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News 


Published  Monthly  by  Field  Miiseum  of  Natural  History,  Chicago 


Vol.  10 


JANUARY,  1939 


No.  1 


THE  DODO,  EXTINCT  SINCE  THE  YEAR  1681,  IS  RESTORED  IN  LIFE-SIZE  MODEL 


By  RUDYERD  BOULTON 

Curator  of  Birda 

Perhaps  no  bird  is  so  universally  known, 
by  name  at  least,  as  the  dodo,  symbol  to 
the  modern  world  of  obsolescence  and 
grotesqueness.  Few  people,  however,  realize 
that  the  dodo  is  anything  but  fictitious,  and 
fewer  still  know  that  there  were  two  species 
of  dodos,  and  also  a  dodo-like  bird,  the 
solitaire,  which  flourished  in  a  limited  way 
in  the  seventeenth  century. 

A  restoration  of  the  Mau- 
ritius dodo  has  been  com- 
pleted by  the  writer  and 
recently  was  installed  in  Hall 
21.  Mr.  Frank  Gino  has  ably 
modeled  and  constructed  the 
restoration,  and  Miss  Laura 
Brey  has  executed  drawings 
and  paintings  to  supplement 
the  exhibit. 

There  are  no  complete 
specimens  of  dodos  in  exis- 
tence. In  addition  to  one  or 
two  incomplete  skeletons 
and  miscellaneous  bones  in 
European  museums,  there  is 
a  head  in  the  Copenhagen 
Museum,  a  foot  in  the  Brit- 
ish Museum,  and  a  head  and 
a  foot  in  the  Ashmolean  Mu- 
seum at  Oxford.  The  reason 
for  the  lack  of  specimens  is 
not  hard  to  find  since,  during 
the  seventeenth  century  and 
even  the  first  part  of  the 
eighteenth,  there  were  no 
museums  as  we  know  them 
today. 

At   least   two   dodos   are 
known  to  have  been  brought 
alive  to  Europe,  and  one  of 
them  was  shown  in  London  in  1638.     The 
remnants  of  this  bird,  a  head  and  a  foot 
only,  are  undoubtedly  those  preserved  at 
Oxford,    having    first    been    exhibited    in 
Tradescant's  Museum  in  1656.     The  speci- 
men has  suffered  grievously  from  the  ravages 
of   time,    a   misfortune   that   will   scarcely 
happen  to  objects  now  preserved  in  present- 
day  museums  with  their  modern  techniques. 

Our  knowledge  of  dodos  comes  to  us  in 
a  most  interesting  way.  Descriptions  of 
their  habits  and  appearance  are  contained 
in  the  journals  of  navigators  who  sailed 
the  Indian  Ocean  in  the  sixteenth  century. 
The  most  accurate  information,  however, 
comes  through  the  school  of  Flemish  paint- 
ing that  reached  its  peak  in  the  early  part 


of  the  seventeenth  century.  In  order  to 
judge  the  accuracy  of  this  information,  it 
is  profitable  to  examine  the  life  and  career 
of  the  artist,  Roelant  Savery,  who  painted 
the  dodo  several  times.  He  was  born  in 
Courtrai  (now  in  Belgium),  in  1576,  of  an 
artistic  family,  his  father  and  brother  having 
also  been  painters.  The  two  boys  were 
pupils  of  Hans  Bol,  genre  painter,  con- 
temporary and  colleague  of  Pieter  Brueghel, 


No  Myth,  as  Many  Have  Thought,  the  Dodo  Looked  Like  This 

Restoration,  now  on  exhibition  in  Hall  21,  of  tiie  extinct  bird  whose  name  has  become  a 
[)art  of  our  language  as  a  symbol  of  obsolescence.  In  many  ways  the  most  famous  bird  that  ever 
lived,  no  complete  specimen  of  the  dodo,  or  even  of  its  skeleton,  remains  in  existence. 

the  Elder,  who  was  the  most  illustrious 
Flemish  painter  of  the  sixteenth  century. 
In  the  early  part  of  Roelant  Savery's  career 
he  traveled  in  the  Tyrol  and  painted  for 
some  time  at  the  courts  of  Rodolphe  II 
and  of  Mathias,  emperors  of  the  German 
Empire,  in  Prague  and  Vienna.  In  1619  he 
returned  to  Holland  and  settled  in  Utrecht 
where,  until  his  death  in  1639,  he  painted 
landscapes  with  animals  principally,  and 
became  one  of  the  outstanding  animal 
painters  of  the  Flemish  school.  About  187 
paintings  and  90  drawings  by  Savery  are 
extant,  most  of  them  in  European  collections. 
At  least  eight  paintings  attributed  to 
Savery  contain  figures  of  dodos,  and  it  is 
highly  probable  that  he  had   as  a   model 


one  of  the  living  specimens  that  was  brought 
to  Europe  during  his  life  time.  The  com- 
positions in  his  paintings  are  fanciful,  as 
may  be  judged  from  the  titles  of  some  of 
them:  "Orpheus  charming  the  beasts," 
"Fable  of  the  stags  and  cattle,"  "Slaughter 
of  the  Turks,"  "The  Garden  of  Eden," 
and  "Noah's  Ark." 

The   figures   of   the   birds   and    animals, 
however,  are  far  from  fanciful.     They  are 
definitely    literal,    executed 
with  the  finesse  and  atten- 
tion to  detail  that  is  so  char- 
acteristic of   the   Flemish 
school.      Among    the    birds 
that  he  painted  are  faithful 
figures  of  turkeys,  pelicans, 
swans,    ostriches,    casso- 
waries,   bitterns,    herons, 
storks,  crested  cranes,  pea- 
cocks,    macaws,     cockatoos 
and  geese.    In  the  small  re- 
productions  of   Savery's 
paintings   available   for   ex- 
amination the  smaller  birds 
are  naturally  unidentifiable, 
but  they  undoubtedly  could 
be  identified  in  the  originals. 
Several  of  his  pencil  draw- 
ings of  monkeys  would  do 
credit  to  our  best  modern 
animal  portrayors  from  the 
point  of  view  of  literalness 
and  accuracy,  while  Savery's 
figures  of  domestic  animals 
are  the  equal  of  Bonheur's. 
Roelant  Savery,  then,  was 
an  artist  with  an  accurate, 
meticulous   and   careful 
brush,  and  it  is  from  his  data 
that  the  restoration  of  the 
dodo  in  Field  Museum  has 
been  made.    To  the  Ryerson  Library  of  the 
Art  Institute  of  Chicago,  and  especially  to 
Mr.  Daniel  Catton  Rich,  Director  of  Fine 
Arts,  and  to  Miss  Dorothy  Odenheimer,  I 
am  deeply  indebted  for  assistance  in  examin- 
ing data  relating  to  Savery's  work. 

The  dodos  belonged  to  an  extinct  family 
of  birds  related  to  the  pigeons,  constitut- 
ing with  them  the  order  Columbiformes. 
There  were  two  genera — the  dodos  proper 
and  the  solitaires.  They  were  all  large 
birds,  about  the  size  of  turkeys,  and  they 
were  found  only  on  three  of  the  Mascarene 
Islands,  southeast  of  Madagascar.  The 
gray  dodo  lived  on  Mauritius,  the  white 
dodo  on  Reunion  (or  Bourbon  as  it  is  some- 
times called),  and  the  solitaire,  which  was 


Page  2 


FIELD  MUSEUM  NEWS 


January,  19S9 


more  slenderly  built,  inhabited  Rodriguez. 
All  three  were  flightless,  their  wings  being 
no  longer  functional.     Their  ancestors,  of 
course,  were  undoubtedly  capable  of  flight. 
The  date  of  their  extinction  was  about  1681. 
This  group  of  birds  illustrates  perfectly 
the  fact  that  insular  isolation  and  freedom 
from  predatory  enemies  bring  about  flight- 
lessness  through  mutation  pressure  and  the 
absence  of  the  need  for  adaptation.     Origi- 
nally there  were  no    predatory    mammals 
in    this    group    of   islands,    but    pigs    and 
monkeys    were    introduced    by    the    early 
explorers.      Within    a    hundred    years   the 
pigs  and  monkeys  completely  destroyed  the 
dodos  and  their  kin.     This  illustrates  the 
danger  of  the  promiscuous  introduction  of 
animals  foreign  to  a  natural  environment. 
There  is  an  interesting  contemporary  ac- 
count of  dodos  published  in  1601,  from  the 
pen    of    the    Dutch    Admiral    Neck,    who 
wrested  the  island  of  Mauritius  from  the 
Portuguese.      Another,    that    appeared    in 
1625,  says:  "There  is  a  store  of  great  fowle 
of  the  bignesse  of  a  Turkie,  very  fat,  and 
so   short   winged   that   they   can   not   fly, 
being  white,  and  in  a  manner  tame;  and  so 
be   all   other   fowles   as   having   not   been 
troubled  nor  feared  with  shot." 

Of  the  Rodriguez  solitaire,  F.  Legaut  wrote 
in  1708:  "They  are  taller  than  turkeys, 
the  eye  black  and  lively  and  the  head  with- 
out comb  on  cop  {sic).  They  never  fly,  their 
wings  are  too  little  to  support  their  bodies, 
they  serve  only  to  beat  themselves  and 
flutter  when  they  call  on  one  another. 
From  March  to  September  they  are  very 
fat  and  taste  admirably  well,  especially 
while  they  are  young;  some  of  the  males 
weigh  45  pounds.  The  females  are  wonder- 
fully beautiful  and  no  one  feather  is  strag- 
gling from  the  other  all  over  their  bodies. 
The  feathers  on  their  craws  are  whiter 
there  than  the  rest,  which  livelily  represents 
the  fine  neck  of  a  beautiful  woman." 


Distinguished  Visitors 

Among  distinguished  visitors  recently 
welcomed  at  Field  Museum  are  the  Countess 
Gisele  de  Diesbach,  Attach^e  to  the  Louvre, 
Paris,  as  head  of  the  lecture  department; 
Mr.  A.  S.  Arguelles,  Director,  Bureau  of 
Science,  Manila,  Philippine  Islands;  Dr. 
Alexander  Wetmore,  Director,  United  States 
National  Museum  and  Assistant  Secretary 
of  the  Smithsonian  Institution,  Wash- 
ington, D.C.;  Dr.  C.  L.  Lundell,  of  the 
Herbarium  of  the  University  of  Michi- 
gan, Ann  Arbor;  Dr.  Leon  J.  Cole,  Professor 
of  Zoology,  University  of  Wisconsin,  Madi- 
son; Mr.  Stewart  H.  Perry,  of  Adrian, 
Michigan,  an  authority  on  meteorites; 
Mr.  Bertrand  Schultz,  Assistant  Director, 
Nebraska  State  Museum,  Lincoln,  and  Dr. 
Gerald  W.  Prescott,  Associate  Professor  in 
the  department  of  botany,  Albion  College, 
Albion,  Michigan,  who  is  a  well-known 
student  of  algae. 


Economic  Importance  of  Palms 

In  tropical  countries,  palms  furnish  many 
of  the  necessaries  of  life — food,  clothing, 
construction  material  for  dwellings,  home 
furnishings,  etc.  An  extensive  display  of 
palms  and  their  economic  products  is  to  be 
seen  in  Hall  25.  

George  M.  Pullman  Hall  (Hall  13)  is 
entirely  devoted  to  horned  and  hoofed 
animals  from  all  parts  of  the  world. 


FIELD  MUSEUM  NEWS 
IN  "NEW  DRESS" 

To  provide  better  legibility,  and  to 
increase  and  improve  its  service  to 
Members  of  the  Museum,  FIELD 
MUSEUM  NEWS  inaugurates  with 
this  issue  a  more  easily  read  style  of 
typographical  "dress,"  and  an  in- 
crease in  size  to  eight  pages. 

It  is  believed  that  all  readers 
will  welcome  the  increase  by  two 
"points,"  as  printers'  terminolo- 
gy expresses  it,  of  the  white  space 
between  the  lines  of  type.  This 
brings  the  NEWS  into  conformity 
with  the  typographical  practice  of 
most  modern  periodicals  and  news- 
papers. 

The  increase  in  the  size  of  this 
monthly  bulletin  will  make  possible 
a  more  complete  coverage  of  the 
activities  of  the  Museum. 

CLIFFORD  C.  GREGG,  Director 


RAINSTORM  250,000,000  YEARS  AGO 
RECORDED  IN  FOSSIL  IMPRINTS 

By  Sharat  K.  Roy 
Curator  of  Geology 

Fossil  imprints  of  rain  drops  in  sedi- 
mentary rocks  (shale  or  sandstone)  made 
by  ordinary  brief  showers  are  not  of  un- 
common occurrence,  but  such  imprints  re- 
sulting from  rain  accompanied  by  winds  of 
high  velocity  are  rare.  A  specimen  believed 
to  be  of  the  latter  type  was  found  by  the 
writer  last  summer  while  conducting  the 
Sewell  L.  Avery  Geological  Expedition,  and 
is  now  on  exhibition  among  the  physical 
geology  collections  in  Clarence  Buckingham 
Hall  (Hall  35).  It  was  found,  about  four 
and  one-half  miles  northwest  of  Boulder, 
Colorado,  in  a  fine-grained  sandstone  (Lyon's 
sandstone)  of  the  Pennsylvanian  age,  esti- 
mated to  be  250,000,000  years  old. 

Rain  drops  not  accompanied  by  high 
winds  produce  circular  pits  margined  by 
elevated  rings,  whereas,  when  driven  by 
strong  winds,  they  make  elliptical  pits  with 
greater  depths  and  higher  margins  on  the 
sides  toward  which  the  rain  drops  and  wind 
are  directed.  This  is  because  the  velocity 
of  the  wind  drives  the  rain  drops  at  a  slant 
and  with  greater  force.  The  Field  Museum 
specimen  shows  these  characteristic  ellip- 
tical  pits   and   rims   elevated   toward   the 


direction  of  the  wind,  but  the  pits  are  not 
as  deep  nor  are  the  rims  as  high  as  they 
might  have  been  had  they  fallen  on  muddy 
sediments  instead  of  on  sands.  Mud,  due 
to  its  greater  cohesiveness  and  because  it 
can  be  more  easily  squeezed,  retains  the 
impressions  formed  on  it  better  than  sand, 
which  tends  to  roll  and  spread. 

Another  interesting  but  somewhat  per- 
plexing feature  of  the  Field  Museum  speci- 
men is  that  it  does  not  contain  as  numerous 
imprints  as  might  be  expected,  indicating 
that  the  wind  either  blew  hard  and  that 
the  rainfall  was  light,  or  that  the  impressions 
were  caused  by  hail  stones,  which  are 
usually  fewer  numerically  than  rain  drops, 
and  which,  when  accompanied  by  high 
winds,  also  descend  at  a  slant  and  produce 
similar  elliptical  pits  and  elevated  rims. 
No  convincing  proof  that  the  impressions 
were  made  by  hail  stones  has  yet  been 
found,  but  the  specimen  is  still  being  studied. 
If  conclusive  evidence  that  the  impressions 
are  hail  imprints  is  found,  they  will  be,  to 
the  knowledge  of  the  writer,  the  first  of 
their  kind  ever  brought  to  light. 

Preservation  or  "fossilization"  of  rain  drop 
or  hail  imprints,  like  those  of  mud  cracks 
and  foot  prints  of  animals,  is  simple  in  its 
nature  if  conditions  are  favorable.  Rain 
drops  falling  on  soft,  but  not  fluid  muddy 
or  sandy  flats,  left  exposed  after  the  reces- 
sion of  floodwaters,  leave  their  imprints. 
Exposure  for  a  time  to  sun  and  air  desiccates 
and  hardens  the  flats  and  with  them  the 
imprints.  These  may  later  be  covered  with 
wind-blown  sand  or  silt  and  once  thus 
covered  they  are  protected  from  destruction 
by  further  inundation  of  the  mud  flats.  By 
continued  deposition  on  the  top,  the  im- 
prints are  buried  deeper  and  deeper.  Later, 
after  the  sediments  have  become  hardened 
by  pressure  and  cementation  into  rock,  the 
beds  of  shale  or  sandstone,  depending  on 
the  nature  of  the  deposits,  may  be  exposed 
by  erosion,  revealing  a  secret  of  the  past 
as  in  this  case. 

Birds  of  Yucatan  Presented 
by  Melvin  A.  Traylor,  Jr. 

Representatives  of  more  than  eighty 
species  of  birds,  native  to  the  Yucatan 
peninsula  of  Mexico,  have  been  presented 
to  Field  Museum  by  Mr.  Melvin  A.  Traylor, 
Jr.,  of  Chicago,  who  collected  them  last 
summer  during  a  sojourn  of  several  weeks 
in  that  region. 

Mr.  Traylor  at  present  is  also  contributing 
his  services  to  the  Museum,  as  a  volunteer 
worker  in  the  Division  of  Birds,  where  he 
is  engaged  in  classifying  and  studying  the 
specimens  in  collaboration  with  Mr.  Rudyerd 
Boulton,  Curator  of  Birds.  Included  in  the 
collection,  which  is  notable  for  the  varieties 
represented,  are  a  number  of  important 
species  of  hawks  which  will  make  a  valuable 
addition  to  the  extensive  series  of  birds  of 
prey  inaugurated  by  the  late  Mr.  Leslie 
Wheeler,  former  Trustee  of  the  Museum. 


January,  1939 


FIELD  MUSEUM  NEWS 


Page  3 


THINGS  YOU  MAY  HAVE  MISSED 


Tibetan  Prayer  Wheels 

The  wheel  goes  round  and  round,  and 
each  time  it  spins  represents  a  repetition  of 
the  prayer  written  on  a  paper  attached  to 
it — that  is  the  idea  of  the  Tibetans  in 
designing  the  revolving  aids  to  devotions 
known  as  prayer  wheels,  of  which  a  collec- 
tion is  exhibited  in  Hall  32  (Case  3). 

But  not  content  even  with  the  efficacy 
of  this  lazy  way  of  saying  prayers,  they 
have  developed  a  method  which  they  believe 
increases  its  effectiveness  a  thousandfold. 
This  is  done  by  printing  the  prayer  a  thou- 
sand times  on  long  strips  of  paper  which 
resemble  the  tape  used  in  stock  market 
tickers,  and  inserting  these  strips  into  a 
hollow  cylinder  in  the  wheel.  Then,  each 
time  it  spins,  the  effect  is  regarded  as 
equivalent  to  saying  the  prayer  a  thousand 
times.  As  most  Lama  priests  and  many 
laymen  have  these  instruments,  and  keep 
them  almost  perpetually  in  motion  during 
their  waking  hours,  they  are  thus  enabled 
to  say  their  prayers  millions  of  times  in  a 
day,  a  feat  that  would  be  physically  im- 
possible to  the  most  fervent  suppliant  who 
confined  himself  to  oral  utterance. 

Shown  in  the  accompanying  illustration 
is  a  typical  prayer  wheel  included  in  the 
Field  Museum  collection.  A  further  refine- 
ment of  these  hand-propelled  wheels — one 
equipped  with  a  tin  propeller  to  be  spun 
by  the  wind — is  exemplified  by  one  of  the 
specimens  in  the  exhibit.  Temples  and 
villages  often  have  community  prayer 
wheels,  fifteen  to  twenty  feet  in  diameter, 
operated  by  water  power  or  windmills.  The 
larger  ones,  because  of  their  size,  are  usually 
called  "prayer  barrels." 

Mr.  Schuyler  Cammann,  who  recently 
returned  from  Tibet,  and  visited  Field 
Museum  to  study  its  Tibetan  collections, 
adds  the  following  information  from  his 
personal  observation: 

There  are  other  Tibetan  devices  to  aid 
praying.  A  traveler  may  walk  clockwise 
around  a  chorten  (a  monument  containing 
ashes  of  saints)  or  a  mani  pile  (made  of 


stone  slabs  carved  with  the  prayer  formula 
"om  mani  padme  hum")  and  thus  have 
prayers  said  for  him.  The  extreme  develop- 
ment of  this  seems  to  be  the  mani  walls, 
sometimes  three-quarters  of  a  mile  long 
with  a  chorten  at  each  end,  and  with  hundreds 
of  flat  rocks  along  the  top  of  the  wall,  each 
carved  with  a  prayer  or  charm  words.  In 
passing  these  to  the  left  the  prayers  ac- 
crue to  the  traveler's  benefit.  But  if  he  goes 
on  the  right  of  the  wall,  the  prayers  are 
"deducted."  Tibetan  horses  automatically 
walk  to  the  left  of  such  walls.  A  combina- 
tion of  the  wheel  and  wall  method  of  pray- 
ing is  found  in  Likiang,  in  the  borderland 


"Mass  Production"  of  Prayers 

Tibetans  believe  they  accomplish  the  effect  of 
praying  a  thousand  times  with  each  twirl  of  one  of 
these  odd  wheels  containing  a  long  strip  of  paper  on 
which  supplication  may  be  printed  a  thousand  times. 
Mr.  C.  Martin  Wilbur,  Curator  of  Chinese  Archae- 
ology and  Ethnology,  holds  a  complete  instnunent 
and  a  roll  of  prayer  tape.  On  the  table  is  a  disassem- 
bled wheel  showing  opened  cylinder  into  which  roll  is 
inserted.  The  metal  weight  attached  to  cylinder  by  a 
chain  causes  it  to  revolve  when  a  swinging  motion  is 
applied  to  the  handle  by  the  person  offering  prayers. 

between  Tibet  and  southwestern  China.  A 
monk  walks  clockwise  around  the  wall  of 
his  temple,  into  which  have  been  fixed 
leather-bound  prayer  wheels.  As  he  walks 
along  he  brushes  the  wheels  with  his 
shoulder,  setting  them  to  spinning  prayers 
for  him. 


FIELD  WORK  IN  MISSISSIPPI 

Collections  of  birds  from  the  state  of 
Mississippi  are  few  and  far  between,  and 
as  a  result  the  avifauna  of  that  part  of  the 
South  is  relatively  little  known.  This 
lack  of  knowledge  is  important  because 
Mississippi  lies  in  the  area  where  birds  typ- 
ical  of   Florida   and  Texas  come  together. 

Through  the  cordial  co-operation  of  Mr. 
James  Leavell  and  Mr.  Carl  Birdsall,  of 
Chicago,  Mr.  Rudyerd  Boulton,  Curator  of 
Birds,  and  Mr.  Stephen  S.  Gregory,  Jr., 
of  Winnetka,  had  the  opportunity  recently 
of  making  a  brief  reconnaisance  of  the  bird 
life  of  Jackson  County. 


In  the  space  of  five  days,  some  sixty 
species  were  recorded.  Specimens  were 
obtained  of  about  thirty  species  that  will 
greatly  aid  in  the  solution  of  problems  of 
speciation  in  birds  of  the  Gulf  Coast  area. 
Among  the  interesting  birds  found  were 
Brewer's  black-birds  which  occurred  in  large 
flocks.  It  was  not  previously  realized  that 
this  western  species  wintered  so  far  to  the 
east. 

The  field  work,  though  brief,  was  so 
successful  that  hopes  were  aroused  for  a 
more  extensive  program  of  further  work  in 
this  zoologically  neglected  area  of  the 
south.  — R.B. 


ANOTHER  GIFT  OF  $4,000  RECEIVED 
FROM  MRS.  J.  N.  RAYMOND 

To  further  the  co-ordination  of  educa- 
tional activities  of  Field  Museum  with  those 
of  the  schools  of  Chicago,  Mrs.  James  Nelson 
Raymond  last  month  made  an  additional 
gift  of  $4,000  to  the  Museum.  This,  with 
previous  gifts,  makes  a  total  of  more  than 
$63,000  received  from  Mrs.  Raymond  to 
supplement  the  $500,000  endowment  she  pro- 
vided in  1925  wherewith  the  James  Nelson 
and  Anna  Louise  Raymond  Foundation 
for  Public  School  and  Children's  Lectures 
was  established. 

The  year  1938  was  one  of  the  most 
active  in  the  history  of  the  Foundation,  and 
the  staff  has  been  increased  from  five  to  six 
lecturers  to  meet  the  increasing  demands  for 
its  services.  Attendance  at  the  free  pro- 
grams of  motion  pictures  for  children  pre- 
sented in  the  James  Simpson  Theatre  has 
been  larger,  and  several  new  types  of 
activity  have  been  carried  on,  such  as  the 
preparation  of  special  exhibits,  and  the 
development  of  informational  conferences 
for  groups  of  children  in  connection  with  a 
new  series  of  radio  programs  broadcast  under 
the  auspices  of  the  Chicago  Board  of  Educa- 
tion. More  work  has  been  undertaken  also 
to  supply  natural  history  counsel  for  those 
in  charge  of  children's  camps,  boys'  and 
girls'  clubs,  and  church  organizations. 
Approximately  1,200  groups,  aggregating 
tens  of  thousands  of  children,  have  been 
provided  with  guide  services  on  visits  to  the 
Museum.  Two  new  series  of  stories  for 
children  have  been  prepared,  and  thousands 
of  copies  distributed.  Extension  lecturers 
sent  out  into  the  schools  have  addressed 
approximately  185,000  children  in  their 
classrooms  and  assembly  halls. 


Museum  Lecture  Tours  Attended 
by  1,585  "4-H"  Boys  and  Girls 

Groups  of  American  farm  boys  and  girls 
from  forty-four  states,  Canada,  and  Hawaii, 
were  brought  to  Field  Museum  during  the 
International  Live  Stock  Exposition  held 
in  Chicago  in  December.  There  were  1,585 
of  them — 626  girls,  and  959  boys — several 
hundred  more  than  were  in  the  groups  of 
the  previous  year.  They  came  under  the 
auspices  of  the  National  Four-H  Club  Con- 
gress. The  entire  staff  of  the  James  Nelson 
and  Anna  Louise  Raymond  Foundation  was 
assigned  to  conducting  them  on  guide- 
lecture  tours  of  Museum  exhibits.  In  addi- 
tion to  these  groups,  the  Museum  received 
hundreds  of  other  individual  visitors,  both 
adults  and  youths,  in  Chicago  because  of 
the  live  stock  show. 


Noteworthy  fresco  paintings  of  the  first 
century  A.  D.,  excavated  from  the  village  of 
Boscoreale  near  Pompeii,  are  exhibited  in 
Edward  E.  and  Emma  B.  Ayer  Hall  (Hall  2). 


Page  U 


FIELD  MUSEUM  NEWS 


January,  193  d 


MONUMENTS    NOW    MARK    SITES    WHERE    FIELD    MUSEUM    EXPEDITION    FOUND   DINOSAURS 


Through  the  interest  of  the  Chamber  of 
Commerce  of  Grand  Junction,  Colorado, 
as  well  as  several  service  clubs  of  that  city, 
and  Mr.  Al  Look,  an  executive  of  the  Grand 
Junction  Daily  Sentinel,  bronze  plaques  have 
been  placed  on  monuments  constructed 
from  native  rock  at  sites  where  important 
fossil  dinosaur  skeletons  were  excavated  by 
a  Field  Museum  Expedition  during  1900 
and  1901. 

Mr.  Look,  long  an  enthusiastic  friend  of 
the  Museum's,  who  has  assisted  its  expedi- 
tions in  many  ways,  and  has  contributed 
many  fine  fossil  specimens  to  the  collections 
of  the  institution,  reports  that  a  movement 
is  also  under  way  to  have  these  sites  pre- 
served as  public  parks  under  perpetual 
protection. 

Both  sites  are  on  isolated  buttes  in  the 
valley  of  the  Colorado  River,  one  west  of 
Grand  Junction,  the  other  across  the  river 
from  Fruita.  The  expedition  commemo- 
rated was  conducted  under  the  leadership 
of  Mr.  Elmer  S.  Riggs,  Curator  of  Paleon- 
tology. At  one  site  the  expedition  obtained 
the  huge  skeleton  of  Avalosanrus  (also 
known  as  Brontosaurus) ,  one  of  the  largest 
forms  of  dinosaur,  which  now  occupies  a 
central  position  in  Ernest  R.  Graham  Hall 
(Hall  38).  At  the  second  site  the  expedition 
unearthed  a  genus  of  dinosaur  previously 
unknown  to  science,  almost  giraffe-like  in 
form,  to  which  was  given  the  name  Brachio- 
saurus.  As  the  first  example  of  this  animal 
discovered,  this  is  a  type  specimen,  of  im- 
portance to  scientists  as  a  criterion  for 
comparison  of  any  further  specimens  which 
may  be  found.  Various  parts  of  this  crea- 
ture are  exhibited  in  a  series  of  cases  in 
Graham  Hall. 


DINOSAUR  HUNTING 
IN  COLORADO 

By  Elmer  S.  Riggs 
Curator  of  Paleontology 

(Mr.  Riggs  presents  reminiscences  of 
the  Field  Museum  Expedition  -which 
has  just  been  commemorated  by  the 
erection  of  monuments  in  Colorado.) 

In  the  late  '90's  and  early  1900's,  the 
Rocky  Mountain  region  was  the  scene  of 
intense  dinosaur  hunting  activity.  Dis- 
covery in  1877  by  Professor  O.  C.  Marsh 
(Yale)  of  the  first  of  these  gigantic  reptiles 
to  be  found  on  this  continent,  fired  public 
imagination,  and  every  museum  wanted  a 
dinosaur.  The  eastern  slope  of  the  Rockies 
and  adjacent  plains  were  scoured  by  a 
score  of  expeditions,  and  the  search  was 
carried  northward  into  Canada. 

The  western  slope  of  the  mountains,  how- 
ever, was  still  virgin  territory.  The  writer, 
after  studying  maps  of  western  Colorado 
and  eastern  Utah,  communicated  with  Dr. 
S.  M.  Bradbury,  who  was  President  of  the 
Western  Colorado  Academy  of  Science.  The 
dental  office  of  this  pioneer  scientist  had 


become  a  headquarters  for  amateur  col- 
lectors. In  answer  to  my  letter,  he  described 
^  fossils  that  had  been  found  in  the  Grand 
River  Valley,  and  offered  aid  and  informa- 
tion to  any  exploratory  party  Field  Museum 
might  send. 

Early  in  June,  1900,  Mr.  H.  W.  Menke, 
my  colleague  at  Field  Museum,  Victor 
Barnett,  a  young  assistant,  and  I,  arrived 
at  Grand  Junction  and  called  at  Dr.  Brad- 
bury's office  where  we  examined  his  speci- 
mens. Among  them  were  large  vertebrae 
and  a  leg  bone  of  a  brownish  color. 

"They  are  from  dinosaurs  all  right,"  said 
Menke  as  we  recognized  a  caudal  vertebra 
of  Diplodocus. 


Field  Museum  Expedition  Commemorated 

One  of  two  monuments  erected  by  citizens  of  Grand 
Junction,  Colorado,  to  mark  sites  where  paleontologists 
excavated  huge  dinosaur  skeletons  now  on  exhibition 
in  Ernest  R.  Graham  Hall.  Efforts  are  being  made  to 
have  the  locality  designated  as  a  public  park,  to  be 
preserved  perpetually  in  its  natural  state. 

"Can  you  take  us  to  the  place  where  these 
fossils  came  from?"  I  asked. 

"Get  saddle  horses  for  tomorrow,"  was 
Dr.   Bradbury's   answer, 
"and  I'll  take  you  where  you 
can  see  fossils  in  the  rock." 

Crossing  the  Grand  River 
and  the  Gunnison  next 
morning,  we  sighted  the  first 
"pay-dirt"  in  two  buttes 
near  the  mouth  of  the  No- 
thoroughfare  Canyon.  There 
Dr.  Bradbury  showed  us 
fragments  of  dinosaur  bones 
scattered  on  the  surface  and, 
higher  up,  pieces  in  undis- 
turbed clay. 

Convinced  that  the  region 
would  be  fruitful,  we  chose 
a  camp  site.  Riding  back 
through  the  Gunnison  Valley 
we  saw  a  fossil  turtle  locked 
in  a  quartzite  boulder  that 
must  have  weighed  a  ton, 
and  returned  to  town  filled 
with    anticipation    of    a    successful    "dig." 

That  evening  wagons  unloaded  our  tents 
and  camp  equipment  at  the  Goat  Ranch, 


near  our  site.  We  began  our  search  for 
surface  indications  much  like  men  in  search 
of  gold — we  traced  leads,  dug  dozens  of  pros- 
pecting holes,  and  then  abandoned  most  of 
them  as  worthless. 

Vertebrae,  ribs,  and  the  shoulder  blade 
of  a  medium  size  dinosaur,  Camarasaurus, 
were  finally  located  and  dug  out.  As  weeks 
passed  and  summer  heat  came  on,  the  sands 
drifted,  and  "dust-devils"  danced  down  the 
valley.  On  the  Fourth  of  July,  Menke 
took  his  pick  and  canteen,  and  went  pros- 
pecting alone.  At  dusk  he  returned,  an- 
nouncing he  had  found  "the  biggest  thing 
yet!"  It  proved  to  be  the  skeleton  of 
Brachiosaurus,  indeed,  and  by  far,  "the 
largest  known  dinosaur." 

The  news  spread  to  the  town,  and  many 
parties  were  organized  to  visit  our  camp. 
Captain  Lemon,  Superintendent  of  the  In- 
dian School,  ran  an  appraising  eye  over  the 
huge  pelvis  lying  upside  down,  and  remarked, 
"He's  broader  across  the  back  than  a  $200 
mule!"  At  sunset  people  were  still  coming 
on  horseback  and  bicycle.  Members  of 
our  party  stood  by  to  explain  the  nature  of 
the  animal,  and  to  make  sure  that  no  damage 
was  done  by  the  groups  of  enthusiastic 
sightseers. 

The  skeleton  of  Brachiosaurus  was  em- 
bedded in  a  layer  of  clay-sand  cropping  out 
of  the  side  of  a  butte  capped  with  a  heavy 
ledge  of  Dakota  sandstone.  When  found, 
it  was  being  slowly  washed  out  by  rain  and 
water  from  melting  snows.  The  sacrum  and 
one  side  of  the  pelvis  were  exposed.  As  the 
hard  clay  was  removed  from  the  upper  side, 
a  series  of  vertebrae  were  disclosed.  A 
great  femur,  nearly  seven  feet  long,  lay 
crosswise  underneath.  Beside  the  vertebrae 
lay  great  flat  bones  shaped  like  ribs,  some 
as  much  as  eight  inches  in  width,  or  nearly 


Skeleton  of  Apatosaurus 

This  specimen,  32  feet  long,  provides  an  impressive  representation  of  a 
prehistoric  giant  despite  the  lack  of  head  and  extremity  of  tail  which  gave  it  in 
life,  according  to  estimates,  a  total  length  of  65  to  70  feet.  The  site  where  it 
was  excavated  in  Colorado  is  one  of  those  now  marked  by  monuments. 


twice  as  wide  as  any  ever  seen  before.  As 
the  rock  was  cleared  away,  and  five,  six, 
seven,  eight  and  finally  nine  feet  of  these 


January,  ld39 


PlELD  MUSEUM  NEWS 


Page  S 


great  ribs  were  revealed,   our  amazement 
increased  in  proportion. 

Further  along  appeared  a  great  flat  bone, 
broad  at  one  end,  and  tapering  away  to  a 
rounded  shaft  which  was  jagged  and  broken. 
More  than  four  feet  of  it  lay  intact.  It 
was  too  long  for  any  dinosaur  humerus 
known  at  that  time  from  America.  Soon 
we  began  picking  up  fragments  scattered 
along  the  slope  and  fitting  them  together. 
Within  half  an  hour,  we  had  a  second  great 
bone  quite  as  long  as  the  thigh  bone,  but 
of  different  shape.     Scarcely  believing  our 


of  soft  sand.  The  big  prize  was  a  series  of 
vertebrae  with  ribs  attached,  and  pelvis 
and  leg  bones  in  position.  These  were 
found  on  a  steep  slope  in  a  little  gulch 
which  enters  the  river  near  Fruita.  The 
prospect  was  an  excellent  one,  but  there 
was  no  opportunity  of  doing  more  that  year. 
Next  April  our  party  returned  to  Grand 
Junction.  Permission  was  secured  to  util- 
ize an  old  cable,  once  used  for  operating 
a  ferry-boat,  which  would  give  access  to 
the  railroad  and  supplies,  and  solve  the 
problem  of  transporting  the  specimen.     A 


blasting  was  required  in  this  operation.  The 
bones  were  taken  out  in  blocks  of  matrix, 
bound  up  with  plaster  of  paris  and  burlap, 
and  thus  made  ready  for  shipment. 

Packed  in  this  way,  the  skeleton  of 
Apatosaurus  weighed  ten  tons.  It  was 
conveyed  by  wagon  to  the  ferry  and  across 
the  river.  There,  boxes  were  made  and  the 
bones  were  more  securely  packed  for  ship- 
ment to  Field  Museum. 

Arrival  at  the  Museum  marked  only  the 
beginning  of  work  on  the  skeleton.  A  year 
and  a  half  was  required  for  four  men  to 


Photograph  copyright  Field  Museum  of  Natural  History 

Apatosaurus  as  It  Is  Believed  to  Have  Appeared  in  Life 

Restoration  of  the  huge  Colorado  dinosaur,  as  conceived  from  skeletons  and  the  results  of  scientific  research.      This  large  mural  by  Mr.  Charles  R.  Knight  is  on 
exhibition  in  Earnest  R.  Graham  Hall  with  twenty-seven  other  paintings  of  scenes  showing  prehistoric  animals  and  plants  beginning  with  the  earliest  known  forms. 


senses,  the  conclusion  was  forced  upon  us 
that  this  bone  was  from  an  upper  fore-leg — 
a  humerus.  That  conclusion  was  revolu- 
tionary to  our  knowledge  of  dinosaurs.  They 
had  been  known  only  as  animals  with  short 
fore-legs  and  long  hind  legs.  Here  was  a 
beast  whose  shoulders  must  have  been  carried 
much  higher  than  the  hips — a  veritable 
giraffe  in  the  dinosaur  kingdom! 

At  the  end  of  the  summer  of  1900,  a 
further  search  for  dinosaurs  was  made  lower 
down  in  the  Grand  (now  called  Colorado) 
River  Valley.  Separate  bones  were  seen  in 
ledges  of  sandstone.  A  complete  fore-leg, 
with  shoulder  blade,  was  found  in  a  layer 


large  scow  was  constructed  at  Grand  Junc- 
tion, and  camp  equipment,  including  food 
supplies  for  men  and  horses,  was  loaded 
aboard.  The  boat,  christened  Mary  Ann, 
was  floated  down  the  river  and  installed 
as  a  ferry-boat  on  the  old  cable. 

The  task  of  digging  out  this  big  skeleton 
involved  quarrying  methods.  Rock  was 
stripped  off  from  above  to  reach  the  speci- 
men. But  as  the  series  of  vertebrae  led  fur- 
ther into  the  hill,  the  bank  became  too  high 
for  such  operations,  so  a  tunnel  was  driven 
in,  and  thus  the  animal  was  followed  past 
its  pelvis  to  the  middle  of  its  tail  where 
the  series  of  vertebrae  was  broken.    Much 


chisel  away  the  stone  from  the  fossil  bones 
and  cement  the  pieces  together.  Another 
six  months  were  needed  to  set  the  bones  up 
on  a  steel  frame  as  an  assembled  skeleton. 
It  remains  today  one  of  the  outstanding 
exhibits  in  Ernest  R.  Graham  Hall  (Hall  38). 
The  tablets  now  set  up  at  the  sites  of  the 
two  principal  excavations  will  be  a  constant 
reminder  to  residents  of  the  region,  and  to 
travelers,  that  before  the  Rocky  Mountains 
were  uplifted,  before  the  sagebrush  and  the 
sand  existed,  all  this  district  was  a  vast 
swamp,  inhabited  by  gigantic  creatures 
totally  different  in  habits  and  structure 
from  any  which  live  on  the  earth  today. 


STAFF  NOTES 

Director  Clifford  C.  Gregg  was  among 
the  speakers  on  a  program  marking  the 
opening  of  a  new  wing  in  the  Museum  of 
Science  of  the  St.  Paul  Institute,  December 
1.  His  topic  was  "The  Place  of  the  Local 
Museum  in  Its  Community."  During  his 
visit  to  St.  Paul,  Mr.  Gregg  was  a  guest 
speaker  also  at  a  luncheon  of  the  Minnesota 
Club. 


Mr.  C.  Martin  Wilbur,  Curator  of  Chinese 
Archaeology    and    Ethnology,    last    month 


visited  museums  in  Kansas  City,  St.  Louis, 
Milwaukee  and  Minneapolis  to  inspect  and 
study  important  Oriental  collections  re- 
cently received  in  those  cities. 


Mr.  Rudyerd  Boulton,  Field  Museum's 
Curator  of  Birds,  was  recently  honored  by 
election  as  Treasurer  of  the  American  Orni- 
thologists' Union,  and  Business  Manager  of 
its  quarterly  journal.  The  Auk. 


Dr.   Paul   S.    Martin,    Chief   Curator   of 
Anthropology,   presented   a  report  on   the 


1938  excavations  of  the  Field  Museum 
Archaeological  Expedition  to  Southwestern 
Colorado,  before  the  meeting  of  the  Ameri- 
can Anthropological  Association  held  in 
New  York,  December  27-31. 


Dr.  Henry  Field,  Curator  of  Physical 
Anthropology,  gave  an  illustrated  lecture 
on  "Ancient  and  Modern  Inhabitants  of 
Southwestern  Asia,"  before  the  joint  meeting 
of  the  American  Historical  Association  and 
the  American  Oriental  Society  held  in 
Chicago,  December  30. 


Page  6 


FIELD  MUSEUM  NEWS 


Janvary,  19S9 


Field  Museum  of  Natural  History 

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

THE  BOARD  OF  TRUSTEES 
Sewsix  L.  Avery  Charles  A.  McCuixocb 

Leopold  E.  Block  Willlam  H.  Mitchell 

WiLLiAii  J.  Chalmers*  George  A.  Richardson 

Albert  B.  Dick,  Jr.  Theodore  Roosevelt 

Joseph  N.  Field  Fred  W.  Sargent 

Marshall  Field  James  Simpson 

Stanley  Field  Solomon  A.  Smith 

Albert  W.  Harris  Albert  A.  Sfragub 

Samuel  Insull,  Jr.  Silas  H.  Strawn 

John  P.  Wilson 

*Deceased  December  10,  19S8 

OFFICERS 

Stanley  Field Pretident 

Albert  A.  Sfrague     Fini  Vice-President 

James  Simpson Second  Vice-President 

Albert  W.  Harris Third  Vice-PreeidenI 

Clifford  C.  Gregg Director  and  Secretary 

Solomon  A.  Smith  . . .  Treasurer  and  Assistant  Secretary 

FIELD  MUSEUM  NEWS 

Clifford  C.  Gregg,  Director  of  the  Museum Editor 

CONTRIBUTING  EDITORS 

Paul  S.  Martin Chief  Curator  of  Anthropology 

B.  E.  Dahlgren  .  Chief  Curator  of  Botony 

Henry  W.  Nichols.  Chief  Curator  of  Geology 

Wilfred  H.  Osgood Chief  Curator  of  Zoology 

H.  B.  Harte Managing  Editor 


Field  Museum  is  open  every  day  of  the  year  (except 
Christmas  and  New  Year's  Day)  during  the  hours 
Indicated  below: 

November,  December,  January,  February  9  a.m.  to  4  P.M. 
March,  April,  September,  October  9  A.M.  to  5  P.M. 

May,  June,  July,  August  9  a.m.  to  6  p.m. 

Admission  is  free  to  Members  on  all  days.  Other 
adults  are  admitted  free  on  Thursdays,  Saturdays  and 
Sundays;  non-members  pay  25  cents  on  other  days. 
Children  are  admitted  free  on  all  days.  Students  and 
faculty  members  of  educational  institutions  are  admit- 
ted free  any  day  upon  presentation  of  credentials. 

The  Musexim's  natural  history  Library  is  open  for 
reference  daily  except  Saturday  afternoon  and  Sunday. 

Traveling  exhibits  are  circulated  in  the  schools  of 
Chicago  by  the  N.  W.  Harris  Public  School  Extension 
Department  of  the  Museum. 

Lectures  for  schools,  and  special  entertainments 
and  tours  for  children  at  the  Museum,  are  provided 
by  the  James  Nelson  and  Anna  Louise  Raymond 
Foundation  for  Public  School  and  Children's  Lectures. 

Announcements  of  free  illustrated  lectures  for  the 
public,  and  special  lectures  for  Members  of  the  Museum, 
will  appear  in  Field  Museum  News. 

A  cafeteria  in  the  Museum  serves  visitors.  Rooms 
are  provided  for  those  bringing  their  lunches. 

Chicago  Motor  Coach  Company  No.  26  buses  go 
direct  to  the  Museum. 

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


WILLIAM  J.  CHALMERS 
July  10,  1852— December  10,  1938 

Field  Museum  suffered  an  acute  loss  by 
the  death,  on  December  10,  of  Mr.  William  J. 
Chalmers,  who  had  ably  served  as  a  member 
of  its  Board  of  Trustees  since  1894,  shortly 
after  the  founding  of  the  institution.  Mr. 
Chalmers,  noted  in  Chicago  also  for  his 
many  other  civic  interests  and  philan- 
thropies, was  in  his  eighty-sixth  year. 

Concurrently  with  his  election  as  a  Trustee 
of  the  Museum,  Mr.  Chalmers  was  chosen 
as  a  member  of  the  Building  Committee, 
and  for  many  years  he  served  as  Chairman 
of  that  important  committee,  and  also  as  a 
member  of  the  Executive  Committee.  For 
his  eminent  services  to  science,  Mr.  Chalmers 
was  elected  an  Honorary  Member  of  the 
Museum,  while  his  generous  gifts  to  the 
institution  placed  his  name  high  on  the  roll 
of  the  Museum's  Contributors.  He  was  also 
a  Corporate  Member  and  a  Life  Member. 


William  J.  Chalmers 


In  the  Museum's  Department  of  Geology, 
Mr.  Chalmers  founded  a  noteworthy  series 
of  exhibits  which  his  fellow  Trustees  desig- 
nated as  the  William  J.  Chalmers  Crystal 
Collection.  By  means  of  carefully  selected 
mineral  specimens,  this  collection  illustrates 
the  systems  by  which  minerals  crystallize, 
and  the  varying  development  of  crystal 
form  in  each  system,  thus  providing  an 
educational  feature  of  immense  value, 
which  has  been 
much  used  by  stu- 
dents and  teachers. 
Year  after  year, 
Mr.  Chalmers  made 
further  contribu- 
tions to  expand  and 
improve  this  collec- 
tion. Many  types 
of  twin  crystals  and 
other  crystal  group- 
ings are  illustrated, 
as  well  as  various 
features  of  crystal 
growth,  such  as 
zone  structure,  inclusions  and  phantoms. 
Among  the  crystals  are  many  of  gem  quality, 
which  would  have  been  cut  for  gems  had  they 
not  been  preserved  in  natural  form  for  this 
collection.  Especially  noteworthy  is  a 
series  of  tourmalines  exhibiting  an  extra- 
ordinary variety  of  colors  and  forms.  He 
made  notable  contributions  also  to  the  col- 
lections of  gems  and  of  invertebrate  fossils. 

Mr.  Chalmers,  a  native  of  Chicago,  was 
born  on  July  10,  1852.  He  rose  to  a 
prominent  place  in  the  city's  business  life, 
but  in  recent  years  had  retired  from  active 
direction  of  the  enterprises  with  which  he 
was  associated.  He  was  a  director  of  the 
World's  Columbian  Exposition  of  1893,  and 
a  member  of  the  Chicago  school  board 
under  Mayor  Washburne.  He  also  served 
on  the  track  elevation  commission  which 
made  possible  the  elevation  of  the  Illinois 
Central  railroad  in  1892. 

Because  of  his  extensive  interests  as  a 
manufacturer  of  mining  machinery,  Mr. 
Chalmers  traveled  widely,  and  had  visited 
practically  every  important  area  where 
mining  is  carried  on.  During  the  world  war, 
he  directed  campaigns  to  obtain  relief  funds 
for  Belgian  children,  contributing  lavishly 
from  his  own  pocket.  Later  he  was  decorated 
by  the  Belgian  government  in  recognition 
of  this  work. 


JOHN  E.  GLYNN 
October  13,  1869-December  14,  1938 

Mr.  John  E.  Glynn,  a  veteran  member  of 
the  staff  of  Field  Museum,  died  December  14, 
after  a  protracted  period  of  illness.  Mr. 
Glynn,  who  was  69  years  old,  had  been  an 
employe  of  the  Museum  since  1894,  when  he 
joined  the  staff  as  Assistant  Superintendent. 
Since  1920  he  had  been  Superintendent  of 
Maintenance. 


Mr.  Glynn  was  largely  responsible  for 
supervising  the  gigantic  task  of  moving 
the  Museum's  exhibits,  study  collections, 
and  other  possessions  from  the  building 
originally  occupied  in  Jackson  Park,  and 
reinstalling  them  in  the  present  building 
which  was  opened  to  the  public  in  1921. 
This  immense  moving  operation,  including 
hundreds  of  thousands  of  items,  many  of 
them  extremely  fragile,  was  conducted  with 
practically  no  losses  or  damage. 

Mr.  Glynn  designed  many  of  the  best 
types  of  cases  used  in  the  Museum,  including 
the  built-in  cases  which  are  architecturally 
integrated  with  the  interior  of  the  building 
itself,  and  which  are  used  for  the  installation 
of  habitat  groups  and  other  dioramas.  He 
also  made  other  improvements  in  methods 
of  installation  of  exhibits,  lighting,  etc.  A 
notable  accomplishment  was  his  recon- 
struction in  the  Hall  of  Egyptian  Archae- 
ology (Hall  J)  of  two  complete  mastaba 
tomb  chapels  of  Egypt's  Old  Kingdom 
period.  These  were  assembled  using  chiefly 
original  stone  blocks  brought  from  Egypt. 


Stone  Age  Hall  Sculptor 
Dies  in  Accident 

News  of  the  death  of  Mr.  Frederick 
Blaschke,  noted  sculptor,  came  as  a  pro- 
found shock  to  members  of  the  scientific 
and  administrative  staff  of  Field  Museum, 
with  whom  he  had  been  associated  for  a 
number  of  years.  Mr.  Blaschke  was  the 
creator  of  the  restorations  of  various  types 
of  prehistoric  men  and  animals  in  Field 
Museum's  Hall  of  the  Stone  Age  of  the  Old 
World,  and  Ernest  R.  Graham  Hall.  This 
work  ranked  among  his  most  important 
accomplishments,  and  won  him  great  acclaim 
for  its  excellence. 

Mr.  Blaschke  died  December  4,  due  to 
injuries  suffered  in  an  accidental  fall  in 
his  home  at  Cold  Spring-on-Hudson,  New 
York.    He  was  57  years  old. 


BASIC  KNOWLEDGE— 

Architecture     of    the     Universe,    by 
Reginald  A.  Daly. 

"This  book,  by  a  recognized  author- 
ity, explains  in  non-technical  language 
and  in  a  most  interesting  manner  the 
structure  of  the  earth,"  states  Mr. 
Henry  W.  Nichols,  Chief  Curator  of 
Geology  at  Field  Museum.  "It  de- 
scribes the  structure  and  composition 
both  of  the  interior  of  the  earth  and 
of  its  crust,  and  tells  why  there  are 
continents  and  oceans,  mountains  and 
plains.  Much  of  its  content  is  based 
on  discoveries  of  recent  years,  and  will 
be  new  to  those  whose  studies  in 
geology  terminated  more  than  a  few 
years  ago." 

At  the  BOOK  SHOP  of  FIELD 
MUSEUM— $3. 


January,  1939 


FIELD  MUSEUM  NEWS 


Page  7 


MUSEUM  STAFF  APPOINTMENTS 

The  following  appointments,  effective 
January  1,  1939,  are  announced  by  the 
Director: 

Mr.  William  H.  Corning — Superintendent 
of  Maintenance.  Mr.  Corning  joined  the 
staff  of  Field  Museum  late  in  1920  as  Chief 
Engineer,  and  has  served  in  that  capacity 
since  that  time. 

Mr.  William  E.  Lake — Chief  Engineer. 
Mr.  Lake  came  to  the  Museum  July  1,  1922, 
as  an  engineer,  becoming  Assistant  Chief 
Engineer  in  1926. 

Mr.  Arthur  G.  Rueckert — Staff  Artist. 
Mr.  Rueckert  joined  the  staff  in  November, 
1923,  as  a  taxidermist.  In  addition  to  a 
general  experience  in  taxidermy  and  the 
making  of  accessories  for  exhibits,  Mr. 
Rueckert  assisted  the  late  Charles  Abel 
Corwin  in  the  painting  of  many  of  his  more 
recent  backgrounds,  and  has  carried  on  this 
work  since  Mr.  Corwin's  death. 

Mr.  Robert  L.  Yule — a  Preparator,  in  the 
Department  of  Anthropology,  where  he  has 
been  employed  in  various  capacities  since 
February  1,  1932. 

Mr.  W.  E.  Eigsti — a  Taxidermist.  Mr. 
Eigsti  came  to  Field  Museum  in  February, 
1931,  as  an  assistant  taxidermist,  since 
which  time  he  has  mounted  many  splendid 
specimens  for  the  Museum  collections. 

Mr.  Robert  E.  Bruce — Purchasing  Agent. 
Mr.  Bruce  joined  the  staff  in  October,  1927, 
and  served  in  various  clerical  capacities 
until  August,  1938,  when  he  became  Acting 
Purchasing  Agent. 

Mr.  Noble  Stephens — Manager  of  the 
Book  Shop.  Mr.  Stephens  has  been  on  the 
staff  of  the  Museum  during  the  past  year 
and  has  been  in  charge  of  the  Book  Shop 
since  it  was  opened  in  April.  He  is  largely 
responsible  for  the  splendid  showing  made 
by  this  new  venture. 

Mr.  Warren  E.  Raymond — Assistant 
Registrar.  Mr.  Raymond  joined  the  staff 
October  1,  1938,  as  a  clerk,  and  is  now 
appointed  to  a  new  position  created  because 
of  the  increasing  volume  of  business  in  the 
Registrar's  office. 

Mr.  Joseph  D.  Todd — Carpenter  Fore- 
man. Mr.  Todd  came  to  the  Museum  as  a 
carpenter  in  November,  1927,  after  a  wide 
experience  in  both  exterior  and  interior  con- 
struction, and  in  his  new  position  will  be  of 
great  value  to  the  Superintendent  of  Main- 
tenance. 

Mr.  E.  S.  Abbey — Captain  of  the  Guard. 
Mr.  Abbey  joined  the  guard  force  in  1905, 
and  became  Sergeant  in  May,  1924.  A 
reorganization  of  the  guard  force  at  the 
beginning  of  1939  retains  Mr.  Abbey  as  the 
senior  member  of  the  organization  with  the 
new  title  of  Captain. 

Mr.  Patrick  Walsh — Sergeant  of  the 
Guard.  Mr.  Walsh  came  to  Field  Museum 
in  February,  1894,  in  the  Maintenance 
Division.  He  is  one  of  the  oldest  employes  in 
point  of  service.   In  August,  1905,  he  became 


a  guard,  and  since  January,  1930,  has  been 
Acting  Sergeant  on  one  of  the  night  shifts. 
Mr.  David  Conwill — Sergeant  of  the 
Guard.  Mr.  Conwill  became  a  Museum 
guard  April  1,  1931,  immediately  after  his 
retirement  from  the  United  States  Army. 


ANIMAL  LIFE  IN  AIR  PLANTS 

By  Karl  P.  Schmidt 
Curator  of  Amphibians  and  Reptiles 


The  environment  in  which  animals  are 
found  is  referred  to  as  their  "habitat." 
Within  the  more  general  types  of  habitat, 
such  as  hardwood  forest,  we  distinguish 
restrictions  to  special  environments  as 
"niches."  The  red-backed  salamander,  for 
example,  is  found  in  the  fallen-log  niche  in 
a  forest  habitat.  When  whole  assemblages 
of  animals  are  found  in  such  a  habitat  niche, 
their  inter-relations,  extent  and  mode  of 
dependence  on  their  special  environment,  as 
well  as  their  mode  of  dispersal,  and  the 
correlation  of  their  geographic  distribution 
with  that  of  their  habitat,  become  problems 
of  more  than  usual  interest  to  the  naturalist. 

One  of  the  most  remarkable  of  such 
habitat  niches  in  the  American  tropics  is 
that  afforded  by  the  "bromeliads,"  the 
epiphytic  plants  of  the  pineapple  family 
Bromeleaceae,  which  perch  upon  the  limbs 
and  trunks  of  trees,  and  together  with 
orchids  and  other  air-plants,  form  a  charac- 
teristic feature  of  the  tropical  forest.  The 
bromeliads  have  their  leaves  arranged  in 
whorls,  and  in  the  rainy  season  retain  water 

at  the  bases  of  these  leaf-      

whorls.  In  the  cloud-forests 
above  4,000  feet  on  tropical 
mountains,  this  water  may 
be  essentially  permanent, 
and  as  there  is  little  standing 
water  on  steep  slopes, 
animals  dependent  on  mois- 
ture are  attracted  to  this 
situation. 

The  salamanders,  whose 
soft  skins  require  a  constant 
moist  atmosphere,  are  repre- 
sented in  Central  America 
only  by  the  genus  Oedipus, 
which  has  undergone  evo- 
lution into  a  remarkable 
number  of  species.  These 
salamanders  are  found  under 
logs,  within  rotten  logs, 
under  stones,  in  the  coiled 
leaves  of  many  plants,  under 
the  leaf  sheaths  of  banana 
plants,  and  most  notably  in 
the  whorls  of  leaves  of  the 
bromeliads.  The  bromeliad 
habitat  is  especially  charac- 
teristic in  the  cloud-forest 
zone  where  the  constant 
moisture  is  ideal  for 
amphibians. 

The  bromeliads  yield  a 
veritable  harvest  to  the  col- 


lector. Felling  a  small  tree  loaded  with 
promising  plants,  he  cuts  through  the  base 
of  each  plant  with  the  machete,  and  then 
removes  the  leaves  one  by  one.  Earth- 
worms and  nematodes  are  abundant  in  the 
moist  detritus  in  the  outer  leaves;  the  aquatic 
larvae  of  damsel  flies  are  almost  invariably 
present;  flattened  bugs  and  beetles  inhabit 
the  leaves  above  the  water  level;  and  various 
arachnids  are  foitnd  in  the  drier  tops  of  the 
plants. 

In  addition  to  the  salamanders  (of  which 
there  may  be  two  or  even  three  species  in 
a  single  plant)  the  bromeliad  niche  is  a 
favorite  refuge  for  tree  frogs  of  the  genus 
Hyla.  The  hylas  frequently  make  use  of 
the  standing  water  at  the  bases  of  the  leaves 
for  egg-laying,  and  frequently  exhibit  great 
modification  from  the  normal  body  form 
and  dentition.  It  is  evident  that  long- 
continued  evolution  has  given  rise  to  special 
adjustments  of  the  tadpole  stage  to  the 
conditions  of  life  in  the  bromeliad  environ- 
ment. 

Systematic  search  of  these  plants  in  the 
cloud-forest  zone  in  the  mountains  of  Hon- 
duras and  Guatemala  has  yielded  a  surpris- 
ing number  of  new  species  of  salamanders 
and  hylas,  described  in  technical  papers 
embodying  results  of  the  Marshall  Field 
Central  American  Expedition  of  1923,  and 
of  the  Mandel  Guatemalan  Expedition  of 
1933-34.  This  environmental  complex  af- 
fords a  little  worked  and  fascinating  problem 
for  ecological  study. 

THE  CANNON  BALL  TREE 


One  of  the  outstanding  exhibits  in  the  Hall  of  Plant 
Life  (Hall  29)  is  this  cannon  ball  tree  of  the  forest  regions 
of  northern  South  America,  as  reproduced  from  nature  in 
full  flower  and  fruit,  in  the  laboratories  of  the  Department 
of  Botany.  The  original  material  upon  which  the  repro- 
duction is  based  was  collected  by  the  Stanley  Field  Botanical 
Expedition  to  British  Guiana.  The  cannon  ball  tree  is  a 
showy  large  tree  of  the  monkey  pot  or  Brazil  nut  family 
and  derives  its  common  name  from  its  large,  round,  dark 
brown   fruits,  which  are  seen  in  the  above  picture. 

Field  Museum  is  unique  among  institutions  of  its  kind  for 
the  extent  of  its  exhibits  illustrating  various  phases  of  the 
plant  world.  Five  large  exhibition  halls  are  devoted  to 
botany,  in  both  its  scientific  and  economic  phases.  The  main 
divisions  are  plant  life,  food  plants,  palms,  plant  raw  mate- 
rials and  products,  North  American  woods,  and  foreign  woods. 


Page  8 


FIELD  MUSEUM  NEWS 


January,  19S9 


RACES  OF  MAN  FORM  SUBJECT 
OF  JANUARY  SUNDAY  TOURS 

An  imaginary  trip  around  the  world, 
visiting  the  principal  races  of  mankind,  is 
the  offering  of  Mr.  Paul  G.  Dallwig,  the 
Layman  Lecturer  of  Field  Museum,  for 
four  Sunday  afternoons  in  January  (January 
8,  15,  22  and  29 — the  Museum  vnll  be  closed 
for  the  New  Year's  holiday  on  Sunday, 
January  1). 

The  tour,  presented  under  the  title 
"Parade  of  the  Races,"  will  be  devoted  to 
studies  of  the  extensive  series  of  racial 
sculptures  by  Malvina  Hoffman  in  Chauncey 
Keep  Memorial  Hall.  Mr.  Dallwig,  in  the 
popular  dramatic  style  which  characterizes 
his  lectures,  will  imbue  the  bronze  figures 
with  life  by  his  exposition  of  human  interest 
"angles"  associated  with  each  of  the  races. 

Because  of  increasing  public  demands, 
the  limit  on  the  number  of  persons  accom- 
modated on  each  Sunday  lecture  tour  has 
been  raised  from  100  to  125.  Despite  this, 
it  is  still  essential  to  make  reservations  in 
advance  by  mail  or  telephone  (Wabash 
9410).     Parties  are  restricted  to  adults. 

The  Sunday  lectures  begin  promptly  at 
2  P.M.,  and  end  at  4:30.  Midway  there  is 
a  half-hour  intermission  during  which  mem- 
bers of  the  party  may  obtain  refreshments 
in  the  Cafeteria,  where  they  may  smoke. 
Special  tables  are  reserved  for  the  group. 


GIFTS  TO  THE  MUSEUM 

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

Department  of  Anthropology: 

From  Mrs.  E.  B.  Simonson,  Franklin  Park, 
111. — a    birchbark     covered     basket,    with 
porcupine  quill  decorations,  Illinois. 
Department  of  Botany : 

From  Dr.  John  R.  Johnston,  Chimal- 
tenango,  Guatemala — 90  herbarium  speci- 
mens, Guatemala;  from  Museo  Argentino 
de  Ciencias  Naturales,  Buenos  Aires — 11 
algal  specimens,  Argentina;  from  Philip  W. 
WoUe,  Princess  Anne,  Maryland — 27  algal 
specimens,  Maryland;  from  Evan  R.  Guest, 
Kuala  Lumpur,  Federated  Malay  States — 
formalin-preserved  material  of  durian  and 
cloves.  Federated  Malay  States;  from  B.  A. 
Krukoff,  New  York  City — 131  herbarium 
specimens,  Puerto  Rico;  from  Bernardo 
Rosengurtt,  Montevideo,  Uruguay — 35  her- 
barium specimens,  Uruguay. 

Department  of  Geology: 

FVom  Elmer  S.  Riggs,  Chicago — 11  skulls 
and  an  incomplete  skeleton  of  modem  ani- 
mals, western  Kansas,  Wyoming,  and  Colo- 
rado; from  Alfred  A.  Look,  Grand  Junction, 
Colo. — a  fossil  vertebrate  specimen  and  2 
fossil  teeth,  Colorado;  from  C.  W.  McLeod, 
Michigan  City,  Ind. — 30  clay  concretions, 
Indiana;  from  Standard  Oil  Company 
(Indiana),  Chicago — 14  sjsecimens  of  petro- 
leum products;  from  William  B.  Ktts, 
Sunnyvale,  Calif. — 42  specimens  of  orbicular 
jasper,  California;  from  H.  V.  Schiefer, 
Cleveland  Heights,  Ohio — a  specimen  of 
jasper,  Ohio;  from  William  C.  McKinley, 


Peoria,  111. — 12  specimens  of  "glacial  gems," 
Illinois;  from  Paul  Weiss,  Denver,  Colo. — 
a  polished  specimen  of  fossil  wood  and  one 
of  red  chalcedony,  Colorado;  from  William 
F.  Menzel,  Chicago — 23  geological  and 
mineral  specimens.  United  States;  from 
Benedict  Gresky,  Chicago — 38  economic 
geology  specimens;  from  Lloyd  B.  Curtis, 
Lander,  Wyo. — 11  specimens  of  sapphire 
with  damourite  and  3  of  nephrite  jade, 
Wyoming. 

Department  of  Zoology : 

From  Chicago  Zoological  Society,  Brook- 
field,  111. — 62  zoological  specimens;  from 
Bryan  Patterson,  Chicago — 65  sets  of  birds' 
eggs,  England;  from  Mrs.  Charles  Corwin, 
Chicago — 15  sets  of  birds'  eggs,  Hawaii; 
from  James  Baley,  Chicago — a  rattlesnake, 
Indiana;  from  W.  Frank  Blair,  Ann  Arbor, 
Mich. — 3  white  mice.  New  Mexico;  from 
Mrs.  B.  J.  Thorp,  Chicago — a  ruby-crowned 
kinglet,  Illinois;  from  H.  E.  Woodcock, 
Chicago — 28  butterflies  and  a  moth,  France; 
from  Rudyerd  Boulton,  Chicago — 18  bird 
skins,  Mississippi;  from  United  States  Na- 
tional Museum,  Washington,  D.  C. — 410 
fish  specimens,  Panama  and  Canal  Zone. 
The  Library: 

From   Dr.   Albert  B.   Lewis,   Chicago — 
10  valuable  books. 


An  Artistic  Calendar  for  1939 
Published  by  the  Museum 

Field  Museum  has  published  an  at- 
tractive calendar  for  the  New  Year, 
containing  a  natural  color  picture  of 
the  Quetzal  group.  The  photograph 
was  made  by  Mr.  Clarence  B.  Mitchell, 
Research  Associate  in  Photography. 
The  calendars  are  designed  to  stand 
on  a  desk  or  dresser,  or  to  hang  on  a 
wall.  On  sale  at  The  BOOK  SHOP  of 
FIELD  MUSEUM— 10  cents. 


NEW  MEMBERS 

The  following  persons  were  elected  to 
membership  in  Field  Museum  during  the 
period  from  November  16  to  December  15: 

Associate  Members 

David  Arthur  Lee,  Edwin  J.  Ward. 

Annual  Members 

Mrs.  Lloyd  G.  Albert,  Clarence  Avildsen, 
Lewis  I.  Birdsall,  Miss  Agnes  Colby,  John 
W.  Denison,  George  A.  Johnson,  Joseph 
M.  Johnson,  Thomas  E.  Maddock,  Mrs.  E. 
M.  McDonnell,  Mrs.  E.  L.  Millard,  Charles 
H.  Newman,  William  C.  Reavis,  M.  A. 
Rosenthal,  Harry  S.  Sandberg,  Alfred  Smart, 
Dr.  Milton  L.  Smith,  Eugene  V.  Zahringer. 


Intriguing  Names 

Intriguing  are  such  names  as  Homalodo- 
therium,  Eosclaerocalyptus,  Scelidodon,  Lep- 
tomeryx,  Elasmosaurus,  and  Bathyopsoides. 
The  prehistoric  animals  to  which  they  are 
applied  were  as  strange  as  their  names.  To 
satisfy  your  curiosity,  visit  Ernest  R.  Graham 
Hall  and  see  fossil  specimens  of  them. 


JANUARY  GUIDE-LECTURE  TOURS 

Conducted  tours  of  exhibits,  under  the 
guidance  of  staff  lecturers,  are  made  every 
afternoon  at  3  o'clock  except  Saturdays, 
Sundajrs,  and  certain  holidays.  Following 
is  the  schedule  of  subjects  and  dates  for 
January: 

Week  beginning  January  2:  Monday — 
New  Year's  Holiday,  no  tour;  Tuesday — 
Horned  and  Hoofed  Animals;  Wednesday — 
Native  Life  in  the  Philippines;  Thursday — 
General  Tour;  Friday — Native  American 
Fruits  and  Vegetables. 

Week  beginning  January  9:  Monday — 
Egypt  and  Its  Art;  Tuesday — Plant  and 
Animal  Life  of  Long  Ago;  Wednesday — 
Races  of  Mankind;  Thursday — General 
Tour;  Friday — Su-Lin  and  Her  Neighbors. 

Week  beginning  January  16:  Monday 
— North  American  Indians;  Tuesday — 
Fibers  and  Their  Uses  by  Primitive  Peoples; 
Wednesday — Moon,  Meteorites  and  Min- 
erals; Thursday — General  Tour;  Friday — 
Ancient  Burial  Customs. 

Week  beginning  January  25;  Monday 
— Systematic  and  Habitat  Bird  Exhibits; 
Tuesday — Clothing;  Wednesday — Gems  and 
Jewelry;  Thursday — General  Tour;  Friday — 
Peoples  of  the  South  Seas. 

Monday,  January  30 — African  Animals; 
Tuesday — The  Cavemen  and  Their  Arts. 

Persons  wishing  to  participate  should 
apply  at  North  Entrance.  Tours  are  free 
and  no  gratuities  are  to  be  proffered.  A 
new  schedule  will  appear  each  month  in 
Field  Museum  News.  Guide-lecturers' 
services  for  special  tours  by  parties  of  ten 
of  more  are  available  free  of  charge  by 
arrangement  with  the  Director  a  week  in 
advance. 


Most  of  the  principal  varieties  of  crude 
rubber  are  displayed  in  Hall  28. 


MEMBERSHIP  IN  FIELD  MUSEUM 

Field  Museum  has  several  classes  of  Members. 
Benefactors  give  or  devise  $100,000  or  more.  Contribu- 
tors give  or  devise  $1,000  to  $100,000.  Life  Members 
give  $500;  Non-Resident  Life  and  Associate  Members 
pay  $100;  Non-Resident  Associate  Members  pay  $50. 
All  the  above  classes  are  exempt  from  dues.  Sustaining 
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rate, Honorar>*,  Patron,  and  Corresponding,  additions 
under  these  classifications  being  made  by  special  action 
of  the  Board  of  Trustees. 

Each  Member,  in  all  classes,  is  entitled  to  free 
admission  to  the  Museum  for  himself,  his  family  and 
house  guests,  and  to  two  reserved  seats  for  Museum 
lectures  provided  for  Members.  Subscription  to  Field 
MusBUM  News  is  included  with  all  memberships.  The 
courtesies  of  every  museum  of  note  in  the  United 
States  and  Canada  are  extended  to  all  Members  of 
Field  Museum.  A  Member  may  give  his  personal  card 
to  non-residents  of  Chicago,  upon  presentation  of 
which  they  will  be  admitted  to  the  Museum  without 
charge.  Further  information  about  memberships  will 
be  Bent  on  request. 

BEQUESTS  AND  ENDOWME.VTS 

Bequests  to  Field  Museum  of  Natural  History  may 
be  made  in  securities,  money,  books  or  collections. 
They  may,  if  desired,  take  the  form  of  a  memorial  to 
a  person  or  cause,  named  by  the  giver. 

Contributions  made  within  the  taxable  year  not 
exceeding  15  per  cent  of  the  taxpayer's  net  income  are 
allowable  as  deductions  in  computing  net  income  for 
federal  income  tax  purposes. 

Endowments  may  be  made  to  the  Mtiseum  with  the 
provision  that  an  annuity  be  paid  to  the  patron  for  life. 
These  annuities  are  guaranteed  against  fluctuation  in 
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raiNTKS    BT    FIKLD    HUSEUli    PKSBS 


Reld^K 


News 


Published  Monthly  by  Field  Museum  of  Natural  History,  Chicago 


Vol.  10 


FEBRUARY,  1939 


No.  2 


ILLINOIS  METEORITE  THAT  RECENTLY  DAMAGED  GARAGE  AND  CAR  IS  EXHIBITED 


By  Henry  W.  Nichols 
Chief  Curator,  Department  of  Geology 

Illinois  has  been  singularly  immune  from 
falls  of  meteorites.  There  are  records  of 
only  two  having  fallen  within  this  state, 
although  there  have  been  numbers  of  falls 
recorded  in  adjoining  states.  Not  only  has 
Illinois  lacked  meteorites  which  observers 
have  actually  seen  falling,  but  until  recently 
no  specimen  has  ever  been  found  that  has 
upon  investigation 
proved  to  be  a  mete- 
orite. In  other  states, 
however,  meteorites 
actually  seen  falling 
are  few  in  comparison 
with  the  number  later 
found  in  the  ground 
and  recognized  as  such 
by  their  physical  fea- 
tures and  chemical 
composition. 

Field  Museum  is 
therefore  extremely 
fortunate  in  having 
acquired,  through  the 
co-operation  of  Messrs. 
Ben  Hur  Wilson  and 
Frank  M.  Preucil,  Jr., 
of  the  Joliet  Astronom- 
ical Society,  the  com- 
plete specimen  of  the 
second  recorded  mete- 
orite to  fall  in  Illinois. 
This  good  fortune  is 
augmented  by  the 
fact  that  Illinois 
Meteorite  No.  2  is 
one  of  only  eleven  (out 
of  a  total  of  approxi- 
mately 1,300  recorded 

meteorites)  to  strike  and  damage  buildings 
or  other  property. 

This  meteorite  fell  in  the  little  mining 
town  of  Benld  (Macoupin  County),  near 
Carlinville,  Illinois,  on  September  29,  1938, 
at  about  9  o'clock  in  the  morning.  It 
crashed  through  the  roof  of  a  garage  owned 
by  Mr.  Ed  McCain,  penetrated  the  top  of 
his  automobile,  and  passed  through  the  seat 
cushion  and  floor  board,  striking  and  denting 
the  muffler,  whence  it  rebounded  into  the 
cushion  and  finally  came  to  rest  entangled 
in  the  springs. 

The  meteorite  is  now  on  exhibition  in 
Hall  34  of  Field  Museum,  together  with  the 
damaged  sections  of  garage  roof  and  car  top, 
the  perforated  cushion,  and  muffler.    Messrs. 


Wilson  and  Preucil,  acting  as  agents  for 
the  Museum,  not  only  obtained  this  material, 
but  made  a  very  thorough  investigation, 
collecting  unusually  complete  and  competent 
records  of  the  fall,  and  making  numerous 
photographs  of  all  important  features 
pertinent  to  the  data. 

From  the  reports  made  by  Messrs.  Wilson 
and  Preucil,  and  published  in  the  periodical 
Popular  Astronomy,  it  is  learned  that  when 


Mr. 


Stone  from  the  Sky 

Henry  W.  Nichols,  Chief  Curator  of  Geology,  and  Miss  Caroline  Ryder,  examine  the  Benld  meteorite, 
which  fell  in  September,  1938,  and  is  only  the  second  such  visitor  from  outer  space  on  record  in  Illinois.  It  is  now 
on  exhibition  at  the  Museum,  as  shown  above,  together  with  section  of  a  garage  roof,  automobile  top  and  seat 
cushion  which  it  penetrated.  Of  approximately  1,300  recorded  meteorites  the  world  over,  only  ten  others  are 
known  to  have  hit  buildings,  and  this  is  the  first  authenticated  instance  in  which  one  has  struck  a  vehicle. 


the  Benld  meteorite  struck  Mr.  McCain's 
garage  last  September,  Mrs.  Carl  C.  Crum, 
a  neighbor,  was  working  in  her  yard,  across 
an  alley  from  the  McCain  place,  at  a  point 
about  50  feet  from  the  garage.  While 
neither  she  nor  anyone  else  witnessed  its 
passage  through  the  air,  Mrs.  Crum  was 
startled  by  the  celestial  visitor's  great  roar, 
which  she  described  as  sounding  like  an 
airplane  going  into  a  power  dive.  This 
was  followed  by  a  sharp  cracking  sound  as 
the  meteorite  broke  through  the  boards  of 
the  wooden  garage  roof  and  crashed  into 
the  automobile.  Mrs.  Crum  was  surprised 
subsequently  to  find  no  smashed-up  airplane, 
and  not  even  a  plane  in  sight  in  the  sky. 
Mrs.  McCain,  wife  of  the  garage  and  car 


owner,  was  pumping  water  in  her  yard,  but 
was  at  a  greater  distance  from  the  garage 
than  Mrs.  Crum.  She  also  heard  the  roar 
but,  accustomed  to  hearing  and  seeing  pass- 
ing mail  airplanes,  thought  nothing  of  it. 
A  few  other  neighbors,  indoors,  heard  the 
sounds  less  sharply. 

Mr.  McCain,  working  at  the  town's  coal 
mine,  did  not  know  that  anything  had 
happened  until  he  returned  home  late  in 
the  afternoon  and 
went  to  the  garage 
to  take  the  car  out. 
At  first  he  noticed 
only  the  large  hole  in 
the  seat  cushion,  and 
thought  it  was  due  to 
rats  until  he  observed 
the  holes  also  in  car 
top  and  garage  roof. 
The  meteorite  is 
roughly  rectangular  in 
shape.  It  measures 
about  4  3^  by  31^  by 
3  J^  inches,  and  weighs 
some  four  pounds.  It 
is  a  stony  meteorite, 
gray  in  color,  crusted 
with  a  black  fused 
coating  which  it  ac- 
quired by  heat  from 
the  friction  of  passing 
through  the  atmos- 
phere of  the  earth. 

It  is  of  interest  to 
trace  the  changes  this 
meteorite  probably 
underwent  during  its 
journey  towards  the 
earth  through  mil- 
lions of  miles  of  out- 
er space.  Hurtling  through  the  sky,  it  was 
a  light  gray  body,  of  unknown  shape,  lacking 
the  dark  crust  it  now  has.  No  doubt  it  was 
larger,  but  wastage  during  its  passage 
through  the  earth's  atmosphere  accounts 
for  loss  of  volume.  Its  velocity  of  approach 
was  enormously  greater  than  the  speed  with 
which  it  struck  the  garage.  Meteorites 
which  reach  the  earth  during  the  morning 
hours,  as  did  the  Benld  meteorite,  are 
moving  in  a  direction  opposed  to  that  of 
the  earth  in  its  orbit,  and  collide  with  this 
planet  head-on.  Therefore,  the  speed  of 
this  meteorite  relative  to  the  earth  was  the 
sum  of  the  speeds  of  the  meteorite  and  the 
earth  in  their  orbits — a  velocity  which  is 
computed  at  about  44  miles  per  second.  But, 


Pages 


FIELD  MUSEUM  NEWS 


February,  19S9 


Where  the  Meteorite  Struck* 

Mr.  Ben  Hur  Wilson  is  seen  here  holding  the  Benld  meteorite  beside  the 
hole  it  made  in  the  roof  of  garage.  The  superimposed  arrow  shows  the 
direction  at  which  the  meteorite  came  to  earth. 

at  this  staggering  speed,  a  body  passing 
through  even  the  extremely  attenuated 
upper  atmosphere  of  the  earth  devel- 
ops enormous  friction.  This  so  rap- 
idly moderates  its  speed  that,  be- 
fore it  strikes,  it  is  falling  only  as 
fast  as  would  a  similar  body  drop- 
ping from  a  height  of  only  a  few  miles 
under  the  influence  of  gravity  alone. 
The  Benld  meteorite  was  not  picked 
up  until  several  hours  after  it  fell,  so 
there  is  no  direct  evidence  of  how  hot 
it  was  beyond  the  fact  that  the  cotton 
filling  of  the  upholstered  car  cushion 
was  not  charred.  As  the  passage  of 
the  meteorite  through  the  air  was 
only  a  matter  of  a  few  seconds,  there 
was  not  time  enough  for  the  heat  to 
penetrate  far  into  its  cold  interior,  so 
it  should  not  be  a  matter  of  surprise 
that  it  was  not  hot  enough  to  burn 
the  cushion.  Except  in  four  or  five 
instances,  the  numerous  meteorites 
which  have  been  handled  within  a  few 
minutes  of  their  fall  were  found  to  be  only 
lukewarm. 

As  two  points  in  the  passage  of  the  meteo- 
rite— the  places  of  penetration  of  the  garage 
roof,  and  of  the  seat  covering — were  accur- 
ately known,  Mr.  Wilson  was  able,  by  the 
use  of  surveying  instruments,  to  determine 
the  direction  and  inclination  of  the  meteo- 
rite's path  with  far  more  accuracy  than  has 
ever  been  possible  of  attainment  in  the  case 
of  any  other  meteorite. 

The  other  ten  meteorite  falls  which  are 
known  certainly  to  have  penetrated  or  struck 
buildings,  fell  in  the  following  years,  and  at 
the  places  indicated  below: 
1790 — Barbotan,  France. 
1798 — Benares,  India. 
1803 — Massing,  Germany  {Bavaria). 
1847 — Braunau,  now   Germany   (then   Bo- 
hemia, and  recently  Czechoslovakia) 

^Illustrations  marked  with  asterisk  are  published 
by  courtesy  of  the  Editors  of  Popular  Astronomy,  and 
Messrs.  Ben  Hur  Wilson  and  Frank  M.  Preual,  Jr. 
Mr.  Preucil  was  the  photographer. 


1858 — Aussun,  France. 
1863— Pillistfer,  Latvia  (then 

Russia). 
1911 — Kilbourn,  Wisconsin. 
1916 — Baxter,  Missouri. 
1930 — Kurumi,  Japan. 
1936— Yurtuk,    Ukraine, 

U.S.S.R. 

Fragments  from  seven  of 
these  are  included  in  the 
Field  Museum  collection, 
which,  in  point  of  number  of 
falls  represented,  is  the  larg- 
est meteorite  assemblage  in 
the  world,  containing  speci- 
mens from  approximately 
two-thirds  of  all  recorded 
falls.  (The  Museum  collection 
includes  a  board  penetrated 
by  the  Kilbourn,  Wisconsin, 
meteorite  which,  in  its  fall  on 
June  16,  1911,  struck  a  barn,  penetrated 
three  thicknesses  of  shingles,  a  hemlock  roof 


The  Meteorite's  Course 

Diagram  showing  path  of  the  Benld  meteorite  through  the  roof  of  garage, 
and  top,  seat  and  floor-board  of  automobile  to  muffler.  From  there  it  bounced 
back  into  the  cushion  and  came  to  rest,  entangled  in  the  wire  springs. 


board,  and  a  plank  floor  in 
the  hay  loft.  It  then  glanced 
against  the  side  of  a  manger 
and  finally  buried  itself  two 
and  a  half  inches  deep  in  the 
clay  floor  of  the  barn.  Also 
exhibited  is  the  damaged  sec- 
tion of  a  tree  branch  which 
was  struck  by  a  meteorite 
which  fell  at  Andover, 
Maine,  on  August,  5,  1898. 
A  fragment  of  the  meteorite 
is  shown  with  it.) 

Although  some  danger  of 
damage  from  meteorite  falls 
exists,  as  is  apparent  from 
the  few  known  instances, 
perils  from  this  source  are  so 
small  as  to  be  negligible. 
There  is  not  a  single  authen- 
ticated record  of  a  meteorite 
striking  or  injuring  a 
human  being.  The  late  Dr. 
Oliver  C.  Farrington,  former 


Curator  of  Geology  at  Field  Museum,  and 
one  of  the  world's  leading  authorities  on 
this  subject,  wrote  in  his  book  Meteorites: 
"No  meteorite  fall  has  ever  positively 
been  known  to  have  been  destructive  to 
human  life.  Accounts  purporting  to  describe 
such  catastrophes  prove  on  investigation  to 
have  come  either  from  times  or  countries  so 
remote  that  they  cannot  be  verified  .... 
No  well  authenticated  occurrence  of  the 
sort  is  known.  Perhaps  the  most  narrow 
escape  which  has  ever  been  experienced  was 
that  of  three  children  in  Braunau  at  the 
time  of  the  fall  of  that  meteorite  in  1847. 
This  meteorite,  an  iron  weighing  nearly  40 
pounds,  fell  in  a  room  where  these  children 
were  sleeping  and  covered  them  with  debris, 
but  they  suffered  no  serious  injury.  Other 
meteorites  have  fallen  near  human  beings 
but  never  have  struck  them  so  far  as  credible 
information  goes.  That  personal  injury  or 
death  might  be  caused  by  the  fall  of  a  meteo- 
rite is  entirely  possible,  in  fact  is  likely  to 
occur  at  some  time.  It  is  remarkable 
that  some  falls,  such  for  instance  as 
the  showers  in  Iowa  which  occurred 
in  fairly  thickly  settled  communities, 
should  not  have  caused  serious  injury 
to  the  inhabitants." 

How  exceedingly  slight  is  the  dan- 
ger of  injury  by  meteorites  is  shown 
in  a  calculation  made  by  Dr.  H.  H. 
Nininger,  who  is  well-known  for  his 
work  on  meteorites  and  who  lectured 
at  Field  Museum  last  October.  In  the 
125  years  ending  in  1923,  when  his 
calculations  were  made,  there  were 
287  falls  recorded  in  twelve  European 
and  American  countries  in  which  there 
exist  fairly  reliable  records.  As  many 
of  these  287  falls  were  multiple,  and 
some  consisted  of  showers  of  hundreds 
of  small  stones,  it  is  estimated  that  in 
these  falls  more  than   12,000  stones 


• 

dm 

r^ 

K 

% 

I 

1  • 

The  Damaged  Automobile* 

This  is  the  coupfi  whose  top  and  seat  cushion  were  pierced  by  meteorite. 
It  is  the  first  motor  car  in  the  world  known  to  have  been  struck  by  a  stone 
from  the  heavens.  At  left  is  Mrs.  Carl  Crum,  who  was  working  about  50 
feet  away  when  meteorite  landed.  Mrs.  Ed  McCain,  wife  of  the  owner  of 
car  and  garage,  is  in  center,  holding  the  meteorite.  At  right  is  Mr.  F.  A. 
Bertetti,  principal  of  the  Benld  Township  High  School,  who  was  of  assistance 
to  agents  investigating  the  meteorite  fall  for  Field  Museum. 


February,  19S9 


FIELD  MUSEUM  NEWS 


Pages 


FOOD  FOR  THOUGHT 
IN  METEORITES 

"Three  reasons  may  be  assigned 
for  ascribing  peculiar  interest  to 
the  study  of  meteorites: 

"First.  They  are  our  only  tangi- 
ble sources  of  knowledge  regarding 
the  universe  beyond  us. 

"Second.  They  are  portions  of 
extra-terrestrial  bodies. 

"Third.  They  are  a  part  of  the 
economy  of  Nature.  No  survey  of 
Nature  can  be  considered  complete 
which  does  not  include  an  account 
of  them." 

From  the  book  MeteoriUB  by  the  late  Dr.  Oliver 
C.  Farrington,  former  Curator  of  Geology  at  Field 
Museum,  who  was  one  of  the  foremost  authorities 
on  the  subject. 


were  included.  From  these  numbers,  and 
the  areas  of  the  countries  considered,  Dr. 
Nininger  has  estimated  that  one  meteorite 
fell  during  the  125  years  for  each  55}4 
square  miles.  It  is  not  known  how  many 
meteorites  have  fallen  unobserved,  but 
assuming  arbitrarily  that  ten  may  have 
fallen  for  each  observed  one,  the  figures 


become  one  meteorite  to  each 
5J^  square  miles  of  territory 
in  the  125  years.  When  it  is 
considered  how  small  a  part 
of  the  earth's  surface  is  cov- 
ered by  living  human  beings, 
it  is  not  strange  that  no  one 
has  yet  been  injured.  The 
area  covered  by  buildings  is, 
of  course,  much  larger,  yet 
even  here  the  proportion  is  so 
small  that  the  wonder  is  not 
how  few  but  how  many  build- 
ings have  been  damaged. 

As  has  been  pointed  out, 
the  Benld  meteorite  is  only 
the  second  one  recorded  in 
Illinois.  The  first  was  a  mete- 
orite that  fell  July  13,  1927, 
near  Tilden,  about  40  miles 
southeast  of  St.  Louis.  It 
imbedded  itself  in  the  ground. 
The  larger  part  of  Illinois 
Meteorite  No.  1  is  preserved 
in  the  Illinois  State  Museum, 
Springfield.  A  fragment  of  it, 
presented  by  that  institution, 
is  on  exhibition  in  Field 
Museum's  collection. 


^iffiMiWffll 


8i 


Close-up  View  of  Benld  Meteorite* 

The  size  of  the  celestial  stone  may  be  gauged  from  the  scale  furnished 
by  section  of  foot-rule.  This  photograph  shows  the  black  fused  coating 
caused  by  friction  during  passage  through  the  earth's  atmosphere. 


FIELD  MUSEUM  EXHIBITS 
AT  TWO  EXPOSITIONS 

Field  Museum  will  be  represented  in 
exhibits  at  two  great  expositions  this  year — 
the  Golden  Gate  International  Exposition 
at  San  Francisco,  and  the  New  York 
World's  Fair. 

The  material  loaned  to  the  San  Francisco 
exposition  consists  of  a  collection  of  ethno- 
logical objects  from  Borneo,  Java,  New 
Guinea,  Sumatra,  Cook  Islands,  Celebes, 
and  other  south  Pacific  islands.  These 
objects  will  be  displayed  in  an  exhibit 
illustrating  the  cultures  of  the  Pacific,  and 
will  be  located  in  the  exposition's  Depart- 
ment of  Fine  Arts. 

To  the  New  York  Fair  the  Museum  is 
sending  an  Egyptian  mummy  which  will  be 
used  in  the  exhibit  of  the  General  Electric 
X-ray  Corporation  to  demonstrate  the  appli- 
cation of  the  fluoroscope  in  scientific  research. 
An  elaborate  installation  has  been  arranged 
whereby  visitors  will  be  enabled  alternately 
to  view  the  mummy's  exterior  and  then, 
through  the  fluoroscope,  its  interior.  This 
will  be  a  central  feature  of  the  X-ray  Corpo- 
ration's exhibit. 

The  mummy  to  be  used  is  that  of  a  man 
who  lived  about  900  years  before  the  begin- 
ning of  the  Christian  Era.  In  Egyptian 
history,  the  period  was  that  of  the  Twenty- 
first  Dynasty.  From  inscriptions  on  the 
coffin  lid,  it  is  learned  that  the  man's  name 
was  "Harwa,"  and  that  he  was  the  Overseer 
of  the  Magazine  (or  storage  houses)  on  the 
great  farming  estate  of  one  of  the  temples 
of  Amon,  chief  god  of  the  empire.  This 
was  an  important  position,  comparable  to 


that  today  of  superintendent  of  an  extensive 
agricultural  or  ranching  enterprise.  As  at 
this  time  the  priests  in  the  temples  had 
political  power  superior  to  that  of  the  king, 
the  farm-estate  was  probably  similar  to  a 
state-controlled  industry.  Harwa  probably 
had  charge  of  granaries,  fruits  and  vege- 
tables, stocks  of  wool  and  other  animal 
products,  and  wine  cellars.  No  doubt,  he 
had  an  army  of  subordinates  and  slaves  at 
his  command. 

Pathological  study  of  the  mummy  by 
means  of  the  X-ray  indicates  that  Harwa 
was  probably  about  40  years  old  at  the  time 
of  his  death.  It  is  interesting  to  note  that 
he  had  a  most  uncommon  name — Egyptian 
archaeologists  have  never  before  encountered 
the  name  Harwa.  The  inscriptions  on  the 
coffin  lid  reveal  very  little  about  Harwa 
other  than  his  name  and  occupation.  The 
rest  of  the  hieroglyphics  with  which  it  is 
covered  constitute  a  common  form  of  in- 
cantation or  prayer  for  the  welfare  of  the 
deceased  in  the  after  liter 

Field  Museum  was  invited  to  participate 
because  of  the  pioneer  work  conducted  at 
this  institution,  over  a  period  of  several 
years  beginning  in  1925,  in  developing,  and 
successfully  applying,  a  technique  for  x-ray 
photography  on  mummies  and  other  types 
of  specimens  not  previously  studied  in  this 
manner.  The  results  of  these  experiments 
are  reported  in  the  book.  Roentgenologic 
Studies  of  Egyptian  and  Peruvian  Mummies, 
by  Professor  Roy  L.  Moodie,  Paleopa- 
thologist  to  the  Wellcome  Historical  Mu- 
seum, London  (Field  Museum  Anthropo- 
logical Memoirs  Series,  Vol.  Ill,  1931). 


As  full  credit  will  be  given  Field  Museum 
in  the  exhibits  at  both  expositions,  many 
persons,  who  later  may  be  visitors  to 
Chicago,  will  thus  become  acquainted  with 
phases  of  the  work  of  this  institution. 

A  Historic  Collection  of  Algae 

Mr.  Philip  W.  Wolle  of  Princess  Anne, 
Maryland,  has  placed  on  file  in  the  Her- 
barium of  Field  Museum  a  considerable 
portion  of  the  algal  herbarium  of  his  late 
grandfather,  the  Rev.  Francis  Wolle.  Some 
2,000  specimens  of  algae,  including  most  of 
the  material  received  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Wolle 
in  his  exchanges  with  European  workers 
during  the  years  1875-92,  are  thus  being 
made  available  for  study  at  the  Museum. 
The  remainder  of  Rev.  WoUe's  collection  is 
in  the  Herbarium  of  the  University  of 
Pennsylvania. — F.  D. 

Complicated  Curry 

Curry  powders,  used  so  extensively  in  the 
East  Indies  for  seasoning  rice  and  various 
other  foods,  are  made  of  a  combination  of 
spices.  There  are  approximately  forty 
recipes  for  preparing  curry  powder,  all  of 
which  contain  at  least  the  following  ingre- 
dients: fenugreek,  garlic,  ginger,  peppers, 
tumeric,  coconut,  and  nutmeg.  One  form, 
popular  in  Ceylon  and  parts  of  India,  con- 
tains as  many  as  forty  different  spices,  and 
specimens  of  these  are  to  be  seen  in  the 
section  devoted  to  exhibits  of  food  products 
in  Hall  25.— L.  W. 


Feather  masks,  fourteen  and  nineteen 
feet  tall,  from  New  Guinea,  are  displayed 
on  life-size  figures  in  Stanley  Field  Hall. 


PageJt 


FIELD  MUSEUM  NEWS 


February,  19S9 


EXPEDITION  LEADER  TELLS  STORY  OF  EXPLORATION  IN  THE  JUNGLES  OF  BRITISH  GUIANA 


(Editor's  Note: — The  December  issue  of 
Field  Museum  News  carried  a  brief 
story  of  the  unfortunate  accident  at  King 
William  Rapids  in  British  Guiana  which 
resulted  in  the  loss  of  a  boat  and  many  of 
the  specimens  of  the  Seu>ell  Avery  Zoological 
Expedition.  Recently  Mr.  Blake,  the  leader, 
returned  to  Chicago  vnth  more  than  60  per  cent 
of  his  collection,  which  in  itself  is  sufficient 
to  enable  the  Museum  to  pronounce  the 
expedition  a  success.  The  salvaging  of  his 
collections  was  accomplished  under  extremely 
difficult  circumstances,  which  might  easily 
have  dissuaded  one  of  less  experience  and 
determination.  Mr.  Blake's  own  story 
follows.) 

By  EuuET  R.  Blake 
Assistant  Curator  of  Birds 

One  of  the  most  inaccessible  as  well  as 
scientifically  little-known  areas  in  all  South 
America  is  the  Brazilian  frontier  of  British 
Guiana,  recently  visited  and  explored  by 
the  Sewell  Avery  Zoological  Expedition  of 
Field  Museum.  It  is  a  region  of  rugged 
mountains,  rushing  streams,  and  inviolate 
solitude.  A  trackless  and  almost  impene- 
trable jungle  blankets  many  thousands  of 
square  miles,  much  of  it  unexplored  and 
avoided  even  by  aboriginal  Indians. 

Access  to  most  of  the  area  can  be  gained 
only  by  ascending  the  rapid-strewn  Couran- 
tyne  River,  which  forms  the  boundary  be- 
tween Dutch  and  British  Guiana,  and  its 
turbulent  tributary,  the  New  River.  This  is 
a  dangerous  small  boat  journey  of  approxi- 
mately 600  miles.  The  mechanical  diffi- 
culties of  river  transport  are  so  formidable 
that  no  scientific  expedition  had  ever 
succeeded  in  penetrating  to  the  frontier, 
and  thus  a  large  area  remained  entirely 
unknown  to  biologists. 

With  the  advent  of  the  recent  Brazilian- 
British  Guiana  boundary  survey,  however, 
the  frontier  became  temporarily  accessible 
to  properly  organized  independent  organiza- 
tions. The  discovery  of  mountains  on  the 
boundary,  greater  than  any  yet  mapped  in 
this  region,  and  the  realization  that  the 
hinterland  would  again  become  inaccessible 
with  the  withdrawal  of  the  Boundary  Com- 
mission, led  to  the  organization  of  the  Field 
Museum  expedition  which  accomplished  the 
first  zoological  reconnaisance  of  the  region. 
The  undertaking  was  made  possible  by  the 
generosity  and  interest  of  Mr.  Sewell  Avery, 
a  Trustee  of  the  Museum,  who  in  1938 
sponsored  this  and  three  other  expeditions. 

BY  AIRPLANE  TO  THE  INTERIOR 

Preliminary  arrangements  were  made  by 
cable  for  the  deposit  of  supplies,  boats  and 
equipment  at  strategic  points  along  the 
river  by  attaches  of  the  Boundary  Com- 
mission as  they  descended  to  the  coast.  Mr. 
Richard  Baldwin,  an  experienced  Commis- 
sion aide,  was  retained  as  assistant  for  the 
Museum  expedition,  and  with  twelve  Indian 


and  negro  boatmen,  he  awaited  the  writer's 
arrival  at  King  Frederick  William  IV  Falls. 

On  August  12  the  writer  disembarked  at 
Georgetown,  capitol  of  British  Guiana,  with 
six  hundred  pounds  of  carefully  selected 
collecting  and  field  equipment.  Mr.  Habib 
Rasool,  a  capable  young  East  Indian  native 
collector  trained  by  the  1937  Stanley  Field 
British  Guiana  Expedition,  was  signed  on 
as  taxidermist  and  did  notable  work  through- 
out. A  small  hydroplane,  owned  and  piloted 
by  Mr.  Arthur  Williams,  an  American 
aviator  formerly  employed  by  the  Boundary 
Commission,  was  chartered,  and  on  August 
15  the  party  was  flown  into  the  interior. 

The  route  of  our  flight  first  led  almost  due 
south,  following  closely  the  erratic  course 
of  the  Demerara  River  for  about  100  miles, 
then  southeastward  over  the  unbroken 
jungle  to  the  desolate  Berbice  savannahs 
and  on  to  the  Courantyne  itself.  The  well- 
ordered  coastal  rice  and  sugar  plantations 
quickly  gave  way  to  second  growth  bush 
and  finally  to  a  primeval  forest  which 
extended  without  a  break  as  far  as  the  eye 
could  reach  in  every  direction.  During 
the  course  of  our  cross-country  flight,  a 
rainstorm  was  encountered  which  forced  the 
plane  low,  and  for  many  miles  the  tiny 
seaplane  skimmed  the  tree-tops. 

"white  water"  ahead 

A  brief  pause  for  refueling  was  made  at 
Wonatobo  Falls,  150  miles  up  the  Couran- 
tyne River.  A  single  native  boat  crew,  the 
last  of  the  Boundary  Commission  force 
remaining  in  the  interior,  was  on  hand  to 
assist.  Once  more  in  the  air  and  speeding 
southward,  I  saw  that  the  river  was  becom- 
ing increasingly  turbulent.  Literally  hun- 
dreds of  islands  studded  its  course.  White 
water  indicated  the  presence  of  countless 
rapids  which  had  to  be  run  later  by  boat 
when  the  river  was  at  a  lower  and  more 
dangerous  stage. 

The  flight  from  Wonatobo  to  King 
Frederick  William  IV  Falls,  where  the 
expedition  boat  crew  awaited  us,  required 
forty-five  minutes,  but  saved  three  weeks 
of  travel  by  river.  We  landed  on  the  river 
half  a  mile  above  the  falls  and  were  soon 
comfortably  installed  in  a  bush  camp  on 
the  Dutch  shore.  With  the  departure  of 
the  plane  at  noon,  our  last  means  of  com- 
munication or  assistance  from  the  outside 
world  was  irrevocably  lost  until  we  reached 
the  coast  more  than  three  months  later. 

In  order  to  reach  the  frontier  and  maintain 
the  expedition  there,  supplies  and  equipment 
sufficient  for  fifteen  men  for  possibly  four 
months  had  to  be  relayed  up  the  river.  The 
expedition's  32-foot  boat,  Oronogue,  was 
of  "greenheart"  plank  construction,  with  a 
capacity  of  4,000  pounds.  She  was  propelled 
by  an  outboard  motor,  supplemented  by 
native  paddlers.     The  crew  made  a  preli- 


minary trip  to  Oronoque  Base  Camp  with 
gasoline  and  supplies,  while  Rasool  and  I 
remained  at  King  Frederick  William  IV 
Falls  nine  days  to  obtain  a  representative 
lowland  collection  for  comparative  purposes. 

collecting  by  day  and  night 

Subsequent  similar  relays  transferred  all 
necessary  supplies  to  the  head  of  boat 
navigation  on  Itabu  Creek,  a  tributary  of 
the  upper  New  River.  There  a  base  camp 
was  established  and  all  expedition  personnel, 
with  the  exception  of  the  boat  captain  and 
bowman,  proceeded  in  dugout  canoes  to  the 
headwaters.  Canoes  were  abandoned  at 
this  point,  and  the  expedition  proceeded 
overland  some  ten  miles  by  tortuous  trail 
to  the  watershed  which  marked  the  inter- 
national boundary,  our  objective.  A  camp 
was  established  at  the  highest  source  of 
water,  and  collecting  began  September  20, 
approximately  five  weeks  after  joining  the 
boat  crew  at  King  Frederick  William  IV 
Falls. 

With  three  collecting  guns  in  daily  use, 
extensive  trap  lines  set  for  small  mammals 
each  night,  and  several  men  scouring  the 
forests  for  specimens  of  all  kinds,  the  col- 
lections grew  very  rapidly.  The  camp  was 
always  astir  at  dawn,  and  rarely  were  the 
lanterns  dimmed  in  the  taxidermy  tent 
before  midnight.  Among  the  notable  birds 
collected  were  two  specimens  of  the  famed 
harpy  eagle,  later  unfortunately  destroyed 
due  to  disaster  on  the  river.  A  number  of 
specimens  of  cock-of-the-rock,  a  brilliant 
orange  species  regarded  as  one  of  the  love- 
liest birds  in  tropical  America,  were  also 
taken.  Many  other  birds  not  previously 
represented  in  the  Field  Museum  collections 
by  Guiana  specimens  were  collected,  and 
several  species  appear  to  be  additions  to 
the  fauna  of  the  colony. 

Approximately  500  insects,  and  a  repre- 
sentation of  vertebrates  totaling  more  than 
2,000  specimens  of  birds,  mammals,  reptiles 
and  fish,  were  collected  by  the  expedition 
before  the  boundary  camp  was  evacuated. 
By  the  middle  of  October  the  expedition  was 
in  momentary  danger  of  becoming  stranded 
in  the  hinterland,  because  Itabu  Creek  was 
falling  with  the  advancement  of  the  dry 
season.  Collecting  ceased,  and  the  boundary 
camp  was  abandoned  October  19.  The  party 
began  the  arduous  journey  to  the  coast  with 
its  collections.  Surplus  stores  and  equip- 
ment were  discarded  to  facilitate  transport 
over  the  portages  which  we  faced. 

SHOALS  presage  DANGER 

Creeks  and  rivers  had  dropped  approxi- 
mately fifteen  feet  during  the  month  of  our 
sojourn  in  the  mountains.  Portions  of  the 
streams  which  were  relatively  placid  during 
our  ascent  were  now  boiling  whirlpools  and 
seething  rapids.  Channels  which  had  been 
diflBcult  before  were  now  death  traps  which 


February,  19S9 


FIELD  MUSEUM  NEWS 


Page  5 


required  extreme  care  in  navigation,  or 
had  to  be  avoided  by  strenuous  portages. 
Day  by  day  sudden  disaster  was  an  immi- 
nent possibility  as  the  boats  were  run  or 
"streaked"  through  interminable  rapids. 

King  Frederick  William  IV  Falls  is  im- 
passable at  all  seasons.  Boats  and  supplies 
must  be  transported  overland  by  way  of  a 
mile  long  portage.  Our  dug-out  canoes  were 
abandoned  above  the  falls  and  all  hands 
labored  for  three  days  with  block  and 
tackle,  hardwood  skids,  rollers  and  levers 


serviceable  canvas  canoe  from  an  old  tar- 
paulin. We  also  had  prepared  considerable 
dried  fish  for  provisions  on  the  journey  out. 
Although  we  now  had  four  craft,  they 
proved  inadequate  for  men  and  specimens, 
so  bark  was  stripped  from  a  large  "purple- 
heart"  tree  and  an  Indian  "woodskin" 
was  prepared. 

Three  days  below  King  William  Rapids 
we  reached  the  head  of  Wonatobo  Falls, 
which  necessitated  a  three-mile  portage. 
The  woodskin  fell  apart  there,  but  finally 


Museum  Explorers  In  Small  Boat  Brave  Rapids  in  a  '  Li>^i  WurU" 
Photograph  made  in  wilds  of  British  Guiana  by  Mr.  Emmet  R.  Blake,  leader  of  the  Sewell  Avery  Zoological 
Expedition,  showing  the  type  of  dense  jungle,  and  the  turbulent  water  of  the  Courantyne  River,  which  the  expedition 
had  to  combat.    At  one  point  an  expedition  boat  capsized  on  a  rock  in  an  uncharted  channel  through  the  rapids,  but 
all  lives  were  saved,  and  even  the  larger  part  of  the  collection  of  specimens  was  salvaged. 


to  inch  the  heavy  Oronoque  over  the  hilly 
terrain.  Another  day  was  required  to  repair, 
caulk  and  launch  her. 

DISASTER— AND  ESCAPE 
On  November  1  the  Oronoque,  loaded  with 
specimens,  equipment,  fifteen  men,  and 
supplies  for  three  weeks,  once  more  got  under 
way.  About  the  middle  of  the  afternoon  the 
boat  struck  a  submerged  rock  while  running 
King  William  Rapids,  and  capsized.  All  of 
the  personnel  were  miraculously  saved  by 
swimming  to  a  rock  island  in  mid-river, 
but  most  of  the  equipment  and  supplies, 
and  almost  half  of  the  specimens  were  lost. 
Two  days  were  spent  attempting  to  find 
and  salvage  the  boat  and  stores,  but  without 
success.  Finally  nine  men  were  chosen  and 
sent  up  river  through  the  jungle  to  obtain 
the  canoes  abandoned  above  King  Frederick 
William  IV  Falls.  They  returned  a  week 
later  with  three  dug-outs.  Meanwhile,  the 
marooned  party,  which  included  Mr.  Bald- 
win and  the  writer,  had  dried  the  specimens 
salvaged  from  the  rapids,  and  fabricated  a 


a  bateau  was  made  with  planks  obtained 
from  an  abandoned  Boundary  Commission 
camp.  Several  days  and  nights  of  paddling 
brought  us  to  La  Tropica,  a  Dutch  police 
outpost  and  farthest  interior  point  of  civiliza- 
tion on  the  river.  Arrangements  were  made 
with  police  officials  to  tow  our  canoes  to 
the  coast,  some  eighty  miles  distant,  and  on 
November  20  the  expedition  returned  to 
Georgetown.  There  the  salvaged  specimens 
were  packed  for  shipment  to  Chicago,  and 
the  expedition  personnel  was  disbanded. 


PROGRAMS  FOR  CHILDREN 
TO  BEGIN  THIS  MONTH 

The  James  Nelson  and  Anna  Louise 
Raymond  Foundation  will  present  two  free 
programs  of  motion  pictures  for  children 
during  February.  The  first,  a  special  pro- 
gram in  commemoration  of  George  Washing- 
ton's birthday,  will  be  given  on  Wednesday, 
February  22.  The  films  will  portray  the  life 
of  Washington  as  a  boy  and  as  a  man. 

On  February  25,  a  week  earlier  than  usual, 
the  Raymond  Foundation  will  begin  its 
spring  series  of  Saturday  morning  programs. 
Four  films  will  be  shown  on  this  initial  pro- 
gram, as  follows:  "The  Grasshopper  and  the 
Ant"  (musical  cartoon  in  colors,  by  Walt 
Disney),  "Cartoonland  Mystery,"  "The 
Plow  That  Broke  the  Plain,"  and  "Neptune's 
Mysteries." 

Nine  other  programs,  upon  which  will 
be  included  thirty-seven  other  films,  are  to 
be  given  on  Saturdays  during  March  and 
April.  The  complete  schedule  of  these  will 
appear  in  the  March  issue  of  Field  Museum 
News. 

All  programs,  including  the  special  one  for 
Washington's  birthday,  will  be  given  in  the 
James  Simpson  Theatre,  with  two  showings 
of  each,  one  beginning  at  10  A.M.,  and  one 
at  11.  Children  from  all  parts  of  Chicago 
and  suburbs  are  invited,  and  no  tickets  are 
required  for  admission.  The  Museum  is 
prepared  to  receive  large  groups  from  schools 
and  other  centers,  as  well  as  individual 
children  coming  either  alone  or  accompanied 
by  parents  or  other  adults.  Teachers  are 
urged  to  bring  their  classes. 


Botanical  Project  in  Europe 
Makes  Notable  Progress 

Mr.  J.  Francis  Macbride,  Associate 
Curator  of  the  Herbarium,  who  has  been 
in  Europe  since  1929  obtaining  photographs 
of  type  specimens  of  plants  in  herbaria  of 
various  countries,  has  returned  to  his  head- 
quarters at  the  Paris  Jardin  des  Plantes, 
after  several  months  of  work  in  Geneva 
and  Florence.  The  Museum  recently  received 
from  him  about  1,500  additional  negatives, 
bringing  the  total  to  date  in  this  important 
collection  to  36,000.  Prints  from  these  are 
made  available,  at  cost,  to  botanists  and 
institutions  all  over  the  world,  and  have 
proved  to  be  of  immense  value  in  connection 
with  various  scientific  problems. 


EXCITING  AS  A  NOVEL— 

is  Animals  Without  Backbones  (An  Introduction  to  the  Invertebrates),  by  Dr.  Ralph 
Buchsbaum,  of  the  Department  of  Zoology  at  the  University  of  Chicago. 

Dr.  Fritz  Haas,  Curator  of  Lower  Invertebrates  at  Field  Museum,  regards  this  as 
the  best  general  book  on  this  subject  yet  published.  He  says:  "Although  it  may  be  used 
as  a  text  book,  it  can  be  read  for  entertainment  too,  and  will  prove  as  enthralling  as  a 
story  by  a  master  novelist.    The  illustrations  are  exceptionally  numerous  and  well 


chosen." 


At  the  BOOK  SHOP  of  FIELD  MUSEUM— $5. 


Page  6 


FIELD  MUSEUM  NEWS 


February,  19S9 


Field  Museum  of  Natural  History 

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

THE  BOARD  OF  TRUSTEES 

Sbwell  L.  Avbby  William  H.  Mitchell 

Leopold  E.  Block  George  A.  Richardson 

Albert  B.  Dick,  Jr.  Theodore  Roosevelt 

Joseph  N.  Field  Fred  W.  Sargent 

Marshall  Field  James  Simpson 

Stanley  Field  Solomon  A.  Smith 

Albert  W.  Harris  Albert  A.  Spbagub 

Samuel  Insull,  Jr.  Silas  H.  Strawn 

Charles  A.  McCulloch  John  P.  Wilson 

OFFICERS 

Stanley  Field President 

Albert  A.  Sprague First  Vice-President 

James  Simpson Second  Vice-President 

Albert  W.  Harris Third  Vice-President 

Clifford  C.  Gregg Director  and  Secretary 

Solomon  A.  Smith.  .  .Treasurer  and  Assistant  Secretary 

FIELD  MUSEUM  NEWS 

Clifford  C.  Gregg,  Director  of  the  Museum ....  Editor 
CONTRIBUTING  EDITORS 

Paul  S.  Martin Chief  Curator  of  Anthropology 

B.  E.  Dahlgren Chief  Curator  of  Botany 

Henry  W.  Nichols Chiejf  Curator  of  Geology 

Wilfred  H.  Osgood Chief  Curator  of  Zoology 

H.  B.  Harte Managing  Editor 

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


FROM  THE  DIRECTOR'S  DESK— 


Mr.  Stanley  Field  Completes  30th  Year 
as  President  of  Museum 

On  January  11,  Mr.  Stanley  Field  com- 
pleted his  thirtieth  year  as  President  of 
Field  Museum,  an  office  which  he  has  held 
continuously  since  1909. 

On  January  16,  at  the  Annual  Meeting  of 
the  Board  of  Trustees,  Mr.  Field  was  again 
accorded  the  complete  confidence  of  his  col- 
leagues by  re-election  for  his  thirty-first 
term  as  President. 

When  Mr.  Field  first  took  the  presidential 
helm  on  January  11,  1909,  the  Museum  was 
still  in  its  original  home  (the  Fine  Arts 
Building,  now  Museum  of  Science  and 
Industry)  in  Jackson  Park.  His  uncle,  the 
first  Marshall  Field,  had  died  some  three 
years  previously,  leaving  to  the  institution 
the  large  bequest  which  was  to  enable  it  to 
undertake  the  construction  of  a  new  and 
adequate  edifice,  and  which  provided  a  basic 
endowment  to  extend  its  activities.  The 
major  expansion  has  all  occurred  during 
the  years  of  President  Field's  leadership, 
bringing  the  Museum  to  its  present  position 
among  the  world's  four  or  five  greatest  in 
natural  science. 

Few  institutions  of  this  kind  are  privileged 
to  have  a  president  so  intimately  and 
directly  connected  with  their  activities  and 
progress  from  day  to  day.  Few  have  a 
president  who  can  or  would  personally 
devote  so  much  of  his  time,  effort,  and 
enthusiasm  to  working  right  along  with  the 
members  of  the  staflf — encouraging  them, 
offering  suggestions  which  are  notable  for 
their  keenness  and  practicability,  and  fre- 
quently providing  the  means  for  carrying 
out    plans    which     would     otherwise     be 


frustrated.  Mr.  FHeld  maintains  an  ofl5ce 
in  the  Museum  building,  and  is  there  nearly 
every  day  when  he  is  in  the  city,  which  is 
during  the  greater  part  of  the  year.  He  is 
keenly  interested  in  every  proposal  which 
has  for  its  object  the 
advancement  of  the 
Museum's  interests 
in  any  way,  or  the 
betterment  of  its  ser- 
vices to  the  public  or 
to  science.  His  gen- 
erosity has  been 
without  stint.  He  has 
paid  large  sums  to 
meet  requirements  of 
the  building  deficit 
fund.  He  has  "kept 
the  wolf  from  the 
door"  in  many  a  year 
when  the  Museum  president  Stanley  Field 
has  ended  with  a  Re-elected  for  the  tWrty- 
1ni.rT^  A^f^^;*-  rt*.  ;+,,  first  time.  In  the  three 
large  deficit  on  its  decades  of  his  administra- 
Operating  expenses,  tion  the  institution  has  risen 
,  J  .  ,      from  a  comparatively  small 

He  has  made  notable  beginning  to  a  place  among 
^i(*-^  «f  f,,i^A^  +«  the  world's  foremost  mu- 
gifts    of    funds    to    seums.     His  leadership  has 

finance   expeditions,  b«en  ?  ™aiof  factor  '"  'ts 

,        ,       ...  growth  and  development. 

to  make  physical  im- 
provements in  the  building,  and  to  obtain 
outstanding  desiderata  for  the  exhibits,  the 
study  collections  and  the  Library. 

— Clifford  C.  Gregg,  Director. 


logical  Society  of  America  recently  held  at 
New  York. 


All  Museum  Officers  Re-elected 

In  addition  to  the  re-election  of  President 
Field,  all  other  Officers  of  the  Museum  who 
served  in  1938  were  re-elected  for  1939. 
The  others  are:  Colonel  Albert  A.  Sprague, 
First  Vice-President;  Mr.  James  Simpson, 
Second  Vice-President;  Mr.  Albert  W. 
Harris,  Third  Vice-President;  Mr.  ClifiFord 
C.  Gregg,  Director  and  Secretary,  and  Mr. 
Solomon  A.  Smith,  Treasurer  and  Assistant 
Secretary. 


Staff  Notes 

Mr.  Paul  C.  Standley,  leader  of  the  Sewell 
Avery  Botanical  Expedition  to  Guatemala, 
currently  in  the  field,  reports  to  the  Museum 
that  he  has  collected  more  than  2,500  plants 
to  date.  When  heard  from  last  month  he 
was  working  in  the  Guatemalan  highlands, 
at  altitudes  ranging  from  five  to  ten  thou- 
sand feet,  in  the  vicinity  of  Antigua. 


Dr.  Francis  Drouet,  Curator  of  Crypto- 
gamic  Botany,  attended  the  meeting  of  the 
American  Association  for  the  Advancement 
of  Science  recently  held  at  Richmond,  Vir- 
ginia. He  presented  a  paper  describing  his 
studies  of  the  specimens  of  blue-green  algae 
treated  by  the  Rev.  Francis  WoUe  (1817-93), 
one  of  the  first  great  American  algologists. 


The  staff  of  the  James  Nelson  and  Anna 
Louise  Raymond  Foundation  entertained  the 
personnel  of  the  Museum  as  a  whole  at  a 
Christmas  tea  and  reception  in  the  Founda- 
tion offices. 


Mr.  Emmet  R.  Blake,  Assistant  Curator 
of  Birds,  and  leader  of  the  Sewell  Avery 
Zoological  Expedition  to  British  Guiana, 
was  guest  speaker  on  the  Blue  Network 
(60  stations  coast  to  coast)  of  the  National 
Broadcasting  Company,  Friday  evening, 
January  13,  a  few  days  after  his  return  from 
South  America.  The  Chicago  outlet  was 
station  WLS.  Mr.  Don  McNeill,  of  the 
NBC  staff,  interviewed  Mr.  Blake.  On  Jan- 
uary 21,  Mr.  Blake  spoke  on  the  Mont- 
pamasse  program  over  station  WIND. 


Distinguished  Visitors 

Among  distinguished  visitors  recently 
received  at  Field  Museum  are:  Mr.  Russell 
Plimpton,  Director  of  the  Institute  of  Art, 
Minneapolis;  Mr.  Paul  Frank,  of  the 
National  Park  Service  staff  at  Zion  Na- 
tional Park,  Utah;  Dr.  Philip  Drucker,  De- 
partment of  Anthropology,  University  of 
California,  who  spent  three  days  studying 
the  Museum's  Northwest  Coast  ethnology 
collection;  Mr.  Michael  Lerner,  sportsman 
of  New  York  City;  Dr.  Paul  Ganz,  a  pro- 
fessor at  the  University  of  Basel  in  Switzer- 
land, and  President  of  the  International 
Commission  on  the  History  of  Art;  and  Dr. 
William  K.  Gregory  and  Mr.  Harry  C.  Raven, 
both  of  the  American  Museum  of  Natural 
History,  New  York. 


Mr.  Sharat  K.  Roy,  Curator  of  Geology, 
and  Mr.  Paul  McGrew,  Assistant  in  Paleon- 
tology, attended  the  meetings  of  the  Geo- 


A  FEW  FACTS  ABOUT  FIELD  MUSEUM 

Field  Museum  is  open  every  day  of  the  year 
(except  Christmas  and  New  Year's  Day)  during 
the  hours  indicated  below; 

November,  December, 

January,  February 9  A.M.  to  4  p.m. 

March,  April,  and 

September,  October 9  a.m.  to  5  P.M. 

May,  June,  July,  August. . .  .9  a.m.  to  6  P.M. 

Admission  is  free  to  Members  on  all  days. 
Other  adults  are  admitted  free  on  Thursdays, 
Saturdays,  and  Sundays;  non-members  pay  25 
cents  on  other  days.  Children  are  admitted  free 
on  all  days.  Students  and  faculty  members  of 
educational  institutions  are  admitted  free  any 
day  upon  presentation  of  credentials. 

The  Museum's  Library  is  open  for  reference 
daily  except  Saturday  afternoon  and  Sunday. 

Traveling  exhibits  are  circulated  in  the  schools 
of  Chicago  by  the  N.  W.  Harris  Public  School 
Extension  Department  of  the  Museum. 

Lectures  at  schools,  and  special  entertain- 
ments and  tours  for  children  at  the  Museum,  are 
Srovided  by  the  James  Nelson  and  Anna  Louise 
;aymond  Foundation  for  Public  School  and 
Children's  Lectures. 

Free  courses  of  lectures  for  adults  are  presented 
in  the  .lames  Simpson  Theatre  on  Saturday  after- 
noons (at  2:30  o'clock)  in  March,  April,  October, 
and  November. 

A  Cafeteria  serves  visitors.  Rooms  are  avail- 
able also  for  those  bringing  their  lunches. 

Chicago  Motor  Coach  Company  No.  26  busses 
provide  direct  transportation  to  the  Museum.  Ser- 
vice is  offered  also  by  Surface  Lines,  Rapid  Tran- 
sit Lines  (the  "L"),  interurban  electric  lines,  and 
Illinois  Central  trains.  There  is  ample  free  park- 
ing space  for  automobiles  at  the  Museum. 


February,  1939 


FIELD  MUSEUM  NEWS 


Page  7 


A  REVIEW  OF  1938 

{Editor's  Note: — At  an  early  date  Field 
Museum,  as  usual,  unit  publish  in  book  form 
the  Director's  Annual  Report.  Meanwhile, 
Field  Museum  News  presents  this  brief 
summary  of  some  of  the  outstanding  activities 
of  1938.) 

The  story  that  science  has  to  tell  of  the 
world  in  which  we  live  was  brought  directly 
to  more  than  2,000,000  Chicagoans,  and 
visitors  to  the  city,  by  Field  Museum  dur- 
ing 1938.  Indirectly — through  publication, 
radio,  and  other  such  media — additional 
numbers,  which  cannot  be  estimated,  have 
been  reached.  From  the  standpoint  of 
service  to  the  public,  the  year  was  one  of 
the  most  active  and  successful  in  the  history 
of  the  institution. 

ATTENDANCE 

The  number  of  visitors  received  at  the 
Museum  was  1,391,580.  This  is  an  increase 
of  101,557  over  the  1937  attendance,  which 
totaled  1,290,023  and  was  likewise  more 
than    100,000   in   excess   of   that   in    1936. 

The  balance  of  the  more  than  2,000,000 
brought  directly  within  the  sphere  of  the 
Museum's  influence  in  1938  consists  of  some 
500,000  Chicago  school  children  repeatedly 
reached  by  the  1,200  traveling  natural 
history  exhibits  circulated  by  the  N.  W. 
Harris  Public  School  Extension,  and  182,608 
children  reached  through  lecturers  sent  into 
the  schools  by  the  James  Nelson  and  Anna 
Louise  Raymond  Foundation. 

Of  the  1938  attendance,  more  than  93 
per  cent  were  admitted  free  of  charge,  com- 
ing on  the  free  days  (Thursdays,  Saturdays 
and  Sundays),  or  belonging  to  classifications 
such  as  children,  teachers,  students,  and 
Members  of  the  Museum,  who  are  admitted 
free  on  all  days.  The  25-cent  admission  fee 
charged  on  other  days  was  paid  by  less  than 
7  per  cent. 

The  regular  spring  and  autumn  courses 
of  illustrated  lectures  on  science  and  travel 
for  adults,  and  the  Raymond  Foundation 
series  (spring,  summer  and  autumn)  of  free 
motion  pictures  for  children,  were  presented 
in  the  James  Simpson  Theatre  before 
audiences  aggregating  more  than  50,000 
persons.  In  addition,  parties  totaling  more 
than  48,000  children  and  adults  were  con- 
ducted on  guide-lecture  tours  of  the  exhibits. 
Several  thousand  other  persons  participated 
in  the  Sunday  afternoon  lecture  tours  con- 
ducted by  Mr.  Paul  G.  Dallwig,  the  Layman 
Lecturer.  The  books  and  pamphlets  on  the 
shelves  of  the  Museum's  Library  increased 
to  114,000  and  were  extensively  used  by  the 
public  as  well  as  by  students  and  scientists. 
A  new  service  was  inaugurated  during  the 
year  by  the  opening  of  The  Book  Shop, 
which  specializes  in  popular  books  on  science 
that  have  been  approved  by  qualified 
scientists  on  the  Museum  staff. 

Field  Museum  Press  issued  thirty  technical 
scientific   publications,   and   seven   leaflets 


for  lay  readers.  The  technical  publications 
circulate  internationally  among  scientists, 
and  among  libraries  and  other  institutions. 

The  membership  of  the  Museum  at  De- 
cember 31  numbered  4,122,  as  compared 
with  4,266  on  the  same  date  of  1937.  It  is 
hoped  that  the  small  loss  may  be  more 
than  recovered  in  1939.  A  word  of  apprecia- 
tion is  due  to  all  who  have  continued  their 
support  by  retaining  their  memberships. 

All  Departments  of  the  Museum  made 
important  additions  to  their  exhibits  in 
1938.  These  have  been  described,  at  the 
time  of  installation,  in  Field  Museum 
News. 

expeditions 

In  view  of  the  fact  that  in  1938,  as  in  other 
recent  years  since  depression  has  severely 
curtailed  its  budgets,  it  has  been  impossible 
for  the  Museum  to  make  appropriations 
for  expeditions  from  its  own  funds,  the 
institution  was  singularly  fortunate  in  being 
enabled  to  carry  out  an  important  expedi- 
tionary program  with  contributions  from 
public-spirited  Chicagoans.  Mr.  Sewell 
Avery,  a  Trustee,  sponsored  four — a  zoo- 
logical expedition  to  British  Guiana,  a 
geological  expedition  in  western  and  eastern 
parts  of  the  United  States,  and  two  botanical 


expeditions,  one  to  Guatemala,  and  one 
to  Nova  Scotia.  Mr.  Stanley  Field,  Presi- 
dent of  the  Museum,  made  available  funds 
for  continuation  of  the  work,  begun  eight 
years  ago,  of  archaeological  excavations  of 
extensive  scope  and  importance  in  south- 
western Colorado.  Dr.  Wilfred  H.  Osgood, 
Chief  Curator  of  Zoology,  personally  financed 
and  conducted  an  expedition  concerned  with 
biological  research  in  New  Mexico. 

WPA  PROJECT 

The  project  conducted  at  Field  Museum 
by  the  federal  Works  Progress  Administra- 
tion was  continued  throughout  the  year, 
giving  employment  to  218  men  and  women. 
These  workers  aggregated  337,756  hours, 
and  the  government  paid  them  wages  total- 
ing $211,548.  They  displayed  a  variety  of 
skills  and  talents,  and  were  employed 
accordingly,  the  range  of  the  tasks  to  which 
they  were  assigned  embracing  scientific 
research,  preparation  of  exhibits,  clerical 
work,  and  general  labor.  Work  done  by 
WPA  employes  is  of  a  character  that  could 
not  be  undertaken  by  the  Museum's  regular 
staff  because  of  the  pressure  of  more  urgent 
tasks.  The  regular  employes  on  the  Mu- 
seum's own  payroll  continued  with  their 
usual  duties.  — C.  C.  G. 


THINGS  YOU  MAY  HAVE  MISSED 


The  Swan  Flower 

The  swan  flower  {Aristolochia  grandiflora) 
is  the  largest  member  of  the  Dutchman's 
pipe  family,  and  also  the  largest  flower  of 
the  western  hemisphere.  Unfortunately 
this  remarkable  native  of  Central  America 
and  the  West  Indies  is  one  of  the  most 
malodorous  of  tropical  plants.  The  un- 
pleasant scent  of  its  great  flowers  has  been 
described  as  resembling  that  of  decaying 
tobacco.  This  odor,  and  possibly  also  the 
blotched  colors,  attracts  insects,  particularly 
flies,  which  act  as  pollinating  agents. 

The  plant  often  is  also  called  pelican  or 
goose  flower.  In  Jamaica  it  has  been  given 
the  name  "poison  hog-meat,"  and  the  well- 
known  botanist,  John  Lunan,  in  "an  account 
of  its  virulent  nature,"  wrote:  "The  plant  is 
so  abominably  fetid  that  it  is  detested  and 
shunned  by  most  animals,  yet  when  hogs 
venture,  through  necessity,  to  eat  of  it,  it 
destroys  them."  One  report  tells  of  a  whole 
herd  of  swine  perishing  from  eating  the  roots 
and  young  stems.  In  some  localities  native 
children  are  said  to  adorn  their  heads  with 
the  flowers  in  lieu  of  hats. 

The  flowers,  like  those  of  other  plants  in 
this  family,  are  typically  tubular.  In  the 
swan  flower  the  tube  is  S-shaped,  and  its 
free  margin  is  enormously  expanded.  In 
the  throat  of  the  tube  is  a  diaphragm  with 
an  opening  which  makes  the  flower  an  effec- 
tive insect  trap,  luring  many  small  creatures 
of  the  air  to  their  deaths. 


In  the  illustration  is  shown  a  reproduction 
from  nature,  made  at  the  Museum  on  the 
basis  of  a  specimen  collected  in  Guatemala. 
It  is  exhibited  in  the  Hall  of  Plant  Life 
(Hall  29). 


Largest  Flower  of  Western  Hemisphere 

Reproduction  of  the  swan  flower  of  Central  America 
and  the  West  Indies,  on  exhibition  in  the  Hall  of  Plant 
Life.  One  of  the  flowers  is  shown  in  profile,  revealing, 
when  picture  is  turned  with  left  side  down,  the  resem- 
blance to  certain  birds  from  which  the  plant  gets  such 
names  as  "swan,"  "goose,"  and  "pelican  flower." 


Pages 


FIELD  MUSEUM  NEWS 


February,  19S9 


SUNDAY  TOURS  IN  FEBRUARY 
FEATURE  GEMS  AND  JEWELS 

With  reservations  being  made  several 
weeks  in  advance,  the  popular  Sunday  after- 
noon lecture  tours  conducted  by  Mr.  Paul  G. 
Dallwig,  the  Layman  Lecturer  of  Field  Mu- 
seum, will  continue  through  May.  "Gems, 
Jewels  and  'Junk,'  "  is  the  new  subject  for 
the  four  Sundays  in  February.  This  lecture 
includes  tours  of  H.  N.  Higinbotham  Hall, 
devoted  especially  to  gems  and  jewels, 
and  also  of  exhibits  in  other  halls  in  the 
Department  of  Geology  pertaining  to  precious 
and  semi-precious  gem  stones  and  the  sources 
from  which  they  are  obtained.  Mr.  Dallwig 
describes  the  processes  of  mining,  cutting, 
and  polishing  gems,  and  relates  many  human 
interest  stories  about  the  most  famous 
diamonds  in  the  world.  He  also  gives  his 
hearers  an  insight  into  the  workings  of  the 
international  jewel  markets. 

In  March  the  subject  of  Sunday  tours  will 
be  "Nature's  'March  of  Time,'"  dealing 
with  prehistoric  animals. 

Each  Sunday  lecture  tour  is  limited  to  a 
party  of  125  persons.  Reservations  must 
be  made  in  advance  by  mail  or  telephone 
(Wabash  9410).  Parties  are  restricted  to 
adults. 

The  lectures  begin  promptly  at  2  p.m.,  and 
end  at  4:30.  Members  of  the  parties  may 
obtain  refreshments  in  the  Cafeteria,  and 
smoke,  during  a  half-hour  intermission  mid- 
way in  the  tours.  Special  tables  are  reserved 
for  the  groups. 


GIFTS  TO  THE  MUSEUM 

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

Department  of  Anthropology : 

From  Alvan  T.  Marston,  London,  Eng- 
land— 16  flint  implements  and  a  molar 
tooth  of  an  elephant,  England;  from  Miss 
Helen  M.  Dart,  Chicago — a  Bundu  mask, 
West  Africa. 

Department  of  Botany : 

From  Irving  Knobloch,  San  Juanito, 
Mexico — 130  herbarium  specimens,  Mexico; 
from  R.  A.  Dyer,  Pretoria,  South  Africa — 
10  palm  fruit  specimens.  South  Africa; 
from  Dr.  Herbert  M.  Evans,  Berkeley, 
California — 1,650  herbarium  specimens,  Cali- 
fornia, Montana,  and  Oregon;  from  Dr. 
William  R.  Taylor,  Ann  Arbor,  Michigan — 
10  specimens  of  algae,  Arctic  America. 

Department  of  Geology : 

From  The  Chicago  Tribune — a  relief  map 
of  North  America;  from  Dr.  H.  C.  Dake, 
Portland,  Oregon — 23  almandite  crystals, 
Idaho;  from  Donald  C.  Boardman,  Fillmore, 
California — 2  specimens  of  lava  and  tuff 
inter-stratified,  California;  from  Miss  Bertha 
F.  Gordon,  Porterville,  California — 6  photo- 
graphs of  Death  Valley  and  vicinity,  Cali- 
fornia. 


Department  of  Zoology: 

From  University  of  Miami,  Coral  Gables, 
Florida — a  turtle,  Bahamas;  from  Chicago 
Zoological  Society,  Brookfield,  Illinois — a 
rat  kangaroo  and  4  birds;  from  Mrs.  Clara 
K.  Walton,  Highland  Park,  Illinois — 5  birds, 
Illinois;  from  Phil  C.  Orr,  Santa  Barbara, 
California — a  cleaned  domestic  fowl  skele- 
ton; from  Miss  Claire  Nemec,  Chicago — 
a  specimen  of  moUusk,  Texas;  from  H.  W. 
Lix,  Hot  Springs,  Arkansas — a  snake, 
Arkansas;  from  Luis  Mille,  S.  J.,  Bahia  de 
Caraquez,  Ecuador — 6  sponges  and  corals, 
Ecuador;  from  Michael  Lerner,  New  York 
City — a  mounted  specimen  of  a  North 
Atlantic  broadbill  swordfish,  Nova  Scotia, 
and  a  large  photograph  of  it;  from  John  M. 
Schmidt,  Homewood,  Illinois — a  Florida 
opossum. 


NEW  MEMBERS 

The  following  persons  were  elected  to 
membership  in  Field  Museum  during  the 
period  from  December  16  to  January  15: 

Associate  Members 

Adam  Gabriel,  Otto  Madlener,  Oscar  G. 
Mayer,  Joseph  D.  Murphy,  Sarkis  H. 
Nahigian. 

Annual  Members 

Samuel  Adams,  Amos  G.  Allen,  Mrs. 
H.  S.  Austrian,  John  S.  Burchmore,  Frank 
Osborne  Elliott,  Dr.  Gordon  B.  Fauley,  Mrs. 
William  Edward  Graham,  J.  C.  Hauser, 
Mrs.  Henry  T.  Heald,  Benjamin  G.  Kaplan, 
H.  A.  Kern,  Frank  Kotrba,  Mrs.  Johannes 
Krawetz,  Adolph  Kroch,  Arthur  Kruggel, 
O.  W.  Lehmann,  Mrs.  Kenneth  Llewellyn, 
Mrs.  Samuel  Nast,  John  F.  O'Toole,  Henry 
R.  Richardson,  Miss  Lavinia  Ritter,  Meyer 
Schuman,  John  M.  Simpson,  Howard  M. 
Sims,  A.  E.  Thiffault,  Casimir  R.  Wachow- 
ski. 


SEASICK  FISH 

Page  Mr.  Ripley  of  "believe  it  or  not" 
fame.  This  is  a  fish  story,  avowedly,  but 
a  true  one  although  it  makes  severe  demands 
on  one's  credulity. 

While  in  a  power  boat,  with  the  sea 
running  high,  during  a  Museum  expedition 
off  the  coast  of  Maine,  Mr.  Alfred  C.  Weed, 
Curator  of  Fishes,  and  Staflf  Taxidermist 
Leon  L.  Pray,  made  a  curious  observation — 
that  fish,  of  all  creatures,  are  subject  to 
mal  de  mer.  The  Museum  men  had  made 
a  good  catch  of  live  specimens,  which  they 
kept  in  a  "live-car"  alongside  the  boat.  As 
the  intensity  of  the  waves  increased,  the 
water  washed  over  the  live-car  in  such  a 
way  as  to  provide  potential  means  of  escape 
for  the  captives.  But  the  fish,  actually  and 
visibly  seasick  from  the  swaying  motion  of 
the  container,  remained  miserably  at  the 
bottom  of  their  floating  prison-tank,  with 
no  apparent  interest  in  swimming  out  to 
the  freedom  that  beckoned.  Later  they 
were  transferred  to  tubs  on  board  the  boat, 
but  continued  to  suffer  from  the  pitching 
and  rolling  motion  of  the  vessel  until  port 
was  reached. 


FEBRUARY  GUIDE-LECTURE  TOURS 
FOR  WEEK-DAY  VISITORS 

Conducted  tours  of  exhibits,  under  the 
guidance  of  staff  lecturers,  are  made  every 
afternoon  at  3  o'clock  except  Saturdays, 
Sundays,  and  certain  holidays.  Following 
is  the  schedule  of  subjects  and  dates  for 
February: 

Wednesday,  February  1 — Races  of  Man- 
kind; Thursday — General  Tour;  Friday — 
South  American  Animal  Life. 

Week  beginning  February  6:  Monday — 
Coal  and  Oils;  Tuesday — Plants  with 
Curious  Habits;  Wednesday — Burial  Cus- 
toms; Thursday — General  Tour;  Friday — 
Animal  Families. 

Week  beginning  February  IS:  Monday — 
Indians  of  North,  Central  and  South 
America;  Tuesday — Prehistoric  and  Modern 
Mammals;  Wednesday — Story  of  Flax  and 
Cotton;  Thursday — General  Tour;  Friday — 
Birds  at  Home. 

Week  beginning  February  20:  Monday — 
Life  in  the  Far  East;  Tuesday — Rocks  and 
Their  Formation;  Wednesday — The  Cave- 
men; Thursday — General  Tour;  Friday — 
Horses  and  Their  Relatives. 

Monday,  February  27 — Plant  Ecology; 
Tuesday — Ancient  Mexico. 

Persons  wishing  to  participate  should 
apply  at  North  Entrance.  Tours  are  free. 
A  new  schedule  will  appear  each  month  in 
Field  Museum  News.  Guide-lecturers' 
services  for  special  tours  by  parties  of  ten 
or  more  are  available  free  of  charge  by 
arrangement  with  the  Director  a  week  in 
advance. 


Examples  of  the  traveling  natural  history 
exhibits  circulated  among  Chicago's  schools 
by  the  N.  W.  Harris  Public  School  Extension 
are  shown  in  Stanley  Field  Hall. 

MEMBERSHIP  IN  FIELD  MUSEUM 

Field  Museum  has  several  classes  of  Members. 
Benefactors  give  or  devise  $100,000  or  more.  Contribu- 
tors give  or  devise  $1,000  to  $100,000.  Life  Members 
give  $500;  Non-Resident  Life  and  Associate  Members 
pay  $100;  Non-Resident  Associate  Members  pay  $50. 
All  the  above  classes  are  exempt  from  dues.  Sustaining 
Members  contribute  $25  annually.  After  six  years  they 
become  Associate  Members.  Annual  Members  con- 
tribute $10  annually.  Other  memberships  are  Corpo- 
rate, Honorary.  Patron,  and  Corresponding,  additions 
under  these  classifications  being  made  by  special  action 
of  the  Board  of  Trustees. 

Each  Member,  in  all  classes,  is  entitled  to  free 
admission  to  the  Museum  for  himself,  his  family  and 
house  guests,  and  to  two  reserved  seats  for  Museum 
lectures  provided  for  Members.  Subscription  to  Field 
Museum  News  is  included  with  all  memberships.  The 
courtesies  of  every  museum  of  note  in  the  United 
States  and  Canada  are  extended  to  all  Members  of 
Field  Museum.  A  Member  may  give  his  personal  card 
to  non-residents  of  Chicago,  upon  presentation  of 
which  they  will  be  admitted  to  the  Museum  without 
charge.  Further  information  about  memberships  will 
be  sent  on  request. 

BEQUESTS  AND  ENDOWMENTS 

Bequests  to  Field  Museum  of  Natural  History  may 
be  made  in  securities,  money,  books  or  collections. 
They  may,  if  desired,  take  the  form  of  a  memorial  to 
a  person  or  cause,  named  by  the  giver. 

Contributions  made  within  the  taxable  year  not 
exceeding  15  per  cent  of  the  taxpayer's  net  income  are 
allowable  as  deductions  in  computing  net  income  for 
federal  income  tax  purposes. 

Endowments  may  be  made  to  the  Museum  with  the 
provision  that  an  annuity  be  paid  to  the  patron  for  life. 
These  annuities  are  guaranteed  against  fluctuation  in 
amount,  and  may  reduce  federal  income  taxes. 


PRINTKD    BY    FIEVD    MUSBUM    PRE** 


News 


Published  Monthly  by  Field  Museum  of  Natural  History,  Chicago 


Vol.  10 


MARCH,  1939 


No.  3 


LARGE   RELIEF  MODEL  OF  NORTH  AMERICA  PRESENTED    BY  CHICAGO  TRIBUNE 


By  L.  BRYANT  MATHER,  JR. 

ASSISTANT  CURATOR  OF  MINERALOGY 

From  The  Chicago  Tribune  the  Museum 
recently  received,  as  a  gift,  an  unusually 
large  model  in  relief  of  the  continent  of 
North  America.  This  model,  10  feet  wide 
and  15  feet  long,  has  been 
repainted,  and  mounted  on 
the  west  wall  of  Hall  36  in 
the  Department  of  Geology. 

There  are  many  different 
ways  in  which  a  model  such 
as  this  can  be  used  to  show, 
far  more  clearly  than  could 
many  pages  of  writing,  vari- 
ous interesting  features  of  the 
continent  on  which  we  live. 
However,  its  most  effective 
and  valuable  use  in  the 
Museum  seems  to  be  as  an 
exhibit  illustrating  basic 
physical  facts  about  North 
America:  its  shape,  the  eleva- 
tion of  the  land,  and  the 
major  physical  divisions  into 
which   it    may   be   divided. 

The  actual  height  of  the 
land  above  sea  level  is  shown 
modeled  to  scale.  Lower 
areas  are  colored  green,  in- 
creases in  depth  of  shading 
indicating  lower  land.  Higher 
areas  are  bufif  to  brown,  the 
color  darkening  to  corre- 
spond with  rises  in  the  level 
of  the  land.  Conforming  to 
conventional  usage,  areas 
covered  by  water  are  colored 
blue,  and  those  covered  for 
the  greater  part  of  the  year 
by  snow  are  colored  white. 

This  relief  model  recalls  to 
mind  a  number  of  facts  that 
the  average  person  seldom 
thinks  about  once  his  school- 
days are  a  few  years  behind 
him.  For  example,  do  you 
remember  that  the  continent 
of  North  America  contains 
approximately  8,300,000 
square  miles  or  just  a  little 
more  than  half  of  the  land  area  of  the  entire 
New  World  of  North  and  South  America 
together?  The  American  continental  mass 
is  intermediate  in  size  between  the  earth's 
two  other  continental  masses,  the  Eurasian- 
African-Australian  group  being  a  great  deal 


larger,  and  the  Antarctic  mass  much  smaller. 
The  Museum  exhibit,  being  a  model  in  re- 
lief, illustrates  graphically  that  the  average 
height  of  the  land  of  North  America  above 
sea  level  is  only  2,100  feet,  yet  its  highest 
point.  Mount  McKinley  in  Alaska,  rises  to  an 


Mii 


The  North  American  Continent  In  Relief 

Elizabeth  Hambleton  (center),  guide-lecturer  on  the  staff  of  the  James  Nelson  and 
Anna  Louise  Raymond  Foundation,  points  out  to  a  group  of  school  girls  and  boy  scouts  interesting 
features  on  large  relief  model  (10  by  15  feet)  presented  to  Field  Museum  by  The  Chicago  Tribune. 


elevation  of  20,310  feet.  Higher  mountains 
are  found  only  in  South  America  and  Asia. 
Also  the  map  makes  clear  the  location  of 
the  lowest  dry  land  on  the  continent,  which 
lies  in  Death  Valley  in  southern  California, 
some  280  feet  below  sea  level.    Likewise  in- 


dicated is  the  lowest  part  of  the  continent 
that  is  not  dry  land — the  deepest  point  in 
Lake  Huron,  which  is  approximately  500  feet 
below  sea  level. 

At  present  the  oceans  overlap  the  edges 
of  the  continent  to  some  extent.  It  has 
been  estimated  that  since 
the  beginning  of  melting 
of  the  ancient  ice  sheet  that 
once  covered  large  parts  of 
North  America,  the  level 
of  the  oceans  has  been  raised 
258  feet  by  the  water  that 
has  been  returned  to  them, 
and  that  when  the  ice  that 
still  remains  has  all  finally 
melted,  the  level  of  the  sea 
will  rise  another  150  feet. 
The  relief  model  in  the 
Museum  shows  graphically 
that  should  this  condition 
occur,  only  the  tops  of  the 
highest  buildings  in  cities 
such  as  New  York  and 
Boston  would  remain  above 
the  sea.  Chicago  would 
remain  on  quite  dry  land, 
but  would  be  some  300 
miles  nearer  to  the  Gulf  of 
Mexico,  due  to  the  sub- 
mergence of  the  lower 
Mississippi  Valley. 

The  shape  of  continents 
is  due  to  the  location  of 
their  mountain  ranges. 
North  America  owes 
its  triangular  shape  to  the 
spreading  apart  in  the 
north  of  its  two  great 
mountain  chains.  The 
principal  irregularities  in 
continental  outlines — pen- 
insulas, bays  and  islands — 
arise  either  from  the 
influence  of  these  mountain 
chains  or  from  sinking  of 
low  portions  of  the  connect- 
ing plain. 

In  addition  to  the  new 
model  presented  by  The 
Tribune,  there  are  other 
models  in  relief  of  parts  of  North  America. 
These  are  on  display  in  the  west  end  of 
Clarence  Buckingham  Hall  (Hall  35)  and  in 
the  corridors  between  Halls  34,  35,  and  36. 
Included  are  some  devoted  to  the  topogra- 
phy of  Illinois  and  the  Chicago  region. 


Page  2 


FIELD  MUSEUM  NEWS 


March,  19S9 


A    GREAT   GAME    FISH— 
THE  WHITE  MARLIN 

By  ALFRED  C.  WEED 

CintATOB  OF  FISHES 

Fashions  in  game  fishing  usually  change 
rather  slowly.  Some  of  the  South  Sea  fisher- 
men not  only  use  the  methods  employed  by 
many  generations  of  their  grandfathers  but 
probably,  in  some  cases,  the  same  actual 
hooks  and  lines.  Salmon  fishing  methods 
in  England  do  not  differ  greatly  from  those 
that  were  in  use  when  Izaak  Walton  wrote 
The  Compleai  Angler.  On  the  other  hand, 
we  have  in  recent  years  seen  many  changes 
in  American  styles  of  fishing,  both  in  tackle 
and  in  the  kinds  of  fishes  sought.  These 
changes  have  been  more  notable  in  the 
marine  fishes  than  in  those  of  the  rivers  and 
lakes.  Tarpon  fishing  as  a  sport  is  only 
about  fifty  years  old. 

Perhaps  the  most  spectacular  change  in 
the  sportsmen's  ideas  about  game  fishes  has 
been  the  recent  great  rise  in  popularity  of 
various  members  of  the  swordfish  group. 
"Broadbill,"  the  real  swordfish,  has  been 
caught  by  anglers  for  many  years  at  Cata- 
lina  Island,  California,  but  it  is  only  a 
short  time  since  attention  began  to  be  paid 
to  sailfish  and  marlin  in  the  waters  around 
Florida  and  the  West  Indies.  The  search 
for  sailfish  was  well  established  before  our 
anglers  began  to  try  to  take  marlin.  Two 
species  of  these  magnificent  fishes  are  fairly 
common  in  waters  that  can  be  reached 
easily  from  Miami,  Florida,  or  from  Bimini, 
Bahama  Islands.  The  larger  and  less 
known  of  these  is  the  blue  marlin.  This 
fish  may  reach  a  length  well  over  ten  feet 
and  a  weight  of  several  hundred  pounds. 
Such  a  fish  makes  a  splendid  trophy  and 
may  force  the  angler  to  work  hard  for  some 
hours  before  it  can  be  brought  into  the  boat. 

SPECTACULAR  LEAPS 

The  white  marlin  is  considerably  smaller, 
not  much  larger  than  a  sailfish,  and  rarely 
reaches  a  weight  of  more  than  one  hundred 
pounds.  However,  this  is  not  all  the  story. 
An  active  fish,  weighing  eighty  to  a  hundred 
pounds,  on  moderately  light  tackle  can  give 
the  angler  plenty  of  thrills,  and  it  seems 
from  published  accounts  that  this  is  just 
what  the  white  marlin  does.  If  one  can 
believe  the  stories  in  books  and  magazines, 
there  are  few,  if  any,  fishes  that  put  up  a 
more  spectacular  battle  against  the  angler. 
While  most  fishes  seek  deep  water  when 
they  feel  the  restraint  of  the  line,  the  white 
marlin  goes  into  the  air,  making  spectacular 
leaps  in  such  rapid  succession  that  it  seems 
to  be  dancing  on  the  water. 

The  swordfishes  of  the  world  have  not 
been  well  studied  by  scientists.  There  are 
three  main  divisions  of  the  group.  The 
true  swordfishes  carry  on  the  front  of  the 
head  a  long,  flat,  bony  structure  resembling 
in  shape  the  blade  of  a  broad-sword.  Fishes 
of  this  type  are  found  in  most  warm  and 
temperate  seas.    They  look  very  much  alike, 


THIS  MONTH  AT  THE  MUSEUM 

From  various  schedules  which 
will  be  found  in  this  issue  of  FIELD 
MUSEUM  NEWS,  it  will  be  seen  that 
there  are  special  events  scheduled 
for  the  entertainment  and  instruc- 
tion of  Museum  visitors  every  day 
during  March  and  April.  On  Satur- 
days, in  the  morning  there  will  be 
the  Raymond  Foundation  motion 
picture  programs  for  children,  and 
in  the  afternoon  the  illustrated  lec- 
tures on  science  and  travel  for 
adults,  both  presented  in  the  James 
Simpson  Theatre.  On  Sunday 
afternoons  there  will  be  the  lectures 
and  tours  conducted  by  Mr.  Paul  G. 
Dallwig,  the  Layman  Lecturer. 
Daily  from  Monday  to  Friday  inclu- 
sive there  will  be  presented  guide- 
lecture  tours  conducted  by  members 
of  the  Museum  staff. 


and  it  is  not  yet  known  whether  to  class 
them  all  as  one,  or  to  make  two  or  more 
species  of  them.  All  the  others  have 
pointed  bony  spikes  in  place  of  the  sword. 
They  are  often  called  spearfishes  to  dis- 
tinguish them  from  the  swordfishes.  These 
may  be  divided  into  two  groups  by  the 
shape  of  the  fin  on  the  back.  In  the  sail- 
fishes  this  fin  is  very  large,  more  than  twice 
as  high  as  the  body  of  the  rather  slender 
creature.  There  are  several  species  in  this 
group. 

STREAMLINED  FOR  SPEED 

The  marlins  are  larger  and  somewhat 
heavier  for  their  length  than  the  sailfishes, 
but  still  much  more  slender  than  the  sword- 
fishes.  Their  dorsal  fins  are  smaller,  quite 
high  in  front,  and  lower  behind.  All  these 
fishes  are  streamlined  for  high  speed.  Be- 
cause the  fins  would  add  much  resistance 
they  can  be  enclosed  in  grooves  in  the  body 
of  the  fish  so  that  they  are  entirely  hidden 
much  of  the  time.  The  number  of  species 
of  marlins  is  not  known.  Various  authors 
estimate  it  from  two  or  three  to  about 
twenty. 

In  a  new  Hall  of  Fishes,  currently  in 
preparation,  the  Museum  expects  to  have 
on  exhibition  some  fine  specimens  of  the 
larger  game  fishes.  The  most  recent  addi- 
tion to  this  series  is  a  beautiful  specimen  of 
white  marlin  caught  by  Colonel  Warren  R. 
Roberts  in  the  Gulf  Stream  off  Miami, 
Florida.  This  fish  was  mounted  by  Mr.  Al 
Pflueger,  of  Miami,  and  presented  by 
Colonel  Roberts. 


THE  OLDEST  KNOWN  TEXTILES, 
MADE  IN  NEOLITHIC  AGE 

By  HENRY  FIELD 

CURATOR  OF  PHYSICAL  ANTHROPOUXJY 

The  average  person  probably  does  not 
associate  the  gentle  arts  of  crocheting  and 
embroidering  with  the  sturdy  woman  of  pre- 
historic times.  Nor  is  there  evidence  that 
any  form  of  textile  making  was  known  to  the 
people  of  the  Old  Stone  Age.  But  five  or 
six  thousand  years  ago  some  Neolithic  lady 
(or  was  it  her  husband?)  left  a  wooden 
crochet  needle,  and  another  some  embroid- 
ered cloth  for  twentieth  century  excavators 
to  find  in  prehistoric  lake  dwellings  in 
Switzerland. 

Evidences  of  the  high  development  of 
various  forms  of  textile  art  have  come  to 
light  there.  Spindle  whorls  and  loom  weights 
of  stone  and  clay,  bundles  of  raw  flax  fiber, 
specimens  of  knitted  and  netted  fabrics,  and 
loom-woven  cloth  of  wool  and  of  linen  in 
forms  as  complicated  as  twill  were  found. 

From  these  and  other  discoveries  we  know 
that  this  primitive  people  learned,  possibly 
through  accidental  experience,  that  animal 
and  vegetable  fibers  could  be  twisted  to  form 
long,  strong  threads;  that  from  these  threads 
they  wove  cloth;  and  that  they  decorated 
their  cloth  with  rich  borders,  chain  and  plait 
fringes,  and  embroidery.  They  even  wove 
designs  by  combining  threads  of  different 
textures. 

Fleecy,  hairy-surfaced  textiles  were  used 
for  rugs  and  capes;  coarse  bags  were  some- 
times made  of  braided  bast  and  rushes;  and 
baskets  were  coiled  and  twined. 

Contemporary  knowledge  of  weaving  in 
ancient  Egypt  is  indicated  by  the  figure  of  a 
horizontal  loom  decorating  a  Badarian  bowl 
recently  found  and  attributed  to  about 
4000  B.C. 

In  the  Hall  of  the  Stone  Age  of  the  Old 
World  (Hall  C),  Case  13  contains  spindle 
whorls  and  loom  weights,  as  well  as  woven 
fabrics  and  a  reconstruction  drawing  of  a 
loom.  In  Case  14  are  samples  of  nets  and 
twisted  fibers  which  had  been  charred  and 
were  therefore  well  preserved,  although 
buried  for  several  thousand  years  in  the  bed 
of  Lake  NeuchStel.  The  large  diorama 
opposite  these  cases  (No.  vill)  represents 
an  early  morning  scene  beside  Lake  Neu- 
chatel.  In  the  foreground  two  fishermen  are 
hauling  in  their  seine.  At  the  entrance  to 
one  of  the  thatched  dwellings  of  their  village 
stands  a  large  loom,  awaiting  the  attention 
of  the  woman  of  the  house. 


ADVENTURES  IN  BOTANY 

are  told  in  The  World  Was  My  Garden,  by  David  Fairchild,  well-known  plant  explorer. 
"This  book  contains  a  fascinating  account  of  a  lifetime  of  work  and  travels  in  all  parts 
of  the  world  in  pursuit  of  exotic  plants,  fruits,  and  vegetables  for  introduction  into  the 
United  States,"  states  Dr.  B.  E.  Dahlgren,  Chief  Curator  of  Botany. 

On  sale  at  the  BOOK  SHOP  of  FIELD  MUSEUM— $3.75. 


March,  1939 


FIELD  MUSEUM  NEWS 


Page  S 


A  GROUP  OF  TOUCANS  COLLECTED  BY  MANDEL  EXPEDITION 

By  emmet  R.  BLAKE  interesting  family  may  be  found  in  forested 

ASSISTANT    CURATOR   OF    BIRDS  .  ,  ,  ,  ,      .  ,...       , 

regions  from  sea  level  upward  to  altitudes 
of  seven  or  eight  thousand  feet. 

Many  factors  are  involved  in  the  forma- 
tion of  natural  associations  of  bird-life. 
Similarity  of  nesting  or  of  feeding  habits 
frequently  attracts  birds  of  widely  separated 
families.  Tropical  fruit  trees,  such  as  the 
one  reproduced  in  the  present  habitat  group, 
are  particularly  important  focal  points  for 
many  species  during  the  season  of  fruitage. 

Birds  which,  in  their  search  for  food, 
ordinarily  are  widely  scattered  in  the  vast 
forests,  become  concentrated  in  and  about 
these  occasional  sources  of  abundant  food. 


The  feeding  habits,  migrations,  con- 
vergent adaptation,  protective  coloration, 
and  various  other  elements  in  the  intricate 
life  patterns  of  certain  birds  are  revealed  in 
the  Guatemala  forest  habitat  group  recently 
opened  to  the  public  in  Hall  20. 

Data,  and  specimens  and  accessories  for 
the  elaborate  group,  were  collected  in  the 
dense  tropical  rain-forest  of  eastern  Guate- 
mala. A  special  expedition,  organized  and 
sponsored  by  Mr.  Leon  Mandel,  of  Chicago, 
spent  six  months  in  the  field  on  this  mission. 
The  expedition  collected  also  material  for 


Toucans  and  Their  Habitat 

Photograph  shows  detail  of  one  section  of  a  group  in  Hall  20.     The  specimens  were  collected  by  the  Leon 
Mandel-Field  Museum  Zoological  Expedition  to  Guatemala,  of  which  Assistant  Curator  Blake  was  a  member. 


two  Other  habitat  groups,  one  of  the  exotic 
quetzal,  national  bird  of  Guatemala,  and 
the  other  of  a  nesting  colony  of  oropendulas. 
These  groups,  exhibited  in  adjoining  cases, 
were  pictured  and  described  in  the  Septem- 
ber and  December  (1938)  issues  of  Field 
Museum  News. 

Puerto  Barrios,  the  Caribbean  port  of 
Guatemala,  familiar  to  many  travelers  in 
Central  American  waters,  was  chosen  as  the 
ideal  locale  to  be  reproduced.  The  humid 
forests,  luxuriant  vegetation,  and  abundance 
of  parasitic  plants,  so  ably  portrayed  in  this 
Guatemala  forest  group,  are  typical  of  the 
vast  tropical  lowlands  of  eastern  Central 
America. 

Featured  in  the  group  are  two  species  of 
toucan,  or  "billbirds."  More  than  fifty 
species  of  this  fruit-eating  family  are  known 
to  science.  All  are  characterized  by  enor- 
mous beaks  which  are  of  light,  cellular  struc- 
ture internally.  The  colors  of  the  beaks  are 
generally  brilliant  and  follow  characteristic 
patterns.  Toucans  are  restricted  to  the  Amer- 
ican   tropics,   but    representatives   of   this 


Bishop  grosbeaks  compete  actively  and 
successfully,  as  shown,  with  the  larger  and 
more  voracious  toucans.  Tree-tops  which 
ordinarily  shelter  only  occasional  accidental 
bird  visitors,  suddenly  become  alive  with 
avian  activity. 

Something  of  the  intense  competition 
existing  within  the  ranks  of  every  related 
group  of  animals  is  suggested  by  the  attack 
of  a  short-keeled  toucan  upon  two  smaller 
collared  aracari  which  were  monopolizing  a 
berry-laden  branch.  Not  until  the  tree  is 
entirely  denuded  of  ripe  berries  does  the 
assemblage  of  birds  scatter  to  forage  else- 
where. 

The  very  important  biological  principle 
of  convergent  evolution  is  illustrated  in  the 
group  by  a  western  barred  wood-hewer  and 
a  chestnut-collared  woodpecker.  Although 
members  of  entirely  different  orders  or  major 
groups  of  birds,  wood-hewers,  as  well  as 
woodpeckers,  are  equipped  with  stiffened 
tail  feathers  which  serve  as  a  necessary 
support  while  the  birds  are  perched  in  a 
vertical  position.    Field  observations  reveal 


the  basic  similarity  of  the  feeding  habits  of 
these  unrelated  species,  and  one  concludes 
that  the  similarity  of  structure  has,  through 
evolutionary  channels,  been  the  natural 
result. 

Also  included  in  the  exhibit  is  a  northern 
wood  thrush,  representative  of  a  large  num- 
ber of  species  which  nest  in  North  America 
but  retire  to  the  tropics  each  winter.  Some, 
like  the  wood  thrush,  pause  in  Central 
America.  Many  others  continue  southward 
to  South  America  or  even  fly  directly  across 
the  Caribbean.  Most  of  our  insect-eaters 
are  highly  migratory,  even  the  smaller  species 
performing  amazing  journeys  twice  each 
year.  Unfortunately,  all  of  our  song- 
sters, of  which  the  wood  thrush  is  one  of  the 
finest,  become  relatively  silent  in  winter. 
The  tropical  forest  never  resounds  with  the 
songs  of  North  American  birds. 

The  birds  in  the  group,  as  well  as  the 
painted  background,  were  prepared  by  Staff 
Artist  Arthur  G.  Rueckert,  and  the  acces- 
sories were  made  under  the  supervision  of 
Preparator  Frank  H.  Letl. 


BOTANIST  EMPLOYS  MONKEYS 
TO  COLLECT  SPECIMENS 

Stories  of  monkeys  as  botanical  collectors 
always  seem  fantastic  and  incredible.  Some 
time  ago  Field  Museum  News  printed  such 
a  story  and  aroused  critical  comments  from 
the  incredulous.  Here  is  another  more 
detailed  and  documented  one  from  a  British 
source: 

The  Kew  Bulletin,  No.  7,  1938,  quotes 
from  the  Annual  Report  of  the  Director  of 
Gardens,  Straits  Settlements,  an  account 
of  the  use  made  of  berok  monkeys  (Macacus 
nemestrina),  widely  used  in  the  East  by  the 
Malays  for  gathering  coconuts,  to  collect 
botanical  specimens  from  tall  trees.  Two 
young  beroks,  Jambul  and  Putch,  are  at 
present  employed;  they  understand  twelve 
words  of  Kelantanese  and  can  thus  be 
instructed  to  pick  specific  twigs,  and  drop 
them  to  the  ground.  Mr.  E.  J.  H.  Corner, 
Acting  Director  of  the  Gardens,  who  ob- 
tained the  team  from  Kelantan,  states,  "A 
berok  upon  the  shoulder  can  be  likened,  in 
effect,  to  a  falcon  on  the  wrist;  and  its 
employment  is  recommended  both  to 
amateurs  for  its  charm  and  cheapness,  and 
to  keepers  of  reserves  where  it  is  desirable 
to  collect  specimens  repeatedly  from  the 
same  trees  without  damage  to  them.  Jam- 
bul and  Putch  are  the  first  beroks  to  enter 
the  government  service. " 


Group  of  Geologists  Visits  Museum 

Fifty  members  of  the  Marquette  Geolo- 
gists Association  visited  Field  Museum  in  a 
body  last  month.  They  were  conducted 
through  the  exhibits  of  the  Department  of 
Geology  by  Chief  Curator  Henry  W. 
Nichols  and  Assistant  Curator  L.  Bryant 
Mather,  Jr. 


Page  ^ 


FIELD  MUSEUM  NEWS 


March,  19S9 


BROKEN  DISHES  REVEAL  HISTORY  OF  PREHISTORIC  DWELLERS  IN  SOUTHWEST 


By  PAUL  S.  MARTIN 

CHIEF  CURATOR,  DEPARTMENT  OF  ANTHROPOLOGY 

In  the  Southwest  a  revival  of  pottery 
making  has  resulted  in  refuse  piles  around 
modern  Indian  pueblos  similar  to  the  dumps 
of  abandoned  prehistoric  towns.  The  Hopis 
are  making  "classical"  pottery  again — more 
important,  they  often  break  it.  The  pieces 
of  a  broken  bowl  or  pot,  called  sherds,  are 


terized  by  a  peculiar  combination  of  cultural 
traits.  The  Cliff  Dwellers  were  recognized  as 
a  phase  due  to  their  distinctive  custom  of 
building  pueblos  in  caves,  and  because  they 
made  a  characteristic  classical  pottery  known 
as  "Mesa  Verde  ware." 

The  typological  differentiation  of  phases 
has  been  corroborated  by  excavations  reveal- 
ing sherds  scattered  all  over  the  surface  of 


Reconstructing  Pottery  and  History 
Dr.  Paul  S.  Martin,  Chief  Curator  of  the  Department  of  Anthropology,  and  Miss  Marjorie  Kelly,  studying 
jars  rebuilt  from  fragments  collected  in  Colorado  by  last  ^summer's  Field  Museum  Archaeological  Expedition  to 
the  Southwest.     At  right  is  Mr.  Tokumatsu  Ito,  Ceramic  Restorer  of  the  Department,  whose  special  skill  is 
reassembling  as  many  as  a  hundred  or  more  tiny  bits  of  an  ancient  vessel  so  as  to  restore  its  original  form. 


of  extreme  importance  to  the  archaeologist. 

Sedentary  people  have  lived  in  the  South- 
west for  at  least  2,000  years,  and  the 
correlation  between  agrarian  habits  and 
pottery  production  is  high.  Not  only  the 
Hopis,  but  the  Indians  at  Santa  Clara,  San 
Ildefonso,  Tesuque,  Zuni,  Jemez,  Acoma  and 
other  villages,  are  now  making  pottery. 

The  ancient  Hohokam,  the  Cliff  Dwellers 
at  Mesa  Verde,  and  the  Basket  Maker 
Indians  at  White  Dog  Cave  likewise  all  made 
pottery.  Inevitably  a  large  amount  was 
broken,  providing  sherds.  Archaeologists 
have  discovered  that,  fortunately,  a  fair 
sized  sherd  with  the  design  elements  present 
is  a  satisfactory  substitute  for  a  whole  jar 
or  bowl.  Examination  of  a  number  of 
sherds  from  one  site  affords  a  comprehensive 
picture  of  pottery-making  activities. 

DIFFERENTIATING  CULTimAL  PHASES 
Originally  it  was  fascinating  enough  to 
make  a  qualitative  study  of  the  sherds. 
There  were  gross  differences  between  speci- 
mens from  the  pueblo  of  Acoma  in  New 
Mexico  and  those  from  the  Oraibi  pueblo 
in  Arizona.  Around  these  places  one  could 
discover  site  after  site  loaded  with  sherds 
similar  to  those  produced  in  the  present 
towns.  It  was  possible  to  associate  par- 
ticular pottery-making  habits  with  particular 
house  types,  and  thus  phases  were  recognized 
and  differentiated.  A  phase  is  an  arbitrary 
point  or  period  in  cultural  change,  charac- 


a  ruin,  and  refuse  mounds  saturated  with 
broken  bits  of  pottery  from  top  to  bottom. 
As  early  as  19H  remarkable  differences 
were  noted  between  sherds  found  in  a  top 
"cut"  and  those  in  the  bottom.  This 
differentiation,  recognized  as  a  natural 
phenomenon,  is  called  stratigraphy. 

A  common  sense  principle  is  founded  upon 
stratigraphy:  given  a  dump  heap  or  a  room 
artificially  filled  and,  providing  there  has 
been  no  disturbance  of  the  fill  (in  either 
historic  or  prehistoric  times),  the  bottom 
layer  must  be  older  than  the  top,  and  an 
overlying  deposition  must  be  more  recent 
than  any  underlying  it.  It  is  safe  to  assume, 
until  there  is  evidence  to  negate  it,  that  the 
strata  were  contiguous  and  that  the  changes 
in  ways  of  making  pottery,  as  shown  by 
the  sherds  from  one  stratum  to  the  next, 
were  natural,  transitional  steps. 

Principally  upon  sherd  evidence,  the 
Southwest  (from  Chihuahua  to  Colorado, 
and  from  Texas  to  southern  California)  came 
to  be  viewed  as  an  archaeological  area  in 
which  the  vicissitudes  of  a  single,  funda- 
mental cultural  pattern  could  be  observed. 
Four  original  variations  on  the  fundamental 
pattern  were  conjectured:  a  Yuman,  a 
Hohokam,  a  Caddoan,  and  a  Basket  Maker. 
Each  of  these  "roots"  was  composed  of  a 
myriad  of  phases  differentiated  from  each 
other  in  time  position.  Yet  there  was  an 
asymmetrical     relationship     between     the 


phases  of  one  root  and  those  of  others.  Early 
Acoma  was  contemporaneous  in  time  alone 
with  the  abandoned  Hopi  village  of  Sikyatki. 
Their  methods  of  making  pottery  were  en- 
tirely unassociated,  and  dependent  upon 
cultural  trends  from  widely  separated  areas. 
The  reconstruction  of  cultural  history  for 
the  Southwest  has  been  given  a  definite 
form.  We  know  that  each  of  the  peoples 
of  Acoma,  of  Zuni,  and  of  the  Hopi  mesas 
boasts  a  separate  ancestry.  In  latter  days 
the  rigorous,  inexorable  qualities  of  quantita- 
tive technique  have  been  employed  in 
archaeological  research.  Earlier  it  had  been 
noted  that  "natural"  levels  of  deposition, 
outlined  by  strata  of  ash  or  sterile  soil, 
were  not  to  be  trusted.  In  one  incident, 
it  was  found  that  upon  dividing  a  "natural" 
level  vertically  at  an  arbitrary  point  the 
sherds  on  one  side  were  100  per  cent  of 
one  phase,  and  the  sherds  on  the  other  were 
100  per  cent  of  another  phase.  It  was  dis- 
covered also  that,  quite  generally,  all  of 
the  pottery  types  of  all  of  the  different 
phases  present  in  a  particular  site  would 
be  found  present  through  all  of  the  fill. 
Quantitative  technique  counteracted  this 
discrepancy.  If  a  refuse  mound  is  divided 
into  squares,  and  the  refuse  removed  in 
blocks  of  a  given  depth,  a  chronology  of 
pottery  types  for  each  square  and  its 
respective  blocks  is  established.  These 
squares  can  later  be  compared  and  a  single 
chronology  for  the  entire  site  created.  This 
does  away  with  the  contradictions  of 
"natural"  levels. 

PROSPECTS  FOR  FUTURE  STUDY 

Also,  although  unassociated  pottery  types 
are  often  found  from  the  top  to  the  bottom 
of  a  mound,  it  has  been  noted  that  the  types 
definitely  "out  of  place"  are  present  in  a 
much  smaller  proportion  than  the  bona  fide 
wares  of  any  particular  level.  Therefore, 
by  making  an  arbitrary  ruling  that  no 
pottery  type  under  10  per  cent  of  the  total 
number  of  sherds  for  a  particular  block 
may  be  considered  as  characteristic,  it  has 
been  possible  to  remove  this  aberration  of 
natural  mixing  of  unassociated  sherds. 

This  new  technique  lends  itself  to  the 
recognition  of  subtle,  transitional  stages 
between  phases  that  might  contain  the  same 
pottery  types,  qualitatively,  but  with  a 
wide  variation  in  proportions.  It  is  im- 
possible to  say  how  much  more  will  be 
accomplished  with  such  new  evidence. 
From  the  pessimistic  viewpoint,  it  should 
be  mentioned  that  no  one  will  ever  fill  in 
the  gaps  in  the  Southwestern  chronology  to 
the  point  where  there  will  be  nothing  more 
to  learn.  Possibly  it  would  be  best  to 
predict  the  unpredictable  and  to  say  that 
one  day  there  may  be  an  entirely  new  school 
of  thought  that  will  examine  the  findings 
of  Southwestern  archaeologists  for  the 
promulgation  of  natural  laws  of  the  ways 
and  habits  of  mankind. 


March,  1939 


FIELD  MUSEUM  NEWS 


Page  5 


TOXICOLOGIST  COMPLETES  STUDY 
OF  PERU'S  "DEATH  VINE" 

The  collections  of  the  Marshall  Field 
Peruvian  Expedition  (1929-30)  included 
some  stems,  branches,  and  roots,  and  a 
quantity  of  a  native  decoction  from  a 
twining  shrub  or  woody  climber  known  as 
Caapi.  This  plant  is  the  source  of  a  power- 
ful narcotic,  used  in  rites  and  divinations, 
by  medicine  men  of  the  Indians  in  the 
Peruvian  Montaiia  region.  The  physiologi- 
cal effects  of  Caapi — excitation  and  visions, 
followed  by  depression — have  been  described 
repeatedly  and  are  well  known.  The  active 
principle  of  the  drug  was  made  the  object  of 
various  investigations,  but  no  definite 
results  were  obtained.  It  was  therefore 
deemed  advisable  to  offer  the  material  to  a 
competent  toxicologist  for  study,  and  it  was 
accordingly  placed  at  the  disposal  of  Dr. 
K.  K.  Chen,  of  the  Research  Laboratories  of 
Eli  Lilly  and  Company,  Indianapolis,  in 
1931.  A  report  on  his  investigation  has  now 
been  published,  after  the  lapse  of  these 
several  years,  in  the  Quarterly  Journal  of 
Pharmacy  and  Pharmacology,  a  British 
technical  periodical. 

Dr.  Chen  found  the  active  principle  of 
Caapi  or  ayahuasca  to  be  harmine,  an 
alkaloid  already  known  from  another  plant 
source.  The  many  different  terms  which 
have  been  applied  by  various  authors  to  the 
toxic  principle  of  Caapi — e.g.,  telepathine, 
yajeine,  banisterine,  etc. — now  may  all  be 
discarded.  In  the  words  of  Dr.  Chen,  "the 
mystery  of  the  action  of  Caapi  is  thus 
resolved." 

In  his  experiments  with  harmine  on  mice 
and  rabbits,  Dr.  Chen  found  that  the  effects 
of  the  drug  were  neutralized  to  a  large  extent 
by  injections  of  certain  barbituric  acid 
derivatives  which  appear  to  offer  a  possible 
means  of  treatment  of  Caapi  poisoning. 

The  use  of  Caapi  or  ayahuasca  by  Peruvian 
aboriginals  was  described  by  Mr.  Llewelyn 
Williams,  Curator  of  Economic  Botany,  and 
leader  of  the  expedition,  in  the  August,  1931, 
issue  of  Field  Museum  News.  The  fol- 
lowing reprinted  excerpts  are  of  interest  in 
connection  with  Dr.  Chen's  report: 

The  name  ayahuasca  derives  from  the 
Quechua  dialect  words  aya,  meaning  death, 
and  kuasca,  meaning  vine.  The ' 'death  vine" 
belongs  to  the  tropical  family  Malpighiaceae. 

Among  the  Indians  the  leaves  of  this  vine 
are  boiled  in  water  for  several  hours,  and 
the  resulting  infusion  is  drunk  copiously  at 
ceremonial  feasts  to  eliminate  fear  and  to 
stimulate  reckless  bravery  in  warfare.  The 
narcotic  element  in  the  drink  has  a  rapid 
and  violent  effect  on  the  nervous  system. 
It  is  strongly  habit  forming. 

During  a  tribal  gathering  the  medicine- 
man acts  as  cup  bearer.  He  serves  the 
ayahuasca  drink  in  a  small  calabash  con- 
taining about  a  cupful.  In  about  two 
minutes  its  effect  begins  to  be  apparent. 
The  drinker  turns  pale,  trembles  in  every 


limb,  and  is  swept  by  dizziness.  When  this 
stage  has  passed  he  announces  that  he  sees 
charming  landscapes,  trees  laden  with  fruits, 
birds  of  gorgeous  plumage  and  other  beauti- 
ful things.  Then,  suddenly,  the  vision 
changes.  Unable  longer  to  support  himself, 
he  has  hallucinations  of  persons  appearing 
to  ridicule  him,  of  tigers,  serpents  and  super- 
natural creatures  preparing  to  attack  him, 
and  other  fearsome  things.  He  howls  and 
groans  mournfully,  screams  incoherent  unin- 
telligible words.  All  of  this,  the  medicine- 
man explains  later,  is  due  to  some  particular 
individual — usually  an  enemy  of  the  family 
— for  whom  a  poisonous  concoction  should 
be  prepared. 

When  the  Indian  awakes  from  his  trance 
he  must  be  held  down  by  force  to  prevent 
him  from  seizing  his  weapons  and  attacking 
the  first  person  he  encounters.  This  stage 
is  followed  by  lethargy,  lapsing  into  uncon- 


sciousness. Finally,  upon  recovering,  there 
is  a  feeling  of  heavy  drowsiness  and  headache 
which  lasts  for  several  days. 

The  ayahuasca  concoction  is  drunk  also 
by  the  medicine-man  himself,  to  produce  a 
trance  supposed  to  enable  him  to  do  such 
things  as  settle  a  dispute  or  quarrel,  discover 
robbers,  tell  if  strangers  are  approaching, 
give  proper  answer  to  an  envoy  from  another 
tribe,  discover  the  plans  of  an  enemy,  dis- 
cover if  wives  are  unfaithful,  or,  in  the  case 
of  a  sick  man,  to  tell  who  bewitched  him. 


Visiting  Hours  Change  March  1 

Beginning  March  1,  spring  visiting  hours, 
9  A.M.  to  5  P.M.,  will  replace  the  winter 
schedule  of  9  to  4.  The  new  hours  will 
continue  in  effect  until  April  30,  after  which 
the  Museum  will  be  open  from  9  a.m.  to 
6  P.M.  until  September  4  (Labor  Day). 


THINGS  YOU  MAY  HAVE  MISSED— DYAK  HUNTER  OF  BORNEO 

The  Dyaks  of  Borneo  are  world-famed  for  their  prowess  in  hunting.  In  Hall  G  of 
the  Museum  is  a  life-size  figure  representing  a  typical  Siang-Dyak  hunter  with  his 
weapons. 

The  chief  weapon,  both  in  hunting  and  warfare,  is  the  blowgun,  an  example  of  which 
is  shown  in  the  exhibit.  Reeds  are  sometimes  used  for  the  making  of  blowguns,  but 
more  typical  are  those  made  from  a  straight- 
grained  stick  of  hard  wood.  This  is  cut  to  the 
desired  length,  and  the  blowpipe  is  bored  with 
a  long  iron  rod  having  a  chisel-like  end.  When 
it  has  been  smoothed  and  finished,  a  spear 
blade  is  lashed  to  the  end,  so  that  it  can  be 
used  not  only  as  a  blowgun,  but  in  hand-to-hand 
combat  with  a  human  or  animal  foe.  Thus  it 
parallels  the  idea  and  effect  of  the  rifle  with 
bayonet  attached  as  used  in  the  armies  of  the 
world. 

In  its  use  as  a  gun,  the  missiles  employed 
are  tiny  darts.  These  are  fitted  at  one  end 
with  a  cone  of  pith,  and  the  other  end  is  pointed. 
To  increase  their  deadliness,  the  points  are 
smeared  with  a  powerful  alkaloid  poison.  Plac- 
ing a  dart  in  the  tube,  the  Dyak  raises  it  to 
his  lips  and  blows  mightily — a  man  with  good 
lungs  can  direct  the  dart  with  sufficient  force 
to  kill  his  quarry  at  a  distance  of  several  yards. 
Speed  of  death  is  hastened  by  the  poison,  but 
the  meat  of  an  animal  slain  in  this  way  is  not 
damaged  for  consumption  as  food.  The  darts 
are  carried  in  a  quiver  on  the  belt,  as  shown  in 
the  exhibit. 

A  Dyak  hunter  carries  also  a  shield  for 
warding  off  poison  arrows  which  enemies  may 
direct  against  him,  and  for  parrying  spears  or 
knife  thrusts.  A  long  fighting  knife  is  another 
customary  item  of  equipment.  The  young 
men  are  exceptionally  skillful  fencers  and 
spend  many  hours  practising  with  these  knives. 

The  data  for  the  Museum's  figure  of  a  Dyak 
were  assembled  by  Dr.  Fay-Cooper  Cole,  now 
of  the  University  of  Chicago  faculty,  in  con- 
nection with  the  Arthur  B.  Jones  Expedition  to  Malaysia  of  which  he  was  the  leader. 
This  expedition  made  extensive  collections  for  the  Museum  in  1922.    Dr.  Cole  was  then 
a  member  of  the  staff  of  Field  Museum's  Department  of  Anthropology. 


Blowgun  Marksman 

Fully  eqtiipped  Dyak  hunter  aa  represented 
in  Museum  exhibit.  The  blowgun,  with  spear 
blade  like  a  bayonet,  is  seen  in  right  band. 


Page  6 


FIELD  MUSEUM  NEWS 


March,  19S9 


Field  Museum  of  Natural  History 

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

THE  BOARD  OF  TRUSTEES 

Sewell  U  Avery  Wiluam  H.  Mitchell 

Leopold  E.  Block  George  A.  Richardson 

Albert  B.  Dick,  Jr.  Theodore  Roosevelt 

Joseph  N.  Field  Fred  W.  Sargent 

Marshall  Field  James  Simpson 

Stanley  Field  Solomon  A.  Smith 

Albert  W.  Harris  Albert  A.  Sprague 

Samuel  Insull,  Jr.  Silas  H.  Strawn 

Chables  A.  McCulloch  John  P.  Wilson 

OFFICERS 

Stanley  Field President 

Albert  A.  Sprague First  Vice-President 

James  Simpson Second  Vice-President 

Albert  W.  Harris Third  Vice-President 

Clifford  C.  Gregg Director  and  Secretary 

Solomon  A.  Smith  . . .  Treasurer  and  Assistant  Secretary 

FIELD  MUSEUM  NEWS 

Clifford  C.  Gregg,  Director  of  the  Museum ....  Editor 

CONTRIBUTING  EDITORS 

Paul  S.  Martin Chief  Curator  of  Anthropology 

B.  E.  Dahlgren Chief  Curator  of  Botany 

Henry  W.  Nichols Chief  Curator  of  Geology 

Wilfred  H.  Osgood Chief  Curator  of  Zoology 

H.  B.  Harte Managing  Editor 

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


FROM  THE  DIRECTOR'S  DESK— 


A  Great  Friend  of  Chicago's  Children 

A  Benefactor  of  Field  Museum,  whose 
widespread  generosity  to  the  people  of 
Chicago  is  perhaps  not  fully  known  and 
appreciated,  is  Mrs.  James  Nelson  Raymond. 
Her  gifts  created  the  James  Nelson  and  Anna 
Louise  Raymond 
Foundation  for 
Public  School  and 
Children's  Lectures, 
through  which  the 
lessons  of  plant  and 
animal  life,  the  com- 
position and  struc- 
ture of  the  earth, 
and  the  strange  lives 
of  primitive  peoples 
of  the  world   are 

made  known  to  the    Mrs.  James  N.  Raymond 
Founder  of  the  Raymond 
Foundation.     Through  her 
benefactions,   lessons  in 
natural  history  are  brought 
T-«-    1  1     »«■         ^y   Field    Museum    to   ap- 
tion    at    Field    Mu-    proximately  a  quarter  of  a 

seum,  Mrs.  Ray-  '"""'"'  '•''"'*""'  ^'=^  >"^"- 
mond  has  established  a  similar  project  in 
the  Art  Institute  of  Chicago  to  promote  a 
consciousness  of  art  among  school  children, 
and  she  has  provided  scholarships  and 
benefits  for  students  in  other  educational 
institutions. 

The  contributions  of  Mrs.  Raymond  for 
the  conducting  of  work  among  children  by 
Field  Museum  now  amount  to  more  than 
$565,000.  A  gift  of  $2,000  was  received 
from  her  in  February,  following  by  only  a 
few  weeks  the  gift  of  $4,000  announced  in 
the  January  issue  of  Field  Museum  News. 

The  continuous  and  enthusiastic  support 
which  Mrs.  Raymond  gives  the  Museum  in 
its  efforts  to  stimulate  the  interest  of  the 


school  children  of 
Chicago.  In  addi- 
tion to  her  Founda- 


growing  generation  in  Nature  and  Science 
is  one  of  the  greatest  factors  in  the  institu- 
tion's success  as  an  educational  force.  Mrs. 
Raymond's  Foundation  is  one  that  is  work- 
ing in  a  field  where  the  most  good  can  be 
accomplished,  the  young  generation,  upon 
which  all  our  hopes  must  rely  for  the  build- 
ing of  a  better  society,  conscious  of  the  needs 
and  rights  of  contemporary  mankind.  A 
sincere  appreciation  of  Nature  is  a  potent 
force  toward  an  improved  civilization  and  a 
higher  type  of  citizenship.  The  Raymond 
Foundation  is  developing  this  appreciation. 
It  is  a  great  and  good  work,  the  importance 
of  which  cannot  be  over-emphasized. 

Clifford  C.  Gregg,  Director. 


Distinguished  Visitors 

Among  distinguished  visitors  recently 
received  at  Field  Museum  were  the  follow- 
ing: Colonel  Richard  Meinertzhagan,  noted 
British  ornithologist;  Professor  E.  N.  Tran- 
seau.  Head  of  the  Department  of  Botany, 
Ohio  State  University,  and  Dr.  Osvald  Siren, 
Curator  of  Oriental  Art  at  the  National 
Museum  in  Stockholm,  Sweden. 

Professor  Malcolm  F.  Farley,  of  the 
FHikien  Christian  University  at  Foochow, 
China,  is  spending  six  months  at  the  Mu- 
seum on  a  research  project  in  connection 
with  Chinese  ceramics  and  related  subjects. 


STAFF  NOTES 


Mr.  L.  Bryant  Mather,  Jr.  has  been 
appointed  to  the  staff  of  the  Department  of 
Geology  as  Assistant  Curator  of  Mineralogy. 
Mr.  Mather  studied  at  the  Johns  Hopkins 
University  under  some  of  the  outstanding 
authorities  of  the  mineralogical  world.  He 
has  been  engaged  in  mineralogical  work  for 
the  United  States  Geological  Survey  and 
the  National  Park  Service,  and  served  for  a 
time  as  Curator  of  Mineralogy  in  the 
Museum  of  the  Natural  History  Society  of 
Maryland,  at  Baltimore. 


Mr.  James  R.  Shouba  has  been  appointed 
to  the  Museum  staff  to  assist  Superintendent 
W.  H.  Corning. 


Mr.  Karl  P.  Schmidt,  Curator  of  Amphibi- 
ans and  Reptiles,  presented  his  lecture,  "A 
Naturalist  in  the  South  Seas,"  relating  the 
story  of  the  Cornelius  Crane  Pacific  Expe- 
dition of  Field  Museum,  before  the  Cornell 
Club  of  Chicago  last  month. 


Staff  Taxidermist  John  W.  Moyer  pre- 
sented a  lecture,  "Behind  the  Scenes  at 
Field  Museum,"  before  a  large  audience  of 
guests  of  the  Stevens  Hotel  on  February  6. 
He  also  recently  lectured  before  members 
of  the  Medinah  Club. 


Dr.  Julian  A.  Steyermark,  Assistant  Cu- 
rator of  the  Herbarium,  has  been  appointed 
representative  of  Field  Museum  to  the  Con- 
servation Council  of  Chicago,  an  organiza- 


tion devoted  to  the  conservation  of  natural 
resources. 

Dr.  Steyermark  gave  an  illustrated  lecture 
before  the  Chicago  Aquarium  Society, 
February  15,  on  "Aquarium  Plants  and 
Their  Flowers." 


Staff  Taxidermist  C.  J.  Albrecht  recently 
lectured  on  the  life  history  of  the  Alaska  fur 
seal  before  an  audience  at  the  Carnegie 
Museum  of  Pittsburgh. 


NEW  MEMBERS 

The  following  persons  were  elected  to 
membership  in  Field  Museum  during  the 
period  from  January  16  to  February  15: 

Contributors 

Wallace  W.  Lufkin,  Clarence  B.  Mitchell 

Associate  Members 

Mrs.  Frances  S.  Cummings,  Otto  Gressens, 
George  W.  Lennon,  Albert  E.  M.  Louer, 
Frederic  G.  Pick. 

.\nnual  Members 

Dr.  Margaret  Howard  Austin,  Mrs.  Her- 
man A.  Behrens,  H.  L.  Bloom,  Sidney  Weil 
Bloom,  Clayton  B.  Burch,  Richard  W. 
Canman,  James  F.  Clancy,  Harry  Dinkel- 
man,  George  W.  Dixon,  Jr.,  Miss  N.  B. 
Durbin,  Carl  Ed,  Henri  Elman,  Mrs.  Cora  F. 
Engel,  Nick  Fennema,  Mrs.  Earle  B. 
Fowler,  Thomas  B.  Gallaher,  Herbert  F. 
Geisler,  Roger  F.  Howe,  Mrs.  R.  M.  Kimball, 
Mrs.  Michael  L.  Mason,  Mrs.  George  A. 
McKinlock,  John  B.  Metzenberg,  Mrs. 
Arthur  O.  Olsen,  Mrs.  George  H.  Parkinson, 
Dwight  S.  Parmelee,  Mrs.  John  B.  Rodgers, 
J.  C.  Schmidtbauer,  J.  A.  Schram,  Calvin  F. 
Selfridge,  Mrs.  J.  Harry  Selz,  Walter  H. 
Siegfried,  Sidney  Stackler,  W.  L.  Stensgaard, 
Albert  J.  Tarrson,  Mrs.  S.  E.  Thomason, 
Louis  A.  Weiss,  E.  L.  Wilson. 


A  FEW  FACTS  ABOUT  FIELD  MUSEUM 

Field  Museum  is  open  every  day  of  the  year 
(except  Christmas  and  New  Year's  Day)  during 
the  hours  indicated  below: 

November,  December, 

January,  February 9  a.m.  to  4  P.M. 

March,  April,  and 

September,  October 9  A.M.  to  5  P.M. 

May,  June,  July,  August 9  a.m.  to  6  p.m. 

Admission  is  free  to  Memt>ers  on  all  days. 
Other  adults  are  admitted  free  on  Thursdays, 
Saturdays,  and  Sundays;  non-members  pay  25 
cents  on  other  days.  Children  are  admitted  free 
on  all  days.  Students  and  faculty  members  of 
educational  institutions  are  admitted  free  any 
day  upon  presentation  of  credentials. 

The  Museum's  Library  is  open  for  reference 
daily  except  Saturday  afternoon  and  Sunday. 

Traveling  exhibits  are  circulated  in  the  schools 
of  Chicago  by  the  N.  W.  Harris  Public  School 
Extension  Department  of  the  Museum. 

Lectures  at  schools,  and  special  entertain- 
ments and  tours  for  children  at  the  Museum,  are 
provided  by  the  James  Nelson  and  Anna  Louise 
Raymond  Foundation  for  Public  School  and 
Children's  Lectures. 

Free  courses  of  lectures  for  adults  are  presented 
in  the  James  Simpson  Theatre  on  Saturday  after- 
noons (at  2:30  o'clock)  in  March,  April,  October, 
and  November. 

A  Cafeteria  serves  visitors.  Rooms  are  avail- 
able also  for  those  bringing  their  lunches. 

Chicago  Motor  Coach  Company  No.  26  busses 
provide  direct  transportation  to  the  Museum.  Ser- 
vice is  offered  also  by  Surface  Lines,  Rapid  Tran- 
sit Lines  (the  "L"),  interurban  electric  lines,  and 
Illinois  Central  trains.  There  is  ample  free  park- 
ing space  for  automobiles  at  the  Museum. 


March,  1939 


FIELD  MUSEUM  NEWS 


Page  7 


"NATURE'S      'MARCH     OF     TIME'  " 
ON  SUNDAY  TOURS 

The  prehistoric  world,  with  its  many 
strange  forms  of  animals  and  plants  which 
have  been  extinct  for  millions  of  years,  will 
be  brought  to  life  for  those  who  attend  the 
Sunday  afternoon  lecture  tours  conducted 
during  March  by  Mr.  Paul  G.  Dallwig, 
the  Layman  Lecturer  of  Field  Museum. 
"Nature's  'March  of  Time'  "  is  the  title 
ofTered  by  Mr.  Dallwig  for  each  of  the  four 
Sundays  this  month.  The  parties  will  tour 
Ernest  R.  Graham  Hall  of  Historical 
Geology,  where  Mr.  Dallwig  will  relate  the 
most  interesting  facts  about  the  various 
fossil  specimens,  as  well  as  the  restorations 
in  which  the  creatures  of  the  past  are  shown 
as  science  indicates  they  must  have  appeared 
in  life. 

Each  Sunday  lecture  tour  is  limited  to  a 
party  of  125  adults.  Reservations  must  be 
made  in  advance  by  mail  or  telephone 
(Wabash  9410). 

The  lectures  begin  promptly  at  2  p.m.  and 
end  at  4:30.  Members  of  the  parties  may 
obtain  refreshments  in  the  Cafeteria,  and 
smoke,  during  a  half-hour  intermission  mid- 
way in  the  tours.  Special  tables  are  reserved 
for  the  groups. 

In  April  Mr.  Dallwig's  Sunday  tours  will 
be  on  the  subject  "Digging  Up  the  Cave- 
man's Past." 


GIFTS  TO  THE  MUSEUM 

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

Department  of  Anthropology: 

From  Dr.  Henry  Field,  Chicago — 3  glass 
and  4  pottery  lachrymas  and  3  glass  brace- 
lets, Italy;  from  William  J.  Town,  Detroit, 
Michigan — a  skull,  Michigan;  from  C.  J. 
Hambleton,  Chicago — a  Tibetan  prayer 
wheel  of  silver,  inlaid  with  turquoise  and 
coral. 

Department  of  Botany : 

From  R.  C.  Monteiro  da  Costa,  Para, 
Brazil — 13  specimens  of  fibers  and  woods, 
Brazil;  from  Dr.  Harold  C.  Bold,  Nashville, 
Tennessee — 20  specimens  of  algae.  North 
Carolina  and  Tennessee;  from  University 
of  California,  Berkeley,  California — 91  her- 
barium specimens.  South  America,  Mexico, 
and  California;  from  Dr.  F.  Raymond 
Fosberg,  Philadelphia,  Pennsylvania — 45 
herbarium  specimens,  Hawaii. 

Department  of  Geology : 

From  A.  J.  and  Ray  Schneider,  Portland, 
Oregon — one  rough  and  7  cut  and  polished 
thunder  eggs,  Oregon;  from  Frank  M. 
Preucil,  Joliet,  Illinois — 6  meteorite  photo- 
graphs; from  Glen  C.  Wolf,  Chicago — 110 
concretions,  Montana;  from  Grahame 
Horton,  Glencullen,  Oregon — a  specimen 
of  polished  natrolite,  Oregon. 

Department  of  Zoology: 

From  Habib  Rasool,  Buxton,  British 
Guiana — 69  specimens  of  miscellaneous 
birds,  British  Guiana;  from  Dr.  Wilfred  H. 


Osgood,  Chicago — 28  small  mammals  and 
a  mammal  skeleton,  Mississippi;  from 
General  Biological  Supply  House,  Chicago 
— 23  specimens  of  snakes,  lizards,  and  fresh 
water  snails,  and  a  mass  of  eggs  of  the 
leopard  frog,  artificially  produced,  Florida, 
Panama,  and  the  laboratory;  from  John  G. 
Shedd  Aquarium,  Chicago — one  Japanese 
giant  salamander,  and  8  fish  specimens  from 
Fiji,  South  America,  Florida  Keys,  and 
Bahama  Islands;  from  Chicago  Zoological 
Society,  Brookfield,  Illinois — 13  birds  and 
2  snakes. 

The  Library: 

Valuable  books  from  L.  Bryant  Mather, 
Jr.,  Dr.  Henry  Field,  and  C.  Martin  Wilbur, 
all  of  Chicago,  and  from  Museo  Arquologia 
e  Historia  de  Yucatan,  Merida,  Yucatan. 

The  Raymond  Foundation: 

From  Dr.  Henry  Field,  Chicago — 5  large 
colored  transparencies  of  Egyptian  subjects. 


A  BOOK  THAT  IS  DIFFERENT— 

"You  will  enjoy  reading  Sculpture, 
Inside  and  Out,  by  Malvina  Hoffman," 
says  Dr.  Henry  Field,  Curator  of  Physi- 
cal Anthropology.  "The  little  known 
story  of  the  foundry  where  the  artist's 
clay  is  immortalized  in  bronze  is  told 
vividly  and  eloquently,  simply  yet  dra- 
matically, by  a  master-craftsman — the 
creator  of  the  figures  illustrating  the 
Races  of  Mankind  in  Field  Museum." 

Lavishly  illustrated.  Price  $3.75. 
Deluxe  autographed  edition  $7.50. 
Publication  date  about  March  25. 
Advance  orders  now  being  taken  by 
BOOK  SHOP  of  FIELD   MUSEUM 


MARCH  GUIDE-LECTURE  TOURS 
FOR  WEEK-DAY  VISITORS 

Conducted  tours  of  exhibits,  under  the 
guidance  of  staff  lecturers,  are  made  every 
afternoon  at  3  o'clock  except  Saturdays, 
Sundays,  and  certain  holidays.  Following 
is  the  schedule  of  subjects  and  dates  for 
March: 

Wednesday,  March  1 — Meteorites,  Moon 
and  Minerals;  Thursday — General  Tour; 
Friday — Carl  Akeley  and  His  Work. 

Week  beginning  March  6:  Monday — Uses 
of  Plant  Liquids  and  Fibers;  Tuesday — 
The  Eskimos  and  Their  Cultures;  Wednes- 
day— Birds,  Past  and  Present;  Thursday — 
General  Tour;  Friday — The  Story  of 
Crystals. 

Week  beginning  March  IS:  Monday — 
Reptiles  of  Ancient  and  Modern  Times; 
Tuesday — The  Door  in  History  and  Art; 
Wednesday— The  Hall  of  Plant  Life;  Thurs- 
day— General  Tour;  Friday — China  and 
Tibet. 

Week  beginning  March  20:  Monday — 
Animals  of  Cold  Regions;  Tuesday — Trees 
and  Their  Uses;  Wednesday — Man  Through 
the  Ages;  Thursday — General  Tour;  Friday 
— Field  Museum  Bronzes. 

Week  beginning  March  27:  Monday — 
The  Earth  and  Its  Crust;  Tuesday — Paints 
and  Dyes;  Wednesday — Beavers  and  Other 
Gnawers;  Thursday — General  Tour;  Friday 
— African  Cultures. 

Persons  wishing  to  participate  should 
apply  at  North  Entrance.  Tours  are  free. 
A  new  schedule  will  appear  each  month  in 
Field  Museum  News.  Guide-lecturers' 
services  for  special  tours  by  parties  of  ten 
or  more  are  available  free  of  charge  by 
arrangement  with  the  Director  a  week  in 
advance. 


A  FAMOUS  GROUP— THE  RARE  MARCO  POLO  SHEEP 


Marco  Polo's  sheep  {Ovis  poli),  named  for 
the  famous  Venetian  traveler  who  first 
reported  it,  is  generally  regarded  as  the 
finest  of  all  wild  sheep.  Its  long,  gracefully 
sweeping  horns  are  among 
the  most  highly  prized 
trophies  of  the  hunt. 

The  habitat  of  these 
sheep  is  in  the  Pamir 
ranges  of  western  Turke- 
stan, beyond  the  main 
Himalayas,  where  travel  is 
very  arduous. 

The  specimens  in  Field 
Museum's  group,  on  exhibi- 
tion in  William  V.  Kelley 
Hall  (Hall  17),  were  shot 
by  Colonel  Theodore 
Roosevelt  and  Mr.  Kermit 
Roosevelt,  leaders  of  the 
James  Simpson-Roosevelts 
Asiatic  Expedition.  They 
are  good  average  examples 
of  the  species,  with  horns 
slightly    more    than    fifty 


inches  long.  Although  horns  exceeding 
seventy  inches  in  length  are  known,  none 
approaching  this  size  have  been  taken  for 
many  years,  according  to  the  records. 


The  Ovls  Poli 

Group  of  Marco  Polo's  sheep  in  William  V.  Kelley  Hall.  The  specimens 
were  collected  by  an  expedition  sponsored  by  Mr.  James  Simpson,  and  led 
by  Colonel  Theodore  Roosevelt  and  Mr.  Kermit  Kooseveit,  of  New  York. 


mSSUSt 


Pages 


FIELD  MUSEUM  NEWS 


March,  19S9 


SPRING  LECTURES  FOR  ADULTS 
WILL  BEGIN  MARCH  4 

The  seventy-first  free  course  of  illustrated 
lectures  on  science  and  travel  to  be  presented 
by  Field  Museum  will  open  March  4. 
Lectures  by  well-known  scientists,  natural- 
ists, and  explorers,  together  with  motion 
pictures  and  stereopticon  slides,  will  be 
given  each  Saturday  afternoon  throughout 
March  and  April.    These  will  be  presented 


is  reserved  for  Members  of  the  Museum, 
each  of  whom  is  entitled  to  two  reserved 
seats  on  request.  Requests  for  these  seats 
may  be  made  by  telephone  or  in  writing  to 
the  Museum,  in  advance  of  the  lecture, 
and  seats  will  be  held  in  the  Member's 
name  until  2:30  o'clock  on  the  day  of  the 
lecture.  All  reserved  seats  not  claimed  by 
2:30  o'clock  will  be  made  available  to  the 
general  public. 


The  James  Simpson  Theatre 

Field  Museum's  auditorium  in  which  are  presented  the  Saturday  afternoon  lectures  for  adulU, 
and  the  Raymond  Foundation  entertainments  for  children  on  Saturday  mornings.  The  adult  course 
begins  on  March  4.  The  children's  programs  began  in  February.  Both  series  will  continue  until 
the  end  of  April.  The  Theatre  was  built  with  funds  provided  by  Mr.  James  Simpson,  who  is  both 
a  Trustee  and  a  Vice-President  of  the  Museum.  It  is  equipped  for  the  presentation  of  both  sound 
and  silent  motion  pictures,  as  well  as  stereopticon  slides.    Seating  capacity  exceeds  1,100. 


in  the  James  Simpson  Theatre  of  the  Mu- 
seum, and  all  will  begin  at  2:30  o'clock. 
Admission  is  restricted  to  adults. 

Following   is   the    complete   schedule   of 
dates,  subjects  and  speakers: 
March    4 — Where  Falls  the  Yellowstone 

Mr.    Alfred    M.    Bailey,    Colorado    Museum    of 
Natural  History 

March  11 — Rainbow  River 

Mr.  Martin  K.  Bovey,  Concord,  Massachusetts 

March  18 — Tropical  Brazil 

Mr.  James  C.  Sawders,  Nutley,  New  Jersey 

March  25 — Africa  Speaks  Again 

Dr.  Paul  C.  Hoefler,  Los  Angeles,  California 

April       1 — The  Basket  Maker  Indians  in 
Eighth  Century  Colorado 

Dr.  Paul  S.  Martin,  Field  Museum 

April       8 — Life   Among  the   Alaskan 
Eskimos 

Mr.  £lder  C.  Anderson,  Minneapolis,  Minnesota 

April     15 — Colorful  Caribbean  Shores 

Mr.  William  B.  Holmes,  Evanston,  Illinois 

April     22 — Mysterious  Kinabalu 

Mr.  Harold  J.  Coolidge,  Jr.,  Museum  of  Com- 
parative Zoology,  Cambridge,  Massachuisetts 

April     29— Western  Wild  Flowers 

Mr.  John  Claire  Monteith,  Hollywood,  California 

No  tickets  are  necessary  for   admission 
to  these  lectures.    A  section  of  the  Theatre 


RAYMOND  FOUNDATION  OFFERS 
MORE  CHILDREN'S  PROGRAMS 

Nine  more  free  programs  of  motion  pic- 
tures for  children  remain  to  be  given  on 
Saturday  mornings  during  March  and  April 
in  the  spring  series  begun  last  month  by 
the  James  Nelson  and  Anna  Louise  Raymond 
Foundation.  The  programs  include  films 
with  talking  and  other  sound  effects,  musical 
animated  cartoons  by  Walt  Disney,  and  a 
great  variety  of  educational  subjects.  There 
will  be  two  showings  of  the  pictures  on  each 
program,  one  beginning  at  10  a.m.,  and  one 
at  11.  Children  from  all  parts  of  Chicago 
and  suburbs  are  invited,  and  no  tickets  are 
required  for  admission.  The  Museum  is 
prepared  to  receive  large  groups  from  schools 
and  other  centers,  as  well  as  individual 
children  coming  alone  or  accompanied  by 
parents  or  adults.  Teachers  are  urged  to 
bring  their  classes. 

The  following  schedule  shows  the  titles 
of  the  films  to  be  presented  on  each  day: 

March  4 — How  to  Know  Our  Spring  Birds; 
Where  Bananas  Ripen;  Rainbow  Natural 
Bridge;  The  Cutter  Northland  in  Alaska. 

March    11 — Father   Noah's   Ark    (Disney 


Cartoon);  Living  Jewels  of  the  Surf; 
Sponge  Divers  of  Tarpon;  Jungle  Play- 
mates; Old  Sea  Chanties. 

March  18 — Mr. and  Mrs.  Goldfinch;  Cheeka 
the  Indian  Lad: — Cheeka's  Home; 
Cheeka's  Canoe;  Cheeka  and  the  Caribou; 
The  Proud  Seminoles. 

March  25 — Pioneer  Days  (Disney  Cartoon); 
The  Strange  Duck-billed  Platypus;  Thrills 
of  Bali. 

April  1 — The  Declaration  of  Independence; 
Elephants  of  Today. 

April  8 — Busy  Beavers  (Disney  Cartoon); 
In  Faraway  Manchukuo;  We're  on  Our 
Way;  The  Life  of  a  Plant;  Spotted  Wings. 

April  15 — Bill  and  Bob  Trap  a  Mountain 
Lion;  Our  Four-footed  Helpers;  The 
Trumpeter;  Majorca  the  Picturesque; 
Wild  Life  on  the  Amazon. 

April  22 — Birds  in  the  Spring  (Disney 
Cartoon);  Chumming  with  Chipmunks; 
Leaping  Through  Life;  Pottery  Makers 
of  the  Southwest;  Nature's  Armor. 

April  29 — In  Nature's  Workshop;  Let's 
Save  a  Life;  The  Heart  of  the  Sierras; 
Our  Zoo  Acquaintances. 


An  iron  meteorite  weighing  3,275  pounds, 
and  remarkable  for  its  large  size  and  sym- 
metrical form,  is  on  exhibition  in  Case  10 
of  Stanley  Field  Hall.  It  was  found  near 
Tonopah,  Nevada. 


MEMBERSHIP  IN  FIELD  MUSEUM 

Field  Museum  has  several  classes  of  Members. 
Annual  Members  contribute  $10  annually.  As- 
sociate Members  pay  $100  and  are  exempt  from 
dues.  Sustaining  Members  contribute  $25  annu- 
ally for  six  consecutive  years,  after  which  they 
become  Associate  Members  and  are  exempt  from 
all  further  dues.  Life  Members  give  $500  and 
are  exempt  from  dues.  Non-Resident  Life  Mem- 
bers pay  $100,  and  Non-Resident  Associate 
Members  $50;  both  of  these  classes  are  also 
exempt  from  dues.  The  Non-Resident  member- 
ships are  available  only  to  persons  residing  fifty 
miles  or  more  from  Chicago.  Those  who  give  or 
devise  to  the  Museum  $1,000  to  $100,000  are 
designated  as  Contributors,  and  those  who  give 
or  devise  $100,000  or  more  become  Benefactors. 
Other  memberships  are  Honorary,  Patron, 
Corresponding  and  Corporate,  additions  under 
these  classifications  being  made  by  special  action 
of  the  Board  of  Trustees. 

Each  Member,  in  all  classes,  is  entitled  to  free 
admission  to  the  Museum  for  himself,  his  family 
and  house  guests,  and  to  two  reserved  seats  for 
Museum  lectures  provided  for  Members.  Sub- 
scription to  Field  Museum  News  is  included 
with  all  memberships.  The  courtesies  of  every 
museum  of  note  in  the  United  States  and  Canada 
are  extended  to  all  Members  of  Field  Museum. 
A  Member  may  give  his  personal  card  to  non- 
residents of  Chicago,  upon  presentation  of  which 
they  will  be  admitted  to  the  Museum  without 
charge.  Further  information  about  member- 
ships will  be  sent  on  request. 

BEQUESTS  AND  ENDOWMENTS 

Bequests  to  Field  Museum  of  Natural  History 
may  be  made  in  securities,  money,  books  or 
collections.  They  may,  if  desired,  take  the  form 
of  a  memorial  to  a  person  or  cause,  named  by  the 
giver. 

Contributions  made  within  the  taxable  year  not 
exceeding  16  per  cent  of  the  taxpayer's  net  in- 
come are  allowable  as  deductions  in  computing 
net  income  for  federal  income  tax  purposes. 

Endowments  may  be  made  to  the  Museum 
with  the  provision  that  an  annuity  be  paid  to 
the  patron  for  life.  These  annuities  are  guaran- 
teed against  fluctuation  in  amount,  and  may 
reduce  federal  income  taxes. 


PRINTED    HT    FIELD 


MUSEUM  PRE&8 


Reldj^^KtoNews 

Published  Monthly  by  Field  Mitseum  of  Natural  History,  Chicago 


Vol.  10 


APRIL,  1939 


No.  4 


By  RUDYERD  BOULTON 
curator  op  birds 

All  peoples  of  all  times  have  been  im- 
pressed with  the  power  and  spirit  of  large 
birds  of  prey,  and  the  many  species  of 
eagles  that  exist  in  all  countries  of  the 
world  have  been  a  focus  for  this  interest. 
Countless  legends  and  traditions  attest  to 
the  high  regard,  and  even  perhaps  to  a  little 
of  the  awe,  in  which  these  splendid  birds 
have  been  held  from 
earliest  antiquity  to 
the  present  day.  The 
"thunder  bird"  of  the 
Indians  of  the  south- 
western United  States 
was  probably  pat- 
terned after  a  huge 
condor  known  only 
from  fossil  remains. 
The  coats-of-arms  of 
many  nations  include 
an  eagle  on  the  device, 
and  eagles  could  only 
be  flown  by  royalty 
when  falconry  was  at 
its  hey-day  in  medie- 
val Europe. 

In  North  America 
there  are  two  species 
that  occur  commonly 
and  have  wide  distri- 
bution. Magnificent 
specimens  of  both  are 
shown  in  Field  Mu- 
seum: the  bald  eagle 
in  Hall  21,  and  a  habi- 
tat group  of  the  golden 
eagle  in  Hall  20.  The 
group  was  prepared 
by  Taxidermist  Julius  Friesser,  with  painted 
background  by  the  late  Staff  Artist  Charles 
A.  Corwin,  and  has  just  been  reinstalled  by 
Taxidermist  John  W.  Moyer.  The  two  ea- 
glets are  the  gift  of  Mr.  Alfred  M.  Bailey, 
formerly  a  member  of  Field  Museum's  staff, 
and  now  Director  of  the  Colorado  Museum 
of  Natural  History  in  Denver. 

Golden  eagles  are  holarctic  in  distribution 
— that  is,  they  are  circumpolar,  and  inhabit 
all  north  temperate  regions.  In  this  regard 
they  resemble  a  great  many  birds,  mammals, 
and  other  vertebrates  that  have  taken 
advantage  of  the  proximity  of  Alaska  to 
Siberia  and  have  extended  their  domain  to 
include  all  habitats  suitable  to  them.  About 
six   or  seven   geographic   races   have   been 


recognized,  based  on  slight  differences  in 
size  and  color.  The  American  race  is  one 
of  the  largest  and  darkest,  and  the  golden 
sheen  from  which  the  species  gets  its  name 
is  largely  confined  to  the  lanceolate  hackle 
feathers  of  the  neck. 

Unlike  the  white-headed  bird  used  as  the 
national  emblem  of  the  United  States,  the 
golden  eagle  is  partial  to  mountainous 
regions  and  arid  barren  wastes.    It  is  there- 


THE  GOLDEN  EAGLE  AND  THE  AMERICAN  (OR  BALD)  EAGLE— HOW  THEY  DIFFER 

two  or  three  nests  which  they  use  in  alter- 
nate years.  The  nests,  when  first  built,  are 
no  more  than  three  or  four  feet  in  diameter, 
but  as  they  are  used  for  many  years  and  are 
continually  repaired  and  added  to,  they 
become  huge  structures  six  or  eight  feet  in 
diameter  and  as  many  feet  thick. 

Almost  invariably  the  nest  is  perched  on 
a  ledge  in  a  canyon  or  on  a  rocky  crag  from 
which  a  wide  view  can  be  obtained.  Rarely, 
a  huge  tree  is  used. 
The  eggs  are  two  in 
number,  occasionally 
three,  and  are  white, 
attractively  shaded 
and  blotched  with 
pinkish  brown.  It  not 
infrequently  happens 
that  one  egg  is  infer- 
tile and  fails  to  hatch. 
If  both  eggs  hatch, 
one  of  the  youngsters 
is  invariably  larger 
than  the  other  because 
the  eggs  are  laid  at  an 
interval  of  about  a 
week  and  the  first- 
born gets  a  start  on  its 
nest  mate.  And  thus 
it  happens  that  often 
only  one  young  bird  is 
brought  to  maturity, 
for  the  elder  and 
stronger  youngster 
may  tear  its  weaker 
brother  to  bits  in 
the  sheer  exuberance 
of  living. 

Eaglets  are  clothed 
in  thick,  soft  white 
down  when  they  hatch.  They  wear  this 
coat  for  about  three  weeks.  Then  comes  a 
period  of  about  two  weeks  while  their 
feathers  are  growing,  during  which  time 
they  are  ragged,  pathetic  looking  creatures. 
They  remain  in  the  nest  for  another  three 
weeks — two  months  in  all — while  they  gain 
strength  and  confidence  to  venture  into  the 
exciting  and  strenuous  world. 

A  reliable  eye  witness  in  California  states, 
in  describing  his  observations  of  an  eagle 
teaching  its  youngster  to  fly:  "The  mother 
started  from  the  nest  in  the  crags  and, 
roughly  handling  the  young  one,  she  allowed 
him  to  drop  about  ninety  feet.  Then  she 
would  swoop  down  under  him,  wings  spread, 
and  he  would  alight  on  her  back.    She  would 


Habitat  group  of  an 
to  the  Museum's  exhibits, 


The  Golden  Eagle 
outstanding  bird  of  prey,  as  exhibited  in  the  Hail  of  Birds  (Hall  20).    Although  not  new 
this  group  has  been  recently  reinstalled  and  improved  by  Taxidermist  John  W.  Moyer. 

fore  much  more  common  in  the  western  states 
than  in  the  east,  where  it  occurs  only  as 
a  migrant.  The  nesting  places  of  the  eagles 
that  yearly  fly  down  the  length  of  the  AUe- 
ghenies  are  unknown,  but  the  flights  are  of 
regular  occurrence,  and  the  birds  can  gener- 
ally be  seen  in  mid-October  drifting  past 
Hawk  Mountain  in  Pennsylvania.  Even  in 
the  Chicago  region  hardly  a  year  passes 
without  the  visit  of  a  straggler  from  his 
chosen  mountain  terrain.  Yet  golden  eagles 
are  not  now  known  to  nest  east  of  the 
Rockies. 

Eagle's  nests,  often  poetically  called 
eyries,  are  large  affairs  made  of  sticks  and 
branches  with  a  finer  lining  of  leaves  and 
lichens.     Often  a  pair  of  eagles  will  have 


Page  2 


FIELD  MUSEUM  NEWS 


April,  19S9 


soar  to  the  top  of  the  range  with  him  and 
repeat  the  process.  The  farthest  she  let 
him  fall  was  about  150  feet." 

There  is  nothing  particularly  spectacular 
or  bizarre  about  the  courtship  of  eagles,  but 
their  complete  mastery  of  the  air  makes 
the  sight  very  impressive.  The  two  birds 
circle  in  intertwining,  ever  rising  spirals, 
sometimes  brushing  wings  as  they  pass  each 
other.  Then  the  male  will  execute  a  series 
of  "power  dives"  with  half-closed  wings, 
shrieking  musically  his  joie  de  vivre.    Eagles 


The  American  Eagle 

Also  known  aa  the  bald  eagle.  Many  people  confuse 
this  species,  which  is  used  as  a  national  emblem  of 
the  United  States,  with  the  golden  eagle  shown  in  the 
illustration  on  page  1.  The  above  specimen  is  in  Field 
Museum's  systematic  collection  of  birds  in  Hall  21. 

probably  mate  for  life,  but  when  one  of  a 
couple  is  killed,  the  other  soon  finds  another 
partner  and  brings  it  to  its  established 
nesting  territory. 

Golden  eagles  feed  largely  on  mammals — 
cottontail  rabbits,  ground  squirrels,  domes- 
tic and  mountain  sheep  lambs,  and  even  on 
antelope  and  deer  occasionally.  Strangely 
enough,  they  are  also  fond  of  rattlesnakes. 
There  is  an  authentic  instance  of  a  fox 
attacking  an  eagle  that  was  feeding  on  a 
rabbit  that  it  had  killed.  After  a  fierce 
struggle,  the  eagle  managed  to  rise  into  the 
air  although  the  fox  climg  to  its  breast  with 
clamped  jaws.  The  eagle  rose  higher  and 
higher  and  the  fox,  with  nothing  but  thin 
air  to  brace  himself  against,  was  at  a 
disadvantage.  Eventually  he  released  his 
hold  and  was  dashed  to  death  on  the  ground. 
The  eagle  escaped,  exhausted  and  weak. 

THE  BALD  EAGLE,  OXHl  NATIONAL  BIRD 

The  bald  eagle,  which  nests  from  Florida 
to  Alaska,  is  a  strictly  American  bird  unlike 
its  widespread  golden  cousin.  It  is  there- 
fore appropriate  that  it  should  have  been 
chosen  as  our  national  symbol  by  Congress 


on  June  20,  1782.  The  habits  and  bearing 
of  the  white-headed  bird  do  not  compare, 
however,  with  the  noble,  fearless  design  for 
living  characteristic  of  the  golden  eagle. 

The  bald  eagle  is  rarely  found  far  from 
water,  for  its  food  consists  almost  entirely 
of  fiish  and  water  birds,  although  mammals 
that  occur  in  marshes  and  along  shores  are 
taken.  This  eagle  obtains  its  food  when- 
ever possible  by  strategy  rather  than  by 
sheer  power  and  speed.  It  is  perfectly  able 
to  catch  a  full  winged  duck  in  the  air. 
However,  it  is  more  likely  to  tire  a  duck  by 
forcing  it  to  dive  repeatedly  until  the  duck 
is  exhausted  and  becomes  an  easy  victim. 

In  its  behavior  towards  the  osprey  or  fish 
hawk,  it  is  one  of  the  most  famous  of  pirates. 
The  osprey,  slightly  smaller  than  the  eagle, 
is  an  expert  fisherman  and  expert  he  must 
be,  for  he  often  feeds  both  himself  and  the 
eagle.  Waiting  in  majestic  pose  on  the  bare 
top  of  a  dead  tree,  the  eagle  spies  a  heavily 
laden  osprey  returning  to  his  nest.  The 
marauder  gives  chase  and  though  the  osprey, 
if  unburdened,  might  escape,  he  is  eventu- 
ally forced  to  drop  the  fish  which  the  eagle 
often  retrieves  in  full  flight  before  it  reaches 
the  water. 


TULIP  TIME  RECALLS  A  MANIA 
OF  SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY 

By  SOPHIA  PRIOR 

The  tulip  probably  is  the  most  popular 
of  all  spring  garden  flowers.  It  is  a  native 
of  China,  Japan,  Siberia,  Asia  Minor, 
Turkey,  the  Mediterranean  countries,  and 
central  Asia.  Its  early  history  and  origin 
are  very  obscure.  However,  records  show 
that  it  was  first  introduced  into  Europe 
from  Turkey  in  1554,  at  which  time  seeds 
were  brought  to  Vienna  by  the  Austrian 
ambassador  to  Turkey,  and  soon  tulips 
spread  rapidly  over  Europe.  Clusius,  a 
Dutch  botanist  and  horticulturist,  developed 
on  a  large  scale  new  varieties  which  he  sold. 
The  red  and  yellow  tulip  with  the  narrow 
pointed  segments,  a  favorite  of  the  Turks, 
was  developed  into  broad,  rounded,  petaled 
forms  of  unusual  colors. 

This  anxiety  for  new  varieties  culminated 
in  the  year  1634  in  the  historic  craze 
designated  as  "tulipomania,"  and  during 
several  subsequent  years  many  Dutch 
fortunes  were  invested  in  bulbs  and  their 
culture,  and  vast  sums  were  lost  through 
speculation.  Fabulous  prices  were  paid  for 
bulbs,  as  much  as  $1,000  to  $4,000  each,  until 
the  government  interfered.  Holland  never- 
theless continued  developing  varieties  for 
commercial  purposes,  and  its  tulips  reached 
such  a  degree  of  perfection  that  to  this  day 
the  Dutch  bulbs  are  prized  among  gardeners. 

Of  interest  to  Chicagoans  is  the  tulip 
festival  held  each  spring  at  Holland,  Michi- 
gan, a  short  drive  from  the  city.  This 
Michigan  town  was  founded  by  Nether- 
landers  and  to  this  day  has  preserved  much 
characteristic  atmosphere  of  their  homeland. 


AN  ODDITY  AMONG  MINERALS 

By  L.  BRYANT  MATHER,  JR. 

ASSISTANT  CimATOR  OF  MINERALOGY 

It  looks  like  lard — it  feels  like  butter — • 
it  cuts  like  cheese — yet  it  is  a  mineral  that 
can't  be  melted! 

The  material  possessing  these  striking 
properties  was  received  at  Field  Museum 
as  a  gift  from  Mr.  Ben  Hur  Wilson  of  Joliet, 
Illinois.  Mr.  Wilson  reports  that  it  came 
from  a  locality  near  Agate  on  the  Union 
Pacific  Railroad,  fifty  miles  from  Barstow, 
California,  where  it  is  being  worked  for 
use  in  the  ceramics  industry.  The  mineral 
has  locally  been  called  "Eyrite,"  derived 
from  the  name  of  its  discoverer,  but  pre- 
liminary study  in  the  Museum  laboratory 
indicates  that  it  is  sufficiently  similar  to 
Saponite  (Dana  No.  488)  to  be  classified 
as  a  variety  of  that  species.  Chemically 
it  is  a  hydrous  silicate  of  magnesium  with 
about  20  per  cent  water,  and  small  amounts 
of  lime,  fluorine  and  alumina.  When  the 
mineral  is  heated,  the  water  is  given  off 
and  the  lard-like  appearance  of  the  speci- 
men is  changed  to  a  chalk-like  one.  It 
is  distinguished  from  its  distant  relative 
Sepiolite  (better  known  as  "Meerschaum") 
from  which  fine  pipes  are  carved,  and  which 
is  likewise  a  hydrous  magnesium  silicate,  by 
several  tests.  The  most  striking  of  these  is 
its  failure  to  display  that  characteristic  prop- 
erty of  Sepiolite  of  adhering  to  the  tongue. 


EARLIEST  SPRING  FLOWERS 

Among  garden  plants  the  earliest  to  bloom 
in  the  spring  are  the  snowdrop  (Galanthus 
nivalis),  usually  with  white  flowers,  and  the 
squill  (Scilla  sibirica  and  Seilla  bifolia), 
usually  with  blue  flowers.  These  are  dainty 
low-growing  herbs  only  a  few  inches  in 
height.  Both  the  snowdrop  and  the  squill 
are  natives  of  the  cooler  parts  of  Europe  and 
Asia  Minor,  the  Siberian  squill  inhabiting 
Russia  and  Asia  Minor,  while  the  snowdrop 
is  a  native  of  Europe  from  the  Pyrenees  to 
the  Caucasus  Mountains.  They  were  in- 
troduced into  cultivation  in  the  United 
States  by  the  early  New  England  settlers. 
In  the  Chicago  region  they  usually  bloom 
in  March  and  early  April. 

The  crocus  also  flowers  very  early,  as  do 
the  daffodils  and  jonquils,  but  these  come 
into  bloom  somewhat  later  than  the  snow- 
drop and  the  squill.  — J.  A.  S. 


Sculpture,  Inside  and  Out 
— by  Malvina  Hofifman 

This,  the  latest  book  by  the  creator 
of  the  Races  of  Mankind  sculptures 
in  Field  Museum,  will  be  published 
April  3.  The  book  is  copiously  illus- 
trated. Regular  edition  $3.75.  De 
luxe  autographed  edition  $7.50.  On 
sale  at  the  BOOK  SHOP  of  FIELD 
MUSEUM. 


April,  19S9 


FIELD  MUSEUM  NEWS 


Pages 


AVERY  BOTANICAL  EXPEDITION 
REPORTS  SUCCESSFUL  WORK 

Letters  received  recently  from  Curator 
Paul  C.  Standley,  in  charge  of  the  Sewell 
Avery  Botanical  Expedition  to  Guatemala, 
report  exceptional  success  in  field  work  in 
many  widely  separated  areas  of  that  country. 
During  the  past  three  months  10,000  speci- 
mens of  plants  have  been  collected,  at  alti- 
tudes varying  from  sea  level  to  more  than 
12,000  feet.  While  vegetation  is  not  so  luxu- 
riant during  the  dry  winter  months  as  during 
the  wet  summer  season,  at  all  times  there 
is  a  great  abundance  of  flowers  to  be  found 
in  favorable  areas,  Mr.  Standley  states. 

Some  of  the  richest  regions  for  plants 
that  Mr.  Standley  has  visited  have  been 
the  slopes  of  the  volcanoes,  which  form 
such  a  conspicuous  element  of  the  magnifi- 
cent Guatemalan  scenery.  He  has  collected 
plants  on  the  slopes  of  the  volcanoes  of 
Pacaya,  Agua,  Fuego,  Acatenango,  and 
Zunil,  and  on  March  6,  with  an  Indian 
guide,  he  ascended  on  foot  to  the  summit 
of  the  volcano  of  Santa  Maria  (12,560  feet), 
near  Quezaltenango  in  western  Guatemala. 
Santa  Maria,  one  of  the  most  celebrated 
volcanoes  of  Central  America  and  perhaps 
the  most  symmetric  and  majestic  of  them 
all,  has  been  almost  unknown  botanically, 
and  is  rarely  visited  by  foreigners. 

Mr.  Standley  reports  that  the  work  of 
the  Guatemalan  expedition  has  been  greatly 
facilitated  through  the  courtesy  of  Dr. 
J.  R.  Johnston,  Director  of  the  National 
School  of  Agriculture  of  Chimaltenango, 
Don  Mariano  Pacheco,  Director  of  the 
Department  of  Agriculture,  Guatemala,  and 
Professor  Ulises  Rojas,  Director  of  the 
Botanic  Garden  of  Guatemala. 


THINGS  YOU  MAY  HAVE  MISSED 


Relation  of  Soil  to  Rock 
in  the  Chicago  Area 

With  the  approach  of  spring,  interest  in 
the  soil  rises  to  its  annual  high  point.  As 
the  first  shoots  of  green  come  up  through 
the  ground  surface,  it  may  be  interesting 
to  recall  some  of  the  unusual  and  character- 
istic features  of  the  soils  of  the  Chicago  area 
and  their  relation  to  the  rock  surface 
beneath.  In  Hall  36  of  the  Department 
of  Geology  there  is  a  model  on  which  these 
relations  are  strikingly  shown.  It  might 
be  expected  that  in  digging  deeper  the  soil 
would  become  increasingly  rocky  until  quite 
gradually  it  would  grade  into  the  unweath- 
ered  rock,  and  quite  likely  this  would  be 
the  case  had  Chicago  not  been  visited  by 
the  great  glaciers  of  the  Ice  Age. 

If  we  could  go  back  to  the  time  before  the 
ice  came,  we  would  find  the  Chicago  region 
a  country  of  rather  steep  hills  and  valleys 
covered  by  a  soil  derived  from  the  under- 
lying bed  rock,  a  limestone  of  great  age 
formed  in  the  Niagara  stage  of  the  Silurian 


period  (about  400,000,000  years  ago).  Then, 
as  the  glaciers  slowly  advanced  and  receded, 
this  soil,  and  with  it  a  layer  of  the  limestone 
itself,  was  scraped  off,  as  if  by  a  giant 
carpenter's  plane,  not  however  destroying 
the  ruggedness  of  the  topography.  As  the 
ice  melted  and  the  glacier  receded  for  the 
last  time,  these  valleys  and  hills  were  filled 
and  covered  by  sands  and  gravels  that  we 
call  "till" — material  that  the  glacier  had 
picked  up  on  its  journey,  some  coming  from 
as  far  away  as  the  northern  part  of  Canada. 
Thus  it  was  that  the  glaciers  that  bared 
the  limestone  bed-rock  were  also  the  agents 
that  buried  it  again,  but  this  time  under  its 
present  mantle  of  glacial  drift. 

There  was  a  time,  soon  after  the  retreat 
of  the  ice,  when  Lake  Michigan  stretched 
considerably  to  the  south  and  west  of  its 
present  shoreline,  covering  most  of  the  area 
on  which  the  city  is  now  built.  During  this 
time  there  was  deposited  over  the  till  a 
relatively  thin  layer  of  lake  mud  which 
comprises  the  top  soil  layer  of  much  of 
Chicago  today.  Erosion,  since  the  glacier 
and  later  the  lake  retreated  leaving  the 
country  to  assume  its  present  topographic 
form,  has  in  some  places  removed  the  till 
and  exposed  the  limestone  at  the  surface. 
Elsewhere,  especially  in  those  places  where 
before  the  glacier  came  there  were  valleys, 
the  limestone  is  buried  by  as  much  as  200 
feet  of  till. 

These  are  the  conditions  interpreted  as 
bringing  about  the  situation  represented  in 
the  model.   They  explain  why  in  the  Chicago 


Underneath  "Ghica^oland" 

Model  in  the  Department  of  Geology  showing  the 
relation  of  soil  to  rock  in  the  Chicago  area,  and  how 
this  was  affected  by  presence  of  glaciers  in  this  region 
during  the  Silurian  period,  some  400,000,000  years  ago. 

area,  as  in  all  regions  over  which  the  glacier 
moved,  there  is  a  sharp  break  between  the 
soil  and  the  bed-rock  below,  and  why  the 
rugged  rock  surface  is  overlain  by  compara- 
tively level  terrain.  — L.B.M.,  Jr. 


CURATOR  C.  C.  SANBORN  RETURNS 
FROM  EUROPEAN  RESEARCH 

Mr.  Colin  Campbell  Sanborn,  Curator  of 
Mammals,  who  was  appointed  a  Fellow  of 
the  John  Simon  Guggenheim  •  Foundation 
last  spring,  returned  from  Europe  on  March 
1.  Through  this  fellowship  he  has  spent  the 
last  seven  months,  chiefly  in  London  at  the 
British  Museum  (Natural  History),  working 
on  a  taxonomic  revision  of  the  horseshoe 
bats.  In  connection  with  this  work  he  also 
visited  museums  in  Edinburgh,  Amsterdam, 
Leiden  and  Paris. 

About  twenty-five  type  skulls  of  bats, 
representing  genera  not  in  Field  Museum, 
were  photographed  and  measured  so  that 
these  genera  can  be  more  accurately  identi- 
fied here,  should  the  need  arise.  An  exchange 
was  arranged  with  the  British  Museum  for 
125  specimens,  including  five  genera  and 
many  species  new  to  the  collection  in  this 
institution. 

Mr.  Sanborn  spent  two  weeks  in  Scotland 
collecting  red  grouse  for  a  proposed  habitat 
group.  Besides  a  dozen  birds,  he  collected 
heather,  bracken,  and  grass  for  accessories, 
and  made  photographs  to  be  used  for  guid- 
ance in  preparing  the  background.  A  few 
Scotch  mammals  were  also  collected. 

In  order  to  study  two  species  of  horseshoe 
bats  in  life,  Mr.  Sanborn  made  a  trip  to  the 
Cheddar  caves  in  Somerset,  as  the  guest  of 
Mr.  J.  L.  Chaworth-Musters.  Here,  with 
the  help  of  the  Spelaeological  Society  of 
Bristol  University,  a  number  of  caves  were 
visited,  and  about  fifteen  specimens  of  bats 
were  obtained. 

The  British  Museum  has  entrusted  Mr. 
Sanborn  with  the  identification  of  some  800 
bats  collected  in  Haiti,  Trinidad,  and  Dutch 
Guiana  by  Mr.  Ivan  T.  Sanderson,  author  of 
Animal  Treasure.  The  collection  has  been 
shipped  to  Field   Museum  for  this  study. 

Mr.  Sanborn  was  in  London  during  the 
international  crisis  last  September,  and  had 
to  suspend  his  work  to  help  pack  type  and 
other  valuable  specimens  in  the  British 
Museum  mammal  collection  for  removal  to  a 
safer  place  in  case  of  emergency. 

The  remainder  of  Mr.  Sanborn's  fellow- 
ship will  probably  be  spent  in  the  field, 
studying  the  life  histories  of  bats,  and 
photographing  and  collecting  specimens. 


Enormous  palm  leaves,  as  much  as  forty 
feet  long,  are  shown  in  Hall  25. 


FORESTS  WITHIN  A  BOOK— 

See  The  Tree  Book,  by  Julia  Ellen 
Rogers. 

"An  interesting,  well  illustrated 
volume,"  says  Dr.  B.  E.  Dahlgren, 
Chief  Curator  of  Botany  at  Field  Mu- 
seum. "A  popular  guide  to  the  trees 
of  North  America  in  nature  and  in  culti- 
vation, with  simple  and  serviceable 
keys  as  an  aid  to  their  identification." 

At  the  MUSEUM  BOOK  SHOP— $5. 


Page  i 


FIELD  MUSEUM  NEWS 


April,  1939 


THE  CRYPTOGAMS  OR  NON-FLOWERING  PLANTS— WHAT  THEY  ARE,  AND  THEIR  IMPORTANCE 

plants  or  animals,  or  from  other  organic 
matter.  They  are  responsible  for  certain 
human  ailments,  especially  those  of  the 
skin,  and  for  the  majority  of  diseases  of 
crop  plants,  which  entail  yearly  losses  of 
millions  of  dollars  to  the  farmer.  The  molds 
and  the  fleshy  fungi,  along  with  the  bacteria, 
bring  about  the  decay  of  dead  bodies  of 
animals  and  of  other  plants.  Mushrooms 
and  certain  other  fleshy  fungi  are  annually 
assuming  more  and  more  importance  in 
American  cookery.  Still  other  fleshy  fungi 
are  deadly  poisonous  when  eaten.  The 
yeasts  are  unicellular  fungi  upon  whose 
life  processes  the  baking  and  brewing 
industries  are  founded.  The  yeast  plants 
change  sugar  to  alcohol  and  carbon  dioxide 
gas,  and,  according  to  species  and  ingredients, 
are  agents  in  manufacturing  beer,  wine, 
whiskey,  etc.  Gas  from  yeast 
makes  bread  dough  rise. 

The  lichens  are  composite 
plants,  made  up  of  fungi  and 
algae  living  together.  They 
grow  on  rocks,  trees,  and  soil. 
All  are  large  enough  to  be 
seen  with  the  naked  eye. 
They  often  develop  best  upon 
poor,  barren  soils,  especially 
in  arctic  regions,  where  they 
constitute  the  only  food  of 
herbivorous  animals. 


By  FRANCIS  DROUET 

CURATOR   OF  CRYPTOOAMIC  BOTANY 

(Editor's  Note: — The  Cryptogams,  or  non- 
flowering  plants,  are  of  immense  importance 
in  the  economy  of  Nature,  and  comprise 
thirteen  out  of  fourteen  major  dirisions  of  the 
Plant  Kingdom.  Large  collections  of  them 
have  in  the  course  of  years  accumulated  in  the 
Herbarium  of  Field  Museum,  and  some  of 
them  are  represented  in  the  botanical  exhibits, 
but  it  is  only  recently,  with  the  addition  of  Dr. 
Francis  Drouet  to  the  Museum  staff,  that  it 
has  been  possible  to  give  them  anything 
approaching  the  scientific  attention  which  they 
demand.  —B.E.D.) 

Perhaps  many  more  than  half  the  species 
included  in  the  Plant  Kingdom  are  those 
which  bear  no  flowers  or  seeds;  most  of  them 
have   no   leaves,   stems,    or   roots.     Such 
plants  as  a  group  are  often  spoken  of  as 
the  Cryptogams.     Familiar  to  us  are  the 
ferns,  the  mosses,  the  fleshy 
fungi,  the  molds,  the  lichens, 
the  seaweeds,  and  the  pond- 
scums,  most  of  them  large 
enough  to  be  recognized  with 
the  naked  eye.  Less  familiar, 
but  of  far  greater  economic 
importance,   are   the   thou- 
sands of  species  of  bacteria, 
fungi,  and  algae,  which  may 
be  seen  and  recognized  only 
under  the  microscope. 

The  bacteria  comprise 
many  hundred  species  of  ex- 
tremely small,  single-celled, 
and  mostly  colorless  plants 
which  have  little  distinguish- 
able internal  structure. 
They  all  are  parasites  on 
other  living  things,  or  secure 
their  food  from  dead  or  other 
organic  matter.  Many  are 
useful  to  man;  others  are 
harmful.  Certain  species 
live  within  the  bodies  of 
human  beings  and  other  ani- 
mals, and  some  of  these  pro- 
duce poisons  which  cause 
such  diseases  as  tuberculosis  and  pneumonia. 
Other  species  live  in  the  bodies  of  larger 
plants.  The  amount  of  damage  which  they 
do  to  the  leaves  and  fruits  of  trees  and  herbs 
is  of  vast  importance  to  the  agriculturist. 
Nitrifying  bacteria  live  in  the  soil  and  in 
the  roots  of  leguminous  plants;  they  convert 
nitrogen  of  the  air  into  nitrates,  which  are 
absorbed  by  green  plants.  Certain  bacteria 
are  responsible  for  the  souring  of  milk,  the 
spoiling  of  foods,  the  production  of  vinegar, 
and  the  decay  of  organic  matter  of  all  sorts. 
The  bacteria  are  of  such  unparalleled  eco- 
nomic importance  to  medical  science,  agri- 
culture, and  various  industries  that  the 
highly  specialized  science  of  bacteriology 
has  been  developed. 

THE  CHIEF  SOURCE  OF  IODINE 

The  algae  are  an  even  more  extensive 
group  of  species,  comprising  both  large  and 


microscopic  forms.  The  plant  bodies  con- 
sist of  single  or  many  cells;  they  all  contain 
the  green  coloring  matter  (chlorophyll) 
which  enables  them  to  manufacture  food 
from  inorganic  substances.  The  largest 
algae  are  the  seaweeds,  some  of  which 
exceed  all  other  plants  in  length.  Most 
of  these  are  colored  red  or  brown  and  grow 
in  greatest  abundance  in  shallow  marine 
waters  along  rocky  shores.  They  are  the 
world's  chief  source  of  iodine  and  an  im- 
portant one  of  agricultural  fertilizers.  Some 
are  used  as  food  by  many  people,  especially 
in  the  Orient.  In  both  fresh  and  salt  water 
there  occur  the  diatoms,  flagellates,  and 
other  microscopic  algae.  The  federal  and 
state  bureaus  of  fisheries  expend  much 
money  and  time  in  the  study  of  these  uni- 
cellular plants,  which  are  the  basic  source 


Collecting  Crypto^ms 

Curator  Francis  Drouet  is  seen  in  search  of  algae  in  a  pool  in  the  bed  of  the  Rio  Pacoty, 
Cear&,  Brazil.  The  plants  are  gathered  in  the  vasculum  or  collecting  pan  which  is  strapped  over  the 
explorer's  shoulder,  and  brought  back  to  camp  for  sorting,  study,  and  packing  for  shipment  home. 


of  food  for  all  animals  of  the  sea  and  of 
fresh  water.  The  diatoms,  the  blue-green 
algae  (Myxophyceae),  and  the  green  algae 
(Chlorophyceae)  grow  not  only  in  water 
but  also  on  soil  and  moist  rocks.  With 
the  mosses  and.  lichens,  they  are  suspected 
of  being  responsible  for  the  rehabilitation 
of  poor  and  worn-out  soils.  The  microscopic 
algae,  and  especially  the  Myxophyceae  and 
flagellates,  may  develop  in  such  abundance 
as  "water-blooms"  in  reservoirs  that  serious 
damage  may  be  done  to  city  water  supplies. 
Deposits  of  shells  of  diatoms  which  grew 
in  the  sea  thousands  of  years  ago,  known 
now  as  diatomaceous  earth,  are  used  as 
polishing  and  insulating  agents  in  industry. 
The  fungi  are  jjerhaps  the  largest  group 
of  cryptogams.  They  have  single-  or 
multi-celled  bodies  which  contain  no  chloro- 
phyll.    Their  food  is  derived  from  living 


EROSION  PREVENTIVE 

The  mosses  and  liverworts 
are  small  green  plants,  never 
microscopic,  many  with 
stems  and  distinct  leaves. 
They  grow  on  soil,  rocks, 
and  trees,  and  .in  water. 
Those  in  the  water  are  re- 
sponsible for  the  formation 
of  bogs.  By  gradually  filling 
lakes  and  ponds  with  their 
own  remains  they  bring 
about  the  ultimate  disap- 
pearance of  these  bodies  of 
water.  The  mosses,  lichens,  and  soil  algae 
cover  bare  soils,  and  are  important  in  pre- 
venting erosion  in  deforested  areas. 

The  most  familiar  green  cryptogams  are 
the  ferns  and  their  "allies,"  all  rather 
similar  in  structure  to  the  flowering  plants. 
The  ferns  comprise  many  species,  most  of 
which  live  in  the  tropics,  a  few  in  temperate 
regions.  Thousands  of  years  ago  these 
plants,  with  the  horsetails,  clubmosses,  and 
extinct  seed  ferns,  were  a  far  more  important 
component  of  the  flora  than  they  now  are. 
Some  grew  to  enormous  sizes,  as  may  be 
seen  in  the  Hall  of  Plant  Life  (Hall  29), 
and  in  the  reconstruction  of  the  flora  of  the 
Carboniferous  period  in  Ernest  R.  Graham 
Hall  (Hall  38).  Various  species  now  living 
have  economic  uses. 

Representative  types  of  all  these  groups 
of  cryptogams  are  on  display  in  Hall  29. 


April,  1939 


FIELD  MUSEUM  NEWS 


Page  5 


STAFF  NOTES 

Mr.  Llewelyn  Williams,  Curator  of 
Economic  Botany,  on  leave  in  Venezuela 
to  aid  the  government  botanist,  Dr.  Henry 
Pittier,  in  botanical  exploration  of  that 
country,  recently  made  a  trip  from  Caracas 
across  the  Venezuelan  Guiana,  by  way  of 
Ciudad  Bolivar  and  La  Paragua.  He  was 
accompanied  by  Captain  Felix  Cardona,  of 
the  Venezuelan  Frontier  Commission.  They 
journeyed  in  canoes  up  the  Caroni  River  to 
regions  very  little  explored  botanically. 


A  paper  "Chemistry  in  Field  Museum,"  by 
Chief  Curator  Henry  W.  Nichols,  Depart- 
ment of  Geology,  appears  in  the  March  Chem- 
ical Bulletin  (American  Chemical  Society). 


Dr.  Samuel  J.  Record,  Research  Associate 
in  Wood  Technology  on  the  staff  of  Field 
Museum,  and  Professor  of  Forest  Products 
at  Yale  University,  has  been  appointed 
Dean  of  the  University's  School  of  Forestry. 


Staff  Taxidermist  John  W.  Moyer  is  the 
author  and  publisher  of  a  book,  Lessons  in 
Museum  Taxidermy,  which  appeared  re- 
cently. It  is  intended  as  an  aid  both  to  the 
amateur  who  wishes  to  mount  birds,  mam- 
mals, fishes,  etc.  as  a  hobby,  and  to  persons 
who  wish  to  train  themselves  in  taxidermy 
as  a  profession. 

Twins — a  boy  and  a  girl — joined  the 
family  of  Mr.  Robert  E.  Bruce,  Purchasing 
Agent  of  the  Museum,  on  March  12. 


Miss  Elizabeth  Peitzsch,  Secretary  to  the 
Director  of  the  Museum,  became  the  bride 
of  Mr.  William  E.  Diez,  on  March  31. 


Dr.  Fritz  Haas,  Curator  of  Lower  In- 
vertebrates, presented  a  series  of  ten  lectures 
under  the  general  title  "The  Biologist  Looks 
at  Human  Life,"  before  the  Jewish  People's 
Institute  during  January,  February  and 
March.  Mr.  John  R.  Millar,  Curator  of  the 
N.  W.  Harris  Public  School  Extension, 
recently  lectured  on  "Field  Museum  and  Its 
Work,"  before  the  Biology  Round  Table. 
Dr.  Julian  Steyermark,  Assistant  Curator 
of  the  Herbarium,  spoke  before  the  Chicago 
Conservation  Council,  and  before  the  Chi- 
cago Cactus  Society,  on  botanical  subjects. 
Mr.  Emmet  R.  Blake,  Assistant  Curator  of 
Birds,  lectured  before  the  Chicago  Orni- 
thological Society,  and  the  Kennicott  Club, 
on  the  work  of  the  Sewell  Avery  Zoological 
Expedition  to  British  Guiana,  which  he  led. 
Mr.  Karl  P.  Schmidt,  Curator  of  Amphibians 
and  Reptiles,  lectured  on  animal  geography 
to  a  class  at  the  University  of  Chicago,  and 
before  the  Illinois  Committee  of  the  Chicago 
Association  of  Commerce.  Dr.  Henry  Field, 
Curator  of  Physical  Anthropology,  broad- 
cast a  lecture  on  "Recent  Archaeolog- 
ical Discoveries  Throughout  the  World" 
over  a  nation-wide  radio  network,  in  the 


Columbia  Broadcasting  System's  Science 
Service  series.  Dr.  Field  also  lectured  before 
the  Friday  Club,  and  at  the  Art  Institute 
before  the  Chicago  Chapter  of  the  Archaeo- 
logical Institute  of  America,  on  anthropo- 
logical and  archaeological  subjects. 


GROUP    SHOWS    HOW    POWHATANS 
MADE  STONE  IMPLEMENTS 

One  of  the  most  important  industries  of 
North  American  Indians  was  the  manufac- 
ture of  stone  implements.  A  race  of  hunters 
and  warriors  required  stone  knives,  spear- 
heads, arrow-heads,  and  scrapers  in  vast 
numbers.  Quarries  of  flint  and  other  varie- 
ties of  workable  stone  were  opened  in  many 
sections  of  the  country,  and  extensive  traces 
of  pitting  and  manufacture  are  found  by 
investigators  today. 

The  group  of  figures  shown  in  the  accom- 
panying illustration  is  a  life-size  exhibit  in 
Hall  B  demonstrating  how  the  work  was 
carried  on  by  Powhatan  Indians  in  an  exten- 
sive quarry  on  the  site  now  occupied  by  the 
city  of  Washington.  The  costumes  are 
restored  from  drawings  left  by  John  White 
and  John  Smith,  historians  of  the  Virginian 
colonies. 

The  Indian  at  the  left  is  engaged  in  prying 
up  the  quartzite  boulders,  the  best  material 


Indian  Toilers 

Life-size  group  showing  implement  makers  of  the 
Powhatan  tribe,  on  exhibition  in  Hall  B  of  the  Museum. 

found  in  the  region.  The  middle  one  is 
breaking  up  the  larger  masses  as  a  first 
step  in  shaping.  The  sitting  Indian  at  the 
right  is  flaking  out  rude  blades,  a  number  of 
which  are  heaped  at  his  side.  These  blades 
were  carried  away  from  the  quarry  to  be 
worked  into  various  specialized  implements 
as  occasion  demanded. 


NEW  MEMBERS 

The  following  persons  were  elected  to 
membership  in  Field  Museum  during  the 
period  from  February  16  to  March  15: 

Associate  Members 

W.  C.  Banes,  Mrs.  Sidney  M.  Bloss, 
W.  H.  Dangel,  Edmund  K.  Eichengreen, 
Joseph  M.  Johnson,  Rudolph  J.  Olson,  Mrs. 
Ira  M.  Pink. 

Sustaining  Members 

Sydney  Stein,  Jr. 

Annual  Members 

William  J.  Alexander,  E.  M.  Antrim, 
Walter  Bachrach,  Charles  Bass,  Mrs.  R.  B. 
Carter,  Fred  J.  Clifford,  Jr.,  Harry  Cohen, 
Dr.  C.  A.  Cummings,  Miss  Ellen  T.  Daniel- 
son,  Mrs.  H.  G.  Davies,  Arthur  G.  Davis, 
Robert  J.  Eitel,  Mrs.  Albert  W.  Engel, 
Charles  E.  Fawkes,  J.  W.  Floto,  Charles  W. 
FoUett,  John  V.  Frankenthal,  Fred  M. 
Friedlob,  Ralph  L.  Goodman,  Clinton  B. 
King,  Byron  W.  Knoblock,  Simon  P.  Larson, 
Edward  N.  Lee,  Mrs.  Frank  G.  Logan, 
F.  B.  McConnell,  Oscar  F.  Meredith,  Mrs. 
E.  W.  Nardi,  Herbert  U.  Nelson,  Harvey 
Pardee,  Ernest  B.  Price,  Clarence  E.  Ridley, 
Earle  L.  Ross,  Walter  L.  Rubens,  Mrs. 
Philip  Spiegel,  Miss  Charlotte  M.  Stevens, 
Theodore  Tieken,  Dr.  E.  E.  Ulvestad,  James 
Weber,  R.  T.  Welch,  William  W.  Welsh, 
Mrs.  Frank  A.  Windes. 


Distinguished  Visitors 

Among  distinguished  visitors  recently 
received  at  Field  Museum  are:  Dr.  R.  A. 
Falla,  Director  of  the  Canterbury  Museum, 
Christchurch,  New  Zealand,  who  was  in 
this  country  making  a  study  of  museum 
methods  and  techniques;  Dr.  Watson  Davis, 
Managing  Director  of  Science  Service;  Mr. 
Lorenz  Hagenbeck,  one  of  the  owners  of  the 
Hagenbeck  Tierpark,  of  Stillengen,  Germany ; 
Dr.  Norman  C.  Fassett,  Curator  of  the 
Herbarium  of  the  University  of  Wisconsin; 
Mr.  T.  A.  Monmayeda,  Director  of  the 
Japan  Institute,  New  York,  who  came  to 
consult  about  Field  Museum's  plans  for 
Japanese  collections,  and  Mr.  Taneo  Taketa, 
Manager  of  the  New  York  office  of  the 
South  Manchurian  Railway. 


A  comparative  exhibit  of  the  skeletons 
of  the  higher  apes  and  man  may  be  seen  in 
the  Hall  of  Osteology  (Hall  19). 


FOR  BIRD  LOVERS— 

A  Field  Guide  to  the  Birds,  by  Roger 
Tory  Peterson. 

"Peterson's  revised  and  enlarged 
edition  with  four  colored  and  thirty- 
six  black  and  white  plates  of  birds, 
designed  primarily  to  aid  in  field 
identification,  is  an  improvement  on 
an  already  splendid  book,"  says 
Rudyerd  Boulton,  Curator  of  Birds 
at  Field  Museum.  "Absolutely  in- 
valuable to  any  one  interested  in  field 
study  of  living  birds." 

At  the  BOOK  SHOP  of  FIELD 
MUSEUM— $2.75. 


Page  6 


FIELD  MUSEUM  NEWS 


April,  19S9 


Field  Museum  of  Natural  History 

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

THE  BOARD  OF  TRUSTEES 

Sewell  L.  Avery  Wiluah  H.  Mitchell 

Leopold  E.  Block  George  A.  RicHARoeoN 

Albert  B.  Dick,  Jr.  Theodore  Roosevelt 

Joseph  N.  Field  Fred  W.  Sargent 

Marshall  Field  Jambs  Simpson 

Stanley  Field  Solomon  A.  Smith 

Albert  W.  Harris  Albert  A.  Sprague 

Samuel  Insull,  Jr.  Silas  H.  Strawn 

Charles  A.  McCulloch  John  P.  Wilson 

OFFICERS 

Stanley  Field President 

Albert  A.  Sprague First  Viee-Presideni 

James  Simpson Second  Vice-President 

Albert  W.  Harris Third  Vice-President 

Clifford  C.  Gregg Director  and  Secretary 

Solomon  A.  Smith  . . .  Treasurer  and  Assistant  Secretary 

FIELD  MUSEUM  NEWS 

Clifford  C.  Gregg,  Director  of  the  Museum. . .  .Editor 

CONTRIBUTING  EDITORS 

Paul  S.  Martin Chief  Curator  of  Anthropology 

B.  E.  Dahlgren Chief  Curator  of  Botany 

Henry  W.  Nichoi^ Chief  Curator  of  Geology 

Wilfred  H.  Osgood Chief  Curator  of  Zoology 

H.  B.  Hartb Managing  Editor 

Meinl>ers  are  requested  to  inform  the  Museum 
promptly  of  changes  of  address. 


FROM  THE  DIRECTOR'S  DESK— 


Another  Benefactor  of  Education 

The  brief  article  which  appeared  in  this 
column  last  month  in  tribute  to  a  Benefactor 
of  neld  Museum  brought  such  favorable 
comment  that  I  am  moved  to  tell  of  another 
good  friend  of  the  institution  whose  works 
should  be  known  to 
its  Members.  I 
refer  to  Mr.  Albert 
W.  Harris,  for  many 
years  a  Trustee  of 
the  Museum,  and 
now  one  of  its  Vice- 
Presidents  and  the 
Chairman  of  its  Fi- 
nance Committee. 

For  many  years 
school  children  in 
Chicago  have  been 
privileged  to  study, 
in  their  own  school 
buildings,  exhibits 
which  were  brought 
to  them  by  repre- 
sentatives of  the 
N.  W.  Harris  Public  School  Extension  of 
Field  Museum.  This  splendid  service  was 
foitnded  by  Mr.  Norman  Wait  Harris,  father 
of  Albert  Harris,  in  1912.  Mr.  Stephen  C. 
Simms,  late  Director  of  Field  Museum,  was 
the  first  Curator  of  the  Harris  Extension. 

As  the  value  of  the  Harris  Extension 
became  known  in  the  schools  of  Chicago, 
demands  and  opportunities  for  its  service 
came  to  the  Museum  in  such  numbers  that 
the  income  from  the  special  endowment  was 
entirely  consumed  by  operating  expenses, 
and  the  requirements  for  expansion  could 
not  be  met.    Then  it  was  that  Mr.  Albert 


Albert  W.  Harris 

Mr.  Harris,  a  Trustee 
and  Vice-President  of  the 
Museum  for  many  years, 
enthusiastically  has  carried 
on  the  benefactions  of  his 
father,  the  late  Norman 
Wait  Harris.  Founder  of  the 
N.  W.  Harris  Public  School 
Extension     Department. 


Harris  came  to  the  support  of  his  father's 
endowment,  adding  to  it  so  that  it  might 
perform  adequately  the  full  service  for  which 
it  had  been  founded. 

When  a  new  truck  was  needed,  and  money 
was  not  available,  Mr.  Harris  quickly  saw 
that  the  need  was  filled.  When  the  vagaries 
of  the  earnings  of  securities  and  declining 
interest  rates  caused  income  to  fall  below 
the  amount  required  for  proper  operation, 
Mr.  Harris  again  came  to  the  rescue.  His 
gifts  to  Field  Museum  now  amount  to  more 
than  $250,000.  Mr.  Harris  has  not  felt 
content  to  satisfy  his  interest  in  FMeld 
Museum  with  money  alone,  but  has  given 
unselfishly  of  his  time,  his  advice,  and  his 
counsel. 

His  interest  in  the  Museum,  manifested 
not  only  in  his  gifts  but  by  his  keen  apprecia- 
tion of  those  actually  carrying  on  the  work, 
has  been  an  incentive  which  has  helped  to 
keep  up  the  high  standard  of  the  work  done 
not  only  in  the  Harris  Extension  but 
throughout  Field  Museum. 

— Clifford  C.  Gregg,  Director. 


GIFTS  TO  THE  MUSEUM 

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

Department  of  Anthropology: 

From  Dr.  Henry  Field,  Chicago — 3  stamp 
seals,  Iraq;  from  Miss  S.  W.  Peabody, 
Chicago — 6  ethnological  specimens,   Siam. 

Department  of  Botany: 

From  Dr.  Eari  E.  Sherff,  Chicago— 65 
herbarium  specimens;  from  Southwest  State 
Teachers  College,  Springfield,  Missouri — 
90  herbarium  specimens,  Missouri;  from 
Dr.  G.  W.  Prescott,  Albion,  Michigan— 31 
specimens  of  algae,  Wisconsin;  from  Uni- 
versity of  Chicago — 73  specimens  of  Brazil- 
ian woods;  from  S.  C.  Johnson  and  Son,  Inc., 
Racine,  Wisconsin — 2  specimens  of  wax; 
from  Dr.  H.  C.  Bold,  Nashville,  Tennessee 
— 14  specimens  of  algae,  Tennessee;  from 
Senor  S.  A.  Guarrera,  Buenos  Aires,  Argen- 
tina— 11  specimens  of  algae,  Argentina. 

Department  of  Geology : 

From  George  Byrland,  Marion,  Iowa — 
a  hollow  hematite  concretion,  Iowa;  from 
R.  E.  Prison,  Ten  Sleep,  Wyoming — 8  gastro- 
liths,  Wyoming;  from  George  Artamonoff, 
Chicago — a  specimen  of  sand.  Canal  Zone; 
from  A.  D.  Carter,  East  Los  Angeles, 
California — 26  minerals,  California;  from 
Ben  Hur  Wilson,  Joliet,  Illinois — a  specimen 
of  saponite,  California;  from  Benedict 
Gresky,  Chicago — 6  specimens  of  boron 
carbide. 

Department  of  Zoology: 

From  John  M.  Schmidt,  Homewood, 
Illinois — 3  bats,  Texas;  from  John  R. 
Schmidt,  Lakeland,  Florida — a  limbless 
lizard,  Florida;  from  Mrs.  Robb  White, 
Thomasville,  Georgia — 3  salamanders,  Geor- 
gia; from  Mrs.  George  Artamanoff,  Chicago 
— 5  fish,  Guatemala,  and  15  specimens  of 
lower  invertebrates,  near  Canal  Zone;  from 
D.  S.  Bullock,  Goodrich,  Michigan — 64 
frogs,    toads,   lizards,    and   snakes,   Chile; 


from  Chicago  Zoological  Society,  Brook- 
field,  Illinois — 3  mammals;  from  Colonel 
Richard  Meinertzhagen,  London,  England 
— 4  mammals,  northern  Afghanistan;  from 
H.  Loewenstamm,  Chicago — 16  lots  of  land 
and  fresh-water  shells,  representing  15 
species,  Palestine;  from  H.  B.  Conover, 
Chicago — 3  birds,  Paraguay. 

The  Library: 

Valuable  books  from  Biblioteca  Municipal, 
Guayaquil,  Ecuador;  from  Lyman  Bradford 
Smith,  Cambridge,  Massachusetts;  from 
Carnegie  Institution,  Washington,  D.C.  and 
from  Dr.  Henry  Field,  Clifford  C.  Gregg, 
and  C.  Martin  Wilbur,  all  of  Chicago. 


Exhibit  of  Corwin  Paintings 

An  exhibit  of  paintings  by  the  late 
Charles  Abel  Corwin,  former  Stafif  Artist  of 
Field  Museum,  was  held  last  month  at  the 
Newcomb-Macklin  Galleries,  Chicago. 
Shown  were  landscapes  and  other  works 
which  Mr.  Corwin  painted  prior  to  and  dur- 
ing his  many  years  of  association  with  the 
Museum.  While  his  work  in  this  institution 
was  confined  to  backgrounds  for  habitat 
groups,  and  to  a  series  of  murals  in  the  De- 
partment of  Botany,  he  maintained  a  private 
studio  in  which  he  continued  other  painting. 

The  pictures  shown  covered  a  wide 
variety  of  subjects,  including  many  of  the 
old  West  with  its  Indians  and  cowboys. 
There  were  also  landscapes  of  scenes  in  the 
Chicago  region,  scenes  from  the  Chicago 
World's  Columbian  Exposition  of  1893, 
seascapes,  and  scenes  of  Hawaii  where  Mr. 
Corwin  lived  in  his  youth. 


Grotesque  totem  poles  and  grave  posts 
from  tribes  of  the  northwest  coast  of  America 
are  exhibited  in  Hall  10. 


A  FEW  facts  ABOUT  FIELD  MUSEUM 

Field  Museum  is  open  every  day  of  the  year 
(except  Christmas  and  New  Year's  Day)  during 
the  hours  indicated  below: 
November,  December, 

January,  February 9  A.M.  to  4  P.M. 

March.  April,  and 

September,  October 9  A.M.  to  5  p.m. 

May,  June,  July,  August 9  A.M.  to  S  P.M. 

Admission  is  free  to  Members  on  all  days. 
Other  adults  are  admitted  free  on  Thursdays, 
Saturdays,  and  Sundays:  non-members  pay  25 
cents  on  other  days.  Children  are  admitted  free 
on  all  days.  Students  and  faculty  members  of 
educational  institutions  are  admitted  free  any 
day  upon  presentation  of  credentials. 

The  Museum's  Library  is  open  for  reference 
daily  except  Saturday  afternoon  and  Sunday. 

Traveling  exhibits  are  circulated  in  the  schools 
of  Chicago  by  the  N.  W.  Harris  Public  School 
Extension  Department  of  the  Museum. 

Lectures  at  schools,  and  special  entertain- 
ments and  tours  for  children  at  the  Museum,  are 
provided  by  the  James  Nelson  and  Anna  Louise 
Raymond  Foxmdation  for  Public  School  and 
Children's  Lectures. 

Free  courses  of  lectxires  for  adults  are  presented 
in  the  James  Simpson  Theatre  on  Saturday  after- 
noons (at  2:30  o'clock)  in  March,  April,  October, 
and  November. 

A  Cafeteria  serves  visitors.  Rooms  are  avail- 
able also  for  those  bringing  their  lunches. 

Chicago  Motor  Coach  Company  No.  26  busses 
provide  direct  transportation  to  the  Mxlseum.  Ser- 
vice is  offered  also  by  Surface  Lines,  Rapid  Tran- 
sit Lines  (the  "L"),  mterurban  electric  Unee,  and 
Illinois  Central  trains.  There  is  ample  free  park- 
ing space  for  automobiles  at  the  Museum. 


April,  193d 


FIELD  MUSEUM  NEWS 


Page  1 


FIELD  MUSEUM  MUMMY  TO  FLY  TO  NEW  YORK  WORLD'S  FAIR  FOR  X-RAY  EXHIBIT 


By  RICHARD  A.  MARTIN 

CUBATOR    OF   NEAR   EASTERN   ARCHAEOLOGY 

A  mummy  named  Harwa,  from  Field 
Museum's  Egyptian  collection,  will  leave 
Chicago   April   5   on   a   United   Air   Lines 


Amon,  Harwa  now  becomes  the  first  adult- 
sized  person  to  be  publicly  fluoroscoped. 
Visitors  to  the  General  Electric  X-Ray 
Corporation's  exhibit  at  the  Fair  will  only 
have  to  press  a  button  to  see  a  fluoroscopic 
image  of  his  skeleton. 
The  mummy,  with 
the  coffin-lid  nearby, 
will  be  displayed,  as 
shown  in  the  accom- 
panying  illustra- 
tions, against  a  back- 


amber  floodlights,  shifts  a  full-length  fluoro- 
scopic screen  in  front  of  the  mummy,  and 
turns  on  125,000  volts  for  the  x-rays  which 
then  pass  through  the  dried  flesh  and  the 
layers  of  wrappings  and  create  a  full-sized 
image  on  the  viewing  screen. 

Standard  medical  x-ray  apparatus  is  used 
in  conjunction  with  a  specially  built  fluoro- 
scopic screen  made  to  these  unusual  speci- 
fications by  the  Patterson  Screen  Company, 
of  Towanda,  Pennsylvania.  Lead  glass  will 
protect  visitors  from  any  harm  by  the  rays. 


Illustrations  by  courtesy  of  General  Electric  X-ray  Corporation 

Harwa  as  He  Will  Appear  at  New  York  World's  Fair 

Egyptian  mummy  and  coffin  lid  loaned  by  Field  Museum  for  the  exhibit  of  the 
General  Electric  X-Ray  Corporation.  The  young  lady  is  pushing  a  "magic  button" 
which  dims  the  lights,  energizes  a  mechanism  that  moves  a  large  sliding  fluoroscopic 
screen  in  front  of  the  mummy,  and  starts  a  125,000-volt  x-ray  machine  into  action. 


sleeper  plane  for  New  York,  to  attend  the 
World's  Fair  which  opens  there  April  30. 

Twenty-eight  hundred  years  after  ending 
a  useful  life  as  an  agricultural  official  for  one 
of  the  temples  dedicated  to  the  ancient  god 


ground  of  black 
velour.  Pressing  the 
button  energizes  a 
mechanism  which 
dims    the    golden- 


Harwa's  Skeleton  Revealed  by  Fluoroscope 

The  x-rays  pass  through  mummy  wrapping  and  dried  flesh,  and  a_  fluoroscopic 
image  of  the  mummy's  skeleton  is  projected  on  the  screen.  This  remains  for  half  a 
minute,  after  which  the  screen  automatically  slides  back,  again  showing  the  mummy 
as  it  appears  in  the  picture  at  the  left,  until  another  visitor  pushes  the  "magic  button." 


BROADBILL  SWORDFISH  CAUGHT 
BY  MRS.  MICHAEL  LERNER 

An  excellent  mounted  specimen  of  At- 
lantic broadbill  swordfish  was  recently 
presented  to  the  Museum  by  Mr.  Michael 
Lerner,  well-known  sportsman,  of  New 
York.  The  fish  was  caught  on  rod  and  reel 
by  Mrs.  Lerner,  off  the  coast  of  Nova  Scotia, 
near  Louisburg,   Cape  Breton,   and  it  is 


reported  to  be  the  first  swordfish  ever  thus 
taken  by  a  woman  angler  in  Canadian 
waters.  The  fish  weighed  295  pounds,  and 
it  required  nearly  three  hours  of  skillful 
work  to  bring  it  into  the  boat  after  it  had 
been  hooked.  It  will  be  included  among 
exhibits  in  a  new  Hall  of  Fishes,  upon  which 
work  is  now  in  progress  but  which  will  not 
be  ready  to  open  for  several  months. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Lerner  are  now  on  an  expedi- 


tion to  New  Zealand  and  Australia  for  the 
American  Museum  of  Natural  History, 
New  York,  and  stated  before  leaving  that 
they  would  make  efforts  to  collect  some 
material  also  for  Field  Museum. 

About  a  year  ago  Mr.  Lerner  presented  to 
this  institution  a  record-size  swordfish  of 
the  blue  marlin  species,  weighing  537  pounds, 
which  he  caught  near  the  Bahama  Islands. 
It  will  also  be  displayed  in  the  new  hall. 


Pages 


FIELD  MUSEUM  NEWS 


April,  19S9 


SATURDAY  AFTERNOON  LECTURES 
CONTINUE  ANOTHER  MONTH 

F^ve  illustrated  lectures  on  science  and 
travel  in  the  spring  course  for  adults  remain 
to  be  given  on  Saturday  afternoons  during 
April.  All  lectures  begin  at  2:30  p.m.,  and 
are  presented  in  the  James  Simpson  Theatre 
of  the  Museum.  The  speakers  engaged  for 
the  series  are  well-known  scientists,  natura- 
lists and  photographers.  Motion  pictures 
or  stereopticon  slides  accompany  each 
lecture.  Because  of  the  heavy  demand  for 
seats,  children  are  not  admitted;  for  them, 
the  James  Nelson  and  Anna  Louise  Ray- 
mond Foundation  presents  free  programs  of 
motion  pictures  on  the  mornings  of  the  same 
days. 

Following  are  the  dates,  subjects  and 
speakers  for  the  remaining  lectures: 

April       1 — The  Basket  Maker  Indians  in 
Eighth  Century  Colorado 

Dr.  Paul  S.  Martin,  Field  Museum 

April       8 — Life   Among   the   Alaskan 
Eskimos 

Mr.  Elder  C  Anderson,  Minneapolis,  Minnesota 

April     15 — Colorful  Caribbean  Shores 

Mr.  William  B.  Holmes,  Evanston,  Illinois 

April     22 — Mysterious  Kinabalu 

Mr.  Harold  J.  Coolidge,  Jr.,  Museum  of  Com- 
parative Zoology,  Cambridge,  Massachusetts 

April     29— Western  Wild  Flowers 

Mr.  John  Claire  Monteith,  Hollywood,  California 

No  tickets  are  necessary  for  admission 
to  these  lectures.  A  section  of  the  Theatre 
is  reserved  for  Members  of  the  Museum, 
each  of  whom  is  entitled  to  two  reserved 
seats  on  request.  Requests  for  these  seats 
may  be  made  by  telephone  or  in  writing  to 
the  Museum,  in  advance  of  the  lecture, 
and  seats  will  be  held  in  the  Member's 
name  until  2:30  o'clock  on  the  day  of  the 
lecture.  All  reserved  seats  not  claimed  by 
2:30  o'clock  will  be  made  available  to  the 
general  public. 


APRIL  SUNDAY  TOURS  PRESENT 
STORY  OF  PREHISTORIC  MAN 

"Digging  Up  the  Cave  Man's  Past"  is  the 
title  of  the  lecture-tours  to  be  presented  on 
Sunday  afternoons  during  April  by  Mr.  Paul 
G.  Dallwig,  the  Layman  Lecturer  of  Field 
Museum.  Mr.  Dallwig  will  conduct  his 
listeners  on  tours  of  the  Hall  of  the  Stone  Age 
of  the  Old  World,  lecturing  on  the  series  of 
dioramas  containing  life-size  restorations  of 
various  types  of  prehistoric  men,  and  on  the 
extensive  accompanying  exhibits  of  artifacts 
displayed  in  near-by  cases. 

As  each  Sunday  tour  is  necessarily  limited 
in  size  to  125  adults  (children  cannot  be 
accommodated),  it  is  necessary  to  make  res- 
ervations in  advance  by  mail  or  telephone 
(Wabash  9410).  Lectures  begin  promptly 
at  2  P.M.,  and  end  at  4:30.  During  a  half- 
hour  intermission  midway  in  the  tours, 
members  of  the  parties  wishing  to  do  so  may 
obtain  refreshments  in  the  Cafeteria,  where 


they  may  also  smoke.     Special  tables  are 
reserved  for  the  groups. 

In  May  the  subject  of  Sunday  tours  will 
be  "The  Parade  of  the  Races,"  in  connection 
with  which  Mr.  Dallwig  will  conduct  his 
hearers  on  tours  of  the  Hall  of  the  Races  of 
Mankind  containing  the  famous  series  of 
sculptures  by  Malvina  Hoffman. 


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

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


FIVE  PROGRAMS  FOR  CHILDREN 
ARE  OFFERED  THIS  MONTH 

The  James  Nelson  and  Anna  Louise 
Raymond  Foundation  will  present  in  April 
five  more  programs  in  its  spring  series  for 
children.  These  programs  are  given  on 
Saturday  mornings  in  the  James  Simpson 
Theatre  of  the  Museum.  Admission  is  free. 
The  films  on  each  program  will  be  shown 
twice,  at  10  a.m.,  and  at  11,  in  order  to 
accommodate  maximum  audiences.  In- 
cluded are  pictures  with  talking  and  sound 
efifects,  musical  animated  cartoons  by  Walt 
Disney,  and  educational  subjects  in  great 
variety.  Children  from  all  parts  of  Chicago 
and  suburbs  are  invited.  No  tickets  are 
needed.  The  Museum  is  prepared  to  receive 
large  groups  from  schools  and  other  centers, 
as  well  as  individual  children  coming  alone 
or  accompanied  by  parents  or  other  adults. 
Teachers  are  urged  to  bring  their  classes. 

The  following  schedule  shows  the  titles 
of  the  films  to  be  presented  on  each  program. 

April  1 — The  Declaration  of  Independence; 
Elephants  of  Today. 

April  8 — Busy  Beavers  (Disney  Cartoon); 
In  Faraway  Manchukuo;  We're  on  Our 
Way;  The  Life  of  a  Plant;  Spotted  Wings. 

April  15 — Bill  and  Bob  Trap  a  Mountain 
Lion;  Our  Four-footed  Helpers;  The 
Trumpeter;  Majorca  the  Picturesque; 
Wild  Life  on  the  Amazon. 

April  22 — Birds  in  the  Spring  (Disney 
Cartoon);  Chumming  with  Chipmunks; 
Leaping  Through  Life;  Pottery  Makers 
of  the  Southwest;  Nature's  Armor. 

April  29 — In  Nature's  Workshop;  Let's 
Save  a  Life;  The  Heart  of  the  Sierras; 
Our  Zoo  Acquaintances. 


APRIL  GUIDE-LECTURE  TOURS 
FOR  WEEK-DAY  VISITORS 

Conducted  tours  of  exhibits,  under  the 
guidance  of  staff  lecturers,  are  made  every 
afternoon  at  3  o'clock  except  Saturdays, 
Sundays,  and  certain  holidays.  Following 
is  the  schedule  of  subjects  and  dates  for 
April: 

Week  beginning  April  3:  Monday — Ores 
and  Metals;  Tuesday — Native  American 
Fruits  and  Vegetables;  Wednesday — Animal 
Life  of  the  Chicago  Region;  Thursday — 
General  Tour;  Friday — American  Archae- 
ology. 

Week  beginning  April  10:  Monday — 
Building  Materials;  Tuesday — Cats  and 
Their  Relatives;  Wednesday — Races  of 
Mankind;  Thursday — General  Tour;  Fri- 
day— The  Art  of  Ancient  Egypt. 

Week  beginning  April  17:  Monday — Our 
Spring  Birds;  Tuesday — Palms  and  Cereals; 
Wednesday — Totem-pole  Builders;  Thurs- 
day— General  Tour;  Friday — Pottery  and 
Porcelain. 

Week  beginning  April  2i:  Monday — Apes 
and  Monkeys;  Tuesday — Plants  of  Tropical 
Lands;  Wednesday — Glimpses  of  Melanesian 
Life;  Thursday — General  Tour;  Friday — 
Jades  and  Their  Uses. 

Persons  wishing  to  participate  should 
apply  at  North  Entrance.  Tours  are  free. 
A  new  schedule  will  appear  each  month  in 
Field  Museum  News.  Guide-lecturers' 
services  for  special  tours  by  parties  of  ten 
or  more  are  available  by  arrangement  with 
the  Director  a  week  in  advance. 


MEMBERSHIP  IN  FIELD  MUSEUM 

Field  Museum  has  several  classes  of  Members. 
Annual  Members  contribute  $10  annually.  As- 
sociate Members  pay  $100  and  are  exempt  from 
dues.  Sustaining  Members  contribute  $25  annu- 
ally for  six  consecutive  years,  after  which  they 
become  Associate  Members  and  are  exempt  from 
all  further  dues.  Life  Members  give  $500  and 
are  exempt  from  dues.  Non-Resident  Life  Mem- 
bers pay  $100,  and  Non-Resident  Associate 
Members  $50;  both  of  these  classes  are  also 
exempt  from  dues.  The  Non-Resident  member- 
ships are  available  only  to  persons  residing  fifty 
miles  or  more  from  Chicago.  Those  who  give  or 
devise  to  the  Museum  $1,000  to  $100,000  are 
designated  as  Contributors,  and  those  who  give 
or  devise  $100,000  or  more  become  Benefactors. 
Other  memberships  are  Honorary,  Patron, 
Corresponding  and  Corporate,  additions  under 
these  classifications  being  made  by  special  action 
of  the  Board  of  Trustees. 

Each  Member,  in  alt  classes,  is  entitled  to  tree 
admission  to  the  Museum  for  himself,  his  family 
and  house  guests,  and  to  two  reserved  seats  for 
Museum  lectures  provided  for  Members.  Sub- 
scription to  Field  Museum  News  is  included 
with  all  memberships.  The  courtesies  of  every 
museum  of  note  in  the  United  States  and  Canada 
are  extended  to  all  Members  of  Field  Museum. 
A  Member  may  give  his  personal  card  to  non- 
residents of  Chicago,  upon  presentation  of  which 
they  will  be  admitted  to  the  Museum  without 
charge.  Further  information  about  member- 
ships will  be  sent  on  request. 

BEQUESTS  AND  ENDOWMENTS 

Bequests  to  Field  Museum  of  Natural  History 
may  be  made  in  securities,  money,  books  or 
collections.  They  may,  if  desired,  take  the  form 
of  a  memorial  to  a  person  or  cause,  named  by  the 
giver. 

Contributions  made  within  the  taxable  year  not 
exceeding  15  per  cent  of  the  taxpayer's  net  in- 
come are  allowable  as  deductions  in  computing 
net  income  for  federal  income  tax  purposes. 

Endowments  may  be  made  to  the  Museum 
with  the  provision  that  an  annuity  be  paid  to 
the  patron  tor  life.  These  annuities  are  guaran- 
teed against  fluctuation  in  amount,  and  may 
reduce  federal  income  taxes. 


PRINTED    BY    FIELD    MUSEUM    PRESS 


News 


Pvblished  Monthly  by  Field  Museum  of  Natural  History,  Chicago 


Vol.  10 


MAY,  1939 


No.  5 


FANTASTIC  INVERTEBRATE  CREATURES  OF  THE  SEA  ARE  SHOWN  IN  A  NEW  HALL 


BY  FRITZ  HAAS 

CURATOR  OF  LOWER  INVERTEBRATES 

The  lower  animals,  which  are  so  fascinat- 
ing to  the  human  imagination  because  of 
their  bizarre  shapes,  bright  colors,  and  al- 
most unbelievable  patterns,  are  the  subject 
of  an  extensive  series  of  exhibits  occupying 
a  new  hall  (Hall  M  on  the  ground  floor  of 
the  Museum),  which  was  opened  last  month. 

While  it  is  planned  later  to  make  additions 
to  these  exhibits,  the 
cases  already  avail- 
able contain  a  choice 
collection.  Many 
shells  of  clams  and 
snails  illustrate  the 
thousands  of  varia- 
tions of  which  these 
animals  are  capable. 
Varieties  so  tiny  as 
to  be  hardly  visible 
contrast  with  giant 
clams  ranging  from 
two  to  three  feet  in 
diameter,  and  weigh- 
ing as  much  as  155 
pounds.  Included 
also  are  both  marine 
and  fresh-water  pearl- 
mussels,  with  ex- 
amples of  the  products 
obtained  from  them 
upon  which  various 
industries  are  based. 
Land  snails  of  many 
highly  colored  vari- 
eties, and  many  gro- 
tesque shapes,  form 
another  interesting 
section  of  the  exhibits. 

Well 


but  that  they  may  prove  to  be  fertile  material 
to  stimulate  the  fancy  of  artists  and  designers 
because  of  the  many  surprising  suggestions 
they  offer  as  inspiration  for  compositions  in 
color  and  form. 

Outstanding  in  interest  are  life-size  repro- 
ductions of  a  large  octopus  and  a  giant  squid 
which  are  hung  from  the  ceiling  in  this  hall. 

The  exhibits  in  this  hall  are  equipped 
throughout  with  a  new  type  of  "daylight" 


represented 
are  the  corals,  which  make  up  a  vast  army 
composed  of  varieties  ranging  in  color  from 
white  through  all  the  hues  of  the  spectrum, 
and  of  different  forms  which  give  them  such 
names  as  "brain-like,"  "fan-like,"  and  "tree- 
like" corals.  Other  odd  creatures  selected 
from  the  populations  of  seas  and  sea-shores 
for  display  in  this  hall  are  the  sea-urchins, 
the  star-fishes,  and  a  host  of  other  animals 
of  strange  appearance  and  remarkable 
habits. 

These  exhibits  fill  a  gap  which  has  long 
existed  in  the  Museum's  Department  of 
Zoology.  It  is  expected  that  they  will  not 
only  attract  the  attention  of  lovers  of  nature, 


One  of  the  Exhibits  in  the  New  Hall  of  Lower  Invertebrates 

Many  other  cases,  like  this  one,  are  filled  with  specimens  of  some  of  the  strangest  denizens  of  the  sea  depths. 
The  displays  of  bizarre  creatures  are  made  all  the  more  striking  by  a  new  and  extremely  effective  type  of  lighting. 
In  this  particular  group  are  shown  some  of  the  varieties  of  corals  which  resemble  trees  and  shrubs  in  appearance. 


lighting  which  reveals  the  true  colors  of  the 
specimens,  bringing  out  rich  tones  as  well  as 
somber  shades,  and  all  the  delicate  varia- 
tions, in  a  manner  that  has  never  before 
been  possible  with  ordinary  illumination. 
The  hall  is  the  first  in  Field  Museum,  and 
probably  the  first  in  any  museum,  to  be 
thus  completely  equipped.  The  light  is 
furnished  by  a  new  type  of  tubular  fluores- 
cent lamp,  recently  developed  by  the  General 
Electric  Company.  As  used  in  the  Museum, 
these  lamps  are  concealed  in  specially  con- 
structed light  boxes  at  the  tops  of  the 
exhibition  cases.  Before  deciding  to  adopt 
this  innovation,  exhaustive  tests  were  made 


in  the  Museum  for  several  months  to 
determine  to  what  extent  the  lighting  was 
improved,  and  also  to  ascertain  whether 
the  lights  would  cause  fading  or  other 
damage  to  exhibited  objects.  The  lamps 
passed  the  tests  on  all  points.  A  check  on 
the  amount  of  current  consumed  indicates 
an  average  saving  of  71  per  cent  in  wattage 
as  compared  with  the  old  type  of  lights. 
Certain  other  exhibits  are  already  being 
equipped  with  the 
new  lights,  and  plans 
are  under  considera- 
tion for  gradually  in- 
stalling them  in  many 
other  exhibits,  and 
also  in  the  Library, 
in  offices  and  labora- 
tories, and  elsewhere. 

NEW  LIGHTING  USED 
IN  BIRD  HALL  ALSO 

Shortly  after  the 
completion  of  the 
new  Hall  of  Lower 
Invertebrates,  in- 
stallation of  the  new 
type  of  lighting  used 
there  was  completed 
also  in  Hall  21,  de- 
voted to  the  system- 
atic collections  of 
birds.  Here,  as  in 
Hall  M,  the  new  lights 
were  found  to  have 
distinct  advantages 
in  showing  exhibits 
in  their  true  colors. 
An  application  of 
the  new  lights  in 
illumination  of  a 
habitat  group  has  also 
been  successfully  made  in  the  new  Hall 
of  Fishes  (Hall  0),  currently  in  preparation. 
Exhibits  in  Hall  O,  however,  will  not  be 
available  to  the  public  until  construction 
and  installation  work  is  completed,  which 
will  require  several  more  months. 


A  Gift  of  Navaho  Textiles 
from  Homer  E.  Sargent 

Augmenting  his  many  previous  gifts 
over  a  long  period  of  years,  Mr.  Homer  E. 
Sargent,  of  Pasadena,  California  (formerly 
of  Chicago),  recently  presented  an  additional 
collection  of  notable  Navaho  textiles. 


Page  2 


FIELD  MUSEUM  NEWS 


May,  19S9 


EXPEDITION  WILL  COLLECT 
FLORIDA  MARINE  ANIMALS 

An  expedition  to  collect  specimens  of 
marine  animals,  and  study  the  invertebrate 
life  of  the  shores  along  both  the  Atlantic 
and  Gulf  coasts  of  the  Florida  peninsula, 
will  leave  Chicago  about  May  10.  Mem- 
bers of  the  expedition  are  Dr.  Fritz  Haas, 
the  Museum's  Curator  of  Lower  Inverte- 
brates, and  Mr.  Leon  L.  Walters,  of  the 
stafif  of  taxidermists. 

Specimens  will  be  sought  by  Dr.  Haas  for 
addition  to  the  collection  in  the  recently 
opened  Hall  of  Lower  Invertebrates  (Hall 
M).  He  will  also  make  studies  and  collect 
material  for  possible  use  in  habitat  groups 
planned  for  the  future.  Mr.  Walters  will 
assist  Dr.  Haas,  and  will  make  special  at- 
tempts to  obtain  certain  important  species 
of  large  turtles — loggerheads  and  green  sea 
turtles.  From  the  specimens  collected  he 
will  make  plaster  casts  for  use  in  preparing 
reproductions  at  the  Museum  later. 

The  expedition  is  sponsored  by  the 
President  of  the  Museum,  Mr.  Stanley  Field. 


FOSSIL  MAMMALS  OF  WEST 
SOUGHT  BY  EXPEDITION 

A  Field  Museum  expedition  left  Chicago 
on  April  17  to  collect  skeletal  material  repre- 
senting various  species  of  extinct  mammals 
in  the  Oligocene,  Miocene  and  Pliocene  fossil 
beds  of  northwestern  Nebraska  and  eastern 
Wyoming.  Mr.  Paul  O.  McGrew,  Assistant 
in  Paleontology,  is  the  leader.  He  is  accom- 
panied by  Mr.  John  M.  Schmidt,  of  Home- 
wood,  Illinois,  and  Mr.  Orville  Gilpin,  of 
Chicago.  The  party  drove  to  the  region  of 
operations  in  a  motor  truck,  which  will  be 
used  also  for  transport  of  the  specimens 
excavated. 

The  expedition  will  seek  prehistoric  mam- 
mals of  species  not  yet  represented  in  the 
Museum's  large  collections.  Previous  sur- 
veys of  the  territory  to  be  worked  indicate 
that  among  the  specimens  which  may  be 
found  are  camels  and  rhinoceroses  which 
once  inhabited  the  American  plains,  small 
three-toed  horses,  and  various  rodents, 
carnivores,  and  insectivores.  Some  of  the 
species  to  be  sought  lived  as  far  back  as 
forty  million  years  ago. 

Plans  call  for  the  continuance  of  the  work 
until  some  time  in  July.  The  expedition  is 
sponsored  by  Mr.  Stanley  Field,  President 
of  the  Museum. 


RAYMOND  FOUNDATION  AIDS 
SCHOOL  RADIO  PROGRAMS 

On  April  13  the  James  Nelson  and  Anna 
Louise  Raymond  Foundation  for  Public 
School  and  Children's  Lectures  presented 
the  fourth  in  its  series  of  "Radio  Followup" 
programs  of  the  present  school  year,  in 
co-ordination  with  the  science  broadcasts  of 
the    Public    School    Broadcasting    Council. 


Two  informal  meetings  for  groups  of  chil- 
dren were  held  in  the  Lecture  Hall  of  the 
Museum.  The  subject  was  "The  Age  of 
Trees."  Many  fine  specimens  showing 
annual  rings  were  loaned  by  the  Department 
of  Botany.  Each  child  who  attended  had 
an  opportunity  to  observe  different  types 
of  woods  and  to  study  the  formations  of  the 
annual  rings,  as  well  as  to  ask  questions. 
The  discussions  were  followed  by  conducted 
tours  to  Museum  halls  containing  wood 
exhibits,  and  to  Hall  7  for  the  exhibit 
explaining  tree  ring  dating  and  its  use  in 
archaeology.  One  hundred  sixty-nine  pupils 
from  eighth  grade  classes  were  the  guests  of 
the  Museum  for  these  programs.  Similar 
programs  given  in  preceding  months  treated 
the  subjects  of  birch  trees,  coal,  and 
meteorites.  — M.M.C. 


THINOS  YOU  MAY  HAVE  MISSED 


The  European  Cave  Salamander 

The  underground  waters  of  caves  in  the 
Carinthian  and  Balkan  limestone  region 
harbor  one  of  the  strangest  of  living  crea- 
tures— a  white,  blind,  and  eel-like  salaman- 
der. It  is  known  in  German  as  "01m,"  and 
in  English  sometimes  as  the  proteus  (from 
its  scientific  name,  Proteus  anguineus).  Its 
bright  red  tufts  of  gills  on  each  side  of  the 
neck  mark  it  as  a  larval  form^one  of  those 
salamanders  which  even  breed  as  aquatic 
larvae  and  have  altogether  lost  the  adult 
land  stage  into  which  we  may  presume  their 
ancestors  transformed.  The  olm  is  further 
remarkable  among  salamanders  for  produc- 
ing living  young,  numbering  only  two  at 
birth. 


The  olm  is  not  difficult  to  transport  and 
may  occasionally  be  seen  alive  in  aquaria  in 
this  country.  In  spite  of  the  very  consider- 
able numbers  of  specimens  captured  for 
sale  to  aquarists  and  to  scientists,  the  re- 
maining olm  population  in  caves  happily 
does  not  seem  to  have  declined. 

There  are  two  cave  salamanders,  also 
white  and  with  eyes  covered  over  with  skin, 
in  the  United  States.  One  occurs  in  the 
caves  of  the  Ozark  region  of  Missouri  and 
Arkansas,  and  the  other  lives  in  the  under- 
ground waters  of  a  limited  area  in  the  vicinity 
of  San  Marcos,  Texas. 

The  European  cave  salamander  is  shown 
in  Albert  W.  Harris  Hall.  — K.P.S. 


-and  Things  the  Editors  Missed! 


A  Correction 

In  the  caption  for  the  illustration  accom- 
panying the  Things  You  May  Have  Missed 
article  on  page  3  of  the  April  Field  Museum 
News  there  occurred  an  error  involving 
some  399,982,000  years,  more  or  less.  This 
caption  placed  glaciers  in  the  Chicago  region 
"during  the  Silurian  period,  some  400,000,000 
years  ago."  The  period  of  glaciation  referred 
to  was  the  Pleistocene,  and  it  ended  about 
18,000  years  ago.  The  Silurian  period  was 
the  time  of  formation  of  the  underlying 
rock  of  which  the  upper  layer  was  planed 
off  by  the  glaciers. 


White,  Blind,  and  Eel-like 

The    European    cave    salamander    (or  "Olm"),    as 
it  is  represented  in  an  exhibit  in  Albert  W.  Harris  Hall. 


DR.  P.  S.  MARTIN  TO  EXCAVATE 
RUINS  IN  NEW  MEXICO 

During  the  summer  of  1939,  Field  Museum 
will  again  sponsor  an  archaeological  expedi- 
tion to  the  Southwest  under  the  leadership 
of  Dr.  Paul  S.  Martin,  Chief  Curator  of  the 
Department  of  Anthropology.  Resumption 
of  this  important  work  has  been  made  possi- 
ble by  a  gift  from  Mr.  Stanley  Field,  Presi- 
dent of  the  Museum. 

Dr.  Martin,  who  in  recent  years  has  com- 
pleted eight  seasons  of  field  work  in  south- 
western Colorado,  will  this  season  turn  his 
attention  to  excavating  some  early  ruins 
near  Glenwood,  New  Mexico.  He  and  his 
associates  will  leave  Chicago  about  June  1, 
and  will  continue  field  operations  until 
autumn. 

Dr.  Martin  has  concluded  investigation  of 
all  of  the  various  known  manifestations  in 
southwestern  Colorado  of  Anasazi  culture 
(i.e.,  the  Modified  Basket  Maker  Period, 
and  Pueblo  Periods  I,  II,  and  III).  Two 
reports  on  his  researches  have  already 
been  issued  by  Field  Museum  Press,  and 
another  is  in  press  now  for  release  within  a 
few  months. 

The  ruins  Dr.  Martin  will  investigate  in 
New  Mexico  this  season  belong  to  what  is 
known  as  the  MogoUon  culture.  It  is  barely 
possible  that  a  cultural  connection  exists 
between  the  early  MogoUon  and  the  Basket 
Maker  cultures,  Dr.  Martin  states. 


May,  1939 


FIELD  MUSEUM  NEWS 


Page  3 


EGGS  OF  ODD  SHAPES,  SIZES, 
AND  COLORS,  EXHIBITED 

A  temporary  exhibit  of  a  selection  of 
some  of  the  world's  most  interesting  birds' 
eggs  has  been  installed  in  Stanley  Field  Hall. 
Originally  placed  on  view  as  a  special 
feature  for  the  Easter  week-end,  it  proved 
so  popular  among  Museum  visitors  that  it 
was  decided  not  to  withdraw  it  for  several 
weeks.  Ultimately,  it  is  planned  to  sub- 
stitute a  more  extensive  permanent  exhibit 
of  eggs. 

EVEN  "triangular"  EGGS! 

In  the  present  exhibit  are  included  eggs 
of  various  shapes,  sizes  and  colors — eggs  of 
long  extinct  birds,  the  smallest  known  birds' 
eggs,  and  a  replica  of  the  largest  egg  known. 
In  addition  to  those  of  the  familiar  oval 
shape,  there  are  approximately  triangular 
eggs  of  shore  birds,  laid  in  groups  of  four 
which  fit  together  in  a  nest  like  the  pieces 
of  a  cut  pie;  tapered  conical  eggs  of  murres, 
and  the  round  eggs  of  owls  which  are  almost 
as  spherical  as  billiard  balls.  The  conical 
murre's  eggs  represent  an  example  of 
Nature's  provisions  for  "safety  first."  These 
eggs  are  not  laid  in  nests,  but  directly  on 
the  rocks  on  high  cliffs  in  the  Arctic  wilder- 
nesses they  inhabit,  where  high  winds  blow. 
The  conical  shape  causes  them  to  roll  in 
a  circle  when  blown  by  the  wind,  instead 
of  rolling  off  the  cliffs  to  disaster. 

The  eggs  in  this  special  exhibit  are  selected 
from  the  Museum's  vast  study  collection 
which  comprises  more  than  60,000  speci- 
mens. The  greater  part  of  these  were  collect- 
ed and  presented  by  the  Hon.  R.  Magoon 
Barnes,  of  Lacon,  Illinois,  Curator  of  Birds' 
Eggs.  This  collection  is  one  of  the  largest 
and  most  important  in  America. 

Among  the  eggs  shown  are  those  of  the 
South  American  tinamous,  remarkable  for 
their  pastel  colors  and  a  characteristic  glaze 
that  makes  them  appear  as  though  they 
were  made  of  glass;  and  eggs  of  the  mound- 
builder  birds  which  have  a  bisque-like 
texture  resembling  pottery.  The  mound- 
builders'  eggs  are  laid  in  mounds  and 
abandoned  by  their  parents.  Incubation  is 
accomplished  by  rotting  vegetation,  and 
the  young  birds  when  thus  hatched  out  are 
able  to  shift  for  themselves  from  the  start, 
states  Mr.  Rudyerd  Boulton,  Curator  of 
Birds. 

A  NINE-QUART  EGG 

The  tiniest  eggs  shown  are  those  of  hum- 
ming birds — scarcely  the  size  of  small  coffee 
beans.  The  largest  egg  is  that  of  the  extinct 
Aepyornis,  one  of  the  three  largest  birds 
that  ever  lived.  This  bird  attained  statures 
exceeding  eleven  feet  in  height.  Its  eggs 
were  as  much  as  fifteen  inches  long,  and 
had  a  capacity  of  about  one  and  three- 
quarters  gallons.  The  specimen  exhibited 
is  a  replica,  cast  from  a  mold  made  over 
an  original  specimen  in  the  possession  of 
the  Museum  (the  original  is  too  rare  to 
risk  in  an  exhibit).    Several  of  these  replicas 


have  been  prepared  by  Mr.  James  H.  Quinn, 
Assistant  in  the  Museum's  paleontological 
laboratories.  The  largest  eggs  of  modern 
birds  are  those  of  the  ostrich,  which  average 
about  five  and  one-half  inches  in  length  by 
five  inches  in  diameter.  Cubically  measured, 
one  Aepyornis  egg  equals  about  six  ostrich 
eggs,  and  about  ten  dozen  hens'  eggs. 

Aepyornis  is  probably  the  inspiration  of 
the  many  legends  about  the  mythical  "roc" 
(or  "ruhk")  which  figured  in  the  Arabian 
Nights.  Rocs  were  supposed  to  feed  their 
young  on  full-grown  elephants  which  they 
carried  to  their  nests,  and  to  drop  heavy 
boulders  on  the  ships  of  early  traders  and 
sink  them.  It  was  in  such  an  "air  raid"  that 
Sindbad  the  Sailor  was  wrecked,  according 
to  the  story. 

FOUND  FLOATING  AT  SEA 

Nests  of  the  Aepyornis  were  made  in  the 
sand  dunes  of  southwestern  Madagascar. 
Eggs  from  these  were  often  washed  out  by 
wave  action,  and  then  found  floating  at 
sea  by  Arab  and  Indian  mariners.  The  sailors 


Tiny  Nest  of  Hummingbird,  and  Eggs 
Illustration    is   about   actual    size.      Dimensions    of 
the  nest  are:  IJi  inches  in  length,  IH  inches  in  width, 
1 K  inches  in  outside  depth,  and  ^  inch  in  inside  depth. 

were  naturally  led  to  speculate  as  to  what 
sort  of  bird  could  have  laid  such  large  eggs 
and  thus  the  roc  legends  arose,  according  to 
Curator  Boulton. 


Rare  Books  From  Colonel  Roosevelt 

Two  beautiful  illuminated  religious  manu- 
scripts from  Tibet,  written  on  parchment  in 
the  ornate  Tibetan  script,  and  bound  in 
elaborate  wooden  covers,  were  recently 
presented  to  the  Library  of  Field  Museum  by 
Colonel  Theodore  Roosevelt,  of  New  York, 
a  Trustee  of  the  institution. 


$1,250,000  for  Glass 

The  plate  glass  required  for  the  protection 
of  exhibits  in  Field  Museum  runs  into 
notable  figures.  The  total  amount  used  in 
all  Museum  cases  is  approximately  2,100,000 
square  feet,  and  represents  a  value  of  more 
than  $1,250,000. 


A  GEOLOGICAL  COLLECTION 
OF  HISTORIC  INTEREST 

The  Department  of  Geology  has  received, 
as  a  gift  from  Dr.  Henry  Field,  Curator  of 
Physical  Anthropology,  a  large  and  valuable 
collection  of  minerals  and  fossils  numbering 
more  than  1,500  specimens.  The  collection 
derives  much  of  its  interest  and  significance 
from  the  fact  that  the  specimens  contained 
in  it  were  collected  or  acquired  more  than 
120  years  ago  by  the  Misses  Salisbury  of 
Baggrave  Hall,  Leicestershire,  England. 
Before  their  death  in  the  1820's,  these 
remarkable  women  had  collected  minerals 
and  fossils  from  many  of  the  now  "classical" 
localities  both  in  Great  Britain  and  on  the 
continent,  and  had  acquired  mineral  speci- 
mens from  points  as  distant  as  California, 
Siberia,  and  the  East  Indies. 

Eight  hundred  of  the  specimens  are  in- 
vertebrate fossils,  including  assemblages  of 
forms  from  the  famous  English  localities  of 
Wenlock,  Lyme  Regis,  and  the  chalk  cliffs, 
as  well  as  from  deposits  of  many  other  ages 
and  places.  Among  the  mineral  specimens, 
of  which  there  are  more  than  600,  are  repre- 
sentative examples  of  the  varied  and,  in 
some  cases,  rare  minerals  of  Cornwall, 
Devon,  Cumberland  and  Derbyshire,  as 
well  as  fine  collections  from  Arendal,  Nor- 
way, and  the  Vesuvius  region  in  Italy. 

In  addition  to  providing  a  great  deal  of 
material  for  study,  some  of  it  from  localities 
in  which  such  specimens  can  no  longer  be 
obtained,  this  collection  will  enhance  the 
exhibits,  and  will  provide  some  material  for 
educational  use  by  the  N.  W.  Harris  Public 
School  Extension.  A  specimen  of  Cumber- 
land fluorite  from  this  collection  has  been 
added  to  the  fluorescence  display  between 
Halls  34  and  35.  — L.  B.  M.,  Jr. 


Higinbotham  Portrait  Received 

A  painting  of  the  late  Harlow  N.  Higin- 
botham, who  was  the  second  President  of 
Field  Museum,  serving  in  that  capacity 
from  1898  to  1908,  has  been  presented  to  the 
Museum  by  Mrs.  Richard  T.  Crane. 


HIGHLY  INSTRUCTIVE— 

"Handicraft,  by  Lester  Griswold, 
is  an  exceptionally  complete  instruc- 
tion book  of  applied  arts  that  answers 
more  questions  than  one  would  expect 
from  a  book  of  its  size,"  states  Dr. 
Paul  S.  Martin,  Chief  Curator  of 
Anthropology  at  Field  Museum. 
"Scout  leaders  and  other  students  of 
Indian  crafts  will  find  especially  useful 
the  chapters  on  leather  working,  weav- 
ing, pottery-making,  stone-working, 
and  other  primitive  arts." 

Craft  Edition  (flexible  cover)  $2.50; 
Library  Edition  (cloth  cover)   $3.50. 

On  sale  at  the  BOOK  SHOP  of 
FIELD  MUSEUM. 


Page  i 


FIELD  MUSEUM  NEWS 


May,  1939 


AFRICAN  BOYS  PROVE  FORTITUDE  AS  MARRIAGE  ESSENTIAL 

By  WILFRID  D.  HAMBLY  Ward  and  removed  his  tunic  so  that  he  was 

CURATOR  OF  AFRICAN  ETHNOLOGY  naked  from  ths  waist  upward.    From  the 

circle  of  spectators  rushed  an  elderly  woman, 
the  mother  of  the  lad,  who  threw  her  arms 
about  him,  and  in  this  protective  manner 
sought  to  draw  him  back  to  the  crowd. 
This,  however,  she  was  not  permitted  to 
do,  and  after  a  brief  scuffle  the  boy  stood 
holding  a  sword  above  his  head. 

Another  boy  of  the  same  age  came  for- 
ward, testing  the  suppleness  of  a  stout 
pliable  stick  that  he  swished  through  the 
air  with  great  satisfaction  as  evidenced  by 
his  broad  smile.  The  boy  holding  the  sword 
appeared  to  take  a  less  cheerful  outlook, 
but  despite  the  punishment  he  was  about 
to  receive  he  stood  still  and  held  the  sword 
firmly.  The  music  was  accelerated,  and  in 
time  to  the  rhythm  the  boy  with  the  switch 


When  traveling  through  hilly  country  in 
east  central  Nigeria  some  years  ago  (while 
conducting  the  Frederick  H.  Rawson-Field 
Museum  Ethnological  Expedition  to  West 
Africa),  my  attention  was  attracted  by  a 
group  of  people  arranged  in  a  circle  from 
the  center  of  which  came  sounds  of  drum- 
ming and  dancing.  One  could  see  at  a  glance 
that  an  important  ceremony  was  in  progress, 
as  a  dignified  chief  was  in  charge,  while  two 
"janitors"  were  enlarging  the  arena  by  a 
liberal  and  impartial  use  of  their  long  whips. 

All  the  people  were  of  the  Fulani  tribe, 
who  might  almost  be  described  as  a  race, 
so  clearly  distinguished  are  they  from  other 
Africans  in  appearance  and  language.  There 
is  a  mixture  of  Negro  blood  in  the  Fulani, 


How  African  Boys  Prove  Their  Manhood 

The  flogging  ceremony,  a  part  of  the  initiation  of  the  youths  of  the  Fulani  tribe  in  Nigeria.  Note  the  marks  on 
the  body  of  the  boy  who  is  holding  up  the  sword.  The  photograph  was  made  by  Curator  Wilfrid  D.  Hambly,  who 
was  permitted  to  witness  the  ritual  while  in  Africa  conducting  the  Rawson-Field  Museum  Ethnological  Expedition. 


but  the  light  brown  skin  color  and  refined 
features  betoken  basic  traits  of  another 
race.  Many  of  the  Fulani  are  nomadic 
cattle  keepers  who  wander  over  wide  areas 
of  west  Africa,  and  without  design  I  had 
the  good  fortune  to  arrive  at  the  beginning 
of  a  rite  of  initiation  into  manhood.  This 
pain  test  is  an  indispensable  prelude  to 
marriage,  for  no  girl  among  those  standing 
around  would  accept  a  coward. 

MATERNAL  INSTINCT  THWARTED 

The  chief  secured  for  me  a  place  near  the 
orchestra  whose  principal  instruments  were 
slender  drums  one  of  which  was  held  under 
the  arm  of  each  player.  Louder  grew  the 
music,  and  more  energetic  were  the  efforts 
of  the  janitors  with  their  whips,  but  when 
at  last  a  space  was  dear  a  boy  stepped  for- 


danced  round  his  victim,  pausing  now  and 
then  to  raise  his  weapon  as  if  about  to 
deliver  a  blow,  then  once  more  resuming 
his  gyrations.  The  boy  who  held  the  sword 
stood  still  with  downcast  eyes,  giving  no 
indication  of  emotion  when  the  blow  threat- 
ened. His  exhibition  of  stoicism  drew  ap- 
plause from  the  onlookers. 

At  last  the  blow  descended  with  a  sick- 
ening thud,  leaving  a  conspicuous  welt.  The 
sufferer  bent  double  for  a  second,  and  an 
elderly  man  ran  forward  and  rubbed  him. 
Then  the  victim  made  a  few  rhythmical 
steps  and  smiled,  rather  faintly,  at  the  crowd 
which  was  vociferous  with  applause.  The 
actions  of  the  victim  were  intended  to 
indicate  his  contempt  for  pain.  Three 
times  the  performance  was  repeated.    Then 


came  a  transfer  of  roles.  The  sufferer 
proceeded  leisurely  to  dress  and  take  the 
whip,  while  the  boy  who  had  wielded  it  be- 
fore now  prepared  to  play  a  less  happy  part. 
Again  an  attempt  was  made  at  rescue,  by 
the  mother,  but  she  was  thrust  back  into 
the  ring  of  spectators.  The  lad  who  had 
received  three  blows  undertook  his  new  task 
with  relish,  dancing  slowly  and  threatening 
his  victim  repeatedly  before  actually  deliver- 
ing a  blow. 

WIVES  CHOSEN  AT  ONCE 

The  second  victim  emerged  as  trium- 
phantly as  the  first,  and  both  were  sur- 
rounded by  admiring  girls  from  whom  the 
lads  quickly  selected  their  mates.  The 
ceremony,  though  forbidden  by  the  colonial 
government,  is  still  considered  by  the  Fulani 
as  a  necessary  prelude  to  marriage.  One 
cannot  but  wonder  whether  there  are  any 
boys  who  prefer  to  enjoy  a  painless  bachelor- 
hood. 

In  Sennar,  far  away  from  this  site,  I  have 
seen  men  flog  each  other  with  rhinoceros 
hide  whips  as  part  of  a  wedding  entertain- 
ment. Each  man  gave  and  received  three 
blows,  and  all  concerned  appeared  gratified 
with  this  crude  exhibition  of  fortitude. 


Additions  to  Mammal  Exhibits 

Recent  additions  to  the  systematic  collec- 
tion of  mammals  in  Hall  15  include  a  screen 
on  one  side  of  which  are  displayed  several 
species  of  hyena,  and  on  the  other  side 
specimens  of  the  varied  assortment  of  in- 
teresting animals  comprising  the  raccoon 
family.  To  the  exhibit  of  monkeys  has  been 
added  a  specimen  of  the  strikingly  marked 
Indo-Chinese  species  known  as  the  douc 
langur. 


Hopewell  Flint  Discs 

The  largest  single  cache  ever  found  in 
America  of  flint  discs  fashioned  by  prehis- 
toric men  is  on  exhibition  in  the  Hall  of 
North  American  Archaeology  (Hall  B). 
They  come  from  the  famous  Hopewell 
Mounds  of  Ohio,  and  have  been  installed 
as  nearly  as  possible  in  the  same  position 
in  which  they  were  left  by  the  early  Indian 
inhabitants  of  that  region. 


WILD  FLOWER  LEAFLETS— 

Of  special  interest  and  usefulness  to 
those  interested  in  recognizing  the 
wild  flowers  appearing  at  this  season 
are  illustrated  leaflets.  Spring  Wild 
Flowers,  and  Spring  and  Early  Sum- 
mer Wild  Flowers,  published  by  Field 
Museum.  J.  Francis  Macbride,  Asso- 
ciate Curator  of  the  Herbarium,  is  the 
author.  The  booklets  are  on  sale  at 
the  BOOK  SHOP  of  the  Museum— 
25  cents  each. 


May,  1939 


FIELD  MUSEUM  NEWS 


Page  5 


IRISH  MOSS 

By  LLEWELYN  WILLIAMS 

CURATOR  OF  ECONOMIC  BOTANY 

Chinese  gastronomes  are  famous  for  their 
strange  dishes,  prominent  among  which  are 
ancient  eggs  and  birds '-nest  soup. 

The  secret  of  the  palatability  of  the  vener- 
able eggs  seems  to  be  that  they  are  pickled 
in  a  lime  solution  which  preserves  them 
almost  indefinitely.  They  are  sliced  and 
served  cold  as  in  a  salad. 

The  birds'-nest  soup  is  made  of  material 
similar  to  the  so-called  Irish  moss  which  is 
popular  for  puddings  and  desserts  in  the 
New  England  states,  particularly  Massa- 
chusetts and  New  Hampshire.  The  use  of 
this  small  seaweed  for  food  is  not  confined, 
however,  to  the  United  States.  Its  gelatin- 
ous properties  and  serviceability  for  the 
preparation  of  desserts  have  long  been 
known  in  Europe  and  Great  Britain,  where 
the  plant  grows  in  abundance  in  many 
places  off  the  coast,  especially  that  of  south- 
ern and  western  Ireland.  A  similar  sea- 
weed obtained  from  the  Red  Sea  and 
Indian  Ocean  is  used  in  Persia. 

USED  IN  COIFFURES,  HATS,  BEVERAGES 

Prior  to  1835  the  small  quantity  of  this 
seaweed  imported  from  Europe  was  sold  in 
this  country  at  $1  to  $2  per  pound.  When 
it  was  found  to  be  abundant  also  on  this 
side  of  the  Atlantic  the  price  soon  fell,  and 
by  1880  it  had  been  reduced  to  about  3  cents 
a  pound.  Besides  serving  as  food,  this 
marine  plant  has  a  variety  of  other  uses, 
such  as  in  making  bandoline  for  stiffening 
milady's  coiffure,  for  clarifying  alcoholic 
beverages,  and  as  sizing  in  the  manufacture 
of  calico  and  hats. 

Irish  moss,  or  carrageen,  is  one  of  the  red 
algae,  and  as  such  is  related  to  agar,  or  agar- 
agar,  which  yields  a  similar  vegetable 
"gelatine."  Its  native  habitat  is  the  sea 
and  it  grows  at  low-water  mark  as  well  as 
at  greater  depths,  but  flourishes  best  on 
rocks  constantly  washed  by  strong  waves. 
The  harvest  season  extends  from  May  to 
September.  The  plant  is  obtained  in  two 
ways — by  hand-picking  at  low  tides,  and 
by  means  of  long-handled  rakes  used  from 
boats.  Men  go  out  in  sailboats  or  dories 
at  half  tide,  and  return  at  half  flood  to 
scrape  the  "moss"  off  the  rocks. 

EXTENDED  CtmiNG  PROCESS 

For  curing,  fair  weather  with  abundant 
sunshine  is  necessary.  On  being  brought 
ashore  the  clumps  of  much  branched  moss- 
like algae  are  red  and  are  spread  out  on  the 
high  beach  to  be  bleached  by  repeated 
wetting  and  drying  in  the  sun.  The  material 
is  then  placed  in  hogsheads,  in  which  it  is 
re-saturated  with  salt  water  by  rolling 
the  barrels  in  the  marshes,  after  which  the 
material  is  again  spread  out  and  further 
bleached.  This  alternate  treatment  is  re- 
peated four  or  five  times  until  the  product 
is  yellowish-white.    The  final  drying  is  done 


in  barns  where  the  mass  is  finally  picked 
over  and  packed  in  100-pound  barrels. 

The  Chinese  birds'-nest  soup  is  the 
product  of  a  small,  red  seaweed  which 
abounds  along  the  coast  of  China  and  some 
islands  of  the  Indian  Archipelago,  and  forms, 
with  its  entangled  small  organisms,  the 
principal  source  of  food  of  a  species  of 
swallow.  The  bird  feeds  upon  the  seaweed 
and  macerates  the  material  in  its  crop. 
The  partly  digested  algal  substance  is 
regurgitated  and  drawn  out  in  gelatinous 
fiber  which  the  birds  attach  with  their  bills. 
The  silky  adhesive  matter  lends  itself  to 


the  construction  of  beautiful  white  nests, 
about  the  size  of  goose-eggs,  as  thin  as  a 
silver  spoon.  When  dry  they  are  brittle 
and  weigh  about  half  an  ounce.  The  gather- 
ing of  them  for  food  is  often  hazardous  work. 
Before  being  used  they  are  carefully  cleaned. 
After  they  have  been  freed  of  foreign  matter 
they  are  stewed  with  pigeons'  eggs,  spices 
and  other  ingredients.  The  cooked  article 
suggests  chicken  broth. 

Specimens  of  both  the  Irish  moss,  and 
the  type  of  weed  which  forms  the  basis  of 
birds'-nest  soup,  are  on  exhibition  in  the 
Hall  of  Plant  Life  (Hall  29). 


HARWA,  FIRST  MUMMY  TO  FLY,  GOES  TO  FAIR  IN  NEW  YORK 


When  Harwa,  a  2,800-year-old  Egyptian, 
once  the  agricultural  overseer  for  a  temple 
of  the  god  Amon,  was  placed  aboard  a 
United  Airlines'  plane  for  New  York  on 
April  12,  he  was  well  on  his  way  toward 
establishing  a  list  of  "firsts"  for  the  country's 
museum  populace.  It  is  believed  he  is  the 
first  mummy  to  travel  on  a  plane,  and  he  is 
the  first  adult-size  person  to  be  publicly 
fluoroscoped. 

Harwa,  a  mummy  from  Field  Museum's 


Egyptian  collection,  was  the  guest  of  Lowell 
Thomas  and  a  personal  representative  of  the 
Egyptian  Consul-General  at  a  luncheon  of 
the  Advertising  Club  in  New  York  on  April 
13.  Following  that,  he  was  taken  to  one  of 
the  New  York  World's  Fair  buildings  where 
he  is  to  be  displayed  in  the  General  Electric 
X-Ray  Corporation's  exhibit.  There,  when 
a  visitor  to  the  booth  pushes  a  button,  an 
x-ray  machine  will  create  a  full-length  image 
of  Harwa's  skeleton  on  a  fiuoroscopic  screen. 


Illustration  by  courtesy  of  General  Electric  X-Ray  Corporation 

Mummy  from  Field  Museum  Boards  Plane  for  New  York  Fair 

Harwa,  2,800-year-old  Egyptian,  is  shown  leaving  Chicago  to  appear  in  fluoroscopic  exhibit  of  General  Electric 
X-Ray  Corporation.  At  left  is  Mr.  A.  J.  Kizaur,  General  Electric  engineer  who  designed  the  exhibit.  At  right  is 
Mr.  Richard  A.  Martin,  Curator  of  Near  Eastern  Archaeology  at  Field  Museum,  who  served  as  historical  advisor. 


Page  6 


FIELD  MUSEUM  NEWS 


May,  1939 


Field  Museum  of  Natural  History 

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

THE  BOARD  OF  TRUSTEES 

Sgwell  L.  Avery  WniiAM  H.  Mitchell 

Leopold  E.  Block  George  A.  Richardson 

Albert  B.  Dick,  Jr.  Theodore  Roosevelt 

Joseph  N.  Field  Fred  W.  Sargent 

Marshall  Field  James  Simpson 

Stanley  Field  Solomon  A.  Smith 

Albert  W.  Harris  Albert  A.  Spraoue 

Samuel  Insull,  Jr.  Silas  H.  Strawn 

Charles  A.  McCulloch  John  P.  Wilson 

OFFICERS 

Stanley  Field President 

Albert  A.  Sprague First  Vice-President 

ixtsss  Simpson Second  Vice-President 

Albert  W.  Harris Third  Vice-President 

Clifford  C.  Gregg Director  and  Secretary 

Solomon  A.  Smith  . . .  Treasurer  and  Assistant  Secretary 

FIELD  MUSEUM  NEWS 

Clifford  C.  Gregg,  Director  of  the  Museum ....  Editor 
CONTRIBUTING  EDITORS 

Paul  S.  Martini Chief  Curator  of  Anthro-pology 

B.  E.  Dahlgren Chief  Curator  of  Botany 

Henry  W.  Nichols Chief  Curator  of  Geology 

Wilfred  H.  Osgood Chief  Curator  of  Zoology 

H.  B.  Harte Managing  Editor 

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


FROM  THE  DIRECTOR'S  DESK— 


Conservation 

During  the  past  month  the  local  news- 
papers have  carried  some  information 
regarding  conservation.  Conservation  Weelc 
was  officially  proclaimed  from  April  9  to 
April  15  in  the  State  of  Illinois  by  the  Acting 
Governor.  It  is  fitting  that  we  should  turn 
our  attention  from  time  to  time  to  the  prob- 
lem of  conservation  and  all  that  it  means. 

Unfortunately  the  term  is  rather  generally 
misunderstood.  To  some  it  means  the 
abolition  of  the  privilege  of  hunting  and 
fishing  at  any  time.  To  others  it  means  the 
establishment  of  game  preserves  and  the 
restoration  of  wild  life.  Still  others  regard 
conservation  as  the  preservation  of  all 
natural  things  as  we  find  them. 

Conservation  actually  does  not  mean  pro- 
hibiting the  use  of  our  natural  resources,  but 
it  does  imply  that  we  must  use  them  with 
intelligent  understanding  so  that  they  will 
not  diminish  or  be  lost  to  the  world,  but 
may  be  passed  on  substantially  as  we  find 
them  to  succeeding  generations.  This 
implies  more  than  building  fish  hatcheries 
to  restock  our  streams,  and  closing  seasons 
for  a  year  or  two  on  the  hunting  of  birds  and 
animals.  Not  only  the  hunter,  but  the 
farmer,  the  lumberman,  the  miner,  the 
industrialist,  and  almost  all  of  the  rest  of  us 
at  some  time,  by  our  carelessness  or  lack  of 
knowledge,  tend  to  destroy  the  natural 
things  that  cannot  be  replaced.  In  short, 
what  must  be  learned  is  that  it  is  dangerous 
to  destroy  the  balance  of  nature. 

Elimination  of  predatory  birds  and  beasts 
has  sometimes  permitted  rodents  and  grass- 
hoppers to  overrun  the  grain  fields  of  the 
farmers.  Ill-advised  irrigation  projects  have 
taken  the  water  from  one  watershed  and 


transferred  it  to  another,  reducing  ground 
water  levels  and  making  deserts  out  of  former 
prairies.  Industrial  wastes  in  our  streams 
have  poisoned  the  fish  and  made  the  waters 
uninhabitable  for  the  new  crop  of  fish  from 
the  hatcheries.  Sloughs  have  been  drained 
to  add  to  the  area  of  marginal  farm  lands, 
resulting  in  the  reduction  of  wild  fowl  by 
the  elimination  of  their  nesting-sites.  All 
these  and  many  more  abuses  against  the 
balance  of  nature  have  done  far  more  harm 
even  than  the  fisherman  or  hunter  who  does 
not  limit  himself  to  a  fair  day's  catch. 


Extinct  Passenger  Pigeons 

A  lesson  in  conservation.  These  birds  are  believed 
to  have  been  exterminated  by  excessive  shooting  for 
food  (not  only  for  humans  liut  for  fattening  hogs). 
The  last  wild  one  was  seen  in  1907;  the  last  captive 
died  in  1914  in  the'  Cincinnati  Zoological  Garden. 
Shown  above  is  part  of  a  group  in  Stanley  Field  Hall. 

In  the  belief  that  our  natural  resources 
are  being  wasted  more  because  of  ignorance 
than  because  of  greed,  Field  Museum  takes 
its  place  among  the  conservationists  in  an 
effort  to  acquaint  people  with  the  problem. 
An  appreciation  of  wild  life,  whether  flowers, 
trees,  or  animals,  is  perhaps  the  first  element 
in  creating  the  desire  to  retain  them  for 
posterity.  An  understanding  of  the  sur- 
roundings which  make  wild  life  possible, 
and  an  appreciation  of  the  inter-relation- 
ships of  the  various  forms  of  wild  life  are 
basic  factors  in  solving  the  problem.  It 
seems  then  that  every  intelligent  person 
who  understands  these  matters  and  who 
desires  to  pass  on  the  beauties  of  nature  to 
posterity  must  become  in  one  way  or  another 
an  ardent  conservationist. 

— Clifford  C.  Gregg,  Director 


ADOLF  CARL  NOE 
October  28,  1873-April  10,  1939 

Dr.  Adolf  Carl  Noe,  Professor  of  Paleo- 
botany of  the  University  of  Chicago,  died 
April  10,  1939,  after  a  short  illness.  He  had 
been  associated  with  Field  Museum  for  many 
years,  and  had  been  a  member  of  the  staff  of 
the  Department  of  Botany  as  Research  Assoc- 
iate in  Paleobotany  since  1933,  having 
become  interested  especially  in  the  Depart- 
ment's reconstruction  of  the  coal  forest 
vegetation. 

Dr.  No6's  researches  and  publications  in 
coal  formations  and  coal  balls  are  well 
known  to  scientists.    He  placed  the  use  of 


his  collections  and  his  large  knowledge 
freely  at  the  disposal  of  the  Museum.  His 
most  important  collections  were  made 
chiefly  in  Illinois,  for  the  Illinois  State  Geo- 
logical Survey,  and  in  Iowa,  Kentucky, 
Texas,  Mexico,  and  Russia.  In  order  to 
gain  some  first-hand  knowledge  of  the  flora 
of  the  tropics  for  comparison  with  fossils,  he 
spent  a  season  in  Panama,  at  the  Barro 
Colorado  Island  laboratory. 

Scion  of  an  old  aristocratic  family  of 
French  origin  and  long  Austrian  tradition, 
Professor  No6  was  born  in  Graz,  and 
served  in  his  youth  as  an  officer  in  an 
Austrian  Hussar  regiment.  He  was  an 
enthusiastic  horseman,  fencer  and  marks- 
man. His  first  experience  in  his  chosen 
science  of  paleobotany  was  as  a  demon- 
strator at  the  University  of  Graz.  In  1899 
he  came  to  the  United  States,  studied  at 
the  University  of  Chicago,  and  there 
obtained  his  A.B.  degree,  and  later  his  Ph.D. 
degree.  In  later  years  he  was  awarded  hono- 
rary degrees  by  the  University  of  Graz  and 
the  University  of  Innsbruck.  He  was  well- 
known  as  a  scholar  in  the  field  of  German 
literature  as  well  as  in  science. 

His  publications  include  Fossil  Flora  of 
Northern  Illinois,  and  Ferns,  Fossils,  and 
Fuel.  After  his  participation  in  the  Allen 
and  Garcia  Commission  for  the  study  of  the 
coal  beds  of  Russia  in  1927  he  wrote  Golden 
Days  of  Soviet  Russia. 

The  Museum  staff  regrets  keenly  the  loss 
of  a  valued  friend  and  associate. 


The  evolution  of  the  horse  from  a  small 
four-toed  animal  to  a  large  one-toed  animal 
is  interestingly  illustrated  in  Case  22  of 
Stanley  Field  Hall. 


A  FEW  FACTS  ABOUT  FIELD  MUSEUM 

Field  Museum  is  open  every  day  of  the  year 
(except  Christmas  and  New  Year's  Day)  during 
the  hours  indicated  below: 

November,  December, 

January,  February 9  a.m.  to  4  p.m. 

March,  April,  and 
September,  October 9  A.M.  to  5  P.M. 

May,  June,  July,  August. . .  .9  a.m.  to  6  p.m. 

Admission  is  free  to  Members  on  all  days. 
Other  adults  are  admitted  free  on  Thursdays, 
Saturdays,  and  Sundays;  non-members  pay  25 
cents  on  other  days.  Children  are  admitted  free 
on  all  days.  Students  and  faculty  members  of 
educational  institutions  are  admitted  free  any 
day  upon  presentation  of  credentials. 

The  Museum's  Library  is  open  for  reference 
daily  except  Saturday  afternoon  and  Sunday. 

Traveling  exhibits  are  circulated  in  the  schools 
of  Chicago  by  the  N.  W.  Harris  Public  School 
Extension  Department  of  the  Museum. 

Lectures  at  schools,  and  special  entertain- 
ments and  tours  for  children  at  the  Museum,  are 
provided  by  the  James  Nelson  and  Anna  Louise 
Raymond  Foundation  for  Public  School  and 
Children's  Lectures. 

Free  courses  of  lectures  for  adlilts  are  presented 
in  the  James  Simpson  Theatre  on  Saturday  after- 
noons (at  2:30  o'clock)  in  March,  April,  October, 
and  November. 

A  Cafeteria  serves  visitors.  Rooms  are  avail- 
able also  for  those  bringing  their  lunches. 

Chicago  Motor  Coach  Company  No.  26  busses 
provide  direct  transportation  to  the  Museum.  Ser- 
vice is  offered  also  by  Surface  Lines,  Rapid  Tran- 
sit Lines  (the  "L"),  interurban  electric  lines,  and 
Illinois  Central  trains.  There  is  ample  free  park- 
ing space  for  automobiles  at  the  Museum. 


May,  1939 


7^  A    ^Wahd^ 

^^  ^   0  FIELff  » 


MUSEUM  NEWS 


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Page  ? 


STAFF  NOTES 

Mr.  Alfred  C.  Weed,  Curator  of  Fishes, 
has  been  in  Englewood  on  the  west  coast  of 
Florida  for  several  weeks,  and  has  collected 
a  number  of  fishes  and  specimens  of  other 
forms  of  marine  life.  Valuable  co-operation 
was  extended  to  him  by  the  Bass  Biological 
Laboratories. 


DETAILED  STUDY  REVEALS  SU-LIN  WAS  A  MALE  GIANT  PANDA 


Dr.  Wilfred  H.  Osgood,  Chief  Curator 
of  the  Department  of  Zoology,  recently 
returned  from  a  sojourn  of  several  weeks  in 
Florida,  principally  at  Captiva  Island,  where 
he  made  surveys  in  preparation  for  a  forth- 
coming Field  Museum  expedition,  and  did  a 
limited  amount  of  collecting. 


Mr.  Paul  C.  Standley,  Associate  Curator 
of  the  Herbarium,  at  present  in  Guatemala 
on  a  botanical  expedition  sponsored  by  Mr. 
Sewell  Avery,  a  Trustee  of  the  Museum,  in 
his  last  report  indicated  that  he  had  com- 
pleted plant  collecting  in  the  western  region 
of  the  country.  He  was  planning  at  that 
time  to  transfer  his  activities  to  the  Cobdn 
district,  rated  as  having  the  richest  vegeta- 
tion in  Guatemala. 


Mr.  L.  Bryant  Mather,  Jr.,  Assistant 
Curator  of  Mineralogy,  will  participate  in 
an  expedition  under  the  leadership  of  Dr. 
Joseph  T.  Singewald,  Jr.,  Professor  of 
Economic  Geology  at  The  Johns  Hopkins 
University,  between  May  1  and  15.  The 
expedition  will  visit  eighteen  important 
mineral  and  mining  localities  in  Pennsyl- 
vania, New  Jersey,  and  New  York.  Material 
will  be  collected  for  Field  Museum's  mineral 
and  physical  geology  collections. 


Mr.  D.  Dwight  Davis,  Assistant  Curator 
of  Anatomy  and  Osteology,  presented  a 
scientific  paper  before  the  meeting  of  the 
American  Society  of  Mammalogists  at 
Baton  Rouge,  Louisiana,  April  4. 


Staff  Taxidermist  C.  J.  Albrecht  lectured 
recently  before  an  audience  at  the  American 
Museum  of  Natural  History,  New  York,  on 
fur  seals,  telling  his  experiences  on  a  Field 
Museum  expedition  to  the  Pribilof  Islands. 
While  in  the  east  he  also  made  studies  of  the 
collections  in  several  other  leading  museums. 


Mr.  C.  Martin  Wilbur,  Curator  of  Chinese 
Archaeology  and  Ethnology,  lectured  on 
Chinese  jades  on  April  26  before  the  Society 
of  Fine  Arts  and  History  of  Evansville, 
Indiana. 


Dr.  Paul  S.  Martin,  Chief  Curator  of  the 
Department  of  Anthropology,  lectured  on 
the  work  of  his  expeditions  in  the  Southwest 
before  an  audience  of  members  of  the  P.  E.  O. 
Club  in  the  lecture  hall  of  the  Museum  on 
April  20. 


Now  it  can  be  told — the  late  Su-Lin, 
most  famous  of  giant  pandas,  was  a  deceiver. 
Known  to  its  many  admirers  during  life  at 
the  Chicago  Zoological  Park,  Brookfield,  as 
"she,"  this  animal  actually  should  have 
been  referred  to  as  "he."  This  was  an- 
nounced recently  by  Mr.  Edward  H.  Bean, 
Director  of  the 
Zoo,  upon  re- 
ceipt of  a  re- 
port  from 
Field  Museum 
in  whose  labo- 
ratories, for 
more  than  a 
year  since  the 
panda's  death 
(on  April  1, 
1938),  meticu- 
lous detailed 
dissection  has 
been  in  pro- 
gress for  pur- 
poses of  re- 
search. The 
skin  was 
mounted  and 
placed  on  ex- 
hibition at  the 
Museum  with- 
in a  few  weeks 
after  Su-Lin's 
death,  but  the 
soft  anatomy, 
preserved  by 
chemical  in- 
jections, was 
turned  over  to 
Mr.  D.  Dwight 
Davis,  Assist- 
ant Curator  of 
Anatomy  and 

Osteology,  for  the  first  thorough  study  of 
the  species  which  has  ever  been  possible  to 
scientists. 

Mr.  Davis's  research,  which  is  not  yet 
completed,  has  just  recently  reached  the 
stage  where  it  has  been  discovered  that, 
owing  to  peculiarities  of  the  little  known 
species,  Su-Lin,  while  outwardly  appearing 
to  be  a  female,  was  actually  a  male. 

"While  Su-Lin  was  alive  there  was  no 


external  indication  that  would  lead  to  the 
suspicion  that  the  animal  was  anything 
other  than  a  female  as  had  generally  been 
supposed,"  states  Dr.  Wilfred  H.  Osgood, 
Chief  Curator  of  the  Department  of  Zoology. 
"This  is  not  so  surprising  as  it  might  at  first 
seem  to  a  layman — there  are  various  other 


Su-Lin  Fooled  the  World 

The  famous  giant  panda,  always  known  as  "she"  during^  life  at  the  Brookfield  Zoo, 
was  actually  a  male,  it  has  been  revealed  by  the  detailed  dissection  in  progress  in  the  labora- 
tories of  Field  Museum.  The  animal  is  shown  above  as  it  has  appeared  as  a  mounted  specimen 
at  the  Museum  since  shortly  after  death  in  April,  1938.    The  exhibit  is  in  Stanley  Field  Hall. 


animals  in  which  the  evidences  of  sex  are  so 
concealed  that  it  is  difficult  to  distinguish 
males  from  females  by  external  examination 
only.  It  is  particularly  difficult  with  ani- 
mals that  are  not  fully  mature,  as  was  the 
case  with  Su-Lin.  Most  of  the  supposed 
relatives  of  the  giant  panda  are  fairly 
normal,  so  it  was  natural  to  assume  that 
Su-Lin  was  a  female  until  dissection  revealed 
facts  to  the  contrary." 


Distinguished  Visitors 

Among  distinguished  visitors  recently 
received  at  Field  Museum  are:  Dr.  Paul  H. 
Nesbitt,  of  Beloit  College,  who  came  to 
study  the  Museum's  Southwestern  archaeo- 
logical collections;  Mr.  L.  D.  Bestall, 
Director  of  the  Hawkes  Bay  Art  Gallery 
and  Museum,  Napier,  New  Zealand;  Mrs. 
Nicholas  (Alice  Roosevelt)  Longworth, 
widow  of  the  late  Speaker  of  the  House  of 
Representatives  of  the  United  States,  and 
her  daughter;  the  Duke  and  Duchess  of 
Sutherland,  of  London;  Mr.  Dillman  S. 
Bullock   of   Angol,   Chile,   donor   of   many 


Chilean  specimens  to  the  Museum,  who 
conferred  with  Chief  Curator  Osgood  and 
Curator  Sanborn  on  problems  of  Chilean 
zoology;  Count  Benedict  Tyszkiewicz  of 
Poland;  Mr.  Harold  J.  Coolidge,  Jr., 
Assistant  Curator  of  Mammals  at  the 
Museum  of  Comparative  Zoology,  Cam- 
bridge, Massachusetts,  who  spent  several 
days  in  conference  with  members  of  the 
staff  of  Field  Museum;  Dr.  C.  R.  Ball,  of 
Washington,  D.C.,  an  authority  on  willows; 
and  Mrs.  M.  Quennell,  Hon.  A.R.I. B.A., 
who  is  the  Director  of  the  Geffrye  Historical 
Museum,  in  London,  England. 


Page  8 


FIELD  MUSEUM  NEWS 


May,  19S9 


MAY  GUIDE-LECTURE  TOURS 
FOR  WEEK-DAY  VISITORS 

Conducted  tours  of  exhibits,  under  the 
guidance  of  staff  lecturers,  are  made  every 
afternoon  at  3  o'clock,  except  Saturdays, 
Sundays,  and  certain  holidays.  Following 
is  the  schedule  of  subjects  and  dates  for  May: 

Week  beginning  May  1:  Monday — Sea 
Invertebrates  (new  hall);  Tuesday — Plants 
of  Plains  and  Deserts;  Wednesday — Peoples 
of  the  South  Seas;  Thursday — General  Tour; 
Friday — Dinosaurs  and  Other  Prehistoric 
Animals. 

Week  beginning  May  8:  Monday — Amphib- 
ians and  Fish;  Tuesday — Plants  That  Trap 
Insects;  Wednesday — Crystals  and  Gems; 
Thursday — General  Tour;  Friday — Indians 
of  North,  Central,  and  South  America. 

Week  beginning  May  15:  Monday — 
Animals  at  Home;  Tuesday — Our  Native 
Trees;  Wednesday — From  Chellean  to  Swiss 
Lake  Dweller;  Thursday — General  Tour; 
Friday — The  Benld  and  Other  Meteorites. 

Week  beginning  May  22:  Monday — Hall 
of  Plant  Life;  Tuesday— Birds  That  Nest 
in  the  Chicago  Region;  Wednesday — Miner- 
als; Thursday — General  Tour;  Friday — 
Chinese  Art. 

Week  beginning  May  29:  Monday — 
Lacquers,  Turpentine,  and  Rubber;  Tuesday 
— Memorial  Day  holiday,  no  tour;  Wednes- 
day— Carl  Akeley  Exhibits  and  Processes. 

Persons  wishing  to  participate  should 
apply  at  North  Entrance.  Tours  are  free. 
A  new  schedule  will  appear  each  month  in 
Field  Museum  News.  Guide-lecturers' 
services  for  special  tours  by  parties  of  ten 
or  more  are  available  by  arrangement  with 
the  Director  a  week  in  advance. 


GIFTS  TO  THE  MUSEUM 

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

From  Dr.  Henry  Field,  Chicago — 68 
ethnological  specimens,  Italy,  England,  and 
Near  East;  from  Thomas  E.  Donnelley, 
Chicago — 44  pieces  of  bronze  and  wooden 
movable  type,  Korea. 

Department  of  Botany: 

From  Dr.  Delzie  Demaree,  Monticello, 
Arkansas — 92  herbarium  specimens,  Arkan- 
sas; from  Richard  A.  Schneider,  Kankakee, 
Illinois — 190  herbarium  specimens,  Mexico; 
from  Hermann  C.  Benke,  Chicago — 257 
herbarium  specimens,  Wisconsin  and  Illinois; 
from  Mrs.  George  Artamonoff,  Chicago — 
150  herbarium  specimens,  Mexico  and  Cen- 
tral America;  from  Dr.  J.  A.  Steyermark, 
Chicago — 5,107  herbarium  specimens,  Mis- 
souri; from  Jardim  Botanico  de  Belo 
Horizonte,  Minas  Geraes,  Brazil — 1,772 
herbarium  specimens,  Brazil. 
Department  of  Geolo^ : 

From  George  W.  De  Muth,  Chicago — 
187  specimens  of  minerals;  from  Dr.  Henry 
Field,  Chicago — a  collection  of  1,543  speci- 
mens of  minerals  and  fossils,  England  and 
Europe,  and  a  specimen  of  marl,  Moravia; 
from    William    G.    Rinehart,    Batesville, 


Arkansas — 8  photographs  of  region  where 
Joe  Wright  Mountain  meteorite  was  found; 
from  Geringer  Brothers,  Oak  Park,  Illinois 
— 2  specimens  of  scheelite,  California;  from 
Mrs.  George  Artamonoff,  Chicago — 17  speci- 
mens of  volcanic  products,  Guatemala  and 
El  Salvador;  from  Dr.  M.  J.  Groesbeck, 
Porterville,  California — 2  specimens  of  min- 
erals, Nevada  and  California. 

Department  of  Zoology: 

From  Dr.  W.  C.  Hobgood,  Monticello, 
Arkansas — a  frog  and  3  salamanders, 
Arkansas;  from  Instituto  de  La  Salle, 
Bogota,  Colombia — 8  bats  and  4  rodents, 
Colombia;  from  H.  St.  John  Philby,  Jidda, 
Arabia — 6  toads,  36  lizards,  and  7  snakes, 
Arabia;  from  Eugen  G.  J.  Falck,  Chicago — 
13  crayfish  and  105  land  and  fresh  water 
shells,  Illinois;  from  Lincoln  Park  Zoo, 
Chicago — an  anaconda,  South  America; 
from  John  White,  Thomasville,  Georgia — a 
scorpion,  Georgia;  from  Chicago  Zoological 
Society,  Brookfield,  Illinois — a  lemur,  a 
kinkajou,  and  a  new-bom  sea  lion;  from 
Michael  Blackmore,  London,  England — 6 
bats,  England;  from  J.  L.  Chaworth-Musters, 
London,  England — 15  bats,  England;  from 
James  Little,  Naperville,  Illinois — a  sala- 
mander, 8  snakes,  and  7  frogs  and  toads, 
Wisconsin;  from  John  M.  Schmidt,  Home- 
wood,  Illinois — 4  garter  snakes,  Illinois; 
from  FVank  Bagot,  Miami  Beach,  Florida 
— a  beetle,  Florida;  from  Henry  Dybas, 
Chicago — 3  land  shells,  Colombia;  from 
John  G.  Shedd  Aquarium,  Chicago — a  turtle, 
Bahama  Islands;  from  Mrs.  Robb  White, 
Thomasville,  Georgia — a  short-headed  hog- 
nosed  snake,  Georgia;  from  Mrs.  George 
Artamonoff,  Chicago — 6  fish  and  625  speci- 
mens of  shells  and  other  lower  invertebrates. 
Central  America  and  Mexico. 

The  Library: 

Valuable  books  from  Americana  Corpora- 
tion, New  York  City;  from  Professor 
Norman  C.  Basset,  Madison,  Wisconsin; 
from  Mme.  L.  Lion,  Paris,  France;  from 
Carnegie  Institution,  Washington,  D.C.; 
from  William  L.  Steam,  London,  England; 
and  from  Miss  Margaret  Ennis,  W.  J. 
Gerhard,  Dr.  Albert  B.  Lewis,  and  John  W. 
Moyer,  all  of  Chicago. 


NEW  MEMBERS 

The   following   persons   were   elected    to 
membership  in  Field   Museum  during  the 
period  from  March  16  to  April  15: 
Associate  Members 

Mrs.  Laura  T.  C.  Alford,   Miss  Aurelia 
Bertol,  Mrs.  W.  W.  Sherman. 
Annual  Members 

Edwin  D.  Allen,  Claude  A.  Benjamin, 
William  George  Cariisle,  Willard  F.  Clark, 
John  H.  Drummond,  Dr.  William  P.  Finney, 
Mrs.  R.  H.  Fogler,  John  R.  Fugard,  J.  E. 
Fuller,  Mrs.  Steve  Gavin,  Mrs.  Thomas  D. 
Heed,  Chester  S.  Hendry,  Lewis  J.  Isaacs, 
Dr.  M.  J.  Kostrzewski,  Edward  Marshall, 
Wallace  Meyer,  Walter  D.  Monroe,  R.  L. 
Nafziger,  Dr.  Harry  A.  Oberhelman,  L.  A. 
Phillips,  Albert  C.  Pobloske,  Mrs.  Lewis  J. 
Pollock,  J.  Rockefeller  Prentice,  Victor  W. 
Purcey,  Rex  Rathbun,  Robert  S.  Smith, 
Dr.  Max  Thorek,  Rudolph  E.  Vogel, 
Eugene  Whitmore. 


"PARADE  OF  THE  RACES"  OFFERED 
ON  SUNDAY  TOURS  IN  MAY 

May  is  the  final  month  in  the  current 
season  of  Sunday  afternoon  lecture-tours 
given  at  Field  Museum  by  Mr.  Paul  G. 
Dallwig,  the  Layman  Lecturer.  On  each 
Sunday  in  this  month  Mr.  Dallwig  will 
present  "The  Parade  of  the  Races,"  which 
in  the  past  has  proved  to  be  one  of  his 
most  popular  subjects.  Those  partici- 
pating will  tour  the  Hall  of  the  Races  of 
Mankind  (Chauncey  Keep  Memorial  Hall) 
with  Mr.  Dallwig,  where  they  will  view  the 
extensive  series  of  sculptures  by  Malvina 
Hoffman,  and  hear  the  lecturer's  dramatic 
but  factual  stories  about  each  of  the  races 
represented. 

Attendance  at  Sunday  afternoon  lecture- 
tours  is  restricted  to  those  who  have  made 
advance  reservations,  because  parties  are 
necessarily  limited  in  size.  Heavy  demands 
have  resulted  in  the  filling  of  quotas  for  each 
of  the  remaining  Sundays  of  this  season  and 
no  further  reservations  are  available. 

Mr.  Dallwig's  next  season  of  Sunday 
lecture  tours  will  begin  November  5,  and 
continue  until  the  last  Sunday  in  May,  1940. 


Museum  Hours  Extended 
for  Summer  Period 
Summer  visiting  hours,  9  a.m.  to  6  P.M. 
daily,  including  Sundays  and  holidays,  will 
go  into  effect  at  Field  Museum  on  May  1, 
and  continue  throughout  the  period  up  to 
and  including  September  4  (Labor  Day). 


MEMBERSHIP  IN  FIELD  MUSEUM 

Field  Museum  has  several  classes  of  Members. 
Annual  Members  contribute  $10  annually.  As- 
sociate Members  pay  $100  and  are  exempt  from 
dues.  Sustaining  Members  contribute  $25  annu- 
ally for  six  consecutive  years,  after  which  they 
become  .\ssociate  Members  and  are  exempt  from 
all  further  dues.  Life  Members  give  $500  and 
are  exempt  from  dues.  Non-Resident  Life  Mem- 
bers pay  $100.  and  Non-Resident  .\ssociate 
Members  $50;  both  of  these  classes  are  also 
exempt  from  dues.  The  Non-Resident  member- 
ships are  available  only  to  persons  residing  fifty 
miles  or  more  from  Chicago.  Those  who  give  or 
devise  to  the  Museum  $1,000  to  $100,000  are 
designated  as  Contributors,  and  those  who  give 
or  devise  $100,000  or  more  become  Benefactors. 
Other  memberships  are  Honorar>%  Patron, 
Corresponding  and  Corporate,  additions  under 
these  dassifications  being  made  by  special  action 
of  the  Board  of  Trustees. 

Each  Member,  in  all  classes,  is  entitled  to  free 
admission  to  the  Museum  for  himself,  his  family 
and  bouse  guests,  and  to  two  reserved  seats  for 
Musetun  lectures  pro\'ided  for  Members.  Sub- 
scription to  Field  Musbuu  News  is  included 
with  all  memberships.  The  courtesies  of  every 
museum  of  note  in  the  United  States  and  Canada 
are  extended  to  all  Members  of  Field  Museum. 
A  Member  may  give  his  personal  card  to  non- 
residents of  Chicago,  upon  presentation  of  which 
they  will  be  admitted  to  the  Museum  without 
charge.  Further  information  about  member- 
ships will  be  sent  on  request. 

BEQUESTS  AND  ENDOWMENTS 

Bequests  to  Field  Museum  of  Natural  History 
may  be  made  in  securities,  money,  books  or 
collections.  They  may,  if  desired,  take  the  form 
of  a  memorial  to  a  person  or  cause,  named  by  the 
giver. 

Contributions  made  within  the  taxable  year  not 
exceeding  15  per  cent  of  the  taxpayer's  net  in- 
come are  allowable  as  deductions  in  computing 
net  income  for  federal  income  tax  purposes. 

Endowments  may  be  made  to  the  Mtlseum 
with  the  provision  that  an  annuity  be  paid  to 
the  patron  for  life.  These  annuities  are  giiaran- 
teed  against  fluctuation  in  amount,  and  may 
reduce  federal  income  taxes. 


PRINTED    BY    FICLP    MUSCUM    PUCSS 


News 


Published  Monthly  by  Field  Museum  of  Natural  History,  Chicago 


Vol.  10 


JUNE,  1939 


No.  6 


NEW  EXHIBIT  OF  ARCHAEOLOGICAL  MATERIAL  FROM  THE  AMERICAN  SOUTHWEST 


Bv  PAUL  S.  MARTIN 

CHIEF  CURATOR,  DEPARTMENT  OF  ANTHROPOLOGY 

After  months  of  study  and  work,  the 
Basket  Maker  Indian  materials  recovered 
by  the  1938  Field  Museum  Archaeological 
Expedition  to  Southwestern  Colorado  have 
been  placed  on  exhibition  in  Hall  7  of  the 
Department  of  Anthropology. 

Included  in  this  exhibit  are  several  classes 
of  objects  which  should  be  of  great  interest 
to  all  who  are  inter- 
ested in  southwestern 
prehistory.  For  exam- 
ple, attention  should 
be  called  to  the  skill- 
fully restored  pottery. 
All  of  this  was  in 
fragments  when 
found,  having  been 
smashed  by  the  weight 
of  tons  of  earth  which 
have  lain  upon  these 
fragile  objects  for  more 
than  ten  centuries. 

Some  red-on-orange 
pots  are  the  most 
fascinating  because 
they  represent  a  very 
rare  type  of  pottery 
— a  type  which  was 
practically  unknown 
up  to  a  few  years  ago. 
This  very  beautifully 
made  ware,  which 
dates  from  about  a.d. 
700  (or  possibly 
earlier),  is  a  source 
of  some  mystery,  be- 
cause at  present  no  one 
knows  where  it  was 
first  made.  Further, 
the  use  of  designs  in 
red  on  an  orange  back- 
ground is  not  in  the 

accepted  tradition  of  Basket  Maker  ceramics. 
Usually,  Basket  Maker  pottery  is  plain  gray 
or  is  marked  with  black  designs  of  a  simple 
nature  on  a  plain  gray  background.  There- 
fore, Field  Museum  is  proud  to  be  able  to 
display  this  rare  kind  of  pottery  which  has 
never  before  been  exhibited  in  Chicago. 

One  of  these  red-on-orange  pots  merits 
special  notice,  because  the  shape  is  unique. 
This  particular  pot  is  provided  with  a 
basket-handle  made  of  baked  clay  and 
decorated  with  a  zig-zag  design. 

The  painted  pottery  was  never  used  for 
cooking    purposes,    but   served    rather   as 


containers  for  prepared  food  and  beverages. 

The  plain  gray  pottery,  which  comes  in 
various  shapes  and  sizes,  was  what  may  be 
called  the  utilitarian  ware.  Some  of  it  was 
used  for  cooking  food  and  boiling  water. 
The  large  narrow-necked  jars  were  undoubt- 
edly used  as  water  containers.  One  very 
large,  plain  gray  jar  had  been  smeared  all 
over  with  a  red-ocher  paint. 

In  addition  to  the  pottery,  there  are  dis- 


Villa&e  of  Basket  Maker  Indians,  About  A.D.  860 

Restoration,  by  Staflf  Artist  Arthur  G.  Rueckert,  of  an  ancient  site  excavated  by  Field  Museum  Archaeolo- 
gical Expeditions  to  the  Southwest,  as  the  researches  of  Chief  Curator  Paul  S.  Martin  indicate  it  must  have 
appeared  when  occupied  by  prehistoric  inhabitants.  Circular  structure  at  left  is  the  largest  known  great  kiva  or 
ceremonial  chamber.  At  right  is  a  smaller  kiva,  close  to  the  barracks-like  rows  of  surface  houses.  The  small 
circular  structures  from  which  smoke  issues  are  pit-houses.     Both  house  types  were  probably  used  as  dwellings. 

played  other  objects  which  were  used  in  the 
daily  lives  of  the  Basket  Maker  Indians. 
These  include:  bone  awls  for  piercing  holes 
in  buckskin;  bone  needles;  bone  scrapers; 
stone  hoes,  axes,  and  mauls;  and  manos  or 
the  upper  portion  of  corn-grinding  mills. 
Included  also  are  some  of  the  ornaments 
with  which  these  Indians  decorated  them- 
selves. 

Since  the  ancient  villages  which  were 
excavated  by  the  Museum  expedition  had 
been  exposed  to  the  rains  and  snows  of  more 
than  a  thousand  years,  all  the  perishable 
objects,  such  as  basketry,  cloth,  sandals. 


matting,  and  wooden  materials,  have  long 
since  rotted  away.     This  is  unfortunate, 
because  the  archaeologist  is  confronted  with 
the  difficult  task  of  reconstructing  the  history 
of  these  Indians  from  only  three  classes 
of  objects:  pottery,  bone,  and  stone.    Im- 
agine  how   trying   it   would    be   for   any 
archaeologist  of  the  future  to  have  to  piece 
together  a  complete  story  of  our  complex 
civilization  from  only  broken  dishes,  rusty 
tools   (the  uses  of 
which  he  did  not 
know),  and  tin  cans! 
In  spite  of  this  dif- 
ficulty,   however,    we 
have  managed  to  re- 
construct a  reasonably 
clear   history   of   the 
Basket  Maker  Indians 
of  southwestern  Colo- 
rado. This  story,  writ- 
ten   in    non-technical 
language,  has  been  in- 
cluded in  a  report  cov- 
ering in  detail  the  ex- 
pedition's  work,   and 
the  research  conduct- 
ed   on    the    material 
brought  to   the   Mu- 
seum.     This    report, 
richly  illustrated,  will 
be  released   by  Field 
Museum  Press  some- 
time during  the  sum- 
mer, and  it  may  then 
be  purchased  at  the 
Museum. 

One  of  the  special 
features  of  the  exhibi- 
tion recently  opened 
to    the    public    is    a 
sketch  showing  how  a 
Basket  Maker  village 
actually  looked.    This 
reconstruction  is  very  accurate,  as  it  was 
based  on  all  the  data  collected  by  the  expe- 
dition.    A   reproduction   of   the   sketch   is 
published  with  this  article. 

This  village  was  built  on  a  narrow  prom- 
ontory which  juts  out  into  Cahone  Canyon, 
Colorado.  The  Indians  built  two  types  of 
houses:  pit  houses  and  surface  houses.  The 
pit  houses  (in  the  middle-ground)  look  like 
big  ant  hills;  the  surface  dwellings  are  the 
long  low  structures.  At  the  extreme  left 
of  the  picture,  and  also  toward  the  right, 
may  be  seen  examples  of  circular  struc- 
tures called   "great  kivas."     A  kiva  is  a 


Page  2 


FIELD  MUSEUM  NEWS 


June,  1939 


place  for  holding  ceremonies.  These  "great 
kivas"  were  probably  used  for  celebrating 
large  communal  ceremonies.  The  larger  of 
these  two  great  kivas  measured  83  feet  in 
diameter,  and  is  the  largest  structure  of  this 
type  yet  found.  The  lesser  great  kiva 
measured  43  feet  in  diameter.  Neither  of 
these  structures  was  roofed. 

In  all,  the  writer  and  associated  archae- 
ologists have  spent  eight  summers  in  the 
excavation  of  Basket  Maker  sites  in  Colo- 
rado. About  the  first  of  June  the  ninth 
expedition,  sponsored  by  Mr.  Stanley  Field, 
President  of  the  Museum,  will  resume  this 
work,  but  a  new  field  will  be  entered  this 
year.  The  1939  operations  will  concentrate 
upon  the  excavation  of  some  ruins  near 
Glenwood,  New  Mexico.  The  new  sites 
belong  to  what  is  known  as  the  Mogollon 
culture,  and  investigations  will  be  con- 
ducted to  determine  whether  or  not  there 
was  a  cultural  connection  between  the  early 
Mogollon  and  Basket  Maker  cultures. 


1939  IS  YEAR  FOR  APPEARANCE 
OF  THE  17- YEAR  CICADA 

By  WILLIAM  J.  GERHARD 

CURATOR  OF  INSECTS 

In  many  of  the  forest  preserves  in  Cook 
County  last  month  the  ground  under  the 
trees  was  perforated  with  numerous  open- 
ings or  vertical  burrows,  some  topped  with 
capped  mud  chimneys.  These  burrows  in- 
dicated that  the  compact  brood  XIII  of  the 
seventeen-year  or  periodical  cicada — some- 
times incorrectly  called  the  "seventeen-year 
locust" — would  again  make  its  appearance 
in  large  numbers  in  woodland  tracts  of 
northern  Illinois,  eastern  Missouri,  southern 
Wisconsin  and  Michigan,  and  northern 
Indiana,  during  the  spring  of  1939. 

A  few  inches  below  the  burrow  openings 
lay  the  waiting  pupae  that  represent  the 
third  stage  in  the  life-history  of  this  cicada. 
For  seventeen  years  (in  the  northern  states) 
the  young  or  larvae,  which  the  pupae  closely 
resemble,  have  lived  in  the  ground,  where 
they  sucked  the  juices  of  roots  and  rootlets. 

During  some  night,  possibly  in  the  latter 
part  of  May  before  this  publication,  or  at 
least  in  the  early  part  of  June,  the  pupae 
were  due  to  leave  their  burrows  almost 
simultaneously  and  crawl  up  on  some  nearby 
object.  When  this  occurs,  a  longitudinal 
slit  appears  in  the  skin  of  their  backs,  and 
therefrom  emerge  the  flabby,  white  adults 
with  little  wrinkled  wing  pads.  Within  a 
few  hours  the  soft  wings  expand,  harden,  and 
become  nearly  transparent,  while  at  the 
same  time  the  body  hardens  and  assumes 
its  characteristic  color. 

On  the  day  following  their  emergence 
from  the  pupal  stage  the  adults  are  ready  to 
mate,  and  the  females  begin  to  lay  their  eggs 
in  the  terminal  twigs  and  branches  of  trees 
by  means  of  their  sword-shaped  ovipositor. 
As  a  result  of  this  egg-laying  habit  the  leaves 
of  many  terminal  twigs  soon  turn  yellow 


and  the  twigs  may  also  be  blown  to  the 
ground  by  strong  winds.  While  the  females 
are  fulfilling  their  mission  in  life,  the  males 
are  busy  producing  their  familiar,  prolonged, 
buzzing  sound.  And  in  from  four  to  six 
weeks  their  adult  life  is  ended. 

MAY  FLIES  TO  APPEAR  AGAIN 

Within  a  month  or  more  countless  num- 
bers of  fragile  insects  known  as  May  flies 
will  also  again  make  their  appearance  in  the 
Chicago  area  and  elsewhere  on  or  near  the 
shores  of  the  Great  Lakes.  They  will  annoy 
housewives  because  of  their  fondness  for 
artificial  light.  Every  year  swarms  of  them 
descend  upon  this  city  and  its  suburbs. 

These  four-winged  creatures,  with  their 
two  or  three  hair-like  caudal  appendages, 
are  of  interest  on  account  of  their  brief 
adult  life,  which  may  last  only  a  few  hours — 
rarely  more  than  two  days.  Unlike  other 
insects  they  molt  or  shed  their  old  skin  after 
their  wings  are  fully  developed.  The  name 
"May  fly"  is  not  a  misnomer,  for  some 
species  appear  during  May  in  certain  places. 

Although  the  adult  life  of  May  flies  is  an 


ephemeral  one,  which  is  the  reason  why  the 
Greeks  of  Aristotle's  day  called  them  Ephem- 
eron,  they  are  in  fact  rather  long-lived 
insects.  Their  development  from  the  egg 
to  the  adult  or  winged  stage  actually  re- 
quires from  one  to  three  years.  But  except 
for  a  few  hours  or  days  they  live  as  wingless 
njmiphs  in  lakes,  ponds  and  streams,  where 
they  feed  mainly  on  low  forms  of  plant  life. 
Many  of  the  nymphs  in  turn  are  eaten  by 
fish.  In  some  waters  it  has  been  found  that 
nearly  a  fifth  of  the  food  of  fish  consisted 
of  May  fly  nymphs. 

When  the  nymphs  are  full-grown,  they 
come  to  the  surface  of  the  water,  and  from 
a  slit  or  fissure  that  appears  in  their  backs 
the  winged  adults  emerge.  After  finding  a 
convenient  resting  place  like  a  wall,  tree, 
or  blade  of  grass,  the  adults  shed  their  old 
skin,  including  that  of  the  wings,  the  skins 
remaining  attached  to  the  objects  upon 
which  they  were  shed.  Unable  to  eat  any- 
thing during  their  short  adult  life,  they 
nevertheless  are  now  ready  for  mating.  The 
females  lay  their  eggs  on  or  in  the  water — 
hundreds  to  several  thousands  of  them. 


DANISH   AND    NORWEGIAN    ROYALTY   VISIT   FIELD    MUSEUM 


Twice  recently  Field  Museum  has  been 
host  to  European  royalty.  On  April  25, 
Their  Royal  Highnesses,  Crown  Prince 
Frederik  and  Princess  Ingrid,  of  Denmark, 
were  guests  of  the  institution.  On  May  4, 
His  Royal  Highness,  Crown  Prince  Olav, 
of  Norway,  was  a  visitor  to  the  Museum. 

Prince  Frederik  and  Princess  Ingrid  were 
escorted  to  the  Museum  by  Mr.  Reimund 


Baumann,  the  Danish  Consul,  and  Prince 
Olav  by  Mr.  Sigurd  Maseng,  Consul  of 
Norway.  Each  of  the  royal  parties  was 
conducted  on  a  tour  of  outstanding  exhibits 
by  the  Museum  Director,  Mr.  Clifford  C. 
Gregg.  All  of  the  royal  guests  indicated 
especial  interest  in  and  appreciation  of  the 
Races  of  Mankind  sculptures,  by  Malvina 
HoflFman,  in  Chauncey  Keep  Memorial  Hall. 


photograph  by  courtesy  of  Chicago  Daily  Times 

Royal  Personages  at  Field  Museum 

Their  Royal  Highnesses,  Crown  Prince  Frederik  and  Princess  Ingrid,  of  Denmark,  on  tour  of  Chauncey  Keep 
Memorial  Hall  during  their  visit  to  Chicago.  They  were  extremely  interested  in  the  Races  of  Mankind  sculptures 
by  Malvina  Hoffman.     Left  to  right:  the  Princess,  Mr.  Clifford  C.  Gregg,  Director  of  the  Museum,  and  the  Prince. 


June,  19S9 


FIELD  MUSEUM  NEWS 


Page  S 


STRAW  HATS 

In  Europe  the  history  of  what  is  known 
as  the  "straw  hat"  dates  back  to  the  early 
seventeenth  century  when  hats  were  made 
from  wheat  straw  in  Bedfordshire,  England. 
In  Italy  the  "Leghorn  hat"  was  a  well-known 
article  of  manufacture  in  Tuscany  about 
the  middle  of  the  same  century.  In  addition 
to  types  of  wheat  straw  hats,  there  is  on 
display  in  Hall  28  of  the  Department  of 
Botany  at  Field  Museum  an  exhibit  showing 
steps  in  the  manufacture  of  the  so-called 
Panama  hat  (actually  made  principally  in 
Ecuador),  and  also  some  distinctive  hats 
from  Alaska,  Brazil,  the  Philippine  Islands, 
China,  and  India,  made  from  materials, 
such  as  split  palm  leaves,  rushes  or  grasses, 
and  stems  of  reeds. 


The  First  Step  in  Making  a  Panama  Hat — 

— is  to  grow  a  Panama  hat  palm  (Carludovica  palmata). 
This  plant  is  native  to  Central  America  and  northern 
South  America,  especially  Ecuador  and  certain  parts 
of  Peru.  The  reproduction  shown  above  is  on  exhibi- 
tion in  Field  Museum's  Hall  of  Plant  Life  (Hall  29). 


ARABIAN    METEORITE   CONVERTED 
DESERT  SANDS  INTO   GLASS 

By  henry  W.  NICHOLS 

CHIEF  CUBATOR,  DEPARTMENT  OP  GEOLOGY 

Of  more  than  ordinary  interest  are  two 
small  meteorite  specimens  and  a  large  piece 
of  silica  glass  recently  added  to  Field  Mu- 
seum's meteorite  collection  in  Hall  34.  This 
material  was  presented  by  Mr.  William 
Lenahan,  of  the  California  Arabian  Standard 
Oil  Company,  Jidda,  Arabia,  and  represents 
an  unusually  spectacular  meteorite  fall. 

In  February,  1932,  Mr.  H.  St.  John  Philby, 
noted  British  explorer,  discovered  at  Wabar, 
which  is  in  the  heart  of  the  Arabian  (or 
Rub'al  Khali)  Desert,  a  group  of  craters 
formed  by  the  impact  of  an  enormous 
meteorite.  This  impact  had  been  so  violent 
that  it  generated  intense  heat  which  melted 
and  even  vaporized  part  of  the  sand  upon 
which  it  struck.  Vapors  were  generated  so 
suddenly  and  in  such  quantity  that  severe 
explosions  were  produced  blowing  out  five 
craters,  the  largest  about  one  hundred  yards 
in  diameter.  Specimens  of  the  meteorite 
and  of  the  silica  glass  formed   from  the 


melted  and  vaporized  sand  were  collected 
by  Mr.  Philby  and  sent  to  the  British  Mu- 
seum in  London,  where  they  have  been 
thoroughly  studied. 

Wabar  is  in  such  an  inaccessible  region  of 
the  desert  that  it  was  not  again  visited  until 
1937,  when  a  geologist  of  the  California 
Arabian  company  succeeded  in  reaching  the 
place.  He  collected  there  the  meteorite 
specimens  and  silica  glass  which  now  appear 
in  Field  Museum's  exhibit. 

The  meteorite  specimens  resemble  other 
iron  meteorites  of  like  size,  and  the  silica 
glass,  as  might  be  expected  from  its  origin, 
has  the  general  appearance  of  a  furnace 
slag,  or  of  any  rock  which  has  been  melted 
and  suddenly  cooled.  Its  unique  nature  is 
perceived  only  on  the  closest  inspection, 
and  its  most  remarkable  feature  can  be 
seen  only  under  the  microscope.  The  stony 
semi-opaque  glass  is  filled  with  a  multitude 
of  minute  bright  globules  of  iron,  a  thou- 
sandth of  an  inch  and  less  in  diameter.  This 
can  only  mean  that  the  heat  generated  by 
the  impact  of  the  meteorite  was  so  great 
that  part  of  the  iron  meteorite  boiled  oflf  as 
iron  vapor  and  mingled  with  the  vapor  given 
off  by  boiling  silica  from  the  sand,  while  the 
silica  vapor,  shielding  the  iron,  prevented 
its  burning.  As  the  mixed  vapors  cooled 
they  condensed  into  a  rain  or  mist  of  iron 
and  silica  which  formed  the  silica  glass. 


THINGS  YOU  MAY  HAVE  MISSED 


FIELD  MUSEUM'S  QUETZAL  GROUP 
APPEARS  IN  BRITISH  WEEKLY 

A  beautiful  full-page  reproduction,  in 
colors,  of  Field  Museum's  habitat  group  of 
the  quetzal,  national  bird  of  Guatemala, 
appeared  in  the  March  25  issue  of  The 
Illustrated  London  News,  one  of  Great 
Britain's  most  important  periodicals.  The 
illustration  was  made  from  a  natural-color 
photograph  taken  by  Mr.  Clarence  B. 
Mitchell,  Research  Associate  in  Photography 
on  the  Museum  staff. 

Publication  of  a  picture  in  these  dimen- 
sions, and  in  full  colors,  by  a  magazine 
exercising  the  superior  type  of  editorial 
discrimination  characteristic  of  The  Illus- 
trated London  News,  can  be  accepted  as  a 
tribute  to  the  skill  and  artistry  both  of  the 
photographer,  and  of  the  taxidermist  and 
artists  responsible  for  the  preparation  of 
the  group — Mr.  John  W.  Moyer,  who 
mounted  the  birds,  Mr.  Arthur  G.  Rueckert 
who  painted  the  background,  and  Mr. 
Frank  Letl  who  prepared  the  plant  acces- 
sories for  the  foreground.  The  birds  in  the 
group  were  collected  by  Assistant  Curator 
Emmet  R.  Blake  as  a  member  of  an  expedi- 
tion sponsored  by  Mr.  Leon  Mandel. 

A  small  reproduction,  in  colors,  of  this 
group  appeared  in  the  December,  1938  issue 
of  Field  Museum  News.  Colored  post 
cards  of  it  are  available  at  The  Book  Shop 
of  the  Museum. 


The  Least  Weasel 

Ounce  for  ounce,  with  the  possible  excep- 
tion of  the  shrews,  the  tiny  least  weasel  is 
the  most  ferocious  and  bloodthirsty  animal 
of  the  mammalian  class.  Only  a  fraction 
over  six  inches  in  length,  and  weighing  on  an 
average  about  one-third  of  a  pound,  it  is 
distinguished  from  the  other  weasels  by  its 
extremely  small  size  and  almost  total  lack 
of  the  characteristic  black  tip  to  the  tail. 
With  its  long  flattened  head,  wide  jaws,  and 
peculiar  looping  gait  when  scenting  a  trail, 
it  gives  a  definite  impression  of  resemblance 
to  a  reptile.  There  is  a  tense  readiness 
about  it,  comparable  to  a  coiled  spring  held 
precariously  in  leash. 

The  least  weasel  is  reddish-brown  above, 
and  white  beneath.  In  common  with  other 
weasels,  it  possesses  the  ability  to  change 
to  a  white  coat  in  winter,  which  must  give 
it  an  enormous  advantage  over  the  mice 
and  birds  upon  which  it  preys.  In  fact,  it 
is  only  in  the  light  of  the  almost  unbelievable 
fertility  of  its  victims  that  one  can  conceive 
of  their  continued  existence,  for  all  weasels 
are  known  to  attack  out  of  mere  lust  for 
killing.  However,  this  is  apparently  part 
of  Nature's  scheme  of  checks  and  balances, 
and  the  conduct  of  weasels  should  not  be 
judged  by  human  moral  standards.  On  the 
credit  side  are  an  enormous  number  of 
insects  and  rodent  pests  destroyed  by  this 
small  predator,  thus  making  it  decidedly 
beneficial  to  man's  interests. 

The  four  North  American  subspecies  of 
this  highly  successful  little  carnivore  range 
from  Alaska  to  Hudson  Bay,  and  southward 
to  Montana,  Minnesota,  Indiana,  and  Penn- 
sylvania; but  in  addition  the  species  has 
recently  been  shown  to  be  represented  by 
Old  World  races,  making  it  circumpolar  in 
range.  Nevertheless,  despite  this  wide  radia- 
tion, it  is  rarely  taken  in  traps  and  little 
is  known  of  its  habits.  The  nest,  usually 
grass-lined,  is  in  a  hole  in  a  bank.  Four 
to  six  young  are  born  in  a  litter. 

A  specimen  of  least  weasel  is  shown  among 
the  fur-bearing  animals  in  the  systematic 
collection  of  mammals  (Hall  15). — W.J.B. 


The  making  of  flour  is  illustrated  by  a 
miniature  mill  on  exhibition  in  Hall  25. 


Tiny  Killer 

The  least  weasel,  which  many  zoologists  describe  as, 
ounce  for  ounce,  "the  most  bloodthirsty  of  mammals." 
The  illustration  is  approximately  one-quarter  life  size. 


Page  i 


FIELD  MUSEUM  NEWS 


June,  19S9 


ARTIFICIALLY  DEFORMING  THE  HUMAN  HEAD  FOR  'BEAUTY' 


By  henry  field 
curator  of  physical  anthropology 

There  is  a  saying  that  "beauty  is  only  skin 
deep,"but  judging  from  the  age-old  ideals  of 
certain  groups  of  people  scattered  through- 
out the  world,  it  would  seem  that  Samuel 
Johnson's  broader  interpretation  of  that 
desirable  quality  is  more  accurate.  Johnson 
defined  beauty  as  "that  assemblage  of  graces, 
or  proportion  of  parts,  which  pleases  the 
eye."  It  is  that  "proportion  of  parts" 
which  is  the  chief  concern  of  those  people 
who  practise  artificial  deformation  of  the 
head  as  an  aesthetic  measure. 

Some  prefer  heads  that  are  flattened  in 
front  and  abnormally  elongated  towards  the 
back.  Others  favor 
the  domed  variety, 
flattened  at  the  back 
and  growing  upwards, 
sometimes  into  an 
actual  peak.  There 
are  many  variations 
of  these  two  extremes 
and  many  methods 
by  which  they  are 
achieved. 

Molding  or  mas- 
saging of  an  infant's 

Photo  copyright  Field  Ulueum  -  . 

head,  and  applica- 
Mangbetu  ^.j^^^  ^j  bandages. 

Woman  of  Aincan  tribe  w       ' 

with  head  peculiarly   de-  boards,  pads.  Or  even 

formed  for  aesthetic  reasons.   ^*    „4.«« „«„    „««,„ 

A  bronze  sculpture  by  Mai-  ol  stones,   are  some 
Vina  Hoffman,  in  the  Hall  of  the  measures  taken 

of  the  Races  of  Mankind.   , 

in  attempting  to  force 
the  head  to  grow  into  the  desired  shape. 
Another  familiar  method  is  the  use  of  the 
cradle-board. 

ELONGATION  MARKED  NOBILITY 

The  peculiar  custom  of  artificial  cranial 
deformation  dates  back  several  thousand 
years,  at  least  to  the  Late  Minoan  III 
period  in  Crete  and  a  contemporary  age 
in  Egypt.  Ikhnaton's  skull  is  an  outstand- 
ing example,  and  many  people  believe  that 
his  wife,  the  beautiful  Nofretiti,  and  their 
daughters  also  had  deformed  heads.  Others 
are  of  the  opinion,  however,  that  the  ap- 
parent abnormality  of  the  heads  of  the 
queen  and  princesses  was  nothing  more  than 
a  built-up  coiffure. 

Hippocrates,  who  died  about  350  B.C., 
stated  that  there  were  peoples  living  in  the 
Caucasus  who  elongated  their  heads  arti- 
ficially, and  he  added  that  a  head  so  de- 
formed was  a  mark  of  nobility.  There 
is  abundant  evidence — in  India,  China, 
Celebes,  and  Madagascar,  to  cite  only  a 
few  localities — that  the  practise  originated 
among  persons  of  high  rank.  It  has  been 
suggested  that  the  desire  to  simulate  the 
majesty  and  wisdom  of  Ikhnaton  started 
the  custom  in  Egypt,  and  that  it  spread 
to  other  parts  of  the  world.  This  theory 
loses  weight,  however,  when  one  considers 
that  the  custom  has  been  practised  on  every 


continent  except  Australia,  from  very  early 
to  modern  times. 

The  Indians  of  Peru  had  long  deformed 
their  children's  heads  before  the  Spanish 
conquerors  arrived  during  the  sixteenth 
century  and  issued  decrees  against  the 
practice.  Two  hundred  years  later,  Lewis 
and  Clark  reported  that  the  Chinook  tribes 
of  our  Northwest  Coast  had  their  heads 
flattened  "in  a  most  disgusting  manner." 
From  China  comes  the  story  that  during 
the  massacre  at  Nanking  the  final  test 
of  identity  of  a  Manchu  was  the  shape  of 
his  head.  Any  soldier  found  with  a  head 
flattened  in  the  back  was  promptly  executed. 
Deformation  has  been  practised  throughout 
Europe,  especially  in  south  Russia,  at  various 
periods,  and  is  still  current  in  certain  parts 
of  France  and  Holland.  I  was  told  in 
Marken,  Netherlands,  that  the  grandmother 
generally  molds  the  infant's  head  by 
massage  and  that  a  tight  cap  is  also  used, 
the  object  in  this  instance  being  to  make 
the  head  rounder.  Among  the  Mangbetu 
in  central  Africa,  children's  heads  are  still 
bound,  with  bark  cloth,  string,  fibre,  or  the 
hair  of  the  giraffe. 

MENTAL  ABILITY  UNIMPAIRED 

In  southwestern  Asia  the  "Armenian" 
cradleboard  is  used  in  parts  of  Syria,  Ana- 
tolia, Iraq,  Iran,  and  the  Caucasus.  The 
head  is  deformed,  generally  without  inten- 
tion, as  a  result  of  the  hard  pad  upon  which 
the  child's  head  rests.  The  child  remains 
fastened  in  the  cradle  for  the  first  two  years 
of  its  life,  or  even  longer,  the  only  respite 
being  the  occasion  of  the  weekly  bath.  The 
reason  usually  advanced  for  this  confine- 
ment is  that  the  child  keeps  in  better  health 
than  otherwise,  and  that  it  can  never  be 
stifled  by  being  carried  around  in  its  mother's 
arms. 

Although  there  are  reports  that  some  of 
the   more   severe   methods   of   misshaping 


the  skull  are  painful,  and  that  the  brain  is 
inevitably  injured,  comparative  examination 
of  numerous  deformed  and  undeformed 
skulls  has  shown  that  cranial  capacity  is 
not  affected.  The  head  merely  grows  in 
unrestricted  but  abnormal  directions.  Proof 
is  also  lacking  of  any  change  in  mental 
ability. 

Thus,  the  results  of  intentional  deforma- 
tion of  the  head  seem  to  be  merely  the 
satisfaction  of  vanity,  on  the  one  hand,  and 
on  the  other,  the  confusion  of  anthropologists 
in  their  search  for  accurate  indications  of 
race.  Head  shape  is  one  of  the  most  con- 
stant of  physical  traits,  and  by  means  of 
measurements  which  determine  the  relative 
length  and  breadth  of  a  head,  the  cephalic 
index  (dolichocephals  are  long  heads; 
brachycephals,  short  heads),  we  are  able 
to  trace  certain  racial  affinities  more  posi- 
tively than  in  any  other  way.  But  the 
"sugar-loaf"  skull  of  an  ancient  Peruvian 
or  the  streamlined  head  of  a  Nofretiti 
baffles  the  best  anthropologist,  and  scientific 
accuracy  must  bow  to  the  supremacy  of 
beauty. 

According  to  E.  J.  Dingwall,  author  of  a 
text-book  on  this  subject,  some  of  the  finest 
examples  of  artificially  deformed  skulls  are 
those  from  Peru  and  the  Northwest  Coast  on 
exhibition  in  the  section  devoted  to  physical 
anthropology  in  the  Hall  of  the  Races  of 
Mankind  (Hall  3)  at  Field  Museum. 


New  Data  on  Orbicular  Jasper 

"A  Study  of  Orbicular  Jasper,"  by  Dr. 
Albert  J.  Walcott,  appeared  in  the  February 
issue  of  The  Mineralogist.  Dr.  Walcott, 
basing  his  thorough  study  on  material  in 
Field  Museum's  collections,  has  determined 
that  this  unique  stone,  highly  prized  by 
lapidarists,  is  not  a  jasper  but  another  form 
of  quartz. 

Dr.  Walcott  recently  lectured  on  asterism 
at  the  convention  of  the  American  Gem 
Society  at  the  Stevens  Hotel.  A  party  of 
sixty-one  delegates  from  the  convention 
was  conducted  on  a  tour  of  the  Museum's 
geological  exhibits. 


Cradle-board  for  Head  Flattening 

Method  of  deforming  child  practised  by  Chinook 
Indian  tribes  of  the  Northwest  Coast  {iUuttration  after 
CaUin),  The  mother's  head  shows  how  the  changed 
shape — considered  "beautif<il"— continues  in  adulthood. 


DESERTS 

— by  Gayle  Pickwell 

"A  volume  notable  for  its  fine  illus- 
trations of  the  physical,  botanical, 
and  zoological  features  of  the  deserts 
of  the  southwestern  United  States," 
says  Mr.  Karl  P.  Schmidt,  Curator 
of  Amphibians  and  Reptiles  at  Field 
Museum.  "Sixty-four  full-page  illus- 
trations, with  the  colored  frontis- 
piece, give  the  reader  landscapes, 
and  plant  and  animal  portraits,  of 
great  distinction." 

On  sale  at  THE  BOOK  SHOP  of 
FIELD  MUSEUM— $3.50. 


June,  19S9 


FIELD  MUSEUM  NEWS 


Page  5 


NATURAL  HISTORY  MUSEUMS 
(A  Review  of  Recent  Developments) 

BY  WILFRED  H.  OSGOOD 

CHIEF  CURATOR,  DEPARTMENT  OF  ZOOLOGY 

(Editor's  Note: — The  follotving  article, 
written  by  Dr.  Osgood  at  the  request  of  the 
Editors  of  the  1939  britannica  book  of  the 
YEAR,  is  reprinted  here  by  special  permission 
of  the  publishers — Encyclopaedia  Britannica, 
Inc.  It  concisely  tells  the  principal  develop- 
ments of  the  past  year  in  the  museums  of  the 
world.) 

Evidence  continues  to  accumulate  indicat- 
ing that  natural  history  museums  are  chang- 
ing their  ways.  There  have  been  museums 
or  collections  of  natural  objects  for  centuries, 
but  it  is  only  in  the  last  few  decades  that 
they  have  attained  a  new  status  and  changed 
more  than  in  all  their  previous  history.  In 
municipalities,  states,  and  nations  their  im- 
portance, amounting  almost  to  indispensa- 
bility,  is  everywhere  being  recognized.  In 
1938  the  British  Standing  Commission  on 
Museums  and  Galleries  made  sweeping 
recommendations  for  new  museums  and 
extensive  additions  to  existing  ones  in  the 
South  Kensington  district  in  London.  Sig- 
nificant, also,  was  the  establishment  in 
Argentina  by  executive  decree  of  a  national 
"Commission  on  Museums  and  Historic 
Sites."  Such  commissions  already  exist  in 
many  other  countries. 

MANY  NEW  MUSEUMS  OPENED 

The  multiplication  of  small  municipal  and 
park  museums  has  continued.  In  the  United 
States  there  are  now  forty-five  museums  in 
national  parks,  representing  an  investment 
of  $1,300,000  and  serving  1,500,000  visitors 
annually.  Louisiana  proposes  "to  establish 
an  appropriate  historical  or  natural  history 
museum  within  each  state  park."  Other 
states  have  already  gone  far  in  the  same 
direction.  A  new  specialization  in  the 
museum  field  is  a  psychology  museum 
opened  in  Chicago.  This  so-called  "museum 
movement"  is  practically  world-wide.  In 
the  British  Isles  it  is  stated  that  new  mu- 
seums have  been  opened  at  the  rate  of  one 
every  three  weeks  for  the  past  ten  years. 
One  student,  investigating  museum  methods 
in  1938,  visited  no  less  than  300  museums 
of  various  kinds  in  the  British  Isles.  In 
the  United  States,  in  addition  to  the  large 
privately  endowed  institutions,  there  are 
now  twenty-three  independent  state  mu- 
seums. In  Canada  there  are  thirty-six 
museums  with  full-time  staffs.  Even  in 
newly  organized  Manchuria  there  are  at 
least  six  museums  of  some  importance,  and 
Soviet  Russia  has  more  than  seven  hundred 
of  all  classes. 

In  Russia,  the  aim  of  many  govern- 
mentally  supervised  museums  is  plainly 
adult  education  for  the  masses.  Exhibits 
are  shown  without  glass  fronts,  and  visitors 
are  encouraged  to  handle  many  of  the 
objects.  The  same  aim  is  the  fundamental 
one    in    nearly    all    museums    elsewhere. 


Entertainment  is  still  a  great  function  but 
the  tendency  is  to  combine  it  with  service. 
This  is  seen  not  only  in  organized  work  with 
schools,  colleges,  and  other  cohesive  groups, 
but  also  in  didactic  exhibits  and  in  general 
public  relations  ranging  from  docent  services 
to  national  radio  broadcasts.  The  modern 
demand  is  for  exhibits  that  are  thought- 
provoking  or  definitely  instructive  as  well 
as  those  that  inspire  wonder  and  admiration. 
The  habitat  group,  which  has  been  especially 
developed  in  America,  continues  to  be 
popular  both  for  its  colorful  art  and  its 
subtle  didacticism.  During  1938,  six  large 
habitat  groups  were  completed  by  the 
American  Museum  of  Natural  History  in 
New  York.  In  Chicago,  at  Field  Museum, 
seven  new  groups  of  large  size  also  were 
opened.  In  museums  with  smaller  resources, 
some  large  groups  are  still  being  made, 
but  the  small  diorama,  which  serves  many 
of  the  same  purposes,  is  receiving  much 
attention. 

In  the  United  States,  many  museums  have 
been  stimulated  to  put  their  houses  in  order 
and  to  undertake  long  postponed  projects 
through  assistance  received  from  personnel 
supplied  by  the  federal  unemployment  relief 
agencies.  In  this  way,  in  1937,  services 
from  a  total  of  2,774  additional  employees 
were  obtained  by  museums  throughout  the 
country.  In  1938,  the  number  was  slightly 
increased  and  much  valuable  work  was 
accomplished. 

The  movement  for  the  training  of  museum 
workers  to  meet  the  requirements  of  modern 
specialization  is  gaining  headway  both  in 
the  United  States  and  Great  Britain.  The 
Buffalo  Museum  has  regular  organized 
courses  for  students  intending  to  pursue 
museum  work  and  a  system  of  "internes" 
closely  comparable  to  that  so  well  estab- 
lished in  medical  education.  Several  other 
museums  provide  similar  service,  and  the 
National  Museum  of  Wales  accepts  students 
on  a  three-year  basis  for  work  in  special 
branches  of  science.  The  British  Museums 
Association,  through  its  Education  Com- 
mittee, offers  a  diploma  for  students  of 
museology,  which  is  thus  becoming  an 
organized  profession.  The  Carnegie  United 
Kingdom  Trustees  continued  their  policy 
of  promoting  inter-museum  travel.  During 
the  year  seven  grants  were  made,  each 
essentially  a  traveling  fellowship. 

MEASURES  FOR  SAFETY  IN  WAR 

The  violent  "war  scare"  in  1938  was  of 
considerable  concern  to  museums,  especially 
in  England.  Hasty  preparations  were  made 
for  the  removal  of  special  museum  treasures 
from  the  large  cities  to  places  in  the  country 
offering  comparative  safety.  Not  much 
could  be  done  in  the  limited  time  available 
and  it  was  obvious  that  immediate  bombing 
might  have  produced  much  irreparable 
destruction.  The  result  has  been  the  forma- 
tion of  more  definite  plans  for  the  permanent 
removal  of  much  material  (especially  that 


having  a  basic  relation  to  research)  to  new 
quarters.  It  is  not  unlikely  that  the  future 
will  see  the  research  of  museums  conducted 
in  the  quiet  and  relative  safety  of  the 
country  while  the  exhibits,  many  of  them 
replicas,  and  the  popular  education  will 
remain  in  the  city. 

WORLD-WIDE  EXPEDITIONS 

Museum  expeditions  during  the  year  have 
been  numerous  and  world-wide,  but  mostly 
financed  through  private  sources  since 
museums,  like  other  endowed  institutions, 
find  their  income  from  fixed  endowment 
curtailed  by  prevailing  low  interest  rates. 
In  number  and  importance  of  expeditions, 
the  American  Museum  of  New  York  easily 
stands  first  with  parties  working  in  New 
Guinea,  Venezuela,  Burma,  South  Africa, 
and  many  parts  of  North  America.  Field 
Museum  of  Chicago  worked  in  British 
Guiana,  Guatemala,  Canada  and  the  United 
States.  The  Philadelphia  Academy  of 
Sciences  reports  no  less  than  eighteen  expedi- 
tions of  varying  importance. 

(Copyright,  1939,  in  the  United  States  of  America  by  Encyclopaedia 
Britannica,  Inc.;  copyright  in  all  countries  subscribing  to  the  Berne 
Convention  by  Encyclopaedia  Britannica  Company,  Ltd. ) 


Raymond  Foundation  "Followup" 
to  School  Radio  Program 

The  Museum's  last  "radio  followup" 
meeting  of  the  present  school  year  was  given 
in  the  Lecture  Hall  by  the  James  Nelson 
and  Anna  Louise  Raymond  Foundation  on 
May  4,  in  conjunction  with  a  science 
program  of  the  Public  School  Broadcasting 
Council.  The  subject  was  "Spring  Wild 
Flowers."  Colored  slides  of  flowers  both 
common  and  rare  in  the  Chicago  region 
were  shown,  and  special  attention  was  called 
to  those  protected  by  state  laws.  After  the 
talk,  herbarium  sheets,  from  the  Depart- 
ment of  Botany,  were  exhibited,  and  the 
steps  necessary  in  collecting,  cutting,  and 
mounting  plants  were  explained.  The  meet- 
ing was  attended  by  129  representatives 
chosen  by  eighth  grade  science  classes. 


Reported  Nest  of  Fossil  Eggs 
Found  to  Be  Not  Genuine 

Fossil  eggs  are  known  from  various 
localities,  but  up  to  the  present  no  genuine 
fossil  birds'  eggs  have  been  recovered  in 
Illinois,  according  to  Mr.  Elmer  S.  Riggs, 
Curator  of  Paleontology.  A  recent  news- 
paper report  of  the  discovery  of  a  nest  of 
fossil  eggs  in  DeKalb  County,  Illinois,  was 
investigated  by  Mr.  Riggs  and  Assistant 
Curator  Bryan  Patterson,  who  visited  the 
locality  on  May  17  and  examined  eleven 
of  the  supposed  egg  specimens.  Three  of 
these  were  brought  back  to  Field  Museum 
and  subjected  to  microscopic  examination 
and  to  chemical  tests.  It  was  found  that 
the  "eggs"  were  artificial,  some  of  them 
being  composed  of  lime  and  sand  cast  in  a 
mold,  and  others  composed  of  Portland 
cement  and  sand. 


Page  6 


FIELD  MUSEUM  NEWS 


June,  1939 


Field  Museum  of  Natural  History 

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

THE  BOARD  OF  TRUSTEES 

Sewell  L.  Avery  William  H.  Mitchell 

Leopold  E.  Block  George  A.  Richardson 

Albert  B.  Dick,  Jr.  Theodore  Roosevelt 

Joseph  N.  Field  Fred  W.  Sargent 

Marshall  Field  James  Simpson 

Stanley  Field  Solomon  A.  Smith 

Albert  W.  Harris  Albert  A.  Spragub 

Samuel  Insull,  Jr.  Silas  H.  Strawn 

Charles  A.  McCulloch  John  P.  Wilson 

OFFICERS 

Stanley  Field President 

Albert  A.  Sprague First  Vice-President 

James  Simpson Second  Vice-President 

Albert  W.  Harris Third  Vice-President 

Clifford  C.  Gregg Director  and  Secretary 

Solomon  A.  Smith.  .  .Treasurer  and  Assistant  Secretary 

FIELD  MUSEUM  NEWS 

Clifford  C.  Gregg,  Director  of  the  Museum Editor 

CONTRIBUTING  EDITORS 

Paul  S.  Martin Chief  Curator  of  Anthropology 

B.  E.  Dahlgren Chief  Curator  of  Botany 

Henry  W.  Nichols Chief  Curator  of  Geology 

Wilfred  H.  Osgood Chief  Curator  of  Zoology 

H.  B.  Harte Managing  Editor 

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


FROM  THE  DIRECTOR'S  DESK— 


Field  Museum  Ready  to  Help  You 
Enjoy  Your  Summer  Vacation 

With  the  coming  of  summer,  plans  for 
vacation  trips  will  be  made  in  many  homes 
throughout  the  Chicago  area.  Information 
is  being  gleaned  from  travel  bureaus,  from 
so-called  vacation  states,  and  from  summer 
hotels,  in  an  effort  to  gain  the  greatest 
amount  of  enjoyment  and  benefit  from  the 
proposed  trip.  It  is  generally  agreed  that 
advance  preparation  for  a  vacation  trip 
greatly  enhances  its  value  and  enjoyment 
and  gives  understanding  and  appreciation 
of  the  scenes  viewed  and  the  places  visited. 

For  almost  any  trip  which  leads  to  woods 
or  open  waters,  to  scenic  regions,  or  to 
foreign  countries.  Field  Museum  has  a  great 
store  of  information  to  impart.  To  become 
familiar  with  a  typical  scene  and  afterwards 
to  experience  it  in  its  original  beauty  and 
splendor  must  add  to  vacation  pleasure. 

Those  who  intend  to  visit  the  Rocky 
Mountains  will  be  interested  in  the  group 
showing  plant  life  in  the  alpine  zone  of  the 
Rocky  Mountains,  at  approximately  the 
twelve-thousand  foot  level. 

Perhaps  your  vacation  travel  may  take 
you  to  the  southwest  or  to  the  north  woods, 
in  each  of  which  places  you  may  be  in 
proximity  with  the  American  Indian.  An 
extensive  collection  of  Indian  artifacts  so 
displayed  as  to  give  one  some  appreciation 
of  the  Indians'  mode  of  living  and  their 
ingenuity  in  the  struggle  for  existence  will 
be  found  in  several  halls  at  the  Museum. 

The  fisherman  has  ample  opportunity  at 
Field  Museum  to  see  and  to  learn  to  identify 
the  species  of  fish  which  he  hopes  to  catch. 


On  his  return  he  may  have  an  intimate  view 
of  the  big  one  that  got  away! 

For  all  wilderness  travelers  the  wild  life 
groups  and  the  systematic  mammal,  bird,  fish 
and  reptile  collections  hold  the  key  to  greater 
pleasure  in  introducing  them  to  the  denizens 
of  our  forests,  fields,  and  streams.  To  see 
and  identify  animals  in  their  native  habitats 
brings  far  greater  pleasure  than  merely  to 
see  them  and  wonder  what  they  are. 

Those  so  fortunate  as  to  make  extensive 
trips  around  the  world  will  find  at  Field 
Museum  vast  stores  of  interesting  informa- 
tion not  only  on  the  animal  and  bird  life 
of  foreign  countries,  but  on  the  life  and 
customs  of  primitive  peoples  in  all  parts  of 
the  globe. 

For  visitors  from  other  states  and  nations, 
Field  Museum  is  an  end  in  itself.  A  casual 
inspection  of  the  parking  lot  at  the  Museum 
at  any  time  during  the  summer  months 
reveals  a  horde  of  automobile  licenses  from 
other  states,  from  Mexico,  and  from  Canada. 
These  cars  bring  in  visitors  from  near  and 
far  who  have  heard  the  story  of  Field  Mu- 
seum and  who  pause  in  their  travel  to  see 
for  themselves  a  collection  of  exhibits  which 
has  few  rivals. 

At  vacation  time,  Field  Museum  offers 
opportunities  galore  for  those  who  would 
come  and  see. 

— Clifford  C.  Gregg,  Director 


STAFF  NOTES 

Dr.  Paul  S.  Martin,  Chief  Curator  of  the 
Department  of  Anthropology,  has  been 
elected  First  Vice-President  of  the  American 
Anthropological  Society  (Central  Section). 
The  election  took  place  at  a  meeting  held 
in  May  at  Ann  Arbor,   Michigan. 


Mr.  C.  Martin  Wilbur,  Curator  of  Chinese 
Archaeology  and  Ethnology,  conducted  a 
seminar  on  "Museum  Work  as  a  Career," 
at  Grinnell  College  in  Iowa  last  month. 


Dr.  Julian  A.  Steyermark,  Assistant 
Curator  of  the  Herbarium,  and  Mr.  Loren 
P.  Woods,  of  the  Raymond  Foundation 
staff,  made  a  collection  of  plants,  fishes, 
reptiles,  and  mammals  for  the  Museum 
recently,  in  the  Black  River  watershed  in 
the   Ozark   Mountains  of   Missouri. 


Mr.  L.  Bryant  Mather,  Jr.,  Assistant 
Curator  of  Mineralogy,  has  returned  from 
an  expedition  under  the  direction  of  Dr. 
Joseph  T.  Singewald,  Professor  of  Economic 
Geology  at  the  Johns  Hopkins  University. 
The  party  included  fourteen  geologists. 
Localities  in  Pennsylvania,  New  Jersey,  and 
New  York  were  visited.  Eighty-seven 
mineral  species  were  collected  for  Field 
Museum. 


children's  division  of  the  Story  Paper 
Editors'  Conference  on  the  subject:  "The 
Development  of  Museum  Stories  for  Chil- 
dren." Mrs.  Leota  G.  Thomas,  also  of  the 
Raymond  Foundation,  addressed  members 
of  the  Prairie  Club  on  natural  history  of 
the  Chicago  region. 


Distinguished  Visitors 

Among  distinguished  visitors  recently 
received  at  Field  Museum  are  Mr.  William 
J.  Morden,  well-known  traveler  and  ex- 
plorer, and  Associate  of  the  Department  of 
Mammals  in  the  American  Museum  of 
Natural  History,  New  York;  Lieutenant 
Colonel  J.  H.  Patterson,  of  the  British  Army 
(retired),  who  shot  the  man-eating  lions  of 
Tsavo  now  exhibited  in  Field  Museum,  and 
is  author  of  an  interesting  book  about  these 
famous  marauders;  Dr.  Robert  Allen  Cooley, 
well-known  entomologist  specializing  in 
ticks  at  the  Rocky  Mountain  Laboratory, 
Hamilton,  Montana;  Mr.  A.  H.  Kierney  of 
the  Bureau  of  Plant  Industry,  United 
States  Department  of  Agriculture;  Mr. 
J.  B.  Kinlock,  of  the  Department  of  Forestry 
of  British  Honduras;  Dr.  Margaret  Mead, 
Assistant  Curator  of  Ethnology  at  the 
American  Museum  of  Natural  History, 
New  York,  who  is  the  author  of  well-known 
books  on  island  peoples  of  the  South  Pacific; 
Mr.  Charles  R.  Knight,  of  New  York,  the 
artist  who  painted  the  series  of  prehistoric 
life  murals  in  Ernest  R.  Graham  Hall  of 
Field  Museum;  Mr.  Newton  B.  Drury, 
Secretary  of  the  Save-the-Redwoods  League, 
of  California;  and  Dr.  Hu  Chao-chun,  Di- 
rector, City  Museum  of  Greater  Shanghai, 
China,  who  is  investigating  American  mu- 
seum administration  and  technique. 


Miss  Margaret  M.  Cornell,  Chief  of  the 
James  Nelson  and  Anna  Louise  Raymond 
Foundation  staff,  recently  spoke  before  the 


A  FEW  FACTS  ABOUT  FIELD  MUSEUM 

Field  Museum  is  open  every  day  of  the  year 
(except  Christmas  and  New  Year's  Day)  during 
the  hours  indicated  below; 

November,  December, 

January,  February 9  a.m.  to  4  P.M. 

March,  April,  and 
September,  October 9  a.m.  to  6  P.M. 

May,  June,  July,  August. . .  .9  a.m.  to  6  p.m. 

Admission  is  free  to  Members  on  all  days. 
Other  adults  are  admitted  free  on  Thursdays. 
Saturdays,  and  Sundays;  non-members  pay  25 
cents  on  other  days.  Children  are  admitted  free 
on  all  days.  Students  and  faculty  members  of 
educational  institutions  are  admitted  free  any 
day  upon  presentation  of  credentials. 

The  Museum's  Library  is  open  for  reference 
daily  except  Saturday  afternoon  and  Sunday. 

Traveling  exhibits  are  circulated  in  the  schools 
of  Chicago  by  the  N.  W.  Harris  Public  School 
Extension  Department  of  the  Museum. 

Lectures  at  schools,  and  special  entertain- 
ments and  tours  for  children  at  the  Museum,  are 
provided  by  the  James  Nelson  and  Anna  Louise 
Raymond  Foundation  for  Public  School  and 
Children's  Lectures. 

Free  courses  of  lectures  for  adults  are  presented 
in  the  James  Simpson  Theatre  on  Saturday  after- 
noons (at  2:30  o'clock)  in  March,  April,  October, 
and  November. 

A  Cafeteria  serves  visitors.  _  Rooms  are  avail- 
able also  for  those  bringing  their  lunches. 

Chicago  Motor  Coach  Company  No.  26  busses 
provide  direct  transportation  to  the  Museum.  Ser- 
vice is  offered  also  by  Surface  Lines,  Rapid  Tran- 
sit Lines  (the  "L"),  mterurban  electric  lines,  and 
Illinois  Central  trains.  There  is  ample  free  park- 
ing space  for  automobiles  at  the  Museum. 


June,  1939 


FIELD  MUSEUM  NEWS 


Page  7 


HASELTINE    SCULPTURES    OF   DOMESTIC   ANIMALS   WIN    HIGH    PRAISE    FROM   ART   EXPERT 


"Of  great  significance  artistically  is  the 
permanent  exhibition  of  sculptures  of  cham- 
pion domestic  animals  by  Herbert  Haseltine, 
British  sculptor,  which  occupies  a  special 
hall  at  Field  Museum  of  Natural  History," 
wrote  Mrs.  Katherine  Kuh,  of  the  Kuh 
Galleries,  after  a  recent  visit  to  the  Museum. 

Mrs.  Kuh  was  so  enthusiastic  about  the 
Haseltine  works  that  she  immediately  got 
in  touch  with  members  of  the  staff  of  the 
Department  of  Zoology,  urging  that  this 
collection,  in  Hall  12,  be  brought  to  the 
attention  of  a  wider  public. 


The  Haseltine  series,  a  gift  to  the  Museum 
from  Mr.  Marshall  Field,  a  Trustee  of  the 
institution,  immortalizes  in  bronze  and 
stone  some  of  the  finest  animals  in  the 
service  of  man.  Each  represents  a  life  study 
of  animals  which  won  honors  as  the  best 
examples  of  live  stock  bred  in  Great  Britain 
— horses  (draft,  racing  and  polo),  bulls,  cows, 
sheep,  and  hogs.  The  series  comprises  nine- 
teen sculptures,  all  scaled  to  one-quarter 
life-size.  They  not  only  represent  the  actual 
winners  of  contests,  whose  mettle  has  been 
proved  in  the  stock  shows  and  on  the  race 


courses,  but  they  typify  the  physical  charac- 
teristics of  various  outstanding  breeds.  In 
most  cases,  stones  of  various  hues  and 
textures,  suitable  for  representing  the  colors 
and  characteristics  of  the  animals,  have  been 
used.  Also  employed,  with  the  utmost 
success,  are  such  materials  as  plated  gold 
and  bronze,  ornamented  in  some  cases  with 
lapis  lazuli,  ivory,  or  onyx.  The  statues  are 
beautifully  mounted  and  lighted.  Before 
coming  to  Chicago  for  their  permanent 
home,  the  sculptures  were  exhibited  in  Paris, 
London,  and  New  York. 


Draft  Horse,  by  Herbert  Haseltine 

The  animal  is  Sudbourne  Premier,  a  Suffolk  Punch 
stallion.      The  sculpture  is  in  bronze,  plated  with  gold. 


Hereford  Bull,  by  Herbert  Haseltine 

Bronze  partially  plated  with  gold.    The  animal  repre- 
sented was  known  in  England  as  Twyford  Fairy  Boy. 


Race  Horse  in  Bronze,  by  Herbert  Haseltine 

It    represents    Polymelus,    a    British    thoroughbred, 
winner  of  many  races,  and  a  champion  sire  for  years. 


PARTS  OF  OLD  AUTOMOBILE 
AID  PALEONTOLOGIST 

By  ELMER  S.  RIGGS 

CURATOR  OF  PALEONTOLOGY 

,  Before  a  fossil  animal  can  become  an 
exhibit  in  a  glass  case,  with  possibly  a  back- 
ground and  habitat  accessories,  it  must 
first  be  an  object  of  careful  and  painstaking 
work  in  a  laboratory. 

In  fact,  the  museum  worker  usually  first 
makes  its  acquaintance  in  the  field  as  a  mere 
tantalizing  prospect  in  a  ledge  of  rock  or  a 
bank  of  clay,  and  thence  follows  it  through 
a  variety  of  stages,  all  laborious.  Only  after 
arduous  toil  is  the  specimen  separated  from 
the  terrain  as  a  block  of  "matrix"  in  which 
the  bones  still  remain  imbedded.  Shipped 
home,  this  block  next  appears  mounted  on 
a  chipping  block  in  the  laboratory  where  it 
is  attacked,  but  gently  and  carefully  to 
avoid  damage  to  the  bones,  with  chisels  and 
hammer.  At  long  last  the  preparator  finds  his 
specimen  laid  out  on  a  laboratory  table  as 
an  assemblage  of  mended  and  sorted  bones. 
Then,  to  obtain  a  satisfactory  pose  for 
exhibition,  a  temporary  mount  is  necessary. 
This  last  step  often  taxes  the  ingenuity 
of  the  preparator  more  than  any  other. 
Far  different  from  a  plastic  material  to  be 
molded  in  a  modeler's  hands,  the  skeletal 
parts  must  be  set  up,  posed,  and  almost 
interminably  readjusted.  Distorted  parts 
have  to  be  reshaped  until  they  finally  form 
a  consistent  whole  correctly  interpreting  the 
physical  structure  of  an  animal  which  has 


never  been  seen  alive,  or  even  as  a  carcass, 
by  any  human  eye. 

Mr.  James  Quinn,  a  Field  Museum  col- 
lector and  preparator  of  fossil  mammals, 
recently  solved  the  difficulty  of  assembling 
troublesome  fossil  skeletons  by  enlisting  for 
the  purpose  certain  discarded  parts  of  a 
small  car.  A  pair  of  lifting-jack  screws, 
mounted  upon  two  upright  standards, 
furnish  adjustable  supports  for  the  body 
bones  of  the  animal.  Flat  rods,  with  ad- 
justable knees  attached  to  every  vertebra, 
make  the  vertebral  column  almost  as  mutable 
as  the  flexible  arm  of  an  electric  fixture. 

Sliding  jointed  braces  make  it  equally 
possible  to  raise  and  lower  the  head.  The 
ball  and  socket  joints  of  a  steering  gear, 
joined  by  varying  lengths  of  tie-bar  and 
piping  with  slip  joint,  form  an  adjustable 
leg  support  capable  of  universal  adjustment 
at  hip,  knee  and  hock.  In  short,  by  using 
all  the  movable  parts  of  a  half-dozen  steer- 
ing gears  and  other  pieces  from  the  scrap- 
heap,  a  fossil  skeleton,  in  the  hands  of  Mr. 
Quinn,  resourceful  adaptor  and  manipulator, 
becomes  almost  a  "robot"  of  movement. 
Recently  the  device  was  used  to  support  the 
skeleton  of  a  fossil  horse,  thus  presenting  a 
combination  of  features  of  the  by-gone  horse 
and  buggy  age  with  that  of  the  motor  car. 

But  pose,  not  action,  is  the  object  being 
seriously  sought  here.  When  all  of  the 
adjustments  of  body,  head,  legs  and  feet  have 
been  made,  and  the  pose,  whether  represent- 
ing an  animal  as  walking  or  standing,  idling 


or  alert,  has  been  checked  and  found  correct, 
screws  and  lock-nuts  are  tightened  down 
and  the  specimen  from  some  remote  period 
may  be  trusted  to  stand.  Then  permanent 
supports,  less  conspicuous  than  those  of 
the  temporary  device,  are  shaped  and  fitted 
to  the  skeleton,  and  the  steering-gear  frame- 
work is  detached  and  laid  aside  until  required 
again  in  a  different  set-up  adapted  to  a  pose 
for  some  other  animal  of  the  long  ago. 


Notable  Study  Collection 

A  notable  collection  of  some  800  ceramic 
objects  of  Chinese  and  Siamese  origin,  found 
in  the  Philippine  Islands,  has  been  placed 
in  the  Museum,  for  study,  by  Mr.  E.  D. 
Hester,  of  Manila,  Economic  Adviser  to  the 
High  Commissioner  of  the  Philippines. 
These  ceramics  range  in  date  from  about  the 
thirteenth  to  the  seventeenth  century. 


POISON  IVY— 

— Now  is  the  time  to  beware  of  this 
pestiferous  plant,  which  can  do  so 
much  to  spoil  a  summer  vacation. 

An  illustrated  leaflet — No.  12  in 
Field  Museum's  Botanical  Series — 
tells  how  to  identify  the  plant,  how 
poisoning  takes  place,  the  nature  of 
the  poison  and  the  disease  it  causes, 
and  the  remedies  for  ivy  poisoning. 

On  sale  at  the  BOOK  SHOP  of 
FIELD  MUSEUM— 15  cents. 


Page  8 


FIELD  MUSEUM  NEWS 


June,  19S9 


SUNDAY  LECTURE-TOURS  END; 
TO  RESUME  IN  NOVEMBER 

The  Sunday  afternoon  lecture  tours  con- 
ducted by  Mr.  Paul  G.  Dallwig,  the  Layman 
Lecturer,  ended  for  the  season  on  May  28. 
Since  October  2,  Mr.  Dallwig  has  conducted 
33  parties,  with  an  aggregate  attendance  of 
approximately  2,800,  or  an  average  of  84 
each  Sunday.  This  was  an  increase  over 
the  1937-38  season,  despite  the  fact  that 
the  number  of  Sundays  was  two  less  in  the 
1938-39  season.  The  audiences  included, 
besides  Chicagoans,  visitors  from  many 
sections  of  the  United  States,  Canada  and 
Europe — men  and  women  engaged  in  a  wide 
variety  of  professions,  businesses,  and  other 
activities.  Reluctantly,  Field  Museum  has 
been  forced  to  disappoint  approximately 
1,500  persons  whose  applications  for  reser- 
vations were  received  too  late,  but  this  was 
necessary  in  order  to  limit  the  groups  to  a 
size  practicable  for  handling. 

Mr.  Dallwig  will  resume  his  activity  as 
Layman  Lecturer  on  the  first  Sunday  in 
November  (reservations  will  be  accepted 
beginning  October  1).  In  the  1939-40 
season  he  plans  to  present  some  additional 
subjects,  as  well  as  repeating  those  which 
have  proved  so  popular  with  the  public 
during  the  past  two  seasons.  Mr.  Dallwig 
renders  this  service  as  a  contribution  to  the 
Museum.  In  his  lectures  this  season  he 
covered  prehistoric  animals,  prehistoric  man, 
the  living  races  of  mankind,  and  precious 
and  semi-precious  gem  stones. 


Department  of  Zoolo^: 

From  Dr.  L.  C.  Buckley,  Trang,  Siam— 
15  bats,  Siam;  from  Chicago  Zoological 
Society,  Brookfield,  Illinois— 45  birds,  6 
ticks,  a  mangabey  monkey,  and  a  kinkajou; 
from  Herman  C.  Benke,  Chicago — 33  speci- 
mens of  marine  shells,  east  coast  of  the 
United  States;  from  General  Biological 
Supply  House,  Chicago — a  giant  earth- 
worm, Peru;  from  Julius  Friesser,  Chicago 
— 4  mountain  lion  skulls  and  a  lynx  skull, 
Arizona;  from  John  Werler,  Seaside,  Oregon 
— 9  garter  snakes,  Oregon;  from  Boardman 
Conover,  Chicago — 2  red-eyed  pochards, 
Africa;  from  Carl  Bartell,  Blue  Island, 
Illinois — a  barn  owl,  Illinois;  from  H.  St. 
John  Philby,  Jidda,  Arabia — 12  bats  and 
3  hedgehogs,  Arabia;  from  Clark  Sanderson, 
Chicago — 6  specimens  of  the  terrestrial 
saw  bug,  Illinois;  from  H.  E.  Woodcock, 
Chicago — 7  butterflies,  New  Mexico;  from 
Loren  P.  Woods,  Evanston,  Illinois — 2,056 
fish  specimens,  17  specimens  of  frogs, 
lizards,  snakes,  tadpoles,  and  a  turtle, 
Missouri;  from  Henry  Barthman,  Useppa 
Island,  Florida — a  tarpon,  Florida;  from 
John  R.  Millar,  Chicago — 2  turtles  and  2 
snakes,  Indiana;  from  Fred  Rittschof, 
Urbana,  Illinois — a  fence  lizard,  Illinois; 
from  Brother  Niceforo  Maria,  Bogota, 
Colombia — 22  birds,  Colombia;  from  Mrs. 
Charles  A.  Corwin,  Chicago — 4  oil  paintings 
of  Laysan  Island  birds;  from  Frederick  W. 
Hill,  Chicago — 2  humming  birds,  Costa  Rica; 
from  John  M.  Schmidt,  Homewood,  Illinois 
— 14  specimens  of  snakes,  South  Dakota 
and  Nebraska. 

The  Library: 

Valuable  books  from  Carnegie  Institution, 
Washington,  D.C.,  and  from  J.  Francis 
Macbride,  Chicago. 


JUNE  GUIDE-LECTURE  TOURS 
FOR  WEEK-DAY  VISITORS 

Conducted  tours  of  exhibits,  under  the 
guidance  of  staff  lecturers,  are  made  every 
afternoon  at  3  o'clock,  except  Saturdays, 
Sundays,  and  certain  holidays.  Following 
is  the  schedule  of  subjects  and  dates  for 
June: 

Thursday,  June  1 — General  Tour;  Friday 
— The  Octopus  and  Other  Sea  Animals. 

Week  beginning  June  5:  Monday — North 
American  Archaeology;  Tuesday — General 
Tour;  Wednesday — Malvina  Hoffman 
Bronzes;  Thursday — General  Tour;  Friday 
— Native  American  Plants. 

Week  beginning  June  12:  Monday — Pre- 
historic Life;  Tuesday — General  Tour;  Wed- 
nesday— Snakes  and  Their  Cousins;  Thurs- 
day— General  Tour;  Friday — Eskimos  and 
Their  Neighbors. 

Week  beginning  June  19:  Monday — Jades 
of  Many  Lands;  Tuesday — General  Tour; 
Wednesday — Su-Lin  and  Other  Rare  Ani- 
mals; Thursday — General  Tour;  Friday — 
Skeletons  of  Man  and  Beast. 

Week  beginning  June  26:  Monday — 
Egyptian  Hall;  Tuesday — General  Tour; 
Wednesday — Moon  and  Meteorites;  Thurs- 
day— General  Tour;  Friday — Wild  Flowers 
of  the  Chicago  Region. 

Persons  wishing  to  participate  should 
apply  at  North  Entrance.  Tours  are  free. 
A  new  schedule  will  appear  each  month 
in  Field  Museum  News.  Guide-lecturers' 
services  for  special  tours  by  parties  of  ten 
or  more  are  available  by  arrangement  with 
the  Director  a  week  in  advance. 


GIFTS  TO  THE  MUSEUM 

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

Department  of  Anthropolo^ : 

From  A.  Leslie  Armstrong,  Stockton 
Heath,  Warrington,  England — 3  deer  antler 
picks,  England;  from  J.  Mandement, 
Ussat-les-Bains,  Ariege,  FYance — 6  archaeo- 
logical objects,  France;  from  Dr.  W.  C. 
Pei,  Peiping,  China — 115  artifacts,  and  casts 
of  implements  from  Choukoutien,  2  plaster 
busts  of  the  restoration  of  Sinanthropus 
pekinensis  by  Lucille  Swan,  and  a  set  of 
colored  plaster  casts  of  teeth,  China;  from 
Arthur  W.  Joseph,  Chicago — a  Dakota  Sioux 
cradle  hood;  from  Robert  S.  Carson,  New 
York — 13  pottery  fragments  of  typical  black 
and  gray  ware,  China. 

Department  of  Botany; 

From  Dr.  Delzie  Demaree,  Monticello, 
Arkansas — 276  herbarium  specimens,  Ark- 
ansas; from  William  A.  Daily,  Indianapolis, 
Indiana — 49  specimens  of  algae,  Minnesota, 
Ohio,  and  Indiana;  from  George  L.  Fisher, 
Houston,  Texas — 165  herbarium  specimens. 
New  Mexico,  Texas,  and  Mexico;  from  Pro- 
fessor J.  Soukup,  Puno,  Peru — 169  her- 
barium specimens,  Peru. 

Department  of  Geology: 

From  William  Lenahan,  Jidda,  Arabia — 
2  meteorites  and  a  specimen  of  silica  glass, 
Arabia;  from  Miss  Bertha  Gordon,  Porter- 
ville,  California — 14  specimens  of  minerals, 
California. 


Boy  Safety  Leaders  Visit  Museum 

More  than  300  safety  patrol  boys,  selected 
for  merit  from  schools  in  many  communities 
of  Illinois  and  Indiana,  were  brought  to 
Field  Museum  on  May  11  under  the  auspices 
of  the  Chicago  Motor  Club.  They  were 
conducted  on  tours  of  the  exhibits  by  guide- 
lecturers  of  the  James  Nelson  and  Anna 
Louise  Raymond  Foundation. 


NEW  MEMBERS 

The  following  persons  were  elected  to 
membership  in  Field  Museum  during  the 
period  from  April  16  to  May  15: 

Associate  Meml>ers 

Hugo  Dalmar,  Jr.,  Mitchel  Goldsmith, 
Madeline  Magerstadt,  E.  F.  McDonald,  Jr., 
Paul  C.  Smith,  Henry  H.  Straus,  Dr. 
Austin  H.  Thurber. 

Annuai  Meml>ers 

George  E.  Bernstein,  Mrs.  M.  W.  K. 
Byrne,  Reuben  W.  Cohen,  Mrs.  Jessie  B. 
Condon,  George  O.  Consoer,  Mrs.  Albert  J. 
Deniston,  Jr.,  Charles  N.  Granville,  Jr., 
Mrs.  Arthur  B.  Hitchcock,  Frank  Katzin, 
John  A.  Lapp,  Thomas  W.  Merritt,  Fred  W. 
Nash,  Austin  H.  Parker,  Mrs.  Grace  M. 
Pebbles,  George  L.  Pollock,  Miss  Irene  K. 
Reiser,  Richard  W.  Simmons,  Joseph  C. 
Sindelar,  Fred  Stearns,  Herbert  J.  Taylor, 
Mrs.  Edward  C.  Waller. 


MEMBERSHIP  IN  FIELD  MUSEUM 

Field  Museum  has  several  classes  of  Members. 
Annual  Members  contribute  $10  annually.  As- 
sociate Members  pay  $100  and  are  exempt  from 
dues.  Sustaining  Members  contribute  $25  annu- 
ally for  six  consecutive  years,  after  which  they 
become  Associate  Members  and  are  exempt  from 
all  further  dues.  Life  Members  give  $500  and 
are  exempt  from  dues.  N  on- Resident  Life  Mem- 
bers pay  $100,  and  Non-Resident  Associate 
Members  $50;  both  of  these  classes  are  also 
exempt  from  dues.  The  Non-Resident  member- 
ships are  available  only  to  persons  residing  fifty 
miles  or  more  from  Chicago.  Those  who  give  or 
devise  to  the  Museum  $1,000  to  $100,000  are 
designated  as  Contributors,  and  those  who  give 
or  devise  $100,000  or  more  become  Benefactors. 
Other  memberships  are  Honorary,  Patron, 
Corresponding  and  Corporate,  additions  under 
these  classifications  being  made  by  special  action 
of  the  Board  of  Trustees. 

Each  Member,  in  all  classes,  is  entitled  to  free 
admission  to  the  Museum  for  himself,  his  family 
and  house  guests,  and  to  two  reserved  seats  for 
Museum  lectures  provided  for  Members.  Sub- 
scription to  FiBa.D  MusBim  News  is  included 
with  all  memberships.  The  courtesies  of  every 
museum  of  note  in  the  United  States  and  Canada 
are  extended  to  all  Members  of  Field  Museum. 
A  Member  ma^  give  his  personal  card  to  non- 
residents of  Chicago,  upon  presentation  of  which 
they  will  be  admitted  to  the  Museum  without 
charge.  Further  information  about  member- 
ships will  be  sent  on  request. 

BEQUESTS  AND  ENDOWMENTS 

Bequests  to  Field  Museum  of  Natural  History 
may  be  made  in  secuirities,  money,  books  or 
collections.  They  may,  if  desired,  take  the  form 
of  a  memorial  to  a  person  or  cause,  named  by  the 
giver. 

Contributions  made  within  the  taxable  year  not 
exceeding  15  per  cent  of  the  taxpayer's  net  in- 
come are  allowable  as  deductions  in  computing 
net  income  for  federal  income  tax  purposes. 

Endowments  may  be  made  to  the  Museum 
with  the  provision  that  an  annuity  be  paid  to 
the  patron  for  life.  These  annuities  are  guaran- 
teed against  fluctuation  in  amount,  and  may 
reduce  federal  income  taxes. 


PRINTED    BT    FICLD    MUSEUM    PRESS 


lUrNews 


Published  Monthly  by  Field  Museum  of  Natural  History,  Chicago 


Vol.  10 


JULY,  1939 


No.  7 


EXPEDITION  DEPARTS  TO  COLLECT  FAUNA  OF  SOUTH  AMERICA'S  FARTHEST  AREA 


Blackstone  photo 

Dr.  Wilfred  H.  Osftood 

Chief  Curator  of  Zoology 


A  Field  Museum  expedition,  to  be  known 
as  the  "Magellanic  Expedition,"  will  begin 
operations  in  July.  It  will  work  largely 
in  the  lower  reaches 
of  South  America 
where  continental 
land  extends  farther 
than  anywhere  else 
in  the  world.  One 
of  its  prime  objec- 
tives will  be  the  col- 
lection of  specimens 
and  data  to  supple- 
ment the  work  of 
Charles  Darwin  in 
that  territory.  The 
expedition  is  spon- 
sored  by  Mr. 
Stanley  Field,  Presi- 
dent of  the  Museum. 
Mr.  Karl  P. 
Schmidt,  Curator  of 
Amphibians  and  Reptiles,  and  his  son,  Mr. 
John  Schmidt,  field  assistant,  will  leave 
Chicago  July  1.  Mr.  Colin  C.  Sanborn, 
Curator  of  Mammals,  will  leave  July  5. 
All  three  will  sail  July  7  from  New  York 
aboard  the  S.  S.  Santa  Rita  for  Lima,  Peru. 
These  men  are  the  first  contingent  of  the 
expedition.  Later,  probably  about  October, 
they  will  be  joined  by  Dr.  Wilfred  H.  Osgood, 
Chief  Curator  of  the  Department  of  Zoology. 
The  expedition  will  attempt  to  complete 
the  now  fragmentary  knowledge  of  the  fauna 
of  the  southern  half  of  South  America.  All 
classes  of  animals  will  be  sought — mammals, 
birds,  reptiles,  fishes,  insects,  marine  in- 
vertebrates, etc. 

Upon  arrival  in  Lima,  Mr.  Schmidt  and 
his  companions  will  proceed  through  south- 
ern Peru  to  Arequipa  and  Lake  Titicaca, 
where  collecting  will  begin.  Crossing  the 
lake  by  steamer,  they  will  enter  Bolivia, 
and  make  collections  in  various  localities. 
Their  further  penetration  into  the  interior 
of  South  America  will  be  made  variously 
by  airplane,  rail,  boat,  pack  animals,  and 
afoot.  After  the  arrival  of  Dr.  Osgood 
the  expedition  will  push  onward  through 
Chile  down  to  the  southernmost  tip  of  the 
continent.  It  is  in  the  region  along  the  shores 
of  the  Straits  of  Magellan,  and  on  the  remote 
island  of  Tierra  del  Fuego,  one  of  the  wind- 
iest places  in  the  world,  that  the  most  im- 
portant research  will  be  conducted. 

"But  little  zoological  exploration  in  this 
region  has  been   done  for  more  than  one 


hundred  years,"  Dr.  Osgood  asserts.  "In 
1834,  Darwin  collected  in  parts  of  it,  during 
the  famous  cruise  of  the  Beagle.  Since  that 
time  it  has  been  neglected.  Although 
Darwin  made  some  collections  of  the  fauna, 
which  are  still  preserved  in  the  British 
Museum,  there  are  many  gaps  which  remain 
to  be  filled  in  available  knowledge  of  the 
natural  history  of  the  region.  The  Darwin 
collections  are  not  satisfactory  from  today's 
standards  because,  naturally,  facilities  and 
techniques  for  the  collecting  and  preserva- 
tion of  specimens  had  not  been  developed 
in  his  time  to  the  point  since  achieved.  On 
the  Field  Museum  expedition  it  is  expected 
that  data  will  be  obtained  which  will  make 
possible  the  completion  and  revision  of 
present  knowledge  based  on  the  Darwin 
collections.  It  may  be  confidently  expected 
further  that  we  shall  obtain  examples  of 
species  of  animals  still  unknown  or  hitherto 
unrepresented  in  any  collections. 

"This  region  is  far  beyond  the  Equator, 
in  the  south  temperate  zone,  where  the 
climate  is  much  like  our  own,  and  there 
are  no  dangerous  tropical  diseases,  no  poison- 
ous snakes,  and  no  blood-thirsty  lions  or 
tigers.  The  animals  that  do  live  there  are 
not  widely  known  and  the  number  of  species 
is  not  large,  but  among  them  are  some  of 
great  peculiarity  and  much  interest. 

"Darwin  was  only  23  years  old  when  he 
started  on  this  great  journey,  and  in  the 
five  years  of  continuous  field  work  which 
followed,  he  laid  the  foundation  for  much 
of  his  later  study. 
He  not  only  proved 
himself  to  be  a  won- 
derfully accurate 
observer  and  a  pro- 
found thinker,  but 
also  an  energetic 
collector  of  natural 
history  specimens. 
His  collections  in  all 
branches  of  natural 
history  subsequent- 
ly furnished  the 
basis  for  numerous 
scientific  studies  not 
only  by  himself  but 
by  various  special- 
ists, including  many 
of  the  greatest  zool- 
ogists, botanists  and  geologists  of  that  time. 
Darwin's  specimens,  in  this  way,  became 
standards  of  comparison,  and  even  now  a 


great  part  of  our  knowledge  of  the  natural 
history  of  southern  South  America  is  based 
on   them.     Therefore,   the  special   student 
whose  problems  en- 
ter  this   field   has 
been  obliged  to  go 
to  London  to  exam- 
ine them.    This  was 
not  always  conven- 
ient and  would  not 
be  necessary  if  dup- 
licate  specimens 
were   in   American 
museums." 

Although  the  ex- 
pedition will  be  con- 
cerned primarily 
with  assembling 
thousands  of  speci- 
mens for  the  Mu- 
seum's extensive  re- 
search collections, 
specimens  will  be 
sought  also  for  addition  to  the  public  ex- 
hibits, and  material  may  be  obtained  for 
a  few  habitat  groups  of  important  animals. 


Hoffett  photo 

Karl  P.  Schmidt 

Curator   of   Amphibians 
and  Reptiles 


C^lin  C.  Sanborn 

Curator  of  Mammals 


HISTORIC  FOSSIL  TURTLE 

Mention  was  made  in  the  May  issue  of 
Field  Museum  News  of  a  collection  of 
European  fossils  and  minerals  recently  pre- 
sented by  Dr.  Henry  Field.  The  collection 
was  assembled  by  the  Misses  Diana  and 
Otteline  Salisbury  of  Leicestershire,  England, 
about  120  years  ago.  Certain  fossil  verte- 
brates included  in  this  gift  have  recently 
been  catalogued.  Among  these  were  a 
number  of  fragments  of  a  turtle  shell  from 
England  which  seemed  sufficiently  numerous 
to  warrant  an  attempt  to  fit  them  together. 
This  has  been  done  by  Messrs.  James  H. 
Quinn  and  Orville  Gilpin  in  the  Museum's 
paleontological  laboratories,  with  the  result 
that  a  nearly  complete  carapace  or  upper 
shield  has  been  obtained. 

The  turtle  thus  resurrected  proved  to 
belong  to  the  genus  Trionyx,  one  of  the  soft- 
shelled  turtles.  A  closely  related  species 
lives  today  in  the  Chicago  area.  The 
fossil  was  found  in  Eocene  deposits  and  is 
hence  some  40,000,000  years  old.  The  fact 
that  so  little  change  has  taken  place  in  such 
a  period  gives  an  idea  of  the  conservatism 
of  the  turtle  group.  This  specimen,  belat- 
edly assembled  well  over  one  hundred  years 
after  its  finding,  is  one  of  the  finest  of  its 
kind  ever  collected  in  England.        — B.P. 


Page  2 


FIELD  MUSEUM  NEWS 


July,  1939 


AVERY  BOTANICAL  EXPEDITION 
RETURNS  FROM  GUATEMALA 

By  PAUL  C.  STANDLEY 

CURATOR  OF  THE  HERBARIUM 

The  botanical  expedition  to  Guatemala  in 
1938-39,  sponsored  by  Mr.  Sewell  Avery 
and  conducted  by  the  writer,  had  for  its 
purpose  the  collection  of  data  and  specimens 
of  plants  to  be  used  in  preparation  of  a  de- 
scriptive flora  of  that  country.  Six  months, 
from  November  19  to  May  13,  were  spent 
in  the  field,  and  more  than  15,000  numbers 
of  plants,  represented  by  perhaps  twice  as 
many  herbarium  specimens,  were  collected, 
80  that  the  work  may  be  regarded  as  highly 
successful.  All  except  two  of  the  country's 
twenty-two  departments  were  visited. 

It  must  not  be  inferred  that  the  country 
was  thoroughly  explored,  despite  the  many 
well-built  highways  that  make  almost  every 
settled  region  of  Guatemala  easily  accessible 
by  automobile.  The  area  of  the  republic  is 
about  42,000  square  miles,  approximately 
that  of  the  state  of  Kentucky,  but  the 
similarity  in  area  is  misleading.  The  moun- 
tainous nature  of  the  country  makes  its 
exploration  several  times  as  difficult  as  that 
of  one  of  our  central  states  of  equal  extent. 

Because  of  the  large  and  varied  area  to 
be  covered  and  the  brief  time  available, 
intensive  collecting  was  possible  in  only  a 
few  localities,  and  many  large  regions  were 
merely  viewed  from  a  distance,  in  hurried 
passage  along  the  roads.  It  was  thus 
possible  to  gain  a  good  idea  of  the  general 
appearance  and  composition  of  the  vegeta- 
tion of  the  greater  part  of  the  country, 
but  a  full  knowledge  of  all  the  species  of 
plants  composing  the  vegetation  will  require 
many  more  months  or  years  of  field  work. 

MANY  VOLCANOES 

Much  collecting  has  been  done  previously 
in  Guatemala  by  other  botanists,  and  seven- 
teen years  ago  the  writer  spent  a  short  time 
there.  The  plants  of  a  few  limited  regions 
were  already  rather  well  known.  Some  of 
these  localities  were  revisited  during  the 
past  winter,  and  excursions  were  made  to 
many  places  where  no  collecting  had  been 
done  previously. 

The  geography  and  climate  of  Guatemala 
are  extremely  varied.  The  western  and 
southern  parts  of  the  republic  contain  many 
volcanoes,  some  of  them  more  or  less  active, 
and  other  mountains,  the  highest  peaks 
rising  to  14,000  feet.  The  northern  region 
is  formed  of  non-volcanic  rocks,  chiefly 
limestone,  and  supports  a  conspicuously 
different  flora.  Some  areas  are  arid,  with 
varied  displays  of  giant  cacti  and  typically 
desert  plants.  Others,  especially  near  the 
Atlantic  coast,  have  a  heavy  rainfall  and 
support  a  luxuriant  rain  forest.  The  central 
and  western  regions  have  generally  six 
months  of  rain  and  six  months  of  rainless 
weather.  Temperature  varies  from  the 
sometimes  oppressive  heat  of  the  coasts 
to  the  almost  equally  excessive  cold  of  the 


Altos  or  uplands.  At  many  places  above 
7,500  feet  frost  is  common,  ice  often  is 
formed,  and  scant  snow  falls  occasionally. 
Guatemala  lies  well  inside  the  tropics,  but 
neither  climate  nor  flora  is  wholly  tropical. 
Indeed  a  great  part  of  the  vegetation  of 
central  and  western  Guatemala  is  clearly 
temperate  or,  at  very  high  elevations,  alpine. 
The  commonest  trees  over  most  of  the 
country  are  oaks  and  pines.  Near  Cob&n 
the  sweet  gum  or  liquidambar  abounds, 
with  box-elder,  willows,  alders,  poison  sumac, 
red  cedar,  magnolia,  and  yellow  jessamine. 
In  the  highest  regions  are  magnificent  forests 
of  cypress  (Cupressus)  and  fir. 

FLOWERS  IN  PROFUSION 

For  three  months  the  writer  made  head- 
quarters in  the  picturesque  and  beautiful 
city  of  Antigua,  twenty-five  miles  from 
Guatemala  City.  Excursions  were  made  to 
many  localities  of  the  high  central  region, 
to  the  dry  Oriente  bordering  Salvador,  and 
to  the  Pacific  coast.  Collections  were  made 
on  forested  slopes  of  the  three  great  central 
volcanoes,  Agua,  Fuego,  and  Acatenango, 
and  also  on  the  low  but  destructive  volcano 
of  Pacaya.  In  late  November,  at  the  end 
of  the  rainy  season,  this  central  upland 
affords  a  lavish  display  of  brilliant  flowers — 
pink  and  white  tree  dahlias,  begonias,  sun- 
flowers, salvias,  and  dozens  of  others  in 
every  color.  By  late  April  the  great  displays 
of  blossoms  have  passed,  although  it  is 
possible  to  find  quantities  of  flowers  at 
every  season.  Orchids  are  none  too  plentiful 
in  the  highlands,  or  at  least  not  conspicuous. 
Many  of  the  trees  are  loaded  with  bromeliads 
or  "air  plants"  showier  than  most  orchids. 

For  a  month  the  writer  had  headquarters 
in  the  Occidente,  in  Quezaltenango,  at 
almost  8,000  feet.  At  this  elevation  in 
March  the  landscape  is  strangely  reminiscent 
of  that  of  Illinois  at  the  same  season — the 
same  fields  of  corn  stalks  and  wheat  stubble, 
rough-coated  cattle,  heavily  clothed  people, 
and  low  houses  from  which  gray  smoke 
rises.  In  late  March  the  mountains  are 
beautifully  green  with  the  unfolding  leaves 
of  alders  and  oaks. 

LITTLE  EXPLORED  REGION 
From  Quezaltenango  excursions  were 
made  to  the  summit  of  the  Sierra  de  los 
Cuchumatanes,  above  Huehuetenango,  the 
white  sand  mountains  of  San  Marcos,  the 
summit  of  the  Volcano  of  Santa  Maria, 
Ayutla  on  the  border  of  Chiapas,  and  the 
Pacific  port  of  Champerico.  Visits  were 
made  to  the  bocacosta  lying  at  middle  eleva- 
tions between  the  uplands  and  the  Pacific. 
Here,  at  2,000  to  5,000  feet,  where  there  is 
plenty  of  rain  throughout  the  year,  is  found 
probably  the  most  luxuriant  and  diversified 
vegetation  of  Guatemala.  Moreover,  it  has 
been  little  explored  by  botanists,  and  the 
brief  trips  made  there  were  tantalizing  be- 
cause it  was  clear  that  only  a  small  number 
of  the  amazingly  diversified  plants  could 
be  collected.     High  upon  the  slopes  of  the 


Volcano  of  Zunil,  at  8,000  to  9,000  feet, 
the  tropical  rain  forest  is  exceedingly  rich 
in  species.  The  northern  slopes  of  Santa 
Maria,  on  the  other  hand,  proved  disappoint- 
ing because  of  their  relative  dryness. 

RESIDENTS  CONTRIBUTE  AID 

As  on  the  writer's  previous  visits  to 
Central  America  (this  was  the  fifth),  work 
was  aided  materially  by  local  botanists  and 
by  other  persons  who  took  a  sympathetic 
interest  in  the  exploration.  Many  officials 
of  the  Guatemalan  government  gave  the 
most  courteous  assistance  and  advice.  Don 
Mariano  Pacheco,  Director-General  of  Agri- 
culture, was  particularly  generous  in  his 
help  and  interest.  His  private  garden  of 
Guatemalan  and  exotic  plants  would  delight 
any  visitor  wishing  to  see  the  high  lights  of 
Central  American  ornamental  plants.  Pro- 
fessor Ulises  Rojas,  Director  of  the  Jardin 
Botinico,  was  a  delightful  companion  on 
collecting  trips  in  the  Occidente,  generous 
with  his  rich  fund  of  knowledge  of  the 
Guatemalan  flora.  To  Mr.  and  Mrs.  B.  B. 
Lewis,  of  Guatemala  City,  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
L.  Lind  Petersen,  of  Finca  Zapote,  and  Mr. 
George  B.  Austin,  of  the  United  Fruit 
Company  at  Puerto  Barrios,  the  writer  is 
deeply  indebted  for  hospitality  and  assist- 
ance in  his  work.  Mr.  Petersen  presented 
to  Field  Museum  a  fine  plank  of  the  Pacific 
coast  mahogany,  to  complete  the  Museum's 
mahogany  exhibit.  Special  acknowledg- 
ment must  be  made  to  Dr.  J.  R.  Johnston, 
Director  of  the  Escuela  Nacional  de  Agri- 
cultura,  Chimaltenango,  who  accompanied 
the  writer  on  many  excursions,  and  contrib- 
uted very  largely,  with  his  intimate  know- 
ledge of  Guatemalan  geography  and  vegeta- 
tion, to  the  success  of  the  expedition. 


Lighting  of  Jades  Improved 

The  recent  introduction  of  the  latest 
illuminating  technique  throughout  the  Hall 
of  Chinese  Jades  (Hall  30)  has  greatly 
improved  the  exhibition  of  these  ancient 
specimens  of  lapidary  art.  The  former 
yellow  lights  distorted  certain  colors,  espe- 
cially that  of  the  subtle  blue  jades  which  is 
particularly  beautiful.  That  problem  has 
now  been  solved,  and  many  details  of 
decorative  carving  are  likewise  better  re- 
vealed. This  is  a  valuable  improvement  in 
the  cases  showing  small  carvings  of  the 
Shang  and  Chou  periods  which  extended 
roughly  from  1400  to  250  B.C.  During  this 
earliest  stage  ornamentation  of  the  surface 
of  jade  with  line  design  was  at  its  peak  of 
perfection.  With  the  new  lights  this  decora- 
tion is  now  more  clearly  visible. — C.M.W. 


Fluorescence  of  Petroleum 

The  brilliant  fluorescence  shown  by  petro- 
leum and  many  of  its  products  is  illustrated 
by  a  specimen  of  crude  oil  and  two  of  its 
products  recently  placed  in  the  fluorescence 
exhibit  in  the  Department  of  Geology 
(corridor  between  Halls  34  and  35). 


July,  19S9 


FIELD  MUSEUM  NEWS 


Page  S 


SIX  PROGRAMS  FOR  CHILDREN 
IN  JULY  AND  AUGUST 

A  summer  series  of  six  programs  of  talk- 
ing motion  pictures  for  children  will  be  pre- 
sented at  Field  Museum  on  Thursday  morn- 
ings, from  July  6  to  August  10  inclusive, 
by  the  James  Nelson  and  Anna  Louise 
Raymond  Foundation  for  Public  School  and 
Children's  Lectures.  Animated  cartoons  by 
Walt  Disney  will  be  included  on  three  of 
the  programs,  and  several  other  novel 
feature  pictures  will  be  presented.  The 
programs  will  begin  at  10  a.m.,  and  will 
be  given  in  the  James  Simpson  Theatre  of 
the  Museum.  Admission  is  free,  and  children 
from  all  parts  of  Chicago  and  suburbs  are 
invited.  Following  are  the  titles  of  the  films 
to  be  presented  on  each  program: 
July  6 — The  Musical  Farmer  (Disney  Car- 
toon); "Cimarron"  (acted  by  chimpan- 
zees); Hungarian  Gypsy  Dances;  Grass 
— A  Story  of  Persia. 
July  13— William  Tell— A  Story  of  Switzer- 
land. 


July  20 — Frolicking  Fish  (Disney  cartoon); 
Footprints  and  Bicycles;  Water  Fun; 
Adventures  of  a  Mongrel  Pup. 

July  27— The  Gang  (Boy  Scout  life). 

August  3 — The  Busy  Beavers  (Disney  car- 
toon); The  Lovely  Taj  Mahal;  The 
Navajo    Demon;    Babes   in    the   Woods. 

August  10 — The  Wedding  of  Palo  (A  Story 
of  Eskimo  Life  in  Greenland). 


Fly  Whisks 

In  Tibet  the  bushy  tails  of  yaks  are  used 
to  make  fly  whisks.  In  India  the  fly 
whisk  is  included  among  the  insignia  of 
royalty.  Warriors  of  nomadic  tribes  in 
Central  Asia  attach  fly  whisks  to  the 
trappings  of  their  horses  as  standards,  and 
Chinese  deities  of  Buddhistic  origin  fre- 
quently carry  them  in  their  hands  as 
emblems  of  dignity.  Some  interesting  speci- 
mens, collected  in  Tibet,  are  exhibited  in 
Hall  32,  Case  17. 


A  GIFT  TO  THE  LIBRARY 

A  modern  man  practising  an  ancient  art 
of  prehistoric  man  was  the  late  Fred  Snare, 
flint-knapper,  of  Brandon,  Suflfolk,  England. 
Of  historic  interest,  therefore,  is  a  collection 
of  his  correspondence,  received  by  the  Li- 
brary of  Field  Museum,  as  a  gift  from  Dr. 
Henry  Field,  Curator  of  Physical  Anthro- 
pology. In  the  Department  of  Anthropology 
are  a  collection  of  Snare's  flint-knapping 
tools,  and  samples  of  his  work. 

"As  a  craftsman.  Snare  was  unsurpassed," 
asserts  Dr.  Field.  "He  alone  was  able  to 
make  small  flint  rings.  He  was  the  last  of 
a  family  line  of  flint-knappers  which  dates 
back  at  least  to  the  year  1066,  for  in  Domes- 
day Book  one  of  his  ancestors  was  ordered 
by  William  the  Conqueror  to  repair  a  flint 
church  wall.  At  the  time  of  his  death  Snare 
was  making  gun  flints  on  orders  from  Africa." 

Dr.  Field  made  Snare's  acquaintance 
while  conducting  archaeological  expeditions 
in  Europe.  Snare  bequeathed  his  correspond- 
ence to  Dr.  Field. 


SKELETON    OF    MOROPUS,   STRANGE    FOSSIL  MAMMAL  WITH    CLAWED  FEET,   IS    EXHIBITED 


By  ELMER  S.  RIGGS 

CURATOR  OF  PALEONTOLOGY 

A  fossil  skeleton  of  Moropus,  a  strange 
mammal  related  to  the  horse  and  the  extinct 
Titanothere,  but  having  claws  on  the  feet 
in  place  of  hoofs,  has  recently  been  placed 
on  exhibition  in  Ernest  R.  Graham  Hall 
(Hall  38). 

This  specimen  was  found  in  Nebraska 
where  it  had  been  preserved  in  a  sandstone 
formation  characteristic  of  the  Great  Plains 
region.  The  animal  lived  in  the  Miocene 
Age  (about  20,000,000  years  ago). 

Moropus  was  as  tall  as  a  draft  horse,  but 
of  a  heavier  and  more  massive  build.  Its 
head  was  about  as  large  as  that  of  a  horse, 
but  the  eye  was  placed  farther  forward  on 


the  face,  and  the  teeth  were  more  like  those 
of  a  rhinoceros.  The  neck  was  rather  long, 
the  body  moderately  heavy,  the  shoulders 
massive,  and  the  leg  bones  heavy.  The  ani- 
mal's unique  feature  is  the  structure  of  the 
foot.  While  related  to  such  hoof-bearing  ani- 
mals as  the  horse  and  the  extinct  Titano- 
theres,  Moropus  walked  upon  heavy  pads  un- 
der the  first  joints  of  the  toes,  and  was  armed 
with  stout  claws  similar  to  those  of  the  great 
ground  sloths.  In  fact,  the  first  bones  of  this 
animal,  found  in  1877,  were  those  of  the  foot 
and  claw,  and  for  this  reason  they  were  mis- 
taken for  bones  of  the  ground  sloth.  In  1905 
some  specimens  of  jaws  and  vertebrae  were 
found  among  a  great  accumulation  of  bones 
at  the  fossil  quarries  of  Agate,  Nebraska. 


Moropus  was  a  plant-eating  animal.  Its 
teeth  were  fitted  for  feeding  upon  leaves, 
twigs,  and  other  vegetable  matter.  The  great 
claws  on  the  feet  may  have  served  to  give 
the  animal  a  firmer  footing  on  sandy  ground, 
but  they  were  probably  used  also  in  digging 
in  the  ground  for  the  roots  and  tubers  which 
undoubtedly  constituted  a  large  part  of  the 
creature's  food. 

While  Moropus  is  a  member  of  the  family 
Cholicotheridae  which  was  widely  distributed 
through  Europe,  Asia,  and  Africa  in  periods 
ranging  from  the  Eocene  to  Pleistocene,  our 
present  knowledge  would  indicate  that  they 
lived  only  a  short  time  in  North  America, 
and  that  they  probably  came  to  this  conti- 
nent as  immigrants  from  Asia. 


<CKT:  .>f^^ 


Moropus,  and  Contemporary  Miocene  Animals 

The  two  animals  at  extreme  right  represent  the  strange  fossil  mammal  with  clawed  feet  which  lived  in  Nebraska  some  20,000,000  years  ago,  as  science  indicates  it  must 
have  appeared  in  life.  An  articulated  skeleton  has  been  added  to  the  exhibits  in  Ernest  R.  Graham  Hall.  The  other  creatures  shown  in  this  mural  painting  by  Charles  R.  Knight, 
in  the  same  hall,  are  (left  to  right) :  Oxydactylm  or  prehistoric  camel;  Diceratherium,  a  small  species  of  rhinoceros;  Parahippiis,  a  tiny  three-toed  horse;  and  Dinohyus,  the  giant  pig. 


Page  i. 


FIELD  MUSEUM  NEWS 


July,  19S9 


THE  TRAVELS  OF  A  BOTANIST 
IN  VENEZUELAN  INTERIOR 

By  LLEWELYN  WILLIAMS 

CURATOR  OF  ECONOMIC  BOTANY 

{Editor's  Note: — Mr.  Williams,  currently 
on  leave  of  absence  from  the  Museum  to 
assist  Dr.  Henry  Pittier,  government  botanist 
of  Venezuela,  in  extensive  exploration  of  that 
country,  has  sent  the  following  account  of  his 
recent  experiences.) 

I  have  returned  to  Caracas  after  a  four 
months'  expedition  to  the  Venezuelan 
Guayana,  principally  in  the  upper  and  lower 
reaches  of  the  River  Caura.  This  was  the 
most  difficult  and  dangerous  trip  I  have  yet 
undertaken,  but  was  well  worth  the  effort. 

Collecting  equipment  was  sent  overland 
to  Ciudad  Bolivar,  and  I  followed  two  weeks 
later,  partly  by  road,  chiefly  by  flying  over 


Tapping  a  Cow  Tree 

This  photograph,  made  on  an  expedition  to  Costa 
Rica  several  years  ago,  shows  a  botanist  obtaining 
"milk"  from  a  tree  similar  (though  of  a  different  species) 
to  that  encountered  by  Curator  Williams  in  Venezuela. 

the  "llanos"  (extensive  plains).  It  takes 
three  days  by  road,  but  one  can  traverse 
the  distance  by  air  in  two  hours.  In  Ciudad 
Bolivar  I  was  joined  by  Captain  Felix 
Cardona,  of  the  Venezuelan  Frontier  Com- 
mission. Because  of  the  heavy  load  of 
equipment  and  provisions,  we  hired  a  sail 
boat.  Sailing  up  the  Orinoco  for  three 
days  we  reached  the  estuary  of  the  Caura, 
then  followed  the  latter  for  three  more  days 
to  Las  Trincheras,  the  last  sizable  village. 
There  our  cargo  was  transferred  to  "curiaras" 
(large  canoes),  and  in  these  we  then  ascended 
the  Caura,  notorious  for  its  many  dangerous 
rapids,  for  two  more  weeks  until  we  arrived 
at  the  Salto  de  Para,  a  large  waterfall,  where 
Cardona  and  I  separated. 

At  one  time  our  party  included  thirty- 
two    individuals — seven    Venezuelans    (or 


"racionales"  as  they  call  themselves),  seven 
Macuchies  (Indians  from  the  Grand  Sabafia 
to  the  south),  a  Carib,  a  Jindus,  and  sixteen 
Maquiritares  (also  called  Mayongkongs). 
Two  days  before  we  arrived  at  the  Salto 
de  Para,  it  began  to  thunder  and  our  oars- 
men, the  Macuchies  Indians,  told  us  this 
meant  that  "the  Indians  (meaning  the 
Mayongkongs)  were  coming."  The  follow- 
ing morning  as  we  moved  up  river,  the 
Macuchies  shouted, "Here  come  the  Indians." 
We,  racionales,  could  not  spot  the  Maqui- 
ritares, but  our  forest-bred  friends  have  a 
highly  developed  sense  of  sight  and  smell. 
The  Macuchies  were  excited  and  one  of 
them  blew  his  shell.  This  was  a  sign  of 
friendship  and  the  Maquiritares,  recognizing 
the  call,  advanced  from  their  hiding  places 
behind  a  large  rock  some  500  yards  away. 
They  advanced  rapidly  towards  us  in  three 
canoes,  led  by  their  caciques  (chieftains), 
Cardier,  and  Chauran.  Cardier  and  his 
men  decided  immediately  to  return  with  us, 
but  Chauran  and  his  group  insisted  on  con- 
tinuing down  river.  However,  when  we 
reached  the  Salto  de  Para,  Chauran  arrived 
simultaneously.  Asked  why  he  had  changed 
his  mind  he  replied  in  one  word:  "Canaima." 
In  Indian  lore  this  means  the  devil  in  the 
form  of  revenge,  and  Chauran  and  his 
followers  had  feared  we  would  attack  during 
the  night  to  punish  them  for  not  returning 
with  us. 

CUSTOMS  OF  THE  INDIANS 

Except  for  a  narrow  loin  cloth,  dyed  red 
with  "achote,"  these  Indians  live  in  the 
nude.  Both  men  and  women  bob  their 
hair  in  a  fashion  practised  since  time 
immemorial.  Another  beautifying  process, 
practised  by  both  sexes,  is  plucking  the  eye- 
lashes and  eyebrows.  The  Mayongkongs 
are  expert  hunters,  fishermen,  and  builders 
of  canoes.  Their  principal  weapon  is  the 
bow  and  arrow,  but  in  late  years  they  have 
adopted  firearms,  principally  for  defence. 
They  have  two  great  fears — the  Salto  de 
Para  waterfall,  and  the  Shirishana  Indians, 
their  bitter  enemies  who  inhabit  the  region 
along  the  Brazilian  frontier.  Almost  every 
year,  during  the  dry  season,  these  Shiri- 
shanas  attack  the  Maquiritares,  burn  their 
huts,  and  carry  off  prisoners.  Cases  have 
been  reported  of  groups  of  Shirishanas  led 
by  an  old  woman  more  ferocious  and 
cruel  than  any  known  male  cacique.  The 
Maquiritares  believe  that  the  Salto  de  Para 
is  inhabited  by  "Makoi,"  a  form  of  devil. 
For  this  reason,  while  we  were  below  the 
Salto  they  kept  aloof  and  spoke  little,  but 
once  they  arrived  above  the  falls  they 
became  congenial.  Money  has  no  value  to 
them,  and  all  business  is  done  by  barter, 
a  hunting  dog  being  traded  for  a  canoe,  for 
example. 

For  about  three  months  I  lived  alone  with 
the  natives  in  the  forest,  cut  off  from  the 
outside  world.  We  had  to  shoot  rapids, 
which  is  far  more  dangerous  than  ascending 


them,  and  fight  the  heat,  rain,  and  malaria. 
But  we  came  through  without  serious 
mishap,  bringing  "a  collection  of  thousands 
of  herbarium  specimens,  about  400  samples 
of  woods,  and  textile  fibers,  gums,  resins, 
oils,  and  hundreds  of  photographs.  This 
collection  is  the  first  of  its  kind  so  far  made 
in  the  vast  Venezuelan  Guayana,  although 
some  famed  botanists  have  visited  parts  of  it. 
The  region  is  a  botanist's  paradise,  whose 
variety  of  plant-life  is  amazing,  ranging 
from  tiny  orchids  with  exquisite  flowers 
to  giant  trees,  often  reaching  140  feet  in 
height.  Some  of  the  trees  have  straight, 
cylindrical  trunks,  up  to  six  feet  in  diameter 
and  clear  of  branches  up  to  about  eighty 
feet.  One  of  the  most  interesting  of  these 
trees  is  the  cajiman,  also  called  vacuno,  or 
palo  de  vaca.  Inci- 
sions in  the  bark  of 
this  "cow  tree"  yield 
a  sweet  latex.  It  is  a 
common  practice 
among  those  who 
travel  through  these 
forests  to  drink  this 
milk.  I  have  now 
done  so  myself  and 
can  vouch  for  its  ex- 
cellence. The  best 
way  to  use  it  is  to  add 
five  parts  of  water  to 
one  part  of  the  latex, 
and  boil  slowly  until 
a  scum  is  produced. 
This  can  be  added  to 
coffee  or  tea  without 
fear  of  any  ill-effects. 
If  there  is  no  imme- 
diate need  of  using  it 
in  coffee,  it  forms  an 
admirable  material  for 
caulking  canoes. 
When  the  latex  is 
boiled,  without  the 
addition  of  water,  it 
coagulates  readily,  is 
pliable  and  can  be 
kneaded  into  any  de- 
sired shape.    The  pulp 

of  the  fruit  provides  an  exceedingly  sweet 
and  savory  food  relished  by  man,  as  well  as 
by  birds  and  quadrupeds.  "Cow  trees"  were 
first  discovered  by  Alexander  von  Humboldt, 
and  described  by  him  140  years  ago. 


k 


Cow  Tree  in  Museum 

A  trunk  of  the  Guate- 
malan species,  presented 
to  Field  Museum  by  the 
United  Fruit  Company, 
and  exhibited  in  Hall  of 
Foreign  Woods(Hall  27). 


FOR  AMATEUR  COLLECTORS— 

The  BOOK  SHOP  of  FIELD  MU- 
SEUM has  added  to  the  books,  and 
other  merchandise  such  as  animal 
models,  map-globes,  paper  weights, 
etc.,  available  at  its  counters,  speci- 
mens of  rocks  and  minerals  approved 
by  the  Department  of  Geology  for  the 
use  of  the  amateur  collector  and 
lapidary.     Many  are  ornamental. 


July,  1939 


FIELD  MUSEUM  NEWS 


Page  5 


EXHIBIT  TRACES  DEVELOPMENT 
OF  SOUTHWEST  POTTERY 

By  PAUL  S.  MARTIN 

CHIEF  CURATOR,  DEPARTMENT  OF  ANTHROPOLOGY 

The  Story  Behind  Southwestern  Pottery — 
so  reads  the  label  on  an  exhibit  of  a  new 
type  recently  installed  in  the  Southwestern 
Indian  Hall  (Hall  7).  This  exhibit  is 
designed  to  show,  in  graphic  form,  the 
relationships  existing  among  the  varied 
pottery  types  in  this  rich  archaeological 
field. 

Horizontal  lines  on  the  exhibition  screen, 
representing  dates  ranging  from  a.d.  500 
to  A.D.  1700,  give  chronological  data  on 
the  specimens  which  are  arranged  also  on 
vertical  lines  in  accordance  with  their  family 
or  culture  branches.  The  dated  sequence 
indicates  the  changes  and  developments  in 
the  prehistoric  cultures  of  the  peoples  who 
made  these  wares.  Branches  are  divided 
into  time  phases,  each  of  which  includes 
several  types  of  pottery,  both  plain  and 
painted.  In  most  instances,  each  phase  is 
here  represented  only  by  its  most  typical 
ware. 

This  exhibit  is  planned  on  the  basis  of  a 
classification  system  developed  at  Gila 
Pueblo,  Globe,  Arizona,  but  it  is  unique 
because  it  uses  many  whole  pieces  of  pottery, 
instead  of  sherds  alone. 

Pottery,  in  its  earliest  form,  was  probably 
sun-dried.  Learning  to  bake  the  pottery 
in  a  fire  constituted  the  first  advance  in 
the  potter's  art.  This  fired  pottery  was 
plain  and  unpainted,  and  although  it  has 
been  modified  and  manufactured  for  utili- 
tarian purposes  up  to  the  present  day,  it 
is  shown  in  this  exhibit  only  where  it  is  the 
sole  type  known  at  any  given  date.  The 
final  development  was  the  addition  of 
painted  decoration,  with  which  this  exhibit 
is  mainly  concerned. 

The  two  great  peoples  represented  by 
specimens  in  the  exhibit  are  the  Hohokam, 
and  the  Basket  Maker-Pueblo  Indians. 
Yrom  the  beginnings  they  made,  there  were 
developed  the  pottery  types  associated  with 
such  modern  tribes  as  the  Hopi,  Acoma, 
Zuni,  Puma,  and  Papago. 


FLORIDA  EXPEDITION  COLLECTS 
MORE  THAN  800  SPECIMENS 

Approximately  800  specimens  of  land, 
fresh-water,  and  marine  animals  were  col- 
lected by  Dr.  Fritz  Haas,  Curator  of  Lower 
Invertebrates,  and  Staff  Taxidermist  Leon  L. 
Walters,  during  the  first  month  of  their 
current  expedition  in  southern  Florida,  ac- 
cording to  reports  they  have  made  to  the 
Director.  Included  in  the  collections  is 
material  for  use  in  proposed  exhibits  of 
certain  kinds  of  crustaceans.  Mr.  Walters 
has  made  plaster  molds  of  some  of  these  in 
the  field,  so  that  when  reproductions  are 
eventually  made  they  will  have  the  advan- 
tage of  being  modeled  from  the  equivalent 
of  fresh  specimens. 


At  the  time  of  sending  their  reports, 
Messrs.  Haas  and  Walters  indicated  that 
they  had  completed  work  in  the  vicinity 
of  Englewood,  Florida,  ahead  of  schedule, 
and  were  about  to  proceed  to  Sanibel 
Island  for  further  collecting  and  research. 


Another  $2,000  Contribution 
from  Mrs.  J.  N.  Raymond 

For  the  second  time  since  the  beginning 
of  this  year,  Mrs.  James  Nelson  Raymond 
recently  contributed  $2,000  toward  the 
support  of  the  James  Nelson  and  Anna 
Louise  Raymond  Foundation  for  Public 
School  and  Children's  Lectures,  which  she 
established  in  1925  with  an  endowment  of 
$500,000.  Her  previous  1939  gift,  of  the 
same  amount,  was  made  in  February.  The 
supplementary  contributions  of  this  type 
which  Mrs.  Raymond  has  frequently  made 
in  the  years  since  her  original  foundation 
gift  now  total  more  than  $67,000. 

The  work  of  the  Raymond  Foundation, 
so  valuable  to  the  school  children  of  Chicago, 
is  continuously  being  augmented  and  im- 
proved. In  addition  to  its  regular  functions, 
the  Foundation  during  July  and  August 
will  present  a  special  summer  series  of  free 
motion  picture  programs  for  children,  of 
which  details  will  be  found  elsewhere  in 
this  issue  of  Field  Museum  News. 


PALEONTOLOGICAL  EXPEDITION 
REPORTS  NOTABLE  SUCCESS 

Collections,  remarkable  for  their  size  and 
variety,  have  been  made  by  the  paleon- 
tological  expedition  which  has  been  working 
since  April  in  Oligocene,  Miocene,  and 
Pliocene  fossil  beds  of  South  Dakota.  Mr. 
Paul  O.  McGrew,  Assistant  in  Paleontology, 
who  is  leader  of  the  party,  reports  that 
excavations  in  the  vicinity  of  Big  Spring 
Canyon  have  thus  far  yielded  skulls,  skele- 
tons, and  partial  skeletons  of  extinct 
rhinoceroses,  camels,  three-toed  horses, 
antelopes,  dogs,  a  peccary,  a  horned  rodent, 
a  beaver,  a  sabertooth  cat,  and  other  crea- 
tures that  inhabited  the  American  west  in 
prehistoric  times,  some  as  far  back  as  forty 
million  years  ago.  The  country  being 
explored  is  close  to  a  Pine  Ridge  Indian 
reservation.  Early  work  of  the  expedition 
was  hampered  by  snow,  and  recently  severe 
rainstorms  have  caused  difficulties,  but  work 
has  progressed  satisfactorily  despite  these 
obstacles. 

When  work  has  been  completed  at  the 
South  Dakota  sites,  the  party  plans  to 
transfer  operations  to  a  site  near  Agate, 
Nebraska.  Mr.  McGrew  is  accompanied 
by  Mr.  Orville  Gilpin,  of  Chicago,  and  Mr. 
John  Schmidt,  of  Homewood,  Illinois. 


Mammals  of  the  Chicago  area  are  ex- 
hibited in  an  alcove  south  of  the  east 
entrance  to  Hall  17. 


The  so-called  double  coconut  of  the  Sey- 
chelles Islands,  which  has  the  largest  seed  in 
the  plant  kingdom,  is  shown  in  Hall  25. 


FAMOUS  FORGE  FROM  PHILIPPINES  EXHIBITED  AT  MUSEUM 


The  people  of  the  Saltan  River  valley  are 
the  most  skillful  iron  workers  in  northern 
Luzon  (Philippine  Islands),  and  their  prod- 
ucts are  widespread  throughout  the  region. 
Perhaps  the  most  famous  forge  was  that  of 
Balbalasang,  which  was  secured  by  a  Field 
Museum  expedition  and  is 
shown  here,  as  it  is 
exhibited  in  Hall  H,  to- 
gether with  faithful  repre- 
sentations of  the  people  at 
their  work.  The  people  are 
of  mixed  blood,  chiefly 
Kalinga,  with  some  Igorot 
and  Tinguian. 

The  smithies  are   small 
structures,  with  grass  roofs 
and  no  sides.    At  one  end 
is   the   bellows,   consisting 
of  two  upright  wooden  cyl- 
inders in  which  pistons  of 
wood  packed  with  chicken 
feathers  and  corn  husks  are 
worked  alternately  up  and 
down.     Bamboo  tubes  lead  out  from  the 
wooden  block  in  which  the  cylinders  stand, 
and  come  close  together  in  a  tube  of  fire 
clay    which    runs    into    the    charcoal    fire. 
Nearby  is  a  stone  anvil.     The  white  hot 
metal,  as  it  comes  from  the  fire,  is  handled 
with  iron  pincers  by  the  real  smith,  who 


holds  it  on  the  anvil  while  his  helper  wields 
the  heavy  stone  hammer.  After  the  initial 
shaping,  the  smith  himself  completes  the 
work  with  the  smaller  iron  hammer.  Tem- 
pering is  done  by  cooling  the  heated  iron 
in  the  small  bamboo  trough  of  water.    The 


Philippine  Forge  Group 
Exhibit  illustrating  methods  of  skillful  iron  workers  on  the  island  of  Luzon. 

woman  is  represented  as  having  just  brought 
water  to  the  forge  for  this  purpose. 

The  weapons,  completed  and  under  con- 
struction, which  are  shown  in  the  exhibit, 
were  in  the  smithy  at  the  time  of  its  acquisi- 
tion, and  are  the  last  objects  that  were  made 
in  it  prior  to  its  removal  to  Chicago. 


Page  6 


FIELD  MUSEUM  NEWS 


July,  1939 


Field  Museum  of  Natural  History 

Founded  by  Marshall  Fibld,  1893 
RooseTelt  Road  and  Field  DiiTc,  Chicago 

THE  BOARD  OF  TRUSTEES 
Sewell  L.  Avery  Charles  A.  McCulloch 

Leopold  E.  Block  Whjjam  H.  Mitchell 

Albert  B.  Dick,  Jr.  George  A.  Richardson 

Joseph  N.  Field  Theodore  Roosevelt 

Marshall  Field  James  Simpson 

Stanley  Field  Solomon  A.  Smith 

Albert  W.  Harris  Albert  A.  Sprague 

Samuel  Insull,  Jr.  Silas  H.  Strawn 

John  P.  Wilson 

OFFICERS 

Stanley  Field Praidmi 

Albert  A.  SPRAGirai Firtl  Viee-Premdent 

James  Simpson Second  Vice-President 

Albert  W.  Harris Third  Vice-President 

Clifford  C.  Gregg Director  and  Secretary 

Solomon  A.  Smith.  .  .Treasurer  and  Assistant  Secretary 

FIELD  MUSEUM  NEWS 

Clifford  C.  Gregg,  Director  of  the  Mitseum ....  Editor 
CONTRIBUTING  EDITORS 

Paul  S.  Martin Chief  Curator  of  Anthropology 

B.  E.  Dahlgren Chief  Curator  of  Botany 

Henry  W.  Nicboi^ Chiejf  Curator  of  Geology 

Wilfred  H.  Osgood Chief  Curator  of  Zoology 

H.  B.  Harte Managing  Editor 

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


FROM  THE  DIRECTOR'S  DESK— 


A  Permanent  World's  Fair 

At  this  time  the  interest  of  people  through- 
out the  country  turns  coastwise,  east  or 
west,  to  the  world's  fairs  at  New  York  and 
San  Francisco.  At  either  fair  one  may 
expect  to  see  marvelous  exhibits  featuring 
new  discoveries,  new  inventions,  new  archi- 
tecture, and  a  general  cross-section  of  things 
that  interest  man  all  over  the  world. 

A  few  years  ago  a  great  world's  fair  was 
held  in  Chicago,  and  interest  was  so  great 
that  it  was  continued  for  a  second  year.  At 
the  same  time  a  large  proportion  of  out-of- 
town  visitors  came  to  Field  Museum.  The 
comments  heard  from  them  were  in  all  cases 
complimentary.  It  might  be  of  interest  to 
see  why  those  people  who  were  interested 
in  the  world's  fair  were  amazed  and  delighted 
with  Field  Museum. 

Field  Museum  presents,  not  on  rare 
occasions,  but  at  all  times,  the  finest  display 
of  the  results  of  scientific  investigation  in 
the  field  of  natural  science.  Field  Museum, 
too,  has  gathered  together  from  the  far  cor- 
ners of  the  earth  the  choicest  and  rarest 
specimens  and  has  prepared  them  for  exhi- 
bition in  a  way  that  will  educate  and  delight 
the  visitor.  F^eld  Museum's  exhibits  are 
not  prepared  for  a  few  days  or  for  a  single 
season,  but  rather  to  last  as  long  as  the 
material  itself  is  of  interest. 

In  its  Hall  of  the  Races  of  Mankind,  Field 
Museum  has  gathered  together  typical 
examples  of  humanity  throughout  the 
earth  today,  done  in  enduring  bronze 
through  the  talent  of  an  eminent  sculptor. 
This  hall  might  be  termed  a  permanent 
assembly  of  the  representative  peoples  of 
the  world. 


In  many  halls  Field  Museum  exhibits  the 
ethnology  of  primitive  peoples  of  today. 
Here  the  visitor  may  see  the  actual  weapons 
of  their  warfare,  the  tools  of  their  handicraft, 
samples  of  their  art  and  their  weaving,  and 
most  of  the  other  primitive  objects  so 
essential  to  their  daily  lives.  Many  of  these 
collections  could  not  be  bought  at  any  price 
today,  as  they  represent  the  life  of  these 
primitive  peoples  before  the  influence  of 
European  civilization  came  upon  them. 
Primitive  men  today  in  most  of  the  remote 
comers  of  the  earth  are  using  to  some  degree 
articles  imported  from  Europe,  America,  or 
the  industrial  nations  of  Asia. 

Mammals  and  birds,  fishes  and  reptiles, 
trees  and  flowers,  gems  and  minerals  have 
been  gathered  from  far  and  near — identified, 
labeled,  and  presented  for  your  inspection. 
The  association  of  natural  things  with  their 
natural  surroundings  has  been  brought  out 
clearly  in  many  splendid  habitat  groups. 

The  collection  of  meteorites  at  Field  Mu- 
seum is  unique  in  the  number  of  falls  repre- 
sented. The  appeal  of  these  occasional 
arrivals  from  distant  unknown  places  out- 
side the  earth  needs  no  comment.  Then, 
too,  there  are  collections  of  gems  and  gem- 
stones,  cut  and  uncut,  together  with  typical 
jewelry  from  all  parts  of  the  world.  A 
separate  hall  contains  Chinese  jades  of  many 
dynasties.  Even  for  those  unacquainted 
with  the  values  represented,  these  halls  are 
a  delight  because  of  the  sheer  beauty  of  the 
specimens  themselves. 

Is  it  any  wonder  that  Field  Museum  may 
be  looked  upon  as  a  permanent  world's  fair, 
housing  as  it  does  priceless  collections  of 
world-wide  origin? 

—  Clifford  C.  Gregg,  Director 


James  P.  Chapin,  Curator  of  Old  World 
Birds  of  the  American  Museum  of  Natural 
History,  New  York;  Mrs.  Gertrude  Bass 
Warner,  Director,  and  Mrs.  Louis  Colfax,  of 
the  University  of  Oregon  Museum  of  Fine 
Arts,  Eugene,  Oregon. 


Distinguished  Visitors 

Among  distinguished  visitors  recently 
received  at  Field  Museum  are:  Mr.  Herbert 
N.  Hale,  Museum  Director  of  the  Public 
Library,  Museum,  and  Art  Gallery  of  South 
Australia,  at  Adelaide,  who  spent  eight  days 
inspecting  Field  Museum's  building  and 
equipment,  and  observing  the  educational 
methods  employed  here;  Mr.  Chauncey  J. 
Hamlin,  President  of  the  Buffalo  Museum 
of  Science;  Mr.  Victor  Fisher,  Eth- 
nologist of  the  Auckland  (New  Zealand) 
Museum;  Dr.  Herbert  Friedmann,  Curator 
of  Birds  at  the  United  States  National 
Museum,  and  President  of  the  American 
Ornithologists'  Union;  Mr.  A.  J.  van 
Rossem,  Ornithologist  of  the  California 
Institute  of  Technology,  at  Pasadena;  Dr. 
D.  Rubin  de  la  Borbolla,  Director,  Escuela 
Nacional  de  Ciencias  Biologicas,  Mexico; 
Dr.  T.  H.  Goodspeed,  Professor  of  Botany 
at  the  University  of  California;  Dr.  Frank 
D.  Kern,  of  Pennsylvania  State  College,  who 
is  one  of  the  foremost  specialists  on  fungi; 
Professor  Harry  W.  Norris,  of  the  zoological 
department,    Grinnell   College,   Iowa;    Dr. 


Trustees  Vote  Honors  to  Two 

Mr.  Michael  Lerner,  well-known  sports- 
man of  New  York  City  has  been  elected  by 
the  Board  of  Trustees  to  the  Field  Museum 
membership  classification  designated  as 
Contributors,  and  Dr.  Henri  Humbert, 
noted  French  scientist,  has  been  elected  a 
Corresponding  Member.  The  election  of 
Mr.  Lerner  is  in  recognition  of  notable  gifts 
he  has  made  to  the  Museum,  especially  to 
the  collections  of  the  Division  of  Fishes. 
Professor  Humbert  is  Director  of  the  Labo- 
ratory of  Phanerogams  at  the  Museum 
National  d'Histoire  Naturelle  in  Paris.  He 
has  accorded  extremely  valuable  co-opera- 
tion to  Field  Museum  in  connection  with 
this  institution's  project  for  photographing 
type  specimens  of  plants  in  European  her- 
baria— a  project  which  is  proving  to  be  of 
immense  benefit  to  botanists  throughout 
the  world. 


Oil  Palm  Specimen 

A  fruiting  spadix  of  the  American  oil  palm, 
collected  in  Panama  by  the  late  Professor  A. 
C.  Noe,  who  was  Research  Associate  in 
Paleobotany  for  Field  Museum,  has  been 
placed  on  exhibition  in  Hall  25,  in  conjunction 
with  its  economically  more  important  rela- 
tive, the  African  oil  palm.  Oil  from  the  latter 
is  widely  used  in  the  manufacture  of  soap. 


A  FEW  FACTS  ABOUT  FIELD  MUSEUM 

Field  Mllseum  ia  open  every  day  of  the  year 
(except  Christmas  and  New  Year's  Day)  during 
the  hours  indicated  below: 

November,  December, 

January.  February 9  A.M.  to  4  P.M. 

March,  April,  and 
September,  October 9  A.M.  to  5  F.M. 

May,  June,  July,  August. . .  .9  a.m.  to  6  P.M. 

Admission  is  free  to  Members  on  all  days. 
Other  adults  are  admitted  free  on  Thursdays, 
Saturdays,  and  Sundays;  non-members  pay  25 
cents  on  other  days.  Children  are  admitted  free 
on  all  days.  Students  and  faculty  members  of 
educational  institutions  are  admitted  free  any 
day  upon  presentation  of  credentials. 

The  Museum's  Library  is  open  for  reference 
daily  except  Saturday  afternoon  and  Sunday. 

Traveling  exhibits  are  circulated  in  the  schools 
of  Chicago  by  the  N.  W.  Harris  Public  School 
Extension  Department  of  the  Museum. 

Lectures  at  schools,  and  special  entertain- 
ments and  tours  for  children  at  the  Museum,  are 
provided  by  the  James  Nelson  and  Anna  Louise 
Raymond  Foundation  for  Public  School  and 
Children's  Lectures. 

Free  courses  of  lectures  for  adults  are  presented 
in  the  James  Simpson  Theatre  on  Saturday  after- 
noons (at  2:30  o'clock)  in  March,  April,  October, 
and  November. 

A  Cafeteria  serves  visitors.  Rooms  are  avail- 
able also  for  those  bringing  their  lunches. 

Chicago  Motor  Coach  Company  No.  26  busses 
provide  direct  transportation  to  the  Museum.  Ser- 
vice is  offered  also  by  Surface  Lines,  Rapid  Tran- 
sit Lines  (the  "L"),  mterurban  electric  Qnes,  and 
Illinois  Central  trains.  There  is  ample  free  park- 
ing space  for  automobiles  at  the  Museum. 


July,  1939 


FIELD  MUSEUM  NEWS 


Page  7 


EXHIBIT  ILLUSTRATES  LIFE 
OF  CHINESE  CHILDREN 

By  C.  martin  WILBUR 

CURATOR  OF  CHINESE  ARCHAEOLOGY  AND  ETHNOLOGY 

What  does  a  Chinese  school  child  look 
like,  and  what  does  he  study  today? 

To  answer  these  questions,  particularly 
when  asked  by  Chicago  school  children. 
Field  Museum  recently  placed  a  new  ex- 
hibit in  Hall  32  (Case  38).  To  assure  that 
the  exhibition  material  would  be  authentic, 
the  Museum  asked  Mrs.  Elizabeth  S.  Stelle, 
who  has  lived  for  fifty  years  in  intimate 
contact  with  the  Chinese  near  Peiping,  to 
secure  complete  outfits  of  used  clothes, 
textbooks,  and  toys,  together  with  class 
work  and  photographs,  of  two  Chinese 
school  children  from  middle-class  families. 
Everything  was  in  actual  use  when  obtained. 

The  central  characters  of  the  new  exhibit 
are  Shih-pin  Wu,  a  sixth-grade  boy,  and 
Chih-ping  Wen,  a  fourth-grade  girl.  Both 
are  natives  of  T'ung  hsien,  a  typical  old 
Chinese  town  about  ten  miles  east  of  Peiping. 
Their  art  work — typically  Chinese  in  its 
viewpoint — is  shown  in  the  back  of  the  case. 
Small  manikins  are  dressed  with  their 
clothes,  while  their  illustrated  school  books, 
exercises,  and  native  writing  materials  are 
all  displayed.  In  the  sixth  grade  Shih-pin 
Wu  studies  history,  geography,  reading  in 
the  Chinese  classics,  writing,  nature  study, 
and  art.  The  Chinese  girl  in  fourth  grade 
concentrates  on  learning  to  read  and  write 
the  difficult  Chinese  characters,  but  also 
studies  hygiene,  arithmetic,  nature  study, 
and  art.  T'ung  hsien  is  in  Japanese-occupied 
territory,  yet  it  is  entirely  characteristic 
that  the  education  of  Chinese  children 
continues  as  it  has  always  continued  in 
China  during  periods  of  economic  and 
political  stress.  Photographs  accompany- 
ing the  exhibit  show  the  children  in  their 
class  rooms. 


THINGS  YOU  MAY  HAVE  MISSED 


Hummingbirds 

Hummingbirds  have  long  held  popular 
appeal  as  the  jewels  of  the  bird  world.  Few 
birds  equal  them  in  brilliance  of  color  and 
variety  of  form.  Their  minute  size,  dazzling 
hues,  speed  of  flight,  and  courage  in  the 
defense  of  their  nests  all  combine  to  increase 
their  fascination. 

More  than  six  hundred  species  and  races 
of  hummingbirds  are  known  to  science. 
These  range  in  size  from  the  delicate  vervain 
hummingbird  of  Jamaica,  smallest  of  all 
birds,  whose  total  length  is  just  over  two 
inches,  to  the  giant  hummingbird  of  the 
southern  Andes,  which  attains  eight  and 
one-half  inches.  All  are  characterized  by 
slender  mandibles,  weak  feet,  and  rapidity 
of  wing  movement  in  flight  which  gives  rise 
to  the  buzzing  noise  from  which  their  name 
is  derived. 

Hummingbirds  are  most  closely  related 
anatomically  to  the  swifts,  but  superficially 


resemble  the  Old  World  sunbirds  by  which 
they  are  rivaled  in  iridescence.  The  former, 
however,  are  restricted  to  the  Americas, 
being  most  abundant  in  the  Andes  of 
Colombia  and  Ecuador.  Only  nineteen 
varieties  occur  north  of  Mexico,  and  of  these 
only  one,  the  ruby-throated  hummingbird, 
is  found  east  of  the  Mississippi  River. 

Twelve  North  American  hummingbirds, 
including  the  colorful  Anna's  hummingbird 
of  California  shown  in  the  accompanying 
illustration,  may  be  seen  in  Hall  21  where 
more  than  one  thousand  North  American 
birds  are  on  display.  — E.R.B. 


Tiny  Birds 

Hummingbirds  and  nest  as  displayed  in  Field  Mu- 
seum's systematic  ornitliological  collection  in  Hall  21. 


Staff  Notes 

Mr.  Henry  Herpers  has  been  appointed 
Assistant  Curator  of  Geology,  and  will  as- 
sume his  duties  in  July.  He  is  a  graduate  of 
the  Massachusetts  Institute  of  Technology, 
and  specializes  in  chemistry. 

Dr.  Henry  Field,  Curator  of  Physical 
Anthropology,  presented  a  paper  on  "Ancient 
and  Modern  Inhabitants  of  Iran"  before  the 
meeting  of  the  Anthropology  Section  of  the 
American  Association  for  the  Advancement 
of  Science,  at  Milwaukee,  on  June  21. 


Mr.  L.  Bryant  Mather,  Jr.,  Assistant 
Curator  of  Mineralogy,  presented  a  paper 
before  the  convention  of  the  Rocks  and 
Minerals  Association  held  at  Peekskill,  New 
York,  on  June  17.  Recently  Mr.  Mather 
was  elected  a  junior  member  of  the  American 
Institute  of  Mining  and  Metallurgical 
Engineers. 


FIELD  MUSEUM  CO-OPERATES 
IN  RECREATION  PROGRAM 

Field  Museum  participated  in  a  con- 
ference on  industrial  recreation,  sponsored 
by  University  College  of  Northwestern 
University,  with  the  co-operation  of  the 
Adult  Education  Council  and  numerous 
other  organizations  interested  in  the  better 
use  of  leisure  time,  held  at  the  Hotel  Sher- 
man, Chicago,  June  14  and  15.  The  con- 
ference was  organized  in  three  main  divi- 
sions: sports  and  athletics,  social  activities 
and  hobbies,  and  cultural  activities. 

Under  the  division  of  cultural  activities, 
in  a  section  devoted  to  museums.  Field  Mu- 
seum was  represented  by  a  display  of  photo- 
graphs and  printed  material  designed  to 
outline  briefly  the  story  told  by  its  exhibits, 
and  to  suggest  that  in  this  institution  there 
exist  resources  and  facilities  for  recreation 
and  fascinating  studies  in  the  arts  and 
sciences. 

Mr.  Loren  P.  Woods,  of  the  Museum 
staff,  was  in  attendance  during  the  period 
of  the  conference  to  answer  questions  and 
distribute  information  about  the  Museum. 


EGYPTIAN  BOAT  IN  MUSEUM 
AMONG  FIVE  OLDEST 

Some  of  the  fine  points  of  marine  architec- 
ture and  shipbuilding,  used  to  this  day  in 
the  construction  of  yachts,  were  known  and 
used  by  the  ancient  Egyptians  4,000  years 
ago.  This  is  revealed  by  inspection  of  an 
ancient  Egyptian  boat  on  exhibition  in  the 
Hall  of  Egyptian  Archaeology  (Hall  J)  at 
Field  Museum. 

So  far  as  is  known,  this  boat  is  one  of  the 
five  oldest  now  in  existence.  It  was  built 
during  the  Twelfth  Dynasty,  and  was 
used  in  an  important  mortuary  ceremony. 
Cedar,  still  considered  one  of  the  finest  of 
woods  for  the  building  of  small  craft,  was 
used  in  its  construction,  and  its  preservation 
through  all  these  years  is  considered  largely 
due  to  the  selection  of  this  timber.  The 
boat  is  just  a  few  inches  under  32  feet  in 
length,  and  it  has  a  beam  of  8  feet, 
and  draft  of  4  feet.  These  proportions  are 
close  to  popular  average  sizes  of  modern 
motor  cruisers  and  sailing  yachts.  In 
design  of  underwater  body,  midship  section, 
and  rake  of  the  stern,  the  Egyptian  vessel 
resembles  closely  many  modern  racers. 

The  boat  was  excavated  near  the  Dahshur 
pyramid  of  Sesostris  III,  about  twenty 
miles  above  Cairo,  and  several  miles  from 
the  Nile.  It  had  been  buried  after  use  in 
the  mortuary  ceremony. 


Mr.  Rudyerd  Boulton,  Curator  of  Birds, 
last  month  attended  the  annual  meeting  of 
the  American  Ornithologists'  Union,  held  in 
Berkeley,  California.  Mr.  Boulton  is 
Treasurer  of  the  organization,  and  Business 
manager  of  its  quarterly  journal,  The  Auk, 


Page  8 


FIELD  MUSEUM  NEWS 


July,  19S9 


GIFTS  TO  THE  MUSEUM 

Following  is  a  list  of  some  of  the  principal 
gifts  received  by  Field  Museum  during  the 
last  month: 
Department  of  Anthropology : 

From  the  Estate  of   Murray  B.  Augur, 
Chicago — 38    specimens    of    Plains    Indian 
ethnological    material,    Kansas,    Nebraska, 
Oklahoma,  and  Arizona. 
Department  of  Botany: 

From  E.  J.  Stanton  and  Son,  Inc.,  Los 
Angeles,  Calif. — a  plank  of  mahogany, 
Guatemala;  from  Dr.  Stillman  Wright, 
Logan,  Utah — 113  specimens  of  algae,  Utah 
and  Montana;  from  William  A.  Daily, 
Indianapolis,  Ind. — 27  specimens  of  algae, 
Indiana;  from  L.  Lind  Petersen,  Escuintla, 
Guatemala — a  mahogany  board.  Pacific 
coast  of  Guatemala;  from  Museo  Nacional, 
Costa  Rica — 136  herbarium  specimens,  San 
Jose,  Costa  Rica;  from  Dr.  Earl  E.  Sherff, 
Chicago — 90  herbarium  specimens,  Hawaii; 
from  Don  Mariano  Pacheco  H.,  Guatemala 
City,  Guatemala — a  specimen  of  black 
wheat,  Guatemala;  from  Professor  A.  O. 
Garrett,  Salt  Lake  City,  Utah— 140  herba- 
rium specimens,  Utah. 
Department  of  Geolo^ : 

From  Henry  Elsinga,  Lead  Hill,  Ark. — 5 
geological  specimens,  Arkansas;  from  Struc- 
tural Slate  Company,  Pan  Argyl,  Pa. — 2 
specimens  of  fabricated  slate,  Pennsylvania; 
from  W.  A.  Blomstran,  Lyon  Mountain, 
N.  Y. — a  specimen  of  bisolite.  New  York; 
from  T.  E.  Courthope,  Retsof,  N.  Y.— a 
specimen  of  halite;  from  Peter  Zodac, 
Peekskill,  N.  Y. — a  mineral  specimen, 
Pennsylvania;  from  Frank  C.  Hooper, 
North  Creek,  N.  Y. — 2  specimens  of  ser- 
endibite.  New  York;  from  T.  F.  Myners, 
Mineville,  N.  Y. — 2  specimens  of  martite, 
New  York;  from  Katherine  S.  Kniskern, 
Baltimore,  Md. — 4  mineral  specimens.  New 
York;  from  R.  D.  Butler,  Bethlehem,  Pa.— 
2  mineral  specimens,  Pennsylvania;  from 
Nolan  R.  Best,  Chicago — a  box  of  thermo- 
luminescent adularia  sand.  North  Carolina; 
from  Mrs.  John  Colvin,  Chicago — a  specimen 
of  jasper  and  hematite,  Wisconsin;  from 
Loren  P.  Woods,  Chicago — a  specimen  of 
goethite,  Mis.souri;  from  R.  J.  Adams, 
Chicago — 4  specimens  of  chalk,  Kansas; 
from  Dr.  Henry  Field,  Chicago — 3  minerals, 
Iraq;  from  Frank  De  Fore.st,  Evergreen 
Park,  111. — a  dolphin  skull,  Florida. 

Department  of  Zoolo^: 

From  H.  E.  Woodcock,  Chicago — 21 
specimens  of  moths  and  butterflies,  India, 
Europe,  and  New  Mexico;  from  Bass  Bio- 
logical Laboratory,  Englewood.  Fla. — 98 
fish  specimens,  Florida;  from  Bob  Allen  and 
Jim  Vonderheydt,  Oak  Park,  111.— 33  frogs 
and  toads,  Wisconsin;  from  Dr.  Delzie 
Demaree,  Monticello,  Ark. — 3  snakes,  Arkan- 
sas; from  Mrs.  George  Artamonoff,  Chicago 
—  a  snake,  Guatemala;  from  Professor  C.  L. 
Baker,  Memphis,  Tenn. — 39  fish  specimens, 
Tennessee;  from  Dr.  H.  H.  Nelson,  Chicago 
— 63  bats,  Egypt;  from  Dr.  Julian  A. 
Steyermark,  Chicago — 4  snakes  and  a  frog, 
Missouri;  from  Loren  P.  Woods,  Chicago — 
a  snake,  Indiana,  and  2,000  fish  specimens, 
Missouri;  from  H.  C.  Hanson,  Decorah, 
Iowa — 21  mammals,  Iowa;  from  F.  N.  Bard, 
Highland  Park,  111. — a  grizzly  bear  skull. 


British  Columbia;  from  Mrs.  Robb  White, 
Thomasville,  Ga. — a  black  snake,  Georgia; 
from  Phyllis  Laybourne,  Homewood,  111. — 
two  snakes,  Michigan;  from  Ray  Niles,  Lake 
Geneva,  Wis.—  a  large  trout  skull,  Wiscon- 
sin; from  Chicago  Zoological  Society,  Brook- 
field,  111. — 18  specimens  of  mammals,  birds, 
and  reptiles;  from  Miss  N.  B.  Mason, 
Davenport,  Iowa — a  great  plains  garter 
snake,  Iowa;  from  Dr.  Henry  Field,  Chicago 
— 24  bats,  Iraq. 
The  Library: 

Valuable  books  from  Dr.  Albert  B.  Lewis 
and  Dr.  Henry  Field,  of  Chicago. 


PRINCIPAL  WHEAT  VARIETIES 

More  than  one  hundred  varieties  of  wheat 
are  grown  in  the  United  States.  An  exhibit 
in  Hall  25  (Economic  Botany)  shows  wild 
grasses  related  to  the  wheats,  the  primitive 
forms  of  cultivated  wheat — spelt,  einkorn 
and  emmer — together  with  a  display  of  the 
principal  varieties  of  soft  and  hard  wheats 
of  the  most  important  kinds:  common 
wheats,  durums,  and  club  wheats.  The 
term  "club  wheat"  refers  to  the  shape  of 
the  heads.  The  common  wheats  are  soft 
varieties,  used  in  breadmaking,  either  alone 
or  mixed  with  flour  of  hard  wheat.  Of  the 
latter,  durum  is  the  most  widely  known 
and  is  grown  in  the  northwestern  States. 
It  gives  a  flour  of  the  high  gluten  content 
required  for  the  making  of  spaghetti  and 
macaroni. 

Displayed  with  these  grain  samples  are 
specimens  of  wheat  from  ancient  times. 
Some  grains  from  the  city  of  Jemdet  Nasr, 
excavated  in  Iraq  by  the  Field  Museum- 
Oxford  University  Joint  Expedition  to 
Mesopotamia,  are  estimated  to  be  5,500 
years  old,  and  probably  the  most  ancient 
in  existence.  They  are  charred  as  a  result 
of  a  fire  which  destroyed  Jemdet  Nasr. 
Of  similar  interest  are  grains  of  wheat 
("emmer")  found  in  two  Middle  Kingdom 
(1900  B.C.)  graves  in  Egypt.  The  graves 
were  near  the  pyramid  temple  of  King 
Ne-User-Re  who  reigned  about  2600  B.C. 
at  Abusir  near  Cairo. 


NEW  MEMBERS 

The  following  persons  were  elected  to 
membership  in  Field  Museum  during  the 
period  from  May  16  to  June  15: 

Corresponding  Members 

Professor  Henri  Humbert 

Contributors 

Michael  Lemer 

Associate  Members 

Mrs.  Ruthven  Deane,  John  Fredric 
Kurfess,  Charles  Herbert  Smith,  Mrs. 
Theodore  Stone,  Mrs.  Charles  Ware. 

.\nnual  Members 

Harry  E.  Abrahams,  Alfred  W.  Bays, 
William  L.  Blundell,  Mrs.  Louise  T.  Bov- 
ingdon,  Sydney  P.  Brown,  Harry  F.  Brewer, 
George  C.  Bulk,  B.  H.  Bunn,  Lester  h. 
Forbes,  Dr.  Stanton  A.  Friedberg,  Dr. 
Eleanor  I.  Leslie,  Rev.  F.  J.  Magner, 
Harold  B.  Myers,  Sumner  S.  Sollitt,  Mrs. 
Lewis  J.  Solomon,  John  H.  Southman. 


GUIDE-LECTURE  TOURS 

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

Mondays:  11  a.m..  Plant  Life  Exhibits; 
3  P.M.,  General  Tour  of  Exhibition  Halls. 

Tuesdays:  11  a.m..  Halls  of  Primitive  and 
Civilized  Peoples;  3  p.m.,  General  Tour  of 
Exhibition  Halls. 

Wednesdays:  11  a.m..  Animal  Groups; 
3  P.M.,   General  Tour  of  Exhibition  Halls. 

Thursdays:  11  a.m.  and  3  p.m.,  General 
Tours  of  Exhibition  Halls. 

Fridays:  11  a.m..  Minerals  and  Prehistoric 
Life;  3  p.m.,  General  Tour  of  Exhibition 
Halls. 

There  are  no  tours  given  on  Saturdays, 
Sundays,  or  on  July  Fourth. 

Persons  wishing  to  participate  in  the  tours 
should  apply  at  the  North  Entrance.  The 
tours  are  free,  and  no  gratuities  are  to  be 
proffered.  Guide-lecturer's  services  for 
special  tours  by  parties  of  ten  or  more  are 
available  free  of  charge  by  arrangement 
with  the  Director  a  week  in  advance. 


800  Books  Added  to  Library 

An  addition  of  some  800  volumes  has 
accrued  to  the  Library  of  Field  Museum  as  a 
result  of  the  bequest  to  the  Museum  of  the 
late  Mrs.  Carrie  Ryerson.  The  books  are 
largely  botanical  and  zoological  in  subject 
matter,  but  include  also  works  on  travel  and 
more  general  subjects. 


MEMBERSHIP  IN  FIELD  MUSEUM 

Field  Museum  has  several  classes  of  Membera. 
Annual  Members  contribute  $10  annually.  As- 
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BEQUESTS  AND  ENDOWMENTS 

Bequests  to  Field  Museum  of  Natural  History 
may  be  made  in  securities,  money,  books  or 
collections.  They  may,  if  desired,  take  the  form 
of  a  memorial  to  a  person  or  cause,  named  by  the 
giver. 

Contributions  made  within  the  taxable  year  not 
exceeding  1 5  per  cent  of  the  taxpayer's  net  in- 
come are  allowable  as  deductions  in  computing 
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Endowments  may  be  made  to  the  Museum 
with  the  provision  that  an  annuity  he  paid  to 
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teed against  fluctuation  in  amount,  and  may 
reduce  federal  income  taxes. 


News 


Published  Monthly  by  Field  Museum  of  Natural  History,  Chicago 


Vol.  10 


AUGUST,  1939 


No.  8 


'WHAT'S  IN  A  NAME?"— COMMON  TERMS  FOR  ANIMALS  ARE  OFTEN  MISLEADING 


By  H.  B.  HARTE 
public  relations  counsel 

"A  rose  is  a  rose  is  a  rose  is  a  rose." — Gertrude  Stein. 

But  a  robin's  not  a  robin  not  a  robin  not  a  robin, 
A  sparrow's  not  a  sparrow  not  a  sparrow  not  a  sparrow 
And  et  cetera's  not  et  cetera  not  etc.  not  etc. — 
So,  if  things  are  not  what  they  are,  which  they  aren't 
what  are  they? 

Truly,  things  are  not  what  they  seem,  or 
at  least  what  they're  called,  in  the  Animal 
Kingdom.  The  nomenclature  of  birds  and 
beasts    is    so    confused    that    residents    of 


Called  a  Gopher  In  Illinois— 

— but  properly  it  should  be  called  a  thirteen-lined 
ground  squirrel.    It  is  quite  common  in  the  Chicago  area. 

different  regions  of  this  country  use  the 
same  names  for  entirely  unlike  creatures. 
Zoologists  at  Field  Museum,  when  consulted 
by  laymen,  must  frequently  disregard  the 
names  their  visitors  or  correspondents  use, 
and  try  to  establish  identifications  from 
other  information  cited. 

Who  is  to  blame  for  this  chaotic  condition 
in  naming  the  creatures  of  the  earth  and 
sky?     The   pioneers! — the   hardy  pioneers, 
worthy  in  so  many  respects,  are  the  culprits. 
In  settling  America  they  encoun- 
tered many  new  birds  and  animals, 
and  carelessly  gave  them  the  names 
of  other  creatures  they  had  known 
at  home.     The  wrong  names  ad- 
hered, and  are  now  so  well  estab- 
lished that  they  are  actually  more 
right,  in  a  utilitarian  sense,  than 
the  correct  names.    In  fact,  con- 
fusion   twice    confounded    would 
result  from   any  serious   attempt 
now  to  give  the  right  names  to  all 
the  wrongly  named  animals. 

PARADOXES  IN  BIRD  NAMES 

Here  are  some  of  the  paradoxes 
in  bird  names,  pointed  out  by  Mr. 
Rudyerd  Boulton,  Curator  of  Birds: 


The  bird  commonly  called  a  robin  is  not 
a  robin,  but  a  thrush.  A  real  robin  is  a 
small  British  bird,  one-third  the  size  of 
our  so-called  robin,  and  only  distantly 
related  although  superficially  alike  in  having 
a  red  breast. 

The  real  partridge  is  European,  and  has 
been  introduced  in  some  places  in  America 
where  it  is  often  called  the  "hunky"  from 
its  proper  name,  Hungarian  partridge.  Our 
bob-white  is  called  partridge  in  the  south, 
and  the  ruffed  grouse  is  called  partridge  in 
Canada.  In  the  middle  west  the  bob-white 
often  is  called  a  quail,  which  is  confusing 
because  the  true  quail  is  a  European  bird 
that  migrates  to  Africa.  Just  to  make 
things  a  little  more  complicated,  our  ruffed 
grouse  is  sometimes  called  pheasant  in  the 
east — a  term  that  is  properly  applied  to 
the  long-tailed  "ringneck"  introduced  from 
Asia. 

What  we  call  a  warbler  does  not  belong 
to  the  true  warbler  family  at  all.  The  true 
warblers  are  Old  World  birds.  America 
has  only  one  native  species  of  warbler,  but 
it  is  called  a  blue-gray  gnat-catcher  instead 
of  a  warbler. 

Our  so-called  oriole  is  really  a  blackbird, 
unrelated  to  the  true  orioles  which  are  an 
Old  World  family  unrepresented  in  the 
western  hemisphere.  Likewise,  our  meadow- 
lark  actually  is  a  blackbird.  However, 
America's  only  true  lark  is,  for  a  change, 
called  prairie  horned  lark — someone  slipped 
and  failed  to  give  it  a  wrong  name. 

Even  that  common  little  street  gamin, 
the  English  (or  house)  sparrow  is  not  a 
sparrow  by  any  means — it  is  a  species  of 
weaver-bird,  an  immigrant  first  brought 
from  Europe  in  1850. 


The  wood  ibis  of  Florida  is  not  an  ibis, 
but  a  stork.  There  are  also  true  ibises  in 
Florida,  but  they  with  customary  contrari- 
ness are  called,  instead,  white  curlews,  which 
they  likewise  really  are  not. 

Also  in  Florida  they  have  a  turtle  which 
they  call  a  gopher,  says  Mr.  Karl  P.  Schmidt, 
Curator  of  Amphibians  and  Reptiles.  They 
have  a  gopher  (the  little  mammal  that  we 
call  gopher  in  the  north)  and  they  call  that 
a  salamander.  They  have  a  true  salamander 
and  they  call  that  a  "Congo  eel."     They 


This  Turtle  Is  a  Gopher,  Too— 

—  in    the    common   zoological    nomenclature  generally    employed    by    natives  of 
Florida,  who  call  the  mammalian  gopher  a  salamander,  and  the  real  salamander  an  eel. 


A  True  Gopher — the  Pocket  Gopher 

In    Florida,  however,  they  call  it  a  salamander,  and 
call    the    true   amphibian   salamander  a  "Congo  eel." 

have  real  eels  and — believe  it  or  not! — they 
actually  call  them  eels. 

MAMMALS  ALSO  IN  CONFUSION 

Mr.  Colin  C.  Sanborn,  Curator  of  Mam- 
mals,   contributes   the   note   that   what   is 
called  a  prairie  dog  in  the  west  is  a  ground 
squirrel,  and  in   Illinois  we  call  a  ground 
squirrel  a  gopher,  but  out  west  again  they 
have  a  real  gopher  that  they  call  a  gopher, 
of  all  things,  and  a  ground  squirrel  that 
they  call  a  ground  squirrel.    What  we  call 
a  ground-hog  is  no  relative  of  the 
pig,  but  is  also  a  ground  squirrel  or 
woodchuck.    Then,  of  course,  there 
is  the  classic  misnomer  pointed  out 
to  every  school  child — the  Ameri- 
can buffalo  which  is  not  a  buffalo 
but  a  bison,  very  distinctive  from 
the  true  buffaloes  of  Africa  and 
Asia.     Most  confusing  is  the  case 
of  the  moose  and  the  elk,  adds  Dr. 
Wilfred  H.  Osgood,  Chief  Curator 
of  Zoology,  for  the  moose  is  closely 
related  to  the  Old  World  elk  and 
our  so-called  elk  is  not  an  elk  at  all 
but  a  true  round-horned  deer  re- 
lated to  the  European  red  deer  and 
Asiatic  deer.    It  should  be  called 


Page  2 


FIELD  MUSEUM  NEWS 


August,  19S9 


wapiti — a  name  given  to  it  by  the  Indians. 
For  the  devotees  of  Izaak  Walton,  there 
are  also  many  and  curious  anomalies,  says 
Mr.  Alfred  C.  Weed,  Curator  of  Fishes. 
The  wall-eyed  pike  of  Wisconsin  and 
Michigan  waters  is  called  a  salmon  and  a 
trout  in  the  Susquehanna  region  down  east, 
a  pickerel  in  Canada,  and  in  Florida,  where 
they  always  seem  to  go  to  extremes,  the 
same  fish  is  a  "snook."  The  black  bass  is 
a  sunfish,  not  a  true  bass,  and  the  big- 


What  Do  You  CaU  This  Fish? 

In  Wisconsin  and  Michigan  it  is  known  as  the  wall- 
eyed pike,  but  it  is  known  both  as  a  salmon  and  a  trout 
down  east  in  the  Susquehanna  region,  while  it  is  called 
a  pickerel  in  Canada,   and — in   Florida — a   "snook." 

mouthed  variety  of  bass  is  called  a  trout 
in  the  south.  The  sea  trout  is  a  charr  in 
Labrador,  and  a  croaker  along  the  coast 
from  New  Jersey  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico. 


EXHIBIT  REVEALS  PERFECTION 
OF  CHINESE  POTTERS 

By  C.  martin  WILBUR 

CUKATOR  OF  CHINESE  ARCHAEOLOGY  AND  ETHNOLOGY 

The  best  ceramic  products  of  Chinese 
potters  of  the  seventeenth  and  eighteenth 
centuries  have  no  rival  anywhere  in  the 
world  if  we  judge  by  artistic  beauty  or 
technical  perfection.  Their  surprising  ac- 
complishments were  due  to  at  least  two 
important  factors:  experience  and  specializa- 
tion. Ch'ing  porcelain  was  the  culmination 
of  centuries  of  accidental  and  experimental 
discoveries,  and  accumulated  tradition  and 
skill.  Superb  technique  was  possible  because 
of  intense  specialization  in  which  every  pro- 
cess— from  the  mixing  of  the  clay  to  the  final 
firing — was  in  the  hands  of  a  different 
expert.  The  imperial  kiln-city  of  Ching-te 
Chen  resembled  in  many  ways  a  modem 
factory  in  which  each  small  process  is  in  the 
hands  of  especially  trained  men. 

EXHIBIT  IN  HALL  24 

Through  a  bequest  of  Mrs.  George  T. 
(Frances  Gaylord)  Smith,  Field  Museum 
acquired  a  collection  of  white  porcelain 
which  confirms  the  above  comments.  The 
collection  is  exhibited  in  George  T.  and 
Frances  Gaylord  Smith  Hall  (Hall  24),  in 
case  32.  The  eleven  small  pieces,  though 
not  all  of  the  finest  quality  produced  at 
imperial  kilns,  illustrate  a  variety  of  decora- 
tive techniques  which  make  no  use  of  color. 
Three  Buddhist  figures,  of  the  type  of  porce- 
lain known  as  bUinc  de  chine,  show  the 
sculptural  possibilities  of  ceramics.  This  is 
especially  true  of  the  larger  figure  of  Bodhid- 
harma  sitting  in  serene  meditation  with  his 
robes  gathered  around  him. 


A  modified  type  of  the  sculpture  technique 
is  decoration  in  relief.  Two  libation  cups 
have  dragons  in  full  round  clambering  over 
the  sides.  That  these  dragons  came  through 
the  inferno  of  the  kiln  without  wilting  com- 
mands admiration.  In  lower  relief  is  the 
ornamentation  of  a  small  brush-holder 
shaped  like  a  joint  of  bamboo.  On  its  sides 
is  a  charming  scene  of  a  man  in  a  bamboo 
grove,  sleeping  over  an  open  book — as  he 
sits  astride  a  water  buffalo!  This  specimen  is 
signed  by  a  famous  nineteenth  century 
potter  named  Wang  Ping-jung.  The  sides  of 
another  brush-holder  show  a  lily  pond  with 
swimming  ducks.  In  this,  the  decoration 
itself  forms  the  body  of  the  container,  and 
the  spaces  between  lily  pads  are  left  open, 
which  makes  it  seem  as  though  one  were 
actually  looking  down  into  a  pond  on  which 
leaves  are  floating. 

SPECIAL  LIGHTING  AIDS  STUDY 

This  open  work  treatment  leads  to  an- 
other technique  shown  in  two  beautiful 
bowls  at  the  back  of  the  case.  A  floral 
design  was  pierced  through  the  biscuit 
before  the  bowls  were  glazed.  After  glazing 
and  firing,  the  pierced  design  became  trans- 
lucent, as  the  glaze  filled  the  cut-out  floral 
design  like  glass  in  a  window.  Finally, 
another  bowl  displays  translucent  and  relief 
decoration  combined.  A  special  light  for 
this  piece  may  be  turned  on  and  off  by  the 
visitor,  thus  permitting  him  to  study  the 
bowl  either  under  normal  light  or  by  a  light 
concentrated  inside  it.  The  technique  of 
making  this  bowl  is  very  interesting.  It 
was  first  shaped  on  the  potter's  wheel  and 
allowed  to  dry  out  naturally  to  a  leathery 
toughness.  Then  an  expert  carefully  ground 
it  down  to  paper  thinness  on  a  lathe  to 
make  it  translucent.  Next  an  artist  used 
a  white  slip,  of  paste-like  consistency,  to 
paint  two  spirited  dragons  on  the  sides  of  the 
bowl.  Finally  it  was  dipped  in  glaze  and 
fired.  Thus,  although  the  bowl  is  translu- 
cent, the  dragons  between  the  biscuit  and 
the  glaze  are  opaque.  They  seem  to  soar 
like  shadows  against  a  cloud,  which  is  indeed 
the  proper  occupation  of  dragons. 


Fig  Tree  Sheltered  Rome's  Founders 

The  fig  tree,  a  native  of  western  Asia,  was 
probably  introduced  into  Italy  by  Greek 
colonists.  Romulus  and  Remus  are  said 
to  have  been  suckled  by  the  she-wolf  under 
the  Ficus  ruminalis. 


Giant  Sea  Bean 

A  huge  sea  bean,  so  large  that  it  might 
have  come  from  the  beanstalk  of  Jack  the 
Giant  Killer's  giant,  is  exhibited  in  the  Hall 
of  Plant  Life  (Hall  29,  Case  857),  Depart- 
ment of  Botany.  This  type  of  bean,  which 
grows  to  a  length  of  four  feet,  is  the 
fruit  of  a  large  woody  climber,  and  is  native 
to  many  tropical  regions.  Its  seeds  are 
often  transported  by  the  Gulf  Stream. 


PALEONTOLOGICAL  EXPEDITION 
LEAVES  FOR  COLORADO 

The  Paleontological  Expedition  to  West- 
ern Colorado  left  Chicago  on  July  17  for  a 
three  and  a  half  months'  stay  in  the  field. 
The  personnel  consists  of  Mr.  Bryan  Patter- 
son, Assistant  Curator  of  Paleontology,  and 
Mr.  James  H.  Quinn,  Assistant  in  Paleon- 
tology. Volunteers  are  expected  to  join  the 
party  for  short  periods.  Previous  expedi- 
tions from  the  Museum  have  operated  in 
this  region  during  1932,  1933,  and  1937,  so 
the  present  party  will  be  continuing  a 
well  established  program.  Important  col- 
lections have  already  resulted  from  this 
work,  and  notable  additions  to  knowledge 
have  been  made. 

The  field  of  operations  lies  in  Mesa,  Gar- 
field, and  Gunnison  Counties,  where  an 
extensive  series  of  formations  belonging  to 
various  periods  and  eras  in  the  earth's  his- 
tory is  exposed.  The  work  will  be  carried  on 
mainly  in  late  Paleocene  and  early  Eocene 
deposits  (the  opening  epochs  of  the  Age  of 
Mammals),  with  some  attention  also  being 
paid  to  the  late  Cretaceous  formations  (the 
closing  period  of  the  Age  of  Reptiles).  The 
main  objective  of  the  expedition  is  to  collect 
fossil  mammals  from  the  Paleocene  and 
Eocene.  Specimens  from  these  early  hori- 
zons are  of  great  interest  to  students  of 
mammalian  evolution.  The  dinosaurs  and 
other  reptiles  that  had  previously  dominated 
the  earth  were  but  a  short  time  extinct  (geo- 
logically speaking),  and  the  mammals  were 
just  getting  well  under  way.  Many  groups 
that  no  longer  survive  were  flourishing,  and 
several  of  the  dominant  mammalian  types 
of  the  present  time  were  represented  by 
exceedingly  primitive  ancestors.  Thus,  for 
example,  the  horses  of  the  early  Eocene  were 
small  creatures  no  larger  than  foxes,  and 
they  possessed  four  toes  in  contrast  to  the 
modern  horse's  one. 

In  addition  to  the  work  on  vertebrates, 
attention  will  be  paid  to  geological  observa- 
tions, and  to  the  collecting  of  fossil  plants. 
It  is  hoped  that  by  means  of  the  latter  it 
will  be  possible  to  make  somewhat  more 
precise  age  determinations  and  correlations 
of  the  late  Cretaceous  formations  than  has 
hitherto  been  done. 


SUMMER  FLOWERS— 

Of  special  interest  and  usefulness  to 
those  interested  in  recognizing  the 
wild  flowers  appearing  at  this  season 
is  an  illustrated  leaflet.  Summer  Wild 
Flowers,  published  by  Field  Museum. 
J.  Francis  Macbride,  Associate  Curator 
of  the  Herbarium,  is  the  author.  This 
booklet,  like  many  others  which  are 
valuable  to  nature  lovers  at  this  time 
of  year,  is  on  sale  at  the  BOOK  SHOP 
of  FIELD  MUSEUM— 25  cents. 


August,  1939 


FIELD  MUSEUM  NEWS 


Page  S 


THINOS  YOU  MAY  HAVE  MISSED 


A  Rain  God 

To  an  enlightened  person  it  seems  ridicu- 
lous to  believe  that  an  idol  carved  from  a 
tree  trunk  could  influence  rainfall  or  other 
natural  phenomena.  But  when  the  coinci- 
dences surrounding  the  acquisition  of  a 
wooden  rain  god  from  a  South  Pacific  island, 
now  on  exhibition  at  Field  Museum  (Poly- 
nesian collection,  Hall  F)  are  considered,  it 
is  easy  to  see  how  similar  coincidences  would 
appear  to  the  minds  of  primitive  tribesmen 
as  cause  and  effect.  In  the  same  way  the 
common  superstitions  of  our  own  people, 
such  as  those  associated  with  the  number 
"13,"  black  cats,  broken  mirrors,  and 
rabbits'  feet,  persist  because  coincidences 
sometimes  seem  to  confirm  their  validity. 

Field  Museum's  rain  god  is  one  of  four 
which  were  preserved  in  a  sacred  place  in 
the  valley  of  Atuona,  on  the  island  of  Hi- 
vaoa,  one  of  the  French-owned  Marquesas 
group.  Dr.  Ralph  Linton  (formerly  Assistant 
Curator  of  Oceanic  and  Malayan  Ethnology 
at  Field  Museum,  now  Professor  of  Anthro- 
pology at  Columbia  University),  learned  of 
the  idols  during  an  expedition.  He  found  them 
surrounded  by  the  bones  of  about  twenty- 
five  tribesmen  who  had  been  offered  as 
human  sacrifices.  A  problem  confronted 
the  explorer  in  seeking  to  acquire  and  re- 
move the  revered  objects  in  the  face  of 
certain  opposition  from  the  Atuona  tribe. 

However,  opportunity  was  presented  by  a 
dispute  between  two  natives  over  ownership 
of  the  land  on  which  the  gods  were  located. 
Thinking  that  Dr.  Linton  could  not  take 
them  away,  and  believing  that  a  paper  from 
a  white  man  would  help  in  court  (both  as  a 
legal  document  and  by  its  supposed  magical 
power),  each  native  secretly  offered  the  gods 
to  the  anthropologist  if  he  would  give  a 
receipt.  Each  thought  this  would  indicate 
that  Dr.  Linton  believed  him  to  be  the  right- 
ful owner.  Dr.  Linton  gave  each  a  receipt, 
and  thus  acquired  clear  title  whichever  way 
the  case  might  be  decided.  Dr.  Linton  then 
sought  to  remove  the  four  heavy  idols  by 
employing  porters  from  another  island — 
members  of  a  tribe  whose  gods  were  dif- 
ferent, and  who  were  therefore  not  subject 
to  the  Hivaoa  lahus.  In  the  dead  of  night 
these  men  carried  the  idols  to  Dr.  Linton's 
camp.  But  the  Hivaoa  people  learned  what 
had  happened,  and  a  native  boy  warned 
Dr.  Linton  of  impending  trouble. 

Telling  about  his  experiences  later.  Dr. 
Linton  said: 

"Half  an  hour  after  the  gods  arrived  there 
was  a  downpour  of  rain  that  became  heavier 
and  heavier,  lasting  about  twenty-four 
hours.  The  river  on  the  island  rose  rapidly, 
and  the  natives  were  badly  frightened.  It 
was  all  due,  they  insisted,  to  the  wrath  of 
the  disturbed  gods.  They  said  the  gods 
would    continue   the   rain    until    the    river 


flooded,  washing  the  entire  village,  and  all 
its  inhabitants  into  the  sea.  The  tribesmen 
were  becoming  menacing.  Something  had 
to  be  done  to  calm  them.  I  called  to  the 
elders,  and  before  them  I  addressed  the  gods 
in  the  tribal  language.  I  told  the  wooden 
idols  that  they  were  mistaken  as  to  my 
motives — I  was  merely  moving  them  to  the 
island  of  Hawaii,  regarded  as  a  sort  of 
Olympus  of  all  native  gods,  where  they 
would  be  more  comfortable.  But,  I  threat- 
ened, if  the  rain  continued  much  longer,  I 
would  tie  them  to  coconut  trees,  where  they 
would  be  impotent  and  unhappy  gods.  This 
speech  placated  the  excited  tribesmen,  and. 


Marquesan  Rainmaker 

This  carved  wooden  idol  was  believed  by  tribesmen 
of  the  island  of  Hivaoa  in  the  South  Pacific  to  control 
the  fall,  or  lack  of  fall,  of  rain.  It  is  now  on  exhibition 
in  the  Polynesian  collection  in  Hall  F  at  Field  Museum. 


strangely  enough,  half  an  hour  later  the  rain 
stopped,  and  the  river  subsided.  Thus  the 
native  faith  was  sustained. 

"I  managed  to  get  the  idols  loaded  on  a 
schooner  and  sailed  away.  Three  are  now 
in  a  museum  at  Honolulu.  The  fourth 
arrived  in  Chicago  at  a  time  when  the  city 
and  all  the  middle  west  had  had  a  drought 
for  weeks.  The  day  the  god  was  uncrated  at 
Field  Museum,  rainstorms  started,  lasting 
several  days.  The  story  of  this  rain  reached 
farming  districts  which  had  not  yet  had 
relief.  Immediately  a  farmer  in  Iowa 
requested  a  loan  of  the  god  to  bring  rain  and 
save  his  crops.  Similar  requests  followed. 
Needless  to  say,  however,  the  Museum 
never  granted  the  loan." 


TWO    PROGRAMS     FOR    CHILDREN 
TO  BE  GIVEN  IN  AUGUST 

The  James  Nelson  and  Anna  Louise  Ray- 
mond Foundation  will  present  the  final  two 
programs  of  motion  pictures  in  its  summer 
series  for  children  at  Field  Museum  during 
August.    The  programs  are  as  follows: 

Thursday,  August  3,  10  a.m. — The 
Busy  Beavers  (cartoon  by  Walt  Disney); 
The  Lovely  Taj  Mahal;  The  Navajo  Demon; 
Babes  in  the  Woods. 

Thursday,  August  10,  10  a.m. — The 
Wedding  of  Palo  (A  Story  of  Eskimo  Life 
in  Greenland). 

The  programs  will  be  given  in  the  James 
Simpson  Theatre  of  the  Museum.  Admission 
is  free,  and  children  from  all  parts  of  Chicago 
and  suburbs  are  invited.  They  may  come 
alone,  accompanied  by  adults,  or  in  groups 
from  clubs,  community  centers,  etc. 


POISON  IVY  IN  CENTRAL  AMERICA 

While  conducting  the  recent  Sewell  Avery 
Botanical  Expedition  to  Guatemala,  the 
writer  was  assured  by  Mr.  and  Mrs.  B.  B. 
Lewis,  of  Guatemala  City,  that  poison  ivy 
(Rhus  Toxicodendron)  grew  in  the  central 
mountains  of  that  country.  Since,  in  North 
America,  poison  ivy  has  not  been  reliably 
reported  south  of  the  Mexican  state  of 
Oaxaca,  it  seemed  quite  safe  to  deny  its 
possible  existence  anywhere  in  Central 
America.  Facetious  comment  regarding  the 
ease  with  which  Central  American  plants 
might  be  confused  by  the  amateur  with 
only  remotely  similar  ones  of  the  United 
States  was  met  by  a  repetition  of  the  state- 
ment. 

Mrs.  Lewis,  an  enthusiastic  and  critical 
student  and  collector  of  Guatemalan  orchids, 
has  now  forwarded  to  Field  Museum  a 
specimen  of  poison  ivy,  with  the  informa- 
tion that  after  collecting  it,  in  spite  of  every 
precaution,  she  exhibited  the  customary 
effects  of  contact  with  the  plant.  The 
specimen  was  obtained  near  San  Juan 
Sacatepequez,  not  far  from  Guatemala  City, 
and  represents  an  extension  of  range  far 
southeastward  from  that  previously  known. 

Once  again  a  botanist  is  embarrassed  by 
too  confident  generalization  regarding  plant 
range,  although  based  upon  apparently  quite 
safe  presumption.  The  Central  American 
flora  continues  to  furnish  so  many  surprises 
that  it  deserves  a  tribute  like  that  paid  to 
Africa  by  Pliny — that  something  new  always 
could  be  expected  from  that  mysterious  con- 
tinent. — Paul  C.  Standley 


Additions  to  Fluorescent  Minerals 

The  display  of  fluorescent  minerals  located 
in  the  corridor  between  Halls  34  and  35  in 
the  Department  of  Geology  has  been  im- 
proved by  the  installation  of  new  specimens. 
Many  of  these  glow  under  the  ultra-violet 
light  with  colors  more  varied  and  brilliant 
than  any  hitherto  exhibited  there. 


Page  i 


FIELD  MUSEUM  NEWS 


August,  1939 


AMERICAN  LOTUS,  FAMED  PLANT  OF  GRASS  LAKE,   ILLINOIS,  IS  ERRATIC  IN  DISTRIBUTION 


By  PAUL  C.  STANDLEY 

CURATOR  OF  THE  HERBARIUM 

In  a  collection  of  plants  sent  recently  to 
Field  Museum  by  Brother  Elias  of  Barran- 
quilla,  Colombia,  is  the  first  specimen  of  the 
American  lotus  (Nelumbo  pentapetala)  that 
the  writer  has  ever  seen  from  South  America. 
It  comes  from  the  lower  valley  of  the  Mag- 
dalena  River,  from  which  the  plant  had, 
however,  been  reported  previously. 

The  American  lotus,  a  plant  quite  dif- 
ferent from  the  classic  lotus  of  the  Nile, 
although  of  the  same  family,  is  of  exceptional 
interest  from  the  standpoint  of  distribution. 
In  the  Chicago  region  it  is  rare,  and  it  is 
widely  believed  that  it  is  known  only  from 
the  celebrated  locality  of  Grass  Lake,  north- 
west of  Chicago. 
Every  August,  many 
thousands  of  people 
visit  that  lake  to  see 
this  showy  plant  in 
blossom.  Each  sea- 
son Field  Museum 
receives  inquiries  re- 
garding the  plant 
and  its  distribution, 
for  it  has  often  been 
stated  by  the  unin- 
formed that  Grass 
Lake  is  the  only 
known  locality  for 
the  lotus,  or  that  it 
is  the  only  American 
locality  at  which  the 
Egyptian  lotus  is 
found.  Both  of  these 
statements  must  be 
labeled  altogether 
erroneous. 

As  a  matter  of 
fact,  the  American 
lotus  has  a  wide  dis- 
tribution in  North 


This  erratic  distribution  is  believed  to 
have  arisen  from  the  fact  that  the  plant 
was  a  food  staple  of  the  Indians,  who  ate 
the  seeds  and  also  the  very  thick  and 
succulent  rootstocks.  Doubtless  on  their 
travels  they  carried  the  small,  hard  seeds, 
which,  if  they  are  like  those  of  their  Asiatic 
relatives,  have  greater  longevity  than  any 
other  seeds  known,  from  one  place  to 
another,  to  plant  them  for  food.  Except  by 
human  intervention,  the  seeds  probably  are 
not  easily  diffused,  and  it  thus  happens 
that  in  one  region,  lotus  plants  are  found 
now  in  a  single  lake  or  pond,  although 
many  others  equally  suitable  for  growth 
may  be  near-by. 

The  American  lotus  is  not  confined,  in- 


Part  of  Lotus  Beds  at  Grass  Lake 

These  showy  plants  are  at  their  best  in  August,  when  thousands  of  persons  visit  this 
is  easily  reached  from  Chicago  by  automobile  or  other  means  of  transportation.    The  round 


are  known  to  have  traveled  on  foot  for 
great  distances,  and  a  journey  from  Texas 
or  Oklahoma  to  Mexico  and  Honduras  is 
quite  within  reason.  How  the  plant  reached 
the  Magdalena  Valley  is  less  easily  ex- 
plained. 

PLANT  SPECIMENS  ENDURE  CENTURIES 

The  lotus  brings  to  mind  another  inter- 
esting subject.  Botanists  often  are  asked 
how  long  a  pressed  and  dried  herbarium 
specimen  will  last.  A  herbarium,  appropri- 
ately called  in  early  botanical  literature  a 
hortus  siccus — dry  garden — is  a  rather  recent 
device;  but  well  preserved  specimens  three 
hundred  years  old,  and  probably  some  that 
are  considerably  older,  exist.  More  than 
that,  I  have  seen  dried  garlands  taken  from 
Egyptian  tombs 
about  4,000  years 
old.  These  garlands 
had  been  moderately 
pressed,  whether 
during  their  long 
storage  or  after  their 
removal  in  modern 
times,  I  do  not  know. 
At  any  rate,  the  lotus 
leaves  and  flowers  in 
them,  while  discol- 
ored and  faded,  as 
are  most  very  old 
herbarium  speci- 
mens, preserved  per- 
fectly their  form  and 
texture,  and  were 
not  inferior  in  pre- 
servation to  ordi- 
nary herbarium  spe- 
cimens ten  years  old. 
Despite  the  fact 
that  they  had  been 
stored  in  sealed 
tombs,  they  must 
nevertheless  have 


celebrated  locality,  which 
trip  may  be  made  in  a  day. 


America,  west  to  Nebraska,  Missouri,  and 
Texas,  and  eastward  to  Florida  and  the 
Atlantic  coast.  However,  its  occurrence  is 
so  erratic  as  to  arouse  speculation.  Even  in 
the  vicinity  of  Chicago  it  probably  is  not 
confined  to  Grass  Lake.  Indeed,  I  have 
been  told  by  an  old  settler  that  formerly  it 
was  extremely  abundant  in  the  Calumet 
River  and  its  marshes,  but  has  been  de- 
stroyed, apparently  by  industrial  operations. 
It  is  generally  common  in  certain  extensive 
regions  such  as  along  the  flood  plain  of  the 
Missouri  and  Mississippi  rivers  in  Missouri, 
where  there  are  many  miles  of  swampland 
crowded  with  it.  It  seems  probable  that 
the  plant  may  be  a  native  primarily  of  the 
Mississippi  Valley.  In  the  eastern  states, 
as  well  as  in  some  regions  of  the  central 
ones,  the  plant  is  quite  as  localized  as  in 
the  Chicago  region.  I  recall  that  near  the  city 
of  Washington,  D.C.,  it  is  known  in  only  one 
locality,  but  there  it  is  plentiful.  The  same 
is  true  in  many  other  eastern  regions. 


deed,  to  the  United  States,  but  its  occurrence 
elsewhere  is  so  strange  as  to  cause  further 
speculation.  It  is  known  from  Cuba  and 
the  Dominican  Republic,  and  from  Mexico, 
both  in  the  Tampico  region  and  far  away 
in  the  State  of  Sinaloa.  Far  south  of  there 
it  abounds  in  Lake  Yojoa  in  central  Hon- 
duras. Its  next  jump  is  to  the  lower  part 
of  the  Magdalena  Valley  in  distant  Colom- 
bia. Of  course,  it  is  not  improbable  that 
it  might  be  found  in  intervening  areas,  but 
so  far,  if  one  may  depend  upon  records,  it 
has  not,  and  it  is  a  large  and  conspicuous 
plant  not  easily  overlooked. 

It  is  dangerous  to  venture  theories  re- 
garding plant  distribution.  At  best,  these 
are  matters  of  speculation.  The  lotus  is  so 
abundant  in  the  Mississippi  Valley  that  one 
would  suppose  that  to  be  its  center  of 
dispersal.  It  may  well  be  that  the  colonies 
in  Mexico  and  Honduras  descended  from 
seeds  carried  thither  by  Indian  merchants 
hundreds  of  years  ago.     Such   merchants 


been  accessible  to  ordinary  atmospheric 
changes.  It  therefore  is  evident  that  no 
limit  can  be  placed  on  the  time  for  which  a 
herbarium  specimen,  moderately  well  pro- 
tected, may  be  preserved.  There  is  no  ma- 
terial reason  why  the  specimens  now  in  the 
Herbarium  of  Field  Museum  should  not  be 
still  in  existence  and  useful  for  study  three 
thousand  years  from  now. 


Research  on  Asterism 

Studies  of  the  cause  of  asterism  (the 
appearance  of  a  luminous  star)  in  gems, 
carried  out  by  Dr.  Albert  J.  Walcott  in  the 
Department  of  Geology  at  Field  Museum, 
are  attracting  much  favorable  attention 
from  those  interested  in  gemmology.  Fine 
examples  of  these  stars  appear  in  sapphire, 
garnet,  and  crystal  in  the  gem  room  (H.  N. 
Higinbotham  Hall— Hall  31). 

The  principal  commercial  woods  of  the 
Amazon  Valley   are  displayed  in  Hall  27. 


August,  19S9 


FIELD  MUSEUM  NEWS 


Page  5 


THREE  LARGE  COLLECTIONS 
OF  REPTILES  RECEIVED 

A  collection  of  more  than  1,500  specimens 
of  lizards  of  the  genus  Sceloporus  has  been 
received  in  the  Department  of  Zoology  from 
Dr.  Hobart  M.  Smith,  Fellow  of  the  National 
Research  Council.  This  acquisition  results 
from  an  arrangement  whereby  Field  Museum 
Press  will  publish  Dr.  Smith's  monographic 
revision  of  the  lizards  of  this  genus  in  the 
Zoological  Series  of  the  publications  of  this 
institution.  The  Museum  accession  com- 
prises about  one-half  of  the  collection  upon 
which  Dr.  Smith's  research  is  primarily 
based,  and  includes  nine  type  specimens  and 
125paratypes. 

The  lizards  in  question  form  a  North 
American  group  in  which  active  evolution  of 
species  and  subspecies  seems  to  be  in  prog- 
ress. The  genus  has  consequently  offered 
problems  of  especial  difficulty  to  the  taxono- 
mist.  Dr.  Smith's  successful  treatment  of 
these  problems  rests  on  one  hand  on  an 
exceptionally  comprehensive  and  detailed 
examination  of  all  known  specimens  in 
American  museums,  and  on  the  other  is  due 
to  his  extensive  field  studies  during  four 
successive  expeditions  to  Mexico,  which 
have  carried  him  into  nearly  every  state  of 
that  country.  Dr.  Smith  is  now  in  Mexico 
for  renewed  studies  of  reptiles  and  amphib- 
ians under  a  grant  of  the  Walter  Rathbone 
Bacon  Scholarship  of  the  Smithsonian 
Institution. 

The  interest  of  Field  Museum's  Division 
of  Reptiles  in  Mexican  problems  is  still 
further  stimulated  by  the  receipt  of  several 
hundred  specimens  of  reptiles  from  Mr. 
Ernest  G.  Marsh,  Jr.,  of  the  University  of 
Texas,  who  is  conducting  a  survey  of  the 
vertebrate  animals  of  the  state  of  Coahuila. 
His  collection  has  been  deposited  in  the 
Museum  for  determination  and  study,  a 
share  of  it  to  remain  permanently  in  the 
reference  collection  here. 

A  third  considerable  addition  to  the 
Museum's  reference  collections  of  reptiles 
and  amphibians  from  Mexico  resulted  from 
the  recent  purchase  of  more  than  600  speci- 
mens collected  by  Mr.  Harry  Hoogstraal,  a 
student  at  the  University  of  Illinois.  His 
specimens  come  from  Cerro  Potosi,  in 
Nuevo  Leon,  a  high  point  in  the  eastern 
escarpment  of  the  Mexican  Plateau,  about 
midway  between  the  United  States  border 
and  the  high  mountains  near  Mexico  City. 
They  afford  important  new  information  on 
distribution  of  Mexican  forms.      — K.  P.  S. 


Ornamental  Copper  Ore 

Some  varieties  of  copper  ore  are  of  such 
a  beautiful  blue  or  green  color  that  the  more 
perfect  pieces  are  often  used  as  ornamental 
stones  and  carved  in  the  shape  of  vases, 
ink  wells,  table  tops,  and  other  articles.  A 
special  case  in  Frederick  J.  V.  Skiff  Hall 
(Hall  37)  is  devoted  to  a  display  of  speci- 
mens of  these  types  of  ore,  as  they  appear 


when  first  brought  from  the  mine  except 
for  small  polished  sections  showing  their 
adaptability  to  ornamental  uses.  Most 
popular  is  green  malachite,  which  is  a  basic 
carbonate  of  copper.  Another  basic  car- 
bonate is  azurite,  characterized  by  its  rich 
blue  color.  Azurite  is  used  less  for  carving 
because  it  is  more  difficult  to  obtain  suitable 
pieces.  The  green  silicate  of  copper,  chryso- 
colla,  is  also  used  for  ornamental  purposes 
although  not  so  frequently  as  malachite. 
The  exhibit  includes  also  a  basic  sulphate 
of  copper  known  as  brochantite,  which  is 
shown  as  an  example  of  copper  ores  which 
are  highly  attractive  in  color  but  unfor- 
tunately are  not  durable  enough  for  such  use. 


MUSEUM  GUARDS'  UNIFORMS 
ARE  NOTABLY  IMPROVED 

Comfort,  coolness,  and  a  better  appear- 
ance are  emphasized  in  the  new  uniforms 
currently  being  worn  by  the  guards  at  Field 


The  New  and  the  Old 

Captain  E.  S.  Abbey  of  the  Museum  guards,  on  the 

left,   in    the  new  blue  uniform  with  gold  braid,  and 

white  summer  cap;   and  Sergeant   David   Conwill   in 

the  uniform  which  has  been  used  for  many  years  past . 

Museum.  The  high  military  collar,  which 
was  a  feature  of  every  uniform  worn  since 
the  founding  of  the  Museum,  has  been  dis- 
carded in  favor  of  the  open  lapel  collar. 

The  color  has  been  changed  from  the 
severe  military  olive  drab  to  blues  of  har- 
monizing shades  for  coat  and  trousers. 
Gold  buttons  and  gold  braid  complete  the 
ensemble.  The  cap  for  summer  wear  is 
topped  in  white. 


6,000  INVERTEBRATE  SPECIMENS 
COLLECTED  IN  FLORIDA 

The  Field  Museum  expedition  which  has 
been  collecting  marine  animals  and  other 
invertebrates  along  the  Atlantic  and  Gulf 
coasts  of  Florida  since  early  in  May,  has 
completed  its  work.  Dr.  Fritz  Haas,  Curator 
of  Lower  Invertebrates,  and  Staff  Taxi- 
dermist Leon  L.  Walters,  who  conducted 
the  expedition,  have  returned  to  the  Mu- 
seum. More  than  6,000  specimens,  repre- 
senting the  most  important  features  of  the 
invertebrate  life  forms  native  to  the  region, 
were  collected.  On  Sanibel  Island,  Dr. 
Haas  conducted  notable  researches  on  the 
relationships  between  the  various  types  of 
fauna  and  the  environmental  conditions  in 
which  they  are  found.  He  also  investigated 
the  role  of  molluscan  life  in  building  up  land 
through  the  accumulation  of  shells. 

One  of  the  main  objectives  of  the  expedi- 
tion was  the  collecting  of  material  and  data 
for  a  proposed  habitat  exhibit  of  the  logger- 
head turtle.  This  material  was  collected 
on  Sanibel  Island,  and  plaster  molds  were 
made  which  will  form  the  basis  for  lifelike 
reproductions.  Mr.  Walters  was  fortunate 
in  being  able  to  observe  the  entire  nesting 
procedure — the  turtle  leaving  the  water, 
digging  the  hole,  laying  its  eggs,  and  covering 
them  with  sand.  The  entire  process  re- 
quired only  fifty-five  minutes. 

The  expedition  was  extended  the  utmost 
co-operation  by  the  Bass  Biological  Labora- 
tories of  Englewood,  Florida,  and  by  other 
agencies  and  individuals  as  well. 


Food  from  Orchid  Tubers 

Salep  is  a  farinaceous  meal  obtained  from 
the  tubers  of  several  terrestrial  orchids, 
of  European  and  Asiatic  species.  The  meal 
is  separated  by  macerating  the  bulbs  in 
water.  It  contains  a  substance  called 
bassorine,  which  is  said  to  contain  more 
nutritive  matter  than  any  other  vegetable 
product,  one  ounce  per  diem  being  sufficient 
to  sustain  a  man.  Large  quantities  of  salep 
are  prepared  in  Macedonia  and  Greece,  but 
the  finest  comes  from  Turkey.  In  the  Hima- 
laya and  Cashmere  many  species  of  bulbous- 
rooted  orchids  yield  salep,  which  is  used 
as  food  by  the  natives. 


Crystal  balls,  and  carvings  of  rock  crystal, 
some  of  them  interesting  from  a  historical 
standpoint,  are  included  in  the  gem  room 
(H.  N.  Higinbotham  Hall— Hall  31). 


WORLD  OF  HORSES 

—edited  by  W.  E.  Lyons  and  G.  H.  S. 
Dixon. 

"Probably  the  finest  and  most  varied 
collection  of  pictures  of  horses  in  action 
ever  published,"  says  Dr.  Wilfred  H. 
Osgood,  Chief  Curator  of  the  Depart- 
ment of  Zoology.  "Here  horses  are  not 
classified  by  breeds  but  by  what  they 
can  do." 

On  sale  at  the  BOOK  SHOP  of 
FIELD  MUSEUM— $5. 


Page  6 


FIELD  MUSEUM  NEWS 


August,  1939 


Field  Museum  of  Natural  History 

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

THE  BOARD  OF  TRUSTEES 
Sewell  L.  Avery  Charles  A.  McCulloch 

Leopold  E.  Block  William  H.  Mitchell 

Albert  B.  Dick,  Jr.  George  A.  Richardson 

Joseph  N.  Field  Theodore  Roosevelt 

Marshall  Field  James  Simpson 

Stanley  Field  Solomon  A.  Smith 

Albert  W.  Harris  Albert  A.  Spragub 

Samuel  Insull,  Jr.  Silas  H.  Strawn 

John  P.  W11.SON 

OFFICERS 

Stanley  Field President 

Albert  A.  Sprague First  Vice-President 

James  Simpson Second  Vice-President 

ALBERT  W.  Harris Third  Vice-President 

Clifford  C.  Gregg Director  and  Secretary 

Solomon  A.  Smith  . . .  Treasurer  and  Assistant  Secretary 


FIELD  MUSEUM  NEWS 

Clifford  C.  Gregg,  Director  of  the  Museum ....  Editor 
CONTRIBUTING  EDITORS 

Paul  S.  Martin Chief  Curator  of  Anthropology 

B.  E.  Dahlgren Chief  Curator  of  Botany 

Henry  W.  Nichols Chief  Curator  of  Geology 

Wilfred  H.  Osgood Chief  Curator  of  Zoology 

H.  B.  Harte Managing  Editor 

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


FROM  THE  DIRECTOR'S  DESK- 


Expeditions 

From  time  to  time  Field  Museum  and 
other  museums,  as  well  as  leading  univer- 
sities throughout  the  world,  announce  expe- 
ditions to  some  remote  country,  stating 
their  objectives,  their  hopes,  and  to  some 
extent,  their  plans.  Many  thoughtful 
people  look  beyond  the  announcement  and 
question  in  their  own  minds  what  values 
may  come  forth  to  justify  the  expenditure 
of  time,  money,  and  effort,  and  the  possible 
endangering  of  lives  in  such  projects.  It  is 
certainly  true  that  unless  the  ultimate 
values  are  greater  than  the  expenditures, 
all  expeditionary  work  should  be  discon- 
tinued. 

The  purpose  of  an  expedition,  like  the 
purpose  of  a  research  museum  or  university, 
is  to  advance  knowledge.  The  great  value  of 
expeditions  lies  not  only  in  the  materials 
brought  back  but  in  the  lessons  learned  or 
in  the  lessons  that  may  be  learned  by  care- 
ful subsequent  study  and  classification  of 
the  specimens  obtained. 

Darwin's  celebrated  cruise  on  the  Beagle 
brought  back  very  little  in  the  way  of  mate- 
rial values,  but  contributed  largely  to  the 
formation  of  ideas  which  have  had  a  tre- 
mendous and  revolutionizing  effect  on  man's 
understanding  of  his  own  place  in  a  natural 
world. 

A  museum  expedition  is  not  primarily 
concerned  with  material  values,  as  the  pur- 
pose of  the  museum  is  to  discover,  to  classify, 
and  to  give  to  a  civilized  world  the  results 
of  its  study.  There  is  often  a  lapse  of  many 
years  between  the  discovery  of  new  trees, 
new  herbs,  new  resins  or  gums,  and  their 
ultimate  utilization  in  industry.  It  is  not 
the  purpose  of  the  museum  to  point  to  the 


utilization  of  its  knowledge,  but  to  be  ever 
ready  to  supply  the  basic  facts  which  indus- 
try may  use. 

The  purpose  of  the  museum  is  to  give  out 
knowledge  for  knowledge's  own  sake. 
Whether  its  collections  are  used  for  the  study 
of  industrial  scientists  who  seek  to  make  a 
profit,  by  scholars  who  seek  to  solve  some 
problem  of  research,  or  by  casual  visitors 
who  seek  recreation  and  enjoyment  is  not 
of  primary  concern  to  a  museum.  The  only 
real  concern  is  that  the  collections  be  avail- 
able and  that  they  be  used.  To  measure 
the  value  of  an  expedition  would  be  equiva- 
lent to  measuring  the  value  of  education, 
culture,  and  scientific  knowledge. 

The  privations  of  expeditionary  leaders 
have  been  a  matter  of  great  interest  and 
concern  to  the  entire  world.  Some  expedi- 
tions have  gone  forth  to  discover  new  lands 
to  make  nations  great.  Some  have  gone 
forth  to  spread  religious  beliefs.  Some  have 
gone  forth  to  locate  raw  materials  which 
may  be  used  in  industry  to  build  private 
fortunes  of  industrial  communities.  But 
the  museum  expedition  goes  forth  for  a 
different  purpose — a  purpose  which  is  identi- 
cal with  the  purpose  of  the  museum  itself — 
to  discover  facts  which  will  add  to  the  sum 
total  of  human  knowledge  and  understanding. 
— Clifford  C.  Gregg,  Director 


STAFF  NOTES 

The  paleontological  expedition  to  the 
fossil  beds  of  South  Dakota,  led  by  Mr. 
Paul  O.  McGrew,  Assistant  in  Paleontology, 
recently  completed  its  work  and  returned  to 
the  Museum  with  a  large  collection  of  fossil 
mammal  specimens. 


Mr.  Rudyerd  Boulton,  Curator  of  Birds, 
will  leave  for  New  York  about  August  1  to 
spend  several  weeks  in  special  research  on 
the  collections  of  birds  from  Angola  (Portu- 
guese West  Africa)  at  the  American  Museum 
of  Natural  History. 


Mr.  C.  Martin  Wilbur,  Curator  of  Chinese 
Archaeology  and  Ethnology,  has  been 
elected  Secretary  of  the  American  Friends 
of  China.  The  late  Dr.  Berthold  Laufer, 
former  Curator  of  Anthropology,  was  the 
first  Secretary  of  the  society  and  held  that 
office  for  many  years  until  his  death. 


Dr.  Julian  A.  Steyermark,  Assistant  Cura- 
tor of  the  Herbarium,  returned  recently 
from  a  two  weeks  collecting  trip  in  Missouri. 
He  obtained  about  800  specimens  of  plants 
for  the  Museum  Herbarium.  Recently  Dr. 
Steyermark  lectured  on  the  flora  of  Missouri 
before  the  Garden  Club  of  Barrington, 
Illinois. 


DISTINGUISHED  VISITORS 

Among  distinguished  visitors  recently 
received  at  Field  Museum  are:  Mr.  Edward 
P.  Henderson,  Curator  of  Applied  Geology 
at  the  United  States  National  Museum, 
Washington,  D.  C;  Professor  V.  Gordon 
Childe,  noted  anthropologist  of  the  Uni- 
versity of  Edinburgh,  Scotland;  Mr.  William 
H.  Phelps,  ornithologist,  of  Caracas,  Venez- 
uela; Mr.  W.  A.  Daily,  a  specialist  in  cryp- 
togams, Department  of  Botany,  University 
of  Cincinnati;  Mr.  William  Gilbert,  a  worker 
on  algae,  connected  with  the  Department 
of  Botany,  University  of  Michigan,  as  well 
as  the  Marine  Biological  Laboratory,  Woods 
Hole,  Massachusetts;  Dr.  G.  T.  Velasquez, 
Professor  of  Botany,  University  of  the  Philip- 
pines, Manila;  Dr.  R.  N.  Webster,  Professor 
of  Botany,  Middlebury  College,  Middlebury, 
Vermont;  Dr.  R.  T.  Wareham,  of  Ohio 
State  University,  Columbus;  and  Mr.  Lloyd 
Weaver,  of  the  Marine  Biological  Laboratory, 
Woods  Hole,  Massachusetts,  and  the  De- 
partment of  Botany,  Columbia  University, 
New  York.  The  six  last  named  have  been 
studying  collections  in  Field  Museum's 
cryptogamic  herbarium. 


A  Correction 


Professor  Samuel  J.  Record,  Dean  of  the 
School  of  Forestry  at  Yale  University  (and 
Research  Associate  in  Wood  Technology  for 
Field  Museum),  points  out  that  the  caption 
accompanying  a  picture  under  the  heading 
"Tapping  a  Cow  Tree"  on  page  4  of  the 
July  Field  Museum  News,  incorrectly  in- 
dicated that  this  tree  was  of  the  Costa 
Rican  species.  The  photograph  was  made 
on  an  expedition  to  Guatemala,  not  Costa 
Rica,  Professor  Record  states. 


Mr.  Emmet  R.  Blake,  Assistant  Curator 
of  Birds,  has  been  honored  by  election  to 
full  membership  in  the  American  Orni- 
thologists' Union. 


A  FEW  FACTS  ABOUT  FIELD  MUSEUM 

Field  Museum  is  open  every  day  of  the  year 
(except  Christmas  and  New  Year's  Day)  during 
the  hours  indicated  below: 

November,  December, 

January,  February 9  a.m.  to  4  p.m. 

March,  April,  and 
September,  October 9  A.M.  to  5  P.M. 

May,  June,  July,  August 9  A.M.  to  6  P.M. 

Admission  is  free  to  Members  on  all  days. 
Other  adults  are  admitted  free  on  Thursdays, 
Saturdays,  and  Sundays;  non-members  pay  25 
cents  on  other  days.  Children  are  admitted  free 
on  all  days.  Students  and  faculty  members  of 
educational  institutions  are  admitted  free  any 
day  upon  presentation  of  credentials. 

The  Museum's  Library  is  open  for  reference 
daily  except  Saturday  afternoon  and  Sunday. 

Traveling  exhibits  are  circulated  in  the  schools 
of  Chicago  by  the  N.  W.  Harris  Public  School 
Extension  Department  of  the  Museum. 

Lectures  at  schools,  and  special  entertain- 
ments and  tours  for  children  at  the  Museum,  are 
provided  by  the  James  Nelson  and  Anna  Louise 
Raymond  Foundation  for  Public  School  and 
Children's  Lectures. 

Free  courses  of  lectures  for  adults  are  presented 
in  the  James  Simpson  Theatre  on  Saturday  after- 
noons (at  2:30  o'clock)  in  March,  April,  October, 
and  November. 

A  Cafeteria  serves  visitors.  Rooms  are  avail- 
able also  for  those  bringing  their  lunches. 

Chicago  Motor  Coach  Company  No.  26  busses 
provide  direct  transportation  to  the  Museum.  Ser- 
vice is  offered  also  hy  Surface  Lines,  Rapid  Tran- 
sit Lines  (the  "L"),  interurban  electric  fines,  and 
Illinois  Central  trains.  There  is  ample  free  park- 
ing space  for  automobiles  at  the  Museum. 


August,  19S9 


FIELD  MUSEUM  NEWS 


Page  7 


AFRICAN  FISHING  CUSTOMS 

By  WILFRID  D.  HAMBLY 

CURATOR  OF  AFRICAN  ETHNOLOGY 

A  Negro  of  the  Ovimbundu  tribe  of  Portu- 
guese West  Africa  has  a  great  advantage 
over  the  modern  fisherman  in  highly  civilized 
countries.  If  the  (ish  are  not  biting  well, 
the  latter  tries  another  kind  of  expensive  fly, 
makes  another  cast,  but  without  much  hope. 

The  Negro  approaches  his  problem  with 
all  the  optimism  that  magic  can  give.  His 
primitive  equipment  consists  only  of  a  line 
of  thin  bark  at  the  end  of  which  is  a  sharp 
stalk  of  grass  on  which  a  fat  grub  is  impaled. 
But  with  this  meager  outfit  he  never  doubts 
success,  for  he  softly  sings  his  spell:  "0 
fish,  come  and  take  your  good  thing.  Do 
not  send  the  little  fish  to  spoil  the  good  bait. 
Better  you  come  and  take  the  good  thing 
with  all  your  strength."  Among  the  Ovim- 
bundu, fishing  with  the  line  is  practiced  only 
by  men.  Women  push  baskets  against  the 
stream,  or  use  poison  which  is  scattered  on 
the  surface  of  the  water. 

In  order  to  make  fish-poison,  the  tuberous 
roots  of  a  wild  plant  are  soaked  in  water 
until  scum  rises  to  the  top.  The  solid  part 
of  the  poison  is  not  given,  because  it  would 
sink  and  the  fish  which  had  eaten  it  would 
remain  at  the  bottom  of  the  river.  There- 
fore, only  the  scum  of  this  poisonous  infu- 
sion is  thrown  in  the  water.  The  stupefied 
and  gasping  fish  remain  at  the  surface, 
whereupon  they  are  seized  by  women  who 
transfer  them  to  gourds  or  baskets  worn 
around  their  necks.  Usually  poison  is  used 
only  in  the  dry  season  when  the  rivers  are 
shallow. 

Sometimes  there  is  fishing  by  means  of  a 
weir  which  has  an  opening  in  the  middle. 
A  basket  or  trap  is  placed  opposite  this  gap 
in  the  weir  in  order  to  catch  the  fish  as  they 
come  through  the  aperture.  Spearing  of 
fish,  shooting  them  with  bow  and  arrow,  and 
fishing  by  torchlight  to  attract  the  fish  to 
the  surface,  are  all  methods  known  among 
African  Negroes.  The  method  varies  accord- 
ing to  the  tribe,  the  season,  and  the  sex  of 
the  angler.  In  Hall  D,  Case  6,  is  a  model 
of  a  bark  canoe  such  as  is  used  by  fishermen 
of  the  Vachokwe  tribe  in  eastern  Angola. 


RUBBER  TECHNIQUE  DEVELOPED 
FOR  BRAIN  CASTS 

Getting  inside  the  skull  of  a  fossil  animal 
dead  some  millions  of  years  to  find  out  what 
kind  of  a  brain  it  had  is  a  difficult  problem. 

Occasionally,  weathering  of  the  surface 
bones  of  a  skull  may  expose  a  natural  cast 
of  the  brain,  formed  by  sand  or  silt  sifting 
into  the  cranial  cavity  and  hardening  there. 
Such  casts  reproduce  with  fidelity  the  shape 
of  the  brain  cavity  as  it  existed  in  the  living 
animal.  These  are  rare  finds,  however, 
and  often  difficult  of  identification.  Various 
methods,  therefore,  of  producing  artificial 
casts  have  been  tried. 


Perhaps  the  most  successful  of  these  is 
the  liquid  rubber  technique,  recently  de- 
veloped by  Assistant  Curator  Bryan  Patter- 
son and  Assistant  James  Quinn  of  Field 
Museum's  Division  of  Paleontology.  The 
liquid  rubber  is  poured  into  the  cavity, 
rolled  about  and  drained.  After  the  first 
coat  has  dried,  another  is  added,  and  then  a 
third  or  fourth  application.  When  thorough- 
ly dry,  the  flexibility  of  the  rubber  permits 
it  to  be  pulled  from  the  cavity  intact  with 
very  little  risk  of  damage  to  the  skull.  This 
cast  is  then  filled  with  plaster  to  retain  its 
shape  while  a  mold  is  being  made  as  a  pre- 
liminary to  the  permanent  plaster  casts. 
These  molds  give  very  accurate  casts  with 
minute  detail,  sometimes  even  showing 
details  of  the  cranial  circulation. 

The  casts  obtained  are  used  in  the  research 
work  that  is  carried  on  in  the  Museum's 
laboratories.  They  are  of  the  greatest 
importance  as  an  aid  in  determining  the 
relationships  of  many  puzzling  types  of 
extinct  mammals. 


Hemp  Comes  from  a  Species  of  Banana 

Manila  fiber,  usually  known  as  manila 
hemp,  and  used  in  rope-making,  is  derived 
from  a  species  of  banana  plant,  not  of  the 
edible  species,  but  another  of  the  same  genus, 
Musa  textilis,  of  the  Philippine  Islands.  The 
fiber  is  obtained  from  the  stalk  and  leaf 
bases,  by  heating,  tearing,  boiling,  and 
combing  the  material.  The  innermost  part 
of  the  flower  stalk  is  employed  for  fine 
fabrics,  shawls,  and  the  beautiful  "drawn 
work"  of  the  Filipinos. 


THE  OLDEST  HANDLE 

By  henry  field 
curator  of  physical  anthropology 

A  Cro-Magnon  craftsman  who  lived  in 
southwestern  France  some  thirty  thousand 
years  ago  invented  what  is  thought  to  be 
the  first  handled  tool. 

From  the  Middle  Aurignacian  levels  at 
Tarte,  in  the  Haute-Garonne  district  of 
France,  Mr.  Jean  Cazedessus,  well-known 
French  archaeologist  of  that  region,  ex- 
cavated a  small  horn  handle  in  which  a  flint 
blade  had  apparently  been  inserted.  This 
object,  the  oldest  horn  handle  in  the  world, 
is  on  exhibition  in  Case  4  in  the  Hall  of  the 
Stone  Age  of  the  Old  World  (Hall  C). 

No  doubt  Cro-Magnon  artisans  had  tried 
wooden  handles,  only  to  find  that  they  split 
after  being  exposed  to  water,  ice,  and  snow. 
We  can  even  imagine  their  going  through 
the  childish  experiment  of  tying  handles  to 
their  flint  blades,  with  fibers  or  leather 
thongs.  But  the  puny  instrument  created 
by  such  efforts  would  have  been  no  match 
for  the  tough  skin  of  the  reindeer  or  the 
great  cave  bear,  and  yet  those  skins  were  an 
important  protection  against  an  icy  Aurig- 
nacian winter.  So  necessity  mothered  one 
of  her  earliest  inventions.  The  strong  horn 
of  a  reindeer's  antler  was  made  into  a  handle 
which  has  borne  the  test  of  centuries.  Ask 
any  backwoodsman  today  to  show  you 
his  hunting  knife.  It  will  almost  certainly 
have  a  horn  handle. 

The  oldest  handle  exhibited  in  Hall  C  is 
much  shorter  than  that  of  a  modern  knife, 
but  it  also  carried  a  stubbier  blade — a  blade 
of  chipped  flint  instead  of  tempered  steel. 


THE  ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  GOAT— A  PICTURESQUE  AMERICAN  MAMMAL 


Mountain  goats  are  found  on  the  higher, 
almost  inaccessible  slopes  of  the  mountains 
of  northwestern  North  America,  but  they 
are  most  numerous  in  British  Columbia. 
They  are  remarkably  sure-footed  and 
fearless  in  traversing  high  precipitous 
slopes  above  timberline, 
where  they  feed  on  brush 
grass,  lichens,  moss,  and 
stunted  vegetation. 

Despite  their  goat-like 
appearance,  they  are  not 
true  goats,  but  are  some- 
what related  in  structure 
to  the  antelopes.  Between 
the  males  and  females 
there  is  no  prominent 
difference.  Although  keen- 
sighted  and  difficult  to 
approach,  they  are  some- 
what stupid  animals. 
Living  in  high,  nearly  inac- 
cessible places  that  can  be 
reached  only  by  the  most 
intrepid  sportsman,  they 
are  thus  so  well  protected 
by  Nature  that  they  are  not  rapidly  decreas- 
ing in  number  like  some  other  animals. 


In  the  group  shown  in  the  accompanying 
illustration  are  three  males  and  two  females, 
of  the  northern  variety,  which  were  collected 
by  the  Marshall  Field  Expedition  to  British 
Columbia.  This  exhibit  is  in  the  Hall  of 
North  American  Mammals  (Hall  16).    The 


Sure-footed  Climbers 

Rocky  Mountain  goata — a  habitat  group  in  Hall  16.     They  are  not  true 
goats,  being  somewhat  related  to  the  antelopes  in  structural  characteristics. 

scene  represented  is  typical  of  the  beautiful 
Kootenay  District  in  British  Columbia. 


Page  8 


FIELD  MUSEUM  NEWS 


Augiist,  1939 


FISH  SKELETONS 

BY  D.  DWIGHT  DAVIS 

ASSISTANT  CURATOR  OF  ANATOMY  AND  OSTEOLOGY 

Among  the  osteological  exhibits  in  Hall  19 
is  a  screen,  recently  installed,  on  which  are 
displayed  many  types  of  fish  skeletons, 
worthy  of  study  because  they  reveal  such 
marked  variations  from  the  general  form  of 
vertebrate  skeletons.  These  variations  are 
due  to  the  fact  that  swimming  involves 
mechanical  principles  quite  different  from 
those  which  govern  walking  and  running. 
In  most  fishes  the  whole  body  undergoes, 
while  swimming,  wave-like  movements 
which  are  strongest  in  the  tail.  These  re- 
quire a  long,  flexible  backbone,  and  a  strong, 
immovable  skull  to  receive  the  thrust  from 
the  backbone.  Important  as  accessory 
propellors  are  the  fins.  The  pectoral  fins 
correspond  to  the  arms  of  a  human  being, 
the  pelvic  fins  to  the  legs. 

Adaptation  of  the  fish's  respiratory  system 
to  under-water  conditions  has  resulted  in  a 
complex  gill  structure,  which  is  also  better 
understood  by  studying  the  bony  framework 
by  which  it  is  suspended  from  the  skull. 

Fishes  have  developed  an  astonishing 
number  of  forms.  Many  of  them  are  so 
curiously  shaped  that  they  are  scarcely 
recognizable  as  fishes  at  first  glance.  Among 
such  may  be  mentioned  the  sea  horses,  the 
rays,  and  the  bat  fishes.  Naturally,  these 
modifications  of  the  body  have  strongly 
affected  the  skeleton,  and  it  is  often  difficult 


GIFTS  TO  THE  MUSEUM 

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

From  Frank  Watkins,  Chicago — complete 
suit  of  Japanese  armor,  composed  of  14 
separate  parts;  from  Dr.  Henry  Field, 
Chicago — 3  human  skulls,  Iraq. 

Department  of  Botany: 

From  Professor  L.  A.  Kenoyer,  Kalama- 
zoo, Mich. — 620  herbarium  specimens,  Mex- 
ico; from  Harde  LeSueur,  Austin,  Tex. — 600 
herbarium  specimens,  Mexico;  from  Servicio 
Botinico,  Caracas,  Venezuela — 161  herbar- 
ium specimens,  Venezuela;  from  Professor 

C.  L.  Wilson,  Hanover,  N.H.— 255  her- 
barium specimens,  Guatemala;  from  James 
Zetek,  Balboa,  Canal  Zone — 35  herbarium 
specimens,  Panama;  from  Dr.  Delzie  Dema- 
ree,  Monticello,  Ark. — 228  herbarium  speci- 
mens, Arkansas;  from  Estate  of  Mrs. 
George  A.  Butler,  Chicago — 256  bryophytes 
and  lichens,  Japan,  New  Hampshire,  and 
northwest  United  States;  from  Don  Ignacio 
J.  Aguilar  G.,  Guatemala  City,  Guatemala — 
355  herbarium  specimens. 

Department  of  Geolofiy : 

From  Howell  Taylor,  Lebanon,  Syria — 
5  minerals  and  3  invertebrate  fossils,  Syria; 
from  John  R.  Winterbotham,  Chicago — 
a  specimen  of  fossil  fish  and  one  of  silicified 
wood,    Wyoming    and    Connecticut;    from 

D.  P.  Swett,   Mina,  Nev. — a  specimen  of 
gold,  silver,  lead,  and  zinc  ore,  Nevada. 
Department  of  Zoology: 

From  E.  N.  Gueret,  Chicago — 4  mammal 
skeletons,  New  York;  from  John  G.  Shedd 
Aquarium,  Chicago — 61  fish  specimens, 
Hawaii  and   Samoa;   from   H.   H.    Dodge, 


to  identify  some  of  the  bones  composing  it. 

The  skeletons  of  fishes  demonstrate 
strikingly  that  evolution  from  a  "lower" 
to  a  "higher"  form  does  not  always  mean  an 
increase  in  mechanical  complexity.  A  cod- 
fish, which  is  relatively  low  in  the  vertebrate 
scale,  has  sixty-eight  bones  in  its  skull, 
while  man,  at  the  top  of  the  scale,  has  only 
twenty-two.  Mechanical  perfection  often 
may  be  brought  about  by  simplification  of 
a  structure,  as  is  shown  frequently  in  the 
development  of  human  inventions  as  well 
as  in  biological  development.  Useless 
"parts"  are  eliminated,  and  more  perfect 
design  produces  a  simpler  but  more  efficient 
machine.  Although  fishes  are  well  adapted 
to  the  sort  of  life  they  live,  and  their  smooth 
carefully  streamlined  bodies  are  often  cited 
as  examples  of  nature's  mechanical  adapt- 
ability, many  improvements  and  refinements 
have  been  introduced  in  other  animals  that 
have  evolved  later. 

In  attempts  to  reconstruct  the  long  pedi- 
gree that  leads  to  the  human  body  in  its 
present  form,  the  sharks  are  among  the  most 
noteworthy  of  all  animals.  They  have 
retained  a  remarkable  number  of  features 
that  were  found  in  the  early  ancestors  of 
vertebrates.  Sharks  are  therefore  often 
referred  to  as  "living  fossils,"  and  their  struc- 
ture, has  been  studied  in  great  detail. 

The  fish  skeletons  on  exhibition  were 
prepared  and  mounted  by  Mr.  Edmond  N. 
Gueret,  Curator  of  Anatomy  and  Osteology. 


Columbus,  Ohio — a  beetle  (paratype),  Min- 
nesota; from  William  D.  Field,  Lawrence, 
Kan. — 2  butterflies  (paratypes),  Kansas; 
from  W.  J.  Beecher,  Chicago — 11  small 
mammal  skins  and  skulls,  Tennessee;  from 
John  M.  Schmidt,  Homewood,  111. — 29 
rodents.  South  Dakota;  from  Dr.  C.  L. 
Turner,  Evanston,  111. — 87  tadpoles,  Mex- 
ico; from  Mrs.  Robb  White,  'Thomasville, 
Ga. — a  garter  snake,  Georgia;  from  Messrs. 
Burton  and  Kurfess,  Hinsdale,  111. — 26 
reptiles  and  amphibians,  Illinois;  from 
E.  Gustav  J.  Falck,  Chicago — 39  reptiles 
and  amphibians,  southeastern  Missouri; 
from  Dr.  Henry  Field,  Chicago — 441  speci- 
mens of  snails  and  shells,  50  fishes,  and  151 
insects,  Iraq;  from  Chicago  Zoological 
Society,  Brookfield,  111. — an  alligator,  a 
snake,  2  black  bear  cubs,  and  19  specimens 
of  birds  and  small  mammals. 


NEW  MEMBERS 

The  following  persons  were  elected  to 
membership  in  Field  Museum  during  the 
period  from  June  16  to  July  14: 

Associate  Members 

Mrs.  A.  M.  Barrett,  Mrs.  Hugo  Dalmar, 
David  W.  Davidson,  H.  S.  Demaree, 
Gaylord  Donnelley. 

Annual  Members 

Paul  H.  Bonfield,  David  Borowitz,  Mrs. 
Robert  H.  Cabell,  Mrs.  Joseph  J.  Cavanagh, 
J.  A.  Cobbey,  Archie  T.  Coburn,  Ralph  W. 
Condee,  Dr.  John  F.  Delph,  Joseph  Foard 
Gettrust,  Mrs.  G.  S.  Grochowski,  Albert  G. 
Joseph,  Dr.  Jarold  Kemp,  Karl  E.  Lofquist, 
Bruce  Parsons,  John  H.  Porter,  Theodore 
W.  Robinson,  Jr.,  Harold  A.  Smith,  Barnard 
S.  Solar,  Mrs.  Samuel  A.  Stein,  Mrs.  Hannah 
Sternath,  Thomas  J.  Thomas,  John  O.  Todd. 


GUIDE-LECTURE  TOURS 

During  August  conducted  tours  of  the 
exhibits,  under  the  guidance  of  staff  lec- 
turers, will  be  given  on  a  special  schedule, 
as  follows: 

Mondays:  11  a.m..  Plant  Life  Exhibits; 
3  P.M.,  General  Tour  of  Exhibition  Halls. 

Tuesdays:  11  A.M.,  Halls  of  Primitive  and 
Civilized  Peoples;  3  p.m..  General  Tour  of 
Exhibition  Halls. 

Wednesdays:  11  A.M.,  Animal  Groups; 
3  P.M.,  General  Tour  of  Exhibition  Halls. 

Thursdays:  11  a.m.  and  3  p.m..  General 
Tours  of  Exhibition  Halls. 

Fridays:  11  a.m..  Minerals  and  Prehistoric 
Life;  3  p.m..  General  Tour  of  Exhibition 
Halls. 

There  are  no  tours  given  on  Saturdays  or 
Sundays. 

Persons  wishing  to  participate  in  the  tours 
should  apply  at  the  North  Entrance.  The 
tours  are  free.  Guide-lecturer's  services  for 
special  tours  by  parties  of  ten  or  more  are 
available  free  of  charge  by  arrangement 
with  the  Director  a  week  in  advance. 


Pyramid  Builders  Ate  Onions 

In  ancient  Egypt  onions  and  garlic  were 
established  articles  of  food.  During  the 
building  of  the  great  pyramid  of  Cheops, 
says  Herodotus,  1,600  talents  of  silver  were 
spent  on  radishes,  onions,  and  garlic  for 
the  workmen,  as  may  be  read  from  inscrip- 
tions in  Egyptian  characters  on  the  pyramid 
itself. 


MEMBERSHIP  IN  FIELD  MUSEUM 

Field  Museum  has  several  classes  of  Members. 
Annual  Members  contribute  $10  annually.  As- 
sociate Members  pay  $100  and  are  exempt  from 
dues.  Sustaining  Members  contribute  $25  annu- 
ally for  six  consecutive  years,  after  which  they 
become  Associate  Members  and  are  exempt  from 
all  further  dues.  Life  Members  give  $500  and 
are  exempt  from  dues.  Non-Resident  Life  Mem- 
bers pay  $100,  and  Non-Resident  Associate 
Meml^rs  $50;  both  of  these  classes  are  also 
exempt  from  dues.  The  Non-Resident  member- 
ships are  available  only  to  persons  residing  fifty 
miles  or  more  from  Chicago.  Those  who  give  or 
devise  to  the  Museum  $1,000  to  $100,000  are 
designated  as  Contributors,  and  those  who  give 
or  devise  $100,000  or  more  become  Benefactors. 
Other  memberships  are  Honorary,  Patron, 
Corresponding  and  Corporate,  additions  under 
these  dasaifications  being  made  by  special  action 
of  the  Board  of  Trustees. 

Each  Member,  in  all  classes,  is  entitled  to  free 
admission  to  the  Museum  for  himself,  his  family 
and  house  guests,  and  to  two  reserved  seats  for 
Museum  lectures  provided  for  Members.  Sub- 
scription to  Field  Museum  News  is  included 
with  all  memberships.  The  courtesies  of  every 
museum  of  note  in  the  United  States  and  Canada 
are  extended  to  all  Members  of  Field  Museum. 
A  Member  may  give  his  personal  card  to  non- 
residents of  Chicago,  upon  presentation  of  which 
they  will  be  admitted  to  the  Museum  without 
charge.  Further  information  about  member- 
ships will  be  sent  on  request. 

BEQUESTS  AND  ENDOWMENTS 

Bequests  to  Field  Museum  of  Natural  History 
may  be  made  in  securities,  money,  books  or 
collections.  They  may,  if  desired,  take  the  form 
of  a  memorial  to  a  person  or  cause,  named  by  the 
giver. 

Contributions  made  within  the  taxable  year  riot 
exceeding  15  per  cent  of  the  taxpayer's  net  m- 
come  are  allowable  as  deductions  in  computing 
net  income  for  federal  income  tax  purposes. 

Endowments  may  be  made  to  the  Museum 
with  the  provision  that  an  annuity  be  paid  to 
the  patron  for  life.  These  annuities  are  guaran- 
teed against  fluctuation  in  amount,  and  may 
reduce  federal  income  taxes. 


PRINTED    BV    FIILD    MUSEUM    PRESS 


FieldeMil 


News 


Published  Monthly  by  Field  Museum  of  Natural  History,  Chicago 


Vol.  10 


SEPTEMBER,  1939 


No.  9 


RHEA,  LARGEST  BIRD   OF  WESTERN   HEMISPHERE,  DISPLAYED  IN  ITS  HABITAT 


By  emmet  R.  BLAKE 

ASSISTANT    CURATOR    OF    BIRDS 

Largest  and  most  characteristic  of  all  the 
birds  which  inhabit  the  vast  pampas  of 
southern  Brazil  and  Argentina  is  the  rhea, 
or  so-called  South  American  ostrich.  True 
ostriches  have  never  existed  in  the  western 
hemisphere,  being  represented  there  by  this 
smaller  but  somewhat  similar  flightless  bird, 
which  exceeds  in  size  all  other  birds  of 
either  North  or  South  America. 

An  opportunity  to  collect  rheas  and  suit- 
able accessories  for  a 
habitat  group  was 
presented  in  1937  by 
the  Stanley  Field 
Zoological  Expedition 
to  British  Guiana  and 
Brazil,  under  the 
leadership  of  the 
writer.  After  com- 
pleting work  in 
Guiana,  I  sailed  direct 
to  Trinidad,  British 
West  Indies.  There 
I  obtained  additional 
supplies  and  equip- 
ment deposited  in  ad- 
vance for  my  use  in 
Brazil,  and  proceeded 
by  steamer  to  Rio  de 
Janeiro,  whence  I 
went  inland. 

Rheas  occupy  an 
extensive  range  in 
central  and  southern 
South  America.     The 

two  species  and  six  varieties  known  are 
distributed  over  most  of  the  grasslands  south 
of  the  Amazon  River,  being  restricted 
primarily  by  forests.  They  are  particularly 
abundant  on  the  campo  of  Matto  Grosso 
in  southwestern  Brazil,  a  region  bearing  a 
striking  resemblance  to  portions  of  our 
middle-west,  and  like  them  devoted  pri- 
marily to  cattle  raising.  The  rolling  plains, 
studded  with  island-like  woodlands,  appear 
limitless  and  extend  southward  many 
hundreds  of  miles. 

The  preparation  of  specimens  and  field 
studies  for  a  major  natural  habitat  group 
is  tedious  and  complicated  at  best,  but 
work  on  the  rhea  was  greatly  facilitated 
by  officials  of  the  Brazil  Land,  Cattle  and 
Packing  Company.  Through  the  courtesy 
of  Messrs.  W.  Andrews  and  J.  D.  Fleming, 
I   was   permitted   to    make   the   necessary 


collections  at  the  Fazenda  Capao  Bonita,  a 
company  ranch  more  than  a  thousand  miles 
west  of  Rio  de  Janeiro.  It  was  a  happy 
choice,  for  nowhere  in  Matto  Grosso  are 
rheas  more  numerous  than  in  this  attrac- 
tive country  which  is  known  locally  as 
the  "Beautiful  Copse." 

Most  of  my  journey  into  the  interior 
was  made  by  rail  from  Sao  Paulo,  a  large 
and  prosperous  city  sometimes  called  the 
Chicago  of  South  America  because  of  its 
extensive  meat  packing  industry  and  varied 


.^j)^ 


Latest  Addition  to  Hall  of  Birds 

The  rhea,  sometimes  (but  improperly)  called  "the  South  American  ostrich/ 


recently  installed  in  Hall  20.    Either  male  or  female  attends  the  nest  on  the  ground,  but  only  one  bird  remains  on 
watch  at  a  time.    Observe  the  two  young  rheas  just  hatching  from  eggs.    As  many  as  60  eggs  occur  in  one  nest. 

manufactures.  Leaving  Sao  Paulo  and  the 
rugged  hills  of  the  coastal  range  behind,  the 
train  bears  westward  through  a  picturesque 
undulating  country  covered  with  coffee 
plantations.  The  berry-laden  trees  extend 
in  orderly  rows  mile  on  mile  as  far  as  the 
eye  can  reach,  with  only  an  occasional 
hacienda  and  drying  compound  to  relieve 
the  monotony. 

An  antiquated  narrow-gauge  railway, 
having  its  terminus  on  the  Bolivian  frontier, 
conveys  one  across  the  far-flung  reaches  of 
Matto  Grosso.  For  the  most  part  the  right 
of  way  passes  through  a  drab  and  desolate 
country,  sun-baked  and  sparsely  wooded. 
The  crude  conveniences  aboard  the  train 
afforded  variety,  but  scarcely  lessened  the 
tedium  of  the  trip.  Bunks  were  built 
solidly  into  the  cars,  and  one  was  reduced 
to  lounging  in  them  for  the  duration  of  the 


sweltering  journey.  Insofar  as  my  travel 
experience  goes,  the  only  square  railway 
wheel  in  regular  use  was  the  one  which 
supported  the  car  beneath  my  bunk;  a 
novelty  which  not  only  thwarted  sleep,  but 
also  added  zest  to  the  orderly  consumption 
of  soup. 

Campo     Grande,    sprawling    capital    of 
Matto    Grosso,    was    reached    three    days 
after  entraining  at  Sao  Paulo.    Several  days 
were  occupied  there  with  the  reorganization 
of  expedition  equipment  for  the  final  stage 
of  the  trip.    As  a  mili- 
tary outpost,  a  market, 
and  the  capital  of  an 
immense   cattle  king- 
dom,  Campo   Grande 
is  of  considerable  im- 
portance and  interest. 
Traditions    and    cus- 
toms of  the  unfenced, 
lawless   range   linger 
even   though   modern 
progress  is  now  in  full 
swing.     Swarthy,  be- 
spurred  campanheiros, 
hard-bitten  and  fresh 
from    the    ranches, 
supplied  the  expected 
frontier   atmosphere, 
and  each  evening  the 
populace    turned    out 
en  masse  to  promenade 
the  village  square  in 
approved    Latin- 
American   style.     In- 
congruous,   however, 
were  the  blaring  radios,  the  honking  trucks, 
and  flaming  posters  extravagantly  proclaim- 
ing the  cuteness  of  Shirley  Temple! 

A  truck  ride  of  about  seventy-five  miles 
over  the  plains  south  of  Campo  Grande 
brought  me  to  the  Fazenda  Capao  Bonita, 
objective  of  the  expedition.  There  I  was 
greeted  by  Senhor  Carlos  Buytendorp,  the 
genial  and  efficient  manager,  whose  interest 
and  enthusiastic  participation  in  my  col- 
lecting activities  assured  their  success. 
Headquarters  were  established  in  Senhor 
Buytendorp's  home  where  every  facility  was 
thoughtfully  provided  for  my  comfort  and 
convenience. 

Capao  Bonita  occupies  a  grassy  plateau 
drained  by  the  headwaters  of  the  Vaccaria 
River,  a  tributary  of  the  Rio  Parana. 
Although  several  hundred  square  miles  are 
included  in  the  ranch,  I  was  surprised  to 


as  shown  in  habitat  exhibit 


Page  2 


FIELD  MUSEUM  NEWS 


September,  1939 


find  that  it  is  considered  only  moderately 
large  as  Brazilian  ranches  go.  Today 
much  of  the  cattle  range  in  Matto  Grosso 
is  enclosed  in  fences,  but  these  scarcely  mar 
the  landscape  in  a  country  where  a  single 
pasture  may  be  ten  miles  wide. 

Rheas  are  protected  by  popular  sentiment 
in  Matto  Grosso  and  proved  to  be  very 
abundant  at  Capao  Bonita.  None  were 
nesting  when  I  arrived  early  in  September, 
but  each  day  small  flocks  could  be  observed 
stalking  across  the  campo  in  search  of  edible 
herbs  and  berries.  The  flocks  generally 
included  a  male  and  several  females,  some- 
times accompanied  by  a  few  juveniles  of 
the  previous  year. 

The  first  weeks  of  my  visit  were  spent 
making  general  zoological  collections  and  in 
preserving  some  of  the  numerous  flowering 
plants  for  use  in  the  rhea  exhibit .  September 
below  the  equator  is  early  spring  and  at 
that  season  the  campo  becomes  a  veritable 
garden.  With  so  much  interesting  material 
available,  one's  chief  difficulty  is  in  deciding 
what  to  eliminate  rather  than  what  to 
collect.  Several  hundred  miles  were  covered 
by  truck  and  horseback  in  studying  the 
rheas  and  their  most  characteristic  habitat 
for  reproduction  in  Field  Museum. 

RUNNING  BIRDS  LASSOED 

Most  strenuous  of  all,  however,  was  the 
actual  collecting  of  the  adult  rheas.  Al- 
though flightless,  and  fairly  tame  when 
unmolested,  they  are  amazingly  fleet  of 
foot  when  pursued.  Several  methods  were 
tried,  but  the  use  of  a  light  automobile 
truck  proved  most  effective.  On  several 
occasions  the  racing  birds  were  clocked  at 
better  than  forty  miles  an  hour.  Rheas 
are  no  respecters  of  trails  or  motor  trucks, 
and  when  pursued  they  always  seek  the 
roughest  terrain.  Only  the  steady  nerves 
and  practiced  hand  of  Don  Carlos,  who 
favors  the  brakeless  car,  avoided  disaster 
on  the  mad  dashes  across  miles  of  prairie 
pitted  with  armadillo  holes  and  studded 
with  countless  termite  nests.  A  native 
cowboy  accompanying  us  rode  the  radiator 
and  lassoed  several  of  the  birds,  but  I  relied 
on  my  shotgun. 

Bird-life  on  the  campo  is  surprisingly 
varied  and  abundant.  Scarcely  less  spec- 
tacular than  the  rhea  is  the  cariama,  a 
long-legged  bird  which  bears  a  superficial 
resemblance  to  the  secretary-bird  of  Africa. 
Of  great  interest  anatomically,  cariamas 
are  the  nearest  living  relatives  of  the  pre- 
historic Phororhacos,  an  enormous  bird 
which  lived  in  the  same  region  more  than 
8,000,000  years  ago.  Tinamous,  burrowing 
owls,  caracaras  and  many  lesser  birds  con- 
tribute to  the  ornithological  interest  of  the 
grasslands. 

MANT  EGGS  IN  NESTS 

The    first    rhea    nest,    containing    thirty 

spotless  white  eggs,  was  found  and  collected 

early  in  October.    Each  flock  prepares  and 

deposits  its  eggs  in  a  single  crude  nest  built 


upon  the  ground  on  the  open  campo.  As 
many  as  sixty  eggs  have  been  recorded  in 
a  single  nest,  but  the  usual  number  is  twenty 
or  thirty.  Males  as  well  as  females  take 
part  in  the  incubation,  but  only  one  bird 
attends  the  nest  at  a  time.  When  not  on 
duty,  the  others  range  widely  while  feeding 
on  herbs  and  berries,  or  occasional  reptiles, 
but  carefully  avoid  the  nesting  site.  Young 
birds  join  the  flock  soon  after  hatching. 

The  birds  collected  by  the  expedition 
are  now  exhibited  in  a  natural  habitat 
group  in  Hall  20.  They  were  mounted  by 
Staff  Taxidermist  John  W.  Moyer,  and  the 
background  was  painted  by  Staff  Artist 
Arthur  G.  Rueckert. 


CULTIVATED  BLUEBERRIES 

By  PAUL  C.  ST.\NDLEY 

CURATOR  OF  THE  HERBARIUM 

Luscious  blueberries  from  wild  bushes 
have  long  been  a  favorite  fruit  in  the 
United  States.  They  are  almost  exclusively 
American — the  European  blueberries,  if 
such  the  European  species  of  Vaceinium 
may  be  called,  have  quite  different  and 
generally  inferior  fruits.  It  is  only  in  very 
recent  years  that  cultivated  blueberries  have 
reached  the  Chicago  market,  and  in  1939 
they  have  been  far  more  plentiful  than  ever 
before.  The  cultivated  plants  are  mostly 
descendants  of  strains  established  by  Miss 
Elizabeth  White,  of  New  Jersey,  through 
selection  of  wild  bushes  with  exceptionally 
large  berries. 

At  the  end  of  July  the  writer  and  Assistant 
Curator  Julian  A.  Steyermark  visited  the 
region  of  South  Haven,  Michigan,  an  im- 
portant center  of  blueberry  culture.  The 
handsome  cellophane-covered  boxes  of  care- 
fully graded  Michigan  fruit,  twice  as  large 
as  that  of  wild  plants,  have  formed  a  tempt- 
ing display  this  summer  in  most  of  the 
Chicago  food  shops. 

The  field  visited  consisted  of  seventy-two 
acres,  and  there  are  many  other  large 
plantings  in  the  vicinity  of  South  Haven. 
The  bushes,  all  of  the  "high  bush"  (yac- 
cinium  corymbosum)  type,  are  four  to  five 
feet  high,  planted  in  hilled  rows  in  sand 
that  often  is  covered  with  water.  The 
abundance  of  fruit  was  astonishing  to  one 
familiar  with  wild  bushes.  The  branches 
were  loaded  with  large,  dense  masses  of 
blue  fruits  suggesting  bunches  of  grapes. 

Many  native  American  fruits  long  ago 
became  economically  important,  among 
them  strawberries,  some  of  the  cultivated 
plums,  raspberries,  dewberries,  and  all  the 
grapes  grown  in  the  eastern  states.  It  was 
scarcely  to  be  expected  that  at  this  late 
date  another  native  fruit  would  become 
commercially  important,  but  the  blueberry 
already  has  established  itself.  It  is  note- 
worthy that  Michigan  berries  are  being 
shipped  to  the  Atlantic  coast,  where  they 
originated,  because  they  are  in  season  after 
the  eastern  crop  has  been  exhausted. 


FOSSIL    BISON    AGAIN    EXHIBITED 

A  skeleton  of  a  large  male  bison  of  the 
extinct  species  Bison  antiguus  from  the 
asphaltum  pools  of  Los  Angeles,  California, 
has  been  returned  to  exhibition  in  Ernest 
R.  Graham  Hall  (Hall  38).  This  specimen, 
and  three  others,  were  exhibited  in  the  open 
some  years  ago,  but  suffered  so  much  from 
thoughtless  handling  by  the  public  that  they 
had  to  be  removed.  The  bison  skeleton  is 
now  protected  in  an  individual  case. 

Bison  aniiquus  is  an  extinct  species  which 
was  common  in  the  western  United  States 
during  the  Glacial  Period.  Fossils  of  it  are 
found  most  abundantly  in  the  tar  pools  of 
Rancho  La  Brea  near  Los  Angeles.  There, 
crude  asphaltum,  seeping  up  through  the 
rocks  of  Miocene  age,  accumulated  in  pools 
at  the  surface.  This  formed  a  death  trap, 
concealed  by  surface  water  during  the  rainy 
season,  or  by  blown  sand  and  dust  during 
the  dry  season.  Bison  and  other  animals 
entering  these  pools,  either  in  quest  of  water 
or  unwarily  for  other  causes,  were  caught  in 
the  mass  of  tarry  asphaltum,  and  perished 
there.  Later,  their  bones  became  saturated 
with  the  asphaltum  and  so  were  preserved. 
As  the  gas  from  the  asphaltum  evaporated 
and  the  latter  became  solid  and  covered  over 
with  earth,  large  masses  of  bones  were 
preserved.  Nearly  100  species  of  extinct 
animals  and  birds  of  all  sizes  and  habits  have 
been  found  in  these  old  tar  pools. — E.  S.  R. 


Tree  Snails  from  Florida 

Field  Museum  has  just  received,  as  a  gift 
from  Mr.  G.  J.  Kessen,  of  Sanibel  Island, 
Florida,  several  specimens  of  the  beautiful 
Sandy  Key  tree  snails.  Originally  Sanibel 
Island  had  no  tree  snails.  The  stock  from 
which  these  snails  descended  was  collected 
on  Sandy  Key  on  the  east  coast  of  Florida 
by  Mr.  Kessen  and  transferred  to  Sanibel 
Island  on  the  west  coast  in  1921.  Since  then 
the  original  Sandy  Key  snails  have  been 
destroyed,  probably  by  the  1929  hurricane. 

Firmly  established  on  Sanibel  Island,  it 
is  pleasant  to  contemplate  that  such  an 
interesting  form  of  life  has  been  preserved 
from  extinction  and  may  ultimately  be  again 
transplanted  to  its  original  home. — L.L.W. 


LEAFLET  ON 
AUTUMN  FLOWERS 

With  the  arrival  of  September, 
timely  reading  for  flower  enthusiasts 
is  offered  in  the  Field  Museum  Leaflet 
Autumn  Flowers  and  Fruits.  This  little 
book,  with  thirty  pages  of  text, 
illustrated  with  a  color  plate,  two 
collotype  plates,  and  twenty-eight 
half-tones,  is  by  J.  Francis  Macbride, 
Associate  Curator  of  the  Museum 
Herbarium.  At  the  Book  Shop  of 
Field  Museum — 25  cents. 


September,  19S9 


FIELD  MUSEUM  NEWS 


Pages 


EXPEDITION   FINDS  NEW   RUINS   ON   AN   OLD  SPANISH  TRAIL 

By  PAUL  s.  MARTIN  ologist  is  the  presence  of  small   pieces  of 

CHIEF  CURATOR,  DEPARTMENT  OF  ANTHROPOLOGY  1^,^^^^^^^       p^^^^^.^       [yj^^g       scattered       OH       the 

ground.  These  pottery  fragments,  about  the 
size  of  a  man's  thumbnail,  are  brown  and 
look  exactly  like  the  natural  gravelly  pebbles 
of  the  terrain.  It  took  more  than  a  week  for 
the  writer  and  his  assistants,  Messrs.  Joe 
Weckler  and  Hugh  Pigg,  to  locate  these 
particular  ruins,  and  even  the  local  pot 
hunters  were  surprised  for  they  did  not 
know  of  the  existence  of  this  very  ancient 
and  primitive  village.  But  the  Museum 
party  knew,  from  archaeological  experience, 
that   where   there   are   pottery  fragments. 


About  four  hundred  years  ago  the  Spanish 
explorer,  Francisco  Vasquez  de  Coronado, 
journeyed  through  the  Mogollon  and  San 
Francisco  mountains  in  western  New  Mexico 
on  his  famous  march  to  find  the  fabulous 
"Seven  Cities  of  Cibola"  whose  streets  were 
supposed  to  have  been  exclusively  occupied 
by  gold  and  silversmiths.  Coronado  failed 
to  find  the  treasures  for  which  he  had 
traveled  so  far;  but  he  unwittingly  passed 
within  a  few  hundred  feet  of  some  ancient 
Indian  villages  which  had  been  lying  silent 


Ancient  Pit-House 

One  of  the  sites  of  ancient  Indian  habitation  being  excavated  in  the  Mogollon  Mountains  of  New  Mexico  by 
the  Field  Museum  Archaeological  Expedition  to  the  Southwest.  This  structure,  34  feet  in  diameter,  is  the  largest 
of  its  type  known  in  this  area.  Features  are  a  tunneled  entry,  and  a  fire  pit.  While  the  date  of  the  pit-house  has 
not  yet  been  determined,  Dr.  Paul  S.  Martin,  leader  of  the  expedition,  believes  it  was  built  prior  to  a.d.  750. 


and  deserted  even  then  for  more  than  seven 
hundred  years.  These  villages  are  now 
being  explored  by  the  Field  Museum  Ar- 
chaeological Expedition  to  the  Southwest, 
under  the  direction  of  the  writer. 

MEAGER  TRACES  OF  SITE 

Even  if  Coronado  and  his  men  had 
marched  directly  over  the  spot  where  these 
early  villages  lie  buried,  it  is  doubtful 
whether  he  or  any  of  his  men  would  have 
known  it.  The  reason  for  this  is  that  only 
the  most  minute  traces  of  human  occupation 
remain.  There  are  no  ruined  walls  to  see 
because  the  Indians  of  long  ago  did  not  build 
houses  above  ground.  There  are  no  large 
mounds  of  accumulated  rubbish,  ashes,  and 
broken  dishes  because  these  villages  were 
lived  in  for  only  a  short  time  and  then 
abandoned.     The  only  clue  for  the  archae- 


there  are  almost  sure  to  be  houses,  even 
though  they  cannot  be  seen. 

A  few  days'  digging  proved  the  correctness 
of  this  hypothesis,  for  soon  the  walls  and 
floor  of  a  large  pit-house  were  discovered.  A 
pit-house  is  just  what  the  term  implies — a 
pit  dug  in  the  ground  and  used  as  a  dwelling 
or  as  a  place  for  celebrating  ceremonies. 

When  this  pit-house  was  completely  dug 
out — an  arduous  task  which  required  about 
ten  days'  work  because  the  clay  fill  was 
extremely  tough — it  was  found  to  be  thirty- 
four  feet  in  diameter,  one  of  the  largest 
ever  excavated  in  this  region.  The  features 
within  this  structure  are  few — a  firepit, 
three  pits  apparently  used  for  storage,  a 
short  tunnel  which  served  as  an  entryway, 
and  five  troughed  depressions  near  the  walls. 
The  purpose  of  these  depressions  is  un- 
known, but  it  is  thought  that  logs  may  have 


been  placed  in  them  for  support  of  the  roof. 
It  is  believed  that  this  large  pit  structure 
was  used  only  for  ceremonies  because  it  is 
larger  than  most  pit  houses,  and  too  large 
for  one  family.  Furthermore,  there  were 
very  few  ashes  in  the  firepit — a  fact  which 
bespeaks  few  fires  and  therefore  little  cooking. 
Also  no  tools  or  household  objects,  such  as 
cooking  and  water-storage  vessels,  were 
anywhere  in  evidence. 

LITTLE-KNOWN  CULTURE 

The  Mogollon  culture,  which  is  now  being 
investigated  by  the  Field  Museum  expedi- 
tion, is  one  of  the  three  main  archaeological 
divisions  of  the  Southwestern  area,  the 
other  two  being  the  Pueblo  and  the  Hoho- 
kam.  Nothing  is  known  about  the  earliest 
phases  of  this  Mogollon  culture,  and  it  is 
because  of  this  great  archaeological  gap  that 
the  Museum  undertook  this  necessary 
research. 

Thus  far  the  expedition  personnel  have 
found  several  very  precious  clues  concerning 
the  age  and  development  of  the  Mogollon 
culture.  However,  as  the  facts  thus  far 
accumulated  have  not  yet  been  digested,  it  is 
too  early  to  make  any  positive  statements. 


MESSRS.   TRAYLOR   AND   ANDREWS 
TO  COLLECT  IN  MEXICO 

Resuming  the  zoological  collecting  under- 
taken for  Field  Museum  in  1938,  Mr. 
Melvin  Traylor,  Jr.,  of  Chicago,  and  Mr. 
Wyllys  Andrews,  of  Washington,  D.C., 
returned  to  Mexico  early  in  August  for 
five  months  of  field  work  on  the  Yucatan 
Peninsula.  Mr.  Traylor  is  concerned  pri- 
marily with  the  collecting  of  birds  and 
small  mammals,  while  Mr.  Andrews  will 
divide  his  time  between  reptile  collecting 
and  archaeological  research. 

After  several  weeks  of  preparation  in 
Mexico  City,  Messrs.  Traylor  and  Andrews 
plan  to  fly  to  Chichen  Itza,  Yucatan,  the 
scene  of  last  year's  activities  and  the  locale 
of  important  archaeological  discoveries  by 
the  Carnegie  Institute.  Later  the  party 
will  proceed  overland  into  the  interior  of 
Campeche  where  a  general  collection  of 
vertebrates  will  be  made. 

Although  Field  Museum  possesses  exten- 
sive zoological  collections  from  various  parts 
of  Central  America,  Mexico  itself  is  rela- 
tively poorly  represented.  It  is  expected 
that  the  field  work  now  under  way  will  go 
far  towards  filling  important  gaps  in  the 
Museum's  research  collections. 


Change  in  Visiting  Hours 
Begins  September  5 

Field  Museum  visiting  hours,  which  have 
been  9  a.m.  to  6  P.M.  daily  during  the 
summer  months,  will  change  to  the  autumn 
schedule — 9  a.m.  to  5  p.m. — on  Tuesday, 
September  5,  the  day  after  Labor  Day. 
These  hours  will  continue  until  October  31. 
On  November  1  the  winter  hours,  9  A.M. 
to  4  P.M.,  will  go  into  effect. 


Page  i 


FIELD  MUSEUM  NEWS 


September,  19S9 


FIELD  MUSEUM  OBTAINS  FIRST  IRON   METEORITE  EVER   REPORTED   FROM   STATE  OF  IOWA 


By  SHARAT  K.  ROY 

CURATOR  OF  GEOLOGY 

A  new  siderite,  or  iron  meteorite,  to  be 
called  the  Mapleton  meteorite,  was 
recently  purchased  by  the  Museum  from 
Mr.  Harvey  Meevers,  of  Mapleton,  Iowa. 
This  is  the  first  iron  meteorite  to  be  reported 
from  that  state. 

Previous  to  the  discovery  of  this  iron, 
four  other  meteorites  were  known  from 
Iowa,  three  of  which  were  aerolites  or  stone 
meteorites,  and  one  a  meso-siderite  (or 
variety  of  iron-stone  meteorite). 


reduced  velocity. 


The  Mapleton  (Iowa)  Meteorite 

Mr.  Sharat  K.  Roy,  Curator  of  Geology,  inspecting  recent  addition  to  Field 
Museum's  meteorite  collection  (which  in  number  of  falls  represented  is  the  world's 
moat  comprehensive).  This  celestial  visitor,  despite  its  comparatively  small  mass, 
weighs  108  pounds,  due  to  its  composition  of  iron  (stone  meteorites  are  much 
bulkier  in  proportion  to  weight).  Inset  shows  an  enlarged  section  of  a  fragment, 
etched  with  acid  in  the  laboratory  to  bring  out  Widmanstatten  figures  proving 
it  is  of  extra-terrestrial  origin — the  earth's  iron  does  not  react  the  same  way. 


The  meteorite  just  acquired  was  acci- 
dentally found  by  Mr.  Meevers  on  June  17, 
1939,  in  his  cornfield.  It  was  said  to  have 
been  struck  by  his  cultivator.  The  location 
of  the  find  is  in  Cooper  Township,  Monona 
County,  Iowa,  on  the  east  side  of  a  rather 
steep  hill,  a  little  less  than  four  miles  east- 
northeast  of  Mapleton. 

The  date  and  time  of  the  fall  of  the  mete- 
orite are  not  known.  However,  it  is  well  to 
point  out  here  that  the  meteorite,  although 
it  has  suffered  oxidation  which  has  consider- 
ably altered  and  destroyed  the  fusion  crust, 
is  remarkably  well  preserved,  and  because 
of  this  excellent  state  of  preservation  it 
may  be  assumed  that  the  fall  took  place  in 
recent  decades.  Ordinarily,  iron  meteorites, 
particularly  those  rich  in  chlorine,  when 
exposed  to  the  atmosphere,  oxidize  and  dis- 


integrate very  rapidly.  The  source  of 
chlorine  is  the  mineral  lawrencite,  a  com- 
pound of  iron  and  chlorine  which  is  present 
in  small  quantities  in  many  iron  meteorites. 
Apparently  the  meteorite  does  not  repre- 
sent the  original  mass.  It  appears  to  have 
been  broken,  but  the  disruption  must  have 
taken  place  at  a  considerable  altitude  while 
it  still  had  high  velocity.  This  is  evidenced 
by  the  presence  of  elongated  furrow-like 
depressions  or  pittings  on  the  broken  side 
which  could  not  have  been  formed  under 
In  its  present  state,  the 
meteorite,  which  prob- 
ably does  not  represent 
much  more  than  one-half 
of  the  original  mass, 
weighs  49  kilograms  (108 
pounds).  Its  greatest 
length,  breadth,  and 
height  are  1734  inches, 
9%  inches,  and  6  J^  inches 
respectively.  The 
general  shape,  as  pre- 
served, is  difficult  to  de- 
scribe, for  it  does  not 
conform  to  any  of  the 
characteristic  forms  of 
meteorites.  Roughly,  it 
has  a  sub-semicircular 
outline  and  may  be  said 
to  have  the  appearance 
of  a  low  conoid  cut  verti- 
cally near  the  center. 
One  side  of  it  is  plano- 
convex, the  other  a  very 
low  truncated  cone  with 
the  apex  slightly  away 
from  the  center. 

The  point  of  this  re- 
duced cone  is  not  present 
and  presumably  was 
broken  off  during  disrup- 
tion of  the  mass,  for  it 
does  not  show  the  usual 
smooth  surface,  but  is 
pitted.  The  slopes  of  the 
cone  are  unequal  and 
considerably  damaged  and  deformed.  The 
pittings  of  the  plano-convex  side,  some  of 
which  are  merged  into  one  another,  are 
larger  and  more  circular,  but  shallower  than 
those  of  the  opposite  side.  This  is  to  be 
expected,  for  the  plano-convex  side  is  the 
rear  of  the  meteorite  and  was  thus  less 
exposed  to  heat  and  friction  of  the  atmos- 
phere. The  conical  side  or  the  front  of  the 
mass  has  many  elongated  pittings,  more  or 
less  radially  arranged  on  the  slopes  and 
edges  of  the  cone,  evidence  of  the  passing 
of  air  currents  from  the  apex  of  the  cone 
during  its  passage  through  the  atmosphere. 

STRUCTURE  IS  STUDIED 

The  structure  of  the  meteorite  was 
brought  to  view  by  etching  the  polished 
surface  of  a  small  fragment  of  the  mass.  In 
most   iron   meteorites   etching   brings   out 


certain  octahedral  figures,  called  Widman- 
statten figures,  after  their  discoverer.  These 
are  made  up  of  thin  plates  or  lamellae 
parallel  to  the  faces  of  an  octahedron,  such 
as  might  be  formed  by  putting  two  Egyptian 
pyramids  base  to  base.  The  lamellae  are 
composed  of  two  different  nickel-iron  alloys, 
named  respectively  kamacite  and  taenite. 
Angular  interstices  called  fields,  between 
intersecting  lamellae,  may  be  filled  with  a 
third  kind  of  nickel-iron  alloy  known  as 
plessite.  Meteorites  made  up  of  nickel-iron 
which  exhibit  these  three  alloys  are  known 
as  octahedral  meteorites  or  simply  octa- 
hedrites.  The  octahedrites  are  subdivided 
into  three  main  groups,  fine — medium,  or 
coarse — depending  on  the  thickness  of  the 
lamellae,  which  vary  from  a  fraction  of  one 
to  several  millimeters.  The  Mapleton 
meteorite  contains  all  three  alloys  mentioned 
above  and  exhibits  medium-sized  lamellae. 
It  is,  therefore,  a  medium  octahedrite. 

The  information  given  here  is  the  result 
of  preliminary  examination  only. 


CHINESE  MONEY  BELTS 

A  collection  of  Chinese  money  belts, 
beautifully  embroidered  with  glass  beads  of 
various  colors  in  intricate  designs,  mounted 
on  leather,  is  on  exhibition  in  Hall  32  (Case 
No.  30).  The  beads  are  of  cut  glass,  and 
each  is  sewed  on  separately.  The  belts  thus 
exemplify  not  only  fine  artistry,  but  the 
exercise  of  extreme  patience  in  delicate 
hand  work.  The  designs  are  all  characteris- 
tically Chinese,  consisting  of  flowers,  birds, 
dear,  bats,  goldfish,  carp,  and  butterflies. 
In  a  few  there  are  human  figures.  The 
magpie,  a  bird  of  lucky  omen  to  the  Chinese, 
appears  frequently.  Ornamental  forms  of 
the  character  "shou,"  Chinese  symbol  of 
longevity,  are  conspicuous,  indicating  the 
universal  desire  among  the  Chinese  to  attain 
long  life. 

The  belts  are  provided  with  silver  buckles 
which  have  embossed  figures  of  lions  and 
dragons,  and  sometimes  a  gold-plated  cen- 
tral panel.  On  the  inside  of  the  belts  are 
their  reason  for  being — pockets  for  the  safe 
carrying  of  money.  Most  of  the  specimens 
were  made  during  the  last  hundred  years, 
and  come  from  the  south  of  China.  The 
collection  contains  also  spectacle  cases,  orna- 
ments for  beds,  and  slippers,  all  of  which 
are  ornamented  with  the  same  type  of  bead 
work.  This  material  was  acquired  by  the 
Museum  in  a  gift  from  the  late  Mrs.  George 
T.  Smith,  of  Chicago. 


A  single  crystal  of  beryl  which  weighs  a 
thousand  pounds  is  displayed  in  Stanley 
Field  Hall  (Case  18). 


Diamonds,  specimens  of  the  rocks  in 
which  they  are  found,  and  minerals  associ- 
ated with  them,  form  an  exhibit  in  Hall  36. 


September,  19S9 


FIELD  MUSEUM  NEWS 


Page  5 


MEDICINE  MEN  OF  THE  INDIANS 
PRESCRIBED  WITCH  HAZEL 

Witch  hazel  extract,  long  accepted  in 
medical  and  domestic  practice  as  a  reputable 
sedative  for  the  relief  of  pain  and  inflamma- 
tion, and  as  a  mild  antiseptic,  had  its  origin 
as  a  remedy  in  the  magic  of  the  medicine 
men  of  North  American  Indians,  according 
to  Dr.  Julian  A.  Steyermark,  Assistant 
Curator  of  the  Herbarium  at  Field  Museum. 

In  the  Hall  of  Plant  Life  (Hall  29)  is  a 
branch  of  the  witch  hazel  shrub  in  full 
flower  and  leaf,  reproduced  from  nature, 
and  a  model  of  a  flower  of  the  plant  enlarged 
to  illustrate  its  characteristics.  Also  shewn 
are  specimens  of  its  bark  and  leaves,  and 
of  allied  plants. 

The  Indians  were  the  first  to  use  the  bark 
and  leaves  of  the  witch  hazel  plant  to 
alleviate  pain,  under  the  direction  of  their 
tribal  medicine  men  who  accompanied  treat- 
ment with  magical  incantations,  Dr.  Steyer- 
mark says.  The  white  invaders  of  the 
American  continent  learned  of  their  efficacy 
from  the  Indians,  and  today  millions  of 
households  always  have  on  hand  a  bottle 
of  extract  obtained  from  the  bark  and 
leaves  by  modern  pharmaceutical  manu- 
facturing methods. 

The  name  "witch  hazel"  has  its  origin 
in  superstition.  The  shrub  has  unusual 
living  habits,  as  it  blooms  in  the  autumn, 
often  after  frosts  have  come,  and  ripens 
its  fruit  in  the  spring.  This  phenomenon, 
contrary  to  the  behavior  of  most  plants, 
gave  rise  to  an  idea  that  the  plant  was 
supernatural,  and  caused  it  to  be  invested, 
in  the  minds  of  the  superstitious,  with  many 
peculiar  powers — hence  the  name,  "witch 
hazel,"  a  plant  regarded  as  capable  of  the 
sorceries  of  a  witch.  There  are  several 
species  of  witch  hazel  trees  and  shrubs, 
each  with  a  number  of  varieties,  growing 
throughout  the  northern  temperate  zones 
of  the  Old  and  New  World. 


THINGS  YOU  MA  Y  HA  VE  MISSED 


Formation  of  Peat 
Shown  in  Model 

A  model  representing  a  small  lake  of 
glacial  origin  which  is  filled  with  peat 
formed  from  the  swamps  and  pond  vegeta- 
tion growing  in  it  is  on  exhibition  in  Hall  36 
in  the  Department  of  Geology.  Such  lakes, 
in  all  stages  of  filling,  and  the  marshes  and 
even  fairly  dry  meadows  which  indicate 
their  former  sites,  are  numerous  in  the  Chi- 
cago region  and  also  in  the  lake  country 
of  northwestern  Illinois,  Michigan,  Wis- 
consin, and  Minnesota. 

The  original  lake  bottom  composed  of 
stony  glacial  clay,  or  "till,"  may  be  seen 
in  the  model.  The  till  is  covered  with  a 
thick  bed  of  other  clay  deposited  from  the 
muddy  water  of  the  lake.    Above  this  clay 


lie  beds  of  dark  brown  peat  and  partially 
decomposed  vegetation  which  grows  in  the 
lake.  The  light-colored  bed  near  the  center 
of  the  model  is  "marl,"  a  limy  substance 
formed  by  the  deposition  of  carbonate  of 
lime  from  solution  in  the  water  around  the 
stems  of  certain  algae,  the  life  processes  of 
which  bring  about  this  deposition.  Beds 
of  shell  marl — limy  deposits  formed  from 
the  accumulations  of  shells  on  the  bottom 
of  such  lakes — do  not  appear  in  this  model, 
as  the  conditions  in  the  lake  represented  do 


Model  of  Peat  Boe 

Down  to  the  line  representing  the  surface  of  the 
lake  water  it  shows  the  scene  a  traveler  would  see: 
below  this  line  it  represents,  in  cross-section,  the 
underwater  conditions  which  cause  formation  of  peat. 

not  favor  the  formation  of  such  deposits. 
In  some  lakes  marl  deposits  are  often 
entirely  absent. 

The  vegetation  from  which  the  peat  is 
derived  grows  in  the  lake  in  well-defined 
zones.  The  more  important  of  these  zones 
are:  (1)  a  zone  of  algae;  (2)  a  zone  of  floating 
weeds,  such  as  bladderwort;  (3)  a  zone  of 
floating  bog  which  is  a  mat  of  sedges  and 
rushes  with  clear  water  below;  (4)  a  zone 
of  grasses,  sedges,  and  shrubs  occupying  the 
inner  part  of  the  filled-in  edge  of  the  lake; 
(5)  a  zone  of  tamaracks  and  spruces.  At 
the  edge  of  the  swamp  area  is  a  depression 
which  is  wetter  than  the  tamarack  and  most 
of  the  sedge  zones.  The  depression  marks 
the  original  shore  line  of  the  lake  and  is 
called  a  "fosse."  The  chief  sources  of  peat 
in  these  local  lakes  and  bogs  are  sedges  and 
rushes.  In  many  parts  of  the  world  peat  is 
formed  largely  from  the  swamp  moss 
known  as  sphagnum. 


Source  of  Digitalis 

The  foxglove,  a  member  of  the  figwort 
family,  is  a  biennial  plant  which  during  its 
first  year  produces  a  rosette  of  leaves  at 
the  ground,  and  in  its  second  season  develops 
a  stem  two  to  four  feet  high  with  large 
leaves  and  conspicuous  purple  bell-shaped 
flowers.  The  leaves  are  used  in  preparing 
digitalis,  a  drug  used  as  a  cardiac  tonic  in 
some  forms  of  heart  disease.  A  native  of 
northern  Europe,  the  plant  is  widely  cul- 
tivated. It  is  found  in  old-fashioned  gardens 
in  the  United  States  and  has  become  natural- 
ized in  certain  sections  of  this  country.  A 
specimen  is  exhibited  in  Hall  29. 


SILENT  TRADE 

By  WILFRID  D.  HAMBLY 

CURATOR  OF  AFRICAN  ETHNOLOGY 

In  these  days  of  keen  competition,  in 
which  bargaining  may  sometimes  be  none 
too  scrupulous,  it  is  interesting  to  look  back 
to  the  period  some  2,500  years  ago  when 
the  "silent  trade"  took  place  on  the  north- 
west coast  of  Africa,  as  described  by  the 
Greek  historian  Herodotus. 

Merchants  from  the  ancient  Phoenician 
city  of  Carthage,  on  the  north  African  coast, 
sailed  regularly  through  the  Strait  of  Gibral- 
tar, then  known  as  the  Pillars  of  Hercules. 
They  unloaded  their  wares,  and  having  dis- 
posed them  in  an  orderly  fashion  along  the 
beach,  returned  to  their  ships  where  they 
raised  a  dense  smoke  as  a  signal  to  tribes 
ashore.  The  natives  of  that  part  of  the  Afri- 
can coast  responded  to  the  signal,  and  dis- 
daining any  temptation  to  dishonesty,  laid  a 
quantity  of  gold  near  the  goods.  The  na- 
tives thereupon  withdrew  to  a  safe  distance. 

Then  the  Carthaginians  would  come 
ashore,  and  appraise  the  gold.  If  it  was 
not  a  satisfactory  payment,  they  would 
return  to  their  ships.  The  natives  would 
then  advance  again,  and  if  they  thought 
the  goods  were  worth  more  they  would  add 
a  small  quantity  of  gold  dust  to  the  pile 
already  offered. 

Again  the  Carthaginians  would  land,  and 
if  the  amount  of  gold  was  satisfactory,  they 
would  take  it  away.  The  natives  would 
then  advance  and  collect  the  merchandise. 

Herodotus  says:  "Neither  party  deals  un- 
fairly by  the  other;  for  the  Carthaginians 
never  touch  the  gold  till  it  comes  up  to  the 
worth  of  their  goods,  nor  do  the  natives  ever 
carry  off  the  goods  until  the  gold  is  taken 
away." 

THE  HEIGHT  OF  PRECAUTION— 

— is  exemplified  by  one  animal  which  al- 
ways enters  its  home  backwards.  This 
suspicious  creature,  which  fears  to  take  its 
eyes  from  the  direction  of  possible  approach 
of  enemies  as  it  goes  into  its  burrow,  is 
the  African  warthog,  of  which  a  group  is 
on  exhibition  in  Carl  E.  Akeley  Memorial 
Hall  (Hall  22).  The  specimens  were  col- 
lected in  Somaliland. 

The  warthog  is  about  as  far  removed  from 
beauty  as  a  creature  can  be.  One  writer 
has  described  it  as  "more  like  the  incarnation 
of  some  hideous  dream  than  any  other 
extant  animal."  It  is  a  cousin  of  the 
domestic  pig,  and  gets  its  name  from  warty 
protuberances  on  its  face.  These  are  especi- 
ally marked  in  the  male.  Both  sexes  have 
tusks,  those  of  the  male  being  larger. 
Zoologists  state  that  warthogs  are  not 
ferocious  unless  wounded  or  hard  pressed, 
when  they  may  slash  viciously  with  their 
tusks.  The  neck  of  a  warthog  is  so  short 
that  the  animal  cannot  turn  its  head  very 
far,  and  when  it  wants  to  look  back  quickly 
it  raises  its  snout  straight  up  in  the  air. 


Page  6 


FIELD  MUSEUM  NEWS 


September,  19S9 


Field  Museum  of  Natural  History 

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

THE  BOARD  OF  TRUSTEES 
Lester  Armour  Samuel  Insull,  Jr. 

Sbwell  U  Avery  Charles  A.  McCulloch 

William  McCormick  Blair   William  H.  Mitchell 
Leopold  E.  Block  George  A.  Richardson 

Walter  J.  Cummings  Theodore  Roosevelt 

Albert  B.  Dick,  Jr.  James  Simpson 

Joseph  N.  Field  Solomon  A.  Smith 

Marshall  Field  Albert  A.  Spragub 

Stanley  Field  Silas  H.  Strawn 

Albert  W.  Harris  Albert  H.  Wetten 

John  P.  Wilson 

OFFICERS 

Stanley  Field President 

Albert  A.  Spragub First  Vice-President 

James  Simpson Second  Vice-President 

Albert  W.  Harris Third  Vice-President 

Clifford  C.  Gregg Director  and  Secretary 

Solomon  A.  Smith.  .  .Treasurer  and  Assistant  Secretary 

FIELD  MUSEUM  NEWS 

Clifford  C.  Gregg,  Director  of  the  Museum ....  Editor 

CONTRIBUTING  EDITORS 

Paul  S.  Martin Chief  Curator  of  Anthropology 

B.  E.  Dahlgren Chief  Curator  of  Botany 

Henry  W.  NiCHOia Chiejf  Curator  of  Geology 

Wilfred  H.  Osgood Chief  Curator  of  Zoology 

H.  B.  Harte Managing  Editor 

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


PROM  THE  DIRECTOR'S  DESK— 


The  Museum  Library 

Even  to  the  most  regular  of  our  Field 
Museum  visitors  one  of  the  greatest  educa- 
tional facilities  of  the  Museum  is  practically 
unknown.  The  vast  collections  on  display 
are  familiar  to  all  visitors  who  care  to  come 
and  see.  Many  of  them  appreciate  that  the 
study  collections  not  on  exhibition  must  be 
even  greater  in  extent  than  those  selected  for 
display.  Many  do  not  know,  however,  that 
Field  Museum  has  among  its  assets  an 
excellent  collection  of  literature  covering 
anthropology  and  natural  history,  which 
makes  possible  the  careful  study  of  speci- 
mens, and  which  is  available  not  only  to  the 
institution's  own  staff  but  to  any  serious 
minded  person. 

A  librarian  could  tell  you  that  Chicago 
contains  many  splendid  collections  of  books 
in  highly  specialized  groupings.  There  are 
law  libraries,  medical  libraries,  libraries  con- 
cerned only  with  architecture,  with  art,  with 
music,  with  science.  One  of  these  libraries, 
outstanding  in  its  field,  is  housed  at  the 
Museum.  Perhaps  it  might  be  more  accur- 
ate to  state  that  four  of  these  libraries  are  at 
Field  Museum,  for  there  are  comprehensive 
libraries  on  anthropology,  botany,  geology, 
and  zoology.  Each  year  almost  3,000  vol- 
umes are  added  to  the  shelves  of  the  Library 
— volumes  coming  from  all  parts  of  the  world 
where  scientific  research  on  lines  within  the 
scope  of  Field  Museum  is  carried  on.  Any 
library,  to  be  of  most  value,  must  be  kept 
up  to  date.  Research  in  natural  history  may 
be  greatly  aided  by  the  study  of  books  a 
century  old,  but  conclusions  can  properly 
be  reached  only  with  a  study  of  the  latest 
findings  by  contemporary  scientists.  Often 
days   of   research,  including   not   only  the 


study  of  specimens  but  the  study  of  printed 
records  as  well,  are  necessary  in  the  produc- 
tion of  a  very  few  Museum  labels.  That  is 
necessary  because  Field  Museum  labels 
must  carry  correct  information — it  would 
be  highly  improper  for  a  leading  educational 
institution  to  disseminate  information  which 
was  not  accurate  in  every  detail  so  far  as  it 
is  possible  to  determine. 

It  should  be  emphasized  that  Field  Mu- 
seum Library  is  available  not  only  to  the 
advanced  scientist.  It  is,  in  fact,  consulted 
from  time  to  time  by  people  from  all  walks 
of  life,  by  those  engaged  in  many  businesses, 
trades,  or  professions.  A  woman  may  come 
to  Field  Museum  for  information  to  include 
in  a  talk  she  expects  to  give  at  the  next 
Tuesday  afternoon  session  of  her  neighbor- 
hood club.  A  child  comes  to  the  Library 
asking  about  a  bird  he  saw  in  his  back  yard, 
or  a  caterpillar  taken  from  a  plant  in  his 
mother's  garden.  A  man  planning  his 
vacation  comes  to  Field  Museum  Library 
to  ask  about  the  geological  formations  of 
the  countryside  he  expects  to  visit.  A  high 
school  student  wants  special  information  to 
improve  the  term  paper  he  is  preparing. 

To  all  of  these  people,  and  to  all  others 
who  want  the  information  which  anthro- 
pologists and  natural  scientists  have  re- 
corded in  books  and  pamphlets,  Field  Mu- 
seum Library  extends  its  welcome. 

— Clifford  C.  Gregg,  Director 


Four  New  Trustees  Elected 
At  a  recent  meeting  of  the  Board  of 
Trustees  of  Field  Museum,  four  prominent 
Chicago  civic  leaders  were  elected  to  mem- 
bership on  the  Board.  They  are:  Mr.  Lester 
Armour,  Mr.  William  McCormick  Blair, 
Mr.  Walter  J.  Cummings,  and  Mr.  Albert 
H.  Wetten.  They  fill  vacancies  caused  by 
deaths  and  resignations  which  have  occurred 
during  a  period  of  more  than  two  years  past, 
and  the  Museum  now  has  for  the  first  time 
in  many  months  a  full  membership  of  twenty- 
one  Trustees,  which  is  the  maximum  number 
provided  by  the  By-laws  of  the  institution. 


Distinguished  Visitors 

Among  distinguished  visitors  recently 
received  at  Field  Museum  are:  Mrs.  Oscar 
Straus,  of  New  York,  who  sponsored  the 
Straus  West  African  Expedition  of  Field 
Museum  in  1934,  which  resulted  in  large  and 
important  collections  for  the  Department  of 
Zoology,  including  outstanding  material 
used  in  the  preparation  of  several  beautiful 
habitat  groups  in  the  Hall  of  Birds;  Miss 
Florence  Guggenheim  Straus,  who  accom- 
panied Mrs.  Straus;  Mr.  Stewart  Springer, 
of  the  Bass  Biological  Laboratories,  Engle- 
wood,  Florida,  who  has  frequently  made  the 
facilities  of  his  organization  available  to 
Field  Museum  collectors;  Dr.  Ruth  Patrick, 
of  the  Academy  of  Natural  Sciences,  Phila- 
delphia, and  Professor  Charles  Hodge,  of 
Temple  University,  both  of  whom  have  been 
making  studies  in  Field  Museum's  crypto- 


gamic  herbarium;  Mr.  Theodore  Sizer, 
Associate  Director,  Gallery  of  Fine  Arts, 
Yale  University;  Professor  C.  N.  Gould,  of 
Santa  Fe,  New  Mexico,  head  of  the  South- 
west Division  of  the  United  States  National 
Park  Service;  Mrs.  V.  Goschen — de  Watte- 
ville,  of  Berne,  Switzerland,  who  with  her 
father  conducted  an  expedition  to  Central 
Africa  which  resulted  in  extremely  important 
zoological  collections  for  the  Natural  History 
Museum  of  Berne;  Miss  Martha  Van  Bom- 
berghen  of  Brussels,  member  of  the  Conseil 
de  Direction  of  the  Institut  Beige  des 
Hautes  Etudes  Chinoises,  Secretary  of  the 
Societe  Beige  d'Etudes  Orientales,  and 
Editor  of  Melanges  Chinoises  et  Bouddiques; 
Dr.  E.  J.  Lindgren,  well-known  anthro- 
pologist of  Cambridge  University,  and 
Honorary  Editor  of  Man. 


Staff  Notes 

Dr.  Henry  Field,  Curator  of  Physical 
Anthropology,  is  spending  several  weeks  at 
Harvard  University  where  he  is  engaged  in 
special  research  in  connection  with  data 
required  for  a  forthcoming  publication  on 
the  physical  anthropology  of  Iraq.  One  of 
his  consultants  is  Dr.  Ernest  Hooton. 


Mr.  Sharat  K.  Roy,  Curator  of  Geology, 
gave  a  radio  lecture  on  Meteorites  over 
Station  WCFL  on  August  18. 


Staff  Taxidermist  C.  J.  Albrecht  recently 
has  lectured  on  Field  Museum  expeditions 
before  audiences  at  the  University  of 
Minnesota,  and  three  state  teachers'  col- 
leges. He  has  also  spoken  on  several  radio 
broadcasts  devoted  to  Museum  topics. 


A  FEW  FACTS  ABOUT  FIELD  MUSEUM 

Field  Museum  is  open  every  day  of  the  year 
(except  Christinas  and  New  Year's  Day)  during 
the  hours  indicated  below; 

November,  December, 

January,  February 9  A.M.  to  4  P.M. 

March,  April,  and 
September,  October 9  A.M.  to  6  P.M. 

May,  June,  July,  August. . .  .9  A.M.  to  6  P.M. 

Admission  is  free  to  Members  on  all  days. 
Other  adults  are  admitted  free  on  Thursdays, 
Saturdays,  and  Sundays;  non-members  pay  25 
cents  on  other  days.  Children  are  admitted  free 
on  all  days.  Students  and  faculty  members  of 
educational  institutions  are  admitted  free  any 
day  upon  presentation  of  credentials. 

The  Museum's  Library  is  open  for  reference 
daily  except  Saturday  afternoon  and  Sunday. 

Traveling  exhibits  are  circulated  in  the  schools 
of  Chicago  by  the  N.  W.  Harris  Public  School 
Extension  Department  of  the  Museum. 

Lectures  at  schools,  and  special  entertain- 
ments and  tours  for  children  at  the  Museum,  are 
provided  by  the  James  Nelson  and  Anna  Louise 
Raymond  Foundation  for  Public  School  and 
Children's  Lectures. 

Free  courses  of  lectures  for  adults  are  presented 
in  the  James  Simpson  Theatre  on  Saturday  after- 
noons (at  2:30  o'clock)  in  March,  April,  October, 
and  November. 

A  Cafeteria  serves  visitors.  Rooms  are  avail- 
able also  for  those  bringing  their  lunches. 

Chicago  Motor  Coach  Company  No.  26  busses 
provide  direct  transportation  to  the  Museum.  Ser- 
vice is  offered  also  l>y  Surface  Lines,  Rapid  Tran- 
sit Lines  (the  "L"),  mterurban  electric  lines,  and 
Illinois  Central  trains.  There  is  ample  free  park- 
ing space  for  automobiles  at  the  Museum. 


September,  1939 


FIELD  MUSEUM  NEWS 


Page  7 


ZOOLOGIST  EDMUND  HELLER 
DIES  ON  WEST  COAST 

Mr.  Edmund  Heller,  formerly  a  member 
of  Field  Museum's  staff  and  active  in  the 
conduct  of  various  zoological  expeditions 
for  this  institution,  died  in  San  Francisco 
July  18,  at  the  age  of  64.  Mr.  Heller  had  a 
long  and  distinguished  career  as  a  naturalist 
and  traveler.  When  quite  a  young  man,  he 
was  employed  by  the  Museum  as  zoological 
collector  and  was  in  the  field  continuously 
from  1901  to  1905,  working  in  the  western 
United  States  and  Mexico.  In  the  fall  of 
1905  he  went  with  Carl  Akeley  to  British 
East  Africa  (now  Kenya  Colony)  and  made 
an  important  collection  of  the  small  mam- 
mals of  the  region,  including  the  types  of 
many  new  species  and  a  number  of  rare 
animals  not  previously  represented  in  Ameri- 
can museums. 

In  1909  he  was  selected  as  one  of  the 
naturalists  to  accompany  former  President 
Theodore  Roosevelt  on  his  famous  expedition 
to  Africa  for  the  Smithsonian  Institution. 
On  this  trip  he  was  conspicuously  successful 
and,  on  returning,  devoted  considerable 
time  to  the  preparation  of  his  share,  which 
was  a  large  one,  of  the  great  two-volume 
work.  Life  Histories  of  African  Game  Ani- 
mals, by  Roosevelt  and  Heller.  This  was 
his  most  important  publication;  numerous 
shorter  papers,  however,  also  appeared  under 
his  capable  authorship. 

At  various  times  he  was  connected  with 
the  United  States  Biological  Survey,  the 
Smithsonian  Institution,  the  American  Mu- 
seum of  Natural  History,  and  the  Museum 
of  Vertebrate  Zoology  of  the  University  of 
California.  During  the  war,  he  accompanied 
Mr.  Paul  Rainey  to  Asia  on  work  connected 
with  the  federal  Intelligence  Service.  In 
1921,  he  again  joined  the  staff  of  Field 
Museum  and,  in  1922-23,  conducted  a 
lengthy  expedition  in  Peru.  In  1924-26,  he 
worked  in  central  Africa  for  the  Museum 
and,  in  1927,  he  left  to  become  Director  of 
the  Washington  Park  Zoo  at  Milwaukee. 
Some  years  later  he  went  to  San  Francisco 
as  Director  of  the  Fleishhacker  Zoo  in 
Golden  Gate  Park,  the  position  he  held  at 
the  time  of  his  death. 

In  number  of  specimens  collected,  and  in 
the  breadth  and  variety  of  the  field  covered. 
Heller  must  be  ranked  as  one  of  the  greatest 
zoological  collectors  of  all  time.  Of  mam- 
mals alone,  nearly  9,000  of  his  specimens  are 
in  Field  Museum,  and  practically  all  other 
large  American  institutions  also  have  large 
numbers.  — W.  H.  O. 


Ferns  Used  as  Food 

Ferns,  which  are  generally  considered 
only  as  ornamental  plants,  are  important  as 
food  producing  plants  in  some  countries, 
particularly  in  New  Zealand,  Australia,  and 
islands  of  the  Pacific.  The  underground 
stem,  or  rhizome,  of  the  bracken  contains  a 


quantity  of  mucilage  and  starch.  In  some 
parts  of  Europe  it  is  prepared  by  pounding, 
washing,  and  then  mixing  it  with  meal  to 
make  bread  in  time  of  scarcity.  With  the 
introduction  of  corn  and  potatoes,  however, 
this  practice  is  becoming  discarded. 


PLANTS  FROM  ANCIENT  SEEDS 
IN  FULL  FLOWER 

In  the  May,  1938,  issue  of  Field  Museum 
News  there  appeared  an  account  of  the 
germination,  in  the  Department  of  Botany 
at  Field  Museum,  of  some  seeds  of  pink  lotus 
of  the  Orient  (Nelumbium  Nelumbo)  esti- 
mated to  be  300  to  500  years  old.  Within  a 
few  weeks  one  of  these  ancient  seeds  devel- 
oped a  shoot  seven  and  a  half  inches  in 
length,  at  which  time  it  was  transferred  to 
the  Garfield  Park  Conservatory  for  growing. 

There,  in  the  care  of  Mr.  August  Koch, 
Chief  Horticulturist  of  the  Conservatory,  the 
lotus  plant  continued  to  grow  and  last  year 
within  a  few  months  of  its  germination  it 
produced  a  number  of  small  floating  leaves. 
After  passing  the  winter  in  storage  its 
growth  was  resumed  in  the  spring  of  this 
year.  Floating  leaves  were  again  produced. 
Then  there  appeared  the  erect  leaves  charac- 
teristic of  the  lotus,  and,  in  the  middle  of 
summer,  several  of  the  large  pink  flowers  of 
the  species  followed  in  close  succession. 

The  plant,  believed  to  represent  the 
longest  duration  of  delayed  germination  on 
record,  is  now  on  public  view  at  the  Con- 
servatory of  Garfield  Park  where  it  forms  a 
unique  exhibit. 


Plant  from  Centuries-old  Seed 

Pink  lotus  of  the  Orient,  in  full  bloom  at  Garfield 
Park  Conservatory  a  little  more  than  a  year  after  its 
germination  in  the  botanical  laboratories  at  Field 
Museum  from  seeds  estimated  to  be  three  to  five 
hundred  years  old.  It  is  believed  to  represent  the 
longest  instance  on  record  of  such  delayed  flowering. 


Flax  is  Oldest  Textile  Plant 

Common  flax  (Linum  usitatissimum  L.),  is 
first  on  the  list  of  textile  plants,  as  the  one 
of  which  we  have  the  oldest  historic  record. 
It  formed  both  the  garments  and  grave 
clothes  of  the  inhabitants  of  ancient  Egypt. 
The  cere-cloth  which  envelops  Egyptian 
mummies  consists  of  fiber  of  flax. 


A  PROJECT  TO  IMPROVE 
BIRD  COLLECTIONS 

The  magnificent  systematic  series  of 
mounted  North  American  birds  exhibited 
in  Hall  21  is  being  still  further  amplified 
and  improved  by  the  inclusion  of  freshly 
collected  nesting  and  natural  habitat  acces- 
sories which  give  more  lifelike  results. 

Numbering  more  than  a  thousand  speci- 
mens arranged  systematically  to  reveal 
family  relationships,  the  exhibit  includes 
most  of  the  species  and  better  known 
geographical  races  of  birds  occurring  north 
of  Mexico.  Discarding,  as  unimaginative 
and  obsolete,  the  well-known  "T"  type 
of  perch  often  used  by  museums,  every 
specimen  is  mounted  upon  a  branch,  rock, 
tussock,  or  other  natural  element  sugges- 
tive of  the  birds'  environment. 

The  additions  now  being  made  carry  the 
illusion  still  further  and  when  complete  will 
include  actual  nests  and  eggs  of  many  com- 
mon species.  Planned  as  a  long-time  pro- 
ject which  may  continue  several  seasons, 
the  actual  collecting  of  specimens  and 
accessories  is  under  way  in  a  series  of  week- 
end field  trips  by  Mr.  Frank  H.  Letl,  Pre- 
parator  of  Accessories,  and  Mr.  Emmet  R. 
Blake,  Assistant  Curator  of  Birds. 


Floyd  T.  Smith,  Collector,  is  Dead 

Members  of  the  Museum's  Department 
of  Zoology  were  saddened  by  news  of  the 
recent  death  of  Mr.  Floyd  T.  Smith,  of 
New  York,  noted  Asiatic  explorer.  Mr. 
Smith  was  leader  of  the  Marshall  Field 
Zoological  Expedition  to  China  for  Field 
Museum  in  1931,  and  at  various  times  con- 
ducted other  important  field  work  for  this 
institution.  The  1931  expedition  in  par- 
ticular was  highly  successful,  resulting  in 
the  acquisition  of  several  thousand  speci- 
mens of  mammals,  birds,  fishes,  reptiles, 
and  amphibians.  The  beautiful  habitat 
group  of  the  rare  Asiatic  takin  in  William  V. 
Kelley  Hall  (Hall  17)  is  composed  of  speci- 
mens collected  by  Mr.  Smith. 


THE  PLEASURES  OF  ISOLATION 

are  recounted  in  /  Know  an  Island, 
a  book  by  R.  M.  Lockley,  noted 
British  naturalist. 

"A  charmingly  written  account  of 
the  seasonal  surge  and  ebb  of  bird  life 
on  a  primitive  island  off  the  coast  of 
England,"  says  Mr.  Emmet  R.  Blake, 
Assistant  Curator  of  Birds  at  Field 
Museum.  "It  will  appeal  to  layman 
and  ornithologist  alike,  both  as  an 
authoritative  record  of  birdlore,  and 
as  a  philosophical  discourse  on  the 
pleasures  of  'the  simple  life.'  " 

On  sale  at  the  BOOK  SHOP  of 
FIELD  MUSEUM~$3. 


Page  8 


FIELD  MUSEUM  NEWS 


September,  1939 


GIFTS  TO  THE  MUSEUM 

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

Department  of  Anthropology : 

From  Thome  Donnelley,  Chicago — 3 
drums,  Haiti;  from  Loran  D.  Gayton, 
Chicago — 2  human  skulls  and  a  femur, 
Illinois;  from  Mrs.  George  A.  Carpenter, 
Chicago — pottery  jar,  Bizen  ware,  more  than 
100  years  old,  Japan. 
Department  of  Botany : 

From  Garfield  Park  Conservatory,  Chi- 
cago— 109herbariumspecimens;  from  Jardim 
Botanico,  Rio  de  Janeiro,  Brazil — 26  speci- 
mens of  plants,  Brazil;  from  Service  de 
Botanica  e  Agronomia,  Sao  Paulo,  Brazil — 
43  herbarium  specimens,  Brazil;  from  Bill 
Bauer,  Webster  Groves,  Mo. — 40  herbarium 
specimens,  Missouri;  from  William  L. 
McCart,  Denton,  Tex. — 104  herbarium 
specimens,  Texas;  from  Dr.  Ralph  Voris, 
Springfield,  Mo. — 13  herbarium  specimens 
and  one  wood  specimen,  Missouri;  from  C.  M 
Palmer,  Indianapolis,  Ind. — 7  specimens  of 
algae,  California,  Indiana,  and  North 
Carolina;  from  William  A.  Daily,  Indian- 
apolis, Ind. — 4  specimens  of  algae,  Indiana; 
from  Servicio  Botanico,  Ministerio  de  Agri- 
cultura  y  Cria,  Caracas,  Venezuela — 199 
herbarium  specimens,  Venezuela;  from  Dr. 
Delzie  Demaree,  Monticello,  Ark. — 32  speci- 
mens of  Compositae,  chiefly  California  and 
Oregon;  from  Centro  Nacional  de  Agri- 
cultura,  San  Pedro  Montes  de  Oca,  Costa 
Rica — 65  herbarium  specimens,  Costa  Rica; 
from  Miss  Charlotte  C.  Ellis,  Mancos,  Colo. 
— 34  herbarium  specimens,  Colorado;  from 
Professor  W.  R.  Hatch,  Hanover,  N.  H. — 
135  herbarium  specimens,  Costa  Rica;  from 
Gordon  Pearsall,  River  Forest,  111. — 1,154 
herbarium  specimens,  Illinois,  Indiana, 
Wisconsin,  Colorado,  and  Massachusetts; 
from  Dr.  Earl  E.  Sherff,  Chicago— 146 
herbarium  specimens,  Hawaii. 

Department  of  Geology : 

From  Hermann  C.  Benke,  Chicago — one 
mineral  and  2  rock  specimens,  Iowa  and 
Ontario;  from  Edward  Grabill,  Chicago — 5 
sandstone  and  6  porphyry  specimens, 
Wyoming;  from  Frank  Von  Drasek,  Cicero, 
111. — 29  specimens  of  minerals,  Arkansas; 
from  F.  C.  Worth,  Chicago — one  ore  and  2 
mineral  specimens,  Wisconsin  and  Penn- 
sylvania; from  Charles  C.  Merrill,  Buhl, 
Idaho — a  specimen  of  chalcedony  geode, 
Idaho;  from  John  Winterbotham,  Chicago — 
a  specimen  of  coral  sand,  Bermuda;  frcm 
Stanley  Field,  Chicago — 5  invertebrate 
fossils,  Florida;  from  Henry  Herpers,  Chi- 
cago— 4  invertebrate  fossils,  Wisconsin; 
from  L.  Bryant  Mather,  Jr.,  Chicago — 22 
invertebrate  fossils,  Wisconsin;  from  Clar- 
ence Bachelor,  Chicago — a  fossil  coral, 
Michigan;  from  Harry  Changnon,  Chicago — 
10  invertebrate  fossils;  from  Miss  Anne  H. 
Snyder,  Kenosha,  Wis. — 4  invertebrate 
fossils,  Wisconsin;  from  Don  Eldredge, 
Chicago — 5  invertebrate  fossils,  Wisconsin. 

Department  of  Zoology: 

From  Robert  A.  Burton,  Evanston,  111. — 
15  frogs,  toads,  and  snakes,  Illinois  and 
Indiana;  from  Loren  P.  Woods,  Evanston, 
111. — 1,001  fish  specimens  and  202  specimens 
of  lower  invertebrates,  South  Carolina;  from 
H.   E.   Woodcock,   Chicago— 20   butterflies 


and  3  moths,  PVance;  from  Chicago  Zoologi- 
cal Society,  Brookfield,  111. — 12  birds  and 
2  lizards;  from  George  A.  Larrissey,  Chicago 
— a  snake,  Illinois;  from  John  M.  Schmidt, 
Homewood,  111. — 42  snakes,  turtles,  lizards, 
frogs,  and  toads.  South  Dakota;  from  Bass 
Biological  Laboratory,  Englewood,  Fla. — 2 
shark  specimens,  near  South  Carolina;  from 
Mrs.  Rob  White,  Thomasville,  Ga.— 5 
insects,  Georgia;  from  H.  H.  Hagey,  Madi- 
son, Wis. — a  bird,  Wisconsin;  from  H.  B. 
Conover,  Chicago — 4  birds,  Illinois  and 
Colombia;  from  Eugene  G.  J.  Falck,  Chicago 
— 77  fresh-water  moUusks  and  30  fresh- 
water clams,  Missouri  and  Illinois;  from 
John  Boyd,  Southern  Pines,  N.  C. — 15 
butterflies,  Virginia;  from  C.  M.  Barber, 
Hot  Springs,  Ark. — a  domestic  goat  skeleton, 
Arkansas. 


SPECIAL  NOTICE 

All  Members  of  Field  Museum  who 
have  changed  their  residence,  or  are 
planning  to  do  so,  are  earnestly  urged 
to  notify  the  Museum  at  once  of  their 
new  addresses,  so  that  copies  of  Field 
Museum  News  and  all  other  com- 
munications from  the  Museum  may 
reach  them  promptly. 


Plants  That  Die  in  Flowering 

There  are  in  the  plant  kingdom  various 
groups  of  plants  which  live  for  many  years 
before  flowering,  and  die  subsequent  to  the 
first  production  of  fruit  and  seed.  Most 
striking  examples  of  this  kind  are  century 
plants,  bamboos,  and  Corypha  palms.  The 
whole  of  the  extensive  bamboo  jungle 
flowers  at  the  same  time,  and  it  is  recorded 
that  in  India  the  quantity  of  seed  has  at 
times  prevented  famines.  However,  the 
dying  of  the  stems  causes  a  scarcity  of  wood 
for  house  building. 


NEW  MEMBERS 

The   following   persons   were   elected   to 
membership  in  Field  Museum  during  the 
period  from  July  15  to  August  15: 
Corporate  Members 

Lester  Armour,  William  McCormick  Blair, 
Walter  J.  Cummings,  Albert  H.  Wetten. 

Associate  Members 

Harold  M.  Florsheim,  Mrs.  Frank  W. 
Howes,  Peter  F.  McNamee. 

Non-Resident  Associate  Members 

Harvey  Meevers 

Annual  Members 

Ross  J.  Beatty,  Jr.,  Matthew  G.  Becker, 
Irving  Berman,  Dr.  Merrick  R.  Breck,  Miss 
Marion  Clark,  Miss  Anita  de  Mars,  Thomas 
C.  Dennehy,  Jr.,  Elmer  E.  Frodin,  Dr. 
Norris  J.  Heckel,  J.  A.  Hiller,  H.  H.  James, 
Hathaway  G.  Kemper,  Miss  Alice  E.  Mad- 
dock,  Mrs.  Samuel  K.  Markman,  Alfred  H. 
Oelkers,  Nate  H.  Sherman,  Clinton  F. 
Smith,  James  A.  Thomas  and  Horace  O. 
Wetmore. 


SEPTEMBER  LECTURE  TOURS 

Conducted  tours  of  exhibits,  under  the 
guidance  of  staff  lecturers,  are  made  every 
afternoon  at  3  o'clock  except  Saturdays, 
Sundays,  and  certain  holidays.  Following 
is  the  schedule  of  subjects  and  dates  for 
September: 

Friday,  September  1 — Animal  Habitat 
Groups. 

Week  beginning  September  4:  Monday — 
Labor  Day  holiday,  no  tour;  Tuesday — 
General  Tour;  Wednesday — Hall  of  Races 
of  Man;  Thursday — General  Tour;  Friday — 
Mummies  and  Other  Ancient  Burials. 

Week  beginning  September  1 1 :  Monday — 
Dinosaurs  and  Their  Cousins;  Tuesday — 
General  Tour;  Wednesday — Men  of  the  Old 
Stone  Age;  Thursday — General  Tour;  F>iday 
—The  Story  of  Plants. 

Week  beginning  September  18:  Monday — 
The  Octopus  and  Other  Sea  Animals;  Tues- 
day— General  Tour;  Wednesday — Asia,  Its 
Peoples  and  Cultures;  Thursday — General 
Tour;  Friday — The  Moon  and  the  Meteo- 
rites. 

Week  beginning  September  25:  Monday — 
Native  American  Plants;  Tuesday — General 
Tour;  Wednesday — Indians  of  South  and 
Central  America;  Thursday — General  Tour; 
Friday — Birds,  Past  and  Present. 

Persons  wishing  to  participate  should 
apply  at  North  Entrance.  Tours  are  free. 
A  new  schedule  will  appear  each  month  in 
Field  Museum  News.  Guide-lecturers' 
services  for  special  tours  by  parties  of  ten  or 
more  are  available  by  arrangement  with  the 
Director  a  week  in  advance. 


MEMBERSHIP  IN  FIELD  MUSEUM 

Field  Museum  has  several  classe3  of  Members. 
Annual  Members  contribute  $10  annually.  As- 
sociate Members  pay  $100  and  are  exempt  from 
dues.  Sustaining  Members  contribute  $25  annu- 
ally for  six  consecutive  years,  after  which  they 
become  Associate  Members  and  are  exempt  from 
all  further  dues.  Life  Members  give  $500  and 
are  exempt  from  dues.  Non-Resident  Life  Mem- 
bers pay  $100,  and  Non-Resident  Associate 
Members  $50;  both  of  these  classes  are  also 
exempt  from  dues.  The  Non-Resident  member- 
ships are  available  only  to  persons  residing  fifty 
miles  or  more  from  Chicago.  Those  who  give  or 
devise  to  the  Museum  $1,000  to  $100,000  are 
designated  as  Contributors,  and  those  who  give 
or  devise  $100,000  or  more  become  Benefactors. 
Other  memberships  are  Honorary,  Patron, 
Corresponding  and  Corporate,  additions  under 
these  dassifications  being  made  by  special  action 
of  the  Board  of  Trustees. 

Each  Member,  in  all  classes,  is  entitled  to  free 
admission  to  the  Museum  for  himself,  his  family 
and  house  guests,  and  to  two  reserved  seats  for 
Museum  lectures  provided  for  Members.  Sub- 
scription to  Field  Museum  News  is  included 
with  idl  memberships.  The  courtesies  of  every 
museum  of  note  in  the  United  States  and  Canada 
are  extended  to  all  Members  of  Field  Museum. 
A  Member  may  give  his  personal  card  to  non- 
residents of  Chicago,  upon  presentation  of  which 
they  will  be  admitted  to  the  Museum  without 
charge.  Further  information  about  member- 
ships will  be  sent  on  request. 

BEQUESTS  AND  ENDOWMENTS 

Bequests  to  Field  Museum  of  Natural  History 
may  be  made  in  securities,  money,  books  or 
collections.  They  may,  if  desired,  take  the  form 
of  a  memorial  to  a  person  or  cause,  named  by  the 
giver. 

Contributions  made  within  the  taxable  year  not 
exceeding  15  per  cent  of  the  taxpayer's  net  in- 
come are  allowable  as  deductions  in  computing 
net  income  for  federal  income  tax  purposes. 

Endowments  may  be  made  to  the  Museum 
with  the  provision  that  an  annuity  be  paid  to 
the  patron  for  life.  These  annuities  are  guaran- 
teed against  fluctuation  in  amount,  and  may 
reduce  federal  income  taxes. 


PRINTED    By    FIELD     MUSEUM 


News 


Published  Monthly  by  Field  Museum  of  Natural  History,  Chicago 


Vol.  10 


OCTOBER,  1939 


No.  10 


LECTURES  FOR  ADULTS,  AND  PROGRAMS  FOR  CHILDREN,  TO  BEGIN  OCTOBER  7 


Noted  Speakers  Will  Appear 
on   Saturday  Afternoons 

Field  Museum's  seventy-second  free  course 
of  illustrated  lectures  on  science  and  travel 
for  adults  will  begin  October  7.  Well- 
known  scientists,  naturalists,  and  explorers 
have  been  engaged  to  tell  of  their  achieve- 
ments. All  except 
one  of  the  lectures  will 
be  illustrated  with 
motion  pictures,  and, 
in  the  case  of  the  ex- 
ception, stereopticon 
slides  will  be  used. 
The  lectures  will  be 
given  each  Saturday 
afternoon  throughout 
October  and  Novem- 
ber, in  the  James 
Simpson  Theatre  of 
the  Museum.  All  will 
begin  at  2:30  o'clock. 
Admission  is  restricted 
to  adults. 

Following  is  the 
complete  schedule  of 
dates,  subjects  and 
speakers: 

October  7 — A  Natu- 
ralist's Diary. 

Karl  Maslowski, 
Cincinnati,  Ohio. 

Mr.  Maslowski  will 
present  a  remarkable 

motion  picture  film  in  natural  colors,  giving 
intimate  views  of  plant  life,  and  bird  and 
animal  activities  throughout  the  year. 
Courtship,  feeding,  incubation,  flight  and 
care  of  the  young  are  a  few  of  the  many 
subjects  illustrated  by  the  films.  Mr. 
Maslowski,  formerly  Curator  of  Birds  of 
the  Cincinnati  Society  of  Natural  History, 
and  well-known  as  a  college  instructor, 
lecturer,  writer,  and  photographer,  is  well 
qualified  to  explain  in  an  interesting  manner 
the  actions  and  habits  of  the  creatures 
shown  in  his  films. 

October  14 — Through  Africa  Unarmed. 

Lewis  N.  Cotlow,  New  York. 

Mr.  Cotlow  is  the  winner  of  the  1938 
gold  medal  awarded  by  the  Adventurers' 
Club  of  New  York  for  the  year's  outstanding 
adventure.  His  lecture,  and  the  accompany- 
ing films,  tell  the  story  of  a  one  man  expedi- 
tion up  the  Nile,  across  the  Sudan,  and  down 


the  length  of  Africa.  Armed  only  with 
his  cameras  and  a  penknife,  he  traveled 
through  the  lion  country,  the  haunts  of 
the  Pygmies  as  well  as  the  domain  of  a 
tribe  characterized  as  the  world's  tallest 
people,  the  various  habitats  of  giant  goril- 
las,   and   many   other   fascinating   regions. 


*fe'< 


North  American  Otters 

Their  life  story  will  be  told,  in  lecture  and  motion  pictures,  by  Mr.  C.  J.  Albrecht  on  October  21 — the  third  lec- 
ture in  Field  Museum's  Autumn  Course.  These  animals  are  among  the  most  difficult  of  wild  creatures  to  photo- 
graph, and  they  are  rapidly  becoming  rare.    They  make  excellent  pets,  and  can  be  used  as  hunters  and  retnevers. 

His    films    record    the    life    of    flamingoes, 
hippos,   elephants,    the   rare   okapi,    croco- 
diles, and  many  other  animals. 
October  21 — The  Life  Story  of  the  Otter. 

C.  J.  Albrecht,  Chicago. 

Mr.  Albrecht,  a  staff  taxidermist  at 
Field  Museum,  who  has  been  a  member  of 
many  of  this  institution's  expeditions,  has 
made  a  unique  motion  picture  film  of  the 
otter's  life.  He  shows  all  phases  of  this 
interesting  little  animal's  existence,  having 
photographed  it  even  from  underwater  in 
a  submarine  diving  bell.  Other  scenes  in 
his  film  show  this  amazing  animal  in  all 
seasons  and  all  characteristic  activities. 
Well  qualified  as  a  naturalist,  Mr.  Albrecht's 
observations,  as  well  as  his  pictures,  provide 
an  interesting  story  about  the  otter's  life, 
which  has  probably  never  been  so  completely 
studied  before. 

{Continued  on  page  2,  column  1 ) 


Motion   Pictures  are  Offered 
by  Raymond  Foundation 

The    James    Nelson    and    Anna    Louise 
Raymond    Foundation    for    Public    School 
and  Children's  Lectures  will  present  a  series 
of  eight  free  programs  of  motion  pictures 
for  children  on  Saturday  mornings  during 
October  and  Novem- 
ber.   Included  on  the 
programs   are   films 
relating   to   natural 
history,   travel,   and 
American  history.  On 
two  programs  ani- 
mated   cartoons    will 
^  also    be    shown.      A 

special  program  to  be 
given  on  October  28, 
"Fun  With  Don 
Heaton  in  the  Wild 
West,"  will  feature  a 
lecture  by  Mr.  Heaton 
who  will  appear  in 
person.  Most  of  the 
films  will  have  talking 
and  other  sound 
effects. 

There   will   be   two 
showings  of   the   pic- 
tures on  each  program, 
one   beginning   at    10 
A.M.,   and  one  at  11. 
Children  from  all  parts 
of   Chicago   and  sub- 
urbs are  invited,  and  no  tickets  are  required 
for  admission.     The   Museum  is  prepared 
to  receive  large  groups  from  schools  and 
other  organizations,   as  well  as  individual 
children  coming  alone  or  accompanied  by 
parents  or  adults. 

The  following  schedule  shows  the  titles 
of  the  films  to  be  presented  on  each  program : 
October   7 — Jolly   Little   Elves    (cartoon); 
The  17-year  Locust;  Humming  Birds  at 
Home;  Plants  and  Animals  Prepare  for 
Winter. 
October  14 — Gathering  of  the  Clan;  Box- 
ing with  Kangaroos;   Columbus:  a.     At 
the   Court   of   Isabella;   6.     Landing   on 
American  Shores. 
October     21 — Animal     Aristocracy;     The 
"Father  of  Waters";  Romantic  Mexico. 
October  28 — Fun  with  Don  Heaton  in  the 
Wild  West  (Mr.  Heaton  in  person). 
(Continued  on  page  2,  column  3) 


Paget 


FIELD  MUSEUM  NEWS 


October,  19S9 


MAMMOTH  FOUND  WITH  ELK 
AT  WESTERN  SPRINGS,  ILL. 

A  repMDrt  reached  Field  Museum  recently 
that  extensive  excavations  by  WPA  workers 
at  Western  Springs,  Illinois,  had  uncovered 
a  number  of  fossil  bones.  Mr.  Paul  O. 
McGrew,  of  the  Museum's  paleontology 
staff,  accompanied  by  Dr.  E.  C.  Olson,  of 
the  University  of  Chicago,  after  a  trip  to 
the  site  of  the  excavation,  identified  the 
bones  as  a  rib  and  a  foot  bone  of  Parelephas 
jeffersoni,  the  species  of  mammoth  common 
to  the  Mississippi  valley  region  immediately 
after  the  final  retreat  of  the  ice  sheet  which 
covered  all  of  this  part  of  North  America 
during  Pleistocene  time. 

Other  bones  uncovered  were  those  of  an 
elk,  possibly  of  a  modern  species.  Positive 
identification  must  wait  for  more  complete 
material,  but  if  these  bones  are  those  of  a 
modern  elk  it  would  indicate  that  Parelephas 
jeffersoni  ranged  into  relatively  recent 
times.  The  date  of  extinction  of  elephants 
in  North  America  has  always  been  of  interest 
because  of  the  fact  that  certain  Indian 
mounds  are  built  in  a  conventionalized 
elephant  outline,  and  this  was  taken  by 
some  investigators  to  indicate  that  Indians 
and  elephants  were,  at  least  for  a  brief 
period,  contemporaneous. 

AUTUMN  LECTURES  FOR  ADULTS 
TO  OPEN  OCTOBER  7 

(Continued  from  page  1,  column  2) 

October  28 — Wings  from  the  North. 

Martin  K.  Bovey,  Concord,  Massachusetts. 

Three  trips  to  the  wilderness  region  of 
Hudson  Bay,  and  six  weeks  of  color  photog- 
raphy, were  required  to  make  the  thrilling 
motion  pictures  shown  in  Mr.  Bovey's  films. 
During  the  course  of  this  work  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Bovey  lived  with  five  Indian  families. 
Among  the  striking  features  of  the  film  are 
great  flocks  of  ducks  and  geese  dropping  on 
set  wings  toward  the  mud  decoys  of  the 
Indian  hunters,  and  Cree  women  plucking 
the  geese  and  smoking  them  for  their  winter 
food.  Mr.  Bovey,  a  former  instructor  at 
Harvard  University,  once  served  with  the 
Biological  Survey  in  the  Arizona  deserts. 
In  recent  years  he  has  made  profound 
studies  of  the  natural  history  of  various 
regions  of  Canada. 

November  4 — Wonders  of  Plant  Life. 

Arthur  C.  Pillsbury,  Berkeley,  California. 

Mr.  Pillsbury,  by  means  of  highly  devel- 
oped special  equipment  for  the  taking  of 
"lapse  time  pictures"  of  plant  life,  in  natural 
color,  shows  his  audience  in  a  few  minutes' 
imreeling  of  his  films  everything  that 
happens  in  the  life  of  a  plant  during  the 
course  of  several  days.  Thus  one  is  able 
to  see  step  by  step  the  development  from 
bud  to  full  flowering.  Further  refinements 
in  his  equipment  enable  him  to  show  living 
cells  and  cell  division  in  various  forms  of 
microscopic  life. 


November  11 — What  IS  Biblical  Archae- 
ology AND  Why? 

Dr.  Nelson  Glueck,  Director  of  American 
School  of  Oriental  Research,  Jerusalem. 

Dr.  Glueck  last  year  began  the  work  of 
uncovering  King  Solomon's  seaport  at  the 
north  end  of  the  Red  Sea.  With  a  knowledge 
of  Palestinian  history  approached  by  few 
other  scholars,  he  is  qualified  to  establish 
relationships  between  new  archaeological 
finds  and  historical  records.  The  lecture 
will  be  illustrated  with  stereopticon  slides 
showing  Dr.  Glueck's  recent  excavations. 
November  18 — The  Tundra  Speaks. 

Dr.  Arthur  C.  Twomey,  Carnegie  Museum. 

Dr.  Twomey  recently  returned  from  a 
nine  months'  expedition  to  the  interior  of 
Ungava  and  the  Bellcher  Islands  of  Hudson 
Bay.  In  colored  motion  pictures  he  records 
a  trip  by  airplane  to  the  Great  Whale  River, 
and  by  dogteam  and  other  modes  of  travel 
to  the  Arctic.  He  shows  pictures  of  the 
striking  flowers  and  nesting  migratory  birds 
of  the  far  north,  as  well  as  seals,  white 
whales,  and  walrus.  Polar  bear  hunts  by 
the  Eskimos  are  another  feature. 
November  25 — Stratosphere  Explora- 
tion. 

Major  Chester   L.  Fordney,  (rreat   Lakes, 
Illinois. 

Major  Fordney  has  been  farther  away 
from  the  earth  than  almost  any  other  man, 
having  accompanied  Lieutenant-Comman- 
der Settle  of  the  United  States  Navy  on  the 
stratosphere  flight  made  from  Akron,  Ohio, 
on  November  20,  1933,  when  a  new  world's 
altitude  record  of  61,237  feet  was  established. 
The  landing  was  made  in  the  marshes  of  the 
southern  part  of  New  Jersey.  As  a  United 
States  Marine  Corps  ofHcer,  Major  Fordney 
has  had  an  adventurous  career  in  many 
parts  of  the  world,  but  his  journey  into  the 
unknown  of  the  stratosphere,  which  he  will 
relate  in  his  lecture  and  illustrate  with 
motion  picture  films,  exceeds  in  thrills  all 
of  his  other  experiences. 

No  tickets  are  necessary  for  admission 
to  these  lectures.  A  section  of  the  Theatre  is 
reserved  for  Members  of  the  Museum,  each 
of  whom  is  entitled  to  two  reserved  seats  on 
request.  Requests  for  these  seats  may  be 
made  in  advance  by  telephone  (Wabash 
9410)  or  in  writing,  and  seats  will  be  held 
in  the  Member's  name  until  2:30  o'clock 
on  the  day  of  the  lecture.  All  reserved  seats 
not  claimed  by  2:30  o'clock  will  be  made 
available  to  the  general  public. 


long  existed  in  the  Museum's  collection. 
Now  rare  in  the  Alps,  the  chamois  is  still 
common  in  other  high  mountains  of  Europe. 

The  topi,  an  antelope  from  Molo,  Kenya 
Colony,  is  the  East  African  representative 
of  the  brighter  colored  korrigum  anteloi>e 
of  West  Africa.  Hunter's  antelope,  from 
the  Tana  Valley,  Kenya  Colony,  is  a  rare 
species,  allied  to  the  topi,  and  resembling 
the  hartebeests.  The  Museum's  specimen 
was  collected  several  years  ago  by  the 
White-Coats  African  Expedition. 

All  three  animals  were  prepared  for  ex- 
hibition by  Staff  Taxidermist  Julius  Friesser. 

CHILDREN'S  PROGRAMS  OFFERED 
BY  RAYMOND  FOUNDATION 

(Continued  from  page  1 ,  column  3) 

November  4 — Land  of  the  Giants;  Sea 
Going  Thrills  on  the  Wander  Bird; 
Oriental  Methods  of  Traveling;  Glimpses 
of  Old  China. 

November  11 — Armistice  Day  Program: 
Famous  Dixie  Land  Spirituals;  The 
Pilgrims  Land  at  Plymouth;  The  Signing 
of  the  Declaration  of  Independence; 
The  Moon  and  Its  Features. 

November  18 — Hunting  Musk  Ox  with  the 
Polar  Eskimos;  Eskimo  Life  in  Southern 
Greenland;  Nanook  and  His  Family; 
In  the  Land  of  the  Reindeer. 

November  25 — Winter  (cartoon);  Learn- 
ing to  Ski;  Sonja  Henie,  the  Champion 
Skater;  International  Ice  Patrol;  The 
Nass  River  Indians. 


Three  Additions  Made  to  Exhibit 
of  Horned  and  Hoofed  Mammals 

Three  excellent  mounted  mammals  have 
been  added  to  the  systematic  series  of 
horned  and  hoofed  animals  in  George  M. 
Pullman  Hall  (Hall  13).  They  are  a  cham- 
ois, a  topi,  and  a  specimen  of  Hunter's 
antelope.  The  chamois  comes  from  Yugo- 
slavia, and  is  a  gift  from  Dr.  Sholar  Wencel, 
of  Peru,  Illinois.     It  fills  a  gap  which  has 


BOTANICAL  EXPEDITION  LEAVES 
FOR  GUATEMALAN  FIELD 

A  six  months'  expedition  to  make  a 
comprehensive  collection  of  the  plants  of 
Guatemala  for  Field  Museum  is  being 
undertaken  by  Dr.  Julian  A.  Steyermark, 
Assistant  Curator  of  the  Herbarium,  who 
sailed  September  27  on  the  steamship  Vltui 
from  New  Orleans. 

The  expedition  is  sponsored  by  Mr. 
Stanley  F^eld,  President  of  the  Museum. 
Among  the  regions  where  exploration  is 
contemplated  is  the  little  known  Oriente 
area  in  the  departments  of  Chiquimula, 
Jutiapa,  and  Jalapa.  The  desert  area 
around  Zacapa  will  be  worked  in  the  rainy 
season,  and  Dr.  Steyermark  expects  to  find 
a  number  of  unusual  species  of  plants.  The 
expedition  then  plans  to  move  into  the 
Sierra  Madre  region  of  western  Guatemala, 
in  the  departments  of  San  Marcos  and  Hue- 
huetenango.  Particular  attention  will  be 
devoted  to  the  flora  of  the  Tajumulco 
volcano,  and  collecting  is  also  planned  in 
the  district  around  Mazatenango. 

The  work  of  this  expedition  will  supple- 
ment that  undertaken  last  year  by  Curator 
Paul  C.  Standley,  leader  of  the  Sewell  Avery 
Botanical  Expedition  of  Field  Museum. 
In  addition  to  collecting  specimens,  data 
will  be  obtained  for  inclusion  in  the  flora 
of  Guatemala  which  Mr.  Standley  and  Dr. 
Steyermark  are  preparing  for  publication. 


October,  1939 


FIELD  MUSEUM  NEWS 


Page  S 


THE  GIRAFFE  IN  HISTORY 

Lorenzo  de  Medici  had  a  giraffe  in  his 
menagerie  at  Florence  in  the  fifteenth  cen- 
tury. The  animal  was  the  subject  of  much 
curiosity  at  the  royal 
court,  and  it  aroused 
the  envy  of  Anne  de 
Beaujeu,  daughter  of 
Louis  XI  of  France. 
She  had  dreams  of 
owning  a  giraffe  of  her 
own,  and  finally 
fMMwm  '-«>'  alleged  that  Lorenzo 
i0.  (Hdl  had  promised  her  his. 

I  mftWSS  In  a  letter  addressed 

to   him   on   April   14, 
1489,  she  wrote: 

"You  know  that 
you  advised  me  in 
writing  that  you 
would  send  me  the  giraffe,  and  although 
I  am  sure  you  will  keep  your  promise,  I 
beg  you  nevertheless  to  deliver  the  animal 
to  me  and  send  it  this  way,  so  that  you 
may  understand  the  affection  I  have  for  it; 
for  this  is  the  beast  of  the  world  that  I 
have  the  greatest  desire  to  see.  And  if 
there  is  anything  on  this  side  I  can  do  for 
you,  I  shall  apply  myself  to  it  with  all 
my  heart.  God  be  with  you  and  guard  you. 
"Anne  de  France." 
However,  the  Medicean  was  deaf  to  this 
plea,  and  kept  his  giraffe.  "Breach  of 
promise  suits  were  not  yet  instituted  at  that 
time,"  is  the  comment  of  the  late  Dr. 
Berthold  Laufer,  former  Curator  of  Anthro- 
pology at  Field  Museum,  in  relating  this 
story  in  Tfw  Giraffe  in  History  and  Art,  an 
illustrated  leaflet  in  the  Museum's  Anthro- 
pological Series  Many  other  strange  and 
interesting  anecdotes  about  giraffes,  brought 
to  light  by  Dr.  Laufer's  researches,  are 
included  in  this  book  which  is  one  of  the 
most  fascinating  and  delightful  of  the 
author's  many  contributions  to  literature. 
The  leaflet  traces  the  history  of  the 
relation  of  giraffes  to  the  life  of  men  from 
the  earliest  recorded  times.  One  chapter  is 
devoted  to  a  zoological  discussion  of  the 
animal.  Others  tell  of  the  impressions  the 
giraffe  made  on  the  peoples  of  ancient 
Egypt,  primitive  Africa,  Arabia,  Persia, 
China,  India,  ancient  Rome,  Constantinople, 
and  Europe  during  the  Middle  Ages,  the 
Renaissance,  and  the  nineteenth  century. 

The  costliness  of  giraffes  is  one  of  the 
many  interesting  facts  revealed  in  the  book. 
Before  the  1914-18  World  War,  one  of 
these  gentle  beasts  could  be  purchased  for 
the  comparatively  reasonable  price  of  $1,500 
to  $2,000,  but  after  that  war  the  price  range 
rose  to  between  $5,000  and  $7,500  or  more. 
The  transportation  difficulties  presented  by 
the  long  neck  of  a  giraffe  are  a  large  factor 
in  causing  the  high  price. 

Among  the  Arabs,  the  book  reveals,  many 
superstitions  arose  about  the  giraffe.  An 
Arab  diviner  is  quoted  as  writing:  "A  giraffe 
seen  in  a  dream  indicates  a  financial  calamity. 


Sometimes  it  signifies  a  respectable  or  a 
beautiful  woman,  or  the  receipt  of  strange 
news  to  come  from  the  direction  from 
which  the  animal  is  seen.  There  is,  however, 
no  good  in  the  news.  When  a  giraffe  appears 
in  a  dream  to  enter  a  country  or  town,  no 
gain  is  to  be  obtained  from  it,  for  it  augurs 
a  calamity  to  your  property;  there  is  no 
guaranty  for  the  safety  of  a.  friend,  a  spouse, 
or  a  wife  whom  you  may  want  to  take 
through  your  homestead.  A  giraffe  in  a 
dream  may  be  interpreted  to  mean  a  wife 
who  is  not  faithful  to  her  husband." 

By  the  Chinese,  on  the  other  hand,  the 
giraffe  was  regarded  as  an  auspicious  omen, 
the  book  indicates. 

Many  curious  theories  held  in  various 
countries  as  to  the  giraffe's  origin  are  re- 
counted. It  was  ascribed  variously  as  a 
hybrid  of  a  panther  and  a  camel — or  a  camel 
mare  and  a  male  hyena  whose  mongrel 
offspring  mated  with  a  wild  cow  and  pro- 
duced in  the  third  generation  a  giraffe — and 
to  other  such  queer  matings.  From  these 
beliefs  various  forms  of  the  word  "camelo- 
pard"  were  derived  to  describe  it. 

Dr.  Laufer  shows  further:  that  part  of 
the  tribute  of  war  paid  to  King  Tutenkha- 
mon by  the  Nubians  consisted  of  giraffes; 
that  Chinese  emperors  of  the  fifteenth  cen- 
tury treasured  live  giraffes  presented  to 
them  as  gifts;  that  Julius  Caesar  in  46  B.C. 
proudly  displayed  Rome's  first  giraffe  in  a 
triumphal  procession;  that  Ethiopian  women 
wore  giraffe  hair  and  tails  as  ornaments;  and 
that  the  first  live  giraffe  to  arrive  in  France, 
in  1826,  had  a  marked  effect  on  fashions, 
was  glorified  in  poems  and  paintings,  and 
even  became  a  political  symbol. 


The  Giraffe  in  History  and  Art,  by  Berthold  laufer. 
(Field  Museum  Anthropology  Leaflet  27.)  100  pages, 
9  collotype  plates,  1   vignette,  23  text-figures.       $.60 


Tutenkhamon's  Giraffe 

Tribute,  in  form  of  animal,  for  presentation  to 
ancient  ruler  of  Egyptians.  (Sketch,  from  Dr. 
Laufer's     book,     after     Nina     de     Garvis     Davies.) 


Specimens  of  European  red  deer  are 
exhibited  in  George  M.  Pullman  Hall 
(Hall  13).  This  deer  is  the  famed  stag  of 
early  European  history. 


MAGELLANIC  PARTY  REPORTS; 
DR.  OSGOOD  TO  SAIL 

Reports  from  the  advance  party  of  Field 
Museum's  Magellanic  Expedition,  which 
began  operations  in  July,  indicate  good 
success  in  southern  Peru  where  Curators 
Colin  C.  Sanborn  and  Karl  P.  Schmidt  have 
been  working  at  very  high  altitudes  in  the 
region  southwest  of  Lake  Titicaca.  They 
have  secured  series  of  mammals,  birds,  and 
amphibians  belonging  to  species  not  found 
elsewhere  in  South  America  and  wholly 
unrepresented  in  the  collections  of  American 
museums.  Among  them  are  a  number  of 
handsome,  long-haired,  and  particolored 
rodents  which  have  become  especially 
adapted  to  life  on  the  chilly  windswept 
punas  of  the  mountain  tops.  In  this  region 
mammalian  life  appears  to  thrive  at  greater 
altitudes  than  anywhere  else  in  the  world. 

Dr.  Wilfred  H.  Osgood,  Chief  Curator  of 
the  Department  of  Zoology,  expects  to  sail 
from  New  York  October  6  aboard  the  steam- 
ship Santa  Lucia.  He  will  join  the  party 
in  southern  Peru,  and  proceed  thence  via 
central  Chile  to  the  Straits  of  Magellan  for 
extensive  work  which  will  continue  through 
the  southern  summer  season. 


EXTINCT  MOOSE  FROM  ANTIOCH 

Varigus  bones  of  the  skeleton  of  an  extinct 
moose,  Cervalces,  have  been  received  at 
Field  Museum  from  Antioch,  Illinois. 
Mr.  Charles  N.  Ackerman,  a  Member  of 
the  Museum,  who  is  engaged  in  dredging 
operations  in  the  peat  beds  bordering  on 
Grass  Lake,  found  these  bones  in  the  dump 
heap  brought  up  by  his  dredge.  The  dredg- 
ing operations  extend  to  a  depth  of  eighteen 
feet  below  the  water  level,  and  it  is  probable 
that  the  bones  were  preserved  in  the  lower 
layers  of  the  peat  bog.  Other  species  of 
extinct  animals  have  been  encountered 
from  time  to  time  at  this  place. 

Cervalces  is  an  extinct  moose  somewhat 
larger  than  the  Alaskan  moose  and  decidedly 
larger  than  the  Canadian  moose  which 
ranged  about  the  lake  region.  The  animal 
is  distinguished  from  the  living  moose  by 
its  antlers  which  are  intermediate  in  struc- 
ture between  those  of  a  moose  and  the 
wapiti.  This  animal  is  best  known  from  a 
skeleton  found  in  New  Jersey,  but  other 
evidences  of  its  presence  have  been  recorded 
from  a  bog  spring  at  Minooka,  Illinois, 
from  Beecher  and  Alton,  Illinois,  from 
Oakland  City,  Indiana,  and  Big  Bone  Lick, 
Kentucky.  These  occurrences  show  that 
this  extinct  moose  had  a  wide  distribution 
through  the  Great  Lakes  Region  and 
through  the  central  states  after  the  retreat 
of  the  Great  Glacier.— E.  S.  R. 


As  many  as  500  extension  lectures  are 
given  in  the  schools  of  Chicago  during  a 
year  by  lecturers  of  the  James  Nelson  and 
Anna  Louise  Raymond  Foundation. 


Page  i 


FIELD  MUSEUM  NEWS 


October,  1939 


ANCIENT  CHINESE  BRONZE  TYPE  REVEALS  SOME  OF  THE  HISTORY  OF  PRINTING 


By  C.  martin  WILBUR 

CURATOR  or  CHINBSS  ARCHAEOLOGY  AND  ETHNOUMY 

Eleven  old  pieces  of  movable  type,  cast 
in  bronze  in  Korea,  but  made  to  print 
Chinese  characters,  have  recently  been  pre- 
sented to  Field  Museum  by  Mr.  Thomas  E. 
Donnelley,  of  a  well-known  printing  and 
publishing  firm  in  Chicago.  They  have  a 
particular  interest  at  this  time  because  they 
are  almost  as  old  as  the  European  invention 
of  metal  type  cast  in   molds.     The   five 


Chinese  Printers 

Setting  type  by  hand  in  the  Chinese  imperial  printing  office,  about  1773. 
Three  men  at  the  back  of  the  room  are  finding  characters  filed  in  drawers.  The 
men  in  foreground  are  engaged  in   examining  pages  of  type  and  reading  proof. 


hundredth  anniversary  of  that  important 
invention  is  to  be  celebrated  by  the  printing 
industry  in  1940.  The  Chinese  could 
celebrate  an  anniversary  for  the  same 
invention  at  least  half  a  century  earlier, 
and  could  further  point  to  their  invention 
of  movable  type  made  of  wood,  or  baked 
in  clay,  several  centuries  previously. 
Two  interesting  facts  stand  out: 
The  Chinese  invention  of  metal  type  cast 
in  molds,  though  chronologically  earlier,  had 
no  known  influence  on  the  European  in- 
vention. A  common  knowledge  of  certain 
preliminary  essentials  for  type  printing,  such 
as  paper  and  block  printing,  together  with 
similar  needs  in  the  two  cultures,  seem 
to  have  produced  similar  results  thousands 
of  miles  apart  within  the  same  century. 

Secondly,  the  same  invention  had  radically 
different  developments  in  the  two  areas. 
In  Europe  the  transition  from  block  printing 
to  printing  from  type  cast  in  molds  covered 


about  a  century;  the  new  technique  de- 
velop)ed  and  spread  rapidly  to  scores  of 
cities;  block  printing  quickly  went  out  of 
use.  In  China  the  process  was  otherwise. 
There  the  Chinese  were  extensively  printing 
charms,  calendars,  and  religious  and  secular 
books  in  the  eighth  and  ninth  centuries. 
Experiments  with  movable  wooden  or  baked 
clay  types  did  not  quickly  produce  a  general 
shift  to  metal  type  cast  in  molds.  And 
even  after  the  development  and  wide  use 
of  that  technique,  which 
seems  more  advanced 
and  logical  from  our 
point  of  view,  block 
printing  continued  to  be 
used  in  China  side  by 
side  with  movable  type 
printing  down  to  our 
day. 

Why  did  the  two  cul- 
tures treat  the  inven- 
tion in  entirely  different 
ways?  Perhaps  an  an- 
swer can  be  found  in  the 
specimens  of  Korean- 
made  Chinese  type  now 
on  exhibition  in  Field 
Museum  (Hall  32, 
Case  27). 

These  types  seem  to 
be  about  the  same  age 
as  the  ones  used  by 
Gutenberg  for  the  fam- 
ous Vulgate  Bible  of 
1456.  They  are  thought 
to  come  from  Korean 
fonts  dating  1452  and 
1455.  Of  two  sizes,  they 
measure  respectively  a 
little  more  and  a  little 
less  than  half  an  inch 
square  at  the  shoulder, 
i.e.,  just  below  the  print- 
ing face,  and  the  body 
is  about  J^  of  an  inch 
high,  which  is  about  one-third  as  high  as 
modern  type.  The  larger  ones  average  10.2 
grams  in  weight.  They  are  hollowed  on  the 
bottom  to  give  a  firmer  attachment  to  the 
melted  wax  in  which  they  fitted  in  the 
bottom  of  the  chase  when  set.  Two  styles 
of  calligraphy  are  represented.  All  of  the 
type  have  become  green  from  age,  and  some 
are  badly  corroded  or  so  clogged  with  ancient 
ink  that  the  characters  cannot  be  deciphered. 
Others  could  still  be  used  in  printing  today. 
Apparently  it  was  not  long  after  the 
process  of  casting  type  was  developed  in 
China  that  it  spread  to  Korea  where  it  was 
enthusiastically  adopted.  Under  royal  en- 
couragement the  official  casting  of  type 
and  the  printing  of  books  therefrom  began 
about  1400 — the  earliest  official  date  being 
1403.  Several  hundred  thousand  type  were 
cast  from  the  first  molds.  Three  different 
royal  fonts  are  recorded  before  1440,  the 
accepted  date  for  the  invention  of  the  type 


mold  in  Europe,  and  about  half  a  million 
type  had  been  produced.  In  fact  so  many 
fonts  are  recorded  as  having  been  made  in 
Korea  during  the  fifteenth  and  succeeding 
centuries,  with  several  recastings  from  some 
of  the  famous  sets  of  molds,  that  it  is  im- 
possible to  determine  the  date  of  a  specimen 
without  a  close  check  between  the  type  and 
printed  books  of  which  the  date  of  printing 
and  specific  font  are  known.  This  informa- 
tion is  available  only  in  Seoul,  the  former 
royal  capital  of  Korea.  Our  attribution 
comes  from  the  collector,  Dr.  James  S. 
Gale,  who  lived  for  forty  years  in  Korea, 
and  was  one  of  the  greatest  missionary- 
scholars.  He  carefully  studied  the  whole 
problem   of   early   Korean   movable   type. 

WORDS,  NOT  LETTERS,  REPRESENTED 

It  is  significant  that  our  type  was  cast 
under  imperial  patronage  for  the  specific 
purpose  of  extensive  printing  of  all  sorts 
of  books.  From  the  molds  of  1455  more 
than  150,000  type  were  cast,  and  nearly 
two  tons  of  bronze  must  have  been  used, 
not  counting  waste.  Now  150,000  type  is 
not  a  large  number  for  hand-set  book 
printing,  though  it  would  undoubtedly  have 
been  counted  large  in  Europe  at  the  time. 
A  very  small  font  of  Chinese  characters  in 
F^eld  Museum  contains  about  120,000  type. 
But  this  figure  covers  approximately  3,000 
different  kinds  of  type,  all  of  the  same  point 
size,  with  no  upper  or  lower  case,  and  only 
about  ten  punctuation  marks.  Each  of  the 
three  thousand  different  kinds  of  type  repre- 
sents a  separate  word,  as  opposed  to  separate 
letters  in  Western  fonts.  For  Chinese  is 
not  an  alphabetic  language.  Herein  lies  a 
tremendous  difference,  and  herein  may  prob- 
ably be  found  one  explanation  for  the  fact 
that  movable  type  failed  to  drive  out  block 
printing  in  China. 

Three  thousand  words  represent  only  a 
small  vocabulary.  To  publish  its  most 
recent  book  using  only  a  little  Chinese  type 
it  was  necessary  for  Keld  Museum  to 
borrow  a  number  of  words  not  among  the 
3,000  in  its  font.  The  standard  Chinese- 
English  dictionary  contains  14,000  words. 
To  set  it  the  printers  had  to  have  that  many 
different  type  available.  Any  Chinese  book 
on  history,  literature,  or  philosophy  would 
draw  on  a  vocabulary  even  larger. 
compositor's  task  a  hard  one 

With  a  font  of  ten  to  fifteen  thousand 
different  words  in  a  single  point  size,  and 
having  an  adequate  number  of  duplicates 
of  the  most  common  words,  the  typesetter 
is  faced  with  a  serious  problem  to  find  the 
desired  words  for  a  single  page  of  text.  It 
has  been  estimated  that  in  order  to  hand- 
set a  single  page  of  a  Chinese  newspaper — 
in  which  the  vocabulary  is  purposely  limited 
and  the  type  are  scientifically  arranged  on 
the  basis  of  frequency  of  occurrence — a 
typesetter  has  to  walk  three  miles  between 
his  cases.    No  really  adequate  type-setting 


October,  1939 


FIELD  MUSEUM  NEWS 


Page  5 


machine   for   Chinese   has  been   produced 
despite  years  of  experimentation. 

This  situation,  then,  helps  to  explain  why 
wood-block  printing  held  certain  advantages 
over  movable  type  printing  in  China,  and 
why  the  Chinese  did  not  follow  the  same 
path  as  European  printers.  In  the  wood- 
block method  a  page  of  text  is  written  by 
hand  on  thin  paper  which  is  then  pasted 
face  down  on  a  prepared  board.  The 
writing  shows  through  the  paper  in  reverse, 
and  a  carver  simply  cuts  away  the  wood 
about  an  eighth  of  an  inch  wherever  there 
is  no  writing.  From  this  point  on  the 
process  of  printing  was  exactly  the  same 
as  the  process  with  movable  type.  It  was  a 
hand  job  without  a  press,  which  the  Chinese 
failed  to  invent.  Indeed  the  wood-block 
had  certain  advantages:  the  type  could  not 
come  loose,  as  in  the  crude  Chinese  type 
chase;  there  was  less  possibility  of  typo- 
graphical error;  and  new  editions  could  be 
printed  over  and  over  from  the  old  blocks 
till  they  were  worn  out  or  lost. 

WOODEN  TYPE  ALSO  RECEIVED 

Since  most  Chinese  printing  establish- 
ments in  the  past  were  small  and  were  not 
printing  a  wide  range  of  books,  an  invest- 
ment in  a  huge  font  of  type  was  either 
prohibitive  or  unnecessary.  It  would  be 
wrong  to  create  the  impression,  however, 
that  the  Chinese  neglected  movable  type. 
For  the  printing  of  imperial  editions  of 
important  books  the  imperial  printing  office 
used  extensive  fonts  of  cast  metal  type  as 
well  as  carved  wooden  type  of  which 
hundreds  of  thousands   were  cut  by  hand! 

In  Mr.  Donnelley's  gift  there  were  also 
thirty  small  hand-cut  wooden  type,  of  recent 
Korean  make.    The  accompanying  illustra- 


tion, taken  from  a  Chinese  book  describing 
the  imperial  printing  office  of  1773 — a  book 
recently  acquired  by  the  Library  of  Field 
Museum — shows  how  type  was  set  by  hand 
and  makes  clear  what  a  laborious  process 
this  must  have  been.  A  modern  Chinese 
typesetter  with  his  banks  of  type  around 
him,  has  only  the  advantage  of  scientific 
arrangement  of  the  characters  to  lessen  the 
drudgery  of  his  chores. 


Ancient  Type 

Nine  specimens  of  bronze  movable  type  made  in 
Korea  during  the  fifteenth  century  to  print  Chinese 
books.  The  type  have  been  photographed  lying  on 
a  wood  block  cut  to  print  a  whole  page,  which  is  an 
alternative  method.  The  three  top  specimens  are  face 
up:  the  half-size  type  in  the  middle  is  for  printing 
footnotes;  the  five  type  on  back  or  sides  show  groove 
in  bottom  for  attachment  to  wax  in  bottom  of  chase. 


MUSEUM  ACQUIRES  COLLECTION 
OF  50,000  AMERICAN  BIRDS 

Field  Museum  recently  acquired  the  well- 
known  Bishop  collection  of  more  than 
50,000  North  American  birds,  one  of  the 
largest  and  most  important  collections  ever 
assembled,  and  the  last  of  its  kind  which, 
had  not  passed  to  a  public  institution. 

The  negotiations  to  obtain  this  collection 
were  recently  completed  by  Dr.  Wilfred  H. 
Osgood,  Chief  Curator  of  the  Department 
of  Zoology,  on  a  visit  to  Dr.  Louis  B.  Bishop 
at  Pasadena,  California.  Dr.  Osgood  is  an 
old  friend  of  Dr.  Bishop's,  and  in  1899  they 
conducted  an  expedition  together  to  the 
Yukon  and  Alaska. 

Field  Museum  has  already  obtained 
possession  of  the  major  part  of  the  collection 
which  had  been  housed  at  New  Haven, 
Connecticut.  A  further  part  will  remain 
in  Los  Angeles  where,  during  the  rest  of  his 
life.  Dr.  Bishop  will  continue  research  upon 
it,  and  further  work  towards  its  improve- 
ment. 

The  Bishop  collection  includes  repre- 
sentatives of  nearly  all  known  forms  of 
birds  found  in  every  section  of  North 
America  north  of  Mexico.  Formation  of 
this  collection  represents  forty  years  of 
constant  and  intensive  effort,  both  on  the  part 
of  Dr.  Bishop  and  numerous  professional 
ornithologists  who  have  been  associated 
with  him  at  various  times.  According 
to  Mr.  Rudyerd  Boulton,  Curator  of  Birds, 
who  has  made  a  careful  inspection  of  the 
collection,  the  specimens  are  distinctly 
superior  to  the  average  in  quality  of  prepara- 
tion. An  important  item  is  the  inclusion  of 
thirty  type-specimens.  "Type-specimen" 
is  the  scientific  term  for  the  original  repre- 
sentative of  a  species  to  be  collected,  which 
thus  forms  a  basis  for  the  description  of 
that  species  to  which  all  other  specimens 
are  referred  for  identification.  Included 
also  are  specimens  of  various  birds  which 
are  now  extinct,  such  as  the  Carolina 
parakeet,  the  Guadalupe  flicker  and  petrel, 
heath  hen,  Eskimo  curlew,  and  passenger 
pigeon.  Many  others  are  of  species  which 
have  become  very  scarce  and  difficult  to 
obtain. 

To  date.  Field  Museum's  principal  efforts 
in  ornithological  research  have  been  devoted 
to  the  birds  of  Central  and  South  America, 
Africa,  and  other  foreign  localities.  The 
North  American  field  had  been  left  largely 
to  other  institutions,  although  Field  Mu- 


seum did  have  a  collection  which  is  ex- 
tensive enough  to  be  regarded  as  important. 
Addition  of  this  new  collection  fills  a  large 
gap  in  the  Division  of  Ornithology,  and 
gives  the  institution  one  of  the  most  com- 
prehensive North  American  bird  collections 
either  in  this  country  or  abroad.  It  is 
estimated  by  Dr.  Osgood  that  the  collection 
had  cost  its  former  owner  nearly  $100,000, 
and  it  is  doubtful  if  it  could  be  reproduced 
at  this  time  for  twice  that  figure. 

The  acquisition  of  the  Bishop  collection 
is  of  tremendous  importance  to  scientists 
and  to  students  of  zoology,  because  of  the 
unusual  research  opportunities  it  affords. 
For  this  purpose  it  is  especially  valuable 
because  the  birds  of  North  America  have 
been  more  intensively  studied  than  those 
of  any  other  part  of  the  world,  and  a  detailed 
knowledge  of  them  is  fundamental  to  all 
ornithological  research  in  evolution,  varia- 
tion, and  all  theoretical  fields  of  biology. 

Dr.  Bishop  is  one  of  the  few  surviving 
American  ornithologists  who  began  studies 
of  American  birds  in  the  very  active  period 
of  the  "nineties"  and  formed  private  collec- 
tions rivalling  in  size  and  importance  those 
of  public  institutions.  Other  famous  collec- 
tions include  that  of  William  Brewster, 
which  is  now  in  the  Museum  of  Comparative 
Zoology,  Cambridge,  Massachusetts;  and 
that  of  Jonathan  Dwight,  which  is  now  in 
the  American  Museum  of  Natural  History 
in  New  York. 

Dr.  Bishop  was  born  in  New  Haven, 
Connecticut  where  he  graduated  from 
Yale  and  continued  studies  in  medicine 
in  the  special  field  of  pediatrics  which  he 
expected  to  follow  professionally.  His 
passion  for  ornithology,  however,  led  him  to 
relinquish  other  interests  and  devote  his 
entire  life  to  collecting  and  studying  birds. 
In  his  early  years  he  made  numerous  trips 
to  North  Dakota  and  the  Middle  West,  to 
eastern  Canada  and,  in  1899,  to  the  Yukon 
River  and  Alaska.  In  1917  he  removed  to 
Pasadena,  California,  and  continued  his 
interests  there.  An  important  collection 
of  birds'  nests  and  eggs,  assembled  by  him, 
is  now  in  the  Peabody  Museum  of  Yale 
University. 

Death  is  the  Penalty  for  Seeing 
New  Guinea  Masked  Man 

Each  family  of  Tami  in  the  Huon  Gulf, 
New  Guinea,  has  the  right  to  use  one  or 
more  masks  of  a  type  known  as  tago.  Each 
tago  has  a  special  name,  and  is  distinguished 
by  certain  definite  characteristics.  The 
masks  represent  spirits  which  are  supposed 
to  visit  the  village  at  the  time  the  masked 
figures  appear.  The  man  wearing  the  mask 
is  completely  covered  by  a  sago  leaf  dress, 
and  under  no  circumstances  may  he  be  seen 
or  recognized  by  any  woman,  child,  or  un- 
initiated person.  Should  this  happen  by 
accident,  the  observer  is  killed.  Examples 
of  tago  are  on  exhibition  in  Joseph  N.  Field 
Hall  (Hall  A),  on  the  Museum's  ground  floor. 


Page  6 


FIELD  MUSEUM  NEWS 


October,  19S9 


Field  Museum  of  Natural  History 

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

THE  BOARD  OF  TRUSTEES 
Lester  Armour  Samijel  Insull,  Jr. 

Sbwell  L.  Avery  Charles  A.  McCulloch 

William  McCormick  Blair   William  H.  Mitchell 
Leopold  E.  Block  George  A.  Richardson 

Walter  J.  Cummings  Theodore  Roosevelt 

Albert  B.  Dick,  Jr.  Jahbs  Simpson 

Joseph  N.  Field  Solomon  A.  Smith 

Marshall  Field  Albert  A.  Sprague 

Stanley  Field  Silas  H.  Strawn 

Albert  W.  Harris  Albert  H.  Wetten 

John  P.  Wilson 

OFFICERS 

Stanley  Field Prendent 

Albert  A.  Spragub Firtt  Vice-President 

James  Simpson Second  Vice-President 

Albert  W.  Harris Third  Vice-President 

Clifford  C.  Gregg Director  and  Secretary 

Solomon  A.  Smith.  .  .Treasurer  and  Assistant  Secretary 

FIELD  MUSEUM  NEWS 

Clifford  C.  Gregg,  Director  of  the  Museum Editor 

CONTRIBUTING  EDITORS 

Paul  S.  Martin Chief  Curator  of  Anthropology 

B.  E.  DahlGren Chief  Curator  of  Botany 

Henry  W.  Nichols Chief  Curator  of  Geology 

Wilfred  H.  Osgood Chief  Curator  of  Zoology 

H.  B.  Harte Managirtg  Editor 

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


FROM  THE  DIRECTOR'S  DESK— 


Field  Museum  Pension  Plan 

For  many  years  it  has  been  the  desire  of 
the  management  of  Field  Museum  to 
establish  a  pension  plan  which  might  insure 
a  regular  retirement  income  for  faithful 
employees  after  their  period  of  active  service 
had  been  completed.  As  early  as  1916,  Mr. 
Stanley  Field,  President  of  the  Museum, 
established  a  Museum  Employees'  Pension 
Fund,  the  proceeds  of  which  gave  to  the 
employees  the  benefit  of  insurance  protec- 
tion for  their  dependents.  While  this 
benefit  was  greatly  prized  at  the  Museum, 
it  was  still  felt  by  those  responsible  for  the 
operation  of  the  institution  that  the  em- 
ployee himself  was  entitled  to  protection 
and  leisure  in  his  declining  years,  as  well  as 
some  security  for  his  dependents. 

Recently  Mr.  Marshall  Field,  a  Trustee 
of  the  Museum  who  always  has  been  deeply 
interested  in  the  welfare  of  the  employees, 
provided  the  means  by  which  such  a  pension 
plan  might  be  established,  and  on  July  1, 
1939,  the  Plan  was  instituted  through  a 
contract  with  the  Metropolitan  Life  In- 
surance Company.  Under  the  Plan  each 
employee  pays  approximately  4%  of  his 
salary  to  the  Pension  Fund.  The  Museum 
contributes  a  much  larger  sum,  and  with 
the  combined  contributions  purchases  an- 
nuities amounting  to  134%  of  the  employee's 
salary  for  each  year  of  his  membership  in 
the  Plan.  Annuities  for  past  service, 
amounting  to  1%  of  the  current  salary  for 
each  year  of  service  prior  to  the  beginning 
of  the  Plan,  will  be  purchased  by  the 
Museum  without  employee  contribution. 
Normal  retirement  ages  have  been  set  at 
65  years  for  men  and  60  years  for  women. 
Retirement  will  automatically  occur  at  those 


ages  unless  the  Board  of  Trustees  requests 
that  the  employee  continue  longer  in  service, 
which  invitation  he  may  accept  or  decline. 

It  is  impossible  under  any  circumstances 
for  an  employee  or  his  estate  to  receive  from 
the  Plan  less  than  he  has  put  into  it.  Upon 
leaving  the  Museum  prior  to  retirement, 
the  employee  is  entitled  to  the  return  of  his 
money  with  interest  compounded  annually  at 
the  rate  of  2J4%.  In  the  event  of  the  death 
of  an  employee  either  prior  to  or  subsequent 
to  retirement,  his  estate  is  entitled  to  his 
entire  contribution  with  interest  com- 
pounded annually. 

Another  provision  protecting  the  interest 
of  the  employee  who  leaves  the  institution 
after  more  than  ten  years  of  membership 
in  the  Pension  Plan,  is  the  so-called  "vested 
interest"  provision.  This  provides  that  an 
employee  after  ten  years  of  membership  is 
entitled  to  receive  at  retirement  age  the  full 
benefits  of  the  pension  thus  far  purchased 
for  him  by  both  his  own  and  the  Museum's 
contributions. 

The  wide-spread  approval  of  the  em- 
ployees is  indicated  by  unanimous  accept- 
ance on  the  part  of  those  eligible.  Both 
the  management  and  the  employees  rejoice 
in  the  assurance  that  a  lifetime  of  faithful 
service  at  the  Museum  may  be  followed  by 
leisure  and  freedom  from  financial  worries 
in  the  later  years  of  life. 

— Clifford  C.  Gregg,  Director 


Fish  and  Reptile  Experts 
Meet  at  Museum 

Field  Museum  was  one  of  three  Chicago 
scientific  institutions  which  acted  as  hosts 
to  delegates  attending  the  annual  meeting 
of  the  American  Society  of  Ichthyologists 
and  Herpetologists,  September  13-16.  At 
the  opening  meeting  an  address  of  welcome 
was  made  by  Director  Clifford  C.  Gregg. 
Meetings  on  succeeding  days  were  held  at 
the  John  G.  Shedd  Aquarium  and  the 
Chicago  Academy  of  Sciences,  with  a  ban- 
quet at  the  Medinah  Athletic  Club.  Several 
reels  of  motion  pictures  made  by  Mr.  Walter 
H.  Chute,  Director  of  the  Shedd  Aquarium, 
were  shown.  Open  house  was  held  at  Locy 
Hall,  Northwestern  University.  This  was 
the  first  meeting  of  the  society  held  in 
Chicago  since  1922.  Special  exhibits  for  the 
visitors  were  arranged  at  Field  Museum  and 
the  other  host  institutions. 


Important  Fossil  Collections 
Reported  by  Expedition 

A  number  of  important  fossil  finds  by 
the  Field  Museum  Paleontological  Expedi- 
tion to  Western  Colorado  were  recently 
reported  by  its  leader,  Mr.  Bryan  Patterson, 
Assistant  Curator  of  Paleontology.  Out- 
standing is  the  skeleton  of  a  prehistoric 
animal  of  the  family  Taeniodontia.  This  is 
a  small  group  of  early  hoofed  mammals — 
forerunners  of  a  similar  but  larger  creature 
excavated  by   Mr.   Patterson  in   1933  and 


known  as  Barylamhda.  The  present  speci- 
men, Mr.  Patterson  states,  may  constitute 
a  new  genus. 

Other  specimens  collected  by  the  present 
expedition  include  multituberculates  (a 
group  of  small  rodent-like  animals  charac- 
terized by  many  cone-like  prominences  on 
their  teeth),  and  prehistoric  turtles.  Work 
has  been  begun  on  the  excavation  of  a  fossil 
crocodile,  and  a  large  collection  of  small 
fossil  animals  has  been  made. 


Staff  Notes 


Dr.  Julian  A.  Steyermark,  Assistant 
Curator  of  the  Herbarium,  and  Mr.  Loren 
P.  Woods,  of  the  Raymond  Foundation 
staff,  recently  made  a  short  trip  to  collect 
plants  and  fishes  in  a  number  of  Missouri 
springs.  Mr.  Woods  brought  back  4,000 
specimens  of  fishes,  which  are  to  be  added 
to  the  Museum's  collection.  Dr.  Steyermark 
collected  several  hundred  specimens  of  plants. 
Among  the  plants  is  one  new  to  Missouri, 
found  several  hundred  miles  north  of  its 
previously  known  range  in  the  United  States. 


Assistant  Taxidermist  Edgar  G.  Lay- 
bourne  has  resigned  to  accept  a  position  in 
Hawaii. 


Mr.  J.  Francis  Macbride,  Associate  Cura- 
tor of  the  Herbarium,  who  has  been  con- 
ducting a  botanical  project  for  Field  Museum 
in  Europe  since  1929,  is  currently  at  work 
in  Geneva,  Switzerland,  and  is  believed^to 
be  safe  from  war  hazards  in  that  neutral 
country.  During  most  of  the  past  year  his 
activities  have  centered  in  Paris. 


A  FEW  FACTS  ABOUT  FIELD  MUSEUM 

Field  Mxiseum  is  open  every  day  of  tile  year 
(except  Cliristmas  and  New  Year's  Day)  during 
tile  tiours  indicated  below : 

Novemlier,  Decemljer, 

January,  February  ...  .9  a.m.  to  4  p.m. 
Marcli,  April,  and 

September,  October  ...  9  A.M.  to  6  P.M. 
May,  June,  July,  August. 9  A.M.  to  6  P.M. 

Admission  is  free  to  Members  on  all  days. 
Otlier  adults  are  admitted  free  on  Tiiursdays, 
Saturdays,  and  Sundays;  non-members  pay  25 
cents  on  other  days.  Children  are  admitted  free 
on  all  days.  Students  and  faculty  members  of 
educational  institutions  are  admitted  free  any 
day  upon  presentation  of  credentials. 

The  Museum's  Library  is  open  for  reference 
daily  except  Saturday  afternoon  and  Sunday. 

Traveling  exhibits  are  circulated  in  the 
schools  of  Chicago  by  the  N.  W.  Harris  Public 
School  Extension  Department  of  the  Museum. 

Lectures  at  schools,  and  special  entertain- 
ments and  tours  for  children  at  the  Museum,  are 
provided  by  the  James  Nelson  and  Anna  Louise 
Raymond  Foundation  for  Public  School  and 
Children's  Lectures. 

Free  courses  of  lectures  for  adults  are  pre- 
sented in  the  James  Simpson  Theatre  on  Satur- 
day afternoons  (at  2:30  o'clock)  in  March, 
April,  October,  and  November. 

A  Cafeteria  serves  visitors.  Rooms  are  avail- 
able also  for  those  bringing  their  lunches. 

Chicago  Motor  Coach  Company  No.  26 
busses  provide  direct  transportation  to  the 
Museum.  Service  is  offered  also  by  Surface 
Lines,  Rapid  Transit  Lines  (the  "L"),  inter- 
urban  electric  lines,  and  Illinois  Central  trains. 
There  is  ample  free  parking  space  for  auto- 
mobiles at  the  Museum. 


October,  193  9 


FIELD  MUSEUM  NEWS 


Page  1 


THE  HUMBOLDT  CURRENT 

By  KARL  P.  SCHMIDT 

CURATOR  OF  AMPHIBIANS  AND  REPTILES 

(Editor's  Note:  Mr.  Schmidt  at  present  is 
in  South  America  as  a  member  of  the  Magel- 
lanic Expedition  of  Field  Museum.  The 
following  article,  virilten  aboard  ship  en  route 
to  Lima,  has  just  been  received  from  him.) 

The  sudden  change  of  temperature  en- 
countered as  one's  ship  passes  the  Gulf  of 
Guayaquil  and  rounds  Cape  Blanco,  the 
westernmost  point  of  Peru,  is  one  of  the 
surprises  of  a  voyage  to  western  South 
America  from  the  north.  The  oppressive 
heat  of  the  Canal  Zone  and  of  the  Colombian 
port  of  Buenaventura  is  only  a  little  relieved 
at  sea,  where  the  daily  temperature  range 
is  from  about  82°  to  90°.  As  the  ship 
enters  Peruvian  waters  the  temperature 
drops  more  than  ten  degrees,  to  a  daily  range 
of  70°  to  76°.  Coats  and  sweaters  make 
their  appearance  on  deck,  and  covers  are 
required  at  night.  We  find  ourselves  in  the 
climate  dominated  by  the  cold  Humboldt 
Current,  the  major  oceanographic  feature 
of  the  southeastern  Pacific. 

Alexander  von  Humboldt,  first  of  the  great 
scientific  travelers,  described  the  geographic 
effects  of  the  vast  current  of  cold  water 
named  for  him.  The  Humboldt  Current 
turns  out  to  be  a  phenomenon  very  different 
from  the  more  familiar  river-like  ocean 
currents,  like  our  Atlantic  Gulf  Stream.  On 
the  western  borders  of  the  continents,  in 
the  middle  latitudes,  the  steady  trade  winds 
drive  the  surface  waters  of  the  ocean  before 
them,  and  the  water  thus  removed  is  replaced 
by  vertically  upwelling  waters  from  the 
depths  of  the  ocean.  The  slow  creep  of 
the  glacial  waters  from  the  poles  maintains 
the  bottom  waters  of  all  oceans  at  tempera- 
tures near  freezing,  and  an  upwelling  current 
accordingly  draws  on  this  source  of  cold. 

JUNGLE  CHANGES  TO  DESERT 

The  upwelling  strip  of  cold  water  along 
the  coast  of  Chile  and  southern  Peru  is 
about  forty  miles  wide,  and  as  it  accumu- 
lates it  flows  away  northward,  becoming 
river-like  as  it  is  deflected  westward  by  the 
trend  of  the  Peruvian  coast  to  wash  the 
shores  of  the  equatorial  Galapagos  Islands 
before  it  is  swamped  by  the  warm  waters 
of  the  tropics. 

The  effect  of  the  Humboldt  Current  on 
the  adjacent  tropical  coasts  is  profound. 
Instead  of  the  forest  and  jungle  of  Panama 
and  the  Colombian  coast,  which  one 
naturally  associates  with  the  tropics,  the 
Peruvian  coast  is  a  desert  of  barren  cliffs 
and  hills,  often  so  extremely  arid  that  not 
a  spear  of  vegetation  is  to  be  seen  for  miles. 
The  cool  winds  coming  in  from  the  Pacific 
are  warmed  as  they  reach  the  heated  land, 
and  since  this  increase  in  temperature  in- 
creases their  capacity  for  moisture,  no  rain 
falls  near  the  coast — winds  from  the  east 
have  had  to  drop  their  moisture  in  crossing 
the    Andean    ranges.      The   result    is    the 


Chilean  and  Peruvian  desert  coast,  which 
contrasts  as  remarkably  with  the  jungles 
and  rain  forests  proper  to  the  tropics  as 
does  the  temperature  at  sea  with  the 
familiar  connotation  of  the  word  tropical. 

The  biological  effects  of  the  upwelling 
oceanic  waters  are  of  even  greater  impor- 
tance than  the  effect  on  the  adjacent  land. 
Every  living  surface  creature  in  this  part  of 
the  vast  Pacific  must  die,  and  sinking  slowly 
to  the  bottom,  must  slowly  decay  and  leave 
the  simple  chemical  compounds  so  vital  to  the 
growth  of  plant  life.  But  since  plants  in 
general  require  sunlight,  and  since  sunlight 
penetrates  only  a  few  hundred  feet  of  the 
upper  stratum  of  the  ocean,  this  vast  store 
of  accumulating  plant  food  is  withdrawn 
from  the  normal  plant-animal-plant  circu- 
lation. 

THE  WEB  OF  LIFE  REVEALED 

In  the  strip  of  upwelling  water  along  the 
South  American  coast,  this  stored-up 
nitrogen  and  phosphorus  is  brought  into  the 
lighted  zone,  where  it  becomes  available  to 
plants,  while  the  coldness  of  the  water,  with 
its  increased  capacity  for  carbon  dioxide 
and  oxygen  is  an  additional  factor  to  both 
plants    and    animals.      With    a    basic    and 


inexhaustible  food  supply,  the  microscopic 
plants  of  the  open  ocean  flourish  in  incon- 
ceivable numbers,  and  the  stalked  algae 
along  the  coast  grow  to  an  unparalleled  size. 
As  on  land,  the  plant  life  of  the  sea  in  its 
turn  forms  the  basic  food  supply  of  animals. 
Microscopic  animals  feed  on  the  myriad 
diatoms,  to  be  eaten  in  turn  by  large  though 
still  minute  crustaceans  and  other  floating 
animals.  These  are  fed  upon  by  the  smaller 
fishes,  which  become  the  food  of  the  larger 
fishes  and  other  marine  creatures.  Myriads 
of  sea  birds  are  attracted  by  the  never-failing 
food  supply,  and  sharks,  sea  lions,  and 
whales  end  this  greatest  of  all  "food  chains." 
We  may  even  add  man,  with  his  fisheries,  to 
this  series;  and  it  must  be  remembered  that 
New  England  sailors  frequented  these 
waters  for  generations  in  search  of  whales. 
Climate,  plant  life,  animal  life,  and  human 
relations  to  the  environment  are  all  inter- 
related and  dependent  in  last  analysis  on  the 
revolution  of  the  earth  (which  produces  the 
winds  and  ocean  currents),  and  the  earth's 
intake  of  sunlight.  But  it  is  only  in  a  few 
regions  like  the  Peruvian  coast  that  the 
major  outlines  of  the  vast  complex  web  of 
life  are  so  simplified  that  we  can  trace  cause 
and  effect  backward  to  the  physical  sources. 


THINGS  YOU  MAY  HAVE  MISSED 


A  Rolling  Stove 

A  way  of  taking  a  coal  or  charcoal  fire 
right  to  bed  with  one  on  chilly  nights,  with- 
out endangering  either  oneself  or  the  bed- 
clothes, was  devised  by  an  ingenious  Chinese 
hundreds  of  years  ago.  It  was  done  by 
means  of  a  cleverly  contrived  bed-warmer, 
which  might  be  described  as  a  rolling  stove. 
An  example  dating  from  the  seventeenth 
century  is  to  be  seen  in  the  Chinese  collec- 
tions in  George  T.  and  Frances  Gaylord 
Smith  Hall  (Hall  24,  Case  24). 

The  device  consists  of  a  hollow  sphere  of 
brass,  cut  out  in  rosette-like  designs  to  let 


Chinese  Bedwarmer 

The  tops  of  the  brazier,  and  of  the  gimbal-sup- 
ported  fire  bowl,  have  been  removed  to  show  the 
ingenious  construction  of  this  device  for  safely  taking  a 
coal  or  charcoal  fire  to  bed  where  it  can  be  rolled  around. 


air  in  and  heat  out.  The  sphere  is  composed 
of  halves  which  may  be  fastened  together 
for  use,  or  separated  for  loading.  Utilizing 
the  same  principle  upon  which  a  ship's 
compass  is  suspended  on  gimbals  so  that  in 
whatever  direction  the  ship  may  pitch  or 
roll  the  compass  face  always  comes  to  normal 
level,  a  round  brass  bowl  is  suspended  on 
two  hoops  inside  the  sphere,  one  hoop 
within  and  perpendicular  to  the  other.  The 
outer  hoop  is  riveted  to  two  lugs,  projecting 
from  the  inside  of  the  lower  hemisphere,  and 
the  inner  loop  moves  on  a  pivot  which 
connects  it  with  the  outer  hoop.  The  bowl, 
which  holds  the  burning  coal  or  charcoal,  is 
encircled  by  the  inner  loop. 

After  the  halves  of  the  sphere  are  fastened 
together,  it  may  be  rolled  or  kicked  about  at 
will,  and  the  fire-laden  bowl  swings  freely 
and  independently  of  the  sphere's  motion, 
never  turning  upside  down.  The  Chinese 
styled  the  device  "brazier-reclining-on-the- 
mattress"  and  "brazier-in-the-bed-clothes." 
Its  original  invention  is  believed  to  go  back 
to  a  clever  mechanician  who  lived  in  the  first 
century  of  our  era. 

The  late  Dr.  Berthold  Laufer,  former 
Curator  of  the  Department  of  Anthropology, 
pointed  out  that  the  suspension  principle 
used,  known  as  "Cardan's  suspension" 
through  the  erroneous  attribution  of  its 
invention  to  Girolamo  Cardano,  scientific 
and  philosophical  dilettante  who  lived  in 
Italy  from  1501  to  1576,  thus  was  actually 
known  hundreds  of  years  before  him.  Not 
only  the  ancient  Chinese  used  it,  but  it  was 
known  to  the  earlier  Hellenic  mechanicians 
of  the  Alexandrian  epoch. 


Page  8 


FIELD  MUSEUM  NEWS 


October,  19S9 


GIFTS  TO  THE  MUSEUM 

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

Department  of  Anthropology : 

From  George  Commons,  Oak  Park,  111. — 
a  human  skeleton  from  gravel  mound, 
Illinois;  from  the  late  Mrs.  A.  I.  Ludlow, 
Cleveland,  Ohio — 112  ethnological  speci- 
mens, Korea;  from  Charles  B.  Harbaugh, 
Jr.,  Chicago — a  pair  of  Sioux  sandals,  a 
hippo  tusk,  and  a  small  knife.  United  States 
and  Africa. 
Department  of  Botany: 

F>om  George  Moore,  Lebanon,  Mo. — 
38  herbarium  specimens,  Missouri;  from 
Dr.  Cesar  Vargas  C,  Cuzco,  Peru — 95 
herbarium  specimens,  Peru;  from  Rev. 
Brother  Apolinar-Maria,  Bogota,  Colombia 
— 145  herbarium  specimens,  Colombia; 
from  Bill  Bauer,  Webster  Grove,  Mo.— 220 
herbarium  specimens,  Missouri;  from  Dr. 
George  H.  Fuller,  Springfield,  111.— 133 
herbarium  specimens,  Illinois;  from  Centro 
Nacional  de  Agricultura,  San  Pedro  Montes 
de  Oca,  Costa  Rica — 34  herbarium  speci- 
mens, Costa  Rica;  from  Professor  J.  Soukup, 
Puno,  Peru — 28  herbarium  specimens,  Peru; 
from  Rev.  Brother  H.  Daniel,  Medellin, 
Colombia — 35  herbarium  specimens,  Col- 
ombia; from  W.  A.  Daily,  Indianapolis, 
Ind. — 20  specimens  of  algae,  Indiana;  from 
Mrs.  Cloyd  B.  Stiffler,  Chicago — 14  speci- 
mens of  mosses  and  algae,  Michigan,  Penn- 
sylvania, and  Illinois;  from  Dr.  Harold  C. 
Bold,  New  York — 218  specimens  of  algae. 
North  and  South  Carolina,  Georgia,  and 
Tennessee;  from  Dr.  O.  L.  Inman,  Yellow 
Springs,  Ohio — 10  specimens  of  algae,  Cali- 
fornia and  Nevada;  from  Miss  Cora  Shoop, 
Chicago — 74  specimens  of  cryptogams,  Mis- 
souri; from  Donald  Richards,  Chicago — 25 
specimens  of  algae  and  mosses. 
Department  of  Geolo{^: 

From  Nolan  R.  Best,  Chicago — 2  speci- 
mens nepheline,  Canada;  from  Loren  P. 
Woods,  Evanston,  111. — 5  specimens  miner- 
als; from  R.  J.  Vintrup,  Chicago — 8  speci- 
mens minerals.  South  Dakota;  from  Charles 
N.  Ackerman,  Antioch,  111. — vertebra  and 
bones  of  fore  and  hind  legs  and  feet  of  Cer- 
valees,  Illinois;  from  Oscar  U.  Zerk,  Kenosha, 
Wis. — 7  polished  slices  of  agates,  Arizona, 
Oregon,  and  Montana. 
Department  of  Zoology: 

FVom  Ben  Cascard,  Chicago — 2  birdskins, 
Indiana;  from  Colonel  Richard  Meinertz- 
hagen,  London,  England — 14  miscellaneous 
African  birds;  from  Loren  P.  Woods,  Evans- 
ton,  111. — 23  preserved  sjjecimens  of  em- 
bryonic domestic  chicks,  small  mammals, 
etc.;  from  Schwab  Brothers,  Muscatine, 
Iowa — a  bamboo  partridge,  Iowa;  from 
Seymour  Levy,  Chicago — a  lesser  yellow- 
legs,  Illinois;  from  Karl  Plath,  Chicago — a 
purple  Guiana  parrot;  from  The  Charleston 
Museum,  Charleston,  S.  C. — 11  small  fishes; 
from  David  W.  Owens,  Flossmoor,  111. — 11 
amphibians  and  a  snake,  Illinois;  from 
R.  R.  Robertson,  Chicago — a  platypus  skin, 
Australia  or  Tasmania;  from  Mrs.  Robb 
White,  Thomasville,  Ga. — 5  snakes  and  6 
insects,  Georgia;  from  Eugene  G.  J.  Falck, 
Chicago — 737  shells,  57  crayfish,  156  frogs, 
4  toads,  a  turtle,  and  a  salamander,  Missouri; 
from  Chicago  Zoological  Society,  Brookfield, 


111. — 7  birds;  from  John  Kurfess,  Hinsdale, 
111. — a  common  shrew,  Illinois;  from  Mrs. 
Mabel  Bowers,  Chicago — a  red  bat,  Illinois; 
from  G.  J.  Kessen,  Sanibel  Island,  Fla. — 
10  shells,  Florida;  from  Dr.  Henry  neld, 
Chicago — 100  shells,  43  crabs,  and  a  sponge, 
Maine. 
The  Library : 

Valuable  books  from  Carnegie  Institution, 
Washington,  D.  C;  Hallwyl  Museum, 
Stockholm,  Sweden;  South  African  Depart- 
ment of  Native  Affairs,  Pretoria;  and  Dr. 
Henry  Field,  Dr.  Albert  B.  Lewis,  Elmer  S. 
Riggs,  and  A.  B.  Wolcott,  all  of  Chicago. 


Distinguished  Visitors 

Among  distinguished  visitors  recently 
received  at  Field  Museum  are  Mr.  A.  R. 
Penfold,  Curator  and  Economic  Chemist 
of  the  Sydney  Technological  Museum  in 
Australia;  Mr.  S.  Koperberg,  Secretary  of 
the  Java  Institute  for  Promoting  Javanese 
Art  and  Culture,  Director  of  the  Museum 
Sono  Boedojo,  and  Secretary  of  the  School 
for  Javanese  Arts  and  Crafts;  Mr.  James  T. 
Dye,  of  the  staff  of  the  New  York  Museum 
of  Science  and  Industry;  Dr.  Herman 
Johannes  Lam,  Director  of  the  National 
Herbarium,  Leyden,  Netherlands;  Mr.  David 
Lack,  of  London,  a  recognized  authority 
on  bird  ecology  and  population;  Dr.  Ernst 
Mayr,  Associate  Curator  of  Birds  at  the 
American  Museum  of  Natural  History, 
New  York;  Dr.  Levi  W.  Mengel,  Director 
Emeritus  of  the  Public  Museum  and  Art 
Gallery  of  Reading,  Pennsylvania;  Dr.  F.  M. 
Pagan,  head  of  the  Department  of  Botany, 
University  of  Puerto  Rico;  Dr.  Louis  C. 
Wheeler,  Department  of  Botany,  University 
of  Missouri;  Professor  Maximino  Martinez, 
noted  botanist  of  Mexico  City,  formerly  on 
the  staff  of  the  National  Museum  of  Mexico; 
Dr.  Edgar  Anderson,  of  the  Missouri  Botani- 
cal Garden;  Dr.  F.  A.  Barkley,  of  the 
University  of  Montana,  and  Dr.  C.  L. 
Wilson,  of  Dartmouth  College. 


NEW  MEMBERS 

The  following  persons  were  elected  to 
membership  in  Field  Museum  during  the 
period  from  August  16  to  September  15: 

Non-Resident  Life  Members 

Miss  Mary  Louise  Clas 

.\S80ciate  Members 

E.  W.  Burbott,  Mrs.  John  L.  Gardiner, 
Theodore  Leavens. 

Annual  Members 
Mrs.  Freeman  K.  Blake,  Robert  C. 
Brown,  Jr.,  Denis  P.  Carey,  Miss  Rose  A. 
Clark,  Mrs.  Cecile  Coverley,  George  H. 
Dovenmuehle,  Norman  Eaton,  Mrs.  I.  H. 
Freund,  William  A.  Fuller,  Albert  B.  Fulton, 
Mrs.  Edward  F.  Fox,  Lee  J.  Gary,  Mrs. 
Nathan  S.  Goldstein,  Ferris  E.  Hurd, 
George  P.  Jensen,  Dr.  Joseph  C.  Kaczkow- 
ski.  Miss  Anne  L.  Milburn,  Miss  Theresa  J. 
O'Brien,  Grier  D.  Patterson,  Mrs.  Charles 
S.  Pillsbury,  Mrs.  George  W.  Powers,  Mrs. 
Sidney  L.  Schwarz,  Joseph  J.  Tumpeer, 
George  Wolosh. 


OCTOBER  GUIDE-LECTURE  TOURS 

Conducted  tours  of  exhibits,  under  the 
guidance  of  staff  lecturers,  are  made  every 
afternoon  at  3  o'clock  except  Saturdays, 
Sundays,  and  certain  holidays.  Following 
is  the  schedule  for  October: 

Week  beginning  October  2:  Monday — 
Horned  and  Hoofed  Mammals;  Tuesday — 
Ores  and  Minerals;  Wednesday — Mexico; 
Thursday — General  Tour;  Friday — Carl  Ak- 
eley  and  His  Work. 

Week  beginning  October  9:  Monday — 
Horses — Past  and  Present;  Tuesday — Trees 
and  Their  Uses;  Wednesday — African  Cul- 
tures and  Art;  Thursday — General  Tour; 
Friday — Birds  as  Friends  to  Man. 

Week  beginning  October  16:  Monday — 
Crystals  and  Gems;  Tuesday — China  and 
Tibet;  Wednesday — Su-Lin  and  Other  Asi- 
atic Animals;  "Thursday — General  Tour; 
Friday — Textiles  and  Fibers. 

Week  beginning  October  23:  Monday — 
India  and  Its  Neighbors;  Tuesday — Rocks 
and  Their  Formation;  Wednesday — Plants 
with  Curious  Habits;  Thursday — General 
Tour;  PYiday — Animals  at  Home. 

Week  beginning  October  30:  Monday — 
Totem-pole  Indians;  Tuesday — Jades  and 
Their  Uses. 

Persons  wishing  to  participate  should 
apply  at  North  Entrance.  Tours  are  free. 
Guide-lecturers'  services  for  special  tours  by 
parties  of  ten  or  more  may  be  arranged  for 
with  the  Director  a  week  in  advance. 


ME.VIBERSHIP  IN  FIELD  MUSEUM 

Field  Museum  has  several  classes  of  Mem- 
bers. Annual  Members  contrioute  $10  annu- 
ally. Associate  Members  pay  $100  and  are 
exempt  from  dues.  Sustaining  Members  con- 
tribute $25  annually  for  six  consecutive  years, 
after  which  they  become  .Associate  Members 
and  are  exempt  from  all  further  dues.  Life  Mem- 
bers give  $500  and  are  exempt  from  dues.  Non- 
Resident  Life  Members  pay  $100,  and  Non- 
Resident  .Associate  Members  $50;  both  of  these 
classes  are  also  exempt  from  dues.  The  Non- 
Resident  memberships  are  available  only  to 
persons  residing  fifty  miles  or  more  from  Chi- 
cago. Those  who  give  or  devise  to  the  Museum 
$1,000  to  $100,000  are  designated  as  Contribu- 
tors, and  those  who  give  or  devise  $100,000  or 
more  become  Benefactors.  Other  memberships 
are  Honorary,  Patron,  Corresponding  and  Cor- 
porate, additions  under  these  classifications 
being  made  by  special  action  of  the  Board  of 
Trustees. 

Each  Member,  in  all  classes,  is  entitled  to 
free  admission  to  the  Museum  for  himself,  his 
family  and  house  guests;  and  to  two  reserved 
seats  for  Museum  lectures  provided  for  Mem- 
bers. Subscription  to  FiEa-D  MusEVtM  News  is 
included  with  all  memberships.  The  courtesies 
of  every  museum  of  note  in  the  United  States 
and  Canada  are  extended  to  all  Members  of 
Field  Museum.  A  Member  may  give  his 
personal  card  to  non-residents  of  Chicago,  upon 
presentation  of  which  they  will  be  admitted  to 
the  Museum  without  charge.  Further  informa- 
tion about  memberships  will  be  sent  on  request. 

BEQUESTS  AND  ENDOWMENTS 

Bequests  to  Field  Museum  of  Natiu-al  His- 
tory may  be  made  in  sectuities,  money,  books  or 
collections.  They  may,  if  desired,  take  the  form 
of  a  memorial  to  a  person  or  cause,  named  by 
the  giver. 

Contributions  made  within  the  taxable  year, 
not  exceeding  15  per  cent  of  the  taxpayer's  net 
income,  are  allowable  as  deductions  in  computing 
net  income  for  federal  income  tax  purposes. 

Endowments  may  be  made  to  the  Museum 
with  the  provision  that  an  annuity  be  paid  to 
the  patron  for  life.  These_ annuities  are  guaran- 
teed against  fluctuation  in  amount,  and  may 
reduce  federal  income  taxes. 


PHINTCO    BT    FIELD    MUSCUM    PRESS 


News 


Published  Monthly  by  Field  Museum  of  Natural  History,  Chicago 


Vol.  10 


NOVEMBER,  1939 


No.  11 


WILD  TURKEY,  LARGEST  GAME  BIRD,  DRIVEN  FROM  MOST  OF  ITS  RANGE  BY  MAN 


By  rudyerd  boulton 

CURATOR  OF  BIRDS 

When  America  was  young — before  ex- 
press highways  quartered  the  country,  before 
millions  of  hunters  roamed  the  fields  and 
woods,  before  the  forests  were  cut  down, 
before  distance  was  eliminated  by  new 
methods  of 
transporta- 
tion, in  other 
words,  before 
modern  civili- 
zation took 
over  the  plan- 
ning and  order- 
ing and  des- 
tiny of  all 
forms  of  life — 
the  country 
was  populated 
with  a  rich 
and  teeming 
fauna  that  can 
be  likened 
only  to  that 
popularly  con- 
c  e  i  V  e  d  in 
Africa's  plains 
and  forests. 
Finely  balanc- 
ed in  their  re- 
lationship to 
each  other, 
the  birds  and 
animals,  large 
and  small,  oc- 
cupied almost 
to  the  satura- 
tion point  the 
ecological 
niches    that 


Turkeys,  wild  turkeys  at  any  rate,  just 
"can't  take  it!"  They  require  a  large  range, 
adequate  forests,  and  freedom  from  dis- 
turbance by  the  ways  of  man  which  are  so 
annoying  from  the  turkeys'  point  of  view. 
And  so,  although  they  were  exceedingly 
abundant  once  throughout  the  eastern  states, 


Wild  Turkeys 

On  such  birds  as  these  the  Pilgrim  fathers  feasted  in  inaugxirating  the  Thanksgiving  custom.  Wild  turkeys  formerly  flourished 
in  the  Chicago  area,  and  in  forty  states  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Dakotas,  and  from  Maine  to  Mexico — only  the  extreme  western 
states  lacked  them.  But  as  human  population  has  spread  and  increased,  they  have  rapidly  vanished  from  all  but  a  few  retreats 
in  the  more  southern  and  western  portions  of  their  former  range.  This  habitat  group,  in  Hall  20,  a  gift  from  Mr.  Stanley  Field, 
President  of  the  Museum,  represents  a  scene  in  Louisiana  forests  which  afford  one  of  the  present  refuges  of  the  bird.  The  illustra- 
tion is  reproduced  from  a  natural  color  photograph  made  by  Mr.  Clarence  B.  Mitchell,  Research  Associate  in  Photography  at  Field 
Museum.  The  Museum  plans  to  publish  a  book  containing  forty  or,  more  similar  color  pictures  of  outstanding  exhibits  in  all 
Departments  of  the  institution,  all  products  of  Mr.  Mitchell's  camera  artistry,  and  to  be  printed  from  plates  contributed  by  him. 


had  existed  from  time  immemorial.  These 
changed  so  slowly  that  the  innate  adapt- 
ability of  the  creatures  was  able  to  keep 
pace  with  the  change.  Many  of  these 
"ecological  niches,"  which  abstract  term 
is  used  to  indicate  the  relationship  between 
an  organism  and  its  environment — physical, 
biological,  and  social — have  been  displaced 
by  civilization  only  slightly  in  time  and 
space.  The  life  in  them  goes  merrily  on. 
Some  of  the  niches  are  all  but  destroyed 
and  with  them  have  gone,  are  going,  or  are 
drastically  reduced  in  numbers,  the  bison  and 
pronghorns,  the  passenger  pigeons  and 
Carolina  paroquets,' the  heath  hens  and 
Eskimo  curlews,  the  condors  and  turkeys. 


they  now  occur  east  of  the  Mississippi  only 
in  the  forested  mountains  from  Pennsylvania 
to  North  Carolina,  and  in  the  cypress 
swamps,  cane  brakes  and  pine  woods  of 
the  deep  south.  In  the  southwestern  states, 
where  man  has  not  yet  become  such  a 
dominant  feature  of  the  environment, 
turkeys  range  more  nearly  as  they  originally 
did.  Before  the  advent  of  the  white  man, 
turkeys  occurred  commonly  from  southern 
Maine  to  Florida,  and  from  the  Dakotas 
south  along  the  eastern  Rockies  to  the 
tableland  of  central  Mexico.  In  1517 
Francisco  Fernandez  encountered  turkeys 
domesticated  by  the  natives  in  large  numbers 
on  the  north  coast  of  Yucatan.     It  is  in- 


teresting to  note  that  this  first  published 
account  refers  to  a  domesticated  bird — 
not  to  the  wild  bird,  which  never  ranged  so 
far  south.  Thus  it  is  seen  that  some  Indians 
as  readily  recognized  the  economic  value  of 
this  largest  of  all  game  birds  as  did  the 
European  invaders.    The  first  wild  turkeys 

in  what  is  now 
the  United 
States  were 
reported  by 
the  Coronada 
Expedition  in 
1540  from 
Taos,  New 
Mexico.  This 
exploring 
party  found 
the  Pueblo  In- 
dians  using 
turkey  feath- 
ers extensively 
in  ceremonials 
and  in  making 
prayer  stick 
offerings. 

Champlain 
in  1604  was 
the  first  to  re- 
port our  east- 
ern turkeys, 
and  shortly 
thereafter  the 
Pilgrims  used 
them  as  the 
piece  de  resis- 
lance  of  the 
first  Thanks- 
giving feast. 
So  important 
has  this  holi- 
day and  ceremony  become  to  the  American 
people,  and  so  firmly  rooted  in  tradition, 
that  a  great  schism  has  arisen  in  the  country 
this  year,  and  two  Thanksgivings  may 
be  celebrated  in  some  communities — one 
by  those  who  follow  the  customary  last 
Thursday  of  November,  and  one  by  those 
who  follow  the  date  set  one  week  earlier 
for  1939  by  the  President's  proclamation. 
About  six  varieties  or  subspecies  of  the 
wild  turkey  are  recognized  in  addition  to 
the  distinctive  ocellated  turkey  of  the 
Yucatan  peninsula.  The  principal  dif- 
ferences among  these  races  are  in  size, 
barring  of  the  wing  quills  and,  most  im- 
portant,  in   the   color   of   the   tips   of   the 


Pages 


FIELD  MUSEUM  NEWS 


November,  19S9 


feathers  of  the  rump  and  lower  back.  The 
eastern  varieties  have  deep  rich  chestnut 
colored  tips  to  the  feathers.  The  farther 
south  and  west  one  goes,  the  lighter  these 
become  until  they  are  almost  white  in 
Mexico.  From  this  character  one  can  be 
sure  that  our  domesticated  turkeys  are 
derived  wholly  from  the  Mexican  birds 
that  were  taken  to  Europe  by  the  con- 
quistadores.  The  darker  and  larger  wild 
turkey  of  the  eastern  states  was  not  much 
involved  in  the  development  of  the  various 
kinds  of  domesticated  turkeys.  The  most 
common  variety  is  the  bronze  turkey.  Buff, 
black,  white,  and  steel  gray  varieties  are 
also  propagated. 

On  the  average,  none  of  the  domesticated 
varieties  are  as  large  as  the  eastern  wild 
turkey.  An  old  gobbler  of  the  latter  form 
frequently  weighs  as  much  as  thirty  pounds. 
It  might  be  expected  that  such  heavy  birds 
would  not  be  strong  fliers.  Yet,  of  their 
own  free  will,  they  always  roost  in  trees 
to  which,  of  course,  they  must  fly.  When 
alarmed,  a  turkey's  first  method  of  escape 
is  by  running,  but  when  closely  pressed 
and  really  frightened  it  readily  takes  to 
the  wing  and  flies  across  wide  rivers  and 
mountain  valleys  with  ease. 

Few  birds  are  more  alert  and  wary  than 
a  wild  turkey.  Their  sight  and  hearing 
are  especially  keen,  and  at  the  slightest 
suspicion  of  danger  they  take  themselves 
to  safer  places.  For  this  reason,  if  for  no 
other,  turkey  hunting  probably  requires 
more  skill  and  woodcraft  than  any  other 
kind  of  hunting  in  North  America.  Turkeys 
are  sometimes  shot  at  dusk  or  dawn  while 
they  are  roosting.  That,  of  course,  can 
hardly  be  called  hunting  in  the  true  sense 
of  the  word.  Any  hunter  who  successfully 
stalks  a  wild  turkey,  or  who  knows  enough 
"turkey  talk"  to  succeed  in  having  one 
respond  to  his  call,  must  be  regarded  as 
an  especially  qualified  woodsman. 

The  voice  of  a  turkey,  aside  from  the 
"gobble"  of  the  cocks  during  the  strutting 
season,  is  quite  disproportionate  to  its 
size  and  noble  bearing.  It  is  quite  a  plain- 
tive "peeping"  that  can  be  readily  imitated 
by  a  piece  of  slate  on  a  hardwood  box,  a 
whistle  made  from  a  turkey's  hollow  wing 
bone,  or  even  by  a  blade  of  grass.  The 
nuances  of  tone,  inflection  and  timing  are 
as  obvious  to  the  turkey's  ear  as  the  various 
American  dialects  are  to  our  ears.  The 
slightest  false  note  gives  the  deception 
away  and  the  turkey  stealthily  vanishes. 

The  habitat  group  of  wild  turkeys  in 
Hall  20  was  prepared  by  Staff  Taxidermist 
Julius  Friesser,  and  has  a  background 
painted  by  the  late  Charles  A.  Corwin, 
former  Staff  Artist.  Field  Museum's 
Zoological  Leaflet  No.  6,  The  Wild  Turkey, 
by  Mr.  John  T.  Zimmer,  formerly  Assistant 
Curator  of  Birds,  gives  many  interesting 
details  of  turkey  history,  turkey  lore,  and 
turkey  habits  that  limited  space  prevents 
discussing  here. 


SATURDAY  LECTURES  FOR  ADULTS 
CONTINUE  THROUGH  NOVEMBER 

Four  more  lectures  in  Field  Museum's 
free  Autumn  Course  for  adults  remain  to 
be  given  on  Saturday  afternoons  during 
November.  All  are  to  be  illustrated  with 
motion  pictures  or  stereopticon  slides.  The 
lectures  are  given  in  the  James  Simpson 
Theatre  of  the  Museum,  and  all  begin  at 
2:30  P.M.  Admission  is  restricted  to  adults. 
Following  are  dates,  subjects  and  speakers: 

November    4 — Wonders  of  Plant  Life 

Arthur  C.  Pillsburj',  Berkeley,  California 

November  11 — What   is   Biblical   Archae- 
ology and  Why? 

Dr.  Nelson  Glueck,  Director  of  American  School 
of  Oriental  Research,  Jerusalem 

November  18 — The  Tundra  Speaks 

Dr.  Arthur  C.  Twomey,  Carnegie  Museum 

November  25 — Stratosphere  Exploration 

Major  Chester  L.  Fordney,  Great  Lakes,  Illinois 

No  tickets  are  necessary  for  admission 
to  these  lectures.  A  section  of  the  Theatre  is 
reserved  for  Members  of  the  Museum,  each 
of  whom  is  entitled  to  two  reserved  seats  on 
request.  Requests  for  these  seats  may  be 
made  in  advance  by  telephone  (Wabash 
9410)  or  in  writing,  and  seats  will  be  held 
in  the  Member's  name  until  2:30  o'clock 
of  the  lecture  day.  Seats  not  claimed  by 
2:30  will  be  made  available  to  the  public. 


"ALCOHOL"  WAS  ONCE  THE  NAME 
OF  A  SOLID  MINERAL 

By  L.  BRYANT  MATHER,  JR. 

ASSISTANT  CUKATOR  OF  UINBRALORY 

To  say  that  the  name  alcohol  was  once 
properly  used  only  for  a  mineral  species 
may  sound  very  strange — indeed,  some 
question  may  be  raised  as  to  the  writer's 
personal  familiarity  with  the  substance 
that  has  now  usurped  that  name.  Yet, 
when  the  word  came  to  Europe  in  the  six- 
teenth century,  from  the  Arabic,  it  was  as 
a  mineral  name.  The  mineral  thus  desig- 
nated is  now  known  as  stibnite,  and  fine 
specimens  of  it  are  to  be  seen  at  Field 
Museum  in  Hall  34  (Cases  7  and  11). 

This  mineral,  long  known,  has  been  used 
as  a  cosmetic  since  ancient  times.  Stone 
receptacles  and  bronze  applicators  for  this 
substance  were  used  by  the  Egyptians 
(2000  B.C.— 300  A.  D.).  Examples  of  these 
objects,  known  as  kohl  jars  and  kchl  sticks, 
may  be  seen  in  Hall  J  (Archaeology  of 
Egypt,  Case  32).  Among  the  Greeks  it  was 
known  as  xXoruo<^9aX^oi'  from  rXarvs  mean- 
ing wide  and  o<j>9a\fios  meaning  eye,  since 
the  powdered  mineral  was  used  to  increase 
the  apparent  size  of  the  eye.  Among  the 
Arabs  it  was  known  as  kohl,  from  kahala, 
meaning  to  color  or  to  stain.  In  the  theat- 
rical profession  the  black  powder  used  for 
blackening  the  eyelids  is  still  called  kohl, 
perhaps  the  only  vestige  in  contemporary 
language  of  the  original  Arabic  usage.  The 
earliest  use  of  the  word  al-kohl  (kohl  with 


the  definite  article  al)  seems  to  have  been 
in  1623  by  Minsheu,  who  wrote:  "Alcohol  is 
a  drug,  sometimes  called  antimonium,  used 
to  color  the  eyebrows."  Francis  Bacon  in 
1626  wrote:  "The  Turkes  have  a  Black 
Powder,  made  from  a  Mineral  called  Alco- 
hole,  which,  with  a  fine  long  pencil  they 
lay  under  the  Eyelids."  Thus,  as  a  mineral 
name,  the  word  "alcohol"  was  introduced 
into  Europe. 

Before  the  science  of  mineralogy,  and 
its  nomenclature,  became  systematized, 
the  word  had  changed  in  meaning  and,  in 
effect,  the  mineral  had  lost  its  name.  Alco- 
hol became  a  general  term  for  all  sublimed 
powders  and  later  for  all  distillates.  In 
these  stages  of  the  evolution  of  the  word 
we  find  phrases  such  as  "alcohol  of  sulphur" 
and  "alcohol  of  wine"  being  used  for  sub- 
limates and  distillates.  In  the  last  century 
the  use  of  the  word  has  again  been  restricted 
by  chemists,  not  to  a  mineral  species,  but 
to  a  class  of  organic  compounds  containing 
the  hydroxyl  group  (OH).  The  best  known 
of  these  are  methyl  (wood)  alcohol 
CH3OH,  and  ethyl  (grain)  alcohol  C.HsOH. 

What  then,  we  may  ask,  happened  to 
the  mineral  after  its  name  had  been  lost 
through  these  devious  changes?  Among 
the  Greeks  there  seem  to  have  been  other 
names  that  were  applied  both  to  the  mineral 
and  to  the  metal  antimony  extracted  from 
it.  These  names  were  srirfi  (stibi)  and 
sTiM*"  (stimmi).  The  Latin  language  took 
over  sTi/3i  and  made  it  stibium,  as  a  name 
for  the  metal  antimony,  from  which  term 
we  derive  the  present  chemical  symbol  of 
the  element — Sb.  Thus  when  F.  S.  Beudant, 
the  French  mineralogist,  in  1832,  was  look- 
ing for  a  new  name  for  the  mineral  he  decided 
to  call  it  stibine.  The  English  name  stibnite 
was  given  by  J.  D.  Dana,  the  American 
mineralogist,  in  1854,  as  a  modification  of 
Beudant's  name. 


THIS  MONTH  AT  THE  MUSEUM 

From  various  schedules  which 
will  be  found  in  this  issue  of  FIELD 
MUSEUM  NEWS,  it  will  be  seen  that 
there  are  special  events  scheduled 
for  the  entertainment  and  instruc- 
tion of  Museum  visitors  every 
day  during  November.  On  Satur- 
days, in  the  morning  there  will  be 
the  Raymond  Foundation  motion 
picture  programs  for  children,  and 
in  the  afternoon  the  illustrated  lec- 
tures on  science  and  travel  for 
adults,  both  presented  in  the  James 
Simpson  Theatre.  On  Sunday 
afternoons  there  will  be  the  lectures 
and  tours  conducted  by  Mr.  Paul  G. 
Dallwig,  the  Layman  Lecturer. 
Daily  from  Monday  to  Friday  inclu- 
sive there  will  be  presented  guide- 
lecture  tours  conducted  by  members 
of  the  Museum  stafl. 


November,  1939 


FIELD  MUSEUM  NEWS 


Pages 


A  "MIRACULOUS"  METEORITE 
OF  ARAB  LEGEND 

By  HENRY  W.  NICHOLS 

CHIEF  CURATOR,  DEPARTMENT  OF  GEOLOfiY 

A  slice  of  a  meteorite  which,  according 
to  an  ancient  Arabian  legend,  was  a  block 
of  gold  when  it  fell  to  earth,  and  was  twice 
changed  by  God — once  to  silver,  and  finally 
to  iron — as  a  punishment  to  tribes  who 
quarreled  over  its  possession,  was  recently 
acquired  by  Field  Museum.  It  is  now  on  exhi- 
bition in  Hall  34  which  contains  the  world's 
most  comprehensive  meteorite  collection. 

The  true  history  of  this  meteorite,  known 
as  the  Tamentit  iron,  although  not  as 
strange  as  the  Arabian  Nights  type  of 
tales  told  about  it  by  the  natives  of  the 
region  where  it  fell,  is  nevertheless  also 
extraordinary.  It  arrived  on  the  earth 
hundreds  of  years  ago  near  the  Tamentit 
oasis  in  the  Touat,  Sahara  Desert,  and  it  is 
the  oldest  iron  meteorite,  actually  seen 
while  falling,  which  has  been  preserved, 
according  to  the  records. 

THE  LEGENDARY   STORY 

For  hundreds  of  years  this  meteorite  has 
been  the  mascot  of  the  people  of  the  Ta- 
mentit oasis,  and  if  we  could  only  believe 
all  that  is  told  of  it  in  an  old,  undated 
Arabian  manuscript  it  would  be  the  most 
extraordinary  object  in  Field  Museum  or 
any  other  museum.  According  to  this 
manuscript,  called  El  Bassit,  a  block  of 
gold  fell  between  Noum  in  Nas  and  El  Tittaf 
in  the  Sahara  during  the  time  when  the 
Oulad  Nesslem,  the  Oulad  Yacoub,  and 
the  Oulad  Daoud  occupied  Tamentit. 
Each  of  these  peoples  prepared  to  take  it 
home,  but  each  encountered  the  opposition 
of  the  others.  Quarrels  arose,  and  God 
changed  the  gold  to  silver.  As  the  quarrels 
continued,  God  next  changed  the  silver 
to  the  iron  of  which  the  meteorite  is  now 
composed. 

THE  AUTHENTIC  HISTORY 
Digging  into  its  authentic  history,  we 
find  that  the  Tamentit  iron  fell  toward 
the  close  of  the  fourteenth  century — the 
exact  year  is  not  known.  Sometime  between 
1392  and  1413  it  was  brought  by  order  of 
the  Sheik  Amr'  to  Tamentit.  Here  it  lay 
in  the  street  in  front  of  the  mosque,  project- 
ing sixteen  inches  above  the  ground  in 
which  it  was  partly  buried  from  about  1400 
to  1827,  when  it  was  moved  to  France. 
Because  the  Arabs  believed  it  to  be  a  mascot 
of  great  virtue  and  importance  they  had 
constantly  avoided  touching  it  as  far  as 
possible,  and  tried  to  prevent  animals  also 
from  touching  it.  Before  the  French  could 
obtain  the  consent  of  the  natives  to  take 
it  away,  they  found  it  necessary  to  conduct 
long  and  difficult  negotiations,  lasting  more 
than  two  years.  After  consent  was  obtained 
difficulties  were  encountered  in  transporting 
it  from  the  desert  over  1,000  kilometers 
to  the  coast.  However,  these  were  over- 
come and  in  1827  the  meteorite  reached 


Paris,  where  most  of  it  now  rests  in  the 
National  Museum. 

Complementing  Field  Museum's  speci- 
men representing  the  Tamentit  meteorite 
as  the  first  iron  meteorite  ever  seen  to  fall 
and  afterwards  to  be  preserved,  the  institu- 
tion also  has  a  piece  of  the  Ensisheim 
(Alsace)  meteorite  which  was  the  first 
stone  meteorite  ever  preserved  after  being 
seen  to  fall.  The  Ensisheim  stone  fell  in 
1492,  or  about  one  hundred  years  after  the 
Tamentit  iron  arrived  on  the  earth. 


Change  In  Visiting  Hours 

Effective  November  1,  and  continuing  until 
February  29,  winter  visiting  hours — 9  A.M. 
to  4  P.M. — will  be  observed  on  weekdays  at 
Field  Museum;  9  a.m.  to  5  p.m.  on  Sundays. 


Proceedings,  transactions  and  publica- 
tions of  learned  societies  and  universities 
throughout  the  world  are  among  the  books 
available  to  the  public  for  reference  in  the 
Library  of  Field  Museum. 


THINQS  YOU  MAY  HAVE  MISSED 


Something  to  Think  About 
on  Thanksgiving  Day 

Whether  you  celebrate  Thanksgiving  on 
the  traditional  last  Thursday  of  the  month, 
or  in  accordance  with  presidential  and 
gubernatorial  proclamations  which  vary 
from  that  date,  it  is  of  interest  to  reflect 
how  purely  American  this  holiday  is.  Even 
the  foods  used  in  a  typical  Thanksgiving 
feast  are  practically  all  native  to  this 
country,  and  were  unknown  in  Europe  prior 
to  the  opening  of  the  New  World — the 
plant  foods,  as  well  as  the  turkey  (regarding 
the  latter,  see  page  1). 

The  important  part  the  discovery  of 
America  played  in  augmenting  the  world's 
variety  of  foodstuffs  is  impressively  illus- 
trated in  an  exhibit  of  food  plants  of  New 
World  Origin  in  Hall  25  of  the  Department 
of  Botany.  By  means  of  this  display  a 
visitor  is  enabled  to  see  at  a  glance  which 
of  the  numerous  vegetables  and  fruits  in 
common  use  originated  on  this  continent. 
A  large  proportion  of  these  are  to  be  found 
at  almost  any  Thanks- 
giving dinner-table. 

Dr.  B.  E.  Dahlgren, 
Chief  Curator  of  the 
Department  of  Botany, 
writes: 

"On  his  first  voyage 
to  the  New  World,  Col- 
umbus   found    the    in- 
habitants   using    vege- 
tables that  were  strange 
to  him,  especially  some 
starchy    tubers,    prob- 
ably sweet  potatoes  and 
cassava.       He     carried 
these  back  to  Spain  and 
presented   them  to 
Queen   Isabella,   to- 
gether with  other  products  of  the  newly 
found  land.    The  incident  marked  the  first 
introduction  of  American  food  plants  into 
the  Old   World,   an  event  of   considerable 
significance  to  the  world's  dietary,  which 
has  America  to  thank  for  many  important 
contributions. 

"After  Columbus,  the  early  explorers  and 
conquistadores  found  other  food  plants  in 
use  and  cultivation  among  the  New  World 


inhabitants,  especially  the  Aztecs  of  Mexico 
and  the  Incas  of  Peru.  Cortez  made  the 
first  acquaintance  with  chocolate  and  vanilla 
at  the  court  of  Montezuma. 

"Early  settlers  in  North  and  South 
America  soon  learned  to  use  many  of  the 
vegetable  foods  of  the  Indians,  such  as  corn, 
pumpkins,  squashes,  and  cassava.  Certain 
of  the  newly  discovered  food  plants  spread 
rapidly  over  most  of  the  world.  This  was 
true  of  the  peanut,  which  was  carried  to 
Africa  from  the  east  coast  of  South  America, 
and  to  the  Orient  from  the  west  coast,  early 
in  the  history  of  world-wide  navigation. 
Some  American  food  plants,  such  as  pota- 
toes, were  first  carried  to  Europe  and 
developed  in  cultivation  there  before  coming 
into  general  use  among  the  new  population 
in  the  land  of  their  origin.  Others,  such 
as  tomatoes,  were  very  slow  in  becoming 
adopted. 

"The  tomato  was  grown  in  Europe  for 
several  centuries  as  a  curiosity  and  orna- 
mental plant  known  as  'pomme  d'amour' 
or  'love  apple,'  before  it  became,  rather 
recently,  the  important  food  that  it  is  today, 
with  its  juice  also  a  popular  beverage." 


Food  Plants  of  New  World  Orlein 

An  exhibit  in  Hali  25  which  enables  a  visitor  to  comprehend  at  a  glance 
America's  vegetable  and  fruit  contributions  to  the  world's  diet.  All  of  these  plant 
foods  were  unknown  in  Europe  prior  to  Columbus's  voyages.  Many  will  appear 
on  typical  Thanksgiving  dinner  tables  throughout  the  United  States  this  month. 

Included  among  the  products  on  display 
are  maize  or  Indian  corn,  potatoes,  sweet 
potatoes,  tomatoes,  pimentoes,  Jerusalem 
artichokes  (which  are  the  roots  of  a  western 
sunflower),  pumpkins,  squashes,  lima  and 
kidney  beans,  cassava  (which  in  the  United 
States  is  best  known  in  the  form  of  tapioca), 
peanuts,  cranberries,  persimmons,  papaws, 
papayas,  avocado,  pineapple,  cacao,  and 
vanilla.    Uncommon  products  are  omitted. 


Page  i 


FIELD  MUSEUM  NEWS 


November,  1939 


SOUTHWEST  EXPEDITION  TRACES 
"LOST  PERIOD"  CULTURE 

(Editor's  Note: — The  Field  Museum  Ar- 
chaeological Expedition  to  the  Southwest, 
sponsored  by  Mr.  Stanley  Field,  President 
of  the  Museum,  recently  concluded  its  opera- 
tions for  the  19S9  season.  Excavations  and 
researches  were  conducted  for  about  five 
months  on  sites  of  habitations  of  prehistoric 
Indians  in  the  Mogollon  and  San  Francisco 
Mountains  in  southwestern  New  Mexico. 
This  is  the  ninth  expedition  to  the  Southwest 
under  the  leadership  of  Dr.  Paul  S.  Martin, 
Chief  Curator  of  the  Department  of  Anthro- 
pology. Following  is  a  report  which  outlines 
some  of  the  expedition's  principal  accom- 
plishments this  year,  and  indicates  the  re- 
lation of  its  discoveries  to  the  whole  sequence 
of  the  region's  archaeology.) 

Evidence  has  at  last  been  found,  as  a 
result  of  operations  in  1939  by  the  Field 
Museum  Archaeological  Expedition  to  the 
Southwest,  which 
may  lead  to  the 
bridging  of  a  1,500 
year  gap  in  our 
knowledge  of  the 
culture  of  an 
ancient  people  who 
lived  in  Arizona 
and  New  Mexico. 
To  obtain  the 
proper  background 
for  consideration  of 
this  evidence,  and 
an  appreciation  of 
its  place  in  the  re- 
construction of  cul- 
tural history,  it  is 
of  value  to  review  briefly  what  is  known  of 
periods  preceding  the  gap.  Some  18,000 
years  ago  the  last  Pleistocene  ice  sheet  in 
Canada  was  so  reduced  that  an  ice-free 
corridor  formed  at  the  eastern  foot  of  the 
Rocky  Mountains.  Through  this  corridor 
some  of  the  Asiatic  peoples  shortly  found 
their  way  into  territory  now  occupied  by 
parts  of  the  United  States. 

10,000-YEAR-OLD  RECORDS 

Evidence  of  early  immigrants  is  present 
in  southeastern  Arizona,  and  has  been 
studied  by  archaeologists  of  the  Gila  Pueblo 
Archaeological  Institution  of  Globe,  and 
the  Carnegie  Institution  of  Washington. 
The  records  occur  in  beds  exposed  by  the 
modern  arroyo  erosion.  They  include  hand- 
stones,  milling  stones,  stone  axes,  and 
knives,  which  occur  in  association  with 
bones  of  extinct  horses,  bison,  camels,  dire 
wolves  and  mammoths.  In  the  hearths  of 
the  dwellings  of  these  people  is  found 
charcoal  of  which  part  is  of  hickory  logs, 
although  trees  of  this  kind  now  grow  no 
closer  than  some  700  miles  to  the  east.  The 
ancient  people  camped  on  the  sandy  flood 
plain  of  a  permanent  stream  during  the 
Pluvial  period  which  came  to  a  close  some 
10,000  years  ago. 

In  beds  overlying  the  oldest  human  re- 
cords there  are  artifacts  belonging  to  cul- 
tural stages  dated  by  researchers  tentatively 


Dr.  Paul  S.  Martin 

Chief  Curator,  Depart- 
ment of  Anthropology,  and 
leader  of  nine  Field  Museum 
Archaeological  Expeditions 
to   Southwest  Indian  sites. 


at  about  3000  B.C.,  1500  B.C.,  and  500  B.C. 
The  stage  of  500  B.C.  yields  the  first  pottery, 
and  evidence,  in  the  form  of  corn  remains, 
of  the  beginning  of  agriculture.  The  stone 
artifacts  are  plainly  developed  from  earlier 
types,  while  the  pottery  is  of  a  very  primi- 
tive sort,  derived  from  the  stone  objects. 
Between  the  appearance  of  the  first  primitive 
pottery  in  500  B.C.  and  the  advanced  forms 
of  painted  pottery  and  highly  developed 
villages  in  a.d.  1000,  all  trace  of  these 
people  has  been  lacking. 

Problems  facing  the  archaeologists  were: 
What  sort  of  growth  took  place  in  these 
1,500  years?  What  were  the  stages  of 
development  from  the  primitive  to  the 
sophisticated?  The  answers  have  been 
hidden  by  this  gap  of  1,500  years  with 
nothing  as  yet  uncovered  to  contribute  to 
our  knowledge  of  the  period. 

The  Field  Museum  expedition  of  1939 
(ninth  season  of  operations),  working  in 
southwestern  New  Mexico  some  eighteen 
miles  from  the  Arizona  line,  has  uncovered 
evidence  of  a  culture  that  may  lie  in  the 
early  part  of  the  gap  period.  Pit  houses  of 
a  former  village,  excavated  by  the  expedi- 
tion, represent  a  very  ancient  type  of 
dwelling  brought  over  from  the  Old  World 
where  it  was  very  common.  Such  houses 
are  found  in  northern  Europe,  across  Siberia, 
and  in  China,  and  the  idea  for  this  type 
of  construction  may  have  been  brought 
to  the  New  World  anywhere  from  40,000 
to  10,000  years  ago.  A  pit  house  consists 
of  walls  sunk  two  to  three  feet  below  the 
ground  level,  roofed  over  by  boughs  and 
hide  supported  by  six-foot  posts.  The 
floors  are  smooth  hard-packed  dirt,  and  the 
entrance  is  generally  a  low  passage  opening 
to  the  east.  This  is  also  characteristic  of 
the  Old  World  pit  houses  and  may  have 
been  in  accordance  with  the  dictates  of  a 
cult  or  merely  for  warmth. 

Enough  pottery  fragments  were  found  by 
the  expedition  to  piece  together  two  jars 
and  a  bowl.  Hundreds  of  unrelated  sherds 
were  also  collected.  The  scarcity  of  com- 
plete pottery  is  probably  due  to  the  fact 
that  working  in  clay  was  still  a  new  technique 
to  the  people  inhabiting  this  region  during 
this  period.  The  shapes  are  simple  and 
entirely  without  decoration.  The  technique 
used  is  clay  spirals  without  benefit  of  the 
potter's  wheel.  The  color  throughout  is 
dark  brown-red. 

SHELL  BRACELETS  ON  SKELETON 

Burials  found  by  the  expedition  are  related 
in  type  to  previously  known  cultures  desig- 
nated by  archaeologists  as  Cultures  IV  and 
V.  Skeletons  were  found  in  flexed  position, 
one  to  a  pit,  individuals  being  buried  in  the 
houses  in  which  they  had  lived.  The  careful 
placement  indicates  a  high  regard  for  the 
dead.  On  the  arm  of  one  skeleton  was 
found  a  series  of  four  marine  shell  bracelets. 
This  would  indicate  that  at  this  period 
there  must  have  been  at  least  indirect 
trade  with  the  people  of  the  Pacific  coast. 


Nothing  can  be  deduced  about  the  cults 
and  ceremonies  of  these  people.  However, 
one  anthropological  observation  may  hold 
here:  that  the  more  primitive  the  material 
culture  of  a  people  may  be,  the  more 
elaborate  are  their  cults  and  ceremonials. 
But  these  particular  people  have  left  nothing 
behind  that  the  archaeologist  may  regard 
as  a  clue  indicating  more  than  that  they, 
like  their  earlier  brothers,  were  hunters, 
probably  a  poor  and  peaceable  people,  and 
that  they  had  to  contend  with  the  exigencies 
of  stern  elements  for  food  and  shelter. 


LARGE  SCALE  FUR  TRAPPING 
REPORTED  IN  ILLINOIS 

Not  generally  recognized  is  the  fact  that 
Illinois  ranks  fairly  high  among  the  states 
most  important  in  supplying  animal  furs 
for  commercial  use.  That  this  is  so,  how- 
ever, is  revealed  in  a  recent  publication  of 
the  Bureau  of  Biological  Survey  of  the 
United  States  Department  of  Agriculture, 
under  the  title  A  Survey  of  the  Annual  Fur 
Catch  of  the  United  States  (Wildlife  Research 
and  Management  Leaflet  BS-140).  Accord- 
ing to  this  survey,  during  the  last  year 
for  which  statistics  are  available  (1937), 
the  numbers  of  various  fur  animals  taken 
in  Illinois  were  as  follows: 

Fox,  red  and  gray 3,926 

Mink 21,593 

Muskrat 323,895 

Opossum 25,519 

Raccoon 6,281 

Skunk,  common  large 30,426 


Total 411,640 

The  state  reporting  the  largest  take  of 
pelts  is  Louisiana  with  2,546,820.  Second 
comes  Ohio  with  2,530,800.  Information, 
in  many  cases  not  regarded  as  complete  or 
satisfactory  by  the  Bureau  of  Biological 
Survey,  was  supplied  by  forty-one  states 
and  Alaska.   Excerpts  from  the  leaflet  follow: 

"The  conservation  of  fur  animals  in  the 
United  States  is  as  much  a  matter  of  public 
concern  as  is  the  conservation  of  any  other 
of  the  natural  resources  of  the  country. 
The  administration  of  fishes  and  game  may 
rest  with  either  the  state  or  federal  govern- 
ment, but  fur  animals  are  generally  recog- 
nized as  the  property  of  the  individual 
states.  The  maintenance  of  fur  supplies, 
therefore,  must  be  brought  about  through 
the  enactment  and  enforcement  of  state 
laws.  .  .  .The  states  are  entitled,  therefore, 
to  know  how  much  of  their  natural  wealth 
in  the  form  of  fur  is  taken  every  year.  .  .  . 
One  of  the  most  important  features  of 
present-day  legislation"  (which  the  leaflet 
indicates  has  not  yet  been  adopted  in  many 
states)  "is  that  requiring  trappers  to  make 
annual  reports  on  the  number  of  each 
species  taken.  .  .  .The  data  to  be  obtained 
from  these  reports  would  provide  the 
material  for  a  factual  survey  of  the  annual 
kill  and  of  its  relation  to  the  breeding 
supply,  or  capital  stock,  as  it  may  be  con- 
sidered. It  is  on  such  surveys  that  pro- 
tective measures  should  be  based." 


November,  1939 


FIELD  MUSEUM  NEWS 


Page  5 


TO  COLLECT  PLANTS  IN  MEXICO 
AND  U.  S.  SOUTHWEST 

Dr.  Francis  Drouet,  Curator  of  Crypto- 
gamic  Botany  at  Field  Museum,  and  Mr. 
Donald  Richards,  of  the  Hull  Botanical 
Laboratory,  University  of  Chicago,  left 
Chicago  October  7  on  an  expedition  into 
the  southwestern  United  States  and  north- 
western Mexico.  The  primary  aim  of  the 
expedition  is  to  make  an  investigation  of 
the  algae  and  bryophytes  (mosses)  of  the 
region,  with  special  reference  to  that  type 
of  flora  along  the  Gulf  of  California.  Collec- 
tions of  all  other  groups  of  plants  will  be 
taken  also.  A  week  will  be  spent  at  Las 
Vegas,  New  Mexico,  for  study  of  the  flora 
of  hot  springs  in  the  vicinity.  Another 
week  will  be  devoted  to  collecting  in  the 
area  about  Tucson,  Arizona.  The  itinerary 
will  then  continue  into  the  Mexican  state 
of  Sonora,  with  stops  at  points  between 
Nogales  and  Hermosillo,  and  between  Her- 
mosillo  and  Guaymas.  With  the  two  latter 
cities  as  bases,  short  trips  will  be  undertaken 
along  the  coast  and  into  the  mountains  and 
desert.  If  time  permits,  the  lakes  of  northern 
Lower  California  will  also  be  visited.  Dr. 
Drouet  and  Mr.  Richards  are  expected  to 
return  to  Chicago  in  January,  1940.  The 
expedition  is  sponsored  by  President  Stanley 
Field. 


COLORADO  EXPEDITION  RETURNS 
WITH  NOTABLE  COLLECTION 

The  Field  Museum  Paleontological  Ex- 
pedition to  Colorado  returned  to  the  Mu- 
seum last  month  with  a  large  collection  of 
fossil  vertebrates  from  the  western  part 
of  that  state.  The  greater  part  of  the  season 
was  spent  working  in  the  Plateau  Valley 
beds,  a  late  Paleocene  formation  which  has 
been  the  scene  of 
Field  Museum  op- 
erations at  various 
times    since    1932. 

The  most  im- 
portant discovery 
made  by  the  ex- 
pedition was  a 
rather  extensive 
deposit  of  bones 
representing  a  new 
genus  of  the  order 
Pantodonta,  suffi- 
cient, it  is  hoped, 
to  permit  the 
mounting  of  a  skel- 
eton. This  group 
of  ungulates,  or  hoofed  animals,  was  the 
first  among  the  mammals  to  achieve  large 
size  in  the  era  that  followed  the  disappear- 
ance of  the  dinosaurs.  The  new  animal 
is  a  relative  of  Barylambda,  skeletons  of 
which  were  obtained  by  the  expeditions 
of  1932  and  1933.  From  an  examination 
of  the  material  as  collected  in  the  field  it 
may  be  tentatively  estimated  that  the 
skeleton  will  be  between  six  and  seven  feet 


Bryan  Patterson 

Assistant  Curator  of  Pa- 
leontology, and  leader  of 
fossil  hunting  expeditions 
to  the  American  west  in 
1939  and  several  other  years. 


long,  and  will  stand  between  three  and  four 
feet  high.  The  animal  was  very  powerfully 
built  with  a  small  head  and  massive  limbs. 
Like  all  its  relatives  it  was  a  vegetarian. 

The  method  of  excavating  this  find 
differed  somewhat  from  the  usual  collecting 
procedure.  The  bones  were  discovered 
cropping  out  along  one  side  of  a  small  clay 
ridge  some  sixty  feet  long  and  twenty-five 
feet  high.  This  ridge  was  capped  by  six 
feet  of  hard  sandstone,  the  specimens 
occurring  at  the  junction  of  the  sandstone 
and  the  clay.  The  latter  being  softer  than 
the  former,  it  was  found  easier  to  mine 
under  the  sandstone  than  to  cut  through 
it.  The  clay  was  blasted  out  with  dyna- 
mite. Then  with  the  roof  supported  by 
timbers,  members  of  the  party  were  enabled 
to  sit  in  the  cool  of  their  "mine"  and  com- 
fortably chisel  the  bones  out  of  the  roof. 

Other  specimens  collected  by  the  ex- 
pedition include  two  partial  skeletons 
of  Barylambda,  a  partial  skeleton  of  a 
taeniodont,  and  fragmentary  remains  of 
the  smaller  animals  of  the  time.  Of  par- 
ticular interest  among  the  latter  are  some 
jaws  of  early  primates,  members  of  the 
order  to  which  man  belongs. 

The  personnel  of  the  party  consisted  of 
Mr.  Bryan  Patterson,  Assistant  Curator 
of  Paleontology,  Mr.  James  H.  Quinn, 
Assistant  in  Paleontology,  Messrs.  Robert 
G.  Schmidt,  and  Paul  Clark,  of  Homewood, 
Illinois,  and  Messrs.  Leonard  C.  Bessom 
and  Harold  Pearson,  of  Chicago. 


Raymond  Foundation  Co-operates 
in  School  Radio  Work 

The  James  Nelson  and  Anna  Louise 
Raymond  Foundation  for  Public  School 
and  Children's  Lectures  is  again  co-operat- 
ing, as  in  1938  and  the  spring  of  this  year, 
with  the  Public  School  Broadcasting  Council. 
Special  programs  are  presented  at  the  Mu- 
seum as  "follow-ups"  to  the  Council's 
science  radio  programs.  Two  such  radio 
follow-ups  were  given  last  month — "Grasses 
and  Forage  Plants"  on  October  4,  and 
"Famous  Trees"  on  October  25.  Informal 
meetings  were  held  in  the  Lecture  Hall  of 
the  Museum  for  representative  pupils  select- 
ed from  the  upper  grades  of  many  schools. 
More  than  200  attended  the  first  program. 
Mimeographed  sheets  containing  text  and 
drawings  pertaining  to  the  subjects  under 
discussion  were  distributed  to  the  children. 
After  the  meetings  the  children  were  con- 
ducted on  tours  of  the  halls  containing  re- 
lated exhibits. 


Balsa 

Balsa  wood,  light  and  soft  like  cork,  is 
obtained  from  various  species  of  ochroma. 
This  tree  grows  in  the  lowlands  of  Central 
and  South  America  and  the  West  Indies, 
and  is  used  by  the  natives  to  make  unsink- 
able  rafts.  An  exhibit  of  balsa  may  be  seen 
in  Case  870,  Hall  of  Plant  Life  (Hall  29). 


SUNDAY  "LAYMAN  LECTURES" 
TO  FEATURE  GEMS 

The  third  annual  season  of  Sunday  after- 
noon lecture  tours  at  Field  Museum,  con- 
ducted by  Mr.  Paul  G.  Dallwig,  the  Layman 
Lecturer,  will  begin  on  November  5.  On 
the  four  Sundays  in  November  Mr.  Dallwig's 
topic  will  be 
"Gems,  Jewels 
and  'Junk.'  " 
In  connection 
with  this  lecture 
he  will  take  his 
hearers  through 
the  gem  exhibits 
in  H.  N.  Higin- 
botham  Hall, 
and  in  other 
halls  of  the  Department  of  Geology.  He 
will  trace  for  his  audience  the  progress  of 
precious  and  semi-precious  gem-stones  from 
their  original  home  in  the  mother-rocks  to 
their  ultimate  resting  place  in  a  jewelry 
store,  milady's  personal  jewel  chest,  or  a 
museum.  He  will  explain  the  rise  of  supersti- 
tions that  led  to  the  customs  of  wearing 
gems  as  charms  to  avert  evil  and  illness, 
to  induce  good  luck,  and  to  further  the 
cause  of  love.  He  will  also  describe  the 
methods  of  producing  imitation  and  syn- 
thetic gems,  and  give  instructions  on  how 
gems  may  be  tested  to  prove  their  genuine- 
ness or  artificiality. 

As  each  Sunday  tour  is  necessarily  limited 
to  100  adults  {children  cannot  be  accom- 
modated), it  is  necessary  to  make  reserva- 
tions in  advance  by  mail  or  telephone 
(Wabash  9410).  Lectures  begin  promptly 
at  2  P.M.,  and  end  at  4:30.  During  a 
half-hour  intermission  midway  in  the  tours, 
members  of  the  parties  wishing  to  do  so 
may  obtain  refreshments  in  the  Cafeteria, 
where  they  may  also  smoke.  Special  tables 
are  reserved  for  the  groups. 

On  Sundays  in  December  Mr.  Dallwig's 
subject  will  be  "The  Parade  of  the  Races," 
on  which  the  tour  will  cover  the  famous 
Races  of  Mankind  sculptures  by  Malvina 
Hoffman.  In  January  the  subject  will  be 
"Romance  of  Diamonds  from  Mine  to  Man," 
and  in  February,  "Prehistoric  Monsters  in 
Nature's  'March  of  Time.'  "  Other  changes 
of  subjects  will  be  announced  for  each 
succeeding  month  up  to  and  including  next 
May. 

New  Guinea  House  Ornaments 

A  collection  of  New  Guinea  house  orna- 
ments is  on  exhibition  in  Joseph  N.  Field 
Hall  (Hall  A).  Each  family  has  certain 
designs,  more  or  less  elaborate,  with  which 
they  decorate  not  only  their  houses,  but 
their  implements,  canoes,  and  other  objects, 
large  and  small.  The  designs  are  inherited, 
and  no  one  else  has  the  right  to  use  them 
unless  such  a  right  is  purchased — thus  they 
might  be  said  to  be  protected  by  a  primitive 
form  of  patent,  like  a  registered  trademark. 


Pages 


FIELD  MUSEUM  NEWS 


November,  1939 


Field  Museum  of  Natural  History 

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

THE  BOARD  OF  TRUSTEES 
Lester  Armour  Samuel  Insull,  Jr. 

Sewell  L.  Avery  Charles  A.  McCulloch 

William  McCobmick  Blair   William  H.  Mitchell 
Leopold  E.  Block  George  A.  Richardson 

Walter  J.  Cummings  Theodore  Roosevelt 

Albert  B.  Dick,  Jr.  James  Simpson 

Joseph  N.  Field  Solomon  A.  Smith 

Marshall  Field  Albert  A.  Spragub 

Stanley  Field  Silas  H.  Strawn 

Albert  W.  Harris  Albert  H.  Wetten 

John  P.  Wilson 

OFFICERS 

Stanley  Field Pretidmt 

Albert  A.  Sprague First  Vice-President 

Jambs  Simpson Second  Vice-President 

Albert  W.  Harris Third  Vice-President 

Clifford  C.  Gregg Director  and  Secretary 

Solomon  A.  Smith.  .  .Treasurer  and  Assistant  Secretary 

FIELD  MUSEUM  NEWS 

Clifford  C.  Gregg,  Director  of  the  Museum ....  Editor 

CONTRIBUTING  EDITORS 

Paul  S.  Martin Chief  Curator  of  Anthropology 

B.  E.  Dahlgren Chief  Curator  of  Botany 

Henry  W.  Nichois Chief  Curator  of  Geology 

Wilfred  H.  Osgood Chief  Curator  of  Zoology 

H.  B.  Harte Managing  Editor 

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


FROM  THE  DIRECTOR'S  DESK- 


The  Layman  Lecturer 

For  the  past  two  seasons  Field  Museum 
has  offered  a  series  of  Sunday  afternoon 
lecture  tours  given  by  "The  Layman  Lec- 
turer." The  membership  of  the  Museum 
should  be  fully  informed  about  these  lec- 
tures, and  particu- 
larly about  the  lec- 
turer. 

The  Layman  Lec- 
ture Tours  actually 
began  as  a  personal 
hobby.  Prior  to  the 
fall  of  1937  Mr. 
Paul  G.  Dallwig  had 
developed  the  habit, 
born  of  his  interest 
in  Field  Museum,  of 
bringing  in  groups  of 
personal  friends  on 
Sunday  afternoons. 
When  these  repeated 
visits  were  brought 
to  my  notice,  I  sent 
an  invitation  to  Mr.  Dallwig  to  call  upon 
me  and  tell  me  of  his  work.  As  a  result 
of  this  interview  I  persuaded  Mr.  Dallwig 
to  include  in  his  informal  groups  not  only 
his  own  friends  but  a  much  larger  group  of 
friends  of  Field  Museum.  It  was  felt  that 
Mr.  Dallwig,  being  closely  associated  with 
men  in  the  business  and  professional  life 
of  Chicago,  might  have  a  different  point  of 
view  in  the  presentation  of  the  wealth  of 
scientific  information  available  at  Field 
Museum.  The  experiment,  now  two  years 
old,  has  amply  indicated  the  correctness  of 
this  belief. 


Da^crre  Studio.  Ctiicago 

Paul  G.  Dallwig, 
the  Layman  Lecturer 


When  the  new  series  of  lectures  became 
known,  they  soon  achieved  such  popularity 
that  a  limitation  had  to  be  placed  on  the 
size  of  the  groups.  Reservations  were 
required  in  advance,  and  still  the  demand 
exceeded  the  approved  size  of  group-lecture 
parties  to  the  extent  that  many  persons 
were  unable  to  obtain  reservations,  although 
Mr.  Dallwig  spoke  to  groups  averaging  84 
in  attendance  during  the  entire  past  season. 

The  reasons  for  this  phenomenal  showing 
might  well  be  worked  into  a  typical  success 
story.  First  of  all,  Mr.  Dallwig  carries  into 
his  work  an  enthusiasm  and  a  desire  for 
accurate  information  which  would  do  credit 
to  a  true  professional  scientist.  His  research 
among  his  chosen  subjects  includes  the 
facilities  of  his  own  splendid  library,  the 
library  and  collections  of  Field  Museum, 
and  frequent  interviews  with  members  of 
the  Museum  staff.  He  spares  neither  time 
nor  effort  in  the  preparation  of  his  scripts, 
and  he  weaves  into  them  material  of  great 
"human  interest."  His  objective  is  to 
disseminate  accurate  scientific  information 
in  a  non-technical  manner  and  in  terms 
readily  understood  and  appreciated  by  his 
audience. 

Mr.  Dallwig  believes  that  a  good  title  is 
an  asset  in  any  lecture  series.  Certainly 
the  interest  shown  seems  to  bear  out  his 
contention.  "Digging  up  the  Caveman's 
Past"  is  more  alluring  than  "The  Life  of 
Prehistoric  Man,"  and  "Nature's  'March 
of  Time' "  seems  more  intriguing  than 
"Prehistoric  Life  as  Revealed  by  Fossils." 
His  fascinating  story  on  precious  stones 
bears  the  title,  "Gems,  Jewels  and  'Junk.'  " 
His  scripts  are  prepared  in  a  similarly  in- 
teresting and  non-pedantic  style. 

I  would  feel  that  I  had  not  properly  com- 
pleted this  story  if  I  did  not  emphasize 
the  fact  that  Mr.  Dallwig's  activities  for 
Field  Museum  are  wholly  unselfish.  He 
receives  no  compensation,  direct  or  indirect, 
from  either  the  Museum  or  his  audience. 
He  is  making  a  truly  notable  contribution 
in  public  service  and  in  the  dissemination 
of  scientifically  correct  information. 

— Clifford  C.  Gregg,  Director 


Field  Museum  Participates 
in  Television  Programs 

In  recent  weeks  Field  Museum  has  partici- 
pated in  a  series  of  experimental  programs 
of  an  educational  nature  over  the  television 
station  (W9XZV)  of  the  Zenith  Radio 
Corporation. 

The  staff  lecturers  of  the  James  Nelson 
and  Anna  Louise  Raymond  Foundation  for 
Public  School  and  Children's  Lectures  were 
speakers  on  these  programs.  They  were 
televised  while  giving  their  talks,  as  were 
also  the  stereopticon  slides,  exhibition  ob- 
jects, living  animals,  and  motion  pictures 
they  used  to  illustrate  their  subjects.  The 
first  program,  "Introduction  to  Field  Mu- 
seum,   Its    Exhibits    and    Activities,"    was 


presented  by  Mrs.  Leota  G.  Thomas;  "The 
Story  of  the  Earth"  was  given  by  Miss 
Marie  B.  Pabst;  Miss  Miriam  Wood  spoke 
on  "Native  American  Food  Plants";  Mr. 
Loren  P.  Woods  on  "Life  Stories  of  Snakes"; 
Miss  Elizabeth  McM.  Hambleton  on 
"Hunters,  Herders  and  Farmers,"  and  Miss 
Margaret  M.  Cornell,  Chief  of  the  Founda- 
tion, concluded  the  series  with  "Expeditions 
and  Their  Value  to  Chicagoans." 

Officials  of  the  Zenith  corporation  ex- 
pressed themselves  as  highly  pleased  with 
the  Museum's  contributions  to  this  new 
type  of  educational  venture.  The  success 
of  the  undertaking  indicates  a  broad  field 
for  this  work  in  the  future  when  television 
facilities  are  further  developed. 


Staff  Notes 

Mr.  Sharat  K.  Roy,  Curator  of  Geology, 
has  been  on  a  trip  through  the  east  during 
which  he  visited  various  important  museums 
and  universities  to  check  the  results  of  his 
research  on  the  paleontology  of  Baffin  Land 
with  the  work  of  other  paleontologists.  Mr. 
Roy's  studies  in  this  field  were  undertaken 
through  his  participation  in  the  Second 
Rawson-MacMillan    Subarctic   Expedition. 


Mr.  L.  Bryant  Mather,  Jr.,  Assistant 
Curator  of  Mineralogy  at  Field  Museum, 
has  been  given  an  honorary  appointment, 
as  Associate  Curator  of  the  Department  of 
Mineralogy  of  the  Natural  History  Society 
of  Maryland,  at  Baltimore. 


Staff  Taxidermist  John  W.  Moyer  recently 
lectured  on  "Behind  the  Scenes  in  a  Mu- 
seum" before  the  Cincinnati  Art  Club. 


A  FEW  FACTS  ABOUT  FIELD  MUSEUM 

Field  Museum  is  open  every  day  of  tiie  year 
(except  Christmas  and  New  Year's  Day)  during 
tile  iloura  indicated  below: 

November,  December, 

January,  Feoruary  ...  .9  A.M.  to  4  p.m. 
March,  April,  and 

September,  October  ...  9  A.M.  to  5  P.M. 
May,  June,  July,  August. 9  A.M.  to  6  P.M. 

Admission  is  free  to  Members  on  all  days. 
Other  adults  are  admitted  free  on  Thursdays, 
Saturdays,  and  Sundays;  non-members  pay  25 
cents  on  other  days.  Children  are  admitted  free 
on  all  days.  Students  and  faculty  members  of 
educational  institutions  are  admitted  free  any 
day  upon  presentation  of  credentials. 

The  Museum's  Library  is  open  for  reference 
daily  except  Saturday  afternoon  and  Sunday. 

Traveling  exhibits  are  circulated  in  the 
schools  of  Chicago  by  the  N.  W.  Harris  Public 
School  Extension  Department  of  the  Museum. 

Lectures  at  schools,  and  sf>ecial  entertain- 
ments and  tours  for  children  at  the  Mtiseum,  are 
provided  by  the  James  Nelson  and  Anna  Louise 
Raymond  Foundation  for  Public  School  and 
Children's  Lectures. 

Free  courses  of  lectures  for  adults  are  pre- 
sented in  the  James  Simpson  Theatre  on  Satur- 
day afternoons  (at  2:30  o'clock)  in  March, 
April,  October,  and  November. 

A  Cafeteria  serves  visitors.  Rooms  are  avail- 
able also  for  those  bringing  their  lunches. 

Chicago  Motor  Coach  Company  No.  26 
busses  provide  direct  transportation  to  the 
Museum.  Service  is  offered  also  by  Surface 
Lines,  Rapid  Transit  Lines  (the  "L"),  inter- 
urban  electric  lines,  and  Illinois  Central  trains. 
There  is  ample  free  parking  space  for  auto- 
mobiles at  the  Museum. 


November,  1939 


FIELD  MUSEUM  NEWS 


Page  7 


SPECIAL  EXHIBIT  OF  BIRDS 
FROM  BISHOP  COLLECTION 

As  reported  in  the  October  Field  Mu- 
seum News,  the  famous  Bishop  Collection 
of  some  50,000  North  American  birds  was 
recently  acquired  for  addition  to  the  study 
collections  of  the  Department  of  Zoology. 
Last  month  a  special  exhibit  of  unusually 
interesting  birds,  selected  from  this  collec- 
tion, was  placed  in  Stanley  Field  Hall, 
where  it  will  remain  until  November  30. 
Aside  from  the  inherent  interest  of  the 
birds  chosen  for  display,  this  exhibit  is 
designed  to  demonstrate  to  the  layman  the 
various  purposes  and  values,  from  the 
ornithologist's  viewpoint,  of  assembling 
such  huge  and  comprehensive  study  collec- 
tions, and  to  indicate  some  of  the  results 
obtained  from  researches  conducted  as  a 
result  of  their  availability. 

GEOGRAPHIC  VARIATION  IN  A  SPECIES 

One  section  of  the  exhibit  illustrates  the 
geographical  variation  which  occurs  in 
various  parts  of  the  range  of  a  bird.  This 
is  one  of  the  most  important  purposes  for 
forming  large  collections  with  complete 
data  recording  the  known  history  of  each 
specimen.  In  the  exhibit  the  song  sparrow 
has  been  chosen  to  illustrate  the  phenomenon 
of  variation,  the  species  shown  including 
the  Aleutian  song  sparrow  from  the  Aleutian 
Islands  near  Alaska;  the  Yakutat  song 
sparrow  of  southeastern  Alaska;  the  Dakota 
song  sparrow  of  southeastern  Saskatch- 
ewan to  northeastern  North  Dakota; 
the  rusty  song  sparrow,  which  is  found 
from  British  Columbia  to  Oregon;  Samuel's 
song  sparrow  of  west-central  California; 
the  eastern  song  sparrow,  found  from 
Manitoba  and  Quebec  to  Georgia;  the 
mountain  sparrow,  ranging  from  Montana 
to  New  Mexico,  and  the  desert  song  sparrow, 
which  inhabits  the  regions  from  southern 
Nevada  to  southwestern  Arizona.  These 
birds  demonstrate  the  plasticity  of  the 
species  and  the  changes  which  occur  accord- 
ing to  the  nature  of  their  habitats.  Thus, 
the  desert  form  of  the  song  sparrow  is  very 
pale,  while  those  subspecies  inhabiting 
humid  regions  are  very  dark.  There  is  also  a 
tendency  among  many  species  to  develop 
increased  size  in  northerly  habitats,  which 
is  especially  well  illustrated  by  the  Aleutian 
song  sparrow.  To  compare  this  form  with 
the  desert  race  might  lead  one  to  think 
they  are  entirely  different  species,  but  that 
this  is  not  so  is  proved  by  their  intergrada- 
tion  with  forms  geographically  intermediate. 

SPECIATION,  AND  BEAUTY 

The  phenomenon  of  speciation  is  illus- 
trated by  several  small  birds  of  the  genus 
Passerina.  In  no  other  closely  related  group 
of  North  American  birds  is  there  so  much 
variation  in  color  as  in  these,  states  Curator 
Boulton.  The  species  shown  are  the  indigo 
bunting,  lazuli  bunting,  beautiful  bunting, 
and  painted  bunting.  The  last  named 
thoroughly  merits  the  designation  "painted," 


and  it  is  considered  by  many  ornithologists 
to  be  the  most  beautiful  of  all  North  Ameri- 
can birds.  The  many  colors  with  which  it  is 
resplendent,  and  the  intense  quality  of  these 
colors,  make  it  a  superlative  example  of  the 
artistry  of  Nature. 

SEASONAL  CHANGES  IN  COLOR 

Seasonal  variations  in  the  color  of  the 
scarlet  tanager  are  demonstrated  by  a 
series  of  specimens  showing  three  nestling 
stages  of  this  bird  from  the  egg  to  juvenal 
plumage,  followed  by  the  male's  first  winter 
plumage  stage,  the  first  prenuptial  stage 
of  the  following  spring,  the  first  male  nuptial 
plumage,  the  male  adult  winter  plumage, 
and  the  adult  breeding  plumage.  A  specimen 
illustrates  also  the  female's  adult  plumage 
which,  although  the  feathers  change  just 
as  often  as  the  male's,  shows  practically 
no  variation  in  color.  Most  birds  do  not 
develop  differences  as  striking  as  those  of 
the  scarlet  tanager,  but  there  are  significant 
changes  in  all  of  them,  Mr.  Boulton  declares. 
These  may  be  due  to  a  change  of  feathers 
(molting),  fading,  and  wearing  of  the  feather 
tips.  In  the  case  of  the  scarlet  tanager, 
molting  is  the  cause. 

HYBRIDIZATION  ILLUSTRATED 

Another  section  of  the  exhibit  illustrates 
hybridization  in  the  genus  Vermivora. 
Shown  are  two  hybrids  of  the  golden-winged 
warbler  and  the  blue-winged  warbler.  The 
Bishop  Collection  contains  what  is  probably 
the  finest  representation  of  this  group  in 
the  world. 

LARGEST  AND  SMALLEST  BIRDS 

A  feature  of  the  exhibit  is  the  striking 
contrast  in  size  afforded  by  comparison  of 
North  America's  largest  bird,  the  Cali- 
fornia condor,  with  the  continent's  smallest 
bird,  the  calliope  hummingbird.  It  would 
take  approximately  5,000  of  the  latter  to 
equal  the  condor  in  weight  and  bulk. 

RARE  AND  EXTINCT  BIRDS 

Finally,  a  section  of  the  exhibit  is  devoted 
to  some  of  the  rare  and  extinct  birds  repre- 
sented in  the  Bishop  Collection.  Most 
specimens  of  such  birds  in  museums  today 
were  collected  when  the  various  species 
were  common — now  they  can  only  be 
obtained  through  the  acquisition  of  old 
private  collections  such  as  this  one  as- 
sembled by  Dr.  Louis  B.  Bishop,  of  Pasa- 
dena, California.  The  extermination  of  a 
species  often  involves  many  complex  factors, 
but  in  many  cases  it  can  be  attributed  to 
Man  and  his  ruthless  destruction  of  wild 
life,  says  Mr.  Boulton.  Included  in  this 
section  of  the  exhibit  are  specimens  of  the 
heath  hen,  passenger  pigeon,  Carolina 
paroquet,  Eskimo  curlew,  ivory-billed  wood- 
pecker, and  Guadalupe  petrel.  It  is  only 
through  the  preservation  in  museums  of 
the  few  existing  specimens  of  extinct  birds 
that  future  generations  can  really  know 
what  they  were  like — birds  that  once  existed 
in  hordes  and  that  have  succumbed  to  Man's 
thoughtlessness  and  greed. 


TWINS  IN  AFRICA 

By  WILFRID  D.  HAMBLY 

CURATOR  OF  AFRICAN  ETHNOLOGY 

In  Hall  D,  Case  9,  is  a  small  wooden 
figure  of  a  type  carried  by  a  Negro  mother 
when  one  of  her  twins  has  died.  She  gives 
the  explanation  that  the  remaining  twin, 
feeling  lonely,  might  also  die.  If  the  surviv- 
ing twin  nevertheless  dies  later,  the  wooden 
companion  is  buried  with  him. 

Among  the  Ovimbundu  tribe,  of  Portu- 
guese West  Africa,  twins  are  not  unwelcome, 
but  they  are  somewhat  feared.  The  medi- 
cine-man carries  out  rites  for  purifying  the 
mother  of  twins,  and  he  gives  her  protection 
against  evil  influences  by  providing  a  small 
horn  which  she  hangs  around  her  neck. 
This  she  has  to  blow  when  crossing  a  river, 
when  meeting  a  group  of  people,  or  if  she 
sees  a  hawk  flying  overhead.  There  is  a 
good  deal  of  good-natured  joking  with  the 
mother  of  twins,  and  an  inquiry  concerning 
the  "litter"  is  met  with  loud  laughter.  To 
all  this  she  replies  jokingly  and  with  a  shake 
of  a  special  rattle  which  she  substitutes  for 
the  ordinary  oral  greetings. 

The  regard  of  the  Ovimbundu  for  twins  is 
not  a  true  indication  of  the  general  Negro 
attitude.  African  customs  have  been  modi- 
fied under  European  administration,  but  in 
former  days  the  birth  of  twins  was  often 
followed  by  their  execution,  and  that  of  the 
mother  also.  In  some  tribes  only  the  twins 
were  killed;  sometimes  one  of  them  was  per- 
mitted to  live.    Customs  varied  locally. 

In  some  tribes  a  special  form  of  burial  is 
given  if  both  twins  die.  They  are  buried  at 
cross-paths,  which  is  a  form  of  interment 
given  also  to  suicides  and  to  people  who 
have  been  killed  by  lightning, 

A  wide  survey  of  tribes  south  of  the  river 
Zambezi  indicates  that  only  a  few  tribes 
regard  the  birth  of  twins  as  fortunate  for 
the  family. 


Fossil  Horse  on  Exhibition 

A  mounted  skeleton  of  the  fossil  horse 
Plesippus,  from  the  Pliocene  formation  of 
Idaho,  has  recently  been  placed  on  exhibition 
in  Ernest  R.  Graham  Hall  (Hall  38).  Most 
of  the  skeleton,  as  mounted,  belongs  to  one 
animal.  A  few  parts  of  other  animals  from 
the  same  locality  have  been  used  to  supply 
missing  bones. 

Plesippus  is  one  of  the  native  stock  of 
North  American  horses.  The  animal  would 
have  been  about  fourteen  hands  high,  or 
as  large  as  a  small  saddle  pony.  It  had 
most  of  the  horse-like  characteristics  com- 
mon to  living  species  of  wild  horses  in  Asia. 
The  head  is  proportionately  larger,  the  legs 
more  slender,  and  the  feet  smaller  than  those 
of  our  better-bred  domestic  horses. 


The  five  main  types  of  modern  corn,  as 
well  as  ancient  maize  such  as  was  grown  by 
the  Mound  Builders,  Cliff  Dwellers,  and 
early  Peruvians,  are  shown  in  Hall  25. 


Pages 


FIELD  MUSEUM  NEWS 


November,  1939 


RAYMOND  FOUNDATION  OFFERS 
MORE  CHILDREN'S  PROGRAMS 

The  autumn  series  of  free  motion  picture 
programs  for  children,  presented  by  the 
James  Nelson  and  Anna  Louise  Raymond 
Foundation  for  Public  School  and  Children's 
Lectures,  will  continue  through  November. 
Programs  are  presented  each  Saturday  morn- 
ing in  the  James  Simpson  Theatre  of  the 
Museum.  There  are  two  showings  of  each, 
one  beginning  at  10  a.m.,  and  one  at  11. 
Most  of  the  films  have  talking  and  other 
sound  effects.  Following  are  the  dates  and 
the  titles  of  the  films  on  each: 

November  4 — Land  of  the  Giants;  Seago- 
ing Thrills  on  the  Wander  Bird;  Oriental 
Methods  of  Traveling;  Glimpses  of  Old 
China. 

November  11 — Armistice  Day  Program: 
Famous  Dixie  Land  Spirituals;  The  Pil- 
grims Land  at  Plymouth;  The  Signing  of 
the  Declaration  of  Independence;  The 
Moon  and  Its  Features. 

November  18 — Hunting  Musk  Ox  with  the 
Polar  Eskimos;  Eskimo  Life  in  Southern 
Greenland;  Nanook  and  His  Family;  In 
the  Land  of  the  Reindeer. 

November  25 — Winter  (cartoon) ;  Learning 
to  Ski;  Sonja  Henie,  the  Champion 
Skater;  International  Ice  Patrol;  the  Nass 
River  Indians. 

Children  from  all  parts  of  Chicago  and 
suburbs  are  invited.  No  tickets  are  required 
for  admission.  The  Museum  is  prepared  to 
receive  large  groups  from  schools  and  other 
organizations,  as  well  as  individual  children 
coming  alone  or  accompanied  by  parents 
or  other  adults. 


GIFTS  TO  THE  MUSEUM 

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

From  Dr.  S.  M.  Lambert,  Utica,  N.  Y.— 
265  ethnological  specimens.  New  Guinea 
and  Pacific  Islands;  from  Mrs.  Alonzo 
Newton  Benn,  Chicago — a  serape,  northern 
Mexico;  from  Miss  Nina  Burdick,  Chicago — 
a  Makah  Indian  basket,  Vancouver  Island; 
from  Mrs.  Mildred  Anderson,  Chicago — 
a  jungle  belt,  French  West  Africa;  from 
Ralph  Chait,  New  York — 2  bronze  halberd 
butts,  with  light  green  "water  patina," 
third  century  B.C.,  China. 
Department  of  Botany: 

From  Miss  Charlotte  C.  Ellis,  Mancos, 
Colo. — 75  herbarium  specimens,  Colorado; 
from  Mrs.  B.  B.  Lewis,  Guatemala  City, 
Guatemala — 10  herbarium  specimens,  Guat- 
emala; from  Dr.  J.  R.  Johnston,  Chimalte- 
nango,  Guatemala — 80  herbarium  speci- 
mens, Guatemala;  from  Rev.  Brother 
Apolinar-Marla,  Bogota,  Colombia — 59  her- 
barium specimens,  Colombia;  from  Museo 
Nacional,  San  Jose,  Costa  Rica — 43  her- 
barium specimens,  Costa  Rica;  from  Illinois 
State  Museum,  Springfield,  111. — 133  her- 
barium specimens,  Illinois;  from  William  A. 
Daily,   Cincinnati,   Ohio — 31   specimens  of 


algae,  Ohio  and  Michigan;  from  Preston 
Smith,  Oberlin,  Ohio — 52  specimens  of  algae, 
Ohio;  from  Dr.  G.  T.  Velasquez,  Manila, 
P.  I. — 35  specimens  of  algae.  District  of 
Columbia,  New  York,  and  Ontario;  from 
Dr.  Henry  Field,  Chicago — 42  specimens  of 
algae,  Maine;  from  Rev.  Brother  H.  Daniel, 
Medellin,  Colombia — 45  herbarium  speci- 
mens, Colombia;  from  Professor  J.  Soukup, 
Puno,  Peru — 32  herbarium  specimens,  Peru. 
Department  of  Geology : 

From  Dr.  M.  J.  Groesbeck,  Porterville, 
Cal. — 11  geological  specimens,  California; 
from  Miss  Bertha  Gordon,  Porterville,  Cal. 
— a  garnet  crystal,  California;  from  Dr. 
Henry  Field,  Chicago — 2  flint  nodules, 
England;  from  William  E.  Menzel,  Chicago 
— a  mineral  specimen,  Mexico. 
Department  of  Zoology: 

From  Loren  P.  Woods,  Evanston,  111. — 
3,441  fish  specimens,  southeastern  Missouri; 
from  Chicago  Zoological  Society,  Brookfield, 
111. — 5  mammal  specimens. 
The  Library: 

Valuable  books  from  L.  C.  Page  and 
Company,  Boston,  Mass.;  Golden  Gate 
International  Exposition,  San  Francisco, 
Cal.;  George  J.  Wallace,  Boston,  Mass.; 
and  Dr.  Henry  Field  and  Elmer  S.  Riggs, 
both  of  Chicago. 


Distinguished  Visitors 

Among  distinguished  visitors  recently 
received  at  Field  Museum  are  Dr.  Ralph 
Linton,  formerly  on  the  staff  of  this  institu- 
tion's Department  of  Anthropology,  now 
chairman  of  the  Department  of  Anthro- 
pology at  Columbia  University;  Mr.  Ells- 
worth P.  Killip,  Associate  Curator  of  the 
National  Herbarium,  Washington,  D.C.; 
Dr.  T.  H.  Kearney,  of  the  Department  of 
Agriculture,  Washington,  and  Dr.  Hermon 
C.  Bumpus,  noted  zoologist,  former  Director 
of  the  American  Museum  of  Natural  His- 
tory, New  York,  and  now  Chairman  of 
the  Educational  Advisory  Board,  National 
Parks  Service. 


NEW  MEMBERS 

The  following  persons  were  elected  to 
membership  in  Field  Museum  during  the 
period  from  September  16  to  October  16: 

Associate  Members 

Mrs.  Harold  A.  Bachmann,  Mrs.  Maurice 
Berkson,  William  McCormick  Blair,  Frank 
B.  Calmeyn,  Arthur  W.  Carlson,  Mrs.  W.  W. 
Forrester,  Mrs.  Guy  H.  Giles. 
Annual  Members 

Mrs.  J.  J.  AUin,  Harry  P.  Baumann,  Mrs. 
Corabel  K.  Brown,  Mrs.  Frank  A.  Carlton, 
Miss  Bonnie  Colvin,  Robert  S.  Cushman, 
Mrs.  Abel  Davis,  Ellis  H.  Denney,  Walter 
W.  Drew,  Leo  H.  Elkan,  Walter  A.  Gerwig, 
Fred  M.  Heller,  Mrs.  Irene  Huck,  Mrs. 
Martha  F.  Jackson,  Mrs.  Alfred  B.  Johnston, 
Mrs.  Jacob  G.  Joseph,  Leslie  H.  Kerr, 
John  A.  Obermaier,  Harry  M.  Reser,  Mrs. 
W.  D.  Richardson,  Dr.  I.  I.  Ritter,  Stuart 
Busby  Smithson,  Milton  J.  Spitz,  A.  L. 
Starshak,  Mrs.  Dana  R.  Treat,  Charles 
Velvel,  E.  A.  Wagonseller,  Charles  T. 
Wegner,  Jr. 


NOVEMBER  GUIDE-LECTURE  TOURS 

Conducted  tours  of  exhibits,  under  the 
guidance  of  staff  lecturers,  are  made  every 
afternoon  at  3  oj  clock  except  Saturdays, 
Sundays,  and  certain  holidays.  Following 
is  the  schedule  for  November: 

Wednssday,  November  1 — South  America, 
Past  and  Present;  Thursday — General  Tour; 
Friday — Amphibians  and   Reptiles. 

Week  beginning  November  6:  Monday — 
Hall  of  Plant  Life;  Tuesday— Life  in  the 
Old  Stone  Age;  Wednesday — Marine  Life; 
Thursday — General  Tour;  Friday — Egypt 
and  Its  Art. 

Week  beginning  November  13:  Monday 
— Prehistoric  Plants  and  Animals;  Tuesday 
— Valuable  Fur-bearers;  Wednesday — Amer- 
ican Archaeology;  Thursday — General  Tour; 
Friday — Dwellers  of  the  Far  North. 

Week  beginning  November  20:  Monday 
— Cats  and  Their  Relatives;  Tuesday — 
Plant  Ecology;  Wednesday — The  Earth  and 
Its  Crust;  Thursday — Thanksgiving  holiday, 
no  tour;  Friday — Hall  of  Races  of  Mankind. 

Week  beginning  November  27:  Monday — 
The  Story  of  Coal;  Tuesday—Plants  of 
Plains  and  Deserts;  Wednesday — Animal 
Families;   Thursday — General   Tour. 

Persons  wishing  to  participate  should 
apply  at  North  Entrance.  Tours  are  free. 
Guide-lecturers'  services  for  special  tours 
by  parties  of  ten  or  more  may  be  arranged 
for  with  the  Director  a  week  in  advance. 


MEMBERSHIP  IN  FIELD  MUSEUM 

Field  Museum  has  several  classes  of  Mem- 
bers. Annual  Members  contribute  $10  annu- 
ally. Associate  Members  pay  $100  and  are 
exempt  from  dues.  Sustaining  Members  con- 
tribute $25  annually  for  six  consecutive  year^, 
after  which  they  become  Associate  Members 
and  are  exempt  from  all  further  dues.  Life  Mem- 
bers give  $500  and  are  exempt  from  dues.  Non- 
Resident  Life  Members  pay  $100,  and  Non- 
Resident  Associate  Members  $50;  both  of  these 
classes  are  also  exempt  from  dues.  The  Non- 
Resident  memberships  are  available  only  to 
persons  residing  fifty  miles  or  more  from  Chi- 
cago. Those  who  give  or  devise  to  the  Museum 
$1,000  to  $100,000  are  designated  as  Contribu- 
tors, and  those  who  give  or  devise  $100,000  or 
more  become  Benefactors.  Other  memberships 
are  Honorary,  Patron,  Corresponding  and  Cor- 
porate, additions  under  these  classifications 
being  made  by  special  action  of  the  Board  of 
Trustees. 

Each  Member,  in  all  classes,  is  entitled  to 
free  admission  to  the  Museum  for  himself,  his 
family  and  house  guests:  and  to  two  reserved 
seats  for  Museum  lectures  provided  for  Mem- 
bers. Subscription  to  FIELD  MUSEUM  News  is 
included  with  all  memberships.  The  courtesies 
of  every  museum  of  note  in  the  United  States 
and  Canada  are  extended  to  all  Members  of 
Field  Museum.  A  Member  may  give  his 
personal  card  to  non-residents  of  Chicago,  upon 
presentation  of  which  they  will  be  admitted  to 
the  Museum  without  charge.  Further  informa- 
tion about  memberships  will  be  sent  on  request. 

BEQUESTS  AND  ENDOWMENTS 

Bequests  to  Field  Museum  of  Natural  His- 
tory may  be  made  in  securities,  money,  books  or 
collections.  They  may,  if  desired,  take  the  form 
of  a  memorial  to  a  person  or  cause,  named  by 
the  giver. 

Contributions  made  within  the  taxable  year, 
not  exceeding  15  per  cent  of  the  taxpayer's  net 
income,  are  allowable  as  deductions  in  computing 
net  income  for  federal  income  tax  purposes. 

Endowments  may  be  made  to  the  Museum 
with  the  provision  that  an  annuity  be  paid  to 
the  patron  for  life.  These  annuities  are  guaran- 
teed against  fluctuation  in  amount,  and  may 
reduce  federal  income  taxes. 


News 


Published  Monthly  by  Field  Miiseum  of  Natural  History,  Chicago 


Vol.  10 


DECEMBER,  1939 


No.  12 


EXHIBIT  TRACES  HISTORY  OF  CAMEL,  ORIGINALLY  A  NATIVE  OF  NORTH  AMERICA 


By  PAUL  O.  McGREW 

ASSISTANT  IN  PALEONTOLOGY 

Paleontological  research  during  the  last 
hundred  years  has  yielded  a  great  deal  of 
knowledge  concerning  the  evolutionary 
history  of  mammals.  Several  families, 
in  fact,  may  be  accurately  traced  back 
through  the  geologic  past  in  great  detail, 
the  classic  example  being  that  of  the  horse. 
Although  not  so  widely  used  as  a  text- 
book example  of  evolutionary  develop- 
ment, the  history  of  the  camel  is  as  interest- 
ing and  almost  as  well  documented  as  that 
of  the  horse.  Certain  important  pages  are 
missing  from  our  book  of  knowledge  of 
camel  history,  but  these  are  not  numerous 
enough  to  interfere  seriously  with  the  story. 

The  living  members  of  the  camel  family 
are  now  limited  to  Asia,  Africa,  and  South 
America.  For  some  thirty  million  years, 
however — from  late  Eocene  to  late  Pliocene 
time — camels  were  restricted  to  North 
America.  This  means  that  America  was 
the  stage  upon  which  most  of  the  evolution 
of  the  camels  took  place.  There  is  ample 
evidence  to  support  our  reconstruction  of 
the  major  steps  in  the  development  of  the 
camel,  for,  in  the  successive  strata  of  Ter- 
tiary sediments,  bones  of  the  ancestral 
forms  are  abundant. 

These  fossils  show   us   that  in   the  last 


thirty-five  million  years  or  so  the  camels 
have  undergone  profound  structural  changes. 
They  have  evolved  from  little  creatures 
hardly  larger  than  rabbits  to  the  large 
domesticated  animals  used  in  Asia  as  beasts 
of  burden.  The  limbs  in  the  early  ancestors 
were  short,  but  in  the  modern  descendants 
they  are  long.  Of  the  original  four  meta- 
podial  bones  in  the  foot,  two  have  been 
lost,  and  the  remaining  two  a^e  solidly 
fused  to  form  a  single  "cannon  bone."  The 
toes,  of  which  there  were  once  four  on  each 
foot,  are  now  reduced  to  two.  The  teeth 
also  have  been  reduced  in  number.  Of  the 
forty-four  teeth  in  the  Eocene  camels  only 
thirty-two  are  present  in  the  llamas,  and 
thirty-four  in  the  Asiatic  camels  of  today. 
The  molar  teeth,  which  were  originally 
poorly  equipped  grinders  with  low,  rounded 
cusps,  are  now  long,  complex,  efficient 
grinding  mechanisms.  The  first  two  upper 
incisors  were  lost  in  the  later  camels,  while 
the  third  took  over  the  form  and  function 
of  a  canine  tooth.  The  front  premolars 
moved  forward  from  their  usual  position 
and  they  also  became  caniniform. 

All  of  these  changes  may  be  regarded 
as  modifications  for  life  in  open  plains 
country  where  the  two  major  requirements 
for  survival  of  grazing  animals  were  speed 
to  escape  from   carnivorous   enemies,   and 


specialized  teeth  which  would  permit  feed- 
ing upon  the  hard  prairie  grasses.  The 
progressive  steps  through  which  the  camels 
evolved  coincided  with  changes  in  the 
character  of  the  western  terrain,  the  open 
country  adaptations  following  closely  upon 
the  appearance  of  the  grass  land  areas  in 
what  is  now  the  Great  Plains. 

Some  may  wonder  why,  if  the  camel 
developed  in,  and  was  restricted  to.  North 
America  in  the  past,  it  is  now  absent  from 
this  continent  and  present  in  two  others: 
Asia  and  South  America.  To  account  for 
this  it  may  be  pointed  out  that  in  Pliocene 
times  a  land  connection  is  known  to  have 
extended  across  what  is  now  the  Bering 
Strait,  permitting  the  camel,  along  with 
other  mammals,  to  migrate  to  Asia.  Al- 
though it  would  be  impossible  for  a  grazing 
animal  to  make  such  a  journey  at  the 
present  time,  because  of  the  severe  climatic 
conditions  in  the  north  polar  region  and 
the  consequent  lack  of  suitable  food,  climate 
did  not  form  such  a  barrier  in  the  past. 
There  is  good  evidence  that  throughout 
the  greater  part  of  the  earth's  history  the 
climatic  zones  were  not  so  sharply  dif- 
ferentiated as  they  are  today.  Likewise, 
migration  to  South  America  was  made 
possible  by  the  elevation  of  the  Central 
American    isthmus    late    in    the    Pliocene, 


A  Modern  Descendant  of  Ancient  North  American  C^aniels 
Habitat  group  of  guanacos,  on  exhibition  in  Hall  16.    These  animals,  now  common  in  southern  Argentina,  are  descended  from  ancestors  which  once  lived  in  North  America. 


Page  2 


FIELD  MUSEUM  NEWS 


December,  1939 


reuniting  North  and  South  America  which 
had  been  separated  almost  from  the  begin- 
ning of  the  Age  of  Mammals. 

The  camels  which  invaded  the  Old  World 
were  of  a  different  group  from  those  that 
migrated  to  South  America.  The  large 
humped  camels  that  went  to  Eurasia  belong 


animals  were  unable  to  survive.  It  has 
also  been  conjectured  that  some  deadly 
disease  may  have  spread  through  susceptible 
species  and  brought  about  their  extinction. 
Many  other  possible  causes  have  been 
postulated,  but  none  yet  seems  to  offer  a 
satisfactory  or  conclusive  explanation. 


Exhibit  Traces  Evolution  of  the  Camel 

A  new  addition  to  Hall  38,  showing,  by  means  of  skulls  and  footbones  of  extinct  species,  the  development  of 
the  animal  from  a  tiny  creature  in  Eocene  time  (55,000,000  years  ago)  to  the  recent  camels  of  Asia  and  South  America. 


to  the  genus  Camelus,  comprising  both 
the  bactrian  camel  and  the  dromedary. 
Even  the  earliest  known  camels  from  Asia 
(Pleistocene)  belong  to  this  same  genus. 
The  guanacos  and  llamas  that  went  to 
South  America,  however,  were  smaller  and 
without  humps. 

All  of  this  does  not  mean  that  camels 
simply  evacuated  North  America.  A 
llama-like  form,  Tanupolama,  continued 
to  live  on  this  continent  through  most 
of  Pleistocene  time,  and  a  large  distinct 
group,  Camelops,  lived  on  almost  until 
historic  times.  Some  authorities  believe 
that  certain  Camelops  remains  found  in 
the  United  States  can  be  hardly  more  than 
a  thousand  years  old.  This  view  is  sup- 
ported by  a  specimen  found  in  a  Utah  cave 
which  was  so  fresh  that  some  dried  muscle 
remained  on  the  bone.  Those  camels 
which  did  remain  in  North  America,  how- 
ever, were  destined  to  complete  extinction, 
for  at  some  time  before  the  arrival  of  the 
white  man  the  last  North  American  camel 
died.  Not  only  camels,  but  also  mastodons, 
mammoths,  ground  sloths,  horses,  and 
other  animals  which  abounded  in  this 
country  during  the  Pleistocene,  became 
extinct  at  about  the  same  time.  The 
causes  of  this  mass  extinction  are  not 
known.  Some  students  believe  that  early 
man  killed  the  animals  off  in  much  the 
same  manner  as  modern  hunters  have 
exterminated  certain  birds  and  mammals. 
On  the  other  hand,  the  Ice  Age  may  have 
brought    such    a    cold    climate    that    these 


In  the  ancient  sediments  of  the  western 
United  States  are  found  several  kinds  of 
fossil  camels  which  were  offshoots  from 
the  main  line  of  camel  development.  Steno- 
mylus,  for  example,  from  the  lower  Miocene 
of  Nebraska,  was  very  small  and  had 
extremely  long  delicate  limbs  and  a  long 
slender  neck.  Dozens  of  skeletons  of  this 
gazelle-like  camel  have  been  collected  from 
a  single  quarry.  Another  striking  form 
was  Alticamelus  from  the  lower  Pliocene. 
This  animal  had  extremely  long  legs  and 
neck,  and  was  the  terminal  member  of  a 
line  of  "giraffe-camels"  that  had  its  origin 
in  the  early  Miocene.  Probably  the  most 
spectacular  of  these  side  branches  is  one 
represented  by  Gigantocam^lus  which,  as 
its  name  implies,  was  an  enormous  animal 
with  a  head  some  three  feet  in  length. 

An  exhibit  has  recently  been  installed 
in  Ernest  R.  Graham  Hall  (Hall  38)  show- 
ing each  important  step  in  camel  evolu- 
tion, as  demonstrated  by  changes  in  skulls, 
jaws  and  feet.  The  fossil  specimens  dis- 
played were  collected  over  a  period  of 
thirty-five  years  by  various  Field  Museum 
expeditions.  The  first  camel  specimens 
obtained,  those  oiOxydactylus,  were  collected 
in  the  lower  Miocene  beds  of  Wyoming 
by  an  expedition  in  1906;  the  last,  those 
of  Pliauchenia,  were  found  in  lower  Pliocene 
deposits  of  South  Dakota  by  an  expedition 
of  the  current  year.  In  addition  to  the 
evolutionary  series,  a  skeleton  of  Oxydac- 
tylus  is  now  on  exhibition,  and  it  is  e.xpected 
that  during  the  present  winter  a  skeleton 


of  Pliauchenia  will  be  mounted  for  display. 
On  exhibition  in  Hall  16  of  the  Depart- 
ment of  Zoology  is  an  excellent  habitat 
group  of  guanacos,  the  modern  South 
American  species  of  camel  which  in  appear- 
ance closely  resembles  the  form  which  fossil 
skeletons  indicate  for  certain  extinct  species. 
The  modern  bactrian  and  dromedary  camels 
of  Asia  are  considered  too  thoroughly 
domesticated  to  warrant  their  inclusion 
among  the  zoological  exhibits.  They  were 
used  as  beasts  of  burden  thousands  of 
years  ago,  in  ancient  Egypt,  Babylonia, 
Central  Asia,  northern  China,  and  else- 
where. It  may  be  of  interest  to  note  at 
this  Christmas  season  that  paintings  repre- 
senting the  Three  Wise  Men  usually  portray 
them  as  traveling  to  Bethlehem  by  camel. 


LARGEST  CHRYSOBERYL   CRYSTAL 
RECEIVED  AT  MUSEUM 

By  L.  BRYANT  MATHER,  JR. 

ASSISTANT  CURATOR  OF  MINERALOGY 

What  is  probably  the  largest  chrysoberyl 
crystal  in  the  world  has  been  placed  on 
exhibition  in  Field  Museum's  mineral  col- 
lection (Hall  34,  Department  of  Geology). 

This,  and  another  large  specimen,  were 
recently  obtained  from  their  discoverer, 
Mr.  Richard  V.  Gaines,  of  the  Colorado 
School  of  Mines,  who  found  them  in  the 
course  of  mineralogical  field  work  conducted 
during  March,  1938,  near  Golden,  Colorado. 
The  specimens  occurred  among  several 
hundred  crystals,  of  which  a  number  were 
larger  than  had  ever  before  been  found 
on  this  continent,  or  probably  anywhere 
in  the  world.  They  were  in  a  small  granite 
pegmatite  dike,  only  eighteen  feet  wide. 

The  larger  of  the  two  crystals  at  the 
Museum  measures  5  x  5  x  1 '  2  inches  and 
weighs  40  ounces.  This  is  6^  ounces 
more  than  the  second  largest  of  all  the 
crystals  found.  In  comparison,  not  one 
of  the  twenty-five  specimens  of  this  mineral 
that  were  in  the  Museum  collection  before 
this  acquisition  measured  more  than  2'^ 
inches  in  its  longest  dimension.  The  second 
of  the  newly  obtained  specimens  is  a  well 
developed  twinned  crystal  3x3x1  inches 
weighing  11 '  2  ounces. 

Chrysoberyl  is  a  rare  accessory  mineral 
in  granite  pegmatites  and  is  characterized 
by  its  extreme  hardness  (8.5)  being  exceeded 
only  by  corundum  and  diamond.  Chemi- 
cally it  is  the  aluminate  of  beryllium. 
Certain  varieties  are  cut  as  gem  stones, 
especially  alexandrite,  cymophane  or  cat's- 
eye,  and  Oriental  chrysolite. 


MUSEUM  TO  CLOSE  CHRISTMAS 
AND  NEW  YEAR'S  DAY 
In  order  to  permit  as  many 
employes  as  possible  to  spend 
Christmas  and  New  Year's  Day 
with  their  families,  Field  Museum 
will   be   closed   on   those   days. 


December,  1939 


FIELD  MUSEUM  NEWS 


Page  S 


James  Simpson 


JAMES  SIMPSON 
January  26,  1874-November  25,  1939 

The  death  on  November  25  of  Mr.  James 
Simpson  deprived  Chicago  of  one  of  its 
greatest  civic  benefactors  and  business 
leaders,  and  Field  Museum  of  one  of  its 
most  earnest  and  active  Trustees  and 
Officers. 

For  many  years 
Mr.  Simpson  had 
displayed  a  keen 
interest  in  Field 
Museum  and  its 
work  for  science 
and  education. 
This  interest  was 
expressed  in  char- 
acteristically vital 
manner,  by  acts 
which  advanced 
the  realization  of 
the  institution's 
aims.    He   gave 

lavishly  of  his  time  and  his  funds  to 
promote  the  causes  represented  by  the 
Museum.  Outstanding  was  his  generous 
contribution  of  $138,000  for  the  construc- 
tion in  Field  Museum  of  the  theatre  which 
the  Trustees  named,  in  his  honor,  the  "James 
Simpson  Theatre."  This  benefaction  has 
been  of  the  utmost  importance  in  enabling 
the  Museum  to  present  series  of  lectures 
on  science  and  travel  for  adults,  and  of 
instructive  motion  pictures  for  children 
through  the  James  Nelson  and  Anna  Louise 
Raymond  Foundation.  Since  the  comple- 
tion and  opening  of  the  Theatre  in  1922, 
audiences  aggregating  hundreds  of  thou- 
sands of  adults  and  children  have  enjoyed 
the  programs  presented  in  it.  In  recogni- 
tion of  this  notable  benefaction,  the  Board 
of  Trustees  elected  Mr.  Simpson  a  Patron 
of  the  Museum  on  January  12,  1920,  and 
elected  him  to  a  Trusteeship  on  December  17 
of  the  same  year.  For  eminent  service 
to  Science,  Mr.  Simpson  was  elected  an 
Honorary  Member  in  1922. 

In  1925,  Mr.  Simpson  again  made  an 
outstanding  contribution  to  the  Museum 
by  his  sponsorship  of  the  James  Simpson- 
Roosevelts  Asiatic  Expedition,  one  of  the 
largest  and  most  successful  enterprises 
for  the  collecting  of  specimens  ever  under- 
taken by  this  institution.  This  was  led  by 
Colonel  Theodore  Roosevelt  and  Mr. 
Kermit  Roosevelt,  and  among  its  results 
are  some  of  the  finest  habitat  groups  now 
on  exhibition — for  example,  the  rare  Marco 
Polo  sheep  {Ovis  poll),  Asiatic  ibex,  and 
Indian  rhinoceros.  To  make  this  expedi- 
tion possible,  Mr.  Simpson  provided  funds 
totaling  more  than  $45,000. 

Mr.  Simpson  was  elected  Third  Vice- 
President  of  the  Museum  in  1929,  and 
Second  Vice-President  in  1933.  Keenly 
alert  to  the  Museum's  needs  in  every  direc- 
tion, he  rendered  extremely  valuable  serv- 
ices   as    a    member    of    various   important 


committees  of  the  Board  of  Trustees — the 
Pension,  Auditing,  Finance,  and  Executive 
Committees.  The  loss  of  his  wise  counsel 
and  pleasant  companionship  will  be  deeply 
felt  by  his  fellow  Trustees. 

Mr.  Simpson's  civic  interests  embraced 
many  other  Chicago  institutions.  He  was 
a  trustee  of  the  Chicago  Zoological  Society, 
the  John  G.  Shedd  Aquarium,  the  Sunday 
Evening  Club,  and  the  Otto  S.  Sprague 
Institute,  and  was  active  in  the  affairs  of 
the  Chicago  Community  Trust,  the  Chil- 
dren's Memorial  Hospital,  the  Scottish 
Old  People's  Home,  and  various  other 
charitable  organizations.    During  the  World 


War  he  directed  Red  Cross  work  in  the 
Chicago  area.  As  head  of  the  Chicago 
Plan  Commission  he  actively  pushed  a 
progressive  program  for  the  development 
of  Chicago's  industry,  and  for  the  beautifi- 
cation  of  the  city. 


Prehistoric  Stone  Carving 

A  prehistoric  stone  head,  found  in  the 
interior  of  New  Guinea  north  of  Cape  Ar- 
kona,  is  on  exhibition  in  Joseph  N.  Field 
Hall  (Hall  A).  Its  use  is  unknown.  Pos- 
sibly it  was  the  top  of  a  stone  pestle,  as  a 
number  of  these  have  been  found  in  the 
mountains  of  New  Guinea. 


THINGS  YOU  MAY  HAVE  MISSED 


Mistletoes 

If  you  have  missed  the  mistletoe  perhaps 
you  have  missed  certain  opportunities  for 
enjoying  life's  full  charm.  Field  Museum 
is  probably  the  only  place  in  Chicago  where 
this  plant,  so  closely  associated  with  Yule- 
tide,  is  accessible  every  day  of  the  year 
(except,  ironically,  on  Christmas  and  New 
Year's  days,  the  only  days  out  of  365  when 
the  Museum  is  not  open  to  the  public). 

The  Museum  exhibit  of  mistletoes,  in- 
cluding a  number  of  varieties  not  ordinarily 
seen,  occupies  half  of  an  exhibition  case 
in  the  Hall  of  Plant  Life  (Hall  29). 

"The  mistletoes  (Loranthaceae)  compose 
a  rather  small  group  of  shrubby  plants 
living  mostly  as  semi-parasites  on  trees 
of  various  kinds,"  states  Dr.  B.  E.  Dahlgren, 
Chief  Curator  of  the  Department  of  Botany. 
"Their  fruits,  usually  small  soft  berries, 
contain  a  glutinous  substance  which  renders 
the  seed  sticky.  Birds  feeding  on  the  fruit 
carry  the  sticky  seeds  to  the  branches  of 
trees  where  germination  takes  place,  and 
the  seedlings  establish  themselves  by  send- 
ing rootlike  suckers  through  the  bark  of 
the  host  plant.  In  general  the  mistletoes 
do  not  live  entirely  at  the  expense  of  their 
host.  Those  that  have  green  leaves  can 
manufacture  a  part  of  their  own  food.  A 
few  of  them  grow  on  the  ground  as  shrubs 
or  trees.  More  than  800  species  are  known 
from  all  continents.  They  are  most  num- 
erous in  the  tropics.  Many  are  important 
pests  on  broad-leaved  trees,  others  on 
conifers  producing  the  so-called  witches'- 
brooms.  One  well-known  species  is  a  very 
serious  pest  on  cacao  plantations. 

"Thanks  to  an  old  English  custom, 
deriving  apparently  from  the  ancient  Roman 
festival  of  Saturn,  everyone  is  familiar 
with  mistletoe  which,  like  holly,  is  used 
at  Christmas  as  a  special  festive  decoration 
for  the  house.  The  mistle  employed  for 
this  purpose  in  Europe  differs  from  any 
American  species  but  is  sufficiently  similar 
in  general  appearance  to  be  instantly  recog- 
nized as  mistletoe.  An  Australian  species 
grows  as  a  tree  reaching  thirty  feet  or  more 
in  height.     Flowering  with  a  profusion  of 


orange    bloom    at    Christmas    time,    it    is 
known  as  the  Australian  Christmas  tree." 

In  the  Museum  exhibit  a  species  of 
mistletoe  is  shown  growing  on  a  horse- 
radish tree.  As  a  result  of  the  penetration 
of  the  mistletoe  roots  into  the  tissues  of 
the  host  plant,  a  gall-like  thickening  as 
large  as  a  turnip  has  been  produced  around 
the   point   of   attachment   of   the   parasite. 


Mistletoe  of  the  Tropics 

The  common  North  American  mistletoe  will  be 
very  much  in  evidence  during  the  coming  Christmas 
season,  so  a  picture  of  it  here  would  be  superfluous: 
but  the  variety  illustrated  above,  which  comes  from 
Brazil,  and  is  very  different  from  ours,  is  seldom  seen 
in  this  country.     Both  species  are  shown  in   Hall  29. 

Likewise  shown  is  a  mistletoe  on  an  ebony 
branch.  The  common  mistletoe  of  the 
United  States,  and  a  South  American  mistle- 
toe, conspicuous  for  its  large,  brightly  colored 
flowers,  are  among  the  other  specimens 
included  in  the  display. 


New  Leaflet  on  Mistletoe 
Scheduled  for  publication  this 
month  by  Field  Museum  Press  is  a 
new  leaflet  in  the  Botanical  Series — 
Mistletoe  and  Holly,  by  Miss  Sophia 
Prior.  This  will  be  on  sale  at  the 
Museum  during  the  holiday  season. 
It  presents  in  interesting  form  the 
principal  botanical  information  as 
well  as  the  folk-lore  of  these  two 
Christmas  plants. 


Page  i 


FIELD  MUSEUM  NEWS 


December,  1939 


SCIENTISTS  SPEND   CHRISTMAS   IN   MANY   STRANGE   PLACES 

A  Symposium  of  Reminiscences  by  Men  Who  Explore  for  Field  Museum 


Somewhere,  far  south  of  the  equator, 
down  near  the  bottom  of  the  long  narrow 
strip  of  land  which  Chile  forms  on  the 
west  coast  of  South  America,  the  members 
of  Field  Museum's  "Magellanic  Expedi- 
tion" will  celebrate  Christmas  this  year. 
According  to  the  last  reports  received 
from  Dr.  Wilfred  H.  Osgood,  the  Mu- 
seum's Chief  Curator  of  Zoology  and  leader 
of  the  expedition,  they  will  probably  be 
in  camp  at  that  time  along  the  shores  of 
the  Straits  of  Magellan — possibly  on  the 
Island  of  Tierra  del  Fuego,  which  is  swept 
by  some  of  the  strongest  winds  known  in 
the  world,  and  is  to  be  the  scene  of  much 
of  the  expedition's  most  important  re- 
search. Accompanying  Dr.  Osgood  are 
Mr.  Colin  C.  Sanborn,  Curator  of  Mam- 
mals, and  Mr.  John  Schmidt,  field  assistant. 
Mr.  Karl  P.  Schmidt,  Curator  of  Amphib- 
ians and  Reptiles,  has  completed  his  work 
and  is  expected  home  in  December. 

To  the  three  men  remaining  in  the  field, 
whose  interest  in  science  has  led  them  to 
this  remote  end  of  the  earth,  Christmas 
will  probably  be  "just  another  day."  The 
experience  of  other  expedition  men  in- 
dicates that  they  will  probably  go  right  on 
with  their  collecting.  Museum  scientists 
often  find  themselves  in  strange  places, 
among  strange  wild  peoples,  on  this  day 
which  most  men  spend  with  their  families. 

The  exploring  scientist's  typical  sensa- 
tions on  this  day  may  be  illustrated  with 
the  remarks  of  Dr.  Fritz  Haas,  Field  Mu- 
seum's Curator  of  Lower  Invertebrates, 
who  has  often  found  himself  in  the  depths  of 
African  jungles  and  other  far  places  during 
the  holidays  while  conducting  expeditions 
for  various  institutions. 

WORK  DISPELS  NOSTALGIA 

"You  wake  up,  scramble  out  of  your 
mosquito  netting,  and  realize  that  this  is 
Christmas  morning,"  says  Dr.  Haas.  "As 
your  native  cook  serves  your  breakfast, 
you  are  aware  of  a  strong  sense  of  nos- 
talgia, thinking  of  home,  family,  friends, 
and  the  usual  Yuletide  festivities.  Then 
you  reflect  upon  why  you  are  here  in  the 
field,  and  resolve  that  the  day's  work  must 
go  on — it  is  easier  to  lose  the  nostalgia  by 
working  than  by  lazily  taking  a  holiday. 
Soon  the  homesickness  is  lost  as  you  be- 
come immersed  in  your  work — although 
it  usually  returns  when  darkness  falls,  and 
work  must  cease.  Then,  finally,  if  you 
have  really  toiled  hard  enough  to  be  good 
and  tired,  Morpheus  comes  to  your  rescue." 

Mr.  C.  J.  Albrecht,  a  staff  taxidermist, 
spent  one  Christmas  in  Ethiopia  as  a 
member  of  the  Harold  White-John  Coats 
Expedition. 

SANTA  CLAUS  IN  AFRICA 

"We  went  right  on  with  our  hunting," 
says  Mr.  Albrecht,  "and  that  day  bagged 
one  of  the  nyalas  now  mounted  in  a  group 


in  Carl  E.  Akeley  Memorial  Hall.  How- 
ever, in  the  evening  we  really  did  celebrate 
Christmas,  even  to  the  extent  of  having 
an  appropriately  freezing  temperature  on 
the  icy  African  mountain  top  where  we 
were  camped.  We  had  a  portable  phono- 
graph and  a  record  of  'Holy  Night'  which 
made  things  just  like  home  musically.  We 
feasted  on  one  of  the  rarest  of  birds — the 
blue  goose — of  which  the  first  specimens 
to  reach  the  United  States  were  obtained 
by  this  expedition.  I  was  able  to  act  as 
Santa  Claus  by  giving  my  only  warm  suit 
of  woolens  to  a  poor  shivering  native  helper 
attached  to  our  party  who  previously  had 
seemed   in   danger   of   freezing   to   death." 

FRIED  ANTS  AS  A  DELICACY  IN  BRAZIL 

Mr.  Emmet  R.  Blake,  Assistant  Curator 
of  Birds,  and  his  associates  on  an  expedition 
to  the  upper  Rio  Negro  in  northern  Brazil, 
had  a  Christmas  ruined  by  the  intended 
kindness  of  native  Indians.  He  and  his 
fellows  were  in  the  midst  of  a  special  roast 
chicken  feast  when  a  family  of  natives 
approached  offering  a  bowl  of  their  own 
choicest  delicacy — inch-long  sauba  ants 
which  had  been  fried  in  grease.  The 
etiquette  and  diplomacy  required  in  dealing 
with  natives  made  it  essential  for  Mr. 
Blake  and  his  companions  to  accept  and 
eat  the  ants,  pulling  off  wings  and  legs  in 
the  manner  locally  practised.  After  endur- 
ing the  strong  taste  of  formic  acid  charac- 
terizing this  piece  de  resistance,  the  explorers 
left  their  other  dishes  untouched.  However, 
they  made  up  for  this  on  New  Year's  Day 
with  a  dinner  of  wild  cat  which,  Mr.  Blake 
says,  was  really  not  bad. 

CHRISTMAS  IN  THE  FAR  NORTH 

Most  like  home  in  many  respects  was 
the  Christmas  enjoyed  by  Mr.  Alfred  C. 
Weed,  Curator  of  Fishes,  and  Staff  Taxi- 
dermist Arthur  G.  Rueckert,  who  were 
members  of  the  Second  Rawson-MacMillan 
Subarctic  Expedition.  This  expedition 
spent  an  entire  winter  in  the  northern  part 
of  Labrador.  However,  they  had  built 
substantial  wooden  buildings  which  served 
as  scientific  headquarters  and  dwelling  place. 
A  large  number  of  Naskapi  Indians  and 
Eskimos  of  the  region  were  guests. 

A  Christmas  tree  was  cut  from  among  the 
native  pines,  and  erected  in  the  expedition 
living  room.  It  was  decorated  with  baubles 
and  tinsel  which  someone  had  thoughtfully 
provided  in  preparing  the  expedition's  stores 
before  sailing  in  June.  Christmas  toys  and 
candy  were  distributed  among  the  delighted 
Eskimo  children.  The  men  of  the  expedi- 
tion and  their  guests  shot  at  targets,  and 
raced  on  skis  across  the  ice  to  where  the 
Bowdoin,  flagship  of  the  expedition,  was 
frozen  in.  There  were  also  snowshoe  races, 
dogteam  races,  tumbling  contests,  and 
other  games. 

Several   canned   whole   turkeys   brought 


from  home,  together  with  local  wild  cran- 
berries (lingonberries)  gathered  in  Labrador, 
and  canned  plum  pudding  burning  in  brandy, 
provided  a  thoroughly  home-like  Christmas 
dinner.  In  the  evening  motion  pictures 
were  shown — the  first  the  Eskimos  and 
Indians  had  ever  seen  in  their  lives.  For  a 
New  Year's  Eve  celebration  several  mem- 
bers of  the  expedition  "dressed  up" — this 
consisted  of  shaving  off  the  several  months' 
accumulation  of  beard  that  had  been  allowed 
to  grow. 

ON  A  TOSSING  SCHOONER 
Mr.  Sharat  K.  Roy,  Curator  of  Geology, 
also  a  member  of  the  MacMillan  Expedi- 
tion, was  separated  from  the  main  party 
due  to  assignment  on  field  work  in  a  different 
area.  He  found  himself  on  Christmas  Day 
sailing  through  a  cold  white-capped  sea 
on  a  frail  thirty-five  foot  fishing  schooner 
bound  from  Straits  of  Belle  Isle  to  Notre 
Dame  Bay,  Newfoundland.  As  the  small 
boat  pitched  and  tossed  on  this  hazardous 
crossing,  Christmas  dinner  was  served  in 
the  galley,  and  consisted  of  "fish  and 
brewis."  The  brewis — hardtack  soaked  in 
pork  grease  overnight  and  fried  with  salt 
cod — is  a  specialty  of  the  "greasy  jackets," 
as  sealers  and  fishermen  are  locally  known. 

UNDER  PROTECTION  OF  MACHINE  GUNS 

A  sixty-mile  ride  at  4  o'clock  Christmas 
morning  to  attend  services  at  a  small  mon- 
astery in  the  mountains,  traveling  in  a  car 
equipped  with  sub-machine  guns  and 
manned  by  alert  French  officers  on  the 
lookout  for  possible  attack  by  native  bandits, 
was  the  experience  of  Mr.  Richard  A. 
Martin,  Curator  of  Near  Eastern  Ar- 
chaeology, during  an  expedition  in  Syria. 
For  further  safety,  patrol  troopers  had  been 
stationed  in  each  mile  of  the  route.  On 
Christmas  Eve  the  expedition  had  presented 
goats  as  Christmas  gifts  to  the  Armenian 
children  in  a  near-by  village. 

AN  EGYPTIAN  PERFECT  HOST 

"I  found  myself  one  Christmas  at  an 
archaeological  camp  in  the  Sudan,  about 
200  miles  south  of  Khartum,"  says  Dr. 
Wilfrid  D.  Hambly,  Curator  of  African 
Ethnology.  "It  was  like  any  other  day — 
blazing  hot,  about  130°  in  the  sun,  with  a 
cloudless  sky.  The  workmen's  shovels  raised 
clouds  of  dust  as  usual.  A  messenger  ar- 
rived with  an  invitation  to  dine  with  the 
local  railway  station-master  about  six  miles 
from  camp.  So  evening  saw  our  little 
cavalcade  on  a  curious  assortment  of 
mounts — camels,  donkeys,  mules — loping 
along  the  narrow  path  through  the  bush. 
Our  host  was  an  Egyptian,  and  at  dinner 
the  etiquette  of  the  East  was  strictly  ob- 
served. Courtesy  compelled  us  to  swoop 
our  coffee  with  the  loud  sucking  noise  that 
is  supposed  to  express  keen  appreciation. 
The  station-master  selected  morsels  of 
meat  with  his  fingers  and  passed  them  to  us. 
His  attentiveness  to  his  guests  was  carried 


December,  19S9 


FIELD  MUSEUM  NEWS 


Page  5 


to  such  extremes  that  he  even  rolled, 
moistened  with  his  lips,  and  lit  cigarettes 
for  us.  Divertissement  was  provided  by 
two  colored  dancing  girls  who  constantly 
swayed  and  pirouetted  around  the  table. 
On  the  way  back  to  camp,  confusion  was 
produced  when  the  donkeys  and  mules 
scented  hyenas.  My  donkey  put  his  heels 
high  and  his  head  low  suddenly,  and  I 
sailed  over  his  ears." 

SWIMMING    ON    A    SUMMER    CHRISTMAS    DAY 

Mr.  Elmer  S.  Riggs,  Curator  of  Paleon- 
tology, arrived  one  Christmas  morning  in 
southern  Argentina,  to  collect  fossil  animals. 
At  that  latitude  the  heat  of  summer  was 
just  coming  on,  and  he  and  his  companions 
spent  part  of  Christmas  Day  swimming  in 
the  sea — it  seemed  like  the  Fourth  of  July. 
Christmas  dinner  was  enjoyed  in  an  adobe 
building  operated  by  an  Italian  as  a  holstelry. 
Wild  goose  was  served  on  a  table  decorated 
with  spring  flowers.  The  host  used  a  large 
fossil  bone  as  a  center-piece  in  honor  of  the 
paleontologists.  The  prying  eyes  of  small 
native  boys  crowded  the  windows  to  watch 
the  "gringos"  celebrate. 

EXCAVATING  A  CITY  OF  3000  B.C. 

"  'Sitta  sa'a  wa  nuss,  Sahib,  mai  harr 
(Six-thirty  A.M.  sir,  your  hot  water)' — 
these  were  the  first  things  I  remember  of 
Christmas  morning,  1927,  as  an  Arab 
servant  shuffled  into  my  small  mud  hut 
at  Kish,  Iraq,"  reminisces  Dr.  Henry  Field, 
Curator  of  Physical  Anthropology.  "Break- 
fast at  seven  in  the  cold  and  damp  under- 
ground dining  room,  and  a  cold  drive  alone 
in  an  open  touring  car  across  the  wind- 
swept desert  to  the  great  temple  complex 
dedicated  to  the  Earth  Goddess — Har- 
sagkalemma.  Two  hundred  and  fifty  local 
Arab  workmen  were  awaiting  my  starting 
signal — both  hands  raised  above  my  head. 
All  day  long  walls  and  rooms  of  buildings 
5,000  years  old  were  unearthed.  Two  human 
skeletons,  and  simple  grave  furniture  were 
recovered.  At  sunset  a  horseman  galloped 
up  bearing  cabled  greetings  from  President 
Stanley  Field  of  the  Museum  in  Chicago, 
and  from  Professor  Stephen  Langdon, 
Director  of  the  Field  Museum-Oxford  Uni- 
versity Joint  Mesopotamian  Expedition, 
who  was  in  England.  After  a  special  dinner 
in  which  Shemu,  the  Armenian  cook,  excelled 
himself,  we  drank  a  toast  to  absent  friends, 
and  soon  retired  to  our  mud  huts. 

"Overhead  Miazan,  the  great  Dipper, 
looked  very  close.  Jackals  barked  in  the 
distance.  Our  armed  sentries  paced  the 
camp  with  an  occasional  challenge  of 
'Menu  hadhal  (Who  goes  there?).'  A  rifle 
shot  rang  out — a  jackal,  perhaps,  had  ven- 
tured too  close  to  camp.    I  fell  asleep." 

AN  ICY  NIGHT  IN  THE  TROPICS 

One  Christmas  was  made  memorable  to 

Mr.    Paul    C.    Standley,    Curator    of    the 

Herbarium,  during  a  botanical  expedition 

in  Honduras,  by  the  presence  of  a  chained 

(Continued  on  page  7,  column  1) 


"CHRISTMAS    ANIMALS"   AMONG    FIELD    MUSEUM    EXHIBITS 


The  Christmas  season  is  a  good  one  during 
which  to  bring  young  children  on  a  visit 
to  Field  Museum.  Here  they  may  see  some 
of  the  most  famous  of  "Christmas  animals" 
— the  reindeer,  associated  for  so  many  years 


the  American  caribou  are  really  reindeer 
is  not  generally  known,  states  Dr.  Wilfred  H. 
Osgood,  Chief  Curator  of  the  Department 
of  Zoology,  but,  he  says,  they  are  in  fact  so 
closely  related   to   the   Old   World   species 


North  American  Reindeer 

That  the  caribou  of  Alaska,  shown  in  the  above  photograph  of  a  habitat  group  in  Hall  16  of  the  Museum, 
are  really  reindeer  is  not  generally  recognized.  In  fact,  however,  they  are  so  closely  related  to  the  Old  World 
species,  whence  domestic  reindeer  were  derived,  that  early  zoological  works  did  not  classify  them  separately. 


with  the  Santa  Claus  legend;  and  also  the 
nearest  approximation  in  nature  to  the 
perennially  popular  "Teddy  bear."  The 
"Teddy  bear"  is  a  strange  anomaly.  In- 
spired by  the  grizzly-bear  hunting  exploits 
of  the  late  President  Theodore  Roosevelt, 
and  named  for  him,  the  toy  as  usually 
produced  actually  resembles  the  strange 
and  charming  little  mammal  of  Australia 
known  as  the  koala  much  more  than  it 
does  any  kind  of  real  bear.  The  "Teddy 
bear"  has  remained  to  the  present  day  one 
of  the  most  beloved  of  all  types  of  toys 
given  to  small  children.  At  the  Museum, 
children  may  see  the  koala  to  which  it 
bears  such  a  striking  resemblance,  and  also 
the  grizzly  bear  which  may  be  regarded  as 
its  real  "ancestor,"  as  well  as  many  other 
kinds  of  bears. 

In  recent  years,  due  to  the  great  publicity 
achieved  by  giant  pandas,  toy  representa- 
tions of  that  animal  have  come  to  rival  the 
"Teddy  bear."  Children  visiting  Field 
Museum  may  see  the  first  giant  panda 
specimens  ever  to  reach  America — those 
collected  by  Colonel  Theodore  Roosevelt 
and  Mr.  Kermit  Roosevelt,  sons  of  the 
President  who  inspired  the  "Teddy  bear" 
vogue — in  a  habitat  group  in  William  V. 
Kelley  Hall  (Hall  17),  and  also  the  famed 
Su-Lin,  late  of  the  Brookfield  Zoo,  now 
occupying  a  conspicuous  place  in  Stanley 
Field  Hall. 

The  reindeer  is  represented  at  Field 
Museum  by  a  habitat  group  of  Alaskan 
cajibou  in  the  Hall  of  North  American 
Mammal  Habitat  Groups  (Hall  16).     That 


from  which  the  domestic  variety  was  derived, 
that  in  early  zoological  classifications  they 
were  regarded  as  the  same  species. 

The  animals  in  the  habitat  group  were 
collected  by  the  Thorne-Graves- Field  Mu- 
seum Arctic  Expedition. 

The  koala  is  one  of  the  marsupials  or 
pouched  mammals,  all  of  which  are  now 
confined  to  Australasia  and  America. 


Nature's  **Teddy  Bear" 

The  koala,  of  Australia,  which  in  appearance  more 
closely  resembles  the  perennially  popular  Christmas 
toy  than  any  bear  or  other  animal.  When  very  young 
the  koala's  offspring  are  carried  in  a  pouch,  like  those 
of  a  kangaroo  or  opossum;  a  little  later  they  ride  their 
mother's  back,  as  shown  in  the  above  exhibit  in  Hall  15. 


Page  6 


FIELD  MUSEUM  NEWS 


December,  193  9 


Field  Museum  of  Natural  History 

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

THE  BOARD  OF  TRUSTEES 
Lester  Armour  Samuel  Insull,  Jr. 

Sbwell  L.  Avery  Charles  A.  McCulloch 

WuxiAH  McCoRMicK  Blair   Williah  H.  Mitchell 
Leopold  E.  Block  George  A.  Richardson 

Walter  J.  Cummings  Theodore  Roosevelt 

Albert  B.  Dick,  Jr.  Jambs  Simpson* 

Joseph  N.  Field  Solomon  A.  Smith 

Marshall  Field  Albert  A.  Sprague 

Stanley  Field  Silas  H.  Strawn 

Albert  W.  Harris  Albert  H.  Wetten 

John  P.  Wilson 

OFFICERS 

Stanley  Field President 

Albert  A.  Sprague Pint  Vice-President 

James  Simpson* Second  Viee-President 

Albert  W.  Harris Third  Vice-President 

CUFFORD  C.  Gregg Director  and  Hecrelary 

Solomon  A.  Smith  . . .  Treasurer  and  Assistant  Secretary 
*Deceased  November  25,  19*9 

FIELD  MUSEUM  NEWS 

CUPPORD  C.  Gregg,  Director  of  the  Museum.  . .  .  Editor 

CONTRIBUTING  EDITORS 

Paul  S.  Martin Chief  Curator  of  Anthropology 

B.  E.  Dahlgren Chief  Curator  of  Botany 

Henry  W.  Nichols Chief  Curator  of  Geology 

Wilfred  H.  Osgood Chief  Curator  of  Zoology 

H.  B.  Harte Managing  Editor 

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


FROM  THE  DIRECTOR'S  DESK— 


Scientific  Museums  and  Wars 

For  many  years  the  great  research  in- 
stitutions of  the  world  have  been  working 
harmoniously  together  for  the  purpose 
of  adding  to  the  sum  total  of  human  knowl- 
edge and  understanding;  thus  they  have 
benefited  mankind  as  a  whole.  Whether 
the  subject  of  research  be  the  origin  and 
early  history  of  man,  the  evolution  of 
animal  or  plant  forms,  the  discovery  of 
natural  laws,  or  any  one  of  hundreds  of 
other  problems,  the  research  scientist  has 
cherished  the  knowledge  that  he  might 
look  for  help  to  other  men  studying  the 
same  or  similar  problems,  wherever  they 
might  be.  There  is  a  constant  interchange 
of  correspondence  and  ideas  among  scien- 
tists and  scientific  institutions.  Geo- 
graphical distances,  political  barriers,  and 
different  languages  are  no  barriers  to 
unity  of  effort.  Science  speaks  a  universal 
language. 

Year  after  year  Field  Museum  publishes 
the  results  of  its  research  and  distributes 
its  publications  to  other  institutions  through- 
out the  world.  Year  after  year  Field  Mu- 
seum receives  from  other  institutions  the 
results  of  their  studies,  printed  in  various 
languages.  A  study  being  conducted  in 
London  may  be  based  upon  materials 
gathered  together  from  the  United  States, 
Russia,  Siam,  the  jungles  of  Africa,  and 
the  wind-swept  Arctic  regions.  Facts  are 
valid  wherever  they  are  discovered.  True 
research  seeks  to  find  only  the  truth.  Scien- 
tific institutions  and  scientific  men  of 
repute  co-operate  generously  toward  a 
common  end. 


Normally,  perhaps,  men  who  govern 
sovereign  states  live  amicably  with  their 
neighbors.  Neighboring  sovereignties  carry 
on  commerce  with  mutual  profit,  and  we 
say  they  are  at  peace  with  one  another. 
Too  often,  however,  interests,  and  ideas 
come  into  conflict,  and  the  rulers  of  nations, 
seeking  not  truths  but  special  advantages 
for  themselves,  their  own  nations,  or  their 
groups,  sever  diplomatic  relations  and  their 
countries  are  at  war.  National  boundaries 
are  closed;  free  communication  of  ideas 
is  prohibited;  co-operation  is  forbidden; 
constructive  research  is  hampered,  and  the 
God-given  energies  of  millions  of  people 
are  turned  toward  mutual  destruction. 

In  times  like  these,  thinking  people  may 
well  consider  the  different  methods  employed 
in  research  science  and  in  political  govern- 
ment. One  seeks  to  establish  truths  and 
to  give  knowledge  to  the  world,  that  all 
may  use  it.  The  other  frequently  sup- 
presses truth,  substitutes  propaganda,  and 
withholds  material  or  knowledge  of  special 
value  for  limited  use  by  favored  individuals, 
with  the  inevitable  result  that  life  continues 
on  a  lower  rather  than  a  higher  plane. 

Unfortunately  there  is  no  quick  and  easy 
remedy  for  the  difficult  situation  called 
war.  Science  is  devoted  to  the  search  for 
truth,  and  scientists  sacrifice  their  own  ideas, 
their  own  theories,  whenever  the  prepon- 
derant weight  of  evidence  indicates  that 
they  are  wrong.  By  contrast,  war  makers 
obscure  the  truth  and  substitute  propa- 
ganda, to  reinforce  their  claims  when  they 
find  that  they  are  in  error.  Science  by 
international  co-operation  has  accomplished 
much  for  the  benefit  of  mankind.  Let  us 
hope  that  rulers  of  nations  will  some  day 
rise  above  personal  prejudice  and  partisan 
advantage  and  will  so  govern  their  coun- 
tries in  the  light  of  truth  that  there  will  be 
co-operation  on  all  sides  toward  a  common 
goal  of  harmonious  living. 

— Clifford  C.  Gregg,  Director 

Henceforth  the  editorials  appearing  under 
the  heading  "From  the  Director's  Desk,"  will 
not  be  published  regularly  every  month,  but 
will  appear  from  time  to  time. 


children  and  teachers,  and  increase  its 
effectiveness  year  by  year.  A  heavy  pro- 
gram of  activities  both  in  the  Museum 
itself  and  in  the  schools  is  now  being  carried, 
and  a  number  of  innovations  have  recently 
been  made. 


Museum  Receives  Another  $2,000  Gift 
from  Mrs.  James  Nelson  Raymond 

A  gift  of  $2,000  was  received  by  Field 
Museum  last  month  from  Mrs.  James 
Nelson  Raymond.  The  money  is  for  the 
support  of  the  activities  conducted  by  the 
James  Nelson  and  Anna  Louise  Raymond 
Foundation  for  Public  School  and  Children's 
Lectures,  and  is  the  third  such  contribution 
made  by  Mrs.  Raymond  during  1939. 
With  the  total  of  $6,000  given  this  year, 
the  Museum  has  now  received  a  total  of 
$569,422  from  this  generous  benefactor. 

Mrs.  Raymond's  continuing  and  kindly 
interest  in  the  work  of  the  Foundation 
has  made  it  possible  for  that  division  of 
the    Museum    to    improve    its   services    to 


Bequest  from  Cyrus  H.  McCormick 

A  bequest  of  $10,000  from  the  late  Cyrus 
H.  McCormick,  who  was  a  Trustee  of  Field 
Museum  from  1894  until  his  death  in  1936, 
was  paid  to  the  Museum  last  month  by 
his  estate.  The  money  has  been  added  to 
the  endowment  funds  of  the  Museum. 


Distinguished  Visitors 

Among  distinguished  visitors  recently 
received  at  Field  Museum  are  Dr.  D.  C. 
Graham,  well-known  archaeologist  and  eth- 
nologist, and  a  professor  at  the  West  China 
Union  University,  Cheng-tu,  Szechwan; 
Professor  Owen  Lattimore  of  Johns  Hopkins 
University,  Baltimore,  who  is  editor  of 
Pacific  Affairs;  Mr.  James  Roosevelt,  of 
Hollywood,  California;  Dr.  Gordon  L. 
Walls,  of  the  ophthalmic  research  laboratory 
at  Wayne  University  College  of  Medicine, 
Detroit;  Mr.  Roger  Conant,  Curator  of 
Reptiles  of  the  Philadelphia  Zoological 
Society;  Dr.  V.  Wolfgang  von  Hagen,  noted 
ethnologist,  explorer,  and  author,  of  Berke- 
ley, California;  Mrs.  Paul  Armand  Scherer, 
chairman  of  activities  of  the  Junior  Recrea- 
tional Museum  of  San  Francisco,  and  Mr. 
A.  S.  Coggeshall,  Director  of  the  Santa 
Barbara  (California)  Museum  of  Natu- 
ral History. 


A  FEW  FACTS  ABOUT  FIELD  MUSEUM 

Field  Museum  is  open  every  day  of  the  year 
(except  Christmas  and  New  Year's  Day)  during 
the  hours  indicated  below: 

November,  December, 

January,  February  ...  9  a.m.  to  4  p.m. 
March,  April,  and 

September,  October  .9  a.m.  to  5  P.M. 
May,  June,  July,  August. 9  a.m.  to  6  P.M. 

Admission  is  free  to  Members  on  all  days. 
Other  adults  are  admitted  free  on  Thtxrsdays, 
Saturdays,  and  Sundays:  non-members  pay  25 
cents  on  other  days.  Children  are  admitted  free 
on  all  days-  Students  and  faculty  members  of 
educational  institutions  are  admitted  free  any 
day  upon  presentation  of  credentials. 

The  Museum's  Library  is  open  for  reference 
daily  except  Saturday  afternoon  and  Sunday. 

Traveling  exhibits  are  circulated  in  the 
schools  of  Chicago  by  the  N.  W.  Harris  Public 
School  Extension  Department  of  the  Museum. 

Lecttires  at  schools,  and  special  entertain- 
ments and  tours  for  children  at  the  Museum,  are 
provided  by  the  James  Nelson  and  .\nna  Louise 
Raymond  Foundation  for  Public  School  and 
Children's  Lectures. 

Free  courses  of  lectures  for  adults  are  pre- 
sented in  the  James  Simpson  Theatre  on  Satur- 
day afternoons  (at  2:30  o'clock)  in  March, 
.April,  October,  and  November. 

A  Cafeteria  serves  visitors.  Rooms  are  avail- 
able also  for  those  bringing  their  limches. 

Chicago  Motor  Coach  Company  No.  26 
busses  provide  direct  transportation  to  the 
Museum.  Service  is  offered  also  by  Surface 
Lines,  Rapid  Transit  Lines  (the  "L"),  inter- 
urban  electric  lines,  and  Illinois  Central  trains. 
There  is  ample  free  parking  space  for  auto- 
mol>iles  at  the  Museum. 


December,  1939 


FIELD  MUSEUM  NEWS 


Page  7 


Manftbetu  Woman 

One  of  the  sculptures  by 
Malvina  Hoflfman,  dis- 
ctissed  by  Mr.  Dallwig  in 
"The  Parade  of  the  Races." 


SUNDAY  TOURS  IN  DECEMBER 
TO  STUDY  RACIAL  TYPES 

"The  Parade  of  the  Races"  is  the  subject 
of  the  lecture  tours  to  be  conducted  by  Mr. 
Paul  G.  Dallwig,  the  Layman  Lecturer,  on 
the  five  Sunday  afternoons  during  December. 
In  this  lecture, 
which  has  proved 
in  previous  seasons 
one  of  the  most 
popular  of  Mr. 
Dallwig's  sub- 
jects, he  takes  his 
hearers  on  an  im- 
aginary trip  around 
the  world,  visiting 
the  inhabitants  of 
jungle  forests, 
great  princes  of  the 
East  in  their 
palaces,  and  many 
strata  of  human 
society  in  between. 
Mr.  Dallwig  en- 
deavors to  clarify  the  basic  physical  charac- 
teristics that  differentiate  the  races  of  man- 
kind, and  to  promote  a  deeper  and  more 
sympathetic  understanding  of  the  principal 
peoples  of  the  earth. 

As  each  Sunday  tour  is  necessarily  limited 
to  100  adults  {children  cannot  be  accommo- 
dated), it  is  necessary  to  make  reservations 
in  advance  by  mail  or  telephone  (Wabash 
9410).  Lectures  begin  promptly  at  2  p.m., 
and  end  at  4:30.  During  a  half-hour  inter- 
mission midway  in  the  tours,  members  of 
the  parties  wishing  to  do  so  may  obtain 
refreshments  in  the  Cafeteria,  where  they 
may  also  smoke.  Special  tables  are  reserved. 
In  January  Mr.  Dallwig  will  introduce  a 
new  lecture  subject  with  his  first  presenta- 
tion of  "Romance  of  Diamonds." 

SCIENTISTS  SPEND  CHRISTMAS 
IN  MANY  STRANGE  PLACES 

(Continued  from  page  5) 

Hindu  maniac  who  a  few  days  before, 
had  attempted  to  murder  a  British  overseer 
in  the  vicinity.  This  charming  guest  was 
present  at  the  dinner.  Mr.  Standley  recalls 
also  a  New  Year's  Eve  spent  in  a  tiny  log 
cabin  at  an  altitude  of  10,000  feet  on  Cerro 
de  Las  Vueltas  in  Costa  Rica.  It  was 
freezing  cold — a  sheet  of  ice  covered  pools 
among  the  spagnum.  A  gale  was  blowing 
and  it  was  raining.  The  hut  had  open 
gables  so  that  wind,  fog,  and  rain  swept 
through  the  interior.  The  only  light  was 
the  flame  of  a  small  candle. 

"I  went  to  bed  before  dark,  to  keep  warm, 
bundled  in  layer  upon  layer  of  heavy 
clothes,  but  in  spite  of  all  it  was  the  coldest, 
most  uncomfortable  night  I  ever  spent  in 
my  life — in  the  midst  of  the  tropics!"  says 
Mr.  Standley.  "I  was  lying  on  a  shelf-like 
tabanco,  usual  bed  of  the  country  people, 
but  slept  very  little.  Nearly  all  night  I  was 
entertained   by   the   tales   of   three   young 


men  who  were  traveling  with  a  large  and 
very  fat  hog  that  had  been  so  affected  by 
the  cold  and  high  altitude  it  had  been 
unable  to  proceed  the  day  before." 

Christmas  in  the  field  once  became  a 
commonplace  to  Dr.  Albert  B.  Lewis 
Curator  of  Melanesian  Ethnology.  He 
was  in  far-off  places  on  that  day  in  four 
successive  years  while  conducting  expedi- 
tions for  Field  Museum.  The  first  time 
was  on  the  island  of  New  Britain  in  the 
South  Pacific,  where  the  natives,  employed 
on  European-owned  plantations  and  there- 
fore given  a  holiday,  celebrated  with  a 
"sing-sing"  and  exotic  dancing.  The  next 
year  Dr.  Lewis  attended  a  similar  celebra- 
tion in  the  Solomon  Islands;  the  third 
Christmas  was  spent  in  Australia,  and  the 
fourth  aboard  ship  en  route  to  New  Guinea. 

HOW  THE  MAYAS  CELEBRATE 

The  most  hilarious  Christmas  was  that 
among  the  Maya  Indians  of  Central 
America,  described  in  1929  by  Mr.  J.  Eric 
Thompson,  formerly  Curator  of  Central 
and  South  American  Archaeology  at  Field 
Museum  (now  on  the  staff  of  the  Carnegie 
Institution  of  Washington,  D.  C).  In  a 
report  on  the  progress  of  the  Second  Marshall 
Field  Archaeological  Expedition  to  British 
Honduras,  Mr.  Thompson  wrote: 

"I  arrived  at  San  Antonio  (British  Hon- 
duras) just  before  Christmas.  The  Mayas 
here  are  nominal  Christians,  but  retain 
much  of  the  old  paganism,  and  seize  eagerly 
any  excuse  for  a  feast,  so  Christmas  was 
the  occasion  for  a  four-day  siesta.  The 
married  men  are  banded  in  guilds  of  thirteen 
men  each,  and  on  the  senior  man  of  each 
guild  successively  falls  the  honor,  but  also 
the  cost  and  responsibility,  of  being  host 
to  the  whole  village  for  a  festival. 

"The  Christmas  fiesta  was  in  a  large  hut. 
On  the  mud  floor  squatted  the  women  and 
their  numerous  children.  At  one  end  was 
the  orchestra,  consisting  of  a  queer  harp 
with  a  wide  hollow  base,  and  a  crude  home- 
made violin.  The  music  was  a  crude 
barbaric  rhythm  such  as  probably  accom- 
panied rites  of  human  sacrifice  fifteen  cen- 
turies ago. 

"The  center  of  the  hut  was  occupied  by 
dancing  couples.  The  men  wore  moccasins 
or  boots,  while  the  women  were  barefoot, 
as  an  outward  visible  symbol  of  male 
superiority,  a  tradition  that  remains  un- 
shaken here.  Most  of  the  men  were  under 
the  influence  of  the  native-made  fiery  white 
rum,  and  as  the  night  wore  on  the  scene 
became  more  animated  with  the  shouts  in 
the  Maya  tongue  becoming  wilder  and 
wilder.  At  last,  yielding  to  the  potent 
liquor,  the  men  fell  one  by  one,  headlong 
to  the  ground,  often  amidst  the  dancers. 

"In  the  days  when  ancient  Maya  culture 
flourished,  only  the  old  people  had  the 
privilege  of  getting  drunk,  and  they  did  it 
only  on  special  occasions  as  a  form  of 
ceremonial  sacrifice  to  the  gods." 


STAFF  NOTES 

Dr.  Louis  B.  Bishop,  of  Pasadena,  Cali- 
fornia, well-known  ornithologist,  has  been 
given  an  honorary  appointment  on  the 
staff  of  Field  Mu- 
seum as  Research 
Associate  in  the 
Division  of  Birds.  ^^^ 
Dr.  Bishop  was  re-  ^^H  ^| 
sponsible  for  as- 
sembling the  great 
collection  of  more 
than  50,000  North  ^^^^ 
American  birds  re-  ^^^^H  .  h  i 
cently  acquired  by 
Field  Museum, 
and  known  as  "the 
Bishop  Collection." 
He  will  continue 
research  upon  these  birds,  to  which  he  has 
devoted  a  major  part  of  his  time  during  the 
past  forty  years. 


Hewlett  photo 

Dr.  Louis  B.  Bishop 


Dr.  Julian  A.  Steyermark,  Assistant 
Curator  of  the  Herbarium,  now  leading  a 
botanical  expedition  to  Guatemala,  reports 
exceptional  success  during  his  first  month 
in  the  field,  with  more  than  a  thousand 
numbers  collected.  His  headquarters  have 
been  at  the  town  of  Zacapa,  in  the  heart 
of  the  Motagua  Valley  desert  region  of  the 
Atlantic  watershed.  He  also  made  a  trip 
of  several  days  to  the  summit  of  the  Sierra 
de  las  Minas,  which  rises  above  the  Motagua 
River,  a  region  probably  never  visited  before 
by  any  botanist. 


Dr.  Francis  Drouet,  Curator  of  Crypto- 
gamic  Botany,  leading  a  botanical  expedition 
to  the  southwestern  United  States  and  north- 
western Mexico,  has  forwarded  to  the  Mu- 
seum a  collection  of  1,200  algae  and  other 
plants  from  the  general  region  of  Las  Vegas, 
New  Mexico,  where  he  spent  several  weeks 
exploring  particularly  the  algal  flora  of  the 
numerous  hot  springs  which  abound  there. 
In  October  he  engaged  in  similar  exploration 
in  southern  Arizona,  and  early  in  November 
left  for  Mexico.  When  last  heard  from  he 
was  at  work  in  northern  Sonora.  He  is 
accompanied  by  Mr.  Donald  Richards  of  the 
University  of  Chicago. 


Professor  Samuel  J.  Record,  Dean  of  the 
School  of  Forestry  at  Yale  University, 
during  a  recent  visit  to  Chicago  conferred 
with  members  of  Field  Museum's  Depart- 
ment of  Botany.  He  is  a  member  of  the 
Department  staff,  as  Research  Associate  in 
Wood  Technology. 


Mr.  Paul  G.  Dallwig,  the  Layman  Lec- 
turer currently  conducting  Sunday  afternoon 
lecture-tours  at  Field  Museum,  was  guest 
speaker  on  November  25  before  the  Spring- 
field (Illinois)  Women's  Club.  He  gave 
a  version  of  "Gems,  Jewels  and  'Junk'  " 
which,  when  presented  at  the  Museum, 
is  illustrated  with  gem  exhibits. 


Page  8 


FIELD  MUSEUM  NEWS 


December,  1939 


GIFTS  TO  THE  MUSEUM 

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

From  Estate  of  Mrs.  Anne  Fisher — 38 
negatives  and  100  prints  of  scenes  in  Iraq. 
Department  of  Botany : 

From  Miss  Marjorie  Brown,  Bennington, 
Vt. — 135  herbarium  specimens,  Panama; 
from  University  of  Texas,  Austin — 48  her- 
barium specimens,  Texas;  from  Donovan  S. 
Correll,  Cambridge,  Mass. — 76  specimens 
of  orchids,  southeastern  United  States;  from 
Museo  del  Institute  de  la  Salle,  Bogota, 
Colombia — 131  herbarium  specimens, 
Colombia. 
Department  of  Geology: 

From  Ludwig  A.  Koelnau,  Minneapolis, 
Minn. — a  chatoyant  quartz  specimen,  Min- 
nesota; from  Miss  Ann  Trevett,  Casper, 
Wyo. — 5  specimens  of  cordierite,  Wyoming; 
from  Mrs.  M.  J.  Hubeny,  Chicago — a  sardo- 
nyx boulder,  Oregon. 

Department  of  Zoology: 

From  Chicago  Zoological  Society,  Brook- 
field,  111. — 17  birds  and  a  mammal;  from 
Loren  P.  Woods,  Evanston,  111. — 1,177  lower 
invertebrates,  Washington  and  Indiana;  from 
G.  J.  Kessen,  Sanibel  Island,  Fla. — 2  live 
snakes,  Florida;  from  W.  J.  Beecher,  Chicago 
— 22  small  mammals,  Illinois;  from  Schwab 
Brothers,  Muscatine,  Iowa — a  barred  owl 
and  a  quail,  Iowa;  from  Carnegie  Museum, 
Pittsburgh,  Pa. — a  salamander.  West  Vir- 
ginia; from  Dr.  Henry  Field,  Chicago — 
86  fish  specimens,  Maine. 
The  Library : 

Valuable  books  from  G.  C.  Vaillant, 
New  York  City;  T.  Cabot,  Boston,  Mass.; 
E.  P.  Dieseldorff,  Coban,  Guatemala; 
Harold  V.  Smith,  New  York  City;  and 
Henry  W.  Nichols,  Dr.  Henry  Field,  Elmer 
S.  Riggs,  W.  J.  Gerhard,  Earl  E.  SherfF, 
and  M.  Garkowski,  all  of  Chicago. 


Belladonna 


Belladonna,  a  member  of  the  nightshade 
family,  is  a  coarse,  much  branched  herb, 
three  to  five  feet  tall,  with  large  ovate  leaves. 
The  small  flowers  are  bell-shaped,  and  of  a 
greenish  color.  The  large  and  thick  roots 
are  used,  as  well  as  the  leaves,  in  preparing 
atropine,  the  "drops"  employed  by  oph- 
thalmologists to  relax  the  muscles  of  the  iris 
before  testing  the  eyes  for  glasses.  The 
name  belladonna,  meaning  "beautiful  lady," 
is  derived  from  the  practice  of  Italian 
women  who  employed  an  extract  of  the  plant 
to  brighten  their  eyes.  Leaves  of  the  plant 
are  shown  in  the  Hall  of  Plant  Life  (Hall  29). 


Field  Museum  Now  a  Member 
of  Radio  Council 

Field  Museum  has  become  a  member  of 
the  University  Broadcasting  Council  which 
is  responsible  for  many  of  the  better  types 
of  educational  and  cultural  programs  pre- 
sented on  the  radio.  Among  other  institu- 
tions which  are  members  of  this  organiza- 
tion are:  Northwestern  University,  De  Paul 
University,  and  the  Art  Institute. 


Guide-Lecture  Hour  Changed 

Beginning  December  1,  the  guide-lecture 
tours  offered  daily  from  Monday  to  Friday 
inclusive  for  the  general  public  at  Field 
Museum  will  begin  at  2  p.m.,  instead  of  at 
3  P.M.  as  heretofore.  It  is  believed  the  new 
hour  will  better  suit  the  convenience  of  a 
larger  number  of  persons  desiring  to  partici- 
pate in  these  tours. 


NEW  MEMBERS 

The  following  persons  were  elected  to 
membership  in  Field  Museum  during  the 
period   from   October   16  to  November  15: 

Associate  Members 

Reid  M.  Bennett,  Mrs.  Warren  Buckley, 
Donovan  Y.  Erickson,  Max  Gerber,  Miss 
Ruth  G.  Mason,  Mrs.  H.  Foster  Straw, 
Otto  Vogl. 

Annual  Members 

Benjamin  S.  Adamowski,  Miss  Minnie  J. 
Arthur,  Miss  Mildred  Berleman,  Miss 
Josephine  Blalock,  Carleton  Blunt,  Mrs. 
Ralph  E.  Burkhardt,  Paul  W.  Cook,  Miss 
Winnie  Coxe,  William  Dwight  Darrow, 
Countess  Mira  Edgerly,  William  Eismann, 
Winston  Elting,  Mrs.  M.  G.  Fessenden, 
John  D.  Filson,  Miss  Gertrude  Gane, 
Joseph  L.  Gidwitz,  Mrs.  William  O.  Good- 
man, Dr.  Earle  Gray,  Harry  Hall,  Henry  M. 
Huxley,  Mathew  Keck,  EUman  Koolish, 
George  E.  Kuh,  Paul  Moore,  Rev.  Walter  K. 
Morley,  Harry  C.  Phibbs,  Mrs.  W.  G.  Potts, 
John  T.  Riddell,  David  P.  Scobie,  Harry 
Seidenberg,  Mrs.  James  U.  Snydacker, 
Frank  M.  Wallace,  R.  A.  Walsh,  Lew  H. 
Webb,  Edward  Wray. 


DECEMBER  GUIDE-LECTURE  TOURS 

Conducted  tours  of  exhibits,  under  the 
guidance  of  staff  lecturers,  are  made  every 
afternoon  at  2  o'clock  except  Saturdays, 
Sundays,  and  certain  holidays.  Following 
is  the  schedule  for  December: 

Friday,  December  1 — Etruscan  and  Ro- 
man Exhibits. 

Week  beginning  December  4:  Monday — 
Moon,  Meteorites  and  Minerals;  Tuesday 
— Carl  Akeley  and  His  Work;  Wednesday 
— Masks  and  Their  Uses;  Thursday — 
General  Tour;  Friday — Rocks  and  Their 
Formation. 

Week  beginning  December  11:  Monday — 
Native  American  Fruits  and  Vegetables; 
Tuesday — Deer  and  Antelope;  Wednesday — 
China  and  Tibet;  Thursday — General  Tour; 
Friday — Dinosaurs  and  Other  Early  Rep- 
tiles. 

Week  beginning  December  18:  Monday 
— Su-Lin  and  His  Neighbors;  Tuesday — 
Mammals  of  the  World;  Wednesday — Hall 
of  Plant  Life;  Thursday — General  Tour; 
Friday — Egypt. 

Week  beginning  December  25:  Monday — 
Christmas  holiday.  Museum  closed;  Tues- 
day—  Animals  at  Home;  Wednesday — In- 
dians of  Plains  and  Deserts;  Thursday — 
General  Tour;  Friday — The  Story  of  Man. 

Persons  wishing  to  participate  should 
apply  at  North  Entrance.  Tours  are  free. 
Guide-lecturers'  services  for  special  tours 
by  parties  of  ten  or  more  may  be  arranged 
for  with  the  Director  a  week  in  advance. 


Fine  embroideries  made  in  western  India 
are  exhibited  in  Stanley  Field  Hall. 


CHRISTMAS   SHOPPING   MADE   EASY   BY   FIELD   MUSEUM 

Members  of  Field  Museum  are  offered  services  whereby  they  may,  while  sitting 
at  their  own  desks,  do  at  least  a  large  part  of  their  Christmas  shopping,  thus  avoiding 
the  crowds  that  fill  the  streets  and  stores  during  the  rush  season.  Further,  they  can 
obtain  relief  from  the  task  of  wrapping  Christmas  parcels,  and  save  themselves  from 
standing  in  long  lines  at  post  offices  to  have  their  packages  weighed,  stamped  and 
insured. 

The  Museum  offers  its  assistance  in  two  forms: 

1.  Christmas  Gift  Memberships  in  the  Museum.  With  this  issue  of  Field  Museum 
News  there  are  enclosed  Christmas  Gift  Membership  application  forms,  and  postage- 
prepaid  envelopes  for  returning  them.  All  you  need  to  do  is  designate  the  name  of 
the  person  you  wish  elected  to  membership,  and  send  the  form  in  with  your  check. 
The  Museum  will  handle  all  details,  sending  the  recipients  attractive  Christmas  cards 
notifying  them  that  they  have  been  elected  Members  of  this  institution  through  your 
courtesy.  With  the  card  will  be  sent  information  about  their  privileges  as  Members, 
as  well  as  the  regular  Membership  cards  (and  Certificates  in  the  case  of  Life  and  Asso- 
ciate Members). 

2.  Services  of  the  Book  Shop  of  Field  Museum.  The  Book  Shop  is  prepared 
to  furnish  books,  endorsed  for  scientific  authenticity  by  members  of  the  Museum 
staff,  for  both  adults  and  children.  Also,  the  Book  Shop  has  in  stock  a  wide  selection 
of  other  appropriate  gifts,  such  as  book  ends,  illuminated  globe-maps  of  the  world, 
and  animal  models  suitable  for  use  as  library  decorations  or  as  toys  for  children.  You 
are  invited  to  browse  in  the  Book  Shop  during  part  of  your  next  visit  to  the  Museum. 
Where  desired,  the  Book  Shop  will  handle  mail  and  telephone  orders,  and  will  undertake 
all  details  in  connection  with  the  wrapping,  and  dispatching  of  gift  purchases  to  the 
designated  recipients,  together  with  such  forms  of  greeting  as  the  purchaser  may 
specify.     Purchasers  may  also  specify  the  date  upon  which  delivery  is  to  be  made. 


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