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ANNUAL REPORT OF THE 
BOARD OF REGENTS OF 


THE SMITHSONIAN 
INSTITUTION 


SHOWING THE 


OPERATIONS, EXPENDITURES, AND 
CONDITION OF THE INSTITUTION 
FOR THE YEAR ENDING JUNE 30 


BO 


(Publication 2879) 


UNITED STATES 
GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 
WASHINGTON 
1927 


as oe em 


ADDITIONAL COPIES 
OF THIS PURTICATION MAY BE PROCURED FROM 
THE SUPERINTENDENT OF DOCUMENTS 
GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 


WASHINGTON, D. C. 
AT y 


$1.75 PER COPY (Bound) 


LETTER 


FROM THE 


SECRETARY OF THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 


SUBMITTING 


THE ANNUAL REPORT OF THE BOARD OF REGENTS OF THE 
INSTITUTION FOR THE YEAR ENDING JUNE 30, 1926 


SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 
Washington, November 18, 1926. 
To the Congress of the United States: 

In accordance with section 5593 of the Revised Statutes of the 
United States, I have the honor, in behalf of the Board of Regents, 
to submit to Congress the annual report of the operations, expendi- 
tures, and condition of the Smithsonian Institution for the year 
ending June 30, 1926. I have the honor to be, 

Very respectfully, your obedient servant, 
C. D. Watcort, 
Secretary. 


Tit 


CONTENTS 


Page. 
Het AOr Gmelin ls a ee ee ie _ Xi 
‘The: Smithsonian’ Mstitunion. olan se sits nee ye Sete eS eo Saher 1 
her estaplishment === ese OE a eng Se aR ees 1 
The Board of Regents Ses 22 let Nib yen ie 2 eee Bera ee ey 2 
General considerations = 4—4 = ee ES LE ee ye 
BESTT ER Y1G GS farted nae Se ene ta SEU Fok a ed Sieh he) ee BY 5 
Researches’and explorations! 222% Siu sey) At bees ieee 8 
Geological explorations in the Canadian Rockies____--_-__--__- 8 
Collecting fossil footprints: in Arizonal2 tees se pee Bae 9 
Biological collecting in western China__~-_-__-_--___-____---_- 10 
Study of the crustacean fauna of South America____------_-~-~ 11 
Anthropological studies in southern Asia, Java, Australia, and 
South Aare Os SUR ae aE TS A AEE ee 12 
Archeological studies -in--Mississippi_——-—-.-..=.--.---. 2222 15 
Smithsonian “Pa iO Cages tee SO kh as YR ee ee Oa 16 
Smithsonian exhibit at the Sesquicentennial_______________-____---- 18 
Publications. "2 ee. Sel eRe Sie ee eS OA ed 19° 
SN a fo ea Vy a I Ge Es ST PU VES Ee AE TD al 
INGTON AL? MES Gury ee 2 REL PETE Rte ES ELISE Dey Pry ee 22 
NatonaleGalleryOf cA Tha) ene eh oe SEP Ck 24 
Hreer Gallery Of Ag ta Sh nd a BI TE ee ae 25 
Bureauo. American Hthnology =~ =~ ee ee ee a 26 
international lH xchangese <3 Ueeeek Or ES a Se eee ee fe 28 
Nationals Zoological Parikr 22 2300. be CEU aie SOE a Sik Pe 29 
ASLLOPHYSical- Observatory oes: = tht Eee Ta ets SE OTE th Sy oo 3 
International Catalogue of Scientific Literature____________________-__-_ 31 
TO KEKCA OS COPA pes Bh ee nh Pd SS Ba ap 1 SE oA YD ESE Se ge SS pees 32 
Appendix 1. Report on the United States National Museum_________-_~_ 34 
2. -Report, on-the National Gallery. of Arte s- Vout wus wrth 50 
3. Report, on the Freer Gallery of ‘Artus_.o {Wu te 61 
4. Report on the Bureau of American Ethnology____________-_ 63 
5. Report on the International Exchanges___________________ 18 
6. Report on the National Zoological Park_______ EAL. See 91 
7. Report on the Astrophysical Observatory_________________ 108 
8. Report on the International Catalogue of Scientific 
DOr ey Pel epee — See See ee Oe ee ee Semen an euey PORE eee ct 119 
SPE VOLEO Uy Pes ORI yee es ee oe 2? 
LOS VEpPOLl (OM | PUDMCATONS 2s. 1 She a 131 


VI CONTENTS 


GENERAL APPENDIX 


Mhewnew, Outlook in «COSMoOsOny Dydd CONS a= ae eae ee eee 
Influences of sun rays on plants and animals, by C. G. Abbot__--__-_----- 
Onithe evolutionvot theistans, DyiC.. GaAbDOls=—- === ee eee 
Excursions on the planets, by Lucien Rudaux—___-_________________-_- 
High frequency rays of cosmic origin, by R. A. Millikan______________- 
The present status of radio atmospheric disturbances, by L. W. Austin_- 
Ole T Ayu HavIN CWE ON EMAL V CU ee ce ee es Bee 
Scientific work of the Maud expedition, 1922-1925, by H. U. Sverdrup___- 
iMherromancer ot, carpon by Atthury DD.) Wattles a= a eee 
The cause of earthquakes; especially those of the eastern United States, 

Dye Walliampelerbert ob bse 2 seo pee ees 2 a ee ee ee 
ithe locssob Ohineg.. by George. DAaTNOUR2 = 222s eee 
A visit to the gem districts of Ceylon and Burma, by Frank D. Adams__- 
The history of organic evolution, by John M. Coulter____________--____ 
Barro Colorado Island Biological Station, by Alfred O. Gross___--------- 
Geography and evolution in the pocket gophers of California, by Joseph 

CUTE T Gk hE a Se pel a a el a eg ak ae 
How beavers build their houses, by Vernon Bailey_______--_-_--_----.-- 
The mosquito-fish (Gambusia), and its relation to malaria, by David 

ASU SUITS eh TLR TD ge LE ak Sa ee hs Sb Dee ee al 
The effect of aluminum sulphate on rhododendrons and other acid-soil 

plants oby,Hrederick: Vi. Cowles cee ots le oe 2 ae ae a 
Eastern Brazil through an agrostologist’s spectacles, by Agnes Chase___- 
Our heritage from the American Indians, by W. E. Safford____________- 
The parasite element of natural control of injurious insects and its control 

YAMS cy plo OR EVO Warde 2 22 ONS ee a ee ge 
Hracrant pucteriies: by Austin He Clark= 22 sees 2 Se ae 
hesritualpulliight; by Cow. Bishopia22. 0) 22 as eee eee ee 
The bronzes of Hsin-Chéng Hsien, by C. W. Bishop________-__-__- 
The Katcina altars in Hopi worship, by J. Walter Fewkes___-__________ 
Omaha bow and arrow makers, by Francis La Flesche_________________ 
The National Park of Switzerland, by G. Edith Bland___________________ 
Samuel Slater and the oldest cotton machinery in America, by Frederick 

Pen oe wt0n 2... eee SA te 2 oe ahh OP a ee = 
reventive medicine: by Mark i), Boyd its 42. eee 
Maltiom:’ Bateson, by !T.. Fi. Morgans auntie. ne te loa eee 
Euakamerlingh Onnes; by. (vA. dtreeti~ 2 te ple os eee ee ye 


LIST OF PLATES 


Sun Rays (Abbot): 
Plates tose eee see 
Evolution of Stars (Abbot) : 
Plates Gate. 2 he eee 
Excursions on the Planets 
(Rudaux) : 
PlALeS) 11 Aer ee 0s Tene ee 
Loess of China (Barbour) : 
LEA ESy ekg LS ola ee a 
Gem Districts of Ceylon and 
Burma (Adams) : 
et aCS i = One eee ee ee 
Barro Colorado Island (Gross) : 
elaiesil— Gs Slee Sees 
Pocket Gophers (Grinnell) : 


Beavers’ Houses (Bailey) : 
Jel C2) 2s el 9S Sc i A pee 
Mosquito Fish (Jordan) : 
Biantesenl Aue See ens te 
Acid-soil Plants (Coville) : 
PiAtes) el lee eo 
Wastern Brazil (Ohase) : 
Plates) dO ease oe oo 


Page 


Heritage from American Indians 
(Safford) : 
Plates. Aeon 2 eae ee 
Fragrant Butterflies (Clark) : 
j Sel o's Riot a I ahi cata ee 
Ritual Bullfight (Bishop) : 
Plates Saou hao ie ele 
Bronzes of Hsin-Chéng Hsien 
(Bishop) : 
1 Eg ES) Wel HOM Ie’ Meee ame belega gan ECan a 
Hopi Katcina Altars (Mewkes) : 
Paes Pel ae ee 
1 2) Ea yA Aaa ge Ae 
Bistends= S2e 2 = ea 
Omaha Bow and Arrow Makers 
(La Flesche) : 
IPTates) dae ee ee ee 
Swiss National Park (Bland): 
LCOS Slt eae ee 
Oldest Cotton Machinery (Lew- 
ton) : 
Plates oe == ees oS 


VII 


468 
469 
470 
474 


494 


504 


yeeath ‘ Phare 

} ae ; 

! a BRR 
ees 


ANNUAL REPORT OF THE BOARD OF REGENTS OF THE SMITHSONTAN 
INSTITUTION FOR THE YEAR ENDING JUNE 30, 1926. 


SUBJECTS 


1. Annual report of the secretary, giving an account of the opera- 
tions and condition of the Institution for the year ending June 30, 
1926, with statistics of exchanges, etc. 

2. Report of the executive committee of the Board of Regents, 
exhibiting the financial affairs of the Institution, including a state- 
ment of the Smithsonian fund, and receipts and expenditures for 
the year ending June 30, 1926. 

3. Proceedings of the Board of Regents for the fiscal year ending 
June 30, 1926. 

4, General appendix, comprising a selection of miscellaneous 
memoirs of interest to collaborators and correspondents of the Insti- 
tution, teachers, and, others engaged in the promotion of knowledge. 
These memoirs relate chiefly to the calendar year 1926. 

IX 
208387—27T———2 


' pe ke on 
ALOE SE 


r 


THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION 


June 30, 1926 


Presiding officer ex officio—Catvin Cooniper, President of the United States. 
Chancellor.—Witt1aAM Howarp Tart, Chief Justice of the United States. 


Members of the Institution: 
CALVIN CooLipar, President of the United States. 
CHarLes G. Dawes, Vice President of the United States. 
Witt1aM Howarp Tart, Chief Justice of the United States. 
FRANK B. Kettoae, Secretary of State. 
ANDREW W. MELton, Secretary of the Treasury. 
Dwieut Fury Davis, Secretary of War. 
Joun G. Sargent, Attorney General. 
Harry S. New, Postmaster General. 
Curtis D. Wi~pur, Secretary of the Navy. 
Hupert Work, Secretary of the Interior. 
Wiuu1amM M. Jarpine, Secretary of Agriculture. 
HERBERT CLARK Hoover, Secretary of Commerce. 
JAMES JOHN Dayis, Secretary of Labor. 


Regents of the Institution: 
Witt1amM Howarp Tart, Chief Justice of the United States, Chancellor. 
CHARLES G. DAWES, Vice President of the United States. 
REED Smoot, Member of the Senate. 
GEORGE WHARTON PrEpPPER, Member of the Senate. 
WoopsripcE N. Ferris, Member of the Senate. 
ALBERT JOHNSON, Member of the House of Representatives. 
R. WALTON Moore, Member of the House of Representatives. 
WALTER H. Newton, Member of the House of Representatives. 
CHARLES F, CHOATE, Jr., citizen of Massachusetts. 
Henry WHITE, citizen of Washington, D. C. 
Rosert §. BRooKines, citizen of Missouri. 
IRWIN B. LAUGHLIN, citizen of Pennsylvania. 
FRrepDERIC A, DELANO, citizen of Washington, D. C. 
DwicHt W. Morrow, citizen of New Jersey. 
Executive committee —HENRY WHITE, FrRepERIC A. DELANO, R. WALTON Moore. 
Secretary of the Institution—CHARLES D. WALCOTT. 
Assistant Secretary.—C. G. ABBOT, 
Assistant Secretary.—ALEXANDER WETMORE. 
Chief Clerk.—Harry W. Dorsey. 
Accounting and disbursing agent.—N. W. Dorsey. 
Editor.—W. P. TRuE. 
Librarian.—WILL1AM L. Corsin. 
Appointment clerk.—JAMES G. TRAYLOR. 


Property clerk.—J. H. Hitt, 
xI 


XII ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


NATIONAL MUSEUM 


Keeper ex officio —CHARLES D. WAtcort, Secretary of the Smithsonian Insti- 
tution. 

Assistant Secretary (in charge).—ALEXANDER WETMORE. 

Administrative assistant to the Secretary.—W. DE C. RAVENEL. 

Head curators.—WA.tTER HoucH, LEONHARD STEJNEGER, GEORGE P. MERRILL. 

Curators.—PAUL BartscH, R. 8S. Basster, T. T. BeLtotr, Austin H. CLarkK, 
Ff, W. CiLarKE, F. V. Covitte, W. H. DALL, CHARLES W. GILMORE, WALTER 
Hovueu, L. O. HowaArp, ALES HrpLticKa, Nem M. Jupp, H. W. Kriecer, F'rep- 
ERICK L. LEWTON, GEORGE P. MERRILL, GERRIT S. MILLER, jr., CArL W. Mit- 
MAN, RopertT Ripeway, WaALpo L. SCHMITT, LEONHARD STEJNEGER. 

Associate curators.—J. M. ALpRIcH, W. R. Maxon, CHARLES W. RicHMonpD, J. N. 
Rosg, PAuL C. STANDLEY, DAVID WHITE. 

Chief of correspondence and documents.—H. S. BRYAN’. 

Disbursing agent.—N. W. Dorsey. 

Superintendent of buildings and labor.—J. 8S. GoLpsMITH. 

Hditor—Marcus BENJAMIN. 

Photographer.—ARTHUR J. OLMSTED. 

Property clerk.—W. A. KNOWLES. 

Engineer.—C. R. DENMARK. 

Shipper.—L. Ki. PErry. 


NATIONAL GALLERY OF ART 
Director.—WILLIAM H. HouMEs. 
FREER GALLERY OF ART 


Curator.—JOHN ELLERTON Loner. 
Associate curator.—CarL WHITING BISHOP. 
Assistant curaior.—GRACE DUNHAM GUEST. 
Associate.—KATHARINE NASH RHOADES. 
Superintendent.—JOHN BUNDY. 


BUREAU OF AMERICAN BTHNOLOGY 


Chief.—J. WALTER FEWKES. 

Hthnologists—JOHN P. Harrineton, J. N. B. Hewitt, Francts LA FLEScHE, 
TRUMAN MICHELSON, JOHN R. SWANTON. 

Editor.—StTANLEY SEARLES. 

Librarian.—ELuaA LEARY. 

Illustrator.—DeE LANCEY GILL. 


INTERNATIONAL EXCHANGES 
Assistant secretary (in charge).—C. G. ABBOT. 
Chief clerk.—C. W. SHOEMAKER. 

NATIONAL ZOOLOGICAL PARK 


Director.—WILLIAM M. MANN. 
Assistant director.—A. B. BAKER. 
ASTROPHYSICAL OBSERVATORY 


Director.—C. G. ABBOT. 
Research assistant.—¥. E. Fow es, Jr. 
Research assistant.—L, B, ALDRICH. 


REGIONAL BUREAU FOR THE UNITED STATES, INTERNATIONAL 
CATALOGUE OF SCIENTIFIC LITERATURE 


Assistant in charge-—Lronarp C. GUNNELL. 


REPORT 


OF THE 


SECRETARY OF THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION 


CuHar.tes D. Watcotr 


FOR THE YEAR ENDING JUNE 30, 1926 


To the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution: 

GENTLEMEN: I have the honor to submit herewith the customary 
annual report showing the activities and condition of the Smith- 
sonian Institution and the Government bureaus under its adminis- 
trative charge during the fiscal year ended June 30, 1926. The 
first 833 pages of the report contain an account of the affairs of the 
Institution, and in Appendixes 1 to 10 are given more detailed sum- 
maries of the operations of the United States National Museum, the 
National Gallery of Art, the Freer Gallery of Art, the Bureau of 
American Ethnology, the International Exchanges, the National 
Zoological Park, the Astrophysical Observatory, the United States 
Regional Bureau of the International Catalogue of Scientific Litera- 
ture, the Smithsonian Library, and of the publications issued under 
the direction of the Institution. 


THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION 
THE ESTABLISHMENT 


The Smithsonian Institution was created by act of Congress in 
1846, according to the terms of the will of James Smithson, of 
England, who in 1826 bequeathed his property to the United States 
of America, “ to found at Washington, under the name of the Smith- 
sonian Institution, an establishment for the increase and diffusion of 
knowledge among men.” In receiving the property and accepting 
the trust, Congress determined that the Federal Government was 
without authority to administer the trust directly, and therefore con- 
stituted an “establishment” whose statutory members are “the 
President, the Vice President, the Chief Justice, and the heads of the 
executive departments.” 

1 


2 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 
THE BOARD OF REGENTS 


The affairs of the Institution are administered by a Board of 
Regents whose membership consists of “the Vice President, the 
Chief Justice, three Members of the Senate, and three Members of 
the House of Representatives, together with six other persons other 
than Members of Congress, two of whom shall be resident in the 
city of Washington, and the other four shall be inhabitants of some 
State, but no two of them of the same State.” One of the Regents 
is elected chancellor by the board; in the past the selection has 
fallen upon the Vice President or the Chief Justice; and a suitable 
person is chosen by the Regents as secretary of the Institution, who 
is also secretary of the Board of Regents and the executive officer 
directly in charge of the Institution’s activities. 

The following changes occurred in the personnel of the board 
during the year: The Hon. George Gray, of Delaware, died August 
7, 1925, and Mr. Dwight W. Morrow, of New Jersey, was appointed 
a citizen Regent on January 7, 1926, to fill the vacancy thus created. 

The roll of Regents at the close of the fiscal year was as iol- 
lows: William H. Taft, Chief Justice of the United States, chan- 
cellor; Charles G. Dawes, Vice President of the United States; 
members from the Senate—Reed Smoot, George Wharton Pepper, 
Woodbridge N. Ferris; members from the House of Representa- 
tives—Albert Johnson, R. Walton Moore, Walter H. Newton; citizen 
members—Charles F. Choate, jr., Massachusetts; Henry White, 
Washington, D. C.; Robert S. Brookings, Missouri; Irwin Bb. 
Laughlin, Pennsylvania; Frederic A. Delano, Washington, D. C.; 
and Dwight W. Morrow, New Jersey. 


GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS 


The Smithsonian Institution is a private establishment given to 
the American people by a philanthropic English gentleman for the 
increase and diffusion of knowledge among men. Out of its private 
investigations and collections grew up activities of immense public 
value. They have been the foundation of nine prominent Govern- 
ment bureaus. Of these, seven are still, by direction of Congress, 
administered by the Smithsonian Institution for the use of the public 
and for these public bureaus Congressional appropriations are 
made. ‘These appropriations are strictly limited to these special 
objects. It was out of investigations made by the Smith- 
sonian Institution, not out of any Government initiative, 
that these valuable public bureaus, including the Weather Bureau 
and the Fish Commission, grew up. Similarly, it is logical to 
suppose that out of the free activities of the Smithsonian Institu- 
tion great public benefits would arise in future if it had means 


* 


REPORT OF THE SECRETARY 3 


appropriate to its position as the national research institution. But 
in these days of high wages, high salaries, and high prices, the small 
income from the Smithsonian endowment, $65,000 annually—only as 
much in a year as the Carnegie Institution has for research in two 
weeks—is quite insufficient to make any considerable showing. 

This is what the Smithsonian Institution does: 

1. It carries on original scientific investigations by its own staff. 

2. It prints large memoirs and smaller original papers, publishes 
useful tables and formulas, and reprints informing articles on scien- 
tific progress suitable for the intelligent general reader, and dis- 
tributes these free to scientific and learned societies throughout the 
world. 

3. It answers by mail an average of 8,000 inquiries on scientific 
subjects annually, gratis. 

4. It gives occasional lectures and courses of lectures by eminent 
scientists. 

_5. It confers medals of honor on eminent discoverers. 

6. It subsidizes, if funds can be secured, approved researches by 
outside workers. 

7. It procures foreign diplomatic and learned recognition and 
assistance for expeditions going abroad. 

8. It fosters scientific development of schools, museums, and insti- 
tutions throughout the world by cooperation in the loan of research 
men, in the free distribution of over a million specimens, and in giv- 
ing its advice and its publications. 

9. It is the headquarters of the American Association for the Ad- 
vancement of Science. Until 1924 it was the headquarters and meet- 
ing place of the National Academy of Sciences. 

10. It is the official channel of exchange of scientific intelligence 
between the United States and the world. 

11. It contributes continually to the Library of Congress a large 
flow of foreign periodical and occasional scientific literature, which 
has now accumulated to over 500,000 volumes. 

12. It administers seven public governmental bureaus besides the 
reer Gallery. 

18. It disburses annually funds from four sources: 

(a) The income of its endowment, $65,000. 

(6) Sums intrusted by private individuals for special objects. 
Average five years—$70,000. 

(c) The income of the Freer bequest. Average five years— 
$190,000. 

(d) Congressional appropriations for seven public bureaus— 
$850,000. 

What the Smithsonian desires to do and be-—The Smithsonian In- 
stitution, ward of the American Nation, desires to bring out the hid- 


4. ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


den treasures of knowledge from the great collections under its care; 
to prosecute vigorously for the ultimate benefit of mankind its re- 
searches in astronomy, physics, chemistry, mathematics, geology, 
meteorology, and the life sciences; to publish amply, both for the 
specialist and the general reader; to answer generously those who 
seek its information. The Smithsonian Institution desires to con- 
tinue worthy of being, as it must forever be, the national institution 
for the increase and diffusion of knowledge among men. With these 
objects, it is unfitting that the endowment of the Smithsonian Insti- 
tution should be inadequate and so far inferior to the endowments 
of first-rank private institutions having no national status. 

In the report for 1925 I called attention to the fact that a sub- 
stantial addition to the Institution’s resources was imperative. The 
support of the few major researches at present carried on through 
gifts for specific investigations is becoming more and more precari- 
ous and the publications of the Institution are reduced to one-third 
ot their former number. To meet this situation, a direct effort was 
determined upon to increase the permanent endowment, and one 
step mentioned last year was an agreement made with the William 
T. De Van Corporation, of New York, to issue the Smithsonian 
Scientific Series, a series of illustrated popular science books to be 
written by members of the staff, describing in attractive form the 
activities of the Institution and the bureaus under its direction in 
many branches of science. The method at first proposed of pub- 
lishing the series was found to be impractical, and toward the close 
of the past fiscal year a new method was evolved which it is believed 
will be more successful. 

It was further noted in last year’s report that another project 
for imcreasing the Institution’s resources was under consideration 
but had not been definitely entered into by the close of the year. 
This project has since taken shape, and in November, 1925, the 
Board of Regents announced publicly that the Institution would go 
before the American public to raise an addition of $10,000,000 to its 
endowment fund. Since that time the officials of the Institution 
have been engaged in laying the necessary groundwork for such a 
campaign, and it is expected that the actual raising of money will 
begin during the coming autumn. The official announcement of the 
Board of Regents called attention to the totally inadequate present 
income of the Smithsonian, outlined briefly its past achievements 
and world-wide reputation, and mentioned the many important 
projects in the realm of pure science which it was equipped to 
undertake but had not the means for. The announcement concluded 
as follows: 


Current history proves that nations climb to higher standards of living 
on the ladder of science. It was Pasteur who claimed that “science is the 


REPORT OF THE SECRETARY 5 


soul of prosperity of nations and the living source of all progress. What really 
leads us forward are a few scientific discoveries and their application.” It is 
the recognition of this fact and of the part which the Smithsonian is called 
upon to play in contributing to the prosperity of the nation which leads the 
Board of Regents to turn to the people of the country for an addition of 
$10,000,000 to the Institution’s endowment. 

A number of major expeditions in the interests of science went 
out during the year under Smithsonian direction, through funds 
provided by friends of the Institution for these special projects. 
There should be mentioned particularly the Smithsonian-Chrysler 
expedition to East Africa for the purpose of obtaining live wild ani- 
mals for the National Zoological Park; the National Geographic So- 
ciety Solar Radiation Expedition Cooperating with the Smithsonian 
Institution, to equip and maintain for a period of years a solar radia- 
tion station in the Eastern Hemisphere to cooperate with the two now 
operated by the Smithsonian; Dr. AleS Hrdlitka’s anthropological 
expedition to southern Asia, Java, Australia, and South Africa, 
which covered over 50,000 miles, under the joint auspices of the Insti- 
tution and the Buffalo Society of Natural Sciences; and the first 
award of the Smithsonian’s Walter Rathbone Bacon Traveling Schol- 
arship, under which Dr. Waldo L. Schmitt, of the National Museum, 
conducted an extensive survey of the crustacean fauna of South 
America. All of these expeditions are briefly described elsewhere 


in this report. 
FINANCES 


The permanent investments of the Institution consist of the follow- 
ing: 


Deposited in the Treasury of the United States_______._________ $1, 000, 000. 00 


CONSOLIDATED FUND 


Miscellaneous securities, etc., either purchased or acquired by 
ott SCOSG Or. Value, at, date ,acguineg—. 2. 2=- =. 25 — 7 
Charles D. and Mary Vaux Walcott research fund, stock (gift) ; 


218, 186. 50 


11, 520. 00 


The sums invested for each specific fund or securities, etc., acquired 
by gift are described as follows: 


2 United G@onsolie Walcott 
Fund ee tae Y dated fund peneeren Total 
PROUIEVETTEN es opens ns oe ee ee $14, 000. 00 | $34, 690.87 |...._____-_- $48, 690. 87 
WAteinig Purdy Bacon Tul. 2- sone acer een eee 62s DVDs OO RS. eto cd b 62, 272. 93 
TARY es ulran perat sks EE eed A OE 2 Oe PS2S/OO Cas art. eH 1, 528. 09 
Chamberlain fusd sett og Tp be tS el tite ee 90;(000:,00)| 2 ne ta 35, 000. 00 
PPR DEMIR se ee oe siege sgl ne Oe EO OD io) ae carey co ee Na 500. 00 
LS LENCE TE i ST SIS (ETH (6 Ce a ae ae eee Na 2, 500. 00 DOO DO eae cee =o 3, 000. 60 
ATONE TELGE EL VRieIET atone en Pe A ene et nr nn 6 oe i Be L, QBghasry ee ese 1, 223. 33 


6 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


United 7 Walcott 
Fund States Paige ean Total 
Treasury fund 

Hodgkins fund: 
Goneralies he Wit Aline Rel ae ate a $116;000;.00) | $379275./00) || eo $153, 275. 00 
Smeckicne ss cami te eke a freee eae TOO BO0SU0 5] Sea 2ak he mers Sere ore 100, 000. 00 
Bruce:Hughesdund!. Jb2: - yates Wise dS 0b ee ee ee 13):839,90),|-> 22-22? 13, 839. 90 
ING OONIS EGG Dy LLM rae ag ane ES Be fash ae ae gale De SOLO OOM sees 2 ee 3, 519. 00 
Lucy T. and George W. Poore fund --__.._...--_--- 26, 670.00 | 18, 586,42 |.....______- 45, 206. 42 
Addisons ReidMnundeee = asses) s- e aeeee 11, 000. 00 1209-016 | see 2 Lod 18, 299. 16 
PUN GSS LUT: 4S Sees OE Ly phe ee eg Se a 590. 00 fay Ace | mee Se 947, 34 
George: Sanford tond ee see. ee eee 1, 100. 00 C752, [22 A 1, 775, 72 
Smithson fund 262 2! savas es Se 2 727, 640. 00 Lj AOSH 74 ae 888s 729, 108. 74 
Charles D. and Mary Vaux Walcott research fund_-}_..-.--...-.--|------------ $11, 520. 00 11, 520, 00 
Total telat feeb ea Se We en Loe aE 1, 000, 000, 00 | 218,186.50 | 11, 520,00 1, 229, 706. 50 


The Institution gratefully acknowledges gifts from the following 
donors: 


American Association for the Advancement of Science, for botanical ex- 
plorations in Jamaica. 

Mr. Oakes Ames, for botanical explorations in Costa Rica. 

Mrs. Laura Welsh Casey, for expenses in connection with Casey collection 
of Coleoptera. 

Mr. Walter Chrysler, for expedition to Africa to collect animals, ete. for 
the National Zoological Park. 

Mr. BE. W. Marland, for Missouri Historical Society, for study of the language 
of the Osage Indians. 

National Academy of Sciences, for paleontological researches. 

New York Botanical Garden, for botanical explorations in Jamaica. 

Mr. John A. Roebling, for solar researches, ete. 

Mr. Washington A. Roebling, for purchase of minerals, ete. 

Mr. Charles T. Simpson, for work on West Indian shells. 

Dr. Frank Springer, for publication of “American Silurian Crinoids.” 

Mr. B. H. Swales, for purchase of specimens. 

University of Pennsylvania, department of botany, for botanical explorations 
in Jamaica. 


The Institution has also received contributions from the following 
friends for the funds as listed below: 


Endowment campaign expense fund: Dr. Charles G. Abbot, Mr. Robert S. 
Brookings, Mr. Frederic A. Delano, Hon. Andrew W. Mellon, Dr. Charles D. 
Walcott, and the Hon. Henry White. 

Endowment fund: Mr. John Baker, Mr. H. E. Bouwknegt, Miss Elizabeth 
W. C. Campbell, Mr. J. M. Chadwell, Mr. L. French, Mr. Leo Henle, Mr. Sol. 
Isler, Mr. William F. Kemble, Mr. D. Kinnear, Mr. George G. Marshall, Mr. 
Harold M. Mayo, Master Orrin F. Nash, Mr. John H. Powers, Mr. Henry S. 
Ritter, Dr. Rudolf Ruedemann, Dr. Charles 8. Schuchert, Mrs. Hleanor H. 
Wheelwright, Mr. George McLane Wood, and Mr. F. R. Wulsin. 

Smithsonian Scientific Series: Mr. Wyllys W. Baird, Mrs. Elizabeth B. Blos- 
som, Hope Natural Gas Co., Mr. William W. Laird, Mr. James H. Lockhart, 
Peoples Natural Gas Co., Philadelphia Company and Affiliated Corporations, and 
Mr. George M. Reynolds. 


REPORT OF THE SECRETARY 7 


The Institution wishes to express its gratitude to Mr. John Poole 
for his deep interest and help in connection with the endowment fund 
campaign and also to the following gentlemen who, through him, ex- 
tended very welcome aid to the same: 

Mr. Byron S. Adams, Mr. Thomas P. Bones, Mr. Alexander Brit- 
ton, Mr. Charles I. Corby, Mr. John Dolph, Mr. T. C. Dulin, Mr. 
William John Eynon, Mr. W. T. Galliher, Julius Garfinckel & Co., 
Mr. Fred. S. Gichner, Mr. William F. Ham, Mr. Morton J. Luchs, 
H. L. Rust Co., Mr. James Sharp, Mr. H. C. Sheridan, and Mr. 
George I. Walker. 

Freer Gallery of Avt—The invested funds of the Freer bequest 
are classified as follows: 


Court and crounds fundies ao ee a $278, 825. 50 
Court and grounds; ‘maintenance fund.—-— 8.8. 2252 oe et 69, 683. 75 
CRETE ICG Fes ELH 0g (ACN a SEES A EE Se 278, 825. 50 
1 E-LEsS VEOH Gi wh peel a2 Ne et a tec taal oe) tee mth ya Dignan abedg Dep wees aie. Eee 2, 842, 080. 19 
Reeth OMe feper Chee ae a aE SEL hs AAA TO CAE ERED EE Le 350, 261. 25 

eh MO ee og = Rs PN ee a a oe a Ce Nase Sees 3, 819, 676. 19 


The practice of depositing on time, in local trust companies and 
banks, such revenues as may be spared temporarily, has been con- 
tinued during the past year, and interest on these deposits has 
amounted to $1,748.21. The income during the year for current 
expenses, consisting of interest on permanent investments and other 
miscellaneous sources, amounted to $61,171.52. Revenues and princi- 
pal of funds for specific purposes, except the Freer bequest, amounted 
to $166,214.79. Revenues on account of Freer bequest amounted to 
$255,354.66, amount received from sale of stocks and bonds $988,510, 
aggregating a total of $1,471,016.97. 

The disbursements, described more fully in the annual report of 
the executive committee, were classed as follows: General objects of 
the Institution, $60,782.56; for specific purposes (except the Freer 
bequest) , $181,647.45; and expenditures pertaining to the Charles L. 
Freer bequest, $1,265,884.31. The balance on hand on June 30, 1926, 
was $134,889.40. 

The following appropriations were made by Congress for the Gov- 
ernment bureaus under the administrative charge of the Smith- 
sonian Institution for the fiscal year 1926: 


ntemniaional Micha nes: sail pi Robe bBo Pele nies Shp Lewes ey ee 2 $46, 260 
AUTEN CEP TOWRA OL AAD ALO) Vote ipso haste elm eee Ce ly Ng me oD 57, 160 
International Catalogue of Scientific Literature___.__.__-______-_-_--_- 8, 000 
Astrophysical, Observateryee 22 ee 2 es Oi Si OMe ee te AE 31, 180 
AGGITIONALSASSIStAn tiIseCnetarypen 22. te ral ye al pe pO le 6, 000 
National Museum: 

PIPE eh hUON sa as, ns ey ee ee a $21, 800 

Heatineandelichting= te 2 hes cet Lie coe ol ide: yo aah, 77, 560 


Preservation of collections..2.-8.22 222-2040 441, 082 


8 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


National Museum—Continued. 


Buildings Tena 53s leon ee ele ec I ee ed $12, 000 

EG Oe eee tie ete et pe aes eee aE Ws ea ae 1, 500 

D BTOYS| fete ch IAs oer ieee REIT ER En whe SI 8 perce SO Gree Oa 450 
———_—_$554, 392 
NEON AAG AMET yO fe TT see SAE SEE ie BT we DS Ee SE 21, 028 
NationalZovlogical, Park. cra) (geri dR eee Ed ene eed) 3 157, 000 
Printing tang winning 2.5 Fs Peek BE SES OE yb eee AP ee 90, 000 
ANG (ce) eerste 8 RS Neen rece Nae VOG ee (A ee TG acre eee tye ae I 971, 020 


RESEARCHES AND EXPLORATIONS 


Field expeditions play an important part in the work of a research 
institution. The Smithsonian, although handicapped particularly 
in this phase of its work by inadequate income, sends out or partici- 
pates in many such expeditions each year. It is often found advan- 
tageous to cooperate in field work with other institutions, thus divid- 
ing the expense and enabling the participating institutions to share 
the collections and other benefits resulting from the expedition. The 
Smithsonian’s explorations cover biology, anthropology, geology, and 
astrophysics, and in addition to furnishing important new facts in 
these sciences, the material brought back by the explorers has done 
much toward building up the collections of the National Museum 
and filling in gaps in the scientific study series. During the past 
year the Institution has engaged in about the usual number of field 
expeditions. These have conducted scientific exploration or field 
work in many States of the United States, Canada, Haiti, several 
regions in South America, Europe, southern Asia, Java, Australia, 
South Africa, and China. Some of these are described in the reports 
of the National Museum and the Bureau of American Ethnology, 
appended hereto, and a few of the others will be mentioned briefly 
here in order to show the character and diversity of the Institution’s 
field work. 


GEOLOGICAL EXPLORATIONS IN 'THE CANADIAN ROCKIES 


Your secretary continued during the 1925 field season his geological 
field work in the Canadian Rockies, starting from Lake Louise Sta- 
tion in Alberta on July 9 with a pack train bearing the camp outfit. 
The season was unusually unfavorable, forest-fire smoke interfering 
with photography and the large number of snow squalls making 
field work extremely difficult. Regarding the progress of the geo- 
logical work, I wrote at the close of the season: 

Only eight camps were made while on the trail. It was more through good 
fortune than favorable conditions that a fine series of fossils from critical 
horizons in the great lower Paleozoic section north of Bow Valley was dis- 


covered and collected. These fossils increase our knowledge of the history and 
life of the Cordilleran Sea of this time and afford the data for comparison with 


REPORT OF THE SECRETARY 9 


life and conditions in the Appalachian Trough and the great upper Mississippi 
embayment of Upper Cambrian time. 

In the interval between the snow storms of September 5 and 9 several new 
fossil zones were found in the Lower Ordovician rocks of the Johnston-Wild 
Flower Canyon Pass section, and also in the Upper Cambrian west of Badger 
Pass. The latter find enabled Doctor Walcott to identify the Arctomys forma- 
tion of the Glacier Lake section and to clear up the uncertainty as to the posi- 
tion of the strata hitherto referred to the lower portion of the Bosworth 
formation. 

* * * * * * * 

This year probably completes the field work in the Canadian Rockies. A few 
of the problems encountered have been cleared up in the past nine years, but 
many remain to be studied by young, well-trained men with strong hearts, 
vigorous muscles, and the high purpose of the research student seeking to dis- 
cover the truth regarding the development of the North American Continent 
and of the life of the waters in which the miles in thickness of sands, clay, 
and limey muds accumulated during a period of several million years of lower 
Paleozoic time. 


Your secretary was engaged at the close of the year, during such 
times as he was able to spare from administrative duties, in preparing 
for publication the geological results of many seasons of work in the 
Canadian Rockies. This summary of the Canadian work will 
appear as one of his series on Cambrian Geology and Paleontology 
in the Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections. 


COLLECTING FOSSIL FOOTPRINTS IN ARIZONA 


Through a cooperative arrangement with the National Park Serv- 
ice, Mr. C. W. Gilmore, curator of vertebrate paleontology in the 
National Museum, visited the Grand Canyon during the past field 
season for the double purpose of preparing a permanent exhibit of 
fossil footprints in the rock along the Hermit Trail, and of making 
for the National Museum a collection of these footprints to send back 
to Washington. Mr. Gilmore succeeded in both of these projects, 
and in his preliminary report on the work, he writes: 


A series of slabs, some 1,700 pounds in weight, carrying good examples of 
the various kinds of imprints occurring there, were collected and shipped to 
the Museum. The tracks occur in the Coconino sandstone in Hermit Basin, 
on the trail down to Hermit Camp, and from 900 to 1,080 feet below the rim 
of the canyon. Their excellent preservation and variety of kind, coupled with 
their great antiquity, make this collection of more than usual interest. Pre- 
liminary study of the tracks has demonstrated that they represent not only 
a new Ichnite fauna but probably the best preserved and most extensive series 
of Permian footprints known anywhere in the world. 

It was found that the natural conditions were most favorable for the prepara- 
tion of an exhibit of fossil tracks in situ. The rather steep slope of the 
sandstone on whose surfaces the tracks are impressed stands at an inclination 
of 30° facing toward the Hermit Trail, over which in the course of the year 
hundreds of tourists travel on mule back in making their pilgrimage to the 
bottom of the Grand Canyon. The upper layers of the sandstone cleared off 
in large sheets, thus uncovering whatever tracks and trails there were to be 


10 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


found beneath. The work of preparing this exhibit consisted, therefore, of 
removing the overburden of loose dirt and broken rock, then quarrying off the 
loose upper laminae until a solid and continuous face covered with footprints 
was reached. This was done, and a smooth surface 8 feet wide and 25 feet 
long was carefully uncovered. 

At the side of the slab leading up from the trail a series of stone steps was 
laid in order to facilitate examination by those interested in the footprints 
eovering its surface. Although this slab constituted the main exhibit, other 
large surfaces were similarly uncovered, so that in all there are several hun- 
dred square feet of rock surface showing imprints of feet, thus forming a 
permanent exhibit of the various tracks and trails to be found here. 

The great antiquity of these footprints is clearly demonstrated at this locality, 
for it is evident that since the day when those animals impressed their feet in 
what at that time was moist sand more than 1,000 feet of rock-making ma- 
terials were piled up in successive strata above them, and this does not take 
into account many hundreds of feet more that have been eroded off the present 
top of the canyon wall. 

The great length of time necessary for the cutting away or erosion of the 
rock to form the deep canyon and the even longer time necessary for the 
original deposition of this great vertical mass of stone when translated into 
terms of years, if that were possible, would be so stupendous as to be almost 
beyond human comprehension. 


BIOLOGICAL COLLECTING IN WESTERN CHINA 


The collecting of biological material for the National Museum was 
coutinued in the Province of Szechwan, western China, by the Rev. 
David C. Graham. Various trips which he had proposed to take 
had to be abandoned because of the presence of numerous bandits in 
certain areas, and his work was greatly handicapped by civil-war 
conditions in that part of China. Nevertheless, Mr. Graham suc- 
ceeded in making large collections of valuable biological material 
for the Museum. 

While still undecided as to his summer’s plans for collecting, Mr, 
Graham received notification that all foreigners were requested to ga 
together to Kiating, with a heavy military escort for safety. Re- 
garding his activities after this, a brief account prepared from 
Mr. Graham’s letters reads in part as follows: 

The party reached Kiating on July 7, and having gone thus far, Mr. Graham 
decided to try for Washan Mountain, and had actually started, when on the 
12th a messenger arrived with a letter saying conditions were getting worse 
down the river, that many British subjects were leaving Szechwan, and that 
all foreigners might be ordered to leave, also advising that he abandon his 
plan to visit Washan. He notes: “It is a keen disappointment, but it seems 
unwise to go on, so to-morrow I’ll go back toward Mount Omei and spend the 
summer as profitably as I can.” On July 14 he received a letter stating that 
conditions were improving and that the foreign community withdrew its request 
that he should not attempt the trip to Washan. He thereupon again headed 
for that mountain, and on July 23 reached the summit, which he says is the 
highest point in central Szechwan. On every side “it is a sheer cliff several 
thousand feet high, with only one road to the top and back * * * The road 


REPORT OF THE SECRETARY it 


made a few circles, and soon I found myself walking along the edge across the 
top of that cliff, with only a foot or more of dirt and some small bushes between 
me and the precipice. Later the road leads a long way on the edge of a narrow 
ridge, on each side a sheer precipice of thousands of feet. In one spot the path 
is about 3 feet wide, and I think a little less. It took all the grit I had to cross 
that place, and I’d hate to attempt it in rainy weather when the rocks are 
slippery. There is one place where there is no place to get a foothold, and the 
precipice is bridged by poles placed side by side; under the bridge is a chasm 
that one does not like to look at. To cap the climax, near the top are long 
ladders. It is practically perpendicular at these points, and without the 
ladders no one could reach the top.” 


z * * * * s s 


In preparing for his return journey, Mr. Graham decided to pack his sum- 
mer’s accumulation of specimens and mail them from the village of Shin Kai 
Si, to reduce the danger of loss from robbers. Over 70 parcels were packed 
and mailed from this place, after which he set out for Kiating, where he was 
to try and arrange for the safe transport of the Suifu foreigners from Kiating 
to Suifu. 

Mr. Graham’s return from Kiating to Suifu was filled with exciting inci- 
dents, due to war, brigands, and lack of food. He writes: “With over 100,000 
troops engaged in civil war in the Province, with bands of robbers everywhere, 
and with the serious complications between China and the foreign powers, it 
may be considered a victory to have carried through the collecting trip and to 
have secured more specimens than were collected in any previous year.” 


STUDY OF THE CRUSTACEAN FAUNA OF SOUTH AMERICA 


During the past year the first award was made of the Walter 
Rathbone Bacon scholarship of the Smithsonian Institution, created 
by the will of Virginia Purdy Bacon for the study of the fauna of 
countries other than the United States. The award was made to 
Dr. Waldo L. Schmitt, curator of marine invertebrates in the Na- 
tional Museum, for the purpose of undertaking a comprehensive 
study of the crustaceans of South America. He began work at Rio 
de Janeiro, Brazil, where museum collections were examined and 
some preliminary collecting done. The following extract is taken 
from a preliminary account of his work prepared at the National 
Museum: 


On September 17, accompanied by Doctor Luderwaldt, Doctor Schmitt 
started for S&o0 Sebastiao, arriving the next morning after a most uncomfort- 
able night on a small boat. The collecting here was good and many varieties 
of crustacea were obtained. Night collecting yielded valuable tow-net hauls. 
Upon this island several species of fresh-water shrimps were obtained. Doctor 
Schmitt is of the impression that these shrimps can travel considerable distances 
overland through the woods should their parent stream go dry. He states that 
tiny Euphausids produce a magnificent phosphorescence at night in the waters 
around the island. 

He returned to Santos September 28, where several cases of specimens 
were prepared for shipment to Washington. 

Passing down the coast, collections were made at Sao Francisco Island, 
then at Castro where several fresh-water streams were visited. Here, amongst 


12 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


other things, two species of an anomuran crab of the genus Aeglea were 
obtained. These Doctor Schmitt considered a great find, as they are rather 
rare in collections and there has been some uncertainty as to their status. 

He left Castro October 21 and traveled by auto over the mountains to 
Blumenau. Here he met Fritz Schmitt, son-in-law of Fritz Miiller, the 
celebrated naturalist, visited Miiller’s former home, and saw the very simple 
microscopes with which he did such excellent work. 

He returned to Sio Francisco October 27, when several cases of specimens 
were packed for shipment to Washington. The weather and tides being 
favorable, some excellent collections of shrimps and amphipods were made 
at this station, and he says “ I’ve extended the ranges of a number of species, 
and surely found a couple of new ones here.” 

He arrived off Itajahy at 8 p. m. November 2, after a cold, rainy trip, 
and early the next morning anchored off Florianopolis. Some tow-net hauls 
and shore collecting here produced excellent results. 

Owing to the many unavoidable delays, Doctor Schmitt has not been able 
to progress as rapidly as he had hoped, but the ground has been as thoroughly 
worked as possible, and several cases of specimens have already been received 
at the Museum. His collections at this time comprise several thousand speci- 
mens and consist chiefly of Crustacea, Coelenterates, Porifera, Echinoderms, 
Annelids, Bryozoa, and Fishes. 


ANTHROPOLOGICAL STUDIES IN SOUTHERN ASIA, JAVA, AUSTRALIA, AND 
SOUTH AFRICA 


The most far-reaching expedition of the year was that undertaken 
by Dr. Ale’ Hrdlitka in the interests of physical anthropology, 
which covered some 50,000 miles through Europe, India, Ceylon, 
Java, Australia, and South Africa. The primary purpose of the 
expedition, under the joint auspices of the Smithsonian Institution 
and the Buffalo Society of Natural Sciences, was to make a thor- 
ough survey of the subject of ancient man and fossil apes in these 
regions. 

Doctor Hrdlitka’s work began in the region of the Siwalik Hills 
of northern India, which he regards, as the result of his survey, as 
the richest and most promising region in the world in remains of 
fossil anthropoid apes. The following extracts from Doctor 
Hrdlitka’s first published account of his trip will give an impression 
of the vast amount of territory covered and of the importance and 
interest of the work: 

From Simla Doctor Hrdlitka proceeded to the Tibetan border to observe the 
types of the Tibetans who made their homes in Darjeeling or its vicinity, 
or come there from over the mountains, and who occasionally show types that 
resemble most closely the American Indian. At Darjeeling, with generous help 
from the Government, it was possible in a short time to see large numbers 
of the native population, consisting of mongoloid tribes who have overflowed 
into the northernmost parts of India, and a good many Tibetans. There is 
seen amongst these Tibetans, Chinese admixture—for the Chinese have been 


lords of Tibet for a long time—yet frequently true American Indian types are 
also to be found, so true that if they were transplanted into America nobody 


REPORT OF THE SECRETARY 13 


could possibly take them for anything but Indian. They—men, women and 
children—resemble the Indians in behavior, in dress, and even in the intona- 
tions of their language. 

* * * * * * * 

From Calcutta the journey led to Madras, where Doctor Hrdlitka wished 
to inspect the collections, and to see what could be learned of traces of the 
Negrito in the Indian population. One of the biggest problems in anthropology 
is the presence of the Negrito in the Philippines, the Andamans, and else- 
where in the far southeast. He is there—a clear but enigmatic type, without 
connection now in any direction. His nearest relatives are apparently the 
pygmies of Central Africa, but a great unbridged space has till now separated 
the two. The problem is, How did the Negrito get to his present homes? If 
he extended from Africa, he must have left traces of his passing in Arabia 
and India, from which, however, there has hitherto come no clear evidence 
of his presence. Such traces, so far at least as the Indian coast lands are 
concerned, Doctor Hrdlitka became satisfied do exist. They occur in Parganas 
(northwest of Calcutta), in at least one area along the eastern coast, here and 
there among the Dravidians, and along larger parts of the western coast, 
more especially in the Malabar Hills. This brings unmistakable traces of the 
Negrito a long way farther to the westward and so much nearer to Africa, 
making his derivation from that continent so much the more probable. 

A great collection of paleolithic implements is preserved in the museum at 
Madras. These implements are similar to those of other parts of India. They 
are all of one general class, so that there can hardly be a question as to 
their contemporary origin in the different parts of India, their connection 
with people of the same race, and belonging to the same, though perhaps a 
long, cultural period. They do not show great variety. They resemble some 
of the paleolithic implements of western Europe, but on the whole can not be 
associated with any one of the Huropean cultural periods. In certain parts 
of India, such as the Santal country north of Calcutta, such implements have 
been collected in thousands. In other parts, especially near Madras, they 
are partly on the surface soil, partly from 1 to 4 or 5 feet and even deeper 
below the surface. In places they occur in the alluvium of the rivers and 
occasionally in the “laterite,” a talus-like débris resulting from the disinte- 
gration of older rocks. 

In short, there are plentiful paleolithic implements over large portions of 
the country, but as yet they do not definitely indicate a man of geological 
antiquity. 

With regard to the bulk of the present population of India, Doctor Hrdlitka 
believes he can say with confidence that it is mainly composed of three ethnic 
elements—the Mediterranean, the Semitic, and in certain parts the “ Hamitic” 
or North African. The “Aryans” show everywhere either the Semitic or the 
Mediterranean type. There was seen nothing that could be referred to the 
types of central or northern Europe: It would seem therefore that the Aryans 
came from Persia and Asia Minor rather than from or through what is now 
European Russia. 

* * * * * * * 

The visit to Java was made chiefly for the purpose of inspecting the site of 
the Pithecanthropus, but Doctor Hrdlitka also desired to satisfy himself as 
to any possible cultural traces of early man, and as to the present population. 
As a result of the generous assistance given by the authorities, he was able 
to see the natives in practically the whole of the island and especially to 
examine that important region which gave the precious remains of the Pithe- 


14 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


canthropus—the valley of the Bengawan or Solo River, a fairly large river, 
beginning in the south of the island and running north and then east to 
Surabaya. Here exists a veritable treasure house for anthropology and 
paleontology where nothing has been done since the Selenka expedition of 
1910, which was the only one since the work of Doctor Dubois in 1891-1893. 
The lower deposits along the river are full of the fossil bones of Tertiary 
and Quaternary mammals, but among them at any time may be remains of 
greater value. Many of the fossils fall out of exposed strata every year and 
lie in the mud, where the natives occasionally gather them and take them to 


their homes. 
ok * * * a * * 


The data obtained in Australia, supplemented by those on the Tasmanian 
material in the College of Surgeons, London, throw a very interesting and, to 
some extent, new light on the moot questions of both the Australian and the 
Tasmanian aborigines. According to these observations, the Australian 
aborigines deserve truly to be classed as one of the more fundamental races 
of mankind, and yet it is a race which shows close connections with our own 
ancestral stock—not with the negroes or Melanesians (except through admix- 
ture), but with the old white people of postglacial times. They carry, however, 
some admixtures of the Melanesian blacks, which is more pronounced in some 
places than in others. 

* * * * * * * 

The two main objects of the visit to South Africa were the investigation on 
the spot of the important find of the Rhodesian skull and of the recent dis- 
covery of the skull of a fossil anthropoid ape at Taungs, which had been 
reported as being possibly a direct link in the line of man’s ascent. 

* * * * * * * 

The discovery in 1921 at Broken Hill in southern Rhodesia of the skull of 
the so-called “‘ Rhodesian man” was an event of much scientific importance. 
The find, moreover, is still enigmatic. The skull shows a man so primitive in 
many of its features that nothing like it has been seen before. The visit to 
the Broken Hill mine, in which the skull was discovered, proved a good dem- 
onstration of the necessity of a prompt following up by scientific men of each 
such accidental discovery. The impracticability of such a following up in this 
case has resulted in a number of errors and uncertainties on important aspects 
of the case, some of which have already misled students of the finds. It was 
possible to clear up some of the mooted points, but others remain obscure and 
can be definitely decided only by further discoveries. 

As one of the results of the present visit, it was possible to save and bring 
for study a collection of bones of animals from the cave, the lower recesses 
of which gave the Rhodesian skull, and also two additional mineralized human 
bones belonging to two individuals, all of which, to facilitate the study of the 
whole subject, were deposited with the earlier relics in the British Museum. 
The mine is by no means exhausted; and since the interest of everybody on the 
spot is now fully aroused to these matters, there is hope that more of value 
may yet be given to science from this locality. 

* * * * * * * 

Doctor Hrdlitka has returned deeply impressed with the opportunities for 
and the need of anthropological research offered by all these distant parts of 
the world and the openings everywhere for American cooperation. The story 
of man’s origin, differentiation, spread, and struggle for survival is evidently 
greater, far greater, than ordinarily conceived, and a vast amount of work 
remains for its satisfactory solution. 


REPORT OF THE SECRETARY 15 


ARCHEOLOGICAL STUDIES IN MISSISSIPPI 


Mr. Henry B. Collins, jr., assistant curator of ethnology in the 
National Museum, was detailed during the summer of 1925 to the 
Bureau of American Ethnology to conduct an archeological explora- 
tion of the region in Mississippi formerly occupied by the Choctaw 
Indians. In describing the scope of the work, Mr. Collins says: 


The region selected for investigation was the eastern part of the State, the 
former center of the Choctaw Tribe. Here are found not only the village sites 
known to have been occupied by the Choctaw within historic times, but also 
a number of prehistoric mounds similar to those found throughout the Missis- 
sippi Valley and in other parts of the South and Hast, denoting a still earlier 
occupancy of this region by either the Choctaw themselves or by related tribes. 

At the time of first contact with Europeans, the Choctaw were the most 
numerous of all the southern Indians. They are also generally regarded as a 
basie type, culturally and physically, of the great Muskhogean linguistic stock. 
In any consideration of the ethnic problems of the South, therefore, the 
Choctaw must assume a place of importance, but as yet very little work has 
been done among them. It was decided. therefore, that operations for the 
summer should be confined to definitely known Choctaw territory, devoting 
part of the time to exploration of historic village sites and part to the 
excavation of prehistoric mounds in an attempt to establish as far as possible 
the relation of the two. 

From Jackson, Miss., Mr. Collins made a thorough reconnaissance 
of the ancient mounds in some nine counties of the State. The 
most important mound examined was the famous Nanih Waiya, 
which is regarded by the Choctaw as the place of their origin. This 
large, well-preserved earthwork plays an important part in the 
legendary history of the Choctaw. 

The first mounds to be excavated by Mr. Collins were a group of 
eight near Crandall, in Clarke County. These proved to be burial 
mounds, and numerous skeletons were found in them, some of them 
showing evidences of cremation. The next mound opened, near the 
town of Increase, was of a different type and much larger. Although 
containing no skeletons and but a few artifacts, the mound proved of 
unusual interest because of a peculiar stratification encountered. 
Regarding this stratification and the relationships of the mound, 
Mr. Collins writes: 

This stratification consisted of a series of brilliantly colored sand layers, 
yellow, brown, orange, blue-gray, and pure white, from which, at the center 
of the mound, there suddenly arose a dome-shaped structure of compact yellow 
clay. This clay dome and the succession of colored sand strata probably 
had a ceremonial significance, haying been placed on the floor of what had 
very likely been a temple, the site of which was later covered over with a 
mound of earth, on the top of which, still later, there probably stood a temple 
or council house. Colored sand strata in much the same arrangement have 
also been found in the effigy mounds of Wisconsin. 


Within this small inner mound or clay dome was found a rectangular 
ornament of sheet copper and silver inclosing a core of wood. Both copper 


16 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 192 


and silver are shown by analysis to be native American, probably from the 
Lake Superior region. Silver and copper ornaments practically identical to 
this have been found in small numbers in Florida, Tennessee, Ohio, and 
Michigan, 

Thin, flaked knives, struck with a single blow from flint cores, were found 
both in the mound and in the adjoining field. ‘These are identical in every 
respect with the flaked knives from Flint Ridge in Ohio which, while abundant 
in the Ohio mounds, are rarely found in other localities. 

With the most significant features of the McRae mound so strongly suggest- 
ing northern influence, we must conclude that the builders of this Mississippi 
mound maintained at least a close trade relationship with the northern tribes. 
While undoubtedly the many mounds and various other earthworks of North 
America were built by Indian tribes of diverse stocks, there are certain 
resemblances between even the most distant of them which suggest a contact 
something more than sporadic. 

Another group of seven small mounds near Hiwannee, Wayne 
County, proved to be similar in contents and construction to the burial 
mounds near Crandall. Upon completing their study, Mr. Collins 
examined the cemetery of the historic Choctaw village of Coosha, 
near Lockhart, Lauderdale County. This was found to be compara- 
tively recent, dating probably from the first 30 years of the nineteenth 
century, and the burials indicated that the Choctaw had by then lost 
most of their native culture and adopted the ways of the whites. 

Mr. Collins concluded his season’s work with a series of measure- 
ments and observations on 58 adult Choctaw living at Philadelphia, 
Miss. 


SMITHSONIAN RADIO TALKS 


The Institution continued to make use of radio broadcasting as 
an effective means of carrying out its purpose—the increase and dif- 
fusion of knowledge. The Smithsonian talks on scientific subjects 
continued to increase in popularity as indicated by the interest shown 
in them by magazine editors, news writers, and others. The talks 
were given on a regular weekly schedule from Station WRC, of the 
Radio Corporation of America, Washington, D. C., beginning 
October 1, 1925, and continuing until May 20, 1926. Thirty-two 
talks were given in all, of which 14 were presented by members of 
the staff of the Institution and its branches, and the other 18 by 
representatives of the Department of the Interior, the Department 
of Agriculture, the Department of Commerce, and Harvard College 
Observatory, speaking under the auspices of the Institution. 'Through 
the cooperation of Prof. J. McKeen Cattell, many of the talks have 
been published with illustrations in the Scientific Monthly. 

Through a system of exchanges, seven of the Smithsonian talks 
were sent to Station WBZ, of Springfield, Mass., for rebroadcasting 
there under the auspices of a series similar to that of the Smith- 
sonian, and certain of the talks from the New England series, which. 


REPORT OF THE SECRETARY té 


is under the direction of Dr. Edward Wigglesworth, were rebroad- 
cast in Washington. A number of talks on astronomy, given from 
Station WEEI, Boston, under the auspices of the Harvard College 
Observatory, were also rebroadcast from Washington as part of the 
Smithsonian series, through the courtesy of Prof. Harlow Shapley 
and Station WEEI. 

A second series of talks of a somewhat different nature, entitled 
“Radio Nature Talks from the National Zoological Park,” was 
inaugurated during the year. This series is described in detail in 
the report on the National Zoological Park, which forms Appendix 
6 of this report. The direction of both of these series under the 
auspices of the Institution was in the hands of Mr. Austin H. Clark, 
curator of echinoderms in the National Museum. 

A list of the talks in the regular Smithsonian series follows: 


August 5, 1925: Butterflies. Mr. Austin H. Clark, National Museum (given 
from Station WBZ). 

October 1, 1925: Flies. Dr. J. M. Aldrich, National Museum. 

October 8, 1925. Our Lighthouse Service. Hon. George R. Putnam, Director 
of Lighthouses. 

October 15, 1925: Plant Lice and Scale Insects. Mr. Harold Morrison, Bureau 
of Hntomology. 

October 22, 1925: Earthquakes, Commander N. H. Heck, Coast and Geodetic 
Survey. 

October 29, 1925: Our Alaskan Fisheries. Hon. Henry O’Malley, Commis- 
sioner of Fisheries. 

November 5, 1925: The Work of the Bureau of Standards. Dr. George K. 
Burgess, director, Bureau of Standards. 

November 12, 1925: Turtles. Miss Doris M. Cochran, National Museum. 

November 19, 1925: Studying the Sun in Chile. Mr. L. B. Aldrich, Astro- 
physical Observatory. 

November 26, 1925: Comets. Prof. Edward 8. King, Harvard College Observa- 
tory (read by Mr. Austin H. Clark). 

December 3, 1925: The Ups and Downs of the Earth. Maj. William Bowie, 
Coast and Geodetic Survey. 

December 10, 1925: The Story of Time Keeping. Mr. Carl W. Mitman, 
National Museum. 

December 17, 1925: The Numbers, Motions, and Sizes of the Stars. Dr. 
William J. Luyten, Harvard College Observatory (read by Mr. Austin H. 
Clark). 

December 24, 1925: How the Insects Spend the Winter. Mr. S. A. Rohwer, 
Bureau of Entomology. 

January 7, 1926: How Men Learned to Fly. Mr. Paul E. Garber, National 
Museum. 

January 14, 1926: New Stars and Variables. Dr. Annie J. Cannon, Harvard 
College Observatory (read by Mr. Austin H. Clark). 

January 21, 1926: The American Sword. Mr. T. T. Belote, National Museum. 

January 28, 1926: Measuring the Universe. Prof. Harlow Shapley, director, 
Harvard College Observatory (read by Mr. William M. Sweets). 

February 11, 1926: Archeology in the Southern States. Mr. Henry B. Collins, 
jr., National Museum. 


18 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


February 18, 1926: Our Ancient Seas. Dr. Charles E. Resser, National 
Museum. 

February 25, 1926: Some Aspects of the Development of Printing. Mr. 
R. P. Tolman, National Museum. 

March 4, 1926: Birds from the Rocks. Mr. Charles W. Gilmore, National 
Museum. 

March 11, 1926: Household Pests. Dr. HE. A. Back, Bureau of Entomology. 

March 25, 1926: Some Aspects of Northwest Coast Indian Art. Mr. Herbert 
W. Krieger, National Museum. 

April 1, 1926: Bug versus Bug. Mr. R. A. Cushman, Bureau of Entomology. 

April 8, 1926: Eclipses. Mr. Leon Campbell, Harvard College Observatory 
‘read by Mr. Austin H. Clark). : 

April 15, 1926: Spring Flowers. Dr. Hdgar T. Wherry, Bureau of Chemistry. 

April 22, 1926: What Are the Stars? Prof. Harlow Shapley, director, 
Harvard College Observatory (read by Mr. Austin H. Clark). 

April 29, 1926: How Fossils got into the Rocks. Dr. Wendell P. Woodring, 
Geological Survey. 

May 6, 1926: Spiders. Mr. Clarence R. Shoemaker, National Museum. 

May 138, 1926: Crabs, Lobsters, and Their Relatives. Dr. Waldo lL. Schmitt, 
National Museum. 

May 20, 1926: Bright Stars and Constellations. Dr. William J. Luyten, 
Harvard College Observatory (read by Mr. Austin H. Clark). 


SMITHSONIAN EXHIBIT AT THE SESQUICENTENNIAL 


Since 1855 the Smithsonian Institution has taken advantage of 
nearly every prominent exposition to be held in this country and 
many abroad to advance, through its carefully planned exhibits, 
the increase and diffusion of knowledge. The Institution has taken 
part in 33 expositions, and in addition to thus reaching millions of 
people through its scientific exhibits, there has resulted the further 
advantage of bringing to the National Museum a large amount of 
exhibition materia] at the close of certain of these expositions. In 
fact, the Museum received its greatest stimulus when it was still in 
the formative stage, as a result of the Centennial Exposition in 
1876, from which over 40 carloads of valuable material were received 
as gifts from foreign governments and other exhibitors. 

With the funds available for the purpose, the Institution has 
endeavored at the Sesquicentennial Exposition in Philadelphia to 
represent in its exhibit as many as possible of the varied scientific 
activities under its direction. In anthropology, biology, geology, 
and arts and industries, the exhibits are taken from the National 
Museum. Anthropology exhibits include nine models in miniature 
of Indian village groups—Iroquois, Sioux, Pawnee, Wichita, 
Chippewa, Seminole, Navaho, and Pujunan. A particularly edu- 
cational exhibit portrays the evolution from simple beginnings to 
modern form of objects of household use, such as the lamp, the cup, 
knife, fork and spoon, the hammer. saw, and drill, and the ax. 


REPORT OF THE SECRETARY 19 


The arts and crafts of the American Indian are represented by life- 
size models of Zufi potters, Navaho silversmiths, and Navaho 
blanket weavers at work at their tasks. The work in biology is 
typified by a mounted group of the interesting Bighorn, or Rocky 
Mountain sheep, shown in lifelike poses, which has proved to be a 
most attractive exhibit. Both educational and interesting are the 
geological exhibits, which include a series illustrating how rock is 
weathered to form soil; the gems and precious stones which occur 
in America and the minerals in which they are found; a number 
of interesting fossil forms such as fossil turtles, a giant fossil fish 
which had swallowed another fish, both being preserved in the rock, 
fossil plants from the coal measures of Pennsylvania, and fossil 
algae or seaweed, among the earliest known forms of hfe on the 
earth. 

The vast collection of American historical material in the National 
Museum is represented in the Institution’s Sesquicentennial exhibit 
by a selected series of arms, insignia, uniforms, medals, and decora- 
tions, and by models of Columbus’ ships, of the Mayflower, and 
of the Constitution. Mechanical technology is represented by a very 
complete exhibit showing the development of the steam engine and 
of the steamboat. The progress in photography is illustrated by ex- 
amples of this art from the days of the first daguerreotype to the 
finest modern work, and this graphic arts exhibit also includes ex- 
amples of etching, intaglio engraving, the halftone process, and 
other methods of artistic expression and reproduction. 

The Institution’s work in astrophysics, especially on the study of 
the variation of the sun’s heat, is represented by the instruments 
used in this investigation—the bolometer, an instrument so sensitive 
that it will measure a change in temperature of one-millionth of a 
degree centigrade; the pyrheliometer, which measures the heat 
received on the earth from the sun; and the pyranometer and the 
melikeron, devices which permit the determination of the heat lost 
in passing through the earth’s atmosphere. 

The Smithsonian exhibit contains also a complete set of its publi- 
cations and those of the bureaus under its direction, numbering in 
all nearly 900 volumes, which illustrate one of the Institution’s 
principal means of diffusing knowledge. The entire exhibit was 
brought together and arranged in Philadelphia under the direction 
to Mr. W. de C. Ravenel, administrative assistant to the secretary. 


PUBLICATIONS 


The 11 series of publications issued under the direction of the 
Institution form its chief means of accomplishing “the diffusion 
of knowledge among men,” one of its primary functions. These 


20 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


publications, all on scientific subjects with the exception of the cata- 
logues of the National Gallery of Art, are distributed for the most 
part free to libraries, learned societies and institutions, and special- 
ists throughout the world. For the general reader interested in 
keeping up with the march of scientific progress, the Institution 
presents in the Smithsonian Annual Reports a series of carefully 
selected articles, some specially prepared, some reprinted, covering 
as far as possible recent advances and interesting developments in all 
branches of science. 

During the past year 88 volumes and pamphlets have been pub- 
lished by the Institution and the Government bureaus unders its 
administrative charge. There were distributed 168,932 publications, 
which included 96,804 volumes and separates of the National Museum 
series, 35,671 volumes and separates of the Smithsonian Annual 
Reports, 20,222 volumes and separates of the Smithsonian Miscel- 
laneous Collections, 12,993 publications of the Bureau of American 
Ethnology, and smaller numbers of the various other series. 

Among the eight papers to appear in the Smithsonian Miscellane- 
ous Collections there may be mentioned as of special interest one 
entitled ““ An introduction to the morphology and classification of the 
foraminifera,” by Joseph A. Cushman, which has proved of great 
value to petroleum geologists; “ Fossil footprints from the Grand 
Canyon,” by Charles W. Gilmore, describing a large and valuable 
series of fossil tracks of extinct creatures collected for the National 
Museum by Mr. Gilmore; and “Music of the Tule Indians of 
Panama,” by Frances Densmore, a paper which describes for the first 
time the songs and instrumental music of the so-called “ white In- 
dians ” of the Isthmus of Darien, Panama. 

Allotments for printing—The congressional allotments for the 
printing of the Smithsonian report to Congress and the various 
publications of the Government bureaus under the administration 
of the Institution were practically used up at the close of the year. 
The appropriation for the coming year ending June 30, 1927, totals 
$90,000, allotted as follows: 


Annual Report to the Congress of the Board of Regents of the Smith- 


Sonian ;institwtions See ees ale hl aye EEE hes les era pie egy Ee $12, 500 
TNS ERO risa MEE CU ee et ee eee 42,500 
Bureau occAmericannnthnolopy oo 2 be ee eee 25, 600 
National Gallery jOtpattos ce Cee 2 ee ee eee 1, 200 
International Dxchanzes= sts 220i bicd UG oD ae eee 300 
International Catalogue of Scientific Literature___.___________________ 100 
National: Zoological ‘Parka ox.) et teh i eels ede ee eee 300 
Astrophysical Observatory ses se) Eee eo ee eee 500 


Annual Report of the American Historical Association____---___-_-~ 7, 00° 


REPORT OF THE SECRETARY mt 


Committee on printing and publication.—All manuscripts submit- 
ted to the Institution for publication, both papers by members of 
the staff and those by outside authors, are referred for consideration 
and recommendation to the Smithsonian advisory committee on 
printing and publication. The committee also considers matters 
of publication policy. During the past year seven meetings were 
held and 96 manuscripts were considered and acted upon. The mem- 
bership of the committee is as follows: Dr. Leonhard Stejneger, head 
curator of biology, National Museum, chairman; Dr. George P. 
Merrill, head curator of geology, National Museum; Dr. J. Walter 
Fewkes, chief, Bureau of American Ethnology; Dr. William M. 
Mann, director, National Zoological Park; Mr. W. P. True, editor 
of the Institution, secretary; Dr. Marcus Benjamin, editor of the 
National Museum; and Mr. Stanley Searles, editor of the Bureau of 
American Ethnology. 

LIBRARY 


The most important change in personnel was the appointment of 
Miss Isabel L. Towner to the position of assistant librarian in the 
National Museum to fill the vacancy caused by the retirement and 
subsequent death of Mr. Newton P. Scudder. Mr. R. Webb Noyes 
succeeded Miss Sara Young as junior librarian. The death is regret- 
fully recorded of Mr. Francis H. Parsons, for 25 years assistant in 
charge of the Smithsonian Division of the Library of Congress. 

The growth of the Smithsonian library is due almost entirely to 
the exchange of publications of the Institution for those of learned 
societies and institutions throughout the world. During the year, 
30,541 packages of publications came to the library direct by mail, 
and 7,852 through the International Exchange Service of the Insti- 
tution. The accessions of all publications totaled 10,125, which 
brings the estimate of the number of volumes, pamphlets, and charts 
in the Smithsonian library to 677,483, to say nothing of the many 
thousands of parts of volumes awaiting completion of the volumes. 

The sets of publications of learned societies in the Museum library 
were gone over and the missing numbers listed. It was found that 
many of these could be supplied from the duplicates in the Library 
of Congress, and an effort is being made to obtain the rest from 
other sources. The shelves of the main collection in the Museum 
library were arranged, a task that had not been done for years. An 
intensive effort was made to bring the filing of the Concilium bib- 
liographicum cards up to date, and much progress was made. 
Nearly 1,800 volumes were prepared for binding during the year. 

20837—27——3 


22 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 
NATIONAL MUSEUM 


During the past year the total appropriations received for the 
maintenance of the National Museum were $598,392, an increase of 
$13,600 over the previous year. This additional amount was applied 
to the increase of salaries, mostly through reallocation of positions 
by the Personnel Classification Beard, for the employment of spe- 
cial watchmen to allow the opening of the Arts and Industries 
Building on Sundays, and to the fund for printing and binding. 
The Museum was benefited by these increases, but they are only a 
small part of those needed. As pointed out in last year’s report, 
much more generous appropriations are needed to enable the 
Museum to properly reward efficient service by its employees and to 
maintain the collections at their greatest usefulness to thie ever- 
increasing public that they serve. It is also most important that 
representation of many natural forms that are rapidly disappearing 
under the spread of civilization should be secured for the benefit of 
future generations. 

In the series of Smithsonian radio talks, now an established 
feature of the winter program of Station WRC, the Museum con- 
tributed 12 speakers. Many of the talks have been published in the 
Scientific Monthly through the interest of its editor, Dr. J. McKeen 
Cattell. 

The total number of specimens added to the Museum collections 
during the year was 254,032, and more than 1,000 lots of material 
were received for examination and report. Three thousand eight 
hundred and fifty-seven objects were given to schools and other 
educational agencies and 387,682 specimens exchanged for other 
material, while many thousands of specimens were loaned to 
specialists for study. 

A detailed account of the accessions in all departments of the 
Museum is given in the Report of Assistant Secretary Wetmore, 
Appendix 1, but a few of the more noteworthy may be mentioned 
here. 

In the department of anthropology, the division of ethnology re- 
ceived an excellent series of ethnological and cult material from the 
Rev. D. C. Graham as a result of his explorations for the Smithsonian 
Institution in western China and eastern Tibet, and a collection of 
105 artifacts obtained in Young’s Canyon, Ariz., by J. C. Clarke, 
transferred by the Bureau of American Ethnology. The division of 
physical anthropology received valuable skeletal. material of Aus- 
tralian aboriginals by exchange with the Adelaide Museum and 
through personal collection by Doctor Hrdlitka. 

In the department of biology, the division of insects was greatly 
enriched by the purchase, with private funds raised by Dr. William 


REPORT OF THE SECRETARY 23 


Schaus, of the Dognin collection of lepidoptera, which adds about 
82,000 specimens, including 3,000 types, to the collection. The divi- 
sion of marine invertebrates received large additions through the 
collections of Dr. W. L. Schmitt in South America, and also benefited 
through the transfer from the Bureau of Fisheries of further ma- 
terial taken on the Albatross expedition of 1911 to Lower California, 
which, included many new crustaceans as well as birds and fishes. 
The division of birds was presented, through Dr. W. L. Abbott, with 
a valuable collection of birds made in Siam and the Mentawi Islands 
west of Sumatra by C. Boden Kloss, and through Mr. B. H. Swales 
and Dr. Casey A. Wood with 65 bird skins of genera and forms not 
previously represented in the collections. 

In the department of geology, the accessions have included very 
choice and much-needed materials. The outstanding contribution 
to the division of geology was a collection of approximately 5,000 
specimens of ores of rarer metals, assembled by Mr. Frank L. Hess 
and received by transfer from the United States Geological Survey. 
The late Col. W. A. Roebling continued his generous contributions 
to the mineral collections, and other important additions were pre- 
sented by the United States Mint at Philadelphia, Mr. Jack Hyland, 
and the Government of British Guiana through Sir John Harrison. 
Of greatest interest for exhibition purposes was a large group of 
fluorite crystals presented by the Benson Fluorspar Co., of Cave-in- 
Rock, Ill., and thought to be the most unusual yet brought to public 
attention in America. The division of stratigraphic paleontology 
was enriched through the field explorations of its staff, which added 
invertebrate fossils from England, Canada, and Europe, as well as 
the United States. In continuation of his work of last year, Mr. 
C. W. Gilmore added a new series of shale and sandstone slabs 
containing the tracks of extinct animals to the collections of verte- 
brate fossils. Fossil mammal material of unusual value was collected 
in Florida by Dr. J. W. Gidley. 

The accessions in the department of arts and industries showed an 
increase over last year. In the section of mineral and mechanical 
technology, the outstanding accession was the airplane Chicago, the 
flagplane of the world flight. of 1924, which was transferred to the 
Museum by the War Department. The textile collections were en- 
riched by the addition of many new fabrics. Several models were 
installed illustrating the production of certain industrial articles, 
such as methyl alcohol, coke, casein, and condensed milk. Examples 
of etching, wood-engraving, lithograph, and other forms of graphic 
expression have been received by the division of graphic arts. The 
section of photography has received a valuable set of machines and 
material illustrative of the growth of the motion-picture industry. 


24. ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


The Loeb collection of chemical types was increased by 165 speci- 
mens, and the historical collection by 17,256 specimens. 

A number of field expeditions were participated in during the 
year by members of the Museum staff cooperating with private or- 
ganizations or with other governmental agencies. The bulk of the 
accessions to the collections was derived from these activities, which 
are described in Appendix 1. The lecture rooms and auditorium of 
the National Museum were used for 110 meetings covering a wide 
range of activities. Visitors to the Smithsonian Building totaled 
110,975; to the Arts and Industries Building, 355,762; to the Natural 
History Building, 581,563; and to the Aircraft Building, 58,005. 
The Museum published 8 volumes and 49 separate papers during the 
year and distributed 96,804 copies of its publications. 


NATIONAL GALLERY OF ART 


Attention is again called in the director’s report to the urgent need 
of a separate building for the National Gallery, the estimated cost 
of which would be $8,000,000. Without such a building, and with 
the art works now belonging to the gallery crowded into temporary 
quarters in the National Museum, there has been a marked de- 
crease in gifts and bequests to the gallery in recent years. With a 
suitable building, not only would the people of America again begin 
to add their art treasures to the national collection in Washington, 
but the collections of graphic arts, ceramics, textiles, and American 
history, now exhibited in scattered places in the National Museum, 
could be shown in association with the paintings and sculpture, 
thereby releasing many thousand feet of floor space needed for the 
natural sciences. 

The National Gallery Commission held its fifth annual meeting on 
December 8, 1925. The various affairs of the gallery were con- 
sidered, and attention was given to the year’s accessions, to the pur- 
chases made through the Ranger fund, to the proposed National 
Portrait Gallery, and to the method to be followed in considering 
the acceptance of art works given or bequeathed to the gallery. The 
present officers and members of committees were reelected for the en- 
suing year. The marble statue, the “Libyan Sibyl,” by William 
Wetmore Story, and a marine painting, “The Sea,” by Edward 
Moran, were accepted by the commission as permanent additions to 
the gallery collections. 

A very generous offer was made to Congress by Mrs. John B. 
Henderson during the year, of a large tract of land on Sixteenth 
Street for a national gallery building site. 

Special exhibitions held in the gallery included a loan exhibition 
of early American portraits, miniatures, and silver; an exhibition 


REPORT OF THE SECRETARY 25 


of portrait busts in marble and bronze, by Moses Wainer Dykaar; 
and an important assemblage of modern Italian art collected and 
exhibited under the patronage of His Majesty, the King of Italy. 

Hight paintings were purchased and assigned to various institu- 
tions during the year from the fund provided by the Henry Ward 
Ranger bequest. It will be recalled that any of these paintings may 
be reclaimed by the National Gallery of Art during the five-year 
period beginning 10 years after the death of the artist represented. 

Accessions of art works during the year, subject to the approval 
of the advisory committee of the gallery commission, were 10 paint- 
ings to be known as the George Buchanan Coale Collection, 1819-— 
1887; a portrait of Rear Admiral Robley D. Evans, United States 
Navy; two portrait busts by Moses W. Dykaar; and three paintings 
by Edward Moran. A number of art works were accepted as loans 
during the year, and several previously accepted were withdrawn. 
Nineteen paintings belonging to the gallery were loaned for exhibi- 
tion by other institutions. 

The gallery’s library has increased to over 1,400 volumes and 
pamphlets. A second number of the gallery’s catalogues of collec- 
tions was issued during the year. 


FREER GALLERY OF ART 


The year’s work in the preservation of the collection included 

work on 10 American oil paintings and the reconditioning of the 
ceiling of the Peacock Room, half of the latter work being com- 
pleted at the close of the year. The study of a considerable number 
of Japanese paintings, including classification and the translation 
of signatures, seals, and inscriptions upon them, was accomplished 
during the year. The collection of Near Eastern pottery also was in- 
tensively studied and considerably revised. 
- The library was increased by 500 volumes, of which 462 are in 
the Chinese and Japanese languages, 72 periodicals, and 142 pamph- 
lets. ‘There has been an increasing demand for photographs of 
objects in the collection, and 518 subjects are now available for 
purchase at cost. Over 1,400 photographs were sold during the year. 
Several hundred copies each of the three publications issued by the 
gallery—the descriptive pamphlet, gallery books, and the Synopsis 
of History—were also sold. 

The total attendance at the gallery for the year was 108,310. Of 
this number, several hundred came for special purposes such as 
to examine objects not on exhibition, and to make copies or photo- 
graphs of objects in the collections, and six groups varying in num- 
ber from 20 to 148 made appointments for special study or instruc- 
tion regarding: the collections. 


26 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


The work of the gallery’s archeological expedition in China was. 
practically at a standstill during the year because of the disturbed 
conditions in that country. 


BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 


The bureau has continued to conduct ethnological researches 
among the American Indians and to excavate and preserve ruins of 
prehistoric Indian structures, in accordance with the act of Congress 
authorizing the work. Dr. J. Walter Fewkes, chief of the bureau, 
selected as a promising region for study that part of Arizona west 
of the Little Colorado River, an area practically unknown arche- 
ologically.. After a brief reconnaissance of the region, Doctor 
Fewkes chose for excavation a large mound near Flagstaff, Ariz., 
which revealed an ancient rectangular building 145 by 125 feet in 
size, containing nearly 40 rooms and a large kiva, or ceremonial 
chamber. Besides clearing and repairing the walls in order to make 
this interesting ruin available to tourists and to students of arche- 
ology, Doctor Fewkes unearthed and brought back to Washington 
a large collection of characteristic pottery of diversified form and 
color, and a number of skeletons of the former inhabitants. As 
a result of this work, it will be possible to draw conclusions re- 
garding the culture and relationships of the ancient dwellers in this 
little-known region. 

Mr. J. N. B. Hewitt was occupied during the first part of the 
year in transliterating, amending, and translating the Chippewa 
text of “ The Myth of the Daymaker.” Later he undertook the task 
of reclassifying and recataloguing the valuable collection of linguis- 
tic and historical ethnological manuscripts in the bureau archives. 

Dr. John R. Swanton completed his papers on the “ Social Organi- 
zation and Social Usages of the Indians of the Creek Confederacy,” 
“Religious Beliefs and Medical Practices of the Creek Indians,” 
and “'The Culture of the Southeast,” and these works are now in 
course of publication. He completed the editing of a paper on 
the “'Trails of the Southeast,” by the late William EK. Myer. Doctor 
Swanton continued his work in compiling a card catalogue of the 
words of the Timucua language, and also his investigations on the 
aboriginal trail system of North America. 

Dr. Truman Michelson conducted researches among the Algon- 
quian Indians of Iowa, studying especially the festivals of the 
Thunder and Bear gentes of the Fox Indians. He later carried on 
linguistic investigations among the Ojibwa, Ottawa, and Pota- 
watomi. In Washington, Doctor Michelson prepared for publication 
two papers on sacred packs of the Fox Indians. 

Mr. J. P. Harrington was occupied during: the year in rescuing 
all that could be learned of the vanishing culture of the Mission 


REPORT OF THE SECRETARY 27 


Indians of California. Extensive excavations were made at several 
ruined village sites which revealed two distinct coast Indian cul- 
tures—an earlier and a later. Under the direction of one of the few 
survivors who still knows how to make the Mission Indian houses, or 
jacals, Mr. Harrington succeeded in building one of these structures 
and excellent photographs were obtained showing each step in the 
construction. A large amount of valuable information regarding 
the Mission Indians was brought together by Mr. Harrington, and 
this material will later be published by the bureau. 

Dr. Francis La Flesche was engaged during the year in classifying 
the personal names of the full-blood members of the Osage Tribe 
according to their places in the gentes of the tribe. Each name 
refers cryptically to the origin story of the gens to which it belongs. 
Nearly 2,000 names were recorded, but their translation has not been 
completed. Doctor La Flesche, in collaboration with Doctor Swan- 
ton, began a vocabulary of the Osage Tribe, some 3,000 words having 
been recorded with translations thus far. 

Miss Frances Densmore continued her studies of Indian music, 
collecting during the year extensive material among the Menominee 
of Wisconsin, and completing her manuscript on Papago music, 
which is now in shape for publication. Mr. Gerard Fowke con- 
ducted for the bureau during the period February to April, 1926, a 
survey and exploration of a group of aboriginal remains near Marks- 
ville, La. The mounds excavated and the methods of burial dis- 
closed differentiate this group of remains from any other known to 
the bureau. Mr. Fowke submitted to the chief a full report, with 
illustrations and map, on the work. 

During the last three months of the year, Mr. H. W. Krieger of the 
National Museum was detailed to the bureau for the purpose of 
studying the archeology of the Upper Columbia River Valley, and to 
undertake the restoration of the old Haida Indian village, Old 
Kasaan, a national monument in southeastern Alaska. A reconnais- 
sance trip along the upper Columbia River in Oregon and Washing- 
ton resulted in the selection of an old Indian camp site at Wahluke 
Ferry as the most promising station for excavation. Several hun- 
dred objects were unearthed, most of which had been ceremonial 
offerings accompanying the cremation form of burial. At Kasaan, 
it was found that most of the fine totem poles and all of the houses 
of the old village had either decayed beyond recall or had been 
burned in a recent fire. A few poles were scraped and the rotted 
wood removed. On the return trip, Mr. Krieger completed a map of 
archeological sites on the upper Columbia River, and undertook 
excavation at eight stations along the river. 

Mr. Henry B. Collins, jr., of the National Museum, was detailed to 
the bureau to carry on archeological work in Louisiana and Mis- 


28 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


sissippi, particular attention being given to 21 mounds on Pecan 
Island in Vermilion Parish, from which considerable cultural mate- 
rial and a number of skulls were obtained. Mr. Collins then located 
the sites of several historic Choctaw villages in eastern Mississippi, 
and secured physical measurements on 72 living Choctaw. 

Dr. J. W. Gidley conducted for the bureau an exploration of the 
fossil beds near Melbourne and Vero, Fla. Many fossil bones were 
collected, including some new forms, and a number of Indian mounds 
were visited and examined. 

Dr. Ale’ Hrdlicka was sent to Alaska for the purpose of studying 
the archeology of Seward Peninsula, in the vicinity of Nome, but 
this part of his work did not begin until the close of the fiscal year 
and the results will be reported on next year. 

The bureau issued one publication during the year—the Fortieth 
Annual Report, containing a number of papers on the Fox Indians 
by Dr. Truman Michelson—and a number of publications were in 
press or in preparation at the close of the year. There were distrib- 
uted 12,993 copies of bureau publications. 


INTERNATIONAL EXCHANGES 


The number of packages of governmental, scientific, and literary 
publications handled by the International Exchange Service during 
the fiscal year 1926 was 480,776, an increase of more than 12,000 over 
the preceding year. ‘These packages reached a total weight of 
558,493 pounds, representing more than 10 per cent increase in 
weight over last year. Over 2,500 boxes were required for the ship- 
ment of publications to foreign exchange agencies for distribution 
abroad. 

The depository of United States governmental documents in China 
has been changed from the American-Chinese Publication Exchange 
Department in Shanghai to the Metropolitan Library in Peking. 
Iceland and the Dominican Republic have been added during the 
year to the list of depositories of partial sets of our governmental 
documents. Steps were taken by the exchange service, at the request 
of several depositories, to have the regular series of governmental 
documents delivered more promptly than has been customary, and 
several letters of appreciation of this action were received from 
abroad by the Smithsonian Institution. Sets of United States offi- 
cial documents are now sent to 101 foreign depositories, and 75 copies 
of the Congressional Record are exchanged for similar proceedings 
of foreign parliaments. 

In the report on the exchange service, appended hereto, is repro- 
duced a circular describing the service and presenting the rules 
under which packages are received for distribution. 


REPORT OF THE SECRETARY 29 
NATIONAL ZOOLOGICAL PARK 


Although the number of animals in the park remains practically 
the same as in the previous year, the value of the collection has 
decreased somewhat through the loss of a number of the larger 
mammals which are expensive and therefore difficult to replace. 
Among the 150 animals presented to the park may be mentioned 
six specimens of the rhea, the ostrich of South America; a very 
interesting collection of birds and snakes from Sumatra; a three- 
toed sloth; an ocelot; a fine pair of Canada lynx; a Tasmanian walla- 
by; and four giant salamanders. One hundred and one mammals, 
birds and reptiles were born or hatched in the park during the year. 
The mammals included Rocky Mountain sheep, moufion, Alpine ibex, 
American bison, Indian buffalo, yak, guanaco, various deer, Javan 
and Japanese monkeys, raccoon, rock kangaroo, and beaver. The 
animals lost by death included a number that had been in the park 
for long periods, the longest record being that of a sloth bear, which 
had lived in the park for 21 years and 6 months. The total number 
of animals at the close of the year was 1,619, including 461 mammals, 
1,042 birds, and 116 reptiles and batrachians. 

The number of visitors for the year was 2,512,900, slightly less 
than the year before, but more than in any previous year. Schools 
and classes visiting the park numbered 309, comprising 24,309 
individuals. General improvements included grading along the new 
western boundary of the park near Cathedral Avenue, a large amount 
of needed repairing to roofs, rebuilding the roadway to and around 
the administration building, and putting in a new drainage system 
for the cages and walks on the south side of the lion house. 

It is gratifying to report that provision is made in the appropria- 
tion for the coming year for a bird house, for which there has been 
urgent need for several years. It is planned to begin construction in 
the spring of 1927. This structure will enable the officials of the 
park to assemble a collection of birds worthy of the National Zoologi- 
cal Park. Funds were made available during the past year for fur- 
nishing uniforms to the park policemen, making possible the main- 
tenance of a better standard of personal appearance. Similar pro- 
vision should also be made for the keepers, who are brought to a 
considerable extent into contact with the public. 

In connection with the Smithsonian series of radio talks, a new 
series was begun during the year entitled “ Radio Nature Talks from 
the National Zoological Park.” In this series, thirty-one 15-minute 
talks were given through station WRC, each preceded by a brief 
statement of current news of the park. 

Through the interest and financial support of Mr. Walter P. 
Chrysler, automobile manufacturer, an expedition was sent to Tan- 

20837—27——_4 


30 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSLITUTION, 1926 


ganyika Territory, Kast Africa, to secure for the park certain large 
and important African animals needed for the collection. This 
Smithsonian-Chrysler expedition left New York March 20, headed 
by Dr. W. M. Mann, director of the park, and at the close of the year 
a report was received of the capture of the first animals in the field 
by the expedition. 


ASTROPHYSICAL OBSERVATORY 


A grant of $55,000 to Doctor Abbot was made during the year 
by the National Geographic Society for the purposes of: selecting 
the best site in the Eastern Hemisphere and of establishing and 
maintaining for about four years a third solar-observing station 
to cooperate with the two now operated by the Astrophysical 
Observatory for the measurement of solar variation. To select 
the best site for the new station, Doctor Abbot visited and ex- 
amined promising localities in Algeria, Egypt, Baluchistan, and 
South West Africa, finally giving preference to Brukkaros Mountain 
in South West Africa. Although extremely isolated, this mountain is 
otherwise most promising for the investigation. Two-thirds of the 
314-1Inch average annual rainfall occurs in February and March, 
when better conditions prevail at the two American stations, and 
good months may be expected at Brukkaros Mountain when observ- 
ing weather is poorest in America. Work was begun in April on 
the construction of the observing tunnel, dwelling, shop, reservoir, 
and garage, and the expedition is expected to leave this country in 
the autumn. The station will be manned by Mr. W. H. Hoover, 
director, and Mr. F. A. Greeley, assistant. 

Through the continued generosity of Mr. John A. Roebling, the 
station maintained for five years on Mount Harqua Hala, Ariz., was 
transferred to Table Mountain, Calif., in order to obtain better sky 
conditions. Mr. A. F. Moore, director of the Harqua Hala station, 
designed and superintended all of the construction of the new sta- 
tion, and regular observations were begun from Table Mountain in 
October, 1925. The high quality of the observing conditions has 
amply justified making the change. 

Mr. Roebling felt in 1924 that his part in supporting the solar 
radiation work should end with June 30, 1925. Letters were 
addressed to the National Academy of Sciences, the Chief of the 
Weather Bureau, and the director of the meteorological office of the 
Air Ministry of Great Britain, asking whether in their opinion the im- 
portance of the solar observations warranted asking for increased 
Government appropriations to cover the support of the Montezuma 
station. The replies were emphatic in stating that the work was of 
the highest value and importance, and Congress granted the necessary 
increase to continue the Chilean station. 


REPORT OF THE SECRETARY 31 


The daily solar constant values have been cabled to Washington 
from the Montezuma station as heretofore, and since January 1, 1926, 
the solar constant data have been published on the daily weather map 
at the request of the Chief of the Weather Bureau. On that date, 
the Institution made public announcement that it would furnish 
“through the United States Weather Bureau, through either of the 
telegraph companies, or through the Associated Press, or Science 
Service, if any or all of these organizations shall request it for the 
use of their clients, daily or 10-day mean values of the solar constant 
of radiation as early and as frequently as results are available from 
its field stations in Chile and California.” 

The staff of the observatory at Washington have been largely oc- 
cupied during the year with a complete revision of all of the Mount 
Montezuma data. As a result of this extensive work, the newly 
derived solar constant values show a new and higher order of ac- 
curacy than ever reached before. 

A new proof of solar variability was devised by Doctor Abbot, on 
the basis that if the atmosphere had uniform temperature, trans- 
parency, and humidity, and if the pyrheliometer observations were 
made always at the same altitude above the horizon, the readings of 
the pyrheliometer would be directly proportional to the intensity of 
the solar rays. Testing this idea on all observations made in the 
months of July at Mount Wilson, from 1910 to 1920, excluding the 
years 1912 and 1913 as well as many individual days of unusual 
atmospheric conditions, Doctor Abbot plotted a full curve from the 
remaining observations. Then using the identical days, the mean 
solar constant values as heretofore published were plotted as a dotted 
curve. Both curves agree very closely except in 1914, when they 
differ by about 1 per cent. Both curves indicate a range of solar 
variation in July of 1910 to 1920 of over 2 per cent. With them was 
plotted in a double line the variation of sun-spot numbers. Even in 
details the agreement is quite remarkable. 


INTERNATIONAL CATALOGUE OF SCIENTIFIC 
LITERATURE 


Attention is again called to the urgent need of financial support 
to enable the organization to resume publication. The United States 
is the only country sufficiently prosperous to furnish this support, 
and no bibliographic enterprise more worthy of assistance could be 
found than this great international cooperative undertaking which 
for so many years was the only complete bibliographic aid to students 
and investigators in all branches of science. More than ever before, 
commercial enterprises depend on scientific work, and as it is through 
the literature of science that all such work is announced and re- 


32 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


corded, every effort should be made to have these records exact, com- 
plete, and available. It was this field that was covered by the 
International Catalogue. 


NECROLOGY 
GEORGE GRAY 


Judge George Gray, member of the Board of Regents of the 
Institution for over 30 years and chairman of its executive committee 
for the past 10 years, died on August 7, 1925. Judge Gray was born 
at New Castle, Del., on May 4, 1840, and graduated from Princeton 
University in 1859. He studied law at Harvard and was admitted 
to the bar in 1863. After practicing for 16 years, he was appointed 
attorney general of Delaware in 1876. This office he held for six 
years, when he was elected United States Senator for the unexpired 
term (1885-1887) of Thomas F. Bayard, who had been appointed 
Secretary of State. Judge Gray was twice reelected to the Senate, 
and at the end of these two terms, he was made United States circuit 
judge, third judicial circuit, which office he held from 1899 to 1914. 
From this time until his death, Judge Gray was a member of a 
number of important peace commissions and international arbitra- 
tion commissions. Tor several years preceding his death he had 
served as a trustee and vice president of the Carnegie Endowment for 
International Peace. 

Through his long period of service on the Board of Regents and as 
chairman of the executive committee, Judge Gray had a real interest 
in the activities of the Institution and a thorough knowledge of its 
affairs, and his wise counsel will be greatly missed in the meetings 


of the board. 
FRANCIS HENRY PARSONS 


Francis Henry Parsons, assistant in charge of the Smithsonian 
Division of the Library of Congress for 25 years, died July 25, 1925. 
Although Mr. Parsons was an employee of the Library of Congress, 
his close association with the Smithsonian makes it fitting that his 
career be briefly reviewed here. 

Born January 23, 1855, in Cleveland, Ohio, Mr. Parsons was the 
son of Charles Henry and Sarah Rice Parsons, both of New England 
ancestry. In September, 1862, he came with his parents to Wash- 
ington, where the remainder of his life was spent. Due to delicate 
health, his education was acquired from private instruction, sup- 
plemented by extensive reading. 

In January, 1872, he was appointed by Commander James H. 
Gillis, United States Navy, as his clerk, and sailed with him on the 
store ship Supply from New York to Rio de Janeiro: he was mus- 


REPORT OF THE SECRETARY 50 


tered out of the Navy August 8, 1872. From 1873 to 1894 he served 
with the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey; on one of its 
expeditions he discovered some rare Indian pottery, which is now 
in the United States National Museum. While connected with the 
survey he was selected to assume the duties of chief of library and 
archives, and reorganized that branch of the service. From 1894 
to 1900 he was a computer in the United States Naval Observatory. 

In April, 1900, Mr. Parsons was appointed assistant in charge 
of the Smithsonian Division of the Library of Congress, and it 
was here that his major life work was accomplished. ‘The division 
had been established in the same year to care for the valuable col- 
lection of the publications of institutions and societies comprising 
the Smithsonian deposit (dating from 1866) and the Library of 
Congress accessions. 

In the 25 years of his incumbency he saw the collection grow into 
a great library, perhaps unequalled anywhere for purposes of scien- 
tific research. Mr. Parsons brought to his task infinite care and 
patience, and a wide knowledge of learned societies and their meth- 
ods of publication, and his colleagues in the Library of Congress 
learned to depend upon the fullness and accuracy of his records. 
His contribution to the care and upbuilding of the collection, which 
he carried on with the constant cooperation of the Smithsonian 
Institution, will be a lasting memorial. 

Respectfully submitted. 

Cuarites D. Waxcort, Secretary. 


APPENDIX I 
REPORT ON THE UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 


Str: I have the honor to submit the following report on the con- 
dition and operations of the United States National Museum for 
the fiscal year ended June 30, 1926. 

The total appropriations for the National Museum for the fiscal 
year amounted to $598,392, an increase of $13,600 over the previous 
year. The additional sums available include $7,600 for increases in 
salaries, of which $5,100 came through reallocations of positions by 
the Personne] Classification Board; $1,000 for increase in salaries of 
employees in the shops, and $1,500 for employment of special watch- 
men to allow the opening on Sunday of the Arts and Industries 
Building. The sum of $6,500 was added to the funds for printing 
and binding. ‘The appropriation for the purchase of books for the 
Museum library was decreased by $500, leaving only $1,500 available, 
an amount insufficient for the purpose in view of the present output 
of scientific publications. 

Though the increases noted have afforded a certain measure of 
relief, particularly in the important matter of publications, the funds 
available for administration above the total of the pay roll are in- 
adequate for the needs of the Museum. The amounts now in hand 
for operation are barely sufficient for routine expenditure for needed 
supplies when handled with the greatest possible economy, leaving 
only small sums available for the purchase of specimens and little 
or nothing for explorations. 

The collections of the National Museum grow steadily in size 
and importance through transfers from other governmental agencies, 
from collections or single specimens presented by outside agencies, 
or through participation by members of the staff in expeditions 
financed from outside sources. This support is fully appreciated 
but it should be supplemented by appropriations that will permit 
the development of the many opportunities that come to us to obtain 
new information and material through direct field investigation. 
Further, the Smithsonian Institution, through the National Museum, 
should be in a position to develop useful researches of its own in 
many lines. Augmented funds for the purchase of specimens are 
also necessary since many gaps exist in our series. Though occa- 
sionally a gap is filled by gift, there should be funds for making 

34 


REPORT OF THE SECRETARY 35 


purchases when desirable specimens are offered at reasonable prices, 
as there can be no question but that every opportunity should be 
utilized to complete the collections of the Museum. Civilized man 
is occupying increasing areas of the surface of the earth, and with 
his occupation come such vast changes from the original condition 
that natural conformations are destroyed and hundreds and thou- 
sands of species of animals and plants must disappear. Only those 
remain that are sufliciently adaptable to fit into the modified scheme 
brought about by man’s presence, and those at all sensitive to change 
or that require special conditions for their existence inevitably dis- 
appear. The next 50 years will offer the last opportunities to secure 
many forms of nature for preservation for the information and 
study of future generations, so that yearly it becomes more and more 
important, in fact a duty, to secure such material. Opportunities 
now neglected may never offer again. Certainly the National 
Museum of one of the greatest countries in the world should not 
fall behind in such matters. 

Another matter deserving most serious consideration is that of the 
status of pay of the members of the staff. When the general re- 
classification act went into effect on July 1, 1924, it included provision 
for increase in pay at regular rates in the various grades. During 
the present year the third survey of the efficiency of the entire staff 
has been made with the result that it has been found that the 
majority have attained an efficiency rating sufficient to warrant pro- 
motion. The majority still stand at the entrance salaries in their 
respective grades. The financial assistance already accorded the 
staff has been greatly appreciated but it should be supplemented now, 
after a lapse of three years, as indicated. It is important that pro- 
vision be made to make the promotions indicated to maintain the 
morale of the personnel. Such promotion is required especially in 
the many low salaried positions since these do not afford a proper 
living wage. 

Modern developments in transportation, particularly the automo- 
bile, have’ brought to the National Museum a greatly increased 
attendance, one drawn from a broader area of our country than 
ever before. Parking spaces near the Museum are crowded daily, 
except during the colder months, with cars bearing license tags from 
every State in the Union. The educational function of the collec- 
tions has thus been broadened and extended and personal contact has 
been established with a larger body of the public. Interest in mat- 
ters that pertain properly to the sphere of a museum has also in- 
creased, with a resultant growth in number of inquiries by mail and 
in amount of material forwarded for identification or for informa- 
tion regarding it. 


36 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


The radio program of the Smithsonian Institution organized two 
years ago has continued as a regular winter feature of the pro- 
gram of Station WRC, and has attained marked popularity as 
indicated by growing interest in the subject matter of the various 
talks. Thirty-two talks were given during the year from August 
5, 1925, to May 29, 1926, through the medium of 30 speakers, 14 of 
whom were members of the Smithsonian staff, including 12 from 
the National Museum. Seven of these talks reached a broader audi- 
ence than usual as they were broadcast also from station WBZ 
in Springfield, Mass. ‘The subjects covered a wide range of topics 
from butterflies to earthquakes, and turtles to comets. The subject 
matter of a number has been given permanent preservation by 
means of publication in the pages of the Scientific Monthly through 
the interest of its editor, Prof. J. McKeen Cattell. As an educa- 
tional factor for the spread of authentic scientific information the 
radio has a steadily increasing importance, and is a means for the 
diffusion of knowledge among men wholly in accord with the aim 
and ideals of the Smithsonian Institution. 


COLLECTIONS 


The growth in collections housed in the National Museum, while 
not so extraordinary as last year, has brought rich additions to our 
material. The total number of specimens received amounted to 
254,032, while there came to hand in addition more than 1,000 lots 
of material for examination and report. ‘These included approxi- 
mately 28,000 individual specimens in the department of biology 
alone. Gifts to schools and other educational agencies included 3,857 
objects, while 37,682 specimens were sent out to institutions or to 
private individuals in exchange for other materials. Loans of many 
thousands of specimens were made to specialists for study. 

Following is a résumé of the more important accessions for the 
year in the various departments and divisions of the Museum: 

Anthropology.—Among noteworthy accessions there may be men- 
tioned an excellent series of ethnological and cult material acquired 
by the Rev. D. C. Graham in western China and eastern Tibet, 
during his explorations in that region for the Smithsonian Institu- 
tion. The specimens obtained are especially valuable in completing 
collections previously at hand of the Miao aborigines, a native race 
whose culture will be lost as they are replaced by Chinese. Maj. 
Edward D. W. Dworak, formerly governor of the island of Min- 
danao, loaned a fine collection of Moro brass work for exhibition. 

The Bureau of American Ethnology transferred a collection of 
105 artifacts obtained in Young’s Canyon, Ariz., by J. C. Clarke, 
a welcome addition to the collections in American archeology. An 


REPORT OF THE SECRETARY 37 


ancient maskette from Mexico, beautifully carved from hard stone, 
was presented by Dr. W. H. Holmes. Considerable additions to the 
collections of ancient stone implements from France, collected by 
members of the American School of Archeology in France, were 
deposited through the Archeological Society of Washington. 

Tn the Division of Physical Anthropology, valuable human skeletal 
material of Australian aboriginals was obtained by exchange with 
the Adelaide Museum and through personal collection by Doctor 
Herdlitka. There came also miscellaneous Indian skeletons from 
Mississippi collected by H. B. Collins, jr., and a cast of a Neander- 
thaloid skull presented by the Instytut Nauk Anthropologicznych 
of Warsaw. H 

The fine collection of laces gathered by the late Mrs. H. K. Porter 
remained on exhibition in the section devoted to art textiles through 
the kindness of Miss Annie May Hegeman. 

Biology.—Though the total of accessions in this department was 
smaller than last year, much of the material was of such high quality 
as to offset its lessened amount. The greatest single contribution was 
that of the Dognin collection of lepidoptera purchased by a special 
fund of $50,000 assembled from friends of the Institution by Dr. W. 
Schaus, honorary assistant curator of insects. This collection, mainly 
of New World forms, adds about 82,000 specimens, including 3,000 
types, to the collection. The addition of this material gives the 
National Museum what is undoubtedly the best representation of 
American species in this group to be found in any museum in the 
world. Doctor Schaus, accompanied by Mr. J. 'T. Barnes as assistant, 
went personally to France to pack the collection for transfer to 
Washington. 

The Hamfelt collection of microlepidoptera, secured through the 
United States Department of Agriculture, is another contribution 
of great importance to this group. 

Collections obtained by Dr. W. L. Schmitt from South America 
form large and important additions to the division of marine 
invertebrates. Through the Bureau of Fisheries, further series of 
specimens taken on the Albatross expedition of 1911 to Lower 
California have been transferred to the National Museum. The ma- 
terial recently received includes birds, fishes, and crustaceans, with 
a number of type specimens. 

Considerable contributions have come from China and southeastern 
Asia, excellently supplementing earlier collections from this general 
region received mainly through the generosity and interest of Dr. 
W. L. Abbott. A valuable collection of birds collected by C. Boden 
Kloss in Siam and on the Mentawi Islands west of Sumatra, pre- 
sented by Doctor Abbott, adds material from a new field. Important 


38 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


collections of mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, crustaceans, and. 
mollusks, have come from Dr. H. M. Smith, fisheries advisor to the 
Government of Siam, while Dr. H. C. Kellers, United States Navy, 
detailed by the Navy Department to accompany the United States 
Navy eclipse expedition of 1925 to Sumatra, has returned with 
valuable series of mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, fishes, marine 
invertebrates, and other material; from Rev. D. C. Graham in west- 
ern China have come additional collections of mammals, birds, bird 
skeletons, reptiles, amphibians, fishes, mollusks, crustaceans, and 
insects, including particularly important series from the Wa and 
Omei Mountains in western Szechwan. 

Mr. B. H. Swales, honorary assistant curator of birds, presented 
45 skins to the bird collections, a donation of importance, since all 
represent genera or forms not previously represented in the 
Museum. Among birds of especial interest may be mentioned a 
peculiar roller from Madagascar, Uratelornis chimaera, a flamingo 
Phoeniconaias minor, the only form of the family lacking in the 
collection, a starling Leucopsar rothschildi from the island of Bali, 
the streaked breasted tinamou Vhynchotus maculicollis and a dipper 
Cinclus schulzi from Argentina, together with a rare finch /diopsar 
brachyurus, long known only from the type specimen, which came 
to the National Museum in 1864. Mr. Swales’ donations include 
also a specimen in alcohol of Mesoenas variegatus, a highly peculiar 
form, and seven skeletons of North and South American birds. 

Dr. Casey A. Wood, collaborator in the division of birds, pre- 
sented 20 bird skins from the Fiji Islands and 2 skins and 32 alco- 
holic specimens from Ceylon. 

Geology.—The records in the department of geology show a 
decided increase in the number of accessions; and although the sum 
total of specimens received is less than last year, very choice and 
much-needed materials are included. 

In the division of geology the bulk of material received was by 
transfer from the United States Geological Survey, of particular 
note being a valuable reference collection consisting of approxi- 
mately 5,000 specimens of ores of the rarer metals. This collection, 
which was assembled by Mr. Frank L. Hess during many years of 
field work, comprises unquestionably the most complete series of 
such ores in existence. Many other suites of described material are 
included in these transfers. Additions to the meteorite collection 
were acquired chiefly through exchanges, with examples of 13 falls 
registered as new to the collection. 

The late Col. W. A. Roebling, by his generous donation of money 
for the purchase of minerals, was the chief contributor to the mineral 
collections, 11 accessions, comprising choice exhibition and study 
specimens, being recorded in his name. Other important additions 


REPORT OF THE SECRETARY 39 


are nuggets of gold formerly in the numismatic collection of the 
United States Mint at Philadelphia; a collection of Bolivian tin 
minerals, in part presented and in part deposited by Mr. Jack 
Hyland; and a rare palladium amalgam from British Guiana pre- 
sented by the government of that country through Sir John Har- 
rison. Of outstanding importance for exhibition is a large group 
of fiuorite crystals thought to be the most unusual yet brought 
to public attention in America. This was presented by the Benzon 
Fluorspar Co. of Cave-in-Rock, Ill. Rare minerals from foreign 
countries were acquired by exchange, and 387 cut stones were added 
to the Isaac Lea collection of gems through the Chamberlain fund. 

Material of inestimable value to the study series in stratigraphic 
paleontology was added chiefly through field explorations by mem- 
bers of the staff. Invertebrate fossils from the Cambrian and 
Ozarkian rocks of British Columbia, from the Lower Paleozoic of 
Great Britain and the continent of Europe, from the Middle and 
Upper Paleozoic of the Central States, and from the Devonian of 
New York, all selected with the museum’s special needs in mind, are 
among the collections thus secured. Gifts and transfers added im- 
portant type specimens, as well as vast collections of Cenozoic fos- 
sils. Although purchases were necessarily few in number, a few 
excellent exhibition specimens were thus procured; exchanges added 
valuable foreign material. 

Notable among the accessions of vertebrate fossils is a series of 
shale and sandstone slabs containing tracks of extinct animals, ob- 
tained from the Hermit and Yaki trails in Grand Canyon National 
Park by Mr. C. W. Gilmore in continuation of his work of last 
year. The present collection considerably exceeds in number of 
specimens the one obtained last year, and is of unique interest in 
containing faunas from three distinct levels, through a geological 
thickness of 950 feet, and from three distinct formations. Their 
great age, variety, and excellent preservation, as well as unusual 
occurrence, are features endowing these tracks with particular value 
in throwing light upon the character of the animal life of the 
Permian period. Fossil mammal material collected in Florida by 
Dr. J. W. Gidley is of unusual value as evidence for consideration 
in working out the problem of early man in that State. 

Arts and industries —The aggregate collections in this department 
indicate a fair increase over the previous fiscal year. 

In the division of mineral and mechanical technology the most 
important accession has been the airplane Chicago, the flag plane 
during the round-the-world flight of 1924, which was transferred to 
the Museum by the War Department. The Collier trophy of the 
National Aeronautic Association, awarded annually for some out- 
standing development in aeronautics, which was presented this year 


40 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


to Dr. S. Albert Reed for his development of a high-speed metal 
propeller, has been placed on exhibition by Doctor Reed with the 
aeronautical exhibit. 

An exhibit to illustrate the modern watch industry was installed 
by the Elgin National Watch Co. 

In the textile collections 150 specimens of cotton fabrics of various 
types were presented by the Pacific Mills through Lawrence & Co, 
An interesting series of casement material of different weaves illus- 
trating forms of curtains was presented by the Quaker Lace Co., and 
the North American Lace Co. presented a set of cotton and rayon 
laces made by machines in imitation of types of hand-made laces. 

The Ford Motor Co. installed a model illustrating the process of 
production of methyl alcohol with specimens of the main products 
derived from the distillation of wood, including charcoal, briquets, 
tars, oils, acetate of lime, methanol and many others. Another model 
loaned by the same company illustrates part of a battery of by- 
product coke ovens. 

The Karolith Corporation contributed 262 specimens of articles 
manufactured from casein according to a basic process developed by 
chemists at the Mellon Institute in Pittsburgh. 

In the food exhibits there was installed a large model of a milk 
condensary, gift of the Borden Sales Co. (Inc.), designed to illus- 
trate the production of milk and its manufacture into a condensed 
product. The Kroydon Co. presented a series of 10 specimens show- 
ing the manufacture of golf clubs from hickory and persimmon 
wood. The latter wood has been found especially suitable for the 
heads of clubs because of its unusual density and toughness. 

In the division of graphic arts the most important accession for 
the year was a work by John Evelyn entitled “ Sculptura,” published 
in England in 1662, in which is given the first account of the art of 
mezzotint engraving. Mr. J. Frank Wilson supplied a series of 
etchings, wood engravings, lithographs, and paintings, many of them 
especially fine examples that had been on exhibition in the division 
many years ago, and that now come as a permanent accession. An- 
other important accession of specimens of engravings, proofs, tools, 
and materials has come from Mrs. G. F. C. Smillie, whose husband 
was long chief portrait engraver at the Bureau of Engraving and 
Printing. 

Through the cooperation of Mr. Will Hays, president of the 
Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America (Inc.), there 
has been presented to the Museum a valuable set of machines and 
material to illustrate the growth of the motion-picture industry. 
The exhibits in this industry are assuming increased importance and 
it is planned to make them as complete as possible. There have 
also come to the exhibits in photography many additions in pictorial 


REPORT OF THE SECRETARY | 


photographs from some of the foremost workers in the world in this 
field, including a bromide print entitled “ Damp and Cold,” by Floyd 
Vail, and prints by many others. 

The Loeb collection of chemical types, established to preserve 
samples of the rarer chemical compounds, has been increased by 
165 specimens. The collection is broadening its usefulness through 
contacts with a steadily increasing circle of chemists. 

History——During the year 17,256 specimens were added to the 
historical collections, a considerable increase over last year. Addi- 
tions to the military and naval collections were of especial interest 
and value. Mrs. Beulah Hepburn Emmet presented a collection cf 
131 American and foreign military and naval swords dating back 
to 1750, forming the collection of Dr. Alfred J. Hopkins and known 
by his name. There are included many fine and ornate examples of 
the sword-makers art. In addition to swords of the Continental 
Army during the Revolution, there are many showing the develop- 
ment of the sword in the American Army through the nineteenth 
century to the close of the Civil War. The set of naval swords covers 
a like period of naval history. A large and interesting series of 
relics of Gen. Philip H. Sheridan was donated by Mrs. Philip H. 
Sheridan. 

In the numismatic collections, 65 modern coins and tokens were 
received as a bequest from the late Col. Thomas L. Casey through 
Mrs. Laura Welsh Casey; 112 Chinese coins, many of them very old, 
were received from Rev. D. C. Graham; and 68 French coins, tokens, 
and paper currency of the period of the World War were presented 
by Capt. Charles Carey. 

The philatelic collections received large additions from the Post 
Office Department including a set of 12,314 varieties of precanceled 
stamps from 1895 to the present date. Transfers from the Post 
Office Department to this collection have included all of the new 
stamps, both regular and commemorative issued by the 278 govern- 
ments in the Universal Postal Union. Commemorative stamps of 
our own government have included three issues, the centenary of 
the arrival of Norwegians in Minnesota, the Sesquicentennial of the 
signing of the Declaration of Independence, and the erection of a 
memorial to John Ericsson, inventor and engineer, builder of the 
Monitor. 

EXPLORATIONS AND FIELD WORK 


The bulk of the accessions to the collections during the year came 
from expeditions and explorations organized under private auspices 
or by other governmental agencies. 

In biology, important field work was carried on by Dr. Waldo L. 
Schmitt, curator of marine invertebrates under an award of the 


42 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


Walter Rathbone Bacon Scholarship of the Smithsonian Institution. 
Doctor Schmitt collected from August, 1925, to February, 1926, at 
various stations on the coast of eastern South America from Brazil 
south to Buenos Aires, devoting his attention especially to the crus- 
tacean fauna, but collecting specimens in many other groups. The 
material secured is highly valuable and includes many species 
not previously in the National Museum, as well as many new to 
science. 

Rev. David C. Graham continued his zoological explorations in 
Szechwan, western China, and though his travel in this region was 
hindered to some extent by civil warfare and the activities of brig- 
ands, he secured highly valuable collections in various branches of 
natural history. During the summer he visited Mount Omei and 
Washan where a number of new forms were procured and extensions 
made in the known ranges of others. The new material procured 
speaks well for Mr. Graham’s skill as a collector, since the region 
had been visited by other naturalists who had» collected there 
extensively. 

During April and May, 1926, Dr. J. M. Aldrich visited Guatemala 
for the purpose of collecting important diptera needed in the study 
of the Museum collections. His work was financed from personal 
funds and by a small contribution from the Museum. He crossed 
from Puerto Barrios to Guatemala City, and at the request of the 
Guatemalan Government went also to Coban as advisory member of 
a party to study locust infestations and possible means for their con- 
trol. His specimens have included many important additions to the 
collections. Mr. C. T. Greene, honorary assistant custodian of 
diptera, visited Panama from March to May in the interests of the 
Federal Horticultural Board mainly in connection with studies of 
the fruit flies of the genus Anastropha. Mr. Greene made extensive 
collections of diptera which have added extensively to the Museum 
series. 

Through the cooperation of the Navy Department, Dr. H. C. 
Kellers, United States Navy, was detailed to the United States Naval 
Observatory Eclipse Expedition to Sumatra that he might, while 
serving as surgeon to the members of the party, have opportunity to 
collect zoological material. The expedition was established in the 
village of Kepahiang, inland from the seaport of Benkoelen, 
Sumatra. During the period from October to January, Doctor 
Kellers procured a rich collection of marine invertebrates, fresh-water 
crustacea, insects, fishes, reptiles, amphibians, birds, mammals, and 
plants. Considering the time available for the work the collections 
made are extensive and contain many interesting forms new to the 
Museum. They are marked by careful preparation. The coopera- 


REPORT OF THE SECRETARY 43 


tion of the Navy Department in this matter has been greatly 
appreciated. 

Dr. Hugh M. Smith, honorary associate curator in zoology, at 
present fisheries adviser to the Siamese Government, through 
arrangement with the National Museum and with some outside 
assistance, has secured valuable collections from Siam that have 
added especially to the series of fishes, reptiles, amphibians, birds, 
and mammals. The material received is especially important since 
there has been little previously in the Museum from this region. 
Preliminary examination has shown several previously unknown 
species, some of which have been already described. The region 
is one of considerable importance since it connects the Malayan 
region with China, from both of which we have great series of 
specimens. 

Prof. M. M. Metcalf, of Johns Hopkins University, presented to 
the Museum extensive series of batrachians collected during work 
on opalinid parasites in that group in South America. 

The National Geographic Society has transferred to the National 
Museum specimens collected by Dr. Walter Koelz during the expedi- 
tion of 1925 to Greenland under Capt. Donald B. MacMillan. Capt. 
Rk. A. Bartlett forwarded an interesting series of marine inverte- 
brates collected during a visit to the coast of Labrador, and Mr. 
J. Morgan Clements sent collections of marine invertebrates and 
fishes secured during travels in Polynesia. 

Mr. Paul C. Standley, associate curator of plants, through coopera- 
tion with Mr. Oakes Ames and the United Fruit Co., visited the 
Canal Zone and Costa Rica, making extensive collections of plants. 

A week was spent at the Barro Colorado Island Biological Station 
gathering data for a list of the plants of the island. In Costa Rica 
Mr. Standley visited the Canton de Dota, where are found the first 
paramos north of Colombia. A month in the mountains of Guana- 
caste and work in other upland sections as well as in the Atlantic 
lowlands gave important data to be utilized ultimately for a report 
on the flora of Central America. 

Dr. W. L. Abbott, through his continued interest in the National 
Museum, financed an expedition by Mr. Emery C. Leonard, aid in 
the division of plants, to northern Haiti for a period extending from 
November to March. The 9,000 specimens procured will supplement 
material previously in hand for a report on the botany of the island. 

Dr. AleS Hrdliéka, curator of physical anthropology, in the depart- 
ment of anthropology, under the joint auspices of the Buffalo Society 
of Natural Sciences and the Smithsonian Institution, made an ex- 
tensive journey that included areas where remains of fossil or ancient 
man had been discovered in southern Asia, Australia, and Africa, 
and returned with series of photographs, specimens, and first-hand 


44 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


information of great value. Mr. H. W. Krieger carried on field 
work among the Indians of the State of Washington, and on the 
coast of southeastern Alaska, through a cooperative arrangement 
with the Bureau of American Ethnology. Mr. H. B. Collins, jr., 
under the same auspices, visited a number of Indian village sites 
in Mississippi and Louisiana to study ancient Choctaw, Attacapa, 
and Muskhogean cultures. 

Investigations at Pueblo Bonito under the auspices of the National 
Geographic Society by Mr. Neil M. Judd, curator of American 
archeology, were continued for another season since it had not been 
practicable to complete the work in five years as originally con- 
templated. Mr. Judd left for the site of the excavations in May and 
will continue his work through the summer. Mr. Judd, as chairman 
of the Research Committee of the Archaeological Society of Wash- 
ington, guided researches carried on by Dr. Manuel Gamio, for the 
society at pre-Columbian village sites in the highlands of Guate- 
mala. 

Under grants from the O. C. Marsh and Joseph Henry endowment 
funds of the National Academy of Sciences, Secretary Walcott, 
assisted by Mrs. Walcott, continued field work in the early geological 
strata of Canada during the season of 1925, beginning at Lake 
Louise Station in Alberta on July 9. Work this year included dis- 
covery of new fossil deposits in the great lower Paleozoic section 
north of Bow Valley, and in the lower Ordovician rocks of the John- 
ston-Wild Flower Canyon Pass section. Results from this work 
have been considerable though the season was unfavorable because 
of forest fires, whose smoke hindered photographic work, and fre- 
quent snow falls that interfered with field investigations. 

Dr. Charles E. Resser and Dr. E. O. Ulrich were members of the 
Smithsonian-Princeton expedition to Europe during the summer of 
1925 to study important outcrops of the lower Paleozoic beds. The 
route included more than 7,500 miles by automobile through Eng- 
land, Wales, Scotland, the Scandinavian countries, Germany, Czecho- 
slovakia, Austria, Switzerland, and France. As a result of this 
work many important fossils were secured and arrangements were 
perfected for valuable exchanges. 

During August and a part of September, 1925, Dr. R. S. Bassler, 
in cooperation with the Tennessee Geological Survey, continued his 
geological studies in the central basin and highland rim areas of 
Tennessee. His work this season covered stratigraphic surveys of 
approximately 250 square miles divided among four areas. Mr. B. 
R. Pohl was occupied for several weeks in 1925 in critical studies 
of the Devonian formations in the State of New York. This work 
was continued in May and June, 1926, in western New York and 
in Ontario with resultant information that enables a more correct 


REPORT OF THE SECRETARY 45 


idea to be formed as to the proper stratigraphic horizons for many 
series of fossils whose previous position had been unsatisfactorily 
known. 

Under an allotment from the Marsh fund of the National Academy 
of Sciences, Mr. Charles W. Gilmore visited the Grand Canyon in 
Arizona and in cooperation with the National Park Service con- 
tinued work on beds containing fossil footprints. As an outcome 
of this season’s investigation there are now known three distinct 
series of these tracks that serve to indicate the animal life of the 
Permian world. ‘The beds in which the tracks are found are espe- 
cially notable for the graphic picture that they give, through their 
exposure in the canyon walls, of the enormous reach of time during 
which vertebrated animals have had their evolution. 

Dr. James W. Gidley, under the auspices of the Bureau of Ameri- 
can Ethnology, continued work in the vicinity of Melbourne, Fla., 
in investigating evidence as to early man in Florida and in study of 
the Pleistocene deposits in that region. In October, 1925, Doctor 
Gidley was detailed to examine a spring deposit in southwestern 
Oklahoma, where he secured a number of specimens of ethnological 
and geological umportance. 


BUILDINGS AND EQUIPMENT 


Minor repairs to the various buildings housing the Museum have 
kept them in good condition during the year. 

It was necessary to replace a space of worn-out concrete roadway, 
slightly more than 87 feet in length, leading from B Street to the 
east entrance to permit the entry of trucks with coal and other 
supplies. Other repair work on the Natural History Building con- 
sisted of the usual painting required on window frames, repairs to 
the concrete water table, and pointing of joints in the stone steps at 
the south entrance. 

In the Arts and Industries Building the wooden floor on the south 
end of the gallery of the south hall was replaced by terrazzo, a great 
improvement that lessens fire risk. Much paint and repair work 
was required for the exterior of the building. In the Smith- 
sonian Building the public portion of the disbursing office was 
remodeled to give greater security during the handling of funds 
on pay days. 

Minor repairs were required in the Freer Gallery and the aircraft 
building. 

In the heating plant the consumption of coal amounted to 3,465 
tons, the excess over last year being due to the longer period of 
continuance of cold weather. Considerable repairs were made to the 
plant and more will be required annually since it has now been in 


46 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


operation for 17 years. The boilers were inspected by the Steamboat 
Inspection Service of the United States and found to be in good 
condition. The elevators have been regularly inspected by the build- 
ino inspector of the District of Columbia and certain additional 
safeguards installed to protect passengers as fully as possible. The 
total electric current produced amounted to 493,295 kilowatt-hours, 
manufactured at a cost of 2.82 cents per kilowatt including labor, 
material, interest, and depreciation on the plant. 

The ice plant produced 344.1 tons of ice at a cost of $3.51 per ton. 
The increased cost is due to a new compressor installed during the 
year and some other changes in the plant that will lead to increased 
efficiency and will reduce the expense of operation for succeeding 
periods. 

In the shops there were made during the year 11 exhibition cases 
and 117 storage cases and other pieces of laboratory furniture. In 
addition, 40 pieces of storage, laboratory, and office furniture were 
acquired by purchase. 


MEETINGS AND RECEPTIONS 


The lecture rooms and auditorium of the National Museum were 
used for 110 meetings covering a wide range of activities. 

Governmental agencies using the lecture and meeting rooms in- 
cluded the United States Tariff Commission for an exhibition of 
motion pictures depicting methods employed in shipping living 
birds, the Extension Service of the United States Department of 
Agriculture for an exhibition of motion pictures, and the Federal 
Horticultural Board for various hearings, particularly with regard 
to quarantine regulations for certain bulbs. Members of the Forest 
Service held a series of meetings during the year dealing with various 
phases of their work. 

Scientific societies that met regularly in the meeting room included 
the Entomological Society of Washington, the Society for Philo- 
sophical Inquiry, the Anthropological Society of Washington, and 
the American Horticultural Society. Meetings were held also by the 
National Parks Association, the Federation of Music Clubs of the 
District of Columbia, the Vivarium Society, the Wild Flower Preser- 
vation Society, the Audubon Society of the District of Columbia, 
the Art and Archaeology League of Washington, the Washington 
Society of Engineers, the National Soy-bean Growers’ Association, 
and by the Biological Society in cooperation with the Audubon 
Society. 

The School of Foreign Service of Georgetown University conducted 
a series of 15 lectures on the American Constitution and ideals as 
compared with the Communist ideals manifested in Bolshevism. 
The second national spelling bee, organized by the Courier-Journal, 


REPORT OF THE SECRETARY 47 


of Louisville, Ky., held June 17, was won by Miss Pauline Bell, of 
Clarkson, Ky. 

The second Industrial Conference of Women under the auspices 
of the United States Department of Labor, held from January 18 
to 21, included at its initial session on January 18, the reading of 
a letter from President Coolidge and addresses by Hon. James J. 
Davis, Secretary of Labor; Mrs. John Jacob Rogers, Member of 
Congress from Massachusetts; and Mrs. Julius Kahn, Member of 
Congress from California. 

An illustrated address on the collections in the National Gallery 
of Art was delivered by Dr. Gertrude R. Brigham on December 5. 
On January 25 under the auspices of the Twentieth Century Club 
there was an illustrated lecture on the National Gallery of Art by 
Mrs. Porter R. Chandler. 

Educational and other organizations holding meetings in the build- 
ing included the Associate Alumnae of Vassar College, the depart- 
ment of superintendents of the National Educational Association, 
the Smithsonian Relief Association, the National League of Girls 
Clubs, the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States, Federal 
Post No. 824, the Girl Scouts, the Nature Study Corps of the public 
schools of the District of Columbia, a class in bird study from George 
Washington University, and a class in parasitology from Howard 
University. 

On October 21 Dr. AleS Hrdlicka gave to the staff an account of 
his studies of ancient man during his journey in southern Asia, 
Australia, and Africa. There were also several exhibits of pictures 
and talks for members of the staff, including one by Mr. Rollin R. 
Winslow, United States Consul at Surabaya, Java. 

On November 5 there was a iecture by M. Georges Plasse on 
the making of aquatints in color, illustrated by motion pictures 
taken in the studio of the speaker in Paris. 

On February 20, under the auspices of the Smithsonian Institution, 
M. Henri Correvon of Geneva, Switzerland, gave an address on 
Alpine plants and their use in rock gardens. 

On June 4 Dr. Johannes Schmidt, Director of the Physiological 
Division, Carlsberg Laboratorium, Copenhagen, Denmark, delivered 
an illustrated address on Danish Oceanographic Expeditions—Kel 
Investigations, before a meeting held under the auspices of the 
Carnegie Institution of Washington, the Washington Academy of 
Sciences, the Biological Society of Washington, and the Smithsonian 
Institution. 

EXHIBIT AT THE SESQUICENTENNIAL 


Considerable time was devoted during the year by members of 
the Museum staff to the preparation of material to form part of the 


48 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


Smithsonian exhibit at the Sesquicentennial Exposition in Philadel- 
phia. The anthropological exhibits include miniature models of 
Indian village groups, life-size models of Indian potters, silver- 
smiths, and weavers at work, and a series to illustrate the evolution 
of the lamp, cup, knife, fork, spoon, hammer, saw, drill, and ax. 
The chief exhibit in biology is a mounted group of the Bighorn, or 
Rocky Mountain sheep. Geology is represented by a series illustrat- 
ing the weathering of rock to form soil, a collection of gems and 
precious stones found in America with the minerals in which they 
occur, and a number of interesting fossil forms including fossil fish, 
turtles, plants, and algae. The Museum’s historical exhibit com- 
prises a series of arms, insignia, uniforms, and medals, and models 
of Columbus’ ships, of the Mayflower, and of the Constitution. 
Mechanical technology is represented by an extensive exhibit illus- 
trating the development of the steam engine and of the steamboat. 
In graphic arts are shown examples illustrating the progress in 
photography from the days of the daguerreotype to the present, and 
other forms of graphic expression. The entire Smithsonian ex- 
hibit was prepared and installed in Philadelphia under the direction 
of Mr. W. de C. Ravenel, administrative assistant to the Secretary. 


MISCELLANEOUS 


Visitors to the buildings under the National Museum show a 
steady annual increase, in the present year registering a total of 
1,106,305. The attendance in the several buildings was recorded as 
follows: Smithsonian, 110,975; Arts and Industries, 355,762; Natural 
History, 581,563; Aircraft, 58,005. The average daily attendance, 
including Sunday, was approximately 2,500. The exhibition halls 
were closed on Christmas Day and New Year’s. 

The Museum published 8 volumes and 49 separate papers during 
the year, while its distribution of literature amounted to 96,804 copies 
of its books and pamphlets. 

Additions to the Museum library have included 1,660 volumes and 
1,466 pamphlets, obtained mainly by exchange or donation. In the 
considerable progress made in library matters during the year, men- 
tion may be made of binding and of the checking of sets of periodi- 
cals and of the attempt to fill existing gaps in these series. 

Dr. Casey A. Wood, well known as an ornithologist, was given 
honorary appointment as collaborator in the division of birds on 
January 9, 1926. Doctor Wood has shown deep interest in the col- 
iections of that division for a number of years. 

Dr. H. H. Bartlett, director of the botanical garden of the Uni- 
versity of Michigan, who will collect specimens in Formosa and 
Sumatra on behalf of the National Museum and the University of 


REPORT OF THE SECRETARY 49 


Michigan, was appointed collaborator in the division of plants for 
two years beginning March 17, 1926. Dr. William H. Longley, of 
Goucher College, who is working in cooperation with the Museum, 
was made collaborator in the division of marine invertebrates on 
March 20, 1926. The honorary appointment of Dr. George Grant 
MacCurdy as collaborator in the department of anthropology was 
extended for one year beginning February 14, 1926. 

Earl D. Reid was promoted from clerk to aid in the division of 
fishes on August 1, 1926. Miss Isabel L. Towner was appointed 
assistant librarian of the Museum in January, 1926, succeeding the 
late Mr. N. P. Scudder, in charge of the Museum hbrary. Miss 
Hortense Hoad, aid in the division of history, resigned on January 
31, 1926. Mr. Paul G. Van Natta left the service by resignation on 
May 6, 1926. It may be noted that turnover in the watch force has 
become so great that in the last year the 61 positions of guard were 
held by 80 persons. 

Dr. Brayton H. Ransom, assistant custodian of the helminthologi- 
eal collections of the Museum since January 5, 1905, died September 
17, 1925, after a brief illness. Other deaths among members of the 
Museum force were those of Mr. J. H. Williams, laborer, on Septem- 
ber 4, 1925; Mr. Henry Gibson, laborer, November 21; Mr. Sylvester 
W. Baldwin, laborer, December 24; Mr. John E. Johnson, watchman, 
March 26, 1926; and Mr. Marston R. Carey, mail carrier, April 1. 

Respectfully submitted. 

ALEXANDER WETMORE, 
Assistant Secretary. 
Dr. CHartes D. Watcort, 
Secretary, Smithsonian Institution. 


APPENDIX 2 
REPORT ON THE NATIONAL GALLERY OF ART 


Sir: I have the honor to submit the following report on the affairs 
of the National Gallery of Art for the year ending June 30, 1926. 

In the annual report of the director of the gallery for the fiscal 
year 1924-25 a list of the personnel of the staff was given, and the 
nature of their activities was briefly indicated. No noteworthy 
changes have been made during the present year. Reference was 
made to a decided falling-off in the acquirement of art works in 
recent years, a result attributed to the lack of available space for 
the accommodation of additions save of the most limited kind. 
The dire need of a gallery building was there explained, and the 
sketch plans for such a building, prepared under the direction of 
the Regents of the Institution, by Mr. Charles A. Platt, architect 
of the Freer Gallery, were discussed in some detail. The estimated 
cost of the structure, which when completed, would be worthy of 
a people who aspire to bring together in Washington a representa- 
tive collection of the art treasures of the world, is $8,000,000, 
although there appears no reason why this large expenditure, if 
approved by Congress, should not extend over a number of years. 
Such a building would not only make additions by gift and bequest 
possible, but would permit the assemblage, in association with the 
paintings and sculptures, of the collections of graphic arts, ceramics, 
textiles, etc., now installed for lack of gallery space, in several sepa- 
rate branches of the Museum. It would accommodate the National 
Portrait Gallery and the extensive collections of American history 
which now occupy nearly 80,000 feet of floor space belonging to and 
much needed by the natural sciences. 


THE GALLERY COMMISSION 


The fifth annual meeting of the National Gallery Commission was 
held in the Regents’ room of the Smithsonian Institution, December 
8, 1925. The members present were: Gari Melchers, chairman; W. 
H. Holmes, secretary; Herbert Adams, Joseph H. Gest, John E. 
Lodge, Charles L. Moore, James E. Parmelee, Edward W. Redfield, 
Edmund C. Tarbell, and C. D. Walcott. The varied activities of the 
gallery were considered, and attention was given to the accessions for 
the year, to the Ranger fund purchases and their disposition, to the 

50 


ee 


ee ee eee 


REPORT OF THE SECRETARY 51 


problems of the proposed national portrait gallery, and to the pro- 
cedure to be adopted in considering acceptance of gifts and bequests 
of art works. After discussion of the latter topic the following 
resolution was adopted : 

Resolved, That the advisory committee of the National Gallery of Art 
Commission shall consist of the full membership of the commission; that in 
carrying out the functions of the advisory committee a quorum shall consist of 
seven members, four of whom shall be artists or museum directors. 

The commission considered at some length the agencies now 
enlisted in the promotion of the prospective gallery building, with- 
out developing any plan of procedure. The activities of the Ameri- 
can Federation of Arts and the Federation of Women’s Clubs in 
appealing to the American people for support of the gallery build- 
ing project were brought to the attention of the commission and 
encouragement was found in the assurance that appreciation of art 
is growing rapidly in all sections of the country. 

The expiration of the terms as members of the commission of 
W. K. Bixby, W. H. Holmes, and Herbert L. Pratt was announced. 
The secretary was directed to cast the ballot of the commission 
recommending to the Board of Regents the reappointment of these 
members for the ensuing term of four years. It was stated that Mr. 
A. Kingsley Porter, elected to the commission in 1921, had thus far 
not attended any meeting of the commission and that, in accordance 
with section 3 of Article V of the plan of organization of the com- 
mission, his membership -automatically terminated, December 8, 
1925. To fill the vacancy thus created, the commission passed a 
resolution recommending to the Board of Regents, the appointment 
of Mr. John Russell Pope, architect. The appointment was declined 
by Mr. Pope in a letter dated January 5, 1926. 

The Regents’ plan provides for the election of officers and members 
of committees at the annual meeting, and the secretary of the com- 
mission was directed to cast the ballot of the commission for the 
reelection of the present incumbents. 

At 12 o’clock the commission adjourned and at 2 o’clock met in the 
National Gallery as the advisory committee to consider the offerings 
of art works for the year. The Libyan Sibyl, a statue in Carrara 
marble, heroic in size, by William Wetmore Story, and a marine 
painting, The Sea, by Edward Moran, were accepted by the com- 
mittee as additions to the National Gallery collections. 


CATALOGUE 


Early in the year a second and enlarged edition of the catalogue 
of the gallery collections was submitted to the Public Printer. Page 
proofs were read in November and the volume appeared in May. 


52 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


It contains 118 pages and 104 plates. The permanent accessions 
number 98 and the artists represented 228. 


MRS. HENDERSON’S OFFER 


_ Decided impetus has been given recently to the gallery’s building 
project by the very generous offer to Congress by Mrs. John B. 
Henderson of a valuable tract of land containing between 4 and 5 
acres, on Meridian Hill, facing Sixteenth Street, as a gallery build- 
ing site. 


ACTIVITIES OF THE AMERICAN FEDERATION OF ARTS AND THE FEDERATION 
OF WOMEN’S CLUBS 


The American Federation of Arts and the Federation of Women’s 
Clubs continued their work on behalf of the gallery, furthering its 
interests with propaganda and lectures, with the use of lantern slides 
and photographic prints. 


SPECIAL EXHIBITIONS HELD IN THE GALLERY 


Loan exhibition of early American portraits, miniatures, and 
silver.—The loan exhibition season was opened by a noteworthy 
display of early American art treasures comprising portrait paint- 
ings, miniatures, and silver, on view from December 5, 1925, to 
January 31, 1926. The exhibition, which was drawn from all avail- 
able sources, was conceived and assembled by the Washington loan 
exhibition committee, the members of which are as follows: 


Mrs. William C. Eustis, chairman. 
Mr. Frederick H. Brooke, vice chairman. 
Mrs. Porter R. Chandler, secretary. 
Mr. James Parmelee, treasurer. 
Mrs. William Penn Cresson. 

Mr. Frederic A. Delano. 

Mrs. Peter Goelet Gerry. 

Dr. William H. Holmes. 

Mrs. McCook Knox. 

Miss Leila Mechlin. 

Mr. C. Powell Minnigerode. 

Mr. Dunean Phillips. 

Mrs. Duncan Phillips. 

Mrs. Coreoran Thom. 


The very excellent illustrated catalogue of the exhibit was prepared 
by Miss Leila Mechlin and is introduced by a short historical sketch 
of the National Gallery. 

The portrait exhibit, representing nearly every portrait painter 
of distinction previous to the year 1840, was organized and assembled 


REPORT OF THE SECRETARY 53 


at the cost of much exacting effort on the part of the subcommittee 
on portraits, the membership of which follows: 


Miss Leila Mechlin, chairman. 

Mrs. Porter R. Chandler, vice chairman. 

Mrs. William Penn Cresson. 

Mrs. W. M. Grinnell. 

Mrs. McCook Knox. 

Miss Sarah R. Lee. 

Mr. Lynch Luquer. 

Mrs. David A. Reed. 

The portraits, 103 in number, were shown to excellent advantage, 
occupying the walls of the central rooms of the gallery, and sur- 
rounding the exhibits of silver and miniatures, which occupied 
the floor spaces. A four-page résumé of the portrait art of America 
is given, with brief mention of the masters, and much valuable bio- 
graphical data regarding the painters is given in the catalogue. 

The collection of miniatures was of surpassing interest and was in 
charge of the subcommittee on miniatures, the membership of which 
is as follows: 

Miss Helen Amory Ernst, chairman. 

Miss Hlizabeth Allen White. 

Mrs. John Hill Morgan. 

Mrs. Minnigerode Andrews. 

Mrs. Rose Gouverneur Hoes. 

Mrs. Henry Leonard. 

Mrs. Orme Wilson, jr. 

Mrs. William Cabell Bruce. 

Miss Lilian Giffen. 

Mrs. J. Madison Taylor. 

Mrs. William FE. Wharton. 


The installation, a most exacting task, was made by Miss Ernst, 
and was unusually attractive and of very wide interest. The cata- 
logue of 208 numbers was introduced by a few interesting para- 
graphs on early American miniatures, by Mr, Albert Rosenthal. 

The collection of silver was shown to excellent advantage in six 
large gem cases in the central room of the gallery. Maj. Gist Blair, 
chairman of the subcommittee, being unable to take part in the instal- 
lation, the work was taken up by Mrs. John Henry Gibbons, aided by 
other members of the committee, which was constituted as follows: 

Maj. Gist Blair, chairman. 

Mrs. John Henry Gibbons. 

Mrs. Breckinridge Long. 

Mr. Hollis French. 

Mrs. Miles White, jr. 

Mr. Luke Vincent Lockwood. 

Mr. R. T. H. Halsey. 


20837-—27——5 


54 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


The collection, numbering 255 examples of the art of early Ameri- 
can silversmiths, was generally regarded as one of the most interest- 
ing and valuable ever brought together. The catalogue was intro- 
duced by a four-page story of the development of the art by Miss 
Elizabeth B. Benton. 

The Dykaar exhibition —An exhibition of portrait busts in marble 
and bronze, with certain other pieces, by Moses Wainer Dykaar was 
installed in the middle room of the gallery March 5 to March 20. 
The exhibit made a very favorable impression and included the fol- 
lowing subjects. 


Calvin Coolidge. Carolyn Harding Votaw 
Mrs. Calvin Coolidge. Dr. Charles D. Walcott 
Warren Gamaliel Harding. Rabbi Stephen 8. Wise 
Dr. Alexander Graham Bell. A Young Teacher. 
Abraham Cahan. The Modern Woman. 
Eugene V. Debs. Nude Girl: Primavera 
Samuel Gompers. Once Upon a Time. 
Hudson Maxim. Satyriec Mask. 

Gen. George Owen Squier. An American Student. 
Justice Wendell P. Stafford. W. H. Holmes. 


A bust in marble of Abraham Cahan, well-known author and 
editor, and one of W. H. Holmes, director of the gallery, were pre- 
sented to the Smithsonian Institution by the sculptor. 

The Italian exhibit of paintings, sculpture, etc.—The third exhibit 
of the season was an important assemblage of modern Italian art, 
collected and exhibited under the patronage of His Majesty the 
King of Italy. It was assembled on the invitation of the Italy- 
America Society of New York City by the Italian Minister of Public 
instruction, the works being chosen largely under the personal super- 
vision of Arduino Colasanti, director general of fine arts, Italy. 
The collection, installed under the competent direction of Dr. Lauro 
de Bosis, occupied the entire central series of rooms and connecting 
spaces in the gallery, with a running wall space of 430 feet. This 
display attracted more than ordinary attention. The excellent cata- 
logue was prepared by the Italy-America Society and comprises 24 
pages of text and 34 plates representing selections from the 290 
items of the exhibit. The exhibit was opened to the public on the 
afternoon of March 25, with a reception given by the Secretary and 
Regents of the Smithsonian Institution, and was closed on April 24, 
1926. An especially noteworthy feature of the catalogue is the four- 
page “ Foreword” by Christian Brinton. His admirable character- 
ization of the exhibit follows: 

The aim of the present exhibition is to offer a balanced and comprehensive 
picture of current Italian artistic activity. The picture opens with the work 


of the great protagonists, Boldini, Mancini, and Medardo Rosso, and closes 
with a courageous presentation of Futurist painting and decorative art. Every 


REPORT OF THE SECRETARY 55 


movement of consequence finds place on these walls, with special emphasis 
upon the work of certain painters and sculptors who have risen to prominence 
as the result of postwar influences. You will hence be able to adjudge the 
merits of what may be termed the living art of Italy. You will be able to 
trace in line, color, and form the artistic physiognomy of a country recently 
fired to new effort yet ever mindful of its heroic heritage. 

Very appropriately the frontispiece of the catalogue is a three- 
quarter photographic portrait of Vittorio Emanuele, King of Italy. 


THE HENRY WARD RANGER FUND 


Since the paintings purchased during the year by the council of 
the National Academy of Design from the fund provided by the 
Henry Ward Ranger bequest are, under certain conditions, pros- 
pective additions to the gallery collections, the list, including the 
names of the institutions to which they have been assigned, may be 
given in this place. 

Since it is a provision of the Ranger bequest that paintings purchased 
from the fund and assigned to favored American art institutions 
may be reclaimed by the National Gallery during the 5-year period 
beginning 10 years after the death of the artist represented, it is 
appropriate that the death of Ben Foster, N. A., which occurred on 
January 28, 1926, should be noted. 


Title Artist igs Assignment 
52. The Enchanted Pool---_. William Ritschel, N. A_..| Mar. 28,1926 | The Minneapolis Society of 
Fine Arts, Minneapolis, 
Minn. 

53. From a Window-.-----_-- Carl W)- we eversso eee Pans Moe 2. eee Witte Memorial Museum, San 

| Antonio, Tex. 

DABHSpring esse le de, ere H. Bolton Jones, N. Ateis| et do___._..| Mills College, Oakland, Calif. 

DOs Passi eo ys Mee te E. Martin Hennings____-_- |-----do.......| Museum of Fine Arts of Hous- 

ton, Tex. 

56 Southaven Mill_-___-___- W.Granville-Smith, N. A-|____- docwatecs Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo, 

Ohio. 
57. Circe and Anatol_____-_- Robert Reid N.. Ales. . 225/228) Gosh aie The Akron Institute, Akron, 
Obio. 

58. Clifis of the Upper Colo- | Thomas Moran, N. A____|__-_--_-.-____- Louisville Free Publie Li- 
rado River, Wyoming brary, Louisville, Ky. 
Territory. 

59. Days of Sunshine_______- WotlliamnVendt. Awe Asoo 2 soul oo Malden Public Library, Mal- 

den, Mass. 


The paintings purchased from the Ranger fund during the past 
fiscal year and unassigned at its close (1924-25) have subsequently 
been assigned as follows: 


45. The Wood-Cart, by Louis Paul Dessar, N. A.; to the museum of the school 
of fine arts of Yale University, New Haven, Conn. 

46, A Reading, by Thomas W. Dewing, N. A.; to the Cincinnati Museum 
Association, Cincinnati, Ohio, 


56 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


47. Dawn, by Dwight W. Tryon, N. A.; to the Carnegie Institution, Pittsburgh, 
Pa. 

48. The Prodigal Son, by Horatio N. Walker, N. A.; to the Buffalo Fine Arts 
Academy, Albright Art Gallery, Buffalo, N. Y. 

49. Storm Birds, by Armin Hansen; to the Norfolk Society of Arts, Norfolk, 


Va. 
50. Helen, by Jerry Farnsworth; to the Isaac Delgado Museum of Art, New 


Orleans, La. 
51. Across the Valley, by Hobart Nichols, N. A,; the Des Moines Association 
of Fine Arts, Des Moines, Iowa. 


ART WORKS ADDED DURING THE YEAR 


Accessions of art works by the Smithsonian Institution, subject 
to transfer to the National Gallery on approval of the advisory com- 
mittee of the Gallery Commission, are as follows: 

Ten paintings, to be known as the George Buchanan Coale collec- 
tion, 1819-1887: 

Portrait of Thomas Hopkinson (1709-1751), attributed to Robert Feke. 

Portrait of Mary Hopkinson (wife of Dr. John Morgan), by Benjamin 


West, 1764. 
Portrait of Thomas McKean, Signer from Delaware, by Charles Willson 


Peale. 

Portrait of Abigail Willing Coale (Philadeiphia, 1809), by Thomas Sully. 

Portrait of Jan Uytenbogaert, by Jan Van Nes (or Nees (1685) ). 

Self Portrait, by Thomas Vivien (1657-1735). 

The Vintage, by A. R. Veron (1858). 

The Continentals, by Frank B. Mayer (1875). 

Sheep, by Balthasar Pauwel Ommeganck, Antwerp (1755-1826). 

Flora, attributed to Beechy or Verbruggen. 

Presented by Mrs. Mary Buchanan Redwood (Mrs. Francis T. 
Redwood), of Baltimore, Md. 

Portrait of Rear Admiral Robley D. Evans, United States Navy, 
by August Franzen, N. A.; presented by Horatio S. Rubens, New 
York City. 

Two portrait busts in marble by Moses W. Dykaar: Abraham 
Cahan, author and editor; and William H. Holmes, scientist and 
art director; presented by the sculptor. 

Three paintings by Edward Moran (1829-1901): Riding Out a 
Gale, The Sea, and Life Saving Patrol; bequeathed to the United 
States National Museum by the late Mrs. Clara L. Tuckerman. 
Deposit. 


LOANS ACCEPTED BY THE GALLERY 


Noon, an oil painting, by Luigi Chialivi; lent by Mrs. Marietta 
Minnigerode Andrews, of Washington, D.C. Withdrawn before the 
close of the year. 

Portraits of Dr. William Shippen, jr., and of Thomas Lee Shippen, 
by Gilbert Stuart; lent by Dr. L. P. Shippen, of Washington, D. C. 


REPORT OF THE SECRETARY 57 


Six pieces of sculpture, by Moses Wainer Dykaar; lent by the 
sculptor. They are as follows: 


Calvin Coolidge, President of the United States. 
Mrs. Calvin Coolidge. 

Dr. Alexander Graham Bell. 

Justice W. P. Stafford. 

Dr. Charles D. Walcott. 

“The Modern Woman.” 


Portrait of Mrs. Sherman Flint, by Philip A. de Laszlo; lent by 
Mrs. Sherman Flint, of Washington, D. C. 
Sixteen examples of the works of old masters: 


Portrait of a boy, Sir Henry Raeburn. 
Portrait of Irish gentleman, John Hopner. 
Portrait of Viscountess Hatton, Sir Peter Lely. 
Portrait of a gentleman, Sir Godfrey Kneller. 
Portrait of Judith von Volbergen, P. Moreelse. 
Landscape (31 by 26), Richard Wilson. 
Landscape (21 by 16), Gainsborough. 

Small landseape (11 by 13) Gainsborough. 
Landscape (12 by 21), Constable. 

The Doctor’s Visit, Jan Steen. 

Scene in Venice (8 by 13), Guardi. 

Portrait of Sir Wm. Boothby, Sir Joshua Reynolds, 
Portrait of Mrs. Price, Sir Joshua Reynolds. 
Portrait of woman, Drost or Vermeer. 
Turkish scene, Diaz. 

Grand Canal Venice, Canaletto. 


Lent by Mrs. Marshall Langhorne, of Washington, D. C. 

Five paintings by Old World masters and four by American 
painters: 

Portrait of Admiral Vernon, Thomas Gainsborough. 

The Ford, J. B. C. Corot. 

Garden at Giverny, Claude Monet. 

Saskia as “ Minerva,” Rembrandt Van Rijn. 

Children on the Beach, T. Sorolla. 

Sunset, George Inness. 

Olive Trees at Corfu, John Singer Sargent. 

Portrait of Mrs. Samuel Miller, John Wesley Jarvis. 

Portrait of Sarah Cresson, Thomas Sully. 


Lent by Mrs. Breckinridge Long, of Washington, D. C. 

Portrait bust in marble of Mrs. William C. Preston, by Hiram 
Powers; lent by Mr. James Quentin Davis, of Durham, N. C., 
through Mrs. Anne Davis Thorn (Mrs. J. C. Thorn), of New York 
City. 

Portrait of Mrs. Charles Eames, by Gambadella; lent by Mrs. 
Alistair Gordon-Cumming. 


58 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


Six oil paintings and a bas-relief in bronze lent by Miss Sarah 
Redwood Lee, of Washington, D. C., as follows: 


Madonna and Child, Francesco Bissolo. 

Portrait of Mrs. Richard Eaton, Charles Willson Peale. 

Spanish Interior, Juan Galves, 1598. 

Holy Family, attributed to Francesco Francia. 

Portrait, Man in a Red Coat, attributed to Thomas Hudson, master of Sir 
Joshua Reynolds. 

Portrait, Man Holding a Lily, artist unknown. 

Portrait, Sarah Redwood Lee (bronze bas-relief), Augustus Saint-Gaudens. 


Portrait bust in plaster of the Hon. Frederick H. Gillett, Speaker 
of the House of Representatives, by Joseph Anthony Atchison; lent 
by the sculptor. 

LOANS BY THE GALLERY 


Two paintings, The Georgian Chair, by Childe Hassam, and 
Musa Regina, by Henry Oliver Walker, were lent to the American 
Federation of Arts, to be sent out with paintings from other sources 
on an educational circuit under the auspices of the federation. 

Twelve paintings, mostly from the William T. Evans collection, 
were lent to the American Federation of Arts for exhibition in Chat- 
tanooga, Tenn., February 15, 1926: 


June (the Rose), John W. Alexander. 
At Nature’s Mirror, Ralph Albert Blakelock. 
Birch Clad Hills, Ben Foster. 

Portrait of Walter Shirlaw, Frank Duveneck. 
An Interlude, Wm. Sergeant Kendall. 
Moonrise at Ogunquit, Hobart Nichols. 
Landscape, Chauncey Ryder. 

November, Dwight W. Tryon. 

The Cup of Death, Elihu Vedder. 

Autumn at Arkville, Alexander Wyant. 
Conway Hills, F. Ballard Williams. 

The Island, Edward W. Redfield. 


Five paintings (by members of the National Academy of Design) 
were lent to the academy for its centennial exhibition held at the 
Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D. C., October 17 to November 
15, 1925, and at the Grand Central Art Galleries, New York City, 
December 1, 1925, to January 3, 1926. These were: 

The Lesson, Hugo Ballin. 

Sunset, San Giorgio, W. Gedney Bunce. 

The Siren, Louis Loeb. 

Illusions, Henry B. Fuller. 

The Monarch of the Farm, Wm. Henry Howe. 

Three paintings, portraits of Field Marshal Haig and Marshal 
Joffre, by John C. Johansen, and portrait of Her Majesty Elizabeth, 


REPORT OF THE SECRETARY 59 


Queen of the Belgians, by M. Jean McLane (Mrs. J. C. Johansen), 
from the National Art Committee’s collection of war portraits, were 
lent to the Corcoran Gallery of Art to form part of a joint exhibition 
of the works of these artists held in that gallery during the month 


of January. 
DISTRIBUTIONS 


Paintings lent to the gallery have been withdrawn by their owners 
during the year as follows: 

Portrait of Francois Paul de Grasse de Rouville, Amiral Comte 
de Grasse, by Largilliere; portrait of Theodosius O. Fowler, by 
G. P. A. Healy; portrait of St. Bernard dog “ Hero,” by Benjamin 
West; withdrawn by Miss Silvie de Grasse Fowler. 

Series of 13 historical marine paintings by Edward Moran, lent 
by Theodore Sutro, of New York City, were withdrawn by the 
trustees of Mr. Sutro, Frederick C. Sutro, Basking Ridge, N. J., 
Victor Sutro, New York City, and Paul E. Sutro, Philadelphia, Pa., 
for shipment to Los Angeles, Calif., as follows: The Ocean—The 
Highway of All Nations; Landing of Lief Ericson; the Santa 
Maria, Nina, and Pinta; the Debarkation of Columbus; Midnight 
Mass on the Mississippi; Henry Hudson Entering New York Bay; 
Embarkation of the Pilgrims from Southampton; First Recognition 
of the American Flag; Burning of the Frigate Philadelphia; the 
Brig Armstrong Engaging the British Fleet; Iron versus Wood; 
the White Squadron’s Farewell Salute to the Body of Capt. John 
Ericsson; Return of the Conquerors. 

Noon, by Luigi Chialiva; withdrawn by Mrs. Marietta Minni- 
gerode Andrews. 

Mrs. Siddons in The Tragic Muse, copy by Rembrandt Peale of 
Sir Joshua Reynolds’s celebrated painting, and Milton Dictating to 
His Daughter, by Rembrandt Peale; withdrawn by Mrs. John Biddle 
Porter. 

Portrait of Franklin Pierce, by A. G. Powers; withdrawn by Mr 
Joseph Stewart. 

Portrait of Admiral Thomas Holding Stevens, by Robert Hinck- 
ley; portrait of Mrs. Thomas Holding Stevens, by an unknown 
artist; portrait of Hon. Eben Sage, by Chester Harding; A Ma- 
donna, by Honario Marinari; and A Madonna, by Carlo Mahratta; 
withdrawn by Mrs. Pierre C. Stevens. 


LIBRARY 


The gallery library is steadily growing from a modest beginning 
in 1920 to upwards of 1,400 volumes and pamphlets, acquired by 
gift, exchange, and purchase. Notable accessions for the year were 
the gift of a large number of volumes from the library of the director, 


60 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


and of 11 bound and 29 unbound catalogues of notable art collections, 
by Dr. William Schaus. 


PUBLICATIONS 


Holmes, W. H. Catalogue of Collections, II, National Gallery of Art. Govern- 
ment Printing Office, 1926. 8vo, pp. i-vi, 1-118, 42 plates and 38 ground 
plans. 

This is the second number of the catalogue series of the gallery which 
is to be issued from time to time as conditions warrant. It follows in 
general the form of Catalogue of Collections I, N. G. A., 1922, with additions 
of works received to date of printing. It contains an introduction by 
the director, giving a brief account of the development of the art interests 
of the Institution and an outline of the organization of the gallery. This 
is followed by a list of the art works acquired previous to November, 
1925, with brief biographies of the artists. 

Report on the National Gallery of Art for the year ending June 30, 
1925. Appendix 2, Report of the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution 
for the year ending June 30, 1925, pp. 48-56. 

Catalogue of an exhibition of early American paintings, miniatures, and silver, 
assembled by the Washington Loan Exhibition Committee, December 5, 1925- 
January 31, 1926, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D. C. Washington, 
1925, pp. 1-107, plates 15, with introductions on early American portraits by 
Miss Leila Mechlin, Washington; early American miniatures by Mr. Albert 
Rosenthal, Philadelphia; and early American silver by Miss Elizabeth B. 
Benton, Boston. 

Catalogue of a collection of busts of prominent personages in marble and 
bronze by Moses W. Dykaar, exhibited in the central room of the National 
Gallery, Natural History Building, United States National Museum, March 
5 to 20, 1926. Washington, D. C., 1926, pp. 1-4. 

Catalogue: Exhibition of modern Italian art under the patronage of His 
Majesty the King of Italy, organized by the Italian Ministry of Public 
Instruction. Introduction by Arduino Colasanti, director general of fine 
arts, Italy; foreword by Christian Brinton. Auspices of the Italy-America 
Society, Grand Central Art Galleries, New York, 1926. New York, 1926, 
24 pp.; 34 illustrations. 


Respectfully submitted. 
W. H. Hoitmns, Director. 
Dr. Cuartes D. Watcort, 
Secretary, Smithsonian Institution. 


APPENDIX 3 
REPORT ON THE FREER GALLERY OF ART 


Sir: I have the honor to submit the sixth annual report on the 
Freer Gallery of Art for the year ending June 30, 1926: 


THE COLLECTION 


The work continued during the year in the preservation of the 
collection includes the work upon 10 American oil paintings and 
the work of reconditioning the ceiling of the Peacock Room. Half 
of the latter work has been successfully completed at the date of 
this report. In the oriental section 2 Chinese panels, 3 Japanese 
screens, and 1 Chinese scroll have been remounted and restored. 

Work within the collection has included the study of a consid- 
erable number of Japanese paintings, involving their proper classi- 
fication and the translations of signatures, seals, and inscriptions 
found upon them. All this matter has been recorded in the folder 
sheets. Every object in the collection is represented by such a 
dossier, and the work of compilation goes forward from year to year. 
The collection of Near Eastern pottery has also undergone an inten- 
sive study and considerable revision. 

Changes in exhibition during the year involved 9 Japanese screens, 
7 Chinese panels, 2 Chinese scrolls, and 10 Persian potteries. 

An addition to the collection of Chinese paintings is as follows: 
26.1. Dllustration to a Buddhist siitra: The Buddha addressing Yamaraja at 

KuSinagara. Ink, color and gold on paper. Sung Dynasty. 

Additions to the library by gift and purchase include 500 volumes, 
of which 462 are in the Chinese and Japanese languages, 72 periodi- 
cals, and 142 pamphlets. A list of these accompanies this report as 
Appendix A (not printed). 

The work of photographing objects for registration continues. In 
the meantime an increasing demand for photographs of objects in 
the collection has caused a rapid development of that part of the 
work. Five hundred and eighteen subjects are now available for pur- 
chase in sizes 5 by 7, 8 by 10, or 11 by 14, at cost price; 5 subjects 
are issued in post-card form to be sold at 10 cents each. During 
the past year 1,467 photographs, 28 lantern slides, and 115 post cards 
have been sold. Of the publications issued by the gallery, there have 
been sold during the year 698 copies of the descriptive pamphlet, 

20837—-27——6 61 


62 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


391 copies of gallery books, 449 copies of the Synopsis of History, 
and 3 floor plans of the building. 

During the past year 76 objects have been submitted for examina- 
tion and identification, and several Chinese and Japanese texts have 
been submitted for translation. 

Repairs to the building during the year include work on the roof, 
the repointing of stonework at the entrance, the resetting of a stone 
architrave, and many minor repairs. A full report of shopwork 
accompanies this report as Appendix C (not printed). 


ATTENDANCE 


The gallery has been open every day, with the exception of 
Mondays, Christmas Day, and New Year’s Day, from 9 until 4.30. 
The total attendance for the year was 108,310. The aggregate 
Sunday attendance was 30,372, making an average of 584; the week- 
day attendance amounted to 77,938, with an average of 249. Of 
these visitors, 342 came to the study rooms to see objects not on 
exhibition or to consult books in the library, 15 to make copies or 
photographs, 52 to examine the building or equipment, 32 to submit 
objects for information concerning them, 33 for general informa- 
tion, and 261 to examine photographs. Six groups varying in num- 
ber from 20 to 148 made appointments for special study or instruc- 
tion regarding the collections. 


PERSON NEL 


Miss Katharine N. Rhoades, associate, was granted leave of ab- 
sence for a year, dating from October, 1925. 

Mr. Herbert E. Thompson, Boston, worked on the preservation 
of oil paintings and the Peacock Room. 

Mr. Y. Kinoshita of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, worked 
at the gallery during the winter months on the preservation of 
oriental paintings. 

Mr. A. G. Wenley, field assistant, returned to the gallery in the 
spring of 1926 for a four months’ stay before resuming field work. 


FIELD WORK 


Owing to disturbed conditions in China, archeological work in 
the field has been practically impossible. A detailed account of the 
activities of the field staff is contained in Appendix B submitted 
herewith (not printed). 

Respectfully submitted. 


J. E. Lover, Curator. 
Dr. CuartEes D. Watcort, 


Secretary, Smithsonian Institution, 


APPENDIX 4 
REPORT ON THE BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 


Sir: I have the honor to submit the following report on the 
researches, office work, and other activities of the Bureau of Ameri- 
can Ethnology during the fiscal year ended June 30, 1926, conducted 
in accordance with the act of Congress approved April 22, 1925. 
The act referred to contains the following item: 

American ethnology: For continuing ethnological researches among the 
American Indians and the natives of Hawaii, including the excavation and 
preservation of archeologic remains, under the direction of the Smithsonian 
Institution, including the necessary employees and the purchase of necessary 
books and periodicals, $57,160. 

In pursuance of the requirements for the excavation and preserva- 
tion of ruins contained in the above item, considerable work has 
been done in the region near Flagstaff, Ariz. Arizona shows many 
evidences of a prehistoric aboriginal population and is a State par- 
ticularly favorable to the study of prehistoric ruins. Thus far very 
few ruins have been excavated in northern Arizona and very scanty 
material has been obtained for a study of the objects illustrating the 
former culture of this region. 

Research in this line was inaugurated by the bureau in 1907 at 
Casa Grande and has been continued in successive years at the Mesa 
Verde National Park, Colo. Formerly walls of ruins were destroyed 
in the search for small specimens, such as pottery, and thus work of 
great archeological value was lost. The method adopted by some 
institutions of burying the walls after objects have been extract-d 
from the rooms, while intended as a means of preservation, is not 
satisfactory. The Bureau of American Ethnology, however, when 
the walls are not so mutilated that they can not be repaired, has 
endeavored to preserve them for future students. 


SYSTEMATIC RESEARCHES 


The chief of the bureau has headed an expedition to determine 
the western extension of the pueblo area in Arizona, where com- 
paratively little attention had been given to the character of the 
sedentary life of the Indians in prehistoric times. This includes the 
region west of the Little Colorado River which is archeologically a 
terra incognita. The site chosen by the chief to be excavated is 

63 


64 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


situated about 6 miles from Flagstaff on the National Old Trails 
Highway. The work was begun on May 27 and was unfinished at 
the close of the fiscal year. 

As a result of this excavation there has emerged from the ground 
near Elden Mountain a rectangular building measuring 145 by 125 
feet, containing nearly 40 rooms and a large kiva, from a study of 
which a good idea can be obtained of the aboriginal architecture of 
this neighborhood. The building was a compact community house 
in places two stories high, whose upper walls, judging from the 
amount of stones found in the rooms, were formerly 4 or 5 
feet higher than at present. No walls were visible when the work 
began, but since the earth has been removed, they rise to a height 
of 4 to 10 feet. 

The rooms are comparatively large and compactly united without 
any visible outside entrances, being formerly entered by ladders 
and a hatchway in the roof. No windows or lateral doorways 
are visible in the walls now standing. In order to protect this large 
building from the elements its walls have been repaired where neces- 
sary and their tops covered with Portland cement to prevent erosion. 

The most striking result of the work has been the accumulation 
of a large collection of characteristic pottery from the two ceme- 
teries which were discovered a short distance from the northern and 
eastern walls and which extended over a considerable area, but never 
very distant from the pueblo itself. A number of skeletons were 
found, some of which were nearly perfect, others more or less 
fragmentary. Several of these skeletons have been brought back 
for the study of specialists. They appear to have artificially de- 
formed skulls. There was no common orientation, although a 
majority were interred with heads to the east. 

The distinction of the kinds of pottery would naturally be re- 
served for a more complete report which will appear later. As a 
rule, however, the number of varieties was rather limited and there 
were very few intrusions from outside, all of which goes to show 
the ancient character of the ruin and the isolation of its people from 
others in the Southwest. The typical specimens of pottery may be 
grouped under a few characteristic types. Perhaps the most abun- 
dant is colored dull red on the exterior with glossy black interior. 
The exterior surface is corrugated or smooth. From its abundance 
this type may be known as the Flagstaff ware. It is never deco- 
rated with painted designs. A more striking type is white with 
black decorations, mainly geometrical figures, which is widely dis- 
tributed in Arizona. There occur also a few specimens of red ware 
with black interiors, which bear indubitable evidence of having 
been derived from the settlements on the banks of the Little Colo- 
rado or near Tuba City. 


a 
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Fn PR RTE 


REPORT OF THE SECRETARY 65 


The forms of the Elden Pueblo pottery are food bowls, ladles, 
dippers, vases, mugs, and ollas. Several very characteristic pieces 
of the black and white ware are effigy forms. There occur remark- 
able bracelets made of clamshell (Pectunculus), with incised orna- 
mentation, from the Pacific coast, and there are ornamented bone 
objects which may be mentioned among the rare specimens. Tur- 
quoise beads and shells, which when strung formed strands of a 
necklace several feet in length, were sifted out of the soil found 
near the necks of skeletons. There were undoubted examples of 
shells set with turquoise mosaics, but they were more or less dam- 
aged by long presence in the ground. Stone implements were ex- 
cavated more commonly in the rooms of the building, and there 
were several different forms of paint grinders, which enrich the col- 
lection. There is nowhere a larger or better collection from Ari- 
zona than that excavated from Elden Pueblo. 

One of the most significant discoveries at Elden Pueblo was a 
room called the kiva or ceremonial chamber about midway in the 
length of the ruin on its east side. The kiva has thus far not been 
described from the Flagstaff area and its existence has been denied 
in the ruins of this area. 

The kiva of Elden Pueblo is very large and rectangular in form 
with round corners. It is partly subterranean and has a banquette 
extending wholly around the wall of the room, but no pilasters; 
it also has a ventilator opening externally in the east wall, peculiari- 
ties which occur in the ruins at Marsh Pass and elsewhere in northern 
Arizona. It thus appears that the legend of the modern Hopi that 
certain of the Hopi clans formerly lived on the San Juan and its 
tributaries is not fanciful, but that what they recount of the southern 
migration of these clans before they settled on their present mesas 
is supported by archeological evidences in architecture as well as 
ceramics. 

Several Hopi visitors retold their legends, published by the chief 
many years ago, that the ruins under Mount Elden were settlements 
of the Hopi in their ancient migrations, and as far as it goes the 
archeology of Elden Pueblo supports these legends which are some- 
times very vague, differing somewhat in minor particulars. These 
legends differ in the names of the Hopi clans that lived at Elden 
Pueblo, but the Snake, Badger, and Patki are all mentioned as former 
inhabitants. 

The particular claim of this pueblo for popular consideration is 
that it is easily accessible and not far from the city of Flagstaff. 
It bids fair to be visited in the future by many tourists who now 
pass through northern Arizona to visit its attractions, such as the 
Grand Canyon and the great bridges, and to attend the ceremonial 
survivals of the ancient religious rites of the Hopi. The number 


66 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


of visitors to Elden Pueblo during its excavation was very large 
and consisted not only of a large number of residents of Flagstaff 
but also of tourists from distant States. 

Before commencing the archeological work, the chief assisted by 
Mr. John P. Harrington, ethnologist, cooperated with Mr. J. O. 
Prescott, of the Starr Piano Co., Richmond, Ind., in the recording 
of some of the Hopi songs. Through the kindness of the Office of In- 
dian Affairs, four of the older Hopi were brought from Walpi to 
the Grand Canyon, where 11 katcina songs were recorded. It was 
particularly fitting that the records were made at the Grand Canyon, 
as it holds such a prominent position in Hopi mythology. 

The chief was also assisted in the archeological work by Mr. Har- 
rington and by Mr. Anthony W. Wilding, stenographer. Their 
assistance was invaluable and did much to make the field work a 
success. 

During the past year, the bureau has had in the field a larger num- 
ber of investigators than in any previous year during the last decade. 
Field-work has been done in various parts of our country, from 
Alaska to Florida, and although the line of research has in some in- 
stances been more or less limited in its nature, the total results have 
brought into the office much new data regarding the Indian life and 
a larger number of specimens illustrative of it than has resulted 
from field-work in comparatively recent years. 

It is recognized by the chief that the time that can be devoted to 
rescuing data regarding the life and habits of the American Indians 
is more or less restricted; that is, Indian culture is rapidly fading 
away and is doomed in a short time to utter extinction. While this 
is true of ethnological data it is not necessarily true of archeologi- 
cal material. In fact the antiquities of our country belonging to the 
past of the Indian are yearly attracting more and more attention, 
and in order to keep pace with this interest the bureau has chosen to 
represent it in the field a considerable proportion of archeological 
problems. 

At the beginning of the fiscal year, Mr. J. N. B. Hewitt, ethnolo- 
gist, took up anew the work of transliterating, amending, and trans- 
lating the Chippewa text of The Myth of the Daymaker, by Mr. 
George Gabaoosa, and also that of an Ottawa version of a portion of 
the Nanabozho cycle of myths by John L. Miscogeon. 

In October Mr. Hewitt began the work of reclassifying and re- 
cataloguing the linguistic, historical, and other ethnological manu- 
scripts in the archives of the bureau. In this work he was assisted 
by Miss Mae W. Tucker. The card index consists of 2,924 items, 
with approximately 6,150 cross-reference cards. 

During the fiscal year Dr. John R. Swanton, ethnologist, made 
final additions to his papers on the Social Organization and Social 


H 
i 
Fy 
i 


REPORT OF THE SECRETARY 67 


Usages of the Indians of the Creek Confederacy, Religious Beliefs 
and Medical Practices of the Creek Indians, and The Culture of the 
Southeast. These papers are now going through the press. He has 
also finished the scientific editing of a paper on the Trails of the 
Southeast, by the late William E. Myer, which, with those just men- 
tioned, is to appear in the Forty-second Annual Report. 

With the help of Miss Mae W. Tucker, stenographer, Doctor 
Swanton made a considerable advance in compiling a card catalogue 
of the words of the Timucua language previously extracted from 
missionary publications of the Spanish fathers Pareja and Movilla. 

Doctor Swanton also continued his investigations bearing on the 
aboriginal trail system of North America. 

Dr. Truman Michelson, ethnologist, continued his researches among 
the Algonquian Indians of Iowa, concentrating on the gens festivals 
of the Fox Indians, especially those of the Thunder and Bear gentes. 
He also revised in the field the list of Fox stems incorporated in the 
Fortieth Annual Report of the bureau. In August he went to 
Odanah, Wis., to gain further first-hand information on the Ojibwa 
Indians and enough material was secured to show decided dialectic 
differences from the western Ojibwa dialects. The social organiza- 
tion of the Ojibwa is relatively simple as compared with that of the 
Foxes, and the various gentes lack rituals peculiar to themselves, in 
sharp contrast with Fox customs. At Baraga and L’Anse, Mich., 
Doctor Michelson located one Stockbridge (Mahican) family in the 
vicinity, but unfortunately none spoke their native language. The 
Ojibwa dialect, though not identical with that spoken at Odanah, is 
closely allied to it. He also made a preliminary survey of the Ojibwa, 
Ottawa, and Potawatomi, finding that the various languages still per- 
sist and that their ethnology is better preserved than might be 
expected. 

Doctor Michelson returned to Washington on September 19, when 
he prepared for publication by the bureau two papers on sacred 
packs of the Fox Indians and their appurtenant gens festivals, one 
called A'peniwané‘a‘ belonging to the Thunder gens; the other 
Sdgima'kwiwa belonging to the Bear gens. Doctor Michelson 
also completed typewriting the English translation and Indian text 
of a Fox sacred pack belonging to the Thunder gens formerly in 
possession of Pyitwiya. A fuller text than this on Pyiitwiiya’s pack, 
written in the current syllabary, was restored phonetically, as was 
an Indian text on the Thunder Dance of the Bear gens, a complete 
version having been worked out previously, and a fuller redaction 
was obtained. 

Mr. J. P. Harrington, ethnologist, was engaged during the fiscal 
year in the important work of rescuing what can still be learned of 
the vanishing culture of the Mission Indians of California. Work 


68 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


was continued at ruined village sites of the Santa Ines, Ojai, and 
Simi Valleys and at several of these sites extensive excavations were 
made revealing an earlier and later coast Indian culture. Picto- 
graphs were discovered and photographed; also rocks which were 
“first people” petrified, and which figure in Indian legends still 
extant. Spirit footprints on the rocks, both of moccasined and bare 
feet, made by these “ first people ” when the earth was still soft and 
muddy, were found at several places and photographed. At San 
Marcos the bowlders on a hillside represent the warriors of a mythic 
battle; some are standing with the blood from wounds running down 
their sides, seen as stains on the rock. A curious medicine rock was 
also visited, the size of a man and standing erect and surrounded 
at least at the present time by a bunch of opuntia cactus which keeps 
the curious at a respectful distance. At Rincon were photographed 
a couple of tall bowlders which stand six feet apart. To have good 
luck in hunting, so that one would be able to jump successfully among 
the rocks in the mountains, it was the custom for Indian boys to 
spring from one to the other of these bowlders. They also were 
called “ medicine.” 

Mr. Harrington also discovered at Rincon the ruins of a medicine 
house formerly used by the island wizards for secret ceremonies. 
An enormous bowlder is supported on several rocks forming a nat- 
ural cave, still smudged on the interior by the smoke of ancient fires. 
In front of this chamber on the east is a circular corral or parapet 
18 feet in diameter and rising to a height of 3 feet. From the 
top of this stone wall rafters had formerly extended to the roof of 
the cave chamber, and on these thatch had been placed. It is 
believed by the Indians that if a person comes upon this place by 
mistake, thunder, lightning, and rain will immediately result. 

The construction of a Mission Indian house by one of the few 
survivors who still know how to make them was next attempted 
under the direction of Mr. Harrington, and an excellent series of 
photographs was obtained, showing the house in all the successive 
stages of building. The jacal is slightly elliptical in shape, with 
the door, less than 4 feet high, at one end. Door leaves, both of 
woven tules and of jarilla, were constructed. The diameter of the 
structure is 13 feet, and it is only 7 feet high, with an unduly 
ample smokehole at the top. 

Post holes a step apart and the same distance in depth were dug 
with a short bar of willow, the earth being scooped out with the 
hand. ‘Tall and slender willow poles were selected with the greatest 
care from a place where the growth was thick. These poles were 
burnt down. Eight of them were first erected in the post holes, 
forming a Greek cross. Opposite pairs of poles were then arched 
and lashed together with yucca tyings. Only after the complete 


REPORT OF THE SECRETARY 69 


framework of uprights had been constructed were the “latas” or 
horizontals lashed on at intervals of a foot apart. On these a thick 
thatching of deerbrush was sewed, the bottom layer being stem down 
but all the higher layers tip down, the inverted leaves better shed- 
ding the water. The sewing was done with yucca shreds, using a 
great needle of wood called “raton” in Spanish, which is poked 
through the thatch; the sewing was performed by two Indian 
workers, one outside and one inside. 

- An expedition to the Cafiada de las Uvas proved rich in discovery 
along several different lines. At several of the sites the old hut 
circles could still be traced on the surface of the ground and proved 
that our recently constructed house was about normal size. The old 
fireplaces in the center were also discovered. 

Special attention was given by Mr. Harrington to the site of the 
old rancheria of Misyahu. This place resembles a giant citadel when 
viewed from down canyon. A great rocky hill was completely 
covered with wigwams, 12 to even 20 feet in diameter. At the base 
of the cliff a strong flowing spring bursts forth from an otherwise 
dry arroyo, 75 feet below the Indian city. It was discovered that the 
Misyahu cemetery has unfortunately been washed away by the 
freshets of the arroyo. Choriy village was located, also Sikutip, a 
mile distant. Four large springs with pictographs traced on their 
rocky walls were located in the vicinity of Choriy. At Sikutip the 
Indian huts were formerly clustered at the southwest border of the 
clenega. 

In May Mr. Harrington proceeded to Flagstaff, Ariz., where he 
assisted in bringing four Hopi singers to the Grand Canyon for the 
purpose of recording their songs. At Flagstaff Mr. Harrington also 
assisted the chief in the excavation of the Elden Pueblo ruin. 

During the fiscal year Dr. Francis La Flesche, ethnologist, was 
engaged in classifying the personal names of the full-blood members 
of the Osage Tribe according to their places in the various gentes 
that comprise the tribe. Each name refers, cryptically, to the origin 
story of the gens to which it belongs. Thus the name Star-radiant 
is itself meaningless until some one who is versed in the tribal rites 
explains that it refers to the story of the people who, when they 
came from the blue sky to earth, came suddenly upon a stranger 
whose dignified appearance and bearing immediately struck them 
with awe and reverence. When the people asked “ Who art thou?” 
the stranger replied, “I am Star-radiant, who has brought for you 
from the starry regions peace and brotherly love.” This and other 
star names belong to the Wa-tse-tzi (people of the stars) gens, in 
whose keeping are the House of Refuge and the Fireplace of Peace. 
The meaning of the name Pi-si (Acorn) is also obscure until it is 


70 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


explained that it points to the story of the people of the Tsi-zhu gens 
and subgentes, who when they came from the sky to the earth, 
alighted upon seven red oak trees. The alighting of the people on 
the tops of the trees sent down showers of acorns, and a voice spoke, 
saying, “ Your little ones shall be as numerous as the acorns that 
fall from these trees.” About 1,991 gentile names have been recorded, 
covering 83 pages. The translations of the names are yet to be made. 

Doctor La Flesche also spent three weeks assisting Mr. De Lancey 
Gill, illustrator, in classifying negatives of photographs of Ponca; 
Omaha, and Osage Indians. 

A vocabulary of the Osage language has also been started by Doc- 
tor La Flesche and Dr. John R. Swanton. So far some 3,000 or more 
words have been recorded with translations. 


SPECIAL RESEARCHES 


The research in Indian music by Miss Frances Densmore during 
this fiscal year has been marked by the collecting and developing of 
extensive material among the Menominee of Wisconsin, and the com- 
pletion of the book on Papago music which is now ready for publica- 
tion. The proof of the book on The Music of the Tule Indians of 
Panama was read, and the text of Pawnee Music (apart from 
analyses) was retyped, putting it in final form. 

The titles of the manuscripts furnished to the bureau during the 
fiscal year are as follows: “ Songs connected with ceremonial games 
and adoption dances of the Menominee Indians,” ‘“‘ Menominee songs 
connected with hunting bundles, war bundles and the moccasin 
game,” “ Menominee songs connected with a boy’s fast, also dream 
songs, love songs, and flute melodies,” “ Dream dance songs of the 
Menominee Indians,” “Songs used in the treatment of the sick by 
Menominee Indians,” and “ Menominee war songs and other songs.” 

The Menominee Indians have been in contact with civilization for 
many years but retain their old customs to a remarkable degree. 
Miss Densmore attended a meeting of their Medicine Lodge (corre- 
sponding to the Chippewa Grand Medicine), at which two persons 
were initiated. She witnessed the ceremony for about four hours, 
listening to the songs, and presented tobacco which was received in a 
ceremonial manner. She was also present at a gathering where a 
lacrosse gr.me was played “in fulfilment of a dream,” and witnessed 
the similar playing of a “dice and bowl” game by a woman who had 
dreamed of the “ four spirit women in the east” and been instructed 
by them to play the game once each year. 

The songs of the Dream Dance received extended consideration, the 
dance having been witnessed in 1910. 

Among the interesting war songs were those connected with the 
enlistment and service of Menominee in the Civil War, with the 


REPORT OF THE SECRETARY 7 


songs ‘of the charms (“fetiches”) by which they believed that they 
were protected. Songs of the warfare against Black Hawk were 
obtained, and one very old war song with the words “The Queen 
(of England) wants us to fight against her enemies.” 

Mr. Gerard Fowke, special archeologist, was engaged for three 
months, February to April, in making a survey and explorations of 
a group of aboriginal remains near Marksville, La. The works con- 
sisted of 3 enclosures, 20 mounds, 8 lodge sites, and several village 
sites, extending a distance of 2 miles along the bluff overlooking 
Old River and in the bottom land bordering that watercourse. 
Eight of the mounds are of the flat-topped, domigiliary type; the 
others are conical or dome-shaped, usually classed as burial mounds. 
Six of the last were fully excavated. Two of them contained 
evidence of many interments; two were house sites indicating 
at least three periods of construction; the remaining two yielded 
nothing that would show the reason for their building. All were 
singularly barren of contents. Only traces of bones were found in the 
graves. The manner of construction of these mounds and the 
methods of burial were of a character which differentiates them from 
any others that have so far been reported to the bureau. They do 
not seem to belong with those to the east of the Mississippi, or with 
those which are so numerous to the westward. 

A full report, with map and illustrations, has been prepared. 

During the months of April, May, and June, Mr. H. W. Krieger, 
curator of ethnology of the National Museum, was detailed to engage 
in field work for the Bureau of American Ethnology. He was 
authorized by the chief of the bureau to proceed to Walla Walla, 
Wash., and vicinity for the purpose of studying the archeology of 
the upper Columbia River Valley, thence to proceed to southeastern 
Alaska to undertake the restoration of Old Kasaan, a national monu- 
ment on Prince of Wales Island. 

A careful inspection was made of the various collections of archeo- 
logical material gathered by members of the Columbia River Archeo- 
logical Society at Walla Walla, Wenatchee, Quincy, and other points 
in the State of Washington. 

Accompanied by Mr. H. T. Harding, a local archeologist, who 
had spent over 20 years in archeological investigations along the 
upper Columbia, a reconnaissance was undertaken from The Dalles, 
in Oregon, to Wenatchee, Wash., for the purpose of plotting a map of 
the known archeological sites and selecting likely stations for ex- 
cavation. The old Indian camp site at Wahluke Ferry, located at 
the extreme southern extent of the big bend of the Columbia, was 
selected as the most promising. There were no traces of previous 
disturbance by curio hunters. The ruins of the old Indian camp 
site and the cemetery near by yielded several hundred objects, most 


Fy!) ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


of which had been placed in the group burials as ceremonial offer- 
ings accompanying the cremation form of burial. No objects were 
found in the more deeply-placed graves where no cremation practices 
had been observed. 

The restoration of the national monument of Old Kasaan, south- 
east Alaska, has long been the ambition of the chief of the bureau, 
but conditions at this unique old Haida village were found to be very 
discouraging. Rainfall reaches a total of 235 days annually at the 
town of Ketchikan on Revillagigedo Island near by, and the process 
of rotting and disintegration is practically continuous throughout the 
year. Many of the fine old carvings on the totem poles and memorial 
columns still standing are either partially or entirely obliterated, 
and every house in the village has either fallen into decay or was 
burned in the recent fire which destroyed the major portion of the 
village. ‘The house (“big doings”) and the totem pole erected by 
the former Haida chief Skay-al were among the objects consumed in 
this fire. 

Several of the house sites at Old Kasaan, Tongass, Village Island, 
and Cape Fox village were excavated in an attempt to determine the 
relative age of the settlements of extreme southeastern Alaska. But 
few objects were obtained which might indicate a culture older than 
the Hudson Bay Co. post at Fort Simpson, British Columbia, or the 
Russian settlement at Sitka, Alaska, on the north. The few poles 
worthy of restoration at Old Kasaan were scraped and rotted wood 
was removed. The tall alder brush was cut from the immediate 
vicinity of the poles. Information relative to house, totem, and place 
names was obtained from a few survivors of the old village still 
living either at Wrangell, Ketchikan, or at the recently established 
Indian village of New Kasaan, about 40 miles from the old 
abandoned village. 

Upon returning to the United States, the task of completing the 
map of archeological sites on the upper Columbia River to the 
Canadian border was completed. Excavation was undertaken at 
eight different stations along the river between Wenatchee, Wash., 
and the mouth of the Okanagan River. 

Mr. Henry B. Collins, jr., assistant curator of ethnology of the 
National Museum, was detailed by the bureau to carry on archeo- 
logical work in southern Louisiana and Mississippi, a region in 
which scarcely any work of this nature had previously been done. 
A reconnaissance of the field was begun in April, first in southern 
Mississippi, where a number of mounds were examined, and then 
along the low-lying Gulf coast of Louisiana. Many earth mounds 
and shell heaps were found throughout this latter region, indicating 
the existence there in prehistoric times of an advanced culture of 
fairly uniform type. Particular attention was given to the 21 


REPORT OF THE SECRETARY 73 


mounds on Pecan Island in the lower part of Vermillion Parish. 
This part of Louisiana was occupied in historic times by the Atta- 
capa, a cannibalistic tribe of comparatively low culture. The build- 
ers of the Pecan Island mounds, however, were apparently not 
Attacapa but an earlier and more advanced people who made an 
excellent type of pottery and who were skilled workers in stone, 
shell, and bone. The presence in these Pecan Island mounds of 
native copper and galena, as well as slate and other kinds of stone 
not native to the section, indicates that at a very early date the 
Indians of lower Louisiana had trade relations with other tribes to 
the north and east. In addition to the cultural material collected, 
a number of undeformed skulls were obtained from Pecan Island, 
and these will be of particular value since skeletal material from 
Louisiana is scarce. 

Upon completion of the work in Louisiana in the latter part of 
June Mr. Collins proceeded to eastern Mississippi and located the 
sites of several of the historic Choctaw villages and secured physical 
measurements on 72 living Choctaw in the vicinity of Philadelphia, 
Miss. The latter phase of the work was in continuation of similar 
studies on the Choctaw begun in the summer of 1925, and was made 
possible by an appropriation from the American Association for the 
Advancement of Science. 

Dr. J. W. Gidley, assistant curator of vertebrate paleontology in 
the National Museum, was detailed to the bureau for a continuation 
of work begun in the summer in conjunction with Amherst College, 
in exploring the fossil beds in the vicinity of Melbourne and Vero, 
Fla., for fossil bones and possible human remains. Mr. C. Wythe 
Cook, of the United States Geological Survey, aided Doctor Gidley 
in a determination of the geologic formation of the bed. Most of 
the work of this expedition was to verify the geological observations 
of the previous expedition and to obtain if possible more evidence 
on the subject. More than 100 specimens of fossil bones were added 
to the collection and some new forms were represented, the most 
important of which were fossil remains of a large extinct jaguar 
and teeth of an extinct species of Termarctos, a genus of bear living 
now in South America and having never been found before in North 
America. Several Indian mounds were visited and examined, a 
survey was taken of the Grant Mound 14 miles south of Melbourne, 
and a plot made of the general structure of the shell heap, burial 
mound, and connecting ridges. Doctor Gidley also visited some 
mounds near Sarasota that had been reported to the bureau, but found 
that they had been dug into by curio hunters. He also examined the 
region at Lake Thonotosassa, 14 miles northeast of Tampa. Here he 
secured a few Indian artifacts that had been picked 'up by Mr. Samuel 
Conant. Mr. Conant also guided Doctor Gidley to an ancient work- 


74. ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


shop which covers several acres and seemed to be a very favorable 
location for future investigation. 

Dr. AleS Hrdlitka, curator of physical anthropology in the Na- 
tional Museum, was detailed to the bureau and sent to Alaska in May 
for the purpose of studying the archeology of Seward Peninsula 
in the vicinity of Nome. As he did not reach the site of his work 
until the close of the fiscal year, a consideration of the results of 
his expedition is reserved until next year. 


EDITORIAL WORK AND PUBLICATIONS 


The editing of the publications of the bureau was continued 
through the year by Mr. Stanley Searles, editor, assisted by Mrs. 
Frances S. Nichols, editorial assistant. The status of the publica- 
tions is presented in the following summary: 


PUBLICATIONS ISSUED 


Fortieth Annual Report. Accompanying papers: The Mythical Origin of the 
White Buffalo Dance of the Fox Indians; The Autobiography of a Fox 
Indian Woman; Notes on Fox Mortuary Customs and Beliefs; Notes on the 
Fox Society Known as “Those Who Worship the Little Spotted Buffalo”; 
The Traditional Origin of the Fox Society Known as ‘“ The Singing Around 
Rite,” by Truman Michelson. 664 pp., 1 pl., 1 fig. 


PUBLICATIONS IN PRESS OR IN PREPARATION 


Forty-first Annual Report. Accompanying papers: Coiled Basketry in British 
Columbia and Surrounding Region (Boas, assisted by Haeberlin, Roberts, 
and Teit) ; Two Prehistoric Villages in Middle Tennessee (Myer). 

Forty-second Annual Report. Accompanying papers: Social Organization and 
Social Usages of the Indians of the Creek Confederacy; Religious Beliefs 
and Medical Practices of the Creek Indians; The Culture of the Southeast 
(Swanton) ; Indian Trails of the Southeast (Myer). 

Bulletin 82. Archeological Observations North of the Rio Colorado (Judd). 

Bulletin 83. Burials of the Algonquian, Siouan, and Caddoan Tribes West of 
the Mississippi (Bushnell). 

Bulletin 84. The Language of the Kiowa Indians (Harrington). 


DISTRIBUTION OF PUBLICATIONS 


The distribution of the publications of the bureau has been con- 
tinued under the immediate charge of Miss Helen Munroe, assisted 
by Miss Emma B. Powers. Publications were distributed as follows: 


 dReport (volumes and (separates se 522 ae Daria 2s kee 5, 729 
Bulletins) and | Sepate tes ce aka Nie we ieee es el A kl ae 6, 582 
Contributions 'to,‘North ‘American evnnology et ae 33 
TOG UCTIONS.2 SL LG OES eee EM ee AMSA SC OAR DUE aly Aro bb raaads 
Miscellaneous publications: tsituvs rt ieee Dol Weert pred ean 637 


12, 993 


REPORT OF THE SECRETARY G5 


As compared with the fiscal year ended June 30, 1925, there was 
an increase of 5,639 publications distributed. This was due partly 
to the fact that more publications were issued by the bureau than 
in the previous year, and partly to an increase in demand for the 
works. 

Five addresses were added to the mailing list during the year 
and 37 taken from the list, making a net decrease of 32. The list 


now stands at 1,738. 
ILLUSTRATIONS 


Mr. DeLancey Gill, illustrator, continued the preparation of the 
illustrations of the bureau. A summary of the work follows: 


Negatives of ethnologic and archeologic subjects_______-__-_-_---_-_- 34 
Neraiive milms: from! Held “exposures. 2 | Seen te ae 15 
Boritalinesatives! (OL indian sees sues ee See beta ee ee 5 
TEVAVOT@ ETE OLAUVED Toe Dah Spe oe re eee 466 
Drawines prepared, for, book illustrations ..—-—=______ 41 
Illustrations prepared for engraving (Bureau American Ethnology) ---- 567 
Illustrations prepared for engraving (other Smithsonian Institution 

Te PAPSED )aea e  eS Se e ee  ae S e eee Seeeee 681 
DUDEN ATW Erase aTeoyor ey rely hoes Soy ee eee 635 
Edition prints of colored plates examined at Government Printing 

Rap epee ee ce ne soins ig pee a Nate ae ean a a oe le i 17, 000 


On the Ist of February, 1926, the services of a photographer were 
discontinued and the work was taken over by the photographer of 
the National Museum in cooperation with the Bureau of American 


Ethnology. 
LIBRARY 


The reference library has continued under the immediate care of 
Miss Ella Leary, librarian, assisted by Mr. Thomas Blackwell. Dur- 
ing the year 560 volumes were accessioned, and 200 pamphlets were 
received and catalogued; also 2,992 serials, chiefly the publications of 
learned societies, were received and recorded. Of these 155 were 
acquired by purchase, 207 by binding of periodicals, and the re- 
mainder through gift and exchange. The library now contains 
26,661 volumes, 15,712 pamphlets, and several thousand unbound 
periodicals. During the year there were sent to the bindery 207 
volumes. In addition to the use of its own library, which is becom- 
ing more and more valuable through exchange and by limited pur- 
chase, it was found necessary to draw on the Library of Congress for 
the loan of about 200 volumes. The purchase of books and periodi- 
cals has been restricted to such as relate to the bureau’s researches. 
Although maintained primarily as a reference library for the bu- 
reau staff its value is becoming better known to students not con- 
nected with the Smithsonian Institution who make frequent use of it. 


76 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


During the year the library was used also by officers of the executive 
departments and the Library of Congress. The library is greatly 
indebted to many private individuals for numerous donations of 
publications. Mention may be made of a collection given by Mrs. 
Safford, consisting of 50 books and one manuscript belonging to her 
husband, the late Dr. W. E. Safford. 

During the year the cataloguing has been carried on as new ac- 
cessions were acquired and good progress was made in cataloguing 
ethnologic and related articles in the earlier serials. 

The library, among other representative libraries, is cooperating 
with the Library of Congress in checking up the Union List of 
Serials of the United States and Canada, compiled by the H. W. 
Wilson Co. This necessitates the checking up of the entire collection 
of periodicals. 

COLLECTIONS 


88232. Two plaster casts made by Mr. Egberts of an amulet sent to the bureau 

for identification by W. W. C. Dunlop, Codrington College, Barbados, 
British West Indies. 

90380. Two chert rejects, four potsherds, and one small arrow point found in 
a gravel pit about one-half mile west of the Grand River, near Prior, 
Okla., and presented to the bureau by Grant Foreman. 

90604. Archeological and skeletal material collected by H. B. Collins, jr., at 
various localities in Mississippi during 1925. (78 specimens.) 

90652. Collection of 44 archeological specimens from graves at Vantage Ferry, 
Wash., purchased by the bureau from Harle O. Roberts. 

90813. Collection of eight stone and shell implements found by Charles T. Earle 
on the beach at Shaws Point, Fla., and presented by him to the 
bureau. 

91825. Collection of about 19 lots of human skeletal material collected in 
Florida by Dr. J. W. Gidley. 

92317. Archeological specimens collected in Louisiana by Gerard Fowke. (108 
specimens, ) 

PROPERTY 


Furniture and office equipment were purchased to the amount of 


$750. 


MISCELLANEOUS 


Clerical.—The correspondence and other clerical work of the office 
has been conducted by Miss May S. Clark, clerk to the chief, assisted 
by Mr. Anthony W. Wilding, stenographer. On May 15, Mr. Wilding 
accompanied the chief to the field, acting as general assistant. Miss 
Mae W. Tucker, stenographer, was engaged in assisting Dr. John 
R. Swanton in compiling a Timucua dictionary and in assisting Mr. 
Hewitt in reclassifying and recataloguing the manuscripts in the 
bureau archives. Mrs. Frances S. Nichols assisted the editor. 

Personnel.—Mr. James E. Connor, who received a temporary ap- 
pointment as minor clerk February 4 to assist in the cataloguing of 


i 


a 


REPORT OF THE SECRETARY TF 


the archives of the bureau, was dropped from the rolls June 15, there 
being no further need for his services. 

Mr. Gerard Fowke was given a temporary appointment as special 
archeologist in the bureau from February 9 to June 30. 

Mr. Albert E. Sweeney, photographer, resigned January 31. 

Respectfully submitted. 

J. Wattrr Frewxes, Chief. 
Dr. Cuartes D. Watcort, 
Secretary, Smithsonian Institution. 


APPENDIX 5 
REPORT ON THE INTERNATIONAL EXCHANGES 


Sir: I have the honor to submit the following report on the opera- 
tions of the International Exchange Service during the fiscal year 
ending June 30, 1926: 

The appropriation granted by Congress for the support of the 
service during the year was $46,260. While this amount is $3,290 
less than the appropriation for the fiscal year 1925, the actual money 
available for the running of the service for 1926 was the same as that 
for 1925, the salaries of two of the personnel that were carried on 
the exchange roll during 1925 having been transferred to other ap- 
propriations. In addition to the above appropriation, an allotment 
of $300 for printing and binding was allowed. The repayments 
from departmental and other establishments aggregated $4,883.75, 
making the total resources available for carrying on the system of 
exchanges during the year, $51,443.75 

The total number of packages handled in 1926 was 480,776, an 
increase over the number for the preceding year of 12,045. The 
weight of these packages was 558,493 pounds, a gain of 52,329 
pounds. For statistical purposes the packages handled by the ex- 
change service are divided into several classes. The number and 
weight of the packages in these classes are given in the following 


table: 


Packages Weight 

Sent |Received| Sent |Receivedc 
Pounds | Pounds 
United States parliamentary documents sent abroad ----------- 193:'598)\|_ 2 nae 99: 60 LSs22 eee 
Publications received in return for parliamentary documents-__--|_--._----- 5; 169) 2-2 =o seeee 20, 626 
United States departmental documents sent abroad_-_---------- 145 O12" |= eee 156;'836)|2 232232225 
Publications received in return for departmental documents--_-__|..-------- 6; 280)\== note ee 26, 703 
Miscellaneous scientific and literary publications sent abroad_.-| 97,483 |_.-------- 185;\ 170) Leese 
Miscellaneous scientific and literary publications received from 

abroad for distribution in the United States_......-----------|---------- BY AO RE Fl Wee eee 69, 557 
Totals es ooh eek ee ee en ee ae a aan ae 436, 993 43,783 | 441,607 | 116, 886 

Grand totale ee et oe eee ee ee eos oe 480, 776 558, 493 

78 


| 
| 
) 


REPORT OF THE SECRETARY 79 


A comparison of the figures given in the above table with those 
in the report for last year will show a substantial gain in the number 
of packages received from abroad. This is gratifying, because the 
packages received from abroad have always been fewer in number 
than those sent; although, as referred to in previous reports, this 
disparity is not so great as would appear, for many foreign publica- 
tions reach correspondents in this country direct by mail and not 
through exchange channels. 

On account of many complaints of delay in the distribution of 
packages sent to China through the American-Chinese publication 
exchange department of the Shanghai Bureau of Foreign Affairs, 
shipments to that country were suspended May 18, 1925. In De- 
cember, 1925, all packages on hand for China were forwarded to the 
Zi-ka-wei Observatory near Shanghai, the director of that observa- 
tory, Rev. Father L. Froc, 8. J., having kindly signified his willing- 
ness to undertake their distribution. The Zi-ka-wei Observatory, it 
might be added, acted as the Smithsonian exchange agency in China 
before the work was taken over by the Shanghai Bureau of Foreign 
Affairs. The Government of the Chinese Republic recently adhered 
to the Brussels Exchange Conventions of 1886 and organized a 
Bureau of International Exchange of Publications as a department 
of the Ministry of Education in Peking. The first consignment of 
exchanges to this newly established bureau was forwarded May 4, 
1926. 

During the year 2,521 boxes were used in forwarding exchanges to 
foreign agencies for distribution—an increase of 196 over the number 
for the preceding 12 months. Of the total number of boxes 
shipped abroad, 389 were for the foreign depositories of full sets of 
United States governmental documents and the remainder (2,132) in- 
cluded departmental and other publications for depositories of par- 
tial sets and for miscellaneous correspondents. 

As was stated in the report for 1925, the Smithsonian exchange 
service, as a rule, forwards its consignments to other countries in 
boxes, but sometimes the packages that accumulate for a particular 
country are not of sufficient bulk to warrant their transmission by 
freight, this latter material being mailed directly to its destination. 
In addition, a number of packages are forwarded by mail to remote 
places which can not be reached through existing exchange channels. 
During the year the number of packages sent abroad in this manner 
was 49,087. 

The number of boxes sent to each country is given in the table 
following. 


80 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


Country pruber Country Neer 
Argentine Repiblic=2-.s5 sass eee 66) ||) Javelin = have ee eee or eee 1 
PATIS GS = ee eae ee PIR, 73 (| DiGViS sos bene ae eee eee ee ee 6 
Belginmes tosh See ee te es 60}/ Mexiceo: fo ee eee. “ae Saee 7 
Bra 7a esac sae pee Pee 41 Netherland s:2222 see saseues ose 80 
IBTCISHYO Oloniess-= 222. sae ee es 16°|| INew South Walest=s2---25--2-s-seeae 35 
BritishtGuiang tes pea 1 ye 2. || (New Aealandt <2 seiespire ourgeyey _ genera 27 
(BU garig sete ee eee tae 4°:||) NOL Wey ae ee eee ee 43 
Canadal 2.4 re See ie Se 28: ||, Palestin@es-s.ce seat eae roe eee 60 
@hilest a: Sherk prea A eee we 26-1 Pert sy ese a ye APE Sheep eh ESE URN 15 
CB) bie}: Capone Grad ened AUS ie eee | 54 ||. Poland eas he eg sete eae 34 
Colomib igs | eee ey eect 16)! (POvtgu eal aeec oe nee ten gee ee 14 
GostatRice eye ee Cees 44 WL i Queenslang: 2 pepeyy es ave ve soe y a ene 16 
Cups ce ste a iene ied 2 a 3 manips ees ee ee ee ae 10 
@zechoslovakise eos eam ee eee ay ad UD Sab ETT LMA ied cleat Beueh Ab 9 PD agi Dig ye 67 
BD YoY At Aidan De Bebe ira fre BAe LE ORE ae Ba 5) || South: Australians sere Lee ee ee 18 
AO Yoaycatsb eg: ceamphaeramoanan tyre My. IGGL SCs Siena cae 46 i)|) SPAM Seek’. CUE ee Sepa ees 29 
CUA Ofer aero Une EMI A nA AL me. & DZ NMSWGCEN= eee. non Skee ae seen Moe ae ree ee 91 
B Of 2ss7g 9) meee be ee du ONE oh sy ele OS UT eee 2S witzerlan Guz vs 21 22 a eee ee ee ee 67 
HS} 4 n6) ots Meneame cae Gu RL NAN eon PAL Shy ats em eas Cee ee RMU RE SA A Do 4 
AC OREWa(o epee SLES ON SA Ee a a 207 TaSTilsrigs st esos eee emer eee | 17 
ARAN CO oui Sens A elie ad ok atk 190; "Purkey 5202. sash: Bieter ey peed 44 
Germany ses ee ee 372 ||. Union of South: Africas 21. _ 32-23 es oe 35 
Great Britain and Ireland_-.___._.-_.-_- O14. | OTUs yo ee eee ee ee re 14 
Greece oi ee hh tree ae EP esa 19" || Venezilela5 reser rica is Bt eT 9 
1S Ont Bene oe sce Mae AA ae Set ere le ae 25) Viletonish- a Skat ae Leas Pe 42 
ERIN Par yee ns aR eae es 46'|| Western Australia__*="-_..---- ~~ ~~ _- 18 
Tndige cee ae ees al tec ea 48 ll Yugoslayiat.tasrevetoeen ee bo 14 
NT: ) hemes Oe re pets Es Se ae a 92 || _———— 
fie) osha aca Abe EN STs te Fa Oh 79 || Hf Bo) 10 bell lye vena eles MUN Micon Scns 2, 521 


FOREIGN DEPOSITORIES OF UNITED STATES GOVERNMENTAL DOCUMENTS 


In last year’s report the statement was made that 18 countries had 
joined the exchange conventions of 1886. Notification was received 
through diplomatic channels that China had adhered to both con- 
ventions in December, 1925. It should be added that China is the 
first country to take this action since the question of haying a 
larger number of countries join those conventions was taken up at 
Geneva in the summer of 1924 by the committee on intellectual co- 
operation of the League of Nations. 

The depository in China has been changed from the American 
Chinese Publication Exchange Department in Shanghai to the 
Metropolitan Library in Peking. During the year depositories of 
partial sets have been established in Iceland and the Dominican 
Republic. In the former the name of the depository is National 
Library, Reykjavik, and in the latter, Biblioteca del Senado, Santo 
Domingo. 

Several of the depositories have asked that steps be taken to have 
the publications forming the regular series of governmental docu- 
ments delivered more promptly in order that the information con- 


Se hn il a ng i alan SE ae tin ei 


eee ee eee 


a ee 


REPORT OF THE SECRETARY 81 


tained therein may be available for use as soon after publication 
as practicable. 

The publications forming the full series, therefore, instead of being 
held three months until a sufficient number accumulates to fill a large 
packing box, will be shipped in small boxes at monthly intervals. 
Furthermore, arrangements have been made with the Public Printer 
to have the publications supplied either in paper covers or depart- 
mental binding instead of withholding them to be bound as a part of 
the special congressional series, this latter practice often delaying the 
delivery of the documents to the Institution for many months. 
Several letters of appreciation of this action on the part of the 
Institution have been received. As an example of the tone of these 
letters there is quoted below a portion of one received from the 
Library of the League of Nations at Geneva: 

I am very glad indeed that steps have been taken to expedite the delivery of 
these documents. They are of the greatest value to us, and it is important 
for us to get them as soon as possible after issue. 

The following references to certain resolutions and acts of 
Congress concerning the International Exchange Service are made 
here as a matter of record: 

Resolution approved March 2, 1867 (Stat. XIV, 573), setting aside 50 copies 
of each United States official document for exchange with foreign govern- 
ments through the agency of the Smithsonian Institution. 

Printing act approved March 2, 1901 (Stat. XX XI, 1464), increasing to 100 
the number of copies of documents for the use of the Library of Congress 
and for international exchanges, this number being increased to 125 by act 
of March 3, 1925 (Stat. XLIII, 1106). 

Resolution approved March 4, 1909 (Stat. XXXV, 1169), setting aside 100 
copies of the daily issue of the Congressional Record for exchange, through 
the Smithsonian Institution, to the legislative chambers of such foreign 
governments as may agree to send to the United States current copies of their 
Parliamentary Record or like publication. The act of March 3, 1925, in- 
creased to 125 the number of Congressional Records provided for this purpose. 

Tn accordance with the terms of the first Brussels convention, sets 
of United States official documents are forwarded through the 
Exchange Service to 101 foreign depositories. The governments re- 
ceiving these documents send to the United States, in return, copies 
of their own publications, which are deposited in the Library of 
Congress. By the terms of the second convention, copies of the 
daily Congressional Record are forwarded by the Institution directly 
by mail to foreign parliaments, those bodies sending in return copies 
of their own proceedings. In accordance with the latter convention, 
75 copies of the Congressional Record are now being transmitted 
abroad, a statement concerning which will be found on a subsequent 
page of this report. 


82 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 | 


A list of the foreign depositories is given below: 


DEPOSITORIES OF FULL SETS 


ARGENTINE REPUBLIC: Ministerio de Relaciones Hxteriores, Buenos Aires. 

AUSTRALIA: Library of the Commonwealth Parliament, Melbourne. 

AuUSTRIA: Bundesamt fiir Statistik, Schwarzenbergstrasse 5, Vienna I. 

BaveNn: Universitiits-Bibliothek, Freiburg. (Depository of the State of Baden.) 

BavakiA: Staats-Bibliothek, Munich. 

BetciumM: Bibliothéque Royale, Brussels. 

BraziL: Bibliotheca Nacional, Rio de Janeiro. 

Buenos Arres: Biblioteca de la Universidad Nacional de La Plata. (Deposi- 
tory of the Province of Buenos Aires.) 

CANADA: Library of Parliament, Ottawa. 

CHILE: Biblioteca del Congreso Nacional, Santiago. 

CHINA: Metropolitan Library, Pei Hai, Peking. 

CoLoMBIA: Biblioteca Nacional, Bogota. 

Costa Rica: Oficina de Depésito y Canje Internacional de Publicaciones, San 
José. 

CusBa: Secretaria de Estado (Asuntos Generales y Canje Internacional), 
Habana. 

CZECHOSLOVAKIA: Bibliothéque de l’Assemblée Nationale, Prague. 

DENMARK : Kongelige Bibliotheket, Copenhagen. 

ENGLAND: British Museum, London. 

Estonia: Riigiraamatukogu (State Library), Reval. 

FRANCE: Bibliothéque Nationale, Paris. 

GERMANY: Deutsche Reichstags-Bibliothek, Berlin. 

Guascow: City Librarian, Mitchell Library, Glasgow. 

GREECE: Bibliothéque Nationale, Athens. 

HunGary: Hungarian House of Delegates, Budapest. 

InpIA: Imperial Library, Calcutta. 

Ir1saH FREE STATE: National Library of Ireland, Dublin. 

ITaLty: Biblioteca Nazionale Vittorio Emanuele, Rome. 

JAPAN: Imperial Library of Japan, Tokyo. 

Lonpon: London Sehool of Economics and Political Science. (Depository of 
the London County Council.) 

MANITOBA: Provincial Library, Winnipeg. 

Mexico: Biblioteca Nacional, Mexico. 

NETHERLANDS: Bibliotheek van de Tweede Kamer der Staten-Generaal, The 
Hague. 

New SoutH WALES: Public Library of New South Wales, Sydney. 

NORTHERN IRELAND: Ministry of Finance, Belfast. 

Norway: Universitets-Bibliotek, Oslo. (Depository of the Government of 
Norway.) 

OnTARIO: Legislative Library, Toronto. 

Paris: Préfecture de la Seine. 

PERU: Biblioteca Nacional, Lima. 

POLAND: Bibliothéque du Ministére des Affaires Etrangéres, Warsaw. 

PortuGAL: Bibliotheca Nacional, Lisbon. 

Prussia: Preussische Staatsbibliothek, Berlin, N. W. 7. 

QuEBEC: Library of the Legislature of the Province of Quebec, Quebec. 

QUEENSLAND: Parliamentary Library, Brisbane. 

Russia: Shipments temporarily suspended. 

Saxony: Sichsische Landesbibliothek, Dresden—N. 6. 


REPORT OF THE SECRETARY 83 


SoutH AUSTRALIA: Parliamentary Library, Adelaide. 

Sparn: Servicio del Cambio Internacional de Publicaciones, Cuerpo Faculta- 
tivo de Archiveros, Bibliotecarios y Arquedlogos, Madrid. 

SweDEN: Kungliga Biblioteket, Stockholm. 

SwITzZERLAND: Bibliothéque Centrale Fédérale, Berne. 

SwitTzZERLAND: Library of the League of Nations, Geneva. 

TASMANIA: Parliamentary Library, Hobart. 

TuRKEY: Shipments temporarily suspended. 

Union oF Sourtu Arrica: State Library, Pretoria, Transvaal. 

Urucuay: Oficina de Canje Internacional de Publicaciones, Montevideo. 

VENEZUELA: Biblioteca Nacional, Caracas. 

Vicrorta: Public Library of Victoria, Melbourne. 

WESTERN AUSTRALIA: Public Library of Western Australia, Perth. 

WURTTEMBERG: Landesbibliothek, Stuttgart. 

YucostaviaA: Ministére des Affaires Etrangéres, Belgrade. 


DEPOSITORIBS OF PARTIAL SETS 


ALBERTA: Provincial Library, Edmonton. 

ALSACE-LORRAINE: Bibliothéque Universitaire et Régionale de Strasbourg, 
Strasbourg. 

Botivia: Ministerio de Colonizacién y Agricultura, La Paz. 

BreMEN: Senatskommission fiir Reichs- und Auswirtige Angelegenheiten. 

BritisH CoLtuMBIA: Legislative Library, Victoria. 

BRITISH GUIANA: Government Secretary’s Office, Georgetown, Demerara. 

BuiesRIA: Ministére des Affaires Etrangéres, Sofia. 

CryYLon: Colonial Secretary’s Office (Record Department of the Library), 
Colombo. 

Danzie: Stadtbibliothek, Free City of Danzig. 

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC: Biblioteca del Senado, Santo Domingo. 

Hcvapor: Biblioteca Nacional, Quito. 

Eeyet: Bibliothéque Royale, Cairo. 

FINLAND: Parliamentary Library, Helsingfors. 

GUATEMALA: Secretary of the Government, Guatemala. 

HAtrTr: Secrétaire d’Etat des Relations Extérieures, Port-au-Prince. 

HAmMBuRG: Senatskommission ftir die Reichs- und Auswiirtigen Angelegen- 
heiten. 

Hesse: Landesbibliothek, Darmstadt. 

Honpuras: Secretary of the Government, Tegucigalpa. 

IcELAND: National Library, Reykjavik. 

JAMAICA: Colonial Secretary, Kingston. 

LATVIA: Bibliothéque d’Etat, Riga. 

Liperta: Department of State, Monrovia. 

Lovrgenco MARQUEZ: Government Library, Honrenee Marquez. 

Litgeck: President of the Senate. 

MADRAS, PROVINCE oF: Chief Secretary to the Government of Madras, Public 
Department, Madras. 

Matra: Minister for the Treasury, Valetta. 

New Brunswick: Legislative Library, Fredericton. 

NEWFOUNDLAND: Colonial Secretary, St. John’s. 

NEw ZEALAND: General Assembly Library, Wellington. 

Nicaracua: Superintendente de Archivos Nacionales, Managua. 

Nova Scotia: Provincial Secretary of Nova Scotia, Halifax. 

PANAMA: Secretaria de Relaciones Exteriores, Panama. 


84 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


PaRraGuay: Seccién Canje Internacional de Publicaciones del Ministerio de 
Relaciones Hixteriores, Hstrella 563, Asuncidn. 

PRINCE Epwarp IsLAnp: Legislative Library, Charlottetown. 

Rio DE JANEIRO: Bibliotheca da Assemblea Legislativa do Estado, Nictheroy. 

RuManiA: Academia Romana, Bucharest. 

Satvapor: Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores, San Salvador. 

SASKATCHEWAN: Government Library, Regina. 

Sram: Department of Foreign Affairs, Bangkok. 

STRAITS SETTLEMENTS: Colonial Secretary, Singapore. 

THURINGIA: Rothenberg-Bibliothek, Landesuniversitiit, Jena. 

UNITED PROVINCES OF AGRA AND OuUDH: University of Allahabad, Allahabad. 

VIENNA: Biirgermeister-Amt der Stadt, Wien. 


INTERPARLIAMENTARY EXCHANGE OF OFFICIAL JOURNAL 


During the year the governments of 25 foreign states have entered 
into the immediate exchange of the Official Journal with the United 
States Government. The names of these states are: Aguascalientes, 
Anhalt, Argentine Republic, Braunschweig, Chihuahua, China, 
Coahuila, Colima, Dominican Republic, Durango, Dutch East Indies, 
Germany, Guerrero, Jalisco, Lower California Territory, Mexico, 
Nuevo Ledn, Oldenburg, San Luis Potosi, Sinaloa, Sonora, Tabasco, 
Tamaulipas, Vera Cruz, Yucatan. 

To the above statement I may add that the Ministére des Affaires 
Etrangéres, Bucharest, has been listed to receive a copy of the daily 
issue of the Congressional Record. The interparliamentary exchange 
of the Official Journal was entered into with the Government of 
Rumania in 1909, and since that time one copy of the Record 
has been transmitted to the Bibliothéque de la Chambre des Députés. 

The total number of copies of the daily issue of the Congressional 
Record now forwarded abroad through the Institution is 75. A com- 
plete list of the states taking part in this immediate exchange is 
given below, together with the names of the establishments to which 
the record is mailed: 


AGUASCALIENTES: GOobernador del Hstado de Aguascalientes, Aguascalientes. 
ANHALT: Anhaltische Landesbiicherei, Dessau. 
ARGENTINE REPUBLIC: 
Biblioteca del Congreso Nacional, Buenos Aires. 
Cimara de Diputados, Oficina de Informacién Parlamentaria, Buenos Aires. 
AUSTRALIA: Library of the Commonwealth Parliament, Melbourne. 
Austria: Bibliothek des Nationalrates, Wien I. 
BADEN: Universitats-Bibliothek, Heidelberg. 
BELGIuM: Bibliothéque de la Chambre des Représentants, Brussels. 
Borivia: Camara de Diputados, Congreso Nacional, La Paz. 
BRAUNSCHWEIG: Bibliothek des Braunschweigischen Staatsministeriums, 
Braunschweig. 
BRAZIL: Bibliotheca do Congresso Nacional, Rio de Janeiro. 
Burnos AIRES: Biblioteca del Senado de Ja Provincia de Buenos Aires, La 
Plata. 


REPORT OF THE SECRETARY 85 


CANADA: 
Library of Parliament, Ottawa. 
Clerk of the Senate, Houses of Parliament, Ottawa. 
CHIHUAHUA: Gobernador del Estado de Chihuahua. 
CuINnA: Metropolitan Library, Pei Hai, Peking. 
CoAHUILA: Periédico Oficial del Estado de Coahuila, Palacio de Gobierno, 
Saltillo. 
CoLtiIMA: Gobernador del Estado de Colima, Colima. 
Costa Rica: Oficina de Depdsito y Canje Internacional de Publicaciones, San 
José, 
CUBA: 
Biblioteca de la Camara de Representantes, Habana. 
Biblioteca del Senado, Habana. 
CZECHOSLOVAKIA: Bibliothéque de l’Assemblée Nationale, Prague. 
Danzic: Stadtbibliothek, Danzig. 
DENMARK: Rigsdagens Bureau, Copenhagen. 
DOMINICAN REPUBLIC: Biblioteca del Senado, Santo Domingo. 
DurRANGO: Gobernador Constitucional del Estado de Durango, Durango. 
DutcH Hast Inpies: Volksraad van Nederlandsch-Indié, Batavia, Java. 
Esronra: Riigiraamatukogu (State Library), Reval. 
FRANCE: 
Bibliothéque de la Chambre des Députés, au Palais Bourbon, Paris. 
Bibliothéque du Sénat, au Palais du Luxembourg, Paris. 
GERMANY: Deutsche Reichstags-Bibliothek, Berlin, N. W. 7. 
GREAT Britain: Library of the Foreign Office, Downing Street, London, S. W. 1. 
GREECE: Library of Parliament, Athens. 
GUATEMALA: Biblioteca de la Oficina Internacional Centro-Americana, 8a Calle 
Poniente No. 1, Guatemala. 
GUERRERO: Gobernador del Estado de Guerrero, Chilpancingo. 
Hartt: Secrétaire d’Ktat des Relations Dxtérieures, Port-au-Prince. 
Honpuras: Biblioteca del Congreso Nacional, Tegucigalpa. 
Huncary: Bibliothek des Abgeordnetenhauses, Budapest. 
Inpr1a: Legislative Library, Simla. 
MATS: 
Biblioteca della Camera dei Deputati, Palazzo di Monte Citorio, Rome. 
Biblioteca del Senato del Regno, Palazzo Madama, Rome. 
JAtisco: Biblioteca del Hstado, Guadalajara. 
Latvia: Library of the Saeima, Riga. 
LirBertA: Department of State, Monrovia. 
Lower CALIFORNIA TERRITORY: Gobernador del Distrito Norte, Mexicali, B.C. 
Mexico: Secretaria de la Camara de Diputados, Mexico, D. F. 
New SoutH WALES: Library of Parliament, Sydney. 
New ZEALAND: General Assembly Library, Wellington. 
Norway: Stortingets Bibliotek, Oslo. 
Nugrvo Lre6n: Biblioteca del Estado, Monterey. 
OLDENBURG: Oldenburgisches Staatsministerium, Oldenburg i. B. 
Peru: Camara de Diputados, Congreso Nacional, Lima. 
PoLtaNnpD: Ministére des Affaires Dtrangéres, Warsaw. 
PorTUGAL: Bibliotheca do Congresso da Republica, Lisbon. 
Prussia: Bibliothek des Abgeordnetenhauses, Prinz-Albrechtstrasse 5, Berlin, 
Se Wot 
QUEENSLAND: Chief Secretary’s Department, Brisbane. 


20837—27. 7 


86 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


RUMANIA: 
Bibliothéque de la Chambre des Députés, Bucharest. 
Ministére des Affaires Htrangéres, Bucharest. 
San Luis Potost: Congreso del Estado, San Luis Potosi. 
SrvaLtoa: Gobernador del Estado de Sinaloa, Culiacan. 
Sonora: Gobernador del Estado de Sonora, Hermosillo. 
SPAIN : 
Biblioteca del Congreso de los Diputados, Madrid. 
Biblioteca del Senado, Madrid. 
SWITZERLAND: 
Bibliothéque de Assemblée Fédérale Suisse, Berne. 
Library of the League of Nations, Geneva. 
Tapasco: Secretaria General de Gobierno, Seccidn 38a Ramo de Prenso, Yilla- 
hermosa. 
TAMAULIPAS: Secretaria General de Gobierno, Victoria. 
TRANSVAAL: State Library, Pretoria. 
Union or SouruH Arrica: Library of Parliament, Cape Town. 
Urucuay: Biblioteca de la Camara de Representantes, Montevideo. 
VENEZUELA: Camara de Diputados, Congreso Nacional, Caracas. 
Vera Cruz: Gobernador del Estado de Vera Cruz, Departamento de Gober- 
nacion y Justicia, Jalapa. 
WESTERN AUSTRALIA: Library of Parliament of Western Australia, Perth. 
YucaTAN: Gobernador del Estado de Yucatéin, Mérida, Yucatan. 
YucGosiaviA: Library of the Skupshtina, Belgrade. 


A complete list of the foreign exchange agencies or bureaus is given 
below. Those in the larger countries and many of those in the 
smaller countries forward to the Smithsonian Institution reciprocal 
contributions for distribution in the United States. Correspondents 
desiring to make use of any of the exchange agencies in the forward- 
ing of consignments to the United States should make application 
directly to the respective bureau. 


ALGERIA, via France. 

ANGOLA, via Portugal. 

ARGENTINE REPUBLIC: Comisi6n Protectora de Bibliotecas Populares, Calle 
Cordoba 931, Buenos Aires. 

AvusTRIA: Bundesamt fiir Statistik, Schwarzenbergstrasse 5, Vienna I. 

AZORES, via Portugal. 

BreLagium: Service Belge des Echanges Internationaux, Rue des Longs- 
Chariots 46, Brussels. 

BottviA: Oficina Nacional de Estadistica, La Paz. 

BrRaAziL: Servicio de Permutacdes Internacionaes, Bibliotheca Nacional, Rio de 
Janeiro. 

BRITISH CoLoNIES: Crown Agents for the Colonies, London. 

BRITISH GUIANA: Royal Agricultural and Commercial Society, Georgetown. 

BritTIsH HonpuraAs: Colonial Secretary, Belize. 

Butearia: Institutions Scientifiques de 8. M. le Roi de Bulgarie, Sofia. 

CANARY ISLANDS, via Spain. 

CHILE: Servicio de Canjes Internacionales, Biblioteca Nacional, Santiago. 

CHINA: Bureau of International Exchange of Publications, Ministry of Educa- 
tion, Peking. . 

CoLoMBIA: Oficina de Canjes Internacionales y Reparto, Biblioteca Nacional, 
Bogota. 


REPORT OF THE SECRETARY 87 


Costa Rica: Oficina de Depésito y Canje Internacional de Publicaciones, San 
José. 

CZECHOSLOVAKIA: Service Tchécoslovaque des Echanges Internationaux, Biblio- 
théque de l’Assemblée Nationale, Prague 1-79. 

Danzig: Amt fiir den Internationalen Schriftenaustausch der Freien Stadt 
Danzig, Stadtbibliothek, Danzig. 

DENMARK: Kongelige Danske Videnskabernes Selskab, Copenhagen. 

DutcH GuIANA: Surinaamsche Koloniale Bibliotheek, Paramaribo. 

Ecuapor: Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores, Quito. 

Eeyrt: Sent by mail. 

Estonia: Riigiraamatukogu (State Library), Reval. 

FINLAND: Delegation of the Scientific Societies of Finland, Helsingfors. 

France: Service Francais des Echanges Internationaux, 110 Rue de Grenelle, 
Paris. 

GERMANY: Amerika-Institut, Universititstrasse 8, Berlin, N. W. 7. 

GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND: Messrs. Wheldon & Wesley, 2, 3, and 4 Arthur 
St., New Oxford St., London, W. C. 2. 

GREECE: Bibliothéque Nationale, Athens. 

GREENLAND, via Denmark. 

GUATEMALA: Instituto Nacional de Varones, Guatemala. 

Harti: Secrétaire d’Etat des Relations Extérieures, Port-au-Prince. 

HonpurAs: Biblioteca Nacional, Tegucigalpa. 

Huneary: Service Hongrois des Echanges Internationaux, Musée National 
Budapest, VIII. 

IcELAND, via Denmark. 

InpIA: Superintendent of Stationery, Bombay. 

Iraty: Ufficio degli Scambi Internazionali, Biblioteca Nazionale Vittorio 
Hmanuele, Rome. 

JAMAICA: Institute of Jamaica, Kingston. 

JAPAN: Imperial Library of Japan, Tokyo. 

JAVA, via Netherlands. 

KorEA: Government General, Seoul. 

Laty1a: Service des Echanges Internationaux, Bibliothéque d’Etat de Lettonie, 
Riga. 

LIBERIA: Bureau of Exchanges, Department of State, Monrovia. 

LITHUANIA: Sent by mail. ¢ 

LOURENCO MARQUEZ, via Portugal. 

LUxEMBURG, via Belgium. 

MADAGASCAR, Via France. 

MADETIRA, via Portugal. 

MozAMBIQUE, via Portugal. 

NETHERLANDS: Bureau Scientifique Central Néerlandais, Bibliothéque de 
lVAcadémie Technique, Delft. 

NEw SoutH WatsEs: Public Library of New South Wales, Sydney. 

NEw ZEALAND: Dominion Museum, Wellington. 

NICARAGUA: Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores, Managua. 

Norway: Universitets-Bibliotek, Oslo. 

PALESTINE: Hebrew University Library, Jerusalem. 

PaNAMA: Secretaria de Relaciones Exteriores, Panama. 

PARAGUAY: Secciédn Canje Internacional de Publicaciones del Ministerio de 
Relaciones Exteriores. Estrella 563, Asuncion. 

Peru: Oficina de Reparto, Depdésito y Canje Internacional de Publicaciones, 
Ministerio de Fomento, Lima. 

PoLAND: Service Polonais des Echanges Internationaux, Bibliothéque du 
Ministére des Affaires Etrangéres, Warsaw. 


88 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


PortucaL: Seccfio de Trocas Internacionaes, Bibliotheca Nacional, Lisbon. 

QUEENSLAND: Bureau of Exchanges of International Publications, Chief Sec- 
retary’s Department, Brisbane. 

RuMANIA: Bureau des Echanges Internationaux, Institut Météorologique Cen- 
tral, Bucharest. 

Russia: Academy of Sciences, Leningrad. 

SatvaporR: Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores, San Salvador. 

Sram: Department of Foreign Affairs, Bangkok. 

SourtH AusTRALIA: Public Library of South Australia, Adelaide. 

SPAIN: Servicio del Cambio Internacional de Publicaciones, Cuerpo Facultativo 
de Archiveros, Bibliotecarios y Arqueélogos, Madrid. 

ScmMATRA, via Netherlands. 

SwEDEN: Kongliga Svenska Vetenskaps Akademien, Stockholm. 

SwITZERLAND: Service Suisse des Echanges Internationaux, Bibliothéque Cen- 
trale Fédérale, Berne. 

Syria: American University of Beirut. 

TASMANIA: Secretary to the Premier, Hobart. 

TRINIDAD: Royal Victoria Institute of Trinidad and Tobago, Port-of-Spain. 

TUNIS, via France. 

TURKEY: Robert College, Constantinople. 

Union oF SournH Arrica: Government Printing Works, Pretoria, Transvaal. 

Urvucuay: Oficina de Canje Internacional de Publicaciones, Montevideo. 

VENEZUELA: Biblioteca Nacional, Carfcas. 

Victoria: Public Library of Victoria, Melbourne. 

Western AUSTRALIA: Public Library of Western Australia, Perth. 

Yucostavia: Académie Royale Serbe des Sciences et des Arts, Belgrade. 


RULES GOVERNING THE TRANSMISSION OF EXCHANGES 


For the information of any who may desire to make use of the 
Smithsonian system of exchanges in the forwarding of publications 
to foreign correspondents, there is reproduced below a revised edi- 
tion of a circular containing a brief description of the service and 
the rules under which packages are received for distribution. 


In effecting the world-wide distribution of its first publications, the Smith- 
sonian Institution established foreign agencies by means of which it was 
enabled to materially assist institutions and individuals of this country in the 
transmission of their publications abroad, and also foreign societies and indi- 
viduals in distributing their publications in the United States. 

In more recent years the Smithsonian Institution has been charged with the 
duty of conducting the official Hxchange Bureau of the United States Govern- 
ment, through which the publications authorized by Congress are exchanged 
for those of other governments; and by a formal treaty it acts as intermediary 
between the learned bodies and scientific and literary societies of this and other 
countries for the reception and transmission of their publications. 

Attention is called to the fact that this is an international and not a domestic 
exchange service, and that it is designed to facilitate exchanges between the 
United States and other countries only. As publications from domestic sources 
for addresses in Hawaii, the Philippine Islands, Porto Rico, and other territory 
subject to the jurisdiction of the United States do not come within the desig- 
nation “ international,’ they are not accepted by the Institution for trans- 
mission through the service. 

Packages prepared in accordance with the rules enumerated below will be 
received by the Smithsonian Institution from individuals or institutions of 


le 
: 
' 
a 


4 le 


REPORT OF THE SECRETARY 89 


learning in the United States and forwarded to their destinations abroad 
through the various exchange bureaus or agencies in other countries. Many of 
those bureaus and agencies will likewise receive packages of publications from 
correspondents in their countries for distribution as gifts or exchanges to corre- 
spondents in the United States and its dependencies and will forward them to 
Washington, after which the Institution will transmit them to their destina- 
tions by mail free of cost to the recipients. 

On receipt of a consignment from a domestic source it is assigned a “ record 
number,” which number is, for identification purposes, placed on each package 
contained therein. After the packages have been recorded they are packed in 
boxes with publications from other senders and are forwarded by freight to the 
bureaus or agencies abroad which have undertaken to distribute exchanges in 
those countries. To Great Britain and Germany shipments are made weekly; 
to France and Italy, semimonthly; and to all other countries consignments are 
forwarded at intervals not exceeding a month. 

The Institution assumes no responsibility in the transmission of packages in- 
trusted to its care, but at all times endeavors to forward exchanges safely and 
as promptly as possible. Especial attention should be called in this connection 
to the time ordinarily required for the delivery of packages sent through the 
exchange service. To Great Britain and Germany, for example, where weekly 
shipments are made, the average time for a package to reach its destination is 
about six weeks. ‘To those countries to which shipments are made at semi- 
monthly and monthly intervals, the time of delivery is, of course, somewhat 
longer, depending on the distance and also whether packages are received at 
the Institution immediately before or after a shipment. If, therefore, advance 
notices are mailed by senders, mention should be made of the above facts in 
order that consignees may expect some delay between the receipt of notices 
and the arrival of packages. In cases where greater dispatch is desired, 
publications should be forwarded by the senders to their foreign destinations 


direct by mail. 
RULES 


The rules governing the Smithsonian International Exchange Service are as 
follows: 

1. Consignments from correspondents in the United States containing pack- 
ages for transmission abroad should be addressed— 


SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 
International Exchanges, 
Washington, D. C. 


and forwarded with carriage charges to Washington prepaid. 

Qin forwarding a consignment the sender should mail a letter to the 
Institution stating by what route it is being shipped, and the number of 
boxes or parcels comprising the shipment. A list giving the name and address 
of each consignee should also be furnished. It is important that this request 
be complied with in order that a detailed record of the contents of consign- 
ments may be kept in the files of the exchange office for use in answering 
inquiries concerning the forwarding of packages. 

3. Packages should be legibly and fully addressed, using, when practicable, 
the language of the country to which they are to be forwarded. In order 
to avoid any possible dispute as to ownership, names of individuals should 
be omitted from packages intended for societies and other establishments. 

4. Packages should be securely wrapped, using cardboard, if necessary, 
to protect plates from crumpling. 


90 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


5. Letters are not permitted in exchange packages. 

6. If donors desire acknowledgments, packages may contain receipt-forms 
to be signed and returned by the establishment or individual addressed. 
Should publications be desired in exchange, a request to that effect may be 
printed on the receipt-form or on the package. 

7. The work carried on by the International Exchange Service is not in 
any sense of a commercial nature, but is restricted to the transmission of 
publications sent as exchanges or donations. Books sold or ordered through 
the trade are, therefore, necessarily excluded. 

8. Specimens are not accepted for distribution, except when permission 
has been obtained from the Institution. 


Respectfully submitted. 
C. G. Assor, 


Assistant Secretary, in charge of Library and Hechanges. 


Dr. Cuartes D. Watcort, 
Secretary, Smithsonian Institution. 


§ 
h 


APPENDIX 6 
REPORT ON THE NATIONAL ZOOLOGICAL PARK 


Sir: I have the honor to submit herewith the following report 
on the operations of the National Zoological Park for the fiscal year 
ended June 30, 1926. 

The appropriation made by Congress under the bill for the Dis- 
trict of Columbia for the regular maintenance of the park was 
$157,000, and there was the usual allotment of $300 for printing and 
binding. Virtually the entire appropriation was required for 
maintenance, so that very little could be done in the way of per- 
manent improvement, and some much-needed repairs had to be 
deferred. 

While the collection of animals on exhibition has not decreased 
in numbers it has lost somewhat in value, as several serious gaps 
have occurred during the year which it has not been possible to fill. 
There is especial lack among the larger kinds of mammals which are 
expensive and, therefore, difficult to include in the present budget. 


ACCESSIONS 


Gifts——There were added to the collection by gift a total of 150 
animals. The Canadian Government, through Hon. J. B. Harkin, 
commissioner of Dominion parks, presented a splendid male Rocky 
Mountain sheep as a new head to the little herd that has bred here 
so successfully for nine years past. 

Six fine specimens of rhea, the ostrich of South America, were 
received as a gift from Dr. Daniel Garcia Accevedo, of Montevideo, 
Uruguay; and a fine collection of South American snakes, includ- 
ing specimens of bushmaster and fer-de-lance, was presented by 
Dr. Vital Brazil, of Sao Paulo, Brazil. All these came from South 
America under the special care of Dr. W. L. Schmitt of the Na- 
tional Museum. 

Dr. H. C. Kellers, United States Navy, who accompanied the 
department’s solar eclipse expedition to Sumatra, brought back for 
the park a very interesting collection of birds and snakes, including 
hornbills, fruit pigeons, various other birds, and two Philippine 
green snakes. ‘These reached the park in excellent condition and 
make valuable additions to the exhibits. 

91 


92 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


Mr. Samuel Kress, of Port Limon, Costa Rica, presented a three- 
toed sloth and a paca; Miss Elizabeth Clayton, Pedro Miguel, Canal 
Zone, an ocelot; Mr. P. W. Shufeldt, Belize, British Honduras, a 
margay; and Mrs. G. J. Schirch, Washington, D. C., a Guatemalan 
deer. 

A nice pair of Canada lynx was received from Mr. A. L. Jones, 
of Juneau, Alaska. 

Mr. M. K. Brady, of Washington, D. C., presented four giant 
salamanders, a Loochoo terrapin and a leprous terrapin. 

A Tasmanian wallaby, a bay lynx and an alligator, that had been 
presented to the President, were placed in the park. 

Among the miscellaneous donations also were several species new 
to the collection. 

The complete list of donors and gifts is as follows: 


Dr. Daniel Garcia Accevedo, Montevideo, Uruguay, througik Dr. W. L. 
Schmitt, United States National Museum, 6 rheas. 

Mr. S. M. Alvis, Fisherville, Va., gray spider monkey. 

Dr. W. E. Balderson, Washington, D. C., water snake. 

Mr. Herbert Barber, Washington, D. C., little blue heron. 

Mr. Oscar E. Baynard, Plant City, Fla., sandhill erane. 

Miss Martha M. Beattie, Washington, D. C., alligator. 

Private P. S. Bender, United States Army, alligator. 

Mr. M. K. Brady, Washington, D. C., Loochoo terrapin, leprous terrapin, 
and four giant salamanders. 

Dr. Vital Brazil, Sao Paulo, Brazil, through Dr. W. L. Schmitt, United 
States National Museum, 22 Brazilian snakes. 

Mr. L. B. Brooks, Remington, Va., barn owl. 

Mr. Robert F. Burgess, Washington, D. C., coyote. 

Lieut. W. A. Burgess, Manila, P. I., Philippine heron. 

Mr. W. B. Byrd, jr., Washington, D. C., screech owl. 

Canadian Government, through Hon. J. B. Harkin, Rocky Mountain sheep. 

Carnegie Institution, Washington, D. C., Gila monster. 

Miss Elizabeth Clayton, Pedro Miguel, Canal Zone, ocelot. 

Miss Colley, Washington, D. C., ringed turtle dove. 

President Coolidge, White House, alligator, rufus-bellied wallaby, and bay 
lynx. 

Miss Nellie M. Darling, Utica, N. Y., yellow-and-blue macaw. 

Miss Virginia Davin, Palmyra, Va., alligator. 

Mr. Charles F. Denley, Rockville, Md., sharp-shinned hawk. 

Miss Sybil J. Disney, Takoma Park, D. C., brown capuchin. 

Capt. John R. Edie, United States Navy, gray fox and three English 
pheasants. 

Mr. A. T. Hisenger, Washington, D. C., double-yellow-head parrot. 

Mr. C. L. Fagan, Rahway, N. J., two Inca terns. 

Mr. N. H. Field, Washington, D. C., sulphur-crested cockatoo. 

Miss Alice T. Flynn, Washington, D. C., grass paroquet. 

Mr. Charles R. Grant, jr., Washington, D. C., tortoise. 

Rev. H. J. Head, Hickory, N. C., banded rattlesnake. 

Mr. Emmett H. Heitmuller, Washington, D. C., alligator. 

Mr. J. Henderson, Washington, D. C., red-tailed hawk. 


k 
4 
4 
4 
: 
in 


REPORT OF THE SECRETARY 93 


Mrs. William Herbertson, Frederick, Md., two alligators. 

Mr. George Hofer, Tucson, Ariz., red-shafted flicker, two Harris’ ground 
squirrels, and gray fox. 

Mrs. E. L. Hoffman, Washington. D. C., grass paroquet. 

Mr. W. F. Humme, Henderson, Va., two peafowls. 

Mr. H. M. Ingram, Addison, Va., alligator. 

Mr. Victor Jaffe, Somerset, Md., corn snake. 

Mr. A. L. Jones, Juneau, Alaska, two Canada lynxes. 

Mr. Neil M. Judd, Washington, D. C., prairie rattlesnake. 

Dr. H. C. Kellers, United States Navy, two Philippine green snakes, two 
hill mynahs, four bleeding-heart doves, six necklaced doves, two Malayan 
wreathed hornbills, two fruit pigeons. 

Mr. S. Kress, Port Limon, Costa Rica, paca and three-toed sloth. 

Messrs. Lansburgh & Bro., Washington, D. C., white-throated capuchin. 

Mrs. Robert E. Lee, Washington, D. C., ring-necked dove. 

Legation of Holland, alligator. 

Mr. W. B. Lovett, Washington, D. C., three bald eagles. 

Mr. E. B. McLean, Washington, D. C., alligator, five muscovy ducks, three 
Chinese geese, and Canada goose. 

Mrs. R. J. Mayer, Washington, D. C., hedgehog. 

Mr. John J. Murphy, St. Cloud, Fla., diamond rattlesnake. 

Miss S. M. Perry, Staunton, Va., gray fox. 

Dr. John C. Phillips, Washington, D. C., brant. 

Mr. J. H. Polkinhorn, Washington, D. C., marmoset. 

Mr. B. V. Roberts, Washington, D. C., Virginia rail. 

Mr. W. F. Roberts, Washington, D. C., Pennant’s paroquet. 

Mrs. Geo. J. Schirch, Washington, D. C., Guatemalan deer. 

Mr. Edw. S. Schmid, Washington, D. C., alligator. 

Mr. BE. W. Scott, Washington, D. C., great horned owl. 

Mr. P. W. Shufeldt, Belize, B. H., margay. 

Mrs. C. F. Spradling, Athens, Tenn., woodchuck, banded rattlesnake, and six 
western painted turtles. 

Dr, H. R. Street, Washington, D. C., Santo Domingo parrot. 

Mr. J. EH. Tylor, Washington, D. C., raccoon. 

Mr. Allen Underwood, two Java finches and Gouldian finch. 

Miss Minnie Warner, Washington, D. C., barred owl. 

Mr. J. R. Whipple, Washington, D. C., common canary. 

Mrs. N. J. Wiley, Washington, D. C., yellow-head parrot. 

Miss Genevieve Wimsatt, Washington, D. C., crested mynah. 

Mr. Charles Wilson, Washington, D. C., white-throated capuchin. 

Mr. W. VY. Wilson, Rockville, Md., red fox. 

Mr. Hiram Yoder, Tuleta, Texas, 17 turtles. 

Mr. Joe Zoffin, Washington, D. C., alligator. 

Unknown donor, bare-jawed troupial. 


Births —During the year 101 mammals, birds, and reptiles, born 
or hatched at the park, were added to the collection. Among the 
mammals were Rocky Mountain sheep, moufion, Alpine ibex, Ameri- 
can bison, Indian buffalo, yak, guanaco, various deer, Javan and Jap- 
anese monkeys, raccoon, rock kangaroo, beaver, and several other 
rodents. The birds included blue goose, white-cheeked goose, rosy- 
billed pochard, sacred ibis, and 6 other species; and of snakes, the 

20837—27——_8 


94 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


fer-de-lance and Bothrops alternatus. Two eggs were produced 
by the pair of California condors but failed to hatch. 

Eachanges——From the Zoological Garden of Wellington, New 
Zealand, were received 4 rock-hopper penguins, 2 paradise ducks, 
2 lesser rails, and 2 specimens of tuatera, a lizard-like animal that 
is of great interest as being the oldest type of reptile now living. 
The penguin, lesser rail, and paradise duck were species new to the 
collection. Three female sea lions were received from the Zoological 
Society of San Diego, Calif. 

Purchases.—A_single-wattled cassowary, Humboldt’s saki, Abys- 
sinian lynx and alligator lizard (Dracena guianensis), all new to 
the collection, were purchased during the year, also a black leopard, 
2 prong-horns, an Australian cassowary, and a small lot of finches 
and other cage-birds to replenish the collections in the bird house. 

Deposits—Among the animals received on indefinite deposit 
were an orang and a pair of white fallow deer from Mr. Victor J. 
Evans, a chacma baboon from Mr. E. R. Grant, and a silver-black 
fox from the Keystone Fox Ranch. 

The Biological Survey, United States Department of Agriculture, 
transferred to the park a number of animals taken by field agents of 
the bureau, including ravens, magpies, western porcupines, 2 Mexi- 
can pumas, and 13 white pelicans. 


REMOVALS 


Fifty-five mammals, birds, and reptiles were sent away in exchange 
to other zoological gardens during the year. Among these were 
two American bison, an elk, six Japanese deer, four fallow deer, a 
guanaco, a hippopotamus, an European bear, some small mammals, 
and a few birds and reptiles. 

Losses by death were mainly either of animals that had been long 
in the collection or of those very recently received. Among the 
former were a sloth bear that had lived in the park 21 years and 
6 months; a cinnamon bear, 17 years; a yak, 18 years and 3 months; 
a sambar deer and a Bactrian camel, each 14 years and 3 months; 
a male Rocky Mountain sheep, 8 years and 4 months; a rhea, 16 
years and 5 months. A male mona monkey, survivor of the pair, 
the female of which died a year earlier after having borne 10 
young, had been in the collection 16 years. A male Grevy’s zebra 
that died October 9, 1925, was received February 11, 1913, from the 
United States Department of Agriculture, where it had been used 
for breeding purposes. Other important animals that had lived for 
shorter periods were a snow leopard, two sea lions, a female Rocky 
Mountain sheep, a female Rocky Mountain goat, a capybara, two 


REPORT OF THE SECRETARY 95 


ostriches, and a kiwi. Loss of reptiles was large as compared with 
their total number, owing to the lack of quarters that afford suitable 
conditions for them. 

Post-mortem examinations were made by the pathological division 
of the Bureau of Animal Industry. The following list shows the 
results of autopsies, the cases being arranged by groups: 


CAUSES OF DEATH 
MAMMALS 


Marsupialia: Pneumonia, 1; gastroenteritis, 1; gastric ulcer, 1; pericar- 
ditis, 1; fatty degeneration of liver, 1; infection of jaw, 3. 

Carnivora: Enteritis, 1; gastroenteritis, 3; intestinal parasites, 2; abscess 
of lungs, 1; abscess of shoulder, 1; old age, 1. ; 

Pinnipedia: Pneumonia, 1. 

Rodentia: Enteritis, 1; intestinal parasites, 1; difficult parturition, 1. 

Primates: Pneumonia, 2; enteritis, 2; gastroenteritis, 1; intestinal para- 
sites, 3; degeneration of heart, 1; osteomalacia, 1; no cause found, 2. 

Artiodactyla: Pneumonia, 2; intestinal parasites, 1; impaction of rumen, 
1; abscess of lungs, 1; cystic degeneration of liver, 2; necrosis of lip, 1; old 
age, 3; accident, 1. 

Perissodactyla: Internal hemorrhage, 1. 


Hdentata: Enteritis, 1. 
BIRDS 


Ratite: Abscess of leg, 1; accident, 1. 

Ciconiiformes: Pericarditis, 1; no cause found, 2. 

Anseriformes: Aspergillosis, 3; internal hemorrhage, 1. 

Falconiformes: Aspergillosis, 1. 

Gruiformes: No cause found, 1. 

Psittaciformes: Aspergillosis, 1; enteritis, 2; internal abscess, 1. 

Such animals, lost by death, as were of particular scientific inter- 
est, or of value for museum purposes, were transferred to the 
United States National Museum for preservation. These numbered 
40 mammals, 44 birds, and 23 reptiles. A number of rare birds’ 
eggs, including two eggs of the California condor mentioned above, 
also were sent to the Museum. 

Five mammals especially needed by the Carnegie Laboratory of 
Embryology, Johns Hopkins Medical School, Baltimore, were sent 
after death to that institution; and five mammals were sent to St. 
Elizabeths Hospital, Washington, D. C., for special study of the 
brain. 


96 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


ANIMALS IN THE COLLECTION JUNE 30, 1926 


MAMMALS 


MARSUPIALIA 


Virginia opossum (Didelphis virgini- 


Tasmanian devil (Sarcophilus  har- 
ABUL) ee a a 
Flying phalanger (Petaurus breviceps) — 
Brush-tailed rock wallaby (Petrogale 
DONIC) ae ee ee 
Rufous-bellied wallaby (Macropus bil- 
LAN Atertt)) eae 
Red kangaroo (Macropus rufus) —----- 
Wombat (Phascolomys mitchelli) —--- 


CARNIVORA 


Kadiak bear (Ursus middendorji) ——-- 
Alaska Peninsula bear (Ursus gyas) —~ 
Yakutat bear (Ursus dalli) -_--_-_--- 
Kidder’s bear (Ursus kidderi) -------- 
European bear (Ursus arctos)—----~- 
Grizzly bear (Ursus horribilis) _------ 
Apache grizzly (Ursus Apache) ------ 
Himalayan bear (Ursus thibetanus) —- 
Black bear (Huarctos americanus) ~~~ 
Cinnamon bear (Huarctos americanus 

CINNEMOMAMN?): Seer eee 
Glacier bear (Huarctos emmonsii) —--- 
Sun bear (Helarctos malayanus) —~--~- 
Polar bear (Thalarctos maritimus) ~~~ 
Dingo: (Canisvdingo)———— = 
Gray wolf (Canis nubilus)--------~~ 
Florida wolf (Canis floridanus) ~---~- 
Texas red wolf (Canis rufus) —-------- 
Coyote (Canis latrans)—-—--_--__—_-- 
Hybrid coyote (Canis latrans-rufus) —_ 
California coyote (Canis ochropus) ——- 
Black-backed jackal (Canis mcesome- 

1ag) fe 2rd epee ae eye ee 
Rough fox (Cerdocyon cancrivorus) ~~ 
Red" fox” (Vulpes julva) 2222-22 
Silver-black fox (Vulpes fulva)------ 
Huropean fox (Vulpes vulpes) ——------ 
Rat fox. CVuines Velompa—— eae 
Gray fox (Urocyon cinercoargenteus) — 
Bush dog (Icticyon venaticus) ~------ 
Cacomistle (Bassariscus astutus) —---- 
Panda (Ailurus fulgens) ~---------—- 
Raccoon (Procyon. loton) =. = 
Florida raccoon (Procyon lotor elu- 

Cus) stents _ oho’ ep eee ne eee cee 
Gray coatimundi (Nasua narica)—---- 
Kankajou (Potes flavas) — = - = 
Mexican kinkajou (Potos flavus az- 

CECUS)) 22 So a ee 
American badger (Tawidea tarus)—---~ 
Florida otter (Lutra canadensis vaga) — 
Palm civet (Paradogurus hermaphrodi- 

CUS) Se Os Se Se Ee 
Egyptian mongoose (Herpestes ich- 

MEUMON) soe. Uae Ee See See ee 
Aard-wolf (Proteles cristatus)—------- 
Spotted hyena (Crocuta crocuta)-—--- 
Striped hyena (Hyena hyena) ------ 


ie) 


ms 


HBRORHAwWNHeRD 


Tt 
HrPob FPHNFPRNRHPNHRE 


bo wnwre 


ee ee 


Ree eH oTb eH bb 


African cheetah (Acinony# jubatus) —- 
ion, \CHelis seo) jae = ee 
Bengal tiger (Felis tigris) __-------- 
Manchurian tiger (felis tigris longi- 


Leopard .(Felis pordius))——__- === == 
Black leopard (Felis pardus)—------- 
Jaguar’ ‘(Felis anced) 222-2 2422222 
Serval) (felis) serval)— 2 _ ee 
Ocelot (Felis: pardalis)i-—----—- == =- == 
Brazilian ocelot (Felis pardalis brasil- 

4eneis) 20 Hees 2 Es 
Mexican puma (Felis azteca)_-----~- 
Mountain lion (Felis hippolestes) ~~~ 
Abyssinian caracal (Lynz _ caracal 

nubicd) ee ae eee oe ae 
Canada lynx (Lyn#z canadensis) ~—-~~-~ 
Northern wild cat (Lyne uinta)—----- 
Bay yn: (oyna Peps) ee ee 
Clouded leopard (Neofelis nebulosa) ~~ 


PINNIPEDIA 


California sea lion (Zalophus califor- 
nianws) 2222254 eee 
San Geronimo harbor seal (Phoca 
richardi&i geronimensis) —_~-----—--_—--— 


RODENTIA 


Woodehuck (Marmota monaz)_--~-~-~- 
Prairie dog (Cynomys ludovicianus) —- 
Harris’s ground squirrel (Ammosper- 

mophitts Rarrist) =222—— eee 
Honduras squirrel (Sciurus boothi@) -_ 
Albino squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis) — 
American beaver (Castor canadensis) — 
Grasshopper mouse (Onychomys leu- 

cogasten) j= 22 228 Se eee 
Jumping mouse (Zapus hudsonius) —--- 
African porcupine (Hystrix africeaus- 

tralis) 22c-he ese te ee eee 
Malay porcupine (Acanthion brachyu- 


Tree poreupine (Coendouw prehen- 
SAAS) ae a a ee 
Western porcupine (Hrethizon epixan- 
bei) 22 ee oe eet oe De eee eee 
Viscacha (Lagostomus  trichodacty- 
TALS \ ee Se ee 
Central American paca (Cuniculus paca 
WING OUULS) ee a a 
Sooty agouti (Dasyprocta fuliginosa) — 
Speckled agouti (Dasyprocta punc- 
1 AOD, ne ee 
Azara’s agouti (Dasyprocta azare) ——~ 
Trinidad agouti (Dasyprocta rubrata) ~ 


Guinea pig (Cavia porcellus) -------- 

Capybara (Hydrocherus hydroche- 

Me) ea ee Se ee ear Sa 
LAGOMORPHA 


Domestic rabbit (Oryctolagus cunicu- 
(is) ee eS eee 


BO eee ee eo 


HorDeH 


REPORT OF THE SECRETARY 


INSECTIVORA 


European hedgehog (Hrinaceus euro- 


PRIMATES 


Ring-tailed lemur (Lemur catta)_----~- 
Red-fronted lemur (Lemur rufifrons) — 
Black lemur (Lemur macaco)—-----~-- 
Marmoset (Callithrix jacchus)—------- 
Gray spider monkey (Ateles geoffroyi) — 
Mexican spider monkey (Ateles neg- 

lectus) 2 = see ee ee) ete 
White-throated capuchin (Cebus ca- 

DUCHIIB) = ee eee that eee 
Brown capuchin (Cebus fatuellus) ~~ 


Margarita capuchin (Cebus mar- 
CUP TERE)) teens eee ele oe ee ee 
Gelada baboon (Theropithecus  ob- 
SCUTUS) pose ete Oe yes eo ers ay 


Chacma (Papio porcarius)—--.----~-_ 
Anubis baboon (Papio cynocephalus) — 
East African baboon (Papio ibeanus) — 
Mandrill (Pupio sphingz)_--.------_-~ 
Drill (Papio leucopheus) ~--.2.----4- 
Moor macaque (Cynopithecus maurus) — 
Barbary ape (Simia sylwanus) —-----~--~ 
Japanese macaque (Macaca fuscata) —-— 
Pig-tailed monkey (Macaca nemes- 

CPUC) soa h8 we career het vey hepa AS Lda 
Burmese macaque (Macaca andaman- 
Rhesus monkey (Macaca rhesus) ----~ 
Bonnet monkey (Macaca sinica) _----- 
Crab-eating macaque (Macaca irus)_-~~ 
Philippine macaque (Macaca syrichta) ~ 
Javan macaque (Macaca mordar) —-_- 


Black mangabey (Cercocebus  ater- 
ATIRAE SS) aes ep te 
Sooty mangabey (Cercocebus fuligi- 
NOSUS ye Bes epg AS eg, La Le 
Hagenbeck’s mangabey (Cercocebus 
TUCO CIDE GIGS) as aso 8 ees ec ey gn bile 
White-collared mangabey (Cercocebus 
COT QMOELUS) 32 ons Sone Sesto) 
Green guenon (Lasiopyga calli- 
EIA ATBU BN) eos > ee SN a Se Bab 


Mona guenon (Lasiopyga mona) 
De Brazza’s guenon  (Lasiopyga 

OF OSS?) 25 OE Gaye RS. een alot 
Lesser white-nosed guenon (Lasiopyga 

DCUVUSIST OR) oe of ea Ok | ri © 
Chimpanzee (Pan satyrus) ~--.--____ 
Orang-utan (Pongo pygmeus) 


ARTIODACTYLA 


Wild boar (Sus scrofa) -___________ 
Collared peceary (Pecari dngulatus) __ 
Hippopotamus (Hippopotamus amphi- 

LIT) apie a Ml hela pe cll Ae 


Bactrian camel (Camelus bactrianus) — 


be FP NRPNER Or 


wnmnwmnroeortrwre Li 


— 


OrHEHHNEH 


| Tl aed 


Arabian camel (Camelus dromedarius) — 
Guanaco (Lama huwandchus) —~-------~-~- 
Liama (Lama glamajesa-—- == 
Reindeer (Rangifer tarandus)—~-----~- 
Fallow deer (Dama dama) —---------- 
White fallow deer (Dama dama)_~-~-~ 
Axis. deer, (A wis (amis) i222 t Ls 
Hog deer (Hyelaphus porcinus)—---~- 
Sambar (Rusa unicolor)--_----_---~ 
Barasingha (Rucervus duvaucelii) ~—-~ 
Burmese deer (Rucervus eldii) 
Japanese deer (Sika nippon) 
Red deer (Cervus elaphus) —-----~--~~-~ 
Kashmir deer (Cervus hanglu)—-----~~ 
Bedford deer (Cervus ranthopygus) —~ 
American elk (Cervus canadensis) ~~~ 
Virginia deer (Odocoileus virginvianus) — 
Guatemala deer (Odocoileus sp.)----- 
Mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) —---~ 
Brocket (Mazama sartorii) -_.__------ 
Prong-horn (Antilocapra americana) —~ 
Blesbok (Damaliscus albifrons)—--_~-~ 
White-tailed gnu (Connochetes gnu) —- 
Brindled gnu (Connochetes taurinus)— 
Lechwe (Onotragus leche)----—-~---~ 
Sable antelope (Hgocerus niger) ~~~ 
Indian antelope (Antilope cervicapra) — 
Nilgai (Boselaphus tragocamelus) ---~ 
Gensbok"(Orya gazelig) 22 ees ee 
East African eland (Taurotragus oryr 

LEBINTSCONI) eee ee ee ee ee 
Mountain goat (Oreamnos americanus) — 
Tahr (Hemitragus jemlahicus) 
Alpine ibex (Capra iber) --_______~ 
Aoudad (Ammotragus lervia) 
Rocky Mountain sheep 

GENSIS ene ee re ee ee 
Arizona mountain sheep (Ovis cana- 

GESTS GUAT ET) oe ee ee 
Mouflon (Ovis ewrop@us) ——__-__-_____ 
Greenland musk-ox (Ovibos moschatus 

ECOL Oris eee ee ee ee ee ee a 
ACD CHOS MLOICUS ae a ee ee 
Yak (Poéphagus grunniens)—~---~--~ 
American bison (Bison bison) _---_~~ 
Indian buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) 


(Ovis cana- 


PERISSODACTYLA 


Malay tapir (Tapirus indicus) —---_~ 
Brazilian tapir (Tapirus terrestris) —— 
Baird’s tapir (Tapirella bairdii)_--__ 
Zebra-horse hybrid (Equus grevyi-ca- 

ballus) 
Zebra-ass 


hybrid (Hquus grevyi-asi- 


PROBOSCIDEA 


Abyssinian elephant (Lozodonta afri- 
CONDAODY OCIS no 5 coe nme 
Sumatran elephant (Hlephas suma- 
Wanus)~=ssesSses ius eee suas 


oe; 
~J 


_ 


BRNWHE HEE RD HEE RP PROD ROR AHP W ROTH OW 


Row We 


© 


98 


RATIT AD 


South African ostrich (Struthio aus- 
trQlis) = ae ee ee See ee ee 
Somaliland ostrich (Struthio molybdo- 
DRGNES)), 2a ee ee 
Nubian ostrich (Struthio camelus) —--- 
Rhea (Rhea americana) ~~----------- 
Australian cassowary (Oasuarius daus- 
EF GIGS) RR eee 
Single-wattled cassowary (Casuwarius 
uniappendiculatus) —~-._--~---------- 
Selater’s cassowary (Casuarius phil- 
int) Seeks eee 


SPHENISCIFORMES 


Rock-hopper penguin (Catarrhactes pa- 
chyrhynchius) 2252) ee see 


CICONIIFORMES 


American white pelican (Pelecanus ery- 
ERGOT RU ICNOS, a ee 
European white pelican (Pelecanus 
OTLOCTOEGUIUG)) a eee ee ee a 
Roseate pelican (Pelecanus roseus) —--~ 
Australian pelican (Pelecanus conspi- 


TAH ATE) COLD LERS DEY ES ee eee 
Brown pelican (Pelecanus  occiden- 
TTA IE) Wades la a ye ER 
California brown pelican (Pelecanus 


COU FONG U8) ee 
Florida cormorant (Phalacrocoraz auri- 
TALS [UOT ACCME) 
Great white heron (Ardea _ occiden- 
ELDER) a ea oe 
Great blue heron (Ardea herodias) —--~ 
Goliath heron (Ardea goliath) _-----~ 
American egret (Casmerodius egretta) — 
Black-crowned night heron (Nycticorar 
nycticoray nevius) ———_-—--_-____— 
Boatbill (Cochlearius cochlearius) ———~ 
White stork (Ciconia ciconia) _-__----- 
Black stork (Ciconia nigra) ---------- 
Marabou stork (Leptoptilus crumenif- 
Pie) Hf) pearance 
Wood ibis (Mycteria americana) —~---- 
Sacred ibis (Threskiornis ethiopicus) — 
Black-headed ibis (Threskiornis mela- 
MOCCDIVOUIUS yore a= ee a 
Australian ibis (Threskiornis  stricti- 
GHD SS) pans Bs ee ee 
White ibis (Guarda atta) === = 
Searlet ibis (Guara rubra) ---------- 


ANSERIFORMES 


Crested screamer (Chauna cristata) ~~~ 
Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) —~~----- 
Black duck (Anas rubripes) --_------ 
Australian black duck (Anas supercili- 

ORG) See ee PA ae ee 
Gadwall (Chaulelasmus streperus) ~~~ 
Faleated duck (Hunetta falcata) _---- 


ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


BIRDS 


ww 


ee 1 


oe 


bo le 


European widgeon (Mareca penelope) — 
Baldpate (Mareca americana) ~----~-~- 
Green-winged teal (Nettion caroli- 

MONUS EC) ate es 2 oS 2 See 
Huropean teal (Nettion crecca) —----- 
Baikal teal (Nettion formoswm) —_----~ 
Blue-winged teal (Querquedula_ dis- 

COTS) eae _ Se Sees 
Garganey (Querquedula querquedula) — 
Paradise duck (Casarca variegata) —-~ 
Shoveller (Spatula clypeata) ~~------_ 
Pintail) (Dafiila acutayess2. ee 
Bahaman pintail (Dajila bahamensis) — 
Wood. duck’ (Atv sponsa) 2-2 ES 
Mandarin duck (Dendronessa galericu- 

fata) ==2--22. =e eee ee 
Canvasback (Marila valisineria) __----~ 
Huropean pochard (Marila ferina)_—_-~ 
Redhead (Marila americana) __~-~---_- 
Ring-necked duck (Marila collaris) ~~~ 
Tufted duck (WVarila fuligula)—------~- 
Lesser scaup duck (Marila affinis) ---~ 
Greater scaup duck (Marila marila) —- 
Rosy-billed pochard (Metopiana pepo- 

6ac@) ~~. see neh ee ee ee 

$18) jen ie Von ee 
Snow goose (Chen hyperboreus) ----_-- 
Greater snow goose (Chen hyperboreus 

NIVGUS)) — ee eee 
Blue goose (Chen cerulescens) —~~----~-~ 
White-fronted goose (Anser albifrons) — 
American white-fronted goose (Anser 

albifrons gambeli) u-- 222k 2 eee 
Bean goose (Anser fabalis) _-_-_-_------ 
Pink-footed goose (Anser brachyrhyn- 

Chasis) 3 eee 
Chinese goose (Cygnopsis cygnoides) —- 
Bar-headed goose (Hulabeia indica) ~~~ 
Canada goose (Branta canadensis) _--~ 
Hutchins’s goose (Branta canadensis 

hutehinstiyis . i SoC eee 
White-cheeked goose (Branta canaden- 

Sistioccidentalis) shat! Rate 
Cackling goose (Branta canadensis 

mining) 2c Sees See 
Brant (Branta bernicla glaucogastra) — 
Barnacle goose (Branta lewcopsis) --__- 
Museovy duck (Cairina moschata) _-__ 
Pied goose (Anseranas semipalmata) — 
Black-bellied tree duck (Dendrocygna 

autunnals) See eee 
Eyton’s tree duck (Dendrocygna ey- 

toni)! Zoot 2 PP ea eee 
Mute swan (Cygnus gibbus)-------~-- 
Trumpeter swan (Cygnus buccinator) — 
Whistling swan (Cygnus columbianus) — 
Black swan (Chenopis atrata)_---_-~~ 


FALCONIFORMES 


California condor (Gymnogyps califor- 

MAGNUS) eee Ss Se eee 
Turkey vulture (Cathartes aura) —---- 
Black vulture (Coragyps urubu) ----- 


_ 
ae OHH OH 


a fo 
wb oO Ww Ne ade hb bo o BRR ROW OAS 


w 


10 


i) Bre 1m bw 


i 


Him oo 


. 
7 


a 


—— 


REPORT OF THE SECRETARY 


King vulture (Sarcoramphus papa) —-- 
Secretary bird (Sagittarius serpen- 

bars) Les C ee ee  EE 
Griffon vulture (Gyps fulvus)------- 
African black vulture (J'orgos trache- 

liotus) 
Cinereous 


vulture (M#gypius mona- 


Wedge-tailed eagle (Uroaétus audag) - 
Golden eagle (Aquila chrysaétos)_-_--_- 
White-bellied sea eagle (Cuncuma leu- 


covasten) ne See eee eee 
Bald eagle (Haliwetus leucocephalus 
leucocephalia) (24 SU eee ek 


Alaskan bald eagle (Haliwetus leuco- 

cephalus alascanus) —— 2 Se Se 
Bateleur eagle (Helotarsus ecaudatus) — 
Broad-winged hawk (Buteo platyp- 


Red-tailed hawk (Buteo borealis) _-__-~ 
Pigmy falcon (Poliohieragw semitorqua- 

Fa, FIER) | ha ae i a ta a se el eta eee a 
Sparrow hawk (Falco sparverius) _-_- 


GALLIFORMES 


Panama Curassow (Crax panamen- 
Razor-billed curassow (Mitu mitu)_- 
Crested guan (Penelope boliviana) ——_ 
Mexican guan (Ortalis vetula)_-_--- 
Vulturine guinea fowl (Acryllium vul- 

LOEP VLU 1) SS St ears ar Rea Sea Ee EY 
Peatow!l (Pavo cristatus) —-_._._...-- 
Albino peafowl (Pavo cristatus)—--__ 
Silver pheasant (Gennewus nyctheme- 

WAGB Ute oes Ah art De ee 
Lady Ambherst’s pheasant (Chrysolo- 

UUs OMmbersie) 
Ring-necked pheasant (Phasianus tor- 

quatus) 
Hungarian partridge (Perdiz perdiz) _— 
Chukar partridge (Alectoris chukar)_— 
Valley quail (Lophortyr californica 

UGUACOLE DS | haat on AD he 8 
Scaled quail (Callipepla squamata) —_ 
Massena quail (Cyrtonyx montezu- 

LOGS See SA eee ee RS eet a ee ee 


GRUIFORMES 


East Indian gallinule (Porphyrio cal- 

wus) 
Pukeko (Porphyrio stanleyi)__._____ 
Black-tailed moor hen (Microtribonyx 

ventralis) 
American coot .(Fulica americana) ___ 
Lesser rail (Hypotenidia philippen- 


South Island weka rail (Ocydromus 
TT TASTS SAAT) ie Stas ie le oan SL eT 
Short-winged weka (Ocydromus brach- 
Tp TRAE ce TEM Viget, Mees LN pS ath Leet dD 
Sandhill crane 
1S 7 1 ete ENE i Latte lay Pate a a a ia ee 
Little brown crane (Megalornis cana- 
PERSIA). oe he a eee ee 


NrRwh 


White-necked crane (Megalornis leu- 

cauchen) 
Indian white crane (Megalornis leu- 

cogeranus ) 
Lilford’s crane (Megalornis lilfordi) —— 
Australian crane (Mathewsena rubi- 

CUR yee Se a 
Demoiselle crane (Anthropoides virgo) — 
Crowned crane (Balearica pavonina)_ 
Kagu (Rhynochetos jubatus)________ 


CHARADRIIFORMES 


Ruff (Philomachus pugnar)__-_______ 
Lapwing (Vanellus vanellus) =. 
Yellow-wattled lapwing (Lobivanellus 

ING Os Wiesel sariad agit. 
South American stone-plover ((C@dic- 

nemus bistriatus vocifer) _________ 
Pacific gull (Gabianus pacificus)____ 
Great black-backed gull (Larus mari- 

Nuss Naehe as) __ tan by fee ives 
Herring gull (Larus argentatus)_____ 
Silver gull (Larus novehollandie) ___ 
Laughing gull (Larus atricilla) _.-__~ 
Inca tern (Noddi inca) 


toria) 


Australian crested pigeon (Ocyphaps- 
LODROCES) orore eyes bY oR lee Reser le 
Bronze-wing pigeon (Phaps_ chalcop- 
COT Vet SI ie rl yas elt pe A el ly 


Marquesan dove (Gallicolumba rubdes- 

CON BN OS oe ea SOO kA nary bee eal fo 
Bleeding-heart dove (Gallicolumba lu- 

RONICO) Bae aoe a eg eA 4 oles ve 
Wood pigeon (Columba palumbus)____ 
Mourning dove (Zenaidura macroura) — 
Mexican dove (Zenaidura graysoni) __ 
White-fronted dove (Leptotila fulvi- 

ventris brachyptera)____._______. _ 
Necklaced dove (Spilopelia tigrina) ___ 
Ringed turtledove (Streptopelia — ri- 


Zebra dove (Geopelia Sata) —-= 4 
Bar-shouldered dove (Geopelia humer- 
CLE) SNES SERIA ATI atin apo) 
Inca dove (Scardafelia AOD) > oe, 
Cuban ground dove (Chemepelia pas- 
Senna. Ofavida) 2 ee 


TRC Oa a BOE ek aye ee el a 
Superb fruit pigeon (Lamprotreron 
euperba)eiaeissse ks Slay al uae 
Bronze fruit pigeon (Iuscadivores 
@ne@)) 228 iepek i. beeiol font 
PSITTACIFORMES 


Kea (Nestor notabilis)_.___________ 
Roseate cockatoo (Kakatoe roseica- 


PAL ED) eae POR MORI EES Bee eae 
Bare-eyed cockatoo (Kakatoe gym- 
CC Fo) ge eat pl ps pe aie gaa 
Leadbeater’s toekntoo (Kakatoe lead- 
DECTETT enna Sa et enenrahe Seren erie reo pore 


White cockatoo (Kakatoe alba)_______ 
Sulphur-crested cockatoo (Kakatoe 
OGleTitG) (a2 Oe aed ie Se ce eee te 


99 


hoe RH bo 


100 


Great red-crested cockatoo (Kakatoe 


moluccensis)'—.- ==" = = ee 
Mexican green macaw (Ara mezi- 
CORG) PSs a2 2 Ue CN Se pr 


Severe macaw (Ara severa)—-_-_-___ 


Blue-and-yellow macaw (Ara ara- 
PUAUIIAE)) ter oe Seu 
Red-and-blue-and-yellow macaw (Ara 


NUGCEO) ARs EA PATN Torta aay 
Petz’s paroquet (Hupsittula canicu- 


CLG SY ca a ce a ts a re Se 
Golden-crowned paroquet (Hupsittula 
GQUiED)) San ae Be as ee 
Weddell’s paroquet (Hupsittula wed- 
ellis) <2 Ne tnt SF See ot, 


Blue-winged parrotlet (Psittacula pas- 
SOPTUON SS ane ete be OS 
Golden paroquet (Brotogeris chryso- 


Tovi paroquet (Brotogeris jugularis) — 


Orange-winged paroquet (Brotogeris 
ChAtitt) .22eheeen sun \W Sie 
Yellow-naped parrot (Amazona au- 
SONALI ata) Leese se en py eee 


Mealy parrot (Amdazona farinosa) —--- 
Orange-winged parrot (Amazona ama- 
ZONA ase ee ee ee ee ee 
Blue-fronted parrot (Amazona ewstiva) — 
Red-crowned parrot (Amazona viri- 
digenalis so 4eeer l= era eee Ss 
Double yellow-head parrot (Amazona 
OT CERI) Sa gO ek 
Yellow-headed parrot (Amazona ochro- 
Cepiiala) es Oe RS Tie eee 
Festive parrot (Amazona festiva)_-_~ 
Lesser white-fronted parrot (Ama- 
zone albifrons nana) —---__-_=- 
Santo Domingo parrot (Amazona ven- 
tration! U— Sate oe ee 
Cuban parrot (Amazona leucocephala) — 
Maximilian’s parrot (Pionus wmazi- 
ATWELL CA) ATE aE SE sae eee ee ne 
Dusky parrot (Pionus fuscus)------_~ 
Blue-headed parrot (Pionus men- 


Meri a) sae LE Ae eee Se 
Black-headed caique (Pionites melano- 
Cephala) =s22222eeS2 Sel See 
Lesser vasa parrot (Coracopsis nigra) — 


Greater vasa parrot (Coracopsis 
POSG)) vee eee sb Lanne Se 
Red-faced love-bird (Agapornis pul- 
lariat) pe eee pee eg 
Gray-headed love-bird (Agapornis ma- 
dagascartensis) 2s a a ae eee 
Abyssinian love-bird (Agapornis ta- 
LICL) Fe ere me ee 
Blue-bonnet paroquet (Psephotus 
FEENULLORT ROUG) en ee ee te ee, 
Pennant’s paroquet (Platycercus ele- 
(HTL) alate ie adem ee Eig ae ret ial eps 


King paroquet (Aprosmictus cyanopy- 
OTN oe ea ee Bae De en pe 


Re bh 


13 


Oo 


eo 


ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


Crimson-winged paroquet (Aprosmic- 
tus,.erythropterus))_2 = 4-22 ae 
Ring-necked paroquet (Conurus torqua- 
E008) = ole 2 eR eee a! es eee 


S18) ee ee 
CUS) > ee eevee se 


CUCULIFORMES 


Donaldson’s touraco (Turacus donald- 
80ND) a eee ne nt Soe 


CORACITFORMES 


Giant kingfisher (Dacelo gigas) --_---- 
Groove-billed toucanet (Aulacorham- 
DIVUS I SULCOTUS)) a a ees 
Malayan wreathed hornbill (Rhytido- 
COV OST Un Gules) = ee eee ee 
Morepork owl (Spiloglauz noveseelan- 
Oe)! S222 ee eee 
Barred owl’ (Striz varia) —--_.------_ 
Florida barred owl (Striz varia al- 


Snowy owl (Nyctea nyctea) _-__-----~ 
Sereech owl (Otus asio)----___---- 
Great horned owl (Bubo virginianus) — 
Eagle owl (Bubo buwbo) -2---~------_= 
American barn owl (TJ'yto alba pratin- 

cola) ~~ Shee SiGe oe ee 
Red-shafted flicker (Colaptes cafer col- 


PASSERIFORMES 


Cock of the rock (Rupicola rupicola)_— 
Silver-eared hill-tit (Mesia argentau- 


Red-billed hill-tit (Liothriz luteus) —--~~- 
Black-gorgeted laughing thrush (G@ar- 
rulax’ pectoralis))_—— 2 eee 
White-eared bulbul (Otocompsa leuco- 
fis SHO) eh eee 
Red-eared bulbul (Otocompsa jocosa)-— 
Black-headed bulbul (Molpastes he- 
morrhous yt oe ee ee ees 
Piping crow-shrike (Gymnorhina tibi- 
C@n) 2- 2222-2 Sates eee eee 
European raven (Corvus corar) —------ 
American raven (Corvus coraz sinua- 
tus) 22282 ste eee eee 
Australian crow (Corvus coronoides)_— 
American crow (Corvus brachyrhyn- 
CHOS)) 2 Sees eee 
American magpie 
SONAD): 2 a et Dc 
Yucatan jay (Cissilopha yucatanica) — 
Blue jay (Cyanocitta cristata) ---_---- 
Green jay (Xanthoura luruosa) —_--~-- 
Laysan finch (Velespyza cantans)—--~ 
Blue honey-creeper (Cyanerpes cya- 
NeUS) ia aa ne 
Blue-winged tanager (7anagra cyanop- 
terG) 23 Soe oe ee 


HM Omeh ae 


ay 


REPORT OF THE SECRETARY 


Blue tanager (Thraupis cana) —-~------ 
Giant whydah (Diatropura progne)-- 
Paradise whydah (Steganura paradi- 

Sea) sates Ea ae 
Shaft-tailed whydah (Tetrenura regia) - 
Napoleon weaver (Pyromelana afra) —- 
Red-billed weaver (Quelea quelea)-—-- 
Buffalo weaver (Textor albirostris) —— 
Madagascar weaver (Foudia madagas- 


COTiCNsis) joes ena a a ek 
St. Helena waxbill (Hstrilda as- 
Crile eee ee 
Rosy-rumped waxbill (Hstrilda rhodo- 
PY GAD) ware re re 
Nutmeg finch (Munia punctulata) —--- 
White-headed nun (Munia maja)_---~ 
Black-headed nun (Munia _ atrica- 
DAU) es ee a a ee 
Chestnut-breasted finch (Munia cast- 
ONCItHOTOD) (22S So 


Java finch (Munia oryzivora) —_------- 
Masked grassfinch (Poéphila perso- 
CEL AU) ent: ela ace ep neh «+ ena OS, Boece ee Ae 
Black-faced Gouldian finch (Poéphila 
COuUlmiGy o 5-2 == ee 
Red-faced Gouldian finch (Poéphila 
MiP Gottee) = = SS 
Diamond finch (Steganopleura gut- 
ALLO) i is kee 
Zebra finch (Teniopygia castanotis) —_ 
Cutthroat finch (Amadina fasciata) __- 
Red-headed finch (Amadina erythro- 


CHES OAT) A eS Se a ee eed 
Yellow-headed marsh-bird (Agelaius 
ECRETOCEDRUIUS) == 2a 2 e= Se ce 


Alligator (Alligator mississipiensis) _- 
Tuatera (Sphenodon punctata) —--_-_~ 
Horned toad (Phrynosoma cornutum) — 
Gila monster (Heloderma suspectum)_— 
Beaded lizard (Heloderma horridum)- 
Gould’s monitor (Varanus gouldii) --- 
Philippine monitor (Varanus_ salva- 


Alligator lizard (Dracena guianensis) — 
Rock python (Python molurus) _-_-__- 
Regal pytaon (Python reticulatus) —--_ 
Anaconda (Hunectes muwrinus)—---_-- 
Boa constrictor (Constrictor constric- 

Ui? 7) ie Oe. 2 Se AE Pee ener eee eee 
Cuban boa (Epicrates angulifer) _-____ 
Brazilian tree-boa (Hpicrates crassus) — 
Black snake (Coluber constrictor) ~~ 
Chicken snake (Hlaphe quadrivittata) — 
Corn snake (Hlaphe guttata)-----_--_ 
Pine snake (Pituophis melanoleucus) — 
Water snake (Natriz sipedon) —--__-- 
Cordate pit-viper (Bothrops alterna- 


Fer-de-lance (Bothrops lanceolatus) ~~~ 
Florida rattlesnake (Crotalus adaman- 
Feta) i= Spe eee ee ee sey ch We!) os of 
Western diamond rattlesnake (Crotalus 
EV OD Ee RE? SA LIEN) EER 


oe 


oe ee bo 


9 


mee ore bo rp 


wee ee 


Wehr hte hk 


Australian gray jumper (Struthidea 

CUICT CO) 25 oe ee ee 
Starling (Sturnus vulgaris) ----~--_~ 
Shining starling (Lamprocorax metal- 


UTE), Oe Sees Sener ope ere Sees eee oe SR Pe 
Malay grackle (Gracula javana) —----- 
Bare-jawed troupial (Gymnomystagv 

melanicterus) ——.—— == See 
Hooded oriole (Jcterus cucullatus) --_~ 
Yellow-tailed oriole (Icterus mesome- 

DAS) Fee ee a a 
Purple grackle (Quiscalus quiscula) ~~~ 
Greenfinch (Chloris chloris) ---_--__~ 
European goldfinch (Oarduelis  car- 

CALC LER) se ee ee ee oe ee 
Brambling (Ffringilla montifringilla) —— 
Yellowhammer (Hmberiza citrinella)_— 
House finch (Carpodacus megicanus 

PROUCOLES)) poe se ee ee 
San Lucas house finch (Carpodacus 

mexicanus ruberrimus) ——~.-~-_-__~ 
Canary (Serinus canarius)__.__.___-- 
Gray singing finch (Serinus leucopyg- 

HULLS Vi ates a ae ce a ee eee ee 
Gay’s finch (Phrygilus gayi) ---------~ 
White-throated sparrow (Zonotrichia 

ALOTCOLLE ST) hE a ae SS Wa eed ee 
San Diego song sparrow (Melospiza 

melodia “coopert) === — ===" 2- Se 
Saffron finch (Sicalis flaveola)_______ 
Seed eater (Sporophila gutturalis) ____ 
Blue grosbeak (Guiraca cerulea)_--~~ 
Red-crested cardinal (Paroaria cucul- 

COt0) et Ed ee eh ae 28 


REPTILES 


Banded rattlesnake (Crotalus horri- 


(Chelydra  serpen- 


Musk turtle (Sternotherus odoratus)_— 
Mexican musk turtle (Kinosternon 
SONOTDENSE) "So a= 3 Soe ak Be a 
South American musk turtle (Kinos- 
ternon. scorpioides).————=——-— 54.8 
Pennsylvania musk turtle (Kinoster- 
nom eubrubrum) eso St ea 
Wood turtle (Clemmys insculpta) —__~ 
Leprous terrapin (Clemmys leprosa) —~ 
European pond turtle (Hmys orbicu- 
Page)! A EY A Ek Th 
South American terrapin (Nicoria 
punctularia) 2222 2 iL ey 
South African turtle (Homopus areo- 
LLCS) oe en Ae ee ee 
Reeves turtle (Geoclemys reevesi) __-- 
Loochoo turtle (Geoemyda spengleri) — 
Painted turtle (Chrysemys picta)—---~ 
Western painted turtle (Chrysemys 
Wel) ae ba eee eer oe tt A 
Central American cooter (Pseudemys 
CENA he ee | eee RPE EN ALAR ot 


101 


© om 6 bo 


bo 


ee 


i 


102 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


Gopher tortoise (Gopherus  poly- African tortoise (Testudo hermanni) — 1 
DLONAUS)) asco s rre eare e 2 | Angulated tortoise (Testudo  an- 
Dunean Island tortoise (Testudo Gulitta) ee see Get “ee 1 
ephippiun)” .orr i eas ses eee 1 | South African tortoise (Y'estudo sp.) 2 
Indefatigable Island tortoise (Testudo Chicken turtle (Deirochelys  reticu- 
portent) os Corie Bae ee il CORTE) LS See spre AY 9) ence aie ee 1 
Albemarle Island tortoise (Testudo BATRACHIANS 
VIENNA) = Oa eee 2 
South American tortoise (Vestudo den- Giant salamander (Megalobatrachus 
ticulate@) soe 1 japonicus) 222 e oS i 4 Se 2 


Statement of the collection 


a peg 
am- ; an 
alk Birds hatras Total 
| chians 
DEF sis 0a5 4 =) 6 Wied p ae aie tel teal a elie Daas ke Ned he oe 25 69 55 149 
Born and hatehed in National Zoological Park____._..--___---- 39 42 22 103 
Received in OxChanger snc. orc < amet wertewe ete prey eC 2 Al Rn 4 13 4 21 
d Sb ae) 0: 0212) 6 Reperapeerl ania ie aa pg NL ales Lok Oo Re ee 24 90 | 9 | 123 
Transferred from other Government departments_-_____-_-----_- 10 42 1 53 
Deposited 22 Cus: eae wee ee een ete oer eee Serene eM 2a 10 5 | 15 30 
| 
112 261 106 479 
| 
SUMMARY 
Animalssonvhand juliyuly dons a faa 0 SE a ee eee 1, 620 
PAC CESSI ON SHCNIEI Skt ERY Co rite eer 212 NE Ls ole hE ee Eley ln he ee 479 
Total-animais handled]. twigs [0 te! Ames eo ha eee 2, 099 
Deduct loss (by death, return of animals, and exchange) —__--_---______- 480 
1, 619 
Status of collection 
* Individ- 
Species us 
IMagrmimisiss 70 Us CP Ca sea Ra Pe see ETAT RPS Aes Fe ST 1s BIR Pe TO 178 461 
HSV of 0 kegel NL 2 P,P doe A ae ae ee eee ulate 291 1, 042 
Reptiles‘and: Datraeh iss ks ae eh ee OA A Do ee 48 116 
MO tal cee Leh / mae, 2) ad Peat abet 517 1,619 


Examination of the list of animals shows that the collection is 
now weak in large and important forms; and, taking into considera- 
tion, further, the fact that many of those still included are very old, 
it is evident that greater expenditure for new stock must be made 
in the near future if the park is to keep its place among the principal 
zoological collections of the country. 


VISITORS 


The attendance record as determined by daily estimate was slightly 
less than that of 1925, but exceeded the attendance of any other 
previous year. 


REPORT OF THE SECRETARY 103 


The attendance by months was as follows: 


SR ye eee: ee ee ee ne A ee ee ee ee ae ee 231, 754 
SAI OES Gt SEAL AES SEITE SI SEE) EMR OEMS Ae ee a ae 357, 300 
Sentenineiy eat eb ees ee 98 es ee 2 tye gl 249, 600 
(QT tite ee ee Eee Se Es 8 ee es ee ee es Sener? ae 108, 000 
INCh Cale) ese So Boe SEA oe ee ed ee ee es en eee! ean 138, 300 
I DYES TA Oy a aot ARS RO ke ae NO RA Ee a 79, 925 
SPRUE REEMA as ie aah ph a aw etn yt ea a SE eae dE de abn 68, 200 
LSS GWU O EN a I a ee Rie Sy a Se 112, 825 
WS WeCE SY bs cee Si OM Ey OR ig ols are glk ae Sid Bag pda be oe BY eee ee Sy 147, 950 
AN| OY eA WS SES Ss eee a en ee ee ee ee ee eee ee 397, 300 
INTER 72 = ape se Mbt otar en sa NAS htecerc 5 Aileen RES toy seated cies) Seat Wet Saleen saber se Retiae 343, 500 
syiUnnereen seek SlAR «NDS OM INDE CLE . AG SOL hg a 2838, 250 

ANG BTI TSR OO eh he ee eee ee ee eee 2, 512, 900 


Schools, classes, and similar organizations, recorded among the 
visitors, number 309, with a total of 24,309 individuals. Schools 
came from points as far distant as Maine and Illinois. 


IMPROVEMENTS 


The necessity of making extensive repairs to buildings and other 
structures and to roads, during the year, allowed only a small 
expenditure to be made for new work. 

A new toilet building for men was constructed near the Adams 
Mill Road entrance to replace one which had become inadequate and 
unfit for use. 

The boundary fence of the park was rebuilt for a distance of about 
1,360 feet. 

A new drainage system for the cages and walks on the south side 
of the lion house was put in and 300 feet of large pipe laid to connect 
it with the main sewer, the original drain being now altogether 
inadequate. 

The roadway from Adams Mill Road entrance to and around the 
administration building was rebuilt, with some modification to pro- 
vide a better grade. 

A large amount of repair to roofs was done during the early part 
of the year, the felt with which they are covered having deteriorated 
with age. Several of the buildings, especially the bird house, leaked 
badly. 

Grading was begun along the new western boundary of the park, 
near Cathedral Avenue. The highway which forms the boundary 
there had been excavated in connection with building operations on 
adjacent land, leaving for several hundred feet along the park line 
an abrupt bank 10 to 30 feet high. A survey of the region showed 
that at least 9,000 cubic yards must be cut from the bank to make 
a slope that would be permanent, while considerably more excavation 


104 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


would be required in order to make the land suitable for the purposes 
of the park. By cooperating with the Office of Public Buildings 
and Public Parks, which needed the excavated material for fill along 
the new Rock Creek drive, it was possible to do a considerable 
amount of grading at comparatively small cost to the park. It is 
hoped that the grading can be completed within the next year, so 
that the fence can be established on the new boundary line. 


UNIFORMS FOR POLICE 


A provision of the appropriation act made available the sum of 
$1,000 during the year for furnishing uniforms to the policemen 
of the park. This makes it possible to maintain a standard of per- 
sonal appearance that could not well be required of such employees 
when compelled to equip themselves. 

Tt is highly desirable that similar provision be made for keepers. 
In caring for the animals they are brought into contact with the 
public to a considerable extent, are often called on for information, 
and at times have to caution and restrain visitors. They should 
therefore be distinctly recognizable as belonging to the personnel 
of the park. 

BIRD HOUSE 


For several years past attention has been called in each successive 
report to the urgent need of a suitable building in which to exhibit 
the collection of birds. It is a great satisfaction therefore to note 
that the appropriation act for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1927, 
carries an item of $49,000 for beginning the construction of such a 
building, and authorizes the making of contracts for it to a total 
cost not exceeding $102,000. This is for the house only, and the 
cages, interior and exterior, which it is estimated will cost $25,000, 
are to be provided for in a subsequent appropriation. 

A scheme of arrangement for the new building was proposed by 
the late Mr. Howland Russell, a well known architect, and final 
plans on which contract may be based at the present writing are 
being made in the office of Mr. A. L. Harris, the municipal architect 
of the District of Columbia. The first appropriation is contemplated 
to permit necessary excavation, and construction of the foundation 
and walls. It is planned to begin construction in the spring of 1927 
so that the entire building may be finished that year with the addi- 
tional appropriation for its completion estimated in the appropria- 
tion bill for this coming year. The completion of such a building 


will be hailed by all with the greatest satisfaction, for the present 


structure is antiquated, unfitted for modern needs, and in such bad 
repair that it is difficult to keep it in proper condition to house ex- 


REPORT OF THE SECRETARY 105 


hibits. 'The new building will give opportunity to form a collection 
of living birds worthy of a national organization. The interest 
of the District Commissioners in its development is greatly ap- 
preciated. 

RADIO TALKS 


The popular appreciation of the Smithsonian series of radio talks 
having brought a request in March, 1925, for a second course, it was 
thought that the wide interest taken by the public in the National 
Zoological Park made that a suitable starting point for a series of 
nature talks. Accordingly such a series was planned and given 
under the title “Radio Nature Talks from the National Zoological 
Park.” Thirty-one talks were given between October 3 and May 22, 
through the cooperation of station WRC. Each opened with a brief 
statement of current news of the park, usually by the director, who 
then introduced the speaker of the evening. A 15-minute talk fol- 
lowed on some subject related to the work of the park. The 23 
speakers who participated were mainly from the several bureaus of 
the Smithsonian Institution and the United States Department of 
Agriculture, but several others also contributed. It is expected that 
the series will be resumed in September. 

The program for the year was as follows: 


October 3, 1925: Introduction to the Zoo and to Doctor Mann, by Mr. Austin H. 
Clark. The nature and purpose of this series of talks, by Dr. William M. Mann. 

October 10, 1925: Zoo notes and answers to questions, by Dr. William M. 
Mann. The Gorilla at Home, by Mr. C. R. Aschemeier, National Museum. 

October 17, 1925: Zoo notes and answers to questions, by Dr. William M. 
Mann. Giant Tortoises, by Miss Doris M. Cochran, National Museum. 

October 24, 1925: Behind the cages at the Zoo, by Dr. William M. Mann. 

October 31, 1925: What a small boy wants to know about the Zoo; a dialogue 
between Master Hugh U. Clark of the Cook School and Dr. William M. Mann. 

November 7, 1925: Zoo notes, by Dr. William M. Mann. The Musk Ox at 
Home, by Mr. Edward A. Preble, Biological Survey. ; 

November 14, 1925: Zoo notes, by Mr. Austin H. Clark. Our Autumn Birds, 
by Mr. Frederick C. Lincoln, Biological Survey. 

November 21, 1925: Zoo notes, by Dr. William M. Mann. Howlers and 
Spider Monkeys, by Maj. Hdward A. Goldman, Biological Survey. 

November 28, 1925: Zoo notes, by Dr. William M. Mann. The Reptiles of the 
District of Columbia, by Mr. Maurice K. Brady. 

December 5, 1925: Collecting living Animals in South America, by Dr. 
William M. Mann. 

December 12, 1925: Zoo notes, by Dr. William M. Mann. Whales, by Mr. 
Austin H. Clark, Smithsonian Institution. 

December 19, 1925: Zoo notes, by Dr. William M. Mann. Our Winter Birds, 
by Mr. Clarence R. Shoemaker, National Museum. 

December 26, 1925: Parrots at Home, by Dr. Alexander Wetmore, assistant 
secretary, Smithsonian Institution. 

January 9, 1926: Zoo notes, by Dr. William M. Mann. The Natural History 
of Paradise Key, Fla., by Dr. Thomas . Snyder, Bureau of Entomology. 


106 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


January 16, 1926: Zoo notes, by Dr. William M. Mann. The Bears of 
Okefinokee Swamp, by Dr. Francis Harper, secretary of the Boston Society of 
Natural History (read by Mr. Austin H. Clark). This talk was received in 
exchange through the courtesy of Mr. Thornton W. Burgess and stations WBZ 
at Springfield and WBZA at Boston, Mass. 

January 23, 1926: Zoo notes, by Dr. William M. Mann. Bird Life in 
Kamchatka, by Mr. Austin H. Clark, Smithsonian Institution. 

January 30, 1926: Zoo notes, by Mr. Austin H. Clark. Bird Life in Venezuela, 
by Mr. Austin H. Clark, Smithsonian Institution. 

February 13, 1926: The Origin of the Harth, by Prof. Harlow Shapley, 
director of the Harvard College Observatory (read by Mr. Edward B. Husing 
of the staff of station WRC). This talk was given through the courtesy of 
Professor Shapley and station WEEI, Boston. 

February 20, 1926: Zoo notes, by Mr. Austin H. Clark. Experiences in 
South America, by Dr. Waldo L. Schmitt, National Museum. 

February 27, 1926: Announcement of the Smithsonian-Chrysler expedition 
to Tanganyika Territory, by Dr. William M. Mann. Hunting Bighorns with a 
Camera, by Dr. Vernon L. Kellogg, secretary, National Research Council. 

March 18, 1926: Zoo notes, by Dr. William M. Mann. Winter Butterflies, by 
Mr. Austin H. Clark, Smithsonian Institution. Farewell address by Dr. Mann. 

March 20, 1926: Zoo notes, by Mr. Austin H. Clark. Some Animals of Tan- 
ganyika Territory, by Mr. A. Brazier Howell, Biological Survey. 

March 27, 1926: Zoo notes, by Mr. Austin H. Clark. The Educational Value 
of the Zoo, by Dr. Frank W. Ballou, superintendent of public schools, Washing- 
ton, D. C. 

April 10, 1926: Zoo notes, by Mr. Austin H. Clark. Toads, by Dr. Remington 
Kellogg, Biological Survey. 

April 17, 1926: Zoo notes, by Mr. Austin H. Clark. My Trip to Africa for 
Animals, by Mr. Arthur B. Baker, acting director, National Zoological Park. 

April 22, 1926: Reading, by Mr. Austin H. Clark, of a letter from Dr. William 
M. Mann which was written on board the steamer Llanstephan Castle and 
posted at Marseille. 

May 1, 1926: Zoo notes, by Mr. Austin H. Clark. Ferns, by Dr. William R. 
Maxon, National Museum. 

May 8, 1926: Zoo notes. Our giant Moths, by Mr. Austin H. Clark, Smith- 
sonian Institution. 

May 15, 1926. Zoo notes, by Mr. Austin H. Clark. The American Bison, by 
Dr. Edward W. Nelson, Biological Survey. 

May 22, 1926: Reading, by Mr. Austin H. Clark, of a letter from Dr. William 
M. Mann which was written on board the steamer Lilanstephan Castle and 
posted at Aden. The Mammals of the District of Columbia, by Dr. Vernon 
Bailey, Biological Survey. 

May 29, 1926: Zoo notes, by Mr. Austin H. Clark. Birds of the Chaco of 
Argentina, by Dr. Alexander Wetmore, assistant secretary, Smithsonian Insti- 
tution. 


SMITHSONIAN-CHRYSLER AFRICAN EXPEDITION 


The absence at the park of certain large and important African 
animals that are usually considered essential to a zoological collection, 
was brought by the director to the attention of Mr. Walter P. 
Chrysler, automobile manufacturer. He became interested and 
agreed to finance an expedition to Africa to secure some of the ani- 


REPORT OF THE SECRETARY 107 


mals needed. ‘Tanganyika Territory, in eastern Africa, which 
seemed to afford the best conditions, was selected as the field of opera- 
tions and an expedition was organized and equipped which left New 
York March 20, in charge of Dr. W. M. Mann, director of the park. 
Just at the close of the year a report was received of the first opera- 
tions in the field and the securing of some valuable animals. 

Respectfully submitted. 

A. B. Barer, 
Acting Director. 
Dr. CHartes D. Watcort, 
Secretary, Smithsonian Institution. 


APPENDIX 
REPORT ON THE ASTROPHYSICAL OBSERVATORY 


Str: The Astrophysical Observatory was conducted under the 


following passage of the independent offices appropriation act ap- 
proved March 3, 1925: 

Astrophysical Observatory: For maintenance of the Astrophysical Observa- 
tory, under the direction of the Smithsonian Institution, including assistants, 
purchase of necessary books and periodicals, apparatus, making necessary 
observations in high altitudes, repairs and alterations of buildings and mis- 
cellaneous expenses, $31,180, of which amount not to exceed $26,840 may be 
expended for personal services in the District of Columbia. 

The observatory occupies a number of frame structures within 
an inclosure of about 16,000 square feet south of the Smithsonian 
udministration building at Washington, and a cement observing sta- 
tion and frame cottage for observers on a plot of 10,000 square feet 
leased from the Carnegie Solar Observatory on Mount Wilson, Calif. 
Since October, 1925, the observatory building on Mount Harqua 
Hala, which we have occupied since 1920, has been closed because the 
work has been removed to Table Mountain, Calif. By the generosity 
of Mr. John A. Roebling, a tunnel for instruments, a dwelling for 
the field director, a shop, and a garage have been constructed at 
the new site. A dwelling for the assistant is also contemplated 
within Mr. Roebling’s grant. 

During the year the Astrophysical Observatory has assumed part 
of the cost of the maintenance of the observing station at Monte- 
zuma, Chile, which was erected in 1920, with means furnished by 
Mr. Roebling. The constructions there comprise a tunnel for instru- 
ments, a dwelling, shop, and garage, and a telephone line 12 miles 
to Calama. 

The present value of the buildings and equipment for the Astro- 
physical Observatory owned by the Government is estimated at 
$50,000. This estimate contemplates the cost required to replace 
the outfit for the purposes of the investigation. 


WORK OF THE YEAR 


A new station—The National Geographic Society, having become 
interested in our efforts to obtain an accurate series of measurements 
of the variation of solar radiation, made a grant in March, 1925, of 

108 


| 


REPORT OF THE SECRETARY 109 


$55,000 to be expended by Dr. C. G. Abbot for the following 
purposes : 

1. To select the best location in the Eastern Hemisphere for a 
solar-radiation station to cooperate with the two now operated by 
the Astrophysical Observatory for the measurement of solar 
variation. 

2. To equip the station selected. 

3. To send an expedition to be known as the National Geographic 
Society Solar-Radiation Expedition Cooperating with the Smith- 
sonian Institution to continue solar-radiation observations as long 
as the grant permits, estimated at four years. 

In furtherance of this project, Mr. W. H. Hoover, hitherto direc- 
tor of the Argentine solar-radiation observatory at La Quiaca, and 
Mr. F. A. Greeley, hitherto assistant at Harqua Hala and at Monte- 
zuma, were engaged as director and assistant for the new station. 
Apparatus was ordered, and Mr. Andrew Kramer, instrument maker 
to the Astrophysical Observatory, was transferred to construction 
work under the National Geographic Society’s grant. Mr. Aldrich 
undertook the finer work of constructing galvanometer, pyrheliom- 
eter, bolometer, and pyranometer parts, and of standardizing them 
as well as oversight over the preparations. 

Doctor Abbot went abroad to Algeria, Egypt, Baluchistan, and 
South West Africa to select the location. Preference was given to 
the Brukkaros Mountain in South West Africa (Jong. 17°-48’ E., lat. 
25° 52’ S.). This is an isolated cup-shaped peak 5,002 feet in ele- 
vation, rising precipitously from a level plateau of 3,000 feet eleva- 
tion. The average yearly rainfall in the vicinity is 314 inches. A 
Hottentot reservation surrounds the mountain, and the nearest town 
is Berseba, 7 miles south, where there are only two white inhabitants, 
the others Hottentot. Supplies would come from Keetmanshoop, 60 
miles distant by auto. Water in small but sufficient quantity is 
found on Mount Brukkaros. 

The construction is undertaken by the public-works department of 
South West Africa under Mr. A. Dryden, inspector. It is proposed 
to have a tunnel for instruments, a small dwelling for observers, a 
shop, a reservoir, and garage. Wire telephones will be installed by 
the Government of South West Africa and rented to the expedition. 
Work was begun in April and it was hoped to send the expedition 
in early autumn. 

Though so isolated, the location is in other respects very promising. 
The average rainfall of only 314 inches occurs as a rule one-third in 
February, one-third in March, and the rest scattering. Doctor 
Abbot was in the vicinity 12 days in March, of which 11 would have 
been favorable for observing. If this is characteristic of the rainy 
season, it promises well for the year as a whole. It is also favorable 


110 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


that the greatest cloudiness comes in the months of February and 
March, rather than December and January, as is the case in the two 
American stations. Good months may be expected in Africa when 
the poorest observing weather occurs in America. The clearness of 
the sky in that part of South West Africa is extraordinary, and the 
wind velocity is usually very low. 

New station at Table Mountain, Calif—Actual experience over — 
five years at Mount Harqua Hala, Ariz., has proved less satisfactory 
than was expected. Although the number of days when it was possi- 
ble to observe averaged above 70 per cent, there were many months 
when most of the days were extremely hazy. Especially is this apt 
to occur in June, July, August, and early September, months when 
in former years we were accustomed to obtain excellent conditions at 
Mount Wilson. These unfortunate conditions required the discard- 
ing of many observations made at Harqua Hala. Though recently 
means have been found, as will be explained below, to minimize this 
disadvantage, yet it was very unfavorable to the morale of the ob- 
servers to be required to stay in so extremely isolated a spot, and yet 
to know that the results in some parts of the year were not as good 
as might have been obtained in very much more agreeable living 
conditions. 

After consulting all available records, and after having special 
observations made during the autumn, winter, and spring months, 
it was decided that Table Mountain in California (long. 117° 41’ W., 
lat. 84° 23’ N., alt. 7,500 feet) would be preferable at all times of 
the year from the point of view of the sky conditions. Its excellent 
status for summer was well known already, because it lies only 30 
miles away and almost in sight from Mount Wilson, where the sum- 
mer observations of Messrs. Abbot and Aldrich for many years were 
reliable guides. As for comfort of the observers, Table Mountain is 
remarkable, for it lies near a good auto road, only four hours from 
Los Angeles, and is in a grove of great pine trees, forming part of 
the Los Angeles County Park. A store and amusement hall are with- 
in a mile, and many cottages are still nearer. 

Mr. John A. Roebling added to his generous gifts a sufficient sum 
to defray costs of construction of road, tunnel-shaped observatory, a 
cottage for director, a second cottage for assistant, a shop, garage, and 
other accessories. The members of the board of supervisors of Los 
Angeles County were exceedingly helpful and cordial, especially in 
their approval of the sole occupancy of a site within the park for 
the observatory, in constructing an auto road and water service to 
connect with existing roads and reservoirs at Camp McClellan, and 
in cooperating with the Smithsonian Institution in erecting a tele- 
phone line to connect with the outside world. 


REPORT OF THE SECRETARY 1h 


Mr. A. F. Moore, field director at Harqua Hala and Table Moun- 
tain, designed and superintended all the construction, the removal 
from Harqua Hala, and the installation at the new site. He, him- 
self, did no small share of the actual labor involved. Since October, 
1925, the observations have been going on regularly at Table Moun- 
tain. The high quality of the sky conditions has been found to 
amply justify the removal, and despite an unusually stormy spring 
in that part of the United States, the number of observing days 
- thus far has kept on a par with the average of five years at Harqua 
Hala. 

From the beginning of the work at the new station, the methods 
of observing and reduction have been put in the most complete accord 
with latest experience and with those employed at Montezuma. 
Furthermore, as it had been found that on very hazy days the bright- 
ness of the sky around the sun contributed an amount not negligible 
to the reading of the pyrheliometers, there were substituted on those 
instruments new vestibules of four times the former length. In this 
way the cone of sky, as seen from the sensitive part of the instru- 
ment, is cut down from a diameter of 10° to a diameter of 314°. Had 
this improvement been devised and made in 1920 a good many now 
worthless observations made at Harqua Hala might have been saved. 

Montezuma station.—When, in the year 1924, Mr. Roebling in- 
formed the Institution that he felt that his part in developing 
the solar radiation work should be ended with June 30, 1925, it was 
necessary to procure other support, or abandon the Chilean observa- 
tory. Accordingly, letters were prepared asking the National 
Academy of Sciences, the Chief of the United States Weather 
Bureau, and the director of the meteorological office of the Air 
Ministry of Great Britain whether in their judgment the public 
value of the observations warranted asking for sufficient increase of 
the governmental appropriation for the Astrophysical Observatory 
to carry on the Montezuma station. 

President Michelson of the National Academy of Sciences ap- 
pointed a committee consisting of Dr. W. W. Campbell, chairman, 
Dr. R. A. Millikan, and Dr. G. N. Lewis, to consider the matter. 
Their report, which was unanimously adopted by the Academy, 
follows: 

NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES, 
Washington, D. C., April 30, 1924. 
Prof. A. A. MICHELSON, 
President National Academy of Sciences, 
Washington, D. C. 

Dear Siz: Your committee, charged with the duty of considering the proposed 
program of the Smithsonian Institution for measuring the heat radiations of 
the sun, begs to present the following report: 


112 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


Dr. C. G. Abbot, Director of the Astrophysical Observatory of the Smith- 
sonian Institution, several years ago made the notable discovery that the 
intensity of the heat received by the earth from the sun varies in remarkable 
extent and manner. Through the last two years, beginning with February, 
1922, the sun’s heat radiations to the earth have been continuously subnormal. 
The consequences of this deficiency in heat received can not be predicted at 
this time, but the general subject is undoubtedly one of great importance. We 
regard it as a national duty and a national opportunity that the observations 
be continued for a long time to come, and certainly through two complete sun- 
spot cycles of 11 years each. 


The principal stations for securing these observations have been located 


at points noted for their pure skies and their very great number of clear days 
in the year: At Mount Harqua Hala in Arizona, in the Northern Hemisphere, 
and at Montezuma in Chile, in the Southern Hemisphere. 
The observing station in Chile has been operating successfully since August, 
1918, but funds are not in sight to continue its activities beyond July, 1925. 
For the reasons briefly stated above, this committee recommends that the 
National Academy of Sciences advise and request the National Government, 
through the Director of the Bureau of the Budget and the Appropriation Com- 
mittees of Congress, to make financial provision for maintaining the Smithso- 
nian Institution’s Observatory in Chile without interruption of service. 
Respectfully submitted, 
GILBERT N. LEWIS, 
R. A. MILLIKAN, 
W. W. CAMPBELL, Chairman. 


Tn transmitting it to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, 
President Michelson himself wrote: 

NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES, 
June 5, 1924. 

My Dear Mr. Secretary: Your communication of April 12, 1924, and that of 
the assistant secretary of the Institution in regard to funds for the mainte- 
nance after July, 1925, of the Chilean observatory under the direction of the 
Smithsonian Institution were referred to a special committee of the National 
Academy of Sciences, and I am inclosing, for your information and such use 
as you may desire to make of it, a copy of the report presented by that commit- 
tee and approved by the academy. 

It will be noted that this report recommends that the National Academy of 
Sciences “advise and request the National Government, through the Director 
of the Bureau of the Budget and the Appropriation Committees of Congress, to 
make financial provision for maintaining the Smithsonian Institution’s observ- 
atory in Chile without interruption of service.’ Assuming that the Smith- 
sonian Institution will communicate direct with the Bureau of the Budget, the 
academy will take no further action unless you find that it can serve you fur- 
ther in the matter. 

The value of knowing the variations in heat available from solar radia- 
tion to the earth can not be overestimated. I am glad that the academy has 
been given this opportunity to aid in your efforts to secure funds from Congress 
for the purpose, and hope that your efforts in this direction will be successful. 

Very respectfully yours, 
A. A. MicHetson, President. 

Hon. CHARLES D. WALCOTT, 

Secretary, Smithsonian Institution, 
Washington, D. C. 


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REPORT OF THE SECRETARY bs 


Professor Marvin, Chief of the United States Weather Bureau, 
replied: 
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, 
OFFICE OF THE CHIEF, WEATHER BUREAU, 
Washington, April 28, 1924. 
Dr. CHARLES G. ABBOT, 
Assistant Secretary, Smithsonian Institution, 
Washington, D. C. 

Dear Doctor Apsot: Replying to your letter of the 12th instant, I am very 
glad of the opportunity of expressing my views regarding the desirability of 
continuing the solar radiation station at Montezuma, Chile, after July, 1925. 

When we remember that without the heat and light received from the sun, life 
on the earth would be impossible, it becomes evident that any facts that can be 
established relative to the sun, and especially as to the rate at which it radiates 
heat and light to the earth, are of fundamental importance. 

With reference to the work of the Astrophysical Observatory of the Smith- 
sonian Institution, I have already made the following statement in the Monthly 
Weather Review for March, 1920, page 150: 

“The solar radiation investigations conducted by Doctor Abbot constitute a 
monumental research of the highest possible order and command only the 
admiration of all. * * * The whole question of short and long period solar 
variability, and the terrestrial response thereto in terms of weather, is obvi- 
ously one of great importance to applied meteorology and to science generally. 
It is very necessary, therefore, that the splendid observational work done by the 
Astrophysical Observatory be generously supported and extended.” 

At this point I would like to say emphatically that I consider the systematic 
and continuous observation of the intensity of solar radiation to be of basic 
and fundamental importance, and I think it is a mistake to try to justify these 
observations on the ground that they will enable us to improve the forecasting 
of the weather from day to day. We do not know as yet what may be the 
ultimate practical value of the knowledge to be gained by a long series of 
observations, but the collection of the observations is necessary because the data 
constitute important facts of a fundamental, scientific character, and are pretty 
certain ultimately to have important practical applications to the welfare of 
man. The basic research is fully justified on its own merits, leaving the practi- 
cal application of the information gained to be developed in the future. 

For the determination of the law of the variability of solar radiation continu- 
ous observations are required for a long period of years at two or more stations 
as widely separated as possible. The stations of the Astrophysical Observatory 
at Montezuma, Chile, and on Mount Harqua Hala, Ariz., seem tc be admirably 
adapted for this observational work, and the observatory staff has the requisite 
skill and experience to handle the delicate apparatus required and make the 
necessary complicated reductions. The small sum required to maintain the 
station at Montezuma, now that it is equipped, will in my opinion be money 
well invested. 


Very truly yours, 
C. F. Marvin, Chief of Bureau. 


Doctor Simpson, director of the Meteorological Office of the Air 
Ministry of Great Britain, replied: 


METEOROLOGICAL OFFICE, AIR MINISTRY, 
ADASTRAL HOUSE, KINGSWAY, 
London, W. C. 2, May 14, 1924. 
DeEsR Doctor Appot: I have received your letter dated April 12 asking for 
my opinion regarding the desirability of maintaining the Montezuma solar 
station after July, 1925. 


114 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


Surely on this matter there can be no two opinions. The fluctuations in the 
amount of radiation emitted by the sun, which you and your collaborators 
have demonstrated, are of such fundamental importance to astronomical, geo- 
physical, and meteorological science that I can not imagine scientific opinion 
resting satisfied unless arrangements are made for observing and recording 
these fluctuations. That we are not able at the moment to apply the knowl- 
edge gained to clearly demonstrated, practical, and economical purposes does 
not weigh at all with scientific opinion. If astronomical research is a fit sub- 
ject for the expenditure of money, the branch of astronomy concerned with 
the variation of solar radiation can not be allowed to suffer for want of funds. 
I realize that this view is open to the attack that if the work is of so much 
importance to the rest of the world why should America be called upon to 
provide all the funds. My only reply is that, in the existing state of the world, 
if America does not supply the funds the work will cease. This is a fact 
and must be recognized as such. 

There is still the question as to the necessity for two stations. Past experi- 
ence affords the best answer to this question. When you first observed the 
large fluctuations they were so contrary to general expectation that they could 
not be credited until they had been confirmed by entirely separate ob- 
servations, taken under largely different climatic conditions. The simultaneous 
observations at Montezuma and Harqua Hala have demonstrated the reality 
of the changes. 

In the future when other changes are investigated, especially the smaller 
day to day changes, the same desire for confirmation will be felt if only one 
station is in operation. I, therefore, think that it will be a great loss to science, 
to civilization itself, if the Montezuma station is closed before another equally 
good station is established to check the observations made in Arizona. 

Yours sincerely, 
G. C. Srmpson. 


Although disallowed by the Bureau of the Budget, the increase 
was favorably acted upon by the Congress. Hence from and after 
July 1, 1925, the salaries and part of the other expenses of Monte- 
zuma Observatory have been carried on the Astrophysical Observa- 
tory appropriation. The costs of maintenance of the solar radiation 
work as a whole are still supplemented to the extent of about $5,000 
per annum from the income of the Hodgkins fund of the endowment 
of the Smithsonian Institution. 

As heretofore the daily solar constant values from Montezuma 
have been received at Washington by cable. Until December 31, 
1925, they were forwarded daily to Mr. H. H. Clayton at Canton, 
Mass., to promote his studies of the dependence of weather on solar 
variation. Beginning January 1, 1926, at the request of the Chief 
of the United States Weather Bureau, the solar constant data have 
been published upon the daily weather map. Also they have been 
furnished to Science Service, and, whenever requested, to the tele- 
graph companies in accordance with the following announcement: 

Beginning January 1, 1926, the Smithsonian Institution will furnish gratis 
through the United States Weather Bureau, through either of the telegraph 


companies, or through the Associated Press, or Science Service, if any or all 
of these organizations shall request it for the use of their clients, daily or 10- 


REPORT OF THE SECRETARY 115 


day mean values of the solar constant of radiation as early and as frequently 
as results are available from its field stations in Chile and California. In 
general, results are available about 24 hours after the field observations. The 
Institution declines, however, to furnish regularly data of this kind to in- 
dividuals who may request them, since this would be in the nature of dis- 
crimination as between citizens, and, besides, too burdensome for the Institu- 
tion’s staff. 

Hitherto the values sent out daily have been stated to be “ Pre- 
liminary.” Since October, 1925, they have come from Montezuma 
alone. Considerable time must yet elapse before the data will have 
accumulated at Table Mountain sufficiently to permit of the statisti- 
cal study requisite before daily values can be received from that 
station. A definitive revision of all work since 1920 is now in prog 
ress, and when it is done all values hitherto published, and all those 
hereafter to be published, will be, it is expected, in their final form. 

Washington work—Revision of data.—As already remarked, much 
of the time of the director, Doctor Abbot, of Mr. Aldrich, and of 
the instrument maker, Mr. Kramer, was employed in connection 
with the preparations for the National Geographic Society Solar- 
Radiation Expedition Cooperating with the Smithsonian Institu- 
tion. This expedition will result in a very great increase of the 
value of the work of the two existing stations, by confirming or 
correcting their indications of solar variability. 

The remainder of the staff at Washington, comprising Mr. F. E. 
Fowle and Mrs. Bond, aided lately by Miss Marsden, who is em- 
ployed at the cost of private funds, have been at work on a com- 
plete revision of all Mount Montezuma data. The reasons for this 
are: (1) That with improved apparatus the basis for the existing 
“ short method ” tables had been modified; (2) that various improve- 
ments of methods of reduction have been discovered; and (3) that 
with a longer series of observations now available it is possible both 
to draw better curves for the “short method,” and to more accu- 
rately determine the systematic corrections required to eliminate 
traces of error still remaining, on account of atmospheric haziness 
and humidity. 

For these purposes about 125 days were entirely remeasured and 
fully rereduced by Langley’s fundamental method, used with newly 
devised precautions for exact results. From the excellent values 
of atmospheric transmission coefficients resulting, combined with a 
newly contrived function of atmospheric brightness and humidity, 
from which all influences of solar variation were removed by intro- 
ducing for the first time the pyrheliometer reading as a factor, a 
new basis was laid for the “short method.” Among other very 
valuable improvements the corrections for those regions of the spec- 
trum, not daily observed, which lie in the far ultra-violet and far 
infra-red were redetermined. 


116 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


As a result of all this painstaking work, the newly derived solar 
constant values show in their accordance, as well as in the various 
internal evidences which their computations afford, that they are 
of a new and higher order of accuracy than ever reached before. 

A new proof of solar variability—Many writers having expressed 
doubt as to the certainty of variations of the sun, either of short or 
long interval, a new and simple proof has been formed by Doctor 
Abbot, and will be published in the Monthly Weather Review 
for May, 1926. It rests on the basis that if the atmosphere 
had uniform temperature, transparency and humidity, and if the 
sun was observed by means of the pyrheliometer, always at the same 
altitude above the horizon, then the solar constancy or variation 
would exhibit itself directly, without recourse to the complex obser- 


Fic. 1.—Solar variation confirmed by results of selected pyrheliometry. 


Mount Wilson data of July, 1910-1920, excluding 1912, 1915, when volcanic dust from 
Mount Katmai made sky conditions not comparable. 

Thin full curve, pyrheliometry of selected days. 

Dotted curve, solar constant values hitherto published. 

Double curve, sun-spot numbers, 


vations and computations associated with the bolometer. In other 
words, at such times the atmosphere could be regarded as a screen 
of unchanging influence, and the readings of the pyrheliometer 
would be directly proportional to the intensity of solar rays. 

Testing this new idea on all the observations made in the months 
of July at Mount Wilson, Calif., between the years 1910 and 1920, 
Doctor Abbot found it necessary to exclude the years 1912 and 1913 
on account of the veiling effect of dust from the volcano, Mount 
Katmai. Many individual days were excluded also from each July, 
because the atmospheric conditions differed too much from the usual 
ones. 

From the remaining observations was plotted the full curve of 
Figure 1. Taking the identical days used in this study, the mean 


REPORT OF THE SECRETARY 117 


solar constant values as heretofore published in Volume LV of the 
Annals give the dotted curve. 

Both curves agree very harmoniously except in 1914, when they 
differ by about 1 per cent. They unite to indicate a range of solar 
variation in July, 1910, to 1920, of over 2 per cent. Along with 
them is plotted in a double line the variation of sun-spot numbers. 
Kven in details the agreement is quite remarkable. 

T’rom another arrangement of the same data, Doctor Abbot found 
that those individual days on which the sun’s rays appeared to the 
pyrheliometer more intense (when observed through unchangingly 
transparent atmospheres), appeared to yield on the average higher 
solar constant values, as heretofore published. Similarly low days 
for the pyrheliometer were low for the solar constant. Thus is con- 
firmed by this new test the reality of both long and short interval 
solar variations. The test is not, however, as satisfactory in the 
latter as in the former application. As the new method has other 
valuable applications, it is being used also with all Montezuma and 
Harqua Hala observations since 1920. 

Personnel.—The present personnel of the Astrophysical Observa- 
tory is as follows: 


Director, Dr. C. G. ABBOT. Field director, Mr. H. B. FrReemMan. 
Research assistani, Mr. F. H. Fowre. Assistant, Mr. KF. A. GREELEY. 
Research assistant, Mr... B. AtpRicH. Assistant, Mr. BH. E. Smiru. 

Field director, Mr. A. F. Moore. Instrument maker, Mr. A. KRAMER. 


Computer, Mrs. A. M. Bonn. 


Summary.—tin three promising directions the work of the ob- 
servatory, aimed to secure accurate determinations of solar varia- 
bility, has been promoted. 1. The National Geographic Society has 
undertaken to equip and support for several years a cooperating 
solar radiation station at the best location available in the Eastern 
Hemisphere. This project is rapidly going forward, and observa- 
tions may begin at Mount Brukkaros, South West Africa, by October, 
1926. 2. By Mr. J. A. Roebling’s generosity, the station at Mount 
Harqua Hala has been removed and reestablished on Table Moun- 
tain, Calif., 2,000 feet higher, and much more favorable for obsery- 
ing as well as much less isolated than Mount Harqua Hala. Improved 
apparatus and methods were introduced there from the beginning 
of observations, in October, 1925. 3. A complete revision of all 
Montezuma observations is well advanced. New methods of meas- 
urement and reduction are employed identical with those introduced 
at Table Mountain. The results thus far reached show greatly 
superior accuracy. 

By a new and simple test, the reality of solar variation is confirmed. 
At the recommendation of the National Academy of Sciences and 

20837—27——_9 


118 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


of eminent astronomers, physicists, and meteorologists, the Congress 
has increased its appropriations for the Astrophysical Observatory 
sufficiently to enable the Smithsonian Institution to continue the two 
field observatories at Montezuma and Harqua Hala. 

Respectfully submitted. 

C. G. Assot, Director. 
Dr. Cuartes D. WaALcorrT, 
Secretary, Smithsonian Institution. 


APPENDIX 8 


INTERNATIONAL CATALOGUE OF SCIENTIFIC 
LITERATURE 


Sir: I have the honor to submit the following report on the opera- 
tions of the United States Regional Bureau of the International 
Catalogue of Scientific Literature for the fiscal year ending June 
30, 1926. 

Attention was called in the last annual report, as well as in a 
number of those preceding, to the urgent need of a suflicient sum 
to again set in motion the work of the central bureau of the In- 
ternational Catalogue in order to resume actual publication. As 
the United States is at present the only nation sufficiently 
prosperous to aid undertakings of this character it is urgently hoped 
that an effort be made to obtain a sufficient grant in this country 
to at least publish the current volumes of the catalogue after which 
the accumulation on hand from 1914 to date could be published, 
possibly as a cumulative index. é 

Briefly, the status of the organization is this: When the work 
was begun in 1901, authorized by an international conference held 
in London in which all of the principal countries of the world 
were represented, no capital fund was available but through the 
influence and generosity of the Royal Society sufficient credit was 
established to enable the central bureau to begin publication. 
Material for the catalogue was furnished by the various countries 
through regional bureaus without charge, the cost of collecting 
being borne, then, as now, by each participating country. At first 
the income from the catalogue did not meet current expenses, but 
in 1914, just before the beginning of the war, the actual cost of 
publication and receipts approximately balanced. This was a de- 
cidedly encouraging condition, and the many friends of the enter- 
prise looked forward with hope that the near future would show 
a sufficient income over the cost to repay the Royal Society for 
funds advanced. All these conditions were changed at the beginning 
of the war, and when printing was stopped in 1921 the Royal Society 
had advanced £7,500, in addition to gifts received from the British 
Government and the Carnegie Corporation of New York, which sum 
and interest is still owing the society. Should publication be re- 
sumed by means of a loan or gift, the large stock of completed 

119 


120 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


sets of the catalogue, now in the hands of the central bureau in 
London, could be disposed of to new subscribers of the catalogue 
wishing to complete their records to the date of the beginning of 
the enterprise, and if these sets were sold for even half of their 
original price the receipts would be suflicient to repay the amount 
advanced by the Royal Society. The money needed to resume pub- 
lication would not be expected to include payment of these obliga- 
tions, but would be used solely to defray the necessary costs of 
printing and publishing until subscription receipts were sufficient 
to pay expenses. 

The International Catalogue was never intended to be a commer- 
cial enterprise, but rather the means whereby investigators and 
students might be supplied at cost with data necessary to keep them 
in touch with scientific progress throughout the world. No 
private undertaking publishing an index of 10,000 pages annu- 
ally, in editions of 1,000, could possibly assemble, classify, index, 
and print approximately 250,000 references, which was the average 
number contained in each annual issue, and afford to sell the finished 
work at anywhere near the price charged by the International 
Catalogue, for the cost of all the clerical and technical labor involved 
in preparing the original manuscript was borne by the regional 
bureaus as their contributién to the need of scientific bibliography. 

Material for the catalogue is collected by the various regional 
bureaus supported in every case by the countries they represent, this 
support being mainly derived through governmental grants. The 
work of editing and publishing the material furnished by the various 
regional bureaus was intrusted to a Central Bureau in London whose 
support was derived from the sale of the catalogue to subscribers. 
The subscription price was $85.00 for each annual issue containing 
about 10,000 pages assembled in 17 volumes varying in size to meet 
the requirements of the several sciences. 

The cost of printing and publishing alone has to be met through 
funds derived from the sales of the catalogue. This cost was, in 
1914, approximately $35,000 which in 1922 was estimated, on account 
of war conditions, to have increased to more than twice this sum. 

However, based on the offer of a large and reliable commercial 
printing house in the United States it is estimated that the cost 
would be no greater now than it was in 1914, provided not less than 
10,000 pages per year were printed and the work were distributed 
evenly throughout the year. Assuming this estimate to be approxi- 
mately correct it is believed that with a capital fund sufficient to pay 
for two annual issues the catalogue would again become self-support- 
ing, for the current income, even if less than half the edition 
were sold, would be sufficient to pay the running expenses of the 


gn ON 


REPORT OF THE SECRETARY 131 


central bureau together with a large part of the printing cost and 
two years would be sufficient time to advertise and establish the 
enterprise on a permanent financial basis. 

Respectfully submitted. 

Lronarp C. GUNNELL, 
Assistant in Charge. 
Dr. Cuartrs D. Watcort, 
Secretary, Smithsonian Institution. 


APPENDIX 9 
REPORT ON THE LIBRARY 


Sir: I have the honor to submit the following report on the activi- 
ties of the library of the Smithsonian Institution for the fiscal year 
ended June 30, 1926. 


FRANCIS HENRY PARSONS 


Mention should be made at the outset of the death on July 25, 
1925, of Mr. Francis Henry Parsons, who had retired a few months 
before from the position of assistant in charge of the Smithsonian 
division of the Library of Congress, after 25 years of service. (A 
brief sketch of Mr. Parsons’ career is given under the heading 
Necrology on page 82 of this report.) 


CHANGES IN STAFF 


There were a number of changes in the library staff during the 
year. The most important was the appointment of Miss Isabel L. 
Towner to the position, newly classified by the Personnel Board, 
of assistant librarian in the National Museum, to fill the vacancy 
caused by the retirement, and subsequent death, of Mr. Newton P. 
Scudder. Miss Towner was appointed from the civil service list 
after reinstatement by Executive order. Her training and experi- 
ence fit her well for the duties of the position, for she is a graduate 
of Goucher College and of the New York State Library School, and 
has spent nearly 20 years in practical library work, chiefly in Gov- 
ernment and scientific libraries. 

Miss Sarah Young, junior librarian, resigned in October, and was 
succeeded by Mr. R. Webb Noyes, a graduate of Bowdoin College 
and for some time a student at the New York State Library School. 
His experience was gained chiefly in university and State libraries, 
especially the New York State Library, where he collaborated with 
Miss J. Dorcas Fellows in preparing the twelfth edition of the 
Decimal Classification, by Melvil Dewey. 

Miss Minnie Murrill, who for several years had been a cataloguer 
in the Museum, resigned to accept a position in the library of the 
University of Alabama. Her position was filled temporarily, and 
will be filled permanently as soon as the person chosen becomes 
available. 

122 


REPORT OF THE SECRETARY 128 


Miss Agnes Auth was promoted, at the close of the year, to the 
position of minor library assistant, one of the two new positions 
that were granted to the library by Congress as of July 1, 1926. 

Miss Auth’s former position as messenger was reclassified to that 
of library aid, and was filled by the appointment of Mrs. Mary 
Arnold Baer. 

The vacancy in the position of assistant messenger, occasioned by 
the appointment of Mr. Johni Anderson to a position elsewhere in 
the Institution, was filled by the transfer of Mr. William Helvestine 
from another Government department. 

At different times during the year various persons were employed 
temporarily. Among these were Miss Ellen D. McBryde, Miss Mary 
Martin, Mrs. Victoria B. Turner, Mrs. M. Landon Reed, Mrs. Mada- 
line Amphlett, Miss Helen Turnbull, Mr. William P. Wright, Mr. 
Clarence Gunther, Mr. Walter Jaeger, and Mr. Carl Haardt. 


EXCHANGE OF PUBLICATIONS 


As is well known, the growth of the Smithsonian Library is due 
almost entirely to the exchange of publications between the Institution 
and its branches and other learned institutions and societies through- 
out the world. These publications come to the library direct, or 
through the International Exchange Service, which is administered 
by the Institution. During the past year 30,541 packages, of one or 
more publications each, came to the library by mail, and 7,352 
through the exchange. The number of the latter was more than 
three times that of the year before. The special effort to complete 
broken sets, by listing wants and writing follow-up letters, which 
was begun the previous year, was continued with vigor. Exchange 
relations were opened with many new societies. Most of the 1,225 
letters written by the library had to do with the exchange of publica- 
tions. 

MAIN LIBRARY 


The publications sent to the Smithsonian deposit, which is the 
main library of the Institution, numbered 5,088, comprising 3,649 
complete volumes, 843 parts of volumes, 175 pamphlets, and 421 
charts. Documents of foreign governments, more or less statistical 
in character, to the number of 7,305, were also sent, without being 
stamped or entered, to the Document Division of the Library of 
Congress. 

Many dissertations were received from the universities of Basel, 
Berlin, Bern, Breslau, Cornell, Erlangen, Giessen, Greifswald, 
Halle, Heidelberg, Johns Hopkins, Kiel, Konigsberg, Liége, Lou- 
vain, Lund, Neuchatel, Pennsylvania, Strassbourg, Utrecht, Vene- 


124 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


zuela, Warsaw, and Ziirich; and from technical schools at Berlin, 
Charlottenburg, Geneva, Karlsruhe, and Ziirich. Fewer disserta- 
tions than usual came from Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. 
Instead, the library received from the universities in those countries 
hundreds of abstracts, each giving merely the author’s name, the 
subject of the paper, and a brief summary of its contents. 


OFFICE LIBRARY 


The office library, which consists chiefly of some of the more fre- 
quently used society publications, the aeronautical collection, the art- 
room collection, the employees’ library, and various books, mainly of 
a reference nature, in the administrative offices, was increased during 
the year by 243 volumes, 1 part of a volume, and 18 pamphlets. Of 
these, 54 were added to the aeronautical collection. It may be stated 
in passing that this collection, owing to its rapidly growing impor- 
tance, will soon be raised to the dignity of a division—the tenth by 
number—of the Smithsonian library and named the Langley Aero- 
nautical Library in memory of the third secretary of the Institution, 
whose researches and experiments marked the successful beginning 
of aeronautics in the United States. 

Many important books were received during the year, but the out- 
standing one was probably the North American Indian, volume 13, by 
Edward S. Curtis, presented by Mrs. E. H. Harriman. This was 
deposited with others of the series in the library of the Bureau of 
American Ethnology. 

The circulation, which showed a considerable gain over the previ- 
ous year, was 2,618. Of this number, 2,183 were magazines. A 
corresponding increase was apparent in the number of books and 
periodicals consulted in the reference room, those most in demand 
being the aeronautical collection and the transactions of the learned 
societies. 

It is gratifying to report that, after a lapse of nine years, binding 
was resumed for the office library. Of the 172 volumes bound, 41 
belonged to the exhibition set of Smithsonian publications. 

The work done in connection with the general catalogue of the 
Smithsonian library, which is kept in the office reading room, was 
as follows: 


Wiolumes*eataloeued Late peg Wit eM re eae eee LAI LS 3, 495 
Volumesi;recatalosueduis. 22 iio Maina ee Se ee ee 134 
Charts } Cavallo ime dss eh le ay ew A Beye Ae ee pa aide SY bre eae ag en ee 403 
TOS Eye ie aN NU SI I a, a a ee 1, 525 
Libpary sor \;Congress.:eands) file@ si 4s sxe eh ee el _ a 688 


INGW. BULDOFS' Paes oe TL pale ah INN ae fd ANCA Vet ae 348 


REPORT OF THH SECRETARY 125 


MUSEUM LIBRARY 


During the year the library of the National Museum was increased 
by 1,660 volumes and 1,466 pamphlets, making a total of 66,808 vol- 
umes and 104,417 pamphlets. Most of the accessions were, of course, 
obtained by exchange, but some were obtained by purchase and an 
unusually large number by gift. The largest gift was from the 
Library of Congress. This comprised 606 volumes and 808 parts 
of volumes from its collection of duplicates—some stamped Smith- 
sonian Deposit, others Library of Congress—and was sent to the 
Museum library to help complete its sets of society publications per- 
taining mainly to natural history. Generous gifts were also received 
from Secretary Walcott, who, as usual, contributed hundreds of items 
to the library, particularly to the section of geology and paleontol- 
oxy; Dr. W. H. Holmes, who gave 83 volumes and 363 pamphlets to 
the general collection; Dr. W. H. Dall, who added 178 titles to the 
section of mollusks; Dr. C. W. Richmond and Mr. J. H. Riley, who 
gave many books and pamphlets, some of them very rare, to the main 
collection, as well as to the section of birds and other sections; and 
Mr. N. M. Judd, who contributed 18 volumes to the section of Amer- 
ican archeology. Among other donors were Assistant Secretary 
Wetmore, Mr. A. N. Caudell, Mr. John Gallagher, Dr. O. P. Hay, 
Dr. A. Hrdlicka, Dr. W. R. Maxon, Dr. G. S. Miller, Mr. S. A. 
Rohwer, and Dr. W. Schaus. 

The number of sectional libraries in the Museum is now 87. These, 
while in a measure independent working units, are in a real sense 
very important parts of the general library. During the year the 
study of their resources and problems that was begun the year before 
was continued, with a view to strengthening their collections and 
making them more available. The sectional libraries are as follows: 


Administration, Mechanical Technology. 
Administrative assistant’s office. Medicine, 

American Archeology. Minerals. 

Anthropology. Mineral Technology. 
Biology. Mollusks. 

Birds. National Gallery of Art. 
Botany. Old World Archeology. 
Wehinoderms. Organie Chemistry. 
Editor’s office. Paleobotany. 

Hthnology. Photography. 

Fishes. Physical Anthropology. 
Foods. Property clerk’s office. 
Geology. Reptiles and Batrachians. 
Graphie Arts. Superintendent’s office. 
History. Taxidermy. 

Insects. Textiles. 


Invertebrate Paleontology. 


Mammals. 
Marine Invertebrates, 


20837—27-———10 


Vertebrate Paleontology. 
Wood Technology. 


126 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 
TECHNOLOGICAL LIBRARY 


The technological library, located in the old Museum Building, 
consists chiefly of material having to do with the arts and industries, 
together with certain classes of the natural history collection that 
are little called for, or for which there is not room in the new build- 
ing. During the year, in addition to keeping up the current work, 
the assistant in charge, with the help of those who from time to 
time took his place, continued the reorganization that was begun 
the year before. About 1,500 cards were added to the shelf list. 
The loans were 245. It is hoped that the work of reorganizing this 
library can be finished in the course of the next fiscal year. 


ASTROPHYSICAL OBSERVATORY LIBRARY 2 


The library of the Astrophysical Observatory was increased by 
105 volumes, 17 parts of volumes, 86 pamphlets, and 4 charts. The 
number of volumes bound was 124. The loans are included with 
those of the office library. 

A beginning was made in checking up the various series of 
astrophysical periodicals and supplying the missing numbers. This 
work will soon be completed. The shelf list will also be finished 
and an inventory taken. 


BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY LIBRARY 


The activities of the library of the Bureau of American Ethnology 
are described in the report of the chief of that bureau, by whom the 
library is administered. 


NATIONAL GALLERY OF ART LIBRARY 


Although the library of the National Gallery of Art is adminis- 
tered as a sectional library of the National Museum and will prob- 
ably continue to be as long as the National Gallery is housed in the 
Natural History Building, it is usually thought of as one of the nine 
divisions of the Smithsonian library. As such it is given a place 
by itself in the annual report. Its accessions during the year were 
155 volumes, 479 parts of volumes, and 180 pamphlets. It now totals 
581 volumes and 665 pamphlets, a small but carefully chosen and 
valuable nucleus for the larger library soon to be collected. 


FREER GALLERY OF ART LIBRARY 


The library of the Freer Gallery of Art is restricted to the inter- 
ests represented by the collections of art objects pertaining to the 
arts and cultures of the Far East, India, and Persia and the nearer 


REPORT OF THE SECRETARY 127 


East; by the life and works of James McNeil Whistler and of cer- 
tain other American painters whose pictures are owned by the 
gallery; and, further, to a very limited degree, by the Biblical 
manuscripts of the fourth and fifth centuries, which, as the posses- 
sion of the Freer Gallery, are known as the Washington manuscripts. 

During the year, 735 persons visited the library, of whom more 
than 100, including a number of college teachers and students, came 
for the purpose of serious study, many being especially interested 
in the facsimiles of the Biblical manuscripts. The library was 
increased by 500 volumes, of which 462 are in the Chinese and 
Japanese languages, and by 72 parts of volumes and 142 pamphlets. 


NATIONAL ZOOLOGICAL PARK LIBRARY 


While this library is still quite small, numbering about 1,500 vol- 
umes and pamphlets, it has been so carefully selected that it repre- 
sents a very valuable working collection. It increased the past year 
by only 9 volumes, but two of these were volumes 3 and 4 of the 
monumental work, A Natural History of the Ducks, by John C. 
Phillips. Five volumes were bound. 


SUMMARY OF ACCESSIONS 


The accessions for the year, with the exception of those to the 
library of the Bureau of American Ethnology, may be summarized 
as follows: 


Other 
Library Volumes} publica- | Total 

tions 
PANTFODUVSICG OOSOLVELOLYS sao ta- eeene ens ee ae aD AE Seay ee 105 57 162 
LUb(ar) CTE) A720) i e\) «| el On oS Ae ec ee Oe See ae | 500 214 714 
NFTTOR IMCS HALO VOL AT te cere een ees pn SS ee Bae ie ek 155 609 764 
National OULOPiCAr Parke snot 5 4 A AEE RII SORE AED. oe ed SLE 8 PRS. Ba 9 
Smithsonian deposit, Library of Congress. __..................-..---_-_-- 3, 649 1, 439 5, 088 
Borat SO PISA) OTC Cette ee 2 vee SM RAL es en We ee 243 19 262 
United States National Museum, including the technological library_-____- 1, 660 1, 466 3, 126 
Ge: eS ok SE OS Ore PRES ae eee 6, 321 3, 804 10, 125 


An estimate of the number of volumes, pamphlets, and charts in 
the Smithsonian hbrary, including the Smithsonian deposit in the 
Library of Congress, on June 30, 1926, was as follows: 


Waa lho tensile ic U2 tee ra espe ete le ee 8 als WEST es Oe 2 Cee 2 aL) RE eRe ee ae 514, 071 
Pamphlet siss soe Soe Pio PS Ei ll Tin eh pita hE ah Be le oe 139, 525 
(OVE SLAM Ae 30S oe ee ed BE Cae SC ae OS RT eS CSO eS ee STC RE 23, 887 

pSpeU Lea REE EO EI pe Pa Op ee ata ee yrs ie 677, 4838 


This number does not include the many thousands of parts of 
volumes in the library awaiting completion of the volumes. 


128 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


SPECIAL ACTIVITIES 


The regular staff, with the aid of a number of trained temporary 
employees, undertook many special tasks that required attention as 
a condition to carrying out further plans for reorganization and 
development. 

The sorting of the large accumulations of miscellaneous material 
in the Museum library, begun the previous year, was practically 
completed. 

In the Museum library, too, the sets of society publications were 
checked up and missing numbers listed. Many of these were sup- 
plied from the duplicates in the Library of Congress, as has been 
said in an earlier part of this report. It is hoped that most of the 
others can be obtained by exchange, either from the societies them- 
selves, or! from other libraries. To this end, toward the close of 
the year hundreds of want-letters were written; and many dupli- 
cates were taken out and transferred to the west stacks of the 
Smithsonian Building, where they were added to those from other 
divisions of the library and put in order. Later they will be listed 
and disposed of by exchange or by gift. This work of checking 
up and supplying numbers lacking in the various series in the 
library will continue to receive special attention from the staff. 

It should be mentioned in this connection that the six sets of the. 
publications of the Institution and its branches that are kept in the 
Smithsonian library were found upen examination to have many 
gaps. These it was still possible, in the main, to fill, so that the sets 
are now nearly complete. 

The shelves of the main collection in the Museum library were 
arranged, a task that occupied months, as they had not been arranged 
for a long time and were in a very confused state. This was pre- 
liminary to taking an inventory of the library, which will be begun 
as soon as the shelf list, on which much progress was made during 
the year, is finished. 

There was an intensive effort to bring the filing of the Concilium 
Bibliographicum cards up to date, with the result that the whole of 
the alphabetic set and part of the methodical set were filed. In all, 
16,906 cards were filed. This work involved the rearrangement of 
the cards already in the cases. Many cards remain unfiled, but the 
outlook is hopeful, and the current cards are being filed as they come 
in. The two sets referred to are the only ones now being received, 
as the systematic set was discontinued toward the close of the year. 

Another activity that required no little time was the preparation 
of 1,793 volumes for binding, of which 1,497 were for the Museum, 
172 for the office, and 124 for the Astrophysical Observatory. ‘This 
was more than double the number bound in any year during the 


REPORT OF THE SECRETARY 129 


previous six years, and almost as many as were bound altogether 
during the previous five years. When these volumes return to the 
shelves they will greatly improve the appearance and increase the 
usefulness of the library. 

Preliminary steps were taken toward modernizing and expanding 
the catalogue, a work that during the coming year will be especially 
emphasized, for one of the chief needs of the library now is a dic- 
tionary catalogue, both of the main collections and of the sectional 
libraries. 

Mention might be made, too, of the fact that the exhibition set 
of Smithsonian publications was packed and sent, together with the 
corresponding sets of the publications of the National Museum 
and the Bureau of American Ethnology, to Philadelphia, for exhi- 
bition at the Sesquicentennial. These sets, with the International 
Catalogue of Scientific Literature, comprise nearly 900 volumes. 


INTERLIGRARY LENDING 


The library of the Smithsonian Institution is primarily for the 
use of those employed in the Institution and its branches, and of 
others who come to it from outside for the purpose of research, but 
it extends the privilege of borrowing from its collections to all 
libraries. For many years this privilege has been taken advantage of 
increasingly. 

No restrictions are placed on the loans, except that the librarian 
who borrows the material is expected to take the usual care of it and 
return it in a reasonable time. He also, of course, pays express 
charges both ways, for it is customary to send material and have it 
returned either by messenger, as in the case of Washington libraries, 
or by express. 

Some books, especially duplicates, are occasionally sent out on 
semipermanent charge, to be used as an aid in special research, and to 
be kept as long as needed, or until called for. Rare and valuable 
books are seldom lent, but they may always be consulted at the 
library. Photostat copies of parts of them may also be made if 
desired. 

The library not only lends material; it borrows it, too, and that 
almost daily. Some of this, especially from the Library of Con- 
gress, is sent to the library on semipermanent deposit, and consti- 
tutes a very important addition to its regular working collections. 

The libraries with which the Smithsonian library carries on most 
regularly this exchange of material are, besides the Library of Con- 
gress, those of the Department of Agriculture, the Geological Sur- 
vey, the Hygienic Laboratory, the Army Medical Museum, the 
Coast and Geodetic Survey, the Bureau of Fisheries, the Weather 


130 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


Bureau, the Bureau of Mines, the Air Service, the National Research 
Gincicil the National Advisory Committee ae Aeronautics, and the 
principal learned societies, colleges, universities, museums, and art 
galleries of the East and Middle West. It also lends to public libra- 
ries, and sometimes borrows from them. 

Respectfully submitted. 

Wii14m L. Corsin, 
Librarian. 
Dr. Cuartes D. WatcortT, 
Secretary, Smithsonian Institution. 


Ay 
i 


APPENDIX 10 
REPORT ON THE PUBLICATIONS 


Str: I have the honor to submit the following report on the publi- 
cations of the Smithsonian Institution and the Government bureaus 
under its administrative charge during the year ending June 30, 1926: 

The Institution proper published during the year 8 papers in the 
series of Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections, 1 annual report, 
and pamphlet copies of the 22 articles contained in the report 
appendix, and 1 special publication. The Bureau of American 
Ethnology published 1 annual report. The United States National 
Museum issued 1 annual report, 2 volumes of proceedings, 3 com- 
plete bulletins, 1 part of a bulletin, and 3 parts of 2 volumes in the 
series of Contributions from the United States National Herbarium, 
and 45 separates from the proceedings. The National Gallery of 
Art issued Catalogue of Collections, IT. 

Of these publications there were distributed during the year 
168,932 copies, which included 147 volumes and separates of the 
Smithsonian Contributions to Knowledge, 20,222 volumes and sepa- 
rates of the Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections, 35,671 volumes 
and separates of the Smithsonian annual reports, 1,945 Smithsonian 
special publications, 96,804 volumes and separates of the various 
series of National Museum publications, 12,993 publications of the 
Bureau of American Ethnology, 251 publications of the National 
Gallery of Art, 68 volumes of the Annals of the Astrophysical 
Observatory, 48 reports of the Harriman Alaska Expedition, 738 
reports of the American Historical Association, and 65 publications 
presented to but not issued directly by the Smithsonian Institution 
or its branches. 


SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS 


Of the Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections, volume 73, 1 paper 
was issued; volume 77, 5 papers; volume 78, 2 papers; in all, 8 
papers as follows: 

VOLUME 73 


No. 38. Opinions Rendered by the International Commission on Zoological 
Nomenclature. December 16, 1925. 40 pp. (Publ. 2880.) 


VOLUME 77 


No. 4. An Introduction to the Morphology and Classification of the Fora- 
minifera. By Joseph A. Cushman. July 21, 1925. 77 pp., 16 pls. 11 text 
figs. (Publ. 2824.) 


131 


132 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


No. 8. The Morphology of Insect Sense Organs and the Sensory Nervous 
System. By R. E. Snodgrass. February 16, 1926. 80 pp., 32 text figs. 
(Publ. 2831.) 

No. 9. Fossil Footprints from the Grand Canyon. By Charles W. Gilmore. 
January 30, 1926. 41 pp., 12 pls., 23 text figs. (Publ. 2832.) 

No. 10. An Archeological Collection from Young’s Canyon, near Flagstaff, 
Ariz. By J. Walter Fewkes. January 12, 1926. 15 pp., 9 pls., 3 text figs. 
(Publ. 2883.) 

No. 11. Musie of the Tule Indians of Panama. By Frances Densmore. 
April 16, 1926. 39 pp., 5 pls. (Publ. 2864.) 


VOLUME 78 


No. 1. Explorations and Field Work of the Smithsonian Institution in 1925. 
April 8, 1926. 182 pp., 128 text figs. (Publ. 2865.) 

No. 2. Mexican Mosses Collected by Brother Arséne Brouard. By I. Thériot. 
June 15, 1926. 29 pp., 14 text figs. (Publ. 2867.) 


SMITHSONIAN ANNUAL REPORTS 


Report for 1924.—The complete volume of the Annual Report of 
the Board of Regents for 1924 was received from the Public Printer 
November 12, 1925. 


Annual Report of the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution, show- 
ing operations, expenditures, and condition of the Institution for the year 
ending June 80, 1924. xii+-535 pp., 103 pls., 43 text figs. (Publ. 2795.) 


The appendix contained the following papers: 


The origin of the solar system, by J. H. Jeans. 

The electrical structure of matter, by Prof. Sir Ernest Rutherford. 

The physicist’s present conception of an atom, by R. 8. Millikan. 

The vacuum—there’s something in it, by W. R. Whitney. 

The use of radium in medicine, by Antoine Béclcre. 

Ylear fused quartz made in the electric furnace, by Hdward R. Berry. 

The drifting of the continents, by Pierre Termier, 

The probable solution of the climatic problem in geology, by William Ramsay. 

A modern menagerie; more about the National Zoological Park, by N. Hollister. 

Nests and nesting habits of the American eagle, by Francis H. Herrick. 

The breeding places of the eel, by Johs. Schmidt. 

Cankerworms, by R. E. Snodgrass. 

A botanical trip to Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia, by A. 8. Hitchcock. 

Orchid collecting in Central America, by Paul C. Standley. 

Sketches from the notebook of a naturalist-traveler in Oceania during the year 
1923, by Casey A. Wood. 

Historical tradition and oriental research, by James Henry Breasted, 

Shamanism of the natives of Siberia, by I. M. Casanowicz. 

Bgypt as a field for anthropological research, by Prof. P. H. Newberry. 

North American Indian dwellings, by T. T. Waterman. 

The nature of language, by R. L. Jones. 

John Mix Stanley, artist-explorer, by David I. Bushnell. 

Herluf Winge, by Th. Mortensen. 


Report for 1925.—The report of the executive committee and pro- 
ceedings of the Board of Regents of the Institution, and the report 


REPORT OF THE SECRETARY 133 


of the secretary, both forming parts of the annual report of the 
Board of Regents to Congress, were issued in pamphlet form in 
December, 1925. 


Report of the executive committee and proceedings of the Board of Regents of 
the Smithsonian Institution for the year ending June 30, 1925. 11 pp. 
(Publ. 2835.) 

Report of the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution for the year ending 
June 80, 1925. 122 pp. (Publ. 2834.) 


The general appendix to this report, which was in press at the 
close of the year, contains the following papers: 


The spiral nebulz and the structure of space, by Carl Wirtz. 

Immensities of time and space, by A. Vibert Douglas. 

Certain aspects of high-pressure research, by P. W. Bridgman. 

Lightning and other high-voltage phenomena, by F. W. Peek, jr. 

Chemical elements and atoms, by G. Urbain. 

The manufacture of radium, by Camille Matignon. 

The chemistry of solids, by Cecil H. Desch. 

Terrestrial magnetism in the twentieth century, by Daniel L. Hazard. 

Some causes of volcanic activity, by Arthur L. Day. 

Geology in the service of man, by W. W. Watts. 

The yeasts: A chapter in microscopical science, by A. Chaston Chapman. 

Tropical cyclones and the dispersal of life from island to island in the Pacific, 
by Stephen Sargent Visher. 

Isolation with segregation as a factor in organic evolution, by David Starr 
Jordan. 

The biological action of light, by Leonard Hill. 

Animal life at high altitudes, by Maj. R. W. G. Hingston. 

The nest of the Indian tailor bird, by Casey A. Wood. 

The needs of the world as to entomology, by L. O. Howard. 

From an egg to an insect, by R. BH. Snodgrass. 

The role of vertebrates in the control of insect pests, by W. L. McAtse. 

Carnivorous butterflies, by Austin H. Clark. 

The potato of romance and of reality, by W. E. Safford. 

The relation of geography to timber supply, by W. B. Greeley. 

The historical geography of early Japan, by Carl Whiting Bishop. 

The excavations of the sanctuary of Tanit at Carthage, by Byron Khun de 
Prorok. 

The Smithsonian Institution. 

Sir Arehibald Geikie, by Sir Aubrey Strahan. 

Ned Hollister (1876-1924), by Wilfred H. Osgood. 


SPECIAL PUBLICATION 


North American Wild Flowers. Vol. 1. By Mary Vaux Walcott. 1926. 
Quarto, portfolio binding, 80 piates in color, 1 page descriptive text for each. 
(Not for general distribution; issued through subscriptions.) 


PUBLICATIONS OF THE UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 


The publications of the National Museum are: (a) The annual 
report, (>) the Proceedings of the United States National Museum, 


134 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


and (c) the Bulletin of the United States National Museum, which 
includes the contributions from the United States National Herbari- 
um. The editorship of these publications is vested in Dr. Marcus 
Benjamin. 

During the year ending June 30, 1926, the Museum published 1 
annual report, 2 volumes of proceedings, 3 complete bulletins, 1 part 
of a bulletin, 2 complete volumes and 3 parts of 2 volumes in the 
series Contributions from the United States National Herbarium, and 
45 separates from the proceedings. 

The issues of the bulletin were as follows: 


Bulletin 100. Contributions to the Biology of the Philippine Archipelago and 
Adjacent Regions. Volume 2, part 4. Silicious and Horny Sponges collected 
by the United States Fisheries steamer Albatross during the Philippine 
expedition, 1907-1910. By H. V. Wilson. 

Bulletin 131. The Minerals of Idaho. By Har] V. Shannon. 

Bulletin 132. Revision of the North American Moths of the Subfamilies Laspey- 
resiinae and Olethreutinae. By Carl Heinrich. 

Bulletin 133. Observations on the Birds of Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay, and 
Chile. By Alexander Wetmore. 


Of the separate papers of the Contributions from the United States 
National Herbarium the following were issued: 


Volume 22, part 9. Studies in American Phaseolineae. By C. VY. Piper. 

Volume 24, part 6. A Bibliographic Study of Beauvois’ Agrostographie. By 
Cornelia D. Niles. With introduction and botanical notes, by Agnes Chase. 

Volume 24, part 7. The North American Species of Stipa. Synopsis of the 
South American Species of Stipa. By A. 8. Hitchcock. 


Of the separates from the proceedings, 4 were from volume 66, 
13 from volume 67, 25 from volume 68, and 3 from volume 69. 


PUBLICATIONS OF THE BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 


The editorial work of the bureau has continued under the direction 
of the editor, Mr. Stanley Searles. 
During the year one annual report was issued. 


Fortieth Annual Report. Accompanying papers: The Mythical Origin of the 
White Buffalo Dance of the Fox Indians; The Autobiography of a Fox In- 
dian Woman; Notes on Fox Mortuary Customs and Beliefs; Notes on the 
Fox Society Known as “ Those Who Worship the Little Spotted Buffalo”; 
The Traditional Origin of the Fox Society Known as “The Singing Around 
Rite,’ by Truman Michelson. 664 pp., 1 pL, 1 fig. 


Publications in press or in preparation are as follows: 


Forty-first Annual Report. Accompanying papers: Coiled Basketry in British 
Columbia and Surrounding Region (Boas, assisted by Haeberlin, Roberts, 
and Teit); Two Prehistoric Villages in Middle Tennessee (Myer). 

Forty-second Annual Report. Accompanying papers: Social Organization and 
Social Usages of the Indians of the Creek Confederacy; Religious Beliefs 
and Medical Praetices of the Creek Indians; The Culture of the Southeast 
(Swanton); Indian Trails of the Southeast (Myer). 


REPORT OF THE SECRETARY Lo 


Bulletin 82. Archeological Observations North of the Rio Colorado (Judd). 

Bulletin 83. Burials of the Algonquian, Siouan, and Caddoan Tribes West of 
the Mississippi (Bushnell). 

Bulletin 84. The Language of the Kiowa Indians (Harrington). 


REPORT OF THE AMERICAN HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION 


The annual reports of the American Historical Association are 
transmitted by the association to the Secretary of the Smithsonian 
Institution and are communicated by him to Congress as provided 
by the act of incorporation of the association. 

The annual report for 1920 and the supplemental volume to the 
report for 1922 were issued during the year. The annual reports 
for 1921 and 1922, and the supplemental volume to the report for 
1923 were in press at the close of the year. 


REPORT OF THE NATIONAL SOCIETY, DAUGHTERS OF THE AMERICAN 
REVOLUTION 


The manuscript of the Twenty-eighth Annual Report of the Na- 
tional Society, Daughters of the American Revolution, was trans- 
mitted to Congress, in accordance with the law, on December 15, 
1925. 


SMITHSONIAN ADVISORY COMMITTEE ON PRINTING AND PUBLICATION 


The editor has continued to serve as secretary of the Smithsonian 
advisory committee on printing and publication, to which are re- 
ferred for consideration and recommendation all manuscripts offered 
to the Institution and its branches. Seven meetings were held during 
the year and 96 manuscripts acted upon. 

Respectfully submitted. 

. W. P. True, Hditor. 

Dr. CHartEes D. Watcort, 

Secretary, Smithsonian Institution. 


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REPORT OF THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE OF THE BOARD OF 
REGENTS OF THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION FOR THE 
YEAR ENDED JUNE 30, 1926 


To the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution: 

Your executive committee respectfully submits the following 
report in relation to the funds, receipts, and disbursements of the 
Institution and a statement of the appropriations by Congress for 
the following Government bureaus in the administrative charge of 
the Smithsonian Institution: The National Museum, the Interna- 
tional Exchanges, the Bureau of American Ethnology, the National 
Zoological Park, the Astrophysical Observatory, the International 
Catalogue of Scientific Literature, and the National Gallery of Art; 
also for an additional assistant secretary and for printing and 
binding for the fiscal year ended June 30, 1926. 


SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION 
Condition of the endowment fund July 1, 1926 


The sum of $1,000,000 deposited in the Treasury of the United 
States under act of Congress is part of a permanent endowment 
fund, which includes the original Smithson fund and additions 
accumulated by the deposit of savings and bequests from time to 
time. Subsequent bequests and gifts and the income therefrom, 
when so required, are invested in approved securities. The several 
specific funds so invested are now constituted and classed as follows: 


Consolidated fund 


AE TR LEn EE EL LS eon arene nis Pe me eoaetnne meOneliee Dae LMR inlA ps AeD Acai. we fae eh eel! SAN OOO Re 
Virose urd y acon tun Ge. oak mn ee ay penne a eee a ae G2 22.98 
LETTE 1S tad Boe shred g ts 00 Flap es pu alata eta ge eo eae eS ees 1, 528. 09 
CT RCD TCG OSV EW ape UG UEP Rs SES SS I A a SR, ET 35, 000. 00 
TESTER FOP a. 9 bao eae EOS A te Spe a SE en eee ae 500. 00 
MO ANT PRTI Or ER@TEN: Var CULE eee oc ee. oe Mt eee See ce NOR oe UP RA SR 
CIOS FE) aay Spe Sree) ected VAR FO AN el gt LS Sa a 37, 275. 00 
ESE CCPEN IS ES 2 TIT cee ee eee een en pete ee De ere Wd NUN 13, 839. 90 
DNC TRIES! TCE) 6d CY 0 EAM See I Bk IE SL SES SERS a 3, 519. 00 
UC VL in GeUree uy. E OOLG, LUMO. tee hae ts oe ee ee Se 18, 586. 42 
Pa AGA O 7 8 Nes 1 SST E huh UY 6 (A SR a a 7, 299. 16 
TESTERS fs VU 0 Ls ne ib all at ae ee a 357. 34 
EEO PERE S Dla gS oi ac C0 c(h Lag 90 fn ak 5 le ae Bt aN 675. 72 
STGRU He ESfop ea ofa ae Leh gk A ge a Tae ag No MN a 1, 468. 74 

Potalconkoweatem finden. ue se es ad 218, 186. 50 
Charles D. and Mary Vaux Walcott research fund_..-_-__________ 11, 520. 00 


137 


138 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


The total amount of dividends and interest, etc., received by the 
Institution trom the Freer estate during the year for all purposes 
was $255,354.66 and the amount received from sale of Freer estate 
stocks and bonds was $988,510. 

The itemized report of the auditor, the Capital Audit Co., certi- 
fied public accountants, is filed in the office of the secretary. 


DETAILED SURVEY OF FINANCIAL OPERATIONS 


Parent fund 


~ 


Balance on*hand or’ ‘in’ time’ deposits; duly: a, WO25 22.4 Ys tee $7, 062. 45 
Receipts: 
Income, consisting of interest and receipts from mis- 
cellaneous sources available for general purposes__ $56, 287. 77 
International exchanges, repayments to the Insti- 


(HUW RICO 0 piel Un Grid eet a acpi eal el a ae dk Galea 4, 888. 75 
TNO Gal NEC GIG 2a, Se UY elo ee a ee A 61, 171. 52 
Total’ resources for general purposes22- 2222. eee eee ae 68, 233. 97 
General expenditures: 
Carevand: repair or buildings 22 22 ae es 8, 087. 04 
Hurniture and fixtures see eee Ree eee ae ee 610. 08 
General administrations 25 2s eee ee 25,.298. O1 
NGF) Oh so ta ee epee ND slice eis bi esr eR eaecmyre, Beem 3, 225. 03 
Publications (comprising preparation, printing, and 
CUTTS Reh DUES U0 0) ee NSE aE CSO he ae 15, 168. 60 
Researches and explorations 2220 aes. oa ee 4, 526. 05 
International exchanges: Rats ies) hikis 2a 2) es 3, 871. 95 
Dabaleeenerat (exPemd Ures: pees ee ee 60, 782. 56 
Balance JumersOy LODO Ls eee AES AA eek ST A A ee 7, 451. 41 


Funds for specific objects, including payment and return of funds advanced 
for field expenses and other temporary transactions during the year 


Balance on hand or in time deposits July 1, 1925__-____-___________ $86, 773. 19 

Receipts : 
ASOT Ys PUNTA a ee Ye oe ca ae on 2, 817. $0 
Varcinia, Purdy, Bacon und! ~22 ees aoe oe eee 3, 849. 96 
BEV (ich oO & TB 27259 G0 Wika ob mn ea a na a ln pa 87. 21 
Maura: Welsh Casey funde 22 ss 2s28 Sees oe ees 5, 000. 00 
Frances Lea Chamberlain fund___-______-_______ 1, 995. 00 
Costa Rica’ botanical’ explorations=-22"2" 225" seas" 800. 00 
Endowment campaign donations__________________ 417. 00 
Endowment campaign expense fund______________- 25. 500. 00 
Hindow ment: Lure: cere ens tee ea ee a ee 20. 80 
Dr. W. L. Abbott Haitian botanical expedition____ 10,00 
ERS NEOTEL ee ws ee we ee reat Be 178. 50 
EER SD TST UTI Y ea Nh: GIULSS Go, MTN ss ra eee eee er 12, 815. 00 
Caroline Henry funds =o 222 ee 70. 68 
Hodgkins fund, specific — Sct) st aie ee as 6, 300. 00 


dO aTL Ce Me & AD Fea (cr fi 7 Ue (0 Romeo apne nes AHERN pieaipan gt ee paeeta tenant L 788. 88 


es 


ee 


f 
. 
$ 
, 
: 
4 
7 


REPORT OF EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE 139 


Receipts—Continued. 


Jamaican botanical exploration-__---___--__+____ $550. 00 
a Rope t-te Otoye) of heh odo MB skl Ae ST ee ee ee ee eae See ee 8, 684. 39 
National Gallery of Art building plans fund___-_-~ 20, 89 
North American Wild Flowers publication fund___ 29, 706.19 
CAF Fe eee D112 (6 Ce seep ee ee a 500. 00 
EBAleontoloviaals mesearches.- = 42, sae 1, 200. 00 
huey: T.ands George; W..2oore fund=.2- 4... 2, 657, 20 
AdgisonmiyReidhhinGg-eaee ees Pe ee 1, 076. 10 
Ja ReKeYCC 9 10001 6 AROMA een empe ks MaMC Lev 2 7. RAUL a eae SN See 54. 78 
JOnmeAS OCD UNeNNOse. oa ee 3, 696. 45 
W. Ay Roebling mineral fund. -5 aa ee 1, 000. 00 
Georseqkiepantordvennds. 2-2 oe ‘ 104. 76 
American Silurian Crinoids Vol. fund, Springer____ 2, 000. 00 
CharlestD Simpson: funds +2. 42e2--24 4 eee eee e 750. 00 
Smithsonian-Chrysler expedition_________________ 40, 000, 00 
Smithsonian Scientific Series fund________________ 10,300.00 
SS vuretiL co Sm sID Yd (hee eae oe ee Eee 800. 00 
Charles D. and Mary Vaux Walcott fund_______-__ 720. 00 
Refund of temporary advances, etec_-_-__----_---- 6, 748. 10 

Mota]: TECCUPES st ek LPT PETS OPEL ESS See a $166, 214. 79 

ARO LEESIILS SuveySHOy bh eCeCe:S) ues Sb Et * IN Aas Sa Oy a ee a Ce eg Ta eg er 252,987.98 
Hxpenditures: 

Avery fund, invested and expended___-_-____-___ 2, 038. 32 

Virginia Purdy Bacon fund, expended_-___--___-- 8, 241. 97 

Laura Welsh Casey fund, expended___-_-___-___- 766. 57 

Chamberlain fund, for specimens, ete., expended___ 738. 42 

Costa Rica botanical explorations, expended______ 800. 00 

Endowment campaign expense fund, expended____ 26, 859. 28 

Haitian botanical explorations, expended_________ 510. 00 

Harriman trust fund, for researches and speci- 

TET Sy GPT CC Ole ee eee ee ee ae Jee een Cee 11, 069. 82 
Hodgkins fund, specific for researches, expended__ 3, 909. 61 
Bruce Hughes fund, expended__--___=--_---_____ 7. 00 
Jamaican botanical explorations, expended_______ 550. 00 
Morris Loeb: fund, ‘expended... oe eee 4, 380. 95 
North American Wild Flowers publication fund, ex- 

ro erard ey BS ee ee a a 58, 146. 10 
Manso TiN. OXPCNUed aaa e en ks oe eee i 14. 32 
Paleontological researches, expended______-______ 505. 00 
Luey T. and George W. Poore fund, invested and 

“epi pono fey) RAMU eet ka SEC al ee pe 2 ee 4, 377. 28 
Addison T. Reid fund, invested and expended_____ 663. 00 
Hocket investigation, Goddard. == 2 750. 00 
John A. Roebling fund, solar research, ete., ex- 

pended hie sth. ANON A. AITLER Oth FO Beery 16, 188. 95 
W. A. Roebling mineral fund, expended__________ 588. 84 
George H. Sanford fund, invested____.._________ 60. 40 
Charles T. Simpson fund, expended__--__________ 338. 38 
Smithsonian-Chrysler expedition, expended_______ 39, 334. 51 
Smithsonian Scientific Series, expended__________ 1, 391. 25 


Swales fund, for specimens, expended_..__________ 353.21 


140 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


Expenditures—Continued. 
Charles D. and Mary Vaux Walcott fund, ex- 


MTN LEC epee a re a Smo at Re me $111. 00 

Temporary advances for field expenses, ete_____.... 3, 953. 26 
Hl Woy fe MR. 01 ey 0 BF 0 By 2) = BMRA a Sg a aa dap a ce cg $181, 647. 45 
Balance Juners0, 19262. 222 oe ee nascy Tlie 71, 340. 53 


Charles L. Freer bequest 
Balance on hand or in time deposits, July 1, 1925__.___________ $78, 117.11 


Receipts: 
Dividends, interest, and miscellaneous receipts__ $255, 354. 66 
Sale of stocks’ and Dongsssese2=2nss sane le 988, 510. 00 
"POtaL | MARS pte ole 2 ei 1 Sa AR Aras oe ee ai ee le ae 1, 243, 864. 66 
TOGA PESOUT CES Ss state Ni GS Te AS a el Sea ns A ee) De Wd 


Hixpenditures: 
Operating expenses of the gallery, salaries, pur- 
chase of art objects, field expenses, and inci- 
(6 (2) 0110629) (se ARPS UE: 9 Aion aU $153, 934. 37 
Investments in sinking fund, including interest_ 127, 602.50 
Reinvestment of funds from sale of stocks and 


NOCRERGL Si, Seat Das Ue ue eS On ee ear ne 984, 347, 44 
PPO Gall Eee G UAT CS ia see a a 1, 265, 884. 31 
MS ysMEs avers vel fin y ak epucs 0 pe 4g wb fell ates ee pele Cee ee Rll aE a OE 56, 097. 46 
SUMMARY 
Total balanceszotvall funds, duly td 192D 3 ss 171, 952. 75 
Receipts during year ending June 30, 1926: 
Parent fund! for general expenses. 2 ee ee 61, 171. 52 
Revenue and principal of funds for specific objects, except 
PCOr DCUMGSRM As Ae veo Den ea a ae Sey 166, 214. 79 
OO IDC GTS ames es ele ee es ae 1, 243, 864. 66 
PUL oy 12 MOMS sand as AN i fee elas jen lie cae scot aac Al wi dil ie eA abi 2 1, 648, 208. 72 
Expenditures: 
General expenses of the Institution_.__._.___.___-___________ 60, 782. 56 
Specific objects, except Freer bequest2_22- 222 sn 222l 2 sce 181, 647. 45 
1p) eV ey oY er 0 AY 2} acer Pam eile i ch os ee Ea eho en ig ae eek it foo Lot ANd 1, 265, 884. 31 
Total balances oL all funds June 0, 1020 soe ee ee 134, 889. 40 
ol A) i) RS i ae Rl ESR DT ag he Se UA een PO Apri CRE 1, 648, 203. 72 


All payments are made by check, signed by the Secretary of the 
Institution, on the Treasurer of the United States, and all revenues 
are deposited to the credit of the same account. In some instances 
deposits are placed in bank for convenience of collection and later 
are withdrawn in round amounts and deposited in the Treasury. 

The practice of investing temporarily idle funds in time deposits 
has proven satisfactory. During the year the interest derived from 
this source, together with other similar items, has resulted in a 
total of $1,748.21, 


REPORT OF EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE 141 


The following appropriations for the Government bureaus in 
administrative charge of the Smithsonian Institution were made by 
Congress for the fiscal year 1926: 


Bureau: Appropriation 
PUCEPH atl on ale HC Am Genes: le EUS Sh ee a Na $46, 260 
ey TEAVEN RHEL FOUN OBE Eh WYO) AD) La oes SN ES ae oe ne eee aes eters 57, 160 
International Catalogue of Scientific Literature_______________-_- 8, 000 
ASTrOp MySites RO PSEGyeil OMe ee es ee a 31, 180 
IADOIMONRIOANSIStANE SeCreloitye aaa nate ie Se ee a ee 6, 000 
National Museum— 

LEMEID ghar sp Ge yee 6 UMD a Iss 52 ee ee $21, 800 
SNe eats 22 Es ee eS a 77, 560 
PPEservaLlonic OL veOMer bons een tim. he ue eee ree eS 441, 082 
Building) repairs einer sei. oot eee 12, 000 
EONS es Ro Taek Papa 2 ties ee ts he bea 1, 500 
BEY] if Vd cy meets See A aes Sepa A TE OO ee ea, SRP TIS SNS 450 
————. 554, 392 
Nationale Gralleryeoh, (A tit woke wee ee ee ee ee 21, 028 
NENT OO LOOT Gre dea kee we erates ee ee a ee ke 157, 000 
ARS edn Pa ee 0.0 CAE) Da CRIN ccs cpm ye Pe 90, 000 
"fer CUS Sem ere es es REEMA REL ER (ANE TSE OU a ORE EE SEY Coe 971, 020 


Respectfully submitted. 
Henry Wuirr, 
Frepertc A. DELANO, 
R. Wauron Moorr, 
Executive Committee. 


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ane ane esih ien “oi ULL RO Hew treba 
PR are da. tou: iit i sino cain a RI Sew ielect. [alte 


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an Cisieeerashs Re ee aS Y Cah ee och diana envi genyticrit' 

a ‘Oa ste Hail A ciletonnm taht almiaginns AES ERRE, HI Buia ht 

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be yee, tite “ sks seen ver aoa ue sherbet ihr eet ee ee 


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Hr, si LB i WARES ae Sylulbonys Ria ccginte Pe ite 


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Tnitation, + fis the Tekaenray ink tw By eLnis Prats, sapuake HM; 
ate Casmated io clue ceets' ot Te RON 248 
depth Bee. pinned fs eld ide Ct ee at aise 
ie, Wakhiira win | Ail iu a ‘erence wae ol snes fia’ 

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tka ef #03. ON AON | 


PROCEEDINGS OF THE BOARD OF REGENTS OF THE SMITH- 
SONIAN INSTITUTION FOR THE FISCAL YEAR ENDED 
JUNE 30, 1926 


ANNUAL MEETING DECEMBER 10, 1925 


Present: The Hon. William H. Taft, Chief Justice of the United 
States, chancellor; the Hon. Charles G. Dawes, Vice President of 
the United States; Senator Reed Smoot; Senator Woodbridge N. 
Ferris; Representative Albert Johnson; Representative R. Walton 
Moore; Mr. Charles F. Choate, jr.; Mr. Henry White; Mr. Robert 
S. Brookings; Mr. Frederic A. Delano; and the secretary, Dr. 
Charles D. Walcott. 


APPOINTMENT OF REGENTS 


The secretary reported the following appointments: Ex officio, 
March 4, 1925, Vice President Charles G. Dawes; by the President 
of the Senate, March 11, 1925, Senator Woodbridge N. Ferris, of 
Michigan, to fill the vacancy caused by the expiration of the term 
of Senator A. O. Stanley; by joint resolutions of Congress, citizen 
regents for six years, January 7, 1925, Mr. Robert S. Brookings; 
February 26, 1925, Judge George Gray. 


DEATH OF JUDGE GRAY 


The secretary announced the death of the Hon. George Gray on 
August 7, 1925, who was first appointed as a senatorial regent on 
December 20, 1892, serving until the expiration of his term on March 
2, 1899. He was next appointed as a citizen regent on January 14, 
1901, and served until August 7, 1925. 

Throughout this long service, the last 10 years of which he was 
chairman of the executive committee, Judge Gray was an active 
supporter of the work of the Institution and always ready to give 
time and thought to its interests. He was a valued member of the 
board and will long be missed both personally and officially. 

Mr. Choate offered the following resolutions, which were adopted: 

Whereas the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution having learned 
of the death on August 7, 1925, of the Hon, George Gray, a member of the 
board for over 30 years, the last 10 of which he served as chairman of the 
executive committee: Be it therefore 

Resolved, That the board here place on record an expression of their pro- 
found sorrow at the passing away of their colleague, whose deep interest and 

143 


144 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


wise judgment in the affairs of the Institution, to which he was always ready 
to devote his great learning and experience, made him a valued coworker in its 
behalf, and one whose loss will be keenly felt. 

Resolved, That while Judge Gray’s distinguished career as United States 
Senator, jurist, and public-spirited citizen had won for him a high and secure 
position on the roll of our country’s honored men, it is desired to add a 
tribute to his personal qualities, his never-failing courtesy, and his charm of 
manner, which endeared him to his colleagues on this board. 

Resolved, That a copy of these resolutions be transmitted by the secretary to 
the family of our deceased associate, with the respectful sympathy of the board 
in the loss they have sustained. 


VACANCY IN THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE 


The secretary stated that Judge Gray’s death had caused a vacancy 
in the membership of the executive committee, which the chancellor 
had filled by an ad interim appointment of Mr. Moore; and, further, 
that at a recent meeting of the committee Mr. White had been elected 
chairman. 

Mr. Johnson offered the following resolutions, which were adopted : 


Resolved, That the temporary appointment of the Hon. R. Walton Moore 
as a member of the executive committee be approved and made permanent. 

Resolved, That the election by the executive committee of Hon. Henry White 
as chairman be confirmed. 


RESOLUTION RELATIVE TO INCOME AND EXPENDITURE 


Mr. White, as chairman of the executive committee, submitted the 
following resolution, which was adopted: 


Resolved, That the income of the Institution for the fiscal year ending June 
30, 1927, be appropriated for the service of the Institution, to be expended by 
the secretary with the advice of the executive committee, with full discretion 
on the part of the secretary as to items. 


ANNUAL REPORT OF THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE 


Mr. White submitted in print the annual report of the executive 
committee, showing the financial condition of the Institution at the 
close of the fiscal year 1925. 


ANNUAL REPORT OF THE PERMANENT COMMITTEE 


Solar radiation researches.—As stated previously, this work is under the 
direction of Dr. Charles G. Abbot, assistant secretary of the Institution and 
director of the Astrophysical Observatory; and his report shows satisfactory 
progress at the stations at Mt. Montezuma, Chile; Table Mountain, Calif.; and 
at Washington, D. C. The operations have been financed by an annual grant 
of $5,000 from the Hodgkins fund of the Institution, and through the gener- 
osity of Mr. John A. Roebling. 

National Geographic Society grant—This organization has recognized the 
necessity for a new solar radiation station in the Hastern Hemisphere, to 
cooperate with those of the Astrophysical Observatory in Chile and California, 


PROCEEDINGS OF THE REGENTS 145 


and has generously made a grant of $55,000 to Doctor Abbot for the purpose 
of installing such a station. Doctor Abbot recently sailed for Europe and 
Africa for the purpose of selecting the best possible site for the new station. 

Freer sinking fund.—This fund, as has been explained, was established for 
the purpose of safeguarding the principal and income of the Freer Founda- 
tion. Under the plan of reinvesting a certain excess of the income, the fund 
has now reached the sum of $262,347.50. 

Consolidated fund.—This fund consists of bequests, gifts, and interest earn- 
ings, in excess of the $1,000,000 authorized by law to be deposited in the United 
States Treasury at 6 per cent interest. It now amounts to $218,186.50. 

Increase of endowment.—Under the authority of the board, the permanent 
committee has inaugurated a movement for increasing the endowment of the 


Institution. 
ANNUAL REPORT OF THE SECRETARY 


In presenting his printed annual report to June 30, 1925, the 
secretary said that since the last annual meeting of the board, 132 
publications have been issued, 67 of these by the Institution proper, 
62 by the National Museum, and 3 by the Bureau of American Eth- 
nology. During the fiscal year 1925 the Institution distributed 171,- 
865 copies of its publications. 'Two papers by your secretary have 
summarized several seasons’ work on certain of the life forms of the 
Cambrian and Lower Ozarkian rocks of the Canadian Rockies; 
three papers by Assistant Secretary Abbot and his associates, pre- 
senting a résumé of 20 years’ work on the sun’s radiation and the 
present status of the investigation on the relation of solar radiation 
to weather, have attracted wide and favorable attention from meteor- 
ologists throughout the world; a paper by Doctor Cushman on the 
foraminifera, which are minute fossil forms now used in locating 
and defining oil strata, has been in constant demand by the oil com- 
panies and by universities for training the much needed young oil 
geologists. 

It was stated in the 1924 report that an effort would be made to 
issue two Smithsonian annual reports in order to bring them up to 
date. This was accomplished, the reports for 1923 and 1924 having 
both appeared, and the manuscript for the 1925 volume is now ready 
to go to the printer. 

The National Museum issued the usual number of proceedings, 
papers, and several bulletins, including the monographic work on 
the Spider Crabs of America, by Mary J. Rathbun, and another 
of the popular series on Life Histories of North American Birds, 
by A. C. Bent. The outstanding publication by the Bureau of 
American Ethnology was the Handbook of the Indians of California, 
by Kroeber, for which there is an increasing demand. 


ANNUAL REPORT OF THE NATIONAL GALLERY OF ART COMMISSION 


The fifth annual meeting of the commission was held December 8, 1925. 
The report of the secretary of the commission for the calendar year 1925 


146 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


stated that additions to the collections fell short of the average of previous 
years, not greatly exceeding a hundred thousand dollars in estimated value, 
which was attributable in large part to the lack of suitable housing space. 
The most noteworthy accessions were: A statue of Carrara marble, entitled 
the Lybian Sibyl, by W. W. Story, gift of the Henry Cabot Lodge estate; and 
a marine painting by Edward Moran, a bequest of Mrs. Clara L. Tuckerman; 
also an important collection of art objects and ceramics, presented and 
bequeathed by the Rey. Alfred Duane Pell, of New York . 

The commission was of the opinion that it would be advisable to assemble 
at the National Gallery at intervals of five or more years all of the paintings 
purchased through the Ranger fund, in view of the provision that the National 
Gallery may reclaim any picture so purchased during the five-year period 
beginning 10 years after the death of the artist represented. By thus as- 
sembling the pictures a more intimate knowledge could be gained of them, 
and the wisest selection would thus be assured. Fifty-two paintings have 
been acquired and distributed to various institutions in accordance with the 
terms of Mr. Ranger’s will during the four years since the bequest became 
operative. 

Consideration was given to the matter of procedure in considering acceptance 
of bequests and gifts of art works, and after discussion the following resolution 
was adopted: 

“ Resolved, That the advisory committee of the National Gallery of Art 
Commission shall consist of the full membership of the commission; that in 
earrying out the functions of the advisory committee a quorum shall consist 
of seven members, four of whom shall be artists or museum directors.” 

The present officers, Mr. Gari Melchers, chairman, and Dr. W. H. Holmes, 
secretary, and the executive committee, were then reelected for the ensuing 
year. 


The report of the commission was accepted and Mr. Johnson 
submitted the following resolutions, which were adopted: 


Resolved, That the Board of Regents hereby approves the recommendation 
of the National Gallery of Art Commission that W. K. Bixby, W. H. Holmes, 
and H. L. Pratt be reelected as members of the commission for the ensuing 
term of four years, their present terms having expired. 

Resolved, That the board also approves the recommendation of the com- 
mission that John Russell Pope, architect, be elected a member of the com- 
mission to fill the vacancy caused by the termination of the appointment of 
A. Kingsley Porter. 


ADMINISTRATIVE APPOINTMENTS BY THE SECRETARY 


The secretary announced the appointment of Dr. Alexander 
Wetmore as assistant secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, and 
of Dr. William M. Mann as superintendent of the National 
Zoological Park. 


GOVERNMENT ACTIVITIES UNDER THE INSTITUTION 


The secretary made a comprehensive statement regarding the esti- 
mates and appropriations for the Government branches under the 
administrative charge of the Institution. 


PROCEEDINGS OF THE REGENTS 147 
INVESTMENTS OF THE FREER FUND 


The board adopted the following resolution as submitted by Mr. 
Moore: 

Resolved, That the permanent committee be, and it is hereby, authorized to 
sell any part of the stock * * * held under the will of Mr. Freer at such 
price as it may think desirable, after ascertaining all the facts that are avail- 
able, and invest the proceeds in high-grade bonds and mortgages. 


ASTROPHYSICAL OBSERVATORY 


The National Geographic Society having made a grant of $55,000 
to Doctor Abbot to select and install a new solar radiation station 
in the Eastern Hemisphere, to cooperate with those of the Astro- 
physical Observatory in Chile and California, Doctor Abbot sailed 
on October 31 via Engiand and France on this mission. 

Inspection of weather records show that three suitable regions 
remain distinct from those occupied and from each other. These 
are southwest Algeria, northeast Baluchistan, and South Africa. 
Doctor Abbot will examine these and install the new observatory in 
the most promising one. 

Having found from five years’ experience that summer conditions 
are unfavorable at the solar station on Mount Harqua Hala, Ariz., 
that station has been removed to Table Mountain, Calif., at a cost 
of about $10,000, defrayed by Mr. John A. Roebling. The new loca- 
tion has an altitude of 7,500 feet, being 2,000 feet higher than Harqua 
Hala, and is more accessible. Observations during the past 10 
months indicate that it will prove superior to Harqua Hala. 

Mr. Roebling, who has given over $123,000 to promote the Smith- 
sonian solar investigations and the studies of world weather based 
thereon, has withdrawn further support, as he thinks that the time 
has come for others to carry on the work. 


FREER GALLERY OF ART 


Karly in October word was received from Mr. Carl W. Bishop, 
associate curator of the Freer Gallery and leader of its archeological 
expedition to China, that Governor Yen Hsi-siang, of Shansi, had 
given him permission to operate anywhere within the boundaries of 
his Province. This constitutes by far the most important forward 
step taken since the work began, two and a half years ago; and for 
the first time in history the difficult task of prosecuting archeolog- 
ical research in China openly and on a basis of cooperation with the 
Chinese authorities was begun. This is the only method from which 
results of full scientific value may be reasonably expected. 


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GENERAL APPENDIX 


TO THE 


SMITHSONIAN REPORT FOR 1926 


20837—27——11 149 


ADVERTISEMENT 


The object of the Grnrrat Appenprx to the Annual Report of the 
Smithsonian Institution is to furnish brief accounts of scientific dis- 
covery in particular directions; reports of investigations made by 
collaborators of the Institution; and memoirs of a general character 
or on special topics that are of interest or value to the numerous 
correspondents of the Institution. 

It has been a prominent object of the Board of Regents of the 
Smithsonian Institution from a very early date to enrich the annual 
report required of them by law with memoirs illustrating the more 
vemarkable and important developments in physical and biological 
discovery, as well as showing the general character of the operations 
of the Institution; and, during the greater part of its history, this 
purpose has been carried out largely by the publication of such 
papers as would possess an interest to all attracted by scientific 
progress. 

In 1880, induced in part by the discontinuance of an annual sum- 
mary of progress which for 30 years previously had been issued by 
well-known private publishing firms, the secretary had a series of 
abstracts prepared by competent collaborators, showing concisely the 
prominent features of recent scientific progress in astronomy, geol- 
ogy, meteorology, physics, chemistry, mineralogy, botany, zoology, 
and anthropology. This latter plan was continued, though not alto- 
gether satisfactorily, down to and including the year 1888. 

In the report for 1889 a return was made to the earlier method of 
presenting a miscellaneous selection of papers (some of them origi- 
nal) embracing a considerable range of scientific investigation and 
discussion. This method has been continued in the present report 
for 1926. 

150 


THE NEW OUTLOOK IN COSMOGONY? 
By J. H. JEANS 


Astronomy has always stood aloof from the other sciences; her 
field of research is apart, her methods are entirely her own, and, 
most significant of all, her results have different values from those 
of other sciences. While these reward mankind by utilitarian gifts, 
new methods for the production of wealth, the increase of pleasure 
or the avoidance of pain, astronomy has so far given us only food 
for intellectual contemplation. This is preeminently true of cos- 
mognony, the branch of astronomy which is concerned with the prob- 
lem of how the astronomical bodies come to be where they are and 
as they are. 

From the practical standpoint, the outstanding difference between 
astronomy and the other sciences is the difference of scale. Most 
sciences progress by pursuing nature into the realms of the infinitely 
small, but for astronomy and cosmogony progress les in the direc- 
tion of the infinitely great, or, to be more exact, of the unthinkably 
great. For we now know with fair certainty that there is no in- 
finitely great. A number of considerations combine to show that 
the universe is finite, and it is just because we know this, and are 
beginning to discover the actual limits to the size of the universe, 
and to its duration in time, that the present position in astronomy 
and cosmogony is of quite unusual interest. These sciences stand 
to-day somewhat in the position in which geography found itself 
when the world had been circumnavigated and the limits of what 
remained unexplored first begun to be known. 

It was not until 1888 that the distance of a star was measured, 
-and the scale of structure of the universe revealed. In that year 
three astronomers, Bessel, Henderson, and Struve, independently 
measured the distances of three different stars. In each case the 
method employed was the “ parallactic”” method: the motion of the 
earth in its orbit causes the near stars to appear to move against the 
background formed by the remote stars, and from observations of 
the amount of this apparent motion the distances of the near stars 
can be deduced. But it has long been clear that the majority of 

1Reprinted by permission from The Nineteenth Century and After, Vol. XCVIII, No, 
586, December, 1925, 

151 


152 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


stars are much too far away for their distance to be measured in this 
manner, and in no event could the method tell us the distances of the 
most remote stars in the universe, for it can not succeed unless the 
star under observation is seen against a background of even more 
distant stars. It is only quite recently that other methods have 
provided a measure for sounding the furthest depths of the universe. 

The most fruitful of these methods depends on the special proper- 
ties of a certain class of stars called “Cepheid variables,” after their 
prototype, the star 6 Cephei. These stars do not shine with a steady 
light; at intervals which are always perfectly regular, but may range 
for different stars from a few hours to several days, they flash out 
to two or three times their original brightness. Just as the mariner 


recognizes a highthouse from amongst a crowd of other lights by the 


regular succession of its flashes and the nature of these flashes when 
they come, so the astronomer recognizes a Cepheid variable by the 
regularity, period, and nature of its light variations. In 1912 Miss 
Leavitt, of Harvard Observatory, discovered a simple relation be- 
tween the periods and the luminosities of the Cepheids which occur 
in the Smaller Magellanic Cloud; the slower the light variation of 
the Cepheid the more luminous it is—broadly speaking, its lumi- 
nosity varies inversely as a definite power of its period. More re- 
cently Doctor Shapley, the present director of Harvard Observa- 
tory, has shown that this relation, now generally known as the 
“ period-luminosity law,” is true of Cepheid variables in general. 
Whenever the astronomer detects a Cepheid variable and can meas- 
ure the length of its period, he can deduce the amount of light it 
emits. By comparing this with its apparent brightness, as observed 
through a terrestrial telescope, it is easy to determine its distance 
from us. The method is simply that of a mariner who estimates his 
distance from land by identifying a lighthouse, looking up its candle- 
power in a book of reference, and noticing its apparent brightness 
at the spot where he happens to be. The analogy to the parallactic 
method would of course be if the mariner, knowing the speed of his 
ship, should try to estimate his distance from land by noticing the 
rate at which a church spire or chimney on the coast appeared to 
move against a background of distant hills. This method does not 
demand the existence of a lighthouse of known candlepower, but 
would obviously be useless for a mariner far out at sea, and, as we 
have already noticed, it could in no case give the distance of the 
most remote objects visible. 

The discovery of the “ period-luminosity law” opened up a new 
world as regards exact survey of astronomical distances. It was 
first used by Doctor Shapley himself to determine the distances of 
the remarkable objects known as “globular star clusters.” These, 


COSMOGONY—JEANS 153 


as their name implies, are closely packed groups of stars of approxi- 
mately globular shape; seen through a powertul telescope, they lool 
rather like a swarm of bees, and produce the impression of being 
nests or birthplaces of families of stars. Only 69 of these objects 
are known, and, as practically no new ones have been discovered 
since the time of the Herschels, it is likely that there are none left 
to discover. They are all rich in Cepheid variables. Doctor Shap- 
ley finds that the distances of these 69 clusters range from 21,000 to 
216,000 light-years. In this and similar measurements the light- 
year is taken as the unit of distance because it is futile to express 
astronomical distances in terms of miles or other ordinary terrestrial 
standards of measurement. Light takes some eight minutes to travel 
from the sun to the earth, so that in one year it travels about 64,000 
times the distance from the earth to the sun; this is the distance that 
the astronomer describes as one light-year and takes as his unit of 
length. We begin to realize what is meant by the distance of a star 
cluster being hundreds of thousands of light-years if we reflect that 
what our telescope shows us is not the star-cluster as it now is, but 
the cluster as it was when primeval man dwelt on earth. Through 
the long prehistoric ages, through the slow dawn of civilization, and 
through the rise and fall of empires and dynasties, the light which 
left the cluster in remote ages has been traveling toward us at the 
rate of 186,000 miles every second and has only just reached us. 

Quite recently Doctor Hubble, of Mount Wilson Observatory, has 
discovered Cepheid variables in certain of the spiral nebule, and 
so is able to estimate the distances of these nebule. The most 
remote of the nebule so far discussed proves to be the well-known 
“ Andromeda nebula” (M. 31), at a distance of 950,000 light-years; 
others are at comparable distances. Using a slightly different 
method, Doctor Shapley has estimated the distance of the star cloud 
N. G. C. 6822 as being about a million light-years. 

The two objects just mentioned are the most remote at present 
known. Are we to suppose that they fix the approximate limits of 
the universe, or must we look forward to a continual expansion of 
the observed size of the universe as the power of our telescopes 
continually increases? It is not possible to give a final answer to 
this question, but a considerable mass of evidence points to the 
former alternative as being probably the true one. Our sun is 
one of a group of some two or three thousand million stars which 
form a disk-shaped or biscuit-shaped structure girdled by the Milky 
Way. It has long been understood that this particular star group 
can not be of infinite extent. If it were, the sky would appear as a 
continuous blaze of light, and the gravitational force produced by 
this infinite mass of stars would be so intense that our sun and 


154 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


other stars would move with almost infinite velocities. The star 
field can not even be of uniform density as far as our telescopes can 
reach, for if it were the number of stars visible in different tele- 
scopes would be proportional to the cubes of their apertures. This 
is not in actual fact found to be the case; a 2-inch telescope has ten 
times the aperture of our naked eye, but does not reveal a thousand 
times as many stars. Thus the stars must thin out quite per- 
ceptibly even within the distances we can sound with a 2-inch tele- 
scope. By a refinement of this method it has been found possible 
to explore the limits of size of the star field of which our sun is 
a member and to estimate the number of stars it contains. 

This star field, although it may quite possibly be the largest 
single object in the universe, is by no means the whole universe. 
Outside it, or possibly on its outer confines, lie a variety of other 
objects, in particular the star clusters, all of which are much smaller, 
and the spiral and other nebule, the largest of which approximate 
to itin size. The theory of “ island universes ” which was originally 
propounded by Sir W. Herschel, but subsequently fell into disfavor, 
seems to be reinstated by recent observational work, and we now 
get the best picture of the universe by thinking of it as consisting of a 
number of subuniverses, detached from one another like islands on 
an ocean. We can form a rough estimate of the extreme distance 
of some of these islands from a consideration of the extreme faint- 
ness of the individual stars; but the Cepheid variables, the lght- 
houses on these islands, enable the astronomer to map out their 
positions with comparative accuracy. Our own star system is a 
very big island indeed, with the sun not far from its center; the big 
nebula in Andromeda is another big island, smaller but of com- 
parable size; while the star clusters and smaller nebule are islands 
on a smaller scale. Considerations similar to those already men- 
tioned, which enable astronomers to assign limits to the size of 
our star field, show that we must also fix limits to this ocean of 
island universes, and it seems probable that the limits do not he 
very far beyond the two most remote objects whose distances have 
so far been measured, namely, the spiral nebula M. 381 at 950,000 
light-years, and the star cloud N. G. C. 6822 at about 1,000,000 
light-years. 

To fix our ideas we may suppose, agevciih it is little more than 
a guess, that the most remote objects of all in our universe are at 
four times the distance of these two remote objects, and so at 4,000,- 
000 light-years from us. We may now attempt to get these ideas 
into focus by constructing a mode] of the complete universe on 
the scale of a million million miles to the foot. The amount of 
reduction involved in such a scale is best visualized, perhaps, by 


COSMOGONY—JEANS $55 


thinking in terms of motions rather than of distances. Light, 
which can circle the earth seven times in a second, would move in 
our model with a speed rather below that at which a blade of grass 
grows in the spring. On this scale the whole universe will be 
represented by a sphere of the size of our earth, the star cloud of 
which our sun is a member will be an island of about the size of 
Yorkshire, while the big Andromeda nebula will be rather larger 
than the Isle of Wight, although with very ill-defined boundaries. 
The whole solar system in this model can be easily covered by a 
grain of sand, while our earth, now shrunk to less than a ten- 
millionth of an inch in diameter, is hardly larger than a single 
molecule in this grain of sand. 

Such is the universe which the astronomer hands over to the 
cosmogonist for interpretation. The cosmogonist, accepting the 
universe as it is, must try to discover why it is thus and not other- 
wise. What the astronomer regards as a compilation of observed 
facts is for the cosmogonist the last link in a long chain of processes, 
a crosscut through the warp and the woof of cause and effect. 
While the astronomer is satisfied if he can see the universe as it is, 
the cosmogonist must ever strive to see it as it has been and as it 
will be. Just as one of the astronomer’s main problems is to assign 
limits to the universe in space, so one of the main problems for the 
cosmogonist is to assign similar limits in time. 

There must be such limits. The universe can not go on for- 
ever as it now is, and neither can it have existed in its present 
condition from all eternity. KEvery star is continually radiating 
energy away into space, and we have no knowledge of any appre- 
ciable part of this radiation coming back or of the stars replenishing 
their sources of energy in any way. The universe is running down 
like a clock which no one winds up. 

The sun has some ten thousand million million million square 
inches of surface, and every square inch is radiating away energy 
at a rate which represents the energy output of a 50-horsepower 
engine. If this energy were supplied to the sun from a power 
station, coal would have to be burned at the rate of about a million 
million million tons a minute. This makes it clear that the sun’s 
energy can not, as was at one time thought, originate in the combus- 
tion of the sun’s mass. At a later date Meyer suggested that the 
sun’s energy might be continually replenished by the infall of meteor- 
ites, while Helmholtz subsequently propounded his well-known 
contraction theory, according to which the energy of the sun’s radia- 
tion is provided by the falling in of the sun’s mass under his own 
gravitational attraction. Both these theories implied limits to the 
duration of the sun’s radiation, and both limits were far too short 
to accord with known facts. Meteorites could not have been falling 


156 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


into the sun forever, or the sun would already be of infinite mass; 
in actual fact it was shown that meteorites could not have been fall- 
ing into the sun at the requisite rate for more than about 20,000,000 
years, or the sun would by now have become more massive than it 
actually is. Similarly as regards the Helmholtz theory—the sun 
can not have been contracting to the requisite extent for more than 
about 20,000,000 years, or it would have shrunk already to less than 
its present dimensions. 

Such periods of time are impossibly small for the sun’s life. 
Geologists find evidence that things have been much as they now 
are on our earth for periods of at least hundreds of millions of 
years, while physical research on the radioactive contents of certain 
Canadian rocks fixes their age at 1,400,000,000 years at the least, 
and analysis of other rocks gives confirmatory evidence. If, as is 
generally accepted, the sun is the parent of our earth, the sun must 
at least be older than the oldest of terrestrial rocks. It was at one 
time thought possible that radioactivity could provide our sun with 
energy for an almost unlimited span of radiation, but the possibility 
did not materialize. Sir Ernest Rutherford calculated that even if 
the sun started life in the most radioactive state possible, namely as 
a sphere of pure uranium, its radioactivity could provide for at 
most 5,000,000 years of radiation at the present rate. It was by now 
abundantly clear that the true source of the sun’s energy must be such 
as to provide the sun with a length of life of a different order of 
magnitude from anything hitherto thought of. 

In 1905 Ejinstein’s first theory of relativity appeared. ‘This 
required that an increase in the energy of any material system should 
be accompanied by an increase in its mass. It had for some years 
been recognized as a special property of electrified bodies that their 
mass increased pari passu with their energy; the theory of relativity 
now showed this to be a general property of matter in all states and 
conditions. The converse must of course also be true, so that a body, 
such as our sun, which is losing energy by radiation must also be 
losing mass. When the rate of loss of energy of any body is known, 
it is easy to calculate the corresponding rate of loss of mass; from 
the sun’s known rate of radiation it is found that its mass must be 
diminishing at the rate of about 250,000,000 tons a minute. 

This statement does not necessarily imply that there are fewer 
atoms or molecules in the sun at the end of the minute than there 
were at its commencement. If the sun were merely cooling down, 
like a red-hot cannon ball suspended in space, the heat agitation 
of each molecule would be less at the end of each minute than at 
its commencement, so that, on the average, the molecules would 
be moving more slowly and so have smaller mass. The aggregate 
of the decreases of mass of all the innumerable molecules in one 


le cea OT Sa Nf A ee Ee 


—— 


COSMOGONY—JEANS 157 


minute would amount to exactly the 250,000,000 tons in question. 
The crux of the situation lies in the circumstance that at most a 
millionth part of the total mass of the sun is of this easily shed 
kind, and that if this were the only part of its mass of which the 
sun could dispossess itself, its radiation could not possibly last for 
more than a few millions of years. Suppose, however, that proc- 
esses are at work in the sun’s interior by which the molecules can 
be not merely slowed down, but actually annihilated. In such a 
case the whole mass of the annihilated molecule is turned into en- 
ergy, and the whole mass of the sun—two thousand million million 
million million tons—becomes available for transformation into 
radiation. At the present rate of radiation, represented by 250,- 
000,000 tons a minute, the total mass of the sun would provide 
radiation for fifteen million million years. 

The most likely way in which mass could be compietely trans- 
formed into radiation would be by the positive and negative electric 
charges of which all matter is constructed rushing into one another 
and mutually annihilating one another. When the two terminals 
of a charged Leyden jar are brought into contact, we see a spark 
and hear a snap—a thunderstorm in miniature—which show that 
energy has been set free somewhere. In actual fact we know that 
the energy came from the rushing together of electric charges of 
opposite sign which have neutralized one another. Recent research 
has shown quite conclusively that a hydrogen atom consists of two 
electrically charged particles, one, the electron, being negatively 
charged, and the other, the proton, being positively charged; there 
is nothing else. If these two charged particles could be brought 
into actual contact it is fairly certain that the charges would neu- 
tralize one another, and, as we have no experience of uncharged 
electrons or protons, it may reasonably be supposed that the electron 
and proton would annihilate one another also. It is even more prob- 
able that there would be nothing left to annihilate, for it is already 
known that the whole mass of the electron comes from its electric 
charge, so that to speak of an uncharged electron is a contradiction 
in terms, and the same is almost certainly true of the proton. Thus, 
in the falling together of the electron and proton of the hydrogen 
atom, the whole mass of the atom ought to be transformed into 
radiation. It hardly seems likely that more complex atoms would 
annihilate themselves in a single process of the kind; more prob- 
ably there would be a successive falling in of electrons one at a 
time, so that the atom would gradually diminish its mass, and, of 
course, also its complexity. But the details of the process are un- 
important; in whatever way the annihilation of mass is achieved, 
the final result is the same, as also, of course, is the total amount of 
radiation which is set free. 

20837—27——-12 


158 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


In 1914 Professor H. N. Russell, of Princeton, propounded a 
scheme of stellar evolution whose main features at least have won 
general acceptance. According to this scheme, all the stars are 
moving down the same evolutionary ladder. Some start at the top, 
some perhaps join in part of the way down, but all pursue the same 
course and all end in the same way. At the top of the ladder are 
stars of the very highest luminosity, radiating perhaps ten thousand 
times as much light and heat as our sun. Moving down the ladder, 
the luminosity of the stars decreases, we pass stars like Sirius 
radiating some forty times as much as our sun, then, well down on 
the ladder, our sun and stars of similar luminosity; finally, on still 
lower rungs, are stars so faint as to be almost invisible. No doubt 
there are even lower rungs occupied by stars which have become 
perfectly invisible, but these need not concern us here. 

Since the appearance of Russell’s theory, it has gradually emerged 
that the stars on the highest rungs are of far greater mass than 
those on the lowest rungs. Not only so, but all the stars on any 
one rung—i. e., all stars having the same luminosity—are of approxi- 
mately equal mass, and there is a gradual diminution of mass as 
we pass down the ladder. If, then, as there is no serious reason 
for doubting, the stars are all moving down the ladder as their 
evolution progresses, it follows that they must all the time be di- 
minishing in mass. Having reached this conclusion, it becomes 
natural to conjecture that the diminution of mass precisely repre- 
sents the output of radiation. The hypothesis becomes something 
more than a conjecture when it is found that it satisfies every quan- 
titative test which can be applied to it. 

Since the rate of radiation of the stars on each rung of the ladder 
is known, it becomes an easy matter to calculate the rate at which 
they would be moving down the ladder on the hypothesis that their 
diminution of mass is the exact equivalent of their radiation. A 
simple addition then gives the time which a star would take, on 
the same hypothesis, to pass from any one rung of the ladder to any 
other. . It is found, for instance, that the time from Sirius to our 
sun is about 6,400,000 years; from the brightest of known stars to 
the faintest is of the order of two hundred million million years, 
while from the brightest to our sun is rather over seven million mil- 
lion years. It is significant that these hypothetical ages for different 
types of stars fit in well with estimates that can be made from certain 
purely astronomical evidence which is wholly independent of any 
hypotheses as to the source of steller radiation. Unfortunately the 
evidence is all too technical for discussion here, but it leaves little 
room for doubt that the long-standing problem of the origin of stellar 
radiation has been solved, and that the solution is the amazingly sim- 


COSMOGONY—JEANS 159 


ple one that the origin of a star’s heat is the star’s mass. He lives by 
transforming his mass into radiation; we can estimate his present age 
by noticing how much of him is left, and another calculation, based 
on the same datum tells us how much longer a life he may expect. 
The interval from top to bottom of the evolutionary ladder, about 
two hundred million million years, is the total life of a star, and 
stars differ one from another mainly in being merely higher or 
lower on the ladder, younger or older. 

The ages of the stars are not the same thing as the age of the 
universe, nor even are they necessarily comparable with that age. 
The stars may be likened to icebergs coming down from the North 
and melting as they drift into tropical waters. We can estimate 
the ages of the icebergs within our vision, but we can not say for 
how long the stream of icebergs has been drifting down from pole 
to equator nor for how long new icebergs will continue to form 
and come down to replace those that pass southward to their 
doom. Over the polar regions where the icebergs are born a veil 
of fog is drawn, and we do not know how to look behind that veil. 
But the problem of the ages of those stars which are now in being 
is a comparatively simple one, and for all practical purposes these 
constitute the universe for the astronomer and cosmogonist alike. 
To each star can be assigned a total span of life of the order of a 
hundred million million years followed by darkness and _ possibly 
ultimate extinction; to our sun we can assign a past life of about 
seven million million years, so that as regards time, although not 
as regards magnificence, the greater part of his life is yet to come. 

The ages which we must now attribute to our sun and the other 
stars are many hundreds of times longer than was, until quite re- 
cently, thought probable or even possible. This extension of the 
time scale will call for a rearrangement of ideas in many depart- 
ments of cosmogony and astronomy. Many of the questions involved 
are of a highly technical nature, but one is comparatively simple as 
well as of great interest. Of the various theories which have been 
put forward to explain the origin of our earth and the other planets, 
the so-called tidal theory seems (to the present writer at least) to offer 
enormously more advantages and to be open to far fewer objections 
than any of the others. According to this theory, our sun, some time 
in the past in his voyage through space, must have encountered a 
star more massive than himself traveling on a course which came so 
near to his own that enormous tides were raised on his surface, tides 
of such colossal height that the tops of the tidal waves lost all con- 
tact with the underlying parts and started on independent careers 
of their own as planets. When submitted to mathematical treat- 
ment this theory shows itself able to account for the main features of 


160 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


the arrangement of the solar system in a very gratifying way. It 
was, however, until quite recently, open to one very serious objection. 
The distances of the stars from one another are enormously great in 
comparison with their dimensions. If we take six cricket balls and 
place one each in Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia, North America, 
and South America, we have a model showing the arrangement of 
the six stars nearest to our sun and their distances apart relative to 
their dimensions. Since the stars are generally very many of their 
diameters apart, it must be a very rare event for their tracks to come 
to within a few diameters of one another, and yet the tidal theory 
requires an approach to within less than two diameters before planets 
can be born. Under the old views as to the ages of the stars it was 
exceedingly unlikely that a specified star such as our sun should have 
experienced so close an approach throughout the whole of his life, 
and this constituted a serious objection to the tidal theory. But the 
recent extension of the ages of the stars has removed this reproach; 
stars which have wandered about amongst other stars for millions 
of millions of years must be expected to have had several fairly close 
approaches to their neighbors. Jiven now, however, approaches of 
the extreme closeness necessary to give birth to planets must be 
counted as somewhat rare; a small proportion only of the stars in 
the sky are likely to be surrounded by families of planets and so to 
form possible abodes of life. 

At one time it seemed possible that cosmognony might come down 
from her lofty pedestal and make good for her former deficiency in 
the matter of utilitarian gifts by bringing the most utilitarian gift of 
all—the secret of obtaining free energy. Jor if the stars are inces- 
santly turning matter into energy, there would seem to be no reason 
why mankind should not learn their secret, and obtain mechanical 
power by annihilating small quantities of matter instead of labori- 
ously winning, transporting, and burning millions of tons of coal; 
the total consumption of coal in the British Isles produces less heat, 
light, and energy than could be obtained by the annihilation of an 
ounce of matter per day. But, so far as can at present be seen, this 
dream is not destined to be fulfilled. An analysis of the facts of 
astronomy suggests that there must be all sorts and types of matter 
mixed together in the stars; some only, not all, of these types are 
changing into energy at an appreciable rate, and these particular 
types, for good or for bad, are absent from our earth. They prob- 
ably consist of elements heavier than uranium, the heaviest element 
known on earth; it is even possible that the capacity for spontaneous 
disintegration shown by the atoms of uranium and the other radio- 
active elements, the heaviest of terrestrial substances, may represent 
the surviving vestiges of an earlier power of these same atoms to 
lessen their mass by throwing off radiation. 


INFLUENCES OF SUN RAYS ON PLANTS AND ANIMALS 


By C. G. ABBOT 


[With 5 plates] 


The delight which we take in the lovely shapes, colors, and odors 
of the many species of flowering plants suggests a different emphasis 
on a famous argument. Hardly any work was more celebrated in its 
time than Dean Paley’s “ Natural Theology,” although it is little 
read now. The author conceives one to be wandering upon a 
desolate moor remote from human habitation. He chances to strike 
his foot upon a round object so curious as to arouse his careful 
attention. It is, in short, a watch, provided with the little wheels, 
the springs, the hands, the hour marks, and all the intricate parts 
that we know so well. Although there is no man in sight, nor indeed 
any habitation for many miles, there arises this conclusion: The 
plain evidence of complex contrivance for a sagacious purpose 
demands the previous existence of a highly intelligent contriver. 
The watch could not just have happened to come into being. 

We need not follow the logical unfolding of the theme, in which 
the able Dean argues from the evidences of design in the human 
body to the existence of an intelligent creator. Paley’s argument 
was indeed illustrated mainly from the animal kingdom, but, as we 
shall see, plants exhibit adaptations almost equally curious. 

Our present thought, however, is slightly different. Such con- 
trivances as the human eye and ear, and others which Paley refers 
to, are plainly suitable means to attain certain objects of utility. If 
they be evidences of design, the character of the Designer that seems 
to be suggested is the careful Parent providing necessary things 
for the use of His children. But a rose or a violet seems to turn 
our thought differently. It might well be the expression of a beauty- 
loving, benevolent, pleasure-providing Creator, designing not merely 
necessities, but delicately refined joys and pleasures, for the promo- 
tion of graces of character in His noblest creatures. 

The sun’s place in plant life is more extraordinary by far than 
it is in the animal economy. Growing vegetation is a laboratory 
where sun rays unite carbonic acid gas of the air with watery fluid 
brought up through the roots of the plant, building up from these 
two simple materials some of the most complex substances known 
to organic chemistry. Although consisting mainly of water, traces 
of the other chemical elements are dissolved in the fluid which the 

161 


162 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


roots imbibe, sufficient to complete those complex compounds so 
indispensable to life. 

It has been estimated that a square mile of dense hardwood forest 
may use over 500 tons of carbonic acid gas and over 1,000,000 tons 
of water in a season for such chemical activities. In dry countries 
such prodigality with water would be, of course, impossible. This 
figure represents a depth of nearly 114 feet of quid water over 
the whole area, which is from one-third to one-sixth of the total 
yearly rainfall of very moist climates, and exceeds by fivefold the 
yearly rainfall of some of the great deserts. 

Only a small part of the imbibed water is retained by vegetation. 
The leaves have a multitude of little mouths, called stomata, which, 
when under the influence of light, suck in carbonic acid gas and 
exude oxygen and water vapor. In darkness, plants exude carbonic 
acid gas slowly. This seems to be an attribute of all living cells, plant 
as well as animal. It no doubt goes on in the light with plants 
also, but is obscured by the opposite reaction just mentioned. The 
combined area of all the stomata hardly amounts to 1 per cent of 
the area of the leaves, so that it is hard to see how so much material 
can pass through such tiny orifices. It has, indeed, been shown that 
if one-half the leaf area were kept wet with fresh, strong caustic 
potash solution, it could not absorb carbonic acid gas faster than 
the stomata. 

Brown and Escombe resolved the puzzle. They showed by lab- 
oratory experiments that when carbonic acid gas is admitted through 
a small orifice into a medium which absorbs it as fast as admitted, 
the amount transmitted is proportional, not to the area, but to the 
diameter of the orifice. For example, the same area of opening, if 
split up into four parts, will admit twice as much carbonic acid gas 
as when forming only one orifice, since the diameter of the large 
orifice is but twice the diameters of the four small ones. This 
paradox, of course, depends on a more rapid rate of flow of the gases 
through the smaller apertures. 

Nature avails herself of this strange secret by crowding stomata 
something like 1,000,000 to the square inch. She thus adapts her 
leaves to suck in their sustenance and give out the waste products 
almost as rapidly as if the whole leaf were one aperture, while really 
about 99 per cent of its surface is closed to protect the delicate cells 
within. 

Even this is not the whole story. The stomata, like mouths of 
animals, may be either wide open, shut, or partly open, and they go 
through all of these variations. It is not known exactly how they 
are regulated. We, at least, do not suppose that the plants use 
volition as men do in opening their mouths. Yet it is conceivable 


SUN RAYS—ABBOT 163 


that, if sunlight was exceedingly bright on a hot summer day, the 
evaporation of water could be so great that the chemical products 
left behind would exceed the requirements of the plant, and kill it 
by overfeeding. Against such a possibility perhaps the stomata 
might need to be partially closed. On the other hand, if the air was 
very free from clouds and moisture, and a strong cool breeze blow- 
ing, the plant might become chilled by excessive evaporation unless 
the stomata were partly closed. There are, at all events, automatic 
devices within the leaf mechanism which attend to this needful 
regulation of the stomata. Beside these regulating devices, the 
leaves themselves, under the influence of changing sunlight, turn 
face toward or edge toward the sun according to the plants’ 
requirements. 

If the penetration of gases through the stomata in such profusion 
was a great puzzle, the ascent of the sap is, perhaps, even more ex- 
traordinary. For imagine a forest of gigantic Eucalyptus trees, 
which sometimes reach heights of 500 feet, and conceive of the en- 
ergy demanded to lift in a single summer hundreds of thousands 
of tons of water on each square mile from the ground to the leafy 
tops. A common vacuum pump, it is well known, can not lft water 
above 33 feet, so that we dismiss at once the thought that the air 
pressure is working for the trees. What form of energy and appli- 
cation of force are these which the tree commands to do this lifting? 

The energy is the heat of sun rays, and the forces at work are 
the capillary attraction and surface tension of water. By means of 
the capillary tubelike network of cells, which run from the roots up 
through the trunk of the tree, there is formed a connection between 
the stomata of the leaves and the water of the ground. These enor- 
mously numerous capillary passages are filled with fluid, partly li- 
quid, partly gaseous. At their orifices, which are the stomata of the 
leaves and twigs, the sun’s heat produces a continuous evaporation 
of pure water, leaving behind in the tree the traces of chemicals 
which the soil furnishes with the water and which yield plant food. 

We seldom think of the forces of capillarity and surface tension 
which come into play, though they are the same that raise kerosene 
oil in a lamp wick, and that make drops of oil spread over a wet 
pavement. These forces are limited in their action to distances far 
less than the thickness of a single sheet of tissue paper, but are ex- 
tremely powerful in circumstances where they are at their maximum 
strength. For instance, a single drop of water introduced between 
two flat glasses slightly inclined to each other, will run rapidly to 
the narrowest spaces, and will draw the two plates together so 
strongly as even to bruise or crush the glass. Similarly, two blocks 
of ice placed loosely together, and so that the water which melts 
from them can drain away, will be drawn together by the remaining 


164 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


water so closely that the two ice blocks become united into one by 
cohering together. ‘This process is called regelation. On the con- 
trary, the fluid, mercury, which does not wet glass, will, on account 
of surface tension escape from between two glasses, even if by doing 
so it must create a vacuum gehind. 

The rise of water and other liquids 1 in very fine tubes is a conse- 
quence of surface tension, which in this connection is often called 
capillary force. ‘The heights to which a column of liquid will rise in 
a tube which it wets is inversely proportional to the diameter of 
the tube. The extreme fineness of the porous structure of the trunks, 
twigs, and leaves of trees, therefore, is adapted to convey the liquids 
imbibed by the roots to very great heights. The evaporation of 
water from the stomata of the leaves and twigs makes place for the 
continuous renewal of liquid by capillary action from below. This 
upward current is conveyed by the interior part of the tree stem. 
As it has been observed to reach great heights in dead trees, we must 
adopt some such physical explanation as has been given, and not 
invent a mysterious “life force” for the purpose, as older botanists 
were prone to do. 

The soft, live, outer part of the plant, just within the bark, has 
another function. It is to carry downwards to the extremities of 
the roots the chemical products built up im the leaves and green 
parts under the action of sunlight. 

Thus, in a live plant, as in a live animal, there is a fluid circulation. 
The manner of it, to be sure, is exceedingly different. Instead of the 
force pump, which we call the heart, there is substituted in the 
plant the force of capillary action, lifting the watery fluid to the 
tops of majestic trees. It brings, dissolved, the chemical plant foods 
from the ground, and so feeds the trees. ‘The return current, much 
less in volume, is probably maintained by still another modification 
of surface tension which we call osmotic pressure. This is a force, 
which often greatly exceeds atmospheric pressure. It is always ex- 
isting between watery solutions of chemical substances in different 
concentrations, tending to drive the more concentrated solution into 
the one less concentrated. Thus, the force of osmotic pressure tends 
to produce a uniform mixture. In a tree, it takes the more concen- 
trated products of solar chemistry from the laboratory of the leaves, 
and conveys them downward through the living layers under the 
bark to the roots, to nourish these, and to be laid up, beyond the in- 
fluence of wintry frost, for the renewal of the leaves in the spring. 

The reader should not conclude from what has been said that the 
life processes of a tree are wholly understood. On the contrary, 
the best informed plant physiologists admit that they are confronted 
by a maze of mysteries which become more bewildering with addi- 
tional research. They are becoming convinced that the simple proto- 


SUN RAYS—ABBOT 165 


plasmic living cells in plants and animals have much in common. 
A plant, like an animal, is to be looked upon as a colony of cells. 
Just as in a society of bees, or of ants, some individuals are told off 
and become modified in structure to perform certain duties neces- 
sary to the life of the society as a whole, so in plants and in animals 
the protoplasmic cells are, as physiologists say, differentiated, some ~ 
for one function, some for another. By what physical agencies this 
is done is the mystery of hfe. ‘Thus, we have in the plant the root 
with a variety of cells, some for imbibing ground water, others for 
storing food during’ wintry cold, still others forming a protecting 
covering. Again in the stem are some adapted for mechanical resist- 
ance to pressures like those of winds, others promoting the passage 
of foodstutis, and still others protecting the interior from exposure. 
In the leaves there are the variety of special cells, adapted for the 
several different functions involved in nature’s solar chemistry. 
Finally, in the flowers and ripening fruits are other varieties of 
cells set apart for the many functions associated with reproduction. 
All of these modifications of the primordial cell work together in 
admirable harmony to promote hfe and growth of the cell colony 
which we call a plant. One may be apt to think of it as very inferior 
to the cell colony which we call the animal. Tor does it not lack 
a nervous system for communication, and also the capacity for 
motion? But the latest researches seem to show that the plant is 
not so deficient in these respects as might be supposed. What, for 
instance, causes a bending of the stem toward the light, and the 
development of rudimentary buds into growing shoots when the 
terminal bud is lost, if there be no communication of useful impulses 
through the body of a plant? What leads to the great storage of 
food in the root system, to prepare for the dormant period of winter, 
and for the uprush of the sap in spring, to cause the leaves and buds 
to burst forth? These are but a few of the great mysteries which, 
the closer they are studied, the higher they tend to raise our admira- 
tion. Finally, the plant kingdom has the great superiority over 
the animal that, like the farmer among men, it furnishes by its 
unique employment of solar radiation, not only the means to feed 
its own living cells, but all those of the animal world besides. 
Already, therefore, we have discovered in the plant two indis- 
pensable activities of the sun. The first is the mysterious combining 
influence of certain solar rays, which, acting in green leaves, build 
up the most complex life chemicals from such simple materials as 
carbonic acid gas of the air and weakly impregnated water from 
the ground. This is an action as yet inimitable in the laboratory. 
We have yet to learn its intricacy and causation. The second indis- 
pensable action of solar energy is to evaporate from the leaves and 
twigs enormous quantities of water. Thus are left behind, in suit- 


166 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


able concentration for the use of the chemistry of plants, the various 
needful chemicals brought up in extremely diluted form in the 
water imbibed by the roots. 

But this is not all. In producing this immense evaporation, the 
sun counteracts its own influence to unduly heat and scorch the 
delicate leaves. ‘Turning lquid water to vapor requires a very 
large supply of heat. So the sun-heat absorbed by the leaves is 
safely dissipated. Indeed, as in the human body, there is a rough 
uniformity of temperature preserved in plant leaves, and largely 
by the regulatory action of evaporation. Some plants, indeed, have 
automatic mechanisms which turn their parts toward the sun, 
or edgewise to its rays, according to requirement. ‘These plant mo- 
tions are well known, as we see them in the sunflower and the nastur- 
tium, and are, indeed, very common in the plant realm. 

Fourthly, the sun maintains a suitable temperature. Plant growth 
requires a state of temperature whose range is practically limited 
between 0° and 50° C. (82° and 122° F.). It is this state of affairs 
which the sun maintains constantly in the tropics, and through a 
part of the year in temperate and polar zones. Later we shall note 
some curious effects which temperature regulation may produce in 
plants. 

Such are the four great services of sun rays to plants, but in their 
response to these influences the plants exhibit a most interesting 
variety. Astonishing changes in growth and texture may be brought 
about merely by altering the temperature of environment, the dura- 
tion of sunlight, and the intensity and spectral quality of sun rays. 
Changes in the water ration, the chemistry of the soil, and the con- 
centration of carbonic acid gas in the air, also produce profound 
effects, but as these are but indirectly affected by the sun, we shall 
not discuss them, but turn our attention to the direct influences 
first mentioned. 

Col. Boyce Thompson has munificently established in Yonkers, 
New York, a laboratory splendidly equipped for the investigation of 
such effects, as well as for the study of plant diseases. In basement 
rooms there are provided cooling pipes and automatic regulators 
adapted to keep plants for as long as desired at definite tempera- 
tures and under powerful batteries of electric lamps adapted as a 
substitute for sun rays. The potted plants are mounted on little 
perambulators so that when the desired time of exposure in one 
temperature has elapsed, they may be removed to different tempera- 
ture surroundings. Instances of the curious results are shown in 
the accompanying illustrations. 

In another part of the laboratory is a glass-roofed hothouse. But 
the glass is not all the same. One part is tinged with violet, another 


SUN RAYS—ABBOT OS ae 


with blue green, another with yellow orange, another with red, and 
one is of clear glass. Thus the rays of sun and sky are modified 
by the absorption of the glass so that different regions of the spec- 
trum are most effective for the several little gardens. It is very 
curious to see the changes of color in a lady’s dress as she passes 
from garden to garden under the control of these different colored 
lights. These conditions change remarkably the character of the 
plant growth as shown by the accompanying illustrations. 

There is also a great movable roof which can be rolled over the 
hothouses. This is provided with clusters of powerful electric lamps 
sufficient to be a substitute for sunlight. With this apparatus, 
experiments in the effect of continuous and partial time illumination 
are performed. Some of the results are shown in the illustrations. 
This field has also had much attention by Doctor Garner and associ- 
ates of the United States Department of Agriculture. 

_ Everyone knows how a potato in a dark cellar in springtime sends 

out its white sprouts, which stretch away sometimes a yard or more 
toward some feeble crack of light. Here we see two things of 
importance. First, that the healthy green development necessary 
to sound growth can not take place without adequate light, and, 
second, that insufficient light leads to monstrous elongation of plant 
stems. 

In the solar chemistry of the leaves, their green coloring matter, 
called chlorophyl, seems to be indispensable. Yet it does not itself 
join permanently in the reactions, but rather seems to be what is 
called a catalyst, which in chemistry means some substance that is 
necessary to cause reactions to happen, but is not itself a part either 
of the original materials or of the end products. What must happen 
in plant chemistry is the joining of each molecule of carbonic acid 
gas with a certain number of molecules of water, and the removal 
from the mixture of one molecule of oxygen, leaving the compound 
a single stable molecule of the type called a sugar. There are many 
sugars and near sugars. Of these our ordinary cane-sugar molecule 
includes 12 atoms of carbon with 11 atoms of oxygen and 22 atoms of 
hydrogen. Much simpler sugarlike substances exist, but all, as we 
remarked above, have the general formula C,O,,H.n, where C, O, H, 
stand for atoms of carbon, oxygen, and hydrogen, and n and m stand 
for numbers which may run up nearly to a score. 

The sugars are closely allied to the starches, whose molecules 
have the same general relations of numbers of the three chemical 
constituents, but contain several or many times as many atoms as 
the sugars. Starches are stored up by the plants in great profusion 
in their roots, tubers, and fruits. They break up readily into sugars. 
Starches, sugars, and, in addition, cellulose, in whose molecules are 
also found the same general proportions of the three constituents, 


168 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


carbon, oxygen, and hydrogen, as in starch and sugar, compose the 
main part of plant substance. Some of the other chemical elements, 
to be sure, are necessary to healthy plants, though in very small 
proportions. The chemical formulae of some of these compounds 
are excessively complicated, and raise our admiration for plant 
chemistry. 

As plants must have light in order to grow, they strongly com- 
pete for it by stretching toward the sky. Where light is inadequate 
the stems lengthen. ‘This is called by botanists etiolation. Its effect 
is very marked in the comparative shapes of two pines, one growing 
alone on a clearing, the other in a thick wood. Another well-known 
effect of scarcity of light is to thin and broaden the leaves. This 
is taken advantage of by some tobacco growers, who by erecting 
semitransparent tents over their crops produce a higher grade of 
tobacco. 

It is at first sight quite surprising, but after all quite in harmony 
with the facts of etiolation, that plants grow tall faster in the night 
than in the day. Their maximum rate of growth is just after sunset, 
when it is apt to be over twice as rapid as in midday. 

There is also a curious expansion and contraction of plant stems 
in growing. The contraction seems to be caused by the rapid evapo- 
ration of water from the leaves during the daylight hours, and a 
resulting upward tension of the liquid in the conducting channels 
of the stem, which relieves the horizontal pressures to some extent. 

When we inquire which of the spectrum rays, and in what inten- 
sity, are required for plant growth and for seed formation, we find 
that a great gap in exact knowledge exists here. Most of the experi- 
ments hitherto made relate to plants of little or no commercial value, 
and lack exactness both as to the intensity and the quality of the 
rays used. It would be, indeed, diflicult and costly to employ the 
spectroscope to select rays for such experiments, because the use of 
a slit and numerous optical pieces so greatly reduces the intensity 
of the rays of every color. Most experimenters, therefore, have made 
shift to employ colored glasses to give certain rough separations of 
color. 

These experiments indicate that the blue and violet and ultra-violet 
rays are the most important for plant growth. Deep red rays also 
are very active to promote photosynthesis, but the green rays lying 
between these spectral regions seem to behave as darkness to the 
plant. It is greatly to be hoped that more exact measurements of 
wave length and intensity may soon be associated with studies of the 
growth and fruiting of the valuable food crops and the favorite 
flowers. It will be necessary to use very large and costly apparatus 
in such an investigation, because not more than 10 per cent of the 
intensity of sun rays may be expected to remain after the rays have 


Se ge eS eee ee 


LS 


Ce te 


SUN RAYS—ABBOT 169 


been collected and accurately selected by the optical spectroscopic 
train. It may be that specific functions like flower bearing, seed de- 
veloping, leaf growing, and stem expansion may be found to require 
different and very special qualities and intensities of rays for opti- 
mum conditions. The experiment is fascinating, for perhaps new 
and remarkable varieties of the most useful plants may be developed 
by controlling their radiation supply. 

With the higher plants, it must be sunshine or death. With man 
and the higher animals, it must be sunshine or sickness. 'To be sure, 
there is nothing in the life of man or animals like the photosynthesis 
of the food of all plants and all animals which goes on in green 
leaves. That is unique with plants. But child humanity in dusky 
cities, shut in by smoke and dust from receiving the ultra-violet rays 
of the sun and sky, is afflicted by rickets and other ills which yield 
to the healing influence of exposure of the body to full sun rays in 
the manner that nature intended. 

The outstanding exponent of this solar therapy is Doctor Rollier of 
Switzerland, who has maintained a sanitarium for sun treatments 
since 1903. Of later years, he has been imitated in other countries. 
One would hardly think of sun rays as dangerous, but the patients of 
Doctor Rollier commence their treatments on the first day with only 
20 minutes exposure, and of the feet alone. From this gentle begin- 
ning there is a gradual progress to the stage of complete exposure of 
the person for hours. Naturally there accompanies this course a 
gradual darkening of the skin. The patients become brown and 
hardy looking. Skin sores disappear. 

Two principal diseases successfully treated by solar therapy are 
rickets and surgical tuberculosis. Rickets, as everyone knows, is a 
sort of lack of stamina, apt to invade the whole body of children. 
A weak digestion, a poor appetite, emaciation, profuse night sweat- 
ing, weakness of the limbs, tenderness of the bones, enlargements of 
the wrists and ends of the ribs, bow legs, curvature of the spine, 
misshapen head, contracted chest—all these deformities and miseries 
may come in the early years of the poor little patient. 

The layman is apt to think of tuberculosis as a disease of the lungs, 
but essentially the same malady attacks many other parts of the 
body. Glands of the neck, skin, bones, joints, mucous membranes, 
intestines, and liver are commonly infected by the tubercle-bacillus. 
In cases of superficial tuberculosis, recognizing how the germs may 
pass from one part to another in the blood stream, the surgeon is 
frequently called in to excise the infected part before it does its fatal 
mischief in a less accessible organ of the body. ‘This gives rise to the 
term surgical tuberculosis. 

It appears to be definitely proved that ultra-violet rays of less 
than 3,200 Angstréms in wave length are the active agents in the 


170 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


cure of rickets by ray therapy. As the ozone of the higher air cuts 
off solar radiation at about 2,900 Angstréms, it leaves but a narrow 
band of solar rays available. Not only in rickets but in certain 
superficial skin diseases, physicians have used with advantage the 
quartz-mercury vapor are light, which is rich in ultra-violet rays 
of these and shorter wave lengths. Recent experiments in poultry 
raising at the Maine Agricultural Experiment Station are exceed- 
ingly instructive in this line, though it would be rash to carry over 
the results unquestioned to human pathology. 

In the summer of 1924, about 250 one-week old chicks were sepa- 
rated into six groups for different treatments. Those of Group 1 
ran about in the open sunlight as they pleased, but came indoors to 
eat. The remaining five groups lived in a glass-roofed greenhouse. 
Groups 2 and 3, however, in addition to the light which reached 
them from sun and sky, were exposed for 20 minutes each day to 
the rays of a quartz mercury vapor lamp, rich in the ultra-violet. 
The remaining three groups had only the sun’s light as it came 
through their glass-roofed house. 

All the groups had the usual regular food, composed of chick 
grain, dry mash, sour milk, and rock grit, and had access to fresh 
water and sand bath. Groups, 3 and 4 were given, in addition to 
the regular diet, chopped alfalfa and grass, and Group 6 had, in 
addition to the regular diet, a small ration of cod-liver oil. 

What was the result? Groups 1, 2, 3, which had either full sun- 
hight or glass transmitted sunlight plus ultra-violet rays, all thrived. 
Groups 4 and 5 began to act less vigorously than these other's by 
the end of the fourth week. They ate with less appetite and scratched 
less. Chickens of Group 6, which had the cod-lver oil, although 
they did not relish this medicine, yet thrived better than Groups 4 
and 5, but not as well as Groups 1, 2, 3. These differences became 
more and more marked. The chickens of Groups 4 and 5 developed 
weak legs. They remained smaller in size. Their plumage looked 
rough. By the end of the ninth week, the fowls of Groups 1, 2, 3, 
all having developed normally, were about double the weight of 
the spindling chicks of Groups 4 and 5. The chicks of the first 
three groups had their bones well set and full sized, while the bones 
of Groups 4 and 5 were small, curved and weak. Chickens of Group 
6 were intermediate in their development. Fifteen deaths occurred 
in groups 4 and 5, and only one in Groups 1, 2, 3. 

Why this difference? Evidently it was solely due to some defi- 
ciency in radiation. Figure 1 shows graphically what the differ- 
ence was. A narrow band of rays in the extreme ultra-violet-—far 
beyond the extreme limit visible to the eye, and exactly in the 
region, by the way, where the ozone of the upper air begins to 
work absorption on solar rays—this little group of feeble sun rays 


SUN RAYS—ABBOT 171 


was cut off by the glass cover of the greenhouse. These indispensable 
rays were supplied in sufficient measure by the daily 20 minute 
exposures to the mercury vapor are. The want of them was partly 
made up to Group 6 by the medicine of cod-liver oil. Groups 4 
and 5, lacking both the saving medicine and the rays, languished. 

It is astonishing to remember that this very group of rays, thus 
proved so indispensable to the development of growing creatures, 
just misses being cut off from sun rays by the trace of ozone which 
exists in our upper atmosphere. So near, apparently, as this is 
the world to lacking a condition favorable to life, that if the ozone 
band, which cuts off the spectrum of the sun and stars completely 
at 2,900 Angstréms of wave length, had extended to 3,200 Ang- 
stréms in full force, the mischief would have been done. And yet 
the solar spectrum has little energy there but runs on through the 
visible and infra-red regions in great strength to 20,000 Angstréms. 


z——Light transmitted by Glass— _(Groups4, Sand 6)— — — a 
osm = SuMight (Group 1) 
<—— —Mercury Arc in Quartz _ _(Groups 2 and 3) 


Wave-lengths in Micvons 97 0.6 
Infra-red 
Spectral 


Colors 


Red Yellow Biue Vitra- 
Oronge Green Volet Violet 


Fie. 1.—Spectral colors arranged according to wave length, showing spectral limits 
of the light received by groups of chickens 


Another astonishing thing has lately been discovered. Doctors 
Steenbock and Daniels, experimenting with rats in the years 1922 
and after, were testing the value of butter fat and cod-liver oil for 
the prevention or cure of rickets. Their experiments also involved 
the use of ultra-violet light. Some of the animals having been 
radiated upon and others not, they were confined in cages in com- 
mon. The doctors were surprised to find that both sets of rats 
grew alike, except in one instance where some nonirradiated animals 
began to grow only when, after five weeks, irradiated rats were 
for the first time put into their cage. 

It seemed as if the irradiated rats were able to supply to the 
nonirradiated ones something that hitherto they had lacked. On 
trying various experiments, it was found that irradiating the air, 
or touching nonirradiated rats with their irradiated brethren did 
not give the magic curative influence. The effect was indirect, not 
a consequence of direct action on the outside of the body. Finally 
the secret appeared. Some bodily excretions of the irradiated ani- 
mals were eaten by the others and preduced the extraordinary result. 


172 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


Various articles of diet were then tried in irradiated and non- 
irradiated condition. It was proved that many, but not all, grains, 
fats, and oils, when shined upon by ultra-violet rays receive and hold 
curative properties adapted to conquer the disease of rickets. Cod- 
liver oil, then, is by no means alone as a carrier of the curative agent. 
Some modification takes place in many other kinds of foods, if 
irradiated, which makes them effective to cure rickets by indirect 
ray-therapy, fully as effectively as by the direct application of the 
rays to the skin of the patient himself. The irradiated oil may indeed 
be boiled with strong alkali and reduced to a soap and still retain 
its curative property unimpaired. 

It appears that while there are several rare chemical substances 
in cod-liver oil which possess this curative virtue when irradiated, 
the most active of them is one named cholesterol. While this sub- 
stance does not occur in plant foods, there are certain somewhat 
similar chemicals in the grains which are named phytosterols, and 
some of these have simiJar value against rickets. Not only in rickets, 
but in some allied disorders, this new discovery may prove of high 
medical value. 

As regards light therapy and rickets, the conclusions so far arrived 
at are these: 

(1) Exposure of an animal to light of wave length less than about 
3,200 Angstréms will cure rickets and also prevent its occurrence on 
a diet, that normally will produce rickets. 

(2) Cod-liver oil will act just like ultra-violet light in curing and 
preventing rickets. 

(3) Some other substances have a slight curative value in rickets, 
but most other oils—such as cottonseed oil—have no antirachitic 
value. 

(4) These oils without antirachitic value can most of them be 
made antirachitic by exposing them to ultra-violet light. 

(5) A large number of solid food materials also become anti- 
rachitic on exposure to ultra-violet light. 

(6) Cholesterol—a practically universal constituent of animal 
cells—becomes activated by ultra-violet light. So also does phytos- 
terol which is a constituent of plant cells, so that presumably food 
materials are made antirachitic by activating the cholesterol and 
phytosterol in them. 

(7) Since the human tissues contain cholesterol, the skin on ab- 
sorbing ultra-violet light has its cholesterol activated, and this acti- 
vated cholesterol, being absorbed into the blood, acts just like 
cod-liver oil absorbed from the intestines in promoting bone 
formation. 


SUN RAYS—ABBOT 173 


The striking results obtained in the treatment of surgical tuber- 
culosis by Doctor Rollier at his Swiss solar sanitarium are indicated 
by the following table: 


Results of light treatment in surgical tuberculosis (Rollier) 


Cured Improved 


Per cent Per cent 

Skin tuberculosis 81. 25 18.75 
Bone and toint. =. .2-5=-2- 75. 98 7. 80 
Glandular_..__-.- 89. 80 5. 20 


Peritonitis---..- 80. 30 8. 20 
Uenito-urinary_- 77. 80 22. 20 
Tare Tie ge el ee ee ee ee ae er oe ae 52, 94 33. 00 


Total mortality 0.9 per cent. 


X-ray photographs, after the light treatment, give striking evi- 
dence of the effect upon bone formation. According to Rollier, 
finger bones that have entirely disappeared may be so completely 
recalcified as to be indistinguishable, in radiographs, from normal 
tissue, and adults seem to be as easily affected as children. This 
means that, for early cases at least, the disease can be checked, 
and motion preserved in the affected joint, the gradual establish- 
ment of motion going hand in hand with the healing process. 

Rollier insists on the fact that the benefit is always proportional 
to the degree of pigmentation. Without knowing accurately which 
wave lengths are responsible for pigmentation, and which are most 
beneficial in the treatment of tuberculosis, it is not possible to be 
very sure in this matter, and here as in plant physiology an alliance 
between the doctor of medicine and physicists, expert in isolating 
rays and exactly measuring radiation intensities, would be of great 
advantage. 

The subject of the influence of sun rays on plants and animals 
has only recently come to the fore. Doubtless the future holds 
in store for us here, as in other lines, highly wonderful and inspir- 
ing revelations of the importance of sun rays in the welfare of man. 


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Smithsonian Report, 1926.—Abbot PLATE 2 


THE EVENING PRIMROSE IS A TYPICAL “ LONG-DAY PLANT ’’ 


The specimen on the right, exposed to a 10-hour day, is unable to develop flowering stems. 
nae on the left, exposed to the full length of a Washington summer day is nearly ready 
to flower 


Smithsonian Report, 1926.—Abbot PLATE 3 


THE KLONDIKE COSMOS IS A TYPICAL ‘‘ SHORT-DAY PLANT ”’ 


The specimens on the right, exposed to full-length Washington summer days, were unable 
to flower. Those on the left, exposed to an 8-hour day, flowered at a height of a few inches 


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MWh 7 


ON THE EVOLUTION OF THE STARS? 


By C. G. ABBot 


a 


[With 6 plates] 


1. There are 92 chemical elements, beginning with hydrogen ana 
ending with uranium. Oxygen is the eighth, iron the twenty-sixth, 
silver the forty-seventh, gold the seventy-ninth, and radium the 
eighty-eighth. Nearly all of them are found on the earth, and a great 
many of them in the sun and stars. There are many ways of identi- 
fying them on the earth, but only one way in the sun and stars. The 
spectroscope reveals the signs of the chemical elements in the light 
of the heavenly bodies. 

The spectrum is a band of beauty. Its colors blend from violet 
through indigo, blue, green, yellow, orange, to red most charmingly. 
But in the spectrum of light from the sun, or from the stars, one sees 
the band of color shot across with many dark lines. It is these lines 
which tell the chemical story. 

Here are the lines of green color that iron gives when heated in 
the electric arc. Here are the dark lines that are produced when 
light shines through iron vapor. Here are those very lines in the 
spectrum of the sun. Hence, there is iron in the sun. The proof is 
just as plain as that which tells us that ages ago a queer-toed animal 
walked in the mud of Massachusetts, for we have found fossils of 
his tracks. 

In such ways the spectroscope has told us that all of the stars are 
composed of the same chemical elements as our earth. This is the 
first conclusion in our study of stellar evolution. The chemical com- 
position of all parts of the universe, however distant, is the same. 

2. The atoms of the 92 chemical elements are made up of two 
and only two ingredients. These fundamentals are called the protons 
and the electrons. The protons are unit positive electrical charges. 
The electrons are unit negative charges exactly equal but opposite in 
nature to the protons. 

In a single atom of hydrogen there are one proton and one electron. 
In a single atom of oxygen there are 16 of each, and in heavier atoms 
many more. This is the way they are arranged: The protons and 


1 Lecture delivered at Columbia University, July 15, 1926. 


175 


176 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


part of the electrons form a central nucleus about which gyrate the 
remaining electrons at tremendous speeds, and in characteristic orbits. 
The nucleus is like the sun, controlling its family of planets— 
electrons. So we may say that astronomy begins within the atoms. 

As all things are made of atoms, and all atoms are made of 
electric charges, we see that what we call matter, the substance of 
the earth, the stars, and all that in them is, is after all electricity. 

Consider a hydrogen atom. It is just one proton with one 
electron revolving about it, comparable to the earth with its one 
moon. The two units of electricity attract one another very power- 
fully because they are so very close together. If the motion that 
holds them apart could be stopped, the electron would fall in upon 
the proton. What would result? Apparently annihilation. Simi- 
larly, all of the chemical atoms—that is, the whole universe—if de- 
prived of all the inner atomic motions, would apparently be an- 
nihilated. In place of the universe would be a void. If the process 
were reversed, a void, separated into positive and negative unit 
electrical charges, and endowed with immense energy of motions in 
characteristic orbits, would become a universe. That would be the 
primary step in evolution itself. 

3. How did that primary step take place? Science does not pre- 
tend to know. 

The Hebrew scripture says: “In the beginning God created the 
heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form and void; 
and darkness was upon the face of the deep. * * * And God 
said, Let there be light: and there was light.” 

In this there is nothing which contradicts what science has dis- 
closed. 

The Zuni Indians had also an account of creation: 

Awonawilona, the Maker and Container of all, existed before the 
beginning of time in the darkness which knew no beginning. Then 
he projected his thinking into the void of night and evolved fogs 
of increase—mists potent with growth. He took upon himself the 
form and person of the Sun, the Father of men, who thus came to 
be, and by whose light and brightening the cloud mists became 
thickened with water, and thus was made the world-holding sea. 
By the heat of his rays there was formed thereon green scums, which 
increasing apace, became “The Four-fold containing Mother— 
earth,” and the “All-containing Father—sky,” parents of all that is. 

4. Our study of stellar evolution can not begin at the beginning. 
Existing processes do not help us to form a conception of how the 
void became the atoms. We have to assume that the atoms in tre- 
mendous numbers came into being in some unknown way. That is 
our starting point. 


EVOLUTION OF STARS—-ABBOT 177 


5. The telescope with its photographic plate shows us that the 
vast spaces of the universe hold cloudhke matter called nebulae. 
Some of these clouds are bright, some dark. ‘The star, Theta Orionis, 
near the base of Orion’s sword is really nebulous. It is involved in 
the great nebula of Orion. The Pleiades stars are also surrounded 
by nebulosity. In fact, nearly every one of the irregular nebulae 
is associated with a bright star. Hubble has suggested that it is 
these stars which cause the nebulae to glow. 

This view is the more probable because many of the nebulae do 
not glow. Thus in the Milky Way are many dark patches devoid of 
faint stars, apparently because a cloudy veil of nebulous matter lies 
between us and the starry background. <A very striking example of 
this sort of thing is in the horse-head shaped blackness in the con- 
stellation of Orion. Then there is the lacelike nebula in Cygnus, 
which we suppose extends farther than it glows, because the fainter 
stars are absent on one side of it. 

Thus we see that among the stars lies much cloudlike, unorganized 
substance which may seem to be suitable raw material to make up 
into stars. The spectroscope shows little complexity in the chemistry 
of such nebulae. Hydrogen is prominent, and some other gases 
whose spectra are unfamiliar. Perhaps these strange gases are 
really of some common variety whose unfamiliar spectra depend 
on an unknown means of exciting light. 

6. The stars themselves show much variety. [iven ordinary eye- 
sight can tell a difference between the blue star Rigel and the red 
Betelgeuse in Orion; or between the white Sirius and the yellow 
Procyon of the two Dogs. The spectrum gives this distinction more 
precisely. It shows a regular gradation of complexity from the 
blue Rigel, with its few lines revealing the presence of the gas 
helium; to the white Sirius, with hydrogen lines predominant; to 
the yellowish Procyon, which faintly shows evidences of many 
metals; to the yellow sun whose light is considerably dimmed 
by the very numerous dark absorption lines of its many chemical 
elements; to the reddish Aldebaran in whose spectrum, as in 
the light of sun-spots, evidences of compound molecules appear; and 
finally to the deep red Antares, from whose rays most of the visible 
strength is cut off by powerful bands of absorption, due to compounds 
of carbon, nitrogen, and various gases. 

These differences of spectrum are associated with temperature 
differences. Many years ago at the Harvard College Observatory, 
as the observers noted the spectrum peculiarities we have just spoken 
of, they named the various star types by an irregular sequence of 
letters that still prevails. The table shows the characteristic spectra 
and temperatures of 99 per cent of all the stars arranged after the 
Harvard type-letter system. 


178 ANNUAL REFORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


Characteristics of typical stellar spectra 


Spectral class B A F 

Sample star__.-.___- Ripe eh 2b 2s he Ae ee Sinise ee ee a Procyon. 

Constellation _______ Orion 0. ere eae Canis’ Maj-__....----___._) Canis ‘Min. 

Colorist sei ye Bee Abe Ne EE ne he WV Ge ition ae Pale yellow. 

Surface temperature! 16,000°--..___....-._____-- AL 000 Moe BA SOD 8,000°. 

Charaeteristics_-____ The few Fraunhofer lines | Hydrogen lines predomi- | Metallic lines conspicuous. 
are mainly of hydrogen nate. Helium lines dis- Are lines of metals 
and helium. Oxygen, appear. Lines of metals appear. 
nitrogen show less con- come in faintly, espe- 
spicuously. cially spark lines. 

Spectral class G Kk M 
rk | 

Sample star____ Sun__._ Rp Ame buss ae sae he 2's! Betelgeuse, 

Constellapign= is eas | Eeenien) BoGtes_ .-| Orion. 

Color 223 258 .| Yellow. Ly UNed dashes ph whist eo? a 0 Red. 

Surface temperature| 6,000°__22_ 2) 8 SUDO Osten ee ters 2,700°. 

Characteristies_____- Solar type. Metallic arc | Sun-spot type. Are lines | Flame lines prominent. 
lines predominate. strong. Flame lines also Heavy absorption bands 
Flaming are lines also conspicuous. Bands of appear and are the con 
conspicuous. compounds appear. spicuous feature, indicat- 


ing spectra of molecules, 
notably titanium oxide. 


7. We must think of the brightness and distances of the stars. 
Nearly 2,000 years ago, in that great fifteenth chapter of St. Paul’s 
Epistle to the Corinthians, he penned the expression, “ For one star 
differeth from another star in glory.” Very accurate measurements 
of this difference have now been made, and it is found that a range 
of more than a billion of billionsfold occurs between the brightness 
of the sun and that of the faintest stars which have been photo- 
graphed with the largest telescope. The accompanying chart (fig. 1) 
shows what an enormous range it is. 

Part of this difference depends on distance. We may express 
these tremendous distances in light-years. Light travels 6,000,000,- 
000,000 miles per year. It takes hght only eight minutes to reach 
us from the sun, four years from the nearest star, and thousands of 
years from the vast majority of them. 

When we know, as we do, the distances of great numbers of the 
stars, it is found that the real brightness of them differs very greatly 
from that which is apparent. Hertzsprung and Russell discovered 
that when ranged in terms of real brightness the different spectrum 
classes behave very differently. The later work of Adams and of 
Jackson and Furner shows this even more in detail. Of deep red 
M stars there are two separate classes, one extremely bright, 
the other extremely faint. Of reddish K stars there are also two 
such classes, not quite so widely separated in brightness. The dis- 
crepancy diminishes with yellow G-type stars, nearly ceases with 
the yellowish F type, and is altogether absent in the white and blue 
stars of types A and B. 

Thus we find our spectrum sequence of star peculiarities split into 
two, <A bright series of stars exists of every spectrum class, and, 


EVOLUTION OF STARS—ABBOT 179 


besides, a second series growing fainter and fainter as we approach 
the red end of it. 

8. It is well known that the hotter a light source, and the bigger 
it is, the more light it gives. But the two kinds of red stars, being 
the same in color, we must suppose are equally hot on the surface. 
Hence, one kind of them must be enormously bigger than the other. 
Thus, we can now go a step farther and divide our stars into the 
giants and the dwarfs. 

Some of the red giants have been measured in diameter by the 
ingenious method of Doctor Michelson. It proves that they exceed 
200,000,000 miles, or several hundred times the diameter of our sun, 
which itself is a hundred times the diameter of the earth. In fact 
the whole annual orbit of the earth 
around the sun would not extend out to 
the surface of Antares or of Betelgeuse 
if our solar system were centered in 
those stars. 

What must be the state of matter in 
those giant red stars? The answer: In 
the state of an extremely rare gas. For 
by applying Newton’s and Kepler’s fa- 
mous laws of gravitation and planetary 
motion to the cases of the numerous 
double star systems that are known, it 
has been shown that the stars are never 
many times aS massive as our sun. A 
star lke Antares, which has, say, 300 
times the sun’s diameter, has 27,000,000 
times the sun’s bulk. If not more than 
27 times the sun’s mass, it has less than 
toobove the sun’s density. But we know 
that the sun is about 1,500 times more dense than air, so that Antares 
must be something like 1,000 times less dense than air. 

9. We now begin to see a reasonable path in stellar evolution. We 
commence with the formless nebulae, which are of perfectly enormous 
bulk. Some of the stars, though they seem but points to us, are 
shown to be hundreds of millions of miles in diameter. But nebulae 
which are equally distant, since they are clearly star appendages, 
as in Orion and the Pleiades, extend over large areas of sky. Hence 
their bulk is enormously greater than that of stars, too great even 
to try to express. Although no doubt they are excessively rare gases, 
yet doubtless the nebulae would furnish material for many giant 
stars if compressed to the angular dimensions of a starry point as 
seen by us. 


FAINTEST 
TELESCOPIC 


Fie. 1—The range of bright- 
ness of the heavenly bodies 


180 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


A nebula condensed may thus become one or many giant red 
stars. May not the giant gaseous red stars, by further condensing 
grow hotter and hotter? They would thus become in turn light red, 
yellow, white, and blue. Having reached the acme of their effulgence, 
they might gradually cool again with increasing density until they 
should have passed through these stages in reverse order, and might 
end their starlike history as red dwarfs, still hot, but now com- 
pressed so small as to give little light. 

10. The gradations of spectrum, of temperature, and of density 
which have been traced among the stars support this view of stellar 
evolution. The question now comes, is it harmonious to the laws 
of physics as we know them? Here we have the results of the great 
English scientist, Professor Eddington. He finds that in accordance 
with the law announced many years ago by Lane, it is perfectly 
to be expected that a great globe of rare gas will become hotter and 
hotter as it shrinks, and its supply of radiation to space will keep 
up while its diameter shrinks, because its temperature rises. The 
change of spectrum, too, is well accounted for. Though the signs 
of the metals seem to disappear in the white and blue stars, this is 
only because the more violent excitation strips off from the metallic 
atoms certain of their orbital electrons, and causes the spectral lines 
to occur beyond the violet in a spectral region where the ozone of 
our upper atmosphere cuts off the light of all the stars. The metals 
still exist in the blue stars, but their signs do not reach us because 
our atmosphere prevents it. 

But Eddington found later on that even stars as dense as our sun, 
that is to say denser than water, behave as if they are perfect gases. 
This was at first a puzzle, until it occurred to him that in a gas it 
is the size of the separate entities, compared to their distances apart 
that determines whether they have the freedom of the perfect gas. 
In the interior of a star, as dense and hot as our sun, the atoms are 
well known to be broken up into their nuclei and their electrons. 
These objects are some thousandfold smaller in diameter than atoms 
or molecules. Hence, they have complete freedom of motion in 
stars so dense that ordinary gases (made up of molecules instead of 
electrons) would not at all obey the perfect gas law. 

11. This discovery for the moment threw discredit on the view 
that stars after reaching a certain density could no longer become 
hotter by contraction, and must inevitably thereafter begin to cool, 
and so go back down the descending branch in stellar evolution. It 
is now suggested that they keep on growing hotter within. Tem- 
peratures of tens and hundreds of millions of degrees occur, it is 
computed, inside such stars as our sun. 

At these unexampled degrees of effulgence, the rays sent out are 
even shorter in their wave lengths than X rays, and are so power- 


EVOLUTION OF STARS—ABBOT 181 


fully absorbed that they are quite unable to penetrate from within 
to the star surface. Hence the supply of energy fails to quite main- 
tain the outside temperature required to keep up the immense radia- 
tion of such a star to space. Our sun, for instance, gives out each 
year as much energy of radiation as four hundred thousand billion 
of billions of tons of anthracite coal, and it is believed that the in- 
creasing temperature of the sun’s interior more and more hinders 
the communication of energy to supply its surface loss. 

So the surfaces of the dense stars cool while they are still raging 
hot within, and from these cooling surfaces we receive the dimin- 
ished light which gives the declining spectrum series associated with 
dwarf stars. 

12. But how about the energy to support such enormous radiation ? 
Surely it can not come indefinitely from shrinkage. The study of 
radium and uranium bearing rocks has proved that our earth in its 
present stage has had a duration of quite a billion years, and the 
fossil story shows that life was well organized quite as long ago. 
Shrinkage of the sun can not account for a supply of heat to warm 
the earth for the support of life so long as that. 

As we have seen, the annihilation of an atom by the falling in 
of its two kinds of electricities must give up the energy of motion 
which the electrons possessed as an atom. It is now conceived that 
at the exalted temperature and tremendous pressure within the 
denser stars, conditions are right for the annihilation of their atoms, 
with liberation of their energy to support radiation. 

13. To recapitulate the probable course of evolution of stars: Out 
of the formless nebula, whose atoms were brought into being by 
some means of creation which we do not possess or understand, red 
giant stars, far less dense than air, were formed. Under the com- 
bined influences of gravitation and radiation, these giant stars grew 
hotter and denser. With rising surface temperatures, their colors 
advanced through yellow to white and blue, attended by the familiar 
changes of spectra, and by a great decrease in diameter, but with- 
out much change of total brightness. Arrived at temperatures so 
superlative and densities so considerable, the flow of radiation from 
within to heat the surface is hindered by absorption owing to short- 
ness of average wave length, so that the surfaces no longer maintain 
their maximum temperature or radiation. Yet the inner tempera- 
tures continue rising because the stars, though so dense, retain the 
characters of perfect gases. For their atoms are reduced by separa- 
tion of nuclei and electrons. The process of cooling at the surface 
continues until the star, born a red giant, dies a red dwarf, having 
not only attained great density by contraction but lost much mass 
by annihilation. 

20837—27-——13 


182 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


14. Hitherto we have considered the constitution of individual 
stars. We now turn to the birth of starry systems. Before the 
modern aids to exact telescopic work were available, it was found 
that nebulous patches of very definite forms are in the heavens. 
These are now resolved by photography into such beautiful spirals 
as that in the constellation of the Hunting Dogs. Others of these 
spirals are more or less inclined to our line of vision, and some are 
even seen directly on edge. Seen under these various angles of 
presentation, we find that all of these so-called spiral nebulae are of 
flattened, watchlike shape. 

Curiously enough, too, our own galaxy, which contains some 30,- 
000,000,000 stars or more, is of this flattened type, and extends out 
quite five times as far along the Milky Way as towards its poles. 

Sir William Herschel suggested more than a century ago that the 
spiral nebule were, as he picturesquely termed them, “island uni- 
verses.” In other words, he suggested that they are galaxies like 
ours, but so distant that the largest telescopes of his time could not 
separately distinguish their stars. 

This has now proved true. Hubble with the 100-inch telescope 
on Mount Wilson has succeeded in resolving some of the spiral 
nebulae in part into stars of exceeding faintness. By means of cer- 
tain of these stars, called Cepheids, which have a peculiar type of 
variable brightness, he has shown that the great nebula of Andro- 
meda and others are nearly 1,000,000 light-years distant. 

Considering the similarity of shape, of general spectrum, and 
other points of resemblance, there is no little doubt that we, our- 
selves, reside not excessively far from the center of a galaxy which, 
to the intelligent dwellers on the Andromeda galaxy, if such there 
be, must seem like a great spiral nebula. 

15. In all these spirals, of which there are some hundreds of 
thousands in the heavens, two arms depart from opposite sides of 
the central condensation. ‘There are, however, other nebulous objects 
which present gradations of form back from the spiral to the 
spindle, to the ellipsoid, and finally to the sphere without hint of 
structure. Professor Jeans has computed the relations of masses 
and motions which would cause a globe of gas to elongate its equa- 
torial radii unde” rotation, and pass on to the spindle shape. At a 
certain degree of extension, the gravitation toward the center would 
be nearly balanced by the centrifugal force of rotation. Then the 
trifling differences of attraction from different directions exercised 
by the other masses of the universe would cause tidal extensions to 
leave the parent mass at opposite ends of a diameter. Jeans goes on 
to show how these extensions would draw away more and more 
material into ropelike arms, which, as they extended, would neces- 
sarily wind into the spiral forms. He even succeeded in proving 


EVOLUTION OF STARS—-ABBOT 183 


that these arms must separate into knots of starlike dimensions, which 
indeed agrees with the appearance of many spiral nebulae. 

Some of the arm-knots, being too massive for existence as single 
stars, would, as Jeans shows, form double or even quadruple star 
systems. This also is verified by observation. For among the stars 
of our galaxy at least one-third are multiple stars. His analysis 
seems to lead very satisfactorily toward the phenomena of stars as 
they have been discovered in the spiral nebulae and in our own 
galaxy, which may be taken as a sample of such a nebula. 

16. But what of the sun’s family, the planets and their moons? 
Are these also to be regarded as agglomerations of the arms of a 
small spiral nebula? Apparently not. Certain dynamical difficul- 
ties stand in the way of accepting the present arrangement of mass 
in the solar system as a result of such a process. 

Jeans adopts a similar device to that proposed by Professors 
Chamberlin and Moulton of the University of Chicago, who con- 
ceived that at some ancient epoch another star came so near to our 
sun as to raise upon it ropelike tides. The two stars separated 
again in their rapid flights before our sun had been divested of much 
of his mass. From the ropes of matter thrown off by this tidal en- 
counter were concentrated, it is conceived, the planets and their 
satellites. Some of the matter given off in the encounter remains un- 
gathered in the meteors and minor planets, and among the curiosi- 
ties of condensation are the beautiful rings of Saturn. 

17. Such are the present views of the evolution of galaxies, of 
multiple stars and of planetary families. Though they do not pre- 
tend to explain the original creation, they harmonize, far better than 
I can take note of in this brief account, great numbers of the phe- 
nomena known to mathematicians, chemists, physicists, and astrono- 
mers, and indicate a gradual progress in events which may well be 
called stellar evolution. Although its march is far too long to be 
followed in the span of human life, yet the heavens present so many 
cases of objects in every state of progress along the majestic course, 
that the summation of cases may be a satisfactory substitute for the 
continuity of action which in finite human life we can not perceive. 

18. There remain some branches of the subject yet to touch upon. 
One of them relates to the motions of the stars and nebulae. With 
the diligent employment of great telescopes and spectroscopes, the 
distances of several thousand stars have been determined, and their 
motions to or from the observer, as well as their angular motions 
across our line of sight have been measured. By combining all these 
data, we arrive at length to know the actual motions in space of 
great groups of stars relative to each other and to our sun. Even for 
the spiral nebulae these facts are observed. Stromberg has ar- 
ranged it all in a great diagram. 


184 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


Let us admit that the island universe theory is true, and that our 
galaxy of stars is one among the many galaxies represented by the 
spiral nebulae. What is found is this: 

The various galaxies represented as spiral nebulae rush hither and 
yonder in all directions at speeds ranging up to several hundred 
miles a second. Our own galaxy is rushing from the general center 
of them along a way represented in direction by a line drawn toward 
the constellation Sagittarius, at the rate of about 200 miles per 
second. Its older and smaller stars are more scattered from the com- 
mon direction than the younger and more massive ones, so that, 
for example, the diffusion of yellow G type stars much exceeds that 
of the blue B type stars. Our sun happens to be moving in a direc- 
tion not very far from along the general direction of our whole 
galaxy, but at a somewhat faster rate than the average of its stars, 
and at the present time is nearer to the center than to the circum- 
ference of our lens-shaped system of stars. 

19. Finally, we may inquire how numerous are the heavenly bodies, 
and whether there are limits to the extent of the entire universe. 
In our own galaxy it is believed that the number of the stars reaches 
or exceeds 30 billions. Its greater and lesser diameters may be set 
at perhaps 100,000 and 20,000 light-years. Of spiral nebulae which 
could be photographed by the greatest telescopes, there are little 
less than 1,000,000. Those whose distances have been measured prove 
to be about 1,000,000 light-years distant. Smaller ones may very 
likely be much farther away. Indeed, one can not set bounds to the 
whole universe. There may be other galaxies far beyond the faint- 
est which our photographs reveal, and others still beyond these, 
indefinitely. Possibly their individual star populations may 
approach or exceed that of our own. We can not know that they do 
not. Mathematics, indeed, as Professor Moulton has shown, informs 
us that if space were infinite and populated with galaxies, they 
could not be distributed with approximate uniformity in this infinite 
extension as the dust particles are in a room. It would, however, 
be possible that if galaxies in great numbers constitute supergalaxies 
of enormous dimensions compared with individual galaxies, and if 
these supergalaxies are the units of which supergalaxies of the second 
order are composed, and so on in an unending sequence, each cosmic 
unit being made up of smaller units which are very far apart com- 
pared with their dimensions, then there will be no contradictions 
with observational evidence or dynamical requirements. 

In contemplation of these things, one has more reason than the 
psalmist had to exclaim: “ When I consider the heavens, the work 
of Thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which Thou has ordained; 
what is man that Thou art mindful of him and the Son of Man that 
Thou visitest him ?” 


; 
4 


Smithsonian Report, 1925.—Abbot PLATE 1 


THE PLEIADES, G. W. RITCHEY 


Photographed with the 2-foot reflector of the Yerkes Observatory, 1991, October 19. 
Exposure, 314 hours. Cramer Crown plate. From “The Sun,” by C. G. Abbot. 
Published by Appleton & Co., 1911 


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1. REGULAR SHAPED NEBULA (N. G. C. 3115) 


2. REGULAR SHAPED NEBULA (N. G. C. 5866) WITH BAND OF DARK 
MATTER ON EQUATOR 


Smithsonian Report, 1926.—Abbot 


1. REGULAR SHAPED NEBULA (N. G. C. 4594) wiTH RING OF DARK 
MATTER SURROUNDING EQUATOR 


2. SPIRAL NEBULA (N. G. C. 891) SEEN EDGE ON 


(LOL ‘W) YOPVIAL VSYA NI VINSAN AvuldS *% IN) IOILVNSA SANVO NI VINSAN AvuldS *] 


9 ALV1d 


EXCURSIONS ON THE PLANETS? 


By Lucien RupDAUX 


[With 10 plates]? 


May we some day be asked to leave this modest planetary globe 
upon whose surface we now pass our lives? We will not stop to 
discuss the pros and cons of such an eventuality but suppose the 
question has been answered affirmatively. In other words, some 
dweller on our earth is to set foot upon other worlds. Upon such 
a voyage will the reader be conducted. To simplify matters we 
will abstain from any scientific speculations as to the actual itin- 
erary of such a voyage. Let us disdain all ordinary methods of 
journeying, too slow for our purpose, because of the immense dis- 
tances to be traversed. We will suppose ourselves—as our imagi- 
nation can allow us—transplanted in the twinkling of an eye to the 
various neighboring worlds—the moon and the planets of the solar 
system, the “earths of the heavens,” as they have been expressively 
called by Camille Flammarion. 

Can we, by any chance, describe the scenes we will see except as 
pure phantasies? Yes. Within certain limits, we can approach the 
subject and reply positively to some of the questions which will 
be asked in the contemplation of the heavens. If, despite the per- 
fection of the methods of research in modern astronomy, there yet 
remain many unsolved problems relating to an intimate knowledge 
of the celestial worlds, nevertheless we do have at present precise 
data which make possible a visualization of the general physical 
conditions on each of them. That we may keep on ground where 
we are surest of not going astray, we will try to indicate simply 
the essential differences in the aspects of nature which meet the eye 
of the human voyager. 

Let us start on the moon. We know that its surface is broken 
by thousands of rings, or craters, of various depths, numerous moun- 
tains, and vast plains improperly called seas. This general view 
is so well known that we need not dwell upon it. But we must 
consider how all this would appear to a voyager landing upon the 


Translated by permission from La Nature, June 19, 1926. 
* Halftone reproductions of drawings by the author. 
185 


186 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


ground—that is, what manner of landscape would greet his wonder- 
ing eye. 

The very accurate data which astronomers possess as to the struc- 
ture of the lunar terrain greatly facilitates this problem. For 
geometry enables us to put easily into actual perspective all the 
details which the telescope allows us to see in relief under an oblique 
illumination. Remember, in passing, that the shadows are sharply 
delineated and that they may be seen to elongate as the sun rises 
or sets for different regions of the lunar surface. This enables ‘us 
to calculate exactly the heights of the various parts of this surface. 

It is astonishing, despite these exact data, what phantastic repre- 
sentations have been drawn of the landscapes of this lunar world. 
Numerous astronomical treatises have represented them as embel- 
lished with mountains and peaks made of jagged sugar loafs, at the 
feet of which are heaped numerous small vatlike formations having 
the appearance of volcanic molehills. Actually the lunar mountains 
have profiles comparable in their steepness to our own terrestrial 
mountains. The great majority of the circular formations are of such 
size that we would be unable to see their whole extent in a single 
glance. It would be necessary to turn around in order to see their cir- 
cular walls which would appear like a long chain of more or less irreg- 
ular mountains. For some of them, if we were at their center, their 
ramparts would be so far distant as to be invisible, lost below our 
horizon. We must further remember that on the moon, because of 
the greater curvature of its globe, relative to the stature of man, 
the horizon is closer, and therefore objects disappear behind it at 
a shorter range. Only those craters which are very small and 
numerous and whose diameters are of the order of a kilometer may 
be wholly seen from one place. We should in no way compare them 
with the ordinary volcano whose crater is a cavity at the top of an 
elevated cone. The lunar craters, despite this name with which they 
are often designated, are comparable to excavations whose bottom 
levels are very much below the surrounding lunar surface above 
which the exterior surrounding walls rise very little. 

As to the extended gray plains, erroneously called seas, their great 
smooth surfaces must present a remarkably monotonous aspect 
broken here and there by immense fissures whose gigantic propor- 
tions have no parallel upon our earth. 

We can reproduce the contour of any given region on the moon 
since we have comparatively precise measures. Though such views 
can not lay claim to an absolute fidelity, they are probably nearly 
true. They contain a certain dose of imagination indispensable to 
fill the gaps in our knowledge of the minuter details. They, how- 
ever, can show us in an expressive fashion the general character of 
these extra-terrestrial regions. 


EXCURSIONS ON THE PLANETS—RUDAUX 187 


But it is not the contour, the general outline of these moonscapes, 
which strikes the human eye with astonishment; it is the atmospheric 
conditions. We know that this globe, if not totally without an 
atmosphere, at least possesses none which we can detect. Conse- 
quently, since there is no air to scatter the light coming from the 
sun, this orb of day is enthroned in a black sky, dotted with stars as 
if at night. Moreover, a harsh light marks every detail, near or 
distant, with the same dry and insistent sharpness. How different 
is this view from those on our earth where the different distances 
merge harmoniously in blending vapors. It is surely in this man- 
ner that the eye will be most surprised, even though it is the eye of 
the most rabid impressionistic artist. Let the eye be that of an 
astronomer and his marvelling will be without end. Here our 
atmosphere interposes a serious obstacle to his contemplation of the 
heavens; it obstructs greatly the light coming from the stars, 
troubles their images, and even limits their visibility. It is, indeed, 
a real veil placed before his eyes. Upon the moon this veil is absent 
and the heavens shine in striking majesty. If the eyes are not 
dazzled by the blinding rays coming without hindrance directly 
from the sun, the unfathomable space will appear riddled with 
stars, more countless than on the earth, and these myriads of stars 
will show no scintillation. What a wonderful richness and what 
facility for observation would be the lot of the fortunate astronomer 
inhabiting the moon. Further, because of this same lack of an 
atmosphere, the rising and setting of the sun would offer appear- 
ances entirely unknown on the earth. At sunrise there would first 
appear the radiant glory of the sun’s corona; next those gigantic 
rose-colored flames, the protuberances, will rise above the horizon. 
On the earth these phenomena are visible to the unaided eye only 
during the short duration of a solar eclipse. Stretching far up- 
wards, like a great extension of the corona, will be seen the immense 
spindle-shaped zodiacal light, a phenomenon about which our ideas 
are still somewhat confused because of the difficulties in the way of 
its observation from the earth. 

This grand spectacle, of which Plate 1 is a very unsatisfactory 
replica, we can leisurely admire. For the rotation of the moon takes 
the same length of time as its revolutions about the earth—for which 
reason she always turns the same face toward us. This rotation time 
is twenty-seven times less rapid than that of the earth. The appar- 
ent movement of the heavens is of course slowed down in the same 
proportion and the stars will appear to rise and set with a majestic 
slowness. ‘Though the sky itself seems almest motionless, there is one 
celestial body which will appear to be at rest—our own earth. This 
is really not quite true, since, because of the unequal movement of 
the moon in its eccentric orbit, the terrestrial globe appears to oscil- 


188 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


late about a mean position. The sun and the stars appear to file 
slowly back of it, while all the time we can see it rotating upon its 
own axis and changing phase, like our moon, with the varying position 
of the sun from which it receives its illumination. The position in 
the sky where the earth will be seen changes with the position of the 
observer. From the central region of the lunar disk visible from the 
earth, it is enthroned in the lunar zenith. At the periphery, it will 
be seen on the horizon. (Pls.3and4.) In each position, it will have 
an aspect thirteen times greater than that of our moon. At the time 
it is full it will shine with intense brilliancy. 

Let us now leave this strange world, so near to us—only 384,000 
kilometers (239,000 miles) distant. It is the excursion outside of 
the earth about which we can foretell the most. The facts we pos- 
sess about the other planets of the solar system are fewer, and to 
avoid pure phantasy we must limit ourselves to more general con- 
siderations. Let us remember that with regard to the worlds which 
we are to consider, though the facts relative to the appearances 
in the sky are exact, coming from mathematical deductions of 
measures, further than that we can offer only details which seem 
reasonable. We can not, for instance, say: Behold a landscape of 
the planet Mars! but, rather, a landscape which is theoretically 
possible on the planet Mars; or, better yet, what we conceive should 
be certain landscapes upon that planet. 

The “fixed stars” are so distant that their relative positions 
appear the same from whatever planet they are observed. There- 
fore, for each of these worlds the starry firmament would be the 
same as ours. However, from each one the other planets are seen 
with differing brightness, there are different moons, and, finally, 
the sun appears of very different size (pl. 5). 

Thus from Mercury, the planet closest to the sun, this central 
star appears enormous, in such proportions as Plate 5 indicates. 
Further, this great size varies notably because the orbit of Mercury 
is very eccentric. The apparent diameter of Mercury’s sun indi- 
cated (relative to that seen from the earth) is that when Mercury 
is in perihelion; that is, when it is nearest to the sun. What man- 
ner of landscape is lighted by this colossal furnace the heat of which 
we are certainly not so constituted as to be able to bear, especially 
since it stays immovable in the sky? For Mercury revolves about 
the sun, always turning the same side toward it. In order to enjoy 
the freshness of night we would have to travel around into the 
opposite hemisphere. 

Our knowledge about this planet is insignificant. Probably its 
surface has high mountains, but we can not estimate the importance 
of its atmosphere. Let us not delay upon this inhospitable world, 


EXCURSIONS ON THE PLANETS—RUDAUX 189 


because of the great heat of the sun, but travel to Venus, farther off 
from the sun. Seen from Mercury, Venus at certain times would 
appear a truly blinding star. 

Again we have reached ’a planet about which we know very little. 
It appears from without of a brilliant whiteness, but we can detect 
no detail upon it probably because its thick cloudy atmosphere hides 
its soil from our eyes. Some astronomers believe that this atmos- 
phere is very rich in water vapor, others that it contains none! 
At any rate the density of its atmosphere is very great, almost double 
that of ours. Upon the surface of Venus, covered with this dense 
atmosphere, diffusing the intense light from the enormous sun as seen 
from there, a sort of luminous and troubled fog must singularly limit 
the range of vision, doubtless preventing the enjoyment of any 
extended landscape. What are these landscapes? In lieu of any- 
thing better, let us suppose there exists here a surface with some land 
but much water. Through the dense atmosphere, the stars are either 
only slightly or not at all visible. If the sun can be observed at set- 
ting, the phenomena of refraction will be noted as on the earth but 
much more in evidence, modifying strangely the appearance of the 
solar disk. (PI. 6, fig. 2.) 

‘Farther away than the earth from the sun, upon the planet Mars, 
we should feel more at home. Day and night are scarcely longer 
than on the earth. Through an atmosphere very similar. to ours 
although less dense, the stars will appear in splendor, enriched with 
two small moons. ‘The smaller of these not only will appear to move 
with great speed but in an opposite direction from the apparent 
movement of the stars; indeed it revolves about Mars faster than the 
latter rotates upon its Aig At certain epochs, either in the morning 
or evening, the earth will be visible as morning or evening star, re- 
spetetrety. br illiant in the dawn or evening Ae the latter of ae 
duration because of the rarity of the Martian so uae The sky 
will appear darker during the daytime and the sun, a third smaller 
than from the earth, will illumine less brilliantly the doubtless more 
monotonous landscape. The most reliable observations indicate a 
ground with very little relief, probably almost everywhere level, 
cut here and there with immense swamps. Incontestably in every 
respect we should feel the most at home on this planet. 

But let us pursue our journey toward the giant planets. Upon 
them—Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune—we would no longer 
find ourselves upon solid ground, at least in the literal sense of the 
word. For it is very probable that these worlds are yet fluid, at any 
rate in a condition which would not admit of a solid surface: Tt 
would be impossible to find a landing place. Because of this cir- 
cumstance, we will suppose ourselves changed into immaterial beings 
though still retaining our organs of sight. If Jupiter should possess 

20837—27——_14. 


190 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


a surface of any kind, it would appear of great extent to us because 
of the colossal dimensions of its globe. Wouldwe be able to see the 
heavens through the thick and dense atmosphere whose storminess we 
can observe from our earth? Let us suppose so, and then we would 
see the sun as a very small disk shining with hght twenty-five times 
fainter than as seen from the earth. That would be very meager for 
a sky so heavily clouded. Jupiter’s globe turns upon its axis once 
in nine hours and fifty minutes. The succession of day and night 
is therefore very rapid; only five hours elapse between the rising and 
setting of the diminutive appearing sun which passes rapidly across 
its sky. | 

Jupiter has nine moons but only five are visually of any importance 
nor can all be seen at the same time. Their apparent size, reckoned 
from their actual size and distance from Jupiter, shows them to be 
comparable to our moon. They are of greatly diminished bright- 
ness since the sun illumines them much less intensely. 

Suppose we now quit Jupiter to stop a moment, say, upon the 
nearest of its moons. From it the appearance of Jupiter will be 
immense because of the nearness of the giant globe as seen from this 
first satellite. Jupiter would indeed look like a formidable moon, 
one hundred times greater in diameter than our own, ten thousand 
times greater in extent of surface. 

Along with this same order of grandeur of ideas, an even more 
astonishing spectacle awaits the traveler who sets foot upon the 
satellites of Saturn, the nearest one especially. Situated in the 
plane of Saturn’s ring, this ring would appear only as a bright 
bar crossing the enormous globe of Saturn, but excessively distorted 
in dimensions by perspective, the whole system presenting very dif- 
ferent aspects than as seen from the earth. Add to this the eclipse 
of a portion of Saturn by the shadow of the rings (pl. 9), the phases 
of the enormous globe changing with the direction of the light from 
the sun, and we will still have only a partial conception of the views 
that would be presented to our eyes. If it were possible to land 
upon Saturn—and here the same doubt arises as in the case of 
Jupiter—the sky would have an aspect equally strange. From dif- 
ferent points of the globe, this sky, dotted with numerous moons, 
would be traversed by the luminous ring in varied aspects. At the 
Equator it would appear as a luminous thread passing through the 
zenith from one horizon to the other. At higher and higher lati- 
tudes toward the poles, it would appear as an arch, deformed some- 
what by perspective, and according to the season, which here are 
terrestrial years long, it would be cut by the shadow of Saturn 
itself. And further, depending upon the relative diameter of Saturn 
and the annular system and because of the marked polar flattening 
of the former, beyond latitudes 65° 11’, north or south, this marvel- 


EXCURSIONS ON THE PLANETS—RUDAUX 191 


ous celestial arch would cease to be visible so that the polar inhabi- 
tants of Saturn must be completely ignorant of its existence. 

We are now very far away from the sun which will appear in 
the sky of Saturn only as a small disk ten times smaller in diameter 
and shining with one hundred times less light. For us earth 
dwellers that would be a melancholy illumination. But what would 
we say if there were possibilities of going yet farther off toward the 
planets Uranus and Neptune, where our sun would be reduced in 
grandeur to the appearance of a bright star shining with respectively 
four hundred and nine hundred times less ight than we receive on 
the earth. 


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Smithsonian Report, 1925.—Rudaux PLATE 6 


1. THE PROBABLE CHARACTER OF THE SURFACE OF VENUS 


2. THE SOLAR DISK DEFORMED BY ATMOSPHERIC REFRACTION: 
(A) UPON THE EARTH; (B) UPON VENUS 


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Smithsonian Report, 1926.—Rudaux PLATE 8 


1. THE COMPARATIVE DIAMETERS OF OUR MOON 
AND THE SATELLITES OF MARS 


2. THE MOONS OF JUPITER 


Smithsonian Report, 1926.—Rudaux PLATE 9 


THE PLANET SATURN SEEN FROM ITS FIRST SATELLITE 


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HIGH FREQUENCY RAYS OF COSMIC ORIGIN? 


By R. A. MILLIKAN 
Norman Bridge Laboratory of Physics, California Institute of Technology 


INTRODUCTION BY C. G. ABBOT 


The paper of Professor Millikan which follows may be compared with the 
work of Réntgen, published in the Smithsonian Report of 1897. Some years 
after his discovery of X rays, it was proved that, like light and Hertzian or 
radio rays, they consist of ether vibrations of the transverse type. X rays, 
however, lie in the range of wave lengths from fifty to five thousand times 
shorter than those which produce the sensation of yellow light in the eye. 

Now comes Professor Millikan with the most definite proof thus far obtained 
of a new type of rays also of the nature, as he thinks, of transversely vibrating 
waves, but whose wave lengths are of the order of two thousand times less 
than those of the shortest wave X rays. 

Rontgen’s X rays could penetrate flesh and thereby became a powerful aid 
in surgery and medicine. They could also penetrate many metals opaque to 
ordinary light. But the X rays are stopped by rather thin sheets of lead, so 
that X-ray photographers are accustomed to protect their sensitive plates by 
lead wrappers. Rdntgen, however, distinguished between different degrees of 
penetration in the rays he was able to produce. He introduced (one does not 
exactly know why) the term “ hard” to designate more penetrating and “ soft” 
to designate less penetrating X rays. After the measurements of X-ray wave 
lengths had been accomplished, some years later, the “hard” rays were found 
to differ in being shorter wave lengths than “ soft” ones. 

It is not surprising then that rays of two thousand times less wave length 
should be very “hard.”* Professor Millikan, indeed, finds that these new rays 
will penetrate the equivalent of 6 feet of lead, the most impenetrable of 
common metals for ordinary X rays. 

Still more noteworthy is the fact that the new rays do not appear to be 
engendered on this earth, but rather to fly about in every direction through 
the universe beyond our atmosphere. It is suggested by -Professor Millikan 
that they arise from the destruction of transmutation of atoms in those fiery 
laboratories, the stars. Such features make the subject of the new rays one 
of extraordinary interest and perhaps of great developmental possibilities. 

Readers will be interested to recognize in these new rays a very great addi- 
tion to the gamut of the spectrum described so well by the late Prof. E. F. 
Nichols in his paper in the Smithsonian Report for 1923. Our friends will 
also take pleasure in the thought that the Smithsonian Institution, by its 
support of the work of Langley in the infra-red, of Shumann in the ultra- 
violet, and by its articles in which the progress of knowledge of the extension 


1 Reprinted by permission from the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 
vol. 12, No. 1, January, 1926. Read before the Academy Nov. 9, 1925. 


193 


194 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


of the spectrum is described from time to time, has played a worthy part in 
the enormous development to which the following paper by Professor Millikan 
is so notable a continuation. 


It was as early as 1903 that the British physicists, McLennan and 
Burton? and Rutherford and Cooke ® noticed that the rate of leakage 
of an electric charge from an electroscope within an air-tight metal 
chamber could be reduced as much as 30 per cent by inclosing the 
chamber within a completely encircling metal shield or box with walls 
several centimeters thick. This meant that the loss of charge of the 
inclosed electroscope was not due to imperfectly insulating supports, 
but must rather be due to some highly penetrating rays, like the 
gamma rays of radium, which could pass through metal walls as 
much as a centimeter thick and ionize the gas inside. 

In view of this property of passing through relatively thick 
metal walls in measurable quantity, the radiation thus investigated 
was called the “ penetrating radiation ” of the atmosphere, and was 
at first quite naturally attributed to radioactive materials in the earth 
or air, and this is in fact the origin of the greater part of it. But 
in 1910 and 1911 it was found that it did not decrease as rapidly 
with altitude as it should upon this hypothesis. The first significant 
report upon this point was made by the Swiss physicist, Gockel,* 
who took an inclosed electroscope up in a balloon with him to a 
height of 18,000 feet and reported that he found the “ penetrating 
radiation ” about as large at this altitude as at the earth’s surface, 
and this despite the fact that according to Eve’s® calculation it 
ought to have fallen to half its surface value in going up 250 feet. 

In 1911, 1912, 1918, and 1914 two physicists, Hess,° a Swiss, and 
Kolhorster,’? a German, repeated these balloon measurements of 
Gockel’s, the latter going to a height of 9 kilometers, or 5.6 miles, 
and reported that they found this radiation decreasing a trifle for the 
first mile or so and then increasing until it reached a value at 9 
kilometers, according to Kolhérster’s measurements, eight times as 
great as at the surface. This seemed to indicate that the penetrating 
rays came from outside the earth, and were, therefore, of some sort 
of cosmic origin. If so it was computed ® that in order to fit the 
Hess and Kolhoérster data the rays had to have an absorption coef- 
ficient of 0.57 per meter of water and an ionizing power within a 
closed vessel sent to the top of our atmosphere of at least 500 ions 
per cubic centimeter per second in place of the 10 or 12 ions found 


2McLennan and Burton, Physic. Rey., 16, 184, 1903. 

8 Rutherford and Cooke, ibid., 16, 183, 1903. 
4Gockel, Physik Zeit., 11, 280, 1910. 

5 ive, Phil. Mag., 21, 26, 1911. 

6 Hess, Physik Zeit., 12, 998, 1911, and 138, 1084, 1912. 
7 Kolhorster, ibid., 14, 1158, 1918, and D. Physik Ges., July 30, 1914. 
81). v. Schweidler, Elster u. Geitel Fest schrift, p. 415, 1915. 


HIGH FREQUENCY RAYS—MILLIKAN 195 


in ordinary electroscopes at the surface. The war put a stop the 
world over to further studies of this sort, but as soon as we could 
get the proper instruments built after the war in the newly equipped 
Norman Bridge Laboratory of Physics, I. S. Bowen and myself went 
to Kelly Field, near San Antonio, Tex., as with four little record- 
ing electroscopes which we succeeded in the spring of 1922 in sending 
up in sounding balloons to almost twice the heights which had previ- 
ously been attained. The highest flight reached the altitude of 
15.5 kilometers, or nearly 10 miles. 

These instruments were interesting in that, though they were built 
of steel to hold 300 cubic centimeters of air at 150 pounds pressure, 
and were provided each with a recording barometer, thermometer, 
and electroscope, also with two different sets of moving photographic 
films and the necessary driving mechanism, the total weight of the 
whole instrument was yet but 190 grams, or about 7 ounces. The 
altitudes were determined not only from the now well-established 
law of ascent of balloons, but also by direct, two theodolite observa- 
tions which Maj. William R. Blair of the United States Signal Corps 
kindly sent Lieutenant McNeil to Kelly Field for the express pur- 
pose of making for us. 

In these experiments we expected, if the results previously re- 
ported were correct, to find very large rates of discharge; for our 
instruments went up to such heights that 88 per cent of the atmos- 
phere had been left beneath them, and only 12 per cent was left to 
cut down, by its absorption, the intensity of the hypothetical rays 
entering from outside. In other words, our electroscopes should have 
been exposed to radiations approaching in intensity those existing 
at the very top of our atmosphere. We actually failed to find any- 
thing like the computed rates of discharge. Our experiments were 
in agreement with those of the European observers in that our 
electroscopes showed a somewhat higher rate of discharge at high 
altitudes than at the surface, but at the same time they proved 
conclusively that a radiation of the assumed properties did not exist, 
our observed rates of discharge being not more than one-fourth the 
computed amounts. 

Since the origin of the “ penetrating rays” was still uncertain, Dr. 
Russell Otis and myself in the summer of 1923 went to the top of 
Pike’s Peak for the sake of making absorption experiments upon 
this radiation at the highest altitude to which we could carry large 
quantities of absorbing materials. For if the rays were not of cosmic 
origin they did not need to be more penetrating than are the gamma 
rays from radioactive materials, while if they were of cosmic origin 
the sounding balloon experiments of Bowen and myself had shown 
that they must be very much harder (more penetrating) than any- 


196 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


body had thus far assumed. What was needed was absorption 
experiments to determine just what sort of rays they actually were. 

We carried 300 pounds of lead and a 6 by 6 by 6 foot tank of water 
to the top of the peak and obtained as the net result of these absorp- 
tion experiments the definite proof that the rays found at the top of 
Pike’s Peak were predominantly of the hardness of ordinary gamma 
rays, and further that they were very largely, if not entirely, of local 
origin, since local conditions, such as a heavy snow storm and bliz- 
zard, which occurred while we were there, varied their intensity 
nearly as much inside a screen of 4.8 centimeters of lead as outside. 
Kolhorster had by this time, after the brief publication of our Kelly 
Field data, and as a result, also, of new experiments made subse- 
quently to them in crevasses and holes in glaciers in the Alps, reduced 
his estimated absorption coefficients ®° from 0.57 to 0.25, a change he 
regards as within the limits of his experimental uncertainties, but a 
change which made the assumed rays so hard as to be no longer 
irreconcilable with our sounding balloon observations. But we found 
that our Pike’s Peak observations were not yet compatible with his 
now (1923) assumed characteristics of rays of cosmic origin, viz., 
rays which produce 2 ions per second per cubic centimeter at the 
earth’s surface, and have a coeflicient of 0.25 per meter of water. For 
while in going from the altitude of Pasadena to that of Pike’s Peak 
the number of ions observed with the unshielded electroscope in- 
creased from 11.6 to 22.2, an increase of 10.6 ions, the number of ions 
observed through the Shield of 4.8 centimeters of lead increased but 
from 9.37 to 11.6, an increase of only 2.23 ions. But radiation of the 
characteristics assumed above would have caused by itself, inside our 
lead screen, an increase of 3.34 ions, even if none of the large increase 
in radiation shown by the unshielded observations got through the 
lead shield—a supposition which we believed to be contrary to fact. 
In a word, our Pike’s Peak observations showed that if rays of cosmic 
origin existed at all they must be of different characteristics from 
any as yet suggested, and they further showed most interestingly 
that a very copious soft radiation of unknown origin existed at the 
altitude of Pike’s Peak. 

Accordingly, Mr. Harvey Cameron and myself planned some new 
experiments for the summer of 1925 which were designed: 

(1) To settle definitely the question of the existence or non- 
existence of a small, very penetrating radiation of cosmic origin—a 
radiation so hard as to be uninfluenced by, and hence unobservable 
with the aid of, such screens as we had taken to Pike’s Peak—and, 

(2) To throw light on the cause of the variation with altitude of 
the radiation of gamma-ray hardness which our absorption experi- 


® Kolhorster, Sitz.-Ber. Preuss. Akad. Wiss., 34, 366, 23. 


HIGH FREQUENCY RAYS—MILLIKAN 197 


ments on Pike’s Peak showed to be more than twice as copious there 
as at Pasadena. 

The only possible absorbing material obtainable in the immense 
quantities needed, and of homogeneous and nonradioactive constitu- 
tion, were the waters of very deep snow-fed lakes—snow-fed be- 
cause the results of underwater experiments which we had previously 
carried on near Pasadena had been vitiated by our discovery that the 
waters were appreciably radioactive. We felt that there was much 
uncertainty as to how much this cause might have affected the 
Huropean observations in and about glaciers. Further, our Pike’s 
Peak experiments had demonstrated that if any of the penetrating 
rays were of cosmic origin the ionization due to them in our electro- 
scope at sea level had to be much less than the 2 ions, assumed above, 
out of the 11.6 observed, the experimental error being, say, half an 
ion. No crucial tests could, therefore, possibly be made unless we 
could find very deep, nonradioactive lakes at very high altitudes 
where cosmic rays, if they existed, had two or three times the ionizing 
effect to be expected from them at sea level. We needed at least three 
ions due to cosmic rays, to vary with absorbing materials, if we were 
to obtain unambiguous evidence. 

We chose for the first experiments Muir Lake (11,800 feet high), 
just under the brow of Mount Whitney, the highest peak in the 
United States, a beautiful snow-fed lake hundreds of feet deep and 
some 2,000 feet in diameter. Here we worked for the last 10 days in 
August, sinking our electroscopes to various depths down to 67 feet. 
Our experiments brought to light altogether unambiguously a radia- 
tion of such extraordinary penetrating power that the electroscope 
readings kept decreasing down to a depth of 50 feet below the sur- 
face. The atmosphere above the lake was equivalent in absorbing 
power to 23 feet of water, so that here were rays so penetrating that, 
if they came from outside the atmosphere, they had the power of 
passing through 50+-23—73 feet of water, or the equivalent of 6 feet 
of lead, before being completely absorbed. The most penetrating 
X rays that we produce in our hospitals can not go through half an 
inch of lead. Here were rays at least a hundred times more pene- 
trating than these, and having an absorption coefficient but one 
twenty-fifth, instead of “about one-tenth of that of the hardest 
known gamma rays.” ® 

How unambiguous was the experimental evidence may be seen 
from the fact that with the aid of a new electroscope of high sensi- 
tivity the change in ions per cubic centimeter per second in going 
from the surface of Muir Lake to the depth of 15 meters (50 feet) 


® Kolhorster, Sitz.-Ber. Preuss. Akad. Wiss., 34, 366, 23. 


198 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


was from 13.9 ions to 3.8 ions, or a decrease to about a fourth value. 
The largest decrease below a surface reading reported by Kolhorster 
due to sinking electroscopes in water ® was 2.1 ions, or a decrease of 
perhaps 20 per cent, so that we have here obtained an altogether new 
precision of measurement and unambiguity of evidence. 

To obtain definite evidence as to whether these very hard rays were 
of cosmic origin, coming in wholly from above and using the at- 
mosphere merely as an absorbing blanket, we next went to another 
very deep snow-fed lake, Lake Arrowhead in the San Bernardino 
Mountains, 300 miles farther south and 6,700 feet lower in altitude, 
where the Arrowhead Development Co. kindly put all their facili- 
ties at our disposal. The atmosphere between the two altitudes has 
an absorbing power equivalent to about 6 feet of water. Within the 
limits of observational error, every reading in Arrowhead Lake cor- 
responded to a reading 6 feet farther down in Muir Lake, thus show- 
ing that the rays do come in definitely from above, and that their 
origin is entirely outside the layer of atmosphere between the levels 
of the two lakes. 

Analysis of our absorption curves shows that the rays are not ho- 
mogeneous but are hardened as they go through the atmosphere, just 
as XM rays are hardened by being filtered through a lead screen. 
Our hardest observed rays have an absorption coeticient of 0.18 per 
meter of water and the softest which get down to Muir Lake a 
coefficient of 0.3 per meter. The sounding balloon experiments of 
Bowen and myself make it improbable that they become very much 
softer than this at the top of the atmosphere, since otherwise we 
should have obtained larger readings in our very high flight. 

Observations carried on day and night for four consecutive days 
on Pike’s Peak at an altitude of 14,100 feet; and for two consecutive 
days on Mount Whitney at an altitude of 13,500 feet reveal no pref- 
erential direction in the heavens from which the rays come. Within 
the limits of our uncertainty of measurements, then, these rays shoot 
through space equally in all directions. 

When absorption coefficients are reduced to wave length by a 
formula? of probable, though not yet certain, validity our hardest 
observed rays have the wave length 0.00038 A, and those of longer 
wave length go up to nearly twice this value, i. e., we find a spectrum 
about an octave in width in a frequency een iki two thousand 
times higher than that of the mean X ray (1 A), or as far above 
X rays as X rays are above light. The shortest wave length just 
computed corresponds to a frequency ten million times higher than 
that of visible light. 

When these extraordinary high-frequency rays strike the earth, 
according to the now well-established Compton effect, they should 


20 N, Ahmad, Proc. Roy. Soc., A109, 206, 1925. 


HIGH FREQUENCY RAYS—MILLIKAN 199 


be transformed partially into soft rays of just about the hardness 
of the soft rays which we have actually observed on Pike’s Peak and 
Mount Whitney. The reason these soft rays were more plentiful 
on the mountain peaks than at Pasadena would then be found simply 
in the fact that there are about three times as many of the hard 
rays to be transformed at the altitudes of the peaks as at that of 
Pasadena. This seems to be the solution of the second of our 
summer’s problems. 

We can draw some fairly reliable conclusions of a general sort as 
to the origin of these very penetrating and very high-frequency 
rays. The most penetrating rays that we have known anything 
about thus far, the gamma rays of radium and thorium, are produced 
only by nuclear transformations within atoms. In other words, 
they are produced by the change of one atom over into another atom, 
or by the creation of a new type of atom. It is scarcely possible, 
then, to avoid the conclusion that these still more penetrating rays 
which we have here been studying are produced similarly by nuclear 
transformations of some sort. But these transformations must be 
enormously more energetic than are those taking place in any radio- 
active changes that we know anything about. For, according to our 
present knowledge, the frequency of any emitted ray is proportional 
to the energy of the subatomic change giving birth to it. We can 
scarcely avoid the conclusion, then, that nuclear changes having an 
energy value perhaps fifty times as great as the energy changes 
involved in observed radioactive processes are taking place all 
through space, and that signals of these changes are being sent to 
us in these high frequency rays. 

The energy of the nuclear change that corresponds to the forma- 
tion of helium out of hydrogen is known, and from it we have com- 
puted the corresponding frequency and found it to correspond closely 
to the highest frequency rays which we have observed this summer. 
The computed frequencies of these cosmic rays also correspond 
closely to the energy involved in the simple capture of an electron 
by a positive nucleus. Thus, the highest speed B ray emitted by 
thorium leaves its mother atom with a speed which is equivalent 
to the energy acquired by the fall of an electron through 7,540,000 
volts.11_ This electron in order to get out of the mother atom was 
obliged to move against the pull upon it of the positive nucleus, and 
in this act it gained a potential energy the equivalent of a fall 
through 4,400,000 volts.12 If this same electron had reversed its 
path and plunged into the nucleus it should have generated in so 
doing a 12,000,000-volt ray (7,540,000-+-4,400,000). The cosmic rays 


“4 Report of Committee on X Rays and Radioactivity of National Research Council, 1925, 
p. 92. 

“ Report of Committee on X Rays and Radioactivity of National Research Council, 1925, 
p. 68. 


200 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


with which we have been dealing have frequencies which make them 
the equivalent of from 12 to 30 million volt rays. It is not improb- 
able that the capture of an electron by the nucleus of a ight atom 
involves a higher energy than its capture by a heavy one, so that 
such captures as are here discussed constitute, perhaps, the most 
plausible hypothesis as to the origin of these rays. 

Is it possible to imagine such a phenomenon going on all through 
space? The difficulty is not so insuperable, in view of the trans- 
parency even of large amounts of matter for these hard rays combined 
with Hubbell’s recent proof +* at the Mount Wilson Observatory that 
some of the spiral nebulae are at least 1,000,000 light-years away. 
The centers at which these nuclear changes are taking place would 
then only have to occur at extraordinarily widely scattered intervals 
to produce the intensity of the radiation observed at Muir Lake. 

The only alternative hypothesis to that above presented of high- 
frequency rays transvering space in all directions, might seem to be 
to assume that the observed rays are generated in the upper layers 
of the atmosphere by electrons shooting through space in all direc- 
tions with practically the speed of light. This hypothesis might 
help some in interpreting the mysterious fact of the maintenance of 
the earth’s negative charge, but it meets with insuperable obstacles, 
I think, in explaining quantitatively the variation with altitude of 
the ionization in closed vessels. In any case, in its most important 
aspect, this hypothesis is very much like the one presented above, 
for it, too, fills space with rays of one sort or another traveling in 
all directions with the speed of light. From some such conception 
as this there now seems to be no escape. And yet it is a conception 
which is almost too powerful a stimulus to the imagination. Pro- 
fessor MacMillan of Chicago will wish to see in it evidence for the 
condensation into matter out somewhere in space of the light and 
heat continually being radiated into space by the sun and stars,’* an 
altogether permissible speculation. Unfortunately the psychics will 
of course be explaining all kinds of telepathies with the aid of these 
cosmic rays. But, be that as it may, the simple experimental facts, 
as shown by the foregoing work, are: 

(1) That these extraordinary penetrating rays exist; 

(2) That their mass absorption coefficient may be as high as 0.18 
per meter of water; 

(3) That they are not homogeneous, but are distributed through 
a spectral region far up above X-ray frequencies—probably one 
thousand times the mean frequencies of X rays; 


18 Hubbell, Pop. Astron., 33, pp. 252—255, 1925. 
44 MacMillan, Science, 62, 122, 1925. 


HIGH FREQUENCY RAYS—MILLIKAN 201 


(4) That these hard rays stimulate, upon striking matter, softer 
rays of about the hardness predicted by the theory of the Compton 
effect ; 

(5) That these rays come into the earth with equal intensity day 
and night and at all hours of the day or night, and with practically 
the same intensity in all directions. 

Mr. I. 8. Bowen, Dr. Russell Otis, Mr. G. Harvey Cameron and 
myself, all of whom have participated in this investigation and have 
received invaluable aid from the instrument maker, Mr. Julius Pear- 
son, will publish full details of this work elsewhere. 


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THE PRESENT STATUS OF RADIO ATMOSPHERIC 
DISTURBANCES? 


By L. W. AUSTIN 
Laboratory for Special Radio Transmission Research? 


Our knowledge concerning atmospheric disturbances is still very 
meager. The observed facts may be catalogued as follows: (1) 
In general, atmospherics are stronger at the longer wave lengths. 
(2) Except for the effects of local storms, they are nearly always 
stronger in the afternoon and night, while for the higher frequencies 
this increase in strength is confined usually to the night alone. (38) 
They are stronger in summer than in winter, (4) in the south than 
in the north, and (5) on the land than on the ocean. (6) A large 
proportion of them appear to be directive; that is, to come from 
definite regions, or centers, as mountain ranges, rain areas, or thun- 
derstorms. It is also reasonably certain that (7) at least most of 
the long-wave disturbances travel along the earth with a practically 
vertical wave front,’ like the signals; (8) that a considerable portion 
are oscillatory in character, though a certain portion are nonoscilla- 
tory and give rise to shock oscillations in the antenna at all wave 
lengths; and (9) that disturbances sometimes occur simultaneously 
at stations thousands of miles apart.* 

The crigin of the ordinary rumbling disturbances (grinders) has 
been the subject of many conjectures. Eccles ® believed at one time 
that he had found the source of this type of disturbance, as far as 
England was concerned, in distant thunderstorms, especially in 
Western Africa. “DeGroot ® has suggested that the grinders are due 
to the bombardment of the upper atmosphere by electrons from the 
sun or charged cosmic dust. The idea that this type of disturbance 


1Presented at the annual meeting of the Section of Terrestrial Magnetism and Elec- 
tricity of the American Geophysical Union, Washington, D..C., Apr. 30, 1925. Published 
by permission of the Director of the Bureau of Standards of the U. S. Department of Com- 
merce. Reprinted by permission from Journal of the Washington Academy of Sciences, 
vol. 16; No. 2, Jan. 19, 1926. 

2 Conducted jointly by the Bureau of Standards and the American Section of the Inter- 
national Union of Scientific Radio Telegraphy. 

3 Jour. Wash. Acad. Sci., 11: 101. 1921. 

£M. Baumler, Jahrb. d. Drabtlosen Teleg., 19: 325. 1922. This matter of simultaneous 
crashes needs further investigation since a certain number of such coincidences may eyi- 
dently occur by chance. 

5 Electrician (London), 69: 75. 1912. 

SPrOC., 1. uBies Won Oise h e- bo b< 


203 


204 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


comes in some way from above has also been held by Weagant.’ 
Mosler,® while ascribing the disturbances to thunderstorms, concluded 
in contradiction to the ideas of Eccles, that thunderstorms could give 
rise to atmospherics only over a radius of about 60 miles. This 
limitation in distance was very probably due to insensitive appara- 
tus. A very systematic study of thunderstorms and atmospherics, 
undertaken by the British Meteorological Office and the Admiralty, 
has apparently settled the fact that thunderstorms can be located 
with modern apparatus up to about 1,500 miles.® 

There is still much difference of opinion as to the proportion of 
atmospherics which is due to thunderstorms. Professor Appleton, 
at a symposium *° on atmospheric ionization and radiotelegraphy, 
November 28, 1924, expressed the opinion that practically all atmos- 
pheric disturbances might be produced by thunderstorms somewhere 
in the world. 

It is undoubtedly true that thunderstorms produce many atmos- 
pherics, but it is not by any means certain that the lightning flashes 
themselves are always the actual sources. There is a widely pre- 
vailing idea among radio operators that the lightning fiash often 
produces only a harmless click in the telephone receivers. I have 
made some observations during thunderstorms, using a coupled cir- 
cuit with rectifying vacuum tube and galvanometer, which indi- 
cated that lightning flashes, even within 3 or 4 miles, were not as 
powerful in their effects on the receiving apparatus as many of the 
disturbances which occurred when no flashes were apparent. This 
comparatively feeble effect of the flashes is difficult to understand 
if the current rise at the beginning of the flash is as steep as is often 
assumed. but would be understandable if the lightning discharge 
curves were of the form and duration of the atmospheric disturbance 
curves observed by Appleton and Watt (figs. 1-5). On the other 
hand, it is quite possible that the small deflections from the light- 
ning flashes were due to a paralysis of the detector tube, a phenom- 
enon which often occurs when the tube is exposed to very high elec- 
tromotive forces. It must, therefore, be concluded that the connec- 
tion between lightning and atmospherics is still not clear, and val- 
uable work can be done by anyone who will watch the lightning and 
listen to the atmospheric crashes from thunderstorms in the neighbor- 
hood.*? 

At the London Physical Society symposium already mentioned, 
Prof. C. 'T. R. Wilson discussed the probability of there being dis- 


METOC. Te othe Wea pes DO ts LOL: 

8 Wlektrot. Zeits., 1134. 1912. 

® World Power, 3: 20. 1925. 

10 Proc. Phys. Soc., London, 37: 2D-50D (appendix). 1925. 

Jt appears that for wave lengths below 1,000 meters, when thunderstorms are within 
a few miles, the visible discharges produce most of the strong disturbance crashes, 


RADIO ATMOSPHERIC DISTURBANCES—AUSTIN 205 


charges of thunderclouds to the upper conducting region of the 
atmosphere. His calculations indicated that thunderclouds of com- 
mon electric moment might very readily discharge to a conducting 
layer at a height of 60 or 80 kilometers, since the electric force 
required to produce discharge decreases even more rapidly with the 
height than the electric force of the thundercloud. Discharges of 
this kind, probably nonluminous, may possibly furnish the explana- 
tion of the strong atmospherics heard from thunderclouds when no 
flashes are visible. 

Mr. Watson Watt, in analyzing the records of European * direc- 
tion-finding stations, concluded that in only about 35 per cent of 


r-- 


Ss 
ise Sec, cmap 


(4) (5) 


Fies. 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5.—Atmospheric disturbance curves observed by Appleton and Watt 


the cases could thunderstorms be identified as the sources of atmos- 
pheric disturbances, though in about 75 per cent of the cases the 
indentified sources were rain areas of some kind. 

Captain Bureau * of the French Meteorological Office has recently 
published papers in which he shows that many of the atmospheric 
disturbances in France are closely connected with the advance of 
meteorological cold fronts and that the atmospherics are accentuated 
when these air movements come in contact with mountain ranges. 

For the determination of the direction from which atmospheric 
disturbances come, Mr. Watt ** has invented an automatic recording 


2 Nature, 110: 680. 1922. 
18C-R, Acad. Sci., 176: 556 and 1623. 1924: L’Onde Blectrique, 3: 385. 1924. 
4 Proc. Roy. Soc., A, 102: 460. 1923. Phil. Mag., 45: 1010. 1923. 


206 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


apparatus in which a radiocompass coil, tuned to about 30,000 
meters, is rotated slowly and continuously by clockwork, the atmos- 
pheric crashes being recorded on a drum attached to the coil. 

It should be said in this connection that it has been very common 
in Europe to estimate the strength of atmospherics by the number of 
disturbances occurring in a given time. This method, of course, 
would hardly seem to be applicable to our Washington summer 
conditions, or to the conditions during the disturbance season in the 
tropics where often in the afternoons and evenings the noise in the 
telephones forms an almost continuous rumbling through which no 
signal can be heard unless it is strong enough to rise above the 
background of disturbing sounds. 

If, indeed, there is a physical difference between the atmospherics, 
crashes, grinders, etc., it is not at all certain that what is being 
measured in Europe by the counting method is the same thing that 
is being measured in America, either by direct estimates of the 
average disturbance strength, or by measuring the strength of signal 
which can be read through the disturbances. 

On the Atlantic and Pacific coasts of the United States, except 
for occasional local thunderstorms, very little certain connection has 
been noticed between the direction of the atmospheric disturbances 
and rain areas. On the Atlantic coast, the main disturbances seem 
to come roughly from the Southwest, but it seems uncertain whether 
the sources are in the Allegheny Mountains or much farther re- 
moved, perhaps in Yucatan. Experiments reported by the Navy 
Department in New Orleans have indicated the more southerly 
origin. 

Unfortunately, very few triangulation experiments have been 
made in America for fixing the exact positions of sources of atmos- 
pherics. In most cases, therefore, the direction is all that is known. 

Observations made at Madison, Wisconsin, by Professor Terry of the 
University of Wisconsin, covering the last two years, show conditions 
in the Middle West which are similar to those described by the con- 
tinental European observers; that is, there is no single prevailing 
direction of the atmospherics, but a more or less definite connection 
with thunderstorms and other rain areas. This absence of any pre- 
vailing southerly source of atmospherics in the central portion of the 
country casts doubt on the Mexican origin of those observed in the 
Atlantic coast region, since the distance from Yucatan to Madison, 
Wisconsin, is about the same as from Yucatan to Washington. 

On the Pacific coast of the United States it is pretty well estab- 
lished that at least at San Francisco and San Diego the sources of 
disturbances are largely local, lying in the mountain ranges not far 
from the coast. These centers seem to be permanently fixed, 
resulting in very constant directional conditions. 


RADIO ATMOSPHERIC DISTURBANCES—AUSTIN 207 


It seems to be pretty well settled, in all parts of the world where 
observations have been made, that there is a very definite connection 
between the intensity of the disturbances and the position of the sun. 
In the Northern Hemisphere during the winter when the sun is far 
in the south, the disturbances are generally moderate even as far 
south as Panama, within 9° of the equator. But as the sun comes 
north in the spring, there is often a rapid and, sometimes, very 
sudden increase in strength, and it is reported that stations close to 
the Iquator experience two disturbance maxima, corresponding to 
the two periods when the sun is nearly overhead. 

In addition to the study of the sources of the disturbances, the 
question of their wave form is of much importance. Messrs. ‘Watt 
and Appleton* in England, working under the Radio Research 
Board, have made some investigations of this problem, making use 
of the cathode-ray oscillograph (Braun tube). In their work the 
atmospheric disturbance, after being received on an aperiodic 
antenna and amplified by an aperiodic resistance-coupled amplifier, 
was impressed on one pair of plates of the oscillograph, while a 
source of 60-cycle current was connected to the other pair of plates 
for the purpose of drawing out the spot of light into a line on the 
fluorescent screen. The resulting movement of the spot of light 
could not be photographed, but could be observed and sketched 
with some accuracy. Five typical curves are shown in the figures. 
Most of these appear to be aperiodic, though some are feebly 
oscillatory. 

In Figure 3 it is seen that there are minute oscillations superposed 
on the main curve. It will be noted that the period of main oscilla- 
tion is, in all cases, of audio frequency; and Eckersley ** has pointed 
out recently that the relatively prolonged impulses of Watt and Ap- 
pleton can not account for the observed intensity of the atmos- 
pherics, ordinarily experienced in radio reception. He suggests that 
possibly the ripples, such as are shown in Figure 38, may be the actual 
atmospheric waves. Mr. Watt in the symposium cited accepts this 
view and adds that more recent experiments in Egypt and elsewhere 
in the Tropics show that there the fine ripple structure is much more 
common and of much greater amplitude than in England. Profes- 
sor Appleton, on the other hand, holds that the low-frequency wave 
forms shown in the figures are capable of producing the observed dis- 
turbances at all wave lengths by shock excitation. 

In conclusion, the differences of opinion mentioned in this paper 
show that there is still much to be done before the sources of the 
disturbances are identified with certainty. While many of the at- 


45 Proc. Roy. Soe., A, 103: 84. 1923. 
16 Wleetrician (London), 93: 150. 1924. 


208 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


mospherics undoubtedly come from thunderstorms, many appear to 
come from regions where no such storms are occurring. It is also 
believed that even in thunderstorms some of the heaviest disturb- 
ances do not come from the lightning itself, but the nature of these 


nonluminous sources of such great power is still a matter of 
conjecture. 


COLD LIGHT? 


’ By E. Newron Harvey, Pu. D. 
Professor of Physiology, Princeton University 


Man may well pride himself upon the development of heat, light, 
and electricity. Modern comfort is dependent on them. Few would 
welcome their disappearance despite the present tendency to decry 
the complexity of a mechanical age. But let us not forget that living 
creatures have long possessed methods of producing heat, light, 
and electricity quite different from those of the furnace, the lamp, or 
the dynamo. 

Mammals and birds maintain their body temperature continually 
above that of their surroundings. They possess eternal fires and effi- 
cient thermoregulation, which makes them independent of cold. 
Fireflies and other luminous animals have flashed their lights for 
countless ages, while electric fish can generate currents strong enough 
to ring a bell or light an incandescent lamp. 

We speak of the production of light by living things as biolumi- 
nescence, and few subjects touch as diverse fields of inquiry or interest 
as many investigators. It appeals to the morphologist, the physi- 
ologist, the chemist, the physicist, the philosopher, and the illuminat- 
ing engineer. Those who have seen the brilliant flashes of innumer- 
able fireflies, filling the fields on a midsummer night, or the sea a 
vivid sheet of flame when disturbed by some passing ship, can not 
but marvel at the display. Slow is the imagination which will not 
inquire how and why this light is emitted, or whether we may not 
some day successfully develop a “cold light,” modeled on nature’s 
plan. 

It is possible in the space at my disposal to state only the general 
facts of bioluminescence and discuss some recent experiments bearing 
on the physical chemistry of the process. While fireflies have been 
known for centuries to all people, it is about 50 years since we 
have recognized the cause of certain other phosphorescences of liv- 
ing things. The glowing of dead fish or the glowing of meat in 
refrigerators. or the glowing of wood were definitely proved to be 
due to living organisms in 1875 when it was shown that these lumi- 
nescences were of plant or animal origin. 


1 Reprinted by permission from Princeton Alumni Weekly, Vol. XXVI, No. 33, June 2, 
1926. Appeared also in Scientia, May, 1927. 
209 


210 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


In 1810 a paper was presented to the Royal Society of London 
by a man named McCartney, setting forth the causes of the light 
or phosphorescence of the sea. He goes over some of the older 
theories which had been advanced to account for the phenomenon. 
Some had thought that the light was due to “ putrefaction,” because 
it had been known that dead matter might become luminous. Others 
thought that the light of the sea was electric, because it was excited 
by “ friction.” Others thought that it was “ phosphoric,” that the 
element phosphorus was present in the sea, which phosphoresced 
as it does on a match. Others thought that the sea imbibed light 
which it afterwards gave off, much as will a phosphorescent mineral 
like calcium sulphide. 

Finally McCartney decided that the phosphorescence of the sea 
was due to animals living in it, and this is the correct explanation. 
Every phosphorescence of the sea is due to one or another form, 
usually microscopic, but many visible to the naked eye. I think few 
people realize how many luminescent organisms there are. If we 
examine the different groups of animals, we find that at least 40 
different orders contain one or more forms producing light, and at 
least two groups of plants are luminescent. The two plants which 
produce light are the fungi and the bacteria. All the phosphores- 
cence of wood is due to fungi, and all the phosphorescence of dead 
meat or fish in refrigerators, and other dead matter is due to bacteria. 
These luminous bacteria are very widespread and grow readily on 
an appropriate culture medium. 

Not only bacteria and fungi, but sponges, jellyfish, comb jellies, 
hydroids, sea pens, minute organisms in the water known as dino- 
flagellates and radiolaria, many kinds of marine worms and earth- 
worms, centipedes, brittle stars, several mollusks, many kinds of 
shrimp and crabs, and many kinds of cuttlefish or squid as well as 
true fish produce light. The number of luminescent species runs into 
the tens of thousands. 

In some squid (Watasenia) the ends of the tentacles contain 
luminous organs, and as the squid swims through the water, it waves 
these tentacles around and flashes them much as the firefly does. 
This form is found in Japan and is called “ hotaru ika,” or firefly 
squid. 

Another kind of squid (Heteroteuthis) from the Italian coast, 
throws out luminous secretion into the sea water. It lives in the 
depths of the sea, in perpetual darkness. The luminous secretion 
is manufactured in a gland corresponding to the ink sac that in 
surface squid produces the ink. According to the direction of evolu- 
tion this gland has produced the blackest known fluid in cuttlefish, 
or a fluid not only transparent but one shining with its own light in 
Heteroteuthis. It is startling enough to see a cuttlefish surround 


COLD LIGHT—-HARVEY 211 


itself with a black mass of ink; imagine one’s surprise at the dis- 
charge of a cloud of “ fire ” that glows in the sea water for some time. 
What is the use of this remarkable power? Perhaps to frighten or 
blind predacious animals while the squid makes good its escape. 
It is not known with certainty. 

Many fish produce a light of their own, apart from the light of 
luminous bacteria growing on the dead fish. The living fish contain 
organs which in themselves are light-producing, especially forms liv- 
ing in the deep sea. These organs are arranged in rows on the sides 
or bottom of the fish, giving it the appearance of a ship with all its 
port holes illuminated. Sometimes the organ is dangled on the end 
of a long stalk projecting from the head of the fish, a Diogenes of 
the deep in search of an honest meal. 

Some of these luminous organs are exceedingly interesting from a 
structural standpoint because they are veritable lanterns. ‘They have 
been carefully studied by Prof. Ulric Dahlgren °94, who has con- 
tributed much to our knowledge of the histology of luminous animals. 
In many ways they resemble the eye because they have a lens, except 
that the lens in the case of the luminous organ is used for directing 
the light, whereas in the eye it is used for receiving the light and 
converging it on to the retina. The more complicated of these lumi- 
nous organs have not only a lens, they have also a layer of cells 
which contain a shiny material, and this shiny material makes the 
layer act as a reflector, so that when the light is produced in the 
middle of the organ, that which comes back against the reflector is 
shot forward and out through the lens, and all the light is directed 
and concentrated ina beam. Not only does the organ have reflectors, 
it has also opaque screens, in order to protect the tissues of the ani- 
mals from any light which may pass out the side and possibly injure 
cells around the luminous organ. Light—strong light, at least—is 
destructive to living tissue, and where we have an organ in the 
animal producing a light of its own, we have, practically, a very 
strong light, and we find in most cases the organs or tissues pro- 
tected by some kind of a screen. 

There may also be present color screens, which allow only certain 
wave lengths to pass, and so give the light a definite color. These 
have been described in luminous cuttlefish from the depths of the 
ocean. One species has at least three colored luminous organs—a 
blue, a violet, and a reddish organ. An insect from South America 
has not only white luminous organs, but also red ones, and these 
red lights, so it is said, are very conveniently situated at the tail 
of the insect, and the white lights at the head. It is know locally 
as the “ automobile bug.” 

Two luminous fishes found in the Dutch East Indies, in the Banda 
Sea, are of great interest, because they have developed a luminous 


212 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


organ designed for the support of luminous bacteria. The organ is 
large, just under the eye, and the bacteria are of a special kind which 
will not grow on ordinary culture media or on the outside of the fish. 
They are spoken of as symbiotic luminous bacteria and present only 
another case of a mutual benefit partnership between two different 
organisms. The fish have the benefit of the light while the bacteria 
are supplied with free board and lodging. A very rich system of 
blood capillaries brings food and oxygen so necessary for the lumi- 
nescence of these bacteria. It is characteristic of luminous bacteria 
that their light is shining day and night continually, as long as 
they are alive, while other luminous forms only light when they are 
stimulated. We observe this in the phosphorescence of the sea, 
which only occurs when the water is agitated by wind or the ship’s 
propeller or movement of oars. Consequently these fish have had to 
develop a screen to cut off the light, and we find a fold of black 
pigmented skin, like an eyelid, that can be drawn up over the lumi- 
nous organ and so obscure its light. Hence the name of the fish, 
Photoblepharon, or “ light eyelid.” The fishermen of Banda cut off 
these luminous organs, remove the screen, and impale them on hooks 
for bait. The light will shine steadily for a night’s fishing. But 
Photoblepharon itself swims about in the sea turning its great lumi- 
nous organ on and off like many another fish that manufactures its 
own light material without relying on the kind assistance of lumi- 
nous bacteria. Only a careful microscopic examination reveals the 
true nature of the luminescence of Photoblepharon. 

One can not be too careful in investigating the light production 
of a new form. I remember once while collecting luminous beetles 
in Cuba I was astonished to find a luminous frog. As fish are the 
highest creatures which can produce light, a frog with luminous 
organs would be a rare find indeed. My hopes were short-lived, 
however, for closer examination revealed that the animal had just 
finished a hearty meal of fireflies, whose light was shining through 
the belly with considerable intensity. 

Some cases of luminosity are on record in connection with man 
himself. Before the days of aseptic and antiseptic surgery, wounds 
frequently became infected with luminous bacteria and glowed at 
night. The surgeons of that time believed that luminous wounds 
were more apt to heal properly than nonluminous ones. Perhaps 
there is some truth in this view. Luminous bacteria are harmless 
nonpathogenic forms and it is possible that such forms might crowd 
out pathogenic bacteria striving to gain the ascendency on the 
wound. 

In the older literature there is a case of luminous sweat and several 
cases of human urine, luminous when voided. If these observations 
are really true, and so far as I know they have not been confirmed 


COLD LIGHT—-HARVEY 213 


in recent times, we may be dealing with luminous bacteria or there 
may be secreted some easily oxidizable substance that luminesces dur- 
ing its oxidation. Several such bodies are known in organic 
chemistry. 

To the student of evolution, luminous animals offer a great field, 
but a field in which relatively little is known. Almost everyone is 
interested in the use of luminescence to the luminous animals, and 
unfortunately we can say in only a very few cases what the use of 
the light is. Who, for instance, would venture to suggest the use of 
light to a luminous bacterium, an organism which is perhaps one 
twenty-five-thousandth of an inch in diameter and which has not 
the nervous reactions of a higher form; or the use of the light to an 
animal which occurs living at the surface of the sea, and which also 
has no nervous system, a one-cell form, blown hither and thither 
by the wind? 

Apparently, in such cases as this, we must believe that the light 
is merely fortuitous, that it accompanies merely some of the organic 
chemical changes which go on in the animal. It is a chance phe- 
nomenon. On the other hand, it would seem likely that deep sea 
fishes and squid—and it is chiefly these forms which have the lantern, 
complicated in structure—must use their light as a searchlight for 
seeing things in a region where we know light does not penetrate. 

On the other hand, a great many species are known which do not 
live continually in dark places and many luminous forms do not 
move around at all, the sea pens, for instance. They are almost all 
luminous, a colony of animals that live in the mud or sand at the 
‘bottom of the sea at a depth of perhaps 50 feet where there is plenty 
of light. As they do not move about from one place to another it 
has been suggested that they may use the light as a warning. If a 
predacious fish comes along, the minute the sea pen is disturbed by 
the fish, the hight is flashed on. That warns the fish and scares him 
away. But this is a mere conjecture and I think no one has seen it 
take place. It has been thought also that animal light may be used 
as a lure, that certain forms use their lights to attract other forms 
on which they prey. Whether that is true or not, is also a conjecture. 

Finally, it certainly seems that in some forms the light is used to 
attract the opposite sex in mating. That is the case with the firefly. 
Each species of firefly has a light which shines in a certain definite 
way, and if one is an expert, he can go into the field and point out the 
different species of fireflies by the interval between flashes and the 
time of the flashes. The male and female of each species are brought 
together by signaling in that way. 

The chemical nature of animal luminescence is the subject I have 
studied most closely. Whenever I mention that I am interested in 
luminescence, I am always asked one question—whether the light is 

20837—27——-15 


914 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


phosphorus or not. It is easy to answer in the negative, that the 
light has nothing to do with the element phosphorus, which is too 
poisonous to be found in living cells. On the other hand, the light 
has a very great. resemblance to the luminescence of phosphorus. 
In the first place, it is an oxidation, and if we remove the oxygen 
from any luminous animal, the light will disappear completely, and 
if we again readmit oxygen, the light will return. This is a very 
interesting experiment, and a very old one. In fact, it is one of the 
first experiments that was ever made on luminous forms, by Robert 
Boyle, in 1667. 

Boyle at that time was experimenting with his air pump, and, 
among other things, he placed a little piece of “shining wood” or 
phosphorescent wood under the receiver of his air pump. He found 
that when he exhausted the air, the light disappeared, and when he 
readmitted air, the light returned. Of course, he did not know that 
it was oxygen in the air which was responsible for the effect, but 
nevertheless I think we can credit him with the discovery that the 
luminescence of living things requires the presence of free oxygen. 

The second chemical fact is also rather an old one. It was dis- 
covered by Spallanzani, an Italian, in 1794, that all luminescence re- 
quired water, and he showed that he could take any luminescent ani- 
mal, and dry it and the light would disappear, but that if he kept this 
dried material and at some later time moistened it again, the light 
would reappear. So, like the experiment with oxygen, we have 
another perfectly reversible process, showing that luminous animals 
require water in order to luminesce. 

This experiment also shows that luminescence is not a function of 
living cells in the same sense that the contraction of a muscle or 
propagation of a nerve impulse is a function of living cells. If a 
muscle is dried quickly, its form or constituents are not changed, but 
if put in water again, although it will look like the original muscle, 
no contraction will result on stimulation. The muscle has lost its 
contracting power by drying, and a nerve also loses its conducting 
power after drying. Therefore, we have in these tissues loss of a 
living function, but we do not observe loss of the power of lumines- 
ence on drying the luminescent organ of an animal. 

Since water and oxygen are necessary, it is likely that some mate- 
rial produced by the cells of the animal is oxidized, and this material 
is called, to use a general term, the photogen, but to use a more spe- 
cific term, it is called luciferin. 

In fact, not only one material, but two materials are found to be 
necessary in order to get light, in addition to water and oxygen. 
This is the third discovery in connection with the chemistry of 
luminescence, made by a Frenchman, Dubois, in 1887. He found that 
a luminous extract of an animal could be separated into two parts, 


COLD LIGHT—HARVEY 215 


one containing luciferin, which will oxidize with the production of 
light, and the other part containing a catalyst or enzyme which accel- 
erates the oxidation of luciferin. The two substances could be 
separated by a difference in their properties, luciferase being de- 
stroyed on heating, while luciferin was not. We can obtain the two 
substances in solution in water, and they can be precipitated by vari- 
ous reagents. They can be purified and experimented with like any 
other bodies, although we do not yet know what is their exact struc- 
ture. Chemically, luciferin is probably to be placed among the pro- 
teins, among the simplest members of the proteins, the peptones or 
proteoses; luciferase is related to the albumins. 

The question as to whether we shall ever be able to reproduce 
living light becomes the question whether we shall ever be able to 
synthesize the proteins. Personally I think that will come in the 
future. We now synthesize fats, sugars, and some of the polypeptids, 
which are simple proteins. It is only a matter of time for synthesis 
of the more complicated compounds of which luciferin is a member. 

Finally we may ask what happens when luciferin is oxidized. 
Does it go to carbon dioxide like other foodstuffs in our body? Sugar 
and fat are oxidized to water and carbon dioxide. Can we place the 
luminescent oxidation in the same category? I think we can not. 
Experiment has shown that no carbon dioxide is produced from the 
luminescence of an animal, and I believe the change that does occur 
is a very simple change. Although the reaction can be only par- 
tially written we can at least name the material which is oxidized, 
and for convenience I have called this oxidation product, oxy-luci- 
ferin, a similar nomenclature to the one which is used for the red pig- 
ment of blood. The red pigment of our blood, hemoglobin, when 
shaken with air, becomes oxy-hemoglobin. If we place oxy-hemo- 
globin under an air pump, and exhaust all the air, it returns to re- 
duced hemoglobin or hemoglobin proper. This process is reversible 
and will go either one way or the other, depending upon the amount 
of oxygen present. 

Luciferin behaves in a somewhat similar way. We can allow the 
luciferin to become completely oxidized and then by proper methods 
reduce the oxy-luciferin again and recover our luciferin. The 
methods for doing this are not quite so simple as the method for re- 
ducing oxy-hemoglobin, for one can not put it under an air pump 
and get reduction, but there are many other means of reducing oxy- 
luciferin, and I think this occurs in the luminous animal. When a 
firefly flashes, it oxidizes the luciferin to oxy-luciferin. When it is 
resting, in the dark between the flashes, the oxy-luciferin is reduced 
back to luciferin, and the firefly is ready for another flash. 

I do not wish to say that all the luciferin in the firefly becomes 
oxidized in one flash, but part of it does, and in the time between 


216 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


flashes, part is reduced. A reversible process occurs, and you will 
note that this is an extraordinary process from the chemical stand- 
point. Here is an animal with a lamp which burns an oil, and after 
that oil has been burned, the oil is reformed, and it is ready to be re- 
burned. We have the process of oxidation and reduction simply 
going back and forth according to the amount of oxygen which is 
present. Not only from the physical but from the chemical stand- 
point the firefly is highly economical. Like the Pheenix of old, luci- 
ferin is recreated from its ashes to pass through the cycle of another 
life. 

It is possible to devise a lamp in which luciferin is burned continu- 
ously over and over again. In one region luciferin is oxidized to 
oxy-luciferin with luminescence; in another the oxy-luciferin is re- 
duced to luciferin again. To be sure the light is weak, and practical 
difficulties appear in the “ poisoning ” of necessary catalysts, but the 
principle remains. Perhaps we may look to an application of this 
principle for the future development of new means of illumination. 

Apparently mysterious and often unusual in color, the light of 
living creatures is not essentially different from that of any ordinary 
light, except in its mode of production. We express this difference 
when we say that animal light is “cold light” or a luminescence. 
Electric ight is a “hot light” or an incandescence. Every sub- 
stance, no matter of what material, of any color or texture, whether 
it burns or not, emits light when its temperature is raised above a 
certain point (about 525° C). The first light at this low temperature 
is red, then yellow appears at a higher temperature, then white light 
at the 5,000° of our sun. The higher the temperature the brighter 
the light. This means of producing light is so universal and so easy 
that it is no wonder we have adopted it. Practically every illuminant 
in use to-day is patterned after the sun and stars. We heat an incan- 
descent lamp filament to the highest temperature possible without 
volatilizing the filament. It is not possible to attain the temperature 
of the sun, but 2,000° is attained, and a high percentage of the electri- 
eal energy which heats the filament is radiated. Unfortunately most 
of this radiation is heat, and only about 2 per cent is visible light. If 
the 98 per cent useless radiation could be eliminated, a 2-horse- 
power engine might run the dynamo to supply our lights that now 
require 100 horsepower. Incandescence is a wasteful way of produc- 
ing light because it is impossible to separate the heat radiation from 
the visible light radiation. 

Luminescence, or cold light, on the other hand, consists of nothing 
but visible light. The spectrum of a firefly lies wholly in the visible 
region with no infra-red or ultra-violet. As far as radiation goes it 
is all light or 100 per cent efficient, and this is the basis for the state- 
ment that fireflies are so efficient. 


s.r Oe 


COLD LIGHT—-HARVEY 217 


Most persons do not realize that this radiant luminous efficiency 
tells us nothing regarding the efficiency of a firefly as a light pro- 
ducing machine. When the most efficient incandescent lamp, a tung- 
sten nitrogen-filled Mazda, glows, coal is being burned in some power 
house. Every ton of coal represents so much energy, but of this 
energy only one-half of 1 per cent, a well-known figure, appears as 
visible light. 

To compare a luminous animal with a commercial light we must 
ask what fraction of the energy of its fuel (food) appears as light. 
No one has determined this for the firefly, and the investigation 
would present special difficulties because the firefly flashes, and flash- 
ing lights can not be measured easily. We are forced to fall back 
on luminous bacteria which emit a steady light, despite the fact that 
they are the smallest luminescent creatures. I have studied such 
a bacterium, a cylindrical rod measuring 1.1p wide? and 2.2, long, 
with a volume of 0.000,000,000,017 cubic centimeter. 

Perhaps I may be pardoned if the technical details of such an 
efficiency determination are briefly outlined. Visible light is a form 
of energy and can be evaluated in a common energy unit—the calorie. 
We must measure the light produced by a single bacterium and 
express this in calories per second. Food represents the source of 
an organism’s energy, the energy input, and when burned liberates 
a maximum amount of energy, also measured in calories. We must 
measure the food utilized by the bacterium and express the energy 
input in calories per second. Then, light emitted in calories divided 
by food oxidized in calories, gives us the over-all efficiency of a bac- 
terium. 

The light measurements themselves present no particular difficul- 
ties. We can make an emulsion of luminous bacteria in sea water, 
many billions of them, count the number of bacteria per cubic centi- 
meter, measure the amount of light emitted by 1 cubic centimeter 
measure the absorption of light by bacteria in front of others, and 
calculate the amount of light in lumens which each bacterium would 
emit in all directions, provided there were no absorption. As one 
candle emits 47 lumens, the candle power of the smallest light in the 
world is easily obtained. 

The general scheme of investigating the energy input is as follows: 
Metabolism experiments in animals show that for a liter of oxygen 
consumed a certain number of gram-calories is produced by oxidation 
of the foodstuffs. A gram of tallow oxidized by a guinea pig lib- 
erates the same amount of heat and consumes the same amount of 
oxygen during combustion to CO, and H,O, as if it had been burned 


21n—0.001 millimeter—one twenty-five-thousandth of an inch. 


* The light of the bacteria is actually measured in light units. One lumen==0.0015 watt 
or 0.00036 calorie. 


218 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


in a candle. This was one of Lavoisier’s great contributions to 
science. A bacterium could obtain no more energy in burning its 
foodstuffs than a guinea pig or any other organism. 

Knowing the oxygen consumption of an animal and its food, we 
can calculate its heat production, and this “method of indirect calo- 
rimetry ” gives results in surprising agreement with direct measure- 
ment of heat production in a calorimeter. Applying this method 
to luminous bacteria, which were fed upon 60 per cent glycerin and 
40 per cent peptone, each liter of oxygen consumed should produce 
4,840 gram-calories or 3.4 gram-calories per milligram of oxygen con- 
sumed. We have only to measure the oxygen consumed by the bac- 
teria to find how much energy is supplied by the food during lumi- 
nescence. 

Converting energy from milligrams of oxygen utilized and lumens 
of light emitted into the same units, calories, the over-all efficiency of 
a bacterium turns out to be 0.16 per cent. ‘This tells us the percentage 
of the energy necessary to run a bacterium which appears as light. 
It does not give us a true picture of the efficiency of the light-produc- 
ing reaction, for much of the oxygen consumed is used by bacteria 
for processes which have nothing to do with luminescence. It can be 
shown by other experiments that certainly only one-sixth of the 
oxygen is used in luminescence, and probably much less than this. 
Using the figure, one-sixth, brings the efficiency of the bacterium to 
nearly 1 per cent, a figure twice as great as that for over-all efficiency 
of the best incandescent lamp. 

While the extravagant claims for total efficiency of luminous ani- 
mals are not confirmed by my investigations, nevertheless the value, 
which I regard as a minimum value, is sufficiently high to warrant 
further inquiry into the process by which animal light is produced. 
We usually find that living creatures have developed very economical 
ways of doing things, and one would like to know what the total 
efficiency of luminous animals, far brighter than luminous bacteria, 
might be, if we could separate completely the light-producing process 
from the other energy-consuming processes of the animal. 

Such creatures as I have described offer problems of fascinating 
interest. The chief appeal is to the intellect, a study in pure science, 
in a field whose boundaries touch biology, physics, and chemistry. 
Advance will be made when the ever-widening waves of knowledge 
in each science meet and reinforce each other. Cooperation between 
the sciences is sure to bring more and more fruitful discoveries. I 
have endeavored to point out some of the interlocking connections 
in the field of light. Princeton is fortunate in having research on 
this important subject well under way in five fundamental sciences 
and a future program which we hope may be carried out with an 
adequate endowment for pure scientific research. 


SCIENTIFIC WORK OF THE “MAUD” EXPEDITION, 
1922-1925 + 


By H. U. Sverprvup, in charge of the scientific work of the expedition 


Capt. Roald Amundsen’s ship J/aud left Norway in July, 1918, 
with the intention of following the Siberian coast to the vicinity of 
the New Siberian Islands, penetrating into the drift ice, and, if 
possible, being carried across the Arctic Sea to the vicinity of 
Spitzbergen. However, on account of unfavorable ice conditions, 
it was necessary for the expedition to winter three times on the 
Siberian coast and, in 1921, to go to Seattle for repairs and replen- 
ishment of provisions. 

The Maud left Seattle again on June 3, 1922, in order to resume 
her task in the Arctic. The main object was, as previously, to make 
scientific observations of interest in various branches of geophysics. 

We could not expect to contribute to the geographical knowledge 
of the Arctic region, because it was improbable that the drift should 
carry us across the great unknown area within the Arctic Sea. To 
Captain Amundsen, however, the exploration of this unknown area 
had always been a fascinating task. Therefore, after having organ- 
ized and equipped the drift expedition in the best way possible, he 
resolved to leave the ship and try to fly across the Arctic Sea. <Ac- 
cordingly, he left us at Point Hope, Alaska, and went with a trading 
schooner to Point Barrow. 

I shall not here enter upon his first unsuccessful attempts, nor 
dwell upon his and Mr. Ellsworth’s marvelous achievement during 
the past summer. Captain Amundsen and Mr. Ellsworth have not 
yet reached their goal; however, they are, as you know, planning a 
flight with a dirigible airship from Spitzbergen to Alaska during the 
summer of 1926. 

Captain Amundsen left us on July 28, 1922, and the Maud headed 
toward the west under the command of Capt. Oscar Wisting. We 
met the ice a short distance from Point Hope but succeeded in 
penetrating to Herald Island, where we were closed in by the ice 
on August 8, 1922. The drift of the Maud is plotted in Figure 1, 
where the routes of earlier expeditions in this region are also en- 
tered. For one year we drifted toward the west-northwest in a 


1 Address delivered Dec. 1, 1925, at The Carnegie Institution of Washington, Washing- 
ton, D. C. Reprinted by permission from the Scientific Monthly, May, 1926, Vol. XXII, 
pp. 400-410. 


219 


220 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


zigzag course, depending mainly upon the wind and were, at the 
beginning of September, 1923, in latitude 76° 17’ north, being east 
of De Long Islands. We hoped to drift on the northern side of these 
islands and perhaps cross to Spitzbergen along a route more north- 


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erly than the one taken by the /vam during the famous drift of 
Doctor Nansen, 1893 to 1896. However, continuous northerly winds 
carried us 100 miles to the south. The winter of 1923-24 was spent 
in latitude 75° north, to the southward of De Long Islands. At 


AS0°E 


m9 


WORK oF ‘‘ MAUD’’ BEXPEDITION—-SVERDRUP 227 


the end of February, 1924, Captain Wisting received a wireless 
message from Captain Amundsen asking him to get out of the ice, 
if possible, and return to Nome in the summer of 1924. In the 
spring and summer we were again carried toward west-northwest. 
The ice opened, and on August 9 we could move under the ship’s 
own power after having drifted helplessly for two years. However, 
we did not reach Nome in the summer of 1924, but were stopped 
by the ice at the Bear Islands, where we had to stay for 10 months. 
We finally reached Nome on August 22, 1925. 

When leaving Point Hope, our party consisted of eight men, 
including a native boy from the Siberian coast who acted as cabin- 
boy. We lost one of our comrades from inflammation of the brain 
in July, 1923, after one year in the ice, and buried his body in sailor 
fashion by lowering it in a space between the ice-floes. During the 
remaining two years we saw no human beings outside of our own 
small party before March, 1925, when we were visited by half-breed 
Russians from the settlement at the Kolyma River. 

During the drift and later we did not pass through any geographi- 
cally unknown region. We carried an airplane, a Curtiss Oriole, 
with which we hoped to extend the geographical exploration to both 
sides of our route. The starting and landing conditions on the ice 
were, however, very unfavorable. Two successful trial flights were 
made in spite of the difficulties, but during the third flight the motor 
missed fire at the take-off, the pilot had to land on rough ice, and 
the plane was damaged beyond repair. 

Our zigzag route was determined by frequent astronomic observa- 
tions, generally two or three a week. In winter it was often a chilly 
amusement to take these observations and the observer had to dress 
up for the occasion, but in summer it was delightful because the 
temperature then was around the freezing-point. The astronomic 
observations were generally taken on the ice, but the instruments 
were never left there. They were always carried on board after 
the observations, because the ice might at any time break up and 
the instruments might be damaged or lost. 

The astronomic observations, of course, had to be taken from the 
very beginning of the drift in order to follow our route step by 
step. Simultaneously with these, the observations of the magnetic 
elements were made. These observations had to be taken on the ice 
at such a distance from the ship that the disturbing influence of the 
magnetic iron masses on board was eliminated. The Maud was far 
from being nonmagnetic. The first observations were taken with- 
out any other shelter than the protection against the wind which a 
large ice-hummock might give. Later, when our surroundings be- 
came more solid, we built an ice house which we used to call the 
_ “crystal palace.” The ice house was equipped with electric lights 


20837—27——16 


222 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


and a nonmagnetic stove which, in winter, brought the temperature 
up to about —10° F. The magnetic and other observations were 
taken in this house during the first winter, 1922-23. 

, The magnetic instruments were loaned to the expedition by the 
Department of Terrestrial Magnetism of the Carnegie Institution 
of Washington, which had paid special attention to make them suit- 
able for use in the Arctic. The greatest improvement was that all 
metal parts which had to be touched by the fingers were covered 
with celluloid caps. If metal is touched at low temperatures by a 
cold finger, the result is frequently a white, frozen spot on the 
finger, but the celluloid caps could be handled without great incon- 
venience. The magnetic needles, however, could not be provided 
with celluloid protection, and they had to be handled with uncovered 
hands. They often left a white line which, later, when the observer 
returned to a heated room, turned black and caused “toothache” in 
the finger. AJl of us had blackened finger tips in the winter. 

Our crystal palace did not survive the Arctic summer; it melted 
in June, and in summer we had to take the observations in a tent. 
This observing tent was used during the entire winter of 1923-24 
because a new crystal palace, which had been built in October, 1928, 
disappeared when the ice broke to pieces around the ship at the end 
of the month, and because our surroundings later were constantly 
changing. Our tent undertook several independent expeditions as 
the ice broke between the ship and the tent and the parts on both 
sides of the crack were displaced in relation to each other. On one 
occasion we thought the tent was lost. The ice broke on Thursday 
afternoon, and the tent rapidly disappeared out of sight between 
hummocks and pressure ridges. Searching parties were out look- 
ing for it on Friday and Saturday, but without success. On Sunday 
Mr. Hansen, the mate, and I took a walk, following a lane which 
recently had been covered with young ice on which walking was 
easy. We thought we were going in the opposite direction to the 
one in which the tent was supposed to be, but about 2 miles from the 
ship we saw human tracks on an old ice-floe and an inspection soon 
revealed that we had encountered an old acquaintance, which previ- 
ously had been located close to the ship. Looking around, we saw 
the tent standing there unharmed; we took it down and carried it 
back to the ship in triumph. 

Continuous records of the magnetic elements could not be obtained 
on the drift ice because the ice fields were always moving, turning, 
and twisting, making a permanent orientation impossible. The 
conditions were different during the winter of 1924-25, when we 
were frozen in close to the coast on motionless ice. There we used 
a large tent for ordinary magnetic observations and installed an 


WORK OF ‘‘ MAUD’’ EXPEDITION—SVERDRUP 228 


instrument for photographic registration of the declination in a 
light-tight case within the smaller tent previously used. 

I shall not enter upon the results of our magnetic observations 
during the drift, but wish to mention the character of the diurnal 
variation of the magnetic declination as recorded during the winter 
of 1924-25. The most remarkable feature is the small range of the 
diurnal variation in the middle of the winter and the rapid increase 
of this range in the spring. It is to be hoped that our records, 
combined with previous results, may furnish sufficient data for the 
application of corrections for diurnal variation to the declinations 
observed on or near the Siberian coast. . 

The records may also be of value in the study of magnetic storms. 
There is a close relation between the occurrence of magnetic storms 
and the occurrence of the aurora borealis. We always had to keep 
night watches. We used to stay up for two hours each, and the 
watchman was instructed to make frequent notes regarding the form, 
amount, and intensity of the aurora. We succeeded in taking sev- 
eral pictures of brilliant displays, using cameras developed by 
Professor Stérmer, of Oslo. 

The atmospheric-electric observations in the winter of 1922-23, 
which were confined to observations of the potential gradient, were 
also taken in the ice house. 

In 1922 the Department of Terrestrial Magnetism had drawn our 
especial attention to the value of observations of the diurnal varia- 
tion of the gradient over the Arctic Sea. One of the most interest- 
ing results of the atmospheric electric work carried out on board the 
Carnegie during 1915 to 1921 was that this variation follows univer- 
sal time over the oceans, the maximum value being reached simul- 
taneously over all the oceans. Our special task was to ascertain 
whether this law for the variation was valid over the Polar Sea as 
well. 

During the first winter the diurnal variation of the potential gradi- 
ent was followed by eye observations through 24 hours, but we 
found that we naturally would save time and materially increase the 
amount of data if we could record the gradient continuously. I, 
therefore, asked our aviator, Mr. Dahl, who is a genius as an in- 
strument designer and maker, to construct a recording electrometer. 
The instrument itself did not present any difficulties, but these arose 
when a perfect electrostatic insulation was to be insured. Amber 
is generally used for insulation, but we had no supply of amber. 
The difficulty was finally overcome by my sacrificing a perfectly 
good amber pipestem. 

Our recording electrometer was placed in an unheated room on 
deck and became, therefore, covered with frost on the outside, but 


224. ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


this circumstance did not influence the efficiency of the instrument. 
The records gave however, only relative values of the gradient. In 
order to reduce them to absolute values, simultaneous eye observa- 
tions were carried out from time to time on smooth ice at a sufficient 
distance from the ship. As a matter of precaution in case a 
polar bear should be too curious, the observer was always armed 
when he had to go some distance from the ship. I may mention 
that the observers were never disturbed. 

We were unable to secure any observations during the summer 
because a satisfactory insulation could not be maintained on account 
of the dampness of the air. Our records are, therefore, limited to 
the cold months, October to April. When referred to universal 
time, the records for this season are in excellent agreement with the 
results obtained on the Carnegie. These are represented by the lower 
curve in Figure 2, while the three upper curves represent our pre- 
liminary results during the three winters. Our observations from 
the Polar Sea thus confirm the important conclusions regarding the 
universal character of the diurnal variation of the potential gradient 
drawn from the observations carried out on the Carnegie during 
cruises over all oceans. 

The greatest value of the gradient occurs at 18" Greenwich mean 
time, which is approximately the time when the sun is in the meridian 
of the magnetic poles of the earth. This fact indicates a close rela- 
tionship between the magnetic and electric fields of the earth, but the 
character of this relationship has yet to be explained. 

Meteorological observations were taken regularly six times daily 
during the three years, and for the entire period continuous records 
of the barometric pressure, the temperature and humidity of the 
air, the direction and velocity of the wind, and the duration of sun- 
shine are available. Our meteorological screen was placed on the 
roof covering the deck, while a snow gauge for measuring the amount 
of precipitation was placed on the ice. Special studies of the humid- 
ity of the air at low temperatures and of the formation of frost were 
carried out by the assistant scientist, Mr. Malmgren, who devised and, 
assisted by Mr. Dahl, constructed a special instrument for recording 
the frost formation. Special studies of the daily variation of the 
temperature of the air were also carried out, but I can not enter upon 
a discussion of the results of these investigations nor of the results 
of the general meteorological observations. Instead I shall turn to 
our upper-air observations. 

The direction and velocity of the wind aloft was determined by 
means of pilot balloons, 552 of which were released. ‘These wind 
observations indirectly give interesting information regarding the 
average temperature distribution at great altitudes. In Figure 3 
average wind velocities in the free atmosphere are represented by 


ee —— ae ee 


é 99 


work or ‘‘ MAUD’? EXPEDITION—SVERDRUP 225 


three curves, (1) representing the velocities over the North Atlantic 
trade-wind region, (2) over middle Europe, and (3) over the part 
of the Arctic which we have traversed. I wish to draw your atten- 
tion to the wind maximum which the last two curves show at great 


“MAUD” DURING DRIFT OCTOBER 1922 TO APRIL 1523 : 


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"MAUD" DURING DRIFT OCTOBER 1923 TO MAY 1924 


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SCALE OF GREENWICH MEAN TIME IN HOURS 


DIURNAL VARIATION OF | THE POTENTIAL GRADIENT OF THE ATMOSPHERE © 
Fig. 2 


altitudes. ‘This maximum is known to occur at an important bound- 
ary surface of the atmosphere, which has been called the “ceiling 
of the troposphere.” Below the maximum, within the region called 
the troposphere, the temperature decreases with altitude, but above 


226 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


the maximum, within the stratosphere, it remains constant. These 
curves show that the ceiling of the troposphere above the North 
Atlantic trade wind lies higher than 12 kilometers; in fact, it is 
found at an altitude of 16 kilometers. In the southern part of this 
country the corresponding altitude is 12.5 kilometers, in the northern 
11 kilometers, in middle Europe 10.5 kilometers, and over the part 
of the Arctic we have traversed it is only 8.5 kilometers. Our results 


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SCALE OF WIND-VELOCITY IN METERS PER SECOND 


AVERAGE WIND - VELOCITY AS A FUNCTION OF ALTITUDE 


1 — NORTH ATLANTIC TRADE-WIND REGION, LATITUDE 23° 
2 — MEAN EUROPE, LATITUDE 52° 
3 — ARCTIC SEA NORTH OF SIBERIA, LATITUDE 75° 


Fig, 3 


confirm the conclusion that the distance to the ceiling of the tropo- 
sphere decreases toward the pole. 

Direct observations of the temperature of the free air are available 
from the lowest part of the atmosphere and have been obtained by 
means of self-recording instruments lifted by kites. The instruments 
were tested in the laboratory of the Maud from time to time. The 
big kite reel for letting out and hauling in the kites was placed on 


aN 


WORK oF ‘‘ MAUD’’ BXPEDITION—SVERDRUP 224 


deck. The wire could be guided in any desired direction, depending 
upon the direction of the wind, by means of a special pulley mounted 
on the ice a short distance from the ship. The first pulley was fas- 
tened permanently to the ice but was lost during an ice pressure. We, 
therefore, mounted the second pulley on a sledge, which could be 
taken on board at short notice. The kites, which were most used, 
were loaned to the expedition by the United States Weather Bureau. 
They were built sturdily, but were subject to hard usage on account 
of the difficult conditions. They, therefore, had to be repaired fre- 
quently, both in winter and in summer. So little was left of the 
original kites after the three years that they had to be entered as lost. 

The most interesting result from the kite ascents is, perhaps, that 
in winter the temperature of the air practically always is lower close 
to the ice than 300 meters above the ice. The mean temperatures 
derived from 60 ascents made 
during the drift in the coldest 
months, November to March, 
are represented in Figure 4. 
The full curve represents the 
conditions during the kite as- 
cents; that is, when the aver- — jgq9 
age wind velocity at theice was 
about 11 miles per hour. The 
temperature decreases with 500 
altitude in the first 136 meters, 
but increases higher up, first 
very rapidly and then more O35 -30 -25 -20 =15°C. 
slowly. The mean tempera- Wie. 4.—Mean temperatures, November to March 
ture at the ice is —28.4° C., acl ae 

os a RO Re ete ee re Sa n calm days 
while at an altitude of 1,000 
meters it is only —20.3° C. The dashed curve represents the corre- 
sponding temperature distribution in calm weather. This last curve 
may be called normal because it is of a familiar type. Kven in this 
latitude the lowest temperatures are found close to the ground on 
clear and calm days in winter because the air is cooled from below 
by contact with the surface, which loses heat by radiation. When a 
wind arises, however, the air generally becomes mixed to a consider- 
able altitude on account of the numerous eddies which are formed 
along the ground, and a normal decrease of temperature wit altitude 
is more or less established. The characteristic feature encountered 
over the Polar Sea is evidently that this forced mixing is limited to 
a thin layer of air directly above the ice. Over this Iayer comes a 
marked inversion, forming a surface of discontinuity which prevents 
further mixing. 


2000 
m. 


298 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


The wind observations by pilot balloons confirm this result. At 
the ice the observed wind velocities were always small, undoubtedly 
on account of the great resistance offered by the rough ice, but 
above the inversion, where the warmer air was sliding over the cold 
layer, strong winds were met. 

The temperature distribution here described was always present 
in winter, independent of the direction from which the wind was 
blowing. Considering this and the uniform meteorological condi- 
tions over the Polar Sea, it seems justified to conclude that in winter 
the whole Polar Sea is covered by a thin layer of cold air which, to 
a great extent, is isolated from the atmosphere above it. Such 
conditions are possible on a frozen sea, which, disregarding the 
roughness of the ice, has the character of a vast plane. A sharp sur- 
face of discontinuity can exist over a vast plane even when the wind 
is blowing, but it can not exist over a mountainous continent because 
it would soon be broken up on account of the differences in elevation. 

Since the cover of cold air is isolated from the free atmosphere 
above it, the temperature of this cover must depend, to a great 
extent, upon the temperature of the ice-surface with which it is 
in contact. Particularly, the lowest temperatures of the air must 
correspond closely to the lowest temperatures of the surface. Dur- 
ing the six winters I have spent on or off the Siberian coast the 
minimum temperature always has been close to 50° below zero, F. 
There must be some reason why this limit is reached but not 
passed. The answer seems very simple. The surface of the ice, 
which is covered by a very thin layer of hard snow, loses heat 
by radiation to space at night. The temperature would sink to 
very low values during the long, continuous winter night if this 
loss were not compensated in some way. It is compensated. Heat 
is constantly conducted through the ice to the surface from the 
underlying sea water, which has a constant temperature of 29° 
above zero, F., the freezing point of the sea water. The amount 
of heat conducted to the surface increases when the temperature of 
the surface sinks, but the amount of heat lost by radiation decreases 
at the same time. Loss and gain, therefore, must equalize each 
other at a certain temperature, and when this limit is reached the 
temperature of the surface can not sink any further. 

We have made extensive measurements of the heat lost by radia- 
tion and the heat conducted through the ice, and have found that 
loss and gain, on the average, compensate each other at about —40° 
F. and at about —50° F. under exceptional circumstances. The con- 
ditions seem, therefore, to be actually as simple as assumed. The 
minimum temperature of the air is reached when the surface receives 
as much heat from the sea as it loses by radiation to space. 


WORK OF ‘‘ MAUD’’ EXPEDITION—-SVERDRUP 229 


The instrument for measuring radiation was loaned to the expedi- 
tion by the Smithsonian Institution, and was used extensively for 
determining not only the loss of heat at night but also the 
amount of heat received from the sky and the sun in the day- 
time. For this purpose it was mounted beside the instrument for 
recording the duration of sunshine and was made self-recording 
thanks to the ingenuity of Mr. Dahl. The recorder was a very 
sensitive galvanometer. The pen of the galvanometer was pressed 
down by an arm operated by an electromagnet at intervals of four 
minutes. 

Our computation of the amount of heat conducted through the 
sea ice was based on measurements of the temperature within the 
ice at various depths. For this purpose we used resistance ther- 
mometers, which were buried in the ice. The leads were taken into 
the ice house, where the readings were made during the first winter. 
In summer the readings were taken on the ice without any shelter. 
In the spring of 1924 the ice floe in which the thermometers were 
buried was carried away from the ship, and we had to start out in a 
boat in search of it in order to obtain the daily reading. The ther- 
mometers were finally lost when the ice floe upon which they were 
mounted was crushed, but not before a sufficient number of observa- 
tions had been obtained. 

Our knowledge of the physical properties of the sea ice was 
materially increased by experimental studies which Mr. Malmgren 
undertook under very trying conditions. His results show that the 
newly frozen sea ice, which contains a great quantity of salt, really 
consists of pure ice with inclosures of brine. With any change in 
temperature, part of the brine is transformed primarily into pure 
ice, or vice versa. ‘The expansion or contraction of the ice and its 
specific heat depend, to a great extent, upon the intensity of this 
process. The problem can be treated mathematically, and there is 
an excellent agreement between the computed and experimental 
results. 

In summer, when the temperature of the ice approaches the melt- 
ing point, the inclosures of brine increase so much that the ice 
becomes porous, the brine trickles down through, and the upper part 
of the ice, which previously was too salty for drinking purposes, 
becomes absolutely fresh. 

Our daily soundings showed that during the whole time of our 
drift we had remained on the continental shelf; the depth varied for 
long periods between 20 and 30 fathoms, although the distance to the 
coast was 300 miles. A hole in the ice was kept open for the sound- 
ings. Once a week we determined the temperature at various depths 
by reversing thermometers and collected water samples for investiga- 


230 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


tion of the density, salinity, and amount of oxygen of the sea water. 
Speed was essential when the water samples were taken in winter. 
After the water bottle was hauled up, it had to be detached from the 
wire as quickly as possible and the observer had to run headlong on 
board with it to prevent the contents from freezing. 

The water bottles were emptied in the laboratory, where samples 
for the various investigations were taken to be examined. The 
specific gravity, for instance, was determined with a high degree of 
accuracy by using Nansen’s hydrometer of total immersion, and the 
amount of chlorine from which the specific gravity could be com- 
puted independently was determined by careful titration. Sys- 
tematic differences amounting to five in the fifth decimal between 
the computed and observed densities indicate that the composition of 
the sea water is altered by freezing. Chemical analyses of the 
samples we are bringing home may throw light on the character of 
these changes. 

We found, furthermore, that over a large part of the shelf the 
density of the sea water remained constant to a depth of 20 fathoms, 
where a sudden increase took place. The lighter surface water was 
separated from the heavier bottom water by a marked surface of dis- 
continuity, which is of the same importance to the currents in the 
sea as is the surface of discontinuity in the air above the ice to the 
air currents or winds. 

We had no biologist on board, and I am therefore unable to give 
any account of the life in the sea. We did, however, collect samples 
of plankton and specimens from the bottom of the sea, which we have 
preserved and are bringing home for further study. 

The investigation of the tidal phenomena has taken much of our 
time and brought interesting results. ‘The tides were recorded con- 
tinuously at Bear Islands by a tidal gauge constructed on board. 
On the shelf the range of tide and time of high water were deter- 
mined at several stations by means of direct soundings, and the tidal 
currents were measured or recorded continuously. At first we used 
the current meter constructed by Ekman, but soon found that this 
delicate instrument was too difficult to handle in low temperature. 
The moment it was hauled up for reading it became coated with ice 
and had to be taken indoors and heated before it could be lowered 
again. We needed an instrument which could be left lowered for 
weeks, recording the currents under the ice electrically in the labora- 
tory. Mr. Dahl and I succeeded in designing an instrument of this 
kind, which recorded direction and velocity of the currents by means 
of a single electric circuit, but I can not enter upon the details of 
construction. Two types were developed, one of which was sus- 
pended on a single wire and recorded the direction by means of a 
compass needle, and another which was suspended in a bifilar frame 


ce 


WORK OF ‘‘ MAUD’’ EXPEDITION—SVERDRUP 231 


and recorded the direction relative to the orientation of this frame. 
The latter type was kept in operation during the major part of 14 
months. By lowering it to various depths we could obtain a full 
knowledge of the tidal currents from the ice to the bottom. The 
tidal motion of the ice itself was determined directly by a simpler 
method. 

Our main results, representing the conditions at spring tide, have 
been entered on the map reproduced in Figure 5. The character of 
the tidal currents is indicated by the ellipses. They signify that the 
currents are rotating, the arrow-heads on the ellipses indicating the 
direction of rotation, which is clockwise within the entire region. 
The ratio between the axes of the ellipses corresponds to the ratio 
between the maximum and minimum current. The direction of 
maximum current is indicated by an arrow, and the Greenwich 
lunar time of maximum current is entered. Furthermore, the Green- 
wich lunar time of high water and the range of the spring tide are 
entered at all stations where data were available. Previous observa- 
tions have been utilized from Point Barrow, Pitlekai, and Bennett 
Island, but all others represent results obtained during the six years 
the Maud has spent in the Arctic. 

By means of the data entered on this map it is possible to draw 
lines showing the crest of the tidal wave for certain hours of Green- 
wich lunar time. The heavy lines show these crests, and the corre- 
sponding hours have been entered. The wave appears to reach the 
shelf from the north and seems to come directly across the Polar Sea 
from the Atlantic side without meeting any obstruction formed by 
masses of land. The late Prof. R. A. Harris, of the United States 
Coast and Geodetic Survey, compiled and discussed in 1911 all avail- 
able tidal observations from the Arctic region. He arrived at the 
conclusion that the tidal wave within the region here dealt with 
travels practically parallel to the coast, and assumed, therefore, that 
a great area of land or very shallow water existed within the unknown 
area north of Alaska and Siberia. His conception of the direction in 
which the wave proceeds seems, however, to be erroneous, as the tidal 
phenomena seem to indicate no existence of extensive land masscs 
between Alaska and the pole. 

The tidal wave on the shelf shows a number of interesting features. 
The currents are rotating clockwise at all stations and vary with the 
distance from the bottom; the rate of progress does not bear a simple 
relation to the depth; the range of the spring tide decreases from 
right to left along the wave crest, referred to an observer looking in 
the direction of progress, namely, from 215 centimeters close to the 
New Siberian Islands to 14 centimeters at Point Barrow; and the 
range also decreases in the direction of progress, from 18 centimeters 
at the middle of the shelf to 3 centimeters at Bear Islands. These 


ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


232 


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WORK OF ‘‘ MAUD ’” EXPEDITION—SVERDRUP 933 


features can not be explained except by taking into account the 
rotation of the earth and the resistance which the tidal currents meet 
along the bottom and under the ice and also considering that the 
resistance affects the currents in great distances from the boundary 
surfaces on account of the eddy viscosity. The results of a theoreti- 
cal investigation of the influence of the rotation of the earth and the 
eddy viscosity on progressive waves were in good agreement with the 
observed tidal phenomena on the north Siberian shelf and may, 
perhaps, lead to a better understanding of corresponding phenomena 
on other continental shelves. 

As I have mentioned previously, we reached Bering Strait in 
August, 1925. At that time all of us were sailors. My duties were, 
for instance, to take care of the navigation of the ship and of the 
not less important cooking. Previously all of us had taken more 
or less part in the scientific work. Our cruise in the Arctic finally 
ended when the Maud was lying peacefully anchored off Nome 
three months ago. 

In conclusion, I hope that to-night I have been able to show you 
a phase of Arctic exploration which differs from the usual geo- 
graphical exploration, but is of no smaller importance. Our knowl- 
edge of the physics of the earth is incomplete so long as data from 
the Arctic and Antarctic regions are lacking. I hope that this ex- 
pedition, which went out through the energetic and _ persistent 
efforts of Capt. Roald Amundsen, may bring results which will fill 
a few gaps. However, we have traversed only a small region and 
have left many problems unsolved. The field for future explora- 
tion is tremendous. I hope that this, which I may call physical 
exploration of the Arctic, will continue for a long time after the 
completion of the map of the Arctic region and after the discovery 
of the last island. 


THE ROMANCE OF CARBON? 


By ARTHUR D. LITTLE 


Arthur D. Little, Inc., Cambridge, Massachusetts 


As the chemist studies the material structure of the universe he 
finds it to be composed of about 90 substances of such persistent 
identity and character that he has come to regard them as elements. 
He has reason to believe that not more than 92 of these elementary 
substances exist and he suspects that these may, themselves, have 
been formed in the cosmic process by successive condensations of 
hydrogen and helium, the lightest and simplest of them all. He 
finds that the atoms of which these elements are composed are not 
the hard, round, indivisible little particles which he had long as- 
sumed them to be, but that they are instead complex systems of 
electrical charges, vibrant with intensest energy and relatively very 
far apart. 

There is, therefore, for each of the elements an astronomy of its 
own, as awe inspiring in its order and minuteness and as far re- 
moved from the plane of our existence as that of the stars them- 
selves. Each of the elements, also, has its own story of absorbing 
interest. There is helium, first discovered by the spectroscope in 
the atmosphere of the sun and now extracted from natural gas to 
carry airships above the clouds; radium, which in the beginning 
made its presence known by the image of a key upon a photographic 
plate and thereafter revolutionized our ideas of matter and sup- 
plied a new and powerful aid to therapy; gold, which since the 
dawn of history has furnished the motive for fierce endeavor, in- 
trigue, exploration, crime, and wars. But these, and many others, 
are stories for another time. Our present theme is the romance of 
the element carbon, a fragment from a single chapter in the great 
romance of chemistry. 


ATMOSPHERIC DUST 


In considering carbon one is immediately struck by the protean 
aspects of its occurrences. To that ubiquitous individual, the man 
in the automobile, carbon presents itself as a nuisance in his engine 


1 Presented before the 7ist meeting of the American Chemical Society, Tulsa, Okla., 
Apr. 5 to 9, 1926. Reprinted by permission from Industrial and Engineering Chemistry, 
vol. 18, No. 5, p. 444. May, 1926. . 


235 


236 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


cylinders, while, because of carbon in his smoky exhaust, the motor- 
ist himself is often regarded as a nuisance by the pedestrian. The 
householder thinks of carbon in terms of coal and sees the wood 
in his fireplace transformed to charcoal. ‘There was no romance 
in carbon to the London chimney sweep of a century ago, when 
little boys of five or six were sold for seven years for 30 shillings 
and forced up chimneys by their masters with slight regard for the 
danger of burning or suffocation. To these boys carbon became a 
personal matter, for many went unwashed for years. Even to-day 
the soot deposit over London amounts to 260 tons per square mile 
per year, and in many of our American cities the figure is undoubt- 
edly as high. Three days after a recent storm the surface snow 
taken from an average square yard in front of our Cambridge labo- 
ratory yielded 2.85 grams of soot and cinder, the equivalent of 934 
tons per square mile. In such amount and form carbon becomes 
a menace to health and property, a thing of loathing to a careful 
housewife, and a powerful incentive to the purchase of stock in 
laundry companies. 

The burning of coal is a principal cause of atmospheric dust, 
and over a city like London or Paris the number of dust particles 
per cubic centimeter of air may exceed 100,000, while over the 
oceans the air may hold only a few hundred per cubic centimeter. 
But the dust is not without its compensations, for to it we must 
ascribe the blue of the sky, much of the glory of the sunset, and, 
in large measure, the gentle precipitation of rain. 


CHARCOAL 


It was probably in the form of charcoal that man first became 
acquainted with carbon as he stirred in his cave the dying embers 
of his wood fires. With the soot from burning fat he drew pic- 
tures on his cave walls of the animals he knew, and very fresh and 
vivid some of these pictures still remain. Such great masters as 
Diirer, Holbein, and Michelangelo have since enriched the world 
by famous charcoal drawings, and soot has served as a vehicle for 
the communication of thought in the exquisite calligraphy of China 
as it serves to-day in printer’s ink. Manuscripts of Herculaneum 
written in carbonaceous ink appear unchanged after 1,800 years. 
Fortunately for our own standing with posterity, the fabric of our 
newspapers is far less durable than the ink it bears. 

Before it was displaced by coal there was a very general use of 
charcoal as a cleanly domestic and industrial fuel, but its chief em- 
ployment was in metallurgy and particularly in the smelting of 
iron. The reputation of charcoal iron still endures and is especially 
associated with that from Sweden. In England, timber for char- 


CARBON—LITTLE 237 


coal became scarce by the sixteenth century, and in 1740 coke, an- 
other form of carbon, was introduced and saved the declining iron 
industry. It is curious, however, to note how long it took to make 
the simple change. In 1619 Dudley, an English ironmaster, first 
substituted coal or coke, it is not certainly known which, for char- 
coal and continued his efforts through many vicissitudes for more 
than 40 years, only to end in commercial failure. Not until Abraham 
Darby, about 1730, renewed the attempt was success achieved and 
the modern iron industry initiated. Twenty-six years later Darby 
declared his furnace to be “at the top pinnacle of prosperity, 
making 22 tons [of iron] a week.” Prosperity, like other things, 
is relative. The United States, in 1925, had an estimated produc- 
tion of over 50,000,000 tons of coke, most of which was consumed 
in smelting iron ore. 

It was between two charcoal points that Sir Humphrey Davy, in 
1821, first produced the electric arc, and carbon in denser form has 
since played a conspicuous and essential part in the development of 
the electrical industries. It still serves as the terminals in the arc 
lamp and, until displaced by the tungsten filament, was for many 
years the source of light in the incandescent lamp. Of it are com- 
posed the electrodes of batteries and of the great electric furnaces 
employed in the production of brass, aluminum, electric steel, and 
ferrous alloys. Grains of carbon form the variable resistance 
through which speech is transmitted in the telephone, and back of 
all the bewildering opulence of word and sound that comes to us 
by radio are similar grains of carbon in the microphone. In the 
photophone, which marvelously transmits speech along a beam of 
light, such refinement of delicacy was required in the contacts that 
they were made of carbonized dandelion down. 

Charcoal, by reason of its porous structure, presents an enormous 
internal area, which may, in case of specially prepared or activated 
charcoal, be as great as 20,000 square yards, or about four acres, for 
a cubic inch of the material. As a result, it exhibits in very high 
degree the phenomena of surface attraction or adsorption, by which 
it is able to condense gases and vapors within its pores or to remove 
and hold coloring matters from liquids filtered through it. It has 
consequently long been employed as a decolorizing agent and in the 
form of bone black for refining sugar, while the more intimate 
knowledge of its properties forced upon us by the exigencies of the 
war has extended its use into far more important fields. The dire 
necessity of devising means for the protection of troops against 
attack by poison gas forced the chemists of the Allies to an intensive 
study of the factors conditioning the adsorptive power of charcoal 
for use in the canisters of gas masks. It was presently determined 


238 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


that dense materials like nut shells yielded a superior charcoal, and 
peach stones and coconut shells became overnight munitions of the 
first importance. The porosity and adsorptive power of charcoal 
from such sources was further greatly increased by secondary or 
so-called activating treatments, and charcoals were finally produced 
of such efficiency that very high vacua are obtainable by their use. 
They may condense within their pores several hundred times their 
own volume of ammonia and lesser, though still large, amounts of 
the poison gases used in warfare. A good activated charcoal will, 
for example, absorb three-quarters of its weight of chloropicrin and 
will, in less than 0.03 second, reduce a concentration of 7,000 parts 
per million to less than one-half part in a rapidly moving stream of 
air. 

Such phenomena obviously mean that the adsorbed gases are held 
within the charcoal by the force of surface attraction under pres- 
sures equivalent to many tons per square inch and that they are in 
many cases condensed to liquid films. 

At the close of the war these properties of activated charcoal 
were immediately utilized by Colonel Burrell and others in the 
now well-known charcoal process for the extraction of gasoline from 
natural gas at the casing head, by which many million cubic feet 
of gas are now stripped daily, the adsorbed gasoline being recovered 
by heating the charcoal. 

GRAPHITE 


Graphite, so familiar to us all in the business end of a lead pencil, 
is another form of carbon for which many uses have been found. It 
occurs in nature, the best coming from Ceylon, where it is found in 
large, lustrous flakes, and it is artificially produced in quantity by 
heating coke or anthracite coal to high temperature in the electric 
furnace. It is several times as dense as charcoal and is a good con- 
ductor of electricity. As it is infusible and very inert chemically 
it is largely used for crucibles, and as it is also very smooth and soft 
it is commonly employed in facing molds in foundries and as a 
lubricant for heavy machinery. It lends its luster to the kitchen 
stove. 

DIAMONDS 


In the form of soot, carbon is black, amorphous, and synonymous 
with dirt and grime; as coke and charcoal, it is dull, porous, and 
readily combustible; as graphite, it is dense, lustrous, and so soft 
that it leaves a mark on paper. It is opaque in all these forms. But 
carbon in society has quite a different aspect from carbon in its work- 
ing clothes. There it is the diamond, transparent, sparkling, bril- 
lant with flashing color, and so intensely hard as to be well named 
in Greek ’A8dyas, the invincible. Confusion of this Greek name with 


CARBON—LITTLE 239 


the Latin adamare, to love, may account for the frequency with 
which diamonds are offered at the shrine of Venus. In Sanskrit the 
diamond is vajra, the thunderbolt, a designation not without appro- 
priate significance, for diamonds of small size are often found in 
meteorites. 

Whereas graphite is a good conductor, the diamond has about the 
same electrical resistance as glass. Its refractive index, upon which, 
with proper cutting, its brilliancy depends, is far higher than that 
of glass, and the diamond is transparent to X rays, whereas paste is 
opaque. Some diamonds, at least, are luminous in a dark room after 
exposure to sunlight, and Sir William Crookes has shown that the 
diamond may acquire and retain indefinitely the property of radio- 
activity. A diamond which he embedded for some months in radium 
bromide became olive green and so highly radioactive that it was 
luminous in the dark after nine years. The same distinguished 
chemist ascertained that after exposure in a vacuum tube to a high- 
tension electrical discharge diamonds phosphoresce in various colors. 
Most South African diamonds shine with bluish light, while those 
from other localities emit bright blue, apricot, red, orange, or yellow- 
ish green. 

Owing to the anomalous fact that the boiling point of carbon at 
atmospheric pressure is below its melting point, carbon volatilizes at 
about 3,600° C. without melting. Sir William Crookes has, there- 
fore, calculated that under a pressure of only 17 atmospheres carbon 
would liquefy at a temperature of 4,130° C. and on cooling crystal- 
lize out as diamond. The process is not patented and is commended 
to any who may be contemplating a diamond wedding. 

Many curious associations and beliefs have grown up around the 
diamond. In the Middle Ages it was thought to afford protection 
from plague and pestilence; to warn its wearer of the presence of 
poison by turning dark; and by some subtle homeopathy to be an 
antidote for poisons, though in itself a deadly one. It insured vic- 
tory to its possessor, banished ghosts and dispelled the devil; brought 
friends and riches, and deferred old age. Though diamonds are 
expensive, one seldom gets so much for his money, and, in view of 
these accruing benefits, it is difficult to understand why it is fashion- 
able in Siam to wear your diamonds on Fridays only. 

Diamonds occur in nature in the so-called “ blue clay ” of volcanic 
pipes and are believed to have been formed by the slow crystalliza- 
tion of carbon from iron or molten rock through the combined action 
of high temperature and great pressure. The theory finds support 
in the results obtained by Moissan, who produced diamonds, though 
very small ones, by raising molten iron to very high temperature in 
the electric furnace, introducing carbon within the molten mass, and 


YAO ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


flooding the furnace with water. The sudden external cooling of 
the metal subjected the interior to enormous pressure while it was 
still extremely hot. When the iron was finally dissolved by acid 
the diamonds were found. Some years later another Frenchman, 
Lemoine by name, turned Moissan’s discoveries to more practical 
account in the perpetration of the famous diamond swindle, by 
means of which he mulcted Sir Julius Wernher of 1,671,000 francs. 
Sir Julius was, presumably, not seriously inconvenienced thereby, in 
view of his great holdings in the South African diamond mines, from 
which most diamonds are now derived. The initial discovery in 
these fields was made in 1867 by Dr. W. G. Atherstone, who identified 
as diamond a pebble obtained from a child on a farm on the banks 
of the Orange River. 

The diamond has played its part in history, and seldom creditably. 
You will recall at once the complicated affair of the diamond neck- 
lace, in which, shortly before the French Revolution, Marie An- 
toinette, Cardinal Rohan, Cagliostro, and many lesser personages 
were involved. Great names are associated with all the largest 
stones. The famous Sancy diamond of 53 carats passed successively 
through the hands of Charles the Bold, de Saucy, Queen Elizabeth, 
Henrietta Maria, Cardinal Mazurin, Louis XIV, only to be stolen 
during the French Revolution. It was later owned by a king of 
Spain, Prince Demidoff of Russia, and an Indian prince. 

The Orloff diamond, which weighed 194 carats, was stolen by a 
French sailor from the eye of an idol in a Brahman temple. From 
him it was again stolen by a ship’s captain, who murdered him. It 
was at last bought by Prince Orloff for £90,000 and by him presented 
to Catherine the Great of Russia. 

The sale of the Victoria diamond to the Nizam of Hyderabad for 
£400,000 is an impressive instance of form value. The diamond 
weighed 180 carats, or 576 grains, or one-tenth of a troy pound. 
The sales price of this particular piece of carbon was therefore at 
the rate of £4,000,000 sterling, or $20,000,000 per pound troy. 

The Premier mine in the Transvaal has yielded much the largest 
diamond ever found, a gigantic stone weighing 3,025 carats. It was 
known as the Cullinan diamond and was bought by the Transvaal 
Government for presentation to King Edward. Even that was 
eclipsed by the diamond throne which Buddhists believe to have 
stood near the Tree of Knowledge, beneath which Buddha received 
his revelation. The throne was 100 feet in circumference and made 
of a single diamond. Unfortunately, it seems to have been lost. 

But the diamond condescends to lend itself to the humbler pur- 
poses of mankind. The impure crystals and fragments known as 
bort and the inferior carbonado, or black diamond, are used to point 
the diamond rock drills so essential to the progress of great engineer- 


CARBON—LITTLE 241 


ing works. Thus, without carbon so employed, the route to San 
Francisco might still be around the Horn. 


COMBUSTION AND OXIDES OF CARBON 


The making of fire was perhaps the greatest achievement of the 
human race, and, though there has been no posthumous award of 
medals to Prometheus, the phenomena of combustion include some of 
the most fundamental chemical changes with which we are 
acquainted. All of the ordinary forms of combustion, upon which 
we depend for light and heat, involve the burning of carbon or of 
compounds of carbon and hydrogen. Even the diamond may be 
burned in oxygen, and the product of its combustion is carbon di- 
oxide, differing in no respect from the CO, produced when charcoal 
is burned in air. When hydrocarbons burn the ultimate products of 
combustion are carbon dioxide and water. 

During all the long centuries which preceded the Welsbach mantle 
and the tungsten filament practically all artificial light was derived 
from incandescent carbon. It glowed in the firelight within the 
caves which sheltered the Neanderthal man and later in the smoky 
flare of pine-knot torches, rude oil lamps, and rushlights. In the 
flickering flames of many candles it lent brilliance to the courtly fétes 
of Versailles, and the Argand burner, the gas flame, and the carbon 
filament have brought light into our own homes. There is an almost 
unthinkable complexity to flame within which molecular systems are 
disrupted as their vibrating atoms rush, with the discharge of ions 
and electrons, to form new systems while radiating energy as heat 
and light. Since light has always been regarded as the symbol of 
joy and life-giving power, it is not surprising that fire was sacred 
and adorable in primitive religions. The Parsees adore fire as the 
visible expression of Ahura-Mazda. The Brahmans worship it as 
that “which knowest all things.” In the Jewish Holy of Holies 
was a “cloud of light ” symbolical of the presence of Yahweh. Jew- 
ish synagogues have their eternal lamps as the Greeks and Romans 
had their perpetual and sacred fires. In Christianity fire and light 
have always been conceived as symbols of the divine nature and 
presence. Human history and literature teem with their romantic 
associations. What pictures are called to mind by the mere mention 
of vestal fires in the temples, of watch fires on the hill, of camp fires 
in the forest or in the field with troops. The driftwood fire depicts 
the wreck of stranded ships that missed the gleam of the beacon 
which brought others safely to port. Candles and altar fires, the 
pillar of smoke, and the burning bush have their deep religious sig- 
nificance. 

The extinction of lights marks the end of the ceremony of excom- 
munication, while the symbol of reconciliation is the handing to the 


242 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


penitent of a lighted candle. Both life and love are symbolized as 
flame, and the fire on the hearth and the light in the window are 
synonymous with home. 

There is thus little cause to wonder that centuries ago the fire wor- 
shippers from India and elsewhere in the East journeyed to Baku 
and there built temples where hydrocarbon gases issued from the 
ground. The ruins of the temples in which their priests tended the 
eternal flames exist to our own times. 

When air is passed upward through a deep bed of incandescent 
coke as in the manufacture of producer gas, or when an automobile 
is running on too rich a mixture, or otherwise when the supply of air 
is insufficient for complete combustion, carbon monoxide is formed. 
It is utilized in metallurgy as a reducing or smelting agent of the 
utmost value and constitutes a large proportion of the important 
fuel, water gas, made by blowing steam through red-hot coke. Like 
carbon dioxide, the product of the complete combustion of carbon, it is 
a colorless and odorless gas, but, unlike the dioxide, it is intensely 
poisonous. It combines with the hemoglobin of the blood, thereby 
checking the absorption of oxygen in the lungs, and death is due to 
asphyxia from want of oxygen. The affinity of hemoglobin for car- 
bon monoxide is three hundred times that which it has for oxygen, 
and one volume of the monoxide in eight hundred of air is fatal in 
30 minutes. Much higher concentrations may be more quickly 
reached when an automobile engine is running in a closed garage. 

Carbon dioxide, the gas once brilliant in the sparkle of champagne 
and now more dully effervescent in vanilla sodas, plays a part of ex- 
traordinary interest and importance in the economy of nature. It 
is poured into the atmosphere in vast quantities from volcanoes and 
in great amounts from burning coal and forest fires. It is also 
formed by oxidation of organic matter in the soil, and according to 
Geoffrey Martin, one acre of good garden land in summer evolves 
more than 6 tons of carbon dioxide. As Faraday first showed, the 
gas is readily reduced by cold and pressure to the liquid form, and by 
rapid evaporation of the liquid it may be converted into a snowlike 
solid, the “ dry ice” now sometimes displayed in restaurateurs’ win- 
dows beside a discouraged thermometer. It is produced industrially, 
for liquefaction and distribution, from flue gases; by the burning of 
limestone, and as a by-product of alcoholic fermentations. 

Animals exhale carbon dioxide as the result of the oxidation in 
the lungs of organic wastes in the blood stream. It is normally 
present to the extent of about 4.5 per cent in human breath, and in 
a long life a man may exhale more than 20 tons of the gas. For the 
conduct of the processes which result in its production nature pro- 
vides the average man with a lung area of about 100 square yards, 


CARBON—LITTLE 243 


or enough for a tennis court. The accumulation of carbon dioxide 
in the blood provides the normal stimulus to respiration. 

Pure air contains about 0.03 per cent of carbon dioxide. in 
crowded halls the proportion may rise to 0.5 per cent. Since under 
ordinary atmospheric conditions the gas dissolves in water about 
volume for volume, it is constantly being washed down and slowly 
attacks the silicated rocks with formation of calcium and magnesium 
carbonates, by which soft waters are rendered hard and much trouble 
is caused by boiler scale. Ultimately such waters find their way 
to the sea, where marine animals, the chambered nautilus, the coral 
polyp, the oyster, the humble clam, and, most important of all, the 
minute foraminifera fix the calcium carbonate in their shells. If 
you rub down to a thin paste with water a piece of chalk you will 
find upon microscopical examination that it is composed almost 
entirely of the tiny shells of foraminifera. Such are the chalk beds 
of England, which, often more than 1,000 feet in thickness, extend 
across the island for 280 miles and at the coast line rise in those 
white cliffs to which England owes her name of Albion. But the 
chalk bed stretches far beyond the coast of England, over much of 
France, through Denmark and Central Europe, south to Africa, 
and even into Central Asia. Chalk and limestone are carbon com- 
pounds, and the overwhelming evidence is that, wherever found, they 
are the product of aquatic life in regions once submerged. 


CARBONATES 


The Latin word for a coin was nummus, and, for a reason which 
will presently appear, it gives its name to the nummulitic limestones, 
which extend over vast areas of North America and, in a band often 
1,800 miles in breadth and of enormous thickness, from the Atlantic 
shores of Europe and Africa through western Asia to northern India 
and China. Of it the pyramids were builded, and from a knoll-hke 
outcropping was fashioned that other memorial of antiquity, the 
Great Sphinx, before which even the centuries seem to pause. 

This variety of limestone has been formed by the slow accretion 
in marine deposits of innumerable billions of the shells of forami- 
nifera of the genus Vummulites, which is characterized by shells of 
extraordinary complexity of structure and a disk or coinlike form. 

But limestone has been formed by other agencies, and its formation 
is still proceeding on a grand scale through the activities of the 
coral polyp in many of the warmer waters of the globe. Two and a 
half million square miles of ocean bottom are covered by coral mud 
and sands. The gigantic structures of the coral islands and the 
barrier reefs, of which one extends for 1,000 miles along the Aus- 
tralian coast, are the work of tiny bits of animated jelly, which 


244 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


abstract carbonate of lime from the sea water and so deposit it that 
it reproduces their own radiated structure. All the structural works 
of man fade into nothingness when compared with the results of the 
life activities of the minute foraminifera and the coral polyp. Hoy- 
born calculates that the limestones and dolomites contain twenty-five 
thousand times the amount of carbon dioxide now present in the air. 
And chalk is still forming over 50,000,000 miles of ocean bottom. 

In its metamorphosed form of marble, limestone exhibits the widest 
possible range of texture, color, and degree of purity. In it the 
greatest sculptors have found a medium for their best expression, 
and of it were built the exquisite lacelike fabric of the Taj Mahal 
and the structures which were the glory of Greece and Rome. The 
pearl, which in all ages has been associated with beauty and with 
riches, is in reality no more than a brilliant sarcophagus of carbonate 
of lime formed around an intruding parasite by the pearl oyster. 
There are, nevertheless, as Browning says: 

“Two points in the adventure of the diver— 
One, when a beggar he prepares to plunge; 
One, when a prince he rises with his pearl.” 

Like all carbonates, the pearl dissolves in weak acids with evolu- 
tion of carbon dioxide. When, therefore, Cleopatra dissolved the 
pearl in vinegar she prepared the most expensive carbonated drink 
that history records. 


CLIMATIC INFLUENCE OF CARBON DIOXIDE 


Despite the minute proportion of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere 
its climatic influence is of extraordinary importance. The blanket 
which keeps the earth warm is composed wholly of carbon dioxide 
and water vapor, which absorb the heat that would otherwise be 
radiated from the earth. According to Arrhenius the removal of 
all carbon dioxide from the atmosphere would cause the tempera- 
ture of the earth’s surface to drop 37° F. The quantity of water 
vapor would, therefore, so diminish as to cause an almost equal 
drop, and the whole earth would be bound in Arctic ice. Thus an 
increased and uncompensated fixation of carbon dioxide by the 
rocks would bring on a new glacial period, whereas a slight aug- 
mentation of its proportion in the atmosphere would restore the 
tropical climate and the exuberant vegetation of the Carboniferous 
Age. Fortunately, there is now maintained a delicate balance in 
the carbon cycle in nature. The ocean is estimated to contain forty 
times as much carbon dioxide as the atmosphere, and, as equilibrium 
is disturbed by the fixation of carbon dioxide by the rocks and plants, 
a compensating portion of the ocean reserve passes into the air. 


CARBON—LITTLE 245 
PLACE IN ORGANIC CHEMISTRY 


Carbon is the central element of the organic kingdom. It is 
closely related to life and to energy. Most of the energy for the 
world’s work in machine or animal or man is derived from the 
oxidation of carbon. Plants absorb carbon dioxide from the air to 
an estimated yearly amount of 13,000,000,000 tons and, under the 
stimulus of sunlight, fix the carbon in their structure in such com- 
pounds as cellulose, starch, and sugar. All vegetable and indirectly 
all animal life owes its existence, therefore, to the sun’s rays acting 
upon the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. The initial step in this 
fixation of carbon is probably the transformation of carbon dioxide 
to formaldehyde through reaction with oxygen and hydrogen, the 
elements of water. As the result of this reaction plants exhale 
oxygen, whereas animals in a reverse process, as we have seen, 
exhale carbon dioxide. Bailey has recently synthesized glucose by 
subjecting formaldehyde to the ight of a mercury arc lamp. 

In comparison with all the other elements carbon is strikingly 
notable for the enormous number of its compounds. The known 
compounds of all the elements other than carbon are only about 
25,000, whereas the compounds of carbon reach the astonishing total 
of 200,000. This is due in large measure to the peculiar fact that 
the atoms of carbon exercise a powerful attraction for each other, 
by reason of which carbon compounds are built up which may con- 
tain many carbon atoms linked together in straight or branched 
chains, or in one or several rings, or in more complex configura- 
tions which include both chains and rings of carbon atoms in asso- 
ciation with those of other elements. Hydrogen is thus associated 
in the great majority of carbon compounds, which very often also 
contain oxygen. 

The amazing complexity of structure that carbon compounds may 
attain is indicated by the fact that compounds are known which 
have more than 200 carbon atoms in a single molecule, beside which 
a diagram of the solar system appears too simple to talk about. 

Organic chemistry, which is the chemistry of the compounds of 
carbon, is further complicated by the fact that many carbon com- 
pounds contain the same elements in the same proportions, but differ 
from one another in their properties. Thus 86 compounds of the 
formula C,,H,,.O, are known, and Cayley has calculated that 802 
of the formula C,,H,, are possible. Obviously, then, the properties 
of carbon compounds must depend not only upon the kind and 
numbers of atoms composing them, but also upon the manner of 
arrangement of these atoms within the structure of the molecule. 
Long-continued intensive study of the reactions of carbon 

20837—27—_17 


246 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


compounds has enabled chemists to determine the structural arrange- 
ment of a large proportion of them and even, in very many cases, 
to build up or synthesize the compounds themselves from simpler 
substances or even from their elements. Among such notable tri- 
umphs are the synthesis of the vegetable coloring matters, indigo 
and alizarin; the long list of coal-tar compounds, including hundreds 
of brilliant dyes and many powerful drugs; high explosives; and the 
remarkable product known as bakelite. 

Fortunately for the student, organic chemistry is characterized by 
the frequency with which the carbon compounds occur in series of 
closely related members and in groups or families exhibiting marked 
resemblances in structure and more or less alike in properties. 
Among such series, for example, are the paraffin and olefin hydro- 
carbons, and among such groups we find the cyclic hydrocarbons as 
benzene; the alcohols, ethers, and acids; the carbohydrates, like 
starch, cellulose, and the sugars; and so on. The student is assisted 
also by the frequency with which groups of carbon and associated 
atoms enter into combination as entities, called radicals, and so 
become familiar to him as structural units. Those who insist upon 
a speaking acquaintance with each of the carbon compounds are re- 
ferred to the 4,700 pages of Richter’s Lexicon, the Who’s Who of 
carbon chemistry. 

Some faint conception of the industrial importance of the carbon 
compounds may be gained by casual reference to a few of the indus- 
tries that are directly based upon them. They will be found to 
comprehend the major portion of the invested capital, the annual 
turnover, and the workers of the nation. First of all is agriculture 
with its ramifications into prepared foods, canning, and packing. 
Closely related thereto are lumbering, naval stores, paper and tex- 
tiles, and the special industries based on individual agricultural 
products as rubber and sugar. Of lesser importance, though only 
by comparison, are explosives, celluloid, artificial silk, solvents, 
dyes, and the thousands of other synthetic products of the labora- 
tory. Of supreme significance are, of course, the fuels, coal and 
coke, natural and artificial gas, and finally, petroleum, which not 
only provides light and heat and flexible power, but supplies the 
lubricants without which the wheels of industry could not turn. 
Upon the reducing power of carbon fuels are based the steel and 
other metallurgical industries, and without the energy of their com- 
bustion we should have no steam-power plants, locomotives, motor 
cars, or ocean liners. Even the internal-combustion engines of the 
ox team and the jinrikisha would be stalled. 


CARBON—LITTLE 247 
SOURCE OF ENERGY 


The economic position of a nation is determined in large measure 
by the supples of energy available to its people, and their social 
progress is similarly conditioned by the extent to which the price of 
energy permits its broad and general utilization and so increases 
manifold the effectiveness of the human factor in production. Cheap 
enerey, efficiently used, is the formula for high wages and low prices. 

Most of the energy upon which civilization depends to-day is 
derived from carbon and the compounds of carbon and hydrogen. 
In use, their potential energy is always first transformed into heat 
energy. The burning of 12 grams of carbon to carbon dioxide lber- 
ates 97,000 calories, and the combustion of 4 grams of hydrogen sets 
free 136,600. Since coal consists essentially of carbon with variable 
amounts of volatile hydrocarbons, while petroleum is a complex 
mixture of hydrocarbons, our reserves of coal and oil constitute vast 
reservoirs of potential energy. One pound of coal burned delivers 
heat sufficient to raise the temperature of 7 tons of water 1° F., an 
amount of energy that would lift a ton more than 1,500 feet. ‘The 
same amount of petroleum burned would develop nearly 30 per 
cent more heat. Cheap coal and abundant petroleum must, there- 
fore, be counted among the greatest material assets of a nation, and 
the United States has been bounteously supplied with both. It 
contains about 50 per cent of the world’s reserves of coal, and despite 
the long drain upon our petroleum resources, we are still supplying 
70 per cent of the world’s production. 


COAL 


All the vast quantity of coal contained in the world and the 
still more vast amount of lignite originally came from carbon 
dioxide once present in the atmosphere. Long years ago, under 
the influence of sunlight, the plants constituting the rank and exuber- 
ant vegetation of the Carboniferous Period withdrew carbon dioxide 
from the air and built the carbon into their structure just as plants 
everywhere are doing to-day. A spruce tree weighing 1,000 pounds 
when dry has derived less than 3 pounds of mineral matter from 
the soil, but it contains more than 500 pounds of carbon combined 
with oxygen and hydrogen, the elements of water. In the warmth 
and humidity of the Coal Period, when the proportion of carbon 
dioxide in the atmosphere was perhaps greater than at present, trees 
unlike living conifers, but more resembling the ginkgo, grew lux- 
uriantly with great ferns, giant club mosses, and gigantic horsetails. 
Ferns with fronds 10 to 20 feet long so deluged their surroundings 
with their spores that some coals seem to be almost wholly made of 


248 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


the spore cases. More than 2,500 species of fossil plants have left 
their record in the coal measures for us to read to-day. As these 
plants crowded each other in the swamps and died, fermentation and 
decomposition set in with gradual elimination of much of their 
substance as marsh gas and carbon dioxide, but with the proportion 
of carbon in the residue constantly rising. As the land sank or 
rivers rose, clays and sand were deposited upon this residue, which 
gradually was compacted into coal. It is thus possible to trace a 
perfect gradation from wood or peat, through brown coal and 
lignite to bituminous coal, and finally to anthracite and graphite. 

As the result of successive depressions and ‘uplifts of the land, 
the strata in every coal field are repeated many times. There may be 
as many as 100 coal seams, varying in thickness from a fraction of 
an inch to 40 feet or more, and separated by much thicker strata of 
limestone, iron ore, sandstone, and shale. In Nova Scotia the rock 
system comprising the coal measures is 13,000 feet in thickness, and in 
Pennsylvania and West Virginia it is 4,000 feet or more. 

In the intervals between coal strikes we mine in this country about 
600,000,000 tons of coal a year, a quantity which Charles P. Stein- 
metz calculated was sufficient, if used as a building material, to con- 
struct a wall, like the Chinese wall, entirely around the United 
States, while with the chemical energy contained in the next year’s 
coal we could lift this whole stupendous structure into space to a 
height of 200 miles. There are so many other uses for coal, however, 
that neither operation seems worth while at present prices. 

The production and distribution of coal in the United States is 
a business of such vast proportions and complexity that the mere 
maintenance of human relations within the industry involves prob- 
lems so acute and difficult as to lead to frequently recurring crises, 
like the recent anthracite strike, in which, for 165 days, the miners 
received no wages, while the operators incurred enormous losses and 
the public got along as best it could. The basic difficulty in the whole 
coal situation is perhaps the fact that the mine capacity of the 
country is 40 per cent greater than the demand. With the many 
mines and far too many miners it is difficult to insure prosperity 
and employment to all. 

The problems of the coal consumer are of corresponding magni- 
tude, although perhaps less acute. His initial problem is to secure 
an adequate and regular supply of fuel at the lowest reasonable 
price, and his secondary concern is to utilize that fuel to the best 
advantage. Under present conditions the first is largely beyond his 
control, while as regards the second he commonly fails from lack of 
knowledge or from willful disregard of the requirements of good 
practice. The proportion of carbon dioxide in the flue gases of a 


CARBON—-LITTLE 249 


boiler plant is a good index of its efficiency of operation. It varies 
from 5 per cent in small inefficient plants to 15 per cent or more in 
large plants operated at high efficiency. Under such conditions there 
is a saving of 60 per cent in the fuel cost of heat energy in the large 
plant. This and similar considerations constitute the argument for 
superpower systems. 

In its consideration of the fuel problem the general public is 
chiefly influenced by two factors—the cost of fuel and the smoke 
nuisance. The exasperations due to both are doubtless familiar to 
all. Within a few weeks anthracite, in small lots, has sold in New 
York for as much as $48 a ton, while for years many of our cities 
have been immersed in a Stygian atmosphere, depressing as viewed, 
unhealthful when breathed, and defiling to all with which it comes 
in contact. In Pittsburgh the soot deposit per square mile varies, 
according to the Mellon Institute, from 600 to 2,000 tons per year. 
One jumps to the conclusion that this is wholly due to outpour- 
ings from industrial plants, but in Chicago it was found that 57 
per cent of the nuisance was caused by domestic fires and the fur- 
naces in apartment houses. 

There have been many proposals for the relief of these deplor- 
able. conditions, and those that are of promise involve the initial 
processing of coal with the recovery of by-products and delivery to 
the consumer of a smokeless fuel, which may be coke or gas or an 
artificial anthracite. The whole fuel situation is, in fact, in a 
state of flux, and revolutionary developments are impending. 
Nowhere is this trend more evident than in the gas industry. 


GAS 


Gas has been well described as cleanly, smokeless, sootless, dust- 
less, ashless, instantaneous, flexible, controllable. It is in all these 
respects an ideal fuel as millions of householders and thousands of 
industrialists in the districts fortunate in the possession of natural 
gas well know. Gas as fuel possesses form value—the ability to 
serve—in very high degree. It is, therefore, not surprising that its 
development has been consistent and progressive since William Mur- 
dock first lighted his Redruth home by gas in 1779. The first gas 
company in the United States was organized in 1816 to light the 
streets of Baltimore, but within the last five years the use of gas 
in Baltimore has been greater than in the preceding century. In 
the country as a whole the production of manufactured gas has 
doubled within the last ten years, and to-day the invested capital 
in the gas industry approximates $4,000,000,000 and its annual 
production exceeds 400,000,000,000 cubic feet. Imposing as these 
figures are, the industrial use of gas has just begun, and the in- 


250 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


evitable house heating by gas has hardly started. Having learned 
to cook by gas, we shall presently extend its use to the gas-fired 
refrigerator. 

Some 4,400 American cities and towns are now served by gas, 
but many others are still without it. They will before long be 
served by supergas plants designed for long-distance transmission. 
Already manufactured gas is being delivered 60 miles from its point 
of production. We have heard much of superpower plants at the 
coal mines, but their sponsors commonly ignore the fact that the 
enormous quantities of condenser water required for such plants are 
very rarely available at any mine. Supergas plants, on the con- 
trary, require very little water, but may, nevertheless, distribute 
potential heat energy over wide areas. 

As long ago as 1881 Sir William Siemens said: 


I am bold enough to go so far as to say that raw coal should not be used 
as fuel for any purpose whatsoever and that the first step toward the judicious 
and economic production of heat is the gas retort or the gas producer in 
which coal is converted either entirely into gas or into gas and coke. 

Very recently, as the result of much research in France and Ger- 
many, an entirely new field has been opened to the gas companies 
through the production, from water gas, of methyl alcohol and gas- 
oline. It has been a serious and not wholly undeserved blow to 
the distillers of wood in this country, who have not yet learned that 
the price of progress is research. It promises, none the less, ulti- 
mately to afford the gas companies a means of equalizing the present 
spread between their summer. and winter load and the broader 
gap confronting them as their activities are extended to include 
house heating. 

PETROLEUM PRODUCTS 


While the origin of the coals and lignites must be regarded 
as established beyond question, there is another series of carbon 
products, secondary only to them in importance, the beginnings of 
which are still the subject of some controversy. Concerning this 
series Le Conte says: 

Collected in fissures beneath the earth, or issuing from its surface we find 
a series of products, some solid like asphalt, some tarry as bitumen, some liquid 
as petroleum, some volatile as rock naphtha, and some gaseous. There is little 
doubt that all are of organic origin. 

The genesis of the petroleum series is, nevertheless, still attributed 
by some to the formation and reactions of carbides within the 
earth’s crust, but the weight of evidence certainly favors the assump- 
tion that the hydrocarbons of the petroleum series are the product 
of the decomposition of plant or animal remains and most probably 
the latter. 


CARBON—LITTLE D1. 


Bitumen, asphalt, and jet were undoubtedly the members of 
the petroleum series first recognized and used by man. Jet beads 
are found among the deposits in the paleolithic caves of Belgium 
and Switzerland. ‘The Greeks prized jet as an amulet protecting its 
wearer against the perils of the sea, and in the eighteenth century 
Whitby jet, found in the neighborhood of Whitby Abbey, in Eng- 
land, was a fashionable, though somber ornament. 


ASPHALT 


Asphalt and bitumen are complex mixtures of compounds of car- 
bon and hydrogen, in which the carbon content commonly ranges 
from 85 to 95 per cent. ‘They occur in so-called lakes, deposits, and 
fissures in many parts of the world. One of the largest of these 
asphalt lakes is found in the island of Trinidad, and one of the 
most interesting is located in Los Angeles County, Calif. The 
Trinidad lake has an area of 115 acres and is 135 feet deep at the 
center. It has been the source of much of the asphalt used in road 
making, roofing, sheathing paper, and asphalt shingles. The Cali- 
fornia lake has been a pitfall and a sepulcher for thousands of pre- 
historic animals and a mine of richest treasures for the geologist. 
Here mammoths were entangled like flies on sticky paper, and the 
saber-toothed tiger, seeking water in the pools of its treacherous, 
dust-covered surface, or springing upon his ensnared prey was 
himself enmeshed to leave his bones commingled with those of my- 
riads of other victims. 

In Utah there is a notable deposit of high-grade asphalt known 
commercially as Gilsonite. It occurs in veins often as much as 18 
feet in width, extending, in some cases, for 8 miles, and the deposit 
is estimated to contain more than 30,000,000 tons of the material. 

In Egypt, at one time, the terms for “asphalt” and “mummy ” 
were synonymous owing to the practice of the Egyptians of preserv- 
ing-the bodies of the dead by wrapping them in asphalt-coated cloths. 
Thousands of years ago the Persians carved vases and animals in 
asphalt and set the eyes in statues with it. There was, near Babylon, 
a great asphalt lake, and the bricks of the walls and palaces raised 
by Semiramis and the kings of Babylon were bonded with asphalt 
cement. An inscription of about 600 B. C. records that Nabopolassar, 
the father of Nebuchadnezzar, “made a road glistening with asphalt 
and burnt brick,” which we may assume to be the earliest asphalted 
block pavement. 

NATURAL GAS 


At the other extreme of the petroleum series and commonly asso- 
ciated with petroleum, we find natural gas which has been termed 


252 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


“nature’s bonus to America”—a bonus so generous that our 1924 
production amounted to 1,142,000,000,000 cubic feet, or 2.7 times 
the output of manufactured gas in 1925. 

The intrinsic value of natural gas as an asset to the Nation, its 
unique form value as a fuel in steel works and other great industrial 
plants, its cheapness and convenience as a source of light and heat in 
more than 2,000,000 American homes, and finally its remarkable po- 
tentialities as a raw material for synthetic products would have led 
a more provident and perhaps deserving people than ourselves to or- 
ganize its development upon a basis both careful and farsighted. 
Instead, its exploitation has been characterized by a reckless and ap- 
palling waste at the wells, in transit, and in use. Even the leakage . 
after the meter has averaged 19,000 cubic feet per year, per house. 
Much of this waste may be attributed to lack of coordination between 
the gas and petroleum industries and much more to the economic and 
legal structure, which permits the first driller of a well to appropri- 
ate the gas belonging to his neighbors unless they themselves immedi- 
ately sink wells. 

The gas is held, under pressures which may exceed 1,000 pounds 
to the square inch, in the porous rock strata underlying the field. 
It varies widely in composition in different localities, but that from a 
given field is usually quite constant in character. Though it may 
contain the lighter members of the paraffin series in very different 
proportions, it usually consists chiefly of methane and carries about 
75 per cent of carbon, or 37.5 pounds per 1,000 cubic feet. Much 
carbon black for printer’s ink and other purposes is made from 
natural gas by methods of incomplete combustion which yield only — 
about 1.3 pounds of black per 1,000 cubic feet burned. The fuel 
value of the gas is usually somewhat over 1,000 B. t. u. per cubic 
foot, so that 15 cubic feet carry the heat equivalent of a pound of good 
coal. 

From the low-pressure gas associated with petroleum it is possible 
to recover, by compression or absorption in oil or charcoal, varying 
amounts of a light gasoline of especial value for blending purposes. 
The yields in some cases may be as high as 5 gallons per 1,000 cubic 
feet of gas, but are commonly much lower. The total amount so 
produced in 1925 is estimated to be about 30,000,000 barrels, or about 
11.5 per cent of our consumption. Of all the States, Oklahoma has 
contributed much the largest proportion of this natural gasoline. 

Of even greater interest for the future are the possibilities of 
producing from natural gas by synthetic methods alcohols, esters, 
glycols, and other organic compounds in great variety, as well as 
motor fuels of new types. 


CARBON—LITTLE 253 


DEVELOPMENT OF PETROLEUM INDUSTRY 


There are still many stately homes in New Bedford and other New 
England towns to bear witness to the prosperity which the whaling 
industry once enjoyed. The perils which attended the long voyages 
of its hardy crews and sturdy ships were incurred in a search for 
carbon compounds for lighting and lubrication. The romance of its 
adventures as recorded in “Moby Dick” and the “Cruise of the 
Cachalot ” has since, however, been far exceeded by the greater ro- 
mance of petroleum. Where a kill of the whaler might yield 80 
barrels of oil, the wildcatter now brings in a discovery gusher pro- 
ducing thousands of barrels a day, and the world rushes in to share 
his fortune. 

Petroleum has been known from the earliest times and was, to some 
slight extent, used even by the ancients. Baku, famous in antiquity 
for its sacred fires, is now more famous for its forests of derricks 
pumping oil. Here was struck the Droojba fountain, from which 
2,000,000 gallons of oil a day spouted in a stem, 18 inches in diameter, 
to a height of 300 feet, with a roar which was heard for miles. Can 
any other industry offer such a spectacle or one presenting such poten- 
tialities of sudden wealth ? 

The great Roman architect, Vitruvius, writing in the time of 
Augustus, says: 

(Some waters) flow through such greasy veins of soil that they are over- 
spread with oil when they burst out as springs: For example, at Soli, a town in 
Cilicia, the river named Liparis, in which swimmers or bathers get anointed 
merely by the water. Likewise there is a lake in Ethiopia which anoints people 
who swim in it, and one in India which emits a great quantity of oil when the 
sky is clear. At Carthage is a spring that has oil swimming on its surface 
and smelling like sawdust from citrus wood, with which oil sheep are anointed. 

The real romance of petroleum began, however, in America on 
August 28, 1859, when the Drake well came into production near 
Titusville, Pa. It was further stimulated by the classic report of 
Prof. B. Silliman on the economic value of rock oil, in which, with 
marvelous prescience, he forecast most of the industrial applications 
of petroleum. 

The Drake well went down only 69 feet and yielded less than 30 
barrels a day. It led, however, to such feverish exploitation of the 
Oil Creek district that before 1863 the number of wells exceeded 350. 
Some of these had records, for a time at least, of 1,000 to 3,000 
barrels daily, and the market was so flooded with oil that 10,000,000 
gallons are estimated to have run to waste in the absence of pur- 
chasers. To-day we are producing more than 700,000,000 barrels 
from about 300,000 wells, the deepest of which is down more than 
7,500 feet. 

In the porous strata of the oil sands, and beneath a protective cap 
of impervious rock, the oil and gas accumulate under pressure from 

20837—27——_18 


254 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


the water below and move upward to the highest point which the 
conformation of the cap permits. The well penetrates this cap 
and brings in the initial gusher. The burden of the industry is, 
nevertheless, carried by the modest, dependable 25 or 50 barrel well, 
which stays on the job all the time. 

The compelling demands of our complex civilization have led the 
oil industry to assume economic obligations so tremendous as scarcely 
to permit of their appraisal. Its lubricants have become a vital neces- 
sity wherever a wheel is turned. Billions of gallons of its kerosene 
bring light to isolated homes and are now beginning to drive tractors 
on the farm. Even the empty Standard Oil tins serve many score 
of useful purposes in the domestic economy of China and throughout 
the Kast. The tank wagon distributing fuel oil has become, in many 
American cities, more familiar than the coal cart, and we cook our 
food with water gas enriched with oil gas. 

In the Diesel engine the heavier petroleum products develop power 
of extraordinary cheapness, which is widely utilized in industry. 
Diesel engines now drive submarines and freighters, and the Diesel 
locomotive is demonstrating its economy on branch railroad lines. 

It is indeed in its relation to transportation that the dependence 
of modern civilization upon petroleum is most strikingly apparent. 
Oil has replaced coal in the latest ocean liners and generally through- 
out the navies of the world, while gasoline supplies the energy for a 
circumfluent system of transportation which clogs our city streets 
and crowds our highways. It has even enabled transportation to 
assume a three-dimensional phase, which has carried man into the 
air and endowed him with vast new potentialities for good and evil. 

In 1898 there were only four automobiles in the country, and one 
of these was in a circus. Another was used for exhibition purposes, 
and the two remaining were objects of curious interest as mechanical 
freaks. To-day there are 20,000,000 automotive vehicles on our roads. 
Taking cars and trucks together, they are estimated to consume an 
average of 10 barrels each of gasoline a year. 

Our fathers might well have asked, “By what conceivable indus- 
trial and financial structures can such vast responsibilities be met?” 
That they are met in a truly remarkable way is due to the fact that 
the petroleum industry has boldly directed its own course in produc- 
tion, transportation, and distribution, undeterred by precedent or 
established usages. It is, throughout, and most distinctively, an 
American industry which has developed its own methods; its par- 
ticular and often vivid types, as the wildcatter and the driller; its 
own forceful and creative personalities. 

The United States petroleum industry has produced more than 
8,500,000,000 barrels of oil. It is still contributing 70 per cent of the 
world’s production, and there remain an estimated 9,000,000,000 bar- 


CARBON—LITTLE 255 


rels in reserve. The price of its raw material is subject to such range 
and violence of fluctuation as would put most manufacturers out of 
business, but the tank wagon is always on the route. Behind it is 
the second largest American industry and an investment of more 
than $9,000,000,000. 

No mere figures can, however, convey an adequate impression of 
the vast extent and permeating ramifications of the petroleum in- 
dustry. One must picture, if he can, the wildcatter with the spirit 
and optimistic courage of the pioneer; the driller, doggedly per- 
sistent and with a presidential economy of speech; the wild excite- 
ment of a discovery gusher; vast storage basins, which may hold 
3,000,000 barrels in a single concrete reservoir; tank farms, like 
strangely ordered villages; pipe lines of a length far exceeding that 
of all the railways in any country in the world except our own; 
tankers on every sea; the endless procession of tank cars to and from 
more than 500 refineries, some of which are cities in themselves; 
thousands of cracking units and gasoline-recovery plants; the tank 
wagons on every road and innumerable filling stations. Yet the re- 
fineries often receive no more per pound for gasoline than one pays 
for cordwood in Boston and little more than Bostonians pay for 
anthracite. 

An ample oil supply assures such benefits to industry and is so 
vitally essential in time of war that a somewhat menacing economic 
nationalism is developing around petroleum. We can, therefore, 
continue only at our peril the uncoordinated wastefulness which has 
always characterized our own production. As many have pointed 
out, this is chiefly due to the defective legal structure under which 
all owners in a field are now forced by the first driller to raise their 
oil or lose it to him. The remedy may well be in a Federal law com- 
pelling the development of the field as a unit, as Henry L. Doherty 
has recently urged before the Federal Oil Conservation Board. 

There are still amazing opportunities for economies in oil refining, 
as by the general introduction of modern fractionating equipment 
and the improved processing of lubricating oils. Moreover a new 
phase, of great significance, now confronts the industry, for petro- 
leum is about to take its place as a raw material of the first impor- 
tance in the synthesis of organic chemical compounds. It is to-day 
the source of numerous alcohols and their derivatives and may soon 
provide the cheapest base for the synthesis of rubber. 

Research has nowhere been more prolific in results of benefit to 
industry and to mankind than when applied to the chemistry of the 
compounds of carbon, and much of this fundamental research has 
been conducted by American chemists. 


THE CAUSE OF EARTHQUAKES, ESPECIALLY THOSK 
OF THE EASTERN UNITED STATES ' 


By WILLIAM HERBERT HOBBS 


CONTENTS 


Part I. GENERAL 


Early earthquake theory: 
Scriptural doctrine. 
Aristotelian view. 
Humboldt’s idea of safety valves. 
Modern dress of Aristotle’s doctrine, Mallet, 1862. 
The Unique fault theory: 
Japanese earthquake of 1891, Kot6, 1893. 
Hindustan earthquake of 1897, Oldham, 1899. 
The Theory of mountain growth, De Montessus, 1906: 
Two earthquake girdles. 
Mesozoic geosynclines. 
Adjustments within a fault mosaic as corollary to mountain growth: 
Tarr and Martin, 1906. 
Hobbs, 1907. 
W. D. Johnson, 1907. 
Seismic world map, 1915. 
Magma pocket below and vent above earth wrinkles. 
Omori’s law of geographical succession of earthquakes within girdles. 
Harthquake prediction. 
Elastic rebound theory of Reid, 1910: 
Theory stated. 
Its inadequacy. 
Sekiya’s wires. 
General statement of probable cause of earthquake: 
Proximate cause. 
Ultimate cause. 


Part II. HARTHQUAKES OF THE HASTERN UNITED STATES 


The region a relatively stable one: 
Historical earthquakes of the region. 
Epeirogenice earthquakes of De Montessus, 1924. 
Hpeirogenic adjustments within Great Lakes area. 
Postglacial faults. 

Conclusion. 


1 Reprinted by permission from papers of the Michigan Academy of Science, Arts, and 
Letters, Vol. V, 1925. 
257 


258 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


PART I. GENERAL 
BARLY EARTHQUAKE THEORY 


Scriptural doctrine.—The Bible lands were among those racked by 
earthquake, and the explanation offered in the Bible was one com- 
mon at the time, namely, that God was displeased with his creatures 
and was visiting punishment upon them. The imagery of the Old 
Testament reflects this feeling. “Thou hast made the earth to 
tremble; Thou hast broken it; heal the breaches thereof for it 
shaketh,” is the description in the sixtieth Psalm. In the one hun- 
dred and fourteenth Psalm we read, “Tremble, thou earth, at the 
presence of the Lord, at the presence of the God of Jacob; which 
turneth the rock into a standing water, the flint into a fountain of 
waters,” the fountains of water being a characteristic phenomenon 
of all earthquakes: and there follows the inevitable, “O God, 
* * * Thou hast been displeased: O turn Thyself to us again.” 

Aristotelian view.—Vhe Greek philosophers were familiar with 
the earthquakes of the Mediterranean region, and the view of Aris- 
totle, indorsed as it was by the geographer Strabo, has come down 
to us, and with some slight modification it has survived in a quite 
modern theory which, until within a score of years, was regarded as 
standard doctrine. Aristotle conceived earthquakes to be brought 
about by air imprisoned within subterranean cavities, and by its 
struggles to escape this air caused a shaking of the ground. Re- 
gions where there were many caves, such as Achaea, Euboea, and 
Sicily, were, as Aristotle well knew, especially subject to earthquakes. 

The Aristotelian idea was well expressed by Shakespeare, who 
makes Hotspur say to the boastful Glendower: 

O, then the earth shook to see the heavens on fire, 
And not in fear of your nativity. 

Diseased nature oftentimes breaks forth 

In strange eruptions; oft the teeming earth 

Its with a kind of colic pinched and vexed 

By the imprisoning of unruly wind 

Within her womb; which, for enlargement striving, 
Shakes the old beldam earth, and topples down 
Steeples and moss-grown towers. 

The suggested connection of earthquakes with volcanoes in this 
passage from Henry IV has been common, as is clear from the almost 
hopeless confusion in most of the early writings which deal with 
earthquakes and volcanoes. 

Von Humboldt’s idea of safety valves—Alexander von Humboldt 
made the correct observation that although there were earthquakes 
usually connected with the eruptions of volcanoes, such earthquakes 
were by comparison with the devastating earthquakes of history 
relatively weak and insignificant. He conceived the volcanoes to be. 


CAUSE OF EARTHQUAKES—HOBBS 259 


therefore, a sort of safety valve for pent up gas imprisoned within 
the earth, which following the Aristotelian view, he believed to be 
the cause of earthquakes. 

Modern dress of Aristotle's doctrine, Mallet, 1862—The ancient 
view that earthquakes originate within a cavity or focus wherein 
gases are confined, was given a modern dress as a scientific theory by 
an Irishman, Robert Mallet, who had invented a new type of mortar 
and had also made investigations upon the life of guns. These 
studies had brought him much renown and had been of the greatest 
service to the Allies during the Crimean War of 1854-55. When, 
therefore, in 1857 an earthquake devastated the kingdom of Naples, 
Mallet applied to the Royal Society for a grant of money for the 
purpose of making a study of this earthquake. Apparently under 
the impression that an expert upon explosives was by his training 
best qualified to study an earthquake, the society readily granted his 
request, and the results of his study were later published in two 
massive volumes bearing the title, “ The Neapolitan Earthquake of 
1857.” When Mallet undertook this study the science of physics had 
recently been much advanced by the Dutch physicist Huygens, who 
had introduced a new method for following the progress of harmonic 
disturbances traveling through media such as light through glass 
or sound through air. Mallet adapted this scientific method to a 
study of the progress of earthquakes through the outer layers of the 
earth, and he further supplied technical names which have been 
widely employed even since his theory has been discredited. The 
supposed cavity or focus within which the shocks were supposed to 
originate, Mallet called the “centrum,” and the point upon the 
earth’s surface directly above it he named the “epicentrum,” at 
which point the shocks were believed to arrive first and to be of 
the greatest intensity. This scientific dress applied to Aristotle’s 
theory accounted for its retention by scientists as orthodox doctrine 
for another 50 years, or until early in the twentieth century. 


THE UNIQUE FAULT THEORY 


Japanese earthquake of 1891, Koto, 1893.—Scientists are now well 
agreed that gases imprisoned within the earth are not the cause of 
the devastating earthquakes, though they may perhaps in part ex- 
plain the relatively insignificant shocks which occur in connection 
with eruptions of certain volcanoes. Students of earthquakes 
are also in accord in believing that earthquake shocks are in some 
way connected with the formation of breaks and resulting displace- 
ments of the rocks at and near the surface of the earth. This change 
of viewpoint has come about from studies of earthquakes which 
have occurred within the last third of a century. 


260 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


The great earthquake of 1891 in the Neo Valley of Japan was the 
first to supply striking photographs of changes produced at such 
times in the surface of the earth, and these photographs came quite 
generally into the hands of scientists.2, Though they produced a pro- 
found impression they did not immediately discredit the centrum 
theory. The pictures showed that for many miles across the country 
a fracture of the ground appeared at the time of the earthquake, 
and that along this fracture the land upon one side had been raised 
relatively to that upon the other by as much as 18 feet at one place; 
while at other places though neither side had been raised or lowered 
in reference to the other, the two sides of the displacement had 
slipped past each other in opposite directions along the surface of 
the ground a distance of the same order of magnitude as that shown 
by the vertical displacement. It did not admit of doubt that these 
scissorlike movements on the ground, whether up or down or along 
the surface, had been sudden and violent and had, moreover, been 
connected with the jolting movements to which the term earthquake 
had been applied.* 

Hindustan earthquake of 1897, Oldham, 1899.—Six years later 
occurred the great Assam (Hindustan) earthquake which was also 
carefully studied. In this case though a small part only of the 
affected area was examined, there were found no less than three 
fracture displaeements (faults), and the maximum vertical displace- 
ment measured was about 35 feet. The likelihood is that a number 
of other faults were produced at the surface, though the localities 
were not visited by any representatives of the scientific personnel 
of the Indian Survey. Stress was, however, laid upon one plane 
only of fracture and displacement, and this was believed by Oldham 
to be a thrust on a plane of low angle to the horizon. 


THE THEORY OF MOUNTAIN GROWTH, DE MONTESSUS, 1906 


Two earthquake girdles——The late Count de Montessus de Ballore 
published in 1906 the results of an exhaustive study of the distribu- 
tion of earthquakes, as a result of which he reached this conclusion: 


The earth’s crust quakes almost in equal amounts and almost entirely along 
two straight zones which lie along two great circles (in the geometric sense) 
which make an angle with each other of about 67°—the Mediterranean or 
Alps-Caucasus-Himalaya circle (53.54 per cent of the earthquakes), and the 


2John Milne and W. K. Burton, professors in the Imperial University, “The great 
earthquake in Japan, 1891,” 30 photogravures, plates, and map with descriptions. Lane, 
Crawford & Co., Yokohama (no date). 

8B. Koté, ‘On the cause of the great earthquake in central Japan, 1891,’’ Journ. 
College Sci. Imp. Univ., Tokyo, vol. 5, 1893, pp. 295-355, pls. 28-35. 

*R. D. Oldham, ‘‘ Report on the great earthquake of 12th June, 1897,’ Mem. Geol. 
Surv. India, Calcutta, vol. 29, 1899, pp. 379, pls. 42, maps. 


CAUSE OF EARTHQUAKES——HOBBS 261 


circum-Pacifie or Andes-Japan-Malay circle (41.08 per cent of the quakes). 
These two zones correspond with the two most important lines of relief of the 
terrestial surface. (Fig. 1.) 


4, Coasts visited by Seismic Sea Waves ( Rudolph) 


lines of Mesozoic Era 


- Geosynce 


=- 
¢ 


¢ . 
Fic. 1.—Map by De Montessus to show the earthquake girdles, but reduced to the Mollweide projection 


a 


apy Seismic Areas (de Montessus) 


Mesozoic geosynclines.—Dr. de Montessus further concluded: 


The zones, the seismic regions, coincide exactly with the geosynclines of 
the Secondary epoch. 

The geosynclines—the most mobile bands of the earth’s surface—where 
the sediments have been deposited in the greatest thickness, have been ener- 


262 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


getically folded, dislocated and elevated in the Tertiary epoch, at the time of 
the formation of the principal existing mountain chains, including within 
themselves, with two or three doubtful exceptions, nearly all the seismic regions, 
which in consequence characterize them. 

The folded architecture of the geosynclines is unstable, in contrast to the 
tabular architecture of the eontinental areas, and this has with much prob- 
ability been true of all the geological epochs.® 


We have here, then, a very clear statement that the earth’s two 
zones of earthquake of the present time, including together as they 
do 94.62 per cent of all recorded earthquakes upon the land areas, 
are the zones within which the thickest lenses of sediments were 
deposited during the Mesozoic era, and where also, beginning in 
late Cretaceous or Tertiary time, ranges of mountains have been 
in process of erection. It is further pointed out that this zone of 
folding is much dislocated. 


ADJUSTMENTS WITHIN A FAULT MOSAIC AS COROLLARY TO MOUNTAIN 
GROWTHS 


Tarr and Martin, 1906.—In 1899 Thoroddsen printed in the “ Ice- 
landic Language” an account of the earthquakes which occurred in 
Southern Iceland in 1896, and in which five separate earthquakes 
had shaken in succession each of five contiguous earth blocks. In 
1906 Tarr and Martin * clearly demonstrated that the earthquake of 
1899 along the base of Mount St. Elias was a renewal of mountain 
growth along the shore of the Yakutat Bay in which large vertical 
adjustments measured in ten’s of feet took place between the large 
blocks within a fault mosaic, and that movements of smaller magni- 
tude occurred between smaller blocks which were parts of the larger 
and composite ones. This study is therefore one of the most impor- 
tant and satisfactory that has ever been made of a great earthquake. 

Hobbs, 1907—In 1905 the writer carried out a comprehensive 
study of the great Calabrian earthquake of that year with the result 
of showing that even where actual faults are not disclosed by 
escarpments or other displacements at the surface of the ground, 
their course may be followed often in great numbers as seismotec- 
tonic lines—lines of heavy shock. These lines, as the examination 


5. de Montessus de Ballore, ‘‘ Les Tremblements de Terre,” Géographie Séismologique, 
Colin, Paris, 1906, pp. 24—25. 

®@A German abstract of Th. Thoroddsen’s paper appeared in vol. 47 (1901) of 
Petermann’s Mitteilungen. 


7™R. S. Tarr and L. Martin, “Recent changes of level in the Yakutat Bay Region, 
Alaska,” Bull. Geol. Soe. Am., vol. 17, May, 1906, pp. 29-64, pls. 12-23. 

8 William Herbert Hobbs, “On some principles of seismic geology, with an introduction 
by Edward Suess,” Gerlands Beitriige zur Geophysik, Leipzig, vol. 8, 1907, pp. 217-292, 
pl. 1, and 10 figs. “The geotectonic and geodynamie aspects of Calabria and northeast- 
ern Sicily, a study in orientation, with an introduction by the Count de Montessus de 
Ballore,” ibid., pp. 293-362, 10 pls. and 3 figs. 


CAUSE OF EARTHQUAKES—HOBBS 263 


of earlier earthquakes within this much-racked province clearly 
showed, have been repeatedly the seats of movement. In the same 
year the writer pointed out in a discussion of seismic sea waves that 
these indicate a deepening of trenches on the sea floor at the time of 
such waves, when the neighboring coasts are usually elevated. To 
cite: 

Such depressions of the deeps and uplifts of the neighboring shores prob- 
ably stand in some sort of balance, and both alike call for an initial recession 
of the water from all near-lying shores toward the area of depression at that 
instant when the movement occurs. Such a mass of water as would pile up 
over the depressed area of the sea floor as a result of the inrush of water 
from all sides, should be later spread in all directions and roll in to inundate 
the shores.’ 


At the time it was written this explanation seemed to call for 
mass movements upon the floor of the sea too large for ready 
acceptance by geologists, and the view appeared to find little support. 
Sixteen years later, nothing daunted, the writer had the temerity 
to state his belief that “the floor of the ocean has undergone sudden 
changes of elevation measured not in tens of feet, as have the zones 
of unrest upon the continents, but rather in hundreds and even 
thousands of feet.” 1° Within a few months came the great Japanese 
earthquake in connection with which there occurred a seismic sea 
wave, an elevated coast, and a sudden adjustment of the floor of 
Sagami Bay off the coast. The volume of the area dropped meas- 
ured some 50 cubic kilometers and the amount of the drop measured 
over large areas 50 fathoms or more (300 feet). 

Willard D. Johnson, 1907-1910.—In the early spring of 1907 at 
the writer’s suggestion Mr. Willard D. Johnson undertook a field 
study of the scene of the Owens Valley earthquake of 1872. This 
occurred within a desert region of California in which the disloca- 
tions had suffered little change in aspect within the subsequent 38 
years. For the first time in history an accurate map was prepared 
of a fault network which had suffered a mosaic-like adjustment at the 
time of an earthquake.” 


°W. H. Hobbs, “ Earthquakes, an introduction to seismic geology,” Appleton, 1907, Ch. 
XV, especially pp. 253-254. 

170 The rate of movement in vertical earth adjustments connected with the growth of 
mountains,” Proc. Am. Phil. Soc., vol. 62, 1923, p. 70. 

uA. Imamura, “ Preliminary note on the great earthquake of southeastern Japan on 
September 1, 1923,” Seismological Notes, No. 6, Imp. Earthq. Invest. Comm., Tokyo, July, 
1924, p. 16, pl. 4. T. Kato, ‘‘ Preliminary notes on the Kwantd earthquake in Japan, 
September 1, 1923,” Journ. Geol. Soc. Tokyo, vol. 30, No. 361, p. 8. K. Suda, “On the 
great Japanese earthquake of September 1, 1923,’’ Mem, Imp. Marine Observatory, vol. 2, 
1922-1924. A. Imamura, ‘ The great Kwant6d (southeast Japan) earthquake on Septem- 
ber 1, 1923,” Repts. Imp. Earthquake Invest. Comm., Tokyo, 1925. Takuji Ogawa, “On 
the great earthquake in Central Japan,’ Journ. Geol., vol. 3, pp. 1-11, map; reprinted 
in Kotd Commemoration Volume, Tokyo, 1925. 

2 W. H. Hobbs, ‘“ The earthquake of 1872 in the Owens Valley, California,’ Gerlands 
Beitriige zur Geophysik, vol. 10, Leipzig, 1910, pp, 351-384, Pls. X—XXIII. (Read before 
the Association of American Geographers at Chicago, December, 1907.) 


964 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


Seismic world map, 1915—The map of the unstable regions of the 
earth’s outer shell which had been issued by De Montessus in 1906, 
reveals two narrow great circle girdles. (See p. 261, fig. 1.) 
The introduction of instrumental methods with use of the modern 
seismograph has enabled seismologists to extend their studies to the 
floor of the oceans. The seismological committee of the British 
Association published in 1916 a comprehensive world map of great 
earthquakes instrumentally located for a 10-year period (1899- 
1910).18 This map (fig. 2) upon a quite different basis confirmed 
that of De Montessus concerning the twin girdles, but showed that 
these zones extend outward from the margins of the continents into 
the sea and include the trough deeps upon the sea floor. The zone 
of maximum instability, moreover, corresponds to the steep slope 
which joins the mountain arcs of the coasts and islands to the deeps 
which lie parallel to them. The identity of these special earthquake 
girdles with belts of mountain growth—of wrinkled formations 
upon the earth’s surface—seems thus to be confirmed from a new 
quarter. 

Magma pocket below and vent above earth wrinkles —Geologists 
no longer generally believe, as formerly they did, that the earth’s 
interior is molten. ‘The source of the molten rock (magma or lava) 
which issues from active volcanoes is now believed to come from 
reservoirs which are relatively small. There is reason to believe that 
these reservoirs are usually located beneath the arches of the moun- 
tains. Though the earth’s interior is believed to be hot enough to melt 
the rock were it at the surface of the earth and under air pressure 
only, the rock is believed to be kept rigid by the load upon it. The 
formation of the wrinkle at the surface locally lifts this load and thus 
permits a magma reservoir to form beneath it, and above this reser- 
voir the volcanoes naturally develop. 

Omori’s law of geographical succession of earthquakes within 
girdles.—The late Professor Omori, distinguished Japanese seis- 
mologist, has given his adhesion to the view that the earthquakes 
within the great girdles of the earth are connected with mountain 
growth. It was in 1907 in his report upon the California earth- 
quake that he called attention to the geographical order of succes- 
sion of earthquakes within the earthquake girdles. An earthquake 
which occurs within any section of one of the girdles may be regarded 
as relieving the strain by transforming potential into actual energy, 
this relief being partial only beyond the area characterized by heavy 
shocks. The greatest probability of an impending earthquake 


18H. H, Turner and others, 20th Rept. Seismol. Comm., Rept. Brit. Assoc., Manchester 
meeting (1915), 1916, pp. 52-79, pl. 1. 
14 Barth evolution and its facial expression,” 1921, chaps. 3—5. 


CAUSE OF EFARTHQUAKES—HOBBS 265 


applies, therefore, to those sections of the girdle which are farthest 
removed from regions of recent relief. 

Earthquake prediction—Upon this assumption after the Cali- 
fornia earthquake in 1906, Professor Omori predicted on August 4, 


Geosynclines of Mesozoic era 


eG EN Bp - 


« Epicenters of Earthquakes 1899-!910(Milne) 


Association, but transferred to the Mollweide projection 


Approximate boundaries ofareas which have sunk since late Mesozoic time. 
.—World map of earthquake distribution for the period 1899-1910, made from data assembled by the British 


-_--= 
Si wo aes 


’ 
‘ 


Ons; 


Be 
5 


Fic. 


1906, just before he sailed for Japan that the next earthquakes 
within the circum-Pacific girdle would probably occur south of the 
equator— in South America. Before his ship had reached Japan 


266 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


occurred the great Valparaiso (Chile) earthquake of August 17, and 
upon the same day the great Aleutian (Alaska) earthquake.’ 

Utilizing the Omori suggestion, the writer in 1909 predicted that 
“the zones in which the probability of heavy shocks is now most 
imminent, are the Japan-Kamchatka segment, the Peru-Bolivia seg- 
ment, and the archipelago region to the southeast of Asia.”** (See 
fig. 3.) 

The mountain range does not, so far as our knowledge goes, appear 
to be forming throughout the circuit of the great circle hemming 
in the Pacific, but terminates in West Antarctica and in New Zea- 
land. It is in the New Zealand region, particularly, that future 
shocks may be looked for. Tokyo was largely destroyed by earth- 
quake in 1855 and again in 1923. A heavy earthquake visited the 
vicinity of Wellington, New Zealand, in 1855, producing a fault 
scarp which may still be followed at the surface, and it is reasonable 
to suppose that a recurrence of movement in this neighborhood will 
take place in the not distant future. 

After the meetings of the Second Pan-Pacific Science Congress 
held in Australia in 1928 and just before his lamented death, Pro- 
fessor Omori traveled in the writer’s company from Sydney to 
Honolulu. Referring to the great Tokyo earthquake which had 
occurred less than a fortnight before, Professor Omori told the 
writer that he had fully expected this earthquake to take place within 
the Tokyo region, though not for another 50 years. ‘This statement 
of his illustrates well the possibilities of a fair prediction of earth- 
quakes as to their general locality, at the same time that it exposes 
our limitations with respect to the time of arrival of these devasta- 
ting visitations. 


ELASTIC REBOUND THEORY OF REID, 1910 


Theory stated—When in 1906 America was first awakened to 
the understanding that an earthquake peril exists upon its Pacific 
Coast, it had few scientists who possessed a background of earth- 
quake lore, as had, for example, the Mediterranean countries of 
Europe and Japan. It is unfortunate, therefore, that those who 
came to be charged with the investigation of this earthquake did 
not endeavor to study the literature of the subject before writing the 
report and supplying a theory of cause.’ Reid’s theory of Aipeete 


16. Omori, ‘ Preliminary note on the cause of the San Francisco earthquake of April 
18, 1906,” Bull. Imp. Earthq. Invest. Comm., vol. 1, No. 1, Jan., 1907, pp. 21-25. For 
later expression of this view see ‘“‘ Earthquake zones in and around the Pacific,” ibid., vol. 
11, No. 1, 1928, pp. 28—32. 

16 The evolution and the outlook of seismic geology,’ Proc. Am. Phil. Soc., vol. 48, 
July 6, 1909, p. 32. 

17 See Bull. Geol. Soc. Am., vol. 32, 1921, p. 45. 


CAUSE OF EHARTHQUAKES—HOBBS | 267 


rebound is based upon the assumption that there was a single line of 
dislocation—the visible San Andreas rift or fault—and that the dis- 
placement along this plane was entirely in a horizontal direction, 


1I9Z2 “1923 
B 


/, 1923 


fo 
sor 


SE 


Map showing positions of subsequent large earthquakes. 


oe 


that time. 


[906-1907 
A 


A. Reproduction of the writer’s map published in 1909 to show the sequence of recent earthquakes at 


2s ~ 

-O& § 

qq 

8% 8§ 

VT LB 
as 
ea 
sy 


Kia. 3. 


the area to the westward being supposed to shear upon that to the 
eastward. This shearing strain, generated, according to the assump- 
tion, as the result of a current or of currents within the subcrustal 
region on directions parallel to the San Andreas rift, dragged, it was 


?268 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


believed, the overlying crust along with them. The strain so set up 
was believed to be relieved through rebound on the fault plane at 
the instant of the earthquake.'® This theory has been further de- 
veloped by Lawson under the name “crustal creep and elastic 
rebound ” theory.'® 

Its inadequacy.—As already ‘pointed out, the elastic rebound 
theory of earthquakes is a reversion to the notion that within any 
district an earthquake is the result of a slip on a unique plane of 
faulting, and this new theory was set up without any apparent 
attempt to fit it to other earthquakes. Evidence of vertical, as 
well as horizontal, displacement along the San Andreas rift was, 
however, to be noted, especially at Skinner’s ranch, where the writer 
among many others examined it. It is perhaps true that the revealed 
displacements upon the San Andreas rift were proportionately more 
largely horizontal than in the case of many other earthquakes; but 
lateral displacements of the same order of magnitude combined with 
large vertical displacements were measured, for example, in connec- 
tion with the Japanese earthquake of 1891 and the Owens Valley 
earthquake of 1872. One of the most striking things about earth- 
quakes is the almost monotonous uniformity observed in the nature 
of the phenomena which accompany them. 

Now that geodetic observations have been completed over a sufli- 
cient area of the southwestern United States to determine changes 
of position of triangulation stations since the locations made before 
the earthquake of 1906, it has been learned that these movements 
have been quite different from those claimed in the California report 
to have taken place. The maximum movement recorded is now found 
to be, moreover, not even within the region of the San Andreas rift. 
Thus the elastic rebound theory of earthquakes, far from explaining 
earthquakes generally, can not be made to fit the facts for the one 
earthquake to which it was originally applied.*° 

Sekiya’s wires—Many years ago Prof. S. Sekiya undertook to 
represent the sequence of directions of shock received at his earth- 
quake station during a single earthquake with the result of showing 
that so complex are these motions that to represent their directions 


18 Hf, EF, Reid, ‘‘On mass movements in Tectonic earthquakes and the depth of the 
focus,’ Gerlands Beitr. z. Geophysik, Leipzig, vol. 10, 1910, pp. 318-351; also Rept. State 
Earthq. Invest. Comm, (Carneg. Inst., Wash.), vol. 2, 1910; also ‘‘ The elastic rebound 
theory of earthquakes,” Bull. Dep. Geol., Univ. Calif., Pub., vol. 6, 1911, pp. 413-444. 

2 A, C. Lawson, ‘‘ The mobility of the coast ranges of California, an exploitation of the 
elastic rebound theory,’’ Bull. Dept. Geol., Univ. Calif. Pub., vol. 12, No. 7, 1921, pp. 
431-473, 19 text figs. 

20 William Bowie, ‘Earth movements in California,’ Spec. Pub. No. 106 (Ser. No. 
273), Dept. of Commerce (U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey), Washington, 1924, pp. 1—22, 
figs. 1-6. Arthur L. Day, “The study of earth movements in California,” address of the 
president of the Washington Academy of Science, Jan. 138, 1925, Science, vol. 71, No. 1578, 
Mar, 27, 1925, p. 325. 


CAUSE OF EARTHQUAKES—HOBBS 269 


and successions by a bent wire, it was necessary to employ three com- 
plicated snarls of wire in order to cover a minute only of time. Such 
a result favors strongly the view that not one fault slip but very many 
on differently placed surfaces are the cause of the earthquake 
phenomena.”* 


GENERAL STATEMENT OF PROBABLE CAUSE OF EARTHQUAKES 


Proximate cause.—The proximate cause, or in common language 
the occasion, of earthquakes, so far as they occur within the earth- 
quake girdles of the earth, would seem to be the formation of a fold 
or flexure within near-surface earth strata; such flexure being inci- 
dent to the erection of a range of growing mountains of scalloped 
pattern accompanied by a series of parallel deep troughs. Such ele- 
vation of a mountain range is accompanied as a natural consequence 
by pockets of lava beneath the arch, and above these are formed a 
series of vents for the escape of the volcanic materials, both molten 
rock and gases. 

If we omit the special characteristics, the proximate cause of 
earthquakes may be stated to be adjustments which take place in 
position or inclination of portions of the outer shell of the earth, and 
this broad general statement may be applied outside as well as inside 
the earth’s earthquake girdles. Such adjustment on the basis of many 
observations implies many individual movements among blocks com- 
posing a fault mosaic. 

Ultimate cause—The ultimate cause of earthquakes, the deep- 
seated reason for the changes brought about in the configuration of 
the earth’s surface, is by geologists generally believed to be the con- 
tinuous loss into surrounding space of the heat from the earth’s in- 
terior portions. This loss of heat is accompanied by a reduction of 
volume, a shrinking of the interior core of the earth; and the outer 
shell of rock being already cooled to a relatively stable condition 
must wrinkle as it adjusts itself. The old illustration of an apple 
in late winter which wrinkles from the loss of water and consequent 
reduction of volume of its interior portion, may still serve well at 
the present time. 


PART II—EARTHQUAKES OF THE EASTERN UNITED STATES 
THE REGION A RELATIVELY STABLE ONE 


Historical earthquakes of the region.—Northeastern North Amer- 
ica lies outside the seismic girdles of the earth (see fig. 2, p. 265) 
and at least since its settlement by Europeans it has relatively seldom 
been vexed by destructive earthquakes. That light shocks have not 


1. Sekiya, “A model to show the motion of an earth particle during an earthquake,” 
Trans. Seis. Soc. Japan, vol. 11, 1887, pp. 175-177, pls. 1-2. 


270 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


been infrequent within recent times, or since newspapers and the 
telegraph have been widely distributed, is, however, evident from 
compilations made by Rockwood.” In the State of Michigan alone 
within this period some 10 earthquakes have been put on record, the 
latest of which occured February 28, 1925.°° Contrary to general 
opinion earthquakes of devastating violence have also visited the 
region of the eastern United States. These greater earthquakes have 
seemed to have relation especially to the drainage basin of the St. 
Lawrence River and Great Lakes, to the lower Mississippi region 
of heavy deposition, or to the coastal plain east of the Appalachian 
Mountains. Accounts made between 1610 and 1791 by the French 
Jesuit missionaries from within the area reacked by canoes about the 
St. Lawrence River and lakes, show that earthquakes were felt within 
that region in 1638, 1661, 1663, 1664, 1665, 1668, and 1672; that of 
February 5, 1663, described in the letters of Jerome Lallemant hay- 
ing been of devastating violence and probably comparable to the 
greatest earthquakes that are known. The full accounts of the mis- 
sionaries translated and edited under the direction of the late Reuben 
G. Thwaites and published in 73 volumes by Burrows Bros., of 
Cleveland, have been searched for earthquake data and the extracted 
results published by Rev. Father Odenbach, of Cleveland.** 

In 1811 within the lower Mississippi Valley a really great earth- 
quake generally referred to as the New Madrid earthquake was 
felt over a relatively broad area of the Mississippi Valley. For 
more than a century the region has now been generally quiet, 
but the scars of the disastrous disturbances of 1811 still arrest the 
attention, and this earthquake must be reckoned among the most 
severe of any that have been anywhere recorded.*® 

The Charleston earthquake of 1886, while of greatest intensity 
in the vicinity of that Southern city, was felt as far north as the 
City of New York.*° All three of these great disturbances of the 
eastern United States were within areas far outside the seismic 
girdles which mark the earth’s zones of special instability. 

If we look upon the earthquake of the late seventeenth century 
within and about the St. Lawrence drainage basin as more or less 
completely relieving the strains which had quietly been accumulat- 
ing within that area, and much less completely relieving the outside 


=C. G. Rockwood, 14 articles in Am. Journ. Sci., from 1872 to 18835. 

23 W. H. Hobbs, ‘“‘ Earthquakes in Michigan,’ Pub. 5 (Geol. Ser. 3), Mich. Geol. and Biol. 
Survy., Lansing, 1911, pp. 69-ST, 2 pls. 

* Twelfth Ann. Rept. Meteorol. Obsery., Coll. St. Ignatius at Cleveland, Ohio, 1906-7, 
pp. 7-15. For an abridged summary see the author’s ‘“ Earthquakes,” Appleton, 1907, 
pp. 315-320. Lawson seems to be quite unaware of this earthquake (Bull. Seis. Soe. Am., 
p. 189; reprints indicate no volume or date). 

*% Myron L. Fuller, ‘The New Madrid earthquake,” Bull. 494, U. S. Geol. Sury., 1912, 
pp. 119, pls. 10, figs. 18. 


%C. E. Dutton, “The Charleston earthquake of Aug. 31, 1886,"" Ninth Ann. Rept. 
U. S. Geol. Surv., 1889, pp. 2038-528. 


CAUSE OF EARTHQUAKES—HOBBS rare! 


areas characterized by lighter shocks; then the New Madrid earth- 
quake of a century and a half later may be considered to have accom- 
plished a similar result for the large area to the south and west, 
the valley of the lower Mississippi. Three-quarters of a century 
now elapse and the residue of the broad area, that to the south and 
east, finds relief during the earthquake of Charleston in 1886, with 
some relief also within the outlying areas where no destructive 
shocks, but only jars and tremors, were felt. 

Geological evidence is available from within the destructive area 
of the New Madrid earthquake, to show that an earthquake of 
devastating intensity and comparable in this respect with that of 
1811, visited the region at least 100 years earlier. Altogether, then, 
we have the evidence that at intervals averaging a century or 
more, this broad region of eastern North America, usually looked 
upon as especially favored by its stability, has been visited by rack- 
ing earthquakes of the first importance. It is therefore necessary 
to-day to modify in a measure the views which have been generally 
held concerning earthquake distribution. The fact that the settle- 
ment of America by Europeans came so recently, and that of the 
three great earthquakes known from the region, two belong to the 
early period of sparse settlement, pioneer scientific method, and 
imperfect historical record, largely explain the failure to assign 
proper values to these really great earthquakes. 

Epeirogenic earthquakes of De Montessus—Doctor de Montessus 
in a magistral posthumous work which came from the press in 
1924, has described a new class of earthquakes for such regions 
as lie outside the earthquake girdles. These earthquakes he ascribes 
to epeirogenic movements, up-and-down movements of neighboring 
sections of the earth’s surface layers—and hence block movements 
which are unassociated with the folding process, as are those which 
occur within the earthquake girdles.*’ In this he clearly recog- 
nized that his two earlier volumes, through laying especial stress 
upon the importance of the two earthquakes girdles, ascribed far 
too little importance to those earthquakes which occur outside. 

It is easy to account for the earthquakes of the lower Missis- 
sippi Valley through the gradually accumulating load over the delta 
region and the lower flood-plain of this great river. It has been 
estimated upon good authority that 513 million tons of suspended 
matter are carried out each year to tidewater in Louisiana, and 
this takes no account of the vast load that is laid down within 
the broad area of the flood-plain in the States of Arkansas, Mis- 
souri, Tennessee, Mississippi, and Louisiana. 


27, de Montessus de Ballore, La Géologie Séismologique, les Tremblements de Terre, 
Colin, Paris, 1924, Ch. I. 


aD ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


Coastal changes of level, which though extremely slow are yet 
recorded in the uplifted terraces of wide tread and small rise 
along the Atlantic coast of the country, may account for the 
Charleston earthquake of 1886 and the many light earthquakes 
felt along the Atlantic sea board. A no less apparent cause for 
adjustment of the outer shell of the earth relates to the area of 
the Laurentian Great Lakes, and here fortunately we have a 
much greater body of evidence at our disposal. 

Epeirogenic adjustments within Great Lakes area—During the 
latest—and present—geological period, the Pleistocene, continental 
glaciers of an estimated thickness of between one and two miles 
for a portion of the time lay over northern America so as to 
cover at their culmination the greater part of the area east of the 
Rocky Mountains and north of the Missouri and Ohio rivers. 
Such a burden of ice must be conceived to have brought about a 
depression of the earth’s surface within the region, from which 
recovery would presumably be either wholly or partially obtained 
when the ice waned and finally disappeared. ‘The evidence is con- 
clusive that since the retirement northward of the latest continental 
glacier, the Laurentian drainage region has been undergoing an 
elevation which began toward the southern margin, has increased 
in amount toward the north, and is still continuing to-day at a 
somewhat rapid rate. 

There is an extensive literature of the subject ** as regards the 
nature of the evidence of uplift, but the explanation of the earth- 
quakes of the region as a consequence of this uplift and uptilt of 
the land was, so far as he is aware, first made by the writer in 
two related papers published in 1911. 

Summarized for the general reader, the available data which 
prove the uplift and uptilt of the Laurentian basin relate: (1) to 
the evidence of already accomplished movement, and (2) to the 
evidence that this upward movement still continues and so may 
be invoked to explain the earthquakes within the region. 

The evidence of the already accomplished uplift and uptilt is 
derived from the present positions and inclinations of the now 
abandoned shore lines of the system of great ice-dammed lakes 
which lay along the front of the continental glacier during its 
retreat. These shore lines, which were of course horizontal when 
first formed, are now tilted upward toward the north at angles 
which increase rather rapidly as one proceeds north. The uptilt 
has been likened to that of a trap-door in the floor rotating upon 


3 The more important series of papers are by Gilbert, Leverett, Taylor, and Goldthwait. 

» «The Later Glacial and Post Glacial Uplift of the Michigan Basin; Earthquakes in 
Michigan,” Mich. Geol. and Biol. Surv., Pub. 5 (Geol. Ser. 3), Lansing, 1911, pp. 87, pls. 
2 and 3, and figs. 48 and 5. 


CAUSE OF EARTHQUAKES—HOBBS 273 


its hinge, the hinge line for the Laurentian region taking an 
average direction in the neighborhood of the Great Lakes of 
about 15° to the north of west. The case is, however, not quite 
so simple as this, for the main hinge line of the region has itself 
migrated northward since the beginning of the uptilt, and_ sec- 
ondary hinge lines within the trap-door itself appear also to have 
functioned. One may liken the complex movement in its main 


SS 


Tee 
mma 
a 
bie 
ces 2 
| peat a 


Fic. 4.—Diagram to show the nature of the Laurentian region as the 
continental glacier retired northward 


lines to that of a trap-door made up of several planks all parallel 
to the main hinge and each hinged to its neighbors, all hinges 
being or having been in action. (Fig. 4.) 

We are now chiefly concerned, however, with the evidence that 
uptilt of the land is still going on, and may therefore be responsible 
for the earthquakes of the region. The earliest clear recognition 
of such present-day uptilt was made by a land surveyor of Wisconsin, 


274 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


Mr. G. K. Stuntz, who in 1870 published a brief paper on observa- 
tions made by him in the years 1852 and 1853 about Lake Superior.®° 
Stuntz had noticed that on the northern shore of Lake Superior there 
were evidences that the land had recently risen, whereas on the south 
shore there were as clear signs of recent overflow. It was as though 
one were to take in the hands a partly filled basin of water and by 
tilting it cause the water to withdraw from one side, where in con- 
sequence the bottom of the basin rises out of the water; and to flood 
the opposite side. Additional observations from Lake Superior 
which confirmed these observations by Stuntz were made by Lawson 
in 1891.*1. The attention of geologists was first strongly directed to 
this tilting by Gilbert in 1898, when he investigated the series of 
records of the several gauging stations about the Great Lakes and 
found additional confirmation of the uptilt.** 

Upon the south side of Lake Superior in Michigan the evidences 
are especially easy to read. The rivers of this coast have estuaries 
especially marked in the stretch from Ontonagon westward. At 
some points in the Porcupine Mountain district the trees along the 
shore of the lake stand 6 to 8 feet out from the shore in 6 to 8 inches 
of water. At other points where the trees are at the shores, the 
waves are beating against them and removing the bark. Here the 
lake has already encroached upon roads so that they have had to be 
abandoned.** 

Evidences of a somewhat similar nature to those found character- 
istic of Lake Superior belong also to Lake Erie. They 
show that here also the tilt of the land is upward toward the north. 
From the rate of flooding of the shores of Sandusky Bay Moseley has 
estimated that the rate of submergence on this shore is 2.14 feet 
per century.** 

Lake Michigan-Huron, for this is a single body of water, has its 
outlet at Port Huron far to the south and now to the southward of 
the hinge-line of uptilt. Were this not the case, flooding of the Chi- 
cago shore of Lake Michigan and of Bay City shore of Saginaw Bay 
would be going on. 


30 G. K. Stuntz, “On some recent geological changes in northeastern Wisconsin,” Proc. 
Am. Assoc. Adv. Sci., vol. 18, 1870, pp. 206-207. 

81. A. C. Lawson, ‘“‘ Sketch of the coastal topography of the north side of Lake Superior 
with special reference to the abandoned strands of Lake Warren [Lakes Nipissing and 
Algonquin, W. HM. H.], 20th Ann. Rept. Geol. and Nat. Hist. Surv. Minn., 1893, pp. 181— 
289. 

%2G. K. Gilbert, ‘ Recent earth movement in the Great Lakes region,” 18th Ann. Rept. 
U. S. Geol. Surv., 1898, pt. 2, pp. 595-647. 

383, E. Wright, ‘“ Report on the progress made by the Porcupine Mountain party during 
the summer of 1903,’’ Rept. Geol. Surv. Mich. for 1903 (1905), p. 37. 

% This is notwithstanding the fact that the present hinge line of tilting now crosses the 
northeastern half of the lake. Gilbert’s earlier estimate of the rate of uptilt (18th Ann. 
Rept. U. S. Geol. Sury., 1898, pt. 2, p. 637), even as corrected by Lane (Geol. Surv. Mich., 
vol. 7, 1900, pp. 36-39), is in error and much too large, since he conceived the entire area 
about the lakes to be tilting like a plane without recognizing the positions and the migra- 
tions of the hinge lines (Mich. Geol. and Biol. Surv., Pub. 5, 1911, pp. 40-41). 


CAUSE OF EARTHQUAKES—HOBBS 275 


Postglacial faults.—Evidence is at hand that faults have been an 
accompaniment of the epeirogenic movements which have been going 
on within this region. The continental glaciers which in the yester- 
day of geology covered the region, planed the rock surfaces to a 
freshly polished condition upon which any subsequent displacement, 
even though of small measure, must be revealed whenever diligently 
sought for. No such search has been generally made, but already a 
considerable number of observations widely scattered through the 
region have been put on record. (Fig. 5.) 

Such postglacial faults appear to have been first noticed by 
Mather * at Copake, N. Y., near the common corner of Massachu- 
setts and Connecticut. Similar faults have since been described by 
Matthew *° from St. John, New Brunswick; by Chalmers ** from 
many localities in the Province of Quebec; by C. H. Hitchcock ** 
from Littleton, N. H.; by Woodworth * from many localities in 
eastern New York and Massachusetts; by Lawson *? from Banning 
in western Ontario; by Hobbs from Sawyer, Wis.,*t and the 
French River in central Ontario;*? and by Loomis** from Mount 
Toby, Mass. While these faults are often small individually they 
are numerous and they grow large in the aggregate, and in some 
cases they are measured in tens of feet. 

The faults of eastern New York have been found chiefly along 
the lineament which follows the Hudson River and its continuation 
northward. The lineaments of the northeastern United States in 
their relation to the recorded earthquakes of the district as the data 
have been assembled by De Montessus have already been put upon 


record.** 
CONCLUSION 


The earthquake of February 28, 1925, was felt throughout the 
glaciated area of North America and at relatively few places outside. 
It was peculiarly an earthquake of this Laurentian area, and it is 
best explained as due to epeirogenic block movements as a result of 


* W. W. Mather, “ Geology of New York, report on first district,” 1843, pp. 156-157, 

3G. F. Matthew, “ Movements of the earth’s crust at St. John, New Brunswick, in 
postglacial times,’ Bull. Nat. Hist. Soe., New Brunswick, No. 12, 1894, pp. 3442. 

*7R. Chalmers, ‘Report on the surface geology and the auriferous deposits of south- 
eastern Quebec,” Geol. Surv. Can., Ann. Rept., vol. 10, 1897, pt. J, pp. 10-12. 

*8C. H. Hitchcock, “‘ The geology of Littleton,’ in History of Littleton, 1905, pp. 28-29. 

J. B. Woodworth, “ Postglacial faults of eastern New York,” Bull. 107, N. Y. State 
Museum, 1907, pp. 4-28. 

40 A. C. Lawson, “On some postglacial faults near Banning, Ontario,’ Bull. Seismol. 
Soc. Am., vol. 1, pp. 159-166. 

“= W. H. Hobbs, “‘ The late glacial and postglacial uplift of the Michigan Basin,” Mich. 
Geol. and Biol. Sury., Pub. 5, 1911, p. 45. 

#2 W. H. Hobbs, “ Postglacial faulting in the French River district of Ontario,’’ Am. 
Journ. Sci., vol. 1, 1921, pp. 507-509. 

#¥F. B. Loomis, ‘‘ Postglacial faulting about Mount Toby, Mass.,” Bul. Geol. Soc. 
Am., vol. 32, 1921, pp. 75-80. 

“ Beitriige zur Geophysik, vol. 8, 1907, pl. 2. 


276 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


continued uptilt of the area depressed during the periods of glacia- 
tion. The earthquake history of the region affords no warrant for 
the belief that the region of the northeastern United States is to 


Sketch map to show where postglaclal faults have been observed within the glaciated region of North America. 
Of those from the Province of Quebec only a few have entered 


5 


ia. 


remain immune from destructive earthquakes. Such visitations, it 
may be assumed, will be far less frequent than earthquakes which 
occur within the great girdles where mountain growth is proceeding 


CAUSE OF EARTHQUAKES—HOBBS Qt7 


Justily, but there is every reason to suppose that the future will bring 
to the Laurentian region earthquakes which are comparable in 
intensity with those of 1663 and 1811. So long as light shocks con- 
tinue within the region, there is reason to believe that at least a 
partial relief from earth strain is being secured, and the date of the 
next destructive shocks is correspondingly removed farther into the 
future. Paradoxical as it may appear, the time for alarm will come 
whenever the region becomes abnormally quiescent. 


20837—27——_19 


THE LOESS OF CHINA? 


By Grorcre B. BARBOUR 
Yenching University, Peking 


[With 6 plates] 


CONTENTS 

Introduction. 4. Sang-kan Ho beds. 
Distribution of loess in general. Loesslike formations in China— 
The loess of China. B. Younger than the loess. 

Chemical. analysis. 1. Redeposited loess. 

Mineral and mechanical analysis. 2. Alluvium. 

Soil characteristics of loess. Age of the loess. 
The loess of Europe and America. Origin and mode of accumulation of 
Loesslike formations in China. loess. 

A. Older than the loess. Vertical cleavage of loess. 

1. Hipparion beds. “Huang T’u” and “ Loess.” 


2. Kansu continental deposits, | Bibliography. 
3. San-Men beds. 


INTRODUCTION 


Every traveler who returns from a first up-country tour in Chihhl 
or Shansi has some comment to make upon the curious sights of the 
loess country, if not a photograph to show of picturesque canyons 
or quaint cave dwellings. But despite frequent literary references 
to loess in China from before the days of its description by the 
explorer Baron v. Richthofen (10-56)? until to-day, any attempt to 
get at facts about its true nature and origin reveal how limited our 
actual knowledge is. For instance, careful inquiry has so far brought 
to light only three chemical analyses, none of these being in print. 
Descriptive notes, each usually from a different point of view, may be 
found scattered through articles or chapters by various authors. 

Detailed descriptions of its occurrence are given in the researches 
of v. Richthofen and Willis. In recent years by far the most critical 
study has been that contributed by Dr. J. G. Andersson, mining ad- 
visor to the Chinese Government, based upon geological field work 


1 Reprinted by permission from The China Journal of Science and Arts, Vol. III, No. 8, 
August, 1925, pp. 454-468, and Vol. III, No. 9, September, 1925, pp. 509-519. 

2 Note.—References, where not given as footnotes, are indicated by two numbers, the 
first that of the publication as listed in the bibliography at the end of the paper, the 
seeond the page quoted in that volume. 


279 


280 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


by Doctor Zdansky and himself. Doctor Anderson’s conclusions are 
embodied in the Geological Survey’s memoir on the Cenozoic of 
North China (1-121). 

No attempt seems to have been made recently to bring together 
more than one aspect of our present knowledge. Such an attempt 
may now serve to unify the results so far gained, and act as a basis 
for later more complete scientific study. A summary of this kind does 
not aim at being exhaustive, and avoids more than passing reference 
to disputed points which are discussed elsewhere. At the same time, 
in this instance it is possible to add also certain field and laboratory 
observations recorded here for the first time. Prof. E. O. Wilson of 
Yenching University, Prof. T. New of Tsinghua College, and Prof. 
W. ©. Lowdermilk of the University of Nanking, have placed at my 
disposal the results of researches they have carried out, in each case 
making valuable contributions which fill important gaps in our pre- 
vious knowledge. I am glad of this opportunity to express my ap- 
preciation of their generous cooperation. 


DISTRIBUTION OF LOESS IN GENERAL 


Loess is an important fine-grained loam formation, widespread in 
various parts of the Northern Hemisphere. Its uncompacted nature 
won the name “ loess” in the German Rhineland, where it forms a 
soil of high fertility. It is widely developed in a farm-land belt that 
stretches across northeast France and Belgium and extends irregu- 
larly into Poland, Czechoslovakia, and Rumania. In the United 
States it covers large parts of Ohio, Indiana, [llinois, Lowa, Kansas, 
and Nebraska, with a long southern projection through Missouri 
down the east bank of the Mississippi. 

Even in Asia, China has no monopoly of the loess. According to 
v. Tillo (4-566) loess covers 511,150 square miles, or 3 per cent of the 
continent. Assuming an average depth of 30 meters, Walther has 
calculated that this represents a volume of 40,000 cubic kilometers of 
material, almost all produced by rock decay in arid regions (11-193). 
Sven Hedin and other travelers report it from places in the interior. 


THE LOESS OF CHINA 


In China loess is strongly developed throughout the basin of the 
Yellow River and at other places in Chihli, Shansi, Shensi, Honan, 
Kansu, and Shantung. Small accumulations are reported from An- 
hui, Kiangsu, and elsewhere. 

It should be said at the outset that in the case of the Chinese loess 
the term has been used to include other deposits which, though some- 
what similar in appearance, differ vastly both in age, composition, 
character, and mode of origin from genuine loess. This confusion 
has given rise to the very exaggerated estimates of its thickness re- 


LOESS OF CHINA——BARBOUR 281 


corded by many observers. Von Richthofen gives figures of 500, 
600 and even 1,500 feet, and one reads travelers’ references to “ hun- 
dreds of feet of loess.” But it is doubtful if there exist outside of 
Kansu deposits of much more than 200 feet thickness, the deeper 
deposits proving almost invariably to include the underlying Hip- 
parion clay, or more recent gravels, silt, and “ redeposited loess.” 
Andersson (1-123) gives 60 meters as the maximum thickness of true 
undoubted loess observed in any place.* 

A second cause for such overestimates is the failure to realize that 
loess was spread by wind over a valley-dissected land surface. Hence, 
though often found at considerable altitudes, it may have no 
greater vertical depth there than it does on the lower valley slopes, 


—— ee, en Sites 
pa ae tone ean fr a shea A OT AG eee ese a 


<TH ATT ah cas ot 


4¢Biiae —— s 


oo ETT BOP 


ETT ae 


Natural Cousetay 
_S8& — pefcen. Loess 


Gulliss ____ 


Fia. 1 


just as the people in the back rows of an amphitheater are under no 
obligation to be taller than those in the front seats. 

The true Chinese loess is a yellow-gray poorly consolidated loam 
deposit of the fineness of silt, which shows a characteristic absence 
of horizontal layer structure, being essentially nonstratified, and a 
tendency to split along roughly vertical joint planes, so as to form 
perpendicular cliffs and walls. No attempt is made here to describe 
the remarkable erosion features, natural arches, crevasses, pinnacles, 
sinks, etc., common- in loess regions. These are well described in 
such articles as those of Fuller (8-570) and Sowerby (2). (See 
pls. 1-6.) 

For the most part it is nonfossiliferous, the only animal remains 
found in any quantity being the shells of small nonmarine snails 


8In conversation Doctor Andersson has mentioned that recent careful observations in 
Kansu have showed that in one or two places this maximum ought to be increased by some 
20 or more meters. Dr. George G. Cressey has measured cliffs over 300 feet high near 
Sui-te-chow on the west bank of the Yellow River in Shensi. Even greater thicknesses may 
exist in a few restricted localities. 


282 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


(Helix, Pupa, etc.). But mammal bones are found in small numbers 
scattered over the wide area in which loess occurs. Doctor Ander- 
sson’s list of those recorded by different observers includes elephant, 
hyena, hippopotamus, horse, stag, turtle, and a mole-like rodent, com- 
monly known as mole rat (A/yospalaw) (1-127). A fossil of special 
interest is the ostrich egg@ (Struthiolithus), which seems to be fairly 
widely distributed.) One such was found at Ch’enchow by Mr. Max 
Engel, of Peking, 25 feet below ground level when digging a well. Its 
length is 180 millimeters. The photograph which he kindly allowed 
me to take, shows clearly the calcareous incrustations often found 
attached to the surface of such fossil eggs. Though complete eggs 
are rare, broken bits are more frequently found. I have found 
fragments in eight localities within a radius of a few miles of Kal- 
gan, which tally with observations in other regions. 


CHEMICAL ANALYSIS 


Failing to find any published quantitative description of the ma- 
terial which composes it, I examined typical specimens of loess from 
Chihli and Honan; the former was collected from a point 10 miles 
southwest of Hsuan-hua, in northern Chihli, the latter was kindly 
furnished by Dr. W. H. Wong, Director of the Geological Survey. 
The latter material was kindly analyzed for me by Prof. E. O. 
Wilson of the department of chemistry, Yenching University. For 
comparison, the analysis given in his report is here set beside analyses 
of loess soils from the Rhine Valley, from Switzerland, and three 
from America, showing the wide range of variation in composition 
of loess. 


1 | 2 3 t 6 6 
gE Se eee eeeees 5 eee ae _ 

810s 7OT! fan SOE ON es POPP ean SCN ere ae, ‘ 64, 22 88. 97 71. 09 
PUA Une cas ack ee ae comtieaue daeeane 4 . 97 
1 TPE PIRES SAR IO CTPA Gest Nhe, 495 } 16. <8 
OF TO Ga BPR te RO cp Bie te me ea kf Se 6.31 | 11.31 1.81 
Mig Gan gs. bytes she ad ace 2 ot Le be 2. 09 | A Obed se decees 4. 

BAO es Wee ee Ca ee. een eee . 22 | S4 
WiOescb: ey? ve: cud. age inlet Ase aa 9) Lil 1.30 
TO ethia ees oe. Sakon hc cer Sen ne eee Ce aaeee | pe autes cee] abupca meee 
Re Oareteeehs. 5b eo thest. Bee eo eg gect old cadd 
IN ec eae Sse erie tS ee cL ney Cae core erent lean coatansleaaa nace 
CG Sii6it 165 -. eae o4 geass 4.1 | 11,08 
NY. Be 0 ae ns BE, Yaar Whee at a ah as Pe ets dB ad Real aa mt beset ek a 
HO ab M09 50635... tias. tee. aseek M8) eee. sales ob oe 
Loss on denition: 4.8 o-aoe ce ee eee Teel) pase Seles wee ee 


1. Loess from Honan, analyzed by Prof. BE. O. Wilson. 
2. Loess from Rhine Valley (Bischoff, Chemical Geology). 
8. Loess from Neubad, Switzerland (7-318). 
4. Memphis silt loam, Mississippi (Robinson, United States Department of Agriculture 
Bull. 551, 1917). 
5. Loess soil, Cherokee, Kans. (Bennett, Soils and Agriculture, 1921). 
6. “ Silt loam,’? Weeping Water (Alway, quoted 6-63). 


*See Andersson “ On the occurrence of fossil Struthionidae in China” (1-58). 


283 


LOESS OF CHINA—-BARBOUR 


It is clear from the range of composition shown by these samples 
from widely separated localities, that the reasons for the peculiar 
characteristics common to them all must have a physical, rather than 
a chemical, basis and be a result of the size, shape, and relative posi- 
tion of the grains rather than the minerals that compose them. 

The following two additional analyses have been kindly furnished 
by Dr. W. H. Wong, Director of the Geological Survey, and are 
particularly interesting as supplementing the data given above; 
the surprising similarity of composition of samples from widely 
separated localities is also worth noting. 


Analysis of loess made by the Geological Survey of China 


Loess from | Loess from Loess from | Loess from 
Wei-ning, | ‘T'ai-yuan, Wei-ning, | Tai-yuan, 

Kansu Shansi Kansu Shansi 

- a af —E — —_ = 

Eyes 59. 30 OU25" ll Cae Ose ae cle een se 14. 90 13. 40 
aes as sabes we 11.45 HEY Ml Of OP kee O Se Sea 4. 58 3. 95 
Bee wheal apres dpa te 2.32 BRO: ARO eae oe el Ae 2 1. 80 1.65 
ee eee ee oe ae 1. 55 0 0 a Bia We 2.10 
eee egil Es senertanie . 60 Sina C7 Rb ee Se Sia 20 . 20 
Nett Le en oes e . 20 18 || H2O___-_. . 96 . 64 


MINERALOGICAL AND MECHANICAL ANALYSIS 


Viewed microscopically, loess presents the appearance of Figure 
2 which is a camera lucida drawing of the grains of the Honan loess 
already referred to, enlarged 104 times.°® 

Working at 400 magnifications, it is not possible to make accurate 
quantitative observations on the very finest particles without first 
separating these from the coarser silt grains to which they cling. 
Hence, in the absence of apparatus for elutriation, the material of 
diameters below 0.005 millimeter was disregarded; a major part of 
this is probably clay, with some limonite, but no attempt was made 
to determine physically what percentage of the total amount was 
fine enough to be so graded. Excluding these extremely fine parti- 
cles, the average diameter of 758 grains in this sample was 0.0124 
millimeters. ‘Thus, according to the United States Bureau of Soils 
classification, the bulk of the material falls within the limits of silt 
(0.005-0.05 millimeters). The outstanding features are the angularity 
of the grains (which in many cases are practically free from traces 
of rounding), and the surprisingly fresh condition of the mineral 
grains, many of which are still almost unattacked by weathering. 
The determination of the various minerals proved hard at first, as, 
owing to the extreme fineness of the particles (averaging, as noted 
above, less than five ten-thousandths of an inch in diameter), the 


5 Cf. also G. P. Merrill (7-817), fig. 33, “ Chinese Loess.” 


284 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


ordinary methods of rock microscopy had to be replaced by special 
tests. By these means it was possible definitely to identify quartz, 
biotite, orthoclase and plagioclase feldspar, hornblende, carbonate, 
kaolinite, and apatite in approximately that order of abundance, 
together with some grains of one or two other minerals which, in 
the absence of means for making further more delicate tests, could 
not be determined with certainty. If allowance is made for the 
fineness of grain of clay, of which a relatively large percentage 
would fall below the minimum size determinable, the kaolinite might 
perhaps stand a little 
higher on the list in an 
analysis of the total mate- 
rial. To the naked eye this 
sample has a somewhat un- 
usually high biotite con- 
tent. 

In connection witha 
more extended piece of re- 
search from a _ different 
point of view, Prof. W. C. 
Lowdermilk has analyzed 
loess-soil material from 
Shensi in the department 
of forestry, University of 
Nanking. Professor Low- 
ic. 2.—Grains of loess from Honan (magnified 104 dermilk has nee ener 

times). The graduations on the cross wire indi- ously placed his prelimi- 

cate one-tenth millimeter nary results in my hands. 
The mechanical analyses were carried out using two samples from an 
uncrushed block of loess from Liu-lin on the Red Cross Road near the 
Yellow River. 


Sample 1: Per cent 
(a) Percentage of sand and silt by settling__-___ SPR PRREeE MD, ALOE coe 80. 01 
PET CONEREE OL CU ea ye ie a ape ae 19. 46 
VV ar a0) ea aie Aad eof uel lesa ah, EP NES ab SE SL yoni te aE os 2 2 ag ln 5D 
100. 00 
(b) Sieve study: 

Grains over 0.1 millimeter diameter______________________- 2,15 
Grains under 0.1 millimeter diameter____________________- 97. 85 
100. 00 

(c) Micrometer study: 

Class Average diameter of particle 

mes Sar GE Peers cee Ree ane g i kee NE 0.13 millimeter 1.59 
VERY t fine (Same edt eels es ee ae Pe ee .065 millimeter 27.44 
SH PE RN EGA so, ESA A TESS ae .033 millimeter 50.97 
CES a pe a le ene us Rid Re Bal aaa EA YE ie .0035 millimeter 20. 00 
WORPOT ooo eS ced ee es ed .10 


LOESS OF CHINA——BARBOUR 285 


Sample 2: Per cent 

(@)Pereentage of sand and silt by settling»= + -+2--2+-=+-=-++-+ 81. 70 
Pereentaee iol Clayoem 2 = 5. ate ee ee ee ke he 18.3 

100. 00 


(b) Micrometer study: ; 
Class Average diameter of particle 


LM GO CCM Fete h cls ee Me oe ens ee 2 ee ee 0.10 millimeter 1.00 
Very finer Sandee te aes oe .063 millimeter 25, 00 
S11 ip ca AE ISS Lh A SR a ee .030 millimeter 54, 00 
MOU ee te en ne ne ee a .004 millimeter 20.00 

100. 00 


SOIL CHARACTERISTICS OF LOESS 


Reasoning a priort from the mineralogical and chemical analyses 
above, it might be expected that loess would differ in several respects 
from normal river silts of corresponding texture. These latter, 
owing their fineness to prolonged wearing down by stream action, 
and exposure to the attack of chemical weathering, tend to form 

products of relatively stable composition (especially silica, ferric 
' hydroxide, and clay), from which the more soluble elements have 
been removed. Such clayey soils let water permeate only with difh- 
culty, are sticky and heavy to till, and may call for fertilization by 
the addition of those chemical elements desirable for plant growth, 
which have been gradually leached out by the solvent action of 
' water. In these points Chinese loess shows a strong contrast. The 
analysis above is of special interest in showing how fresh and unde- 
composed much of the material of true loess may be, the minerals 
being those commonly found predominating in ordinary unweathered 
granite and allied rocks, and appearing actually almost less affected 
by alteration than the weathered surface of any average rock. It 
may be said here in anticipation that this seems to form additional 
evidence in favor of the now generally accepted belief that such 
loess is, in the main, a wind-blown deposit formed under arid or 
steppe conditions. 

There is as yet a dearth of quantitative data as to the favorable- 
ness of loess as a soil. No information could be obtained as to the 
extent to which cropping of the soil in China through past years 
with the soya bean and other legumes has enriched (or impover- 
ished) it, especially in the matter of nitrogenous compounds, though 
there is no question that farmers have discovered experimentally 
through centuries of practice the penalties of nonrotation of crops; 
this knowledge and the universal practice’ of manure fertilization 
makes it hard to isolate the results due to any one factor. Certain 
generalizations, however, are possible, particularly where based upon 
experience of loess soils in other countries. Lyon and Buckman state, 


20837—27——-20 


286 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


for instance, that under heavy cropping, where little organic or min- 
eral matter is returned, loess soils need the addition of phosphoric 
acid and lime (6-63)—a deduction that might almost be made directly 
from an inspection of the analyses given above. In general, they say, 
whenever moisture relations are favorable loess is an exceedingly 
fertile soil. Since the Chinese loess often already carries a high lime 
percentage and the practice of manuring is universal, water supply 
becomes the vital factor. 

These theoretical conclusions seem to be borne out by the facts 
wherever observed in the field. During water-supply investigations 


Fig. 38 


along the foothill area west of the Peking-Hankow Railway in the 
Tingchow-Shuntehfu region I noticed that though the loess was 
porous enough to take up immense quantities of water® the fineness 
of its grain held the moisture by capillarity and prevented a rapid 
percolation of the ground water out from the walls into partially 
dug wells. (See Willis 12-250ff.) 

The fertility of the loess is due, then, in part to its physical con- 
dition (which, combined with a clay content comparatively low for 
such a fine texture, creates a porous soil both light to till and easily 
penetrated by water) and in part to its relatively fresh chemical con- 


6 Slichter notes that the pore Space in fine alluvial clays may amount to 40 or even 60 
per cent of the total volume. (U.S. G. 8. 19th Annual Report, Part II, 1899, quoted by 
Willis, 12—250),. 


LOESS OF CHINA—-BARBOUR 287 


dition, especially as regards the presence of lime and other soluble 
mineral material available for plant nourishment. 

Both of these characteristics could naturally be explained as result- 
ing directly from an aeolian mode of accumulation, since the mineral 
decomposition occurring during transport by wind is almost neg- 
ligible in comparison with that due to prolonged water action. But 
before discussing the origin and age of the Chinese loess it is advis- 
able to refer again to deposits of loess in other parts of the world 
and to those other formations in China whose similarity has led to 
their being mistaken for it. 


THE LOESS OF EUROPE AND AMERICA 


In most respects the descriptions of Chinese loess could be applied 
equally to that of Europe and America. The same features call 
for special explanation—the fine texture and angularity of the par- 
ticles and the vertical cleavage responsible for the perpendicular cliffs 
and canyon walls. But in these countries there is in many localities 
distinct horizontal bedding, suggesting water action. A rough strati- 
fication is found also in the loess-carrying deposits which overlie 
the general loess in China, but these formations belong to a period 
of time, distinct and definitely later than the loess, which is not the 
case with the European and American stratified loess. 

In these countries it was recognized at an early date that loess 
had a complex origin different from that of the fine-grained silts 
made by river erosion. Of the other natural forces capable of pro- 
ducing quantities of “rock flour” of such fineness, explosive erup- 
tions yielding vast amounts of volcanic dust may be ruled out at once; 
the distribution, age, chemical and physical analyses, and habit of 
loess are against such an origin. On the other hand glacial boulder 
clay invariably contains a large amount of powdered rock material 
that has been crushed into minute sharp-cornered fragments; in 
Switzerland to-day the water of many Alpine streams is made 
whitish by the presence of much rock powder so fine as to be wholly 
inpalpable. But this water-borne “ rock flour ” is normally deposited 
in layers on lake bottoms or swept down to the sea. An equally fine 
powdery dust fills the air in, desert sandstorms.’ 

It is significant that the European and American loess belts lie 
along the line marking the glacier front of the Great Ice Age, or in 
adjoining areas into which it might have been carried by streams or 
wind. The vertical cleavage and general absence of stratification in 
loess has led to the belief that in Europe and America wind played 
a major part in distributing the rock dust originally powdered by 
the grinding action of glaciers. However, it is equally certain that 


7Walther, Denudation in der Wuste, Leipzig (p. 566 and 581). 


288 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


at times rain and stream action were important factors in spread- 
ing the loess over the country. The wind-blown deposits would nat- 
urally form during the arid periods that came after the more humid 
glacial times. Osborn therefore places the date of Western loess 
accumulation during the interglacial stages following the second and 
third great advances of the ice-sheet and still more after the final 
retreat of the ice. 


LOESSLIKE FORMATIONS IN CHINA 
A. OLDER THAN THE LOESS 


1. Hipparion beds—Previous to the careful work of Andersson 
and Zdansky, the upper and lower limits of the loess had not been 
recognized. Hence the distinction between it and the more 
reddish clay underlying it in many localities passed unnoticed by 
v. Richthofen and by many others since. In fact, the great explorer 
notes, as typical of the loess, the presence of large lime concretions 
which in point of fact are much more characteristic of the red clay. 
Sowerby (2-116) in the report of the Clark Expedition of 1908-9 
recognizes the red clay as a distinct unit (shao ?w), but having no 
fossil evidence on which to separate it, classed it, as did Willis, 
with the loess. Perhaps this in part accounts for the extreme thick- 
ness he attributes to the loess.$ 

On the north margin of the loess basin the name is perhaps mis- 
leading, as here the “red clay ” is not a true clay and is often only 
reddish brown in comparison with the yellow gray of loess. In 
the center of the area it is more true to its name. It has the appear- 
ance of a residual soil resulting from the decomposition of rocks 
an situ. Moreover, Andersson has noted that its distribution is 
practically limited to the old limestone lands. This has led him 
to suggest that though the bulk of the loess came as dust blown from 
the desert in the manner suggested by v. Richthofen, much of it may 
have been material formed locally and only re-sorted or slightly 
shifted by the wind. 

Locally the red clay shows a poorly developed stratification marked 
by gravel beds, may reach a thickness of 200 feet, and in several lo- 
calities, which are thought to have been oases, has yielded rich 
collections of animal remains. According to Drs. Wiman and 
Zdansky the animal types of this Hipparion fauna® indicate the 
existence of steppe conditions in China at the close of Miocene and 
the beginning of Phocene times. 


8The loess covers the whole of the sedimentary rock to an average depth of 1,000 
feet * * * south of the Ordos Desert the depth increases to 2,000 feet (2-128). 

® Andersson (1-109) gives a provisional list of the animals found by Zdansky in one 
locality, which includes, among others, deer, antelope, boar, fox, hyena, saber-toothed 
tiger, elephant, mastodon, and turtle, together with Hipparion richthofeni, Aceratheriwm, 
Stegodon, and the ostrichlike bird referred to already. 


LOESS OF CHINA—-BARBOUR 289 


As Andersson points out, however (1-107), there exists in many 
places no sharp line of demarcation between the loess and the red 
clay. Instead, locally a gradual transition occurs through layers 
showing characteristics intermediate between them. It is, however, 
a distinct and older formation. 

In other places Zdansky describes the loess as making sharp con- 
tact with the Hipparion beds below. In the district Kast of Wan 
Ch’uan, near the Mongolian border, I have observed shallow deposits 
of typical yellow loess occupying gullies cut in an underlying red- 
dish clay-loam formation, that has all the appearance of such a re- 
sorted residual deposit. Im this are large carbonate “ loess- 
piippchen ” often over a foot in length. 

Pére Teilhard de Chardin has mentioned in conversation that a 
sunilar concretion-bearing red clay underlies the loess in many parts 
of the Eastern Gobi Desert recently visited by Pére Licent and 
himself. At the same time he pointed out that, as far as his observa- 
tions went, gravel beds were frequently found at the base of the 
loess, and he expressed the opinion that in certain restricted areas 
fluviatile conditions may have existed after the greater part of the 
land surface was already ruled by aridity. In any case it is not sur- 
prising that on a continental area sharp contrasts of conditions 
should exist locally even during arid times. 

2. Kansu continental deposits —Recent observations made inde- 
pendently by Dr. J. G. Andersson and by Dr. George B. Cressey of 
Shanghai College, point to the existence in many parts of Kansu of 
heavy beds of red sands and gravels overlying the Hipparion clay, 
and, therefore, presumably of Pliocene age. They look like the 
deposits of a great delta or alluvial system, and from their descrip- 
tion may well represent the products of the period of greater mois- 
ture that came between the time of the red clay and the days of the 
loess. 

3. San-Men beds.—In a number of localities sand and gravel beds 
may be seen at the base of the loess. The moisture conditions sug- 
gested by these seem to have been widespread over North China. 
Dr. V. K. Ting first described a series of such beds from the San-Men 
rapids of the Yellow River (1-118). These underlie the loess and 
carry large fresh-water bivalves (Quadrula), which Doctor Dall 
of the Smithsonian Institution of Washington regards as probably 
early Pleistocene in age. 

When the caissons for the new bridge opposite the Governor’s 
yamen in Tientsin were being lowered, shells of similar large fresh- 
water mollusks were found at a depth of 81 feet below ground level. 
Through the courtesy of Mr. P. L. Yang of the Chihli River Con- 
servancy Board, I was given facilities for examining on the spot 
the material brought up from the various levels while the caisson was 


290 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


going down. Besides the Quadrula, there were a great number of 
very small gastropods, some less than 3; of an inch in diameter. 
A careful log was kept by the engineer in charge of the work, Mr. 
Malin, which will be published when the fossil material has been 
studied by Dr. A. W. Grabau, chief paleontologist to the Geological 
Survey. 

4. Sang-kan Ho Beds—In 1923 a farmer brought me part of a 
silicified rhinoceros femur and several other petrified bone fragments, 
all of which were said to have come from the same locality near 
Ho Chih Liao in the Sang-kan Ho Valley. Later similar silicified 
mammal bones were shown me at Kalgan by Pére Vincent of 
the Mission Apostolique. The reverend Father has made a series 
of scientific contributions in several branches of natural history, and 
in conversation was able to confirm from personal observation the 
theory current locally among the villagers that the present course of 
the Sang-kan Ho west of Ni-ho-wan cuts through a lake deposit 
of olden days; this perhaps influenced the theory of the American 
geologist Pumpelly (9) regarding the past changes in the course of 
the Yellow River. I made a brief reconnaisance of the area during 
the summer of 1924.*° 

Forty miles southwest of Hsuan-hua in the valley of the Sang-kan 
River there is a magnificant development of terraces cut in two 
super-imposed series of nonmarine beds. ‘The lower series are green 
and brown in color and carry large bivalves, one type like the 
Quadrula of San-Men, the other much more fragile and without 
the florid bosses which ornament the coarser type. The beds also 
have gypsum and plant remains and abundant small gastropods 
like those at Tientsin. The upper beds are of a uniform brown color, 
and lie on an erosion surface of the lower series. Locally they seem 
to pass up into a dark brown loesslike deposit without marked 
stratification. Silicified mammal bones and bits of Struthiolithus 
were found in this upper series. The problems raised by these beds 
are so vital as to call for careful study. 

During the spring of 1925, Pere Licent and I were able to visit the 
area and found many deposits of silicified mammal bones. Pere 
Licent has since returned to the locality and secured a large collection 
of fossil material. A preliminary study by Pére Teilhard de 
Chardin appears to confirm the fact that the fauna, which indicates 
a steppe association, is of basal Pleistocene age. 

More recently I have found fresh-water beds with abundant 
mollusks along the railway east of Huai-lai. The species are just 
enough unlike those found in the Ni-ho-wan beds to suggest a dif- 


10 See Geol. Soc. China Bull., vol. 3, No. 2, Peking, 1924, p. 167. 


LOESS OF CHINA—BARBOUR 291 


ferent, perhaps slightly older horizon. Several fragmentary mammal 
bones were recovered. 

Fresh-water beds with fossils of the San-Men type have been 
found by members of the Geological Survey near Pao-ting Fu; Doctor 
Andersson has mentioned finding them south of Ta-tung Fu, and 
they will certainly be reported from many other spots. They imply 
fairly widespread conditions of greater moisture before the onset 
of the aridity. 

B. YOUNGER THAN THE LOESS 


1. Redeposited loess—In many places, especially on the lower 
slopes of the hills, the loess is overlaid by series of sand and gravel 
beds with layers of loess. For the most part this formation is poor 
in fossils, but bones of bighorn sheep, oxen, and deer are occasionally 
found in the gravels. I have found remains of both the latter two 
animals in gully banks in and near the Hanoorpa Pass from Kalgan 
to Mongolia. The definitely stratified nature of this formation 
shows that torrent action was the chief determining factor in its 
deposition, though wind may have played a minor part in the case 
of the layers of loess. The individual lenses of loess are never 
more than a few feet in thickness but the aggregate thickness of 
the sediments may reach at least 50 feet. The material occurs 
typically as a valley or torrential deposit, and, where seen in contact 
with the true loess, is invariably found to overlie it, or to occupy 
gullies cut through it. Doctor Andersson has applied the name 
“ Redeposited loess” to this formation. The animal remains and 
the character of the material making the beds point to a date dis- 
tinctly more recent than that of true loess, and indicate also a great 
change of climate from that ruling during the earlier steppe epoch. 

2. Alluviwm.—sStill more recently the rivers of the present cycle 
of erosion have deposited gravel and alluvium on the broad flood 
plains or in narrow valleys. 


AGH OF THE LOESS 


The age of the loess may be determined in two ways. Firstly, by 
comparison of those few types of animals whose remains have been 
found embedded in it with fauna of other regions that have been 
studied, taken in conjunction with our knowledge of the climatic 
conditions ruling in eastern Asia and other parts of the globe at 
different stages during the last half million years. Secondly, by 
bracketing its age between the dates of older and younger beds which 
are found respectively to underlie and overlie the genuine loess. 

With regard to the latter line of reasoning, the loess must be more 
recent than the Hipparion beds which mark the close of Miocene 


292 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


and opening Pliocene times. Dall’s determination of the San-Men 
fossils would narrow the lower limit to later than early Pleistocene. 
It is possible that the upper series of Sang-kan Ho beds will still 
further reduce the bracket," especially if they can be correlated with 
the beds observed at the base of the loess by Fathers Licent and 
Teilhard de Chardin in the Ordos region, who discovered at this 
horizon paleolithic stone implements strongly recalling the Moustier- 
ian stage of human culture.1*? The upper limit is set by the fossils 
found in the gravel of the redeposited loess. Of these it can only be 
said that they are comparatively recent, but are in some cases distinct 
types from the species living to-day. 

Judging from the data offered by the loess itself, it must be ad- 
mitted that no more exact date can be given. Andersson concludes 
that the fauna is “decidedly Pleistocene in type, and assuming that 
Dall is right in dating the mussels of the subloess San-Men beds as 
early Pleistocene, it will follow that the loess is of Middle Pleistocene 
age. It would then be the arid equivalent of the Pleistocene ice age ” 
(loc. cit.). 

From what has been said it will be clear that the loess is certainly 
as young as the date given by Andersson, and that it probably corre- 
sponds in time to the later stages of the Pleistocene ice age, but 
formed under more arid conditions. 


ORIGIN AND MODE OF ACCUMULATION OF LOESS 


The present position of many loess deposits, perched high up on 
the slopes of mountains, the uniformly fine grain, the absence of 
evidence of water action and the known semiarid conditions of the 
time, all point strongly to wind as the great agent responsible for the 
accumulation of the Asiatic loess. This was recognized by v. Richt- 
hofen in 1877. The fact that the geological study of erosion has for 
the most part been carried out in lands of moist climate has tended to 
give too little weight to the work of the wind in drier regions, 
whether cold or hot. The very fact that wide areas of such rock 
deserts as the Gobi have to-day no covering of sand implies that the 
eroded material of past ages has already been carried off as dust 
clear out beyond the margins of the desert, to sink and collect wher- 
ever moister conditions, the shelter of mountain ridges, or the pro- 


1°The studies in the Huai-lai Basin already mentioned together with later investiga- 
tions in the Sang-kan Ho area confirm this hypothesis. Moreover as an epoch of erosion 
intervened before the beginning of the loess epoch, the date of the latter was probably 
Middle Pleistocene. (Footnote added October, 1925.) 

2° Tf found in Europe, such implements would be taken to indicate that the overlying 
deposits were as young or younger than the interglacial period between the third and last 
(Wurmian) great advance of the ice sheet; following Osborn’s estimate that would fall 
well within the last 75,000 years. At present, however, no such exact correlation with 
China is possible.” 


LOESS OF CHINA—BARBOUR 293 


tection of vegetation can hold it. How far to such desert-borne 
material must be added the decay products of rock decomposition in 
the locality can only be a matter of conjecture. 

Schlosser, referring to Doctor Andersson’s observations on this 
very point, quotes the latter’s remark that “he had not seen real 
loess, at least in larger masses, on the Mongolian Plateau.” Schlosser 
agrees that the absence of loess may be due to its removal by north- 
erly winds as fast as it was produced by rock decay. Once across 
the Chinese border, however, the mountains protect it from the ex- 
treme effects of the violent winds. Schlosser?* believes that the 
chief material which yields the loess by decomposition is the Hip- 
parion clay, which may thus grade up into the loess locally, as 
happens with the Miocene “ Flinz”’ near Munich, where the transi- 
tion is so gradual as to defy demarcation of the two formations. 

The scouring out of immense quantities of fine dust from deserts 
has probably been a much more common occurrence than we are apt 
to think. It has doubtless affected vast stretches of Central Asia 
and Africa and other areas which in former days had more arid 
climates. Much of the adobe soil of southwestern North America 
has the same origin. Keyes** thinks this factor has been seriously 
underestimated in the case of the deserts of the western United 
States and the deposits of the middle western plains. 

Such vast quantities of the finest products of rock decay clearly 
call for conditions very unlike those of to-day. During the whole 
of Pliocene and Early Pleistocene times, Mongolia and southern 
Siberia stood at a much lower altitude than at present. Relatively 
moist conditions favored extensive decay due to the attack of mete- 
oric waters, and this proceeded to considerable depths, as the relief 
of the land was low and the rivers did not carry off the disintegrated 
material. Pumpelly has discussed the relation of this secular dis- 
integration to the development of loess and allied deposits (8). 
Widespread uplift of the central plateau in Pleistocene times was 
accompanied by increased aridity and high winds, which found a 
ready supply of material awaiting ablation. 

When the dry steppe conditions gave place to moister times, dust 
was lifted more seldom and carried for shorter distances. Its surface 
was periodically planed off by the wash of heavy rains, which also 
helped to distribute it further. During this later time of the piling 
up of “redeposited loess,” it is likely that the new supply from the 
desert was small, the bulk of the loess being shifted only a short dis- 
tance and then “ redeposited.” 


18 Max Schlosser, G. 8. C. Palaeontologica Sinica, Ser. C., Vol. I, fase. 1, “ Tertiary 
vertebrates from Mongolia,’ p. 104 (seen in proof through the courtesy of the Director, 
Geological Survey). 

14 Pan-American Geologist, XLII, 8, 1924, p. 225. 


294 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 
VERTICAL CLEAVAGE OF LOESS 


One of the puzzling problems is the explanation of the cleavage 
responsible for the vertical walls of the canyons and cliffs which 
form such a feature of loess districts. Many are dissatisfied with the 
theory of v. Richthofen that this is due to the lines of weakness 
produced by plant roots. 

It is true that to-day in almost any loess gully plant roots or their 
remains, often encased in a tubelike sheath of carbonate or other 
cement, may be seen piercing to several feet below the surface. A 
photograph taken near Kuo T’s’un (Huan-hua) shows such a root 
exposed by a collapsing cliff to a vertical depth of 13 feet without 
reaching the tip. 

Among the objections raised to the “rootlet theory” is the fact 
that it is curious that plants which could thrive prolifically under 
such a variety of climatic conditions fairly recently have no real 
living counterpart to-day. Such root tubes equally might be the 
result and not the cause of vertical weakness. 

As an alternative Willis (12-253) suggests the following explana- 
tion. Owing to the lightness of the grains, the dust on first falling 
was very loosely packed. Under the weight of further deposits on 
top and alternate drying and soaking by surface water sinking into 
the ground, the material settled slowly and became compressed ver- 
tically, though no corresponding lateral force existed to lessen the 
distance between grains on the same horizontal plane. Moreover, 
the closer the grains the stronger the bond between them made by 
the weak cementing action of salt-charged percolating waters. Hence 
the direction of least resistance, which moving air and water would 
tend to follow, would be the up and down direction in which the 
material now splits to-day. 

A much more convincing explanation was recently suggested to the 
writer by Dr. C. P. Berkey, geologist of the third Asiatic expedition, 
on his return from Mongolia. As far as can be ascertained, this 
particular point of view has not been emphasized by other students 
of the problem, and Doctor Berkey has been so kind as to permit it 
to be offered here for the first time.t° He points out, however, that 
the explanation is based primarily upon observation of conditions at 
present ruling in parts of the Gobi and upon certain considerations 
regarding climatic variations in recent times established by re- 
searches in Mongolia, rather than upon any extended study of the 
loess formation itself, which is not extensively developed in the 
areas explored by the expedition. 


15 Since this paper was first printed, the writer finds that a closely similar explanation 
was arrived at independently by Dr. Bailey Willis for the vertical cleavage in adobe 
deposits in Patagonia in the neighborhood of springs where the moisture was enough to 
allow vegetation to take hold. (See “ Northern Patagonia,’ Scribners Sons, New York.) 


LOESS OF CHINA—BARBOUR 295 


The principles involved are three—(1) continued abundant growth 
of steppe vegetation, especially course grass and bent; (2) contem- 
poraneous and steady supply of fine dust, which was carried into the 
region by the winds and settled down to the ground, where it was 
protected by the vegetation from further disturbance and became 
part of the permanent soil mantle; and (3) subsequent destruction 
of all traces of such preexisting vegetation under climatic and 
ground conditions that led to the almost complete oxidation of the 
organic matter. The principal factor in such destruction is appar- 
ently oft-repeated moistening followed by drying and access of fresh 
air, just as happens when rain waters percolate through the loose 
ground above the permanent water level in a region of moderate 
but frequent rains. 

This explanation suggested by Doctor Berkey tallies with ob- 
served fact in climatically analogous regions to-day. The dust 
which partially buries the standing blades of growing grass, con- 
solidates round them and tends to preserve the structure lines of the 
vegetation; it thus possesses from the outset the vertical lines of 
weakness that lead to the characteristic cleavage afterwards. 

With regard to the question of the removal of the evidence by 
ground conditions especially destructive to organic remains, it might 
be pointed out that the fossils habitually found in the loess are those 
capable of resisting such attack from ground water in the vadose 
zone, while all more delicate and unstable structures are wiped out; 
the Struthiolithus shell is frequently found in the loess, whereas not 
a single example of the bones of the bird itself is known to science. 

This explanation in the main reestablishes the picture of condi- 
tions given by von Richthofen and revives his vegetation theory so 
criticized by Kingsmill, Ward, and Willis, but with modifications, 
which, as far as can be ascertained, do not appear to have been put 
forward in exactly this form by any other student of the problem. 


“HUANG T’U” AND “LOHSS ” 


Willis in his researches gives the formation name “huang t’u” 
to the entire series which is now recognized as including the red 
clay, the true loess, and the gravels with “redeposited loess.” This is 
also the broader sense in which the word “ loess” is constantly used 
to-day.*® It is true that such observers may fully recognize the in- 
clusion under this term of deposits of both stratified and unstratified 
material, and Willis, for example, states that the age “ranges from 
late Pliocene or early Pleistocene to the present, it (the huang-t’w) 
having been continuously in process of deposition throughout the 
Quaternary and possibly since a prequaternary date.” But it has 


16K. G., Sowerby (2-116). 


296 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


been shown that not only do the deposits span a longer interval of 
time than is here suggested but there were gaps and periods of sharply 
contrasted climatic changes included within its limits. There is 
often little to be gained by trying to restrict the use of a scientific 
term that has been accepted popularly in a wider sense. On the 
other hand, loess and its origin is of general interest and yet has 
aroused much discussion that would have been seen to be beside the 
point had the theorists realized they were talking of a thing that 
was not one, but many! Moreover, in this case even the broad range 
of variation covered by the word as used in Europe and America is 
exceeded if we use it to include deposits definitely distinct from true 
loess in composition, texture, habit, age, origin, and fossil content. 

By recognizing these perfectly observable differences there is reason 
to hope that we may in the near future solve the remainder of the 
puzzles presented by the loess in China. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 


Nore.—This list is in no sense exhaustive, Since descriptive passages are to 
be found in almost every book of travel. The references noted below make 
either original scientific contributions or Summarize conveniently the results of 
the research of others. 

1. Andersson, J. G., Essays on the Cenozoic of China, G. 8S. C. Mem. A. 38, 
Peking, 1923. 

2. Clark and Sowerby, Through Shen-kan, Fisher Unwin, London, 1912. 

3. Fuller, M. L., Some unusual erosion features in the loess of China, Geo- 
graphical Review, XII, +, October 4, 1922, New York, p. 570 ff. 

4. Grabau, A. W., Principles of stratigraphy, Seiler & Co., New York, 19138. 

. Licent, E., Comptes-rendus de dix années (1914-1923), Pub. Musee Hoang 

Ho Pei Ho, Tientsin, No. 2, 1924. 
6. Lyon and Buckman, Nature of properties of soils, Macmillan, New York, 


1 | 


1922. 
7. Merrill, G. P., Rocks, rock weathering, and soils, Macmillan, New York, 
1921. 


8. Pumpelly, R., Relations of Secular Rock Disintegration to Loess, Glacial 
Drift, and Rock Basins, Am. Jour. Sc. and Arts, xvii, February, 1879. 

9. Pumpelly, R., Geological researches in China, Mongolia, and Japan, Smith- 
sonian Contributions to Knowledge, Vol. XV. Washington. 

10. v. Richthofen, F. F., China, Berlin, 1882, Vol. II, ete. 

11. Walther, J., Das Gesetz der Wustenbildung, 2nd Ed. Leipsig, 1924. 

12. Willis and Blackwelder, Research in China, Carnegie Inst. of Washington, 
Vol. I,, Part I, 1907. 

13. Wright, W. F., Origin and distribution of loess in Northern China and Cen- 
tral Asia. Bull. G. S. A., vol. 18, p. 127, Rochester, 1902. 

14. Yih, L. F., Geology of the western hills of Peking, G. 8S. C. Mem. A. 1, 
Peking, 1920. 


Smithsonian Report, 1926.—Barbour PLATE 1 


1. THE COLLAPSE OF PART OF A VERTICAL LOESS WALL UNDERMINED BY RECENT 
RIVER EROSION 


2. A VILLAGE IN THE LOESS, SHANSI. THE SCALE IS INDICATED BY THE 
ANIMALS IN THE FOREGROUND 


Photograph by J. E. Baker 


Smithsonian Report, 1926.—Barbour PLATE 2 


1. A Fossil’ EGGYOF THE GIANT OSTRICH (STRUTHIOLITHUS) FROM THE 
LOESS 


2. ‘“ REDEPOSITED '’ LOESS, SHOWING GRAVEL LAYERS 


Smithsonian Report, 1926.—Barbour PLATE 3 


1. A CAVE DWELLING IN A LOESS CLIFF 


Photograph by Miss Blanche Hedgson 


2. A DISSECTED LOESS PLAIN NEAR Kuo Ts’UN, HSUAN-HUA FU, NORTH 
CHIHLI 


pourumn MA *V Aq ydeasojoyd 
OV,L A,d ‘ATINH\/ Ssssa07 NI GVOH VW AYLNNOD SSSO7 SHL NI GVOY LNO d3a5aqd V ‘Ll 


by ALV1d jnoqieg—9zZ6| ‘Hodey uBlUOsSUyIWS 


A VISIT TO THE GEM DISTRICTS OF CEYLON AND 
BURMA * 


By Frank D. Apams, Emeritus, Vice Principal, Dean of the Faculties of Applied 
Science and Graduate Studies, ané Logan Professor of Geology, at McGill 
University, Montreal, Quebec 


[With 6 plates] 
CEYLON 


The island of Ceylon, which is one of the most beautiful posses- 
sions of the British Empire, has been an abode of man from the 
very earliest times. The Veddhas, a wild tribe of some 4,500 people 
still living in the fastnesses of the jungle in the east central portion 
of the island, are believed to represent a remnant of the oldest 
inhabitants of which we have any actual knowledge, but in the 
caves in which they live there are found the stone axes and other 
implements of Paleolithic people who represent the first race of 
men who inhabited our globe, and of whom they may be, for all 
that is known, the direct descendants. About the fifth century before 
Christ there came the Aryan invaders, apparently from the north 
of India, who drove the Veddhas into the remote fastnesses of the 
jungle and developed the remarkable Singhalese civilization, whose 
high character is demonstrated by the remarkable and very extensive 
system of irrigation works which they built up and through which 
they made the island wonderfully productive. Great cities arose, 
some of which are believed to have had a population of over a mil- 
lion souls and whose temples and public buildings show that the 
people were accomplished architects and sculptors. About the third 
century before Christ there began a series of waves of invasion by 
the Tamil people of the south of India, who defeated and drove the 
Singhalese down into the southern half of the island, completely 
destroying the great irrigation system and throwing down the cities. 
They “let in the jungle,” which, slowly advancing as the years went 
by, resumed its ancient domain and completely covered up the 
former glorious abodes of men. The “buried cities” of Anaradha- 
pura, Pollonnaruva, and Siguri, whose remains can be seen in the 
midst of the jungle, constitute one of the most striking examples of 
an obliterated civilization. Occasional travelers from Greece and 


1 Reprinted by permission from Transactions of the Canadian Institute of Mining and 
Metallurgy, part of Vol. XXIX, 1926. 


297 


298 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


Rome penetrated to these far eastern lands and called the island 
Taprobane, the name employed by Milton for “India’s furthest 
isle ”—and later, in A. D. 1507, came the Portuguese and took pos- 
session of the country, only to be dispossessed in A. D. 1656 by the 
Dutch, who in their turn gave place to the British in A. D. 1796. 
The latter, however, were the only people who ever penetrated to 
the interior and took possession of the whole island, which they did 
in A, D. 1815. 

Ceylon has an area of 25,332 square miles, and is thus about five- 
sixths the size of Ireland, and now has a population of 4,500,000, 
consisting chiefly of Singhalese, Tamils, “ Moormen” (the descend- 
ants of ancient Arab traders, of whom Sinbad the Sailor was one), 
Burgers (the descendants of the Dutch people), and the English. 
The island supplies its own food and exports tea, rubber, and the 
products of the coconut. The people are prosperous and contented 
and have representative government under a governor appointed by 
the Crown. 

The periphery of the island consists of a plain only a few feet 
above sea level, narrow in the south but much wider in the north, 
and which marks a comparatively recent and very moderate eleva- 
tion of the island above sea level. From this coastal plain the cen- 
tral and southern portions of the island rise rapidly into higher 
land, culminating in mountain peaks, of which the most celebrated, 
though not quite the highest, is Adam’s Peak (7,353 feet). 

The higher portion of the island is composed exclusively of very 
ancient Archean rocks, closely resembling those of certain parts 
of the Laurentian area of North America and probably of the 
same age. 

There is no evidence that this area of ancient rock has ever been 
under water. It is believed to owe its present form to the long- 
continued processes of subaerial deeay acting through the almost 
endless ages of geological time. This decay is still continuing 
everywhere. The rocks over large parts of this interior portion 
of the island are thus mantled with reddish residual clay, which 
forms the fertile soil of the rubber and tea plantations, clothing the 
steep slope of these ancient hills, and which is washed down into 
the river valleys, forming alluvial flats and discoloring deeply the 
waters of all the streams and rivers which flow through them. 
This clay in some places is replaced by a relatively hard, red laterite 
or lateritelike material, which, while soft enough to be very readily 
worked, shows a marked resistance to the action of the weather 
and is very generally employed for building houses. 

While this decay is often deep-seated, it is remarkable to observe 
the very rapid transition from the completely decomposed rock 
represented by the red clay to the perfectly fresh rock, the two 


GEM DISTRICTS OF CEYLON AND BURMA—ADAMS 299 


frequently being separated by a transitional layer only a few 
tenths of an inch thick. Thus the clay when washed away by the 
tropical rains or cut through in road making lays bare surfaces 
of clean fresh gneiss, which under the microscope is seen to show 
no traces of alteration. It is thus possible to see good exposures 
of the underlying rock, at intervals at least, in almost all parts 
of this Archean area. 

The heavy rainfall on the island runs off these high lands in a 
system of streams coming together into small rivers. These occupy 
deep V-shaped valleys whose course is usually determined by the strike 
of the gneissic rock, but in some cases follows the direction of joint 
planes or lines of faulting which cross the strike of the rock at 
right angles. The bottoms of these valleys are occupied by heavy 
alluvial deposits laid down by their respective streams, and it is 
in these alluvial deposits that the gems are found. 

The gems have, of course, in all cases been derived primarily 
from the ancient Archean rocks which underlie the whole country, 
but they are seldom found in these rocks. John Davy, M. D.,? who 
visited the island in 1818, in a letter to his brother, Sir Humphrey 
Davy, written in that year, says, “I have ascertained that the native 
rock of the sapphire, ruby, cats-eye, and the different varieties of 
zircon is gneiss. ‘These minerals and cinnamon stone occur em- 
bedded in this rock.” A. R. Coomaraswamy, however, who for a 
number of years was Government mineralogist of Ceylon and is 
one of the most trustworthy writers on the mineralogy and geology 
of the island, in a paper written some years ago says that most of 
the interesting gems of Ceylon have not as yet been found in their 
original matrix. 

J. S. Coates, Esq., B. A., the present Government mineralogist, in 
whose company the writer had the pleasure of visiting the gem work- 
ings in the Ratnapura district, informed him that he believes the 
various forms of corundum (sapphire, ete.) originate in quartz-free 
pegmatites cutting the gneissic series. If such proves to be the case, 
the occurrence is essentially identical with that of the corundum in 
the Bancroft district of Ontario.2 The beryls (aquamarines) the 
writer has himself seen in quartz pegmatites, and Mr. Coates states 
that the zircons have their origin in the same rock. In Burma the 
rubies undoubtedly originated in the limestone bands of the gneissic 
series. Davy’s statement may have been based on some information 
given to him by the natives, or by the term “gneiss” he may and 
probably did mean the gneissic series as a whole. 


2 Journal of Science and the Arts, Vol. V, 1818, p. 233. 


® Adams and Barlow, Geology of the Haliburton and Bancroft Areas, Province of On. 
tario, Memoir 6, Geological Survey of Canada, 1919, p. 327. 


300 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


The gems then have their origin in the ancient Archean rocks, but 
in just which members of the series they took their birth is not as yet 
known with certainty, except in the case of a few species. 

While gems are found in many parts of the area, it is the streams 
flowing through the Balangoda, Rackwana, and etieue districts 
that afford the chief supplies a precious ‘stones. These three dis- 
tricts lie near one another in a relatively small area in the central 
part of southern Ceylon, halfway between the city of Kandy and the 
southern shore of the island. 

The Ratnapura district is of especial interest, and much attention 
has been directed to it in recent years. Ratnapura signifies in Sin- 
ghalese ‘“ City of Gems,” and the little town which gives its name to 
the district is situated in the midst of the most exquisite scenery in 
Ceylon. It lies in a wide depression surrounded by hills 800 to 
3,000 feet in height, the whole clothed with w onderfully beautiful, 
intencoly, green tr Fe vegetation. The finest views of Adam’s 
Peak are staan from here, and the outlines of the hills and moun- 
tains, resulting from age-long secular decay acting on the folded 
and jointed system of ancient gneisses, gives the hills and mountains 
sharper outlines than those presented by the rocks of corresponding 
age in our glaciated regions of the northern world. The slopes when 
not washed bare, as they are in places, are mantled with red residual 
soil or “cabok.” Apart from its tropical features, the landscape 
must present a picture similar to that which was displayed by the 
Laurentian Plateau of Canada in pre-glacial times. Everywhere 
along the bottomlands which border the streams and little rivers 
flowing through the Ratnapura Valley are paddy fields, the fertile 
mud yielding under native cultivation rich crops of rice. 

Much attention has recently been directed to the gem fields at 
Palmadulla, about 12 miles in a southwesterly direction from the 
town of Ratnapura, on account of a remarkable “find” made there 
a couple of years ago, sapphires and other gems to a value of some 
9 lakhs of rupees ($297,000) having been taken from an area of 
between 3 and 4 acres in extent in a certain paddy field. These 
included some very large fragments of excellent blue sapphire 1 and 2 
pounds in weight, as well as fine yellow sapphires and other less 
valuable stones. (PI. 2.) 

The Palmadulla workings are situated in a large stretch of paddy 
field in the bottom of the valley here. which has been cultivated for 
rice over a period of perhaps 1,000 years. The paddy field is under- 
lain by clay, which is from 10 to 20 feet thick. Immediately beneath 
this there is a bed or layer of gravel called by the Singhalese “ illam,” 
which is usually thin and which in its turn rests on the decomposing 
surface of the country rock. The gems, if present, as is the case in 
all the Ceylonese gem deposits, are found in the illam, which thus 


GEM DISTRICTS OF CEYLON AND BURMA—ADAMS 301 


occupies a position identical with that of the gold gravels in many 
alluvial gold regions. 

The searching for gems is a highly speculative operation and is 
usually carried out by a group of native workmen on shares. ‘The 
owner of the paddy field gets one-fifth of any profits, the man who 
finances the operation another fifth, the remainder going to the men 
who carry out the actual work. After selecting a likely spot to sink 
a pit, the ground is tested from time to time as the work proceeds by 
driving down into it a long steel bar sharpened and tempered at the 
point. By pushing this down and twisting it around an experienced 
operator can tell on examining the bar after withdrawal at what 
depth below the surface the illam occurs, its thickness, and probable 
character. When the point of the rod passes through the illam and 
strikes the underlying decomposed bedrock, which looks like French 
chalk, the clay will be found adhering to its point, and if the surface 
of the rod is scratched this would indicate the presence of quartz or 
corundum pebbles or fragments in the gravel. 

To get the illam out it is necessary to sink a small shaft or pit. 
In order to prevent the mud from flowing down into the pit, the 
latter is lined by a series of vertical poles driven down into the mud, 
behind which are laid branches of trees, sticks, or palm leaves. A 
man, sometimes with an assistant, works at the bottom of the pit 
shoveling the clay into a small bamboo basket, which, when filled, he 
throws deftly upwards and is caught by a man at the surface, who 
empties out its contents, then throws the basket down into the shaft 
again. When the pit gets deeper a third man sits on a transverse 
pole placed across the shaft from side to side and catches the basket 
thrown up by the man at the bottom of the shaft and in his turn 
throws it up over his head to the man at the surface. In this way all 
the clay is taken out and the shaft is sunk to the illam. This in its 
turn is then brought to the surface and is placed by itself on a clean, 
flat piece of ground prepared to receive it. The men engaged in 
these operations wear no clothes except a loin cloth and carry on an 
animated and evidently humorous conversation with one another, 
giving the whole operation the appearance of a pleasing pastime. 
If the weather is hot a rude shed, roughly thatched, is built over 
the opening of the shaft to give shade to the workers. 

As the paddy field is usually wet, it becomes necessary to keep the 
pit free from water, which is done by bailing it out by means of an 
old kerosene oil can attached by a rope to a long pole balanced be- 
tween two upright members, the whole resembling the device used for 
raising water from wells in many parts of French Canada. (PI. 1.) 
It may be mentioned in passing that the kerosene can is employed 
throughout the Far East for a most amazing variety of purposes 
and affords a humble but convincing evidence of the widespread 


302 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


peaceful penetration of the most remote eastern lands by western 
influences. 

When all the illam in the pit has been brought to.the surface the 
miners proceed to wash it. This is carried out, if possible, in one 
of the streams running through the area. The writer was fortunate 
enough when at Palmadulla to find a party engaged in washing 
illam and to join them in this, the most exciting part of the game. 
A few stakes had been driven down into the bed of a small rapidly 
flowing stream and some branches of trees laid across them so as to 
partially dam back the water at the place where they desired to wash, 
thus giving a greater depth of water Four or five Singhalese men, 
naked except for their waist cloth, were lined up across the stream 
in the water, which was some 3 feet deep; each was provided with 
a shallow basket closely woven of strips of split bamboo. The 
baskets are circular and measure about 214 feet across at the top, 
the sides sloping down in a parabolic outline to the bottom point, 
somewhat similar in shape to the pans used in Brazil for washing 
alluvial gold. Other men brought down to the workers in small 
baskets the illam, which is then washed in the same manner as alluvial 
gold. The washing, however, is not carried as far as in the case of 
gold, the object being to wash away all the mud and leave the gravel 
behind in the basket. When this is done the basket is brought to 
the shore. When half a dozen of these baskets, containing the 
washed gravel are ready, another man, expert in the recognition of 
gems, takes the baskets and examines them carefully in succession. 
The basket is tilted up so that the sun shines upon the gravel which 
it contains, the man squatting down in front of it places his hands 
together, raises them in the rapid invocation of the “powers” to 
give him good luck, and, with rapid circular motion, goes over the 
gravel with his right hand, sweeping the surface layer down toward 
him into the side of the basket next to him. This process is con- 
tinued until all the gravel has been sorted over. Squatting down 
beside the operator the whole process was clearly seen. The large 
gems, if any, are met with first in the coarse gravel near the top 
of the mass. By keeping a sharp lookout, any gem present can be 
detected by its color and transparency. In the six baskets which we 
examined there were three fragments of sapphires of good size; one 
of them was of fairly good color and would yield, when cut, a stone 
of commercial value, the other two had little or no commercial value. 
As these were found they were at once handed to the man who acted 
as the banker of the little group working this claim, and who care- 
fully watched the proceedings to be certain that no gem which was 
found was secreted. As the sweeping process continued the gravel 
became finer and finer in grain and at one stage showed a red color 
due to the presence of a large number of minute red garnets. When 


GEM DISTRICTS OF CEYLON AND BURMA—ADAMS 303 


the whole contents had been worked over, the basket was passed to 
another man who reexamined its contents with greatest care in order 
to pick out any minute particles of gems which might still remain 
in the gravel and which might bring some small return. When all 
the illam was washed the gems found would be taken to Colombo 
and sold and the proceeds divided pro rata among the partners in 
the claim. 

The location of the pits often seems to have been selected in a 
haphazard manner, although frequently the attempt is made to locate 
them in what is conjectured to be the course of the old stream which 
originally meandered through the valley. 

Visitors coming to the district from abroad often think the gem- 
ming could be carried on much more efficiently and to great advan- 
tage by employing large modern dredging plants. The chief reason 
why this can not be done is that it is very difficult to secure titles 
to any extended piece of territory. The paddy fields are held in 
small areas by different owners, who, as a general rule, have many 
mortgages and liens on their lands—often of the most complicated 
character—so that it is practically impossible to secure a clear title, 
free from encumbrances, to an area sufficiently large to operate a 
dredge. 

The following precious and semiprecious stones are found in Cey- 
lon: Amethyst, aquamarine, chrysoberyl (and its varieties, alex- 
andrite, and cat’s-eye), garnet, moonstone, peridote, ruby, sapphire, 
spinel, topaz, tourmaline, and zircon. They are all found in the 
alluvial deposits just described, but the moonstone (a clear chatoyant 
variety of orthoclase feldspar) is more generally obtained from peg- 
matites and other quartz-feldspar rocks which are found in situ. 

Ruby and sapphire have the same composition, being clear, trans- 
parent varieties of corundum, the former red and the latter blue in 
color. Some stones show a peculiar blending of the red and blue col- 
ors, the latter preponderating, and are known as “ oriental amethyst.” 
While the true sapphire is blue, yellow sapphires (called sometimes 
“oriental topaz”) and white sapphires are frequently found as well. 
Diamonds, emeralds, opals, and turquoise are not found in Ceylon. 

Much has yet to be learned concerning the details of the processes 
by which the gem stones have been transported and concentrated in 
the gravels in which they are now found. Of the gems washed from 
the same deposit some are found to have suffered but little rounding 
of the crystal edges through attrition, while others are so much 
rounded that no traces of the original crystal form remain. This is 
true even of exceedingly hard gems, such as sapphires, and would 
seem to indicate that while some of the stones have been moved but a 
short distance from the veins (?) in the bedrock whence they are 
derived, others must have been carried a very considerable distance 


304 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


under conditions of intense mechanical wear. ‘The thick deposits of 
alluvial and residual clays which mantle the underlying rock in the 
lowlands, where the gems are found, have made it impossible as yet 
to read all the details of the history of the processes by which these 
precious stones have been assembled where we now find them. 

While it is impossible to obtain accurate statistics with reference to 
the value of the annual output of gems in Ceylon—the work being 
carried on by little bands of men working here and there all over the 
gem-bearing districts and continually changing their scene of opera- 
tions—J. S. Coates, Esq., B. A., the government mineralogist of 
Ceylon, informed the writer that it amounts to between 8 and 10 
lakhs of rupees—that is to say, between $264,000 and $330,000 
annually, 

As is well known, the gem trade has in the last few years been 
much disturbed by the fact that it has been found possible to make 
artificial “synthetic ” rubies and sapphires of the various colors dis- 
played by the natural stones, as well as certain other gems hitherto to 
be obtained only from the rocks or gravels of the earth’s surface. 
Furthermore, these artificial stones are not mere imitations of the 
true gems—they are actual crystals of ruby, sapphire, etc., identical 
in composition and all physical properties with the latter. They are 
true gems made in the laboratory of man, instead of in the laboratory 
of nature, and can be distinguished from the natural stone only by the 
most expert examination—if at all. This fact shows how dangerous 
it is to prophesy what science will or will not be able to do as time 
goes on. One of the best-known books on Ceylon, entitled “ Ceylon, 
by an Officer of the Late Ceylon Rifles, 1876,” contains the following 
passage: “ We can take life, but we can not restore it; we can reduce 
a costly and brilliant gem to a worthless powder, but we can not turn 
the powder into a gem; nature has hitherto defied the cleverest savant 
and will continue to do so until the end of time.” Artificial stones 
are built up or grown by heating, by means of a powerful blowpipe, 
a fine powder having the composition of the gem it is desired to pro- 
duce, and the powder under these conditions of great heat grows into 


an actual crystal. 
BURMA 


Burma is now administered as a Province of India. It is bounded 
on the west by Bengal, Assam, and the feudatory State of Manipur, 
on the east by Siam, and on the north by Thibet and China. 

The dominant physiographic feature of Burma is the Irrawaddy 
River, running from north to south through a valley with low banks. 
The river rises in the mountains of the far north, one tributary 
branch coming from Thibet. The head of navigation for river boats 
is at Bhamo, which is situated about 25 miles from the Chinese bor- 


GEM DISTRICTS OF CEYLON AND BURMA—ADAMS 305 


der, and the river is thence navigable to the sea, a distance of over 
900 miles. It is a rapidly flowing stream, running most of the way 
in long meanders between low banks, but about Prome it commences 
to divide up into a number of branches, which find their way to the 
sea in a series of devious courses through the very fertile and highly 
cultivated delta of the Irrawaddy. A flotilla of no less than 550 
shallow-draft steamboats, belonging to the Irrawaddy Flotilla Co., 
run regularly up and down the river, and pushing into every nook 
and corner of the delta constitute the main transportation system of 
the country. 

Bordering the river on either side is a wide tract of flat land with 
ranges of hills running north and south. These physiographic ele- 
ments constitute the land of Burma. 

Burma is rather more than ten times the size of Ceylon, having 
an area of 262,000 square miles and a population (including that 
of the Shan States) of 13,212,000 persons. 

As in the case of Ceylon, the Portuguese were the first Europeans 
to settle in Burma, which they did in A. D. 1519, to be followed 
less than 100 years later by the Dutch, and soon after this by the 
English. About the middle of the seventeenth century all European 
merchants were expelled from the country, owing to a dispute be- 
tween the Burmese governor of Pegu and the Dutch. The Dutch 
never returned; the English were subsequently invited to return to 
Burma, which they did. The Government of Burma in the following 
years passed from one ruler to another and the English settlements 
were attacked from time to time, which led in succession to the first, 
second, and third Burmese wars and eventually to the annexation 
of the whole country to the British Dominions in A. D. 1886. 

Burma now has representative government, and the country, being 
freed from the tyranny of oppression, exercised by its successive 
rulers in former times, enjoys a higher degree of freedom and pros- 
perity than it has ever known in times past. The Burmese as a race 
are short in stature and thick-set. The men wear long hair on their 
heads, but have little or none on their faces, and show in their fea- 
tures a strong infusion of Chinese blood. They are well clad; both 
men and women wear skirts and both delight in bright colors and silk 
attire. There is probably no country in the world which presents in 
its streets and market places such a wonderful display of bright, 
harmonious color. In many respects Burma presents a striking and 
pleasing contrast to India. The merry, brightly clothed Burmese 
have no counterpart in Hindustan, and the richness of the soil and 
exuberance of the vegetation, together with the sleekness and vigor 
of the cattle, is at once marked by a visitor coming from India. The 
life of the Burmese is free from the deadening effects of castes and 
the seclusion of women, two customs which stereotype the existence 


306 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


of so large a part of the inhabitants of India. The country back 
from the Irrawaddy, in northern Burma, in the Shan States and 
westward toward the Arakan hills, is inhabited by various less- 
civilized peoples, each with its own peculiar dress and appearance, 
who come down to the river in picturesque groups to buy and sell 
when the market boats pass up and down on their regular sailing 
schedule. 

The country is rich in minerals. The great silver-zinc-lead deposits 
at the Bawdwin mines have been worked from the most remote 
antiquity. Tin and tungsten are of widespread occurrence in south- 
ern Burma. Coal occurs in many parts of the country, and the oil 
fields are large and highly productive. The greater part of the jade 
carved in China really comes from the Myitkynia district of Burma, 
where there are also large amber deposits. 

As will be seen in the accompanying sketch map (fig. 1) show- 
ing the main features of the geology of Burma, a long and generally 
narrow band of very ancient pre-Cambrian (Archean) rocks, having 
approximately a north-and-south direction, forms a protaxis running 
through the entire length of the country, passing across the border 
into China, and probably finding its farther continuation in one or 
the other of the narrow bands of Archean rocks shown in western 
Yunnan on the geological maps of southern China. This belt, com- 
ing up from Tenasserin, broadens out to the north of Mandalay and 
underlies the celebrated gem area of Mogok. 

This district is reached by taking one of the Irrawaddy River 
boats at Mandalay (pl. 2) and ascending the river where pictur- 
esque groups of native people await the arrival of the boat at every 
landing place (pl. 3). At Thabeikkyin, a point about 70 miles 
above Mandalay, a good motor road runs back from the river in an 
easterly direction for a distance of 60 miles to the little town of 
Mogok, near the border of the northern Shan States. This road 
starting from Thabeikkyin, which is 600 feet above sea level, rises 
at first slowly and then passes through a group of mountain ranges 
over a pass 5,000 feet high (pl. 4) and descends to the Mogok 
Valley, which has an elevation of 4,000 feet. The higher portions of 
this road afford a view in all directions over a veritable sea of moun- 
tains clothed with a luxuriant forest in which are magnificent 
flowering trees and many birds, the scene being one of extraordinary 
beauty. Much of this forest has been set aside for Government 
forest reserves. 

The isolated hill at Mandalay (954 feet), which rises abruptly 
from the plain on which the city is situated, is composed of a white 
crystalline limestone, rendered impure through the presence of 
grains of pyroxene, biotite, graphite, etc. It is identical in appear- 


GEM DISTRICTS OF CEYLON AND BURMA—ADAMS 307 


SKETCH MAP OF 


BURMA. 


Fea ARCHEAN. 


308 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


ance with the crystalline limestones of the Laurentian of Canada 
(Grenville series). 

At Thabeikkyin the steep bank of the river is composed of a soft 
friable rock containing thin beds holding water-worn pebbles of 
Tertiary age. This is confined to the immediate vicinity of the 
river. On the road running to Mogok it is immediately succeeded 
by exposures of the pre-Cambrian rocks. This road _ between 
Thabeikkyin and Mogok, running directly at right angles to the 
strike of these ancient rocks for a distance which, in a straight line, 
is about 40 miles, although by the road it is about 60 miles, affords 
an excellent section across the series, which present a most remarkable 
and striking resemblance to a section through the Grenville series in 
Canada. The section (fig. 2) consists of alternating bands of gneiss 
and white highly-crystalline limestone with some subordinate bands 
of quartzite. The gneisses are in part reddish (sometimes grayish), 


SS 


Tertiary. Granire. Gneiss. Crystalline limestone. Surface covered. 


Fie. 2.—Section from Irrawaddy River to Mogok 


garnetiferous orthoclase biotite gneisses, with many stringers, 
streaks, and lenses of reddish pegmatite running parallel to the 
foliation, closely resembling those so abundant in the Laurentian 
Plateau of Canada. They are excellently displayed at the eastern 
end of the section in the bed of the Yaynee River near the power 
house, about 2 miles south of the village of Mogok, where their 
appearance suggests a series of highly altered and granitized sedi- 
mentary rocks. They are also well seen in many other parts of the 
section. In addition to these there are lght colored pyroxene 
(augite) scapolite gneisses, which occur intimately interbedded with 
the crystalline limestones at Mogok, Kathe, and at many other parts 
of the section. The quartzite, which is white and vitreous in char- 
acter, is seen at milepost 22 on the road between Thabeikkyin and 
Mogok. It contains a little biotite and a few grains of orthoclase 
scattered through it and bears a striking resemblance to certain 
quartzites in the Grenville areas of Canada. There are large 
exposures of graphitic quartzite about 18 miles from the former 
station. 


GEM DISTRICTS OF CEYLON AND BURMA—ADAMS 309 


The limestones, which occur in very thick bands over wide areas 
are white and highly crystalline. Some bands are nearly pure, 
others contain little grains of biotite-pyroxene, graphite, and other 
accessory minerals marking the lines of bedding, and they are again 
identical in appearance with those of the Grenville series in Canada. 
These limestones are in some cases more or less magnesian. ‘The 
metamorphism to which the whole district has been subjected was 
very intense and the limestones are in many places very coarsely 
crystalline. As mentioned, the rubies for which this district is 
renowned have these limestones as their original matrix and are 
more abundant in the coarser grained than in the finer grained 
varieties. 

At one place between Mogok and Sinkwa (on the road to 
Thabeikkyin) there occurs by the roadside, closely associated with 
the limestone, a most interesting occurrence of a nepheline rock of 
the variety known as urtite. It is a rather coarse-grained rock, 
dark in color, and showing an indistinct banding, and is composed 
essentially of greenish-yellow elaeolite and a black aegerine-augite. 
It also contains a considerable amount of primary calcite and re- 
sembles very closely certain varieties of nepheline rocks found 
associated with the Laurentian limestones of the Bancroft district 
of Ontario. Under the microscope the rock is seen to contain as 
accessory constituents a grayish-brown sphene in rather large grains 
inclosed in both the augite and the nepheline, as well as a little 
microcline, apatite, and black iron ore. 

The extent and detailed geological relations of this unusual rock 
could not be determined, but it is very interesting as affording an- 
other instance of the association of nepheline rock with bodies of 
limestone, so strikingly seen in the case of the nepheline rocks of 
eastern Ontario, and in a large proportion of the occurrences of 
similar rocks in other parts of the world. 

The only true granite met with in the district is a great intrusive 
mass which is crossed by the Thabeikkyin-Mogok road and which is 
exposed at intervals from about milepost 44 to milepost 30. It is a 
very even, fine-grained, typical gray granite, which at milepost 40.8 
towers up above the road in beetling crags. Under the microscope it 
is seen to be composed of orthoclase with some biotite, and quite sub- 
ordinate amounts of quartz and plagioclase with a few grains of 
rutile. Its contact with the sedimentary series, through which it cuts, 
is not seen on the road as low land conceals it on either side. 

Just east of Sakangei, cutting this granite mass near its eastern 
margin, is an enormous pegmatite dyke which was opened up and 
worked extensively by the Burma Ruby Mines (Ltd.) some years 
ago. ‘The dyke is at least 100 feet wide, although only one wall is 


20837—27——-21 


310 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


seen, this being the granite, here much decomposed. The dyke at the 
adjacent wall rock is very much kaolinized. The dyke consists of 
orthoclase almost entirely converted into kaolin with very large and 
fine crystals of quartz, many of which are as clear and transparent as 
elass. Individuals up to 6 inches in diameter were seen, but it is 
stated that even larger ones were found. Crystals of lepidolite 
measuring 6 inches or more across the cleavage faces, as well as mus- 
covite and biotite and large, clear individuals of colorless topaz of 
perfect crystal form, were also found in the dyke. One of the latter 
had a diametral measurement of 31/4 inches. The dyke also contained 
small bunches of cassiterite here and there. The cassiterite, and the 
quartz crystals, sold to the Chinese traders for the manufacture of 
the various objects which the artists of that nation cut in quartz, were, 
it is understood, the chief products of economic value, and as these 
were not found in sufficient quantities to warrant the continuation of 
operations, work was abandoned and the openings are rapidly filling 
in under the action of the heavy tropical rains. 

Leaving this granite intrusion and continuing on to the east, after 
an interval where the rocks are covered, the limestone series is again 
seen in frequent outcrops and the picturesque village of Kathe is 
reached, lying in a valley surrounded by high hills. Many of the 
lower hills are crowned by pagodas and the presence of many of 
the “twinlone” referred to below, which are seen in various parts of 
the plain, show that the underlying gem-bearing gravels have been 
tested at a great number of different places. It is at Kathe that the 
chief operations of the Burma Ruby Mines (Ltd.) are now being 
carried on. The road then rises and continuing on over the same 
limestone-gneiss series for a further distance of 9 miles descends into 
the Mogok Valley in which les the little town of the same name. 
This is a most beautiful little valley, 10 miles long by 2 miles wide, 
and, like the Kathe Valley, is surrounded on all sides by hills, the 
highest reaching an elevation of 3,500 feet above the town, which has 
an elevation of 4,000 feet, clad with tropical vegetation, many pic- 
turesque pagodas being seen on prominent points and lending a dis- 
tinctly Burmese appearance to the scene. A small stream winds 
through lower ground. 

The beds of this series of limestones and gneisses, which are exposed 
almost continually along this section from Thabeikkyin to Mogok, 
strike north and south, although sometimes bearing a little to the 
east with a strike of as much as north 20° east. They dip uniformly 
to the east. The dip near the west end of the section is quite low,- 
but 10 miles from the Irrawaddy the dip increases to 30°. About 
milepost 12 the strata are much contorted, but to the east of this, 
after a covered interval, the well-defined north and south strike is 


GEM DISTRICTS OF CEYLON AND BURMA—ADAMS 311 


again seen with an easterly dip of about 60°. This dip again de- 
creases to about 30° at Kathe and Mogok but in the lit-pas-lit gneiss 
in the valley of the Yaynee River, just south of Mogok, rises to 70°. 
In the section as shown in Figure 2 the dip is represented as gradually 
increasing from Kathe to the Yaynee. 

The strike of this limestone series on the road between Thabeikkyin 
and Mogok is not correctly shown by Barrington Brown,‘ but, as he 
states, before the construction of the road in question it was impos- 
sible to make accurate observations on the course of the limestone 
bands in this part of the area, owing to the very heavy fresh covering. 

A microscopic study of the rock specimens from Mogok, brought 
to England by Barrington Brown, was made by the late Prof. 
J. W. Judd. In their joint paper the whole tenor of Professor 
Judd’s description leads the reader to the conclusion that Judd 
believed that he had evidence from the microscopic studies of these 
rocks that the Archean limestones of Burma had originated from the 
alteration of certain pyroxene gneisses. Since the publication of this 
paper it has been repeatedly stated in print that this was the conclu- 
sion reached by Judd from his studies of the Mogok limestones. 

When preparing the present article the writer, in looking over 
some old papers, found a letter written to him by Professor Judd 
under date of November 4, 1896, evidently in reply to a communica- 
tion of his to Professor Judd, expressing surprise that he had 
reached such a conclusion. In this letter Professor Judd writes: 
“T must disabuse your mind of the idea that I want to put forward 
a theory to cover all the metamorphic limestones of Archean age. 
I do not think such a chemical theory as I have suggested at all 
likely to meet the case of the enormous mass of limestone regularly 
bedded over vast areas like those mentioned by Barrington Brown 
in Burma, or referred to by you in Canada. It is the special thin 
bands that contain rubies, spinels, and other marketable minerals 
that I am referring to.” This letter is perhaps worthy of mention as 
no one would discover from a perusal of Professor Judd’s paper that 
he intended by his theory to account merely for certain small streaks 
of limestone in the Mogok series and not for the whole succession 
of bedded limestones which are so strikingly displayed in this 
region. 

That enormous developments of bedded limestones, such as those 
found in the great series under discussion, really represent highly 
altered and very ancient sediments is borne out in all respects by a 
study of their field relations, a conclusion which is also reached by 
LaTouche® in his study of the geology of the northern Shan States. 


‘Barrington Brown and Prof. John W. Judd: ‘‘ The rubies of Burma and associated 
minerals.” Phil. Trans., Royal Society, vol. 187, 1896. 
® Records of the Geological Survey of India, Vol. XXXVI, pt. 3. 


312 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


The little town of Mogok is situated on the valley floor, the pop- 
ulation consisting of Burmese, Chinese, Shans, and some Indian 
Tamils. All look well and happy, requiring a very small income 
for their support and being apparently tolerably contented with 
what they have. Lines of sturdy, well-cared-for pack ponies with 
their quaintly clad drivers come over the hill trails from the Shan 
northern States and from China with loads of rice or other merchan- 
dise, and on market days the bazaars present a scene which, for 
color, movement, and picturesqueness of costume, can hardly be 
surpassed anywhere. These bazaars contain, even in this remote 
corner of the Far East, a large variety of western goods, as well as 
all manner of native products. The Burmese women, who carry on 
most of the retail trade of the country, usually wear skirts and jack- 
ets of very bright but well-matched colors, often of silk, with a 
large piece of some bright-colored fabric folded about the head, 
giving them a very graceful and picturesque appearance. Bath 
towels of western manufacture are now often used as a head cover- 
ing in Burma or are worn thrown about the shoulders. Gems and 
native silverware are very generally offered for sale. 

The rocks in the Mogok region are everywhere covered by a mantle 
of residual soil produced by the secular weathering. This seems to 
be heavier than in Ceylon. It is almost impossible to obtain speci- 
mens of the fresh rock except by blasting. Where good cuts have 
been made the rock is seen to have been bleached and kaolinized, 
while this kaolinized product is in its turn overlaid by a thick 
covering of red clay, which in some places approaches laterite in 
appearance, although it is less compact. This red clay, which also 
overlies the limestones, is remarkable for the manner in which it 
retains its form and even the tool marks upon it when cut into 
vertical walls or into steps running down steep declivities. Not- 
withstanding this fact, large quantities of the residual clay are 
washed down to the lower level by the heavy tropical rains, where 
it mingles with that formed by the weathering and solution of the 
rocks in the valleys, and in some places is subjected to further 
transportation by the action of streams running down the valleys, 
especially during the rains. Thus the residual soils pass into alluvial 
deposits. 

There are three distinct ruby bearing areas in Upper Burma— 
those of Mandalay, Mytkynia, and the district about Mogok (includ- 
ing Kathe). The latter is by far the most important and constitutes 
the principal ruby producing tract in the world. Other areas will 
undoubtedly be discovered in the valleys of Upper Burma as time 
goes on; in fact, when the writer was going up the Irrawaddy, in the 
month of February, 1925, a party of gayly clad prospectors left the 
boat at Dundan, about 25 miles north of Thabeikkyin, a boom being 


GEM DISTRICTS OF CEYLON AND BUKMA—ADAMS 313 


then in progress at a point 5 miles inland, where sapphires had been 
discovered in the low-lying paddy fields. 

Practically no Europeans visited this district until the annexation 
of Upper Burma by the British in 1885. In 1889 the Secretary of 
State for India granted to Messrs. Streeter & Co., of Bond Street, 
a mining concession in the Mogok district, a seven-year lease being 
given, at a rent of 4 lakhs of rupees ($126,666) per annum, plus 16.66 
per cent of the net profits. The Burma Ruby Mines (Ltd.) was 
thereupon formed to carry on mining. In 1896 the original lease was 
renewed for a period of 14 years, and in 1910 it assumed its present 
form, and runs till May 1, 1932, there being a fixed rental of 200,000 
rupees per annum, plus 30 per cent of any excess of license income 
above 200,000 rupees per annum, the Government also claiming 30 
per cent of the net profits. The Government gave the native miners 
every protection, in so much as they were not allowed to be in any 
way disturbed in their work or dispossessed except by purchase; 
otherwise, the company holds a monopoly of the right to mine or 
wash gems over the whole area designated as the Mogok Stone Tract. 

The rubies, which form by far the most important of the gems 
yielded by this district, have their origin in the white crystalline 
limestones of the country rock, which have been described above. 
In the Mogok district (including Kathe) these limestones are in- 
tensely metamorphosed and are often very coarsely crystalline. It 
is stated that the more coarsely crystalline limestones are those which 
are richest in rubies. These gems are evidently developed in the 
limestones as one of the results of the intense metamorphism to 
which the district has been subjected. A. D. Morgan, the general 
manager of the Burma Ruby Mines (Ltd.), informed the writer that 
the sapphire, which while much less common than the ruby at Mogok, 
is nevertheless frequently found, occurs not in the limestone but in a 
rock, a specimen of which containing a large sapphire was submitted 
for examination, and which proved to be a granular white acid 
plagioclase intimately intergrown with orthoclase constituting a 
microperthite. The rubies and the other associated gems, however, 
do not occur in the limestones or their associated rocks in sufficient 
abundance to enable these to be worked for these minerals. Occa- 
sionally a native prospector will find a spot in the limestones where 
there is an unusual accumulation of rubies and will extract them, 
but this is rarely the case. The rubies and other gems are obtained 
in practically all cases from the residual or alluvial clays of the hill 
slopes or more usually of the valleys. 

In the valley workings, as at Mogok and Kathe, there is a definite 
succession in these clays, the recognition of which is very important. 
In sinking a pit or shaft this first passes through reddish or yellowish 
clay which contains no gems; beneath this is found, resting on the 


014 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


bedrock, a clay containing pebbles, and in this all the gems which the 
deposit contains are concentrated. This is known locally as “ byon,” 
and corresponds to the stoney clay which, in the gem region of 
Ceylon, occupies a similar position and is there known as “illam.” 
When working such a deposit the overlying barren clays are first 
removed and the underlying byon is then carefully collected and 
taken directly to the mill. 

Upon the removal of this byon, the surface of the underlying lime- 
stone is seen to present a curious appearance. It is a surface of solu- 
tion and an immense number of “ hoodoos ”—10, 20, or 50 feet high 
and of sharp jagged outline—rise from the general surface, if indeed 
there can be said to be one, while deep, irregular crevices run down 
into the limestone, often to great depths. When the residual clay has 
been entirely removed from the valley floor, as is the case in the ex- 
hausted workings in the valley running through the town of Mogok, 
it is almost impossible to cross the valley except on specially con- 
structed roads or paths owing to the extreme irregularity of the lime- 
stone surface, the spectacle presented when looking across the valiey 
being weird in the extreme. The byon lying in the pockets and 
depressions in the very irregular limestone floor and filling up the 
crevices penetrating it, is often very rich in gems and, although con- 
trary to law, the natives frequently, when unobserved, busy them- 
selves in digging out the byon from such holes and corners and wash- 
ing it for the gems that it may yield. 

The native methods of mining are three in number, namely, by 
loodwins, hmyaudwins, and twinlone. 

The loodwins are workings by which the byon in caves and fissures 
in the limestone is extracted and then washed. 

The hmyaudwins are cuttings driven into the rain-wash on the 
hill slopes, the extracted byon being washed by sluicing, water being 
brought from some adjacent stream. 

Twinlone—in this, which is the commonest method, pits are sunk 
into the alluvium of the valleys from 2 to 9 feet square, and by means 
of these the gem-bearing gravel is raised to the surface, often from a 
considerable depth. After a few feet have been excavated, strong 
posts, 12 feet in length, are driven in vertically around the sides of the 
pit and short timbers are fitted between adjacent posts, and a lagging 
of twigs and dry grass is provided to support the walls. As the sink- 
ing progresses, new posts are sunk. The excavated earth and any 
water which accumulates is raised to the surface by a bucket—or an 
old oil can—attached to one end of a bamboo balance pole swinging 
on a high bamboo frame as shown in Plate 1. As already mentioned, 
this device is also in use in Ceylon. A great number of these pits, 
each with its bamboo frame and swinging pole, are seen distributed 
far and wide over the plain of Kathe, showing the extended prospect- 


GEM DISTRICTS OF CEYLON AND BURMA—ADAMS 315 


ing operations which have been carried out in this area, which is at 
present the largest producer in the Mogok concession. 

The Burma Ruby Mines (Ltd.), however, desiring to work these 
deposits on a large scale, adopted western methods of excavating and 
transporting the materials to be handled, and built mills provided 
with modern concentrating machinery for the purpose of separating 
the gems. 

The workings at the town of Mogok, as they appeared some years 
ago when mining here was at its maximum development, are shown 
in Plate 7, which is taken from a photograph reproduced in Escard’s 
“Les Pierres Precieuses” (Paris, 1914). This stretch of alluvium 
has now been worked out. The company is now working at Enjouk, 
on the margin of the Mogok Valley, as well as on a small scale at 
Bigom, Nanyasen, and other points, but its chief operations are now 
centered at Kathe, 8 miles to the west of Mogok. Unfortunately the 
rubies here are very often coarse and rough and not of the best color. 

At Kathe the geological conditions are the same as those at Enjouk 
and as in the old exhausted workings at the town of Mogok. The 
country rock is white crystalline limestone, often holding numerous 
flakes of graphite, phlogopite, and other minerals, with many inter- 
stratified bands of harder silicate rocks, chiefly plagioclase-scapolite 
gneiss resembling the limestones in color and a few other allied 
gneisses. One darker band was found to be composed essentially of 
a plagioclase and a brown hornblende, with a little pyroxene, biotite, 
scapolite, and iron ore as accessory constituents. Nothing that could 
be recognized as an igneous intrusion was seen in the workings. 

These rocks under conditions of secular decay and solution present 
the remarkably irregular “hoodooed” surface already described, 
covered with a mantle of residual clay. This, with the underlying 
limestone series, is seen in Plate 5, which is one of the working faces 
at Kathe. The byon lies directly on the irregular limestone surface 
and is overlain by the barren clays, 

The byon is brought to the mill in trucks, hauled from the work- 
ing face by an endless wire cable, and thrown first on a grate of 
_ spaced iron bars, which separates the large pieces of rock. The 
material which falls between them goes to two successive sets of 
revolving trommels into which water is fed. The coarser material 
from these goes directly to a table and is hand sorted by one of the 
company’s officers. Here, when the writer was visiting the mill, a 
ruby rather over 1 inch in diameter was found. 

The finer material from the last set of trommels goes into diamond 
washing pans, the gravel which is retained by these representing 
1 per cent of the original byon fed to the mill. This is then carried 
to a series of jigs which reject three-quarters and keep one-quarter 
of the product received from the diamond washing pans. This 


316 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


quarter of 1 per cent of the original material is then placed on 
sorting tables having a surface consisting of an iron plate and is 
sorted over by one of the company’s officers (a European). He 
takes out any large gems which may be present. The gravel then 
passes on to a series of tables around each of which a number of 
men (natives) are seated, about six to a table, who re-sort it very 
carefully, removing every stone which has any value. Each man 
wears on his head a large box with a front of iron gauze which 
prevents him from secreting any stones in his mouth or from 
swallowing them. A foreman (native), who is supposed to be 
strictly honest, watches the operations at each table. ‘These men 
are very expert at stealing stones and are carefully searched before 
they leave the building at the close of the day. The exhausted tail- 
ings are then taken from the mill and sold to a Burmese woman, 
who buys the whole output and who then divides it up into a series 
of little conical heaps and sells them at a rupee a piece to other 
women, who go over the pile grain by grain and collect from it 
every minute ruby which it may contain and sell these to be used in 
making watch bearings and for other purposes to which they may 
be of use. A group of women sorting over these little piles is seen 
in Plate 6. The gems which are obtained in the mill are sent to 
the headquarters of the company in the town of Mogok and are 
subjected to a final sorting and classification into the various grades 
which are then marketed. For this purpose small quantities at a 
time are taken by certain expert gem sorters, whose honesty is 
undoubted, and placed on shallow highly polished brass plates about 
a foot and a half in diameter and sorted over in the bright sunlight. 
These sorters are seen at work on the veranda of the company’s office 
at Mogok, in Plate 6. The man at the margin of the photograph 
on the right is cutting a ruby on a wheel turned by a second man. 

In addition to rubies, other gems are found in the byon, although 
less abundantly. On looking over the concentration product as it 
comes to the office from the mill there can be distinguished: 1. Rubies 
of various intensities of color. 2. Sapphires, blue, yellow, or white, 
showing similar variations in color. 8. Spinels usually pink in color, 
the intensity of the color differing in different individuals. These 
often show the characteristic octahedral form. These spinels are, 
next to the ruby, the most common gem in this district. 4. Common 
opaque corundum. 5. Tourmalines. 6. Zircons. 7. Quartz. 8. Other 
minerals, such as beryl, scapolite, apatite, and fibrolite (very rare). 

While Mogok has produced the finest rubies which have ever 
been found, the value of the output seems small when compared with 
outputs of districts where metallic ores are mined. From 1899 to 1905 
the mines yielded annually gems to the value of about $450,000. In 


GEM DISTRICTS OF CEYLON AND BURMA—ADAMS 317 


later times the yield has fallen off and is naturally subject to fluctua- 
tion from year to year according to the value of the stones recovered. 
This is indicated by the following figures, which show the value of 
the rubies produced in Burma in some recent years: 


fein ts ee eee ree ene een NE 1) $098) Bit 
AGTUEIA I AT BANGOD Seddon .fi9om sia 198, 603 
goodie! | Pivael pc onde pre ole bein co 165, 000 
ie 2S Os a eA Oe peer ee 212, 210 
TILE eB 2 ON eee rer 2 ST) a a 425, 800 
TCT OUR, aria cat sk. ea ce ae tl 224, 414 
ICT ea RPE ca OTS Cock 5), Raa eee 224, 409 


The great increase in the value of the output for 1919 was due 
in part to the finding in that year of an exceptionally valuable ruby, 
which was sold for three lakhs of rupees ($100,000). 

In addition to these gems, most of the jade, which is cut and 
polished in China, comes from northern Burma, and not very far 
from the jade mines are deposits of beautiful amber. As this country 
is opened up in future years other valuable deposits will probably 
also be found. 

A number of minerals of exceptional interest were obtained by the 
author in Burma, more especially from the district of the ruby 
mines about Mogok. Among these brief reference may be made to 
the following, a full description of which will be found elsewhere.® 

Chrysoberyl—This species has not hitherto been described from 
Burma, but was found near Mogok in the very unusual form of 
simple crystals, transparent and of a sea-green color, as well as in 
trillings of a pale yellow color. These show a number of forms which 
have never been observed in this species from other localities, 

Sillimanite-—This species occurs, although rarely, as rolled peb- 
bles accompanying the ruby in alluvial deposits. One specimen 
showed a cleavage apparently parallel to a macro-dome, which ren- 
ders it possible to measure the relative length of the vertical axis, 
which has been unknown in the case of this species hitherto. These 
measurements show that there is a close correspondence between the 
axial relations of sillimanite and those of the related minerals, 
andalusite and cyanite. 

Nepheline—This species, hitherto unknown from Burma, was 
found in a coarsely crystalline urtite associated with the crystalline 
limestones near Sinkwa. 

Sodalite—This mineral, having a deep lilac color, was found asso- 
ciated with nepheline at a second locality, namely, the Tajonngnadine 
mine at Mogok. 


6Frank D. Adams and R. P. D. Graham, “On some minerals from the ruby mining 
district of Mogok, Upper Burma.” Trans. Royal Society of Canada, Vol, XX, sec. 4, 1926. 


20837—2T. 22 


318 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


Fosterite-—Occurs as an abundant accessory mineral in certain of 
the crystalline limestones at Mogok. It has not been formerly 
reported from Burma. 

In the great pegmatite dyke at Sakangei, lepidolite in very large 
crystals, as well as muscovite, topaz, cassiterite, and very large crys- 
tals of quartz were seen. The topaz occurs in clear, transparent, 
nearly colorless crystals several inches in length. A large crystal 
examined is unique in that it is terminated at one end by the basal 
plane above and at the other end by pyramidal forms. 


Smithsonian Report, 1926.—Adams PLATE 1 


SINGHALESE SINKING A SHAFT FOR GEMS, PALMADULLA, CEYLON 


Smithsonian Report, 1926.—Adams PLATE 2 


1. YELLOW SAPPHIRES FROM WORKINGS AT PALMADULLA, CEYLON 


2. STEAMBOAT ON THE IRRAWADY RIVER. RAFT OF TEAK LOGS IN 
FOREGROUND 


Smithsonian Report, 1926.—Adams PLATE 3 


1. GROUP OF NATIVES ON THE BANK OF THE IRRAWADY RIVER AWAITING 
THE ARRIVAL OF THE STEAMBOAT 


2. RAFT OF TEAK LOGS ON THE IRRAWADY RIVER 


Smithsonian Report, 1926—Adams PLATE 4 


1. ROAD BETWEEN THABEIKKYIN AND MoOGOK RUNNING THROUGH BUR- 
MESE FOREST RESERVE 


2. RUBY MINES AT MOGOK IN PERIOD OF MAXIMUM DEVELOPMENT 


Smithsonian Report, 1926.—Adams PLATE 5 


WORKING FACE IN THE RUBY MINES AT KATHE, BURMA 


Smithsonian Report, 1926.—Adams PLATE 6 


1. WOMEN SORTING TAILINGS FROM THE MILL AT KATHE FOR MINUTE 
RUBIES 


2. SORTING AND CUTTING GEMS AT THE OFFICE OF THE BURMA RUBY 
MINES (LTD.), MOGOK 


THE HISTORY OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION * 


By JoHN M. COULTER 


Boyce Thompson Institute, Yonkers, N. Y. 


The meaning of evolution is probably more misunderstood than 
any doctrine of science. The reason is that it has been discussed very 
freely by those who are not informed, and in this way much misin- 
formation has been propagated. 

The general meaning of organic evolution is that the plant and 
animal kingdoms have developed in a continuous, orderly way, under 
the guidance of natural laws, just as the solar system has evolved 
in obedience to natural laws. 

There are at least three important reasons why evolution should 
be regarded as a necessary part of college training. 

(1) It has revolutionized modern thought. Every subject to-day 
is being attacked on the basis of its evolution. Not only are in- 
organic and organic evolution being considered, but also the evolu- 
tion of language, of literature, of society, of government, of religion. 
In other words, it is a point of view which represents the atmosphere 
of modern investigation in every field. 

(2) It is persistently misunderstood. From the press, the lecture 
platform, and even the pulpit, one frequently hears or reads amaz- 
ing statements in reference to organic evolution. If it were made an 
essential feature of student training, there would be developed a 
propaganda of information instead of misinformation. 

(3) It has revolutionized agriculture. The practical handling of 
plants and animals, in the way of improving old forms and securing 
new ones, was made possible and definite when the Jaws of inheritance 
began to be uncovered through experimental work in evolution. 


PERIODS IN THE HISTORY OF EVOLUTION 


There have been three distinct periods in the history of evolution, 
based upon the method of attack. These. three methods may be 


1 Lecture delivered at a joint meeting of the New York Association of Biology Teachers, 
the Chemistry Teachers Club of New York, the Physics Club of New York, and the Torrey 
Botanical Club, at the Hotel Majestic, New York City, on March 27, 1926, and arranged 
under the direction of the science committee of the Board of Education. Reprinted by 
permission from Science, vol, LUXIII, No. 1637, May 14, 1926. 


319 


320 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


spoken of in general as speculation (ancient), observation and in- 
ference (medieval), and experimentation (modern). 

(1) Speculation—tThe idea of organic evolution is as old as our 
record of men’s thoughts, for all the old mythologies are full of it. 
No modern man, therefore, is responsible for the idea, although it is 
a common misconception to load this responsibility upon certain dis- 
tinguished modern students of evolution. For example, the name of 
Darwin isso conspicuous in connection with evolution that many seem 
to think that Darwinism and evolution are synonymous. Until 1790, 
however, organic evolution was a pure speculation, with no basis of 
scientific work. It should be emphasized that the idea of evolution 
has always been present in the mind of man. 

During the latter part of this ancient period of speculation, certain 
facts began to be observed that made some thinking men conclude 
that evolution might be a fact, and not merely a speculation. It will 
be helpful to note briefly, in historical succession, the kind of facts 
that set these men to thinking, and that resulted in the second period 
in the history of evolution, when it became a science. 

In classifying plants and animals, which was the initial phase of 
biology, men rigidly defined the different species, the thought being 
that the different kinds had descended in unbroken succession “ from 
the beginning,” whenever that may have been. When more extensive 
observations were made in the field, numerous intergrades began to 
be found. The species as defined seemed to intergrade freely. In 
other words, the pigeon-hole arrangement, with rigid partitions, did 
not express the facts. It became evident that species had been de- 
fined by man rather than by nature. Some were distinct enough, but 
many intergraded. This intergrading suggested that one species 
might come from another, the intergrades marking the trail. 

The next observations suggesting that evolution might be a fact had 
to do with what was called the “ power of adaptation,” which we now 
call “responses.” It was observed that plants and animals respond 
to changes in environment, often in a striking way. I have seen what 
were regarded as two good species changed into one another by 
changing from a moist habitat to a dry one, or the reverse. This 
ability to respond to changing conditions seemed to indicate that 
species are not so rigid and invariable as had been supposed. 

As technique developed, and the internal structures of plants and 
animals became known, it often happened that rudimentary struc- 
tures were found, which never developed to a functioning stage, but 
which occurred fully developed in related forms. For example, 
it was found that in the developing parrot a set of embryo teeth 
begins, but never matures. The inference was natural that these 
structures had been functional in the ancestors, but had been aban- 


HISTORY OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION—-COULTER 321 


doned by some of their descendants. In these days, it has become the 
habit to call these rudimentary structures “ vestiges.” Many such 
illustrations could be given. One in the human body is the vermi- 
form appendix. It seems safe to say that we are walking museums of 
antiquity. 

As technique developed still further, the embryology of plants 
and animals began to be studied in detail, the whole progress from 
egg to adult being observed. In very many cases, during the prog- 
ress, glimpses of fleeting structures and resemblances were obtained, 
which had disappeared when the adult stage was reached, but which 
related the form to other species. 

After this succession of facts, there came a revelation which con- 
vinced more men that evolution is a fact than any evidence which 
had preceded. The geologists had begun to uncover that wonderful 
succession of plants and animals from the earliest geological periods 
to the present time. ‘They saw in the oldest periods forms unlike any 
now existing; they saw gradual changes with each succeeding hori- 
zon; they saw a steady approach to forms like those of to-day. 
until by insensible gradations the present flora and fauna were 
ushered in. This geological record, becoming continuously more 
detailed in its interpretation, set men to thinking seriously. 

Finally, after all this evidence was in, men began to look around 
them and to realize what they had been doing for centuries in 
domesticating animals and plants. They had been bringing them 
from the wild state and changing them so much by the methods of 
culture that in many cases the wild originals could not be recognized. 
Most of our cultivated plants, if found in nature associating with 
their wild originals, would be regarded as extremely distinct species. 

In the presence of such an array of facts, is it to be wondered at 
that certain men began the serious, scientific study of evolution? 
As a result, the second period in the history of evolution was ushered 
in, and evolution became a science. 

(2) Observation and inference.—In time, this period extends from 
1790 to 1900. It is characterized by the appearance of a succession 
of explanations of evolution. It is important to remember that the 
men who offered these explanations are not responsible for the idea 
of evolution, but merely attempted to explain the fact of evolution. 
They were explainers rather than authors. It is also important to 
realize the method used. It may be called the method of comparison 
and inference. Plant and animal forms were observed, and re- 
semblances were assumed to indicate relationship through descent. 
It was not demonstration, but inference based on observation. Dar- 
win carried the method to the limit of its possibilities, observing not 
a small range of forms, but observing through several years a world- 
wide range of forms, in connection with the famous voyage of the 


322 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


Beagle. His caution is also indicated by the fact that his observa- 
tions were under consideration for some 20 years before his con- 
clusions were published. 

This second period in the history of evolution, which we may 
call the medieval period, is marked by the appearance of several ex- 
planations. I shall mention only the three most conspicuous ones, 
and there is no need to define these in detail. 

The explanation which ushered in the period was proposed simul- 
taneously and independently in 1790 by Goethe, of Germany, St. 
Hilaire, of France, and Erasmus Darwin, of England. Observa- 
tions of responses to changed environment led them to the con- 
clusion that environment is the direct cause of change, actually 
molding forms. This evolutionary factor, therefore, is entirely 
external to animal or plant. It was a natural first explanation, 
but of course it was too superficial, and environment as a direct 
cause of evolution soon passed into the historical background. It 
deserves mention only because it was the first attempt at an ex- 
planation. In 1801 Lamarck, in a series of lectures, announced 
his explanation, calling it the theory of “appetency.” This was 
really the first explanation with a body of doctrine, and hence,. 
Lamarck has often been called the “ founder of organic evolution.” 
The term “ appetency,” however, has been abandoned, and its real 
meaning expressed by the phrase “the effect of use and disuse.” 
With Lamarck, environment is not the direct cause of the change, 
according to the earlier explanations, but the occasion for the change. 
The cause is the striving, the effort to do something that had be- 
come necessary. Thus organs would become developed as a con- 
sequence of some change in environment calling them into use; and, 
conversely, organs would gradually become aborted as a consequence 
of some change in environment that eliminated their use. This 
explanation rests absolutely upon the inheritance of acquired char- 
acters, meaning characters not inherited by the possessor, but ac- 
quired during the life of the individual. 

In 1858 the epoch-making explanation of Darwin was announced, 
an explanation which was dominant for about 50 years. It is too 
familiar to need explanation. In brief, it claims that nature selects 
among variations, that the method of selection is competition, that 
the result is the destruction of the relatively unfit, or as Spencer 
puts it, “the survival of the fittest.” In brief, the theory is really 
an explanation of what is called adaptation. 

As facts multiplied, the current explanations of evolution were 
found to be inadequate to explain some of them. ‘This led to a 
general misunderstanding of the situation by the uninformed public. 
For example, more intensive study developed the fact that Darwin’s 
explanation does not always explain. His name is so identified 


HISTORY OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION—COULTER Boe 


with evolution in public thought that this criticism of the universal 
application of his conclusions by certain scientific men was taken to 
mean that the theory of evolution was being abandoned. ‘The real 
situation is that every proposed explanation may prove inadequate, 
and. yet the fact of evolution remains to be explained. 

. All the explanations offered are partial explanations, which simply 
means that no one of them applies to all the facts. We need them 
all and more besides. So far from being abandoned, evolution is 
the basis of all biological work to-day. 

The method of comparison and inference continued until the be- 
ginning of the present century. Then came a new epoch in the 
history of evolution. 

(3) EHaperimentation—This may be called the modern period, 
in contrast with the medieval and ancient periods. It was ushered 
in by the work of DeVries, who introduced the experimental study 
of evolution, and announced his explanation of evolution by means 
of mutation. The problem was to discover whether one species 
actually produces another one. It had been inferred that it does, 
but inference is not demonstration. By means of carefully con- 
trolled pedigree cultures, DeVries discovered a plant in the actual 
performance of producing occasionally a new form among its 
numerous progeny. This form bred true and preserved its dis- 
tinctive characters; in other words, it was a new species or at least 
a different species from its parent. Many such species have now 
been observed originating in this way, both in plants and animals. 
That one species can produce another one is no longer inferred, but 
demonstrated, and demonstrated repeatedly. ‘There is no longer any 
doubt, therefore, that evolution is a fact. It is quite a different 
question whether the proposed explanations are adequate. 

When inferences were the only results, in the medieval period of 
evolution, it was natural to extend inference to the evolution of the 
plant and animal kingdoms, and this involved the origin of man. 
In these days there is no such attempt, for experimental demon- 
stration of the evolution of the whole series of organic forms, cul- 
minating in man, is clearly impossible. Biologists, therefore, are 
no longer concerned with the whole story of evolution, but only in 
discovering experimentally how one species may produce another 
one. The fact of evolution is established, but the whole story of 
evolution must remain an inference. 


PRESENT STATUS OF EVOLUTION 


Only a very general statement can be made of the present status 
of evolution, since a full statement would involve an extensive dis- 
cussion. The experimental study of evolution has led to the de- 
velopment of the field of genetics (heredity), a subject which has 


324 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


grown with remarkable rapidity. It is genetics which must un- 
cover the machinery of evolution, which of course is fundamentally 
a matter of inheritance. The facts thus far uncovered indicate 
complexities which were not realized before, but which should have 
been anticipated, for inheritance, with its resulting evolution, rep- 
resents the most complex biological situation imaginable. 

The present status of evolution as a body of doctrine may be said 
to be in a state of flux, out of which the truth will emerge eventually. 
Any meeting of biologists at which evolution is discussed discloses 
considerable diversity of opinion, not as to the fact of evolution, but 
as to some attempt to explain the process. 

It is evident, of course, that whatever produces variation furnishes 
a basis for evolution. But what produces variation? Environ- 
ment is one factor; sex is another factor, especially when strains 
are crossed; and other factors might be cited. Any factor claimed 
to induce variation must stand the test of genetics. Variations, 
however, produced, are of two general kinds, as indicated by be- 
havior, namely, the so-called continuous variation of Darwin’s ex- 
planation, and the so-called discontinuous variation of DeVries’s ex- 
planation. The differences of opinion have to do with the method 
of variation production; that is, variation that may result in a new 
species. 

After such variation is secured, there is no question as to the func- 
tion of selection. It is merely a statement of fact to say that some 
variations persist and some are eliminated. It is a very different 
matter to claim that only the “ fit” persist. In some way the selec- 
tion is made, and the selection factors may be quite variable. In 
general, it may be said that there is no serious difference of opinion 
that evolution is based on variation and subsequent selection. It 
is only a matter of detail to determine the exact factors. 

There is a much more serious problem of evolution, however, 
which is still baffling. ‘The variations observed, which result in new 
species, as tested by genetics, and for which the cytological ma- 
ehinery has been observed, produce species either laterally or retro- 
gressively; that is, species of the same rank or of declining rank. 
There is as yet no adequate explanation of progressive evolution, the 
advance from one great group to another of higher rank. Progres- 
sive evolution is a very evident fact, as shown by many an im- 
pressive series disclosed by the geological records. The theory of 
“ orthogenesis” is often cited as an attempt to explain progressive 
evolution. Orthogenesis is not an explanation, however, but a name 
for progressive evolution. The fact remains to be explained. The 
multiplication of species is within the reach of experimental study 
as to causes and methods, and the results are leading to conclusions 


HISTORY OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION—COULTER 325 


that may vary with the investigator, but which will be checked up 
by further investigation. The progressive advance of species, how- 
ever, is still within the region of inference. It is something like 
the difference between the tracks in a switch yard and the main line. 
We have succeeded in investigating the switching, but the through 
trains are baflling. 

PRACTICAL RESULTS 


I wish now to call attention to the practical results that the study 
of evolution has made possible. The experimental study of evolu- 
tion, leading to the development of the science of genetics, resulting 
in increasing knowledge of the laws of inheritance, has led to prac- 
tical results which the public in general do not appreciate. I shall 
select only one illustration from very many, but it will serve to in- 
dicate the sort of service the study of evolution has rendered in a 
practical way, in addition to its service in the advancement of knowl- 
edge. I have selected the revolution in agriculture. It seems a far 
ery from speculations concerning evolution to a revolution in agri- 
culture, but the continuity is unbroken. Speculation led to observa- 
tion; observation led to experimentation; experimentation resulted 
in discovering Jaws of inheritance; and the application of these laws 
has enabled us to handle plants and animals in a way that was 
never dreamed of before. It is a good illustration of the fact 
that there is no sharp dividing line between what are called pure 
science and applied science, for pure science may prove immensely 
practical. 

A very brief statement will illustrate the agricultural results in 
the application of our knowledge of inheritance. It had become 
evident, for example, that for various reasons the ratio of increase in 
population was much greater than the ratio of increase in food pro- 
duction. The statement was made that during the 10 years pre- 
ceding the great war our population had increased 20 per cent, and 
our food production about 1 per cent. It was certainly an alarm- 
ing outlook. Under these circumstances, plant crops began to be 
studied from the standpoint of genetics, and plant breeding became a 
science. 

The lack of crop production arose chiefly from three causes; 
namely, lack of adaptation of crops to environment, destruction by 
drought, and destruction by disease. The same races were being 
cultivated everywhere, and only in certain places was the maximum 
result obtained. A study of races of crop plants throughout the 
world, and of the environment necessary for maximum yield, re- 
sulted in such an adjustment of crops to conditions that total food 
production was enormously increased. 


326 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


The problem of drought is being rapidly solved by the discovery 
or development of drought resistant races, not only insuring against 
loss from this cause, but also enormously increasing the possible area 
of cultivation. 

The problem of disease has been attacked in the same way, and 
disease resistant races of most of the important crops have been 
developed, much reducing loss from this source. As a result, food 
production is now beginning to overtake population, and we may 
thank the persistent study of evolution for the result. 

To summarize the present situation in reference to evolution, the 
following statements may be made. Biologists are testing the 
earlier conclusions by means of the multiplying facts. They are 
continually discovering factors which complicate the situation. 
They must learn the influence of factors by experimentation. As a 
result the problem of evolution has been discovered to be very com- 
plex, not to be explained so simply as had been supposed, and there- 
fore is still “in the melting pot,” as a distinguished scientist has 
remarked. All this means, however, that although this difficult 
problem has not been solved in all its details, it is still recognized 
by every biological investigator as a problem to be solved. It is 
not the fact of evolution that is being tested, but the explanation 
of evolution. 


BARRO COLORADO ISLAND BIOLOGICAL STATION 


By ALFRED O. Gross, PH. D. 


Bowdoin Oollege, Brunswick, Me. 


[With 9 plates] 


The great value of a biological laboratory offering facilities for 
the study of living creatures in their natural environment has long 
been recognized, and as a consequence we find excellent institutions 
of this nature located in favorable situations throughout the tem- 
perate regions of North America. Until recently, however, the 
student of animal and plant life has not been given the opportunities 
of a laboratory in the Tropics where the jungle offers a virgin field 
in a new world of life. 

Our knowledge of life in the jungle has been more or less limited 
to collections made by various expeditions sent out by museums and 
individuals interested in the Tropics. Too-often the primary object 
of these expeditions has been to secure large numbers of specimens, 
whereas a detailed study of these creatures has been secondary and 
limited to random notes taken at the time the specimens were col- 
lected. The success of these expeditions has been measured, and 
necessarily so, by the number of specimens collected, rather than by 
the hours and days of study devoted to the behavior of a single indi- 
vidual. The pioneer work of collecting is basic and must be done 
first, but as far as the birds and mammals of the American Tropics 
are concerned we now have a fairly complete knowledge of the 
species to be found, and the time is ripe for more intensive life his- 
tory work. Such work, however, can not be carried on in the jungle 
to the best advantage without the facilities of a laboratory located in 
the midst of the field of operations. 

I am indebted to Dr. Thomas Barbour of the Museum of Compara- 
tive Zoology, Cambridge, Mass. and to Prof. Alexander G. Ruthven 
of the University of Michigan for making it possible for me to spend 
the summer, June to September, 1925, in studying the birds in a 
jungle laboratory, the Laboratory of the Institute for Research in 
Tropical America located on Barro Colorado Island, Canal Zone. 

Barro Colorado Island is the largest island in Gatun Lake, formed 
at the time the Chagres River was dammed in constructing the canal. 

327 


328 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


The birds and other animals which formerly existed in the lowlands 
were forced by the gradually rising water to seek higher levels, and 
as a result there is to-day an unusual concentration of animal life in 
the jungles.covering the top of this partially submerged mountain. 
The island is 3.4 miles long and 3.1 miles wide, comprising 3,609 
acres, with a very irregular coast line of about 25 miles. Practically 
the entire area is covered with a vegetation representing primeval 
conditions. The surface of the island is hilly, some of the hills reach- 
ing an elevation of 537 feet above sea level, or about 450 feet above the 
average level of Gatun Lake. Running down between the hills, hidden 
from view by the luxuriant vegetation, are rocky brooks which during 
the rainy season pour turbulent streams into the numerous coves form- 
ing the jagged coast line of the island. These coves are a joy to the 
naturalist who wishes to explore the interesting recesses of the jungle 
in a cayuca, the native dugout canoe. Many of these coves are dotted 
with the stumps and trunks of trees which have been flooded for 
more than 15 years. Practically all of the trees standing in the lake 
are now dead, but many of the stumps are laden with masses of 
ferns, mosses, and other epiphytic plants, including several species 
of beautifully colored orchids. Birds have found here admirable 
nesting sites which are free from the hosts of enemies which are ever 
present on the mainland. In certain places most of the tree trunks 
immersed in the tropical water so long have rotted at the water level, 
fallen, and then, driven by the winds, have collected in protected 
coves, where they are anchored by projecting snags or hemmed in 
between tree trunks. These log masses form floating islands, many 
of which have already grown up with grasses and various plants, 
producing inviting places for the crocodiles and lizards to bask in 
the sun, and excellent feeding places and nesting sites for a host of 
birds. As time goes on, the environment as far as these creatures are 
concerned will improve, and, with the protection given them by the 
Institute for Research, is destined to provide a richness of life the 
equal of which will be found in but few places of the world. On the 
island, it is stated, there are over 2,000 species of flowering plants, 
innumerable species of insects, comprising many yet undescribed, 
and numerous reptiles, amphibians, birds, and mammals whose 
strange habits and life histories are yet unstudied. Since the island 
has been set aside as a reservation, trails, many of them named after 
benefactors and distinguished naturalists, have been surveyed and 
cleared so that all the more interesting sections of the island are 
readily accessible to those who desire to study the wealth of living 
forms in this wonderland jungle. 

We are indebted to Mr. James Zetek, entomologist of the United 
States Department of Agriculture, stationed at Ancon, Canal Zone, 
who first pointed out the great possibilities of this island as a reser- 


BARRO COLORADO ISLAND—GROSS 329 


vation to be preserved for all time for students of the Tropics. Dr. 
Thomas Barbour, who is greatly interested in all research which per- 
tains to the Tropics, encouraged the idea. It was through their 
untiring efforts, with the aid of fellow scientists, that the island was 
set aside as a reservation on April 17, 1928, by the Governor of the 
Canal Zone and that a laboratory has been built and maintained. 
The island has been assigned for scientific purposes to the Institute 
for Research in Tropical America, which was organized in 1922 
under the auspices of the National Research Council, to promote 
research in the Tropics. The laboratory is supported in part by 
various scientific and educational institutions under the research 
table plan, which means that the institution, by maintaining a table, 
can nominate research men to hold it. At present the laboratory is 
under the direct charge of Mr. James Zetek, who serves as custodian 
and with his assistant, Mr. Ignacio Molino, is devoting much time and 
energy toward the development of this important station. 

The following excerpt illustrates how the station is appreciated 
by visiting scientists. It is taken from a letter written August 4, 
1926, to Mr. Zetek by Dr. David Fairchild, agricultural explorer in 
charge, United States Department of Agriculture, after his return 
from an extensive exploration : 

I have not seen any place in my travels which compares with Barro Colorado 
Island in point of excitement of the field naturalist kind. In Java and 
Sumatra the Dutch have built palatial laboratories, but these are far removed 
from the fresh, new jungle. In Ceylon the British have an agglomeration of > 
buildings like the Department of Agriculture, but it is surrounded on all sides 
with tea plantations. Everywhere it is the destructive activity of man that 
is clearing off the jungle and replacing the gorgeous forest with weedy growth 
or plantations of rubber trees. Hold the virgin character of Barro Colorado at 
all costs. 

Dr. Frank Chapman, curator of the Department of Birds of the 
American Museum, New York City, writes as follows: 

Some 400 species of birds have been recorded from the Canal Zone, and the 
greater part of these occur on or near Barro Colorado. The island’s chief 
distinction as a station for bird study, however, is the facilities it affords the 
bird student and the assurance it gives him of making long-continued observa- 
tions under the undisturbed conditions of insular isolation. In no other place 
have I seen these conditions approached. 

Doctor Chapman has selected Barro Colorado as the scene and 
source of materials for his new museum group to represent the bird 
life of the American Tropics. 

There are many features of the Canal Zone which are destined to 
make Barro Colorado one of the most important and popular bio- 
logical stations in the Tropics. First of all is its accessibility, for 
it may be readily reached by steamers from all parts of the world. 
Steamer service with the United States is frequent and rapid. One 


330 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


can go from New York to Cristobal on the Panama Railroad Steam- 
ship Line via Haiti or on the United Fruit Co.’s Line via Cuba in 
about eight days; steamers going direct make the trip in less time. 
The United Fruit Co. offers each year a limited number of passes to 
properly accredited persons who wish to conduct research work at 
the biological station and the Canal Zone Government. has made 
most liberal concessions, which are greatly appreciated by all of the 
scientists who have thus far worked at the laboratory. The Govern- 
ment offers a $50 rate on the Panama Railroad steamers and gives 
passes on the Panama Railroad to each investigator sanctioned by 
the National Research Council and to members of his family. This 
latter concession is of the greatest importance, since the railroad is 
the only means of going to and from the laboratory to the terminal 
cities and it also puts the investigator in convenient reach of all 
parts of the Canal Zone territory. There are at present no facilities 
on Barro Colorado Island for the families of the research workers, 
but the Government offers the privilege of renting a house or an 
apartment in Ancon or Balboa, where very comfortable furnished 
quarters can be had at a reasonable price. No persons except those 
in some way connected with the service of the Government may 
reside in the Canal Zone, hence this concession is also a great induce- 
ment to visiting scientists who expect to take their families. 

Barro Colorado Island being in the Canal Zone is comparatively 
free from many of the diseases usually associated with the Tropics. 
No one needs to take special precautions against malaria or typhoid 
fever, and yellow fever and bubonic plague are unknown. During 
the rainy season, the time I was there, flies and mosquitoes were 
negligible. I have never been in the woods anywhere during the 
summer season where I suffered so little from the bites and stings 
of insects. I went equipped with mosquito tents to be used inside 
my blinds while studying birds in the jungle, but these remained 
in my trunk untouched all summer. During the dry season, however, 
I am told mosquitoes and ticks are pests to be reckoned with, and 
unless one exercises care he will become infested with the so-called 
“red bugs” which are an irritating menace. 

In addition to the equipment already mentioned there are popular 
and technical libraries, clubs, various educational organizations, as 
well as numerous other inducements, which serve to make the 
environment of the research worker in Panama most attractive. 

The Canal Zone is subject to the influence of two annual seasons, 
the duration of which is correlated with the prevailing winds. Dur- 
ing the dry season the northeast trade winds blowing daily from 
December to May are accompanied by more or less precipitation on 
the Atlantic side, while on the Pacific slope there is a true dry season. 
During the wet season, beginning usually about the latter part of 


BARRO COLORADO ISLAND—GROSS 331 


May and ending the first of December, southerly winds become 
dominant, and rains are general throughout the Isthmus. During 
the time I spent in the Zone (June to September) the climate was 
very pleasing and comfortable. I do not recall that the heat was 
ever as oppressive as on some of the summer days I have experienced 
in our northern cities, and the nights were never as hot as they 
frequently are on the plains of the Middle West States. The 
evenings were usually cool, and though we seldom used blankets 
there was never a night when we were obliged to lie awake because 
of great heat. The temperature during August ranges from 71° F. 
at night to 90° F. in the daytime. The December extremes are 
69° F. to 89° F., only slightly lower than the summer temperature. 
It is this uniformity of temperature which tires and which seems 
to sap the energy and vitality of those who remain in the Tropics 
for more than a few years. To a person who goes to the Zone for 
a few months or at most a year the climate does not give the im- 
pression of being oppressive. Of course, it is necessary to adapt 
your clothing to the climate, and it is only the most ambitious 
who exert themselves physically during the hottest hours of the 
more humid days. 

In the Republic of Panama there are three life or faunal zones 
represented, the lower and upper Tropical Zones which include 
most of the country and a Temperate Zone limited to comparatively 
small areas on the tops of some of the highest mountains. In the 
canal region there is only the lower Tropical Zone, a zone which 
includes an area of high temperature in which many species of 
plants and animals range in suitable places throughout its extent 
while others are restricted to the so-called arid and humid divisions 
or else reach their greatest development there. The rainfall is much 
greater, some years twice as great, in the humid than in the arid 
division. The average rainfall for 13 years at Balboa on the Pacific 
side of the Isthmus, which is in the arid division of the lower 
Tropical Zone, is 71.67 inches whereas an average for 40 years at 
Cristobal on the northern or Atlantic side is 130.03 inches. Although 
the amount of rainfall is important the most significant difference 
between the two sides of the Isthmus representing the two divisions 
of the life zone is the comparative continuity of the supply. In the 
humid division which extends from the Atlantic Ocean nearly to the 
Continental Divide, moisture in the form of rain and fog is received 
at short intervals throughout the year, whereas in the arid division 
there are long periods of drought. As a result of these contrasting 
conditions the leaves are persistent and a luxuriant evergreen forest, 
the so-called “rain forest,” is found on the Atlantic slopes, while 
in the arid division on the Pacific side the leaves are largely de- 
ciduous, the forests turn brown, and the savannas become parched in 


doz ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


appearance during the dry season. This striking difference in the 
vegetation of the two divisions of the lower Tropical Zone is closely 
correlated with a corresponding difference in the animal life. On 
Barro Colorado Island we find the rain forest supporting a flora 
and fauna characteristic of the humid division of the lower Tropi- 
cal Zone, and the immediately contiguous area supplies haunts for 
aquatic species and others which are characteristic of clearings and 
cultivated lands. 

In this paper it is impracticable to go into the details of the life 
zone or even the chief biological features of the island, but I will 
restrict myself to an account of my work, some experiences with 
the birds studied, and some of the mammals met during the course 
of my summer in the Canal Zone. The reader is referred to the 
titles listed at the end of this paper for other aspects of the biology 
of Barro Colorado Island. 

In much of my work Mr. Josselyn Van Tyne, a recent graduate of 
Harvard University and now a graduate student at the University 
of Michigan, was associated with me. Mr. Van Tyne is a thorough 
and enthusiastic student of ornithology and his genial companion- 
ship is one of my pleasant memories of the summer. Many phases 
of our work, especially those which demanded constant uninterrupted 
observation, would have been impossible without the cooperation 
of a fellow worker. Mr. Van Tyne and I did not go to the station 
with any intention of studying the bird life as a whole and we made 
no great effort to identify a large list of representative species. 
Our main objective was to study a few species more or less inten- 
sively. This kind of work is yet a new field in the Tropics, and it 
added no little zest to our work to know that we were photographing 
and learning the habits of certain species for the first time. Only 
such specimens as were needed for identification were taken and it 
is gratifying to know that the collecting of large serges of skins is 
strictly prohibited. In addition to our needs in identification we 
tried to make the most of the specimens secured. Each bird col- 
lected was carefully weighed, a series of about 20 measurements 
were taken, and the color determinations of the iris and parts of the 
bird which are subject to quick change after death were made before 
the bird was skinned. Weights and determinations of the food, 
external and internal parasites, and diseases were all given special 
attention. We found the equipment of the laboratory, which in- 
cludes a drying room, scales, microscopes, a complete supply of 
chemicals and glassware, and a well lighted and screened workroom, 
ideal for this kind of detailed work. Furthermore there is an ex- 
cellent dark room, ice for cooling developers, running water for 
washing negatives, all that could be desired for our work in 
photography. 


BARRO COLORADO ISLAND—GROSS 333 


Our field studies were confined chiefly to birds which were nest- 
ing, for it is then that their life is centered around a restricted 
area where much of their behavior can be successfully studied from 
blinds. It is also easier to secure photographic records of the 
birds under such conditions. I must admit that we went to the 
island with considerable apprehension as to our probable success 
in finding many birds nesting after the end of June, but in this 
connection it is interesting to note that we found so much material 
that practically all the life history work of the summer was con- 
ducted within a few hundred yards of the laboratory. I am greatly 
indebted to Mr. Frank Drayton, caretaker of the station, who 
assisted me in locating nests for the field studies. 

To anyone who attempts to gain a general impression of the bird 
life of the Canal Zone by a trip across the Isthmus via train the 
results are unsatisfactory and perhaps disappointing so far as num- 
bers are concerned, but to me those first impressions of Panama 
from the train were strong ones, and I still have vivid memories 
of that initial experience in the Canal Zone. Soon after leaving 
Cristobal the train passes through a marsh which at that time of 
the year (June) was alive with herons, of which I noted three 
different species. Here I saw those beautiful immaculate white 
egrets (Herodias egretta) which stood out in striking contrast 
with the dark colors of the surroundings. As we passed a dense 
mass of vegetation growing in the water near to the tracks, about a 
dozen little blue herons (/lorida caerulea) in white and gray phases 
of plumage were startled by the train and a little farther along I 
saw several black-crowned herons (Butorides striata) perched in 
the top of a palm tree. After leaving the marsh there were fewer 
birds, but the vegetation was very interesting and we had excellent 
views of Gatun Lake as we skirted around its eastern border. In 
the topmost branches of a dead tree partially submerged by the 
lake was a small group of Brazilian cormorants (Phalacrocorax v. 
vigua). I looked eagerly for the water turkey or snake bird 
(Anhinga anhinga) but it was not until weeks later that I saw this 
bird when making a trip up the Chagres River on the police boat. 
Soon after leaving the station of Monte Lirio I saw for the first 
time several black jacanas (Jacana nigra) striding in a most adept 
manner over the lily pads of a small lagoon. When we stopped at 
Frijoles several anis (Crotophaga ani) were there to greet us and 
then as the train continued toward the Continental Divide I had 
fleeting glimpses of many birds, but with the exception of a Panama 
erimson-backed tanager (amphocelus dimidiatus isthmicus) I was. 
unable to identify any of them. At Balboa the first birds to attract 
my attention after leaving the train were flocks of noisy paraquets 
(Brotogeris jugularis), which flew about in solid masses, some of 


334 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


them so near the ground that I saw a boy wing one of them with a 
club, These birds literally infest the trees along certain streets and 
always seem in evidence much as are the English sparrows in our 
northern cities. ' 

After locating my family in comfortable quarters in Balboa and 
securing collecting permits from the Governor, Mr. Zetek arranged 
to take me to the island. We took the train to Frijoles, a small 
plantation village located at the tip of an arm of Gatun Lake, a con- 
venient place for transferring our baggage to the laboratory launch. 
As we followed the channel leading out to Gatun Lake we passed 
several thatched native huts surrounded by banana plantations and 
here and there were groups of palm trees further to remind us that 
we were in the Tropics. I saw but few birds in going across the 
lake, merely a number of Brazilian cormorants that were perched 
on the dead tree stumps and a flock of brown pelicans (Pelecanus 
occidentalis) which were flying over in their characteristic align- 
ment. As we crossed the channel of the Canal a great steamer bore 
down upon us. We succeeded in crossing its bow in plenty of time 
but the waves which followed were enough to make some of us think 
of the life preservers. As we were getting adjusted to the waves I 
noticed a giant kingfisher (Streptoceryle t. torquata) perched on the 
top of a channel buoy where he seemed to enjoy his ride much more 
than some of the persons in the launch. We came to a view of the 
station suddenly and unexpectedly as we rounded a point of the 
island. ‘There before us, nestled on a hill high above the lake 
and surrounded by giant trees of the tropical forest, were the build- 
ings of the station. Leading from the boat landing to the laboratory 
is a long series of steps, over 200 I was told, a number I soon learned 
to appreciate. The climb to the top is worth the effort of any visitor 
to the island, for from the laboratory door you have a remarkable 
panoramic view of Gatun Lake and the surrounding jungle. ‘There 
is always something interesting to be seen no matter what time of 
the day you chance to be there. The place seems much like a zoo- 
logical garden and among your expectations will be the toucans 
with their enormous and highly colored bills, gorgeous trogons, the 
long-tailed motmots, dozens of screaming parrots and paraquets and 
countless smaller birds including brilliantly irridescent humming- 
birds and highly colored manakins. The presence and notes of 
these birds mingled with the howls of monkeys and the cries of un- 
seen creatures in the forest make the place weirdly fascinating. The 
first time that I walked down the trails alone and heard the queer 
sounds, the source of which I could not guess, I felt uncomfortable 
and ill at ease at times, but after living there a few weeks, you soon 
learn that the animals of the jungle, even the larger ones like the 


BARRO COLORADO ISLAND—GROSS 335 


peccaries, monkeys, the ocelot, and the jaguar, are much more afraid 
of you than you are of them. 

The first bird which received special attention after landing at 
the station was the oropendola (Zarhynchus w. wagerli), a large, 
beautiful bird marked with rich brown, black, and yellow, commonly 
known as the hangbird or hangnest. This bird, which nests in large 
communities, attaches its long, pendent nest to the topmost branches 
of the tallest trees, that often tower high above the other trees of 
the jungle. A tree of this kind which contained about 50 nests 
formerly stood in the back yard of the laboratory, but, unfortu- 
nately, it was blown down by a storm. An examination of the nests 
revealed that only two of them were occupied. These contained half- 
grown young that were killed when the tree crashed to the ground. 
We preserved the young and all of the nests, which gave us a fine 
series for measurements and study. The birds remained in the 
vicinity several days after this catastrophe, apparently very much 
attached to the old nesting tree. The large number of birds that 
were there before and after the tree fell lead us to infer that the 
nests may be used for roosting places long after the young birds are 
able to fly. ‘The presence of oropendolas about the laboratory was 
always made known by their characteristic calls, which are so dif- 
ferent from those of other birds. The notes have a peculiar gurgling 
liquid quality, which has been described as “ wo-kee’, oak-la-hom’ e,” 
reminding one somewhat of the notes of their relatives, the bobolinks 
and the redwings, all members of the family Icteridae. At other 
times there were notes which sounded much like those produced when 
large pebbles are thrown into the water. Later in the summer we 
found another oropendola tree, which stood near the head of an 
adjoining cove, but the height of the tree and the inaccessibility of 
the nests made it very impracticable for life-history study. 

On June 28 one of the Indian boys at the laboratory found a 
pendent nest of a small flycatcher attached to a long, flexible stem 
overhanging the water of the lake in a place not far from the boat 
landing. When it was pointed out to us it did not seem like a nest 
but appeared more like a bit of grass and débris which had acci- 
dentally become lodged in that position. The entrance to the nest 
was unusual in that it was completely hidden from view by a cov- 
ered pasageway, which further aided in its concealment. The 
entire structure and location of the nest seemed to us ideal, as far 
as protection from enemies was concerned. It was out of the reach 
of peccaries, coatis, and members of the cat family, and even the 
prowling, mischievous monkeys would not dare to descend such a 
slender branch so near the water. Before the summer had progressed 
very far we found many of these nests, some in similar locations 
along the margin of the lake but more of them overhanging the water 


336 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


of the brooks in the deep recesses of the forest. Not a single nest, 
however, was found remote from the water. The large number of 
undisturbed nests of this species was convincing proof that it was a 
most successful type for conditions in the Tropics. 

The nest at the boat landing when found contained two fresh eggs 
of a flesh-ocher ground color with a broad band of ferruginous 
near the larger end. We built an observation blind on the shore 
where we could clearly see the bird as it approached and left the 
nest. After a few visits we were able to ascertain that the upper 
parts of our bird were a greenish olive, the underparts buffy yellow, 
the long tail black, and that there was brilliant sulphur-yellow patch 
on the rump. These characters were sufficient to identify our new 
flycatcher acquaintance as a species of Myiobius, but it was not until 
much later when we collected a specimen that we were able to 
identify it as the black-tailed myiobius (Myiobius atricaudus). This 
bird vibrated its wings so rapidly during flight that it produced a 
buzzing sound not unlike that made by a humming bird when hover- 
ing about the flowers. It was a very nervous creature and left the 
nest on the slightest provocation. Though the bird is completely 
hidden from view when on the nest it was evident that it could see 
us through the weave of nesting materials, and no matter how cau- 
tiously we approached she was quick to leave long before we reached 
the blind. At night she was not disturbed by my presence even 
when I threw on a flashlight to illuminate the nest. All that I 
could see of the bird at such times was her tail. There was not 
room in the small bowl of the nest for such a long appendage, hence 
she was obliged to hang it in the covered passageway while incubat- 
ing the eggs or brooding the young. As is the case with many birds 
in the Tropics, this fly catcher frequently left the eggs for long periods 
of time during the warmer hours of the day, but she always faith- 
fully brooded them at night. As far as I could determine only one 
bird, probably the female, did the work concerned in rearing the 
brood. Only at one time did I see a second bird about one of the 
nests and that was the occasion of a very spirited fight which resulted 
in the visitor leaving at once. To be sure the visitor may have been 
some other than her mate. The quick movements of the bird, com- 
bined with the poorly lighted situation and the dark colors of the 
surroundings, presented a difficult problem in photography. An 
exposure of sufficient length to insure an image always resulted in 
a worthless blur. This difficulty was overcome, however, by using 
light reflected from a large mirror manipulated by Mr. Van Tyne 
from a point across the cove. Satisfactory pictures were then se- 
cured by working the graflex with the stop wide open and with an 
exposure of one three hundred and fiftieth of a second. For the 


BARRO COLORADO ISLAND—GROSS 337 


pictures of the various stages of the young it was necessary to remove 
the birds from the nest. We were unable to photograph the bird 
in the act of feeding the young; neither was it possible for us to 
study this part of their behavior. 

In the course of our life-history work with any bird the eggs are 
measured and are weighed at different periods of incubation and 
after the eggs hatch, the young are weighed, measured, and photo- 
graphed each day until the time of leaving the nest. Since such 
frequent visits might interfere with the normal growth of certain 
birds, other nests of the same species are used as controls where visits 
are made not oftener than once or twice during a week. The data 
thus obtained give us a complete record of growth and behavior 
which is of value in making comparative studies. As an example 
it was found that the incubation period of the eggs of myiobius was 
21 days, whereas the flycatchers in the temperate regions hatch in 
much less time. Even the large eggs of such representatives as the 
kingbird do not require more than 15 days’ incubation and the 
smaller flycatchers which are about the size of myiobius hatch in 
about 12 days. Furthermore the time spent by the young of this 
species in the nest was three weeks, whereas flycatchers of this size in 
the North are equipped with a plumage and ready to fly in about 
one-half of that time. Whether these conditions are general in the 
‘Tropics remains to be determined by further work and it is yet 
too early to advance a theory to account for this striking difference 
in the flycatchers. Another fact, which has been noted by others 
but emphasized by our observations, is that in general birds in the 
Tropics lay fewer eggs than the birds in the temperate regions. 
With very few exceptions there were not more than two eggs in the 
nests we found in Panama, whereas representative species of the 
same families in the North lay four or more eggs. The purple gal- 
linule (Jonornis martinicus) which usually lays as many as eight 
eggs in the North, did not have more than three or four eggs in the 
nests which we studied in the Canal Zone. 

On August 4, Donato, the Indian boy, showed us a nest of the 
piliated tinamou (Crypturus soui panamensis), a fine game bird 
of the Tropics, located at the base of a palm tree on the Snyder- 
Molino trail. We approached cautiously and took several pictures 
of the bird on the nest at close range without the use of a blind. 
We then went nearer until I was able to touch the feathers of the 
bird. She did not move and when I persisted she picked at my 
fingers. Finally I reached under her breast to feel for the eggs, but 
this proved too much of an intrusion and she left the nest, walking 
leisurely into the dense undergrowth a few yards away. The two 
eggs were of a vinaceous brown, very different from the colors we 


338 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


generally associate with the eggs of birds. The eggs were laid 
on a mat of leaf fragments already in place when the nesting site 
was chosen. It was more or less concealed from above by giant 
leaves of a palm which had fallen to the forest floor. This tinamou 
seemed like a very promising subject and we arose with enthusiasm 
early the next morning to begin our life-history study. When we 
arrived at the place with our cameras and equipment our hopes were 
blasted for we saw a messed-up nesting site and the bird and eggs 
gone. But these misfortunes are a part of our life-history work and 
are to be expected. The birds inside the jungle, especially those 
which nest on the ground, are subject to frequent molestation. The 
struggle for existence is hard and it is a wonder that so many birds 
having similar nesting sites are able to maintain their numbers. 

The Formicariidae, the antbirds, are well represented on the 
island and it was our good fortune to find material for the study of 
several species of this interesting family. These birds spent much of 
their time on the ground, and as the name suggests probably feed 
largely on the ants which are very abundant in all parts of the 
jungle. A nest and two eggs of Slater’s antbird (Myrmeciza exsul) 
was found among the leaves of a low herbaceous plant by Mr. 
Drayton on July 25. The nest was made of coarse stems and roots 
and lined with fine rootlets and vegetable fibers. This bird, like the 
tinamou mentioned above, allowed me to come very near but when 
she finally flushed from the nest she ran along the ground actively, 
fluttering her wings and feigning a wounded creature. I followed 
to encourage her and to see what she would do. After performing in 
this manner for a distance of 20 yards she flew up to one of the 
lower branches of a tree and at once began uttering a loud piercing 
trill. As soon as this note echoed through the woods I heard a 
similar call answering in the distance. It was her mate and as 
soon as he appeared on the scene they produced such a commotion 
that it attracted all the other birds in the neighborhood. They added 
their notes one by one until the monkeys were aroused and soon 
the whole jungle was in a pandemonium, all started by one little 
antbird. During the middle of the day this bird generally sat on 
the edge of the nest guarding her eggs but toward evening as the 
temperature dropped she would nestle down on them for the re- 
mainder of the night. 

On July 6, when returning to the laboratory on the Barbour 
Lathrop trail, I discovered a fine little nest of the spotted-crowned 
antvireo (Dysithamnus puncticeps) located about 6 feet high in a 
small tree. The nest was partially suspended from a forked limb 
and had much the appearance of a poorly constructed red-eyed vireo’s 
nest. In order to study this bird to the best advantage I built a 


BARRO COLORADO ISLAND—GROSS 339 


blind with the floor slightly above the level of the nest, where I 
could look down into it, a good position for observation and pho- 
tography. The sides of the blind were covered with branches and 
large banana leaves, and for the top I used a piece of metal 
roofing secured at the laboratory. A roof is very essential during 
the rainy season because a torrential downpour is a part of your 
daily expectation and though a wetting of yourself is of little con- 
sequence it is important to keep your camera equipment dry. The 
study of these antvireos was one of my most pleasant ornithological 
experiences at the station and I became very much attached to these 
birds before it was ended. 

There was always complete cooperation in this family in all of 
the arduous tasks concerned with incubation and care of the young. 
The male and female relieved each other at regular intervals of 
two or three hours throughout the day. The birds approached the 
nesting tree walking on the ground rather than flying from the 
branches above. Just before the shift took place I could hear the 
approaching bird singing a sweet warbling song. When it reached 
the base of the tree it hopped to the lowest branch and then came 
up limb by limb, singing as it came. As it peered over the margin 
of the nest it seemed to utter notes of greeting, and then without 
further ceremony the birds exchanged places. Both birds sang and 
approached the nest in a similar manner, but it was interesting to 
note a slight difference in their behavior regarding the position 
assumed on the nest. The male usually faced the blind, as shown 
in the accompanying photograph, while the female with greater 
modesty nestled with her head in the opposite direction. While this 
study was in progress a spotted antbird (Hylophylax naevioides) 
built a beautiful nest, which I could clearly see and observe from the 
back porch of my blind. My attention and my interests from that 
time on were divided, a condition which might be compared to a 
two-ring circus. The spotted antbird, like the ant vireo, sang when 
it approached the nest. Long before I saw the bird I could hear the 
loud, clear, robin-like calls coming nearer and nearer from out of 
the depths of the jungle. When the male was about 10 feet away 
the female would fly off. He seemed to pay no attention to his 
mate, but continued toward the nest in a leisurely fashion, singing 
as he came. Much to my surprise, he would continue to sing after 
he was on the nest for several minutes. As I sat watching this 
beautiful enactment of life I could not help thinking that the spirit 
with which these birds approached their tasks is an example for all 
of us to follow. 


340 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


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vol. 15, No. 20, p. 457. 
STONE, W. 


1918. Birds of the Panama Canal Zone. Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci., Phila., 
p. 239. 
THAYER, J. E., and Bangs, O. 
1906. Vertebrata of the Savanna of Panama—aAves. Bull. Mus. Comp. 
Zool., vol. 46, p. 211. 
TOWNSEND, C. W. 
1925. An Island in the Tropics. Harvard Graduates Magazine, vol. 34, 
No. 188, p. 36. 
Van NAME, W. G. 
1926. Forest Isopods from Barro Colorado Island, Canal Zone. American 
Museum Novitates, No. 206. 
WHEELER, W. M. 
1924. Courtship of the Calobates. Journ. Heredity, vol. 15, No. 12. 
1925. A New Ant and other Formicidae from Barro Colorado Island, 
Panama. Biol. Bull., vol. 49, No. 3. 
1925. The finding of the Queen of the Army Ant., Hciton Hamatum, Fabr., 
Biol. Bull., vol. 42, No. 3. 
WISLOCKI, G. B. 
1926. Further Observations upon the Placentation of the Sloth (Bradypus 
griseus). Anatomical Record, vol. 32, No. 1. 
ZETEK, JAMES. 
1926. Barro Colorado Island Laboratory, Gatun Lake, Panama Canal Zone. 
See Shelford. 
(Many of the titles in the above list were taken from a list of papers 
published concerning Barro Colorado Island Biological Laboratory compiled 
by Mr. James Zetek.) 


Smithsonian Report, 1926.—Gross PLATE 1 


Mr. JAMES ZETEK, CUSTODIAN OF THE BARRO COLORADO ISLAND BIOLOGICAL 
LABORATORY, CANAL ZONE 


Photograph by John Howard Paine 


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Smithsonian Report, 1926.—Gross PLATE 3 


GENERAL VIEW OF THE BIOLOGICAL STATION ON BARRO COLORADO ISLAND, 
SHOWING THE LABORATORY SURROUNDED BY THE GIANT TREES OF A 
VIRGIN TROPICAL FOREST. AUGUST 13, 1925 


Photograph by A. O. Gross 


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THE DROWNED FOREST NEAR BARRO COLORADO ISLAND, 15 YEARS AFTER 
THIS AREA WAS FIRST FLOODED BY THE WATERS OF GATUN LAKE 


Photograph}by James Zetek 


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Smithsonian Report, 1926.—Gross PLATE 5 


NEST AND TWO EGGS OF THE PILEATED TINAMOU, CRYPTURUS SOUI PANA- 
MENSIS, AUGUST 4, 1925 


PILEATED TINAMOU, CRYPTURUS SOUI PANAMENSIS, INCUBATING HER Two 
EGGs. THIS PICTURE WAS TAKEN WITHOUT THE USE OF A BLIND. SEE 
TEXT, PAGE 337 


Photographs by A. O. Gross 


Smithsonian Report, 1926.—Gross PLATE 6 


1. THE ANTEATER, ONE OF THE INTERESTING MAMMALS OF BARRO COLO- 
RADO ISLAND. THE TERMITES’ NEST AT THE RIGHT IS ONE OF ITS CHIEF 
SOURCES OF FOOD 


2. A MOTHER TWO-TOED SLOTH AND HER BABY. A VERY CURIOUS AND 
COMMON ANIMAL ON BARRO COLORADO ISLAND. IT EATS, SLEEPS, AND 
LIVES IN AN UPSIDE DOWN POSITION 


Photographs by A. O. Gross 
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Galivl-xOV1q AHL AO SODAF OML AGNV LSAN ‘1 


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Smithsonian Report, 1926.—Gross PLATE 8 


1. SLATER’S ANTBIRD. MYRMECIZA EXSUL EXSUL. AUGUST 5, 1925. 
THE LIGHT PATCH SHOWING IN FRONT AND BACK OF THE EYE IS NAKED 
SKIN OF A BRIGHT SKY-BLUE COLOR. SEE TEXT, PAGE 338 


2. THE MALE SPOTTED-CROWNED ANTVIREO, DYSITHAMNUS PUNCTICEPS. 
SEE TEXT, PAGE 338 


Photographs by A. O. Gross 


Smithsonian Report, 1926.—Gross PLATE 9 


1. THE MALE SPOTTED ANTBIRD, HYLOPHYLAX NAEVIOIDES, SINGING 
WHILE SETTING ON THE NEST, JULY 18, 1925. SEE TEXT, PAGE 339 


2. PURPLE GALLINULE, IONORNIS MARTINICUS, APPROACHING HER NEST 
CONTAINING TWO FRESHLY HATCHED YOUNG AND TWO PIPPED EGGS 


This nest was built among the grasses of a floating island not far from the boat landing. It 
was observed daily from July 11 to August 4, the day the young left the nest 


GEOGRAPHY AND EVOLUTION IN THE POCKET 
GOPHERS OF CALIFORNIA’ 


By JOSEPH GRINNELL 


[With 1 plate] 


The most universally distributed type of rodent in California is 
the pocket gopher. It is found thriving at and below sea level, 
around the southern end of Salton Sea in Imperial County, and 
above timber line, at 11,500 feet altitude in the vicinity of Mount 
Whitney; it is found from the arid desert mountain ranges of the 
Inyo region, such as the Panamint Mountains, to the rainy and 
foggy coast strip at Humboldt Bay and Crescent City; it is found 
in the yielding sands of the Colorado River delta at the Mexican 
line and on the Modoc lava beds at the Oregon line. 

This fact of occurrence far and wide might seem to indicate a broad 
tolerance, tolerance of a number of conditions each varying between 
wide extremes. How is such an interpretation to be harmonized 
with the obvious fact that the pocket gopher is an exceedingly 
specialized type of rodent? Does not specialization ordinarily bring 
great restriction in habitat? A truism is this statement: The 
pocket gopher stock has solved successfully the problem of meeting 
the essential conditions of existence, else its racial line would not 
have persisted to the present day. Among races of animals the law 
is evident that only those budding forms persist and continue to 
evolve that are able to find suitable places, niches for themselves, in 
the economy of animal existence that are not already preempted 
and successfully occupied by other forms. 

The pocket gophers are rodents restricted to the Western Hemi- 
sphere; not only that, they comprise a family (Geomyidae) restricted 
to the continent of North America; furthermore, that family cen- 
ters in the southern half of the continent. The family Geomyidae 
contains several subdivisions—genera, in the parlance of the sys- 
tematist. The genus Zhomomys, to which all the gophers of Cali- 
fornia belong, is still further restricted to that portion of North 
America lying altogether west of the Mississippi River, and be- 
tween the twentieth and fifty-fifth degrees of latitude. As to origin, 


1 Reprinted by permission from the University of California Chronicle, July, 1926. 


343 


344 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


pocket gophers are of squirrel-like ancestry. But that was in very 
remote times, geologically speaking: for the particular genus 
Thomomys has been in existence since the Miocene period. Despite 
this long lapse of time, then, the group of rodents here under con- 
sideration has not found its way beyond certain geographic limits, 
and yet within those limits it is exceedingly abundant and wide- 
spread, in other words, successful. What was the place for itself 
that the nascent ancestral race, just becoming gopher-like, discovered, 
and which its descendants, continually specializing, have found so 
favorable ? 

Superficial examination of a garden gopher shows the animal to 
be remarkably formed throughout for existence underground. Ob- 
servation of its habits shows that in all probability each individual 
spends fully 99 per cent of its time underground. Its world is lim- 
ited by the earthen walls of a burrow which the animal is equipped 
to dig for itself through the soil. In one direction this burrow leads 
to safety for itself and young from enemies; at the other end it leads 
to food supply. Thus the conditions of existence for any vertebrate 
animal, safe refuges and breeding places, and food of right kind and 
sufficient amount, are met. _ 

But this discovery of a previously unappropriated means of sub- 
sistence, by adoption of the subterranean mode of life, has brought 
with it deficiencies in certain faculties not bound up with proficiency 
in digging. To dig, the animal must have short legs and a muscular 
body, especially anteriorly. The head of a pocket gopher is larger - 
in proportion to its body than is that of any other land mammal in 
California; there is no obvious neck constriction, and the shoulders 
are broad. The musculature having to do with the operation of the 
front feet is massive; and so also are the bones of the skull to which 
are attached the big muscles which operate the relatively heavy 
incisor teeth, these being the chief tools with which the gopher 
loosens the soil as it advances along its underground routes of ex- 
ploration for food, or digs to greater depths for more secure refuge. 
Obviously, the acquisition of all these modifications for burrowing 
has necessitated the loss of that litheness of body and length of limb 
which would enable it to move freely over the surface of the ground 
in search of food or in escape from enemies. -The pocket gopher is, 
indeed, well-nigh lacking in powers of locomotion overland. 

I‘urthermore, the pocket gopher is deficient relatively to other 
rodents with respect to eyesight and probably also with respect to 
hearing. It is almost as helpless outside of its burrow as a fish out of 
water. There may be some compensation in a heightened sense of 
touch, especially as localized in the nose and surrounding vibrissae 
and in the tip of the tail. While the animal has little need of being 


Smithsonian Report, 1926.—Grinnell PLATE 1 


1. A POCKET GOPHER, THOMOMYS BOTTAE, PHOTOGRAPHED FROM FRESHLY 
CAUGHT SPECIMEN, SHOWING EXTERNAL STRUCTURAL FEATURES CORRE- 
LATED IN THIS SCIUROID RODENT WITH SUBTERRANEAN MODE OF LIFE 


About one-half natural size. (See text, p. 344) 


2. SKULL OF A POCKET GOPHER, THOMOMYS BOTTAE (AT LEFT), CON- 
TRASTED WITH SKULL OF A TREE-INHABITING SQUIRREL, SCIURUS 
DOUGLASII (AT RIGHT); BOTH NATURAL SIZE 


The body weights of the two animals were approximately the same, namely, 225 grams. 
Note the reat development, of the facial parts of the gopher’s skull, as also the reduction 
of the orbit and the heavy ridging of the brain case. (See text, p. 345) 


Wyre 
eK im 
a" i 
wt ay ar 


-_ 


POCKET GOPHERS—GRINNELL 345 


apprised of goings-on outside the walls of its tunnel, it does need to 
be aware of conditions in front and behind. We find that it moves 
in its cylinder nearly as well in backward direction as forward. 

Since, as seems apparent, the general question of the pocket 
gopher’s occurrence over wide territory must take into account its 
very special mode of gaining a livelihood, it will be useful in our 
discussion to inquire further as to its digging proclivities and the 
structures correlated with these. Comparison of the pocket gopher 
as an extreme type of digger with, say, the California ground 
squirrel shows significant differences. While the brain case has in 
the two animals relatively about the same capacity, the skull of a 
gopher is four times as heavy as that of a ground squirrel, total 
weights of the two animals being considered. As indicated above, 
the skull and teeth of the pocket gopher, together with the muscles 
which operate them, comprise the chief engine of digging. This 
engine operates in powerful fashion in cutting away the earth, so as 
to make possible the rapid extension of the gopher’s underground 
system of passageways. The adequate housing of the heavy incisor 
teeth and the need of meeting the severe stresses during the action of 
the muscles which operate the jaws have resulted in the great 
thickening and ridging of the bones of the skull. We find that the 
fore feet are larger than the hind feet, a reversal of the ratio in 
animals which can run with agility, and the fore feet are provided 
with long, laterally compressed, curved claws. The forearm and 
shoulder are heavily muscled, and thus the actions of the jaws and 
teeth are supplemented in loosening and particularly in transporting 
the soil. 

So far as is known, no pocket gopher goes into dormancy at any 
season; none either aestivates or hibernates. The source of food upon 
which the pocket gopher can depend year in and year out and which 
it can seek in safety is comprised in the underground stems and root 
stalks of various grasses and herbs. These it gets almost altogether 
by digging its way to them; it gathers food only as it can advance 
under cover. While it is true that gophers do pull into the tem- 
porarily open mouths of burrows, stems and leaves of above-ground 
plants, these latter, I am led to believe, constitute only a minor frac- 
tion of the total annual food supply of the animal. The only de- 
pendable food source, continuing throughout the year, is comprised 
in underground stems and roots. And this is an exceedingly im- 
portant consideration in our present study, for the general geo- 
graphic limitation of 7homomys, to North America west of the one- 
hundredth meridian coincides with the territory where sharp alter- 
nation of dry and wet seasons is characteristic of the climate. 
Linked up with this climatic peculiarity there is undoubtedly in the 
Southwest relatively greater abundance of plants with nutritious 


346 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


roots and thickened underground stems, which tide over the dry 
season, than in the remainder of North America, where there is no 
long dry season. In other words, the ancestral pocket gophers of 
the remote past made the fortunate discovery of an oncoming type 
of food source correlated with the increasing aridity of what came to 
be a marked climatic and vegetational province. 

Restricting our attention now to Zhomomys as the genus occurs in 
California, I will revert to the fact of its well-nigh universal distri- 
bution within the State. How can the fact of this wide distribution 
be harmonized with the restriction in the animal’s mode of existence 
which we have just pointed out in some detail? Examination of the 
territory wherever pocket gophers thrive, from one end of the State 
to the other, does show most emphatically close concordance of occur- 
rence with those very, and special, conditions—of suitable food, and 
of consistency of soil which permits of digging. In other words, 
these two critical factors are widespread, and wherever they extend 
pocket gophers have gone. 

The hindrances, locally, to the spread of pocket gophers are 
comprised in, not altitude, not cold, not heat, but in discontinuity 
of ground wherein the pocket gopher can extend its burrows; in 
discontinuity of ground in which sufficient food of the kind the 
pocket gopher can use is available throughout the year; and of 
course, in impassable bodies or streams of water. In other words, 
we find operating as outright barriers to their distribution only 
ground such as lava flows which can not be penetrated by gophers, 
or ground which is too dry or too alkaline to support adequate plant 
growth for the gophers’ food throughout the year, or permanent 
streams or bodies of water which gophers can not cross. 

In this latter connection, the pocket gopher can thrive, we know, 
without ever drinking; in many parts of the State the only water it 
can get for long periods is contained in the plant tissues which it 
uses for food. On the other hand, the animal can live healthily in 
soil that is saturated with water. Yet it is forced out of the ground 
when the land is flooded, as during very heavy rains or when under 
irrigation. Not only a river itself, but the adjacent bottomland 
subject to overflow at high water, may thus be effective in limiting 
the spread of gophers locally. A gopher can swim short distances 
when forced to; but it does not take to water voluntarily. These facts 
bear on the problem of geographic differentiation of races now to be 
discussed. 

I have pointed out that, despite the pocket gopher’s extreme 
specializations in structure and habits, despite its restriction to a 
very narrow range of living conditions, yet the fact that these special 
living conditions are widespread has permitted of the very wide 


POCKET GOPHERS—GRINNELL 347 


distribution in California, of this type of rodent. Now we come to 
deal with the observation that while our pocket gopher as a genus 
exists in every county of California, from below sea level to almost 
the highest altitudes, from the hottest to the coldest portions of the 
State, and from the driest to the wettest belts, yet the species rep- 
resented under all these varying conditions is not the same; the genus 


122 
7 : 
LAA 
yi 


| T. bottae bottae 14.7. jacinteus 
2.T_ b. minor 15. T. altivallis 
3.T b laticeps 16. T. neglectus 
4.T. b. leucodon 17, T. alpinus alpinus 
5.7 b navus 18. T. a awahnee 
6.7 b mewa 19. T. perpallidus perpaliidus 
7.1. b. diaboli 20. T. p. albatus 
8.T b angularis . T. p. mohavensis 
9.T. b pascalis . I p. amargosae 
(0. 7. b infrapallidus . I p. perpes 
1. T b pallescens 4. T. p. melanotis 
12.T. b. nigricans . T p canus 
13.1. b. puertae . 7. scapterus 
y . TI operarius 
. T. cabezonae 
29. T. quadratus quadratus 
30. T. Q fisheri 
31. T. monticola monticola 
32. T. m. premaxillaris 
. Tm. mazama 


SS ,* 
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5 el Ci 
DISTRIBUTION MAP ac 


MUSEUM OF VERTEBRATE ZOOLOGY 


UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA 


SCALE 
25 


MILES 


Fic. 1.—Map showing the distribution of the species and subspecies of pocket gopher 
in California 


is broken up, as indicated on the accompanying map, into not less 
than 33 different races (species or subspecies), no two of them 
occupying precisely the same territory. And this fact signifies that 
the varying combinations of conditions resulting from the topo- 
graphic and climatic diversity in California have made their im- 
press upon the gopher substocks, which are more or less isolated 


348 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


from one another in what may be called differentiation provinces. 
It is our problem to inquire as to what factors among the present 
or recently past conditions have resulted in this isolation and 
consequent differentiation of all these various stocks. 

As will be observed from the map, the most conspicuous gopherless 
areas in California lie in the southeastern desert territory, chiefly on 
the Mohave Desert. Extended explorations of that arid territory 
have been made, with the special object of determining the kinds 
and numbers of rodents and other mammals present. Almost every 
square mile of those deserts, save on such evaporation floors as those 
of “ Searles Lake” and Panamint and Death Valleys (where there is 
a heavy deposit of saline substances, and no chance of plant growth), 
supports a large population of seed-gathering rodents—kangaroo 
rats, pocket mice, and ground squirrels of certain species. Through- 
out all the deserts there are, at times, heavy rains, though they may 
be at intervals of as long as three years; and such rains are followed 
by luxuriant growths of various herbs. These go to seed and thus 
give origin to a nutritious type of food, scattered by the winds 
throughout the drifting sands, to be sought out throughout the long 
dry intervals by the spermophilous mammals just named. But for 
the pocket gopher, specialized for gathering, masticating, and digest- 
ing roots and stems, and not for seed-gathering, the food resources 
of the desert are, over most of its extent, inadequate. Only here and 
there, on mountain tops, where rainfall is more copious and of more 
regular occurrence than in the surrounding territory, and about 
permanent springs, is there produced the proper type of vegetation 
for gopher consumption, in permanent supply. 

As a result of these special conditions of food supply, the general 
distribution of gophers on the deserts is conspicuously discontinuous ; 
the animals exist only in colonies here and there, because surrounded 
by unoccupiable desert; and such colonies are often far isolated 
from one another. The feeble powers of locomotion of the pocket 
gophers mean that they are unable to cross the barren intervals, and 
they are subjected to the same sort of factor, in evolutionary process, 
as land animals sequestered on islands in the sea. As happens under 
this circumstance the world over, we find that greater or less degree 
of inherent, subspecific or, indeed, specific, sets of differences char- 
acterize the more or less isolated stocks. 

As an example of races of pocket gophers which evidently owe 
their origin to the isolation afforded by discontinuity of food sup- 
ply, we may cite the form scapterus on the Panamint Mountains, 
which range rises high enough above the general base level of the 
surrounding desert to enjoy a fairly regular rainfall with a conse- 
quent copious growth of biennial or perennial herbs. 


POCKET GOPHERS—GRINNELL 349 


Another example, is the race amargosae, restricted to the imme- 
diate vicinity of the permanent springs in the otherwise dry and 
alkaline valley of the “Amargosa River,” at Shoshone, Inyo County. 
This quite distinct form, in the perpallidus group of gophers, may 
appropriately be looked upon as a relict form from earlier times 
when conditions of moisture much more generally prevailed in the 
Great Basin territory, and when the dependent fauna and flora were 
correspondingly widespread. Amargosae is not the only mammal 
at Shoshone dependent, directly or indirectly, on the presence of 
permanent water; for there is (or was a few years ago) a distinct 
race of meadow mouse (Microtus) occurring around the same 
springs. Then the springs themselves contain a unique species of 
fish, residuary of a stock which evidence shows occurred widely 
in the general region in former times. 

No pocket gopher whatsoever has been found in the depression of 
Death Valley, into which the “Amargosa River ” empties. The lowest 
parts of the valley are too intensely alkaline to support any vege- 
tation at all; and such water as there is around the margins is 
either too alkaline, too impermanent, or else too small in amount to 
have permitted the persistence of gophers there up until the present 
time. 

Even such general areas as that indicated on the small scale 
map for the race mohavensis are not at all continuously occupied 
by pocket gophers; and examination of representations from dif- 
ferent parts of such a general area shows minor differences char- 
acterizing the separated colonies. For example, those animals 
living in the bottom lands of the Mohave River differ slightly 
from those inhabiting the somewhat higher table-lands surrounding 
the Providence Mountains, in extreme eastern San Bernardino 
County. 

The Colorado River is significant in our study, in that it has 
evidently long served as an impassable obstruction to the transfer 
of pocket gopher populations in either direction. The race 
albatus, occupying the delta and “second bottom” on the western 
side of the lower course of the Colorado River, is distinctly different 
in numerous respects, chiefly relating to the skull, from the form 
chrysonotus of the mesa lands on the eastern or Arizona side of 
the river. The actual distance apart of the nearest populations of 
these two species is not more than 2 miles in places, yet the inter- 
vening river and its “first bottom,” of ancient existence and large 
and permenent volume, has acted effectively in preventing the inter- 
breeding of adjacent stocks. Complete isolation accompanied by 
even slight difference of environment accomplishes much, granted 
plenty of time. 


20837—27——_24 


350 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


A puzzle, at first glance, is offered by the occurrence of the two 
forms, albatus in the delta silts below Salton Sea, and perpallidus 
on the floor of the northwestern end of the same (Colorado) desert. 
Both races are restricted to fine-textured soil in the vicinity of 
water or where at least some underground seepage permits the proper 
growth of salt grass and other plants whose stems or roots are 
sought by gophers. Adbatus follows the western distributaries of 
the Colorado River over the delta, and of late has found wonderfully 
favorable conditions for itself, with resulting enormous spread and 
multiplication of its numbers, on the irrigated lands of the Imperial 
Valley. Perpallidus occurs chiefly at the mouths of permanent 
streams coming down the cafions out of the San Jacinto and Santa 
Rosa Mountains onto the floor of the northwestern end of the 
Colorado Desert, known locally as the Cahuilla Valley. Why 
should these two races be as distinct as they are from one another 
when the floor of the general desert area they occupy is continuous, 
and only about 150 miles in greatest length ? 

Not long ago, even measuring in years, the northwestern arm 
of the Colorado Desert was occupied by “ Blake Sea,” of which 
the present Salton Sea is the residuum. More remotely yet, the 
Gulf of California extended continuously up from its present 
terminus clear through the Cahuilla Valley; and to-day the floor 
of that desert is in many places covered with shells of ocean- 
inhabiting mollusks, and shore lines at sea level are to be seen 
along the bases of the mountains which rise abruptly on either 
hand. The rapidly accumulating silts from the Colorado River 
filled in the depression opposite its mouth and cut off the basin 
of Biake Sea; and the arid climate resulted in the disappearance 
of the waters of that sea by evaporation. But completion of this 
cutting off of Blake Sea and the evaporation of its waters was of 
quite recent occurrence. We can, I think, look to the former long 
and complete separation of the gopher stocks as resulting in per- 
pallidus and albatus, respectively, during the period that the waters of 
Blake Sea, at sea level, lapped the steeply rising rocks on either side, 
impassable to gophers. Complete isolation was thus afforded for 
the initial bottom land stocks of gophers at the northwest and to 
the southeast. With the retraction of the shores of Blake Sea, 
there is now no barrier between perpallidus and albatus, save as 
is comprised in unwatered tracts; and these are getting smaller 
with the spread of irrigation. It will be interesting to see what 
happens when and where the two gopher populations meet. 

An additional case of isolation by desert conditions is that of 
operarius at Owens Lake, also a member of the perpallidus group. 
Operarius is a quite distinct form, so distinct with respect to shape of 


POCKET GOPHERS 


GRINNELL 351 


skull and teeth that individual variation does not bridge over the 
structural interval between it and its near relative, perpes. Hence 
systematists call it a species, rather than a subspecies, the only cri- 
terion for the latter systematic rank being intergradation or blending 
of its characters with those of another race. Operarius is restricted 
to the vicinity of the permanent springs which occur around the 
eastern side of Owens Lake in the vicinity of Keeler. There, under 
conditions of moisture obtaining very locally, there is a luxurious 
and permanent growth of salt grass, upon which almost exclusively 
this species of gopher depends for food. 

An entirely different motif, as one may say, of differentiation is 
provided on the tops of isolated mountain peaks or ranges. In 
general, the 33 forms of the genus 7homomys in California fall into 
five “ groups ” of major systematic significance. These groups prob- 
ably represent much older periods of differentiation, and the sub- 
sidiary forms have budded from each of these major stems. The 
composition by races and the distribution of each of the five groups 
is illustrated by the differential shading of the areas of four of them 
on the accompanying map. The area for the bottae group is left 
unshaded. 

It will be observed that three of the groups, which may be called 
the botiae, perpallidus, and quadratus groups, respectively, are essen- 
tially lowland groups in that they occupy territory of relatively low 
altitude; while two, the monticola and alpinus groups, are high- 
mountain dwelling. In other words, it would appear that some con- 
dition associated with altitude has had critical effect in checking the 
unlimited spread of certain types upward and of certain other types 
downward. 

Relatively thoroughgoing trapping of gophers along a typical 
section, transversely of the Sierra Nevada, in the Yosemite region 
shows a sequence of forms by groups from west to east as follows: 
Pascalis, of the San Joaquin Valley floor, and mewa, of the some- 
what higher foothill, digger pine belt, belong to the bottae group; 
awahnee, of the alpinus group, occupies middle altitudes on the west- 
ern slope; monticola, of the monticola group, occupies the whole 
upper country from about the 6,000-foot level to timber line and 
through the passes and down onto the upper eastern slopes; and at 
the eastern base of the Sierra Nevada is fisheri, of the qguadratus 
group. (See accompanying profile, showing correlation with “life 
zones.”) It would appear from this sequence of forms that tem- 
perature does, after all, in some measure constitute a factor bearing 
critically upon the successful existence of, and hence determining the 
geographical limitation of, these several species and subspecies of 
pocket gophers. It might be supposed that relatively uniform tem- 


352 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


peratures would everywhere surround an animal staying below- 
ground; but a fact bearing on this suggestion is that the high- 
mountain gophers all winter do extensive burrowing through the 
snow, thereby reaching in safety stems of plants above the ground 
surface ! 

Returning now to the subject of isolation of high-mountain types 
on disconnected mountain masses, interesting examples are afforded 
on the highest mountains of southern California by members of the 
alpinus group. These are alpinus, in the vicinity of Mount Whit- 
ney; neglectus, on Mount San Antonio, of the San Gabriel Range; 
altivallis, on the San Bernardino Mountains; and jacinteus, on San 
Jacinto Peak. As a rule, low-level types of gophers intervene in the 
low passes between these boreal colonies, sequestered as they are by 
some factor involved in altitude. As a further example of montane 
sequestration we find at the north, in the monticola group, premazdl- 
laris set apart on the Yolla Bolly Mountains. But, curiously, we find 
mazama, of the same group, on the Trinity Mountains and on the 


LIFE ZONES 
ARCTIC ALPINE 


HUDSONIAN 
CANADIAN 
TRANSITION 
UPPER SONORAN 
LOWER SONORAN 


SEA LEVEL 


Fig. 2.—Sectional profile of the Sierra Nevada through the region of Yosemite, showing 
the location of the species and subspecies of pocket gopher according to altitude and life 
zone. 


Siskiyou Mountains, both these representations without any detect- 
able differences between them, separated by the valley of the Klamath 
River. This intervening valley is occupied by lewcodon, a member 
of the bottae group. 

With respect to differentiation within the lowland groups, we 
find an obvious association of the areas of differentiation with dif- 
ference in climatic humidity—rainfall, or perhaps cloudiness. In 
this connection, the general northwest-southeast trend of the areas 
of occupancy of the different members of the bottae group is sig- 
nificant. Comparison of this map of gopher distribution with a 
rainfall map of California shows the parallel. ‘Take an east-west 
section, gopherwise, from the coast at Santa Cruz, and we find 
bottae inhabiting the narrow, most humid, coastal belt; in the in- 
terior San Benito or other valleys, of lesser rainfall, we find 
angularis; on the hard-soiled, juniper-clothed ridges of the Diablo 
range, is diaboli; beyond this on the floor of the San Joaquin 


POCKET GOPHERS—GRINNELL 353 


Valley, but west of the river, is angularis again; to the eastward 
of the San Joaquin river flood-bottom is pascalis, chiefly in the 
bottom lands of the smaller rivers making down from the Sierras; 
and higher, on the hard-soiled foothills, is mewa. Bottae is dark- 
est colored of all, pascalis is palest colored in this series; bottae 
is largest, but angularis and pascalis are also large; diaboli and 
mewa are small, the latter smallest. It would appear that the effects 
of varying rainfall, or of cloudiness, or of relative humidity of 
the air, are registered in varying tone of color. And soil texture 
affects size. The trend of the long, narrow area of occurrence of 
each of these races happens to be with the trends both of the 
rainfall belts and the mountain axes. The comparative study of 
the outlines of the ranges of animals brings clues as to the essential 
conditions for the special existence of each animal. 

This matter of coloration of gophers presents a rather bafiling 
problem. The paler colored forms are generally associated with 
arid habitats; the darker colored with jhumid habitats. Bottae 
of the coast belt as compared with the almost white albatus of 
the Colorado delta presents an extreme amount of difference. Is 
the factor which has to do with these diverse conditions of color- 
ation, light, or temperature, or is it humidity of the air? 

Let us remember that whatever the locality, the pocket gopher 
stays fully 99 per cent of its time within the underground bur- 
row; and this burrow in desert territory, as well as elsewhere, may 
run through soil that is nearly or quite saturated with water, 
though, more often, it must be said, in deserts it extends through 
soil of relative dryness. In defense of the theory of concealing 
coloratien, it can be urged that the moment of greatest hazard 
to the animal is the moment when the gopher exposes itself to 
view at the mouth of its burrow in pushing out earth, even though 
the total time involved may comprise only a minute a day. It 
may be that the pallor of the desert-inhabiting gopher, like canus 
or jisheri, in a statistical majority of cases, brings success in elud- 
ing enemies. Not so consistent with this theory is the fact that 
there are dark-colored gophers which inhabit the white sands of 
river valleys in relatively humid and cloudy belts; also there are 
pale gophers in arid territories, which live in very dark-colored 
soil, as in the case of fishgvi in parts of the Mono Lake district. 
While in this particular matter of coloration no immediate explana- 
tion of the differences between the races is forthcoming, yet I have 
confidence that not only this, but each and every other character 
which we find to distinguish races, has its full adaptive justification 
in the scheme of existence. 


354 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


Some reader may ask what grounds I have for assuming that 
long lapse of time is involved in this process of racial differentia- 
tion. Why may not the observed differences be induced rather 
quickly, in one or a very few generations of gophers, as conditions 
change locally or as the animals move about, say from one kind of 
soil into another? In reply: For one thing, we find the animals 
“true to type,” in other words, relatively uniform in characters, 
each within its own distribution area—and this despite the great 
local differences in conditions. For example, bottae from the grassy 
tops of the Berkeley Hills is quite like bottae from the campus at 
Stanford University, and quite like bottae from the wooded slopes 
of the Santa Cruz Mountains, and also quite like bottae from the 
sand dunes at Seaside near Del Monte. 

For another thing, we have in the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology 
specimens, skins and skulls, preserved by members of the State 
Geological Survey 60 years and more ago, representative of several 
of our Californian races. Compared with specimens of the same 
races collected to-day I see no appreciable differences. 

And one other line of evidence pointing to the relative perma- 
nence of the species and subspecies with which we are dealing: 
From the Rancho La Brea asphalt deposits near Los Angeles there 
have been exhumed an abundance of excellently preserved skulls of 
Thomomys intimately associated with remains of certain mammals, 
now extinct, of known Pleistocene age. And those gophers show 
cranial characters identical with not only the species bottae, but 
with the subspecies padlescens as it exists in the vicinity of Los 
Angeles to-day. In other words, in upwards of 200,000 years which 
it is thought have passed since those Rancho La Brea gophers lived 
and died, there have been no changes in cranial features such as the 
systematist would recognize in separating geographic races existing 
to-day in different parts of southern California. This adaptive, 
evolutionary process is one which involves very long periods of 
time, therefore, when measured in years. 

To summarize: In this essay I have set forth some of the facts 
in the natural history of the pocket gopher. I have picked out for 
especial comment those features of the animal, as regards both 
habits and structure, which seem significant in a consideration of 
its general distribution. I have also emphasized the fact of the dif- 
ferentiation of the pocket gopher type fgenus Zhomomys) in Cali- 
fornia, into numerous races—species and subspecies. Furthermore, 
I have referred to the seeming correlation of area of occupancy in 
each race with relative uniformity of the conditions of existence for 
that race. The inferior powers of locomotion of this type of rodent, 
as compared, say, with the jack rabbit, has brought upon it a condi- 
tion of extreme provincialism, as it were. That is to say, especially 


OO 


POCKET GOPHERS—GRINNELL 355 


with the ccntributing agency of more or less impassable barriers 
here and there, each of the many and diverse “ gopher differentia- 
tion areas” thus formed in California has impressed its occu- 
pant with its stamp, namely, a peculiar combination of adaptive 
characters best fitting that gopher to carry on successfully existence 
in that restricted area. One more inference, of far-reaching impli- 
cations, fairly forces itself upon us—that evolution of habitats 
(differentiation areas) must have preceded and guided differentia- 
tion of the gopher stocks which came eventually under their impress. 


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HOW BEAVERS BUILD THEIR HOUSES! 
By Vernon Battery, U. 8S. Biological Survey 


[With 6 plates] 


Beaver intelligence is neither human nor superhuman, as some 
would have us believe, but for the beavers’ needs it meets, far better 
than human intelligence could do, every emergency of beaver life 
except one. The one exception is the man-made trap which swept 
these wise and useful animals to the verge of extinction before man 
began to realize the foolish waste of his greedy methods. Ages ago 
the beavers learned to cope with their natural enemies, to outswim, 
outdive, outbuild most of them, and so to live safe and comfortable 
lives. As builders of houses, dams, reservoirs, and canals, they 
have become famous and have won admiration and respect. 

Their houses are not only homes, but fortifications, affording con- 
venient, comfortable, and sanitary living quarters, and safe retreats 
from most of their enemies. A well made and long-established 
beaver house, with thick walls of tangled logs, sticks, roots, sod, and 
mud would bafile any animal less powerful than a bear, armed with 
strong claws and teeth, or man, armed with cutting tools. Even 
the bear and the man would be so long delayed in forcing an en- 
trance that the occupants of the house would be far out of danger’s 
way, and safely hidden in some other house or secure bank burrow. 

Before a beaver house is begun a satisfactory location must be 
selected. Sometimes it is far from shore, out in water 5 or 6 feet 
deep, sometimes on the bank of a lake or stream, and often on 
a floating marsh just back from the edge of deep water, but always 
where a doorway from the bottom of the house leads down into water 
deep enough to remain open all winter under the ice. Out in the 
lake this is simple enough, and the doorway may open out in any 
direction; on the bank a long tunnel or subway must be dug from 
deep water up under the house to serve as an entrance and exit; on 
a floating marsh the beavers must swim under the sod and cut a 
hole up through to the surface, later building their house around 
and over it, perhaps the simplest and safest method of all. 


1 Reprinted by permission from Journal of Mammalogy, vol. 7, No. 1, February, 1926, 
pp. 4#1-44. 
357 


358 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


Most new beaver houses are begun where a feeding spot has been 
in use for a year or more, and such places are always numerous 
in a populous beaver colony. The water hole, or entrance, is the 
first step, then at its edges the peeled sticks left from many meals 
of bark are pushed back from the water’s edge, or left to sink in the 
open lake to form an island. A long and peaceful possession of a 
feeding ground and a convenient food supply are important factors 
in the location of a new house, but sometimes the necessity of a 
mother beaver to provide a place for a new family, or of a father 
beaver to move elsewhere to make room for his newly arrived 
children, or some accident to the previously occupied residence, act 
as building incentives at any season of open water. Old peeled sticks 
are brought and laid around the water door, new bushes are cut and 
added to the circle, even trees are felled and the limbs and sections 
of small trunks brought and laid on the walls until they are two 
or three feet high, then more sticks are laid over the narrowing top, 
and last of all, often not until cold weather begins, mud and sods 
are brought up in great armfuls from under water and piled over 
the sides and on top of the house. Each year more sticks and more 
mud are piled on, and the older and larger the house, the more 
settled and tangled and thicker its walls become, and the safer is the 
household within. Sometimes a new house will be so thin-walled 
that the nest within may be seen through the chinks at the top, for 
the top is the last closed and always the least solid part. 

But to return to the inside of the beaver house; instead of 
numerous rooms and elaborate apartments as once supposed, the 
inside consists of one room, generally two or three feet high, and 
three, four, or five feet wide, circular, oblong, or any shape or size, 
according as one beaver, a pair of beavers, a family, or sometimes 
two or more families, occupy it. If more room is needed the walls 
are hollowed out, the sticks cut off, and the earth dug back to make 
room in any desired direction, the massive walls, often two or 
three feet thick, allowing for any inside changes found necessary. 
Nine beavers, five young and four old, is the largest number I 
have ever found inhabiting one house, but others have reported 
larger families in very large houses. As the beavers all live in one 
room, it must be large enough to give sufficient air without becoming 
too warm, as it would if too small and crowded. More room, more 
ventilation, and lower temperature can always be obtained by mak- 
ing the walls thinner from within, and the beavers, with heavy 
fur coats to keep them warm in ice water, need cool houses. Even 
in solid old houses there is always some ventilation, and steam may 
sometimes be seen curling up from the peak on frosty mornings 
or frost crystals filling the cracks in the snow that covers the 
house in winter. 


BEAVERS’ HOUSES—BAILEY 359 


The beds are simply the floor of the house, a few inches above the 
water-level, usually strewn with bits of bark, grass, or roots left 
from the food, and are always damp but clean and well drained, 
generally somewhat musky with the not unpleasant odor of the musk 
glands. Fresh food is constantly being brought in and eaten, and 
the peeled sticks and refuse carried out. If the water rises the 
floor is built up, and if it falls the floor may be lowered to keep 
the beds near the water door. With newly born young in the house 
there is a softer bed of grass, leaves, twigs, and rootlets that serve 
also as food when the young are old enough to begin eating, prob- 
ably long before they take the deep dive and long swim out to the 
world of light. 

The large water door, usually but one, opens at one end or side of 
the floor, straight down into the water below the walls of the house, 
then leads out to the open lake, pond, or stream, often a distance 
of 10 or 20, and sometimes 40 feet before the beavers can come to 
the surface. Upon leaving the house the beavers rarely come to the 
surface near by, and often swim out 10 or 20 rods under -water be- 
fore coming to the surface to look around, or, if frightened, they may 
go half a mile or more under water and them come up under cover 
of the bank or shore vegetation, or enter another house or bank 
burrow. In returning to the house, if unafraid, they often swim 
up to within 4 or 5 rods and then go under water the rest of the 
way. Often by lying quietly near the house one can hear them go 
gurgling out through the water hole, then hear them come bubbling 
up into the nest chamber again and, if they have brought in food, 
hear the big chisel teeth scrape, scrape, scrape, as the bark is peeled 
off and eaten. When young are in the house their whimpering cries 
can often be heard from outside. 

Most of the building and other work of the beavers is done at 
night so that only by long and patient waiting can one see even a 
small part of it being done, and the camera, even by flashlight, 
records but little of their nocturnal industry. Sometimes late in the 
evening or in the early morning twilight they may be seen cutting 
and dragging or towing trunks and branches for building material, 
and with their strong teeth dragging them up on the sides of the 
house and placing them as desired, or coming up from deep water 
with fore legs full of dripping mud, sticks, and leaves from the 
bottom, then rising to an almost erect position on the strong hind feet 
as they march up the steep slopes, steadied by the broad tails, to 
deposit their loads on the sides or tops of the houses. 

Still more rarely does one get a glimpse of the interior structure 
of the beaver house, except in its early stages when, from a mere 
bed in the sphagnum moss, under the grass and low shrubs beside 
the water door, can it be watched until securely roofed over. On one 


360 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


occasion I happened to be close by when an old beaver on the inside 
stuffed and plastered up with mud and sticks a hole that had been 
dug by a mink through the walls of the house. The sticks were 
pushed into the hole and then mud pushed in around them until 
light, air, and troublesome neighbors were excluded. 

All of the building must be done before the water freezes over 
and the houses are buried in snow, and the beavers shut in for the 
winter. With frozen walls there is little danger from outside 
enemies. The bears are asleep in their own winter dens and trappers 
are prohibited by laws from cutting into or disturbing beaver houses, 
even where beaver trapping is allowed. Where trapping is not 
allowed winter is the season of safety and comfort for the beaver 
folk, for the water under the ice can not get colder than the freezing 
point, the room in the beaver house is kept warm by the heat of 
the animals’ bodies, and the food supply is convenient and generally 
ample. Just how this life is carried on will not be fully known 
until some of the beavers are tamed so that it will be possible to 
enter their houses through a “ back door ” without disturbing them, 
or get them to live in houses which we may build with modern im- 
provements to suit their taste and our convenience. This will be 
necessary before beavers can be successfully raised in captivity, as 
the success of this branch of the fur industry will depend on a full 
knowledge of the habits, dispositions, and requirements of the 
animals. . 


Smithsonian Report, 1926.— Bailey PLATE 1 


THE BEGINNING OF A BEAVER HOUSE 


The first step toward a beaver house is the water door, a big hole through which a beaver can 
plunge to safety, even from a mere summer bed in the sphagnum moss, sheltered by low 
bushes or tall grass 


THE SECOND STEP 


The next step is an accumulation of peeled sticks from which the bark has been eaten. As 
these are pushed back from the nest the walls of the house are slowly formed and can be quickly 
completed when a new house is needed. A small beaver house will seem to spring up in a 
single night, but always on an old foundation and around a satisfactory water hole 


Smithsonian Report, 1926.—Bailey PLATE 2 


A YOUNG BEAVER HOUSE 


A new or recently built beaver house always has steep sides and is generally as high as it is wide. 
If located out in a pond or lake there is often as much or more of the house material under water 
as there is above 


A WELL-BUILT BEAVER, HOUSE 


This house in the middle of a pond was being built up and thickened for winter use. Mud 
and sticks were piled on the sides and top every night, and green wood cached in the water 
near the house for winter food. Early mornings and late evenings the beavers Were often 
seen at work on it 


Smithsonian Report, 1926.—Bailey PLATE 3 


A LITTLE-USED BEAVER HOUSE 


An old beaver house, not used since the previous year, is always low and wide, with mud 
washed out of the surface layer of sticks by many rains, and the walls well settled into the 
water. When used again it will soon be built up with a high and rounded top 


A TYPICAL BEAVER COLONY IN THE MOUNTAINS 


A well-kept beaver dam, pond, and house on one of the small streams in Yellowstone Park. 
Photograph by M. P. Skinner 


Smithsonian .Report, 1926.—Bailey PLATE 4 


AN ADIRONDACK BEAVER HOUSE 


A large and rather new house in summer, before receiving its coat of mud. Estimated about 8 
feet high and 35 feet wide at base 


A WISCONSIN BEAVER HOUSE 


A recently occupied house where the dam had been blown out and the water drained off, 
showing the foundation and an opening made into the nest chamber, which was large 
enough for a person to move about inside 


Smithsonian Report, 1926.—Bailey PLATE 5 


A MINNESOTA BEAVER HOUSE 


A large and well-built beaver house on the edge of one of Minnesota’s numerous lakes 


A VERY LARGE WISCONSIN BEAVER HOUSE 


This beaver house was said to be 14 feet high and 40 feet wide. 


Photographs by W. T. Gray 


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THE MOSQUITO FISH (GAMBUSIA) AND ITS RELATION 
TO MALARIA 


By Davin Starr JORDAN 


[With 4 plates] 


One of the most important discoveries of the nineteenth century 
was that of the nature of malaria, with its kindred diseases, yellow 
fever, dengue, and the like. It has been found that malaria is not 
a product of miasma or foul air, as the accepted name of “bad air” 
would signify. Neither is it “catching” in the ordinary sense of 
propagation by contact. It is borne from one person to another 
by the bite of mosquitoes. The big mosquitoes of the North (Culicita 
and the like) may offend by their abundance, their vociferous song, 
and their vicious bite, but they do not carry disease. The dangerous 
ones are smaller, less insistent, and with a softer voice, but some 
of them transmit active and dangerous poisons. 

The cause of malaria of all sorts, ague, chills, and fever, 
mittent ” and “ intermittent fever,” as well as of the more vicious 
“Roman fever” and dengue or “ break-bone fever,” and the most 
virulent of all, the yellow fever, is the presence in the blood of multi- 
tudes of minute, parasitic animals, wormlike in form, which at 
intervals breed in prodigious numbers, with varied degrees of danger 
or discomfort. The biting of a man having malarial trouble by 
a mosquito of certain kinds (Anopheles, ddes, and Stegomiya) 
transfers one or dozens of these creatures to its own body, causing 
it, no doubt, lamentable discomfort. Later the mosquito may bite 
another person “to take the taste out of his mouth,” and in this 
next victim fever follows, thus passing the malady along from 
person to person through the agency of the mosquito’s body. It is 
said that in most species only the female bites and that she does so 
chiefly after drawing blood. 

The problem of the cure of malaria rests primarily on our skill 
in poisoning the malarial parasite with the least damage to their 
human host. Thus far the most successful method has been the 
use of salts of quinine. This is extracted from Peruvian bark de- 
rived from the tree, Cinchona calisaya, and numerous other species of 
Cinchona and Feinija and is fatal to all malarial microbes with 
which it comes in contact. Quinine is not a very wholesome drug as 
far as man is concerned though used under numerous conditions. 
The main point is that it kills microbes without killing the patient. 

361 


66 re- 


362 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


But prevention is always better than cure. The surest way to 
put an end to malaria ravages is to extirpate the mosquitoes. In 
rainy regions this is hard to do, but the worst kinds of mosquitoes 
belong to the Tropics or to regions just north of the Tropic of Cancer. 
They are often virulent in swamps, but apparently equally so in dry 
regions in ponds and puddles not connected with jungles. Thus 
certain districts in the Ukraine, in Anatolia, in Macedonia, in Greece, 
and in southern Italy have been historically notorious for malarial 
diseases. ‘The Campagna of Rome, “ Five Fingered Sparta,” and 
probably Mycene, the original source of Hellenic culture, are clas- 
sical examples of the undoing of populations by mosquitoes. The 
fading of “the glory that was Greece,” due primarily to her suicidal 
wars, must have been in large part also the work of mosquitoes. I 
know personally something of their havoc in Macedonia and I am 
told that in regions about the Black Sea, Ukrainia, and Anatolia, 
the plague is still more virulent. 

Near Salonika in Macedonia the Turkish authorities built an agri- 
cultural school and experimental station near the sea, at the foot of a 
marshy valley. This was found to be uninhabitable on account of 
the poisonous mosquitoes. 

The work of our Army surgeons, Dr. Walter Reed, Dr. Jesse 
Lazear, Dr. James Carroll and their associates, in cleaning up fever- 
stricken Havana, is a classic in medicine. This has been followed up 
by the drastic purification of Panama, Vera Cruz, Guayaquil, and 
other poisoned ports, the work of Gen. W. C. Gorgas and others. 
ais get rid of mosquitoes is now one of the most important elements 

“ preventive medicine” or sanitation. 

as how shall this be done? There are three general lines of 
attack—to get rid of their breeding places, to cover these with oil, 
or to bring in an enemy which will devour their eggs and young. 
In this connection I may refer to a plan in Texas to build and pro- 
tect bat houses, as bats in the night devour mosquitoes as well as 
other insects. But a colony of bats can operate on a very small 
scale only, and I need not refer to them further. 

Pools and other breeding places can often be drained or filled up 
with sand or rock. As all mosquitoes lay their masses of eggs in 
quiet or stagnant water, in which they hatch, a layer of petroleum 
over the water will smother their larve or “ wigglers ” and will also 
prevent the winged insect from escaping. But there are many 
bodies of water in which neither of these methods can be used. In 
such cases, the mosquito-eating fishes are the best resort. A good 
many kinds of little fishes will eat mosquito eggs or larve when 
they find them convenient. Sticklebacks, young trout, some min- 
nows, even gold fish do this to some extent. But what is needed is a 


MOSQUITO FISH—JORDAN 363 


kind of fish that makes mosquito killing its chief business, which 
enters on it with alacrity and which will not and can not harm other 
more choice kinds of fish. In southeastern Asia is a group known 
as Betta, little perchlike fishes, skillful as mosquito devourers, but 
quarrelsome and destructive to other small or young fishes. 

The desired traits are found in perfection in the “top minnows ” 
or “ Gambusinos ” of the genus Gambusia Poey. Of this genus there 
are numerous species in warmer parts of America. Most of them be- 
long to coast streams of eastern Mexico. Two of them, very much 
alike, range through our South Atlantic and Gulf States. One of 
these, Gambusia patruelis, is found from Florida to Texas in slug- 
gish streams of the Gulf States and northward to southern Illinois. 
Another, Gambusia holbrooki, extends from. Georgia northward, in 
lowland streams, swamps, and rice ditches of the South Atlantic 
States, and ranging to the lake of the Dismal Swamp in Virginia. 
A third, Gambusia affinis, belongs to the Rio Grande region, and is 
now regarded as distinct from Gambusia patruelis, though the struc- 
tural differences are small, and in their habits and food all three 
are doubtless alike. In Cuba, such littles fishes are called “ Gambu- 
sinos,” hence their scientific name Gambusia. When an angler re- 
turns without fish, the Cubans say, he has been “ fishing for Gam- 
businos.” 

The United States Public Health Service has lately published a 
valuable series of experiments undertaken about Augusta, Ga., by 
Samuel F. Hildebrand, of the United States Bureau of Fisheries. 
This is entitled, “A Study of the Top Minnow (Gambusia hol- 
brookt) in Relation to Mosquito Control.” 

Old travelers may remember that Hawaii, 20 and more years ago 
was cursed by mosquitoes. In my first visit to the islands (1900), 
large ones brought from Alaska by whalers in their water tubs, in 
the days when Hawaii was their chosen winter resort, ruled the 
islands by day, and a smaller form, probably from California, was 
heard at night. Neither of these carry malaria, but both were ex- 
cessively annoying. 

Mark Twain, at the old Hawaiian Hotel felt this grievance, and 
in a characteristic way set out to remedy it. Everyone in Honolulu 
then slept under a mosquito canopy and each night some of the 
smaller insects crept through the meshes. Mark waited until all 
the mosquitoes came in through the netting and then slipped out and 
slept on the floor. 

But even this shrewd device often failed. At last, in 1904, the 
City of Honolulu (knowing the present writer to be a fish sharp), 
sent a credit of about $1,500 (of which about $600 was used) asking 
me to discover and send to the islands a fish that would really eat 
mosquitoes. 


364 ANNUAL REPORE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


A California student will tackle any problem, and so I sent out 
Alvin Seale (then a senior at Stanford, now superintendent of the 
Steinhart Aquarium in San Francisco). He was instructed to go 
to Louisiana and secure from the bayous three species which might 
meet the demand. Each of them would eat mosquitoes, but in no case 
had their efficiency been tested. New Orleans was then once more 
in the throes of yellow fever, so Seale moved across to Galveston 
and filled his milk cans with the chosen fishes. Such fishes known 
as “ 'Top-Minnows,” Killifishes, and Cyprinodonts, are all very hardy 
if properly handled, especially if not handled at all, and very few 
died on the voyage to Hawaii. 

Arrived at Honolulu, each species was tested out in aquarium 
tanks in drug-store windows, these filled with stagnant water, 
stocked with mosquito eggs. The largest fishes, Yundulus grandis, 
showed little interest in the matter. They were poured into a pool 
and have not been noticed since. The next species (Mollienesia 
latipinna) did better. This is a very handsome little fish, with 
high fins and varied colors, bright blue shades and spots predomi- 
nating. But it is mainly a vegetable feeder, preferring “ frog 
spittle” (Confervaw) to insects, and seemed not likely to be of any 
value in the task assigned to it. It has become very abundant in the 
estuaries of Hawai. It is valued for aquaria and is largely used as 
bait for the Aku, or Victor-fish (’atswwomus), and other predatory 
species. 

The third set of fishes (Gambusia patruelis), rose at once to the 
occasion, and almost instantly cleared the aquarium of mosquito 
eggs and wigglers. This, with its twin of further east, Gambusia 
holbrooki, is no doubt the greatest mosquito killer in existence. 
It has lived and multiplied in all available waters in Hawai. It 
swarms in irrigation ditches and in pools in the rice fields. It is so 
abundant that it is now gathered up in nets, baked and crushed as 
food for the fishes in the Waikiki Aquarium. It does not migrate 
to the sea and it does not attack other fishes. 

In a recent visit of two months in Honolulu I saw but six 
mosquitoes, all of them small, no doubt hatched in rain pools, tin 
pans, or other small bodies of water, which the most assiduous fish 
can not reach. 

From Honolulu the fish has been taken to Formosa by another 
Stanford student, Dr. Masamitu Oshima, former director of Fish- 
eries in that island, whence specimens have been sent back to me. 
The fish was then brought over to Manila by another Stanford man, 
Dr. Albert W. Herre, director of Philippine fisheries, and it has be- 
come firmly established in Luzon. Large breeding pools have been 
established about Manila by Doctor Herre. From the Philippine 


MOSQUITO FISH—JORDAN 365 


streams and marshes about Singapore, Mandalay, and Bangkok 
either have been stocked by Dr. Herre, or are soon to be so, 
The fish is now distributed to southern Japan and China, and ulti- 
mately will be, I hope, to all the malaria-burdened world. 

A native of warm regions, we are not sure how much cold it will 
stand. Last winter in California, the temperature dropped two or 
three times to about 30°, but none of the fish seemed to suffer. In 
early November the old fishes slip to the bottom in mud and weeds to 
keep warm, but the later born of the flock may be seen near the sur- 
face on any of the so-called winter days of central or southern 
California. The director of the Illinois pond at Carbondale reports 
that a foot and a half of ice did not kill any of them last winter, as 
they were all hibernating at the bottom of the pond. In their native 
regions, snow and ice are unknown, but they do not seem to mind 
moderate cold if they are allowed to lie still and are not expected to 
function. As to heat, Hildebrand reports that in nature he has 
found Gambusia in water having a temperature of 102° F. When 
held in containers they usually die when 100° F. is reached. They 
feed on flies and mosquitoes by choice, rejecting wasps, beetles, butter- 
flies, or larger insects. I have seen them leap out of the water to 
seize an incautious fly alighting on the edge of their pond. 

These fishes are light greenish brown in color, the fins speckled, 
but no conspicuous markings anywhere. In the adult there is usually 
a black shade or bar under the eyes, and the gravid females develop a 
black area on the side under the skin. The female is 214 inches 
long, the male about an inch shorter. About 10 females are born to 1 
male. The eggs are hatched in the body of the female, 6 to 10 ina 
brood, there being 4 or 5 broods between March and September. 
This is recorded in Georgia, with Gambusia holbrooki. In Cali- 
fornia, with Gambusia patruelis, I notice but two or three broods in a 
‘season. The young when born are transparent, with big black eyes, 
and are about a fifth of an inch in length. 

A certain number die when first caught and placed in confine- 
ment. ‘Those that survive the first three days mostly live on in- 
definitely. It is therefore well to hold a consignment for a few 
days before taking them for a long distance. In summer time about 
150 can be transferred in July in a 50-pound lard can, and in October 
as many as 500. In summer time a wet jacket of burlap around a 
can is desirable, but ice and overaeration are both risky. 

Mr. Hildebrand does not discuss the artificial feeding of these 
fishes. The very young evidently feed on minute or tender alga, 
as desmids and Conferve. The adult, in default of mosquitoes, 
take kindly to Conferve. The Gambusias in my own pool are fed 
on goldfish food. The kind which is made of rice-flour pressed into 
flat cakes they eat eagerly, especially if cut or torn into very small 


366 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


pieces. The fact that this floats and can be reached on the surface 
from below, they seem to appreciate. The goldfish food made from 
crushed shrimps they will eat also, but as this soon falls to the bot- 
tom it is not so well adapted to their habits. 

The Gambusia is very tenacious of life. It does not, however, 
endure rough handling, and the gravid females are very sensitive 
to harsh usage. They should be taken from the water in a dip net, 
not a seine. According to Mr. Hildebrand “the best container for 
transferring and shipping Gambusia, undoubtedly is the Fearnow 
fish can, a patented device. Excellent results can be had by the use 
of lard cans, lard tubs and similar containers. If secondhand ves- 
sels are used, they must be thoroughly washed and scalded with hot 
water.” The water in the container should be shallow, forcing the 
fish to keep near the surface. This need indicates the undesirability 
of milk cans. When under way the less splashing the better. “The 
Fearnow can successfully overcomes splashing and is very con- 
venient, for transporting fish over rough roads.” 

Mr. Hildebrand further adds that it is usually advisable to con- 
fine Gambusia in the water from which they were caught. If this 
water is foul, it should not be used. It generally is best when 
Gambusia in confinement are to be transferred from pond water, 
for example, to water from another source, to mix the waters at 
first and accomplish the change more or less gradually. 

In establishing the mosquito fish in a new region, it is well to 
prepare a shallow pond some rods in diameter, with a lining of 
concrete to prevent leakage. So far as my experience in California 
goes, this should not be over 4 feet in depth. The pond may be 
stocked in the middle with pond lies and water plants, not set 
so densely as to smother the little fishes or to prevent them from 
readily getting about when hunting down “ wigglers.” Even Con- 
ferve (frog spittle), on which young fishes seem to feed, will help, 
but the plants need clearing out when too abundant. The sulphate 
of copper (blue vitriol), sometimes used to clear the water by 
destroying Conferve and the like, is fatal to Gambusia. The little 
fishes, however, make no objection to sewage in the water, and 
flourish in the gutters of Vera Cruz and other filthy cities in which 
open ditches take the place of sewers. 

As to the enemies of Gambusia, I have noticed but one especially 
destructive. This is the large water beetle, Dytiscus, about an inch 
long and of a shining brown color. This species entered my pool, 
and before it could be extirpated, one had killed a mother fish and 
another a goldfish. 

In a small pool in a garden a fungus once appeared, forming a 


white ring about the eye in individuals attacked. I imagine that 
bass and similar carnivorous fishes would attack the Gambusia, and 


MOSQUITO FISH—JORDAN 367 


that it might fall prey to ducks, coots (mud hens), king-fishers, 
and other like birds of prey. To what extent these creatures would 
do mischief I can not say. 

The present writer first brought the value of Gambusia to public 
notice in the Scientific American in May, 1926. Parts of that article 
are repeated here. Since then he has had an extended correspondence 
with persons interested, in various parts of the world—London, 
Paris, Berlin, Florence, Rome, Buenos Aires, Salonika, Singapore, 
Calcutta, and especially with the American Red Cross people, who 
hope to redeem those parts of Russia most specially cursed. For 
nowhere in southern Europe, northern Africa, nor western Asia is 
there any species of fish devoted to the destruction of mosquitoes and 
their eggs and larve. About the Mediterranean and the Black Sea 


its help is most particularly needed. 

I may quote from a personal letter of Dr. L. W. Hackett, of the 
International Health Board of the Rockefeller Foundation, director 
of “ La Stazione Sperimentale, per la Lotta Antimalarica ” at Rome. 
He writes me of the work in Italy: 


Gambusia was first introduced into Spain by Dr. Massimo Sella,’ director of 
the antimalaria work, by the help of the American Red Cross. Doctor Grassi, 


the famous Italian malariologist, had Gambusia brought to Italy from Spain. 
They were imported first to the drainage canals at Ostia and Fiumicino at the 
mouth of the Tiber and in the four succeeding summers have multiplied pro- 
digiously. This fish seems to have left behind its natural enemies and to be more 
at home in Italian and Spanish waters than it ever was in America. For one 
thing, the weaker males, which in America are always found in disproportion- 
ately small numbers, here seem to survive and in many places equal the females 
in number. 

The International Health Board of the Rockefeller Foundation has recently 
established in cooperation with the Italian Government an experimental anti- 
malaria station in Rome with field laboratories in different parts of Italy. 
This station has made a wide distribution of Gambusia in all parts of Italy, 
in Jugoslavia and in Dalmatia as well. It would therefore be a very simple 
matter for Mr. (John Henry) House to obtain these fish in Salonika. 

These fish, owing to the enormous numbers which develop in ponds and 
streams are more effective against mosquito larve than they were in America. 
They will penetrate many kinds of horizontal aquatic vegetation, and will do 
away with from 80 to 90 per cent of Anopheles larve. There are many types 
of water, however, both permanent and intermittent, to which they can not 
adapt themselves and our judgment is that although they are a great help in 
antimosquito work, conditions are rarely such as to make it unnecessary to 
do any other kind of antimosquito work. However, as their introduction is 
inexpensive and their maintenance practically nil, they represent a measure 
of which practicaily any community can avail itself in mild climates. 


A hopeful pond was established at Tirana, the capital of Albania, 
and stocked with fishes from Rome. It was washed away by a 
“ cloud burst ” and the water all leaked out through its gravel bottom. 


* Doctor Sella, in a recent valuable report, records the establishment of 59 pounds in 
Italy, Yugoslavia, Macedonia. Albania, and Palestine. 


368 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


A letter from Tirana to the Red Cross Courier, thus describes this 
mischance, unfortunate, though no doubt the fishes will reappear in 
other pools nearer the sea. 


You must know of the Gambusia, some kind of a small fish which feeds on 
green vegetation in ponds garnished with the larvie of the Anopheles mosquito. 
The strange thing about the fish, according to my information, is its intelli- 
gence. It will have its salad, I believe, dressed only with Anopheles larve. 
Some American doctor figured it all out. 

Well, our school (Tirana) pledged itself to breed Gambusia in phalanx, We 
wrote to Rome of our latest enterprise and requested that the Rockefeller 
Foundation there be asked to arrange to transport fishes for a breeding pool 
in Albania. 

We had the fish transported to Tirana and during the next hectic two days 
succeeded in establishing at the farm the first scientifically arranged fish pond 
in Albania. It was especially designed with cunning weirs to form the habitat 
of Gambusia, except that it had no waterproof bottom. 

Water was turned into the new pond, the fish were tenderly removed from 
the patent Rockefeller tin and that night we went to bed with light hearts; 
such are the rewards of happy labor, and were we not in the thick of malaria 
campaign? For my own part I dreamt that I was watching a great Gambusia, 
up on its tail like a kangaroo, chasing some kind of a gaunt Anopheles specter 
all over the salt sea marshes that cirele Durazzo. 

And then I awoke. It was raining one of these miserable Albanian rains 
that drop out of a leaden sky and smother the earth with a blanket of water. 
It continued to rain all day and into the night. The next morning big Kesova 
Bill from the farm appeared at the school, tragedy written all over his erst- 
while cheerful countenance. 

It appears that during the afternoon of the day previous he had inspected 
the pond and the Gambusia. The pond was all right. The fish were all 
right. The next morning early, he had an uneasy feeling that all was not 
well with our part of the malaria campaign. He went to the pond. Water 
and fish were gone; not a trace remained. No fish, no water, only bits of 
shiny white gravel over which they had disported themselves so confidently 
two days before. 

Where did the fish go? Where did the water go? No one knows. We 
only know that they are gone and another mystery awaits solution. In the 
meantime we are praying the indulgence of the Rockefeller people in Rome 
for another consignment. Breeding time comes in the spring so that we have 
lost nothing and gained much in experience. Up to the present time, how- 
ever, we can produce only excuses for our part in the malaria campaign. In 
addition to constructing a fish pond with a water-proof bottom we are also 
constructing a bomb-proof cellar as a matter of precaution should an expert 
drop into our midst with queries concerning the precious Gamobusia. 


From Manila I have an account of a home built on the shores of a 
pond, which the mosquitoes made uninhabitable. When Doctor 
Herre introduced the Gambusia into the water, the situation is 
reported as having become delightful. 

With Gambusia holbrooki or Gambusia patruelis or both, well es- 
tablished and active in the pools and swamps of Southern Europe 
and Western Asia, thousands of lives can be saved, millions of others 
rescued from perennial misery and hundreds of square miles now 
vacant, restored to industry. 


Smithsonian Report, 1926 Jordar PLATE 


1. GAMBUSIA HOLBROOKI, CHARLESTON. 
AFTER GARMAN 


2. GOODEA LUITPOLDI (STEINDACHNER). A VIVIPA- 
ROUS FISH FROM LAKE PATZCUARO, MEXICO 


Family Peciliide#, showing the method in which the young are 
stowed away after the egg hatch. After Seth E. Meek 


Smithsonian Report, 1926.—Jordan PLATES2 


1. FOUR-EYED FISH, ANABLEPS DOVII GILL, TEHUANTEPEC, MEXICO 


2. FUNDERLUS GRANDIS 


3. MOLLIENESIA LATIPINNA 


Smithsonian Report, 1926.—Jordan PLATE 3 


1. CULISITA INCIDENS. THE BODY OF THIS COMMON 
Mosquito IS HORIZONTAL WHEN BITING, GIVING 
ASSURANCE THAT IT WILL Not TRANSMIT FEVER 


2. AEDES SQUAMIGER. A HARMLESS SALT-MARSH 
Mosquito. No Mosquito THAT RESTS HORIZON- 
TALLY WHEN IT BITES IS A BEARER OF MALARIA 


Smithsonian Report, 1926.—Jordan PLATE 4 


1. ANOPHELES MACULIPENNES 


This is the American malaria mosquito. It may be easily distin- 
guished because it stands on its head when it bites 


2. FEDES AEGYPTI 


This is the well-known yellow-fever mosquito which has caused the 
death of many millions of human beings 


THE EFFECT OF ALUMINUM SULPHATE ON RHODO.- 
DENDRONS AND OTHER ACID-SOIL PLANTS? 


By FReperick V. COovILLE 


[With 18 plates] 


INTRODUCTION 


Our native rhododendrons do not thrive in ordinary fertile garden 
or greenhouse soil, but they grow with great luxuriance in sand 
mixed with peat, or with rotting wood, or with half-rotted oak 
leaves. It is clear from many experiments heretofore made by the 
writer that, although both these types of soil contain an abundance 
of plant food, the rhododendrons thrive in the peat and sand mix- 
ture because the chemical reaction of the soil solution is acid, and 
they die in the ordinary fertile garden soil because the reaction is 
neutral or alkaline.2 (Pl. 13.) Except in acid soils, most rhodo- 
dendron plantings are failures. In nonacid soils the plants often 
subsist for a year or two on their old rootball of peat, but when 
that is used up they sicken and die if the surrounding soil is neutral 
or alkaline. 

The statement had been going around among nurserymen that 
rhododendrons could be made to thrive in an ordinary fertile soil 
through the application of magnesium sulphate, commonly known 
as Epsom salts, and at the suggestion of Harlan P. Kelsey it was 
determined to try the experiment. Knowing that one of my col- 
leagues, C. S. Scofield, had been using various sulphates in a re- 
markable series of experiments on the alkaline irrigated soils of the 
western United States, I asked his opinion regarding the probable 
action of magnesium sulphate in a rhododendron experiment. He 
replied that if magnesium sulphate would tend to bring about an 
acid reaction in an alkaline soil, aluminum sulphate should do it a 
great deal better. Aluminum sulphate therefore, happily, was 
included in the experiment. 


1An account of the earlier experiments here described was published March 24, 1923, 
by the American Horticultural Society, as their Bulletin 1, under the title, “The effect 
of aluminum sulphate on rhododendron seedlings.” 

? See also “ Experiments in blueberry culture,” issued as Bulletin No. 193, Bureau of 
Plant Industry, 1910, and “The formation of leafmold,’’ published in the Smithsonian 
Report for 1918, pages 333 to 348, also separately printed. 


369 


370 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 
EXPERIMENTS WITH RHODODENDRON 


A soil mixture was made up as follows: rotted turf loam, 1 part, 
by bulk; well-rotted cow manure, 1 part; and sand, 1 part. A por- 
tion of this soil was treated with a 0.6 per cent (M/20) solution of 
magnesium sulphate in sufficient quantity to supersaturate the soil, 
and this was afterward leached repeatedly with distilled water until 
the excess of soluble salts was removed. Another portion was 
similarly treated with a solution (M/60) of crude aluminum sul- 
phate, and a third portion was leached with distilled water with- 
out other treatment. 

On March 30, 1921, in each of these three portions of soil were 
set six seedlings of Rhododendron catawbiense in six 2-inch glass 
pots, each provided with a drainage hole at the bottom. The pots 
were plunged in sand in a greenhouse maintained at a temperature 
of 55° to 70° F., and were given uniform treatment as to light and 
watering. Within a month the cultures were showing pronounced 
differences in behavior, and after three months, on June 29, when the 
photographs shown in Plate 1 were taken, these differences were 
conspicuous. The plants in the untreated garden soil had made no 
growth. In the soil treated with magnesium sulphate the plants 
had grown a little, the increase in diameter of the rosettes of leaves 
being about 30 per cent. In the soil treated with aluminum sulphate 
the stimulation of growth had been very great, the increase in the 
diameter of the rosettes being about 250 per cent. In fact, these 
plants were almost as large as plants grown in an ideal rhododendron 
soil consisting of peat and sand. On May 27, 1921, when the bene- 
ficial effect of the treatment with aluminum sulphate had become 
clearly apparent, two of the pots were given an additional application 
of 1 gram of aluminum sulphate in 5 grams of water. These two 
plants were kept for observation in comparison with the six plants 
treated with magnesium sulphate and the six untreated plants. 
The condition of the three lots on July 28, 1922, is shown in Plate 2. 
All the untreated plants were dead. Of the magnesium-sulphate 
plants, two were alive, but they had made little growth. The alumi- 
num-sulphate plants, however, had grown many times their original 
size. 

When the beneficial effect of aluminum sulphate began to show 
itself from the first experiment, it was determined to try further 
experiments, in which ordinary porous earthenware 2-inch pots were 
to be used in place of glass pots, and aluminum sulphate was to be 
applied to the plants after they had been potted. The soil was made 
up as before, equal parts of loam, manure, andsand. The mixture was 
neutral or slightly alkaline in reaction and proved so injurious to the 
healthy rhododendron seedlings set out in it that they all stagnated 


ACID-SOIL PLANTS—COVILLE 371 


and many of them died. Sulphate of aluminum was applied to 
similar plants in the same soil. The result, with one excep- 
tion, was a definite and pronounced stimulation of growth. The 
exception was an experiment in which the aluminum sulphate was 
applied in a very strong solution, one-third gram of the ground sul- 
phate in 1 cubic centimeter of water (M/2). This solution was so 
strong and the small seedlings, previously in active growth, were 
so delicate that about half of them were immediately killed. The 
surprising and significant feature of this experiment was that the 
seedlings that survived showed later the same stimulation of growth 
as those that were treated with milder solutions. The applications 
ranged in amount and strength from that cited above down to 10 
cubic centimeters of a 0.57 per cent solution (M/60). The illus- 
tration of one of these experiments, in Plate 3, will suffice for all of 
them. 

The next experiment to be described related to the possibility of 
resuscitating a sickly rhododendron in an ordinary garden soil by 
the application of sulphate of aluminum. On June 3, 1922, eight 
plants were selected from a large number that had been potted on 
May 3, 1921, in 2-inch porous earthenware pots in the fertile garden- 
soil mixture already described. For more than a year the plants had 
been stagnant and sickly. To each of four of the pots was applied 
half a gram of ground aluminum sulphate. The material was spread 
on the surface of the soil and dissolved and washed down with water. 
The other four plants were left untreated. All eight plants were 
plunged in sand and received afterwards the same greenhouse 
treatment. 

After seven weeks a small amount of growth had taken place in all 
four of the aluminum-sulphate plants, barely enough, however, to 
be conspicuous in a photograph. The four untreated plants had 
made no growth. 

As the effect of the aluminum sulphate was clearly beneficial, but 
slower than in the earlier experiments, it was decided to make a 
further application. On July 27, 1922, an additional half gram of 
aluminum sulphate was applied to each of the four plants to which 
the earlier application had been made. 

On August 30, when the photograph reproduced in Plate 4 was 
made, 11 weeks after the beginning of the experiment, the dif- 
ference between the two lots of plants was conspicuous, not merely 
in their size but still more in their color and texture. The aluminum- 
sulphate plants had made an increase of about 65 per cent in the 
diameter of their rosettes, and their leaves had the delicate texture 
and bright green color of plants in active and healthy growth. The 
untreated plants had made no growth. They were very sickly, their 
leaves a dull reddish-green color. The resuscitation of the four 


ate ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


plants as a result of the application of aluminum sulphate is all the 
more remarkable because the soil in which the recovery took place 
had been in the pots for more than a year, subjected to the leaching 
action of the customary greenhouse watering. 

That the aluminum sulphate had no direct fertilizing effect is evi- 
denced by an earlier experiment, in which, when it was added to a 
soil composed of peat and sand, rhododendron seedlings showed no 
greater growth than in untreated peat and sand. The aluminum 
sulphate contributed no beneficial effect through the development of 
an acid condition, because the soil was acid already. If the aluminum 
sulphate had contributed plant food the rhododendrons would have 
made increased growth. 

The plants concerned in this resuscitation experiment were re- 
potted in the following year and the treatment of the two lots was 
continued as before. The plants to which aluminum sulphate had 
been applied remained healthy and reached the height of about 5 
inches. All the others died. 

The effect of aluminum-sulphate treatment when carried through 
a third year on rhododendron seedlings is illustrated in Plates 
5 and 6. The plants in Plate 5 were from a lot that were first 
potted in 2-inch porous earthenware pots on May 3, 1921, in the 
standard neutral soil already described, equal parts of loam, manure, 
and sand. They remained in this injurious soil throughout the 
years 1921 and 1922 without repotting. Many of them died. On 
March 23, 1923, 21 of these plants, which were still alive, were 
repotted in 38-inch pots in the same neutral-soil mixture. Plate 5, 
from a photograph taken February 12, 1924, shows that some of 
these plants were dead and all the rest were sick. Plate 6 shows 
a lot of plants identical in origin, age, and treatment with those in 
Plate 5, except that they had received two applications of aluminum 
sulphate. The details are as follows: On May 3, 1921, after potting 
in 2-inch pots in a soil consisting of equal parts of loam, manure, 
and sand, each plant was given one-third gram of aluminum sul- 
phate dissolved in water. They were not repotted in 1922, and not 
having been chilled in the winter of 1921-22 they made no new 
growth in the following summer.* On January 16, 1923, they were 
moved from the warmhouse (55° to 70° F.) to the coldhouse (35° 
to 40° F.) for chilling, and on March 23, 19238, they were repotted 
in 8-inch pots in a mixture of equal parts of loam, manure, and 
sand, to which one-half of 1 per cent, by bulk, of ground aluminum 
sulphate had been added. The plants grew vigorously during the 
season of 1923. On February 12, 1924, when the photograph used 


8 The trees and shrubs of cold climates, after becoming dormant, do not start into 
growth again in a normal manner until they have been subjected to a period of chilling. 
See “ The influence of cold in stimulating the growth of plants,” Smithsonian Report for 
1919, pp.'281 to 291, pls. 1 to 27. 


ACID-SOIL PLANTS—COVILLE 373 


in Plate 6 was taken, they were in a healthy condition contrasting 
sharply with the bad condition of the plants shown in Plate 5, 
which had received no aluminum sulphate. The experiment shows 
that for this period, three years, the beneficial effect of the aluminum- 
sulphate treatment was continuing and cumulative. 


EXPERIMENTS WITH FRANKLINIA 


One of the rarest and most beautiful of trees is Franklinia alata- 
maha, a species discovered in 1765 by John Bartram on the Alta- 
maha River in Georgia (at that time spelled Alatamaha) and named 
by William Bartram in honor of Benjamin Franklin. It belongs 
to the same family as tea and camellia and in late summer and 
autumn produces a succession of beautiful white, sweet-scented 
flowers 2 to 4 inches in diameter, with a mass of brilliant golden 
stamens in the center. The species has been referred by some 
botanists to the genus Gordonia, under the technical name G. pubes- 
cens, G. altamaha, or G. alatamaha, but its peculiar pods and seeds 
mark it as a distinct genus. All the plants have disappeared from 
the only place at which it has ever been found in a wild state. 
It is now known, therefore, only in cultivation. From experiments 
that I began in 1911 it was found that the tree is an acid-soil species, 
that it is easily propagated from cuttings and seeds, and that it grows 
luxuriantly and flowers profusely in the very acid soils of the pine 
barrens of New Jersey. Its rarity in cultivation and its reputation 
as a difficult plant to grow have been due chiefly to a lack of under- 
standing of its soil requirements. 

To obtain material to illustrate the behavior of franklinia in 
acid and nonacid soils a new experiment was begun on February 
8, 1923. Ten well-rooted, dormant, leafless cuttings were potted in 
3-inch porous earthenware pots in a standard acid-soil mixture 
consisting of two parts of kalmia peat and one part of sand. Eleven 
other rooted cuttings of franklinia were potted in the same manner 
in a neutral soil consisting of one part of rotted turf loam, one 
part of well-rotted cow manure, and one part of sand. Both lots 
were plunged in sand in a greenhouse maintained at 55° F. at night 
and 70° during the day. The plants varied somewhat in size, but 
they were selected pair by pair so that the two lots were exactly 
comparable except for the soil in which they were potted. 

Eight weeks later all 10 plants in the acid soil were growing 
well, their leaves of a healthy green color, and their average height 
41% inches. Of the 11 plants in the neutral soil 2 were dead. The 
9 that were alive had yellowish-green leaves, and their height 
averaged 314 inches. 

20837—27——25 


374 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


Since the nine living plants in the neutral soil were evidently 
sick and getting worse, an experiment was undertaken to determine 
whether such sick plants could be resuscitated with aluminum sul- 
phate. The nine plants were arranged in sequence, from the best to 
the poorest. To the second, fourth, sixth, eighth, and ninth was 
given 1.25 grams of aluminum sulphate each. This was immediately 
dissolved and washed into the soil by repeated syringing with water. 
Thus five of the plants made sick by the neutral soil were treated with 
aluminum sulphate and four were left untreated. 

On May 16, at the end of six weeks, the average height of the four 
sick and untreated plants was 434 inches, their older leaves were 
yellowish green, some of the leaves were scalded by the sun, and the 
latest young leaves were nearly white. The other five plants, treated 
with aluminum sulphate, had resumed normal growth, with normal 
green leaves, though the older scalded leaves still remained pale. 
Their average height was 514 inches. 

Ten weeks later, on July 26, the treated and untreated plants were 
in the condition indicated in Plate 8. The untreated plants were 
small, pale, and weak. The plants treated with aluminum sulphate 
not only had recovered from their sick condition but had put out 
new leaves, shed their old ones, and grown to twice the height of the 
other plants. 

In Plate 7 is shown, at the left, a normal healthy plant of frank- 
linia, grown continuously from February 8 to July 26, 1923, in a 
naturally acid soil made up of peat and sand. At the right is a 
plant of the same history and treatment except that it was in a 
neutral soil consisting of one part each of loam, manure, and sand. 
It was pale, sickly, and less than a third the height of the other. 

The two plates, 7 and 8, show conclusively the stimulating effect 
of soil acidity on this plant, whether the acidity is natural or is 
brought about artificially by the application of aluminum sulphate. 


EXPERIMENTS WITH BLUEBERRIES 


The aluminum-sulphate treatment has been applied to blueberry 
plants in an unsuitable soil, with the same stimulating results 
obtained in the experiments with rhododendron and franklinia. On 
February 4, 1924, 12 small seedling blueberry plants 5 months old 
were potted in 2-inch porous earthenware pots in an ordinary 
neutral greenhouse soil consisting of one part of rotted turf loam, 
one part of well-rotted cow manure, and one part of sand. On the 
following day each of them was given 1.25 grams of ground alumi- 
num sulphate. The sulphate was placed on the surface of the soil 
in the pot and was then dissolved and washed into the soil by 
repeated syringing with water. The solution of aluminum sulphate 


ACID-SOIL PLANTS—COVILLE 375 


was so strong that 5 of the 12 delicate and tender plants died within 
a few days. The remaining seven grew vigorously, with normal 
healthy color. On September 9, at the end of the season’s growth, 
the seven aluminum-sulphate plants had an average height of 814 
inches. Growth of the stems had stopped for the year, and the 
leaves were of the normal size for healthy seedlings of this age, and 
of a healthy green color, except a few that were beginning to show 
their autumn purpling. The plants were of substantially the same 
size and vigor as other plants of the same origin which had been 
grown in a naturally acid soil of peat and sand. <A typical plant 
treated with the sulphate is shown in the larger of the two figures 
in Plate 9. The small and sickly plant in Plate 9 is one of a lot 
of 24 plants having exactly the same history and treatment as the 
others, except that they received no application of aluminum sul- 
phate. On September 9, 1924, when the aluminum-sulphate plants 
were in a normal healthy condition, with an average height of 814 
inches, the untreatd plants that were still living had an average 
height of 3 inches. Their leaves were small, those on growing tips 
pallid, those a little older pink instead of green. Growth still con- 
tinued, in an abnormal and unseasonable manner, and very feebly 
and slowly. Three of the original twenty-four plants had died. 

On April 17, 1925, both lots of plants were repotted in 3-inch pots, 
in the same soil as before, and the lot that had received the first ap- 
plication of aluminum sulphate was given another application, four 
grams to each 38-inch pot. At the end of the season, after the 
leaves had dropped, the seven plants treated with aluminum sulphate 
were all strong and vigorous, with an average height of 15 inches. 
Of the 24 untreated plants all but eight were dead. These had an 
average height of 314 inches. The tips of all the stems were dead, 
the height of the live portion of the plants averaging only 21% inches. 

On March 31, 1926, both lots of these blueberry plants were again 
repotted in 4-inch pots, in neutral greenhouse soil as before. Each 
of the seven plants that had previously received the aluminum- 
sulphate treatment was given a new application of 8 grams. The 
ground sulphate was placed on the surface of the soil and each pot 
was watered four times, half an inch of water being applied each 
time. On the following day five additional waterings were given, in 
order to leach out any lime that may have been released, in the form 
of calcium sulphate, as a result of the application of the aluminum 
sulphate. 

On April 12, 1926, the seven aluminum-sulphate plants, all of 
which were healthy, and six of the untreated plants, all of which 
were sickly, were placed in a chilling frame at 35°-40° F. Both 
lots of plants had been in a warm greenhouse all winter and were 
completely leafless and dormant. A chilling was necessary to bring 


376 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


them out of their dormancy. After 11 weeks in the chilling frame 
they were transferred to a greenhouse maintained at an ordinary 
summer temperature. On September 23, after three months’ ex- 
posure to a temperature highly favorable to growth, the plants 
treated with aluminum sulphate were all in full leaf and in a 
healthy, vigorous condition. Of the six untreated plants four were 
dead. The better of the two remaining plants and the best of the 
seven aluminum-sulphate plants are shown in Plate 10. The alumi- 
num-sulphate plant was 18 inches high, and its healthy condition was 
indicated not only by its appearance of general vigor but by the 
flowering buds that had been formed in anticipation of its next year’s 
fruiting. The untreated plant was 5 inches high and the live part 
had a height of only 214 inches. Such leaves as were present were 
small and pallid, and it was evident that death could not be far away. 

This experiment shows conclusively that potted blueberry plants, 
which die in an ordinary fertile but neutral soil, can be made to 
thrive in such a soil after it has been acidified by a suitable applica- 
tion of aluminum sulphate. The plants used in this experiment were 
highbush blueberry, Vaccinium corymbosum. 

To determine whether a blueberry plant that is near the death 
point in a fertile but neutral soil can be resuscitated through the 
acidification of the soil with aluminum sulphate, 8 grams of this 
substance was apphed on March 31, 1926, to each of two sickly plants 
in 4-inch pots. One of the plants was already so far gone that it 
afterwards died. ‘The other plant, 414 inches high at the beginning 
of the treatment, responded to the acidification, started into active 
growth, and by September 23 had reached the condition of health 
and vigor shown in Plate 11: The old stems, although their tips 
were dead, had put out new lateral branches, and a new shoot from 
the base of the plant had grown to the height of 8 inches. The 
resuscitation was definite, complete, and unmistakable. 


EXPERIMENTS WITH HYDRANGHA 


An experiment was made by the writer in 1923 and 1924 to deter- 
mine whether the change in color of the flowers of the house hy- 
drangea, Hydrangea opuloides, from pink to blue can be brought 
about by growing the plants in an acid soil. The experiment showed 
that this could be done and that soil acidity was the cause of this 
curious and conspicuous color change. While the experiment was in 
progress, however, C. H. Connors, of the New Jersey State Agricul- 
tural Experiment Station at New Brunswick, published similar re- 
sults from experiments that he had undertaken earlier and inde- 
pendently.* An account of my own experiment, therefore, has never 


#“The control of color in hydrang:1,’’ Florists Exchange, vol. 57, pp. 1563 and 
1564, May 17, 1924. 


ACID-SOIL PLANTS——COVILLE 377 


been published, but a brief description of it will be instructive in its 
relation to the present subject. On May 26, 1923, 13 small plants of 
the Japanese variety of hydrangea known as Otaksa were potted in 
5-inch porous earthenware pots in a soil consisting of rotted turf 
loam 1 part, well-rotted cow manure 1 part, sand 1 part, and pounded 
crocks 3 parts. On July 18, 1923, one of the plants bloomed. Its 
flowers were pink. Ground aluminum sulphate was applied to the 
surface of the soil in each pot at the rate of 1 part, by bulk, to 200 
parts of the soil. In the fall the plants were placed in a coldhouse 
for chilling, and on January 12, 1924, they were repotted in 6-inch 
pots in the same soil mixture as before, and moved to a warmhouse, 
55° to 70° F. Two days later an application of aluminum sulphate 
was made, in the same proportion as the first, and washed into the 
soil by repeated sprinkling with water as at the first treatment. Other 
plants were given the same soil and treatment, except that no alumi- 
num sulphate was applied. Others were given the same treatment, 
but in a soil consisting of 2 parts of kalmia peat, 1 part of sand, and 
3 parts of crocks, or instead of crocks soft-coal cinders. 

Plate 12, from a photograph made May 14, 1924, shows two plants 
typical of the lots they represent. The flowers at the left, of a pink 
color, were grown in the loam mixture without aluminum sulphate; 
those at the right, deep blue in color, were from the loam mixture 
treated with aluminum sulphate. The pink flowers came from a 
neutral soil, the blue from an acid soil. Blue flowers were produced 
also on the plants in a peat and sand soil, which was acid, although 
no aluminum sulphate was used. 

The use of druggists’ alum, placed in chunks in the pots to make 
pink hydrangeas produce blue flowers, is an old practice of florists, 
but the interpretation of the cause as a change in the soil reaction 
from neutral or alkaline to acid appears not to have been made 
until the outcome of the New Brunswick and Washington experi- 
ments in 1924.° 


NATURE OF THE ACTION OF ALUMINUM SULPHATE 


The nature of the fundamental action of aluminum sulphate on a 
neutral soil or an alkaline soil appears to be the replacement of the 
lime in the soil by aluminum, and the leaching away of the released 


>It now appears that the same conclusion was reached a year earlier, by still another 
investigator. After the present paper had been sent to the printer, a colleague directed 
my attention to a paper by W. R. G. Atkins entitled ‘‘ The hydrogen ion concentration of 
the soil in relation to the flower colour of Hydrangea hortensis W., and the availability 
of iron,” published in June, 1923, in the Scientific Proceedings of the Royal Dublin 
Society, vol. 17, new series, pp. 201 to 210. The author concluded that in acid soils the 
house hydrangea produces blue flowers, and in alkaline soils pink flowers, and that the 
cause of the blue coloration is the presence, in the flower, of an unusual amount of 
iron, dissolved from the soil by reason of the acidity of the soil solution, absorbed by 
the plant in excess of its ordinary iron requirements, and therefore present in the state 
of “inorganic” iron, the direct effect of which is to turn the pink coloring matter of the 
flower blue. 


3i8 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 
’ 


lime in the form of calcium sulphate. Repeated tests show that after 
the application of aluminum sulphate to a soil of this type, the first 
leachings contain only a trace of aluminum but an abundance of 
calcium sulphate. The change in the soil reaction from neutrality 
or alkalinity to acidity is doubtless due at first to the acidity of the 
aluminum sulphate itself, but the continuation of the acid reaction 
is due apparently to the fact that the calcium and other substances 
that could neutralize soil acidity arising from aluminum salts or 
other causes, have been removed by the treatment described. The 
resulting condition is substantially that which occurs in a peat soil, 
the particular characteristic of which is acidity caused by the pres- 
ence of organic substances. In the two lots of plants illustrated in 
Plate 4 the soil of the healthy plant at the right, seven weeks after 
the last application of aluminum sulphate, had an acidity of 10 on 
the Wherry scale,®° while the soil of the untreated and sickly plant 
at the left was neutral. To summarize the matter, the application 
of aluminum sulphate may be regarded as an effective and rather 
inexpensive means of changing the reaction of a soil from neutral 
or alkaline to acid. 


APPLICATION OF THE EXPERIMENTS 


The aluminum-sulphate experiments described in this paper have 
not yet been extended by the writer to large plants growing in the 
deeper soils of outdoor plantings. For such situations amounts of 
aluminum sulphate up to a pound per square yard may be applied 
advantageously and safely if the soil is a loam of the ordinary fertile 
type, the application being repeated if the soil is not made acid by 
the first application. In applying ground aluminum sulphate to an 
outdoor bed the material should be distributed evenly over the 
ground, and mixed into the surface soil with a rake. The bed should 
then be watered thoroughly with as much as 2 to 3 inches of water in 
order to dissolve the sulphate and carry it deeply into the soil. The 
water should be so applied that it will not run off the surface but will 
sink through the bed past the roots, and leach out underneath. For 
greenhouse experiments 1 part of aluminum sulphate to 200 parts 
of soil, by bulk, may be taken as a standard experimental mixture. 
Persons desiring to experiment with sickly outdoor rhododendrons 
or other acid-soil plants are advised to apply the aluminum sulphate 
to only a portion of a planting, always leaving another portion un- 
treated for comparison. 

If a soil is already sufficiently acid, the application of aluminum 
sulphate is useless. 


° Bdgar T. Wherry, 1922, “ Soil acidity—its nature, measurement, and relation to plant 
distribution,” published in the Smithsonian Report for 1920, pp. 247 to 268. Also, by 
the same author, “ Soil reaction in relation to horticulture,” published in May, 1926, as 
Bulletin 4 of the American Horticultural Society. 


ACID-SOIL PLANTS—COVILLE 379 


Outdoor experiments with aluminum sulphate should not be tried 
in mixed plantings unless it is known that all the plants are suited 
to a strongly acid soil, because the ordinary plants of horticulture, 
which require a soil with a neutral or alkaline reaction, are likely to 
be severely injured, or killed, by the aluminum sulphate. 

Crude aluminum sulphate, such as was used in these experiments, 
is commonly known in the trade as sulphate of alumina. It is em- 
ployed extensively in the chemical industries and is not expensive. 
In large quantities it can be purchased at about $30 a ton. 

Experiments that have been in progress for several years have 
shown that soil acidity is required not only for rhododendrons, frank- 
linias, and blueberries, but for azaleas, kalmias, heather, trailing- 
arbutus, wintergreen, and practically all the plants of the heath 
family, besides pink ladyslipper, sweet ladies-tresses, and many other 
orchids, and numerous other plants of ornamental horticulture that 
are commonly regarded as difficult of cultivation, such as bunch- 
berry, vernal iris, birdsfoot violet, painted trillium, galax, pitcher- 
plant, and Venus flytrap. There is every reason to expect that these 
other plants also can be made to thrive in ordinary soils through the 
use of aluminum sulphate, provided the soil does not contain too 
much clay, for a heavy clay soil is unsuited, for other reasons, to 
most acid-soil plants even after it has been acidified. A knowledge 
of the usefulness of aluminum sulphate in the culture of acid-soil 
plants is likely to be of importance at the present time when the 
importation of these plants has been greatly curtailed through the 
plant-quarantine laws, and nurserymen are now trying to grow the 
needed plants inside the United States. Before the aluminum-sul- 
plate treatment is applied extensively to ericaceous plantings, how- 
ever, it remains to be determined whether the treatment if long con- 
tinued may not lead to the development of unforeseen difficulties, 
such as the formation of compounds of sulphur injurious to erica- 
ceous plants. For the present the aluminum-sulphate treatment 
should be regarded as experimental. 


NATURALLY ACID SOILS PREFERABLE 


Readers of this publication are especially asked not to conclude 
from these experiments that the best way to grow rhododendrons and 
other acid-soil plants is to put them in a neutral or alkaline soil and 
then apply aluminum sulphate. The best way to grow such plants 
is to remove the neutral or alkaline soil and put in its place a bed 
of naturally acid soil, such as sand mixed with peat, rotting wood, 
or half-rotted oak leaves. (PI. 13.) Detailed directions for the 
preparation and maintenance of such acid soils are given in other 


380 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


publications. The following restatement, however, will be useful 
here: 


In nature acid nourishment is provided by the accumulation, on the surface 
of the ground, of a layer of bhalf-rotted leaves, twigs, and rootlets. Such an 
accumulation when it occurs in a sphagnum bog is called bog peat, or simply 
peat. On well-drained sandy or gravelly soils it is called upland peat. Under 
good conditions upland peat is laced into a tenacious mat, a few inches in 
thickness, by the roots of the ericaceous plants that accompany it, and this 
mat persists year after year, continually renewing itself through each year’s 
leaf-fall and the penetration of new roots into the decaying mass. Upland 
peat is normally brown, but is often blackened by ground fires. On limestone 
soils or on soils which for any reason have an alkaline chemical reaction 
upland peat does not form. The lime and other alkaline substances in the 
soil greatly hasten the decomposition of the leaves. Each year’s leaf-fall is 
decomposed, much of it passing in liquid form into the underlying soil, prior 
to the leaf-fall of the following year. Fully decomposed leaves form a true 
leafmold, black in color and neutral or alkaline in reaction, in which 
rhododendrons and other acid-soil plants will not grow. In soils derived from 
granite, sandstone, sand, and gravel, acid conditions are usually maintained 
with little difficulty by the addition of upland peat, half-rotted oak leaves, or 
decayed wood or bark. 

Sawdust and spent tanbark are acid materials useful as mulch for acid-soil 
plants. They should be applied experimentally at first, however, to test the 
safety and suitability of the particular kind that is available. Some kinds 
of sawdust, notably redcedar and pitch pine, contain, when fresh substances 
that are directly injurious. Other kinds, such as basswood, maple, and birch, 
are free from these substances. In general it is best to use sawdust that is 
weathered and somewhat decayed. 

When an attempt is to be made to grow rhododendrons or other acid-soil 
plants in a place in which the soil is neutral or alkaline, such as a limestone 
soil, the bottom land of a river valley, the ordinary fertile garden, or a, prairie 
or arid-region soil, it is necessary to prepare holes or trenches and make up a 
special soil mixture. This should consist of 1 part of clean sand to 1 or 2, or 
even 4 parts of upland peat or its equivalent. To keep earthworms from 
bringing up the underlying soil the bottom of the hole should be lined with a 
2-inch layer of soft-coal cinders. The depth of the peat and sand mixture 
need not be more than 8 to 12 inches. If the materials for the mixture are 
available in quantity a bed may be laid down over the whole surface of the 
ground. A permanent mulch of oak leaves will help maintain a proper degree 
of moisture and by decomposition will add to the peat supply. 

In choosing peat for the eulture of acid-soil plants two mistakes should 
be avoided. First, certain swamps contain a deposit that looks like peat but 
is neutral or alkaline in chemical reaction. 'The soil of such swamps, to. which 
the name muck should be applied, is well suited to the culture of onions, 
celery, and lettuce, but altogether unsuited to the culture of rhododendrons 
and other acid-soil plants." Second, the much decomposed peat in the sub- 
merged lower layers of deep bogs, such as is used for fuel in Wurope, or the 
lighter kinds for stable bedding, is not suitable, by itself, for acid-soil plants. 
It is many years, often centuries, old and although it may furnish the needed 


7For a further discussion of the opposing characteristics and uses of peat and muck, 
see “The agricultural use of acid peats,’’ published in January, 1925, in the Journal of 
the American Peat Society, vol. 18, pp. 5 to 7, pls. 1 to 4. 


ACID-SOIL PLANTS—COVILLE 3881 


acidity it is deficient in plant food. When such a peat is used, nourishment 
for the plant must be supplied in some other component of the soil mixture. A 
very light peat of this kind, imported from Burope, consisting chiefly of 
brown fragments of sphagnum moss, is much used in the United States as a 
mulch, as an ingredient of potting mixtures, and in cutting beds, for acid-soil 
plants. It is well suited to these purposes, but being deficient in plant food it 
should not be used alone, or with sand only, as a potting soil. 

A sharp distinction should be made between half-rotted oak leaves and the 
ordinary compost of leaves with manure, garden soil, and garden trash. Such 
a compost is neutral or alkaline in reaction and should not be used on acid-soil 
plants. Sugar maple, elm, and linden leaves rot rapidly and so soon reach the 
alkaline stage that they also are not desirable for application to an acid-soil 
planting. Oak leaves, especially red oak leaves, rot slowly, and in two or 
three years, if the pile is turned over several times, make a good substitute for 
upland peat.* 

No manure, lime, or wood ashes should be applied to rhododendrons or 
other plants that require an acid soil, for all these substances tend to neutralize 
the necessary acidity. Cottonseed meal, ground soybeans, and spent malt, all 
of which contain a large amount of nitrogen in organic and acid form, are 
excellent fertilizers for acid-soil plants. Experiments made by the writer in 
the spring of 1926 show that skimmed milk and buttermilk are useful as fer- 
tilizers for acid-soil plants.” Undoubtedly the partially dried forms of these 
products now marketed for poultry feed are also serviceable as fertilizer for 
such plants. The warning should be given, however, that skimmed milk con- 
tains about ten times as much lime as cottonseed meal and that the possible 
cumulative effect of repeated applications may require remedial measures, such 
as the application of aluminum sulphate to remove the excess lime. In very 
sandy soils for which so little peat is available that the plants suffer for 
nourishment the following special acid fertilizer devised for blueberries and 
eranberries will probably do well for rhododendrons, applied at the rate of an 
eighth to a fourth of a pound per square yard.” 


Pounds 
CottGnsesdimeéali_oligil .2ecl “saulclues.o LoBOb ale IU Boones 10 
aN RPM Te icEe HCI: RENO RRel fatale el omaec Neate Ruel re a eh L EN mere oe 4 
SSRI RAN Ta RN on OC AS Ie aR a Ne PE 2 


Hard water, which is alkaline in reaction, will ultimately injure an acid- 
soil planting. Rainwater or some other water that is neutral or even acid 
in reaction should be used if practicable. If only alkaline water is available 
for sprinkling purposes it can be made neutral or slightly acid by dissolving 
in it a suitable amount of aluminum sulphate. The proper amount can be 
determined by adding to a teaspoonful of the treated water in a white dish 
a fraction of a drop of the dye known as bromthymol blue. If the amount of 
aluminum sulphate added to the water was just sufficient to make it neutral, 
its color under this test will be green; if it has become acid, yellow; if it is 
still alkaline, blue. : 

Ornamental plants vary in the degree of soil acidity or alkalinity to which 
they are best adapted. The preparation of authentic lists of species on this 


8 For a more extended discussion of the decay of leaves and its relation to acid soils 
see “ The formation of leafmold,” Smithsonian Report for 1918, pp. 353 to 8438. 

®*“ Buttermilk as a fertilizer for blueberries,’ Science, yol. 64, pp. 94 to 96, July 23, 
1926. 

For a discussion of fertilizer experiments see pp. 19 and 20 of ‘ Directions for blue- 
berry culture, 1921,” Bull. 974, U. S, Department of Agriculture, 24 pp. and 29 pls. 


20837—27———26 


382 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


basis will necessarily be a slow procedure, the outcome of careful experi- 
mentation, but fortunately a general though not infallible guide to the need 
of soil acidity for a particular species is already in existence in such well- 
known works on gardening as Nicholson’s Illustrated Dictionary of Garden- 
ing and Bairey’s Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture. European gardeners 
have learned from long and cumulative experience that certain plants thrive 
best when supplied with peat, and this knowledge has been handed down to 
us in garden literature, and in garden practice when conducted intelligently, 
but never apparently with any suggestion that the essential quality of the 
peat was its acidity. The statement in any reliable work on gardening that 
a particular species requires peat may be taken as good evidence that this 
species is an acid-soil plant. In very many cases, however, especially in 
American works, even this evidence is lacking. Fortunately there has been 
published very recently (May, 1926) by Dr. Edgar T. Wherry a paper that 
contains lists of plants classified according to the degree of soil acidity at 
which they thrive best.* ” 


CONCLUSION 


If, contrary to the advice in the preceding paragraphs, a planting 
of acid-soil plants has been made in a nonacid bed, the plants can 
probably be saved by proper applications of aluminum sulphate. If 
an acid-soil bed has become neutral as a result of the use of hard 
water, or by reason of the excessive decomposition of the peat or the 
leaves originally placed in the bed, or from any other cause, treat- 
ment with aluminum sulphate will probably prove beneficial. If the 
cost of preparation of an acid-soil bed is prohibitive, in a locality 
in which the necessary materials are not easily available, then the 
acid-soil plants may be tried in an ordinary fertile neutral soil after 
it has been acidified by means of aluminum sulphate. 


1 Soil reaction in relation to horticulture,’ 1926, Bull. 4, American Horticultural 
Society, 14 pp. 

122 Much of the information contained in the eight preceding paragraphs has been used 
for several years past, under the title ‘‘ Experiments in rhododendron culture,” to answer 
letters of inquiry on this subject addressed to the United States Department of Agri- 
culture. It was published in 1923, so far as the experiments up to that date permitted, 
on pages 336 to 341 of L. H. Bailey’s ‘The cultivated evergreens,” under the heading 
“ Acid soils for certain broad-leaved evergreens.” 


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Smithsonian Report, 1926.—Coville PLATE 7 


INJURIOUS EFFECT OF ORDINARY RICH SOIL ON FRANKLINIA 


At the left is a typical healthy young plant of franklinia grown in a standard acid soil. The 
plant at the right which, at the beginning of the year, was a healthy well rooted young cut- 
ting like the other, had been for five months in a fertile but neutral garden soil. In this soil 
it had become sickly and on July 26, 1923, when the photograph was taken, it was nearly 
dead About one-third natural size 


Smithsonian Report, 1926.—Coville PLATE 8 


RESUSCITATION OF A SICKLY FRANKLINIA THROUGH TREATMENT WITH 
ALUMINUM SULPHATE 


The plant at the left was almost dead from five months’ contact with an ordinary fertile but 
neutral garden soil. The plant at the right was in the same soil for the first eight weeks 
and became sickly like the other. It was then given an application of aluminum sulphate, 
which changed the soil reaction from neutral to acid. After three months’ contact with the 
acid soil the plant had recovered its health and resumed normal growth ,as shown in the 
illustration A bout one-third natural size 


Smithsonian Report, 1926.—Coville PLATE 9 


ALUMINUM-SULPHATE TREATMENT OF THE BLUEBERRY FOR SEVEN MONTHS 


Both the plants shown in this illustration were small healthy seedlings of the same size on 
February 4, 1924, when they were potted in a fertile but neutral garden soil known to be 
injurious to blueberry plants. The plant at the left was given a heavy application of alumi- 
num sulphate. On September 9, when the two plants were photographed, the beneficial 
effect of the aluminum sulphate was conspicuous. Two-thirds natural size 


Smithsonian Report, 1926.—Coville PLATE 10 


ALUMINUM-SULPHATE TREATMENT OF THE BLUEBERRY FOR THREE SEASONS 


The plant at the left has been in an ordinary rich garden soil for three seasons. It is small, 
pallid, and half dead. The plant at the right, healthy and ready to bear fruit the coming 
year, isin the same soil as the other, except that it received each year, at the time of repotting, 
an application of aluminum sulphate, which changed the soil reaction from neutral to acid 
About one-third natural size 


Smithsonian Report, 1926.—Coville PLATE 11 


——— 


BLUEBERRY PLANT RESUSCITATED WITH ALUMINUM SULPHATE 


On March 31, 1926, this plant was in a sickly dwarfed condition after two years in an ordi- 
nary fertile but neutral soil, and it was getting worse. Aluminum sulphate was applied 
Six months later, when the photograph was taken, the plant had recovered its health 
completely and had nearly doubled in height. About three-fourths natural size 


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Smithsonian Report, 1926.—Coville PLATE 13 


STIMULATING EFFECT OF A NATURALLY ACID SOIL ON A RHODODENDRON 


In early May healthy seedlings of Rhododendron marimum were set in 2-inch pots in an ordi- 
nary fertile garden soil composed of equal parts, by bulk, of loam, well-rotted cow manure, 
and sand. Other similar plants were potted in 2 parts of upland peat tol ofsand. In June 
of the following year, when the photograph was made, the plant at the left, in the neutral 
garden soil, had made no growth, while the plant at the right, in the strongly acid peat soil, 
had made normal and luxuriant growth. It is better, whenever practicable, to give acid- 
soil plants a naturally acid soil than to put them in a neutral soil and then acidify it artifi- 
cially with aluminum sulphate. Natural size 


EASTERN BRAZIL THROUGH AN AGROSTOLOGIST’S 
SPECTACLES 


By Acnes CuHaAse, United States Department of Agriculture 


[With 9 plates] 


The flora of eastern Brazil is of especial interest to the student 
of tropical North American plants. Except for a limited amount 
of botanical exploration in Jamaica and in Santo Domingo before 
the revolution at the close of the eighteenth century, but few botan- 
ical collections were made in the Tropics of North America until 
after an important scientific expedition to Brazil had made known 
much of the flora and fauna of eastern Brazil and part of the 
valley of the Amazon. Brazil, the West Indies, and Panama have 
many species of plants in common. In working on a family of 
plants of the North American Tropics, therefore (in my case, 
grasses) it is necessary to have a fairly detailed knowledge of the 
family as found in Brazil. 

The Brazilian expedition referred to in the preceding paragraph 
was sent by Francis I of Austria as an honorary escort to his 
daughter Leopoldina on her voyage to Brazil to marry the crown 
prince of Portugal and Brazil, the man later known as the “ Liber- 
ator,” Pedro I of Brazil. This Francis was a grandson of 
Maria Theresa and he was the grandfather of Maximilian, the short- 
lived “emperor” of Mexico and of the late Francis Joseph of 
Austria. Francis I was a patron of science and an opportunist in 
politics. In 1810 he gave his daughter Marie Louise to Napoleon, 
then at the height of his power; and in 1817, Napoleon being out 
of power, he gave his younger daughter Leopoldina to the royal 
family that had fled before Napoleon from Portugal to Brazil. 
Poor Leopoldina seems to have been as reluctant a bride as was 
Marie Louise. She delayed her departure so long that some of the 
eager scientists of the honorary escort set sail without her. Mar- 
tius, the Bavarian leader of the scientific expedition, together with 
Spix, Mikan, and others set out for Brazil and arrived at Rio de 
Janeiro in July, 1817, while Leopoldina did not arrive until Novem- 
ber. She lived but eight years longer. Dom Pedro, the last em- 
peror of Brazil, was her son. 

Pohl, Natterer, and Schott of Vienna, Raddi of Tuscany, and other 
botanists and zoologists accompanied the bride or followed, so that 

383. 


384 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


young Brazil for a time swarmed with naturalists. Publication of 
their results began to appear as early as 1823 when Raddi’s Agrosto- 
graphia Brasiliensis, a little volume of 58 pages, the earliest work on 
South American grasses, was published. 

Except Pohl, who went as far as Goyaz, most of the naturalists 
remained in the vicinity of Rio de Janeiro or traveled short distances 
southward, but Martius and Spix, after a few months about Rio de 
Janeiro, went to Sao Paulo and from there made their way north- 
ward through Minas Geraes and Bahia to the city of Bahia. From 
there they went by boat to Ilheos and returned by land, then trav- 
ersed Bahia, Piauhy, and Maranhao to the north coast, crossing Rio 
Sao Francisco at Joazeiro. They then traveled up the Amazon to 
some distance beyond Teffe (or Ega). 

The Amazon and other parts of Brazil have since been explored 
by Germans, Swedes, Swiss, English, Brazilians, and in recent years 
by Americans, and the United States National Herbarium has, by 
exchange, come in for a share of the plants collected, but there was 
no United States National Herbarium at the time of Martius and but 
little since has been collected, at least of grasses, in the region he 
traversed in the interior; wherefore the grasses of that region were 
known to us only (or chiefly) from the specimens preserved in the 
herbaria at Brussels, Munich, and Vienna. 

I reached Rio de Janeiro late November 1, 1924. The entrance to 
the bay has been described many times, and we are all familiar with 
pictures of it, but the reality is almost overwhelming. As we neared 
Sugar Loaf with peaks in all directions I had the sensation of sailing 
into the tops of a mountain chain on a flood. 

The following afternoon I spent on Corcovado. As I clambered 
along a narrow trail on a steep slope I seemed to be following Raddi’s 
footsteps, for I collected several of his species of grasses described 
from this mountain. 

In spite of the dense population in the lowlands the mountains 
about Rio de Janeiro have not been spoiled for the botanist. Except 
for the invasion in places of Melinis minutiflora, called capim 
gordura (molasses grass by us), an African species early introduced 
into Brazil, the steep jungly slopes, I imagine, are not greatly 
changed from what they were a hundred years ago. As elsewhere in 
the Serra do Mar (the coast range) there are great bare slopes and 
knobs of dark granite or gneiss. st! 

Rio de Janeiro is very healthful now. In the last three years a 
great hill in the city has been cut down, letting the sea air across to 
the back, and a tidal marsh is being filled with the material removed. 
The city is built in and out of the hollows between the hills, only a 
relatively few houses, mostly hotels for foreigners, being in the hills. 


EASTERN BRAZIL—-CHASE 385 


It is wonderfully lovely with trees and gardens, and everywhere hills 
for background. 

Four days after my arrival I ieft for Pernambuco in order to reach 
that region before the dry season was much advanced. (Ships from 
the United States do not stop at any Brazilian port north of Rio 
de Janeiro.) Pernambuco, or Recife as the city is commonly called, 
lies on flat ground built up by coral reefs and mangroves (both 
Rhizophora and Avicennia). Extensive mangrove marshes sur- 
round the city and Rio Capiberibe flows slowly through it. The city 
is cut into by tidal lagoons into which the mangroves are advancing. 
Recife is full of beautiful trees and flowering shrubs, royal palms, 
mangroves, caju (or cashew, Anacardiwm occidentale), breadfruit 
(Artocarpus ineisa) and its next of kin, Jackfruit (A. integrifolia), 
Carica papaya, and coconut palms being the most conspicuous. 

The surrounding region is densely populated. Wooded hills which 
at a distance showed no signs of being inhabited turned out to be 
full of huts and goats and children. In little clearings were patches 
of maize and beans, and a few banana trees and sometimes oranges. 
Vetiveria was planted about many of the huts. This is one of the 
oil grasses introduced from the East Indies. In the West Indies, 
the roots are used to scent clothing and to keep moths away, but 
here the grass is used to thatch huts. The caju is everywhere, a 
beautiful wide-spreading tree bearing multitudes of fragrant small 
maroon flowers, buzzing with bees, and fruit in all stages of develop- 
ment. These trees are a blessing to a blistering botanist. Whenever 
I sat down in their grateful shade to write up my notes and arrange 
the plants there was an excited squeaking in the tree above. I 
could see nothing through the dense foliage, and could not guess 
what sort of creature was worried by my invasion. I was told that 
it was the marmoset; then by patient and quiet watching I caught 
glimpses of little gray faces and bright eyes peering down with an 
expression of the most intense interest. 

The low land is even more thickly settled than the hills, mud huts 
occupying little peninsulas in the mangrove marshes, the bit of land 
swarming with naked children, and the mud with fiddler crabs. The 
margins of fresh-water streams, ditches, and ponds are occupied by 
washerwomen while their children swarm in the water like tadpoles. 
The Brazilian lavandera is a worker of miracles. She washes clothes 
in muddy water, spreads them along the dusty roadside, and then 
brings them home glistening white. 

Loads of capim da planta, Panicum barbinode (Para grass, we 
eall it) are continually being carried cityward on the backs of 
horses, less commonly in carts. This grass, which is the universal 


386 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


hay in Pernambuco, occupies practically all the low land. It is cut 
by hand. 

The wet meadows and stream borders offered the best botanizing. 
Here were great paspalums and panicums higher than my head, 
tangled with aroids, ferns, and brush. I was surprised to find a 
bog that quaked even more than do Maine bogs. This was about 
half a mile long, and billowed under my feet in a way that made 
me gasp. 

I wanted to see something of the sertao, the interior arid region. 
I had letters to missionaries in Recife, and from them I secured 
much helpful information. Here and elsewhere I found the mis- 
sionaries to be the best sources of information. They travel every- 
where, and like the botanists do it on a limited amount of money, and 
can direct one anywhere and give information about baggage and 
the numerous details that are so troublesome to a stranger unpre- 
pared for them. 

Bello Jardim, 186 kilometers to the west in the Serra da Genipapo, 
at an altitude of 600 to 650 meters, was chosen as representative of 
the sertao. At about 50 kilometers west the arid region begins, and 
the land becomes higher and drier as we go.. Giant agaves, at the 
end of blooming, were falling or ready to fall. Agave seems to be 
cultivated to some extent for rope making. This plant after flower- 
ing assures a second crop of offspring by producing leafy shoots all 
along the horizontal old flowering branches, these ready to take root 
as soon as the parent stem falls to the ground. 

The hills are covered with scrub or low trees, the “ caatinga,” con- 
sisting of Mimosa, Acacia, thorny shrubs, and semiarborescent cactus, 
except where it has been cleared for planting. Ground is cleared 
by burning, and cotton, sugar cane, castor plants, mandiocca, or 
tobacco are planted, sometimes here and there among the shrubs or 
tussocks of sedge that refused to burn down. ‘There seemed to be 
little or no cultivation. Mandiocca, or cassava, from which the staple 
food farinha is made, was the only clean crop seen, except small 
patches of tobacco. There are no plows or other agricultural imple- 
ments, planting and cutting being done with heavy hoes and large 
knives. When a field becomes overgrown with weeds or brush it is 
abandoned and a new place is burned. Land, I was told, is very 
cheap. The result is that cultivated spots are scattered, hit or miss, 
through the scrub, which is overgrazed by cattle, horses, donkeys, 
sheep, and goats, till only inedible shrubs and herbs, Jatropha, Cap- 
paris, and the like flourish. 

The poor skinny animals eat everything bare except where a bit 
of soii is protected by thorny or bitter shrubs. I searched such 
spots for remnants of the original ground-cover, but most of the poor 
little refugees were introduced weeds. Bermuda grass (Capriola 


EASTERN BRAZIL—CHASE 387 


dactylon) clings to earth even when reduced to mats no larger than 
a 5-cent piece. If given the least chance it would cover the desolate 
earth; not a thing for the agrostologist to rejoice over, but it would 
benefit the poor animals. The bare ground is eroded more or less, 
but is held by the shrubs, except in the little villages where powdery 
dust fills the air. When the rains come the water runs off at once 
carrying the surface soil with it. 

No forage crops are grown in the sertaéo except for little patches 
of Para grass here and there along a stream. In November the dry 
season had only begun, yet every edible plant in the sertéo seemed to 
have been consumed, and there were some eight months more to 
endure before the rains. A large thrifty looking milkweed (Ascle- 
pias), a low temptingly green herb growing in dense patches, and 
scattered plants of Capparis were not even nibbled. Palatable plants, 
overgrazed and not allowed to seed, have been exterminated and only 
such inedible herbs remain. The shrubs were mostly leafless, but 
many were in bloom, glowing patches of yellow of Chamaefistula 
and Cassia being conspicuous. A species of Ruellia with lovely 
mauve flowers was common in the scrub. 

Garanhuns, 850 meters high in the sertaéo, 271 kilometers to the 
southwest of Recife at the end of the railroad, is much less barren 
and more progressive, with fairly good sugar-cane fields and with 
bullock carts in common use. From Garanhuns, accompanied by two 
missionaries, Mrs. Thompson and Miss Kilgore, I visited Paulo 
Affonso Falls in the Rio Sao Francisco, difficult of access until 
recently and not heretofore visited by a botanist. We made the 
trip, some 200 kilometers, by automobile over a newly cut road, 
leaving at dawn. About an hour from Garanhuns we dipped into 
the valley of a small river with fairly dense woods, then, reaching the 
hills again, the country became drier and drier. We were now 
in the true sertaéo in the basin of Rio Sao Francisco. The country 
was less desolate than that about Bello Jardim. Though the grasses 
and herbs were dead and bleached, many of the shrubs and small 
trees composing the caatinga were in gorgeous bloom, some leafless, 
some with brilliant green glossy foliage. Cashews and other large 
trees were met with here and there, and in two places where the road 
dipped to lower altitude were rather thick groves of trees hung with 
a Zillandsia like our Spanish moss. Small birds of astonishing 
colors—green, yellow, and raspberry pink in the same flock—flew 
up in an explosion of color. Doves, much like our ground dove 
of Florida, were common; also parokeets and the red, white, and 
blue (slate blue) “ gallo das campinhas,” seen before at Bello Jardim. 
This “cock of the fields” is a handsome bird about the size of our 
cardinal. 


388 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


We reached Pedra, about 25 kilometers from the falls, just before 
sunset. There is a thread factory here, with light and power trans- 
mitted by a turbine station at the falls, both the property of the 
Gouveia family. Permission was secured from the factory manager 
to visit the falls, and a little after dark we set out. As we sped 
along, the headlights showing cactus and the pale gray stems of 
leafless shrubs, I waited breathlessly for the plunge into tropical 
forest. Finally we saw lights ahead and were met by a little crowd 
of men and boys. (The factory manager had telephoned that we 
were coming.) The automobile could go no farther; they would 
take us and our baggage on a tiny trolley on a narrow track. A 
man ran behind and pushed the car. The new moon had set but 
there was enough starlight to see that we were crossing deep places. 
We could hear the roar of the falls and, alighting after a ride of 
about half a kilometer on the trolley, we could see a wild turmoil of 
tossing waters. We clambered about a little to get a starlight view 
of the falls while Antonio, who had pushed the trolley car and who 
was our devoted friend till we left, hung our hammocks in an empty 
house and carried in our baggage. How could there be such mighty 
falls and such spray without verdure? Morning would reveal some 
dripping cliffs, I was sure, with trees and the climbing bamboos and 
tropical grasses I had been looking forward to.” But at early dawn 
I left my hammock to view the greatest waterfall and the most 
lifeless desert I have ever seen. 

At this time, early in the dry season, the falls were about 81 meters 
high. (Niagara is about 49 meters high.) In the rainy season in 
this region (June and July), and again in the rainy season at the 
headwaters of Rio Sao Francisco in Minas Geraes (December to 
February) the river is much higher, sometimes 15 meters or more 
above its present level below the falls. The Paulo Affonso is not 
one straight fall, as is Niagara, but is, rather, a stupendous cascade. 

The power plant and a few small houses are on an island cut off 
from the mainland by two rocky channels, one of which was dry at 
this season. These channels are bridged by a trolley line about two 
and one-half feet wide, with planks down the middle for crossing on 
foot. At the falls a high island of dark rock (Secret Island) divides 
the river, the main falls being the left branch (looking down stream). 
The right branch (on the Bahia side of the island) can not be seen 
from the left bank. At the top of the main falls the river is divided 
by a great mass of rock, forming two falls which pour toward each 
other. Below this the waters pour in three divisions into a great 
plunge basin, into which also pour the waters of a lovely twin falls 
and, a short distance farther, of the great Bahia Falls, which sub- 
divide Secret Island. At the base of the Bahia Falls all the waters 
come together in the wildest turmoil, creamy brown, and explode 


EASTERN BRAZIL—-CHASE 389 


against both rock walls. From here the whole mass falls into a 
second plunge basin, with spray which shoots up in spires, rising 
higher than the top of this lower fall, and obscuring all but the 
summit, as in Horseshoe falls at Niagara. There is a deep vibrating 
roar with a high continuous clashing above it, like endlessly shatter- 
ing glass. 

The river below is the wildest clash of waters, the bed slanting 
downward probably 15 to 20 meters to a sharp turn where the end 
of the island and the high wall of the left bank approach, forming a 
whirlpool and cutting far into the wall. At the head of this recess, 
several meters up the cliff, is an enormous cave and down the side 
falls the water of the stream crossed by the trolley. The cave is 
about 150 meters in depth with a lofty ceiling at the entrance. The 
floor toward the back is covered thick with manure from bat roosts. 
In front of it are piles of driftwood. The river here makes a sharp 
turn to the right. Following the wall to the south, the falls called 
Agua de Venta on the Bahia side of Secret Island can be seen. 

I never saw any region so nearly devoid of vegetation. It is 
astonishing how the cliffs can keep so dry and bare with so much 
mist rising from the falls. The perpendicular wall of the canyoa 
was dark-brown rock, smooth and polished. In clefts were a few 
small trees and shrubs and an entire-leaved fern. On the opposite 
cliff (the face of Secret Island) is a vertical zone of verdure where 
the spray waters it, with scrub and cactus and bare rock on either 
side. JI explored the channels crossed by the trolley and then struck 
up river. All was bare rock, smooth and polished or black and 
cindery, without even a lichen, and hot to the touch in the blazing 
sun. Back from the river in a desert of loose dry sand was sparse 
scrub, the shrubs mostly leafless but some in bloom. A woody 
Bignoniaceous vine (a species of Arrabidaea) clambering over a low 
tree bore gorgeous yard-long sprays of large rose-purple flowers. 
Parrots flew screaming and hawks and vultures wheeled and soared. 
Doves were common, as everywhere in the more arid sertao. 

From Garanhuns I went to Maceio, Alagoas, and took a Brazilian 
boat for Bahia. The boat left at night, so I had a day in the low, 
wooded, sandy region back of the mangrove zone. 

The city of Bahia is on the inside of a small peninsula between the 
bay and ocean. Towns in Brazil, like plants with us, have frequently 
an official and a common name. The city of Pernambuco is called 
Recife (for the reefs which form a breakwater) ; Bahia is Sao Sal- 
vador, and the bay is Bahia dos Todos Santos; but both the city 
and the bay, as well as the State, are called Bahia. 

The peninsula is a succession of hills and hollows, and my field 
book began to fill rapidly. This was what I had expected of Brazil. 


390 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


I had the good fortune to be the guest of a family of American 
missionaries, the Andersons, whose veranda and lawn I spread with 
plant driers. Mr. Anderson knows more about Brazil than anyone 
I met, and gave me information that saved endless time and worry. 

One of the Martius localities I wanted to visit was Joazeiro, on 
Rio Sao Francisco. At Pedra I was not far from there. A narrow- 
gauge railroad runs from Piranhas, on the Rio Sao Francisco, about 
50 kilometers below the Paulo Affonso falls, to Jatoba, about as 
far above them. The river above and below is navigable. But the 
journey from Pedra to Joazeiro, around the great bend to the north, 
would have taken over two weeks. From Bahia to Joazeiro, 575 
kilometers, a shorter distance than from Washington to Pittsburgh, 
took two days each way, the train stopping overnight at Santa 
Luzia. After half a day’s ride it seemed to be the journey to Bello 
Jardim over again, the same dry scrub land, the same sorry agri- 
culture and miserable animals. The second day was still worse, and 
my heart sank as we neared Joazeiro. 

This old city is an important center of trade in hides, dried fish, 
and bark for tanning. The produce from the upper river is here 
shipped overland to Bahia. Noisome stacks of hides towered far 
above one’s head at the railway station, and piles of bark bordered 
the track. Water for household use is carried from the muddy river 
by women and children and in kegs on the backs of donkeys, a con- 
tinual stream of water-carriers coming and going. ‘The water is 
filtered through large earthen pots into tall graceful water jars. 

The region is as desolate as Yuma, Arizona. It is obvious that 
long-continued overgrazing has changed the character of the country. 
There is nothing to hold the rains and the overflow from the river. 
The soil is alluvial and ought to support a good growth of plants. 
The few trees, not tall, but sturdy, seem to thrive, but the ground 
is absolutely bare in large patches, deeply gullied and in same places 
exposing very coarse gravel, the latter, because it does not blow, 
forming low flat hillocks. A hundred years ago when Martius was 
there it must have been beautiful semiarid scrub and alluvial savanna, 
for the plants he collected there are those of brushy savannas. 

While botanizing some ten kilometers to the west I saw an excellent 
demonstration of wind erosion. Hearing a roaring like fire I looked 
to see what it was. At some distance was a whirlwind which came 
with a cloud of red dust so thick it obscured the brush as it went by, 
less than 100 meters from me. 

In the river margin was a large colony of Echinochloa polystachya, 
a gigantic relative of our barnyard grass. This, I was told, is 
eagerly eaten by cattle, but while feeding on it they are sometimes 
attacked by piranhas, the blood-thirsty fish which makes bathing 


EASTERN BRAZIL—-CHASE 391 


in the river risky. I saw this fish only on the table, where it is 
excellent eating. 

I made a day’s trip to the Rio Salitre about 45 kilometers to the 
west. The scrub (or caatinga) is much denser and near the river are 
trees, but the earth is badly eroded. I found some interesting 
grasses here, one known as Paspalum denticulatum var. ciliatwm (but 
a good species), which is very rarely represented in herbaria and 
which I found nowhere else, being abundant in low wet ground. 

‘At Joazeiro there is a Horto Florestal, about what we would call 
an agricultural experiment station. It looked very promising with 
fine mango and orange trees, plantations of Eucalyptus, and some 
good Duroc-Jersey and Poland China swine for breeding. 

From the train I saw a stretch of promising sandy savanna at 
Parafuso, a few miles north of Bahia. Returning there I had one 
of the richest days of my entire stay in Brazil. I found several 
little-known grasses I had been hoping for and many more I knew 
in the herbarium but had never seen growing. 

I made a trip across the bay to the little town of Cachoeira at 
the head of navigation of Rio Paragassti. If the Bay of Rio de 
Janeiro were not so famous for its beauty we would hear more of 
Bahia. The bay and its steep surrounding hills, with mangrove 
marshes filling the indentations, is indescribably lovely. 

A giant aroid (Montrichardia arborescens—what Beebe calls 
“muckamucka”) grew in the water at the base of the hills as we 
entered the wide mouth of Rio Paragassi. I hired a man with a 
dug-out canoe to take me out to a dense growth of this in the river 
between Cachoeira and Sao Felix, to get an enormously tall grass 
(Panicum rivulare) growing in it. 

I spent a day in the dry region about Feira Santa Anna and 
another walking back from Serra to Cachoeira, about fifteen kilo- 
meters. A little stream full of rapids and falls kept me company 
much of the way. Here I found Hymenachne condensata, the type 
of which I had seen in Raddi’s herbarium at Pisa and which was 
represented in the United States National Herbarium by a single 
fragmentary specimen. I afterwards found it plentiful in a single 
locality west of Rio de Janeiro. 

I had two more good days in marshes and sandy savannas be- 
tween Alagoinhas and Matto de Sao Joao, about 125 kilometers 
northwest of Bahia, and sailed on January 6 for Rio de Janeiro. 

I reached Rio de Janeiro a second time January 9, midsummer. 
The next day, in company with Dr. Horace Williams, the chief of 
the geological survey, I visited Pao de Assucar. The summit is 
reached by an aérial trolley, the first section of which runs from 
the base to Morro de Urca, the second from the other end of Morro 


392 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


de Urca to the summit. This enormous block of dark brown granite 
is 380 meters high. The perpendicular west side is bare for more 
than half its height. Toward the summit small bromeliads and 
grasses cling to the rock, the aggressive intruder, capim gordura, 
being the most abundant. The clouds that hang around this isolated 
peak supply moisture for a surprisingly dense vegetation. The sum- 
mit is fairly covered with vegetation, a dense colony of Paspalum 
coryphaeum, masses of a sterile bamboo, Olyra micrantha, the largest 
of the olyras, reaching a height of three to four meters, a beautiful 
large-flowered bean (Phaseolus grandiflorus) and tall composites, 
occupy the summit and the rocks just below, while trees and vines 
form dense thickets on the eastern face, extending nearly to the very 
summit. 

From the summit there is a wide view out to sea, over the city, 
and up the bay. This island-dotted sheet of opalescent water, with 
the blue peaks of the Serra do Mar rising beyond it, is enchanting. 
The most striking peak is called Dedo de Deus, the finger of God, 
from the resemblance to the uplifted forefinger of a closed hand, so 
common a feature in images of Christ. 

I had letters to officials at the Jardim Botanico and received many 
courtesies from them. Miss Maria Bandeira, educated in England 
and the daughter of a prominent physician at Rio de Janeiro, who is 
working on mosses at the Jardim, was a delightful companion on my 
first full day on Corcovado. We took an early train (cog-road) to 
the summit and walked down to Paineiras, no great distance, the 
collecting being so good. At the summit, 720 meters altitude, the 
pretty little international, Poa annua, greeted me, as it did at sea 
level the first minute I set foot on European soil two years before. 
Corcovado is the “type locality” for a large number of grasses, and 
from Paspalum obtusifolium Raddi (now referred to Awonopus) and 
P. corcovadense Raddi at the summit, to Olyra glaberrima Raddi at 
480 meters, they still lived where they were discovered over a cen- 
tury ago, as well as many since described by Nees and by Hackel 
from this beautiful mountain. I spent several more days on Cor- 
covado, along the Aqueduct Trail, beloved of Martius, and up and 
down the jungly slopes or rocky cliffs. 

At this time the quaresma (a species of 7’ibouchina) was in bloom, 
and masses of richest rose-purple glowed on the slopes. These gor- 
geous trees are called guaresma, which means Lent, because the trees 
bloom during the lenten season. But I saw different species of it, 
trees and shrubs, in bloom in various places until May. At this 
time the city was aglow with Cassia fistula, its pendent clusters of 
golden flowers a foot long. 

Through the kindness of Dr. Campos Porto, Miss Bandeira and I 
were able to visit Itatiaia, the great mountain that rises where the 


EASTERN BRAZIL—-CHASE 393 


States of Rio de Janeiro, Sio Paulo, and Minas Geraes touch. The 
journey from Rio de Janeiro, to Bariio Homem de Mello (Campo 
Bello—the nomeclature of Brazilian towns being like that of plants, 
with numerous changes of names and consequent synonyms) was 
through jungle-clad mountains and across rocky streams. From 
Bario Homem de Mello we started on horseback toward the towering 
mountain mass to the north, our collecting outfit following on a 
pack horse. We had charming views of Rio Campo Bello far down 
the narrow valley below and could hear its tumbling waters. The 
slopes were mostly forested with different species of palms, especially 
a very slender one that grows in clumps, suggesting gigantic clumps 
of sugarcane. We reached the Florestal on Monte Serrat about 
4 o’clock. From Monte Serrat (816 meters altitude) to the sum- 
mit of the mountain and for some miles beyond on the Minas 
Geraes side the country is a Federal reserve under the charge of the 
Jardim Botanico. The Florestal is a sort of forest station and ex- 
periment station combined, where scientific work is carried on under 
the direction of Dr. Paulo Campos Porto. The station is a long 
low building, with pleasant living rooms, a laboratory, library, and 
dark room, surrounded by gardens. There are great groves of 
Araucaria brasiliensis, beautiful against a background of blue moun- 
tains or white mist. From the Florestal there is a vast outlook up 
the mountains and down over a sea of lower hills. 

The next morning we left shortly after 8 o’clock with two pack 
animals bearing camping and collecting outfits. It had rained dur- 
ing the night and masses of white mist hung between the mountains, 
the nearby araucarias outlined against them. The trail was difficult, 
up over stones and through deep mud or across streams. It was 
necessarily slow going so I did not have to give much attention to 
the horse, but could keep my eyes on the forested slopes above and 
below, with their palms, tree ferns and great masses of hanging 
bamboo, and on the trail border where Panicum, Ichnanthus and a 
silvery Paspalum promised rich ¢ollecting on the way back. Once 
we saw down the steep slope below a dark brown monkey up a palm 
tree so slender that it swayed under his weight, and a second run- 
ning up the trunk. They looked at us and chattered—then one 
climbed down, while the upper one spread his little arms and sprang 
from the tree, sailing down (it must have been forty or fifty feet) 
into the top of another palm. <A third, then a fourth monkey ran 
up the same palm, turned to look at us and made the same leap, 
while one, just glimpsed lower down, kept calling or scolding. 

We stopped at a mud-hut resthouse at a place called Macieiras 
(the place of apples) because the Jardim has planted an apple 
orchard on the hillside here. It was a grassy and a mossy place and 
Miss Bandeira and I collected until called to supper at about dark. 


394 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


Macieiras is about 1,900 meters altitude and the grasses were north- 
ern or alpine genera, Agrostis, Calamagrostis, Danthonia, Bromus, 
and the like. 

About 7 in the morning we started up the mountain on horseback, 
and in less than an hour were above timberline. We passed glowing 
gardens of a big red Hippeastrum (an ally of Amaryllis), three or 
four flowers in a cluster, often all open; lovely meadows of an 
Erigeron that comes out white and turns rose pink, and masses of 
a yellow composite. At Itatiaia Alta, a great stretch of gentle 
slope, full of boulders and with great clumps of Cortaderia modesta, 
we left the horses near two tiny lakes. 

Above Itatiaia Alta the peak, called Agulhas Negras (the black 
needles), rises abruptly, composed below of steep, bare granite cliffs, 
deeply furrowed vertically. We climbed up the furrows on all 
fours and crossed from one series to another over steep slopes 
covered with a low bamboo (Chusquea pinifolia) most convenient 
to cling to. At the top of these furrowed cliffs is a great overhanging 
rock that seemed to stop all progress, but the way led through a 
crevice to one side and over and between boulders wedged in the 
crevice. The worst place was like a chimney flue, which we ascended 
with the help of a rope. 

The view from the summit was magnificent, mountains every- 
where, in all directions, from dark granite or green slopes near to 
wonderful blues in the distance. From under a cloud we looked out 
on the Minas side on mountains glowing in sunshine, as far as the 
eye could reach, like looking into the sunshine from under a vast 
parasol. 

At the summit was dwarfed Chusquea pinifolia, the only grass, a 
pink Owalis, a tiny cactus (L'piphyllanthus candidus), a little fern, 
bromeliads, an ericaceous plant resembling Gauwltheria with lovely 
pink flowers, two carices, and a composite. In wet mossy rocks 
coming down I collected Poa, Agrostis, and Bromus. 

Reaching Itatiaia Alta again an excellent hot meal awaited us by 
a clear cold streamlet—this was mountaineering de luxe. Here, 
above timberline, grasses were abundant. I made the return journey 
afoot, collecting as rapidly as possible, for night shuts down quickly 
in the Tropics. 

The next morning I started down afoot with my portfolio. The 
way was long and grasses many, so I had to walk and collect at 
top speed, reaching the Florestal just before dark with bulging 
portfolio, a big handkerchief tied around a bundle, and an armful 
besides. 

It rained hard during the night and in the morning the mountain 
tops were hidden by the mist, but the araucarias are at their best 


EASTERN BRAZIL—CHASE 395 


with white mist for background. I started again immediately after 
café to collect on the way down to Baréio Homem de Mello, wheze we 
were to take the noon train. 

Baggage regulations on Brazilian railroads are the despair of a 
foreigner. One’s clothing goes on the train with the passenger, but 
other baggage follows on a later train. My clothing was of no con- 
sequence, while my precious collections would spoil if I could not 
take them with me to dry. By some kind of magic Dr. Campos 
Porto got all my collections on our train, and I heartily wished 
that I had more Portuguese than muito obrigada and agradecida 
at my command to thank him for the wonderful trip and for this 
crowning favor. 

A few days later there was a terrific storm in Rio de Janeiro, 
retaining walls giving way in places, with tons of rock and earth and 
trees across the street-car tracks. The next morning was misty, with 
clouds pouring over the shoulder of Corcovado, but it was not rain- 
ing, so I started about 6 o’clock for an all-day tramp from Alta Boa 
Vista (about 450 meters altitude), on the slope of Tijuca, to Silvestre, 
on the slope of Corcovado. It was drizzling by the time I reached 
Alta Boa Vista, but I went on, hoping it would clear. It rained 
gently or in sudden torrents all day, and yet was one of the most 
joyous day I had in Brazil. There was a dense mat of a little 
Paspalum, apparently new, of which I had found but two specimens 
on Corcovado, and a colony of Panicum latissimum, 6 feet tall, with 
great clasping blades, 6 inches broad and 12 to 15 inches long. It 
grew on an almost vertical slope, in a jungle of trees and shrubs and 
tangled vines. In the United States National Herbarium there were 
fragments only, nothing to give a hint of the beauty of the plant. 
The rain continued the next day, so I took my collection to the 
Jardim Botanico to be dried in the drying oven, and then had to suc- 
cumb to an attack of grippe. I convalesced in the home of kind 
missionaries on the island of Paqueta, toward id north end of the 
bay, botanizing with the children. 

There were a few more trips in the vicinity of Rio de Janeiro, to 
Jacarepagua, in low land toward the south coast to the west; in the 
sands at Ipanema by the seacoast; a day along the Camino dos 
Macacos, which runs from the Jardim Botanico to Alta Boa Vista; 
about Merity, in the low land to the west of the bay; and a glorious 
day climbing the Pico de Tijuca. On the last three trips I enjoyed 
the companionship of Mr. Cuyler, naturalist on the Blossom, of 
Cleveland, a little three-masted sailing vessel exploring particularly 
the bird islands on both sides of the southern Atlantic. The Blossom 
was undergoing repairs in the harbor of Rio de Janeiro. On a 
steep wooded slope above Camino dos Macacos I found the eagerly 


396 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


sought Streptochaeta spicata, one of the strangest grasses known, 
with broad oval blades and slenderly conical spikelets hanging loose 
(at maturity) by fine spiral awns to the top of the slender axis, a 
sort of Maypole-dance arrangement. On this trail I saw for the first 
time the rain tree (Samanea Saman) raining, the mist falling in a 
stream of sunlight striking through the trees. 

Pico de Tijuca is the highest peak in the vicinity of Rio de 
Janeiro. It was cloudy or misty most of the day, glimpses of the 
city or the bay occasionally showing below us. At the top of the 
steep granite Pico was a bamboo (Chusquea sclerophylla) in flower, 
rich reward for the climb, and Panicum latissimum again, in a 
mossy thicket, as well as many lesser grasses. 

February 19 I left Rio de Janeiro on the early train for Juiz de 
Foéra in Minas Geraes. In the valley of Rio Parahyba, beyond the 
Serra do Mar, the silk-cotton trees (Ceiba sp.) were coming into 
bloom, forming masses of lovely pink on the mountain sides. These 
magnificent trees, one with great buttresses at the base, another with 
the trunk beset with conical spines, were blooming in Minas until 
the last of April. 

Juiz de Fora lies in the narrow flood plain of Rio Parahybuna. 
Dense colonies of giant species of Paspalum and Panicum bordered 
the river. Their blades have edges like razors and hands and arms 
are slashed in collecting them. A golden-rod (Solidago microglossa) 
on the red clay slopes looked out of place in the tropics. 

This region is in the Zona de Matta or wooded country, the hills 
mostly covered with second-growth forests. The grass flora was very 
different from that before encountered and I remained a week, the 
guest of a family of American missionaries. 

Above the town rises a steep hill, Morro do Imperador, 975 meters 
high. At the summit is an image copied from the “ Christ of the 
Andes.” There is a road up the more sloping side, and a trail up 
the steep face. The trail is used by the devout for penitential pil- 
grimages. The town was celebrating carnival (before the beginning 
of Lent) with processions and noisy crowds. The processions looked 
like moving pictures of African dances, both in costumes and move- 
ments. They were led by gigantic black women (or men dressed as 
women). Juiz de Fora has about the same proportion of Negro blood 
as has Washington, but the whites have adopted African methods of 
jubilation. No doubt the trail up the peak was worn deeper during 
the weeks that followed. The sloping sides of the Morro afforded a 
good day’s botanizing. 

The next stop was at Barbacena, 1,120 meters altitude, just across 
the Serra de Mantiqueira. This was the beginning of the Zona de 
Campo, with high rolling hills covered with grasses, herbs, and com- 


EASTERN BRAZIL—CHASE 397 


monly, scattered shrubs, and there were quantities of grasses not be- 
fore seen. This was the only place in Brazil where I saw our 
dandelion. 

After four days about Barbacena I had an all-day journey to 
Lavras in the valley of the Rio Grande. Most of the distance the 
railway followed the south side of Rio Dos Mortes flowing west, 
full of rapids, rocks, and low islands, and bordered by giant Pas- 
palum, Panicum, and Hrianthus. Minas Geraes is fine cattle country. 
After seeing the interior of Pernambuco, Alagoas, and Bahia, it was 
good to see the ground covered with plenty of forage, though it was 
mostly capim gordura, better liked by cattle and their owners than 
by botanists. The foliage is sticky, difficult to walk through, 
and soils one’s clothes. Worse than that is the way it spreads, tak- 
ing possession of everything and killing out the native vegetation. 
But cattle thrive on it and it holds the steep red clay slopes that 
otherwise would be eroded. It has been tried in Florida, but has 
not found favor either with cattle or farmers. It is a beautiful 
grass, forming soft billowy mounds, and when in flower, covers the 
hillsides with soft glowing purple. Maize was the principal cul- 
tivated crop through this region, with rice and sugarcane in small 
patches. 

Martius and Spix write of the gold washing at Lavras, which 
they visited on their way from the southwest, but the Lavras of a 
century ago was some 7 kilometers north, near the Rio Grande. 
Gold washing is no longer carried on there. Agriculture is more 
advanced here than in any other part of Brazil I saw, due doubtless 
to the leadership of Dr. Benjamin Hunnicutt and the Escola Agri- 
cola, which he has developed, part of the Instituto Evangelico. 
The Ceiba trees which surround the plaza at Lavras were in bloom, 
the great pink flowers not only covering the trees but carpeting the 
earth beneath them, the thick petals remaining fresh and beautiful 
long after falling. 

The grass flora was rich at Lavras, but collecting was hampered 
by rain. Minas Geraes was suffering for want of water, the rainy 
season having been niggardly this year. Doctor Hunnicutt declared 
the rains were worth a million dollars apiece to Minas so I could 
not begrudge them, though I returned drenched from my tramps. 
The red clay hills are terribly eroded in places here, as elsewhere, 
in Minas. In slavery days ditches were used in place of fences, 
and these ditches have eroded into great gulches. To the south of 
Lavras the hills are cut into bad lands. 

March 13 I left Lavras, stopping for three days at Oliveira, and 
then went on to Bello Horizonte, the clean and beautiful capital of 
Minas Geraes. ‘To the south lies the Serra do Curral, typical campo. 


398 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


Trachypogon, Mesosetum, and Thrasya, genera characteristic of the 
campos, and many species of Awonopus, Paspalum, and Panicum were 
a joy to an agrostologist. Species long known in the herbarium 
are often surprising when met in the field. One especially so was 
a species of Paspalum I found climbing trees. This had a simple 
cane 2 or 3 meters tall, erect among low trees by a rocky stréam- 
let. When it reached the branches of a tree it sent out numer- 
ous horizontal or recurved branches and clambered on up the tree, 
branching in all directions, with broad racemes of white spikelets 
against a dark purple ribbon-like rachis at the ends of the 
branches. My annotated manuscript list of Brazilian grasses showed 
it must be Paspalum phyllorhachis Hack., but who ever dreamed 
of such a habit for a grass known from specimens we now see were 
but ends of ultimate branches. I found it again higher up the Serra, 
with nothing to climb on and forming a tangled thicket on a little 
shelf of rock. This species was known from a single collection by 
Glaziou, the locality given as “ Minas Geraes,” only. I found it 
only in Serra do Curral, and that is probably the type locality. 

Collecting was so good I went back several times before I reached 
the submit of the Pico, 1,400 meters, on the stony slope of which 
waved the little silky white banners of Paspalum blepharophorum. 

At Bello Horizonte I was the guest of Miss Christine, principal 
of the Collegio Isabelle Hendrix. The grasses of the region alone 
would have made this place a delight, but the companionship of in- 
teresting women, the little children who helped me spread my driers 
in the sun, even the kindly cook who tolerated my plant presses be- 
hind her stove, made it about the best-loved spot in all Brazil. 

One of the most interesting finds of the entire Brazilian trip 
was made in low ground west of Bello Horizonte. This was a new 
species of Lithachne, a monoecious genus of which but two species 
were known, one in tropical North America and southward to 
northern Brazil, the other known only from eastern Cuba. ‘This 
was strikingly different from either. The culms bearing the pistillate 
spikelets are very slender, vinelike, running along the moist ground 
a meter or more under other vegetation. It was a delicate task to 
untangle them without loss of their few hood-shaped white spike- 
lets. 

A few hours north of Bello Horizonte is Lagoa Santa made classic 
by Pedro Lund, the Danish botanist and anthropologist, and by Claus- 
sen, Warming, and others who visited him. Lund was a consumptive 
who went to Brazil for his health. After a few years he returned 
to Denmark cured, but the disease again attacked him and he returned 
to Lagoa Santa to die. Being a Protestant he could not be buried 
in the cemetery, so he bought a piece of ground about 5 kilometers 


EASTERN BRAZIL—CHASE 399 


from the village for his grave. He lived 40 years after that, 
and buried Claussen and another friend and his two Danish servants 
in his little cemetery before he himself was buried there in 1880 at 
the age of 79. The few acres inclosed form a precious preserve of 
the original campo. Except for four immense clumps of bamboo, 
the ground is left wild—the best kind of memorial to Pedro Lund. 
He was dearly loved by the Brazilians and women still come to the 
cross to pray for the soul of the Protestante. There are all manner 
of legends about the curative properties of the lake. 

One of the localities cited by Trinius and others is Serra da Lapa. 
Through Doctor Rolfs I learned that this locality, unknown to-day, 
is part of Serra do Cipo, of which Itambe is the highest peak. At 
Lagoa Santa I arranged to go into this range on a freight truck, 
or caminhao, which makes the trip as far as Vaccaria, 110 kilome- 
ters from Bello Horizonte. I had hoped to visit Itambe, but it 
would have required outfitting for about 100 miles of travel by horse- 
back, too costly in time and money. 

The ride over the undulating hills and hollows with the blue 
mountains hour after hour as far off as ever reminded me of a 
trip by stagecoach from Sheridan to Buffalo, Mont. But the plant 
cover, except in small areas, was not short grass, but more like 
that of the flat woods of Florida minus tue woods. Only the river 
valleys are wooded. Not far northeast of Lagoa Santa the road 
crosses Rio das Velhas, the large branch of Rio Sao Francisco, then 
Rio Jaboticatubas. After that for 40 or 50 kilometers it was all 
open tall-grass campo, Z’rachypogon and Aristida the dominant 
grasses. T'rachypogon macroglossus shone in the sun like silver, 
edged with the pinkish awns not yet spread. From Rio de Cipo, 
near the foot of the mountains, to Vaccaria the campo is brushy 
with small patches of woods. At a turn in the road the falls of 
Rio Peixa came into view, a slender stream pouring over the moun- 
tain wall. Vaccaria is a store, a watermill, and house all in one, 
owned by a Portuguese. It was the most picturesque place I saw in 
Brazil. ‘This little place was rude and primitive with earth floor 
in the dining room, but there were orange trees about it and a little 
vineyard in the back. 

The mountains, called Chapeo de Sol (Portuguese for parasol), 
rose abruptly, the rocks of light-gray limestone with much pale 
crumbling sandstone. The soil of the region is nearly white, very 
fine, sand. An old rocky trail led up between peaks to Rio Peixa. 
Along this trail and on the peaks above it (up to 1,400 meters) were 
more species of Awonopus than I had ever seen together before. 
The next day, following the road now being built, I reached wide, 
high, open campos with rounded peaks in all directions and palm 


400 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


groves far down in the valley. It was a day of blue and silver, blue 
sky overhead, blue mountains in the distance, and silvery grasses all 
about me, Z’rachypogon, Andropogon, and the Ceresia group oi Pas- 
palum, with spikelets clothed with silvery hairs, characteristic of the 
high, open campos. Loveliest of them, Paspalum splendens, waved 
its pair of glittering silver banners above the other grasses. Even 
the best find of the day, Panicum arnacites, had silver spikelets, hung 
like pendants on hairlike pedicels. A striking tall species of Paepa- 
lanthus (probably P. speciosus) was common on the upper rugged 
slopes and also a little one growing on hummocks of its own mak- 
ing. <A terrestrial orchid with a single beautiful large pink flower 
and composites with purple, pink, or yellow heads dotted the campos. 

On a cliff by a little waterfall in a shady ravine I found plenty of 
the dainty little Raddia nana with filmy ferns and mosses. 

Karly the fourth day I took the road to Lagoa Santa, to be picked 
up by the caminhao when it overteok me. The collecting was so 
good that, though I hurried, I had gone only 10 kilometers when 
the caminhao appeared. The kindly driver stopped for me, how- 
ever, when I glimpsed some grass I wanted. 

On April 6 I left Bello Horizonte for Ouro Preto, the old capital 
of Minas, the “ Villa Rica” of Martius and other early travelers. 
Though only about 100 kilometers to the southwest the country was 
very different, being granite and red clay. One day in the Ouro 
Preto hills and the next by horse to Itacolumi, the high peak (1,752 
meters) to the southeast, where again I had a rich harvest on high 
open campos and rocky slopes, and then I left the Zona do Campo for 
Vigosa in the Zona da Matta. Dr. P. H. Rolts, formerly director of 
the Experiment Station at Gainesville, Fla., is building up a school 
of agriculture for the State of Minas Geraes at Vigosa. The country 
is much more fertile and more densely populated than the Bello 
Horizonte country. Here Ceiba and quaresma (Zibouchina sp.) 
were in bloom. JI had missed them in Serra do Curral and Serra 
de Cipo. I was fortunate here in being the guest of the Rolfs 
family. The swampy places and borders of the second growth 
forests (chaparao) that clothed the hills afforded good collecting. 
Two days were spent at Anna Florencia to the northeast, and then 
with Doctor Rolfs and his daughter I made a trip to Serra da 
Gramma, some 60 kilometers east of Vigosa, in the Serra Sebastiao. 
We stayed at a fazenda, two days’ journey on horseback from Sao 
Miguel, stopping over night, going and returning, at Araponga. 
(This musical name is that of the anvil bird of the region.) ‘The 
trail led through forested hills often hung with bamboos. We 
reached the fazenda in the middle of the afternoon and had time to 
botanize for a few hours. The third day we rode to the base of 


EASTERN BRAZIL—-CHASE 401 


Serra da Gramma, then proceeded afoot—a man to cut the trail, the 
old fazendeiro to help him, the guide, three men from Vicosa, Doctor 
Rolfs and his daughter, and I. For some distance we followed the 
rocky bed of a stream then struck into the virgin forest. This was 
the real tropical jungle of the school geographies, dense and dark, 
with palms, tree ferns, vines, and bamboos all tangled together, with 
brilliant bromeliads up the trees, and multitudes of ferns. From 
about 1,500 meters altitude the bamboos made the climbing difficult 
and fatiguing. The very steep trail was cut but there was no time 
to clear it, and we tripped and stumbled or sank into soft humus, up 
and up, then slipping and sliding down into a deep ravine, then 
climbing up again. We were nearly exhausted when light appeared 
ahead and we knew we were nearing the open summit. But the 
“campo” we were expecting was composed for some distance of 
dense brush up to our waists—almost what we would term chaparral. 
It was nearly dark when we passed the brush and came to open, 
grassy ground. It was too dark to go down hill for water, so we 
made camp without it. When streaks of scarlet appeared in the sky 
T was glad to get up and start collecting. Everything was wet with 
dew and it was like working in ice water, but there was too much to 
collect to wait for the sun. 

There are three peaks; we had camped on the lowest. We ascended 
the second through dense chusqueal (tangled Chusguea), but did 
not have time for the third, which appeared to be very like the 
second. On the way down the trail through the forest I found a 
single Chusquea in flower—it is always cause for rejoicing when one 
finds bamboos in flower—and a few other grasses. 

On the return journey to Araponga and the following day to Sao 
Miguel the cavalcade halted when I wanted to collect, and it was 
frequently, for there were two bamboos with flowers, one a beau- 
tiful slender vine, Chusquea capitata, besides numerous other grasses. 

A few days after our return from Serra da Gramma, Miss Rolfs 
and I left for a trip to Pico de Bandeira, the culminating point of 
Serra da Caparao, the mountain range which separates Minas Geraes 
and Espirito Santo to the east. It is claimed by recent topographers 
to be the highest point in Brazil, 2,884 meters in altitude. The vil- 
lage of Caparao, the railroad station nearest the peak, lies only 
about 150 kilometers east of Vicosa, but to reach it we had to spend 
two days on the railroad, stopping over night at Uba and again at 
Santa Luzia Carangola, covering two long sides of a triangle to 
reach the other end of a short base. It was this paucity of rail- 
roads that prevented me from carrying out the extended itinerary I 
had planned in Brazil. Doctor Rolfs sent with us a reliable youth 
from the school farm, and at Caparao we hired three riding mules, a 


402 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


pack mule, and a guide, who had to go afoot, because another animal 
could not be procured. We bought food to last three or four days, 
and next morning, May 1, we started about half-past 10. 

Caparao is only 814 meters in altitude, lying in a hollow between 
two ridges. For an hour or so the trail led up through partly cul- 
tivated or pastured hills, then, as we rose higher, through virgin 
forests with palms and an occasional Araucaria standing out alone. 
A high-climbing leguminous vine, with brilliant scarlet flowers about 
2 inches long in loose pendant racemes 6 to 10 inches long, was 
frequent in places, and the gorgeous purple quaresmas (Z'bouchina 
sp.) were still in bloom—the last I was to see of them. The trail 
became obscure, and Miss Rolf’s questioning brought out the fact 
that the “guide” sent with us had never been this far on the trail. 
There was a resthouse below the peak where we expected to spend 
the night; this we had been told we could reach in three hours and a 
half, but darkness came on with no resthouse in sight, so we camped 
on a shoulder of the mountain, with plenty of down timber, which 
enabled us to keep a big fire going all night—a great comfort, as it 
rained till midnight and then cleared and turned very cold. The 
barometer showed that we were at about 2,100 meters altitude. In 
the morning a herder hunting stray horses put us on the trail to the 
resthouse. 

The resthouse was a low hut of upright sticks, partly chinked 
with mud, the roof a combination of wooden shingles and sheets of 
zinc. Horses had been in the hut so we had to clean it out; then 
we floored it with shingles we found outside, made a fire in the 
stone and clay mound designed for that purpose, and had dinner. 
It drizzled all afternoon but this mountain meadow was rich in. 
grasses and compositae, so I collected, bringing armfuls into the 
hut to put in press and write up. 

The night in this “resthouse” was less comfortable than the 
preceding night in the open, for the roof above the “stove ” was of 
shingles, and in my efforts to warm the hut I had nearly set fire to it, 
so we had to discourage the fire and nearly froze. In the morning, 
leaving the useless “ guide” at the hut, Miss Rolfs, José, the boy 
from Vicosa, and I started for the Pico. Chusquea pinifolia began 
some distance below our first camp and continued up the mountain, 
the plants becoming dwarfed at higher altitudes. This species was 
abundant on Itatiaia, but here I found it in flower for the first time. 
A second species of Chusquea (C. tenuis), with tall arching culms and 
narrow blades, was also in flower. 

From the resthouse and for some distance below we had seen a 
high pyramidal peak, much the highest in sight. The trail led 
through a saddle between this peak and a ridge opposite, obscured 


EASTERN BRAZIL—CHASE 403 


in clouds. We deliberated as to which side we should climb (there 
is no detailed map of the region) and decided in favor of the tower- 
ing pyramidal peak. It was a hard climb but presented no such 
difficulties as those encountered on Agulhas Negras, and this agreed 
with accounts of Pico de Bandeira. But at the summit the clouds 
lifted for a few minutes from the opposite ridge and it was higher 
than we were. We learned later that we had climbed Pontao Crystal, 
2,798 meters high, instead of Pico de Bandeira, 2,884 meters high. 
There was no time to ascend the other ridge, nor food enough to 
allow us to remain another day. The botanizing on Pontio Crystal 
was probably as good as on the Pico so I probably did not lose much, 
still it was disappointing. We reached the resthouse about 2 o’clock, 
packed at once, and started back down the mountain. 

At the clean little hotel at Capara6é the following day I got my 
great stacks of plants in press ready for the train at 3. After a night 
at Santa Luzia Carangola, where the hard beds seemed soft by 
comparison with our recent ones, we parted in the early morning, 
Miss Rolfs and José returning to Vigosa, I bound for Rio de Janeiro. 
When I reached my pension about 11 that night, I rejoiced to find 
my trunk and duffle sacks sent on from Vicosa. 

The flowering season was almost as definitely past as if it were 
late fall in the Temperate Zone, and a few trips about Rio de 
Janeiro and in the mountains north secured little additional material. 
So I made one more trip into campo country, to Campos do Jordio 
in northern Sao Paulo. The hill are open campos rich in grasses, 
the hollows between filled with Araucaria woods. In one of these 
moist ferny ravines I found another Chusquea (C. sellowti) in 
flower. 

May 31, rejoicing in what I had found and regretting what I had 
not (Doctor Rolfs says a botanist is never satisfied), I sailed for 
home. A compiled list of grasses known from Brazil contains about 
1,100 species. In the few points of eastern Brazil visited I collected 
between 500 and 600 species. The grass flora of Brazil must be far 
greater than at present known and would well repay further 
exploration. 


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Smithsonian Report, 1926.—Chase PLATE 1 


1. TYPICAL CAATINGA AT THE BEGINNING OF THE DRY SEASON 


In the sertaéo near Bello Jardim 


2. ZEBU BULLOCK 


Smithsonian Report, 1926.—Chase PLATE 2 


¥. DRY CHANNEL CROSSED BY TROLLEY LEADING TO POWER PLANT 


2. PAULO AFFONSO FALLS 


Top of the main falls 


Smithsonian Report, 1926.—Chase PLATE 3 


1. TWIN FALLS ON SECRET ISLAND 


2. PAULO AFFONSO FALLS 


Showing the main falls, Secret Island to the left 


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Smithsonian Report, 1926.—Chase PLATE 6 


ASCENT OF ITATIAIA 


Between the Florestal and Macieiras, showing palms, tree ferns, and climbing bamboos 


Smithsonian Report, 1926.—Chase PLATE 7 


1. ITATIAIA ALTA 


The large tussock grass is Cortaderia modesta 


2. AGULHAS NEGRAS 


The altitude is in dispute. It was generally given as 2,994 meters, but later measurements 
give 2,841 meters 


Smithsonian Report, 1926.—Chase PLATE 8 


1. CLOSER VIEW OF VERTICALLY FURROWED CLIFFS 


2. GRAVE OF PEDRO LUND 


Smithsonian Report, 1926.—Chase PLATE 9 


1. ESCOLA SUPERIOR DE AGRICULTURA E VETERINARIA AT VICOSA 


2. REST HOUSE BELOW PICO DE BANDEIRA 


OUR HERITAGE FROM THE AMERICAN INDIANS! 
By W. HB. Sarrorp 


[With 12 plates] 


The nature of the arts and industries of primitive tribes is deter- 
mined primarily by their environment. In forested regions the 
materials employed are furnished in large part by the trunks, bark, 
and roots of trees; in the neighborhood of lakes and streams, by 
the reeds that grow along their banks; on the treeless prairies, 
by the grasses and rushes; and in certain cultivated parts of deserts, 
by the shells of gourds and calabashes. 

The dwellings and clothing of people and the character of their 
food are influenced by climate. Similar conditions in regions widely 
separated have brought about parallel developments. In some cases 
there is a resemblance so striking that one is led to believe that a 
relationship exists between races which really have not had any 
means of intercommunication. The natives of Virginia, those of 
Louisiana, those of the northwestern United States, and those who 
lived along the great rivers of South America hollowed out canoes 
from the trunks of large trees by means of fire. The tribes living 
along the shores of the lakes of Nevada and California constructed 
rafts with bundles of reeds or rushes like those of the treeless 
regions of Peru and the shores of Lake Titicaca, situated on the 
elevated plateaus which formed the ancient kingdom of the Incas. 

Certain types of baskets made by the tribes of the west coast. 
of the United States had a remarkable resemblance to some of 
those made in the Old World. Likewise certain kinds of ancient 
Peruvian cloth, woven of cotton or of the wool of llamas and 
alpacas, are almost facsimiles of oriental forms as to both design 
and mode of weaving. These exquisite products of an art developed 
and perfected in the Western Hemisphere are as independent of 
the oriental fabrics which they resemble as are the llamas and 
alpacas of their relatives, the camels, of the Old World. I found 
superb examples of them in the great prehistoric cemetery of Ancén 
on the coast of Peru near Lima. 

There I opened a large number of graves which contained seated 
mummies surrounded by terra cotta jars, in which there were food- 
stuffs still well preserved: Indian corn or maize (Zea mays) ; beans 


1 Translated by permission from Annaes do XX Congresso Internacional de American- 
istas realizado-no Rio de Janeiro, 1922, vol. 1, pp. 178-178, 1924. 


20837—27. 27 405 


406 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


or frijoles (Phaseolus vulgaris) of several varieties; lima beans 
(Phaseolus lunatus); peanuts (Arachis hypogaea); dried pods of 
cayenne pepper or aj (Capsicum frutescens); white and yellow 
potatoes (Solanum tuberosum) ; sweet potatoes or camotes (Ipomoea 
batatas) ; manioc (Manihot utilissima), from which cassava is pre- 
pared; and fruits of various kinds of trees and shrubs, such as chiri- 
moyas (Annona cherimola), pepinos (Solanum muricatum), and 
locumas (Lucuma obovata). There were also spindles of cotton 
(Gossypium peruvianum) thread, and of yarn spun from the wool 
of the Ilama and alpaca. 

Farther north along the same coast, near Trujillo and Chimbote, 
there are other prehistoric cemeteries, where we found funerary vases 
of different sorts, fashioned in the form of squashes and pumpkins 
(Cucurbita pepo and C. maxima) and calabashes (Cucurbita lage- 
naria), achira roots (Canna edulis), potatoes, and manioc roots. 
There were other vases having the forms of gods or idols, evidently 
consecrated as objects of worship, like the image of the god of agri- 
culture, a masked monster holding in one hand a stalk of maize and 
in the other a manioc plant with its pendent tubers; the corn god, 
surrounded with ears of corn; and a third image seated on a warty 
squash. There were also vases covered in relief with peanuts in 
terra cotta, and still others with decorations in the form of lima 
beans, 

Some of the mummies were wrapped in elegant robes decorated 
with beautiful borders resembling Gobelin tapestries, whose colors 
were perfectly preserved. 

It was the discovery of these interesting objects in the prehistoric 
tombs that inspired me with a desire to study the plants employed 
as food and in the arts and industries of the indigenous tribes of 
other parts of America, both north and south of the Equator. I read 
carefully in the originals the accounts of the voyages of Columbus, 
Cieza de Ledén, John Smith, Jacques Cartier, Champlain, the Jesuit 
fathers, and other explorers and colonizers, likewise the accounts of 
the conquests of Brazil, Mexico, and Peru written by the Portuguese 
and Spaniards. 

Then I asked myself: What was the origin of all these valuable 
plants utilized by the Indians of our continent? After having read 
attentively the works of Piso, Father Feuillée, Oviedo, and Hernan- 
dez, the great work of Alphonse de Candolle, “ The origin of culti- 
vated plants,” and other books of the same nature, the answer to 
this question was not a very difficult one. The aborigines of Amer- 
ica did not find upon the continent a single economic plant of Europe, 
Asia, or Africa. Even the cotton in the cloth of the ancient Ameri- 
cans came from a Gossypium quite distinct from the species of the 
Old World. The only exception, perhaps, is the calabash (Cucurbita 


HERITAGE FROM AMERICAN INDIANS—SAFFORD 407 


lagenaria), whose dried fruit furnished the aborigines with bottles, 
pots, and dishes. The ancestors of the Indians were not acquainted 
with any cereal, legume, or fruit of the Old World. They had to 
begin by eating the fruits, nuts, seeds, and roots of wild plants grow- 
ing in the prairies, forests, mountains, and swamps. They soon 
learned to choose the best kinds, to reject the harmful ones, and to 
preserve fruits, nuts, and even edible roots for use in winter. This 
practice of storage is not surprising, since squirrels, beaver, and 
many other animals make stores of different provisions for winter. 
The most interesting thing is that the first inhabitants of America 
learned not only to gather wild plants for their food but, in addition, 
to sow, cultivate, and develop the kinds most agreeable to their taste. 
This primitive cultivation was the true beginning of agriculture in 
America. 

The aborigines learned by experience that certain plants were 
poisonous; that others had purgative or constipative or stimulant 
or calmant qualities, or were even intoxicating, but without being 
able to explain the reasons for the intoxication. They therefore 
attributed to these plants a virtue or divine power, and in certain 
instances they even worshipped these plants as deities. 

Among their divine plants were the tobaccos and Daturas; in Peru 
the floripondio (Datura arborea) and tonga (Datura sanguinea), 
intoxicating plants employed by the priests in the Temple of the Sun 
at Sagamoza; and, in the Antilles, a certain tree of the Mimosa 
family which produced seeds from which they made snuff that caused 
a form of delirium. It was Fra Ramon, a friar companion of Colum- 
bus, who left us a description of this snuff, called cowoba or cohoba, 
which the Indians of the island of Hispaniola were accustomed to 
inhale, employing for the purpose a forked tube whose two ends 
they placed in their nostrils. In Mexico the priests and medicine 
men of the ancient Aztecs gave themselves up to practices of magic 
and necromancy after they had become excited or tipsy by means 
of some of these plants, especially a species of Datura and a little 
spineless cactus called peyotl. Even to-day this peyotl (Lophophora 
williamsit) is worshipped and employed by several Indian tribes 
of Mexico and the United States in their religious rites. Many of 
the priests of the ancient Mexicans were prosecuted by the authori- 
ties of the Catholic Church in the seventeenth century. I have had 
the good fortune to read the minutes of trials of this sort, and I 
have found in them information that has enabled me to identify a 
number of the plants used by the Mexican Indians in their religious 
rites. 

It was from the Chichimeca Indians of northern Mexico that they 
learned the use of this intoxicating cactus, called by them teonana- 
catl (“divine mushroom”) and by the Spaniards “ devil’s-root.” It 


408 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


is interesting to learn that some of these intoxicating plants figured 
in ceremonies of divination which resembled the practices of the 
priestesses of the ancient oracle of Delphos. What is more interest- 
ing is that these same beliefs and practices existed in regions widely 
separated, like Cuba and Haiti, Mexico and Peru, Florida and Cali- 
fornia, and Virginia and the pueblos of the Zuni Indians. 

It 1s equally remarkable that all these peoples employed incense 
in their religious ceremonies. In certain regions, ike the Antilles, 
the incense was composed of fragrant balsams, in Mexico of resinous 
copal or of odorous herbs, while other tribes used tobacco for the 
same purpose. One reads that the Indians of Canada, before tapping 
sugar-maple trees, to collect the sweet sap, were accustomed to offer 
a sacrifice to the spirit of the tree, burning tobacco before it, and 
apologizing to the tree for robbing it of its blood. The Mexican 
Indians, thousands of miles away from the Canadian tribes, practiced 
the same rite before felling a tree to make a bridge, burning fragrant 
copal, and explaining to the spirit of the tree why they were going 
to cut it. 

Among stimulants, the most important discovered and employed 
by the ancient Americans were the verba maté or Paraguay tea, the 
coca of Peru, the guarana and caapi of Brazil and Venezuela, the 
cacao of Mexico, the tobaccos of the Antilles, Mexico, and North 
America, and the coxvoba or cohoba of Haiti, of which I have just 
spoken.? 

While speaking of yerba maté, I should like to call attention to 
a species of Jlexw of the United States, which resembles closely Jlex 
paraguariensis. This plant, used by the Indians of Carolina and 
Florida in certain religious rites, was adopted by the Spaniards 
as a substitute for Chinese tea. It has been found that the leaves 
contain caffeine, like that yielded by yerba maté and Chinese tea. 

The coca, Hrythroxylon coca, in use by the Peruvians before the 
discovery of America, is a strong stimulant which is used even at 
the present time in South America. From its leaves is extracted 
the alkaloid cocaine. In the Peruvian graves which I have men- 
tioned nearly all the mummies had about their necks sacks filled with 
coca leaves, with little matés or gourds of lime, which the Indians 
of Peru chewed with the coca leaves. 

Among the tobaccos used by the ancient Americans the most im- 
portant species were WVicotiana tabacum, of the Orinoco and the 
Antilles, the kind observed by Columbus and his companions upon 
their arrival; and Nicotiana rustica, of the Mexican plateau, Vir- 
ginia, and Canada. WNicotiana tabacum was the petun of the 


7Safford, W. B., “ Narcotic plants and stimulants of the ancient Americans.” Smith- 
sonian Annual Report for 1916, pp. 887-424, 1917. 


HERITAGE FROM AMERICAN INDIANS—SAFFORD 409 


Brazilians, and the quauhyetl of the Mexicans. Nicotiana rustica 
was the picietl of the Mexicans, and the uwppowoe of the Virginians; 
it was the sacred tobacco of the Iroquois. West of the Mississippi 
the most important tobacco was Nicotiana attenuata. 

It was believed formerly that the cohoba of the ancient Haitians 
was a preparation of tobacco for smoking. I have learned that it 
was not a smoking tobacco but a kind of snuff, made of the seeds of 
Piptadenia peregrina, which I have identified with the niopa or 
curupa of South America, in use to-day among certain tribes as a 
stimulant or excitant.' 

Among the medicines discovered by the ancient Americans there 
were several precious balsams, such as the balsam of Peru (Myroxy- 
ton pereirae), Tolu balsam (Myroxylon toluifera), copaiva balsam 
(Copaiva langsdorfii), and that of the sweetgum (Liquidambar 
styraciflua). There were also bitter barks, like the Cinchonas, from 
which quinine is extracted, and the quassias, of the Simaruba Family. 
The virtues of some plants used medicinally by the Indians were 
purely imaginary, but the efficacy of others, like the Cinchonas, 
coca, the balsams, and ipecac, has been demonstrated by experiment 
and practice and they have been adopted by modern physicians. 

Some of the dyestuffs of the Indians produced beautiful and dur- 
able colors, but thanks to the discovery of synthetic dyes derived 
from coal tar, their use is constantly diminishing. Even the use of 
logwood and Brazil wood as dyes is decreasing; and the culture of 
the little insects that furnish cochineal (Coccus cacti) is almost ex- 
tinct in Mexico, even in the district of Nochiztlan, whose name signi- 
fies “ Place where cochineal insects abound.” 

Among the textile plants of the ancient Americans there were 
several distinct species of cotton: Gossypium barbadense, the sea- 
island cotton of the Antilles; Gossypiwm hirsutum, the upland cot- 
ton, planted in the United States, Mexico, and Central America; 
Gossypium hopi, cultivated by the Indians of Arizona and New 
Mexico; Gossypium brasiliense, the aminiti of the Indians of Brazil; 
and Gossypium peruvianum, of various colors—white, brown, and 
purple, found in the graves of which I have already spoken. I 
should remark here that in discussing the Brazilian cotton, Piso 
unfortunately made use of an engraving of Gossypium arboreum, 
an Old World species so distinct from ours that it is not possible to 
make hybrids between it and any species of Gossypium found in the 
New World. The same statement may be made of Gossypium her- 
bacewm of the Old World, a species formerly taken to be our Gossyp- 
tum hirsutum, to which the Ichcawijuitl of Mexico, illustrated in 
1575 by Hernandez, is closely related. 


* Safford, W. E., “Identity of cohoba, the narcotic snuff of ancient Haiti,” Journ. 
Washington Acad. Sci., vol. 6, pp. 547-562. 


410 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


~ I should also like to mention that it was the American Indians 
who discovered the properties of rubber and were the first to utilize 
it. The first conguistadores of Mexico noticed that the inhabitants 
employed a large elastic ball for playing certain games. In some 
places there were huge courts surrounded by high walls in which 
were fixed large rings through which the ball was thrown. The 
elastic substance from which the ball was made came from the latex 
of a tree bearing the technical name of Castilla elastica. But the 
most important source of rubber at the present day is Hevea brasi- 
liensis, from whose latex certain tribes used to make elastic syringe- 
like bottles. The trees are known to-day in Brazil under the name 
of seringueiras. Pear-shaped bottles made of this substance by 
certain Indian tribes of South America were described by the ex- 
plorer, Condamine, in his interesting report published in 1745 in the 
Memoirs of the Royal Academy of Sciences. 

It is impossible within the limits of this paper to enumerate all the 
important plants used as food, medicine, and dyes, and the textile 
and other economic plants discovered and introduced into cultivation 
by the American aborigines before the time of Columbus. Some 
have proved to be of great benefit to humanity. The cultivation of 
maize, beans, tomatoes, potatoes, sweet potatoes, cayenne pepper, 
squashes, manioc, and pineapples is to-day widely spread. The 
Jerusalem artichoke (Helianthus tuberosus), noticed by Champlain 
in the gardens of the New England Indians before the arrival of the 
English, is grown to-day in France; and sunflower seeds (Helianthus 
annuus), from which our Indians extracted an excellent oil, are pro- 
duced in large quantities in Russia. The yellow-flowered Vicotiana 
rustica of the Aztecs and North American Indians also is cultivated 
in Russia, where it is known under the name of “ peasants’ tobacco.” 
The pink-flowered Nicotiana tabacum, which has replaced it in our 
own country, has penetrated to the most remote regions of the earth. 
Cacao, from which the ancient inhabitants of Mexico prepared their 
chocolate, is one of the most important plants cultivated in all 
tropical countries 

During the late war some of the greatest comforts supplied to our 
soldiers in the trenches came from vegetable products which are a 
heritage from the American Indians—cigars, cigarettes, chocolate, 
cocoa, peanuts, preserved pineapples, maple sugar; some of the most 
nourishing foods, such as potatoes, maize in the form of popcorn, 
canned corn, corn bread, corn cakes, dried and canned _ beans, 
sweet potatoes, and tapioca. We owe all these products and many 
others to the American Indians. In the hospitals the elastic tubes of 
the surgical instruments were made of rubber; but the greatest 
blessing of all was the cocaine, which permitted the performance of 
surgical operations without pain, and this is a direct heritage from 
the Indians of Peru. 


Smithsonian Report, 1926.—Safford PLATE 1 


MAIZE GOD OF THE ANCIENT PERUVIANS, FUNERARY VASE BURIED WITH 


THE DEAD; FOUND AT CHIMBOTE, COAST OF PERU. U. S. NATIONAL 
MuUsEUM 


Smithsonian Report, 1926.—Safford PLATE 2 


1. MaAizE FOUND WITH A Mummy IN A GRAVE AT ANCON, NEAR LIMA, 
PERU. NATIONAL MUSEUM, WASHINGTON 


2. BEANS (PHASEOLUS VULGARIS) AND LIMA BEANS (PHASEOLUS LUNATUS) 
FROM AN ANCIENT GRAVE. COAST OF PERU. NATIONAL MUSEUM, 
WASHINGTON 


Smithsonian Report, 1926.—Safford PLATE 3 


1. PEANUTS (ARACHIS HYPOGAEA) IN A CALABASH, FOUND AT ANCON. 
NATIONAL MUSEUM, WASHINGTON 


2 < Mii ae xe SN : é 
s WHO Rh Soya 


coe 
wy SS 3 or 


2 


“ hb SS) a: > yy es 


2. SPINDLES OF COTTON THREAD; BROWN AND WHITE PERUVIAN COTTON 
FROM AN OLD GRAVE, ANCON. FIELD MUSEUM, CHICAGO 


Smithsonian Report, 1926.—Safford PLATE 4 


1. FUNERARY VASES WITH THE FORMS OF CROOK-NECK SQUASHES, FOUND 
AT SECHURA AND CHIMBOTE, COAST OF PERU. FIELD MUSEUM, CHICAGO 


2. FUNERARY VASE, REPRESENTING A WARTY SQUASH, VALLEY OF SANTA, 
PERU. U.S. NATIONAL MUSEUM 


Smithsonian Report, 1926.—Safford PLATE 5 


FUNERARY VASE DECORATED WITH PEANUTS. COAST OF PERU. AMERI- 
CAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL History, NEW YORK 


Smithsonian Report, 1926.—Safford PLATE 6 


FUNERARY VASE OF BLACK CLAY, DECORATED WITH TWO PEANUTS. COAST 
OF PERU. NATIONAL MUSEUM, WASHINGTON 


Smithsonian Report, 1926.—Safford PLATE 7 


FiG. 1. INTOXICATING CACTUS, LOPHOPHORA WILLIAMSII, THE PEYOTL OF 
THE CHICHIMECA INDIANS OF Mexico. A FLOWERING PLANT. DE- 
PARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, WASHINGTON 


Fic. 2. DRY PEYOTL BUTTONS (LOPHOPHORA WILLIAMSII) EMPLOYED IN 
RELIGIOUS RITES BY CERTAIN AMERICAN TRIBES 


Smithsonian Report, 1926.—Safford PLATE 8 


SACK CONTAINING DRY LEAVES OF ERYTHROXYLON COCA, AND A SMALL 
GOURD OF LIME, FOUND IN AN OLD GRAVE, COAST OF PERU. NATIONAL 
MUSEUM, WASHINGTON 


Smithsonian Report, 1926.—Safford PLATE 9 


LEAVES, FLOWERS, AND FRUITS OF ERYTHROXYLON Coca, PHOTOGRAPHED 
BY O. F. CooK, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, WASHINGTON. Co- 
CAINE IS OBTAINED FROM THE LEAVES OF THIS PLANT 


Smithsonian Report, 1926.—Safford PLATE 10 


PINK-FLOWERED TOBACCO, NICOTIANA TABACUM, OF THE ORINOCO AND 
ANTILLES, WHICH HAS REPLACED THE YELLOW-FLOWERED TOBACCO OF 
THE INDIANS OF MEXICO AND VIRGINIA. EXPERIMENT STATION, ARLING- 
TON, VA. 


Smithsonian Report, 1926.—Safford PLATE 11 


YELLOW-FLOWERED TOBACCO, NICOTIANA RUSTICA, OF THE AZTECS AND 
THE ANCIENT INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA; AT PRESENT CULTIVATED 
IN RUSSIA UNDER THE NAME OF ‘“‘ PEASANTS’ TOBACCO.’ EXPERI- 
MENT STATION, ARLINGTON, VA. 


Smithsonian Report, 1926.—Safford PEATEs 2 


PERUVIAN COTTON, GOSSYPIUM PERUVIANUM, WITH WHITE AND BROWN 
FIBER. ECONOMIC COLLECTION OF THE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, 
WASHINGTON 


THE PARASITE ELEMENT OF NATURAL CONTROL OF 
INJURIOUS INSECTS AND ITS CONTROL BY MAN 


By L. O. Howarp, Chief Bureau of Entomology, United States Department of 
Agriculture 


When the economic entomologist confronts an emergency problem 
it is his duty to bring measurable relief as speedily as possible. At 
the same time he must begin studies looking forward to natural and 
therefore comparatively costless control. No one at all broadly 
familiar with the insect complex can doubt the importance of the 
insect enemies of insects. So important does their work appear to 
me that I am inclined to rank it the main factor in the preservation 
of the so-called “balance of nature.” Surely it is one which 
demands our most careful attention. 

The food necessities of the rapidly growing human population of 
the world make it necessary for us to grow enormous and increas- 
ing food crops. As we do this, we make equally enormous and 
increasing opportunities for the multiplication of certain insects. 
And does it not occur to you that this in turn should give the insect 
enemies of those certain insects such unprecedented food supples 
that they should increase beyond all previous experience and become 
of the very greatest help to us in the fight to avoid starvation ? 

All this seems logical, and in the long run it will happen in just 
that way. But we want to hasten the process. In the case of crop 
enemies brought in from another part of the world we can not wait 
for the relatively slow adaptation of native parasites to the new host. 
We must bring to the new country the parasitic forms already accus- 
tomed to and adapted (in the course of centuries) to the crop pest 
accidentally imported. 

This is the theory on which so much work has already been done, 
and it is safe to say that, failing some startling discovery which is 
likely to be made at any time, such work is still in its infancy. We 
have seen some strikingly successful results, and some workers have 
been overencouraged. Many instances will occur to you in which, 
carried away by the wonderful success of certain introductions into 
California and Hawaii in the closing years of the last century, highly 
intelligent men, like the late Elwood Cooper, of California, for 
example, have made claims which to-day seem preposterous and 
which even then were discounted by the trained entomologists. 

411 


412 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


But even all the trained entomologists did not see clearly: The 
great master, David Sharp, of England, when I met him one day, in 
1902, in the British Museum, told me that in his opinion the eco- 
nomic entomologists should abandon every other kind of work and 
devote themselves exclusively to the parasites and predators. Even 
Doctor Sharp’s brilliant son-in-law, Frederick Muir, in spite of his 
remarkable successes in Hawaii, would not have made so sweeping 
a statement. 

While it is true that the introductions of NVovius cardinalis into 
California and other parts of the world have been followed by 
almost immediate results of enormous value, and while it is true 
that some of the Hawaiian work has given speedy and striking 
results, and that both of these instances did much to start and 
encourage the prosecution of the biological control idea, it is almost 
unfortunate that these results were so speedy and so perfect, since 
it has encouraged many people to expect equally speedy and perfect 
results in all cases. In fact, many people are disappointed and 
discouraged when work of this kind is not successful almost im- 
mediately. 

As a matter of fact, complete control by parasites and predators 
is rarely gained by such work. Thé success of the Australian 
Novius is almost unique. Only the success of the sugar cane leaf- 
hopper parasite in Hawaii and that of the parasites of the sugar 
cane borer in the same islands approach it in simplicity, efficiency, 
and speed. Immediately following these comes the introduction of 
Prospaltella berleset from America into Italy, where, after a few 
years, it virtually controlled the mulberry scale. And at the pres- 
ent time there is reason to hope that Aphelinus mali will approxi- 
mate this record in the control of the woolly apple aphis in New 
Zealand and parts of Australia, although the same insect in France, 
Italy, and South Africa seems to be less efficient. 

As opposed to these speedy beneficial results, we must remember 
the rapidly growing list, not of failures, but of parasitic insects 
of slow establishment and of only partial control of the crop pest. 
Many differing conditions in different countries operate favorably 
or unfavorably on introduced species, and these species themselves 
vary in their susceptibility to different conditions. 

With many species of parasites the normal environment is com- 
plicated. Years ago, in discussing the spread of land species by 
the agency of man and the lability of an introduced species. to 
accommodate itself to a foreign territory, I formulated the idea 
that “It is upon the degree of simplicity of its life—the degree of 
simplicity of its normal environment as a whole—that the capacity 
of a species for transportation and acclimatization, even in a parallel 
life zone, depends.” JI had in mind when I wrote this only in- 


PARASITES IN INSECT CONTROL-—-HOWARD 413 


jurious insects, but it holds equally well for their parasites. Now, 
as it happens, with very many important parasites life is not 
simple—it is vastly complicated—and it results that an almost com- 
plete knowledge of its normal environment must be gained before 
we can expect successful introduction and acclimatization. 

The question has been proposed to me by Doctor Metcalf as to 
what proportion of an appropriation should be used for parasite 
work. This question necessitates a complicated and somewhat 
devious reply. A great deal of money has been spent uselessly; and, 
again, good results have been gained with little money. The intro- 
duction of Prospaltella berlesei into Italy cost the Italian Govern- 
ment nothing. It was sent over by our Federal Bureau at Wash- 
ington. The introduction of Aphelinus mali into France, Italy, 
New Zealand, Australia, several countries in South America, and 
South Africa cost these countries nothing; all were sent there di- 
rectly or indirectly from Washington, with the exception of the 
South African introduction, which was made by a South African 
student at Cornell University. 

The Hawaiian work has been very expensive in actual outlay. The 
Sugar Planters’ Association must have spent some hundreds of 
thousands of dollars in this productive work. But this expenditure 
has been very well worth while, since the continuation of profitable 
cane growing on the islands has been the direct. result. 

But no part of the earth which does not have the very simple 
native fauna and flora of Hawaii, which does not have its equable 
tropical or subtropical climate, and which does not consist of islands 
rather limited in size, can expect with any degree of certainty to 
achieve results at all closely approaching these. And even from 
Hawaii many expensive expeditions have been fruitless. 

California has spent in years past large sums of money with no 
appreciable results; not only that, but in at least one instance has 
hurt herself by introducing and liberating a parasite which proved 
to be hyperparasitic upon a beneficial primary introduced and es- 
tablished at a much later date. In fact, insect control in California 
was greatly hampered for nearly 20 years by a general reliance on 
the expected success of much work which was carried on by unscien- 
tific enthusiasts. It may as well be placed on record that all Cali- 
fornia parasite importation work as it was then carried on would 
have been stopped by Secretary of Agriculture James Wilson, under 
the Federal law of March 3, 1905, had not Harry S. Smith, a highly- 
trained expert of the Bureau of Entomology, taken charge of the 
work for the State under Prof. A. J. Cook, Commissioner of Horti- 
culture. 

The complications of work of this kind on a large continental area 
in the temperate zone have been shown vividly in the work carried 

20837—27——28 


414 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


on and now under way in the Bureau of Entomology, and the bureau 
has been able to devote as much money to it as its promised success 
from time to time seemed to warrant. It is probable that the men 
engaged in its prosecution have been as well fitted as any to be found. 
Some of them have grown up with the work as it has grown. It will 
not be necessary to attempt to estimate the sum the bureau has already 
spent in this direction in toto, but our experience over many years 
led us to spend $10,000 on alfalfa weevil parasites in 1923, and last 
year $15,000 on corn-borer parasites, $2,700 on Mexican bean beetle 
parasites, $28,000 on Japanese beetle parasites, and $50,000 on gypsy 
moth and brown-tail moth parasites. These sums include the salaries 
and expenses of traveling experts and foreign assistants and labo- 
ratory expenses abroad as well as similar expenses at the receiving 
end in the United States. In the case of the corn-borer parasite 
work, something over $3,000 of the $15,000 was spent last year in 
the home end of the work. 

Down to the present time nothing spectacular has resulted from the 
prolonged efforts of the bureau. Very many beneficial insects have 
been imported and have become acclimatized, and the present excellent 
condition of the New England woodlands as a whole must be at- 
tributed in large measure to the work of the bureau importations. 
But it must be remembered that these importations have been 
coming in since 1905 (except for the five years of war time), and 
that we are still continuing. This fact in itself shows that the 
problem is a big one with very many ramifications, and it indicates 
further that immediate results are not to be expected, except under 
certain conditions, in a country like ours. Congressional committees 
and the Budget Bureau say to us, about our various parasite proj- 
ects, “ You say ‘the work is promising,’ but how about definite 
results?” It is difficult to make them understand our unwillingness 
to make definite promises; but the subject undoubtedly greatly 
interests these hard-headed, practical men. 

The number of trained entomologists is increasing so rapidly 
almost all over the world that it is becoming an inexpensive matter 
to secure the introduction of promising parasites, on a compara- 
tively small scale, by correspondence—almost at the cost of postage. 
It is a sample of the mutually helpful feeling that exists to an 
extraordinary degree among entomologists—an early instance of 
the true international spirit that is coming. Practically all of the 
later shipments of Novius have been from California rather than 
from Australia, and the great work that this insect has done in 
Egypt, Portugal, and many other countries was made easy by the 
courtesy of California. 


PARASITES IN INSECT CONTROL—-HOWARD 415 


In a thoughtful and important paper just published in Nos. 6 
and 7 of the Revue de Zoologie Agricole for 1925, B. Trouvelot has 
listed the principal attempts made in sending beneficial insects from 
one country to another from 1873, when Riley and Planchon intro- 
duced 7'yroglyphus phylloxerae into France from the United States, 
down to the present year. Thirty-four such efforts are listed, of 
which 17 were made at a cost so slight as to be inappreciable, while 
I estimate that the others cost in the neighborhood of $150,000. 
Of the 34 attempts listed, more than half (18) have not as yet 
shown beneficial results, and the majority of these will never show 
such results. 

In this list there is no mention of many efforts, costing large 
sums of money, which have been absolutely fruitless, notably the 
world travel for many years of one of the California agents; the 
journey of two South African experts to Brazil to investigate one 
of the announced finds of the Californian; circumnavigation of the 
globe by an Australian expert, and, I fear, some of the more recent 
work of traveling agents of California, Hawaii, Italy, and the 
Bureau of Entomology at Washington. 

Wherever there is actual waste of money in parasite work, it must 
usually be laid to ignorance or incompetence. Only the best-trained 
experts must be allowed to take part. It becomes a matter of danger 
to the country in other hands. It is for this fact that the United 
States Bureau of Entomology, with its large corps of men who have 
made such work their especial study, wishes to control in a way all 
such importation work for the United States; and it is, in fact, so 
empowered by law. It is for this reason that we have charged our- 
selves with the establishment of the parasites of the European earwig 
in the Northwest, although the city of Portland is apparently willing 
and able to undertake the work. 

There are many things which will be brought out in this sym- 
posium, and many more which might be discussed to great advan- 
tage, but I can touch on only a few, although I could talk on the 
general subject all day long for several days. 

Passing over the well-known subject of hyperparasitism, we may 
well devote a few words to superparasitism or coparasitism. The 
possible introduction of too many parasites—that is, too many kinds 
of parasites—has been seriously considered by workers for a number 
of years. Beginning with the strenuous controversy between Ber- 
lese and Silvestri concerning the parasites and predators of Aula- 
caspis pentagona, and strengthened by the studies of Pemberton and 
Willard of the parasites of the Mediterranean fruit fly in Hawaii, 
the different aspects of the subject have been more or less theo- 
retically considered by several writers, notably by Thompson, by 
Wardle and Buckle, and Trouvelot in his recent papers. 


416 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


A case in point is just now under consideration. It is proposed 
to bring to Bermuda from Hawaii the parasites of the Mediterranean 
fruit fly. Shall the four species now working in Hawaii all be sent 
to Bermuda, or shall only one—O pius humilis—hbe sent? In the work 
of Pemberton and Willard referred to, the conclusion was reached 
that the four parasites working together do not destroy as many 
fruit-fly larve as the Opius working alone. The Opius larva is 
destroyed by two of the others when working in the same fruit, while 
alone it is more prolific than the others. But the Hawaiian ento- 
mologists do not agree perfectly. Some believe one way, while 
others think that the more species of parasites introduced the nearer 
we come to actual control, thus backing up the stand made by Sil- 
vestri in his long controversy with Berlese. Mr. Willard, I believe, 
is of the opinion that the Opius should be sent on first and tried out. 

Among the many things that persons in charge of such operations 
must remember is the normal food of the adults of the parasitic 
forms. We have during the past few years been learning more and 
more of the habits of adult parasitic Hymenoptera of feeding by 
suction at the holes made by the ovipositor in the body of the host 
insect. It seems, in fact, to be a widespread habit and in itself is 
probably responsible for a considerable mortality among the hosts. 
But with the Scoliid wasps, whose work against underground Scara- 
baeid and Cetoniid larvae seems so important, we must study the 
botanical food of the adults—the flowers they visit by preference— 
and we must be sure of the abundance of at least closely allied plants 
in the countries into which these parasites are introduced. This also 
holds, although perhaps it is not so important, with the Tachinids 
and the Dexiids. Is it not‘a prerequisite with some of these that 
they visit the flowers of umbelliferous or other plants before pairing 
or before oviposition ? 

The expense at the receiving end must not be stinted, and the 
most expert ingenuity and care must be exercised. In many cases, 
where the parasitic supply has come from some foreign country 
without cost, all necesary expenditures must be made by the receiv- 
ing entomologists. In no case will it suffice to turn the imported 
material loose, even under the most apparently favorable conditions. 
The original supply must be multiplied by breeding, and experi- 
mental loosings must be made. 

Again and again valuable importations have been lost through 
carelessness, lack of forethought. One very promising experimental 
sending was lost to an European country, for example, for the 
reason that the man in charge went away on vacation, leaving the 
work in untrained hands. And on another occasion an expert went 
half way around the world, and after infinite care and trouble 
brought back to his home country a good supply of healthy, liy- 


PARASITES IN INSEC? CONTROL—HOWARD 417 


ing parasites of an important imported pest, only to lose the results 
of this costly and laborious journey through inadequate provision 
and care at the home end. 

Great ingenuity has been exercised in the multiplication of para- 
sites at the importing end. The development of the potato sprout 
idea for the rapid rearing of mealybugs to serve as food for 
Cryptolaemus in confinement in California laboratories is a marked 
example, and other novel and effective methods have been worked 
out at Melrose Highlands, at Riverton, and in France. And a better 
and most varied technique will be developed as time goes on. 

The latest attempt to sum up the complications and the difficul- 
ties in parasite introduction has been made by Dr. B. Trouvelot 
ot Doctor Marchal’s laboratory, in a paper to which we have already 
referred. He brings out in clear form many of the points that 
had already occurred to most of us engaged in active work of this 
kind and summarizes in a concise way the factors that should be 
comparatively studied both in the importing and exporting coun- 
tries. These, he thinks, are (1) the climate (humidity or drought) 
of certain months modifying both the activities of the species 
and their rapidity of multiplication; (2) the distribution of plants, 
both wild and cultivated; (3) the fauna, its composition and dis- 
tribution; (4) the cultural methods followed (the size of the fields, 
character of the soil, period of harvest, and the amount of cul- 
tivation); (5) finally a factor dependent upon all of the others— 
the life history of the host, its local and regional distribution and 
its vulnerability. 

After general consideration has been given to the points specified 
above, Trouvelot again considers other points which must be studied 
before a choice of parasites can be gained. These may be listed as 
follows: 

(1) Synchronism of the life round between the parasite and the 
host. 

(2) Parasite activity. 

(3) Possibility of superparasitism and coparasitism. 

(4) Tendency to hyperparasitism. 

(5) Variations of the parasitic activity according to the climate. 

(6) Possibilities of hybridization with related species belonging 
to the importing country. 

(7) Power of dispersal of the parasites compared with that of 
the host. 

We have already hinted at the popular appeal which parasite work 
always carries. Last September there were two striking instances 
of this. There was a conference of State experiment station direc- 
tors and agricultural officials in Ohio, Michigan, and southern Onta- 


418 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


rio to review the corn borer situation. At Bono, Ohio, on the 29th, 
the visitors saw two of the European parasites of the corn borer 
in action under laboratory conditions, and the unanimous opinion 
was that this exhibition was a revelation of a phase of entomology 
of which they had had but the haziest conception. All were enthu- 
silastic. 

The next day this party went to Chatham, Ontario, and visited 
the corn borer parasite laboratory there. In one cage they saw 
thousands of fertilized females of H'zeristes roborator, and this cage 
was carried to a near-by field in which every stalk was infested by 
the borer. The parasites were liberated in full view of the whole 
party of more than 100 persons. Although it was a cold, raw, windy, 
overcast day, the parasites began at once to search for larvae hidden 
in the stalks and to lay their eggs through the tough epidermis of 
the stalks. This delighted the observers. Some of them, incredulous 
that the parasites could locate the borer from the outside, dissected 
the stalks, only to find that in all cases the parasite had unerringly 
deposited its eggs on the hidden caterpillars. At the conclusion of 
this demonstration one prominent educator, the dean of the school 
of agriculture in a great corn State, is reported to have remarked 
that the demonstration had given him an entirely new conception 
of the significance of economic entomology. 

Three years ago I published a paper entitled “ A Side Line on the 
Importation of Insect Parasites of Injurious Insects from One 
Country to Another” (Proceedings of the National Academy of 
Sciences, June, 1922), in which I called attention to the extraordi- 
nary way in which some of the imported gypsy moth parasites have 
taken to native hosts. One of the most extraordinary of these para- 
sites for its general adaptability is the Tachinid, Compsilura con- 
cinnata. Since its introduction in 1906 it has attacked 92 species of 
native insects, and it has established itself in New England in such 
a way as to act as automatically as any native species. 

Lately a significant thing has occurred which intensifies the value 
of this species, and in fact has a bearing upon all such importations. 
The European satin moth appeared in New England recently. It 
multiplied in a most remarkable way, and there was apparently no 
attack upon it by native Tachinids. But the European Compsilura 
had become acclimated, and at once attacked the new European 
invader. Webber and Schaffner have shown in Bulletin 1363 of 
the U. S. Department of Agriculture, now going through the press, 
that in certain last-stage-larva collections a parasitism of 78 per cent 
by this species has been noticed and that in their aggregate of all 
collections parasitism averages 50 per cent. 


PARASITES IN INSECT CONTROL—-HOWARD 419 


The latest experiment of an international character and one which 
offers many possibilities and comparatively few complications is 
the effort made by the Government of Fiji to find effective para- 
sites for the so-called levuana caterpillar which damages the leaves 
of the cocoa palm to such an extent as to cause great alarm. 
Several men have been engaged in this work, notably Mr. John 
D. Tothill, of Canada (trained partly, by the way, in the Gypsy 
Moth Parasite Laboratory of the Bureau of Entomology), Mr. A. 
M. Lea, of Adelaide, Australia, Mr. Hubert W. Simmonds, and 
Mr. C. T. McNamara. Here it was impossible to find immediately 
the native home of the pest, but expeditions were sent to the Malay 
Archipelago and the parasites of allied species were studied with 
the result that, after one or two unsuccessful attempts were made, 
three enemies of the allied Artona catowantha were secured and bid 
fair to become established. One of them, a Tachinid (Pychomyia 
remota) immediately began to attack the levuana caterpillar “as 
if it had been attacking it from time immemorial ” (Tothill in lit.). 
Then there was a Clerid beetle (Callimerus arcuper) which in both 
larval and adult stages attacked the pests with enthusiasm. There 
was also a single female of a species of Mesostenus, from which a 
rearing has been made. In this work the question is arising as 
to the relative value of the Tachinid and Braconid and as to the 
possibilities of bad results from the rivalry of the two species. 

I have several times urged the wisdom of a large-scale attempt 
to import from abroad all parasitic and predatory insects which 
may be of help to us in our efforts to control imported pests. We 
could probably add to our fauna some hundreds of species which 
would be of positive assistance to us. We are really spreading out 
into such a scheme in many directions, and are learning, in some 
cases through mistakes and wasted effort, how it can be done most 
efficiently and economically. 

It is true that some admirable results have been obtained in the 
old, more or less haphazard way, and we have nothing but praise 
for Koebele and his Novius work and for the Hawaiian explorers. 
But it is now very evident that, in order thoroughly to exhaust 
the possibilities of success in the majority of cases, especially where 
continental areas are concerned, detailed studies, which may in 
general be called ecological, must be made both in the importing and 
exporting regions. 

All sorts of conditions will arise, some of which may be grouped 
as follows: 

(a) Where the insect and its parasites are well known in its 
home country and where competent entomologists are anxious to 
assist. 

(b) Where the original home of the pest is not known. 


490 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


(c) Where the original home is known, but its parasites and their 
interrelations are not known. 

(d) When there is a close morphological relative to the injurious 
form in some other country, whose parasites may be expected to 
take readily to the species aimed at or whose mode of life is so similar 
as to excite an oviposition impulse from its parasites. 

In 1911, in recounting the original plan for the introduction of 
the parasites of the gypsy moth and the brown-tail moth, I wrote 
(Bulletin 91, Bureau of Entomology, pp. 13, 14)— 

It seemed to the writer that by attempting to reproduce in New England 
as nearly as possible the entire natural environment of the gypsy moth and 


the brown-tail moth in their native homes, similar conditions of comparative 
scarcity could surely be reached, and this view he still holds with enthusiasm. 


In this statement, I think to-day that I well expressed the funda- 
mental idea, and that the study of “ the entire natural environment ” 
is essential in most of these problems. This is only another way of 
expressing the need for extended ecological work. 

A final word in regard to the too optimistic predictions of en- 
thusiasts: We have seen in California the unfortunate results of too 
much optimism. We have seen also, within the past few years, the 
sudden discovery of the descendants of importations of parasites 
which had been here unnoticed but gradually increasing for from 
20 to 25 years; which means that, not only must we not be over- 
confident, but also that we must not be too easily discouraged. I like 
to remember, in regard to the first point, the concluding words of 
Froggatt after his tour around the world in 1907 and 1908, in his 
report on his expedition— 

Let the whole question be judged on its results. Allow that one or two 
experiments have shown perfect results * * * that can be no reason 
why the parasite cure alone should be forced upon any one. Its admirers 
should be perfectly honest. * * * The wisest can never be sure of the 
results of any experiment. * * * Those at work for its (economic ento- 
mology’s) far-reaching interests could do it no greater harm than by 
misleading or unproved statements. 

As to the place of parasitism in plans for insect control: 

It should receive consideration in all cases of imported pests just 
as soon as it is decided that extermination is likely to be impossible. 
Studies of the parasites in the native home of the pest should be 
begun at once, and, in the case of serious loss, no expenditure con- 
sistent with rigidly scientific methods should be begrudged. Work 
of this kind is in its infancy, and its possibilities are great. 


Sa > 


eet 


FRAGRANT BUTTERFLIES 


By Austin H. Criark 


[With 13 plates] 


CONTENTS 
Page 
BETO CRs ear ae LS ee ee Se ee Re eee Se 421: 
SOULCES OLTohey Male wibie rane a mre mei so. a ea See ee ee 429, 
Delayed ‘appearance of) the perfumes). Sek se eee 423 
Other iodorsitexhaled! (by) butterflies 2) atv yoo) WO Oe “TO st 423 
Apparently,-;scentiess, butterflies bi geelo b ee eb i a 424 
MRL GdOrs. OL DUtberiics by Sroups 2 fo. tye ee ka 424 
PERNT T ESS va ceaty Canes capes eg tae A ce ae alee ee ey 424 
Swallowtails. ele fir quoter ef eter aera MECMAS Zrmera REleCAS Salle ENV 43 
GUTH ES INN LCS 2) Annee anne inne Seen pen: WE RDS WeSC een eee ee 433 
SabyTids hires -G0hd Sys 2 EP eer ee BIE eo Tey EOL BO ee 439 
TEM CEATII OS poe oie Deh wy ASE epee Seon ey ele eave bd a teh oo rare 441 
AOEIST OY 6) 2) te wie wate PEN IRN aye Cer eae Oo UNI ERE RRC Sey, a 4 REE & Veh oper ear 442 
HMUIMCELON OL AUN @nOU DE Gat tener cece sa waltees ys Lube din tiene er DP tye 4492 
PREFACE 


Surprisingly few naturalists seem ever to have noticed that the 
males of many butterflies give off a pleasant fragrance similar to 
and rivaling in attractiveness that of the scented flowers. This is 
the more remarkable since some of the most fragrant sorts are among 
the commonest species almost everywhere. 

There are two reasons why we know so little of the odors of our 
butterflies. In the first place, most people interested in the butter- 
flies regard them more as natural works of art than as the insects 
tliat they are, and therefore pay but slight attention to anything 
further than the form and color and the seasonal occurrence and 
general habits of the adults. 

In the second place the adult nose is a quite uncertain organ, 
especially in men, and the testing of a butterfly often results in 
nothing more than a fit of sneezing caused by the irritation of the 
loosened scales. 

The sense of smell in children is much keener than in adults, and 
they easily detect faint odors that escape their elders. It is also 

421 


422 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


more exact, and if their previous experience with odors has been 
adequate their comparisons are likely to be closer. 

The information on our native butterflies in the following pages 
was brought together with the assistance of my two young sons, 
Austin B. J. Clark and Hugh U. Clark, whose assistance in experi- 
menting with some scores of captured butterflies was of the greatest 
value. On our various excursions in the field it fell to them first 
to investigate the butterflies we caught. In most cases I could my- 
self confirm their observations, but in some I was quite unable to 
perceive an odor which both of them assured me was quite strong. 

Ordinarily the testing of the butterflies for odors is an interesting 
and a pleasant task, but one must always be prepared for surprises 
sometimes most unwelcome as in the case of the females of the fritil- 
laries. 

SOURCES OF THE MALE FRAGRANCE 


The flowerlike odors of male butterflies usually have their origin 
in hairs or scales of a peculiar type called androconia found only in 
the males, grouped in special “ brands” or patches in various loca- 
tions on the wings, distributed along the veins, or scattered widely 
on their upper surface. In the males of a species of Melete from 
Brazil, Fritz Miiller found that a rather strong odor was emitted by 
a pencil of nonretractile hairs protruding from the ventral side of 
the abdomen. In the skippers the scent-emitting hairs are sometimes 
placed upon the tibix of the hindmost legs. 

In our common milkweed butterfly (Danaus archippus) the males 
possess, besides the scent scales in the little sack on the hind wings, 
an extensible brush of hairs on either side of the last segment of 
the body which when fully extended radiate in all directions. In 
various related species these hairs are borne upon the inner end of 
a more or less long tube extending into the body within which the 
hairs form a compact tuft ensheathed by the tube walls. This tube 
can be everted or pushed outward in such a way that the inner 
end now becomes the tip of a more or less elongate fingerlike process 
bearing a tuft of radiating hairs. 

Similar organs are found in the Hupleas (fig. 44, pl. 9; fig. 55, 
pl. 12) of the Old World regarding some species of which de Nicé- 
ville says: “The males may often be observed patrolling a small 
aerial space, with the end of the abdomen curled under the body 
toward the thorax, and with the two beautiful yellow anal tufts of 
long hair distended to their fullest extent at right angles to the 
body.” The males of the related 7twnas and Lycoreas, and the 
gorgeous males of Morphos and of their more somber eastern repre- 
sentatives, all have similar extensible appendages. In some forms 
it has been determined that a strong odor is given off by these. 


FRAGRANT BUTTERFLIES—CLARK 423 
DELAYED APPEARANCE OF THE PERFUME 


Various observations giving negative results have been recorded 
on butterflies remarkable for their strong fragrance. It some cases 
it is stated than the examination was made on males recently 
emerged from the chrysalis. Very fresh butterflies appear always 
to be nearly, often indeed quite, odorless, while very ragged indi- 
viduals sometimes are very fragrant. It appears to take some time 
after the wings are fully formed and functional for the odoriferous 
secretion to become diffused sufficiently to give the characteristic 
perfume. 

OTHER ODORS EXHALED BY BUTTERFLIES 


Besides these pleasant odors arising from the hairs and scent scales 
and confined, or almost entirely confined, to males, there are also 
other sorts of odors possessed by butterflies. 

If you take a living female of any of our common fritillaries 
(Argynnis cybele, A. aphrodite, A. atlantis [figs. 57, 58, pl. 13] or 
Brenthis myrina) ‘and gently squeeze the abdomen there will appear 
from between the last two segments on the upper side a double patch 
of soft dull light orange tissue. On further pressure there suddenly 
pops out just in front of this a pair of thick blunt processes like short 
thick horns which give off a strong and nauseating smell resembling 
that of the forked red or orange organ which the caterpillars of all of 
our swallowtails protrude from the first thoracic segment when they 
are disturbed. 

Among the heliconians of the American tropics, close relatives of 
the fritillaries, the females have similar organs, though not quite so 
large, which also give off a disgusting smell. 

The males in both these groups have a single unpaired organ of 
the same nature which is very small and situated between the upper 
ends of the terminal valves where in our fritillaries it is very notice- 
able because of its bright orange color. 

In the females of some pierids, as Catopsilia (fig. 14, pl. 2) and 
Melete, there are organs like those of female fritillaries which give 
off a peculiar odor. 

In one of the nymphaline butterflies (Didonis) both sexes from 
the upper side of the abdomen between segments four and five 
extrude hemispherical protuberances which have a strong and rather 
disagreeable smell. The male has in addition a pair of similar pro- 
tuberances, white in color, which are extruded between segments 
five and six and give off an agreeable odor comparable to that of 
heliotrope. 

In various forms the insects of both sexes give off a rank, mouldy, 
cockroachlike, or similarly disagreeable, in rare cases pleasant, odor, 


424 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


which is usually stronger in the females, and in the males often is 
combined with a wholly different sweetish scent. An example is 
our common milkweed butterfly. 

A rank and disagreeable odor is in certain species common to 
both sexes when freshly dead, though not in life. 

Some butterflies, like the Old World purple emperors, the various 
species of Charaxes, and certain swallowtails, which are immoder- 
ately fond of excrement or of rotting flesh, occasionally proclaim 
their preferences in the odors they exhale, though these do not 
properly arise from them themselves. 


APPARENTLY SCENTLESS BUTTERFLIES 


There are certain of our common butterflies with a great de- 
velopment of scent scales in which as yet no odor has been found. 
One of the most conspicuous of these is Cercyonis alope (fig. 35, 
pl. 6). This at any rate must have an odor, though I have been 
quite unable to find any in either sex. Mr. Scudder also was unable 
to find any odor in the three species of @’neis, of the same family, 
examined alive by him. So far I have found no odor in our com- 
mon orange-tip (Anthocharis genutia, figs. 10, 11, pl. 2), though it 
probably has one. 


THE ODORS OF BUTTERFLIES BY GROUPS 


Pierids —Of all the larger groups of butterflies the pierids are 
the most remarkable for the very general occurrence and the 
strength and uniformity of scent in males. Its presence has now 
been well established in about 80 different species. Furthermore 
it has been found among these butterflies that closely allied forms 
may have quite different scents. One of the best examples of this is 
found in our common whites. 

Mr. Scudder wrote that among our common whites the males of 
the common cabbage butterfly (Pieris rape, fig. 1, pl. 1) “have a 
very faint but pleasant odor, difficult to detect. I have sometimes 
done so, but at other times have been unable to perceive it, on rub- 
bing the scales of the upper surface of the wings and immediately 
smelling the fingers.” More recently Doctor Dixey, Mr. Longstaff, 
and others have determined from studies made in England that 
the males of this butterfly have a scent, though it is neither so strong 
nor so distinctive as that of the green-veined white (P. napi, fig. 2, 
pl. 1). Originally Doctor Dixey compared the scent to that of 
mignonette (Reseda odorata), but Mr. Longstaff says that Prof. 
Selwyn Image’s comparison to sweetbriar is better, though that, is 
not exact. 


FRAGRANT BUTTERFLIES—CLARK 425 


Mr. Scudder found that the males of our native gray-veined 
white (P. oleracea) have a more distinct odor than those of the 
imported European white, though it is still faint. It is, too, quite a 
different odor, and he compared it to the fragrance of syringa blos- 
soms. Mr. Longstafl, who examined this species at North Bend. 
B. C., compared the odor to that of lemon verbena. 

Quite a fragrant little butterfly is our common sulphur (Hurymus 
philodice, fig. 7, pl. 1; figs. 20, 21, pl. 3), the males smelling like 
dried “sweet grass” or like sweet hay. This odor is fairly strong, 
and apparently it is constant and quite uniform, as I have noticed 
it in all examined both in Massachusetts and at Washington. 

In the little sulphur (Zurema euterpe, fig. 13, pl. 2) the males have 
a pronounced fragrance which is somewhat similar to that of the 
males of the preceding, but is sweeter and more flowery, and is 
very easy to perceive in spite of their small size. My observations 
were all made in the vicinity of Washington. All but 8 out of 
39 males of #. euterpe taken by Mr. Longstaff in Jamaica had an 
odor varying from very slight in some to strong in 17. Mrs. Long- 
staff described it on various occasions as “a slight pleasant smell,” 
“strong, like syringa,” “a very soft gentle smell, might be jas- 
mine,” and “very slight, sweet, jasmine or syringa.” Mr. A. P. 
Ponsonby suggested gorse. In Mr. Longstaff’s judgment the scent 
resembled rather the clove pink, but was still more like pink bind- 
weed. There was no scent in the 21 females studied. 

Among the southern relatives of this little butterfly Z'wrema delza, 
which is common in the Gulf States, was examined by Mr. Long- 
staff in Jamaica, Panama, Colombia and Venezuela in 1907. The 
results were conflicting, but in the large majority of cases negative. 
Of E. westwoodii, which is found sparingly in Texas and Arizona, 
three males taken in Jamaica all had a scent, described in one as 
a “spice odor, not quite the same as in /. euterpe.” 

The large clear yellow butterfly so common in the Southern States 
(Catopsilia eubule, fig. 14, pl..2) according to Miss Murtfeldt has a 
slight violet odor in the male. From observations in Brazil, Fritz 
Miiller described the perfume of this same butterfly as faint and 
musklike. In no less than 32 out of the 33 males tested by Mr. 
Longstaff in the West Indies and on the northern coast of South 
America in 1907 “a distinct. scent was readily perceived, indead 
in the great majority of cases it is noted as strong, twice as very 
strong. In quality the pee was agreeable and was compared by me 
to Stephanotis, or Freesia.” 

Mr. Longstaff records that two lange males of the form senna 
taken at Savanilla, Colombia, had a strong scent, like that of F'reesia. 
Of one of each sex taken at Cartagena the male ad the usual strong 
Freesia scent, the female a disagreeable, but somewhat sweet, odor. 


426 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


Of 22 females examined by Mr. Longstaff 9 proved negative, but in 
the remaining 18 a scent was detected which, though usually de- 
scribed as very slight, or slight, and never as strong, was often dis- 
tinct enough. In quality the scent of the female eubule was dis- 
agreeable; somewhat sweet, but recalling bad pomade, or rancid 
butter, or butyric acid. In the female of this species Fritz Miller 
found a very strong peculiar odor in which some volatile acid seemed 
to predominate. 

In a related species (C’. agarithe) which occurs in the Gulf States 
and is common throughout tropical America, Mr. Longstaff found 
that of three males examined in Tobago two yielded a scent noted as 
being “sweet, neither strong nor pleasant.” 

In Brazilian specimens of another form (@. argante) which is 
found in Florida and Texas, Fritz Miiller detected a very distinct 
musklike odor. In the females of this species he found an odor 
resembling that of female eubule. 

In Appias ilaire, which ranges southward from southern Florida 
and Texas, Miiller observed an odor in the male which he recorded 
both as faint and rather strong. 

In Dismorphia melite (fig. 23, pl. 3), which occurs in New Mexico, 
Miiller found in the male a faint disagreeable odor; but a single male 
taken by Mr. Longstaff in Venezuela had a scent like mignonette. 

This is all we know about the odor of our native pierids. Let us 
now review the information on the foreign species. 

The scent found in the European cabbage butterfly (Pierzs rape, 
fig 1, pl. 1 ) was also found by Mr. Longstaff in the related P. canidia 
in China and in India. 

The European species corresponding to our gray-veined white (P. 
oleracea), the green-veined white (P. napi, fig. 2, pl. 1), has long 
been known to be a fragrant butterfly. The odor of its wings has 
been compared to thyme, to lemon verbena, to orange and to balsam, 
and apparently is always present in the males, or rather can always 
be detected. Mr. Longstaff says that out of 46 examined all had the 
scent, and that many times he has known by the scent alone the 
moment he had it in his net that a small white was a male green- 
veined. This is no exaggeration, as I can testify from my experi- 
ence with this form in Europe. Mr. Longstaff says that besides the 
green-veined white there are but two other butterflies known to him 
with the lemon verbena fragrance, our gray-veined white, and the 
related P. melete of Japan. 

It is curious that the scent of the lar ge white of Europe (P. 
brassicae, fig. 6, pl. 1) is more difficult to detect than that of either the 
common baibige (P. rape) or the green-veined white (P. napi), but 
neither Doctor Dixey nor Mr. Longstaff have the slightest doubt of 
its existence. Doctor Dixey compared it to that of scarlet geranium 


FRAGRANT BUTTERFLIES—CLARK 427 


petals, and Mr. Longstafi to the flowers of rape. But the latter 
thinks that orris root is the best comparison. 

Among the close relatives of our common sulphur the following 
observations are recorded. In Hurymus hyale (figs. 3, 4, pl. 1) var. 
marnoana, Mr. Longstaff found in the Sudan a very slight odor in 
both sexes which he doubtfully compared to chocolate candy or to 
cloves. In Eurymus edusa (figs. 17-19, pl. 3) caught in England, 
Doctor Dixey determined the existence in the male of an odor which 
he compared to heliotrope. Mr. Longstaff failed to detect any odor 
in this species in Algeria. Doctor Dixey found in a male of 
Eurymus electra in South Africa a scent like that which previously 
he had found in Z. edusa; Mr. Longstaff found a somewhat less 
agreeable odor. The latter suspected a slight scent in two males of 
E. nilgiriensis. 

Observations by Mr. Longstaff on Eurema phiale, like those on 
E. delia, gave results which were conflicting, but in the large ma- 
jority of cases negative. The results were uniformly negative in the 
case of L. albula. Five out of eight males of Hurema nise had a 
scent varying from very slight to very strong, which was compared 
to that of the pink bindweed (Convolvulus arvensis) ; a slight scent, 
confirmed by Mrs. Longstaff, was detected in a female. 

In Eurema messalina a scent was noted in 6 males out of 10. 
Mr. Longstaff described it as distinct or strong, and compared it to 
pink bindweed and to spice. It is also noted as distinct from that 
of £. euterpe, more dusty and less specific, and in another specimen 
as more spicy than bindweed. The bindweed odor was detected by’ 
Mr. Longstaff in several males of &. libythea in Ceylon. He failed 
to detect any scent in /. hecabe or in any of the allied forms. 

Among the relatives of our Catopsilia eubule, Mr. Wood-Mason 
noticed in Assam that the tufts of hair on the wings of the males of 
Catopsilia pyranthe smell like jasmine. When in India Mr. Long- 
staff confirmed this observation, but thought a closer comparison 
was with the tuberose (Polianthes tuberosa). After his second visit 
to Ceylon in 1908 he wrote “ The number of specimens taken was 
very much smaller than of pomona, but the scent was more easily 
detected in the male, and more decided in the female, than in that 
species. In both sexes the scent was compared to Stephanotis, but 
in one male to Freesia, and in one female Mrs. Longstaff thought the 
odor was ‘a little bit hair-oily.’” 

On stroking the scent tufts on the hind wings of the male of 
Catopsilia pomona Mr. Longstaff detected a slight jasminelike scent; 
later he compared this to Freesia or to Stephanotis. Out of 27 
females examined the result was negative in 18; but in the other 9 a 
slight, usually very slight, sweet scent without other special charac- 
ter was noted. 


428 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


On exposure of the tufts of hairlike scales on the hind wings 
of males of Catopsilia florella in South Africa a very strong scent 
was found to be emitted. This Doctor Dixey compared to jasmine, 
and Mr. Longstaff to tuberoses or to Freesia. Mr. Longstaff con- 
firmed this later in the Sudan, and also there suspected a faint 
odor in the female. 

In Brazil, Fritz Miiller found a musklike odor in the males of 
Metura cipris (fig. 12, pl. 2) and of Rhabdodryas trite (fig. 15, pl. 2) ; 
it was unusually strong in the former but faint in the latter. 

Miiller observed that during courting the female of Appias ly- 
cimnia in Brazil emitted from the genitalia an odor which he 
described as rather faint, though quite distinct, and very different 
from that emitted by the male’s wings. This last he found to 
be very delicious, but rather faint and often hardly distinguish- 
able. Mr. Longstaff records that the three males caught by him 
all had a strong sweet flowery scent suggesting Freesia. Of three 
females one had a rich, sweet scent. 

The male of Dismorphia thermesia was found by Miiller in Brazil 
to emit a very strong odor disageeable to human noses. In the 
male of D. astyonome there is a similar, but much fainter odor. 

No examination has been made of either of our dog-face butter- 
flies (Zerene cesonia and Z. eurydice), but one out of three females 
of Z. cerbera (fig. 26, pl. 4) examined by Mr. Longstaff was found 
to have a slight very sweet scent like (?) clover. 

I have found no odor in our native eastern orange-tip (An- 
thocharis genutia |figs. 10, 11, pl. 2]), but I have had little oppor- 
tunity for testing it. In England, out of many tested of the Eu- 
ropean orange-tip (A. cardamines), Mr. Longstaff found a fairly 
distinct, though faint, scent, sometimes described as musky, once as 
“ very sweet.” 

A very interesting case of two different odors occurring in two 
closely related butterflies is afforded by the European brimstones 
(Gonepteryx rhamni [fig. 32, pl. 5] and G. cleopatra). While a 
slight scent has occasionally been detected in the males of the com- 
mon brimstone butterfly (G. rhamni), though most of the trials 
have given negative results, the males of the allied southern form 
(G. cleopatra) have a scent uniformly distinct and often strong 
which Mr. Longstaff, who discovered it, described as “ sweet, rich, 
thick—suggesting Freesia,’ later hesitating between Freesia and 
syringa. 

Of other pierids, seven males of Leptophobia aripa out of eight 
examined by Mr. Longstaff in Venezuela had a distinct or even 
strong scent which he compared on various occasions to orange, 
Freesia, and mignonette, 


FRAGRANT BUTTERFLIES—CLARK 429 


Three males of Jtaballia calydonia from Venezuela, all that he 
captured, were found by Mr. Longstaff to have a distinct flowery 
scent, in one described as like that of P. brassicw, in another as 
somewhat sickly. In another undetermined species, near P. sevata, 
the only male examined had a faint, sweet, flowery scent. 

In Assam Mr. Wood-Mason noted that both sexes of Delias hierte 
var. indica have a strong and grateful smell of musk. Of 18 males 
of Delias eucharis examined by Mr. Longstaff a scent was detected 
in 17. In 4 of these the scent was very slight or indefinable, but 
in 12 it was strong, or very strong, and compared by him to that 
of sweetbrier. In 6 females out of 9 there was more or less scent, 
but in no case was it strong; it was described as sweet, dusty or 
musky, and faint sweetbrier. In D. nigrina a male was thought by 
Mr. Longstaff to have a very slight scent. 

The males of Catophaga paulina in Ceylon were found by Mr. 
Longstaff to have a scent which was variously described as “ like 
sweetbrier, but sweeter and more luscious,” “sweet,” “very sweet 
(?) Freesia,” “ flowery,” “ decided meadowsweet,” “ decided Stepha- 
notis,”’ and “extremely sweet.” 

In Huphina nerissa Mr. Longstaff found that the males have a 
distinct sweetbrier scent. 

Nine males of /wias cengalensis (fig. 36, pl. 6) examined by Mr. 
Longstaff all had a sweet, but only moderately strong, scent, which 
reminded him of meadowsweet (Spirwa ulmaria). Four females 
were scentless. 

Ten African species of Z’eracolus have been examined, with the 

following results. In 7. achine Doctor Dixey found in the males 
an odor like that of honeysuckle. In 7’. ione he found the scent not 
always easy to detect, but sweet and flowery. In 7’. anne he some- 
times found the scent of the male strong, like syringa; Mr. Long- 
staff found it faint and like that of Pieris brassice. A dead male of 
T. phisadia had a sweet luscious scent, but another of 7’. halimede 
a somewhat disagreeable odor. 
- Mr. Longstaff says that the male of 7’. protomedia has a distinct 
scarcely agreeable scent hard to describe, while a female of 7’. daira 
had a scent like clove pink, both in the field and in the house. In 
LT. omphale both Doctor Dixey and Mr. Longstaff found in the males 
a “white flour perfume,” but the former usually found a musky 
constituent in addition. In 7’. auxo they both found a scent in the 
males, and in 7’. evts a sweet flowery scent. 

All of the nine males of the giant orange-tip (Zebomota australis) 
examined in Ceylon by Mr. Longstaff had a heavy sweet scent which 
was strong in most, and in all decided. It was compared to that of 


430 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


the flowers of the mango or to cinnamon. In three females out of 
four there was a similar scent. 

In Belenois gidica (cf. fig. 27, pl. 4) from South Africa, Doctor 
Dixey and Mr. Longstaff found in some of the males a flowery scent 
which the former compared to that of roses. In B. mesentina in 
India Mr. Longstaff found the male to have a faint sweet flowery 
scent which did not appear to him to be quite like that of any other 
insect. In South Africa Doctor Dixey found in a male a scent 
much like that of B. gidica. In the Sudan Mr. Longstaff found 
the males to have a slight scent, sometimes described as musky, but 
once as luscious. In B. severina in South Africa both Doctor Dixey 
and Mr. Longstaff found much individual variation in the males. 
The former compared their scent to sweetbrier, the latter thought it 
hke that of Pieris brassice, but stronger and more luscious. In B. 
thysa they agreed that the males have a strong distinct odor which 
Doctor Dixey compared to that of roses, Mr. Longstaff rather to the 
bluebell (Scilla nutans), but sometimes to Yreesia. In B. teutonia, 
examined in Australia, Mr. Longstaff suspected a slight scent in 
sundry males, but nothing at all definite. 

Mr. Longstaff found in the male of Nepheronia ceylanica in Ceylon 
a more or less distinct scent which he compared to Freesia. A female 
had a similar scent which Mrs. Longstaff compared to frangipani 
(Plumeria rubra). A male of WV. hippia from India had a very 
shght burnt-sugar scent. 

Both Doctor Dixey and Mr. Longstaff found a flowery scent in 
the males of the South African Lronia cleodora. 

In Pinacopteryx charina from South Africa Doctor Dixey and 
Mr. Longstaff occasionally found in the male a flowery scent which 
the former compared to mignonette. In P. pigea they both found a 
distinct, sometimes strong, scent like honeysuckle in the male. 

Three species of Mylothris (cf. fig. 30, pl. 4) have been examined 
in South Africa. The males of M@. agathina and of M. riippellu 
have a strong, pleasant scent exactly like that of sweetbrier. The 
scent of If. trimenia is of quite a different nature; it reminded Doctor 
Dixey of sweet peas and Mr. Longstaff of clover. 

Doctor Dixey compared the scent of the males of Synchloé hellica 
to that of gorse. Mr. Longstaff recorded a male as having a very 
slight heavy and flowery odor. Later at Cape Town he caught a 
single male with a sweet odor which seemed to him to have a resinous 
element. 

Swallowtails—Among the swallowtails (Papilionide) apparently 
the males always have an odor, but the information concerning these 
is often more or less indefinite, sometimes conflicting. The females 
commonly, always perhaps, have a musty or acid odor, and the 
males frequently a similar odor, though much less strong, which 


FRAGRANT BUTTERFLIES—CLARK 431 


sometimes makes the detection of the true male fragrance difficult 
and apparently explains much of the confusion in the records. 

Our spicebush swallowtail (Papilio troilus) is our most fragrant 
species. In this the males have a distinct and rather strong aroma 
difficult to describe, but exactly resembling that of Nabisco or Hunt- 
ley & Palmer’s honey biscuits. The odor of the female is not known. 

In the black swallowtail (P. polyzenes, fig. 34, pl. 6) the males have 
a rather strong, sweet odor like that of carrot flowers, quite the same, 
apparently, as that of the males of its close relative in Europe (P. 
machaon, fig. 37, pl. 6). No one has investigated the odor of the 
females. 

In our common yellow swallowtail (P. glaucus, fig. 45, pl. 9; figs. 
46, 47, pl. 10) the males, at least in Massachusetts, all have a sweet, 
flowery odor, varying from faint to fairly strong, which resembles 
that of the males of the spicebush swallowtail, though it is never so 
pronounced. The yellow females (fig. 46, pl. 10) have a strong and 
disagreeable odor, pungent or acid in quality, resembling rubber 
cement or creosote, which is very strong in some, especially in the 
South. The odor of the black females (fig. 47, pl. 10) has not been 
recorded. 

The males of the blue swallowtail (P. philenor) have a sweet 
flowery odor somewhat similar to that of the males of P. polyxenes, 
though not so strong. The females have a strong and disagreeable 
scent, pungent and penetrating, with a suggestion of acetic acid. 

Mr. William Schaus informs me that the most fragrant butterfly 
in his experience is P. devilliersi (fig. 40, pl. 8) which has been 
found in Florida, though properly confined to Cuba, a relative of 
our blue swallowtail. The odor is very strong and of a most pleasing 
nature, resembling that of the fragrant orchids. 

The male of the black and white swallowtail (P. marcellus, fig. 
' 52, pl. 11) has a very faint odor resembling that of the males of our 
other swallowtails, but with a spicy flavor not discernible in them. 

Fritz Miiller examined in Brazil the males of a swallowtail (P. 
polydamus) which ranges north to southern Florida and Texas. 
In these the odor was very strong. In this form there appear to be, 
indeed, two sets of males emitting equally strong but quite different 
odors, a condition aptly called by Mr. Scudder diosmism. In this 
same species (var. polycrates) Mr. Longstaff found an odor resem- 
bling that of musty hay in two examples of each sex; Mrs. Longstaff 
compared the scent to rue (Ruta gravolens). 

Several South American swallowtails were studied by Fritz Miil- 
ler. He found that the males of Papilio hyperion have a very strong 
odor; the males of P. scamander (?grayi) have a strong and most 
agreeable odor; the males of P. protesilaus (fig. 41, pl. 8) have a very 
strong rather disagreeable odor; and the males of P. nephalion have 


432 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


a faint agreeable odor. Mr. Longstaff found that a male of P. ewr- 
medes had a strong odor of musty straw, and a living female of P. 
ceneides a similar odor which persisted after death. 

In Troides darsius of Ceylon (fig. 28, pl. 4) the males have a 
scent, sometimes a strong scent, like sassafras; the females smell like 
musty straw. 

Mr. H. Pryer said that the male of Papilio alcinous (fig. 39, pl. 
7) of Japan has a peculiarly sweet musky odor when alive, and that 
the female also emits a faint odor which to him is as unpleasant 
as that of the male is pleasant. 

In Assam Mr. Wood-Mason noted in the male of Papilio aristolo- 
chie a strong and slightly pungent odor resembling that of (?) 
bachelors’ buttons, or of the rose with a trace of acetic acid. Mr. 
Longstaff in Ceylon found that both sexes have an odor like musty 
hay. Of P. doubledayi (fig. 56, pl. 13) Mr. Wood-Mason said that 
the male has a musk-scented body, while the female of P. dasarada 
bas the strong scent of caged porcupines with a touch of musk, and 
the female of P. astorion hag a strong and disgustingly oo pipe 
odor. 

Mr. Longstaff has studied some additional Indian species. He 
found that the male of Papilo hector has a musty odor. Two males 
ot P. demoleus (fig. 31, pl. 5), one in Ceylon and one in India, had 
an odor like fresh straw; a female had “a slight peculiar scent in 
the field, stronger in the house.” A specimen of P. telephus, sex 
not given, had a slight sweet scent at home. A male of P. parinda 
was noted as having a scent like tea, but nothing of the kind was 
found in any of the other individuals examined. A male of P. 
polymnestor (fig. 38, pl. 7) had a somewhat musty odor. 

Among the South African swallowtails both Doctor Dixey and 
Mr. Longstaff found an odor of fusty packing straw in both sexes 
of Papilio demodocus which according to the latter was stronger in 
the female. Doctor Dixey sometimes found an element in the odor 
suggestive of cabbage water or a kitchen sink. Mr. Longstaff says 
that the male of Papilio dardanus (fig. 33, pl. 5) has an odor of 
the musty-straw type, and that some of the males of P. ly@us exam- 
ined had a scent which he at the time described as “sweet, luscious, 
flowery.” In the males of P. leonidas Doctor Dixey thought the 
scent to be like that of Danaus chrysippus,; but Mr. pe found 
in several males what he described as a “ hyenas sweet ‘ white flour’ 
scent, followed by something more spicy.” 

Beliey re found that Zhats polyxena, which feeds on Aristolochia, 
has on emergence when handled an odor like that of its food plant, 
which arises from a fluid left upon the hand that has seized the 
insect. 


FRAGRANT BUTTERFLIES—CLARK 433 


Nymphalids.—About 30 years ago I was much surprised to find 
that a strong and pleasant fragrance comparable to that of sweet 
flag or of sandalwood combined with Spanish cedar and with a 
“dusty” element was given off from the wings of a male example 
of one of our common fritillaries (Argynnis aphrodite). More 
recently [ have examined this peculiarity more closely. Of the males 
of both of our common species in New England (A. aphrodite and 
A. cybele) some dozens were examined. All had the odor, and on the 
average about one in four or five was found to possess a very strong 
aroma. In several cases so fragrant was the butterfly that the odor 
could plainly be detected as the insect fluttered in the net. Some of 
the most fragrant of the butterflies were badly rubbed and torn, 
while some freshly emerged were almost scentless. 

Mr. Scudder remarked that Argynnis atlantis (figs. 57, 58, pl. 13) 
has a distinct odor of sandalwood so strong that it is hardly possible 
to handle living specimens without recognizing it, which he has 
known to be retained for many weeks after death when the insect 
had been inclosed at capture in a paper envelope. 

In the regal fritillary (Argynnis idalia, fig. 59, pl. 18) the odor 
of the male is uniformly strong, resembling that of the other species 
but sweeter and more flowery. It was compared to musk by Mr. 
Scudder. 

Prof. John H. Gerould writes me that he has noticed the same 
odor as that in A. atlantis in another species (Brenthis montinus) 
which I have not examined. 

Of a curious fritillary common in the Southern States (Déone 
vanille) Mr. Longstaff says that 13 out of 17 males examined 
possessed an odor varying from very faint to very strong which in 
character was distinctly disagreeable—like a stable. 

The majority of observations made by Mr. Longstaff on our south- 
ern heliconian .(Heliconius charithonia) in 1907 in Jamaica gave 
negative results, but in three males and two females a slight pleasant 
flowery scent was detected which Mrs. Longstaff described as 
“ sweet.” 

The large and handsome Victorina stelenes, occasional in Florida 
and in southern Texas, was studied by Mr. Longstaff in Jamaica. 
Five males appeared to have a, slight flowery scent; in one it sug- 
gested chrysanthemum. 

The handsome male of Hypolimnas misippus, abundant in the 
eastern tropics and in Africa, and occurring sparingly in Florida 
and southward where long ago it was introduced from Africa, was 
found by Doctor Dixey from observations in South Africa to have a 
smell like coffee, though not very strong. 

In our common viceroy (Basilarchia archippus) there is a pro- 
nounced and disagreeable odor comparable to that of the females of 


434 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


Danaus archippus. It is rather curious that this butterfly should 
resemble the milkweed butterfly not only in its color but also in 
its odor. 

The males of our common peacock butterfly (Jwnonia cania, fig. 
25, pl. 3; fig. 43, pl. 9) have a rather strong sweet sugary odor which 
sometimes quickly disappears. The variety examined was the one 
with the under surface of the wings deep dull pinkish red, the com- 
monest in the fields in the vicinity of Washington. 

Mr. Scudder noticed that in the males of the milkweed butterfly 
(Danaus archippus) the scales found in the little pouch upon the 
upper surface of the hind wings next the lower median nervule emit 
a slightly honeyed odor over and above the carroty smell which all 
the scales possess. This odor was detected in nearly all the males 
which I examined. It may be described as like the faint sweet frag- 
rance of red clover blossoms, or of the flowers of the common milk- 
weed. With this is a fainter cockroachlike or carroty odor which is 
found alone, and much stronger, in the females. Mr. Longstaff’s 
notes on the odor of this species which was studied by him in Ja- 
maica, Tobago, Panama, and Venezuela in 1907, and in Australia 
in 1910, and Fritz Miiller’s observations in Brazil, evidently refer 
to the disagreeable odor, and not to the true male odor which escaped 
both observers. 

In the group of which the milkweed butterfly is a member (/w- 
plwine) the evidence seems to show the common or even general oc- 
currence of two quite different scents, a flowerlike scent peculiar to 
the males and a more or less disagreeable mouldy or acid odor com- 
mon to both sexes, often stronger in the females, as in our milkweed 
butterfly. 

Mr. Longstaff says regarding Danaus jamaicensis that of two males 
one had a strong smell of rabbit hutches, the other a decided odor 
as of (?) cockroaches, scarcely disagreeable. Of two females both 
had a strong cockroach smell, perceptible next day. Two males of 
D. eresimus had a “(%) very slight pleasant scent,” and a female 
a “strong (?) muskrat [? Desmana moschata] odor when alive.” 

In the common and widespread Danaus chrysippus (fig. 24, pl. 3) 
of the eastern tropics Doctor Dixey found that the scent in both sexes 
is of a strong and disagreeable nature like that of cockroaches, often 
stronger in the female. In D. genutia (fig. 58, pl. 12) Mr. Longstaff 
sometimes detected an unpleasant scent, but did not record the sex of- 
the individuals examined. Later he found a male to have a slight 
muskrat odor in the field, but none at home, though still alive. 

In Danaus limniace Mr. Longstaff found in a male a very faint 
scent suggesting old cigar boxes; but observations made on other 
occasions were doubtful or negative. Of 11 males of D. septentrio- 


FRAGRANT BUTTERFLIES—CLARK 435 


nalis (fig. 54, pl. 12) 9 yielded a scent noted as slight, moderate, or 
decided, and described as pleasant or sweet, and in 2 cases compared 
(with, however, some hesitation) to clover. In a single female out 
of seven a slight scent was found and compared to Stephanotis; but 
Mrs. Longstaff in the house said “(?) ginger.” 

Of four males and four females of Danaus taprobana Mr. Long- 
staff found an odor in two females only. In the field he called it 
“a slight musty scent,” but on reéxamination he compared it to 
stale tobacco smoke. In a previous investigation he reached more 
positive conclusions, saying that “it has the acetylene odor of 
Euploa core (fig. 44, pl. 9), but not so strong and with a difference.” 

In Danaus aglea Mr. Longstaff detected a distinct scent “in 15 
males out of 17 and in 11 females out of 14. In the male the scent 
varied from very slight to strong; twice, indeed, it was so strong 
as to be clearly perceptible when the insect was fluttering in the 
net.” In 13 examples he compared it to acetylene; in the other 2 
it was described as acetylene plus cockroach; but these, when re- 
examined in the house, were described as cockroach only and slightly 
musty, respectively. In six individuals in which there was a decided, 
or even strong scent in the field, none was detected in the house; 
in others the scent at home was slight, or described as musty; but in 
one it was compared to sweet hay. In all the 11 females the scent 
was compared to acetylene. Two other females were said to have 
a musty odor. Mr. Longstaff was satisfied that in D. aglea the 
scent is more transitory, possibly more volatile, than in the majority 
of scent-producing butterflies. 

Doctor Dixey and Mr. Longstaff both agree that the two sexes of 
Amauris albimaculata yield a similar smell of musty straw, accom- 
panied by an evanescent sharp or pungent scent like that of vinegar. 
In A. echena Mr. G. A. K. Marshall found a strong smell, which 
reminded him somewhat of that emitted by many ladybirds. 

In four males and two females of Huplwa core (fig. 44, pl. 9) 
Mr. Longstaff found a scent that to him suggested rancid oil or old 
lamps, but which he later called acetylene. In one female he de- 
scribed it as muskrat plus acetylene. But in two specimens he 
described the scent when examined in the house as like that of acetic 
acid, although in the same specimens he had noted in the field the 
odor of acetylene. He suggests that the scent has two elements, one 
more persistent than the other. 

In Luplea asela a scent was noted in the field in 32 out of 38 
males and in 17 out of 19 females. In four males and one female 
no scent was detected; there is no record of the others. On reex- 
amination in the hotel in 13 males and 5 females no scent could 
be detected; when a scent was noted in the house it was in the large 
majority of specimens, especially among males, much fainter than 


436 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


it had been in the field. Mr. Longstaff noted that in both sexes the 
scent varied considerably in strength; it seemed to him to be quite 
as strong in the females as in the males, though all three specimens 
in which the scent was strong enough to be obvious through the 
net were males. In one male Mr. Longstaff described the scent 
as not unpleasant. In five examples, four females and one male, it 
was described as pungent and compared to acetic acid. One female 
was noted as having a strong pungent odor of acetic acid, still 
pungent and distinct at home. The scent adhered to the fingers 
after pinching. Mr. Longstaff remarked that the scent in Huplea 
would appear to be more volatile than in the pierids or the danaids. 
From a series of observations he concluded that in H'uplea and in 
Danaus the scent which is common to both sexes whatever its source 
may be is independent of the genital tufts. 

In Luplea anymone var. kinbergi Mr. Longstaff noted the acety- 
lene scent in several males; once it was so strong as to be obvious 
as soon as the insect was in the net. 

In Luplea midamus the acetylene odor of a female was _ per- 
ceptible when it was in the net. Mr. R. Shelford wrote in a letter 
to Mr. Longstafi that he found the terminal tufts of a male of 
E.. mulciber to be sweetly scented. 

A male of Huplaa kollari examined by Mr. Longstaff had a slight 
peculiar and rather disagreeable scent. Of two males of the form 
sinhala from Ceylon (fig. 55, pl. 12) one had an acetylene odor, 
moderate in the field but slight at home, while the other had a mod- 
erate acetylene scent in the field, none in the house; but on pinching 
it again while it was still alive the terminal tufts were protruded, 
and there was a momentary strong acetylene scent. As Mr. Long- 
staff says, it does not follow necessarily that the scent emanated from 
the tufts. 

Five males of Zuplea montana all had a strong, or at any rate 
decided, acetylene odor in the field, at home either no scent at all, 
or at most a faint musty odor. “In one case the strong acetylene 
odor seemed to come from the upper surface of the body or wings, 
while there was a suspicion of a sweet scent (compared with some 
hesitation to sassafras) which seemed to come from the tufts.” Two 
living females yielded an odor of acetic acid, which in one persisted 
slightly after death. 

Mr. Wood-Mason said that in Huplwa rhadamanthus the eversible 
caudal tufts of the males are finely vanilla scented. 

Fritz Miiller found a rather disagreeable odor to be extremely 
strong in Lycorea, sp., and in Jtuna ilione. 

Among the southern relatives of our fritillaries a single male of 
Dione juno taken in Venezuela was found by Mr. Longstaff to have 
a slight stablelike odor, like that of our D. vandlle. 


FRAGRANT BUTTERFLIES—CLARK 437- 


Neither of our two species of Colenis has ever been examined. 
In @. cillene in Jamaica Mr. Longstaff found, in eight out of 11 
males, a decided scent, though never strong. Its character was noted 
as peculiar, sweetish, pleasant, distinctly aromatic, resinous, druglike 
or medicinal; it suggested to him at one time or another tea, Canada 
balsam, and pure carbolic acid, but his wife compared it to ginger, 
or a mixture of ginger with jasmine. Later he thought that sassa- 
fras would probably be the best comparison. 

Miiller says that the heliconians possess a disgusting odor which 
is generally stronger in the females. Of 11 males of Heliconius 
hydarus examined by Mr, Longstaff in Trinidad, Tobago, and Vene- 
zuela, 3 gave a negative result and 1 was doubtful; but the remaining 
7 had a scent which varied from slight to very strong and was 
described as musty, like acetylene, or like hazeline (a preparation 
of witch-hazel). Eight females were examined, only one with nega- 
tive results; in the other seven the scent varied from slight to strong, 
and was described as disagreeable, or like acetylene, or like hazeline. 
In one male and one female the scent was so strong as to be easily 
discerned when the butterfly was fluttering in the net. Two males of 
H. euryades were examined by Mr. Longstaff; one had a peculiar, 
rather pleasant, smell, the other none. Two females also were ex- 
amined; in one the result was doubtful, but the other had a slight 
odor lke that of the preceding. 

Three males of Hueides aliphera were examined by Mr. Longstaff 
in Trinidad, two with negative results; the third had a stablelike 
odor. Two females both had decided odors, described as a peculiar 
scent, (?) acetylene, strong when alive, and as a strong Dione (that 
is, stablelike) scent when living. 

Among the close relatives of our peacock butterfly (Junonia 
cenia, fig. 25, pl. 3; fig. 48, pl. 9), a male of the Indian Junonia 
almana had a slight sugary scent, and two males of Precis iphita 
out of several yielded a slight odor of molasses. 

Quite a number of additional nymphalids have been studied. ‘The 
European species of Charawes is said by Girard to have a strong odor 
of musk, especially just after its emergence; but he does not state 
in which sex this is found, nor its point of origin. Of C. varanes 
of South Africa Doctor Dixey says that a male on being squeezed 
emitted an odorless juice. Another was noted by Mr. Longstaff as 
having an odor resembling molasses. A female was thought by him 
to have a smell like cow dung, but to Doctor Dixey the scent of the 
same specimen recalled that of Danaus chrysippus. 

In Brazil an unusually strong odor was detected by Fritz Miiller 
in the males of Myscelia orsis, Epicalia acontius and Ageronia are- 
thusa. In Prepona laértes he noted a distinct odor in the male, not 

2083872729 


438 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


strong, but unmistakable, like a bat. In Dédonis biblis he found a 
strong disagreeable odor common to both sexes. The males have in 
addition two other scents comparable to heliotrope and musk re- 
spectively, the latter faint. 

Five males of Cynthia asela out of eight taken in Ceylon were 
found by Mr. Longstaff to have a peculiar slight sweet scent, at the 
time compared by him to sassafras or to French polish. 

In Neptis jumba from Ceylon a faint sweet chocolate scent was 
detected in a male in the house by Mr. Longstaff. A somewhat sim- 
ilar scent was suspected in another male and in a female. But no 
scent was recognized in the much commoner JV. varmona. In N, 
agatha (fig. 51, pl. 11) from South Africa Doctor Dixey noted in 
three males from Natal a strong and very disagreeable scent, like 
that of Danaus chrysippus, but more intense. Three males taken by 
Mr. Longstaff on the Zambesi had a slight scent which he described as 
sweet. Doctor Dixey notes that there is a difference in the aspect 
of the insects from the two localities. 

Doctor Dixey and Mr. Longstaff are agreed tnat the male of 
Hamanumida dedalus of South Africa has a smell of the burnt 
sugar type. 

In the males of Bybdlia goetzius in South Africa Doctor Dixey 
found a very distinct and agreeable odor of sweet chocolate, with a 
suggestion of vanilla. Mr. Longstaff found a similar scent in the 
only specimen he examined, which was a female. 

In Salamis anacardti of South Africa both sexes have an animal- 
like odor which to Mr. Longstaff suggested rabbit hutches; it ap- 
pears to be stronger m the female. 

Very pronounced odors are characteristic of the Morphos and 
their allies. Fritz Miiller found that the males of Morpho hercules, 
M. epistrophis, M. menelaus, M. achilles and M. adonis give off a 
very distinct odor which in the last two is most agreeable, resembling 
vanilla. 

In Assam Mr. Wood-Mason found that in Stichophthalma cama- 
deva the gland covered by a patch of modified scales and by an 
erectile wisp of hairs on each hind wing occurring in the male 
secretes a fluid that gives out a pleasant odor distinct from, but so 
faint as barely to be perceptible in the presence of, a much stronger 
odor resembling that of a sable fresh from the furrier’s shop which 
is common to the two sexes. Mr. Wood-Mason also noted that the 
scent fans of 7 haumantis diores are vanilla scented. 

Among the Brassoline Fritz Miiller noted very distinct odors in 
the males of various species of Caligo, Opsiphanes and Dasyoph- 
thalma, the odor being particularly strong in the last named. 

According to Miiller all the Brazilian Ithomiine emit a more 
or less distinct odor from a tuft of long hairs near the fore margin 


FRAGRANT BUTTERFLIES—CLARK 439 


of the hind wings. In Dircenna xantho he says there is a rather 
strong and most agreeable fragrance of vanilla. In Ceratinia 
eupompe, Mechanitis lysimnia and Ithomia sylvo he records a faint 
scent in the males. In Thyridia megisto he found an odor in both 
sexes, but much fainter in the female. 

In Tithorea megara Mr. Longstaff found a very distinct, or even 
strong, scent which he compared to Stephanotis, but he thought it 
had in addition a spicy or dusty element. In Athesis clearista he 
noted that a male had a slight sweet flowery scent, both alive and 
dead, which appeared to be associated with the brushes on the hind 
wings. A male of Leucothyris victorina and another of L. phemone 
had each an offensive odor which in the latter seemed to be associated 
with the tufts or brushes on the hind wings. 

Both of the species of Elymniinez which have been examined are 
strongly fragrant. In Assam Mr. Wood-Mason noted that the males 
of Llymnias undularis emit a strong odor resembling vanilla, the 
females being scentless. In 2. fraterna, which is probably an insular 
race of the preceding, Mr. Longstaff found in four males an odor 
like that of vanilla scented chocolate; once Mrs. Longstaff compared 
it to very strong honey or coarse brown sugar. 

Among the Acreine (fig. 42, pl. 9) Fritz Miiller noted a dis- 
gusting odor in both sexes of Actinote thalia. Mr. Longstaff failed 
to detect any odor in A. antwas at Caracas, Venezuela. 

All of the other observations on members of this group are based 
on South African species. Doctor Dixey found that the green juice 
exuded from a male of Planema aganice had a by no means un- 
pleasant odor, like that of a crushed cabbage leaf. Doctor Dixey 
and Mr. Longstaff concur in stating that both sexes of Aerwa al- 
boradiata have a distinct musty odor, like old hay or straw; they 
both are in substantial agreement regarding A. anemosa in which 
the males have a musty odor, which Doctor Dixey found also in a 
female. Mr. G. A. K. Marshall says that this is the only Acrea in 
which he has noticed a strong odor. In A. encedon Mr. Longstaff 
found a slight unpleasant odor in both sexes. In A. doubledayi 
Doctor Dixey and Mr. Longstaff concur as to a musty odor in the 
male, and the latter found it in the female also. Mr. Longstaff found 
a faint odor in both sexes of A. atolmés. In A. caldarena Doctor 
Dixey found a distinct smell of musty straw in the female, and Mr. 
Longstaff came across a similar but slighter odor in a male. Doctor 
Dixey found a similar musty odor in A. atergatis, accompanied by 
a strong ammoniacal scent, like that of stable litter; no sex was 
given. 

Satyrids—In many of the wood nymphs or Satyridz the males 
have numerous and well-developed scent scales, but in only a very 


440 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


few of them has an odor been detected, and when found the fragrance 
has usually been faint. No odor has been found in any of our species. 

Several European forms have been found to have a scent, though 
it is faint in all. Doctor Dixey and Mr. Longstaff are agreed that 
the males of Satyrus semele have a slight scent which the former 
compared to chocolate or to sandalwood, the latter to snuff or old 
cigar boxes. Both these gentlemen found that the males of E’pine- 
phele janira have a very slight odor; to Mr. Longstaff it appeared 
somewhat pungent and suggested old cigar boxes. Doctor Dixey 
found in the males of Pararge magera a faint but heavy odor sug- 
gestive of chocolate cream which he connected with the brand on 
the forewings. In P. schakra of India Mr. Longstaff suspected the 
existence of a very slight sweet scent that appeared to be unlike that 
of any other species examined up to that time (1903). Mr. Longstaff 
found a shght but distinct musky scent in two males of Melanargia 
galathea. Aurivillius recorded that both sexes of the European 
'neis norna have a musky odor. 

In Jamaica Mr. Longstaff found in 10 males of Calisto zangis, 
nearly all those examined, a scent varying from faint to strong com- 
pared by him to molasses, chocolate, burnt sugar, or to caramel, 
but in one instance described simply as aromatic. Ten females were 
without scent. Fritz Miller says that the male of the Brazilian 
Antirrhea archea emits a strong odor, which he does not describe. 

In Assam Mr. Wood-Mason found that the males of Lethe rohria 
emit a delicious vanillalike scent. 

Mr. Longstaff detected in a few males of Yphthima ceylonica, 
which was flying abundantly when he was in Ceylon, a very slight 
scent of chocolate. 

The males of the four species of Mycalesis which have been exam- 
ined all possessed an unusually strong fragrance. Mr. Wood-Mason 
found in M. suavolens in Assam that the scent glands and fans emit 
a powerful and delicious odor resembling that of vanilla which con- 
tinues for some hours after death. In UM. mineus var. polydecta, 
which he examined in Ceylon, Mr. Longstaff found in two male 
specimens that exposure of the pencils of hairs on the hind wings 
produced a strong scent which he compared to burnt sugar, and his 
wife to coarse brown sugar or molasses. In South Africa Doctor 
Dixey found in the tufts of the male of M. sajitza a very strong odor 
of chocolate. In UU. perspicua,examined alsoin South Africa, Doctor 
Dixey and Mr. Longstaff are agreed that there is a strong odor 
distinct from that of the preceding, but they were in only partial 
agreement as to its character. 

The most interesting of the wood nymphs in regard to odors is 
Heteronympha merope of Australia and Tasmania, which is remark- 
able for the striking difference between the sexes, the males being 


FRAGRANT BUTTERFLIES—CLARK 44] 


much the larger and handsomer insects. In four males Mr. Long- 
staff found a faint, but distinct, scent of a sweetish character, some- 
times suggesting molasses, sometimes tobacco. In eight females he 
found a decided sweet and flowery scent. He once compared it to 
syringa, but in two other individuals it seemed to have rather a 
balsamic character. Mrs. Longstaff said that it was “sweetish, like 
some flower, not quite syringa—not so strong.” In no other butter- 
fly does the female have a sweet, flowery scent stronger than the male. 

Lycenids.—The hair-streaks, blues and coppers, which together 
make up the family Lycenide, are all quite small, the largest only 
slightly over 3 inches in expanse. Most of them spread from 1 to 1% 
inches, or in North America from 1 to 114 inches, while.a few do not 
exceed half an inch. Considering their small size and delicate build 
it is remarkable that many of them have a scent sufficiently strong 
to be detected. 

Our common little blue (Cyaniris ladon) as described by Mr. 
Scudder has an exceedingly delicate odor which he compared to that 
of newly stirred earth in the spring, or of crushed violet stems. He 
specifically stated that he could not discover any odor in the males of 
Rusticus scudderi. 

Six out of eight males of a close relative of our little blue occur- 
ring in Ceylon (Cyaniris singalensis) were found by Mr. Longstaff 
to have a scent of varying intensity, described in all cases as sweet, 
once as luscious, and once as /’reesia-like. 

In the common blue in England (Lycena icarus) both Doctor 
Dixey and Mr. Longstaff found in the males a decided scent sug- 
gestive of chocolate candy. In the English Chrysophanus astrarche 
Mr. Longstaff found in a male the odor of chocolate “not flavored 
with vanilla.” | 

In tropical America Mr. Longstaff found in a male of the very 
small Catachrysops hanno a very strong Freesia-like scent; but most 
of his specimens appeared to be quite odorless. 

Mr. Longstaff writes that 10 males of Polyniphe dumenelii gave 
positive results of a surprising character. In the majority of cases 
the odor was strong or even very strong; moreover, it was disa- 
greeable. He compared it to pig sties, or perhaps more correctly to 
pigs. It seemed to him scarcely credible at first that so small a but- 
terfly could smell so strongly. A female was odorless. 

In a male of Theclopsis tephreus examined in Venezuela a strong 
peculiar rather disagreeable odor was detected. A male of Z'molus 
cambes yielded an odor of molasses; Mrs. Longstaff compared it to 
coarse brown sugar. A male of Z’molus palegon had an odor of 
chocolate. In 7hecla atys in Brazil Fritz Miller found an unusually 
strong batlike odor in the male, and he also found more or less 


442 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


distinct odors in various other types, the names of which he did not 
know. 

In a male of Tarucus theophrastus from the Sudan Mr. Longstaff 
found a moderately strong, sweet, luscious scent. 

All of the remaining records are from Ceylon, where they were 
gathered by Mr. Longstaff. Two males of Nacaduba atrata had a 
sweet, flowery scent, confirmed by Mrs. Longstaff and in one case 
compared by her to “ very, very faint jasmine.” Five males of ZLam- 
pides elpis, all of those examined, had a sweet scent which in one 
was with some hesitation compared to clover. Nine males of LZ. lacteata 
all had a distinct odor which was compared to vanilla biscuits or to 
chocolate candy. These two closely allied species therefore have 
quite different scents. A minority of the numerous males of Z. celena 
which were examined had a faint, sweet scent. About half of the 
males of Polyommatus beticus had a slight scent like that of meadow- 
sweet. ‘Three males of Rapala lazulina yielded a scent like that of 
vanilla biscuits. 

Skippers.—Among the skippers, or Hesperide, which are mostly 
very small, there are but few observations, though in very many scent 
scales are extraordinarily developed in various places on the wings 
and even on the tibiw of the hindmost legs. 

In Plestoneura eligius and in a species of Achlyodes from Brazil 
Fritz Miller noticed that the pencil of long hairs on the hindmost 
tibize of the males emitted a very faint odor. In the South African 
Gegenes occulta Doctor Dixey found a very distinct chocolate scent 
in a male. 

FUNCTION OF THE ODORS 


What is the purpose of the fragrance of the males of butterflies ? 
Last summer I watched the courting process in Argynnis cybele. 
A female was seated on the upper surface of a horizontal leaf with 
the wings folded tight together and the fore wings drawn back- 
ward to the maximum, a somewhat unusual and strained position for 
this insect when sitting on a leaf, but one which was maintained 
unchanged throughout the whole performance. An inch or so be- 
hind the female on the same leaf was a male, his body just in line 
with hers and facing the same way. His wings were close together, 
but the fore wings were drawn far forward so that their hinder 
border approached the vertical, as that of hers did the horizontal. 
At intervals he would suddenly open and close his wings, these 
intervals, at first about a second, becoming less and less; and con- 
stantly, almost incessantly, he slightly shifted his position, in a 
series of little rapid jerks. 

The same drawing forward of the fore wings of the male, the 
spasmodic opening and closing of the wings, and the constant 


FRAGRANT BUTTERFLIES—CLARK 443 


sudden shifting of position, is also characteristic of the courting of 
Cercyonis alope (fig. 35, pl. 6); but the performance usually takes 
place upon a tree trunk or some broad surface more or less near the 
vertical, and the male commonly moves up so that the two sit side 
by side. 

In the common sulphur (Hurymus philodice) (fig. 7, pl. 1; figs. 
20, 21, pl. 3), the courting of the male always is accompanied by a 
constant fluttering of the wings, with the fore wings drawn well 
forward; but in this butterfly the female usually sits with her wings 
widely spread, the fore wings drawn well back. 

In all these cases it is evident that the male endeavors to envelop 
the female with his perfume, which in the first and last is wholly 
different from that of any flower upon which the insect feeds. Were 
the odor of the males really attractive to the females as has been 
assumed, and as the fragrance of the flowers is, there would surely 
be no need for such persistence as the males exhibit. 

The natural conclusion therefore is that the odors of male butter- 
flies are in reality sex stimulants, like the odors of the males in other 
creatures. Such odors, though all serving the same purpose, may 
or may not be agreeable to our senses, and this is probably the reason 
why in certain butterflies the males seem to us to have a most un- 
pleasant smell. 

Undoubtedly the nauseating odors of the subterminal organs of 
the female fritillaries are protective in their function. The chief 
enemies of these butterflies with us undoubtedly are mice. I have 
noticed that discarded individuals dropped into the meadow grass 
were by the next morning invariably eaten. But these butterflies 
always spend the night as near the ground as possible, crawling 
down the grass stems and often many feet along the ground, hiding 
away in the débris close to the soil, much as in the spring their cater- 
pillars hide themselves away during the daytime. Here they are 
exposed especially to attacks by mice. The females of our fritil- 
laries seem to be much longer lived than do the males, for by the 
end of August in New England all the still fairly numerous indi- 
viduals remaining are females busily engaged in searching for their 
food plants and depositing their eggs. 

Whether the much longer life of the female fritillaries results. 
from superior vitality or from superior protection against mice is 
an interesting question, 

The females of all our fritillaries are larger and more conspicuous 
than the males, and at the same time less shy with a less swift and 
less erratic flight. It may be that when on the wing the males are 
protected by the more conspicuous and more readily caught females 
with their powerful repellent organs. 


444 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


Presumably in the other butterflies in which the females have a 
disagreeable odor absent from or weaker in the males that odor is 
more or less protective. But it is by no means a complete protec- 
tion, for certain mice commit great havoc in the wintering swarms 
of our milkweed butterfly (Danaus archippus), while in Africa and 
Asia certain of its relatives are freely preyed upon by other creatures, 
especially by certain kinds of mantises. 


EXPLANATION OF PLATES 
PLATE 1 


Fie. 1—The common cabbage butterfly (Pieris rape); the specimen is from 
Newtonville, Mass. 

Fie, 2.—The green-veined white (Pieris napi) ; the specimen was caught by the 
author at Interlaken, Switzerland. 

Fic. 8.—The clouded sulphur (Hurymus hyale), male, from Interlaken, Switzer- 
land. 

Fic. 4—The clouded sulphur (Hurymus hyale), female, from Interlaken, Switzer- 
land. 

Fic. 5.—Hurymus eurytheme, male from Ipswich, Mass., August 25, 1925. 

Fic. 6.—The large white (Pieris brassice), Interlaken, Switzerland. 

Fig. 7.—The common sulphur (Hurymus philodice), male, Newtonville, Mass. 

Fic. 8—Eurymus eurytheme, female, Washington, D. C., September 19, 1925. 

Fic. 9—Hurymus eurytheme, white female, Washington, D. C., September 19, 
1925. 

PLATE 2 

Fig. 10.—The falcate orange tip (Anthocharis genutia), male, from Washington, 
D. C., April 18, 1925. 

Fic, 11—The falcate orange tip (Anthocharis genutia), female, from Washing- 
ton, D. C., April 19, 1925. 

Fic. 12.—Metura cipris, male, Brazil. 

Fic. 13.—The lesser sulphur (Eurema euterpe), male. 

Fig. 14.—Catopsilia eubule, male. 

Fic. 15.—Rhabdodryas trite, male, Brazil. 

Fic. 16.—Hurymus phicomone, female; the specimen was caught by the author 
at Chamonix, France, 


PLATE 3 

Fig. 17.—The clouded yellow (Hurymus edusa), male, from Interlaken, Switzer- 
land. 

Fic. 18.—The clouded yellow (Hurymus edusa), female, from Interlaken 
Switzerland. 

Fic. 19.—The clouded yellow (Hurymus edusa), white female, from Interlaken, 
Switzerland. 

Fic. 20.—The common sulphur (Hurymus philodice), white female, Newtonville, 
Mass. 

Fic. 21—The common sulphur (Hurymus philodice), white female, Newtonville, 
Mass. 


Fig. 22.—Dismorphia nemesis, male, South America. 

Fic. 23.—Dismorphia melite, male, South America. 

Fic. 24.—Danaus chrysippus, male, from Kilossa, Tanganyika Territory ; caught 
by Arthur J. Loveridge, January 15, 1921. 

Fie. 25.—The American peacock butterfly (Junonia cenia), female, Washington, 
D. C., September 19, 1925. 


Fic 


Fic. 
Fic. 
Fig. 
Fig. 


Fic. 
Fie. 


Fic. 


Fie. 
Fie. 
Fic. 
Fie. 


Fic. 
Fic. 


Fic. 
Fia. 


Fic. 
Fig. 


Fic. 
Fic. 


Fic. 


FRAGRANT BUTTERFLIES—CLARK 445 


PLATE 4 


.26.—Zerene cerbera, male, Venezuela. 

27.—Belenois zochalia, Kilossa, Tanganyika Territory, December 4, 1920. 
28.—Troides darsius, male, Colombo, Ceylon. 

29.—The western checkered white (Pieris occidentalis). 

30.—Mylothris rubricostata, Nairobi, Kenya Colony, August 31, 1920. 


PLATE 5 


31.—Papilio demoleus, east Africa. 

32.—The Brimstone (Gonepteryxr rhamni), female, from Interlaken, 
Switzerland. 

33.—Papilio dardanus, male, Kilossa, Tanganyika Territory, July 6, 1921. 


PLATE 6 


34.—The black swallow-tail (Papilio polyzenes), male, Long Island. 
35.—Cercyonis alope, male, Newtonville, Mass. 

36.— Trias cengalensis, Ceylon. 

387.—The European swallow-tail (Papilio machaon), France. 


PLATE 7 


38.—Papilio polymnestor, Malabar coast, India. 
39.—Papilio alcinoiis, Japan. 


PLATE 8 


40.—Papilio devilliersi, Cuba. 
41.—Papilio protesilaus, South America. 


PLATE 9 


42.—Acrea natalica, Kilossa, Tanganyika Territory, January 29, 1921. 

43.—The American peacock butterfly (Junonia cenia), female, migrant 
form, Washington, D. C., September 27, 1925. 

44.—_Huplea core, India. 

45.—The common yellow swallow-tail (Papilio glaucus), male, raised in 
Washington from a caterpillar from Cambridge, Mass. 


PLATE 10 
46.—The common yellow swallow-tail (Papilio glaucus), female, southern 
form. 
. 47.—The common yellow swallow-tail (Papilio glaucus), female, black 
form. 


PLatTHe 11 


. 48.—Papilio antheus, Kibwezi, Tanganyika Territory, April 29, 1921. 


. 49—The Huropean wood white (Leucophasia sinapis), Interlaken, 


Switzerland. 
. 50.—Amauris ochlea, Frere Town, Kenya Colony, August 2, 1920. 


. 51.—Neptis agatha, Kilossa, Tanganyika Territory, January 22, 1921. 
. 52.—The black and white swallow-tail (Papilio marcellus), Washington, 


D. C., April 26, 1925. 
20837—27——30 


446 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


PLATE 12 


Fic. 538.— Danaus genutia, male, India. 
Fie. 54.—Danaus septentrionalis, India. 
Fie. 55.—Huplea sinhala, Ceylon. 


Puate 138 


Fic. 56.—Papilio doubledayi; the specimen is from Trong, Lower Siam. 
Fic. 57.—Argynnis atlantis, male, lower side, Essex, Mass. 

Fia. 58—Argynnis atlantis, male, upper side, Essex. Mass. 

Fic. 59.—Argynnis idalia, male, Essex, Mass. 


Smithsonian Report, 1926.—Clark PLATE 1 


FOR EXPLANATION OF PLATE SEE PAGE 444 


Smithsonian Report, 1926.—Clark PLATE 2 


FOR EXPLANATION OF PLATE SEE PAGE 444 


Smithsonian Report, 1926.—Clark PLATE 3 


FOR EXPLANATION OF PLATE SEE PAGE 444 


Smithsonian Report, 1926.—Clark PLATE 4 


FOR EXPLANATION OF PLATE SEE PAGE 445 


Smithsonian Report, 1926.—Clark PLATE 5 


FOR EXPLANATION OF PLATE SEE PAGE 446 


PLATE 6 


—Clark 


Smithsonian Report, 1926.- 


FOR EXPLANATION OF PLATE SEE PAGE 445 


Smithsonian Report, 1926.—Clark PLATE 7 


39 


FOR EXPLANATION OF PLATE SEE PAGE 445 


Smithsonian Report, 1926.—Clark PLATE 8 


FOR EXPLANATION OF PLATE SEE PAGE 446 


Smithsonian Report, 1926.—Clark PLATE 9 


FOR EXPLANATION OF PLATE SEE PAGE 445 


Smithsonian Report, 1926.—Clark PLATE 10 


FOR EXPLANATION OF PLATE SEE PAGE 445 


Smithsonian Report, 1926.—Clark PLATE 11 


FOR EXPLANATION OF PLATE SEE PAGE 446 


mithsonian Report, 


1926.—Clark 


PLATE 12 


FOR EXPLANATION OF PLATE SEE PAGE 446 


Smithsonian Report, 1926.—Clark PLATE 13 


ages 


whet 
rs 


THE RITUAL BULLFIGHT? 


By C. W. BisHop 


[With one plate] 


The custom of holding public contests between two bulls, or 
between bulls and men, is a very ancient and widespread one, con- 
fined to no particular age or ethnic group. Its origin is apparently 
to be sought in one or another form of nature worship, and, where 
its primitive significance has not been obliterated or at least blurred 
through the influence of more developed religious ideas, it almost 
invariably forms part of a ritual observance intended either to pro- 
mote the fertility of the crops or to forecast the amount of their 
yield. In other words, the custom is closely interwoven with the 
origin and growth of the practice of true agriculture, which implies 
the use of the plow and the possession of domestic animals, especially 
the ox, the plow animal par excellence in all agricultural communi- 
ties down to quite modern times. 

That form of the usage in which the contest takes place between 
men and bulls appears to center in a general way about the Mediter- 
ranean area, around which it formerly had a very wide extension, 
dating perhaps as far back as late Neolithic times. The Cretan 
representations of contests between bulls and young men and women 
are well known. The Berbers of North Africa are said to have had 
a similar custom prior to the Mohammedan invasion. The occur- 
rence upon the prehistoric Egyptian slate palettes of the motif of a 
water buffalo? goring and trampling a man suggests that a similar 
practice once prevailed on the banks of the lower Nile. That the 
custom lasted in Greece and Asia Minor well down into the historical 
period we know from the classical writers, who speak of the rite of 
the Taurokathapsia, literally “bull baiting,’* held in honor of 
Poseidon at Smyrna and Sinope, as well as in Ionia and Thessaly. 
In England the custom, originally of ceremonial significance and 


1 Reprinted by permission from The China Journal of Science and Arts, vol. III, No. 12, 
December, 1925, pp. 630-637. 

2For representations of these very interesting palettes, see H. R. Hall, ‘‘ The ancient 
history of the Near Hast,’’ New York, 1913, pl. vi, p. 82. It is clearly the water buffalo 
and not the bull which is here depicted. On the occurrence of the water buffalo in North 
Africa in prehistoric times at least as far west as Algeria, sce J. Ulrich Duerst, L’Anthro- 
pologie, vol. XI, 1900, Notes sur quelques bovidés préhistoriques, p. 137. 

4 From ravpos, bull, and xafarroun, to Jay hold of, to irritate. Poseidon seems originally to have 
been a god of fertilizing springs and of vegetation; hence his epithet of durdApmos, producing, nourish- 
ing, fostering. 

447 


448 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


very old, survived as a popular pastime far into the nineteenth cen- 
tury, and although dogs were commonly employed to worry the bull, 
in certain instances, such as the famous Stamford bull running, we 
seem to have traces of a far earlier practice, in which the animal was 
chased about and beaten to death with clubs, which must not be 
shod with iron. This notion of killing without the shedding of 
blood is very ancient and widely distributed, and the idea in connec- 
tion with the custom under discussion doubtless was that if the ani- 
mal’s blood were lost it would fail to invigorate the growing crops.° 
Possibly the rule against the use of iron-shod clubs was a survival of 
the prejudice against the use of that metal in connection with ritual 
observances. Another such survival undoubtedly was the fact that 
it must be a woman who rode or drove the bull to the place of the 
running. The classical myth of Europa and the bull may not be 
without significance in this connection, inasmuch as the whole pro- 
ceedings appear originally to have constituted a fertility rite. As is 
well known, the custom has survived also under various forms in 
Portugal, in southern France, and in Spain.*® 

In a somewhat specialized and highly ritualistic form, closely 
parallel to that of the Stamford and similar bull runnings kept up 
in the British Isles until a century or so ago, the practice of bull 
baiting—or, perhaps more accurately, beating—seems to have been 
carried in prehistoric times right across Asia, in all likelihood as 
part of the true agriculture complex. This is suggested, for ex- 
ample, by the modern custom reported from regions as widely apart 
as Turkestan, China, and Annam, of carrying in procession and then 
breaking up with clubs a clay or paper image of an ox, usually in 
connection with the spring festival of renewal and growth corre- 
sponding to our Easter.7. Regarding this custom M, Chavannes tells 
us that although no doubt originally a living animal was used, from 
the first mention of the custom in China, about the beginning of the 
Christian era, it has been of earthenware; he adds that the ox really 
personified the spring and that in beating it the intention was to 
beat the spring itself in order to hasten its advent. It seems more 


*On the Stamford bull running, see Folklore, vol. XV, 1904, pp. 199 et seq.; also Ene. 
Brit., 11th edit., under ‘‘ Bear baiting and bull baiting.” 

5“ For the life of the flesh is in the blood; ” Levit. xvii, 11; cf. also Acts xv, 29. 

6 The origin of the Spanish bullfight has been aseribed both to the Romans and to the 
Moors; but according to J. Sanchez de Neira (El Toreo: Gran Diccionario Tauroméquico, 
Madrid, 1879, vol. I, p. 22), a first class authority, it is indigenous, and would seem, 
therefore, to belong to that ancient preclassical Mediterranean culture already mentioned. 

7On this see especially Edouard Chavannes, Le T’ai Chan (in Annales du Musée Guimet, 
Paris, 1910). R. F. Johnston (‘‘ Lion and dragon in northern China,” London, 1910, pp. 
180-182) gives us an interesting account of the spring festival, and Sir James G. 
Frazer (“The golden bough: a study in magic and religion,” third edition, vol. III, p. 10 
et seq.) connects the custom of “beating the ox” at the east gate with the idea of fer- 
tility and growth. : ; 4 

8 Chavannes, op. cit., p. 500 and note 2. The Chinese expression is pien ch’un-niu 
(Giles’s Dict., Nos. 9190, 2854, 8346). 


RITUAL BULLFIGHT—BISHOP 449 


likely, however, that the primitive idea was that of slaying the 
tutelary divinity of agriculture, symbolized as a bull, that his life 
and vigor might pass into the newly planted crops and bring about 
their abundant yield. 

An interesting detail of the custom, suggesting that a human sacri- 
fice may have formed part of the rite in earlier times, appears in 
connection with its occurrence in the extreme west of China, on the 
Tibetan border. Here a paper effigy of a youth, supposed to be the 
leader of the bull, is burnt,’ while the earthenware body of the animal 
is pounded to pieces, various auguries being drawn meanwhile from 
the color and posture of the bull and the costume of its leader. 

That the original motive in these practices was the promotion of 
fertility seems evident. This appears especially clearly in the form 
which the custom takes, or perhaps took, in Shanghai.’® Here the ox 
is constructed of variously colored pieces of paper, selected and 
pasted over a bamboo frame by a blind man. Auguries are drawn 
regarding the coming harvest, good or bad as one color or another 
predominates. Further, the effigy is filled with various sorts of grain 
which pour forth when it is smashed, typifying the abundant crops 
hoped for by the celebrants. The ceremony is held in honor ot 
Shén-nung, the ox-headed patron divinity of agriculture.1t Now 
Shén-nung would appear originally to have been the bull-god of 
fertility of the ancient non-Chinese folk of the Yangtze Valley, 
prayed to by them for rain and abundant crops. It not infrequently 
happens that beast-gods gradually assume human form while retain- 
ing their animal heads; the final stage in this metamorphosis is the 
appropriation of the human aspect in toto, the pristine shape, if it 
survives at all, being passed on to an attendant animal. Hence it is 
not impossible that, as in the Chinese forms of the rite cited above, 
both the ox and His youthful leader represent the god of agriculture 
in his earlier animal and later human forms, respectively. 

In all the foregoing examples the essential element is that of a 
struggle between man and beast—originally, it would seem, a beast- 
god, put to death that his vigor and reproductive power might trans- 
fuse themselves into the growing crops. In this form the custom 
apparently originated in that ancient culture area, embracing most 
of the temperate zone of the Eurasiatic continent, characterized by 
the growing of such cereals as wheat, barley, and millet, and where 
also oxen were first utilized in connection with field work. The 


®Rev. J. Hutson, “ Chinese life on the Tibetan foothills,’ The New China Review, Vol. 
II, pp. 470 et seq. See also on the same practice R. F. Johnston, op. cit., pp. 180 et seq. 

10 See The China Review, Shanghai, Vol. I, 1872-73, p. 62, query on “ beating the ox” 
at Shanghai; also ibid., p. 203 et seq., note by John Chalmers on the same; the latter 
says the ox should properly be made of clay, not paper. 

4 Regarding Shén-nung’s ox head, see, e. g., P. Henri Doré, “ Recherches sur les super- 
stitions en Chine,” Shanghai, 1911, Vol. X, p. 717, 


450 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


object, as already indicated, is mainly the promotion of the fertility 
of the fields; but it is also sometimes an effort to forecast the size of 
the harvest. It is likely, in fact, that the two motives were never 
clearly differentiated by the celebrants. 

There is, however, another form of ritual contest, in which the 
struggle is between two bulls. This type also occurs over an enor- 
mous area, in the main distinct from the former, although overlap- 
ping it slightly, and extending from Japan on the east to Madagascar 
on the west. Throughout this vast area, partly continental and 
partly oceanic, it appears to be an integra! factor, in present or past 
time, of the irrigated rice culture complex. 

In this type also the original idea seems to have been the promo- 
tion of fertility. But at present in those localities where'the rite 
survives most fully it is the second motive—that of divina- 
tion—which is predominant, the likelihood of good or bad harvests 
being judged according as one or other of the two bulls wins. Again 
the purpose may become merely that of providing amusement, either 
for court circles or for the people at large. Finally, the custom may 
degenerate into a purely commercial affair, where admission is 
charged, and where one of the principal motives is the opportunity 
afforded for gambling. 

In its full form, however, this type of ritual bullfight combines a 
number of definite and highly characteristic elements. First comes 
the selection and preparation and in some cases the training of the 
bull for the rite, which normally occurs in the spring. Just previous 
to the fight the animal’s pugnacity is aroused by forcing quantities 
of strong drink down his throat. Then comes the combat proper, 
at the end of which the victor is led in triumphal procession, to the 
accompaniment of chants and drums. He is then sacrificed to the 
guardian divinity of the crops, whose representative he is, by the 
local headman in his capacity of chief priest of the group, the killing 
here also being accomplished without the shedding of blood, either 
by clubbing to death or by driving a spike into the animal’s forehead. 
His flesh is then divided and eaten at a ceremonial communal ban- 
quet, at which it is typical for the worshippers to partake liberally 
of alcoholic beverages, the proceedings winding up in a glorified 
Donnybrook Fair, where swords, spears, and other lethal weapons 
take the place of the comparatively innocuous blackthorn. Finally, 
the slain animal’s horns are literally exalted, upon a tall pole set up 
in some public place, where they are treated as cult objects. The 
dullfight proper, it will thus be seen, forms only one element in the 
entire somewhat elaborate cult complex. It happens, however, to be 
that feature which, with perhaps the exception of the feastings and 
rarousing, tends to persist longer than any of the others. 


RITUAL BULLFIGHT—BISHOP 451 


In no one area, so far as I am aware, do all the elements of the 
ceremony appear together. Perhaps they never did so anywhere. 
Nevertheless, where the true ritual bullfight of this type occurs or 
has occurred, the fact may usually be recognized by the presence, 
with or without the combat itself, of various others of the features 
just enumerated. 

There can be little doubt that the custom had its inception on the 
continent rather than anywhere in the Indonesian area where it also 
occurs. ‘There appears to be a folk recollection of something of the 
sort in the ancient Irish legends, as for example in the famous fight 
between the Findbennach, the “ white-horned bull of Queen Medb,” 
and the Brown Bull of Cuailgne, in the Cuchulainn cycle.1? And 
Strabo informs us that at Memphis, bulls bred for the purpose were 
made to fight one another, the victor being awarded a prize. 
Instances such as these—and they might easily be multiplied—sug- 
gest an extremely ancient origin and a very wide diffusion for the 
custom. But both Ireland and Egypt he outside the typical irri- 
gated rice culture area, and the development of the rite into its more 
complex form must therefore, it would seem, be sought elsewhere. 

With India, however, the case is widely different. That there the 
growing of rice first arose seems fairly well made out. And by cer- 
tain of the aboriginal tribes, which have not yet come under the 
influence of Hinduism, bullocks and buffaloes are ritually killed and 
eaten. Furthermore, beast fights of various sorts have been held in 
India from time immemorial. Hence it is on the whole perhaps 
likely that, while the germ of the idea may have been borrowed along 
with that of taming and utilizing the zebu and the water buffalo, 
frem the more northern and almost,certainly very much older grain 
and cattle complex, this type of ritual bullfight was brought to its 
full development by the pre-Aryan populations of that country in 
connection with the culture of irrigated rice, and that it spread 
hand in hand with the latter to southeastern Asia, and so ultimately 
throughout the vast area in which it has been observed as occurring. 

But whatever the ultimate source to which the custom is to be 
traced, it seems at the present day to retain its characteristic features 
most completely among the non-Chinese hill tribes of South China.1* 


@ Regarding this see J, A. MacCulloch, “ The religion of the ancient Celts,” Edinburgh, 
1911, pp. 130 et seq. 

13 Strabo, Geogr., Bk. XVII, ch. 1, sec. 33. 

14 See, e. g., P. Aloys Schotter, ‘“ Notes ethnographiques sur les tribus du Kong-tcheou,” 
Anthropos, Vol. IV, 1909, pp. 345 et seq.; George Edgar Betts, ‘‘ Social life of the Miao 
tsi,’ Journal of the North China Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, Vol. XXXIII, 1899- 
1900, Fasc. 2; Archibald Ross Calhoun, “Across Chrysé: being the narrative of a journey 
of exploration through the south China borderlands from Canton to Mandalay,” London 
1883, Vol. II, pp. 371, 392; John Henry Gray, ‘China: a History of the laws, manners, 
and customs of the peopile,’’ London, 1878, Vol. II, p. 307 and note 1. 


452 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


Numerous observers have reported the practice of holding spring 
festivals by these people for the promotion of the fertility of their 
fields. At these gatherings a bull or water buffalo, previously chosen 
and fattened for sacrifice, is made to fight another animal of the same 
species. The contestants are first infuriated with strong drink, and 
if the one predestined for sacrifice is the victor, the omen is regarded 
as a favorable one. In a slightly variant form the contesting bulls 
represent different clans, and it is the victor which is sacrificed. The 
flesh is eaten at a ceremonial banquet, to the accompaniment of much 
hard drinking, and the horns are preserved, being sometimes, al- 
though not invariably, fastened to poles or trees, where incense is 
burned before them at intervals. 

The coast lands of China from the Yangtse southward have never 
been fully assimilated by the Chinese proper of the Yellow River 
basin, and many aboriginal customs are still kept up. Among these 
is that of bullfighting, particularly in vogue in that Ningpo region 
where the powerful non-Chinese kingdom of Yiieh had its seat down 
nearly to the close of the fourth century B. C..° The reason at 
present alleged for the custom is “ to take the spirit of combativeness 
out of the air, so that all may live in harmony ”—a highly desirable 
consummation where clan fights are as rife as they are here. The 
fact, however, that these fights are held in the spring would appear 
to link them, in their origin at least, with the fertility rites found 
elsewhere in connection with the practice. Before leaving this region 
it will not be without interest to recall that an attempt was made, 
during the summer of 1919, to introduce this type of bullfight into 
Shanghai as a popular amusement. 

For Japan proper I have not yet found the ritual bullfight of either 
type recorded, though in view of the extent to which that country 
has borrowed her ceremonial practices from the continent I should 
not be at all surprised to learn that the custom of “beating the 
spring ox” occurs there also. There is, however, indirect evidence 
that the second form, where two bulls are the contestants, existed 
there at one time. Domestic cattle appear first to have been im- 
ported into Japan, almost certainly from Korea, about the fourth 
or fifth century of the Christian era, and it is possible that the 
absence of a genuine agricultural tradition, or the spread shortly 
afterward of the humanitarian faith of Buddhism, prevented the 
custom from taking root. That it was actually introduced, however, 
along with domestic cattle and irrigated rice growing, seems certain 
from the fact that it still exists, or did until recently, in the little 
islets of Oshima (Vries Island of the foreign residents) and Hachijo, 


16 W,. A. P. Martin, A Cycle of Cathay, pp. 95 et seq. Further and more detailed infor- 
mation regarding the Chekiang bull fights would be most welcome. 


RITUAL BULLFIGHT—BISHOP 453 


out in the Pacific, almost due south of Tokyo Bay.'® Details are 
wanting; but the survival in these extremely interesting little is- 
lands of many culture elements which we know existed formerly 
in Japan proper, renders it likely that the local custom of bullfight- 
ing had a similar origin. It is only fair to say, however, that there 
is a rather vague and unsubstantiated legend to the effect that these 
islands were discovered and colonized from China direct, in the time 
of the great Ch’in Shih Hwangti, and the historical basis for this 
may not inconceivably lie in some actual intercourse overseas with 
the eastern coastlands of China; for modern research is rapidly dis- 
closing the vast amount of voyaging done by the maritime and 
insular peoples of eastern Asia even far back in prehistoric times. 

In Korea the practice survives to this day, and I was told when 
I saw it there in 1915 that the bulls represent different villages, which 
achieve honor or disgrace according as their respective champions 
are victorious or vanquished. Here, as might be anticipated in a 
country so long and so profoundly influenced by Buddhism, most of 
the characteristic ritual features have disappeared; but, as I saw 
myself, the victorious bull is still led in triumphal procession with 
chants and drum-beating. 

For the existence, now or formerly, of the ritual bullfight in 
northern China I have no evidence. This might perhaps be ex- 
pected, in view of the fact that the region lies to all intents and 
purposes outside the irrigated rice area. It is barely possible, how- 
ever, that a trace of the former occurrence of the custom is to be 
found in the existence in the Yellow River Valley 2,000 years ago 
of the popular sport of butting.. This consisted in the opponents 
donning the hides and horns of bullocks and then, mounted upon 
the shoulders of others, proceeding to knock time out of each other.17 

In the regions south and southeast of China the custom is quite 
general. It is found among the Talaings of southern Burma, by 
whom both bulls and buffaloes are employed for the purpose.'® 
The same was formerly true of Tenasserim, where buffaloes were 
utilized and where, just as among the Koreans and the aboriginal 
populations of southern China, the animals represented different 
villages.*? According to Colonel Gerini, the Malay State of Menang- 


#© Basil Hall Chamberlain, Vries Island, Past and Present, Transactions of the Asiatic 
Society of Japan, Vol. XI, 1883, p. 168; B. H. Chamberlain and W. B. Mason, A Hand- 
book for Travelers in Japan, London, 1913, p. 523. 

“H, A. Giles, “* The civilization of China,’’ Cambridge, 1911, pp. 153 et seq.; E. H. 
Parker, “On race struggles in Korea,’ Transactions of the Asiatic Society of Japan, Vol. 
XVIII, 1890, p. 170; the Chinese expression is Ohio-ti hsi; for the reference, ef, Giles’ 
Dictionary, s. v. Chio (No, 2215). 

18 Max. and Bertha Ierrars, Burma, 3d ed., London, 1901, p. 179. 

1 Shway Yoe (Sir James George Scott), “‘The Burman: His life and notions,” London, 
1910, p. 382. 


454 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


kabau, in Sumatra, owes its name to a contest of. this sort some- 
where back around the fourteenth century, the words meaning “ van- 
quished carabao” (water buffalo).*° 

Generally speaking, bullfights are common in all the Malay States 
not under British rule.2*. The same is the case in Java; but here, 
owing probably to the introduction first of Buddhism and later of 
Mohammedanism, the custom seems to have lost most of its ritual 
features and survives as little more than a popular pastime.?? In 
the island of Timor the actual fight itself seems not to have been 
reported as occurring; but other features of the rite appear, buffaloes 
being sacrificed at festivals attended by much hard drinking, while 
the slaughtered animals’ horns are set up on high poles as cult 
objects.*3 So perhaps it is fair to assume a connection with the 
rite as it appears elsewhere in fuller form. 

In Madagascar fights between bulls were the favorite amusement 
of the former sovereigns and their courtiers, who availed them- 
selves of such occasions (as they did, it is only fair to say, of every 
other) for getting royally drunk.** While direct evidence that 
ritualistic observances attached to these rites seems to be wanting, 
still we know that bulls were sacrificed and eaten at communal 
feasts and that they could only be killed by the local headmen 
officiating as chief priests of their respective groups. ‘The animals’ 
horns, furthermore, were mounted upon lofty masts just as else- 
where. Hence it seems likely that in Madagascar also the bull fight 
was originally of a ritual character and that it was one of the cul- 
ture elements brought with them, along with so many others char- 
acteristic of the irrigated rice culture area of southern Asia and 
the neighboring islands, by the Hovas. The latter, however, can 
hardly have transported cattle across the Indian Ocean, for prior 
to the introduction of the Arab dhow their largest craft appear to 
have been nothing more than fairly sizeable seagoing canoes, pro- 
pelled entirely by the paddle. Moreover, the existing breeds of the 
cattle owned by the Malagasy, together with the very word for 
“ox” itself,2> appear to have been derived from East Africa. That 
the immigrants, in spite of this, should have preserved so many 
features of the cult speaks strongly for its vitality. 


2G, E. Gerini, ‘‘ Researches on Ptolemy’s geography of eastern Asia (further India and 
Indo-Malay Archipelago),’’ London, 1909, p. 641 and note 1. 

21 Nelson Annandale, ‘The Faroes and Iceland: Studies in island life,’’ Oxford, 1905, 
p. 185. 

#2 A. H. Kiehl, “ Notes on the Javanese,” Journal of the Anthropological Institute, Vol. 
—, 1877, p. 357. 

23H. O. Forbes, ‘On some of the tribes of the island of Timor,” Journal of the Anthro- 
pological Institute, Vol, XIII, 1884, p. 419. 

*C, Staniland Wake, ‘“‘ Notes on the origin of the Malagasy,’ Journal of the Anthro- 
pological Institute, Vol. XI, 1882, p. 25; also James Sibree, “A naturalist in Madagascar,” 


Philadelphia, 1915, pp. 182 et seq. 
2 QOmby, almost certainly connected with the Swahili ngombe; cf. Sibree, op. cit., p. 35. 


RITUAL BULLFIGHT—BISHOP 455 


The facts above enumerated would seem to make it clear that the 
custom of the ritual bullfight, in one or other of its two forms, 
spread, mainly in prehistoric times, throughout those portions of 
the Old World, both continental and oceanic, which are characterized 
by the cultivation of cereals with the aid of the plow, as opposed 
to the more primitive culture which employed the hoe alone. As has 
been pointed out, the custom possesses certain definite and somewhat 
complex features which distinguish it from superficially similar prac- 
tices elsewhere. Beyond doubt it is a form of the ancient and wide- 
spread custom of slaying periodically an incarnation of the group 
god for the good of his people, modified to suit the ideas and the 
needs of an archaic type of farming society. Furthermore, it affords 
a clear-cut and concrete example of the way in which culture elements 
were wont to travel, in the dim and unrecorded past, from end to 
end of the Eurasiatic continent, and even to the isles of the sea. 
Specifically, it provides us with one proof more, among the very 
many which have already been accumulated, that the early civiliza- 
tion of China did not rise independently, but that it is indissolubly 
linked to those of the older peoples at the opposite end of Asia.?* 
Viewed in this light, the practice seems not without significance in 
the working out of the problems of ethnic and cultural diffusion 
over the enormous area through which it is found to occur. 

2 Regarding this, see an extremely valuable paper by Dr. Berthold Laufer, ‘“ Some 


fundamental ideas of Chinese culture,” in The Journal of Race Development, Vol. V, 
1914-15, pp. 160-174. 


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Smithsonian Report, 1926.—Bishop PEATE 


1. A BULL FIGHT WITNESSED IN SEOUL, KOREA, IN 1915. NUMEROUS FIGHTS 
OCCUR IN THE COURSE OF A DAY, THE BULLS REPRESENTING DIFFERENT 
VILLAGES 


2. A VICTORIOUS BULL BEING LED ROUND THE RING TO THE ACCOMPANI- 
{MENT OF CHANTS AND DRUM BEATING 


Photographs by courtesy of the University Museum, Philadelphia 


= 


=. 


THE BRONZES OF HSIN-CHENG HSIEN2?2 


By C. W. BrsHop 


[With 9 plates] 


One of the most significant archeological finds of recent years— 
perhaps the most significant, for the amount of new light. which it 
throws on a highly important but hitherto little known ancient civi- 
lization—is that made at Hsin-chéng Hsien, in Honan, last summer 
(1923). A correspondent of mine in the United States, whose opin- 
ion I value most highly, writes: “It seems to me that you hardly do 
justice to the finds in comparing them with those discovered in the 
tomb of ‘Tutankhamen, where little, if anything, was found that was 
new to Egyptologists.” At Hsin-chéng Hsien very much that was 
new was disclosed, and vastly more would have been found, past all 
doubting, had the excavation been carried out in a scientific manner. 

I was sitting in an art dealer’s shop in Chéng Chow one afternoon 
last September, when word was brought to me that a remarkable 
collection of ancient bronzes had lately been dug up at a town not 
far off and was then at the headquarters of Gen. Chin Shih-chang, 
near by. I at once went over with my associates, Mr. K. Z. Tung and 
_ Mr. A. G. Wenley, and although the general himself was absent, we 
were given cordial permission to inspect the find. 

It was late in the day, the light was fading fast, and my time 
was short. Yet, brief as my inspection was, it brought a quick reali- 
zation that here was something of the utmost importance from the 
archeological point of view. So the very next morning, together with 
my two associates I took a train for Hsin-chéng Hsien, 27 miles south 
of Chéng Chow, to inspect the site before the digging, which I was 
told was still going on, should have obliterated everything. 

The town of Hsin-chéng Hsien lies 3 miles or so to the westward 
of the station—about an hour’s walk. Soon after starting out we 
struck into loess deposits, much eroded and terraced for cultivation. 
About 1 mile west of the railway, after crossing a small stream flow- 
ing south, we passed through a gap in an enormous earthwork over- 


1 Reprinted by permission from The Chinese Social and Political Science Review, Vol. 
VIIt; ‘No. II; April, '1924. 


457 


458 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


hanging the farther bank and evidently built of material taken from 
the stream bed, as it contained many shells and waterworn pebbles; 
I noticed also a good many potsherds. Its southern end we could 
not see owing to a fold in the ground; but to the north we could 
trace it for a long distance; turning at length to the west, it remained 
in sight most of the way to Hsin-chéng Hsien. The people there- 
about, questioned as to the origin of this really gigantic earthwork, 
could tell us nothing save that it dated back to the days of Yao and 
Shun. No doubt a search in the local or provincial records would 
throw light upon the subject. 

Hsin-chéng Hsien itself we found picturesquely seated upon a 
plateau bordered on the east by a small but deep old torrent bed, now 
dry, and on the south, at a little distance, by the waters of a pleasant 
stream large enough to be navigable by boats of good size. The 
present city wall, of earth faced on the outside with burnt brick, 
winds along the brink of this plateau. It was just within the south- 
eastern corner of the city, we learned, that the discovery had been 
made. The ground at this point is higher than elsewhere, and must, 
before the wall was built, have commanded a splendid view over 
the river and the picturesque, undulating country to the south and 
southeast. 

Entering the city by the east gate, we followed a sunken road run- 
ning along the base of the wall, first to the south and then bending 
toward the west, until the presence of a crowd of sightseers told us 
that we had reached the scene of the discovery. It was quite clear 
why the finding had been a chance one. There was no sign on the 
surface of anything like a burial mound. It was only when I 
mounted the city wall, by a zigzag path up the sloping inner face ~ 
of earth, that I was able to see, in the bank bordering the farther side 
of the sunken road beneath me, indications of the contours of a 
low mound. It seems probable to me, indeed, that the present city 
wall cuts across the southern edge of what at one time must have been 
a tumulus of no small size. This had, however, in the lapse of ages, 
been so eroded and leveled off and ploughed over, while the hollows 
roundabout had been so filled in with the downwashing detritus, that 
all trace and memory of it had been lost long ago. 

The original discovery was entirely by chance. A certain Mr. Li, 
whom I met later and talked with, was sinking a well in a field of 
his, close by his home, when the workmen came upon a number 
of bronze vessels, some of which he sold to the locai dealers in 
antiques. Doubt appears to exist as to how much of the whole find 
was uncovered by Mr. Li before the military authorities at Chéng 
Chow heard of it, took possession of the premises, seized the vessels 
already disposed of, and started in to dig for more. But whoever 


BRONZES OF HSIN-CHENG HSIEN—BISHOP 459 


it was that did the digging, the result was one of the most remark- 
able in one sense, in another one of the most deplorable, in the 
annals of recent archeology, Most remarkable, in the quality of 
the objects discovered, in the new light thrown upon the ancient 
civilization of China, and in the many striking confirmations 
afforded of the reliability of the Chinese classics; most deplorable, 
in that no trained investigator was present to show how the objects 
could be removed from their setting without injury to themselves 
and to note down the information brought to light in the course 
of the digging but now, of course, lost forever. 

At the time of this, my first visit to the site, on the 8th of Septem- 
ber, 1923, several vertical shafts had been sunk to the level at which 
ihe bronzes had been found and over these were shears of stout 
poles from which depended baskets drawn up by ropes. Most, if 
not all, of the bronzes had already been unearthed before my arrival; 
in fact, I believe that no subsequent discoveries of this sort have 
taken place. I say “of this sort” advisedly, for, as will appear, 
much did turn up later of the greatest importance regarding the 
significance of this ancient interment. 

After an inspection of the dumps where the earth, bones, pottery, 
and other material brought up in the baskets were being thrown 
after being examined for fragments of bronze, I had myself lowered 
into one of the pits which looked the most promising and which was 
perhaps 12 or 14 feet in depth, although the surface had been too 
much disturbed to admit of any close measuring. At the bottom, 
in the north face of the pit, a workman was busy with a pickaxe, 
quarrying out some bones which I saw at once were human. I 
took his place, and with my heavy-bladed jackknife, carried for 
just such purposes, I freed from its earthen matrix a human 
mandible, at the same time partly uncovering the rest of the skull. 
In close association I found numbers of cowry shells with the backs 
ground off; numerous small discoidal mother-of-pearl beads of 
perhaps a quarter inch in diameter; several very thin laminae of 
jade, about three-quarters of an inch square, perforated at all four 
corners and covered with a thick coating of red pigment, which 
Dr. V. K. Ting tells me is oxide of iron; and a beautifully carved 
little jade tiger of archaic shape, a fragment of some larger object, 
probably a pendant. 

To judge from the position of the skull—for the rest of the 
skeleton had been quarried away before my arrival—the corpse had 
been placed on its back with the head to the north, in the extended 
position, and turned possibly a little to the right. The mandible, 
undoubtedly that of a man in mature life, was noteworthy for its 
very large and massive character. Dr. B. G. Anderson, of the 


460 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


Peking Union Medical College, has pointed out to me that the 
molars are similar in type to those of the existing North Chinese 
race. 

Night was now drawing on, and we had to hurry to the station 
to catch the train back to Chéng Chow, where we were to meet 
General Chin. But before leaving, I secured the promise of the 
official in charge to have the skull covered over with planks banked 
with earth, until I could return. This arrangement appears to have 
been overruled, however, by those higher in rank, before my next 
visit. The skull had disappeared, going, no doubt, over the dump, 
along with so much else of the highest interest from the archeologi- 
cal point of view. Certain other human bones, however, which had 
been reinterred by the excavators in another place, have been again 
disinterred, thanks to the efforts of my friends, Doctor Ting and 
Doctor Li. These, the latter tells me, apparently belong to two 
individuals, one of them, at least, a woman, and neither of them the 
one whose skull I partially disinterred, and who, I think there can 
be no doubt, was the central figure of this interment. Whether the 
other two individuals belong to this or to other interments must 
remain doubtful; but it seems possible that they were slaves or 
concubines, buried along with the central figure. 

I noted particularly, while getting out the mandible, that there 
was no trace of anything suggesting a coffin. There was, however, 
both above and below the skull, a dark layer about an inch and a 
half in thickness, quite distinct against the yellowish soil and rather 
deeply impregnated on both sides with the same red pigment already 
noted. The natural presumption would be that these dark layers 
represented some sort of protective, covering which had been placed 
at the time of the interment both below and over the body. Regard- 
ing its original nature I scarcely dare to hazard a guess. That it 
was of wood or any other rigid substance seems unlikely; for that 
part of it extending over the skull was distinctly curved, as though 
consisting originally of some flexible material; the possibility of 
matting, or perhaps of some thick hide, might be indicated. 

In addition to what I secured from the pits themselves, I managed 
to collect on the dumps a number of bones and a certain amount of 
pottery, all in a fragmentary condition; while still more were 
brought to me by the workmen and the soldiers guarding the 
operations. In this connection I should like to express my appre- 
ciation of the very friendly attitude of all, both high and low, with 
whom I came in contact during my study of this find. And inci- 
dentally I may say that I secured abundant proof of what I had 
believed all along to be the case—that the Chinese laborer, given 
the requisite training, will make excellent material for archeological 


BRONZES OF HSIN-CHHNG HSIEN—BISHOP 461 


field work, what with his industry, his cheerfulness, and his quick- 
ness to learn. 

On my return to Chéng Chow I found that Gen. Chin Shih-chang 
was still away; so I wrote direct to His Excellency Gen. Wu Pei-fu, 
telling him about the first-rate importance of the discovery and ask- 
ing permission to give it further and more intensive study. Feeling 
confident of a favorable reply, my associates and I hastened back to 
Peking and began to prepare for a return to the scene of activity. 
We were not disappointed; for within a very short interval there 
came a most cordial telegram from General Wu, inviting us to 
come back and carry on whatever investigations we might wish, and 
stating that he had issued instructions to his subordinates on the 
scene to give us whatever help we might need. A very few days 
later saw us back in Hsin-chéng Hsien, equipped to make a careful 
and detailed study of the site. 

I found that it had been dug almost entirely over while I had 
been away, the various vertical shafts having been extended to form 
one large pit (cf. pl. 2), while the work of excavation had been 
pushed much farther to the north. Nothing, however, in the way 
of bronze vessels had been found. On the other hand, much had 
come to light regarding the details of the interment. It was with 
the greatest eagerness that I set to work, with the help of my two 
associates, both as keenly interested as myself, to make a study of 
the site as it then lay exposed. My work consisted in securing photo- 
graphs, in making a plane-table survey of the site and its immediate 
surroundings, and in taking copious notes, based partly on my own 
personal observations and partly on such evidence as I could gather 
from those who had either witnessed or had actually taken part in 
the work of excavation. 

It would be hard to say with any assurance, from what I saw 
personally, whether there had ever been a vault or funeral chamber 
of any sort over the body, for nearly all that portion of the site had 
been dug away before my first visit. The impression I formed, 
however, on various grounds was that there had been in all likeli- 
hood something of the kind, and that, further, it was of wood, no 
doubt in imitation of the contemporary dwelling house, and therefore 
with a pitched roof. There is also, I think, reason to believe that this 
structure did not collapse under the weight of the mound heaped 
over it, but that rather the seepage of mud caused by the yearly 
summer rains gradually choked its interior, completely embedding 
the contents in a matrix of the same yellow clay of which the 
mound itself was composed. Had there been a collapse of the struc- 
ture the bronzes, for instance, would surely have been discovered 
partly overturned and in more or less disarray, whereas the fact 


462 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


appears to have been that they were found standing upright, as 
though their embedding in the earth had been a gradual Sta 
ufacconipanied by any disturbance of their order. 

The likelihood that there had been a wood-lined central vault is 
strengthened by the actual discovery of a passage from the west 
side of the grave, which seems to have given into some such cham- 
ber; at least it led toward the spot where the body had formerly 
lain. A portion of this passage—all that was left—I personally 
saw, photographed, measured, and in part excavated, so that for its 
existence I can positively vouch. Here the former existence of some 
sort of plank lining was clearly evident, for there was a very sharply 
marked plane of cleavage between the earth forming the walls of 
the passage and that with which it was filled. I was told that the 
top of the passage was vaulted, and see no reason to doubt the state- 
ment, particularly as it came from one of my most intelligent 
informants. 

Soon after I noticed the remains of what may have been a similar 
passage, already partly dug away, leading from the north in the di- 
rection of the spot where the body had lain, and I was informed by 
more than one eyewitness that two others had been found, on the 
east and south, respectively. This would make it appear that pas- 
sages or trenches of some sort had led into the hypothetical funeral 
chamber, or at least to the spot occupied by the body, from each of 
the four cardinal points. It is only fair to say, however, that in the 
remains of this trench from the north I found no signs of a former 
plank lining, while it seemed to differ also in the nature of its con- 
tents from that on the west. The earth filling both was intermingled 
with potsherds of identical character, but these were far more numer- 
ous in that to the north, while the latter also contained great abun- 
dance of animal bones and so much charcoal as to give the soil a 
distinctly blackish tinge. 

The very plentiful fragments of pottery were of various shapes 
and types, most of them new tome. I found no pieces intact in either 
of the trenches, but on the dump I saw a well-modeled little vase on 
a high foot, of a fine gray undecorated ware and in perfect con- 
dition. Before I could get to it to pick it up, it had been wantonly 
smashed by the bystanders. I secured the fragments, however, as 
well as numerous others of the same ware, and I judge from these 
that a good many vessels must have been found quite intact in the 
course of the excavation, for the fractures were in a large number A 
cases quite fresh. 

The fragments which I collected appear to fall into two bani 
classes. Of these one is composed of the gray ware just mentioned, 
of varying degrees of fineness, and either plain or else marked with 
cord or fabric impressions such as are known in many parts of the 


BRONZES OF HSIN-CHENG HSIEN—BISHOP 463 


world. The other, very much scarcer, is thinner and finer in texture 
and of a light reddish buff color ; it, too, bears cord impressions. What 
proportion, if any, was wheel-made it will require further study to 
decide, but some at least of the pieces seem to have been made by the 
coiling process, while the more irregular shapes were certainly 
molded by hand. It is perhaps unnecessary to say that there were 
no traces of any glazed ware, nor have I hitherto, in a somewhat 
superficial inspection of the fragments in my possession, come across 
any signs of either painted or slip decoration. The impression I 
get so far, indeed, is that the pottery occurring in connection with 
this interment is far from representing the highest skill of the 
potter of that period, but is composed of archaic types which have 
been retained for funerary uses through the influence of religious 
conservatism. 

Among the bones which I found are those of the horse, ox, dog, 
sheep (or goat), pig, and a large bird which seems to be either a 
bustard or a goose. For these identifications I am indebted to Dr. 
Walter Granger, of the American Museum of Natural History, and 
to Dr. Paul H. Stevenson, of the Peking Union Medical College. I 
personally found in the trench no human bones; but some of those 
brought to me by the workmen may have come originally from it. 
These, as well as the mandible which I secured on my first visit, 
I was glad to be able to submit to Dr. Chi Li for intensive study and 
comparison with the human material secured by him and Doctor 
Ting, and I await his completed report with deep interest. 

I was particularly anxious to see whether I could find any horse 
bones; for among the bronzes shown me at Chéng Chow I had 
noticed three snafile bits of the ordinary bronze age type and also 
the metal fittings and decorations of a chariot. So I was especially 
glad when certain bones which I had found turned out to be those 
of a rather small horse. I was also shown some horse teeth, and 
though these I was not allowed to keep, as they were thought to be 
dragon’s teeth, I took some photographs of them which show beyond 
dispute their equine nature. It seems probable, therefore, that this 
interment was a regular bronze age chariot burial, with chariot and 
horses and all, exactly such as has been discovered in so many parts 
of the western world. One can not help regretting that the remains 
of the chariot could not have been scientifically excavated; for em- 
bedded in the earth as they were, and with even part of the wood- 
work preserved, through the chemical action of the bronzes with 
which it was in contact, it should have been possible to secure a 
practically perfect reproduction of the ancient Chinese chariot, as 
well, perhaps, as a knowledge of the uses of some of the bronze 
fittings that now so puzzle us. 


464 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


As part of my study of this most interesting site and its surround. 
ings, I made a plane-table survey of it, in the course of which I 
noticed some indications which I thought might point to the exist- 
ence of another worn-down mound; but Doctor Li tells me that this 
is not the case. 

Of the wonderful group of bronzes found here I speak with diffi- 
dence; for I saw them only after their removal to the local military 
headquarters at Chéng Chow. There, however, through the courtesy 
of Gen. Wu Pei-fu and of Gen. Chin Shih-chang after his return, 
I was permitted to examine and photograph them; while on my two 
visits to Hsin-chéng Hsien I secured all the information I could 
from those who had been actually present at their discovery and 
excavation. 

Accounts differ, naturally, regarding the precise arrangement of 
the bronzes in relation to the interment. As nearly as I can learn, 
however, they were all found to the south of the body, which, it will 
be remembered, lay with its head to the north; and they occurred 
at varying depths, beginning about 10 feet below the present surface. 
This looks as if, at the time when the burial took place, the bronze 
vessels were placed on ledges of earth or perhaps wooden stands or 
shelves of varying heights. Such a hypothesis would account at 
least for their discovery at different depths, about which there seems 
to be no doubt. 

While I make no pretensions to knowing anything about ancient 
Chinese bronzes, those found at Hsin-chéng Hsien impressed me 
as being unlike those usually dated as Han, but as resembling rather 
those commonly attributed to the Chou dynasty, though with impor- 
tant differences. In any case, their style and ornamentation are of 
the highest order. In some instances traces of former gilding are 
still visible, and there is reason to believe that the workmen made 
away with a really very large amount of sheet gold, stripped from 
the bronze surfaces. There are also instances of turquoise inlay that 
must have been very effective when intact. ‘The symbolic designs, 
in high and low relief, are unexcelled. The use of conventionalized 
animal figures for handles, supports, and decorative elements is most 
striking and, I think, unparalleled. And the patination, in shades 
of green and blue and red, is in many cases unusually rich and fine. 
I know of nothing of the kind comparable with this collection as a 
whole. The room in which I saw it at Chéng Chow seemed, as it 
was, a veritable treasure house. 

In all, about 100 vessels are known to have been discovered, al- 
though it is thought probable that the workmen stole a great many, 
particularly of the smaller pieces. Of the latter, many were found 
inside larger vessels, and hence managed to escape the pickaxes of 


BRONZES OF HSIN-CHENG HSIEN—BISHOP 465 


the diggers, which irretrievably ruined so many of the finest speci- 
mens. In other cases vessels of similar types, but of varying sizes, 
were stacked one upon another in regular gradation, “like a pa- 
goda,” as one particularly intelligent informant put it. This fact 
would seem to lend additional plausibility to the view that the 
earth covering them had accumulated gradually and not as the re- 
sult of a cave-in or even of the heaping up of a mound by human 
hands. 

But one inscription is known to have been found, and that merely a 
brief dedicatory one of a few characters, on the lip of a wine vessel, 
and possessing no definite historical significance. 

One of the noticeable things among many in this group of bronze 
objects is the very great number of bells both great and small. Of 
the latter there were, I understand, 17, ranging in size from about 
1 foot to 18 inches over all, with a projecting handle above, cast 
in one piece with the rest of the bell. There were also several much 
larger ones, the biggest approaching 4 feet in height. Of these I 
saw four on the occasion of my second visit to Chéng Chow. They 
were really magnificent objects, superior in their proportions, their 
dignity, and the quality of their decoration to anything of the kind 
that I ever saw before—really a revelation of the ancient bronze 
founder’s skill and good taste. It is interesting to note, in this 
connection, that in the year 642 B. C. the ruler of the state of 
Chéng Chow is recorded to have utilized a gift of metal tendered 
him by the king of Ch’u to cast three great bells. 

Scarcely inferior in prominence, and of even greater interest in 
many ways, were two pairs of great bronze vases, of fine propor- 
tions and beautifully decorated. One rested upon square bases sup- 
ported on the, backs of two couchant animals, apparently con- 
ventionalized tigers, while the handles surely represent bulls; on the 
four corners, lower down and likewise cast in the full round, appear 
what are unmistakably rams with spiral horns; the characteristic 
form of a ram’s head is most happily rendered. Both of these 
magnificent vessels were frightfully damaged by the diggers, one 
even having its couchant tiger base completely knocked off (cf. 
pl. 4, fig. 1). The other large pair, just mentioned, were very 
similar, and, though less elaborate in design, form in some ways 
even more remarkable examples of the founder’s art; these also were 
shockingly injured in digging out. 

Another noteworthy piece was a beautifully proportioned cauldron 
of tripod form, nearly three feet across. It had one side, unfor- 
tunately, completely smashed in where a digger had driven his 
pickaxe into it in order to wrench it out of its earthen matrix. Near 
it was a two-piece “steamer” of large size, rectangular in shape, 
with four legs; the lower portion to hold the boiling water; while 


466 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


the upper, detachable and divided into compartments, had its bottom 
perforated to admit the steam from below. I saw also a large vase, 
of a slightly oblate spheroidal form, with a rather wide mouth with 
everted rim; the interesting thing about this was that the exterior 
was divided by bands into three registers, each ornamented in a 
totally distinct style—so very distinct, indeed, that if appearing on 
separate vessels they would probably be attributed to different epochs 
or schools. 

Another vessel was in the shape of a squat, short-legged quad- 
ruped with widely distended mouth, perhaps meant for one of the 
great dogs mentioned in the Classics as being imported into China 
from the barbarous tribes to the northwest. The cover, on the back, 
was ingeniously linked to the curled-over tail by means of a chain 
exactly resembling in shape one of the bronze snaffle bits already 
mentioned. The short legs of this curious creature had been knocked 
off by the diggers but had fortunately been preserved, and I was 
able to prop it up in what must have been pretty much its original 
position before photographing it. 

For sheer beauty and grace, among all the objects included in 
this find I saw nothing to compare with two cranes, highly natural- 
istic save for a certain conventional squaring of the wing tips, and 
so charmingly executed that one could almost fancy them in actual 
flight. Unfortunately both had been broken by the diggers into a 
number of pieces, some of which had been lost, or were perhaps 
included in the innumerable baskets of fragments with which the 
room was filled—melancholy monuments to the manner in which the 
excavation of this superlatively wonderful site had been conducted. 
And to judge by the condition of these two cranes, there may quite 
possibly have been other small objects, of no less artistic excellence, 
which have been reduced simply to old metal; for even among the 
larger and more massive pieces the damage done is simply unbeliey- 
able unless seen. In fact I was told that the diggers deliberately 
broke up numbers of objects in the hope that they might turn out 
to be of gold. 

If the two cranes take the palm for grace and charm, for pure 
grotesquerie and, one might almost say, horror, it must be awarded 
to a monster figure, about one foot in height, seated upon its haunches, 
with forelimbs raised to its vast mouth as if gnawing something; 
with a hideous toadlike face and huge bulbous eyes; and with the 
stumps of two spiral upward pointing horns that the diggers had 
knocked off, as they had also done its hind feet. This object seems 
to have puzzled all who have seen it. I know of nothing in the 
slightest way resembling it in the Chinese art of any period. It is 
something wholly new to me, and it is all the more unfortunate that 


BRONZES OF HSIN-CHANG HSIEN—BISHOP 467 


no record was kept of its position and its relation to the other objects 
in the tomb while this remained intact. Possibly a careful search 
of the Classics may throw some light on its significance. 

Less important pieces, of all types and descriptions, were to be 
counted by the score; many were in a fragmentary condition, while 
others, through the circumstance, already adverted to, of their hay- 
ing been found inside larger vessels, had escaped quite whole. 

It is still far too early to begin basing any definite conclusions 
upon these bronzes; before that time arrives, very much more in- 
tensive and comparative study will have to be given them. Even a 
superficial examination, however, reveals the existence of several 
hitherto quite unknown types; while in some ways it would seem 
that the group as a whole suggests contacts not merely with the 
ancient Chinese culture lands of the middle and lower Yellow River, 
but also with the art of the old kingdom of Ch’u, which during much 
of the Chou dynasty dominated the Yangtse Valley. It will be 
recalled that this State, during the seventh and sixth centuries 
B. C., invaded Chéng again and again, at times making it tributary ; 
and this long-continued military and political contact can hardly 
have done otherwise than leave its impress upon the art of this 
unfortunate buffer State. Beyond this, for the present, I should not 
like to go. 

While opinions appear to differ as to the precise date of this most 
noteworthy interment, the prevailing view seems to be that it is of 
the latter part of the Chou dynasty, or, roughly, between 400 B. C. 
and 250 B. C. The form of the characters appearing on the inscrip- 
tion already mentioned would admit of this; and the curious mixture 
of primitive and highly civilized elements indicates a considerable 
antiquity, prior at least to the time when coffins began to be used 
regularly in State burials. The highly eroded condition of the 
mound and the total absence of any local tradition or historical 
record of any burial here point to the same thing. 

Of interest is the fact that in the course of the digging there was 
found a small saw of shell, perhaps 314 inches in length, and notched — 
at one end as if for hafting. I saw and photographed this curious 
object at the military headquarters at Chéng Chow. It was stated 
that it had been found in the course of operations at the Hsin-chéng 
Hsien site, and I see no reason to doubt this, although I am at pres- 
ent inclined to think that it belongs to a culture stage considerably 
older than that represented by the interment itself. Possibly this 
plateau may have been the site of a village in times prior to the 
advent of bronze. 

While fully recognizing the intense interest of the objects found 
at Hsin-chéng Hsien, and the importance attaching to their further 


468 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


intensive study, it seems to me that the most significant lesson that 
they teach is the vital necessity of placing Chinese archeological 
study on a permanent and definitely organized basis, with proper 
governmental recognition and support, and with provision made for 
the training up of a staff of scientific archeologists. China has had 
her antiquarians for centuries; and I should be the last to under- 
rate the value of the work done by them. But antiquarian lore alone 
is not enough to extract from a site like this even a tithe of the 
information which might have been secured had the work been con- 
trolled from the first by men possessing both technical training and 
field experience. It is perhaps not too much to say that a properly 
conducted excavation here would have doubled our knowledge of 
the material culture and perhaps too of the religious beliefs of a 
period of the highest importance in the development of Chinese 
civilization. 

The thought suggests itself in this connection (it is not original 
with me but has been in the air for several years)—can there not be 
established a school of Chinese archeology, supported by Chinese and 
foreign institutions alike, both for the training of a force of com- 
petent field workers and for the undertaking of a systematic study 
of the still remaining traces of man’s former existence in this coun- 
try? Few things would do more, either to extend the general sum 
of human knowledge or, more specifically, to enhance among occi- 
dental nations the appreciation of a great civilization, destined to 
exercise, in the centuries to come, such a profound influence upon the 
destinies of mankind, 


Smithsonian Report, 1926.—Bishop PLATE 1 


2. HSIN-CHENG HSIEN, ROAD OUTSIDE THE CITY WALL 


Smithsonian Report, 1926.—Bishop PLATE 2 


1. HSIN-CHENG HSsIEN, WORKMEN ABOUT MOUTH OF EXCAVATION SHAFT 


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Smithsonian Report, 1926.—Bishop PLATE 3 


BRONZES FOUND AT HSIN-CHENG HSIEN, HONAN 


Smithsonian Report, 1926.—Bishop PLATE 4 


BRONZES FOUND AT HSIN-CHENG HSIEN, HONAN 


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BRONZES FOUND AT HSIN-CHENG HSIEN, HONAN 


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Smithsonian Report, 1926—Fewkes PLATE 1 


WALP!I SIX DIRECTIONS ALTAR 


THE KATCINA ALTARS IN HOPI WORSHIP 
By J. WALTER FewkeEs, Chief, Bureau of American Ethnology 


[With 3 plates] 


INTRODUCTION 


The present article is the fifth of a series published in the annual 
reports of the Smithsonian Institution on the composition of Hopi 
worship. The Hopi, the name meaning peaceful, belong to the Pueblo 
stock and are agricultural Indians. They are descendants of the 
Arizona cliff dwellers and have preserved to the present many sur- 
vivals of their ancient worship. The object of the series of five 
papers above referred to is to record a few of their rites in sun, fire, 
and ancestor ceremonies that have survived to the present time. The 
Pueblos performed their secret ceremonies in subterranean rooms 
called kivas that were entered from the roof. 

It is customary for the priest in the course of the ceremonies to 
erect an altar, so called, on which is placed their f#pond, or sacred 
badge of office, surrounded by various fetishes, idols, and wooden 
objects bearing symbols. Here are placed all sacred objects possessed 
by the fraternity of priests who celebrate the rite. There are four 
Hopi villages or pueblos that perform the rituals independently, 
the sacred paraphernalia differing in each. From a study of these 
altars it is possible for us to learn the aim of their various cere- 
monies. The present paper compares the four Katcina altars for 
this purpose. 

That element of pueblo worship known as the Katcina forms fully 
one-half of the Hopi ritual, beginning with the arrival of the Kat- 
cinas or masked dancers in January or February, and lasting until 
their departure in July, inclusive. It is distinguished from other 
components by the presence of masked participants called Katcinas, 
supposed to be personators of the ancients, or “others.” The yearly 
departure of these worthies from the villages is celebrated in July 
by a great religious observance called the Niman or Farewell Katcina 
ceremony; their arrival by several rites, one of the most striking of 
which is called Powamu, or “ Bean Planting.” At the times of their 
arrival and departure there are erected in the kiva of each of the 
four villages which celebrate them, the same altars, about which 

20837—27——31 469 


ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


470 


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HOPI KATCINA ALTARS—FEWKES 471 


certain secret rites are performed. Our knowledge thus far is limited 
to four of the five Katcina altars; and there still remains the altar 
of Cufopavi, regarding which nothing has yet been recorded.’ 

Our knowledge of Katcina altars of the Rio Grande in the other 
pueblos is very scanty, owing largely to the exclusion of ethnologists 
from the kivas. Katcina dances in the open plazas are repeatedly 
figured but the secret rites and accompanying altars, if any, are 
not known. 

In the following pages the author presents a morphological study 
of the four known Katcina altars of Hopi. The illustrations of the 
most complex, that of Oraibi, have been taken from the excellent 
memoir of Voth on the Powamu of that pueblo; the others are 
from personal studies made in 1890-1895. 

The structure of the Oraibi Katcina altar is as follows: The 
reredos consists of two upright wooden slats united above by a cross- 
piece which in the illustration (pl. 2) is surmounted by a row of 
four segments of circles with rain cloud pictures representing the 
four directions, and colored with appropriate pigments, beginning 
with yellow or north at the right. The decoration of the cross- 
piece is obscure, but on the uprights there are figures recalling 
sprouting vegetation, and circles with differently colored quadrants. 

Two idols, probably of wood, stand between the vertical slats of 
the altar, filling nearly the whole space. That on the left evidently 
represents the Sky God (Cotokinungwu) for it has a conical apex 
to the head, a painted chin, and near its left hand stands a wooden 
slat of zigzag form, a prescribed symbol of lightning.? This image 
has several short parallel marks of different colors on the body, and 
wears horsehair, stained red, about the loins. 

The other figurine wears a coronet with triangular-shaped rain 
cloud symbols, which remind one of the headdress of the Lakone- 


i Journ. Amer, Ethnol. and Archeol., Vol. II, No. 1. Sitcomovi and Hano have no 
Niman Katcina, nor do they celebrate the Tusayan ritual in its entirety. The word 
Katcina is used to designate both a dance and a participant in a dance. Between July 
and January there are no Katcina rites in Tusayan. 

21 have been interested to discover what proportion of the whole number of Hopi cere- 
monials have been described, and thé results are such as to allay any conceit that we 
know much about the subject. Without considering the abbreviated ceremonials there are 
in the ritual 12 which are of nine days duration. There are five variants of this ritual, 
differing in altars, paraphernalia, and rites, so that we may say there are performed in 
Tusayan about 60 ceremonials, each nine days long, to be investigated. Of these there 
are 40 of which we know nothing, save their existence; 15, fragments of which have been 
described ; and 5 which have been fairly well studied. There are about 30 Hopi altars 
which have never been figured or described, or as far as I know seen by ethnologists. It 
thus appears that there is plenty of material in this province to occupy the students of 
primitive ritual for some time to come. An adequate comprehension of the Hopi Katcina 
ritual requires a consideration of five different modifications of the same altars. 

’'The image of Cotokinunzwu in the Oraibi flute altar (q. vy.) has zigzag figures down 
the legs, which would appear to associate this deity with lightning. 


472 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


mana, a tutelary goddess of the woman’s society, the Lalakontu, 
whose ceremonials in September have been described elsewhere.* 

The two vertical wooden slats, one on each side of the uprights, 
bear pictures of the same personage, probably Tunwupkatcina, on 
whose head is a fan-shaped crest of feathers. On each side the 
head has a horn, at the extremity of which hangs a symbolic feather. 

The human figures have characteristic markings on their fore- 
heads, and their bodies are black, dotted with white spots. 

There is no mistaking the symbolism of the remaining idol stand- 
ing at the right of the altar, as an image of Puukonhoya, the “ Little 
War God,” whose characteristic features are the parallel marks on 
the body, and the weapons of war in his hands. 

Several sticks, cut in zigzag shapes with curved appendages and 
short crossbars at one end, stand between the uprights of the reredos. 
From their forms, these objects may readily be identified as lightning 
symbols so common in all Tusayan altars. One of these, which has 
a complicated tip or head, is placed close to the outstretched arm of 
Cotokinungwu, with whom it is naturally associated. The straight 
rod leaning on the same arm is possibly a cornstalk symbol. The 
rounded stick, tapering at one end, which stands under the extended 
left hand of the image on the left, is probably a symbol of maize. 
A somewhat larger pointed object, painted at its base with zones of 
yellow, green, red and white, and surmounted by a feather, is called 
“the mound” and suggests the kaetukwi or Corn Mound of the 
Lalakontu, being similarly situated to an image on the left of this 
altar. The surface of the latter object, however, instead of being 
painted, is encrusted ® with clay covered with different kinds of seeds. 

The crook at the extreme left of the altar has attached to it an 
object which resembles the paddle carried by a participant in the 
Heheakatcina, or public ceremonial of the Niman at Walpi. 

Four pahos, or prayer-sticks, are placed at intervals in hillocks of 
sand before the images on the altar. The Katcina tiponi,® or badge 
of the chief, stands on the floor before the altar. 

Just in advance of the left-hand idol—the image with a coronet— 
there is a small oblong basket in which are laid a number of sticks 
with feathers, seeds, and pinches of meal. This is called the 
“Mother,” and recalls similar objects which have been observed 
on the Lalakontu altar, whose contents have been described else- 
where.” 


4Amer. Anthrop., vol. 5, No. 2, April, 1892, Pl. I, fig. 1; Pl. III, figs. 1 and 2. 

5 The Hopi, ancient and modern, were adepts in this craft of mosaic encrustations, using 
for that purpose turquoises, shells, and other substances. 

6 The chief who flogs the children in the initiation, which occurs in Powamu, holds this 
object in his hand. This flogging at Walpi is performed by a man masked to represent 
Tunwup. Int. Archiv fiir Ethnog., Band viii, 1895. 15th Ann. Rep. Bur. Amer. Ethnol., 
pp. 283-284. 

7Amer. Anthrop., vol. 5, No. 2, April, 1892. 


HOPI KATCINA ALTARS—FEWKES 473 


I need not dwell on the other accessories of the Powamu altar at 
Oraibi save to note that they are common to other altars, and in no 
respect characteristic. I refer to the basket tray of sacred meal, the 
rattles, a medicine bowl, aspergill, and six ears of corn used in 
special rites. 

The strange object at the extreme right, surrounded by a tablet, 
symbolic of a rain cloud, bears the picture of the head of Ho’katcina. 
It is supported on a pedestal, and appears to be peculiar to Oraibi.* 


COMPARISON WITH THE NIMAN ALTAR AT CIPAULOVI 


Cipaulovi, the smallest of all the Hopi pueblos, is situated on the 
Middle Mesa, and its Katcina altar is the poorest in paraphernalia, 
as shown by a comparison with the altar at Oraibi, the most com- 
plicated in Tusayan. 


= 


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x 


Fic. 1.—Cipaulovi Niman Katcina altar 


Omitting the medicine bowl, rattles, sacred meal, and pahos, the 
Cipaulovi Niman altar consists of a figure of seven rain clouds, with 
parallel lines representing falling rain, drawn on the floor with 
sacred meal, and a row of five vertical sticks, symbols of growing 
corn. Upon the meal picture which represents the falling rain, 
there are four stone implements arranged in a row. The tiponi, or 
palladium of the Katcinas is placed on a hillock of sand at the 
right of the same picture. There are no idols or images of anthro- 
pomorphic forms on this altar, and unless the stone implements 
may be so interpreted, no lightning symbols. The Niman altar at 
Cipaulovi® is very simple, but the essentials of a Katcina altar are 


8A great many observations remain to be made before any one can claim to know the 
exact meaning of pueblo rites, but the material awaits investigation, and can be obtained 
by persistent work in the field. The time, however, is past when any compiler can write 
an account of the aboriginal religions of America and neglect the Hopi for want of pub- 
lished material. 

®For Niman altars of Cipaulovi, Miconinovi, and Walpi, see Journ. Amer. Ethnol, and 
Archeol., Vol. II, No. 1. e 


ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


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HOPI KATCINA ALTARS—FEWKES 475 


included. The two prominent symbols are those representing rain 
clouds and growing corn, which are elaborated in the more com- 
plicated Katcina altars and may be regarded as embodying the 
two main aims of Katcina celebrations.*® 


COMPARISON WITH THE NIMAN KATCINA ALTAR AT WALPI 


The Walpi Katcina is next in simplicity to that of Cipaulovi. 
Tt has instead of a meal picture, however, a reredos upon which 
are depicted rain and rain cloud symbols, and the two supple- 
mentary uprights, with pictures of Tunwup referred to in the 
Oraibi altar. There are zigzag slats, symbols of lightning, and 
rounded sticks with emblematic corn designs, neither of which, 
however, is as complicated as at Oraibi. 

The Katcina tiponi is prominent, but there are no images on the 
altar, no basket with seeds and feathered sticks, and no crook with 
attached handle. While, therefore, the altar of the Walpi Niman 
Katcina is more complicated than at Cipaulovi, it is not as rich 
in accessories as that at Oraibi.** 


COMPARISON WITH THE NIMAN KATCINA ALTAR AT MICONINOVI 


The Katcina altar in this, the most populous village at the 
Middle Mesa, is simpler than at Oraibi, but more complicated than 
the Walpi representative. It has, in addition to the objects found 
on the Walpi altar, two idols or images, one on each side. The zig- 
zag sticks are lacking, but stone implements similar to those on the 
far simpler Cipaulovi altar are present. There are two emblems of 
maize, as at Walpi, and numerous sticks, representing growing corn, 
recall the same symbols of the Cipaulovi equivalent. 

It will be seen, therefore, that while it is the nearest of all to the 
Oraibi altar, an additional idol, the “ Mother ” or basket of seeds, 
etc., the crook (naluchoya), and the picture of Ho’katcina are 
unrepresented at Miconinovi. 

The two images of the Miconinovi altar are apparently the Little 
War God and the Germ Maid. There may be a doubt of the ac- 
curacy in identification of the latter, but she has the symbols of rain 
clouds on the head and in the hand. The other image has the parallel 
marks on the body, symbols of Puukonhoya, but it must be con- 
fessed that the same marks are found on the Cotokinungwu idol, 


10'The character of the public ceremonials of the Katcinas, even when abbreviated, as 
in the so-called rain dances, justifies the theory that their main objects are the two above 
mentioned. Even the clowns, a priesthood directly connected with Katcinas and absent 
in all other ceremonies, are concerned with the growth of seeds. 

It may be borne in mind that the same altar is made in Powamu and Niman, and 
whether called by one or the other of these names it is the same thing—a Katcina altar. 


476 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


although the latter image has the characteristic cone on the head 
which is not present in the Miconinovi image. The evidence 
would thus favor the conclusion that the right hand figurine of 
the Miconinovi altar represents Puukonhoya rather than Coto- 
kinungwu, and as far as known Oraibi is the sole pueblo which has 
an idol of Cotokinungwu on the flute altars, of which those of four 
pueblos are known."? 

A comparative study of the symbolism, simple and elaborate, of 
the Katcina altars leads me to the conclusion that the most compli- 
cated altar, that at Oraibi, is the result simply of elaboration of the 
less developed altars, of the introduction of new elements. Analysis 
reduces this composite symbolism to rain clouds, fertilization, growth, 


ep? 


psigtier Poo 


Fic. 2.—Miconinovi Niman Katcina altar 


and maturity of corn, the elements which dominate the whole Hopi 
ritual. 

A somewhat more detailed statement of this point is perhaps 
desirable. In the Hopi ritual three methods of representing super- 
natural personages are adopted. First, personifications by men, 
women, and children. Second, representations by images or idols. 
Third, representations by pictures, conventionalized objects, or 
symbols. These three methods may coexist; they are interchange- 
able, and may be phylogenetically connected in the development of 
rituals. In the public ceremonials the first method is almost invari- 


2 Journ. Amer. Folk-Lore, Vol. VIII, No. XXXI. The conical prolongation of the head 
is also found in many figurines and images and while the similarity of symbolism would 
lead to the belief that the two supernaturals are identical, the presence of two similar 
images on an altar indicates that they are distinct. 


HOPI KATCINA ALTARS—FEWKES 477 


ably adopted, but in secret rites all three are employed.* The rep- 
resentations on the Katcina altars at Cipaulovi and Walpi are 
limited to the third method; those at Miconinovi and Oraibi include 
likewise the second. 

There is no need of going into detail regarding the meanings of 
the symbols of the third method of representation as used on Kat- 
cina altars. The simplicity of this method, here applied, is apparent, 
and the symbols are those of rain eas lightning, and corn in 
various stages of growth. 

A discussion of the second method, or representation by images 
and what they mean when used on Katcina altars, will bring out 
several points of interest. These images, commonly called idols,“ 
occur on the Katcina altars of Oraibi and Miconinovi and represent 
the same conceptions as the symbols. The idol with the rain-cloud 
coronet is a representation of a corn-rain supernatural personage 
who has many names and appears in ceremonials both public and 
secret of many different priesthoods. In the ceremony called the 
Lalakontu she is either personated by women in the public dance 
or represented by images on the altar and is called Lakonemana 
(Lakone Maid). In the October ceremony, called Mamzrauti, she 
is likewise represented by the first and second methods,’* and is 
called Mamzraumana.*® The same is true of the Owakulti, still 
performed at Oraibi, although extinct at Walpi, where she is known 
as Owalkulmana. 

During the dramatization in the Antelope kiva of the Snake 
Ceremonials at Walpi she is personated by a maid called the Tcua- 
mana ‘7 (Snake Maid) and no effigy of her is employed in this archaic 
ceremony. The Flute Society represent her in their rites in both the 
first and second ways, with two girls in the public dance, and images 
on the altars in the secret observances, where she is called Lenya- 


18 In other secret rites, not considered in this article, the first method is employed as ir 
Powamu. Personifications in public dances are ordinarily masked, and as a rule Katcinas 
doff their masks when they dance in kivas. In certain instances, however, the mask is 
worn in kiya ceremonials. 

14] regard them as complicated symbols, not intrinsically objects of worship. 

15 In the public dance she is represented by a girl, but there is a beautiful instance in 
this ceremony where the third method is substituted for the first in the public dance. 
For some reason unknown to me, in the 1891 exhibit at Walpi no girl performed this 
part, but her place was taken by a participant in the dance who bore in her hands a flat 
board with a picture of the Germ Maid (see Mamzrauti, Amer. Anthrop., Vol. V, No. 3, 
1892, Pl. IV, figs. 9,10). The picture, not the bearer, represented the Germ Maid. It is 
a remarkable confirmation of my theory that Mamzraumana is the same personation as 
Calakomana; that this picture is identical in symbolism with pictures of the latter, and 
was so called by the priests. Comparing the picture Mamzraumana on the Mamzrau altar 
and of the same on this tablet we see differences in old and new Hopi art. The picture 
publicly exhibited conforms to modern conception of ber symbolism, as shown in dolls, 
etc.; that on the altar, which the uninitiated can not see, is the older form, before inno- 
vations and modifications. 

16 Amer, Anthrop., Vol. V, No. 3, 1892. 

17 Journ, Amer. Ethnol. and Archeol., Vol. IV. 


208387—27——32 


478 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


mana (Flute Maid).1® In Palulukonti'® she is personated by the 
first method, and is called Calakomana. The most elaborate images 
of this being, also called Calakomanas, are secular in character, and 
are used as dolls. All her different names, and some others which 
might be mentioned, are aliases, sacerdotal society names of the same 
mythological conception, which may more accurately be called 
Muiyinwu, the Germ Goddess, who is likewise associated with rain. 

The symbolism of images on the left side of the Katcina altars 
of Miconinovi and of Oraibi is highly conventionalized, but clearly 
enough developed to show that the images represent the same Rain- 
Germ Goddess who, in some ceremonials, is personified by a girl; 
in others by a similar image. This image is called the Rain-Germ 
(Corn)?° Maid because in the most elaborate representations of her 
this bifid nature is strongly indicated by symbolism. Her idol on 
the Miconinovi Flute altar has four symbols of corn on the body, and 
bears three rain cloud tablets on the head. In numerous dolls ** she 
has a symbol of an ear of corn on the forehead and an elaborate rain- 
cloud tablet with a rainbow on the head. 

The other idol, likewise known in various ceremonials by tute- 
lary sacerdotal aliases, is the male cultus hero, the fructifying 
principle symbolized by lightning and personified according to 
the society, by such supernaturals as Cotokinungwu, Puukonhoya, 
Tcuatiyo, Lentiyo, and the like. 

In this totem-pole-like doll we have Hehea, the male, with two 
Calakos, females, as their symbolism clearly indicates. The Hopi 
have a legend that the Calako maids brought the first corn to their 
ancestors, and in that legend it is said that Calakotaka, or the male 
Calako, a sun god, initiated the youth into the Katcinas by flogging 
them, as Tunwup still functions in Powamu. 

The etymology of the word Calako is unknown to me, and it may 
have been derived from the same source as the Zuni word. A corn 
husk, and by derivation a cigarette paper, is called by the Hopi a 
calakabu. 

The symbolism of the male Calako is identical with that of Tun- 
wup and resembles that of the Zufii Shalako. The Hopi celebrate 


1 Journ. Amer. Ethnol. and Archmol., Vol. I1; Journ. Amer. Folk-Lore, Vol. VIII, No. 
XXXI; Vol. IX, No. XXV. 

Journ. Amer. Folk-Lore, Vol. VI, No. XXIII. 

7 As maize is the most important food of the Pueblo Indians there is a tendency to 
make this name more specific, ‘Corn Maid.” This appears to be the name of the doll 
Calakomana, “‘Corn Maid.” 

71The range of variation of the dolls of the Calakomana may be seen by consultation 
of my memoir on Tusayan Dolls (Int. Archiv fiir Ethnog., Band VII, pp. 45-74, 1894). 
One of the strangest of these represents two Germ Maids, one above the other, sur- 
mounted by a male figurine, Hehea Katcina, which has lightning emblenrs on the cheeks 
and phallic symbols on the body. 


HOPI KATCINA ALTARS—FEWKES 479 


their sun-prayer-stick making in July, the Zui in December, or at 
different solstices. The Hopi say that they derived their celebration 
from the Zufi (see Fifteenth Ann. Rept. Bur. Amer. Ethnol.). 
When this interesting ceremonial is performed at Sitcomovi the 
Calako maids do not appear, and the four giants with avian sym- 
bolism apparently personate a sun drama, but as a derivative from 
Zuhi we must await an interpretation of the original for conclusive 
evidence of its meaning. 

The images of the altars as well as symbolic designs depicted 
upon them show us that fructification, growth and maturing of 
corn, and rain clouds are predominant in representations on Niman 
Katcina altars. 

I have not offered a suggestion in regard to the identity of the 
strange being, Tunwup, nor am I quite sure that he can be inter- 
preted, but I strongly suspect that he is none other than the Sun, a 
worship of whom pervades the whole Katcina ritual.” 

The element which predominates in the worship at the Powamu 
ceremony is the fructification of germs; and as beans figure so con- 
spicuously in it as symbols, its popularly called the “ Bean Plant- 
ing,” while a ceremony following it is Paliiliikonti,?* in which corn is 
sprouted, is called the “Corn Planting.” As in Hopi conceptions 
the Sun is father of all life, a ceremony called the Powalawu, appro- 
priate to the object or aim of Powamu, precedes the planting of 
beans in the kivas. The ceremony is strictly a part of Powamu, 
showing it is a form of direct sun worship. In it a special sun altar 
is made of a sand mosaic upon which, during ceremonial songs, a 
tray of meal composed of all kinds of seeds used by the Hopi is 
copiously sprinkled on the picture of the sun; medicine water is then 
thrown upon the same to typify the rains which under the sun’s 
action causes these seeds to germinate and grow. 

My comparative study of the Hopi Katcina altars has therefore 
led me to the following conclusions: Their symbolism, whether in 
pictures, rites, or of images, refer to two elements, or supernatu- 
rals, which control rain and growth of corn. The latter are male 
and female, representing the sky god and the earth goddess, the 


= He is intimately connected with the “ flogging ’”’ ceremony, when children are “ intro- 
duced ”’ to the Katcinas (see Fifteenth Ann. Rep. Bur, Amer. Ethnol., pp. 283-284). The 
radiating crown of feathers and the two horns on the head, together with the symbol on 
the forehead, ally him with Calakotaka (male Calako) whose kinship with the Sun-bird 
is elsewhere referred to. Tunwup appears to be a local name of this worthy in Walpi 
kivas. 

73—n the so-called “screen drama” of this ceremony, we have pictures of the Sun 
painted on disks. On the theory that Palliliikonti is a fertilization ceremony, it would be 
explained as referring to corn, and the thrusting of the snake effigies through openings 
closed by Sun-disk symbols connected with this event. 


480 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


father and the mother, the lightning and the earth, the two sexes 
without whose union life is impossible. 

The ceremonials performed about the Katcina altars admit of the 
same interpretation, and it remains for me to indicate their nature 
and bearing on the above conclusions. 


ALTAR OF ORAIBI POWALAWU 


A sand picture of the great paternal deity, Tawa, the Sun, has 
never been reported from any Tusayan altar except Oraibi. Such a 
picture is made in Powalawu, the opening ceremony of Powamu 
and described by Mr. Voth. 

The altar is made on the floor of the kiva, and is placed on a 
layer of valley sand on which are made four concentric zones of 
different colored sands surrounding a middle circle of white sand 
on which is drawn a stellate figure of the sun. These different con- 
centric zones are yellow, green, red, and white, beginning with the 
smallest, and ending with a peripheral in white. They are separated 
by black lines, and a quartz crystal* to which a string, with attached 
feather, is tied, is placed in the middle of the picture of the sun. A 
quadrant apart on the periphery of the picture, beyond the white 
zone, there are four arrow-shaped projections, colored yellow, green, 
red, and white, following a circuit with the center of the whole sand 
painting on the left hand. These, like the zones, are made of differ- 
ently colored sands and are rimmed with black. Across the yellow 
arrow-headed figure extend several parallel red lines of sand}; across 
the green, white; across the red, yellow; and across the white, green. 

On the supposition that the inner figure represents the sun, the 
four peripheral arrow-shaped appendages are supposed to represent 
heads of the lightning snakes of the four cardinal points, north, 
west, south, and east, as their colors indicate.?® 

The accessories used in the celebration of the Powalawu are ar- 
ranged on the floor radially about this sand picture, and fall into 
two groups, one on lines in continuation of the rays of the central 
figure, the others on intermediary lines. There are, therefore, four 
sets of both groups alternating with each other. 

The objects which form a single group of the former in this 
quaternary arrangement are as follows: A yellow reed, a paho- 

*4In the same way that I have compared the Little War Gods and the Germ Maids of 
Katcina altars we might also compare the male and female figures of the flute altars 
which we know from variants. The same will be possible with the cultus hero and his 
female double of Lalakontu, Mamzrauti, etc. There is a striking morphological identity 
in many altars of different societies. 

*A quartz crystal is used to deflect the light of the sun into the medicine bowl in 
Niman Katcina. Journ, Amer. Ethnol. and Archeol., Vol. II, No. 1. 

% Similar projections at intervals a quadrant apart are common on symbols of the sun, 


and I have found them on ancient pottery from Homolobi. The arrow-headed appendages 
are not, as far as I know, found in any other instance of paleography. 


HOPI KATCINA ALTARS—FEWKES 481 


stand, and a ball made of powdered pikumi.** Intermediate be- 
tween these, also with a quarternary arrangement, there is a ball 
made of clay painted black in which a feather is attached, a black- 
ened reed, and a stone arrow point. The paho-stand with these 
objects consists of a cubical block in which the following objects are 
inserted in line: A small crook, a green double paho, several sticks 
(called civapi, howapki, honyi, masiswapi), a black eagle feather 
with four nakwakwocis tied to it and a ring with netted cord, and 
finally a paho of a color corresponding to the cardinal direction in 
which the paho-stand is placed. 


The details of the Powalawu ceremony have been described by 
Voth, from whose account I will mention a few generalities. 

The celebrants gathered at the altar at about noon and sang 
many songs with accompanying events which were performed by 
Sima, the chief, now dead. 

1. White earth, roots, and honey added to the medicine bowl. 

2. Meal made of watermelon, melon, squash, bean, and corn seeds, 
sprinkled carefully over the sand picture. 

3. Charm liquid stirred and sprinkled on sand altar. 

4, Priest ascended ladder of the kiva and blew a yellow feather 
through a reed from the north paho-stand out of the hatch toward 
the north, after which he blew a whistle pointing it the same way. 
This was done in sequence to the west, south, and east, taking objects 
from the altar each time. 

5. Priest ascended ladder with a black reed from north cluster, and 
blew from it, toward the north, a small feather. He then blew a 
feather in sequence from the four stones, ascending the ladder each 
time.*’ He licked honey from the stones and spat to the four cardinal 
points. 

6. Couriers carried the clay balls to distant shrines, and four 
priests bore the four paho-stands, reeds, and yellow balls to other 
shrines, also at cardinal points. 

While the above events were transpiring songs were sung by the 
assembled priests, and at the close the quartz crystal on the Sun pic- 
ture was raised from the stand and handled by each priest, who 
sucked it, and pressed it to his heart. 

7. Ceremonial smoke. 

8. Prayers. 

9. The sand gathered up and carried outside the kiva. 

10. Feast. 
in small pits lined with corn husks, which have previously been heated by building fires 
within them. The coals are raked out, the mush put in, and a stone slab luted over the 
pit. Upon this a fire is maintained over night, and on the morning of the final day of a 
great ceremonial they are opened. The soft part is eaten immediately, but the mush 
which has caked to the corn husks is reground and made into other forms of foo The 


above-mentioned balls are made of the latter products. 
27 Evidently this and the following acts are to bring the summer birds. 


482 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


The aim of the ceremony appears clear. Meal of all kinds of seed 
sprinkled on the Sun typifies fructification of all Hopi food plants. 
Water is poured on the meal as symbolic of the rains which the 
celebrants hope will increase their crops. 

The details of the nine days’ ceremonials of the Powamu at Oraibi 
need not be described here, but it may be well to indicate their 
general character.*® 

Beans were planted in boxes in all the kivas on the day after 
Powalawu (February 5, 1894) and were forced to germinate in the 
heated rooms, where they grew for 16 days. From February 138 
(the first day of the nine days’ ceremony) until the 17th, Siima, the 
chief, visited all these kivas, and when not so employed passed his 
time in one of the rooms fasting, or making prayer objects. 

I am indebted to Mr. Voth for my knowledge of the secret rites 
of the Powamu at Oraibi. They supplement that which I have 
published elsewhere on the Walpi representation, from which, how- 
ever, it differs very considerably. (See Fifteenth Ann. Rept., Bur. 
Amer. Ethnol.; also Amer. Anthrop., Vol. VII, No. 1, 1894, and 
Int. Archiv fiir Ethnog., Band VIII, 1895.) 

The Powamu altar was erected on February 17, and from that day 
until the ninth (February 21) daily songs of interesting character 
were sung about it. 

Many dolls, bows and arrows *® for children are likewise made in 
the kivas, and the chiefs prepared prayer emblems and other cere- 
monial objects. 

The culmination of Powamu, when we should expect the acme of 
the series of rites, occurred on the afternoon of the ninth day (Feb- 
ruary 21), when the sprouting beans were pulled up, and distributed 
with dolls and other presents, and when certain personages of super- 
natural character brought significant gifts to the priests. It is the 
last event to which I wish especially to call the reader’s attention. 

This episode, which seems to me to bring out clearly the aim of 
the Powamu ceremony, may be called the advent and departure of 
Hahaiwuqti *° followed by the Kototo and other supernaturals. The 


2*2'The Orvaibi Powalawu, witnessed twice, took place Feb. 4, 1894, and Jan. 14, 1896. 
The chronology of the succeeding events in 1894 was as follows: 

Feb. 5-9, bean planting in all kivas. 

Web. 18-21, nine active days of Powamu ceremony, q. v. The Powamu, according to 
my enumerations, includes not only the nine active days but also several preceding in 
which the beans are planted, beginning with Powalawu, and making a complete ceremony 
of 16 days. 

2 These gifts for little girls were made in the Niman Powamu and Paliiliikonti at Waip!. 
They were fashioned in the form of Katcinas. (Int. Archiv fiir Ethnog., Band VII, 1894.) 

On the eighth pahos were made for Hahaiwuqti and Eototo, who visit the kiva on the 
ninth day. The former personage appears to be known by different names in Oraibi and 
Walpi, but I believe the same personage is intended by both names. 

80 Wor a picture of Hahaiwuqti, see Amer. Anthrop., Vol. VII ,No. 1, 1894. For sym- 
bolism of Ectoto, see Int. Archiv fiir Ethnog., Band VIT, 1894. 


HOPI KATCINA ALTARS—FEWKES A883 


main events of this episode were as follows: The man who personi- 
fied the “Old Woman” (Hahaiwuqti) having masked and other- 
wise arrayed himself at a shrine * outside the pueblo, began to howl 
vigorously. Siima the chief of Powamu, made offerings at this 
shrine and drew on the ground, with sacred meal, several figures of 
rain clouds about 20 yards nearer the village. Hahaiwuqti, as if 
tolled along by this mystic sign, moved to it and again began to 
howl. Siima made another set of rain cloud figures, again about 
20 yards nearer the village, and the howling Hahaiwuqti advanced 
to the second meal figures. Halting thus at intervals, and howling 
as she went, the “ Old Woman” at last stood in the public plaza 
of Oraibi, and in answer to her cries people came to her, sprinkled 
her with pinches of meal and took objects from the basket she 
bore. 

She then sought the entrance to the kiva in which the priests 
were engaged in ceremonial smoking and singing. She stood like 
a statue at the hatch, howling as if to announce her coming to the 
priests within the room below. They soon responded, and came out 
of the kiva headed by Siima with a bowl of medicine and an asper- 
gill, followed by a second priest with a reed cigarette and a coal of 
fire, and others with bags of sacred meal. Hahaiwugqti was asperged, 
smoked upon and sprinkled with meal, and presented with a paho ac- 
companied with a prayer, after which the priests returned to their 
room and the “Old Woman” went away to the west. A few 
minutes later men disguised as Kototo and Ahul approached the 
kiva hatch near which some unknown Katcina had made in meal on 
the ground a cross and rain cloud. Eototo rubbed meal on each of 
the four sides of the kiva hatchway*? and poured water into the 
kiva entrance from the sides, as I have described in my accounts of | 
the Walpi and Cipaulovi Niman Katcina. Ahul followed his ex. 
ample, whereupon the priests again emerged: from the kiva anc 
treated these two visitors in the same way they had used Hahai- 
wuqti. They received corn in return, after, which the visitor: 
retired, following the “ Old Woman.” 

After their departure, two “mudheads” (Koyimse) and three 
Katcinas, two men wearing Humis, Jemes, Katcina masks and one 


{In the shrine he put a paho, several nakwakwocis, and meal, after which he took «x 
little honey in his mouth and spat to the four cardinal points. He gave a basket with « 
paho, sprouted beans, and other objects to Hahaiwugqti after he left him at the second 
meal figures, 

This method of tolling the gods is practiced in the march of the Flute priests from the 

-spring to the pueblo. (Journ. Amer. Ethnol. and Archzol., Vol. II; in Lalakontu, and in 
Mamzrauti, op. cit.) 

The Katcinas are tolled along by meal deposited on the trail by the priests. A trail is 
closed by a line of meal at right angles to the same. 

* Those in one of the kivas received meal (prayers) and nakwakwocis (personal prayers). 
Hahaiwugqti gave them the basket she bore and the objects remaining in it, upon which, 
at the close of the ceremony, all the priests smoked (prayed). 


484 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


the maskette and apparel of the female Humis, approached the kiva 
entrance.** Then came personifications of Ana, Hehea, and two 
Tacab Katcinas. Following these were three lame Howaik Katcinas, 
masked as their predecessors, and clearly designated by appropriate 
symbolism. | 

At each new arrival the priests in the kiva responded, emerged 
from their room, and treated these visitors as they had their leader, 
Hahaiwudqti. 

As the masked personages left the village they passed westward.** 

When the priests had retired to their kiva for the last time they 
smoked on the presents left by their strange visitors, and the chief 
divided the gift EKototo had brought into 10 bundles, and gave one 
package to each Powamu priest. Then followed minor events, as 
taking down the altar, which do not now concern us. The departure 
of Hahaiwuqti and her band closed the main ceremony.*® 

It certainly seems legitimate to conclude that this acme of the 
Powamu is a dramatic representation embodying the aim of the 
whole ceremony. It is a visit of Hahaiwuqti in her disguise as 
known to Katcinas, followed by her children bringing gifts and 
receiving prayers. What other prayers are more appropriate to 
Hahaiwuqti than petitions for abundant crops, or what gifts more 
desirable than those Kototo** gave in a symbolic way, viz: water 
and sprouting vegetation? The rejuvenescence of nature is always 
to a primitive mind akin to sorcery, and believed to be brought about 
by the sorcerer’s arts, and hence this ceremony takes place in the 
Powako-muyamuh, or Wizard Moon, which gives it its name by 
syncopation, Powamu.*’ 


33 From the belts of Humis the priests took a sprig of spruce. This is only customary 
after the Humis Katcina dance. (Journ. Amer. Ethnol. and Archeol., Vol. II, No. 1.) 

The Humis (humita, corn) wear terraced (rain cloud) tablets on the mask. (Journ. 
Amer. Ethnol. and Archsol., Vol. II, No. 1.) 

% For symbolism of their masks and dress see Journ. Amer. Ethnol. and Archeol., Vol. 
II., No. 1; Int. Archiv fiir Ethnog., Band VII. Ana wears a ong beard and is therefore 
called the bearded Katcina. Hehea has zigzag marks on the cheeks. The symbolism of 
Tacab variea considerably, but is readily recognized. 

3% A Hopi prayer combines two elements of ceremony—prayer proper and sacrifice, the 
former spoken or not, the latter always expressed by symbols. As they are an agricultural 
people, their aboriginal wealth is an agricultural product, as corn. Their poverty of corn 
and the requirement of their ritual necessitated sacrifices of meal, a highly practical substi- 
tution. So likewise tobacco smoke is a sacrifice, the burning of rare herbs, or the pine 
needles in the ‘‘ New Fire’’ ceremony. 

The act of sacrificing animals or human beings is not a part of their present ritual, but 
a knowledge of its efficacy exists. They have legends of human sacrifice on rare occasions 
in the past. The killing of an animal and smearing the body of the man representing 
Masawuh with its blood, at the time of Lieutenant Brett’s visit to Oraibi in 1891, is an 
instance of animal sacrifice. Several survivals of animal sacrifices in warrior ceremonies 
might be quoted from legends. 

6 Kototo is believed to be a god of metamorphism, or growth, intimately associated with 
germination, a sacerdotal equivalent of Masauwuh, as far as these functions are concerned. 

37] have elsewhere called Powamu a purification ceremony or lustral observance, which 
it is in certain particulars, but I am now convinced that its main object is to further the 
fructification of vegetation. 


HOPI KATCINA ALTARS—FEWKES 485 


CONCLUSIONS REGARDING THE PLACE OF KATCINAS IN TUSAYAN 
WORSHIP 

We are justified in regarding the Katcinas as spirits of the dead, 
or divinized ancestors, shades or breath-bodies of those who once 
lived, as mortuary prayers clearly indicate. The theory of ancestor 
worship gives us a ready explanation for the fact that ancestral 
spirits are represented by masked persons, and as a corollary, a 
suggestion regarding the significance of the different symbolism of 
those masks. 

The Hopi, like many people, look back to mythic times when 
they believe their ancestors lived in a “ paradise,” or state or place 
where food (corn) was plenty and rains abundant, a world of 
perpetual summer and flowers. Their legends recount how, when 
corn failed or rain ceased, cultus heroes have sought these imagi- 
nary or ideal ancestral homes to learn the “ medicine,” songs, pray- 
ers, fetishes, and charms efficacious to influence or control super- 
naturals, which blessed these happy lands. Each sacerdotal society 
tells the story of its own hero bringing from that land a bride, who 
transmitted to her son the knowledge of the altars, songs, and 
prayers, which forced the crops to grow and the rains to fall in 
her native country. To become thoroughly conversant with the 
rites he is said to marry the maid; otherwise at his death they would 
be lost, since knowledge of the “ medicine ” is believed to be trans- 
mitted, not through his clan, but that of his wife. So the Snake 
hero brought the Snake-Maid (corn-rain girl) from the under- 
world; the Flute hero, her sister, the Flute-Maid; the Little War 
God, the Lakonemana and other supernaturals. 

A Katcina hero in the old times, “on a rabbit hunt came to a 
region where there was no snow. There he saw other Katcina people 
dancing amidst beautiful gardens. He received melons from them 
and carrying them home told a strange story of the people who 
inhabited a country where there were flowering plants in mid- 
winter. The hero and a comrade were sent back, and they stayed 
with their people, returning home loaded with fruit in February. 
They had learned the songs of those with whom they had lived, 
and taught them in the kiva of their own people.” ** 

In the ceremonies with unmasked personifications, or those cele- 
brated yearly between July and January which are not Katcinas, an 
attempt is made to reproduce rites which legends declare the cultus 
or ancestral heroes saw in the lands they visited, which lands are 
reputed to be variously situated, but generally in the underworld, 
to augment the efficacy of the ceremonies. In the ceremonies between 


3% Journ. Amer. Ethnol. and Archzol., Vol. II, No. 1, p. 152. The Katcina hero in this 
story would appear not to have brought a wife from this people. 


486 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


January and August, or those called Katcinas, the same feeling is 
dominant. Each performance is an endeavor to reproduce a tradi- 
tional ancestral Katcina celebration. The performers are masked 
because, according to their stories, the participants in those 
ancient rites are reputed to have had zoomorphic, or at least 
only partially anthropomorphic forms. 'The symbolism of the 
mask portrays the totems of those legendary participants, and 
those of corn, rain, water-loving animals, lightning and the like, 
therefore predominate. 

I have shown in preceding papers that both the symbols and 
figurines on Katcina altars refer to the sun, rain clouds, and the 
fertilization, growth and maturation of corn. It has likewise been 
made evident that the ceremonial acts of the priests are employed 
to affect the supernaturals who control these elements or produce 
these necessities. 

The priests strive to reproduce traditional ceremonials without 
innovations, and are guided in their presentation by current legends. 
Masked personations of ancestral spirits are, therefore, introduced 
that the performance may be more realistic, or closer to the reputed 
ancestral ceremony. This feeling is at base the reason why the 
priests, unable to explain why they perform certain rites in certain 
ways, respond, “ we make our altars, sing our songs, and say our 
prayers in this way because our old people did so, and surely they 
knew how to make the corn grow and the rains fall.” 

It appears from what is written above that the cosmic super- 
naturals which appear on the Hopi Katcina altars are the same as 
pointed out in the previous article, the Sun, the Sky, Earth, Fire, 
Ancestors, and that idols are likewise prominent. The Hopi, like 
all the pueblos, are commonly called sun worshippers, but the rela- 
tions of the altars of the Katcina cult to Sky God (Sun) worship 
is very instructive. 

In conclusion it should be said that, although the ceremonial prac- 
tices of the Hopi Katcinas appear very complicated, they are in 
reality simpler than the literature of them would seem to indicate. 
In the first place, we must bear in mind that in the Hopi religion the 
association of religion and ethics is very weak, the duty of the priest 
being to perform his part of the ceremony as nearly as possible in the 
traditional way it was inherited from his ancestors. Secondly, the 
rite and ceremony show that the main object desired is a material not 
a spiritual one, primarily to fertilize Indian corn, his national food, 
and incidentally to protect his own life and that of his family. The 
objects of his worship form together a complex composed of closely 
allied elements in which the supernatural powers that control the 
food are preemiment. 


OMAHA BOW AND ARROW MAKERS? 


By Francis LA FLESCHE 


[With 4 plates] 


The bow, with its arrow, was the most effective weapon known to 
the North American Indians. This statement applies generally to all 
the tribes living within the United States, and in particular, to 
the plains tribes of the Siouan linguistic stock whose habitat for 
centuries had been along the Missouri River from its mouth to its 
headwaters, although some of the tribes belonging to this linguistic 
group dwelt along the Mississippi River even as far south as the 
mouth of the Arkansas River. 

The style of the bow made by these tribes was generally the same. 
That which was preferred and in common use by the people was a 
bow that was curved more at the head, or above the grip, than at the 
foot or below the grip. The expert bow makers say that the bow that 
is curved equally at the top and bottom works as well as the pre- 
ferred style, but the makers gave no explanation as to why one style 
is preferred to the other. 

The ta-ko"’mo® de, sinewed bow, was known to these tribes but was 
seldom used. As a bow it was beautiful, being gracefully curved at 
the top and the bottom as well as at the grip, but the experienced 
user of the bow turns away from it because it is a “ female bow ” and 
he wants a bow of a stronger sort. The sinewed back bow was not 
fitted to stand rough usage; in the first place, the bow itself is made 
slender in order to avoid clumsiness of appearance when the sinew 
is added and put on the back of the weapon; in the second place the 
glue used to hold together the fibers of the sinew can not withstand 
dampness; when the bow is exposed to the rain, the glue and sinew 
part company and the bow loses both its strength and its beauty. 

Several years ago I wanted to secure an Omaha bow, but there 
was none to be found in the tribe; for the weapon was no longer in 
use. A young man who knew of my fruitless search said to me: 
“TI could make a bow for you, but it would only be an imitation, not 
a real bow. Any man who can whittle and scrape with a knife can 
make something like a bow, but it takes a man skilled in the making 


+Reprinted from Annaes do XX Congresso Internacional de Americanistas, Rio de 
Janeiro, 1922. Published 1924, 


487 


488 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


of bows to make a bow as it should be made. There are only two 
Omaha men living who can be called bow makers.” ‘The young man 
gave me the names of these old men; one was a stranger to me, but 
the other one I knew very well. 

The Omaha bow maker, like the medicine man, has to be cere- 
monially approached, therefore I had to send a special messenger 
to make known to him my wishes. The old man for whom I sent did 
not come to see me for about two days, and when he did come he 
brought a bow partially finished. He apologized for not coming at 
once but explained that he thought I might be in a hurry to have 
the work finished so he had started it before coming. He said: “I 
feel honored in being your choice of a bow maker. I used to make 
your father’s bows. He always liked them long and heavy. There 
are only two bow makers now living and I am one of them.” 

The old man was putting the finishing touches to the bow when the 
other bow maker just happened to come in. My man handed the 
finished bow to the visitor’who took it with a smile and caressed it 
by running his hands over its smooth surface. “What a beautiful 
piece of wood it is.” Then, after examining it critically, he said, 


Fig. 1.—Omaha bow 


“Tf it ever breaks it will be right here,” pointing to a weak spot 
midway between the grip and the top. “The rule is,” continued the 
visitor, “that where there has been a knot, that spot must be left 
‘thick’. I notice another mistake, one that is commonly made; the 
neglect to blunt the edges of the nocks, for sharp edges endanger the 
cord.” He meant that the sharp edges of the nock wears the cord 
by friction, causing it to break. My bow maker accordingly made 
a few slight cuts with his sharp knife along the edges of the nocks 
to blunt them, and the bow was finished. Then my bow maker asked 
for a bit of grease. This I supplied and he greased the “breast ” of 
the bow at the upper and lower parts. The upper part he held over 
the fire and when it became hot, he bent it with his foot and held it 
until it cooled. “That was nicely done,” the visitor said, “but I 
would not put so much curve at the lower end of the bow.” 

From these two old men I learned that there were three choices of 
wood for the bow, namely, the ash, the white elm, and the ironwood. 
These three kinds of wood take on polish and do not “ turn over” as 
they expressed it, which means that they do not warp badly when 
exposed to wet weather. The wood that the bow maker likes best to 
work upon is the young ash that was killed by a prairie fire, because 
the wood is then thoroughly seasoned and set, so that dampness and 


OMAHA BOW AND ARROW MAKERS—-LA FLESCHE 489 


rain do not affect it. The elm and ironwood are cut green and hung 
over the lodge fire to season, which is a slow process. There is one 
danger which the bow maker carefully guards against, and that is 
a splitting by shrinkage. Experience had taught the men who loved 
to make bows that there is one winter month during which it is safe 
to cut green wood for making bows, and if I remember rightly it is 
the “ month of the return of the geese,” that is, February. 

The Osage and the Kansa had the best and the most costly bows. 
This remark does not refer to the making but to the quality of the 
wood. This wood was called by the Osage and Kansa, Mi™-dse-sta, 
smooth bow, and by the Omaha, Zho*-zi, yellowwood, the most 
serviceable of any of the bowwoods. The yellowwood was called by 
the French, bois d’arc, and was procured along the Arkansas River, 
for the tree did not grow in the regions north of Kansas. 

The bowstring or cord is made from the sinew taken from the 
muscles lying on either side of the spine of the buffalo. The bow 
maker’s art does not include the making of the bowstring. ‘There 
are men who are skilled in the making of bowstrings who are em- 
ployed to make them. The man whom I employed is still living at 
this writing, close to the age of 90 years. ‘This bowstring maker took 
five strands from a sinew that I had procured and soaked them in 
glue water over night. In the morning he squeezed the water out of 
the sinew, then spliced together the ends of the strands, using fresh 
glue, thus making one long strand. This he put in the sun to par- 
tially dry, just enough to give the glue strength to hold together the 
spliced parts of the sinew. The strand having dried to the desired 
consistency, the bowstring maker formed a little loop exactly 
in the middle for the upper nocks of the bow. He put this little 
loop over the small end of a slender pole which he had planted 
firmly in the ground for this purpose. He then grasped in each 
hand an end of a strand and swung the two strands simultaneously. 
With each swing he twisted the strands with his fingers. As the 
strands were thus twisted and swung, they twined around each other 
and by the movement of twisting and swinging the twist traveled 
toward the man until the string thus formed came to the man’s 
fingers, when he tied a knot in the finished cord. 

As the man strung the cord to the bow he said: “ That bow was 
made by E-shno”-hun-ga; I know the way he makes his bows. He 
is one of the best bow makers.” When the cord was put on the bow, 
the man gave it a few pulls and the bow responded with a resonant 
ring at each pull. The old man remarked, with a sigh: “This takes 
me back to my buffalo-hunting days.” 

The wood for making the arrow shaft was chosen with as great 
care as the wood used in making the bow. By long experience the 
arrow makers had found two kinds of wood to be serviceable. These 


490 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


two were the ash and a species of dogwood. ‘The latter had the same 
name among the Omaha, Ponca, Osage, and the Kaw, related tribes, 
Mo”’-Ga-hi, meaning arrowwood. The sapling of this species of wood 
was preferred because when in that stage of growth the wood is 
straight and has but few knots. 

The sapling of the ash is not used, for it has a large pith and the 
wood is soft. However, the trunk of the mature ash is cut into the 
proper length and split up for arrow shafts. Both the dogwood and 
the ash are polishable and flexible. The wood is hard, but will bend 
under strong pressure and not break. 

If by accident a hunter loses his arrows, and neither ash nor dog- 
wood is obtainable, he will use the sapling of the wild cherry tree 
for his arrows; but this wood breaks easily and is used only in an 
emergency. 

When the arrow shafts are cut into the desired lengths and roughly 
shaped, they are tied in a bunch and hung over the fireplace to season. 
This process takes about 10 days to two weeks. ‘Then the tedious 
task of the final shaping begins. First the arrow maker carely ex- 
amines each shaft; when he finds a crooked place, he greases the 
spot and holds it over the fire to heat; he then quickly straightens 
the crooked place and holds it securely until it cools. A deer’s horn 
through which a hole has been drilled is used for this straightening 
process. 

The next process is the final shaping of the shaft. A good arrow 
maker aims to make the shaft as nearly cylindrical as possible. 
To accomplish this, he holds the shaft in his left hand between the 
sandstone polishers, each piece grooved lengthwise, and gives the 
stick a twirling motion by rolling one end of it back and forth on 
his thigh with the palm of his right hand. He shifts the polishers 
along the shaft in order to keep it uniform in size. When one end 
is polished, he works in the same manner on the other end, until the 
full length of the shaft is round, smooth, and uniform. 

Then follows the making of the nock for the bowstring. In polish- 
ing the top of the shaft the arrow maker works it down so that 
the nock has a rounded appearance to give the archer a good grip. 
The notch of the nock may be shaped either like a V or a U. 

The next process is the grooving of the shaft. The arrow maker 
measures the top part of the shaft with one of the feathers to be put 
on it and begins his groove from the lower end of the feather. There 
must always be three undulating or zigzag grooves. There has 
been considerable discussion as to the meaning of these grooves. 
Some writers have said that the zigzag lines mean lightning, others 
that these grooves were made for the blood of a wounded animal to 
flow through. An explanation was given to me when I was a boy by 
an old Omaha groove maker, which is so simple and practical that 


OMAHA BOW AND ARROW MAKERS—LA FLESCHE 49] 


it has always impressed me as being the true explanation of the 
making of grooves on the arrow shafts. 

One day I went home from school and found that my fatlier had 
been taken sick in the midst of his preparations for the annual 
summer tribal buffalo hunt. He had finished polishing and straight- 
ening the shafts and shaping the nocks, but he was too weak to 
groove the arrow shafts. As this was a necessary part in making the 
arrow he had sent for U’-shi-wa-the (Quail) who was a very skillful 
workman in grooving arrow shafts. The quality of the fee my 
father had given for the work to be done put the old man in very 
good spirits; he talked as he worked, pointing out the defects in 
some of the shafts and mentioning the names of the men who in the 
past were skilled in grooving arrow shafts, but who had departed 
for the spirit land. Without pausing in his talk he picked a shaft, 
put on it the grooving tool; with a swift movement he deftly cut 
the first groove, then he cut the second one, then the third one and 
the threadlike shavings fell to the floor. Looking up at my father 
I said: “Da-di, what is he making those grooves for?” My father 
smiled, and addressing the old man said: “ Father, tell the boy, for 
he may be making arrows some day.” The old man picked up a 
shaft and said: “My grandson, your father spent much time in 
selecting these saplings for his arrows; he sorted out those he thought 
to be perfect, but there is no perfect wood; there is always some 
fault in it. Now look at this one I have in my hand, there was a 
sharp bend which he had hard work in straightening, but when I 
put on it the groove, thus, and thus, and thus, the shaft will not roll 
back to its natural imperfection, but will remain straight; that’s why 
these grooves are made.” 

The next process is the feathering of the shaft, and it may not be 
out of place here to continue the story of Quail, the old Omaha arrow 
groover. So pleased was he with his fee that he offered to finish the 
arrows for my father. He also allowed me to take a very humble 
part in the work. I was requested to bring to him a bag containing 
glue, sinew, and feathers; also a pan of warm water. I started a lit- 
tle fire to heat the glue and to soften it. The old man took the pan 
of warm water and put into it the sinew which he had shredded into 
many threads; he also put into the pan the glue which was attached 
to one end of a stick nearly as long as an arrow shaft. 

As the old man examined the feathers, which were owl feathers, 
he remarked “a bird of night.” The feathers were from the wings, 
the stems were split, the pithy part scraped with a knife, leaving the 
aftershaft clean like parchment. He next tested the threads of 
sinew, taking up one strand from which he squeezed the water then 
wiping his hands, took up a split feather, put the top end against the 
shaft, aftershaft of the feather downward, so as to overlap a little 


~~ 


492 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


the bulb-shaped nock; taking a strand of sinew, he wound one end 
once around the shaft and the feather near the nock. He then took 
the other end of the sinew between his teeth and holding the strand 
taut, he heated the glue a little over the fire and rubbed it on the 
sinew; he then put the second feather on the shaft which he gave 
one turn and the sinew held the feather; he treated the third feather 
in the same manner; then he thinned the end of the strand of sinew 
by scraping it with a knife and putting the thinned end of the strand 
around the shaft; he smoothed it down with his finger. Then he 
dipped the sinew in a little pile of white powder, made of burnt 
gypsum, for the purpose of cleaning, whitening, and drying it. 

Quail held up the arrow shaft with the drooping feathers and said 
to me: “ My grandson, this sinew will do two things at the same 
time, it will hold the ends of the feathers on the shaft and support 
the nock of the arrow so that the bowstring will not split it.” He 
then glued the under part of the aftershaft of one of the feathers 
and neatly stuck it on the arrow shaft, the other two feathers he 
treated in the same way, and all three feathers lay neatly on the 
arrow shaft, equi-distant apart. 

The old man, addressing my father, said: “ My son, I see that you 
have two kinds of the little ornamental feathers for the lower part 
of the feathers, one white and the other red, which shall I put on?” 
“The red,” my father replied, and the old man remarked, “Ah! the 
color of the red dawn.” Quail took a shred of the soaked sinew, 
squeezed the water out of it, wound one end once around the arrow 
shaft and the quill part of the feathers, near the web, then taking 
between his teeth the other end of the sinew, he glued it, then put a 
little red downy feather in the space between the large feathers and 
gave the arrow shaft a slight turn; in the second space he put a little 
red feather, gave the arrow shaft another slight turn, and treated 
the third space in the same manner, then quickly covered the quill 
part of the arrow feathers with the glued sinew which he smoothed 
down with his finger; after that he dipped the sinew in the pile of 
powdered gypsum. Then, turning to me, he said: “ My grandson, 
always overlap the ends of the quills with glued sinew when you 
make arrows, and don’t forget to dip the sinew in the white powder. 
Be neat, always, in your work.” 

The old man held the arrow at arm’s length to examine his work, 
while his face brightened with pleasure. Then, speaking to my 
father, he said: “ My son, the glue works quickly, would you mind 
telling me what you made it of?” My father replied: “The glue 
was made from the shell of a soft-shelled turtle.” 

The slits for the shanks of the arrowheads, which were made of 
iron, had already been made in the shafts, and the gluing of shanks, 


OMAHA BOW AND ARROW MAKERS—LA FLESCHE 493 


inserting them in the slits, and fastening them with glued sinew, took 
the old man but a short time to finish. 

Quail then, speaking to my father, said: “ My son, I am about to 
trim the feathers, will you have the leaves (webs) narrow or wide?” 

“Make them narrow,” my father replied. “Ah!” the old man 
remarked, “I see you know the principle, the narrow leaves hold 
the arrow steady, the broad leaves will cause the arrow to make an 
undulating movement as it takes its flight.” 

The old man sharpened his knife very carefully, laid an arrow, 
nock toward him, along the edge of a board so that the web of the 
feather lapped over the edge; he then trimmed the web, giving it a 
straight line. All the other webs he treated in the same manner. 

Again addressing my father, the old man said: “ What about the 
marking, my son?” “ Black on the shaft,” my father replied, “ the 
length of a finger joint, along the lower part of the feather, and the 
upper part red, to the nock.” “Night and day,” the old man re- 
marked, “the symbol of precision.” From a small package the 
arrow-maker poured into the shell of a fresh water mussel the black 
coloring material, and from another package he poured into another 
shell the red pigment. Into these shells he poured glue water and 
stirred the mixture with a stick. Then using the tip of his index 
finger for a painting brush he first put on the black paint, and then 
the red. When the paint, which had a glossy appearance, had dried, 
the old man gathered the arrows together in a bunch and handed 
them to my father, who caressed them by passing his hands. over 
them; then, with a pleased expression he lifted the arrows up and 
said to me: “ Look at these, my son, and let me tell you that a neatly 
finished arrow is the pride of a good archer!” A smile rippled over 
the wrinkled face of the arrow-maker, as he nodded his head with 
pleasure at the compliment. 

The bow and the arrow figure prominently in the religious rites 
of some of the plains tribes of the American Indians. In Osage 
mythology, the bow was the gift of the moon to the people, and the 
arrow a gift from the sun, taken from one of its rays. In three of 
the tribal rituals of the Osage, two arrows, one painted black to 
represent the night, and the other red, to represent day, are set in 
flight (figuratively), by a bow also painted black and red, toward the 
setting sun. These two arrows, thus set in flight at an initiation of 
a candidate into the mysteries of certain tribal rites, not only sym- 
bolize the endless recurrence of night and day, but the flight of these 
mystic arrows is also equivalent to the Initiator saying to the candi- 
date: “ Your life, represented by your descendants, shall be as the 
night and day, endlessly recurring. Among the Omaha tribe seven 
arrows were used as symbols in an annual ceremony. Each gens of 


494 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


the seven principal gentes of the tribe is represented by one of these 
mystic arrows, which are used to foretell what will happen, good or 
evil, to each gens during the year following the ceremony. These 
divining arrows also stand for the continuity of each gens through 
its natural increase. ‘The members of the gens to whom is entrusted 
the keeping of these sacred articles are privileged to name their sons, 
“ Mo”’-pi-zhi,” Bad Arrow; this name has been seldom used. The 
word “ pi-zhi” or bad, is not used here in its ordinary sense, but 
refers to the mysterious characters of the divining arrow. 


Smithsonian Report, 1926.—La Flesche PLATE 1 


LAST OF THE OMAHA Bow MAKERS 


PLATE 2 


THE ASH Bow SHOWN IN THIS PICTURE WAS MADE By E. SHNON-HONGA, 


THIS SPECIMEN IS IN THE CALIFORNIA 


THE LAST OMAHA Bow MAKER. 


STATE UNIVERSITY 


PLATE 3 


La Flesche 


1926 


Report, 


Smithsonian 


’ 
\ 


Ys pk . 


he 


KA SETTING TO FLIGHT THE MAGIc ARROWS 


, 


XO 


PLATE 4 


La Flesche 


1926.— 


Report, 


Smithsonian 


ARROW RELEASE OF OMAHA INDIANS 


THE NATIONAL PARK OF SWITZERLAND* 


By G. EpitH BLAND 


[With 5 plates] 


Many people who have completed one of the usual tours of Swit- 
zerland depart with the impression of a small country which seems 
to be but one large national park containing some of the most 
wonderful beauties of nature. However, away toward the eastern 
frontier, rather off the beaten track of the tourist, lies a small in- 
closed region which is Switzerland’s real or official national park. 


OBJECT AND LEGAL PROVISIONS 


The object in establishing the Swiss National Park was to set 
aside a district where nature could develop freely, untrammelled 
by man. It was not intended that the park should become a center 
for excursions, and for this reason few conveniences for the tourist 
are to be found within its confines. It is essentially a scientific 
institution where nature in her wild state may be preserved and 
studied. 

It is proposed to increase the already rich flora and fauna of 
this region in every possible way and to make it a national treasure 
ground of nature. Much has already been done in this respect, and 
in order to protect the treasures collected strict regulations are 
enforced. No shooting, trapping, or fishing is allowed, no flowers 
or plants may be picked, no specimens of any kind may be taken 
away, all visitors must keep to the official paths and roads, and all 
are requested to remember that the Swiss National Park is the 
national sanctuary where every flower, plant, and animal enjoys 
absolute safety. 

AREA AND SITUATION 


The national park at present covers an area of about 140 square 
kilometers (approximately 57.8 square miles). It is situated in the 
canton of Graubiinden, in the lower valley of the Engadine, on the 


1The information in this article was obtained from the following sources: Annual 
Reports of the Swiss Federal Commission of the National Park, 1924 and 1925; ‘“‘ Der 
Schweizerische Nationalpark,” by Dr. S. Brunies; ‘‘ Kleiner Fiihrer durch den Schweiz. 
Nationalpark,’’ by Dr. S. Brunies; ‘ Graubiinden,” by Verkehrsyerein; and from personal 
investigation.—AUTHOk. 


495 


496 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


right of the River Inn, stretching between Scanfs and Schuls. It 
lies in the wildest and most rugged part of the Eastern Alps, the 
Engadine Dolomites, the highest peak of which is Piz Pisoc 


42 
~_—_ Ayvers 
won Camtonal Fronbiers 


wa Neticnal Park 
aA Railwoa 


? ~, 


TESSIN 


s 
7 


4 


. 


Fig. 1 


(3,178 meters). It is a region of imposing snow-capped peaks, rush- 
ing torrents, deep valleys, and thick forests, the natural home of the 
bear and chamois. 


SWISS NATIONAL PARK—BLAND 497 


This enchanting wilderness can be reached by rail from Chur or 
St. Moritz to Scanfs, Zernez, or Schuls-Tarasp, from all of which 
points roads lead to the park. The park itself is crossed by a num- 
ber of roads and paths leading in various directions and all kept in 
good condition. Only by special permit from the park keepers can 
visitors leave the beaten roads and paths, and the district round Piz 
Terza is strictly closed to the public. 


ACCOMMODATION FOR VISITORS 


There is one restaurant and house of refuge in the park in Val 
Cluoza. Here as many as 35 to 40 people can pass the night and 
obtain refreshments, but it is not to be looked upon as a hotel and 
can only be used in cases of real need. During 1925, 846 visitors 
stopped at the Cluoza shelter. 


BOUNDARIES AND GUARDIANS 


Where no natural frontiers exist the boundaries of the park are 
clearly marked. At first there was only one guardian, who has been 
at his post since 1910. As the size of the park increased, others 
were appointed, and the park is now guarded by a body of keepers 
and in the districts of Fuorn and Scarl by the Federal frontier 
guards. A number of huts and shelters for the use of the guardians 
exist in various parts of the park, and the personnel is insured by 
the State against accidents, old age, and death. The guardians and 
the frontier guards all keep diaries and render reports at regular 
intervals. In this way a great deal of scientific information is col- 
lected which assists the authorities in research work and improve- 
ments. Due to the vigilance of the guardians, poaching is each 
year becoming less and cases of visitors willfully breaking the park 
laws less frequent. 

CLIMATE 


The park is noted for its exceptional dryness and its extreme con- 
tinental climate. The region has been called the Swiss Tibet. In 
1924 it enjoyed 1,040 hours of sunshine, the average cloudiness not 
exceeding 40 per cent of the sky, and entirely cloudy days were rare. 
The temperature varies about 20° C. between midwinter and midsum- 
mer. The reason for its dry and sunny climate is that it is a high- 
land shut off by higher mountains, the northwestern Alps almost 
exhausting the rain-bringing winds from the west before they 
reach it. 

There are three meteorological stations in the national park (at 
Scarl, Buffalora, and Cluoza) which are all fitted with self-reg- 


istering apparatus such as thermographs, maximum and minimum 
thermometers, and totalizers. 


498 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 
HISTORY 


The Swiss National Park was actually founded in 1914, but years 
before, the idea that such an institution was desirable had been agi- 
tated by many lovers of nature. At the end of the last century 
Switzerland, like many other countries, began to give expression 
to its love for its natural beauties and its traditions. During the 
first decade of the present century this feeling grew, and it became 
evident that the natural treasures of the country must be protected 
in some way. Agricultural exploitation, the invasion of tourists, the 
mania for collecting specimens, the growing passion for hunting, 
were recognized by the Helvetic Society of Natural Sciences as being 
a great menace to the flora and fauna of the country. In 1906 this 
society formed a special commission for the protection of nature, 
which aimed at preventing destruction wherever it might threaten 
and preserving those natural monuments which represented scien- 
tific interest. ‘This commission became most active, it formed can- 
tonal subcommissions, acquired all kinds of natural monuments and 
got the cantons to enforce legislation for the protection of the flora. 
However, success was only partial, and it was seen that in spite of 
much enthusiasm and propaganda it would be necessary to create 
large inclosures where natural beauties would be absolutely pro- 
tected. ‘To Doctor Coaz, General Inspector of Forests, must be given 
the credit for first having suggested the district where the national 
park is now located. In 1905 he published an article describing his 
visit to Val Scarl, some three years before, in which he depicts the 
wild beauty of Val Cluoza, the former home of bears. The Cluoza 
and Scarl Valleys were the last places in Switzerland in which bears 
had been seen, and Doctor Coaz believed that through their disap- 
pearance the country had lost a certain trait and tradition. He 
thought that the region should be made into a refuge for bears and 
local proprietors indemnified for whatever damage they might do. 

The Society of Physics and Natural History of Geneva succeeded 
in interesting the Federal authorities in the idea of natural in- 
closures. In a note addressed to the Federal Council in 1907 it 
protested against the construction of a railroad up the Matterhorn 
and added that Switzerland should follow the example of the 
United States of America and shut off inclosures of geographical 
and geological interest for the free play of nature undisturbed by 
man. The Federal authorities showed themselves disposed to favor 
the idea, and in a general conference which followed between the 
various societies the appropriateness of the Fuorn region was again 
pointed out. During the summer of 1908 two members of the Hel- 
vetic Society of Natural Sciences set out to explore the district. 
They returned most enthusiastic over the beauties of Val Mingér, 


SWISS NATIONAL PARK——BLAND 499 


the richness of the fauna of these districts, the old forests, and the 
diversity of the flora. They came to the conclusion that an inclosure 
taking in the districts of Scarl and Quatervals, joined by the high 
plateau of Fuorn, would constitute an ideal national park. Doctor 
S. Brunies wrote an article showing the interest of the Cluoza 
Valley from a geological, meteorological, botanical, and zoological 
point of view, describing the isolation of this part of the country 
and its wild grandeur. He pointed out that the commune of Zernez 
viewed the park idea favorably. It was then that the Commission 
for the Protection of Nature definitely chose this territory. After 
some negotiations Val Cluoza was at last obtained as an inclosure 
for 25 years to date from December 1, 1909, the commune for- 
feiting the right of exploiting this valley in any way in return for 
an annual indemnity. Thus the National Park was founded. In 
1910 the Tantermozza Valley was added; in 1911 the lateral valleys 
of Trupchum, Mela and Muschauns, the left side of the Scarl Valley, 
and the valleys of Mingér and Tavru. In each case contracts were 
made with the respective communes by which a certain annual in- 
demnity was to be paid and reserving the right of transfer to the 
Confederation. 

The Commission for the Protection of Nature found itself thus 
faced with heavy financial responsibilities, and therefore an auxiliary 
society was formed toward the end of 1908, the membership of 
which cost 20 francs per annum and was open to all. It took the 
name of the Swiss League for the Protection of Nature and in- 
augurated an extensive educational campaign. The membership 
rose year by year, and the League was able to meet the expenses 
of the park. But, meanwhile, the commune of Zernez offered to 
give up the districts of Praspél, Schera, Fuorn, and Stavelchod 
in return for an annual indemnity. The League not having sufficient 
funds in 1911, put the matter before the Federal Council and 
asked for a yearly subsidy of 30,000 francs. The Federal Council 
sent two of its members to inspect the country reserved. They re- 
turned with a favorable impression, but suggested that if the park 
were only to last for 25 years it would not have much value as 
an institution, and that the League should attempt to get the com- 
munes to extend their contracts for 99 years. In spite of numerous 
efforts all the communes but Zernez refused. In 1912 the Federal 
Council appointed two commissions to study the question. They 
visited the park and made a number of recommendations regarding 
its administration and finances. 

In December, 1913, a contract was signed between the Confedera- 
tion, the Helvetic Society of Natural Sciences, and the League for 
the Protection of Nature, by which the Confederation would pay 
a subsidy of 30,000 francs per annum, the park would be adminis- 


500 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


trated by a Federal commission made up of members of the three 
contracting parties, the use of the park for scientific ends was to 
be organized by the Helvetic Society, the Swiss League was to 
furnish the finances as laid down by its statutes, and the control of 
the park was to be under the care of the Federal Council. 

At last the efforts of the nature enthusiasts were crowned with 
success. The project was brought before the National Council 
(Parliament), a brilliant report in support was read which closed 
with the wish that the park should add another feature to the be- 
loved face of the home country. It is true that in the discussion 
that followed one or two dissenting voices were heard, particularly 
from a member of Parliament for Glarus, who feared that the dis- 
trict inclosed would become the haunt of beasts and birds of prey 
which would be a danger to the surrounding country. He even pre- 
tended to suspect the Austrians of taking advantage of the situa- 
tion and sending over all the bears, wolves and other terrible animals 
which infest their country. An enterprising legislator thought that 
the park could be made to serve as a means of national defense by 
using the wild animals against anyone who dared to violate the neu- 
trality of the eastern frontier, and thus a national saving on the 
score of military defence could be made. ‘The project was eventually 
adopted by 107 votes to 13. The law was passed on April 3, 1914, 
and came into force on August 1, 1914, and thus the park became 
a permanent national institution. 

Since this date most of the territory making up the national park 
has been conceded to the Confederation on interminable leases or 
sold outright to it. But parts of the Val Scarl and Val Plavna still 
remain under a 25 years’ lease, and in spite of negotiations it has 
been impossible to come to terms with the various communes or to 
extend the park to the banks of the Inn. 


FLORA 


Due to its position and varying altitude, the park region possesses 
a rich flora, ranging from valley to snow line and including both 
eastern and western Alpine species. Many of the rarest plants of 
Switzerland are found only in this district. The greater part of the 
park hes within the sub-Alpine pine forest line. The dark heavy 
cloak of the tall black forests of the Engadine covers the shoulders 
of the mountains up to a height of 2,300 meters (Val Scarl). Parts 
have still a rather primeval aspect. Here are found in abundance 
the fir (Abies alba), the yew (Taxus baccata), and savin (Juniperus 
sabina). 'The slopes of the high valleys between Scanfs and Schuls 
are thick with spruce (Picea excelsa), which ascends to an altitude 
of about 2,000 meters and then is replaced by the cembra pine (Pinus 


SWISS NATIONAL PARK—-BLAND 501 


cembra) and larch (Laria decidua). The middle and upper Fuorn 
region is covered principally with mountain pines (Pinus montana), 
which form the largest intact forest of the upright arborescent 
species in the whole of Switzerland. The decumbent species, the 
Scotch pine (Pinus silvestris), which grows up to an altitude of 
2,400 meters, constitutes almost impenetrable thickets in Cluoza, 
Praspol, and. particularly on the slopes of the Pisoc group (Val 
Mingér). Next to the common forest pine (Pinus szlvestris), the 
characteristic tree of the dry central Alpine region is the Engadine 
pine (Pinus silvestris L. var. engadinensis Heer). The larch (Larix 
decidua), the typical tree of the upper Engadine, grows all over the 
park region, and here and there forms thick clumps. The grand- 
father of this family, said to be at least 400 years old, was unfortu- 
nately crushed by a falling rock in 1924. The upper forest. line, 
which in this region extends higher than in other parts of the Alps, 
consists chiefly of larch and of cembra pine, the noblest tree of the 
Alps. Only isolated specimens of this pine are found on the lower 
slopes, but it flourishes in the high altitudes, producing particularly 
fine cones; it is found most profusely in Val Scarl. These giants 
of the forest, growing on the upper slopes of the rugged peaks, are 
often hard pressed in the fight against the elements. The “ Battle 
Zone,” strewn with fallen trees struck down by lightning, ava- 
lanches, and frosts, is an impressive sight. 

The unparalleled richness of the Alpine flowers, which are at the 
height of their beauty during the last half of June, lends a fairy- 
like charm to this wild region. Above the brightly colored army of 
spear violets (Viola calcarata), the vivid blue of the gentian (Gen- 
tiana), the fiery red of the catchfly (Stene acaulis), the striking 
purple saxifrage (Sazxifraga oppositifolia), the white and gold 
Pyrenean and Alpine buttercups (Ranunculus), the golden hawk- 
weed (Hieraciwm), the graceful panicles of grasses and-rushes, ap- 
pears the wonderful star of the edelweiss (Leontopodium alpinum), 
elsewhere so rare. Early in April, as soon as the snow clears away, 
the sunny spots on the lower slopes are covered with Aster alpinus, 
Anemone vernalis, and Crocus vernus. 

Delicate flowers such as Linaria alpina, Cerastium, Valeriana 
supina, and the bright golden-yellow Alpine poppy (Papaver rhae- 
ticum) grow in the crevasses and gorges. Even the high slopes do 
not lack a decoration of flowers. Besides the famous Alpine roses 
(Rhododendron ferrugineum) and other flowering shrubs are found 
Androsace helvetica, primroses (Primula), and stonecrop (Sedum 
acre). Owing, however, to the dryness of the region and to the 
changing temperature, Alpine roses, lilies, and anemones are not 
found in such thick carpets as in other parts of the Alps. 

20837—27——-33 


902 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


From time to time new plants and flowers are discovered in the 
National Park, the most recent being Draba ladina, previously un- 
known to botanists. It is a yellow-flowered plant of the mustard 
family. 

FAUNA 

Years ago this part of the Alps was the home of the wolf, lynx, 
bear, and lammergeier, but the ever advancing tide of civilization has 
now forced them to flee to wilder regions. The last lynx was shot 
in the neighborhood of the National Park in 1872 and the last bear in 
1904. In August, 1919, a bear with two young ones was seen near 
the National Park, but no later appearance of these animals has been 
recorded. The lammergeier became extinct in the Alps during the 
last century. The park is now the haunt of less fearful animals. 
On the grassy slopes feed herds of graceful stags, deer, and chamois; 
eagles circle majestically over the forests, dividing their prey with 
hordes of foxes, marmots, and weasels. 

The park commission has made great progress with the repopu- 
lation of the region with some of its native fauna. Particular in- 
terest is taken in the colony of ibex which was started in 1920 and 
now counts 12 members. They have quite returned to their wild 
state and live chiefly around Piz Terza. The ibex figured in the his- 
tory of Graubiinden for centuries and appears on ancient coats of 
arms of that canton. 

The following table shows the gradual increase of animals and 
birds in the park since 1918 when the first census was taken: 


Black Small | Ptarmi- 


Year Stags | Roe deer| Chamois} Foxes grouse grouse gans 


| 2) 2 Met gi agit wot tS 

o|o|#|é |g |22/e2|&8|83)53) 2 

#)/2)3| 2) 2 | 8 |=8/86/32| $8) 28) 8 

=) aa ee] ie) PS m& |A~ lo Mm | Ay fe road ic 
Trupchum-Tantermozza--|-.---- 35 65 460 | 120 35 30 35 N90 222220 12 
Cluoza-Prasp6l__....--.__- 12 45 55 400 | 114 15 23 80 18 65 15 10 
Maori 2 Se Ae sae eee 15 45 160 70 25 7 255 | POS 5) /S23the 5 
SGV ae ee Se ere |i sae 1 30 210 35 15 3 Oa eee ae 70 6 13 
Total in 1925___..-_- 12 96 | 195 | 1,230 | 339 90 63 | 190 22 | 315 21 40 


Total in 1924-_.._-_-. 12 70 | 151 | 1,144 | 358 69 49 | 169 29 | 317 20 20 


The figures given above are taken from the guardians’ annual 
reports. 


SWISS NATIONAL PARK—-BLAND 503 
GEOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS 


The National Park region presents an entirely different rock for- 
mation from that of the other Swiss and French Alps; it is more 
nearly related to the Austrian Alps, and it has therefore been 
named Austro-Alpine or eastern Alpine. The eastern Alpine range 
forms a mighty wall from south to north. It is this that makes the 
section between Scarl and Tarasp so beautiful; with the soft, gently 
undulating slate mountains in the north and to the south the sharp 
ridges of the eastern Alpine Dolomites. 

Val Cluoza, the first acquisition of the National Park Commis- 
sion, rises with forbidding blackness against the lighter Dolomites. 
It towers in baffling uniformity above the isolated valleys; its débris 
chokes the murmur of the streams; its cheerless desolation and oppres- 
sive silence is scarcely relieved by the glittering snow peaks of its 
background; and its very mouth is blocked with wild gorges, making 
a picture which can scarcely be found elsewhere in the Alps. 

These mountains are comparatively young, belonging to the middle 
tertiary period. Dolomite is the ruling formation. Grotesque 
points, broken ridges, and unending slopes of débris make up the 
greater part of the lofty peaks. These belong to the Trias forma- 
tion and are called principal dolomites. Another dolomite series 
is distinguished by beds of lime, colored slate, sandstone, and 
gypsum, called the Raibler stratum. An older Trias dolomite, the 
belemnite, is also found in this region, and under it lies another 
dolomite lime series, shell limestone. Shell limestone, belemnite, 
and Raibler stratum form the peaks of the Astras and Starlez group 
as well as the range which stretches from Piz Daint, Munt da 
Buffalora to Munt la Schera. On the principal dolomites lies still 
a younger Trias stratum, the Rhaetian. 

The region is particularly rich in petrescent stones and fossils. 
Between Piz Murter and Piz Terza are found hundreds of graceful 
pieces of coral (Lithodendren) and small round brachipods (Terebra- 
tula greparia). 

Sediment of the younger Jura formation is found in the south. 
It is dark limestone and slate of the Lias formation and is also rich 
in fossils (belemnite and ammonite). In Val Trupchum lies a vein 
of still younger minerals, red, green, and white hornstone. 

Colored sandstone and Verrucano (green and red quartz and slate) 
are chiefly found on the south side of Ova del Fuorn, in Val Mustair 
and in Scarl, while gneiss appears in the upper Val Mustair and 
granite in the upper Val Scarl and in the Sessvena group. 


‘woe > 


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srpawon)  cobtarcrot agents oft. Bi atinolotL, bors 
old qir olan, acdély:-t0 eoqole gai baorer Dae aonbi 
«garrot aekT’ oct of gaofed aaa T vice m witol odd 


bun: ,artotebrise .adnla baroloa. oral to ebod ud h 


yorogs aol i robrr bas norms “eit ny: harot | 
dtiranolad janotagertl Hote auto tesrntt Theda azote 
quorg, xeliaie ban anid, at to anne. a ds scioh mag ' 
ah donl4 Jain sit prot podotorrte 
{Vida eail esdtimolobh aan ie auld. Ao, 


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__anoteaiod otter ‘hos sary bor ales 

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aintanle leT at cron Ih nv) to: obiz iinos, odt 
han aieult (a: romper add i ampoqere aatoiey, lid 
‘etal in OE 4 sasven8e, enlt ict bate task hoy i 


Smithsonian Report, 1926.—Bland PLATE 1 


Swiss NATIONAL PARK, VAL CLUOZZA WITH PIZ QUATER-VALS (10,396 
FEET). 


Photograph by J. Feuerstein, Schuls 


ginyog ‘ureysioneg “¢ Aq ydvis0j0yg 
ssO4 11 YNS WOY4 LNIVOVG VWNAVW1d Zid ‘XYVd IWNOILVN SSIMS 


@ alvid pueig—'9Z6| ‘Wodey uejuosyyWS 


Smithsonian Report, 1926.—Bland PEATE S 


1. HERD OF CHAMOIS 


Photograph by Engadine Press Co., Samaden 


2. MARMOTS 


Photograph by Atelier Flury, O. Lochan, Pontresima 


sings ‘uteysioneg “¢ Aq ydeisojogd 


SNIGVONS YSMO7 SHL NI dSVYV] AO AILSVD 


uoday UuelUOSUIWS 


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SAMUEL SLATER AND THE OLDEST COTTON 
MACHINERY IN AMERICA 


By Freperick L. LEwTon 
Curatcr of Textiles, U. S. National Museum 


[With 3 plates.] 


According to the census of 1920, there were in 1919, 33,718,933 
cotton spindles at work in the United States; yet it was only 136 
years ago that all the cotton yarn made in this country was spun 
by hand. The building of the first cotton spinning machinery in 
America and the starting of the first cotton mill in 1790, marked 
the foundation of one of America’s greatest industries. Many per- 
sons will be surpised to learn that part of the machinery of that 
first cotton mill is still in existence preserved in the collections of the 
United States National Museum. This cotton machinery, the pro- 
genitor of the millions of spindles whose daily revolutions convert the 
greater part of our cotton crop into yarn for thread and cloth mak- 
ing, was for many years lost and forgotten and was only recently 
brought out of its hiding place and placed on public view. 

The account of the building of America’s first cotton machinery 
reads like a romance, and although parts of the story have been 
told before, the books containing them are now out of print and 
are not available to the general reader. 

The machines now in the National Museum, a carding engine 
and a spinning frame of 48 spindles, are two of the five machines 
built by Samuel Slater and started in operation by him on Decem- 
ber 20, 1790, with power obtained from the old fulling mill water 
wheel in Ezekiel Carpenter’s clothier shop on the east bank of the 
Blackstone River at the southeast abutment of Pawtucket Bridge. 
Slater’s three cards and two spinning frames were operated for 
nearly two years in the old clothier shop, during which time several 
thousand pounds of yarn accumulated for which there seemed to 
be no demand, so small a quantity in those days sufficed to supply 
the market. Although every exertion had been made to weave it 
up and sell it, the market was glutted and the machinery was 
stopped for some months, 

Upon starting the machinery in 1790, Mr. Slater set four persons 
at work in his “ mill’: Arnold and Charles Torpen, Smith Wilkin- 

505 


506 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


son, and Jabez Jenks. The following week four more were em- 
employed—Ennise Torpen, John and Varnes Jenks, and Otis Borrows. 
The third week Ann Torpen commenced working in the cotton 
factory, and the fourth week the same nine were employed. Thus 
during the first month of cotton manufacture in America by means 
of machinery, the entire business was carried on by Samuel Slater 
and nine assistants, nearly all of whom were young children. 


SLATHER’S FIRST MILL 


Early in the year 1793, Slater and his partners, Obadiah Brown 
and William Almy, built a new mill especially designed for the cot- 
ton business. The three cards and two spinning frames, containing 
together a total of 72 spindles, were removed thereto and set in 
motion on July 12, 1798. This was the first cotton mill on the 
American vee in which all the processes of the improved 
Arkwright cotton-spinning and preparatory machinery were carried 
on under one roof. More spindles were added as the sales of yarn 
increased. This factory, which has been known for many years as 
the “Old Slater Mill,” still stands in Pawtucket and is to be pre- 
served as a textile museum. Several times the building has been 
enlarged in height, width, and length, but the original timbers and 
frame form part of the existing building. The spinning, bleaching, 
dyeing, and finishing of cotton yarns and cloth were likely all carried 
on in this building, but the weaving was done in private houses 
on hand looms, the cloth being returned to the factory to be dyed 
or finished. 

SLATER’S SECOND MILL 


In company with his father-in-law, Oziel Wilkinson, William 
Wilkinson, and Timothy Greene, son and son-in-law of Oziel Wilkin- 
son, Mr. Slater formed the firm of Samuel Slater & Co. in 1798, 
in which he held a half interest. The erection of a mill was soon 
after begun on the east side of the river almost opposite the first 
factory, but the machinery was not started until some time in 1801. 
This was the first spinning mill in Massachusetts that operated suc- 
cessfully the Arkwright type of machinery; consequently to Slater 
belongs the credit of starting the first mills in both Rhode Island 
and Massachusetts. 

Slater was superintendent of both mills, and received in each case 
$1.50 per day for his services, making his wages $3. He attended 
strictly to his business, and it is said that for 20 years he labored 16 
hours daily. In 1810 Slater sold out his interest in this factory, 
which was commonly known as the White Mill, to the other partners, 
who conducted the business in the name of Wilkinson, Greene & Co. 
The mill was burned in 1824 but was rebuilt by Timothy Greene & 
Sons. 


OLDEST COTTON MACHINERY—LEWTON 507 


SLATER’S THIRD MILL 


John Slater, a brother of Samuel, arrived from England in 1803, 
bringing with him a knowledge of the spinning mule invented by 
Crompton. In 1805 a new enterprise was planned, Almy, Brown, 
and the two Slaters each taking a fourth interest, and during 1806 
the erection of a mill was begun in the northern part of Rhode 
Island on the South Branch of the Blackstone River. The mill was 
finished and began operations in 1807, John Slater being superin- 
tendent. This was the beginning of the village of Slatersville. 
John Slater eventually bought out all the other partners, and the 
mills and village were passed on to his grandson, John W. Slater. 


SLATER’S FOURTH MILL 


In 1811, in company with a young man named Bela Tiffany, who 
had been in his employ a number of years, Samuel Slater started a 
cotton factory at Oxford, Mass., a part of which village is now 
known as Webster, about 35 miles northwest from Providence, R. I. 
An excellent water power was furnished by the French River and 
several ponds. At first the business was conducted under the name 
of Slater & Tiffany, but it soon came wholly into the possession of 
Samuel Slater, and ultimately was carried on in the name of Samuel 
Slater & Sons. The property in 1817 consisted of one cotton fac- 
tory of 2,000 spindles, a woolen mill, a grist and saw mill, 16 dwell- 
ing houses, and 700 acres of land. 

In 1822 with Willard Sayles and Lyman Tiffany of Boston, 
Oliver Dean of Franklin, and Pitcher & Gay of Pawtucket, Slater 
formed a company, and purchased an estate consisting of a small 
cotton mill, several tenements, and a fine water-privilege at Amos- 
keag Falls, on the Merrimack River. This was the foundation of 
the well-known Amoskeag Manufacturing Co., and the real begin- 
ning of the great manufacturing city of Manchester, N. H. 

The War of 1812, by shutting out foreign goods, gave a great 
impetus to domestic manufacture, and as Samuel Slater had all 
his various enterprises well under way, he was enabled to reap great 
advantage. Cotton cloth sold at 40 cents a yard, and the demand 
was unlimited. Besides the interests which he possessed in the mills 
already mentioned, he invested capital in woolen and iron manufac- 
ture, and other lines of business. 

According to a memorial presented to the United States Congress, 
there were reported to be at the close of the year 1815, 99 cotton 
mills in Rhode Island, with 75,678 spindles; in Massachusetts, 57 
mills with 45,650 spindles; and in Connecticut, 14 mills with 12,886 
spindles; making a total of 170 mills operating 134,214 spindles. The 
average capacity of cotton mills at that time was only 500 spindles, 


508 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


The “ Old Slater Mill” at Pawtucket, was up to this time the largest 
in the country, and contained 5,170 spindles. President Monroe 
visited, Providence in 1817, and was escorted by a committee to see 
the old mill in Pawtucket. Here he was received by Mr. Slater and 
shown the first spinning frames which had been running 27 years. 
The Slater machinery was also viewed by President Jackson, who 
visited Pawtucket during his first term of office. Slater was at that 
time laid up with rheumatism, the result of exposure in starting 
the water-wheel of his first machinery during the severe New Eng- 
land winters. After watching the machinery, President Jackson 
called at Slater’s home to show his respect to the man whom he called 
“The father of American manufactures.” The following conversa- 
tion is said to have occurred between the two: “I understand,” said 
the President, “you taught us how to spin so as to rival Great 
Britain in her manufactures; you set all these thousands of spindles 
to work, which I have been delighted in viewing, and you have made 
so many happy by a lucrative employment.” “ Yes, sir,” said Slater, 
“T suppose that I gave out the psalm, and they have been singing 
the tune ever since.” 

In 1827, Slater and his sons started a mill in Providence, R. L, 
containing 7,000 or 8,000 spindles, and operated it with a steam 
engine. This was the first mill of its kind in the State and one of 
the first in the country, and it was very commonly known as the 
“steam mill” until recently. 

During the great business depression of 1829, Samuel Slater sold 
to William Almy his one-third interest in the “ Old Mill,” owned by 
Obadiah Brown, Almy, and Slater, and gave his attention to the 
“Steam Mill,” which was known as the Providence Steam Cotton 
Manufacturing Co. This mill proved to be very successful, and 
after 1880 experienced judges said that it produced the finest goods 
in the country. 

During his later years, Samuel Slater spent the greater part of 
his time at Webster, Mass., where his fourth mill was started, and 
where he died on April 21, 1835, in his 67th year. Through his in- 
fluence three villages that had grown up from his enterprise, together 
with some territory from the towns of Dudley and Oxford, were in 
1832 incorporated as the town of Webster, and named after Daniel 
Webster. Webster still interests the Slater family, as H. N. Slater, - 
a grandson of Samuel, is president of the corporation now operating 
over 82,000 cotton spindles in the place. 

Just how long the carding and spinning machinery built in 1790 
and left in the “Old Mill” were kept running seems not to have 
been recorded, but George White, a friend of Slater’s, wrote just 
after the death of his friend in 1835, that the machines were still in 
the old mill and were shown to visitors as curiosities. They were 


OLDEST COTTON MACHINERY-——LEWTON 509 


probably soon after relegated to the upper part of the old mill, 
where they lay unused and forgotten for nearly 20 years. 

In 1856, Dr. Samuel Boyd Tobey, the executor for the heirs of 
Moses Brown and of Obadiah Brown and William Almy, his son 
and son-in-law, deposited a cotton-carding machine and a spinning 
frame of 48 spindles with the Rhode Island Society for the En- 
couragement of Domestic Industry, then occupying a building in 
Providence known as Railroad Hall. The report of the society 
for the year 1856 records the fact. 

At the request of the Rhode Island Society, Doctor Tobey pre- 
pared for its records a certificate of authenticity for the Slater spin- 
ning frame and cotton card which he had deposited earlier with the 
society. The following is an exact copy of the wording of the 
certificate : 


History of the Old Card and Water Frame Presented to the Rhode 
Island Society for the Encouragement of Domestic Industry. 

Samuel Slater arrived in New York in January, 1790. On the 18th of the 
same month he went to Pawtucket and commenced building the first ma- 
chinery for the “Old Spinning Mill,” and started the same in a clothier’s 
shop by the power of the Fulling Mill wheel, December 20, 1790, viz. : 

Three carding machines. 

Drawing and roying machines. 

One water frame, 24 spindles. 

One water frame, 48 spindies. 
Where they run for about 20 months and overstocked the “Domestic Goods ” 
market, several thousand pounds of yarn haying accumulated in that time, 
notwithstanding thé most active exertions on the part of the proprietors to 
dispose of the product, both in yarns and in cloth woven by hand. 

The spinning frame of 24 spindles was the first experimental machine, and 
consequently imperfect, and taken from the Mill to give place to machines 
of more perfect construction. . 

In 1793 William Almy, Obadiah M. Brown and Samuel Slater, under the firm 
of Almy, Brown and Slater, built a small factory, the center portion of the 
“Old Spinning Mill,” into which the above-mentioned machinery was removed 
and put in operation on the 12th day of July of the same year. 

One of the carding machines and the 48-spindle water frame mentioned 
above were presented as above by the heirs of Moses Brown, William Almy 
and Obadiah M. Brown, and now stand in state in the rooms of the society. 

Moses Brown was the foster father of the whole enterprise. Almy, Brown 
and Slater were the owners and recipients of the benefits arising therefrom. 

SAMUEL Boyp TOoBEy, 
Trustee and attorney of heirs aforesaid. 
ProvipENCcE, 9TH MontTH, 11TH, 1856. 


Note: The above facts are chiefly derived from a memo. by Samuel Slater 
to the R. L. Hist. Society. 
DN sick. ae 
At the time of the Philadelphia International. Exhibition in 1876, 
better known as the Centennial, the old Slater cotton machinery, was 
exhibited in Machinery Hall by the Providence Machine Co., a 
208372734 


510 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


corporation which had been started in 1834 by Samuel Slater, in 
partnership with Thomas J. Hill, to build cotton machinery. 

The Rhode Island Society for the Encouragement of Domestic 
Industry moved its headquarters several times during the next 25 
years and evidently found the care of the old machines to be some- 
thing of a burden, for in 1880 the Slater machinery was presented to 
the Brown University Museum. A few years later Prof. Jeremiah 
W. P. Jenks, of the university, “believing that these valuable 
instruments marking the beginning of cotton manufacure in America 
should not be immured in a dungeon,” as he described the damp base- 
ment room where the machines were stored, suggested the deposition 
by the society of these relics in the National Museum at Washington. 
After about a year of negotiation with the society, Professor Jenks 
succeeded in having a vote passed at the annual meeting in Janu- 
ary, 1883, that “ The progenitor of all the cotton machinery in the 
country ” be presented to the National Museum at Washington. 

In due time the machinery was packed and sent to the Museum 
by the water route via Norfolk, the Rhode Island Society sending 
at the same time a complete set of implements used in the prepara- 
tion and spinning of flax. It was hoped that the old machines 
had at last found a resting place, but they were fated to do some 
more traveling as later paragraphs will show. 

The Slater machines were loaned by the Smithsonian Institution to 
the State of Rhode Island for exhibition as part of that State’s 
display at the World’s Industrial and Cotton Centennial Exposi- 
tion in New Orleans during the winter of 1884-85. The machines 
were returned to the National Museum in March, 1885, but were only 
allowed a few years’ rest for in 1890 their travels began again, this 
time back to their point of origin. In the meantime, on date of 
July 23, 1888, the National Museum received from J. Erastus Lester, 
of the Rhode Island Society, the original certificate of authenticity 
of the Slater machines signed by Samuel Boyd Tobey, which was 
needed to make the exhibit complete and which had been lost for 
many years. 

In 1890 Senator Nelson Aldrich of Rhode Island, requested the 
loan of the Slater machines for the Cotton Centenary, a celebration 
by the City of Pawtucket of the one hundredth anniversary of the 
beginning of cotton spinning by power machinery on the Western 
Hemisphere, and on August 5, 1890, the National Museum shipped 
them to Albert R. Sherman, superintendent of exhibits. The 
directors of the industrial exhibition were anxious to have the Slater 
spinning frame actually spin cotton yarn as it had begun to do 100 
years before, so the ancient machine was taken to be put in running 
order to “ Brown’s Machine Shop ” at the corner of Main and Pine 
Streets, where Sylvanus Brown, the grandfather of the proprietor, 


OLDEST COTTON MACHINERY—LEWTON 511 


had under the direction of Samuel Slater made the original patterns 
for the old machine. 

Within Centenary Hall was erected a pavilion called the Slater 
Pavilion, within which were displayed a large number of articles 
formerly belonging to Slater and his family. In one room, over the 
entrance to which was a sign reading “ Almy, Slater & Brown,” 
there was arranged a tableau, showing at opposite sides of a table, 
impersonations of “ Uncle Sam ” and Samuel Slater, the latter seated 
in a chair with different kinds of yarn before him. Uncle Sam 
was congratulating Slater on his success, and there were shown in 
this room the finest cotton goods made, produced in mills which had. 
been started by Samuel Slater. Two objects, however, were the 
source of constant attention; these were the old card and the spin- 
ning frame built by Slater and loaned by the National Museum, 
the card by the side of a modern card, and the spinning frame by 
the side of the most recent machine built to do the same kind of 
work. The old spinning frame was put into operation and produced 
as good yarn as could be made by the most modern machines. As 
evidence of the intense interest taken by visitors to the Cotton Cente- 
nary in this achievement, the local papers recorded the sale of the 
first skein of 5 ounces of yarn spun by the revived old spinning 
frame at the price of $5. It is greatly to be regretted that interest 
of another kind by souvenir hunters robbed the machine of many of 
its parts so that by the time the Slater frame was returned to its 
home in the National Museum it had been robbed of nearly half its 
spindles and bobbins. 

Owing to various circumstances, the extensive textile collections 
in the United States National Museum were put in storage in 1890, 
the old spinning frame being stored away in the crate as it was 
returned from the Pawtucket Cotton Centenary. 

Soon after the reestablishment of the Division of Textiles of the 
National Museum in 1912, the writer discovered the precious relic 
and restored it to its deserved place in the Textile Hall. Doctor 
Tobey’s original certificate of authenticity had been filed away when 
the Slater machines were sent to Pawtucket, and this precious docu- 
ment was not found until 35 years later. 


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meena nants %. acl es bonsol bets, agtele, wa tis 
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odd. to alee oct hefricsas asaqarp Inool ast daoata ait, . 
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g24rrehiti dualt. baljary: ost off od. “igor : ra Al, we ko 96 . 
to ystenr, to anidosas act hoddos einai singyegoe rd bai | 
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Smithsonian Report, 1925.—Lewton PLATE 1 


SAMUEL SLATER 


Builder of the first cotton-spinning frame in America, constructed on the Arkwright system of 
spinning. Pawtucket, R. I., 1790 


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PREVENTIVE MEDICINE * 


By Marx FE. Boyp, M. D. 


Preyentive medicine may be defined as that branch of applied 
biology which seeks to reduce or eradicate disease by removing or 
altering the responsible etiological factors. Included within its 
scope are two subjects which are often confused with it; these are 
hygiene and sanitation, respectively. Hygiene is the proper care 
of the body to permit the normal functioning of the various 
organs and tissues, while sanitation is the proper cleanliness of the 
environment. 

Since preventive medicine requires a complete knowledge of the 
etiology of disease for its application, it is apparent that deficiencies 
of etiologic knowledge must necessarily limit the scope of successful 
work. There are, however, five groups of disease whose etiology is 
sufficiently well known to warrant their classification as preventable. 
The groups are: 

1. Diseases produced as the result of the invasion of the body by 
microorganisms; 

2. Diseases the result of a faulty or deficient diet; 

3. Diseases the result of unhygienic or insanitary conditions of 
employment; 

4, Diseases arising as the result of the puerperal state; and 

5. Diseases transmitted from parent to offspring. 

_ Despite the fact that the number of diseases included in the above 
groups is limited, this handicap is very much reduced by the fact 
that the diseases included in the above groups are for the most part 
of considerable importance as causes of morbidity and mortality, so 
that effective control measures directed against them will accomplish 
a great deal in reducing the hazards of life. Their importance may 
be judged from the following mortality statistics from the registra- 
tion area of the United States: 


Papen 7 1912 1913 

Per cent of total population of United States in registration 

pe Wet ote _ yee ye el Fb d ee oe ret he ee ee a 63. 2 65.1 
Hataile Geminss “All. CAlSe@Se oo! «2 a oe 838, 251 890, 848 
MeAthse cases of Group bw eee ee A 287,645 304, 580 
Heaths: disease of Groupr 22-222. oN se a eet 4,409 15,005 
Deaths, Gisedse of (Group BL. sul) tie ei a eee 156 171 
Deaths /Giseasefof Group d.45o3 2072-3 04- fe eee 9,035 10,010 
Heath weisease: Of GrOuih poe se ee ak Not a direct cause 

of death. 


17This article forms Chapter I, Introduction, of the book entitled ‘‘ Preventive Medicine,” 
by Mark F. Boyd, M. D., published by W. B. Saunders Sa cae Philadelphia and London, 
and is here reprinted with their permission. 


513 


514 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


While the diseases of Group 5 are not of importance as causes of 
mortality, they nevertheless exert a certain definite influence which 
we will consider later. 

Directly as well as indirectly these diseases are the cause of im- 
mense economic losses. These affect both the individual and the 
social fabric. The following economic losses may be enumerated: 

(a) Temporary or permanent disablement of the patient as an 
immediate result of the disease, resulting to the individual in tempo- 
rary or permanent loss of earning power, and to society in the loss 
of productive labor; 

(6) Sequelz or complications which permanently impair the indi- 
vidual’s usefulness or hasten death from other causes; 

(c) Expenses of illness, which if due to preventable illness, must 
be regarded as an economic loss; 

(d@) The expense incident to the establishment and maintenance 
of public hospitals, asylums, and charitable agencies to relieve want 
arising from disabling sickness; 

(e) Making vast regions of the earth’s surface uninhabitable for 
the civilized races; while 

(7) Preventable diseases of the domesticated food poisoning ani- 
mals may cause such inroads into their numbers that animal foods 
become scarce and consequently high in price. This is due both to a 
destruction of the animal as well as to a decreased productiveness of 
those surviving. 

With most of the diseases included in the foregoing groups our 
available knowledge is sufficiently adequate to justify us in classify- 
ing them as preventable. Their continued presence with us is chiefly 
due to the lack of ways and means for placing effective control meas- 
ures in operation. It may never be practicable to place in operation 
in civil life the drastic, but nevertheless effective measures which have 
made the military application of preventive medicine so brilliant, 
though the experience with military discipline emphasizes the admin- 
istrative difficulties which are encountered in the civil application of 
these measures, where tact rather than force must win the point. 
Conceiving a population wherein an adequately organized defensive 
and offensive body was available to apply proper measures, we might 
expect that their continued application would have certain effects. 
Among these we may prophesy the following: 

(a) Amn increase in the period of expectation of life, that is 
the probable duration of the life of the hypothetical average in- 
dividual. This change will be accompanied by the following 
phenomena: (1) There will first be a gradual diminution in the 
total death rate, due to the gradual disappearance of the prevent- 
able diseases as causes of mortality. (2) A change in the age dis- 
tribution of the deaths will next be apparent. The majority of 


PREVENTIVE MEDICINE—BOYD oL5 


the conditions we are considering are most active as causes of 
death among the ages below 30. Their elimination will, of course, 
permit a larger proportion of individuals to survive to ages be- 
yond 380, and as the change takes place the number of deaths above 
30 will slowly increase, proportionate to the decrease in the deaths 
below 30. (3) The conditions which are operative as causes of 
death at the age periods beyond 30 other than those of our par- 
ticular groups will gradually be found to be responsible for an 
increasingly greater number of deaths. This state of affairs is not 
necessarily alarming, but rather is encouraging, as indicating that 
a larger proportion of individuals are permitted to survive to 
middle life and older periods. This is in our opinion, the most 
rational explanation of the increases which have been observed in 
the mortality from carcinoma and cardio-renal disease. ‘The com- 
pletion of this cycle of transformation will probably leave us with 
a crude death rate from all causes very nearly the same as before 
the days of even the most feeble preventive work. The important 
difference will be in the age distribution of the deaths. Instead 
of the many dying young, the majority will survive to middle 
life or old age. The individual will have a better chance of liv- 
ing what may be said to be a life of “ normal” duration. 

New York City furnishes us with a concrete example of. the 
influence that improved hygiene and sanitation exerts in prolonging 
human life. In 1882 Dr. J. S. Billings prepared a life table for 
New York City based upon the mortality experience for the years 
1879, 1880, and 1881. At that time a male child five years of 
age could expect to live 39.7 years longer, and a female child 42.8 
years longer. In 1913 a similar table was prepared based upon the 
experience of the years 1909, 1910, and 1911. Males at the age of 
five have an expectation of 50.1 further years of life, and females 
an expectation of 53.8 years. Thus in this period of 30 years the 
expectation of life for males at the age of five years has increased 
by 10.4 years and that of females by 11 years. The life tables 
referred to are reproduced in Table II. This increase in the ex- 
pectation of life is observed at all ages up to 35, while at all ages 
above 43 is a constantly increasing diminution in the duration of 
life. This change in the expectation of life in New York is justly 
referable to improved hygiene and sanitation, as New York City 
was one of the first cities in the country to organize an efficient 
health department, which has since been maintained on a high plane 
of efficiency. 

(6) Unhealthful regions of the earth will be made habitable, 
consequently human overcrowding will be relieved, and more of the 
earth’s treasures will be available for mankind. 


516 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


TABLE II.—Approvimate life tables for the city of New York based on the mor- 
tality returns for the triennia 1879 to 1881 and 1909 to 1911 


Expectation of life, 1879 to | Expectation of life, 1909 to | Gain (+) or loss (—) in 
F 1881 1911 years of expectancy 
Years of mortality 

(ages) 
Males |Females| Persons} Males |Females| Persons; Males | Females} Persons 
raat) SAS ee © oa Ce 39.7 42.8 41.3 50. 1 53. 8 51.9 +10. 4 +11. +10. 6 
| eee! Sade De Say 44,9 47.7 46.3 49. 4 52.9 51.1 +4.5 +5. 2 +48 
JOSE. ALEK SP tea 42.4 45.3 43. 8 45. 2 48.7 46.9 +2.8 +3. 4 +3. 1 
38. 2 41.2 39. 7 40.8 44.2 42. 5 +2. 6 +3. +2. 8 
34. 4 3733 35. 8 36. 6 40 38.3 +2. 2 +2.7 +2.5 
31. 2 34 32. 6 32.7 36 34.3 +1.5 +2 +1.7 
28. 2 31 29. 6 28.9 32.1 30. 5 cs aay f +11 + .9 
25.3 28. 1 26. 7 25. 4 28. 4 26.9 = yer + .3 + .2 
22.5 25.2 23.9 22. 1 24. 7 23. 4 cs byt —.5 — .6 
19.8 22. 4° 2 18.9 21.1 20 —.9 —1.1 —1.] 
he 2 19. 4 18. 3 15.9 Ly ea 16.8 —-1.3 —1.7 —1.5 
14,5 16. 4 15. 4 13. 2 14. 6 13,9 =—1.3 —1.8 —1.5 
12.2 13.8 13 10.8 11.8 11.3 =—1.4 —2 =. 
9.9 11.2 10.5 8.8 9. 4 9.1 =1.1 -1.8 —1,4 
8.5 9.3 8.9 6.9 7.5 7.2 —1.6 —1.8 —1.7 
vo 7.5 7.3°| 5.3 5..7, 5.5 —1.8 —1.8 —1.8 
6.2 6.5 6.4 4.1 4.5 4.3 —2:1 —2.0 —2.1 
5.4 6. 5 5. 5 | 2 2.4 | 2. 2 —3.4 —3.1 —3.3 
+24. 8 +28.7) +26.6 
Siok anwca saree ae See ee coe COR oe See ee iB ig ea —15.3 —17.6 —16.6 

+9. 5 +11.1 +10 


(c) The economic productiveness of the individual as well as of 
the race will be increased. As a consequence individual and national 
wealth will increase and poverty and want diminish. 

(zd) The supply of animal foods will increase and only be limited 
by the available roughage. 

(e) Lastly, we may prophesy an improvement in the general 
physical condition of the race. 

The effective operation of the necessary machinery to apply the 
etiological knowledge we shall briefly sketch may be said to be 
the problem. It is one of great difficulty and complexity and its 
complete solution is far distant. Partial means to control the dis- 
eases of Group 1 are, as we shall presently see, of considerable 
antiquity, and arose from a recognition that persons infected with 
communicable diseases were a danger to the public. Thus there 
developed the field of public health. Originally it arose from a 
purely selfish attitude on the part of society as a whole to protect 
itself from certain infected individuals, whose objectionable char- 
acteristics arose from no fault of their own. To-day we find a 
changing attitude, a realization that if society requires protection 
by enforcing certain restrictive measures on individuals innocent 
of crime, justice demands that these persons receive consideration. 
In addition, the field of public health has recently come to have a 
broader scope, due to the realization that many of our problems, if 
not all, have a sociological foundation, and that a divorce is not 
always possible. Relief will only be secured when these associated 
problems are solved. 


PREVENTIVE MEDICINE—BOYD 517 


In a general way our problem of disease prevention has two as- 
pects, namely curative and prophylactic. 

The curative aspect is primarily the problem of the practicing 
physician and when effectively solved will be manifested by a 
lowered case mortality. The physician will be assisted in its 
solution by the development of methods and the provision of 
facilities for the making of prompt diagnoses and the develop- 
ment and application of specific therapeutic measures. ‘This aspect 
is clearly a problem of the practicing physician in his relation to 
the individual requiring his services. 

On the other hand the prophylactic aspect can only give satis- 
factory results when an entire social unit, such as any community, 
takes cognizance of its problem and attacks it with all the re- 
sources at its collective command. For this purpose our social and 
political units have delegated power and authority to certain officials 
for the protection of the public health. The problem confronting 
the officials relates particularly to a reduction in the number of 
cases of preventable diseases in the population under their care. 
They are not. professionally interested in disease from the indi- 
vidualistic standpoint of the physician. The degree of success 
achieved by these officials will be directly in proportion to the 
degree in which they educate their public in the principles they are 
trying to apply. Without the cooperation of the medical profes- 
sion and the laity, health authorities will accomplish very little 
effective work. : 

In general the field of public health work may be said to have 
the following scope: 

(a) Improved personal hygiene of all individuals, including 
better standards of personal cleanliness, better dietaries, reason- 
able working hours, recreation, and adequate clothing. 

(6) Improved standards of domestic and public sanitation, in- 
cluding relief from overcrowding, proper illumination, heating and 
ventilation, water supply, excreta disposal, ete. 

(c) Improved sanitation of places of employment. 

(qd) The immunization of susceptible persons and, the control 
of infected persons. 

(e) The improvement of the breeding stock of the human race 
by the elimination of the physically and mentally unfit from 
reproduction. 

- (f) The provision of facilities for aiding physicians in the diag- 
nosis and care of their patients, i. e., laboratories, hospitals, and 
clinics. 


518 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 
LANDMARKS IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF PREVENTIVE MEDICINE 


The only practices of the ancients which we at this day may 
consider to be preventive measures based upon a firm, rational 
foundation as we understand the subject, are found described in 
the Mosaic law. All other practices of the ancients designed to 
prevent diseases are clearly allied with religion and superstition, 
and hence were of little importance and no value. Therefore the 
Mosaic instructions when interpreted in the light of present-day 
knowledge have an immense importance. ‘These practices, however, 
do not seem to have been copied by contemporaneous Gentile races. 

Aside from the foregoing the earliest public-health practice which 
has survived to the present day is maritime quarantine, which was 
developed by the medieval Italian cities of Venice and Genoa when 
at the height of their commercial splendor as a protection against the 
introduction of plague from oriental ports. At this time the 
ideas of disease transmission were very vague, but a suspicion of the 
transmissibility of some seems to have existed. A little later, in 
1546, Geronimo Fracastorius published in Venice a work entitled 
“De contagionibus et contagiosis morbis et curatione ” in which was 
first definitely advanced the doctrine of contagion. He divided in- 
fections into three classes: (1) Those infecting by immediate con- 
tact, (2) those infecting through intermediate agents, such as fo- 
mites, and (3) those infecting at a distance or through the air. 
In 1659, Kircher, and, in 1675, van Leeuwenhoek first observed and 
described living organisms too small to be seen by the naked eye. 
Kircher in 1671 suggested that various infections were the result of 
the activity of these minute organisms. Jircher’s views were re- 
ceived with skepticism by his contemporaries, and later, in 1672, 
Plenciz of Vienna again advanced the same views. These theories, 
however, did not gain headway until the following century, when 
they were demonstrated scientifically. 

‘The first attempt at artificial active immunization among Euro- 
pean nations must be credited to Lady Mary Wortley Mon- 
tague, who, from 1717 to 1721, introduced into England from Con- 
stantinople the process of variolation as a protection against small- 
pox. This was an event whose importance has been overshadowed 
by the employment of an attenuated virus for the same purpose by 
Jenner. His discovery was first published in 1798. 

In 1843, Oliver Wendell Holmes, an American physician and 
author of note, first called attention to the contagiousness of puer- 
peral fever. The activity of water as a route for the transfer for 
infective agents was first recognized, in 1854, by Doctor Snow in 
connection with the famous Broad Street well cholera outbreak. 
Three years later Doctor Taylor recognized the similar activity of 


PREVENTIVE MEDICINE—-BOYD 519 


milk in an outbreak of typhoid at Penrith. The first scientific 
demonstration of the transmissible character of an infectious dis- 
ease was performed by Villemin with tuberculosis, in 1865, while 
the first demonstration of the etiological relation of microparasites 
to disease was accomplished by Pasteur in the case of anthrax in 
1876, thus substantiating the earlier beliefs of Kircher and Plenciz. 
Patrick Manson recognized the first known insect-transmitted dis- 
ease, when he found that mosquitoes transmit FYilaria bancrofti. 

From the time of Jenner no progress in artificial immunization 
was made until Pasteur demonstrated the protective power of his 
anthrax vaccine on sheep in 1881, and in 1885 extended the same 
principle to the treatment of rabies. 

In 1893, Smith and Kilbourne, two Americans, discovered the 
cause and means of transmission of the first known insect-trans- 
mitted protozoal disease, namely Texas fever of cattle. 

The importance of carriers in the perpetuation of typhoid fever 
was first recognized by Robert Koch, who called attention to them 
in 1902. Carriers of the diphtheria bacillus had been observed 
before this, but their importance was not recognized. 

The results which can accompany the application of the principles 
of preventive medicine received their first great popular demonstra- 
tion by Gorgas, when he eradicated yellow fever and malaria from 
Havana and the Canal Zone. This accomplishment may be con- 
sidered to mark the beginning of active public interest in the possi- 
bilities of preventive medicine, a situation which may be said to 
characterize the present day. 


REFERENCES 


Sep¢wick :“ Principles of sanitary science and the public health.” Chapters 
Li, TES FV; 

Leviticus, Chapter XIII: 14. 

Deuteronomy, Chapter XXIII: 13. 

Eacer: “ The early history of quarantine.” Yellow Fever Institute Bull. No. 
12, U. S. P. H. and M. H. Service. 

Mortality Statistics. Published annually by the Bureau of Census since 
1900. 

Goreas: “ Sanitation in Panama.” 

Newman: “An outline of the practice of preventive medicine.” British Min- 
istry of Health. 

Pearl, Raymonp: “The biology of Death” (a series of papers). The Scien- 
tific Monthly, vol. xii, 1921. 

Monthly Bulletin of the Department of Health, New York City, vol. iii, 
May, 1913. 

McFarianp: “ Textbook upon the Pathogenic Bacteria and Protozoa.” Part 
One—Historical Introduction. 


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7 


WILLIAM BATESON? 


By T. H. Morean, Columbia University 


William Bateson was born in 1861. He was the son of Rey. W. H. 
Bateson, D. D., master of St. Johns College, Cambridge. After 
Rugby School, he went to Cambridge, where he took first class hon- 
ors in both parts of the natural science tripos, receiving his degree 
in 1882. He was elected to a fellowship in St. Johns. 


“ Bateson’s span of life carried him through one of the most re- 
markable transition periods in the history of biology. In his earlier 
Cambridge days he experienced the full effects of the phylogenetic 
school of descriptive embryology of which Francis Balfour was the 
recognized leader in the English speaking world. Bateson’s three 
contributions to the embryology of Balanoglossus show how he re- 
acted to these influences.”? The materials for these studies were 
collected in this country in 1883. 

“We had seen an announcement in the Johns Hopkins University 
circular that Balanoglossus had been found at the marine station, 
then situated at Hampton, Va., and wrote to Brooks asking permis- 
sion to come to the station to work on this rare and extraordinary 
worm. ‘ Brooks sent me a cordial invitation to come over and try. 
Such leave was no little thing to give, for Balanoglossus must have 
been known to be one of the prizes of the station, but in professional 
generosity Brooks was royal and lavish.’ 

“The friendly relation between Brooks and his students that had 
so much to do with his influence over them was soon established with 
Bateson. At the time Brooks was absorbed in writing his treatise 
on heredity. Bateson wrote later (1910): ‘For myself, I know it 
was through Brooks that I first came to realize the problems which 
for years have been my chief interest and concern. * * * Varia- 
tion and heredity with us had stood as axioms. For Brooks they 
were problems. As he talked of them the insistence of these prob- 
lems became imminent and impressive.’ 


1 This biography is in large part compiled from an article in Science (Vol. LXIII, May 
28, 1926) ; from another in Nature (Vol. 117, Feb. 27, 1926) ; from the Eagle, St. Johns 
College (Vol. XLIV, 1926); and from a forthcoming obituary in the proceedings of the 
Linnean Society. 

Proceedings of the Linnean Society. 


521 


022 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 

“ That material collected at Hampton and in the following year at 
Beaufort, N. C., led to papers on the early stages of development 
and on the morphology of the adult worm. Ina later paper on ‘ The 
Ancestry of the Chordata’ Bateson discussed, in guarded terms, the 
position of Balanoglossus in relation to the vertebrates, reaching the 
conclusion that the structural resemblances indicated relationship and 
that the unsegmented nature of the notochord and central nerve cord 
indicated that the ancestor was not segmented, and that the repetition 
seen in the body cavities and gill] slits must have had an independent 
origin. This question of repetition haunted Bateson for the rest of 
his life. His later conclusion is interesting. 

“<The meaning of cases of complex repetition will not be found 
in the search for an ancestral form which, itself presenting the same 
character, may be twisted into a representation of its supposed de- 
scendant. Such forms there may be, but in finding them the real 
problem is not even resolved a single stage; for from whence was 
their repetition derived? The answer to the question can only 
come in a fuller understanding of the laws of growth and of varia- 
tion which are as yet merely terms.’ 

“ At the present time—43 years later—this statement may still 

stand word for word. 
’ “Tn 1894 appeared ‘ The Materials for a Study of Variation’ which 
has recently been called Bateson’s most important work. Here he 
brought together a great number of widely scattered cases bearing on 
discontinuity in variation. It is the particular use that Bateson 
made of this evidence that is the most interesting feature of the book. 
He argued that since evidence for discontinuity is to be found every- 
where in animals and plants, evolution through natural selection— 
which he interpreted to mean by the selection of continuous varia- 
tion—will not account for the origin of species. This relationship 
of variation to species formation was a problem that interested Bate- 
son intensely. He recurs to it over and over again in his later writ- 
ings. 

“This book on discontinuity in variation appeared six years be- 
fore de Vries’s mutation theory, in which discontinuity in inherit- 
ance is the central theme, but Bateson seems never to have become 
convinced that the discontinuity shown by de Vries’s mutants in 
Oenothera furnishes the sort of evidence for discontinuity which he 
himself appealed to as supplying the materials for evolution. 

“In the preface to ‘ The Materials’ Bateson says, referring to his 
earlier discussion of the phylogeny of the vertebrates, ‘over it all 
hung the suspicion that the then current morphological arguments 
and interpretations might not be sound.’ In these discussions we 
are continually stopped by such phrases as ‘if such and such a varia- 


WILLIAM BATESON—MORGAN 523 


tion then took place and was favorable.’ Again, ‘the whole argu- 
ment is based on such assumptions as these—assumptions which, were 
they found in Paley or Butler, we could not too scornfully ridicule.’ 
Bateson set himself, therefore, the task of collecting and codifying 
the facts of variation as ‘the first duty of the naturalist.’ He 
brought together a great body of evidence from the literature and 
from this he reached the conclusion that the forms of living things 
taken at a given moment show a discontinuous series and not a con- 
tinuous series. He also argued that the forms of living things may 
be separated into specific groups or species, ‘the members of each 
such group being nearly alike, while they are less like the members 
of any other group.’ Assuming that the doctrine of descent is true 
in the main because of the difficulty of forming any alternative 
hypothesis as good, he then examined the theory of natural selection 
in the light of these conclusions. On the theory of natural selection 
‘specific diversity of form is consequent upon diversity of environ- 
ment and diversity of environment is thus the ultimate measure of 
diversity of specific form.’ But ‘ diverse environments often shade 
into each other insensibly and form a continuous series, whereas the 
specific forms of life which are subject to them on the whole form a 
discontinuous series.’ The magnification of this difficulty furnishes 
the basis of Batson’s critical attitude towards Darwin’s theory. 

“He points out that while the study of the adaptation of living 
things was undertaken as a test of the theory of natural selection its 
study ceases to help us at the exact point at which help is most 
needed. ‘ We are seeking for the cause of the differences between 
species and species and it is precisely on the utility of specific differ- 
ences that the students of adaptation are silent. For, as Darwin and 
many others have often pointed out, the characters which visibly 
differentiate species are not as a rule capital facts in the constitution 
of vital organs, but more often they are just those features which 
seem to us useless and trivial * * *,” ‘In the early days of the 
theory of natural selection it was hoped that with searching the 
direct utility of such small differences would be found, but time has 
been running now and the hope is unfulfilled.’ ‘ Hence though the 
study of adaptation will always remain a fascinating branch of 
natural history it is not and can not be a means of directly solving 
the origin of species.’ 

“ Bateson’s general conclusion is summed up in the statement 
‘that the discontinuity of which species is an expression has its 
origin not in the environment nor in any phenomenon of adaptation 
but in the intrinsic nature of organisms themselves manifested in the 
original discontinuity of variation.’ ‘The discontinuity of species 
results from the discontinuity of variation.’ ” * 


* Science, Vol. LXIII, pp. 531-533, 1926. 


524 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


“ The root of the difficulty that troubled Bateson is found, I think, 
in the title of Darwin’s book of 1889, ‘The Origin of Species by 
Means of Natural Selection.’ Bateson’s chief contention, if I un- 
derstand him, is that the theory of natural selection does not ex- 
plain the distinctive features of species, namely in that their dis- 
tinctiveness often rests on trivial characters that are not variable 
but constant. How, he asks repeatedly, could species be created 
by natural selection if those parts that distinguish related species 
from each other are concerned with parts not essential to the life 
of the individual? This undoubtedly raises a serious question for 
Darwin’s theory, but I venture to think that it is not so serious as it 
appears unless one accepts Bateson’s interpretation of the nature and 
existence of ‘species.’ In the first place, it is to be remembered 
that although Darwin entitled his work the ‘Origin of Species,’ 
his whole argument went to show that the attempt to sharply sep- 
arate species from varieties was futile because in most cases there is 
no such sharp separation. If this is conceded, then natural selection 
may offer an approximate solution of the situation as it exists. But 
Bateson believes that there are distinctions, essential ones, that give 
species a particular hierarchy in the realm of organic life. If so 
much be granted, the difficulty he points to may seem to be real. 
But there is another interpretation not fully appreciated at the time 
when Bateson wrote (although more than hinted at in Darwin’s writ- 
ing) which has been established by modern work in genetics. ‘This 
consideration goes far towards meeting the difficulty raised by Bate- 
son, even conceding, for the sake of the argument, his point that 
some species at least are sharply separated by constant characters 
that seem unimportant for their existence. I refer to the discovery 
that the effects of the gene are as a rule widespread, affecting many 
parts of the body at the same time. If, now, some of these effects 
involve the physiologicial actions essential to the individual’s exist- 
ence, other effects of the same gene may be structural but no less 
constant even though trivial. Natural selection, having ‘fixed’ the 
former, will incidentally include the latter. The argument is no 
longer an appeal to ignorance but to established fact. Its implica- 
tions only are theoretical. 

“There is another problem intimately bound up in Bateson’s 
arguments with respect to the species question. ‘he origin of infer- 
tility between species and the sterility of the hybrids produced by 
‘species crosses.’ Both questions were much discussed by Darwin 
with a fullness of information and open mindedness never since 
surpassed. Personally, I believe that he practically met the re- 
quirements of the situation. More recent work substantiates, I 
think, the essentials of his argument. In fact, the difficulty raised 
by Bateson deals the mutation theory of evolution a harder blow 


WILLIAM BATESON——-MORGAN 525 


than Darwin’s view, if only because the mutation theory demands a 
more objective and rigorous answer than one that might have suf- 
ficed in Darwin’s time. The points raised by Bateson are the fol- 
lowing: If mutants are incipient species, why has no infertility 
been observed between any mutant and its parent type, the in- 
dividuals of the new type being fertile inter se? If infertility 
does not arise in the single step, what reason can be given for sup- 
posing that more steps will lead to infertility? That this point is 
well taken, no one familiar with the mutation process is likely to 
deny. The tables might, perhaps, be turned by stating that when 
such a mutation does occur it will give rise to a new species in the 
sense defined. But such a counter-argument would be foolhardy, 
both because it concedes too much to the restricted definition of 
species and also because it appeals to something not yet observed. 
It is true that Plough has recently observed a case in which a mutant 
type appeared that is more fertile with others of its kind than with 
the parent type, but a single case of this sort, not yet fully reported, 
is a dangerous precedent to appeal to. The point that Bateson has 
made was, I believe, well made. He scorned to take an easy road 
to success if in taking it, a difficulty is ignored, and we will do well, 
I think, to follow his example, which, after all, involves only waiting 
to see whether a solution may not be found. One possible source 
of hopefulness may at least be pointed out. Practically all the cases 
of mutant changes that have been observed and studied relate to 
external characters that can not be supposed to have anything to 
do with physiological functions causing infertility. It is the latter 
that must be involved when species are infertile inter se. There is 
no good reason to expect that any of the recorded mutant types should 
have been infertile with the parent type. Moreover, if a mutant 
individual should appear that was infertile with the parent type 
it is unlikely that it would be, or even could be, tested at the time 
with one of its kind, ete. Bateson intended no doubt that the point 
he raised should not be simply one of carping criticism—he was 
singularly free from raising a question in that spirit—but rather 
that it might lead to observations in a direction that would bear 
directly on the point at issue rather than to take something for 
granted that had not been proven. 

“The second difficulty that Bateson has raised is perhaps not so 
serious. The sterility of the hybrid (which is generally regarded 
as a more decisive feature of specific distinction) has not been ob- 
served for any new types that have a known mutational origin when 
mated to the parent type. It is generally known that the sterility 
of the hybrid is a very variable condition. It has been shown in a 
number of cases to result from failure of the conjugation of the 
chromosomes at maturation, which leads, automatically, to great 


526 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


subsequent mortality of the germ cells. If it be granted that, in the 
course of evolution, changes in the constitution of the chromosomes 
occur, or else in the rearrangement of their elements, as we now have 
demonstrable evidence may occur, there is no difficulty in understand- 
ing why the hybrid is sometimes infertile. On the other hand, the 
origin of such a type from its supposed parent type does present the 
same difficulties as those met with in the case of infertility. It may 
be pointed out that this same difficulty arises whatever point of view 
of evolution is held; it is no greater for the mutation theory than 
for that of natural selection or of Lamarckianism.” # 

“When in 1900 Mendel’s paper (1865) was brought to light and 
confirmed by the results of de Vries, Correns, and Tschermak, Bateson 
at once realized its importance. He was at the time himself engaged 
in a study of the inheritance of discontinuous variation and had 
become familiar with evidence that falls into line with Mendel’s 
interpretation.. He republished (1902) the English translation of 
Mendel’s paper that had been prepared by the Journal of the Royal 
Horticultural Society (1900), and emphasized its far-reaching ap- 
plication. In collaboration with Miss Saunders, Bateson sent in 
his first report of the work to the evolution committee of the Royal 
Society (December 17, 1901), which was published in 1902. In 
this report experiments of Miss Saunders with plants (Lychnis, 
Datura, and Matthiola) and Bateson’s with poultry furnished an 
admirable verification of ‘Mendel’s Law’ and served as a suflicient 
reply in themselves to an inadequate and prejudiced critique of 
Mendel’s results that had appeared in Biometrica. As I have said, 
in the first edition of the ‘ Principles’ in 1902, Bateson took up the 
cudgels in defense of Mendel’s work. His vigorous onslaught (based 
on direct familiarity with the facts in the case) on Weldon’s mis- 
leading review of Mendel’s work made it impossible that the im- 
portance of the new discovery should be overlooked or disregarded. 
‘The study of variation and heredity must be built on statistical 
data, as Mendel knew long ago; but as he also perceived, the ground 
must be prepared by specific experiment. The phenomena of hered- 
ity and variation are specific and give loose and deceptive answers 
to any but specific questions. That is where our exact science will 
begin.’ ‘In our sparse and apathetic community error mostly grows 
unheeded, choking truth. That fate must not befall Mendel now.’ 

“ Between the years 1902 and 1909 further reports to the evolution 
committee were made by Bateson and his collaborators. <A large 
amount of exact information concerning heredity over a wide range 
of animals and plants appears in these reports. They have also a 
special interest to students of genetics. Each stage in the progress 


«Proceedings of the Linnean Society. 


WILLIAM BATESON—-MORGAN 527 


of the work that Bateson and his collaborators were carrying out at 
Cambridge is here set down. The reports give an insight both 
into the methods undertaken to study the problems and into the 
origin of some of the ideas at which Bateson later arrived. It is 
difficult to pick out any one subject as more important than another, 
but the work on stocks by Miss Saunders, the work of Hurst and of 
Bateson and Punnett on the inheritance of the shape of the comb 
and color of the plumage in poultry, the work on sweet peas by 
Bateson and Punnett contributed many important facts to the study 
of genetics. The explanation of the reversion that occurs when 
certain white races of peas are crossed, taken in connection with 
Cuénot’s analysis of the relation of recessive whites to color deter- 
miners in mice, and the discovery of coupling and repulsion of 
certain characters in sweet peas (1906) (now more familiarly known 
as linkage) are two of the outstanding results that have had im- 
portant developments in the extension of Mendelism. But in such 
an abundance of material it is difficult to select the more significant 
parts. One feature of these reports is characteristic. Nothing is 
glossed over for the sake of uniformity. Exceptions are reported 
and emphasized. Their examination whenever possible is the start- 
ing point for further study that is often illuminating. In a sum- 
mary of genetic work up to 1906 (Progr. Rei. Botan.) Bateson made 
the following significant comment ‘“* * * It is practically im- 
possible to make any general statement as to which characters are 
dominant and which are recessive * * * It may be suggested 
that in the dominant type some element is present which is absent 
in the recessive type. The difficulty in applying such a generaliza- 
tion lies in the fact that not very rarely characters dominate which 
appear to us to be negative.’ As examples, the dominance of horn- 
less cattle and of the abortive condition of the female organ in the 
lateral florets of barley are given. ‘Consequently we are almost pre- 
cluded from regarding dominance as merely due to the presence of 
a factor which is absent in the recessive form. Not impossibly we 
may have to regard such negative characters as due to the presence 
of some inhibiting influence, but in our present stage of knowledge 
there is no certain warrant for such an interpretation.’ This reserved 
attitude Bateson always held, returning to a discussion of it in a 
paper that appeared (Jour. Genetics, 1926) shortly after his death.” * 

“Of the public addresses that Bateson gave, the inaugural lecture 
delivered at Cambridge in 1908 on his appointment to the new pro- 
fessorship in biology is in some respects the most interesting. In this 
address he puts the essential facts of the new work in heredity before 
a general university audience with a vigor that still makes it inter- 
esting reading. In it occurs a statement that I like to quote both on 


5 Science, vol. LXIII, p. 533, 1926. 


528 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


account of its intrinsic interest and also because it typifies Bateson’s 
general attitude toward genetics: ‘Treasure your exceptions! When 
there are none the work gets so dull that no one cares to carry it 
further. Keep them always uncovered and in sight. Exceptions are 
like the rough brick work of a growing building, which tells that 
there is more to come and shows where the next construction is 
to be.’ 

“The Herbert Spencer lecture (1912) on‘ Biological Facts and the 
Structure of Society’ is in the main a warning to the eugenists that 
our present knowledge of Mendelian principles tells us not to make 
hasty generalizations as to human society, for ‘ let us remember that 
a polymorphic and mongrel population like ours descends from many 
tributary streams. We are made of fragments of divers races, all in 
their degree contributing their special aptitudes, their special defi- 
ciencies, their particular virtues and vices, and their multifarious 
notions of right and wrong. Many of us have, for instance, the 
monogamous instincts as strong as pigeons, and many of both sexes 
have it no more than fowls. Why should some be ambitious to make 
all think or act alike? It is much better that we should be of many 
sorts, saints, nondescripts, and sinners.’ Again he gives the warning, 
* Before science can claim to have any positive guidance to offer, num- 
bers of untouched problems must be solved.’ ‘For these and other 
reasons I am entirely opposed to the views of those who would sub- 
sidize the families of parents passed as unexceptional. Galton, I 
know, contemplated some such possibility; but if we picture to our- 
selves the kind of persons who would infallibly be chosen as examples 
of “civic worth ”—the term lately used to denote their virtues—the 
prospect is not very attractive. We need not for the present fear any 
scarcity of that class, and I think we may be content to postpone 
schemes for their multiplication.’ 

“Bateson gives an emphatic warning, unpalatable to propogan- 
dists in general and to eugenists in particular, who take for granted 
that the ‘standard of perfection’ is known to them. Every attempt 
to interfere with the course of human breeding except in the segre- 
gation of the ‘hopelessly unfit’ carries with it the implication that 
the end to be desired is obvious, while in reality in such a complex, 
biological, sociological, and economic group as human society the 
opportunity for serious blundering is too obvious to put the future 
‘structure of society’ in such hands. I can not resist the tempta- 
tion for one further quotation from this address, because it makes 
clear a relation that is often overlooked by the novices of the theory 
of natural selection, although Darwin himself fell into no such error 
concerning the ‘survival of the fittest.’ Bateson writes, ‘I lay stress 
on this aspect of the social problem because I have seen several 
times of late the claim put forward that the teaching of biological 


WILLIAM BATESON—-MORGAN 529 


science sanctions a system of freest competition for the means of 
subsistence between individuals under which the fittest will survive 
and the less fit tend to extinction. That may conceivably be a true 
inference applicable to forms which, like thrushes, live independent 
lives, but. so soon as social organization begins the competition is 
between societies and not between individuals. Just as the body 
needs its humbler organs, so a community needs its lower grades, 
and just as the body decays if even the humblest organs starve, so 
it is necessary for society adequately to insure the maintenance of 
all its constituent members so long as they are contributing to its 
support.’ 

“Tt is difficult to characterize the Australian addresses in a few 
words. There is so much that is excellently put with an abounding 
humor. The Melbourne address is a clearly reasoned statement of 
the standpoint of modern genetics as interpreted by Bateson with 
the necessary reservations. He gives a somewhat clearer statement 
of his attitude toward natural selection, pointing out that from what 
we know of the distribution of variability in nature, the scope 
claimed by natural selection in determining the fixity of species must 
be greatly reduced. ‘The doctrine of the survival of the fittest is 
undeniable so long as it is applied to the organism as a whole 
* * * but to see fitness everywhere is mere eighteenth century 
optimism. * * * Shorn of these pretensions the doctrine of the 
survival of favored races is a truism, helping scarcely at all to 
account for the diversity of species.’ Here we find the admission 
that natural selection may account for the ‘organism as a whole’ 
and for ‘favored races,’ but ‘scarcely at all’ for the ‘diversity of 
species’ which when all is said is not so different from much that 
Darwin himself was contending for. Bateson says at the conclusion 
of his address that it is with reluctance and rather from a sense of 
duty that he has devoted so much of his report to the evolutionary 
aspects of genetic research, the outcome of which is negative, ‘ de- 
stroying much that till lately passes for gospel.’ 

“The Sydney address extends some of the conclusions reached in 
the preceding address to ‘our own species, Man.’ It covers some- 
what the same ground as the Spencer lecture. Like the latter, it is 
rather pessimistic in tone, but is full of suggestions of good sense and 
pointed criticism. Its final recommendation, which is a little too 
general for daily use, to suggest to reformers that they should direct 
their efforts toward ‘ facilitating and rectifying class distinctions’ 
rather than to abolishing them, because, Bateson believes, the teach- 
ing of biology is ‘ perfectly clear,’ namely that man is essentially at 
present polymorphic and that men are born unequal. In a word, 
that the main differences are genetic and not environmental. 


530 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


“ Several years later Bateson made another address before the 
American Association at Toronto that aroused in Canada and the 
States widespread criticism and comment. In point of fact it con- 
tained little that had not previously been given, but this time it was 
reported in the newspapers in a garbled account. It would be un- 
necessary to dwell on this episode were it not that it received notice 
also from some of the old school naturalists who rushed to the de- 
fense of the evolution theory that Bateson seemed (to them) to have 
attacked. Curiously enough, men who had themselves rejected Dar- 
win’s theory as insufficient were the severest critics of Bateson, on 
the ground, I imagine, that they supposed that he had given away 
the case for evolution. It is needless to point out that he stated 
the case for evolution with extraordinary lucidity, and was quite 
above juggling with the ‘ facts’ and the ‘ causes’ of evolution.” ° 

“The Cambridge period came to an end in 1910 on the acceptance 
of the directorship of the newly founded John Innes Horticultural 
Institution at Merton. It was a great opportunity, and Bateson 
made magnificent use of it. When he went there was nothing; in 
a few years there grew up a splendidly equipped station, and of 
far greater moment, an enthusiastic and devoted band of workers. 
Here, too, his position gave him better facilities for promoting that 
cooperation between the practical breeder and the man of science 
upon which he had so often insisted. He made the breeder feel that 
his problems were also the problems of science, and out of his sym- 
pathy begat trust. Of his own inquiries at this period, and of those 
directly inspired by him, the keynote was segregation, its nature and 
the time of its occurrence. To this impulse we owe the striking 
series of investigations on variegation, bud sports, and root cuttings, 
and on the phenomenon of anisogeny, accounts of which appeared 
from time to time in the Journal of Genetics; and it is in the fitness 
of things that his matured judgment on these phenomena should 
have appeared in the Journal only a few days before his death.”” 

“Tt is with some hesitation that I take up Bateson’s point of view 
toward the chromosomes as the material bearers of the hereditary 
units, because his attitude was for a long time diametrically oppo- 
site to my own. Bateson committed himself rather fully in his Mel- 
bourne address (1914) when he said in reference to the sorting out 
of the ‘elements or factors’ by a process of cell division: ‘ What 
these elements, or factors as we call them, are we do not know. That 
they are in some way transmitted by the material of the ovum and 
of the spermatozoon is obvious, but it seems to me unlikely that they 
are in any simple or literal sense material particles. I suspect, 


6 Proceedings of the Linnean Society. 
7™ Nature, vol. 117, p. 313, 1926. 


WILLIAM BATESON—MORGAN 531 


rather, that their properties depend on some phenomenon of arrange- 
ment.’ 

“Despite the valiant attempts Bateson made to give as much 
credit as he honestly could to the chromosome theory, it is clear 
from his posthumous paper (Journal of Genetics, Vol. XVL, January, 
1926), that the evidence on which the theory is based was not con- 
genial to his way of thinking. He states that ‘the work of the 
Columbia school has shown beyond possibility of doubt that in 
animals the reduction division must be the moment at which segre- 
gation in respect to Mendelian factors is usually affected.’ Never- 
theless he adds ‘at least in plants of many kinds comparable 
segregations occur at somatic divisions also.’ I should want to 
qualify the latter statement, for some of the cases cited by Bateson 
in plants are capable of a different interpretation, while for others 
the interpretation is very problematical and not certainly due to 
segregation. It is unnecessary to affirm that segregation, like the 
typical Mendelian process, may never be found to occur in somatic 
tissues of animals as well as plants, but the evidence at present does 
not, I think, require this interpretation, while there is clear evi- 
dence that the typical process of segregation both in animals and 
plants occurs at the time of reduction of the chromosomes. Bateson 
also states that ‘if we press for a more exact account of the nature 
of the association subsisting between factors and chromosomes, no 
answer is forthcoming.’ I must dissent also from this somewhat 
positive statement, for we have at least supplied an abundance of 
data that we think answers the question. Whether the answer is 
right or wrong the future alone will decide. 

“ Bateson reviews in his last paper, under the heading of anisogeny, 
some of the interesting problems that have grown out of the work of 
the institute at Merton. His discussion of chimaeras, especially 
those arising from root buds of Pelargonium, is full of suggestion. 
The paper ends with a further shot at the ‘extension and implication’ 
of the chromosome theory. In plants, he again affirms, phenomena 
are met with to which the simple chromosome theory is inapplicable 
and ‘the conviction has grown that the problem of heredity and 
variation is intimately connected with that of somatic differentia- 
tion.’ In these respects the chromosome theory ‘has fallen short of 
the essential discovery.’ Here, once more, I find my point of view 
miles apart from that of Bateson. If by the ‘essential discovery ’ 
he had meant the connection between the postulated genes and the 
differentiation of the cells of the embryo, then no one would deny 
that we are still much in the dark, but the whole context of his 
statement can not be twisted into such a meaning. There is no 
need to dwell on these points on which we disagree so radically, for 
there is so much on which we could agree that it is an easy and 


532 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


delightful task to join with his other friends and admirers in praise 
of his character and his influence.” ® 

An anonymous writer in the Eagle, a magazine supported by 
members of the St. Johns College, gives the following account of 
his personality. “ He was essentially a man of intuitions and con- 
victions. The intuition of some scientific men runs sympathetically 
with the working of the natural universe, and they contribute to 
knowledge leading ideas which experiments hasten to verify. Others 
only arrive by plodding, strenuous analysis of phenomena until the 
unity within them is laid bare, free of the diversities which obscured 
it. Bateson was of the former gifted type, and his enthusiasms were 
for clear-cut new ideas. In his scientific work, as in all things that 
really counted with him, he was filled with a very intense earnest- 
ness. Working rapidly but thoroughly through the evidence on com- 
plex problems, he could arrive at firm conviction of where the truth 
lay. Such a conviction would fill his vision, and all his intense 
vitality be concentrated at the center of what he saw. He was im- 
patient of expositions which involve elaborate quantitative treat- 
ment and then still leave residual suspense accounts. 

“ Bateson was a born leader. He loved to lead a cause and win, and 
was at his best in attracting young men to the good scientific causes he 
had at heart. Never for half-measures or compromises, it some- 
times happened that when he was up against men of older genera- 
tions, whose views were inflexible, he could make no progress, but 
only camp over against them in stubborn opposition. This is a 
situation that does not make for personal happiness in a scientific 
community, and Bateson certainly sacrificed something for his 


faiths.” ® 
“ Bateson was a born leader. He loved to lead a cause and win, and 


hand familiarity with plants and animals. He had also an extensive 
knowledge of the literature of his subject at command and an ability 
to express himself fearlessly in classical and clear English. His 
personal interests extended far beyond the immediate fields of his 
researches. His deep interest in painting and other forms of art 
must have surprised his scientific friends when they discovered it 
for the first time, and his artistic friends would no doubt have been 
equally surprised to have discovered his far-reaching influence on 
the biological science of his time.” ?° 

“Such in brief outline was Bateson’s record of scientific achieve- 
ment. Fearless in criticism and generous in appreciation, he stood 
above all for that spirit of freedom in inquiry through which alone 
the world may progress to better things.” ** 


8 Proceedings of the Linnean Society. 
©The Eagle, Vol. XLIV, pp. 330-331, 1926. 
10 Science, Vol. LXIII, p. 535, 1926. 

11 Nature, vol. 117, p. 313, 1926. 


H. KAMERLINGH ONNES, 1853-1926! 
By F. A. FREETH 


Prof. Heike Kamerlingh Onnes, whose death on February 21 will 
be widely regretted, was born on September 21, 1853, in Groningen. 
As a youth he attended a school in that town, of which J. M. Van 
Bemmelen, who later became professor at Leyden, and whose name 
will always be remembered in connection with colloid chemistry, was 
principal. 

In 1870 Onnes became a student at the University of Groningen, 
and from 1871 until 1873 he worked under Bunsen and Kirchhoff at 
Heidelberg. He remained in Groningen until 1878. His doctoral 
dissertation was entitled ““ New Considerations on the Axial Changes 
of the Earth,” and was marked by the combination of theory and 
accurate experiment which is characteristic of all his later works. 
In 1881 he became influenced by the theories of Van der Waals and 
wrote an important paper in which he deduced the law of corre- 
sponding states from considerations of statistical mechanics. 

In the following year Onnes became professor at Leyden. In his 
inaugural address he insisted that the laws of physics could be de- 
termined by accurate experiment alone. His motto “From meas- 
urement to knowledge” was then stated for the first time, and his 
remarks upon the necessity of the then recently designed pumps of 
Cailletet and Pictet for the attainment of low temperatures were 
almost prophetic. It was about this time that Onnes planned his 
cryogenic program, which has since made his name famous through- 
out the world. In 1894 he published his first paper on the design and 
equipment of the Leyden laboratories, and in his inaugural address 
in 1894 he laid down the importance of accurate measurements at 
very low temperatures. 

The formation of the cryogenic laboratory at Leyden was only 
made possible by the extraordinary energy and tenacity, combined 
with organizing talents of a very high degree, which Onnes brought 
to bear on this subject. Asa preliminary it was necessary for him to 
train mechanics and glass blowers, and as a result of many years 
of patient work he obtained an organization which is still unique. 
In 1904 Onnes was able to control large supplies of liquid air. By 


+ Reprinted by permission from Nature, vol. 117, No. 2940, Mar. 6, 1926. 
20837—27——_35 533 


534 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1926 


1906 he had developed the technique of the liquefaction of hydrogen 
on a large scale. In 1908 he attained the triumph of his career by 
liquefying helium. This feat, taking into consideration the limited 
supplies of helium and the difficulty in obtaining it in those days, 
was little short of superhuman. 

The amount of careful organization and planning necessary before 
the experiments were started can only be appreciated by those who 
have seen the laboratory in action. It is worthy of record that the 
whole staff was so tired out by their exertions that they could not 
see the helium even after it was liquefied. The presence of the liquid 
was pointed out to them by Prof. F. A. H. Schreinemakers, who was 
in the laboratory at the time. 

The boiling point of helium enabled Onnes to reach a temperature 
only 4.22° above absolute zero. By reducing the pressure he was 
finally enabled to arrive at a temperature of 0.9° absolute. The 
writer had the privilege of seeing Onnes attempt to solidify helium. 
A battery of 15 large Langmuir pumps were put into connection 
with a supply of liquid helium whereby the pressure was reduced to 
about 0.2 mm.; in spite of this, however, the helium did not solidify. 

The ability to control really low temperatures enabled Onnes to 
make the astonishing discovery of supraconductivity. It had always 
been assumed that the resistance of a metal would run out to nil 
at the absolute zero. Onnes discovered that quite a number of sub- 
stances showed a sharp discontinuity in their resistance curves at 
a temperature of about 4° or 5° absolute. Typical examples are lead 
and cadmium. He passed a current of 1,000 am./sq. mm. through a 
conductor under these conditions without being able to detect the 
slightest change of E. M. F. 

Onnes’s work is well summarized in the volume presented to him 
on the occasion of the fortieth anniversary of his holding the chair 
at the University of Leyden. Most of his work was published in 
the Proceedings of the Physical Laboratory of Leyden, and it is due 
to the comparative inaccessibility of this publication that Onnes’s 
work is not so widely known as it should be. 

It is impossible, within the limits of a brief notice, to give more 
than an idea of the scope and range of his activities. The division 
of the above-mentioned work into thermodynamic, magnetic, optical, 
magneto-optical, radioactive and electric subsections, in each of which 
he published numerous papers, is an indication of the magnitude of 
his work. 

In later life Onnes received the fullest recognition of his great 
talents. His own country awarded him a Commandership in the 
Order of the Lion of the Netherlands. Similar decorations were 
conferred upon him by the Governments of Poland and Norway. 
In 1913 he received a Nobel prize for physics. He was an honorary 


H. KAMERLINGH ONNES—FREETH 535 


member of practically every learned society in the world. Onnes 
was awarded the Rumford medal of the Royal Society in 1912 and 
was elected a foreign member of the society in 1916. 

Turning to his personal side, it is impossible to speak of him with- 
out emotion. Onnes was one of the most genial, kind-hearted, and 
accessible men who ever lived. He made unremitting efforts toward 
the feeding of children in the destitute areas of Europe in the years 
immediately following the war. To young men, he was an inspira- 
tion. The writer will always remember, with gratitude, his ex- 
traordinary kindness and hospitality. He practically kept “ open 
house.” 

Onnes’ scientific memory is imperishable, and his personality 
will never be forgotten by any one who had the privilege of knew- 
ing him. 


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INDEX 


A 
Page 
Abbot, Dr. Charles G., assistant secretary of the Institution_____________ xT, 
x11, 6, 30, 31, 90, 109, 115, 116, 117, 118, 145, 147 
(Influences of sun rays on plants and animals)____________________ 161 
GOnsthesevoluvionaotetae Stns) es eee ee a ee ee oe 175 
PATO GOTO TSWV Mis as eee ee er crea ee Nh et ee 23, 37, 43 
Haitian botanicalijiexplorabion) funds. 222221 ese ee ee ae See 138, 139 
YG GEASS (oad Uh eas BI al (ad bel CHTY iy Gn bashin ae tah acta ete Nina edad ay a eA pees Dat gen 91 
Acid-soil plants, Rhododendrons and other, the effect of aluminum sul- 
RATE RON ACCOVILE eee wee ee es Maen eae SEs ee ee 369 
Vo EDU AVESE A O3N'9 1) 1 Nee ha ey edhe ed ennai iri a he nt 7 
Adams, Frank D. (A visit to the gem districts of Ceylon and Burma)____ 297 
voNG beget € Wey tYeti| a popeeaeetelaytael taiate (yeast aL eae aS A el AD pam nln lt 50 
Additional assistant secretary_________ Se Ee EE AS eh ele ice ie ie ee q 
UTDPSEO Peter U1 Tee a ee ea re ee Be Oa ee en WR tee RO ea 141 
Administrative appointments by the secretary____________-_-_-__-_ 146 
Agriculture, Secretary of (member of the Institution)___.__-____-_______ XI 
PAU MINIS Vom Greats talline eee en nm me remy Siero ee ret. aN a 30, 111 
se AUS Ss 0 alps eae cmp gous sl opel a lacevent staan 19 inne eg eA eA, x11, 42 
Aldrich, L. B., research assistant, Astrophysical Observatory_______ x11, 109, 117 
JNA UM OS as ea OM Sia 0 yy Oe 0 ON a age ene cee on par ele Pl ar 20 
Aluminum sulphate, The effect of, on rhododendrons and other acid-soil 
PEIN WOR Sh GC oy WEES) dl en a ee ea geil pty ne ea I il I ry he I A 369 
American Association for the Advancement of sidcies pean nae yeh d Syne (a a 3,6 
PRTC EIGHT HO CN GLO TOL eA TLS a ernie a estat ni ine Hite nok Serene moe afer a Ge i 51 
and activities of the Federation of Women’s Clubs_________________ 52 
ATNGHEdN “HIStorical“ Association: reportsee= =e aS ene 20, 135 
ZATNeTICH SCHOO! Of ATENOLOL, I Trance 20 22 2228 on aan eee 37 
American Silurian Crinoids Vol. fund, Springer___________-______-____ 139 
ATS] 0 3 2) ea liar nee toe pia. alae ea eee aa LAR soe heh opel Dea 6, 43 
Antte we Mrs. Marietta, Minwiverode 2222 i se eae eee Ne ee 56 
Anthropological studies in southern Asia, Java, Australia, and South 
SANGO Gre fee, was aN mappa ae ete a aR aa ek kage eye Loedea eee BALLON | at, 
Appropriations for Government bureaus under administrative charge of 
CARVES: “VARS EV 1G ROS Ole = pd pk alle is ona eae pe ar peter Ale we Lite MEd oh 7,141 
ALCHLOLOPICHL SOCIELY7 OL WASHINGTON. aoe e eee A Eee ey eee 37, 44 
Archeolozical studies im WUSsissippli i 22 22 eo ee eee ee 15 
AIZOnay CONECLIHNE LOSS fOOCPTINta inns 22 ane oS ee eee 9 
Assistant secretaries of the Institution. (See Abbot and Wetmore.) 
FASELOM MY MICAI OOSEEVALOLY ooo noes So ae ae eee ee ee ale Ti 20so0. toc, dor 
CR se eee NE I ee ne Ce oe, Drees, See XII 
NEWSDLOOLIOLeSOlAT Viabla Di lib yee = 2a eee eee ee ee ene 116 
OVEV SCD NUI SY eh Le e g sale  aaperera e g kp Soin pares a daar aang aka cod it by 
SELON) ogee le jae ieee Ig al has derby ob lita Seaie t t laal fe Moe tela Maen ena 108 
FS¥ OVS(GL EI at Vey hig a Ne naan a ei parce ei Lane ky ke ba Saeed AB eek. WN ELee, 128 
(S(T fe BAU ORR Ee Pe Lape aaa ee OP ae eR A ke xII 


538 INDEX 


Astrophysical Observatory—Continued. 


work of the year— Page 
mew Statrone uC Atri Cay ee Se ee ee eas ee ee ee ee 108 

new station at Table Mountain; Calif. .- 22-2 eee 110 
Montezuma! Station. == 2s Ve ie See ee a ee 111 
Washington work—revision- of: data-._____________----_--..---- 115 
Atchison] FOSeph AD TH OD yee eee eee Nan rar eee 58 
Attorney General (member of the Institution) ---_________-_-_-___-----__- xI 


Austin, L. W. (The present status of radio atmospheric disturbances)___ 203 
Australia, Anthropological studies in southern Asia, Java, South Africa, 


RT Ne epee ge Se as al NT Se a 12 
AVGLY TUNG woes a ao was ee ee ne eee Se Se ee eee 5, 137, 138, 139 
B 
Bacon tund. \Vireinias Purdyes 2 aoe ae ee ee eee 5, 11, 137, 138, 189 
Bacon, Walter Rathbone, traveling scholarship__-___-_____-_---------_- 5, 11, 42 
Bailey, Vernon (How beavers build their houses) ~--_-_---------~------- 357 
TSW aaol Aa baLO MHS Fb (chia ge Rape teen a Ee NG ee ee A ee 5, 137, 188 
AS as WW VBL Sica Ee ee ee ee oe 6 
Baker, A. B., acting director National Zoological Park______---_--____=- xu, 107 
H 8FeT) es woe (0) 110 epee ee pe ere Tes Pe NE eee ee eee eet 6 
Barbour, George 1B. (The loess of (Ching) ee 279 
gf o-E Tek a ey AOE PSP) eRe erro Le reg nee Pe fa eh ge Dsl ie AU ee eet WA Ts 37 
Barro Colorado Island biologieal station, (Gross), == 3 ee 3827 
Bare tshentitiy (© sain ie ety pam ee a ac ee 43 
HB Thr ol 6 DOB 5 apg GO (ARC a MR SR a 0 US 1 ad peony A eT a ae at 48 
Bartsch) or Pale eee pee a OUR ig ie ee XII 
TST RStS) Cet end D Rnb Gad ae TEE Oa a a ee ee eet Se xr, 44 
Bateson, William. (Morgan)... 22s 521 
Beavers build their houses, How (Bailey) ~--------------------=-_--_-- 3857 
18fe08 Ee OSISNG Ee Awa Wo Ve eae a ee Ss er see 47 
Boe erties ee sa 2S 2 ee Se a ea xT 
Benjamin, Dr. Marcus, editor, United States National Museum___--_- x11, 21, 134 
Benson; Mluospar Co_--- eee eee 23, 39 
Berit As Gi a ee i ee 145 
Benton, Miss Hlizabeth B...___-.__ > 2-2 ee nt tee 54 
Biological collecting in western China____---_------------------------- 10 
Bishop, Carl Whiting, associate curator, Freer Gallery of Art--------- xit, 147 

(The bronzes of. Hsin-Chéng Hsien) —_____________--_--____-_____. _— 457 

(The ritual bullfight) _-_-____-______--__-______---__--___-_~--_--—_ 447 
Eth den gah (ee; a nn ey ee a Oe eee ee ane eee 51 
Blata, Major Gist oe a 53 
Bland, G. Edith (The national park of Switzerland) -------------------- 495 
Blossom, Mrs. Elizabeth B__----_--------=--=-3_-----—4—-~-=---- —- === 6 
Bond, Mrs. A. M__-------_---_--__--__---+--- 4-34-45 sn nese 115, 117 
BOTA ens Sales Go ( ras) ee Be 40 
Bouwknegt, dt. so-so ee 6 
Bow and arrow makers, Omaha (La Fiesche) —_-_--__--____--___________ 487 
Boyd, Mark F. (Preventive medicine) -__-_---_-----+------------------- 513 
Brady, Ma WK 222-22 eee §2 
Brazil, Eastern, through an agrostologist’s spectacles (Chase) ---------- 383 


Brigham, Dr. Gertrude R_-------_--.---------.-----------=-—+----=-=— 47 


INDEX 539 


Page 
Brinton, Christidn=+2.22205 2 ete ee ae anal ano 54 
Sritish+Guiana. (Government -0f2e24 25. Les ee ain ed 23 
SrittomeAMlexenders=2 222255 b es sees eee Beep hon a ir 
Bronzes: of -Hsin-Chéng. Hsien, The. .(Bishop)....-+-22.222222...i 22s 457 
Brookings, wRobert-Sis (reget) ee eet eer cS xI, 2,6, 143 
Bryant, H. S., chief of correspondence and documents, United States Na- 

GROWL AVE rE a a a eg rr Ee EB XII 
Bultalo Societys of Natural.iSciences=- 2+ onset. ca ihe 5,12 
Bullfight; “Pheyritual. (Bishop) Hi seel Ait oO waciess )_ Jo senioines ange 447 
Bundy, John, superintendent, Freer Gallery of Art_2_______- XII 
PutteriessEracrant. (Clas). 2422. skeet ee aR 421 

C 

Campbelis Wass Meza Dern Vy ee he ie el ee RO EEA ATi) Oe 6 
CampvellPeo re we Ww Late ee eae en eater e A. AOL SO POOLE, SEE jy al 
Canadian Rockies, Geological explorations in the___________-____ 8 
Carbon? The romance or *Ghittle ya sass 52 < sae wenn ees eed BOT 235 
CAREY: aa he NATO Sama orm vinrae eRe et Wrote Si erietero rome renee nen SELL. BE, SAD 41 
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace________-_-_-_- 32 
Carnesietinstitution =25ch nares mien eA A EME SIA, AGOSTINI Sieh 3 
Casey bequest, Cole DHOMaS Wet Ae. APIA AAR AER A. SRL EEL 41 
Oasey, srs! °hauray Welshn 4. eer see eR) BG Rese OO kt bk OGM 6, 41 
SE Cli eee ee ni es et sete oma Ph ee ra mentee cee onetime As on Th oN 138, 139 

Catalogue of Scientific Literature, International, Regional Bureau for the 
NEE) ra ait Ch SS rea SS Fee a rere ee cee REA aa bts Sean eat xit, 1, 7, 20, 31, 141 
RS ees sac ae ee eae nner ah ete Ne ee SERA OS SOLE 119 
CORUNA LET Tae ECHR CCI Sr es ren Bl (A Wet OAS yh emcee ogee hk AUT EY 16, 22,36 
SAREE TEE WAN 8 IN ace Dale aaa ha Ni ch i ae ke ns 125 
Ceylon and Burma, A visit to the gem districts of (Adams)_____________ 297 
Cho dageliy Tie SMe ee ec i ee etre PMR ~ RH 0G 6 
Chamberlain tandy Frances@Leatenth A” saitiloray mauled ait 5, 39, 138, 139 
Chancellor ofthe Tastitutioha sediment) te 30 visio oll sieht C 
Chandler, MrsePortersh sits sedorents sin.) to v5 iarsek. piel ear eh AZ 
Chase, Agnes (Eastern Brazil through an agrostologist’s spectacles) _____ 383 
Chief Justice:ofthe United Siates__oit te _tashlees obi? 4s) galeang 12443 
Shida he loess of. (Barbour) liiten edt) to eels 279 
@hina,swestern, Biological, collecting, in.....2.2..........01u SL .1CL wl 10 
@hoatem@haries: Me griu(resent)/ Jet ess) ewer) ok Ss bra bien xX QiL43 
Ohio Gh aiyya lin Giiisa S ese Nels aa Us yA) Reale (yey NU late ON tg 15, 16 
RT g hE gS Son 8 EE ee mea ONG Ts a) ie 6, 29, 106 
lark) VAlistiat des eae Ss Ute) eb eager) 4 KIT, 
(iRwarranijanbieriiies 22 oo ete tied) fenles deere dn 421 
Cys IMISS IMs See sth 2 or ote p lespefiges Mnaqglte ae 76 
ORES el Sto 4) EeARN WWE a fiee ase aa: se OE © Ey a sO RT 7, 5 XII 
Clarkes, Giettig -steis tie calite jity al nda to ipeion Batty, Vl og att 22, 36 
Qlayton}MissiMiliwabeth «dt 4 trun a ou lets, fore oliron WT Yo 92 
hen io eh “72 OS NGS SS at ee ay ne a eee ee eR EN TA TaN: 114 
Clement cue ionouin: 6 eta masks ys ips tee el 43 
@pale-eotection, George Buchanan.» ee be ot 25, 56 


wld tienmetreryey) tin age LF 211 


540 INDEX 


Page 
@ollections:| National: Museums fe oe oa ee ae 36 
anthropological. ois Ue a ee ee pepe se Ee ES 36 
UTES UNG TIN URS ER LO ae ee el a 39 
biologicals 20 on Serpe eISBN ge ey Ea eT SE ot 
FE(2y 01 (02 (7 em et el a lees ty VASO Ma PEC Ce ny Mee eee Me 38 
hishoricals!2 Masti T_ ya ere rye be Tyas spenrpa hy eer Re ee het oa 41 
Collins Een eye Byfield 15, 16, 27, 28, 37, 44, 72, 73 
Colosanti, Arduino 3-2 2. a ee nee De oe 54 
Commerce, Secretary of (member of the Institution) ____-____________ xI 
Gommerce, United States Department offs. 5 2se22_ soe eee eee 16 
@onant,. Sammel_ 2-5-2225 22 es ee a ee ee 73 
@Wonnor James) Hiss s2 a ee ee ee ee ee ee 76 
CoolgnCeoWiythess=) 2 iis oe ee ee oe eee 73 
Coolidge, Calvin, President of the United States (presiding officer ex 
officio ‘and member of the: Institution) 222220222222 ee ae eee xI 
@orbin, William TL: librarian ofthe Institution= = 22222 oe see xI, 180 
WOEDYs CHAT] eS ore eee Te ee ead eae ea rT ¢ 
@orrevony Mi. Henritc sin aren Meee Soe Se ee ee eee 47 
Gosmogony;: ‘Che new outlook in’ (deans) 22228. a ee eee 151 
@osta Rica’ botanical explorations fund=2 22 ses eee 138, 139 
Cotton machinery in America, Samuel Slater and the oldest (Lewton)___ 505 
Coulter, John M. (The history of organic evolution) __-_-___--__________- 319 
Covilles (Dreher ee ee ee ee oe ane ee ee eee XII 
(The effect of aluminum sulphate on rhododendrons and other acid- 

SY OVO Mlb 0) FW 089) eg aa co gel Re CN pl AI HSU 369 
Gurators7ot the National’ Museumeios2 2 22s cee ee eee XII 
Cushman; | JOSGp Mn A Sere Se aN ee Se a ee NE eee eee 20, 145 

D 

Dall, Ors Walliam Healey e275 see eee ee ee xl, 125 
Daughters of the American Reyolution, National Society, report______~ 135 
Davis, Dwight Filley, Secretary of War (member of the Institution) —___ xI 
Davis, James John, Secretary of Labor (member of the Institution) ______ xI 
Davis, James::Quentinstsie alten y Hs perme lt Tish sete tet Vee Re 57 
Dawes, Charles G., Vice President of the United States (regent and 

member-ofuche Institution) 22) 22 en ee eee ase XI, 2,143 
We Bois, DryWaure. 222s Se a er tial fd tee ines eee 54 
Delano shrederic A. (negent)- 8 ee ee ee eee x1, 6,14, 143 
GROVE ava TD) a a I ees ee xII 
MOEN SMOKE NH raAN Ces eee ae EN Bhs OO ee ee ee 20, 27, 70 
De 7Ven: Corporation. owalliamy 22s eek Soo ae ee ee 4 
Director Astrophysical Observatory= = 22 eee ee ee eee 118 
Director National Aoglogical! Parks 5-0 a xu, 21, 30, 107, 146 
TE) rl oF Warn a ea SE ee eS ‘4 
Dorsey,. Harry .W..,..chief clerk of the. Institutions-———+-—-—_- = ee XI 
Dorsey, N. W., accounting and disbursing agent of the Institution______ Xi; GE 
TBR CO 1 A 8 kg ah Ee 109 
MOULD EI Ce SaaS a OR ame a a A P= eee ty 
Diyvorak,. Maj. Kdward DP. -W_-.- 2-2 ere gard 1) 36 


Dykaar Moses “Wainer c20 0 2h eel a es ee eee eee 25, 54, 56, 57 


INDEX 541 


EK 
Page 
Earthquakes, The cause of, especially those of the eastern United States 
BE air] Sor, EBERT MRSS ORNBG Ta SG OSB 257 
BESS CL LE 1055 ih CS LE SGA Eo oe xi, 74, 134, 135 
Hirin’ National Wate @oeress 2.) sp porters Sop viteee ve te ra) oi obs sere 40 
Hmmet.+ Mrs ebenlabveepouEne cs. e i eee ee ee eee 41 
endo wimentcamparienGOmatlon ss ee ae 138 
EXOT CLUE es a a eee 138, 139 
Madowmentstundvoet tine inshitntion= 2220.2 ee ae 137 
mst SMisswaeleneAmOnye = oo s0e a. sar ee ee eee 53 
HstablishmentuSmithsonians- =. - = =a ss 1 see) phe ora Sp 1 
Hithnolosy;.BurecawoL,-Amenvnicean = oo 1, 7, 8, 20, 26, 44, 137, 141 
chiefize sae aR PREG ae Pee rc TN OU pe NE MN WORE MCE ye un Me XII 
editerialcworkand_publieations==—— 2-2 ee an 2 pee ee 74 
illustrations _____ Ea ape SS Ee i ea ee eee Gi PSE 75 
JG OS pire eel eps SA eee eer Sh eee 75 
Uni eek tek Ss ea a ae aS oe ang ig 1 20, 134 
EY fap ae ae I ON ee ee A ee ee 63 
SPECIAlNESCATEHES 2 as eo ee ee ee ee ee 70 
“S712 te a nee! 2) EPH uD Sep Sey? 2 OE Sa Ee ee Capen ee GeO eS OO en a NC XII 
Syslemabicreseanch es sas. kn 2 te ee ee 63 
BDV SATUSE SAVER CUO aI a i te oe A ei nt 94 
Hvoelntion, organic; Phe history. of (Coulter) ou sso S42 te 319 
chances: limterniational: 2... ee ss Se xu, 1, 7, 20, 21, 137, 141 
foreign depositories of United States governmental documents______- 80 
foneion exehanre amenCles sss se 22 Ws Se eo) 86 
interparliamentary exchange of official journal_____________________ 84 
MOD ON 2 Ve ee ey anh te ee EL et plese it eee es 78 
rules governing the transmission of exchanges______________________ 88 
Hexplorations and felds wns © ted te ye ee he 41 
geologicalin\ thei@Canadian; Roekies-. 4-2-2 2so0 8). ete ee ce 8 
SESE UN SS 2008 ee ey aes a ae 8 
Biyrig. SV alii ari sor eee ea atte ES ope hae i 
F 
Hederation..of .Women’s.Clubso2.--—- sf eeat) mera ool 51 
BOLO WS MLS Sal AD ONCH See eae ets ee ee i a a 122 
Hers Senator. Woodbridge_N...(regent),_-._______ x7;/2)143 
Fewkes, Dr. J. Walter, Chief, Bureau of American Ethnology__________ XII, 
21, 26, 63, 66, 77 
(The kateing alters in. opi worship)... Aaa 469 
Meldi work, exploravions: And {7 wslois Tint pie iels aes Ty haw 41 
Binances, of. the Instiiitionl se) cea woiawse av eiives rola) wou 5 
Financial operations of the Institution, detailed survey_________________ 138 
Fish Commission, United States (now Bureau of Fisheries)_____________ 2 
DHE oi ry 1. ASE ST VETRT eT a ea ad Me RRS DR TIN a Med AE ca 7 57 
Ia ag ane rere 2a ye oh 40 
OssiL tootpriese in arizona. Collecting. 9 
erate RDI meen eee we Pic Nea ee eee ee 5D 
Dee gs ete i ere nar re ae 27,71, 77 
Fowle, F. E., jr., research assistant, Astrophysical Observatory____ xu, 115,117 
PEE MAIS 6 MATARSR oo ee ee ee 59 


CTS STS ST 2 i eR eR RN eS EEE ANTONE St i len Nn ley Oa a CR RCT la leg 


542 INDEX 


Page 
MrGer-bequest.2:2222). Aes Oo ee ae eee ee ee 3, 140 
Freer ftind,“in-vestnients) of) 9:0) ta aped) vil apne, Thee pcp pers oth cee 8 oes 147 
PPR OTEG a ere Ee AT ea i 1, 3, 7, 25; 147 
PRS C\C Ch) (2 ho i eam tei tars emer, Cle. 62 
classification-of invested funds:o—-.-— ey A ee Se v4 
collection, thea22 nS eo a eee ate ST eee Se 61 
fiClG WOT ek rere ee el Sn ries Pole foe edey oe eee 62 
FOE SOM TCM ae ee A hee 62 
TEPOrta ones Soa a Eee Engh Sry fs op eyed eg ees 61 
State st o54 Vale See eee ok ee ee A ee Ee wee XII 
Freeth,.E-A.(H. _Kamerlingh. Onnes) —.--—===5=- situ tine toned 533 
rence «fit et egy A Beh Sep nae Eee 6 
SRE C RSye SEN reais pce kee a oe eg %9 
Munds for specific. ‘objectsei 22-2. ee eh el pete rs irene ees 138 
G 
Gallagher Johne=2=-2222 422-4 woe soe Se ee eee eee 125 
Gallihter> We Disees sears oe tery ie re el ee 7 
Gamio--Dr-Mantiel====4-24- 24 eee oe Seen eo eee ee ee 44 
Garfinekel & Go:; Jullus#:<222-=-+ 333 = tee e Se en BOER ORS ASS a 
Gem districts of Ceylon and Burma, A visit to the (Adams)___-________ 279 
General considerations, secretary’s report_______-__-__________________ 2 
Geological explorations in the Canadian Rockies____-_---_--__-_-___-_- 8 
Geological:-Survey; United ‘States2- i i900!) 20 Wh aha 20 2 OMI any ew 23, 38 
Gest} “Sosepo by EW 2:2 tA es le eee alle ead i edl e e RS 50 
Gibbons; *Mrs-"John“Henry 2220 ee ee TED SO Oe TOE AE 53 
Gichner; "Hired Sass Sk ws hb ea ds a Bae sd ede ES) SE 7 
Gidleys ‘Dred W sneer EEE EE GREED OSES | NOES feed 23, 28, 39, 45, 73 
Gill, De Lancey, illustrator, Bureau of American Ethnology__-------_____ XIT 
Gilmore; -Charles -We2222s SSE 20 GOS RATS Bay 2 XII, 9, 20, 23, 39, 45 
Goldsmith, J. S., superintendent of buildings and labor___--____________ XII 
Gophers of California, Geography and evolution in the pocket (Grinnell)_ 3438 
Gordon-Cummins;: ‘Mrs, ~Alistair== 2222 == 2.2222 54.4. 222822 DU, SOUS 57 
Government activities under the Institution__________________---______- 146 
Graham Reve Wav idis© 2.8 oe Sa re eh es pe 10, 22, 36, 38, 41, 42 
Granteh Rete: es. ek ee eee 2 Sh ORG ee eee oe ee 94 
Gray, Judge George::(regent) 2.2... ei) par OE ee 2;32 
LCE SOF See Nt eS eee ee 143 
Grecleys Wi jAe io 2. oe 2 ey Oe ae hye ye AE: 30, 109, 117 
Gmeene;, C.D 2a areal euntigrs £. Sec trpages Sh 2 obi eee a eT 42 
Grinnell, Joseph (Geography and evolution in the pocket gophers of 
California's 2 24 ee oe a dieeres bade et peep tle “eb tain 343 
Gross, Alfred O. (Barro Colorado Island biological station) ______-___-____ 327 
Guest, Grace Dunham, assistant curator, Freer Gallery of Art_____----- XII 
Gunnell, Leonard, C., assistant in charge, International Catalogue of 
Scientific: itera ture uy utan ys Wal pip itod sd soph Ss See ee Daal res) penton tererss De OE 24 L 
H 
22] 0, 25 fig 10 00 beac mmeellpee l c t p  AG eah re e eeh I J pe tap A 5 
EV Sara, VY RU Rear ae an es ae eae ee nes ee See ee « 
do WEB 000 HQ 601 Wim 210 1 0 0 [elem meet aetanet. nk Peer ale eee ey acne Net os Sate! ney par mes or 5, lot iss 
jz i UB @ FA leah Mae py rt ah a cond hs me oe et sh a Thal 
DS sy wl 6 Dial S (0) 0 bal jetae cpa el ace cb rgd he ceed neh tel ons ce Reales 0 91 
Blarrimian’ Mirsii Ene eee acre era eT ee ee ee 2 eg 124 


PEUSE LU See ee ee er ae Nea sae 188, 189 


INDEX 543 


Page 
LCE DING LON ol Ohm ee aes a oo eee ene a XII, 26, 27, 66, 67, 68, 69 
WIAITIS, Ap Tusaccmeeete scent ectimeieeaeee NT Omega [Rain tod fee 104 
Harrisonsos ion? Tait)” iter kt BI oto Rh VF 23, 39 
Harvard iCollece. Observatory —e- 2 aaah eee ee IR) 16, 17 
Harvey; HisNewton: (Cold ight) 2/24. Seutios ah Gites Tmumbonsroil irs 211 
OY, Ein OB ores a oe ee ee er et eee eee 125 
Hays, Wille=--22=-=-222-.~2---- Wine fl WOOO Wau Gil |e 40 
Herenian, Miss. Annie-May-=-=-------=! 203294) JIAdLA STE inehg Tes _ 1M 37 
Fen dersons Mirsy JOM Baan aa a te ee 24, 52 
Henle, Weolet Bit DEN A wish) ee Osean ofl) Timi pivell of 6 
Henry endowment fund, Joseph, National Academy of Sciences________ 44 
Behemnary™ «Tuan Ch Ce a Bar aa a a a a 5, 137, 138 
18 (CESSFSIGgPN SAY ak 7 W]e) iy Aa Pa aa aa Ak, i oo ene a ln a aes eo 2ano 
JE Cea Be wit FID fs) Sema AN Bul I ra ape SO nein A I a XII, 26, 66 
fll, J... property. clerk of the Institution... | ee ee xI 
oad, Miss,.Hortenses 27-2 oe FN aS ved eee Pet ET ph ees Dyes 49 
Hobbs, William Herbert (The cause of earthquakes, especially those of 
the .easternuUnited States is saderace\ si nte Sn veotahas st aw aete a 257 
OCS RIN Sern CCN LaAl = Hewes eee ere Pee eee. oe i) Spiess Se 6, 137 
SCT cara en oe ee eee ee ee ee 6, 138 


Holmes, Dr. William H., director, National Gallery of Art__ x11, 37, 50, 51, 60, 125 
Hoover, Herbert Clark, Secretary of Commerce (member of the Institu- 


BiG EE Tea e yy hats. pivegaan A! aT ae xI 
ae EN cee ae ees ee ne ety ie RE 80, 109 
2 UP) CRIES 6 Ot O12 ae aE MUS LN YON, 6 
Hopi worship, The katcina altars in (Fewkes)___-__-_________ 469 
U2 SY MRLE SOO) 0 S527 A RE _  e  oae ie. | 41 
Lo 2 FEST 0 RON UP ot 02) Ee! Sey XII 
TES DUR PEUET BLrea DeL ep Eats ka el oe PROSE Va 34 LET 0h Ses xIt 

(The parasite element of natural control of injurious insects and its 
CONG Ole bya. In Ari) poe eee ee ee ee ee eee 41] 
PETC, Te AU Oe = 2 ree Seen pee ee tek eat xl, 5, 12, 22, 28, 87, 43, 47, 74, 125 
LSAT: Li rhe CO ogee  ( cmunmp urn’. ey geht lp SE eee fared A a 6, 137, 138 
TE AVISUI OL, ENG eee pc oe i snes needy me et el pte an cea ga ae 23, 39 
I 
Indians, American, Our heritage from the (Safford) -------___- 405 
Insects, injurious, The parasite element of natural control of, and its 

ONULOM Oven aiten( EIOWATG ete | Bee tel eretng!) Bey peri deg DD 411 
Interior, United States Department of the---__---__--______-__________ 16 
Interior, Secretary of the (member of the Institution) _____-___________ XI 
International Catalogue of Scientific Literature, Regional Bureau for the 

Wnthede States cement. RMR tee iii PO eee “is xir, 1; 7, 20, 31;;141 

TREN OT hear a ae rh a ep pe eee 119 
International!) exehanges-t--.4.4foo oe esto tea hin alt xu, 1, 7, 20, 21, 137, 141 
foreign depositories of United States governmental documents_______ 80 
fordizm exchange agenci¢s....... .ssusensed bow saitetbees) ssl) te 4) 86 
interparliamentary exchange of official journal___.__.__-_____________ 84 
TW EVOTO IG a as oj hee aes Te So, a emia hy gil Oe rah 78 
rules governing the transmission of exchanges_____i_-________-__ SS 
TS a Ls a Ee ep ca a ee 6 


Maly-Aumereassociety of New York City. 222 222.2 se 54 


544 INDEX 


J 
Page 
Jamaican botanicalvexpeditiony fund 22 se Se ee ee 139 
Jardine, William M., Secretary of Agriculture (member of the Insti- 

baat OWN) ee eee i ie ee ee XI 
Java, Anthropological studies in southern Asia, Australia, South Africa, 

ERT CA eat a 8 ek ee ee a ee Se ee 12 
Jeans, J: (The new outlook in cosmogony,) {2-~-- 22-2. as nish! 
Johnson, Representative Albert (regent) —~-------_-_--_-___--___--_-- xI, 2, 146 
LTR eg DAS Ma ee ee 92 
Jordan, Dayid Starr (The mosquito fish (Gambusia) and its relation 

to malaria) {2.222280 ek ee ek Ck ee ee Le 361 
higricl CLORDIN GUD ee oe 1 ee eee xII, 44, 125 

K 
Karolith:Corporationoto: fo. 2) Cae eet) Day seein ogee ee 40 
Katcina altars in Hopi worship, The (Fewkes) ------------------------ 469 
Kellers;) Dri. © nUnited States Navy=25-220 25 000) lobes arate 38, 42, 91 
Kellogg, Frank B., Secretary of State (member of the Institution) deyie we xI 
Rcempble:\ |: Walliams so tes Sere ae ee de eee See eee 6 
SPST a aes fT a eg aN sg a SR eh 6 
Tin oshita, (Vi Sein esp Te ee oe ieee ee Ty) gee) a ae 62 
Kioss/@!i Bodens!:tiorivelate ors Lnnntiep iyi. Yi reine Voenc net | “alr elt 8 eben 23, 37 
Knowles, W. A., property clerk, National Museum____-_------___-__-_- xII 
EU yO ST WW ek UE et eA a eal 2 a i 43 
SURE TSEU ITY TS WAT) CTE yee is et Fa NP PU) le OS OB A 109, 117 
FRTOSS Sere) a a ae a Se pd a ee 92 
ED aT SFE 2) ed Mn) EEPURN "(Man eae ee RL NCP NEN Capable AU panel 2A oy ah xl, 27, 44, 71 
CG OTs) 61S) GO: Cen OEM REE U AN A M fllCe Nit ae Dera Gr leenieyes ome Te em eeee eooe ke) Bum! MUL oi 145 
EP OV Om Css ye a ee 40 
L 

Labor, Secretary of (member of the Institution) _._-___._______________ xI 
Moist ALE SCIV Os ROL SIN CLS oc cas a x1, 27, 69, 70 

(Omaha bow. and arrow: makers))2 222 222252 a eee 487 
BOE: oo Pt, gr D2 0" a I Se SE A a Te 6 
Ranrhornewe Mrs oa rsh ellis ea ee ee Se BY, 
Baughlin, Irwin_B. (regent) 220343 2's eS ee Sere 2 7 a ee x12 
TA Wrenee (ati Oot ever ew ye Fay eye eee Gy Ree Ea Nes  S PAe N EVEI ET  TEEALe 40 
Lea. collection,.of£ .cems,..Jsaae. go ou oe oat SE 2 ETS 39 
Leary, Ella, librarian, Bureau of American Ethnology_____-____________ xi 
hee, Mrs: Sarah. Redwoodintivs si i _ Te eerie BIPh Te “te ea 58 
Leonard; Himeryi@!22 bores s ve ia Ae SO A SORTS Ea 43 
Wie BS Dr NGS IN a a Lp nL esata al abl 
Whew bom ee Mer Ck Te i ek cee a eA So ele a XII 

(Samuel Slater and the oldest cotton machinery in America) _—----_ 505 
Dibrarian of the Institutions ee ee ee ee ya 
Libraries of the Institution and branches_..____________________ 1, 21, 48, 59, 75 

TePOPEL so ook A ie. Pah Sp Se es SPS LO ae 122, 
PRU PAT Ys LOL COM ST CS ened a ae ek hg lp a 3, 76 


Smithsonian: Divisione .J2oeo Sg ey UO Baha hE ee ELE ae A SPER; 


INDEX 545 


Page 
Wittio; (Arthur 3:1 (Theiromance. of carbon))j2.-22-..22.- 22h Sele 235 
mockhart JamestHe = eens Oe So ees es ee ee 6 
Lodge, John Ellerton, curator, Freer Gallery of Art__----_--------_ xu, 50, 62 
Roebtcollection.of chemical typess.22 2.42 ee 24, 41 
Toeb Lund; MOrsis oe ee ee ee ea ee 6, 187, 139 
BoOecss OL China: The CB arpour yes asses See Se ee ee 279 
ong.) MrssuBreckinrldge: 2) ioe eae See 57 
MET SL yi Te Va ae eed a ans el 49 
MO CHSs VMOmto my a ea eerste tet eR ts 

M 

WMacCurdy, Dry George: Grant==== = ee ee ene es eee sa 49 
MacMillan Capt: Ona Os iss ese eee en ee ee es 43 
Mann, Dr. William M., director National Zoological Park___ x11, 21, 30, 107, 146 
Neale ee Vie = =a a ee ene nee = Nee ee ee ee eee 6 
Marsh endowment fund, O. C., National Academy of Sciences___________ 44, 45 
voc SL CN EU 8 a ag a a er pp aA Pa 6 
Marvin, C. W., chief, United States Weather Bureau________________ 113 
“Maud” expedition, Scientific work of the (Sverdrup)____-___________ 219 
BenH TER DEW Oe Perna eee ee en ee ere ee tee ee See ee x11, 125 
IS RCI Re ee ern rene ee et eS en eee 6 
De EB Gy EVEL, Ce SIS 2 ey UA Fe rl pen a 52 
Medicine wETeVEntiVer(BOyO)= 2s. soe ee a nee Crea eh eee 513 
RRCICHOEG es GA Tm = te ee re ee ER a ES Shr ee ee ee 50 
Mellon, Andrew W., Secretary of the Treasury (member of the Institu- 

CE oO ce er ea OS eS A pcb lp leat ta ama aia rigeedten ae xI, 6 
MGT CES OF HEHE PNT SULCH 10 Tiere re nn oat ee xI 
PERE RON PUNT 30 CeO fee pee as eaten hg Pees oy oar ee Oe sane | 
REC TCA teak ttO tot Vice Nite nee eer erent eS Raby ett ni eS ROR ee eee 43 
bia CGS oe) Efe) CR BY ale oF le le ag xii, 26; 25, 0G ek 
Rat Creer GOLrnlidase Lae ee ae Ne RA EAE A ene ete ee ee XII, 125 
Malika nD Asta ee a See ieee ee a a ee ES alaitt 

(Hish-trequeney tays of cosmic’ origin) 222822028 193 
Minnizerode, Mrs; Marietta 22 tiie se ne A 59 
Miners Estoried) Society ssa wee Sey te IR SOT Deweth) eee Ne 6 
TRE EEN EPRE nS EEN YY ats i coro ee Me ene on ee oe evi EE XII 
STURT CS AN aS ae oie le as eS ee 30, 111, 117 
Moore Charles yi Sis See OIG AS MOLES ASG es ene 50 
Moore, Representative R. Walton (regent)_---_-_-____-_________ xI, 2, 141, 144 
SURO aT ry EG Wed Tea hi 9 Vo Se A Net ee eit 24 
Morgan, “2, Je “GWillliam Bateson wie se en BRT ER te ae 521 
Morrow, DwightuwW.-Crecentyissu ti Bele 1 50 RG Wis) SBR eM abies 5.6 
Mosquito fish (Gambusia) and its relation to malaria, The (Jordan)____ 361 
Min TOC MESS lenses. S07. 0. TMDLS SUS ASTER MEM A Sth eat 74 
PB gtd HA RS) 7 FF S9R. rg 7s Pe ee eel ad 122 

N 
EPRSEEI DUTT TG ST oy lates lias aeolian IONS 6 
PATE 2 UCTS Sinha ima Bcc) 5 | ei ed a OO RR REARS 55 
Nationei-acugemy of Sciences 22.2002.) ee 8, 30, 44, 111 


National Aeronautic Association, Collier trophy________._.______________ 39 


546 INDEX 


Page 
National] ‘Gallery. of Art... fastens Sn eee say oth 1, 8, 20, 24, 137, 141 
art works added Guring the year ee paella 56 
building plans fund. SA Ye eres te wees eters ep salt aa 139 
Cataloe ee ee tak Cas enee amy Epese tee cy BE SeLee 51, 131 
SO ESRTTAT SST Oye ee cena re gun a Ae a 24, 50, 56 
EDO Te eee ee eee eae a Cpe Pe BS nye a Wepre ye ee 145 
CLUES CEG Ye ee eee Ea Na EE YE ee xII 
GUESETID WGTOMS a a ee eee pee 59 
UV nS of Ws plop cele oameme ieee yA ot oe Mie anda Op RTA HOU ALR ees AME OOM ND Hyd 59 
loanssaceepted! Diy: ste sea a ee eee ee hele 56 
LO) gin 8s pape iran ase SATURN ECC ey | eM La oN ta 58 
joquf OV DCGfeTe 30) oS penesple ee pep te aS lea aes Cie pep Ale Sal RR Ue Paes es SS 20, 60 
1 2) 0 0) ty Ree ee eR cea Re SUN UDO ae Te AR AM RRS al hy SUR Se Ms 50 
Special @xWipits 20 yo5 eee pe ge ep eel a ee ee 52 
National Geozraphicy Society 2422 222 eae Sek ae 43, 44, 108, 117, 147 
solar-radiation expedition cooperating with the Smithsonian 
5B GNSH Fa CU Gis Ky 0 ee RMR EOI A en crea pe nec Su Hyd ay 5, 109, 115 
National ‘Mruseuin 226k 2 peel 2 Sek ire ae le ae, ea es x1, 1, 7, 8, 20, 22, 137, 141 
buildings’and equipment oes os ee ee eee 45 
COTTE C GLO Sse coo at at ie is en J ee Bae ees oor) oe 36 
meetingsand: receptions 22s #- bees AN ERR seed) 2 ei eee 46 
DUDLICRTUONG aya es ee Ee elie 2 td oh ape 48, 133 
TOOL {Ss oGsrs 25 Re 2 oP ee i eB LSU, eA ie oe ah 34 
VLAN 5. Ses a th ec A eS eRe I a I Lh Ad OR eh OT 48 
National park of, Switzerland, ‘The. (Bland) 22 3 225-5524 .35 ree 495 
National Pare Service ot its ask ary increas ial Mal Wee tet Sees iN 9 Fini Se eee 9, 44 
National POxtreit--Ga dl ery oe cnc ent opie ee eh eS ley 24, 50 
National Zoological Parkes. oe tes eken ee eee x11, 1, 5, 6, 8, 20, 29, 141 
PACCESSLONS Ske cc ee coer ied led ie oy ssi #8 ng 91 
animals,in the collection June 30, 1926____-_.___2 ks ee ee 96 
indy Ouse sis Se ee Rs EE ee 104 
CAUSES” Of, Cea thse ue = 2 oe oleae eee a eek ne ene 95 
GUTCCTOT se eee tS eae Se A a nl el pla eee xu, 21, 30, 107, 146 
AMPLOVEMEDCS ee ee a sci a Erle hy eR op 103 
radio nature, talks.from ‘the... -.______._._ = 33.38 tenes 17, 105_ 
TOCINLO Viel See a ra ni re al Na ae Ze A 2 Ee a 94 
TODOMG See ene a Pa Mek EN aoe Sa pate ee OL 
Smithsonian-Chrysler African expedition_________________ bated 106 
uniforms FOF POLO ciel ee aE hd ee 104 
VASILOMS 2 = ots pa APU A ee ae? eh Se 2 eee rd 102 
Navy Department, United States: 225222) ee aig eee 42 
Navy, Secretary of the (member of the Institution) ~..____-__________ xI 
INNeCrology 2.2 a ee a pg i ag as tere NN 32 
New, Harry 8., Postmaster General (member of the Institution) ________ xI 
New York Botanical’! Gerd eric! a 2 gs ise 6 
Newton, Representative: Walter BH. (regent) ses te ee ee xT, 2 
IN Omi SAT ETC ET Be COs oe ae IN ea 40 
North American Wild Flowers publication fund________-.__-~__~_____. 139 


IN OVOS, obs Wo CDD acre er A eee ae Soe a a 21, 122 


INDEX 547 


O 
Page 
OMiCe\.OF*% Tinian) A Pie wr gs esse hh pot oh ph pt og oe pS ee yg | 66 
Olmsted, Arthur J., photographer, National Museum _-____-____-________ XII 
Omaha. bow..and. arrow. makers (La Flesche) ——_..—-_-_-_- 4. + 487 
@nnes; -H. .Kamerlingho¢Preeth p22 22009 2h ey ep 533 
MSS aa a a i oe, 139 

Pp, 
Paleontological-reseaurches-===252222 555 2 RS ee ee 139 

Parasite element of natural control of injurious insects and its control by 
man--’Dhe > (Goward) 252 3 he a Seas et th eevee ae eee 411 
IPAren b> ein GS eee Se ee es 138 
Parmelee-- siamese eee See a a eR ee 50 
Parsom*lranels as eee ee ee eT ng ibi a 21, 32, 122 
Peoples+NaturalGas- Cos a Be et abige fe pee 6 
Pepper, Senator George Wharton (regent) —--__-----__----___-________ xi, 2 
Perry, las ee ee LL er Eo XII 
Personne: Classification) Boards.) 5-22 ee 22, 34 
Philadelphia company and affiliated corporations__.____________________ 6 
Phillips John Osis 10. Waits an iii line fies tis tie ee Ret 127 
Piamets:-nxeursiens-on the (Rudaux) =... = giles ae 185 
IBRISses Mi AGQCOPrses = 255555 be ee 2 UF pelea tp eee Re, 47 
Pie pCHATIOS Acta ae aoa ea a a ee oe ES ET ee 50 
PEPeV SL LDN TBs AER DAD “say as Sener ae yee iL ee RE 44 
Te OyOg Le) nel od ob VR dee a es et os ae NES Ri ee IED BA rs = (O ri 
Poore’ fund; Lucy. T.and- George, W282 ine heey apie. 6, 137, 189 
POPC ORNS TSSPiED eerste oes Se ee ae 51 
IBGELCT As Ne SLB ee ine ee 51 
IFOriLery Mrs. JOhn. Did dles- 2-8 fh ete eRe ae ey 59 
Osi. CMCC sD CDALLMNCIM bem a oe nS a ea ee 41 
12 Gr Onn | Soa Das oy at ee a es Use ek 6 
Eerie er DOT pe Maen een ee eet Se Lo 51 
12 ESE DPS Ih ace Ot eS eee a Pees YE 66 
President of the United States (presiding officer ex officio and member 

Ghcine- Ln stibUhlON) se et ely ld i epee fomeynb Els rene teper Bas 1,2 
Brintime callotments oles. .2- 2-26 soe eyed ee eee 20 
Erintine2and binding. appropriations, for — = ee ee 8, 141 
Printing and publication, Smithsonian advisory committee on__________ 21 
Publications of the Institution and branches_____________-_-____ 19, 60, 74, 133 
GAREY OL Dey A 8 A A I 2 Seep Se eee ery ee eee 131 

Q 
pare vey COM eee ea ah ee a Gk 40 

R 
Radio atmospheric disturbances, The present status of (Austin) ________ 203 
Radio @orporation” of--America::--- 2+ ee, 16 
Radio nature talks from the National Zoological Park___-____________ 29 
Rangerpequesn, Henry~ Ward=-s2-ms-- eee ee I) 25, 55 
HW ea at RUM i aL al Ra Nc Re ARE AI sh ie Ne a IN 5d 


548 INDEX 


‘ Page 
TRpehwoyoyotae se MiG iA fee ek Cees See ee ee ee ee ee ee 145 
Ravenel, W. de C., administrative assistant to the secretary_______- x11, 19, 48 
Rays of cosmic origin, High frequency (Millikan) ~--_---------------- 193 
Redfield: Mdward«Ws2422- 224-303 ives. Beh) eee es ae 50 
Redwood, Mrs. Mary Buchanan (Mrs. Francis T. Redwood) —~-------_-__- 56 
Reed, DreSsrAlberts22 52 ast ea a a ears er re ee ee 40 
Rezents#ot thew institution, “Board ol. Sma ee ee Og G! 
annual ‘meeting, December 10; 1925 2-22 eee Snes 143 
Priya) Oop eh rye set NH OY ae ee eee or ie Sete eee 143 
executivellcommitteesi reportiswiscd ai teeta gt ce Bee 137 
permanent..committesc,,. report... a el OE 144 
TE 1200 GG LT 2 ee 143 
Fe ae ee eee eee eee a eee ee See a ee ee ee ee 49 
Ree AIS Ora a en oe errs 6, 187, 1389 
Researches;and: explorations —- 94 ee ee 8 
Resser}Dr. Charles, Wiss. 2 22 ete eee ee oe Seen ee ee 44 
Reynolds Georsey: Mee ce 6 
TRU GCS ee ek eee eee eee 6, 187, 189 
Rhoades, Katherine Nash, associate, Free Gallery of Art___.._-__-_-__-- x11, 62 
Rhododendrons and other acid-soil plants, The effect of aluminum sul- 
phatevon. (Coville) ie eee nN pees a Oh ae ee ee ese es 369 
Richmond)-oDrucCharles UW. 2222220 a oe 8 ee ee ey XU 
Ridgeway. -Dr,.-Robertio.-3 5240 See ee A ae XII 
RAN Cy 5 yi ee ee 125 
Ritter; MeMemiay 5 Gc Oe SON a aa a Oe ee 6 
Roeketanvestigation, Goddard. es frees eee EE ea 139 
Roebling, dohnitAsoe sere oo eee pe Le te 6, 30, 108, 110, 111, 117, 147 
fund; solar-researcht. 2028 es oe ee ee ee 139 
Roebling +Col} Washington. A) 2 Se ene ee 6, 23, 38 
mineralefund =e eee eS Naess 139 
TRON Wer Si Asien te eet ee ee 125 
Rose Dpad Nae ee oe ei ne ee a XII 
FRO SC 1i GEG A TB re eas a ha 53 
RubensiSboratiovSi. Ocul 9) seis urchins gato tet aa ties tY itd ie eae 56 
Rudaux, Lucien (Excursions on the planets),.-.—.4 = a ee ee 185 
Ruedemann Hore Rud olbo2 se a od ee eee eel 6 
Russell. -Bowlande.. oe, a EE eeepc ie eel Fea hol Rpg 104 
RUSt:'Cos s Bia ok Ss iy oe oer res bes Pua oe cree) gee ie | ene hs aes heh eee eek eee q 
Ss 
Safford, W. E. (Our heritage from the American Indians) --_-_______-___ 405 
SS TROT VETS WW a eo te ah NL Ene ke ee 76 
Santord shims GeO re ey Rt ese ee nee sags ce ee a ee a a Ei ecto ere 6, 187, 189 
Sargent, John G., Attorney General (member of the Institution) —~________ xe 
Sebias? Tn Wall lieu ns ee es eae ee ee 23, 37, 60, 125 
Selrinelas Marg! {Gis Uipssisg pw he ag igh el le 2 i 92 
Sohmi ib, Wr Jeo Fea ray ree eg a a 47 
Sehmitt, Dr: Waldo Tos.) ots ate peeen ke ee xu, 5, 11, 28, 37, 41, 42, 91 


Sehuehert; Dr, Charles S22 222202 2 Se ee ee ee 6 


INDEX 549 


Page 
SLE (D5 CE) RMN 2.101011 Wail £05 tee Se OR Tee ee 21, 49, 122 
Searles, Stanley, editor, Bureau of American Ethnology____________ XII, 21, 74 
DEGREEHIV AGE Ue ESET GION a ee oe ce ie II, Xt, 
6, 33, 44, 49, 50, 60, 62, 77, 90, 107, 118, 121, 130, 135, 143 
ESO eae eae a ee NN ee a ae Ne 1,145 
Sesquicentennial Exposition in Philadelphia, Smithsonian exhibit at____ 18, 47 
SLAB A Le LET STETT 8 Tel 10) RN a oe ae ence Jeet) Ns oy a LAU ey et 17 
SHAEp  AMeg te ees ee PE Be Se TOMS BEB WOLe OTE? y 4 
Pheri: ie ties a saath ee enna rss - 3 TO) Auk) Le TOR 7 
Bherigan: re. Pith Hoes SoS = 2 = ew ee eee cht OR OF 41 
RSL EPRERSELO NOD rears ee ne aS SSA a nl i Sts Bia alin Sere cloth RD 56 
Shoemaker, C. W., chief clerk, international exchanges_________________ XII 
PTPPO Ls WV eee EME See Se een eee a Ea ee oe UE AZ 92 
Petal eet Pe oo nn oe Aa eo ete oe Se oe SO Re 6 
AY SUD beth = mahi pent el ra SO AA AND Nd BLA PEM Ot CO SAT 8c oe 139 
SHIT US oN yt C oe, Gleaner ca geal oe acacia ply Ce Nh SE SOA 8 GARD AG BE 608 3 5c Ime GM 113 
Slater, Samuel, and the oldest cotton machinery in America (Lewton)_-_ 505 
PTS ES Ger Hy Ose ele see sh ae oe 40 
RS Tua TG Rent op ee eee ne ee Oe eee ee or one 117 
SATU SUS OF) 8 0 Fol Vg) te a a A ea GENES RD ALA ers Yul 38, 43 
ce EE Ee SE eS er kya RE Sea ee ee RT SEK AOE, ae 1 
RNS elekepl ee ee OTF” Wee E eS tele alba 6, 137 
Smithsonian advisory committee on printing and publication______=__-___ 135 
Steal sPepOvis eso ae ee ee eee ee ee 20, 131, 182 
Contra DuMOnshtOnkMOWIed Sonn secs od ets os eS Ler eee 131 
US ea Re i Se REN ee so Le al 1 
OWO Begs a ee pte he ae 122 
SCE anmCOHS sCONCCHONS, Sos tes ss 8 sR 9.131 
CLO ESI CS) ores eee ee ee ek ee ee 16, 36 
PRC RIENCE IOS eee ee a a ere ae Be es 4,6 
PTS oe a Se eS ee 139 
Smithsonian-Chrysler expedition to East Africa_______-___________- 5,139 
Smoot, Senator keed? (regent) 220 Ue Me Nab et Oe eR x1, 2,143 
Solar variability, a-mew - proof -Of 22 = nei eet a 116 
South Africa, Anthropological studies in southern Asia, Java, Australia, 

UI oe ee AE OS ae re ete Oe ee Ors leer easy 34 12 
South American, Study of the crustacean fauna of_____-_________ ue fa. 
South Asia, Java, Australia, and South Africa, Anthropological studies 

TIDE Sea are oe ips renee er ee I, TOR OEE peat Eh ven) 12 
ore: PND El a a oe eee Leeda 6 
REPRE Heys Ra Tn a a resent rnp at e N N xi, 43 
piinleys-Senator Ay Out. Gul Ah i ieee else obi ra dh aft eae 143 
Video tae-evolution. of the (Abbot) =. -2...-- 22200 ee 175 
State, Secretary of (member of the Institution) _---_____-__________ xI 
Stejneser, -Dyr) Leonhard === sa s2 5S Sa tt EE XII, 21 
DSLEVEMS) NERS! Piehre::C xo vote ee eet LIT. WE, 59 
Pea CWRU Esser steno cee ea He eal ee A EE eee 59 
Story, Wellin “WeEmore— 20) Sea GU hee AEE Oe eis AE ee 24 
Sun rays, Influences of, on plants and animals (Abbot) --______________ 161 
Sutro; “Pheedore,- trustees: Of-2- a er es eee eT hs 59 


Sverdrup, H. U. (Scientific work of the “ Maud” expedition 1922-1925)__ 219 
20837—27——36 


550: INDEX 


Page 
Swales, B. Huw ssses2s2222-- sso esn se ssn-+eseeen-------s-- ths 6, 23, 38 
FRE oa el OE 2 Dee Led es eee 139 
Swanton--DriJohn+ Res) ee ee xl, 26, 27, 66, 70 
Switzerland, The national park of (Bland) ------ PAB se aa ais Ula Me 495 
7 
Taft, William Howard, Chief Justice of the United States (chancellor 
ANG THEMEN Of sGEVe MTN 1 UTR tol OTM) ao ee ce ee x1, 2, 143 
Tarbell, Edmund C_-----------_-------------+-----------=------—---- BO 
Thompson, Herbert H_----------------------------------------=------ 62 
Thorn, Mrs. Anne Davis (Mrs..J..C.; Thorne) —---+----+-++---++-+----=- 57 
Towner, Miss Isabel L_-------------------------------~-------=+-- 21, 49, 122 
Traylor, James G__-----------~------------~--------------++-----==--+ xI 
Treasury, Secretary of the (member of the Institution) ---____-__-__-__ Sa 
True, W..P.,. editor of the Institution-_-_---_-_________________=_- x1, 21, 135 
Muckermansy Mus, Clara dua. 2) 942456. a 56 
beGUGS iin oo a ee es 56 
U . 
Wirich;..Drs HW yWOssss 2222 See SA fc OI pe ae RUN URe EN ER nc} ee 44 
United-States..Mint, Philadelphia_...—___-___--_ ne 23, 39 
University. .of.-Pennsylvanialig_Qts sellin co sot ason yroe is pete 1 sy 
y, ) 
| Wray) ert barter tGye oe eam ae es el ieee he ee ee — 49 
Vice President of the United States (regent and member of the Insti- 
tution) __-_------------------------------~-=--------=----=--=-- xi, 1,2, 143 
Ww 
Walcott, Dr. Charles D., Secretary of the Institution__.__.-------------- Im, 
x1, 6, 33, 44, 49, 50, 60, 62, 77, 90, 107, 118, 121, 130, 135, 143 
TePOFt.. me ee pee nena een ean eS ee -6- Shs 1, 145 
Walcott; Mrs. Charles D-+-.+----------------+--------+--------------+-- 44 
Walcott research fund, Charles D. and Mary Vaux_---------- 5, 6, 137, 139, 14 
Walker, George B__---------+-----+--++=+--+==—--=--+--------+----+---+- yf 
War, Secretary of (member of the Institution) ----------------+-------. xI 
Weather Bureau, United States_____-__-_-_---------------------------- 2 
Cel a Cs oe pe ee LG AD AD Ee a a ee soe 30, 81, 111 
Wenley, A, G_--~--------------------------------------------+=-----= 62 
Wetmore, Dr. Alexander, assistant secretary of the Institution___--~~- xI, 
' x11, 22, 49, 125, 146 
Wheelwright, Mrs. Eleanor H-----~~-------~-------+--+----—-----+---- 6 
White, Dr. David__--_-----------~--~--------------+=~-----=-==5--==-+ xit 
Syaite.., Henry. (erent i a ee __ x1, 2, 6, 141, 143, 144 
Wigglesworth, Dr. Wdward ee ae 17 
Wilbur, Curtis D., Secretary of the Navy (member of the Institution) --- xI 
Wilding, Anthony W---++1224-~+2+-++---4+-++4+-44-4---+--+-----+ + ---- 6,.76 
Wilson, J. LTANK eee ee ee ee on ee St eae 40 
Mrinslow( GRVOULINGR seis tice ee a a ee eee ee ee 47 


* Wood! Dri Casey Asoo. 0's ee a ee 238, 38, 48 


INDEX ooL 


Page 

SWiQO GEG COTE ING Barn a Ne ee al sl a a 2 6 
Work, Hubert, Secretary of the Interior (member of the Institution) —-_ xI 
OVW Un Stora Se ae aki ag ee ee 6 

¥: 
men Hsi-siang: Governor ot shansi]s-222 5 22 es eo ee 147 
XC URED TV ACR GS fg a Naas ee a Dee eee eS eA ee i ee 21, 122 
Z 

Zoological Garden of Wellington, New Zealand________________________ 94 
Zoolozicaly Park. Nata onal ss 2 Se eS x11, 1, 5, 6, 8, 20, 29, 141 
BUCCAL e pea tae ee 91 
animals: in the collection: June:30)) 1926s 22 ee 96 
Jos eC VOM 00 a ESS hE en Oe a ee ed SOA Re 104 
SED UA SES HO ke Ca Aa swt a ae ee ee Se 95 

CD Uae) 0.) ia ee ees aR PT UD seen aR ep De ee x, 21, 30, 107, 146 

ATA PLO VOU CTU See eS ace ee ee ee 103 
EACdIOMMALUTE. tuUcs erro hae Yeas Se Oe ne ae A = 47 105 

ES STTR ON GUS peer ae ere Sree er ee nL Shy ek oe ee 94 
TEPONG= Sst aie Se ee Bee oe ee oe a ee 91 
Smithsonian-Chrysler African expedition_._______________~_.________ 106 
BIUERORIAS oh OLA Ol GE seis see ec ee be ay eae ie ee Se eS oe ee 104 
STUUR as oF EE as eee oe PaO eee 102 
ZOOLOZICAISOCIELY. OF (ane DlezO Cait: os os ee 94 


yer a nectar ntnce te Aslam ee eh 40. are 


i ied aap @ ij jane 
uh Mari rat ts 


Ee aaa olioatter: 


eae its Rts habeas al 


‘ ee AN RST EON PENRO MEU SH tener O. ame Dey om te a at ne pW, 
bn (F fy : rhe : 
; : haf 
mee q eh Ne er a oC ALES Nie NOMI CREL Eee aA em es urea te allem 


PP RORY thks Ak OR. pabtibeetg Aaabattd.sm bacule hata 
Wilk BOR! yt is ALi a dn mabe Se. 


oe 3 I repens mice ipsitle viacihatice break ian ke aoc replat Arms ea ate a ete ke ex 
eae: Sikes eters mescap tie oul ma to 
A tei Nailin Sie: Sih inky, ee Ce ii Neen ee ce 
RAG ae Biante a hy ee Bata ney 
ai natu, PONE, BRT ANP ee Seo Peake fe intl ane eae ti e oe 


Raccoons Ciastndiy oe 


Liam i AY as were Ad ifehad 


VORB eth 


hey 


Pee hapa 
ei plea ea bears Ainhiee 


Avia! eign By ihe Ses 
WR Mae Rates, r 
atte t Lotetiyidy Lohan 
Pt ep ae Tas 3 
ca Me Silat, Sith 4 jae 
Rosa PI gist AM 
ts gt: Ae Pray, 
We Ligetine 


hee Bs, eka ti Bot 


5 ay ‘ =i awe ats aad 


eh Bhi pape Ang) Panna 
J i 

‘ , 

ce nt ty Ong > 4% 


Rtas, a Feast at