' * 7 . . . . , 4 ’ Univ. oF as TORONTO, LIBRARY ee Bo ee rage ‘ a fe oi . : a A yee THE AMERICAN MUSEUM is QW, . ‘ JOURN ALS Se p IRS, j \ ‘ , 4 y AS i Ke j eS : We; Ay n \ VOLUME XI, 1911 ty ao yl yee aD (oo re sei, RD ig yy a NEW YORK PUBLISHED BY THE AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY 1911 American Museum of Natural History Seventy-seventh Street and Central Park West, New York City BOARD OF TRUSTEES President Henry FAIRFIELD OsBorRN First Vice-President Second Vice-President CLEVELAND H. DopGE J. PrerPontT Moraan, JR. Treasurer Secretary CHARLES LANIER ArcHER M. HuntTINGTON Toe Mayor or THe City or New Yorxk THE COMPTROLLER OF THE City or New YorxK THE PRESIDENT OF THE DEPARTMENT OF PARKS ALBERT S. BIcKMORE A. D. JurmLurarp GerorcE 8. Bowpoin Gustav E. Kisset * JosepH H. CHOATE Seta Low Tuomas DeWitTr CuyLEeR OgpEN MILLs JAMES DouGLas J. Przrpont MorGcan Map1son GRANT Percy R. Pyne Anson W. Harp WILLIAM ROCKEFELLER ADRIAN ISELIN, JR. Joon B. TREvoR ARTHUR CURTISS JAMES Frevtrx M. WarsurG Water B. JAMES GEorGE W. WICKERSHAM EXECUTIVE OFFICERS Director Assistant Secretary Freperic A. Lucas GerorceE H. SHERWooD Assistant Treasurer Tue UNITED States Trust Company or New Yorxk * Deceased Tue Museum 1s OpEN FREE TO THE PuBLic ON Every Day IN THE YEAR. Tue American Museum or Naturau History was established in 1869 to promote the Natural Sciences and to diffuse a general knowledge of them among the people, and it is in cordial coéperation with all similar institutions throughout the world. ‘The Museum authorities are de- pendent upon private subscriptions and the dues from members for procuring needed additions to the collections and for carrying on explorations in America and other parts of the world. The membership fees are, Annual Members. Pde $ 10 Fellows. . = MRED hse d nae ee $ 500 Sustaining Members (Annual). ee tees 25 Patrons. . 1000 Life Members. . : mete 100 Benefactors ‘(Gitt or ' bequest) 50,000 Tue Mosevum LIipraRyY contains more than 60,000 volumes with a good working collection of publications issued by scientific institutions and societies in this country and abroad. The library is open to the public for reference daily — Sundays and holidays excepted — from 9 a.m. to 5 P. M. Tae Museum PosBticaTIons are issued in six series: The American Museum Journal, Annual Report, Anthropological Papers, Bulletins, Guide Leaflets and Memoirs. Information concerning their sale may be obtained at the Museum Library. Gou1pEs For Stupy or Exuisits are provided on request by the Department of Public- Education. ‘Teachers wishing to bring classes should write or telephone the Department for an appointment, specifying the collection to be studied. Lectures to classes may also be arranged for. In all cases the best results are obtained with small groups of children. WoRKROOMS AND STORAGE COLLECTIONS may be visited by persons presenting membership tickets. The storage collections are open to all persons desiring to examine specimens for special study. Applications should be made at the information desk. Tue Mitta RESTAURANT in the east basement is reached by the elevator and is open from 12 to 5 on all days except Sundays. Afternoon Tea is served from 2 to 5. The Mitla Room is of unusual interest as an exhibition hall being an exact reproduction of temple ruins at Mitla, Mexico. Scientific Staff DIRECTOR Freperic A, Lucas, Se.D. GEOLOGY AND INVERTEBRATE PALHONTOLOGY Epmunp Otis Hovey, A.B., Ph.D., Curator MINERALOGY L. P. Gratacap, Ph.B., A.B., A.M., Curator Georce F. Kunz, A.M., Ph.D., Honorary Curator of Gems INVERTEBRATE ZOOLOGY Prof. Henry E. Crampton, A.B., Ph.D., Curator Roy W. Miner, A.B., Assistant Curator Frank E. Lutz, A.B., A.M., Ph.D., Assistant Curator L. P. Gratacap, Ph.B., A.B., A.M., Curator of Mollusca Witu1aAM BEUTENMiULLER, Associate Curator of Lepidoptera Joun A. GrossBeEck, Assistant Prof. Witt1AM Morton WHEELER, Ph.D., Honorary Curator of Social Insects ALEXANDER PETRUNKEViITCH, Ph.D., Honorary Curator of Arachnida Prof. Aaron L. TREADWELL, B.S., M.S., Ph. D., Honorary Curator of Annulata CHARLES W. LENG, B. S., Honorary Curator of Coleoptera ICHTHYOLOGY AND HERPETOLOGY Prof. BasHrorp Dean, A.B., A.M., Ph.D., Curator of Fishes and Reptiles Louis Hussaxor, B.S., Ph.D., Associate Curator of Fishes Joun T. NIcHOLS, A. B, Assistant Curator of Recent Fishes Mary CynraHia DICKERSON, B.S., Assistant Curator of Herpetology MAMMALOGY AND ORNITHOLOGY Prof. J. A. Atten, Ph.D., Curator Frank M. CuapmMan, Curator of Ornithology Roy C. Anprews, A.B., Assistant Curator of Mammalogy W. DEW. Mitter, Assistant Curator of Ornithology VERTEBRATE PALHZONTOLOGY Prof. Henry Farrrietp Osporn, A.B., Sc.D., LL.D., D.Sc., Curator Emeritus W. D. Marruew, Ph. B., "A. B., A. M., Ph. D., Curator WALTER GRANGER, Associate Curator of Fossil Mammals Barnum Brown, A. B., Associate Curator of Fossil Reptiles Wituram K. Grecory, A.B., A.M., Ph.D., Assistant Curator ANTHROPOLOGY Cuark Wissier, A.B., A.M., Ph.D., Curator Purny E. Gopparp, A. B., A. 'M., Ph.D., Associate Curator Ropert H. Lowin, A. JP Ph. D., Assistant Curator Hersert J. SPINDEN, A. B., A. M., Ph.D., Assistant Curator CHARLES W. Mzap, Assistant ALANSON SKINNER, Assistant PHYSIOLOGY Prof. Ratpa W. Tower, A.B., A.M., Ph.D., Curator PUBLIC HEALTH Prof. Cuaries-Epwarp Amory Winstow, S.B., M.S., Curator Joun Henry O’Nert, S.B., "Assistant WOODS AND FORESTRY Mary Cyntaia Dickerson, B.S., Curator BOOKS AND PUBLICATIONS Prof. Rates W. Towmr, A.B., A.M., Ph.D., Curator PUBLIC EDUCATION Prof. Avserr 8S. Bickmore, B.S., Ph.D., LL.D., Curator Emeritus Gerorce H, SHERWOOD, A.B., " AM., ‘Curator ILLUSTRATIONS Absorbed in study of the meteorites, 221 African boy carrying leopard, 89 African Hall, 14, 15, 17, 18, 19 African warriors, 12-13 ‘“‘Age of Mammals,”’ 67 Arabopo River, 290 3 Awaiting their turn to enter for a lecture, 242 Bagobo ‘‘burden basket,’’ 171; hemp fibre, 169; man’s carrying bag, 167; scarf, 166; textile for woman's skirt, 169; women, 165, 168; youth, 164 Bakuba pilecloth, 17 Beehive in Insect Hall, 250 Bella Coola family making ‘‘bread,’’ 137 Bickmore, Prof. Albert S., 189, 230 Birches, Jesup estate, 42 Bird houses made by schoolboys, 258 Black walnut, Jesup Collection, 38 Bullfrog Group, cover (Oct.), 186, 202, 204 “‘Caliph,”’ 173, 176, 177, 178, cover (May) Canoe Builders, cover (April), 109 Catalpa Flowers, Forestry Hall, 253 Central Andes, Western Colombia, 294 Chilkat blanket weaving at a salmon river camp, 134 Children have favorite exhibits, 233 Chinese bronzes, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64 Coloring from the live frog, 207 Congo battle-axe, Kasai District, 16; carved wooden vase, 18; pygmies in the death dance, 19 Contact (double) beds, 146 Coppermine River, Museum’s Arctic Ex- pedition, 271 Copper Queen Mine, Cavern in, 305 Crocodile, Skeleton of an extinct marine, 68 Crow Indians, Adoption lodge, 180 Dinosaur mummy, 6 Dinosaurs, Duck-billed, 8, 10 Dominica, Fording a stream, 270 Driftwood (polluted) Picking up, 147 “Dry Camp,’’ Gray Bull River, 87 Elephant, Head studies, 92; herd, 5 Eohippus, 84, 85, 88 Eryops from the Lower Permian of Texas, 197 . European frog showing external vocal sacs 209 Flatboat, Red Deer River, 273 Flea, Human 96; Rat, 95, 96 Flowering dogwood, Jesup Collection, 37 Forests on Andean Coast Range, 296, 298 ‘*Fossil Aquarium,’’ 160 Fossil fish field work, 303 Fossil in position, 277 Fossil ripples in sandstone, 280 Four-toed horse, Eohippus, 84, 85, 88 Fur Seal Group, 50, 51 Fur seals, Pribilof Islands, cover (Feb.) Giraffe, Five-horned, 91 Ground Sloth Group, 114, 116, 119 Guiana Indians, 289, 291, 292 Haida Canoe, Steaming and decoration, 109 Hippo, Measuring and skinning, 90 House posts, 82 Icterus fuertesi Chapman, 20 Impalla, 91 Indian tipi, Studying home life within, 222 Infectious diseases, Photographs to teach prevention, 238, 239 Intermittent sand filters, 144, 145 Ireng River, Looking over the dense canopy of the forest toward valley of, 286 Kaieteur, the Great Falls of the Guianas, 266 Lacrosse, Menomini game of, 138, 139, 141 Malarial mosquito exhibit, 241 Mangbetu natives, Congo Expedition report, 190, 191 Maori carved canoe prow, 53,55; warrior, 54 Map showing exploration and field parties, 1911, 269 Marine Group, Model for, 251 Mesohippus, 85, 88 Monitor (Water), Habitat Group, modeling manikin for, 207 Moose Group, Studying the, 226 Mount Wilson, View from, 40 Mounting the skin of a lizard of Tropical America, 212 Mural panels in North Pacific Hall, cover (April), 109, 128, 134, 137 Museum building, Design for east facade, 154 Museum of Celebes, 149 Newt’s method of shedding skin, 208 North American geography at close of Coal Era, 198 Okapi, 46, 47, 72 Oriole, Fuertes’, 20 Orohippus, 85, 88 Pine seeds for planting, cover (May) Pines, Jesup estate, 34, 41 Potaro River below Kaieteur Falls, 283, 284 Prospecting in Wind River Basin, Wyoming, 87 Rat, ‘‘Norway,’’ (Mus decumanus), 97, 98 Red Deer River, 272, 275, 276, 279, 280, 281, 282 Rhinocerus, Hook-lipped, Square-mouthed, 2, 4 Roraima, Mount, 290, 291 Salamander, Japanese giant, 203 San Ildefonso pottery, 192, 193, 194, 195 206; cover (Jan.); vi INDEX Savannahs, Brazilian, 286, 287 Saveritik, Camp on Guiana border, 292 School children visiting special exhibits at the Museum, 218, 222, 225, 226, 233, 237, 241, 242, 243, 248, 249, 250, 252, 253, 257, 261, 262 ‘*Sea elephants,’’ 108, 110, 111 Septic Tank, 146 Sketching for North Pacific Hall panels, 131 Skin-laden mules, Africa, 93 Spoonbill or paddlefish, 120, 121, 123, 125 Spoonbill caviar, Preparing, 124, 125 Stikine River, 132 Stone seat from Ecuador, 83 Successful kill by Guiana Carib Indians Sun Dance among Plains Cree, 299 Tamanawas board, Bay Center, Washington, v & Totem poles, cover (March), 76, 78, 79, 80, 81 Trachodon mummy, Portion of skin, 9 Travelling case of birds, 245 Tree Climbing Ruminant, 162 Tree sloth, Modern, 117 Trickling filters, Columbus, O., 142, 143 Tsimshian family making eulachon ‘‘ butter,” 128 Turtle (soft-shelled), Wax cast, 210 Turtles (spotted), Wax cast, 210 Water moccasin, Wax cast, 211 289 Wax casts, 205, 206, 207, 208, 209, 210, 211 Sugar maple in the Forestry Hall, Studying Whale skeleton cases from Japan, 23 the, 237 Zebra Group, 172, 173, 174 INDEX Capitals Indicate the Name of a Contributor fe Accessions: BiareLtow, Maurice A. Educational Value Anthropology, 30, 83, 102, 150, 184, 216 of the American Museum, 234-235 Geology, 310 Bird Collections on Deposit, 182 Invertebrate Palzeontology, 151 Invertebrate Zodlogy, 264, 309 Mammalogy and Ornithology, 31,.71, 72, 102, 183 Mineralogy, 30, 216 Public Education, 71, 189 Vertebrate Paleontology, 69, 264 Paintings of Peary meteorites, 102, 264 Administrative Offices, 214 African Large Game, 173-178 ‘*Age of Mammals,”’ 30, 65-67 AuueN, J. A. Habitat Groups of Mammals and Birds, 248-249 The Okapi, 73-75 American Museum and Education, 242 Amphibians of the Great Coal Swamps, 197-200 Ancient Chinese Bronzes, 59-65 Anprews, R. C. Around the World for the Museum, 21-24 Modern Museum of Celebes, 149-150 Anthropological Field Work for the Year. 299-300 Anthropology, Arrangement of Exhibits, 254 Appointments, 151, 215 Appropriation for Museum Extension, 213 Around the World for the Museum, 21-24 Bagobo Fine Art Collection, 164-171 Benepictr, L. W. Bagobo Fine Art Collec- tion, 164-171 Bickmore, Professor Albert 8., Educator, 229 British Guiana and Brazil to Mount Ror- aima, 283-293 Brown, Barnum, Fossil Hunting by Boat in Canada, 273-282 Bumpus, Hermon Cary, 30 Burrage, Guy H., 182 Byrne, Mary B. C. Tuesday at the Mu- seum, 262-264 CuapMAN, Frank M. New Oriole from Mexico, 20 Zodlogical Expedition to Western Colom- bia, 295-298 Zoological Exploration in South America, 52 Child Welfare Exhibit, 30 i Children’s Room of the Museum, 260-261 CriarKk, ANNA M. The Museum a Labora- tory for Classes, 239-240 Ciark, James L. Preservation of Mammal Skins in the Field, 89-94 Congo Expedition, Reports from, 44—48, 191 ( Contents, Table of, 1, 33, cover (Mar.), 105, ‘ 153, 185, 217, 265 Coéperation in Education, 219 Copper Queen Mine, Newly Discovered Cavern in, 304-307 Crampton, Henry E., British Guiana and Brazil to Mount Roraima, 283-293 Educational Aims of the Department of Invertebrate Zoédlogy, 250-252 Crow Indians of Montana, 179-181 INDEX vii Dean, Basurorp, Collecting Fossil Fishes in Ohio, 302-303 Exhibition of Reptiles and Amphibians, 201 The New ‘‘Fossil Aquarium,’’ 161 Dicxerson, M. C. Foreword on the New Mural Paintings, 129-130 Rare Elephant Seals, 109-112 Some Methods and Results in Herpetol- ogy, 203-212 Dinosaur, Fort Lee, 28-29 Dinosaur Mummy, 7-11 Educational Spirit in Museums, Evolution : of, 227-228 Educational Value of the American Museum, 234-235 Expeditions: Alberta, 213, 214, 273-282; Alaska, 300; Arctic, 31, 72, 100, 215, 308; Arizona, 304; British East Africa, 99; British Guiana, 215, 283-293; Canada, 300; Colombia, 100, 151, 295- 298; Congo, 44, 99, 183, 191; Florida, 309; Guadaloupe, 109; Japanese Whal- ing Stations, 100, 216, 309; Lower California, 100; Nebraska, 214; New Jersey 300; Northern Plains Indians, 126, 300; Ohio, 215, 302-303; Pine Ridge Reservation, 214; Southwest, In- dians of, 300; Venezuela, 100, 215; West Indies, 100, 215; Wyoming, 85, 214, 311 Exploration Work, Review of the Museum’s, 267 Exploring and Field Parties of 1911, 269 Extension of Museum, Plans for, 155-158 Fassett, E. C. B. A Treasure of Ancient Bronzes, 59-65 New Mural Paintings, 130-137 Fast Vanishing Records, 270-271 Finley, (John H.) A Word of Congratula- tion from, 220 Flea Carriers of Plague, 95-98 Forestry and the Museum, 39-43 “*Fossil Aquarium,”’ 161 Fossil Egg from Madagascar, 70 Fossil Fishes in Ohio, Collecting, 302-303 Fossil Hunting by Boat in Canada, 273-282 Fossil Vertebrates — What They Teach, 246 Four-Toed Horse, A New Specimen of, 85-88 Gift from Ecuador, 83 Gift of Peculiar Value, 189 Gifts to the Museum, 30, 69, 71, 83, 101, 102, 189 GRANGER, WatTER, A New Specimen of the Four-Toed Horse, 85-88 Grecory, W. K. ‘‘Age of Mammals,” 65— 67 Ground Sloth Group, 113-119 Guide Leaflets, 183, 184, 215 Habit and Structure in the Insect World, 27-28 Habitat Groups of Mammals and Birds, 248 Herpetology, Some Methods and Results in, 203-212 Hovey, E. O. Newly Discovered Cavern in the Copper Queen Mine, 304—307 Professor Albert S. Bickmore: Educator, 229-233 Huene, Dr. Friedrich von, 214 Hunter, George W. Museum and High School United for Health and Economic Welfare, 236 Hussaxor, L. Spoonbill Fishery of the Mississippi, 121-125 Indians of the Northern Plains, Research and Exploration among, 126-127 Invertebrate Zoélogy, Educational Aims of the Department, 250-252 Jesup Collection of Woods, 37, 38, 43, 184 Jesup (Morris Ketchum) and the American Museum, 35-36 Kunz, Grorce F. New Zealand Jade, 57-58 Lana, Hersert, Reports from the Congo Expedition, 44-48, 191 Lecture Announcements, 32, 72, 103, 152, p. 3, cover, (Oct.) 311 LerpziaeR, Henry M., The Museum and the Public Lecture, 220 Library, The Museum, 252-253 Lower California Expedition, 100 Lowir, R. H. Crow Indians of Montana, 179-181 Industry and Art of the Negro Race, 12-19 New South Sea Exhibit, 53-56 Lucas, F. A. Evolution of the Educational Spirit in Museums, 227—228 Fast Vanishing Records, 270-271 Human Interest in Museum Exhibits, 187 Luiz, F. E. Flea Carriers of Plague, 95—98 Relation between Habit and Structure in the Insect World, 27-28 Mammal Skins, Preservation, 89—94 Man, Exhibit Showing Antiquity, 310 Marruew, W.D. Amphibians of the Great Coal Swamps, 197—200 Fort Lee Dinosaur, 28-29 Fossil Vertebrates — What They Teach, 246 Ground Sloth Group, 113-119 Tree Climbing Ruminant, 162-163 Maxwe.ti, W. H. Codperation in Educa- tion, 219 Meap,C. W. A Gift from Ecuador, 83 Medicine Pipe, 24—26 Members, 29, 71, 101, 182, 213, 215, 264, 307 viii INDEX Members’ Room, 102, 264 Menomini Game of Lacrosse, 139-141 Metropolitan Sewerage Commission Exhibit, 151 Minerals, Hall of, 216 Mollusks, Hall of, 151 Mural Paintings, 129-137 Murray, Sir John, 182 Museum, A Laboratory for Classes, 239-240 and High School United for Health and Economic Welfare, 236 and the Public Lecture, 220 Exhibits, Human Interest in, 187-188 How One Crowded High School uses the, 240-241 . Increasingly Helpful for Ten Years, 236 News Notes, 29, 71, 101, 150, 182, 213, 264, 307 of Celebes, A. Modern, 149-150 of the Future, 223-225 Tuesday at the, 262-264 Museum's Work, Cordial Recognition of the, 236-241 Museums Association’s Meeting, 214 National Academy of Sciences, 264 Negro Race, Industry and Art, 12-19 New Zealand Jade, 57-58 Oceanographic Work on the Albatross, 159 “Oceanography,” lecture by Sir John Murray, 182 Okapi, 73-75 Oriole from Mexico, A New, 20 Osporn, H. F. A Dinosaur Mummy, 7-11 Museum of the Future, 223-225 Plans for Extension of Museum, 155-158 Osborn, H. F., 30, 65, 71, 213 Panama Canal Project, 310 Peasopy, James L. How one Crowded High School Uses the Museum, 240 Pot hole from Russell, N. Y., 310 Pottery of San Ildefonso, 192-196 Primary and Grammar Schools, Symposium of Expressions from, 255-260 Public Health, Appointive Committee, 101 Question of, 142-148 Public Schools, Coéperation with, 242 Publications, 106-108, 183, 184, 215 Reptiles and Amphibians, Exhibition of, 201 “Revealing and Concealing Coloration in Birds and Mammals,"’ 200 Rhinocerus, Square-mouthed or White, 3-5 Robb, J., Hampden, 99 Rogsver, Acnes, The Children’s Room of the Museum, 260 Roosreve.tt, Tueopore, The Square- mouthed or White Rhinocerus, 3-5 Roosevelt, Theodore, 200 Sacer, L. B. The Museum Increasingly Helpful for Ten Years, 236-239 Schaffer, Dr. Franz, 214 Scientific Staff, Changes in, 71, 99, 101, 102, 150, 183, 213, 214 Seal Group, 49-51 Seals, Rare Elephant, 109-112 Senckenberg Museum, Historic Fossil from, 69 SHERWOOD, G. H. Codédperation with the Public Schools, 242—245 Gift of Peculiar Vaiue, 189 Skinner, ALanson, The Menomini Game of Lacrosse, 139-141 Smith, Harlan I., 215, 301-302 Smiru, Harvan I., Totem Poles of the North Pacific Coast, 77-82 Societies, Meetings of, 31, 103, 151 South America, Bird Fund, Contributions to, 101 Zooblogical Exploration in, 52 South Sea Exhibit, 53-56, 71 Sprnpen, H. J. The Making of Pottery at San Ildefonso, 192-196 Spoonbill Fishery of the Mississippi, 121-125 Stefansson-Anderson Arctic Expedition, 31, 72, 100, 215, 308 Totem Poles, North Pacific Coast, 77-82 Toumey, J. W. Forestry and the Museum ' 39-43 Tower, R. W. The Museum Library, 252 TOWNSEND, C. H. Oceanographic Work on the Albatross, 159 The Finished Fur Seal Group, 49-51 Tree Climbing Ruminant, 162-163 Trustees, Annual Meeting, 99-100 Elections to, 99 Vertebrate Paleontology Expeditions, 214 311 Ic Walker, Dr. J. R., 216 Wild Boar Habitat Group, 183 Winstow, O-E. A., A Question of Public Health, 142-148 Winslow, C-E. A., 183, 216 Wisster, CrarK, Anthropological Field Work for the Year, 299-300 Arrangement of Exhibits in Anthro- pology, 254-255 Medicine Pipe, 24—26 Research in Anthropology, 126-127 Zobdlogical Expedition to Western Colombia, 295-298 The American Museum Journal CONTENTS FOR JANUARY, 1911 Cover, Photograph by James L. Clark The Black or Hook-lipped Rhinoceros Frontispiece, Photograph by Kermit Roosevelt The White ov Square-mouthed Rhinoceros The Square-mouthed Rhinoceros. ..........THEODORE ROOSEVELT An account of the white rhino from personal observations in the Lado A Dinosaur Mummy.................HENRY FarrFiELp OsBoRN Trachodon annectens purchased through the Jesup Fund. With reproduction by Charles R. Knight Industry and Art of the Negro Race.............RoBert H. Lowie Plan of the African Hall. New theories of the negro’s relation to civilization A New Oriole from Mexico. ................. FRANK M. CHAPMAN With colored plate Around the World for the Museum.............Roy C. ANDREWS The Medicine Pipe. .......................-+++..--+CLARK WISSLER The Museum gains phonograph records of Indian prayers and songs Relation between Habit and Structure in the Insect World Franx E. Lutz mame ee. Dinosaur. .c es eels oe be eee ee ee a W.. D. MatTraew Museum News Notes. . Lecture Announcements. ............ Mary Cyntuia Dickerson, Editor Subscription, One Dollar per year. Fifteen cents per copy ~I 12 A subscription to the Journau is included in the membership fees of all classes of Members of the Museum Subscriptions should be addressed to The American Museum Journal, 30 Boylston St., Cam- bridge, Mass., or 77th St. and Central Park West, New York City Entered as second-class matter January 12, 1907, at the Post-office at Boston, Mass. Act of Congress, July 16, 1894 ates. ers oe pert Wages | — i* apy, ve (7! From a photograph, copyright, by Kermit Roosevelt THE SQUARE-MOUTHED RHINOCEROS The white or square-mouthed rhinoceros is now found only in a game preserve in South Africa and on a narrow stretch of territory along the west bank of the Upper Nile The American Museum Journal Vou. XI JANUARY, 1911 No. 1 THE SQUARE-MOUTHED RHINOCEROS By THEODORE RoosEVELT Colonel Roosevelt has presented to the American Museum two specimens of the rare White Rhino, and gives to the JourNAu from his personal experiences and observations in Africa the following account of this great horned beast of the Lado. On the arrival of the skins at the Museum, work will begin at once on the task of preparing and mounting them for exhibition. N our trip in Africa for the Smithsonian, in addition to the series of specimens of big game for the Smithsonian itself, we also pre- pared a few skins of the largest and rarest animals for other col- lections: a head of the white rhinoceros for Mr. Hornaday’s noteworthy collection, a bull elephant for the University of California, two cow ele- phants and a bull and cow of the white rhino for the American Museum of Natural History. I was especially anxious to get this pair of white rhinos, because the American Museum is in my own city, because my father was one of its founders and because my admiration is great for the work of the men who have raised this institution to its present high position. The skins of the two cow elephants were prepared by Carl Akeley, with whom I had gone after them; the other specimens were preserved by Edmund Heller and R. J. Cunninghame as a labor of love. The white rhinoceros is, next to the elephant, the largest of existing mam- mals. There are three groups of existing rhinoceros: the two-horned species of Africa, the one-horned species of the Indian region and the little Sumatran rhinoceros — the three separate stems of ancestry going back at least to early Pliocene and probably to Miocene times. At one time rhinos of many dif- ferent kinds and covering the widest variety of form and habit abounded in America, and in Europe species lasted to the days of paleolithic man. There are two wholly distinct kinds in Africa, differing from one another as much as the moose does from the wapiti. They are commonly called the black and the white; but as in fact they are both of a dark slate hue, it is better to call the former the hook-lipped and the latter the square-mouthed. They intergrade in size, but the square-mouthed averages bigger and longer-horned. The hook-lipped or common black kind is still plentiful in * The illustrations are used through the courtesy of Charles Scribner's Sons. 3 From a photograph, copyright, by Kermit Roosevelt many places from Abyssinia to the Zambezi; it is a browser and feeds chiefly on twigs and leaves. The white or square-mouthed kind is now found only in a game preserve in South Africa and on a narrow stretch of territory along the west bank of the Upper Nile. It is purely a grazer. In its range the square-mouthed rhino offers an extraordinary example of discontinuous distribution. It was originally known from South Africa, south of the Zambezi, and was believed to exist nowhere north of that river. Then, when it had been practically exterminated in South Africa, it was rediscovered far to the north beyond the equator. In the immense extent of intervening territory it has never been found. We spent over a month in the Lado, the present habitat of this huge sluggish ungulate. We collected a good series of specimens, nine in all — bulls and cows and one calf. Of course, we killed none save those abso- lutely needed for scientific purposes. All told we saw thirty or forty individuals and Kermit got some fine photographs, the first ever taken of living members of the species. Their eyesight was so dull and their brains so lethargic that time and again we got within a score or so of feet and watched individuals as long as we cared to. They drank at night, either at the Nile or at some pool, and then moved back, grazing as they went, into the barren desolation of the dry country. About nine o’clock or thereabouts they lay down, usually under the seanty shade of some half-leafless thorn tree. In mid afternoon they rose and grazed industriously until sundown. But as with all game, they sometimes varied their times of resting, eating and drinking. Ordinarily we found the bulls singly and the cow along with her calf; but occasionally three or four would go together. Cow herons frequently accompanied them, as they do elephants and buffaloes, perching unconcernedly on their heads and bodies. They were not difficult to get as our trackers followed their trail with little difficulty; and they seemed less excitable and bad-tempered than their hook-lipped cousins, although on occasion they charge with determination, so that a certain amount of care must be exercised in dealing with them. 4 ul tdnoesnyy of9 OUTY. OIG OY} JO MOD pu [[Nq *B Jo JJIS oqeN[VA sTy 0} UVOTIPpe 0} sjuvydofo om} pojuosoid sey gJoAoSOOy jour ‘S|[RUIUIRU §=SUTYSTXO JO JSASART 99 aR SO1D0 poypnour-orenbs oy4 pue jueYydeye oq, }URISIP spavA OAY-AJUOMY puUR pul ay} Woda QeaJ XI SAY 30a} B JO Quy OYyg JO JUIOd OSe{IURA BY} WoA oye) YdeasojOyg YBEWIL HDIH 40 1S3HO4 N3dO NV NI LNWHd373 430 GH3aH V doo ‘ydvabojoyd 0 U * ~ ae : wh and sea pue Suywos MA Ul PedeAOs[p SBM Auunyy anesourq UL UoJaJeYs 8y} AaAO APYSH UMTIP *yueseid up uopoYysvsy,) ANBSOUIP SIY.L pung dnset “yy So yy 944 ysnoayy wunasny 944 Aq peseyo. snues sty9 jo sanevsoulp Joj 91qBY ayenbe jo Aucey} 84} Susy nolAeid sdoyjO TB WO’ SdoyTp sesuey jo Saaqusasys AWWNW YNVSONIGC V qZuejs poures espejMouy Mou oU,L H SsopeyO Aq 061 Ul PetaAoostp (svajveur urys oy} SuIARYy UT puNoj AIS 9 A DINOSAUR MUMMY By Henry Fairfield Osborn possession of a most unique specimen, discovered in August, 1908, by the veteran fossil hunter Charles H. Sternberg of Kansas. It is a large herbivorous dinosaur belonging to the closing period of the Age of . Reptiles, and is known to paleontologists as T'’rachodon, or more popularly as the “duck-billed dinosaur.” The skeleton, or hard parts of these very remarkable animals has been known for over forty years, and a few specimens had preserved with them small areas of the impressions of the epidermal covering, but it was not until the discovery of the Sternberg specimen that a knowledge of the outer covering of these dinosaurs was gained. It appears probable that in a aumber of cases these priceless skin impressions were mostly destroyed in removing the fossil specimens from their surroundings because the ex- plorers were not expecting to find anything of the kind. Altogether seven specimens have been discovered in which these delicate skin impressions were partly preserved, but the “trachodon mummy’’ far surpasses all the others, as it yields a nearly complete picture of the outer covering. The reason the Sternberg specimen (7'rachodon annectens) may be known as a diaosaur “mummy’”’ is that in all the parts of the animal which are preserved (i. e. all except the hind limbs and the tail) the epidermis is shrunkes around the limbs, tightly drawn along the bony surfaces and contracted like a great curtain below the chest area. This condition of the epidermis suggests the following theory of the deposition and preser- vation of this wonderful specimen, namely: that after dying a natural death the animal was not attacked or preyed upon by its enemies and the body lay exposed to the sun entirely undisturbed for a long time, perhaps upon a broad sand flat of a stream in the low-water stage; the muscles and viscera thus became completely dehydrated, or desiccated by the action of the sun, the epidermis shrank around the limbs, was tightly drawn down along all the bony surfaces, and became hardened and leathery; on the abdominal surfaces the epidermis was certainly drawn within the body cavity, while it was thrown into creases and folds along the sides of the body, owing to the shrinkage of the tissues within. At the termination of a possible low-water season, during which these processes of desiccation took place, the “mummy” may have been caught in a sudden flood, carried 4 \WO years ago, through the Jesup Fund, the Museum came into 7 DUCK-—BILLED DINOSAURS Fossil reptiles with spreading webbed feet, compressed tail and duck-like bill, all of which indicate a more or less aquatic existence. Compare with restoration, p. 10 The jaws are provided with a marvelous grinding apparatus composed of a complex of more than two thousand separate teeth A DINOSAUR MUMMY 9 PORTION OF SKIN FROM TRACHODON MUMMY This reptile had neither scales nor bony covering, but a thin epidermis made up of tubercles of two sizes, the larger size predominating on surfaces exposed to the sun down the stream, and rapidly buried in a bed of fine river sand intermingled with sufficient elements of clay to take a perfect cast or mold of all the epidermal markings before any of the epidermal tissues had time to soften under the solvent action of the water. In this way the markings were indi- cated with absolute distinctness, and as the specimen will soon be mounted in a glass case, the visitor will be able by the use of a hand glass to study even the finer details of the pattern, although of course there is no trace either of the epidermis itself, which has entirely disappeared, or of the pigmentation, or coloring, if such existed. The discovery of this specimen discloses the fact that although attain- ing a height of fifteen to sixteen feet and a length of thirty feet, the trachodons were not covered with scales or a bony protecting arma- ‘a + s 9 KNIGHT A PRELIMINARY RESTORATION BY CHARLES R, DUCK-BILLED DINOSAUR, 10 A DINOSAUR MUMMY 11 ture, but with dermal tubercles of relatively small size, which varied in shape and arrangement in different species, and that not improbably asso- ciated with this varied epidermal pattern there was a varied color pattern. The theory of a color pattern is based chiefly upon the fact that the larger tubercles concentrate and become more numerous on all those portions of the body exposed to the sun, that is, on the outer surfaces of the fore and hind limbs, and appear to increase also along the sides of the body and to be more concentrated on the back. On the less exposed areas, the under side of the body and the inner sides of the limbs, the smaller tubercles are more numerous, the larger tubercles being reduced to small, irregularly arranged patches. From analogy with existing lizards and snakes we may suppose, therefore, that the trachodons presented a darker appearance when seen from the back and a lighter appearance when seen from the front. The thin character of the epidermis as revealed by this specimen favors also the theory that these animals spent a large part of their time in the water, which theory is strengthened by the fact that the diminutive fore limb terminates not in claws or hoofs, but in a broad extension of the skin, reaching beyond the fingers and forming a kind of paddle. This marginal web, which connects all the fingers with each other, together with the fact that the lower side of the fore limb is as delicate in its epidermal structure as the upper, certainly tends to support the theory of the swimming rather than the walking or terrestrial function of this fore paddle, as indicated in. the accompanying preliminary restoration that was made by Charles R. Knight working under the writer’s direction. One is drawn in the con- ventional bipedal, or standing posture, while the other is in a quadrupedal pose, or walking position, sustaining or balancing the fore part of the body on a muddy surface with its fore feet. In the distant water a large number of the animals are disporting themselves. The designation of these animals as the “duck-billed’”’ dinosaurs in reference to the broadening of the beak, has long been considered in con- nection with the theory of aquatic habitat. The conversion of the fore limb into a sort of paddle, as evidenced by the Sternberg specimen, strengthens this theory. This truly wonderful specimen, therefore, nearly doubles our previous insight into the habits and life of a very remarkable group of reptiles. ° y i f * a WARRIORS WITH SHIELDS, SINGING AS THEY MARCH INDUSTRY AND ART OF THE NEGRO RACE THE EXHIBITION IN THE MUSEUM’S AFRICAN HALL ENFORCES NEW IDEAS AS TO THE CAPACITIES OF THE NEGRO RACE AND REVEALS THE GROUND ON WHICH ARE BASED SOME NEW THEORIES REGARDING THE NEGRO’S RELATION TO CIVILIZATION By Robert H. Lowvie Decorative illustrations from African Hall frescoes by Albert Operti HILE a few years ago all the Museum’s ethnological material from Africa could have been conveniently placed in a few cases, the acquisition of two unusually large collections from the Congo seemed to warrant the installation of a hall especially devoted to African 12 ethnology. The great preponderance of ma- terial from the Congo as compared with other regions of Africa made necessary the allotment of an ap- parently dispropor- tionate amount of space, a large rectan- gulararea in the center being set aside for this purpose. There is a certain measure of justification, however, for the prominence thus given to a single region. The Congo embraces within its boundaries tribes rep- resenting with special clearness the develop- ment of negro culture as uninfluenced by external causes; it in- cludes not only divi- sions of the Pygmy race representing per- haps the lowest of cultural stages to be found in Africa, but also a num- ber of Bantu-speaking negroes whose artistic work may be fairly taken as representative of the capacities of the African natives. The plan of arrangement was designed to be, as nearly as possible, geographical. The as yet uninstalled collections from parts north, east, south and west of the Congo are to be placed ultimately in corresponding positions with reference to the large central rectangle; within this central area devoted to the Congo a similar geographical plan was actually followed as rigidly as the nature of the material. and other practical condi- tions permitted. Thus, the visitor entering the African Hall is confronted by a row of cases exhibiting material from the southern Congo, while a series of mats from the same district is stretched in frames above. Passing to the east, he finds along the eastern border of the central area the material from the eastern Congo, while the space, as yet unoccupied, between this 13 a : Nae ny eC PAP EAD ah er dh APP Ahad Aha dP AP aPAP AP APD ADAP AP ADAP EP AP ADAP AP ADAP AP AP AP AP ADAP LOAD AD AD APS Portion of transparency in African Hall. The shaved head and abundant neck and ear orna- ments are typical of East Africa Pah ahah ab arabaraparar: PEP AP AP AP AP ahah ah aharararararararara row of cases and the windows is to be dedi- cated to East Africa. Here, as throughout the perimeter of the Congo area, spears, shields, battle axes and other specimens are grouped on pillars or fastened in frames above the cased material from the same territory. A rather novel device was hit upon to illus- trate phases of native life such as can scarcely ever be represented adequately by actual specimens. Thus, the pastoral life of the Masai is not clearly shown by an exhi- bition of milk jugs, and the crossing of a river on anative bridge cannot be very vividly presented to a visitor by a cased section of the bridge. Similarly, the necessarily piece- meal installation of garments and objects of personal adornment from some district hardly permits the construction of a picture of the fully-dressed warrior. Accordingly, there was obtained a large series of standard photo- graphs illustrating various aspects of African culture; from these, colored enlargements on glass were prepared, and placed in the lower window frames as transparencies. These transparencies, which embrace in scope the entire African continent, supplementing the material on exhibition, are likely to convey to the general public a clearer and more impressive picture of aboriginal African cul- ture than could otherwise be hoped for. So far as the exhibition of the material itself is concerned, especial care was taken to emphasize certain broad features which Pah ah ar ahahaha abarararararararhabararaparar SP AP AP AP AP Ad Ad Arad Ah Ad Ar AD AD AD ADAP AD AD AD ADAD AD ADAP ADAP AD AD AD AD AD AD AD AD AD AD AD AD AD AD AD ADSI iP ab ab ad 4! the average layman is not likely to associate with the African aborigines, but which are nevertheless in the highest degree characteristic of them as SMALL SECTION OF AFRICAN HALL Editorial Note: Frescoes along the gallery above, a frieze spanning the distance from pillar to pillar, and colored transparencies in the windows produce a strong decorative effect in addition to correlating vividly the technical exhibits in the cases with African life and cistoms. These plans for the hall are accredited to Director Hermon C. Bumpus who also is the originator of the idea carcied out in this and in other halls as to the apportionment of space. That is, the space along the east and west sides of the African Hall from north to south is destined to indicate the relative geographical distribution of the various tribes around the great heart of Africa, the Congo. So that in walking the length of the hall along the right, and back along the left, one may pass in review African industry, art and tribal customs as if actually traveling north from the Cape of Good Hope to the Mediterranean, east of the Congo, and south again, west of the Congo — in other words, from the Bushmen to the tribes of the Nile and from the Sahara tribes to the Hottentots. Such a plan gives a forceful and natural arrangement for the disposition of any collection of heterogeneous mate- rials from a region. The installation of the collections in the cases is the work of Robert H. Lowic, Assistant Curator in the Department of Anthropology. BATTLE AXE FROM KASAI DISTRICT CONGO These axes are remarkable for their openwork patterns and for the human heads cut upon them compared with the races of other continents. First and foremost among these is the fact of a native African metal- lurgy. While the highly developed tribes of Polynesia had not advanced beyond the stone age at the time of their dis- covery by white men and even the inhabitants of ancient Mexico and Peru had not learned to smelt iron from the ore, practically all the tribes of Africa have in historical times practised the iron technique, some having attained a high degree of perfection in this industry. This fact is so striking that scientific travelers of the highest rank, such as Dr. Schweinfurth and Professor von Luschan, have advanced the theory that the African negroes were the originators of the technique and transmitted it through the intermediation of other peoples to the ancestors of our civilized 16 BAKUBA PILECLOTH AN EXAMPLE OF PLUSH WEAVING The men weave the cloth from the fibres of the raphia palm, then the women embroider upon it geometrical patterns and give a final shaving which produces a plush-like fabric bab abd bh db ahah dd db db adap ap. bab ab 4b db db a> db ab ah 4b dd dd dd dd dd dd db dd ab AP —. tt. 4 = Dy - a ad “a - ~ Sf —_ — = - a v a ad a ’ a ¥. nk es . Se, ERNE Date CLICK cece icici eel eis ciel ei ci siecle tl cic citi siti ti ci citi titi citi ele eile eel 4 nations of to-day. Should this theory prove tenable, it is obvious that a complete revision of popular beliefs as to the negro’s relation to modern civilization would be a necessary consequence. However this may be, it was clearly essential to em- phasize metal-work in the African Hall. A group of negro black- smiths, which had been in the pos- session of the Museum for a number of years, was given a con- spicuous place in the northern section of the Hall, and in the dee- orative panels overhanging the cases, as well as on the pillars mark- ing the perimeter of the Congo area, African spears and battle-axes, throwing-knives and scimitars were made to predominate. Another phase of activity which is not usually associated with the African race has underlying it a strong development of the esthetic sense, and the new exhibits are likely to carry conviction on this point. The number of different types of musical instruments utilized by CARVED WOODEN vase, Kasai vistrict the negroes contrasts favorably In this exceptionally beautiful piece the | With their relative scarcity as ex- more usual angular design in imitation of the hibited in other halls. Far more interlacing strands cof basketwork has heen _ é 5 transformed into a fattern of gracefully imposing, however, is the array of curved lines decorative woodwork and pilecloth Wav <> <> <> ab db db db db db db db 4d 4d db dd 4b db 4b db 4b 4b 4b 4b ab ab ab ab addr ip iri? 4) 4) 4) A> oe ¢ — PAP AP ah AP ar adap ararapararararaharararararararaharaharahaparahah arab ara ahah ar ar arid iP ar ars TWTTICicici cic ci Ci cl SC Ciel ciel eel dae alae ae el Par ar dra ar arare Vv a v ~ vv - v - v a~ v a ¥ - v ad . - PAP AP ERA AR EH APA AP EPAPER AP EP AP APAR ER AR AP Eh AP ADAP AP APA APE AP AP Ah Ah KHER APR Ah Ah AP AP AP AP ED Ade co ee : — re = « of Photograph by Rev. G. W. Stahlbrand CONGO PYGMIES IN THE DEATH DANCE from the Kasai District of the Congo, the patterns of which occasionally rise to classic beauty of composition. Even the ironwork, aside from its excellence from a utilitarian point of view, is at times equally impressive by the almost incredible virtuosity of its ornamentation. The exhibits are thus likely to temper current misunderstandings as to the capacities of the negro race and to carry home to a wider public some of the most funda- mental and now firmly established conceptions of ethnological science. A NEW ORIOLE FROM MEXICO By Frank M. Chapman tion to Mexico to secure material for a habitat group of tropical birds, was the discovery of a new species of oriole. The bird is most nearly related to our orchard oriole, which prior to this time has been distinguished by the fact that it had no close relatives, its rich chest- nut colors being strikingly unlike the orange dress of most members of the genus Icterus. . The new bird was discovered by Mr. Louis Agassiz Fuertes, the artist of the expedition, and in view of this fact, as well as in recognition of his invaluable services to ornithology, it has been named, in the January issue of the Auk, the official organ of the American Ornithologists’ Union, Jcterus fuertesi. The colored plate of the new bird, drawn by Mr. Fuertes, is here reproduced through the courtesy of the Union. The discovery of this very distinct new species in a region the bird life of which was supposed to be well-known, illustrates how extremely restricted is the range of many tropical birds, and at the same time emphasizes our comparative ignorance of the bird life of tropical America. Four specimens of Fuertes’s oriole were secured. They were all taken on the banks of the Tamesi River, some thirty-five miles in an air-line and seventy-five by water from Tampico on the Gulf coast of Mexico. The members of the Museum expedition were here the guests of Mr. Thomas H. Silsbee, on the sugar plantation of Paso del Haba, and the new birds were found only in the scrubby second-growth which has appeared on the banks of the river from which the forest had been cleared in establishing the plantation. Whether they also inhabited the somewhat scanty growth away from the vicinity of the river, we did not ascertain since the surpris- ing abundance of birds in the river-forest claimed all our attention. At this time (April 3-9, 1910) the great yellow-headed parrots (Amazona oratrix) so popular as cage-birds, together with somewhat smaller red- headed parrots (Amazona viridigenalis) and two species of paroquets were beginning to nest, and several pairs had selected hollow limbs in the trees about our camp. There were also trogons (Trogon ambiguus), motmots (Momotus lessonii), chachalaccas (Ortalis vetula mecalli) and many other birds characteristic of the tropics, most of which were at the northern \ MONG the most interesting results attending the Museum’s expedi- limit of their range. The region, therefore, has an especial interest as the nearest point to New York City at which a well-developed tropical fauna can be found. 20 A Sg eg pe A Ou1s Cldessiz PIES, - ICTERUS FUERTESI CHapman: ADULT MALE AND FEMALE (Two-thirds natural size) AROUND THE WORLD FOR THE MUSEUM* By Roy C. Andrews with the Director of the American Museum, I received a temporary appointment on the United States ship Albatross to do collecting, principally of mammals and birds, on an expedition to Borneo and the islands of the Dutch East Indies. By agreement, the types of new species and series of duplicates were to go to the National Museum, the remainder of the material collected being reserved for the American Museum. This was in the summer of 1909 and the Albatross at the time was cruising in Philippine waters. Leaving New York in August, 1909, I sailed from Seattle to Hong Kong by way of Yokohama and after waiting four days in Hong Kong for a typhoon to subside, left just in time to meet a second storm about halfway across the China Sea. At Manila I learned that the Albatross was on its way from Zamboanga and that almost ten days must elapse before she would be ready to leave for the southern trip; consequently the time seemed opportune to make a short expedition to the island of Mindoro for the purpose of ascertaining the whereabouts of a great number of whales which had been reported as coming ashore near Calapan. Consequently I went to Mindoro and made arrangements for transportation the next day in a native canoe to the spot where the whales were supposed to be. That evening, however, telegrams were received from Manila stating that a typhoon was on the way. All of the white people in the little village and many of the natives hurried to the old Spanish fort and prepared to spend the night there. It was well that this was done, for the typhoon struck the north end of the islands with tremendous violence and for two days we were practically kept prisoners in the old fortress. It was a most inter- esting experience and the disagreeable features were very shortly forgotten after the typhoon had ceased. All attempts to reach the whales, however, were useless because of the heavy sea that was running and the tremendous surf pounding the shore all along the north coast. Returning to Manila I found the Albatross already there and Captain McCormack kindly consented to take the ship to Calapan. The trip resulted in disappointment, however, because the bones of the whales had [wisn the codperation of the Bureau of Fisheries at Washington *This article, an itinerary and general statement of the collecting trip made for the Museum in 1909 and 1910 by a representative of the Department of Mammalogy, will be followed in iater issues of the Journat by detailed reports of work and places visited. 21 22 THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL become so softened by being buried with the flesh in the damp sand that only two skulls and a few other parts of skeletons were available. The Albatross finally left Manila in late October and after a three days’ trip reached Sibattick Island, British North Borneo. Here I had my first experience collecting in a tropical forest. Great white camphor-wood trees, some stretching up nearly two hundred feet, and the “Kayu Rajah,” or king-tree, equally as high, were hung with vines and creepers forming a tangled network. Palms were interspersed here and there throughout the forest and banana trees were growing in every little clearing. Bird notes could be heard, subdued because of the great height of the trees and some- times drowned in the shrilling of myriads of locusts and beetles. The Albatross then visited the North Celebes. In Limbe Strait I collected a number of monkeys, a pig and one of the rare ursine phalangers together with a good series of birds among which were four large hornbills. Another stop, Ternate, was interesting as the place where many of the paradise birds from New Guinea are marketed and sent to Paris and London for millinery purposes. We got to Makassar for Christmas and were most hospitably received by the Governor and the European residents of the town. It was here that I met His Excellency, Baron Quarles de Quarles, Governor of the Celebes, who has a splendid museum of his own illustrating the anthropology and ethnology of the East Indian native tribes. He became interested in our work and very generously presented to the American Museum a collection of ethnological material, otherwise impossible to obtain. The Albatross returned to the Philippine Islands in January and ex- changing the Filipino members of the crew for white sailors, put out again in heavy weather for Formosa and the Loo-Choo Islands, and then made straight for Nagasaki, Japan. Here we were received with great cordiality by the Governor and the American Consul and obtained information result- ing in a trip to Shimonoseki where permission was secured from officials of the Oriental Whaling Company to visit their stations for the purpose of studying and collecting Cetacean material. Returning to Nagasaki, I definitely arranged to leave the Albatross and eventually forwarded much of my material to Shimonoseki. First I went to the whaling station at Shimidzu on the island of Shikoku. So few whales were taken at this station, however, that I transferred to Oshima, where were taken a splendid blue or sulphur-bottom whale 79 feet in length, the jaws alone of which were nineteen feet long, a sei or sardine whale 46 feet long and a killer of 26 feet length. After being carefully crated these were put on board a schooner and sent to Shimonoseki, whence they were trans- ferred to the Hamburg-American liner Aragonia for New York. With AROUND THE WORLD FOR THE MUSEUM 23 them was also shipped a killer skeleton which had been taken in Korea and presented by the whaling company with the other material. The Museum was desirous of securing a large sperm whale and with this end in view I went to the station at Aikawahama, three hundred miles north of Yokohama. Here I remained for more than three months going out on the whaling ships and studying the different specimens as they were brought in. Four species of large whales were taken and there were excep- tional opportunities to obtain valuable scientific data, but although some twelve sperm whales had been killed, none were over 47 feet in length. I had almost despaired when finally Captain Fred Olsen of the whaleship Two of the 27 cases of whale skeletons from Japan. The larger crate has a space measurement of 26 tons and contains a sperm whale which yielded 20 barrels of spermaceti Rekkusu Maru brought in a specimen 60 feet long and fortunately none of the bones had been broken by the four harpoons used in the capture. During the time spent at this station, a finback whale 70 feet in length and also ten porpoises of four different speciesswere secured, one of which is apparently new to science. After considerable difficulty the enormous crates containing the skulls and bones of the whales were transported to a village some twelve miles away, loaded onto a Nippon Yusen Kaisha liner and sent to Yokohama, thence being shipped direct to New York by the steamship Welsh Prince. The courtesy shown to me as a representative of the American Museum 24 THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL of Natural History was very great both by the president and officials of the Oriental Whaling Company and by the various station masters and cap- tains of the ships. Not only did the company present all of the skeletons to the Museum, but also gave every facility for prosecuting scientific work. This whaling company is the largest in the world, notwithstanding that the industry in Japan dates back only about fifteen years. Superior methods are used and by making both whale flesh and blubber serve as food, the product of the industry is disposed of in the most profitable way. After seeing the skeletons safely on board the Welsh Prince I left Japan, going directly to Egypt, touring afterward through Italy, Austria, Germany, Belgium, France and England to inspect the zodlogical gardens and museums and do comparative work on the study collections in the various institutions. — THE MEDICINE PIPE ITS RITUAL OF PRAYERS AND SONGS GIVEN TO THE MUSEUM IN VALUABLE PHONOGRAPH RECORDS By Clark Wissler pipe. This is one of the most important medicine bundles of the Blackfoot Indians; when belonging to them the pipe and its acces- sories were never unwrapped except with the appropriate ceremony and never spoken of lightly. That it should be exposed to your gaze from day to day, as it now is, would shock even the most hardened iconoclast of that tribe. There once came to visit the Museum a mixed-blood Piegan, long schooled and practiced in the ways of the white man; but when looking at the exhibit for the Plains Indians he shrank away from the sight of that great pipe and asked that we allow him to walk on the other side of the hall. To give reasons why these people so feel toward this object would be a long story and belongs rather to the scientific interest and purpose of the Museum, while our present fancy takes us in another more human direction. That this pipe can be exhibited here is another testimonial to the devo- tion of The-Bear-One. We had hoped to record fully the ritual and other information pertaining to the medicine pipe as a contribution to the Mu- seum’s investigation of Plains culture and, knowing that our friend was formerly a medicine-pipe keeper, selected him to give that information. He, like others of his kind, freely gave us such information as we asked for, told us how the first pipe was handed down by the Thunder, how the bundle ie the exhibit for the Plains Indians stands a magnificent medicine THE MEDICINE PIPE 25 must always be opened at the first sound of thunder in the spring, how it may be opened by a vowor to cure the sick, and how it must be cared for. Yet we wanted more; the ritual for that pipe contains prayers and songs in a fixed order which we wished to record with a phonograph. Before our friend was confronted with this ordeal we made him ac- quainted with the phonograph. The instrument was not new to him for every trader at his agency owned one; on trade days they ground out the latest and best in solo, chorus and orchestra, all no doubt a great din to his Indian ears. That the machine talked like a white man he knew well enough, it was but in keeping with other performances of that remarkable race. One day when he called we explained that we wished to record his voice, to have it always to keep in memory of him and hoped he would consent to sing a song into the horn. He complied rather indifferently, selecting a common song of his people. At the end he leaned back in his chair with the unmistakable air of one who listens. We adjusted the reproducer to the cylinder just taken and turned on the motor. He listened rather curiously to the scraping and buzzing that always preceded the bursting tone of the record but when the first phrases of his own song struck his ear there was a flash of light from his eyes that we can never forget. That the machine could speak the language of the Indian was, he said, almost beyond belief. He asked many questions, but was partic- ularly anxious to know how we came by such a machine. The fact that its originator was yet alive impressed him. He sang other songs for us and always asked to hear his records when he called. He even went so far as to repeat certain prayers we heard him offer up at the sun dance, but cautioned us that such were not to be trifled with and asked that they be not repeated to his or other Indian ears. At last as time went on, we found ourselves working out with him the ritual for a medicine pipe and when we came to the songs, we suggested the phono- graph. He considered the matter for some minutes, then in a low but distinct voice made a long prayer to the spirits of all the departed medicine pipe keepers, the import of which was that he was about to do something questionable, but that our purpose was noble and honorable and not a mockery, and that he begged their indulgence to do this thing. He then announced himself ready to proceed. Now there are about a hundred songs in this ritual, too many for one sitting; so we stopped before half of them were recorded. He seemed quite enthusiastic and promised to return on the morrow to his task. We were happy for we could see in our possession the long line of wax records bearing the ritual of this great pipe — but on the morrow he came not. On the following day he appeared, announcing that he would sing 26 THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL no more in the phonograph for he had received a warning. Even as he was singing that day a messenger was galloping in to call him home where his wife had been seized with a hemorrhage, something she had never before experienced. Was it not sufficient that this affliction should come on his home the moment he began this serious business and to him of all others, the greatest “blood-stopper”’ of the tribe? Hence, not again. We talked long and earnestly of bleeding and its causes. We learned from him that it was a bad case of nose-bleeding that gave him his fright. We produced a bit of surgical cotton and explained its virtues when properly manipu- lated and offered our assistance at the next attack. He tucked some of the cotton in his belt and went his way. We worked with other Indians on less difficult subjects and waited. At last The-Bear-One surprised us by announcing that he would proceed with the phonograph. He gave no explanations and we asked for none. Fortunately, nothing occurred to interrupt him and the ritual was com- pleted. It was some time after this that we made our first formal request of The-Bear-One. We asked his aid to secure a medicine pipe bundle. He made no comment beyond stating that since we now had the ritual and the songs the request was reasonable. We did not see him for a long time after this, but heard it talked about that The-Bear-One now had a pipe bundle in his tipi and had had a dream in which he was asked to give it to a certain white man, also seen in the dream. ‘To these Indians, dreams are sacred and not to be disregarded; hence, though to their minds a terrible fate threatened the pipe, there seemed no remedy. The hope was that the certain white man would shrink from the responsibility. One day our friend sent for us. When seated in his tipi he recounted our request, his dream, and pointed to the bundle. The transfer was arranged and finally executed without hindrance. The event was something of a scandal in the tribe, but nothing was said before us and the prestige and medicine power of our friend was too great to permit calling him to task. Yet of talk there was no lack. Strange to say no Indian seemed to question the reality of the alleged dream; but while The-Bear-One never broke faith with us to our knowledge and ever seemed sincere, we never felt quite certain about that dream. So when you look upon this pipe do not forget the hopes and fears of many that once clustered around it; that even its story is not yet told; that though The-Bear-One has become as the dust of the plains, the works of his hand and even his voice are here. RELATION BETWEEN HABIT AND STRUCTURE IN THE INSECT WORLD By Frank E. Lutz \ , J E do not know whether an insect has a given structure as an adap- tation to its habits of life or whether the habits have been devel- oped to conform to changed structures. Following the work of Darwin, most biologists believed that the greater number of structures arose gradually either through the natural selection of variations favorable to a given habit or by the effect of use, and the term “adaptation”’ has come to imply as much. Specifically, this would mean that a grasshopper has long powerful hind legs either because of the fact that its ancestors with the longest, strongest hind legs were the best jumpers and so were most successful, or through continued use by its ancestors of their hind legs for jumping. . In this connection two things must be said. First, not a single instance of the inheritance of the effect of use or disuse upon anatomical characters has ever been experimentally proved, while there are numerous cases of experimental negative evidence. Second, in recent years many cases have been recorded of large heritable variations arising suddenly. Among these is that of abnormally large hind legs in no less common an animal than the domestic cat. Now when these “rabbit cats’? run they do so by a series of leaps. The large hind legs are not adapted (in the technical sense) to jumping but the habit of jumping is adapted to the large hind legs. A cockroach’s flat body enables it to live in cracks and crevices. If its body were of such shape that it could not, it would live elsewhere as its relatives do. Natural selection doubtless accounts for the failure of many variations to be perpetuated, but doubtless many variations are perpetuated either because the eliminating action of natural selection is dodged by a change of habits, that is by habit becoming adapted to structure; or because they are of neutral value fitting in with the habits of their possessors in the struggle for existence — that is, natural selection does not effect them at all. There is another class of characters. They are very striking but no use can ever be imagined for them. To this class belong most of the pat- terns of coloration, many of the horns and spines, and the unusual develop- ment of some parts of the body. These are explained as having come about either through orthogenesis or the effect of the environment or in other ways which are too complex to be mentioned here. If this be true, is it not probable that some, at least, of the characters which are used by insects 27 28 THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL are merely used either because the insect is forced to, as in the case of the long hind legs for jumping, or because it finds it convenient, as living in crevices when the shape of the body enables it to do so? Therefore, let us be on the safe side and use the non-committal phrase, “the relation between habit and structure,” rather than the committal one, “adaptation of structure to habit.” Examples of such relation are legion. The large wings and slender bodies of dragon flies make them su- preme in the air but clumsy on the ground. The ground beetles have legs of such length and suppleness that they are enabled to run swiftly. The “electric light bug” whose home is the water has paddle-shaped legs and a keel-shaped body. The water striders skate over the surface of ponds and streams by virtue of slender, hair-covered feet which do not break the sur- face film. The mole cricket burrows in the ground by using the spade- shaped front legs. The mantis catches its prey with its toothed front legs. The scalpel-like ovipositor of the katydid slits leaves and the bar-like one of the cricket makes holes in the ground for the reception of eggs. The subject is most fascinating and therefore one in which we are apt to lose our judicial balance. At any rate, however the relations come about, they are not only numerous and striking but, as is shown by the dominance of insect life, effective. FORT LEE DINOSAUR By W. D. Matthew Fort Lee almost within the city of New York is of exceptional interest to New Yorkers. It was found on the red shales which underlie the Palisades and outcrop at the river’s edge opposite 160th Street almost directly in front of the site of old Fort Lee and just south of the boundary of the Palisades Park, being discovered there by three post- graduate students of Columbia University, Messrs. J. E. Hyde, D. D. Condit and A. C. Boyle, through whose courtesy and the good offices of Professor Kemp, the Museum has been enabled to acquire this specimen. The red shales and sandstones in which this fossil was found belong to the Triassic period, the early part of the Age of Reptiles. The formation extends over a considerable part of New Jersey and is found also in the lower part of the Connecticut Valley and at other points along the Atlantic Coast, but fossils are everywhere rare and vertebrate fossils especially so. Great numbers of footprints indeed have been found in two or three locali- P \HE discovery of a fossil reptile skeleton, probably a dinosaur, at MUSEUM NEWS NOTES 29 ties, at Turners Falls on the Connecticut, near Boonton and elsewhere in New Jersey. But of the animals which made these footprints only two or three partial skeletons of small species have ever come to light. This animal probably lived among the hills and valleys where now New York City stands. He was one of the lords of creation in his time — some ten million years ago, for the dinosaurs were the dominant land animals then and long after until the higher quadrupeds appeared. He was not indeed the “oldest inhabitant,” for many a race of animals had lived and died before his time, and no doubt they lived on what is now Manhattan Island as well as elsewhere, but he is the oldest whose mortal remains have actually been preserved to our day. Could he have arisen from his mauso- leum in the rocks at Fort Lee, he might have supplied us with a rather startling volume of “Recollections of Early New York.’”’ For in his time there were no Palisades, and from the eastern bank of what is now the Hudson River one might look across a broad estuary to the west and south- west, while the East River and Long Island, as far as we know, were not yet in existence. MUSEUM NEWS NOTES SINCE our last issue the following persons have been elected to member- ship in the Museum: Patron, Mr. Henry C. Frick; life Members, Messrs. Larz ANDERSON, GreorGcE F. Baker, JR., Lynrorp Bippie, W. Lyman Bipot, J. InsLey Buarr, ANDREW CARNEGIE, Ricwarp M. Coueate, Marcetitus Hartritry DopGe, Jonn SHERMAN Hoyt, Ricnarp S. Huncerrorp, Witt1aM Apams Kissam, Epwarp DEP. _Livinestonr, Grorce Grant Mason, Jonn G. McCunitouan, Moses CHARLES Micet, Grorce B. Post, Jr.. Henry H. Rocers, ScHUYLER Scurerre.in, H. M. Trurorp, and Henry Watters, Mr. and Mrs. Pavut M. Warrvure, Dr. George T. HowLanp and Murs. Anne W. PENFIELD, Feirx M. Warsure and WILL1AM Sewarp Wess; Sustaining Members, Messrs. James Marwick and Freperic S. WELLS and Mrs. BENJAMIN BREWSTER; Annual Members, Messrs. J. J. Avspricut, A. CHeEster Beatty, Wituram Apams Brown, CHARLES pu Pont CoupERT, CHARLES CURIE, Jr., Bryan Daucuerty, Metvitte Ecieston, Witi1am Farnsworth, Joun W. Garrett, Ropert GARRETT, Russett Hopkins, ARTHUR INGRA- HAM, NORMAN JAMES, Emory S. Lyon, Witi1AM G. Maruer, Paut Morton, Henry F. pu Pont, Cornettus Van Vorst Powers, WILLIAM SPROULE, 30 THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL Tuomas H. Srryker, JOHN DaveNporT WHEELER, A. LUDLOW WHITE and E:more A. WILLETs, Drs. WALTER Brooks BrouneErR, A. MoNAE Lesser, Morris Mances, Mautcorm McLean, Srewart Paton and Tuomas M. Weep, Rev. WiILuiAM GREENOUGH THAYER, HONORABLE Henry B. Quinsy and Mes. Jonn R. Drexer, Jonn Henry HAMMOND and REGINALD DE KovEN. Tue “ AGE oF MAMMALS” by President Henry Fairfield Osborn has come from the press of the Macmillan Company and will receive notice in a later issue of the JoURNAL. THERE has just been presented to the American Museum of Natural History and placed on exhibition in the Morgan-Tiffany Gem Room a specimen of the new gem Morganite (rose beryl). It is a long oval stone of rich rose color and weighs 57} carats. This gem was named by Dr. George Frederick Kunz, the Honorary Curator of Gems of the American Museum, at a meeting of the New York Academy of Sciences on December 3, 1910. Director Hermon Carty Bumpus has recently been decorated by His Majesty, King Charles of Roumania, with the Grand Cross of the Commander of the Order of the Crown. This highest rank of the Order is bestowed upon Director Bumpus in recognition of his well-known ser- vices to science. Dr. A. D. Gasay of New York City has presented to the Museum a valuable collection of ground and polished shells from California and Japan. These specimens with their convolutions and superb nacre make objects of great beauty. They will be installed in certain sections of the Hall of Mollusca, illustrating the economic and ornamental uses of shells. DurinG the past month the Museum has received, as a gift from Mr. _D. C. Staples, a small but very interesting collection of archeological and ethnological material which comes from the Provinces of Esmeraldas and Manabi in the extreme northern part of Colombia, South America. THe Cuitp Werare Exureitr will be held during January in the Seventy-first Regiment Armory, New York City. At this exhibit the Museum will illustrate the work it is doing in coéperation with the publie schools. It will show the loan collections sent to the schools, photographs and descriptions of the Children’s Room at the Museum and of the Room for the Blind, drawings and models made by children in these rooms and MEETINGS OF SOCIETIES 31 photographs of permanent exhibits especially interesting to children. As a part of the exhibit an automatic stereopticon will display pictures used in the pupils’ lecture courses. TWENTY-THREE cases of zodlogical material representing several hundred skins of birds and mammals have arrived in New York as the first ship- ment of specimens from the Stefansson-Anderson Arctic Expedition. MEETINGS OF SOCIETIES. Public meetings of the New York Academy of Sciences and its Affiliated Societies are held at the Museum according to the following schedule: On Monday evenings, The New York Academy of Sciences: First Mondays, Section of Geology and Mineralogy. Second Mondays, Section of Biology. - . Third Mondays, Section of Astronomy, Physics and Chemistry. Fourth Mondays, Section of Anthropology and Psychology. On Tuesday evenings, as announced: The Linnzean Society of New York, The New York Entomological Society and the Torrey Botanical Club. On Wednesday evenings, as announced: The New York Mineralogical Club. On Friday evenings, as announced: The New York Microscopical Society. The programmes of the meetings of the respective organizations are published in the weekly Bulletin of the New York Academy of Sciences and sent to the members of the several societies. Members of the Museum on making request of the Director will be provided with the Bulletin as issued. 32 THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL LECTURE ANNOUNCEMENTS PEOPLE’S COURSE Given in codperation with the City Department of Education. Tuesday evenings at 8:15 o’clock. Doors open at 7: 30. The first five of a course of eight lectures on ‘‘ New Movements in Old Asia.” January 3— Dr. Artuur Jupson Brown, ‘‘New World Conditions in the Far East — the Forces at Work.” January 10 — Dr. ArTHuR JupsON Brown, “Imperial Japan.” Illustrated. January 17 — Mr. Epwin Emerson, “ The Russo-Japanese War.’’ Illustrated. January 24 — Dr. ArtHuR Jupson Brown, ‘Independent Korea.” Illustrated. January 31— Dr. Arraur Jupson Brown, “The Struggles between Russia and Japan for the Leadership in the Far East.” Saturday evenings at 8:15 o’clock. Doors open at 7: 30. January 7— Dr. Hermann M. Bicos, “The Health of New York.” January 14— Dr. Wriuiam Hatiocw Park, ‘Communicable Diseases — Their Prevention.” January 21 — Dr. H. D. Pease, ‘The Relation of Flies to the Transmission of Disease.” January 28 — Dr. Ernst J. Leperue, “The City Milk Supply and Its Control.” LEGAL HOLIDAY COURSE Fully illustrated. Open free to the public. Tickets not required. Lectures begin at 3: 15 o’clock. Doors open at 2: 45. January 2— Mr. Roy W. Miner, ‘Corals and Coral Islands.” February 22 — Pror. C-E. A. Winstow, “Insect Carriers of Disease.” The American Museum Journal CONTENTS FOR FEBRUARY, 1911 Cover, Photograph of Fur Seals, Pribilof Islands Frontispiece, Photograph of Pines on the estate of the late Morris K. Jesup Quotations Concerning Morris Ketchum Jesup and the American euaeeny et ee. BE si, ar oh Nae Mice y pene Bak 35 maromestry and the Museum... v.02 ed J. W. Toumry 39 The museum a power for education in important questions of the period Report from the Congo Expedition................. Herpert Lana 44 Hunting the okapi from a chain of isolated camps in wet jungle ; The Finished Fur Seal Group............... CuariEs H. Townsend 49 With a brief review of the fur sealing question Zoélogical Exploration in South America........ FranK M. Coapman 52 ‘une New. South Sea Exhibit. .<....: 0.602 0... 00. Rosert H. Lowie 53 Notes on the South Sea Hall and the statue of the Maori Warrior SING GO 0 BSS le ie 5 a TR GrorGE F. Kunz 57 The world’s largest known block of jade in the South Sea Hall of the American Museum A Treasure of Ancient Bronzes................... E. C. B. Fasserr 59 A collection of such importance that it is difficult to make another its equal in China to-day “The Age of Mammals’— A Review.......... Wiiu1aAmM K. Grecory 65 Historic Fossil from the Senckenberg Museum..................... 68 Semen, ie SEONT WLGOUGASCA, ig os Fo ee ae 3 Fe a es ea 70 Museum News Notes..... ene eee nee 71 INE FASIOUTICOPROIS 2.022 chef 5 ss rad oes acai so ow Ne Shee eo 72 Mary Cyntsata Dickerson, Editor Subscription, One Dollar per year. Fifteen cents per copy A subscription to the Journa. is included in the membership fees of all classes of Members of the Museum Subscriptions should be addressed to the American Museum Journat, 30 Boylston St., Cambridge, Mass., or 77th St. and Central Park West, New York City Entered as second-class matter January 12, 1907, at the Post-office at Boston, Mass. Act of Congress, July 16, 1894 di en Sie arn ge) eit d From Trees and Forestry [In press, ON THE ESTATE OF THE LATE MORRIS K, JESUP, LENOX, MASSACHUSETTS The American Museum Journal Vou. XI FEBRUARY, 1911 No. 2 QUOTATIONS CONCERNING MORRIS KETCHUM JESUP AND THE AMERICAN MUSEUM! nomination as President of the Chamber of Commerce, he found him engrossed in the study of some building plans which covered his table. “Mr. Jesup,” said Mr. Orr, “I have got a piece of interesting news to give you.” “All right,” said Mr. Jesup, “just wait a moment until I show you this plan.” “But, my dear Jesup,’ remonstrated Mr. Orr, “this business of mine is important. I have come to tell you that I wish to nominate you for President of the Chamber of Commerce.” “Indeed,” said Mr. Jesup, “I am glad to hear it, but, look here, I want to show you what a splendid plan this is.’ And he turned back again to the papers on the table. It was only after he had relieved his mind of this paramount interest that he had leisure to appreciate the new honor and responsibility to which his colleagues of the Chamber invited him. The plan which Mr. Orr found Mr. Jesup studying was that of the new wing of the American Museum of Natural History. The place which the Museum held in Mr. Jesup’s regard, the long and devoted service which he rendered it, and the eminence which it attained under his leadership are - well known. For more than a quarter of a century it was his controlling interest, and it remains to-day his most enduring monument. W HEN Mr. Orr called upon Mr. Jesup to request his consent to his “The two grandly distinctive features of Mr. Jesup’s administration,” writes President Osborn, “were, first, the desire to popularize science through the arrangement and exhibition of collections in such a simple and attractive manner as to render them intelligible to all visitors; and secondly, his recognition that at the foundation of popular science is pure science, and his determination, which increased with advancing years, that the Museum should be as famous for its scientific research and explorations as for its popular exhibitions of educational work.” 1Morris Ketcuum Jesup: A CuHaracter Sketcu. By William Adams Brown. Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1910. 35 36 THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL On December 29, 1906, a large and representative audience gathered in the lecture room of the Museum to witness the presentation to the Trustees of the séries of busts of eminent American naturalists which now adorns the spacious anteroom through which visitors approach the Museum. The idea was Mr. Jesup’s, and he provided the funds. The gift fitly sym- bolizes his conception of the part played by science in the complex circle of interests, of whose joint efforts the Museum is the expression. “T suppose,” says Mr. Choate, his fellow founder and trustee, speaking some years later at the Chamber of Commerce, “that I may speak with authority of Mr. Jesup’s services to the world in the Museum of Natural History. I should hardly venture in the presence of Mr. Morgan to claim for him a monopoly of the generosity that endowed that institution from the beginning; nor would I forget the abundant aid of many other generous benefactors; but I will say that he was the chief factor, the most powerful and effective agent in bringing it to the great eminence that it enjoys to-day.” This great service was fitly signalized by his fellow trustees on February 12, 1906, when in commemoration of the twenty-fifth anniversary of his presidency, they presented to him a loving cup beautifully designed in gold, with inscriptions and symbols in allusion to those branches of science in which he had taken a special interest. On one face of the cup reference was made to the forestry of North America; on another his interest in vertebrate paleontology was indicated, and his gift of the Cope collection of fishes, amphibians, and reptiles was mentioned; on the third face was a design symbolizing the work of the Jesup North Pacific expeditions, the last and greatest of the enterprises toward which his efforts were directed. “It is not because of the long period of his service,” writes Professor Bumpus, “nor because of his unfailing devotion, nor yet because of his innumerable gifts, that Mr. Jesup’s administration of the affairs of the American Museum of Natural History will mark a distinet epoch in the history of the institution... . “Tt is because he served long and also well; it is because he was devoted and at the same time exercised good judgment; it is because he not only gave but gave wisely, that he finally enjoyed the fruit of his labor, that his devotion to the Museum ripened into absorbing affection, and that his example of giving infected those associated with him.” A it os ae ate BE a 4 { = & ee me ee From Trees and Forestry [In press; FLOWERING DOGWOOD, JESUP COLLECTION OF WOODS The models of leav ’ flowers and fruits are so perfectly executed that it is often difficult to dis- cover even by careful scrutiny how much is the original and how much is reproduced ue . Epa pur Be H id S ; fF From Trees and Forestry [In press] BLACK. WALNUT, JESUP COLLECTION OF WOODS Full-grown black walnut trees practically no longer exist in America’s forests. Thus the Jesup Collection is already beginning to prove its value as an historical record FORESTRY AND THE MUSEUM THE MUSEUM A POWER FOR THE EDUCATION OF THE PUBLIC REGARDING IMPORTANT QUESTIONS OF THE PERIOD By J. W. Toumey {[AcTING DIRECTOR OF THE YALE FOREST SCHOOL AND MORRIS K. JESUP PROFESSOR OF SILVICULTURE, MEMBER OF THE APPOINTIVE COMMITTEE OF WOODS AND FORESTRY OF THE AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY] T no period of our national life has the public been so keenly alive to the importance of our forests and what they mean to the future welfare of the nation. We have in comparatively recent years segregated more than 190,000,000 acres from our national domain and with- drawn it from settlement that it might remain forever the forest property of the nation. We are asking in the Weeks Bill! now before Congress that large areas in the Appalachian and White Mountains be purchased outright by the national government to form a part of the forest property of the nation. Many of the states, as is the case with New York and Pennsylvania, have already purchased large tracts of forest property and set them aside as forest preserves. The present outlook appears to indicate that many such reserves will be established in the states east of the Great Plains in the near future. As a nation we are demanding the conservation of our forest property and asking private owners of forest property to manage it in accordance with the ideas of scientific forestry. Although the public is fully in accord with the idea of national and state forests and fully realizes the need for a better utilization of our forest property, it is yet woefully ignorant regarding the forest as a living thing and has but little information 1 The Weeks Bill is scheduled to come up for Senate vote on February 15, 1911. It is as follows: ‘*To enable any state to codperate with any other state or states, or with the United States for the protection of the watersheds of navigable streams, and to appoint a commission for the acquisition of lands for the purpose of conserving the naviga- bility of navigable rivers.”’ This bill, the product of the combined study of some of the ablest men in Congress, is a general conservation bill for the creation of national forests. The immediate interest, how- ever, lies in the Appalachian and White Mountain region controlling the watersheds of the most important rivers of the East and the South and containing a great part of the timber supply. The question of reserves for the East has been under discussion for ten years. The Weeks Bill itself has previously passed the Senate three times and the House once. In the sixty-first Congress it again passed the House, June 24, 1910; it was filibustered in the Senate, however, so that Congress adjourned without a passage of the bill. From Trees and Forestry [In press]. Department of Woods and Forestry of the American Museum. 39 AO] UNI SIOALI PU SIYSNOIp o1v 919Y} JOUTUINS UT STII ‘Spoop Susvurep Ul poysBat ST Jo7VA STYZ ‘Sodo]s oY} WOIJ IND oie Sysad0J OYA J] “SJOAOT JOMOT 07 J99RM JO ATddns poztyenbo ur Ul JoumUINs 919 qnoysno1y} ATMO]S INO JUS oq 09 ‘oBuOds v UY s¥ S}soIOf SuTpuNo.Ms Aq pjEy pue Poqsosqe ore suLeJUNOUT JO SMOUS SuNjour eu} Sutids uy NOSTIM LNNOW WOXUS M3IA {ssoid uj] Aujsa10g pup saasy, WO OF A WHITE PINE ON THE ESTATE OF THE LATE MORRIS K, JESUP This tree was a particular favorite and was saved in spite of the advice of landscape gardeners a ei A tH ES ESTATE OF THE LATE rom Trees and Forestry [In press] F MASSACHUSETTS , LENOX, JESUP MORRIS K, ” x z 2 x b w WwW x Kk x x < a Ve ° 2) z p= ° a Oo x ° < a < — on z < Oo < 2) Ww x ° a Ww > bt < x ° o Ww Q FORESTRY AND THE MUSEUM 43 regarding the many ways the forest affects our present prosperity and how vital its conservation is to the future life of the nation. The usefulness of a Museum depends upon how fully it serves the public as an educational institution, whether the instruction concerns the preservation of forests, of the country’s mammals and birds, questions along lines of public health and public education or yet other directions of work. To a very large degree its power to instruct is measured by its effectiveness in commanding attention regarding the things worth while in everyday life. For this reason at one period of its history a museum may have to direct public attention to events and things quite different from at other times, depending upon the particular needs of the period. The old idea of a museum as a storehouse for miscellaneous objects from all corners of the earth is of the past. A new idea prevails, that a museum is to a large degree a place in which objects are exhibited in such a manner as to convey to the public the greatest amount of useful information of present interest. The Forestry Hall of the American Museum at present and in its future development along lines following out Mr. Jesup’s original interests and pioneer work in forest preservation ! has a great work to do in education. The present interest in forest conservation and the need for public educa- tion regarding the life of the forest and the important uses that the forest serves in our national economy, clearly point out the direction that the future development of the American Museum must take in reference to this important subject. t On December 6, 1883, Mr. Jesup presented in the Chamber of Commerce the following: “To THE HonoraBLE THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEw York, IN SENATE AND As- SEMBLY CONVENED: May it please your Honorable Body: The Chamber of Commerce of the State of New York is alarmed at the dangers which threaten the water supply of the rivers in the northern part of the State through the destruc- tion of the forests which protect their sources. The Chamber believes that the preservation of these forests is necessary to maintain an abundant and constant flow of water in the Hudson, the Mohawk and other important streams; and that their destruction will seriously injure the interna! commerce of the State. As long as this forest region remains in the possession of private individuals, its protection from fire and lumbering operations will be impossible. Believing, then, that this matter is one of very great importance, and that the necessity exists for immediate legislative action, we humbly pray your Honorable Body to adopt such measures as will enable the State to acquire the whole territory popularly known as the Adirondack Wilderness, and hold it forever as a forest preserve.” {That the proposed legislation was eventually secured and that New York has its state forests to-day was largely due to the unceasing efforts of Mr. Jesup.] Here, as so often, his work was that of a pioneer. To-day forest preservation has become an accepted national policy; but twenty-five years ago this was not the case, and the action taken by the Chamber of Commerce on Mr. Jesup’s initiative was an important factor in educating the sentiment which has made the wider movement possible. From Morris Ketchum Jesup, Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1910. REPORT FROM THE CONGO EXPEDITION! By Herbert Lang [The Museum’s Congo Expedition sends word of the health of its members and the success of its work in zoédlogical survey, with the story of hunting the rare okapi from a chain of isolated camps in the hot, wet jungle. The next issue of the Journat will contain a colored plate of the okapi with an account of present knowledge regarding the species.— Editor] Vy. left Avakubi December 7, 1909, with fifty-five porters and after increasing our collections at N’Gayu and Bafwaboka, arrived at Medje January 13. As we heard about good hunt- ing grounds, possibly with okapi, south of Gamangui, we made the neces- sary preparations and set out at once. After more than six months’ work in a lonely uninhabited tract some eighty miles square, we returned to Medje July 17. Since then we have made several transports and stored safely all our collections, besides accumulating the necessary equipment with which to set out next Saturday, October 15, for the Uele. We profit by this occasion to thank all those who have extended to us the privilege of carrying on such interesting work in regions that well deserve to be called the “ Heart of Africa,’’ and who by their great generosity have provided us with an equipment that makes it comparatively easy to main- tain good health even under a most trying and disagreeable climate. Though camped for nearly six months in or about the dense forest, we both enjoyed excellent health. All our native helpers have always been in good condition. All our equipment including firearms and tents is in perfect order. Our supplies are sufficient to carry on the work without interruption. The active per- sonnel has remained practically the same — eighteen native assistants. One Loango had to be sent back to Leopoldville on account of the ill-health of his wife, and has since been replaced by an intelligent Mangbetu, whose services are very desirable in this region of the Mangbetu people. The plans for porterage have worked very satisfactorily, and although the natives are true cannibals and are seldom seen without poisoned arrows or other weapons, we have succeeded well in enlisting their services. This may best be illustrated by the fact that the Congo Expedition since leaving Stanleyville has employed and paid more than 3,400 natives and has never experienced the slightest accident in handling them. The record of the expedition shows a total of 4,952 specimens collected, exclusive of at least 15,000 invertebrates, and 1,120 pages of data and descriptive notes which are supplemented by 800 photographs. It is 1 Selections from the Annual Report of the Congo Expedition by Herbert Lang. Manuscript sent from Medje, Haut Ituri, October 8, 1910; received at New York January 13, 1911. 44 REPORT FROM THE CONGO EXPEDITION 45 probable that these are the largest and most important collections ever gathered by a single expedition in the midst of the dense forest of the Congo, and they represent a completeness of series that will be surprising. How true this is may be ascertained from the work with regard to the okapi, but all departments have equally profited. All the skins have been safely stored away in the expedition’s large galvanized iron tank originally brought in sections to Avakubi, where it has been put up in one of the government magazines. The remainder of our collections is stored in a government magazine in Medje, which we our- selves have lately made fireproof by constructing a ceiling of beams and sticks, covered with reeds and a layer of soil. The record for large mammals is as follows: 402 specimens covering 50 species = a nearly complete series of the larger mammals of the dense Congo forest, 206 pages of descriptions, 76 skeletons, a large collection of foetal specimens, 18 plaster casts and many photographs. For nearly six months we camped as close as possible to the haunts of the okapi and though we profited by the skill of the most experienced - native trappers, who were engaged in catching okapi for food purposes, during the first two months we secured no reasonable success. The super- stition of the natives, and the hot moist climate, counteracted our best organized efforts. After interminable palavers, however, the native trappers consented to allow our native assistants, who were trained to skin large mammals independently, to camp with them in the forest. Therefore we established three camps at a distance of fifteen to twenty- five miles from our main camp, thus adopting the native system of hunting in small parties, for in these perfectly uninhabited forests it is an impossi- bility to provide suitable food for any large company of men. Whenever the native trappers succeeded in killing an okapi, some of them would march day and night toward our main camp. In the meantime our native assist- ants who camped with them would take off the skin and cure it as much as possible until I could reach the place. Within two months from the time of organization of this plan, we had added to the two skeletons of male and female already obtained, three perfect skins of females and that of a young okapi. Two months later we at last succeeded in obtaining a good sized male. This okapi like all the others had been caught by a noose around the foot, but in an almost impenetrable swamp. Unfortunately in its struggles to free itself, it rubbed a portion of the skin, which however can. easily be repaired. | The following month we secured the accessories for the group on the very same spot where one of the males had expired, which chanced to be 46 THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL Through courtesy of the British Museum HEAD OF MOUNTED OKAPI, BRITISH MUSEUM Young male okapi presented by the late Mr. Boyd Alexander, 1907. Welle River near northern border of the Congo Free State. From Monograph of the Okapi by Sir E. Ray Lankester, 1910 one of the most typical portions of the haunt of the okapi. The acces- sories represent twenty-five loads of material. Of the larger trees the bark only has been taken, and everything has been so numbered that there will be no trouble in readjusting the different sections or pieces of bark. Many leaf moulds have been made. Mr. Chapin has prepared very exact and beautiful color sketches of the different leaves. Besides, typical twigs and leaves of all trees, bushes and low plants are preserved in formalin. The casts of the heads of male and female okapi are deserving especial mention. The exterior of the head shows no giraffe-like characters which, judging from the skull, were supposed to exist. Indeed, the lips are not prehensile in any way and on account of the somewhat square mouth and rather small eyes there is much more resemblance to the head of a large deer. The prehensile tongue, the palate and sections of the four divisions of the stomach have been preserved in formalin. There is also the complete skeleton of a large-sized embryo showing a very interesting stage. The descriptions are rather complete with regard to habits, food, calving season and haunts. Detailed measurements have been secured. Over forty-five excellent photographs will guarantee correct representation of the group work. Detailed photographs of every form of vegetation have also been secured. REPORT FROM THE CONGO EXPEDITION 47 With regard to elephants, I sincerely hope that we shall succeed in pre- paring the skins of one or two large specimens. Permission to collect four specimens has been granted by Son Excellence, le Vice-Gouverneur Général de la Colonie, F. Fuchs, at Boma. The Lado Enclave, with its white rhinoceroses, is now out of our reach, as on account of the demise of His Majesty, King Leopold, these regions have been returned to England. On the other hand according to some reports lately received, it is not impossible that we may find these interest- ing creatures in the eastern portions of the Uele. Of small mammals there are 1,054 specimens collected. During several Through courtesy of the British Museum PHOTOGRAPH OF LIVING OKAPI ONE MONTH OLD Photograph taken by Monsieur Ribotti on the Welle River. The photograph was shown at the meeting of the British Association at Leicester on August 5, 1907, and reproduced in Illustrated London News, September 7, 1907 48 THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL months the expedition had from 300 to 500 traps set and daily revised. The Mangbetu have displayed remarkable skill in capturing the smaller mammals with their own native traps. A collection of 1,885 birds covering 290 species is accompanied by full and exact data. Very many of the species are represented not only by both sexes, but also by a series of young in different plumages. A large number of nests and sets of eggs have been secured. The most interesting of the nests is that of the largest hornbill (Ceratogymnas). It was the desire of Mr. Chapman to have a group showing the peculiar habit these birds have of enclosing the female by a plaster of mud. We were fortunate to secure remarkably fine accessories, also the male and female birds and the young. The nest was located at a distance of about 70 feet from the ground in a tree over 130 feet high. The tree was felled and a sufficiently long portion cut out and sawed into sections for transportation. Twenty color sketches of birds have been prepared, among which are the hornbills for the group. For the Department of Anthropology an interesting collection of 700 specimens has been gathered from the Mangbetu, the most highly cultured natives of these regions. Full data giving necessary explanations with regard to use, habit, custom or belief have been entered in the catalogue. Besides, a great number of photographs show the many phases of daily life, such as village scenes, dances, social gatherings and ceremonials. Ex- cellent portraits and plaster casts have been gained. Several of the remark- ably elaborate hairdresses of both men and women have also been obtained in perfectly intact condition. The Mangbetu excel in their iron work; indeed their well-forged ane finely-worked knives are masterpieces of negro blacksmithing. Their pottery in its best samples reminds one of ancient Greek work. In produc- ing well-balanced forms of artistic finish they show a very high develop- ment. Their carved and ornamented stools, benches, figures and shields, and their hat-pins of ivory may well be classed among works of art. A Pygmy child’s skeleton is obtained, and shows a very interesting lengthening of the skull, produced by the common habit among the Mangbetu (adopted by the Pygmies who are attached to their villages) of using bandages about the new-born child’s head. Photographs showing this practice have been taken. I take pleasure in repeating from the report of November 29, 1909, the statement that the codperation of the Belgian Government is most cordial, and that all the officers have assisted us according to their position or our needs. THE FINISHED FUR SEAL GROUP WITH REMARKS ON THE HABITS OF THE FUR SEAL AND THE PRESENT CONDI- TION OF THE SEALING INDUSTRY By Charles H. Townsend exhibition in the Hall of Mammals, is the gift of the late Mr. D. O. Mills. The Museum has long been in need of just such a series of fur seals, which includes the adult male, females and young. The fur seal holds a unique place in the annals of international contro- versy. No other wild animal has ever been the subject of a dispute so ear- nestly contested and so long continued. For more than twenty years the American and Asiatic seal herds have been under almost constant discussion, and the reading public on two continents at least has become familiar with the subject under such headings as the “ Bering Sea Controversy,” the “ Fur Seal Question,” or the “Pelagic Sealing Matter.” The fur seal industry has been investigated and reported upon at differ- ent times by international commissions and two courts of arbitration have solemnly considered it in every possible phase. The report of the Paris Tribunal alone consists of eighteen thick octavo volumes, while the docu- ments of the United States Senate and House of Representatives, State Treasury and Commerce departments, devoted exclusively to the fur seal subject, are too numerous to mention. For several years during the height of the controversy the warships of Great Britain and the United States patrolled the waters of Bering Sea watching every move of the sealing fleets, and a number of revenue cutters has remained on guard even to the present time. Although the sealing regulations framed by the Paris Tribu- nal in 1892 remain in force, the fate of the fur seal as the basis of a valuable industry is still unsettled. Its continued existence as a species becomes more doubtful every year and renewed efforts are being made to save it. The cause of the trouble is simply the value of the fur seal’s pelt. Here is the story in a nutshell. Before the great ocean sealing fleets came into existence, the catch of seal skins was made on the islands in Bering Sea where the animals breed. Only selected males were taken and these were killed under careful government supervision. As the fur seal is highly polygamous there is always a natural surplus of males available for commer- cial purposes. With the development of ocean or “pelagic” sealing, the 49 ‘ie fur seal group, mounted by Mr. Blaschke and recently put on (MOIA UI 9ou oae ‘dnoJ1s oy Jo *AIOYOOI [BOS & JO UOTZIOd ][VUIS B MOYS 04 ‘109dTMOs [eUTUY ‘ayYOse[G YoWeposy AQ poyUNoUI orOAL o¢ Apis 1040 949 UO oIe YOM ‘speos Sunod oy,L) 7 suowpeds ou ‘SHIN “O "A “AN 99%] O49 JO 4J13 9Y) O1OM ‘SpURIST JOTIGId OU} 9% SOGT UT UNESNI oy} JOJ AjSsordxo poydoT]Oo ‘sTwas OU,L dnowsS vs ‘uns GQ3HSINISA 3AO NOILYHOd THE FINISHED FUR SEAL GROUP 51 killing of female seals began, and this naturally resulted in the rapid reduc- tion of the breeding stock. Twenty-five years ago, with perhaps 4,000,000 seals in sight, it was possible to kill annually 100,000 male seals on the Pri- bilof Islands without injury to the herd. To-day with a herd of less than 175,000 seals remaining, the island catch of males is seldom more than 10,000. The annual ocean sealing catch consisting chiefly of females has, in the meantime, dwindled from an average of 80,000 a year te a paltry 10,000; while the sealing fleet, which once numbered 120 vessels, now consists of fewer than thirty vessels. The condition of the Asiatic seal herd is much worse, for both the land and sea catch have decreased to less than one-third of that derived from the American herd. The restoration of both herds to their former abundance and commercial importance can be brought about only by the complete sup- pression of ocean sealing. As a result of the long continued investigations of the sealing industry, the natural history of the fur seal has been worked out perhaps more thor- oughly and critically than that of any other mammal. Science has profited if the sealing indus- try has not, and many important discoveries have been made re- specting the anatomy, food, age, breeding habits and migrations of this important animal. Among the problems solved, we may consider briefly some of those connected with the won- derful migrations of the fur seal. Late in the fall the seals leave their island homes in Bering Sea and enter the Pacific Ocean. The American herd migrates southeastward to southern California, a distance of over three thousand miles, whence it moves northward along the coast during the winter, to enter Bering Sea the next summer. The Asiatic herd migrates southwestward to the coast of Japan, returning the following season by the same route. There is no commingling of the two herds either in Bering Sea or in the Pacific. Both herds remain afloat the entire winter, and neither herd is known to touch dry land anywhere except upon return to its native islands in Bering Sea. No other mammal follows with strict regularity so extensive a migration route. A baby fur seal of the new group ZOOLOGICAL EXPLORATION IN SOUTH AMERICA By Frank M. Chapman HE report comes of the safe arrival of Mr. W. B. Richardson, who sailed from New York October 17 to collect birds and mammals for the Museum in the Cauca Valley of southern Colombia. He writes with enthusiasm of the opportunities offered in this part of South America which has been little explored. Mr. Richardson began work on the western slope of the coast range of the Andes. This has the reputation of being one of the most unhealthful portions of South America and for this reason, in connection with the fact that the region is uninhabited and is covered with heavy forest growth, it has heretofore been unworked by col- lectors. Advices from Buenaventura, the port of this part of Colombia, state that Mr. Richardson’s first shipment was made on December 31. In this connection it may be added that while waiting the departure of the steamer from Panama for Buenaventura, Mr. Richardson made a col- lection of one hundred and thirty birds and mammals and his second ship- ment, therefore, was started before he had been absent from the Museum for three months. The American Museum is to be congratulated on having an active collector in this exceptionally promising part of South America and it is greatly to be hoped that work can be prosecuted so thoroughly that the institution will receive material to form a basis for a study of the distribution of life in this part of South America. The American Museum is not the only American institution represented in South America which, as a matter of fact, is at present claiming greater attention from American zodlogists than at any previous time. Among the American expeditions now in South America are the following: First, that of the U. S. National Museum which has recently initiated a biological survey of the Panama Canal zone. Second, an expedition under the charge of Mr. Wilfred H. Osgood, of the Field Museum, which sailed from New York on December 31, 1910, for Maracaibo in northwestern Vene- ci an expedition of the Carnegie Museum of Pittsburg, under the charge of Mr. M. A. Carriker, who is now at work in northern Venezuela. @* Fourth, an expedition from the Academy of Sciences in Philadelphia under the charge of Mr. Stewardson Brown, who sailed from New York on December 26, 1910, for Trinidad. Fifth, an expedition under the charge of Mr. 8. N. Rhoads, who is affiliated with the Academy of Sciences, Philadelphia, which plans to sail from New York on December 21, 1911, for Ecuador. It is obvious, therefore, that so far as American zoélogists are con- cerned, the twentieth century is South America’s, and it is very greatly to be hoped that the American Museum may take a leading part inthe zoological exploration of this still little-known continent. 52 MAORI CARVED CANOE PROW THE NEW SOUTH SEA EXHIBIT By Robert H. Lowie NOTES ON THE SOUTH SEA HALL \ K J ITH the exception of a small Australian exhibit, the South Sea Hall opened to the public on January 25 is devoted entirely to the Museum’s collection from Polynesia and Melanesia. Compared with the primitive folk of other regions of the globe, these South Sea Island- ers are a seafaring race. In striking contrast to the African negroes, who generally manifest a strange repugnance to traveling by water, their voy- ages are reckoned not by hundreds but by thousands of miles. The most common craft employed in the area is a dugout canoe with an outrigger attachment. The Museum exhibit comprises a number of models of the simple canoes found in Samoa, Fiji and the Society Islands, while a larger model of a New Zealand boat illustrates the elaborate carving sometimes lavished on their structure. The tremendous distances actually traveled by the South Sea Islanders from their probable home in southeastern Asia to Hawaii and Easter Island have stimulated some scholars to account for certain similarities between South Sea Island culture and South American culture by the hypothesis that the Polynesians at one time touched the shores of the New World and succeeded in leaving their impress on the industrial life of its inhabitants. This theory, although defended by dis- tinguished ethnologists, has been generally rejected, not because the South Sea Islanders are considered incapable of traversing the space of twenty- five hundred miles intervening between Easter Island and South America, but simply because the alleged cultural resemblances are far too few to be convincing and are readily explained by the assumption of independent development. 53 THE STATUE OF THE MAORI WARRIOR ON THE ‘‘LARGEST BLOCK OF JADE IN ANY MUSEUM IN THE WORLD” The statue was made by Sigurd Neandross from direct studies of a living member of the Maori tribe. The block of jade which weighs three tons and came from South Island, New Zealand, was presented to the Museum by Mr. J. Pierpont Morgan, having been secured for him by George F. Kunz THE NEW SOUTH SEA EXHIBIT 59 To the general public the exhibit in the new hall will be of interest, as showing the degree of culture which could be attained by people who at the time of their discovery were wholly ignorant of any form of metal work. Stone or shell adzes took the place of iron tools, and even the huge beams and rafters of some of the native habitations were held in position not by nails but by a cordage known as “ sinnet ’’ made from cocoanut fibre. Yet with the crude appliances at their disposal the Maori were able to con- struct large and richly decorated buildings, of which a fair idea is given by the model in the tower off the main hall, and they had skill to carve the beautiful canoe prows which excited the admiration of early travelers. The Cook Islanders produced the ceremonial adzes and paddles exhibited in two upright cases of the Polynesian section of the Hall; and the Mela- nesians of New Ireland executed their sacred carvings which while not beau- tiful according to our standards display a high degree of technical skill. THE STATUE OF THE MaAort WARRIOR New Zealand, performed some of their old-time dances in the Hippodrome and it was possible to have them pay several visits to the Museum, on which occasions they were photographed in various positions. It seemed highly desirable to secure life-size representations of members of the company in characteristic attitudes and after some pre- liminary discussion the chief Kiwi and one of the younger men, Hautuote- rangi, consented to be cast. The pose suggested to the latter was that. of an ancient warrior in an attitude of defiance, with tongue protruding and one leg above the ground. Thus originated the figure of the Maori warrior at the entrance to the tower of the new South Sea Hall. Hautuoterangi felt highly honored to be the representative of his race, so that his descendants might see the statue when they visited the great city at any future time. His family pride was evinced in a desire that his family register for many generations back be engraved upon the jade. [) x the past winter a troup of Maori, the native people of 56 THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL The following from Robley’s Moko: or Maori Tattooing suggests the requirements of the war dance pose: “The war dance... .involved con- stant thrusting out of the tongue and so much distortion of the features that the blue lines of the Moko formed a quivering network. The time or cadence of the dance was marked by striking the palm of the left hand against the thigh.” As the work progressed, members of the Maori troupe called at the Mu- seum and expressed satisfaction with the statue as a faithful record of native life. Their advice was especially serviceable on the subject of tattooing, for the Government has for some time prohibited the tattooing of Maori men so that for this phase of the work Mr. Neandross would other- wise have been obliged to rely wholly upon second-hand information, which he was thus enabled to check by the oral communications of native authori- ties. Thus the figure of Hautuoterangi, together with the Robley Collec- tion of tattooed heads exhibited in the tower itself, conveys a very fair idea of probably the most distinctive form of personal decoration of the South Sea Islanders. [The figure of the ‘‘ Maori Warrior” is especially interesting to those who have followed the history of its making. The finished statue is the embodiment of a plan held by the Director of the Museum to whom the largest block of jade in the world suggested the need of some heroic theme to set forth the relation of this stone to the Maori people, who considered jade one of the most desirable articles of their wealth. A year or more before the block of jade was brought into the hall where it now has position, Mr. Neandross had made sketches for a Maori figure to be placed upon the stone. Impetus was given to the work by the arrival of the Hippodrome Maori troupe in Novem- ber of 1909, the friendly interest of these people in the Museum’s project being gained through Professor H. E. Crampton. It chanced that when Professor Crampton took the steamer at San Francisco for his latest journey to the South Seas, in the summer of 1909, he met a representative of the Hippo- drome management who was on his way to New Zealand to bring back a band of Maoris. Some weeks after Professor Crampton’s arrival at Tahiti, this man, with Mr. Whyte, the representative of the New Zealand Government, and thirty Maoris, came there from Auck- land, in order to take the steamer to San Francisco; thus Professor Crampton met the entire crowd at that time. Later he went to New Zealand himself, and while visiting the voleano and geyser districts in the: interior, spent some time at the very village from which these people had come, where he met their families and saw many of their native dances and heard their songs. On returning to New York, therefore, he was interested not only to see these people and tell them some of the later news from their own country and hear the same songs that he had heard ten thousand miles away in New Zealand, but also to bring the whole matter to the attention of the Department of Anthropology, which arranged for the visits of the Maoris, so fortunate in results for the Museum. The statue represents some of the best work in the Museum done by Sigurd Neandross. It has the stamp of accuracy, being cast directly from a Maori native and the coloring studied from the same individual. The pose was a very difficult one to get in a cast, for in such tense action the muscles of a model tire and relax. Success was gained by making the mold in parts, and of course the open mouth and tongue and the tattooing had to be modeled.— Editor] NEW ZEALAND JADE By George F. Kunz is that in the American Museum. It was found in 1902 and weighs three tons, measures seven feet long and four feet wide and, in fact, is the largest mass of jade, of which we have record, that has ever been brought to civilized lands from anywhere. One of the greatest previously known is that in the British Museum and the second largest known piece ! was found by the author in 1899 at Jordansmiihl, Silesia. This piece second in size is now on deposit at the American Museum. In New Zealand, jade is looked upon as a lucky stone and the common saying is that no one should leave New Zealand without taking away as a luck piece a bit of “green-stone.” The earliest voyagers found that the Maoris of New Zealand wore ornaments made of stone of two varieties, the more important and valuable of which was a variety of jade known as nephrite. Among the ornaments were charms carved into the shape of flat, grotesque, seated figures, known as hei-tikis. The head of the figure was always tilted over to one side and much exaggerated, with the eyes exceedingly large and generally rendered very bright by an inlay of broad circles of a red, shellac-like wax, often holding in place broad, hollow circles of green abalone shell, the jade centres which protruded through the shell figuring the pupils of the eyes. From this New Zealand jade were also made certain Maori axe-shaped implements, drilled at the upper end, borne by the chiefs as badges of office. The one aloft in the right hand of the “Maori warrior” has a sharp cutting edge and measures fifteen inches in length. While these objects were ceremonial axes, they were probably employed on occasion as death-dealing weapons. New Zealand jade has been found in largest quantities on the west coast of South Island at Milford Sound, in boulders associated with, and presumably found in, a rock-matrix of chlorite schist. The boulders appear in the mountain streams and usually range in weight from a few ounces to fifty or sixty pounds. This jade is generally green; on the outer surface of boulders it has often altered to a brown or yellow-brown sub-translucent material. The interior, however, is more or less translucent and occasion- ally of the richest green color as if covered with oil. In composition it is a silicate of lime and magnesia. It is a trifle less hard than quartz, but from its matted, felt-like structure is of extreme toughness, thus requiring P SHE largest specimen of jade known in any museum in the world 1 Described in the Catalogue of Heber R. Bishop Collection, 2 vols., 430 pp. 57 58 THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL much more manipulation to shape or polish than does quartz or agate. It has been extensively used in the arts in jewelry during the past six or eight years. Much New Zealand jade has been worked into Chinese art objects, but the greater part of the material used in China, whether green or white, came from the Kuen-lun Mountains, Turkestan, south of Khotan. No white jade has ever been discovered in New Zealand, and no jade has ever been discovered in China proper, although all the worked articles from that empire are referred to as “Chinese jade.” For the Chinese, jade symbol- ized all that was high and pure. Kwan Chung, in the seventh century before Christ, wrote that its smoothness symbolized benevolence; its bril- liant lustre, knowledge; its toughness, justice; its rarity, purity of soul. That the smallest crack on its surface was immediately visible typified candor and the fact that although passing from hand to hand it was never soiled made it a symbol of a life governed by high moral principles. Superstitious ideas largely contribute to the popularity of jade in China. Some thirty years ago a Russian officer saw on one of the roads in Turkestan a block of jade that had evidently been abandoned in the course of trans- portation. He was told that while it was on its way from the quarry of Raskem-Darya to Peking an order came to leave it on the road, for the heir apparent to the Chinese throne had just been attacked by a serious disease after having slept on a couch made of Raskem jade. The nephritic variety of jade is often called the true jade and must not be confounded with jadeite, a distinct mineral which is a trifle harder, has a higher specific gravity, and is besides a silicate of alumina and soda. This latter material was that found in ancient Mexico worked up by the natives into various ornaments, of which the American Museum contains a fine series. The exact place of occurrence of the Mexican jewel jadeite has never been discovered. In our own time jadeite is found only near the village of Tamaw, five days journey from Mogung in Upper Burma, near the Chinese boundary. It is of a white to green color or else white with green splashes of color often of rich and magnificent tints, and as much as $15,000 has been paid for a thumb-ring of the choicest of this material. Neither nephrite nor jadeite has been found within the limits of the United States except in Alaska where true jade-nephrite has been discovered in Jade Mountain by Lieutenant Stoners, U.S. N. In this territory many fine jade implements have also been found and excellent representations of these are in the Museum collection. A TREASURE OF ANCIENT CHINESE BRONZES By E. C. B. Fassett N 1901, Mr. Jacob H. Schiff_donated funds to the American Museum for making investigations and collections in China, the adminis- tration of these funds being entrusted to a committee organized under the auspices of the Museum with the late Morris K. Jesup as chairman. The work was placed in the hands of Dr. Berthold Laufer, who had just completed work as a member of the Jesup North Pacific Expedition to Eastern Siberia. Dr. Laufer spent the three years from 1901 to 1904 in China and the collection thus obtained is now in the Museum’s Chinese Hall in the west wing of the building, while a letter recently received from Dr. Laufer, calls attention to its greatly increased value. He says in fact that after a diligent search in China he has been unable to make another collection of equal importance. His studies of this collection of bronzes appeared in 1909 in a report of the East Asiatic Committee of the Jacob H. Schiff Chinese Expedi- tion.! This was published in Leyden because of the facilities there afforded in the way of Chinese type. Among the specimens in the Chinese Hall there are two absolutely unique - collections, the ancient Chinese bronzes and certain mortuary pottery of the Han period. each other and to modern art, they have much the same interpretative value to East Asiatic study that the pre-Homeric or Minoan collections have. to Greek Because of their relation to art. The history of China has charm be- cause of its antiquity, its unparalleled con- tinuity and the survival of its culture. 1 CHINESE PoTtTreRyY OF THE Han Dywnasry. Brill, Leyden, 1909. Expedition. By Berthold Laufer. Report of the East Asiatic Committee of the Jacob H. Schiff Chinese THE OLDEST AMONG THE MUSEUM'S CHINESE BRONZES Bronze libation cup used in ancestor worship Shang Dynasty (1766-1122 B. C.). This bronze vessel must have taken its rise long before historical times, since allusions to it in Confucius are referred to the times of legendary emperors Published by E. J. 59 ANTIQUE BRONZE MIRROR DECORATED IN CONCENTRIC RINGS (DIAMETER 8 IN.) The first or inner ring holds the mystic trigram, the ‘‘pa-qua,’’ accredited to the first of the legendary emperors (2852-2738 B. C.). This series of lines is of symbolic meaning em- bodying the oldest system of Chinese mystic philosophy. The second ring shows the ‘ ‘twelve ancient animals’’; the outer, a very decorative inscription of twenty Chinese characters BRONZE FU, CHOU DYNASTY A sacrificial vessel for holding offerings of boiled grain in state worship ANCIENT CHINESE BRONZES 61 Following the mythological period (2852 B. C. to 2205 B. C.) came the period of the “Three Ancient Dynasties,’ the Hia (2205 to 1766 B. C.), the Shang (1766 to 1122 B. C.) and the Chou (1122 to 255 B. C.), during which the purely native culture and institutions of China took form with- A BRONZE SACRIFICIAL WINE JAR°OF QUADRANGULAR FORM, (HEIGHT 10 IN.) This wine jar is one-half tin in an alloy of copper according to the formula from the Chou dynasty (1122-255 B. C.) and bears a remarkable inscription proving it to have been made in the ‘‘Shang fang,’’ the court atelier of the Han in the year A. D. 12. ‘‘The shapes of sacrificial vessels... .have in the course of imitation become the models in the later Jade and Ceramic industries. They have thus exercised no little influence on European pottery, the forms of which are, in their origin, not confined to the models handed down by Greece and Rome.” Hirth 62 THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL out foreign influence. Ancestor worship, always the leading feature of all religious belief among the Chinese, developed its highly elabo- rated ceremonials during these dy- nasties. The ritual of the sacri- ficial service increased in minute- ness of detail and affected public and private life before the Chou or last of the Ancient Dynasties, when it reached its highest development; while the bronze bells and sacri- ficial vessels of manifold forms, each devoted to especial purposes and decorated with a great variety BRONZE “HILL-CENSER" (7 IN, HIGH) of symbolic ornament, bear witness First type of Chinese censer made. Han to the culture and creative ten- ie 0 dency of the Shang or middle period. Following the Three Ancient Dynasties came the time of the Emperor Shi-huang-ti (255 to 206 B.C.) who built the great Chinese wall. Under the cruel law of this emperor antiquities had to be concealed lest they be destroyed. But after this the Han period (206 B. C. to 25 A. D.) proved a very productive time marked by external influences combined with much native originality. And still much later than the Han period, during the late Sung period (960 to 1126 A. D.) there was a great art renaissance, when bronzes hidden in ancient times were discovered and studied from a critical point of view. It should be recalled that the art of bronze casting had reached perfec- tion at the earliest period of the Ancient Dynasties. The Emperor Yii (2205 to 2198 B. C.) is said to have cast the “ Nine Tripods” from bronze contributed from the nine provinces, upon which maps and records of the nine divisions of his empire were engraved. These tripods passed from dynasty to dynasty as emblems of the imperial power for over two thousand years. The period of the manufacture of the bronzes in the Museum extends from the eighteenth century before Christ to the seventeenth century after. The collection therefore allows the unusual privilege of comparing original examples of the early Shang and Chou periods and of the somewhat less early Han period with those of the later Sung and Ming periods. This comparison proves the forms similar in the ancient and later work, but shows changes in detail, ornament and utility. Among the oldest pieces ANCIENT CHINESE BRONZES 63 are types of the bronze vessels used in the rites of ancestor worship, the form and detail of which were prescribed by the ritual of the ancient national religion. The demands of this religious cult created an epoch of artistic vases and other well-proportioned forms defined according to the nature of the offerings whether of wine, water, meat, grain or fruit. Vessels for carrying wine were of vase forms. The quadrangular smooth wine jar in the illustration bears this interesting inscription, “ Made in the Shang fang (court atelier of the Han) in the year A. D. 12.” This type occurs as early as the Chou dynasty. The tou, a sacrificial vessel for offerings of meat, was shaped like a goblet, a vessel of common utility which seems to have existed in the Hia dynasty (2205 to 1766 B. C.). Our example is a bronze tou of the late Ming time, illustrating the bowl with the stem, the base of which is bell-shaped; the cover of this bronze has been lost. It is a good imi- tation of the ancient Chou type (1122 to 255 Bert.).. The fu, rectangular vessel -evolved from a_bas- ket, was used for hold- ing grain or fruits in state worship. The large bronze temple bell dates from the Chou period. It has peg-like ornaments, the utility or symbolism of which is not entirely un- derstood. Similar peg- like forms appear on the backs of the bronze mirrors... There are many examples of me- tallic mirrors in the col- lection, none of which hai Su are earlier than the Han , - A vessel of the ancient Chou type for offering cooked meat dynasty, though literary to the spirits of ancestors (The cover is lost) references indicate the 1CHINesE Merat Mrrrors, with Notes on Some Ancient Specimens of the Musée Guimet. By Friedrich Hirth. 64 THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL existence and use of mirrors from an earlier period. The one pictured is decorated with relief ornaments in concentric rings. The outer ring bears ideographs; the second ring presents the favorite and much discussed motive BRONZE TEMPLE BELL, CHOU DYNASTY (1122-266 B,C.) (HEIGHT 14 FT.) Meaning of knob ornament not thoroughly understood; similar ornaments occur on Chinese metal mirrors “The oldest extant witnesses of the antiquity of Chinese culture are the sacrificial vessels and bells of the Shang and Chou Dynasties”’ THE AGE OF MAMMALS 65 “the twelve animals’’; the inner ring holds the mystic trigram or “ pa-qua”’ attributed to Fu-hi, the first of the three ancient sovereigns, and the center is marked by a tortoise-shaped perforated knob through which the cord handle passes. Perhaps the hill-censers are the most unique example of the Han period. The Chinese name for these translates “brazier or stove of the vast moun- tain”’ from the fact that the cover has the shape of a hill emerging from waves. Openings in the cover permitted the escape of the incense. This mountain design is symbolic of the thought of the period and probably refers to the “isles of the blest,’ the abode of the immortals. This hill- censer of the Han period was the first type of censer made, the ancients not burning incense and so having no incense stoves. The favorite form of censers now found in Buddhistiec, Taoistic and Confucian temples is from a bronze caldron originally devoted only to meat offerings. Censers made in the Ming period are numerous and of great beauty and the forms of all Chinese ritual vessels appear not only in bronze, but also in pottery, jade, glass and porcelain. To-day the early history of Chinese porcelains is still unwritten but the student will find in the Museum’s Chinese Hall many early period examples of bronze and pottery which inspired the forms of the finest porcelains. Dr. Laufer says: “The fact of a type of vessel sanctified for millenniums within the strict boundaries of rigid religious observances suddenly changing its object under outside currents of influence, but still retaining the shape, is of paramount ethnological value since it proves a higher degree of tenacity of forms and greater changeability of the ideas embodied in them: the forms survive while the ideas vanish or alter.” ‘““THE AGE OF MAMMALS” By William K. Gregory HOSE whose interests are wholly limited to every-day affairs will 4? doubtless not find time for more than a hasty glance at the very numerous maps, diagrams and pictures in Professor Osborn’s recently published book, “The Age of Mammals.’’! But those who possess in some measure the “scientific imagination”’ will find here a new world and a new point of view, from which Man may be seen in his proper historical setting. 1TxHe Ace or Mammats in Europe, Asia and North America. By Henry Fairfield Osborn. S8vo., pp. XVII + 635, figs. 220. The Macmillan Company, 1910. 66 THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL Such readers will naturally be impressed with the enormous lapse of time required for the historical progression outlined in this book, especially when they consider the various estimates, ranging from three to six millions of years, which have been assigned by different investigators as the time equivalent of the Tertiary period. Nevertheless this period covers only the later chapters in mammalian history. For the class of which man is now the dominant member was already represented by certain little-known forms in the Triassic, at a time when the dinosaurs had not yet attained their preéminence and long before the Rocky Mountains were uplifted. The diagram here reproduced summarizes the historical succession of the Tertiary and Quaternary formations in western North America, giving the maximum thickness of each and distinguishing the deposits of the Great Plains from those of the Rocky Mountains. The “zones”’ are time peri- ods, named from mammalian genera that are especially characteristic of the corresponding formations, while on the extreme right are the names of some of the other mammals that serve as time markers in the “chronom- eter of evolution.” This diagram epitomizes a part of the results of Professor Osborn’s studies on the “correlation of Tertiary mammal horizons in Europe, Asia and North America,” a problem which has been slowly worked out with the aid of many colleagues in this country and abroad. From _ these data he draws some very far-reaching conclusions on the origin and spreading of faunas from continent to continent, and on the appearance and removal of geographical barriers to faunal interchange. Such con- clusions invest the dry facts of geographic and geologic distribution with a larger and more fruitful meaning. Regarding the evolution of mammals, the introduction deals very clearly with the rise of paleeontology and with the laws of evolution of the teeth, feet and skull. The “irreversibility of evolution” and the causes of the extinction of mammalian species are among the many topics of general biological interest. Very gratifying is the fact that this Museum has been able to furnish a large part of the material for a work of such far-reaching importance to the student of mammalian evolution. Many of the mounted skeletons in the Hall of Fossil Mammals appear here, accompanied by excellent restorations from the gifted brush of Charles R. Knight. The numerous and thorough Museum expeditions in the West and elsewhere, which have been carried on systematically during the past twenty years, furnish scores of field pictures, maps and geological sections. The manifold systematic, faunal and stratigraphic studies by Professor Osborn, Dr. Matthew and others, have thus been joined synthetically with the results of paleontolo- gists and geologists the world over. ae Z ZONES MAMMALS o 0 . ws Cervus . mm We : Ovibos Bison ph TEXAS e Castoro/des a O} fe < Meg alony. ue Mastodon a 0 ri Equus Platygonus a ih 7 ay = Llephas ? aE “i a? wija 2 Glyptothertum Pliauchenia = \5 YP Felis — |= Neotragocerus ~aE a|s Peraceras Epigaulus e Te/eoceras rw Procamelus Aelurodon a. Neohipparion "1 aoe (RG an mm) Ps) Say 78 NM | + So rr Frotohippus all Ho fe a : rilophodon Ojsa Ticholeptus Aphrioos O}- E ct Merychippus = 3 “Merychyus ie rr) al, > wl= Merycochoerus Oy Zactylus g 3} ef foe > oa ; z == Diceratherium —220PPes a ve Eporeodon a = Promerycocheerus Steneotiber a x ‘ Entelodon - - bs Ss Leptauchenta Protoceras peppy (inj saa) eg cert ceenlaay Neetime lal alone chscatar Staged ee thanaaes wd | 4 E Poébrotherium O28 = Hi Oreodon Mitamynodon oO 2 «| > Hydéenodon © eet. oe Seeds Hgracodon = & ie F Leptomeryx E is x Titanotherium ©ety/opus ir > Mesohippus 3 Trigonias : Epthippus es epi erone olichorhinus Amynodon a F ynoao =) Lobasileus Achéenodon us 2 Vintatherium 2/aeosyops > = Notharctus = Orohtppus Fatriofelis n 2 PF Metacheiromys oO |% 2 Eotitanops Sy oo” ul | 3)2 Lambdotherium Pheitecodus 7|3] Coryphodon Lohippus ce [a Baza < Pantolambda = fuprotogonia < Chriacus i Polymastodon Feriptychus Dissacus Diagram from Professor Osborn’s Age of Mammals showing the supposed time sequence and equivalenceSof the principal fossil mammal bearing deposits of the West. The ** Zones’”’ are time divisions named from characteristic mammals found in the succcessive formations iM poos ponuyuod jo jooid se Isso} OMOJSIY SITY? JUeS sey UMoasnyy Sioqueyoueg oy} 3eVY) SuLkjrjeas Ayjeroodse st 4[ ‘suUIp[inq oy Jo UOTeOTpep oy} 4B QuosoId oq 0} JanyyUueIy O} OUOS Sulaey Joie, 94) ‘snduing Jo0jDe11q uodn pue dnser JuepIselg o3¥] 9} uodn siouoy JO SULIdajuodD 949 AG Ope SBM AIS oY} JO UONTUSODOI YVY} PodoquIOWeI oq TIM 9] ‘sejdoed ueulIey pure uvoeury 94} osTe ynq suINesN]_ JanjyuUReay pue YOK MON oY} A[UO JOU Jaq}0S04 Ajosopo o1OU SUTPUTq UT [eJUSTUNAYS -uI dAOId 4YySTu yf 4eq} odoy oy} Ul opeUr sem dnsof "yy SIO 938] 949 JO jis sty, “sojse[d Jo Jou pue suoq Jo poesodurod SI yey) ‘odommy Ut snoopordig [eursi10 ATUO ay} ‘snoopoldiq oy} JO WOJsPOHS [ISSOJ JVI oY OF WOATS SVM OINJONAYS [BA}UED OY JO 4MOD OY) UI Jlouoy Jo sovid oy} ‘ABp-0} sev ‘auITy YO 9% ‘2061 ‘19qG0I0Q UT oT[qnd oyy 03 SuIpiimMq Mou st pouedo AIOYsTH TRANQVN JO Wnhesny_ SJoqueyoues oy.L WNASNW DYSASNSMONES SHL AG GSLN3ASSYd AIIGOOOYD ANIYVW LONILXS NV 3S3O NOLS13HS 89 HISTORIC FOSSIL FROM SENCKENBERG MUSEUM accepted for the American Museum by President Osborn with expressions of appreciation of the gift not only as such but also as an “index of the peculiarly cordial relations which prevail between the Senckenberg Museum and the American Museum and of the spirit of broad scientific interest which animates both.” 4 SHE valuable fossil described in the accompanying letter has been SENCKENBERG NATURAL History SOCIETY, FRANKFURT—AM-MAIN, December |6, 1910. HonorED COLLEAGUE: The Senckenberg Natural History Society has wished for a long time to dedicate a gift to the American Museum in token of especial high regard. Since our Museum has recently received the best specimen yet found of Mystriosaurus bollensis Cuvier we are able to release our older specimen, likewise very fine, a photograph of which I enclose. In their meeting of December 7 the administration of our society concluded there- fore to present this specimen to the American Museum of Natural History. In the meantime our trustee, Dr. Lotichius, has informed us that your Museum would be disposed to arrange an exchange of our Mystriosaurus for a skeleton of the American short-legged rhinoceros. Although I do not deny that the Senckenberg Museum would welcome with great pleasure the possession of a good skeleton of T'eleoceras, we beg that in consideration of the decision previously reached by us, you will feel free to receive the Mystriosaurus as a gift and we hope for its friendly acceptance. I add the following data in regard to the specimen. The Mystrio- saurus was obtained at Holzmaden in Wiirttemberg in the Posidonia zone of the Liassic. It was described by H. G. Bronn (Abhandlungen uber die gabialartigen Reptilien der Liasformationen, Stuttgart 1841) who stated it to be the largest and most complete of the German skeletons. Andreas Wagner (Abhandlungen Kgl. Bayer. Akademie Wissenschafter Bd. II p. 545 ff, 1850) considered the species identical with Mystriosaurus miinsteri Wagner. Bourmeister (der fossile Gavial von Boll, Halle 1854) established for this species the older name M. bollensis Cuvier. The specimen which you receive is, therefore, the type specimen of the invalid species W. senchken- bergianus Br. With the expression of our highest consideration and with friendly greetings, I am, Yours very sincerely, Ernst ROoeEDIGER, Director of the Senckenberg Museum of Natural History. 69 ONE HUNDRED DOLLARS FOR A FOSSIL EGG FROM MADAGASCAR around and that has a capacity of about two gallons is a new posses- sion of the Museum, one hundred dollars having been the purchase price. The specimen is a fossil from Madagascar and has been in the British Museum on loan since 1892. It is unusually perfect, the shell unbroken although finely pitted in places showing effects upon it before it passed into this unchangeable state. Fossil eggs of this description first came to the notice of scientists in 1850 when discovered in the bed of a torrent in Madagascar. The natives were familiar with them, using them sometimes as vessels for domestic purposes; and these natives had also a tradition of a bird large enough to carry off an ox. At the time of the discovery there was much discussion by scientific men as to whether what came out of these eggs in ancient times was bird or reptile and after a few bones discovered somewhat later decided in favor of bird which was named A‘pyornis, there was much difference of opinion as to its kind and relationships. Some placed it with dodos, others with auks, and still others with vultures or large birds of prey. Some fifteen years later, in 1867, various less incomplete fossil remains came to light, which decided definitely that the bird was not only of massive proportions, but also that it was short-winged, thus proving its alliance to the Dinornis of New Zealand and to the Apteryx. Its height , N egg that is two feet, eight inches long and two feet, two inches was supposed to have been six or seven feet although previous calculations had placed it at twelve feet. There is no fossil specimen of the bird itself in the American Museum, but exhibited in the Geological Hall are some of its more or less distant relatives, the Apteryx, the Moas — fossil New Zealand birds which were nearly wingless — and the gigantic Dinornis, standing nine feet high. The egg will be placed on exhibition soon and when seen in comparison with the eggs of birds of ordinary size or even with that of the ostrich will make clear that knowledge of these eggs in prehistoric times may well have given rise in oriental fable to the stories of a giant “roe able to carry off an ele- phant in its talons.” Mr. W. DeW. Miter, Assistant in the Department of Mammalogy and Ornithology, has been honored by an appointment as inspector of imported live birds at the Port of New York under the direction of the Chief of the United States Biological Survey. 70 MUSEUM NEWS NOTES SINCE our last issue the following persons have been elected to member- ship in the Museum: Life Members, Messrs. Atuison V. Armour, ARTHUR D. GaBay, WituramM Perkins WapswortsH and Gen. THoMAsS HuBBARD; Sustaining Member, Mr. Epwarp J. DE CopPET; Annual Members, Messrs. Puiuie G. Barriert, JuLrus HENRY CoHEN, WituraM N. Conen, Harry A. Cusnine, Jutrtus GOLDMAN, Epgar HuIpE- KOPER, FrepERIC E. Humpureys, C. D. HuyLer, MicHarei JENKINS, S. Keer, JoHN Drypen Kuser, WILLIAM MitcHeELi, WILLIAM S. Myers, CHARLES J. OBERMAYER, JOHN OFFERMAN, EpMuND PENFOLD, F. PoEt, James H. Scumetzer, R. A. ScunaBet, Harrer Srtuman, CHares L. TiFFANY, JoHN J. D. TRENoR, Drs. CHARLES BRowNE, L. PIERCE CLARK, James Moruey Hirzrot, Wituiam J. Mrrsereau, Treorito Paropt, A. Emit Scumitt, Rev. Dr. WALTER THompson, Mmes. WiLLiAM LANMAN Butt, B. OapEn Cutsotm, Rurus CoLe, CLaRENcE M. Hyper, SAMUEL Keyser, WituiAM N. Kremer, JOSEPH SHARDLOW, and Miss Epiru M. KOHLSAAT. PRESIDENT HENRY FAIRFIELD OSBORN was made Curator Emeritus of the Department of Vertebrate Paleontology at the meeting of the Execu- tive Committee on January 18, 1911. Tue New York Zo6.LoGIcaL Society has presented to the Museum a series of six hundred animal photographs taken from time to time through a long period of years at the Zoélogical Park. One of the attractive features of the opening of the new South Sea Islands Hall on January 25, 1911, was a collection of thirty-one paintings made among the South Sea Islands by the late John La Farge and loaned by Miss Grace Edith Barnes. Mr. Cuaries L. BERNHEIMER has recently presented to the Museum a splendid collection of whaling implements including harpoons and a bomb gun; also, by the efforts of Mr. Frank Wood of New Bedford, Mass., a complete outfit for a whaling boat has been secured through exchange. These are important additions to the Museum’s collections, for even at this date it is exceedingly difficult to get many of the articles which went to make up the equipment used by the deep sea whalers of New Bedford and a few years from now will be quite impossible. At the meeting of the Executive Committee on January 18, 1911, Miss Mary C. Dickerson was appointed Curator of the Department of Woods and Forestry and Assistant Curator in Herpetology. 71 THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL ~I bo Tur Department of Mammalogy and Ornithology has recently received from the Stefansson-Anderson Arctic Expedition a valuable collection of mammals and birds made during 1909 and 1910 by Dr. R. M. Anderson along the Arctic coast and islands from the Mackenzie delta westward to Point Barrow. The birds include water-fowl and land-birds characteristic of the high North, such as jaeger and other gulls, the spectacled eider and other ducks and geese, various species of shore birds, large series of two species of ptarmigan, Lapland longspurs, redpolls, snow buntings, wheatears, yellow wagtails, horned larks, ete. The mammals include ground squirrels, lemmings, voles, Arctic fox, weasels and shrews. The Colville River was ascended to the Endicott Mountains, in which district were obtained a good series of the white sheep and sixteen specimens of the Barren Ground caribou. The route of the expedition was for the most part through un- explored ground, and the birds and mammals obtained are thus of the highest interest. LECTURE ANNOUNCEMENTS MEMBERS’ COURSE The spring course of lectures to Members will be given in March. PEOPLE’S COURSE Given in coéperation with the City Department of Education. Tuesday evenings at 8:15 o’clock. Doors open at 7:30. The last four of a course of lectures by Dr. ARTHUR JuDSON Brown. February 7— “Dependent Korea.” February 14 — “Changing China.” February 21 — ‘America in the Philippines.” February 28 — “Siam.” Saturday evenings at 8:15 o'clock. Doors open at 7:30. The last four of a course of eight lectures on Public Health. February 4-— Dr. Lrvincston Farranp, “Tuberculosis: The General Problem; the Organized Campaign against the Disease.’ February 11-— Dr. James ALEXANDER Mier, “Tuberculosis as a Social Problem. Method of Treatment.” February 18 — Pror. C-E. A. Winstow, “ Water Pollution and Water Purification.” February 25— Mr. Lawrence Veruier, “Housing and Health.” LEGAL HOLIDAY COURSE Fully illustrated. Open free to the public. Tickets not required. Lectures begin at 3:15 o'clock. Doors open at 2:45. February 22 — Pror. C-E, A. Winstow, “Insect Carriers of Disease.” ; A / . From Annales du Musee du Congo OKAPIA JOHNSTONI SCLATER. ADULT MALE. MOUNTED UNDER THE DIRECTION OF M. DE PAUW AT THE UNIVERSITY OF BRUSSELS The American Museum Journal Vou. XI MARCH, 1911 No. 3 THE OKAPI BY J. A. ALLEN The American authority on mammals, Professor J. A. Allen, gives in the following an account of the okapi, of its discovery in 1901 when it was thought to be a relative of the horse, of the proof later in the same year that ut is related to the giraffe and to certain extinct forms from the Miocene of south- ern Europe and of India. Although the okapi has been known for a space of ten years and is covered by a literature of more than half a hundred titles from the study of okapi skins and skeletons, the living animal, at least till recently, has never been seen in its native haunts by a white man and the realistic okapr group to be constructed in the American Museum as a result of the six months’ work of the Museum’s Congo Expedition in the Great Forest of Africa will prove a notable event in the scientific world. cal Society of London from Sir Harry Johnston, announcing that he had obtained evidence “of the existence of a very remarkable new horse,” which appeared to inhabit the Great Congo Forest. At the Belgian post of Mbéni he found that this animal was called “okapi’’ by the Bambuba natives of the region, and he was fortunate enough to obtain pieces of the skin that had been made into waist-belts and bandoliers. These pieces exhibited the stripes of the legs and hind quarters, and indi- cated an animal different from any known zebra or wild ass. These fragments were forwarded by Sir Harry to the Secretary of the Zodélogical Society and exhibited at a meeting of the Society held December 18, 1900. Thus was obtained the first definite knowledge of a horse-like animal marked with black and white stripes referred to by early Dutch and Portuguese writers as existing in the great forests of Central Africa. At a meeting of the London Society held February 5, 1901, these frag- ments were shown and described by Dr. P. L. Sclater as representing a new species of zebra, which he named after its discoverer, Sir Harry Johnston, Equus johnstoni, the reference of the species to Equus being tentative. At a meeting of the Zodlogical Scciety held three months later (May 7, 1901), L) November 20, 1900, a letter was read at a meeting of the Zoélogi- 73 74 THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL Dr. Sclater exhibited a water-color drawing of the animal made by Sir Harry Johnston from a fresh skin secured through the Belgian authorities of Fort Mbéni.. From this drawing it became evident that the new animal was not a zebra, nor even a member of the family Equide, but a species allied to the giraffe. The drawing was published as Plate I of Volume II of the Proceedings of the Zoélogical Society for 1901. This skin and also two skulls, obtained by native soldiers of the Congo Free State near Fort Mbéni, were forwarded by Sir Harry to the British Museum, where they arrived June 17, 1901, and served as the basis of a paper presented by Professor E. Ray Lankester the following day at a meeting of the Zodlogical Society. From these specimens he was able to give the principal characters. of this strange animal and discuss its relationships. He found it to repre- sent a new genus, allied to the giraffe and also to certain extinct forms from the Miocene of southern Europe and India. He gave to the new genus the name Okapia. This skin was mounted by Rowland Ward for the British Museum, where it was placed on exhibition in August, 1901 — the first example of the “ mys- terious okapi’’ installed for public exhibition. Colored drawings of the mounted specimen were immediately given wide publicity in various popu- lar as well as scientific publications. The discovery of an animal so strange and striking naturally excited great interest, and the okapi was soon famous throughout the world. Since 1901 numerous specimens of this animal have been taken in the Congo region, nearly all of them through the agency of the Belgian Govern- ment. They include not only skins and skulls of adults of both sexes and of various ages, but also a number of complete skeletons, representing alto- gether some thirty or more individuals. While much of this material has been retained for the museums of Belgium, many specimens have been presented, by direction of the late King Leopold II, to other European museums. Permission has also been generously granted to several private expeditions of other nationalities to enter the Congo Free State in pursuit of the okapi, but apparently they have met with little success, except in the case of the Alexander Gossling expedition, which secured skins, skulls and skeletons for the British Museum, and, as noted below, of the Lang- Chapin Congo Expedition of the American Museum. The material thus acquired by European museums, notably that in the Museum at Tervueren, has furnished the basis for several important mono- graphs of the species, and for a large number of minor papers, resulting in an okapi literature numbering more than half a hundred titles, so that the external and osteological characters and the affinities of few species are now better known than are those of the okapi. DISCOVERY AND RELATIONSHIPS OF THE OKAPI — 75 In the character of limbs and length of neck the okapi differs little from the ordinary type of ruminant, as for example a deer or an antelope. Al- though it differs widely in external appearance from the giraffe which has elongated limbs and enormously lengthened cervical vertebra, the structure of the skull and teeth show it to be a member of the giraffe family. It has also two small frontal horns, somewhat similar to those of the giraffe but less developed, differing in this respect from ordinary ruminants. The lips are not prehensile and its small eyes give the head somewhat the appearance of that of a deer. The colored plate of the okapi sufficiently indicates its general appearance in respect to form and peculiar coloration. The okapi is said to live in pairs in the depths of the forest and to feed on the leaves of the undergrowth. Up to a recent date it was said that no white man had ever seen the living okapi in its native haunts, or was likely to, as it is extremely wary and shy, and nocturnal in its habits. The speci- mens taken have all been captured by the natives, who are said to be able sometimes to steal up to the animals and kill them with spears, but usually they take them in traps. Sir Harry Johnston, in an account of his trip to the Congo Forest for okapi, thus speaks of its haunts: “Provided with guides, we entered the awesome depths of the Congo Forest. For several days we searched for the okapi, but in vain. We were shown its supposed tracks by the natives.... The atmosphere of the forest was almost un- breatheable with its Turkish-bath heat, its reeking moisture, and its powerful smell of decaying, rotting vegetation. We seemed, in fact, to be trans- ported back to Miocene times, to an age and a climate scarcely suitable for the modern type of real humanity. Severe attacks of fever prostrated not only the Europeans but all the black men of the party, and we were obliged to give up the search and return to the grass-lands with such frag- ments of the skin as I had been able to purchase from the natives.” It was on the borders of such a region that the members of the American Museum Congo Expedition, under the leadership of Herbert Lang and James Chapin, camped for nearly six months and were successful in obtain- ing specimens of the okapi and the necessary accessories for a large realistic group of these animals for this Museum. While the Congo Expedition is to be congratulated on the results of its laborious efforts, these were rendered possible only through the generous and hearty codperation of the officials of the Congo Free State under most favorable instructions from the Belgian Government. All the specimens were trapped by the natives by means of nooses set in the “terrible swamps” of the Great Congo Forest. (do? uo somsy uUvUINY PoOAIVd oY} [JOS JOU PINOA suURIpPUT 94,L) “wWhosnyT ULedJoUry oy} Ul MOU O1e SofOd W19}0} VJOOD VITPM Soy, “VySeTY UsoyQNOS ul AaQUNOD OWTYS| oY} 0F punog Josng WoJJ spuojxe YOM ‘oangj;nd 4seoO oyheg YWON oy} Jo vore oy} Yreur sojod wi9j07, “poyured AT[eUlS{10 o19M AOY YOTYM YALA JO[OO oY} JO Soda} QUIRI “JOTPVOM pur purM 0} oansodxe Jo savok AULUT oY} JoyJe UdAO ‘SuIqiMyxoe Ts Woy Jo oulos ‘onbso,013 oae sajod oy puvy ye AvoU UMeS ISv0O0 O1l41I0OVd HLYON SHL NO SADVITIA ANV 43O SYNLVSA SNONDIdSNOOSD V 3yHV S310d W3LO0OL 92 TOTEM POLES OF THE NORTH PACIFIC COAST HUGE CEDAR CARVINGS OFTEN SO OLD THAT THE INDIANS THEMSELVES HAVE FORGOTTEN THEIR MEANINGS. EACH TOTEM POLE TELLS SOME ANCESTRAL LEGEND OR IS THE “ BADGE”’ OF A FAMILY OR CLAN By Harlan I. Smith Photographs by the Author | edge of the sea and not till one ap- proaches nearer do the squatty houses appear nestled in the vegeta- tion just back of them. When seen near at hand the poles are grotesque, some of them still exhibiting, even after the many years of exposure to wind and weather, faint traces of the color with which they were originally painted. Totem poles are a conspicuous feature of any village on the North Pacific Coast of America, so conspic- uous indeed that the Indian tribes living here have sometimes been called “Totem Pole Indians.” The poles mark the area of the North Pacific Coast culture, which extends from the vicinity of Puget Sound along the coast to the Eskimo coun- try in southern Alaska. The influ- ence of this culture, to be sure, extends southward along the coast but at Puget Sound it begins to lose its strongest characteristics. Indica- tions of its influence are found also in the interior especially along the water-ways. Some of the best totem poles are not seen by the tourist who makes the delightful scenic trip to Alaska by way of the calm inland TAMANAWAS BOARD, BAY CENTER WASHINGTON This crude carving, now in the possession of the Museum, shows totem pole influence south of the North Pacific Coast culture area N some villages of the North Pacific Coast of America a totem pole stands in front of each house and the houses stand in a row facing the sea. From a distance the poles look like stubs of a dead forest fringing the 77 78 THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL passage, but are to be found in remote villages far up some of the mighty rivers of the North Pacific Coast. Totem poles are carved from cedar. On this rainy foggy coast which is never very hot in summer nor bitter cold in winter, the forests are noted for their gigantic cedars. The Indians here are preéminently a woodworking people; they have become clever in the arts of splitting, bending, splicing, carving and inlaying. The house is made from split cedar planks on a framework of adzed cedar logs. The canoe is dug out of a huge cedar trunk. Much of the clothing is made by weaving shredded cedar bark. Spear handles are whittled out of cedar wood while the masks used in the cere- monies are also often carved from cedar. The carvings on the poles most often represent animals, among those commonly shown being the beaver, bear, raven, frog, finback whale and squid. Mythical monsters are also represented, while the human face and figure are common. Sometimes the carved figure of a man forms the top THE TOTEM POLES STAND IN A ROW FACING THE SEA Skidegate, Queen Charlotte Islands TOTEM POLES of a totem pole to represent the speaker or orator employed by an Indian host giving a banquet or by a financier making an investment somewhat as we have a lawyer represent us at court. Some of these are hollow figures in which a slave or servant may be secreted to make speeches through the open mouth. Frequently such a figure is carved standing upon the head of another carved figure representing a slave, tending to show that the owner of the house was rich in slaves. The art of the average totem pole is on the whole symbolic and conventional though rather realistic in appearance. This is true not only in the case of the totem poles but also in nearly all of the art of the Northwest Coast peoples. On the other hand, the same motifs, animal and human, may be employed for purely decorative purposes and some of the baskets and occa- sionally blankets show geometric designs, many of which, however, probably symbolize ideas also, while decorative carvings without symbolic meaning may be inserted here and there on a totem pole to fill up blank spaces between the symbolic carvings. One method of conventionalizing a carving frequently consists in ex- aggerating some salient feature of the animal repre- sented; for instance the carvings of a beaver and a wolf look very much alike except that the beaver is indi- cated by prominent incisors and a flat tail. Again, the artist has sometimes distorted to fit the field what would otherwise have been a nearly realistic figure or a slightly conventionalized one. It must not be forgotten that among Indians as among other peoples great. artists are rare, and that men of wealth who desire to have a fine totem pole must pay enormous prices in such things as blankets, canoes or slaves in order to have the most perfect work. Carved house and grave posts are akin to totem poles. On entering the houses we find that some of the posts supporting the rafters are carved so much like totem poles that where a house has gone to decay and only the posts remain, they may quite naturally be mistaken for small totem poles. Sometimes the house posts are plain, and carved posts which do not bear any Tlingit modern to- tem pole at Wrangel, Alaska, contrasting sharply in idea witha mission church near. The lowest carving is a beaver as shown by the teeth and tail SO THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL part of the weight of the frame are placed against them. Again if one pushes through the nettles and salmon-berry bushes to the graveyard, he will find there many carved posts which may be mistaken for little totem poles. There is another object which when removed from its proper position resembles the totem pole: this is the carved “grease trough.” It is supported like the ridgepole of a house in such a position that it hangs above the fire, a magnificent chandelier, and the grease with which it is filled runs out of the giant carved mouth and falling upon the fire causes it to blaze up and illuminate the surroundings — probably at the festivities of some great ban- quet to the honor of the host and his family. - The style of the totem pole and of other carved posts varies more or less from tribe to: tribe. Grave posts and house posts among the Salish tribes of Puget Sound are rather flat bas-reliefs and there are few, if any, tall totem poles. Among the Haida the totem poles are tall, massive, carved in the round and of excellent workmanship. Totem poles are rare among the Nootka and though this tribe makes many small figures of wood, these Before the Chief's house, Wrangel Looking out to sea at Old Wrangel are not of excellent workmanship. At Victoria I found a Nootka Indian carving a large totem pole and learned that he was copying to order from a photograph a Haida pole for a curio dealer. The curio dealer informed me that he intended to put this on the roof until it was weathered enough to resemble an old pole. Sepulchres are made in some totem poles, notably among the Haida and Tlingit. There are several poles of this type at Wrangel. ™ Such totem poles have at the back some dis- tance from the ground a niche in which the body is placed. The complete significance of a totem pole TOTEM POLES 81 is not always clear to-day even to the Indians themselves because the original meaning of the carvings and paintings has in many cases been forgotten. Also, although some of the most competent American anthropologists have seen and described these poles of the North Pacific Coast, the interpretations they have given of them have only too often been avowedly incomplete. Probably on some of the poles the carved figures illustrate a legend- ary dream or exploit of the ancestor of a family or clan. This legend is, then, the property of the family and together with the family dance and song is often believed to have been obtained by the ancestor from the totem animal. Thus the totem animal has come to be regarded as the “badge”’ of the family or clan, somewhat as the eagle is the symbol of the United States. Although the totem animal does frequently figure as the guardian of the family or clan, these animals must be sharply differentiated from the guardian spirits of the eastern Indians, in so far as the totem animals have come into relation to the family through the an- cestors of the groups and not through any living individuals belonging to the group. Property sentiment has become strongly as- sociated with the poles and the ideas the poles stand for so that no two families can be found claiming identical totem poles. Often the meaning of any given pole has become very complex because marriages and impor- Overgrown with grasses and vines, Old Wrangel Primitive art at Old Wrangel tant family events, such as great potlatches or the killing of slaves in order to show the great wealth of their owner may have been inserted on the pole in carvings additional to those representing the traditional legend. It has been found difficult to get totem poles for the Museum. In the first place they 82 THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL are seldom if ever owned by ‘an individual but rather by a family or group and it is as difficult to close a deal with them all as to get a quit claim deed from all the heirs of an estate. The second reason for the difficulty in getting possession of totem poles is that the Indians who still retain their regard for old customs and institu- tions will not think of parting with one of these symbols of aristocracy, which is also interwoven with their religious ideas. If, on the other hand, the. Museum representative goes to the Indians who have been under the influence of missionaries and Govern- ment teachers, he finds that they have no totem poles, for almost as fast as the Indian loses his regard for the totem poles he is willing to chop them up and burn them. He is often urged to do so by the missionaries who desire to remove every re- minder of the old life, believ- ing that the Indian will then quickly adjust himself to the new ways taught by the white men. @ Notwithstanding the dif- ficulty in getting possession of totem poles, the American Museum is relatively rich in these primitive carvings, the Haida and’ Kwakiutl being best represented, the Tlingit and Tsimpshian least satisfac- torily. Altogether there are some fifty specimens in the House post from Comox, British Columbia, now in the American Mu- seum. Speaker represented as standing on the head of a slave Museum’scollection which for the most part is on exhibition j » ‘f >, y , , we hb: in the North Pacific Hall. Carved house post, Bella Helis A GIFT FROM ECUADOR By Charles W. Mead Stapleton contains two stone seats found near the Port of Manta, Province of Manabi, Ecuador. Such stone seats have been dis- covered in great numbers on the summits of Cerro de Hojas, Cerro Jabon- cillo, Cerra Jupa and Cerro Agua Nuevo and form the most remarkable feature of the archeology of Manabi, nothing resembling them being known from any other part of the Americas. The specimens in the various museums of Europe and Amer- ica have come for the most part from Cerro de Hojas, found in prehistoric house sites. All of these seats appear to have been carved from andersite or from argillaceous — shaly sandstone — the two presented by Mr. Stapleton are of the latter — and all may be described as U- shaped, although there is considerable variety in their width and in the curve of the sides. Usually the crouching figure supporting the seat represents a man or a puma, but bird, lizard, bat and monkey-like forms also occur and some specimens have been found in which the supports and bases are without figures. In addition to the stone seats from Manabi, Mr. Stapleton’s gift to the Museum includes some thirty specimens from the Province of Esmeraldas, about one-half of which were excavated from prehistoric burial mounds, the balance coming from the Cayapa Indians who inhabit the province to-day. Of the archeological part of the collection, second to the stone seats in interest are the pottery stamps as showing the status of the ornamental art of this unknown people. In all probability these stamps were used to ornament cotton and bark cloth. ‘¢ collection presented recently to the Museum by Mr. D. C, 83 Touy 94 Jo adojs oy} UO ART pue 4NO podoYyVREM PVY YOIYM SquUIT] pUTY oYy JO sjuUeTUStAy Moy Ve Aq 10j00dsO1d OYY JO GdTJOU eYy OF FYSNOIG SBA PUR eyeys AvIZ JO WIN{VIYS V UL PoppoquIT seM YY “SuTMOA A ‘UISeG UO Sig ‘AATY [Ing ABAD oY} JO YINOS spuR] peq 94} UL PUNOJ SBM UWOJOTOHS SIL SSHYOH G30L1-YNOS 3HL AO NOL3A1SMS AHL ONILVAVOXS #8 ORR a ie IE HT ne : EOHIPPUS OROHIPPUS MESOHIPPUS A NEW SPECIMEN OF THE FOUR-TOED HORSE EARLIEST KNOWN ANCESTOR OF THE MODERN HORSE, THE SMALL FOUR- TOED EouIPpPvus, DISCOVERED IN THE BAD LANDS OF WYOMING By Walter Granger 7 + continent of North America has produced the most complete and best preserved fossil remains of the horse; and it chances that of all institutions, the American Museum possesses the finest col- lection of fossil horses. Aside from fragmentary material, there are eight mounted skeletons in the Hall of Fossils, covering a remarkable series of connecting links from the little four-toed Kohippus of the early Eocene to the large, modernized, one-toed Equus of the Pleistocene or Glacial Period, at which time the horse became extinct in North America. The skeleton of Eohippus at present mounted in the Museum is of the most advanced species of that genus and is from the Wind River formation of Wyoming. It was of especial interest therefore, when the expedition of the Department of Vertebrate Paleontology sent to Wyoming the past summer, discovered a nearly complete skeleton of one of the most primi- tive species of Eohippus, previously known to science merely by fragments of jaws containing the teeth. This was found in the extreme northwestern corner of Wyoming, in the Wasatch formation of the Big Horn Basin. After the close of the great Age of Reptiles, at a time roughly estimated at 3,000,000 years ago when the region was at sea level, there occurred an uplifting of mountain ranges and a general elevation of the country. The Big Horn Basin was one of several formed by this raising of mountain chains, and into the basin ran the sediment washed from the rocks of the higher surrounding regions. Here in a moist, warm climate and probably with an abundance of vegetation, many primitive mammals including the little Eohippus lived and died, and their bones became buried in the slowly accumulating clays and sands, and eventually petrified. Approximately these conditions existed until there had been deposited in this Basin a great mass of sediment 2,000 feet thick; the Basin was nearly filled and a drain- 85 86 THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL age outlet to the north into the Missouri River was formed. Then condi- tions changed, the process of deposition ceased, and that of erosion began and has continued to the present time. To-day the Big Horn Basin is 4,000 feet above sea level in its lowest parts, it is arid, in fact almost barren except along the few water courses which lead down from the mountains, and the erosion has removed the greater part of the original 2,000 feet of sandstone and clay. A few high, flat-topped buttes, left by the erosion, indicate the level of the Basin at the time when the erosion began, but for the most part the formation has been worn down nearly to its base, and the country presents great areas of low, rounded knolls and sharp, steep ridges comprised chiefly of gray and red hard, brittle clays with occasional layers of sandstone, and often absolutely bare of any vegetation. Such areas are known to the geologist as “bad lands,”’ and it is here that the fossil collee- tor makes his search for the petrified remains of these ancient animals. As the hills are slowly worn away by the heavy spring rains or an occasional cloud-burst in summer, the bones which have been entombed for so long can be detected by the trained eye of the prospector. Often it is merely a worthless fragment of bone, sometimes a fragment of jaw or a skull, and in rare cases a nearly complete skeleton such as the present one. In such instances it is probable that the body of the animal became buried soon after its death, before the bones could be scattered by carrion eaters or by the action of water or other agents. The present skeleton was found by Mr. William Stein, who has been employed as cook and teamster of the Wyoming expeditions for several seasons and who spends his spare time in searching the bad lands, with the rest of the party. The finding of fossils is largely a matter of keen eyesight, of a certain amount of training in knowing what to look for, and of ability to spend long days walking or slowly riding through the broiling heat of the bad lands. It was the bleached fragments of the bones of the hind legs which attracted the attention of the collector as they lay on the sloping surface of a knoll. These surface fragments were carefully gathered up, and a little careful prospecting showed the hip and backbone of the ani- mal extending into the solid clay of which the knoll is composed. By remoy- ing the overlying rock the whole upper part of the skeleton was exposed as it lay on its side in a horizontal position. Instead of removing the bones one by one from the rock, the whole skeleton was taken out, with such of the encasing rock as was necessary, the entire mass being bound up, as is usual in collecting such specimens, in heavy bandages of burlap and paste. In the laboratory the bandages will be removed, and the slow, rather tedious task of removing the small and extremely fragile bones from the rock will begin. It took three days to excavate the specimen in the field, One of the Expedition’s ‘‘Dry Camps” in the heart of the fossil“fields south of the Gray Bull River. Dr. Sinclair and Mr. Olsen, two members of the expedition, worked for more than a month from these dry camps, which were supplied periodically with water and provisions from the main camp on the river. Prospecting in Wind River Basin, Wyoming. Much of the preliminary prospecting and the geological reconnaissance work is done on horseback but the actual search for small fossils must be done afoot. 87 88 THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL Eohippus, the four-toed horse. Restoration by Charles R. Knight. The animals were scarcely larger than the red fox but it will probably require three weeks to free the bones from the matrix, before the mounting of the skeleton for exhibition can be commenced. As the work of clearing the rock progresses, one point of anatomy will be keenly watched, and that is, whether this earliest known horse possesses the remnant of a fifth toe on the front foot and of the fourth toe on the hind foot. If it does, this places it a decided step nearer to the still earlier but yet undiscovered ancestor of the horse, which undoubtedly possessed five toes on both fore and hind feet. PRESERVATION OF MAMMAL SKINS IN THE FIELD By James L. Clark (Mr. James L. Clark was at one time animal sculptor in the American Museum and has recently spent fourteen months on a hunting trip in Africa. His account of the practical field work necessary for the preservation of the skins of large animals will be followed by an account of the task of the animal sculptor in the Museum who builds on the work done in the field in Africa to make these animals ‘‘live’’ for the people of another continent in the American institution’s exhibition halls.— Editor] ROM the point of view of the ma- jority of visitors to the Museum, who see mounted and often won- derfully lifelike animals exhibited there, it is unlikely that the initial labor, and in a large number of cases the perils encountered in securing the material for the finished work, are at all considered. They probably go no deeper into the matter than that the rhino, for instance, was killed in Africa, transported overseas and set up for public instruction. But the actual work and how it is accom- plished by the collector in the field, the endurance of hardships, the skill and perseverance necessary in the pursuit of specimens, is little known. In making a collection the work in the field must often be carried on under the most unfavorable conditions. In aang desing naire the case of a large animal, for example, Native boy carrying in a leopard this work must be done just where the shot by Kermit Roosevelt ' kill is made, whether in a swamp, on a rocky ledge or a sun-scorched plain. Under the most trying circumstances the collector’s one anxiety and aim must be as always for perfect results, and he must gather all data, field notes and measurements, sketches and photographs that will add to a fuller knowledge of the animal and thus assist in its restoration later by the taxidermist. Perhaps the Museum has planned a group of animals and has decided what particular species shall be displayed. The collector is then sent into 1 This photograph and the one on page 93 together with the photographs of white rhinos and elephants in the January Journat are from Colonel Roosevelt’s African Game Trails and are used through the courtesy of the author and publishers of that book. 89 90 THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL Photograph by James L. Clark The taxidermist’s work of measuring and skinning the hippo must usually be done in the water. Kisii boys are waiting to get the meat, which they consider the best of all African game because it has a large amount of delicious fat the field to gather the necessary material. He it is who picks from the herd the specimens which will best show the physical differences at varying ages, or in the case of horned animals, it may be a series of males which will illus- trate the growth of the horns from the young spikehorn to the matured and typical horn or antler. After the selected specimen has fallen to the rifle, photographie records must be made, for they prove most valuable to the taxidermist, not only in showing the animal in full but also in furnishing important details of both front and side views. If possible a plaster cast of the face or entire head is made. Careful description is essential as to the color of the eyes, eyelids and nostrils or any fleshy portion which may undergo a change when the skin is dried, and exact measurements of the body and limbs are recorded. Great difficulty is frequently encountered when collecting hippos, for PRESERVATION OF MAMMAL SKINS they are often shot while they are in deep water, where they may sink to the bottom or float down stream. Because of this many fine specimens have been lost. The surest way is to sur- prise and shoot them on shore, if possible. This must be done at night however, as during the day they readily scent approach- ing danger and rarely leave the water. The best method there- fore in shooting the hippo is to plan the work at a point where the carcass if it drifts down stream, will lodge in the shallows or on a sand bar. Then the “boys” (natives) gather about and roll it as near the shore as possible. But even then it is likely that all the measuring and cutting up must be done in the water. After careful taking of notes and measurements, the carcass isskinned. The African natives, and especially those of the Wa- kamba tribe, are very skillful with the knife and are of great assistance in this work. One boy, in particular, could take a specimen as large as a zebra, ~ skin it perfectly, with the legs “round” (that is, not cut), salt, - dry and fold it for carrying. Not a scrap of flesh goes to waste as the natives are decid- edly carnivorous. If several animals have been killed all the meat is carried to camp, and after the choicest parts have Photograph by James L. Clark Giraffe (female) of the five-horned variety. Photographs and color studies are made for use in the later mounting of the skin. Photograph by James L. Clark Impalla, considered by many the most beau- tiful buck in British East Africa 91 92 THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL Photographs by James L. Clark Head studies of a female elephant on the Guasha Ngisu Plateau. This elephant, accompanied by its young, charged Mr. Akeley and Mr. Clark and had to be killed when it reached some thirty-five yards distance been laid aside for the collee- tor and his party, the rest is given to the boys, who, after eating all they possibly can, dry what is left and later, when on the march, trade portions of it for milk, honey and potatoes. For the preservation of skins nothing can surpass common table salt. This is not only a preservative but it also draws out so much water that the salt is dis- solved and the skin dries rapidly. By leaving the skin rolled up for some hours after treatment, the salt is absorbed into the tissues and remains there after the drying out. Decomposition must be carefully guarded against until after a skin is once dried, when the danger is very slight. Even with a salted skin which cannot be opened flat, there is the possibility of its “sweating” in the folds during drying. These places therefore must be closely watched and the skin turned about to allow the air to reach them. If facilities are at hand, the best results are obtained by placing the skin in brine after it has been left rolled up in salt for several hours; the skin will be kept not only soft but as well protected from the ravages of destroying insects as though placed in cold storage. Forced drying, near a fire or in the strong sun, is a method treacherous in its results, but may be successful if great care is taken that the skin is not allowed to become too hot. The method of drying without the aid of | PRESERVATION OF MAMMAL SKINS 93 salt or other preservative is sometimes necessary. With this method of drying, the skin must be pegged or stretched out perfectly flat, although such pegs or ropes often cause ugly holes or distort the skin so that there is difficulty in restoring it to its natural shape. In the case of a valuable specimen when no other means are available, this method is better than none. Salt is a great aid in softening the skin when finally to be prepared for mounting. That which has remained in the tissues readily absorbs the water in which the skin is put to soften and the time thus consumed in the process is very short. With a sun-dried skin, on the other hand, it will sometimes be days before the heavier parts are thoroughly soaked, and _ meanwhile the thinner portions must also remain wet and run the danger of the decomposition which will cause the hair or epidermis to “slip.”’ It would naturally be supposed that dried skins could be softened in salted water, which would at the same time act as a preservative. This, however, is not the case. A skin will soften only in fresh water. Photograph by Kermit Roosevelt Copyright by Charles Scribner's Sons Group of skin-laden mules passing by the Bondoni waterhole on the way to the railroad 94 THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL To preserve heavy skins successfully, like those of the rhino, hippo and elephant, which may be one and one-half inches thick at certain points, it is imperative that they be salted immediately upon removal, and after that they should at once be cut or shaved down on the flesh side to about half an inchin thickness. Then fine salt, generously applied, will penetrate through the tissues to the epidermis or base of the outer skin, preserving it and hold- ing the hair tightly in place. As this outer skin is a natural waterproof covering to the animal, it does not absorb readily and all treatment must be applied to the flesh side. Powdered alum may be used locally, but only when absolutely necessary, as it hardens the tissues to such an ex- tent that no “life” or elasticity returns when the skin is finally prepared for mounting. Climate plays an important part in the successful preparation of skins and for this reason the dry, tropical atmospheric conditions of Africa are ideal. The power of the sun is tempered by a morning and evening breeze, not only grateful to human beings, but also very useful in rapid drying. For example, a zebra skin if hung up in the early morning will be dry by nightfall. During the rainy season — from about the middle of March to the middle of June and again in the month of November — drying is more difficult, owing, of course, to the amount of moisture in the air. But nearly every day during this season there is a brief period of warm sunshine so that a salted skin may even then be properly dried. The preservation of the skeleton, particularly the bones of the legs, shoulderblades and pelvis, in addition to the skull, is of the greatest impor- tance as they are necessary later in the proper mounting of a specimen, since the taxidermist must set them up in their proper position and model with clay the correct anatomy of the muscles about them. The method of transporting the accumulated specimens in the field in Africa is of necessity a primitive and often a difficult one. The entire out- fit is made up into sixty-pound loads and carried on the heads of the natives, unless some load prove too heavy for one in which case it is carried, litter- wise, on a pole between two bearers. When the amount of material to be transported becomes very large a base camp is established, and the specimens stored there in the care of two or more porters, until such time as the trophies can be sent to a railroad station and shipped as direct as may be to the Museum. FLEA CARRIERS OF THE PLAGUE THE PLAGUE GERM IN MAN IS IDENTICAL WITH THAT IN THE RAT AND FLEAS MAY CARRY THE GERM TO MAN By Frank E. Lutz CIENCE was late in discovering and the world in accepting the knowl- edge that insects may be common carriers of disease. In fact it is not so very many years since science isolated the minute germs themselves for identification in such cases as typhoid, malaria, yellow fever and plague. To-day flies and mosquitoes stand convicted the world over as carriers of disease germs and the warfare against them is wellon. In this case there are three factors concerned in the battle and man conquers the germ by exterminating the insect. Fleas as disease carriers have been conspicuously before the world of late; they also stand convicted, but the question concerns the interrelation- ship of four: man, the flea as carrier, the rat or other animal on which the flea is parasitic and the disease germ. Again warfare is against the insect but to be successful it must be directed with full force against the rat, its host. Would that in all instances the whole trio —rat, flea and germ — Head of rat flea. Many plague germs may be carried on the mouth parts of a flea and 5000 or more in the stomach where they will live for 15 to 20 days Photomicrograph} 1 Flea illustrations from Doane’s Insects and Disease by courtesy of Henry Holt and Company. Other cuts by courtesy of McClure’s and Country Life in America ; 95 96 THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL 2BE! i ae ae wa as bs ie EES dag Oe oe Human flea, Pulex irritans, found in all parts of the inhabited globe. Occasionally occurs on cat and dog, rats and mice could be put out of existence as easily as they are said to have been on incoming ocean liners in San Francisco harbor. These vessels are nearly gas-tight and two tons of sulphur were used to fill up and fumigate each one for five hours, after which it is reported that fif- teen to twenty buckets of dead rats were re- moved. The heavy ravages of plague now raging in parts of the Chinese and Russian empires, where little has been done to strike at the acknowl- edged purveyor of the disease, stand strongly contrasted with the very small loss of life from the recent outbreak in San Francisco. That the — ek . cl i nD pa ee The rat flea, Lemopsylla cheopis, is the ‘‘plague flea’’ but the human flea and the cat and dog flea live on the rat also and thus may carry plague germs as well FLEA CARRIERS OF THE PLAGUE 97 plague reappeared in all parts of that city in 1907 after having been stamped out in Chinatown in 1900 was probably due to the scattering of the city’s rats during the earthquake and fire. Energy was directed at once however toward the extermination of the rats, fully one million were killed, and as a result the plague was checked. It is known now that an outbreak of plague is always preceded by a similar scourge among rats, because bubonic plague is primarily a rat disease. Yet so blind has the world been to the interrelations of animals and man in cases of infectious disease that notwithstanding the terrible inroads made by the “black death” in various parts of the world during historic times, no report is made prior to 1800 of the coincident inroad upon rats. It was in 1894 that Yersin of the Pasteur Institute isolated the bubonic plague bacillus (Bacillus pestis) and proved the germ to be the same in rats and man. But this was only afew years ago. Knowledge came late. Bubonic plague had well-nigh encircled the globe before this, breaking out first in seaboard places probably having travelled from country to country among ship rats. The effect of this discovery which turned the attack upon the rat is shown well in Bombay where the death rate of 20,788 in 1903 was reduced to 5,197 in 1909. As yet the rats of the northeastern United States are not plague in- fected, but this is not necessarily a permanent condition. There may be at any time in New York or other eastern seaport an outbreak of plague such as occurred in Suffolk, England, last September. For plague is not limited to the tropics or semi-tropics although it has flourished there because of less sanitary conditions. Fleas are common in the eastern states. In- quiries concerning them reach the Mu- seum at all seasons of the year, but Washing his face and scratching his ear in rat contentment. The brown or ‘‘Nor- way” rat, Mus decumanus, which has to- day colonized well nigh the whole earth driving to the wall the black rat, Mus rattus, the species of romance and history. He is more ‘‘sinned against than sinning’’ in the plague matter for bubonic plague is a rat disease, in any given outbreak the rat mortality being to human mortality as ten to one 98 THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL especially in the fall after houses which have been closed during the summer are reopened. Larval fleas have uninterrupted opportunity during the summer to develop into adults which sometimes make a house literally uninhabitable. Fleas are considered degenerate members of the Diptera, the order to which flies and mosquitoes belong, and they are wingless, winglessness often accompanying the parasitic state, perhaps through disuse of these organs. That the flea lacks wings may make the spread of plague less rapid; the lack of flight powers, however, is counteracted by the fact that fleas are carried long distances by their hosts. In the East, practically the only flea that gains access to the house is the cat and dog flea (Ctenocephalus canis), the human flea (Pulex irritans) being rare. Measures for ridding a house of fleas must plan to attack not only the adults but also the eggs and larve. These are likely to be in the dust of the animal’s bed and in cracks and crevices about the house and furniture. The remedy lies in making it impossible for the eggs to develop and the larve to live in these places, in providing for the cat and dog sleep- ing places that can be kept clean with all dust removed and burned. A liberal use of pyrethrum powder should be made in all places where it is possible that flea eggs may have fallen. Kerosene or benzine are valuable if milder means do not suffice while in extreme cases fumigation with hydro- cyanic acid may be necessary. The rat flea (Lemopsylla cheopis) is known as the “plague flea,” but both the human flea and the cat and dog flea also live on the rat so that any one of these may act as a carrier of the plague germ if they chance to travel from a plague-infected rat. It has developed through a few deaths in California directly traceable to handling ground squirrels that here too danger lies, that the plague bacilli have reached these rodents probably from rats which use the squirrels’ holes in fields. The discovery may mean the necessity of extermination of the squirrels in infected regions. ANNUAL MEETING OF THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES HE Forty-second Annual Meeting of the Trustees of the American ai Museum of Natural History was held on Monday, February 13, 1911, at the residence of the late William E. Dodge, where the Trustees were the guests of Mr. Cleveland H. Dodge. The following were elected officers for the ensuing year: President, Henry Fairfield Osborn; First Vice-President, Cleveland H. Dodge; Second Vice-President, J. Pierpont Morgan, Jr.; Treasurer, Charles Lanier; Secretary, Archer M. Huntington. Dr. Walter E. James and Mr. Madison Grant of the Zodélogical Society were elected as new members of the Board to fill vacancies in the Classes of 1915 and 1912 respectively. Resolutions were adopted with reference to Mr. J. Hampden Robb, Secretary, who died January 21 after a brief illness. For more than twenty- five years Mr. Robb has been an active member of the Board of Trustees of the American Museum. Dr. Charles H. Townsend was appointed to continue in the administra- tive office of Acting Director, with the understanding that he will return later to the direction of the New York Aquarium, and Mr. George H. Sherwood was reappointed Assistant Secretary. The United States Trust Company was made Assistant Treasurer. The scientific staff for the year 1911 was approved, involving the follow- ing promotions and appointments — Department of Vertebrate Paleontology: Dr. W. D. Matthew, from Acting Curator to Curator; Mr. Barnum Brown from Assistant Curator to Associate Curator of Fossil Reptiles: Mr. Walter Granger from Assistant Curator to Associate Curator of Fossil Mammals; Department of Mammalogy and Ornithology: Mr. Roy C. Andrews from Assistant in Mammalogy to Assistant Curator of Mammalogy; Mr. W. DeW. Miller from Assistant in Ornithology to Assistant Curator of Ornithology; Department of Public Health: Mr. John Henry O’Neill, Assistant; Department of Ichthyology and Herpetology: Professor Bashford Dean of Columbia University, Curator. The expenditures for the past year were reported as follows: TT ONO CMS he Ge a een, . $185,757.00 By the Trustees, General and Special Funds . . . 207,435.85 Grand Total foe 4 O00, 10 e.OO For the coming year the two African expeditions at present in the field will be continued, the one under Mr. Carl Akeley in British East Africa 99 100 THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL and the other under Messrs. Lang and Chapin in the Congo; also the Stefansson-Anderson Expedition along the Arctic borders of British America will be maintained. New expeditions are projected in the West Indies, in Colombia and Venezuela. Another whaling expedition will be sent to the coast of Japan in November. Altogether $62,906.63 has already been subscribed or pledged toward the exploration work of the Museum during the coming year in various parts of the world. EXPEDITION TO LOWER CALIFORNIA of Natural History and the United States Bureau of Fisheries, the large government steamer Albatross sailed from San Diego, February 25, on a two months’ collecting expedition to Lower California. Dr. Charles H. Townsend, Acting Director of the Museum, is in command of the expedition. He is well acquainted with the region, having previously made several zoGlogical and fishery trips in this part of the Pacific; also he knows well the work of the steamer Albatross since he was the naturalist of the vessel on several voyages, and even participated in this vessel’s deep- sea investigations under the late Professor Agassiz. : Dr. Townsend is accompanied by seven investigators and collectors, certain of them representing the United States National Museum at Wash- ington, the New York Zodlogical Society and the New York Botanical Gardens all of which bear a share of the burden of the expense of the trip and participate in the collecting. Dr. Townsend will begin the work with a line of deep-sea dredgings to Guadalupe Island some two hundred and fifty miles from San Diego. The dredging will extend even to depths of two and one-half miles. Mr. G. C. Bell of the preparation department of the American Museum is a member of the staff of the expedition and will make molds of the various deep-sea fishes and invertebrates as soon as they are collected. Deep-sea species have previously been known by the public only in the form of unattractive alcoholic material and if successful plaster and glue molds can be obtained and lifelike casts made, the triumph will be great for the preparator’s skill and a work will be done that has never before been at- P \HROUGH a fortunate codperation between the American Museum tempted. From Guadalupe Island the Albatross will work eastward to begin a fishery survey of the Peninsula of Lower California. The fishery resources of the region will be studied with a view to the establishment of closer fish- ery relations with Mexico, and if possible, to opening the way for fishery trade and the utilization of the important fish and oyster resources in our MUSEUM NEWS NOTES 101 southwestern states. It may even be possible that the pearl shell from an important pearl shell industry of this region can be transplanted to Florida. There will be work on shore also. The Peninsula is seven hundred and fifty miles long and will be studied along both coasts. During the progress of the vessel along these coasts collecting parties will be landed each day to procure the mammals, birds, reptiles and fishes of the region, which are of especial interest to naturalists because so large a number of them are peculiar to the locality. Altogether, it is expected that the work of the expedition will bring large results along fishery, oceanographic and _ bio- logical lines. MUSEUM NEWS NOTES SINCE our last issue the following persons have been elected to member- ship in the Museum: Benefactors, Mr. J. Piereont Morcan and Mrs. Morris K. Jesup; Patrons, Mr. ANDREW CARNEGIE and Mrs. Epwarp H. Harriman; Life Members, Messrs. W1LL1AM GouLp Brokaw, F. AMBRosE CLARK, Micnakr JENKINS, JoHN Rocers, Pariire A. Rouitins, WALTER WINANS, Mrs. Martran von R. Puetps, Miss FRANCES von R. PHELPS and Master PHELPS VON R. PHELPS; Sustaining Member, Miss Susan D. Grirritr; Annual Members, Messrs. E. B. CRowe.zi, GHERARDI Davis, J. WIL- LIAM GREENWOOD, TOWNSEND JONES, T. W. Lamont, Nicotit LupLow, FRANK J. MUHLFELD, JosepH H. Sparrorp, Epwarp W. Sparrow, EDWARDS SPENCER, CHARLES H. WERNER, Drs. CHARLES REMSEN and ArtTHUR L. Houianp, Mes. Tueo. B. BLEECKER, CHARLES S. FarRcHILD, RUSSELL WeLLMAN Moore and Payne WHITNEY. Dr. J. A. ALLEN was appointed Acting Director pro tem at a Special Meeting of the Executive Committee, February 20, 1911, for the period of Dr. Townsend’s absence on the Albatross expedition to Lower California. In its meeting of January 18, 1911, the Executive Committee of the Board of Trustees approved the following Appointive Committee on Public Health named by President Osborn: Dr. Simon Flexner, Mr. John M. Glenn, Mr. J. Waldo Smith. Tue following persons have contributed to the South American Bird Fund and have been made Life Members of the Museum in recognition of their gifts: Messrs. George B. Case, Evans M. Evans, W. F. Patter- son, George P. Shiras and F. C. Walcott. 102 THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL At the Special Meeting of the Executive Committee on February 20, 1911, Mr. John A. Grossbeck was appointed Assistant in Invertebrate Zoology. Mr. ALBert OPERTI, official artist of the Peary Expeditions of 1896 and 1897, has presented to the Museum twenty-four sketches in oil, showing the excavation of the great meteorite “ Ahnighito” and its transfer to the ship ready for the journey to New York. Tue Musevn is indebted to Mr. Walter Winans for the gift of a series of wild boar including adults and young of both sexes, collected with a view to their use in the construction of a habitat group. He has also sent us two fine specimens of the European red deer. All of these specimens were taken in the Sachsenwald, Friedrichsruhe, Germany. These specimens are the first good examples of the species that the Museum has received. A CivuB Room ror MEMBERS was opened on February 28. This room situated on the third floor near the elevators is one of the most attractive in the building and has been furnished to serve as far as may be the comfort of the Museum’s patrons. A formal presentation of the portrait of the Honorable Joseph H. Choate. painted by the Princess Lwoff-Parlaghy and presented to the Museum by the artist, was made the occasion of the open- ing and of an informal reception. The other portraits owned by the Mu- seum hang in this room also at present, awaiting the time when the extension of the Museum building will allow a Portrait Hall especially designed and lighted where can be told the history of the Museum as shown in its founders and benefactors. Miss Mary Lois Kissext has just returned from a four months’ trip to the Pima Indians of southern Arizona and brings with her a basketry collection in which are several artistic “carrying baskets”’ woven with dyed thread made of maguey fiber and six “medicine baskets” of Papago make. The latter are rare in collections because of the great difficulty that exists in obtaining them. Mrs. R. O. Steppins has recently presented to the Museum the col- lection made by the late Dr. R. O. Stebbins of the Arctic Club of America. The gift is largely ethnological, comprising Eskimo, Javanese, Chinese and Plains Indians material, but includes also a collection of minerals as well as specimens of mammals and invertebrates. LECTURE ANNOUNCEMENTS 103 Tue membership of the Museum for the year 1910 shows a net increase of ninety-three over that of the preceding year. PusLic meetings of the New York Academy of Sciences and its Affiliated Societies will be held at the Museum according to the usual schedule. Programmes of meetings are published in the weekly Bulletin of the Academy. LECTURE ANNOUNCEMENTS MEMBERS’ COURSE The following lectures illustrated by stereopticon will be given during March to Members of the Museum and persons holding complimentary tickets given them by Members. Thursday evenings at 8:15 o’clock. Doors open at 7:45. March 2— Mk. D. E. Grist, “Tibet and the Himalayas.” Mr. Griibl will present the history of Buddhism in Tibet and the hierarchy of the Dalai Lama. He will describe the life and ceremonies of the people and explain the significance of the recent political changes in the Dalai Lama’s realm. Mr. Griibl obtained during his travels some splendid pictures of the Himalayas and the borderlands of Tibet. March 9— Mr. Freperick C. Hicks, “Glimpses of the Far East.” During a trip of about 30,000 miles, Mr. Hicks procured much interesting and instructive data on conditions in the Orient, as well as many photographs of the points visited. In his lecture he will speak of Korea, of China and its Great Wall and of the vast country traversed by the Siberian Railway. March 16 — Mr. CiaupE N. Bennett, “The Panama Canal — The Eighth Wonder of the World.” Mr. Bennett is the founder and manager of the Congressional Information Bureau at Washington. He has recently spent a month in the Canal Zone and made a thorough study of the Canal and the surrounding country. His lantern slides and moving pictures cover the work which has been accomplished to the present time. March 23 — Mr. Dovetas WILSON JoHNSON, “Physical History of the Grand Cafion District.” Given in coéperation with the American Scenic and Historic Preservation Society Mr. Johnson’s lecture deals with the principal events in the physical history of that portion of the Colorado plateau province lying in northern Arizona and southern Utah. Especial attention is given to the effects of the physical history upon the scenery of the dis- trict. Most of Mr. Johnson’s lantern slides are of points not commonly visited by tourists. March 30 — Mr. Roy C. Anprews, “From Japan to the Dutch East Indies.” In November Mr. Andrews returned from a fifteen month’s absence during which, on board the United States ship Albatross, he visited Japan, Formosa and many of the islands of the Dutch East Indies. He will illustrate his lecture with a very complete series of Jantern slides. PUPILS’ COURSE These lectures are open to the pupils of the public schools when accompanied by their teachers and to children of Members of the Museum on presentation of Membership tickets Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 4 o’clock. March 20 and April 17 — Mr. Roy W. Miner, “Early Days in New York.” March 22 and April 19 — Mr. Roy C. Anprews, “A Visit to the Orient.” March 24 and April 21 — Dr. Louis Hussaxor, ‘‘Scenes from Pole to Pole.” 104 THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL March 27 and April 24— Mr. Joun T. Nicuoxs, “Natural Resources of the United States.” March 29 and April 26 — Mr. Waurer Grancer, ‘Famous Rivers of the World.” March 31 and April 28 — Mr. Haruan I. Smita, ‘Life among Our Indians.”’ April 3 and May 1— Mr. Roy C. Anprews, “Travels and Life among the Japanese.” April 5 and May 3— Dr. Louis Hussaxor, “South American Scenes.” April 21 and May 5— Mrs. Aanes L. Roxrster, ‘‘Around the World with Children.” PEOPLE’S COURSE Given in codperation with the City Department of Education Tuesday evenings at 8:15 o’clock. Doors open at 7:15. The first four of a course of eight lectures on music by Mr. DAaNnteEL GREGORY Mason. Illustrated at the piano. March 7 — ‘‘Edvard Grieg.” March 14 — ‘Antonin Dvorak.” March 21 — ‘Camille Saint-Saéns.”’ March 28 — ‘‘César Franck.” Saturday evenings at 8:15 o’clock. Doors open at 7:15. The first four of a course of six lectures by Mr. ALtBerT Hate. Illustrated. March 4— “The East Coast of South America: Brazil, Uruguay and the Argentine Republic, from the Amazon River to the Rio de la Plata.” March 11 — “The West Coast of South America: Chili, Bolivia, Peru and Ecuador. The Andes and the Incas.” March 18 — “The Caribbean Sea: Venezuela, Colombia and Panama. The Moun- tain Tropics and the Isthmian Canal.” March 25 — ‘The Island Republics of the Gulf: Cuba, Haiti and Santo Domingo. The early Discoveries of Columbus.” JESUP LECTURES Given under the auspices of Columbia University in coéperation with the Museum The last five of a course of eight lectures on ‘‘Scientific Features of Modern Medi- cine” by Freprric §. Ler, Pu.p., Professor of Physiology in Columbia University. These lectures are open to the public. Wednesday evenings at 8:15 o’clock. March 1— “Bacteria and Their Relation to Disease.’ March 8— ‘The Treatment and the Prevention of Infectious Diseases.” March 15 — “The Problem of Cancer and Other Problems.”’ March 22 — “Features of Modern Surgery.’ March 29 — “The Réle of Experiment in Medicine. The Public and the Medical Profession.” The American Museum Journal CONTENTS FOR APRIL, 1911 Frontispiece, “Canoe Builders”, by Will S. Taylor From mural panel in the North Pacific Hall. Reproduced in color Rare Elephant Seals for the Museum... .. . Dr. Charles H. Townsend in command of the Albatross Expedition in the Pacific sends representatives of an almost extinct species Illustrated from photographs which are the first ever published of the ele- phant seal of the Pacific The Ground Sloth Group......................W. D. MatrHew The Spoonbill Fishery of the Mississippi.........Lours Hussakor Research and Exploration among the Indians of the Northern Plains CLARK WISSLER Deer sveuraAl Paintings. ..-.0.. Vol. IV. Part II — Notes Concerning New Collections. (Edited by Robert H. Lowie.) pp. 271-337, pls. iv—viii, 42 text figs. Vol. V. Part I—The Material Culture of the Blackfoot Indians. By Clark Wissler. pp. 1-176, pls. i-viii, 103 text figs. Part II — Contribution to the Anthropology’ of Central and Smith Sound Eskimo. By Ales Hrdlitka. pp. 177-280, pls. xi—xxiii. Vol. VI. Part I— The Archeology of the Yakima Valley. By Harlan I. Smith. pp. 1-171, pls. i-xvi, 129 text figs. Part Il — The Prehistoric Ethnology of a Kentucky Site. By Harlan I. Smith. pp. 173-241, pls. xvii—Ixiv, 1 text fig. Other publications issued by the Museum are the American Museum Journal and the Guide Leaflets. All the above publications with the exception of the Memoirs, vols. VIII to XIV inclusive may be purchased from the Librarian of the Museum. Vols. VIII to XIV of the Memoirs are published by E. J. Brill, Leiden, Holland, and may be obtained through G. E. Stechert, Bookseller, 129 West 20th Street, New York City. Ss mae : = Se a. SSE | a aR: After Peron et Leseur. Paris, 1897 ‘“*SEA ELEPHANTS” Comparison of this cut with the reproductions of photographs on pages 110 and 111 suggests something of the advance in accuracy zodiogical illustrative work has made in the past one hundred years From mural panel, ‘*The Canoe Builders,’’ by Will THE STEAMING AND DECORATION OF A HAIDA CANOE —‘‘*The New Mural Decorations,’ page 129 The American Museum Journal APRIL, 1911 No. 4. RARE ELEPHANT SEALS FOR THE MUSEUM REMINDERS OF AN EXTINCT MULTITUDE, A LOST INDUSTRY AND A LOST WEALTH WHICH ARGUE FOR ADOPTION OF THE PRINCIPLE OF CONSERVATION N February 25 the Government steamer Albatross carrying an ex- pedition commanded by Dr. Charles H. Townsend sailed from San Diego for work in deep sea dredging and for a scientific investigation of Guadalupe Island, which lies some two hundred and fifty miles off the coast south of San Diego. On March 6 the vessel was again in port at San Diego to send to the East news of the expedition’s success, and certain valuable freight, as told in the following extract from Dr. Townsend’s letter: Our success at Guadalupe Island was quite beyond expectation. In addition to work on the birds and plants and various land collections of the island, we cap- tured alive six sea elephants for the New York Aquarium and the Zodélogical Park and succeeded in getting four skins and two skeletons of adult sea elephants for the American Museum. The three old males were monsters sixteen feet long, with proboscis as long as the head. We have one skull two feet long. We wound up the young seals in nets so tightly that we could handle them like bales. The skins of the old bulls were very heavy; each one flensed and salted was packed in a full-sized barrel which it completely fills and that without the skull. When all was packed and ready, then the work really began, for we had to get our loads through a heavy surf to the ship. A single specimen made a load and the ship lay more than a mile away, We had four “upsets”? but lost nothing. The series of photographs which we obtained are the only ones of the species in existence, and there are none published of the Antarctic species that show large males. The ship is taking on coal and we are off to-morrow [to Cedros Island]. We came back only on account of the six young sea elephants. The six cases of live seals go by express; the seven barrels of. skins and skeletons we are sending by freight. ’ The elephant seal is a “true” seal (Phocide), although in breeding habits and in the fact that the males greatly exceed the females in size, it resembles the sea lion and the fur seal as well as the walrus. There are two species, a southern (Macrorhinus leoninus) not found north of 35° south latitude and a northern (M. angustirostris) not found south of 24° north latitude. The two forms differ little in habits or in external features, the classification being based on skull structure. The long isolation of the northern and southern forms would make them valuable for the study of 109 i Olt Spsoqoid &% HOV] S[vos aIN{VUIUUT pue Se[VUe,T *[[IM 9B pojoo1a pure popuedxo oq ued pue pud oy} 92% SSuTUadO [SOU oy) sey ,, yund,, 10 sppsoqoid qaoys oy, *(S[Ves pelea SUOMI SB) JOT[VUIS YONUI syeWay ‘day ZZ OTVUT JO YISUST WINUITXeU ‘snayeM oy} SuNdeoxe you ‘spediuulg [[e@ jo Ises1e'y (SSqVW 1L7NGv) GNW1SI 3dNIVGYND NO .SLNVHd313 Vas, YO S1vVaS LNVHd373 puasunoy *H *9 fig ydvuboj0yg Ora oS ee Se PH ew Bg Photograph by C. H. Townsend. With proboscis erected, and mouth opened, revealing formidable teeth, the sea elephant sends forth guttural roars which carry for a considerable distance Photograph by C. H. Townsend The male sea elephants fight desperately — ‘‘beach-masters”’ the sealers in the Antarctic called them — and their necks and breasts bear evidence of many encounters 111 112 THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL geographical distribution and its effects on species formation, if sufficient material could be brought together for the work; but sea elephants were nearly exterminated before exhaustive museum collections were made, so that specimens are now rare. The American Museum prior to 1911 had in its relatively large collection representative of the seals no single example of this species, but at just this time when word of the new material comes from the Pacific, the institution has gained possession of two skulls from Kerguelen Island in the Antarctic. No better instance than the elephant seal can be given of the extermina- tion of a species through the wastefulness and commercial greed of man, making clear the necessity of conservation as a principle directing human action. The elephant seal, unlike the fur seal, has a deep layer of blubber, sometimes six or seven inches thick, and the oil is superior even to whale oil. Elephant seals existed in vast numbers one hundred or more years ago and might still have been yielding a profitable industry. One has only to read the vivid descriptions by Captain Scammon, 1874, and by H. N. Moseley, Member of the Scientific Staff of the Challenger, 1879, to realize that here existed great wealth. Captain Scammon says of Heard’s Island, “There were remains of thousands of skeletons. Bones lay in curved lines like long tide lines on either side of the plain above the beaches marking the rookeries of old time and tracks of the slaughter of the sealers.” The case is only several stages advanced beyond that of the fur seal. With the latter there is still the chance to handle the herds in a restricted industry and thus husband them until they can yield a larger industry without fear of loss of the species. Such must be in future the order for all industries dependent on wild animal life. For man has upon him at last the responsibility of knowledge, not only of the limitations cf that life but also of the relative rapidity with which a species succumbs. By conserva- tion, the era of strict economy in this line, as in others, will be delayed for coming generations, if not averted. Some species now approaching extine- tion can be restored through legislative protection and artificial breeding, some not yet endangered can be transplanted from continent to continent and domesticated; but no conservation is likely ever to make up for losses which have come through the actual extermination of whole races of animals of economic value. The elephant seal is only one of the many examples of extinct or nearly extinct fur-bearing or oil-producing animals or those of high food value, but it stands recorded in the world’s history a scathing comment on the status of man’s knowledge and of the development of his ethical sense in the nineteenth century. M. C. D. 1 Through the efforts of Mr. Frank K. Wood of New Bedford, Massachusetts. THE GROUND SLOTH GROUP By W. D. Matthew Buenos Aires, now the Argentine Republic, discovered the skeleton of a huge animal muy corpulente y raro in the River Lujan, a few miles from the city. The skeleton was sent to Madrid, where it was finally mounted and is still preserved in the Royal Museum. This was the first fossil skeleton ever mounted. It was recognized by the finder as unlike that of any animal of his acquaintance. But it was the great Cuvier who recognized its relationship to the tree sloths and other animals of the Edentate order, and named it the Megatherium. Subse- quently, in 1833, Charles Darwin on his voyage in the Beagle, visited the Argentine coasts and brought away various remains of this and other extinct animals, and between 1845 and 1860 several more or less complete skeletons of the Megatherium and other huge “ ground sloths,’’ as they came to be called, were sent to England and were studied and described by the great anatomist Richard Owen. Since that time numerous fine skeletons of these animals have been disinterred from the vast loess or loam deposit which underlies the Pampas of the Argentine and is known as the Pampean formation. They are pre- served in various European and American museums, and a splendid series of them is the pride of the two great museums of Argentina, the Museo Nacional and Museo de La Plata. A fine collection of these and other extinct mammals of South America, made by Sefiors Ameghino, Larroque and Brachet, was exhibited at the Paris Exposition of 1878 and passed into the possession of the late Pro- fessor Cope. It was purchased for the American Museum in 1900 by a N EARLY two centuries ago a Spanish colonist in the Viceroyalty of 113 THE GROUND SLOTH GROUP This group was completed in February, 1911, and installed in the new Quaternary Hall of the American Museum 114 THE GROUND SLOTH GROUP 115 number of the Trustees of this Museum, and its principal specimens are or will be exhibited in the South American section of the new Quaternary Hall. The center-piece of this exhibit is the new Ground Sloth Group, just completed. It consists of four original skeletons representing two genera of these animals, Lestodon and Mylodon. The largest skeleton, Lestodon armatus, ranks next to the Megatherium in size, but differs in various particu- lars, especially in the shape of the head, characters of the teeth and number of claws on the feet. The three smaller skeletons belong to two species of Mylodon, M. robustus and M. (Pseudolestodon) myloides.. The skeletons are grouped around a tree trunk, in poses indicating the supposed habits and adaptation of the living animals. The Lestodon, standing on his hind legs, is endeavoring to reach up and drag down branches of the tree. One of the Mylodons is busily digging and tearing at the roots to loosen and break them and so help his big friend to uproot and pull the tree down, © A third animal is coming around the base of the tree to assist in the diguing operations, while a fourth stands at a short distance, ready to add his weight to drag down the branches when they are brought within reach. These poses illustrate the theory of the habits of the ground sloth de- duced by Owen from the study of the skeletons—a model of scientific reasoning whose accuracy has never been impugned. Among the earlier students of this animal, the cautious Cuvier had contented himself with observing that the great clawed feet indicated that it was more or less given to digging in the ground. Some of his learned contemporaries were bolder in their speculations. Pander and D’Alton regarded it as an “enormous earth-mole which obtained its nourishment beneath the earth’s surface through continuous exertion of its colossal strength; and when, perhaps by sinking of the ground to the sea-level, it was driven to live on the surface of the earth, its vast powers, lacking exercise, degenerated, and its size dwindled, until finally it became the weak and puny tree sloth of to-day.’ Lund at a somewhat later period, held a view scarcely less fanciful. He believed that the Megatherium was arboreal, like the modern sloth, and observes: “In truth, what ideas must we form of a scale of creation where instead of our squirrels, creatures of the size and bulk of the Rhino- ceros and Hippopotamus climbed up trees. It is very certain that the forests in which these huge monsters gambolled could not be such as now clothe the Brazilian mountains, but it will be remembered... .that the trees we now see in this region are but the dwarfish descendants of loftier and nobler forests....and we may be permitted to suppose that the 1 Translated and condensed from Pander and D’Alton's Das Riesen Faul-Thier, 1821, a 16: > podisop sv padsojye 9q pfnod sosod oy} yey} Os s[qeaisnf{pe AjTIsva ore syed Jay}{0 pue squIT sy, dNOYD HLOIS GNNOHXD SHL YOs TAGOW NOILONYLSNOOD TIVWS OTT THE GROUND SLOTH GROUP 117 By courtesy of the New York Zoélogical Society THE MODERN TREE SLOTH This is the nearest living relative of the ground sloths vegetation of that primeval age was on a no less gigantic scale than the animal creation.” ! Owen very properly ridiculed these fanciful theories. In point of fact, the mere size of the animal would render either of these modes of life im- possible so long as the laws of physics and mechanics hold true. The mode of life which is practicable to a mole or a squirrel is an utter physical 1 Translated in Owen 1842, “‘Description of the Skeleton of an Extinct Gigantic Sloth.” 118 THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL impossibility to an animal the size of the Megatherium. It could not have been other than terrestrial or aquatic, and of the latter mode of life there is no indication in its structure. In his brilliant and masterly argument the great English anatomist showed how the teeth were adapted to the bruising and crushing of leaves and twigs, how the structure of the jaws and skull and arrangement of the nerve channels indicated loose, flexible lips and long prehensile tongue adapted to browsing; how the long loose-jointed forelimbs would enable it to lay hold of branches or small trees and drag them down within reach; how the powerful claws would enable it to dig around the roots of larger trees and loosen them, and the massive hind quarters and tail would give the necessary weight and fulcrum to pull down these trees when loosened in order to feed upon the upper foliage thus brought within its reach. In incidental support of this theory, he pointed to the frequent occurrence of fractures in the massive, heavy bones of limbs and skull. One of the skeletons in this group has a naturally healed fracture of the bones of the hind leg very likely due to a tree falling upon it in the course of its lumbering operations — lumbering, perhaps, in more senses than one. Such is the theory of the habits of life of the ground sloths, which this group is designed to illustrate. As to their appearance, we know from recent discoveries that the Mylodons were covered with a thick coat of furry hair, somewhat like the brown bears of Alaska. A large piece of the hide found in a cavern at Last Hope Inlet, Patagonia, is preserved in the British Museum. It is of a golden brown color, and the thick skin, in which are buried numerous small nodules of bone, made an effective defense against cold, the assaults of nearly all beasts of prey, and most of the bumps and bruises incidental to its mode of life. The one carnivorous enemy the Mylodon might have cause to fear would be the great sabre- tooth tiger, Smilodon, whose huge compressed canine tusks and powerful organization were adapted to prey upon the great thick-skinned ground sloths and other large herbivora. The Ground Sloth Group is the most realistic that has yet been at- tempted in the mounting of fossil skeletons, and the method of mounting, eliminating the upright steel rods ordinarily used, adds much to its effective- ness. This method, devised in 1904 by Albert Thomson of this depart- ment, is here applied for the first time by Head Preparator Hermann to the mounting of large skeletons. The group was designed by Erwin Christman and a small working model made. The parts of the skeleton in the model are easily adjustable, and the poses were criticised and discussed in com- parison with the unmounted skeletons by Professor Osborn and the scientific staff until an adjustment was reached which seemed to represent the most THE GROUND SLOTH GROUP 119 characteristic poses and the habits of these animals. The original skeletons were then mounted by Charles Lang under direction of Mr. Hermann, their missing bones and processes having first been restored by Charles and Otto Falkenbach. SKETCH RESTORATION OF THE GROUND SLOTH GROUP BY ERWIN CHRISTMAN, I9I1 Photo by Dwight Franklin One may seize a five-foot paddlefish by the ‘‘nose”’ or the tail and haul it into the boat A MISSISSIPPI SPOONBILL FISHERY 121 Photo by Dwight Franklin THE DAY'S CATCH THE SPOONBILL FISHERY OF THE LOWER MISSISSIPPI By Louis Hussakof AST spring the Museum sent an expedition to the State of Mississippi to collect material for an exhibition group of the paddlefish or spoonbill-cat. This is one of the most singular fishes found in American waters. ‘The name paddlefish is given it in allusion to the extraordinary, long, paddle-shaped jaw or “nose.’’ It is a large fish, often reaching a length of six feet and a weight of one hundred and sixty pounds. It is found only in the water-ways of the Mississippi valley, ranging as far north as the Great Lakes. From the name spoonbill-cat by which it is often known, one might think it a catfish; but it is not a catfish. It is a ganoid, or a member of that ancient group of fishes which includes the sturgeon and a few other 122 THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL forms. In earlier geologic times ganoids were the dominant race of fish, at one period of their evolution even outnumbering all the other kinds of fish put together. But they have since then fallen upon evil times, and are now reduced to only a few genera, which play but an insignificant role in the fish-life of to-day. The paddlefish reaches its largest size and is found in greatest abundance in the smaller lakes connected with the lower Mississippi; and it was at one of these lakes — Moon Lake, in Coahoma County, Mississippi — that material was sought. Here Mr. I. E. McGehee carries on an extensive spoonbill fishery, and through his courtesy, admirable collecting facilities, including the use of his fishing paraphernalia, were obtained. The Museum party consisted of Mr. Dwight Franklin of the Department of Preparation of the Museum, and the writer; the expenses of the work were defrayed by the Dodge Fund. Until about a decade ago the spoonbill was of little economic value; it was interesting merely as a zodlogical curiosity. About that time however, the fact was discovered that when smoked it makes a tolerable substitute for smoked sturgeon and that its roe makes excellent caviar. Since then spoonbill fisheries have sprung up at various points on the Mississippi and Ohio rivers. The fish is usually taken in a seine. A practical method of operating a large seine has been introduced by Mr. McGehee at Moon Lake and is worth noting. The seine is wound on a huge spool-shaped reel which is mounted in a flat-bottomed boat. It is laid by unrolling this reel; and it is wound up by having the crew walk up the spokes of the wheels as on a ladder, so that the reel is made to revolve. As the seine is gradually wound up and the fish are confined to narrower and narrower space, they dart wildly about seeking means of escape. One may then study the paddlefish at close range. It is an exceedingly clumsy creature, hardly making an effort to escape capture. Its sense of sight is poorly developed, as indeed one might infer from its small beady black eyes. If its “nose” is caught in the seine it makes only feeble efforts to free itself, and usually fails in doing so. The contrast between the clumsiness of the spoonbill and the alertness of an active fish, is strikingly brought out if any garpike are in the haul; for the gar makes tremendous efforts to escape and unless rendered unconscious by a blow with a mallet, will flash through the seine as if it were gauze. Leaning over the side of the boat, near the cork-line of the seine, one may seize a five-foot paddlefish by the “nose” or the tail and haul it into the boat; the only resistance is that of weight. The fish has absolutely no sport value. The number of spoonbill taken in a single haul varies; sometimes only a few are brought up, and sometimes Photo by Dwight Franklin Seining for spoonbill on Moon Lake, Mississippi Photo by L. Hussakof The crew walk up the spokes of the wheels as on a ladder thus causing the reel to revolye and wind up the seine Photo by L. Hussakof Of course other fish are caught, such as bass, carp, crappie and drum; but they are of secondary importance and the game fish taken are thrown back 124 THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL as many as a hundred. Of course other fish are caught, such as bass, carp, crappie, and drum; but they are of secondary importance and the game fish thus taken are thrown back as they are safeguarded for the angler by state law. The paddlefish are cut up in the manner shown in the photograph. Their heads and fins are usually discarded, but sometimes they are boiled for their oil. The roe is then removed to be prepared into caviar. It Photo by L. Hussakof Removing the roe for the preparation of caviar. The roe weighs from two to fifteen or twenty pounds in a single fish. The heads and fins are usually discarded but sometimes they are boiled for their oil. The body of the fish is smoked and becomes ‘‘sturgeon”’ A MISSISSIPPI SPOONBILL FISHERY 195 >» 4 > ies “aye. a . 3 | Cilia se Photo by Dwight Franklin Preparing spoonbill caviar. Theroe is put on a coarse wire sieve and rubbed by hand across the wires until the eggs are separated from their mem- branes and drop into the pan beneath are separated from their membranes and drop into the pan beneath the sieve. The raw caviar is mixed with ‘German ” salt and is ready for shipment. It must under- go still further preparation however, before it is in the form familiar to us. In its raw state it brings about half-a-dollar a pound. It is said that spoonbill caviar is the best known, having received the highest award at one of the World Expositions. weighs from two to fifteen or twenty pounds, in a single fish. It is put on a coarse wire sieve and rubbed by hand across the wires until the eggs Photo by L. Hussakof The spoonbill or paddlefish (Polyodon spathula) RESEARCH AND EXPLORATION AMONG THE INDIANS OF THE NORTHERN PLAINS By Clark Wissler of Anthropology made further progress on the systematic sur- vey of the Northern Plains Tribes, returning collections from the Crow, Dakota and Village Indians. In central North America there is a large area drained by the Upper Missouri and Saskatchewan rivers, grass-covered land for the most part, the home of a number of Indian tribes of peculiar interest to anthropologists. Here in buffalo days lived eleven different tribes,— the Sarci, Blackfoot, Gros Ventre, Assiniboine, Crow, Dakota, Plains Cree, Plains Ojibwa, Hidatsa, Arikara and Mandan. Each occupied a more or less definite territory, and spoke a distinct lan- guage, generally recognized as belonging to one of four widely distributed linguistic families, Algonkin, Siouan, Athapascan and Caddoan. At present representatives of these aboriginal tribes survive on reservations in various parts of the area. The cultures of this group of northern Plains Indians, as presented in museum collections, show striking fundamental simi- larities in contrast to diverse linguistic origin and offer therefore an inviting field for museum collecting and investigation. In 1906 the Department of Anthropology selected this area for con- tinuous systematic exploration, to seek data for formulating the manner in which special ceremonies like the sun dance and the medicine pipe, as well as distinctive traits of material culture and art, were distributed throughout the region, one of the more important groups of problems now confronting serious students of American anthropology. Fortunately for this plan, the tribes concerned were neither closely confined nor foreed to abandon their aboriginal economic life until after 1865, the change being gradual and continuous to the present day so that the domestic life and other aspects of culture, while much modified, are still cherished in the memories of old Indians from whom data and specimens may yet be ob- |) os the summer of 1910 the research staff of the Department tained. Naturally with each succeeding year comes the obliteration of more and more of these precious memories, rendering the labors of our field workers less and less productive. The realization of this has led to the vigorous prosecution of the work by our field staff to the extent of avail- able funds. Field exploration has been conducted among practically the full list of tribes contemplated in the plan, the Sarci, Blackfoot, Assiniboine, Nez Perce, Northern Shoshone, Crow, Teton-Dakota, Hidatsa, Arikara, Mandan, Plains Cree and Plains Ojibwa. In most cases however, the work is still 126 RESEARCH IN ANTHROPOLOGY 127 far from complete and some important divisions of several tribes have not yet been visited. In every case more than a beginning has been made while in several instances the data accumulated are quite sufficient for the de- tailed study of the area necessary to the development of anthropology in America. Regarding publications of results of this exploration, the following series has been issued: Some Protective Designs of the Dakota, Gros Ventre Myths, Ethnology of the Gros Ventre, Mythology of the Blackfoot Indians, Mythology of the Northern Shoshone, Mythology of the Assiniboine, and Material Culture of the Blackfoot Indians. In addition to these seven papers the following will appear in due time: Social and Ceremonial Culture of the Blackfoot, Ethnology of the Crow, Ethnology of the Teton-Dakota, the Hidatsa and the Sarci. Other papers will appear as soon as the field work is sufficiently advanced. No other institution has given much attention to this area and while the older historical literature contains much valuable data of a desultory character, the only other specific publications not found in our series are a few minor studies on the Crow, Blackfoot, Hidatsa and Dakota, none of which are sufficiently comprehensive for a serious compara- tive study of the area as a whole. The field work has been conducted by the staff of the Department of Anthropology, Messrs. Clark Wissler, P. E. Goddard, Robert H. Lowie, Herbert J. Spinden and Alanson Skinner, also by Dr. J. R. Walker and Rev. Gilbert L. Wilson, not connected directly with the Museum. Supplementary to this plan, Mr. Harlan I. Smith conceived and devel- oped a plan for the archeological survey of the Upper Missouri basin. The part of this area falling within the state limits of Wyoming and Montana is practically unknown to archeology. Mr. Smith’s explorations have so far been confined to eastern Wyoming, the results of which will be presented in a future publication. This work enjoying not only priority, but being conducted in a systematic manner will be an important contribution to our knowledge of the area and, it is hoped, will afford some basis for a conclu- sion as to the early inhabitants of the region, a matter of no small impor- tance in the general comparative results of the ethnological survey now nearing completion. Museum anthropology is confined to the aspects of culture represented by collections. Our collectors have met with favorable conditions so that their returns, supplemented by gifts from private collectors and patrons, give a fair start toward an efficient study series for the area as a whole. The Department has developed plans for an entire exhibition hall in which the general aspects of culture so far discovered in the area may be presented, showing with some detail the peculiarities in distribution for the distinctive traits. Mural panel by Will S. Taylor A TSIMSHIAN FAMILY MAKING EULACHON “ BUTTER” The glow of the ember fire is on the girl's face as she waits for stones to heat. In the box at the right, fish are being boiled by means of the heated stones; the oil thus removed from the fish forms ‘‘butter.’’ The residue is being strained by the woman at the left. The artist has used the medium of steam here and in the ‘‘Canoe Builders”’ to distribute the color effect of the fire 128 FOREWORD ON THE NEW MURAL PAINTINGS IN THE AMERICAN MUSEUM given for Trinity Church, Boston. That was in 1870 and the artist was John La Farge, working in coéperation with H. H. Richardson, architect. Since that time and particularly in the past ten years there has been great advance in mural painting in America. Great public buildings are no longer built for utility only, but are given beauty and a character fitting their purpose by the coéperation of the artist with the architect. In a Museum, as a public building which entertains and educates the million or more people who visit it annually, there is oppor- tunity for a high standard in the architecture and decoration of its halls, harmonizing design and color with the spirit as well as with the details of each accompanying exhibit. In this, mural decoration is fitted to play a large part, for the mural painting can often perform forcefully and with an effect of beauty what can be accomplished in no cther way: it can vital- ize an exhibit by setting forth the life and the country that the exhibit represents. In the summer and fall of 1909 the American Museum sent an expedition to the North Pacific Coast, with Mr. Harlan I. Smith, ethnologist in charge, and Mr. Will S. Taylor, artist. On this expedition Mr. Taylor made studies for a series of mural panels to represent the North Pacific Indians as they were one hundred years ago when uninfluenced by white men. Sketches of landscapes were obtained, color notes on the different tribes and many photographs. Most of the old industries had disappeared however — as had also the old costumes — so that with all effort these mural paintings have had to be largely restorations. This has entailed tedious study of museum material and the literature of the subject on the part of the artist since his return. His study has been rewarded however; the ethnological staff of the Museum and Lieutenant Emmons, who has generously helped in the work of scientific supervision, pronounce these paintings rarely accu- rate presentations. Landscapes although idealized give the color and feeling of particular spots which a visitor to this northern country can locate, while each canvas shows good type portraits of the tribe represented. The four panels from north to south in the Hall are in series, with color graded from the cool country of the northern part of the coast to the warmer country toward the south, and with design regulated in rhythmic sequence as in a mural frieze. The composition in each panel is simple and the action is readily understood. There is an evident center of interest and “4 ‘HE first large commission for mural decoration in this country was 129 130 THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL the lines of the various figures, of mountain gorges, of masses of steam, of clouds, of tree branches either lead toward this center or serve to tie in the composition. Dignity appropriate to the subjects has been gained by a conspicuous introduction of vertical lines—a thin column of smoke, trees, totem poles, erect figures. Steam has been cleverly used in two of the pictures as a medium for the distribution of the color effect of fire. Mr. Taylor considers himself fortunate in the position of the paintings in this Hall among old weathered totem poles, canoes and other symbols of Indian art. It has allowed him to portray the simple out-of-door life of the people with true local color and in a broadly decorative way unham- pered by the usual modern architecture and ornament. The panels certainly meet the requirements of true decorations as well as serve their scientific purpose. They blend with their surroundings, an integral part of the color scheme of the Hall; they are flat in effect, clinging to the wall like tapestries though with relief high enough to give an effect of reality to the scenes end of increased space to the Hall. The imagination sees also in these paintings something beyond the industry represented, something more than satisfying design and color. One finds himself picking out the various items that signify a development of love of beauty in this primitive race; speculating on the fact that the grandeur of this country has its concomitant in the earnestness of its people; and seeing in the pose and expression of certain of the figures evidence that mind and spirit, here as in all primitive races, have developed with the training of eye and hand. It is thus that Mr. Taylor’s work done with high seriousness of aim meets the final demand of mural decoration. M. C. D. THE NEW MURAL PAINTINGS AND THE INDUSTRIES THEY PORTRAY By E. C. B. Fassett are completed and in their places in the Hall of the North Pacific Coast Indians. They invest this Hall with atmosphere and local color. They hang like tapestries between the weathered totem poles and dealing with themes of industry, combine truthful illustration with land- scapes that would seem to be purely ideal. Here are mountains forested with hemlock and cedar. Yonder are glimpses of blue glaciers and veils of mist that suggest the cool atmosphere of the northern summer. In Mr. Taylor’s sea-girt, mountain-sheltered scenes we behold the homes of the Ge first four of a series of mural decorations by Mr. Will S. Taylor NEW MURAL PAINTINGS 131 weavers, carvers, basket makers and canoe builders whose works are gathered together in this Hall of the North Pacific Coast peoples. The arrangement of the Hall is planned in such a manner that the mate- rials are divided into seven arbitrary groups representative of the various tribes from the Columbia River to Mount McKinley. The Tlingit materials from the coast of Alaska occupy a space near the northern end, one section illustrating the material industries, another the social affairs and cere- monials. The collection from the Haida people who occupy the country immediately south of the Tlingit, including the Queen Charlotte’s Islands, follow and are arranged similarly. In like manner succeed the exhibits of the Tsimshian, Bella Coola, Kwakiutl, Nootka and the southern coast Salish peoples; while the new mural decorations are so placed that those opposite each exhibit represent the general characteristics of the country from which the Museum collections came. THE FIRST PAINTING The Blanket Weavers The first of Mr. Taylor’s series of mural paintings is placed on the west wall of the space occupied by the Tlingit collections. He has chosen for the subject of this decoration the rapidly disappearing art of the Chilkat blanket maker. The origin of this type of wool weaving is attributed to As many as possible of the sketches were made in sunlight in order better to ‘roduce out-of-door effects when painting the decorations later 132 THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL is | | On the Stikine River at the Great Glacier. The artist visited all the country along the coast making color studies and collecting facts the Tsimshian; but the art passed from them through the Tongas, the Stikine and the more southern Tlingit to the Chilkat tribe, a division of the Tlingit family which lives about the head of Lynn Canal in southeastern Alaska. This migration of art is attributable to the intermigratery habits of the people. Canoe life in the network of island channel-ways permits free intercourse between the tribes and an exchange of commodities which, together with the practice of intertribal marriages, accounts for the dis- semination and perpetuation of similar arts among neighboring peoples. The Chilkat blanket is undoubtedly the best possible expression for this group, not only that it is the emblem of the clan but also, as is always true of art objects, that it sums within its textile limits suggestions of the mythical lore and history of its people. Not least interesting is the fact that this textile is a copy from a painted design. In the canvas against an impressive background of mountains, whose snows and glaciers are tinted with blues and purples and greens, a Chilkat blanket hangs in process of making, and around it is grouped the family engaged in the work. The man stands passively at the left. Carved emblems on the uprights of the looms, also the painted pattern board at the right of the composition, are his share in the work. The old woman seated at the right with lower lip distended by a mouth ornament indicative of her wealth and rank, is engaged in spinning a strand of the wool from the moun- tain goat. For the weaving of a Chilkat blanket all the long coarse outer hair of the goat is discarded, since only the soft fine under wool is used. The wool is NEW MURAL PAINTINGS 133 spun by hand, and then dyed in the yarn. To prevent the hanging warp from tangling, it is divided and tied in bags of skin as indicated in the paint- ing. The weaving is a marvel of patient execution with the unaided hand, in technique similar to one type of the basketry work of this tribe. The small coler fields are woven separately and very ingeniously united by interweaving. Several of these small interwoven fields form divisions which are united with fine sinews, as thread is used by the European tapestry weavers. Technically the Chilkat blanket is a tapestry. THE SECOND PAINTING The Canoe Builders The mural decoration on the west wall, next to that of the Tlingit, portrays the Haida Indians as woodworkers. They are engaged in canoe building just in front of a wooden structure which extends from the right of the composition. This structure is an example of the community house of these people. The timber is hand-hewn and skillfully joined. The boards of the walls are bevelled to slide in a groove and close up to one another with great nicety. Those important structural features, the corner posts and totem poles, the placing of which is the initial step of the building and the occasicn of important ceremonies, are broadly indicated as befits their position in the composition. The North Pacific Coast Indians are a fishing people. Their homes are largely among islands and Mr. Taylor could have chosen no better object illustrative of their lives than the canoe. It is their chief means of trans- portation and in it much of their lives is spent. The red cedars of Queen Charlotte’s Islands produce logs from which are made huge canoes, sometimes from forty-five to sixty feet in length. The Haida are master craftsmen since there is no other type of dugout canoe so light, graceful and seaworthy as this one they construct. In Haida canoe building, the outside contour is first hewn and carved. Wooden pins are driven through the outer surface to indicate the varying thickness of the walls of the canoe, and the interior is dug out to the depths thus fixed. The spread of the beam is attained by steaming the wood. The canoe is partly filled with water into which red hot stones are dropped producing steam which softens the wood. The sides are forced out by wedges which are afterward replaced by permanent seats. Beds of hot embers are kept near the canoes to dry the outer surface. Not only is the Haida process of canoe building well suggested in this second painting, but also we get in this decoration the atmosphere of the Mural panel by Wiil S. Taylor WEAVING A CHILKAT BLANKET AT A CAMP ON A SALMON RIVER The young girl The The blanket is being made for the man of the family who stands at the left. has stopped in the process of separating the strands of the cedar bark to be used for warp. woman at the right has looked up from her work of spinning the wool 134 NEW MURAL PAINTINGS 135 region, a sense of the mists and the dampness. The attention centers on the boat builder, who is about to drop from long wooden tongs a red hot stone inte the water within the canoe from which rises swirling steam, while the glow from the ember fire illumines his well-developed figure and reveals an intensely interested face. The cloud of steam gives life and movement and plays a strong part in the pictorial composition and color scheme, while the diffusing mist veils subordinate detail and holds all in harmonious relation. THE THIRD PAINTING The Butter Makers In this delightful composition, which Mr. Taylor calls “The Butter Makers,” we find the eulachon industry illustrated with much detail. This group of busy Tsimshian is placed in a semi-realistic landscape of great beauty. We discern the flanks of mountains veiled by cloud masses, and the green slopes that reach down to the shore of the Nasse River. The stream is splendid at this point near its mouth where the candlefish come in from the sea. The eulachon or candlefish are caught during March and April in great numbers with dip nets and rakes or with seines. This party in the picture has made a temporary camp here in the “lean- to” at the left, to harvest the run. Two methods of preservation are indicated. At the right a man is hanging eulachon to dry. The other and more important process is the extraction of the oil, which is a greatly valued delicacy used like butter by these people. This oil and the dried eulachon are exchanged up and down the coast by those-Indians so fortunate as to control the catch. To extract the oil, the fish are permitted to decompose slightly, after which they are placed in boxes of water and kept at the boiling point by the use of red hot stones. The oil is then skimmed off as it rises to the surface, and so precious is it that even the residue is worked over. The column of light smoke at the left of the painting and the glow of the ember fire indicate the heating of the stones. The woman with the tongs is about to take one of these stones to keep the water boiling in the boxes, and the old woman at the box with the straining mesh is working over the residue. These quite literal facts are expressed simply while the balance of the composition in line and color mass is well maintained. The artist has invested the whole decoration with poetic charm and the treatment of the clouds, smoke and steam is masterly. 136 THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL THE FOURTH PAINTING The Bread Makers of the Bella Coola This scene is in the beautiful Bella Coola valley, about eighty miles up the fiord at the delta of the river. The narrow valley lies between moun- tains covered in places with perpetual snow and glaciers. The purple of the mountains with the delicate greens of cottonwoods ranged along the river’s edge, are portrayed in the upper planes of the painting. In the lower plane, beside the winding glacial stream, are swamp lands where skunk cabbage is abundant and hemlocks grow. At the left of the composition the man supported high on the tree trunk is scraping away the inner bark or cambium and dropping the moist strips to the cedar mat held below by the woman and the boys. The edible value of the cambium is well understood by Indians; that of the pine, spruce and fir is eaten in the spring time, while that of the yellow pine, hemlock and red alder is preserved for winter use. A hole in the ground is lined with hot stones, which are covered with the leaves of the skunk cabbage to keep the bark from burning. Within this the muci- laginous strips are packed and covered with the skunk cabbage leaves, then over all are placed layers of bark and cedar mats. In four days the cambium steamed to a pulp is ground with a pestle on a flat stone, then formed into brick-like cakes and dried in the sun. This fourth painting has especial distinction because of the sense of space conveyed and of the highly picturesque character of the landscape. The simplicity of the grouping of the figures and the admirable arrangement of the masses of light and dark coloring complete a composition which can- not fail to have lasting charm. Both the Museum and the artist are to be congratulated. Not every painter would have striven with such sincerity to tell the simple stories of the handicrafts of these various tribes. The color scheme holds together in these four canvases as well as it would in a suite of old tapestries. There is self-restraint and subordination of detail; and there is good measure of the literal and the educational. Art has prevailed over all. Mountain mists and steam-clouds are gracious mediums for invoking the ideal; and yet these are good portraits of the lands where live the Tlingit and the Haida, the Tsimshian, and the Bella Coola. From mural panel by Will S. Taylor A BELLA COOLA FAMILY MAKING “BREAD The man is gathering hemlock bark, which is later steamed in holesin the ground lined with hot stones; thus is made a kind of native bread In each canvas the figures are good type portraits of the tribe represented 137 SUPERNATURAL THUNDERBIRD CHARMS OF THE GAME ON THE MAT AT THE LEFT THE PRIZES, CONSISTING OF BLANKETS AND STRIPS OF CALICO 138 SORTING THE STICKS AND SO CHOOSING SIDES’ THE MENOMINI GAME OF LACROSSE By Alanson Skinner Photographs by the Author HE Menomini Indians, about fifteen hundred in number, are intelli- gent and progressive farmers dwelling for the most part in sub- stantial log cabins and frame houses on their reservation in northern Wisconsin, yet about one half of them adhere to their ancient ceremonials and to the legends of their race. One of my early experiences after reach- ing the reservation in the summer of 1910! was attendance upon a cere- monial to the Thunderers, given to appease the wrath of these Indian gods of the storm, so that there might end the drought from which the country was suffering; and another consisted in witnessing a ceremonial game of lacrosse, which is interwoven with the legend of the Thunderers and revolves about the idea of the birth of these spirits in man. THE GAME STARTS At the lacrosse game the: Menomini nation was well represented. The smooth field stretched before us. The prizes, blankets and strips of calico, were hung at one side. Warriors rapidly gathered as the chief moved toward the place where the prizes were displayed. They gathered in a 1 The gratitude of the Museum goes to the Wisconsin friends who contributed to the success of this expedition of 1910. Those to whom greatest indebtedness is due are Special Agent of the United States Government, Mr. Angus Nicholson, and all his staff, as well as the late agent, Mr. Wilson. As for the Indians, those to whom thanks should be given are very many. Perhaps the ones who have been most liberal and helpful are Mr. John V. Satterlee, Chiefs Perrote, Wiuskacit and Niopet, Messrs. James Blackcloud and Antoine Shibicow, and Jane Shibicow and Mrs. Petwaskun. 139 140 THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL dense mass about him while he entered upon a speech advising how to play the game to the satisfaction of the Thunderers. As soon as this ended attendants passed among the warriors and collected the game sticks and bringing them to one spot mixed them well together, afterward quickly spreading them out in two opposing rows on the grass. The players fol- lowed watching, each making an effort to locate his own stick in one row or the other. When he had done so he knew on which side he was to play and also, for by that time each warrior was standing before his own stick, just who were to play with him, who against. The warriors of one side marked the left cheek with a heavy stroke of vermilion for recognition in the game. Each took up his stick and all seemed ready and waiting for some signal. Suddenly a ball was tossed into the center of the crowd and with many whoops and a great rush the game was on. The following is the story connected with lacrosse as gained through the interpreter from one of the oldest Indians of the tribe. Knowledge of the legend makes clear many things about the game, such as the honored position near the prizes accorded to the supernatural war club and lacrosse stick belonging to the Indian giving the game. You ask who are the Thunderbirds. I will tell you. You have seen the black clouds’roll up in the spring. You have seen the rain fall heavily and you have seen the great flashes of light that shoot from the heavens, and you have heard the rum- bling noise that follows. What the Wabskuat (Paleface) says of these things I do not know, but the Indian understands well that they are made by the Thunderbirds hunting. Far, far away in the West where the sun sets, there floats a great mountain in the sky. Above the earth the rocks lie tier on tier. These cliffs are too lofty to be reached by any earthly bird. Even the great war eagle cannot soar so high. But on the summit of this mountain dwell the Thunderbirds. They have control over the rain and the hail. They are messengers of the Great Sun himself, and their influence induced the Sun and the Morning Star to give the great war-bundle to our race. They delight in fighting and great deeds. They are the mighty enemies of the horned snakes, the Misikinubik. Were it not for the Thunderers these monsters would overwhelm the earth and devour mankind. When the weather is fair, then watch when you travel abroad, for the snakes come out to bask in the sun, but when the weather is cloudy you need fear nothing, for the Thunderers come searching from behind the clouds for their enemies, the Misikinubik. Now this is true and our people know it well, that these Thunderers have a great love for us. Often they come down to earth and are born as men. He who bears a Thunderer’s spirit has power to understand nature and to foretell the weather and he is strong in war. But a man who has such a spirit is not like other Indians. As a child his parents never punish him for fear his spirit will be shamed and leave his body. Instead they honor him and make for him a war club and lacrosse stick, the one to protect him in time of war, the other a symbol that he is a child of the Thunderers. For lacrosse is a warlike game and therefore the Thunderbirds delight in it. Anyone who has a Thunderer’s spirit in him must have the game played at least once a year. He must offer great prizes to the winner of his game and he must rl t ‘ 1B eon ronrprr ye ri - er Mis ae — rain SoS" Se Sy fas te THE CHIEF INSTRUCTS THE PLAYERS send out gifts of tobacco to all the people as an invitation to come and play. He himself takes no part but sits and watches and the Thunderers are satisfied. Before I left the reservation I saw three additional ceremonial lacrosse games, besides other interesting ceremonies such as that of the Society of © Dancing Men. Ceremonies of all kinds among the Menomini are becoming more and more curtailed every year and adherence to legendary lore more rare, and it is probably a question of only a few years more when all will have passed into tradition. The Menomini Indians have always been exceedingly friendly toward the white man and they were well pleased when they learned that a system- atic effort was to be made by the American Museum to record their old life and collect their ancient articles. In the words of Chief Niopet, who presented the Museum with several handsome examples of beadwork, the following is their idea: “ We wish to put these things into the ‘ great house’ where they will be kept with care, where our children’s children may go to see them when our race has followed the white man’s road until it has forgotten their use.” fi | ie aa A SCRIMMAGE NEAR THE GOAL, THE FIRST SIDE SCORING FOUR GOALS WINS A QUESTION OF PUBLIC HEALTH EXHIBIT OF MODELS ILLUSTRATING POLLUTION OF NEW YORK HARBOR WATERS AND SCIENTIFIC METHODS FOR THE DISPOSAL OF CITY SEWAGE By C-E. A. Winslow ITY life presents pressing and peculiar biological problems. When a great number of human beings are concentrated within a small area, the fundamental needs of individual life must be met by the latest perfected methods. Especially should this hold true in the preven- tion of epidemics, which always threaten crowded communities; and in guarding against disease the first essential is the proper removal of the waste products which accompany all living processes. One of the greatest prob- lems which confronts a modern municipality is here encountered, for from every large city there pours out a river of waste material which pollutes streams, harbors and foreshores, spoiling what should be the pleasure-spots of the city, damaging property and even endangering health and life. New York is more fortunate than most cities in the large bodies of water which wash its shores, but to-day the disposal of its waste material has become a serious problem and one which demands prompt solution. The Metropolitan Sewerage Commission which has recently published the results of its important investigations will shortly make an exhibit of its work at the American Museum, and the Museum’s Department of Public Health has prepared a series of models illustrating on the one hand local conditions 142 PANORAMIC VIEW OF TRICKLING FILTERS, COLUMBUS, OHIO The most efficient device yet discovered for the purification of a city’s sewage — stones on which bacterial growth may gather and a regulated supply of sewage in fine spray and of air with regard to harbor waters and on the other hand the various devices which may be used for the disposal of city sewage by sanitary methods. When sewage is discharged in small volume into a relatively large body of water the aim of all sewage purification is attained. The bacteria nor- mally present in the water attack the organic matter and oxidize it, and at the same time the typical sewage bacteria, finding themselves in an un- favorable environment, gradually die and disappear. In New York, however, the present method of disposal by the haphazard discharge of sewers into the waters of the rivers and harbor at the piers or bulkhead lines, is manifestly unsatisfactory. The sewage oscillates back and forth instead of passing promptly out to sea, and the local nuisances at certain points are extreme. Besides the fact that this brings about conditions offensive to the senses, real danger to health is involved. The germs of typhoid and other infec- tious diseases are always present in a city’s waste, menacing the lives of those to whom their contact is inevitable. For instance all along the waterfront, driftwood and other floating objects are picked out by the poor and carried to their homes. In Jamaica Bay and neighboring waters shell- fish are grown in close proximity to both public and private sewers and while some processes of cookery destroy the typhoid germs, others do not. The greatest risk is run by bathing in the polluted waters and in New York several of the free floating baths maintained by the city are placed sufficiently 143 UOH}VIUBUUTpas JO ssao01d euOS AQ PEMOT[OJ oq AT[VNsn 4snur sty, ‘BUIUVeIOS AQ POAOS SI aSvVAas AQID Jo [Bsodstp oy) ur twe]qoid 3say au, SLLASNHOVSSVW ‘NOLMOOUS ‘sHaiqis GNVS LNSLLINYSLNI 6uinjog “q “p fo Asajzsnog A QUESTION OF PUBLIC HEALTH 145 near sewer outlets to furnish excellent opportunity for infection of various sorts. The first problem in the disposal of city sewage is the elimination of the coarser floating particles by some form of screening. In some cases this alone is sufficient, but generally sedimentation must also be employed. In sedimentation excellent results have come from the use of a deep tank hav- ing a conical or pyramidal bottom. Into the lower part of this tank the sewage enters, spreads out in the conical section as it rises, progressively diminishes in velocity, and when the effluent flows off at the top, leaves the suspended solids behind. The sludge which accumulates in the sedimentation tank must itself be disposed of in some way and the modified sedimentation basin known as the “septic tank”’ is designed to minimize this nuisance by holding the sludge under such conditions that it may be liquified by anaérobic bacteria. One tank of this type, the Imhoff tank used extensively in northern Germany, has met with marked success. After the removal of suspended solids, the liquid sewage remains to be purified. The most primitive method of disposal consists in its distribution over the surface of suitable land, what is called “ broad irrigation.”’ Under proper conditions the living earth renders organic matter harmless and changes it into food material for the higher plants. Paris and Berlin to-day utilize this method of disposal. But broad irrigation requires large areas of land of suitable soil and would be a costly method for a city situated as Intermittent Sand Filter Bed. Photograph of a model in the American Museum 146 THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL Septic Tank or modified sedimentation basin. Model in the American Museum is New York, where the waste would have to be carried a great distance before final disposition of it could be made. At Lawrence, Massachusetts, through the experiments of the Massa- chusetts Board of Health, a more scientific and intensive modification of the irrigation process was devised known as intermittent filtration. It consists in the application of sewage in regulated quantities to the surface of properly prepared beds of sand in which nitrifying bacteria colonize and oxidize the organic matters in the sewage into harmless mineral form. The construction of this filter is simple in regions like those in the northeastern part of the United States where there is suitable soil from glacial drift. Even the intermittent filter requires a large area of land however, and Double contact beds for purification of sewage on the plan of ‘‘ broad irrigation”’ but without the necessity of large areas of land. Model in the American Museum A QUESTION OF PUBLIC HEALTH 147 still more rapid processes have been devised to meet the needs of com- munities which have no ample sand areas at their doors. It was shown by a series of English investigators that the nitrifying bacteria could be grown on coarser materials like broken stone as well as on sand and that by filling a bed with such materials and letting sewage stand in it for a short time in contact with the stone, a considerable purification would take place. Such a purifying device is known as a “contact bed.” The most efficient device of all is the “trickling” or “ percolating’ bed which represents still another method of combining the three required Picking up polluted driftwood on the Battery steps. Model in the American_ Museum elements, sewage, bacteria and air. In 1894, at Newport, Rhode Island, the late Colonel George E. Waring experimented with the purifying of sewage at high rates by blowing air into a bed of coarse stone from below, while sewage ran down through it from above. Theoretically good, prac- tically the method fell short of perfection; but success has finally been reached along another similar line by applying sewage, not in bulk, but in a fine spray distributed as evenly as possible over the surface of the bed. By this method the liquid trickles in thin films over the surface of the filling 148 THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL material while the spaces between are continually filled with air. The trickling bed, which may be defined simply as a heap of stones or other material of such size, depth and texture as to support a bacterial growth sufficient for the work in hand, is considered one of the most promising and effective of any known device for sewage purification and particularly well adapted for use in large cities, for it exhibits the simplicity which dis- tinguishes the best scientific application —a pile of stones on which bac- terial growth may gather and a regulated supply of air and sewage being the only desiderata. In this way the dangerous organic waste material produced in the city of human habitations is carried out to the city of microbes on their hills of rocks and it is their duty to turn it into a harmless mineral form. The removal of disease bacteria is not necessarily accomplished by these newer processes of sewage disposal which are primarily designed to remove putrescible organic matter. This end, which is an important one in a sea- board city because of its adjacent shellfish industries, can be met by special chemical treatment. The application of ordinary bleaching powder or chloride of lime in small amounts of fifteen to thirty parts of powder to a million parts of sewage will effect a satisfactory reduction of bacteria at a very reasonable cost. There are yet many unsolved problems in the purification and disposal of a city’s sewage, yet the work of the last ten years in the United States and England foreshadows ultimate success. To-day the engineer is limited in the perfection of his work only by the amount of money the community is prepared to expend; and the City of New York can go as far along this line as its citizens choose to afford. It should unquestionably go farther than it has gone to-day. A MODERN MUSEUM OF CELEBES By Roy C. Andrews \ ) ] HEN a naturalist’s wanderings in the South Seas carry him to a native city of comparatively small white population, and he finds there a museum embodying modern ideas of exhibition, he experiences considerable surprise. It was my good fortune on Christmas Day of 1909 to find such a museum and also to visit it with its founder and curator, His Excellency Baron Quarles de Quarles, Governor of Celebes. The Albatross had’ but recently dropped anchor in the Bay of Makassar. While driving in Makassar, the principal city of South Celebes, we came upon a large, oblong building set on piles and having an entrance-way projecting from the front. -As usual the little shaggy brown horse drawing the rickety “carametta” in which we were riding was rushing along at a furious pace and we had almost passed the house before we caught sight of an English sign reading “Museum.” The building was closed, but its keeper was finally located and although he spoke only Dutch and Malay, we managed to exchange ideas and made a brief inspection of the place. Later Captain McCormack and myself visited the Museum, conducted by Baron de Quarles, who presented to the American Museum a small collection representing some of the most characteristic features of the native 149 150 THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL life of Celebes. The building was formerly the residence of the deposed Raja of Boni, a potentate who for some time ruled one of the large provinces of the Island, and itself furnishes a most interesting example of the royal dwellings of these native princes. The collections contained in the museum are strictly local, but represent in a form quite complete the basket work and other industries, the dress and customs, in fact all the principal features of the life of the natives in and about Celebes. All the material has been collected and arranged under the supervision of the Governor. Plaster casts have been prepared to illustrate the natives and the dress of the different tribes. There are also miniature models of fish-traps, houses, and boats, as well as models to show pottery making and basketry. Around the walls are hung spears, knives, shields, and other articles of warfare, and their uses are explained by admir- able labels in Malay, Dutch and English. One room contains many ob- jects which made part of the furnishings of the household in the time of the Raja of Boni. The entire museum gives such evidence of attention to details and of thought and care in selection and exhibition of specimens that it reflects the greatest credit on Baron de Quarles. He has extended the scope of the Makassar Museum’s work by making up and presenting to expositions in various countries of Europe collections representing the chief features of the ethnology of the natives of the Celebes. It is to be hoped that there will be a continuance of the growth of this institution which, although the years of its existence have been few, is already doing important educational work, and that the example so admirably set by Baron de Quarles will be followed by the officials of other native cities. MUSEUM NEWS NOTES Ow1nc to ill health, Dr. J. A. Allen, Curator of Mammalogy, has given up his duties as Acting Director and the President has appointed Dr. E. O. Hovey, Curator of the Department of Geology and Invertebrate Paleeontol- ogy to serve as Acting Director pro tem during the absence of Dr, Townsend. Tue Department of Anthropology has recently received the gift of a Sioux tepee made entirely of buffalo skins. This tepee is of peculiar interest from the fact that for at least the past thirty years buffalo skins have not been used in Indian house construction. MUSEUM NEWS NOTES 151 Mr. Frank M. CHApMAN sailed from New York March 14 for Colombia, South America, where he is to join Mr. William B. Richardson, who has been in that locality collecting birds and mammals for the Museum for several months. Mr. Chapman expects to get into a region where no col- lecting of birds has been done; there he will make a systematic survey, probably obtaining some undescribed species and many new to the Museum collections. He will also get material for several new bird groups. He has taken an assistant and expects to remain until July, when Mr. Richardson and the assistant will continue the work. Dr. GreorceE H. Grrry of the United States Geological Survey, who has recently presented to the Museum a series of fossil invertebrates, has been made a Life Member of the Museum in recognition of his generosity. At the meeting of the Executive Committee on March 22, Mr. Frederick H. Smyth was appointed to the position of bursar of the American Museum of Natural History, the appointment to take effect April 1, 1911. THe METROPOLITAN SEWERAGE COMMISSION in coéperation with the Department of Public Health of the American Museum will hold an exhi- bition at the Museum during the last two weeks of April. The exhibition will illustrate conditions of sewerage and sewage disposal in the metro- politan district of New York and will include models, charts, diagrams and apparatus used by the Commission in its investigations. Tue Hay or Mo ttuscs which has been removed from the fifth floor to make room for the new administrative offices is still in preparation and will not be open to the public for some time. The shell collections of the Museum, which are among the earliest of its acquisitions, are being re- arranged in accordance with the modern spirit of museum exhibition. PuBLic meetings of the New York Academy of Sciences and its Affiliated Societies will be held at the Museum according to the usual schedule. Programmes of meetings are published in the weekly Bulletin of the Academy. LECTURE ANNOUNCEMENTS PUPILS’ COURSE These lectures are open to the pupils of the public schools when accompanied by their teachers and to children of Members of the Museum on presentation of Membership tickets. Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at.4 o’clock. March 20 and April 17 — Mr. Roy W. Miner, ‘Early Days in New York.” March 22 and April 19 — Mr Roy C. Anprews, ‘A Visit to the Orient.” March 24 and April 21 — Dr. Louis Hussaxor, “‘Scenes from Pole to Pole.” March 27 and April 24— Mr. Joun T. Nicuous, ‘Natural Resources of the United States.” March 29 and April 26 — Mr. Waurer Granacer, “Famous Rivers of the World.” March 31 and April 28 — Mr. Haran I. Smiru, ‘Life among Our Indians.” April 3 and May 1— Mr. Roy C. Anprews, “Travels and Life among the Japanese.” April 5 and May 3— Dr. Louis Hussaxor, “South American Scenes.” April 21 and May 5—Mnrs. Acnes L. Rorsier, “Around the World with Children.” PEOPLE’S COURSE Given in coéperation with the City Department of Education Tuesday evenings at 8:15 o’clock. Doors open at 7:30. The last four of a series of lectures on ‘“‘Great Modern Composers” by DANIEL GreGcory Mason. Illustrated at the piano. April 4— “Peter Ilyitch Tschaikovsky.” April 11 — ‘Johannes Brahms.” April 18 — ‘‘Richard Strauss.” April 25 — ‘‘Present-day Tendencies.” Saturday evenings at 8:15 o’clock. Doors open at 7:30. April 1— Mr. Apert Hats, ‘Central America: Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, Salvador and Guatemala.’ Illustrated. April 8— Mr. Atspert Hate, ‘Mexico: Our Nearest Neighbor.” Illustrated. April 15 — Mr. Cuartes R. Toornaker, “Panama and the Canal.” Illustrated. April 22 — Subject and lecturer to be announced. April 29 — Pror. Witi1Am Lipsey, “Hawaii.” Illustrated. 152 CONTENTS FOR MAY, 1911 Frontispiece, Design for East Facade of the Museum Trowbridge and Livingston, Architects Plans for Extension of the Museum....HENrRy FartrFrELD OsBporN- 155 Preliminary studies for an expansion that will equip the Museum for edu- cational work in the great New York of the future Oceanographic Work on the Albatross.....................000000- 159 Quotations from the letters of Acting Director Charles H. Townsend in command of the Museum Expedition in the Pacific The New “Fossil Aquarium”................... Basurorp Dean 161 Reconstruction of representative fishes of the typical ‘‘ Age of Fishes,’’ show- ing what can be done to make these ancient forms appear as living. Back- ground painted by Charles R. Knight A Tree Climbing Ruminant.................... W. D. Marruew 162 Bagobo Fine Ast Coilectionrr gs 05... Laura Watson Benepicr 164 Some Work on African Large Game by an Animal Sculptor.......... 173 A new era for the natural history museum was inaugurated when the careful delineation of the sculptor superseded the old taxidermy methods of mounting mammals The Crow Indians of Montana................. Rosert H. Lowrie 179 Seeertee INOW -INGGGS rai Sa es eg ee ee 182 Mary OCyrnrtata Dickerson, Editor Subscription, One Dollar per year. Fifteen cents per copy A subscription to the Journax is included in the membership fees of all classes of Members of the Museum Subscriptions should be addressed to the AMericAaN Museum Journat, 30 Boylston St., Cambridge, Mass., or 77th St. and Central Park West, New York City Entered as second-class matter January 12, 1907, at the Post-office at Boston, Mass. Act of Congress, July 16, 1894 OATIC ISAM 94} Wory AVMpROI ddUeAQUD PtOIq BJO UOTMONAYS “0d oy) Aq YAV_ [e4}JUIH Jo US|Sop [VIOUS oY} UjYIIM WNesnyL oy} JO UONeIOdIOIUT OANQNJ OY} soyR[duIeyUOD USISsOp oY,” “APIONAUINS Ja9ReIS JO UOTIDeIIp 949 UL 4I SUIATIPOUL O[TYM ‘OPS UOYyINOS oy} JO oaNjoojTYyoue onbsouswioy [esses oy} UTeJed 0} PaIOAvOpUD JALY Se} TYoIe 944 ‘apBdeq_ UloySeY sTyQ JO USIsep oy) Ul SLOALIHOYV ‘NOLSONIAIT GNV SD9CIYSMOUL ‘HOLEMS AYVNININSYd “MYHVd IWHYLNSO DONIOVS ‘WNasnw BSHL 40 30vSv4 NuSiSva MSN y¥O3 NDIS3QG The American Museum Journal Vou. XI MAY, 1911 No. 5 PLANS FOR EXTENSION OF THE MUSEUM PRELIMINARY STUDIES TOWARD AN EXPANSION OF THE AMERICAN MUSEUM SUCH THAT FORCE AND A WIDE SCOPE WILL BE GIVEN TO THE INSTITU- TION’S EDUCATIONAL WORK IN THE GREAT NEW YORK OF THE FUTURE By Henry Fairfield Osborn \ , J 1TH this number is presented a preliminary study by Messrs. Trowbridge and Livingston, architects, for the new East Fag¢ade of the Museum, facing Central Park. The design has not been adopted either by the Committee on Buildings and Plans or by the Trustees, but its preparation at this stage is welcomed because of the oppor- tunity which it affords for a prolonged and careful consideration of the artistic requirements of a monumental building, and of the scientific and educational requirements of ideally related exhibits within this building. The design for the East Facade contemplates the future incorporation of the Museum within the general design of Central Park by the construction of a broad entrance roadway from the West Drive. Ultimately, no doubt, the lower reservoir in Central Park will be removed and an avenue of approach will connect the east and west sides of the Park and thus unite the Museum of Science with its sister Museum of Art at Eighty-second Street. This is in the far future, but nevertheless it deserves the early consideration of all those who are interested in the artistic growth of what is probably destined to be the greatest city of the world. In the design of this Eastern Fag¢ade, the architects have endeavored to retain the general Romanesque architecture of the Southern Facade, while modifying it in the direction of greater simplicity. It is obvious that a building of the vast proportions contemplated in the original plans of Calvert Vaux in 1871 and authorized by the Legislature in connection with the setting aside of Manhattan Square, must have an entrance of monu- mental size, and that this entrance must have a broad and dignified avenue of approach. The Museum will thus have three entrances. On Sundays and holidays when people come in large numbers from the direction of the Park, the Eastern Entrance will be most convenient together with the present 155 156 THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL historic South Entrance, with its included Memoria! Hall constituting a monument to the administration of President Jesup. During the entire summer season these two entrances, the Southern attracting by its shaded approach, will be most accessible; while for purposes of attendance at public lectures and for large classes from public schools, the contemplated Western Entrance will prove the most practical and readily accessible to the arteries of transportation of the city of the future. Since assuming office in 1908 the President’s interest has largely centered in a series of studies for the future development of the interior of the Mu- seum! to provide at once for expansion and to look toward an ideal future in an arrangement made both from the standpoint of a natural sequence and of an artistic impression upon the minds of visitors. A great natural history museum should impress the visitor with the grandeur and beauty, and with the orderliness and system of the processes of nature. Especially is natural sequence important, not only sequence of the exhibitions in each hall but also of the successive halls themselves. This is an educational principle of the utmost value. It is as important in natural history as it isin art. Visitors to the Berlin Museum will recall the simplicity and direct educational value of the arrangement of the picture galleries according to the sequence of Schools of Art in various countries. Exactly the same idea applies to a museum of natural history, yet with the exception of the Museum of Comparative Zoédlogy of Cambridge, arranged by the late Alexander Agassiz, no large scientific museum, to our knowledge, has yet embodied the idea of the natural relations of subjects or of the consequent natural groupings. In a geographic sequence for instance, the visitor would pass from country to country, as in course of travel. In studying the prehistoric life of North America, he would naturally pass from east to west; he would study the former inhabitants of Manhattan Island and the neighboring tribes along the eastern coast; then pass to the Central West, to the region of the Great Plains, to the Indians of the Southwest, and finally, to the past and present history of Mexico and Central America. Such geographic arrangement can be made to prevail naturally to a large extent on the west- ern or anthropological side of the Museum and also in certain halls on the 1 There are now in preparation two publications in which the proposed interior arrange- ment of the Museum will be set forth. The first of these is the second or Curators’ edition of the work entitled ‘‘ History, Plan and Scope of the American Museum of Natural History,” the Trustees’ edition of which was published in 1910. The second publication is an illus- trated folder showing the gradual steps which have been made in the development of the buildings of the Museum, beginning with the completion of the original South Transept in 1877 and ending with the presentation of the proposed future arrangement of the halls in th2 completed central portion and southern half of the Museum, the plans for which are now in the hands of the architects. The northern half of the Museum is left entirely for future consideration. a a PLANS FOR EXTENSION OF MUSEUM 157 zoological side. In the latter, a geographic arrangement is known as faunis- tic. The visitor may first enter the life of Africa and Australia, follow into the life of Southern Asia, which we know historically to be only a detached portion of prehistoric African life; he may then pass to the life of Northern Asia which will bring him to the Polar Region, from which he will enter naturally the life of North America and pass southward into Central and South America. There is, however, another kind of sequence to which other series of halls of the Museum may be devoted — namely, the sequence of evolution. Thus on the anthropological side the visitor may compare the more primi- tive races of man, including the origin of man, with the more civilized races; he may follow the slow steps of progress from our very remote ancestors of two hundred thousand years ago through the so-called Eolithic stages until he reaches Man of the Bronze and of the Iron Ages. Similarly he may trace the first steps of nature and the subsequent stages from the lower into the higher forms of plant and animal life. The most impressive example of evolutionary sequence will be the series of connecting halls, to which it is hoped the Fourth Floor on the east side of the Museum may be devoted. Here the visitor will pass from the dawn of life reaching back millions of years, and in successive halls traverse the Ages of Molluses, of Fishes, of Amphibians, of Reptiles, finally reaching the first Age of Mammals, and then the Age of Man. In this final hall he may witness the earliest struggle between the primitive types of palzeolithic hunters and the noble forms of mammalian life which were to be found both in Europe and North America in the early period of man. There is still a third kind of sequence, that of systematic classification, which must be provided for in another series of halls. This is the prevailing system of all our great natural history museums of the present day, with the exception of the Agassiz Museum at Cambridge, in which the animals for the most part are arranged geographically. In the sequence of classifica- tion, the visitor will find all the animals of a certain kind, from whatever part of the world they may have been collected, assembled for comparative study. Thus for example, he will be able to compare with one another all the members of the Horse Family whether collected in Africa, in Western Europe or in Asia. It has proved possible to provide amply in the development of the southern half of the great American Museum building of the future for all three of these various kinds of sequence — geographic, evolutionary and systematic. The plan, in its general features, will be submitted for the approval of the members of the Scientific Staff of the Museum. It has already been welcomed by experts from other institutions in this country 158 THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL and abroad as marking a very important advance in the educational arrange- ment of natural history museums. It is believed that this arrangement will meet both the exacting demands of the specialist and also impress upon the minds of the uninitiated visitors, young and old, the greatest lesson, per- haps, that Nature has to teach us — namely, the reign of law and order. There are, however, other objects to be attained in the new plans for the enlargement of the Museum. Chief among these are ample provisions for branches of natural sciences which heretofore have not been included within the field of any museum of natural history, but have been pre- sented more or less successfully in isolated forms in kindred museums. These are principally the subjects of Astronomy, of Geography and of Oceanography. Berlin has its popular Astronomic Museum known as “Urania.” It also has its Oceanographic Museum, established under the patronage of Emperor William as a result of the extraordinary interest aroused in oceanographic research by the voyage of Nansen and of sugges- tions made by Sir John Murray in Berlin at the subsequent Geographic Congress. Later a finely equipped oceanographic museum was established at Monte Carlo by the Prince of Monaco in connection with his own marine explorations. More recently the Prince has established an Institute of Oceanography in Paris. To our knowledge however, there is no museum at present devoted to Geography or to Physiography. Yet these subjects are quite as intimately related to the distribution of animals and plants and to the general laws which govern living beings as is Oceanography. The interest of the public in Astronomy has already been witnessed in the American Museum in the models of the planetary system at present installed on the First Floor and of the rotating earth on the Second Floor. There is no doubt that a treatment of both Geography and Oceanography would subserve the public educational needs of the City. It is far better for the American Museum to bring these subjects within its walls in New York City and thus assemble all the phenomena of nature under one roof, rather than to wait until smaller institutions for these branches spring up as they are doing in Berlin, in Paris and in other cities. Thus in addition to designs for the future building itself, careful study is being put on the ideal arrangement of subjects and collections within this building. This study takes into account the broad relations of the living and inanimate worlds as conceived in the minds of Humboldt, Darwin and other great naturalists. These relations underlie the physica! welfare of man. They cannot be omitted from the plan. In fact the American Museum in the establishment of its Department of Public Health has already entered this new field of service and of public instruction, which will bring still closer within its influence the well-being of the people of New York. OCEANOGRAPHIC WORK ON THE ALBATROSS United States Fish Commission Steamship Albatross continues the land collecting in Lower California and the oceanographic work in the waters adjacent according to prearranged schedule. The following quotations from Dr. Townsend’s letters give suggestions of the expedition’s work. P | \HE Museum Expedition under Acting Director Townsend in the Maapauena Bay, L. C., March 18, 1911 We left San Diego March 7 for work farther south. The program is being car- ried out very much as originally planned, that is we spend our days ashore and our nights at sea, jogging along slowly and economically with steam on one boiler only. Four or five days at each anchorage would be better than merely one or two, but even as it is we shall have a fair representation of the sea and land fauna of Lower Cali- fornia. Occasionally we take half a day for a run out beyond the five hundred fathom line to dredge. Mr. Bell has already some fine molds of deep sea fishes and invertebrates; however, we shall do three times as much dredging on our return trip, not having to land shore parties. The collection of shore fishes and invertebrates is naturally the largest. A few sweeps of the large seines give us barrels of fishes to select from, while invertebrates are easy to get at low tide. We visited San Benito and Cedros islands, obtaining fair representations of the land forms peculiar to them. We shall do some deep-water dredging on the way to Cape St. Lucas, our next stop. The climate could not be better. The awnings are spread, and I am sorry to see the days slipping by so rapidly. La Paz, L. C., March 26, 1911 To-morrow evening we begin to move up the Gulf, taking in both islands and mainland. We now have about five hundred birds, with other Jand forms in smaller numbers. Going up the Gulf coast we shall make trials for mountain sheep and antelope. We have coyotes, rabbits, wood rats and mice in large numbers. Dr. Rose will have the bulk of the collections. His boxes, crates and barrels of villainous cacti are filling the ship. GuaymMas, Mexico, April 15, 1911 After leaving La Paz, the “wlbateoss made a trip up the Gulf as far as Angel de la Guarda Island. From there we crossed the Gulf to Tiburon Island, then to San Estéban Island, coming from there to Guaymas to-day. We leave to-night for La Paz to get coal for the homeward voyage, calling at Santa Catalina, Espiritu Santo and Cerralvo islands. We have 600 birds, 200 mammals, perhaps 400 lizards and snakes. We are shipping to the New York Zodélogical Park by express to-day two crates of live snakes and large-sized lizards. Our collections are largely from unexplored islands and undoubtedly contain new species. We shall pick up some good things on the islands between here and La Paz; then dredge in deep water all the way to San Francisco. 159 apis Aq OPIS pojstxo AT[VOI UMOYS SOIN}VIID OY} IVY} ‘a1OJo1oY} VOUBPTAD 4Soq VY} YIM ‘puRpOoS JO suOYSpuURE Poy PIO out ul JoAR] Yor o[SuIs B@ pu (AQIBUIOID) AJITVOOT O[SUIS B UOIJ OUTRO poJUESeIdod SULIOJ 949 YOM UT ‘URTUOADG, ,,‘Seysy JO a5ev,, [RoIdA} oY} sejRysny dnoas poeyeyduios oy, 4 ‘dnoais pejyons ysuoda1 & JO 9UIBY} OY} POllod YOR oyeUL OF pue SaYysy Jo ,,SeBeV,, 10 SpOMed OMsSIIeIORIVYO Vy} JOaTes 0} :sIya APotiq st ued oy, ‘puny 9Spoq “HT purpeasg}[D oY} UI paplAoid useq Apeod[e SUIABY suBaUT ot} ‘ ‘SUIATL SW Iveodde sulIoy JUSTOUR asi UO PoLLIVd oq [ITM SoLios 94} 7eYI [NJssedons Os poAaolid sey JueUTTIedxe 9Yyy pue ay} SULYVUE Ul OUOp oq UD VeYM JO BOpPI UB SOATS AJOT[eS YSy oy} Ul soe[d ul gnd useq MOU sey YIM , uInLIenbe TIssoy,, V AY31T1VS HSI4d 3H1L NI «WNIYWVNOV TISSOS., MAN 3SHL O9T THE NEW “ FOSSIL AQUARIUM ”’ By Bashford Dean history of the backboned animals. They occur in practically all layers of rock which yield fossils, having lived during a longer range in time than amphibians, reptiles and mammals; and it is well known that in the succession of the fishes from age to age, one can trace the changes which have taken place in their kinds and can show how some kinds became transformed into others, and thus how evolution proceeded. However interesting this may be in theory, everyone will admit that it is a difficult matter to make clear to the Museum’s visitor the lesson of fossil fishes, or even to display them in an attractive way. As a rule they appear in slabs of rock only as faint impressions of what they were in life, and he who enters the fossil fish gallery, if he has no knowledge of fishes, is not apt to examine these slabs of rock attentively and try to learn their meaning. He is more interested when he sees models of living fishes placed side by side with their fossil relatives, and he is still more interested if he sees a restoration, better in a cast. than in a picture, of the fossils them- selves. Such a restoration may in many cases be legitimately provided since the fossil fishes in their numerous specimens give the facts clearly upon which models can be prepared. A “fossil aquarium” has now been put on exhibition-in the fish gallery. With it is a label explaining the Devonian age, naming the fishes illus- trated and telling how the more ancient groups are giving place to the more modern ones. Thus it is shown that the race of bony fishes, which represents about ninety-nine per cent of all living fishes, had not yet appeared; that on the other hand, the tribe of sturgeons and garpike, now almost extinct, made up about a quarter of all Devonian forms; that sharks, which are but a small fractional percentage of all living fishes, made up about one-third of all kinds then known; while finally, that the placo- derms, a group long extinct and even of uncertain kinships, constituted forty per cent of the ancient fish fauna. In preparing this “fossil aquarium,” questions as to the nature of the water, the character of the bottom and its vegetation were investigated by Dr. Hussakof; the models of the fishes were prepared after restorations of specialists, but revised in numerous points in accordance with actual speci- mens. The colors could not, of course, be given infallibly; the best that could be done was to follow the nearest living relatives of the ancient forms. The design of the group and the color work were carried out by Mr. Charles R. Knight, and his results are realistic and attractive. ae fishes have a special meaning to those who seek light upon the 161 A TREE CLIMBING RUMINANT By W. D. Matthew T seems somewhat paradoxical to imagine a ruminant climbing trees. There are stories of goats doing so, but these stories seem to be more or less apocryphal as far as any real climbing goes. Even the narrow sharp-pointed hoofs of a goat do not give the necessary grasp, and his limbs and feet are too stiff and limited in their motion. The only living members of the Ungulata or hoofed mammals which really climb trees are the coneys or hyracoids, especially the little tree-coney or Dendrohyrax of South Africa. This little animal, about the size of a rabbit and somewhat like one in appearance, is in many respects the kind of animal from which we conceive that all the Ungulates are descended, and like the earliest fossil Ungulates it has four separate digits on each forefoot and a rudiment of the inner digit. This kind of foot, and the more flexible limb with which it is associated, enables him to climb readily, to cling to branches and to live in the trees as well as on the ground. A similar adaptation is seen in most of the clawed animals or Unguiculates; while we find the limb and foot still further adapted to arboreal life in all of the Primates except man. 162 A TREE CLIMBING RUMINANT 163 All living hoofed animals however, except the Hyrax, have the feet modified for walking and running upon the ground, in such a way as to gain in speed and endurance at the expense of a loss in flexibility of the foot, and none of them are able to climb trees. This is especially true of the Ruminants, in which the foot is very much specialized for running pur- poses, the metapodial bones of the two middle digits united inte a single bone, the “cannon bone,” and the two outer digits reduced to little rudi- ments known as “dew-claws,” so that the animal walks and runs entirely upon the tips of the hoofs of the central digits. Compare this type of foot with the soft flexible sharp-clawed foot of a cat, and it is easy enough to see why a cat can climb a tree and a ruminant cannot. The most primitive extinct ruminants had four separate digits of nearly equal size, and this condition is retained in all the Oreodonts, a family of pig-like Ruminants very common in North America during the Tertiary. But these Oreodonts were probably quite as exclusively terrestrial in their habits as the modern pigs and peccaries, in which the digits are also separate, although the side toes are much reduced in size. The Agriocherus however, while a member of the Oreodont family, and like them provided with ruminating teeth, had the limbs and feet modified in such a way as to enable it to climb trees as readily as a jaguar or other large cat. The hoofs are so narrowed as to be actually converted into a sort of claw; the articulations of the digits, wrist- and limb-bones are modified so as to give throughout limbs and feet the same flexible joints which we find in the cats and in all tree-climbing animals. The animal also differs from the other Oreodonts in that the front teeth are adapted for browsing upon leaves and twigs instead of cropping grass or other herbage. These modifications from the usual Oreodont type appear to be adap- tations for climbing trees to feed upon their foliage. This theory is embodied in the mounted skeleton of Agriochwrus. The animal is repre- sented as walking out along a sloping branch of a tree, the branch being modeled in imitation of the fossil tree trunks often found in the Tertiary formations of the West. Like any large cat in a tree, he seems a little uncertain and shaky in his movements, and is inclined to cling tight with bent limbs, lacking the assured and confident step of a truly arboreal animal such as a monkey or lemur. The Agriocherus lived during the Oligocene epoch in Western North America, and then became extinct. Why, we do not know, but we may suppose that it was only partly arboreal, and that the handicap of its clumsiness upon the ground was more than enough to offset the advantage of being able to climb trees, when pursued by the improved races of Car- nivora that were being evolved about this time. BAGOBO FINE ART COLLECTION By Laura Watson Benedict HE tendency of a savage tribe to express its love for beauty in the form of decorative art is shown in some detail in a collection from the Bagobo tribe of southern Mindanao, recently installed in the Philippine Hall. Whether we examine basketry or wood-carving, textiles or embroidery or beadwork, we find a minute attention to form, a correct sense for color contrasts, a fine discrimination in decorative finish. A Bagobo youth from the mountains of southern Min- danao in typical beaded dress. The Bagobo has a passionate love for decoration 164 The Bagobo tribe, numbering a few thou- sand, forms one of the groups of pagan Malays living clustered in villages over the mountains and foothills that range back from the west coast of the gulf of Davao. They are a people of singular beauty, with clear golden-brown skin, earnest wide-open eyes, and mobile faces changing from deep seriousness in repose to sparkling vivacity in conversation. In dress both women and men have un- usually good taste and as fashions never vary from generation to generation, there comes no mandatory decree to change a good style. A more picturesque sight is rare to find than a party of Bagobo coming down a mountain trail in single file, walking with swift free step, the men in short trousers and open jackets, long black hair streaming over their shoulders, and richly beaded carrying-bags on their backs; the women in scant-bodied, scarlet-sleeved camisas and straight skirts woven in lustrous pictured patterns, and wearing their hair in glossy coils secured by beaded combs. Bright- colored kerchiefs adorn the heads of women and men; sparkling in their ears are ivory and inlaid plugs; around their necks hang pendants of finely carved seeds and braided beadwork and strung petals. Tassels of sweet- scented roots and toothbrushes of boars’ bristles dangle from jacket and neckband, while bordering bag, basket and scabbard, and tinkling from hollow leglet or armlet are hun- BAGOBO FINE ART COLLECTION 165 dreds upon hundreds of tinkling bells that announce the approach of the Bagobo. If the Bagobo people could come to New York and see their belongings arranged in a great hall in sight of all visitors, their joy would be un- bounded. When I made this collection in the Bagobo country, the people came flocking daily to my little nipa hut, less perhaps to visit me than to see their own things and identify each other’s property and get current prices on jackets and trousers. Nowhere else in their villages could they find such a lot of Bagobo objects together, or test so many guitars and flutes, or examine such a bristling array of spears. That an American should want Bagobo specimens called forth no surprise; rather it seemed to them highly natural that every scrap of Bagobo workmanship from a richly deco- rated war shield down to some mean and filthy garment should be sought after and prized, for all the Bagobo admire every Bagobo product with a self-complacency that is both amusing and appealing. “Bagobo things, Sefora!’’ came the pass- word always uttered with an exultant note as a preliminary toward higgling the market with me. On reaching the Islands, I heard on all sides from white foreigners that it was almost hopeless to try to secure Bagobo objects, that the time was past for making a collection. It is true that a Bagobo parts with any one of his possessions reluctantly, and prizes each at double its material value because of intimate personal associations. But up to that time no account had been taken of certain emotional interests that had never before been appealed to, and that found expression as soon as a big collection began to grow. There was an undefined pleasure in knowing that over yonder in the Senora’s house their things were perpet- ually in contact with other Bagobo things. Now when Atun made the rounds of my Her leglets are made of tubes of little museum and asked the usual ques- brass which contain metal balls that > ; . R roll freely and produce a _ tinkling tions: “Whose is this?’ How much did you — gound as she walks 166 THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL pay for it?” he had a left-out-feeling if he found nothing that represented himself. But if he could hold up just one article and say, “ Kanak” (mine) or “My wife made it,” he would give a radiant smile and sit down content. Again, there was an appeal to the conservative tendencies of the people. More than one thoughtful Bagobo expressed a lively satisfaction at the prospect of a great Bagobo collection being carefully kept in an American museum forever. When the news spread there awakened a new feeling toward my work. One old woman secretly brought me a rare embroidered scarf, an heirloom that she handled tenderly, for her mother had worn it to hold the baby on her hip, and she said that it had carried many, © babies, that few old women remembered how to do that sort of needlework, and that she would never let it go, ex- cept that it might always be with the rest of the Bagobo things in America. That piece of embroidery was done under conditions hard to comprehend. Dur- Oy, ing the day Bagobo women naa CLS have little time for faney Mancastt\ on stitching, with all the cook- ing and the long climb to the river for water and the work of the loom — for the weaving must be done by daylight, as UMS AW * no native lamp can illumine Yn OY A the floor space covered by the GROSS hand loom. But when dark- % ness falls sewing and em- broidery can be done. A girl or young man fixes a leaf-wrapped resin torch in A searf worn over the right shoulder and under the the cleft end of a forked left arm as a hammock in which a child is carried on branch that stands on the the mother’s hip. This particular specimen is of fine floor and serves as the native old embroidery, now almost a lost art among the . Bagobo vandelabrum. The torch is ROG AEY oe setae a ¥ = A 7 WORK ON AFRICAN LARGE GAME 175 Africa, has been done by Mr. Frederick Blaschke, who had training as a sculptor at Budapest under Professor Strobl, at Berlin in the Academy of Science, at Paris under Rodin and at Munich in the Academy of Drawing. The modeling and mounting of the hippo involved technical difficulties in the giant size of the animal and in the character of the skin adapted to water life, and the result is remarkable as an example of the application of modeling to the taxidermy work of a museum. The Zebra Group, repre- senting a family of the Grant zebra, is a quiet but vigorous composition and shows Mr. Blaschke’s skill in handling technique and his ability to interpret animal life. The work of a sculptor in a museum of natural history must stand for scientific truth, for accurate presentation — not of a few details, but of every detail. In this it differs from the work of an anima! sculptor in art, where detail may be wholly subordinated to action or character. In animal sculpture for science however, it would be unfortunate if the art ideal of showing the essential spirit of an animal were lacking, most fortunate if the sculptor combined with his power of accuracy an appreciation and sympathy which would give him ability to see life from the given animal’s standpoint and to set forth convincingly in spite of the intrusion of details the impression in his mind. To use one of the examples at hand, a zebra must stand before the Museum’s visiting public as a representative of a given genus and species, and it may be mounted to show haunt and typical habits; but there will be no confusion as to its scientific status if in addition to technica! accuracy the work be done to give an understanding of this animal’s characteristic timidity and nervous activity, and thus the finer conception of the zebra living be set forth and the strong human interest of a work of art realized. This conception is rather well achieved in the present zebra group notwith- standing that the group represents a composition of animals in repose. The group stands against the walls of the African Hall with no habitat con- structed about it, yet there is so much alertness in the lines of the tense muscles of the male zebra that the suggestion is vividly apparent, to one who knows anything of wild African life, that this zebra is looking out over reaches of African country, alive to the possibility of an enemy’s approach. A new era for the natural history museum. came when the taxidermy method gave way to the careful delineation of the sculptor. It is likely that this change marks only the beginning of a new era however, the work having very large possibilities in an age when animal sculpture is at the highest level yet gained in its history. Hence it is, that unusual interest will attach to work done in this line during the immediate future, especially The clay model of Caliph. Making the model is the test of the sculptor’s power of accurate work. It is based on studies of living hippos, previous measurements of the animal to be mounted, exact proportions gained from the skeleton, and on a knowledge of anatomy which will allow a modeling of the surface to suggest the living muscles underneath Working on a plaster ‘*‘ piece mold’ of the clay model Mr. J. C. Bell is a member of the staff of the Museum’s Department of Preparation and is at present on the Oceanographic Expedition under Dr. Charles H. Townsend in the Pacific, making a series of plaster and glue molds of deep sea fishes and invertebrates A portion of the piece mold with clay model removed. This has on its interior, of course, a perfect impression of the hippo model, and will give a positive or cast of this impression to soft plaster placed against this interior. The mold of the hippo was thirteen feet long The plaster cast, or manikin, partly uncovered as the piece mold is being removed. The cast is hollow, requisite strength being gained by the introduction of burlap into the plaster before it sets I 178 THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL with the Museum’s plans in hand for okapi, white rhinoceros, elephant and still other mammal groups. No ability can prove too great to bring to the work, no training too thorough, no understanding of animal life too CALIPH, THEIR OLD FRIEND, AT THE MUSEUM The great hippo skin, weighing 1200 pounds, was shaved down to 68 pounds, and placed over the plaster manikin, the two fitting together in every wrinkle and fold profound. In fact, the highest standard for the work is made imperative by the need of an adequate and permanent record of the world’s large game, : | much of which is destined to become extinct. THE CROW INDIANS OF MONTANA By Robert H. Lowie white visitors who make pilgrimages to the historic site of the Custer Battle Field, a short distance from Crow Agency, or who paint or photograph the Indians. Nevertheless, this splendid people, whose lofty bearing and gorgeous dress were the admiration of the early explorers of the’ Plains, have preserved to a considerable extent the spirit of the old times and prove an endless source of delight to the visiting ethnologist. Foremost among the religious.observances of the Crow is the Tobacco Dance. This is not a single dance, but a cycle of beautiful and impressive performances beginning in the early spring when the seeds of the tobacco are sown and terminating with the gathering in of the crop. The plant thus cultivated is raised exclusively for its religious value, and is so highly prized that the Crow are willing to purchase a small bag of seeds at the price of a horse. Only duly adopted members of the several Tobacco societies are permitted to plant seeds in the Tobacco garden, where each society occupies a clearly defined plot and each couple initiated may drop seeds in two rows. P | SHE Crow Reservation has been for years the Mecca of innumerable I was fortunate enough to witness an adoption ceremony held by one of the Tobacco societies. The members of the society together with the candidate to be adopted met in a tipi for the preparatory painting and singing. Here there were many songs and at each song the women rose, unwrapped their sacred bundles and danced. When, with much ceremony, the preparations were completed, all marched toward the adoption lodge, four stops being made on the way, in accordance with the sacred number of this people. On entering the large canvas-covered lodge, the drummers sat down at one side of an altar-like structure symbolizing the Tobacco garden. Continually during the formal and impressive ceremony, small groups of women, or more rarely of men, with their eagle-feather fans, sacred birds’ head decorations, and weasel or otter skins, rose and gently swayed their bodies and moved their arms rhythmically back and forth. Toward noon the friends of the candidate heaped up blankets and other property in his behalf, as a payment to his adoptive “parent,” as the person initiating him is called. By way of actual initiation of the candidate he was taken between two men standing at the foot of the altar and danced four dances with them, at the same time learning the songs. It was late in the afterncon when the closing song was chanted, after which all members seized little green sprigs and raised them aloft to symbolize and to promote the growth of the sacred Tobacco. While the Tobacco ceremonies showed the serious side of the native 179 39007 NOIldOQGv 3HL'SHYSLNS NOISSSOOUd AHL Ost > Ie AUOUIOIID JVOIS YIM 9ORId SITY UI SoOURP [eNPIAIpPU YoRs pue us_yReq ore SUINIp O[IYM SURIPUT OSey} JO JoquINU posoRS 9} 0} SuTpPasoooOR opel oie sdojs Moy ‘oJepIpurd & Jo UOMeYTUT oY} JOJ OSpoT UONdOopy oy) 03 AVA OY) UO SNVIGNI MOYO AHL SO ALZBIOOS ODOVESOL CROW INDIANS OF MONTANA 181 character, the annual performances of the clowns refuted the popular fallacy that the Indians are devoid of humor.