. A translucent
quality is desirable because it brings out
detail with clarity and delicacy. Naturally,
this technique, plus Mr. Dalstrom's artistry,
produces an unusually beautiful type of
comic strip. Looking at it, one is reminded
of the skill of the old masters as exemplified
by 15th Century paintings in Italian
churches.

restricted uses

We think the comic strip technique is a
useful exhibition tool, but one which should
be used with restraint. Constant use of any
good tool dulls it. We shall therefore use
this technique only when good taste and
urgent need make it desirable. I can think
of one exhibit where a comic strip will be a
necessity — an exhibit showing the immigra-
tion of the Indians to North America from
Siberia. We know fairly well the story of
this great trek of Mongoloids from Asia to
America, and we know about when the first
migration took place (some 20,000 to 30,000
years ago), but we possess none of the tools,
equipment or gear of these first discoverers
of North America. All of their houses, tools,
clothing, and the like have been lost for all
time or have long since turned to du.st.
Therefore, the only way in which we could
tell this epic story in an exhibit would be
by means of pictorial representation, such
as our comic strip.

FEDERAL ADMISSION TAX
RISE AFFECTS MUSEUM

The increase in the Federal tax on admis-
sions to amusement places, which became
effective April 1, applies also to all such
educational institutions as the Museum.

On the days when admission of 25 cents
is charged (Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednes-
days and Fridays) the tax is now 5 cents,
making a total entrance fee of 30 cents.

Children will be admitted free on all days,
as in the past, as will also teachers, uni-
formed members of the armed forces of the
United Nations, and Museum Members.

In the case of children admitted free on the
days when adults are charged, the govern-
ment requires payment of the tax for those 12
years of age, or over, but this charge will be
absorbed by the Museum itself, as has been
the practice ever since the former 3-cent tax
was imposed. Thus, every child over 12
admitted on a pay-day will cost the Museum
five cents in actual cash outlay, but the
Trustees regard this as a worthy expenditure
justified in the accomplishment of the educa-
tional aims of the Museum.

Layman Lectures Resume in October

Mr. Paul G. Dallwig, the Layman
Lecturer of the Museum, ended his season
of Sunday afternoon lectures on April 30,
after appearing before the largest audiences
since he began this activity in 1937. He
will return for a new series on the first
Sunday in October.

Page 6

CHICAGO NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM BULLETIN

May-June, 19U

Chicago Natural History Museum

Founded by Marshall Field, 1893

Roosevelt Road and Field Drive, Chicago

Telephone: Wabash 9410

THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES
Lester Armour Stanley Field

Sewell L. Avery Samuel Insull, Jr.

W. McCoRMicK Blair Charles A. McCulloch

Leopold E. Block William H. Mitchell

Boardman Conover George A. Richardson

Walter J. Cummings Theodore Roosevelt

Albert B. Dick, Jr. Solomon A. Smith

Howard W. Fenton Albert A. Sprague

Joseph N. Field Silas H. Strawn

Marshall Field Albert H. Wetten

John P. Wilson

OFFICERS

Stanley Field President

Albert A. Sprague First Vice-President

Silas H. Strawn Second Vice-President

Albert B. Dick Third Vice-President

♦Clifford C. Gregg Director and Secretary

Orr GOODeON Acting Director and Acting Secretary

Solomon A. Smith . . . Treasurer and Assistant Secretary

* On leave in active service as a Colonel in the United
States Army.

THE BULLETIN

EDITOR
Wilfred H. Osgood Curator Emerittts, Zoology

CONTRIBUTING EDITORS

Paul S. Martin Chief Curator of Ar>thropotogy

B. E. DahlGREN Chief Curator of Botany

Henry W. Nichols Chief Curator of Geology

Karl P. Schmidt Chief Curator of Zoology

MANAGING EDITOR
H. B. Hakte Public Relations Counsel

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

WORTHY OF ATTENTION—

Included in this issue of The Bulletin
are several items which may bring a measure
of satisfaction to all who are interested in
this Museum.

The article on the war experiences of
Emmet R. Blake, Assistant Curator of
Birds, and John W. Moyer, Bird Taxider-
mist, is a matter for pride not only as a
testimony of what these particular men are
doing, but because it is broadly representa-
tive of what all of the 40 Museum Trustees,
employees and volunteer associates who have
entered war service are doing.

That the scientific research sponsored by
this institution can be of practical value to
the nation is again attested in an item telling
of the Navy Department's publication of a
manual for service men on edible and poison-
ous plants, prepared by the Chief Curator of
the Department of Botany and one of his
associates.

We are proud, too, that the news contents
of this issue indicate no complete cessation
of regular work due to war preoccupation.
Accounts of the installation of additions to
the exhibits, presenting new subjects in new
types of display, point the fact that the
Museum is still progressing.

One item we have to print is discourag-
ing— the one about the increase in the
Federal tax on admissions, which emphasizes
again the Congressional myopia that re-
sulted in the grouping of educational insti-
tutions such as this in the classification of

"Amusements" to be taxed on the same
percentage basis as movies and other
theaters.

SUMMER PROGRAMS

FOR ADULTS

Backgrounds of the War. On Thursday
afternoons at 2:30, beginning July 6, the
Museum will present its third series of pro-
grams relating Museum material to the
news of the day. Like the "Backgrounds of
the War" series given in 1942 and 1943, these
programs will give information on the vari-
ous geographical areas involved in current
fighting, and their inhabitants. The pro-
grams are now in preparation, and a com-
plete schedule will appear in the next issue
of The Bulletin. Talks in the Lecture
Hall, motion pictures and slides, and tours
of exhibits will be among the features.

FOR CHILDREN

Raymond Foundation Movies. During
the summer, the James Nelson and Anna
Louise Raymond Foundation for Public
School and Children's Lectures will again offer
its annual summer series of free motion pic-
tures for children on Thursday mornings in
the James Simpson Theatre. E?.ch program
will be presented twice, at 10 a.m., and again
at 11, in order to accommodate maximum
numbers of children. The July-August
Bulletin will contain an announcement of
the full schedule of dates, and titles of the
films to be shown on each.

Staff Notes

Mr. Henry F. Ditzel, Registrar of the
Museum, retired on pension March 15.
He had served on the staff since 1905.

Mr. Timothy Reedy, night sergeant of
the Museum guards, has been retired on
pension after many years of faithful service.

Mr. James H. Quinn, Chief Preparator
in the Division of Paleontology, has enlisted
in the Navy, and left the.Museum April 25
to take up his duties. He has been given
the rating of Metalsmith 2c.

Mr. George I. Quimby, Jr., formerly
Assistant Curator of North American
Archaeology and Ethnology, has been pro-
moted to Curator of Exhibits.

Curator Hambly and Dr. Cole
in University 'Lectures
Dr. Wilfrid D. Hambly, Curator of Afri-
can Ethnology, was one of the two featured
speakers in a series of lectures on "Peoples
and Customs of the Pacific" presented at the
Art Institute by the Department of Anthro-
pology of the University of Chicago in co-
operation with the Chicago Natural History
Museum. Dr. Hambly appeared on April 7,
14, and 21, his subjects being: "Australia:
'The Black Boy' "; "Melanesia: The Stone

Age in the Pacific"; and "Polynesia: 'Sailors
of the Pacific.' "

The other lecturer is Dr. Fay-Cooper Cole,
Professor of Anthropology at the Univer-
sity (also Research Associate in Malaysian
Ethnology on the Museum staff), who
spoke April 28 on "The People and Courts
of Java"; and who will present "Pagan
Tribes of the Philippines" on May 5, and
"The Japanese Trail to Singapore" May 12.

THE MUSEUM HONOR ROLL
Now In the Nation's Service

t >S ^

Army

Theodore Roosevelt,

Trustee — Brig.Gen.
George A. Richard-
son, Trustee — Lt.

Col.
Clifford C. Gregg,

Director — Colonel,

G.S.C.
Dr. John Rinaldo,

Associate, Southwestern Archaeol. — Staff Sgt.
Dr. Sharat K. Roy, Curator, Geol. — Capt.
D. Dwight Davis, Curator, Anat. and Osteol. —

Corp.
Bryan Patterson, Curator, Paleontology — Pvt.
Emmet R. Blake, Asst. Curator, Birds — Special

Agent, War Dept.
Rupert L. Wenzel, Aast. Curator, Insects — Capt.
Henry S. DybAs, Assistant, Insects — Pvt.
William Beecher, Temp. Asst., Zool. — Pvt.
Henky Horback, Asst., Geol. — Pvt.
Jambs C. McIntyre, Guard — 2nd Lt.
Raymond J. Connors, Guard^Pvt.
Frank J. Dutkovic, Janitor — Pvt.

Navy

Lester Armour, Trustee — Comdr.

Samuel Insull, Jr., Trustee — Lieut. Comdr.

Joseph Nash Field, Trustee — Lieut.

Colin Campbell Sanborn, Curator, Mammals —

Lieut.
Dr. Alexander Spoehb, Asst. Curator, N. Amer.

Etlmol. — Lieut, (j.g.)
LOREN P. Woods, Asst. Curator, Fishes — Ensign
John W. Moyer, Taxidermist — Ch. Specialist

(Bur. Aeronautics)
James H. Quinn, Chief Preparator, Paleontol. —

Metalsmith 2C
Patrick T. McEnbry, Guard — Master«t-Arms
John Syckowski, Guard— Ch. Commissary Stewd.
George Jahrand, Guard — Ch. Water Tender
Clyde Jambs Nash, Guard — Ch. Gunner
Nicholas Rbpar, Printer — Aviation Machinist's

Mate 2C.
Morris Johnson, Carpenter — Carpenter's Mate

2C.
Herbert Nelson, Painter — Painter IC.
Elizabeth Best, Guide-Lecturer — •

Ensign, WAVES
Marie B. Pabst, Guide-Lecturer— WAVES

Marine Corps

Melvin A. Traylor, Jr. Associate, Birds — 1st Lt.

Coast Guard
M. C. Darnall, Jr., Guard — Lieut (j.g.)
John McGinnis, Guard — Ch. Boatswain's Mate

Other Services

Rudyerd Boulton, Curator, Birds — Staff of
Office of Strategic Services

Bryant Mather, Asst. Curator, Mineralogy-
Civilian Worker, Corps of Engineers, U.S. Army

Llewelyn Williams, Curator of Economic Botany
— on special service for U.S. Government

Dr. Julian A. Steybrhark, Asst. Curator, Herba-
rium— field work for Board of Economic Warfare

Dr. C. Martin Wilbur, Curator, Chinese Archaeol.
and Ethnol. — Staff of Office of Strategic Services

Served and Honorably Discharged:

Bert E. Grove, Guide-Lecturer — Medical Aide,
American Field Service, Africa.

May-June, 19H

CHICAGO NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM BULLETIN

Page 7

In Memoriam

CHARLES E. HELLMAYR

A brief cable received a few weeks ago
records the recent death in Switzerland of
Charles E. Hellmayr, Associate Curator of
Birds, at the age of sixty-six. Since 1942
it had not been possible to communicate
with him by mail, and although it was
known that his health had been threatened,
it had been hoped that he would survive.

Hellmayr joined the staff of the Museum
in 1922, coming from Europe after the first
World War to carry on ornithological
research which had been interrupted by the
death of the former Curator of Zoology,
Charles B. Cory. Mr. Cory had planned
the publication of a large work entitled
The Birds of the Americas. Two parts had
been issued, and manuscript partially pre-
pared for another in a series which promised
to run to ten or twelve large volumes.

SOUTH AMERICAN AUTHORITY

The completion of this series by Hellmayr
was especially welcomed by ornithologists
throughout the world, since he was known to
be especially qualified for it. At the time,
his reputation was established as the leading
authority on the classification of the birds
of South America, and he brought to the
work a large mass of accumulated notes, a
familiarity with the more important mu.se-
ums of Europe, and an unsurpassed
knowledge of the special literature con-
cerned. In his earlier years he had been
especially associated with Ernst Hartert,
ornithologist of the Tring Museum in Eng-
land, and later at Munich with Count von
Berlepsch whose great collection of South
American birds had received his particular
attention.

Beginning in 1922, he remained in resi-
dence in Chicago until 1931, diligently and
most effectively engaged in the tremendous
amount of research involved in the project.
Four large volumes were published and
data compiled for others. Meanwhile he
published numerous other ornithological
papers, the most important being a lengthy
volume on The Birds of Chile, a report on
Birds of Northeastern Brazil, and another on
Birds of the James Simpson-RooseveUs
Asiatic Expedition.

CONFINED BY NAZIS

In 1931, for personal reasons, he requested
permission to return to Europe to continue
there the preparation of the remaining
volumes to complete the series started in
Chicago. This was arranged and he estab-
lished himself in an attractive home in
Vienna with access to the library and col-
lections of the Vienna Museum. For
several years he continued to produce with-
out interruption, but when the Nazis took
over Austria he was suddenly seized and
confined with other intellectuals for real or
suspected expression of anti-Nazi senti-

ment. Fortunately he was enabled after a
time to regain his freedom and to make his
way to Switzerland, having lost most of his
property and having suffered much anxiety.
First in Zurich and later in Geneva, he
found excellent libraries and was able to go
on with his work. Under difficulties, there-
fore, the entire series of books was finished
and all but two parts of the final volume are
printed and issued. Manuscript of the un-
published parts is deposited in Switzerland
to be forwarded to Chicago whenever war
conditions will permit.

EPOCHAL RESEARCH

The series The Birds of the Americas is
one of the most important publications ever
issued by this Museum, and one of the larg-
est pieces of bibliographic and ornithological
research ever undertaken by a single author.
Like the famous British Museum Catalogue
of Birds it will for years be consulted by
students and specialists of all nations.

Hellmayr was known for a very genial
personality, as well as his tremendous con-
centration on his task, an encyclopedic
mind, a marvelous memory, and an enor-
mous capacity for application of his talents.
His hobbies were the study of the French
Revolution and collecting orchids. In early
life he had been fond of mountain climbing.
He is survived by his widow, Mrs. Kate
Hellmayr, who is in Geneva, Switzerland.

— W.H.O.

BOOK REVIEW

A Guide to Bird Watching. — The arrival
of the migrant birds in spring serves to
remind us of the intrinsic charm of these
travelers and of the marvel of their travels.
The avocation of bird-study has grown in
every part of the world during the past two
generations, with a steadily increasing litera-
ture directed especially to the bird lover.
At first this literature was primarily for the
purpose of identification: everyone making
birds a hobby seemed to be interested in
recognizing the different kinds and in know-
ing their names — sometimes indeed, to have
little if any other interest.

While the knowledge of migration dates,
supported by banding records, and of the
life habits of birds in general was accumulat-
ing, the classification of North American
birds was refined, and the literature for their
identification became more and more volu-
minous. This literature, indeed, has reached
the point of diminishing returns. Every
newcomer to bird study now must feel the
need for advice as to the value of the books
about birds with which he is confronted.
It is evident to the more thoughtful natura-
list that he needs also a guide to direct his
love of birds into more fruitful lines of
endeavor than mere identification.

A Guide to Bird Watching, by Joseph J.
Hickey, accomplishes the end described by

its title most satisfactorily. One may well
hope that bird-lovers may become bird-
watchers, and that their bird watching may
be directed into the more interesting and
more valuable studies of migration, popula-
tion estimates, ecological distribution, and
of individual and group behavior. These
subjects are effectively introduced by Mr.
Hickey.

The success of Mr. Hickey's book is
plainly due to the fact that he has a long
familiarity with bird study and, it may be
added, with bird students, from the amateur
side, while this knowledge is overlaid and
finally infiltrated by an equally competent
technical familiarity with the more scientific
aspects of ornithology and with an apprecia-
tion of the systematized natural history now
known as ecology. He is thus able to com-
bine practical advice to the beginner with
suggestions for the advanced student, and
with interest for the professional biologist.

A Guide to Bird Watching is recommended
to everyone interested in bird study, and to
naturalists whose special interests lie in
other groups of animals as well. — K.P.S.

Technical Publications Issued

The following technical publications re-
cently have been issued by the Chicago
Natural History Museum Press:

Botanical Series, Vol. 23, No. 2. Studies
of Central American Plants — IV. By Paul
C. Standley and Julian A. Steyermark.
February 14, 1944. 82 pages. $0.50.

Zoological Series, Vol. 29, No. 5. Amphi-
bians and Reptiles of the Big Bend Region
of Texas. By Karl P. Schmidt and Tarleton
F. Smith. February 23, 1944. 22 pages.
$0.15.

Zoological Series, Vol. 29, No. 6. Amphi-
bians and Reptiles of Northern Coahuila,
Mexico. By Karl P. Schmidt and David W.
Owens. February 23, 1944. 20 pages.
$0.15.

Zoological Series, Vol. 29, No. 7. New
Mordellid Beetles from the Western Hemi-
sphere. By Eugene Ray. February 29,
1944. 18 pages. $0.15.

Zoological Series, Vol. 29, No. 8. Snakes
of the Hoogstraal Expeditions to Northern
Mexico. By Hobart M. Smith. February
29, 1944. 18 pages, 2 text figures. $0.15.

Zoological Series, Vol. 29, No. 9. New
Frogs from Misiones and Uruguay. By
Kari P. Schmidt. March 15, 1944. 8 pages,
3 text figures. $0.15.

Zoological Series, Vol. 28, No. 3. A New
Subfamily of Beetles Parasitic on Mammals.
By Charles H. Seevers. March 17, 1944.
20 pages, 3 plates with captions opposite.
$0.20.

Botanical Series, Vol. 23, No. 3. Studies
of Central American Plants— V. By Paul
C. Standley and Julian A. Steyermark.
March 24, 1944. 40 pages. $0.30.

Zoological Series, Vol. 29, No. 10. Masti-
catory Apparatus of the Sloths. By Harry
Sicher. March 28, 1944. 8 pages, 3 text
figures. $0.10.

Page 8

CHICAGO NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM BULLETIN

May-June, 19H

WEEKDAY LECTURE TOURS
DURING MAY AND JUNE

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

May

Wed., May 3 — Spring Maneuvers (Lo-
raine Lloyd).

Fri., May 5 — Embalming the Past (Bert
Grove).

Wed., May 10 — Trees in Bloom (Miriam
Wood).

Fri., May 12 — Mothers of the Animal
Kingdom (Loraine Lloyd).

Wed., May 17 — Faces and Races the
World Around (Mrs. Roberta Cramer).

Fri., May 19— Wonders of the World
(Bert Grove).

Wed., May 24 — Polar Frontiers (Emma
Neve).

Fri., May 26 — Primitive Fighters (Mrs.
Roberta Cramer).

Wed., May 31 — Flowers as Symbols
(Miriam Wood).

June

Fri., June 2— Out of the Sky (Bert Grove) .

Wed., June 7 — Tropical Trail Blazers
(Emma Neve).

Fri., June 9— The World's Gardens
(Miriam Wood).

Wed., June 14 — Signs of the Times (Mrs.
Roberta Cramer).

Fri., June 16 — Equipment for Combat
(Loraine Lloyd).

Wed., June 21 — Primitive Humor (Emma
Neve).

Fri., June 23 — Vacation Fun Exploring
Nature (Loraine Lloyd).

Wed., June 28— The World at Play (Mrs.
Roberta Cramer).

Fri., June 30 — Yesterday Lives Again
(Bert Grove).

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

There will be no tour on Tuesday,
May 30, on account of the Memorial Day
holiday, but the Museum will be open to
visitors as usual.

GIFTS TO THE MUSEUM

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

Department of Anthropology:

From Dr. Henry Field, Washington,
D. C. — 10 ethnological specimens from
Macusi Indians, British Guiana.

Department of Botany;

From Dr. R. M. Harper, University, Ala.
—70 herbarium specimens, Alabama, and
46 photographs; from Hermann C. Benke,
Chicago — 116 herbarium specimens, Illinois,
Indiana, Wisconsin, Kansas, and Idaho;
from John E. Wilde and J. T. Baldwin, Rio

Branco, Brazil — 120 herbarium specimens,
Brazil; from C. W. Bazuin, Grand Rapids,
Mich. — 105 herbarium specimens, Michi-
gan; from Cpl. W. L. Tolstead, Camp
Barkeley, Texas — 33 specimens of algae,
Texas; from Dr. Fred A. Barkley, Austin,
Tex. — 21 specimens of algae, Texas and
Mexico; from Dr. Walter Kiener, Lincoln,
Neb. — 41 specimens of algae, Nebraska;
from Museo Nacional, San Jos6, Costa Rica
— 265 herbarium specimens, Costa Rica.

Department of Geology;

From Lieut. Alvin R. Cahn, U.S.N.R— a
molar of mammoth, Mammonteus primi-
genius, Alaska; from Dr. Henry Field,
Washington, D. C. — a specimen of sand,
British West Indies; from William Redman,
Chicago — a specimen of weathered sand-
stone, Wisconsin; from L. B. Roberts,
Monticello, Ark. — a specimen of wood
replaced with iron oxide, Louisiana.

Department of Zoology;

From Boardman Conover, Chicago — an
Ibis and a goshawk, Paraguay and Illinois;
from William J. Beecher, U. S. Army — a
cuscus skin and an Australian coot skull,
Solomon Islands; from Dr. C. Clayton Hoff,
Quincy, 111. — 13 water mites (slides of types
and paratypes) and 11 microscopic slides
of paratypes of 6 species of ostracods,
United States; from Dr. Henry Field,
Washington, D. C. — a jaguar skull and 2
turtles, British Guiana; from Chicago
Zoological Society, Brookfield, 111. — skull
of a reticulated python; from Lincoln Park
Zoo, Chicago — a Japanese macaque and
skull of a Chaoma baboon; from Minnesota
Museum of Natural History, Minneapolis,
Minn. — 37 snakes and 45 lizards, mostly
Philippine Islands; from Mrs. Henry A.
Wallis, Oak Park, 111. — 60 specimens com-
prising 24 kinds of sea shells, Florida; from
H. Rasool, Georgetown, British Guiana — 2
rodents, British Guiana; from Brother
Niceforo Maria, Bogotd, Colombia — 5 bats,
Colombia; from Walter F. Webb, Rochester,
N. Y. — 2 specimens of sea shell, Panama;
from D. Dwight Davis, U. S. Army — 10
specimens of Crustacea, Arkansas and Cali-
fornia; from Bryan Patterson, U. S. Army —
35 specimens of shells and Crustacea, Texas;
from Billy Milstead, Houston, Tex.— 39
snakes, Texas; from Dr. P. W. Fattig,
Emory University, Ga. — 439 beetles, 288
bees and wasps, 4 lacewings, and 2 fruit-
flies, Georgia; from Charles D. Nelson,
Grand Rapids, Mich. — 267 specimens com-
prising 88 lots of fresh water mussels,
Michigan and Japan; from Keith Evans,
Chicago — a marine fish, Mexico.

Library:

Valuable books from: American Museum
of Natural History, Bakelite Corporation,
and Harold N. Moldenke, New York; from
Pan American Union and Leon Kelso,
Washington, D. C; from Educational
Research Bureau for By-Product Ammonia,
and H. H. Tucker, Columbus, O.; from Dr.
P. W. Fattig, Emory University, Ga.; from
Afranio do Amaral, Instituto de Butantan,
Sao Paulo, Brazil; from William J. Phelps,
Caracas, Venezuela; from Noemi V. Cattoi,
Universidad de Buenos Aires, Argentina;
from Canadian Conservation Association,
London, Ontario; from Donald E. Savage,

Norman, Okla.; from Maine Geological
Survey, Augusta; from Illinois State Archae-
ological Society, Urbana; from Captain
Rupert L. Wenzel, Camp Ellis, 111.; from
Stanley A. Cain, Knoxville, Tenn.; and
from Henry F. Ditzel, F. H. Heyser, Mrs.
Charles W. Dempster, Dr. D. Ricardo
Calatroni, and The Chicago Tribune, all of
Chicago.

NEW MEMBERS

The following persons became Members
of the Museum during the period from
February 14 to April 15:

Associate Members
John P. Bent, Mrs. Joseph H. Biggs,
Willard F. Clark, Leopold E. Cole, Mrs.
William R. Folsom, Albert J. Foute, J. E.
Fuller, Joseph B. Garnett, Mrs. James E.
Howie, Samuel A. Larsen, Dr. B. J. Mix,
Miss Susan Naumann, Sidney Neuman,
Mrs. Vaughn G. Nishkian, Mrs. Ernest J.
Norcott, Wrisley B. Oleson, Mrs. Cornelius
Osgood, Charles H. Porter, Edward C.
Porter, August Rassweiler, Mrs. Bartlett
Richards, Hugh Robertson, D. G. Schneider,
Dr. J. E. Smuk, Ernest G. Sundin.

Annual Members

Mrs. John Jay Abbott, J. F. Ambrose,
Ralph Ambrose, Albert T. Bard, Miss
Florence E. Bigelow, Mrs. Albert V. Bori,
Mrs. George W. Brown, Mrs. Eugene E.
Bruckner, William H. Card, Paul Caspers,
Rev. W. M. Cassetty, Jr., Mrs. Peter S.
Clark, Henry P. Conkey, Mrs. Irving
Crown, John G. Curtis, Raymond J. Darby,
Mrs. H. F. Duncan, Harry Edward Eaton,
Dr. Franz S. Eriach, W. J. Fitzpatrick,
Herman H. Fleer, Joseph Fletcher, Mrs.
Carl A. Giesbert, Harry M. Goodman,
Miss Bernice M. Goodrich, Mrs. Marie J.
Graves, Mrs. Charles J. Haines, Mrs.
Robert J. Harvey, Eli Herman, Edward
Hershenson, Arthur H. Herts, Reynolds
Conrad Hieber, Bernard E. Hopper, Ralph
Horween, Dr. Harvey C. Johnson, Miss
Fannie S. Johnston, J. G. Kennedy, James
L. Lyon, Dr. Paul D. V. Manning, Hays
MacFarland, K. E. Morgaridge, Mrs. Wil-
bur C. Munnecke, James L. Palmer, J. W.
Pearce, Edward P. Renier, J. R. Shuman,
Joseph C. Sibley, Jr., Dr. Danely Philip
Slaughter, Eari T. Staffelbach, Felix B.
Stahl, Lyman A. Stanton, Mrs. Robert E.
Straus, Carroll H. Sudler, Jr., Mrs. Edwin
H. Swenson, Mrs. Robert Tarrant, Mrs.
Samuel G. Taylor, S. B. Teeters, Reuben
Thorson, O. M. Thorsson, Herman L.
Wahl, Mrs. Carroll T. Walsh, Eugene H.
Weak, Dr. Olin West, Frederick H. Weze-
man, Graybiel Graham White, R. R. Wible,
Mrs. Charies H. Willard, John G. Wilson,
Percy Wilson, Louis Zahn.

Museum Hours Extended

Summer visiting hours, 9 A.M. to
6 P.M. daily, including Sundays and
holidays, will go into effect at the
Museum on May 1, and continue
until September 4 (Labor Day).

PRINTED BY CHICAGO NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM PRESS

Chicago Natural History Museum

Fo

rme

rly^^qi/e^^yMiise^ News

Vol. 15

JULY-AUGUST, 1944

No8. 7-8

GIANT FOREST HOG— ONCE A 'MYSTERY CREATURE'— SHOWN IN NEW GROUP

By WILFRED H. OSGOOD

CURATOR EMERITUS, DBfARTMBNT OF ZOOUXSY

Until the beginning of the present century
there was still considerable justification for
calling Africa the "Dark Continent." The
source of the Nile was no longer debatable,
but the great Congo forest of the west
central part of the
continent had yielded
only part of its secrets.
Rumors and fre-
quently exaggerated
reports from native
sources told of mys-
terious animals not
yet seen by white men
and, although these
were subject to dis-
count based on expe-
rience elsewhere, some
of them were followed
up with very surpris-
ing results.

Most widely her-
alded was the dis-
covery of the large,
strangely colored,
giraffe-like okapi.
This animal was first
brought to notice in
1900 by Sir Harry
John.ston who secured
from natives some
strips of skin and in-
formation which led in
the following year to
the acquisition of an

entire skin demon.strating beyond doubt the
wholly novel character of the animal. Later
specimens, including skulls, showed it to be
more nearly related to extinct forms than to
modern giraffes and it was added to the list
of interesting animals known as living fossils,
survivors of a past that is gone.

While this was going on, reports were
circulating to the effect that the same forest
(the Semliki or Ituri) which harbored and
had so long concealed the okapi was also the
home of a huge wild hog, unlike any other,
and rather extravagantly described by some
as equal in size to a small rhinoceros and of a
ferocity unequaled for its kind. In fact,
some of these highly colored stories dated
back to the famous explorer, Henry M.
Stanley, twenty years earlier.

It was not until 1904 that these reports
were confirmed by Captain R. Meinertz-
hagen of the British East African Rifles,
who secured an imperfect skin from the
forest on the southeastern side of Mount
Kenya, and a perfect skull with a piece of
body skin from the region northeast of the

FOREST HOGS IN AN AFRICAN RAIN FOREST

A new habitat group recently installed in Carl E. Akeley Memorial Hall (Hall 22).

Taxidermy and accessories by Julius Friesser, assisted by Frank C. Wonder,

Victoria Nyanza. These were consigned to
the British Museum where the peculiarities
of the animal were at once recognized and
described under the name Hylochoerus
meinertzhageni, both the genus and the
species being new.

Since then, as suspected, the animal has
been found in various parts of the Congo
forest and some of its eastern extensions,
having much the same range as the richly
colored forest antelope known as the bongo.
No less than four varieties have been dis-
tinguished, one from the Ituri forest, one
from Liberia and the Ivory Coast, one from
the Cameroons, and one from the mountains
of eastern Tanganyika.

Although not so enormous in size as
reported, it is a very large heavy animal,

larger than any other African wild pig, and
has many peculiarities. It is jet black in
color and its enormous head is characterized
by a very broad snout and a pair of cres-
centic warty facial swellings several times
larger than those of the wart hog. Its pro-
truding tusks are curved as in the wart hog,
but somewhat shorter
and much heavier.
Altogether its facial
makeup is rather
nightmarish and dis-
tinctly unlovely.

Like the okapi, the
forest hog is probably
a survivor of former
times. It forms a sort
of link between the
bush-pigs and the
wart-hogs, the former
being nearer to the
typical pigs repre-
sented by the wild
boar. Most of the
specimens now in mu-
seums have come
through local hunters
and native sources
and few white hunters
have ever encountered
the animal. In the
depths of its forest
habitat it may be
heard at times, but to
get a sight of it is
largely a matter of
chance.
It was through correspondence with a
local hunter that our Museum obtained two
adult specimens and several newly born
young a few years ago. Although not in
perfect condition, these have been skilfully
prepared by Staff Taxidermist Julius Fries-
ser, and combined with accessories fashioned
by himself and Preparator Frank C. Wonder
to make a habitat group which has recently
been installed in Carl E. Akeley Memorial
Hall (Hall 22).

The animals are shown in a reproduction
of their natural rain forest environment,
framed against the buttresses of a gigantic
rainbow-colored liana-hung tree.

So far as known, the only other museum
group of this kind in the United States is in
the American Museum of Natural History.

Page S

CHICAGO NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM BULLETIN

July- August, 19U

As the reputed ancestor of the many
forms of cultivated kale and cabbage, this is
undoubtedly the most famous plant of that
part of the western edge of Europe that we

WILD CABBAGE— A PLANT OF THE FRENCH INVASION COAST

BY B. E. DAHUJREN Carrie Ryerson Hall (Hall 29— Plant Life),

CHIEF CURATOR. DEPARTMENT OF BOTAKY ^jje^e it will be Supplemented eventually

by other notable examples of the mustard
family.

This family, of some 3,000 species of the
temperate and frigid zones, includes orna-
mentals like the wall-flower, sweet alyssum
and stock — garden plants like cress, water-
cress and radishes, all the wild and culti-
vated mustards and their congeners, tur-
nips and rapes, as well as many forms and
races of cultivated kales and cabbages.
Distinctly Chinese forms of the latter are
supposedly of independent, east Asiatic
origin, but all the European cultivated
races of kale and collard as well as the
various European types of cabbage, leaf-
cabbage of different sorts, broccoli, cauli-
flower and Brussels sprouts — are commonly
held to be descendants of the wild cabbage
of western Europe. Whether this is literally
true, or where, when and how the very con-
siderable differentiation took place is entire-
ly unknown.

It is common practice, even among people
who work with plants and write about them
and thus might be expected to be more
critical, to be satisfied with attributing all
the distinctive qualities of cultivated plants
to cultivation. In the absence of all definite
information on how, exactly where and
when, it is probably reasonable to suspect
that there may be something wrong or
lacking in such an obvious explanation of
the origin of different kinds of kale and
cabbage, and their cultivated relatives as
well as of many other cultivated plants.
The great variability of some kinds of fruit
and fruit trees still existing in their wild
state suggests that the distinctive differences
might have been well developed before it
had ever occurred to anyone to bring these
plants into cultivation for food purposes.

There are innumerable such questions
which in the absence of direct evidence may

have to wait a long time for an answer, if
indeed an answer is possible until after we
have learned a great many other things
that we do not know at present. In the
meantime wild cabbage plants will probably
survive on the western edge of Europe.

KALE FROM CLIFFS OF DOVER

This plant of [he south and west coast of Europe is
probably ancestral to all European kinds of cultivated
cabbage. Original of this exhibit in t-lall 29 was grown
in the Museum from seed obtained a number of years
ago in the south of England.

have come to think of as the invasion coast.
It grows on the rocks and cliffs near the sea-
shores of England and
Wales, the Channel
islands and the main-
land from the Channel
coast to the Mediter-
ranean.

The accompanying
photograph shows a re-
production of the plant
in its flowering stage.
It was produced in the
Museum, using a plant
grown from seed ob-
tained in the neighbor-
hood of Dover by a
member of the Museum
staff on a visit to
England a few years
ago. It now forms an
inconspicuous part of
the botanical exhibits
in Martin A. and

WAR TRAGEDIES RELATED
BY FRENCH SCIENTIST

Shortly before Allied forces smashed their
way into France, a first-hand picture of the
sort of tragedies that befell scientists and
other intellectuals there under the German
occupation was furnished in a letter received
by Mr. Henry W. Nichols, Chief Curator of
Geology at this Museum. The letter is
from Andre Cailleux, a noted French
geologist, who has been a lieutenant of
artillery in the French army since the war
began, and is now with the fighting Free
French. Prof. Cailleux is a world authority
on glacial sands and climatology of the
glacial periods, and he collaborated with
Mr. Nichols on research projects before the
war. The letter here published is the first
communication from him since the end of
1939 when he sent a letter published in the
January, 1940 (p. 2) issue of The Bulletin
(then Field Museum News) :

Casablanca Militaire
Dear Sir:- Since three years, it is the first
opportunity I find to write you. I made the
campaign in France, in June 1940, from
Paris to Augouleme. I had the luck not to
be a prisoner. As I had absolutely no faith
in the policy of the Vichy government, I
asked to be liberated. I wanted not to be
obliged — occasionally — to fight against our
Allies. In August, 1940, I went back to
Paris, as a professor in the Lycee de Saint
Maur.

Those three years of life under the German
occupation have been awful. In my own
family, one of my aunts has been sent to a
camp de concentration; one of my cousins
was imprisoned — by the Gestapo for having
worked for the English. L.S., another one,
mayor of a little village in Bretagne, was
condemned to death (he had helped English
airmen); but happily his execution did not
take place and he was yet in life last August.
My brother-in-law, a captain of artillery,
was prisoner of war in Germany. In the
Lycee de St. Maur, three of the sixty pro-
fessors have been sent to prison by the
Gestapo, and one shot. In 1942, first, I
tried to join Africa; but the American
Consul at Lyon, to whom I paid a visit, told
me it was better to wait. In August, 1943,
I left my wife and children, crossed alone
the Pyrenean mountains, and after a few
weeks of prison in Spain, joined our army,
where I hope to fight as soon as possible
against the Germans.

HARVEST NEAR CALAIS

A peaceful landscape near what is today's invasion coast in France, 2S photographed

by Joseph Breitenbach. A.R.P.S.. a few weeks before war was declared in 1939.

Common tungsten ore fluoresces in ultra-
violet light. Prospectors often carry an
ultra-violet light outfit while seeking this ore.

July-Aiigtist, 19H

CHICAGO NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM BULLETIN

Page S

MAYAS AND AZTECS WERE ONLY AMERICAN INDIANS TO DEVELOP A SYSTEM OF WRITING

By PAUL S. MAKTIN

CHIEF CURATOR, DEPARTMENT OF ANTHROPOLOGY

According to the latest archaeological
evidence — evidence recently recovered from
beneath the dry lake gravels of a Pleistocene
lake in Arizona — the American Indian has
been in the New World at least 15,000 years
and perhaps as long as 25,000. He un-
doubtedly came from Asia via Bering Strait.

The earliest date recorded by man in the
New World — about A.D. 350 — comes from
Uaxactun, Guatemala. What man did in
the New World during the thousands of
years before this date is not known. At
some time during this period he began to
develop a system of agriculture which finally
made it possible for him to domesticate at
least thirty different food plants, many of
which are in daily use on our tables.

During the millennia that man has been in
the New World he has invented only one
system of writing, and that was in Central
America. This system was used by two
peoples — the Mayas and the Aztecs. The
Mayas developed and extended it more than
did the Aztecs.

Who were (and are) the Mayas and of
what did their ancient civilization consist?

HIGHLY DEVELOPED ClILTURE

The Maya Indians, a subdivision of the
Mongoloid race, live in Central America.
At least twenty-five hundred years ago they
had become agriculturists, raising beans,
squash, peppers, tobacco and maize. They
did not posses the plough nor any domesti-
cated beast of burden.

Large towns and then great cities sprang
into existence. Each city was provided
with at least one civic center and the princi-
pal structures were built around it. Many
of the temples were placed on the tops of
pyramids. Since the true arch was not
known to the Mayas, the rooms of the
temples and palaces were long and narrow.
The buildings were elaborately and beauti-
fully decorated. The achievements of the
Mayas stand head and shoulders in every
direction above those of all other American
Indian peoples.

Politically, the Maya cities may be roughly
classed as city-states, each one governed by
an hereditary theocracy. For the most part,
these city-states, held together by a common
culture, lived peacefully, although just prior
to the Spanish Conquest there was conflict
among them. The earliest city-states, which
flourished from a.d. 350 to about 850, were
gradually abandoned for various reasons, the
chief of which was the wasteful system of
using the land. Following this period, a
renaissance of Maya culture flowered in
Yucatan for six centuries and was then
stamped out by the Spaniards in 1541.

The Maya system of ■writing consists of
phonetic and ideographic symbols. We do
not know how and where they developed.
It is certain that they are indigenous and

show no trace of any Old World influence.
The earliest inscriptions in the oldest city
yet discovered are perfectly set forth. The
system of numeration by position, the con-
cept of zero, and all the other highly special-
ized refinements which I shall briefly
describe were at this time already perfected.
No changes or improvements in the late
inscriptions have been noted by epigraphers.

At the present time
about one-third of all
Maya glyphs can be
read. These deciphered
glyphs include signs for
the day and the month,
for two kinds of num-
bers from zero to in-
finity, signs for periods
of time, for the four
directions and the asso-
ciated colors, signs for
several gods and for the
sun, moon, Venus,
Mars, and Jupiter. The
notes and explanations
left by the Spanish
padres have given us
the key which makes it
possible to read what
we can; but their notes are not so helpful as
one might expect.

Maya hieroglyphic writing, as already
noted, is partly phonetic and partly ideo-
graphic. It is possible that Maya writing
was similar to rebus writing — i.e., a system
where a character has one sound but several
meanings. The Aztecs certainly employed
the rebus system.

Where do Maya inscriptions occur? They
are found on large stone monuments and
stone altars set up in front of temples, on
wooden and stone lintels, in bas-reliefs of
molded stucco, on bone, shell, metal, and
pottery, and in three codices inscribed in
color on fibre-paper. The Mayas possessed
many more books, but the Spanish priests
burned thousands of them and therefore only
three remain.

OBSESSED BY TIME'S FLIGHT

What do Maya inscriptions say? Since
only one-third of all Maya glyphs have been
read, it is impossible to know the total con-
tent of the inscriptions. We guess that they
do not record any deeds of personal glory or
great conquests. They are, first, concerned
mostly with the counting of time. Interest
in the pa-ssage of time was almost a fanatical
pas.sion of the Mayas, and time was noted
with meticulous care.

Second, the inscriptions recorded and pre-
dicted astronomical phenomena such as
revolutions of the planets, eclip.ses, and
celestial conjunctions. The Maya astrono-
mers possessed lunar and Venus tables.
The lunar tables predicted such things as
the appearance of the new moon and eclipses
of the moon. The Venus tables forecast the

movements of the planet Venus and were so
accurate that the accumulated error in a
thousand years would not have amounted
to more than a day.

Third, we know from Spanish chronicles
that the codices were used to cast horoscopes
and predict forthcoming events. They were
also employed by the priests in celebrating
ceremonies. Since the glyphs which can be

MAYA NUMERALS

(1 • : 1 :l II nil

ZERO ONE TWO FIVE EIGHT TEN NINETEEN

COMPARISON OF SYSTEMS OF WRITING NUMBERS

OUR SYSTEM
(DECIMAL)

Nunib«r lo bi
Writltn

3rd potltiMi
\)»iH of 100

Endpocllion
Units of 10

1st pooillon
Units of 1

Rosull

405

4

4XI00'«'

0

0X10 +

5

•5X1-

405

1

MAYA SYSTEM
(VIGESIMAL)

Numbtr lo bt
WrIllin

3r«po<lllon
UnlU 0(400

2nd potlfion
Units of 20

Ist position i - , 1
Units of 1 ""•"" 1

405

•
1X400 i

•

oxeot

1

5X1-

405

TABLE SHOWING DIFFERENCES BETWEEN OUR SYSTEM
OF WRITING NUMBERS AND THAT OF THE MAYAS

read all deal with numbers, astronomy, and
time, I am, perforce, obliged to describe now
very briefly some of the mathematical ac-
complishments of the Maya Indians.

INVENTION OF "zERO CONCEPT"
Sometime before the beginning of the
Christian era (perhaps 200 B.C.), the Mayas
devised the principle of notation by position,
a system which was adequate for handling
their mathematical data. This system plus
the invention and u.se of the mathematical
concept of zero was a brilliant achievement.
The Maya zero was used for position value,
just as we use our zero. Without the zero
and positional numeration, it would not be
possible to use position to indicate the value
of numerical .symbols. For example, in our
style of notation, the number 405 may be
broken down as follows: 5 units of one, zero
units of len, and 4 units of one hundred. The
Maya Indians used their symbol for zero
exactly as we do. The Egyptians, Greeks,
and Romans did not possess this useful con-
cept— it was employed in the Old World (in
India) some centuries after it had been in
use by the Mayas. The Maya system of
numeration had vast advantages of flexi-
bility and speed over any of the contempo-
raneous methods of numerical notation used
in the Old World.

Instead of a decimal system (a count
based on units of 10) such as we use, the
Mayas used a modified vigesimal system (a
count based on units of 20). That is, twenty
units in any position are required to equal
one unit in the position next higher (1, 20,
400, 8,000 and so on, in.stead of 1,10, 100,
1,000 and so on). They handled uneven

Page i

CHICAGO NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM BULLETIN

July-August, 19ii

quantities with surprising accuracy. For
example, using the formula 81 moons equals
2,392 days, they computed the length of the
lunar period as 29.53086 days.

The Mayas invented two methods of
writing their numbers. One used the bar
and dot numerals which may be compared
to our Roman notation; the other used the
head-variant numerals which may be likened
to our Arabic notation.

ELABORATE MAYA CALENDARS

The Maya Indians also developed elabo-
rate methods of counting time. These may
be briefly described.

First: The earliest and most often used
part of their calendar — the sacred year of
260 days. This was an arbitrary period of
time, not related to the solar year, but was
probably understood by all the common
folk. Certainly, it was the period of time in
use all over Mexico and Central America.

Second: A 360-day solar year of 18 months
of 20 days each, plus a correction of 5 days,
making a total of 365 days. However, by
the year a.d. 350 (the date of the earliest
inscription) the Maya priests knew that the
year was actually about six hours longer
than 365 days. Since they did not have an
elastic month like our February, they could
not add a day here and there without throw-
ing ofT the whole elaborately interlocked
system of days, months, and years. How-

MAYA DATE

January 24, 771 A.D. as expressed in Maya notation— a total of L418,400 days which

had passed since the Maya year 0 (August 13. 3113 B.C., in our calendar).

ever, in all inscriptions, the priests always
made the necessary calculations to show how
many days the recorded, official year was
ahead of the true year. By their formulae*
they computed the length of the solar year
as 365.2429 days, which was as accurate as
our own Gregorian correction (365.2425
days) and was developed at least a thousand
years earlier. They calculated their solar
year so well that in 4,000 years there was an
error of only one day! This is an achieve-
ment for a people with no precision instru-
ments. One can only guess the myriads of
dawns that had to be observed before such
accuracy could be obtained.

Third: A period of time called the Calen-
dar Round. This consisted of 18,980 days
or 52 years.

Fourth: The long count or the count of
days which records the elapsed time since
the beginning of the Maya calendar, or 3113
B.C. in our chronology. This zero point for
the Maya calendar was a hypothetical date
rather than an historical one; but it may
have signified the beginning of Cosmos or
Time for them. At any rate, no date earlier
than 350 a.d. has yet come to light, and this
is nearly two thousand eight hundred years
after the inauguration of the Maya calendar.
Actually, such a long count was not neces-
sary and the Mayas probably realized this.
It has been suggested that the Mayas used
this cumbersome count to create a spirit of
eternity and to express
the grandeur of time.

How long it took to
gather enough astro-
nomical observations
for computing these fig-
ures is anyone's guess.
Which came first — the
astronomical observa-
tions or the system of
writing and notation?
Or did they grow up
together? It must be
clear that several centu-
ries would be required
for accomplishing these
jobs and that the Maya
system of writing must
date back at least to the
beginning of our era.

AZTEC GLYPHS AND
PICTOGRAPHS

Now let us turn
briefly to the Aztec
system of writing.

Aztec inscriptions
consist of hieroglyphs
and pictographs. Some
pictures were on their
way to becoming
glyphs. For example,
the conquest of a town

* 19 years equals 235
moons, and 149 moons equals
4,400 days.

INITIAL SERIES INTRODUCING

GLYPH
Grotesque head in center is only vari.
able clement. This is the name glyph
of the deity who is patron of the month
(here Cumhu) in which the initial series
terminal date falls.

9 Baktuns

(9x144,000 days

- 1,296,000 days)

17 Katuns
(17x7,200 days
= 122,400 days)

0 Tuns
(0x360 days
= 0 days)

0 Uinals
(0x20 days
= 0 days)

OKins

(0 X 1 day
= 0 days)

U Ahau (day)

Name-glyph of the
deity who is patron
o( the ninth day in
the nine day series.

Meaning unknown

Glyph denoting
moon age of initial
series terminal date
(here "new moon")

Place of current
lunar months in lu'
nar half-year period
(here 2nd position)

Meaning unknown

Meaning unknown

Current lunar
month (here 29
days in length)

18 Cumhu (month)

was shown by the picture of a temple with a
spear driven through it and the glyph of the
town placed near the speared-temple-glyph.
Glyphs for towns were made on the same
principle as rebus writing; and some of these
glyphs were probably phonetic in character.

The Aztec glyphs which are known, how-
ever, are more nearly understood, since the
Spaniards left behind more complete expla-
nations and interlinear translations. About
seventy-five per cent of Aztec glyphs can be
read by students in this field.

The Aztec calendar was vastly inferior to
that of the Mayas. The Aztecs used the
260-day sacred year, the 360-day year plus
the 5-day addition, and the 52-year period.
But they had no method by which they
could fix any date except within cycles of
52 years. Therefore, when we read that a
man was born on the day 8 Deer in the year

CHAIR

MAN

CALLI
(HOUSE)

TEPETL
(HILL)

CHAIRMAN

a

CALTEPEC
(HOUSEHILL)

OCELOTL
(WILDCAT)

+

TEPETL
(HILL)

OCELOTEPEC
= (WILDCAT.
HILL)

AZTEC

HIEROGLYPHICS

Made up

of pictures similar

to our rebuses.

12 Reed, we do not know whether that
means 1439 or 1387 or some period before or
after one of those years.

But it seems clear that the Mayas and
Aztecs both received their writing and their
calendar from a common source — or possibly
they may even have been developed by the
Mayas themselves.

The significance and interest of Maya and
Aztec writing will be made clearer by a few
brief statements about the three stages of
development through which writing passes
the world over:

1. Simple picture writing, wherein a
picture of the idea to be conveyed is the
first stage. Such writing is called "picto-
{Continued on page 7, column 2)

July-August, 19ii

CHICAGO NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM BULLETIN

Page S

MUSEUM GEOLOGIST WILL STUDY NEW VOLCANO

Taking advantage of what he describes as only "the seventh opportunity
in all human history to make scientific observations on the development of a
newly occurred volcano," with the comment that at the time of all other
occurrences of such a phenomenon scientists "missed the boat," Dr. Paul 0.
McGrew of the Museum's geology staff left Chicago for Mexico on June 8.

Dr. McGrew's destination is El Parfcutin,
new volcano in the state of Michoacan, born
February 20, 1943, when it suddenly
erupted in the middle of a corn field, much
to the amazement of the farmers. Since that
time it has grown from a mere smoking hole
in the ground to a volcanic cone rising 1,200
feet above the ground surface, belching with
explosive violence tremendous quantities of
volcanic bombs, cinders and ash, and clouds
of gases.

HOW THE NEW VOLCANO
IN MEXICO WAS BORN

WILL COLLECT EXHIBIT MATERIAL

Only the uniqueness of this phenomenon,
presenting an imperative opportunity which
if now missed might be lost forever, induced
the Museum authorities to make an excep-
tion to the policy of "no expeditions for the
duration" adopted immediately after Pearl
Harbor, it is emphasized by Mr. Orr Good-
son, Acting Director. Funds for conduct of
the expedition were made available to the
Museum by a donor who wishes to remain
anonymous.

Dr. McGrew will make comprehensive
geological observations, and will collect an
extensive representation of the numerous
minerals and other products of Volcdn Pari-
cutin for study and for museum exhibition.
Later, the Museum Press will publish the
results of his researches.

"El Paricutin is the first volcano of which
science has the opportunity of recording the
complete history from the time of its first
occurrence," said Dr. McGrew. "It is
unfortunate that El Paricutin chose war
time to make its costly but magnificent and
interesting appearance. In peace time such
a geologically important phenomenon would
attract geologists from all over the world.
Mother Nature, however, will not time her
manifestations to accord with human con-
venience.

COVERS THREE-MILE AREA

"It is important, therefore, that as many
geologists as possible visit this fiery monster
now, since much data would be lost if we
waited until the volcano finally becomes
extinct and disintegration of the cone begins.
In 1759 a volcano known as El Jurillo grew
50 miles from the site of El Parfcutin, but
geologists at that time failed to observe its
eruption.

"The cone and its lava flows now cover
an area of more than three square miles.
Heavy falls of volcanic ash and cinders have
damaged farm lands as much as 20 miles
away, and fine volcanic ash has fallen as far
away as Mexico City, more than 200 miles
distant."

By henry W. NICHOLS

CHIEF CURATOR, DEPARTMENT OF GEOLOUY

Last year a new volcano burst forth in the
midst of a plowed field, two miles from the
small village Paricutin in the state of
Michoacan, Mexico, and has remained in
eruption ever since. This was an event of
outstanding geological importance, for it is
the first time within the memory of living
men that it has been possible to study the
birth and early life of a volcano.

The eminent Mexican geologist, Ezekiel
Ordoniez, visited the volcano within three
days of its appearance and carefully col-
lected all possible information of the
phenomena attending its birth. He also
arranged to keep the volcano under con-
tinued scientific observation. It is from his
observations and those of several geologists
of the United States that this account is
drawn.

The birth of the Paricutin volcano was
preceded by fifteen days of earthquake
shocks. At first there were from fifteen to
thirty every day, increasing to more than
300 daily towards the end. No one at that
time suspected that these shocks were a
consequence of hot lavas and volcanic ga.ses
forcing their way from the depths towards
the surface of the earth.

CORNFIELD BELCHES FLAMES

During the afternoon of February 20,
1943, there were numerous shocks accom-
panied by subterranean rumblings. In the
late afternoon Dionisio Pulido, who was
plowing the field, saw small columns of
smoke rising from a small depression in the
field. These rapidly increased and soon were
accompanied by flame while dust and frag-
ments of rock were thrown in the air.
Naturally the farmer was terrified and ran
to the neighboring villages of Paricutin and
Parangaricutiro to spread the alarm.

About three hours later visitors from these
villages found dense clouds of dark smoke
issuing from a hole thirty feet deep. The
first explosion came at about 10 o'clock that
night, and ever since then the volcano has
been in violent eruption. During that night
the explosions increased and became so
severe that the villagers were terrified by
shocks which could be felt in villages several
miles away and by great flames which rose
above the crater. The explosions were so
violent that they ejected great blocks of rock
from the crater and projected them two or
three thousand feet into the air. By the

next morning these rocks as they fell had
built a mound nearly a hundred feet high.
This mound of ejected rock contained
little but ash and cinders, for lava did not
appear until the fourth day. And by that
time the cone was 180 feet high, capped by
a column of smoke, steam and ash which
rose 3,000 feet in the air. Every four
seconds a terrific explosion projected great
blocks of incandescent lava as high as 2,000
to 3,000 feet. These blocks of hot lava,
appropriately called volcanic bombs, fell
around the cone so thickly that it was im-
possible to approach it closer than a mile.
They were of all sizes, some of them more
than fifty feet in diameter.

NOW TWELVE HUNDRED FEET HIGH

As might be expected, this magnificent
and terrible display attracted and continues
to attract hosts of visitors including many
tourists from the United States. A week
later, Parfcutin had grown to a diameter of
1,500 feet, a height of 550 feet, and con-
tained nearly four million cubic yards of
stone from the earth's interior. By April
of this year it reached a height of 1,200 feet
and it is still growing.

The terrific violence of the initial eruption
lasted about three weeks, after which it mod-
erated for a time, but in March it entered in-
to a new violent phase which endured with
■ increasing severity through September, after
which the eruptions again moderated. From
that time through April of this year the
eruptions were comparatively moderate, so
much so that it was possible at times to
climb to the rim of the crater. This was
merely an intermission, as a late report to
the Museum states that the volcano has
resumed its more active eruptions.

Falling ash from the eruption compelled
the abandonment of neighboring villages
and destroyed the vegetation and the fer-
tility of the soil for miles around. This
destruction of the fertility of the soil by a
covering of volcanic ash, although a great
present calamity will be a future benefit,
for the ash when it decomposes, will become
a soil of unusual fertility.

After the first few weeks there were
repeated lava flows. These issued from the
base of the cone and its lower slopes.
Examples of the lavas from the Parfcutin
volcano, presented by Mr. Benjamin B.
Felix, may now be seen in Clarence Buck-
ingham Hall (Hall 35) of the Museum.

Book on Pacific Fauna

The Pacific World, edited by Fairfield
Osbom of the New York Zoological
Society, is intended as an introduction to
the geography of the Pacific region for
servicemen and their relatives. Chief
Curator Karl P. Schmidt of the Museum's
Department of Zoology, made considerable
contributions to this co-operative effort to
answer the many questions that have come
to the museums since Pearl Harbor.

Page 6

CHICAGO NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM BULLETIN

July-August, 19H

Chicago Natural History Museum

Founded by Marshall Field, 1893
Roosevelt Road and Field Drive, Chlcafio

Telephone: Wabash 9110

THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES
Lester Armour Stanley Field

Sbwbll L. Avery Samuel Insull, Jr.

W. McCoRMicK Blair Charles A. McCulloch

Leopold E. Block Wiij,iam H. Mitchell

boardman conover george a. richardson

Walter J. Cummings Theodore Roosevelt

Albert B. Dick, Jr. Solomon A. Smith

Howard W. Fenton Albert A. Spbague

Joseph N. Field Silas H. Strawn

Mar.<ihall Field Albert H. Wbttbn

John P. Wilson

OFFICERS

Stanley Field President

Albert A. Spragub Firtt Vice-President

Silas H. Strawn Second Vice-President

Albert B. Dick Third Vice-President

♦Clifford C. Grbg<3 Director and Secretary

Orr Goodson Acting Director and Acting Secretarv

Solomon A. Smith . . . Treasurer and Assistant Secretary

* On leave in active service as a Colonel in the United
States Army.

THE BULLETIN

EDITOR
Wilfred H. Osgood Curator Emeritus, Zoology

CONTRIBUTING EDITORS

Paul S. Martin Chief Curator of Anthropology

B. E. Dahlgren Chief Curator of Botany

Henry W. Nichols Chief Curator of Geology

Karl P. Schmidt Chief Curator of Zoology

MANAGING EDITOR
H. B. Haste Public Relationt Counsel

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

ANNUAL REPORT PUBLISHED

Delayed by printing manpower shortage
and paper stock difficulties, the Annual
Report of the Director to the Board of
Trustees, an illustrated book of 121 pages,
was published June 14 by the Museum
Press. Acting Director Orr Goodson
announces that copies will be mailed to
all Members shortly.

The Report lists among outstanding con-
tributions of the year the following: from
Marshall Field, publisher of the Ckicago
Sun, $100,916.41; from Stanley Field, presi-
dent of the Museum, $20,076; from Mrs.
James Nelson RajTnond, $6,000; from Wal-
lace W. Lufkin, $2,500; from Haddon H.
MacLean, $1,000; from the estate of Joseph
Adams, a bequest of $12,025, and from
Lieut. Alvin R. Cahn, U.S.N. R., an anthro-
pological collection valued at more than
$1,000. Cash gifts of unspecified amounts
were also received from Boardman Conover,
a trustee; Peder A. Christensen of Detroit,
Michigan; the late Dr. Louis Schapiro, and
from the estate of Joan A. Chalmers.

The number of visitors received at the
Museum during 1943 declined slightly com-
pared to 1942, 1,021,289 persons coming
into the building as against 1,025,002 in the
preceding year, the Report discloses. Of
this number, all but 77,980 were admitted
free, either because they came on the free
admission days, or belonged to classifica-
tions admitted free on all days — children,
teachers, Museum members, and members
of the armed forces of the United Nations.

Latin-American Journalists
Visit the Museum

A group of distinguished Latin-American
newspapermen and publishers touring the
United States under the auspices of the
National Press Club and the Co-ordinator
of Inter-American Affairs, visited the
Museum and were guests of Acting Director
Orr Goodson at lunch on May 24. Those in
the party were: Rodrigo Facie Brenes,
Editor and Publisher, Diario de Costa Rica,
Costa Rica; Ricardo A. Peralta, Director,
El Liberal Progresista, Guatemala; Juan
Ramon Aviles, Editor, La Noticia, Mana-
gua, Nicaragua; Alberto McGeachey, Edi-
tor, Star-Herald and Estrella de Panama,
Panama City, Panama; Julio Velis Lopez,
Publisher and Editor, La Correspondencia,
Cienfuegos, Cuba; Luis Enrique Franco,
Editor, La Informacion, Santiago, Domini-
can Republic. The group was conducted
by Mr. A. Edward Stuntz of the office of
the Co-ordinator of Inter-American Affairs
and Mr. Charies E. Bibbo.

Staff Notes

Lieut. Colin C. Sanborn, U.S.N.R.,
Curator of Mammals, visited the Museum
in May en route to his new station in the
Pacific.

Mr. Clifford H. Pope, Curator of Amphi-
bians and Reptiles, lectured at Black
Mountain College near Asheville, Tennessee,
and visited the University of the South at
Sewanee, Tennessee. He made collections
for the Division of Reptiles in the Appa-
lachian region. Mr. Pope recently was
elected a fellow of the New York Zoological
Society.

Mr. Llewelyn Williams, Curator of
Economic Botany on leave of absence since
early in the war to conduct a project for the
U.S. government in South America, made a
furlough visit to the Museum during June.
He is now returning to his war work in
Venezuela.

Chief Curator Henry W. Nichols, of the
Department of Geology, completed fifty
years of service in the Museum this June.

Mr. Milton Mahlburg, Director of the
Rockford Natural History Museum, spent
a day at the Museum and plans to volunteer
his services during the month of August in
the N. W. Harris Public School Extension
Department.

Miss Joan Sweany will do volunteer work
in the Department of Zoology four days a
week during the summer months.

recently by Acting Director Orr Goodson.
Dr. Wilton M. Krogman, Associate Pro-
fessor of Anatomy and Physical Anthro-
pology at the University of Chicago, has
been appointed a Research Associate in
Physical Anthropology. Professor Hanford
Tiffany, head of the department of botany
at Northwestern University, will act as
Research Associate in Cryptogamic Botany
at the Museum.

The appointment of two well-known
Chicago scientists as research associates on
the staff of the Museum was announced

THE MUSEUM HONOR ROLL
Now in the Nation's Service

Army

Theodore Roose\'Elt,

Trustee — Brig.Gen.
George A. Richard-
son, Trustee — Lt.

Col.
Clifford C. Gregg,

Director — Colonel,

G.S.C.
Dr. John Rinaldo,

Associate, Southwestern Archaeol. — Staff Sgt.
Dr. Sharat K. Roy, Curator, Geo!. — Capt.
D. Dwight Davis, Curator, Anat. and Ostcol. —

Corp.
Bryan Patterson, Curator, Paleontology — Pvt.
Emmet R. Blake, Asst. Curator, Birds — Special

Agent, War Dept.
Rupert L. Wenzel, Asst. Curator, Insects — Capt.
Henry S. Dybas, Assistant, Insects — Pvt.
Wiluam Beecher, Temp. Asst., Zool. — Pvt.
Henry Horback, Asst., Geol. — Pvt.
James C. McIntyre, Guard — 2nd Lt.
Raymond J. Connors, Guard — Pvt.
Frank J. Dutkovic, Janitor — Pvt.

Navy
Lester Armour, Trustee — Comdr.
Samuel Insull, Jr., Trustee — Lieut. Comdr.
Joseph Nash Field, Trustee — Lieut.
Colin Campbell Sanborn, Curator, Mammals —

Lieut.
Dr. Alexander Spobhr, Asst. Curator, N. Amer.

Ethnol. — Lieut, (j.g.)
LoREN P. Woods, Asst. Curator, Fishes — Ensign
John W. Mover, Taxidermist — Ch. Specialist

(Bur. Aeronautics)
Jambs H. Quinn, Chief Preparator, Paleontol. —

Metalsmith 2C
Patrick T. McEnbry, Guard — Master-at-.\rms
John Syckowski, Guard — Ch. Commissarj' Stewd.
George Jahrand, Guard — Ch. Water Tender
Clyde Jambs Nash, Guard — Ch. Gunner
Nicholas Rbpar, Printer — Aviation Machinist's

Mate 2C.
Morris Johnson, Carpenter — Carpenter's Mate

IC.
Herbert Nei^on, Painter^Painter IC.
Elizabeth Best, Guide-Lecturer —

Ensign, WAVES
Marie B. Pabst Guide-Lecturer— WAVES

Marine Corps

Mblvin A. Traylor, Jr. Associate, Birds — 1st Lt.

Coast Guard
M. C. Darnall, Jr., Guard — Lieut, (j.g.)
John McGinnis, Guard — Ch. Boatswain's Mate

Other Services

Rudyerd Boulton, Curator, Birds — Staff of
Office of Strategic Services

Bryant Mather, Asst. Curator, Mineralogy-
Civilian Worker, Corps of Engineers, U.S. Army

Llewelyn Williams, Curator of Economic Botany
— on special service for U.S. Government

Dr. Julian A. Steyerhark, Asst. Curator, Herba-
rium— field work for Board of Economic Warfare

Dr. C. Martin Wilbur, Curator, Chinese Archaeol.
and Ethnol. — Staff of Office of Strategic Services

Served and Honorably Discharged:

Bert E. Grove, Guide-Lecturer — Medical .\ide,
American Field Service, Africa.

July-August, 19U

CHICAGO NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM BULLETIN

Page 7

BACKGROUNDS OF THE WAR
(Summer Programs for Adults)

Throughout July and August on Thursday
afternoons at 2:30, the Museum will present
a series of illustrated lectures, motion pic-
tures, and tours of exhibits relating Museum
material to the war news of the day. Like
the "Backgrounds of the War" series given
in 1942 and 1943, these programs will give
information on the various geographical
areas involved in current fighting, and their
inhabitants. Admission is free. Following
are the dates and subjects of the programs:

July 5 — One Day in Soviet Russia (A
motion picture filmed in one day by 97
photographers showing Russia's cities and
rural areas, people, industries, and pro-
grams for education and welfare).

July 13 — North Africa (The people and
geography of this region as reviewed by
a recent participant in military action in
Africa. Natural color still pictures).
Bert E. Grove.

July 20 — European Spots of Current
Interest (Motion pictures of pre-war
Poland, Czechoslovakia, Italy and Hun-
gary).

July 27 — Islands of Japanese Penetra-
tion (Philippines, Sumatra, Bali, Java
and Singapore. Natural color still pic-
tures). Mrs. Roberta Cramer.

August 3 — World of Plenty (A motion
picture presenting the story of food with
emphasis on uneven distribution and
waste in peace time, and necessary con-
trol and need for planning in war and post-
war times).

August 10 — On Top of the World (Amer-
ican Arctic regions including Ala.ska,
northern Canada and Greenland. Story
told with still and motion pictures and
Museum materials).

August 17— Conquest of the Air (A
motion picture story of flight from the pre-
historic pterodactyl to transport planes).

August 24 India— Land of Contrasts
(A study of the country which houses one-
fifth of the world's population. Natural
color still pictures). Bert E. Grove.

August 31 — How Invasion Troops Were
Trained (Tank destroyers, tanks and
paratroops. Camp Hood, Texas. Mo-
tion pictures).

days during the long summer vacation when
for one reason or another parents find it
inconvenient to have them around home,
Mr. Goodson is carrying out a Museum
tradition of many years' standing.

Children's Vacation Haven
at the Museum

With Chicago schools now closed for the
summer, Acting Director Orr Good.son,
hopes to see all of Chicago's 500,000 school
children visit the Museum some time during
their vacation. In offering the services of
this institution to children, and to their
parents, as a safe, cool haven for youngsters
to go, be sent to, or be taken to on all those

CONGO PHOTO EXHIBIT

A special exhibit of documen-
tary photographs illustrating na-
tive life in the Belgian Congo, and
war contributions there, is on ex-
hibition in Stanley Field Hall
until July 25. The pictures were
supplied by the Belgian Govern-
ment Film Mission.

MAYA AND AZTEC WRITING

(Continued from page 5)
graphic" writing. For example, a buffalo
hunt is represented by the picture of a
buffalo and a man shooting an arrow at it.

beginning of phonetics

2. In the second stage the representation
of sounds begins, but is made through pic-
tures or abbreviations of pictures used to
express ideas and pictures plus signs which
have phonetic values. This is sometimes
called the ideographic (meaning "idea" and
"writing") or rebus stage of writing. In
Chinese writing (which is ideographic) the
ideograph or picture of a roof with a woman
underneath it meant "peace"; an ideograph
of a roof with two women under it indicated
"trouble"! Rebus writing is familiar to all
of us and is used frequently in newspaper
contests. For example, the picture of the
organ of sight m.ay stand for the organ itself,
the eye; or it may stand for the sound, which
then means "I." A picture of an eye, fol-
lowed by pictures representing a tin can, a
knotted rope, a honey bee, a chair and a
man, would thus be read, "I cannot be the
chairman."

3. The third stage is phonetic. In
phonetic writing, the characters denote
sounds only and have lost all likeness to the
objects they originally portrayed. For
example, very few people are aware of the
fact that our capital letter "A" is derived
from the picture of an ox head which in
Seirite (an ancient writing u.sed near the
Red Sea) was called "Alph." Thus a draw-
ing of an ox head stood, not for ox, but for
the sound of the first letter in the word
"Alph."

Maya and Aztec writing belongs to the
ideographic or rebus stage and partly to the
phonetic stage). The Mayas and Aztecs
u.sed both ideograms and some phonetic
characters.

Thus, the significance of the Maya-Aztec
styles of writing becomes more apparent, for
they probably represent one of the earliest
stages of a formal writing system which has
come down to us. This does not mean that

OBSERVATION OF TINY DETAIL
OPENS GREAT DISCOVERIES

An accidental observation of an apparent
triviality may lead to important results.
Years ago there was among the fossils in
Ernest R. Graham Hall (Hall 38) the head
of a giant fossil fish terminated behind by a
rough break where it had separated from
the body. This break did not appear on
casual observation to have any features
not to be expected on any roughly broken
rock surface. A visitor who was spend-
ing the time between trains at the Mu.seum
noticed on this rough surface one small
lump that seemed strange to him and
asked permission to scrape away a little of
the matrix to .see what it was. As the visitor
proved to be Dr. Erik A. son Stensio from
the Royal Museum at Stockholm, recognized
as the leading authority on fossil fishes, per-
mission was readily granted.

The specimen was taken to a work room
and the necessary tools provided. The first
slight cuts proved that the lump was an
actual part of the fossil and not an accident
of fracture, and exposed features of such
interest that the cut was made slightly
deeper again and again until it became
evident that enough of the anatomy of the
head was preserved to justify its complete
dissection. Dr. Stensio, after receiving per-
mission, made this dissection and found the
anatomy of the head so well preserved that
he told the curator he could hardly have
done better dissecting a fresh head. The
shape and size of the brain, the nerves,
blood vessels and various other details had
all been preserved.

This was one of those amazing near im-
possibilities, almost a mirade, that some-
times happen. Certainly such preservation
of details of anatomy could not be expected
to persist through the 350 million years that
have passed since the death of the fish. So
much hitherto unknown to science was
learned that Dr. Stensio, who had intended
to spend only a few hours here spent ten
days studying the specimen before he
returned to Stockholm. There he spent
many months more in research working
with his notes and photographs.

This study, fully described in a publica-
tion of the Museum {On the Head of the
Macropetalichthyids, Geological Series, Vol-
ume IV, No. 4) was a most important part
of the research by which Dr. Stensio com-
pletely revolutionized our ideas of the
phylogeny and relationships of the more
primitive classes of fish. Seldom has so
great a result come from the notice of an
apparently trivial detail by a competent
observer. — H.W.N.

the Maya-Aztec systems of writing are the
oldest in the world, for this claim would be
untrue. But the Maya-Aztec writing does
represent an early stage in the development
of written language.

Page 8

CHICAGO NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM BULLETIN

Juljt-Auffust, i9H

SUMMER MOVIES FOR CHILDREN
—RAYMOND FOUNDATION

The James Nelson and Anna Louise Ray-
mond Foundation for Public School and
Children's Lectures offers a series of nine
motion picture programs for children on
Thursday mornings throughout July and
August. These entertainments will be given
in the James Simpson Theatre of the
Museum, and each program will be given
twee, at 10 A.M. and again at 11, in order to
accomodate maximum audiences. Children
are invited to come alone, accompanied by
parents or other adults, or in groups from
clubs and various centers. Admission is
free. Following are the dates and titles of
the various films.

July 6 — Tulip Time in Holland

Also a cartoon
July 13 — The Biscuit Eater

The story of a boy and his dog.
July 20 — Puss in Boots

Also a cartoon
July 27 — Vacation Spots in Ouk Own
Country

Also a cartoon
August 3 — Peck's Bad Boy with the

Circus
August 10 — Animals from Far and Near

Also a cartoon.
August 17— Robinson Crusoe

Also, Raggedy Andy cartoon.
August 24 — 18th Century Life in Wil-
liamsburg, Virginia
Also a cartoon
August 31 — An All Cartoon Program

GIFTS TO THE MUSEUM

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

Department of Anthropolo^:

From Gustavo Bellon, Oaxaca, Mexico —
a tripod bowl, a tripod jar, and an incense
bowl with handle, Mexico.

Department of Botany:

From Rev. Hermano Daniel, Medellin,
Colombia — 36 herbarium specimens, Colom-
bia; from Rev. Hermano Apolinar Maria,
Bogot4, Colombia — 45 herbarium speci-
mens, Colombia; from Rev. Hermano Elias,
Caracas, Venezuela — 120 herbarium speci-
mens, Venezuela; from Frederick O. Thomp-
son, Des Moines, Iowa — specimens of Mexi-
can amber; from Mrs. L. M. Snyder,
Berkeley, Calif. — 27 herbarium specimens,
Saudi Arabia; from Dr. Walter Kiener,
Lincoln, Neb. — 71 specimens of algae,
Nebraska; from Harry K. Phinney, Evans-
ton, 111. — 280 cryptogams, central United
States; from Dr. Fred A. Barkley, Austin,
Tex. — 21 specimens of algae, Texas; from
Harold Lauderback, Argo, 111. — 55 speci-
mens of algae, Illinois.

Department of Geolojly:

From Stuart H. Perry, Adrian, Mich. —
four meteorites; from Benjamin B. Felix,
Dundee, 111. — 10 specimens of lava, Parl-

cutin volcano, Michoacan, Mexico; from
Dr. Henry Field, Washington, D.C.— 7
specimens of sands and rocks, British
Guiana.

Department of Zoology:

From Dr. P. W. Fattig, Emory Univer-
sity, Ga. — 831 beetles and other insects,
Georgia; from Lieut. Colin C. Sanborn,
U.S.N. R.— 19 bats, 2 centipedes, and 62
specimens of various kinds of shells, Crusta-
cea, and starfish, Peru; from Chicago Zoo-
logical Society, Brookfield, 111. — 5 mammals;
from Lincoln Park Zoo, Chicago — a monkey;
from Ensign Loren P. Woods, U.S.N. R. —
301 fishes, California; from Rev. Floyd H.
Sullivan, Flint, Mich. — skulls of a turtle
and a honey bear, Siam and Malay Penin-
sula; from Dr. Lewis H. Weld, East Falls
Church, Va. — 76 gall insects and 44 insect
galls. United States and Mexico; from Emil
Liljeblad, Indianapolis, Ind. — 112 specimens
comprising 44 lots of shells and 2 lots of
barnacles; from Mrs. A. M. Andrews, White
Cloud, Mich. — 89 specimens comprising 21
lots of land shells, Hawaiian Islands; from
Pvt. Henry Dybas — 86 specimens com-
prising 3 lots of sow bugs and 13 lots of
shells, Texas; from Mrs. Walter C. Lyman,
Downers Grove, 111. — 90 specimens com-
prising 26 lots of shells, Florida; from G.
Alan Solem, Oak Park, 111. — 11 sea shells,
Midway Island, Pacific Ocean.

Library:

Valuable books from Army Air Forces and
Standard Oil Company, New York City;
from Miss Alice Eastwood, San Francisco,
Calif.; from Dr. G. A. Foster, Santa Fe,
Argentina; from Mabel C. and Ross Win-
throp Gilbert, Oakland, Calif.; from Reich
V. Moran, La Canada, Calif.; from G. M.
Jadhav, Baroda, India; from W. G. Kiihue,
Isle of Man, England; from L. M. S. Snyder,
Berkeley, Calif.; from Iowa State College,
Ames, Iowa; from Mrs. Virgil C. Welch,
Hampton, Iowa; from Clinton R. Stauffer,
Minneapolis, Minn.; from Clarence H.
Kennedy, Columbus, Ohio; from Emil
Liljeblad, Indianapolis, Ind.; from Frank
D. McKenney, San Diego, Calif.; from Mrs.
Walter C. Lyman and A. B. Wolcott,
Downers Grove, 111.; from Dr. Henry Field,
Washington, D.C.; and from Henry W.
Nichols, Orr Goodson, Karl P. Schmidt,
and Bert Grove, all of Chicago.

Technical Publications Issued

The following technical publications have
been issued by the Chicago Natural History
Museum Press during the last two months:

Zoological Series, Vol. 28, No. 4. Chilo-
pods in the Collections of Field Museum of
Natural History. By Ralph V. Chamberlin.
April 26, 1944. $ .50.

Zoological Series, Vol. 29, No. 11. The
North Pacific Allies of the Purple Sand-
piper. By Boardman Conover. May 8,
1944. $ .10.

SUMMER GUIDE-LECTURE TOURS
MORNINGS AND AFTERNOONS

During July and August conducted tours
of the exhibits, under the guidance of staff
lecturers, will be given on a special schedule,
as follows:

Mondays: 11 a.m.. Stories from the Earth
—The Earth and Its History; 2 p.m..
General Tour of Exhibition Halls.

Tuesdays: 11 a.m.. Facts and Fiction
About Animals; 2 P.M., General Tour of
Exhibition Halls.

Wednesdays: 11 a.m.. Faces and Races
the World Around; 2 p.m.. General Tour of
Exhibition Halls.

Thursdays: 11 a.m., and 2 P.M., General
Tours of Exhibition Halls.

Fridays: 11 a.m.. Plants Useful to Man;
2 P.M., General Tour of Exhibition Halls.

Persons wishing to participate should
apply at North Entrance. Tours are free.
There are no tours given on Saturdays,
Sundays, or on July Fourth.

By pre-arrangement with the Acting
Director, special tours are available to
parties of ten or more persons.

The ancients believed that quartz crystal
was water, congealed by long exposure to
cold into an ice more durable than the
common kind.

NEW MEMBERS

The following persons became Members
of the Museum during the period from
April 17 to June 15.

Contributors

Frederick T. Haskell*, Thomas W. Hinde

Associate Members
William H. Alexander, Ralph E. Bowers,
Sidney I. Cole, Mrs. Irwin Paul Daemicke,
Samuel Edward Dean, Mrs. Burnham M.
Fisk, G. C. Hass, Miss Lily Heffernan, Ens.
Susan D. Hoyne, Mrs. Joseph Huska,
Clarence B. Kenney, Philip Lochman,
R. R. Lusk, Dr. William J. Michel, John J.
Muszynski, Mrs. Clara L. Poulson, Mrs.
Edward G. Todt, H. F. Wardwell.

Annual Members
Julius Ameismaier, Norman Asher, Mrs.
Walter Bartky, Royston H. Bigelow, Louis

A. Breskin, George L. Briggs, Mrs. Robert
0. Butz, Harry Cohn, A. B. Costello, John
R. Covington, Samuel A. Culbertson II,
Francis L. Daily, H. S. Darr, W. S. Deem-
ing, Richard J. Donaldson, Paul Fleming,
William R. Fleming, Stanley J. Flesch,
George M. Gardner, Fred M. Gillies, P. W.
Goodell, F. G. Gurley, James D. Harvey,
Howard H. Hewes, Carl Hussman, Homer

B. Johnson, Dr. Robert W. Keeton, Leo A.
Klemperer, Mrs. E. H. Koenig, , Louis
Kopinski, Thomas E. Kysela, E. A. Lodge,
Roland McHenry, Leopold Milner, John
Neumayer, John F. O'Keefe, W. M. Olsen,
H. Edsall Olson, W. Irving Osborne, Jr.,
J. H. Ottmann, I. B. Perlman, Vincent P.
Reilly, Dr. Paul S. Rhoads, Samuel M.
Rinaker, Mrs. Corinne Runyan, K. A.
Sheffer, Mrs. Raymond J. Soukup, J. E.
Tegarden, Dr. William H. Wethers, Eber-
hard E. Wettley, Robyn Wilcox.

* Deceased.

PRINTED BY CHICAGO NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM PRESS

Chicacfo Natural History Museum

BUi^iTIN

Formerly^;^i/e^^Mliseurn News

Vol. 15

SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER, 1944

No8. 9-10

REPORT ON EL PARICUTIN VOLCANO, MEXICO'S NEW EARTH-BORN MONSTER

By PAUL O. McGREW

ASSISTANT CURATOR OF PALBONTOLOGY

Prior to February 20, 1943, the word
Parlcutin meant nothing except to the
relatively few inhabitants of the southwest
part of the state of Michoacdn,
Mexico. Now the word is
familiar to nearly everyone in
the Americas and its fame has
spread throughout the world
all because a new volcano was
born near the little town bear-
ing that name.

Little consolation can this
fame bring the village of
Parlcutin because, ironically
enough, the phenomenon that
gave it renown has brought
about its complete destruction
and burial. Now when one
speaks of Parlcutin he no longer
refers to the village but instead
to a thunderous and fiery
mountain that rises like a
monument to the memory of
the once sleepy Indian town.

How a farmer first noticed
thin clouds of smoke rising
from a depression in his corn-
field and how this fissure gave
rise to the volcano has been
related in many published
accounts (including the July-
August Museum Bulletin).
It is no wonder that the inhabi-
tants of Parlcutin and neigh-
boring villages were terrorized.
During a -single night materials
ejected from this embryonic
volcano made a pile nearly a
hundred feet high, and at the
end of four months it had risen
to more than a thousand feet,
all from lava blown by terrific
explosions from the depths of
the earth's interior.

The sight of countless glow-
ing boulders of lava being sent hundreds of
feet into the air, with the attending thunder-
ous roar and trembling ground, has made
this volcano one of the most spectacular
demonstrations of natural forces on earth.
' To tourists the volcano is a magnificent
spectacle, but to geologists it is more.

Many volumes of data have been gathered

from active volcanoes in various parts of the
world — volcanoes that have existed since
long before geology was a science. These
studies and observations have brought out
the basic facts surrounding volcanic action.

EL PARICUTIN, THE MEXICAN VOLCANO

The volcano phocographed from the village of San Juan Parangaricutiro. The white smoke in

the left middle foreground i& from houses burning in the path of approaching lava.

The great value of El Parlcutin is that it
furnishes an opportunity for geologists to
observe in the greatest detail and step by
step the complete growth of a volcano — an
opportunity that has never before been
available. Thus many conclusions based
upon the observation of finished products
may at Parlcutin be put to the test. When

all of the details of Parfcutin's development
are put together and interpreted the
science of vulcanology will rest upon a much
firmer basis than has been possible hitherto.
Study of Parlcutin is not being neglected.
Several distinguished geologists
visit the volcano regularly to
make observations, and during
periods of unusual activity,
these men live on the spot under
decidedly uncomfortable condi-
tions. Their copious notes on
the development of Parlcutin
will, when published, undoubt-
edly be an important milestone
in the study of vulcanology. It
was the best of luck for me that
I was able to work with some
of these men — Drs. Ezequiel
Ordoiiez and Jertaro Gonz&lez
of the Instituto de Geologla de
Mexico, and Dr. W. F. Foshag
of the United States National
Museum — during my visit to
the volcano in June and July,
and they contributed much to
the success of this Chicago
Natural History Museum
expedition.

It is not really surprising
that the State of Michoacdn in
Mexico should be the site of a
new volcano. This part of
Mexico is studded with literally
hundreds of volcanic cones
which, although extinct, are
known to have originated with-
in the last few thousand years.
One of these, about fifty miles
from El Parlcutin, was born
less than two hundred years
ago. Its name is El Jorullo.

Michoac4n is in a cycle of
volcanic activity. Under the
surface of this region, perhaps
tens of miles under the sur-
face, is a vast reservoir of
molten rock or magna. Under extreme
pressure from miles of overlying rock,
this molten matter, for a number of com-
plex reasons grasps every opportunity
to rush to the surface. Thus any fracture
or fault in the crust that reaches this
reservoir may result in a volcano. The
presence of the magma plus the fact that

Page i

CHICAGO NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM BULLETIN

Seplemher-October, 19U

Michoac&n is in a heavily faulted region,
readily accounts for great numbers of geo-
logically recent volcanoes. In all probability
the next two hundred years will witness the
growth of more.

The village nearest the volcano that can
be reached by car is known by the imposing
name of San Juan Parangaricutiro de las

MUSEUM GEOLOGIST AT PARICUTIN

Dr. Paul O. McGrew with large volcanic bomb that fell

while he was exploitng the area close to the new volcano

to obtain specimens (or the Museum.

Colchas — sensibly it is usually called San
Juan. An excellent, even if distant, view
of the volcano is seen from this town, some
three miles from the cone itself.

FLOWS SEVEN MILES

When I first arrived at San Juan a stream
of lava was making its way down a narrow
but deep gully that ran past the outskirts
of the town. This lava was coming from
the far side of the volcanic cone and by its
crooked route had run an estimated distance
of seven miles. This was by far the greatest
distance lava had traveled from El ParJcutin.

At the lava front in the canyon the mass
was moving glacier-like at the rate of seven
meters an hour. In the daytime the flow of
lava looked like a black craggy pile of rocks.
One is aware only that it is moving by the
fact that from its front large hardened
chunks are constantly falling off and rolling
down the slope. As these chunks break off
and fall, a glowing mass of viscous lava is
exposed that drips like thick molasses.
This soon hardens and the performance is
repeated. At night the red glow from the
lava may be seen for miles. The great
stream not only fills the canyon, but is piled
above the rim some twelve to fifteen feet.
In some places this overflows the rim of the
canyon and spreads out well over the wide
adjacent flats.

TOWN FLOODED BY HOT LAVA

The town of San Juan is on such a flat
and at the time I was there its outskirts

were being flooded
by this terrifying
wall of red hot
lava. Thus I
watched a large
number of houses
being swallowed.
Usually the houses
would burst into
flame from the in-
tense heat of the
approaching lava;
then while they
were still burning
the molten rock
would gradually
engulf them. Most
of the houses had
been emptied of
useful articles, but
some appeared as
they would if the
owner had just
walked out to go to
the "corner drug

store." Many of the houses had been par-
tially demolished by the evacuating Indians
so that particularly good bits of lumber
might be saved and used for the construc-
tion of new ones.

One poor old Indian woman, working
against insufferable odds, was trying to get
her belongings and part of her house moved
to a safe area before the lava reached it.
With the help of our group she succeeded
but hardly before the one end of her house
was a roaring fire. When I left, the lava
was still creeping toward the center of town.
Since then the flood has continued across
the town and completely demolished it.

On my first day in the area I obtained
horses and an Indian guide to take me by
way of the buried village of Paricutin to the
observation cabin built for geologists by
the Mexican government. Previously the

IRRESISTIBLE FLOW

Lava wall pushing into an ash'COvered street in the village of San Juan Parangaricutiro. Here
the lava is flowing at a little more than a yard an hour.

volcanic cone had been spewing out dense
clouds of "smoke" and making little noise
aside from deep rumblings and an occasional
crack from lightning flashing in the clouds.
As we approached the cone, conditions
changed — less gas and ash were being ejected
— and for short intervals there were no
clouds of ash over the crater at all. Such
periods of quiet were merely calms before
the storm, however, as after each period of
quiet there would occur such explosions that
the ground would tremble like so much jelly,
masses of bombs would be thrown from the
crater to a height that could not have been
much less than a mile, then would come
amazingly prolonged periods of popping as
the bombs hit the ash covered area sur-
rounding the cone.

Several times during this period of violent
(Continued on page i)

EL PARICUTIN IS DESTRUCTIVL
Houses in San Juan Parangaricutiro are swallowed by a wall of molten lava.

September-October, 19 UU

CHICAGO NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM BULLETIN

Page S

MUSEUM PAYS TRIBUTE TO GENERAL ROOSEVELT, TRUSTEE, WHO MET DEATH IN FRANCE

News of the death of Brigadier General
Theodore Roosevelt on the battlefield in
Normandy was received with deep regret
at the Chicago Natural History Museum.
He was a familiar figure to his fellow mem-
bers of the Museum's Board of Trustees,
and to the Museum's staff, particularly in
the Department of Zoology.

Photo couttciy of Acme and the Chicago Sun

RECENT PHOTOGRAPH OF GENERAL
THEODORE ROOSEVELT IN FRANCE

Following his death, July 12, the flags on
the two tali flagstaffs in front of the Chicago
Natural History Museum were flown at
half-mast for three days.

The first gold star has been sewn onto the
Museum's service flag, in tribute to General
Roosevelt. He was one of five members of
the institution's 21-man directing board to
be commissioned in Army and Navy. He
was elected a Trustee on May 23, 1938.

MUSEUM EXHIBITS ARE MEMORIAL

"At the Museum, Chicago will have a
permanent memorial to General Roosevelt
and his brother. Major Kermit Roosevelt
who also died in the nation's service, in
Alaska," said Mr. Orr Goodson, Acting
Director. "This memorial consists of a
number of habitat groups of rare animals
collected in Asia jointly by General and
Major Roosevelt on the expeditions they
led for this in.stitution.

"General Roosevelt's interest in and
association with the Museum dated back
to 1925 when, with Major Kermit Roosevelt,
he led the James Simpson-Roosevelts
Asiatic Expedition of Field Museum. This
expedition obtained magnificent collections
of mammals, of which many are now
exhibited in habitat groups or as single
mounts. Outstanding are the groups of
Marco Polo's sheep (Ovis poli), and Asiatic
ibex, obtained in the Thian Shan Mountains
of Turkestan and on the Pamir plateau.
In 1928 General Roosevelt and his brother

again collected for the Museum, as joint
leaders of the William V. Kelley-Roosevelts
Expedition to Eastern Asia. This expedi-
tion, working in three divisions in remote
parts of French Indo-China and southern
China, brought back more than 15,000
zoological specimens. The most note-
worthy single re.sult was the collecting of
the giant panda specimens now exhibited in
a habitat group.

TRIBUTE FROM NOTED WRITER

No better tribute to General Roosevelt's
service in the present war could be paid
than that in the account of H. R. Knicker-
bocker, Chief of the Chicago Sun Foreign
Service, of which part is quoted as follows:

"With American Forces in France,
July 13. — Brig. Gen. Theodore Roosevelt,
Jr., son of President Theodore Roosevelt,
died last night of a heart attack in his tent
at headquarters of the 4th Division

"His name was synonymous among Amer-
ican officers and soldiers for reckless daring.
His thousands of friends were sadly con-
vinced he must be eventually killed at the
front. He was.

"His death, though from heart failure,
was death in action as truly as though he
had been blown to bits by a German shell.
He died of overwork for his country

"General Roosevelt was the most popular
senior officer in the United States Army.
This opinion, I believe, will be shared by
scores of correspondents who, as I did, went
with him and watched him fight through
three campaigns — North Africa, Sicily and
Normandy.

"He was the best loved man of all because
he not only laughed at danger,
he loved danger and sought it
to show it to his men and
make them see how easy it
was to handle. He took battle
the way G.I.s like to see it
taken.

"As the hazard increased,
as the risk grew, as peril be-
came almost certainly lethal.
General Roosevelt became
increa-singly gay. He was one
of the few men in the United
States Army or any army in
the world who was fearless,
not just brave or courageous,
but fearless

"I can testify from personal
observation that General
Roosevelt's ability to inspire
courage was sheer magic. One
very senior officer not long ago
told me General Roosevelt
was to be permanently em-
ployed as a battle leader of
new divisions.

"What made General
Roosevelt's fearlessness so

GENERAL ROOSEVELT IN 1925 ON
EXPEDITION TO EASTERN ASIA

exceptional was that it was not the fear-
lessness of an insensitive man, but of
an extraordinarily perceptive as well as
learned man. He loved all life, but most of
all he loved his fellow men and of all the fel-
low men he loved the common man most.

LOVED BY HIS MEN

"He slapped enlisted men and non-coms
on the shoulders and they loved it. He
knew thousands of G.I.s by their first names,
and used to call out to them every few yards
as he walked along past a regiment

"He was a man who could save lost causes.
When men wavered, the mere sight of Gen-
eral Roosevelt whirling up in a cloud of dust
in his jeep would restore morale."

GENERAL ROOSEVELT AT THE MUSEUM IN 1928 INSPECT-
ING EXHIBIT OF WATER BUFFALO HE COLLECTED

EL PARICUTIN, MEXICO'S
VOLCANIC MONSTER

{Continued from page 2)

activity I saw a bright arc of light expand
upward and outward from the crater. It
proved to be the rather rare "flashing arc"
so named after its observation at Vesuvius
in 1906. It is a phenomenon that may
accompany any violent explosion and has
been observed frequently during intensive
bombardments in war time.

This tremendous display was beyond all
description. Even after reading and hearing
eye-witness accounts, and supposedly know-
ing what to expect, I was uncomfortably
aware of my shaking knees. I am com-
pletely sympathetic with the young lady
tourist who, after watching El Paricutin for
a few moments during violent activity,
broke into tears and hysteria.

2,700 TONS A MINUTE

Nearly all of the houses of the village of
Parfcutin are completely buried under ten
to fi&een feet of ash. The top of the church
and the roofs of a few stores and houses are
barely exposed. The town is literally dead
and buried. The amount of dark ash thrown
from the crater of the volcano and scattered
over the countryside is beyond belief. Dr.
Foshag has estimated that, on an average,
2,700 tons of solids are ejected every minute.
When one sees the depth to which Parfcutin
has been buried in a year and a half the
estimate does not sound high.

From Paricutin we rode in front of a
cooling lava flow and up the side of an
extinct volcanic cone to reach the observa-
tion cabin built by the Instituto de Geologla.

From this high spot, about half a mile
from the cone itself, there is a magnificent
view. What had been a fertile valley now is
a great field of rough, cooling lava, and out of
its center rises the cone.

Lava streams have broken out at various
places around the base of the cone. Usually
these have flowed for a few days or perhaps
weeks, then hardened into a rough craggy
mass. The craggy effect is caused by the
hardening of the surface of the lava while
underneath the rock is still molten and

flowing. These rock crusts break up and
are displaced in a jumbled mass of sharp
lava boulders. This type of lava flow is
rather common and bears the name "aa,"
given to similar lava surfaces on the Hawai-
ian Islands. The Pahoehoe lava surface,
which is smoother and has a ropy surface, is
not well developed in the Paricutin flows,
although it is approached on a small scale
on some of the individual blocks.

CRYSTALS FORM

As lava cools — a process which may take
many years — large quantities of steam and
gas escape through holes in the hard lava.
These outlets are known as fumeroles. In
all of the cooling lavas of Parfcutin, fumeroles
are abundant. At most of these openings
crystals of various minerals, most commonly
sal ammoniac, are being formed. Some are
of bright colors and offer welcome relief
from the drab monotony of the dull lava and
ash that dominate the scene.

In one restricted area are found vents
from which have been ejected extremely hot
gases and bits of fluid lava. The lava thus
thrown out has formed miniature cones
called "hornitos." When I visited this
spot, lava was no longer being ejected, but
the escaping gases sounded like an engine
letting off steam. The atmosphere was so
heavily laden with hydrochloric acid fumes
that breathing was extremely painful. By
wrapping handkerchiefs around our faces
it was barely endurable.

"glance INTO hades"

Here Drs. Foshag and Gonzalez, in whose
company I visited the "hornitos," attempted
to obtain samples of the gas for analysis.
This was done with extreme difficulty, how-
ever, as the heat was so intense that the
glass vacuum tubes in which the gas was
to be collected melted when placed within the
vent. At some places in this area were
seemingly bottomless holes three or four
feet in diameter, the walls of which were
glowing brilliantly red from the heat. This
surely seemed like a glance into Hades.

The area of "hornitos" is rather close to
the southwest base of the volcanic cone.
While we were working there. El Parfcutin

THE EARTH MONSTER OF 1

The photograph extending across the top of these two pag<
ment. Dominating the center is the cone of EI Paricutin risii
are cooling lavas with their abundant fiuneroles. In the dis
state of Michoacan. This panorama and other photographs on

became uncomfortably violent and with
terriflc explosions started throwing bombs
all around us. The ground was shaking
continuously and with each explosion cracks
in the surface under our feet belched forth
quantities of steam.

HOT COLLECTING JOB

I was very frankly more interested in
choosing a clear path of escape through the
rough lava field than anything else. I must
confess, however, that my companions
appeared, like seasoned infantrymen, to take
this barrage in their stride. Bombs would
hit the ground with a dull "plop" and bury
themselves in the hard ash. I dug out some
of the freshly-fallen bombs for our collection
and found them so hot that they could not
be carried until they had cooled in the air
for some time.

As we left the area of bombardment,
tremendous quantities of ash and cinders
were falling. The rain consisted chiefly of
tiny black particles from one to three milli-
meters in diameter, but along with this were
many very porous cinders up to four or five
inches across, so light in weight that a direct
hit would probably cause no injury. To
collect pure samples of this material we
spread rain-coats upon the ground. In a
very few minutes we had far more than was
required for our purposes.

INDIAN EXPLANATIONS

I heard several stories the Indians had
offered to explain the eruption of El Parf-
cutin. One of the most interesting is as
follows:

The Tarascan Indians who inhabit the
region are exceedingly pious and it is the
custom of each village to place a large cross
on the highest near-by hill. It seems that]
both Parfcutin and San Juan claimed the]
same bill for the erection of their respective]

Pagf 4

IS MOMENtARILY QUIET

e from the observation house built by the Mexican govern'
ht of more than 1^200 feet. Surrounding it, and to the left,
be seen several of the extinct volcanic cones that cover the
1 2 are the camera work of Dr. Paul O, McGrew.

crosses. This led to argument and finally
the people of one of the towns tore down the
cross erected by the other. It was not long
thereafter that El Paricutin came into being
and spread destruction first to Paricutin and
later to San Juan. For the most part the
people seem to feel that the feud constituted
an unfriendly act towards God and that
they deserve therefore all of the punishment
they are getting.

After nearly two weeks at the volcano
all objectives of my visit were fulfilled.
I had collected specimens of the incrusta-
tions and crystals of the various minerals
formed at the fumeroles and obtained choice
specimens of bombs, ash, lapilli, basalt, etc.
On leaving this monster I felt as though I
were leaving a world series baseball game
in the sixth inning, with the score tied.
What turn El Paricutin will take in the
months and years to follow nobody knows.
But whatever it is, it will certainly be well
worth watching.

HUGE JADE BOULDER RECEIVED
AS MUSEUM GIFT

An unusually large and fine nephrite jade
boulder weighing 2,490 pounds has been
received by the Museum as a gift from Mr.
James L. Kraft of Chicago. The rounded
boulder is oblong-oval in shape with one
flattened side, and is approximately 4 feet
by 2'2 feet by 2'2 feet in its principal
dimensions. It is probably the second
largest piece yet discovered in the United
States, and was found in an area about
fifty miles southwest of Lander, Wyoming.
Quoting from a letter received from Mr.
Kraft, the boulder " . . . . formed the peak
of an eroded mountain with an elevation of
about 7,000 feet.

"Some years ago jade was discovered in
the area surrounding Lander, Wyoming,"
Mr. Kraft's letter continues. "Practically

all the jade discovered was on the surface,
and the entire area within approximately a
fifty-mile radius had been explored and
and searched many times, yet constant and
persistent effort continued to bring to light
additional pieces of beautiful jade covering
a rather wide color range.

"One of the most industrious and per-
sistent jade hunters in this area was Allan
Branham, and to him must be given the
credit for the original discovery of this large
boulder. However, while on a gem pros-
pecting trip with me .some time subsequent
to its original discovery it was again located.
Because of the size of the boulder, its com-
pact texture and excellent quality as jade,
I felt the rightful place for such a find was
in the Chicago Natural History Museum."

Mr. Kraft arranged for the difficult task
of bringing the boulder down the mountain
and shipping it to Chicago.

NOW ON EXHIBITION

The boulder has been placed on exhibition
in the Hall of Minerals (Hall 34) on the
second floor of the Museum. A small
section, about one-half square foot in area,
has been cut from one end and polished to
reveal the rich dark green color and varie-
gated markings of the specimen.

Jade is a common name applied to two
different but related minerals; nephrite,
a calcium magnesium silicate, and jadeile,
a sodium aluminum silicate. Both minerals
vary considerably in color, due to the
presence of other minerals, and together
they range from black through brown and
green to bluish gray and white. The
minerals are fairly hard, remarkably tough
and resistant to cru.shing, and capable of
taking a high polish. Suitably cut pieces
emit a clear musical tone when struck.

Jade is usually associated with the Orient,
especially China, in the minds of most
people. The Chine.se have a high regard for
the mineral as a precious .stone, and certainly
it is they who have become most expert in
carving the material through experience
extending over a period of more than 3,000
years.

Less well known is the fact that articles
made of jade were not uncommon among

EGG OF EXTINCT GIANT OSTRICH
ACQUIRED BY MUSEUM

The Museum has recently acquired by
purchase a fossil egg of the extinct giant
ostrich Slrulhiolithus. The specimen is
almost perfectly preserved and is one of
the largest of such eggs known.

Struthiolithus lived during the Pleistocene
period, from 25,000 to 1,000,000 years ago.
Fragments of eggs have been found in
ancient Chinese archaeological sites indi-
cating that: (1) the giant bird was a con-
temporary of early man in China; or (2)
that primitive man had found the fossil
eggs and shown enough paleontological
interest to bring the egg to his dwellings.

Most of the discoveries of Struthiolithus
eggs have been made by Chinese farmers
who, for the most part, consider them
"dragon's eggs." The specimen obtained
by the Museum was found in a loess cliff
by such a farmer and was brought to the
United States by Dr. R. A. Torrey, Jr.

the Indians of the Americas, particularly
those of the Northwest Coast and Alaska,
and Central and northern South America,
before the coming of Europeans. Some of
the native sources of the mineral are known,
but no important supply had been located
in the United States until recent years.

In 1935, two prospectors located a vein
of jade in the southeast corner of Fremont
County, Wyoming, and later, as mentioned
by Mr. Kraft, a second area was discovered
in the southwest corner of the same county.
In the latter site, the mineral occurs as
fragments and boulders scattered over an
area of many square miles. Both sites are
in the valley of the Sweetwater River but,
singularly enough, the loose boulders are
found above the vein jade.

Occurrences of jade have been located
and are continuing to be found in other
parts of the continent. The value of the
finds depends on the quality of the jade
judged according to standards set by the
lapidary and popular esteem. Thus far
nothing equal to the semi-transparent, deep
green of "imperial jade" has been found on
this continent.

Page 5

Page 6

CHICAGO NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM BULLETIN

September-October, 19U

Chicago Natural History Museum

Founded by Marshall Field, 1893
RofMevelt Rnad and Field Drive, Chlcafto

Tblgi'Iionb: Wabash 9410

THE BOARD OP TRUSTEES

Lester Armour Stanley Field

Se\vbi,l L. Avery Samuel Insull, Jr.

W. McCoRMiCK Blair Charles A. McCulloch

Leopold E. Block William H. Mitchell

Boardman Conovbr George A. Richardson

Walter J. Cumminus Solomon A. Smith

Albert B. Dick, Jr. Albert A. Si'RAGUE

Howard W. Fbnton Silas H. Strawn

Joseph N. Field Albert H. Wetten

Mar.<<hall Field John P. Wilson

OFFICERS

Stanley Field President

Albert A. Sprague First Vice-President

Silas H. Strawn Second Vice-President

Albert B. Dick Third Vice-President

•Clifford C. Gregg Director and Secretary

Orr Goodson Aetinff Director and Acting Secretary

Solomon A. Smith . . . Treasurer and Assistant Secretary

* On leave in active Bervice as a Colonel in the United
States Army.

THE BULLETIN

EDITOR
Wilpbbd H. Osgood Curator Emeritus, Zoology

CONTRIBUTING EDITORS

Paul S. Martin Chief Curator of Anthropology

B. E. Dahlgren Chief Curator of Botany

Henry W. Nichols Chief Curator of Geology

Karl P. Schhidt Chief Curator of Zoology

MANAGING EDITOR
H. B. Habte P«6iti; Relations Counsel

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

NATURALISTS AT WAR

In this war, as in all others, it is frequently
not the fighting but the waiting and the
suspense of inaction that try men's souls.
"Soldiering" in peace times has become a
term of opprobrium, but its origin carries
no derogation, for in war, killing time, often
for long periods, is unavoidable.

It is a fortunate soldier who has a passion
for natural history, whether his interest be
specialized and professional or merely
amateur and curious. For him there are no
dull times and even within the confines of
his own tent he has a watchful eye for what
goes on in the subhuman world. When
duty takes him there or when he is permitted
to wander "in the pathless woods" or on
"the lonely shore," he nearly always finds
his time all too short.

One boy writes that while struggling
through barbed wire on hands and knees
he encountered certain rare insects and land
shells which he hastily stuffed in his pockets
for later examination. Another learned of
some interesting caves in the Solomons, but
regretfully reports that he was forbidden to
visit them because they were in Jap terri-
tory and the trail to them mined. He now
has them marked for a visit as soon as the
Orientals are dislodged.

In the first World War many American
soldiers had great satisfaction in hearing
the famous songs of the skylark and the
nightingale and in becoming personally
acquainted with other birds of story and
song; but in comparison with those of the

present war their opportunities were limited.
The deserts of North Africa, the Arctic
tundras of Iceland and Greenland, the fog-
drenched mountains of the Aleutians, and
above all the jungles of Burma and the East
Indies are teeming with interest for the
naturalist. However humdrum and monot-
onous to others, they are to him better than
books to read, better than movie shows, and
only second to letters from home.

Ever since the war began, this museum
and others like it have been besieged by our
soldiers and sailors for information about
the peoples, the animals, and the plants of
the countries in which they found them-
selves. Such information in many cases has
been all too scanty. Technical reports and
scattered articles in scientific journals are
not obtainable by ordinary means, and
good general accounts, suitable for use by
non-professionals, simply do not exist.

To supply at least a part of the need,
various museums, including our own, have
recently co-operated to produce the book
called The Pacific World, which is being
welcomed by many a service man. Of
necessity, however, this could not cover
special subjects very thoroughly and, to
those who prepared it, there is much left
to be desired. To a considerable extent,
natural science is like commerce in follow-
ing the flag. With the development of our
Pacific relations and our generally wider
outlook after the war it can be foreseen
that many of the present blind spots will
be filled in.

Returning service men are now coming
to the museums, almost daily, to ask for
information, to consult the libraries and
collections, and in general to check on their
experiences. Many have been stimulated to
interests which will follow them through
life. They furnish evidence for all of us
that in every walk of life in any part of the
world, nature study, if only a hobby, is an
asset and a resource making for greater
enjoyment of life. — W. H. 0.

Yerkes Observatory. Later he was pro-
fessor of astronomy at Northwestern Uni-
versity and director of the Dearborn
Observatory. He resigned the latter post
in 1939 to accept the directorship of the
Adler Planetarium.

Phillip Fox

Members of the scientific staff of the
Chicago Natural History Museum share
with scientists of many other institutions
a sense of loss in the death on July 21 of
Colonel Phillip Fox, former director of the
Adler Planetarium and of the Museum of
Science and Industry.

"The fighting star gazer" was a term of
esteem bestowed upon Colonel Fox, who
served with distinction in three wars and
whose scientific attainments as an astrono-
mer won international recognition.

In 1941 he was called into active service
as a colonel of the Reserve Corps. During
the first World War, Colonel Fox served in
France as assistant chief of staff of the
Seventh Division.

Colonel Fox first made his mark as an
astronomer while a member of the staff of

THE MUSEUM HONOR ROLL
Now In the Nation's Service

Army

George A. Richard-
son, Trustee — Lt.
Col.

Clifford C. Gregg,
Director — Colonel,
G.S.C.

Dr. John Rinaldo,
Associate, South-
western Archaeol.
— Staff Sgt.

Dr. Sharat K. Roy, Curator, Geol. — Capt.

D. Dwight Davis, Curator, Anat. and Osteol. —
Corp.

Bryan Patterson, Curator, Paleontology — Pvt.

Emmet R. Blake, Asst. Curator, Birds — Special
Agent, War Dept.

Rupert L. Wenzel, Asst. Curator, Insects — Capt.

Henry S. Dybas, Assistant, Insects — Pvt.

WiLLUM Bebcheb, Temp. Asst., Zool. — Pvt.

Henry Horback, Asst., Geol. — S. Sgt.

James C. McIntyre, Guard — 2nd Lt.

Raymond J. Connors, Guard — Pvt.

Frank J. Dutkovic, Janitor — Pvt.

Navy

Lester Armour, Trustee — Comdr.

Samuel Insull, Jr., Trustee — Lieut. Comdr.

Joseph Nash Field, Trustee — Lieut.

Colin Campbell Sanborn, Curator, Mammals —

Lieut.
Dr. Alexander Spoehr, Asst. Curator, N. Amer.

Ethnol. — Lieut, (j.g.)
Loren p. Woods, Asst. Curator, Fishes — Ensign
John W. Moybr, Taxidermist — Ch. Specialist

(Bur. Aeronautics)
James H. Quinn, Chief Preparator, Paleontol. —

Metalamith 2C
Patrick T. McEnery, Guard — Master-at-Arms
John Syckowski, Guard — Ch. Commissary Stewd.
George Jahrand, Guard — Ch. Water Tender
Clyde Jambs Nash, Guard — Ch. Gunner
Nicholas Repar, Printer — Aviation Machinist's

Mate 2C.
Morris Johnson, Carpenter — Carpenter's Mate

IC.
Herbert Nelson, Painter — Painter IC.
Elizabeth Best, Guide-Lecturer —

Ensign, WAVES
Maris B. Pabst. Guide-Lecturer^

Ueut. (j.g.), WAVES

Marine Corps

Melvin a. Tbaylor, Jr. Associate, Birds — 1st Lt.

Coast Guard
M. C. Darnall, Jr., Guard — Lieut, (j.g.)
John McGinnis, Guard — Ch. Boatswain's Mate

Other Services

RUDYERD Boulton, Curator, Birds — StafE of
Office of Strategic Services

Bryant Mather, Asst. Curator, Mineralogy-
Civilian Worker, Corps of Engineers, U.S. Army

Llewelyn Williams, Curator of Economic Botany
— on special service for U.S. Government

Dr. Julian A. Steyermakk, Asst. Curator, Herba-
rium— field work for Board of Economic "Warfare

Dr. C. Martin Wilbur, Curator, Chinese Archaeol.
and Ethnol. — Staff of Office of Strategic Services

Served and Honorably Discharged:

Bbrt E. Grove, Guide-Lecturer — Medical Aide,
American Field Service, Africa; and Military In-
telligence, U.S. Army.

Died in Service:

Theodore Roosevelt, Trustee — Brig. Gen., U.S.A.

September-October, 191tU

CHICAGO NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM BULLETIN

Page 7

WIDE

VARIETY

IN

AUTUMN

SATURDAY

LECTURE

COURSE

FOR

ADULTS,

OPENING

OCT-

7

Eight Saturday afternoon lectures will be
given at the Museum in the annual Autumn
Course presented in the James Simpson
Theatre during October and November.
All the lectures begin at 2:30 p.m., and all
but one are illustrated with color motion
pictures. The exception will, instead,
feature personal interpretations of Indian
songs and dances by the lecturers, Reginald
and Gladys Laubin, on November 18.

October 7--PE0PLE OF the Painted

Desert

John V. Hansen.

Mr. Hansen, born in Denmark, and retired
from the engineering profession, has been
devoting himself in recent years to develop-
ments of new techniques in the making of
color motion pictures and to the study of the
life of the Indians of the Southwest. He
will show, and relate, intimate details of
Indian life. His films include the famous
Corn Dance and other ceremonials, the inter-
tribal gathering at Gallup, New Mexico, and
other features of the colorful Southwest.

October 14 — Wild Wings.

Murl Deusing.

Here is the beautiful yet simple story of
wild birds through the season as captured
in motion picture films by Mr. Deusing, who
is a member of the staff of the Milwaukee
Public Museum. Geese fly over in a thrilling
wedge; flocks of whistling swan appear. The
complete story of a heron rookery is photo-
graphed. We visit a desert island in Lake
Michigan where herring gulls battle and
duel for nesting territory.

October 21— Seething India.

Joe Fisher {"Singapore Joe" ).

What is behind Ghandi's mind?

Why cannot Great Britain accede to his
request?

What of the untouchables? The Hindus?
The Moslems? Sikhs? and Parsees?

Can India survive?

Mr. Fisher not only tells his answers to
these questions, but shows in natural color
films the reasons for his opinions on sub-
jects which have become vitally important
to Americans.

October 28— Wildlife of Marsh and

Mountain.

Cleveland P. Grant.

Mr. Grant, formerly a member of the
staff of this Museum as extension lecturer
in the Raymond Foundation and Acting
Curator of the N. W. Harris Public School
Extension, is well known for his success
with the color motion picture camera in
America's wildernesses. In his new films
he will show his latest pictures of the Cana-
dian Rockies with deer, moose, and caribou.

November 4 — Bora, Bora, Fisherman's

Paradise.

Henry M. Hedges.

Mr. Hedges, formerly Senior Civil Engi-
neer P-5, attached to the First Construction
Battalion of the Seabees, U. S. Navy,
recently came back from the Island of Bora
Bora in the Southwest Pacific, where he and
his wife were the only white people until the
American sailors came. Once called "The
Sentinel Island" because of the large, tower-
ing peak which guards over the harbor.
Bora Bora, now an American outpost, is
truly living up to its name. Mr. Hedges
relates the reaction to the arrival of the
American troops.

November 11 — Upper Amazon and High

Andes Adventure.

Lewis N. Cotlow.

The fabled lands of the Golden Incas, the
impenetrable fastnesses of the Amazonian
jungles, and the stupendous heights of the
great Andes have from the days of the
Spanish Conquistadores been a lure to
traveler and explorer alike. Mr. Cotlow
ranges not only through these ancient places
of mystery but through beautiful cities and
the fertile lands supporting them. Travel-
ing at times literally thousands of miles in a
plane especially provided by the Peruvian
government, again astride plodding mules,
careening in a modern motor car over
boulder-strewn trails hitherto unused for
such travel, he obtained notable films.

November 18— THE First American.

Reginald and Gladys Laubin.

Known as the foremost exponents of
American Indian dances, Mr. and Mrs.
Laubin will present these in native costume;
and also Indian lore and songs. Of them,
John Martin, dance critic of the New York
Times, has said: "It is no wonder that the
Indians themselves are warm in their praise,
for certainly no one of their own people has
come before the white man with so eloquent
and winning a presentation. Their singing,
their drumming, their costuming are all
quite as admirable as their dancing."

November 25 — Our Mexican Neighbors.

Dr. A. B. Keeler.

Dr. Keeler's home is in Mexico City
where for five years he was associated with
the American School Foundation. His time
is now divided between Mexico and the
United States in the interest of international
friendship. His films show the Mexican
people at work and play, and include color-
ful fiestas at Cholula, the making of leather
furniture at Guadalajara, marketing at Ta.s-
co, the potter and his wheel at Tlaquepaque,
yachting and water skiing at Acapulco, and

physical training exhibitions in Mexico
City. As a special feature he will show also
views of the new volcano. El Parlcutin, to
which this Museum recently sent an expedi-
tion, the results of which are told in the
featured article on page 1 of this issue of the
Bulletin.

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

RAYMOND FOUNDATION FALL
PROGRAMS FOR CHILDREN

The James Nelson and Anna Louise Ray-
mond Foundation for Public School and
Children's Lectures will present its annual
autumn series of free motion picture
programs for children during October and
November. Eight programs are scheduled,
one for each Saturday morning, during the
two months. These programs, to which
children from all parts of Chicago and
suburbs are invited, will be presented twice
each Saturday, at 10 a.m. and at 11, in the
James Simpson Theatre of the Museum.

Two programs will include the appear-
ance of persons concerned in the films pre-
sented. On the October 28 program, "On
the Bottom of the Sea," Robert Zimmerman,
the noted deep-sea diver will tell in person
his adventures on the ocean floor. On the
November 18 program, "Living India,"
Ramkrishna and Manorama Modak will
portray the life of a typical Indian couple.

Following is the schedule:

October 7 — France.

Color film showing people, traditions, cus-
toms and industries of France.
And a cartoon.

October 14 — Fall of the Year.
And a cartoon.

October 21— Canada from Coast to
Coast.
And a cartoon.

October 28— On the Bottom of the Sea.
Personal appearance by Robert Zimmer-
man.

November 4 — WHEN Winter Comes.
And a cartoon.

November 11— Story OF the Polar Re-
gions. /
And a cartoon.

November 18 — LIVING INDU.
Personal appearance by Ramkrishna and
Manorama Modak.

November 25— All Cartoon Program.

Page 8

CHICAGO NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM BULLETIN

September-October, 19H

LECTURE TOURS ON WEEKDAYS.
SEPTEMBER AND OCTOBER

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

September

Fri., Sept. 1 — Primitive Hunters (Roberta

Cramer).
Wed., Sept. 6 — Unconquerable China

(Emma Neve).
Fri., Sept. 8— All Is Not Gold That Glitters

(Bert Grove).
Wed., Sept. 13 — Plant Storehouses (Miriam

Wood).
Fri., Sept. 15 — Strategic Rivers (Emma

Neve).
Wed., Sept. 20— Fall Mysteries (Loraine

Lloyd).
Fri., Sept. 22— Nature's Warfare (Bert

Grove).
Wed., Sept. 27 — Indian Leaders (Roberta

Cramer).
Fri., Sept. 29 — Autumn Animal Antics

(Loraine Lloyd).

October

Wed., Oct. 4 — Immigrants from Asia

(Emma Neve).
Fri., Oct. 6— What to Wear (Roberta

Cramer).
Wed., Oct. 11— New Woods for Old Uses

(Miriam Wood).
Fri., Oct. 13 — Indian Summer Adventure

(Loraine Lloyd).
Wed., Oct. 18— Fire Works (Emma Neve).
Fri., Oct. 20 — Phantom Caravans (Bert

Grove).
Wed., Oct. 25— Ghost Stories (Roberta

Cramer).
Fri., Oct. 27— Bones, Bats, and Cats

(Hallowe'en) (Loraine Lloyd).

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

Layman Lectures

Sunday afternoon lectures by Paul G.
Dallwig, the Layman Lecturer, begin Nov-
ember 5. Reservations begin October 1.

GIFTS TO THE MUSEUM

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

From: Dr. M. A. Brannon, Gainesville,
Fla. — 37 specimens of algae, Florida;
Robert Runyon, Brownsville, Tex. — 132
specimens of algae, Texas; Dr. Walter
Kiener, Lincoln, Neb. — 84 specimens of
algae, Nebraska; Miss Priscilla Hannaford,
Winnetka, 111. — 16 specimens of algae,
Illinois; William A. Daily, Indianapolis,
Ind.— 126 specimens of algae, Indiana;

Harold B. Louderback, Argo, 111. — 147
specimens of algae, Illinois.

Department of Geoloty:

From: James L. Kraft, Chicago — a
nephrite j^de boulder, Wyoming; Stuart
Perry, Adrian, Mich. — a polished slice of
the Linwood, Nebraska, meteorite.

Department of Zoolo^:

From: Chicago Zoological Society, Brook-
field, 111. — a tapir, a green pit viper, a moni-
tor lizard, a raccoon, 39 birds; Pvt. William
J. Beecher, U. S. Army — 5 birds, 12 phalan-
gers, 30 beetles and allies, Solomons, New
Georgia, Munda; Lt. Richard Snyder, U. S.
Army — a chicken snake and a coach whip
snake, Alabama; O. H. Meeker, Havana,
Cuba, and Port-au-Prince, Haiti — a hermit
crab, 3 specimens of barnacles, Cuba; Mrs.
L. M. Snyder, Berkeley, Calif. — a horned
viper, 2 lizards, 2 frogs, Saudi Arabia;
L. M. Snyder and T. C. Barger, Berkeley,
Calif. — 29 insects and allies, Saudi Arabia;
Col. Clifford C. Gregg, Washington, D.C.—
65 insects, 2 spiders, Texas; Leslie Hubricht,
St. Louis, Mo. — 771 fresh water clams, 143
shells, Missouri and other localities; Miss
Margaret Storey, Stanford University, Calif.
16 mullets, Florida; Lincoln Park Zoo,
Chicago — 10 birds; the late Arthur W. Herz
— 12,944 European and North American
butterflies and moths; J. E. Johnson, Waco,
Tex. — 208 snakes, frogs, lizards, turtles,
Texas; E. Ross Allen, Ocala, Fla.— 3 turtle
skulls, Florida; Irving D. Townsend, Hot
Springs, Ark. — a salamander, Arkansas;
Dr. Wesley R. Coe, La Jolla, Calif.— 25
mussels, California; Lt. Alvin R. Cahn,
U.S.N. R. — a wolverine skull, Alaska; Pvt.
E. F. Bromund, U.S. Army — a snake, 2
lizards, Georgia; Pvt. Henry Dybas, U.S.
Army — 28 snakes, lizards, frogs, Texas and
Florida; Delzie Demaree, Monticello, Ark. —
150 shells in 28 lots, Arkansas; G. Alan
Solem, Oak Park, 111.— 26 shells, Midway
Island; Dr. Vasco M. Tanner, Provo, Utah
— 2 gila monsters, 2 snakes, Utah; Dr.
Charles T. Vorhies, Tucson, Ariz. — 2 coral
snakes; Lt. Harry Hoodstraal, Ft. McPher-
son, Ga. — 3 snakes, 4 lizards; Georgia; Earl
Wright, Spider Island, Wis. — 2 garter
snakes, Wisconsin; Pvt. S. B. Lummis,
U.S. Army — 65 specimens of marine inverte-
brates comprising 12 species. Aleutian
Islands and Alaska; Pvt. J. K. Cordell,
Savannah, Ga. — 10 tree frogs, Georgia;
J. E. Johnson and John Sparks, Waco, Tex.
— 8 cottonmouth moccasins, Texas.

Library:

Valuable books from: the Celanese Cellu-
loid Corporation, New York; the Co-ordi-
nator of Inter-American Affairs, Dr. Henry
Field, and the War Department, Washing-
ton, D.C.; W. J. Givler, Greensboro, N. C;
Melville G. Hatch, Seattle, Wash.; Lake
Carriers' Association, Cleveland, Ohio;
Lt. Colin C. Sanborn, U.S.N.R.; E. P.
Phillips, P*retoria, South Africa; Bailey
Willis, Stanford University, Calif; A. B.
Wolcott, Downers Grove, 111.; E. P. Wilt-
shire, Bombay, India; Paul Roder, Summit,
N. J.; William J. Gerhard, Boardman
Conover, International Harvester Company,
and Westinghouse Electric Supply Com-
pany, Chicago.

Change in Visiting Hours

The Museum visiting hours, which have
been 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily during the sum-
mer months, will change to the autumn
schedule — 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. — on Tuesday,
September 5, the day after Labor Day.
These hours will continue until October 31.

Staff Notes

Dr. Francis Drouet, Curator of Crypto-
gamic Botany, has been in Washington
engaged in research at the National Museum.

Mr. Leon L. Pray, Staff Taxidermist, has
completed a workshop exhibit illustrating
the steps in the making of a museum fish
model. It is available for consultation.

Dr. Paul S. Martin, Chief Curator of
Anthropology, is at Camp Highlands, Wis-
consin, lecturing to groups of boys.

Miss Marie Pabst, Raymond Foundation
lecturer on leave, has been promoted to
Lieutenant (j. g.) in the WAVES.

NEW MEMBERS

The following persons became Members
of the Museum during the period from
June 16 to August 4.

Associate Members
Harry M. Brostoff, Jay Gould, William
M. Hales, L. W. Hraback, William J.
Kelly, Dr. Mary G. Schroeder.

Sustaining Members

J. W. Lynch

Annua! Members

Mrs. Howard C. Abbott, J. H. Briggs,
C. Roy Campbell, Carl Clare, W. N. Clasen,
Dr. Willie Mae Clifton, Mrs. Michael J.
Corrigan, Wells E. Crockett, David Davis,
Mrs. A. M. Fishburn, John Flesch, Frank
Furedy, Elmer H. Gamrath, Harold E.
Groble, Mrs. Leon Grotowski, Walter
Haines, Mrs. Norman R. Hanson, Eric
Heilo, Maxwell R. Herman, Charles Iker,
Dr. Carl Ireneus, Jr., Mrs. Rose M. Kiefer,
George J. Loderbauer, Charles J. McCann,
Donald P. Mossman, Leon Neumark, Dr.
Victor T. Nylander, Harry Palm, Mrs.
Henry Scarborough, Dr. William J. Schnute,
B. L. Smalley, David A. Smart, Geary V.
Stibgen, Robert F. Trumbull, Dr. A. E.
Winner, Herbert H. Winsberg, Herman
Wise, James E. Wise, Herman A. Zischke.

SPECIAL NOTICE

All Members of the Museum who
have changed their residence, or are
planning to do so, are earnestly urged
to notify the Museum at once of their
new addresses, so that copies of The
Bulletin and all other communica-
tions may reach them promptly.

PRINTED BY CHICAGO NATtmAL HISTORY MUSEUM PRESS

Chicacfo Nature

Formerly WM

History Museum
TIN

^Miiseum News

Vol. 15

NOVEMBER-DECEMBER, 1944

Nos. 11-12

THE WEB OF LIFE IN A FRESH WATER LAKE, AS SEEN WITH A DIVER'S HELMET

By MARION GREY

ASSOCIATE, DIVISION OF FISHBS

For the preparation of a museum habitat
group, the scientist needs a thorough knowl-
edge of the type of environment he plans to
exhibit, the taxidermist must see in their
natural setting the
animals that are to be
his models, the pre-
parator must know as
much as possible
about the rocks and
plants he is to use as
accessories, and the
artist needs a close
acquaintance with
the background that
he is to paint.

These conditions of
co-operative knowl-
edge cannot always
be met; but when the
Chicago Natural His-
tory Museum under-
took the project of
creating a habitat
group of fresh water
fishes of the Middle
West, it was possible
for members of the
Museum staff to make
repeated trips to Lake
La Grange, Cass
County, Michigan,
with diving equip-
ment, preparatory to
the construction of an
underwater scene typical of this region.

What is seen when looking into water
from above is an illusion, lively as it some-
times is. Viewing a lake through the window
of a diving helmet not only discloses under-
water objects in their true shapes, but also
reveals an unsuspected range of color.
Plump graceful columns of milfoil (Myrio-
phyllum) and hornwort (Ceralophyllum)
stretch above to the lake's surface and,
along with crisp-leaved pondweeds (Pota-
mogeton), masses of Eltxka, and other water
plants, assume the appearance of a thick
jungle of foliage with here and there an
open room carpeted with soft black mud.

Wisps of gray or brown algae droop from
stems and leaves; there are unexpected red

tips on some of the milfoil fronds where there
is new growth. Sometimes the algae on the
plants form a delicate golden tracery over
all, and even the old logs and stumps
scattered over the lake bed are encrusted
with golden brown algae in this way taking

New group, prepared by
the bottom

WEB OF LIFE UNDER WATER
use of unique technical developments, to give Museum visitors illusion of descending to
of a fresh water take and viewing its denizens in typical natural surroundings.

on a beauty entirely of their own.

Lake La Grange is little more than a pond
— few places are too deep for rooted water
plants to grow, and there is but little wave
action. The damming of a stream formed
the lake about one hundred years ago and
it is now being slowly choked up with wild
rice and other water plants. Eventually
such a lake, like most natural lakes, becomes
a bog, and the bog in turn will finally be-
come dry land.

Life in a small lake follows a more or less
set pattern, just as swift-flowing streams or
large deep lakes have their own types of
living communities. Perhaps the most
important factor in the economy of Lake
La Grange is the abundance of vegetation,

though this in turn is determined by the
physical and chemical properties of the
water and the soil of the lake bed.

The plants not only offer homes and
shelter for thousands of animals, large and
small, from the single-celled protozoa to
fishes and birds, but
they also produce the
abundant supply of
oxygen necessary to
the maintenance of
animal life; and they
are used, too, as food
by many of the ani-
mals. Thus a rich
plant life makes pos-
sible a corresponding-
ly rich animal life.

Bacteria are of
major importance in
the pond community.
Besides performing
their essential duty as
agents of decay, re-
leasing the elements
of dead organic mat-
ter to make them
again available to the
green plants, these
tiny organisms serve
as nourishment for
some of the smallest
plankton animals and
also for the mud-liv-
ing inhabitants of the
lake such as tube-
worms and gnat-
larvae. These latter creatures, along
with some bottom-feeding fishes, serve their
purpose as the scavengers of the lake. The
plankton population of the water, the
microscopic floating plants and animals, are
devoured by almost all the legion of small
and middle-sized water creatures and even
by some of the larger fishes.

Young fishes, snails, and insects are eaten
by adult fishes, frogs, turtles, or birds. As
animals die, they fall to the bottom where
their bodies decay through bacterial action
or are eaten by detritus feeders.

Thus the cycle continues until some un-
usual circumstance occurs to upset the
natural balance of the lake. The various
animals and plants of the lake commun-

Page i

CHICAGO NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM BULLETIN

November-December, 19H

EXPEDITION "SHIP"

Boat, with diving helmet, on Lake LaGrange where studies

(or new group were made. Assistant Curator (now Ensign,

U.S.N.R.) Lorcn Woods in bathing suit at right.

ity are interrelated to form a web of life.

Mass destruction may befall the entire
water-living population of a pond or bog-
lake, probably due in most cases to deple-
tion of oxygen in the water. Certain condi-
tions of temperature and chemical changes
sometimes produce the phenomenon of
"waterbloom," an excessive growth of
microscopic plants that die and decay too
rapidly to return to the water as much
oxygen as they extract from it.

Depletion of oxygen may also be brought
about by other circumstances, but the result
is always the death of all fishes and nearly
all other animals bound by their habits to
life beneath the surface. These phenomena
are fortunately rare. Normally the balance
of life is maintained, and a lake that is turn-
ing into a bog does so gradually, losing its
animal inhabitants a few at a time and over
a long period of years.

FISH BREED AMONG PLANTS

The luxuriant plant growth of Lake La
Grange makes possible the existence of
great numbers of fishes, and the habitat
group is planned to feature them. Besides
the above-mentioned benefits of shelter and
food, some fishes, among them the northern
pike and pickerel {Esox) and the red-bellied
dace (Chrosomus), use the weed-beds as
breeding grounds.

The pike leads a solitary life, lying in
wait for its prey among the plants, except
at spawning time when a pair swims rapidly
through the plants, slapping their tails
vigorously as the eggs and milt are extruded,
scattering them widely. The fertilized eggs
adhere to the stems and leaves until develop-
ment is complete and the fry emerge.

Red-bellied dace also spawn in the weeds,
but as the eggs are not adhesive, the female
darts into a mass of filamentous algae, with
one or several males following close behind,

and there leaves her eggs to be caught and
held in the tangle.

Not all the fishes of the lake scatter their
eggs in this fashion. Bullheads, bass, and
many of the minnows construct simple
nests of stones and gravel in the shaded
shallow water near shore. The eggs in these
nests are usually well guarded by one or
both parents until they hatch.

The large-mouth black bass (Huro) and
the bullheads (Ameiurus) carry their pro-
tection even further, keeping watch over
the young and driving away hungry pre-
dators for some days after hatching. When
their parents finally desert them, these
young fishes can resort to the vegetation
for both food and protection, and a larger
percentage is able to survive than in open
water where their many enemies can find
and devour them more readily.

The most familiar of freshwater ponds
is thus an appropriate subject for the
Museum's Hall of Fishes (Hall O) in which
the very different oceanic conditions may be
seen in beautiful representations of the rocky
seacoast of Maine, the sandy coast of the
Gulf of Mexico, and a West Indian coral
reef, among previously installed exhibits.

WHAT A DIVER SEES

This diver's-eye view of the life in a fresh
water lake is typical of lakes found in
northern Illinois, Wisconsin, and Indiana
as well as Michigan. Entirely new concep-
tions and techniques of exhibition were
used in the preparation.

Surface scenes on the lakes in this region
are familiar to hundreds of thousands of
fishermen and other sportsmen. But it is
doubtful if more than a handful have ever
been privileged to go down in a diving
helmet and remain for a protracted length
of time to observe the typical life of the lake
waters and bottom. This group provides
the opportunity to Museum visitors of seeing
everything a helmeted diver can see on the
floor of such lakes.

The Museum sent members of its staff,
and volunteer assistants, on diving expedi-
tions to various lakes to make the necessary
studies for this group. Among those visited
besides Lake La Grange were Fox Lake,
Illinois, and Magician Lake, near Dowagiac,
Michigan. The scene finally reproduced is
based principally upon Lake La Grange,
because conditions there were most favorable
for the studies made by the icthyologists,
artists, and technicians whose joint efforts
were necessary in the production of this
most unusual exhibit.

MANY JOIN EFFORTS

The group was originally conceived by
Loren P. Woods, Assistant Curator of
Fishes, now on duty as an ensign in the
Navy, who headed the Museum's under-
water expeditions in 1941 and 1942. Prepa-
ration of the group is the work of Staff
Taxidermist Leon L. Pray, who is responsi-

ble for the reproductions of the various types
of fish represented; and Staff Artist Arthur
G. Rueckert, who devised completely new
methods, using special glass, concealed
lighting, and other museum-art techniques
to produce completely realistic natural
effects simulating those which actually con-
front the eyes of a diver in such a lake.
This involved combination of the blurred
underwater effect in the distance with clear
representation of the fresh water life in the
foreground of the group.

Others who assisted in the expeditionary
observations and in the preliminary prepa-
rations for the group include Taxidermist
W. E. Eigsti; Frank H. Letl, former Museum
preparator; Ronald Lambert, diver of Zion,
Illinois; Mr. and Mrs. Gordon Cole, of
Dowagiac, and the writer.

The fishes include: large mouthed black
bass, pickerel, grass pike, black crappie,
white crappies, warmouth bass, and yellow
perch; the sun fishes — green sunfish, pump-
kinseed and bluegill; bullhead, and redhorse.
Also shown are the minnows — common
shiner, golden shiner, red bellied dace, and
mud minnows.

OTHER ANIMAL LIFE

The accessory animals shown as part of
the natural lake assemblage include a dead
snapping turtle, being cleaned up by cray-
fishes; a bullfrog, diving into the group; a
green frog; a swimming coot; and air-
breathing and water breathing snails.

The group features a pebble nest, cleaned
of all silt, guarded by the male black bass
as is characteristic of its "family life."

The setting is the early summer develop-
ment of under-water vegetation typical of
our local lakes.

Model Victory Garden

In co-operation with the Victory Garden move-
ment, the Museum has accepted on loan and placed
on exhibition in the Hall of Food Plants (Hall 25)
the miniature diorama shown in the illustration
above. The diorama was made and lent to the
Museum by Miss Halina Przydatek, a teacher in the
Chicago Public Schools.

November-December, 19H

CHICAGO NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM BULLETIN

Page S

MUSEUM ASSISTING TWO SERIES
OF SCHOOL RADIO PROGRAMS

The Museum is co-operating in the
presentation of two series of radio programs
for children in their school classrooms.

One series, under the joint sponsorship
of the Radio Council of Chicago's Board of
Education and the Museum, is presented
on Wednesdays under the title "Places and
Peoples of the Far East." This series began
September 20, and will continue through
December 13, with additional programs on
January 3 and 10. Each program is pre-
sented twice, at 11:15 a.m. over FM station
WBEZ, and again at 1 :30 p.m. on the same
days over WIND, with frequency modula-
tion repeat-performance on the Board of
Education's station, WBEZ.

The second series of programs is being
given on station WLS at 1:15 p.m. on one
Tuesday each month for eight months, the
first presentation having been made Octo-
ber 24. These programs are part of the WLS
feature known as "School Time Broad-
casts."

The October 24 program may be described
as a model of these broadcasts: On that
occasion Miss Martha Gowdy, WLS com-
mentator, brought a group of some fifteen
grade school boys and girls to the Museum
for a tour of the Hall of Egypt with Curator
Richard A. Martin. The program was
picked up directly from the Museum hall
through a traveling microphone moving
about the exhibits with the group. During
the program, the children asked questions
about the various exhibits they were in-
specting, and Mr. Martin gave them the
answers.

Similar programs will be conducted in
other halls of the Museum on one Tuesday
during each of the next seven months; on
the alternate weeks, the broadcasts of this
type will be made from the Brookfield Zoo,
Lincoln Park Zoo, and Trailside Museum.
Thousands of school classrooms in Chicago
and throughout the states of Illinois,
Wisconsin, Indiana and Michigan are tuned
in regularly on these programs.

The weekly programs on Wednesdays in
conjunction with the public school broad-
casting council are also 15-minute programs
intended for reception on radio sets in class-
rooms and assembly halls of the schools.
The programs correlate with social studies
which are a part of the regular school cur-
riculum in upper elementary and high school
grades.

The broadcasts given on the first two
Wednesdays were devoted to the Philippine
Islands; the next two to the Malay Archi-
pelago and Malay states; Thailand and
French Indo China, followed by Burma,
were the subjects of the following two
programs. Four Wednesdays are now to be
devoted to the peoples, customs and
problems of India, and the final four to
similar studies of China.

At the Museum itself, a special program
was given on October 26, and another is
scheduled for December 14 at 2 p.m., as a
tie-in with the radio series. The first of
these consisted of a lecture and tour of the
Melanesian exhibits, and the second will
provide the same treatment for India and
China. Each school selects pupils to be
sent to these special programs, and report
back on them to their classmates.

A handbook on the radio series has been
prepared and distributed to all Chicago
teachers who might be concerned with the
programs. Preparation of the programs is
in the hands of Isabel Callvert, for the Board
of Education, and Miss Miriam Wood, chief
of the James Nelson and Anna Louise Ray-
mond Foundation at the Museum.

AMATEUR COLLECTORS

By WILLIAM J. GERHARD

CURATOR OP INSECTS

Large and valuable collections of natural
history specimens are often made by persons
who are interested in the subject mainly as a
hobby or a pastime. Such amateur collectors
unquestionably derive much pleasure from
their hobby. Frequently they are able to
add to the knowledge of the subject in
which they are interested, and often their
collections are acquired eventually by
museums and thereby made available for
study or examination for many genera-
tions to come.

Because insects are generally abundant,
and comparatively easy to collect and pre-
serve, they are favored by amateur col-
lectors. Thus a surprisingly large part of
what is known about insects is due to such
collectors.

A notable example of the results of an
amateur's hobby is the collection of butter-
flies and moths that the Museum received
as a gift this year from the late Arthur Wolf
Herz, of Chicago. This collection consisted
of nearly 13,000 well-spread and named
specimens, most of which have the essential
data, namely, a. pin-label indicating when
and where the specimen was collected.

More than a third of the specimens in
this collection consisted of European species,
many of which previously were not well
represented in the Museum. A large num-
ber of both the European and North Ameri-
can specimens were raised from either the
egg or the larval stage and hence they are
in perfect condition. To attain such results
much time and patience were required, as
well as a knowledge of the usual food-plants
of the species to be bred.

For fifty years Mr. Herz devoted the
greater part of his leisure time after busi-
ness hours to the increase and improvement
of his collection, maintaining a keen interest
in it to the end of his life. For a much
longer period the results of his hobby will
be easily accessible and useful to future
students of butterflies and moths.

JAMES L. KRAFT ELECTED
A MUSEUM CONTRIBUTOR

In recognition of his gift of an exceptional
specimen of nephrite jade boulder weighing
2,490 pounds (illustrated in this issue of
The Bulletin, and described in an article
on page 5 of the September-October num-
ber), Mr. James L. Kraft of Chicago has
been elected to the membership class
designated as Contributors (a classification
including all those whose contributions in
money or materials reach a value between
$1,000 and $100,000).

Mr. Kraft has been an Associate Member
of the Museum since 1926.

A. W. HERZ POSTHUMOUSLY ELECTED

The late Arthur Wolf Herz, of Chicago,
has been posthumously elected a contributor
in recognition of his gift to the Museum of a
collection of 12,944 North American and
European butterflies and moths.

2,490-POUND JADE BOULDER

Edwin. Marjory and Emily Gin Toy, 2219 Wcntworth
Avenue, Chicago, inspect the huge Wyoming specimen of
the rock so highly prized in the Orient, presented to the
Museum recently by Mr. James L. Kraft, of Chicago. The
boulder is now in the Hall of Minerals (Hall 34).

Discovery of Agate in Uruguay

This is the story of the discovery of agate
in Uruguay as it was told to a member of a
Museum expedition by Julius Schuch, owner
of the largest agate quarry in that county.

A young man of Oberstein, Germany,
where agate cutting had been practised for
hundreds of years, fought in the Brazilian
army during one of the revolutions. After
the fighting was over, foreigners were thrown
out of the army without formality. This
young man, finding himself without employ-
ment or resources, crossed into Uruguay and
during his wanderings there found in the
stream beds many pebbles which he saw
were the same as the agates he knew in
Oberstein. He sent some to his uncle in
Germany who became interested and soon
established the agate quarrying industry of
Uruguay. Examples of these agates, rough
and polished, are in Hall 34. — H.W.N.

Page i

CHICAGO NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM BULLETIN

November-December, 191tU

WAR POINTS TO NEED FOR RESTORING SOUTH AMERICA
AS PRODUCER OF QUININE AS WELL AS RUBBER

By B. E. DAHLGREN
chief curator, department of botany

Quinine is obtained from the bark of
various trees of the genus Cinchona. Thirty
to forty species are known from the moun-
tains of northwestern South America from
Bolivia through Peru, Ecuador and Colom-
bia to Venezuela, where they grow scattered
in the forests above 2,000 or 2,500 feet to
altitudes approaching 10,000 feet near the
equator. One species extends northward
to Costa Rica. Some of them are handsome

FLOWERS OF QUININE

Detail of a branch of tfle quinine tree, recently reproduced from luture and added to

tfie botanical exhibits in Martin A. and Carrie Ryerson Hall (Plant Life, Hall 29).

The species represented is Cinchona Ledgeriatu which is grown in the Dutch cinchona

, plantations and has now been introduced into Central America.

trees with thick and shiny, oblong, opposite
leaves, reddish when immature, or when
ready to fall, and laden with clusters of
yellowish-white, rose-tipped flowers.

Whether the anti-malarial properties of
the bark were first discovered by the Indians,
or by the early missionaries, or by whom, has
never been determined. The long-current
legend attributing to the Countess Chin-
chon the introduction of the so-called Peru-
vian bark into Europe in 1640 is said to be
thoroughly exploded, but it is commemo-
rated in the botanical genus name Cinchona.

The remarkable bark gained such great

repute that a century later several European
governments sent expeditions or botanical
explorers to investigate particulars of its
occurrence. The most famous of these were
the Frenchman Condamine, who returned
to report on his findings in 1738, and the
Spaniards Ruiz and Pavon who left Spain
in 1777. During ten years spent in Peru
they became acquainted with seven species
of quinine trees and their product, and de-
scribed these at length in their Quinologia
which was published in Madrid in 1792.

An English transla-
tion of the long-lost
journal of the travels
of Ruiz was published
by this Museum
in 1940 (publication
467). In an epilogue
the Spanish editor
gives an account of
the notable report
on quinine. The
almost equally fa-
mous Spanish bota-
nist Mutis studied
the quinine trees of
Colombia about the
same time.

Ruiz in his journal
describes vividly the
poor earnings and the
hard life of the Indian
quinine gatherers,
and also tells of the
destruction of the
trees that are felled in
order to peel the bark
from stems and roots.
In places that once
furnished large quan-
tities of bark the
supply, even then,
had diminished until
locally almost non-
existent.

As long as the
natural supply was
reasonably abundant,
no one thought of
planting quinine trees
either in Peru or else-
where, but about 1850 the scarcity of the
bark became increasingly apparent. Both
the Dutch and British governments then
took steps to obtain plants or seed for
introduction in their eastern possessions.
The Dutch established a large plantation
in Java in the years immediately following
1854, and the English in the Nilgiri Hills in
southern India in 1859. Neither at first
obtained the most valuable species, now
known as Cinchona Ledgeriana. This was
found about ten years later by an English
business man named Ledger, resident in
Peru who through a London agent was able

to sell some of his seeds to the Dutch govern-
ment, the English having declined to buy.

In this manner and after many experi-
ments in propagation and breeding, none
too well understood at the time, the Dutch
quinine plantations became the most im-
portant source of the world's increasingly
necessary supply of the drug. South Amer-
ica thus lost its early natural monopoly
and primacy in what should have remained
one of its most valuable exports.

The story of the parallel loss of its rubber
trade some years later follows the same
pattern, which serves to empha.size the
economic advantage of scientifically guided
plantation production over the exploitation
of the corresponding wild forest-grown
products of scattered distribution.

POST-WAR LESSON

That an enemy seizure of the East Indies
should have practically deprived the rest of
the world of two such essential commodities
as rubber and quinine is a remarkable fact
with implications demanding the serious
attention of post-war planners. That the
American continent should be placed in a
critical position by a drastic curtailment
by enemy hands of its normal supply of two
such essentially American forest products
as these should be as disconcerting to our-
selves as it must be to the South American
countries concerned.

In view of the inadequacy of the scattered
plantings existing outside of Japanese
occupied areas, reco^irse has been had during
the past few years to enforcement of strict
economy in the use of existing stocks, as
well as to intensified gathering and search
for additions to the insufficient natural
supply. It is fortunate that recent develop-
ments in chemical science and industry
have made it possible to provide more or
less satisfactory substitutes for eking out
the available modicum of the natural
products.

It is to be hoped that this eleventh hour
rescue may not be too discouraging to future
production on the American continent of
these important natural commodities for
which the Western Hemisphere should well
be able to rely on itself, at least in much
larger measure than before.

BOOKS FOR CHRISTMAS
AT MUSEUM SHOP

The BOOK SHOP of THE
MUSEUM still features the very
latest and best books in the fields
of nature and science. It is an
ideal place to obtain Christmas
gifts for your friends whose inter-
ests or hobbies lie along these
lines. Come in and browse — or
give your orders by mail or tele-
phone (WABash 9410).

November-December, 19U

CHICAGO NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM BULLETIN

Page 5

A SPECIAL NEW SERVICE TO AID
HIGH SCHOOL SCIENCE GROUPS

By JOHN R. MILLAR

CURATOR, N. W. HARRIS PUBLIC SCHOOL EXTENSION

A new development in the method of cir-
culating the exhibits of the N. W. Harris
Public School Extension was inaugurated
this fall. The sixty-four high schools now
reached by the Extension have been grouped
in a separate category and will receive a
special selection of exhibits believed to be
most useful for science teaching at the high
school level. These exhibits will move in a
sequence co-ordinated with the course of
study in biology in use in public high schools
at present.

This is a simple, rather obvious change
in the system of circulating exhibits in
schools, a system which has prevailed
almost from the time the Extension first
began to operate. Under it, exhibits have
been moved in pairs in an endless chain
through all schools participating in this
Museum service, regardless of their type.

A diversification of the procedure was
made possible, even imperative, by the
character of some recent additions to the
collection of portable exhibits. These
exhibits are less objective than most of those
in circulation heretofore, and present in-
stead more mature ideas that help toward
an understanding of so-called "biological
principles."
I

' ADAPTATIONS DEMONSTRATED

An example is a recently completed
exhibit on the subject of the adaptations of
of some bottom-dwelling fishes. In this
exhibit the similar adaptive forms of the
otherwise dissimilar flounder and skate are
illustrated by means of life-sized models and
diagrammatic drawings. The curious migra-
tion of the flounder eye during the meta-
morphosis of the young is a classic example
of the adaptive change in an animal's form,
and is a part of the exhibit.

Simple as it is, this exhibit deals with
forms and ideas beyond the experience and
grasp of elementary school pupils. How-
ever, it is eminently suitable to high school
biology where some of the generalizations
of science are first taught, and are, in fact,
the core of the entire course of study.

Another reason for separate treatment of
high schools is the essentially different
method of handling the cases within the
schools. In high schools, it is customary to
use the portable exhibits in the science rooms
only. Students see the cases at only one
period of their high school experience. It
follows then, that if the exhibits are of value
as teaching aids one year, it would be a dis-
tinct advantage to the teacher to have the
same kind of material at about the same
time the following year, when he has a new
group of students. The new schedule for
high schools will achieve this end.
, The situation in elementary schools is

% quite different. Here cases usually are

carried into all classrooms, and endless
variety seems to be desirable. The fact
that a particular exhibit does not reappear
at an elementary school oftener than once
in four years, and usually not at all in the
eight-year period that the average pupil
attends, is considered advantageous rather
than otherwise.

Although school authorities were con-
sulted on the matter, many aspects of the
plan must be regarded as theory to be
proven by experience. However, the basic
scheme is believed to be a sound develop-
ment of the Museum's service to the schools
of Chicago, and efforts toward further ex-
pansion will be continued.

MUSEUM OFFERS ASSISTANCE
TO CHRISTMAS SHOPPERS

METEORITIC IRON STUDY
VOLUMES RECEIVED

Mr. Stuart H. Perry, newspaper publisher
of Adrian, Michigan, has presented to the
Museum a five-volume collection of photo-
micrographs of more than 100 meteorites.
The photomicrographs were made during
the course of Mr. Perry's important and
extensive studies of the metallography of
meteoritic iron.

The microscopic patterns of the speci-
mens were brought out by polishing a section
to a very high degree and then etching it
very lightly with dilute acid. This method
brings out the pattern which may be studied
in perfect detail under high magnifications.
Many of the photographs are magnifications
of 600 times.

The Smithsonian Institution has recently
published a 115-page account of studies
made by Mr. Perry of the microstructure of
iron meteorites.

The five volumes contain more than 1,400
photographs accompanied by Mr. Perry's
valuable interpretation of the structure
revealed.

Only three such sets have been made
and these have been distributed to the
United States National Museum, the
University of Michigan (where Mr. Perry
conducted his studies), and to this Museum.

—P. O. M.

Technical Publications Issued

The following technical publications have
been issued by the Chicago Natural History
Museum Press since appearance of the last
list printed in The Bulletin.

Zoological Series, Vol. 29, No. 12. Orni-
thological Notes from Point Barrow, Alaska.
By Louis B. Bishop. July 12, 1944. $ .15.

Zoological Series, Vol. 29, No. 13. Nine
New South American Rodents. By Wilfred
H. Osgood. July 12, 1944. $ .15.

Geological Series, Vol. 8, No. 12. An
Osteoborus from Honduras. By Paul 0.
McGrew. August 14, 1944. $ .10.

Geological Series, Vol. 8, No. 13. The
Aelurodon Saevus Group. By Paul 0.
McGrew. August 14, 1944. $ .10.

How would you like to avoid the rush and
confusion of Christmas shopping?

The Museum makes it possible for you to
buy and send your gifts while sitting cozily
at your desk in your own home or office.

You can avoid wrapping packages, and
standing in line at the post ofl^ce to have
them weighed, stamped, and insured.

The Museum offers its service in two
forms. All you need is a pen — we furnish
even the postage.

Here are the plans:

1. Christmas Gift Memberships in the
Museum. With this issue of The Bulletin
there are enclosed Christmas Membership
application forms, and postage-prepaid
envelopes for returning them. All you
need to do is designate the name of the
person you wish elected to membership,
and send the form in with your check.

The Museum will handle all details, send-
ing the recipients attractive Christmas cards
notifying them that they have been elected
Members of this institution through your
courtesy. With the card will be sent infor-
mation about their privileges as Members,
as well as the regular Membership cards
(and Certificates in the case of Life and
Associate Members).

2. Services of the Book Shop of the Museum.
The Book Shop is prepared to furnish books,
endorsed for scientific authenticity by
members of the Museum staff, for both
adults and children.

You are invited to browse in the Book
Shop during part of your next visit to the
Museum.

Where desired, the Book Shop will handle
mail and telephone (WABash 9410) orders,
and will undertake all details in connection
with wrapping, and the dispatching of gift
purchases to the designated recipients,
together with such forms of greeting as the
purchaser may specify.

Latin American Newspaperwomen
Brought to Museum

On October 21, the Museum was host to
a group of newspaperwomen from Latin
American countries, visiting the United
States under the auspices of the Co-ordi-
nator of Inter-American Affairs. They were
entertained by Acting Director Orr Good-
son. Those in the party were: Sehorita
Lenka Frafiulic, writer, Revista Ercilla;
Serlorita Piedad Levi Castillo, writer. El
Telegrafo; Senora Aurora Estrada y Ayala
de Ramirez PIrez, magazine and radio
writer; Seiiora Elsa de Barrios, Director,
Proa; Seiiorita Gloria Menedez Miiia,
Director, Azul; Senora Raquel Delgado de
Castro, Director, Vida y Salud; and Seno-
rita Laura de Arce, Director, Mujeres
de America.

Page 6

CHICAGO NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM BULLETIN

November-December, 19U

Chicago Natural History Museum

Founded by Marshall Field, 1893
Roosevelt Road and Field Drive, Chica£o

Telephone: Wabash 9410

THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES
Lester Armour Stanley Field

Sewell L. Avery Samuei, Insull, Jr.

W. McCoRMiCK Blair Charles A. McCuLLOCH

Leopold E. Block William H. Mitchell

BOARDHAN CONOVER GEORGE A. RiCHARDSON

Walter J. Cummings Solomon A. Smith

Albert B. Dick, Jr. Albert A. Sprague

Howard W. Fenton Silas H. Strawn

Joseph N. Field Albert H. Wettbn

Marshall Field John P. Wilson

OFFICERS

Stanley Field Pretident

Albert A. Spbagub First Viee-President

Silas H. Strawn Second Vice-Pretident

.\lbert B. Dick Third Vice-President

♦Clifford C. Gregg Director and Secretary

Orr GOODSON Acting Director and Acting Secretary

Solomon A. Smith . . . Treasurer and Assistant Secretary

* On leave in active service as a Colonel in the United
States Army.

THE BULLETIN

EDITOR
Wilfred H. Osgood Curator Emeritus, Zoology

CONTRIBUTING EDITORS

Paul S. Martin Chief Curator of Anthropology

B. E. Dahlgren Chief Curator of Botany

Henry W. Nichols Chief Curator of Geology

Karl P. Schmidt Chief Curator of Zoology

MANAGING EDITOR
H. B. Hartb Public Relations Counsel

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

POSTHUMOUS HONORS GIVEN
GENERAL ROOSEVELT

In tribute to Brigadier-General Theodore
Roosevelt, Trustee of the Museum, whose
death in France was reported in the last
issue of The Bulletin, the Board of
Trustees adopted a memorial resolution at
a meeting held September 15.

On September 21, Secretary of War
Stimson presented to General Roosevelt's
widow the Medal of Honor, an award which
had been recommended prior to the general's
death in Normandy on July 12.

MUSEUM RESOLUTION

Following is the text of the Museum
Trustees' resolution:

"The death of General Theodore Roose-
velt, Jr., deprives American science and
culture of a staunch supporter and an active
participant in the advancement of knowl-
edge. Distinguished son of a distinguished
father, he led a life of intense devotion to
public service during which his interest in
and appreciation of natural history were
never submerged by the exigencies of ad-
ministrative affairs.

"His direct connection with the Chicago
Natural History Museum began in 1925
when with his brother Kermit he conducted
with great success the James Simpson-
Roosevelts Asiatic Expedition. Again in
1928, also with his brother, he continued
with a similar and equally successful under-
taking, the William V. Kelley-Roosevelts
Expedition to Eastern Asia. These expedi-

tions were planned and carried out on a large
scale. They traversed difficult and little-
known regions and they brought to the
Museum some of the largest and most
important zoological collections acquired
within its history. It is significant that,
although both these expeditions engaged in
the exciting chase of rare game animals and
secured material for some of the finest
exhibits in the Museum, there was also
provision for the careful study of the little-
known and unspectacular elements of the
fauna of the regions explored. In both
cases trained zoologists were associated
with the parties and their notes and collec-
tions have formed the basis of technical
publications detailing large additions to
knowledge.

"General Roosevelt's interest in and serv-
ice to the Museum were by no means con-
fined to expeditionary activities. While
Governor of the Philippines he was instru-
mental in securing important collections for
the Museum, and elsewhere he was ever alert
for its interest. After his election as a
Trustee in 1938, he kept in touch loyally
with Museum affairs although unable to be
in regular attendance at meetings.

"His brilliant record as a soldier in two
wars, especially in the present one, is
remarkable, bringing to his memory the
acclaim and gratitude of the entire nation.

"Therefore, be it resolved that this
expression of our high regard for him be
spread upon the permanent records of the
Board and that our deep sympathy be con-
veyed to his family. The loss of his stimu-
lating personality, his valued counsel, and
his warm companionship will long be felt."

ARMY TRIBUTE

The War Department citation said:

"For gallantry and intrepidity at the risk
of his life above and beyond the call of duty
on June 6, 1944, in France. After two
verbal requests to accompany the leading
assault elements in the Normandy invasion
had been denied, Brigadier-General Roose-
velt's request for this mission was approved
and he landed with the first wave of the
forces assaulting the enemy-held beaches.

"He repeatedly led groups from the beach,
over the seawall and established them
inland. His valor, and courage and pres-
ence in the very front of the attack and his
complete unconcern at being under heavy
fire inspired the troops to heights of enthu-
siasm and self-sacrifice.

"Although the enemy had the beach
under constant direct fire, Brigadier-General
Roosevelt moved from one locality to
another, rallying men around him, directed
and personally led them against the enemy.
Under his seasoned, precise, calm and unfal-
tering leadership, assault troops reduced
beach strong points and rapidly moved
inland with minimum casualties. He thus
contributed substantially to the successful

establishment of the beachhead in France."
General Roosevelt previously had been
awarded the Distinguished Service Cross,
Distinguished Service Medal, Silver Star,
Purple Heart with Oak Leaf Cluster, and
several foreign decorations for his service
in World War I. He was awarded the Oak
Leaf Cluster to the Silver Star in 1943 for
gallantry in action in this war.

THE MUSEUM HONOR ROLL
Now in the Nation's Service

^

Army

George A. Richard-
son, Trustee — Lt.
Col.

Clifford C. Gregg,
Director — Colonel,
G.S.C.

Dr. John Rinaldo,
Associate. South-
western Archaeol. '^ '~'
— SUff Sgt.

Dr. Sharat K. Roy, Curator, Geol. — Capt.

D. Dwight Davis, Curator, Anat. and Osteol. —
Corp.

Bryan Patterson, Curator, Paleontology — Pfc.

Emmet R. Blake, Asst. Curator, Birds — Special
Agent, War Dept.

Rupert L. Wenzel, Asst. Curator, Insects — Capt.

Henry S. Dybas, Assistant, Insects — -Pvt.

William Beecher, Temp. Asst., Zool. — Pfc.

Henry Horback, Asst., Geol. — S. Sgt.

James C. McIntyre, Guard — 2nd Lt.

Raymond J. Connors, Guard — Pvt.

Frank J. Dutkovic, Janitor — Pvt.

Navy

Lester Armour, Trustee — Comdr.

Samuel Insull, Jr., Trustee — Lieut. Comdr.

Joseph Nash Field, Trustee — Lieut.

CouN Campbell Sanborn, Curator, Mammals —

Lieut.
Dr. Alexander Spoehr, Asst. Curator, N. Amer.

Ethnol.— Lieut, (j.g.)
Lorbn P. Woods, Asst. Curator, Fishes — Ensign
John W. Mover, Taxidermist — Ch. Specialist

(Bur. Aeronautics)
James H. Quinn, Chief Preparator, Paleontol. —

Metalsmith 2C
Patrick T. McEnery, Guard — Master-at-Arms
John Syckowski, Guard — Ch. Commissary Stewd.
George Jahrand, Guard — Ch. Water Tender
Clyde James Nash, Guard — Ch. Gunner
Nicholas Repar, Printer — Aviation Machinist's

Mate 2C.
Morris Johnson, Carpenter — Carpenter's Mate

IC.
Herbert Nelson, Painter — Painter IC.
Elizabeth Best, Guide-Lecturer —

Ensign, WAVES
Marie B. Pabst. Guide-Lecturer —

Ueut. (j.g.), WAVES

Marine Corps

Melvin a. Traylor, Jr. Associate, Birds — 1st Lt.

Coast Guard
M. C. Darnall, Jr., Guard — Lieut, (j.g.)
John McGinnis, Guard — Ch. Boatswain's Mate

Other Services

Rudyerd Boulton, Curator, Birds — Staff of
Office of Strategic Services

Bryant Mather, Asst. Curator, Mineralogy-
Civilian Worlter, Corps of Engineers, U.S. Army

Llewelyn Williams, Curator of Economic Botany
— on special service for U.S. Government

Dr. Julian A. Steybrhark, Asst. Curator, Herba-
rium— field work for Board of Economic Warfare

Dr. C. Martin Wilbur. Curator, Chinese Archaeol.
and Ethnol. — Staff of Office of Strategic Services

Died In Service:

Theodore Roosevelt, Trustee — Brig. Gen., U.S.A.

November-December, 19H

CHICAGO NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM BULLETIN

Page 7

SUNDAY LAYMAN LECTURES BEGIN IN NOVEMBER

With two new titles added to his repertoire, Mr. Paul G. Dallwig, the
Museum's Layman Lecturer, will open his 1944-45 season of Sunday afternoon
lectures the first week in November.

With a different subject each month,
Mr. Dallwig will lecture every Sunday
during November, December and January,
and again (after a month's absence while on
a Pacific coast lecture tour) in March, April
and May.

Lectures this season will begin an hour
later, at 3 P.M., instead of at 2 as has been
the practice in the preceding six seasons
during which Mr. Dallwig has carried on
this activity.

Persons desiring to attend are advised to ap-
ply several weeks in advance. Reservations
will be accepted by mail or telephone
(WABash 9410).

Visiting Hours Change

The Museum visiting hours, which have
been 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily during the autumn
months, will change to the winter schedule
— 9 A.M. to 4 P.M. — on November 1. These
hours will continue until February 28.

IGOROT, PHILIPPINES

TODA, INDIA

Illustrations show sculptures by Malvina Hoffman in
Hall 3. and are copyrighted by the Museum,

During November, Mr. Dallwig will
present one of his new subjects, under
the title "Those Interesting Asiatics
and Pacific Islanders." The relation-
ship of this lecture to the Pacific war
is obvious, and consequently exception-
ally heavy reservations are expected on
the four Sundays in November.

In December Mr. Dallwig's subject will
be "Mysterious 'Night-Riders' of the Sky";
in January, "Digging Up the Caveman's
Past"; in March "Who's Who in the Jungle
Zoo"; in April, "Romance of Diamonds
From Mine to Man," and in May, the final
month, the second subject not hitherto
presented will be given, viz., "The Romance
of Wood."

Some of these lectures will be given
entirely in the lecture hall, followed by a
"social half-hour" in the exhibition halls;
of some, the first half will be given in the
lecture hall, and the remainder will be
continued among the exhibits in related
halls of display. With the starting time
changed, the lectures are scheduled to end
at 4:50 P.M.

The heavy demand by the public for
Mr. Dallwig's lectures, and the necessity
of limiting each audience to 100 adults
(children cannot be accommodated), make it
necessary to require advance reservations.

Staff Notes

Mr. Bryan Patterson, Curator of Paleon-
tology, on leave from the Museum for service
in the U. S. Army, when last heard from was
engaged with a contingent assigned to
rehabilitating a bombed-out community in
Normandy.

Mr. Harry Changnon, Assistant in the
Department of Geology, recently spent
several weeks on a geological field trip,
studying Cambrian and Huronian forma-
tions in the Devil's Lake region of Wiscon-
sin with a group from the University of
Chicago.

Mr. John W. Moyer, Staff Taxidermist,
now a Chief Specialist in the U. S. Navy
engaged in making motion pictures of naval
medical and surgical work, visited the Mu-
seum recently during a furlough. Since
going into the service he has been on assign-
ments in South America, North Africa,
Italy, France, Great Britain, and elsewhere.

Miss Velma Whipple has rejoined the
Raymond Foundation staff of lecturers.
Formerly on the lecture staff, she left in
1938 to teach in the Chicago Public Schools,
and to complete her studies for a master of
science degree which has since been con-
ferred upon her by the University of New
Mexico. • She replaces Mr. Bert E. Grove
who has resigned to teach at Lake Forest.

Dr. Wilfred H. Osgood, Curator Emeritus
of Zoology, recently spent a week at the
American Museum of Natural History, in
New York, for the purpose of studying
specimens there in connection with research
on the mammals of North America.

THE MUSEUM WILL CLOSE
CHRISTMAS AND NEW YEARS
DAY in order to permit as many
employees as possible to spend
the holidays with their families.

FOUR SATURDAY AFTERNOON
LECTURES IN NOVEMBER

Four more Saturday afternoon lectures
remain to be given at the Museum in the
annual Autumn Course presented in the
James Simpson Theatre for adults. The
lectures all begin at 2:30 p.m., and all but
one are illustrated with colored motion
pictures. The exception, on November 18,
consists of a stage presentation of Indian
dances and songs to be given by Reginald
and Gladys Laubin, well-known interpreters
of this art.

Following are the titles, dates and
lecturers for the remainder of the season:

November 4 — BoRA Bora, Fisherman's
Paradise.
Henry M. Hedges.

November 11 — Upper Amazon and High

Andes Adventure.
Lewis N. Cotlow.

November 18 — The First American.
Reginald and Gladys Laubin.

November 25 — Our Mexican Neighbors.
Dr. A. B. Keeler.

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

PROGRAMS FOR CHILDREN
CONTINUE IN NOVEMBER

The James Nelson and Anna Louise Ray-
mond Foundation for Public School and
Children's Lectures will present during
November the last four programs of free
motion pictures for children in its annual
autumn series. These programs, to which
children from all parts of Chicago and
suburbs are invited, are presented twice
each Saturday, at 10 A.M. and again at 11,
in the James Simpson Theatre of the
Museum.

A special feature of the November 18
program will be a stage presentation con-
sisting of the personal appearance of Ram-
krishna and Manorama Modak who will
portray in their program, "Living India,"
the life of a typical Indian couple.

Following is the schedule for the month:

November 4 — When Winter Comes.
And a cartoon.

November 11— STORY OF THE PoLAR Re-
gions.
And a cartoon.

November 18 — LIVING India.
Personal appearance by Ramkrishna and
Manorama Modak.

November 25 — All Cartoon Program.

Page 8

CHICAGO NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM BULLETIN

November-December, 19U

LECTURE TOURS ON WEEKDAYS,
NOVEMBER AND DECEMBER

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

November

Wed., Nov. 1 — The Elephant, Donkey, and

Other Significant Animals (Loraine

Lloyd).
Fri., Nov. 3 — Rocks and Rationing — Coal

and Oil (Velma Whipple).
Wed., Nov. 8 — Sugars, Spices, and Oils

(Miriam Wood).
Fri., Nov. 10 — Peace Making in the Primi-
tive Manner (Mrs. Roberta Cramer).
Wed., Nov. 15— The People of Africa

(Emma Neve).
Fri., Nov. 17 — The Magic of Jade (Velma

Whipple).
Wed., Nov. 22 — Animals Have Feasts Too

(Loraine Lloyd).
Fri., Nov. 24 — Offerings Among Ancient

and Primitive Peoples (Mrs. Roberta

Cramer).
Wed., Nov. 29 — Beginnings of Big Business

• — Primitive Ways of Making A Living

(Emma Neve).

December

Fri., Dec. 1 — Pin-ups from the Past — Fa-
mous Fossils (Velma Whipple).
Wed., Dec. 6 — Pacific Paradoxes — Hawaii

and Other Polynesian Islands (Mrs.

Roberta Cramer).
Fri., Dec. 8— The Influence of a Star— The

Sun's Effect on Plants and Animals

(Loraine Lloyd).
Wed., Dec. 13 — Traveling Salesmen — World

Trade (Emma Neve).
Fri., Dec. 15 — Religious Rituals (Mrs.

Roberta Cramer).
Wed., Dec. 20— Christmas Gifts from

Animal Products (Loraine Lloyd).
Fri., Dec. 22 — Christmas Greens (Miriam

Wood).
Wed., Dec. 27— Belated Greetings— The

Story of Communication (Emma Neve).
Fri., Dec. 29— Cliffs and Caves (Velma

Whipple).

GIFTS TO THE MUSEUM

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

Department of Anthropology:

From: The late William F. E. Guriey-
jewelry, pottery, stone and copper tools,
sculpture, seals, bronze and stone vessels,
and other ethnological specimens, various
localities; Cecil Drake, Tulsa, Okla. — a
tripod plate (Huastecan), Mexico; Mrs.
Alice Hall Gregory, Chicago — Indian paint-
ing, hunting and war scenes, on muslin,
Montana.

Department of Botany:

From: Dr. Marion Ownbey, Pullman,
Wash. — 90 herbarium specimens, Ecuador;
Dr. W. H. Camp, Quito, Ecuador — 45 her-

barium specimens, Ecuador; Pvt. Standley
B. Lummis, U. S. Army — 12 herbarium
specimens, Aleutian Islands; Lawrence J.
King, Wooster, Ohio — 500 specimens of
cryptogams, Ohio; Dr. Fred A. Barkley,
Austin, Tex. — 35 specimens of algae, Texas;
Dr. Delzie Demaree, Monticello, Ark. — 53
specimens of algae, Arkansas; Robert Run-
yon, Brownsville, Tex. — 145 specimens of
algae, Texas; Harold B. Louderback, Argo,
111. — 248 specimens of cryptogams, Illinois
and Wisconsin; Dr. Walter Kiener, Lincoln,
Neb. — 154 specimens of algae, Nebraska;
Dr. M. A. Brannon, Gainesville, Fla. — 31
specimens of algae, Florida; Charles A.
Heath, Chicago — a water color painting of
Welwitschia; George L. Fisher, Houston,
Tex. — 63 herbarium specimens, Mexico;
Cranbrook Institute of Science, Bloomfield
Hills, Mich. — 68 herbarium specimens,
Mexico.

Department of Geology:

From: Lieut. Colin C. Sanborn, U.S.N.R.
— 2 gastropods, Peru ; Alex Fitzner, Chicago
— 10 specimens of columbite, Colorado;
Mrs. Richard T. Crane, Jr., Chicago — 7
chalcedony intaglios from Carthage, a green
jade ring, and a citrine cane head; Lt. V. A.
Lang, Chicago — specimen of brachiopods
on slab {Camarotoechia), Pennsylvania;
Carl Almen, Chicago — an iron pyrite con-
cretion showing glacial striae, Illinois;
Miss Anna Vasek, Honey Creek, Wis. — a
copper boulder, Wisconsin; Thomas J.
Dee, Evanston, 111. — 7 specimens of crystal-
lized gold and a gold nugget, Colorado.

Department of Zoology:

From: Prof. A. M. Adamson, Trinidad,

B. W. I. — 2 caimans, 4 snakes, and 3 frogs,
British West Indies; Lincoln Park Zoo,
Chicago — 2 turtles and a snake, Mexico;
Lieut. Murray L. Johnson, (M.C.) U.S.N.R.
— 11 frogs and 24 lizards, Brazil, Trinidad,
and St. Thomas; Pvt. Henry S. Dybas,
U.S. Army — 2 frogs, Louisiana; Mrs. Emil
Veto, Chicago — 10 specimens of marine
shells, Dutch New Guinea; Sgt. Thane
Riney, Savanna, 111. — 6 frogs, 2 salamanders,
and a turtle, Illinois; Pfc. William J.
Beecher, U.S. Army — 16 snakes, 44 lizards,
37 frogs, and 5 bird skins, Solomon Islands
and New Guinea; Miss Priscilla Hannaford,
Winnetka, 111. — 10 specimens of shells and
2 salamander larvae, Illinois; Oden H.
Meeker, Port-au-Price, Haiti, and Evanston,
111. — a giant tree frog, a camel cricket, 3
snakes, and a lizard, Haiti and Dominican
Republic; Lieut. Colin C. Sanborn, U.S.N.R.
— an owl, a hawk, a sea shell, and 2 ticks,
Peru; Pfc. Bryan Patterson, U.S. Army —
57 insects and allies, Texas; Dr. and Mrs.

C. J. Goodnight, Urbana, 111. — 4 harvest-
men, Africa and China; Maj. Henry J. Ben-
nett, U.S. Army — 14 shrimps and 32 insects
and allies, Solomon Islands; Maj. Henry J.
Bennett and L. A. Psekany, U.S. Army —
39 crabs and fresh water shells, Solomons.

Library :

Valuable books from: United States Army
Map Service, United States Chamber of
Commerce, Coordinator of Inter-American
Affairs, and Dr. Henry Field, Washington,
D.C.; the late Arthur W. Herz; B. A. Kru-
koff and Dr. Albert E. Parr, New York;
Lieut. Colin C. Sanborn, U.S.N.R.; Dr.

Angelo Costa Lima, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil;
Pedro Villa Cordova, Lima, Peru; Mrs.
Edith Comas, Baltimore, Md.; Curtio W.
Sabrosky, Manning, S. C; Donald E.
Savage, Norman, Okla.; John D. Dwyer,
Albany, N. Y.; S. W. Geiser, Dallas, Tex.;
Miss Leota Hallock, Brooklyn, N. Y.; James
Lee Love, Burlington, N. C; Royal Air
Force Headquarters, Colombo, Ceylon;
Ivan T. Sanderson, London; Dr. Narcisco
Souza, Merida, Yucatan, Mexico; Mrs.
Hermon Dunlap Smith and Bert E. Grove,
Lake Forest, 111.; Stuart H. Perry, Adrian,
Mich.; Boardman Conover, W. J. Gerhard,
and Miss Miriam Wood, all of Chicago.

NEW MEMBERS

The following persons became Members
of the Museum during the period from
August 7 to October 14:

Contributors

Arthur Wolf Herz,* James L. Kraft

Non-Resldent Life Members

Gilbert S. Maxwell

Associate Members

Victor A. Beckman, S. A. Bennett, B. N.
Hunding, Ferris E. Hurd, Miss Katherine
Marjorie Kelly, C. A. Lambert, John
Franklin Lax, Casper William Ooms, John
McC. Price, Dr. George E. Wakerlin.

Annual Members

Mrs. L. E. Aldrich, George Barr, Oliver R.
Barrett, William J. Beckwith, Ben Berk,
Dr. J. Ernest Breed, John A. Breen, Peter
Edwin Butterfield, Chester M. Carson,
Herbert J. Clonick, A. L. Creange, Pierre
A. DeMets, Mrs. Arthur W. Dickinson, Mrs.
Janet Dixon, J. E. Ellington, William H.
Everds, Mrs. Herman Fietsch, Jr., R. F.
Fletcher, J. George Forster, Herbert G.
Franz, W. C. Frohning, Samuel H. Gens-
burg, Martin S. Gerber, Mrs. Allan W.
Gonnerman, Harry L. Goodbar, Mrs. Wil-
liam D. Goodman, J. Frank Grimes, Mrs.
George H. Gruendel, Leo Hanson, Rev.
Olof B. Hanson, Mrs. Flora Rassweiler
Harders, Mrs. Malcolm Hart, Voyle C.
Johnson, Pierce W. Jones, Daniel Francis
Kane, Morris I. Kaplan, Richard Kay,
Ralph Keller, J. D. Kloppenstein, Florian
E. Laramore, Mrs. Blair S. Latshaw, Dr.
Eva J. Line, W. W. Loomis, Dr. William J.
Loos, Frank E. Manning, Frederick L. Mar-
riott, Dr. Eugene T. McEnery, Milton M.
Myers, A. O. Novander, George S. Oberne,
Mrs. Peter P. O'Connor, Mrs. Oscar V.
Palmquist, Mrs. Harris Perlstein, Nelson D.
Phelps, Mrs. Howard C. Phillips, Mrs. Agnes
O. Pohl, Sidney T. Pope, Robert Press, Mrs.
Richard W. Raftis, Mrs. Herbert S. Ray,
Mrs. Ray M. Ring, Magnus I. Ronning,
Ben L. Rosenberg, William F. Rubert,
William H. Ruskamp, Dr. L. A. Schipfer,
Mrs. Siegfried G. Schmidt, Clarence H.
Seeley, Mrs. Elvie Shaw, F. A. Strodel,
Dr. R. M. Strong, Mrs. Arthur F. Tylee,
Mrs. Louis VonPerbandt, Milton Arnold
Wadler, George B. Wadlow, Mrs. Charles
A. Walter, Edward J. Warren, Fred G.
Wendhack, Roy O. Westman, Mrs. Lynne
L. White, Leo Winsberg, Samuel Winsberg,
Mrs. R. G. Wright.

♦Deceased.

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