New Maori Family

"AT HOME"

IN POLYNESIAN HALL

IN the history of the South Pacific the Maori of New Zealand stand out
as an exceptional people. Not only did they attain excellence in govern-
ment, in navigation, and in the art of warfare, but — more importantly —
their achievements in the decorative arts, in music, and in poetry stand as
enduring reminders of the sophisticated and artistically sensitive society
they were able to develop in an isolated area of the world.

During January the Museum will focus on the Maori in a new featured
exhibit-of-the-month — a life-size reconstruction of a typical family scene in
a Maori council house in New Zealand shortly after the coming of the white
man. The exhibit is located in the Museum's Hall of Polynesian and Micro-
nesian Cultures (Hall F, ground floor, east), which opened earlier this year.

Illustrations:

Artist-preparator Susan
Schanck works on life-
size models for new per-
manent exhibit in Maori
Council house.

The exhibits were pre-
pared under the direction
of Dr. Roland Force,
Curator of Oceanic
Archaeology and Ethnol-
ogy-

Photographs, including
cover, by John Bayalis
and Homer Holdren.

Page 2 January

Set against a patterned background of
colored woven mats, the reconstructed
family of seven includes two children,
who are playing happily on the floor and
do not seem to mind their lack of cloth-
ing, in spite of chilly weather. Their
grandmother sits opposite them smoking
a carved pipe. Off in the corner grand-
father is dozing, while another man
sleeps on a floor mat. Nearby, an im-
posing Maori chieftain, with face com-
pletely tattooed, has risen to welcome a
male visitor. Across the shoulders of
both men are draped feather capes of ex-
quisitely blended colors. Around the
chiefs neck is a valuable hei-tiki — a green-
stone neck-pendant representing the
Maori deity, Tiki, the father of mankind.
The children are playing cat's cradle, a
game which their pipe-smoking grand-
mother appears to be enjoying as much
as they. In the Maori fashion for women,
grandmother is tattooed only around
her mouth. Carved feather-boxes, ances-
tor figures, and a variety of weapons
complete the interior scene.

The council house providing the set-
ting for the family group is nearly 60 feet
long, 20 feet wide, and 14 feet high in-
side. It is one of the largest and finest
on exhibit in the world today. Maori
council houses more than 25 feet long
were always exceptional, and very few
houses of any size have been preserved.
The council house is also the only one
now in existence with a completely

carved front. Incorporated in the entrance design
are many eye-shaped pieces of abalone shell.

The Museum's featured exhibit clearly demonstrates
the universality of the spiral (pitau) in Maori decorative
art. Supposedly the pitau evolved from the study of
natural objects (the term is derived from the first un-
folding fronds of the fern tree). The web of the spider,
the wave-like markings on sandstone cliffs, and the
markings on one's thumb, all have been given by the
Maori as being the original sources on which the
carver and tattooer based their designs. The spiral is
everywhere in Maori decorations — in their carved
houses, in canoe figureheads and stern-posts, and in the
elaborate tattooing on their faces and hips. The recon-
structed family group uses authentic examples of
Maori decorative arts to create a scene that is accurate
to the most minute detail.

A Polynesian people, the Maori are believed to have
been the original inhabitants of New Zealand. Unlike
many other native peoples of the South Pacific, how-
ever, the Maori did not die out with the coming of the
white man. Instead, they have taken their place in the
economic and social life of the new society that has
grown up in New Zealand under the British.

Marilyn K. Jindrich

January Page 3

anua

LENGTH OF DAYLIGHT

JANUARY 1 _0

... -arctic;-'

::■:■:■: im*?-: : . :

oo
23°

\ etjvjalti*:

0°

o mm

_oo°

SS: v ' m

z o
66°

<5 antarctic

on°

24 HOURS

Above: The duration
of daylight through the
latitudes.

Upper right: The

earth in its orbit around
the sun.

Right: The course of
the sun in the sky.sum-
mer and winter, over
Chicago.

-tl

7'5A.M.

SUMMER

4-.15A.I

By DR. AUSTIN L. RAND, :

THE seasons follow the sun, which reac :
22, nearly over the southern tip of Fl< i
December 22, when it is nearly over Rio
ment of the sun is caused by the tilt of tl
earth's orbit around the sun. In the north
sented to the sun's rays for six months of
from the sun, has its southern winter and si
is, of course, true during the southern sum

In the temperate and polar regions the
it, producing the succession of the seasons: 1 1
But in the tropics, where the sun is alway
seasonal changes they are correlated with
seasons and wet seasons follow each other w
season stimulates the greater amount of rep
dry season is very severe, some species als

NOR

Chicai
Pole and
it is the
winter, v
The Ian.
woodlots
pines; fr<
cattail;
shore an
are snow
few inse<
are man;
— also cl
rows, am
and squi
meadow

TROPICS

Barro Colorado, in latitude 10°N.: Here the average
January temperature is 80°F.. There is no spring, sum-
mer, autumn, and winter based on temperature. Rather,
January is the end of the wet season and the beginning
of the dry; only certain trees lose their leaves, but the
forest floor is carpeted with rustling dead leaves. Balsa
trees are loaded with vase-like, ivory-colored flowers six
inches long, and to these come a dozen species of birds —
parakeets, hummingbirds, tanagers, and honeycreepers
— monkeys, and insects, to eat flower parts or juices.
Another big forest tree bears ripe, two-inch nuts with a
thin, fleshy coating. Raccoon-like coatis and howling
monkeys climb among the branches, pick the nuts, eat
off the flesh, then drop the nuts. These are scooped up
from the ground by agoutis and peccaries.

TROPICS AT EQUATOR

The mouth of the Amazon River, in latitude 0° near
Para (Caripi): It is early January, with cloudless blue
skies; a sea breeze; the murmur of water on the beach.
The river bank is masked with lofty walls of green trees,
and there are many palms. In the clearings are palm-
thatched huts; beyond are groves of bananas, mango
trees, cotton, and papayas. Orange trees are loaded
with blooms, about which hummingbirds whirl. At dusk,,
moths come to the flowers, and bats emerge from the
red tiles of the house roofs. In late January, the dry
season abruptly ends. On the first rainy night tree frogs,
crickets, goatsuckers, and owls join in a deafening chorus.
In the daytime, dragonflies swarm and winged ants and
termites come forth in great numbers.

TROPIC EDGE ^^

Southern Florida, in latitude 23°-2!t° N.: This t:
average January temperature of 71 °F., with fro
occasional years and a growing season of 365 d
the temperate zone concept of summer and wir
down. It is summer, judging by swallows feedir
green, wet prairies, the flowers in the gardens, a
tivity of butterflies and dragonflies. Ocean b;
fishing continue, but it is late summer or autui:
time judging by the green vegetables and ripe or
the shore birds on the beaches; winter, judging 1:
less cypress and gumbo limbo trees, the need for
houses for warmth some days; and spring, judj
nesting of herons. A visitor from the tropics wo ;
palms and bamboos familiar, would recognize t
bougainvillaea and hibiscus, caladium and crotc i

SOUTH TEMPI,

The La Plata River , i
It is the hottest mont i
January temperature o
season for birds, which >
is past; rheas and tinar
on the plains; many o
still here, and will no
winter home in Brazil
equator refugees from
barn swallows, bobolii
the many sandpipers, a
of months ago on the v t
of the pampas, will sta:

:l.

ief Curator, Zoology

:s farthest point north on June
I and its farthest point south on
aneiro. This apparent move-
fth's axis to the plane of the
ummer, the North Pole is pre-
;hf, while the South Pole, away
nths of darkness. The reverse

brings warmth and withdraws
;, summer, autumn, and winter,
rly overhead, while there are
mount of rainfall, so that dry
nsiderable regularity. The wet
tion and growth, but unless the
w and reproduce then.

TEMPERATE ^^^^^

jtitude 1,2° about halfway between the North
quator {2,800 and 2,600 miles away) : Here
le of the coldest month of the northern
i average January temperature of -f-27°F.
• is of snow-covered fields, grey leafless
ak or maple, occasional groves of green
ands rimmed with leafless shrubs and dead
Michigan with an ice barrier along the
ting wind-driven ice fields. Farmsteads
and plant life is dormant; many birds, a
d some bats have migrated south. There
er birds, such as ducks, on Lake Michigan
ees, woodpeckers in woodlots, tree spar-
row hawks in the fields. Raccoon, rabbits,
save trails in the snow, while shrews and
ive in burrows beneath it.

eloigned and illustrated by

• . John pf iff ner , staff artist

HIGH ARCTIC

Western Ellesmere Island, in latitude 80°N., about 600 miles
south of the North Pole: This is the middle of the arctic night,
where the sun does not appear above the horizon for four
months, and the depth of the arctic winter, where the aver-
age winter temperature is —38°. The annual average tem-
perature is — 4°F., and arctic conditions are extreme. It is a
country of glacier-topped mountains; bare ridges blown clear
of snow, exposing rock, gravel, and sparse, scattered, dwarf
plants; and snow drifts up to 100 feet deep in sheltered
places. The rivers and lakes are frozen shut, and new ice,
six feet or more thick, joins the coast with the equally thick
ice fields covering the polar sea. All the land birds have long
since departed, as have the many shore and water birds
which nested in June. Musk ox feed on exposed plants;
lemmings in burrows under the snow.

LOW ARCTIC

Southampton Island, in latitude 6i°N.: It is midwinter,
with a temperature average. of -26°F., and extremes of
— 60° and +32 F. The tundra snow cover varies from a
few inches to snowbanks 20 feet deep — at most, a few twigs
of dwarf willow stick up through the snow. Four to eight
feet of ice cover the lakes, and there is a foot of snow on the
sea ice which locks fast the shoreline and extends far offshore
to where waves keep the sea from freezing. The sun comes
above the horizon for only a short time at midday. Caribou
and arctic hares feed in the open; lemmings under the snow";
seals and white whales at the edge of -the ice. Wolves, arctic
foxes, weasels, polar bears, ptarmigan, and snowy owls live
on the land; eiders, murres, and gulls at the open water. The
female polar bears- bear young in chambers in the snow.

mtina, in latitude 85° S.:
e year, with an average
The peak of the breeding

September and October,
ive young following them
ummer nesting birds are

back for their southern
nonth or so. The trans-
thern winter, such as the
How-billed cuckoos, and
irrived in force a couple
ns and the flooded ponds
er couple of months.

ANTARCTIC

The Antarctic Archipelago ("Palmer Land," "Graham
Land," etc.), in latitude 62°-70° south: The average January
temperature is 34 'F. This is the middle of the southern
summer, with a prolonged antarctic day in a land of extreme
polar conditions. Mountains rise to 10,000 feet, and even
in summer the snow falls faster than it melts, so that snow
lies everywhere except on steep slopes. Much of the adja-
cent sea is covered with pack ice. Vegetation, all low and
herbaceous, is at a minimum, and the few land invertebrate
animals are active for but a small part of the year. About
25 species of birds have been recorded in the archipelago,
but some, such as the albatrosses, are wanderers from more
northern latitudes. Some 15 species of birds breed, drawing
all their sustenance from the sea; these include penguins, a
cormorant, a sheath bill, skua, a kelp gull, and the antarctic
tern, which have eggs or young in January.

CHICAGO
NATURAL
HISTORY
MUSEUM

News

Trustees Meet

At its December meeting, the Board
of Trustees elected four members to fill
vacancies on the Board. They are Bow-en
Blair, investment banker, John M. Simp-
son, steel executive, John Shedd Reed,
railroad executive, and Clifford C. Gregg,
the Museum's Director.

John Shedd Reed Clifford C. Gregg

Mr. Blair is a graduate of Yale Uni-
versity and is a Partner in the firm of
Wm. Blair & Co. He is a son of Wil-
liam McCormick Blair, President of The
Art Institute of Chicago and a member
of the Museum's Board.

Mr. Simpson, President of A. M. Castle
& Co., steel distributors, is a graduate of
the University of Chicago. He is a son
of the late James Simpson, who was a
member of the Museum's Board and
who contributed the James Simpson
Theatre to the Museum.

Mr. Reed is a graduate of Yale Uni-
versity and of the Advanced Manage-
ment Program at Harvard. He is Vice-
President in charge of Finance of the
Santa Fe Railway.

Dr. Gregg has been with the Museum
since 1926 and has been Director since
1937. He is a graduate of the Univer-
sity of Cincinnati and is a retired Colonel
in the United States Army Reserve.

At the meeting, the resignation of
Clarence B. Randall, Trustee of the Mu-
seum since 1946, was accepted with re-
gret. Since his retirement a few years

Page 6 January

ago as Chairman of the Board of Inland
Steel Company, he has been active as an
economic adviser in the interests of the
Federal Government. Mr. Randall cited
the pressure of other duties and his in-
ability to attend the Board meetings
as the reasons for his resignation.

In Memoriam

Just as the Bulletin was going
to press, we received word of the death
on December 13 of Captain A. W. F.
Fuller of London, England. Captain
Fuller devoted his life to the assembling
of what is recognized as the world's fin-
est collection of Polynesian and other
Oceanic artifacts. His splendid collec-
tion came into the possession of the
Museum in 1958.

Captain Fuller was devoted not only
to Oceanic ethnology but became a de-
voted member of the Museum. His
splendid assistance in documenting his
collection and his generosity in present-
ing to the Museum some especially fine
pieces he acquired after the purchase of
his collection caused the Board of Trus-
tees in January of 1959 to elect him a
Patron of the Museum. Subsequently,
he was elected a Contributor, and in
November 1961 he was elected a Bene-
factor. His deep interest in the Museum
and in his collection continued even to
the hour of his death. His death is a
blow to the science of ethnology and he
is deeply mourned.

Museum Events

"An Evening of Renaissance and Ba-
roque Music" — the fourth program in
the 1961-62 series offered by the Free
Concerts Foundation, Mrs. J. Dennis
Freund, sponsor — will be presented on
Monday, January 8, at 8:15 p.m. in the
Museum's James Simpson Theatre.

The program consists of vocal and in-
strumental solos, and vocal ensembles,
both accompanied and a cappella, by
the following musicians: Charles Bress-
ler, tenor; Huges Cuenod, tenor; Albert
Fuller, harpsichord; Donald Gramm,
baritone; Thomas Paul, bass; and Joseph

Chicago Natural History Museum

Founded by Marshall Field, 1893

Roosevelt Road and Lake Shore Drive, Chicago 5

Telephone: WAbash 2-9410

THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES

Lester Armour
Wm. McCormick Blair
Bowen Blair
Walter J. Cummings
Joseph N. Field
Marshall Field, Jr.
Stanley Field
Clifford C. Gregg
Samuel Insult, Jr.
Henry P. Isham
William V. Kahler

♦Resigned

Hughston M. McBain
J. Roscoc Miller
William H. Mitchell
John T. Pirie, Jr.
♦Clarence B. Randall
John Shedd Reed
John G. Searle
John M. Simpson
Solomon A. Smith
Louis Ware
J. Howard Wood

OFFICERS

Stanley Field, President

Hughston M. McBain, First Vice-President

Joseph N. Field, Third Vice-President

Solomon A. Smith, Treasurer

Clifford C. Gregg, Director and Secretary

E. Leland Webber, Assistant Secretary

THE BULLETIN

EDITOR
Clifford C. Gregg, Director of the Museum

CONTRIBUTING EDITORS

Paul S. Martin, Chief Curator of Anthropology

John R. Millar, Chief Curator of Botany

Sharat K. Roy, Chief Curator of Geology

Austin L. Rand, Chief Curator of Zoology

MANAGING EDITOR
Paula R. Nelson, Public Relations Counsel

ASSOCIATE EDITOR
Marilyn Jindrich, Associate in Public Relations

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

Iadone, lute. Among the composers
whose works will be heard are Costeley,
Milan, Monteverdi, Morley, Dowland,
Couperin, Scarlatti, de Mudarra, and
Clerambault.

For free tickets, please send a stamped,
self-addressed envelope to the Museum,
Roosevelt Road at Lake Shore Drive,
Chicago 5.

On February 3, Free Concerts Foun-
dation will present an a capella concert
by the Netherlands Choir, under the
direction of Felix de Nobel. Tickets will
be available after the concert on Janu-
ary 8.

The Chicago Chamber Orchestra,
under the direction of Dr. Dieter Kober,
will present a series of nine free concerts
in the Museum's James Simpson Thea-
tre on selected Sunday afternoons from

January through May. The complete
list of dates is as follows : January 7 and
21, February 25, March 4 and 18, April
1, 15, and 29, and May 13. On Janu-
ary 7 will be heard the Suite No. 3 in D
by Bach, Haydn's Symphony No. 60 in
C, and Franz Waxman's Sinfonietta for
String Orchestra and Timpani. On Jan-
uary 21 the program will include the
Suite No. 2 in B by Bach, Mozart's An-
dante for Flute (K. 315), Wagner's
Adagio for Clarinet and Strings, and the
Chicago premiere of Bernard Heiden's
Concerto for Small Orchestra. Admis-
sion is free and without ticket. Complete
program information for this series of
Museum concerts, as well as a schedule
of the orchestra's other appearances,
may be obtained from the Chicago
Chamber Orchestra Association, 332 S.
Michigan Ave., Chicago (HA 7-0603).

On Sunday, January 28, the Illinois
Audubon Society continues its wildlife
film-lectures with "Nova Scotia — Land
of the Sea," by Robert C. Hermes. This
color motion picture records a visual
journey through the spruce and hem-
lock forests in Canada's lovely province-
by-the-sea. J The lecturer follows a tiny
stream from its woodland source to the

Atlantic, where time-lapse photography
focuses on the Minas Basin tides and the
changing patterns of oceanic life. The
free film will be presented at 2 :30 p.m. in
the Museum's James Simpson Theatre.

The deadline for entries in the 17th
Chicago International Exhibition of Na-
ture Photography is January 15. The
exhibit of photographic work will be
presented in the Museum from Febru-
ary 3 through 18, with showings of slides
in the James Simpson Theatre on Feb-
ruary 4 and 11 at 2:30 p.m. Photogra-
phers wishing to enter the exhibition may
obtain entry forms from Frank Pfleger,
exhibition chairman, 2347 Harvey Ave-
nue, Berwyn.

Staff' Changes

Dr. Joseph Curtis Moore is joining
the staff of the Museum on January 1 ,
1962, as Curator of Mammals. Dr.
Moore attended the University of Ken-
tucky and received a doctorate at the
University of Florida. He spent several
years with the National Park Service in
the capacity of Park Biologist at the
Everglades National Park. He is also
a Research Fellow of the American Mu-
seum of Natural History in New York.

Dr. Moore has been a prolific writer of
both scientific and popular reports in
the fields of his interest.

Mr. Philip Hershkovitz, who has been
Curator of Mammals at the Museum
since January 1, 1956, and served as
Assistant Curator and Associate Curator
since March, 1 947, will become Research
Curator of Mammals. In this capacity
he will be able to devote more time to
the studies he has been conducting.

Mrs. Dorothy Gibson, secretary in the
Department of Botany, has been ap-
pointed Assistant in that department.
Her appointment comes as the result of
contributions she has made to botanical
research while in the service of the Mu-
seum. Since joining the Museum's staff
in 1958 she has acquired, through out-
side study and through working with
the herbarium, a basic knowledge of
systematic botany. Studying plants has
long been an avocation of Mrs. Gib-
son. Her extensive collections from
her native state of Kentucky have been
deposited in the Museum's herbarium,
and formed the basis for her "Life Forms
of Kentucky Flowering Plants," pub-
(Continued on next page)

What

Is

It?

No, the peculiar animal pictured is not a dinosaur or even a " living fossil" that has survived from some prehistoric age. It is a
pangolin, an ant and termite-eating mammal found in Southwest Africa and parts of Asia. Most pangolins grow 15 or 16 inches long,
excluding the tail, although a few giants have been known to reach the size of a small sheep. The most striking feature of the animal's
appearance are the horny, overlapping scales that cover all but the under part of the body. It has been claimed that the scaly plating of a
mature pangolin is so strong and streamlined that it will ward off a .303 bullet fired point blank from a distance of 100 yards. When
forcefully snapped together, these scales are said to be capable of cutting off the paws of an attacking animal. Small wonder that African
Bushmen and other native tribes use the scales as charms. The pangolin' s strong front claws, which extend backward as it walks, are
well adapted for digging into and breaking open the hard mud nests of termites so that the mammal may extend its sticky foot-long tongue
into the nests' tunnels to scoop up their inhabitants. A pangolin may be seen in Hall 18 during January and February. MKJ

January Page 7

lished recently in The American Midland
Naturalist.

The retirement at the close of the year
of Emil Sella, Curator of Exhibits in the
Department of Botany, is announced
with regret. Mr. Sella joined the staff
of the Museum in 1922 as a glassblower
and preparator in the Stanley Field
Plant Reproduction Laboratory of the
Museum. He advanced over the years
to Chief Preparator of botanical exhibits
and in 1947 was appointed Curator of
Exhibits in the Department of Botany.
Hundreds of plant models at the Muse-
um bear silent testimony to his unusual
ability and skill in reproducing in per-
manent form a wide variety of plants.

Mr. George Langford, Curator of Fos-
sil Plants, also retired at the end of the
year. Mr. Langford came to the Mu-
seum in 1949 after his retirement from a
business career. A native of Denver,
Colorado, he graduated from Sheffield
Scientific School of Yale University in
1897. His great interest in the coal fos-
sils in the strip mine areas of Wilming-
ton, Illinois, and his general interest
both in paleontology and certain phases
of anthropology brought him to the
Museum first as a volunteer and later
as a staff member.

Dr. C. Earle Smith, Jr., Associate
Curator of Vascular Plants, resigned at
the end of the year to accept employ-
ment with the United States Department
of Agriculture. He will be stationed at
Beltsville, Maryland. Dr. Smith joined
the staff of the Museum in January of
1959 and has been interested especially
in tropical vegetation.

BROR ERIC DAHLGREN
1877 — 1961

Dr. B. E. Dahlgren, Curator Emeritus
of Botany, died of a heart attack at his
home on December 16, 1961. This ended
a varied career that began with emigra-
tion from his native Sweden to the United
States when he was in his teens. After
receiving his degree from the University
of Minnesota, Dr. Dahlgren engaged in
the practice of orthodontic dentistry in
New York City at the turn of the cen-
tury. His studies of the comparative

Page 8 January

anatomy of the mammalian palate led
to use of the collections at the American
Museum of Natural History, and subse-
quently to an interest in problems of
museum exhibition. Employing some
of the materials and techniques of me-
chanical dentistry, Dahlgren constructed
models of invertebrate animals, includ-
ing insects, that were superior to any
known at the time. Eventually he gave
up the practice of dentistry and became
a staff member at the American Museum.

In 1909, Dr. Charles W. Millspaugh,
the Museum's first Curator of Botany,
with the support of Mr. Stanley Field,
President, induced Dahlgren to become
head of the department's Division of
Modeling. In 1935 Dr. Dahlgren be-
came Curator of Botany, a title that was
changed the following year to Chief
Curator of Botany.

Under his direction a program of bo-
tanical exhibition was begun that re-
sulted in the famed Stanley Field Col-
lection of Plant Models and botanical
exhibits considered to be the finest any-
where. Among the most spectacular of
these is the restoration of a Carbonifer-
ous forest on display in Hall 38 of the
Museum. Illustrations of this restora-
tion have appeared in most textbooks of
geology published since the completion
of the exhibit.

Dr. Dahlgren was an authority on wax
palms and conducted a number of bo-
tanical collecting expeditions to Jamai-
ca, British Guiana, Brazil, and Cuba.

Scientific Meetings and Honors

The government of Guatemala has
honored two former staff members of
Chicago Natural History Museum for
scientific work accomplished relating to
that country. On September 15, Dr.
Julian Steyermark received Guatemala's
"Order of the Quetzal" from the Guate-
malan government at Caracas, Vene-
zuela. The same honor was bestowed
on Mr. Paul C. Standley at Tegucigalpa,
Honduras, on October 11, 1961. The
honors were bestowed in recognition of
the scientific studies of these botanists on
the flora of Guatemala.

Rupert L. Wenzel, Curator of Insects,
has returned from a trip to the Canal
Zone where he worked and conferred
with Major Vernon J. Tipton, U. S.

Army. Wenzel and Tipton are writing
a paper on the batflies of Panama. The
study is part of a U. S. Army-sponsored
research program directed by Major
Tipton, who is Chief of the Environ-
mental Health Branch of the Division
of Preventive Medicine, U. S. Army
Caribbean.

Dr. Paul S. Martin, Dr. Donald Col-
lier, Dr. Roland W. Force, Mr. Phillip
H. Lewis, and Mr. George I. Quimby,
all of the Department of Anthropology,
recently attended annual meetings of the
American Anthropological Association
in Philadelphia. Mr. Lewis presented a
paper on "Comparison of Art of Primi-
tive and Civilized Societies." His mono-
graph, A Definition of Primitive Art, has
just been published by the Museum Press
(Fieldiana: Anthropology, Vol. 36, No.
10; 21 pages, 5 illustrations; 50c). At

Effigy hanger, New Guinea. Illustration from
"A Definition of Primitive Art"

the meetings, Dr. Force discussed "The
Concept of Process and the Study of
Cultural Change." Dr. Force is now
en route to his new post as Director of
the Bernice P. Bishop Museum in Hono-
lulu, Hawaii.

PRINTED BY CHICAGO NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM PRESS

HICAGO
NATURAL
HISTORY
VIUSEU

CHICAGO
NATURAL
HISTORY
MUSEUM

News

New Director Chosen

The Board of Trustees of Chicago
Natural History Museum, at its January
meeting, elected a new Director, a new
President, and a new Chairman of the
Board.

E. Leland Webber Stanley Field

Mr. Stanley Field, who has served
as President of the Museum since 1909,
was relieved of that duty at his own
request and elected to the new position
of Board Chairman. During his 53 years
as President, the Museum developed in-
to an institution of worldwide reputa-
tion, known for its scientific research
and its outstanding collections. It is
worthy of note that Museum attendance
in 1909 was 209,170 against 1,307,567
in 1961. Expenditures in 1909 were
$312,934.98 compared with approxi-
mately $1,500,000 in 1961. In his new
capacity, Mr. Field will continue to be
intimately associated with the work of
the Museum which has made such phe-
nomenal progress under his direction.

The new Director is Mr. E. Leland
Webber, who joined the staff of the
Museum in 1 950. After serving as Exec-
utive Assistant to the Director, he was
appointed Assistant Director in 1960.
He has been active in the American
Association of Museums and the Mid-
west Museums Association. He is also
a member of the American Association
for the Advancement of Science, and
the Association of Science Museum Di-
rectors. Mr. Webber lives in Wilmette,
Illinois, with his wife and three children,
and has been active in community and
church affairs.

He succeeds Clifford C. Gregg, who
has been Director of the Museum since

Page 2 February

1937 and who was elected President of
the Museum, succeeding Mr. Field.

Free Lectures and Films

The Museum's 1962 spring series of
illustrated travel lectures for adults will
begin with a film trip to Mandalay on
March 3, followed on March 10 by a
motion picture excursion to Germany.
Travel-lecturer for "The Road to Man-
dalay" is William Moore, with Gordon
Palmquist — a familiar lecturer on the
stage of James Simpson Theatre — pro-
viding the narrative for "Germany."
The complete schedule for the spring
travel lectures will be announced in the
March Bulletin. The programs to be
presented each Saturday during Marcn
and April begin at 2:30 p.m. Reserved
seats in the James Simpson Theatre will
be held for Museum Members until
2:25 p.m.

The Saturday morning programs for
children will also be listed in the March
Bulletin. They begin on March 3 at
10:30 a.m. in the James Simpson The-
atre.

"Once Around the Sun," a motion
picture-lecture explaining why the sea-
sons change, the tides ebb, and the days
turn to night, is the February 18 pro-
gram of the Illinois Audubon Society's
current wildlife film series. The pro-
gram begins at 2 : 30 p.m. in James Simp-
son Theatre.

Free Choral Concert

The Netherlands Chamber Choir, di-
rected by Felix de Nobel, will be pre-
sented in James Simpson Theatre by the
Free Concerts Foundation on Wednes-
day, February 7, at 8:15 p.m., in a con-
cert of a cappella music dating from the
16th Century to the present. (The date
has been changed to February 7 from
February 3, as listed in last month's
Bulletin.) The choir will sing selec-
tions by Morley, Farmer, di Lasso, Bar-
ber, Ravel, and others. Free tickets may
be obtained by sending a stamped, self-
addressed envelope to Free Concerts,
Chicago Natural History Museum,
Roosevelt Road at Lake Shore Drive (5).

Chicago Natural History Museum

Founded by Marshall Field, 1893

Roosevelt Road and Lake Shore Drive, Chicago 5

Telephone: WAbash 2-9410

THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES

Lester Armour
Wm. McCormick Blair
Bowen Blair
Walter J. Cummings
Joseph N. Field
Marshall Field, Jr.
Stanley Field
Clifford C. Gregg
Samuel Insull, Jr.
Henry P. Isham

J. Howard

William V. Kahler
Hughston M. McBain
J. Roscoe Miller
William H. Mitchell
John T. Pirie, Jr.
John Shedd Reed
John G. Searle
John M. Simpson
Solomon A. Smith
Louis Ware
Wood

OFFICERS

Stanley Field, Chairman of the Board

Clifford C. Gregg, President

Hughston M. McBain, First Vice-President

Joseph N. Field, Second Vice-President

Bowen Blair, Third Vice-President

Solomon A. Smith, Treasurer

E. Leland Webber, Secretary

Solomon A. Smith, Assistant Secretary

THE BULLETIN

EDITOR

E. Leland Webber, Director of the Museum

CONTRIBUTING EDITORS

Pau! S. Martin, Chief Curator of Anthropology

John R. Millar, Chief Curator of Botany

Sharat K. Roy, Chief Curator of Geology

Austin L. Rand, Chief Curator of Zoology

MANAGING EDITOR

Paula R. Nelson, Public Relations Counsel

ASSOCIATE EDITOR
Marilyn Jindrich, Associate in Public Relations

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

Nature Photo Exhibition

Nature photographs from all over the
world will be on display in Stanley Field
Hall February 3 through 18 in the 17th
Chicago International Exhibition of Na-
ture Photography. Sponsored jointly by
the Museum and the Nature Camera
Club of Chicago, the exhibition is the
largest in the world devoted to nature
photography, and comprises several hun-
dred of the best of more than three thou-
sand entries. The entries include both
color and black-and-white prints, and
color slides of scenic and unusual natural
phenomena, plant life, and animal life
photographed by both amateur and pro-
fessional photographers. The exhibi-
tion's most outstanding slides will be
shown in James Simpson Theatre on
February 4 and 1 1 (Sundays) at 2 :30 p.m.

February's Featured Exhibit

In a world full of strange and curious
things, the cannonball tree ranks high
on the scale of the unusual among trop-
ical trees. It is native to Guiana, the
general region of northeastern South
America, where it grows as a tall forest
tree. A few examples have been estab-
lished in Florida, one at the Fairchild
Tropical Garden in Coconut Grove and
another in the garden of the Royal Palm
Hotel, Fort Meyers. The name "can-
nonball" derives from resemblance of
the reddish brown, six to eight-inch
spherical fruits to old-time, rusty artil-
lery shells.

The tree bears large, showy flowers
with five to seven fleshy petals colored
crimson on their inner surfaces. The
crimson color blends to white at the base
of the petals where they surround a pe-
culiar hood-like structure bearing two
sets of stamens. Numerous short sta-
mens cover a flat disc at the center of
the flower while a fleshy, white, re-
curved extension of the disc terminates
in an equally numerous set of larger,
tentacle-like stamens. Large black bum-
ble-bees that seem to be the principal
pollinators thus are dusted top and bot-
tom with pollen as they force their way
under the hood. Flowers and fruits are
borne on pendulous branches located on
the lower part of the trunk well below
the leafy crown of the tree. These
branches, gnarled and woody as they
seem, are appendages of the inner bark
and are not united with the wood of the
tree trunk.

The cannonball tree is ornamental but
otherwise of no importance to man,
whereas some of its botanically close rel-
atives, the Brazil-nut and monkeypot
trees, the tauary tree, and Colombian
mahogany serve utilitarian purposes.
Brazil nuts of commerce are obtained
from wild trees of the Amazonian forest.
The angular seeds are contained in thick-
shelled globular fruits gathered from the
forest floor after they have fallen natur-
ally from high in the leafy crown of the
giant Castanheira do Brasil (Brazilian
chestnut tree). The tauary tree is the

The Cannonball Tree

John R. Millar, Chief Curator of Botany

source of a bark cloth similar to tapa and
was used by South American Indians.
So-called Colombian mahogany is one
of the numerous substitutes for true ma-
hogany (Swietenia mahogani).

The name "monkeypot" refers to the
form of the fruit, which comes in a vari-
ety of sizes and shapes, from the giant
monkeypot, which looks like a scallop

squash with an opening and lid on one
end, to others known as monkey's drink-
ing cups, vases, and so forth, with stop-
pered openings. The name "monkey-
pot" may be fanciful, like Lovers' Leap,
or Jacob's Ladder, or perhaps there is
truth in the travelers' tales that when a
monkeypot is baited with sugar a mon-
{Continued on page 7)

February Page 3

Dr. Robert L. Flemin

Museum Field Associate

Reports on

a 1960-61

84
28

85

86

27

26
84

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Katmandu ~-

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1 N D

1 A V

85

86

SCIENTIFIC EXPEDITION TO THE

Initial Planning

Early in 1960, while I was in the
United States,1 Dr. Clifford G. Gregg,
Director of Chicago Natural History
Museum, asked me, as a member of the
Museum staff living in Katmandu,
whether I would represent the Museum
on a forthcoming expedition to the Hi-
malayas. The expedition was being
planned by the World Book Encyclo-
pedia and would be under the direction
of Sir Edmund Hillary. My particular
job would be to collect birds and small
mammals for the Museum. Since my
vacation was due and I would be return-
ing to Katmandu from the United
States in less than a month, I accepted.

Two weeks later I was jetting to the
Orient. Plans for the World Book En-
cyclopedia Scientific Expedition to the
Himalayas had taken definite shape.
The major effort would be a study by

1 Dr. Fleming is representative of the Board
of World Missions of the Methodist Church
and Superintendent, Katmandu Area, United
Mission to Nepal. Readers of the Bulletin
will remember his article on "The Changing
Seasons in Nepal" (March, 1960).

Page i February

a group of medical men as to the effect
of altitude on the human body and the
scaling, without oxygen, of Makalu, the
world's fourth highest mountain. A sec-
ond purpose of the expedition would be
to prove or disprove the existence of the
"yeti." The third part of the expedition
would be my work for Chicago Natural
History Museum.2 Chief Curator Rand
outlined a rough program for me : to en-
list the assistance of several Nepalese
helpers for my collecting, and to choose
my own time and area of operation in-
dependently of Sir Edmund Hillary's
group.

Planning Our First Expedition

To make the most of our trip, it
would be necessary to select men who
would work well together. I therefore
conducted four short trial camps near
Katmandu at various altitudes to 6,000
feet. Six of us took part in these camps
— two Americans and four Nepalese.

2 A grant from the World Book Encyclope-
dia to the Museum made possible this phase
of the expedition's work.

Later we added a Scottish doctor. I
discovered that these men, despite their
varied backgrounds, acted as a team.

One must always keep the weather
factor in mind when arranging a field
trip in Nepal. When we made our
first trial camp in September, the weather
was wet and miserable. We remained
at that camp just long enough to be bit-
ten by mosquitoes; and later two of us
came down with malignant malaria — a
fumbling start. We decided that we
could do better work at less health risk
in the bright, clear days of fall. Since
November is our driest month, we fixed
on that time to set out.

First, however, we had to furnish sev-
eral different government departments
with a complete listing of our proposed
routes, fire arms, and plans in order to
secure their formal permission to trek
through the country. One always needs
extra time when seeking such permits
because there are 142 holidays a year in
Katmandu. When you least expect it,
you are likely to find an office closed and
to be told to come back bholi (tomor-

88

I B E T

it Everest

» /

Biratna^ar^.— '

SIKKIM

Darjeeling

27

26

HIMALAYAS

row). Then you had better check to see
whether "tomorrow" isn't another of the
142 holidays.

Along the Everest Trail

On November 2 we began our first ex-
tended trip. Our goal was an area east
of Katmandu and south of Mount Ev-
erest. After being driven by car the first
eighteen miles on our way out of the
city, the road tapered off and we set out
on foot. Our equipment was carried by
porters. Ordinary travelers cover about
eight miles a day in this fashion, and
this rate suited us. At night we camped
by streams in the woods, and we ate the
food our cook prepared from stores we
carried or purchased at markets and tea
houses along the way. After several days
of such travel (during which two of our
porters crept away during the night and
had to be replaced by local men), we
crossed the rim of a wide valley and
there, off to the northeast, glimpsed the
top of the mighty Everest. It was
crowned with a snow plume that glowed
with warm pink in the fading sunlight.
A memorable conclusion to a day's trek

in the Himalayas!

On the following day we were up in
the chilly grey dawn to cross a river on
a suspension bridge that had seen better
days. Beyond it, we put out our mam-
mal traps and admired a flight of thirty
or forty Kestral falcons. Over the next
ridge we could see the hills running into
the high country, the land of the Sher-
pas, but Everest was not our aim, so we
soon turned off the trail toward the hills
on the northeast. Here the Swiss have
built several model cheese-making in-
stallations. We pitched our tent on a
grassy knoll beside one of their "fac-
tories," and were invited to tea by the
Swiss, sampled their cheese, inspected
their wooden-shingled houses, their cow
and buffalo stalls, and the kiln where
they make bricks. Among all these signs
of civilization we saw a score of men
working on the building of an air strip
where shortly before there had been only
wilderness.

It was good to stop here for a bit and
have time for collecting, instead of hav-
ing to snatch specimens as we traveled.
The children had a young civet for a
pet, and the villagers brought us an
adult specimen for the Museum. There
were a few jackals about, and a field of
millet was being devoured by rats. In
a scrub jungle we found more of the
birds we wanted, especially a red-headed
babbling thrush and the elusive snow
pigeon.

In the High Country

Later we climbed toward the Swiss
milk collecting stations located at vari-
ous altitudes from 1 1,600 to 12,600 feet.
As we left the trees behind and made our
way through masses of rock, we passed
lovely, large orchids overhanging the
cliffs along the trail. We found where
the Kansu rose finch sheltered under
overhanging rocks above the "Lake of
Ghosts" (Bhoat Pokhari), and we saw
the little mouse-hares, relatives of the
Rocky Mountain pika, pop out of their
burrows between the rocks when the sun
warmed the chilly hillside. At these
heights, white clouds stretched below us
for miles toward the southwest.

In the forest fringing a ridge at 10,500
feet there were laughing thrushes, gros-
beaks, and rose finches. Blood pheasants
clucked from the bamboo thickets a bit

lower down. Along the base of steep
cliffs at still lower altitudes lived serow
and musk deer; and we also saw the
holes of shrews and voles among the
undergrowth. At one point we halted
to watch a dozen brilliant Impeyan
pheasants digging for tubers under the
evergreen trees.

Bigu

Before returning to Katmandu we
decided to stay a few days at Bigu. A
new batch of porters led us toward the
town on a much more difficult route
than was necessary — -after hacking our
way through the jungle for nearly a day,
we reached the well-trodden road we
should have taken all along. We found
compensation, however, in being able to
buy fresh oranges off the tree for one
pice (Mc) apiece.

Reaching Bigu on Thanksgiving Day,
November 24th, we immediately began
to explore the surrounding countryside.
And here we made a real discovery —
the honey guide. Although the Hima-
layan honey guide — a small, dull bird
related to woodpeckers — is largely un-
known, its African counterpart is known
to be a social parasite. Some of them
eat beeswax, and at least one African
species guides humans to bee trees so
that the men will open the wild hives
and the birds can eat a share of the wax.
In about the third century A.D., a Chi-
nese scholar, Chang Hua, had ascribed
similar habits to the Asiatic honey guide.
Now, seventeen centuries later, I was to
confirm his observations as being true,
also, of the Himalayan species.

It came about this way. Near Bigu,
the villagers told us that they had been
collecting honey near the cliffs. As we
approached the place by a narrow path
winding down beside the cliffs, our bird
boy, Sagar Rana, who had gone on
ahead, ran back to us from the bee
combs. "The men showed me where
they have been scraping the wax off the
rocks," reported Sagar, "and there was
a bird upside down on a comb!" The
honey guide at last, with its stomach
crammed full of wax. That evening we
celebrated our find with a complete
Thanksgiving Day dinner of curried
chicken, generously furnished us by the
head man of the local village.
{Continued on next page)

February Page 5

Here, near the bee cliffs, there was an
important change in the people. On
the lower terraces, the villagers had been
Nepalese-speaking Hindus. On these
upper hillsides lived Tibetan-speaking
Buddhists, each with his own neat little
house fronted by a fluttering prayer flag.
On one of the upper levels of the village
was a well-constructed gompa, its central
portion elaborately decorated with scenes
from Buddha's life, while on either side
were separate living quarters for nuns
and monks.

At Bigu the medical man of our party
was very busy. There was no other
medical aid in the town, and almost half
the population crowded around the doc-
tor's tent wanting to be examined and
to receive medicines.

Return to Katmandu

The route from Bigu back to Kat-
mandu led over a 10,000 foot pass. With
four weeks of mountain trekking behind
us, we were able to cover greater dis-
tances each day. Soon we were down to
an altitude of 2,700 feet and had a real
bath in a warm valley stream. The next
day we met Doctors West and Ward of
the Hillary expedition; they and their
sherpas were washing in the river when
we arrived. They were away very early

next morning, carrying extremely bulky
packs. "Getting acclimatized," they
called it. We set off in the opposite
direction and soon reached the motor
road, where we intercepted a truck
headed for Katmandu. We were now
"acclimatized," ourselves, to hard trav-
eling, and as we covered the last eighteen
miles of our thirty-mile trip that day, we
enjoyed watching a full yellow moon rise
and flood the dark hills with pale light.
Altogether, we had had a wonderful
experience among the Himalayan hills.

Eastern Nepal

Our attention now shifted to far east-
ern Nepal. This is an area from which
we have little data concerning birds, and
from which many new records were to
be expected. Our party decided, there-
fore, to spend part of February and most
of March in the Ham area on the Sikkim
border near Darjeeling. Accordingly, six
of us, along with 800 pounds of luggage,
flew from Katmandu to Biratnagar, the
taking-off place for our second expedi-
tion, on February 12, 1961.

Touring the Terai

From Biratnagar, we traveled for 45
miles eastward in two buffalo carts, mak-
ing about nine miles a day. We passed by

cultivated fields, jolted through forests,
and crossed sixteen rivers. How different
from the birds of the hill country were
those of the tropical terai: rails and lap-
wings, bitterns, herons and egrets, terns
and black-necked storks of the streams
and marshes were especially conspicuous.
One day we found the den of an Indian
fox and watched the young ones gambol-
ing and basking. At Jhapa, a town with
a fairly good bazaar but a limited supply
of food for sale, we camped in the court-
yard of a temple where all night long
devotees rang a temple bell when they
came to pray. Then we turned north to
the hill country and Ham.

One village, Santali, interested us par-
ticularly, for its people were in India be-
fore Dravidian times (4,000 B.C.) and
long before the Aryans came (1,500
B.C.). Part of their fare still comes from
the wild, for while skirting one reedy
swamp, we met three Santal boys armed
with bows and arrows and aided by five
hunting dogs, each with a bell on its
neck. The boys had a string of birds: a
hawk, crane, water hen, kingfisher and
shrike that they would have for supper.

Tiger!

A disagreement arose that evening
{Continued on next page)

What Is It?

These horn-shaped objects are known to have been fashioned
from a variety of materials, such as silver, cloisonne, and tortoise
shell. The ones in our photograph are of silver and are shown
at about actual size. Here is a hint. Among the Chinese upper
classes before the present regime, these objects were a minor,
but effective, status symbol.

What are they? . . . They're fingernail guards, worn to protect
the long fingernails, sometimes several inches in length, that
symbolized the freedom from manual labor enjoyed by the old
Chinese leisure classes. Several fine examples of fingernail pro'
tectors were photographed recently when exhibits in the hall of
Chinese ethnological materials were dismantled in connection
with plans now under way to reconstruct the hall completely
during the coming year.

Page 6 February

The Cannonball Tree

{Continued from page 3)

.'« : *-^*^*k!

Also exhibited in Hall 29, near the cannonball tree are other members of
the monkeypot family. Shown here are the fruits of some of them. The
name "monkeypot" refers to the form of the fruit, which comes in a variety
of sizes and shapes, many with stoppered openings.

key may stick his head in the opening,
not be able to withdraw it and thus may
be caught. Or, in another version, when
a monkey clutches a handful of nuts in
the interior of a monkeypot, he may not
be able to withdraw his clenched hand,
his greed being so great that he will not
release the nuts even at the risk of being
caught. At any rate, the "paradise nuts"
produced by various species of Lecythis
(the monkeypots) are deemed superior
in flavor to Brazil nuts; but because the
fruits lose their "lids" or "stoppers"
while still on the tree, the seeds or "nuts"
scatter over the ground and are labori-
ous to gather, and hence scarce on the
market.

A full scale reproduction of the lower
trunk of a cannonball tree may be seen
in Martin A. and Carrie Ryerson Hall
of Plant Life (Hall 29, second floor, east),
opposite the entrance to the Hall of For-
eign Woods (Hall 27). Other members
of the monkeypot family may be seen in
Case 860 near the south end of Hall 29.

{Continued from preceding page)

when I proposed camping in a forest
clearing. Our cartmen strongly disa-
greed— tigers might attack and kill their
buffaloes ! But camp we did, despite pan-
ther and tiger tracks in the sand. As the
camp went up, the men scurried around
to find wood and in a few minutes had
assembled the impressive amount of fuel
needed to keep a fire going all night.
Perhaps it was just as well, for the mon-
keys woke us with alarm calls at mid-
night, and we heard a panther begin its
deep-throated "wood sawing" calls at
minute-and-a-half intervals. At that mo-
ment, the walls of the tent seemed aw-
fully thin! The next morning, a man
from a nearby village reported that one
of his goats had been killed and eaten
during the night, and that the carcass of
one of his pigs was hanging from a fork
in a forest tree. Probably buffalo meat
was too tough for the panther, which was
fortunate for us !

In a few days we left our cartmen and
hired porters and horses for the journey
farther north. Quickly we left the plains
behind and started a gentle climb. There
were small streams and thick, tropical
forests full of bamboo, tangled vines, and
tall trees. As we approached Ham, we re-

called that much of the country nearby
used to be covered with pines, but not
a single pine now remains. Well built
homesteads, cultivated fields, and exten-
sive terraces of tea bushes now are the
rule here. The country is one of the most
advanced in Nepal. Every mile or so one
finds a village or town.

A Forest Camp

We continued to climb rolling hills,
each one higher than the one preceding.
After being entertained with tea and a
radio program by the leading Brahman
of one town, a guide was furnished to
take us to a suitable camping place in
the forest. Here we stayed eight days.
The ravines were filled with clouds at
times; cliffs towered overhead. To the
south, the slopes were dry and grassy.
On the northern slopes, however, much
of the forest remained and the ground
was covered with moss and ferns. Large
sprays of yellow-green orchids hung from
the trees above our camp and water
rushed loudly below us. Small birds
were plentiful, but one of the most im-
portant specimens — the Myxornis, a
bright green, sparrow-sized bird with a
slender bill and a brush tongue — eluded
us. We finally found what seemed to be a

Myzornis drinking sap from a large oak
tree, and bagged the specimen for fur-
ther study at the Museum.

The Lowlands and Home

After adding many more birds to our
collection — thrushes, babblers, minivets,
fulvettes, sunbirds, brush robins, dippers
and fork-tails from the streams, red-
starts, wren babblers, flowerpeckers, and
others — we descended again to the low-
lands. There it felt and smelled like a
hothouse in comparison with our forest
camp. We stayed overnight in a tropical
mango grove.

A quick trip to Darjeeling by Land
Rover, a beautiful view of Kinchen-
junga, and we began the trip back by
car. Changing eventually to a little Nep-
alese train, we reached Simra, where we
missed the plane and had to camp in the
airdrome all night. The next morning,
twenty minutes' flying time brought us
home to Katmandu on March 23, 1961.
Our expedition arrived just in time for
me to be home to celebrate our 25th
wedding anniversary!

{As a result of Dr. Fleming's collecting ac-
tivities in the Himalayas, he has sent the Mu-
seum some 382 bird and 150 mammal speci-
mens, including some rarities and new records
for the country.)

February Page 7

This Month's Cover Story

MUSEUM EDUCATION

REACHES OUT TO THE BLIND

ii~XT FEELS so shiny" — was the com-
_L ment, as the boy's hands slipped
over the surface of the calcite crystal.
Quickly but thoroughly he "saw" in de-
tail first the crystal and then a piece of
graphite, which he described as "slip-
pery."

Though the descriptions were unusual,
they were easily understood by six of the
youngster's classmates, who, like the boy,
were blind. Part of a 28-student group
studying rocks and minerals in a work-
shop conducted by the Raymond Foun-
dation, the seven children were the first
sightless students to take part in a Mu-
seum workshop program.

Page 8 February

Joanne Evenson

Staff Member, Raymond Foundation

They were participating in the pro-
gram with their 21 sighted classmates in
the hope that they would get more from
the experience while in the company of
their friends. Few modifications in the
usual workshop were necessary for these
unusual students. The normal schedule
— a color film on rocks and minerals,
time spent in the "laboratory" for the
testing and the identification of mineral
specimens, and question sheets answered
after studying the Museum's geology ex-
hibits— was followed. However, the
questions for the blind children had
been prepared in advance in Braille by
their teacher, and the minerals were es-

Above photograph and cover by Division of Photography

pecially chosen for their definite or un-
usual texture rather than their color.

Results were quickly seen. One boy,
after handling a geode, described the
quartz crystal-lined stone as "rough on
the outside but rough and beautiful on
the inside," an extremely accurate de-
scription from one who could "see" only
with his fingers. With their question
sheets, the blind students were given
styli with which they could imprint
their answers in Braille on the special,
heavy paper provided them. Sighted
classmates helped them to find the an-
swers in the exhibit cases.

At the conclusion of the one-and-a-
half-hour session, observers felt that the
blind children had learned as much as
the sighted. Among the comments
made by the Braille participants was
one from Robert Weiland, who was es-
pecially interested in seeing the meteo-
rite because "he couldn't believe that a
rock could be that big."

PRINTED BY CHICAGO NATURAL HISTORY MUSBUM PRESS

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NATURAli
HISTORY ^/^
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CHICAGO
NATURAL
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News

Nature Photography —
This Month's Cover

Winners of silver medals in the Chi-
cago International Exhibition of Nature
Photography, displayed last month in
the Museum, represent states from the
East to the West coasts, and include a
resident of the Chicago area.

In the "Print" category, silver medals
were awarded to: John Kohout, La
Grange Park, Illinois; Fred E. Unver-
hau, Danbury, Connecticut; and Charles
L. Norton, Topfield, Massachusetts.
(Two prize-winning photographs are re-
produced on this page.) In the "Slide"
category, medals went to: Gertrude
Russ, Glendale, California; Agnes M.
Hoist, Phoenix, Arizona; and Beatrice

Nature Photo Winner by Charles L. Norton

Petersen, Niagara Falls, New York.
The Bulletin cover, entitled "Guard-
ing the Nest," is by Grant M. Haist of
Rochester, New York.

Children's Programs

Children will have an opportunity to
step back into ancient Mexico and to
compare it with Mexico as it is today
when the Museum's new Journey for
spring begins on March 1 .

"Journey to Mexico" starts at a mini-
ature view of the great market in Mex-
ico City in the year 1515, five years

Page 2 March

before the coming of Cortez. From
that embarkation point the journeyer
travels to such fascinating exhibits as
the Temple of Quetzelcoatl, in which
the feathered serpent god was wor-
shipped, and on to displays showing the
modern Aztec, Tarascan, and Zapotec
Indians. Information sheets and ques-
tionnaires are available at the Informa-
tion Desk and at the North and South
doors of the Museum. All children who
can read and write are eligible, and the
Journey will be in effect during March,
April, and May.

As an introduction to the new Jour-
ney, and the beginning of the Muse-
um's spring series of free programs for
children, the color motion picture, "Jour-
ney to Mexico," will be presented on
March 3 at 10:00 a.m. in James Simp-
son Theatre. During March and April
free programs for children will be held
every Saturday morning at this time.
Following is the complete schedule :

March 3 — Journey to Mexico

{Cartoon also)

March 10— The Red Balloon

(.4 Parisian boy' s friendship with a red balloon)

March 17 — The Magic Thread

girl scout day (Movie, slide story, and stage
show)

Chicago Natural History Museum

Founded by Marshall Field, 1893

Roosevelt Road and Lake Shore Drive, Chicago 5

Telephone: WAbash 2-9410

THE BOARD
Lester Armour
Wm. McCormick Blair
Bowen Blair
Walter J. Cummings
Joseph N. Field
Marshall Field, Jr.
Stanley Field
Clifford C. Gregg
Samuel Insull, Jr.
Henry P. Isham

J. How

OF TRUSTEES

William V. Kahler
Hughston M. McBain
J. Roscoe Miller
William H. Mitchell
John T. Pirie, Jr.
John Shedd Reed
John G. Searle
John M. Simpson
Solomon A. Smith
Louis Ware

rd Wood

OFFICERS

Stanley Field, Chairman of the Board

Clifford C. Gregg, President

Hughston M. McBain, First Vice-President

Joseph N. Field, Second Vice-President

Bowen Blair, Third Vice-President

Solomon A. Smith, Treasurer

E. Leland Webber, Secretary

Solomon A. Smith, Assistant Secretary

THE BULLETIN

EDITOR
E. Leland Webber, Director of the Museum

CONTRIBUTING EDITORS

Paul S. Martin, Chief Curator of Anthropology

John R. Millar, Chief Curator of Botany

Sharat K. Roy, Chief Curator of Geology

Austin L. Rand, Chief Curator of Zoology

MANAGING EDITOR

Paula R. Nelson, Public Relations Counsel

ASSOCIATE EDITOR

Marilyn Jindrich, Associate in Public Relations

Nature Photo Winner by John Kohout

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

March 24 — Islands of the World

CUB SCOUT DAY

March 31 — Our New Frontiers

camp fire girl day (Movie and stage show on
Alaska and Hawaii)

April 7 — Congo Safari

museum traveler day (Dr. Robert F. Inger
of the Museum staff tells the story of his recent
expedition to the Congo)

April 14 — Japan Harvests the Sea

(^1 Disney "People and Places" movie — cartoon
also)

April 21— NO PROGRAM (Easter
Saturday)

April 28 — A Night Out with Mr.
Toad

(And other films on the world of nature — cartoon
also)

(Continued on page 8)

MARCH EXHIBITS

Indians of the Overland Trail

PAINTINGS OF PLAINS INDIANS BY PAUL DYCK

AND

The Pawnee Thunder Ceremony

A MINIATURE DIORAMA

" The clouds shall touch the earth
And the earth shall receive power from above."

PAWNEE CHANT

w,

hen the first sound of spring thun-
der was heard by the Pawnee Indians
who occupied the dry, sandy slopes of
the Platte River valley before the com-
ing of the white men, the sound signified
that the gods were ready to turn their
attention earthward and to receive once
again the prayers and offerings that
opened the religious ceremonial year.

The voice heard in the thunder was
that of the god, Paruxti, messenger of
the supreme deity, Tirawa. As Paruxti
passed over the land in the first spring
storm, his voice awakened the earth and
kindled life anew. Hearing this mes-
sage, the priests assembled their sacred
bundles and began a ritual of chants and
sacrifices that symbolized and ensured
the renewed concern of the gods for the
welfare of men.

It is this event that is portrayed in the
Museum's featured exhibit for March —
a miniature diorama, displayed in Stan-
ley Field Hall, of the Pawnee thunder
ceremony. Concerning it, the noted an-
thropologist, Ralph Linton, has written
in a Museum publication: "The thun-
der ceremony was, more than any other,
at the bottom of [Pawnee] ceremonial
life. ... It promoted the well-being of
the tribe, and was efficacious in driving
back the malignant being of the south-
west, the bringer of disease. It instructed
the people as to their duties and privi-
leges in their relationship to the deities;
and finally it afforded many opportuni-

ties for direct communication with the
deities themselves in a number of rites
of sacrifice . . ." Linton's detailed de-
scription of this interesting ritual of early
spring is available at the Book Shop for
fifty cents.

Also on exhibit during March is an ex-
citing gallery of Indian portraits painted
by Arizona artist Paul Dyck, delineating
"Indians of the Overland Trail." These
brilliant, almost lifesize paintings of
plains Indians in full ceremonial dress
depict representatives of the Nez Perce,
Sioux, Blackfeet, Cheyenne, Crow, and
Shoshoni at the zenith of their tribal ex-
istence.

Dyck has lived among a number of
Indian peoples, having received from
the Sioux a particularly appropriate
name meaning "Rainbow Hand." He
imparts to his paintings, which he calls
"a labor of love," the qualities of ac-
curate observation, compassion for the
American Indian, and an impressive
command of historical background. In
the illustrated catalogue that accom-
panies the exhibit, Dyck writes of his
work: "The Indian recreated in these
paintings is the free man of the buckskin,
porcupine quill, bow and arrow days; a
primitive man but one rich in his way
of life . . ." The Museum is pleased to
bring this special exhibit to Chicago fol-
lowing its recent successful showing in
the Phoenix Art Museum.

P. R. Nelson

Shoshoni "Digger" Warrior: Paint-
ing by Paul Dyck. In Western Idaho and
Nevada, a barren country empty of large
game, lived the poorer bands of the Shoshoni
Indians, commonly called "Diggers" by the
whites. They did not own horses, and lived
in primitive houses that were mostly mere
brush shelters. Their fare was rabbits, small
birds, roots, nuts, seeds, and in bad years
often only the desert insects. Rarely using
moccasins or garments, their artistic develop-
ment was limited to a few work utensils.
That the "Diggers" survived on their in-
hospitable land speaks well of them as a
people.

March Page 3

Presenting;
the 117th

Adult Travel Lectures

March 3 through April 28, 1962

Osaka Castle. From "Fabulous Japan."
Page U March

March 3 — Laos, Focus of Conflict

Arthur Niehojf

As village development adviser in
Laos for the International Cooperation
Administration during 1959-61, Arthur
Niehoff lived through the events that
have made Laos front-page news during
the past two years. An anthropologist
and Asian specialist, Niehoff learned to
speak both Lao and French for his as-
signment and thereby came to know the
Lao people well. He is unusually quali-
fied to present an intimate picture of the
people and their country. In his au-
thentic film documentary, Niehoff has
captured both the old and the new —
the quiet isolated country of yesterday,
almost unknown to Americans two years
ago, and the rapidly changing Laos of
today, focal point of the current struggle
for world power.

March 10 — Germany

Gordon Palmquist

Germany, though in the forefront of
the news, is still an unfamiliar country
whose problems are not well understood
by many who have not been there. In
an attempt to shed light on contempo-
rary Germany, Gordon Palmquist pre-
sents the intensely human story of its
people divided between East and West.
In his program he contrasts May Day
scenes of soldiers and tanks in Russian
controlled East Berlin with a romantic
children's procession at Dinkelsbuhl, the
gay life of Munich at festival time, and
the rich cultural life of rebuilt West
Berlin. Add to this a Rhine journey at
grape harvest time and visits to the
world famous Hanover Industrial Fair,
the Volkswagen factory, and Mad Lud-
wig's Castle — and you have a refreshing
documentary.

March 17 — Mormon Land High-
lights

Alfred M. Bailey

All the magnificent features of our
country's great West, which have kin-
dled a desire for adventure and beauty
in Americans from frontier days to the
present, are dramatically presented in
this outstanding film on Utah. Through
the years, Alfred M. Bailey, Director of
the Denver Museum of Natural History,
has photographed the changing seasons
of this western state, from the deep can-
yons on its southern borders to the
rugged mountain tops toward the north.
Among the highlights of his film adven-
ture are sequences devoted to Bryce and
Zion National Parks, Arches National
Monument, the Natural Bridges to Mex-
ican Hat, and a six-day journey down
the rapids of the San Juan into the Colo-
rado River.

March 24— The "Yankee" Sails
Across Europe

Captain Irving Johnson

A boat that does almost everything
but fly was the vehicle employed by
Captain and Mrs. Irving Johnson to ex-
plore a Europe unknown to most trav-
elers. On this trip, the Johnsons' goal
was to seek out the romantic and out-
of-the-way places of Holland, Belgium,
Germany, France, Italy, and Greece.
The Johnsons' boat, a ketch called
"Yankee," crossed oceans, negotiated
tunnels, harbored on remote beaches,
and folded her sails to dodge under
bridges. To broaden still further the
scope of their picture-taking, the John-
sons carried two motor scooters on deck,
which they put ashore from time to time
over a specially built aluminum gang-
plank. These the two sailors used for
touring Europe's rolling countryside.

March 31 — Tangier to Istanbul

Clifford J. Kamen

The Strait of Gibraltar, the Suez, and
the Dardanelles are three gateways that
have exerted a powerful influence on
Mediterranean lands since ancient times.
"Tangier to Istanbul" is a story of those
three vital waterways. Whether it be
the mysterious Casbah, the ancient forti-
fications of Gibraltar, the blue grotto of
Capri, or the famed cedars of Lebanon,
Clifford Kamen has the ability to pre-
sent the familiar from an unconven-
tional point of view. His film is espe-
cially noteworthy for its extensive pho-
tographic coverage of crucial military
areas where photography is generally
forbidden. Concluding the program is
a stop at Istanbul, the world's only city
that stradles two continents, where the
historic Basilica of St. Sophia, the Blue
Mosque, and the most massive city walls
ever built in ancient times still stand.

unique covered coaches, while 70-foot
lions guard the entrances to its fabled
temples. William Moore has made
Mandalay the last stop in an enticing
film trip that includes Singapore, gate-
way port between East and West; Bang-
kok, whose Royal Palace is familiar to
lovers of "Anna and the King of Siam";
and Rangoon, home of the Reclining
Buddha, the largest image of the Hon-
ored One in the world.

April 14-

-Fabulous Japan

Willis Butler

Japan's phenomenal industrial recov-
ery and growth following the war has
created a country that blends the cul-
tures of East and West. Motorbike
rickshaws, 700-year-old plays, television
towers and skyscrapers, exotic temples
and shrines — all are intermingled to
create a new milieu. Willis Butler shows
in his program that as typical now of

April 21 — Poland

Kenneth Richter

Biscopin, a reconstructed prehistoric
lake village; Poznan, Poland's first capi-
tal; Gdansk, the ancient Hanseatic port
town; glowering Marlbork, greatest of
the Teutonic castles; Krakow, beautiful,
undamaged, a gem of the Renaissance;
Warsaw, "the Paris of the North" —
these are the places that form the back-
drop for Kenneth Richter's delightful
film story about the Polish people. You
will meet a steel worker in the new So-
viet-equipped steel complex of Nova
Huta; a young woman who works among
the antiquities of a museum in Krakow
by day and at night joins her friends at
a Jazz Club that meets in a 16th Cen-
tury cellar; a University of Warsaw
student of atomic science; and finally,
a farm family living in the magnificent
Tatra Mountains near Zakopane, who
each Sunday don brightly colored peas-
ant costumes to attend church in the
little village of Bukovina.

Marlbork Castle, seat of the Teutonic Knights. From "Poland."

April 7 — The Road to Mandalay

William Moore

In the heart of Burma, within the
shadow of Mandalay Hill, lies the mys-
tic and far-off city made famous by
Rudyard Kipling. Mandalay, formerly
the home of Burma's last kings, today is
a mecca for yellow-robed Buddhists, In-
dian fakirs, beggars, and snakecharmers.
Along its busy streets rumble oxcarts,
rickety two-wheeled carriages, and

Japan as rice paddies and temples have
been in the past is the mushrooming of
new industries, such as the manufacture
of transistor radios, cameras, and other
electronic equipment. At the same time,
no film of Japan would be complete
without the traditional attractions that
have captured the hearts of visitors for
centuries — Mt. Fuji, the world-famous
gardens of Kyoto, the Kabuki Theatre,
Tadaiji Temple, and the "Floating
Shrine" of Itsukishima.

April 28 — An Ozark Anthology

Leonard Hall

Possum Trot Farm in the legendary
Ozarks, an area abounding in wildlife
of all varieties, has afforded Leonard
Hall with many opportunities to observe
nature. It is on this farm that much of
his "Ozark Anthology" was filmed. In
this color motion picture of a pictur-
esque and seldom portrayed region, Hall
unfolds the story of the Ozark hills. On
the soil of one of the oldest land areas
on our continent live the woodland crea-
tures that play leading parts in Hall's
film — raccoon and opossum, chipmunk,
flying squirrel, and whitetail deer. Great
blue herons are shown patroling the riv-
ers, while green herons stalk the spring
peepers at the water's edge. And in
the air the great horned owl and the
osprey soar on tireless wings. There -is
a human side to this story, as well, in
glimpses of the mountain people who
have made their homes in the deep hol-
lows of the Ozarks.

All programs begin at 2 :30 p.m. in
James Simpson Theatre. Reserved seats
will be held for Museum Members until
2:25 p.m.

March Page 5

0L *.:

Sea lamprey larvae shown in their burrows in mud of lake bottom (re-drawn from Applegate) .

SEA LAMPREY EXHIBIT

Shows Different Feeding Structures

of Larvae
and Adults

Figure 1: Mouth of adult sea lamprey.
Page 6 March

Figure 2: Head of larval sea lamprey.

LOREN P. WOODS

Curator of Fishes

Recently the Museum placed on ex-
hibit in the Hall of Fishes (Hall O,
ground floor, west) enlarged models of
the mouth of both the larval and the
adult forms of the sea lamprey.

These models show the great differ-
ences in feeding structures between the
immature and the mature lamprey. The
adults possess the horny teeth and rasp-
ing tongue that enable them to cling to
other fishes and suck their blood (Fig-
ure 1). But the sea lamprey is a para-
sitic menace to other fishes only during
its relatively short adult life. For the

first four to eight years (nobody knows
just how many) of its existence, it is a
blind and harmless larva, called an am-
mocoete, which lives in a burrow in the
soft mud of quiet pools and eddies, and
in the main body of lakes just off the
mouths of streams. These ammocoetes
possess a dendritic structure (Figure 2)
that acts as a filter in separating micro-
scopic food organisms from the surround-
ing water.

Shortly after hatching, the tiny, trans-
parent ammocoetes work their way up
through the gravel of their nest, where
they are caught in the current and car-
ried downstream. As soon as the cur-
rent slackens they dive for the bottom,
burrowing into the soft, oozy mud that
is usually found there. Here they stay,
unless washed out by eroding floods that
sometimes carry them along with their
cover further downstream or out into
the main body of the Great Lakes.

At intervals the larvae come to the en-
trance of their burrows and feed on the
microorganisms that are especially abun-
dant in the thin layers of debris lying on
the lake bottom. Dr. V. C. Applegate
of the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service
has described this behavior in detail:

"When ready to feed, the ammocoete
squirms upward in its burrow until the
oral hood is at or near the surface of the
bottom. Here it may lie for long periods
of time, the branchial area expanding
and contracting as water is pumped in
and out for respiratory and feeding pur-
poses. . . . Pumping action into the oral
hood is easily discernible by following
bits of detritus suspended near the bot-
tom as they are drawn into the hood.
Microscopic organisms are drawn into
the hood on the water currents. At least
some of these organisms are separated
out from the detritus by the sieve appara-
tus and passed to the intestine for diges-
tion. Periodically the detritus accumu-
lated on the sieve is blown out. The
larva is seen to expand its branchial re-
gion, the gill openings close, and with a
rapid convulsive movement of that re-
gion and the head, a cloud of small par-
ticles is ejected from the hood. Typical
pumping is resumed at once ... At irreg-
ular intervals, the ammocoetes retreat to
the depths of their burrows for varying
periods."

Rare Lizard Reaches Museum

ROBERT F. INGER

Curator of Amphibians and Reptiles

Several weeks ago the Division of Am-
phibians and Reptiles received a highly
publicized lizard from Mr. Tom Harris-
son, Curator of the Sarawak Museum in
Borneo. This lizard, called "Jorgen" by
Mrs. Harrisson but Lanthonotus borneensis
by herpetologists, is a member of a spe-
cies about which we know very little.

Brown without a conspicuous pattern,
about thirteen inches long, short legs,
small eyes, flattened head, long tail —
nothing about this lizard is especially
striking except to a herpetologist. Scien-
tific interest attaches to Lanthonotus — the

the ground in the rain forests covering
Borneo? These are the simplest questions
to ask about an animal, yet we had no
answers.

Now, however, the Harrissons have
supplied at least partial answers. Our
specimen was found about ten inches
below the surface in soil of formerly
cultivated land. The Harrissons kept the
lizard alive for several months and after
trying all sorts of food, induced it to eat
the eggs of the green sea turtle, some-
thing Lanthonotus never encounters in na-
ture. "Jorgen" could swim well and

&&*j&*£M

earless monitor — because it is the least
known member of the group of lizards
from which snakes arose. If we are to
understand the origin of snakes, we must
first know their ancestors.

The mere half dozen or so specimens
that reached museums between 1878
(when Lanthonotus was first discovered)
and 1961 were sent by men who ob-
tained the lizards from natives and were
not interested in the biology of Lantho-
notus. All we knew until this year was
that the animal lived in Sarawak on the
northwest coast of Borneo. Did it live in
water? Did it burrow in the soil? Or was
it one of those many lizards that live on

would stay submerged for long periods
in a wash basin, though the lizard was
found a hundred yards from water.

Two more specimens of Lanthonotus
have been caught in the last two months.
It has always been this way — an animal
is rare until we know where and how to
look for it. As more individuals are
found, it will be possible to make more
observations on their behavior and to
study their anatomy more thoroughly.
Whether these studies will actually help
us unravel the ancestry of snakes cannot
be foretold. At the very least we should
have a better understanding of the evo-
lution of lizards.

March Page 7

MUSEUM NEWS

{Continued from page 2)

Free Concerts

George London, bass, will appear in
recital at Free Concerts Foundation's
April 3 (Tuesday) concert at 8:15 p.m.
in the Museum's James Simpson Thea-
tre. He will be accompanied by Leo
Taubman, pianist, in a program that
will include works by Handel, Schubert,
and Moussorgsky.

Also to be presented by the Founda-
tion during April will be a violin recital
on Wednesday the 18th by Sidney Harth,
concert master of the Chicago Sym-
phony Orchestra. Harth will play the
sonata recital he performed during his
1961 Russian concert tour. His piano
accompanist will be Christiane Ver-
zieux.

For free tickets to both events send a
stamped, self-addressed envelope to Free
Concerts, Chicago Natural History Mu-
seum, Roosevelt Road at Lake Shore
Drive, Chicago 5, Illinois.

A lecture on "What Is a Chamber
Orchestra" and a concert for wind in-
struments will be the March 4 and 18
(Sundays) free programs of the Chicago
Chamber Orchestra Association, each to
be held at 3:30 p.m. in James Simpson
Theatre.

Exhibition Held Over

"Winter Fur 'N Feathers," the tem-
porary exhibit announced in the Decem-
ber Bulletin, has been so popular with
the public and with school groups that
it is to remain on exhibition during the
spring and summer. While originally
announced as a winter exhibit, and com-
bined with the winter Museum Journey
of the Raymond Foundation, the exhibit
actually covers both summer and winter
aspects of bird and mammal coats.

Staff Changes

Mr. James I. Good rick joined the staff
on February 1 as Assistant to the Di-
rector. After Army service in World
War II, Mr. Goodrick spent 17 years
in the field of industrial administration.
His most recent affiliation has been with
Wyatt & Morse, Management Con-
sultants.

Dr. John W. Thieret, Curator of Eco-
nomic Botany, resigned on February 28
to enter the teaching profession. Dr.
Thieret joined the staff of the Museum
in October, 1953. Earlier that year he
had accompanied the late Dr. Bror Dahl-
gren on a field trip to Cuba in connec-
tion with the study of palms of the genus
Copernicia. In January, 1954, he be-
came Curator of Economic Botany at
the Museum. He conducted field trips

to the Great Plains of the United States
and Canada in 1958, 1959, and 1961.
Dr. Thieret will be associated with the
University of Southwestern Louisiana.

University Cooperation

Six curators from the Department of
Zoology and two from the Department
of Geology will present a new course en-
tided "Zoogeography, Phylogeny, and
Evolution" for the University of Chi-
cago during the winter quarter (Janu-
ary-March). The course is designed for
seniors and graduate students in the
University's Department of Zoology, and
will introduce them to the range of re-
search problems that occupy museum
staff, and acquaint the students with the
kinds of biological information that can
be extracted from museum specimens.

Curators participating in the course
are : from the Department of Zoology —
D. Dwight Davis, Curator of Vertebrate
Anatomy; Henry S. Dybas, Associate
Curator of Insects; Philip Hershkovitz,
Research Curator of Mammals; Rob-
ert F. Inger, Curator of Amphibians and
Reptiles; Austin L. Rand, Chief Curator
of Zoology; Rupert L. Wenzel, Curator
of Insects; and Loren P. Woods, Curator
of Fishes. Also, Rainer Zangerl, Cura-
tor of Fossil Reptiles, and William Turn-
bull, Assistant Curator of Fossil Mam-
mals, from the Department of Geology.

WHAT IS IT?

Objects like the one shown are often brought to the Museum by
their collectors, who usually mistake them for fossils. Actually the
photograph is of a concretion, a name given by geologists to the concentric
structures that result in nature by the precipitation of some soluble
mineral about a nucleus. Concretions occur in sedimentary rocks,
commonly along bedding planes.

The mineral constituents of concretions consist chiefly of the
cementing material of the rocks in which they are enclosed. The most
common cementing minerals are silica, calcite, and iron oxide. These
are carried in solution by percolating waters from the surrounding rock
and redeposited around a nucleus, which may be a mineral grain, a leaf,
or a fossil. Concretions range in size from a fraction of an inch to
many feet in diameter, and are remarkably diversified in form — sphe-
roidal, oval, disk-shaped, or fantastically odd and irregular, the latter
resulting from the fusion of two or more simple forms or by deposition
around an irregular object. To the imaginative finder, these structures
may very well resemble familiar animal or artistic forms.

Concretions in many fascinating shapes are displayed in Hall 34
(at Soundtrek station 10) and at the east end of Hall 37, where fossil-
like formations are distinguished from true fossils.

Page 8 March

PRINTED BY CHICAGO NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM PRESS

CHICAGO
NATURAL
HISTORY
MUSEUM

'OLUME 33
JUMBER 4
vPRIL 1962

Tibouchina granulosa: "Flower of Lent'

s

EE the human image with fresh in-
sight through the eyes of primitive art-
ists; compare the anatomy of your heart
with the hearts of other mammals; dis-
cover what would happen to Earth
plants transported to Mars; and learn
how to brew a proper cup of tea — all
at Chicago Natural History Museum's
once-a-year, behind-the-scenes event —
Members' Night!

On April 27, from 7 to 10 p.m., the
entire staff of the Museum will play
host to Members in the offices, labora-
tories, studios, and workrooms not ordi-
narily open to the public. In addition
to special exhibits, lectures, and dem-
onstrations, the curatorial staff will dis-
cuss their research-in-progress.

Following is a partial schedule of the
evening's events:

In the Department of Anthropology

"The Human Image in Primitive Art,"
a new exhibit opening on May 1, will
be previewed by Members in one of the
world's largest permanent exhibition
halls devoted to primitive art {Hall 2,
first floor). Curator Phillip Lewis will
lecture on the exhibit in Hall 9. On
the third floor : a special exhibit of objects
to be found on a Chinese scholar's desk.
Also, lecture demonstrations on (1) how
to look up a word in a Chinese diction-
ary, and (2) tea — the varieties; how they
are grown and processed; and the proper
art of brewing.

In the
Department
of Botany

"The Guatemalan Highlands," illus-
trated talk by Curator Louis O. Williams
(Hall 9, first floor) . A new exhibit hall
of economic botany, in progress (Hall
28, second floor) . On the third floor: What
happens to growing plants when they
are subjected to the conditions presumed
to exist on Mars. And, the "next-of-
kin" variation in plants.

Page 2 April

An invitation to

Members' Night!

In the Department of Geology

On the third floor : Demonstration of
stereoscopic X-ray techniques used in
studying fossil fish from Indiana that in-
habited an epicontinental sea 250 mil-
lion years ago (see photograph above).
Devonian fish and Eocene mammals col-
lected on Museum expeditions to the
Bighorn Mountains and to western Col-
orado. Sectioned and polished rock
specimens showing cone-in-cone struc-
ture. Concretions and pseudo-meteorites
— natural formations that fool the un-
wary collector. On the second floor: The
reinstalled Hall of Gems and Jewels
(Hall 72) displays recent acquisitions and
a bright, new look.

In the Department of Zoology

April 27, 1962

to Northern Rhodesia and Suriname
(Dutch Guiana). A range of heart spec-
imens comparing the human heart with
those of other mammals from huge bears
to tiny mice. The jewel-like colors of the
insect world. On the jowth floor: Pearl-
producing mollusks. Displays of furs and
skins from rare and exotic animals. On
the ground floor : An array of fish skeletons
illustrating the framework that holds a
fish together. Reptiles and amphibians
with bizarre forms.

On the third floor : Birds and mammals
collected on recent Museum expeditions

The public exhibition halls, the Book
Shop, and the cafeteria open at 6, with
dinner being served (at usual prices)
until 8. An adjacent room will be avail-
able for those who bring picnic hampers
from home. Tea will be served in the
third floor Library, and other refresh-
ments in Stanley Field Hall. Soundtrek
tours are available, and nature films will
be shown throughout the evening in the
second floor Meeting Room. At fre-
quent intervals chartered buses will pro-
vide transportation to and from State
Street and Jackson Boulevard.

SURINAME ZOOLOGICAL EXPEDITION

Philip Hershkovitz, Research Curator, Mammals

Illustrations by E. John Pfiffner, Museum Artist

The Museum's collection of Suriname mam*
mals and mammalian ectoparasites is now
the largest and most varied in the world.

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Suriname and the author's collecting localities: (7) Paramaribo, (2) Lelydorpplan,
(3) Carolinakreek, (4) Loksie Haiti, (5) La Poule, (6) Dirkshoop. Inset: Position of
Suriname in the Guianan region (bars) and South America.

Suriname is a little country on the
northern coast of South America. It
has about the same land area as Illinois,
is almost entirely covered with tropical
rain forest, and is exceedingly rich in
bauxite. Formerly known as the colony
of Dutch Guiana, Suriname is bounded
on the west by British Guiana, on the
east by French Guiana, and on the
south by Brazil.

Its people are a conglomeration of
Amerindians, Africans, Asiatics, and

Europeans. Nearly half its quarter mil-
lion inhabitants live in the capital city,
Paramaribo, and most of the others farm
or raise cattle along the fertile coastal
strip. This leaves all but a small fraction
of land in the possession of a meager pop-
ulation of primitive Indians, Bush Ne-
gros, and wild animals.

A naturalist can begin his studies of
wild animals in the outskirts of Parama-
ribo itself. Thence, good roads, navig-
able rivers, and regular grasshopper

plane service can speed him in a few
hours to high forests, isolated savannas,
and table-topped mountains in the most
remote and undisturbed corners of the
country.

Suriname is part of a natural biolog-
ical area known as the Guianan region.
This is a vast wilderness territory which
extends from the Orinoco River in Ven-
ezuela east to the Atlantic and south to
the Negro and lower Amazonas Rivers
in Brazil. The mammals of British Gui-
ana and some of the highlands of the in-
terior of Venezuela are fairly well known.
Those of the remainder of the Guianan
region are hardly known. Least docu-
mented are those of Suriname. Less
than half the number of mammalian
species presumed to occur there have
actually been recorded in scientific liter-
ature. Small rodents, which make up the
bulk of the mammalian fauna, had been
nearly entirely passed over in field col-
lecting and in published records. The
habits and distribution of Suriname
mammals had hardly been studied and,
prior to our work, only a negligible num-
ber of specimens had been preserved in
American institutions.

Review of Suriname Mammalogy

Suriname mammalogy begins in 1719,
with, strange as it may seem, the post-
humous publication in Holland of a
book on insects by a Dutch artist and
amateur naturalist, Maria Sibylla
Merian. Madame Merian arrived in
Suriname in 1699 to sketch and paint
its beautiful butterflies and strange in-
sects. By way of filling up the lower half
of the last plate of her book, she drew
what she described as "a kind of wood-
rat which always carries her young (of
which there are commonly five or six),
on her back." She went on to say that
"when these rats come out of their hole,
either to play or seek their food, they run
about with their mother, but when they
are sated or sense the presence of danger,
(Continued on page 7)

April Page 3

Page It April

TRIBUTE BEARERS OF ANCIENT MEXICO: "For weeks
the people of Tepoztlan heve been preparing tribute for the
Aztec conquerors .... The carriers are loaded and start on the
march to the capital."

MEXICO: LIFE IN A MEXICAN TOWN

Chapter highlights from the new

Raymond Foundation publication for children

written by Edith Fleming and

illustrated by Marion Pahl

A different chapter will be presented each week

to children attending the Saturday morning programs

at the Museum this spring

JOURNEY TO MEXICO, the spring journey for children,
also follows the Mexican theme

THE FAMILY FARM:
"Last January Papa . . .
started to clear a new field.
First he cut down the trees.
Then with a machete he
cut down the bushes and
shrubs. All the work has
to be done by hand,
chopping away at the soil
with a hoe."

MARKET DA Y: ". . . Noise and bargaining
and laughter and strange delicious smells."

April Page 5

THE CONQUEST OF MEXICO: "When Cortez and his
conquistadores reached Tenochtitlan, the capital, Montezuma
received them kindly. . ."

SCHOOL DAYS: "Mast of the children in
the town start school, but many drop out each
year until by sixth grade there are few left.
Maria, Pablo's older
sister, was very sad
when she had to stop
school and stay at
home. She cried a
great deal. But Pablo
couldn't understand."

A MEXICAN BOY: "Pablo's home, like his neighbor's, is
made of sun-dried bricks and roofed with tile. The door
of the one-room house opens into a walled yard where
there is a row of cans filled with bright flowers."

THE FIESTA: "The dancers from Jalatlaco have made a vow to
dance at the fiesta this year. Their leaders carry statues of the
santo and bright-colored banners with the name of their club ....
They look very fine, both the men and women, with their plumed
headdresses and their pink and red costumes embroidered with beads.
A procession winds down the street: women with baskets of flowers
and incense, men with great candles to be burned in the church,
musicians with flutes, and a drummer to bring up the rear. 'The
firecracker tower is coming, ' shouts Pablo . . . ."

CHICAGO
NATURAL
HISTORY
MUSEUM

News

This Month's Cover

The Lenten season comes to Brazil
in fall. Through much of the country
the heavy rainy season is past and many
trees and shrubs begin to come into
flower. The subject of our cover, 77-
bouchina granulosa, is one of the most
colorful of trees and is to be found,
often abundantly, from Para and Baia
in the northeast of Brazil down through
the coastal ranges and hills to Rio de
Janeiro and Sao Paulo and westward
to Bolivia.

There are many fancy Tibouchinas in
Brazil. If they come into bloom during
the Lenten season the common names
quaresma, flor de quaresma, or quaresmeira
are often used for them. These names
may be translated as Lent, flower of Lent,
or tree of Lent. It is common practice in
Latin America to name a showy or at-
tractive plant for a religious holiday dur-
ing which it is usually in bloom.

The Tibouchina shown on the cover
is a model constructed of hand-blown
glass, wax, and a variety of plastics.
It is one of the Stanley Field Collection
of Plant Models displayed in Hall 29.
The photograph is by the Museum's
Division of Photography.

April Concert

Free Concerts Foundation brings
George London, baritone, to the stage
of the James Simpson Theatre on Tues-
day, April 3, at 8:15 p.m., in a recital
of works by Handel, Schubert, Brahms,
and Moussorgsky.

Sidney Harth, violinist and concert-
master of the Chicago Symphony Or-
chestra, will lie the soloist at the Foun-
dation's free concert on Wednesday,
April 18. Harth will perform the so-
nata recital he played during his 1961
concert tour of the Soviet Union.

Free tickets for both concerts may be
obtained by sending a stamped, self-
addressed envelope to: Free Concerts,
Chicago Natural History Museum,
Roosevelt Road at Lake Shore Drive.

Staff Lecture

Dr. Robert F. Inger, Curator of Am-
phibians and Reptiles, recently pre-
sented two lectures to the Department
of Biology at San Diego State College,
California. During his study trip to the
Coast, Dr. Inger also conducted a biol-
ogy seminar at the University of South-
ern California, and lectured at the Uni-
versitv of Southern California.

Chicago Natural History Museum

Founded by Marshall Field, 1893

Roosevelt Road and Lake Shore Drive, Chicago 5

Telephone: WAbash 2-9410

THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES

Lester Armour
Wm. McCormick Blair
Bowen Blair
Walter J. Cummings
Joseph N. Field
Marshall Field, Jr.
Stanley Field
Clifford C. Gregg
Samuel Insull, Jr.
Henry P. Isham

William V. Kahler
Hughston M. McBain
J. Roscoe Miller
William H. Mitchell
John T. Pirie, Jr.
John Shedd Reed
John G. Searle
John M. Simpson
Solomon A. Smith
Louis Ware

J. Howard Wood

OFFICERS

Stanley Field, Chairman of the Board

Clifford C. Gregg, President

Hughston M. McBain, First Vice-President

Joseph N. Field, Second Vice-President

Bowen Blair, Third Vice-President

Solomon A. Smith, Treasurer

E. Leland Webber, Secretary

Solomon A. Smith, Assistant Secretary

THE BULLETIN

EDITOR

E. Leland Webber, Director of the Museum

CONTRIBUTING EDITORS

Paul S. Martin, Chief Curator of Anthropology
John R. Millar, Chief Curator of Botany
Sharat K. Roy, Chief Curator of Geology
Austin L. Rand, Chief Curator of Zoology

MANAGING EDITOR

Paula R. Nelson, Public Relations Counsel

ASSOCIATE EDITOR

Marilyn Jindrich, Associate in Public Relations

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

APRIL'S
FEATURED EXHIBIT

What birds inhabit the Chi-
cago region, and how may they
be attracted to the garden? These
are questions answered by the
Museum's featured exhibit for
April entitled, "Resident Birds
of Chicago." The exhibit dis-
plays mounted specimens of typ-
ical birds of this area, and ex-
plains what plants may be grown
to provide birds with food, nest-
ing sites, and protection; what
water receptacles, feeders, and
foods are most satisfactory for
local birds; and how feeding sta-
tions may be protected from bird
enemies. The exhibit is located
at the entrance to Hall 21 near
the south end of Stanley Field
Hall.

Page 6 April

SURINAME
EXPEDITION-

{Continued from page 3)

they return to their mother's back and
twist theintails around that of the parent
who runs with them into their hole
again." In spite of the fanciful descrip-
tion of the tails of the young, and other
inaccuracies, Merian's little animals can
be positively identified with the mouse
opossum bearing the scientific name
Marmosa murina Linnaeus.

The next original contributions to Su-
riname mammalogy were published in
1734, also in Holland. They appear in
the first two of four lavish folio-sized
volumes, called the Most Complete The-
saurus, or Treasury, of Natural History. The
author, Albert Seba, was a wealthy
Dutch naturalist and his collection of
plants and animals was then the finest
of its kind. Most of the species shown
in the Thesaurus had not been previously
described or figured. Its armadillos re-
minded people of the armored beasts
of mythology. The marsupials with their
pouches for carrying young had never
been imagined before. The huge bats
were at once associated with legendary
ghosts who sucked the blood of sleeping
persons. The sloths and anteaters with
their long fore-limbs armed with hook-
like claws baffled all European savants
of the time. Some depicted sloths in
the impossible posture of standing on
all fours, and others, like Seba, exhib-
ited the animals in erect man-like poses.

Seba, like his contemporaries, gave
only the vaguest indications of the places
of origin of the animals mentioned in
his Thesaurus. He did state, however,
that most of the specimens were col-
lected through his personal contacts in
the Dutch colonies. With but one ex-
ception, all tropical American mammals
described by Seba could and probably
did originate in coastal Suriname.

The great value of the Thesaurus was
apparent to Linnaeus. In the tenth edi-
tion of his Systema Naturae, published
in 1758, the great systematist gave the
first valid scientific names to 13 of the
species of Suriname mammals described
by Seba. This is extraordinary in view
of the fact that the sum total of South
American mammals known to Linnaeus
was only 40. Today nearly 600 species

Suriname mammalogy began in 7779 with this picture of a mother mouse opossum
with young on her back, their taiis unreaiisticalty lengthened and entwined around hers.
The upper half of the plate sliows the life history of the praying mantis. Adapted from
insects of suriname by Maria Sybilla Merian.

are recognized. The Linnaean diag-
nosis and technical name for the com-
mon opossum of North and South Amer-
ica, Didelphis marsupialis, is based on
Seba's account of the Suriname form.
The other Suriname mammals of the
Thesaurus which received technical
names from Linnaeus and other system-
atists include the woolly opossum, the
four-eyed opossum, the short-tailed opos-
sum, Merian's opossum, the two-toed
and three-toed sloths, the silky anteater,
the cabassu armadillo, the squirrel mon-
key, the kinkajou, the remarkable fishing
bat, Noctilio leporinus, the largest New
World bat, Vampyrum spectrum, and the
commonest tropical American bat, Ca-
rollia perspicillata. For well over two cen-

turies Seba's Thesaurus remained the
source for the description of the greatest
number of Suriname mammals based on
actual specimens.

Expedition Objectives

The principal objectives of the Chi-
cago Natural History Museum's expedi-
tion included the collection of as com-
plete a representation as possible of the
mammals of Suriname, particularly the
rodents, primates, and the Linnaean
species based on Seba and Merian. Field
studies were to be made of the distribu-
tion and the relationship of the animals
to their environment, especially in culti-
vated areas. Special attention was to
{Continued on next page)

April Page 7

{Continued from previous page)
be given to the preservation of the ex-
ternal parasites of mammals. An earlier
Museum expedition to Suriname, con-
ducted by Harry A. Beatty (see Bulletin
for December, 1961), had already made
a good start toward these objectives,
although its efforts were mostly devoted
to collecting birds. With the completion
of the present field work, all missions
were accomplished. Now, the Museum's
collection of Suriname mammals and
mammalian ectoparasites is the largest
and most varied in the world and the
only one of its kind in the western hemi-
sphere.

Field Work Begins at Carolinakreek

The expedition consisted of myself,
Dr. Jack Fooden, a post-doctoral student
in primatology, and one or two native
assistants employed as needed. Dr.
Fooden and I arrived in Suriname on
November 15, 1961. Field work was in-
itiated in Carolinakreek about 32 miles
south of Paramaribo on the 22nd of
November. The dry season had already
ended and the rainy season was gather-
ing force. The wild mammal popula-
tion at this time was extremely low.
The previous dry season had been un-
usually long and rigorous and few mam-
mals survived it. Poor collecting here
was aggravated by the great number
of Sunday and holiday hunters who
drove in from Paramaribo with their
retinues and dog packs. I lost little
time in finding a more secluded camp
site, and on the fifth of December the
expedition was installed at Loksie Hatti
on the left bank of the Saramacca River
high up in Bush Negro country.

Bush Negroes are descendants of
slaves who escaped into the forest nearly
three centuries ago. Today, these proud
and independent people conserve much
of the way of life of their West African
ancestors. They live in palm-thatched
huts in small clearings along the banks
of the river. They cultivate corn, plan-
tain, cassava, and other tubers, raise
some chickens, hunt and fish. Most of
the men are skillful wood carvers and
decorators and their most artistic work
is done to curry the favor of their be-
trothed or to hold the affection of their
wives. The Negroes can eschew the de-
generating comforts and nerve-wracking

April Page 8

inventions of European civilization, but
they cannot resist the status symbols of
outboard motors for their dugout canoes,
battery powered radios, cardboard suit-
cases for their meager personal effects,
and even umbrellas. All these they can
and do acquire from the proceeds of log-
ging, rubber hunting, and other exploi-
tations of the forest.

Bush Negroes speak a language of
their own called talkee-talkee. It is a mix-
ture of Dutch, French, English, Portu-
guese, and West African. A young Bush
Negro, Edwin Dafit, whom I employed
in the Saramacca, had no difficulty in
communicating with me although nei-
ther he nor I understood more than a
few words of each other's language. Ed-
win was neat, intelligent, could read and
write talkee talkee, had a fine sense of hu-
mor, and was a good worker.

Collecting in the Saramacca

Theoretically, every species of Suri-
name mammals could be found at one
time or another in the Saramacca region
within a half day's walking or paddling
distance of my camp. A few species, par-
ticularly marmosets and monkeys, might
be encountered daily. Some mammals
would appear only during certain fruit-
ing seasons. The vast majority of species,
however, are never seen, at least during
the day. They may be trapped or hunted
at night in some seasons and might just
as well be forgotten at other times of the
year. Many species live in places which
the best of collectors might overlook, and
the rising river had made it difficult or
inexpedient to search for mammals with
pronounced aquatic proclivities.

Cultivated and fallow fields bordering
on the forest create exceptions to the or-
dinary relationship between the animal
and its habitat. The fields are magnets
for many kinds of small herbivores, par-
ticularly rodents and, naturally, the
train of carnivores which preys upon
them. Because the fields are relatively
secure as habitats, and provide an
abundance of food, they sustain abnor-
mally large numbers of individuals.

Intensive trapping and hunting for
small mammals in climax forest on the
camp side of the river was hardly re-
warding. In spite of all efforts and every
guile, I got no Merian's opossum and no
specimens of a common water rat from

this forest. In contrast, traps set in a
cassava field upstream on the other side
of the river yielded Merian's opossum,
water rats, and other kinds of small
mammals which were not taken in their
natural forest habitat.

Mammals of the Coastal Region

After a month at Loksie Hatti, the
number of different species being added
to the collection had fallen to a point
where it was no longer feasible to con-
tinue operations there. The next few
weeks, from mid-January to early Feb-
ruary, were spent in the intensively
cultivated coastal region. Three stations
were worked successively. The first was
in Lelydorpplan, an agricultural colony
about 15 miles south of Paramaribo; the
second at La Poule, a government ex-
perimental farm specializing in citrus
fruits about 21 miles west of Paramaribo;
and the last was at Dirkshoop, a cit-
rus farm five miles farther west. The
most abundant native mammals here
were squirrel monkeys, sloths, common
opossums, Merian's opossums, raccoons,
spiny rats, cotton rats, the common bat,
Carollia, and the nectar-eating bat,
Glossophaga. The same species were
present but rare at Loksie Hatti. A
progressive increase in the number of
rats, bats, and small opossums was noted
with the advancing rainy season. Col-
lecting now called for more ingenuity
and foresight than ever to prevent the
common species from monopolizing the
traps.

By mid-February, it was time to com-
plete our preparations for the return
trip to Chicago. In the final days re-
maining to us, some collecting was done
in and about Paramaribo in collabora-
tion with Dr. Van Dosburg Jr., Chief
Zoologist of the Suriname Ministry of
Agriculture.

The cost of the expedition was de-
frayed by a grant from the National
Science Foundation. Much of the suc-
cess of the expedition was due to Dr.
D. C. Geijskes, Director of the Suriname
Museum in Paramaribo, who provided
many facilities and assisted in other
ways in expediting our work and travels.
Studies of the collection in the Museum's
laboratories have already been initiated,
and the results will be published in
scientific journals.

PRINTED BY CHICAGO NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM PRESS

CHICAGO
NATURAL/
HISTORY
MUSEUM

VOLUME 33
NUMBER 5
MAY 1962

Page 2 May

RIGHT: SHAMAN'S MASK. 19th Century.
Tlingit Indians, Alaska

LEFT:

RELIQUART FIGURE

Early 20th Century.

Bakota Tribe,

Gabon Republic, Africa

#HE PRESENTATION OF

in Primitive Art" as
May signals the open-
new Hall of Primitive
galleries of its kind in

"The Human Image
the featured exhibit for
ing of the Museum's
Art, one of the largest
the world.

The exhibit brings to culmination more than two years of
work. From the fifty to one hundred thousand specimens of
primitive art in the Museum's archaeological and ethnological
collections, more than 200 objects have been selected for
display in the new exhibit. These have been drawn largely
from primitive societies of Africa and the Oceanic areas of
Melanesia, Polynesia, Micronesia, and Malaysia; and also in-
clude art works from American Indian societies of North and
South America.

The subject of the exhibit —
the human image itself — is the
most universal in the art of any
people and is especially preva-
lent in primitive art. Visitors to
the Hall will see man — and some
of his gods — portrayed in a mul-
tiplicity of ways: in calm and
supernal beauty, as ferocious and
cruel, or as satirical and funny.

The first art was probably not
painting or sculpture at all, but
the posing, gesturing, and danc-
ing of the living person. Thus
many of the images of man pre-
sented in the Museum's new ex-
hibition picture him in elaborate
dress, ready to take part in the
important social, ceremonial, and
religious occasions of his life.
Such moments were caught and
fixed by the tribal artists in sculp-
ture, painting, or in the ornamen-
tation of utensils and weapons.

Photographs by John Bayalis and Homer Holdren

BELOW: DAXCE MASK
Early 20th Century.
Bafut Tribe,
Cameroons, Africa

LEFT: PORT10.X OF CHIEFS STAFF
Early 20th Century.
Ovimbundu Tribe,
Algeria, Africa

THE

HUMAN IMAGE
in Primitive Art

By Phillip H. Lewis
Curator, Primitive Art

RIGHT:
DETAIL OF
HEADDRESS FIGURE
Early 20th Century.
Ibibio Tribe,
Nigeria, Africa

ABOVE: BEGGING FIGURE
Early 20th Century.
Baluba Tribe,
Congo area, Africa

Other pieces in the exhibit are memorial statues of de-
ceased relatives, sometimes shown in funeral attitudes,
sometimes in poses symbolic of ferocity in war or virility
in procreation. These figures evoke powerful images of
real persons attempting to establish immediate and per-
sonal relations with the supernatural forces and beings that
governed their lives.

Deities are depicted either directly or through the por-
trayal of human beings costumed as gods. Thus, although
the art objects have been removed from their religious and
social contexts, the new exhibit presents a fragmentary view
of a hundred religions, as well as a gallery of the myriad
art styles of the primitive world.

The new Hall of Primitive Art is located on the main floor
of the Museum adjacent to Stanley Field Hall. It encloses
9,000 square feet of exhibition area. An earlier exhibit,
"Primitive Man Looks at Civilization" (see Bulletin for
July, 1961) opened last July in the new Hall and, together
with the present exhibit, will remain on display for an in-
definite period.

May Page 3

120

124

AUSTIN L. RAND
CHIEF CURATOR
ZOOLOGY

A

ZOOLOGICAL
EXPEDITION

TO THE

PHILIPPINES

120

124

For twelve years, the study of Philip-
pine birds has been one of the con-
tinuing projects of the Museum. This
work has been made possible by coop-
eration between the Museum and Dr.
D. S. Rabor of Silliman University, Ne-
gros, P. I., who has interests similar to
ours. Dr. Rabor heads the science de-
partment of his university. Each vaca-
tion period, he takes a group of his stu-
dents on a field trip to a different part
of the archipelago, where they study and
collect natural history material, and es-
pecially birds. This field work we aid
with some travel funds and some collect-
ing material. In return, many of the
specimens collected come to the Chicago
Natural History Museum, where our
large collections provide a basis for com-
pare k May

parative and critical studies.

While Rabor's studies are mostly done
in the field, he has spent parts of two
years in Chicago, working in the Mu-
seum. While my work has been mostly
done in the Museum, I have spent a few
months in the field with Rabor. As long
range projects, Rabor is writing an up-
to-date handbook of Philippine birds,
while I have a check-list of Philippine
birds in manuscript. Each year, there
is a quantity of new data to add to both.

It seems timely to pause and review
what we have accomplished. The most
obvious is the spendid collection of birds
we have built up at the Museum. The
main islands — Luzon, Mindanao, Sa-
mar and Negros — are well represented,
and from the first two we have collec-

tions from different parts of the isles
showing that each may be as different
as are different islands. We also have
important collections from Bohol, Pala-
wan, Calamianes and Cebu, and through
earlier exchanges with the old Philippine
Bureau of Science we have some speci-
mens from many other scattered islands.
But the possession of specimens is only
the beginning. They are the raw mate-
rial from which one reads new knowl-
edge, the reference material needed to
document old knowledge and to re-in-
terpret it in the light of subsequent dis-
coveries. Though the major reports are
still in manuscript, we have published
preliminary studies on some of our find-
ings. These include some twenty papers
totaling over 300 pages.

Most outstanding are the novelties
discovered. We have described two new
bird species. One is a small, greenish
babbling thrush of the trees, the other a
brown babbling thrush of the forest floor.
We have described nearly two dozen new
subspecies, some of them, like the little
red-headed owl of Negros, so different
from their nearest relatives that perhaps
they, too, should be considered species.

Not as exciting, perhaps, but even
more intriguing are the half dozen cases
where we have discovered that what has
been considered one variable species
really represents two quite different ones.
For example, a large brown fruit pigeon
is widespread, with a different subspe-
cies on each major island. But we found
that both the endemic Mindanao form
and the form thought to be restricted to
adjacent Basilan actually occur together
on the former island and behave there
as two species, which we now consider
them to be. The Basilan bird, in the
isolation of its original island home, has
evolved into a species that was able to
recolonize Mindanao, despite the occu-
pation of the island by the Basilan's
closest relative.

A special case of this "circular over-
lap" is shown by certain little green leaf
warblers. One type "A" lives on Negros
and other southern and central islands;
another type "B," which looks to be a
subspecies, is found only on Luzon; a
third type "C" lives on Negros, and
would be considered a third subspecies
if it did not overlap the range of "A."
As subspecies cannot live together, "A"
and "C" must be considered species.
The status of the perplexing "B" is solved
by linking it arbitrarily with "A," with
the mental reservation that here we have
a case where two species have evolved
without the connecting link between
them having yet been lost.

A large green parrot has provided a
case of what we call a checkerboard pat-
tern of variation. The birds of adjacent
islands are sufficiently different in size
and color to be recognized as subspecies
if it were not that the same characters
are repeated in more distant populations.

For example, the Palawan and Min-
danao populations, or the Talaut and
Siquijor, are quite similar, but they are
separated by large areas inhabited by
different populations. The taxonomic

treatment of this type of variation by us-
ing subspecies names for each population,
based solely on geography, is unsatisfac-
tory, so we lump them together but point
out that a checkerboard type of varia-
tion exists. For such studies, large series
of specimens are obviously essential.

We have recorded birds new to the
Philippines, as well as new range exten-
sions within the Philippines. For in-
stance, thirteen species have been added
to those known from Siquijor, 25 species
to Bohol, and nineteen to Samar. These
are the three islands for which we have
published complete lists, as well as dis-
cussions of their zoogeography and ecol-
ogy. There is hardly a page in the older
books on Philippine birds which does not
need revision on the basis of our studies.

The past geological history of the Phil-
ippines has had its effect on bird distri-
bution, and for the study of this zooge-
ography knowledge of the precise ranges
of the birds is important. For instance,
the main islands of Luzon, the eastern
islands of Samar and Leyte, and Minda-
nao, have similar birds and are grouped
together as the "eastern province" of the
Philippines. One unexplained range
was that of the little crow that was re-
corded from Samar and Mindanao but
not found on Luzon, despite the great
amount of collecting that has been done
there. There seemed to be nothing in
zoogeography to explain this. Then
Rabor collected two specimens on north-
ern Luzon, showing that the bird does
occur there (incidentally, it was a new
subspecies), though it is very rare. This
recalled that it was also rare in Minda-
nao, though common on Samar. One
suspects here that ecological rather than
geological factors are the important ones
in determining its occurrence as well as
its abundance.

In an attempt to sort out the ecologi-
cal from the zoogeographical effects on
distribution, we examined the small is-
land of Siquijor, which is about fifteen
miles out in the Sulu Sea from Negros.
A comparison of the two islands is as
follows:

Negros, area 12,699 square kilometers. . .

183 breeding birds

Siquijor, area 235 square kilometers

83 breeding birds

This illustrates that the smaller an is-

land, the smaller the avifauna. We have
discussed this and other small island ef-
fects under such headings as "distance
from other islands," "size of island,"
"first arrivals excluding other colonists,"
"occurrence of two species in a genus,"
"small island species" (some Philippine
species, like the big white nutmeg
pigeon, live only on small islands — why,
we do not know), "change of habitat on
small islands," and "patterns of varia-
tion" (for example, birds on small is-
lands tend to have longer bills).

Another interesting and puzzling point
about Siquijor is that certain migrants
from Asia are much more common as
winter visitors on this little island than
they are on other nearby larger islands.

What all these factors mean is still im-
perfectly known, but at least we are find-
ing out some of the facts of distribution
and occurrence which will repay more
study, and island distribution and speci-
ation can nowhere be better studied than
in the Philippines, where there are more
than 7,000 islands displaying a remark-
able range in size.

Taxonomy and distribution, the kinds
of birds there are and where they live,
are the mainstay, the "bread and butter"
work, of a museum ornithologist. But
many other points emerge in the course
of studies, either from looking at speci-
mens or from field reports.

In one shipment to the Museum, a
bulbul's nest had withered brown leaves
in its lining, leaves that forcefully re-
minded me of the snake-skin used in a
Madagascar bulbul's nest. This sparked
a review of the use of shed snake-skins in
birds' nests, with the conclusion that the
important question is not why some birds
use shed snake-skins, which are very suit-
able material, but the more general one
of why some species of birds use nest ma-
terials which are characteristic and dif-
ferent from those of other related species.

A dried tongue attached to a specimen
of flowerpecker provided material for re-
viewing the relationships of the flower-
pecker family. The tongue was brush-
tipped and quite unlike that of any other
flowerpecker, but very similar to that of
certain honeyeaters. Supported with
certain other data, including the nest
structure, it appears that flowerpeckers
{Continued on page 7)

May Page 5

CHICAGO
NATURAL
HISTORY
MUSEUM

News

Shar.it K. Roy

Sharat K. Roy
(1898-1962)

Dr. Sharat Kumar Roy. Chief Cura-
tor of the Department of Geology, whose
death occurred on April 17th. was a dis-
tinguished scientist of outstanding abil-
ity and achievement.

Dr. Roy was born
in India in 1898,
and attended the
University of Cal-
cutta and the Uni-
versity of London.
He came to the
United States in
1920 and graduated
from the University
of Illinois in 1922.
He received the degrees of Master of
Science in 1924 from the University of
Illinois and Doctor of Philosophy from
the University of Chicago in 1941.

He began his professional career in
the Department of Geology of the New
York State Museum in Albany, and
joined the staff of Chicago Xatural His-
tory Museum in 1925 as an Assistant
Curator in the Department of Geology.
He has served continuously with the Mu-
seum since that time, becoming Chief
Curator of his department in 1947.

Dr. Roy served in the British-Indian
Army during World War I. In World
War II he received a commission as
Captain in the United States Army Air
Forces and was discharged with the rank
of Major in July, 1946.

In addition to many collecting trips
in various parts of the United States,
Dr. Roy was a member of the Second
Rawson-MacMillan Subarctic Expedi-
tion of Field Museum in 1927-28; and
he collected ores, lithological specimens
and Paleozoic fossils in Newfoundland
the following year. In 1945, on leave
from the United States Army, he col-
lected Permian fossils in mines in eastern
India and in the Salt Range of northern
India.

From 1953 to 1961 Dr. Roy conducted
six field trips to Central America to
study the volcanos of that region. In

Page 6 May

1957-58 he spent one year in Europe
and India under a National Science
Foundation grant, engaged in research
and consultation on stony meteorites,
concentrating on those containing
rounded bodies called chondrules.

He has published more than 30 scien-
tific papers in the fields of invertebrate
paleontology, meteoritics and volcanol-
ogy, and was a Fellow of the Royal Geo-
graphical Society as well as a member
of numerous professional societies.

In recognition of his exploratory geo-
logical work in the Arctic, the United
States Coast and Geodetic Survey, in
1944. honored him by designating one
of the mountain peaks on Baffin Island
as "Mount Sharat."

With Dr. Roy's death the Museum
staff has lost a colleague of unassuming
and gentle temperament. He will be
missed by all who had the privilege of
knowing him.

Tutankhamun Treasures
Coming to Museum

An exhibit of treasures from the tomb
of King Tutankhamun will be presented
at Chicago Natural History Museum
from June 15 through July 15 under
joint sponsorship of the Museum and
the Oriental Institute of the University
of Chicago.

The pieces assembled for this exhibit
are touring major American museums
to arouse interest in the international
effort to save a number of ancient Nu-
bian monuments from being inundated
by the waters of the Nile on completion
of the Aswan Dam. Usually on display
in the Cairo Museum, the King Tut
treasures have never before been per-
mitted to leave Egypt.

Tutankhamun was King of Egypt
about 1350 B.C. His tomb, with its
incredible treasures, was discovered by-
Lord Carnarvon and Howard Carter in
November of 1 922. The opening of the
inner burial chamber of the Pharaoh in
the following February stirred the in-
terest of the entire world, both because
of the intrinsic value of the tomb con-

Chicago Natural History Museum

Founded by Marshall Field, 1S93

Roosevelt Road and Lake Shore Drive, Chicago 5

Telephone: WAbash 2-9-UO

THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES

Lester Armour
Wm. McCormick Blair
Bowen Blair
Walter J. Cummings
Joseph N. Field
Marshall Field, Jr.
Stanley Field
Clifford C. Gregg
Samuel Insull, Jr.
Henry P. Isham

William V. Kahler
Hughston M. McBain
J. Roscoe Miller
William H. Mitchell
John T. Pirie, Jr.
John Shedd Reed
John G. Searle
John M. Simpson
Solomon A. Smith
Louis Ware

J. Howard Wood

OFFICERS

Stanley Field, Chairman of the Boird

Clifford C. Gregg, President

Hughston M. McBain, First Vice-President

Joseph N. Field, Second Vice-President

Bowen Blair, Third Vice-President

Solomon A. Smith, Treasurer and Assistant Secretary

E. Leland Webber, Secretary

THE BULLETIN

EDITOR
E. Leland Webber, Director of the Museum

CONTRIBUTING EDITORS
Paul S. Martin, Chief Curator of Anthropology

John R. Millar, Chief Curator of Botany
* Sharat K. Roy, Chief Curator of Geology
Austin L. Rand, Chief Curator of Zoology

MANAGING EDITOR
Paula R. Nelson, Public Relations Counsel

ASSOCIATE EDITOR
Marilyn Jindrich, Associate in Public Relations

* deceased

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

tents and because they had been pre-
served, through more than thirty cen-
turies, in all their pristine beauty.

From the more than 2,000 exquisite
objects found in the tomb, the 31 pieces
selected for the traveling exhibit are of
particular interest because of their close
association with the mummified body of
the boy-king. Among them are his
favorite hunting dagger and sheath of
embossed gold, found in the mummy
wrappings; a richly decorated minia-
ture coffin of gold, inlaid with carnelian
and lapis lazuli — one of four that held
the ruler's internal organs; the cere-
monial crook and flail, fashioned of gold
and blue glass, which were the symbols
of his power: jewelry taken from the
body; the young king's walking stick,
embellished with a portrait figure in
solid gold; and many vases, chests, and

Figure of young King Tutankhamun in solid
gold embellishes a gold walking stick found
in the tomb — one of 34 treasures from tomb
that will be on display June 15 through
July 15.

statuettes of deities that would have sig-
nificance in the Pharaoh's life beyond
the grave.

Also on display will be several objects
from the tomb of Sheshonq I (the Bibli-
cal Shishak) ; several pieces from the
permanent Egyptian collections of the
Oriental Institute and Chicago Natural
History Museum; and a stone statue
from the Egyptian Old Kingdom (about
2,500 B.C.) which was a gift from the
United Arab Republic to President and
Mrs. Kennedy at the opening of the
exhibit in Washington, D.C This statue
forms a part of the traveling exhibit at
Mrs. Kennedy's request.

The exhibit of Tutankhamun treas-
ures was organized by the American
Association of Museums with the coop-
eration of the Ministry of Culture of the
United Arab Republic and the Cairo

Museum. It is being circulated in this
country under auspices of the Traveling
Exhibition Service of the Smithsonian
Institution.

Children's Art Exhibit

An exhibit of 50 paintings and draw-
ings by young artists of the Junior School
of the Art Institute will be displayed in
Stanley Field Hall from May 5 through
June 3 (see cover). As part of their
regular course of instruction, students in
the Junior School visit the Museum reg-
ularly to study plant, animal, and geo-
logical structures; forms of primitive art
and design; and the art techniques of
ancient or remote civilizations. The
colorful and imaginative works selected
for the show, entitled "A Child's World
of Nature," were inspired by exhibits at
the Museum. Later in the year, the
exhibit of children's art will be circu-
lated to other cities under auspices of
the Traveling Exhibition Service of the
Smithsonian Institution.

Science Fair

Science projects designed by students
of the Chicago area will be exhibited in
Stanley Field Hall from 9 a.m. until
4 p.m. on Saturday, May 19, in the 12th
Annual Chicago Area Science Fair. The
young scientists who will explain their
displays and demonstrations are stu-
dents from the sixth grade through the
final year of high school. They rep-
resent public, private, and parochial
schools (as well as a number of youth
organizations) located within a 35-mile
radius of Chicago. The science exhibits
will relate to living things (including
man), geology, astronomy, matter, and
energy. Awards will be presented at
the end of the day on the basis of the
student's knowledge of his project and
on the attractiveness and originality of
his exhibit. The fair is sponsored by
the Chicago Area Teachers Science As-
sociation.

Staff Lecture

The Northwestern University Geology
Club heard Bertram G. Woodland, Asso-
ciate Curator of Petrology, speak re-
cently on "Methods and Results of the
Analysis of Small Scale Structures in
Metamorphic Rocks."

Free Concert

The Chicago Chamber Orchestra
completes its concert season in the Mu-
seum this year with its performance on
Sunday, May 13, at 3:30 p.m. in the
James Simpson Theatre. The con-
ductor will be Dr. Dieter Kober. Re-
cently the Chicago Chamber Orchestra
was featured in a half-hour program on
CBS television entitled "Music for a
City."

Longer Museum Hours

Beginning May 1 the Museum will be
open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.

PHILIPPINES

EXPEDITION

{Continued from page 5)

are probably more closely related to
honeyeaters than has been thought.

A young female hornbill from Minda-
nao had the head partly black, like the
adult female, and partly rufous like the
adult male. Examination of the skin
showed that the bird was in moult, the
rufous feathers being replaced by black
ones. In birds generally, when the sexes
are different, it is the female that both
young resemble, but here we had an ex-
ample of a species in which both young
resemble the male. This phenomenon
is not unknown, but it occurs rarely, and
in widely separated families.

When Dr. Rabor and I were traveling
on Siquijor Island, we discovered that
the ruddy kingfisher, which lives in the
forest, feeds to a considerable extent on
snails. The bird opens the shell to get
the meat by pounding the snail on a
rock, a habit which is shared by no other
kingfisher, so far as we know, and by
very few other birds.

Also from our Philippine field work,
and more especially that of Rabor, it
seemed to us that the domestic fowl of
the villages and the jungle fowl of the
forest, though belonging to the same spe-
cies, each lived on the same islands with
very little hybridization. Apparently
they are kept separate by their respec-
tive habitat differences. Here we seem
to have an example of an unusual state of
affairs for birds: two subspecies living in
the same area, but in different habitats.
{Continued on next page)

Page 7 May

{Continued from page 7)

Deforestation and other attendant
changes have caused the extinction of
island birds, as is especially well known
for the West Indies and the Hawaiian
Islands. No such cases were known from
the Philippines. But after extensive field
work on the island of Cebu, from which
most of the forest has gone since Magel-
lan landed there early in the 16th Cen-
tury, Dr. Rabor decided in 1959 that all
but one of the ten endemic Cebu forest
birds had disappeared with the forest.
Among the birds not seen since 1906
was the golden washed hanging lorikeet.
However, we have since found that it
existed up until 1930, for about then a
considerable number were brought alive
to Europe and the United States as cage
birds. This was brought to our attention
by Mr. Karl Plath, formerly of Brook-
field Zoo, who, reading Rabor's account,
brought to us an example of one of these
1930 birds which he had had alive for
a time.

The destruction of forests, especially
in the lowlands, lends urgency to some
collecting, notably on Panay and the
Romblon-Tablas group. The Sulus,
with such striking endemics, are unfor-
tunately so filled with unrest as to make
work there impractical, and the same is
true for parts of Palawan and southeast-
ern Mindanao. But there are still parts
of Palawan that would be worth while.
The new species discovered in recent
years from Luzon, Negros, and Minda-
nao, some from areas "well collected,"
may serve as a guide to indicate that al-
most any upland forest in the Philippines
may yield more new forms or range ex-
tensions. And the abundance of small
islands in the Archipelago makes an eco-
logical study of island effects an inviting
prospect.

The above will give some idea of the
progress that Dr. Rabor and I have made
in the study of Philippine birds, the use
we have made of the collections, the in-
formation we have read from skins and
observations, and made available to the
scientific world. The work is continu-
ing, but is never done.

In planning for the future, we must
keep in mind that our space, material,
money, and also time (for our years are
numbered) are limited; and that I have
interests in other parts of the world, too !

Page 8 May

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Front "A Child's World of Nature": An exhibit of children's art
Stanley Field Hall, May 5 through June 3

PRINTED BY

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An invitation

N June 15, history will turn back
more than 3,000 years for an intimate
look into the life of Egypt's most publi-
cized boy king when the exhibit of
treasures from the tomb of King Tut-
ankhamun opens at Chicago Natural
History Museum.

Members of the Museum and the Ori-
ental Institute of the University of Chi-
cago— joint sponsors of the exhibit —
have received invitations to a Members'
preview on Thursday evening, June 14.

A special attraction of the preview
will be a lecture in James Simpson The-
atre on "Tutankhamun and his Treas-
ures" by Dr. Ahmed Fakhry, Professor
of History of Ancient Egypt and the
East at the University of Cairo. Dr.
Fakhry will also lecture at the Museum
on the same subject on Friday, June 1 5,
at 7 :00 p.m. and on Sunday, June 1 7, at
3:00 p.m.

The carpenters, electricians, and paint-
ers will soon complete their work on
Hall 9, which has been completely re-
modeled for the Tutankhamun Treasures
exhibit under plans drawn up by Phillip
H. Lewis, Curator of Primitive Art, and
James Shouba, Superintendent of Main-
tenance. Four huge lighting panels, sus-
pended from the ceiling, will illuminate
the exhibit and emphasize the exquisite
craftsmanship and delicate artistic style
of the jewel-like objects. An example is
the young king's favorite hunting dag-
ger, of gold, on which an incised group-
Page 2 June

ing of wild animals attacking each other
forms an interlacing pattern. Also of
interest to art lovers will be the solid gold
figurine of King Tutankhamun on the
head of his walking stick, and the minia-
ture mummy case, inscribed with hiero-
glyphics and richly decorated with semi-
precious stones.

Most of the 34 objects on display are
made of gold, decorated with inlaid lapis
lazuli, carnelian. and colored glass. Two
vases, a painted chest, and the lid of a
canopic jar — beautifully carved in the
form of the king's head — are of alabaster.

Several objects — amulets, rings, cere-

monial necklaces, and the dagger — were
actually found on the king's mummy.
A flail and a crook, of gold and blue
glass, symbolize the Pharaoh's power as
shepherd of his people and overseer of
their efforts. The crook can be found
today as the staff of Christian bishops
while the flail survives as the ceremonial
fly-whisk of African chiefs.

Augmenting the exhibit will be sev-
eral pieces from the permanent Egyptian
collections of the Oriental Institute and
Chicago Natural History Museum.

Large photographs of the Nubian
monuments and temples on the banks of
the Nile will serve as a background for
the tomb treasures. Probably the most
dramatic are those showing the great
rock-cut temple at Abu Simbel with its
colossal statues of Rameses II and his
queen, Nefertari (mother-in-law of King
Tutankhamun). The purpose of the ex-
hibit is to arouse support for the salvage
program, sponsored by UNESCO, to
save these ancient monuments from be-
ing destroyed by the waters of the Nile
after scheduled completion of the Aswan
Dam in the late 1960's.

Although general admission to the
Tutankhamun Treasures will be 50 cents
for adults and 25 cents for children,
Members of the Oriental Institute and
Chicago Natural History Museum will
be admitted free. Beginning June 15,
the Museum will be open from 9 a.m. to
8 p.m. on Wednesday, Friday, Saturday,
and Sunday, closing at 6 p.m. on the
other days of the week.

THE MYSTERY

of the

TOLTEC HEAD!

DONALD COLLIER
Curator, South American Archaeology and Ethnology

Museum discoveries are associated in
the public mind with expeditions
to far places. Although expedition finds
are most newsworthy, equally interest-
ing discoveries are frequently made in
the course of study of the Museum's re-
search collections.

An intriguing example of such a dis-
covery occurred recently in the Depart-
ment of Anthropology. In connection
with the rearrangement of the research
collection on Mexican archaeology, we
undertook the sorting and classification
of several thousand human figurines of
terra cotta from the Valley of Mexico.
These came from several cultures and
date from 1000 B.C. to a.d. 1500. Aside
from their aesthetic interest and their
value for yielding cultural information,
these figurines serve as "index fossils" in
dating the various archaeological periods
in central Mexico.

At the end of the classifying job, I was
examining the remaining miscellaneous
lot of unclassified figurine fragments
when I noticed the hollow head of a
man that struck me as familiar. After
examining it I decided that the color
and texture of the clay reminded me of
an incomplete Toltec cup that had been
placed on display in 1959 in the new
exhibits on Mexican archaeology (Hall
8, Case 63). The handle of this cup
was modeled into the effigy of a man,
whose head had been missing since the
piece was acquired by the Museum. A
quick visit to the Mexican hall confirmed
my hunch, and upon opening the case
we found that the head discovered
among the fragments fitted perfectly.
We have now made a permanent resto-
ration of the head to the body, from
which it was separated for more than
sixty years, and the complete specimen
is once more on exhibit.

I turned to the catalogue and acces-
sion records for a solution to the mystery
of the missing head. It had been ac-
quired by the Museum in 1905 as part
of a large collection of Mexican antiqui-
ties and ethnological objects purchased
from Fredrick Starr, who was professor
of anthropology at the University of Chi-

cago from 1893 to 1923. The cup was
in a collection of archaeological speci-
mens presented to the Museum in 1923
by the late Martin A. Ryerson, a Bene-
factor of the Museum and for many years
a member of the Board of Trustees. Be-
cause of the freshness of the break on the
effigy cup it appeared highly probable
that the fracture had occurred relatively
recently and almost certainly since the
specimen had been excavated. I there-
fore looked for a connection between the
Starr and Ryerson collections. I dis-
covered that the head had been pur-
chased by Professor Starr in about 1895
from the collection of Antonio Penafiel,
a well known Mexican archaeologist and
collector. The Ryerson collection was

shipped from Mexico in 1895. There is
no record that the cup came from the
Penafiel collection, but identification
marks on its base are similar to marks
on known Penafiel pieces.

The evidence points to the following
probable course of events. The cup was
intact when excavated and acquired by
Penafiel. While in his possession and
prior to 1895, the head was broken and
separated from the cup. Mr. Ryerson's
agent acquired the cup in 1895 or
slightly earlier, and probably Professor
Starr bought the head after the cup had
been sold. The two parts came under
the same roof again in 1923 but were
not reunited until 1961.

The cup, which is shown in its com-
pleted form in the accompanying illus-
trations, was found in Tlapanaloya, Dis-
trict of Zumpango,
about 25 miles
north of Mexico
City and closer to
Tula, the Toltec
capital. The slight-
ly humpbacked
figure that serves
as a handle is mod-
eled in Toltec style.
The man depicted
wears elaborate earplugs, a necklace,
and a tassled gee string tied with a sin-
gle bowknot at the back. At the front
of the cup is a molded design in relief
depicting the typical Toltec prowling
jaguar. The low ring base of the cup
is also characteristic of the Toltec period.
It is estimated to date from the tenth
century a.d. It is a most interesting
example of Toltec art, now to be seen
in its original form as the result of a
quiet but profitable adventure among
the collections of the Museum.

June Page $

CHICAGO
NATURAL
HISTORY
MUSEUM

News

NSF Awards Grant
for Borneo Study

Dr. Robert F. Inger, Curator of Am-
phibians and Reptiles at Chicago Nat-
ural History Museum, and Dr. Bernard
S. Greenberg, Professor of Biology at
Roosevelt University, have been awarded
a 835,100 grant by the National Science
Foundation for research on the "Repro-
ductive Patterns and Population Struc-
ture of Borneo Amphibians."

Borneo is a part of the oriental tropics
where much of the evolution of contem-
porary groups of reptiles and amphib-
ians has taken place. Within these
tropics, the most stable and favorable

environment is the evergreen rain forest,
which has probably been in continuous
existence in Borneo for at least 50 mil-
lion years. The advantageous qualities
of the rain forest have fostered the evo-
lution of more groups of organisms than
any other terrestrial habitat.

The organization and dynamics of the
animal community living within such a
rain forest are virtually unknown. Inger
and Greenberg, therefore, intend to
study the size and composition of the
animal population, the movements of
individuals of various species, and the
annual reproductive patterns of the am-
phibians of these forests.

Dr. Inger has long been interested in
the animal life of Borneo, having made
collecting trips to the island in 1950 and

Page 1, June

1956. This year, he and Dr. Greenberg
will spend three months in Borneo estab-
lishing a field base, mapping the area,
and training assistants. When they leave
the island, the field work will continue
under the supervision of Mr. F. W.
King, a graduate student of the Depart-
ment of Zoology of the University of
Chicago. It is estimated that approxi-
mately 6,000 frogs, snakes, and lizards
will be collected during the first two
years of the NSF grant. On returning
to the Museum, Inger and Greenberg
will carry out detailed studies of these
specimens. A full report of the research
will be prepared during the fourth and
final year of their study.

Mrlvin A. Traylor, As-
sociate Curator of Birds,
who returned recently from
a six-months' expedition to
Africa, examines one of the
more than 1,500 birds col-
lected during his trip.

Focus of Traylor' s field
work in Africa was Barotse-
land, a British Protector-
ate in Northern Rhodesia.
There Traylor discovered
two subspecies of lark never
before described. The ex-
pedition was supported
jointly by the Museum and
the National Science Foun-
dation.

Research Report from Hawaii

A recent report from Hawaii, where
Museum field work is also being sup-
ported by a grant from the National
Science Foundation (see Bulletin for
August, 1961), illuminates another aspect
of the research being done by Museum
zoologists abroad.

Dr. Alan Solem, Curator of Lower In-
vertebrates, has been in Hawaii on the
first stop of a round-the-world study
trip. The Hawaiian Islands are re-
nowned both for their manifold, beauti-
ful land snails and for their equally beau-
tiful sea shells. To study them, Dr.
Solem has not, as one might think, pre-
pared to do research in the field, well
supplied with different kinds of nets and

bottles full of alcohol. Rather, his equip-
ment so far has consisted mainly of a
microscope, calipers, drawing material,
and a camera.

His work has chiefly been done in the
laboratories of the Bernice P. Bishop
Museum in Honolulu, which has rich
collections of some kinds of snail shells in
which Dr. Solem is greatly interested —
tiny shells that look very inconspicuous
and almost identical to the naked eye.
Under enlargement, however, a great
number of distinguishing characters are
revealed, and these characters vary
greatly according to the individual kind
of shell. The describers of these shells,
working 50 to 100 years ago, did not
have the elaborate optical equipment
we now possess; hence their descriptions
are partly deficient, partly faulty. And
what is more, they even confused shells
of similar size and sculpture, believing
them to be identical.

Here is where Dr. Solem's work be-
gan. He has been studying the speci-
mens of earlier scientists and improving
their descriptions by amending errors or
by adding newly discovered characters.
To his surprise, and almost to his dis-
may, he has also found that there are
many tiny shells still undescribed at all.
More than 300 of these await recogni-
tion as probable new species, while
about 4,000 have so far been restudied
and catalogued.

Thus one of our staff members uses
his absence from the Museum to further
science, not in the field, but in the lab-
oratory.

Western States Field Trip

William B. Turnbull, Assistant Cura-
tor of Fossil Mammals, is presently trav-
eling through a number of western states
on a geology reconnaissance trip for the
purpose of locating Mesozoic mammal
localities. Included in his survey of North
Dakota, Montana, Wyoming, and Colo-
rado is a stop at Como Bluff, Wyoming,
one of the most famous early mammal
localities. Como Bluff is part of the
Morrison formation noted for important
dinosaur finds. It also has been the
center of Mesozoic mammal discoveries.

Honored

Dr. Alfred E. Emerson, Research As-
sociate, Insects, in the Museum's Depart-
ment of Zoology and Professor of Zoology
at the University of Chicago, recently
was elected a member of the National
Academy of Sciences. The Academy,
which has been informally called the
"hierarchy of American science," func-
tions as an advisory body on scientific
matters for the government. Its mem-
bers are chosen for their distinguished
and continued achievements in original
research.

Emerson is the world's leading author-
ity on the classification and biology of
termites and is internationally known for
his contributions in the field of evolu-
tion. He is one of the few systematic
zoologists to become a member of the
Academy, another being the late Karl P.
Schmidt, former Chief Curator of Zool-
ogy at this Museum.

During his affiliation with Chicago
Natural History Museum, Emerson has
made notable contributions to the Mu-
seum's insect collections. Outstanding
among them is a termite collection that
is considered one of the finest in the
world.

Summer Children's Journey

Young "rock hounds" interested in
adding to their collections this summer
won't want to miss the Museum's new
Journey for children, "Down to Earth,"

■••«•» V • ••■•■

which began June 1 and will continue
through August 31. A planned excur-
sion through the Museum's geology halls,
the Journey offers young "prospectors"
helpful hints on finding and identifying
rocks in the local area.

Youngsters wishing to take the Jour-
ney may obtain further information and
a Journey itinerary at the Information
Desk and at the north and south doors
of the Museum. A questionnaire is
to be answered during the course of the
Journey and turned in at the door be-
fore leaving the building. Completed
questionnaires are then recorded so that
each child will receive credit for his
Journey. Each spring and fall, at a
special honors program, children who
have successfully completed specified
numbers of Museum Journeys are pre-
sented awards for their achievement.
The Journeys are sponsored by the Mu-
seum's Raymond Foundation.

Annual Lapidary Show

The 12th Annual Amateur Hand-
crafted Gem and Jewelry Competitive
Exhibition, to be shown June 8 through
July 8 in Stanley Field Hall, once again
will demonstrate that common earth
materials in the hands of a craftsman
can be fashioned into objects of unusual
beauty.

The exhibition will feature prize-win-
ning jewelry of polished stone, polished

On Members'' Night,
1962 {held April 27), 1,638
Members enjoyed a once-a-
year opportunity to browse
through workshops, research
collections, and staff offices
not ordinarily open to the
public. In each of the Mu-
seum's four departments —
anthropology, botany, geol-
ogy, and zoology — staff
scientists and scholars pre-
pared special demonstra-
tions relating to their fields
■% of study. Here we see Dr.
Kenneth Starr, Curator of
Chinese Archaeology and
Ethnology, explain how to
look up a word in a Chinese
dictionary.

Chicago Natural History Museum

Founded by Marshall Field, 1893

Roosevelt Road and Lake Shore Drive, Chicago 5

Telephone: WAbash 2-9410

THE BOARD
Lester Armour
Wm. McCormick Blair
Bowen Blair
Walter J. Cummings
Joseph N. Field
Marshall Field, Jr.
Stanley Field
Clifford C. Gregg
Samuel Insull, Jr.
Henry P. Isham

J. How

OF TRUSTEES

William V. Kahler
Hughston M. McBain
J. Roscoe Miller
William H. Mitchell
John T. Pirie, Jr.
John Shedd Reed
John G. Searle
John M. Simpson
Solomon A. Smith
Louis Ware
ard Wood

OFFICERS

Stanley Field, Chairman of the Board

Clifford C. Gregg, President

Hughston M. McBain, First Vice-President

Joseph N. Field, Second Vice-President

Bowen Blair, Third Vice-President

Solomon A. Smith, Treasurer and Assistant Secretary

E. Leland Webber, Secretary

THE BULLETIN

EDITOR
E. Leland Webber, Director of the Museum

CONTRIBUTING EDITORS

Paul S. Martin, Chief Curator of Anthropology

John R. Millar, Chief Curator of Botany

Austin L. Rand, Chief Curator of Zoology

MANAGING EDITOR
Paula R. Nelson, Public Relations Counsel

ASSOCIATE EDITOR

Marilyn Jindrich, Associate in Public Relations

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

slab collections, enameled stone work,
cabochoned and faceted gems, and gem
collections. Exhibitors are amateur lap-
idarists residing in the Chicago area.
Approximately 100 winning entries will
be included in the display, which is
sponsored by the Chicago Lapidary Club.

Exhibit-of-the-Month

"The Human Image in Primitive Art,"
which opened the Museum's new Hall
of Primitive Art on May 1 and was the
featured exhibit throughout that month,
will continue to be featured during June.
This exhibit-of-the-month program, be-
gun a little more than a year ago, calls
attention to the Museum's outstanding
permanent exhibitions — some of them
new, and some old. The exhibit, "The
Human Image in Primitive Art," dis-
plays more than 200 specimens from
primitive societies of Africa, Oceania,
and North and South America.

June Page 5

In the summer of 1917 a young cooper
made his first trip to Alaska and began
working at a whaling station. The ar-
rival of a loaded ship at the station's fac-
tory meant putting in twenty-four to
forty-eight hour stretches constructing
barrels to hold oil and other whale prod-
ucts, but between ships there would be
two or three days of relative leisure. As
a young boy Walter J. Eyerdam had col-
lected natural history specimens, includ-
ing shells; this summer he spent his spare
hours combing the beaches or operating
a crude hand dredge from the back of
a borrowed rowboat. In this way, he
hauled up living specimens from both
shallow shoals and rocky bottoms cov-
ered by 1 50 feet of water.

Born in Seattle in November, 1892,
Eyerdam had been trained as a cooper.

tion to be identified and stored the re-
mainder in the growing number of
wooden cabinets that housed his Alaskan
collection. In 1919, he exchanged shells
with Mrs. Oldroyd of Stanford Univer-
sity, and a young Michigan student,
William J. Clench, who is now Curator
of Mollusks at Harvard College. They
were the first in a list of his correspond-
ents that eventually numbered over
two hundred.

Eyerdam's activities as a collector be-
came widely known, and in 1 927 he per-
suaded the United States National Mu-
seum and Thomas Barbour, the distin-
guished Harvard herpetologist, to send
him to Haiti to collect both reptiles and
shells. There he teamed up with Eric
Ekman, a diligent and eccentric Swedish
botanist, who taught him the art of plant

PORTRAIT
of a
COLLECTOR

By Alan Solem

Curator

Lower Invertebrates

Influenced by an interest in natural his-
tory, however, he studied mining at the
University of Washington, and followed
this by three years as a prospector in
California before making his Alaskan
venture.

When the whaling station closed for
the winter, Eyerdam returned to Seattle
with a large assortment of shells. Many
were sent to Dr. William Healy Dall and
Dr. Paul Bartsch of the United States
National Museum for identification,
some named specimens being returned
to the collector. In the following few
years, Eyerdam continued to earn his
living as a cooper for Alaskan whaling
and herring stations, and to devote his
spare time to shell collecting. Each year
he sent a few to the Smithsonian Institu-

Page 6 June

collecting. The success of this trip earned
Eyerdam a $200 bonus that enabled him
to take a needed rest to recover from ma-
laria and dengue fever.

The mountains of Kamchatka had
been glimpsed from a fishing boat in
1925, and in 1928 Eyerdam seized an op-
portunity to become nursemaid to forty
muskrats being shipped from Seattle to
Siberia, where they were to be intro-
duced to Karaginsk Island in hopes of
establishing a fur industry. Two pre-
vious shipments of muskrats had died in
transit, but Eyerdam and his partner,
William Coultas, lost only one, presum-
ably a patriotic animal, since it jumped
overboard after escaping from its cage
and was last seen swimming for the
United States. When the thirty-six day

voyage ended, Eyerdam and Coultas
persuaded the Soviet authorities to per-
mit them to collect plants in Kamchatka
from May to September. Their collec-
tion was then sold to the Riksmuseum in
Stockholm. On their way to Moscow,
Coultas and Eyerdam visited the local
museum in Vladivostok and were greatly
impressed by a mounted Siberian tiger.
Returning to New York, they ap-
proached the American Museum about
sponsoring a trip to collect Siberian tigers
for the museum, only to learn that such
an expedition had just left. They did,
however, obtain jobs with the Whitney
South Sea Expedition, and spent a year
skinning birds in the Solomon Islands.
As usual, Eyerdam collected many shells
for himself.

Leaving the Whitney Expedition, he
traveled from Singapore to Siberia, vis-
ited the famous Lake Baikal, continued
west to Europe, where he married, and
finally returned to Seattle in the early
part of 1931. That summer, he again
visited Alaska, collected plants for the
Stockholm museum, fishes for the emi-
nent Michigan ichthyologist, Carl
Hubbs, and spent a few days each week
on a herring boat. The next summer saw
Eyerdam gathering plants in the Aleu-
tians with the Swedish botanist, Eric
Hulten. After the end of prohibition,
the reopened breweries needed all the
coopers they could get, and it was not
until 1939 that Eyerdam made another
collecting trip, this time to Chile, as a
botanist for the University of California.
During the decade of the 40's he win-
tered in Seattle ship yards as a steel chip-
per and summered in Alaskan herring
stations as a cooper. Another plant col-
lecting trip to Chile in 1957 and 1958
brings his travels up-to-date.

Twenty-four summers in Alaska had
produced an unequaled collection of
Alaskan shells. Moreover, during all his
trips to Haiti, Siberia, the Solomon Is-
lands, Europe, and Chile, Eyerdam had
collected shells at every opportunity.
Since 1919 he had traded duplicates
from his collection with shell enthusiasts
in all corners of the world. Japanese,
Scandinavian, and Australian biologists
studying deep sea shells exchanged spe-
cies from their waters for Alaskan shells
dredged by Eyerdam from a rowboat.
Gradually his shell cabinets and ex-

change packages filled the second floor
of his house and spilled over to the first
floor and basement. So many shells ar-
rived that new packages could not be
opened, since all available cabinet space
was full.

So that he might continue to expand
a collection that had greatly outgrown
his storage facilities, Eyerdam recently
agreed to sell his land and fresh water
shells to Chicago Natural History Mu-
seum. In April of last year more than
58,000 specimens arrived at the Muse-
um. Eyerdam's house still contains his
more than 120,000 marine shells, with
exchanges continuing and new boxes
arriving weekly.

Today, a young sixty-nine, Walter
Eyerdam is recognized not only as an
expert collector, but as an authority on
shells, mosses, and minerals. Numerous
species have been named after him
and his collections have formed, and
will continue to form, the basis of many
scientific monographs. Once or twice
a month he still makes brief collecting
trips around Seattle and nearly every
week a lecture on some of his specimens
or on his many travels is given to a
Seattle group. He even talks of arrang-
ing a trip to a "stone age" area of New
Guinea, to Amazonian Peru, or perhaps
back to Siberia for more collecting. To
keep in condition for such a trip, he
continues as steel chipper in a ship yard.

Barrel cooper, bird skinner, steel chip-
per, prospector, lecturer, but above all,
a great collector of natural history ob-
jects— this is Walter J. Eyerdam. His
story gives a brief insight into what lies
behind the bare announcement that
"Chicago Natural History Museum has
just received the very important collec-
tion of land and fresh water shells, con-
taining about 58,000 specimens, that
was formed by Walter J. Eyerdam of
Seattle, Washington."

Perhaps ninety per cent of the mol-
luscan specimens in Chicago Natural
History Museum were collected by ama-
teurs such as Eyerdam, and their efforts
provide much of the raw material for
our research studies. It is, therefore,
most fitting that this announcement
of the acquisition of a new collection
should feature the man behind the speci-
mens, rather than the specimens them-
selves.

The Unusual
Is Where You Find It

By Ernest J. Roscoe
Assistant, Lower Invertebrates

Do you tend to think of museum sci-
entific work in terms of high adven-
ture on collecting expeditions to "faraway
places with strange sounding names"?
The lure of the exotic is apt to cause us
to forget that important scientific discov-
eries may lie just beyond our doorstep.

On her way to work one late October
morning, Mrs. Maidi Leibhardt, Muse-
um artist, noticed an unusual number of
small land snails — probably several hun-
dred individuals — on the sidewalk in
front of her apartment in Oak Park.
Not all aggregations of snails are un-
usual, but this one was. For the species
involved was Cionella lubrica, a form rarely
known to occur in large numbers. There
are only a half dozen scattered refer-
ences in the literature, dating back to
the early 1840's, which record such con-
centrations of C. lubrica as were observed
by Mrs. Leibhardt.

The detailed environmental circum-
stances (temperature and other weather
conditions) at the time of her first obser-
vation were obtained from Mrs. Leib-
hardt, and she continued watching the
site until cold weather drove the snails
into hibernation. This information has
now been summarized and compared
with the meager data given in previous
reports. Are these concentrations a re-
sponse to local weather conditions, a re-
flection of periodic population build-
ups, or reproductive aggregations? We
do not have enough data to go beyond
the formulation of working hypotheses.
As other isolated observations are
made known (and we hope the publica-
tion of this one will stimulate them) our
store of knowledge will build up. Even-
tually we will have sufficient information
on which to base some firm conclusions.
Had it not been for an alert layman, the
Oak Park snail concentration, although
close at hand, would probably have en-
tirely escaped scientific notice.

A second instance of a significant

discovery made close to home also oc-
curred last year. In late June, Miss
Joanne L. Evenson, of the Raymond
Foundation, picked up for her aquarium
several aquatic snails from a lake near
Madison, Wisconsin. Within a few days
the snails died. They were identified as
Viviparus contecloides, a gill-breathing snail,
previously known from Wisconsin only
by a single "dead" shell found in the
1920's in a stream near Milwaukee. In
July, Miss Evenson found this species at
yet another Wisconsin locality, and she
continues the search for additional ma-
terial as opportunity affords.

Miss Evenson's specimens are being
placed at the disposal of Dr. William J.
Clench, Curator of Mollusks at the Mu-
seum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard
College, for use in connection with a
monograph he is preparing on the group.
He and other malacologists are inter-
ested in ascertaining the extent of the
range of this snail in Wisconsin. If, as
now appears possible, it is fairly wide-
spread over that state, why has it been
almost completely overlooked until now?
Has it recently spread northward from
Illinois, where it is fairly common? Or
have we merely failed to look in the
right places? As is common in scientific
work, a single discovery has opened up
several questions.

These two cases serve to illustrate one
of the things that makes museum work
interesting. We never know when some-
one will bring or send in specimens that
will prove to be of more than average
scientific interest. Of course, only a small
percentage of such cases will have ex-
ceptional merit. But the average person,
if he is curious about everything he ob-
serves, and tries to find out what is al-
ready known about his observations,
may well have the satisfaction, as have
Mrs. Leibhardt and Miss Evenson, of
helping to lay another brick in the edi-
fice of science.

June Page 7

HE

Book Shop

The Bird Watcher's Guide

By Henry Hill Collins, Jr. Golden Press:

New York. 123 pages. $3.95.

This is a once-over-lightly, how-to-do-
it book that tells how to build an active,
sporting hobby around birds. Pleasantly
written, easy to read, its 22 chapters cover
the following: becoming a bird watcher,
equipment, first steps; identification (five
pages); how, where and when to see
birds; trips for birds; the sport, lists, cen-
suses; houses, baths, cover and planting
for birds; photographing, banding, con-
serving birds; bird clubs (including lists
of) and a set of selected references. The
chapter on the sport of bird watching
covers the following topics: "Big day,"
"Big morning," "Small day," "Round
up," and "Rare bird alert."

As nearly half of the 123 pages is
taken up with illustrations, some of them
excellent color photographs, some in-
formative art work, and some patches
of garish color, the text is skimpy. This
makes necessary a reference to one of the
publications listed in the back, to locate
a book where an adequate coverage can
be found.

A. L. RAND

Chief Curator of Apology

The Giant Snakes

By Clifford H. Pope. Alfred A. Knopf:

New York. 290 pages, 25 photographs.

$6.95.

Probably no one else is as qualified as
Clifford Pope to write this book. The
Museum's former Curator of Reptiles
kept an Indian python named Sylvia
from the time it was an infant scarcely
three feet long until it was ten feet, nine
inches long five years later. As Sylvia
lived most of this time in Mr. Pope's
home, the observations on growth, phys-
iology, and behavior made by Pope were
detailed and supplied the impetus for
this book.

Sylvia's presence also supplied the
impetus for many stories, true and un-
true, in the suburb of Winnetka. Neigh-
bors gradually became accustomed to

the occasionally strange habits of mu-
seum curators. The Village of Win-
netka took all ten feet of Sylvia in stride
and merely noted on the Popes' card in
the official files: "Snake in basement,"
for the benefit of water meter readers.

In this book Pope has brought to-
gether all that is known of the biology
and habits of the six giant constricting
snakes: the boa constrictor, the Indian
python, the amethystine python, the
African rock python, the reticulated py-
thon, and the anaconda. The subjects
covered include senses, locomotion,
strength, food, growth, reproduction,
and relations to man. Information on
these snakes is buried in hundreds of
scientific papers, and it took Mr. and
Mrs. Pope years of digging in libraries
to assemble it all.

Some of the information on the giant
snakes can be understood only in terms
of the biology of snakes in general. For
this reason Pope has presented a remark-
ably complete and concise summary of
this larger subject.

The writing has Pope's customary
clear style. While fascinating to adult
readers, the book can be read and un-
derstood by an intelligent twelve-year-
old. I read this book with eagerness
and I can imagine that I would have
done the same if it had been available
when I was in seventh grade.

ROBERT F. INGER

Curator of Reptiles and Amphibians

Chicago Area Archaeology: Bul-
letin No. 3, Illinois Archaeology Sur-
vey, Inc.

Edited by Elaine A. Bluhm. University
of Illinois: Urbana. 175 pages, 81 illus-
trations. $2.00.

Following are the contents of the Illi-
nois Archaeological Survey's most recent
publication :

"An Archaeological Survey of the DuPage
River Drainage," by Sanford H. Gates

"Evidence for an Archaic Tradition in the
Chicago Area," by Philip D. Young

"Report on a Back Yard Digging," by
Jane MacRae

"Two Early Burial Sites in Lake County,"
by Philip D. Young, David J. Wenner,
Jr., and Elaine A. Bluhm

"The Skeleton from the Doetsch Site, Lake
County, Illinois," by Georg K. Neu-
mann

"Old Copper Artifacts from Chicago," by
George I. Quimby

"The Bowmanville Site," by Gloria J.
Fenner

"The Adler Mound Group, Will County,
Illinois," by Howard D. Winters

"The Anker Site," by Elaine A. Bluhm
and Allen Liss

"The Oak Forest Site," by Elaine A.

Bluhm and Gloria J. Fenner
"Indians of the Chicago Area ca. 1650 to

1816," by Emily J. Blasingham

These eleven papers, two of which are
by staff members of the Museum's De-
partment of Anthropology, summarize
the results of recent study, survey, and
excavation of Chicago-area archaeolog-
ical sites, and review the ethno-history
of the area. Included in the papers are
reports of work sponsored and carried
out by Chicago Natural History Mu-
seum, the University of Illinois, and the
Illinois Archaeological Survey.

Bulletin No. 3 can be read with inter-
est by many throughout the Chicago
region and neighboring areas, not only
for the information it contains, but for

"Gentian Trio" by Fred E. Unverhau,
Danbury, Connecticut. A top medal winner
in the 17th Chicago International Exhibition
of Nature Photography presented at the Mu-
seum in February.

the way it points up the archaeological
losses we have sustained in these areas
and the critical nature of the sites that
are left in northeastern Illinois.

ALLEN S. LISS

Department of Anthropology

CHICAGO/^ /£*-
N ATU RkJjiilletiJJ

HISTORY vu.33 j*o.7
MUSEUM g«ty ^962

Marilyn K. Jindrich

" The relation of the Chinese to crickets
and other insects is one of their most
striking characteristics, and presents a
most curious chapter in culture-historical
development.''''

So wrote Berthold Laufer,1 distin-
guished anthropologist and former
Curator of Anthropology, who con-
ducted pioneering expeditions to China
and Tibet for the Museum during the
early 1900's. According to Dr. Laufer,
the reason that the Chinese affinity for
insects — and particularly crickets — is so
interesting to anthropologists is that it
represents a curious exception to a uni-
versal rule concerning man's relation to
animals. In the primitive stages of life
man took a keen interest in the animal
world, observing and studying large
mammals first, and birds and fishes next.
But the Chinese were more concerned
with insects than with any other ani-
ma'Is; and mammals attracted their

Page Z July

Cricket

Warriors and Musicians

of China

attention least of all.

As a result, the Chinese have made
discoveries and observations about in-
sects which still inspire admiration. The
life cycle of the cicada, for example, one
of nature's most puzzling phenomena,
was known to the Chinese centuries ago.
More significantly, only a people with a
deep interest in nature's smallest crea-
tures could have penetrated the mysteri-
ous habits of an insignificant caterpillar
to present the world with the discovery
of silk.

Perhaps the most intriguing aspect of

this national predilection for insects is in
the areas of sports and entertainment.
While sports enthusiasts in other parts
of the world have focused their attention
on baseball diamonds, football fields,
bull-fight rings, and gigantic soccer sta-
diums, the Chinese sports fan has been
concerned with a tiny pottery jar, the
arena for the most unusual of spectator
sports — cricket fighting.

For anyone who might find it difficult
to imagine a bout between crickets, the
following description by Laufer sheds
light on this uncommon sports event.

" The tournaments take place in an open
space, on a public square, or in a special
house termed' Autumn Amusements'.
There are heavy-weight, middle, and
light-weight champions. The wran-
glers are always matched on equal terms
according to size, weight, and color, and
are carefully weighed on a pair of wee
scales at the opening of each contest. A
silk cover is spread over a table on which
are placed the pottery jars containing the
warring crickets. The jar is the arena
in which the prizefight is staged. As a
rule, the two adversaries facing each
other will first endeavor to flee, but the
thick walls of the bowl or jar are set up
as an invincible barrier to this attempt
at desertion.

"Now the referee, who is called ' Army
Commander'' or 'Director of Battle' in-
tercedes, announcing the contestants and
reciting the history of their past perform-
ances, and spurs the two parties on to
combat. . . . The two opponents, thus
excited, stretch out their antennae, which
the Chinese not inaptly designate 'tweez-
ers,' and jump at each other's heads. The
antennae, or tentacles, are their chief
weapons. One of the belligerents will
soon lose one of its horns, while the other
may retort by tearing off one of the ene-
my's legs. The two combatants become
more and more exasperated and fight
each other mercilessly. The struggle
usually ends in the death of one of them,
and it occurs not infrequently that the
more agile or stronger one pounces with
its whole weight upon the body of its
opponent, severing its head completely."
The period before the matches is one
of rigid adherence to a number of train-
ing procedures. Trainers are aware, for
example, that extremes of temperature
are injurious to crickets. Therefore, when
they observe that the tiny antennae of
the insects are drooping, they conclude
that their charges are too warm. The
temperature is then adjusted, the cricket
being protected at all times from drafts.
When a trainer judges that a cricket is
sick from overeating, a change of diet to

a certain kind of red insect is prescribed.
If sickness arises from cold, a diet of
mosquitoes is the remedy; if from heat,
young green pea shoots are given. A
kind of butterfly, known as the "bamboo
butterfly," is the prescription for diffi-
culty in breathing.

Even in death the cricket enjoys spe-
cial attention. In southern China, when
a cricket champion dies it is placed in
a small silver coffin and solemnly buried.
The owner believes that showing such
respect will bring him an excellent har-
vest of fighters next year, when he
searches the area of the burial. These
ideas spring from the belief that able
cricket champions are incarnations of
great warriors and heroes of the past,
from whom they inherit a soul imbued
with special prowess.

This month's Bulletin cover shows a
scene from an old Chinese scroll paint-
ing in the Museum's collection. The
painting depicts the games and pastimes
of boys — including the three youngsters
peering intently at a wooden cricket
cage (like the one in the photograph on
page 2) which undoubtedly houses the
local champion. Such cages are only
one of many objects devised by the Chi-
nese for the comfort and housing of pet
crickets.

For example, there are cricket traps —
often marvelous works of art — made of
bamboo or ivory rods. Circular pottery
jars of common burnt clay with a per-
forated lid house the insects during the
summer (many potters are proud of their
specialization in cricket houses and im-
press on them a seal with the maker's
name). Tiny porcelain dishes decorated
in blue and white hold the insects' food
and water. Beds and sleeping boxes are
fashioned of clay. During the winter
months, the crickets are transferred to
homes made from gourds, furnished with
cotton padding beds. These cages are
shaped by the ingenious method of in-
troducing the young gourd into an earth-
en mold, so that as the gourd grows it
assumes the shape of the mold and is

permanently imprinted with its designs.
Such a cage is pictured on page 2.

Of special interest in the long list of
cricket equipment are the ticklers used
for stirring the insects to fight or sing.
In Peking fine hairs from a hare or rat
whiskers inserted in a reed or bone han-
dle are used for tickling; in Shanghai, a
delicate blade of grass. Ticklers are
kept in bamboo or wooden tubes, with
elegant ivory containers being reserved
for the rich.

An aspect of cricket enjoyment that
we cannot omit in this discussion has to
do with the insect's best-known charac-
teristic— its melodious chirping. A 6th
Century Chinese book, T'ien-pao i-shih,
describes the origin of a charming cus-
tom:

" When the autumnal season arrives,
the ladies of the palace catch crickets in
small golden cages. These with the
cricket enclosed in them they place near
their pillows, and during the night heark-
en to the voices of the insects. This cus-
tom was imitated by all people."
Instead of using golden cages, how-
ever, ordinary people placed their crick-
ets in bamboo or wooden cages — or even
in a carved walnut shell — and carried
them tucked inside their dress or sus-
pended from their girdles.

Of course, the cricket's chip has had
its place in Western society as well.
While some have interpreted the notes
of the hidden melodist as a portent of
sorrow, or even an omen of death, in
England the insect's cheerful notes gen-
erally have suggested peace and com-
fort, and the coziness of the homely fire-
side.

This July — and for several months to
come — when the evening countryside is
alive with a chorus of cricket voices, it
is hoped that the preceding will provide
our readers with a new dimension in
their enjoyment of the summer night.

1 Laufer, Berthold, Insect Musicians and
Cricket Champions of China, Anthropology Leaf-
let 22, Chicago Natural History Museum.

July Page 3

CHICAGO
NATURAL
HISTORY
MUSEUM

News

Rainer Zangerl

New

Chief

Curator

Dr. Rainer Zangerl was appointed
Chief Curator of the Department of Ge-
ology of Chicago Natural History Muse-
um at the last meeting of the Board of
Trustees. His predecessor in the post
was Dr. Sharat K. Roy. who died on
April 17.

Dr. Zangerl has
been Curator of Fos-
sil Reptiles at the
Museum since 1945,
when he joined the
Museum's scien-
tific staff. Before
that he had held
positions at the Uni-
versity of Notre
Dame, the Univer-
sity of Detroit, and
Middlesex University in Waltham, Mas-
sachusetts. He was born in 1912 in
Switzerland, and obtained his formal
education in that country, receiving a
doctorate in philosophy from the Uni-
versity of Zurich in 1936.

While a member of the Museum's
staff, Dr. Zangerl has been actively en-
gaged in research in the field of fossil
reptiles. This scientific interest has led
him on expeditions to many parts of the
United States and Europe. Most re-
cently, he and Dr. Eugene S. Richard-
son, Curator of Fossil Invertebrates,
have focused their attention on the
Mecca area of Indiana, a region once
covered by a large epicontinental sea.
The faunas that they have collected
from the Mecca and Logan quarries are
estimated to have lived 240 million years
ago. Through study of these faunas and
of sediments from the quarries, Drs.
Zangerl and Richardson have recon-
structed the events that occurred in the
Mecca area during two specific four-
year periods of prehistory.

Dr. Zangerl has published the results
of his research in numerous scientific
journals and has contributed lead arti-

Page i July

cles to several encyclopedias. He is a
member of the Society of Vertebrate
Paleontology; the Detroit Academy of
Sciences; the American Association of
University Professors; and the Schweiz-
erische Paleontologische Gesellschaft.

In
Memoriam

The Museum has been saddened by
the death of Mrs. Sara Carroll Field,
Museum benefactor and wife of Stanley
Field, Chairman of the Board of Trus-
tees. Mrs. Field died on June 1 after a
period of prolonged illness. She was 84
years of age. Her life-long interest in
the Museum and a number of charitable
organizations, and her active participa-
tion in Chicago's civic and social life will
be deeply missed.

Children's

Summer

Programs

A puppet stage production, "The
Three Bears Take to the Wilderness,"
opens Chicago Natural History Muse-
um's summer series of free children's
programs on July 5. The programs will
be presented every Thursday morning
through August 9, at 10 a.m. and 11
a.m., in the James Simpson Theatre.
On July 5, the delightful puppets cre-
ated by the Apple Tree Workshop, of
Chicago Heights, will enact a story based
on what might happen if the traditional
three bears lived in a modern city and
suddenly decided to go back to the
wilderness.

On the other dates of the summer
series, color movies about nature and
science have been scheduled. They are:
July 12 — "Australia's Coral Wonder-
land"; July 19— "African Lion" (A Dis-
ney "True-Life Adventure"); July 26 —
"Summer Adventure in the Out-of-
Doors"; August 2 — "Seldom-Seen Ani-
mals"; August 9 — "Universe."

The free programs are selected by the
Museum's educational division, the
Raymond Foundation. Adults are wel-
come to attend with their children.

Chicago Natural History Museum

Founded by Marshall Field, 1S93

Roosevelt Road and Lake Shore Drive, Chicago 5

Telephone: WAbash 2-9410

THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES

Lester Armour William V. Kahlcr

Wm. McCormick Blair Hughston M. McBain

Bowen Blair J. Roscoe Miller

Walter J. Cummings William H. Mitchell

Joseph N. Field John T. Pirie, Jr.

Marshall Field, Jr. John Shedd Reed

Stanley Field John G. Searle

Clifford C. Gregg John M. Simpson

Samuel Insull, Jr. Solomon A. Smith

Henry P. Isham Louis Ware

J. Howard Wood

OFFICERS

Stanley Field, Chairman of the Board

Clifford C. Gregg, President

Hughston M. McBain, First Vice-President

Joseph N. Field, Second Vice-President

Bowen Blair, Third Vice-President

Solomon A. Smith, Treasurer and Assistant Secretary

E. Leland Webber, Secretary

THE BULLETIN

EDITOR

E. Leland Webber, Director of the Museum

CONTRIBUTING EDITORS

Paul S. Martin, Chief Curator of Anthropology

John R. Millar, Chief Curator of Botany

Rainer Zangerl, Chief Curator of Geology

Austin L. Rand, Chief Curator of Zoology

MANAGING EDITOR

Paula R. Nelson, Public Relations Counsel

ASSOCIATE EDITOR
Marilyn Jindrich, Associate in Public Relations

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

Tutankhamun
Treasures
Close July 15

Since their opening on June 15 the
King Tutankhamun Treasures have at-
tracted to the Museum thousands of
visitors from all over the Midwest. In
the first two weeks of exhibition more
than 43,000 persons saw the treasures.
Because of this unusual public response
— and so that the treasures may be en-
joyed to the fullest degree — visitors who
have not seen the exhibit are advised to
come during the late afternoon, or eve-
nings on those days when the Museum
is open until 8 p.m. Those evenings are
Wednesday, Friday, Saturday, and Sun-
day, nights of the free Grant Park Con-
cert presented in the bandshell across
the street from the Museum. The
treasures will remain on display here in
Chicago only until July 15.

C*I\I»H*!VI

Joseph Curtis Moore
Curator of Mammals

SCIENTIFIC
RARITIES
FROM CEYLON

A shipment of mammal specimens,
which includes species that are very
rare in the great scientific collections of
the world, has recently arrived at the
Museum from tropical Ceylon. In wood-
en boxes tightly covered with white mus-
lin, addressed with paint, and adorned
with sealing wax and numerous attractive
postage stamps, the collection certainly
arrived in a style suited to its significance.
From these distinguished parcels the
Museum has received its first two speci-
mens of a species of bat called Kerivoula
picta, the painted bat. Like the more
familiar red bat of North America, the
painted bat from Ceylon wears a bright
coat of orange-red hair, which becomes
more brilliantly orange to scarlet along
its wings and contrasts with large patches
of dark pigment on the flying membrane.
In painted bats from some geographic
areas these darkly pigmented patches
may in life be iridescent.

One might think that a curator who
routinely receives study skins of mam-
mals from far parts of the world would
become indifferent to any beauty in
them. But not so. When a curator of
mammals mentions his examples of the
painted bat, his appreciation of their
charm will noticeably warm both his
choice of words and tone of voice. It
may seem somehow appropriate that so
especially attractive a species lives in
those alluring Oriental countries, Indo-
nesia, Ceylon, Malaya, and Thailand.

No one knows much about the painted
bat. It is said to be rather solitary and
to live in tropical jungle where it sleeps
by day, probably hanging from some
vine like a dead and withered leaf. Ma-
jor S. S. Flower, the English naturalist,
said that he found one in Thailand asleep
"in the flower of a Calla lily." The two
obtained by Chicago Natural History
Museum were captured in sugar cane.

Another species new to the Museum's
collections and received in this distinc-
tive shipment from Ceylon is the rusty-
spotted cat, Felis rubiginosa. Smaller
than the domestic house cat, the rusty-
spotted cat is said to be active and cou-
rageous, and has some reputation for
raiding chicken houses located near jun-
gle. The Museum's new specimen came
from rain forest in the central highlands
of Ceylon. Although there are four spe-
cies of cats occurring on Ceylon, the
rusty-spotted variety is the smallest, and
the only one restricted in range to Cey-
lon and southern India. The other
three species all range widely in south-
ern Asia.

From the white muslin packages, also,
has come the Museum's very first speci-
men of the ruddy mongoose, a species
known only from central and southern
India and Ceylon. This particular mon-
goose, Herpestes smithi, lives primarily in
jungle where it preys upon birds, small
mammals, and reptiles. In Ceylon it is
said to feed extensively upon the giant
terrestrial snail of Africa, Achatina Julica,
which was foolishly introduced into Cey-
lon in 1900 and quickly became a de-
structive garden pest. Naturalists re-
cord that the ruddy mongoose breaks
open the thick shell of this big mollusk
by beating it upon a stone, and that one
may find a number of such broken shells
scattered about a conveniently protrud-
ing rock, some split neatly in half down
the middle. In addition to this kind of
virtuosity, the ruddy mongoose is re-
ported to have the temerity to feed upon
the kill of a leopard, though it departs
in utter panic upon sensing the return
of the cat.

While there are four species of mon-
goose in Ceylon, one may distinguish the
ruddy mongoose in the field by its curi-
ous habit of carrying its long tail with
the tip curved up.

A second species of mongoose proves
also entirely new to the Museum's col-
lections. This is the mongoose with the
striped neck, Herpestes vitticollis — the
largest of all the eleven species in Asia.
{Continued on page 8)

July Page 5

Drawing of a habitat group showing American
crocodiles captured in Lake Ticamaya, Hondu-
ras, by former Chief Curator of Zoology Karl P.
Schmidt. This scene is part of July's exhibit-of-
the-month, featuring crocodiles, alligators, cai-
mans, and gavials. The exhibit is in Hall 18,
first floor, west. A booklet, "Crocodile Hunting
in Central America," available at The Book Shop
for 25 cents, describes the capture of the Lake
Ticamayan crocodiles.

THE NILE
CROCODILE

Paula R. Nelson

The unforgettably sly crocodile who - - in
Lewis Carroll's famous lines --"... wel-
comes little fishes in with gently smiling
jaws," is the heritage ofall English-speak-
ing children. From Pliny's carefully re-
corded observations to Rubens' boldly
imaginative "Hippopotamus and Croco-
dile Hunt," studies of this survivor of the
Age of Reptiles have exerted a unique
fascination. A recent publication on the
Nile crocodile by Dr. Hugh B. Cott of
the University Museum of Zoology, Cam-
bridge,! is the most complete, modern
report of this remarkable animal. The
following article is based on Dr. Cott's
research.

In the warm, unruffled waters that it
normally frequents, the Nile croco-
dile floats low. Little more than its snout
tip, eyes, and the back of its head are
above the surface. At an alarm, the ani-
mal closes its nostrils and immediately
dives to the muddy bottom. There it
may remain, fully submerged, for as
long as an hour.

The pebbles and stones that the croc-
odile has swallowed during its lifetime,

Page 6 July

and which may account for as much as
one per cent of its total body weight,
help to keep it submerged in places
where a strong current might dislodge
an animal of lower specific gravity.
These stomach stones also have an effect
like the cargo in a ship's hold : they help
to stablilize the swimming animal. The
need for such a mechanism becomes ap-
parent when young crocodiles that have
not yet begun to accumulate stomach

stones are placed in deep water. Tail-
heavy and top-heavy, they cannot lie
level at the surface like their stone-
carrying elders, but must move their
limbs to keep from rolling about. This
is in marked contrast to the easy poise
of the floating adult.

Nights are usually spent in the warmth-
retaining waters, which are sought again
by the cold-blooded reptile during the
intense heat of the next day's noon.

Mornings and afternoons the crocodile
shares his basking and breeding grounds
at the edge of the water with a large
number of different kinds of birds. From
the times of Herodotus and Pliny, it has
been known that certain birds feed from
the crocodile's body. The food taken is
tsetse flies and leeches. In addition to
ridding the reptiles of these parasites, the
birds give timely warning of danger.
Basking crocodiles will respond imme-
diately to the alarm signals of birds that
become aware of an approaching man
or boat before their sleeping companions.

Under modern conditions of intensive
hunting, few crocodiles achieve their po-
tential life-span, though individuals in
captivity have been known to live for
from 20 to 50 years. Studies of the
growth rates of these animals suggest
that a crocodile measuring 15 feet in
length would be about 76 years old, and
one measuring 18 feet would be over
100 years old. If, as is believed, the
growth rate slows down in later life,
then the largest known specimens must
have survived well into their second
century.

At different periods of their life-his-
tory, crocodiles utter a variety of sounds.
There is the croaking of the young while
still in the egg; the sharp, coughing hiss
of the cornered reptile unable to make
its escape to water; the warning growl
of the female surprised while guarding
her eggs; and the powerful, open-jawed
roaring of the male during the breed-
ing season.

As in many tropical animals, the re-
productive cycle of the Nile crocodile is
correlated with the seasonal rhythm of
rainfall. The eggs are laid in the dry
season, in holes dug in coarse sand or
gravel near the water's edge. The incu-
bation period coincides with the phase
of lowest water; and hatching occurs
after the onset of rains, when the lakes
and rivers are again rising into flood.
These are ideal conditions for the newly-
emerged young, who disperse upon the
wide-spreading shallows, feeding upon
the rich harvest of insects that follows
the rains.

Among the weedy shallows, in iso-
lated pools, occasionally at some dis-
tance inland, and even on nearby tree
limbs, the young crocodiles from two to
five years old lead a life of seclusion. So

successful are they in keeping out of
sight, shunning both the common bask-
ing grounds and the open water, that
many observers report the young ani-
mals have "vanished." Since these rep-
tiles have few enemies other than larger
individuals of their own kind, the segre-
gation of the young from their elders
is probably forced upon them by the
prevalence of cannibalism.

Young crocodiles feed on insects,
snails, crabs, frogs, and toads. As the
reptiles grow, fish, mammals, and other
crocodiles become the important foods.
Occasionally birds and lizards are taken.
The hunting and capturing of prey is
characterized by stealth, surprise, and
a final, sudden burst of speed. The
adult crocodile often lurks off-shore
near game trails and watering places.
On sighting an animal that has come
down to drink, the reptile quietly sub-
merges and cruises under water to the
precise spot from which it can make its
fatal upward rush. A sideways snap of
the jaws, and the prey is seized, dragged
down into the water, and drowned.
When feeding ashore, the crocodile may
lie in ambush near trails or beside dried-
up water courses. It is here that the
deadly tail-stroke or sledge-hammer
head-blow effectively throws the victim,
breaks its leg, or flings it into the water.

The only animals known to kill the
adult Nile crocodile are the hippopota-
mus, lion, leopard, African elephant —
and man. In recent years, the trade in
crocodile leather has grown to the pro-
portions of almost a major industry. As
a result of this commercial exploitation,
in some areas of the world the crocodile
is being rapidly reduced and its contin-
ued existence actually threatened.

Yet from the points of view of ecol-
ogy, economics, and zoology, this ani-
mal is a valuable and important mem-
ber of its local fauna. For example,
the Nile crocodile is directly or indirectly
beneficial to the fishing industry of East
and Central Africa, since the reptiles
feed upon species that prey upon fry,
while eating relatively few adult fish
themselves. As a producer of high-
quality leather, the crocodile is a com-
mercial asset, and under rational man-
agement could provide a sustained yield
of skins. More important still, to the
biologist these animals merit protection

in their own right. Crocodiles essentially
like the modern species existed in Juras-
sic times, and were contemporaries of
the dinosaurs. As the only members of
the archosaurian stock which survived
beyond the Age of Reptiles, they are
of exceptional scientific importance.
Studies of their anatomy, physiology,
ecology, and behavior can throw in-
direct light upon the biology of ances-
tors long extinct.

For these reasons, it is to be hoped
that the crocodile — which has survived
over a hundred million years — may con-
tinue to live as a unique and valuable
member of the tropical fauna.

This drawing from July's featured
exhibit shows the relative sizes
of living species of crocodile and
man. The exhibit explains how to
tell a crocodile from an alligator
and shows how the crocodile's
build is especially adapted for life
in the water. An American alliga-
tor is shown with her nest and
eggs, along with the skull of a 15-
foot man-eater from the Philip-
pines.

1 Cott, Hugh B., "Scientific Results of an
Inquiry into the Ecology and Economic Status
of the Nile Crocodile (Crocodilus niloticus) in
Uganda and Northern Rhodesia." Transactions
of the Zoological Society of London, Vol. 29, Part
4, April, 1961.

July Page ?

STAFF NOTES

Harry E. Changnon, Curator of Geol-
ogy Exhibits, conducted a lecture and
laboratory exercise at the Chicago
Academy of Science on the identifica-
tion of minerals, for teachers and stu-
dents of the Chicago area.

Dr. Donald Collier, Curator of South
American Archaeology and Ethnology,
has been appointed a member of the
International Committee of the Centre
International a" Etude Ethnographique de la
Maison dans le Monde, in Brussels. The
Committee will study the domestic ar-
chitecture of the world from a cultural
and anthropological point of view, to
determine the relation of each country's
housing to its physical environment and
social organization.

"Archaeological Exploration in New
Mexico" was discussed by Allen Liss,
Custodian of Collections, Department of
Anthropology, at a recent meeting of the
Earth Science Club of Northern, Illinois.

Dr. Paul S. Martin, Chief Curator of
Anthropology, and Mr. George Quimby,
Curator of North American Archaeol-
ogy and Ethnology, attended the annual
meetings of the Society for American
Archaeology at Tucson. Mr. Quimby
was chairman of a session on the archae-
ology of the eastern United States, while
Dr. Martin chaired a session on south-
western archaeology.

Mr. George Quimby, Curator of North
American Archaeology and Ethnology,
has been appointed Collaborator of the
National Park Service, Region One. In
this consultative capacity, he recently
inspected salvage archaeological opera-
tions at Ocmulgee National Monument,
Georgia.

Mr. E. Leland Webber, Director, at-
tended the Conference of Directors of
Systematic Collections held in Washing-
ton, D. C, in March.

Page 8 July

Loren P. Woods, Curator of Fishes,
and Robert F. Inger, Curator of Am-
phibians and Reptiles, traveled to
Washington, D. C, last month to attend
the 42nd Annual Meeting of the Amer-
ican Society of Ichthyologists and Herpe-
tologists. Both are members of the soci-
ety's board of governors and Dr. Inger
is herpetological editor of its quarterly
publication, Copeia.

Sea Shells of the World

A Golden Nature Guide, by R. Tucker
Abbott. Golden Press: New York. In
de luxe hard cover library edition, $3.50;
limp-bound edition, $1.00.

There are many books dealing with
the better-known and more spectacular
sea shells of the world to which the in-
terested layman or collector resorts for
information. These books have two dis-
advantages: they are bulky and expen-
sive. Now there is a recently published
booklet on the same subject which over-
comes the two handicaps mentioned
above: it is of pocket-size, and is very,
almost incredibly, inexpensive, costing
just one dollar! As far as the contents
of this recent booklet are concerned,
they hold to what is promised in the
title. The selection of shells is good and
the accompanying figures in color are as
useful as anyone could wish. Hence
one really can recommend Abbott's new
publication wholeheartedly, and hope
that it will get the vast distribution that
it deserves.

FRITZ HAAS

Curator Emeritus, Lower Invertebrates

Drawings for this month's Bul-

etin by Museum Artist, E. John

Pfiffner. Photographs by the

Division of Photography.

CEYLON RARITIES

{Continued from page 5)

The geographic range of Herpestes vit-
ticollis, like that of the brown mongoose,
H.fuscus, extends only up into the south-
ern tip of India, and is thus exceedingly
small. It may seem a curious thing that
two mongoose species out of the four
known to inhabit Ceylon should be so
limited in distribution. However, the
Western Ghats (mountains) of southern
India and the Central Highlands of Cey-
lon receive torrential rains from the
southwest monsoons which support the
lush tropical rain forest that is rare in
most of the rest of India. Such tropical
rain forests appear to provide a prolifera-
tion of niches for similar species in many
genera of animals. To cite another ex-
ample besides the mongoose, there are
three species of the diurnal tree squirrel
genus, Funambulus, whose ranges are all
limited to this same area.

How such a proliferation of similar
species may have come about is a ques-
tion that invites speculation. I have
published one hypothesis seeking to ex-
plain the origin of the species of squirrels
local to Ceylon and southern India, in
which I suggest that the simple mech-
anism involved is the presumed union of
Ceylon with the mainland during each
glacial period of the Pleistocene, and the
separation of Ceylon from the mainland
during each interglacial period. (Cey-
lon and peninsular India have been
physiographically very stable, and the
lower and higher sea levels of glacial and
interglacial periods should obviously
have accomplished the unions and sepa-
rations mentioned.) Each union would
permit mainland species to invade Cey-
lon; each separation might be long
enough to allow island and mainland
populations of any one species to evolve
differences that would prevent their in-
terbreeding when rejoined at the begin-
ning of the next union. These pairs of
populations would survive as distinct
species if they evolved habits that would
enable them to avoid competition with
one another. Very likely the mongoose
with the striped neck, the brown mon-
goose, and even the ruddy mongoose
originated in this way.

PRINTED BY CHICAGO NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM PRESS

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P^V'^^fl

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CHICAGO
NATURAU
HISTORY yw. 33
MUSEUM ^4^

Philip Hershkovitz
Research Curator
Division of Mammals

BATS

"I could distinguish large bats
swooping about as they out-
maneuvered the fireflies and picked
them off inflight."

^m:€

Bats are world-wide in distribution,
but in the tropics they are most
numerous and diversified. The warm
nights are filled with the soft beat of their
wings, the clicking and rasping sounds
of their voices, and the constant patter
of falling seeds, fruits, and flowers
dropped from their feedings. On bright
nights when no other animal may be
visible, bats can be seen as flitting shad-
ows climbing, diving, turning, skimming
over moonlit waters and careening high
above the tree tops.

All bats of temperate latitudes are in-
sect eaters, and during the winter they
must migrate or hibernate. Not so in
the tropics, where there is an abundance
of flowers and fruits the year round.
Insect eaters live there, too — many more

Page 2 August

kinds than in northern latitudes — and
there are meat eaters, fish eaters, blood
suckers, and others with more general
tastes.

Insectivorous bats may see or hear
their prey, but their usual manner of
hunting and navigating, in general, is by
echolocation. Bats send out high pitched
signals and determine the direction, dis-
tance and perhaps the nature of objects
by the echoes received. By this means
bats flying at comparatively high speed
in pitch darkness can avoid obstacles and
capture insects with amazing rapidity,
up to one and even two per second.
Echolocating sounds emitted by bats,
particularly those of the larger insect-or
fish-catching species, are often audible
to the human ear. The sounds made by

and their
Menu:

smaller bats, however, are usually higher
and outside our range of hearing. Bats
also have a repertory of quite audible
squeaks, chirps, hisses and screams for
expressing feelings and communicating
with other bats.

Insect-eating bats usually catch prey
in mid-air with their wing or tail mem-
brane before seizing it with their mouth.
An insect too large to be devoured in
flight is carried to a feeding place where
the bat hangs head down and eats at
leisure. A bat feeding roost can be rec-
ognized by the piled-up leftovers of
wings, legs and other hard parts of in-
sects. The daytime resting roost, in con-
trast, is in a dark, well sheltered place
marked by the accumulation of guano.

One memorable evening in a tropical
forest, just as the calls of the tinamous
and wood quails died out, I saw a myr-
iad of fireflies scatter out of the trees like
bursts of stars. I watched the light of
one of the beetles flying straight toward
me, then suddenly swerve into a wild,
careening flight and abruptly disappear
from sight. Then another and another
of the drifting lights broke into a swift,
zigzagging flight and vanished in mid-
air; meanwhile I could distinguish the
silhouettes of large bats swooping about
and feel the beat of their wings and hear
the crunch of their jaws as they out-
maneuvered the fireflies and picked them
off in flight. The evasive flight tactics
of the fireflies prompts the thought that
they, too, and perhaps many other in-
sects, possess a sound wave system for
warning them of the approach of pred-
ators just as bats use their system for
detecting prey.

Fruit eaters can find their stationary
food by sight or smell and they use their
echolocating system in flight for avoid-
ing obstacles. Only ripe, fragrant fruits

\\vi--;>,-

''Most nectar and pollen eaters have long noses and
extensible, brush-tipped tongues which can be protruded
into the floral envelope."

attract these bats and wild figs are a
favorite as well as a common food in the
the forest. Ripe bananas in orchards or
stores are irresistible.

A large number of bats feed on the
nectar, pollen, petals and other parts of
night flowers. Most nectar and pollen
eaters have long noses and marvelously
long, extensible, brush-tipped tongues
which can be protruded into the floral
envelope. Small bats which cannot
reach the pollen or nectar of pitcher-
shaped flowers from the outside crawl
inside as far as need be to get their food.
By their various operations in feeding on
flowers, bats become pollinating agents
and there are night-blooming flowers
specially adapted for attracting and feed-
ing bats to insure pollination.

Of the nearly 2,000 kinds of bats known
to science only two are proven fish-
catchers. One, the hair-lipped bat, or
Noctilio, widely distributed over tropical
America, is about the size of a robin.
The other, with the technical name, Pi-
Zonyx, is smaller and restricted to the
coasts and islands of northwestern Mex-
ico. Pizonyx is rarely observed and has
never been identified in the act of fishing,
but the stomachs of captured individuals
always contain fish. On the other hand,
Noctilio is common and easily recognized
by its comparatively large size, bright
reddish-orange color and a pervading
scent not unlike some popular perfumes.
The bat is often seen before nightfall
skimming over water.

The dim, fading light and the swift,
unpredictable movements of the bat
make it impossible to see how Noctilio
catches fish. In an experiment recently
conducted with special cameras on cap-
tive Noctilio, it was ascertained that the

bat drags its large feet through the water
and hooks whatever small fish may be
near the surface with its long, sharp, re-
curved claws. Noctilio may actually see
the particular fish it tries to gaff or it
may hook it by chance. Noctilio also
catches and eats insects over water and
far from water and it may live indefi-
nitely on insects alone.

The omnivorous bats are primarily in-
sectivorous, but also prey on other bats
and small, nocturnal vertebrates such as
frogs, lizards, mice and whatever roost-
ing birds they can kill. Large insects,
including beetles, moths, and larvae,
are favorite articles of diet, and fruits,
particularly bananas, are eaten along
with the insects and small animals feed-
ing on them. The largest New World
bat, the so-called false vampire, is an
omnivore. Its body is about the size of
a large rat and its wingspread exceeds
three feet. It hawks in wide, smooth
circles with an unhurried stroke of the
wings. The clicking or echolocating
sound made by this bat is loud and rasp-
ing. The prey is trapped with the wings
and seized with a crunching bite behind
the neck.

True vampire or blood-sucking bats
are confined to the New World tropics.
There are three kinds, all the size of a
mouse. Desmodus is the common, wide-
spread species found almost everywhere
in forests and cattle country from Mex-
ico to Chile and Argentina. Diaemus is
like Desmodus but prefers the blood of
birds to that of mammals. Diphylla is
very poorly known, but presumably its
habits are like those of Diaemus.

Vampires subsist on fresh blood alone.

All parts of their mouth are designed for
bloodletting and drinking and nothing
but a trickle of liquid could pass through
their thread-slender gullets. They scoop
out a small piece of skin with their sharp,
scimitar-shaped front teeth, press their
tongue against the wound, and by curl-
ing the sides of the tongue downward
against the cleft lower lip form a tube
through which the blood flows into the
mouth. To assist the flow the vampire
pumps and licks the wound with its
tongue and sucks with its mouth. It
may also enlarge the incision with its
teeth. A vampire can consume about
two ounces of blood in one night's feed-
ing. This is more than one or two times
the weight of the bat. Vampires are
slow flyers but by using their wings as
forelegs they scurry nimbly along the
ground and over their victims. Their
bodies are exceedingly soft and smooth
to the touch. If echolocation is used by
vampire bats for finding objects they
may also resort to other senses for dis-
criminating between obstacles, individ-
uals of their own kind, and their prey,
which includes other species of bats.

One of my earliest acquaintances with
vampire bats was made many years ago
in the boundary area between Ecuador
and Peru. I was traveling with a family
of Indians in a dugout canoe on a trib-
utary of the Amazon. It was the dry
season, the river was low, and we spent
the nights on mosquito-free sand bars.
Ordinarily such sand bars are free of
bats, too, and we slept under the stars
to enjoy the rare night breeze. At dawn,
after the first night, we saw that the little
{Continued on page 5)

"Noctilio drags its large feet through the water and hooks whatever small fish may be near the surface
with its long, sharp, recurved claws."

August Page 3

ROBERT F. INGER

CURATOR, AMPHIBIANS AND REPTILES

DEPARTURE OF

Fig. 1: Dr. Robert F. Inger and Mr.

F. Wayne King display anti-leech

stocking to be worn for protection

against land leeches in Borneo.

Fig. 2: Land leech posed on a leaf
and reaching out for a victim (actual
size of leech about one and one-half
inches).

J. he Borneo Zoological Expedition,
1962, will leave Chicago on August 18.
It would be more correct to say that the
personnel — Dr. Bernard Greenberg of
Roosevelt University, Mr. F. Wayne
King of University of Chicago, and my-
self— will leave then. For the equip-
ment and the supplies left in June.

The main purpose of the expedition
is to gather information on the breeding
activity of frogs living in the tropical
rain forests that cover most of Borneo.
Frogs and toads living in the Temperate
Zones generally have relatively short
breeding periods restricted to a part of
spring. We suspect, on the basis of
fragmentary information, that in trop-
ical rain forests, which are warm and
wet at all times, frogs and toads breed
all year round.

Most zoologists now think that the
major groups of frogs and toads evolved
in the wet tropics. As the breeding pat-
terns are important to the evolutionary
success of any kind of animal, we must
learn what they are in tropical frogs.

The field work connected with this

Page i August

research program will consist of collect-
ing monthly samples of about six species
of frogs, making notes on their behavior,
and recording daily rainfall, tempera-
ture, and relative humidity.

We also need to know how far an in-
dividual frog (of the species we will
study) moves and how fast it matures
in order to understand the full implica-
tions of its breeding habits. To get this
information we plan to mark, measure,
and release frogs along several forest
streams. By recapturing (hopefully !) a
number of these marked frogs, we will
learn not only their rates of growth and
movement but also how large the popu-
lations are.

As time permits, we will work on
other field studies, all aimed at increas-
ing our knowledge of the distribution
and interrelationships of the animals in
the rain forest. One of these problems,
an investigation of the reptiles and am-
phibians living in epiphytic plants, will
be the special concern of Mr. King.
Epiphytes are plants, such as bird's nest
ferns, pitcher plants, and orchids, that

BORNE

ZOOLOG

grow attached to trees and whose roots
do not reach the ground. Mr. King will
try to discover not only what species of
reptiles and amphibians live in such
plants but also their abundance, their
vertical distribution, and the weather
conditions under which they live.

What collecting is done on this expe-
dition will be subordinated to solving
the particular biological questions raised
by study of material previously collected
during the Museum's Borneo Zoological
Expeditions of 1950 and 1956.

Though we are concerned primarily
with the biological problems, we are
naturally forced to consider logistical
ones. What supplies and equipment
will we need? When and how do we
ship them? The second question is easy
to answer, merely requiring a telephone
call to one of the export agents in Chi-
cago. The answer to the first question
depends on our previous experience in
Borneo and the specific projects we will
tackle in the field.

Out of curiosity, we counted the dif-
ferent kinds of items we are taking into
the field. We found we had 173, not
including our field clothing. Many of
these items are strictly for housekeeping :
for example, we have three packets of
sewing needles, a folding table, an alarm
clock, two can openers, three jungle ham-
mocks, and similar uninspiring but vital
equipment. Collecting equipment in-
cludes 30 snake bags, two potato rakes
(for tearing apart rotting logs), 500 blow-
gun corks, three headlights, dip nets, etc.
For preserving and packing specimens
we have — among many other things —
5,000 numbered tags, 2,000 plastic bags,
115 pints of formalin, three plastic hy-
drators, and dissecting instruments.

We also have some delicate instru-
ments such as a hygrometer with a 200-

D

<^

AL EXPEDITION

foot extension cable, which we will use
for reading the temperature and relative
humidity in the bird's nest ferns, and a
recording thermohumidigraph (Fig. 3)
for use in more accessible places. In
addition to these we have a tape re-
corder, rain gauge, clinometer (for meas-
uring heights of trees and epiphytes,)
compass, surveyor's tape, and assorted
photographic equipment.

As the success of any expedition nowa-
days depends upon the quality and quan-
tity of field notes, we have paper, note-
books, waterproof ink, and pens.

One piece of field clothing requires
special mention — anti-leech stockings
(Fig. 1). The humid forests of Borneo
are rich in land leeches and in some
areas and times every leaf of every bush
seems to have a hungry leech reaching
out for the next passerby (Fig. 2). These
animals are interesting, but their fond-
ness for human blood makes protection
against them important. We learned on
previous trips that an over-stocking made
of muslin and tied over one's trousers
below the knee cut down the leech bites
significantly.

With the exception of one item, we
are taking no food from here. All of
that will be purchased in Borneo. The
exception consists of two cans of high-
protein pablum — not for us, but for the
tadpoles we hope to raise.

All this material, believe it or not, fit
into 15 medium-sized boxes. With such
an assortment of things, the contents of
each box had to be listed and the boxes
numbered. Museum men always have
in their minds the horrible example of
the large expedition (not from this insti-
tution, we hasten to add) that arrived at
its base camp with 100 boxes and not a
single packing list.

Months ago a tentative field base was

selected on the basis of our previous ex-
perience in Borneo and study of our col-
lections. The chosen site was in Sara-
wak and we applied for and received
permission to work there from the au-
thorities in Sarawak.

In many ways this expedition reflects
the national and international coopera-
tion vital to scientific progress. Mr.
Tom Harrisson, Curator of the Sarawak
Museum, has graciously offered to con-
tinue the cooperation and help he gave
previous expeditions of Chicago Natural
History Museum. Similarly, other agen-
cies of the Government of Sarawak have
been helpful as in the past. Our Mu-
seum hopes that previously published
results of our work on the Bornean fauna
and future publications growing out of
this expedition will be of value to the
government and people of Sarawak.

At the national level, the expedition
is largely financed by the National Sci-
ence Foundation. Part of the cost, how-
ever, will be borne by Chicago Natural
History Museum and Roosevelt Univer-
sity. Finally, the field work and subse-
quent research will be carried out by
representatives of three Chicago institu-
tions— our Museum, Roosevelt Univer-
sity, and the University of Chicago.

BATS-

(Continued from page 3)

Fig. 3: Thermohumidigraph for re-
cording temperature and relative hu-
midity is placed in field chest for
shipment to Borneo.

girl in our company had been bitten by
a vampire bat on the very tip of her nose.
The child felt nothing and apparently
suffered no ill effects. The next three
nights of our journey were spent in the
same way and each morning we discov-
ered that another bit of the tip of the
girl's nose had been sliced away and
oozed blood. During these nights all of
us were equally exposed to vampires.
Yet, a single bat preyed on the same vic-
tim night after night. Was it the same
bat that attacked the child each night in
successively different camps or was it a
different bat each night? Did the vam-
pire prefer the girl because of a predi-
lection for her type of blood or because
she slept more profoundly than the
others?

Years later, in Suriname, I achieved a
more intimate acquaintance with a vam-
pire bat. Sleeping accommodations for
the first night on the banks of my Sara-
macca River camp in Suriname were
provisional. I used a hammock as did
also our native assistant, while my com-
panion, Dr. Jack Fooden, rolled himself
in a blanket and slept on his cot. Mos-
quitoes were absent and no netting was
used. Minutes after turning off the
kerosene lantern and dropping off to
sleep I was awakened with a violent
start by a sharp pain on the big toe of
my left foot. A vampire bat had bitten
me. (It is strange that some victims are
awakened by the attack of a vampire
bat, while others sleep soundly through
repeated attacks.) With the aid of a
flashlight I saw that a thin sliver of skin
about one-half inch long had been sliced
out of my toe. A finely honed razor
could not have cut more neatly. I
bandaged the bleeding toe with a hand-
kerchief, covered my feet with a sheet
and wrapped the edges of the hammock
around me. All the while the hungry
bat remained in attendance, now flying
back and forth, now hanging nearby in
watchful expectancy. I spent the early
part of the night warding off attacks
made by the animal each time it thought
I had fallen asleep. The vampire finally
(Continued on page 8)

August Page 5

CHICAGO
NATURAL
HISTORY
MUSEUM

News

50 Millionth Visitor

On July 2, Chicago Natural History
Museum welcomed its 50 millionth vis-
itor since the present Museum building
opened in 1921. The special guest was

'My gosh, this is really something!" was
John Witte's reaction when informed by
Director E. Leland Webber that he was the
Museum's 50 millionth visitor to its present
building.

John McFaul Wine. 12 years old, of
nearby Westchester, Illinois. He had
come to the Museum with his parents,
Mr. and Mrs. John S. Witte, and a
young friend, Steve Larson, especially
to see the Tutankhamun Treasures.

The 50th millionth visitor was greeted
by Director E. Leland Webber, who
presented him with a $500 Life Mem-
bership certificate in the Museum and a
book on ancient Egyptian art. John and
his family then enjoyed a personally con-
ducted tour of the King "Tut" exhibit

Page 6 August

by Dr. Mohammed H. Abd-Ur-Rah-
man, First Curator of the Egyptian Mu-
seum, who has accompanied the Tutank-
hamun Treasures on their American tour.
The first annual attendance figure of
one million visitors to Chicago Natural
History Museum's present building was
reached in 1927. In 1937, 14-year-old
John Ladd, of New York City, had the
distinction of being the Museum's 20
millionth visitor. (Mr. Ladd wrote us
recently from his home in Belmont,
Massachusetts, that he is "finishing up
a period of graduate study in anthropol-
ogy at Harvard University with Pana-
manian archaeology as my present area
of specialization. Although circum-
stances have kept me away from Chi-
cago and the Museum, I have followed
its growth and changing exhibits through
the Bulletin, and as an archaeologist
have been especially grateful for the
Museum publications.") Since the war,
Museum attendance has continued to
rise, reaching 1,307,567 in 1961, a gain
of 63,193 over the preceding year. In
the first six months of 1962, there have
been 671,866 visitors.

Treasures A Success

When the last visitor left the Tutankh-
amun Treasures late on July 1 5, the final
day of their exhibition here, attendance
figures for their one month's display in
Chicago had reached 123,722. Between
9 a.m. and 8 p.m. on that final Sunday,
8,839 persons — a record for the Chicago
showing — saw the priceless, 3000-year-
old objects from King Tutankhamun's
tomb, which had been permitted to
leave Egypt for the first time. The ex-
hibit was brought to Chicago under
joint sponsorship of the Museum and
the Oriental Institute of the LTniversity
of Chicago.

Next stop for the Tutankhamun Treas-
ures will be Seattle, followed by San
Francisco and Los Angeles. Before re-
turning to their permanent home in the
Egyptian museum in Cairo, the treas-
ures will tour American cities for an-
other year.

Chicago Natural History Museum

Founded by Marshall Field, 1893

Roosevelt Road and Lake Shore Drive, Chicago 5

Telephone: WAbash 2-9410

THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES

Lester Armour
Wm. McCormick Blair
Bowen Blair
Walter J. Cummings
Joseph N. Field
Marshall Field, Jr.
Stanley Field
Clifford C. Gregg
Samuel Insull, Jr.
Henry P. Isham

J. Howard

William V. Kahler
Hughston M. McBain
J. Roscoe Miller
William H. Mitchell
John T. Pirie, Jr.
John Shedd Reed
John G. Searle
John M. Simpson
Solomon A. Smith
Louis Ware
Wood

OFFICERS

Stanley Field, Chairman of the Board

Clifford C. Gregg, President

Hughston M. McBain, First Vice-President

Joseph N. Field, Second Vice-President

Bowen Blair, Third Vice-President

Solomon A. Smith, Treasurer and Assistant Secretary

E. Leland Webber, Secretary

THE BULLETIN

EDITOR

E. Leland Webber, Director of the Museum

CONTRIBUTING EDITORS

Paul S. Martin, Chief Curator of Anthropology

John R. Millar, Chief Curator of Botany

Rainer Zangerl, Chief Curator of Geology

Austin L. Rand, Chief Curator of Zoology

MANAGING EDITOR
Paula R. Nelson, Public Relations Counsel

ASSOCIATE EDITOR
Marilyn Jindrich, Associate in Public Relations

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

His Excellency Mahmoud Riad, Ambas-
sador of the United Arab Republic to the
United Nations, and Dr. Ahmed Fakhry,
Professor of History of Ancient Egypt and
the East at the University of Cairo, discuss
the King Tutankhamun Treasures with
guests at the preview of the exhibit held June
14. The Ambassador made a special trip from
\ew Pork to Chicago to be present at the
preview.

on page 8)

Austin L. Rand
Chief Curator
Zoology

The camouflaged inchworm in the
black-eyed susan is natural size; the
enlargement shows how the camouflage
is achieved. The flower parts — pieces
of yellow petal and black parts of the
florets — are bitten off and attached to
the pair of spines on each segment.
Silk spun by the caterpillar (and per-
haps exuded by the spines) holds the
camouflage in place. When the inch-
worm is on the "eye" of the black-eyed
susan, it is very inconspicuous. Note
the second caterpillar on the flower.

We found one of the most intri-
guing examples of camouflage in
nature in an ornamented or decorated
inchworm on the black-eyed susans in
our garden on the last weekend in Au-
gust. The weather was hot, 95° F., and
humid, and the black-eyed susans were
thriving, drinking in the sunshine and
radiating vitality, like zinnias.

This heat seems to suit insects, too,
which never have been more plentiful
than in these mid-day hours, and the
black-eyed susans were favorite places
for a host of them: — flies, some small
and metallic green, some big, dull and
brown, and many intermediate ones;
gnats of various sizes; black-spotted, red
ladybird beetles, little round, green bee-
tles with long antennae, and slender
orange and black beetles; leaf hoppers
of several shapes and colors; little grey
moths folding their wings along the
stems; a red-bodied dragonfly; grass-
hoppers, some green, some brown; bees,

A DECORATED INCHWORM \

from tiny ones to black and buff bumble
bees as big as the end of my finger; vari-
ous sizes of wasps, and winged aphids.
Such profusion of insect life feeding on
the flowers, on nectars, juices, and tis-
sues, or on each other, brought special
predators, too, such as ambush bugs
with their distinctive black markings,
which lay in wait, as did the pale, yel-
lowish white crab spiders.

Indicative of the minute animals hid-
den within the microcosm of a single
flower head, we saw tiny, insect-caused
galls on the florets, and a diminutive red
mite which came out onto a petal and,
as we saw through a lens, seemed to
scratch its venter with four of its eight
legs in quick succession before it ran
back among the florets and disappeared.

Then Mrs. Rand picked from a flower
what seemed to be a tiny mass of debris
of flower parts caught in a bit of spider
web. It proved to be an inchworm, a
half-inch long, with bits of yellow petals

and black floret parts stuck all over its
back. Imagine our delight at finding
one of these decorated insects — the cat-
erpillars of a greenish, geometrical moth
— about which we had read and won-
dered.

Last year, after having run across a
photograph of one posed on a golden-
rod, we spent several days in vain search
through a nearby goldenrod field. From
the photograph, which showed a cater-
pillar as big as a cigarette, we had not
been prepared for anything this small.
Now that we knew what to look for —
such tiny things — we soon found two
more, and installed them on flowers in
a dish where we could watch them
(Continued on next page)

August Page 7

through a reading glass.

Without their decorations these inch-
worms, despite their small size, would
still have been unusual. They were dark
brownish grey with pale grey longitudi-
nal stripes, and each of the central seg-
ments had a pair of projections. It was
to these that the yellow pieces cut from
the petals and the black pieces from the
florets of the black-eyed susans had been
stuck, presumably with silk spun by the
inchworm. The result camouflaged the
caterpillar wonderfully against the
brown-black, yellow pollen-dotted "eye"
of the flower.

Much of the time the inchworm looped
along, in its half circle pose, and browsed
on the florets as placidly as a cow in a
meadow. Once, while we watched it, it
actually broke off part of a floret and,
bending back, stuck it onto its back.
Sometimes the inch-worm's head was
liberally covered with yellow pollen
grains. The forelegs seem to come into
play here, but whether they were wiping
the pollen away or pushing it into the
caterpillar's mouth we could not tell.
Occasionally the inchworm made a
short journey out onto a petal, where it
was conspicuous against the yellow and
where it ate scallops into the edge of the
petal. But soon it would return to the
dark "eye" with which it harmonized
so well.

This type of camouflage seems as won-
derful as that of the ocean crabs which
put sponges and algae on their backs for
concealment or protection. It is quite
well known to the entomologists, but
seemed dismissed in a very perfunctory
way in some of our textbooks by ". . . the
larvae of these geometrid moths conceal
themselves by attaching bits of plants to
their backs . . .," or some such phrase.
In a more popular book with the photo-
graph I mentioned above the phenome-
non was dramatized on a scale that led
me to look for a much larger caterpillar,
one that could be watched without dif-
ficulty. When we did find it, our first
response was one of chagrin, — "is it as
tiny as this!" This well illustrates the
razor edge we try to travel when we
write of the wonderful happenings in
nature.

BATS-

{Continued from page 5)

gave up and I slept undisturbed for the
remainder of the night.

The following night, Fooden and I
slept under mosquito net shelters. Just
as the light of the lantern faded out, I
felt the bat strike my net with its wings.
Not finding an opening, it tried Fooden's
net with no more success and then flew
off to find a meal elsewhere. This bat's
quiet but efficient inspection tours be-
came routine, and one night its persist-
ence was rewarded. It found the wall
side of Jack Fooden's netting snagged
and raised just a crack above the bed-
ding of the cot. The vampire snuggled
inside and scurried on its four limbs to
the sleeper's face. Sensing the intruder,
Jack awoke with a cry, jumped out of
bed, seized a flashlight and searched for
the bat. I aided, but the alarmed ani-
mal escaped through the same opening
it had used for entering. Undismayed,
the bat hopefully continued its regular
nocturnal visits during the rest of our six-
weeks' stay on the shores of the Sara-
macca.

y>~

Bulletin drawings by E. John
Pfiffner. Cover photograph by
Joanne Evenson.

MUSEUM NEWS-

{Continued from page 6)

Children's Program

"Universe," a color motion picture
about a journey through space, will be
presented Thursday, August 9, at 10 a.m.
and 11 a.m. in the James Simpson Thea-
tre. It is the last in the Museum's sum-
mer series of free films for children. The
program will also include a cartoon,
"Romance of Transportation."

Evening Hours Continue

Summer evening hours of 9 a.m. to
8 p.m. on Wednesday, Friday, Saturday,
and Sunday will continue at the Muse-
um through Sunday, September 2. On
Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday the
Museum doors are open from 9 a.m. to
6 p.m.

The Museum's late evenings coincide
with the nights of the free Grant Park
concerts which begin at 8 p.m. Dinner
is available in the Museum's cafeteria
until 7 p.m. on these four evenings each
week. Free parking is available in the
north parking lot.

" The hungry [vampire] bat hanging nearby in watch-
Jut expectancy." Lower drawing shows skull with
"scimitar-shaped front teeth."

Vampire bats, insect eaters, fruit eat-
ers, nectar eaters, and the means they
use for getting their food are shown in
the Museum's Exhibit-of-the-Month —
"Bats, The Only Mammals That Fly"
—in Hall 15.

Page 8 August

After September 3 the Museum will
resume its fall schedule of hours — 9 a.m.
to 5 p.m. seven days a week.

In Memoriam

The Museum reports with regret the
death of Cornelius Crane, Museum
Benefactor, who died on July 9 at the
age of 57 in his summer home in Belfast,
Maine. Mr. Crane was the son of
Richard T. Crane, Jr., former Museum
Trustee, and a grandson of Harlow N.
Higginbotham, Museum President from
1898 to 1908.

In 1928 and 1929, Mr. Crane led an
eleven months' expedition to the south
seas for the Museum, for which his brig-
antine yacht, Illyria, was fitted out with a
scientific laboratory. The late Karl P.
Schmidt, former Chief Curator of the
Department of Zoology, accompanied
the expedition as scientific leader. More
than 6,000 zoological specimens were
collected by Mr. Crane and his party in
the Caribbean and in the Pacific. Upon
his return, Mr. Crane was named a
Museum Benefactor by vote of the Board
of Trustees.

PRINTED BY CHICAGO NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM PRESS

CHICAGO
NATURAL
HISTORY
MUSEUM

Desmids: Some of the "jewels

from Lake Michigan featured

in September's exhibit-of-the-

month.

VOL. 33 NO. 9
SEPTEMBER 1962

FEATURED EXHIBIT FOR SEPTEMBER

Cladophora: A widely
distributed green alga.

There are many marvels in the world
of plant life. It is very difficult to
see and appreciate many of these, how-
ever, because they are located in distant
places, are rare, or are too small to be
seen without a microscope. Chicagoans
are fortunate to have at hand, in Lake
Michigan, one of the most marvelous
forms of life, the microscopic algae, which
abound in these waters in a variety diffi-
cult to imagine — and to have in the
Museum, in the Hall of Plant Life, a
series of enlarged glass models, hand-
blown with exquisite skill to illustrate
the principal groups of bacteria and al-
gae. These exhibits bring into view, as
though one were peering at them through
a microscope, details of form and color
in a variety of these tiny plants which
directly or indirectly are involved in our
daily lives. It is in overcoming such
difficulties of size, distance, time, and
situation that Museum exhibits serve
their most useful educational purpose.

Among members of the plant world
which form a large part of the free swim-
ming or floating organisms called plank-
ton, are the diatoms: tiny, one-celled
algae from 1/5000 of an inch in diam-
eter up to the size of a pin head. Despite
their small size, they have an unusual
beauty scarcely equalled by any other
form of life in the intricate markings,
headings, and designs borne by their ex-
terior cell wall of silica. For this reason,
diatoms are often called the "jewels of
the waters." The outer layer of silica
is as indestructible as glass or quartz.
Among the great variety of forms we can
find disc shapes, with radial or concen-
tric designs, canoe shapes, triangles,
quadrangles, and other geometric forms.
Sometimes diatoms live free as single
units, or they may be united in long fila-

Page 2 September

ments set end to end at opposite corners
to resemble a complicated game of dom-
inoes, or they may be joined together lat-
erally like shells in a cartridge belt. In
addition to beauty of design and unique
form is the attraction of their golden
color. When sunlight strikes shallow
water containing diatoms the water ap-
pears to glow with a golden light, be-
cause in addition to the green chloro-
phyll common to all algae, diatoms
have a brown pigment which masks the
chlorophyll and produces the golden
color.

These ornamented little gems possess
a special and intriguing method of move-
ment which is one of the most unique in
the natural world. Without the aid of
either flagellae or cilia, which are com-
mon to other motile unicellular forms,
the diatoms appear to use a slow-motion
form of jet propulsion achieved by ex-
pelling a mucilaginous substance which
propels them forward.

Diatoms are a major source of food for
all animals living in water, beginning a
nutritional chain when, with the aid of
sunlight, they build organic matter by
photosynthesis. Diatoms are eaten by
very small crustaceans; these are de-

MIC]
Lai

voured by small fishes and by larger
crustaceans; these in turn are eaten by
larger fishes, which may be caught by
man. Therefore, the chain of life begun
by the diatoms is ended in the frying
pan of a lucky fisherman.

Diatom "shells" form large deposits
known as diatomaceous earth, which is
used in many ways — in insulating and
sound-proofing materials, paints, filters,
toothpaste, and polishing powders, to
name only a few. Although some of us
may think that we and the diatoms lead
separate lives, we are actually quite close,
as there are many diatoms not only in
our bird baths and fish tanks but we also
brush our teeth with diatoms and take
baths with diatoms!

The diatoms are not the only wonders
offered us by Lake Michigan. There
are the flagellates, which present char-
acters of both the animal and the plant
world, to such an extent that it is impos-
sible to decide to which of the two great
groups in which man has divided the
living world these belong. For instance,
in comparing a cat and a daisy, it is easy
to apply our classification keys and de-
cide which is plant and which is animal.
Such keys, however, do not easily apply

fOSCOPIC PLANTS:

Michigi

)

ans

"Jewels

»

PATRICIO PONCE DE LEON
ASSISTANT CURATOR, CRYPTOGAMIC HERBARIUM

to this minute organism, for man's meth-
ods of classifying living material were
made before he encountered this form
of life. Therefore, in observing the spe-
cialities oiEuglena viridis (a flagellate rep-
resented in our exhibit) we find that it
contains chlorophyll as do most plants,
that it moves about as do most animals
(and some plants), and that it feeds at
times as an animal does but at other
times as a plant, manufacturing its own
food with the aid of sunlight. Thus
flagellates represent a generalized way
of life that many plants and all animals
still retain at some stage of their life
cycles: the one-celled flagellate form.

Among the numerous other forms of
microscopic plant life in the waters of
our lake are green algae, many of them
having unusual shapes that might have
inspired the futuristic painters (see Scene-
desmus and Staurastrum in our exhibit).
One of the most important of the green
algae, Chlorella, has become almost in-
dispensable in physiological research
laboratories because it is easy to obtain,
to handle, and control, and exhibits very
rapid reproduction and growth. It was
chosen by Dr. Melvin Calvin and his
associates at the Radiation Laboratory

of the University of California as the
green plant to be used in their efforts to
uncover one of nature's most closely
guarded secrets — the intermediate steps
in photosynthesis. In addition, this di-
minutive alga has been considered as a
possible solution to the problem of feed-
ing the world's starving millions, as it
can produce annually an estimated 20
tons of food per acre as compared with
1 to 2]/2 tons per acre produced by corn.
In one day's time Chlorella can double
its weight, using only the most simple
materials and sunlight, and thus may
well be the hope of future humanity.

In the shallow water of Lake Michi-
gan's quiet areas are found the so-called
"blue-green" algae, a group that has
characteristics of very primitive organ-
isms. Like bacteria, they have no or-
ganized nucleus; in fact, in some blue-
greens there is no evidence of any struc-
ture resembling a nucleus. Reproduction
takes place by simple division. They do
have chlorophyll, enabling them to man-
ufacture food as do other algae, but it is
masked by a blue pigment. They, along
with some of the bacteria, are able to
utilize free nitrogens in their manufac-
ture of food, which other algae cannot

do. They can live alone or in colonies.
These colonies may appear as filaments,
or may form large gelatinous masses,
such as Nostoc. Some genera move about
by means of oscillation, turning from
one side to the other, but the remainder
of the genera are not motile.

On the lake bottom in shallow water
can be observed many filaments of green
color which belong to the sedentary
green algae. Among them we find the
common Oedogonium whose various stages
are clearly illustrated in our exhibit;
Ulothrix, which literally carpets the shal-
lows of all of the Great Lakes and is re-
sponsible for the green appearance of
Niagara Falls; Cladophora, which has the
largest world distribution of any fila-
mentous alga and forms great masses
known as "lake balls"; and Spirogyra, or
"water silk," with its ribbon-like chloro-
plasts interlaced in a spiral form, result-
ing in such great beauty as often to mo-
nopolize the attention of the students
using a microscope. Another green alga
is Hydrodichtyon, or "water-net," which
forms colonies in the shape of a mesh
bag. The net or mesh is made by the
conjunction of many individuals at cer-
tain points to form pentagons and hex-
agons. Although Hydrodichtyon is very
widely distributed throughout the world,
it is also "rare" in the sense that it oc-
curs only in isolated or locally limited
spots — for example, one population may
occur in South Africa, another in Si-
beria, another in Argentina, and one in
Illinois.

Of course we have to tolerate a few
inconveniences which accompany these
marvelous algae — that fishy taste and
smell of the water in the summer months
is attributed to oily food reserves built
up by diatoms and by the flagellate
Dinobryum instead of starchy food re-
serves commonly built by other plants.
The large colonies formed in our lake
by these organisms may clog filters of
pumping stations of the city water sup-
ply. However, when we consider our
pleasure in their beauty, their great use-
fulness in numerous manufactured prod-
ucts, and in our research laboratories,
the slight difficulties they may cause are
far outweighed by the many benefits
afforded us by these micro-organisms
with which we are closely associated in
our daily lives.

September Page 3

CHICAGO
NATURAL
HISTORY
MUSEUM

In Memoriam

The Museum regretfully reports the
death on July 18 of Dr. Wilfrid D. Ham-
bly, Curator of African Ethnology from
1926 to 1952. The noted anthropologist
died in Chicago at the age of 75.

Born in Clayton, Yorkshire, England,
Dr. Hambly was educated at Hartley
University College and at Oxford Uni-
versity. He began his career as a teacher
of biology, turning later to the field of
ethnology. In 1913 he joined the Anglo-
Egyptian Sudan Archaeological Expe-
dition as member for the Wellcome His-
torical Museum of London. Following
the first world war, during which he
served in the British Royal Naval Divi-
sion, he became a lecturer in biology at
Eastham Technical College and a re-
search worker for the Industrial Research
Board in London. Dr. Hambly came to
the United States in 1926 to join the staff
of the Museum. Subsequently he be-
came an American citizen.

Dr. Hambly's 26 years of association
with the Museum were distinguished by
many noteworthy contributions to the
field of African ethnology. In 1929-30
he was leader of the Frederick H. Lawson
West African Expedition which explored
the vast area of Angola and Nigeria.
The collections that he brought back,
representing many tribes of both coun-
tries, form a large part of the exhibits in
the Museum's Hall of African Ethnol-
ogy. In addition, Dr. Hambly's African
studies resulted in a number of scientific
papers published by the Museum, as
well as many popular books and articles
for both children and adults. In recog-
nition of his scholarly research in the
field of African ethnology, Dr. Hambly
was awarded the degree of Doctor of
Science by Oxford University.

After his retirement, Dr. Hambly con-
tinued his intellectual pursuits, returning
often to the Museum. His gentle, warm
personality will be greatly missed.

Resignation

Allen S. Liss has resigned as Custodian
of Collections for the Department of
Anthropology to accept an appointment

Page k September

as Curator of the Museum of Natural
History of the State University of Iowa.
A graduate of the University of Chicago,
Liss had been a member of the staff of
Chicago Natural History Museum since
1955. While associated with the Mu-
seum he cooperated with the Illinois
Archaeological Survey in numerous ex-
cavations of prehistoric Indian sites
throughout the State of Illinois. His
new appointment at the State Univer-
sity of Iowa will include the teaching of
courses in museology.

Replacing Liss is Mr. Christopher
Legge, who joins the Museum's staff
after 23 years with the British Colonial
Service in Fiji.

Legge was born in London, England,
and received his bachelor's and master's
degrees from Cambridge University.
After graduating with honors he stayed
on at the university to participate in a
special preparatory program for the Co-
lonial Service. His first assignment was
in Nigeria, where he remained from
1928 to 1934. In 1938 he re-entered
the British Colonial Service for duty in
Fiji, where he remained as Commis-
sioner until 1961.

Legge has long been interested in an-
thropology and is currently engaged,
with Professor J. W. Davidson of the
Australian National University, in re-
search on the life of John Jackson, an
Englishman who lived with the natives
of Fiji in the 1840's.

Research-in-Progress

A 200-year-old research project initi-
ated by King Charles III of Spain in the
mid-1 700's was brought near to comple-
tion this summer at Chicago Natural
History Museum.

The project began when the Spanish
king charged a Royal Botanical Expedi-
tion to New Spain with the task of sur-
veying the natural resources of his do-
mains in North America, and especially
in Mexico. The principal botanists of
the expedition, Dr. Martin Sesse y La-
casta, a Spaniard, and D. Jose Mariano
Mocino, a native of Mexico, visited
many parts of Mexico and the West In-

dies between 1788 and 1804. They
amassed a large collection of approxi-
mately 7,700 herbarium specimens, rep-
resenting many species new to science.

The two botanists never published the
results of their work, however, and most
of their collection remained unstudied
in Madrid until 1936, when the speci-
mens were loaned to this Museum to be
mounted and identified. This work was
begun by Dr. Paul C. Standley, at that
time Curator of the Herbarium, and was
continued with frequent and long inter-
ruptions until his retirement in 1950.
In 1959, Dr. Rogers McVaugh, Mu-
seum Research Associate in Vascular
Plants and a member of the faculty of
the University of Michigan, undertook
to prepare a critical catalogue of the
collection as corollary to his own work
on a flora of western Mexico.

This summer Dr. McVaugh spent a

(<

MIGF

At this time of year, when we can set
to take wing for the south's warmer dim
for children called "Migration."

The Journey focuses on insects, fisl
movements east, west, north, south — and
from mountain to plain; from cold clii
Journey will learn where the monarch 1
migration of sea lampreys differs from the
fishes migrate; what bird "fly ways" pass
flight during the year; where the black w
the migrating buffalo in the years before

Children (and families, too!) wishing
at the north and south doors of the Must
Journey has been completed, the filled
boxes provided at each Museum entranc
applied toward the Museum's Journey i
fall Journey on "Migration" will contin

month at the Museum to further the
work of identifying, listing, and anno-
tating specimens and preparing a final
report on the botanical survey begun
two centuries ago. As soon as final
checking of literature and duplicate
specimens in European herbaria can be
accomplished, the specimens will be re-
turned to Spain — as a much more valu-
able, usable, and botanically important
collection than King Charles knew.

Staff Notes

Mr. William D. Turnbull, Assistant
Curator of Mammals, recently returned
from a reconnaissance trip to Montana,
Wyoming, and Colorado in search of
new Mesozoic and earliest Tertiary fos-
sil mammal localities. He examined a
number of Jurassic formations in these
western states, including the Morrison
formation, which produced the earliest

NEW FALL
JOURNEY

TION"

march butterflies and some birds beginning
he Museum is featuring a new fall Journey

birds, and mammals, and their seasonal
in up and down; from salt water to fresh;
;s to warm. Children who complete the
erflies go at the end of summer; how the
sonal travels of birds and mammals; which
:r Chicago; which bird makes the longest

moth is often found; what people followed
western plains were settled.

take the Journey may obtain questionnaires
and at the Information Booth. When the
questionnaires should be dropped in the
Each child's questionnaire is recorded and
rd Program held twice a year. The new
hrough November.

known mammal materials from the New
World. Similar prospecting in several
Cretaceous formations yielded fossil
mammal materials from the Dakota,
Mesa Verde, and Lance formations and
from a new locality in the Hell Creek
formation (a Lance formation equiva-
lent). Greatest success was achieved at
the Tongue River formation, a new Late
Paleocene locality in Central North Da-
kota. There an extensive number of
small fossil mammal materials were col-
lected, thanks to the lead and friendly
assistance of the site's discoverers, Dr.
and Mrs. Edmund Vinje, of Hazen,
North Dakota. At the site, pantodonts,
carnivores, condylarths, multitubercu-
lates, marsupials, and insectivores were
recognized, and it is quite likely that at
least eight or ten orders will be distin-
guished in the collection when it is
studied.

D. Dwight Davis, Curator of Verte-
brate Anatomy at Chicago Natural His-
tory Museum, is one of twelve nationally
recognized scholars who lectured at
Harvard University during August at a
summer institute on the teaching of com-
parative anatomy. Attending the six-
weeks' institute sponsored by the Na-
tional Science Foundation were 40 col-
lege teachers selected from academic
institutions in various parts of the United
States. Purpose of the institute was to
review and to re-evaluate the teaching
of comparative anatomy. Davis pre-
sented five lectures on the history of the
concepts used in this scientific field.

Chicago Natural History Museum

Founded by Marshall Field, 1893

Roosevelt Road and Lake Shore Drive, Chicago 5

Telephone: WAbash 2-9410

THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES

Five members of the Museum's scien-
tific staff were among a group of scholars
selected to conduct the "Science for the
Citizen" lecture series presented this
summer by the Chicago Academy of
Science. The lecturers were: Mr. D.
Dwight Davis, Curator of Vertebrate
Anatomy, Dr. Joseph C. Moore, Cura-
tor of Mammals, Dr. Louis O. Williams,
Curator of Central American Botany,
William D. Turnbull, Curator of Verte-
brate Paleontology, and Dr. Rupert R.
Wenzel, Curator of Entomology.

Lester Armour
Wm. McCormick Blair
Bowen Blair
Walter J. Cutnmings
Joseph N. Field
Marshall Field, Jr.
Stanley Field
Clifford C. Gregg
Samuel Insull, Jr.
Henry P. Isham

J. Howard

William V. Kahlcr
Hughston M. McBain
J. Roscoe Miller
William H. Mitchell
John T. Pirie, Jr.
John Shedd Reed
John G. Searle
John M. Simpson
Solomon A. Smith
Louis Ware
Wood

OFFICERS

Stanley Field, Chairman of the Board

Clifford C. Gregg, President

Hughston M. McBain, First Vice-President

Joseph N. Field, Second Vice-President

Bowen Blair, Third Vice-President

Solomon A. Smith, Treasurer and Assistant Secretary

E. Leland Webber, Secretary

THE BULLETIN

EDITOR

E. Leland Webber, Director of the Museum

CONTRIBUTING EDITORS

Paul S. Martin, Chief Curator of Anthropology

John R. Millar, Chief Curatot of Botany

Rainer Zangerl, Chief Curator of Geology

Austin L. Rand, Chief Curator of Zoology

MANAGING EDITOR
Paula R. Nelson, Public Relations Counsel

ASSOCIATE EDITOR

Marilyn Jindrich, Associate in Public Relations

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

This summer zoologists from all over
the world have been convening in vari-
ous cities in the United States to exchange
ideas, compare notes, and to discuss cur-
rent and future research in their particu-
lar zoological specialties. Representing
the Museum at the meetings of the Amer-
ican Society of Mammalogists held late
in June at Middlebury, Vermont, were
Dr. Joseph C. Moore, Curator of Mam-
mals, and Mr. Philip Hershkovitz, Re-
search Curator. In Ithaca, New York,
Dr. Austin L. Rand, Chief Curator of
Zoology, Mr. Emmet R. Blake, Curator
of Birds, and Mr. Melvin A. Traylor,
Associate Curator of Birds, participated
in the XHIth International Ornitho-
logical Congress.

At the conclusion of the Ithaca meet-
{Continued on page 8)

September Page 5

EDWARD J. OLSEN
CURATOR, MINERALOGY

FIG. 1

For most of us the lure of piecing to-
gether a jigsaw puzzle is irresistible.
It taxes our ingenuity, completely ab-
sorbs our attention, measures our ability
to visualize forms, and, above all, it
pleases our inherent belief that there is

Page 6 September

a pattern to all things and that the
simplest, most straightforward way of
putting things together is probably the
right way.

Unknown to most people is the fact
that even today work is being done on a
jigsaw puzzle of the grandest proportions
imaginable. The puzzle itself was "man-
ufactured" about 150 million years ago.
Even the ancient Greeks, however, who
were admirably aware of most of the rid-
dles and puzzles of our physical world,
didn't see this one. The reason? They
were standing on it !

pie geographical similarity there would
have to be grave geological, paleonto-
logical, and biological implications.
However, as Wegener's opponents and
critics have pointed out, he was often
overzealous to the point that he was
guilty of playing heavily upon evidence
in favor of the idea and disregarding
evidence contrary to it. So that the
reader will not be misled, the writer
will outline, briefly, evidence on both
sides of the question.

In Fig. 1A we see a reconstruction of
the "original" continent, Pangaea, as

AT SEA ON A CC

Perhaps the first person to notice it
was Francis Bacon in 1620. By that time
the first, approximately accurate maps
of the Atlantic Ocean had been made.
Bacon commented on the remarkable
similarity in shape of the western coast-
line of Europe and Africa and the east-
ern coastline of North and South Amer-
ica. They appear to lock together like
the pieces of a gigantic jigsaw puzzle
(Fig. 1 A). Since that time, as maps have
improved in their accuracy, this same
feature has been noted by other reput-
able men, including the famous French
zoologist, Georges Buffon (1780), the
U.S. astronomer, Edward C. Pickering
(1880), and the German geophysist, Al-
fred Wegener (1900).

By and large, the observation was re-
garded only as an interesting coinci-
dence. To Wegener, however, it was
something more than a simple curiosity.
He made the obvious proposition that
the continents of the world were once a
large, single mass, and that at some time
in the past they split apart and the
granitic continents "drifted" away from
each other on top of the underlying
mantle rocks to the positions in which
we find them today. This he called the
hypothesis of continental drift.

Wegener spent the remaining thirty
years of his life gathering evidence for
this hypothesis. Over and above the sim-

Wegener visualized it. (Because this is a
flat map projection some of the shapes
are necessarily distorted. In order to
view it correctly one would have to use
a globe.) Note that the correspondence
between the actual (above water) coast-
lines is not exact. This is to be expected.
Each continent has, projecting from its
coast, a gradually sloping shelf, which is
under water but still a part of the con-
tinent. The shelf finally drops offsharply
to the oceanic deeps. Thus it is the out-
lines of the continents out to their shelf
edges that should fit together reasonably
well. And in fact, as our knowledge of
the shapes of continental shelves in-
creases the correspondence becomes bet-
ter and better. From Fig. 1 A we see that
Australia, India, Africa, and South
America all come together, with Ant-
arctica in the center at the southern
end of the continent. In the north, Eu-
rope and North America fit together,
with Greenland in between.

In geology the notion of relative time
is used to place past events and the ages
of rocks. For example, Carboniferous is
the name given to rocks and events older
than the Permian. The Permian is older
than the Triassic; the Triassic is older
than the Jurassic, and so on. Thus if a
large fault (fracture) disjoints a series of
Permian and Triassic layers but does not
affect Jurassic layers overlying them, we

know that the fault occurred some time
in the Triassic and before the Jurassic.
The same kind of reasoning is true of
flexures (folds) in rocks.

Looking at a series of folds in Africa
it is possible to date them as lower Trias-
sic. In Fig. 2, the lines A, B, and C mark
the axes of three of these large folds. At
present they go right up to the coast and
stop. However, if one were to move
South America adjacent to Africa these
three folds would be found to continue
right on into South America. What is
more, the latter folds are lower Triassic

NTINENT!

in age also!

In North America the Appalachian
Mountains first show themselves in west-
ern Georgia and wend northeastward as
a chain of high ridges up through Ver-
mont, eastern Quebec, and Newfound-
land. At the northern coast of that is-
land they show no signs of waning in
size or gradually flattening out. They
simply stop dead at the coast. By mov-
ing our jigsaw puzzle piece called North
America into its interlocking position
with the piece called Europe, we find
that the Appalachians connect neatly
onto the Caledonian Mountains of Eng-
land and Scotland, continuing on to
Norway and up to Spitzbergen. Further-
more, the ages of the folding that warped
up these mountains on both sides of the
Atlantic are the same.

Similarly, the swampy fern forests of
the Carboniferous are evident today
from the vast deposits of coal that run
from Illinois through Pennsylvania, as
well as through England, northern
France, Germany, Poland, and the east-
ern U.S.S.R. Furthermore, ores of some
precious metals common to South Africa
are found in similar formations in Argen-
tina, Antarctica, India, and Australia.

Over the past one hundred years, pa-
leontologists and biologists have often
struggled with the problems presented
by the known distribution of various

animals and plants, both extinct and
presently alive. The extinct plants of
the Glossoptera group occur as fossils in
rocks of the same age in Africa, South
America, and India. Several families of
worms and scorpions currently show dis-
tributions over southern South America,
South Africa, India, and eastern Aus-
tralia. Some primitive plants and fresh-
water fishes are found as fossils in the
(Devonian) Old Red Sandstone of Eng-
land. In New York State the (Devonian)
Catskill Formation is strikingly similar
to the Old Red and carries the same
fossil groups. Perhaps the most out-
standing example is the primitive rep-
tile, Mesosaurus, which exhibits distinct
physical characteristics and shows no
clear relationship to later reptile groups.
Its fossil remains are confined solely
to Permian rocks in Brazil and South
Africa.

If the continents were not once an
interlocking mass, in order to account
for these fossil distributions it would be
necessary to postulate, at various times
in the past, a series of land bridges, or
strings of closely spaced islands, criss-
crossing the Atlantic in order to permit
the intercontinental migration of animals
and plants which, though closely related,
are now found an ocean apart. Indeed,
many biologists, geologists, and paleon-
tologists who are severe critics of con-
tinental drift have suggested such
bridges. However, when they are pin-
ned down concerning where these
bridges connected and when they rose
and sank, they become vague and non-
committal. From a geophysical point
of view such bridges are virtually im-
possible.

From the mass of data which has been
accumulated by Wegener and his follow-
ers one could go on presenting evidence
to support the hypothesis of continental
drift. For our purposes, we must be con-
tent with the brief resume presented
above and go on to look at the other
side of the question.

The opponents of continental drift
point out that the forces required to
move masses are so large that they would
have caused a major catastrophe in the
earth's orbital motion. There is no evi-
dence of such a world-wide catastrophe
in the geologic record. For example, a
force sufficient to move America west-

ward by 50 degrees of longitude in 30
million years would be sufficient to halt
the earth's rotation in one year.

Moreover, if one looks at the occur-
rences of modern plants of the dogwood
family (the genus, Cornus), their distribu-
tion is found to be eastern North Ameri-
ica, southern China, and New Zealand !
If this kind of scattered distribution is
possible today, it should not be difficult
to conceive of ancient plants and ani-
mals being distributed in South America
and Africa, or North America and Eu-
rope, without these continents necessar-
ily having been joined together.

On the basis of fossil evidence Wegener

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concluded that the actual split took place
sometime late in the Triassic or early in
the Jurassic, or about 1 50 million years
ago (Figs. IB, 1C). Some of his oppon-
ents, however, claim that sediments col-
lected from the Atlantic Ocean bottom
are older than Triassic. If so, the Atlan-
tic must have been open ocean prior
to the time when Wegener concluded
that it was supposed to have formed.

So the contest goes on even today.
Perhaps the most significant part of the
dispute is that concerning the rate of
continental movement. In principle,
the Americas need not have drifted 50
degrees to the west of Eurasia-Africa,
but, rather, each block could have
drifted about 25 degrees of longitude
each way from what is now the central
Atlantic. Thus any tendency for the
Americas to stop the earth's rotation
presumably would have been more than
compensated by the Eurasian-African
block going in the other direction. In
fact, because of the larger mass of the
latter, the earth would have sped up to
a fantastic rate if both blocks had moved
at the same rate away from the center!

September Page 7

Furthermore, if the theory of conti-
nental drift is correct, there is no reason
to assume that the drifting motion would
have ceased. It is presumably going on
today. To test this supposition, Weg-
ener's modern proponents have searched
and sifted vast amounts of data covering
surveys made over the past 100 years of
points all over the world. Some of their
conclusions are quite interesting. From
1823 to 1933 a small island near Green-
land called Sabine Island has been sur-
veyed four times by different men. Its
longitude shows a westward shift of
about 1300 feet, or about 13 feet per
year. Similarly, observations of longi-
tude were made at Godthaab in west
Greenland by three surveyors on three
occasions from 1863 to 1922. Their re-
sults show an apparent average shift
westward of about 1 2 feet per year. The
gap between Washington, D.C., and
Paris. France, appears to be increasing by
about one inch per year. Madagascar,
on the other hand, shows an apparent
motion of a few inches per year in an
easterly direction.

The modern opponents of continental
drift point out, quite rightly, that one
cannot compare 100-year-old surveys
with modern surveys. The older deter-
minations of longitude were subject to
large errors, and all of the supposed
shifts are within standard allowances for
observational error. The defenders of
continental drift, on the other hand,
point out that such errors are so-called
"plus or minus" errors. That is, they
could be in either direction, east or west.
If one were to look at enough data one
would expect to find as many apparent
shifts, due to errors, in an easterly as well
as a westerly direction. However, all
"errors" in studies of movement of the
Americas (including Greenland, as well
as other localities)are to the west. Stud-
ies of Madagascar and Africa show "er-
rors" to the east, just as they should if
these land masses are presumed to be
drifting eastward.

At the present time, several groups
are working on accurate determinations
of longitude to find out if such shifts are
really taking place. The present tech-
niques use very accurately timed radio
signals, which are subject only to very
small error. Navigational satellites will
also help immeasurably in this kind of

Page 8 September

work. Oceanographers are currently at-
tempting to obtain good samples from
the deep Atlantic to determine the age
of the oldest sediment on its bottom.

The idea of continental drift admits of
no middle ground of opinion. Either con-
tinents drift, or they don't. Thus the hy-
pothesis has strong defenders and strong
opponents. Some of the best minds in
modern geology and geophysics are on
each side of the dispute. In reality, data
on the physical properties of the earth's
mantle and its granitic crustal conti-
nents are not good enough, even today,
to say whether continental drift is phys-
ically possible or impossible.

We do know, however, that it is pos-
sible for large pieces of continental rock
to move limited distances. For example,
in California there is the famous San
Andreas fault, which runs through cen-
tral California and under the city of San
Francisco. The fault is gradually cutting
off the southwest side of California and
sliding it northwestward. By matching
up rocks on either side of the fault it is
known that the southwestern block has
moved some 100 miles northwestward.
As opponents of continental drift point
out, however, 100 miles is a fairly small
distance in contrast to the distances
whole continents are supposed to have
moved under the Wegener hypothesis.

At the present time the solution to the
problem can only be viewed as a
matter of opinion until there is quanti-
tative data one way or the other. Strong
opinions, unfortunately, often take the
form of jibing jokes designed to ridicule
the opposition. Opponents of conti-
nental drift enjoy telling a small fiction
about an eminent geologist who was an
ardent proponent of the hypothesis.
This gentleman, one day, was rowing a
boat along the African coast. As he ap-
proached a protruding ledge of rock he
observed that it contained a fossil fish.
Unfortunately, only the tail end of the
fish remained. Quickly he took out his
Wegenerian map of old Pangaea and
found the corresponding point on the
South American coast. He turned his
rowboat around and rowed across the
Atlantic to that place. Sure enough,
there was a ledge of the same kind of
rock, and in it he found the head of the
fossil fish. Only one trouble — it was up-
side down !

MUSEUM NEWS

(Continued from page 5)

ings several ornithologists from other
countries traveled to Chicago to study
this Museum's bird collections. Mr.
C. W. Benson, of the Game and Fish-
eries Department, Chilanga, Northern
Rhodesia, returned with Traylor, who
recently spent seven months in Northern
Rhodesia collecting birds and mam-
mals. Other foreign ornithologists who
visited the Museum are: Mr. Rudyerd
Boulton, Atlantica Foundation, Salis-
bury, Southern Rhodesia; Mr. Jean
Dorst, Museum National d'Histoire Nat-
urelle, Paris; Dr. Ernst Shiiz, Lud wigs-
burg, Germany.

Dr. Donald Collier, Curator of South
American Archaeology and Ethnology,
attended the annual meetings of the
Central States Anthropological Society
in St. Louis.

Mrs. Paula R. Nelson, Public Rela-
tions Counsel, has been appointed co-
chairman of the Science Assembly of the
Adult Education Council. The Science
Assembly will plan programs on science
topics for members of the Council and
the general public during the coming
months.

Mrs. Nelson has also been appointed
to the Awards Committee of the Pub-
licity Club of Chicago.

Dr. Louis O. Williams, Curator of
Central American Botany, attended the
recent Neotropical Botanical Conference
sponsored by the National Science Foun-
dation at the Imperial College of Trop-
ical Agriculture of the University of the
West Indies in Trinidad. The confer-
ence was attended by botanists repre-
senting several countries in the neotropics
as well as by specialists from American
institutions where botanical research has
a strong neotropical orientation. Dr.
Williams reports that a beginning was
made looking toward an integrated re-
search program which it may be hoped
will bring greater knowledge to bear on
problems of that vast region where nearly
half of the peoples of the Americas live.

PRINTED BY CHICAGO NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM PRESS

CHICAGO'
NATURAL!
HISTORY vu.33
MUSEUM 0ci<j<*

J\To. JO
4962

OCTOBER 19 - DECEMBER 9

THE ART OF BENIN

THE ART OF

BENIN

Left: Bronze head. Con-
sidered to be an early
example of Benin bronze
casting (perhaps 15th Cen-
tury). The pupils of the
eyes and the two strips at
the center of the forehead
are iron.
Height, 734 inches.

Phillip H. Lewis
Curator, Primitive Art

Cover: Bronze ornamental mask.

The pupils of the eye are iron and

a chased copper strip runs down

the nose. The mask was worn as a

personal ornament, hanging at the

hip.

Height, 734 inches.

Photographs by the Division
of Photography.

All illustrations are from the
Fuller Collection.

Paae 2 OCTOBER

Art often establishes a bridge between peoples of diverse ways of life.
i Not dependent upon spoken or written language, art appeals directly
to all men. Visual images that are created and displayed are perceived
and, to some degree, understood. Although we do not always know all
the meanings and implications that these images hold for the people for
whom they are made, often the images are clear enough so that they seem
familiar to us.

The art of Benin, to be featured in a special exhibition starting Octo-
ber 19th and scheduled to run until December 9th, often projects such
familiarity to those seeing it for the first time. It is a fairly naturalistic
art style, and there is little doubt as to what is being depicted. People,
clearly recognizable as Africans or as Europeans, various animals and
implements, all are represented in the art objects.

This recognition of subject matter helps us to feel comfortable in the
presence of Benin art, but there is another, less apparent point of famili-
arity, also. Benin art is not primitive art; rather, it is art arising in a
society in many ways comparable to European societies, with a king, a
court, and guilds of artists and artisans. Thus it was made under cir-
cumstances similar to much of the art with which we are more familiar.

Of course, there are unknown meanings and contexts of Benin art,
for experts as well as for laymen. In spite of this, the viewer of Benin
art feels more recognition than mystery. In primitive art, on the other
hand, one feels that the subject matter is less understandable, that the
styles are more bizarre, that there is more of terror, mystery, and the
supernatural involved in the art.

It was not until after 1897 that Benin art was seriously considered by
Europeans, although the Kingdom of Benin had been known in Europe
since 1485, when the Portuguese first visited it. It is possible that a few
objects of Benin art found their way to Europe before 1897, but only after
the tragic events leading up to and including the Punitive Expedition of
1897, mounted by the British against the Kingdom of Benin, did the art
burst into the consciousness of Europeans.

Three factors were important in the quick acceptance of and great
interest in Benin art. First, there was the excitement generated by the
military action and the acquisition of art objects as spoils of war. Second,
in the late 1 890's and the first decades of the 20th Century several large
museums had either just started (as in the case of this Museum) or were
actively building collections, and consequently were eager to acquire new
finds on the market. A third and important factor is a complex one that
can only be mentioned here: namely, that the atmosphere of rapidly
changing tastes, standards, and styles in the world of European art was
very receptive to the acceptance of many new art forms, and Benin art
was included among these.

The exhibition combines the Museum's Benin collection with the large
and important Benin collection of the late Captain A. W. F. Fuller, which
has been generously loaned to Chicago Natural History Museum by Mrs.
Fuller. The 329 pieces on display comprise the largest exhibition of
Benin art ever shown in this country, and perhaps in the world. A fine
early bronze head has also been loaned to the exhibition by the City Art
Museum of St. Louis.

In planning this special exhibition, the Museum has been especially
fortunate in having the assistance of Dr. Philip J. C. Dark, Professor of
Anthropology at Southern Illinois University. Dr. Dark's knowledge of
Benin and its art, and his work in the Benin History Scheme, have
helped to make the exhibition an authoritative one. Dr. Dark is the
author of the catalogue of the exhibition.

Above fight: Bronze plaque. A unique feature
of this plaque is the representation of two Euro-
peans with such disparity between their sizes.
Bronze plaques were used to decorate the inte-
rior walls of important buildings.
Height, 1634 inches.

Center: Terracotta head. Heads of terracotta are
rare in Benin art.
Height, 10$$ inches.

Right: Bronze pendant plaque. A European is
depicted riding a horse. Pendant plaques were
worn as personal ornaments.
Height, 644 inches.

October Page 3

The Museum's fall series of illustrated
lectures for adults invites attention
to both the American continent and
Europe. Programs will be presented in
the James Simpson Theatre on Saturday
afternoons during October and Novem-
ber. All of the motion pictures are in
color and are narrated in person by their
nationally known producers. Lectures
begin at 2 : 30 p.m.; reserved seats will be
held for members until 2 :25 p.m.

October 6

AUSTRIA

Alfred Wolff

Noted for friendliness, beauty, and
charm, Austria has long been a favorite
of travelers abroad. The background
for Alfred Wolffs film is the memorable
scenery of the country — its peaceful val-

Page i October

leys, picturesque villages set against
jagged mountain ridges, romantic cas-
tles and sumptuous gardens, and, of
course, the beautiful blue Danube. High-
lights of the program are film clips of the
1961 meeting in Vienna between Presi-
dent Kennedy and Premier Nikita Krush-
chev, and the glittering Concordia Ball,
Viennese social event of the year. The
film includes a stop at a theater-on-the-
sea in Bregenz, and attendance at a
noble wedding in an ancient castle.

October 13
CENTRAL AMERICA

Dwight Nichols

Linking North and South America is
the Central American group of republics,
a vital and historic portion of the west-
ern hemisphere. Guatemala, Honduras,

PRESE

of

F

Adult

El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and
the crossroads nation of Panama can
claim the unusual distinction of being
located between two great continents
and two great oceans. In these coun-
tries corn was first produced, and from
them also come mahogany, most of the
world's bananas, and a wealth of gold,
silver, and copper. The heritage of
Aztecs, Mayas, and Spanish conquista-
dores is seen today in Central America's
architecture and customs. And like the
varied population it supports, the Cen-
tral American landscape presents many
"faces" — ancient ruins, jungles, smoking
volcanoes, the Panama Canal and the
scenic glories of the Pan-American High-
way.

October 20

CHILDREN IN CACTUS LAND

Paul D. R. Ruthling

The education of a naturalist's chil-
dren living in our southwestern Indian
country presents quite a contrast to the
education usually acquired in the large
eastern and midwestern cities of the
United States. Paul D. R. Ruthling
gives a sensitive description of "growing
up" in the Southwest in a first-hand film
account of the daily life of his two little
daughters on a 560-acre ranch border-
ing the Indian pueblo of Tesuque, seven
miles north of Santa Fe. At his ranch
and in Scottsdale, Arizona (his winter
base), Ruthling studies reptiles and works
with the Indians of the Southwest, en-
couraging their crafts and arts and pub-
licizing their work through exhibits and
lectures. His children's adventures with
the Indians and with the animals of the
area provide the theme for this warm
and personal film-lecture.

TING THE 118TH SERIES

EE

.ectures

October 27

THE PEOPLE OF DENMARK

AND GREENLAND

Hjordis Kittel Parker

Five university students enjoying a
day in the Tivoli gardens in Copen-
hagen provide Mrs. Parker the means
for introducing five distinctly different
parts of the Kingdom of Denmark. For
those who think of Denmark only in
terms of Copenhagen, the film holds
some startling surprises, for in this small
country can be found a wide cross-sec-
tion of cultures. Through flashbacks to
the earlier lives of the students, each of
whom comes from a different part of the
country, the story of Denmark's diverse
cultures is told — the dairy and farming
people of Jutland who work all day
against a landscape of idyllic beauty;
the fishermen of the island of Bornholm,
in the Baltic sea, whose existence depends
on filling their nets with silvery herring;
the fairytale atmosphere of Odense,
home of Hans Christian Andersen; and
Arctic Greenland — the world's largest
island — whose inhabitants live in mud
huts and modern homes and pursue a
frugal but vigorous life along its coasts.

November 3

BYWAYS IN BRITAIN

Thayer Soule

Thousands of miles of back roads in
rolling green countryside; villages of
thatched cottages and mellow stone
houses — this is the England that many
visitors never see, the England that de-
fies stereotyping. Thayer Soule follows
the island's winding roads, taking his
camera over the moors, where wild po-

nies roam; far away to rocky headlands;
past the sea, with its white beaches and
quiet coves, to fishing towns and ruined
castles; along rivers lazing through green
fields; and down to the shores of moun-
tain rimmed lakes. Although Soule's
intent is to present the less familiar by-
ways of Britain, he does not fail to in-
clude a touch of the pageantry that is
part of every Englishman's heritage —
in particular, the majestic State Open-
ing of Parliament by the Queen.

November IO
ONCE AROUND THE SUN

William Ferguson

A motion picture journey of 600 mil-
lion miles at first sounds incredible, yet
every one of us travels that distance an-

nually as the earth orbits the sun. Wil-
liam Ferguson's film records such a
journey in the form of a trip through
the seasons. The stage is the entire
United States — its fertile Midwest, its
contrasts of mountains and prairies, for-
ests and deserts, and shorelines — east,
west, and south. Beginning with New
Year's Day, each month passes in turn,
its cast appearing in a brief but brilliant
drama that shows us the natural events
and phenomena distinctive to each sea-
son.

November 17

3,000 YEARS UNDER THE SEA

Stanton Waterman

Approximately 1,500 years before
Christ an ancient cargo ship met disas-
ter off the Asia Minor coast and sank
100 feet to the bottom of the sea. More
than 3,000 years later, during the sum-
mer of 1959, an American diving expe-
dition discovered the wreck. As the
ship's cargo of copper ingots, bronze
weapons, and tools was raised to the sur-
face, Stanton Waterman, expert diver-
photographer, recorded the historic treas-
ure hunt in dramatic underwater motion
picture sequences. Occasionally Water-
man left the underwater world to visit
the classic Cyclades and Dodecanese is-
lands in the Aegean, and to explore a
strange "City of the Dead" on the re-
mote southeastern coast of Turkey.

November 24
THE REAL YELLOWSTONE

Fran William Hall

One of America's most imposing na-
tional treasures, Yellowstone National
Park annually draws millions to its
scenes of grandeur. The elk, moose,
coyote, antelope, buffalo, and black bear
have somehow learned to live with these
human visitors and seem almost tolerant
of their sight-seeing. But Hall is par-
ticularly interested in Yellowstone "out
of season" when the people are gone and
the wildlife is undisturbed. It is this
Yellowstone that he captures in film,
presenting the great park's aspects and
moods that few people have ever seen.

October Page 5

CHICAGO
NATURAL
HISTORY
MUSEUM

NEWS

IN MEMORIAM

Colin Campbell Sanborn, who served
the Chicago Natural History Museum as
Curator of Mammals from 1936 to 1955,
died on August 28, 1962, at the age of 65
at his home in Marcella, Arkansas. He
had retired from active work at the Mu-
seum in 1955. News of his death was re-
ceived with deep regret by the many
members of the staff who had been his
friends and colleagues during his 33
years of association with the Museum.

Born June 12, 1897, and educated in
public schools in Evanston, Illinois, Mr.
Sanborn came to the Museum in 1922 as
a preparator in the Division of Birds. In
1924 he transferred his interests from
birds to mammals but retained a certain
consistency by specializing in mammals
that fly. Appointed Assistant Curator of
Mammals in 1931, he became Curator
of Mammals in 1937.

To permit him to visit the British Mu-
seum in 1 948, for a six months' study of
bats, Sanborn was awarded a fellowship
by the John Simon Guggenheim Memo-
rial Foundation. His achievement of au-
thority on bats of the world led to his be-
coming a Special Consultant to the
Unite*! States Public Health Service in
1953, when the country became aroused
over transmittal of rabies to people by
bats. In this capacity he made an ex-
tensive field trip to Trinidad. He re-
ceived a five-year National Science
Foundation grant in 1954 for a world-
wide study of the Microchiroptera.

Curator Sanborn made seven expedi-
tions for the Museum, to Peru, Chile,
Brazil, Uruguay, Argentina, the Aleu-
tian Islands, and Thailand. He was an
active member of the American Society
of Mammalogists for many years and
served both on its board of directors and
as a trustee. He was a charter member
of the Kennicott Club, a limited mem-
bership club of naturalists in the Chi-
cago area, and served it in various ca-
pacities, including president.

Colin Campbell Sanborn published
23 scientific papers in Fieldiana: £ool-

Page 6 OCTOBER

ogy, 19 scientific papers and notes in the
Journal of Mammalogy, 15 papers in 7
other scientific journals in the United
States and 12 papers in 8 scientific jour-
nals of other countries.

Sanborn served two years in World
War I in the field artillery. He entered
World War II commissioned direct in
the navy as a senior grade Lieutenant,
and during his 3J^ years of service ad-
vanced to the rank of Lieutenant Com-
mander, serving principally at Lima,
Peru. He is survived by his wife, Cath-
erine Sanborn, who lives in Marcella,
Arkansas, and two adult daughters,
Louise Ann and Judith. An especially
able field man, "Sandy" was liked and
respected not only by his colleagues in
the Museum but by his contemporaries
in other institutions, as well.

HALL OF GEMS ADDITIONS

During the past year several new gems
have Ijeen added to the exhibits in Higin-
botham Hall. Mrs. Cyril L. Ward of
Evanston generously donated five excel-
lent opal pieces. These are mounted as
pins and pendants, each one framed in
gold with diamond and ruby settings.

Through purchase from the Mrs. Joan
A. Chalmers Fund, the Museum ac-
quired a large crystal (in the rough) of
the gem, kunzite. The crystal weighs
three and one-half pounds. Kunzite
crystals of this size are exceedingly rare.

Most recently, a beautiful cornucopia
clip of diamonds set in platinum was
placed on exhibit in the Hall of Gems.
The clip contains several hundred dia-
monds, the largest of which are close to
one carat. This fine piece was given
jointly by Mr. Seymour Oppenheimer,
Mrs. Edward H. Oppenheimer, and
Mrs. Edward Weiss.

MEMORIAL FUND STARTED

In recent years, many gifts have been
received from Members and friends of
the Museum, in memory of departed
friends and relatives.

In view of the increasing number of

Chicago Natural History Museum

Founded by Marshall Field, 1893

Roosevelt Road and Lake Shore Drive, Chicago 5

Telephone: WAbaah 2-9410

THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES

Lester Armour
Wm. McCormick Blair
Bowen Blair
Walter J. Cummings
Joseph N. Field
Marshall Field, Jr.
Stanley Field
Cliflord C. Gregg
Samuel Insull, Jr.
Henry P. Isham

William V. Kahhr
Hughston M. McBain
J. Roscoe Miller
William H. Mitchell
John T. Pirie, Jr.
John Shedd Reed
John G. Searle
John M. Simpson
Solomon A. Smith
Louis Ware

J. Howard Wood

OFFICERS

Stanley Field, Chairman ol the Board

Clifford C. Gregg, President

Hughaton M. McBain, First Vice-President

Joseph N. Field, Second Vice-President

Bowen Blair, Third Vice-President

Solomon A. Smith, Treasurer and Assistant Secretary

E. Leland Webber, Secretary

THE BULLETIN

EDITOR

E. Leland Webber, Director of the Museum

CONTRIBUTING EDITORS

Paul S. Martin, Chiel Curator ol Anthropology

John R. Millar, Chiel Curator of Botany

Rainer Zangerl, Chiel Curator of Geology

Austin L. Rand, Chiel Curator of Zoology

MANAGING EDITOR

Paula R. Nelson, Public Relations Counsel

ASSOCIATE EDITOR

Marilyn Jindrich, Associate in Public Relations

Members are requested to inform the Museum

promptly of changes of address.

these memorial gifts, the Museum has
now inaugurated a Museum Memorial
Fund into which all such gifts may be
placed. This will assure that a perma-
nent record will be kept of all persons
thus honored, together with the names
of those who send gifts in their honor.

This fund will not replace any of the
memorial funds now on the records of
the Museum, nor will it prevent the
founding of specific memorial funds in
the future. It will, however, provide a
lasting record of the thoughtfulness of
friends of the Museum in honoring those
whom they held in esteem.

Those wishing to honor departed
friends or relatives need only write to
the Museum. Appropriate notice of gifts
received will be sent to the next of kin,
or other person designated by the donor.
(Continued on page 8)

OCTOBER FEATURED EXHIBIT

♦rsi»H*ts/i

The law of the conservation of en-
ergy is a fundamental principle in
the operation of our physical universe.
Stated in everyday words it says that
you can obtain only as much energy out
of a system as you put into it.

As an example we might consider a
boy standing in a cornfield throwing a
large stone straight up into the air. In
order to throw the stone upward he has
to put a certain amount of energy be-
hind it. When the stone has reached the
top of its climb this energy is nullified by
the gravitational pull of the earth, which
pulls it back down. As the stone falls it
goes faster and faster and finally hits the
ground. When it hits, it stops dead. All
of its energy of motion is transformed
into frictional heat energy. Literally,
the stone warms the ground under itself
very slightly for a brief time until the
heat diffuses away.

In an ideal situation the energy lost

we haven't drifted away from it. The
answer is "no." Why? Because light
and fluorescence of light are forms of
energy also.

Sunlight, for example, is known to
consist of a mixture of colors from infra-
red through red, orange, yellow, green,
blue, and violet to ultraviolet. The mix-
ing together of these colors produces
what we call white light. However, as
we know, we can use a prism to break
up white light into its various colors.
Each pure color has its own particular
wavelength. As the word "wavelength"
implies, light has certain characteristics
of waves, behaving much like waves in
a lake. However, the wavelengths for
light are exceedingly small. For exam-
ple, red light's wavelength is about 26
millionths of an inch, while ultraviolet
light's wavelength is only 15 millionths
of an inch. To us these are very small
numbers. But to an atom inside a crys-

FLUORESCENT MINERALS

EDWARD J. OLSEN, CURATOR OF MINERALOGY

in heating up the ground is equal to the
energy the boy put into throwing the
stone. Thus, energy was transferred
from the boy to the ground by way of
the stone's motion, but the total energy
of the situation has not changed one bit.
What the boy lost, the ground gained.

To carry this idealized situation a step
further, suppose the heat released where
the stone fell were totally absorbed by a
corn plant growing beside the boy. If
the boy were to eat the corn (containing
a certain number of calories — that is,
energy), he would gain back the energy
he used to throw the stone, and we
would be back where we started.

This concept of the conservation of
energy governs every process, from the
burning of a match to an atomic explo-
sion, from the throwing of a stone to the
propelling of a rocket ship into space.
But the subject of this article is fluores-
cence in minerals, and you might ask if

tal they are relatively large, because
most atoms have dimensions of only
about 5 billionths of an inch !

Most minerals are transparent to most
wavelengths of light. That is, light
passes through and out of the minerals
just as the boy's stone passed through
the air. The air in that case was dis-
turbed slightly, but not seriously. How-
ever, the atoms in some crystals become
radically disturbed when light of very
short wavelength (ultraviolet) impinges
upon them. Instead of all the light
passing through, some of the energy of
the light is absorbed, causing a brief dis-
ruption in the arrangement of atoms in
the mineral, in the same way that the
stone briefly warmed the ground that
it hit.

To understand this better, we might
imagine ourselves sitting in a small row-
boat in Lake Michigan when a strong
wind is blowing. Suppose we were rid-

ing over waves that were 100 feet high.
If these wave crests were a mile apart
(that is, had a wavelength of one mile)
we would rise slowly 1 00 feet and gently
slide down the trough between the waves.
We would be in no serious danger. How-
ever, suppose the crest-to-crest distance
became shorter and shorter. When the
crests were half a mile apart, we would
still ride them out smoothly. But when
they came to be a thousand feet apart
we would be experiencing something
like a roller coaster ride. When they
reduced to 100 feet, we would be vio-
lently shoved upward 100 feet and
slammed down again. We are now in
danger of being turned over because we
are being hit with large amounts of en-
ergy in short intervals of time.

When very short wave ultraviolet light
disrupts the atoms in a mineral in this
same way, it imparts to them a large
part of its "up and down" energy. The
atoms attempt to go back to their stable
positions, and in doing so they give off
the energy they receive in accordance
with the law of the conservation of en-
ergy. This energy is emitted from the
mineral in the form of light waves again.
The wavelength might be blue, green,
yellow, red, etc. The color will depend
on the kinds of atoms in the mineral.
Thus, the mineral is said to fluoresce.
The length of time it fluoresces de-
pends, again, on the kinds of atoms pres-
ent and the time it takes them to settle
down once the light has been shut off.
For some minerals this time may be
several minutes. These exhibit a slow
fading away of their fluorescence, and
are said to be luminescent.

Probably the best fluorescent sub-
stances in the mineral kingdom are those
minerals which have the atom calcium
in them. Good examples are calcite,
fluorite, scheelite, and autunite. The
colors which these minerals fluoresce
under ultraviolet light depend to some
extent upon the other kinds of atoms
present. Calcite will fluoresce pink,
yellow, and carmine red. Scheelite usu-
ally fluoresces yellow to light blue. Fluo-
(Continued on page 8)

October Page 7

rite usually fluoresces blue, while autu-
nite fluoresces light green. The color
which a fluorescent mineral gives off is
in no way related to its color as you see
it in normal light.

It is not even possible, at present, to
predict whether visible fluorescence will
occur. We know that some calcium min-
erals usually fluoresce well, yet the com-
mon mineral gypsum (also a calcium-
bearing mineral) does not fluoresce in
ultraviolet light. The property of fluo-
rescence seems to depend in part on the
way the atoms are arranged in a partic-
ular mineral. A certain symmetry of
arrangement controls the freedom with
which the fluorescing atom may react
to the incident ultraviolet light. Going
back to our analogy of the boat in Lake
Michigan, suppose, instead of a row-
boat, we were in a large freight boat
loaded with fifty thousand tons of iron
ore from Minnesota. Such a massive
boat would still heave up and down but
would react more sluggishly to the waves
pounding it. Further, let us imagine
that the boat is firmly anchored to the
bottom. The waves would wash over it
but it would move only a little, being
fixed in place by the lengths of anchor
chain. So the atoms in some minerals

may be thought to be more firmly "an-
chored" than in other minerals.

However, it is possible to obtain fluo-
rescence from all minerals if we use wave-
lengths of light even shorter than the
ultraviolet. These very short wave-
lengths of around 40 billionths of an
inch are called X-rays. Under X-rays
all minerals fluoresce. Unfortunately,
they fluoresce "colors" which have X-ray
wavelengths and are completely invisi-
ble to our eyes. We might think of
X-ray waves as having so much energy
that they are capable of breaking even
the strongest anchor chains our ship
could put down.

Returning to visible fluorescence, we
might point out that it is not solely con-
fined to minerals. Some natural wood
materials as well as some petroleum oils
fluoresce in ultraviolet light. Fluores-
cence may also be stimulated by other
kinds of energy. Travelers at sea are
often astounded to see large patches of
ocean water glowing with an eerie bluish
light. This is caused by millions of mi-
nute organisms, called plankton, which
float on the ocean's surface. Probably
most remarkable of all is the lumines-
cence of some jellyfish and insects ("fire-
flies"). In these cases the glow is turned

off and on by the animal itself. From
what we have said already, we now
know that the animal is providing en-
ergy, in some form, to cause it to glow
in this way. How it does this is now
fairly well understood. The animal sup-
plies chemical energy to a certain mole-
cule which absorbs the energy and gives
off light of equal energy.

Fluorescence in minerals is viewed
with awe by many people. However,
as we have attempted to show in this
article, it is only an example of the law
of conservation of energy. In our world
and in the spaces beyond, this law is
operating at all times, in all processes.
It is also evident in every machine we
build and use. We put energy into an
auto in the form of gasoline, and from it
we obtain energy in another form — the
forward motion of the car.

Recently the Museum has installed
new ultraviolet lights in its exhibit case
of fluorescent minerals. These lights
operate on a timer so that one may see
specimens of minerals, woods, and oils
change their colors as the lights switch
from white to ultraviolet. The case,
located in the corridor between Halls 36
and 37 (second floor, west), is the Mu-
seum's exhibit-of-the-month for October.

MUSEUM NEWS

(Continued from page 6)

DOCTORATES RECEIVED

Two Museum staff members received
the Doctor of Philosophy degree from
the University of Chicago at the convo-
cation held August 31. The Ph.D. in
Zoology was conferred upon Dr. Rupert
L. Wenzel, Curator of Insects, while Dr.
Bertram G. Woodland, Associate Cura-
tor of Petrology, received his doctorate
in Geology. Recently Dr. Wenzel was
appointed Lecturer in the Department
of Zoology of the University of Chicago.

FREE CONCERTS

The Orpheon Chorus of Coimbra, a
male choral group from Portugal now on
its first American tour, will open the
fourth season of musical events to be pre-
sented in Chicago by the Free Concerts
Foundation. Considered one of the finest
choral groups of Europe, the 80 mem-
bers of the Orpheon Chorus will per-

Page 8 October

form, with instruments, in the Museum's
James Simpson Theatre on Sunday,
November 4, at 8:15 p.m. For free tick-
ets, send a stamped, self-addressed en-
velope to Free Concerts Foundation,
Chicago Natural History Museum,
Roosevelt Road and Lake Shore Drive,
Chicago 5.

Future concerts planned by the Foun-
dation include: Julius Katchen, pianist,
on Tuesday, November 27; Gerard Sou-
zay and Maureen Forrester in joint re-
cital on Wednesday, January 16; the
Komitas Quartet, a chamber music
group from the U.S.S.R., on Wednes-
day, February 6; and the Lucerne Fes-
tival Strings on Tuesday, February 26.
All concerts will be given in the James
Simpson Theatre.

Mrs. J. Dennis Freund, Founder and
Sponsor of Free Concerts Foundation,
has also announced that the Foundation

w'.ll present concerts this season in Wash-
ington, D.C., New York City, Paris, and
London.

CHILDREN'S MOVIES

The Museum's fall series of free movies
for children will begin on October 6.
Programs will be presented each Satur-
day morning at 10:30 a.m. in the James
Simpson Theatre. Following is the com-
plete schedule:

October 6 — The Young of Animals

October 13 — Central America

October 20 — Children in Cactus Land

October 27— Scotland

November 3 — Animals in Winter

November 10— This Curious World

November 17 — Challenge of the Ocean

November 24 — -The Real Yellowstone

PRINTED BY CHICAGO NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM PRESS

HISTORY vol.33 no. 11

MUSEUM November 1962

i

A report from the

STREET EXPEDITION TO IRAK

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A Field Report From Iran

The Museum is pleased to
publish in this issue of the
Bulletin a first field report
from the W. S. and J. K. Street
Expedition of Chicago Natural
History Museum to Iran.

Headed by Mr. William S.
Street of Seattle, the expedition,
which has been in the field since
August 1st, is making a study of
Iranian mammals. Not only
will these animals be studied in
their natural habitats, but a
large variety of mammal skins
and skeletons will also be
brought back to the Museum
for further research.

A few months ago, Mr. Street
resigned the chairmanship of
of the Seattle World's Fair cor-
poration in order to lead the
Iranian expedition. A former
executive vice president of Mar-
shall Field &Co., Mr. Street had
retired earlier this year as presi-

Page 2 November

dent of Seattle's Frederick and
Nelson department store. He is
an experienced and enthusias-
tic collector of large mammals
from distant places and con-
tributed the Museum's Alaska
brown bear habitat group.

Mrs. Janice K. Street, who
shares her husband's interests
in photography, fishing, and
big-game hunting, is with him
on this expedition in Iran. A
third member of the expedition
is Mr. Douglas Lay, a mammal-
ogist who is especially interested
in bats. Mr. Lay brings to the
party in Iran not only his pro-
fessional knowledge, but the ex-
perience he has gained from two
extensive mammal collecting ex-
peditions into Tabasco, Mexico.

Further reports from the
Streets on the expedition's ac-
tivities will appear in future
issues of the Bulletin.

William S. Street

The Tehran
Palace Hotel

July 23: While we were still in London,
Dr. F. C. Fraser of the British Museum
turned us over to Mr. J. E. Hill, who
obligingly spent all day with us. What-
ever we wanted to see, if it was in the
Museum's mammal collection, Mr. Hill
dug it out; so our stop was well worth-
while. The museum's collection of scien-
tific material was impressive — in excess
of 250,000 mammal specimens.

At Tehran we were met by several del-
egations of persons, all there to help our
expedition. The two American Embassy
people got to us first. With their help our
luggage was cleared through customs.
Then we scooped up the others, and had
a coke at the hotel with everybody.

over: Mr. Street and Mr. Lay don ap-
opriate gear for hunting at night. They
e atop the specially equipped travel-all
nated by International Harvester Comp-
y for the expedition's use in Iran.

eft: The expedition members in camp.

The hours of work for most offices
here are from seven or seven-thirty in
the morning to one o'clock, at which
time they close for the day. Banks are
open from seven-thirty to twelve noon.
The customs office closes at one, so if
there is any delay — another day is gone.
Despite that, the Embassy cleared our
guns and ammo and the air freight ship-
ment promptly. We expect the ocean
shipment tomorrow, and shall start un-
packing and sorting immediately. We
have obtained permission to use storage
space in the Red Lion and Sun ware-
house. After loading our trucks, we'll
look at the equipment that is left and de-
cide whether we can bear to leave any
of it.

Eskander Firouz, Secretary of the
Game Council of Iran, had a frank talk
with us. The Game Council would help
us, and he hoped that we, in turn, could
help the Council, sometime, to develop a
management and conservation program
for their fauna. I made it clear that in
putting together the comprehensive
study and collection we intended — with
subsequent publication — we would au-
tomatically provide them with the be-
ginnings of a program, since they would
know more about their mammals than
they now do. Firouz is interested pri-
marily in programs for the large game
mammals, partly in order to preserve
them for hunting, but I think the Coun-
cil will become more interested in small
mammals as their representative goes
with us and sees what we do.

Kosrow Sariri of the Game Council
will be with us for six weeks. Apparently
he knows the country and has done a lot
of hunting. Tall, athletically built — I
suspect he'll be terrific as our chief of
staff. In addition, two or three wardens
will be with us, also, to help us hunt.

We will begin our hunting in a pre-
serve on the right of the Chalus Road.
Our first camp will be high, about
10,000 feet. We'll get there by mules ar-
ranged by the Game Council. Sariri will

help us with our food list. I expect that
with only mules for transport we'll oper-
ate a stripped-down camp at first, and
our food list will be shorter than we
might otherwise have. Yet we expect to
eat well on wild meat and plenty of rice !

Camp Doab

The Alborz Mountains

(10,900 feet elevation), August 4: Our
first camp is about 20 kilometers east of
Gachsar, on the crest of the Alborz
Mountain ridge. We arrived on August
1st. It was a long trek up. We had 19
animals — horses and mules — to pack us
in. Doug walked all the way. I'm glad I
rode about two-thirds of the distance, be-
cause we arrived at four o'clock in the
afternoon and at five I was off to look
for sheep. I arrived back at camp that
night after nine, dead tired, with a split-

ting headache, but with three rams of
Ovis orientalis. We shot them at 12,400
feet elevation ! — hence the headache and
tiredness.

All told, there are twelve of us in camp
— Kosrow Sariri, the Adjutant Inspector

in charge of field wardens, two wardens,
a cook, a driver, three Iranian workers,
Douglas Lay, Mrs. Street and myself.

Today we were to leave at 5:00 a.m.
for goats, but a windstorm and clouds
came up and obstructed our plans. It
was just as well, for after yesterday I was
glad to sleep ten hours instead of six.
We were up to 13,100 feet yesterday.
After side-hilling up the whole moun-
tain to about 2,200 feet above camp, and
then coming back straight down the rock
slides, I was stiff as a board today.
But the weight's coming off, and I feel
stronger each day. By the time we pull
out for our next camp I expect to be in
pretty good physical shape.

The mountains surrounding us are
magnificent, and the coloring in the rock
slides seems unbelievable : there is an
immense amount of turquoise and blu-
ish rock. Alpine flowers are abundant
and we have found them as high as we
have gone. Some of these we have
picked and are preserving in an impro-
vised press.

Doug is working hard with his trap
lines, not catching as many specimens as
he'd like, but getting some variety. Get-
ting ibex is apparently going to be tough.
They stay high in the rocky areas, some
of which are impossible for us to reach.
There is a great deal of green on the
mountains almost all the way up, pro-
viding lots of feed for the game as well
as for herds of sheep and goats.

Shepherds travel up and down these
mountains as though they were walking
on the level. One herd we saw had
1 ,300 animals, of every color imaginable :
black, brown, grey, white, tan, and all
combinations. Mrs. Street thought the
most fetching sight was the occasional
ram, billy, or ewe with a string of bright
blue beads around its neck. We visited
one shepherd's cottage, well above our
camp, where eleven men and boys were
staying. The place was built into the
hill on three levels. The lowest was
where they baked bread and stored their
milk and cheese; it was as cool as a root
cellar. Every so often one of the men
would go down to their village, taking
the butter they made. Their churn
looked like a hollowed out log with a
plunger filling the top.

{Continued on page 8)

November Page 3

CHICAGO
NATURAL
HISTORY
MUSEUM

NEWS

Art of Benin
Continues

On the evening of October 18 an in-
terested audience of several hundred
Members and guests enjoyed a preview
glimpse of the Museum's new exhibi-
tion, "The Art of Benin," which opened
to the public the following day.

More than 330 objects from Benin —
the largest number ever assembled in
this country — trace the artistic and cul-
tural life of this historic African kingdom
from the time of its discovery by Portu-
guese travelers in 1485 down to the pres-
ent century. Members who missed the
preview are urged to schedule an early
visit to this unique exhibition, since it
will remain on display through Decem-
ber 9 only.

New Research

on Tropical Insects

Biting insects which are suspected car-
riers of tropical diseases will be studied
under a three-year grant to Chicago

Top: Mr. Phillip H. Lewis, Curator
of Primitive Art, discusses a magnifi-
cently carved elephant tusk with Mr.
Charles Okpala, Nigerian student at
the University of Chicago.

Center: Dr. Donald Collier, Curator
of South American Archaeology and
Ethnology, answers questions from a
group of Members.

Left: Members of the Museum's
Board of Trustees, and distinguished
anthropologists from the Chicago area
and abroad, congratulate Dr. Philip
J. C. Dark (center), Professor of An-
thropology at Southern Illinois Univer-
sity, who was consultant for the exhibi-
tion. Reading from left to right: Dr.
Clifford C. Gregg, President; Mr.
Joseph N Field, Second Vice Presi-
dent; Dr. Dark; Dr. Fred Eggan,
Chairman, Department of Anthropol-
ogy, University of Chicago; Dr. Mel-
ville J. Herskovits, Director, The Af-
rican Institute, Northwestern Univer-
sity; Dr. Adrian A. Gerbrands, Asso-
ciate Director, The Royal Museum of
Ethnography, Leiden, Netherlands.

Natural History Museum from the United
States Army Medical Research and De-
velopment Command.

Director of the study is Dr. Rupert L.
Wenzel, Curator of Insects. As Malari-
ologist for the U. S. Army in Brazil dur-
ing World War II, Wenzel organized
the Army's program to control malaria —
a mosquito-borne disease — in the areas
surrounding bases on the air transport
route supplying the Africa and China-
India theaters.

The study will be based on the Mu-
seum's extensive collections of fleas, ticks,
mites, chiggers, and batflies acquired
over a period of many years from north-
ern South America and Panama. Med-
ical researchers realize that many of these
insects, which live as parasites on other
animals, transmit diseases from their
hosts to man. But until these potential
disease carriers are identified and classi-
fied, and their life histories known, no
program aimed at controlling them can
be organized.

The Army's grant of $32,080 over a
three-year period will now enable the
Museum staff, and collaborators from
other institutions, to carry out a program
of basic research on the identification,
classification, and biology of these in-
sects, some of which affect the health of
millions of people living in underdevel-
oped areas of the world.

The grant also provides for publica-
tion of a unique and comprehensive vol-
ume containing the first extensive infor-
mation ever compiled on the host-parasite
relationships of the biting insects of Pan-
ama; illustrations of these insects and
keys to their classification; complete lists
of their host mammals; and analyses of
the biological and geographical environ-
ment in which these insects live.

The 16 papers to be included in this
publication are now being prepared by
Dr. Wenzel and other biological re-
searchers in the United States, Mexico,
and Panama who are collaborating with
the Museum on this project. The Ecto-
parasites of Panama will be published by
Chicago Natural History Museum.

Page 4 November

Chicago Natural History Museum

Founded by Marshall Field, 1893

Roosevelt Road and Lake Shore Drive, Chicago 5
Telephone: WAbash 2-9410

East African
Photographs Shown

The intricate mosaic of tribal life in
East Africa and the island of Zanzibar
is evoked in a new photographic exhi-
bition being shown in the Museum's
Stanley Field Hall through November 30.

The photographs were made by Dr.
Robert F. Gray, Associate Professor of
Anthropology at Tulane University, dur-
ing two field trips to East Africa in 1950-
51 and 1954-56. Of special interest to
Gray were the customs of four East Afri-
can tribes — the Segeju, the Wambugwe,
the Gorowa, and the Sonjo. Most of the
photographs in the exhibit reflect daily
life in these tribes.

The Segeju are one of approximately
a dozen Swahili- and Bantu-speaking
peoples inhabiting Tanganyika and
southern Kenya. Because most of the
Segeju villages are located on the coast,
they have been influenced by coastal
Arabs for many centuries. As a result,
every Segeju village has at least one
mosque and a school where the children
memorize long passages from the Koran
and are taught a smattering of Arabic.
A blend of Islamic and pagan elements,
the popular religion of the Segeju in-
cludes elaborate rituals in which the
whole village takes an active part.

The Wambugwe, another Bantu-
speaking tribe numbering about 8,000,
live on the floor of the Rift Valley in
northern Tanganyika. Their unusual
rain-making ceremonies have provided
abundant material for Gray's camera
studies.

In recent years the cattle auction has
become the major social event of the
Gorowa, still another tribe of Tan-
ganyika. The auctions were started by
the government of Tanganyika to de-
velop one of the major resources of the
country by providing a market outlet
for cattle. The photographs show crowds
of people turning out for the auctions,
which have added a new, commercial
aspect to tribal life.

Inhabiting an isolated stretch of land
extending into both Kenya and Tan-
(Continued on page 8)

November Page 5

THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES

William V. Kahl;.-
Hughston M. McBain
J. Roscoe Miller
William H. Mitchell
John T. Pirie, Jr.
John Shedd Reed
John G. Searlc
John M. Simpson
Solomon A. Smith
Louis Ware
Howard Wood
OFFICERS
Stanley Field, Chairman of the Board
Clifford C. Gregg, President
Hughston M. McBain, First Vice-President
Joseph N. Field, Second Vice-President
Bowen Blair, Third Vice-President
Solomon A. Smith, Treasurer and Assistant Secretary
E. Leland Webber, Secretary

Lester Armour
Wm. McCormick Blair
Bowen Blair
Walter J. Cummings
Joseph N. Field
Marshall Field, Jr.
Stanley Field
Clifford C. Gregg
Samuel Insull, Jr.
Henry P. Isham

J'

THE BULLETIN

EDITOR
B. Leland Webber, Director of the Museum

CONTRIBUTING EDITORS

Paul S. Martin, Chief Curator of Anthropology

John R. Millar, Chief Curator of Botany

Rainer Zangerl, Chief Curator of Geology

Austin L. Rand, Chief Curator of Zoology

MANAGING EDITOR
Paula R. Nelson, Public Relations Counsel

ASSOCIATE EDITOR

Marilyn Jindrich, Associate in Public Relations

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

Children from a Segeju village

The Human Skull —

An Evolutionary Puzzle

The living treeshrews of tropical Asia closely resemble the
earliest fossil primates. The head still has the long foxlike
form of other primitive mammals.

Once upon a time biologists took it for
granted that the human body was a
sort of final perfection toward which na-
ture aspired. All other animals repre-
sented various levels of this aspiring for
perfection, and a favorite game was try-
ing to arrange all creatures in a "scale of
beings," with the simplest and least per-
fect at one end, and man, the highest
and most perfect, at the other.

We know now that this was nonsense;
there is no transcendental perfection in
nature. Far from being perfect, the
human body has an astonishing num-
ber of imperfections, most of which could
have been corrected by any moderately
competent design engineer. Most of the
human body is primitive, too, compared
with that of other mammals. A few
parts are drastically modified from the
old ancestral condition. This is espe-
cially true of the head, and trying to
understand just what happened to the
brain and skull during the evolution of
man has challenged the ingenuity of sci-
entists for generations.

We are accustomed to thinking of the
human head as a thing of beauty. Poets

Page 6 NOVEMBER

have lauded the "noble brow," the "chis-
elled nose," the "molded chin." Artists
have labored to capture and preserve
the perfection of a human countenance.
Things are not so simple for the anato-
mist; as a human being he joins his fel-
lows in admiring a beautiful face or a
noble head, but as an anatomist he knows
that even the head of a Venus is really
one of the most deformed objects in na-
ture. Humanizing the vertebrate head
was a rather astonishing process of plas-
tic deformation, but the result is no more
"perfect" than the head of a horse or a
lion.

No real progress in understanding the
human skull was possible until this idea
had developed. Men were reluctant to
give up the lovely egocentric notion that
they represented the one perfect goal
toward which all nature had been striv-
ing. The idea of evolution, of descent
with modification, was accepted only a
hundred years ago. The idea of the
evolution of man was accepted reluc-
tantly, even by most biologists. "De-
scent with modification" meant that the
human skull, like the rest of the human

D. DWIGHT DAVIS
Curator, Vertebrate Anatomy

body, was only the last in a long series
of rather makeshift adaptations.

The devious history of the human skull
could not be written truly until the facts
were available. Only the fossil record
could supply the historical facts, and fos-
sils accumulate slowly. It was not until
1927 that Professor W. K. Gregory pub-
lished the first of his famous "fish to man"
reviews, tracing the evolution of the
human skull through the actual fossil
record instead of trying to reconstruct it
from the skulls of living species of ani-
mals as others before him had done.1
The Museum's Exhibit-of-the-Month,
"The History of the Human Skull,"
shows eight stages in the evolution of
man's skull, based on Professor Greg-
ory's work. Though the number of fos-
sils in the museums of the world has
probably more than doubled since 1 927,
the new discoveries have not changed
the plot of Professor Gregory's story;
they have only refined the details.

The fossil record showed that the an-
cestry of the human skull goes back
through primitive primates, then prim-
itive insect-eating mammals with skulls
like hedgehogs, then mammal-like rep-
tiles, pelycosaurian reptiles, and so on
back to the fishes. The lineage was not
particularly hard to work out once the
fossils had been collected, but it merely
showed what had happened. Then biol-
ogists began to wonder how and why the
changes leading to the human skull had
come about. This was a very different
kind of problem. It was also far more
difficult to solve.

The skull of the earliest fossil primates
was like the skull of other unspecialized
mammals — long and foxlike, with the
brain lying on a flat bony bed directly
behind the face. The axis of the skull

1 Gregory, W. K., "The palacomorphology
of the human head; ten structural stages from
fish to man." Quarterly Review of Biology, Vol. 2.
1927.

was in a straight line, a neat and un-
crowded design that had worked out so
well it had not changed much since the
Age of Fishes. This arrangement is still
preserved in the modern treeshrews of
tropical Asia, the lowliest of the living
primates.

In the human skull this old design is
deformed almost beyond recognition.
The once-straight axis is bent around
into horseshoe shape, the floor of the
skull is ballooned out in all directions,
the face is shrivelled to a fraction of its
former size and tucked in beneath the
brain. What could have been respon-
sible for this astonishing transformation?
There are really two questions involved
here — the question of the advantages of
the change, and the question of the bio-
logical machinery whereby the change
was brought about.

For a time most biologists thought
nearly everything that had happened to
the human body was a result of man's
getting up on his hind legs and standing
erect. The erect posture freed the hands
for manipulating things, and this in turn
put a premium on curiosity and intelli-
gence and consequently made a highly
developed brain advantageous. Obvi-
ously the hands had taken over some of
the functions of the jaws, and this was
thought to explain the degeneration of
the human jaws and teeth. The axis of
the skull was bent because the skull was
now balanced on top of the neck instead
of in front of the neck as it once was; it
would scarcely do to have the face point-
ing up into the sky.

This rather naive view runs into trou-
ble if we try to use it to explain every-
thing. Actually the brain is relatively
large in all primates, whether they stand
erect or not. This remarkable fact has
not been satisfactorily explained. Many
biologists believe this mysterious tend-
ency in the primate stock toward enlarge-
ment of the brain is the key to the evolu-
tion of the human skull, and indirectly
to the evolution of other features of the
human body. If this view is correct,
then the deciding event that foreshad-
owed the eventual evolution of man took
place in the brains of the very first pri-
mates. An extraordinary thing about the
primates is that representatives of all
levels of their evolution, from the prim-
itive treeshrews and lemurs through vari-

In the earliest primates the head
was long and foxlike, very similar
to the head of other primitive mam-
mals. The same pattern is found
in the human head, but it is de-
formed almost beyond recognition.
Trying to explain this remarkable
transformation has challenged the
ingenuity of scientists for genera-
tions.

The globular skull of the dwarf
King Charles spaniel resembles
the human skull in many ways.
It, too, was derived from an elon-
gate skull — the wolf like skull of a dog — and some anatomists think the causes for this transformation
were similar to those involved in the origin of the human skull.

ous kinds of monkeys and apes right up
to man, are still living today. Such prim-
itive and intermediate evolutionary types
usually become extinct; their wholesale
survival is most unusual. The most likely
explanation is that the large size of the
primate brain (or rather the intelligence
that large size implies) enabled even the
lowest primates to get by in competition
with other animals where other primi-
tive mammals could not.

The leading advocate of the theory
that the brain, rather than upright pos-
ture, was primarily responsible for shap-
ing the human skull was the late Franz
Weidenreich.2 In the developing em-
bryo the differentiation and growth of
various parts of the head are controlled
by different factors, making the head a
mosaic of independent subassemblies
that are fitted together during develop-
ment to form a whole. The face is inde-
pendent of the cranium, the central nerv-
ous system is controlled by its own set of
factors, and so on. Consequently, any-
thing that speeds up the growth rate of
the brain would not affect the growth

2 Weidenreich, Franz, "The brain and its
role in the phylogenetic transformation of the
human skull." Transactions of the American
Philosophical Society, Vol. 31, 1941.

rate of the skull, although the develop-
ing skull would accommodate itself as
best it could to the expanding mass of
the brain.

By assembling evidence from a great
variety of sources, Weidenreich tried to
show that an abnormally large brain —
in dwarf dogs, for example — deforms the
skull in ways that are remarkably sim-
ilar to the human condition. The avail-
able bone material simply adapts itself
to the size and contours of the huge
brain. At the opposite extreme, the
growth of the brain is sometimes ar-
rested in man to produce a condition
known as microcephaly. Weidenreich
showed that in microcephalics the skull
is similar to that of the anthropoid apes
— in such persons the growth rate of the
skull remains normal, but the bone ma-
terial is not stretched and deformed by
a huge brain to the extent that it is in
normal persons.

Evidently the biological machinery in-
volved in remodeling the foxlike skull of
a treeshrew into the globular skull of
man was complex. It was not as com-
plex as we once thought, however, and
there seems no reason to think it cannot
be deciphered. Both the Weidenreich
theory and the erect-posture theory are
{Continued on page 8)

November Page 7

{Continued from preceding page)
over-simplifications, as first approxima-
tions almost inevitably are. Neither is
wholly correct, but there is undoubtedly
a good deal of truth in both. The mys-
tery of how gross changes in the struc-
ture of vertebrates are produced is slowly
giving way to the combined efforts of
geneticists, experimental morphologists,
and comparative anatomists. Before
long we may know not only the what,
but also the how and why, of that de-
formed structure, the human skull.

A FIELD REPORT FROM IRAN

{Continued from page 3)

MUSEUM NEWS

{Continued from page 5)

ganyika, the Sonjo possess a culture
that in most respects has advanced very
little beyond the neolithic level. Until
recently the region was inaccessible to
motor vehicles; thus the Sonjo, who as
yet have had relatively little contact with
the outside world, still wear their tradi-
tional skin garments. The fervour with
which the various religious rituals of the
tribe are enacted is captured in a num-
ber of Gray's photographs.

Finally, the exhibit portrays the con-
glomerate population of Zanzibar, for
many centuries the main trade emporium
of East Africa. Gray's pictures record
the population of varied tribal and eth-
nic origins encountered on the narrow
streets of Zanzibar City — Hindu mer-
chants, turbaned Sikhs, Swahili fisher-
men, European businessmen and sea-
men, Muslim holy men, Arab sailors
with long curved daggers thrust into
their belts, Persians, and Chinese.

In his photographic studies, Dr. Gray's
aim has been "to portray tribesmen as
human beings rather than as scientific
specimens." At the same time he has
recorded visual aspects of tribal life
which are difficult to communicate in
other ways. Dr. Gray himself has se-
lected the 68 pictures in this exhibition
from a file of some 4,000 negatives taken
during his East African field work.

Winter Hours

Beginning November 1 the Museum
will observe winter hours of 9 a.m. to
4 p.m. Monday through Friday and
9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday and Sun-
day. These shorter hours will continue
through February.

Page 8 November

August 6: Kosrow Sariri is leaving camp
today for Tehran with about 1 1 skele-
tons and skins of Mouflon and our five
goat specimens: two billys, one nanny,
and two kids. In Tehran, Sariri will
crate this shipment and send it on its way
to Chicago.

The Game Council collected all of
these specimens for us except for the two
rams I took myself. I would like to have
taken a billy, but when I had a chance,

Mouflon got in the way.

According to our altimeter, I have
hunted as high as 14,300 feet. I took one
ram at about 12,700 — the other at
13,700 — less allowance for any altimeter
error. Breath comes a little hard when
you first get to these altitudes, but I feel
wonderful now — just when we're leaving !

Camp number two will be in the forest
due north of us, and down to about
6,000 feet.

Honored

Dr. Austin L. Rand, Chief Curator of
Zoology, was elected President of the
American Ornithologists Union at the
Annual Meeting held recently at Salt
Lake City, Utah.

Staff Changes

William E. Lake, Museum Chief Engi-
neer, retired last month after 42 years of
service. "Bill" Lake
came to Chicago
Natural History Mu-
seum in 1920, just
before construction
on the present build-
ing was completed,
and has served as
Chief Engineer since
1939. His record of
service is one of the
longest in the Muse-
um's history. Mr. Lake has moved to
Ludington, Michigan, and he will be
missed greatly by all his Chicago friends.

William E. Lake

On October 1, Mr. James R. Shouba,
formerly Superintendent of Maintenance,
was appointed to the new position of
Building Superintendent. In this capac-
ity, Mr. Shouba will coordinate opera-
tions relating to the Museum building
and assume over-all responsibility for the
Divisions of Engineering and Mainten-
ance.

Mr. Leonard Carrion, formerly Assist-
ant Chief Engineer, replaces Mr. Lake
as Chief Engineer, and Mr. Jacques Pul-
izzi has been appointed Assistant Chief
Engineer.

Mr. Gustav A. Noren, formerly Assist-
ant Superintendent of Maintenance has

been appointed Superintendent of Main-
tenance to replace Mr. Shouba.

Museums Conference

Miss Miriam Wood, Chief of Ray-
mond Foundation, and Mr. E. Leland
Webber, Director, attended the Mid-
west Museums Conference held in Min-
neapolis during October. Mr. Webber
participated in a panel discussion titled
"Museums — Their Programs and Prob-
lems."

Free Concerts

Julius Katchen, European pianist tour-
ing America for the first time, will be
the featured artist of the Free Concerts
Foundation's second program for the
season on Tuesday, November 27, at
8:15 p.m.

Third program in the Foundation's
1962-63 concert series will be a joint re-
cital by Gerard Souzay, baritone, and
Maureen Forrester, soprano, on Wednes-
day, January 16, at 8:15 p.m.

For free tickets to the concerts send a
stamped, self-addressed envelope to Free
Concerts Foundation, Chicago Natural
History Museum, Roosevelt Road and
Lake Shore Drive, Chicago 5.

Audubon Lecture

The mountains, prairies, and vast wil-
dernesses of the Province of Alberta are
the subject of the full color motion pic-
ture, "Alberta Outdoors," to be pre-
sented in the James Simpson Theater on
Sunday, December 9, at 2:30 p.m. Nar-
rated by the well-known naturalist,
Edgar T. Jones, the free program is
sponsored by the Illinois Audubon So-
ciety.

PRINTED BY CHICAGO NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM PRESS

CHICAGO
NATURAU

bulletin

Fig. 1 — Bronze bust of god,Serapis
(actual size 3XA inches)

SER APIS

The Great God of Hellenistic Egypt
and the Grea>Roman World

by AL. N. OIKONOMIDES

Mr. Oikonomides is studying for a graduate degree in clas-
sical archaeology at the University of Chicago. Born in
Greece, he is a graduate of the University of Athens. While
Assistant Curator at the Acropolis Museum in Athens, and
later at the Epidauros Museum, he participated in several
excavations in his native country.

The collection of Greek, Etruscan,
and Roman antiquities at Chicago
Natural History Museum is one of the
most interesting in the Midwest. One of
the most important specimens in the col-
lection is a bronze bust, 3% inches high,
of the god Serapis (Fig. 1).

The worship of Serapis was introduced
into Egypt by Ptolemy I (305-283 B.C.),
and in the times of his successors the cult
spread all over the Greco-Roman world.
For the Egyptians the new god was yet
another form of their old deity, Osiris;
thus Serapis was worshiped in the tradi-
tional way together with Isis and Horus
(or Harpocrates). For the Greeks and
the Romans, however, Serapis repre-
sented a combination of the divine fea-
tures of the three great sons of Saturn :
Zeus, Pluto (or Hades), and Poseidon.
An ancient Greek scholar has described
this conception of the nature of Serapis :

" The powers and honors of the other gods
are separate; men call upon one god for
this purpose, upon another for that pur-
pose. He, the leader of the choir, holds
the beginning and end of everything in his
hand. . . . Hence there are those who wor-
ship this god alone, in the place of all the
gods; and there are others who, though for
each special purpose they resort to some
particular divinity, yet couple Serapis
with that divinity, as being Him to whom
the whole world alike gives peculiar exal-
tation. . . . He has, as the poets would
say, the keys of earth and sea; seeing
that, even after life has come to its neces-
sary end, Serapis remains still the Lord
of men . . . who assigns its place to each
soul "»

The most famous sanctuary of the new
divinity was a monumental temple in
Alexandria containing a cult statue of
the god. Serapis sat on a richly deco-
rated throne, clad in a chiton and hima-
tion of dark blue. The head of the god
was of gold, and crowned with the tradi-
tional modius;2 the face was sober, strong,
yet mild and mysterious. The god's
jeweled eyes gleamed through the dark-
ened temple from the richly decorated
and lighted cella. According to ancient
sources, the sculptor who made the statue

1 Aristeides, Aelius, Praise of Serapis, written in
the third century a.d.
•An ancient grain measure.

Page 2 December

was Bryaxis the younger, a pupil of the
famous Skopas.

On a gold bracelet in the Museum's
collection (Fig. 4) the temple of Serapis
at Alexandria, with the statue of the god
wearing the modius, appears in relief.
As far as I know, this is a unique repre-
sentation of the temple and has only one
parallel : the relief on a clay lamp from
the Athenian Agora, which represents
the local temple of Serapis, together with
the cult statue of the god.

From the many statues and statuettes
of Serapis known to be in various mu-
seums and collections, only a few are
accepted as echoes or copies of the cult
statue made by Bryaxis. The most fa-
mous of these copies are two busts in the
Vatican Museum in Rome. The bronze
bust in the Museum's collection (Fig. 1 )
belongs stylistically to the same group as
the Vatican busts and is possibly the best
bronze copy of this type in a museum in
the United States. The "Chicago Sera-
pis" can be dated between the second
and first centuries B.C. Although a minor
work of art of its period, it preserves
clearly the fine features of its original.
The eyes were jeweled, and on the mo-
dius olive tree branches were carved
with very fine lines (now obscured by
corrosion) .

Three other representations of Serapis
are also in the Museum's collection. A
clay bust from Egypt dates from the Ro-
man period (Fig. 5). The face is not pre-
served, but the copy is interesting be-
cause it tries to imitate the bronze busts.
A clay lamp from Egypt also preserves a
bust of Serapis in relief (Fig. 3). We rec-
ognize immediately the Bryaxis type,
but the features are not clear because the
mold was ruined by the time this lamp
was produced.

A signet stone, with a bust of Serapis
(Fig. 2), completes the set of "Serapis
monuments" at Chicago Natural History
Museum. It can be dated from the late
Hellenistic period, but does not add new
knowledge to the history of the statuary
types.
" The market-places are full, and the har-
bors, and the broad places of the cities,
with those who tell the manifold things
Serapis has done. Should I seek to nar-
rate them, though an unending series of

Fig. 2 — A signet stone with a
bust of Serapis (enlarged approx-
imately three times)

Fig. 3 — A clay I amp from Egypt
with a barely discernible bust of
Serapis appearing in low relief
(actual size shown)

ABOVE: Fig. 4
Gold bracelet in the de-
sign of the temple of
Serapis in Alexandria,
with the statue of the
god in relief (enlarged
approximately three
times)

RIGHT: Fig. 5
A clay bust of Serapis,
dating from the Ro-
man period, found in
Eg ypt (actual size
shown)

DECEMBER Page 3

CHICAGO
NATURAL
HISTORY
MUSEUM

NEWS

The Holiday Science Lectures
— A New Program
for Outstanding
High School Students

Dr. Rene Jules Dubos, eminent micro-
biologist and pioneer discoverer of anti-
biotics, will be the speaker in a new series
of Holiday Science Lectures to lie given
at the Museum for high school students of
exceptional ability in science or mathe-
matics. The program is sponsored jointly
by the American Association for the Ad-
vancement of Science and the Museum.

Four illustrated lectures will be pre-
sented to outstanding students from the
tenth, eleventh, and twelfth grades who
have been nominated by public, paro-
chial, and private high school principals
from Chicago and the surrounding coun-
ties. The lectures will be given in the
James Simpson Theatre from 10 a.m. to
noon, beginning on Wednesday, Decem-
ber 26, and ending on Saturday, Decem-
ber 29.

Dr. Dubos, who is Professor at the
Rockefeller Institute in New York, will
speak on the subject, "Microbes in Health
and Disease."

The Holiday Science Lectures were be-
gun in New York City in 1 959 as part of a
continuing program of the AAAS to in-
crease public understanding of science.
Under a grant from the National Science
Foundation the program was expanded
to include, in 1961, the cities of San
Francisco and Cincinnati. In 1962-63
Holiday Science Lectures will be pre-
sented, in cooperation with local univer-
sities or museums, in Chicago, Boston,
New York, Seattle, and Los Angeles. Na-
tionally known scientists scheduled to
speak, in addition to Dr. Dubos, are:
Dr. Lyman Craig, Dr. Theodosius Dob-
zhansky, Dr. Mark Kac, Dr. Stanford
Moore, Dr. William Stein, and Dr. Paul
Weiss.

The Museum is especially pleased that
Dr. Dubos will deliver the Holiday Sci-
ence Lectures in Chicago, since he is
noted for his ability to write and speak as
well as for his research. His most recent

Page k DECEMBER

book, The Unseen World, published this
year, is an outgrowth of a similar series of
talks he gave to selected high school stu-
dents in New York when this program
began.

Dr. Dubos is a member of the National
Academy of Sciences, past president of
the Society of American Bacteriologists,
and an editor of the Journal of Experi-
mental Medicine, His books include:
Pasteur and Modern Science, published in
1960; The Mirage of Health, in 1959; The
White Plague — Tuberculosis, Man, and So-
ciety (1952), and in 1961, The Dreams of
Reason. Among the many awards he has
received for his contributions to science,
the most recent are the Robert Koch
Centennial Award of the Koch Institute
in Berlin in 1960, and the Modern Medi-
cine Award for Distinguished Achieve-
ment in 1961.

Souzay Returns
in Free Concert

Gerard Souzay, French baritone, whose
performance in the Free Concerts Foun-
dation's program series last year received
praise from critics and public alike, will
return to the stage of the James Simpson
Theatre on Wednesday, January 16, for a
joint recital with Maureen Forrester, so-
prano. The concert will be the two vocal-
ists' only Chicago appearance in their
first joint concert tour of America. The
program begins at 8 :15 p.m.

For free tickets to the concert send a
stamped, self-addressed enveolope to Free
Concerts Foundation, Chicago Natural
History Museum, Roosevelt Road and
Lake Shore Drive, Chicago 5.

Winter Hours

On Christmas Day, December 25, and
New Year's Day, January 1, the Museum
will be closed to enable the Museum's
staff to spend the holidays with their fam-
ilies. During December, January, and
February, the Museum is open from 9 a.m.
to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday, and
from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday and
Sunday.

Chicago Natural History Museum

Founded by Marshall Field, 1S93

Roosevelt Road and Lake Shore Drive, Chicago 5

Telephone: WAbash 2-9-UO

TRUSTEES
William V. Kahler
Hughston M. McBain
J. Roscoe Miller
William H. Mitchell
John T. Pirie, Jr.
John Shedd Reed
John G. Searle
John M. Simpson
Solomon A. Smith
Louis Ware
Wood

THE BOARD OF
Lester Armour
Wm. McCormick Blair
Bowcn Blair
Walter J. Cummings
Joseph N. Field
Marshall Field, Jr.
Stanley Field
Clifford C Gregg
Samuel Insull, Jr.
Henry P. Isham

J. Howard

OFFICERS

Stanley Field, Chairman of the Board

Clifford C. Gregg, President

Hughston M. McBain, First Vice-President

Joseph N. Field, Second Vice-President

Bowcn Blair, Third Vice-President

Solomon A. Smith, Treasurer and Assistant Secretary

E. Leland Webber, Secretary

THE BULLETIN

EDITOR

E. Leland Webber, Director of the Museum

CONTRIBUTING EDITORS

Paul S. Martin, Chief Curator of Anthropology
John R. Millar, Chief Curator of Botany
Rainer Zangerl, Chief Curator of Geology
Austin L. Rand, Chief Curator of Zoology

MANAGING EDITOR

Paula R. Nelson, Public Relations Counsel

ASSOCIATE EDITOR

Marilyn Jmdrich, Associate in Public Relations

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

Audubon Lecture

"Alberta Outdoors," a color motion
picture about the mountains, prairies, and
vast wildernesses of the Province of Al-
berta, will be presented in the James
Simpson Theatre at 2 :30 p.m. on Sunday,
December 9, by the Illinois Audubon So-
ciety. The film is narrated in person by
Edgar T. Jones.

Cultural Groups Visit
"Art of Benin"

A number of Chicago's cultural organi-
zations have scheduled programs at the
Museum centered around the current ex-
hibition, "The Art of Benin."

Among groups that have already viewed
the centuries-old bronzes from Africa is
the Society for Contemporary American
Art. Sixty of their members attended a
dinner meeting on November 13 in the
Museum.

Another group that toured the exhibi-
tion in November were participants in the
University of Chicago's Fine Arts Pro-
gram, students of Mr. Theodore Halkin,
artist in the Department of Anthropology.

On December 6, the Committee for
Roosevelt University's African Studies
Program will hold a dinner meeting at the
Museum especially to see the exhibition

Director E. Leland
Webber (center) and Phil-
lip H. Lewis, Curator of
Primitive Art (left), dis-
cuss the Museum's cur-
rent special exhibition,
"The Art of Benin;'
with three members of the
Society for Contemporary
American Art: (from left
to right) Mrs. Albert H.
Newman, Mrs. Charles
F. Cutter, and Mr. Wil-
liam E. Hartmann, Pres-
ident of the Society.

of African court art. The evening's pro-
gram will include a performance of Af-
rican dancing, singing, and drums by the
Chicago chapter of the Pan-African Stu-
dent Organization in the Americas.

Also in December, members of the
South Side Community Art Center have
arranged a tea in the Museum and a
viewing of the exhibition at that time.

The exhibition remains on display
through December 9 only.

Geology Staff Artist
Appointed

Dr. Tibor Perenyi, Hungarian-born
sculptor, was appointed Geology Staff
Artist on October 1. He fills a position
that has been vacant since the resignation
of Mrs. Maidi Wiebe Leibhardt earlier
this year.

Dr. Perenyi brings to the Museum a
wide background of experience in the
field of art. Before leaving Hungary in
1956, Dr. Perenyi had achieved national
recognition as a portrait sculptor. His
busts of prominent people and of children
had been displayed in numerous art ex-
hibitions in Budapest and he was a per-
manent exhibitor in the annual Winter
Exhibition of the Hungarian Museum of
Fine Arts.

When he arrived in the United States,
Dr. Perenyi was immediately commis-
sioned by a number of Americans to do
several busts. For the past three years
he has been designing and painting ana-
tomical models for a leading firm in this
field, while continuing his work as a free-
lance sculptor.

New Museum Journey
for Children

Why does the earth look the way it
does? What forces of nature are con-
stantly at work changing the face of the
earth?

The Museum's new winter Journey for
children, "Understanding Scenery," pro-
vides answers to these questions in a care-
fully plotted trip to exhibits that show
the variable surface of our planet and
explain how it got that way. A question-

Gift Suggestions from the
Book Shop

Here are just a few of the many items
now available at the Museum Book Store
which should please a number of persons
on your holiday shopping list. Prices men-
tioned include tax and postage.

Museum Stories. These booklets
have been written by the Museum
staff to stimulate the curiosity of
young readers about man and the
world around him. They form a
junior encyclopedia of natural his-
tory. Each story book contains ap-
proximately 12 pages with black and
white illustrations. A complete set
of 30 booklets is $6.75.

Songbirds of America. A high fi-
delity recording, accompanied by
text and commentary, with full color
photographs of 26 familiar song
birds. This 10" x 10* volume is
available at 33M rpm for $5.20.

Precious Stone — Gemstone Set. A

collection of 30 genuine rough stones
from around the world. This set
contains a synoptic tables of names,
hardness, specific gravities, refractive
index, crystal forms, chemical formu-
las, and places of origin at $4.35.

As usual, the Book Shop carries a wide
selection of books on art, anthropology,
botany, geology, and zoology, which
make fine gifts for both adults and child-
ren. Jewelry and craft objects from many
countries are also available to help make
your Christmas shopping easy and pleas-
sant.

naire to be filled out on the Journey is
available at the Information Desk and
at the north and south entrances to the
Museum. Children who deposit a com-
pleted questionnaire in the boxes pro-
vided at each door will receive credit
leading to a certificate of award. All
Journeyers are honored at a special
awards program held twice each year
at the Museum.

dccember Page 5

Field Work in Iran Continues

Camp Two, Near Sama

North Slope, Elburz Mountains

(4,200 feet elevation)

August 24: That good man, Kosrovv Sa-
rin,1 turned up in camp on the night of
the 22nd, not only laden with such desid-
erata as butter, fruit, cookies, bread, and
loafcake, but with a stack of letters. We
were delighted to hear from the Muse-
um. By now you will have heard about
the wild sheep and goat specimens which
are en route. We thought hunting that
group of animals quite exciting.

At this moment there is much activity
in camp. Douglas is skinning the first
hare over in front of his tent under the
interested eye of a villager who resem-
bles, more than a little, a brigand. Kos-
row Sariri and Nicola, our driver, have
started a fire under a huge copper kettle
borrowed from the village and are boil-
ing bear bones. Bill is well away from

the tents skinning a jackal, while I sit
under a huge walnut tree happily writ-
ing to you.

So far we have taken 27 mammal spe-
cies in all. At this camp we have added
to the collections a doe and a fawn
maral,2 one roebuck, one bear beauti-
fully silver tipped, three jackals, one
hare, one pig, plus some bats, rats, and
mice. The dormice are large and fluffy
tailed — very pretty. They live in the
walnut trees. The ones caught here are
rolling fat, but the ones Doug took at
6,000 feet are much thinner by com-
parison.

The hunting here is rather hard; the
hills are dry, the padding of leaves and
twigs extremely crackly. The night
hunting has not yet produced very much.
Bill and Doug sit in the spare tires on
top of the truck and come leaping down
when they see any shining eyes. It's slim
picking, but we are rather pleased with
what we have obtained.

1 Representative of the Game Council of Iran
who has acted as "chief-of-staff" for the expe-
dition.

Page 6 December

2 Maral is a name for the large Persian form
of the red deer, Cervus elephus.

Janice K. Street

Mrs. Street continues the nar-
rative, begun in the November
BULLETIN, of the W. S. and J.
K. Street Expedition of Chicago
Natural History Museum to
Iran. Members of the expedi-
tion include her husband and
the expedition's leader, Mr.
William S. Street, and mam-
malogist Douglas Lay.

The trip over the Chalus Road down
here to our second camp was spectacu-
lar. We drove to 10,000 feet, then
through a one-lane tunnel over a mile
long. On the other side of it we started
down one horseshoe curve after another.
In places we went through narrow can-
yons cut through the rocks, sometimes
with great overhangs of rock.

We passed through a couple of villages
where houses were of stone and mud,
usually with no windows. The village
shop, if there was one, was merely a dark
hole in a wall. Always, though, a table
or two with chairs, where you could stop

LEFT: William S. Street kneels to photo-
graph one of his field "prizes" held by
Douglas Lay.

for tea, were set out by the road. Or
in an out-of-the-way place you might
see a man with a samovar, and one or
two little glasses on china saucers, sell-
ing tea. The tea is served in the glass,
you then pour the tea in the saucer, put
a sugar lump in your mouth, and drink
from the saucer.

At Pal-e-Dowab (under 2,000 feet ele-
vation), we turned off the main road
and traveled about 1 5 miles over a rough,
rocky, winding side road to camp. It
took us two hours, and we felt shaken up
for the first time. The camp is at 4,200
feet, with hills on both sides and higher
mountains beyond. It is delightful. I
have the same feeling here that I did at
Doab, of hills overlapping as far as one
can see.

The hills are dry with scrub growth
(much thorn bush), which grows heavier
as you go up higher toward the forest.
Yet in spite of the dry hills and rocky
terrain there is a feeling of lushness in the
green fields of rice and arzan, the great
walnut trees, and the small vegetable
gardens. Every so often there is an oa-
sis. In the center of a velvet green field
one may see several piles of stones placed
there when the field was cleared. All
the fields are tilled and worked by hand
or with the aid of crude implements.

Looking from our tent down-valley we
see green fields, trees, berry bushes, and
other crops. They give the appearance
of lavishness but do not show how hard
the people work to wrest a living from
the hill. They have done a remarkable
job putting in the irrigation ditches
which make the green possible. Back
of us to either side a narrow valley
runs between high rock cliffs and winds,
slowly climbing, among the bases of the
hills. These hills are rugged looking and
splendid, with green trees growing out
of the rock. There are many thistles all
around us — some yellow, some just plain
thistle color, but the ones I love are a
periwinkle blue. There are also blue
daisies, and, believe it or not, blue but-
terflies to match. Charming!

The village of Sama is quite close.
The people have very, very little. Many
of the children have immense tummies
from dietary deficiency. But they are a
friendly, happy people. In the early
morning we hear the boys taking the

cattle, and the men starting out with
mules or horses for the fields, going along
the trails on either side of camp, singing
and laughing.

The houses are stone, chinked with
mud and straw. One affluent citizen,
whose house is walled away from the
rest, allowed us to look inside. There
were three rooms : one, the kitchen area
— very cool inside, with plastered walls.
Across one corner hung a baby bed. A
sack of wheat and a sack of another grain
stood side by side. In one corner a col-
lection of elegant copper utensils and a
kerosene single burner. On the lone
shelf, two lamps. The next two rooms
were locked and identical — large, high-
ceilinged, and deliriously cool. On the
floor were lovely Persian rugs. Neat bed
rolls with round pillows on top were
stacked at the back. In the yard were
rugs and mats with arzan and wheat
spread on them to dry.

We went to the village armed with
two cameras, one a Polaroid, and a
pocket full of balloons. At first the
women all covered their faces and ran
to hide. I took a picture of two young-
sters and had them show it. That did it.
We were swamped. Everyone wanted
"aks" (pictures). It was an interesting
experience, photographing the women
with babies on their backs and tiny chil-

dren carrying babies. The women and
children all dress alike : a long, full print-
ed cotton shirt; then a shift, perhaps red
or a print, goes over that, split on the
sides for freedom in walking. Some
women also wear a sleeveless jacket that
may have silver-looking coins on the
edges. Always a scarf is tied over and
around the head, back far enough to
show a piece of hat attached to the scarf.
It's shaped like the front of an overseas
cap — black with silver braid and a touch
of red. With their first reticence over,
the women now come to camp in ones
or twos each day for a picture, and have
lost all shyness.

Douglas is going to be away for a
couple of days working the traps for a
few mice in another area. He had hoped
to go up the mountain today for more
dormice, but for the first time there are
low clouds and fog, and he will have to
wait.

A few days ago, Bill took off with Isa,
the local Game Council man. They left
camp and started straight up the moun-
tains where they hunted and camped at
6,500 feet, then went on up to 8,400
where the two maral were taken. A
beautiful, but precipitous piece of coun-
try, with extremely large trees, six to eight
feet through: alders and beeches, with
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December Page 7

(Continued from preceding page)
thousands of trilliums below. Holly, too.
One thing I can say, this country is
good for the waistline. We've all tight-
ened up the belts a bit, which calls for
some boasting. Bill is doing his best to
have the same waistline measurement as
Doug. I measure each of them every
few days. (Just between the two of us,
I pull the tape tighter when measuring
Bill !) Before too long we will move on
to the Caspian.

Camp Six, near Rezaiah
On the banks of the
Bardasar Chay (River)

September 18: Our tents are set up among
the willow trees overlooking a small river
— really a stream — some distance from
the road. A hill rises directly behind us
and an old flour mill is built into it.
Made of rock and mud, it's been there
for over a hundred years. The miller
grinds the wheat on a stone wheel. The
mill is built over water ditches, so he
controls the water. We are almost sur-
rounded with ditches.

The mill is built on three levels: one
where the wheat is poured, one where
the miller (a nice gentle soul who looks
as though a breath of wind would blow
him away) keeps his meager belongings,
and the lowest where the wheel is, and a
trough into which the flour falls. Out-
side, in a large flat area, the wheat is
sifted before being ground.

Driving from Chalus westward along
the Caspian coast, we experienced some
delightful moments. We enjoyed seeing
the tea plantations. Through binoculars
we could see the neat rows of tea plants
way up the mountain sides. Girls in
gaily colored dresses were picking tea
leaves in the fields. The tea factories are
the best looking buildings we have seen,
painted and surrounded with gardens.

Beyond Bandar Pahlovi we drove
through miles of wild pomegranate,
some in bloom, some with fruit.

At Astara we stopped at a small cav-
iar packing plant. It comprised two
square rooms, not large, connected by
a roofed passageway. One room held
the vats for sturgeon. The caviar is put
in salt water, then drained in large sieves.
In the other room, the caviar was packed.
The place was painted white and blue
and was very clean.

Page 8 December

SERAPIS

days ran on and on, the list would still be
incomplete. For his mighty works have
not come to a standstill: there are more
today than yesterday. Each day, each
night, adds new ones to the tale."

The conception of one almighty god
in Hellenistic religion, as incorporated in
the image of Serapis, spread throughout

(Continued from page 3)

the Mediterranean. The most efficient
propagators of his worship were the sail-
ors and mariners who carried the cult to
the Black Sea and the coast of the At-
lantic Ocean. The temple of Serapis at
Eboracum, near York, in Britain, and
the cults at Silchester and London, give
an idea of the northern boundaries of
the god's worship in the ancient world.

Beyond Astara we drove over plateau
country, 5,200 feet high. It reminded
us of eastern Washington. Dry farming
was done and we saw quantities of wheat
being threshed with water buffalo or by
hand. Plowing was done with a buffalo
and crude implements. Tremendous
amounts of land were under cultivation.
Every bit of green was being gathered
and stored.

Here we began seeing the Turkish
style villages. They are completely dif-
ferent from the others, with square mud
houses, flat-roofed, and a series of courts
seemingly connecting everything. There
were a few small windows, or more often
just a door. Many of the houses were

THE COVER

Chinese belt toggles, photographed
to almost exact size, create an unusual
checkerboard effect on this month's cover.
What are belt toggles? As their photo-
graphs show, they are beautifully fash-
ioned objects, two to three inches in size,
made from ivory, wood, lacquer, metal,
jade, or other hard materials, including
seeds. Traditionally, belt toggles were
used by Chinese gentlemen as counter-
weights for various personal accessories
— cases for pipes, fans, and spectacles,
portable writing sets, portable eating
kits — which were carried suspended
from a cord looped over the belt. Most
of these toggles date from the 19th Cen-
tury, but some are older, including one
inscribed with the date, 1403. The 20
pieces pictured on the cover are part of a
collection of 237 recently presented as a
gift to the Museum by Miss C. F.
Bieber of Santa Fe, Mew Mexico. All
will be displayed in the Museum's
hall of Chinese and Tibetan ethnology
(Hall 32) whose reinstallation is in
progress.

built wall to wall. Elsewhere, winding
walkways ran between quite high walls.

The flat roofs of the houses were used
for storage, as was evidenced by the
stacks of straw and the high, cone-
shaped stocks of winter fuel — patties of
cow dung and straw. After being made,
these are dried on the walls. The vil-
lagers' cattle and sheep looked very good,
and where land has been irrigated, vege-
tables were growing.

Ardabil was a busy town. We were
intrigued by the many horse-drawn car-
riages. There wasn't one in good repair.
The fenders were frayed and merely tied
on, the upholstery was torn and patched
— but the driver sat high and proud in
his ragged coat. Many of the carriages
were painted blue or red and decorated
with a row of colored flowers. The
horses not only sported beads and bells,
but red yarn tassels or pompoms were
attached in several places.

Two-wheeled carts carried tanks of
water to sell. Children would run out
and try to turn the spigot on and take
some water. The driver carried a stick
and when he saw them he would leap
off and give chase. Meanwhile, the
horse just plodded on.

This is a fertile valley, with much to-
bacco and large vineyards. Both crops
are being picked now and dried. There
is also a large sugar factory. While some
sugar beets are grown in this vicinity,
most are sent in from Khoi and other
places. Melons grow everywhere, and
these are the sweetest yet.

A few days ago, Bill, Nicola, and I left
camp at 8:30 a.m. and took off to find
new jerboa fields. We had been told
that the jerboas sometimes came out in
daytime. Found a most promising look-
ing field, loaded with burrows, but
saw no animals. Decided to return at
dusk. (To be continued)

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